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50
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PUBLII VIRGILII MARONIS
OPERA;
OR,
THE WORKS OF VIRGIL.
WITH COPIOUS NOTES,
1
MYTHOLOGICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL,
ASTRONOMICAL, CRITICAL, AND EXPLANATORY, IN ENGLISH;
COMPILED FROM THE BEST COMMENTATORS, WITH MANY THAT ARE NEW.
TOGETHER WITH
AN ORDO OF THE MOST INTRICATE PARTS OF THE TEXT
UPON THE SAME PAGE WITH THE TEXT.
DESIGNED FOR THR ush of
STUDENTS IN THE COLLEGES, ACADEMIES, AND OTHER SEMINARIES, IN THE
UNITED STATES.
SPECIALLY CALOULATED TO LIGHTEN THE LABOUR OF THE TEACHER, and TO
LEAD THe studeNT INTO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE POET.
TO WHICH is addED
A Table of Reference.
BY THE REV. J. G. COOPER, A. M.
ELEVENTH EDITION,
NEW YORK:
PRATT, OAKLEY & COMPANY,
21 MURRAY STREET.
1859.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, by
CATHARINE COOPER,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.
wills
RECOMMENDATIONS.
ARR4958-1
NEW-YORK, July 6, 1815.
An edition of the Works of Virgil, upon the plan adopted by the Rev. J. G.
Cooper, I think preferable to those usually put into the hands of boys. His
notes and explanations, so far as I have examined them, are both copious and
judicious. Believing that classical literature will be promoted thereby, I do
cheerfully recommend the work.
WILLIAM HARRIS, D. D.
President of Columbia College.
In the above opinion expressed by Dr. Harris, we do fully and cordially
unite.
JOHN BOWDEN, D. D.
Professor of Rhetoric, &c. &c. Columbia College.
Rev. EDMUND D. BARRY,
Principal of the Ep. Academy, New-York.
JOHN BORLAND, A. M.
Teacher of a Select Classical School, New-York.
TILLOTSON BRUNSON, D. D.
Principal of the Ep. Academy, Cheshire, Connecticut.
BALTIMORE, Oct. 20, 1825.
In the above opinion expressed by Dr. Harris, we do fully and cordially
unite.
W. E. WYATT, D. D.
Associate Min. of St. Paul's Parish.
Rev. JOHN ALLEN, A. M.
Professor of Math. in the University of Maryland, and author of an edition of the
Elements of Euclid, &c. &c.
NEW-YORK, April, 1827.
In the above opinion expressed by Dr. Harris, I do fully and cordially
agree.
JAMES RENWICK,
Professor of Nat. Philosophy and Chemistry in Col. College.
PHILADELPHIA, June, 1827.
In the above opinion expressed by Dr. Harris, I do fully and cordially
agree.
JAMES ROSS, L. L. D.
Author of a Latin Grammar, &c. &c.
LEXINGTON, Ky. April 1, 1825.
Having recently examined the Rev. J. G. Cooper's proposed edition of the
Works of Virgil, I have no hesitation in giving my opinion, that the plan which
he has pursued is excellent, and the execution highly creditable to his talents
and scholarship. Such a work will greatly facilitate the study of the poet, on
the part of the youthful learner. It will give him a correct idea of the meaning
of the author in the more difficult passages; and by its copious notes upon
ancient history, and mythology, will enable him to relish beauties that are now
rarely perceived in the early course of classical instruction. I have no doubt
but that its appearance will be welcomed by the intelligent and discerning, as a
publication admirably adapted to enlist the feelings, and stimulate the applica-
tion of youth in the elementary schools of our country.
GEORGE T. CHAPMAN, D. D.
Professor of History, &c. &c. in Transylvania University, Ky
iv
RECOMMENDATIONS.
BALTIMORE, Oct. 20, 1825.
The edition of the Works of Virgil proposed to be published by the Rev. J.
G. Cooper, appears to me, as far as a very partial examination of it has enabled
me to judge, to be a work of merit, both as to the plan and execution. And I
am persuaded, that its adoption into our Colleges and Seminaries of learning
will greatly facilitate the acquisition of a correct knowledge of that elegant
and distinguished poet.
JAMES KEMP, D. D.
Bishop of the Prot. Epis. Church in the state of Maryland.
So far as I have had opportunity to examine the manuscript of the Rev. J.
G. Cooper for a new edition of the Works of Virgil, I highly approve of the
plan, and think it well calculated to facilitate the study of the poet. It appears
to be a leading object with Mr. Cooper, to lighten the burden of the student,
by elucidating the difficult passages of the author, and by leading the youthful
mind into a relish of his beauties and excellencies.
The substitution of an Ordo of the most intricate passages in the room of a
general interpretation of the text, I consider a material advantage. While it
removes the difficulties in the collocation of the words, it leads the student more
directly to the text, and tends to fix his attention more closely upon the language
of the poet. On the whole, I consider the work deserving of public patronage:
and I wish him every encouragement in his endeavours to promote the interests
of classical literature.
November 6, 1823.
FRANCIS E. GODDARD, A. M.
President of the Southern College, Bowling-Green, Ky.
LOUISVILLE, KY. December 20, 1823.
Having been favoured with the perusal of notes upon the Works of Virgil,
compiled by the Rev. J. G. Cooper, together with an Ordo of the more intri
cate parts of the text, I am fully persuaded they are well calculated to assist the
younger classical students to read and understand the poet, especially in the
more difficult passages; to enlarge the mind in the Geography of the country,
and to explain the mythology of the age in which he wrote.
The criticisms on the text are generally correct, and display an intimate
acquaintance with the syntax of the Latin language: and I do not hesitate to
say, that in my opinion, the work would be very useful in the Academies and
Seminaries of the United States.
GIDEON BLACKBURN, D. D.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. May 10, 1815.
An edition of the Works of Virgil, upon the plan adopted by the Rev. J. G.
Cooper, will. I am persuaded, be found useful in instruction. It provides for a
portion of that assistance in the interpretation of the poet, for which resort is
frequently and injudiciously had to translations; while it is, at the same time,
exempt from any of the disadvantages attending such a mode of studying this
author.
JOHN T. KIRKLAND, D. D.
President of Harvard University-
HINGHAM, MASS. May 8, 1815.
From a partial examination of the manuscript copy of the Works of Virgil,
with English notes, &c. by the Rev. J. G. Cooper, it appears to have been
prepared with much labour and care. I have no doubt that a work of this kind
would be of essential advantage to classical students, especially to those who
}
RECOMMENDATIONS.
V₁
have not made considerable progress in the Latin language, previous to their
commencing the study of the poet.
DANIEL KIMBALL, A. M.
Principal of Derby Academy.
1 fully assent to the opinion expressed above by Mr. Kimball, as to the value
and usefulness of an edition of Virgil, upon the plan proposed by the Rev. Mr.
Cooper.
HENRY WARE, D. D.
Professor of Divinity in Harv. University.
THE edition of the Works of Virgil, prepared by the Rev. J. G. Cooper,
appears to be well calculated to facilitate a knowledge of the poet. To those
who may wish to study the poet, without the aid of an instructor; and to in-
structors themselves, who have not enjoyed a correctly classical education, it
will be eminently useful.
BOSTON, May, 1815.
JOHN S. J. GARDINER, D. D.
At the request of the Rev. J. G. Cooper, I have cursorily examined a print-
ed specimen of his proposed edition of the Works of Virgil; and am of opinion,
that, if the whole should be executed in the manner of this sample, it will be
deserving of patronage.
YALE COLLEGE, April 14, 1827.
J. L. KINGSLEY,
Professor of the Latin Language.
ELLWOOD SEMINARY, (near Philadelphia,) Dec. 9, 1826.
I have perused the specimen of your proposed edition of the Works of Virgil,
which, I think, will deserve a reception into every classical Academy.
JAMES TATHAM.
Rev. J. G. COOPER.
From a specimen of the proposed edition of the Works of Virgil, by the Rev.
J. G. Cooper, I am induced to believe the publication will be an aid to the
cause of our literature, by going into use among the younger students.
HECTOR HUMPHREYS,
Professor of ancient Languages, Washington College.
HARTFORD, April 14, 1827.
I highly approve of the plan adopted by the editor, having for many years
believed such an edition of Virgil a great desideratum in our schools.
THOMAS DUGDALE, jr.
Teacher of Latin and Greek, in Friends' Academy, Philadelphia.
WASHINGTON CITY, Dec. 1825.
Sır-I am highly pleased with your edition of Virgil. I think the English
notes will be of infinite advantage to the scholar, and very interesting to the
teacher. I am anxious to have a sufficient number of copies to supply my
school, as I am determined to use no other for the future.
Yours respectfully,
Rev. J. G. COOPER.
A. R. PLUMLEY.
BOSTON, May 9th, 1815.
SIR-So far as I can judge of the plan on which you propose to publish an
edition of Virgil, from the few pages of manuscript submitted to my inspection,
I think it calculated to facilitate the progress of the learner; and peculiarly
vi
RECOMMENDATIONS.
adapted to the younger class of pupils, who are with difficulty made to under-
stand the notes in the original, when hurried, as they frequently are, into this
author.
BENJAMIN A. GOULD,
Principal of the public Grammar School.
I cheerfully concur in approving the plan of Mr. Cooper's proposed edition
of the Works of Virgil.
APRIL, 1827.
FRANCIS FELLOWS,
Associate Principal of the Mount Pleasant Classical Institution, (near Amherst,) Mass.
We, the subscribers, do approve of the plan adopted by the Rev J. G.
Cooper for a new edition of the Works of Virgil: and, when published, we do
hereby recommend his work to those classical students, who may attend our
respective Seminaries.
Rev. WM. RAFFERTY, D. D.
Principal of St. John's College, Maryland.
EDWARD SPARKS, M. D.
Professor of Languages in St. John's College, Md.
Rev. SAM'L. K. JENNINGS, M. D.
Principal of the Asbury College, Baltimore.
MICHAEL POWER, A. M.
Professor of Languages, Asbury College Baltimore.
Rev. TIMOTHY CLOWES, L. L. D.
Principal of Washington College, Maryland.
Rev. HENRY L. DAVIS, D. D.
Principal of Wilmington College, Delaware.
Rev. FREDERIC BEASELY, D. D.
Provost of the University of Pennsylvania.
J. G. THOMSON, A. M.
Professor of Languages of the University of Penn.
B. CONSTANT,
Principal of the Literary, Scientific and Military Lyceum, Germantown, Penn.
JOHN BORLAND,
Professor of Classical Literature in the Collegiate School, New-York.
Rev. E. D. BARRY, D. D.
Principal of a Classical Academy, New-York.
A. PARTRIDGE,
Superintendant of the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy, Middletown, Conn
E. B. WILLISTON,
Professor of the Greek and Latin languages in the A. L. S. and Military Academy, Middletown, Conn
Rev. JOSEPH SPENCER,
Professor of Languages in Dickinson College, Pennsylvania
Rev. JAMES WILTBANK,
Principal of the Grammar School of the University of Pennsylvania,
Rev. SAMUEL B. WYLIE, D. D.
Principal of a Classical Academy, Philadelphia.
GEORGE HALENBAKE,
Principal of a Classical and Mathematical Academy, Philadelphia.
JOHN ANDERSON,
Principal of a Classical Academy, Philadelphia.
C. FELLT,
Principal of a Classical Academy, Philadelphia
W. J. BIRKEY,
Principal of a Classical Academy, Philadelphia.
HENRY HOOD,
Principal of a Classical Academy, Philadelphia.
B. J. SCHIPPER,
Principal of a Classical Acadamy, Philadelphia.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
vii
We, the subscribers, do approve of the plan adopted by the Rev. J. G.
Cooper for a new edition of the Works of Virgil; and, when published, we
do hereby recommend his work to those classical students, who may attend
our respective Seminaries.
Rev. WM. BALLANTINE,
Principal of a Classical Academy, Philadelphia.
WM. MANN, A. M.
Principal of a Classical Academy, Philadelphia.
J. P. ESPY,
Principal of a Classical Academy, Philadelphia.
DAVID PATTERSON,
Principal of a Classical Academy, New-York.
WM SHERWOOD,
Principal of a Classical Academy, New-York.
W. H. BOGART, A. B.
Principal of a Classical Academy, New-York.
JOSEPH PERRY, A. M.
Principal of a Classical Academy, New-York.
GOULD BROWN,
Principal of a Classical Academy, New-York.
JACOB T. BERGEN,
Principal of a Classical Academy, New-York.
JAMES ANDERSON,
Classical Teacher in the La Fayette Seminary, N. York
J. SLOCOMB,
Principal of a Classical Academy, New-York. ·
SAMUEL U. BERRIAN,
W. LORD,
Classical Teacher, New-York.
Associate Principal of a Classical Academy, Baltimore.
A. ROGERS,
Principal of a Select Classical Academy, Baltimore.
JAMĖS STEEN,
Principal of the Wentworth Academy, Baltimore.
JOHN PRENTISS,
Princioal of a Classical Academy, Baltimore.
Rev. J. G. ROBERTSON,
Principal of a select Classical Academy, Raltimore.
JAMES GOULD,
Principal of a Classical Academy, Baltimore.
ELIJAH GARFIELD,
Teacher of Languages, Middletown, Conn.
ELIJAH P. BARROWS, Jr.
Preceptor of the Hartford Grammar School, Conn.
JOHN M. KEAGY, M. D.
Principal of the Harrisburg Academy, Penn
BARNABAS BATES,
Principal of a Classical Academy, New-York
THOMAS P. HAGGERTY,
Principal of a Classical Academy, Georgetown, D. C.
To Professors and Teachers of Classical Literature in
the Colleges, Academies, and other Seminaries in the
United States:
GENTLEMEN,
The very favorable opinion that many of you have expressed, of the plan
and execution of this Edition of the works of Virgil, claims my respectful
acknowledgments.
Every attempt to facilitate the acquisition of classical literature will, I am
persuaded, meet your approbation; I shall, therefore, offer no apology for
adding this new edition to the many others, already before the public.
Soon after I commenced the instruction of youth, I became sensible of the
impropriety of the use of the editions of Virgil, then in our schools. Those of
Ruæus and Davidson were generally, if not exclusively, read; both equally
objectionable, the former by affording too little aid to the student in the illus.
tration of the text, the latter by affording him too much. It was at this early
period that I formed the plan of the present edition. Except the two last books
of the Eneid, it was finished in the year 1815, as you will perceive by the date
of several of the recommendations. Since which time, they have been coin-
pleted, and the whole carefully revised and greatly improved. This delay in
the publication gave me a further opportunity to become acquainted with the
wants of students, especially in the early course of study, and to collect the
opinions of teachers upon this subject. That opinion has uniformly been in
favor of my plan; which takes a middle course between the opposite extremes
of affording too little, and too much assistance to the student.
The partial ordo is designed to assist him in the more intricate parts of the
text; and where recourse otherwise must be had to the teacher. The notes
and explanations are copious. They embrace whatever was deemed necessary
to elucidate the poet, and to lead the youthful mind to relish his beauties. Some
of the more difficult passages I have translated; and, in general, where a word
is used out of its common acceptation, I have given its sense and meaning in
that particular place: and where commentators are not agreed upon the mean-
ing of a word or phrase, I have given their respective opinions. In the text, I
have adopted the reading of Heyne, except in a few instances, where the com-
mon reading appeared preferable.
To the Bucolics, Georgics, and Æneid, I have given, in the first instance, a
general introduction; and to each Eclogue, and book of the Georgics and
Eneid, a summary or particular introduction: so that the student, knowing
beforehand the subject, and anticipating the beauties and excellences of the
poet, will proceed with ease and pleasure, and in a manner catch his spirit.
To each I have added a number of questions, to be asked by the teacher, and
(x)
answered by the pupil. They may be increased or modified at discretion.
This method of instruction, by question and answer, will be found useful. It
serves to excite inquiry and attention on the part of the student, and affords the
teacher a ready method of discovering the degree of knowledge which he has
obtained of the subject. In this particular, I acknowledge my obligation to
several eminent teachers, who suggested the improvement.
The commentators, to whom I am principally indebted, are Heyne, Ruæus,
Dr. Trapp, Davidson, and Valpy. But it will be seen, in the course of the work,
that I have not been confined to these alone. Wherever I found any thing
useful, tending either to elucidate the poet, or to interest the student, I have
taken it.
Throughout the whole, it has been a principal object with me, to render the
poet intelligible, and to elucidate those passages which are obscure and intricate.
To the whole is added, a table of reference to the notes, where any particular
article is considered or passage explained.
To you, gentlemen, I present it, with the humble trust that it will be found to
answer the purposes for which it was designed, namely, to lighten the labor of
the teacher, and to facilitate the acquisition of a knowledge of the poet.

NEW YORK. Oct. 1827.
J. G. COOPER.
1
THE LIFE OF VIRGIL.
PUBLIUS VIRGILIUS MARO was born at a village called Andes, about three
miles from the city of Mantua, on the 15th day of October, in the year of
Rome 684, and 70 years before the Christian era. Pompey the Great and
Marcus Licinius Crassus were consuls.
His parents were in humble circumstances. His father cultivated a small
farm for the maintenance of his family. His mother, whose name was Maia,
was related to Quintilius Varus, who rose to be proconsul of Syria, and after-
wards was appointed to the command of the Roman army in Germany.
The first seven years of his life were passed under his paternal roof: after
which he was removed to Cremona, a town situated upon the banks of the Po,
and not far from Mantua. While here, he distinguished himself in those studies
suited to his age, and gave presage of his future eminence. In this pleasant
retreat he passed ten years, till he assumed the Toga virilis, which, among the
Romans, was at the age of 17. At an early period he showed himself to be a
favorite of the Muses, and manifested a genius that one day was to rival the
author of the Iliad. At this time Pompey and Crassus were in their second
consulship.
From Cremona he removed to Mediolanum, a town not far distant, and soon
after to Naples. Here he devoted his time to the study of the Greek language,
of which he soon became master. By this means he was enabled to read the
Greek poets in the original, to enter fully into their spirit, and to discover their
beauties and excellencies. This proved of essential service to him in his future
labors. With a mind thus stored with literature, and a taste formed by the best
models, he entered upon the study of medicine, mathematics, and philosophy.
These last, more especially, were his pleasure and delight, as he has intimated
in several parts of his works.
He studied the Epicurean philosophy, then in much repute, under one Syro,
an eminent teacher. He afterwards composed his Sixth Eclogue, with a view
to compliment his preceptor, and to express a grateful remembrance of his
instructions. Varus was a pupil with him at the same time. Here they con-
tracted a friendship for each other, which continued during the remainder of
their lives. Having finished his studies at Naples, which occupied several
years, it is said, he visited Rome; but it is more probable that he returned to
Mantua, and retired to his paternal inheritance. Here he acquired that prac.
tical information which so eminently qualified him for writing the Georgics.
A person of Virgil's extensive attainments, and above all, of his poetic genius,
could not long remain in obscurity. His fame reached the ears of Pollio, who
was no less distinguished for his love of literature, and of the muse, than for
xii
LIFE OF VIRGIL.
his military achievements. He was a particular friend of Antony, and under him
commanded the troops in Cis-Alpine Gaul; in which Mantua was situated.
Here he became acquainted with Virgil, who was introduced to him either by
Varus or Gallus; both of whom our poet has mentioned in his Eclogues, in the
most affectionate terms.
After the battle of Philippi, which proved fatal to the republican party, Au-
gustus divided the lands in the neighborhood of Mantua among his veteran
troops, to whom he was indebted for that victory. Virgil was involved in the
common calamity. This circumstance, in all human appearance to be lamented,
and which to others proved a heavy calamity, to our poet was the commence-
ment of an illustrious career, and the harbinger of an immortal day.
Pollio, who entertained a sincere friendship for Virgil, and was well qualified
to form a correct estimate of his talents and acquirements, becoming acquaint-
ed with his case, recommended him to Mæcenas, who was then at Rome, and
held the highest place of honor and confidence with his prince. The friend of
Pollio found also a friend in Mæcenas. He laid his case before Augustus, and
by his influence with his prince, obtained the restoration of his estate. Virgil,
at this time, probably was about 29 years of age. He immediately returned
with the edict of the emperor for the restoration of his farm, which had fallen
into the hands of one Areus, a centurion; but he was resisted and ill-treated by
the new possessor, and forced to swim over the Mincius to save his life. This
cruel treatment is the subject of the ninth Eclogue.
He went a second time to Rome upon the subject. But it is probable he
never after resided upon his estate. A wider field now opened before him; and
he made the seat of the empire the place of his residence. Here his acquaint-
ance and friendship were sought by the most distinguished men; and the favorite
of the Muses became also the favorite of Augustus.
With a view to compliment his prince, and to express the happy state of the
empire under his administration, it is said, he composed the following distich,
which, in a private manner, he affixed to the gate of the palace:
Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mane:
Divisum imperium cum Jove Cæsar habet.
Augustus was highly pleased with the compliment paid to him, and the deli-
cate manner in which it was expressed; and he desired to find out the author.
Virgil's modesty and diffidence prevented him from making an avowal. At
length, one Bathyllus, a poet of inferior merit, had the hardihood to claim to be
the author. The emperor richly rewarded him. This greatly mortified our
poet, who wrote the same lines upon the gate of the palace, with the following
one under them:
Hos ego versiculos feci, tulit alter honores :
together with the beginning of another line in these words,
Sic vos non vobis,
repeated three times. Augustus wished to find the author; and as the surest
way of doing it, demanded that the lines should be finished. Several attempts
were made without effect. Bathyllus was not able to do it; which led to a
suspicion of his imposture. At last Virgil finished them, and thus avowed him-
self the author of the previous distich. The lines are as follow:
Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves;
Sic vos non vobis vellera fertis oves;
Sic vos non vobis mellificatis apes:
Sic vos non vobis fertis aratra boves.
This detected the impostor, and covered him with ridicule and contempt.
LIFE OF VIRGIL.
xiii
About this time, at the suggestion of Pollio, Virgil commenced writing his
Eclogues; which occupied him three years. The first was written to express
his gratitude to his prince for the restoration of his lands. This he did in so
delicate and modest a manner, that it raised him greatly in the estimation of
his friends and countrymen: and the poet conferred a greater favor upon
Augustus, by immortalizing this act of his beneficence, than he did by restoring
to him his lands. The others were written upon various occasions, and for
various purposes.
The Eclogues were extremely popular. So well were they received, that
they were several times repeated upon the stage. Cicero, upon hearing thein,
was so much pleased, that he did not hesitate to say of the author: Magno spes
altera Roma, which words the poet afterwards introduced into the twelfth book
of the Æneid, applied to Iülus. Virgil may be considered the first who intro-
duced pastorals among the Romans. It is a fact worthy of notice, that he was
the introducer, and at the same time the perfector, of this kind of writing. All
succeeding poets have taken him as their model, and found the surest way to
success to be, to copy his beauties. It is true, he was much indebted to
T'heocritus, who was the first pastoral writer of eminence among the Greeks:
but he followed him with judgment, and improved upon him so much in
correctness of taste, in purity of thought, and delicacy of expression, that wè
lose sight of the original. So much was he esteemed, that all classes of per-
sons crowded to see him, whenever he appeared in public; and on entering the
theatre, the people rose up to do him reverence, no less than to Augustus
himself.
:
During the civil wars, agriculture had been much neglected and so gene-
ral had the distress become on that account, that serious apprchensions were
entertained for the peace of Italy. All classes of people began to murmur, and
to cast the blame upon Augustus, and his administration. In this state of
things, it occurred to Mæcenas, that the most effectual method of averting the
impending evils, and of restoring peace to the people, and confidence in the
administration, was to revive the agricultural interests of the country. For this
purpose, he desired Virgil to write a treatise upon agriculture. He well knew
no person was better qualified for a work of this kind. He possessed an
extensive knowledge of the subject, a correct taste, and could enliven it with
the charms of poetic numbers; and he already possessed the confidence and
affections of his countrymen.
After a short respite, he entered upon the work. That he might be less
interrupted in its prosecution, he retired from Rome to Naples, a city more
tranquil, and, at the same time, more healthy. In this pleasant retreat, removed
from the bustle of the capital, the intrigue of courts, and the jarring interests of
politics, he composed the Georgics-a poem, the most perfect and finished of
any composition in the Latin language. He spent seven years in the work.
The public expectation was raised high; but it was far surpassed: and Virgil
conferred a greater blessing upon his country, than if, in the field, he had ob-
tained the most splendid victory over its enemies.
The Georgics were every where well received, and Italy soon assumed a
flourishing appearance. The people found themselves in the enjoyment of
peace, plenty, and domestic happiness. The poet dedicated the work to his
friend Mæcenas, a statesman distinguished equally for his love of literature and
science, the correctness of his politics, and the wisdom of his councils.
Virgil was now forty years of age. At this time, he found himself in the pos-
session of a large estate, chiefly from the liberality of his prince. His fame was
coextensive with the empire, and the lovers of the muse courted his society.
Among the particular friends of Virgil, may be reckoned Horace, a distinguished
xiv
THE LIFE OF VIRGIL.
poet of that. age, and a friend equally of Pollio and Mæcenas. Between these
two favorites of the Muses there subsisted, during their lives, the most cordial
friendship. How sincerely they esteemed each other, we may learn from an ode
which Horace afterwards composed upon the occasion of Virgil's setting sail for
Greece, on account of his health.
Having completed the Georgics, our poet soon commenced the Eneid an
epic or heroic poem. This is the noblest species of poetic composition re-
quiring a correct judgment, a lively imagination, and an universal knowledge.
Virgil possessed them all in a high degree. It is supposed that he had the sub-
ject in contemplation for several years previous, and that he alludes to it in the
sixth Eclogue in these words:
Cùm canerem reges et prælia, Cynthius aurem
Vellit et admonuit: Pastorem, Tityre, pingues
Pascere oportet oves, deductum dicere carmen.
He probably had something of the kind in view; but whether it was, what the
Æneid afterwards proved to be, is uncertain.
The subject of the poem is the removal of a colony of Trojans from Asia
Minor, under the conduct of Æneas, and their settlement in Italy. The Iliad
and Odyssey undoubtedly suggested to Virgil the idea of the Æneid; and with-
out the former we should not have had the latter.
It has been supposed by some, that the Æneid was designed merely as an
encomium upon Augustus, who was now raised to the highest temporal power.
But if this had been his only object, the poet might have saved much time and
labor, by composing short pieces, or brief panegyrics upon his prince, as
Horace did on several occasions. It is true, Virgil was very fond of compli
menting the Cæsars, and in several parts of his works, he has done it in the
inost extravagant manner.
The Æneid was undoubtedly designed for the benefit and instruction of the
Roman people generally, who were now happily enjoying the blessings of peace,
after having suffered, for a series of years, all the calamities of civil war. The
poet wished these blessings to be perpetuated. He, therefore, endeavors to
dissuade his countrymen from further attempts to restore the republic, and ad-
vises them to submit to the authority of a man who derived his origin from the
gods, and under his auspices, to cultivate harmony, and the arts of civilized life.
This is the moral of the poem, and an object worthy of the patriotism and
benevolence of the poet.
Virgil wrote with a wonderful degree of exactness. Every thing which he
mentions is founded upon historical truth; and the voyage and adventures of his
hero are given with geographical precision. He has also given us a full and
perfect account of the religious rites and ceremonies of the age. The whole so
artfully blended with the subject, and so skilfully interwoven into it, as to be-
come an essential part of the poem. And while he is delighting the fancy with
the harmony of his numbers, he informs the understanding, and enlarges, the
bounds of our knowledge.
As soon as it was known that Virgil had commenced the Æneid, the public
expectation was raised very high; and so great was the general enthusiasm on
the occasion, that Sextius Propertius did not hesitate to say:
Cedite, Romani scriptores, cedite Graii;
Nescio quid majus nascitur Iliade.
His delicate health caused considerable interruption in his labors; and he
found himself under the necessity of travelling, to sustain his feeble constitution.
He visited Sicily, and several parts of Italy; but Naples was his favorite place
of residence.
LIFE OF VIRGIL.
XV
Au-
He spent seven years in composing the first six books of the Æneid.
gustus wished to hear what he had written, and desired him to recite them to
him. The poet complied with the request of his prince; and for this purpose,
selected the second, fourth, and sixth books. Into this last, he had incorpo-
rated, with an ingenious hand, the funeral rites of Marcellus, who died a short
time before, and whom Augustus designed for his successor in the empire. He
was a very promising youth, the darling of his mother, Octavia, and the favor.
ite of the people. When the poet came to this part, Octavia, who was present,
was so much affected, that she fainted away and Augustus was so highly
pleased with the compliment paid to his nephew, that he ordered ten sestertia
to be given for every line of the eulogium. This amounted to a very large sum.
The verse 165, had been left in an unfinished state, and in the heat of fancy,
occasioned by the recital, it is said, the poet added the words, Martemque ac-
cendere cantu, which complete the measure.
In four years afterwards, he finished the remaining six books, so that the poet
spent eleven years in writing the Æneid. At this time, he was in the fifty-
first year of his age, and his health considerably impaired. He had revised the
Eclogues and the Georgics, and continued to improve them till the year before
his death, as appears from some passages, particularly the closing verses of the
last Georgic. Augustus was on the banks of the Euphrates, in the year of
Rome 734. At this time Virgil was fifty years of age, and the Georgics had
been published ten years.
It was the intention of Virgil to revise the Æneid also, before it was publish-
ed. And for this end he visited the classic soil of Greece, where he purposed
to devote three years to the poem: and, this being done, to turn his attention
to philosophy. This, from his earliest years, had been his darling study, as he
informs us in the latter part of the second Georgic; and he wished to spend the
remaining years of his life in contemplating the works of nature, and in ele-
vating his mind to its divine Author.
But soon after his arrival, his health became so delicate, and his strength so
much exhausted, that he was obliged to relinquish it; and Augustus being on
his return from Asia, Virgil thought proper to accompany him. At Megara,
a town not far from Athens, he became seriously indisposed, and apprehensions
were entertained of his recovery. He hastened his return to Italy, but con-
tinued to decline, and a few days after his arrival at Brundusium, a town in the
eastern part of Italy, he expired, on the 22d day of September, being nearly
51 years of age. He died with that composure and resignation, which be-
came so good and virtuous a man. He wished to be interred at Naples, the
favorite place of his residence; and Augustus ordered his body to be removed
thither, according to his desire; where it was buried with every testimony of
respect and esteem. Just before his death, he wrote the following lines, as his
epitaph :
Mantua me genuit: Calabri rapuere: tenet nunc
Parthenope: Cecini pascua, rura, duces.
This was inscribed upon his tomb; and it is characteristic of the modesty of
that great poet and distinguished philosopher. It is said his tomb is to be seen
at the present day on the road from Naples to Puteoli, about two miles from
the former place.
Virgil left a will. By it, he directed the Æneid to be burned, as being im-
perfect and unfinished. But this was countermanded by Augustus, at whose
desire, it is said, it was undertaken; and we are indebted to him for the preser-
vation of one of the greatest efforts of human genius. The manuscript was put
into the hands of Varus, Tucca, and Plotius, all friends of Virgil, and poets of
some distinction, with direction to expunge whatever they deemed improper:
xvi
LIFE OF VIRGIL.
but to make no additions themselves. To this circumstance it is probably ow-
ing that we find so many imperfect lines in the Æneid.
Virgil died in the possession of a large estate, the half of which he bequeathed
to Valerius Proculus, his half-brother, on his mother's side. Of the rest, he
gave half to Augustus, and the remainder to Mæcenas, Tucca, Varus, and
Plotius.
Virgil was tall and of a brown complexion, extremely temperate and regular
in his habits. His constitution was feeble, and his health often delicate. He
was much afflicted with a pain in his head and stomach; and often with the
spitting of blood. He was extremely modest, and even bashful to a fault, at-
tended with a hesitation in his speech. Like other great men he had his ene-
mies and detractors: but their aspersions only served to increase his fame, and
add new lustre to it.
Virgil has been emphatically styled the prince of Latin poets; and it has not
been decided whether the palm should be awarded to the Roman or Grecian
poet. It is true, Virgil was much indebted to Homer, who may be considered
the master; but the pupil had the happy talent of making every thing that
passed through his hands, his own.
The condition of these two great favorites of the Muses was very different in
their lives. Homer, as his name implies, was blind; and so humble was his
birth and parentage, that the place of his nativity has not been ascertained.
He wrote the Iliad and Odyssey in detached pieces, and recited them in the va-
rious cities of Greece, to obtain a subsistence. Virgil wrote under the auspices
of one of the greatest of princes, and nothing was wanting that could contribute
to his ease and comfort. His friends were the best and the greatest men of the
age. He was honored in his life, and lamented in his death. Homer left no
friend to point the traveller to his monument; and nearly four centuries rolled
away, before his countrymen sufficiently appreciated his merits, to collect his
scattered productions, and rescue them from oblivion. The world is indebted
to Pisistratus, an Athenian, for the preservation of these inimitable poems;
which are, and will ever be, the delight, and, at the same time, the wonder and
admiration of civilized man.
INTRODUCTION TO THE BUCOLICS.
Or
Of the several kinds of poetry, none is more generally admired than the
pastoral. Its subjects, the variegated scenes of the country, the innocent
employment of shepherds and shepherdesses, possess charms which never
fail to please and interest our minds. But this species of poetry is difficult in
execution; which may be the reason that there have been so few, who excelled
· in it.
If the poet were to make his shepherd talk like a courtier, a philosopher, or
a statesman, we should immediately perceive the impropriety; or were he to
make him utter low and vulgar sentiments, we should turn from him with dis-
gust. The medium is the true course. To maintain this, however, at all
times, is no easy matter.
Theocritus was the only pastoral writer of eminence among the Greeks,
and Virgil among the Romans. The former denominated his pastorals Idyllia,
the latter Ecloga. Virgil, however, cannot so properly be called an original
pastoral writer, as an imitator of Theocritus. Many of his finest touches are
taken from the Grecian. He imitated him, however, with judgment, and in
some respects improved upon him, particularly in preserving the true charac-
ter of pastoral simplicity; in which the other on many occasions failed.
The word Bucolica is of Greek derivation, and signifies pastoral songs, or
the songs of shepherds. Virgil denominated his Bucolica, Ecloga; which is
also from a Greck word signifying to choose or select out of. The Eclogues
are, then, a selection of choice pieces, such as he thought worthy of pub-
lication.
He began this part of his works in the twenty-ninth year of his age, and in
the year of Rome 713; and finished it in the space of three years. The
Eclogues were so well received by his countrymen, that they were pronounced
publicly on the stage. After hearing one of them, Cicero, it is said, did not
hesitate to say of him: Magna spes altera Roma.
It appears to have been the design of Virgil in writing his pastorals, to cele-
brate the praises of Augustus, and of some other of his friends at Rome, par-
ticularly Mæcenas and Pollio.
QUESTIONS.
What are the subjects of pastoral poetry?
Does this kind of poetry possess any pe-
culiar charms?
Is it difficult in execution?
At what age did he begin this part of his
works?
In what year of Rome?
How many years did he spend in writing
Who among the Greeks was the first pas- the Eclogues?
toral poet of eminence?
What did he call his pastorals?
What did Virgil denominate his?
In what light are we to consider Virgil, as
a pastoral poet?
Were they well received by his country-
men ?
What was probably the reason of his
writing the Eclogues?
2
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
BUCOLICA.
ECLOGA PRIMA.
MELIBUS, TITYRUS.
Ar the termination of the civil war, which placed Augustus securely on the Imperial
throne, to reward his soldiers for their services, he gave them the lands lying about
Mantua and Cremona, dispossessing the former owners. Among the unfortunate suf-
ferers was Virgil himself; who, however, by the interest of Mecenas with the Emperor,
received his lands again.
In the character of Tityrus, the poet sets forth his own good fortune; and in that of Meli-
bous, the calamity of his Mantuan neighbors. This is the subject of the pastoral.
The scene is laid in a beautiful landscape. A shepherd, with his flock feeding around
him, is lying at ease under a wide-spreading beech-tree: the sun is approaching the
horizon shadows are falling from the mountains: the air is tranquil and serene: the
smoke is ascending from the neighboring villages. This scenery a painter could copy.
:
MEL. TITYRE, tu patulæ recubans sub tegmine fagi,
Sylvestrem tenui Musam meditaris avenâ :
Nos patriæ fines, et dulcia linquimus arva;
Nos patriam fugimus: tu, Tityre, lentus in umbrâ
Formosam resonare doces Amaryllida sylvas.
TIT. O Meliboe, Deus nobis hæc otia fecit.
Namque erit ille mihi semper Deus: illius aram
Sæpe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus.
Ille meas errare boves, ut cernis, et ipsum
Ludere, quæ vellem, calamo permisit agresti.
MEL. Non equidem invideo: miror magis:
Usque adeò turbatur agris. En ipse capellas
Protenùs æger ago: hanc etiam vix, Tityre, duco
Hic inter densas corylos modò namque gemellos,
NOTES.
1. Fagi: gen. of Fagus, the beech-tree.
It is glandiferous.
2. Sylvestrem musam. A pastoral song.
Avena: properly oats. By Met. the straw;
and hence an oaten, or oat-straw pipe. Me-
ditaris: you practice or exercise.
3. Arva. neu. plu. properly cultivated
fields: from the verb aro.
4. Tu lentus: thou at ease in the shade,
dost teach the woods, &c. Amaryllida, a
Greek acc. of Amaryllis. See 31. infra.
6. Deus. A god, namely Augustus, who
had reinstated him in his possessions; and
whom the Romans had deified. Hac otia:
this rest or ease. Otium is opposed to labor
in signification.
5
8. Sæpe tener agnus
ab nostris
9. Ille permisit meas
boves errare, et me ip-
sum ludere carmina,
10 quæ
undique
[totis
:
14. Namque modò
connixa gemellos, spem
gregis, ah! reliquit eos
hic inter densas corylos,
in nuda silice.
9. Errare. To feed at large.
10. Calamo agresti: upon a rural reed.
Musical instruments were at first made of
oat, or wheat straw; then of reeds and box-
oat, or wheat straw; then of reeds and box-
wood; afterwards of the leg bones of the
crane; of the horns of animals, &c. Hence
they are called avena, stipula; calamus,
arundo, cicuta, fistula; buxris, tibia, cornua,
&c.
12. Turbatur usque adeò totis, &c. Lit.
It is disturbed so much in the whole coun-
try all around. There is so much commo-
tion in the whole country, I wonder that
you should enjoy such peace and quiet.
14. Corylos: hazles-Gemeilus: twins.
4
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Spem gregis, ah! silice in nudâ connixa reliquit.
Sæpe malum hoc nobis, si mens non læva fuisset,
17. Memini quercus De cœlo tactas memini prædicere quercus :
tactas de cœlo sæpe præ- Sæpe sinistra cavâ prædixit ab ilice cornix.
dicere
Sed tamen, ille Deus qui sit, da, Tityre, nobis.
20. Ego stultus puta- TIT. Urbem, quam dicunt Romam, Meliboe, putavi
vi urbem, quam dicunt Stultus ego huic nostræ similem, quò sæpe solemus
Pastores ovium teneros depellere fœtus.
Romam esse similem huic
nostro Mantuæ,
Sic canibus catulus similes, sic matribus hædos
Nôram: sic parvis componere magna solebam.
25. Hæc Roma extulit Verùm hæc tantùm alias inter caput extulit urbes,
Quantùm lenta solent inter viburna cupressi.
MEL. Et quæ tanta fuit Romam tibi causa videndi ?
TIT. Libertas: quæ sera, tamen respexit inertem;
Candidior postquam tondenti barba cadebat :
Respexit tamen, et longo pòst tempore venit,
Postquam nos Amaryllis habet, Galatea reliquit.
Namque (fatebor enim) dum me Galatea tenebat,
NOTES.
16. Hoc malum nobis. There seem to be
required here, to make the sense complete,
the words: and I might have understood it;
si mens, &c. If my mind had not been foolish.
18. Sinistra cornix: the ill-boding crow.
The Romans were very superstitious. They
considered every thing as ominous. The
flight of some kinds of birds, the croaking
of others, the darting of a meteor, a peal
of thunder, were signs of good or bad luck.
Those that appeared on their left, hand, for
the most part, they considered unlucky.
Hence sinister and lavus came to signify
unlucky, ill-boding, &c. And those that ap-
peared on their right hand, they considered.
to be lucky. Hence, dexter came to signify
fortunate, lucky, &c. The best reason that
can be given, why they used sinister and
lavus, sometimes in a good, at other times
in a bad sense, is, that they occasionally
interpreted the omens after the manner of
the Greeks, who considered those that ap-
peared in the eastern part of the heavens to
be lucky; and turning their faces to the
north, as their custom was, they would be
seen on the right hand. The Romans, on
the contrary, turned their faces to the south
in observing the omens; and consequently,
their left hand would be toward the east,
corresponding to the right hand of the
Greeks. Ilice: the holm-oak,
19. Qui sit Deus: who may be that God of
yours-of whom you speak? Da nobis: tell
me. Nobis: in the sense of mihi.
20. Romam. Rome, a city of Italy, situ-
ated on the river Tiber, founded by Romu-
lus 753 years before Christ. Mantua was
a city of the Cis-Alpine Gaul, now Lom-
bardy, situated on the eastern bank of the
river Mincius, which falls into the Po.
22. Fatus. This word signifies the young
of any thing or kind, whether animate or
15
22
25
30
inanimate. We have introduced it into our
language without any variation. Teneros
fœtus ovium, simply, our lambs.
23. Sic canibus, &c. This passage Ser-
vius thus explains:.I thought before that
Rome resembled Mantua and other cities,
as I knew whelps and kids resemble their
dams or mothers, differing only in size. In
this I was mistaken: I find it to be of a
different species from other cities, as the
cypress differs from the shrub.
24. Componere: in the sense of comparare.
25. Extulit caput: hath raised its head. A
figurative expression,butextremely beautiful.
26 Viburna, plu. of viburnum, a species
of shrub. Some take it for a withy, others
for the wild-vine.
28. Libertas. Virgil here speaks of him-
self as being an old man, having a hoary
beard, and as having been a slave. Ner-
ther of which was the case. But it was not
necessary for him to describe himself in all
his circumstances. That would have been
too plain, and would have taken from the
beauty of the pastoral. Inertem: indolent-
inactive. Sera: late in life.
29. Candidior barba: my gray, or hoary
beard. The comp. is here plainly to be
taken in the sense of the pos.Tondenti : to me
shaving it.
31. Amaryllis-Galatea. Some think these
are to be taken allegorically; the former for
Rome, the latter for Mantua. But this is not
necessary; nor will it be easy to support the
allegory throughout. It is better to take
them literally, for the names of the poet's
mistresses. Servius thinks nothing in the
Bucolics is to be taken allegorically. Dr.
Trapp thinks Virgil insinuates that his old
mistress Galatea was in favor of Brutus,
and his new one Amaryllis in favor of Au-
gustus; and by changing mistresses, he de-
BUCOLICA. ECL. I.
5
35
Nec spes libertatis erat, nec cura peculî :
Quamvis multa meis exiret victima septis,
Pinguis et ingratæ premeretur caseus urbi,
Non unquam gravis ære domum mihi dextra redibat.
MEL. Mirabar, quid mosta Deos, Amarylli, vocares,
Cui pendere suâ patereris in arbore poma.
Tityrus hinc aberat. Ipsæ te, Tityre, pinus,
Ipsi te fontes, ipsa hæc arbusta vocabant.
TIT. Quid facerem? neque servitio me exire licebat,
Nec tam præsentes alibi cognoscere divos.
Hic illum vidi juvenem, Melibœe, quotannis
Bis senos cui nostra dies altaria fumant.
Hic mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti :
Pascite, ut antè, boves, pueri : submittite tauros.
MEL. Fortunate senex! ergo tua rura manebunt :
Et tibi magna satìs: quamvis lapis omnia nudus,
Limosoque palus obducat pascua junco
Non insueta graves tentabunt pabula fœtas,
Nec mala vicini pecoris contagia lædent.
Fortunate senex! hìc inter flumina nota,
Et fontes sacros, frigus captabis opacum.
Hinc tibi, quæ semper vicino ab limite sepes
Hyblæis apibus florem depasta salicti,
NOTES.
licately hints at his changing political sides,
and in consequence thereof leaving Mantua,
and going to Rome.
From the circumstance of Augustus de-
priving the Mantuans of their lands, we
may infer that they were generally in favor
of the Republic, and Virgil might have been
of that party, till all hope of liberty was
lost, and prudence dictated a change of
politics. Galatea reliquit, is for reliqui Ga-
lateam, by Euphemisinus. After he had
left Galatea, and transferred his affections
to Amaryllis, ho obtained liberty and pro-
perty: that is, after he had changed politi-
cal sides.
33. Peculi. By apocope for Peculii. This
word properly denotes the property of a
slave-that which his master suffers him to
possess, and call his own. In this sense, it
is peculiarly proper, as Virgil here speaks of
himself as having been in that humiliating
condition.
35. Urbi. The city Mantua.
36. Non unquam, &c. Never did my
right hand return home heavy with money.
Mihi: in the sense of mea.
40. Arbusta: the groves themselves, &c.
There is a great beauty in the personification
of inanimate things; or attributing to them
the actions of real life. The Arbusta were
large pieces of ground set with elms or other
trees, commonly at the distance of about 40
feet, to leave room for corn to grow between
them. They were sometimes pruned, and
served for stages to the vine. The verb vo-
cabant is to be repeated with each of the
J
40
45
37. Mirabar, quid tu
mœsta, Amarylli, voca-
res Deos ei cui patereris
54. Hinc sepes, quæ
50 dividit tuum agrum ab
vicino limite, semper
depasta quoad florem
salicti Hyblæis apibus,
sæpe suadebit tibi inire
levi susurro
somnum
55 apum.
nominatives preceding, and to govern the
pronoun te.
42. Præsentes: propitious or favorable.-
Alibi: in any other place-any where else
-Cognoscere: to experience, or find.
43. Hie. Here, at Rome.-Juvinem: Oc-
tavius, who was then about twenty-two
years of age; afterward by a decree of the
senate called Augustus.—Cui nostra: for
whom our altars smoke,-in honor of, &c.
46. Pueri. Swains. The word puer pro-
perly signifies a boy, in opposition to a girl-
also a male slave or waiter.
49. Obducat omnia pascua, &c. Ruæus
understands this not of Virgil's own lands,
but of the lands of his neighbors. Dr.
Trapp very justly rejects this interpretation.
The poet is felicitating himself on his good
fortune under the character, of an old man.
And, though his farm was covered over
partly with rocks and stones, and partly
with a marsh; yet no unusual or improper
pasture should injure his (graves fœtas) preg-
nant ewes; nor any noxious contagion of a
neighboring flock should infect or hurt them.
-Fata: the female of any kind big with
young-a breeder.
52. Inter flumina nota. The Mincius and
Po.
55. Sæpes depasta florem, &c. This con-
struction frequently occurs among the poets,
and is in imitation of the Greeks; who
sometimes placed the noun or pronoun in
the acc. case, omitting the governing prep.
Fed upon as to, or with respect to, its flower
of willow, &c.—Hyblæis: an adj. from Hy.
6
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Sæpe levi somnum suadebit inire susurro.
Hinc altâ sub rupe canet frondator ad auras.
Nec tamen interea raucæ, tua cura, palumbes,
Nec gemere aëriâ cessabit turtur ab ulmo.
TIT. Antè leves ergo pascentur in æthere cervi,
Et freta destituent nudos in litore pisces:
Antè, pererratis amborum finibus, exul
60
65. At nos expulsi Aut Ararim Parthus bibet, aut Germania Tigrim,
hinc, alii nostrum ibi- Quàm nostro illius labatur pectore vultus.
mus ad sitientes Afros, MEL. At nos hinc alii sitientes ibimus Afros,
pars nostrûm veniemus
Pars Scythiam, et rapidum Cretæ veniemus Oaxem,
ad Scythiam,
68. En unquam mi- Et penitùs toto divisos orbe Britannos.
videns patrios En unquam patrios longo pòst tempore fines,
rabor
NOTES.
bla, a town and mountain in Sicily, famous
for honey.-Vicino limite: from the neigh-
boring field. Hinc: on the one hand. It
is opposed to the Hinc in line 57. infra;
which is to be rendered: on the other hand.
57. Ad auras: to the air-aloud, so as to
pierce the air.
60. Antè. The ante in this line is mere-
ly expletive; the sense is complete without
it.
61. Destituent: in the sense of relinquent.
62. Antè, pererratis, &c. Parthus, by
Synec. for the Parthians collectively. They
were a people descended from the Scythians,
and possessed that part of Asia, which is
bounded on the west by Media, on the north
by the Caspian sea, on the east by Bactri-
ana, and on the south by the deserts of Car-
mania. In process of time, they became
very powerful, and were the most formida-
ble enemies of the Persians: and from their
frequent conquests over that people, are
sometimes confounded with them. Germa-
nia.
An extensive country in Europe, put,
by meton. for the inhabitants of that coun-
try. Ararim. A river of France arising
from mount Vogesus (hodie Vauge) and run-
ning in a southern direction, falls into the
Rhodanus at Lyons, and along with it, into
the Mediterranean. It is famous for the
bridge built over it by Julius Cæsar. Its
present name is the Soane. Tigrim. This is
a very rapid river of Asia, rising in Arme-
nia, and taking a southerly direction, pass-
ing by Mesopotamia and Assyria, unites
with the Euphrates, and with it falls into
the Sinus Persicus. The Araris is not in
Germany properly so called. But it is well
known that the Germans extended their
conquests beyond that river, and effected
settlements among the Sequani, and other
nations of Gaul. Nor is the Tigris in Par-
thia proper.
But the Parthians extended
their conquests as far west as the Euphra-
tes. Not far from this river they vanquished
Crassus, the Roman general. The mean
ing of this passage, which hath so much
66
divided the opinions of commentators, ap.
pears to be this: that these two nations,
the Germans and the Parthians, shall ex-
change countries with each other (finibus
amborum pererratis) sooner than (ante quam)
the image of that youth should be effaced
from his breast. But the former could never
be; therefore, the latter would remain. Per-
erratis, in the sense of permutatis.
65. Sitientes: thirsting or parched. This
epithet is peculiarly proper for the inhabi-
tants of Africa, the greater part of which lies
between the tropics.
a
66. Scythiam. The Scythians were
brave and warlike people, leading a wan-
dering life. They extended their conquests
over a very considerable part of Europe and
Asia. Hence the term Scythia came to
be used indefinitely, to denote any part or
the whole of the northern parts of Europe
and Asia. Oaxis: a river of Crete; a large
island in the Mediterranean. It is celebra-
ted for having been the birth-place of Jupi-
ter, and for its having once had a hundred
cities. Veniemus, in the sense of ibimus.
68. En unquam. Alas! shall I ever won-
der, beholding, &c. Germanus, Ruæus and
Davidson connect aliquot aristas with mea
regna. But Dr. Trapp takes post aliquot
aristas to mean after some years; and con-
strues mea regna with culmen tugur. It is
true, arista may be taken for years. But
aliquot aristas does not very well answer to
the longo tempore pòst, mentioned just be-
fore. And if it did, it would be only a use-
less repetition. But connect aliquot aristas
with mea regna, as in the ordo; any impro-
priety of this kind is removed; and we have
a beautiful representation of Melibus's
possessions; which consisted in a few acres
of land, lying adjacent to his cottage, the
roof of which just rose above the corn that
was planted around it, and might not im-
properly be said to be concealed among it,
or behind it. Tuguri, by apocope, for tu-
gurii. Congestum cespiti : covered over with
turf.
BUCOLICA. ECL. II.
7
Pauperis et tugurî congestum cespite culmen,
Post aliquot, mea regna, videns mirabor aristas ?
Impius hæc tam culta novalia miles habebit?
Barbarus has segetes? En quo discordia cives
Perduxit miseros! en queis consevimus agros!
Insere nunc, Melibœe, pyros, pone ordine vites :
Ite meæ, felix quondam pecus, ite capellæ.
Non ego vos posthac, viridi projectus in antro,
Dumosâ pendere procul de rupe videbo.
Carmina nulla canam: non, me pascente, capellæ
Florentem cytisum et salices carpetis amaras.
fines longo tempore post,
70 et culmen pauperis tu-
guri, congestum cesp ite,
stans post aliquot aris-
tas, tota mea regna.
75
79
TIT. Hìc tamen hanc mecum poteris requiescere noc-
Fronde super
viridi. Sunt nobis mitia poma,
Castaneæ molles, et pressi copia lactis.
Et jam summa procul villarum culmina fumant,
Majoresque cadunt altis de montibus umbræ.
71. Novalia: fallow-ground.
NOTES.
72. Quò: whither-to what state of mi-
sery. Perduxit: hath reduced, or brought.
74. Insere nunc, &c. Melibus says this
ironically to himself, being vexed that he
[tem
76. Ego posthac pro-
jectus in viridi antro,
non videbo vos procul
pendere
had labored, and had improved his lands, to
be now possessed by a cruel soldier.
and cheese. Molles, may here mean ripe, or
82. Copia pressi lactis: a plenty of curds
soft and smooth, in opposition to the hirsu-
ta, or rough.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this pastoral?
To reward his troops, what did Augustus
do?
Who is represented under the character
of Tityrus?
Who under that of Melibaus?
Where is the scene of the pastoral laid?
What is the time of the day?
What is the state of the atmosphere?
To what is otium opposed?
Were the Romans a superstitious peo-
ple?
ECLOGA SECUNDA.
ALEXIS.
THE subject of this charming pastoral is the passion of the shepherd Corydon for the
beautiful youth Alexis. The shepherd complains of the cruelty of the boy in slighting
his overtures; and withal advises him not to trust too much to his complexion and
beauty. He endeavors to prevail on him to visit the country, where he promises to
entertain him with music, nuts, apples, and flowers. But when he finds nothing will
avail, he resolves to seek another lover. By Corydon some understand Virgil himself,
and by Alexis a beautiful slave, belonging to his friend and patron, Mæcenas. In
several parts of this pastoral, the poet is indebted to Theocritus. The scene is laid in
Sicily.
FORMOSUM pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim,
Delicias domini: nec, quid speraret, habebat.
NOTES.
1. Ardebat: he greatly loved-he burned
for. This word very forcibly marks the
degree of his passion.
2. Delicias: the darling-the delight of
his master. It is placed in apposition with
Alexım. It is used only in the plural
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
3. Inter densas fagos Tantùm inter densas, umbrosa cacumina, fagos
habentes umbrosa cacu- Assiduè veniebat: ibi hæc incondita solus
mina.
·
Montibus et sylvis studio jactabat inani.
O crudelis Alexi, nihil mea carmina curas :
Nil nostri miserere: mori me denique coges.
Nunc etiam pecudes umbras et frigora captant;
Nunc virides etiam occultant spineta lacertos :
10. Thestylis contun- Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus æstu
dit allia serpyllumque, Allia serpyllumque herbas contundit olentes.
olentes herbas, messori- At mecum raucis, tua dum vestigia lustro,
bus fessis rapido æstu. Sole sub ardenti resonant arbusta cicadis.
At, dum lustro tua ves-
tigia, arbusta
23.
Canto carmina,
que Dirceus Amphion
solitus est cantare,
Nonne fuit satius tristes Amaryllidis iras,
Atque superba pati fastidia? nonne Menalcan?
Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses.
O formose puer, nimium ne crede colori :
Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur.
Despectus tibi sum, nec qui sim quæris, Alexi :
Quàm dives pecoris nivei, quàm lactis abundans.
Mille meæ Siculis errant in montibus agnæ :
Lac mihi non æstate novum, non frigore defit.
Canto, quæ solitus, si quando armenta vocabat,
NOTES
4. Ibi solus jactabat, &c. There alone he
poured forth these indigested complaints. Jac-
tabat: he threw them away-they were of
no avail to him, because they wero unheed-
ed by Alexis.
5. Inani studio: with unavailing pleasure,
or fondness. He speaks the language of a
lover. The beauty and accomplishments of
the boy had taken possession of his affec-
tions. He dwells upon them with rapture
and delight. But all this is vain and una-
vailing. The boy regards him not. He
then breaks forth: O crudelis Alexi, nihil
mea carmina curas, &c.
7. Nil. This word is often used in the
sense of non, as a simple negative. So also
is nihil.
9. Lacertos lizards. Spinetum: a place
where thorns and prickly shrubs grow: here
put for the thorns themselves, by meton.
10. Thestylis. The name of a servant;
taken from Theocritus.
11. Allia: plu. of allium, an herb called
garlic. Serpyllum: wild-thyme, or running-
betony; an odoriferous herb.
13. Cicadis. The cicada is an insect of
the species of the grasshopper, making a
very hoarse and disagreeable noise, particu-
larly in the heat of the day. Satius: in the
sense of melius.
15. Menalcan. A Greek acc. of Menal-
cas. See Ecl. 3. Fastidia: plu. of fastidium :
disdain-haughtiness. Pati: to bear-en-
dure.
18. Ligustra: plu. of Ligustrum: a privet
or with-bind, a species of shrub or plant
bearing very white flowers; taken for the
· 5
10
15
20
Vaccinia:
flowers themselves, by meton.
the blackberries or bilberries. Some take
them for the Hyacinth of Theocritus, whom
Virgil here imitates. The meaning of the
poet is this: as the privets, though white and
fair, (cadunt,) lie neglected because they are
useless; and the blackberry is gathered and
saved for its usefulness: so, Alexis, shall
you, though fair and beautiful to the sight,
be neglected for your pride; while Menalcas,
though black and swarthy, shall be loved
for his good disposition, and his conciliating
temper.
21. Siculis. The mountains of Sicily are
mentioned, either because they are famed
for excellent pastures, or because the scene
of the pastoral is laid in that country.
22. Estate: in summer. Frigore in
winter.
23. Siquando: the same as quando. When
he called his herds. It was usual with shep-
herds to walk before their sheep, and call
them.
24. Amphion. A celebrated musician,
said to have been the son of Jupiter and An-
tiope, and born on mount Cythera. He was
king of Thebes, and is said to have built the
walls of that city by the music of his lyre,
We are to understand by this, perhaps, his
persuading, by his eloquence, a barbarous
people to unite, and build a city for their
common safety. His mother was wife to
Lycus, king of Thebes, and put away by
him for the sake of Dirce, whom he married.
Dirceus: an adj. either from Dirce his step-
mother, or from a fountain of that name in
Beotia. Aracyntho a town and mountain
•
BUCOLICA. ECL. II.
Amphion Dircæus in Actæo Aracyntho.
Nec suin adeò informis: nuper me in litore vidi,
25
Cùm placidum ventis staret mare: non ego Daphnim,
Judice te, metuam, si nunquam fallat imago.
O tantùm libeat mecum tibi sordida rura,
Atque humiles habitare casas, et figere cervos,
Hodorumque gregem viridi compellere hibisco!
Mecum unà in sylvis imitabere Pana canendo.
Pan primus calamos cerâ conjungere plures
Instituit: Pan curat oves, oviumque magistros.
Nec te pœniteat calamo trivisse labellum.
Hæc eadem ut sciret, quid non faciebat Amyntas?
Est mihi disparibus septem compacta cicutis
Fistula, Damætas dono mihi quam dedit olim :
Et dixit moriens: Te nunc habet ista secundum.
Dixit Damotas: invidit stultus Amyntas.
Prætereà duo, nec tutâ mihi valle reperti,
Capreoli, sparsis etiam nunc pellibus albo,
Bina die siccant ovis ubera: quos tibi servo.
Jampridem à me illos abducere Thestylis orat :
Et faciet quoniam sordent tibi munera nostra.
Huc ades, ô formose puer. Tibi lilia plenis
NOTES.
in Beotia. But why it should be called Ac-
tæus, there is a difference of opinion. Ser-
vius thinks it is so called from a Greek word
which signifies the shore. Probus derives it
from Actaon, who, hunting near this moun-
tain, was torn in pieces by his dogs, for hav-
ing discovered Diana bathing herself. Mr.
Davidson places the mountain in the con-
fines of Attica and Beotia; and thinks it is
so called from Acta or Acte, the country
about Attica. Rumus interprets Actoo by
maritimo.
26. Daphnim. A beautiful shepherd.
See in Ecl. 5. Placidum: in the sense of
tranquillum.
27. Imago. His image reflected from the
wator. Nunquam: in the sense of non.
28. O tantùm libeat tibi: O that it would
please you to inhabit with me, &c. These
These
are sweet lines. Sordida rura. Most com-
mentators join tibi to sordida, disdained or
despised by thee. But there is no need of
this refinement. Sordida is a very proper
epithet for cottages and country villages,
which in general are indifferent in them-
selves, and poorly furnished, when compar-
ed with the splendor and luxury of cities.
Or, we may suppose the poct to speak in the
character of a lover, who thinks nothing
good enough for the object of his affections.
Rus is opposed to urbs.
30. Viridi hibisco. Ruæus takes these
words to be in the dative case, and under-
stands by them: to green or verdant pasture;
ad virentem hibiscum, says he: taking the
hibiscum for a kind of plant. But this in-
30
35
40
45
38. Nunc ista fistula
habet te secundum do-
minum.
40. Duo capreoli re-
perti mihi, nec tutâ valle,
siccant bina ubera ovis
in die, pellibus etiam
nunc sparsis albo.
terpretation is attended with difficulty. Dr.
Trapp takes it for a large plant or little tree,
out of which wands were made. He ob-
serves, Virgil no where mentions it as food
for cattle. Compellere, &c.: to drive them
with a green switch.
31. Pana. Pan, the god of shepherds and
hunters, is said to have been the son of Mer-
cury and the nymph Dryope. He was edu-
cated in Arcadia; and wrapped in the skin
of a goat, he was carried up to heaven by
Jupiter, where all the gods ridiculed his ap-
pearance. He chiefly resided in Arcadia.
He is said to have invented the pipe with
seven reeds. He was worshipped in Arca-
dia, and is said to have given out oracles on
mount Lycæus. His festivals, called by the
Greeks Lyca, were introduced into Italy by
Evander, and established at Rome under
the name of Lupercalia, and celebrated the
15th of February. He was the chief of the
Satyrs.
34. Trivisse labellum: to have worn the
lip. From the verb tero.
36. Cicutis. Cicuta, an herb much like
the Hemlock. Hence used for any hollow
reed: hence also, by Meton. for a pipe. Fis-
tula: a pipe connected together with seven
unequal reeds, &c. These were put toge
ther with wax, as mentioned 32 supra.
41. Duo Capreoli: two young goats. Ca-
preoli: a diminitive noun, from capra or
caper. These were undoubtedly wild kids,
taken from their dams, which he esteemed
very much; and not those lost by him, and
recovered again. Servius says: kids have
10
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
sitæ sic miscetis
Ecce ferunt Nymphæ calathis: tibi candida Naïs
Pallentes violas et sunima papavera carpens,
Narcissum et florem jungit benè olentis anethi :
Tum casiâ, atque aliis intexens suavibus herbis,
Mollia luteolâ pingit vaccinia calthâ.
50
Ipse ego cana legam tenerâ lanugine mala,
Castaneasque nuces, mea quas Amaryllis amabat.
Addam cerea pruna: et honos erit huic quoque pomo:
Et vos, ô lauri, carpam, et te, proxima myrte :
55. Quoniam vos po- Sic positæ quoniam suaves miscetis odores.
Rusticus es, Corydon; nec munera curat Alexis :
Nec si muneribus certes, concedat Iolas.
58. Quid ego volui
mihi misero? Perditus
immisi austrum floribus, Eheu, quid volui misero mihi? floribus Austrum
et apros.
Perditus, et liquidis immisi fontibus apros.
NOTES.
at first white spots, which afterwards change,
and lose their beauty. If it be so, this
circumstance will explain the words, sparsis
etiam nunc pellibus albo : which also denotes
that they were young.
46. Ecce ferunt: behold the nymphs bring
for you lilies in full baskets, &c. The fol-
lowing lines are extremely beautiful. Mr.
Warton observes, they contain the sweetest
garland ever offered by a lover. The agi-
tation and doubts of a lover's mind are
finely set forth: nec munera curat Alexis,
&c. At length he seems to come to himself,
and to reflect upon the state of his affairs:
vitis semiputata est, &c. Nymphæa. They
were a kind of female Divinities supposed
to exist for a very great length of time; but
not to be altogether immortal. They were
divided into two general classes-Nymphs
of the land, and Nymphs of the water.
Each of these classes was divided into seve-
ral others. The former into Dryades-Ha-
madryades-Oreades-Napaaœ-Limoniades,
&c. The latter into Oceanides—Nereïdes-
Naïades or Naides-Potamides-Limniades,
&c. All of which are of Greek derivation.
The nymphs were further distinguished
by an epithet taken from the place of their
residence. Thus the Nymphs of Sicily. are
called Sicelides-those of Corycus, Coryci-
ades or Corycides, &c.
Echo is said to have been formerly a
nymph; but falling in love with a beautiful
youth called Narcissus, who refused her ad-
dresses, at which she was so much grieved
that she pined away, till every part of her
was consumed but her voice, that continued
to haunt the woods and fountains, which
she once frequented. Narcissus, stopping to
repose himself by the side of a fountain,
where he chanced to see his image reflected
in the water, became enamoured with it:
taking it for a nymph, he endeavored to
approach it; but all his attempts being un-
availing, he was so much disappointed that
55
he killed himself. His blood was changed
into a flower, which bears his name.
47. Summa papavera carpens: gather
ing the heads of poppies. Papaver and
Anethus were two beautiful youths; who,
according to Servius, were changed, the
former into the flower, which we call the
poppy; the latter into the herb, which we
call anise or dill. Benè olentis: sweet-
smelling.
50. Pingit mollia, &c. She adorns or sets
off the soft hyacinths with saffron-colored
marygold. Vaccinium, here is 'plainly the
Hyacinthus of Theocritus, whom Virgil here
copies; so say Turnebus, Salmasius, and
Ruæus.
51. Mala. Malum signifies several kinds
of fruit, such as apples, peaches, quinces,
&c. The last is here meant, as appears
from the cana tenera lanugine: white with
soft down, or fur. Mr. Dryden renders
mala, peaches.
53. Cerea: of waxen-color.
54. Myrte. The Romans used crowns or
garlands of laurel in their most splendid
triumphs: and those of myrtle, in the ovatio,
which was on horseback, and considered the
lesser triumph, or triumph of less honor and
dignity than that in which the conqueror
rode in a chariot. The myrtle tree was
sacred to Venus, and the laurel to Apollo.
Proxima: next in honor to the laurel.
56. Rusticus: in the sense of stultus.
57. Iolas. The owner or master of Alexis.
58. Eheu, quid volui, &c. Lit. what have
I done to myself, a miserable man? Alas!
ruined, I have let in the south winds, &o.
These expressions are proverbial, and ap-
plicable to those who wish for things that
prove ruinous to them. Dr. Trapp explains
the passage thus: By my folly in indulging
this extravagant passion, I have ruined my
peace and quiet, and permitted my affairs to
go to decay, which were before well managed,
flourishing, and prosperous. Volui. Rumus
interprets it by feci.
BUCOLICA. ECL. II.
11
Quem fugis, ah, demens! habitârunt dî quoque sylvas,
Dardaniusque Paris. Pallas, quas condidit arces,
Ipsa colat nobis placeant ante omnia sylvæ.
Torva læna lupum sequitur: lupus ipse capellam :
Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella:
:
61
Te Corydon, ô Alexi: trahit sua quemque voluptas. 65
Aspice, aratra jugo referunt suspensa juvenci,
Et sol crescentes decedens duplicat umbras.
Me tamen urit amor : quis enim modus adsit amori?
Ah, Corydon, Corydon, quæ te dementia cepit !
Semiputata tibi frondosâ vitis in ulmo est.
Quin tu aliquid saltem potius, quorum indiget usus,
Viminibus mollique paras detexere junco?
Invenies alium, si te hic fastidit Alexim.
NOTES.
60. Demens: O foolish boy, whom do you
flee? Demens, compounded of de and
mens.
61. Paris. See nom. prop. under Paris.
Dardanius, an adj. of Dardanus, one of the
founders of Troy. Pallas, the same as Mi-
nerva. See Geor. I. 18.
62. Colat: in the sense of incolat.
65. Sua voluptas trahit quemque: his own
pleasure draws every one every one is
drawn by his own pleasure.
70
71. Quin potius tu
paras detexere saltem
aliquid eorum, quorum
usus indiget viminibus.
66. Referunt. After the labor of the
day, they drew home the plough inverted,
so that the share would glide easily over the
ground, and hang, as it were, lightly upon
the yoke.
71. Quin tu, &c. Why do you not rather
prepare to make (weave) at least some of
those things which need requires, of osiers
and pliant rushes? The verb indigeo go-
verns the genitive. Usus: need, or neces-
sity.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this pastoral?
Who is represented under the character
of Corydon?
Who under that of Alexis?
Where is the scene laid?
Who was Amphion? What is said of
him?
Who was Pan? What is said of him?
What were his festivals called by the
Greeks? What by the Romans?
By whom were they introduced into Italy?
When were they celebrated?
Who were the Nymphs? Into how many
classes may they be divided?
Was each of these classes subdivided into
other classes?
Can you mention some of those subdi
visions?
Who was Echo said to have been?
From what language are the names of
the Nymphs derived?
:
ECLOGA TERTIA.
MENALCAS, DAMCETAS, PALEMON.
THE subject of this pastoral is a trial of skill in music between the shepherds Menalcas
and Damotas; who after rallying each other a while, resolve to try a song in the pre-
sence of their neighbor Palemon, whom they constitute judge of their performances.
Having heard each of them attentively, he declared he was unable to decide so weighty
a controversy; but pronounced each one to be deserving of the pledge.
This beautiful pastoral is in imitation of the fifth and eighth of the Idylls of Theocri-
tus. It is conjectured that under the character of Damætas, we are to understand
Virgil; and under that of Menalcas, some rival poet at Rome.
1. Cujum pecus est
istud? an est pecus Me-
libai? non: vorùm est
pecus Ægonis.
5
MEN. DIC mihi, Damota, cujum pecus? an Melibœi?
DA. Non, verùm Egonis: nuper mihi tradidit Ægon.
ME. Infelix, ò, semper, oves, pecus! ipse Neæram
Dum fovet, ac, ne me sibi præferat illa, veretur,
Hic alienus oves custos bis mulget in horâ :
Et succus pecori, et lac subducitur agnis.
DA. Parciùs ista viris tamen objicienda memento.
8. Novimus et qui Novimus et qui te, transversà tuentibus hircis,
corruperint te et in quo Et quo, sed faciles Nymphæ risêre, sacello.
sacello, hircis tuentibus
transversà, sed
ME. Tum, credo, cùm me arbustum vidêre Myconis, 10
10. Tum, credo, illa Atque malâ vites incidere falce novellas.
riserunt, cum vidêre me
incidere arbustum
lia.
DA. Aut hic ad veteres fagos, cùm Daphnidis arcum
Fregisti et calamos: quæ tu, perverse Menalca,
Et cùm vidisti puero donata, dolebas
16. Audent facere ta- Et, si non aliquà nocuisses, mortuus esses.
ME. Quid domini facient, audent cùm talia fures?
NOTES.
1. Cujum: an adj. agreeing with pecus:
in the sense of cujus.
2. Egon. The name of a shepherd, the
rival of Menalcas in the love of Neara.
It is derived from a Greek word signifying
a goat.
3. O oves, infelix pecus. The sheep are
called unhappy, because their master Ægon,
while in love with Neæra, had given up all
care of them; and because they had fallen
into the hands of a hireling, who treated
them so inhumanly.
5. Alienus. An alien, or hireling shep-
herd-custos.
6. Succus: may mean the same with lac
mentioned just after. By milking the dams,
the natural food (lac) of the young would
be taken from them, and they suffered to
starve. Or succus may mean nourishment
in general. It being taken away or dimi-
nished to the dams, the milk would be di-
;
15
minished or taken away proportionably
from their young. This was a heavy charge
brought against Damætas. He highly re-
sented it.
8. Transversà: crosswise-asquint. An
adv. from the adj. of the neu. plu. in imi-
tation of the Greeks.
9. Sacello: any place consecrated to the
worship of God-a cave or grotto; as in
the present case.
10. Arbustum: properly, a place planted
with trees for vines to grow up by. By
meton. the trees themselves. See Ecl. I. 40.
Novellas: new, or young.
13. Quæ tu, &c. Which (bow and arrows)
when you saw given to the boy, you both grieved,
and would have died, if you had not, in some
way, injured him.
16. Fures: slaves. They were sometimes
so called, because notorious for stealing.
BUCOLICA. ECL. III.
13
Non ego te vidi Damonis, pessime, caprum
Excipere insidiis, multùm latrante lyciscà?
Et cùm clamarem; "Quò nunc se proripit ille?
Tityre, coge pecus:" tu post carecta latebas.
DA. An mihi cantando victus non redderet ille,
Quem mea carminibus meruisset fistula, caprum ?
Si nescis, meus ille caper fuit; et mihi Damon
Ipse fatebatur, sed reddere posse negabat.
20.
ME. Cantando tu illum? aut unquam tibi fistula cerâ 25 25. Tu vicisti illum
Juncta fuit? non tu in triviis, indocte, solebas
Stridenti miserum stipulâ disperdere carmen?
DA. Vis ergò inter nos, quid possit uterque, vicissim
Experiamur? ego hanc vitulam (ne fortè recuses,
Bis venit ad mulctrain, binos alit ubere fœtus)
Depono: tu dic, mecum quo pignore certes.
30
35
ME. De grege non ausim quicquam deponere tecum;
Est mihi namque domi pater, est injusta noverca :
Bisque die numerant ambo pecus; alter et hædos.
Verùm, id quod multò tute ipse fatebere majus,
Insanire libet quoniam tibi, pocula ponam
Fagina, cœlatum divini opus Alcimedontis :
Lenta quibus torno facili superaddita vitis
Diffusos hederâ vestit pallente corymbos.
In medio duo signa, Conon: et quis fuit alter,
NOTES.
18. Lycisca. A mongrel dog-an animal
half dog and half wolf.
20. Post carecta: behind the sedges. See
Ecl. I. 68.
21. An non victus cantando: vanquished
in singing, should he not return to me the goat
which, &c.
26. Triviis. Trivium, a place in which
three ways met. So Bivium and Quadrivium,
places in which two and four ways met.
Disperdere miserum carmen : to murder a
sorry, or wretched tune, on a squeaking straw-
pipe.
30. Ubere: the udder. By meton. for the
milk contained in it. Fatus: calves.
31. Quo pignore: with what pledge or bet.
Tell me what pledge you will put against
my heifer.
34. Ambo numerant: they both count the
flock twice in a day; and one counts the kids.
Pecus is properly a flock or herd of neat-
cattle, as here. Alter, properly is one of two
-unus, one of many.
36. Insanire: to be beside yourself to play
the fool; by contending with me, who am
so much more skilful than you. Pocula fa-
gina: beechen bowls-made of the beech-
wood.
37. Alcimedontis. The name of a very
skilful and ingenious carver. Mr. Martin
thinks he was some intimate friend of Vir-
gil, who wished to transmit his name to
posterity. History is silent respecting him.
cantando?
35. Verum, quoniam
libet tibi insanire, ponam
id quod tute ipse fate-
bere esse multò majus
pignus, nempe, duo fagi-
na pocula, cœlatum opus
40
38. Lenta vitis quibus: around which a
limber vine, superadded by the easy carving in-
strument, covers over (mantles) the diffused
(loosely hanging) clusters with pale ivy.-
These lines are somewhat intricate, and
have divided the opinions of commentators.
Rumus takes quibus in the abl. and inter-
prets facili torno by ope facilis torni. Dr.
Trapp and some others take facili torno in
the dat. and understand by it the wood after
it is smoothed and polished in the turner's
lathe, by meton. Davidson, on the other
hand, takes quibus for the dat. and facili
torno for the abl. but then he takes these last
for the ingenious carver, or easy skilful work-
man, which he might do by meton.
sense I have given is the most natural and
easy. The meaning of the poet is this:
That each of these bowls was engraved or
carved with vine and ivy boughs, so curiously
interwoven, that the ivy-berries were shaded
or mantled with the limber or pliant vine.
The
40. Conon. The name of a famous ma-
thematician and astronomer of Samos, a co-
temporary and friend of Archimedes. Signa:
figures. Et quis fuit alter? This is a very
pleasant turn. There is something agreeable
in this picture of pastoral simplicity. He
had mentioned the name of one, but had
forgotten the name of the other. He turns
to himself and asks: quis fuit alter? but
the name not recurring to him, he goes on
to describe him by his works: It was he,
14
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Descripsit radio totum qui gentibus orbem?
Tempora quæ messor, quæ curvus arator haberet?
Necdum illis labra admovi, sed condita servo.
45
Da. Et nobis idem Alcimedon duo pocula fecit,
Et molli circùm est ansas amplexus acantho:
Orpheaque in medio posuit, sylvasque sequentes.
Necdum illis labra admovi, sed condita servo.
Si ad vitulam spectes, nihil est quòd pocula laudes.
ME. Nunquam hodie effugies: veniam quocunque vo-
Audiat hæc tantùm vel qui venit: ecce, Palæmon: [câris
Efficiam posthac ne quemquam voce lacessas.
51
DA. Quin age, si quid habes; in me mora non erit ulla :
Nec quemquain fugio: tantùm, vicine Palæmon,
NOTES.
who, &c. It is supposed that Aratus or
Archimedes is meant. The former wrote in
Greek a treatise concerning the situation
and, motions of the heavenly bodies: which
was translated into Latin. The latter
was a famous mathematician and astrono-
mer of Syracuse, in Sicily. By the help of
his burning-glasses and engines, he nobly
defended that city when besieged by the
Romans under Marcellus. After a siege of
three years, however, it was taken by stra-
tagem. Archimedes was slain by a soldier,
while in the act of demonstrating a propo-
sition.
45. Amplexus est ansas: he encircled
handles around with soft acanthus. The
parts of the verb are here separated for the
sake of the verse, by Tmesis. Acantho: a
plant called Bear's-foot.
46. Orphea: acc. of Greek ending.-
Orpheus was a most ancient and excellent
poet, the son of Eagrus, king of Thrace.
But according to fable, he was the son of
Apollo and Caliope, one of the Muses. He
received a lyre from Apollo, some say from
Mercury, upon which he performed in such a
masterly manner, that the rivers ceased to
flow-the savage beasts forgot their ferocity
-and the lofty oaks bowed their heads and
listened to his song. He was beloved by all
the nymphs. Eurydice alone could make
an impression on his mind. He married
her; but their happiness was short. For
Aristæus fell in love with her; and fleeing
from him, a serpent lying in the way
wounded her in the foot, of which she died.
Orpheus was so much afflicted at the loss,
that he resolved to recover her, or perish in
the attempt. For this purpose, he descend-
ed to Hell, and gained admittance to Pluto,
who was so charmed with his music, that
he consented to restore to him his wife, upon
the condition that he would forbear to look
behind him till he passed the bounds of
his empire. The condition was accepted;
but as they were very near the region of
light, the unhappy lover turned his eyes to
behold his long-lost Eurydice. He saw her,
but she immediately vanished away. He
attempted to follow her, but was refused.
The only consolation he could find, was in
the sound of his lyre in groves and moun-
tains apart from society. The Thracian
women, whom by his neglect and coldness
he had offended, set upon him, while they
were celebrating the orgies of Bacchus, and
having torn his body in pieces, they threw
his head into the river Hebrus, which con-
tinued to articulate Eurydice! Eurydice!
as it was carried down the stream into the
Ægean sea. After his death, some say, he
received divine honors. His lyre was trans-
ferred to the heavens, and made a constel-
lation. Sequentes: obedient to his lyre.
47. Condita: laid up safe: a part. from
condo, agreeing with pocula.
49. Nunquam effugies hodie: you shall by
no means avoid the trial this day. Damo-
tas had proposed to stake a heifer which
Menalcas said he could not do through fear
of his father and step-mother; but proposed
to pledge his bowls. Damotas insisted upon
the heifer, and so seemed to avoid the con-
test, because the conditions could not be
accepted by Menalcas. At length, however,
confident of victory, and laying aside his
fear, he says: Veniam quocunque vocâris :
I will come to any conditions you shall pro-
pose.
pose. Accordingly the bowls are laid aside,
and a heifer is the prize.
50. Tantum vel qui venit, &c. Only (I have
nothing more to say) even let him who
comes yonder, hear these things. Menalcas
was so sure of victory, that he was willing
to submit to the decision of any third per-
son; and accordingly seeing some person
at a distance, says: even let him, who is
coming there, be the judge of our contro-
versy, whoever he may be. Upon his near
approach, discovering who he was, he says,
behold, it is Palemon our neighbor. Voce :
in the sense of cantu.
51. Efficiam: I will cause.
53. Fugio: in the sense of recuso.
BUCOLICA. ECL. III.
15
Sensibus hæc imis, res est non parva, reponas.
PAL. Dicite: quando quidem in molli consedimus herba:
Et nunc omnis ager, nunc omnis parturit arbos;
Nunc frondent sylvæ, nunc formosissimus annus.
Incipe, Damota: tu deinde sequêre, Menalca.
Alternis dicetis: amant alterna Camenæ.
56
DA. Ab Jove principium, Musa; Jovis omnia plena : 60. O muse, princi-
Ille colit terras; illi mea carmina curæ.
ME. Et me Phoebus amat: Phobo sua semper
Munera sunt, lauri, et suavè rubens hyacinthus.
DA. Malo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella :
Et fugit ad salices, et se cupit antè videri.
61 pium omnium est ab
Jove :
apud
[me
65
ME. At mihi sese offert ultro, meus ignis, Amyntas :
Notior ut jam sit canibus non Delia nostris.
DA. Parta meæ Veneri sunt munera: namque notavi
Ipse locum, aëriæ quo congessere palumbes.
ME. Quod potui, puero sylvestri ex arbore lecta
Aurea mala decem misi: cras altera mittam.
Da. O quoties, et quæ nobis Galatea locuta est!
Partem aliquam, venti, divûm referatis ad aures.
ME. Quid prodest, quòd me ipse animo non spernis,
Si, dum tu sectaris apros, ego retia servo?
70
[Amynta,
76
DA. Phyllida mitte mihi, meus est natalis, Iola.
Cùm faciam vitulâ pro frugibus, ipse venito.
ME. Phyllida amo ante alias: nam me discedere flevit :
NOTES.
54. Imis sensibus: your deepest attention,
or thoughts. Res: the controversy.
59. Alternis: in alternate verses. This
is called carmen amæbæum. It consists not
solely in the dialogue; but requires that
what the first says shall be replied to by
the other upon the same or similar subject.
Carmina : verses, is understood. Camœnæ :
the Muses. It was formerly written Car-
mena and Casmena. Theme, carmen.
60. Musa. They were nine in number,
the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne.
They were supposed to preside over the
arts and sciences. They were born in
Pieria in Macedonia, and were said to re-
side on mount Helicon and mount Parnassus,
the former in Beotia, the latter in Phocis.-
Their names are: Calliope, Clio, Erato,
Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Euterpe,
Polyhymnia, and Urania.
61. Ille colit: he regards the earth; he
regards my verses.
62. Phœbus. The same as Apollo and
Sol; the son of Jupiter and Latona. The
laurel and hyacinth were sacred to him.
Hence they are called sua munera, his own
gifts. See Ecl. IV. 10.
66. Ignis: properly a fire or flame. By
moton. love--also the object of love; as in
the present caso.
67. Ut jam Delia non: so that Delia now
is not better known, &c. Diana is some
62. Sunt Phobo sem-
per apud me sua mu-
nera, nempe, lauri
71. Quod solum potui
facere
ba
72. Et quæ dulcia ver-
times called Delia from Delos, the place of
her birth. She was the goddess of hunting,
and protectress of Dogs. Ruæus and Dr.
Trapp understand by Delia, not Diana, but
a servant of Menalcas by that name.
object of my affections.
68. Meæ veneri: for my love-the dear
69. Congessere: in the sense of nidifica-
verunt.
71. Aurea: yellow-ripe.
72. Venti, referatis: bear some part of
them, O winds, &c. Either because her
words were so sweet that they would de-
light even the ears of the gods: or that the
gods might be witnesses to her promises.
74. Quid prodest, &c. Damotas had been
just before expressing his joy at the conver-
sation which he had with his mistress. Me-
nalcas now endeavors to go beyond him in
sentiments of tenderness and affection; and
intimates that he cannot have any enjoy-
ment while Amyntas is absent; nay, unless
he share with him his dangers.
75. Retia: plu. of rete: toils, or snares
set to take any prey.
76. Phillida: a Greek acc. of Phillis.
She was the slave of Iolas, and mistress both
to Damætas and Menalcas.
77. Faciam vitulà: that is, faciam sacra
ex vitula: I will make the sacrifice of a
heifer for the fruits..
16
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
MARC
Et, "longum, formose, vale, vale," inquit, Iola.
DA. Triste lupus stabulis; maturis frugibus imbres; 80
Arboribus venti; nobis Amaryllidis iræ.
ME. Dulce satis humor; depulsis arbutus hædis,
Lenta salix fœto pecori: mihi solus Amyntas.
Da. Pollio amat nostram, quamvis est rustica, Musam.
85
86. Pascite taurum illi, Pierides, vitulam lectori pascite vestro.
qui jam
ME. Pollio et ipse facit nova carmina; pascite taurum,
Jam cornu petat, et pedibus qui spargat arenam.
88. Veniat quoque quò DA. Qui te, Pollio, amat; veniat quò te quoque gaudet :
gaudet eum to pervenisse. Mella fluant illi, ferat et rubus asper amomum.
92. O pueri, qui legitis
flores et fraga nascentia
numi, fugite
ME. Qui Bavium non odit, amet tua carmina, Mævi:
Atque idem jungat vulpes, et mulgeat hircos.
DA. Qui legitis flores, et humi nascentia fraga,
Frigidus, ô pueri! fugite hinc, latet anguis in herbà.
91
ME. Parcite, oves, nimiùm procedere: non benè ripa
Creditur ipse aries etiam nunc vellera siccat.
95
DA. Tityre, pascentes à flumine reice capellas:
Ipse, ubi tempus erit, omnes in fonte lavabo.
ME. Cogite oves pueri: si lac præceperit æstus,
Ut nuper, frustrà pressabimus ubera palmis.
DA. Eheu, quàm pingui macer est mihi tauros in arvo!
102. Neque est amor
Idem amor exitium pecori est, pecorisque magistro.
certè causa his meis ovi- ME. His certè neque amor causa est: vix ossibus hæ-
bus, cur sint tam macra. Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos. [rent.
NOTES.
79. Longum, formose, &c. These are not
the words of Phillis, addressed to Iolas, but
of Menalcas; and first addressed to Me-
nalcas by Phillis. They made a deep im-
pression on his mind-they stole his affec-
tions. O beautiful youth, said she, farewell
-farewell, a long time. Stabulis: sheep-
folds. By meton. the sheep. Triste is to
be supplied with each member of the sen-
tence following, as also the verb est.
82. Arbutus: the strawberry tree, so call-
ed from the resemblance of its fruit to a
strawberry. Depulsis: the words à lacte
are understood.
82. Satis. The dat. plu. a substantive
from the part. pass. of the verb sero, I sow.
It signifies any thing sown or planted-stand-
ing corn. Depulsis hadis: to the weaned
kids. Dulcis is to be supplied in each mem-
ber of the sentence; as also the verb est.
85. Pierides. The Muses are so called
from Pieria, the place of their birth. See
60. stipra.
86. Pollio. A noble Roman, the friend
and patron of Virgil. See next Ecl. Nova:
good-excellent.
88. Veniat quò gaudet, &c. May he also
arrive at those honors to which it delighteth
him that thou hast arrived. Pollio was in-
vested with the consulate in the year of
Rome 714, and in the following year he re-
ceived a triumph. He was also a poet and
historian; and considered among the most
learned men of his time. See Ecl. IV. 12.
89. Amomum. An aromatic fruit of great
value. The Assyrian was considered the
best. Rubus: the blackberry bush.
Bavius and
90. Qui Bavium non odit.
Mævius were two contemptible poets, and
very inimical to Virgil and Horace. These
two lines are wonderfully satirical. Let
the same persons yoke oxen and milk he-
goats. But this would be a useless, as well
as a ridiculous employment.
93. Frigidus: deadly, by meton. or cold;
descriptive of the nature of the snake.
95. Creditur. It is not easy to translate
impersonal verbs always literally. They
frequently occur in sentences, when such a
version would be very awkward English.
This is the case here. Menalcas is caution-
ing his sheep not to proceed too far; and
adds as
a reason for so doing, 'that it is
not well to trust to the bank. To give forco
to this caution, he mentions the case of the
ram that had just recovered of a fall from
it into the river, and was then drying his
fleece.
96. Reice. Imp. of the verb reicio, by
syncope for rejicio: drive back.
98. Præceperit: if the heat should dry up
the milk-should take it before us, then in
vain, &c.
103. Quis oculus: what evil eye bewitch-
es my tender lambs. Mihi: in the sense of
meos.
BUCOLICA. ECL. III.
17
DA. Dic quibus in terris, et eris mili magnus Apollo,
Tres pateat cœli spatium non ampliùs ulnas.
ME. Dic quibus in terris inscripti nomina regum
Nascantur flores et Phyllida solus habeto.
PA Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites.
Et vitulâ tu dignus, et hic: et quisquis amores
Aut metuet dulces, aut experietur amaros.
Claudite jam rivos, pueri sat prata biberunt.
NOTES.
105. Spatium cœli pateat. Damætas here
proposes a very intricate riddle. Various
have been the conjectures to solve it. It is
most generally thought that the place in
tended is the bottom of a well, from whence
the space of the heavens appears no broad-
er than its mouth, which in the general may
be taken for three ells.
107. Flores nascantur inscripti. Without
solving the riddle of Damætas, Menalcas
proposes this one, and it is an equal match
for his. The solution of it is all conjec-
ture. It is generally supposed that the hy-
acinth is the flower alluded to. Nomina
inscripti: inscribed as to the names of
kings or with the names of kings. See
See
Ecl. I. 55.
108. Non nostrum : it is not in my power
105
110
109. Et tu es dignus
vitulâ, et hic.
110. Quisquis aut me-
tuet dulces amores, aut
experietur amarts amo-
res.
to settle, &c. Est is to be supplied. Palæ-
mon declares his inability to determine the
controversy between them; but pronounces
them both worthy of the prize.
110. Metuet dulces: shall fear successful
love-shall fear that it would not be lasting.
Experietur amaros: shall experience disap-
pointed love-love not returned or recipro-
cated.
111. Claudite. This is a beautiful line:
shut up your streams, O swains, the meads
have drunk enough. It is a metaphor taken
from rivers refreshing the meadows through
which they pass; to music and poetry, de-
lighting the ear, the fancy, and the judg-
ment. It implies that it was time to cease
their song; they had given sufficient proofs
of their skill in music.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this pastoral?
Does Virgil here imitate Theocritus?
Who is to be understood under the cha-
racter of Damotas? Who under that of
Menalcas? Who under that of Palemon?
Who was Conon? Who was Archimedes?
What did he do against the Romans?
What became of him afterwards?
Who was Orpheus? Whom did he marry?
3
What did he do to recover his lost Eury-
dice?
What became of him at last?
In what consists the carmen amœbæum?
Who were the Muses? How many were
they in number? What were their names?
Who was Diana? Where was she born?
Over what did she preside?
ECLOGA QUARTA.
POLLIO.
VIRGIL's design in this pastoral is to celebrate the birth of a son of Pollio, as appears
from verse 17; on which account he dedicated it to that noble Roman. But it is evident
that he ascribes to the son of his friend, what cannot be attributed, with any propriety,
to a being merely human. On examination, it will be found that there are several
expressions and passages, which remarkably correspond with the prophecies and pre-
dictions of the Messiah, contained in the scriptures of the Old Testament; and parti-
cularly with those of the prophet Isaiah. That the poet was inspired is not pretended.
We are assured, on the most credible testimony, that about this time there was a general
expectation of the Messiah's appearance. This was partly from the dispersion of the
Jews over the Roman empire, who carried with them their scriptures; and partly from
the Sibylline oracles then much in repute. What, therefore, was generally said, and
was the common opinion concerning the Messiah, the poet applies to the son of Pollio.
It was not fulfilled in him. For he died on the ninth day after his birth. It was, how-
ever, actually fulfilled in about forty years afterwards, when the Savior appeared.
Some suppose that the poet hath in view Marcellus, the son of Octavia, the sister of
Augustus, whose birth corresponds with the consulship of Pollio. Augustus adopted
him, and designed him for his successor in the empire. This is the same Marcellus
whom Virgil highly compliments in the sixth book of the Eneid. He died soon after
he arrived at manhood.
SICELIDES Musæ, paulò majora canamus.
Non omnes arbusta juvant, humilesque myricæ.
Si canimus sylvas, sylvæ sint consule dignæ.
Ultima Cumæi venit jam carminis ætas :
NOTES.
1. Sicelides: an adj. from Silicia, the
island of Sicily, the country of Theocritus,
the father of pastoral poetry. Hence Sice-
lides Musa, pastoral muses.
2. Arbusta-myrica. Trees and shrubs
seem to be put here for pastoral subjects, or
the style and manner in which they are
sung, by meton. Myrica: a shrub called
the tamarisk. The poet here proposes to
write in a style different from the usual
style of pastoral; for that does not please
every ear. A more elevated strain he will
now attempt.
3. Sylvas: the woods. By meton. pas-
toral or rural subjects. If we sing of pas-
toral subjects, those subjects should be
worthy of a consul's ear.
4. Ultima ætas: the last age of the sibyl-
line prophecy hath now arrived-the last
age, which was the subject, &c. I would
here observe that the last days-the latter
days, or times, are common expressions in
the scriptures to denote the age of the Gos-
pel, which is the last dispensation of grace.
Cumai: an adj. from Cuma, a city of Cam-
pania, in Italy, famous for having been the
residence of a sibyl. There were several
others of the same name; but the most dis-
tinguished were, a city of Eolis, in Asia
Minor, and a city of Euboea, an island in
the Ægean sea: hodie, Negropont. The re-
sidence of this sibyl was a cave or vault
dug into a rock. Justin Martyr informs us,
that he visited the spot, and was shown a
kind of chapel in the rock, into which the
inhabitants told him (as they received it
from their forefathers) she retired whenever
she gave out her oracles. He also men-
tioned several other particulars. Onuphrius
tells us, that the cave or residence of the
sibyl remained in the same state Justin
Martyr described it, until 1539, when it was
entirely destroyed by an earthquake which
shook all Campania. See Prideaux's Con.
Part 2. Lib. 9. The sibyls were women
said to have been endued with the spirit of
prophecy, and to have foretold the dostinics
of states and kingdoms. They lived at
different periods of time, and in different
countries. They took the name of Sibyllæ,
or Sibyls, from the first, who was thus en-
dued, her name being Sibylla.
Varro onu-
BUCOLICA.
19
ECL. IV.
t
Magnus ab integro sæclorum nascitur ordo.
Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna :
Jam nova progenies cœlo demittitur alto.
Tu modò nascenti puero, quo ferrea primùm
Desinet, ac toto surget gens aurea mundo,
Casta, fave, Lucina: tuus jam regnat Apollo.
NOTES.
merates ten: The Delphica, Erythræa, Cu-
maa, Samia, Cumana, Hellespontica, Libyca,
Persica, Phrygia, and the Terburtina. Of
these, the one most noted was the Cumaan.
She seems to have been the same that the
Greeks called Erythræa, from the circum-
stance of her being born at Erythræ in Ionia,
of the Lesser Asia; from whence she re-
moved to Cumæ, in Italy. Carminis: in the
sense of vaticinii.
5. Magnus ordo. Some suppose that the
poet here hath reference to the great Plato-
nic year; of which Claudius says, Ch. 1
of the sphere: Omnia, quæcunque in mundo
sunt, eodem ordine esse reditura, quò nunc
cernuntur. This would embrace the period
of 25,920 of our years; when the equinoxes
will have made the circuit of the ecliptic, and
the same stars, which describe the equator,
tropics, and polar circles, by the diurnal
motion of the earth, will describe them over
again. Rumus, however, is of a different
opinion, and very justly understands by
magnus, great and illustrious; implying that
the period of which the poct spake as then
commencing, should be distinguished by
great and illustrious characters. Sæclorum,
by syncope for sæculorum. Sæculum properly
signifies the period of a hundred years.
It is also used to denote an indefinite period,
as in the present instance.
5
8. Tu modò, casta
Lucina, fave nascenti
puero, sub quo ferrea
gens primum desinet, ac
aurea gens surget toto
10 mundo.
set at liberty by Jupiter. But Saturn did
not long remain mindful of this favor.
He conspired against him to dethrone him,
and possess the empire himself. Upon this,
Jupiter banished him from heaven. He
came to Italy, which was afterwards called
Latium, from the circumstance of its being
the place of his concealment; from the verb
lateo. Janus, who was then king, received
him with hospitality, and made him partner
in his kingdom. Saturn employed his time
in civilizing his subjects, teaching them agri-
culture, and the several arts and sciences.
His reign was so mild, so beneficent and
virtuous, that it came to be denominated the
Golden Age, to intimate the happiness and
tranquillity which then were enjoyed. The
Silver Age succeeded, when men began to
degenerate, and their peace to be disturbed
by feuds and animosities. The Brazen Age
followed, when avarice and licentiousness
took possession of the heart. To this suc-
ceeded the Iron Age, when the world became
sunk into a general and total depravity.
These four ages are much spoken of by the
poets, but particularly the first. By this
time men had become so wicked and dege-
nerate, that they were all destroyed by a
deluge, which took place in the reign of
Deucalion, king of Thessaly. He and his
wife Pyrrha were the only survivors.
8. Fave nascenti puero: favor, or be pro-
pitious to the infant boy. Nascens does not
refer here so much to his birth, as to his in-
fant years. As Lucina had safely brought
the child into the world, it is the desire of
the poet that she should continue her atten-
tion and regard to him during the dangers
of infancy.
9. Gens: in the sense of atas.
6. Virgo. The poet here means Astræa,
the goddess of justice, the daughter of Ju-
piter and Themis. See nom. prop. under
Astræa. Saturnia regna: the reign of Sa-
turn. According to fable, Saturn was the
son of Calus and Terra, or Vesta. Cœlus
confined in Tartarus all his sons, except
Saturn; who with the assistance of his
mother, banished his father, and set his bro-
thers at liberty. He succeeded to the king- 10. Casta Lucina. Lucina was the god-
dom by the consent of his brother Titan, on dess supposed to preside over child-bearing,
the condition that he should raise no male and called Lucina from lux, because through
offspring. He accordingly devoured his her means children were brought to see the
sons as soon as they were born. But when light.
But when light. This office was attributed both to
Jupiter was born, his wife Rhea, or Ops, un- Juno and Diana; the latter of whom is the
willing to see all her sons perish, concealed one here meant, as appears from Tuus jam
him; giving to her husband a stone in room regnat Apollo: now thy Apollo reigns.-
of the child, which he devoured, without This hath led some into a singularity. By
discovering the cheat. In the same way she Apollo they would understand Augustus,
preserved Neptune and Pluto.
and by Lucina his sister Octavia. Virgil
was fond of complimenting his prince, but
there can be no necessity of such an inter-
pretation here. Ruxus understands it of
Apollo himself, who may be said to reign,
Titan being informed that his brother had
broken the terms of their contract, made
war upon him, and made both him and his
wife prisoners; they were, however, soon
20
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
O Pollio.
11. Adeò hoc decus Teque adeò decus hoc ævi, te consule, inibit,
mvi inibit, te, te consule, Pollio: et incipient magni procedere menses
Te duce, si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri,
Irrita perpetuâ solvent formidine terras.
Ille Deûm vitam accipiet, Divisque videbit
Permixtos heroas, et ipse videbitur illis :
Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.
NOTES.
because it is now manifest that his predic-
tions are true. Apollo was the god, under
whose influence the Sibyls were, when they
prophesied, or gave out their oracles.
Apollo was the son of Jupiter and Latona,
and brother of Diana. Juno, in order to
vent her rage against Latona, sent the ser-
pent Python, to vex and torment her. She
was unable to find a place where she could
be delivered of her children in peace, till
Neptune, taking pity on her, raised the island
Delos, where she was safely delivered of
Apollo and Diana at a birth. As soon as
he was born, Apollo slew the serpent Python,
from which circumstance he is sometimes
called Pythius. He was accounted the god
of medicine, music, poetry, and eloquence,
all of which, it is said, he invented. His
son Esculapius being killed by Jupiter for
raising the dead, he in turn slew the Cy-
clops, who had made the thunderbolt that
slew him. Jupiter being much enraged at
this piece of conduct, banished him from
heaven, and deprived him of his dignity.
He came to Admetus, king of Thessaly,
and hired himself as a shepherd, in which
employment he served nine years. Hence
he is sometimes called the god of shepherds.
Apollo was amorous, and had many chil-
dren. His worship was very general. At
Delphi, Delos, Claros, Tenedos, Patara, &c.
he had celebrated oracles. He had several
He had several
names: Pythius, already mentioned; Delius,
from the island Delos, where he was born;
Cynthius, from Cynthus, the name of a
mountain on the same island; Paan, from
a Greek word which signifies to strike, or
wound, in allusion to his killing the Python ;
Delphicus, from Delphi, in Phocis, where
he had his most famous temple and oracle;
Clarus, &c. He was called Phabus, or Sol,
in heaven. There were several among the
ancients, who went under the name of
Apollo. Cicero mentions three, besides the
son of Jupiter and Latona.
11. Hoc decus ævi: this glory of the age,
i. e. this glorious age, shall commence in your
consulship.
12. Magni menses. Servius and Pompo-
nius think we are to understand the months
of July and August, because they bore the
names of Julius and Augustus. But we
are undoubtedly to understand the magni
menses here, in the same manner and sense
15
On
as magnus ordo sæclorum, verse 5, supra,
Pollio. A very distinguished Roman. He
arrived to the highest honors that the people
could bestow. He was appointed Præfectus
of Hispania Ulterior by Julius Cæsar.
some occasion or other, being in Cis-alpine
Gaul, he became acquainted with Virgil,
for whom he conceived a very high regard,
and recommended him to Mecenas, who
was then at Rome. A way was thus open-
ed to our poet for the recovery of his lands.
In the year of Rome, 714, Pollio was ap-
pointed consul, and in the following year
he triumphed over the Partheni, a people
of Illyricum, who adhered to the party of
Brutus and Cassius. He wrote the history
of the civil wars, and was both a poet and
orator. He died in the eightieth year of his
age, and in the year of Rome, 757.
13. Siqua vestigia, &c. The poet here
alludes, most probably, to the perjury of
Laomedon, king of Troy; to which the
Trojans attributed their misfortunes and
calamities. See Geor. I. 502; or to the
civil wars which were carried on between
Cæsar and Pompey. Or lastly, to the death
of Julius Cæsar, who was slain by Brutus
in the senate house; which was the cause
of a second civil war, between Brutus and
Cassius on the one part, and Octavius and
Anthony on the other. It terminated in
the ruin of the Republic, and in the esta-
blishment of the Empire.
14. Irrita: being effaced, or done away.
will free the earth, &c. Irrita, of in nega.
tivum, and ratus; agreeing with vestigia.
15. Ille accipiet vitam: he shall partake
the life of the gods, &c. Here is an allu-
sion to the Golden Age, when, the poets
say, the gods had familiar intercourse with
men, and dwelt on the earth. That happy
period was again about to return.
17. Reget, &c. He shall rule the peace-
ful world by his father's virtues. Meaning
that the child should arrive at the highest
honors of the state, that is, should be a con-
sul. Or, he shall rule the world, reduced to
peace by his father's virtues. Pollio and
Mæcenas effected a reconciliation between
Octavius and Anthony, which gave hope
of a lasting peace.
of a lasting peace. Orbem here means the
Roman Empire; which, in the height of its
greatness, comprehended the greater part
of the world that was then known.
1
BUCOLICA. ECL. IV.
21
At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu,
Errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus,
Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho.
Ipsæ lacte domum referent distenta capella
Übera: nec magnos metuent armenta leones.
Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores :
Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni
Occidet: Assyrium vulgò nascetur amomum.
At simul heroum laudes, et facta parentis
Jam legere, et quæ sit poteris cognoscere virtus :
Molli paulatim flavescet campus aristâ,
Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva,
Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella :
Pauca tamen suberunt priscæ vestigia fraudis,
Quæ tentare Thetim ratibus, quæ cingere muris
Oppida, quæ jubeant telluri infindere sulcos.
Alter erit tum Tiphys, et altera quæ vehat Argo
Delectos heroas: erunt etiam altera bella,
Atque iterum ad Trojam magnus mittetur Achilles.
Hinc, ubi jam firmata virum te fecerit ætas,
Cedet et ipse mari vector: nec nautica pinus
NOTES.
19. Baccare. Baccar, a sweet herb called
by some ladies-glove; by others, clown-spike-
nard. Colocasia: Egyptian beans. Acan-
tho: the herb called bear's-foot. It has a
long and broad leaf.
23. Cunabula ipsa: the cradle itself—
the very cradle. Blandos: in the sense of
jucundos.
Fallax
24. Serpens occidet: the serpent shall die.
This is a very remarkable passage. The
Messiah was promised to bruise the head of
the serpent, Gen. Ch. iii. 15th verse.
herba veneni: the deceiving herb of poison
shall die-every herb whose poisonous
quality is not known. For if it were known,
no person would meddle with it, and con-
sequently none would be deceived. Amo-
mum. Seo Ecl. iii. 89.
28. Molli: ripe. For the fields do not
grow yellow till the approach of harvest.
Arista corn-an ear of corn.
29. Sentibus: thorn-bushes.
31. Tamen pauca, &c. We may here
observe the several gradations of the Gold-
en Age. With the birth of the child it
commenced: Cunabula fundent flores. Du-
ring the years of his youth, the earth is to
bring forth abundantly. There is to be
no want of any thing: Campus flavescet,
&c. All vestiges of former crimes, howe-
ver, were not done away. Some traces of
the Iron Age were to be visible in the con-
duct and actions of men: Quæ jubeant, &c.
But when he has arrived to years of full
maturity, then the earth is to produce all
things spontaneously: Omnis tellus feret
20
25
30
18. At tellus fundet
prima munuscula tibi,
O puer, nullo cultu,
nempe, errantes hederas
passim cum baccare,
colocasia que mixta ri-
denti acantho.
26. At simul jam po-
teris legere laudes he-
roum, et facta parentis
et
32. Quæ jubeant ho-
mines tentare Thetim
ratibus; quæ jubeant il-
los cingere oppida muris;
35 et quæ jubeant illos in-
findere sulcos telluri.
omnia; and the Golden Age is to appear
in all its felicity and glory. Fraudis: in
the sense of sceleris.
32. Thetim. Thetis, a goddess of the sea,
the daughter of Nereus and Doris. Jupiter
fell in love with her, and determined to
marry her; but being informed by Prome-
theus of a decree of the fates, that she should
bear a son who should be greater than his
father, he desisted from his purpose. Where-
wife, and of her begat Achilles. Thetis, be
upon Peleus, king of Thessaly took her to
meton. is put for the sea in this place.
ship Argo. It was so called, either from
34. Tiphys. The name of the pilot of the
gus, the architect; or from Argivi, Greeks,
whom it carried. It was built at Pegasa, a
promontory and town of Thessaly. Hence
sometimes called navis Pegasæa.
35. Delectos heroas: chosen heroes.-
These were noble Greeks, chiefly of Thes-
saly. They were about fifty in number,
and went to Colchis in the ship Argo, to
bring away the golden fleece, which was
guarded by a dragon, and bulls breathing
fire. Jason commanded the expedition.
Castor, Pollux, Hercules, Theseus, Orpheus,
Zetes, and Calaïs accompanied him. The
crew collectively was called Argonautæ.
See nom. prop. under Jason.
36. Achilles-Trojam-Argo-Tiphys.
These are here put for any hero, any city,
any ship, any pilot.
naval pine exchange commodities-carry on
36. Nec nautica pinus, &c. Nor shall the
traffic. Pinus is here put for a ship made
of that tree, by meton. Vector: the mari-
ner. Cedet: shall leave, or abandon.
મ
22
P. VIRGILJI MARONIS
Mutabit merces: omnis feret omnia tellus.
Non rastros patietur humus, non vinea falcem :
Robustus quoque jam tauris juga solvet arator.
Nec varios discet mentiri lana colores :
40
43. Sed aries ipse in Ipse sed in pratis aries jam suavè rubenti
pratis mutabit vellera Murice, jam croceo mutabit vellera luto:
jam suavè rubenti mu-
Sponte suâ sandyx pascentes vestiet agnos.
rice, jam
46. Parcæ concordes. Talia sæcla suis dixerunt, currite, fusis
stabili numine fatorum Concordes stabili fatorum numine Parcæ.
dixerunt suis fusis, O Aggredere, ô, magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores,
talia sæcla, currite. Clara Deûm soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum !
magnum incrementum Aspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum,
Jovis, aggredere mag- Terrasque, tractusque maris, cœlumque profundum :
Aspice venturo lætentur ut omnia sæclo.
clara soboles Deûm,
nos honores
53. O ultima pars O mihi tam longæ maneat pars ultima vitæ,
tam longæ vitæ maneat Spiritûs et, quantùm sat erit tua dicere facta!
mihi, et tantùm spiritûs, Non me carminibus vincet, nec Thracius Orpheus,
quantum
45
50
55
Nec Linus huic mater quamvis, atque huic pater adsit,
Orphei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo.
Pan etiam Arcadiâ mecum si judice certet,
Pan etiam Arcadiâ dicat se judice victum:
Incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem :
NOTES.
42 Lana discet, &c. Nor shall the wool
learn to counterfeit various colors.
44. Murice. Murex, a sea-fish of the
shell kind. It is said to have been of great
use among the ancients for dying purple.
Hence, by meton. put for the purple color
itself. Croceo: an adj. from crocum, or
crocus, saffron. Luto: the Lutum was an
herb used in dying yellow. Hence the color
itself, by meton. Modern botanists describe
it under the name of luteola, wild-woad,
and dyer's weed. It is used in coloring
both wool and silk. Mutabit: shall tinge,
or dye.
45. Sandyx: the scarlet color-vermilion.
46. Fusis: to their spindles.
47. Parca. They were the daughters of
Erebus and Nox, and said to be three in
number: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos.
They were supposed to preside over the
birth, life, and death of mankind. The first
was represented as presiding over the mo-
ment of birth, and holding a distaff in her
hand; the second, as spinning out the events
and actions of human life; the last as cut-
ting the thread of it with a pair of scissors.
They were considered powerful goddesses,
and were worshipped with great solemnity.
Stabili numine: in the fixed purpose or de-
cree. Clara. Some copies have cara.-
Magnum incrementum : great son of Jove.
48. Aggredere. Rumus says accede.
50. Aspice mundum: see the world with
its globous mass or load, nodding (reeling
to and fro) both the land, &c. Dr. Trapp
takes convexo pondere in the sense of converi
60
ponderis, and connects it with mundum, and
not with nutantem, as is commonly done.
For he observes, that it is impossible for the
earth to reel to and fro or nod, with its own
weight or load. He chooses, therefore, to
understand it of the load of its guilt and
misery: mole malorum, vitiorumque; but
rejoicing at the happy change about to be
introduced, which is expressed in the next
line: omnia lætentur sæclo futuro. Some ex-
plain the words, aspice mundum, &c., look
with compassion upon a world, nulantem
mole malorum vitiorumque: laboring and
oppressed with a load of guilt and misery.
Út: in the sense of quomodo.
55. Non vincet. Non appears to be used
in the sense of nullus. No one shall excel
me in singing, neither Thracian, &c.
56. Linus. He was the son of Apollo
and Terpsichore, one of the muses. He
was an excellent musician, and the precep-
tor of Orpheus and Hercules. He is said to
have been killed by the latter, by a stroke
of his lyre, because he laughed at his sing-
ing. Quamvis mater Calliopea adsit, &c.
Although the mother Calliopea should assist
this Orpheus; and fair Apollo, the father,
should assist this Linus. Orphei: a Greck
dat. of Orpheus.
59. Arcadia judice: Arcadia being judge.
Arcadia was an inland country of the Pelo-
ponnesus, famous for its excellent pastures.
The whole of it was sacred to Pan. Seo
Ecl. ii. 31.
60. Risu cognoscere, &c. Begin, sweet
boy, to know thy mother by her smiles.
BUCOLICA. ECL. IV
23
Matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia menses.
Incipe, parve puer, cui non risere parentes,
Nec Deus hunc mensâ, Dea nec dignata cubili est.
NOTES.
This is the sense which Rumus and some
others give to risu. But Dr. Trapp takes
it otherwise applying it to the boy. Begin
to know and acknowledge thy mother by
smiling on her; as a kind of recompense for
the pains she endured for thy sake.
61. Fastidia: qualms, as of a woman
with child. Longa: tedious-without in-
termission. Decem menses: ten months
brought to your mother, &c.
62. Cur parentes non risere, &c. It is
plain the poet here intends a threat of some
63. Nec Deus digna-
tus est hunc mensa
kind to the child. But upon the nature or
extent of the threat, commentators are not
agreed. It is generally thought that refe-
rence is here made to verse 15, where the
babe was promised divine honors: ille ac-
cipiet vitam Deorum; and lest he should fail
of it, the poet urges him to smile upon his
parents, that in turn they might smile upon
him. For, on whom his parents have not
smiled, him hath a god neither honoured
with his table, nor a goddess with her bed.
Thus Dr. Trapp.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this pastoral?
In what light has it been considered by
some?
Are there any passages in it which have
a resemblance to the prophecies of our Sa-
viour, as contained in the scriptures?
Was the poet divinely inspired?
About this time was there a general cx-
pectation of the Messiah's appearance?
How was this occasioned?
At what age did the son of Pollio die?
How many years before the birth of
Christ?
Do some suppose the poet celebrates the
birth of Marcellus?
Who was this Marcellus? To what age
did he live?
Who were the Sibyls? How many docs
Varro mention? Of these, which was the
most distinguished?
Whore did she resido?
What does Justin Martyr say of her resi
dence?
Who was Saturn? What is said of him:
Whence did Latium derive its name?
How did Saturn employ his time after
his banishment to Italy?
How many ages do the poets mention be-
fore the deluge in the reign of Deucalion?
Describe those ages?
Who was Apollo? What is said of him?
For what was he banished from heaven?
What did he then do?
Where were his most celebrated oracles?
What were his names?
Who was Pollio? To what honors did
he arrive?
Was it through his means that Virgil re-
covered his land? In what way?
To what age did he live?
Who were the Parce? How many in
number? What was their supposed office ?
ECLOGA QUINTA.
MENALCAS, MOPSUS.
THE subject of this excellent pastoral is the death of some eminent person under the
character of Daphnis. But concerning the person intended, there have been various
conjectures. It is most probable the poet had in view Julius Cæsar, who was killed in
the senate-house by Brutus, and afterwards enrolled among the Roman deities.
Menalcas, we are to understand Virgil; and by Mopsus, some poet of reputation, who
probably had been Virgil's pupil.
By
Ruæus thinks it was written when some games or sacrifices were performed in honor of
Cæsar. The scene is beautiful, and adapted to the subject. The shepherds sit on the
verdant grass in the awful gloom of a grotto, overhung with wild vines. The pastoral
is properly divided into two parts—the Lamentation at his death, and his Deification, or
Apotheosis.
nos
1. O Mopse, quoniam
ME. CUR non, Mopse, boni quoniam convenimus ambo,
convenimus unà, Tu calamos inflare leves, ego dicere versus,
ambo boni; tu bonus
inflare leves calamos, Hic corylis mixtas inter consedimus ulmos?
ego bonus dicere versus; Mo. Tu major: tibi me est æquum parere, Menalca :
cur non consedimus hic Sive sub incertas Zephyris motantibus umbras,
lis?
inter ulmos mixtas cory- Sive antro potiùs succedimus: aspice, ut antrum
Sylvestris raris sparsit labrusca racemis.
5. Sub imus umbras
incertas motantibus,
6. Aspice ut sylves-
tris labrusca sparsit
9. Idem Amyntas certet
5
ME. Montibus in nostris solus tibi certet Amyntas.
Mo. Quid si idem certet Phoebum superare canendo?
ME. Incipe, Mopse, prior, si quos aut Phyllidis ignes,
Aut Alconis habes laudes, aut jurgia Codri.
NOTES.
11
1. Boni: skilful-expert. An adj. agree- tree, it put forth leaves. Ignis: by meton.
ing with nos, understood.
4. Major. Thou art the older: or it may
mean, my superior, in singing.
5. Umbras: shades. By meton. put for
the trees causing them. Incertas: waving
moving to and fro.
7. Sylvestris labrusca. Simply, the wild
vine. Raris racemis: with thin bunches of
grapes-its bunches scattered here and
there.
10. Si habes aut quos ignes: if you have
either any loves of Phyllis, or &c. She
was the daughter of Lycurgus, king of
Thrace, and fell in love with Demophoon,
the son of Theseus, king of Athens, on his
return from the Trojan war. He went
home to settle some business, and tarrying
longer than the time appointed for their
nuptials, Phyllis, imagining herself neglect-
ed, hung herself, and was changed into a
leafless almond-tree. Demophoon after
ards returned and on his embracing the
love; also the object loved.
11. Alconis. Gen. of Alcon, a celebrated
archer of Crete. He aimed an arrow so
truly at a serpent, entwined around the
body of his son, that he killed him without
injuring the child. Jurgia Codri: the strife
or contentions of Codrus. He was the son
of Menander, and the last king of Athens.
In a war with the Lacedemonians, it was
given out by an oracle that victory should
be on that side, whose king was slain. In
the mean time the enemy had given strict
charge not to hurt the Athenian king.
Being informed of this, as well as what the
oracle had given out, Codrus put on the
habit of a peasant, went among the enemy,
raised a quarrel, and suffered himself to be
slain. As soon as this was known, the La-
cedemonians were panic struck, and the
Athenians obtained a complete victory.
This noble sacrifice of himself for the good
of his country, so endeared his name to
them, that they considered no person worthy
to succeed him.
BUCOLICA. ECL. V.
25
Incipe pascentes servabit Tityrus hædos.
Mo. Immò hæc, in viridi nuper quæ cortice fagi
Carmina descripsi, et modulans alterna notavi,
Experiar tu deinde jubeto certet Amyntas.
ME. Lenta salix quantùm pallenti cedit olivæ,
Puniceis humilis quantùm saliunca rosetis:
Judicio nostro tantùm tibi cedit Amyntas.
Mo. Sed tu desine plura, puer: successimus antro.
Extinctum Nymphæ crudeli funere Daphnim
Flebant: vos coryli testes et flumina Nymphis:
Cùm, complexa sui corpus miserabile nati,
Atque Deos atque astra vocat crudelia mater.
Non ulli pastos illis egêre diebus
15
13. Immò experiar hæc
carmina, quæ nuper dos-
cripsi
15. Jubeto ut Amyn-
tas certet mecum
19. Dosine loqui plura
20 verba
Frigida, Daphni, boves ad flumina : nulla neque amnem
Libavit quadrupes, nec graminis attigit herbam.
Daphni, tuum Panos etiam ingemuisse leones
Interitum, montesque feri sylvæque loquuntur.
Daphnis et Armenias curru subjungere tigres
Instituit: Daphnis thiasos inducere Baccho,
Et foliis lentas intexere mollibus hastas.
Vitis ut arboribus decori est, ut vitibus uvæ,
21. Vos, O coryli et
flumina fuistis testes
nymphis;
25. O Daphni, non
26 ulli pastores egere pas-
tos boves
30
28. Ferique montes,
loquuntur,
sylvæque
etiam Pænos leones
30. Daphnis instituit
inducere
NOTES.
15. Modulans alterna_notavi: tuning, or
singing them alternate, I wrote them down.
Experiar: I will try attempt. Carmina:
verses.
17. Saliunca: the herb lavender. Puni-
ceis rosetis: to red rose-beds: or by meton.
the red rose. Puniceus, sometimes written
Phaniceus, an adj. from Phenicia, a coun-
try lying along the eastern shore of the
Mediterranean, including Tyre and Sidon,
famous for its purple or red color. The
same word is used for an inhabitant of
Carthage, because that city was founded by
a colony from Tyre, or Phoenicia.
20. Daphnim extinctum: Daphnis slain, or
cut off by a cruel death. This circum
stance applics very well to the case of Julius
Cæsar, who was slain unexpectedly, receiv-
ing no less than twenty-three wounds with
the dagger.
22. Čùm mater complexa: when the mother
embracing, &c. Cerdanus understands by
mater the wife of Cæsar, who a little be-
fore his death dreamed her husband was
stabbed in his breast. Rumus understands
Rome, and Dr. Martyn Venus. Vocat, &c.
Vocal, &c.
She calls the gods and stars cruel-she
blames the gods and cruel stars. Vocat,
Dr. Trapp takes for vocabat, where the
sense evidently determines it.
25. Amnem: in the sense of aquam.
26. Nulla quadrupes. Ruæus thinks the
poet hath in his view a passage in Sueto-
nius. Speaking of the prodigies which
preceded the death of Cæsar, he says:
Proximis diebus equorum greges, quos in tra-
jiciendo Rubicone flumine consecrarat, ac
vagos et sine custode dimiserat, comperit per-
tinacissimè pabulo abstinere, ubertimque
flere. In this case, by quadrupes, we are to
understand equus, a horse. Libavit: drank
--tasted.
27. Pœnos leones: African lions. Panos:
in the sense of Punicos, vel Africanos. Car-
thage was the principal city of Africa.-
Hence by synec. it may be put for Africa in
general. Being founded by a colony from
Phenicia, its inhabitants were called Pani,
as well as Carthaginienses. These lions are
mentioned, either because they were the
most savage, or because Africa abounded
in lions, and other savage beasts.
28. Interitum: in the sense of mortem.
Feri: wild-uncultivated.
29. Armenias: an adj. from Armenia, an
extensive country of Asia, abounding in
tigers. Curru, for currui, the dat. case.
Nouns of the fourth declension sometimes
formed the gen. in uis, and when the gen.
was contracted into ûs, the dat. was some-
times contracted into u. Many instances
of this contraction we find in Virgil and
other writers.
30. Thiasos. Thiasus, a kind of dance.
The word is of Greek origin.
31. Intexere lentas hastas, &c. To wreath,
or entwine limber spears, &c. Rumus inter-
prets intexere, by induere.
32. Ut vitis est decori arboribus: as the
vine is for an ornament to the trees, as tho
grapes, &c. The words sunt decori arc te
be supplied.
26
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Ut gregibus tauri, segetes ut pinguibus arvis ;
34. Sic tu eras omne Tu decus omne tuis: postquam te fata tulerunt,
decus tuis
Ipsa Pales agros, atque ipse reliquit Apollo.
mandavimus
36 In sulcis, quibus Grandia sæpe quibus mandavimus hordea sulcis,
grandia Infelix lolium, et steriles nascuntur avenæ.
Pro molli violâ, pro purpureo narcisso,
Carduus et spinis surgit paliurus acutis.
hordea, sæpe
35
Spargite humum foliis; inducite fontibus umbras,
Pastores: mandat fieri sibi talia Daphnis.
40
Et tumulum facite, et tumulo superaddite carmen:
43. Ego Daphnis ja- Daphnis ego in sylvis, hinc usque ad sidera notus;
cio hic in sylvis, notus Formosi pecoris custos, formosior ipse.
hinc
ME. Tale tuum carmen nobis, divine poëta,
Quale sopor fessis in gramine; quale per æstum
Dulcis aquæ saliente sitim restinguere rivo.
Nec calamis solùm æquiparas, sed voce magistrum.
Fortunate puer, tu nunc eris alter ab illo:
*45
50. Tamen nos dice- Nos tamen hæc quocunque modo tibi nostra vicissim 50
mus hæc nostra carmina Dicemus; Daphninque tuum tollemus ad astra;
Daphnin ad astra feremus: amavit nos quoque Daphnis.
Mo. An quicquam nobis tali sit munere majus ?
Et puer ipse fuit cantari dignus, et ista
Jampridem Stimicon laudavit carmina nobis.
ME. Candidus insuetum miratur limen Olympi,
Sub pedibusque videt nubes et sidera Daphnis
58. Ergo alacris vo- Ergò alacris sylvas et cætera rura voluptas,
luptas tenet sylvas
Panaque, pastoresque tenet, Dryadasque puellas
NOTES.
34. Tu omne decus tuis: so thou wast all
the ornament to thy friends. Tuis: to thy
fellow swains. Virgil represents Daphnis,
whoever he be, as a swain and shepherd.
35. Pales. See Geor. iii. 1. Apollo. He
is considered here under the character of
the god of shepherds. See Ecl. iv. 10.
36. Hordea: barley, here put for any kind
of grain; the species for the genus.
37. Infelix lôlvum: the hurtful cockle.
38. Narcisso: the flower Narcissus, of
which there are two kinds, the white and
the purple. See Ecl. ii. 46.
39. Carduus: the thistle. Paliurus: a
species of thorn. It abounds in Italy. ·
42. Carmen: an epitaph, or inscription.
45. Tale tuum carmen. The elegance
and sweetness of this and the two following
lines are not to be equalled, unless by the
answer, which Mopsus returns in verse 82,
et sequens. Est is to be supplied.
47. Restinguere, &c. To allay thirst in
a purling rivulet of sweet water in the sum-
mer heat. This is a most beautiful com-
parison. Nothing could give a livelier idea
of the charms of his music, and the melody
of his song.
48. Magistrum: the master. It appears
from this, that Mopsus had been a pupil of
Menalcas, and much esteemed by him.
Би
49. Alter ab illo: the next from him-the
next in fame after him.
50. Quocunque modo: in some manner or
other as well as I can.
52. Daphnis, &c. As we are to under-
stand Virgil under the character of Menal-
cas, it is urged that Daphnis cannot be Ju-
lius Cæsar, because Virgil was little known
in his time. But Rumus explains it of the
Mantuans in general, who, with the other
inhabitants of Cis-alpine Gaul, were che-
rished and protected by Casar.
53. An quicquam sil: can there be any
thing more acceptable (majus) to me than
such an employment?
54. Puer ipse. Servius infers from this
that Daphnis cannot be Julius Cæsar, since
he was 56 years old when he was killed.
Ruæus understands it of his being lately
enrolled among the gods. But this is an
unnecessary refinement, and the objection.
of Servius will be of no weight, when it is
considered that Virgil speaks of Daphnis
under the character of a shepherd, or swain.
See 43 and 44, supra; and puer is the word
generally used to denote either.
56. Candidus: white-clothed in white.
This is an emblem of divinity; white being
the color assigned to the celestial gods, as
black is to the infernal geds. Insultum, a
BUCOLICA. ECL. V.
27
Nec lupus insidias pecori, nec retia cervis
Ulla dolum meditantur: amat bonus otia Daphnis.
Ipsi lætitiâ voces ad sidera jactant
Intonsi montes: ipsæ jam carmina rupes;
Ipsa sonant arbusta: Deus, Deus ille, Menalca.
Sis bonus, ô felixque tuis! en quatuor aras :
Ecce duas tibi, Daphni, duoque altaria Phœbo.
Pocula bina novo spumantia lacte quotannis,
Craterasque duos statuam tibi pinguis olivi.
Et multo imprimis hilarans convivia Baccho,
Ante focum, si frigus erit; si messis, in umbrâ,
NOTES.
part. of insuesco, unaccustomed, referring to
his being but lately deified. Lymen Olympi:
the threshold of heaven. There were se-
veral mountains by the name of Olympus.
The most distinguished, however, was one
in Thessaly, near the confines of Macedo-
nia; the top of which arose above the clouds.
Hence the poets feigned it to be heaven, the
seat of the gods.
60. Insidias: plots. This word hath no
singular. Retia: neu. plu. toils-snares.
Meditantur: devise, or prepare.
61. Amat otia, &c. This expression seems
to allude to the clemency of Cæsar toward
his enemies, for which he is much celebrated
by Cicero and others.
62. Jactant: in the sense of emittunt.
63. Intonsi: uncultivated-wild.
64. Deus ille. Divine honors were de-
croed to Julius Cæsar by the Triumviri, in
the year of Rome 712, Lepidus and Plancus
being consuls. From this time, Octavius
From this time, Octavius
began to be called the son of a god.
65. Aras. Ara was an altar dedicated
both to the gods above, and to those below.
both to the gods above, and to those below.
Altare was a high altar, and dedicated to
the gods above exclusively. Felix: propi-
tious-kind.
68. Crateras: acc. plu. of crater, a large
cup, or bowl. This word is purely Greek.
Statuam: in the sense of offeram.
69. Hilarans convivia, &c. Cheering or
making merry the feasts with much wine.
Bacchus, the god of wine, was the son of
Jupiter and Semele. He was educated, ac-
cording to some, in the island of Narus,
one of the Cyclades, under the care of the
nymphs Philia, Coronis, and Clyda; and
while asleep was carried off by some mari-
ners, all of whom he changed into dolphins,
except the pilot, who showed him some ten-
derness and regard. Bacchus is celebrated
as a warrior. He marched into India at
the head of a large army composed of men
and women, all inspired with a divine fury,
and armed with the thyrsus, cymbal, &c.
His conquests were easy-the people sub-
mitting wherever he came, without resist-
Pentheus, king of Thebes, refused to
ance.
60
60. Lupus meditatur
65
70
63. Jam rupes ipsæ
sonant carınına; jam
arbusta ipsa sonant hoc:
O Menalca, ille est Deus,
ille est Deus.
65. En aspice quatuor
aras: ecce aspice duas
aras tibi
67. Statuam bina po-
cula spumantia novo
lacte, duosque
acknowledge his divinity, and forbade his
subjects to pay adoration to him; and even
ordered Bacchus himself to be seized and
cast into prison. But the doors opened
of their own accord, as if refusing to con-
tain him a prisoner. Whereupon the king
became enraged, and ordered the whole
band of Bacchanals to be destroyed. But
this was not carried into effect. Pentheus
became desirous to see the celebration of
the Orgies, or feasts of Bacchus. For this
purpose, he concealed himself on mount
Citheron, whence he could see all their ce-
remonies. But being discovered, the Bac-
chanals fell upon him. His mother was
the first who attacked him, and was follow-
ed by her two sisters, Ino and Autone, who
immediately tore him in pieces. See Ovid.
Met. Lib. 3.
Midas, king of Phrygia, had entertained
Silenus, the preceptor of Bacchus; who
desired him to ask any thing he might
please, and it should be granted him.
might touch should be converted into gold.
Whereupon he asked that whatever he
vinced of his imprudent choice; for his food
This was granted. But he was soon con-
the point of perishing with hunger, when he
became gold in his mouth, and he was on
besought Bacchus to take back his gift; he
readily did so, and directed him to wash in
the river Pactolus, whose sands were con-
verted into gold.
The festivals of Bacchus, called Orgia,
Bacchanalia, or Dyonisia, were introduced
into Greece by Danaus and his daughters,
from Egypt. The panther was sacred to
him, because in his expedition to India, he
was covered with the skin of that animal.
The fir-tree, the yew-tree, the fig-tree, the
ivy, and the vine, were all sacred to him.
Bacchus had several names: Liber, Rro-
mius, Lyæus, Evan, Thryonæus, Iacchus, &c.
He is represented as drawn in a chariot by a
tiger and a lion, accompanied by Pan, Sile-
nus, and the other satyrs. Bacchus, by me-
ton. is frequently put for wine, as in the
present case.
28
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
71. Arvisia vina quæ Vina novum fundam calathis Arvisia nectar.
Cantabunt mihi Damotas, et Lyctius Ægon :
sunt.
79. Ut Agricola fa- Saltantes Satyros imitabitur Alphesibæus.
cient vota quotannis Hæc tibi semper erunt ; et cùm solennia vota
Baccho Cererique, sic Reddemus Nymphis, et cùm lustrabimus agros.
facient ea tibi
Dum juga montis aper, fluvios dum piscis amabít,
81. Quæ, quæ dona
reddam
Dumque thymo pascentur apes, dum rore cicada,
82. Nam neque sibi- Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudesque manebunt.
lus venientis Austri ju- Ut Baccho Cererique, tibi sic vota quotannis
vat me tantùm ; nec litora Agricolæ facient: damnabis tu quoque votis.
percussa fluctu tam ju- Mo. Quæ tibi, quæ tali reddam pro carmine dona ?
decurrunt inter,
Nam neque me tantùm venientis sibilus Austri,
suxosas valles, tam ju- Nec percussa juvant fluctu tam litora, nec quæ
Saxosas inter decurrunt flumina valles.
vant me; nec flumina
quæ
vant me.
NOTES.
71. Arvisia vina: Chian wine. Arvisia:
an adj. from Arvisus, a promontory of the
island Chios, in the Archipelago, famous for
its good wine. Novum nectar: nectar was
properly any kind of pleasant wine, or
other liquor. Hence the poets feigned it to
be the drink of the gods. Novum: good-
excellent. The wine here offered was to
be as good as nectar-good or excellent
nectar. See Ecl. iii. 66.
72. Lyctius: an adj. from Lyctus, a city
of Crete.
73. Saltantes Satyros: leaping or wonton
satyrs. The Satyri were demi-gods of the
country, the origin of whom is not well
known. They were of a hideous, form,
and generally distinguished themselves by
their riotous and wanton demeanor in the
orgies of Bacchus, which they generally at-
tended. The Romans called them indis-
criminately Fauni, Panes, and Sylvani.
Alphesibæus. See Ecl. 8.
75. Lustrabimus. Lustro may here be
taken in the sense of circumeo, to go around
or encompass; or of purgo, to cleanse or
purify by sacrifice; or it may comprehend
both. For it is agreed by all, that the poet
hath a reference to what is called the sacri-
ficium ambervale, spoken of Geor. i. 345,
which see. Circumimus campos cum hostia,
says Ruœus. Reddemus: in the sense of
solvemus.
79. Cereri. Ceres was the goddess of
husbandry, the daughter of Saturn and Ops,
and mother of Proserpine by Jupiter, whom
Pluto carried off while she was gathering
flowers in the plains of Enna, in Sicily.
The loss was grievous to Ceres, who sought
her both day and night; when at length
sho found her veil near the fountain of
Cyane. She could obtain no information
of her daughter, till the nymph Arethusa
told her that she was carried off by Pluto.
Upon this, she immediately ascended to
heaven, and demanded of Jupiter the resto-
75
80
ration of her darling child. He endeavored
to reconcile her to Pluto as a son-in-law;
but to no purpose. At length he consented
that she should be restored, provided she
had eaten nothing in the dominions of the
ravisher. Ceres repaired immediately to
the infernal regions, and found she had
eaten the seeds of a pomegranate, found in
the Elysian fields. Her return, therefore,
was impossible: but Jupiter consented that
she might pass six months of the year with
her mother on earth, and the remainder
with Pluto.
During all this time, the cultivation of the
earth had been neglected. To repair the
loss which mankind sustained by her ab-
sence, Ceres went to Attica and instructed
Triptolemus, the son of Celeus, in all that
pertained to agriculture.
Ceres is supposed to be the same as the
Egyptian Isis, and her worship to have been
brought into Greece by Erechtheus about
1426 years before Christ. She is supposed
to be the same as Tellus, Cybele, Berecynthia,
&c. The Romans paid her great veneration,
and her festivals were generally celebrated
for eight days in the month of April. Ceres,
by meton. is often put for bread grain, &c.
pear,
80. Damnabis tu, &c. Thou shalt also
bind them to their vows-thou shalt grant
the requests of those, who ask. The pro-
priety of this mode of expression will ap-
when it is considered that the person
who asked any thing of a God, virtually,
if not directly, promised or vowed some-
thing in return; and if his requests were
granted, then he became condemned, and
judicially bound to the performance of his
promise or vow. And the god, when he
granted any petition or request, was said
to condemn, or bind the promiser to pay his
VOWS.
82. Sibilus: the whistling of the rising
south wind.
BUCOLICA. ECL. V.
29
85 86. Hæc eadem cicuta
docuit nos,
ME. Hâc te nos fragili donabimus antè cicutâ.
Hæc nos, Formosum Corydon ardebat Alexim :
Hæc eadem docuit, Cujum pecus? an Melibai?
Mo. At tu sume pedum, quod, me cùm sæpe rogaret,
Non tulit Antigenes (et erat tum dignus amari)
Formosum paribus nodis atque ære, Menalca.
NOTES.
85. Nos donabimus: I will present thee
with this, &c. Cicuta properly a pipe
made of the stalk of the hemlock. See
Ecl. I. 10.
86. Hæc eadem docuit: this same pipe
taught me: formosum Corydon, &c. i. e. with
this same pipe I sang the second Eclogue.
Hæc docuit: this same taught me : Cujum
90
88. Sume pedum for-
mosum paribus nodis
atque ære, quod Anti-
gines non tulit, cùm
sæpe rogaret me, et
pecus? i. e. with this same pipe I sang the
third Eclogue.
88. Sume pedum: take this crook, as a
testimony of any regard.
90. Formosum: beautified with equal knobs
and brass-with knobs at equal distances:
or uniform, in regard to size.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this pastoral?
Who probably is meant by Daphnis?
Who is to be understood under the cha-
racter of Menalcas? Who under that of
Mopsus?
When docs Rumus suppose it to have
been written?
Where is the scene laid?
Into how many parts is the pastoral di-
vided?
Who was Alcon? and what is said of
him?
Who was Codrus? and what is said of
him?
Who was Bacchus? What is said of him?
What were his festivals called?
By whom were they introduced into
Greece? and from what country?
What were his votaries called?
What were some of the names of Bacchus?
How is he represented as drawn?
What is the word Bacchus frequently
used for?
Who were the Satyri? How did they
distinguish themselves?
Who was Ceres? What is said of her?
Is she supposed to be the same with the
Egyptian Isis ?
By whom was her worship introduced
into Greece? and at what time?
When were her festivals celebrated?
7
ECLOGA SEXTA.
SILENUS.
THE subject of this fine pastoral is Silenus. He had promised the swains Chromis and
Mnasilus a song; but had put it off from time to time. Wearied with the delay, they
surprised him asleep in his grotto, just recovering from his intoxication. His garlands
lay at some distance from him: with these they bind him fast; and in this condition
they demand of him the fulfilment of his promise. At this moment, Egle, one of the
nymphs, joins them. Upon which he begins, and explains to them the origin of the
world upon the principles of the Epicurean philosophy; and concludes with several
interesting fables by way of episode.
It is generally supposed this pastoral was designed as a compliment to Syro the Epicu-
rean, who taught Virgil the principles of that philosophy. By Silenus we are to under
stand Syro, and by the swains Chromis and Mnasilus, his two pupils, Virgil and Varus,
PRIMA Syracosio dignata est ludere versu
2. Nostra Thalia pri- Nostra, nec erubuit sylvas habitare, Thalia.
ma dignata est
Cùm canerem reges et prælia, Cynthius aurem
Vellit, et admonuit: Pastorem, Tityre, pingues
Pascere oportet oves, deductum dicere carmen.
6. Namque, O Vare, Nunc ego (namque super tibi erunt, qui dicere laudes,
super erunt tibi alii poeta Vare, tuas cupiant, et tristia condere bella)
qui cupiant
Agrestem tenui meditabor arundine Musam.
Non injussa cano: si quis tamen hæc quoque, si quis
NOTES.
1. Syracosio versu: in pastoral verse.
Syracosio: an adj. from Syracusa, the birth
place of Theocritus, the first pastoral poet
of eminence; the chief city of Sicily, and
famous for its defence against the Romans
under Marcellus.
2. Thalia. One of the Muses. See Ecl.
iii. 60. Nec erubuit, &c. Nor did she blush
to inhabit the woods. This verb here is
both expressive and beautiful; the perf. of
erubesco. Thalia was supposed to preside
over comedy and pastoral poetry. Virgil
was the first pastoral writer among the Ro-
mans; which explains the words, nostra
Thalia prima: my muse first deigned, &c.
3. Cum canerem, &c. Virgil is said to
have begun a work upon the affairs of Alba
Longa, but afterwards relinquished it, and
commenced the Bucolics. Cynthius: a
name of Apollo. See Ecl. iv. 10. Vellit
pinched my ear; a proverbial expression,
implying admonition.
5. Deductum: a part. of deduco, humble,
or slender. A metaphor taken from wool
spun out till it is made fine or slender.
6. Supererunt: in the sense of erunt alii
poeta. The parts of the verb are separated
by Tmesis.
•
7. Vare. It is generally thought that the
poet here means Quintilius Varus, who
arose to the highest honors under Augustus.
He was consul in the year of Rome 741;
after which he was præfect of Syria eight
years. Having returned home, he was sent
into Germany with three legions, which he
lost, being drawn into an ambush. This
mortified him so much, that he killed hin-
self. This happened in the year 762. Con-
dere: to write--record.
9. Non injussa cano: I do not sing things
forbidden by Apollo. He permits me to
sing of pastoral subjects, but not of kings
and battles. Si quis tamen, &c. The tamen
does not refer to the words, non injussa cano,
but to the third and fourth lines, where
Apollo forbids him to write in the lofty
style of heroic poetry. The meaning seems
to be this: though he forbid me to describe
your actions in heroic verse, he permits me
to do it in the humble style of pastoral.
And if any should be taken, captus amore,
with the love of this kind of writing, and
should read these pastorals, he shall here
find them. Hæc: these things-these my
Bucolics. Quoque: in the sense of etiam.
BUCOLICA. ECL. VI.
31
Captus amore leget; te nostræ, Vare, myricæ,
Te nemus omne canet: nec Phobo gratior ulla est,
Quàm sibi quæ Vari præscripsit pagina nomen.
Pergite, Pierides. Chromis et Mnasilus in antro
Silenum pueri somno vidêre jacentem,
Inflatum hesterno venas, ut semper, Iaccho.
Serta procul tantùm capiti delapsa jacebant:
Et gravis attritâ pendebat cantharus ansâ.
Aggressi (nam sæpe senex spe carminis ambo
Luserat) injiciunt ipsis ex vincula sertis.
Addit se sociam, timidisque supervenit Ægle:
Ægle Naïadum pulcherrima: jamque videnti
Sanguineis frontem moris et tempora pingit.
Ille dolum ridens: Quò vincula nectitis? inquit.
Solvite me, pueri: satìs est potuisse videri.
Carmina, quæ vultis, cognoscite: carmina vobis ;
Huic aliud mercedis erit: simul incipit ipse.
Tum verò in numerum Faunosque ferasque videres
Ludere, tum rigidas motare cacumina quercus.
Nec tantùm Phoebo gaudet Parnassia rupes,
Nec tantùm Rhodope mirantur et Ismarus Orphea
Namque canebat utì 'magnum per inane coacta
NOTES.
10. Nostra myrice: in the sense of nostra
Bucolica. The omne nemus in the following
line probably means every elevated com-
position, such as epic or heroic. We are
led to this interpretation from the declara-
tion of the poet in the sixth line, that there
would be other poets, who would celebrate
the praises of Varus in heroic verse, though
he himself would prefer to do it in the
humbler style of pastoral.
14. Silenum. Silenus was one of the rural
deities, the god of mysteries and knowledge,
and the foster-father of Bacchus. He is
said, by some, to have been the son of Pan;
others say, the son of Mercury. Malea, in
the island of Lesbos, is the supposed place
of his nativity. He is represented as a fat
and merry old man, riding on an ass,
crowned with flowers, always intoxicated.
15. Inflatum, &c. Swollen as to his veins,
with his yesterday's wine. See Ecl. i. 55.
Iaccho: a name of Bacchus; here put, by
meton. for wine. It is derived from a Greek
word signifying a shout or confused noise.
It was given to him on account of the riot
and vociferation of his inebriated followers.
See Ecl. v. 69.
16. Serta: plu. of sertum, a garland, or
wreath of flowers. To be crowned with a
garland, was an indication of drunkenness.
Silenus had all the signs of being in such a
state. He was lying down--he was sleep-
ing; but his garlands were not on his head;
tantùm delapsa: they had only fallen off
they were neither broken nor bruised.
18. Aggressi, &c. The swains, seizing, put
•
10 10. Nostræ myrica
canent te, O Vare, omne
nemus canet te: nec est
ulla pagina gratior Phœ-
bo, quàm illa quæ
14. Pueri Chromis et
15 Mnasilus vidère
20
25
30
illi
15. Ut semper est mos
24. Satis est me po
tuisse videri sic vobis.
25. Sunt carmina vo-
bis: huic Ægle erit aliud
mercedis.
on him cords of these very garlands-they
bind him with cords made of them.
20. Egle. The name of a nymph, de-
rived from a Greek word signifying splendor,
or brightness. Naiadum. See Ecl. ii. 46.
Videnti: to him just opening his eyes.
Timidis to the trembling swains.
22. Moris. Morus was the fruit of the
mulberry-tree. It is here called sanguineus,
red, or bloody. It is said to have been ori-
ginally white; but assumed the red or
purple color, in memory of the two lovers,
Pyramus and Thisbe, who slew themselves
under a mulberry-tree. See Ovid. Met.
Lib. 4.
23. Quò: why-for what purpose.
25. Cognoscite: in the sense of audite.
26. Aliud mercedis. The same as alia
merces: another reward.
to dance, or
measure.
27. Ludere in numerum :
leap about in regular time, or
Their motions exactly corresponded to the
notes or measure of the verse. Faunos,
The Fauni were demi-gods of the country,
to whom the first fruits of all things were
generally offered. See Ecl. v. 73.
29. Parnassia rupes. The mountain Par-
nassus in Phocis; a country in Grecia Pro-
pria, much celebrated by the poets, and
sacred to the Muses. Here Apollo had a
famous temple.
30. Rhodope-Ismarus. Two mountains,
or rather ranges of mountains, in Thrace
the country of Orpheus.
31. Namque canebat, &c. For he sung how
the seeds. both of the earth, and of the air,
+
32
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Semina terrarumque, animæque, marisque fuissent,
38. Ut ex his primis Et liquidi simul ignis: ut his exordia primis
omnia susceperunt Omnia, et ipse tener mundi concreverit orbis.
Tum durare solum, et discludere Nerea ponto
Cœperit, et rerum paulatim sumere formas.
35. Tum canebat quo-
modo solum cœperit
37. Janique canebat Jamque novum ut terræ stupeant lucescere solem,
ut terræ stupeant
38. Utque imbres ca- Altiùs utque cadant submotis nubibus imbres :
dant è nubibus submo. Incipiant sylvæ cùm primùm surgere, cùmque
tis altiùs à terra.
Rara per ignotos errent animalia montes.
Hinc lapides Pyrrhæ jactos, Saturnia regna,
Caucaseasque refert volucres, futrumque Promethei.
NOTES.
and of the sea, &c. Silenus here relates
the origin of the world, according to the
system of Epicurus, who taught that incor-
poreal space, and corporeal atoms, were the
first principles, or elements, of all things.
The former he denomenated Inane, the lat-
ter Plenum. The Inane or Vacuum, he
considered space, every way indefinitely
extended. By the Plenum, he understood
the atoms or minute particles of matter
moving in every direction through the Inane,
which Virgil here calls the semina, because
it was thought by their fortuitous concur-
rence arose what we call the four elements,
earth, air, water, and fire. Epicurus held
many other erroneous notions, particularly
concerning the nature of God. He was an
Athenian, and born about 340 years before
the Christian era. He had many followers.
32. Anima: in the sense of aëris. With-
out air, there could be no animal existence.
33. Liquidi ignis: of pure fire. His pri-
mis: of these first principles or elements
(earth, air, water, and fire) all things sprang
or had a beginning. The Epicureans
maintained that, though their atoms and
incorporeal space were the first principles
or elements of earth, air, water, and fire,
yet these last were the principles or elements
of all other things, or out of which all other
things sprang. Omnia exordia: all things
received or took a beginning. The verb
susceperunt, or some other of the like im-
port, is plainly understood, and to be sup-
plied. Ut: how.
35. Nerea: acc. sing of Nereus, a god of
the sea, the son of Oceanus and Terra. He
married Doris, by whom he had fifty daugh-
ters who were called Nereïdes. He possess
ed the gift of prophecy, and is said to have
informed Paris of the fatal consequences of
his carrying off Helen, the wife of Menelaus.
It was by the direction and assistance of
Nereus, that Hercules obtained the golden
apples of the Hesperides. The word Nereus
is often put, by meton. for the sea, as in this
place. Solum, &c. Then he sang how the
land began to grow hard and to separate the
waters from itself, and confine them to their
35
40
channel. Rumus says, Dispellere aquas à
se in mare.
38. Utque. Some copies have atque, but
utque is the easier.
40. Rara: few in number, or thinly dis-
persed.
41. Hinc refert lapides, &c. After that he
relates the thrown stones of Pyrrha, &c.
Pyrrha was the daughter of Epimetheus,
and wife of Deucalion, the son of Prome-
theus, and king of Thessaly. The poets
say, that some time during his reign the in-
habitants of the earth were destroyed by a
universal deluge, except himself and his
wife Pyrrha. They were preserved in a
small ship, and carried by the waters to
mount Parnassus, which was the only place
not overwhelmed. Here they consulted the
oracle of Themis concerning the restoration
of the human race; when they were in-
formed, to cast behind them the bones of
their great mother; by which they under-
stood stones. They immediately obeyed the
command of the oracle, and those thrown
by Deucalion became men, and those by
See Ovid. Met. Lib. I.
Pyrrha, women.
Saturnia regna: the reign of Saturn, or the
See Ecl. iv. 6.
Golden age.
42. Furtum Promethei: the theft of Pro-
metheus. The poets say that he stole fire
from heaven, with which he animated »
man of clay, made by himself. At this,
Jupiter was so much enraged, that he or-
dered Mercury to chain him to a rock on
mount Caucasus. He did so, and placed
a vulture to prey upon his liver; which,
however, grew as fast as it was consumed.
Hence Caucaseas volucres: the vultures of
Caucasus. This is a very celebrated moun-
tain, or rather range of mountains, lying
between the Euxine and Caspian seas.
Promethei: the word Prometh us is of
Greek origin, and properly signifies fore-
sight, or an anxious care or solicitude.
This is a key to the story. It conveys a
strong idea of the troubles men create to
themselves, by taking too much care and
thought for the morrow.
‹
BUCOLICA. ECL. VI.
33
His adjungit, Hylan nautæ quo fonte relictum
Clamâssent: ut litus, Hyla, Hyla, omne sonaret.
Et fortunatam, si nunquam armenta fuissent,
Pasiphaën nivei solatur amore juvenci.
Ah, virgo infelix, quæ te dementia cepit?
Protides implêrunt falsis mugitibus agros:
At non tam turpes pecudum tamen ulla secuta est
Concubitus; quamvis collo timuisset aratrum,
Et sæpe in levi quæsîsset cornua fronte.
Ah, virgo infelix, tu nunc in montibus erras !
Ille, latus niveum molli fultus hyacintho,
Ilice sub nigrâ pallentes ruminat herbas,
45
46. Et solatur Pasi-
phaën amore nivei ju-
venci, fortunatam, si
49. At tamen non ulla
earum secuta est tam
50 turpes
53. Ille taurus fultus
quoad niveum latus mol-
Aut aliquam in magno sequitur grege. Claudite, Nymphæ, li hyacintho, ruminat
Dictææ Nymphæ, nemorum jam claudite saltus :
Si quà fortè ferant oculis sese obvia nostris
Errabunda bovis vestigia. Forsitan illum,
Aut herbâ captum viridi, aut armenta secutum,
Perducant aliquæ stabula ad Gortynia vaccæ.
Tum canit Hesperidum miratam mala puellam :
Tum Phaethontiadas musco circumdat amaræ
NOTES.
43. Hylan. Hylas was the companion of
Hercules in the Argonautic expedition, and
much beloved by him. Having gone on
shore to obtain water, by some means or
other, he was lost. The poets say he was
carried off by the nymphs. Hercules and
his companions were much grieved at the
loss of the boy, and went along the shores,
when they found he was missing, calling
him by name, Hyla, Hyla. Clamâssent: in
the sense of vocavissent. See Ecl. iv. 35.
46. Pasiphaën: a Greek acc. the daugh-
ter of the sun, and wife of Minos, king of
Crete. See Æn. vi. 24.
47. Virgo. The poet here calls Pasiphaë
a virgin, though she was the mother of
Phædra, Ariadne, and Androgeus. The an-
cients sometimes called any woman in early
life a virgin.
48. Prætides: the daughters of Prœtus,
king of the Argives, who vied with Juno in
beauty. The goddess, by way of punish-
ment, caused them to imagine they were
changed into heifers. Their lowings, mu-
gilus, are here called false, because they
were not in reality heifers. Secuta est: in
the sense of quæsivit.
50. Quamvis timuisset: although each one
bad feared the plough upon her neck-the
yoke from which the plough was hung or
suspended.
53. Fultus: supported-resting or recli-
ning.
56. Diclac: an adj. from Dicte, a moun-
tain of Crete. Silenus turns again to the
story of Pasiphaë, whom he here introduces
as speaking, and calling upon the nymphs
to shut up the openings of the groves. Por-
haps some where or other the wandering steps
56
55. Aut aliquam vao-
cam
58. Forsitan aliquæ
vaccæ perducant illum,
aut captum viridi herbâ,
60 aut secutum armenta ad
of my bull may present themselves to my
eyes. Obvia: an adj. from obvius, agreeing
with vestigia. The sense is complete with-
out it. Saltus, is properly a lawn, or open-
ing in a grove or park, where cattle have
room to sport and play; from the verb salio.
59. Captum: delighted with, desirous of,
the green pastures. Ruæus says, cupidum.
60. Gortynia: an adj. from Gortyna, a
city of Crete, famed for its excellent pas-
tures.
61. Tum canit puellam, &c. Then he
sings the damsel admiring the apples of the
Hesperides. This was Atalanta, the daugh-
ter of Schoneus, king of the island of Scy-
rus, in the Egean sea. She consented to
marry the man who should outrun her, but
if he were beaten, he should lose his life.
Several had lost their lives. At length she
was beaten by Hippomenes, the grandson
of Neptune or Mars. At the suggestion of
Venus, Hippomenes cast three apples, taken
from the garden of the Hesperides, on the
ground, one at a time, when she was gain-
ing upon him; which so captivated the
virgin, that she stopped to pick them up ;
and by this means he obtained the beauteous
prize. Hesperidum. The Hesperides were
three in number, Ægle, Arethusa, and Hespe-
rethusa, the daughters of Hesperus, the bro-
ther of Atlas. They resided in Mauritania,
in Africa, where it is said they had gardens,
in which were trees that bore golden apples.
These gardens were watched by a dragon
that never slept.
that never slept. Hercules slew him, and
stole the apples. See n. iv. 484.
62. Tum circumdat, &c. Then he encloses
the sistors of Phaethon in the moss of bitter
bark he sings them transformed into pop-
+
4
34
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
64. Tum canit ut una Corticis, atque solo proceras erigit alnos.
sororum duxerit Gallum Tum canit errantem Permessi ad flumina Gallum
errantom ad flumina
Aonas in montes ut duxerit una sororum :
Permessi
67. Ut Linus pastor Utque viro Phœbi chorus assurrexerit omnis ;
ornatus quoad crines flo- Ut Linus hæc illi divino carmine pastor,
ribus, atque amaro apio Floribus atque apio crines ornatus amaro,
dixerit hæc illi divino Dixerit: Hos tibi dant calamos, en accipe, Musæ,
carmine: O Galle, Muse Ascræo quos antè seni: quibus ille solebat
dant hos calamos tibi;
en accipe eos, quos ille Cantando rigidas deducere montibus ornos.
His tibi Grynæi nemoris dicatur origo:
dederant
65
70
74. Aut ut narraverit Ne quis sit lucus, quo se plùs jactet Apollo.
Scyllam filiam Nisi, aut Quid loquar aut Scyllam Nisi, aut quam fama secuta est,
eam quam fama secuta Candida succinctam latrantibus inguina monstris,
est succinctam quoad
75
NOTES.
•
lar or alder trees. Phaethontiadas. These
were the sisters of Phaethon, or Phaëton,
and daughters of the sun. They were
sometimes called Heliades. Their names
were Phaëthusa, Lampetie, and Lampethusa.
Phaeton imprudently desired of his father
the management of his chariot for one day.
Phoebus refused for a long time. But, at
last, overcome by his importunity, he con-
sented. He was, however, soon convinced
of his rashness; for the horses, perceiving
an unusual driver, became impatient of the
reins; and when they had passed the meri-
dian in their course, and began to descend,
he was no longer able to restrain them, and
the youth was thrown headlong from the car
into the Eridanus, or Po. His sisters grieved
immoderately at this misfortune of their
brother; and were changed, some say, into
poplar trees, others say, into alder trees.
See Ovid. Met. Lib. 2.
63. Circumdat. Rumus says, cingit. Pro-
ceras: stately.
64. Permessi. Permessus, a river of Beo-
tia, rising at the foot of mount Helicon.
Gallum. See Ecl. 10.
65. In Aonas montes: to the Beotian
mountains, Helicon and Citheron, famous for
being the seat of the Muses. Beotia was
originally called Aonia, from Aon, the son
of Neptune, who reigned in that country.
66. Omnis chorus. Here Virgil pays Gallus
a very high compliment as a poet; and he
does it in the most delicate manner. They
rose up in his presence, to do him honor:
assurrexerit viro.
67. Linus. See Ecl. iv. 56. Carmine: in
the sense of versibus.
70. Ascræo seni: to the Ascrean sage
Hesiod; who was a native of Ascra, a town
of Beotia not far from Helicon. He was a
celebrated poet.
71. Quibus ille, &c. It is said of Orpheus,
that the lofty oaks bowed their heads, and
listened to the charms of his music. The
same effects are ascribed here to the music of
Hesiod. It is the highest compliment that
possibly could be paid him.
72. Grynai: an adj. from Grynium, a
city of Eolis, where Apollo had a temple,
built of white marble, and a grove.
was a famous oracle.
Here
74. Scyllam. There were two by the
name of Scylla: one the daughter of Nisus,
king of the Megarenses, who, falling in love
with Minos, king of Crete, as he lay siege
to Megara, betrayed her father to his enemy.
For which deed, it is said, she was changed
into a lark; while he was changed into a
hawk. See nom. prop. under Nisus.
The other was the daughter of Phorcus.
Some there are, who think Virgil here con-
founds the two, attributing to the former
what properly belongs to the latter. But
there will be no need of this, if we only sup-
ply the word eam, or illam.
The story of Scylla, the daughter of
Phorcus, is briefly this: Glaucus, the sea
god, fell in love with her, but she refused
his addresses. In order to render her more
favorable to him, he applied to the sorce-
ress Circe; who, as soon as she saw him,
became enamoured with him herself; and
instead of affording him any assistance,
endeavored to divert his affections from
Scylla, and fix them on herself, but without
any effect. For the sake of revenge, Circe
poured the juice of some noxious herbs into
a fountain, where Scylla used to bathe her-
self. And as soon as she entered it, to her
great surprise, she found the parts below
her waist changed into frightful monsters,
like dogs, that were continually barking or
making a growling noise. The rest of her
body assumed an equally hideous form.
This sudden and unexpected metamorphosis,
filled her with such horror, that she threw
herself into that part of the sea, which di-
vides Sicily from Italy, where she became a
rock, or rather a ledge of rocks. See En.
iii. 420. Secuta est: reported. Loquar: in
the sense of dicam.
BUCOLICA. ECL. VI.
35
•
Dulichias vexâsse rates, et gurgite in alto
Ah! timidos nautas canibus lacerâsse marinis?
Aut ut mutatos Terei narraverit artus?
Quas illi Philomela dapes, quæ dona parârit?
Quo cursu deserta petiverit, et quibus antè
Infelix sua tecta supervolitaverit alis?
Omnia quæ, Phœbo quondam meditante, beatus
Audiit Eurotas, jussitque ediscere lauros,
Ille canit: pulsæ referunt ad sidera valles;
Cogere donec oves stabulis, numerumque referre
Jussit, et invita processit Vesper Olympo.
NOTES.
76. Dulichias: an adj. from Dulichium,
an island in the Ionian sea, forming a part
of the kingdom of Ulysses. Dulichias rates:
the ships of Ulysses.
78. Terei: gen. of Tereus, a king of
Thrace, who married Procne, or Progne,
daughter of Pandion, king of Athens. She
had a sister by the name of Philomela,
whom she tenderly loved. Finding herself
unhappy in being separated from her, she
desired her husband to go and bring her
to Thrace. Accordingly he went to Athens;
but as soon as he saw her, he was enamoured
with her, and resolved to gratify his pas-
sion. This he did, and afterwards cut out
her tongue, to prevent her from disclosing
the barbarous deed. He left her in con-
finernent; and having taken every precau-
tion to prevent its coming to light, he re-
turned to his wife, and informed her that
Philomela had died on the way. Not long
after, however, she found otherwise. Phi-
lomela, during her captivity, described on a
piece of tapestry her misfortunes and suf-
ferings, and privately conveyed it to her
sister, who hastened to her release. Here
they concerted measures how to be revenged
on Tereus. It was agreed that Progne
should kill her son Itys, and serve him up
for his father. In the midst of his meal,
he called for his son, when his wife told
him that he was then feasting on his flesh.
At this moment, Philomela appeared, and
threw the head of Itys on the table before
him. At this moment he drew his sword,
and was going to punish them both, when
he was changed into a upupa, a bird called
by some the hoopoë, by others, the lapwing;
Philomela, into the nightingale; Progne,
into the swallow; and Itys, into the pheasant.
See Ovid. Met. Lib. 6.
candida inguina latran-
tibus monstris, vexâsse
78. Mutatos in upupam.
80. Et quibus alis in-
felix Tereus supervoli-
80 taverit tecta sua antè.
82. Ille Silenus canit
omnia, quæ beatus Eu-
rotas audiit, Phoebo
quondam meditante
84. Valles pulse cantu
85 referunt eum ad sidera:
donec Vesper jussit pas-
tores cogere oves
80. Cursu: in the sense of celeritate.
Deserta: the deserts: loca, is to be under-
stood: desert places.
81. Tecta sua antè: his palace his own
before his transformation-but his own no
longer. Tectum, is any covered place that
is inhabited; from the verb tego.
82. Phœbo quondam meditante: Apollo,
formerly singing. The poet here alludes to
the fable of Apollo's being in love with the
beautiful youth Hyacinthus, the son of La-
con; and in that state wandering along the
banks of the Eurotas, singing upon his
harp.
the Peloponnesus: its banks abounded in the
83. Eurotas. A very celebrated river of
laurel. In its course, it forms nearly a se-
micircle, passing by the ancient city Lace-
dæmon, and falls into the Sinus Laconicus.
with the song, waft it back to the stars—
84. Valles pulsæ, &c. The vallies struck
bear it to the stars.
85. Referre: to count over their number
to see that none be missing.
86. Vesper. The same as the planet Ve-
nus. When it precedes or goes before the
sun, it is called Lucifer, and sometimes Phos-
phorus, from the Greek; but when it goes
behind him, Vesper, or Hesperus, the even-
ing star. It is also taken for the evening,
particularly that part denominated the twi-
light. Processit invito Olympo: marches
along the unwilling heaven. The word in-
vitus, beautifully represents the struggle
between the light and darkness in the time
of twilight. The day is loth, or unwilling
to yield; or, it may refer to its regret at
being deprived of so charming a song as
that of Silenus.
QUESTIONS.
What probably was the design of this
pastoral?
Who is intended under the character of
Silenus? Who was Syro?
Whom are we to understand by the swains
Chromis and Mnasilus?
f
Where is the scene laid?
What is said of Silenus?
Does Virgil give the principles of the
Epicurean philosophy?
What were those principles?
Who was Epicurus?
$6
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
A
Who was Nereus? Of whom was he the
father?
What is the word Nereus sometimes taken
for?
By what figure is it so taken?
Who was Deucalion?
What is said to
have taken place in his reign?
Who was his wife?
What were they directed to do in order to
re-people the earth?
What do you understand by the words
Saturnia regna?
Who was Prometheus? What is said of
him?
What is the proper meaning of saltus?
Who was Atalanta? What is said of
her?
Who were the Hesperides? What wore
their names?
Who was Phaeton? What rash act did
he attempt?
What became of him?
What were the names of his sisters?
What became of them?
Who was Hesiod? Where was he born?
How many were there of the name of
Scylla?
Describe, or give an account of each?
Who was Tereus?
What is said of him?
Into what was he transformed?
What was the name of his wife? Into
what was she transformed? &c.
ECLOGA SEPTIMA.
MELIBUS, CORYDON, THYRSIS.
THIS pastoral contains a trial of skill in song between the shepherds Corydon and Thyrsis.
It is much of the nature of the fourth, and is an imitation of the eighth of the Idylls of
Theocritus. It is conjectured that by Corydon and Thyrsis we are to understand Gallus
and Pollio; of whom our poet speaks on several occasions in the most honorable terms.
The scene is laid on the pleasant banks of the river Mincius. Melibus is thought to
be Virgil himself, and Daphnis some mutual friend of theirs. They both listen atten-
tively to their song; which being ended, they give the palm to Corydon.
MEL. FORTE sub argutâ consederat ilice Daphnis,
Compulerantque greges Corydon et Thyrsis in unum :
3. Thyrsis compulerat Thyrsis oves, Corydon distentas lacte capellas.
oves, Corydon compule- Ambo florentes ætatibus, Arcades ambo:
Et cantare pares, et respondere parati.
Hìc mihi, dum teneras defendo à frigore myrtos,
gregis deerraverat mihi, Vir gregis ipse caper deerraverat: atque ego Daphnim
Aspicio ille ubi me contrà videt; Ocyùs, inquit,
rat capellas
6. Hic caper ipse vir
dum
·
NOTES.
1. Arguta: whispering. The word very
aptly expresses the rustling noise made by
the wind among the leaves: to which refe-
rence is here had.
2. Corydon: this is derived from a Greek
word signifying a lark. Thyrsis: from a
Greek word signifying a spear bound with
vine, in honor of Bacchus. In unum: into
one place, locum being understood.
3. Capellas distentas lacte: his goats dis-
tended with milk-having their udders dis-
tended.
4. Ambo Arcades. Not indeed that they
were both natives of Arcadia; but they are
so called, because that country was famous
LO
5
for its pastures and flocks; and in a man-
ner sacred to shepherds. They were both
in the prime of life: florentes ætatibus.
5. Pares cantare: equal at singing. Par
is properly equal in match to contend for
victory.
7. Daphnim: from a Greek word signi-
fying a laurel. Vir: in the sense of dur.
8. Contrà. This is here used adverbially,
in turn; or over against him. The word
may be taken in either sense. The former
seems preferable in this place.
Melibae:
9. Ades in the sense of veni.
from a Greek word signifying a shepherd:
or one who has the care of flocks.
K-
BUCOLICA. ECL. VII.
37
9. Caper est salvus
10 tibi, et hædi quoque sunt
Huc ades, ô Melibœe; caper tibi salvus et hœdi ;
Et si quid cessare potes, requiesce sub umbrâ.
Huc ipsi potum venient per prata juvenci :
Hìc viridis tenerâ prætexit arundine ripas
Mincius, èque sacrâ resonant examina quercu.
Quid facerem? neque ego Alcippen, nec Phyllida habe-
Depulsos à lacte domi, quæ clauderet agnos: [bam,
Et certamen erat, Corydon cum Thyrside, magnum.
Posthabui tamen illorum mea seria ludo.
Alternis igitur contendere versibus ambo
Copêre alternos Musæ meminisse volebant.
:
¿
salvi
12. Hic viridis Min-
cius prætexit
16. Corydon certabat
cum Thyrside
19. Volebant me me.
20 minisse alternos versus
20. Corydon referebat
Hos Corydon, illos referebat in ordine Thyrsis.
COR. Nymphæ, noster amor, Libethrides, aut mihi car-
Quale meo Codro, concedite: proxima Phœbi
Versibus ille facit: aut si non possumus omnes,
Hìc arguta sacrâ pendebit fistula pinu.
[men,
TH. Pastores, hederâ crescentem ornate poëtam, 25
Arcades, invidiâ rumpantur ut ilia Codro.
Aut si ultrà placitum laudârit, baccare frontem
Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua futuro.
COR. Setosi caput hoc apri tibi, Delia, parvus
Et ramosa Mycon vivacis cornua cervi.
Si proprium hoc fuerit, levi de marmore tota
NOTES.
10. Quid: temporis is understood, govern-
ed by quid: any time-a little time.
11. Potum: to drink: a sup. in um, of the
verb poto, put after the verb venient.
12. Prætexit: in the sense of tegit.
13. Mincius: a small river rising out of
the lake Benacus, and falling into the Po.
Hodie, Menzo.
14. Alcippen-Phyllida: the names of
two servants; both derived from the Greek.
15. Depulsos à lacte: taken away from
the milk weaned. Domi: at home.
17. Posthabui, &c. I postponed my se-
rious business to their song: to listen to their
song. Ludo: in the sense of cantui.
19. Musæ volebant: the meaning is, the Mu-
ses would have them sing alternate verses.
20. Referebat: in the sense of cantabat.
21. Libethrides: an adj. from Libethra, a
fountain in Beotia; others say in Magnesia,
over which they presided. Hence they are
called Libethrian nymphs. Noster amor:
my delight, or love.
22. Concedite: grant such a song to me
as ye granted to my Codrus: inspire such
a song, &c.
Codrus was a poet cotempo-
rary with Virgil, as we learn from Servius,
and of superior merit. Proxima: next in
excellence to the verses of Apollo. Carmi-
na is understood.
23. Facit: in the sense of componit.
24. Sacra pinu: the pine-tree was sacred
to Cybele, the mother of the gods. on ac-
count of the transmutation of her darling
Alys into that tree. It was a custom, when
hos
21. Aut concedite tale
carmen mihi, quale con-
cessistis
23. Nos omnes non
possumus facere id;
27. Cingite meam fron-
tem
29. O Delia, parvus
30 Mycon offert tibi hoo
caput.
any one lay down his art or profession, to
hang up and consecrate the instruments
which he had used, to the god who pre-
sided over that art,
25. Hederâ. Poets were crowned some-
times with ivy, at other times, with laurel.
These both were evergreens, and designed
to denote a lasting fame. Ornate in the
sense of coronate. By poetam we are to un-
derstand Thyrsis himself.
26. Ilia Codro: the sides to Codrus; the
same as Ilia Codri. This construction is
frequent with Virgil: the dat. in the sense
of the gen.
27. Ultra placitum : beyond my pleasure,
or desire. Îmmoderate praise was thought
by the ancients to have in it something of
the nature of fascination; and to avert its
malignant influence, they wore a garland of
baccar, or lady's-glove, as a counter charm.
The pron. me is understood.
29. Delia: A name of Diana, from De-
los, the place of her birth. Selosi: bristly.
30. Mycon. The swain Mycon is sup-
posed to be Corydon's friend, and to pro-
mise these things to Diana in his name.
31. Si hoc fuerit proprium. If this (suc-
cess which you granted me in hurting) shall
be lasting, you shall stand entire in polished
marble: I will make you a full-length statue
of polished, &c. It was usual to make only
the head and neck of a marble statue. Here
Corydon promises Diana an entire statue,
provided she continued to prosper his pur-
suits.
33
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
1
32. Tu stabis tota de Puniceo stabis suras evincta cothurno.
levi marmore evincta
quoad suras
33. O Priape, sat est
TH. Sinum lactis, et hæc te liba, Priape, quotannis
Expectare sat est: custos es pauperis horti.
te expectare quotannis Nunc te marmoreum pro tempore fecimus: at tu,
Si fœtura gregem suppleverit, aureus esto.
à me
36
COR. Nerine Galatea, thymo mihi dulcior Hyblæ,
Candidior cycnis, hederâ formosior albâ :
Cùm primùm pasti repetent prææsepia tauri,
Si qua tui Corydonis habet te cura, venito.
40
TH. Immò ego Sardois videar tibi amarior herbis,
42. Algâ projecta ad Horridior rusco, projectâ vilior algâ;
litus
Si mihi non hæc lux toto jam longior anno est.
44. Si sit vobis quis Ite domum pasti, si quis pudor, ite juvenci.
pudor
COR. Muscosi fontes, et somno mollior herba,
Et quæ vos rarâ viridis tegit arbutus umbrâ,
Solstitium pecori defendite jam venit æstas
NOTES.
32. Puniceo: in the sense of purpureo.
See Ecl. 5. 17. Cothurno. The cothurnus
was a kind of high-heeled shoe or boot
worn when hunting and on the stage, by
both sexes. See Geor. 2. 9.
33. Priape: Priapus was the tutelar god
of gardens, lakes, &c. He was the son of
Venus, by Mercury or Bacchus. The place
of his birth was Lampsacus, near the Helles-
pont, where he was chiefly worshipped. He
was usually represented with a human face
and the ears of a goat. He held a stick in
his hand to drive away birds, a club to drive
away thieves, and a scythe to prune the
trees. Sinum: in the sense of vas; a kind
of vessel swelling out in the middle like a
pitcher.
35. Pro tempore: according to the time;
in proportion to my present ability. Thyr-
sis promises him now a marble statue, and
if his flocks increase so that he can afford it,
he will make him a golden one.
36. Suppleverit: shall enlarge-multiply.
37. Nerine: an adj. from Nereus, a god
of the sea. The poet does not here mean
that this Galatea was actually the daughter
of Nereus; but he merely intends it as a
compliment, intimating that she possessed
equal charms with her namesake. Hyblæ.
Hybla was a mountain in Sicily, abounding
in Thyme, and celebrated for its bees, and
excellent honey-sweeter than the thyme of
Hybla, fairer than the swans, more beautiful
than the white ivy. These comparisons are
extremely chaste and delicate.
39. Cùm primùm: in the sense of ut pri-
mùm.-Cura: regard.
41. Sardois herbis. The herb here spoken
of is supposed to be the Holly-bush, of sharp
and prickly leaves, and of a very bitter
taste. It is called Sardinian, from the island
Sardinia, where it grew in great abundance.
It is said to have caused a convulsive laugh-
ter with grinning. Hence Sardinicus risus,
:
45
a forced laughter; some take it for the Crow-
foot.
42. Horridior rusco: rougher than the
butcher's broom. This is a prickly shrub or
plant.-Vilior: more vile, or worthless.-
Alga. This was a kind of weed or grass,
which grew in great abundance about the
island of Crete. When torn from the rocks
where it grew, by the violence of the waves,
tost about the sea, and then cast upon the
shore, it became quite useless: it lost its
color, and presented to the eye an unseemly
appearance.
43. Lux: in the sense of dies.
44. Pasti: in the sense of saturati.
45. Muscosi fontes: ye cool (mossy) foun
tains. The epithet muscosi is expressive of
coolness, because moss will seldom grow
where there is any considerable degree of
heat. It grows the best on the banks of rivers
that face the north. Also on the north side
of trees.-Herba mollior, &c. This charming
expression is taken from Theocritus. Rumus
says, dulcis ad somnum, which is not the
meaning of the poet. The expression, softer
than sleep, is extremely delicate.
46. Viridis arbutus, &c. This is a singu
lar construction. The nom. here seems to
be used in the place of the voc. By using
the nom. it placed the relative quae in the
third person, and consequently the verb;
whereas they should be in the second per-
son sing. O viridis arbute, quæ tegis vos
rara umbrâ. The vos refers to the fountains
and grass mentioned above.
47. Solstitium. This word properly sig-
nifies that point in the ecliptic, which coin-
cides with the tropics, or is 23° 28′ from the
equator, measured on an arc of the meri-
dian: and the sun being in this point on a
particular day in June and December, the
word is taken by Synec. for either summer
or winter. Again by meton. for heat or
cold, according as the sun is either in the
BUCOLICA. ECL. VII.
39
Torrida jam læto turgent in palmite gemmæ.
TH. Hic focus, et tædæ pingues: hic plurimus ignis
Semper, et assiduâ postes fuligine nigri.
Hic tantùm Borea curamus frigora, quantùm
Aut numerum lupus, aut torrentia flumina ripas.
COR. Stant et juniperi, et castaneæ hirsutæ :
Strata jacent passim sua quâque sub arbore poma :
Omnia nunc rident: at si formosus Alexis
Montibus his abeat, videas et flumina sicca.
TH. Aret ager; vitio moriens sitit aëris herba :
Liber pampineas invidit collibus umbras.
Phyllidis adventu nostræ nemus omne virebit :
Jupiter et læto descendet plurimus imbri.
COR. Populus Alcidæ gratissima, vitis Iaccho:
Formosa myrtus Veneri, sua laurea Phœbo.
Phyllis amat corylos: illas dum Phyllis amabit,
Nec myrtus vincet corylos, nec laurea Phœbi.
TH. Fraxinus in sylvis pulcherrima, pinus in hortis,
NOTES.
sign of Cancer or Capricorn. It is the sol-
stice of Cancer, or the summer solstice,
which is here meant. Defendite :
Defendite in the
sense of avertite.
48. Palmite: the shoot or branch of the
vine-Gemma: the buds, or first appear-
ances of the young shoots of trees or shrubs.
Lato: fruitful-fertile.
49. Pingues tæda: fat pines; or, we may
take todo in a wider sense, implying any
fuel, or combustible matter.
50. Fuligine: in the sense of fumo. The
coltages of the poor seldom had a chimney.
The fire was made directly under an aper-
ture in the roof to discharge the smoke.
We may well suppose the interior of the
house to be blackened by that vapor.
51. Hic tantùm curamus. The meaning
is: we care nothing for the cold of Boreas.
Boreas is the Greek word for the north wind.
The poets say he was the son of Astraus
und Aurora; or, according to others, of the
river Strymon, in Macedonia. He was king
of Thrace, and carried away by force Orythia,
the daughter of Erictheus, king of Athens,
by whom he had two sons, Zetes and Calais.
He was worshipped as a god.
53. Juniperi. The juniperus was a tree,
having sharp and narrow leaves, and bearing
a small, round, and odoriferous fruit. Ser-
vius understands juniperi and castanea to be
the trees which are loaded with their re-
spective fruit. Mr. Davidson takes them for
the fruit itself, and considers stant in oppo-
sition to strata jacent: the former stand or
hang ripening on the boughs, the latter in
rich profusion cover the ground under their
respective trees. Hirsuta: rough-prickly,
in opposition to those that were smooth,
mentioned Ecl. i. 82: or it may only mean
that they were yet in the shell. See Ecl. x. 76.
49. Hic est focus, et
50 hìc sunt❤
55
52. Quantùm aut lu-
pus curat numerum
ovium, aut torrentia flu-
mina curant ripas
53. Hic stant et juni-
peri
59. Sed omne nemus
60 virebit.
54. Poma jacent, &c. Much hath been
said upon the reading of this line. Some
read it thus; Poma jacent strata passim, quæ-
que sub sua arbore: apples lie scattered all
around, every one under its own tree.
Others read it thus: sua poma jacent strata
passim, sub quâque arbore: their own apples
lie scattered all around under every or cach
tree. This last, Dr. Trapp is fully persuaded
is the correct reading. Heyne reads, quâque.
You would even seo
The word et here is em-
56. Videas et, &c.
the rivers dry.
phatical.
57. Vitio aëris : by the infection of the
air; or, the excessive heat of the air. Sitit:
is parched.
58. Liber. A name of Bacchus. See
Ecl. v. 69. Invidit: hath refused the sha-
dows of the vine to our hills. The meaning
is: the vine does not flourish upon our hills.
60. Jupiter: the air-condensed vapor.
Læto imbri: in fertilizing showers.
61. Alcida: Hercules, called also Alcides,
from Alcæus, his grand-father. The populus
was sacred to him. It is said he wore a
crown of white poplar leaves when he de-
scended to the infernal regions.
62. Myrtus. The myrtle tree was sacred
to Venus, on account of the delicacy of its
odor, or because it flourishes best on the
margin of the sea, out of the foam of which
she is said to have sprung.
The
61. Iaccho: a name of Bacchus.
vine was sacred to him, because, it is said,
he was the inventor of wine; or at least
taught men the cultivation of the vine.
62. Laurea. The laurel tree was sacred
to Apollo, on account of his beloved Daphne,
who was changed into a laurel; therefore
it is called sua, his own.
65. Fraxinus: the ash-tree.
40
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Populus in fluviis, abies in montibus altis:
Sæpiùs at si me, Lycida formose, revisas;
Fraxinus in sylvis cedat tibi, pinus in hortis.
66
ME. Hæc memini, et victum frustrà contendere Thyrsin.
Ex illo Corydon, Corydon est tempore nobis.
NOTES.
70. Ex illo tempore: from that time, Co-
rydon, Corydon is the one for me. Heyne
observes, this line is unworthy of Virgil. It
70
is in imitation of Theocritus, Idyl. viii. 92,
but far inferior to the original.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this pastoral?
Whom are we to understand by Corydon
and Thyrsis? Whom by Melibœus and
Daphnis?
Where is the scene laid?
Who comes off conqueror?
Is this pastoral imitated from Theocritus?
Who was Priapus? and what is said of him?
Who was Boreas? For what did the
Greeks take the word?
For what is the word Jupiter sometimes
taken ?
What do you understand by the ord
solstitium?
For what is it used figuratively?
ECLOGA
ECLOGA OCTAVA.
PHARMACEUTRIA.
DAMON, ALPHESIBUS.
THIS pastoral consists of two parts: the first is taken chiefly from the third Idyl of
Theocritus: the latter from the second Idyl. The shepherd Damon bewails the loss of
his mistress, Nisa, and is much grieved at the success of Mopsus, who had succeeded
in obtaining her for a wife. Alphesibous relates the charms, or incantations of
some enchantress, who endeavored, by magic arts, to make Daphnis in love with her.
Pharmaceutria, the title of this Eclogue, is the same with the Latin Venefica, and sig-
nifies a sorceress. This Eclogue was written in the year of Rome 715, when L. Mar-
cus Censorinus, and C. Calvisius Sabinus, were consuls. It is not certain to whom it
was inscribed, whether to Augustus or Pollio; most commentators are in favor of the
latter.
1. Dicemus musam
Alphesibæi, quos cer-
PASTORUM Musam, Damonis et Alphesibai,
pastorum Damonis et Immemor herbarum quos est mirata juvenca,
tantes Juvenca imme- Certantes, quorum stupefactæ carmine lynces,
mor herbarum mirata Et mutata suos requiêrunt flumina cursus :
NOTES.
1. Musam: in the sense of carmen.
4. Mutata flumina, &c. This line may
be read in two ways. The first and easiest
is given in the ordo; the other is, mutata flu-
mina requiêrunt suos cursus. In this case,
requiesco must be taken actively, and mu-
tata, in the sense of turbata, as Rumus in-
terprets it. But Virgil never uses that verb
in an active sense in any part of his works,
and as he is fond of imitating the Greeks,
it is better to suppose that he follows them
in the present instance, than that he deviates
here from his uniform practice in the use of
the verb. Beside, if we take requiesco ac-
tively, we must take mutata out of its usual
acceptation.
BUCOLICA. ECL. VIII.
41
Damonis Musam dicemus et Alphesibai.
Tu mihi, seu magni superas jam saxa Timavi;
Sive oram Illyrici legis æquoris: en erit unquam
Ille dies, mihi cùm liceat tua dicere facta!
En erit, ut liceat totum mihi ferre per orbem
Sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno!
A te principium: tibi desinet: accipe jussis
Carmina cœpta tuis, atque hanc sine tempora circùm
Inter victrices hederam tibi serpere lauros.
Frigida vix cœlo noctis decesserat umbra,
Cùm ros in tenerâ pecori gratissimus herbâ est:
Incumbens tereti Damon sic cœpit olivæ.
5 est; quorum carmine
lynces stupefactæ sunt;
et flumina mutata quoad
suos cursus requiêrunt
dicemus, inquam, musain
6. Tu, Ŏ Pollio, fave
10 mihi, scu
15
[mum:
DA. Nascere, præque diem veniens age, Lucifer, al-
Conjugis indigno Nisa deceptus amore
Dum queror, et divos (quanquam nil testibus illis
Profeci) extremâ moriens tamen alloquor horâ.
•
NOTES.
5. Dicemus: in the sense of narrabimus.
6. Tu mihi, &c. It is generally thought
that the poet addresses himself to Pollio,
who, about this time, returned to Rome in
triumpli, having overcome the Partheni, a
people of Illyricum. The verb fave, or adsis,
must be supplied, to make the sense com-
plete. Ellipses of this kind are frequent,
particularly among the poets.
Timavi.
See Æn. i. 244.
7. Sive legis, &c. Whether you coast
along the shore of the Illyrian sea. Illyri-
cum was a very extensive country lying on
the right of the Adriatic sea, or gulf of
Venice, including the ancient Liburnia and
Dalmatia. Equoris. Equor properly sig-
nifies any plain or level surface, whether
land or water. Erit: in the sense of aderit.
10. Cothurno. The cothurnus was pro-
perly a high-heeled shoe, worn by the tra-
gedians to make them appear taller; by
meton. put for tragedy, or the tragic style.
Sophocleo: an adj. from Sophocles, an Athe-
nian, the prince of tragic poetry. He was
cotemporary with Pericles. Tua carmina
sola, &c. Your verses alone worthy of the
buskin—worthy of being introduced upon
the stage. The cothurnus is here called
Sophoclean, because Sophocles introduced
it upon the stage. Pollio was not only a
statesman, but a poet, and a distinguished
writer of tragedy. See Ecl. iv. 12.
11. Principium, &c. This line is elliptical.
The ellipsis is supplied in the ordo: the be-
ginning of my labors was from thee; my
labors shall end with thee. From this
circumstance, some have been led to think
that the poet alludes to Augustus, and not
to Pollio. He wrote his first Eclogue, it is
true, to compliment the generosity of his
prince, and the Eneid to flatter his vanity.
But we are to remember, it was through the
interest and friendship of Pollio, that he re-
20
8. En ille dies erit,
cùm liceat mihi
11. Principium meo-
rum laborum erat à to:
meus labor desinet tibi
12. Sine hanc hede-
ram serpere
17. O Lucifer, nas-
cere, præveniensque age
almum diem: dum ego
deceptus indigno amore
covered his lands, and so had an occasion
given him for writing; and further, that
poets promise many things, which they do
not perform.
The
12. Sine hanc, &c. Permit this ivy to
creep around thy temples amidst thy vic-
torious laurels-permit me to crown thee
with ivy, while others crown thee with lau-
rel. This is a very delicate verse.
poet here entreats his patron to permit his
ivy to entwine about his temples among his
victorious laurels; in other words, to accept
these his verses, in the midst of his vic-
tories. The poetic crown was originally
made of ivy exclusively, afterwards, some-
times it was made of laurel: but the tri-
umphal crown was always made of laurel.
Victrices lauros: alluding to the triumph
with which he was honored for his victory
over the Partheni.
ing olive, Damon thus began.
16. Tereti olivæ : leaning against a taper
17. Præveniens. The parts of the verb
are separated for the sake of the verse, by
Tmesis. This figure is frequent among the
poets. Lucifer: the morning star, or Venus.
It is called Lucifer when going before the
sun; Hesperus, when following after him.
There is a fitness and propriety in Damon's
calling upon the star, or planet Venus to
arise, as if to listen to his complaint, since
it was a love affair. Age: in the sense of
advehe.
18. Conjugis. Conjux here is a betrothed
or expected wife. Indigno amore: may
mean immoderate love; or a love ill-requi-
tod—a love of which Nisa was unworthy.
20. Profeci: I have gained, or profited
nothing. Illis testibus. It would seem that
Nisa had pledged her faith to Damon, and
called the gods to witness it; yet she vio
lated her promises.
42
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Incipe Mænalios mecum, mea tibia, versus.
Mænalus argutumque nemus pinosque loquentes
23. Ille mons Manalus Semper habet: semper pastorum ille audit amores,
24. Passus est calamos Panaque, qui primus calamos non passus inertes.
esse
Incipe Mænalios mecum, mea tibia, versus.
Mopso Nisa datur: quid non speremus amantes?
Jungentur jam gryphes equis; ævoque sequenti
Cum canibus timidi venient ad pocula damæ.
Mopse, novas incide faces; tibi ducitur uxor.
Sparge, marite, nuces; tibi deserit Hesperus Oetam
Incipe Mænalios mecum, mea tibia, versus.
32. O Nisa conjuncta O digno conjuncta viro! dum despicis omnes,
digno viro; dum despi- Dumque tibi est odio mea fistula; dumque capellæ,
cis omnes alios
34. Prolixaque mea
barba sunt tibi odio.
Hirsutumque supercilium, prolixaque barba :
Nec curare Deûm credis mortalia quemquam.
Incipe Mænalios mecum, mea tibia, versus.
Sepibus in nostris parvam te roscida mala,
38. Vidi te adhuc par (Dux ego vester eram) vidi cum matre legentem :
vam legentem rocida Alter ab undecimo tum me jam ceperat annus :
mala
Jam fragiles poteram à terrâ contingere ramos.
NOTES.
21. Mænalios versus: Mænalean, or pas-
toral verses-such as used to be sung on
mount Manalus in Arcadia. It was sacred
to Pan. By reason of its pleasant groves,
and whispering pines, it was much frequent-
ed by shepherds, where they sang their
loves. The poet personifies the mountain,
and makes it listen to the songs of shep-
herds.
22 Loquentes: whispering-tuneful.
24. Qui primus: who first, &c. See Ecl.
ii. 31. Inertes: in the sense of inutiles.
27. Gryphes: griffons. They were fa-
bulous animals, having the body of a lion,
and the wings and beak of an eagle.
28. Dama timidi: the timid deer. Ad
pocula: in the sense of ad aquam, vel potum ;
by meton.
29. Incide faces. It was a custom among
the Romans to lead the bride to the house
of her husband with lighted torches before
her. These torches were pieces of pine, or
some unctuous wood, which were cut to a
point, that they might be lighted the easier.
It was usual to have five of these torches.
Hence ducere uxorem, came to signify, to
marry a wife; it is said of the husband: nu-
bere viro, to marry a husband; this is said
of the wife.
30. Sparge nuces: scatter nuts. It was
a custom among the Romans at nuptials,
for the husband to throw nuts, &c. upon the
floor, that the boys and the rest of the com-
pany might divert themselves in gathering
them. Hesperus deserit Oetam tib: the
evening star is leaving Oeta for you. Oeta
was a mountain, or rather range of moun-
tains, of great height, in Thessaly. The in-
habitan's of Attica and Beotia being to the
25
31
35
40
eastward, would observe the stars retiring
or settling behind it. Hence, as it respected
them, the expression is the same as saying,
the evening star is setting, and consequently
the evening somewhat advanced;
which
would not be an unpleasant circumstance
to the new-married couple.
34. Hirsutum supercilium: my rough, or
shaggy eyebrows. There could be no ground
of complaint against Nisa for not loving
these, and his long beard. These surely
possess no charms. But as Dr. Trapp ob-
serves, the ground of his complaint lay in
this: that her cruelty and scorn had so dis-
heartened him, as to render him negligent of
his outward appearance.
35. Mortalia: things done by mortals.
This line is both beautiful and pathetic.
37. In nostris sepibus: in our enclosures
gardens, fields. This and the four fol-
lowing lines are extremely delicate, and
show the hand of a master. The circum-
stances here enumerated, the age of the
young shepherd, his being just able to reach
the boughs, his officiousness in helping the
girl and her mother gather the fruit, and
his falling in love with her at the same
time, are so well chosen, and happily ex-
pressed, that we may consider this passage
as one of those happy and delicate touches
which characterize the writings of Virgil.
Roscida. By this we are to understand,
Heyne observes, that the apples were wet
with the dew of the morning. This will
determine the time of the day, when they
took their walk into the orchard.
39. Alter annus, &c. Lit. another year
after the eleventh had just then taken me-
I had just entered my twelfth year.
BUCOLICA. ECL. VIII.
43
Ut vidi, ut perii, ut me malus abstulit error!
Incipe Mænalios mecum, mea tibia, versus
Nunc scio quid sit amor. Duris in cotibus illum
Ismaius, aut Rhodope, aut extremi Garamantes,
Nec generis nostri puerum, nec sanguinis edunt.
Incipe Mænalios mecum, mea tibia, versus.
Sævus amor docuit natorum sanguine matrem
Commaculare manus: crudelis tu quoque, mater:
Crudelis mater magis, an puer improbus ille ?
Improbus ille puer, crudelis tu quoque mater.
Incipe Mænalios mecum, mea tibia, versus.
Nunc et oves ultrò fugiat lupus, aurea duræ
Mala ferant quercus, narcisso floreat alnus,
Pinguia corticibus sudent electra myricæ.
Certent et cycnis ululæ : sit Tityrus Orpheus :
Orpheus in sylvis; inter delphinas Arion.
Incipe Mænalios mecum, mea tibia, versus.
Omnia vel medium fiant mare: vivite sylvæ.
Præceps aërii speculâ de montis in undas
Deferar: extremum hoc munus morientis habeto.
NOTES.
41. Ut vidi, ut, &c. How I gazed, how I
languished, how a fatal delusion carried me
away! Nothing can exceed this line in
tenderness of expression. The me malus
abstulit error, represents him as snatched
from himself, deprived of his reason and
judgment, and lost in wonder and admira-
tion, while he surveyed her beauteous form,
and attractive charms. It also conveys to
us a just idea of the nature of love, which
is often delusive, deceptive, and unsuccess-
ful, as was the particular case of Damon.
Error: in the sense of insania, vel amor,
says Heyne. Malus: fatal-unhappy.
44. Ismarus, &c. Ismarus and Rhodope
were two very wild and rocky mountains in
Thrace. Garamantes. These were a savage
people inhabiting the interior parts of Africa.
Hence they are here called extremi.
45. Edunt: plainly for ederunt, by Enal-
lage; and that in the sense of produxerunt
or genuerunt.
47. Matrem. Medea, the daughter of
Ætes, king of Colchis, a famous sorceress.
She fell in love with Jason, one of the Ar-
gonauts, and by her directions and assist-
anco, he obtained the golden fleece. She
married him, and returned with him to
Thessaly. He afterwards repudiated her,
and married Creüsa, the daughter of the
king of Corinth. In revenge for which, she
slew the children, whom she bore him, be-
fore his eyes. See Ovid. Met. 7. Docuit:
in the sense of impulit.
48. Commaculare: in the sense of polluere.
50. Improbus: wicked-impious.
52. Nunc lupus ultrò, &c. Now may the
wolf of his own accord flee from the sheep;
the hard oaks, &c. As if he had said: now
45 45. Edunt illum in
duris cotibus, puerum
nec nostri generis, nec
nostri sanguinis
48. Tu, O mater eras
quoque crudelis: eras ne
50 mater magis crudelis, an
ille puer magis impro-
bus ille puer erat im-
probus; sed tu, O mater,
quoque eras crudelis.
55
60. Habeto tu hoc ex-
tremum munus tui mo-
60 rientis amatoris
the natural course of things may be chang-
ed. The most unlikely and unnatural things
may take place, since a woman is found
capable of such unfeeling and cruel conduct.
53. Alnus: the alder-tree. Narcisso: the
flower daffodil. See Ecl. ii. 46.
The
54. Myrica: shrubs-tamarisks.
word is sometimes taken for pastoral poetry.
Electra
Sudent: in the sense of stillent.
pinguia: rich amber.
55. Tityrus sit Orpheus, &c. May Tityrus
become an Orpheus;-Orpheus in the woods,
and an Orion among the dolphins. Orion
was a famous lyric poet of Lesbos, who, on
his return home from Italy with great
wealth, was cast into the sea by the sailors
for the sake of his money. A dolphin that
had been charmed with his music, it is said,
took him on his back, and carried him safe
to Tanarus, a town on the southern pro-
montory of the Peloponnesus. For Orpheus,
see Ecl. iii. 46.
58. Omnia vel medium, &c. Let all things
become even the middle of the sea-the
deep sea. Since I must perish, let all the
world be drowned.
world be drowned. Vivite: elegantly put
for valete.
59. Specula: the top, or summit. It pro-
perly signifies any eminence which com-
mands a prospect of the country around it,
Aërri montis. This may allude to the fa-
mous' rock in Arcadia, called the lover's
leap; from which, those, who threw them-
selves into the sea, were cured of their love.
60. Deferar. This appears to be used in
the sense of the Greek middle voice, which
generally hath a reflex signification: I will
throw myself.
44
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
quæ
Desine Mænalios, jam desine, tibia, versus.
62. Damon dixit hæc: Hæc Damon: vos, quæ responderit Alphesibœus,
vos, Pierides, dicite ea, Dicite, Pierides: non omnia possumus omnes.
ALP. Effer aquam, et molli cinge hæc altaria vittâ :
possumus facere omnia Verbenasque adole pingues, et mascula thura,
Conjugis ut magicis sanos avertere sacris
63. Nos omnes non
65
Experiar sensus. Nihil hic nisi carmina desunt.
Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim.
Carmina vel cœlo possunt deducere Lunam :
Carminibus Circe socios mutavit Ulyssei:
Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis.
Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim.
73. Primùm circumdo Terna tibi hæc primùm triplici diversa colore
hæc terna licia tibi, di- Licia circumdo, terque hæc altaria circùm
versa
et
Effigiem duco. Numero Deus impare gaudet.
Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim
Necte tribus nodis ternos, Amarylli, colores ;
70
75
78. Neete eos modò: Necte, Amarylli, modò: et Veneris, dic, vincula necto.
Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim.
Limus ut hic durescit, et hæc ut cera liquescit,
Uno eodemque igni: sic nostro Daphnis amore.
Sparge molam, et fragiles incende bitumine lauros.
81. Sic Daphnis emol-
liatur nostro
83. Ego uro hanc
NOTES.
63. Pierides: the Muses. They were so
called from Pieria, where, it is said, they
were born. See Ecl. iii. 60.
64. Effer aquam. Here Alphesibœus per-
sonates some enchantress, who by charms
and magic rites endeavors to make Daphnis
in love with her. The words are supposed
to be addressed to her servant maid Ama-
ryllis, mentioned verse 78, infra.
65. Verbenas. A species of plant or herb
called vervain, much used in magic opera-
tions. It is sometimes taken for all kinds
of herbs used in such rites. Mascula. By
this we are to understand the strongest and
best kind of frankincense.
66. Ut experiar: that I may try to turn
away the sound mind of my spouse: i. e.
throw him into a violent passion for me,
causing him to lose his reason and judg-
ment. Conjux, here means an intended or
expected husband. By it we are to under-
stand Daphnis, who it seems had left her
for some other mistress. Sacris: rites, or
ceremonies.
67. Carmina: charms-a solemn form of
words; to which the ancients attributed
great efficacy.
70. Circe. The name of a famous sor-
ceress. See Æn. vii. 10.
71. Cantando: ger. in do, of the verb
canto. Ruæus says: dum incantatur: while
the incantations or magic rites are per-
-forming.
73. Triplici colore: with triple color. The
ancients had a great veneration for the
number three. This was thought the most
80
perfect of all numbers, having regard to the
beginning, the middle, and the end. Diver-
sa: diversified-various.
74. Circumdo: in the sense of circumligo.
78. Veneris: in the sense of amoris.
Modò: in the sense of nunc.
The sorceress
80. Ut hic Limus, &c.
made two images or figures, one of mud
(limus) to represent herself; the other of
wax (cera) to represent Daphnis. The
former would naturally harden, and the
other melt in the same fire. It was the re-
ceived opinion that as the image melted
and consumed, so did the person it repre-
sented melt and dissolve into love, losing all
his cruelty and hardness of heart toward
his mistress; while she, who was represent-
ed by the other figure, would grow harder,
and more indifferent to the object of her
love.
82. Sparge molam: break, or scatter the
salt-cake. The mola was a kind of cake
much used in sacrifices. It was made of
the flour of grain that grew the same year,
highly seasoned with salt. It was placed
upon the forehead of the victim, and upon
the fire. Incende: burn the crackling lau-
rels with bitumen. The laurels were burnt
to consume the flesh of Daphnis, on whose
account these rites were performed. The
cake was crumbled upon his image, or upon
the victims in sacrifices. Such was the na-
ture of these ridiculous rites.
83. Malus Daphnis: cruel Daphnis burns
me; I burn this laurel upon Daphnis-upon
his image. By burning the effigy of a per-
BUCOLICA. ECL. VIII.
4.5
85
89
Daphnis me malus urit, ego hanc in Daphnide laurum.
Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim.
Talis amor Daphnim, qualis, cùm fessa juvencum
Per nemora, atque altos quærendo bucula lucos,
Propter aquæ rivum viridi procumbit in ulvâ
Perdita, nec seræ meminit decedere nocti :
Talis amor teneat: nec sit mihi cura mederi.
Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim.
Has olim exuvias mihi perfidus ille reliquit,
Pignora chara sui : quæ nunc ego limine in ipso,
Ferra, tibi mando: debent hæc pignora Daphnim.
Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim.
Has herbas, atque hæc Ponto mihi lecta venena
Ipse dedit Mœris, nascuntur plurima Ponto.
His ego sæpe lupum fieri, et se condere sylvis
Morin, sæpe animas imis excire sepulchris,
Atque satas aliò vidi traducere messes.
95
85. Utinam talis amor
occupet Daphnim, qua-
lis, cùm bucula fessa
quærendo juvencum per
nemora, atque altos lu-
cos, procumbit
89. Teneat Daphnim
95. Moris ipse dedit
has herbas
96. Enim plurima ve-
nena nascuntur in Pon-
to. Ego vidi Mærin ip-
sum sæpe fieri lupum
his venenis, et condere se
sylvis; vidi illum sæpe
101 excire
Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim.
Fer cineres, Amarylli, foras: rivoque fluenti,
Transque caput jace: ne respexeris. His ego Daphnim
Aggrediar nihil ille Deos, nil carmina curat.
Ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim
Aspice corripuit trenulis altaria flammis.
NOTES.
son magically, it was thought that they burnt
the person himself; or that some how or
other, he was affected in a similar manner.
85. Juvencum: the bull. Talis. Here
is an ellipsis of the words, occupat juvencam,
or some other of the like import, to make
the sense complete.
87. Ulva: a kind of sedge, or meadow-
grass. Some copies have herba.
88. Perdita: wretched-desperate; with-
out hope of finding the object of her search.
Nec sera nocti, &c. She is so intent upon
the object of her love, that she thinks of
nothing else she thinks not of returning
home, even though it be late at night. De-
cedere seræ nocti: to yield or give place to
the late night.
89. Mederi: to cure him.
91. Ille perfidus, &c. That perfidious
(shepherd) formerly left these clothes with
ine, as the dear pledges of himself. It ap-
pears hence that Daphnis had pledged his
love to her, but afterward violated his word.
This justifies the use of the word conjux, as
applied to him, verse 66.
92. In ipso limine: in the very threshold,
or.entrance. Servius thinks we are to un-
derstand the entrance of the temple of
Vesta; others, of Daphnis' own house. But
it is better to understand it of her own house,
for it appears that here she performed her
magic rites.
93. Mando: in the sense of committo.
Hæc pignora: these pledges owe Daphnis to
The clothes that a person once wore,
or any thing that belonged to him, were
me.
105
thought to be very efficacious in enchant-
ments. Accordingly she lays much stress
upon them; she is sure they will bring him
home to her. One part of these magic rites
was to bury the clothes of the lover under
the threshold, to constrain him to return.
95. Ponto. Pontus, an extensive coun-
try in Asia Minor, bordering upon the Eux-
ine sea. It abounded in poisonous herbs.
Mithridates, king of Pontus, rendered his
country notorious by the long and bloody
wars which he maintained against the Ro-
mans. He was, however, at last overcome
by Pompey the Great. Venena: magic
plants. Those of a poisonous quality were
considered the most efficacious, and were
particularly sought for, and required in all
enchantments.
101. Fer cineres, The most powerful,
and usually the last efforts of the enchanter,
were to throw the ashes of the magical sa-
crifice over the head backward into running
water. Servius says, this was done that the
gods might catch the ashes without being
seen, as they were unwilling to show them-
selves, unless on extraordinary occasions.
102. Ne respexeris: in the sense of ne
respice.
103. Aggrediar his, &c. With these ashes
I will assail Daphnis. Nihil and nil are
often used as simple negatives, in the sense
of non he does not regard the gods, &c.
In other words, he does not regard his so-
lemn promises made in the presence of the
gods; he regards not my charms.
105. Aspice. This and the following line
46
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
106. Bonum omen
109. O mea carmina
Sponte suâ, dum ferre moror, cinis ipse: bonum sit :
Nescio quid certè est: et Hylax in limine latrat.
Credimus? an, qui-amant, ipsi sibi somnia fingunt ?
Parcite, ab urbe venit, jam parcite, carmina, Daphnis.
NOTES.
to cinis ipse, were spoken by Amaryllis, as
appears from dum ferre moror: while I de-
lay to carry them. If we attribute the
words to the enchantress, we must suppose
her to do what she commands to be done.
But beholding the ashes kindle the altar
into a trembling flame of its own accord, in
a transport, she exclaims: may it be a good
omen. The ancients considered the sudden
blazing of fire to be a good omen.
How is this pastoral to be divided?
What is the subject of it?
107. Nescio quid, &c. As if she had said:
some body is coming; I know not certainly
who it is. Hylax. The name of a dog; from
a Greek word signifying to bark.
108. Credimus? an qui, &c. Do I believe
it? or, do those who love form dreams to
themselves? Yes, it is he. Cease, now
cease, my charms, Daphnis comes from the
city.
QUESTIONS.
What is the meaning of the word Phar-
maceutria, the title of the Eclogue?
When was this Eclogue written ?
Who were consuls?
To whom was it probably dedicated?
Why do you suppose it to be dedicated to
Pollio rather than to Augustus ?
When is the planet Venus called Lucifer?
When Hesperus ?
Can you mention any line that has been
noticed by commentators as extremely ten-
der?
Who was Medea ?
What is said of her?
Why are the Muses sometimes called
Pierides?
ECLOGA NONA.
LYCIDAS, MERIS.
WHEN Augustus divided the lands about Mantua among his soldiers, the estate of Virgil
fell to Arius, a centurion. When he went to re-enter upon his estate, after it had been
restored to him, he met with much severe treatment from the new possessor, and on
one occasion, was near being killed. He saved his life by swimming over the river
Mincius. In consequence of which, he returned to Rome to acquaint the Emperor of
the matter. He left his steward, who is here called Maris, behind, and directed him
to treat his new landlord with civility and respect. Moris is going to him with a pre-
sent of some kids, and meets Lycidas, who is supposed to be some Mantuan shepherd.
Upon their meeting the pastoral opens. The scene is the road to the town. The
evening is coming on: the air is tranquil and serene. The pastoral contains a com-
plaint of Virgil's hard treatment under the character of Menalcas; a compliment to
his friend Varus, and another to Julius Cæsar, and consequently to Augustus; toge
ther with several scraps of poetry artfully interwoven with the subject. The whole
pastoral is elegant and beautiful.
1. O Mæri, quò tui
pedes ducunt te ?¨an du-
cunt te in urbem, quo
via ducit?
Lýc. Quò te, Mori, pedes? an, quò via ducit, in ur
Mœ. O Lycida, vivi pervenimus; advena nostri [bem ?
(Quod nunquam veriti sumus) ut possessor agelli
NOTES.
2. Vivi pervenimus: we living have come
to that condition-or have lived to see the
or have lived to see the
day, that, &c. Advena: a noun of common
gender, here used as an adj. It may signi
fy intruding-usurping, as well as foreign:
in the present case, it includes the idea of
all of them.
BUCOLICA. ECL. IX.
47
•
5
Diceret: Hæc mea sunt; veteres migrate coloni.
Nunc victi, tristes, quoniam fors omnia versat,
Hos illi (quod nec benè vertat) mittimus hædos.
Ly. Certè equidem audieram, quâ se subducere colles
Incipiunt, mollique jugum demittere clivo,
Usque ad aquam et veteris jam fracta cacumina fagi,
Omnia carminibus vestrum servâsse Menalcan.
2. Nos vivi perveni-
mus eò miseria, ut ad.
vena possessor
4. Hæc arva sunt mea;
vos, O veteres coloni,
7. Certè equidem au-
dieram vestrum Domi-
10 num Menalcan servásse
sibi omnia arva suis car-
minibus ab eo loco, quà
colles incipiunt subdu-
cere se
11. Audieras illud, et
15 talis fuit fama
13. Columbas valere
14. Quòd nisi sinistra
heu tua cornix monuisset
[nobis antè ab ilice cava inci-
Ma. Audieras, et fama fuit: sed carmina tantùm
Nostra valent, Lycida, tela inter Martia, quantùm
Chaonias dicunt, aquilâ veniente, columbas,
Quòd nisi me quâcumque novas incidere lites
Antè sinistra cavâ monuisset ab ilice cornix ;
Nec tuus hic Moris, nec viveret ipse Menalcas.
Ly. Heu! cadit in quemquam tantum scelus?
Penè simul tecum solatia rapta, Menalca!
Quis caneret Nymphas? quis humum florentibus
Spargeret? aut viridi fontes induceret umbrâ?
Vel quæ sublegi tacitus tibi carmina nuper,
Cùm te ad delicias ferres Amaryllida nostras?
"Tityre, dum redeo, brevis est via, pasce capellas :
"Et potum pastas age, Tityre, et inter agendum
"Occursare capro, cornu ferit ille, caveto."
me
herbis dere
18. Heu tua solatia
20
25
Ma. Immò hæc, quæ Varo, necdum perfecta, canebat.
"Vare, tuum nomen (superet modò Mantua nobis,
NOTES.
3. Agelli: a noun diminutive from ager:
a little farm.
5. Fors in the sense of fortuna.
6. Quod nec benè vertat: which (present
of the kids,) I wish may not turn out well
to him. The usual mode of congratulation
upon receiving a favor was: Benè vertat,
I wish you joy-may it turn out well to you.
nec benè vertat, therefore, was a kind of im-
precation: may it prove a mischief to you.
7. Subducere se: to decline-to fall.
8. Demittere jugum: to lower their ridge,
or top, by an easy descent. Here we have
a description of the farm of Virgil. It was
bounded on one side by a sloping hill; in
other parts of its limits, were the broken
top of an old beech-tree, a marsh, and the
river Mincius.
9. Ad aquam: perhaps the river Mincius.
13. Aquila veniente: the eagle coming upon
them-pursuing them. Here we have a
beautiful circumlocution, expressing the in-
utility of his verses, and the charms of po-
etry, amidst martial arms. Chaonias: an
adj. from Chaonia, a part of Epirus, where
was the city Dodona, and a grove of the
same name, famous for its ora cular oaks.
Columbas: two doves endued with a pro-
phetic spirit are said to have resided among
these oaks. Afterward one of them is said
to have flown to the temple of Apollo at
Delphi, and the other to the temple of Jupi-
ter Ammon in Africa. They are here put
for doves in general.
rapta sunt penè nobis
simul tecum
21. Vel quis caneret
carmina, quæ tacitus
23. Quorum versuum.
hoc est fragmentum:
Tityre, pasce
26. Immo potius quis
caneret hæc carmina, quæ
ille Menalcas
14. Incidere novas lites, &c. To break off
my new disputes in any way whatever.
Lis, is properly an action or case at law.
15. Sinistra: ill-boding. See Ecl. 1. 18.
16. Hic tuus Maris. It appears from this
that the life of Virgil, who is here called
Menalcas, and that of Maris, had been in
danger from the new landlord.
17. Heu, tantum scelus, &c. Alas! that so
great wickedness should fall upon any one.
Or the words may be rendered thus; Alas!
that so great wickedness should come into
any one's mind:-that any one should con-
ceive the idea of perpetrating the horrid
deed of murder. This is the usual sense
given to the words.
18. Heu, tua solatia, &c. Alas, Menalcas,
your delight (the delight of your song,) was
almost snatched from us with yourself: and
if you had been quite slain, in that case,
who would have sung the nymphs, &c. Heyne
observes that by solatia we are to under-
stand the song, carmina, or verses of Menal-
cas.
21. Sublegi: I purloined from you. Ru-
æus says, surripui.
22. Nostras delicias: for nostram amicam.
Delicia is used only in the plural; delight-
darling: here a mistress.
24. Age pastas: drive them full fed to
drink. Potum: sup. in um, to drink-take
water. Inter agendum: in driving them
while driving them, beware, &c.
26. Varo: to Varus. See Ecl. 6. 7.
48
P. VIRGILII MARONIS.
27. Quorum hoc est" Mantua, væ miseræ nimiùm vicina Cremona !)
fragmentum: Ọ Vare," Cantantes sublime ferent ad sidera cycni."
cantantes cycni ferent
tuum nomen
Lv. Sic tua Cyrneas fugiant examina taxos,
Sic cytiso pastæ distentent ubera vaccæ .
30
dulus illis.
35. Nam adhuc videor
Incipe, si quid habes: et me fecere poëtam
Pierides: sunt et mihi carmina me quoque dicunt
35
34. Ego sum non cre- Vatem pastores, sed non ego credulus illis.
Nam neque adhuc Varo videor, nec dicere Cinnâ
mihi dicere carmina dig. Digna, sed argutos inter strepere anser olores.
Ma. Id quidem ago, et tacitus, Lycida, mecum ipse vo-
38. Nunc recordor frag- Si valeam meminisse: neque est ignobile carmen. [luto,
mentum ejus: ades huc," Huc ades, ô Galatea : quis est nam ludus in undis?
na noque
O Galatea:
43. Sine ut insani
44. Quæ carmina au-
dieram te solum canen-
tem sub pura nocte
"Hìc ver purpureum; varios hic flumina circùm
"Fundit humus flores: hìc candida populus antro
"Imminet, et lentæ texunt umbracula vites.
"Huc ades; insani feriant sine litora fluctus."
40
45
Lv. Quid, quæ te purâ solum sub nocte canentem
Audieram ? numeros memini, si verba tenerem.
Ma. "Daphni, quid antiquos signorum suspicis ortus ?
Eoce, Dionæi processit Cæsaris astrum :
NOTES.
28. Cremona. Cremona was a city on
the western bank of the river Po, not far
from Mantua. Its inhabitants were in-
volved in the same misfortune with those of
Mantua, in having their property and lands
taken from them by Augustus. Hence the
epithet misera.
29. Cycni: properly swans. By meton.
poets. The meaning of this fragment is,
that if Mantua should be preserved from the
calamity which had befallen Cremona,
through the influence of Varus, the Man-
tuan poets would celebrate his praises and
raise his name to the stars. By Cantantes
cycni, says Heyne, we are to understand the
Mantuan poets.
30. Cyrneas; an adj. from Cyrnus, an
island in the Mediterranean sea. Hodie
Corsica. This island abounded in the yew-
tree: hence the epithet Cyrnean. The ho-
ney made of this tree was of a bitter quali-
ty, and universally considered bad. For
this reason Lycidas wished the swarms of
his friend to shun those trees. Examina :
swarms of bees.
32. Poetam: a poet. Vatem: a poet, or
prophet. These words are frequently used
as synonymous, but they are not strictly so.
35. Cinna. Cornelius Cinna, the grand-
son of Pompey the Great. He became a
favorite of Augustus.
36. Digna: things worthy of: or it may
agree with carmina, understood; verses
worthy of the attention of Varus and Cin-
na; or worthy to celebrate their actions.
strepere anser: to gabble as a goose among
tuneful swans-to
swans-to make inharmonious
sounds, &c.
37. Ago: in the sense of facio. Tacitus
ipse voluto: I am thinking silently with my-
self, if I can recollect it. Voluto: I am re-
volving it in my mind.
39. Quisnam ludus: what sport is there
in the waves? The parts of the word are
separated by Tmesis. Nothing can be more
beautiful than the whole of this fragment.
It is in imitation of the eleventh Idyl of
Theocritus.
40. Purpureum : blooming-gay. Est is
to be supplied.
41. Fundit: in the sense of producit.
42. Texunt: in the sense of efficiunt.
Umbracula: a dim. noun from umbra, a lit-
tle, or pleasant shade.
43. Insani: raging-stormy.
44. Quid: in the sense of cur.
45. Mimini numeros: I recollect the tune;
if I knew the words, I would sing them.
These last, or some other of the like import,
are evidently implied. Or else we must take
si in the sense of Utimam; I wish-O that.
46. Suspicis: in the sense of miraris.
47. Astrum. This word properly signifies
a constellation of stars. The poet uses it
here for a single star, thereby giving the
greater dignity to the star of Cæsar. Vir-
gil makes fülus the son of Æneas, the founder
of the Julian family. Iülus was the grand-
son of Venus, who according to some was
the daughter of Dione, a nymph of the sea,
by Jupiter. Hence the epithet Dionian.
About the time of Julius Caesar's death, it is
said a remarkable comet appeared, which
the Rumans considered to be the soul of
Cæsar received up to heaven. The poet
calls it the star of Cæsar, agreeable to the
vulgar notion. This comet, according to
Dr Halley, appeared the third time in
BUCOLICA. ECL IX.
49
"Astrum, quo segetes gauderent frugibus, et quo
"Duceret apricis in collibus uva colorem.
"Insere, Daphni, piros, carpent tua poma nepotes." 50
Omnia fert ætas, animum quoque. Sæpe ego longos
Cantando puerum memini me condere soles.
Nunc oblita mihi tot carmina: vox quoque Mœrim
Jam fugit ipsa lupi Mœrim vidêre priores.
Sed tamen ista satìs referet tibi sæpe Menalcas.
Lv. Causando nostros in longum ducis amores :
Et nunc omne tibi stratum silet æquor, et omnes
(Aspice) ventosi ceciderunt murmuris auræ.
Hinc adeò media est nobis via: namque sepulchrum
Incipit apparere Bianoris: hìc, ubi densas
Agricolæ stringunt frondes; hic, Mori, canamus :
Hic hædos depone, tamen veniemus in urbem:
Aut si, nox pluviam ne colligat antè, veremur :
Cantantes licet usque (minùs via lædet) eamus.
Cantantes ut eamus, ego hoc te fasce levabo.
51. Ego memini me
puerum sæpe condere
55 55. Ista carmina tibi
sæpe satis
60
65
56. Longum tempus
62. Tamen veniemus
opportunè
63. Antè quàm perve-
nerimus ad eam, licet
nobis ut eamus usque
cantantes.
66. Desine loqui plura
Ma. Desine plura, puer: et quod nunc instat, agamus. verba
Carmina tum meliùs, cùm venerit ipse, canemus.
NOTES.
1680. In its nearest approach to the sun,
its tail was about 60 degrees long. Pro-
cessit; moves along-hath begun its course.
48. Quo segetes, &c. Under which (by the
influence of which) the fields shall rejoice
with corn. Or, the crops shall abound in
grain; taking segetes for the stalks or spring-
ing corn. Gauderent, by enallage for gaude-
bunt. Sata abundabunt frumento, says Ru-
æus.
49. Uva duceret colorem: shall take co-
lor-grow ripe. Duceret: for ducet, by
enallage.
50. Insere piros: plant or graft your pear-
trees. The star of Cæsar shall extend its
influence to them. They will grow and
flourish; and if you should not live to reap
the fruit of your labor yourself, be assured
your offspring will. Piros may be put for
fruit trees in general: the species for the
genus.
51. Etas: in the sense of tempus. Ani-
mum; in the sense of memoriam.
52. Condere longos Soles: to pass or spend
long days in singing. Sol is often taken for
the day, as Luna is for the night. See Æn.
2.255.
54. Lupi priores: the wolves first have
seen Maris. He hath lost his voice-he can-
not sing. Alluding to a superstitious notion
that if a wolf saw a man the first, he would
lose his voice.
55. Referet: in the sense of recitabit.
56.Causando: by framing excuses. From
the verb causor. Ducis: you put off-defer.
Amores: pleasure-entertainment.
57. Omne stratum æquor, &c. The whole
67. Cùm Menalcas ipse
level surface of the water, is still for you.
Stratum: smooth-level. To consider stra-
tum as expressing the tranquillity of the
water is mere tautology: that is sufficiently
expressed by silet. Equor any plain or
level surface, whether land or water; here,
probably, the river Mincius. Omnes auræ,
&c. Every breeze of whispering wind hath
ceased. Ventosi murmuris: in the sense of
murmurantis venti.
59. Adeò: only-surely.
60. Sepulchrum Bianoris: the tomb of
Bianor. He was said to be the son of the
river Tiber and the nymph Manto. He
founded, or rather enlarged Mantua, and
called it after the name of his mother. See
Æn. 10. 198. His tomb was placed by the
side of the way.
61. Stringunt: prune, or lop off the thick
boughs.
62. Urbem. The city Mantua. Depone
hædos: lay down your kids. He was pro-
bably carrying them upon his shoulders.
Let us stay here awhile and amuse our-
selves in singing: we shall, nevertheless,
arrive in town in good time.
64. Usque: all the way-all the time.
Lædet: in the sense of fatigabit.
65. Levabo te, &c. I will ease you of this
burden-load: to wit, the kids, which he
was carrying to town for his new landlord.
See verse 6, supra.
66. Puer: swain. It is applied to shep-
herds in general.
67. Cùm ipse, &c. It is probable that Vir-
gil composed this Eclogue when he was at
Rome.
5
50
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
QUESTIONS.
To whom did the estate of Virgil fall in
the distribution of the Mantuan lands?
Did he receive any hard treatment from
Arius? How did he save his life? What
was the name of his steward? Who is Ly-
cidas supposed to be? When does the pas-
toral open? Where is the scene laid? What
is the time of the day? What is the subject
of this pastoral? What is the character of it?
What is the distinction between poeta,
and Vates?
What remarkable appearance was ob-
served in the heavens about the time of Ju-
lius Caesar's death?
What does the poet call it?
When did it appear the third time?
Who was Bianor? What did he do?
ECLOGA DECIMA.
GALLUS.
THE subject of this fine pastoral is the love of Gallus for Lycoris, who refused his ad-
dresses, and gave her affections to an officer. This Gallus was a particular friend of
Virgil, and was an excellent poet. He raised himself from a humble station to great
favor with Augustus, who appointed him governor of Egypt after the death of Anthony
and Cleopatra.
THE scene of the pastoral is laid in Arcadia, whither the poet supposes his friend to have
retired in the height of his passion. Here all the rural deities assemble around him,
inquire the cause of his grief, and endeavor to moderate it. This, Eclogue is not sur-
passed by any of the preceding, except the fourth, in beauty and grandeur. Ilere, too,
Virgil imitates Theocritus, particularly in his first Idyl. By Lycoris is meant Cytheris,
a most beautiful woman, and celebrated actress.
EXTREMUM hunc, Arethusa, mihi concede laborem.
2. Pauca carmina sunt Pauca meo Gallo, sed quæ legat ipsa Lycoris,
dicenda
Carmina sunt dicenda: neget quis carmina Gallo?
Sic tibi, cùm fluctus subter labêre Sicanos,
Doris amara suam non intermisceat undam.
Incipe, sollicitos Galli dicamus amores,
NOTES.
1. Arethusa. A nymph of great beauty,
the daughter of Nereus and Doris. Also, a
fountain on the island Ortygia, in the bay
of Syracuse, upon which stood a part of the
city. Syracuse was famous for its being
the birth place of Theocritus and Archime-
des; and for its valiant defence against the
Roman fleet and army under Marcellus. It
was taken after a siege of three years.
Concede, &c. Grant me this last work-
favor me in the execution of this my last
pastoral essay. The reason that the poet
invoked this nymph is, that she was the
goddess of a fountain of that name, in the
place where Theocritus was born, and where
pastoral poetry was much cultivated.
4. Tibi: with thee-with thy water.
5. Amara Doris. Doris, a nymph of the
sea, the daughter of Occanus and Tethys,
and married to her brother Nereus, of whom
5
See
he begat the nymphs called Nereides; here
put by meton. for the sea, whose water is
salt and of an unpleasant taste; which the
poet prays may not be mingled with the sweet
and pleasant waters of the fountain Arethusa,
in its passage under the Sicilian sea.
Æn. iii. 694 and 6. Alpheus, a river of the
Peloponnesus, is said to have been in love
with the nymph Arethusa, who, flying from
him, was turned by Diana into a fountain.
She made her escape under the sea, to the
island Ortygia, where she rose up. But Al-
pheus pursuing her by the same way, arose
up in the same fountain, mingling his waters
with hers. Undam: in the sense of aquam.
6. Galli. There were several persons by
the name of Gallus. The one here meant
is Publius Cornelius Gallus. He raised
himself by his extraordinary merit to great
favor with Augustus, who appointed him
BUCOLICA. ECL. X.
31
Dum tenera attondent simæ virgulta capellæ.
Non canimus surdis, respondent omnia sylvæ.
Quæ nemora, aut qui vos saltus habuere, puellæ
Naiades, indigno cùm Gallus amore periret?
Nam neque Parnassi vobis juga, nam neque Pindi
Ulla moram fecere, neque Aonia Aganippe.
Illum etiam lauri, illum etiam flevêre myricæ.
Pinifer illum etiam solâ sub rupe jacentem
Mænalus, et gelidi fleverunt saxa Lycæi.
Stant et oves circùm, nostrî nec pœnitet illas:
Nec te pœniteat pecoris, divine poëta.
Et formosus oves ad flumina pavit Adonis.
Venit et upilio, tardi venêre bubulci:
Uvidus hybernâ venit de glande Menalcas.
Omnes, unde amor iste, rogant, tibi? Venit Apollo.
Galle, quid insanis? inquit: tua cura Lycoris,
Perque nives alium, perque horrida castra secuta est.
Venit et agresti capitis Sylvanus honore,
NOTES.
governor of Egypt after the death of An-
tony and Cleopatra. His prince, however,
for some cause or other, conceiving a violent
enmity against him, sent him into banish
ment; which sentence was ratified by the
senate. This cruel and undeserved treat-
ment had such an effect upon his mind,
that he killed himself. After his death,
Augustus lamented his own severity and
that of the senate toward so worthy a man.
Gallus was a great friend of Virgil, and
highly esteemed by Pollio and Cicero. He
was a poet as well as statesman and soldier.
It is said he wrote four book of elegies to
Cytheris, whom Virgil calls Lycoris. He
also translated some part of the works of
Euphorion, a poet of Chalcis.
7. Sima: flat-nosed.
10
11. Nam neque ulla
juga Parnassi, nam ne-
que ulla juga Pindi, ne-
que fons, Aonia Aga-
nippe, fecere ullam mo-
15 ram vobis. Etiam lauri
fleverunt illum
20
21. Unde est iste amor
tibi, O Galle
15. Manalus. A mountain in Arcadia,
celebrated for its pines. Lycai. Lycæus,
a mountain of the same country, noted for
its rocks and snows; hence the epithet ge-
lid. The whole of this passage is ver
fine. It contains a reproof to the nymphs f
not assisting in alleviating the grief of Gallus.
16. Stant et oves, &c. His flocks too stand
around him-nor are they ashamed of him
-nor do they disregard his grief. Gallus
is represented under the character of a swain,
feeding his sheep on the mountains of Ar-
cadia. Nostri: our friend--Gallus.
18. Adonis. He was the son of Cinyras,
king of the island of Cyprus, by his daugh-
ter Myrrha. He was so beautiful, that
Venus ranked him among her favorites, and
honored him with her bed. When hunting,
8. Respondent: will answer-will echo he received a wound from a boar, of which
back our song.
vos.
9. Habuere vos: in the sense of detinuerunt
Nemora: properly signifies a grove or
wood thinly set with trees, where flocks may
feed and graze; derived from the Greek.
Saltus: properly a thick wood, where bushes
and fallen trees do not permit animals to
pass without leaping; from salio. Habuere
vos: detained you from coming to console
Gallus in his grief. Puella: in the sense
of nympho.
11. Juga: in the sense of cacumina.
Parnassi. Parnassus was a mountain, or
rather range of mountains in Phocis, sacred
to the Muses. Pindi. Pindus was a range
of mountains in the confines of Epirus and
Macedonia, also sacred to the Muses. Aga-
nippe was the name of a fountain issuing
from mount Helicon in Beotia, and flowing
into the river Permessus. It is called Aonian,
from Aon, the son of Neptune, who reigned
in Beotia.
he died, and was greatly lamented by her.
19. Venit et upilio: the shepherd too came,
and the slow moving herdsmen came. Upilio,
for opilio, by metaphasmus. Opilio, proba-
bly from oves, by changing the v into p.
The word et is often used to express empha-
sis, and has the force of etiam or quoque, as
in the present case. When it has its cor-
respondent et in the following member of
the sentence, it is usually translated by the
word both, and the following et by and. The
conj. que, when it has its correspondent
que, is rendered in the same way.
20. Uvidus de: wet from gathering the
winter mast.
21. Apollo. He came, the first of the
gods; because he was the god of poetry.
22. Tua cura: for tua amica.
24. Sylvanus. He was the god of the
woods, and said to be the son of Mars.
always bore on his head a branch of cypress
Like Pan, he was represented as half man.
He
52
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Florentes ferulas et grandia lilia quassans.
26. Quem nos ipsi vi- Pan Deus Arcadiæ venit, quem vidimus ipsi
dimus
Sanguineis ebuli baccis minioque rubentem.
Ecquis erit modus? inquit: amor non talia curat.
29. Crudelis amor nec Nec lacrymis crudelis amor, nec gramina rivis,
saturatur lacrymis
Nec cytiso saturantur apes, nec fronde capellæ.
Tristis at ille: Tamen cantabitis, Arcades, inquit,
Montibus hæc vestris: soli cantare periti
31. At ille tristis in-
quit: tamen, O Arcades,
VOS
unus ex vobis
cumque esset mihi fu-
ror, jaceret
Arcades. O mihi tum quàm molliter ossa quiescant,
Vestra meos olim si fistula dicat amores!
35. Utinam fuissem Atque utinam ex vobis unus, vestrique fuissem
Aut custos gregis, aut maturæ vinitor uvæ!
37. Certe sive Phillis, Certè sive mihi Phyllis, sive esset Amyntas,
sive Amyntas, seu qui- Seu quicumque furor (quid tum, si fuscus Amyntas?
Et nigræ violæ sunt, et vaccinia nigra.)
Mecum inter salices lentâ sub vite jaceret.
42. Hic, O Lycori, Serta mihi Phyllis legeret, cantaret Amyntas.
sunt gelidi
44. Insanus amor de- Hic gelidi fontes, hìc mollia prata, Lycori :
tinet me in armis duri Hìc nemus: hìc ipso tecum consumerer ævo.
Nunc insanus amor duri me Martis in armis
Martis inter
NOTES.
and half goat. He fell in love with Cypa-
rissus, the favorite of Apollo, who was
changed into a tree of that name. Agres-
ti honore capitis: with the rustic honor of
his head-with a garland of leaves upon
his head. Honore: in the sense of corona.
25. Florentes ferulas: blooming fennel.
There are two kinds of ferula, or fennel,
the small, or common, and the large, or
giant fennel. This last grows to the height
of six or seven feet. The stalks are thick,
and filled with a fungous pith, which is used
in Sicily for the same purpose as tinder is
with us, to kindle fire. From this circum-
stance, the poets feigned that Prometheus
stole the heavenly fire and brought it to earth
in a stalk of ferula. Some derive the name
from ferendo, because its stalk was used as a
walking-stick; others derive it from feriendo,
because it was used by school-masters to
strike their pupils with on the hand. Hence
the modern instrument, or ferula, which is
used for the same purpose, though very dif-
ferent from the ancient one, and capable of
giving much greater pain.
27. Rubentem: stained with the red ber-
ries of alder, and with vermilion. Ebuli.
Ebulum is the plant called dwarf elder. It
grows about three feet high, and bears red
berries. In England it has obtained the
name of dane-wort; because it was fabled
to have sprung from the blood of the Danes,
at the time of their massacre. It is chiefly
found in church-yards. Mino. Minium is
the native cinnabar. It was the vermilion
of the ancients; it is our present red-lead.
28. Modus: in the sense of finis.
29. Rivis: with streams, or rills of water.
30. Saturantur: are satisfied.
25
30
35
40
31. Arcades. This address of Gallus to
the Arcadians is tender and pathetic, espe
cially that part of it where he wishes he
had been only a humble shepherd like
them.
32. Hac: these my misfortunes.
33. O quàm molliter: O how softly then
my bones, &c.; alluding to a superstitious
notion of the ancients that the bodies of
the dead might be oppressed by the weight
of the earth cast upon them. Accordingly
they crumbled it fine, and cast it lightly into
the grave, using the words, sit tibi terra levis :
may the earth be light upon thee.
34. Olim: hereafter. This word refers
to future as well as to past time. Mihi: in
the sense of mea, agreeing with ossa.
36. Vinitor: a vine-dresser. It seems to
be used here in the sense of vindemiator, a
gatherer of grapes-a vintager.
38. Furor. This word properly signifies
any inordinate passion, such as love, anger,
rage, fury, and the like; by meton. the ob-
ject of such passion-the person loved.-
Fuscus: black. The verb sit is to be sup-
plied.
39. Vaccinia: whortle-berries, or bil-ber-
ries. Mr. Martyn takes the word for the
flower of the hyacinth.
41. Serta: garlands of flowers.
43. Consumerer, &c. I could spend my
very life here with you in this pleasant re-
treat, gazing upon the beauty of your per-
son. Rumus says: traducerem omnem ætatem
tecum. But consumerer may be used in the
sense of the Greek middle voice. Virgil
was fond of the Greek idiom.
44. Nunc insanus amor, &c. The mean-
ing of this passage appears to be: in this
BUCOLICA. ECL. X.
53
Tela inter media atque adversos detinet hostes.
Tu procul à patriâ (nec sit mihi credere) tantùm
Alpinas, ah dura, nives, et frigora Rheni
Me sinè sola vides. Ah te ne frigora lædant!
Ah tibi ne teneras glacies secet aspera plantas!
Ibo, et Chalcidico quæ sunt mihi condita versu
Carmina pastoris Siculi modulabor avenâ.
Certum est in sylvis, inter spelæa ferarum,
Malle pati, tenerisque meos incidere amores
Arboribus crescent illæ, crescetis amores.
Intereà mixtis lustrabo Mænala Nymphis,
Aut acres venabor apros: non me ulla vetabunt
Frigora Parthenios canibus circumdare saltus.
NOTES.
pleasant place, if you had consented, we
might have both lived happy and secure.
But now, on account of your cruelty, we
are both unhappy and miserable. Through
despair, I expose myself to the dangers and
hazards of war; and in the mean time your
love of a soldier hurries you to distant
countries, over the snows of the Alps, &c.
Gallus here supposes Cytheris to accompany
her lover, and to undergo the fatigues and
hardships incident to a military life. Me.
This passage would be much easier, if we
could read te in the room of me. The sense
naturally leads to such reading; but we
have no authority for making the substitu-
tion. Martis. Mars was esteemed the god
of war. He was the son of Jupiter and
Juno, as some say; others say, of Juno
alone. His education was intrusted to Pri-
apus, who taught him all the manly exer-
cises. In the Trojan war, he took a very
active part, and was always at hand to as-
sist the favorites of Venus. His amours
with that goddess have been much celebra-
ted by the poets. Vulcan, her husband,
being informed of their intrigue, made a net
of such exquisite workmanship, that it could
not be perceived. In this net he caught the
two lovers, and exposed them to the ridicule
of the gods. He kept them in this situation
for a considerable time, till Neptune pre-
vailed upon him to set them at liberty.
The worship of Mars was not very general
among the Greeks, but among the Romans
he received the most unbounded honors.
His most famous temple was built by Au-
gustus, after the battle of Phillippi, and de-
dicated to Mars Ultor. His priests were
called Salii, and were first instituted by
Numa. Their chief office was to keep the
sacred ancyle, or shield, which was supposed
to have fallen from heaven. Mars was
sometimes called Gradivus, Mavors, and
Quirinus; by meton. put for war in general
-a battle-a fight, &c.
45. Adversos: in the sense of infestos.
46 Tantùm. ouly-nothing beside.
45
46. Tu, ah dura femi-
na! procul à patria (uti-
nam sit mihi nec credere
id) vides tantùm Alpi-
nas nives, et frigora
Rheni, sola sinè me.
50 50. Et modulabor
avenâ Siculi pastoris
Theocriti, carmina, quæ
55
54. Ille arbores cres-
cent: vos, O mi amores
57. Alpinas: an adj. from Alpes, a very
high range of mountains separating Italy
from France, Switzerland, and Germany,
and covered with almost perpetual snow.
Rheni: the river Rhine. It rises in the
mountains of Switzerland, and runs a north-
erly course, forming the boundary between
France and Germany, and falls into the
German sea near the Hague. Its length is
near six hundred miles. Dura: in the sense
of crudelis. Sola: Lycoris was alone, as
respected Gallus.
49. Plantas: in the sense of pedes. As-
pera: sharp. The whole of this address to
his mistress is extremely tender and pathe-
tic.
50. Quæ condita sunt, &c. Which were
composed by me in elegiac verse. Chalci-
dico: an adj. from Chalcis, a city of Euboea,
(hodie, Negropont,) the birth-place of Eu-
phorion, an elegiac poet; some of whose
verses, it is said, Gallus turned into Latin
verse.
To this, Ruæus thinks, the poet re-
fers. However this may be, it cannot be
made from the words without straining
them. They simply imply that Gallus
wrote some verses or poems in the same
kind of verse, or measure, in which Eupho-
rion wrote.
51. Modulabor: in the sense of canam.
52. Certum est, &c. It is certain-I am
resolved, that I had rather suffer in the
woods any dangers and hardships than fol-
low after Lycoris. These, or words of the
like import, seem to be necessary to make
the sense complete. Spelaa: dens, or
haunts of wild beasts; from the Greck.
53. Incidere: to cut, or inscribe.
55. Manala: neu. plu. a mountain in
Arcadia. In the sing. Manalus. Lustrabo:
in the sense of circumibo. Mixtis nymphis.
The meaning is, that he was in company
with the nymphs; or that they, in confused
and irregular order, pursued their course.
56. Acres: fierce-dangerous. Vetabunt.
in the sense of prohibebunt.
57. Parthenos. Parthenius was a moun-
54
!
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
60. Tanquam hæc om-
nia sint
61. Aut tanquam ille
Deus Cupido
64. Illum Deum Cupi-
dinem; nec equidem, si
Jam mihi per rupes videor lucosque sonantes
Ire: libet Partho torquere Cydonia cornu
65
Spicula: tanquam hæc sint nostri medicina furoris, 60
Aut Deus ille malis hominum mitescere discat.
Jam neque Hamadryades rursùm, nec carmina nobis
Ipsa placent: ipsæ rursùm concedite sylvæ.
Non illum nostri possunt mutare labores ;
Nec si frigoribus mediis Hebrumque bibamus,
Sithoniasque nives hyemis subeamus aquosæ :
67. Nec equidem, si Nec si, cùm moriens altâ liber aret in ulmo,
versemus oves Ethiop- Æthiopum versemus oves sub sidere Cancri
um, sub sidere cancri, Omnia vincit amor; et nos cedamus amori.
Hæc sat erit, Divæ, vestrum cecinisse poëtam,
sat erit vestrum poetam Dum sedet, et gracili fiscellam texit hibisco,
Pierides: vos hæc facietis maxima Gallo :
cùm
70. O Diva Pierides,
cecinisse hæc carmina
72. Facietis hæc fieri Gallo, cujus amor tantùm mihi crescit in horas,
Quantùm vere novo viridis se subjicit alnus.
Surgamus: solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra :
NOTES.
tain in Arcadia, where virgins used to hunt;
from a Greek word signifying a virgin. It
is here used as an adj. Circumdare: in the
sense of cingere.
58. Sonantes: echoing-resounding.
59. Cydonia: an adj. from Cydon, a city
of Crete, the arrows of which were held in
great estimation. Partho cornu: a Parthian
bow. The Parthians were a people famed
for their skill in handling the bow, which
they made of horn. Hence cornu: a bow.
Libet: in the sense of juvat.
60. Medicina furoris: a remedy for our
love. Tanquam : as if.
61. Malis: in the sense of miseriis.
62. Hamadryades: nymphs of the woods
and trees. Their fate was supposed to be
connected with that of particular trees,
with which they lived and died. It is de-
rived from the Greek. See Ecl. ii. 46.
63. Rursum concedite: again, ye woods,
farewell. Concedite, is here elegantly put
for valete. I wish you may grow and flourish,
though I languish and die.
65. Hebrum. The Hebrus is the largest
river of Thrace, rising out of mount Rho-
dope, near its junction with mount Hamus,
and taking a southerly course, falls into the
Egean sea: hodie, Marisa. The ancient
Thrace forms a province of the Turkish
empire, by the name Romania. Frigori-
bus: in the sense of hyeme.
66. Sithonias: an adj. from Sithonia, a
part of Thrace, bordering upon the Euxine
Subeamus: endure-undergo.
67. Moriens liber: the withering bark, or
rind.
sea.
70
75
68. Versemus: feed, or tend upon; in the
sense of pasceremus. Ethiopum: gen. plu.
of Ethiops, an inhabitant of Æthiopia, an
extensive country in Africa, lying principal-
ly within the torrid zone. Here it is put for
hot climate. Cancri. Cancer is one of the
the inhabitants of any country lying in a
twelve signs of the Zodiac. The sun
enters it about the twenty-first day of June,
causing our longest day.
69. Amor vincit, &c. The poet here hath
finely represented the various resolutions
and passions of a lover. Gallus having
tried various expedients to divert his affec-
tions, and finding nothing sufficiently enti-
cing to him, to accomplish that end, finally
abandons the vain pursuit with this reflec-
tion: Love conquers all things—let us yield
to love.
71. Texit: formed-made. Hibisco: in
the sense of vimine.
72. Maxima:
precious.
73. In horas hourly-every hour.
74. Subjicit se: shoots itself up-springs
up.
most acceptable- most
75. Umbra solet, &c. The shade of the
evening is wont to be injurious to singers.
Umbra here must mean the shade or dusk of
the evening, which, on account of the falling
dew, is reckoned an unhealthy part of the
day. That the word is to be taken in this
sense, appears from the circumstance men-
tioned in the following line. Hesperus venit
the evening star is approaching. Canlanti-
bus; some read cunctantibus: to those de-
laying, or loitering.
BUCOLICA. ECL. X.
55
Juniperi gravis umbra: nocent et frugibus umbræ.
Ite domum saturæ, venit Hesperus, ite capella.
NOTES.
76. Umbra juniperi: the shade of the
juniper tree is injurious: not so in fact;
it is both pleasant and healthy. It is
odoriferous in itself, and is often burned,
to absorb the noxious part of the atmos-
phere, and to prevent infection. Poets often
take liberties that are not allowable in prose
writers. They may follow the common re-
ceived opinions of things, however incor-
rect, without justly incurring censure. This
77. Vos, O meæ saturæ
capella, ite, ite domum
we may be sure Virgil did in the present
instance. It might have been the current
opinion that the juniper tree changed its
qualities as the evening came on; or, we
may understand it thus: so noxious is the
evening air, that even the juniper tree will
not secure from its effects.
77. Saturæ: full-fed-sufficiently fed;
implying that time enough had been spent
in pastoral writing.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this pastoral?
Who was Gallus?
Where is the scene of the pastoral laid?
What took place after his arrival in Ar-
cadia?
What is the character of this pastoral?
Whom does Virgil imitate?
Who was Lycoris?
Who was Arethusa ?
Was there any fountain of that name?
Where was it situated?
For what was Syracuse famous?
Why did the poet invoke the nymph Are-
thusa?
What is said of the river Alpheus?
Where was the mountain Parnassus?
Where was Pindus?
Where were the mountains Mænalus and
Lycœus?
What is said of them?
Who was Mars?
What is said of him?
By whom was the most celebrated temple
of Mars built?
What were his priests called?
What was their chief office?
What were the names of Mars?
For what is the word Mars put for by
meton.?
Where is the river Hebrus?
Where does it rise and empty its waters?
Where is Ethiopia situated?
INTRODUCTION TO THE GEORGICS.
THE civil wars, that had distracted the Roman empire, had nearly desolated
Italy. The land lay neglected, and the inhabitants were reduced to great dis-
tress for want of the necessaries of life. In this state of things, they cast the
blame upon Augustus, and murmured against his administration. To remedy
the existing evils, and to avert heavier calamities, it became necessary to revive
agriculture; which for many years had been almost wholly neglected, the peo-
ple being taken from their lands to supply the armies. It occurred to Mæcenas
that a treatise upon that subject would be highly useful to the inhabitants of
Italy; he therefore engaged Virgil, who had just finished his Eclogues, to
undertake the work. It had the desired effect. For, after the publication of
the Georgics, Italy began to assume a new and flourishing appearance, and the
people found themselves in plenty, and in the enjoyment of peace and content.
Virgil spent about seven years in this part of his works. His correct taste,
his chaste style, and above all, his extensive knowledge, duly qualified him for
a work of this kind. The Georgics, like the Eclogues, were every where well
received.
The rules for the improvement of husbandry, and the advice given to the
farmer upon the several subjects connected with it, were not only suited to the
climate of Italy, but have been esteemed valuable in every country where "due
honor has been paid to the plougn, ' down to the present time.
The word Georgica is from the Greek. Its original word properly signifies
the cultivation or tillage of the earth. In the Georgics, Virgil imitated Hesiod,
who wrote a treatise upon this subject, entitled, Opera et Dies, but he far ex-
celled him in every respect. He began this part of his works in the year of
Rome 717, being then about thirty-two years of age, and dedicated it to Ma-
cenas, his friend and patron, at whose request he wrote it.
The Georgics are divided into four books. The first treats of the various
soils, and the proper method of managing each. The second treats of the various
ways of propagating fruit trees, and particularly the vine. The third treats of
the several kinds of grass, and the proper method of raising horses, cattle,
sheep, and goats. The fourth treats of the proper management of bees.
With the main subject, the poet hath interwoven several very interesting fables
and episodes, which contribute to our pleasure, and relieve the mind under the
dryness of precept.
QUESTIONS.
What was the state of Italy, when Virgil
began his Georgics?
At whose request did he write them?
To whom did he dedicate them?
What is the meaning of the word Geor-
rica, or Georgics?
From what language is the word derived?
What effect had the Georgics upon the
state of Italy?
How long was Virgil in writing them?
In what year of Rome did he begin them?
Were they well received by his countrymen?
Was Virgil well qualified to write upon
the subject of agriculture?
Whom did he imitate?
What is the comparative merit of each
work?
Do the Georgics contain valuable rules
and directions to the agriculturist in all
countries?
Into how many books are they divided?
What is the subject of each book? &c.
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
GEORGICA.
LIBER PRIMUS.
THIS BOOK opens with the plan of the whole work: and in the four first lines informs us
of the subject of each book. The poet then proceeds to invoke the gods, that were
thought to have any concern in the affairs of tillage or husbandry; and particularly, he
compliments Augustus with divinity. After which, he goes on to show the different
kinds of tillage proper for the different soils. He traces out the origin of agriculture.
He describes the various implements proper for that use. He notices the prognostics
of the weather. And concludes, by relating the prodigies which happened about the
time of Julius Caesar's death; and by invoking the gods for the safety of Augustus,
his prince.
The whole is embellished with a variety of other matter, so judiciously blended with the
subject, that, besides preventing languor and fatigue under the dryness of precept, it
contributes to our pleasure and delight.
QUID faciat lætas segetes; quo sidere terram
Vertere, Mæcenas, ulmisque adjungere vites,
Conveniat: quæ cura boum; qui cultus habendo
Sit pecori; atque apibus quanta experientia parcis;
Hinc canere incipiam. Vos, ô clarissima mundi
Lumina, labentem cœlo quæ ducitis annum :
Liber et alma Ceres, vestro si munere tellus
Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit aristâ,
Poculaque inventis Acheloïa miscuit uvis :
NOTES.
1. Latas: in the sense of copiosas vel fer-
tiles.
3. Qui cultus, &c. What management is
necessary for raising cattle. It is plain that
necessarius, aptus, or some word of the like
import, is to be supplied, agreeing with cul-
tus. Habendo may be a future part. pass.
ar a gerund in do, of the dat. case.
4. Quanta experientia, &c. How great
care, or attention, is necessary to rear the
frugal bees. Or, it may mean; how great
experience, foresight, and regular manage-
ment, in their affairs, there may be to the
frugal bees. When sentences are very el-
liptical, it is sometimes difficult to fall upon
the meaning of the author.
6. Lumina. We are here to understand,
I apprehend, the sun and moon, as they go-
5
2. O Maecenas, inci-
piam canere hinc, quid
faciat lætas segetes, quo
sidere conveniat vertere
terram
3. Quæ sit cura boum;,
qui
7. O Liber, et alma
Ceres, si
vern the seasons; rather than Ceres and
Bacchus, as some imagine.
7. Liber et alma Ceres. Rumus considers
these as the Clarissima Lumina mundi in
the preceding line. But the reason which
he gives for so doing appears insufficient.
Alma: an adj. cherishing-nourishing. In
this sense it is a very appropriate epithet of
Ceres, as being the goddess of husbandry.
It also signifies, pure-holy, &c.
8. Chaoniam glandem: Chaonian acorns,
or mast: here put for mast in general; the
species for the genus. Chaoniam: an adj.
from Chaonia, a part of Epirus, in which
was the famous grove Dodona,that abound-
ed in mast-trees.
9. Acheloïa pocula: draughts of pure wa-
ter. Pocula, properly the cups, here put by
60
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
10. Et vos, O Fauni, Et vos, agrestûm præsentia numina, Fauni,
præsentia numina agres- Ferte simul Faunique pedem Dryadesque puellæ ;
tûm; O Faunique Dry- Munera vestra cano. Tuque ô, cui prima frementem
adesque puellæ, ferte
pedem simul:
Fudit equum magno tellus percussa tridenti,
14. Et, tu O Aristae, Neptune: et cultor nemorum, cui pinguia Cææ
cultor nemorum, cui ter Ter centum nivei tondent dumeta juvenci:
centum nivei juvenci
16. Tu ipse, O Tegeme
16. Tu ipse, O Tegere Ipse nemus linquens patrium, saltusque Lycæi,
Pan, custos ovium, lin- Pan ovium custos, tua si tibi Mænala curæ,
quens patrium nemus, Adsis, ô Tegeæe, favens: oleæque Minerva
NOTES.
meton. for the water itself. Acheloïa: an
adj. from Achelous, a river of Ætolia, sup-
posed by the ancients to have been the first
that arose out of the earth: hence put, fre-
quently, for water in general. Ceres, it is
said, taught men husbandry, and Bacchus,
the cultivation of the vine: to which the
words vestro munere allude. At the first,
men lived upon the spontaneous productions
of the earth.
10. Præsentia: in the sense of propitia.
11. Dryades. Nymphs or goddesses of the
woods, from a Greek word signifying an
oak. See Ecl. ii. 46.
14. Neptune. Neptune, god of the sea,
and father of fountains and rivers. He was
the son of Saturn and Ops, and brother of
Jupiter and Pluto. In the division of the
world with his brothers, he obtained the em-
pire of the sea. He is said to have married
Amphitrite, the daughter of Nereus or Oce-
anus. He is said to have been the first who
tamed the horse. Hence the poets feign,
that when a dispute arose between him and
Minerva, respecting the name to be given
to the city Athens, it was referred to the
gods for their decision; who declared it
should be called by the name of the party
that should confer on mankind the greatest
benefit; whereupon Neptune struck the earth
with his trident and produced the horse, a
warlike animal; and Minerva with her
spear produced the olive, the emblem of
peace: upon which the case was given in
her favor. Neptunus, by meton. is often
put for the sea. Cultor nemorum. The per-
son here meant is Aristaus, the reputed son
of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, the daugh-
ter of Peneus, the god of the river Peneus
in Thessaly. After his son Acteon was torn
to pieces by dogs for looking upon Diana,
as she was bathing, Aristaus left Thebes,
and took up his residence in the island Caa,
one of the Cyclades. He is said to have
been the first, who taught mankind the cul-
tivation of bees. See Geor. iv. 317.
17. Si tua Manala, &c. The meaning is:
if you have a regard for Mænalus, Lyceus,
and the rest of your mountains in Arcadia,
come and be propitious to my undertaking.
These mountains were sacred to Pan.
18. Tegeme: an adj. from Tegea, a city of
Arcadia, sacred to Pan. Minerva. Goddess
ner.
10
15
of wisdom and the liberal arts. She is said
to have been produced from the brain of Ju-
piter full grown, and immediately admitted
into the assembly of the gods; where she
distinguished herself by her wise counsel.
Her power was very great. She could hurl
the thunderbolts of Jupiter, prolong the lives
of men, and bestow the, gift of prophecy.
Arachne, the daughter of Idmon, a Lydian,
challenged the goddess to a trial of skill in
embroidery. She represented on her piece
the amours of Jupiter in a masterly man-
She was, however, outdone, and ha-
ving hung herself through chagrin, was
changed into a spider by the victorious god-
dess. Minerva took a very active part in
support of the Greeks at the siege of Troy,
and protected her favorite Ulysses in all his
dangers. Her worship was universally es-
tablished. She had magnificent temples
dedicated to her in most countries. Sais,
Rhodes, and Athens, were her favorite pla-
ces. She was variously represented ac-
cording to the characters in which she ap-
peared; but most generally with a helmet
on her head, and a large plume waving in
the air; with one hand holding a spear;
with the other a shield, having the head of
Medusa upon it. This shield was called
the Ægis. When she is represented as the
goddess of the liberal arts, she is covered
with a veil called the Peplum. She had a
very celebrated statue called the Palladium,
said to have been about three cubits in
height, and represented her sitting, and hold-
ing in her right hand a pipe, and in her left
a distaff and a spindle. It is said to have
fallen from heaven near the tent of Ilus,
as he was building the citadel of Troy, on
the preservation of which, the safety of that
city depended. It was carried off by Ulys-
ses and Diomede, who privately found a way
into the temple. It is said, however, that
the true palladium was not taken away,
but only a statue of similar shape; and
that Æneas carried the true one with him to
Italy. The olive-trec, the cock, the owl,
and the dragon, were sacred to her. She
had various names, and as various offices
and functions attributed to her. She was
called Athena, from the city of Athens, of
which she was the tutelar goddess: Pallas,
from a giant of that name whom she slew;
GEORGICA. LIB. I.
61
Inventrix, uncique puer monstrator aratrı:
Et teneram ab radice ferens, Sylvane, cupressum :
Dîque, Deæque omnes, studium quibus arva tueri,
Quique novas alitis non ullo semine fruges,
Quique satis largum cœlo demittitis imbrem.
Tuque adeò, quem mox quæ sint habitura Deorum
Concilia, incertum est, urbesne invisere, Cæsar,
Terrarumque velis curam: et te maximus orbis
Auctorem frugum, tempestatumque potentem
Accipiat, cingens maternâ tempora myrto:
An deus immensi venias maris, ac tua nautæ
Numina sola colant: tibi serviat ultima Thule,
Teque sibi generum Tethys emat omnibus undis.
Anne novum tardis sidus te mensibus addas,
Quà locus Erigonen inter Chelasque sequentes
Panditur ipse tibi jam brachia contrahit ardens
NOTES.
or rather, from a Greek word signifying to
vibrate, because as goddess of war, she
brandished a spear in her right hand: Par-
thenos, because she preserved her chastity:
Tritona, because she was worshipped near a
lake of that name in Africa: Glaucopia, be-
cause she had blue eyes: Agorea, because
she presided over markets: Hippia, because
she taught mankind to manage the horse:
Stratia, and Area, because of her martial
character.
19. Puer. Triptolemus the son of Celeus,
king of Elusina, a city of Attica. He is
said to have taught the Greeks agriculture,
having himself been previously instructed
by Ceres. See Ecl. v. 79.
20. Sylvane. One of those demi-gods that
go under the general name of satyrs. He is
said to have been passionately fond of the boy
Cyparissus, who having, through mistake,
killed a deer, of which he was very fond,
pined away and died. He was changed into
the Cypress tree. See Ecl. 5. 73.
21. Studium: in the sense of cura.
22. Non ullo semine. Some read nonnullo
semine. But the former appears to be the
better; and it is supported by several an-
cient manuscripts, as Pierus informs us.
Nonullo semine: from no seed, that is, such
as spring up spontaneously. Heyne, after
Heinsius, reads non ullo semine.
24. Adeò: in the sense of præcipuè.
25. Urbes. The common reading is urbis;
but as all interpreters agree that it is for
urbes, the acc. plu. I have ventured so to
write it. The nom. and acc. plu. of the
third declensions sometimes ended in eis,
which was contracted into is; as, omneis,
contracted omnis-urbeis, contracted urbis.
But there is no reason that it should be re-
tained in preference to the regular termina-
tion. Valpy reads urbes.
26. Maximus: the sup. in the sense of
the pos.: the great world.
saltusque Lycæi, si tua
20 Mænala sint tibi curæ,
adsis favens: Tu que O
Minerva, inventrix
25
21. O omnes Dique
Deæque, quibus est stu-
dium
24. Tuque adeò O
Cæsar, quem, incertum
est, quæ concilia Deo-
rum habitura sint mox:
ne velis invisere urbes,
et suscipere curam ter-
30 rarum:
27. Potentem: the ruler-one who has
power over: rectorem, says Ruceus. It has
here the force and efficacy of a substantive.
Tempestatum: in the sense of temporum.
28. Materna myrto. The myrtle tree was
sacred to Venus, the mother of Æneas, from
whom, according to Virgil, Cæsar descended.
30. Thule. One of the Shetland islands
on the north of Scotland, the farthest land
westward known to the ancients. The poet,
therefore, calls it ultima. Colant: in the
sense of adorent, vel precentur.
31. Tethys. The daughter of Cœlus and
She was mo-
Terra, and wife of Oceanus.
ther of the nymphs Oceanides; elegantly
put, by meton. for the sea itself.
32. Anne addas, &c. Or whether you
would add yourself a new constellation to the
slow summer months. The months are called
slow, because the days in the summer are
the longest, and so their motion appears the
slower; or rather, to speak philosophically,
because the earth moves slower in her orbit,
during the summer months.
33. Erigonen. Erigone, the daughter of
Icarus, who, on account of the murder of her
father, hung herself for grief; but was
lation Virgo. Sequentes Chelas: the follow-
translated to heaven, and made the constel-
ing claws the claws following the sign
Virgo. The Chela were the claws or arms
of Scorpio, extending over, and occupying
the sign of Libra. The ancients at first
divided the Ecliptic into eleven parts, leaving
out the sign Libra, and giving to Scorpio a
space of the Zodiac equal to 60°. By re-
ducing it to an equality with the rest of the
signs, a space of 30° remained for Cæsar, if
he chose to occupy it.
34. Ardens: impatient-greatly desirous
of thy coming; rather than ardent, burn-
ing, &c. as it is sometimes rendered.
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
62
Scorpius, et cœli justâ plus parte reliquit.
36. Quicquid Numen Quicquid eris (nam te nec sperent Tartara regem,
eris, da
Nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira cupido:
Quamvis Elysios miretur Græcia campos,
Nec repetita sequi curet Proserpina matrem)
35
Da facilem cursum, atque audacibus annue cœptis: 40
Ignarosque viæ mecum miseratus agrestes
41. Tuque miseratus
agrestes ignaros viæ, me- Ingredere, et votis jam nunc assuesce vocari.
cum ingredere
Vere novo, gelidus canis cùm montibus humor
Liquitur, et Zephyro putris se gleba resolvit;
Depresso incipiat jam tum mihi taurus aratro
Ingemere, et sulco attritus splendescere vomer.
Illa seges demum votis respondet avari
45
Agricolæ, bis quæ solem, bis frigora sensit:
Illius immensæ ruperunt horrea messes.
At priùs ignotum ferro quàm scindimus æquor,
Ventos et varium cœli prædiscere morem
50
52. Cura sit nobis præ- Cura sit, ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum:
discere
Et quid quæque ferat regio, et quid quæque recuset.
Hic segetes, illìc veniunt feliciùs uvæ:
Arborei fœtus alibi, atque injussa virescunt
Gramina. Nonne vides, croceos ut Tmolus odores,
55
58. At nudi Chalybes India mittit ebur, molles sua thura Sabæi ?
At Chalybes nudi ferrum, virosaque Pontus
mittunt ad nos ferrum
NOTES.
39. Proserpina. See Ecl. v. 79.
42. Ingredere: enter upon your office of a
god, and even now accustom yourself to be
invoked by vows.
43. Gelidus humor: here, ice or snow.
Humor is properly any kind of moisture or
liquor. Novo vere. The poet advises the
husbandman to begin his ploughing in the
early part of the spring, as soon as the snow
inelts from the mountains, and the earth be
sufficiently softened, that he may be in due
season with the work of the year.
45. Depresso aratro: in the plough put,
or laid, deep in the earth. Or the words
may be put absolutely: the plough being
put deep in the earth.
48. Quæ bis sensit, &c. Which feels twice
the summer, and twice the winter; that is,
lies fallow for two years together, or with-
out tillage. Seges: in the sense of terra,
vel ager, says Heyne.
49. Ruperunt. The sense seems to re-
quire the present; accordingly Rumus hath
interpreted it by rumpunt: his immense
harvests burst his barns-his barns are not
capable of containing his crops.
50. Equor: properly any plain or level
surface, whether land or water. Here used
in the sense of ager or campus. Ignotum:
cujus natura ignota est nobis.
51. Prædiscere ventos, &c. To learn before
hand the winds and the various qualities
of the weather-to observe, to what winds
the fields are most exposed, and whether
the climate be moist or dry, cold or hot.
Morem cœli: naturam vel temperiem aëris,
says Heyne.
52. Patrios cultus: the culture of our
fathers. This is the sense of Davidson and
Heyne. Colendi rationem probatam usu
majorum, says the latter.
Ruæus says:
Propriam culturam. Habitus locorum: the
habits of the places-the habit or peculiar
nature of the various soils. Land, by being
tilled in a certain way, acquires an aptitude
to produce some kinds of grain better than
others. This is what is meant here.
54. Feliciùs: more luxuriantly.
55. Arborei fœtus: nurseries, or young
trees. Fatus signifies the young of any
kind, animate or inanimate. Injussa: not
sown-spontaneously.
56. Tmolus. A mountain in Phrygia, in
the confines of Lydia, famous for its saffron:
hence the epithet croceos.
57. Molles Sabai: the effeminate Sabe-
ans. These were a people inhabiting Ara-
bia Felix, which abounded in frankincense.
58. Chalybes nudi: the naked Chalybes
send us iron, and Pontus, &c. The Chaly-
bes were a people of Spain, according to
Justin; but of Pontus, according to Strabo,
said to have wrought naked, on account of
the heat of their furnaces, or forges. Hence
Chalybs came to signify the best kind of
iron and steel. Pontus.
Pontus. See Ecl. viii. 95.
GEORGICA. LIB. I.
63
Castorea, Eliadum palmas Epirus equarum?
Continuò has leges æternaque fœdera certis
Imposuit natura locis, quo tempore primùm
Deucalion vacuum lapides jactavit in orbem :
Unde homines nati, durum genus. Ergò age, terræ
Pingue solum primis extemplò à mensibus anni
Fortes invertant tauri: glebasque jacentes
Pulverulenta coquat maturis solibus æstas.
At si non fuerit tellus fœcunda, sub ipsum
Arcturum tenui sat erit suspendere sulco:
Illic officiant lætis ne frugibus herbæ ;
Hic, sterilem exiguus ne deserat humor arenam.
Alternis idem tonsas cessare novales,
Et segnem patiere situ durescere campum.
Aut ibi flava seres mutato sidere farra;
Unde priùs lætum siliquâ quassante legumen,
Aut tenues fœtus viciæ, tristisque lupini
Sustuleris fragiles calamos, sylvamque sonantem.
Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenæ :
Urunt Lethæo perfusa papavera somno.
NOTES.
59. Virosa castorea: strong-scented castor.
According to Pliny, the castor was contain-
ed in the testicles of the beaver. But the
moderns have found that the castor is con-
tained in certain odoriferous glands about
the groin, and in both sexes. Epirus pal-
mas, &c. Epirus (produces) the victors of
the Olympic mares-produces those mares
that obtain the palm of victory in the
Olympic races. Palmas equarum; Ruæus
says equas victrices in Olympico cursu. Epi-
rus, once a powerful kingdom, is bounded
by the Ionian sea on the south and west,
and by Thessalia, Macedonia, and Achaia
on the north and east, famous for its excel-
lent horses. Elidum: an adj. gen. plu.
from Elis, or Elea, a maritime country of
the Peloponnesus, the chief cities of which
were Elis, on the river Peneus, and Olympia,
on the river Alpheus, famous for the games
there celebrated in honor of Jupiter. They
were instituted 1458 years before Christ,
and celebrated every fifth year.
60. Fœdera: in the sense of conditiones.
62. Deucalion. See Ecl. vi. 41.
63. Nati: in the sense of orti sunt.
66. Solibus: Sol, properly the sun, by me-
ton. heat. Maturis: in the sense of vehe-
mentibus, vel ardentibus. Coquat: emoliat
et rarefaciat, says Heyne.
68. Sub ipsum Arcturum: about the rising
of Arcturus. This is a star of the first
magnitude in the constellation Bootes, near
the tail of the great Bear. The poet recom-
mends, if the soil be rich, to turn it up
with a deep furrow carly, that it may lie
and bake through the heat of the summer;
but if the land be of a thin soil, and light,
it will be sufficient to turn it up with a thin
with a thin
60
64. Extemplò à primis
65 mensibus anni fortes
tauri
70
71. Tu idem patiere
tonsas novales cessare
alternis annis, et
74. Unde priùs sustu-
leris lætum legumen
75 quassante siliquâ, aut
tenues fœtus viciæ, fra-
gilesque
77. Seges avenæ urit
cum.
furrow, and some time in the fall, about the
rising of Arcturus. In the former case,
(illic) that the grass and weeds may not
injure the springing crop; in the latter case
(hic) that the scanty moisture may not
leave the barren land.
71. Tonsas novales, &c. You should suffer
your reaped fallow grounds to rest every
other year. Novalis terra, is properly new
ground, or ground newly broken up. Hence
it came to signify fallow ground, because
by resting it is recruited, and, as it were,
renewed.
72. Situ: with a sword. Situs here
means the grass, weeds, &c. which over
spread the ground, and bind it down into
what is commonly called a sword. Campum
segnem: your field lying idle.
73. Sidere mutato: the year being changed
Some copies read semine mutato. Sidus, in
the sense of annus, is frequently used by
Virgil.
74. Lætum: in the sense of fertile vol
copiosum. Siliqua: in the rattling pod, or
shell.
75. Tristis: bitter. Tenues fœtus, Ruæus
interprets by parva grana.
76. Sylvam. This word is frequently used
for a thick luxurious crop or growth of any
thing.
78. Papavera perfusa: poppies impreg-
nated with oblivious sleep, or possessing the
quality of causing sleep. Lethao: an adj.
from Lethe, a word of Greek origin, im-
plying forgetfulness or oblivion. The
poets feigned it to be one of the rivers of
hell, the water of which the dead were said
to drink after they had been in the regions
below some time. It was represented as
64
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
79. Labor erit facilis Sed tamen alternis facilis labor: arida tantùm
alternis annis :
Ne saturare fimo pingui pudeat sola; neve
le saturare sola
80. Tantùm ne pudeat Effotos cinerem immundum jactare per agros.
Sic quoque mutatis requiescunt fœtibus arva:
Nec nulla intereà est inaratæ gratia terræ.
Sæpe etiam steriles incendere profuit agros,
Atque levem stipulam crepitantibus urere flammis
Sive inde occultas vires et pabula terræ
Pinguia concipiunt; sive illis omne per ignem
Excoquitur vitium, atque exudat inutilis humor:
Seu plures calor ille vias, et cæca relaxat
91. Seu ille calor ma- Spiramenta, novas veniat quà succus in herbas :
gis durat terram, et
Seu durat magis, et venas astringit hiantes :
92. Ne tenues pluvia Ne tenues pluviæ, rapidive potentia solis
penetrent altiùs; acriorve
potentia
Acrior, aut Boreæ penetrabile frigus adurat.
95. Adeò ille juvat Multùm adeò, rastris glebas qui frangit inertes,
arva multùm, qui frangit Vimineasque trahit crates, juvat arva; neque illum
97. Et ille multùm ju- Flava Ceres alto nequicquam spectat Olympo :
vat arva, qui perrumpit Et qui, procisso que suscitat æquore, terga
terga, quæ suscitat in
primo procisso æquore, Rursus in obliquum verso perrumpit aratro :
aratro verso rursus in Exercetque frequens tellurem, atque imperat arvis
obliquum :
Humida solstitia atque hyemes orate serenas,
NOTES.
having the power of causing them to for-
get whatever they had done, seen, or heard
before. A river in Africa of that name,
which flowed under ground for some dis-
tance, and then rose to its surface, is sup-
posed to have given rise to this extravagant
fable.
79. Labor facilis. The meaning appears
The meaning appears
to be this: that the above mentioned crops
may be sown every other year, notwith-
standing their injurious qualities, provided
the land be well manured.
80. Arida sola: dry or thirsty soils.
81. Effetos: worn out-exhausted.
82. Fatibus: in the sense of segetibus.
83. Nec nulla gratia est inarala terræ:
nor, in the mean time is there no gratitude
in the land untilled-left fallow every other
year.
The whole of this section contains a num-
ber of excellent precepts and instructions for
the husbandman. In the first place, he ad-
vises the farmer to let his land rest every
other year; or, if he cannot do that with
convenience, then to change the crops, and
to sow wheat after the several kinds which he
mentions, but not to sow flax, oats, or pop-
pies: for these burn and impoverish the
land. He says, notwithstanding this, they
may be sown in turn, provided care be taken
to recruit and enrich the land by manure.
The poet concludes by observing, that if the
ground be left fallow, as he at first advised,
instead of being sown with any of those
grains, it would not be ungrateful—it would
80
85
90
95
100
abundantly repay the farmer for this indul-
gence.
86. Sive inde, &c. The poet here gives
four reasons for the farmer's firing his lands.
1. That they might hence receive an in-
crease of nutriment. 2. That the noxious
moisture might be dried up to them.
That the close and dense soil might be loosen-
ed.
3.
And 4. That the loose soil might be
rendered closer. This he founds upon the
principle of those philosophers who taught
that fire was the universal element.
88. Vitium: the bad quality.
90. Spiramenta cæca: secret avenues, or
passages, by which moisture is drawn into
the new plants.
93. Penetrabile: in the sense of penetrans,
penetrating-searching. Rapidi: in the
sense of ardentis.
97. Et qui, &c. The poet recommends
to the farmer to harrow his ground well,
before he commit the seed to it; but if it be
hard and obstinate, and lie up in ridges,
(terga) so that it will not yield to the har-
row, then it will be profitable to plough it
again crosswise. Proscisso æquore: in break-
ing up his field.
Suscitat: raises up-
makes.
99. Exercet, &c. He exercises his land
frequently, and commands his fields. This
is a metaphor taken from a general training
or exercising his troops giving them com-
mands, and dispensing discipline among
them.
100. Solstitia: summers.
GEORGICA. LIB. I
65
Agricolæ hyberno lætissima pulvere farra,
Lætus ager: nullo tantùm se Mysia cultu
Jactat, et ipsa suas mirantur Gargara messes.
Quid dicam, jacto qui semine cominùs arva
Insequitur, cumulosque ruit malè pinguis arenæ ?
Deinde satis fluvium inducit, rivosque sequentes?
Et cùm exustus ager morientibus æstuat herbis,
Ecce, supercilio clivosi tramitis undam
Elicit: illa cadens raucum per levia murmur
Saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva.
Quid, qui, ne gravidis procumbat culmus aristis,
Luxuriem segetum tenerâ depascit in herbâ,
Cùm primùm sulcos æquant sata? quique paludis
Collectum humorem bibulâ deducit arena ?
Præsertim incertis si mensibus amnis abundans
Exit, et obducto latè tenet omnia limo,
Unde cava tepido sudant humore lacunæ.
101. Farra sunt lætis-
sima hyberno pulvere:
ager est lætus
104. Quid dicam de
105 eo, qui
110
111. Quid dicam de
illo, qui, ne culmus pro-
cumbat gravidis aristis,
depascit
113. Quique deducit
115 humorem collectum in-
star paludis bibulâ arenâ
Nec tamen (hæc cùm sint hominumque, boumque labores
Versando terram experti) nihil improbus anser,
Strymoniæque grues, et amaris intuba fibris
Officiunt, aut umbra nocet. Pater ipse colendi
NOTES.
101. Farra: in the sense of segetes.
102. Mysia. There were two countries
of this name: the one in Europe, and bound-
ed on the north by the Danube; the other
in Asia Minor, near the Propontis and Hel-
lespont. The latter is here meant. Mysia
delights herself so much in no cultivation,
as in moist summers and dry winters-no
culture renders her so fruitful, as to have
moist, &c.
103. Gargara: neu. plu. A part of mount
Ida, the country near which was much famed
for its fertility.
104. Quid dicam, &c. What shall I say
What shall I say of
him, who, the seed being sown, closely plies
his fields, and breaks down the clods or
ridges (cumulos) of his barren soil? For malè
pinguis; Ruæus says, malè compacta; and
Valpy, too rich and adhesive. Ruit: in the
sense of frangit.
106. Sequentes rivos: in the sense of flu-
entes rivulos.
108. Ecce, elicit aquam, &c. Lo! he leads
down a stream of water from the brow of
a hilly tract. Estuat: is parched, or burn-
ed.
110. Scatebris: with its streams, or rills.
Temperat: Ruæus says, humectat.
114. Quique deducit. The probable mean-
ing of this passage is: that the husbandman,
for the purpose of watering his fields in the
dry season, should form reservoirs or ponds,
by collecting into them the water that fell
in the rainy season. He had already ad-
vised the plan of bringing water from the
higher grounds upon his fields. But where
But where
that could not be done, he advises to substi-
tute the reservoir or pond, as the only alter-
120
121. Colendi terram
native. This appears to be the opinion of
Heyne. Humorem: in the sense of aquam.
115. Incertis mensibus: in the variable
months-those months when the weather
is most changeable.
118. Nec tamen, &c. Though the farmer
be never so careful in the culture of his land.
the poet reminds him not to stop there.
After the crop is put into the ground, it still
requires his attention. For the foul or
greedy goose, the Thracian cranes, the suc-
cory, or endive, as also the shade, injure it.
The two negatives, nec-nihil, amount to an
affirmative.
120. Strymoniæ: an adj. from Strymon, a
river in the confines of Macedonia and
Thrace, where cranes abounded.
121. Pater ipse voluit: father Jupiter him-
self willed that the way of cultivating the
earth should not be easy. He was fabled to
have been the son of Saturn and Ops; and
called the father of gods, and king of men.
Saturn, who received the kingdom of the
world from his brother Titan, on the condi-
tion of his raising no male offspring, devour-
ed his sons as soon as they were born; but
his mother, regretting that so fair a child
should be destroyed, concealed him from
his father, as she also did Neptune and Pluto,
and intrusted him to the care of the Cory-
bantes, or Curetes, who educated him on
mount Ida, in Crete. As soon as he came
to mature years, he made war against the
Titans, who had made his father a prisoner.
He was victorious and set him at liberty.
But growing jealous of his son's power, he
conspired against him; whereupon Jupiter
expelled him from his kingdom, and he fled
6
66
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
138. Appellans
Pleiadas
Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque per artem
Movit agros, curis acuens mortalia corda :
Nec torpere gravi passus sua regna veterno.
Ante Jovem nulli subigebant arva coloni:
Nec signare quidem, aut partiri limite campum
Fas erat: in medium quærebant: ipsaque tellus
Omnia liberiùs, nullo poscente, ferebat.
Ille malum virus serpentibus addidit atris,
Prædarique lupos jussit, pontumque moveri,
Mellaque decussit foliis, ignemque removit,
Et passim rivis currentia vina repressit:
Ut varias usus meditando extunderet artes
Paulatim, et sulcis frumenti quæreret herbam,
Et silicis venis abstrusum excuderet ignem.
Tunc alnos primùm fluvii sensêre cavatas:
Navita tum stellis numeros et nomina fecit,
eas Pleïadas, Hyadas, claramque Lycaonis Arcton.
Tum laqueis captare feras, et fallere visco,
Inventum; et magnos canibus circumdare saltus.
Atque alius latum fundâ jam verberat amnem
NOTES.
for safety to Italy, where Janus was king.
After this, Jupiter divided the empire of the
world with his two brothers, reserving to him-
self the empire of heaven and earth. The
Giants, the offspring of the carth, to avenge
the death of the Titans, whom Jupiter slew,
rebelled against him. Piling mountains, one
upon another, they hoped to scale heaven
itself, and attack Jupiter in person. He,
however, completely vanquished them, and
inflicted on them the severest punishment
for their crimes. He married his sister Juno,
who was very jealous of him, and sometimes
very troublesome. His power was the most
extensive of any of the gods. His worship
was general, and surpassed that of any of
the gods in dignity and solemnity. He had
several celebrated oracles, but that at Do-
dona, in Epirus, and at Ammon, in Lybia, per-
haps took the lead. He had several names,
chiefly derived from the places where he was
worshipped, and from his offices and func-
tions. He was called Hospitalis, because
he was the protector of strangers; Optimus,
because he was the best; Maximus, because
he was the greatest; Olympius, because he
was worshipped at Olympia, &c. Jupiter,
is sometimes put for the air, or weather.
123. Movit: in the sense of colunt.
124. Gravi veterno. Veternus, or veternum,
is a disease causing a stupor both of mind
and body, something like the lethargy.
Torpere gravi velerno, is highly metaphorical.
Veterno: in the sense of otio, vel desidia,
says Ruæus.
131. Removit ignem: he removed fire from
the sight of men, and concealed it in the
veins of the flint. Prometheus is said to
have stolen it from heaven, because it was
125
130
135
140
found necessary to man. Decussit he
shook off the honey from the leaves, i. e. he
caused the honey to cease.
133. Ut usus extunderet: that experience,
by observation, might find out the various
arts by degrees.
134. Sulcis: by agriculture-by the plough.
136. Cavatas alnos: simply, boats; be-
cause, at first, they were made of the alder-
tree.
138. Pleïadas: acc. plu. of Greek termi-
nation. They are seven stars in the neck
of Taurus, and are called Pleiades, from a
Greek word signifying, to sail; because by
their rising, they indicated the proper time
to put to sea. They were sometimes called
Atlantides, from Atlas, a king of Maurita-
nia, whose daughters they were fabled to
be, by the nymph Pleione. The Romans
sometimes called them Vergilia. Their
names were, Electra, Alcynoe, Celano, Ste-
rope, Taygeta, Maia, and Merope. Hyadas.
These are seven stars in the front of Taurus,
so called from a Greek word signifying, to
rain. They were fabled to have been the
daughters of Atlas and Ethra. Refusing
consolation for the death of their brother
Hyas, who was slain by a lion, Jupiter, ta-
king pity on them, changed them into as
many stars. Their names are Ambrosia,
Eudoxa, Pasithoë, Cirone, Plexauris, Pytho,
and Syche. Arcton. A constellation near
the north pole, called the Ursa Major. Ly-
caon was a king of Arcadia, whose daugh-
ter Calisto, out of jealousy, was transforin-
ed by Juno into a bear; and Jupiter, for his
regard to her, translated her in that form to
heaven, and made her the constellation
Aretou.
GEORGICA. LIB. I.
67
Alta petens, pelago que alius trahit humida lina.
Tum ferri rigor, atque argutæ lamina serræ ;
(Nam primi cuneis scindebant fissile lignum)
Tum variæ venêre artes. Labor omnia vincit
Improbus, et duris urgens in rebus egestas.
Prima Ceres ferro mortales vertere terram
Instituit: cùm jam glandes atque arbuta sacræ
Deficerent sylvæ, et victum Dodona negaret
Mox et frumentis labor additus; ut mala culmos
Esset rubigo,, segnisque horreret in arvis.
Carduus: intereunt segetes, subit aspera sylva,
Lappæque, tribulique: interque nitentia culta
Infelix lolium et steriles dominantur avenæ.
Quòd nisi et assiduis terram insectabere rastris,
Et sonitu terrebis aves, et ruris opaci
Falce premes umbras, votisque vocaveris imbrem :
Heu, magnum alterius frustrà spectabis acervum,
Concussâque famem in sylvis solabere quercu.
Dicendum, et quæ sint duris agrestibus arma :
Queis sinè, nec potuere seri, nec surgere messes.
Vomis, et inflexi primùm grave robur aratri,
Tardaque Eleusinæ matris volventia plaustra,
Tribulaque, traheæque, et iniquo pondere rastri:
Virgea prætereà Celei vilisque supellex,
Arbuteæ crates, et mystica vannus Iacchi.
NOTES.
142. Petens alta: seeking the deep parts
of the sea, or river. Altum, when it is used
for the sea, properly signifies the channel,
or the deepest part of it; while pelagus pro-
perly signifies that part of the sea near the
land.
143. Tum rigor ferri: then the hardening
of iron, and the blade of the grating saw,
were invented.
Du-
145. Improbus labor: constant, perseve-
ring labor overcomes all difficulties.
ris rebus: in poverty. Egestas: in the sense
of necessitas. Venere: in the sense of in-
ventæ sunt.
148. Arbuta: the fruit of the arbute tree
Dodona: a famous grove in Epirus, abound-
ing in mast trees. See Ecl. ix. 13.
150. Labor: in the sense of morbus, dis-
ease. Mala rubigo esset: that the noxious
mildew should consume the stalks. Esset,
for ederet.
152. Segnis carduus: the useless thistle
wave, or look rough. Sylva. See 76, supra.
153. Lappa: burrs, a species of herb.
Tribuli: the brambles-land-caltrops. In-
felix: noxious-injurious.
154. Dominantur: bear rule-have the
ascendency.
157. Premes umbras: you should trim off
the limbs (of the trees) of a shaded field,
&c. Umbras: in the sense of ramos, by
meton.
145
150
155
160
165
144. Primi homines
160. Dicendum est
nobis, et quæ
162. Primùm vomis, et
grave
159. Solabere famem, &c. The poet as-
sures the farmer that, unless he follow the
directions just given, he will behold the
abundant crops of his neighbor, while his
will fail him, and he be under the necessity
of allaying the craving of nature upon no-
thing better than acorns.
160. Arma: implements, tools, &c. noces-
sary to the farmer. Et: in the sense of
quoque.
163. Tarda volventia: the slow-moving
wagons of mother Ceres. Elusina: an adj.
from Eleusis, a city of Attica, where she
was worshipped. Inflexi: in the sense of
curvi.
164. Tribula. This was a kind of sledge
or carriage, used among the ancients to thresh
their corn with. It was pointed with iron.
and drawn over the grain by oxen. Trahea
This was an instrument something like the
tribulum, and made use of for the same
purpose; a sledge.
164. Iniquo: Rumus says, magno.
165. Vilis virgeaque supellex: the cheap
or common wicker-baskets. Celei: Celeus
was the father of Triptolemus, whom Ceres,
it is said, instructed in the art of tillage and
husbandry. See Ecl. v. 79.
OTION
166. Arbutex crates: hurdles of the ar-
bute tree. Vannus: a sieve, or winnowing
machine. It is called mystica, mystic, be-
cause used in the mysteries of Bacch
Iacchi: Iacchus, a name of Bacchus.
68
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
171. Huic buri temo
Omnia quæ multò antè memor provisa repones,
Si te digna manet divini gloria ruris.
169. Continuò in syl- Continuò in sylvis magnâ vi flexa domatur
vis flexa ulmus domatur In burim, et curvi formam accipit ulmus aratri.
magna vî in burim, et Huic à stirpe pedes temo protentus in octo,
accipit
Binæ aures, duplici aptantur dentalia dorso.
protentus à stirpe in octo Cæditur et tilia antè jugo levis, altaque fagus,
pedes aptatur ; binæ Stivaque, quæ currus à tergo torqueat imos;
aures, et dentalia cum Et suspensa focis explorat robora fumus.
duplici dorso aptantur. Possum multa tibi veterum præcepta referre,
Ni refugis, tenuesque piget cognoscere curas.
178. Cum primis rebus Area cum primis ingenti æquanda cylindro,
area est æquanda in- Et vertenda manu, et cretâ solidanda tenaci :
genti
Ne subeant herbæ, neu pulvere victa fatiscat:
Tum variæ illudunt pestes. Sæpe exiguus mus
Sub terris posuitque domos, atque horrea fecit :
Aut oculis capti fodêre cubilia talpæ.
184. Bufo inventus est Inventusque cavis bufo, et quæ plurima terræ
cavis, et plurima mon- Monstra ferunt: populatque ingentem farris acervum
stra, quæ
Curculio, atque inopi metuens formica senectæ.
Contemplator item, cùm se nux plurima sylvis
NOTES.
167. Omnia quæ memor: all which things,
being provided long before hand, you should
be mindful to lay up.
168. Divini ruris. The country is here
called divine, either on account of its inno-
cence and happiness, or because it was ori-
ginally the habitation of the gods. Gloria:
reward. Rumus says, laus; for divini, he
says, beati.
171. Stirpe: from the back part, or bot-
tom.
172. Bina aures: two mould or earth
boards, one on each side of the temo, or
beam. The poet here mentions the several
parts of the plough. The buris, or bura,
was the part which the ploughman held in
his left hand-the plough tail. The dentale,
the chip, or part of the plough to which the
vomer, or share, is fastened. Duplici dorso:
with a double back. Some understand du-
plex in the sense of latus; but there is no
need of this. The plough, which the poet
is describing, is altogether of a singular
kind to us. It had two mould-boards; two
chips or share-beams we might supposed it
to have had, one on each side of the temo,
or main beam, which, being joined together,
might not improperly be said to form a
double back. Stiva: the handle, which the
ploughman holds in his right hand.
173. Et levis tilia. Tilia, the linden, or
lime-tree. It is a light wood, and therefore
more suitable for the plough.
174. Quæ torqueat: which may turn the
lowest wheels from behind-may turn the
extreme or hinder part of the plough. The
plough here described we may suppose run
170
176
180
186
upon wheels, which is the reason of the
poet's calling it currus, a carriage. Rumus
says: quibusdam in regionibus aratrum in-
struitur rotis; but commentators are by no
means agreed as to the form and construc-
tion of this plough of the poet.
175. Fumus explorat. Wood seasoned in
the way here mentioned will be less liable
to crack or split, than if seasoned in the
usual way, in the sun and open air.
180. Victa pulvere: overcome with dry-
ness, should crack. Pulvere. Rumus says:
siccitate, quæ creat pulverem.
181. Tum in the sense of prætereà.
183. Talpæ capti oculis. Talpa, the mole,
and living chiefly under the ground.
a small animal, supposed to have no eyes,
184. Bufo: the toad. Monstrum, pro-
perly signifies any thing contrary to the
ordinary course of nature; also, any mis-
chievous animal, whether man or brute;
which is the meaning here.
186. Curculio: the weavel; a mischievous
animal among grain.
187. Contemplator item, &c. Observe in
like manner when the nut-tree in the woods
clothes itself abundantly with blooms. Of
the nut-tree, there are several kinds. The
one here meant is supposed to be the Ar-
mygdala, or almond-tree, because its flow-
ers or blossoms were supposed to be an in-
dication of the fertility of the year.
Plu-
rima: an adj. sup. agreeing with nux
This construction frequently occurs, and is
more elegantly translated by its correspond-
ing adverb.
GEORGICA. LIB. I.
69
Induet in florem, et ramos curvabit olentes:
Si superant fœtus, pariter frumenta sequentur,
Magnaque cum magno veniet tritura calore.
At si luxuriâ foliorum exuberat umbra,
Nequicquam pingues paleâ teret area culmos.
Semina vidi equidem multos medicare serentes,
Et nitro priùs et nigrâ perfundere amurcâ,
Grandior ut fœtus siliquis fallacibus esset.
Et quamvis igni exiguo properata maderent,
Vidi lecta diu, et multo spectata labore,
Degenerare tamen; ni vis humana quotannis
Maxima quæque manu legeret: sic omnia fatis
In pejus ruere, ac retrò sublapsa referri.
Non aliter quàm qui adverso vix flumine lembum
Remigiis subigit: si brachia fortè remisit,
Atque illum in præceps prono rapit alveus amni.
Prætereà tam sunt Arcturi sidera nobis,
Hodorumque dies servandi, et lucidus anguis;
Quàm quibus in patriam ventosa per æquora vectis
Pontus et ostriferi fauces tentantur Abydi.
Libra die somnique pares ubi fecerit horas,
NOTES.
189. Fœtus: in the sense of flores.
190. Magno calore. Calor here seems to
mean the sweat and heat of the laborer or
thresher, rather than the heat of the summer.
191. At si umbra: but if the boughs
abound in a luxuriancy of leaves, in vain,
&c. The meaning seems to be this: that
if the blossoms upon the tree shall exceed
the leaves, then you may expect a plentiful
crop. But if, on the contrary, the leaves be
the most numerous, you may expect a scan-
ty crop-a crop rich only in husks and
chaff. Umbra: in the sense of ramı.
193. Serentes: part. of the verb, sero,
taken as a substantive: Sowers. The poet
here gives the husbandman to understand
that the greatest care is to be taken in se-
lecting his seeds; that it is sometimes use-
ful to impregnate them with other qualities
to provent them from degenerating; and
sometimes to soak and steep them over a
slow fire, in order to hasten their sprouting
and coming forward. And although care
be taken in the selection, they will be found
nevertheless to degenerate: and all that
remains for him to do, is, to select every
year with his own hand the fairest and best
seeds; and in this way only he may keep
his crops from degenerating to any great
extent. This advice is worthy the atten-
tion of every farmer.
194. Perfundere: this may either mean
to sprinkle them (semina) over with, or put
them into. Ruæus says, spargere.
195. Fallacibus. The pods or ears are
called fallacious, because they are some-
times large, when there is very little in
them. Fatus: the grain or produce.
194. Equidem vidi
multos serentes medi-
care semina, et priùs
190
quàm serent, perfundere
ea nitro et nigra amur-
195
200
205
ca, ut
196. Quamvis semina
properata exiguo igni
maderent; tamen vidi
ea lecta diu, et spectata
multo labore, degene-
rare; ni
199. Sic vidi omnia
fatis ruere in pejus, ac
sublapsa referri retrò.
202. Si forte remisit
brachia, ruit et sublapsus
refertur retrò, atque al-
veus rapit illum in præ-
ceps prono amni.
206. Quàm iis vectis
per ventosa æquora in
suam patriam, quibus
Pontus et ostriferi fau-
ces Abydi
198. Humana vis: human care. In the
sense of homines. Unless men should se-
lect with the hand, &c. Ruæus says, homi-
num industria.
201. Adverso flumine: against the cur-
rent.
203. Atque. Ruæus, on the authority of
Gellius, takes atque in the sense of statim.
Davidson and Heyne take it in its usual
signification as a conjunction, supposing an
ellipsis of the words: ille ruit ac sublapsus
refertur retrò. And carries him headlong
down the stream. Alveus: properly the
channel or bed of a river; here, the river in
general: the current, or impetus of the wa-
ter; by meton.
205. Hædi. Two stars in the shoulder of
Lucidus Anguis: a constellation called Dra-
Auriga, a constellation in the heavens.
Co.
The poet here intimates that it is the
the various signs of the weather; and that
duty of the farmor to observe the stars, and
he will find it as useful to him in the course
of his business, as it is to the mariner.
207. Fauces Abydi. The Hellespont or
straits, which separate Europe from Asia:
called ostriferi, because abounding in Oys-
ters. Abydus: a city on the Asiatic shore,
over against Sestus. Tentantur: in the
sense of navigantur.
Ubi Li-
208. Die: for Diei. The gen, of the
fifth declension was sometimes thus written.
Somni, is elegantly put for noctis.
bra fecerit. Libra is one of the signs of the
zodiac, which the sun enters the 23d of
September; at which time he is on the equa-
tor, and makes the days and nights equal.
10
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Et medium luci atque umbris jam dividit orbem :
Exercete, viri, tauros, serite hordea campis,
Usque sub extremum brumæ intractabilis imbrem.
Necnon et lini segetem et Cereale papaver
210
215
213. Tempus est tegere Tempus humo tegere, et jamdudum incumbere rastris,
ot segetem lini et Ce- Dum siccâ tellure licet, dum nubila pendent.
reale papaver humo
Vere fabis satio: tum te quoque, Medica, putres
facere id, tellure sicca, Accipiunt sulci; et milio venit annua curá:
Candidus auratis aperit cùm cornibus annum
214. Dum licet tibi
et dum
vere: tum
215. Satio fabis est in Taurus, et averso cedens canis occidit astro.
At si triticeam in messem robustaque farra
Exercebis humum, solisque instabis aristis:
Antè tibi Eoæ Atlantides abscondantur,
Gnossiaque ardentis decedat stella coronæ ;
Debita quàm sulcis committas semina, quàmque
Invitæ properes anni spem credere terræ.
220
225. Multi cœpere se- Multi ante occasum Maiæ cœpêre: sed illos
Expectata seges vanis elusit aristis.
rere ante
Si verò viciamque seres, vilemque faselum,
NOTES.
211. Bruma: properly the shortest day
of winter, or the winter solstice: this is its
meaning here. By synec. it is sometimes
put for the whole winter. The meaning is,
that the farmer may extend his sowing as
late as the winter solstice, which is about
the 21st of December. Intractabilis: in the
sense of duræ, vel asperæ.
212. Cereale: an adj. from Ceres. The
poppy was so called, most probably, because
it was consecrated to her. Her statues
were generally adorned with it. Necnon:
in the sense of quoque.
213. Incumbere rastris: to ply the har-
rows. The poet is speaking of sowing, or
committing to the earth the several crops:
which could not be done till after the
ploughing. Besides it requires dry weather
to use the harrow: to which reference is
made in the following line. But the plough
may be used in wet weather. Heyne reads
aratris. But he informs us that Heinsius,
Pierius, and others read rastris, which the
sense seems to require.
214. Pendent: in the sense of suspensa
sunt.
215. Medica. A species of grass, or plant,
brought into Greece by the Medes in the
time of the Persian wars. Hence called
medica, now lucerne. It made the best pro-
vender for cattle, and when sown, it is said
to last in the ground thirty years.
216. Milio. The milium was a species of
grass, or plant, which required to be sown
every year. Hence annua cura. Now call-
ed millet.
218. Cum candidus Taurus. Taurus is a
sign of the ecliptic. The sun enters it about
the 21st of April. The year was commonly
thought to be opened by Aries, or the
225
month of March: but Virgil dissents from
the received opinion, and assigns it to Tau-
rus, or the month of April; because, as the
etymology of the word implies, all nature
seems to be released from the fetters of win-
ter, and vegetation opens and shoots forth.
Canis cedens, &c. The dog giving way to
the retrograde sign, sets. Sirius (commonly
called the dog star) is a star in the mouth of
the great dog, a constellation in the hea-
vens. Averso Astro. Astrum here is the
constellation or sign Argo, which immedi-
ately follows the dog, and sets after him.
It rises with its stern foremost, and in that
manner goes through the heavens, contrary
to the ordinary motion of a ship. The epi-
thet averso, inverted, or turned about," is
very proper.
221. Eoa Atlantides. The morning Ple-
ïades; that is, when they set in the morn-
ing, or go below the horizon about the ri-
sing of the sun. This is called their cosmi-
cal setting. See 138. supra.
222. Corona. The Corona is a constella-
tion in the heavens called Ariadne's Crown.
Gnossia: an adj. from Gnossus, a town in
the island of Crete, where Minos reigned,
whose daughter Ariadne was carried off by
Theseus, and left in the island Nuxus, where
she married Bacchus. At the time of their
nuptials, among the other presents she re-
ceived from the gods, was a Corona or
crown from Venus; which Bacchus trans-
lated to the heavens. Ardentis: in the
sense of splendentis.
225. Maia. The name of one of the Pleï-
ades, by synec. put for the whole of them.
227. Viciam. The vicia is a species of
pulse called the vetch. Faselum: the faso-
lus was a kind of pulse, common and
GEORGICA.
71
LIB. I.
Nec Pelusiacæ curam aspernabere lentis;
Haud obscura cadens mittet tibi signa Bootes:
Incipe, et ad medias sementem extende pruinas.
Idcirco certis dimensum partibus orbem
Per duodena regit mundi Sol aureus astra.
Quinque tenent cœlum zonæ: quarum una corusco
Semper Sole rubens, et torrida semper ab igni :
Quam circùm extremæ dextrâ lævâque trahuntur,
Cœruleâ glacie concretæ atque imbribus atris.
Has inter mediamque, duæ mortalibus ægris
Munere concessæ Divûm, et via secta per ambas,
Obliquus quà se signorum verteret ordo.
Mundus ut ad Scythiam Riphæasque arduus arces
Consurgit; premitur Libya devexus in Austros.
Hic vertex nobis semper sublimis; at illum
Sub pedibus Styx atra videt, Manesque profundi.
Maximus hic flexu sinuoso elabitur anguis
Circùm, perque duas in morem fluminis Arctos:
Arctos, Oceani metuentes æquore tingi.
NOTES.
cheap, which is the meaning of vilis, in
this place.
228. Lentis. The lens was a kind of pulse,
which abounded in Egypt, and particularly
at Pelusium, a town situated near the east-
ern mouth of the Nile. Hence the adj. Pe-
tusiaca.
229. Bootes cadens: the Bootes setting
will give, &c. Bootes, a star in the constel-
lation of the same name, near the north
pole. It sets acronically, or with the sun,
about the beginning of November; and cos-
mically, or at the time of his rising, about
the beginning of March. The former is
here meant. Mitlet: in the sense of dabit.
232. Duodena astra. Astronomers divide
the ecliptic, or the circle in which the sun
appears to move, into 12 equal parts, called
signs, and each of these signs into 30 equal
parts called degrees. A space 8 degrees in
breadth on each side of this circle is called
the zodiac, because it contains the 12 con-
stellations, which take the names of certain
animals: as Aries, Taurus, &c. It also con-
tains the orbits of the planets.
233. Quinque sona. Geographers divide
the surface of the earth into five grand por-
tions called zones: one of which they de-
nominate the torrid or burning; two the
temperate; and two the frozen zones. The
torrid is that portion of the earth's surface
included between the tropics of Cancer and
Capricorn. In every part of which the sun
is vertical twice in every year. The ancients
supposed it to be uninhabitable on account
of its great heat. Those parts of the carth's
surface that lie between the two tropics and
polar circles, are denominated the tempe-
rate zones. The two frozen zones embrace
those parts between the polar circles and the
poles.
230
235
231. Idcirco aureus
Sol regit orbem dimen-
sum certis partibus per
duodena astra mundı.
234. Quarum una zona
est semper rubens
235. Circùm quam dua
extremæ zona trahuntur
dextrâ lævâque,concretæ
237. Inter has duas,
mediamque zonam, duæ
aliæ concessæ sunt ægris
240 mortalibus munere Di-
vûm; et via secta est per
ambas, quâ
244. Hic (ad sublimem
polum) Maximus anguis
elabitur circùm polum
245 sinuoso flexu, extendens
que
235. Trahuntur: are extended-stretched
out.
239. Obliquus ordo: the ecliptic. It is
called obliquus, because it makes an angle
with the equator. The quantity of the angle
is 23° 28'.
240. Scythiam: a vast country lying to-
ward the arctic circle. See Ecl. i. 66. Ri-
phwas arces: the Riphæan mountains. An
extensive range stretching along the north
of Europe, and covered with perpetual snow.
Ut: as.
In austros: simply, to the south.
242. Hic vertex. The poles are two ima-
ginary points in the heavens directly in a
line with the axis of the earth. On the
equator these points are in the horizon. In
all places on the north of the equator, the
north pole is visible; while the south pole
will be depressed below the horizon. Illum:
the south pole.
244. Maximus anguis. The dragon,
(Draco,) the keeper of the garden of the
Hesperides, after he was killed by Ilercu-
les, was translated to heaven, and made a
constellation near the north pole. With his
tail he touches Ursa major, and with the
flexure of his body embraces Ursa minor:
the greater and lesser bears: here called
Arctos. This will be seen by looking upon
a celestial globe.
246. Arctos metuentes: fearing to be
touched in the waters of the ocean. The
elevation of the pole at any given place is
always equal to the latitude of that place.
Consequently all those stars that are near-
er the pole than the distance any place is
from the equator in degrees, will not set be-
low the horizon at that place, but continue
to revolve about the pole. This is the case
with the two constellations here mentioned,
in the la'it de of Italy.
72
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
247. Illic, (ad austra- Illic, ut perhibent, aut intempesta silet nox
lem polum) ut perhibent Semper, et obtentâ densantur nocte tenebræ ;
homines, aut
Aut redit à nobis Aurora, diemque reducit ;
Nosque ubi primus equis oriens afflavit anhelis,
Illic sera rubens accendit lumina Vesper.
Hinc tempestates dubio prædicere cœlo
Possumus; hinc messisque diem, tempusque serendi ;
Et quando infidum remis impellere marmor
Conveniat; quando armatas deducere classes,
Aut tempestivam sylvis evertere pinum.
Nec frustrà signorum obitus speculamur et ortus,
Temporibusque parem diversis quatuor annum.
259. Si quando frigi- Frigidus agricolam si quando continet imber :
dus imber continet agri- Multa, forent quæ mox cœlo properanda sereno,
colam domi, tunc tempus Maturare datur: durum procudit arator
datur maturare multa,
quæ mox forent prope-
randa, cœlo sereno:
Vomeris obtusi dentem; cavat arbore lintres :
Aut pecori signum, aut numeros impressit acervis.
Exacuunt alii vallos, furcasque bicornes,
Atque Amerina parant lentæ retinacula viti.
Nunc facilis rubeâ texatur fiscina virgâ :
Nunc torrete igni fruges, nunc frangite saxo.
Quippe etiam festis quædam exercere diebus
Fas et jura sinunt: rivos deducere nulla
Religio vetuit, segeti prætendere sepem,
Insidias avibus moliri, incendere vepres,
Balantûmque gregem fluvio mersare salubri.
NOTES.
248. Densantur: is thickened-rendered
still more dark, night being extended, or
lengthened out. At the poles there are six
months day, and six months night, alter-
nately.
She
249. Aurora: Aurora returns to them,
from us.
She was goddess of the morning,
the daughter of Titan and Terra. She fell
in love with Tithonus, the son of Laome-
don, king of Troy, by whom she had Mem-
non, who came to assist Priam against the
Greeks, and was slain by Achilles.
obtained for her lover immortality; but for-
got, at the same time, to ask for perpetual
youth and beauty. At last he grew old
and infirm; and requested her to remove
him from the world; but as that could not
be done, she is said to have changed him
into a grasshopper: which, as often as it
grows old, renews its age. By meton. ele-
gantly put for the morning.
250. Oriens: in the sense of Sol.
250
255
260
265
270
dug out of the solid body of trees-troughs
bowls, &c.
263. Signum: in the sense of notas. Acer-
vis. Acervus is a heap or pile of any thing
-a heap of grain. Here, probably, it is
taken for the sacks or bags that contained
the grain.
265. Amerina retinacula: osier strings,
to fasten the limber vine. Amerina: an
adj. from Ameria, a town in Umbria, a
spacious country in Italy, where osiers
abounded.
266. Rubea virga: with the osier or wick-
er twig.
er twig. Rubea: an adj. probably from
Rubi, a town of Campania, near which the
virga, or wicker abounded. Dr. Trapp un-·
derstands it in this sense, and as a reason
for so doing, he observes that rubeus, from
rubus, the bramble, is no where found.
Heyne is of the same opinion.
267. Torrele: dry. Fruges: grain-corn.
269. Fas et Jura sinunt exercere, &c.
255. Deducere: to launch the armed fleets. There is a difference of signification between
Marmor: in the sense of mare.
256. Tempestivam: seasonable-denoting
the time proper for cutting the pine. Ever-
tere: in the sense of cædere.
261. Maturare: to do in season-or, at
leisure.
262. Dentem: the edge of his dull or
blunt share. Lintres. These were vessels
fas and jus. The former implies a divine
law, or what may be done, or is permitted
to be done, by the laws of God. The lat-
ter a natural right-or a law founded in
reason-common law. Deducere rivos: to
drain the water from his fields.
272. Balantûm: gen. plu. of the pres. part.
of balo, here used as a substantive-sheep.
GEORGICA. LIB. 1.
73
Sæpe oleo tardi costas agitator aselli,
Vilibus aut onerat pomis: lapidemque revertens
Incusum, aut atræ massam picis, urbe reportat.
Ipsa dies alios alio dedit ordine Luna
Felices operum.
Quintam fuge: pallidus Orcus,
Eumenidesque satæ : tum partu Terra nefando
Cœumque, Iapetumque creat, sævumque Typhoea,
Et conjuratos cœlum rescindere fratres.
Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam
Scilicet, atque Ossæ frondosum involvere Olympum:
:
Ter Pater extructos disjecit fulmine montes.
Septima post decimam felix, et ponere vitem,
Et prensos domitare boves, et licia telæ
Addere nona fugæ melior, contraria furtis.
Multa adeò gelidâ meliùs se nocte dedêre :
Aut cùm Sole novo terras irrorat Eous.
Nocte leves stipula meliùs, nocte arida prata
Tondentur: noctes lentus non deficit humor.
Et quidam seros hyberni ad luminis ignes
Pervigilat, ferroque faces inspicat acuto.
Intereà longum cantu solata laborem
Arguto conjux percurrit pectine telas :
Aut dulcis musti Vulcano decoquit humorem,
Et foliis undam tepidi despumat aheni.
NOTES.
274. Lapidem incusum: a furrowed or
indented stone, for the purpose of grinding
corn; something like our mill-stone.
276. Alios dies: other days. Alio ordine:
in a different order from those above men-
tioned. The ancients superstitiously thought
some days of the month to be lucky, and
others unlucky.
278. Eumenides: the furies. They were
said to have sprung from the blood of a
wound, which Cœlus received from his
brother Saturn. Some say they were the
daughters of Acheron and Nox, or of Pluto
and Proserpinc. They were three in num-
ber: Tisiphone, Megara, and Alecto. They
were supposed to be the ministers of ven-
geance to the gods, and to be constantly
employed in punishing the wicked in hell.
They were sometimes called Furia and
Erinnyes. They were worshipped; but the
people dared not to mention their names, or
even to fix their eyes upon their temple.
They were represented holding a burning
torch in one hand, and a whip of scorpions
in the other hand.
278. Creat: in the sense of edidit, vel
produxit.
279. Cœumque, &c. These are the names
of three giants, who attempted to scale hea-
ven and dethrone the gods. They were the
sons of Titan and Terra. Those here named
were the principal ones. Conjuratos fratres.
These included the whole fraternity, that
were engaged in the enterprise.
274. Revertens domum
275 ex urbe, reportat
280
277. Pallidus Orcus
satus est, Eumenidesque
satæ sunt, illo die.
284. Septima dies post
285 decimam est felix, et po -
290
nere
286. Nona dies est me-
lior fuge, sed
294. Conjux solata
295 longum laborem cantu
percurrit
281. Pelio. The mountains here men-
tioned were very high mountains in Thes-
saly, near the Sinus Thermaicus. The lat-
ter is sometimes taken for heaven.
286. Fuga: in the sense of itineri; and,
contraria, in the sense of adversa, vel si-
nistra.
288. Eous: the morning star; by meton.
the morning. Novo sole: in the sense of
die incipiente, vel oriente.
289. Stipulæ in the sense of arista, says
Rumus. Mowing in general is best effected
when the dew is upon the grass.
292. Inspicat: he forms matches with a
sharp knife. Any instrument made of iron
may be called ferrum.
On ac-
295. Decoqurt: she boils away the liquor
of sweet must, and skims, &c. Mustum is
sweet or new made wine. The juice of
the grape, when boiled down one third part,
formed what was called sapa, and when one
half, it formed the defrutum. Vulcanus:
was the son of Jupiter and Juno.
count of his deformity, he was cast down
from heaven upon the island of Lemnos,
where he taught the inhabitants the smith
trade, and married Venus. The Cyclops
were his workmen and assistants. He was
the god of fire; hence Vulcanus, by meton,
often is put for fire itself, as in the present
instance. He was sometimes called Mulci-
ber, Ignipotens, and Pandamator.
296. Undam. By this we are to undor-
stand the liquor in the boiling kettle. Terit:
74
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
At rubicunda Ceres medio succiditur æstu,
Et medio tostas æstu terit area fruges.
Nudus ara, sere nudus: hyems ignava colono.
Frigoribus parto agricolæ plerumque fruuntur,
Mutuaque inter se læti convivia curant:
Invitat genialis hyems, curasque resolvit.
300
Ceu pressæ cùm jam portum tetigêre carinæ,
Puppibus et læti nautæ imposuêre coronas.
Sed tamen et quernas glandes tum stringere tempus,
Et lauri baccas, oleamque, cruentaque myrta:
306
quoque ponere
308. Tum est tempus
venatorem figere damas
torquentem stupea ver-
bera Balearis¯ fundæ,
cùm
310
307. Tunc tempus est Tunc gruibus pedicas, et retia ponere cervis,
Auritosque sequi lepores; tum figere damas
Stupea torquentem Balearis verbera fundæ ;
Cùm nix alta jacet, glaciem cùm flumina trudunt.
Quid tempestates autumni et sidera dicam ?
Atque, ubi jam breviorque dies, et mollior æstas,
Quæ vigilanda viris? vel cùm ruit imbriferum ver:
Spicea jam campis cùm messis inhorruit, et cùm
Frumenta in viridi stipulâ lactentia turgent?
Sæpe ego, cùm flavis messorem induceret arvis
Agricola, et fragili jam stringeret hordea culmo,
318. Ego sæpe vidi Omnia ventorum concurrere prælia vidi,
omnia prælia ventorum Quæ gravidam latè segetem ab radicibus imis
concurrere, quæ eruerent Sublimè expulsam eruerent; ita turbine nigro
Ferret hyems culmumque levem, stipulasque volantes.
Sæpe etiam immensum cœlo venit agmen aquarum,
NOTES.
threshes, or beats out. Fruges tostas: the
dry, or ripe grain.
297. Medio astu: in the middle of the
day. Ceres: for seges, the grain, or harvest.
Rubicunda: in the sense of flava.
299. Nudus ava, &c. The poet's meaning
here is, that the farmer should be industrious,
and turn the summer to the best account;
for the winter is a season of rest and festi-
vity, when he may enjoy the fruit of his la-
bors.
300. Parto: what he had gotten during
the summer. Rebus per æstatem comparatis,
says Ruæus.
301. Curant: in the sense of parant.
304. Ceu pressæ carina: may either mean
laden ships, or weather-beaten ships. Ca-
rina is properly the keel; by synec the
whole ship.
305. Stringere in the sense of colligere.
309. Balearis funda: the Balerian sling.
The islands Majorca, Minorca, and Uvica,
on the coast of Spain, were called by the
ancients Balearides; the inhabitants of
which were famous for the use of the sling.
Stupea verbera: the hempen strings.
312. Estas: in the sense of calor, vel
astus. The verb est is to be supplied. Vi-
gilanda: curanda, vel providenda, says
Heyne. Firis: for agricolis.
Rumus
313. Ruit: hastens to a close. Rumus
says desinit, and Servius, præcipitatur.
315
320
315. Lactentia: milky-filling with milk.
318. Omnia prælia ventorum: all the pow-
ers of the winds in fierce contest engage.
Rumus says: pugnas omnium ventorum
misceri. This comparison of the wind with
the wind, and of growing corn with chaff,
has been censured by some critics; but the
passage is probably to be understood as re-
presenting the growing corn uprooted by
the tempest, and whirled aloft (sublimè) as
easily as light straw is by an ordinary
whirlwind. Martyn, Heyne, and Vossius,
concur, says Valpy, in this interpretation.
320. Expulsam: in the sense of dissipa-
tam. Nigro turbine: in a black whirlwind;
a whirlwind bringing with it clouds and
darkness, and imbruing a storm. Hyems:
in the sense of tempestas.
322. Immensum agmen, &c. Nothing can
surpass, in grandeur and sublimity, the de-
scription which we here have of a sudden
storm, of its rise, and effect. An immensc
band or army of vapors march along the
heavens; the clouds, impregnated deeply
with vapor, collect together from the sea;
and, forming themselves into globous
wreaths, brew a deep and threatening storm.
They then burst, and discharge such a de-
luge of water, that the whole heaven seems
dissolved, and pouring upon the fields. The
floods sweep away the fertile (lata) crops.
the labors of man and beast; the ditches
GEORGICA. LIB. I.
75
:
Et fœdam glomeránt tempestatem imbribus atris
Collectæ ex alto nubes: ruit arduus æther,
Et pluviâ ingenti sata læta, boumque labores
Diluit implentur fossæ, et cava flumina crescunt
Cum sonitu, fervetque fretis spirantibus æquor.
Ipse pater, mediâ nimborum in nocte, coruscâ
Fulmina molitur dextrâ: quo maxima motu
Terra tremit: fugêre feræ, et mortalia corda
Per gentes humilis stravit pavor: ille flagranti
Aut Atho, aut Rhodopen, aut alta Ceraunia telo
Dejicit ingeminant Austri, et densissimus imber:
Nunc nemora ingenti vento, nunc litora plangunt.
Hoc metuens, cœli menses et sidera serva:
Frigida Saturni sese quò stella receptet:
Quos ignis cœli Cyllenius erret in orbes.
Imprimis venerare Deos, atque annua magnæ
Sacra refer Cereri, lætis operatus in herbis,
Extremæ sub casum hyemis, jam vere sereno.
Tunc agni pingues, et tunc mollissima vina :
Tunc somni dulces, densæque in montibus umbræ.
Cuncta tibi Cererem pubes agrestis adoret:
Cui tu lacte favos, et miti dilue Baccho,
NOTES.
are filled; the winding rivers swell, and the
sea roars in its foaming friths.
327. Fretis. Fretum is properly a strait,
or arm of the sea. Spirans, as here used,
is beautiful and expressive. The figure is
taken from water boiling, which seems to
breathe (spirare) by emitting a steam or
vapor, and is all in commotion.
329. Molitur: in the sense of vibrat, vel
jacit. Quo motu. By this we are to under-
stand probably the act of vibrating or hurl-
ing the thunder-bolt-the thunder itself.
What the ancients supposed to be the bolt,
was nothing more than the lightning-the
electric matter, passing from one cloud, or
part of the atmosphere, to another, that was
differently electrified, and thus became vi-
sible.
330. Fera fugere: the wild beasts have
fled. There is a peculiar force in the use of
the perfect tense here. The beasts of the
forest fear, and they are gone, and are out
of sight in a moment, seeking their wonted
retreats.
332. Atho: a Greek acc. A mountain
in Macedonia, which overlooked the Ægean
sea. Rhodopen. A mountain, or rather
range of mountains in Thrace. Ceraunia:
acc. plu. neu. mountains in Epirus. They
were so called from a Greek word signify-
ing thunder, because, from their height, they
were much exposed to it.
333. Imber densissimus. Rumus says:
pluvia est copiocissima.
336. Quò frigida stella: to what part of
heaven the cold star of Saturn betakes it-
self. Saturn is called cold most probably
325
330
335
340
341. Tunc agni sunt
from the circumstance of its great distance
from the sun, and the small degree of heat
it receives from him. On the other hand,
the planet Mercury is called ignis, on ac-
count of its nearness to the sun, and the de-
gree of heat it probably receives from him.
Cyllenius. A name of the god Mercury.
He was the son of Jupiter and Maia, the
god of eloquence, and messenger of the
gods. He had a winged cap called Petasus,
and winged feet called Talaria. The in-
vention of the lyre, and its seven strings, is
attributed to him; which he gave to Apollo,
and received in return the celebrated Ca-
duceus, which was a rod or wand encircled
with serpents, and said to possess extraor-
dinary virtues and qualities. It was his
business to conduct the manes of the dead
to the infernal regions. He presided over
orators, merchants, and thieves. The wor-
ship of Mercury was established in Greece,
Egypt, and Italy. He was called Cyllenius,
from a mountain in Arcadia of that name,
where he is said to have been born; Caducea-
tor, Triplex, Delius, &c. According to Cicero,
there were four others to whom the name
of Mercury was given. Of these, was a
famous philosopher of Egypt, whom they
called Hermes Trismigistus. Cyllenius ignis :
the planet Mercury.
337. Erret: in the sense of moveat. Or.
bes: planets.
344. Cui tu dilue favos: for whom do
thou mingle honey with milk and sweet
wine. Favos: the comb; by meton. the
honey contained in it.
A
76
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Terque novas circùm felix eat hostia fruges,
;
346. Quam hostiam Omnis quam chorus et socii comitentur ovantes
omnis chorus, et tui socii Et Cererem clamore vocent in tecta: neque antè
Falcem maturis quisquam supponat aristis,
Quàm Cereri, tortâ redimitus tempora quercu,
Det motus incompositos, et carmina dicat.
363. Sicco litore
364. Ardeaque deserit
notas paludes, atque vo-
lat supra altam nubem.
1
Atque hæc ut certis possimus discere signis,
Ætusque, pluviasque, et agentes frigora ventos;
Ipse pater statuit, quid menstrua Luna moneret,
Quo signo caderent Austri, quid sæpe videntes
Agricolæ propiùs stabulis armenta tenerent.
Continuò, ventis surgentibus, aut freta ponti
Incipiunt agitata tumescere, et aridus altis
Montibus audiri fragor; aut resonantia longè
Litora misceri, et nemorum increbrescere murmur.
Jam sibi tum curvis malè temperat unda carinis :
Cùm medio celeres revolant ex æquore mergi,
Clamoremque ferunt ad litora, cùmque marinæ
In sicco ludunt fulicæ; notasque paludes
Deserit, atque altam supra volat ardea nubem.
Sæpe etiam stellas, vento impendente, videbis
Præcipites cœlo labi; noctisque per umbram
Flammarum longos à tergo albescere tractus;
Sæpe levem paleam et frondes volitare caducas
Aut summâ nantes in aquâ colludere plumas.
At Boreæ de parte trucis cùm fulminat, et cùm.
Eurique Zephyrique tonat domus; omnia plenis
Rura natant fossis; atque omnis navita ponto
NOTES.
345. Felix hostia. The poet here alludes
to the sacrificium ambervale, so called, be-
cause the victim was led three times around
the field; ab ambire arva.
346. Omnis chorus et socii: the same as
omnis chorus sociorum.
349. Redimitus tempora: bound as to his
temples with a wreath of oak. The poet
enjoins upon the farmer to make two offer-
ings to Ceres: the first of honey and wine,
at the beginning of spring: dilue favos, &c.
The other of a victim at the beginning of
harvest: ter felix hostia, &c.
350. Incompositos motus: the irregular or
immethodical dance; such as is performed
by rustics. Cereri: nempe, in honorem Ce-
reris.
351. Hæc: nempe, æstusque, pluviasque.
353. Moneret: in the sense of indicaret.
354. Signo: in the sense of indicio.
Quod indicium esset venti mox cessuri, says
Heyne. Austri: here put for any boister-
ous wind: the species for the genus.
356. Freta ponti: simply, for pontus, vel
mare. Fretum, properly a strait, or narrow
part of the sea.
358. Aridus fragor: a dry cracking
sound, such as is made among dry trees
when they break.
;
345
350
355
360
365
370
360. Jam tum unda malè temperat: then
the waves scarcely restrain themselves from
(swallowing up) the bending ships. Malè:
in the sense of difficilè.
361. Mergi: a species of sea-fowl, ge-
nerally taken to be the cormorant: from the
verb mergo.
363. Fulica: a species of sea-fowl much
like the common duck; a coot, or moor-hen.
364. Ardea: a bird, swift on the wing,
and soaring high. From which circum-
stance called ardea, quasi pro ardua; a heron.
365. Sæpe videbis stellas: you will also
often see stars, &c. The poet speaks in
conformity to the vulgar notion. No star
moves from its station. Those appearances
to which the poet alludes are of an electric
nature-meteors. They are sometimes seen
to dart across the heavens, and through the
darkness of the night, appear to draw after
them a train (tractus) of light or flame.
Impendente: threatening-being near at
hand.
371. Domus Eurique, &c. That part of
the heavens from which these winds blow,
the poet calls their house or habitation.
The expression is highly poetical. Here
the poet mentions twelve signs or prognostics
of rain.
‚GEORGICA. LIB. I.
77
Humida vela legit. Nunquam imprudentibus imber
Obfuit. Aut illum surgentem vallibus imis
Aëriæ fugêre grues; aut bucula cœlum
Suspiciens, patulis captavit naribus auras .
Aut arguta lacus circumvolitavit hirundo:
Et veterem in limo ranæ cecinêre querelam.
Sæpius et tectis penetralibus extulit ova
Angustum formica terens iter; et bibit ingens
Arcus; et è pastu decedens agmine magno
Corvorum increpuit densis exercitus alis.
Jam varias pelagi volucres, et quæ Asia circùm
Dulcibus in stagnis rimantur prata Caystri,
Certatim largos humeris infundere rores;
Nunc caput objectare fretis, nunc currere in undas,
Et studio incassùm videas gestire lavandi.
Tum cornix plenâ pluviam vocat improba voce,
Et sola in siccâ secum spatiatur arenâ.
Nec nocturna quidem carpentes pensa puellæ
Nescivere hyemem : testâ cùm ardente viderent
Scintillare oleum, et putres concrescere fungos.
Nec minùs ex imbri soles, et aperta serena
Prospicere, et certis poteris cognoscere signis.
Nam neque tum stellis acies obtusa videtur,
Nec fratris radiis obnoxia surgere Luna:
NOTES.
373. Imprudentibus, &c. Never hath a
shower hurt any person unforwarned: that
is, a shower always gives such certain signs
of its approach, that any who will attend
to them, may avoid receiving injury from
it. Heyne informs us, that the Medicean,
and some other copies, read prudentibus; he,
however, prefers the usual reading, impru-
dentibus. Prudentibus is the easier.
374. Illum surgentem, &c. This sentence
is capable of two constructions: 1. The
cranes may flee the shower, rising out of the
valleys; which is the sense Ruæus gives. 2.
Davidson takes it to mean that the cranes
flee into the valleys, to avoid the rising
storm. This is also the opinion of Valpy.
378. Et rana cecinere, &c. This alludes
to the fable of the transformation of the
Lycians into frogs for reproaching Latona,
of which hard treatment, when they croak,
they are said to complain. See Ovid. Met.
Lib. 6.
380. Ingens arcus: the spacious bow hath
drunk; alluding to a vulgar notion that the
rainbow drank the water that supplied the
clouds.
383. Asia: an adj. from Asius, a lake and
town between the river Caystrus and the
mountain Tmolus, in the confines of Lydia
and Phrygia Major. Caystrus falls into the
Egean sea, not far from the once famous
city of Ephesus. On its banks the swan
On its banks the swan
abounded. Rimantur: in the sense of fre-
quentant.
375
380
376. Suspicions ad cœ-
lum
383. Jam videas va-
rias volucres pelagi, et
385 eas, quæ rimantur circum
Asia prata in dulcibus
stagnis Caystri, certatim
infundere largos rores
humeris
390
395
393. Nec minus ex
imbri poteris prospicere,
et, certis signis, cognos-
cere sudos soles, et aperta
et serena cœla.
385. Infundere largos: to throw eagerly
much water upon their backs. Rores: in
the sense of aquam.
387. Studio lavandi: through a desire of
washing themselves in vain. Incassum may
be understood in three senses. 1. Because
nothing can add to the whiteness of the
swan, the fowl here spoken of. 2. Because
they need take no pains to wash themselves,
for the impending rain will do it without
their labor. 3. Because, according to Ser-
vius, water will not wet their feathers.
390. Carpentes: carding their nightly
tasks of wool.
392. Fungos: the clots or spungy sub-
stance that gathers round the wick of the
lamp or candle. Scintillare: to sputter or
snap in the burning shell.
393. Nec minùs. Having mentioned the
signs of a storm, the poet now enumerates
those of fair weather.
those of fair weather. He makes them in
number nine. Ex imbri: after a shower.
Soles: days.
395. Acies stellis: Ruæus says, lux stella-
rum. Videtur: in the sense of apparet.
396. Luna surgere obnoxia: nor will the
moon seem to rise beholden (or indebted) to
the beams of her brother. The moon will
rise so clear and bright that she will seem
to shine by her own inherent light, and not
by reflecting the rays of the sun. Sol and
Luna in heaven, the same as Apollo and
Diana on earth, were said to have been the
children of Latona. Sec Ecl. iv. 10,
78
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
401. Ima loca
Tenuia nec lanæ per cœlum vellera ferri.
Non tepidum ad solem pennas in litore pandunt
Dilecta Thetidi Halcyones: non ore solutos
Immundi meminere sues jactare maniplos.
400
405
410
At nebulæ magis ima petunt, campoque recumbunt;
Solis et occasum servans de culmine summo
Nequicquam seros exercet noctua cantus.
Apparet liquido sublimis in aëre Nisus,
Et pro purpureo pœnas dat Scylla capillo.
Quâcunque illa levem fugiens secat æthera pennis,
Ecce inimicus, atrox, magno stridore per auras,
Insequitur Nisus: quà se fert Nisus ad auras,
Illa levem fugiens raptim secat æthera pennis.
410. Tum corvi ter Tum liquidas corvi presso ter gutture voces
aut quater ingeminant Aut quater ingeminant: et sæpe cubilibus altis,
liquidas
412. Læti, nescio quâ Nescio quâ præter solitum dulcedine læti,
dulcedine, præter soli- Inter se foliis strepitant: juvat imbribus actis
tum morem strepitant Progeniem parvam, dulcesque revisere nidos.
415. Haud equidem Haud equidem credo, quia sit divinitùs illis
credo hoc fieri ita, quia Ingenium, aut rerum fato prudentia major:
Verùm, ubi tempestas et cœli mobilis humor
419. Densat ea, quæ Mutavere vias: et Jupiter humidus Austris
modò erant rara, et re-
laxat ea, quæ priùs erant
Densat, erant quæ rara modò; et, quæ densa, relaxat :
densa
Vertuntur species animorum, et pectora motus
421. Concipiunt nunc Nunc alios, alios, dum nubila ventus agebat,
NOTES.
397. Tenuia vellera: thin white clouds,
like fleeces of wool.
399. Halcyones. Ceyx, king of Trachi-
nia, going to consult the oracle of Apollo at
Clarus, was shipwrecked in the Egean sea.
His wife, Halcyone, seeing his dead body
floating near the shore, flung herself upon
it in a transport of her passion. Thetis,
out of compassion to the lovers, transform-
ed them into the birds called king-fishers:
hence dilecta Thetidi. It is said the sea is
calm a certain number of days about the
winter solstice, that they may more conve-
niently bring forth their young. Hence
those days were sometimes called Halcyon
days.
400. Maniplos: bundles of straw-straw
in general.
403. Noctua servans: the owl observing
the setting of the sun, &c. The meaning
of the expression seems to be this: that
as the hooting of the owl in general is a
sign of foul weather, yet when these signs
of fair weather occur, she hoots in vain;
she will be disregarded; or, if any regard
her prognostics, they will find themselves
disappointed. The owl is the only bird
that sings exclusively in the night; hence,
Beros cantus exercet.
404. Nisus: the falcon, or hawk. Scylla:
the lark. See Ecl. vi. 74; also nom. prop.
under Nisus.
405. Scylla dat panas. Scylla is punished
415
420
for the purple lock. Dare-reddere-pendere
-solvere pœnas, vel supplicium, to be punish-
ed. These are phrases. In like manner:
afficere pœnd vel suppliciô—capere-sumere
petere pænas, vel supplicium, to punish.
410. Presso guttere: with their throats
compressed. This would render the sounds
more clear and shrill,
416. Ingenium: discernment, or mental
capacity. Major prudentia fato, &c. A
greater knowledge or foresight in the course
and order of things, than men have. This
passage, as it is commonly rendered, is
unintelligible. To take fato in the ablative,
governed by major, Dr. Trapp observes, is
complete nonsense; and yet this is the opi-
nion of Heyne, and Valpy who follows him:
and it is very little better to take it for the
agent or means by which this greater
knowledge was obtained. It is perfectly
easy as rendered above. Rumus says: re-
rum prudentia, quæ potentior est fato; which
is with difficulty understood.
417. Mobilis humor: the moving vapor of
heaven. Vras is here used in the sense of
modus, or qualitates. Tempestas: the wea-
ther-temperature of the weather.
418. Jupiter humidus: the air moistened
by the south winds. Jupiter is here put
poetically for the air; which passing over
the sea that lay to the south of Italy, be-
came moist, or impregnated with vapor.
420. Motus: motions-affections.
GEORGICA. LIB. I.
79
Concipiunt: hinc ille avium concentus in agris,
Et lætæ pecudes, et ovantes gutture corvi.
Si verò Solem ad rapidum Lunasque sequentes
Ordine respicies; nunquam te crastina fallet
Hora, neque insidiis noctis capiere serenæ.
Luna, revertentes cùm primùm colligit ignes,
Si nigrum obscuro comprenderit aëra cornu;
Maximus agricolis pelagoque parabitur imber.
At, si virgineum suffuderit ore ruborem,
Ventus erit: vento semper rubet aurea Phœbe.
Sin ortu in quarto (namque is certissimus auctor)
Pura, neque obtusis per cœlum cornibus ibit
Totus et ille dies, et qui nascentur ab illo
Exactum ad mensem, pluviâ ventisque carebunt :
Votaque servati solvent in litore nautæ
Glauco, et Panopeæ, et Inoo Melicertæ.
:
Sol quoque, et exoriens, et cùm se condit in undas,
Signa dabit Solem certissima signa sequuntur,
Et quæ manè refert, et quæ surgentibus astris.
Ille ubi nascentem maculis variaverit ortum,
Conditus in nubem medioque refugerit orbe ;
Suspecti tibi sint. imbres namque urget ab alto
NOTES.
425. Crastina hora: simply, to-morrow.
427. Colligit revertentes ignes: when first
the moon collects the reflected, or returning
rays, (ignes;) if she embrace, &c. The poet
here mentions three prognostics of the
weather from the moon. 1. If the new
moon be obscured by dusky air, (nigrum
aëra,) look for rain. 2. If she be red, look
for wind. 3. If, on the fourth day, she be
bright, expect the remainder of the month
to be fair weather; whence the common
saying: pallida Luna pluit; rubicunda flat;
alba serenat.
432. Auctor: sign-prognostic.
437. Glauco. Glaucus was a fisherman
of Anthedon, in Beotia, by some said to
have been the son of Neptune and the nymph
Naïs. As he was fishing, he observed the
fish that he caught, as he laid them on the
grass, to receive fresh vigor, and immedi-
ately to escape from him by leaping into
the sea.
From this circumstance, he ima-
gined there must be some extraordinary
virtue in the grass; whereupon he tasted it,
and found himself suddenly moved with a
desire to live in the watery element; and
leaping into the sea, he was made a sea-god
by Oceanus and Tethys. Panopca: a nymph
of the sea, the daughter of Nereus and Do-
ris. Melicerta. Melicerta, or Melicertes,
was the son of Ino, the daughter of Cad-
mus, and wife of Athamas, king of Thebes;
who fleeing from her husband, who had
slain her son Learchus, lcaped into the sea
with Melicerta in her arms, both of whom
were changed into sea-gods, and worship-
ped Inoo: an adj. from Ino, agreeing with
425
430
435
440
alios motus, et nunc alios
dum
422. Hinc oritur ille
concentus avium inagris,
et hinc pecudes sunt
432. Sin illa fuerit pu-
ra in quarto ortu, neque
ibit per cœlum
436. Servati à tempes-
tate
440. Et quæ refert
manè, et quæ refert
Melicerta. Melicertes was sometimes called
Palamon. See Æn. v. 823.
440. Astris surgentibus. When the stars
appear in the evening at the approach of
darkness, in the language of poetry, they
are said to rise: so when they disappear at
the approach of day, they are said to set.
442. Medio refugerit orbe. Most commen
tators take orbis here for the face or disc of
the sun; and understand by the words me-
dio refugerit orbe, when he shall disappear
with half his orb or disc, the other half re-
maining visible. Rumus says: latuerit me-
diâ sui parte. Valpy says, "When the ri-
sing sun appears bordered by clouds, the
centre alone remaining visible." Davidson
translates the whole passage thus: "When
he (the sun) shall chequer his new-born face
with spots, hidden in a cloud, and coyly
shun the sight with half his orb." Servius
seems to understand the words to imply that
the centre of the sun retired, as it were,
from view, by appearing hollow like the ca-
vity of the hand, while the edge was con-
cealed in a cloud. I know not that philo-
sophers have noticed any such appearances
of the sun; I am sure they must be very
rare. Besides, this half concealment of the
sun does not come up to the obvious mean-
ing of conditus in nubem, which certainly
means that he was wholly concealed from
sight. By taking medio orbe, for, in the mid-
dle of his course, or diurnal revolution, which
may very well be done, the passage will be
rendered intelligible and easy. Thus: when
the sun, in his ascent above the horizon,
shall have passed behind fleecy clouds, and
80
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Aboribusque satisque Notus, pecorique sinister.
Aut ubi sub lucem densa inter nubila sese
Diversi erumpent radii, aut ubi pallida surget
Tithoni croceuin linquens Aurora cubile;
Heu, malè tum mites defendet pampinus uvas,
Tam multa in tectis crepitans salit horrida grando.
450. Magis profuerit Hoc, etiam emenso cùm jam decedet Olympo,
meminisse hoc, etiam Profuerit meminisse magis: nam sæpe videmus
cùm jam sol decedet, Ipsius in vultu varios errare colores.
Olympo emenso:
453. Cœruleus sol
445
450
Cœruleus pluviam denunciat, igneus Euros
Sin maculæ incipient rutilo immiscerier igni ;
Omnia tunc pariter vento nimbisque videbis
Fervere. Non illâ quisquam me nocte per altum
Ire, neque à terra moneat convellere funem.
455
458. At si orbis solis At si, cùm referetque diem, condetque relatum,
erit lucidus, cum Lucidus orbis erit, frustrà terrebere nimbis;
Et claro sylvas cernes Aquilone moveri.
461. Denique Sol da-
bit signa tibi, quid serus
vesper
460
Denique, quid Vesper serus vehat, unde serenas
Ventus agat nubes, quid cogitet humidus Auster,
Sol tibi signa dabit: Solem quis dicere falsum
Audeat ille etiam cæcos instare tumultus
Sæpe monet, fraudemque, et operta tumescere bella. 465
Ille etiam extincto miseratus Cæsare Romam;
Cùm caput obscurâ nitidum ferrugine texit,
Impiaque æternam timuerunt sæcula noctem.
Tempore quanquam illo tellus quoque, et æquora ponti,
Obscœnique canes, importunæque volucres,
Signa dabant. Quoties Cyclopum effervere in agros
Vidimus undantem ruptis fornacibus Etnam,
Flammarumque globos, liquefactaque volvere saxa ?
Armorum sonitum toto Germania cœlo
Audiit; insolitis tremuerunt motibus Alpes.
NOTES.
be sometimes concealed by them from sight;
and when he shall have approached the me-
ridian, and finished half his course, he shall
be wholly concealed from sight by the in-
creased and condensed vapor in the atmos-
phere, then rain is to be expected. Imbres:
in the sense of pluvia.
444. Sinister: injurious-hurtful.
452. In vultu: in the sense of per vultum.
454. Immiscerier: by Paragoge, for im-
misceri, to be mingled with sparkling light.
Igni: lumine, says Rumus.
456. Fervere. This verb forcibly ex-
presses the violence of the storm. All things
are confusion and wild disorder. Turbari,
says Ruæus.
462. Cogitet: in the sense of præparet.
Serenas: in the sense of siccas.
467. Obscura ferrugine: with a dark red
color-a color resembling blood.
468. Sæcula. Sæculum is properly an
age; by meton. the inhabitants or men of
that age. Impra sæcula· the same as im-
nis homines.
470
475
470. Obscœni canes: foul dogs-dogs of
bad omen-howling frightfully. The an-
cients considered any thing of this kind in-
auspicious. Importunæ : inauspicious. Cujus
cantus erat mali ominis.
471. Quoties vidimus: how often have we
seen Ætna rising in waves, its furnaces being
burst, &c. Undantem, expresses very forcibly
the violence and agitation of the flames
pent up in the mountain, rising by turns
against its sides, which, no longer able to
resist the shock, open a passage; when, in
an instant, it covers the adjacent country
with lava. The Cyclops were the servants
of Vulcan, and said to be the sons of Calus
and Terra. They were so called from their
having but one eye, which was in the mid-
dle of their forehead. Their business was
to assist Vulcan in forming the thunder-bolts
of Jupiter, and the arms of the gods, and
celebrated heroes. Their forges were under
Ætna. The most noted of them were
Brontes, Steropes, and Pyracmon. Wher
Ulysses visited Sicily, Polyphemus, say the
GEORGICA. LIB. I.
81
Vox quoque per lucos vulgò exaudita silentes
Ingens; et simulacra modis pallentia miris
Visa sub obscurum noctis; pecudesque locutæ, ·
Infandum! sistunt amnes, terræque dehiscunt:
Et mæstum illacrymat templis ebur, æraque sudant.
Proluit insano contorquens vortice sylvas
Fluviorum rex Eridanus, camposque per omnes
Cum stabulis armenta tulit: nec tempore eodem
Tristibus aut extis fibræ apparere minaces,
Aut puteis manare cruor cessavit; et altè
Per noctem iesonare, lupis ululantibus, urbes.
Non aliàs cœlo ceciderunt plura sereno
Fulgura, nec diri totics arsere cometæ.
Ergò inter sese paribus concurrere telis
Romanas acies iterum vidêre Philippi ;
Nec fuit indignum Superis, bis sanguine nostro
Emathiain et latos Hæmi pinguescere campos.
NOTES.
poets, was their king. Diodorus informs us
that the Cyclops were the first inhabitants
of Sicily, of a gigantic stature, and of a
fierce and savage nature. They dwelt
chiefly about mount Etna.
477. Simulacra: spectres, or ghosts, pale
in a wonderful manner, were scen, &c.
478. Obscurum: an adj. of the neu. taken
as a sub. in the sense of obscuritatem. Ru-
æus interprets it by crepusculum.
480. Mæstum ebur: the mournful ivory
(ivory statues) wept. Era: brass-statues
made of brass.
481. Insano vortice: with its rapid current
-eddies.
482. Eridanus: the river Po. It is here
called the king of rivers, because the largest
in Italy. It rises in Piedmont, and running
an easterly course, after receiving a number
of tributary streams, falls into the Gulf
of Venice by several mouths.
483. Tristibus extis. One mode of con-
sulting the omens, was an examination of
the entrails of the victim. If any defect or
singularity appeared, it was thought to be
portentous. Tristibus: ominous-baleful.
485. Altè. Heyne reads altæ, agreeing
with urbes.
488. Cometa. Plutarch informs us that a
very bright comet appeared at Rome for
several days about the time of Cæsar's
death. To this the poet refers in Ecl. ix. 47.
Suetonius says: Ludis, quos primo conse-
cratos ei hæres Augustus edebat, stella crinita
per septem dies continuos fulsit, exoriens circa
undecimam horam: creditumque est animum
esse Cæsarıs in cœlum recepti.
489. Ergò: therefore-on account of the
death of Caesar, which was the cause of the
civil war.
490. Philippi iterum: Philippi hath seen
the Roman armies again, &c. It is agreed
that Virgil here alludes to the two famous
481 481. Eridanus proluit
sylvas, contorquens cas
insano.
484. Fibræ nec cessa-
485 verunt aut apparere mi-
naces in tristibus extis;
aut cruor cessavit ma-
nare è puteis; et urbes
non cessaverunt resonare
altè per noctem, lupis
490 ululantibus.
491. Nec visum fuit
battles, one fought between Cæsar and Pom-
pey; the other, between Brutus and Cas-
sius on one side, and Augustus and Antho-
ny on the other. But history informs us
that the former was fought on the plains of
Pharsalia, in Thessaly, the latter at Philip-
pi, in the confines of Thrace, more than two
hundred miles distant. To explain this ap-
parcnt inconsistency, there have been many
attempts. The most probable solution is,
that the poet does not mean that both these
battles were fought on the same spot. This
would contradict history. He would not
commit such a blunder. We are told that
the city Theba Thessalice, or Phthotica,
which was in sight of Pharsalia, was called
also Philippi. And though historians, for
sake of distinction, called the one Philippi,
and the other Pharsalia, the poet might,
without any impropriety, call them both by
the common name of Philippi. Ruæus
has one conjecture which may be deserving
of notice: that the adverb iterùm may re-
for, not to Philippi, but to the Roman ar-
mics: Philippi saw the Roman armies
again engage for the empire of the world,
though not for the first time. They had
engaged for a similar purpose before on the
plains of Pharsalia. This appears to solve
the difficulty.
We are
492. Emathiam-Latos campos Hæmi.
Here is an apparent difficulty. Hamus is
a mountain in Thrace; and neither of the
battles was fought in Emathia or Macedo-
nia, properly so called. But the language
of poetry does not always conform to his-
torical or geographical exactness.
told that the ancient Emathia was consi-
dered by the pocts to extend as far east ns
the river Nessus, including a considerable
part of Thrace beyond Philippi; and to
the south comprehending all Thessaly, and
consequently Pharsalia, or the Pharsalian
7
82
;
P. VIRGILJI MARONIS
•
505 Sunt tot bella
Scilicet et tempus veniet, cùm finibus illis
Agricola, incurvo terram molitus aratro,
Exesa inveniet scabrâ rubigine pila :
Aut gravibus rastris galeas pulsabit inanes,
Grandiaque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris.
Dii patrii Indigetes, et Romule, Vestaque mater,
Quæ Tuscum Tiberim et Romana palatia servas,
Hunc saltem everso juvenem succurrere sæclo
Ne prohibete: satis jampridem sanguine nostro
Laomedonteæ luimus perjuria Troja.
Jampridem nobis cœli te regia, Cæsar,
495
500
Invidet, atque hominum queritur curare triumphos.
Quippe ubi fas versum atque nefas, tot bella per orbem,
Tam multæ scelerum facies: non ullus aratro
507. Colonis abductis Dignus honos; squalent abductis arva colonis,
Et curve rigidum falces conflantur in ensem.
ad malitiam
NOTES.
Philippi. Taken in this extent, the poet
would be consistent. Emathia could be
wet twice with Roman blood. Again Hæ-
mus is not so much a single mountain as a
range of mountains, branching out in va-
rious directions, and in various parts assu-
ming different names. Casting our eye on
of that country, we find the range
commencing at the Euxine sea, and taking
a south-westerly direction till it enters Ma-
cedonia, then turning northerly till it reaches
the 43° of N. lat. when it takes a southern
direction, passing into Thessaly; and con-
sequently its extensive plains might be
fattened by the blood, shed in both those
a map
battles.
494. Molitus: in the sense of vertens.
Scabra: in the sense of corrosa.
498. Dii patrii, Indigetes. The Romans
divided their deities into three classes. The
first embraced the supreme or select gods,
who were honored with the highest ado-
ration, and considered eminent above the
rest. Of these, twelve were called Consentes,
because on particular occasions they were
admitted to the council of Jupiter. Six of
these were male and six female: Jupiter,
Apollo, Mercury, Mars, Neptune, and Vul-
can: Juno, Diana, Minerva, Venus, Vesta,
and Ceres. These were sometimes called
Dii Majores. The second class compre-
hended those of inferior power, and was
very numerous. It embraced all the deified
heroes, such as Romulus, Hercules, Perseus,
&c. and all that in any manner had ob-
tained divine honors. These were some-
times called the Dii Minores. The third class
was without number. It embraced all the
sylvan deities: all the nymphs; the penates;
the genii; the virtutes, &c. Indigetes: pro-
perly deified heroes. Some derive the word
from Indigetare, to call by name; because
it was customary to address them by their
name. Others derive it from degere, be-
506
cause they had been men, and dwelt on the
earth: or because they were now dwelling
among the gods. Others again, and perhaps
with more propriety, derive it from Indegere;
because being translated to heaven, they
stood in need of nothing. Mater Vesta.
There were two by the name of Vesta, one
the mother of Saturn, the other his daugh-
ter; but commonly confounded together.
The latter presided over the perpetual fire.
It is said that Æneas brought her along with
his household gods into Italy, and introdu-
ced her worship. Her mysteries were trans-
mitted to the Albans, and from them intro-
duced among the Romans by Numa. He
instituted a college of virgins, who kept
alive the perpetual fire as the safety, or
palladium of the state.
500. Hunc Juvenem: meaning Octavius,
afterward called Augustus Cæsar. Everso
sæclo: the ruined or falling age.
502. Satis luimus jampridem: we have
long ago atoned sufficiently for the perjury
of Trojan Laomedon, with our blood. La-
omedon was the father of Priam, and king
of Troy. During his reign, the poets tell
us, the walls of Troy were built by Neptune
and Apollo, for a certain price; but when
the work was done, he refused to pay them.
On which account, they became hostile to
the Trojans, and exerted all their power
against them in the war with the Greeks.
The Romans, pretending to descend from
them, the poet supposes were punished for
this injustice of their ancestor. The story,
perhaps, may be explained by supposing
Laomedon to have employed the money,
which had been designed for religious pur-
poses, to this use.
men,
505. Ubi: where-(that is,) here among
Fas atque nefas versum: right and
wrong are confounded.
507. Squalent: lie neglected--are over-
grown with weeds.
GEORGICA. LIB. 1.
83
Hinc movet Euphrates, illinc Germania bellum:
Vicinæ ruptis inter se legibus urbes
Arma ferunt: sævit toto Mars impius orbe
Ut, cùm carceribus sese effudêre quadrigæ,
Addunt se in spatia: et frustrà retinacula tendens,
Fertur equis auriga, neque audit currus habenas.
NOTES.
509. Euphrates. A noble river of Asia,
rising in the mountains of Armenia, fertili-
zing Mesopotamia, as the Nile does Egypt,
and uniting with the Tigris in its course,
falls into the Persian gulf. It is here put,
by a figure of speech, for the nations of the
east, particularly the Parthians, who were
very troublesome to the Romans.
510. Legibus: in the sense of fæderibus.
511. Impius: cruel-merciless; a suitable
epithet of Mars.
512. Ut, cum quadriga. This is a noble
simile. The uncontrolled licentiousness of
the age is likened to the rapidity and vio-
lence of ungovernable horses in the chariot
race, when they mock both the driver and
the reins. Quadriga: four horses harness-
How does this book open?
510
ed together; also, a chariot drawn by four
horses, by meton. Of Quatuor and ago,be-
cause four were driven together or con-
tracted of Quadrijugus, four yoked together.
Carceribus. Carcer was the mark, or starting
place, in races. Spatia: the race ground,
or course. Effudere. Ruæus says, erupe-
runt.
513. Addunt: in the sense of immittuni,
Others read in spatio. Ruæus, in his inter-
says Heyne. Some copies leave out the se
pretation, omits the words addunt se, and
connects in spatia with the preceding verb.
They are not necessary to make the sense
complete.
514. Currus: a chariot: by meton. the
horses in the chariot. Neque audit habe
nas: nor do they regard, or obey the reins.
QUESTIONS.
What does the poet proceed to do?
What does he do in the next place?
To whom does he ascribe the origin of
agriculture?
What signs or prognostics of the weather
does he mention?
How does he conclude the book?
Are there any fables introduced by way of
episode? What are they?
Why are Bacchus and Ceres invoked next
after the heavenly bodies?
Who was Neptune? and what is said of
him?
Who is said to have been the first who
taught mankind the propagation of bees?
Who was Aristaus?
Who was Minerva? and what is said of
her?
What power did she possess?
How is she represented under her different
characters?
What celebrated statue had she?
What are some of her names?
Who is said to have first taught the
Greeks agriculture?
What is probably meant by Ultima Thule ?
Was the Ecliptic at first divided into 12
signs? How was it divided?
Where were the Olympic games celebra-
ted? In what year before Christ were they
instituted?
How often were they celebrated' and in
honor of what god?
What precepts does the poet give about
ploughing land?
What does he give about planting, and
changing crops?
Who was Jupiter?
To whom was his education intrusted?
Where was he educated?
What are some of his names?
Who were the Giants? and what is said
of them?
What are the Pleiades?
What other names have they?
What are the Hyades?
What are their names?
Who was Aurora ?
What is said of her?
What were the Furies?
What were their names?
What was their office?
Who was Vulcan? What is said of him?
What were some of his names?
What is the word Vulcanus often used for?
By what figure is it so used?
Who were the Cyclops?
Where does the poet represent them as
residing?
Why are they called Cyclops?
Who was Mercury?
What is said of him?
What was his office?
How is he represented?
Of what was he the inventor?
What were some of his names?
Who was Glaucus? What is said of him?
'84
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Into how many classes were the Roman
deities divided? Of these, how many were
called Consentes?
Why were they so called?
What were their names?
What were these sometimes called?
What did the second class contain?
What were these sometimes called?
What did the third class contain?
Were they very numerous?
Who were the Indigetes?
From what is the word probably derived
Who was Vesta?
How many were there of that name?
What was her office?
Who introduced her worship into Italy?
By whom were her mysteries introduced
among the Romans?
LIBER SECUNDUS.
THE subject of this book is the cultivation of the several kinds of trees. The poet de-
scribes with much judgment the soils proper for each: and after giving a variety of ex-
cellent precepts for the management of the vine, the olive, &c. he digresses into the
praises of Italy; and concludes with a panegyric upon a country life.
1. Hactenus
cultus
cecini
8. Tingeque mecum
nudata crura novo mus-
to, cothurnis direptis.
HACTENUS arvorum cultus, et sidera cœli:
Nunc te, Bacche, canam, necnon sylvestria tecum
Virgulta, et prolem tardè crescentis olive.
Huc, pater ô Lenæe: tuis hìc omnia plena
Muneribus; tibi pampineo gravidus autumno
Floret ager, spumat plenis vindemia labris.
Huc, pater ô Lenæe, veni: nudataque musto
Tinge novo mecum direptis crura cothurnis.
Principio arboribus varia est natura creandis.
Namque aliæ, nullis hominum cogentibus, ipsæ
Sponte suâ veniunt, camposque et flumina latè
Curva tenent: ut molle siler, lentæque genistæ,
Populus, et glaucâ canentia fronde salicta.
15. Esculusque max- Pars autem posito surgunt de semine: ut altæ
det Jovi, atque quercus, Castaneæ, nemorumque Jovi quæ maxima frondet
quæ habitæ sunt Esculus, atque habitæ Graiis oracula quercus.
ima nemorum, quæ fron-
NOTES.
2. Necnon: also. Two negatives have
the force of an affirmative in Latin and
English.
3. Virgulta: shrubs, or underbrush;
here put for trees in general. Tardè cre-
scentis oliva. The olive is of a very slow
growth. Some say it is a hundred years in
growing.
4. Lenæe: Lenæus, a name of Bacchus,
from a Greek word signifying a vine-press.
Adsis, is to be supplied, or some word of the
same import.
5. Ager gravidus: the field heavy with
the produce of the vine. Autumno: the
season for gathering grapes and other pro-
ductions of the earth, put, by meton. for
the grapes themselves. Floret: in the sense
of maturescit. The fields do not bloom in
autumn, but with propriety they may be
5.
10
15
said to ripen. Pampineo autumno: the pro-
duce of the vine-grapes.
9. Cothurnis. The cothurnus was a kind
of high-heeled shoe, worn by Bacchus. Re-
ference is here made to the custom of tread-
ing out the grapes with their feet. The co-
thurnus was used by tragedians to make
them appear taller; hence put for tragedy
in the sense of ratio, vel modus.
itself also for the tragic style. Natura:
12. Siler: an osier, or small withy. Ge-
nista: the broom. Populus: the poplar
tree, of which there are three kinds.
13. Salicta: willow-grounds; by meton,
the willows.
16. Esculus: a species of oak, sacred to
Jupiter. The Esculus was a mast-tree, and
abounded in Dodona, in Epirus, where there
were oaks said to have given out oracles;
to which here is an allusion.
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
85
:
Pullulat ab radice aliis densissima sylva :
Ut cerasis, ulmisque etiam Parnassia laurus
Parva sub ingenti matris se subjicit umbrâ.
Hos natura modos primùm dedit: his genus omne
Sylvarum, fruticumque viret, nemorumque sacrorum.
Sunt alii, quos ipse viâ sibi repperit usus.
Hic plantas tenero abscindens de corpore matrum
Deposuit sulcis: hic stirpes obruit arvo,
Quadrifidasque sudes, et acuto robore vallos:
Sylvarumque aliæ pressos propaginis arcus
Expectant, et viva suâ plantaria terrâ.
20
25
20. Natura primum
dedit hos tres modos pro-
ducendi arbores : in his
viis.
Ñil radicis egent aliæ: summumque putator
Haud dubitat terræ referens mandare cacumen.
Quin et caudicibus sectis, mirabile dictu,
Truditur è sicco radix oleagina ligno.
30
Et sæpe alterius ramos impunè videmus
Vertere in alterius, mutatamque insita mala
Ferre pyrum, et prunis lapidosa rubescere corna.
Quare agite, ô, proprios generatim discite cultus,
Agricolæ, fructusque feros mollite colendo.
Neu segnes jaceant terræ: juvat Ismara Baccho
Conserere, atque oleâ magnum vestire Taburnum.
NOTES.
17. Sylva: here means the suckers, that
shoot up under, and near the trunk of the
parent tree.
18. Cerasis to the cherry-trees. Laurus.
This tree is called Parnassian, because it
abounded on mount Parnassus. It was sa-
cred to Apollo.
19. Subjicit se: shoots itself up.
21. Sylvarum fruticumque: trees and
shrubs.
22. Viâ: by practice, or experience.
Sunt alii: there are other methods of pro-
ducing trees, which, &c. The poet proceeds
to enumerate the methods of raising the se-
veral kinds of trees, which he reduces to
seven. 1. By planting the shoot or scion.
2. By burying the stump or stock in the
earth. 3. By burying the stake or trunk
split at the bottom. 4. By the layer. 5.
By planting in the earth a bough or twig
taken from the top of the tree. 6. By
planting the trunk or stalk of the tree, de-
prived of its root and branches. This suc-
ceeds very well with the olive-tree. 7. By
grafting or transferring a branch or scion of
one tree into another.
23. Plantas: the shoots or scions from
the body of the mother tree.
24. Obruit stirpes: another buries the
stocks in the ground, and stakes split in four
parts at the lower end, and poles, the wood
being sharpened into a point.
26. Alia sylvarum: other trees of the
wood-simply, other trees. Ruæus says,
aliæ arbores. Propaginis. The propago was
the layer, or branch of the parent tree, bent
down and fastened in the ground, until it
35
took root, firm enough to support itself; and
was then severed from it. This was about
the third year. Arcus: the arches, or cur-
ved figures of the layers, or branches so bent
down.
27. Viva plantaria: living shoots to be
put in their own earth-not cut off as in
other cases, but suffered to grow to the pa-
rent tree for a time. Defodi, or a word of
the like import, is understood.
29. Referens mandare: to commit the top-
most shoot to the earth whence it sprang.
Summum cacumen: the highest shoot, or
branch. Referens mandare, simply for man-
dare, says Heyne.
30. Caudicibus: Caudex, is properly the
body of the tree distinguished from the root,
as truncus is the body distinguished from
the top or head.
32. Impunè: without injury. Alterius;
in the sense of unius. Arboris is under-
stood.
33. Vertere: for verti, tne active for the
passive, by enallage: or, vertere se in ramos
alterius arboris.
34. Corna lapidosa: the corneil trees,
which naturally produce a stony hard fruit,
by being grafted, will produce the plum-
will redden with plums.
37. Neu segnes terræ jaceant. Dr. Trapp
renders these words: let not your lands lie
idle. Ne terræ sint inutiles, says Ruæus.
But the connexion is better preserved by
rendering it: let not your barren lands lie
neglected or unimproved. Ismara neu.
plu. a mountain in Thrace. Tuburnus: a
mountain in Campania, fertile in olives.
1
86
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Tuque ades, inceptumque unà decurre laborem ;
39. Tuque, Mæcenas, O decus, ô famæ meritò pars maxima nostræ,
ades, decurreque incep- Mæcenas, pelagoque volans da vela patenti.
tum laborem unà me- Non ego cuncta meis amplecti versibus opto:
cum: tu, O decus, O Non, mihi si linguæ centum sint, oraque centum,
Ferrea vox: ades, et primi lege litoris oram.
In manibus terræ: non hic te carmine ficto,
Atque per ambages et longa exorsa tencbo.
meritò maxima pars nos-
træ famæ
43. Non possem am-
plecti ea, si sint mihi
47. Arbores quæ tol-
lunt se suâ sponte
40
46
50
Sponte suâ quæ se`tollunt in luminis auras,
Infœcunda quidem, sed læta et fortia surgunt.
Quippe solo natura subest. Tamen hæc quoque si quis
Inserat, aut scrobibus mandet mutata subactis,
Exuerint sylvestrem animum: cultuque frequenti,
In quascunque voces artes; haud tarda sequentur.
53. Et illa arbor quæ Necnon et sterilis quæ stirpibus exit ab imis,
སྐ
exit sterilis
63. Sed oleæ respon-
vites de propagine, et
dent meliùs de truncis;
myrtus
Hoc faciet, vacuos si sit digesta per agros:
Nunc altæ frondes et rami matris opacant,
Crescentique adimunt fœtus, uruntque ferentem.
Jam, quæ seminibus jactis se sustulit, arbos
Tarda venit, seris factura nepotibus umbram:
Pomaque degenerant, succos oblita priores :
Et turpes avibus prædam fert uva racemos.
Scilicet omnibus est labor impendendus, et omnes
Cogendæ in sulcum, ac multâ mercede domandæ.
Sed truncis oleæ meliùs, propagine vites
Respondent, solido Paphiæ de robore myrtus,
Plantis et duræ coryli nascuntur, et ingens
NOTES.
The object of the poet is to persuade the
farmer not to neglect his rugged and barren
lands, and suffer them to lie useless; for, by
culture, he may render them profitable to
him. He adduces the case of Ismarus and
Taburnus, which, though naturally rugged
and barren, had become, by cultivation and
proper attention, very productive. Baccho
is here put for the vine.
39. Decurre. Here we have a beautiful
allegory, drawn from the sailing of a ship.
The verb decurro signifies to sail before the
wind-to sail with a prosperous gale. La-
borem : the work or task, viz. the Georgics,
which he begun at the request of Mæcenas.
41. Da volans, &c. And flying, spread the
sails to the opening sea-accompany me
through this great work, which spreads be-
fore me like an open sea, expanding on
every side. Some copies have volens.
45. Ficto carmine: in the sense of fabu-
loso poèmate.
46. Ambages et longa exorsa: preambles,
and tedious introductions.
50. Scrobibus subactis: in trenches pre-
pared for the purpose. Mutata: transplant-
ed-removed from their native soil.
52. In quascunque artes, &c.: in the sense
of in quocunque modo, vel via tractes. In
whatever mode you may require, says
Valpy.
55
60
65
For
56. Adimunt fœtus: and take away the
fruit from it growing up, and starve it while
bearing. The poet's meaning appears to be
this: that the sucker, which springs up from
the root of the parent tree, will be fruitful
and productive, if transplanted into open
ground, and arranged in proper rows.
while it remains, the leaves and boughs of
the parent tree will overshadow it, and pre-
vent it from bearing fruit as it grows up: or,
if it should bear fruit, it will be pinched and
small, by being deprived of the rays of the
sun and proper nourishment.
57. Jam: here is used in the sense of
porrò, or præterea.
60. Uva: the grape; by meton. for the
vine. Prædam: as a prey for birds-only
fit for birds.
62. Multa mercede: with much labor, or
expense.
63. Olea respondent, &c. The olive is
raised or propagated better from the stump;
the vine from the layer; the myrtle from
the solid wood; the hazle, the ash, the pop-
lar, and the oak, from the scion, or young
shoot.
64. Paphia: Venus, so called from Pa-
phos, a city of Cyprus, where she was
particularly worshipped. The myrtle was
sacred to her. Respondent: in the sense of
proveniunt, vel oriuntur.
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
87
Fraxinus, Herculeæque arbos umbrosa coronæ,
Chaoniique patris glandes; etiam ardua palma
Nascitur, et casus abies visura marinos.
Inseritur verò ex fœtu nucis arbutus horrida,
Et steriles platani malos gessere valentes:
Castaneæ fagus, ornusque incanuit albo
Flore pyri; glandemque sues fregêre sub ulmis.
Nec modus inserere atque oculos imponere simplex.
Nam quà se medio trudunt de cortice gemmæ,
Et tenues rumpunt tunicas, angustus in ipso
Fit nodo sinus: huc alienâ ex arbore germen
Includunt, udoque docent inolescere libro.
70
75
71. Fagus incanuit
flore castane, ornusque
incanuit albo flore pyri
Aut rursum enodes trunci rcsecantur, et altè
Finditur in solidum cuneis via: deinde fcraces
Plantæ immittuntur. Nec longum tempus, et ingens
Exiit ad cœlum ramis felicibus arbos,
79. In solidum lignum
81
Miraturque novas frondes, et non sua poma.
Prætereà genus haud unum, nec fortibus ulmis,
Nec salici, lotoque, nec Idæis cyparissis:
Nec pingues unam in faciem nascuntur olivæ,
Orchades, et radii, et amarâ pausia baccâ :
Pomaque, et Alcinoï sylvæ: nec surculus idem
Crustumiis, Syriisque pyris, gravibusque volemis.
NOTES.
66. Umbrosa arbos: the poplar-tree. It
was sacred to Hercules. He wore a crown
made of the leaves of this tree, to the infer-
nal regions.
67. Glandes: properly acorns; by meton.
the oaks that bore them. Chaonii patris:
Jupiter; so called because he had a temple,
and was splendidly worshipped at Dodona,
a town of Chaonia in Epirus. The oak
was sacred to him.
68. Visura. This is said of the fir-tree,
because ships were built of its timber. Ma-
rinos casus: in the sense of periculæ maris.
69. Arbutus inseritur: the arbute or
strawberry-tree is grafted with the shoot or
scion of the nut-tree.
70. Platani. The plane tree affords a
large and pleasant shade, but bears no fruit.
It is therefore called sterilis. However, says
the poet, even this has been made to bear
apples by being grafted.
73. Imponere oculos: to inoculate. Ocu-
lus is the bud which is enclosed or put in
the bark of the tree to be inoculated. In-
serere: to ingraft. Nec modus, &c. Neither
is the method of ingrafting and inoculating
one and the same-they are different pro-
cesses.
76. Sinus angustus: a small slit or gash,
made in the bark of the tree, (where the bud
was putting forth,) for the purpose of re-
ceiving the graft.
77. Docent: they teach it to grow up, or
incorporate itself with the moist bark. Li-
ber is the inward part of the bark of the
tise: Cortex the whole bark, or rind.
85
78. Aut rursum. Having described the
process of inoculation, the poet gives us that
of ingrafting.
of ingrafting. Truncus: the body of the
tree, properly after the top and branches
are cut off. This is split, and the graft put
into the fissure. He seems to prefer this
mode of cultivating trees, inasmuch as they
soon come to maturity. Nec longum tem-
pus (says he,) et ingens arbos: it is not a
long time, and the mighty tree, exiit, hath
shot up to the skies. There is a peculiar ele-
gancy in the use of the perfect tense here.
80. Plantæ: grafts, or scions of fruit-
bearing trees.
82. Poma non sua: that is, poma non sur
generis.
84. Idais Cyparissis: to the Idwan Cy-
presses. There were two mountains by the
name of Ida, the one in Phrygia, the other
in Crete; the latter is here meant.
86. Orchades. The poet here mentions
three species of olives: the orchades, a round
olive, a word derived from the Greek; the
radii, an oblong olive; the pausia, an olive
of a bitter taste, so called from pavio, says
Columella, because its chief use was for oil;
to obtain which, it was brayed or beaten.
87. Sylvæ Alcinoi: the orchards of Alci-
noüs, king of the Phæaceans. They were
celebrated by the poets.
88. Crustumiis: to the Crustumean pears,
so called from Crustumium, a town in Tus-
cany, whose pears were much esteemed;
they were of a reddish cast. Syriis pyris.
These were so called, because they were
brought from Syria. They were also called
7
88
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Non eadem arboribus pendet vindemia nostris,
Quam Methymnæo capit de palmite Lesbos.
Sunt Thasiæ vites, sunt et Mareotides albæ :
Pinguibus hæ terris habiles, levioribus illæ.
Et passo Psythia utilior, tenuisque lageos
Tentatura pedes olim, vincturaque linguam.
95. Sunt purpuree, Purpureæ, preciæque: et quo te carmine dicam
prociæque uvæ
Rhætica? nec cellis ideò contende Falernis.
Sunt et Ammineæ vites, firmissima vina :
Tmolus et assurgit quibus, et rex ipse Phanæus ;
Argitisque minor, cui non certaverit ulla,
99. Est Argitis minor
uva, cui
102. Et, te, O bumaste,
90
95
100
cum tuis tumidis race-
Aut tantùm fluere, aut totidem durare per annos.
mis. Sed neque est nu-
merus, quàm multæ Non
spe- ego te, Dîs et mensis accepta secundis,
cies sunt, nec quæ Transierim, Rhodia; et tumidis, bumaste, racemis.
105. Quem numerum Sed neque, quàm multæ species, nec nomina quæ sint,
qui velit scire, idem ve- Est numerus: neque enim numero comprendere refert.
lit discere quàm multæ
arenæ Libyci æquoris Quem qui scire velit, Libyci velit æquoris idem
Discere, quàm multæ Zephyro turbentur arenæ;
turbentur
NOTES.
Tarentina, and were of a blackish cast.
Some think them to be the Bergamot pear.
Volemis: to the Volemian pears. These were
so called from the circumstance of their fill-
ing the palm of the hand; from vola. The
surculus, or shoot, of all these was different.
89. Arboribus: in the sense of vitibus.
90. Methymnæo: an adj. from Methymna,
a city of Lesbos, an island in the Ægean
sea, famous for its vines.
91. Thasia: an adj. from Thasus, an
island in the Egean sea. Mareotides: an
adj. probably from Mareotis, a lake near
Alexandria, in Egypt. Some take it from
a place of the same name in Lybia, in the
confines of Egypt. These latter (ha) rc-
quired a rich soil; the former (alla) a light soil.
93. Psythia: an adj. agreeing with vitis,
understood. Its derivation is uncertain. It
is probably from the name of some town in
Greece, where that species of vine flourish-
ed. Utilior passo: better for passum, or
sweet wine. This was made of raisins or
dried grapes; from the word patior: quòd
solem aut ignem patitur. Lageos. This was
a species of grape, deriving its name from
a Greck word signifying a hare, because it
resembled the color of that animal. Te-
nuis: subtle or penetrating. Quòd facilè
ebrietatem inducit, says Servius.
95. Purpurea, preciæque. These are both
adjectives, and agree with viles, or more
probably with uva, understood. Precia:
early ripened-ripened before other grapes.
96. Rhætica: a grape, so called from
Rhetia, a country bordering upon Italy on
the west. Cellis Falernis: with the Faler-
nian wine. Cellis: the cellars; by meton.
for the wine in them. Falernis: an adj.
from Falernus, a mountain in Campania,
celebrated for its good wincs.
105
97. Ammineæ vites. There are various
conjectures concerning this vine, but nothing
certainly known. It produced excellent
wine—firmissima vina, strong, and of good
body.
98. Quibus et Tmolus: to which both
Tmolus, and Phanaeus himself, the king of
vine-bearing mountains, rise up in sign of
respect-they yield the pre-eminence to the
Ammincan vine. Assurgit, as here used, is
highly metaphorical. It conveys to our
minds the idea of one mountain rising up to
another in token of respect, and yielding to
it precedency. Tmolus: a mountain in
Lydia, famous for its wines. Phanæus:
another mountain in the island Chios, in
the Ægean sea, celebrated for its wines.
99. Argitis: a species of the grape, pro-
bably derived from a Greek word signify-
ing white, or from Argos, a city of the Pe-
loponnesus.
100. Tantum fluere: to yield so much
juice.
101. Mensis et Dis secundis. The first ta-
ble or course was composed of meats. The
second of fruits, and what we generally call
desserts. At this second table or course
there were libations made to certain gods.
Secundis is generally connected with Dis.
It is, however, better to connect it with men-
sis: it will then be: the Rhodian wine is
acceptable to the second table or course,
and to the gods that were then invoked-
acceptable, or fit for libations.
102. Rhodia: an adj. from Rhodus, a fa-
mous island in the Mediterranean sea.
Bumaste: the bumastus was a species of
grape, whose clusters were swollen out, like
the udder of a cow. It is derived from the
Greek.
103. Quàm: in the sense of tam.
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
க.
89
Aut, ubi navigiis violentior incidit Eurus,
Nôsse, quot Ionii veniant ad litora fluctus.
Nec verò terræ ferre omnes omnia possunt.
Fluminibus salices, crassisque paludibus alni
Nascuntur, steriles saxosis montibus orni,
Litora myrtetis lætissima: denique apertos
Bacchus amat colles, Aquilonem et frigora taxi..
Aspice et extremis domitum cultoribus orbem,
Eoasque domos Arabum, pictosque Gelonos.
Divisa arboribus patriæ. Sola India nigrum
Fert ebenum, solis est thurea virga Sabæis.
Quid tibi odorato referam sudantia ligno
Balsamaque, et baccas semper frondentis acanthi ?
Quid nemora Æthiopum molli canentia lanâ?
Velleraque ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres?
Aut quos Oceano propior gerit India lucos,
Extremi sinus orbis? ubi aëra vincere summum
Arboris haud ulla jactu potuere sagittæ :
NOTES.
110. Salices nascuntur: the willows by
the side of rivers-the alders by stagnant
pools-the barren wild ashes on the stony
mountains, spring up, and flourish.
112. Myrtetis: in groves of myrtle.
tissima: in the sense of feracissima.
La-
113. Bacchus: here put for vites, by me-
ton. Taxi: the yew trees. The verb amant
is to be supplied.
114. Aşpice orbem. The meaning is, that
the remotest parts of the world were redu-
ced to a state of cultivation by their re-
spective inhabitants, both the east (Eoas do-
mos Arabum) and the north, the country of
the Geloni. The inhabitants, by meton. put
for the country. They painted themselves
that they might be more terrible to their
enemies. This explains the word pictos.
115. Gelonos: the Geloni were a people
inhabiting the northern parts of Europe.
116. Patriæ divisa: countries are distin-
guished by their trees. Patria, one's native
country--Regio, any country.
117. Thurea virga: the frankincense trec.
118. Referam: in the sense of dream, vel
describam.
119. Balsama: plu, of balsamum, a plant
of a very delicious fragrance. Its juice is
obtained by cutting the branches in the sum-
mer months, from which incisions the juice
flows. Acanthi. There were two kinds of
Acanthus; one the herb commonly called
brank-ursin, or bear's-foot; the other an
Egyptian tree, always green, and abounding
in berries.
120. Molli lanâ: with soft cotton. Athi-
apum: gen. plu. of Ethiops: an inhabitant
of Ethiopia, an extensive country in Africa,
abounding in the cotton tree. Ut: in the
sense of quomodo,
110
115
120
120. Quid referam tibi
nemora
121. Seres: a people of India, who fur-
nished the rest of the world with silk. It
was a common received opinion that they
collected it from the leaves of trees. To
this the poet refers in the words, depectant,
&c. they comb off the fine fleeces from the
leaves.
123. Extremi sinus orbis. It is somewhat
difficult to fix the meaning of sinus, in this
place. If it could be read sinui, in the dat.
to agree with oceano, it would be easy.
But it is usually read in the nom. It must
therefore mean the saine as India, in the
preceding line. But how it can be applied
with any propriety, to express a tract of
country, doth not appear. If we take sinus
ficulty will be removed, in a good degree,
for the gen. connected with extremi, the dif-
and orbis for the nom. Now orbis some-
times means no more than a single country,
or any division or part of the earth. If we
take it thus, the passage may be rendered:
Or, why need I mention the groves which
India, nearer the ocean, the country of
(bordering upon) the farthest bay, produ-
ces? Valpy says: the extreme convexity
of the globe. Heyne: interior remotiorque
terra extremæ orbis partis. Ruxus: reces-
sus ultimi mundi. The sinus I take for the
bay of Bengal, called by the ancients the
Sinus Gangeticus. The parts of India be-
yond the Ganges were very little known to
them; extremi, therefore, may be very well
applied to them. Summum aëra: the high-
est air-the air surrounding the topmost
branches. This is evidently an extravagant
hyperbole, notwithstanding the declaration
of Pliny, as to the height of the trees. Vin-
cere: in the sense of superare.
126. Media. A country of Asia, bounded
on the north by the Caspian sea, on the
90
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Et gens illa quidem sumptis non tarda pharetris.
Media fert tristes succos, tardumque saporem
Felicis mali: quo non præsentius ullum
(Pocula si quando sævæ infecêre novercæ,
Miscueruntque herbas, et non innoxia verba)
Auxilium venit, ac membris agit atra venena.
131. Ipsa arbor est in- Ipsa ingens arbos, faciemque simillima lauro
gens, simillimaque lauro Et, si non alium latè jactaret odorem,
quoad faciem
;
125
130
Laurus erat: folia haud ullis labentia ventis :
Flos apprimà tenax: animas et olentia Medi
Ora fovent illo, et senibus medicantur anhelis.
Sed neque Medorum sylvæ, ditissima terra,
Nec pulcher Ganges, atque auro turbidus Hermus,
Laudibus Italiæ certent: non Bactra, neque Indi,
Totaque thuriferis Panchaïa pinguis arenis.
Hæc loca non tauri spirantes naribus ignem
Invertêre, satis immanis dentibus hydri:
135
140
Nec galeis densisque virûm seges horruit hastis:
Sed gravidæ fruges, et Bacchi Massicus humor
Implevere tenent oleæque, armentaque læta.
Hinc bellator equus campo sese arduus infert :
Hinc albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus
NOTES.
west by Armenia, on the east by Hyrcania
and Parthia, and on the south by Persia
proper. Under Cyrus the great, it became
a constituent part of the Persian monarchy.
127. Mali: the citron. Its rind is bitter,
and its seeds are covered with a bitter skin:
hence tristes succos, bitter juices; and tar-
dum saporem, a taste remaining long on the
palate. It is called Felix, happy, on account
of its many virtues, and qualities; some of
which are mentioned. Non larda: in the
sense of strenua vel fortis.
128. Infecere: have poisoned. Pocula:
by meton. the wine. Præsentiùs: more
certain-more efficacious. Some copies
have præstantiùs.
129. Non innoxia verba: in the sense of
noxias incantationes.
134. Apprimà: an adj. neu. plu. taken
as an adverb, in imitation of the Greeks.
The same as apprimè. Animas et olentia
ora, &c. With this (fruit, malo) the Medes
correct their breath, and (cleanse) their
stinking mouths. See Æn. viii. 410. Ru-
æus says; Corrigunt halitum suum et grave-
olentia ora.
137. Ganges. One of the finest rivers in
the world. It rises in the kingdom of Thi-
bet, and taking a south-easterly direction,
after a course of about 2000 miles, falls into
the gulf or bay of Bengal; having in its
course received a number of tributary
treams, eleven of which, it is said, are as
large as the Rhine. It is considered by the
inhabitants upon its banks, as a god. Her-
mus; a river of Lydia, famous for its golden
145
sands. It received in its course the cele-
brated Pactolus; and with it, fell into the
Sinus Phocaicus.
138. Bactra: neu. plu. the principal city
of the Bactrii. By synec. put for thei
whole country, which was called Bactriana,
and was bounded by Parthia on the west,
India on the east, and by the river Oxus on
the north.
139. Panchaïa: a country of Arabin Fe-
lix. Pinguis: rich, in frankincense-bear-
ing soil.
140. Hæc loca: these places bulls breath-
ing fire have not turned, &c. This alludes
to the fable of Jason, who, with a company
of men, went to Colchis to get the golden
fleece. Here were bulls breathing fire bound
to a plough. Upon their turning the earth,
it was sown with dragon's teeth, which im-
mediately sprang up, seges virûm, into men
armed and prepared for combat, to supply
the place of those that had been slain. The
dragon that guarded the fleece being slain,
Jason obtained the prize. This was the fa
mous Argonautic expedition. See Ovid,
Met. vii. It is supposed that this was only
a commercial expedition, which proved very
lucrative.
143. Massicus: a mountain in Campania,
fertile in the vine; here used as an adj.
Massicus humor Bacchi: Massic wine.
Humor Bacchi: the liquor of Bacchus, i. e.
wine.
146. Clitumne: Clitumnus a river of Um-
bria in Italy, famous for the flocks of white
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
91
150
153. Nec squameus
anguis rapit immensos
orbes per humum, neque
colligit se in spiram cum
tanto tractu hìc, quàm
quibusdam aliis region-
155 ibus.
Victima, sæpe tuo perfusi flumine sacro,
Romanos ad templa Deûm duxere triumphos.
Hìc ver assiduum, atque alienis mensibus æstas.
Bis gravidæ pecudes, bis pomis utilis arbos.
At rabidæ tigres absunt, et sæva leonum
Semina: nec miseros fallunt aconita legentes:
Nec rapit immensos orbes per humum, neque tanto
Squameus in spiram tractu se colligit anguis.
Adde tot egregias urbes, operumque laborem ;
Tot congesta manu præruptis oppida saxis;
Fluminaque antiquos subter labentia muros.
An mare, quod suprà, memorem, quodque alluit infrà?
Anne lacus tantos? te, Lari maxime; teque
Fluctibus et fremitu assurgens, Benace, marino?
An memorem portus, Lucrinoque addita claustra,
Atque indignatum magnis stridoribus æquor;
Julia quà ponto longè sonat unda refuso,
NOTES.
sheep that fed on its banks. The victims
were washed in it, to make them the whiter.
White victims alone were offered to Jove on
triumphal days. To this the poet alludes.
149. Estas alienis mensibus: summer in
other months-in months not its own. As-
siduum: in the sense of perpetuum.
150. Bis pecudes, &c. The meaning is,
that the flocks bring forth twice in a year,
and the trees produce two crops of fruit.
Pecudes; here must mean sheep and other
minor animals. It could not be said of
cattle or horses. The poet, in many instan-
ces, in praising his country, exceeds the
bounds of credibility. Utilis: in the sense
of fertilis, says Heyne.
152. Aconita: wolf's bane. It is taken
here for any noxious or poisonous plant, or
herb. According to Solinus, it takes its
name from Acon, a port in Pontus, a coun-
try notorious for poisonous plants. Others
take it from a Greek word signifying a
stone, because it grew principally on stony
grounds. Semina: in the sense of proles.
155. Laborem operum: the labor, or work
of artificers. Operum appears to be used
in the sense of Opificum, or Operariorum.
Heyne takes laborem operum, simply for
opera, vel ædificia.
156. Tot oppida. Many of the cities of
Italy were built upon high and elevated
grounds. To this the words præruptis saxis
allude. Congesta in the sense of extructa.
157. Subter: Heyne takes this in the
sense of præter: making the sense to be,
that the rivers flowed or passed by the walls
of cities. He observes that many of the
cities of Italy were built upon the margin of
rivers: which seems to warrant that sense
of the word.
158. An Mare, &c. Italy is washed by
the Adriatic sea, on the north-east, and by
158. An memorem
mare, quod alluit Italiam
suprà,quodque alluit eam
infra? Anne memorem
tantos lacus, to, O max-
160 ime Lari, teque, O, Be-
nace,
162. Æquor indigna-
tum circa illa claustra
magnis
the Tuscan sea on the south. The former
was sometimes called Mare superum, and
the latter Mare inferum; hence the suprà
applied to the one, and infrà, to the other.
159. Maxime Lari: Larius, a large lake
at the foot of the Alps. It communicates
with the Po, by the river Addua. Hodie,
Lago di Coma.
160. Benace: Benacus, a large lake, com-
municating with the Po, by the river Min-
cius. Its present name is Lago di Garda.
Assurgens: swelling with the waves, and
roaring of a sea.
161. Lucrino-Avernis. Lucrinus and
Avernus were two lakes in Campania. Here
Augustus made a haven, which he called
the Julian port. This was done by uniting
them by a canal, and connecting them with
the sea.
Portum Julium apud Baias, im-
misso in Lucrinum et Avernum Lacum mari,
efficit, says Suetonius. Addita claustra. It
would seem from this, that Lucrinus was
originally a bay, and probably connected
with the sea, by a narrow strait, but after-
ward, either by some operation of the wa-
ter, or artificially, was separated from it,
forming a lake. This was the opinion of
Strabo, who informs us that Lucrinus was
originally a bay; but had been separated
from the sea, ever since the days of Hercu-
les, by a mound or bank of sand; that this
was occasionally broken over by the waves
of the sea, but was repaired and made se-
cure against all encroachments of that ele
ment, by Agrippa, for the purpose of ma-
king it a safe and convenient station for the
Roman fleet.
162. Indignatum: the same as indig-
nans: roaring-raging.
163. Julia aqua. Heyne seems to under-
stand this in the sense of Julius portus, the
92
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
1
Tyrrhenusque fretis immittitur æstus Avernis?
165. Hæc eadem Italia Hæc eadem argenti rivos, ærisque metalla
ostendit in venis rivos Ostendit venis, atque auro plurima fluxit.
167. Hæc Italia extulit Hæc genus acre virûm, Marsos, pubemque Sabellam,
acre genus virûm, nempe. Assuetumque malo Ligurem, Volscosque verutos
169. Hæc Italia extulit Extulit: hæc Decios, Marios, magnosque Camillos,
177. Locus est dicendi
de ingeniis
180. Ubi sunt tenuis
argilla, et calculus
Scipiadas duros bello; et te, maxime Cæsar,
Qui nunc extremis Asiæ jam victor in oris
Imbellem avertis Romanis arcibus Indum.
Salve, magna parens frugum, Saturnia tellus,
Magna virûm: tibi res antiquæ laudis et artis
Ingredior, sanctos ausus recludere fontes :
Ascræumque cano Romana per oppida carmen.
Nunc locus arvorum ingeniis: quæ robora cuique,
Quis color, et quæ sit rebus natura ferendis.
Difficiles primùm terræ, collesque maligni,
Tenuis ubi argilla, et dumosis calculus arvis,
Palladiâ gaudent sylvâ vivacis olivæ.
Indicio est tractu surgens oleaster eodem
NOTES.
harbor that had been made by excluding the
sea-the water in the harbor. Lucrinus
was not entirely separated from the sea.
It was connected with it by a strait, or nar-
row channel, for the ingress and egress of
the fleet, and for the admission of the water
of the sea.
164. Fretis Avernis: the canal which con-
nected Avernus with Lucrinus, is here call-
ed fretum, a strait. Estus: in the sense of
mare.
165. Metalla æris: simply, brass. Fluxit:
in the sense of abundavit.
167. Marsos. The Marsi were a people of
Italy lying to the south of the Appenines,
and to the east and north of the qui and
Volsci. They originated, according to some,
from a son of the sorceress Circe: others
say, from Marsia, a king of Lydia. Their
principal city was Marrubium, or Marru-
vium, not far from the Lacus Fucinus. Pu-
bem Sabellam: the Sabelli were a very an-
cient people of Italy, originally including the
Samnites, the Sabines, and the Ausoneans.
168. Ligurem: the Ligurean accustomed
to fatigue or toil. The Ligures were
people inhabiting that part of Italy, which
lies at the head of the Mare Ligusticum, or
sea of Genoa. The Volsci were a very war-
like people. They inhabited that part of Ita-
ly, through which the river Liris passes, and
were bounded on the west by the Rutuli
and Latini, on the east by Aurunci and
Campani, and on the north by the Equi
and Hernici. Verutos, armed with darts:
from veru a kind of dart.
a
169. Decios: these were three Romans,
who sacrificed their lives for their country.
Marios: the Marii, of whom Caius Marius
was the most celebrated. Though of hum-
165
170
175
180
ble birth, he rose to the highest honors. He
triumphed over Jugurtha, king of Numidia,
and over the Cimbri. He died in his se-
venth consulship. Camillos. The most cele-
brated of the Camilli was Marcus Furius
Camillus. He triumphed over the Vientes.
He rescued Rome from the Gauls. He was
called a second Romulus, and died at the
age of eighty years. See En. vi. 825.
Scipiadas. See En. vi. 843. Duros: invin-
cible-capable of enduring the fatigues of
war.
173. Saturnia tellus. Italy is so called
because here Saturn found a safe retreat
after his expulsion from heaven. He reign-
ed here conjointly with Janus. Res: a sub-
ject. Tibi: for thee-for thy advantage.
174. Virûm: in the sense of heroüm.
Laudis antiquæ, et artis. Laudatas et excul-
tas ab antiquis, says Ruæus.
176. Ascræum carmen: an Ascrean strain,
or verse; that is, in imitation of Hesiod,
who was a native of Ascra, a village in Beo-
tia, not far from mount Helicon. It is said,
he wrote a treatise upon agriculture.
177. Ingeniis: the nature or quality of
the lands. Robora, plu. of robur, strength
or ability to produce. The poet proceeds
to point out the several methods of distin-
guishing the various soils. He makes ten
such methods.
179. Maligni: thin-poor, with reference
to the quality of the soil. Difficiles: rough.
181. Palladia sylva: Minerva's grove.
Palladia: an adj. from Pallas, a name of
Minerva, to whom the olive was sacred.
182. Olcaster nascens plurimus: the wild
olive, springing up thick and luxuriant in
the same tract, is for a sign.
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
93
:
Plurimus, et strati baccis sylvestribus agri.
At quæ pinguis humus, dulcique uligine læta,
Quique frequens herbis, et fertilis ubere campus,
Qualem sæpe cavâ montis convalle solemus
Despicere huc summis liquuntur rupibus amnes,
Felicemque trahunt limum: quique editus Austro,
Et filicem curvis invisam pascit aratris :
Hic tibi prævalidas olim multoqué fluentes
Sufficiet Baccho vites: hic fertilis uvæ,
Hic laticis; qualem pateris libamus et auro,
Inflavit cùm pinguis ebur Tyrrhenus ad aras,
Lancibus et pandis fumantia reddimus exta.
Sin armenta magis studium, vitulosque tueri,
Aut fœtus ovium, aut urentes culta capellas:
Saltus et saturi petito longinqua Tarenti,
Et qualem infelix amisit Mantua campum,
Pascentem niveos herboso flumine cycnos.
Non liquidi gregibus fontes, non gramina desunt :
Et quantùm longis carpent armenta diebus,
Exiguâ tantùm gelidus ros nocte reponet.
Nigra ferè, et presso pinguis sub vomere, terra,
Et cui putre solum (namque hoc imitamur arando)
Optima frumentis; non ullo ex æquore cernes
Plura domum tardis decedere plaustra juvencis:
Aut unde iratus sylvam devexit arator,
Et nemora evertit multos ignava per annos,
Antiquasque domos avium cum stirpibus imis
Eruit illæ altum nidis petiere relictis :
At rudis enituit impulso vomere campus.
NOTES.
183. Strati: covered with.
184. Læta: in the sense of abundans.
Uligine: the natural moisture of the earth.
187. Liquuntur: in the sense of defluunt.
188. Felicem: fertilizing, or enriching.
189. Filicem: the fern or brake, whose
roots, by their contexture, are very trouble-
some to the plough. Invisam: hated.
191. Sufficiet: in the sense of producet.
192. Pateris et auro: by Hendiadis, for
aureis pateris: in golden bowls.
193. Tyrrhenus; an inhabitant of Etru-
ria or Tuscany, an extensive country in
Italy, whose ancient inhabitants were fa-
mous for indulging their appetite; hence the
epithet pinguis: fat or corpulent. Reddi-
mus: we offer to the gods the warm en-
trails, &c.
Ebur: properly ivory-any
thing made of ivory. Here, an ivory pipe.
195. Tueri: in the sense of alere, vel
nutrire.
196. Urentes: nipping-destroying. Cul-
ta: an adj. from cultus. This denotes any
thing that is dressed, taken care of, or ma-
naged in any way by culture. Here it means
young trees-nurseries.
197. Tarenti: Tarentum, a town in Ca-
labria, in the eastern part of Italy; which
justifies the epithet longinqua: remote
fields. Arva is understood.
184. At humus, quæ
185 est pinguis, lætaque dul-
ci uligine, campusque,
qui est frequens herbis,
et fertilis ubere
188. Campusque, qui
est editus Austro, et pas-
190 cit
190. Hic campus suffi-
ciet tibi
191. Hic campus erit
fertilis uvæ, hic idem
erit fertilis talis laticis;
195 qualem
200
205
210
195. Sin studium sit
tibi magis tueri armenta
198. Et talem campum,
qualem
201. Quantùm herba-
rum armenta
203. Terra ferè nigra,
et pinguis sub presso
vomere; et cui est
207. Aut illa terra est
optima frumentis, unde
210. Altum aërem
198. Mantua infelix amisit: such as un-
happy Mantua hath lost. The poet alludes
to the circumstance of Augustus' depriving
the Mantuans of their lands, and bestowing
them upon his soldiers, as a reward for their
services. Infelix, here, is peculiarly appro-
priate. Mantua was situated upon the ri-
ver Mincius, which abounded in grass and
reeds. Flumine: perhaps, in the sense of
ripa, vel litore.
200. Liquidi: in the sense of puri. De-
sunt: Heyne reads deerunt, in the future.
204. Imitamur hoc, &c. The design of
ploughing land being to loosen its texture,
and to render it soft and mellow; by doing
this, we imitate, says the poet, a soil which
is naturally so. He observes, that a dark
mould, and one that looks fat and greasy,
as it is broken up with the share, and is, at
the same time, rotten or mellow, is the best
for grain: non ex ullo æquore cernes, &c.
The same too may be said, he observes, of
land newly cleared: unde iratus, &c. Ira-
tus, angry, on account of the barrenness of
the wood. Ignuva: barren-useless.
205. Æquore: in the sense of agro,vel campo.
211. Rudis campus: but the new (before
uncultivated) field_ hath shone under the
deep laid share. For enituil, Dr. Trapp
would read enitet, the pres.
94
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Nam jejuna quidem clivosi glarea ruris
Vix humiles apibus casias roremque ministrat :
214. Chelydris vir Et tophus scaber, et nigris exesa chelydris
ministrant eas quoque
halat
Creta negant alios æquè serpentibus agros
Dulcem ferre cibum, et curvas præbere latebras.
217. Illa terra quæ ex- Quæ tenuem exhalat nebulam, fumosque volucres,
Et bibit humorem, et, cùm vult, ex se ipsa remittit,
Quæque suo viridi semper se gramine vestit,
Nec scabie et salsâ lædit rubigine ferrum ;
221. Illa terra intexet Illa tibi lætis intexet vitibus ulmos:
Illa ferax oleæ est : illam experiêre colendo
Et facilem pecori, et patientem vomeris unci.
215.
220
225
Talem dives arat Capua, et vicina Vesevo
Ora jugo, et vacuis Clanius non æquus Acerris.
226. Nunc dicam quo- Nunc, quo quarque modo possis cognoscere, dicam.
modo possis cognoscere Rara sit, an supra morem sit densa, requiras:
unam quamque terram, (Altera frumentis quoniam favet, altera Baccho:
si requiras, an sit rara
229. Densa terra fuvet Densa, magis Cereri; rarissima quæque, Lyxo)
Cereri magis
233. Si arena deerunt
ad replendum locum, uber
erit rarum, aptiusque
Antè locum capies oculis; altèque jubebis
In solido puteum demitti, omnemque repones
Rursus humum, et pedibus summas æquabis arenas.
Si deerunt, rarum, pecorique et vitibus almis
Aptius, uber erit: sin in sua posse negabunt
Ire loca, et scrobibus superabit terra repletis,
Spissus ager; glebas cunctantes crassaque terga
Expecta, et validis terram proscinde juvencis.
Salsa autem tellus, et quæ perhibetur amara,
Frugibus infelix: ea nec mansuescit arando,
Nec Baccho genus, aut pomis sua nomina servat:
NOTES.
212. Nam jejuna glarea. Having men-
tioned the land best for grain, the poet here
observes, that the land in which the dry
gravel, jejuna glarea; or the rough rotten-
stone, scaber tophus; or the chalk stone,
creta, abounds, will scarcely produce the
herb casia, and consequently is unfit for
grain: besides, it is the haunt of noxious
reptiles and vermin. Rorem: in the sense of
flores, says Heyne: quibus ros solet inesse.
215. Tophus scaber, &c. Heyne takes
tophus scaber and creta exera as nominatives
to negant.
220. Scabie, rubigine: with scurf-with
rust. Ferrum: the plough-share.
221. Intexet: will entwine-embrace.
will entwine-embrace.
Implicabit, says Ruæus.
223. Facilem pecori: to be good for pas-
ture, and patient of the bending plough-
will bear frequent tillage.
224. Capua: a city of Campania, sur-
rounded by a fertile country. Its inhabit-
ants were celebrated for their wealth and
luxury. It took its name from Capys, a
companion of Æneas; but Strabo derives it
from caput, because it was the chief city in
that part of Italy.
230
235
240
225. Ora: in the sense of regio. Jugo
Vesevo: the mountain Vesuvius, in Cam-
pania, near Naples, well known as a volca-
no. Acerris: Acerræ was an ancient city
of Campania, which the river Clanius, by
its frequent inundations, almost depopula-
ted. Hence the propriety of non æquus, not
just, or kind-destructive.
227. Rara. Rarus, loose, light, is the
opposite of spissus; and in the present case,
of densus.
228. Baccho-Lyao. These both by me-
ton. are here put for the vine.
230. Antè: in the sense of primùm.
231. Demitti: in the sense of defodi. Pu-
teum: in the sense of foveam. In solido: in
the solid ground.
234. Uber: in the sense of solum, vel
humus.
236. Expecta cunctantes: expect hard
clods, and large tough ridges.
239. Ea nec mansuescit: that land neither
mellows by ploughing, nor preserves its
kind to the vine, nor their own names to the
fruit. The vine and fruit degenerate, and
lose their original flavor and qualities when
planted in such a soil. Infelix: in the sense
of inapta, vel infœcunda.
GEORGICA. LIB. II,
95
Tale dabit specimen. Tu spisso vimine qualos,
Colaque prelorum fumosis deripe tectis.
Huc ager ille malus, dulcesque à fontibus undæ
Ad plenum calcentur: aqua eluctabitur omnis
Scilicet, et grandes ibunt per vimina guttæ.
At sapor indicium faciet manifestus; et ora
Tristia tentantum sensu torquebit amaror.
Pinguis item quæ sit tellus, hoc denique pacto
Discimus; haud unquam manibus jactata fatiscit;
Sed picis in morem ad digitos lentescit habendo.
Humida majores herbas alit, ipsaque justo
Lætior: ah nimiùm ne sit mihi fertilis illa,
Neu se prævalidam primis ostendat aristis!
245
250
256
Quæ gravis est, ipso tacitam se pondere prodit;
Quæque levis. Promptum est oculis prædiscere nigram,
Et quisquis color. At sceleratum exquirere frigus
Difficile est piceæ tantùm, taxique nocentes
Interdum, aut hederæ pandunt vestigia nigræ.
His animadversis, terram multò antè memento
Excoquere, et magnos scrobibus concidere montes,
Antè, supinatas Aquiloni ostendere glebas,
Quàm lætum infodias vitis genus: optima putri
Arva solo id venti curant, gelidæque pruinæ,
Et labefacta movens robustus jugera fossor.
:
At si quos haud ulla viros vigilantia fugit:
Antè locum similem exquirunt, ubi prima paretur
Arboribus seges, et quo mox digesta feratur;
NOTES.
242. Deripe: in the sense of cape, vel
sume. Qualos: baskets made of thick
wicker.
243. Huc: hither-into the basket. Ma-
lus ager: the earth of bad quality. Unda:
in the sense of aqua.
244. Eluctabitur: in the sense of effluet,
vel elabitur.
246. Sapor: the taste or relish, denoting
the quality of any thing. It differs from
sensus, which here means the sensation or
effect produced on the mouth by the act of
tasting. Indicium: a discovery of the
quality of the land.
247. Tentantûm: in the sense of gustan-
tium. Tristia: in the sense of salsa, vel
amara.
249. Jactata: in the sense of versata.
250. Habendo: by handling.
251. Justo: than just-above due mea-
The abl. after the comparative.
253. Aristis: arista here means the blade
or stalk of the grain.
sure.
254. Tacitam: in the sense of tacitè.
255. Promptum: in the sense of facile.
256. Sceleratum: in the sense of noxium,
rol perniciosum.
260. Excoquere terram: to drain, or dry
your land. Concidere.
Concidere. Davidson, on the
authority of Pierius, reads circumdare. Ex-
261
265
251. Humida terra alit
majores herbas, ipsa que
est lætior justo:
254. Terra, quæ est
gravis, quæque est levis,
prodit se tacitam
256. Et quisquis color
sit unicuique terræ.
262. Optima arva suni
è putri solo
266. Exquirunt locum
similem illi, ubi prima
seges
coquere: to dry-bake. The poet here ad-
vises to let the land lie exposed both to the
heat of the sun during the summer, and to
the north wind during winter; that is, for
a whole year. The antè in the following
line appears entirely expletive. Some have
proposed to read in room of it, atque, which
would be preferable, if there were authority
for the change. Heyne seems to approve
of atque.
261. Ostendere: in the sense of expo-
nere. Supinalas: turned toward, or lying
exposed to.
264. Labefacta jugera: his loosened acres
-mellowing under the instruments of hus-
bandry. Curant: in the sense of efficient:
will render the ground soft and mellow.
265. Si quos: some men.
267. Seges: a nursery, or place where
trees are first planted or reared, till they be
of sufficient size to be transplanted. In this
passage, the meaning appears to be, that
those who would have good orchards, should
pay a particular attention to the soil, where
they intend to plant the trees, and select a
soil of the like kind for the nursery; from
which (ex quo) afterward the trees are to
be taken and transplanted; lest when so
transplanted, they should not readily unite
with the earth. Not only so, they should
96
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Mutatam ignorent subitò ne semina matrem.
Quin etiam cœli regionem in cortice signant;
270. Ut restituant Ut, quo quæque modo steterit, quâ parte calores
unamquamque eò modo, Austrinos tulerit, quæ terga obverterit axi,
270
quo quæque steterit, quà Restituant. Adeò in teneris consuescere multum est.
parte
Collibus, an plano melius sit ponere vites,
Quære priùs. Si pinguis agros metabere campi,
Densa sere. In denso non segnior ubere Bacchus.
276. Sin eligas solum Sin tumulis acclive solum, collesque supinos,
acclive tumulis
284. Omnia intervalla
viarum sint dimensa
Indulge ordinibus: nec seciùs omnis in unguem
Arboribus positis secto via limite quadret.
Ut sæpe ingenti bello, cùm longa cohortes
Explicuit legio, et campo stetit agmen aperto,
Directæque acies, ac latè fluctuat omnis
Ære renidenti tellus, necdum horrida miscent
Prælia, sed dubius mediis Mars errat in armis.
Omnia sint paribus numeris dimensa viarum :
Non animum modò utì pascat prospectus inanem,
Sed quia non aliter vires dabit omnibus æquas
Terra, neque in vacuum poterunt se extendere rami.
Forsitan et scrobibus quæ sint fastigia quæras.
Ausim vel tenui vitem committere sulco.
Altiùs ac penitùs terræ defigitur arbos :
NOTES.
carefully observe what particular side stood
toward the several parts of heaven, that
they might be placed, every one in the saine
manner-on what side they sustained the
summer heat, and on what side the winter
cold. Seges: in the sense of seminarium,
says Heyne. Digesta: arranged in rows.
Feratur: in the sense of transferatur.
268. Semina: young plants, or trees. Ma-
trem: the ground into which they are trans-
planted.
271. Axi: in the sense of septentrioni.
272. Consuescere in teneris: to be accus-
tomed in their tender age avails so much-
has so much influence over them. Some
copies have à teneris. Annis is understood.
274. Metabere: if you shall lay out for
planting. Rumus interprets it by eligas.
•
275. Densa: for densè, an adv. Bacchus
non segnior: the vine will not be less fruit-
ful in a thick and rich soil. Some take in
denso simply for densè, and render it thus:
the vine will not be less fruitful in a rich
soil, if planted thickly. In this case, ubere
is taken for richness or fertility of soil.
This appears to be the opinion of Heyne.
Rumus connects denso with ubere. In this
case, denso must be taken in the sense of
pingui, vel spisso; and ubere in the sense of
solo.
276. Supinos: sloping-descending gra-
dually.
277. Indulge ordinibus: indulge in your
rows-plant your vines farther apart. Nec
seciùs: also-likewise; porrò, says Heyne.
276
280
285
290
278. Omnis via, &c. Every space, or ave-
nue, should square exactly, the trees being
placed in a path or line cut across-every
space should exactly form a square, the
rows of trees being planted at equal dis-
tances, and at right angles to each other
In unguem: exactly-to a tittle.
281. Acies directa: the lines are formed
-the battalions are marshalled. Acies:
an army in order of battle; agmen: in or-
der of march; exercitus: in order of exer-
cise. Fluctuat: in the sense of coruscat.
282. Renidenti are: with gleaming brass,
re: in the sense of æreis armis.
283. Dubius: doubtful-uncertain; not
knowing on which side of the embattled
armies the victory will fall.
All the spaces
284. Omnia sint, &c.
should be measured out in equal proportions.
Davidson supposes intervalla, or a word of
the like import, to agree with omnia, and to
govern viarum. Ruæus connects viarum
with numeris, and supposes it to be govern-
ed by that word. But to take omnia viarum
in the sense of omnes viæ, is more simple :
and of this construction we have many ex-
amples in Virgil. Opaca locorum: dark
places. Æn. ii. 725. Opaca viarum: dark
ways, or passages. En. vi. 633.
288. Fastigia: in the sense of profundi-
tas. Scrobibus: to the trenches-holes.
290. Altiùs. The common reading is al-
tiùs; but Heyne, Heinsius, and some others,
have altior.
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
97
Æsculus imprimìs, quæ quantùm vertice ad auras
Æthereas, tantùm radice in Tartara tendit.
Ergò non hyemes illam, non flabra, neque imbres
Convellunt: immola manet, multosque per annos,
Multa virum volvens durando sæcula vincit.
Tum fortes latè ramos et brachia tendens
Huc illuc, media ipsa ingentem sustinet umbram.
Neve tibi ad Solem vergant vineta cadentem:
Neve inter vites corylum sere: neve flagella
Summa pete, aut summas defringe ex arbore plantas,
(Tantus amor terræ:) neu ferro læde retuso
Šemina neve oleæ sylvestres insere truncos.
Nam sæpe incautis pastoribus excidit ignis,
Qui furtim pingui primùm sub cortice tectus
Robora comprendit, frondesque elapsus in altas
Ingentem cœlo sonitum dedit: inde secutus
Per ramos victor, perque alta cacumina regnat,
Et totum involvit flammis nemus, et ruit atram
Ad cœlum piceâ crassus, caligine nubem:
Præsertim si tempestas à vertice sylvis
Incubuit, glomeratque ferens incendia ventus.
Hoc ubi; non à stirpe valent, cæsæque reverti
Possunt, atque imâ similes revirescere terrâ;
Infelix superat foliis oleaster amaris.
Nec tibi tam prudens quisquam persuadeat auctor
Tellurem Boreâ rigidam spirante movere.
Rura gelu tum claudit hyems, nec semine jacto
295
301
305
310
297. Ipsa media inter
suos ramos sustinet
316
312. Ubi hoc accidit,
tum vites non valent re-
verti à stirpe
NOTES.
292. Tartara tendit: Tartarus, mas. in the
sing.neu. in the plu. one of the regions of hell.
Here, as the poets say, the wicked and im-
pious are punished. Ixion, Tityus, Tanta-
lus, Sysyphus, and the Danaïdes, were sen-
tenced to this place. The poet advises to
commit the vine to a light furrow, just be-
low the surface of the earth; but to put the
tree, and especially the Æsculus, deep in the
earth, that they may take root better and
more firmly. The vine properly belongs
neither to the species of the tree, nor to that
of the shrub; but is between both: ter-
tium quiddam, quod nec arborem, nec fruti-
cem propriè dixerim, says Columella. See
En. iv. 445.
.
294. Multos per annos. Heyne reads,
multos nepotes. He observes that Heinsius,
and some others, read the same. Per annos,
is the general reading, and appears to be
the easiest. If nepotes be read, it must be
taken in the sense of ætates, vel ava; but
that is expressed in the following line, by
the words, multa sæcula virûm.
295. Vincit: in the sense of superat.
299. Neve pete summa: neither seck the
topmost shoots, nor break off the topmost
scions from the tree.
The advice which the poet gives, is: that
in propagating trees, whether by grafting,
Se-
or otherwise, you should not take the top-
most shoots of the tree, but those that are
nearer the root;
nearer the root; for they will grow and
flourish better, having more strength in
them, and having already contracted a fond-
ness for the earth-tantus amor terræ.
mina: in the sense of surculos, vel plantas.
300. Defringe. Heyne reads destringe.
302. Neve insere, &c. Nor plant the trunks
of the wild olive among your vines. Inter
vites, is understood.
306. Secutus: increasing more and more,
it reigns victorious.
308. Ruit: in the sense of emittit, vel
erigit. Nemus: in the sense of vinetum.
310. A vertice: from on high; or, accord-
ing to Servius, from the north. Desuper,
vel de cœlo, says Heyne; à septentrione, says
Ruæus.
312. Ubi hoc: when this happens-when
your vineyards are burnt, your vines cannot
shoot forth again from the root; nor, if they
be cut, can they do it, and spring up such
as they were before. They will be entirely
destroyed, and nothing but the barren wild
olive will survive and remain. Reverti: in
the sense of renasci.
317. Rura: in the sense of arva." Semine
jacto: in the sense of surculo defossn.
Q
8
98
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
323. Adcò ver est utile
frondi nemorum, ver est
Concretam patitur radicem affigere terræ.
Optima vinetis satio est, cùm vere rubenti
Candida venit avis longis invisa colubris:
Prima vel autumni sub frigora, cùm rapidus Sol
Nondum hyemem contingit equis, jam præterit æstas.
Ver adeò frondi nemorum, ver utile sylvis;
Vere tument terræ, et genitalia semina poscunt.
Tum pater omnipotens fœcundis imbribus æther
Conjugis in gremium lætæ descendit, et omnes
Magnus alit, magno commixtus corpore, fœtus
Avia tum resonant avibus virgulta canoris,
Et Venerem certis repetunt armenta diebus.
Parturit almus ager: Zephyrique tepentibus auris
Laxant arva sinus: superat tener omnibus humor :
Inque novos soles audent se germina tutò
Credere nec metuit surgentes pampinus Austros,
Aut actum cœlo magnis Aquilonibus imbrem :
Sed trudit gemmas, et frondes explicat omnes.
Non alios primâ crescentis origine mundi
alios dies illuxisse in Illuxisse dies, aliumve habuisse tenorem
prima origine crescentis
mundi, habuisseve alium Crediderim ver illud erat, ver magnus agebat
tenorem: illud tempus Orbis, et hybernis parcebant flatibus Euri ;
331. Omnibus arvis
336. Non crediderim
erat ver
Cùm primùm lucem pecudes hausere, virûmque
Ferrea progenies duris caput extulit arvis,
Immissæque feræ sylvis, et sidera cœlo.
Nec res hunc teneræ possent perferre laborem,
NOTES.
319. Rubenti: blooming-blushing; in
the sense of purpureo.
320. Candida avis: the Ciconia, or stork.
So esteemed was this bird on account of its
destroying serpents and noxious reptiles,
that in Thessaly, Pliny informs us, it was a
capital crime for any person to kill one;
hence, invisa longis colubris.
325. Tum omnipotens pater: then almighty
father Æther descends into the bosom of his
joyous spouse in fructifying showers, and
great himself, mingling with her great body,
nourishes all her offspring.
These lines are extremely beautiful, as
well as this whole description of spring.
The Æther, or air, by the poets, is frequently
called Jupiter, on account, perhaps, of its
great utility, and its necessity to life and
vegetation; and because of the intimate
connexion between the surrounding air and
the earth, the poet represents the latter as
Juno, calling it the spouse of Jove.
328. Avia virgulta: the sequestered
woods, or thickets. Avius is evidently com-
pounded of the Greek alpha, negativum,
and via, a way. We meet with several in-
stances of the like composition in the Latin
language: as demens, of de and mens,
amens, &c.
331. Arva laxont, &c. The fields open
their bosom to the warm breezes of the
320
325
330
335
340
zephyrs. This is extremely beautiful, and
highly poetical.
332. Germina. The usual reading is
gramina. Heyne reads germina. Burina-
nus, Martyn, Vossius, and some others, do
the same. It is evidently the better.
340. Cum primùm, &c. This is an allu-
sion to the deluge, which, the poets say,
happened in the reign of Deucalion, king
of Thessaly, of which he and his wife Pyrrha
the general destruction of men, they were
were the only survivors. Being grieved at
directed by an oracle to cast behind them
understood to be stones, and they should
the bones of their great mother, which they
instantly spring up into men. See Ecl. vi. 41.
341. Duris arvis: stony fields. Ferrea:
because they sprang up all armed and
equipped for war.
343. Res teneræ. It is not certain whe-
ther the poet here speaks of spring at the
creation of the world, or returns to his de-
scription of spring in general. In the for-
mer case, res tenera will be the tender and
infant creation; in the latter, the tender
productions of nature. Dr. Trapp takes it
in this latter case, and understands by te-
neræ, frail, an epithet, says he, which was,
and ever will be, proper for all sublunary
things. Rumus seems to take it in the for-
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
99
Si non tanta quies iret, frigusque caloremque
Inter; et exciperet cœli indulgentia terras.
345
Quod superest; quæcumque premes virgulta per agros,
Sparge fimo pingui, et multâ memor occule terrâ :
Aut lapidem bibulum, aut squalentes infode conchas.
Inter enim labentur aquæ, tenuisque subibit
348. Infode circum en
bibulum lapidem aut
conchas :
enim inter eas
Halitus, atque animos tollent sata; jamque reperti, 350 squalentes
Qui saxo super atque ingentis pondere testæ
Urgerent: hoc effusos munimen ad imbres ;
Hoc, ubi hiulca siti findit canis æstifer arva.
Seminibus positis, superest deducere terram
Sæpiùs ad capita, et duros jactare bidentes;
Aut presso exercere solum sub vomere, et ipsa
Flectere luctantes inter vineta juvencos:
Tum leves calamos, et rasa hastilia virgæ,
Fraxineasque aptare sudes, furcasque bicornes:
Viribus eniti quarum, et contemnere ventos
Assuescant, summasque sequi tabulata per ulmos.
Ac, dum prima novis adolescit frondibus ætas,
Parcendum teneris: et dum se lætus ad auras
Palmes agit, laxis per purum immissus habenis,
Ipsa aciê nondum falcis tentanda; sed uncis
Carpendæ manibus frondes, interque legendæ.
Inde ubi jam validis amplexæ stirpibus ulmos
NOTES.
mer sense. Mundus adhuc tener, says he.
Heyne follows the opinion of Dr. Trapp,
and by teneræ res understands the young
and tender vegetation in general. David-
son is of the same opinion. Hunc laborem:
this suffering, viz. the extremes of heat and
cold.
345. Exciperet: in the sense of excepisset.
So iret in the preceding line, for ivisset.
Exciperet: had favored-visited.
346. Premes: in the sense of plantabis.
Virgulta in the sense of surculos.
348. Infode bibulum lapidem: bury around
them the spongy stone, and rough shells.
349. Tenuis halitus, &c. This is said
probably from an opinion, that a circulation
of air about the root was necessary to the
growth of the plant or scion. Sata: in the
sense of surculi. Animos: in the sense of
vires.
352. Effusos imbres: excessive, or immo-
derate rains.
353. Estifer canis: the sultry dog. This
is a star in the mouth of the great dog, a
constellation in the heavens. It is said to
have a considerable influence, while in con-
junction with the sun, upon the heat of the
weather. This space of time is usually
denominated the dog-days. The name of
the star is Sirius.
355. Capita: here plainly means the
roots; which are so called, either because
by them they draw nourishment from the
earth as by a mouth; or because, by propa-
355
360
350. Reperti sunt ho-
mines, qui urgerent illa
super saxo, atque
352. Hoc est munimen
ad effusos imbres: hoc
est munimen, ubi æstifer
canis findit
358. Superest tum ap-
tare vitibus
363. Parcendum est
tibi teneris vitibus, dum
365 prima
365. Ipsa vitis nondum
tentanda acie falcis
gating the vine by the layer, the top was
placed into the ground, which consequently
became the root. Rumus says, radices. Bi-
dentes: Bidens was a kind of rake or hoe,
having two teeth or forks a grubbing hoe;
compounded of bis and dens. Seminibus
positis: in the sense of surculis defossis, vel
plantatis.
358. Hastilia: poles pointed like spears.
Rasa virga: of peeled wood-the bark taken
off to render them more smooth. Virgi.
decorticatis, says Rumus.
359. Bicornes furcas: two-pronged forks.
Bicornis, of bis and cornu.
360. Quarum viribus: by whose support
they may accustom themselves to rise, or
mount up.
361. Tabulata. These were branches of
361. Tabulata.
elms extended at proper distances, to sus
tain the vine and enable it to spread. We
have no word in English answering to it.
364. Immissus laxis habenis: rushing
forth with loosened reins. This is a meta-
phortaken from the horses in the race. Agit;
in the sense of erigit.
365. Acie falcis. This is the reading of
Heyne, Valpy, and some others. Aies, in
the nom. is the common reading. The vine
is not to be attempted with the pruning-
knife, but the leaves are to be plucked and
carefully culled by the bending hand, inter-
legendæ.
367. Validis stirpibus: with strong
wreaths-stems. Stringe: thin-trim off.
100
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
871. Sepes texondæ
est circùm vites, et omne
illis:
Exierint; tum stringe comas, tum brachia tonde :
Antè reformidant ferrum: tum denique dura
Exerce imperia, et ramos compesce fluentes.
Texendæ sepes etiam, et pecus omne tenendum,
Præcipuè dum frons tenera, imprudensque laborum :
pecus tenendum est ab Cui, super indignas hyemes, Solemque potentem,
Sylvestres uri assiduè capreæque sequaces
Illudunt: pascuntur oves, avidæque juvencæ.
376. Nec frigora con- Frigora nec tantùm canâ concreta pruinâ,
creta cana pruinâ, aut
gravis æstas incumbens Aut gravis incumbens scopulis arentibus æstas;
arentibus scopulis, no- Quantùm illi nocuere greges, durique venenum
cuere vitibus tantùm, Dentis, et admorso signata in stirpe cicatrix.
quantùm illi greges
370
375
Non aliam ob culpam Baccho caper omnibus aris
Cæditur, et veteres ineunt proscenia ludi ;
Præmiaque ingeniis pagos et compita circùm,
380.
Theseidæ posuere : atque inter pocula læti
385
Mollibus in pratis unctos saliere per utres.
Necnon Ausonii, Trojâ gens missa, coloni
Versibus incomptis ludunt, risuque soluto:
Oraque corticibus sumunt horrenda cavatis.
Et te, Bacche, vocant per carmina læta, tibique
Oscilla ex altâ suspendunt mollia pinu.
NOTES.
370. Exerce dura imperia: exercise rigid
sway-rule them imperiously. Fluentes:
superfluous-wide-spreading.
372. Imprudens laborum: unused-unac-
customed to hardships.
373. Indignas: in the sense of duras, vel
savas. Super: in the sense of præter.
375. Illudunt: in the sense of nocent.
377. Gravis æstas: excessive heat.
381. Proscenia. The Roman theatre was
of a semi-circular form, and divided into
four parts. The porticus, or gallery. Here
were the seats for the common people, in
the form of a wedge, and were called Cunei.
The Orchestra was the inner part, or centre
of the theatre. Here the senators and
equites sat, and the dancers and musicians
performed. The Proscenium was the space
between the Orchestra and Scena, more ele-
vated than the former, but lower than the
latter. Here the actors performed. The
Scena was that part over against the specta-
tors. The Postscenium was the place be-
hind the Scena, or curtain, where the actors
retired. The amphitheatre was built in a
circular form, with nothing to obstruct the
view from any part. Seats were all around
it, and in the middle was a large open space
or area, where the gladiators and wild beasts
used to fight.
382. Ingeniis: to genius, or wit. The
common reading is ingentes, an epithet en-
tirely useless. Davidson, on the authority
of Pierius, reads ingeniis. He says he
found it so in the most ancient manuscripts.
It is also the reading of Heyne and Bur-
mannus.
383. Theseida: the Athenians, so called
from Theseus, one of their kings, the son of
Ægeus and Ethra. He taught them to live.
in cities, and contributed much to their ci-
vilization. Tragedy is said to have origi-
nated among the Athenians. Thespis, one
of their poets, hath the honor of inventing
it. It is said he performed in a kind of
cart.
384. Unctos utres. The utres were bags
of goat skins filled with wind, and besmeared
with oil. At the feasts of Bacchus, it was
the custom to leap upon them with one foot,
and being slippery, often caused the leaper
or dancer to fall, which always excited
mirth and laughter in the by-standers.
385. Coloni. Colonus signifies both a
tiller of the earth, and
tiller of the earth, and any inhabitant of a
country. In this last sense it seems to be
used here, denoting the Romans generally.
They were originally a colony of Trojans,
led into Italy by Eneas. Hence the pro-
priety of their being called gens missa Trojâ.
Ausonii: an adj. from Ausonia, the origi-
nal name of Italy: in the sense of Romani,
vel Itali.
386. Soluto: in the sense of immodico.
387. Ora: in the sense of larvas, masks.
389. Oscilla. These most probably were
small earthen images of Bacchus, hung upon
the branches of trees, where they swung,
and were turned about by the wind. They
were supposed to confer fertility to the vine,
in whatever direction they chanced to turn
their faces. Mollia: moveable, because they
turned easily, and obeyed every breeze; or
perhaps, effeminate, because Bacchus was
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
101
390
392. Et locus, quocum-
que Deus circumagit
395
400
Hinc omnis largo pubescit vinea fœtu:
Complentur vallesque cavæ saltusque profundi,
Et quòcumque Deus circùm caput egit honestum.
Ergò ritè suum Baccho dicemus honorem
Carminibus patriis, lancesque et liba feremus;
Et ductus cornu stabit sacer hircus ad aram :
Pinguiaque in verubus torrebimus exta colurnis.
Est etiam ille labor curandis vitibus alter,
Cui nunquam exhausti satìs est; namque omne quotannis
Terque quaterque solum scindendum, glebaque versis
Æternùm frangenda bidentibus, omne levandum
Fronde nemus. Redit agricolis labor actus in orbem,
Atque in se sua per vestigia volvitur annus.
Et jam olim seras posuit cùm vinea frondes,
Frigidus et sylvis Aquilo decussit honorem;
Jam tum acer curas venientem extendit in annum
Rusticus, et curvo Saturni dente relictam
Persequitur vitem attondens, fingitque putando.
Primus humum fodito, primus devecta cremato
Sarmenta, et vallos primus sub tecta referto:
Postremus metito. Bis vitibus ingruit umbra :
Bis segetem densis obducunt sentibus herbæ :
Durus uterque labor. Laudato ingentia rura,
Exiguum colito. Necnon etiam aspera rusci
Vimina per sylvam, et ripis fluvialis arundo
NOTES.
always represented as youthful and de-
bauched. Mobilia, says Heyne.
390. Fætu: in the sense of proventu, says
Heyne.
393. Honorem: in the sense of laudes.
396. Colurnis verubus: hazle-spits. The
hazle seems here to be mentioned, as the
instrument on which the sacrifice was to be
roasted, because it was injurious to the vine.
The goat was sacred to Bacchus, and usu-
ally offered to him. See 380, supra.
397. Est etiam ille alter: there is also
another labor. Curandis: in the sense of
colendis. The dat. is here plainly used in
the sense of the gen. But this construction
is common with the poets.
398. Satis exhausti: enough of pains
taken. Exhaustum, though properly a part.
of the verb exhaurio, is here used as a sub-
stantivo, governed by the adv. satis.
400. Æternum: in the sense of assidue.
Bidentibus: the same with ligonibus. Ne-
mus: in the sense of vinea, vel vinetum.
401. Actus in orbem: that is, perpetuus,
vel continuus: because there is no end or
termination in a circle.
402. Annus: in the sense of annuus la-
bor, vel annua opera. The same labor or
work is to be done every year, and it re-
turns in the same order and course.
405
410
413. Aspera vimina
rusci cæduntur per syl-
vam, et fluvialis arundo
cæditur ripis
of Saturn. The scythe, or pruning-hook,
was the badge of Saturn. Relictam: de-
prived of its fruit and foliage, like a forlorn
mother bereaved of her children. Nothing
can surpass this in force and beauty. Dente:
in the sense of falce.
408. Primus. The poet here advises the
vintager to be the first to perform every
piece of business belonging to his vineyard;
such as digging and mellowing the ground,
carrying home and burning the useless
branches (sarmenta) of the vine, and carry-
ing home and securing from the weather
the stakes and poles (vallos) that supported
the vine; but to be the last to gather his
grapes, as they would grow better by re-
maining on the vine, and having a longer
time to ripen.
410. Bis umbra, &c. The vine requires
to be cleared of its superfluous leaves twice
in the season, and twice to be cleared of
weeds and grass. This circumstance will
explain the words of the poet.
411. Sentibus: with weeds-briars.
412. Laudato. The poet here means:
you may admire a large farm, but be sure
to till a small one: or, you may praise a
large one in the possession of another, but
you should prefer a small one yourself, be-
cause you will find it in the end more pro-
404. Decussit honorem: hath shaken from fitable.
the trees their beauty and foliage.
413. Rusci: the shrub called the butcher's
406. Curvo dente; with the crooked knife broom.
102
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Creditur; incultique exercet cura salicti.
416. Vites vinctæ ul- Jam vinctæ vites, jam falcem arbusta reponunt,
mis jam reponunt falcem Jam canit extremos effœtus vinitor antes:
Sollicitanda tamen tellus, pulvisque movendus:
Et jam maturis metuendus Jupiter uvis.
Contrà, non ulla est oleis cultura: neque illæ
Procurvam expectant falcem, rastrosque teraces;
422. Radices hæserunt Cùm semel hæserunt arvis, aurasque tulerunt.
arvis, verticesque earum Ipsa satis tellus, cùm dente recluditur unco,
tulerunt auras. Tellus Sufficit humorem, et gravidas cùm vomere fruges.
ipsa, cum recluditur un-
co dente, sufficit humo- Hoc pinguem et placitam paci nutritor olivam.
rem satis oleis: el suffi- Poma quoque, ut primùm truncos sensere valentes,
ciet gravidas fruges cùm Et vires habuere suas, ad sidera raptim
recluditur vomere:
432. È
ni ignes
Vi propriâ nituntur, opisque haud indiga nostræ.
Nec minùs intereà fœtu nemus omne gravescit,
Sanguineisque inculta rubent aviaria baccis.
Tondentur cytisi: tædas sylva alta ministrat,
quibus noctur- Pascunturque ignes nocturni, et lumina fundunt.
Et dubitant homines serere, atque impendere curam?
Quid majora sequar? salices, humilesque genistæ,
Aut illæ pecori frondem, aut pastoribus umbram
Sufficiunt; sepemque satis, et pabula melli.
Et juvat undantem buxo spectare Cytorum,
non obnoxia rastris, non Naryciæque picis lucos: juvat arva videre,
Non rastris, hominum non ulli obnoxia curæ.
439. Juvat videre arva
ulli curæ hominum.
NOTES.
415. Salicti: willow-ground. The pron.
te, is to be supplied after exercet.
416. Reponunt. In the language of po-
etry, the vines are said to lay aside the
pruning knife, when they no longer stand
in need of its being applied to them. This
takes place when they have sufficiently em-
braced or entwined around the elms, and
other trees planted in the vineyard for the
purpose of supporting them. Vincta: in
the sense of ligala, says Ruæus. Arbusta:
in the sense of vineta. See Ecl. i. 40.
417. Effœtus vinitor: the wearied vinta-
ger sings his last rows-that he hath gotten
to his last rows. Pervenit ad extremos or-
dines (antes) vitium, says Heyne.
419. Jupiter: the air, or weather.
423. Unco dente. Dens is any instrument
of one tine or fork for opening the earth
about the roots of trees or plants, or for
loosening the ground in any way. The
meaning of the poet is: that the earth of
itself, if opened and kept loose with this in-
strument, will afford sufficient moisture to
the olives (satis) lately planted; but if
opened and kept loose with the plough, it
will render the olive more thrifty, and cause
it to bear a fruit full, large, and good.
Ploughing the land, says Mr. Martyn, is al-
ways considered to increase the produce of
the olive. This circumstance fully explains
the poet's meaning; which Ruæus, and
Dr. Trapp after him, evidently mistook,
415
420
425
430
435
considering it as an hyperbole, denoting
that the fruit would be almost coeval with
the ploughing. Statim cum ipso vomere,
says Ruxus.
425. Hôc: with this-the plough. Or ob
hoc, according to Servius, on account of
this facility in propagating. Placitam paci;
delighting in peace.
426. Poma: the fruits: by meton. put for
the trees that bore them.
429. Omne nemus: Heyne says, omne ge-
nus arborum.
431. Cytisi tondentur. This may mean
either browsed upon by cattle, or cut and
prepared for their use. The cytisus was a
shrub much esteemed for its property of
causing cattle to give excellent milk.
das: torches-materials for making torches.
433. Serere: to plant them.
Tœ-
434. Sulices: the willows. Genista: the
brooms. Sequar majora: in the sense of
commemorem majores arbores.
436. Pabula melli: materials for honey-
flowers for the bees.
437. Cytorum: Cytorus, a mountain in
Paphlagonia, in the neighborhood of the
Euxine sea, abounding in the box-tree.
438. Narycia: an adj. from Naryx, or
Narycia, a city in that part of Italy called
Magna Gracia. It abounded in trees of the
pitch and resinous kind.
439. Non obnoxia: not requiring. —not
exposed to. Ruæus says, non egentia.
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
103
Ipse Caucaseo steriles in vertice sylvæ,
Quas animosi Euri assiduè franguntque feruntque,
Dant alios aliæ fœtus; dant utile lignum
Navigiis pinos, domibus cedrosque cupressosque.
Hinc radios trivere rotis, hinc tympana plaustris
Agricolæ, et pandas ratibus posuere carinas.
Viminibus salices fœcundæ, frondibus ulmi:
At myrtus validis hastilibus, et bona bello
Cornus; Ityræos taxi torquentur in arcus.
Nec tiliæ leves, aut torno rasile buxum,
Non formam accipiunt, ferroque cavantur acuto.
Necnon et torrentem undam levis innatat alnus
Missa Pado; necnon et apes examina condunt
Corticibusque cavis, vitiosæque ilicis alveo.
Quid memorandum æquè Baccheïa dona tulerunt?
Bacchus et ad culpam causas dedit: ille furentes
Centauros leto domuit, Rhætumque, Pholumque,
Et magno Hylæum Lapithis cratere minantem.
O fortunatos nimiùm, sua si bona nôrint,
Agricolas! quibus ipsa, procul discordibus armis,
Fundit humo facilem victum justissima tellus.
Si non ingentem foribus domus alta superbis
Manè salutantûm totis vomit ædibus undam ;
Nec varios inhiant pulchrâ testudine postes,
Illusasque auro vestes, Ephyreïaque æra;
Alba neque Assyrio fucatur lana veneno,
Nec casiâ liquidi corrumpitur usus olivi:
NOTES.
440. Caucaseo: an adj. from Caucasus, a
mountain, or rather range of mountains,
extending from the Euxine to the Caspian
sea.
444. Tympana: the naves or felloes of the
wheel, in which the (radii) spokes are fast-
ened. Some take the tympanum to be a
solid wheel, or one without spokes. Trivêre:
in the sense of fecerunt, vel tornaverunt.
447. Bello: for war-the implements or
weapons of war. Ad alia arma, says Ruxus.
448. Ityræos: an adj. from Ityræi, a peo-
ple of Parthia, according to Servius; but
others say of Syria, famous for shooting the
bow. Cornus: the corneil-tree, or wild cher-
ry-tree. Taxi: the yew-trees. Buxum: the
box-tree, or box-wood. Pierius found, in
some ancient manuscripts, curvantur for tor-
quentur. Ruæus says, flectuntur.
451. Alnus: the alder-tree, of which
boats were at first made. They were dug
out of the solid wood. Pado: the Po, the
largest river in Italy, put for any river.
453. Alveo: cavity.
454. Memorandum: in the sense of dig-
num laude, or simply, laudandum.
These were
456. Centauros-Lapithis.
people of Thessaly, the former inhabiting
mount Pelion, the latter mount Pindus.
The poet here mentions the principal or
chief of the Centaurs only.
440
445
450
442. Dant alios fœtus:
alia dant pinos, lignum
utile navigiis, aliæ dant
cedrosque cupressosque,
lignum utile domibus:
447. Myrtus est bona
validis hastilibus,
449. Necnon leves
454. Quid Baccheia
455 dona tulerunt æquè me-
morandum?
460
461. Si apud illos alta
domus cum superbis fo-
ribus non vomit ingen-
tem undam hominum sa-
lutantûm manè è totis
465 ædibus; nec illi in hiant
459. Discordibus armis: not wars, for that
would not be strictly true. They rage in
the country, as well as city; but rather
factions, quarrels, and evil commotions,
which are more frequent in cities and popu-
lous towns, than in the country.
Justissi-
460. Facilem: easy procured.
ma: the earth may be considered most just,
because it returns what is committed to it,
with a liberal reward. Fundit: in the sense
of producil.
461. Si non, &c. It was a custom among
the Romans, for clients and dependants to
come early in the morning to salute their
patrons. Undam: in the sense of multi-
tudinem.
463. Varios: in the sense of variatos.
464. Illusas auro: embroidered with gold.
Ephyreïa: an adj. from Ephyra, the origi-
nal name of Corinth. Ruæus says, Co-
rinthia.
465. Assyrio veneno: with the Syrian, or
purple color. The invention of the pur-
ple, and the method of dying that color
are attributed to the Syrians, or Phæni-
cians. Phoenicia was a part of that region
of Asia, called Syria; sometimes Assyria,
Calosyria, and Leucosyria. Syria and As-
syria were frequently confounded.
466. Casiâ: the bark of a tree, or shrub,
in India, used as a spice-bastard cinna-
104
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
467. At apud illos se- At secura quies, et nescia fallere vita,
cura quies
Dives opum variarum; at latis otia fundis,
Speluncæ, vivique lacus; at frigida Tempe,
Mugitusque boum, mollesque sub arbore somni
471. Illlc sunt saltus Non absunt. Illic saltus, ac lustra ferarum,
amore earum
Et patiens operum parvoque assueta juventus,
Sacra Deûm, santique patres. Extrema per illos
Justitia excedens terris vestigia fecit.
Me verò primùm dulces ante omnia Musæ,
476. Perculsus ingenti Quarum sacra fero, ingenti perculsus amore,
Accipiant; cœlique vias et sidera monstrent,
Defectus Solis varios, Lunæque labores :
Unde tremor terris: quâ vi maria alta tumescant
Objicibus ruptis, rursusque in seipsa residant:
Quid tantùm Oceano properent se tingere Soles
Hyberni vel quæ tardis mora noctibus obstet.
Sin, has ne possim naturæ accedere partes,
Frigidus obstiterit circùm præcordia sanguis;
Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes,
:
:
470
475.
480
485
NOTES.
mon. The ancients used it to flavor their It rises with the mountain torrent.
oil. Liquidi: in the sense of puri.
467. Vita nescia fellere: a life knowing
not to deceive a life of substantial happi-
ness, in opposition to that of cities and
courts, which is showy, false, and deceit-
ful.
468. Latis: some copies have lætis.
have lætis.
Heyne takes it in the sense of apertis vel
patentibus.
469. Tempe: neu. plu. A most pleasant
vale in Thessaly, surrounded by the moun-
tains Ossa, Pelion, and Olympus. The river
Peneus flows through it. The poet here
means any pleasant vale, putting the species
for the genus.
Vivi lacus: in the sense of
perennis aqua. Frigida Tempe, for umbrosa
valles.
474. Justitia: the goddess Astraa. See
Ecl. iv. 6.
475. Verò primùm ante: but, in the first
place, above all things, may the sweet
muses accept of me, whose sacred ensigns,
&c. Though the poet praises the country
Fife so much, he prefers the charms of poe-
try, and the noble entertainments of science,
particularly philosophy and astronomy. The
muses presided not only over poetry, but
also over the sciences and liberal arts. The
poets called themselves the priests of the
muses. Hence the propriety of quarum
sacra fero.
477. Vias et sidera cæli: in the sense of
cursus siderum in cœlo.
479. Unde tremor terris: whence earth-
quakes arise: by what power the deep seas
swell. Objicibus ruptis: its barriers being
broken down. The poet is speaking of the
ebbing and flowing of the tide. He hath
in his view the swelling of a mighty stream.
It
rushes against the opposing mounds. Here
it is stopped in its course for a time; but
gathering strength from its accumulated
waters, it bursts the barriers, sweeping every
thing in its course. Vis: here, not simply
violence or force, but the moving or effi-
cient cause of the rising of the waters. The
true cause of the ebbing and flowing of
the tide was not known, till the immortal
Sir Isaac Newton placed it beyond doubt.
He demonstrated it to be the attraction of
the heavenly bodies, particularly of the
moon.
481. Quid tantùm, &c. The poet here
speaks of winter and summer.
What may
be the reason, why the winter days are so
quick in ending; and what delay may put
off, or retard the approach of the summer
nights. What may be the reason that the
days in summer are so long. Tingere: in
the sense of occidere.
484. Sin frigidus sanguis: but if cold
blood around my heart should hinder, that I
could not, &c. Secundum Physicos, qui di-
cunt stultos homines esse frigidioris sangui-
nis, prudentes calidi. Unde et senes, in qui-
bus jam friget; et pueri, in quibus necdum
calet, minus sapiunt; says Servius. Pra-
cordia: properly a membrane surrounding
the heart, and separating it from the lungs.
It is taken often for the heart itself, as in the
present instance.
485. Rigui: in the sense of fluentes. The
meaning of the poet appears to be: that if
he had not capacity for the higher subjects
of philosophy and astronomy, he would re-
tire into the country, and there pass his time.
unheeded and unknown, amidst rural de-
lights.
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
105
Flumina amem sylvasque inglorius. O ubi campi,
Sperchiusque, et virginibus bacchata Lacanis
Taygeta! qui me gelidis in vallibus Hæmi
Sistat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbrâ!
s
486. O 82 Lasem, ubi
sunt campi, fluviusque
Sperchius, et Taygota.
487. O sit aliquis, qui
sistat me
490. Ille est felix, qui
potuit
Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,
490
Atque metus omnes et inexorabile fatum
Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari!
Fortunatus et ille, Deos qui novit agrestes,
Panaque, Sylvanumque senem, Nymphasque sorores!
Illum non populi fasces, non purpura regum
Flexit, et infidos agitans discordia fratres;
Aut conjurato descendens Dacus ab Istro:
495
Non res Romanæ, perituraque regna: neque ille,
500
Aut doluit miserans inopem, aut invidit habenti.
Quos rami fructus, quos ipsa volentia rura
Sponte tulere suâ, carpsit; nec ferrea jura,
Insanumque forum, aut populi tabularia vidit.
Sollicitant alii remis freta cæca, ruuntque
In ferrum, penetrant aulas et limina regum.
NOTES.
486. O, ubi—O qui, &c. These, as Mr.
Davidson justly observes, are not questions,
as Ruæus and Dr. Trapp both take them;
but exclamations, which in all languages
are usually elliptical. Campi: Tempe, those
pleasant fields of Thessaly are undoubtedly
intended. Sperchius: a river of Thessaly,
rising at the foot of mount Pindus, and falls
into the Sinus Maliacus.
488. Taygeta: neu. pleu. a mountain of
Laconia, famous for hunting, and the cele-
bration of the orgies of Bacchus: hence,
Viginibus bacchata Lacanis; frequented by
the Laconian or Spartan virgins. Hæmi.
See Geor. i. 49.
492. Acherontis: Acheron, a fabulous
river of hell. It seems here to be put for
death. In that sense the epithet avari is
very proper. Strepitum, &c. will then mean
the noise or tumultuous dread generally oc-
casioned through the fear of death. Or, it
may mean, the noise, tumult, and bustle of
the infernal regions generally. In this last
case, Acherontis will mean hell, or the infer-
nal regions, by synec.
494. Pana. See Ecl. ii. 31. Nymphas so-
rores. See Ecl. ii. 46. Sylvanum. See Ecl.
x. 24.
495. Non fasces populi: not the honors
of the people, nor the purple, &c. The Ro-
man magistrates were chosen by the peo-
ple, in the Comitia. The fasces, properly,
was a bundle of birchen rods. The dicta-
tor had 24 of these rods-the consuls 12-
the provincial prætors 6-the city prætors
2; which were carried before them by per-
sons, who were called lictors. Fasces is
frequently put for the power and authority
of the magistrate, by meton. Flexit: in
the sense of movet,
497. Dacus. The Dacii were a people in-
habiting the north of the Danube, or Ister,
very troublesome to the Romans. Istro
conjurato: the conspiring, or leagued Dan-
ube. The name of the river put for the
people living near it, by meton. The Dan-
ube is one of the largest rivers in Europe.
It rises in Germany, and taking an easterly
course, it falls into the Euxine sea by six
mouths, at a distance of about 1600 miles
from its source.
498. Res Romana: the Roman republic.
It is opposed to regna peritura. The for
mer they vainly imagined would always en-
dure; while kingdoms would fall, and their
names be forgotten. Flexerunt illum, is
understood.
499. Doluit miserans, &c. The poet could
not mean that his countryman possessed a
stoical apathy, which rendered him insensi-
ble to the wants, and deaf to the calls of the
poor; but that in the country, there were
not those objects of poverty and wretched-
ness to excite his grief and compassion; or
at least, few of them in comparison to the
number in cities. In this very circum-
stance, we see a high commendation of a
country life.
501. Ferrea jura: the same as duras le-
ges.
502. Insanum: noisy-tumultuous, or,
perhaps, litigious. Tabularia. The tabula-
rium was a place at Rome, in which the
public records were kept, and the accounts
of the public money received, and paid out.
It answers to our treasury office. Coca: in
the sense of ignota.
501. Penetrant, &c. Insinuant se prin-
cipibus, ut intimi fiant, says Servius.
106
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Hic petit excidiis urbem miserosque Penates,
Ut gemmâ bibat, et Sarrano indormiat ostro:
Condit opes alius, defossoque incubat auro :
Hic stupet attonitus rostris: hunc plausus hiantem
Per cuneos (geminatur enim) plebisque patrumque
510. Alii gaudent per- Corripuit; gaudent perfusi sanguine fratrum,
Exilioque domos et dulcia limina mutant,
fusi
tinet
Atque alio patriam quærunt sub Sole jacentem.
Agricola incurvo terram dimovit aratro :
505
•
510
514. Hinc est labor Hinc anni labor: hinc patriam, parvosque nepotes
anni: hinc agricola sus- Sustinet: hinc armenta boum, meritosque juvencos. 515
516. Nec requies est Nec requies; quin, aut pomis exuberet annus,
anno; quin
Aut fœtu pecorum, aut Cerealis mergite culmi:
Proventuque oneret sulcos, atque horrea vincat.
Venit hyems; teritur Sicyonia bacca trapetis
Glande sues læti redeunt: dant arbuta sylvæ :
Et varios ponit fœtus autumnus; et altè
Mitis in apricis coquitur vindemia saxis.
523. Dulces nati pen- Intereà dulces pendent circùm oscula nati:
dent circùm oscula pa- Casta pudicitiam servat domus: ubera vaccæ
Lactea demittunt: pinguesque in gramine læto
Inter se adversis luctantur cornibus hædi
rentum:
NOTES.
505. Penates. These were the household
gods; and were thought to preside over
houses and domestic affairs. Their statues
or images were usually made of wax, ivory,
silver, or earth, and generally placed in the
innermost part of the house: hence that
place was called Penetrale: and they were
called sometimes, from that circumstance,
Penetrales. They were worshipped with
wine, incense, fruits, and sometimes with
the sacrifice of a lamb. Penates, by meton.
is used for one's country, habitation, house,
or dwelling: and sometimes for the family,
or inhabitants, as in the present instance.
See Æn. ii. 717.
506. Sarrano ostro: upon Tyrian purple.
Sarrano, an adj. from Sarra, the ancient
name of Tyre. Gemma: a cup made, or
set with gems.
508. Rostris. The Rostrum was the place
of common pleas, at Rome, so called, as
Livy informs us, from this circumstance:
The Antiates, a maritime people of Latium,
being overcome by the Romans; to perpetu-
ate the memory of the victory, they placed
the beaks of their ships (rostra) around the
suggestum, or place of pleading, by way of
ornament. Hic stupet: this one stands
amazed, being astonished at the courts of
justice. Plausus patrumque plebisque, &c.
It appears that the orders of patricians and
plebeians expressed their approbation by
turns. If we suppose the patricians, who
occupied the Orchestra, or the part of the
theatre near the stage, to be the first; this
will give a reason for the words, enim
520
525
geminatur per cuneos: for it is redoubled,
or repeated along the cunei. These were
seats in the back part of the theatre, appro-
priated to the common people, or plebeians.
See 381. supra. Hunc: in the sense of alium.
Geminatur. Heyne reads Geminatus, agree-
ing with plausus; without a parenthesis.
512. Sub alio sole: under another sun-
in another clime. This is beautiful, and
highly poetical.
516. Nec requies: there is no rest: but
the year abounds either, &c. This passage
is extremely beautiful and poetical. The
poet represents the year as laboring without
intermission, in bringing forth her produc-
tions. Ruæus refers the whole of this fine
passage to the husbandman: Nec cessat
agricola donec annus abundet, &c. says he.
But he gives no reason for his taking quin
in the sense of donec.
517. Mergite Cerealis culmi: with bun-
dles or sheaves of grain.
519. Sicyonia: an adj. from Sicyon, a city
of Achaia, not far from the isthmus of Co-
rinth, abounding in olive trees. Bacca:
the olive.
520. Arbuta: properly the fruit of the
arbute tree. Here, perhaps, taken for wild
fruit in general. Lati: in the sense of sa-
turati.
521. Ponit fœtus: in the sense of dat, vel
reddit fructus.
524. Casta domus: the virtuous family
preserves, &c. By being trained to industry
and good order, they are not in danger of
losing their virtue, or character.
GEORGICA. LIB. II.
107
Ipse dies agitat festos: fususque per herbam,
Ignis ubi in medio, et socii cratera coronant,
Te libans, Lenæe, vocat: pecorisque magistris
Velocis jaculi certamina ponit in ulmo,
Corporaque agresti nudat prædura palæstrâ.
Hanc olim veteres vitam coluere Sabini,
Hanc Remus et frater: sic fortis Etruria crevit,
Scilicet et rerum facta est pulcherrima Roma,
Septemque una sibi muro circumdedit arces.
Antè etiam sceptrum Dictai regis, et antè
Impia quàm cæsis gens est epulata juvencis;
Aureus hanc vitam in terris Saturnus agebat.
Necdum etiam audierant inflari classica, necdum
Impositos duris crepitare incudibus enses.
Sed nos immensum spatiis confecimus æquor,
Et jam tempus equûm fumantia solvere colla.
NOTES.
527. Agitat: in the sense of celebrat. Fu-
sus: in the sense of stratus.
528. Coronant: they fill up to the brim.
531. Palæstra: this may mean either the
exercise itself, or the place of exercise.
532. Sabini. An ancient people of Italy,
whose young women were seized by the Ro-
mans, at certain shows or exhibitions, to
which they had been invited. Upon this,
the Sabines made war upon them to avenge
the atrocious deed. A treaty of amity,
however, was concluded between the two
parties; and in the event they became one
people. Coluere: they religiously observed,
or practised.
533. Etruria: the same as Tuscia, Tus-
cany, a country in Italy, separated from
Latium by the Tyber.
534. Scilicet et, &c. What is here said of
Rome was literally true in the time of Vir-
gil. It was then in all its glory, and was
truly the wonder of the world: Rerum: res
hath a variety of significations. Here it
evidently means the world, or the whole
earth.
535. Una circumdedit. The walls of Rome
embraced seven hills, when that city was in
the height of its glory. Their names were:
Palatinus, Calius, Capitolinus, Aventinus,
Esquilinus, Quirinalis, and Viminalis.
536. Antè sceptrum: before the reign of
the Dictean king. Jupiter is so called from
530
535
528. Ubi est ignis
533. Remus et frater
ejus Romulus coluerunt
hanc:
535. Unaque circum-
dediť septem
539. Necdum etiam
540 homines
542. Tempus est sol-
vere à jugo
Dicte, a place in the island of Crete, where
it is said, he was nourished and brought up
by the Corybantes or Curetes.
Before the reign of Jove, and before the
impious race of men fed upon bullocks
slain, golden Saturn led this life upon the
earth. This is a beautiful allusion to the
golden age. See Ecl. iv. 6. Agebat: in the
sense of ducebat.
537. Gens: in the sense of genus homi-
num, says Heyne.
541. Sed nos.
This is an allegory taken
from the chariot race. By confecimus æquor
immensum spatiis, the poct may mean that
he had run over a plain not measured by
stages; or one which did not lie within the
limits or bounds of his proposed race or
course. In this sense, divested of the
figure, it will be: I have now finished my
digression into the praises of a country life,
it is time to lay aside my pen. Rumus in-
terprets spatiis by longitudine, and under-
stands by æquor immensum spatiis, a plain
immeasurable in length.
Each course of chariots in the race was
called spatium. This was repeated seven
times. Hence spatia, the plural, came to
signify the race ground. Cum septimo spatio
palmæ appropinquant.
The starting place was called carcer, and
the turning place meta.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this book?
What does the poet do in the first place?
How many methods does he mention for
the propagation of trees?
What is the difference between grafting
and inoculation?
For what is the propago or layer the best?
After the several kinds of trees, and the
methods of producing them, what does the
poet consider in the next place?
How many kinds of soil does he make?
Where does the Ganges rise?
What is its length?
What is it considered to be, by the inhabi-
tants upon its banks?
Where does it empty?
What did the ancients call the bay?
What city now stands near the mouth of
this river?
Of what country was Hemus a rivor ?
108
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
By whom were they carried?
What river did it receive in its course?
What was the Pactolus celebrated for?
Where did these rivers empty?
What was the Argonautic expedition?
Why was it so called?
Who commanded that expedition?
Where was Colchis?
What was the object of that expedition?
How is this fable to be understood?
How many accompanied Jason?
What direction does the poet give for
planting trees?
How should the rows be arranged?
Among what people did scenic representa-
tions originate?
Why were the Athenians called Theseida?
Who may be considered the inventor of
tragedy?
What did he make use of as a stage?
What was the form of the Roman theatre?
Into how many parts was it divided?
What was the form of the amphitheatre?
What was the original name of Italy?
Why were the Romans sometimes called
Ausones?
What do you understand by the word
fasces?
How many of these rods were carried be-
fore the Roman magistrates?
For what is the word fasces used by me-
ton. ?
Who were the Dacii?
Where did they inhabit?
Where does the river Ister rise?
What course does it run?
Where does it empty?
What is its length?
Who were the Penates?
How were they represented?
Where were their statues placed?
What were they sometimes called from
that circumstance?
For what is the word taken by meton. ?
Why was the place of common please, at
Rome, called Rostrum ?
What was the word Rostrum properly?
Who were the Sabines?
Did the Romans offer any violence to
their young women?
What was the event of the affair?
How many hills did the walls of Rome
encompass?
What were they called?
How many courses were there in the cha-
riot race?
How does the book end?
LIBER TERTIUS.
THE subject of this book is the raising of cattle. The poet begins with an invocation of
some of the rural deities, and a compliment to Augustus. After which, he addresses
himself to his friend Mecenas. He then proceeds to give rules for the breeding and
management of horses, oxen, sheep, and goats. And, by way of episode and embel-
lishment, he gives us a description of a chariot race, of a battle of bulls, of the force of
love, and of a Scythian winter. He enumerates the diseases incident to cattle, and pre-
scribes their remedies: and concludes by giving an account of a fatal murrain, which
once raged among the Alps.
1. Et te, O pastor, TE quoque, magna Pales, et te, memorande, canemus,
memorande ab Amphry- Pastor ab Amphryso: vos, sylvæ, amnesque Lycæi.
so : Canemus vos, O Cætera, quæ vacuas tenuissent carmina mentes,
4. Omnia cætera car- Omnia jam vulgata. Quis aut Eurysthea durum,
Sylvæ
NOTES.
1. Pales. The goddess of shepherds, and
of feeding cattle. She was worshipped
with milk. Her feasts were called Palilia,
and were celebrated on the 12th of the ca-
lends of May.
2. Amphryso. A river of Thessaly, where
Apollo fed the flocks of Admetus, when he
was driven from heaven for having killed
the Cyclops. See Ecl. iv. 10. Sylvæ, et
amnes Lycai: the groves and streams of
Arcadia. Lycœus: a mountain in Arca-
dia, evidently taken for the whole country,
by synec.
3. Carmina: by meton. the argument, or
subjects of song. Heyne reads carmine,
connecting it with vacuas. In this case, it
is to be taken in its usual sense. Tenuis-
sent in the sense of delectavissent. Rumus
says, omnia argumenta.
4. Eurysthea. Eurystheus, was king of
Mycena. Instigated by Juno, he imposed
upon Hercules, who had been given up to
GEORGICA. F
109
LIB. IJI
Aut illaudati nescit Busiridis aras ?
Cui non dictus Hylas puer, et Latonia Delos,
Hippodameque, humeroque Pelops insignis eburno,
Acer equis? Tentanda via est, quâ me quoque possim
Tollere humo, victorque virûm volitare per ora.
Primus ego in patriam mecum (modò vita supersit)
Aonio rediens deducam vertice Musas:
Primus Idumæas referam tibi, Mantua, palmas :
Et viridi in campo templum de marmore ponam
Propter aquam, tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat
Mincius, et tenerâ prætexit arundine ripas..
In medio mihi Cæsar erit, templumque tenebit.
Illi victor ego, et Tyrio conspectus in ostro,
Centum quadrijugos agitabo ad flumina currus.
Cuncta mihi, Alpheum linquens lucosque Molorchi,
NOTES.
him at the command of an oracle, the se-
verest labors: they were twelve in number,
and go under the name of the twelve la-
bors of Hercules.
/
5. Busiridis. Busiris, a king of Egypt,
who sacrificed to his gods the strangers who
visited him. He was slain by Hercules.
Illaudati: impious-infamous. This kind
of negatives express, generally, more than
the mere want of a good quality. They
imply the possession of a contrary one.
Detestati, says Heyne.
6. Hylas. See Ecl. vi. 43. Latonia: an
adj. from Latona, the daughter of Caus,
one of the Titans, and mother of Apollo
and Diana, whom she brought forth at a
birth on the island Delos: hence called La-
tonian Delos.
7. Hippodame. She was the daughter of
Enomaus, king of Elis, and Pisa. who
having learned from an oracle that he was
to be slain by his son-in-law; in order to
avoid it, he proposed to the suitors of his
daughter, a chariot race, upon this condi-
tion, that the one who got the victory should
have his daughter; but if vanquished should
be slain. After thirteen had lost their lives,
Pelops won the beauteous prize, by bribing
Myrtillus, the charioteer of Enomaus, to
place the chariot upon a frail or brittle axle.
It broke during the race, and Enomaus
was so much bruised by the fall, that he
died of his wounds. Thus the oracle was
fulfilled. Pelops was the son of Tantalus,
king of Phrygia; who, as the fable goes,
invited the gods to a banquet, and having
a mind to try their divinity, dressed his own
son, and set before them. All abstained
from so horrid a repast except Ceres, who
took a piece of the child's shoulder. Jupi-
ter afterwards restored him to life, and gave
him an ivory one in its room. Hence in-
signis eburno humero: famed for his ivory
shoulder. For this horrid deed, Tantalus,
after death was doomed to perpetual hun-
5 mina, quæ tenuissent
vacuas mentes, jam vul-
gata sunt.
10
15
ger and thirst; and compelled to abstain
from both meat and drink, which were pla-
ced before him, by way of aggravation.
8. Acer equis. This may allude to his
victory over Enomaus; or it may mean no
more than that he was skilled in the ma-
nagement of horses; which is the sense of
Ruæus.
11. Aonio vertice: from the Aonian
mount, Helicon. This was a mountain in
Beotia, originally called Aonia, sacred to
the muses.
12. Primus referam: I, the first, will bring
to thee, O Mantua, Idumæan palms-noble
palms. The palm-tree abounded in Idu-
mæa, a country of Syria; so called from
Edom, a son of Esau, who settled there.
Virgil was not the first who introduced the
Greek poetry into Italy; and, therefore, to
do away, or prevent any objection, he men
tions Mantua, the place of his birth. He
was, however,
was, however, the first who brought it to
any degree of perfection.
13. Ponam Templum. The poet appears
to mean, that he will not only imitate the
Greeks, but he will surpass them; and in
honor of his victory, he will build a temple,
and institute games. Through the whole,
under color of honoring himself, he very
artfully compliments Augustus, his prince
and patron. Ponam: in the sense of ex-
truam.
14. Errat: meanders-winds.
18. Centum. I will drive a hundred four-
horse chariots along the river. The poet
takes the definite number 100 for an indefi-
nite number; or he alludes to the Circen-
sian games, when in one day there were
twenty-five races of four chariots each,
making the exact number here mentioned.
These were in imitation of the Olympic
games, and were on the margin of a river.
Illi: for him-in honor of Cæsar.
19. Cuncta Græcia. The meaning is, that
all Greece would leave their own games.
*
110
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Cursibus et crudo decernet Græcia cæstu.
20
Ipse, caput tonsæ foliis ornatus olivæ,
Dona feram. Jam nunc solemnes ducere pompas
Ad delubra juvat, cæsosque videre juvencos :
25
24. Vol videre ut scena Vel scena ut versis discedat frontibus, utque
discedat,
28. Atque hic sculpam
Nilum undantem bello
Purpurea intexti tollant aulæa Britanni.
In foribus pugnam ex auro solidoque elephanto
Gangaridûm faciam, victorisque arma Quirini :
Atque hic undantem bello, magnùmque fluentem
Nilum, ac navali surgentes ære columnas.
Addam urbes Asiæ domitas, pulsumque Niphaten,
Fidentemque fugâ Parthum versisque sagittis ;
Et duo rapta manu diverso ex hoste trophæa,
NOTES.
and come to these, as far excelling in gran-
deur and inagnificence. Alpheum: a river
of Elis, in the Peloponnesus, near the city
Olympia. Hence the games there celebra-
ted were called Olympic. The river here,
by meton. is put for the games themselves.
They were instituted by Hercules, in honor
of Jupiter, as near as their date can be as-
certained, in the summer of the year of the
world, 3228, and before Christ, 776. They
were celebrated every fifth year; or after
an entire revolution of four years; which
was denominated an Olympiad. This form-
ed a very important era in the history of
Greece.
Lucos Molorchi: the groves of Molor-
chus by meton. the Nemaa certamina, or
Nemean games.
These were instituted in
honor of Hercules, on account of his killing
the lion in the Sylva Nemaa, near Cleonæ, a
city of the Peloponnesus. Molorchus was
the name of the shepherd who entertained
the hero, and at whose request he slew the
Nemean lion. Besides these, there were
other games called Pythia, instituted in ho-
nor of Apollo, on account of his killing the
serpent Python. Hence he derived the
name Paan, from a Greek word signifying
to pierce or wound. There were also games
called Isthmia. These were instituted by
Theseus, king of Athens, in honor of Nep-
tune. They derived their name from the
circumstance of their being celebrated on
the Isthmus of Corinth. Mihi: for me-in
honor of me.
20. Crudo: because the castus, or gaunt-
let, was made of raw hide: or simply, cruel
-bloody. See Æn. v. 379.
22. Pompas. These were images of the
gods carried in procession before the peo-
ple at the Circensian games-the proces-
sion itself. Feram dona: in the sense of
proponam premia.
24. Ut: in the sense of quomodo. Scena:
that part of the stage where the actors were
-the curtain, or hanging, behind which
they retired from the audience. It was
raised up when the actors were upon the
30
stage, and let down when they retired from
it. It appears to mean the same thing with
aulaa in the following line. See Geor. ii.
381.
25. Intexti. The Britons (the victorlos of
Julius Cæsar over them) supposed to be
painted on, or interwoven in, the curtains;
which, by a figure of speech, they might be
said to hold, or lift up.
27. Gangaridûm. The Gangarida were
a people of India, near the Ganges. Qui-
rini. This is one of the many reasons we
bave for believing that Virgil continued to
revise the Georgics until his death. It was
debated in the senate, whether Octavius
should be complimented with the name of
Augustus, or Romulus, who was also called
Quirinus. But this debate did not take
place till three years after the publication
of the Georgics; and was seven years bo-
fore his victory over the Gangarida. The
poet must, therefore, have added this line
at least ten years after the first publication,
or in the year of Rome, 734.
27. Faciam: in the sense of sculpam.
28. Magnum: Ruæus takes it in the
sense of longè. Copiosè, says Heyne. Un-
dantem: swelling and waving with war, as
it did with its waters. This is a metaphor,
beautiful and grand. The poet here al-
ludes to the victory obtained by Augustus
over Anthony and Cleopatra, and the cap-
ture of Alexandria, the principal city of
Egypt, near the mouth of the Nile. It was
built by Alexander the Great. All Egypt
soon followed the fate of Alexandria, its
capital.
Au-
29. Navali ære: with naval brass.
gustus is said to have made four columns out
of the brazen beaks of the ships, taken from
Cleopatra and Anthony; to which the poet
here seems to allude.
30. Niphaten: Niphates, a mountain of
Armenia, taken for the inhabitants of that
country by meton. Armenios fugatos, says
Ruæus.
32. Duo trophaa. Probably those two
victories obtained by Augustus over Antho-
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
111
Bisque triumphatas utroque ab litore gentes
Stabunt et Parii lapides, spirantia signa,
Assaraci proles, demissæque ab Jove gentis
Nomina; Trosque parens, et Troja Cynthius auctor.
Invidia infelix furias amnemque severum
Cocyti metuet, tortosque Ixionis angues,
Immanemque rotam, et non exsuperabile saxum.
Intereà Dryadum sylvas saltusque sequamur
Intactos, tua, Mæcenas, haud mollia jussa.
Te sinè nil altum mens inchoat: en age, segnes
Rumpe moras: vocat ingenti clamore Citharon,
Taygetique canes, domitrixque Epidaurus equorum :
NOTES.
ny, the one at Actium, in Epirus, on the
northern shore of the Mediterranean, the
other at Alexandria, in Egypt, on the south-
ern.
Hence the propriety of utroque litore.
Rapta manu: obtained by valor, or by his
own hand-where he commanded in person.
Diverso hoste, and triumphalas gentes, mean
the same; and probably we are to under-
stand the Asiatic and African troops that
composed the army of Anthony in these
two battles. This is the opinion of Ruæus.
Some understand the passage as referring
to the Gandarida, a people of Asia, and to
the Britanni, situated in Europe, in differ-
ent quarters of the world But Augustus
did not conquer the Britons.
34. Parii lapides: Parian marble. Parii:
an adj. froin Paros, one of the Cyclades, fa-
mous for its shining marble. Spirantia sig-
na: figures, or statues to the life. They
shall be of such exquisite sculpture, that one
could scarcely distinguish them from real
life-they should almost breathe.
35. Proles Assaraci: the offspring of As-
saracus, and the names of the family, &c.
The poet here, as in other places, compli-
ments the Cæsars with divine descent. Ac-
cording to him, it may be thus traced:
Dardanus was the son of Jupiter and Elec-
tra; Erichthonius, the son of Dardanus;
Tros, the son of Erichthonius; Ilus and
Assaracus, sons of Tros; Ilus begat Lao-
medon, the father of Priam, and Assaracus
begat Capys, the father of Anchises; of
Anchises and Venus sprang Æneas, the fa-
ther of Ascanius, or Iülus, the father of the
Julian family.
36. Cynthius: Apollo. He was born on
the island Delos, where was a mountain by
the name of Cynthus; hence he was called
Cynthius. He and Neptune, it is said, built
the walls of Troy in the reign of Laomedon.
See Ecl. iv. 10, and Geor. i. 502.
37. Infelix. This epithet is added to
envy, because it is the principal source of
unhappiness to men.
38. Cocyti: Cocytus, a fabulous river of
hell, flowing out of Styx. Ixionis: Ixion,
Ixionis: Ixion,
the father of the Centaurs. For making an
35
36. Trosque parens
Assaraci
40 40. Sylvasque, saltus-
que intactos ab aliis
scriptoribus.
attempt upon Juno, he was cast down to
hell, and bound with twenty snakes to a
wheel, which kept constantly turning, as a
punishment for his crime. The poets say,
that Jupiter substituted a cloud in the form
of Juno, and of it he begat the Centaurs,
Upon his return to the earth, he boasted of
his amour with the queen of the gods, and
was punished for it by Jupiter in this ex-
emplary manner. The truth is, the Cen-
taurs were a people of Thessaly. They
dwelt in a city by the name of Nephele.
That being the Greek word for a cloud,
gave rise to the story of their being the off-
spring of a cloud.
spring of a cloud. They were the first who
broke and tamed the horse. Ixion was their
king. The poet here intimates in a very
delicate manner the unhappy end of those
who envied Augustus the glory due to his
illustrious deeds; who dared refuse to sub-
mit to his authority; and who meditated a
renewal of the civil wars.
39. Saxum. Sisyphus, a notorious rob-
ber, was slain by Theseus, king of Athens,
and for his punishment, he was sentenced to
hell; there to roll a stone to the top of a
hill, which always rolled back before he
could reach it. This made his labor per-
petual. Non exsuperabile: not to be gotten
to the top of the hill.
41. Tua haud mollia jussa: thy difficult
commands.
Virgil, at the request of Mecenas, wrote
the Georgics; to which circumstance he
here alludes-a subject new, and which
had not been handled or treated of by any
preceding writer. Sequamur: we will en-
ter upon.
The one
43. Citharon: a mountain in Beotia,
abounding in pasture, and herds of cattle.
Taygeti: Taygetus, a mountain in Laconia,
famous for hunting. Epidaurus. There
were several places by that name.
here intended, is probably in Argolis, on the
eastern shore of the Peloponnesus, near the
Sinus Saronicus, that part being celebrated
for its horses: The meaning is, that he shall
now treat of those animals that abounded in
the above mentioned places.
112
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Et vox assensu nemorum ingeminata remugit.
Mox tamen ardentes accingar dicere pugnas
Cæsaris, et nomen famâ tot ferre per annos,
Tithoni primâ quot abest ab origine Cæsar.
Seu quis, Olympiacæ miratus præmia palmæ,
Pascit equos, seu quis fortes ad aratra juvencos ;
52. Forma torve bo- Corpora præcipuè matrum legat. Optima torvæ
vis est optima, cui est Forma bovis, cui turpe caput, cui plurima cervix,
turpe caput, cui est plu-
rima cervix, et cui pa- Et crurum tenùs à mento palearia pendent.
learia pendent à mento Tum longo nullus lateri modus: omnia magna;
tenùs crurum.
Pes etiam, et camuris hirta sub cornibus aures.
54. Omnia membra Nec mihi displiceat maculis insignis et albo :
Aut juga detrectans, interdumque aspera cornu,
56. Nec vacca insig-
nis maculis et albo dis- Et faciem tauro proprior: quæque ardua tota,
pliceat mihi:
Et gradiens imâ verrit vestigia caudâ.
sunt magna:
que est tota
62. Cætera ætas ea-
58. Et est propior tau- Atas Lucinam justosque pati Hymenæos
ro quoad faciem: quæ- Desinit ante decem, post quatuor incipit annos :
Cætera nec fœturæ habilis; nec fortis aratris.
rum est nec habilis fœtu- Intereà, superat gregibus dum læta juventus,
ræ, nec est fortis aratris. Solve mares: mitte in Venerem pecuaria primus,
69. Erunt semper ali- Atque aliam ex aliâ generando suffice prolem.
quæ pecudes, quarum Optima quæque dies miseris mortalibus ævi
corpora, tu malis mutari.
Prima fugit: subeunt morbi, tristisque senectus :
Enim semper refice ar-
menta; ac, ne pòst requi- Et labor, et duræ rapit inclementia mortis.
ras ea amissa, anteveni- Semper erunt, quarum mutari corpora malis:
NOTES.
45. Vox Assensu, &c. The meaning is,
that the groves unite in inviting him, and
echo back the call.
:
46. Ardentes: in the sense of illustres.
Accingar: in the sense of the Greek middle
voice I will prepare myself. The poet
here seems to intimate his purpose of writing
the Æneid; which was chiefly designed to
flatter Augustus and the Roman people.
48. Tithoni. Tithonus was either the son
or brother of Laomedon, and greatly belov-
ed by Aurora. From his time down to Au-
gustus, were one thousand years, according
to the best accounts. But to extend his
fame only for that length of time, would
not come up to the design of the poet, whose
wish was to perpetuate his fame to the la-
test posterity. According to Servius and
Eustathius, Tilhonus may here be taken for
the sun, in the same sense that Titan is;
they both being derived from the same
Greek verb. This would fully come up to
the views of the poet in immortalizing his
prince. The sun having existed from the
beginning of time, may be considered a
quædam eternitas; or the poet may assume
the definite number, 1000 years, for an in-
definite poriod. See En. iv. 585.
51. Legat: in the sense of eligat.
52. Turpe: large-disproportionate. Bo-
vis: in the sense of vacca.
56. Maculis-et albo: the same as albis
maculis, by Hendiadis. Aspera: pushing,
or butting.
•
45
50
55
60
65
60. Lucinam: the goddess of child-bear-
ing, so called à luce, quam infantibus dabal:
by mneton. child-bearing itself—the bringing
forth of young
forth of young in general. Hymenæos:
Hymen or Hymenæus, was the son of Bac-
chus and Venus; the god of marriage: by
meton. marriage itself also the intercourse
of the sexes, as in the present instance.
The meaning of the poet is, that the proper
time for cattle to breed, ends before the
tenth, and begins after the fourth year of
their age.
63. Intereà: in the mean time-between
the years of four and ten, let loose the males
among your herds. Superat: abounds—is .
vigorous.
64. Pecuaria: properly pasture grounds:
by meton. the cattle fed
by meton. the cattle fed upon them. Here,
the females; the boves, vel vaccæ.
65. Suffice: raise up one stock after ano-
ther. Ævi: in the sense of vitæ.
68. Inclementia: rigor-severity.
69. Semper erunt. This, and the two
following lines, Dr. Trapp thinks to be an
interpolation. He says, the sense of the
whole three lines is extremely jejune and
flat. What occasion of admonishing the
farmer to continue the succession of his
cattle? The thing had just been expressed
before. Let it be further considered, what
a different face it puts upon the whole, if
these lines are left out. Having concluded
the article of the propagation of kine, with
that fine reflection upon the imperfect state
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
113
Semper enim refice: ac, ne pòst amissa requiras,
Anteveni et sobolem armento sortire quotannis.
Necnon et pecori est idem delectus equino.
Tu modò, quos in spem statues submittere gentis,
Præcipuum jam inde à teneris impende laborem
Continuò pecoris generosi pullus in arvis
Altiùs ingreditur, et mollia crura reponit:
Primus et ire viam, et fluvios tentare minaces
Audet, et ignoto sese committere ponti :
Nec vanos horret strepitus. Illi ardua cervix,
Argutumque caput, brevis alvus, obesa que terga;
Luxuriatque toris animosum pectus: honesti
Spadices, glaucique; color deterrimus albis,
Et gilvo tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedêre,
Stare loco nescit, micat auribus, et tremit artus;
Collectumque ffemens volvit sub naribus ignem.
Densa juba, et dextro jactata recumbit in armo.
At duplex agitur per lumbos spina: cavatque
Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu.
Talis Amyclæi domitus Pollucis habenis
Cyllarus, et, quorum Graii meminere poëtæ,
Martis equi bijuges, et magni currus Achilles.
Talis et ipse jubam cervice effudit equinâ
Conjugis adventu pernix Saturnus, et altum
Pelion hinnitu fugiens implevit acuto.
70
74. Impende præci-
75 puum laborem illis jam
inde à teneris annis,
80
85
quos,
79. Est illi ardua
82. Spadices, glauci-
que sunt honesti colores
84. Tremit per artus
90 90. Et tales erant bi-
juges equi Martis, et
currus magni Achilles,
quorum
94
Hunc quoque, ubi aut morbo gravis, aut jam segnior
Deficit, abde domo, nec turpi ignosce senectæ. [annis
NOTES.
of mortality, he immediately passes on to
the propagation of horses. And what fur-
ther confirms him in this opinion, is, the use
of the verbs antevenio and sortior. The for-
mer, says he, is no where else used by Vir-
gil; and the latter never, in the sense it is
used here: for substituo.
71. Sobolem: a succession-issue.
73. Submittere: in the sense of seponere.
75. Pullus gencrosi: a colt of generous
breed-of noble blood. Continuò : from
the first-as soon as foaled.
76. Reponit mollia crura: he moves his
pliant, or nimble legs. Reponit implies both
the alternate movements of his feet, and the
quickness and frequency of them.
81. Luxuriat toris: his courageous breast
abounds (swells out) in muscles.
82. Spadices, glauci: the bright bay, and
dappled-gray, are good colors; the worst
color is the white and dun. It is very dif-
ficult, as Dr. Trapp observes, to ascertain
the names of colors in a foreign and dead
language. Besides, one nation may prefer
this color, and another may prefer that. He
takes albus for a dull, dirty white, and to be
distinguished from candidus; because, an-
teire nives candore, Virgil makes the mark
of a fine horse. See Æn. xii. 84.
84. Fremens. The common reading is pre-
mens; but several ancient copies have fre-
મ
mens, as Heyne informs us. That learned
editor reads, fremens. Ignem: in the sense
of calorem, vel ardentes anhelitus. Of the
horses of Diomede, Lucretius says: ignem
naribus spiraverunt.
87. Duplex: round-large. In a lean
horse, as the spine or back-bone rises up
sharp; so in a fat horse, there is a kind of
hollow or gutter running through the middle
of the back, and seeming to divide it into
two parts. In this sense, duplex spina may
be a double spine. Agitur: passes along,
or extends.
87. Lumbos: in the sense of dorsum, vel
tergum.
89. Talis Cyllarus: such was Cyllarus,
broke by the reins, &c. Amyclæi: an adj.
from Amycle, a city of Laconia, not far
from Lacedæmon, where Castor and Pollux
were born. Hence they are sometimes
called Lacedæmonii, as well as Amyclæi.
Cyllarus was the name of the horse.
91. Currus: in the sense of equi, by me-
ton.
92. Et talis pernix Saturnus ipse: and
such swift Saturn himself spread his mane.
Saturn, as the poets say, was in love with
Philyra, the daughter of Oceanus. During
their amours, on a certain occasion, Rhea,
his wife, came upon them. To prevent a
discovery, Saturn transformed himself into
9
114
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
97. Senior equus est Frigidus in Venerem senior, frustràque laborem
frigidus
Ingratum trahit: et, si quando ad prælia ventum est,
Ut quondam in stipulis magnus sinè viribus ignis,
Incassùm furit. Ergò animos ævumque notabis
Præcipuè hinc alias artes, prolemque parentum :
102. Quis dolor sit Et quis cuique dolor victo, quæ gloria palmæ.
cuique victo, que glo- Nonne vides? cùm præcipiti certamine campum
ria sit cuique palmæ
arrectæ sunt.
Corripuere, ruuntque effusi carcere currus;
105. Spes juvenum Cùm spes arrectæ juvenum, exultantiaque haurit
Corda pavor pulsans: illi instant verbere torto,
Et proni dant lora: volat vi fervidus axis :
Jamque humiles, jamque elati sublimè videntur
Aëra per vacuum ferri, atque assurgere in auras.
Nec mora, nec requies. At fulvæ nimbus arenæ
111. Equi humescunt Tollitur: humescunt spumis flatuque sequentum :
spumis flatuque eorum Tantus amor laudum, tantæ est victoria curæ.
sequentûm
Primus Erichthonius currus et quatuor ausus
merare
116. Dorso equorum
117. Et equum glo- Jungere equos, rapidisque rotis insistere victor.
Fræna Pelethronii Lapithæ, gyrosque dedêre,
118. Magistri utrius- Impositi dorso; atque equitem docuere sub armis
que artis æquè exquirunt Insultare solo, et gressus glomerare superbos.
equum juvenemque, cali- Equus uterque labor: æquè juvenemque magistri
120. Non exquirunt Exquirunt, calidumque animis, et cursibus acrem:
Quamvis sæpe fugâ versos ille egerit hostes,
Et patriam Epirum referat, fortesque Mycenas ;
Neptunique ipsâ deducat origine gentem.
dumque animis
senem equum quamvis
122. Ipsa origine equi
Neptuni.
123. Tempus admissu-
ræ; et
124. Distendere
equum
denso pingui, quem
His animadversis, instant sub tempus; et omnes
Impendunt curas denso distendere pingui,
Quem legêre ducem et pecori dixere maritum;
NOTES.
a horse, and fled to Pelion, a mountain of
Thessaly, filling it with his shrill neighings.
Philyra bore to him Chiron, one of the Cen-
taurs.
96. Ignosce senectæ nec turpi: spare his
old age, not inglorious. This is the sense
usually given to the words, and implies that
the old horse should be treated with kind-
ness and humanity, now in his old age, in
consequence of his former glorious deeds.
Abde hunc domo: in the sense of include
hunc stabulis.
101. Hinc alias artes: after that (you
should observe) his other qualities. Artes
here evidently means the qualities, proper-
ties, or endowments of the horse. Prolem:
the stock, breed, or ancestry.
102. Palma: to the victor, or conqueror.
The palm of victory, by meton. put for the
victor, or conqueror.
In
104. Effusi: starting-springing.
races, carcer was the mark, or starting
place. Exultantia: beating-palpitating.
107. Vi: with the rapid motion of the wheel.
114. Rapidis rotis. This is the common
reading. But Heinsius and Heyne read ra-
pidus in the nom. agreeing with victor. Ro-
tis: properly the wheels; by meton. the
chariot borne upon them.
100
105
110
115
120
125
115. Lapitha: a people of Thessaly, near
mount Pelion. Pelethronii: an adj. from
Pelethronium, one of their cities. The
meaning of the poet appears to be this:
that Erichthonius invented the use of the
chariot and horses, and that the Lapithe
afterward improved upon the use of the
horse by managing him with the bridle, and
turning him about with the reins at their
will. Dedêre: in the sense of invenerunt.
116. Equilem. Rumus takes this in the
sense of equum. Heyne observes that the old
grammarians understood it in the same
sense. But Davidson refers the whole
to the rider. It appears that the last
clause of the following line should be ap-
plied to the horse rather than to the rider.
Eques: properly, the rider; by meton. the
horse.
118. Uterque labor æquus: each labor, or
art, is equal; the management of horses in
the chariot, and the management of them
with the bridle.
121. Epirum-Mycenas. Epirus and My-
cene were both famous for their excellent
horses. Referat: have, claim, or boast.
124. Pingui: in the sense of pinguedine.
125. Maritum: in the sense of admissa ·
rium.
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
115
Pubentesque secant herbas, fluviosque ministrant,
Farraque ne blando nequeat superesse labori,
Invalidique patrum referant jejunia nati.
Ipsa autem macie tenuant armenta volentes.
Atque ubi concubitus primos jam nota voluptas
Sollicitat; frondesque negant, et fontibus arcent :
Sæpe etiam cursu quatiunt, et Sole fatigant;
Cùm graviter tunsis gemit area frugibus, et cùm
Surgentem ad Zephyrum paleæ jactantur inanes.
Hoc faciunt, nimio ne luxu obtusior usus
Sit genitali arvo, et sulcos oblimet inertes:
Sed rapiat sitiens Venerem, interiùsque recondat.
Rursus, cura patrum cadere, et succedere matrum
Incipit, exactis gravidæ cùm mensibus errant.
Non illas gravibus quisquam juga ducere plaustris,
Non saltu superare viam sit passus, et acri
Carpere prata fugâ, fluviosque innare rapaces.
Saltibus in vacuis pascant, et plena secundùm
Flumina: muscus ubi, et viridissima gramine ripa,
Speluncæque tegant, et saxea procubet umbra.
Est lucos Silari circa, ilicibusque virentem.
Plurimus Alburnum volitans, cui nomen asilo
Romanum est, œstron Graii vertêre vocantes:
Asper, acerba sonans: quo tota exterrita sylvis
Diffugiunt armenta, furit mugitibus æther
Concussus, sylvæque, et sicci ripa Tanagri.
Hoc quondam monstro horribiles exercuit iras
Inachiæ Juno pestem meditata juvencæ.
NOTES.
127. Superesse: to accomplish-be suffi-
cient for. ˆ Fluvios: in the sense of aquam
copiosam.
128. Nati: the colts. Referant: in the
sense of ferant.
129. Volentes: willing-on purpose, or
with design. Armenta here is evidently
taken for equas, the mares.
131. Frondes: in the sense of pabulum,
vel victum. Qualiunt: in the sense of agi-
tant.
135. Ne usus genitali arvo sit obtusior ne-
mio luxu. These words Rumus interprets
thus: Ne trajectus (via) genitalis partis sit
strictior ob nimiam pinguitudinem.
136. Oblimet: in the sense of claudat.
137. Venerem: the object of their desire
-the semen masculinum.
142. Acri fugâ in the sense of celeri
cursu. Rapaces: in the sense of rapidos.
143. Saltibus. Saltus is properly an open-
ing, or vacant space, in a grove, or park.
It is, however, sometimes used in the sense
of nemus and lucus; from the verb salio.
Rumus says spatiis apertis.
145. Saxea umbra: a rocky shade may
fall on them—a rocky clift may project over
them, under which they may be sheltered
from the sun and rains.
130
135
140
137. Sed ut illa pars
sitiens
138. Et cura matrum
incipit succedere
140. Non quisquam
passus sit illas
144. Ubi sit muscus,
145 et ripa
150
146. Circa lucos Silari, Alburnumque. Si-
larus, a river of Italy, in Lucania : hodie Selo,
Alburnum: Alburnus, a mountain in Italy,
abounding in the holm-oak: hodie Alborno;
out of which issues the river Tanagrus,
small, and nearly dry in summer. Pluri-
mus volitans: around the groves, &c. there
are many flies, to which asylus is the Roman
name, but the Greeks called it œstron.
This construction is very peculiar; the idiom
we cannot introduce into our language.
Plurimus volitans we must take in the sense
of plurimi volitantes. Cui nomen asylo. This
is evidently the same as cui asylus est Roma-
no nomini: perhaps by antiptosis. Asylus
is what we commonly call the gad-fly, or
breeze. It is the same as the tabanus, or
tabanum. The sting of this insect causes
great pain to the animal that is wounded by it.
148. Vocantes vertêre: simply, vocaverunt,
vel reddiderunt.
149. Acerbà: an adj. neu. plu. taken as
an adverb in imitation of the Greeks; the
same as acerbè. Asper. This may have
reference to the sharpness of its bite or sting.
Sonans : making a sharp or shrill noise.
150. Furit: in the sense of resonat.
153. Inachiæ juvencæ. Io, the daughter
of Inachus, king of the Argives, (or of a
116
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
154. Hunc asilum
Hunc quoque (nam mediis fervoribus acrior instat)
Arcebis gravido pecori; armentaque pasces,
Sole recèns orto, aut noctem ducentibus astris.
Post partum, cura in vitulos traducitur omnis :
Continuòque notas et nomina gentis inurunt:
159. Et notant eos, Et quos, aut pecori malint submittere habendo,
quos malint aut submit- Aut aris servare sacros, aut scindere terram,
tere pecori
Et campum horrentem fractis invertere glebis.
Cætera pascuntur virides armenta per herbas.
Tu, quos ad studium atque usum formabis agrestem,
164. Jam tu hortare Jam vitulos hortare, viamque insiste domandi ;
vitulos, quos formabis Dum faciles animi juvenum, dum mobilis ætas.
ad studium
155
160
165
Ac primùm laxos tenui de vimine circlos
Cervici subnecte: dehinc, ubi libera colla
Servitio assuêrint; ipsis è torquibus aptos
Junge pares, et coge gradum conferre, juvencos.
Atque illis jam sæpe rotæ ducantur inanes
Per terram, et summo vestigia pulvere signent.
Pòst valido nitens sub pondere faginus axis
Instrepat, et junctos temo trahat æreus orbes.
170
174. Intereà carpes Intereà pubi indomitæ non gramina tantùm,
manu non tantùm gra- Nec vescas salicum frondes, ulvamque palustrem ;
mina indomito pubi
Sed frumenta manu carpes sata: nec tibi fœtæ,
179. Sin tuum studi- More patrum, nivea implebunt mulctralia vaccæ;
um sit magis ad bellum, Sed tota in dulces consument ubera natos.
ferocesque
Sin ad bella magis studium, turmasque feroces,
NOTES.
river god of that name,) whom Jupiter
transformed into a heifer, when he was likely
to be surprised by Juno in his amour with
her. But discovering the trick, the goddess
sent Asilus to torment her. Upon which
she fled to Egypt; where Jupiter, taking
pity on her, restored her to her proper
shape. After which, she was married to
king Osiris; and, after her death, was wor-
shipped as a goddess under the name of Isis.
154. Mediis fervoribus: for media die.
158. Inurunt: in the sense of imprimunt.
159. Submittere: to set apart for breeders
-for propagating your stock or herd.
161. Horrentem: in the sense of asperum.
asperum.
162. Cætera armenta. The poet's mean-
ing is plainly this: that those calves that
are designed for breeding, for sacrifice, or
for the plough, are to be particularly desig-
nated, and taken care of; while it is suffi-
cient for the rest of the herd to feed at large,
without any such care or attention; and
with regard to those designed for the
plough, they should be trained up from the
first, and be accustomed to the yoke, while
they are docile and tractable.
164. Hortare: imp. of hortor: teach, or
train up. Ad studium: for labor. Mobilis:
in the sense of docilis.
166. Circlos: by syn. for circulos: bind
loose collars about their necks,
1.75
169. Junge pares, &c. The poet directs
the farmer to begin with his steers at an
early age; and first to hang collars lightly
about their necks. Afterwards, join two of
equal size by a cord connecting these col-
lars; and in this state make them walk and
keep pace together; and after they have
become accustomed to this discipline, then
make them draw empty wheels along the
ground-wheels without any carriage upon
them.
172. Valido: in the sense of magno. Or-
bes: for rotas, wheels.
174. Pubi indomita: for your steers un-
broken-not entirely subdued to the yoke.
175. Ulvam. The ulva was a kind of
grass, which grew in marshy grounds. We
have no particular name for it in our lan-
guage. Nec: in the sense of et.
176. Frumenta sata: planted, or sown
corn.
The poet would have the farmer to under-
stand, that the care of his steers is so im-
portant, that he should not only gather for
them grass, and the tender leaves of the
willow, and the marshy ulva; but even the
growing corn. He should consider nothing
too costly for them.
177. Fæta vacca: your suckling cows.
Fata: having young. The word also signi-
fies, being with young.
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
117
።
Aut Alphea rotis prælabi flumina Pisæ,
Et Jovis in luco currus agitare volantes ;
Primus equi labor est, animos atque arma videre
Bellantum, lituosque pati, tractuque gementem
Ferre rotam, et stabulo frænos audire sonantes.
Tum magis atque magis blandis gaudere magistri
Laudibus, et plausæ sonitum cervicis amare.
Atque hæc jam primò depulsus ab ubere matris
Audiat, inque vicem det mollibus ora capistris
Invalidus, etiamque tremens, etiam inscius ævi.
At, tribus exactis, ubi quarta accesserit æstas,
Carpere mox gyrum incipiat, gradibusque sonare
Compositis: sinuetque alterna volumina crurum,
Sitque laboranti similis: tum cursibus auras
Provocet ac per aperta volans, ceu liber habenis,
Equora, vix summâ vestigia ponat arenâ.
Qualis hyperboreis Aquilo cùm densus ab oris
Incubuit, Scythiæque hyemes atque arida differt
Nubila: tum segetes altæ campique natantes
Lenibus horrescunt flabris, summæque sonorem
Dant sylvæ, longique urgent ad litora fluctus :
Ille volat, simul arva fugâ, simul æquora verrens
Hic, vel ad Elei metas et maxima campi
Sudabit spatia, et spumas aget ore cruentas ;
Belgica vel molli meliùs feret esseda collo.
Tum demum crassâ magnum farragine corpus
NOTES.
180. Prælabi rotis. The poet here alludes
to the chariot races at the Olympic games,
celebrated upon the banks of the river Al-
pheus.
183. Lituos: the clarion, or curved horn;
put, by meton. for the sound of that instru-
ment.
Gementem tractu: in the sense of striden-
tem dum trahitur, says Heyne.
186. Sonitum plausæ cervicis: the sound
of the patted neck.
This refers to the custom of stroking, or
gently patting the horse on the neck, to
inspire him with courage.
188. Inque vicem: by Tmesis, for invicem
que: and now and then-occasionally.
Audiat. This is the common reading.
But Heyne, after Heinsius, reads audeat, of
the verb audeo.
189. Inscius ævi: ignorant, or inexperi-
enced, on account of his age-not conscious
of strength-knowing his weakness. Ser-
vius says: nondum habens ab annis fiduciam.
Davidson says: propter imbecilitatem ævi.
It is a Greek construction.
191. Sonare compositis gradibus: to prance
in regular steps.
Sinuetque: and let him bend the alternate
joints of his legs-or alternately the joints
of his legs.
Carpere: in the sense of describere.
180
185
190
195
187. Audiat hæc jam
primò depulsus ab ubere
200
201. Ille ventus volat
205
the poet appears to be this: After the horse
hath commenced his fourth year, let him be-
gin to amble, and prance, and exercise,
however laborious and fatiguing it may be
to him.
Or rather: let not his exercise in
reality be laborious and fatiguing, on ac-
count of his age; but let him resemble, or
be like to one laboring only, lest he be dispi-
rited from experience of his weakness. But
when he is properly trained by exercise, his
courage increased, and his confidence in
himself confirmed, then let him labor-let
him challenge the winds in his course.
194. Provocet. This is the common read-
ing. Heyne reads tum vocet.
Equera: in the sense of campos.
197. Incubuit: rushes forth. Rumus says,
imminet.
198. Natantes: in the sense of undantes.
182. Animos: courage. Contentiones,
says Rumus.
202. Hic, vel ad metas: this horse, either
at the goals of Elis, &c.
204. Esseda. The essedum was a kind of
vehicle, or carriage, adapted both for travel-
ling or war. It was used by the ancient
Gauls and Britons. Molli: tractable. in
opposition to reluctant.
205. Crassa farragine: with rich or fat-,
tening marsh. The farrago was a mixture
of wheat bran and barley meal, according
193. Similis laboranti. The meaning of to Servius.
118
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
206. Illis domitisjugo: Crescere jam domitis sinito: namque ante domandum :
Ingentes tollent animos; prensique negabunt
Verbera lenta pati, et duris parere lupatis.
Sed non ulla magis vires industria firmat,
Quàm Venerem et cæci stimulos avertere amoris ; 210
Sive boum, sive est cui gratior usus equorum.
Atque ideò tauros procul atque in sola relegant
Pascua, post montem oppositum, et trans flumina lata :
Aut intus clausos satura ad præsepia servant.
Carpit enim vires paulatim, uritque videndo
Fœmina: nec nemorum patitur meminisse, nec herbæ
215
217. Illa quidem facit Dulcibus illa quidem illecebris, et sæpe superbos
hoc dulcibus illecebris, et Cornibus inter se subigit decernere amantes.
sæpe subigit
Pascitur in magnâ sylvâ formosa juvenca:
Illi alternantes multâ vi prælia miscent
Vulneribus crebris: lavit ater corpora sanguis,
222. Obnixos adversa- Versaque in obnixos urgentur cornua vasto
rios
Cum gemitu: reboant sylvæque et magnus Olympus.
224. Nec est mos duos Nec mos bellantes unà stabulare: sed alter
bellantes
Victus abit, longèque ignotis exulat oris;
226. Plagas factas cor- Multa gemens ignominiam, plagasque superbi
nibus superbi victoris, Victoris, tum quos amisit inultus amores:
tum eos amores, quos
Et stabula aspectans regnis excessit avitis.
229. Et inter dura Ergò omni curâ vires exercet, et inter
saxa jacet
Dura jacet pernox instrato saxa cubili;
Frondibus hirsutis et carice pastus acutâ :
Et tentat sese, atque irasci in cornua discit,
Arboris obnixus trunco: ventosque lacessit
Ictibus, et sparsâ ad pugnam proludit arenâ.
Post, ubi collectum robur, viresque refectæ,
Signa movet, præcepsque oblitum fertur in hostem :
NOTES.
206. Namque. The poet advises the
farmer not to pamper or fatten his horses
before they are broken, and rendered tracta-
ble. If he do, they will be mettlesome and
high minded, (tollunt ingentes animos,) they
will show a stout and surly temper, and
when caught, will refuse to bear the limber
whip, and to obey the hard bits. Ante do-
mandum: before breaking. The gerund in
dum is of the nature of a substantive noun.
Ruæus says, antequàm domentur.
209. Industria: in the sense of cura.
211. Usus: in the sense of cultus.
214. Satura: in the sense of plena.
216. Fœmina: the female-the heifer.
220. Alternantes: in the sense of vicissim.
222. Cornua versa in obnixos: and their
horns turned against the contending foes,
are struck, &c.
Cum vasto gemitu. This seems not to re-
fer to the rage and violence of the antago-
nists, so much as to the groans and bellow-
ings of the conquered party; or to the oc-
220
225
230
235
casional groans of each, produced by the
repeated strokes given and received.
224. Bellantes: a part. of the verb bello,
used in the sense of adversarios.
Stabulare: in the sense of habitare.
226. Multa: in the sense of multùm.
228. Avitis regnis: from his hereditary
realms-from those fields in which he was
born, and in which he bore rule.
Aspicens: in the sense of respiciens.
230. Instrato cubili. Dr. Trapp, and Da-
vidson understand this to be a naked or un-
strowed bed. Ruæus takes instrato in the
sense of strato, strowed or made. The prep.
in sometimes in composition adds to the sig
nification of the primitive word; at other
times, changes it to an opposite sense.
Carice acutâ: sharp sedge.
235. Refectæ. This is the reading of
Heyne, after Heinsius. But recepte is the
common reading.
236. Movet signa: he moves his stand-
ards. A metaphor taken from the move
ment of an army.
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
119
240
245
250
Fluctus ut, in medio cœpit cùm albescere ponto,
Longiùs ex altoque sinum trahit: utque volutus
Ad terras, immanè sonat per saxa, nec ipso
Monte minor procumbit: at ima exæstuat unda
Vorticibus, nigramque altè subjectat arenam.
Omne adeò genus in terris hominumque ferarumque,
Et genus æquoreum, pecudes, pictæque volucres,
In furias ignemque ruunt: amor omnibus idem.
Tempore non alio catulorum oblita leæna
Sævior erravit campis: nec funera vulgò
Tam multa informes ursi stragemque dedêre
Per sylvas: tum sævus aper, tum pessima tigris:
Heu! malè tum Libyæ solis erratur in agris.
Nonne vides, ut tota tremor pertentet equorum
Corpora, si tantùm notas odor attulit auras!
Ac neque eos jam fræna virûm, neque verbera sæva,
Non scopuli, rupesque cavæ, atque objecta retardant
Flumina, correptos undâ torquentia montes.
Ipse ruit, dentesque Sabellicus exacuit sus,
Et pede prosubigit terram, fricat arbore costas,
Atque hinc atque illinc humeros ad vulnera durat.
Quid juvenis, magnum cui versat in ossibus ignem
Durus amor? nempe abruptis turbata procellis
Nocte natat cæcâ serus freta: quem super ingens
Porta tonat cœli, et scopulis illisa reclamant
Equora nec miseri possunt revocare parentes,
Nec moritura super crudeli funere virgo.
NOTES.
238. Trahit sinum: and draws a billowy
train, far from the deep.
Utque. Davidson reads atque, and thinks
it to be the correct reading, as being easier.
Some other copies have atque.
The whole of this description of the bat-
tle of the bulls, as well as what precedes it,
of the power of love, is among Virgil's mas-
ter-pieces, and is admired by all critics.
Nor less admired is what follows.
The va-
riety of objects, the force of the illustra-
tions, the propriety of the arrangement, and
the beauty and grandeur of the descriptions,
are obvious to every reader.
241. Subjectat: in the sense of erigit.
244. Ruunt in furias ignemque : rush into
a passion, and flame of this kind.
Furia, the same as furor, denotes any in-
ordinate passion or affection of the mind,
such as love, anger, &c. from the verb furo.
Ignem is much more expressive than amo-
rem. Besides the simple idea of love, it
implies the consuming and destructive ef-
fects of that passion upon the subjects of it.
248. Pessima: most fell-or savage.
249. Libya. Libya, a part of Africa, taken
for the whole of it, by synec.
This is men-
tioned, because it abounded in the most
savage beasts. Malè erratur: it is danger-
ous to wander.
255
260
258. Quid juvenis fa-
cit, cui durus
251. Odor attulit notas auras. This is, by
Commutatio, for, aura attulit notum odorem.
Equæ vel fœminæ is understood.
254. Aquâ: in the sense of vi aquarum.
Objecta: Ruæus says, interjecta.
boar rushes forth, &c. Sabellicus: an adj.
255. Sabellicus sus ipse: The Sabelline
from Sabelli, or Sabini, a people of Italy,
whose country abounded in forests, and
haunts of wild beasts.
258. Quid juvenis. The poet here alludes
to the story of Leander and Hero.
Leander was an inhabitant of Abydus, on
the Asian shore of the Hellespont, and pas-
sionately in love with Hero, a beautiful
maid, and priestess of Venus, who resided
at Sestus, on the European shore, and op-
posite to Abydus. He used to swim the
strait to visit his fair mistress. On a certain
occasion, passing over in a storm, he was
drowned. His dead body was driven to the
European shore, and espied by Hero; who,
in a transport of passion, threw herself upon
the corpse of her lover, and perished also.
259. Abruptis: violent-sudden.
261. Reclamant: in the sense of resonant.
263. Nec virgo moritura. This alludes to
the case of Hero, above mentioned. Super:
in, or by.
ご
​120
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Quid Lynces Bacchi variæ, et genus acre luporum,
265. Quid corvi faci- Atque canum? quid, quæ imbelles dant prælia cervi?
unt, et quæ prælia illi Scilicet ante omnes furor est insignis equarum :
imbellos dant?
Et mentem Venus ipsa dedit, quo tempore Glauci
Potniades malis membra absumpsêre quadriga.
Illas ducit amor trans Gargara, transque sonantem
Ascanium: superant montes, et flumina tranant :
Continuòque avidis ubi subdita flamma medullis,
Vere magis (quia vere calor redit ossibus) illæ
Ore omnes versæ in Zephyrum, stant rupibus altis,
Exceptantque leves auras: et sæpe sine ullis
Conjugiis, vento gravidæ, mirabile dictu!
Saxa per et scopulos et depressas convalles
277. Non ad tuos or- Diffugiunt: non, Eure, tuos, peque Solis, ad ortus,
tus, O Eure; neque ad In Boream, Caurumque, aut inde nigerrimus Auster
ortus Solis; neque in Bo- Nascitur, et pluvio contristat frigore cœlum.
ream, Caurumque, aut
ad eam partem, unde
283. Miscuerunt her-
bas cum eo
285. Dum nos capti
amore describendi
286. Hoc est satis
Hinc demum, Hippomanes, vero quod nomine dicunt
Pastores, lentum distillat ab inguine virus :
Hippomanes, quod sæpe malæ legêre novercæ,
Miscueruntque herbas, et non innoxia verba.
Sed fugit intereà, fugit irreparabile tempus,
Singula dum capti circumvectamur amore.
Hoc satìs armentis: superat pars altera curæ,
Lanigeros agitare greges, hirtasque capellas.
Hic labor: hinc laudem fortes sperate coloni.
Nec sum animi dubius, verbis ea vincere magnum
'NOTES.
264. Lynces. The Lynx is an animal,
some say, of the species of the wolf and
deer; others say, only spotted like a deer,
or panther, very quick sighted, and swift of
foot. The Lynces, as well as tigers, were
bound to the car of Bacchus. Hence Lyn-
oes Bacchi. Dant: in the sense of ge-
runt.
267. Mentem: disposition-passion. In-
dolem, says Heyne.
268. Potniades: an adj. from Potnia, a
town in Beotia, the native place of Glau-
cus: who, it is said, withheld the horse from
his mares; which so enraged them, that, by
way of revenge, at the instigation of Venus,
they tore him in pieces.
Potniades quadriga. The Potnian mares.
See Geor. i. 437.
269. Gargara: neu. plu. a part of mount
Ida, in Troas: here put for any mountain.
Ascanium. Ascanius, a river in Bithynia,
in Asia: here put for any river.
275. Gravidæ vento. This account of the
mares becoming pregnant by the wind, is
wholly fabulous; although mentioned by
Salinus, Columella, and Varro, as Ruæus
observes.
277. Non Eure, &c. Some understand
the passage thus: not to thy rising, O east,
nor the rising of the sun; but to the north,
Rumus, thus: they fled not to the east,
P-
266
270
275
279
285
nor to the north, nor to the part whence the
black south wind arises. And he gives, as
his reason: Quòd maxima pars scriptorum
videtur tribuere hanc vim (impregnandi equas)
uni Zephyro. Heyne understands it in the
first sense: sed in Boream, &c.
278. Caurum: the north-west wind.
279. Contristat: blackens. Ruæus takes
pluvio frigore in the sense of pluvia tempes-
tale. So does Heyne. Frigus, it is plain, is
not here to be taken in its usual sense. For
the south wind is not cold; on the contrary,
it is hot, and generally brings with it heavy
rains. It seems here to be used in the
sense of nimbus; a cloud impregnated with
vapor and rain.
280. Hippomanes. The Hippomanes was
of two kinds. The one a tough clammy
substance, lentum virus, which fell from the
mare, when she wanted the horse. This is
the kind here meant. The other was a
bunch, said to be on the forehead of the
newly foaled colt. See Æn. iv. 516.
After the conception, above mentioned, at
Hinc demum: from hence at length.
length, lentum virus distillat. Heyne reads:
Hic demum.
283. Non innoxia: in the sense of male-
fica, says Ruæus.
287. Agitare: to treat of fleecy flocks.
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
121
Quàm sit, et angustis hunc addere rebus honorem.
Sed me Parnassi deserta per ardua dulcis
Raptat amor: juvat ire jugis, quà nulla priorum
Castaliam molli divertitur orbita clivo.
Nunc, veneranda Pales, magno nunc ore sonandum.
Incipiens, stabulis edico in mollibus herbam
Carpere oves, dum mox frondosa reducitur æstas:
Et multâ duram stipulâ filicumque maniplis
Sternere subter humum, glacies ne frigida lædat
Molle pecus, scabiemque ferat, turpesque podagras.
Post, hinc digressus, jubeo frondentia capris
Arbuta sufficere, et fluvios præbere recentes;
Et stabula à ventis hyberno opponere Soli
Ad medium conversa diem: cùm frigidus olim
Jam cadit, extremoque irrorat Aquarius anno.
Hæ quoque non curâ nobis leviore tuendæ,
Nec minor usus erit: quamvis Milesia magno
Vellera mutentur, Tyrios incocta rubores.
Densior hinc soboles, hinc largi copia lactis.
Quàm magis exhausto spumaverit ubere mulctra ;
Læta magis pressis manabunt flumina mammis.
Nec minùs intereà barbas incanaque menta
Cinyphii tondent hirci, setasque comantes,
NOTES.
290. Quàm magnum: how great, or diffi-
cult.
According to Heyne, vincere ea verbis, may
mean, to reduce, or bring those things into
poetic numbers: Exprimere hæc commodè
poëtica oratione, says he. Rumus says, su-
verare ista argumenta sermonis dignitate.
Angustis: in the sense of parvis vel hu-
milibus.
291. Parnassi. Parnassus was a moun-
tain in Phocis, at the foot of which was the
fountain Castalia, sacred to the muses. See
Ecl. vi. 29.
292. Quà nulla orbita priorum. This is
a most happy circumlocution, to denote a
subject entirely new, and which had never
been treated of by any one before him.
294. Magno ore: in a high and lofty
strain, in order to add dignity to the sub-
ject; which, in importance, was inferior to
what he had just before been treating of.
Pales: see note 1, supra.
297. Maniplis filicum: with bundles of
the fern.
299. Ferat scabiem: should bring on the
scab, and foul gout.
291
292. Quà nulla orbita
priorum poëtarum
294. Nunc sonandum
295 est nobis
300
305
298. Subter ipsis ovi-
bus
300. Jubeo agricolam
sufficere
305. Hæ capra tuendæ
sunt nobis non leviore
curâ quàm oves
306. Milesia vellera
incocta quoad Tyrios ru-
bores mutentur magno
pretio.
310. Tantò magis læta
flumina lactis
;
310
que
312. Intereà pastores
tondent barbas, incana-
300. Frondentia arbuta: in the sense of
frondes arbuti.
301. Fluvios: in the sense of aquam.
Sufficere: in the sense of dare.
304. Cum frigidus Aquarius: when cold
Aquarius at length sets, and sheds his dew
in the end of the year.
Aquarius is a sign of the Ecliptic, into
which the sun enters about the 22d of Ja-
nuary. Also the same as Ganymedes, the
son of Tros, king of Troy, whom Jupiter,
in the form of an eagle, carried up to hea-
ven, and made his cup-bearer. Hence he is
usually represented. with a pitcher pouring
out water. The poet here seems to consider
the year as beginning with the month of
March, or Aries.
306. Milesia: Milesian wool. Milesia :
an adj. from Milesus, a city in the confines
of Ionia and Caria, famous for its wool.
308. Hinc densior: from hence (from the
goats) is a more numerous breed than from
the sheep-from them too a greater quan-
tity of milk.
Copia largi lactis: for larga copia lactis.
This is not, properly speaking, by any figure
of speech, but by what is commonly called
The podagra was a disease of the feet, as poetica licentia.
its name implies.
Columella mentions two diseases, that
affect the feet of sheep. One, when there is
a galling, and filth in the parting of the
hoof: the other, when there is a tubercle,
or swelling, in the same place, with a hair
in the middle, and a worm under it.
309. Ubere exhausto: their udders being
drained.
Quàm magis: in the sense of quantò
magis.
312. Cinyphii: an adj. from Cinyps, a
river of Africa, near the Garamantes, where
the goat was the most shaggy.
122
P. VIRGILII MARONJS
Usum in castrorum et miseris velamina nautis.
314. Verò capra pas- Pascuntur verò sylvas, et summa Lycæi,
cuntur
Horrentesque rubos, et amantes ardua dumos.
Atque ipsæ memores redeunt in tecta, suosque
317. Ducuntque suos Ducunt, et gravido superant vix ubere limen.
fœtus secum
Ergò omni studio glaciem ventosque nivales,
Quò minùs est illis curæ mortalis egestas,
Avertes: victumque feres et virgea lætus
Pabula nec totâ claudes fœnilia brumâ.
322. Cùm læta estas At verò, Zephyris cùm læta vocantibus æstas,
instat, Zephyris vocan- In saltus utrumque gregem atque in pascua mittes:
tibus, mittes utrumque Luciferi primo cum sidere, frigida rura
gregem ovium et capra-
rum
Carpamus: dum manè novum, dum gramina canent,
Et ros in tenerâ pecori gratissimus herbâ est.
Inde, ubi quarta sitim cœli collegerit hora,
Et cantu querulæ rumpent arbusta cicada;
Ad puteos, aut alta greges ad stagna jubeto
Currentem ilignis potare canalibus undam :
Estibus at mediis umbrosam exquirere vallem,
Sicubi magna Jovis antiquo robore quercus
333. Sicubi nemus ni- Ingentes tendat ramos; aut sicubi nigrum
grum crebris ilicibus ac- Ilicibus crebris sacrâ nemus accubet, umbrâ.
cubet
335. Tum jube pasto-
res dare illis tenues
Tum tenues dare rursus aquas, et pascere rursus
Solis ad occasum: cùm frigidus aëra Vesper
Temperat, et saltus reficit jam roscida Luna,
Litoraque halcyonen resonant et acanthida dumi.
NOTES.
315
320
326
330
335
314. Sylvas: in the sense of arbores, vel equator, but on every other day in the year,
per sylvas, &c.
it would vary from it.
Summa: in the sense of cacumina.
Lycai: Lyceus was a mountain in Ar-
cadia, sacred to Pan.
315. Ardua: high grounds. Loca is un-
derstood.
316. Suos: their young-the kids.
320. Virgea pabula: osier food-tender
twigs, or browse.
324. Cum primo, &c. The meaning is,
when the planet Venus first rises, going be-
fore the sun, for then it is called Lucifer,
the farmer should drive his flocks to pas-
ture; and early in the morning, when the
grass is moist and tender, let them feed.
Sidere: in the sense of ortu.
Carpamus frigida rura. Servius inter-
prets these words thus: Cogamus capras car-
pere frigida rura: hoc est, educamus greges
ad carpenda, &c.
327. Cæli. Davidson connects cœli with
sitim. Ruæus and some others take it in
the sense of dies, and connect it with quarta
hora. Either preserves the sense and spirit
of the poet.
He begins the day at the rising of the
sun, otherwise by the fourth hour, the sun
could not have caused thirst to man or beast.
This would correspond with our ten o'clock,
on those days when the sun is upon the
The Jews, and some other nations, began
their day at the rising of the sun. They
divided the time of his being above the ho-
rizon into 12 equal parts, and the time of
his being below it into 12 other equal parts,
making 24 portions of each diurnal revolu
tion. But this would make the hours of
very different lengths in the different parts
of the year. Some nations, on the other
hand, began the day at the setting of the
sun, and divided it in the same manner.
Modern nations generally begin the day at
midnight. The nautical day begins at noon,
or when the sun is upon the meridian.
328. Rumpent: weary, or rend the groves.
Cantu: in the sense of stridore.
330. Ilignis canalibus: in oaken troughs
Ilignis: an adj. from Ilex: the holm-oak.
331. Estibus: in the sense of die.
334. Accubet sacrâ umbrâ: hangs down,
or bends, with its sacred boughs. Umbra,
in the sense of ramis, by meton. Ruæus
says: Explicat sacram umbram.
338. Litora resonant: the shores resound
the king-fisher, and the bushes, the gold-
finch-with the music of the king-fishor,
and that of the goldfinch.
Acanthida: a Greek acc. of Acanthus
Sce Geor, i. 399.
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
123
Quid tibi pastores Libyæ, quid pascua versu
Prosequar, et raris habitata mapalia tectis?
Sæpe diem noctemque, et totum ex ordine mensem
Pascitur, itque pecus longa in deserta sine ullis
Hospitiis tantum campi jacet. Omnia secum
Armentarius Afer agit, tectumque, laremque,
340
346
Armaque, Amyclæumque canem, Cressamque pharetram.
Non secus ac patriis acer Romanus in armis
Injusto sub fasce viam cùm carpit, et hostem
Ante expectatum positis stat in agmine castris.
At non, quà Scythiæ gentes, Mæoticaque unda,
Turbidus et torquens flaventes Ister arenas:
Quàque redit medium Rhodope porrecta sub axem.
NOTES.
340. Prosequar: in the sense of dicam. Sal-
lust describes these Mapalia, (or Magalia,)
thus: Edificia Numidarum, quæ mapilia illi
vocant, oblonga incurvis lateribus tecta sunt;
quasi navium carina. Heyne says of them:
Sparsa passim per agros, non in vicos collecta.
Ruæus takes habitata in the sense of con-
stantes. Paucis casis constantes, says he.
341. Ex ordine: in succession-one after
another without intermission.
343. Hospitiis: retreat-shelter.
344. Larem. The Lares were domestic
gods like the Penates. There is some un-
certainty with regard to their origin. At
the first, their office was confined to houses
and domestic affairs. Afterward, however,
their power and influence were very much
extended. We find the Lares Urbani, that
presided over cities; Lares Rustici, that pre-
sided over the country; Lares Compitales,
that presided over cross-ways; Lares Ma-
rini, that presided over the sea; Lares Vi-
ales, that presided over roads, &c. Some
say there were only two that were properly
called Lares, and these the sons of Mercury
and the nymph Lara, or Larunda. It is
more probable, however, that they were
the Manes of parents, who being buried
within the walls, or at the entrance of
the house they inhabited, were thought to
have á care of the things pertaining to it, and
through the superstition of the age, received
divine honors. They were worshipped un-
der the form of a dog: or, as some say,
only covered with the skin of that animal,
because he is a trusty guard to the house.
Lares, by meton. is often put for one's
house, habitation, or family. Agit: in the
sense of fert.
345. Amyclæum: an adj. from Amycle,
a city of Laconia, famous for its dogs and
hunting, and for its being the reputed place
of the nativity of Castor and Pollux.
Cressam: an adj. from Creta, a well
known island in the Mediterranean, whose
inhabitants were famous in the art of
shooting. Arma: utensils.
340. Quid prosequar
tibi versu pastores Li-
byæ, quid
342. Sæpe pecus pas-
citur
349. At non est sic,
350 quà sunt Scythiæ gentes
346. Non secùs: no otherwise than the brave
Roman in the arms of his country, when he
marches out under his unequal load, and
stands in battle array against the expected
enemy.
This passage hath somewhat divided com-
mentators. Vegetius, quoting it in his art
of war, hath hostem instead of hosti: ante
hostem expectatum. This certainly is the
best and easiest reading. But hosti is the
usual reading. Ante expectatum is usually
taken in the sense of antequam expectetur, on
the authority of verse 206, where ante do-
mandum is plainly for ante dometur. But
the two cases are not exactly similar; the
latter being a gerund, and the former a par-
ticiple adjective. On the whole, I prefer
hostem, as being the easiest.
But there is another reason, which hath
some weight. Let it be asked, why the
Roman should march forth, pitch his camp,
and stand in battle array, while an enemy is
not looked for, or expected? But taking
expectatum, with Vegetius, to agree with
hostem, the difficulty will be removed.
Ante expectatum hostem: before, or against
the expected foe-in the way to meet him.
Ante signifies before, with respect to place,
to time, and to dignity.
Heyne informs us that the Medicean, and
some other copies have hostem, but he retains
the usual reading.
347. Sub injusto fasce. The Roman sol-
dier carried his shield, sword, helmet, &c.
and also provisions sufficient for half a
month: in weight about 60 pounds. Fasce:
in the sense of onere.
349. Maotica unda. This is the Palus
Mæotis, or the sea of Azof, lying to the north
of the Euxine, but connected with it by the
straits of Caffa. The ancients called all
those nations lying toward the north of
Europe and Asia, Scythians.
350. Ister: the Danube.
351. Rhodope. A range of mountains
rising in Thrace, and extending to the east
124
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
4
Illic clausa tenent stabulis armenta: neque ullæ
Aut herbæ campo apparent, aut arbore frondes :
354. Terra jacet in- Sed jacet aggeribus niveis informis, et alto
formis niveis aggeribus, Terra gelu latè, septemque assurgit in ulnas.
et alto gelu latè
356. Illic semper est
Semper hyems, semper spirantes frigora Cauri.
hyems
Tum Sol pallentes haud unquam discutit umbras:
Nec cùm invectus equis altum petit æthera; nec cùm
Præcipitem Oceani rubro lavit æquore currum.
Concrescunt subitæ currenti in flumine crustæ :
Undaque jam tergo ferratos sustinet orbes,
Puppibus illa priùs patulis, nunc hospita plaustris:
Eraque dissiliunt vulgò, vestesque rigescunt
364. Cœdunt vina priùs Indutæ, cæduntque securibus humida vina,
humida
371. Incolæ non agi-
tant hos pavidos
373. Sed cominùs ob-
truncant eos ferro frus-
trà trudentes pectore op-
positum montem nivis
376. Incolæ ipsi agunt
secura otia
•
Et totæ solidam in glaciem vertêre lacunæ,
Stiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis.
Intereà toto non seciùs aëre ningit :
Intereunt pecudes: stant circumfusa pruinis
355
360
365
375
Corpora magna boum: confertoque agmine cervi
Torpent mole novâ, et summis vix cornibus extant. 370
Hos non immissis canibus, non cassibus ullis,
Puniceæve agitant pavidos formidine pennæ:
Sed frustrà oppositum trudentes pectore montem
Cominùs obtruncant ferro, graviterque rudentes
Cædunt, et magno læti clamore reportant.
Ipsi in defossis specubus secura sub altâ
Otia agunt terrâ: congestaque robora, totasque
Advolvêre focis ulmos, ignique dedêre.
Hic noctem ludo ducunt, et pocula læti
Fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea sorbis.
Talis Hyperboreo septem subjecta trioni
NOTES.
and south till it meets mount Hemus; after
which it turns, and stretches toward the
north.
354. Informis: deformed-disfigured by
the mounds of snow.
355. Septem ulnas: this is about ten and
a half feet of our measure.
357. Discutit: in the sense of dissipat.
359. Lavit: washes his descending car in
the red surface of the ocean.
The ocean is here called red, on account
of the reflection of the sun's rays from its
surface, when near the horizon.
361. Ferratos orbes: wheels bound with
iron.
362. Illa priùs hospita: that (the water
in the rivers) before friendly to the broad
ships-now to wagons.
Hospita: hospitable-kind; receiving
them as a guest, and treating them with
kindness.
364. Humida: in the sense of liquida.
Priùs liquida, says Rumus.
So intense is the cold in high northern
latitudes, that the spirit of wine has been
frozen in the thermometer.
380
371. Non agitant hos: they do not pur-
sue them, &c.
The formido was a line or cord, to which
plumes of various colors were fastened, for
the purpose of terrifying wild beasts. It
was so extended or stretched in their usual
haunts, or paths, as to lead or direct them.
insensibly into the net. Puniceœ: red—
crimson.
379. Læti imitantur: joyous, they imitate
the draughts of wine with their beer and
acid cider.
Fermento: any fermented liquor.
Acidis sorbis: the acid sorb-apples, or
service-berries; by meton. for the liquor
made of them, usually rendered cider.
380. Vitea pocula: wine. This is highly
poetical.
381. Septem-trioni. The parts of the
word are separated by Tmesis.
The Septemtrio is a constellation near the
north pole, called the greater bear; in
which are seven stars, sometimes called the
plough, because they are supposed to lie in
that shape; also the parts of the world
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
125
Gens effræna virum Riphæo tunditur Euro:
Et pecudum fulvis velantur corpora setis.
Si tibi lanicium curæ: primùm aspera sylva,
Lappæque tribulique absint: fuge pabula læta :
Continuòque greges villis lege mollibus albos.
Illum autem, quamvis aries sit candidus ipse,
Nigra subest udo tantùm cui lingua palato,
Rejice, ne maculis infuscet vellera pullis
Nascentûm; plenoque alium circumspice campo.
Munere sic niveo lanæ, si credere dignum est,
Pan Deus Arcadia captam te, Luna, fefellit,
In nemora alta vocans: nec tu aspernata vocantem.
At cui lactis amor, cytisum, lotosque frequentes
Ipse manu, salsasque ferat præsepibus herbas.
Hinc et amant fluvios magis, et magis ubera tendunt,
Et salis occultum referunt in lacte saporem.
Multi jam excretos prohibent à matribus hædos,
Primaque ferratis præfigunt ora capistris.
Quod surgente die mulsêre, horisque diurnis,
Nocte premunt: quod jam tenebris, et sole cadente,
Sub lucem exportans calathis adit oppida pastor,
Aut parco sale contingunt, hyemique reponunt.
Nec tibi cura canum fuerit postrema: sed unà
Veloces Spartæ catulos, acremque Molossum
Pasce sero pingui: nunquam, custodibus illis,
Nocturnum stabulis furem, incursusque luporum,
Aut impacatos à tergo horrebis Iberos.
Sæpe etiam cursu timidos agitabis onagros :
Et canibus leporem, canibus venabere damas.
Sæpe volutabris pulsos sylvestribus apros
Latratu turbabis agens: montesque per altos
Ingentem clamore premes ad retia cervum.
NOTES.
lying under that constellation; also simply,
the north. Subjecta: lying-placed.
384. Lanicium: the woollen trade, or
manufacture.
Lappæque, tribulique: both burrs, and
thistles.
386. Greges: in the sense of oves.
390. Nascentûm: a part of nascor, used
as a sub.: of the lambs.
391. Niveo munere. The poet hath refer-
ence here to the fable of Pan's being in love
with Luna. By changing himself into a
snow-white ram, he deceived her; and de-
coying her into the woods, deflowered her.
Probus, however, relates the story different-
ly. He says, Pan being in love with Luna,
offered her the choice of any of his flock;
and choosing the whitest, she was deceived,
because they were the worst.
396. Tendunt: in the sense of distendunt.
398. Excretos: grown large-or suffi-
ciently grown to take care of themselves;
of ex and cresco.
385
1
387. Autem, quamvis
aries ipse sit candidus,
rejice illum, cui tantùm
390 nigra
395
400
405
410
393. Nec tu aspernata
es eum
400. Quod lactis mul-
sere die
401. Quod lactis mul-
sere tenebris
399. Prima ora præfigunt ferratis capis-
tris: by Hypallage for, præfigunt ferrata ca-
pistra primis oribus: they prefix to the end
of their mouths iron muzzles. These were
in such a form as to prick the dam, if she
offered to let them suck; but not to prevent
them from eating grass.
402. Exportans caldthis: carrying it in
baskets, he goes, &c.-carrying it made into
butter, curds, and cheese.
405. Sparte: the most famous city of the
Peloponnesŝus, and celebrated for its excel-
lent dogs.
Molossum: a dog, so called from Molossia,
a country of Epirus, so called from Molossus,
the son of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, and
Andromache, the widow of Hector. See
Æn. ii. 292.
408. Iberos: the Spaniards, so called, from
the Iberus, (Hodie, Ebro,) a river of Spain.
They were so notorious for their robberies,
that they became a proverb. The poet here
uses their name for robbers in general.
M
126
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere cedrum,
Galbaneoque agitare graves nidore chelydros.
Sæpe sub immotis præsepibus, aut mala tactu
Vipera delituit, cœlumque exterrita fugit;
415
Aut tecto assuetus coluber succedere et umbræ,
Pestis acerba boum, pecorique aspergere virus,
Fovit humum. Cape saxa manu, cape robora, pastor,
Tollentemque minas, et sibila colla tumentem,
Dejice jamque fugâ timidum caput abdidit altè,
Cùm medii nexus, extremæque agmina caudæ,
Solvuntur, tardosque trahit sinus ultimus orbes.
Est etiam ille malus Calabris in saltibus anguis,
Squamea convolvens sublato pectore terga,
421
427. Maculosus quoad Atque notis longam maculosus grandibus alvum:
longam
Qui, dum amnes ulli rumpuntur fontibus, et dum
428. Qui serpens colit Vere madent udo terræ, ac pluvialibus Austris,
stagna
425
435
Stagna colit; ripisque habitans, hìc piscibus atram 430
Improbus ingluviem, ranisque loquacibus explet.
Postquam exhausta palus, terræque ardore dehiscunt;
433. In siccum cam- Exilit in siccum; et flammantia lumina torquens,
pum
Sævit agris, asperque siti, atque exterritus æstu.
Ne mihi tum molles sub dio carpere somnos,
Neu dorso nemoris libeat jacuisse per herbas,
Cùm positis novus exuviis, nitidusque juventâ,
Volvitur, aut catulos tectis aut ova relinquens,
Arduus ad Solem, et linguis micat ore trisulcis.
Morborum quoque te causas et signa docebo.
NOTES.
415. Galbaneo: an adj. from galbanum,
a gum, or liquor, at the smell of which ser-
pents flee.
Chelydros: Chelydrus is properly a water
tortoise-a land or water snake: qui modò
in paludibus, modò in arboribus latet.
417. Vipera: a species of serpent, very
poisonous; so called from the circumstance
of its bringing forth its young alive.
Cœlum: for lucem. Mala: noxious-
poisonous.
418. Coluber: a species of snake, which
Mr. Martyn takes for the same that Pliny
calls boas, from the circumstance of its feed-
ing on cow's milk, which it draws from the
teat. If this be the case, we see the pro-
priety of the poet's calling the serpent,
acerba pestis boum: the direful pest of cattle.
420. Fovit terram: hugs the ground.
423. Medii nexus: the middle joints.
Agminaque extremæ cauda: the move-
ments, or windings of the end of his tail.
Agmen is properly an army of men on the
march; it is also said of a serpent: Quia
corporis pars pòst partem succedit, atque agi-
tur instar exercitûs agminatim procedentis,
says Ruæus.
424 Ultimus sinus: the extreme joints or
folds of his tail draw the slow wreaths or
spires along. Ruæus says, extrema curvatura.
440
425. Calabris: an adj. from Calabria, the
south-eastern part of Italy.
It is agreed that the snake here spoken of
is the chersydrus. These serpents abounded
in that part of Italy. They were amphi-
bious. Their name is of Greek origin.
The poet here gives a very lively descrip-
tion of that destructive reptile.
428. Rumpuntur: in the sense of erum-
punt, vel rumpunt se.
430. Improbus implet: greedy, he fills his
filthy maw with fish, &c.
432. Exhausta: exhausted-dried up.
Valpy reads exusta, but mentions no autho-
rity. Exhausta is the common reading.
435. Tum ne libeat mihi: then may it not
please me to take, &c.
436. Dorso. Some render dorso, on the
back, referring it to the posture of lying.
But there is no necessity of this, if we sup
pose the grove to be on an eminence, or hill
on the side or edge of a grove.
437. Positis exuviis: his skin being put
off. The snake, it is well known, changes
his skin every year. Exuit à capite primùm,
says Pliny.
438. Tectis his habitation-den.
439. Micat ore: he vibrates with his three
forked tongue in his mouth; that is, his
three forked tongue vibrates in his mouth.
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
127
;
:
445
450
Turpis oves tentat scabies, ubi frigidus imber
Altiùs ad vivum persedit, et horrida cano
Bruma gelu: vel cùm tonsis illotus adhæsit
Sudor, et hirsuti secuerunt corpora vepres.
Dulcibus idcirco fluviis pecus omne magistri
Perfundunt, udisque aries in gurgite villis
Mersatur, missusque secundo defluit amni :
Aut tonsum tristi contingunt corpus amurcá,
Et spumas miscent argenti, vivaque sulphura,
Idæasque pices, et pingues unguine ceras,
Scillamque, helleborosque graves, nigrumque bitumen.
Non tamen ulla magis præsens fortuna laborum est,
Quàm si quis ferro potuit rescindere summum
Ulceris os alitur vitium, vivitque tegendo:
Dum medicas adhibere manus ad vulnera pastor
Abnegat, et meliora Deos sedet omina poscens.
Quin etiam ima dolor balantûm lapsus ad ossa
Cùm furit, atque artus depascitur arida febris;
Profuit incensos æstus avertere, et inter
Ima ferire pedis salientem sanguine venam,
Bisaltæ quo more solent, acerque Gelonus,
Cùm fugit in Rhodopen, atque in deserta Getarum,
Et lac concretum cum sanguine potat equino.
Quam procul, aut molli succedere sæpiùs umbræ
Videris, aut summas carpentem ignaviùs herbas,
Extremamque sequi, aut medio procumbere campo
Pascentem, et sera solam decedere nocti ;
Continuò culpam ferro compesce, priusquàm
NOTES.
443. Tonsis: to the shorn sheep. Ovibus
is understood.
445. Magistri: in the sense of pastores.
446. Gurgite: in the sense of fluvio.
448. Tristi: bitter.
Contingunt: in the sense of ungunt.
449. Spumas argenti: litharge. Some
understand quicksilver; but it is not certain
whether the ancients called that, spuma ar-
genti.
450. Idœas pices: the pitch is here called
Idæan, from mount Ida, in Troas, whose
pitch was the best.
451. Scillam: the squill, or sea onion; it is a
bulbous root, like an onion, but much larger.
Helleboros. There are two kinds of hel-
lebore, the white and the black. The for-
mer, says Mr. Martyn,is serviceable in dis-
eases of the skin, if it be externally applied;
but it will not do to be taken internally, as
the black kind will. Hence he thinks, Vir-
Hence he thinks, Vir-
gil here means the white, by his using the
epithet gravis, strong-scented.
452. Fortuna laborum: remedy of their
disease, or sufferings. Præsens: speedy-
efficacious.
454. Summum os ulceris: the highest part,
or head of the sore. Vitium: the malady,
or disease. Tegendo: by being concealed.
455
460
443. Bruma horrida
cano gelu
461. Eodem more, quo
Bisaltæ solent ferire ve
nam
464. Quam ovem vi-
deris procul, aut succe
465 dere sæpiùs molli um-
bræ
466. Extremamque se
qui cæteras
456. Meliora omina: better success-or
luck.
Verbs of asking, teaching, &c. govern
two accusatives, one of the person, the other
of the thing.
457. Lapsus: penetrating.
460. Inter ima pedis: in the sense of in-
ter imas ungulas pedis: between the divi-
sions or parts of the hoof. Ferire: to open
a vein.
461. Bisaltæ: a people of Macedonia.
Geloni: a people of Scythia, who paint-
ed their bodies, to be more terrible to their
enemies.
462. Getarum: the Gete were a people
of Thrace, inhabiting Masia interior, not
far from the mouth of the Ister.
463. Concretum: thickened.
467. Decedere sera nocti: to yield or give
place to the late night. She was the last
to leave the pasture grounds, and then com-
pelled only by the darkness of the night.
She yielded to the darkness, and went
home.
468. Culpam. By this we are to understand
the diseased sheep, and not simply the af
fected part, as Rumus and some others un- .
derstand it. The poet advises, as soon as
you discover, by the signs above mentioned,
C
128
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Dira per incautum serpant contagia vulgus.
Non tam creber, agens hyemem, ruit æquore turbo; 470
471. Quàm pestes pe- Quàm multæ pecudum pestes: nec singula morbi
Corpora corripiunt; sed tota æstiva repentè,
cudum sunt multæ
[tem
475
Spemque, gregemque simul, cunctamque ab origine gen-
474. Tum ille sciat Tum sciat, aërias Alpes et Norica si quis
hoc esse verum, siquis eti Castella in tumulis, et Iapidis arva Timavi,
am nunc quoque tantò
pòst videat aërias Alpes, Nunc quoque pòst tantò videat, desertaque regna
et Norica castella in tu- Pastorum, et longè saltus latèque vacantes.
mulis, et arva lapidis
Timavi, desertaque reg-
na pastorum, et saltus
Hic quondam morbo cœli miseranda coorta est
Tempestas, totoque autumni incanduit æstu,
Et genus omne neci pecudum dedit, omne ferarum, 480
Corrupitque lacus, infecit pabula tabo.
Nec via mortis erat simplex: sed ubi ignea venis
Omnibus acta sitis miseros adduxerat artus;
Rursus abundabat fluidus liquor; omniaque in se
Ossa minutatim morbo collapsa trahebat.
485
Sæpe in honore Deûm medio stans hostia ad aram,
Lanea dum niveâ circumdatur infula vittâ,
Inter cunctantes cecidit moribunda ministros.
489. Aut si sacerdos Aut si quam ferro mactaverat antè sacerdos ;
mactaverat quam hos- Inde
neque impositis ardent altaria fibris,
tiam ferro, antè-quàm Nec responsa potest consultus reddere vates:
492. Suppositi viceri- Ac vix suppositi tinguntur sanguine cultri,
bus vix tinguntur
ceciderat, inde
498. Victor equus, in-
felix, et immemor studi-
orum, atque herbæ, la-
bitur
Summaque jejunâ sanie infuscatur arena.
Hinc lætis vituli vulgò moriuntur in herbis,
Et dulces animas plena ad præsepia reddunt.
Hinc canibus blandis rabies venit; et quatit ægros
Tussis anhela sues, ac faucibus angit obesis.
Labitur infelix studiorum, atque immemor herbæ
NOTES.
that any one of your sheep is diseased, to
take away the faulty animal: kill it forth
with, that the contagion may not spread
among the unwary flock. This is the sense
of Davidson and Valpy.
474. Norica: an adj. from Noricum, a
country of Germany, in the neighborhood
of the Alps, but beyond them with regard
to Italy.
Timavi: Timavus, a small river in the
Venetian territory, called Iapidis (Iapidian)
from lapides, an ancient people, who in-
habited that part of it, through which the
Timavus flowed.
476. Regna: possessions.
479. Miseranda tempestas: a direful pes-
tilence arose.
Estu: heat. Incanduit: raged during
the whole heat of autumn.
481. Tabo: with a poisonous quality.
Lacus: in the sense of aquam.
It was
482. Nec via mortis: nor was the manner
of their death simple and common.
complicated, and attended with affecting
circumstances.
483. Sitis: properly thirst. By meton.
the fever causing it. Ignea sitis: the raging
fever.
490
495
485. Trahebat omnia: and drew all the
bones, wasted, or consumed, little by little,
by the disease, into itself. Convertebat in
se, says Ruæus.
487. Infula. This was a broad wreath,
or band, made of wool, and bound about the
temples of the victim; but not covering
the whole head: from it hung the vitta, or
fillet.
490. Fibris: the flesh.
492. Suppositi: applied to the carcass,
or flesh.
493. Jejuna sanie: with the meagre gore.
In these diseases, the blood was wasted, or
converted into a thin meagre fluid, which
the poet calls fluidus liquor. This per-
vaded the body so thoroughly, that it even
converted the marrow, and life of the bones,
into itself.
496. Rabies: madness.
497. Anhela tussis: a wheezing cough
shakes the diseased swine.
Obesis: a disease something like the
quinsy.
498. Studiorum: of his exercises-those
races in which he bore off the palm of vic-
tory.
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
129
Victor equus, fontesque avertitur, et pede terram
Crebra ferit: demissæ aures: incertus ibidem
Sudor; et ille quidem morituris frigidus: aret
Pellis, et ad tactum tractanti dura resistit.
Hæc ante exitium primis dant signa diebus:
Sin in processu cœpit crudescere morbus,
Tum verò ardentes oculi, atque attractus ab alto
Spiritus interdum gemitu gravis: imaque longo
Ilia singultu tendunt: it naribus ater
Sanguis, et obsessas fauces premit aspera lingua.
Profuit inserto latices infundere cornu
Lenæos ea visa salus morientibus una.
Mox erat hoc ipsum exitio : furiisque refecti
Ardebant: ipsique suos, jam morte sub ægrâ,
(Dî meliora piis, erroremque hostibus illum)
Discissos nudis laniabant dentibus artus.
(D₁
Ecce autem duro fumans sub vomere taurus
Concidit, et mixtum spumis vomit ore cruorem,
Extremosque ciet gemitus: it tristis arator,
Mærentem abjungens fraternâ morte juvencum,
Atque opere in medio defixa relinquit aratra.
* 500
501. Et ille sudor qui-
dem erat frigidus iis
morituris
504. In processu tem-
505 poris
510
515
Non umbræ altorum nemorum, non mollia possunt 520
Prata movere animum, non, qui per saxa volutus
Purior electro campum petit, amnis: at ima
Solvuntur latera, atque oculos stupor urget inertes,
Ad terramque fluit devexo pondere cervix.
Quid labor, aut benefacta juvant? quid vomere terras
Invertisse graves? atqui non Massica Bacchi
Munera, non illis epulæ nocuere repôstæ:
Frondibus et victu pascuntur simplicis herbæ :
Pocula sunt fontes liquidi, atque exercita cursu
Flumina: nec somnos abrumpit cura salubres.
Tempore non alio, dicunt, regionibus illis,
Quæsitas ad sacra boves Junonis, et uris
NOTES.
Infelix: Unhappy-miserable, after all
his noble deeds. This is the sense of Ruxus.
500. Incertus: uncertain-the cause of
which was unknown: or, various fluctua-
ting-coming on, and going off, by turns.
Crebrà: here used adverbially; a Grecism.
506. Spiritus attractus: their
their breath,
drawn from the bottom of the breast, is
sometimes heavy (interrupted) with a groan.
Singultu: a sob, or sobbing.
508. Obsessas: swollen-obstructed.
510. Lenæos latices: simply, wine.
Cornu inserto: a horn put down their
throat, through which the wine was poured.
513. Dii meliora, &c. May the gods
grant better things to the pious, and that
madness, or destruct.on to our enemies.
The verb reddant, or another of the like
import, is understood.
523. Ima latera: their flanks are lank, or
Rabby. Flaccescunt, says Heyne.
509. Primò profuit.
511. Illi refacti illo
vino
512. Ipsique jam sub
ægra morte, laniabant
suos artus discissos
525. Quid eorum labor,
526 aut benefacta homini
juvant eos? Quid juval
eos invertisse graves ter-
ras vomere?
530
Stupor: a stupor, or death-like appear-
ance, rests upon their heavy eyes.
525. Juvant: Rumus says, prosunt.
526. Massica: the Massic gifts of Bac-
chus-wine.
Massica: an adj. from Massicus, a moun-
tain in Campania, famous for its rich wines.
530. Nec cura, &c. Nor does care inter-
rupt their healthful slumbers.
The whole account of this fatal murrain
is one of Virgil's finest pieces. But from the
515th line, Ecce autem, &c. it is extremely
tender, and inimitable in beauty; and par-
ticularly the last six lines. They were su
much admired by Scaliger, that he declares,
he had rather have been the author of
them, than to have had the favor of Crusns,
or Cyrus.
532. Quæsitas: sought after-wanted.
10
130
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
533. Currus ejus duc- Imparibus ductos alta ad donaria currus.
tos fuisse ad
ægre rimantur
Ergò ægrè rastris terram rimantur, et ipsis
534. Ergò agricole Unguibus infodiunt fruges, montesque per altos
Contentâ cervice trahunt stridentia plaustra.
Non lupus insidias explorat ovilia circùm,
535
:
549. Magistri medicina
cessere mederi.
552. Antè se
Nec gregibus nocturnus obambulat: acrior illum
Cura domat. Timidi damæ, cervique fugaces
Nunc interque canes, et circùm tecta vagantur.
Jam maris immensi prolem, et genus omne natantûm,
Litore in extremo, ceu naufraga corpora, fluctus
Proluit insolitæ fugiunt in flumina phocæ.
Interit et curvis frustrà defensa latebris
Vipera, et attoniti, squamis astantibus, hydri.
Ipsis est aër avibus non æquus, et illæ
Præcipites altâ vitam sub nube relinquunt.
Prætereà, nec jam mutari pabula refert,
Quæsitæque nocent artes: cessêre magistri,
Phillyrides Chiron, Amythaoniusque Melampus.
Sævit et in lucem Stygiis emissa tenebris
Pallida Tisiphone: morbos agit antè metumque,
Inque dies avidum surgens caput altiùs effert.
Balatu pecorum, et crebris mugitibus, amnes,
Arentesque sonant ripæ, collesque supini.
Jamque catervatim dat stragem, atque aggerat ipsis
In stabulis turpi dilapsa cadavera tabo:
540
545
550
555
558. Donec Agricola Donec humo tegere, ac foveis abscondere discant.
discant tegere illa humo Nam neque erat coriis usus: nec viscera quisquam
561. Nec possunt qui- Nec tondere quidem morbo illuvieque peresa
Aut undis abolere potest, aut vincere flammâ.
Vellera, nec telas possunt attingere putres.
dem tondere vellera, pe-
resa
NOTES.
533. Uris imparibus: by buffaloes, une-
qually matched. Ductos: drawn. Riman-
tur: break up, or till.
536. Contenta cervicê: with their strained
neck, they draw, &c.
537. Explorat: meditates, or designs.
Meditatur, says Ruæus.
541. Jam fluctus: now the waves wash
up the race of the boundless, &c.
Such was the extent, and degree of the
infection of the air, that it reached even to
the scaly tribes. But Aristotle observes,
that infectious diseases never reach to, or
invade, fishes.
Natantûm: a pres. part. of the verb nato,
taken as a sub. of fishes.
543. Insolitœ; unusual-contrary to their
custom.
550. Chiron. He was the son of Saturn
and Phillyra. It is said he taught Escu-
lapius in physic, Hercules in astronomy, and
Achilles in music.
Melampus: the son of Amythaon and Do-
ripe. They were both famous physicians:
here used for the masters of medicine in
general.
560
551. Stygiis: an adj. from Styx, a river of
Arcadia, whose water was so cold and por
sonous, that it proved fatal to all who drank
it. This, together with the circumstance of
its disappearing under the earth, led the poets
to feign it to be a river of hell, around which,
they say, it flowed nine times. It was held
in such veneration by the gods, that they
usually swore by it; and if they violated
their oath at any time, they were to be de-
prived of their divinity for 100 years.
553. In dies: daily-every day.
555. Supini colles: sloping hills.
556. Jamque dat: and now she (Tisi
phone).deals destruction by herds, &c.
557. Dilapsa: wasted, or consumed.
559. Nec quisquam: nor could any one
cleanse it with water, or purify it by fire-
conquer, or overcome the infection by fire.
Viscera: the flesh in general; all that is
under the skin.
560. Undis: in the sense of aqua.
562. Putres telas: the putrid, or infectious
cloth-the cloth made of the filthy and cor-
rupted wool.
Telas: the web, put by synec. for the whole
cloth.
GEORGICA. LIB. III.
131
Verùm etiam invisos si quis tentârat amictus;
Ardentes papulæ, atque immundus olentia sudor
Membra sequebatur; nec longo deinde moranti
Tempore, contactos artus sacer ignis edebat
NOTES.
564. Ardentes papula: red, fiery pimples,
or blains.
565. Sequebatur: spread over the noi-
some body.
566. Sacer ignis: the erysipelas, or St.
Anthony's fire. It consurned those parts of
the body with which the garments (amictus)
came in contact.
555
565. Deinde sacer ig-
nis edebat contactos ar-
tus illi moranti dimittere
eos amictus à se, nec
longo tempore.
The meaning of these last six lines ap-
pears to be this: That the people were
forced at length to abstain from shearing
the infected fleeces; or touching the wool;
or ever wearing any garments, when made
of it: because those, who had done so, had
been great sufferers thereby.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this book?
How does the poet commence?
Why does he first invoke Pales?
How was she worshipped?
What were her festivals called?
After finishing the main subject, does he
add any thing by way of episode?
What number of episodes has he added?
What are the subjects of these episodes?
What is the general character of them?
May they be reckoned among the finest
parts of the Georgics?
How does the book conclude?
Who was Hippodame?
What is said of Enomaus?
Who was his daughter?
Who was Pelops?
And what is said of his father?
In what year of the world were the Olym-
pic games instituted?
How often were they celebrated?
Did they form an important era in the
Grecian history?
What other games were there in Greece?
In honor of whom were the Nemean games
instituted?
And to commemorate what event?
In honor of whom were the Pythian
games instituted?
And to commemorate what event?
Who instituted the Isthmean games?
Where were they celebrated?
And in honor of whom?
Who was Tithonus?
How long did he live before Augustus?
In what sense do Servius and Eustathius
consider the word Tithonus, as used by the
poet in reference to Augustus ?
Who were the Lapitha?
What are they said to have done?
What was the name of their principal city?
Can you mention any nation that began
the day at the rising of the sun?
How did they divide the day?
How did they divide the night?
What effect would this have upon the
length of their hours?
When do modern nations begin the day?
When does the nautical day commence?
Who, probably, wero the Lares?
Over what did they preside?
For what is the word Lares taken by
meton.?
What was the usual weight which the
Roman soldier carried on his march ?
Of what did it consist?
What were all those nations called by the
Romans that inhabited the northern part of
Europe and Asia?
Was there any particular part of this
book much admired by Scaliger?
What part was that?
\
LIBER QUARTUS.
THIS Book treats of the culture of bees. After proposing the subject, the poet shows the
proper stations for placing their hives; and having noticed some particulars respecting
the management of the swarms, &c. he digresses into a noble description of a battle
between two discordant kings. He then proceeds to consider their different kinds and
qualities, the nature and form of their government, and the diseases, which often rage
among them-together with the proper remedies for each; and concludes with the story
of Aristœus' recovery of his bees, after his swarms were lost, and of Orpheus' descent
into hell after his wife Eurydice. This episode runs through 277 lines, and is one of
the finest pieces of heathen poetry.
tacula levium rerum ad-
miranda tibi
PROTINUS aërii mellis cœlestia dona
2. Hanc partem Geo- Exequar: hanc etiam, Mæcenas, aspice partem.
gicorum. Dicam spec- Admiranda tibi levium spectacula rerum,
Magnanimosque duces, totiusque ordine gentis
Mores, et studia, et populos, et prælia dicam.
6. Ille est labor in te- In tenui labor; at tenuis non gloria: si quem
Numina læva sinunt, auditque vocatus Apollo.
quem scriptorem Principio, sedes apibus statioque petenda,
Quò neque sit ventis aditus (nam pabula venti
Ferre domum prohibent) neque oves hædique petulci
10. Prohibent apes Floribus insultent; aut errans bucula campo
Decutiat rorem, et surgentes atterat herbas.
13. Picti quoad squa- Absint et picti squalentia terga lacerti
nui re
7. Si læva Numina si-
nunt
exequi id
ferre domum
lentia
Pinguibus à stabulis; meropesque, aliæque volucres,
NOTES.
1. Aërii: an adj. from aër. Honey is
here called aërial, because it was thought to
come from the dew, which fell from the air
upon the flowers, whence the bees collected
it. For the same reason the poet uses the
epithet cœlestra.
2. Exequar: in the sense of describam.
6. Tenui: on a low subject.
on a low subject. Re is
understood. The consideration of bees may
be considered low, or inferior to the subjects
treated of in the preceding books. If, how-
ever, the farmer attend properly to them, he
will find them very profitable; and their go-
vernment and polity will afford to the phi-
losopher and politician much useful instruc-
tion. This is what we are to understand by
the words, at gloria non tenuis.
7. Lava numina, Lævus is used both in
a good and a bad sense. Ruæus interprets it
by adversa. By the deities, here called ad-
verse, or inauspicious, we are probably to
understand the infernal deities, Pluto, the
Furies, &c. who were thought to be op-
posed to the welfare of men. Valpy under-
stands by lava, propitious, or favorable.
Heyne seems to be of the same opinion.
Gellius and Wakefield take it with Ruæus,
to mean adverse. When words are indefi-
nite, or are used in opposite senses, we can
hardly expect unanimity among commenta-
tors. If the adverse deities should not in-
terfere to prevent him, and Apollo should
come to his aid, the poet promises to exe-
cute a work, worthy of his friend and pa-
tron, even upon the humble subject of the
bee.
8. Principio: in the sense of primò. Se-
des. The poet proceeds to mention the pro-
fashion of constructing them.
per places for the hives, and the form and
11. Insultent: bruise-frisk about upon,
the flowers.
13. Picti: in the sense of maculosi.
14. Meropes. These were a species of
bird that fed upon bees; hence called the
bee-eater. They were about the size of our
blackbird, but of various colors.
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
133
Et manibus Procne pectus signata cruentis.
Omnia nam latè vastant, ipsasque volantes
Ore ferunt, dulcem nidis immitibus escam.
At liquidi fontes, et stagna virentia musco
Adsint, et tenuis, fugiens per gramina, rivus:
Palmaque vestibulum, aut ingens oleaster inumbret.
Ut, cùm prima novi ducent examina reges
Vere suo, ludetque favis emissa juventus;
Vicina invitet decedere ripa calori,
Obviaque hospitiis teneat frondentibus arbos.
In medium, seu stabit iners, seu profluet humor,
Transversas salices et grandia conjice saxa:
Pontibus ut crebris possint consistere, et alas
Pandere ad æstivum Solem; si fortè morantes
Sparserit, aut præceps Neptuno immerserit Eurus.
Hæc circùm casia virides et olentia latè
Serpylla, et graviter spirantis copia thymbræ
Floreat irriguumque bibant violaria fontem.
Ipsa autem, seu corticibus tibi suta cavatis,
Seu lento fuerint alvearia vimine texta,
Angustos habeant aditus; nam frigore mella
Cogit hyems, eademque calor liquefacta remittit:
Utraque vis apibus pariter metuenda: neque illæ
Nequicquam in tectis certatim tenuia cerâ
Spiramenta linunt, fucoque et floribus oras
NOTES.
15. Procne. By Procne, or Progne, is
here meant the swallow which has some
red feathers on its breast. For the story of
Procne, see Ecl. vi. 78.
17. Dulcem escam: as a sweet morsel for
their merciless young. Nidis: the nests;
by meton. for the young ones in them.
18. Liquidi: in the sense of puri. Viren-
tia musco: either the banks of these ponds,
or pools skirted with green moss, or the sur-
face of them covered with it.
19. Fugiens: in the sense of fluens.
21. Nova examina: the new swarms.
22. Emissa: in the sense of
egressa. The
spring abounds in flowers more than any
season of the year; honey is collected in
greater abundance, and the bees are then
most diligent. In this sense, the spring may
emphatically be called theirs: suo vere, their
own spring.
24. Obvia: in the sense of adversa: op-
posite, or in front of them. Teneat in the
sense of accipiat.
25. Humor: in the sense of aqua.
26. Conjice, &c. These willows and rocks
were to be cast into the water, whether
running or stagnant, that the bees might
rest upon them: if, by any means, they fell
into it, that they might creep upon them,
expand their wings to the warm sun, and
dry themselves.
29. Neptuno: in the sense of aquâ.
Geor. i. 14
See
15
15. Procne signata
quoad pectus cruentis
20
25
30
manibus, absint ab iis.
16. Ipsasque apes
25. Conjice salices
transversas et granida
saxa in medium humo-
rem, seu
27. Consistere in iss
tanquam pontibus
30. Circùm hæc loca
virides
33. Autem alvearia
ipsa, seu suta sint tibi è
35 cavatis corticibus, seu
37. Neque illæ nequic-
quam linunt tenuia spi-
ramenta in tectis cerâ
30. Casia. Some take the casia to be the
same with the rosemary; but Columella,
speaking of the plants that should grow
about an apiary, mentions casia and rose-
inary as two different plants.
31. Serpylla. There were two kinds of
this plant; one of the gardens, and the other
wild. It is a strong-scented herb, and re-
sembles thyme. It is proper to be planted
near bees, and is usually called wild-thyme.
Thymbra: the herb savory. Spirantis: in
the sense of olentis. It was a strong-scent-
ed herb.
32. Violaria: beds of violets-places
sown or planted with the violet.
33. Suta: in the sense of compacta. Cor-
ticibus. The bark of the cork-tree is called
cortex, by way of eminence.
34. Lento vimine: of limber osier, or
wicker.
36. Cogit: thickens. Remittit: in the
sense of reddit.
37. Vis: force-violence; the excess of
heat or cold.
38. Tectis: in their hives. Certatim: in
the sense of diligenter.
39. Fuco. Fucus was properly a kind of
marine weed, resembling lettuce. It was
anciently used in dying; used also by wo-
men as a kind of paint for the face. Hence
all kinds of daubing obtained the name of
fucus: not with the flowers (floribus) them-
selves, but rather with the substance ex-
134
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
:
lia levi limo.
Explent: collectumque hæc ipsa ad munera gluten
Et visco et Phrygiæ servant pice lentius Idæ.
Sæpe etiam effossis (si vera est fama) latebris
Sub terrâ fovêre larem; penitùsque repertæ
Pumicibusque cavis, exesæque arboris antro.
45. Tamen tu et cir- Tu tamen et levi rimosa cubilia limo
cùm unge rimosa cubi- Unge fovens circùm, et raras superinjice frondes
Neu propiùs tectis taxum sine, neve rubentes
48. Neu crede alvearia Ure foco cancros: altæ neu crede paludi:
49. Gravis odor cœni Aut ubi odor cœni gravis, aut ubi concava pulsu
est, aut
Saxa sonant, vocisque offensa resultat imago.
45
50
Quod superest, ubi pulsam hyemem Sol aureus egit
Sub terras, cœlumque æstivâ luce reclusit;
Illæ continuò saltus sylvasque peragrant,
Purpureosque metunt flores, et flumina libant
55. Hinc illæ læt, Summa leves. Hinc nescio quâ dulcedine lætæ,
nescio quâ dulcedine
Progeniem nidosque fovent: hinc arte recentes
Excudunt ceras, et mella tenacia fingunt.
Hinc ubi jam emissum caveis ad sidera cœli
Nare per æstatem liquidam suspexeris agmen,
NOTES.
tracted from them, by meton. Oras: the
margin, or edge, of their hives. Valpy takes
fuco et floribus, by Hendiadis, for fuco floreo.
40. Ad hæc ipsa munera: in the sense of
ad hos ipsos usus.
41. Lentius: an adj. of the com. deg. (of
lentus) agreeing with gluten: tougher than,
&c.
43. Sæpe etiam fovêre: they have even
cherished their families in caverns dug un-
der the earth. Several manuscripts have
fodêre, but fovêre is the best. Ruæus has
fodere. He interprets the passage thus:
aperuerunt sibi domum sub terra. But it is
not necessary to suppose that the bees dug
these caves or cells for themselves, any more
than that they prepared their cells in the
pumice stone, or cavities in the trees, for
their reception. Davidson, Heyne, and
Heinsius, read fovêre. Larem. See Geor.
iii. 344. Penitus: in the sense of profundè.
45. Cubilia: in the sense of alvearia.
Unge: smear, or plaster all around. Fo-
vens: cherishing-keeping them warm.
48. Cancros. Crabs and lobsters, it is
well known, in boiling, pass from a dark or
brown, to a red color. Hence the epithet
rubentes. Altæ paludi. The poet advises
not to place the hives near marshy or fenny
places, which afford no stones or bridges, on
which the bees may rest, if occasion should
require.
49. Gravis: stinking. Pulsu: by the
stroke of the voice.
50. Imago vocis: the image of the voice
being struck, rebounds; i. e. where an echo
is heard. This is always the case when the
pulses or waves of air, put in motion by some
55
stroke or concussion, meet with an obstacle,
and are reflected, or turned back, so as to
make an impression on the ear.
This the
poet calls the image of the voice.
51. Quod superest. The poet now pro-
ceeds to speak of the food, the swarming,
and the battles of the bees; and to give di-
rections how to appease the fury of their
contests, and bring them back to the hive.
52. Sub terras: under the earth-to the
southern pole. This is a beautiful circum-
locution to express the return of summer.
The seasons are opposite, on the opposite
sides of the equator, beyond the tropics.
When it is summer on the north, it is winter
on the south, and vice versâ. This is occa-
sioned by the motion of the earth in its
orbit, making an angle with the equator of
23° 28'.
54. Purpureos. The poet frequently uses
purple for any gay color. Metunt: in the
sense of carpunt.
55. Leves libant: and lightly taste or sip.
Dulcedine: in the sense of delectatione.
56. Fovent: cherish-grow fond of. Ni-
dos: either the apartments formed in the
hive for the purpose of depositing their
young, or simply, the hives themselves.
57. Excudunt: they form the fresh or new
made wax. This is a metaphor taken from
the smith, who is said (excudere) to strike,
or hammer out the instrument of iron which
he forms. The bees are here compared in
their labors to the Cyclops, laboring at the
anvil.
59. Suspexeris agmen emissum: when now
you shall see the swarm issuing from the
hives, &c. Nare: in the sense of volare.
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
135
Obscuramque trahi vento mirabere nubem,
Contemplator: aquas dulces et frondea semper
Tecta petunt: huc tu jussos asperge sapores,
Trita melisphylla, et cerinthæ ignobile gramen
Tinnitusque cie, et Matris quate cymbala circùm.
Ipsæ consident medicatis sedibus: ipsæ
Intima more suo sese in cunabula condent.
Sin autem ad pugnam exierint (nam sæpe duobus
Regibus incessit magno discordia motu)
Continuòque animos vulgi, et trepidantia bello
Corda licet longè præsciscere: namque morantes
Martius ille æris rauci canor increpat, et vox
Auditur fractos sonitus imitata tubarum.
Tum trepidæ inter se coëunt, pennisque coruscant,
Spiculaque exacuunt rostris, aptantque lacertos,
Et circa regem atque ipsa ad prætoria densæ
Miscentur, magnisque vocant, clamoribus hostem.
Ergò, ubi ver nacta sudum, camposque patentes,
Erumpunt portis : concurritur: æthere in alto
Fit sonitus: magnum mixtæ glomerantur in orbem,
Præcipitesque cadunt: non densior aëre grando,
Nec de concussâ tantum pluit ilice glandis.
Ipsi per medias acies, insignibus alis,
Ingentes animos angusto in pectore versant:
Usque adeò obnixi non cedere, dum gravis, aut hos,
NOTES.
60. Trahi: in the sense of ferri. Obscu-
ram: a dark cloud of bees.
63. Melisphylla: balm-gentle. It is an
herb, of which bees are very fond. It is
thought to be the same that was sometimes
called apiastrum by the Romans. Cerintha:
the honey-suckle. The poet calls it ignobile
gramen, because it was common. It abounds
in a sweet juice, like honey.
64. Cie tinnitus: make, or excite a ring-
ing. The effect of the sound of brass upon
the swarm is very great. It is the most
effectual means to stop them in their flight,
and collect them into the hive. Some have
attributed this to fear, others to pleasure.
But more probably it confounds the sound
of their queen, or leader; and being with-
out command or direction, they fall or set-
tle upon the first place they meet. Matris:
Cybele was the mother of the gods-the
saine as Rhea, or Ops. At her sacrifices,
cymbals were always used.
65. Medicatis sedibus: prepared seats, or
places for them to light upon.
66. Cunabula: in the sense of recessus,
vel alvearia.
No-
68. Incessit: hath seized-invaded.
thing can be more lively or animated than
this description of a battle of bees. We
here find the ardor of the warrior, the
sound of the trumpet, the glittering of ar-
mour, the shouts of the soldiers, the bravery
of the leaders, and all the rage and madness
of battle.
60
65
61. Frondea tecta, ubi ·
considant:
64. Matris Cybeles
69. Continuò licet tibi
70 longè priùs præsciscere
74. Lacertos ad pug-
75 nam
80
77. Nactæ sunt ver
sudum, aëriosque cam-
pos patentes
82. Reges ipsi volantes
per medias
69. Trepidantia: eager-anxious.
:
70. Præscisere: in the sense of præsentire.
71. Canor in the sense of strepitus, vel
sonitus. Morantes: those that are behind.
Increpat: rouses-urges on.
73. Trepida: eager-hurrying. Pennis ·
in the sense of alis.
75. Ipsa prætoria. In the Roman camp,
the tent of the commanding officer was call-
ed Prætorium; hence, by meton. put for the
cells of the royal bees. Densæ miscentur:
they are crowded thick.
77. Sudum ver: a clear spring day. Ru-
æus says, serenum tempus. Campos patentes :
the fields of air open-unobstructed by
wind or clouds.
78. Concurritur: in the sense of concur-
runt.
79. Glomerantur. This verb hath a re-
flex signification here, like the middle voice
of the Greeks: they form themselves into
a great circle. Mixta: in the sense of
commista.
81. Pluit: in the sense of cadit. It is to
be joined with grando, in the preceding
line.
82. Insignibus alis: with distinguished
wings-distinguished from the rest by their
wings.
83. Versant: in the sense of exercent, vel
manifestant.
84. Obnixi usque adeò: determined all
the time not to yield, until the mighty con-
queror hath forced one side or the other, &c.
136
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
net in aulâ vacua ab
hoste.
92. Genera apum: hic
Aut hos, versa fugâ victor dare terga subegit.
Ili motus animorum, atque hæc certamina tantą
Pulveris exigui jactu compressa quiescent.
Verùm ubi ductores acie revocaveris ambos :
89. Dede eum neci, Deterior qui visus, eum, ne prodigus obsit,
qui visus fuerit deterior Dede neci: melior vacuâ sine regnet in aulâ.
90. Sine ut melior reg; Alter erit maculis auro squalentibus ardens:
(Nam duo sunt genera) hic melior, insignis et ore,
Et rutilis clarus squamis : ille horridus alter
Desidiâ, latamque trahens inglorius alvum.
Ut binæ regum facies, ita corpora plebis.
Namque aliæ turpes horrent, ceu pulvere ab alto
Cùm venit, et terram sicco.spuit ore, viator
Aridus: elucent aliæ, et fulgore coruscant,
est
99. Corpora lita sunt Ardentes auro, et paribus lita corpora guttis.
Hæc potior soboles: hinc cœli tempore certo
Dulcia mella premes; nec, tantùm dulcia, quantùm
Et liquida, et durum Bacchi domitura saporem.
106. Nec est magnus
labor prohibere eos
At cùm incerta volant coloque examina ludunt,
Contemnuntque favos, et frigida tecta relinquunt,
Instabiles animos ludo prohibebis inani.
Nec magnus prohibere labor: tu regibus alas
Eripe: non illis quisquam cunctantibus altum
Ire iter, aut castris audebit vellere signa.
NOTES.
85. Aut hos. The meaning is: till one
side or the other of the combatants should
yield. The repetition of the aut hos, from
the end of the preceding line, gives addi-
tional energy. The figure is called Anadi-
plosis.
87. Compressa: in the sense of repressa.
It agrees with certamina.
89. Ne prodigus obsit: lest the prodigal
should be an injury to the rest, either by
consuming their food himself, or by setting
an example of sloth and gluttony.
90. Aula: in the sense of alveari.
91. Alter erit ardens, &c. The poet here
mentions the different kinds of bees. There
are more particularly two: the red, which
are the smaller ones, and the dark, or va-
rious, which are the larger. The red onest
are the best. Squalentibus: a part. of the
verb squaleo, (from squama:) it signifies any
thing resembling the scales of fish, or ser-
pents, in roughness or shape. It also signi-
fies any thing filthy or unseemly, in any
respect whatever. Ardens: shining with
spots rough with gold-resembling the form
of scales, and glittering like gold. Rumus
interprets it by asperis.
92. Ore: in the sense of forma.
95. Facies: in the sense of forma. The
verb sunt is to be supplied. Plebis. This
is the reading of Heyne, and of Valpy after
him. The common reading is gentis.
96. Namque aliæ: for the one look foul,
85
90
95
100
105
or dirty, as when, &c. Terram: in the
sense of pulverem.
97. Coruscant: sparkle with brightness-
gleaming with gold; and their bodies are
covered over with equal spots-spots, equal
in size and proportion.
100. Soboles: in the sense of genus. Also
cali: in the sense of anni. Hinc from
these bees.
102. Liquida: in the sense of pura.
103. At cùm volant. Here the poet pre-
scribes the means of preventing the bees
from deserting their hives.
104. Favos. Virgil uses no less than
eleven different words to express the hive:
cunabula, cubilia, stabula, præsepia, caveæ,
tecta, alveare, favus, domus, sedes, and ades.
For this diversity of style, he is remarkable.
By this means he avoided a disagreeable re-
petition. Frigida. This Servius explains
by empty, or inactive, in opposition to what
is afterward said of their activity: opus
fervet.
105. Prohibebis: in the sense of revocabis.
107. Altum iter: an aërial journey.
108. Aut vellere signa: or to move the
standards to decamp. It was a phrase
among the Romans. When they pitched
their camp, they stuck their ensigns, or
standards, into the ground before the præ-
torium, or general's tent; and pulled them
up again when they decamped: so the bees.
The metaphor is beautiful.
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
137
Invitent croceis halantes floribus horti :
Et custos furum atque avium, cum falce salignà,
Hellespontiaci servet tutela Priapi.
110
Ipse thymum pinosque ferens de montibus altis,
Tecta serat latè circùm, cui talia curæ :
Ipse labore manum duro terat; ipse feraces
Figat humo plantas, et amicos irriget imbres.
Atque equidem, extremo ni jam sub fine laborum
Vela traham, et terris festinem advertere proram,
Forsitan et pingues hortos quæ cura colendi
Ornaret, canerem, biferique rosaria Pæsti:
Quoque modo potis gauderent intyba rivis,
Et virides apio ripæ; tortusque per herbam
Cresceret in ventrem cucumis: nec sera comantem
Narcissum, aut flexi tacuissem vimen acanthi,
Pallentesque hederas, et amantes litora myrtos.
Namque sub baliæ memini me turribus altis,
Quà niger humectat flaventia culta Galesus,
Corycium vidisse senem : cui pauca relicti
NOTES.
109. Croceis floribus. Saffron flowers
appear to be put here for odorous flowers in
general. Halantes: in the sense of spi-
rantes.
111. Priapi. Priapus was fabled to have
been the son of Bacchus and Venus. . He
was worshipped principally at Lampsacus,
a city of Mysia Minor, near the Hellespont.
Hence the epithet Hellespontiacus.
The statue of Priapus was usually placed
in gardens to protect them from thieves, and
to fray away birds. Hence he is called,
custos furum atque avium. The meaning
appears to be: that the bees should be in-
vited by such gardens as deserve to be under
the protection of Priapus. Custos: in the
sense of abactrix. See Ecl. vii. 33.
112. Thymum. This is not our common
thyme, but the thymus capitatus, which
grows in great plenty on the mountains in
Greece. The Attic honey was considered
the best, on account of the excellence of
this thyme, which is found in abundance
near Athens.
'114. Duro labore: with the hard labor
of transferring them from the mountains,
and planting them around the hives.
115. Irriget: he should sprinkle, or pour
the friendly water upon them-he should
be careful to water these plants when thus
transplanted, that they might flourish the
more, and afford more abundant food for
the bees.
116. Atque equidem: and indeed, unless
I were furling my sails, now in the con-
clusion of my labors, &c. These are fine
lines, and lead us to wish that the poet had
enlarged upon the subject of gardening.
Troham vela. This is a metaphor taken
115
120°
125
112. Ipse, cui talia
sunt curæ, ferens
121. Quomodoque cu-
cumis tortus per herbam
cresceret
125. Namque memini
me vidisse
from sailing. On the approach to land,
they take in, or furl their sails.
118. Pingues hortos. Some gardons
among the ancients were much celebrated,
especially those of the Hesperides, of Ado-
nis, of Alcinoüs, &c.
119. Pasti. Pæstum was a town of Lu-
cania, where the rose bloomed twice in a
year; in September and May. Hence the
epithet bifer.
120. Intyba: plu. endive, or succory. Po-
tis rivis: in refreshing streams.
121. Apio: with parsley. This herb was
called apium, from apes, because the bees
were fond of it. Some take it for smallage
or celery.
cucumber,
This is a
122. Cucumis tortus: the
creeping along the grass, swells.
concise. but beautiful description.
an adj. neu. plu. used as an adv. in imita-
tion of the Greeks: in the sense of serò.
Sera:
123. Narcissum: the narcissus of the an-
cients is the herb we now call daffodil.
Comantem: in the sense of florentem. Acan-
thi: Acanthus, the herb bears-foot.
125. Ebaliæ. This was the city of Ta-
rentum in the eastern part of Italy, so called
from Phalantus, a native of Œbalia, or La-
conia, who rebuilt it. It was once inhabited
by the Lacedemonians.
126. Galesus: a river in Calabria, falling
into the gulf of Tarentum. It is called
niger, either, on account of the depth of its
waters, or of its banks being shaded by trees.
Flaventia: yellow with ripening grain. Arva
is understood.
127. Corycium. Either the name of the
old man, or an adj. taken from the place of
his nativity. Corycus was the name of a
138
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Jugera ruris erant; nec fertilis illa juvencis,
Nec pecori opportuna seges, nec commoda Baccho
130. Tamen hic pro- Hic rarum tamen in dumis olus, albaque circùm
Lilia, verbenasque premens, vescumque papaver,
Regum æquabat opes animis: serâque revertens
Nocte domum, dapibus mensas onerabat inemptis.
mens rarum
134. Ille erat primus Primus vere rosam, atque autumno carpere poma
carpere
139. Ergò idem senex
erat primus abundare
141. Erant illi tiliæ,
atque
Et cùm tristis hyems etiam nunc frigore saxa
Rumperet, et glacie cursus frænaret aquarum;
Ille coinam mollis jam tondebat hyacinthi
Estatem increpitans seram, Zephyrosque morantes
Ergò apibus fœtis idem atque examine multo
Primus abundare, et spumantia cogere pressis
Mella favis: illi tiliæ, atque uberrima pinus:
Quotque in flore novo pomis se fertilis arbos.
Induerat, totidem autumno matura tenebat.
Ille etiam seras in versum distulit ulmos,
Eduramque pyrum, et spinos jam pruna ferentes,
Jamque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbras.
148. Atque relinquo Verùm hæc ipse equidcm, spatiis exclusus iniquis,
aliis scriptoribus pòst Prætereo, atque aliis pòst commemoranda relinquo.
Nunc age, naturas, apibus quas Jupiter ipse
talia
me
commemoranda
NOTES.
mountain, and city of Cilicia in Asia Minor.
Pompey made war upon the Cilicians; some
of whom he brought and planted in Cala-
bria near Tarentum. The old man here
mentioned, might have been one of them.
Relicti: barren-neglected, not worth tilling.
Dr. Trapp renders it hereditary; left him
by his ancestors.
128. Nec illa seges fertilis: nor was that
land fit for ploughing, nor suitable for pas-
ture, nor proper for the vine. Fertilis: in
the sense of apta, or commoda.
129. Seges. This word most commonly
signifies the crop after it is sown and com-
ing forward to maturity. Here it means the
soil or land itself.
130. Albaque lilia circùm : the white lilies
were most celebrated, and the best known
among the ancients.
131. Verbenas: the herb vervain. It was
highly esteemed by the Romans. Premens:
in the sense of plantans. Vescum papaver:
the white poppy, called vescum, esculent, or
eatable; because its seeds were roasted by
the ancients, and eaten with honey.
137. Comam: in the sense of frondes.
Hyacinthi. This is the reading of Heyne
and Vossius, and of several ancient manu-
scripts. It appears to be approved of by
Valpy, although he adopts the common
reading, acanthi. Heyne leaves out tum,
which is also retained by some editors.
139. Ergò idem primus. Having men-
tioned the advantage, which a diligent cul-
tivation of his fields brought to the old Co-
130
135
140 .
145
rycian, particularly in the culture of bees,
he returned to his main subject. He was
the first to abound, &c. Fætis: in the sense
of fœcundis.
141. Favis: the comb-those cells which
contain the honey. Tilia: the linden, or
lime-tree.
142. Quoique pomis, &c. The meaning
is, that as many blossoms as his fertile trees
put forth in the spring, so much fruit they
had in autumn. There were no false blooms,
neither did they fail to bring all to maturi-
ty. Poma is to be supplied with matura.
The word properly means apples, but it is
used for all kind of fruit: as in the present
case.
144. Distulit ulmos: he planted (trans-
planted) his elms in rows. Seras. Ruœus
says, tardè crescentes, slow growing. But
the poet may mean, far grown, or sufficiently
grown to be fit for transplanting; as he
observes with respect to the other trees here
mentioned. This is the opinion of David-
son and Valpy.
145. Spinos. Spinus, is the sloe tree.
These were sufficiently grown to produce
fruit; and the plane tree, to afford a conside-
rable shade, before he transplanted them.
147. Iniquis spatiis: narrow bounds--in-
sufficient room.
149. Nunc age. The poet now proceeds
to treat of the polity of the bees-the me-
thod of depositing their honey-the regu
lar management of their affairs-their ob -
dience to their sovereign, &c
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
139
Addidit, expediam: pro quâ mercede, canoros
Curetum sonitus crepitantiaque æra secutæ,
Dictao cœli regem pavêre sub antro.
Solæ communes natos, consortia tecta
150
150. Pro qua tanquam
mercede, illa secute ca-
noros sonitus
153. Ha solæ omnium
animalium habent
Urbis habent, magnisque agitant sub legibus ævum;
Et patriam solæ, et certos novêre penates.
Venturæque hyemis memores, æstate laborem
Experiuntur, et in medium quæsita reponunt.
Namque aliæ victu invigilant, et fœdere pacto
Exercentur agris: pars intra, septa domorum
Narcissi lachrymam, et lentum de cortice gluten,
Prima favis ponunt fundamina: deinde tenaces
Suspendunt ceras: aliæ, spem gentis, adultos
Educunt fœtus: aliæ purissima mella
Stipant, et liquido distendunt nectare cellas.
Sunt, quibus ad portas cecidit custodia sorti;
Inque vicem speculantur aquas et nubila cœli,
Aut onera accipiunt venientûm, aut, agmine facto,
Ignavum fucos pecus à præsepibus arcent.
Fervet opus, redolentque thymo fragrantia mella.
Ac veluti lentis Cyclopes fulmina massis
Cùrn properant: alii taurinis follibus auras
NOTES.
150. Expediam: in the sense of descri-
bam. Pro quâ mercede. According to fable,
Saturn intending to devour his infant son
Jupiter, he was concealed by his mother
among the Curetes, or Corybantes, her priests,
the sound of whose brazen armour and cym-
bals, as they revelled, prevented his cries
from betraying him to his father. It is said
that Melissus was then king of Crete, whose
daughters, Melissa nourished Jupiter with
the milk of a goat and honey. Hence arose
the story of his being nourished by a goat
called Amalthea and bees, Melissa being the
Greek name for bees. For which reason,
the goat was translated to the heavens, and
his horns given to the nymphs, with this
quality added to them, that whatever they
should ask for, should flow from them plen-
teously and for the service, which the bees
rendered on this occasion, they were endow-
ed by Jupiter with an extraordinary degree
of sagacity and wisdom, as a reward.
152. Dictao: an adj. from Dicte, a city
and mountain in Crete. On this mountain,
it is said, Jupiter was brought up.
153. Consortia : in the sense of communia.
154. Agitant: in the sense of ducunt.
The poet here speaks of the bees as living
in a regular, and well organized society.
155. Certos penates: in the sense of fixas
domos.
157. Experiuntur: they practise or use.
158. Victu: for victui. See Ecl. 5, 29.
Invigilant watch over-have the care of
providing. Pacto fœdere: in the sense of
certa lege.
155
160
161. Tanquam prima
fundamina favis
165
bus custodia
170
165. Sunt aliæ, qui-
166. Quæque invicem
159. Exercentur: in the sense of laborant
Septa: the enclosures of their hives.
160. Narcissi. The flower of Narcissus
or daffodil, forms a kind of cup in the mid-
dle, which is supposed to contain the tear of
the youth Narcissus, who pined away with
the love of himself. See Ecl. ii. 48.
163. Educunt adultos fœtus: they nourish
or tend upon their young, till they are full
grown or, they lead forth their full grown
young. Servius prefers the former sense:
as also Ruæus.
164. Liquido: in the sense of puro. Nec-
tare: nectar here, evidently, is to be taken
for honey-the purest, and most refined
part of it.
166. Aquas: in the sense of pluviam.
168. Fucos: the drones, a lazy herd.
These are bees that make no honey. They
have no stings, and they do not assist the
others in their labors. Præsepibus. See
note, verse 104. supra.
169. Opus fervet: the work glows-it goes
on briskly.
170. Cùm properant Cyclopes. The Cy-
clops are said to have forged the thunder-
bolts of Jove. To this the poet alludes.
This comparison of the bees in their labors,
with those workmen of Jupiter in their
shops, has been censured by some. Prope-
rant: in the sense of fabricantur.
172. Alii accipiunt: simply: some blow
the bull-hide bellows. Lacu: in the trough
of water.
140
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
177 Habendi mella
178. Oppida sunt cure
grandævis
Accipiunt, redduntque alii stridentia tingunt
Æra lacu gemit impositis incudibus Ætna:
Illi inter sese magnâ vi brachia tollunt
In numerum, versantque tenaci forcipe ferrum.
Non aliter, si parva licet componere magnis,
Cecropias innatus apes amor urget habendi,
Munere quamque suo. Grandævis oppida curæ,
Et munire favos, et Dædala fingere tecta.
At fessæ multâ referunt se nocte minores,
181. Plenæ quoad cru- Crura thymo plenæ : pascuntur et arbuta passim,
ra thymo
Et glaucas salices, casiamque, crocumque rubentem,
Et pinguem tiliam, et ferrugineos hyacinthos.
185. Rursus, ubi ves-
per admonuit easdem
apes esse tempus tandem
decedere
175
180
190
184. Est omnibus una Omnibus una quies operum, labor omnibus unus.
quies
Manè. ruunt portis, nusquam mora: rursus easdem 185
Vesper ubi è pastu tandem decedere campis
Admonuit, tum tecta petunt, tum corpora curant.
Fit sonitus, mussantque oras et limina circùm.
Pòst, ubi jam thalamis se composuere, siletur
In noctem, fessosque sopor suus occupat artus.
Nec verò à stabulis, pluviâ impendente, recedunt
Longiùs, aut credunt cœlo, adventantibus Euris:
193. Tutæ ab pluvia Sed circùm tutæ sub moenibus urbis aquantur,
Excursusque breves tentant: et sæpe lapillos,
194. Et sæpe tollunt Ut cymbæ instabiles, fluctu jactante, saburram,
lapillos, ut instabiles
cymba tollunt sabur- Tollunt: his sese per inania nubila librant.
ram, fluctu jactante eas: Illum adeò placuisse apibus mirabere morem,
his lapillis
Quòd nec concubitu indulgent, nec corpora segnes
et vento
NOTES.
175. In numerum: they raise their arms
in regular order, making a sort of harmony
with the strokes of their hammers.
Jamblicus informs us that the sound of
the smith's hammer led Pythagoras to in-
vent the monochord, an instrument for mea-
suring the quantities, and proportions of
sounds geometrically.
177. Cecropias: Attic, or Athenian bees,
so called from Cecrops, the first king of
Athens. The Attic honey was much cele-
brated.
178. Quamque suo munere: each one in
his own office-department.
179. Dædala: an adj. from Dædalus, a
very ingenious artificer of Athens. The
word, as here used, signifies any thing arti-
ficial, or curiously and ingeniously wrought.
180. Minores: in the sense of juniores.
181. Plena crura. The hairiness of the
legs of the bee is favorable to the retention
of the juices, which they collect from the
flowers.
182. Rubentem: yellow, or of a golden
hue. Ruæus says, rufum.
183. Ferrugineos: purple-dark red.
184. Operum: in the sense of ab opere.
Una: one and the same rest.
188. Oras: this Rumus interprets by ves-
tibulum. Mussant: they buzz-they make
a buzzing noise.
195
189. Thalamis: in the sense of cells.
190. Suus: in the sense of proprius. Ru-
æus says, conveniens.
191. Stabulis. See note, verse 104. suprà.
192. Euris. Eurus, the east wind, here
put for wind in general: the-species for the
genus.
193. Aquantur. This verb appears to be
used in the sense of the middle voice of the
Greeks: they water themselves. This man-
ner of expression is common with the poet.
Rumus says, hauriunt aquas.
195. Saburram: ballast. This is some
ponderous substance, as sand, gravel, iron,
&c. that light vessels usually take on board
to render them steady.
198. Nec indulgent, &c. This account of
the production of bees here given by the
poet, is justly exploded. It is found that no
animal is produced without the concurrence
of the sexes. However as this method was
the general received one among the ancients,
the poet might very well adopt it, whatever
his own opinion might have been upon the
subject. Pliny says of the bees: Foetus
quonam modo progenerarent, magna inter
eruditos, et subtilis quæstio fuit: Apum enim
coitus visus est nusquam. This, however,
modern philosophers have solved in a satis-
factory manner. They have found that the
laboring bees are of neither sex; that the
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
141
In Venerem solvunt, aut fœtus nixibus edunt.
Verùm ipsæ è foliis natos et suavibus herbis
Ore legunt ipsæ regem, parvosque Quirites
Sufficiunt: aulasque et cerea regna refingunt.
Sæpe etiam duris errando in cotibus alas
Attrivêre, ultròque animam sub fasce dedêre:
Tantus amor florum, et generandi gloria mellis.
Ergò ipsas quamvis angusti terminus ævi
Excipiat (neque enim plùs septima ducitur æstas)
At genus immortale manet, multosque per annos
Stat fortuna domûs, et avi numerantur avorum.
Prætereà regem non sic Ægyptus, et ingens
Lydia, nec populi Parthorum, aut Medus Hydaspes,
Observant. Rege incolumi, mens omnibus una est;
Amisso, rupere fidem: constructaque mella
Diripuere ipsæ, et crates solvêre favorum.
Ille operum custos; illum admirantur; et omnes
Circumstant fremitu denso, stipantque frequentes ;
Et sæpe attollunt humeris, et corpora bello
Objectant. pulchramque petunt per vulnera mortem.
His quidam signis, atque hæc exempla secuti,
Esse apibus partem divinæ mentis, et haustus
Æthereos dixere: Deum namque ire per omnes
Terrasque, tractusque maris, cœlumque profundum.
Hinc pecudes, armenta, viros, genus omne ferarum,
NOTES.
drones alone have the male organ of gene-
ration, and that the monarch is of the fe-
male sex.
She is wholly employed in the
increase of her family, laying several thou-
sand eggs every summer, in each of which
is hatched a small white worm, which in due
time, changes itself into a drone or bee.
Concubitu: for Concubitui. See Ecl. v. 29.
199. Nec solvunt: nor do they debilitate
their bodies in lust. Segnes: in the sense of
inertes vel inutiles. Edunt: in the sense
of parturiunt. Nixibus: by labor, or tra-
vail.
200. Foliis: from the leaves of flowers.
201. Parvos Quirites: they raise up a king,
and little subjects. The bees are here called
Quirites, by meton. taken from the Romans,
who were sometimes called Quirites from
Romulus, who was also called Quirinus.-
See Æn. 1. 274.
200
205
210
215
205. Est illis tantus
amor florum, et tanta
207. Enim neque plus
quàm septima estas du-
citur ab illis
213. Rege amisso
215. Ille est custos
217. Sua corpora bello
pro illo
219. Quidam homines
inducti his signis, atque
secuti hæc exempla pru-
220 dentiæ apum dixere
221. Namque dixere
Deum
223. Hinc dixere pe-
cudes
of its kings. Populi Parthorum: simply, the
Parthians. They are said to have been so
submissive to their king, as to kiss his feet,
and to touch the ground with their lips,
when they approached him. Hydaspes: the
name of a river put, by meton. for the in-
habitants of the country, through which it
flowed.
There have been various opinions and
conjectures with a view to reconcile the poet
with matters of fact. Hydaspes is a river
of India, and falling into the Indus, forms
one of its branches. How it could be call-
ed Median, with any propriety, does not
appear. There might have been a small
river by that name, rising in Media, to
which the poet alludes. Mr. Davidson
thinks the river Choaspes, which rises in
Media, and passes through the province of
Susiana, near Susa, one of the capitals of
the Persian empire, is intended. However
this be, poets do not always confine them-
selves to historical or geographical preci-
204. Dedêre: in the sense of amiserunt.
207. Septima Estas. Aristotle informs
us that bees live six, and sometimes seven
years; but if the swarm subsists nine or tension.
years, it is considered fortunate.
208. At, in the sense of tamen.
210. Ægyptus. The name of the coun-
try put, by meton. for the inhabitants. The
Egyptians were very great admirers of their
monarchs, many of whom they deified.
211. Lydia: a country of Asia Minor,
proverbial for its wealth, and the grandeur
212. Observant: in the sense. of veneran-
tur.
213. Fidem: in the sense of societatem.
214. Crates: the structure or fabric.
215. Custos: in the sense of præses.
216. Denso fremitu: with loud buzzing
or humming.
220. Haustus: in the sense of spiritus.
142
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
226. Sed omnia viva
volare, quæque in nu-
Quemque sibi tenues nascentem arcessere vitas,
225. Deinde dixere Scilicet huc reddi deinde, ac resoluta referri
omnia resoluta scilicet Omnia: nec morti esse locum; sed viva volare
reddi, ac referri huc
Sideris in numerum, atque alto succedere cœlo
Si quando sedem augustam, servataque mella
Thesauris relines; priùs haustu sparsus aquarum,
Ora fove, fumosque manu prætende sequaces.
simul Bis gravidos cogunt foetus, duo tempora messis.
Taygete simul os terris ostendit honestum
eadem Pleias, et Oceani spretos pede reppulit amnes :
Aut eadem sidus fugiens ubi piscis aquosi,
merum
231. Sunt duo tempo-
ra messis: unum
Pleias Taygete
234. Aut ubi
Pleias
NOTES.
224. Quemque nascentem: that every one,
at his birth, derives tender life to himself,
from him. Hinc: from hence-from God.
225. Scilicet: in the sense of certè. Huc:
hither-to God. Resoluta: in the sense of
dissoluta.
226. Nec locum, &c. Virgil here gives
Virgil here gives
the opinions of those philosophers, who re-
jected the doctrine of a vacuum, and atoms.
They maintained that the universe was ani-
mated: that God was omnipresent: that all
animals received existence from him: that
after death they are all returned, and car-
ried back to him: that there is no room for
extinction (morti) or loss of existence: that
all, volare viva, fly alive into the order of his
star, and take their station in high heaven.
In other words, all transmigrate into other
beings in a perpetual round. This notion
was held by many distinguished philoso-
phers of the heathen world. But it was far
But it was far
from the truth. All irrational animals perish
at their death. Man alone is immortal.
When unassisted reason is employed upon
the subject of a future state of existence, it
discovers its own weakness. The research-
es of philosophy serve only to bewilder the
mind. All correct information upon that
subject must come through the medium of
divine revelation. Pythagoras and his fol-
lowers strenuously maintained this doctrine.
The Epicurians maintained the doctrine of
a vacuum, and the atomic theory.
228. Si quando, &c. The poet now pro-
ceeds to mention the proper seasons for open-
ing the hives. He gives directions how to
proceed in the business, and notices the pas-
sionate temper of the bees upon such occa-
sions.
Augustam. This is the reading of the best
editions, and is supported by ancient inanu-
scripts. Ruæus, Davidson, Valpy, and some
others, have angustam. But if the poet in-
tended to inform us that the hive was small,
he might have saved himself the pains.
Besides, augustam is, by no means, an im-
proper epithet. It is exactly in the spirit of
poetry. It is well known that the bee-hive
is a most exquisite piece of architecure,
whether we regard the form of the comb,
225
230
the materials of which it is composed, or the
manner of the workmanship. Virgil em-
phatically calls their hives, Dadala tecta.
Verse 179. supra. Heyne reads augustam.
229. Thesauris: in the sense of favis.-
Priùs haustu, &c. Commentators do not
agree upon this passage; and it must be
confessed a difficult one. Davidson follows
Servius, who takes sparsus for spargens: ma-
king the meaning to be: First hold in your
mouth draughts of water, spouting it upon
them. Dr. Trapp rejects sparsus for spar-
gens, and thinks sparsus should be retained;
thus: Fove ore haustus aquarum, take water
in your mouth; then by an ellipsis of the
words; projice in modum pluvia, spout it
upon them in the manner of rain, which
you cannot do without being wet yourself,
sparsus. Heinsius, Ruæus, Heyne, and some
others read: Priùs haustu aquarum ora fove.
This, however, is not without objections.
If we could read haustum or haustus for haus-
tu, the passage would be easier; then ore
would be preferable to ora. But whatever
difficulties may attend the construction, the
meaning is obvious. Heyne takes Fove ora
haustu aquarum, in the sense of, tene vel con-
line aquam haustam ore.
Davidson reads haustus, and ore.
230. Fumos: it is customary, at the pre-
sent day, to drive or force the bees from the
hive with smoke.
231. Gravidos fœtus: in the sense of ple-
nos favos. The comb is properly the fœtus
or production of the bees. Messis: gather-
ing or taking the honey: here called the
harvest.
232. Taygete: one of the Pleiades, here
put for the whole, by synec. This, and the
three following lines, is a beautiful circum-
locution to express the rising and setting of
these stars; the former is in the latter part
of April, the latter about the end of October,
or the beginning of November. See Geor.
1. 138.
233. Amnes: in the sense of aquas.
234. Sidus aquosi piscis: the constellation
of the rainy fish. The Pisces here cannot be
meant for the sun does not enter that sign
till some time in February. Probably the
:
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
143
1
Tristior hybernas cœlo descendit in undas.
Illis ira modum supra est, læsæque venenum
Morsibus inspirant, et spicula cæca relinquunt
Affixæ venis, animasque in vulnere pomunt.
Sin duram metues hyemem, parcesque futuro,
Contusosque animos et res miserabere fractas;
At suffire thymo, cerasque recidere inanes
Quis dubitet? nam sæpe favos ignotus adedit
Stellio, lucifugis congesta cubilia blattis :
Immunisque sedens aliena ad pabula fucus,
Aut asper crabro imparibus se immiscuit armis
Aut dirum tineæ genus, aut invisa Minervæ
In foribus laxos suspendit aranea casses.
Quò magis exhaustæ fuerint; hôc acriùs omnes
Incumbent generis lapsi sarcire ruinas,
Complebuntque foros, et floribus horrea texent.
Si verò (quoniam casus apibus quoque nostros
Vita tulit) tristi languebunt corpora morbo ;
Quod jam non dubiis poteris cognoscere signis:
Continuò est ægris alius color: horrida vultum
NOTES.
Dolphin may be intended, as that constella-
tion rises soon after the setting of the Plei-
ades.
236. Læsæ: in the sense of offense.
237. Caca: in the sense of occulta: mor-
sibus: stings. Inspirant: they infuse.
238. Affixa: having affixed themselves.
240. Parces futuro: you should spare
their future nourishment, and pity their
drooping spirits, and afflicted state.
Commentators have embarrassed the sense
of this passage. The meaning is plainly
this: If you are afraid of a hard winter,
and that the bees will not be able to sustain
the cold, unless they be well fed, you should
spare their honey, their future nourishment,
and take none of it from them.
241. At quis dubitet, &c. However you
may be disposed to follow my direction in
leaving the honey untouched, there is one
thing that should not be neglected in any
case; and that is, to fumigate the hives, and
to cut away the superfluous wax.
243. Stellio. This is a small spotted li-
zard, called also an eft or swift. It creeps
into holes and corners; hence the poet calls
it ignotus. Congesta: in the sense of plena.
Blattis. The blattu is an insect something
like a beetle. Some take it to be the cock-
roach. They are called lucifugis, because
they do not appear in the day, time.
244. Fucus immunis. The Drones are
the male bees. They have neither stings,
nor those elastic teeth which the laboring
bees have for the purpose of collecting ho-
ney. Their only business seems to be, to
have intercourse with the queen: they may
be said to be her husbands: they are seve-
ral hundred in number in each hive. After
235
239. Futuro pabulo.
240 nempe, melli
245
250
243. Cubilia sunt con-
gesta
245. Se cum apibus
they have performed their office, they soon
die. Their way of living is very different
from the rest: they are exempt from labor,
and enjoy a most luxurious fare, being fed
with the best of the honey: Immunis sedens
ad aliena pabula, may very properly be said
of them.
245. Crabro: the hornet, a well known
insect. It is larger and stronger than the
bee. Hence it is said to engage them with.
imparibus armis.
246. Tinea: the moth; an insect very
injurious to clothes. The common reading
is durum: Heyne, Valpy, and some others,
read dirum.
247. Aranea invisa. Arachne, daughter
of Idmon, a Lydian, is said to have vied
with Minerva in the arts of spinning and
weaving. She performed her work to ad-
miration; but being outdone, she hung her-
self through grief; whereupon the goddess,
out of pity, changed her into the spider.
Some say she represented on her work se-
veral of the crimes of the gods, which so
displeased the goddess, that she, in a rage,
destroyed it. Hence invisa Minerva. See
Ovid Met. Lib. 5.
248. Quò magis. The poet here observes,
the more you drain the honey from the
bees, the more industrious they will be to
repair the loss. By being too full fed, they
become idle, and consequently less profit-
able. He then proceeds to consider the
diseases incident to them, and the remedies
proper for each.
250. Horrea: in the sense of favos. Tex-
ent: they will form, or make.
252. Vita: the state, or condition of life
144
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
255: Corpora earum Deformat macies; tum corpora luce carentum
carentûm luce
Exportant tectis, et tristia funera ducunt:
Aut illæ pedibus connexæ ad limina pendent,
Aut intus clausis cunctantur in ædibus omnes:
Ignavæque fame, et contracto frigore pigræ.
Tum sonus auditur gravior, tractimque susurrant:
Frigidus ut quondam sylvis immurmurat Auster,
Ut mare sollicitum stridet refluentibus undis,
Estuat ut clausis rapidus fornacibus ignis.
264. Suadebo te incen- Hìc jam galbaneos suadebo incendere odores,
dere
255
260
265
Mellaque arundineis inferre canalibus, ultrò
Hortantem, et fessas ad pabula nota vocantem.
Proderit et tunsum gallæ admiscere saporem,
Arentesque rosas, aut igni pinguia multo
Defruta, vel psythiâ passos de vite racemos,
Cecropiumque thymum, et graveolentia centaurea. 270
Est etiam flos in pratis, cui nomen amello
Fecere agricolæ, facilis quærentibus herba.
Namque uno ingentem tollit de cespite sylvam,
NOTES.
255. Luce: in the sense of vita.
256. Ducunt. Pliny observes, that the
bees accompany the bodies of their dead
after the manner of a funeral procession.
257. Illæ connexa: clung together by their
feet, they hang, &c.
259. Contracto. Rusus takes this in the
sense of contrahente. He says: Frigore
contrahente membra. But it may be taken
in its usual acceptation, without any impro-
priety: for the bees may be said to contract,
or take cold; and this the poet mentions as
one of their diseases.
260. Tractim: in a drawling manner-
one after another.
262. Sollicitum: in the sense of turbatum.
263. Rapidus: intense-excessive. Æs-
tuat: roars.
264. Galbaneos: an adj. from galbanum,
a strong-scented gum, the smell of which is
said to drive away serpents. It is made of
the juice of the plant called ferula.
The poet here directs the bee-master,
when his bees show these symptoms, to burn
galbanum around the hives, which will ex-
pel the vermin, if any there are; to intro-
duce honey into the hives through reeds, to
make up the deficiency of their food, and to
use every means to allure them to partake
of it. But in many cases, this would be
insufficient. He must add to this honey
certain medicinal substances, as remedies of
their diseases.
266. Fessas: in the sense of languidas,
and agreeing with apes, understood. Sapo-
rem: juice.
267. Galla: the nut-gall. This possesses
very powerful astringent qualities. It was
very proper, therefore, to recommend the
use of it, to check the looseness to which
the bees are subject in the spring, occasioned,
says Columella, by their feeding greedily
upon spurge after their winter penury.
made of new wine, boiled away one half,
269. Defruta. Defrutum was a mixture
or one third, into which several sorts of
sweet herbs or spices were put. Pinguia:
rich; implying that it should be boiled
away, and made thick, and enriched by
spices. Passos racemos: properly, bunches
of grapes hung up to dry in the sun-rai-
sins. Hence by meton. put for the wine
made of such grapes-raisin wine. See
Geor. ii. 93.
270. Cecropium: Attic, or Athenian;
from Cecrops, one of the first kings of Athens
Centaurea: plu. the herb centaury. Thero
are two kinds of centaury, the greater and
the less. They have no other similitude
than the bitterness of their taste. It is said
to have derived its name from Chiron, one
of the Centaurs, whom it cured of a wound
received by an arrow from Hercules.
271. Amello. Mella, or Mela, a river of
Cis-alpine Gaul, on the banks of which the
flower here spoken of abounded. Hence,
according to Servius, it was called Amellus.
Mr. Martyn thinks it the same with the
purple Indian star-wort, or Aster Atticus.
Cui nomen amello. This construction fre-
quently occurs in Virgil, and is taken from
the Greeks. It is to be taken in the sense
in the sense of cui lülus nomini: also, cui
of cui amellus nomini: so, cui nomen Iülo.
nomen asilo. See Geor. iii. 147.
272. Facilis: easy to be found by those
who seek for it.
273. Cespite. Cespes, here must mean
the root of the plant. Sylvam: in the sense
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
145
Aureus ipse. sed in foliis, quæ plurima circùm
Funduntur, violæ sublucet purpura nigræ
Sæpe Deûm nexis ornata torquibus aræ.
Asper in ore sapor: tonsis in vallibus illum
Pastores, et curva legunt prope flumina Mellæ.
Hujus odorato radices incoque Baccho,
Pabulaque in foribus plenis appone canistris.
Sed si quem proles subitò defecerit omnis,
Nec, genus unde novæ stirpis, revocetur, habebit :
Tempus, et Arcadii memoranda inventa magistri
Pandere, quoque modo cæsis jam sæpe juvencis
Insincerus apes tulerit cruor. Altiùs omnem
Expediam primâ repetens ab origine, famam
Nam quà Pellæi gens fortunata Canopi
Accolit effuso stagnantem flumine Nilum,
Et circum pictis vehitur sua rura phaselis;
Quàque pharetratæ vicinia Persidis urget
Et viridem Ægyptum nigrâ fœcundat arenâ;
Et diversa ruens septem discurrit in ora,
Usque coloratis amnis devexus ab Indis
Omnis in hâc certam regio jacit arte salutem.
;
NOTES.
of copiam caulium. Fecêre in the sense of
dederunt.
275. Nigra: deep colored. Funduntur:
sprout, or shoot up.
276. Nexis: made, or formed of this
amellus.
279. Incoque: boil, or simmer.
281. Sed si quem, &c. The poet now pro-
seeds to give an account of the method
practised by Aristaus for the recovery of
his bees, after all his swarms were lost.
Omnis proles: the whole stock, or race.
285. Insincerus: in the sense of putridus.
Altiùs: in the sense of longè. It is to be
connected with repetens.
286. Expediam: in the sense of narrabo.
287. Gens fortunata: the Egyptians.
They are here called happy, or fortunate,
on account of the fertility of their country,
which is occasioned by the annual inunda-
tion of the river Nile. Canopi. Canopus
was a city of Egypt, near Alexandria,
founded by Alexander the Great, who was
born at Peila, in Macedonia. Hence the city
Canopus is called Pellaus. The city, by
meton. for the inhabitants; who may be
put, by synec. for all the Egyptians.
288. Stagnantem: in the sense of inun-
dantem. Agros is understood.
289. Vehitur circûm. During the con-
tinuance of the inundation, the inhabitants
pass from one part of the country to an-
other in boats, or small barges; here called
phaseli. Vehitur agrees with gens.
290. Urget vicinia. The Nile did not
touch, or border upon the neighborhood of
Persia, properly so called. But we are in-
275
280
285
290
277. Sapor ejus est
asper in ore
280. Apponeque pa-
bula apibus plenis canis-
tris in foribus alvearis.
283. Tempus est pan-
dere
290. Quàque amnis
devexus usque ab colo-
ratis Indis urget
formed by Xenophon, that the Persian em-
pire under Cyrus extended as far west as
Egypt. The Nile may therefore be said to
press upon the borders of Persia, since the
Persians extended their dominions as far as
Egypt; which justifies the expression of the
poet. Vicinia: plu. of vicinium. The Per-
sians were famous for their skill in archery;
hence pharetrata Persidis.
293. Amnis: the river Nile. It rises in
Abyssinia, in the mountains of the Moon,
in about the lat. 11° N. and runs in a north-
erly direction; and, after receiving a num-
ber of tributary streams, it falls into the
Mediterranean sea in seven different chan-
The
nels, or mouthis, in lat. 32 N. forming the
Delta of Lower Egypt. The inundation of
the Nile occasions the fertility of Egypt.
Its waters bring with them the richness, or
it. This the poet calls, nigra arena.
wash of the upper country, and here deposit
rise of the Nile is occasioned by the rain
that falls at a certain season of the year in
the mountains of Abyssinia. The proper
height to which the water should rise in
Egypt is 16 cubits, or 24 feet. If it fall
short of that, a famine is expected; if it
exceed it, an injury is sustained. By means
of canals, the water is carried to every part
of the country. For an excellent descrip-
tion of the Nile, see Rollin's An. His. Vol. 1.
Indis. Any country that lay in a hot cli-
mate, the ancients denominated India, and
its inhabitants Indı. Coloratis: tawny-
sun-burnt. Devexus: flowing down from.
294. Arte: in the sense of invento.
11
146
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
obstruuntur
Exiguus primùm, atque ipsos contractus ad usus 295
Eligitur locus: hunc angustique imbrice tecti
Parietibusque premunt arctis; et quatuor addunt
Quatuor à ventis obliquâ luce fenestras.
Tum vitulus, bimâ curvans jam cornua fronte,
300
300. Geminæ nares Quæritur: huic geminæ nares, et spiritus oris
Multa reluctanti obstruitur; plagisque perempto
301. Visceraque tunsa Tunsa per integram solvuntur viscera pellem
plagis per integram pel- Sic positum in clauso linquunt: et ramea costis
Subjiciunt fragmenta, thymum, casiasque recentes.
303..Sic linquunt vi- Hoc geritur, Zephyris primùm impellentibus undas, 305
tulum positum in clauso Antè novis rubeant quàm prata coloribus, antè
Garrula quàm tignis nidum suspendat hirundo.
lem solvuntur huic pe-
rempto.
loco
306. Coloribus florum Intereà teneris tepefactus in ossibus humor
Estuat et visenda modis animalia miris,
Trunca pedum primò, mox et stridentia pennis
Miscentur, tenuemque magis, magis aëra carpunt:
tam densè, ut
312. Donec erupêre Donec, ut æstivis effusus nubibus imber,
Erupêre: aut, ut nervo pulsante sagittæ,
313. Aut tam densè, Prima leves ineunt si quando prælia Parthi.
ut sagittæ
310
Quis Deus hanc, Musæ, quis nobis extudit artem? 315
Unde nova ingressus hominum experientia cepit?
Pastor Aristæus, fugiens Peneïa Tempe,
Amissis, ut fama, apibus morboque fameque,
NOTES.
296. Hune premunt: they contract this
(still more) by a narrow roof and confined
walls-walls close together. Imbrex pro-
perly the gutter-tile of the roof, to carry off
the water. Hence it may be taken for the
roof itself. Imbrice angusti tecti: with the
covering of a narrow roof.
297. Parietibus: parietes, properly the
walls of a house: muri, the walls of a city.
Premunt: in the sense of contrahunt.
299. Bima: in the sense of bienni.
301. Multa: in the sense of multùm, in
imitation of the Greeks.
302. Viscera tunsa, &c. The meaning is:
that the entrails of the animal, as he lay
dead, being beaten with blows, are broken
in pieces, the hide remaining entire. Vis-
cera, is properly the whole animal within the
hide, as well the flesh as the entrails.
rempto: in the sense of interfecto.
Pe-
305. Geritur: in the sense of agitur.
Zephyris. The zephyrs begin to blow, in
that climate, early in the month of Febru-
ary, according to Pliny. Impellentibus: in
the sense of agitantibus.
307. Antequam hirundo. The time of the
swallow's coming is said by Columella, to
be in the latter part of February, in that
climate; with us it is much later.
309. Estuat: ferments. Trunca: desti-
tute of wanting. Miscentur: mingle-
swarm. Carpunt in the sense of tentant.
312 Frupêre: in the sense of evolaverunt.
Nero pulsante: (flew) from the whizzing
string. Nervo: the string or cord of the
bow. The Parthians were expert archers,
and usually commenced the fight by a flight
of arrows.
314. Si quando: in the sense of quando
315. Extudit: in the sense of invenit.
316. Ingressus: acc. plu. in the sense of
originem.
317. Aristaus. He is said to have been
the son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene,
the daughter of the river god Peneus, and
born in the deserts of Lybia. He married
the daughter of Cadmus, by the name of
Antonoë, by whom he had Acreon. Being
enamoured with Eurydice, the wife of Or-
pheus, he pursued her into the fields, where
a snake, laying in the grass unobserved, bit
her; of which wound she died. Where-
upon, the gods were angry, and, by way of
punishment, destroyed his bees. In this
calamity, he applied to his mother, who di-
rected him to apply to the river god Proteus.
He directed him to appease the manes of
Eurydice by the sacrifice of four bulls, and
four heifers. It is said that he travelled
over various countries, teaching men the
cultivation of the olive, and the use of bees.
He visited Arcadia; hence he is called Ar-
cadius magister apum. He received divine
honors, and was worshipped as a demi-god.
Tempe: neu. plu. a pleasant valley of Thes-
saly, through which the river Peneus flows.
Hence the epithet Penean.
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
147
Tristis ad extremi sacrum caput astitit amnis,
Multa querens: atque hâc affatus voce parentem : 320
Mater Cyrene, mater, quæ gurgitis hujus
Ima tenes: quid me præclarâ stirpe Deòrum
325
322. Tenes ima loca
hujus gurgitis: quid ge-
nuisti me invisum fatis
è præclara stirpe Deo-
rum; si modò Thym-
bræus Apollo, quem per-
hibes meum patrem, cst
meus pater: aut quò est
329 tuus amor nostri pulsus
tibi
(Si modò, quem perhibes, pater est Thymbræus Apollo)
Invisum fatis genuisti? aut quò tibi nostri
Pulsus amor? quid me cœlum sperare jubebas?
En etiam hunc ipsum vitæ mortalis honorem,
Quem mihi vix frugum et pecudum custodia solers
Omnia tentanti extuderat, te matre, relinquo!
Quin age, et ipsa manu felices erue sylvas,
Fer stabulis inimicum ignem, atque interfice messes:
Ure sata, et validam in vites molire bipennem :
Tanta meæ si te ceperunt tædia laudis.
At mater sonitum thalamo sub fluminis alti
Sensit eam circùm Milesia vellera Nymphæ
Carpebant, hyali saturo fucata colore:
Drymoque, Xanthoque, Ligeaque, Phyllodoceque,
Cæsariem effusæ nitidam per candida colla;
Nesæe, Spioque, Thaliaque, Cymodoceque,
Cydippeque, et flava Lycorias; altera virgo,
Altera tum primos Lucinæ experta labores;
Clioque, et Beroë soror, Oceanitides ambæ,
Ambæ auro, pictis incinctæ pellibus ambæ ;
Atque Ephyre, atque Opis, et Asia Deïopeia;
Et tandem positis velox Arethusa sagittis.
Inter quas curam Clymene narrabat inanem
NOTES.
319. Ad sacrum caput: at the sacred
source of the remote river. Aristaus re-
sided in the vale of Tempe. After the loss
of his bees, he retired to the source of the
river Peneus, in mount Pindus, where his
mother had her residence. After her amour
with Apollo, it is said that god conveyed
her to Africa, where she resided during the
period of her gestation and delivery. Her
son was brought up by the Seasons, and fed
upon ambrosia.
321. Gurgitis: in the sense of fontis.
323. Modò: in the sense of certè. Thym-
bræus: a name of Apollo, from Thymbra, a
town of Troas, where he had a magnificent
temple. Perhibes: in the sense of dicis,
vel vocas.
327. Custodia: in the sense of cura.
328. Relinquo: in the sense of amitto.
Extuderat: had provided, or procured.
329. Felices: in the sense of fœcundas.
331. Molire: in the sense of immitte.
332. Tædia: in the sense of negligentia.
334. Milesia: an adj. from Miletus, a city
in the confines of Ionia and Caria. Its
wool was hold in great estimation among
the Romans.
335. Carpebant: in the sense of nebant.
Fucata: dyed with a rich sea-green color.
Hyali: gen. of hyalus: glass; also a glassy,
335
340
345
326. En, te matre,
etiam relinquo hunc ip-
sum honorem
329. Tu ipsa erue meas
felices
337. Effusæ quoad ni-
tidam
339. Altera adhuc vir-
go; alter tum
342. Ambæ incinctæ
auro,
pictis
ambæ incinctæ
or sea-green color; from a Greek word
signifying glass.
336. Drymo. The names of the nymphs
here mentioned are taken from Homer and
Hesiod, and are all of Greek derivation.
337. Effusa: in the sense of diffusce:
their hair hung loose, and flowing over
their snow-white necks.
340. Experta: in the sense of passa. Lu-
cina: child-bearing. The name of the
goddess of child-bearing; by meton. taken
for child-bearing itself. It is an epithet
both of Juno and Diana.
341. Oceanitides: daughters of the ocean.
See Ecl. ii. 46.
343. Deïopeia. This nymph is called
Asian, because she was of the Asian fen:
Asia appellatur quia ex Asia palude.
344. Arethusa. She had been at first a
huntress, and one of Diana's train; but af-
terward changed by her into a fountain
nymph. Hence the propriety of sagittis
positis.
345. Inter quas: among whom Clymene
was relating, &c. Venus, the wife of Vul-
can, was taken in adultery with Mars. Her
husband cast a net over them, as they were
in each other's embrace, and in this situa
tion they were exposed to the laughter of
all the gods. The poet calls Vulcan's care
148
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
347. Vulcani de custo- Vulcani, Martisque dolos, et dulcia furta,
dienda Venere
Aque Chao densos Divûm numerabat amores.
348. Nymphæ capte Carmine quo captæ, dum fusis mollia pensa
sunt
Devolvunt, iterurh maternas impulit aures
Luctus Aristæi, vitreisque sedilibus omnes
Obstupêre: sed ante alias Arethusa sorores
Prospiciens, summâ flavum caput extulit undâ.
353. Et procul dixit: Et procul: O, gemitu non frustrà exterrita tanto,
O soror Cyrene
Cyrene soror; ipse tibi, tua maxima cura,
Tristis, Aristæus, Penei genitoris ad undam
Stat lachrymans, et te crudelem nomine dicit
357. Mater perculsa Huic perculsa novâ mentem formidine mater,
quoad mentem nova for- Duc, age, duc ad nos: fas illi limina Divâm
midine ait huic: age, Tangere, ait. Simul alta jubet discedere latè
Flumina, quà juvenis gressus inferret: at illum
Curvata in montis faciem circumstetit unda,
Accepitque sinu vasto, misitque sub amnem.
Jamque domum mirans genitricis et humida regna,
Speluncisque lacus clausos, lucosque sonantes,
Ibat: et, ingenti motu stupefactus aquarum,
duc, duc illum ad nos:
fas est illi
Omnia sub magnâ labentia flumina terrâ
Spectabat diversa locis, Phasimque, Lycumque,
Et caput, unde altus primùm se erumpit Enipeus,
371. Et unde Erida- Unde pater Tyberinus, et unde Aniena fluenta,
nus auratus quoad ge- Saxosùmque sonans Hypanis, Mysusque Caïcus,
Et gemina auratus taurino cornua, vultu
mina cornua
NOTES..
inanem, vain, because it had no effect to re-
claim his wife, or because it served only to
propagate his own disgrace: or rather, be-
cause he was unable, with all his care and
watchfulness, to prevent her from defiling
his bed. Venus was a wanton dame.
346. Dulcia furta. This alludes to the
amour of Mars with Venus: stolen embra-
ces-sweet thefts.
347. Chao: from the origin of the world;
or from Chaos, who, according to fable, was
the first of the gods. Densos: in the sense
of frequentes, vel multos.
348. Mollia pensa: the soft yarn.
yarn.
mine: song, story, or subject.
Car-
351. Antè: before her other sisters.
353. Non frustrà: not in vain alarmed:
you are alarmed, and not without reason.
355. Undam: in the sense of fontem.-
Peneus, the river god, was the father of
Cyrene.
360. Inferret gressus: might introduce his
foot-steps-might march along a phrase.
Flumina: in the sense of aquas.
361. Curvata: rolled or heaped up in the
form of a mountain.
362. Misit: in the sense of admisit. Eum
is understood.
364. Speluncis. There were two opinions
among the ancients respecting the origin of
rivers. Aristotle considered the sea to be
the source: but Plato, whom Virgil here fol-
350
355
360
365
370
lows, was of the opinion, that there was,
under the earth, a general receptacle or re-
servoir of water, from which the rivers were
all fed. This they called barathrum. By
lacus clausos, &c. the poet means this gene-
ral reservoir of water.
367. Diversa: remote-widely separated.
Phasim: Phasis, a noble river of Colchis,
rising in the mountains of Armenia, falls
into the Euxine sea. It is famous for the
expedition of the Argonauts, who entered
it after a long and perilous voyage. Lycum:
Lycus, the name of several rivers. It is not
certain, which one the poet here intends.
368. Caput: the source, whence, &c.
Enipeus is a river of Thessaly, watering the
plains of Pharsalia, and falling into the
river Peneus.
369. Tyberinus: the river Tyber in Italy.
It is called by way of eminence pater. It
falls into the Tuscan sea. Aniena: an adj.
from Anio, the name of a small river in
Italy.
370. Hypanis: a river of the ancient Sar-
matia, uniting with the Borysthenes or Nei-
per, and with it, flows into the Euxine sea.
Hodie, Bog. Saxosùm: an adj. of the neu.
gen. used adverbially-among the rocks.
Caïcus: a river of Mysia major in the Lesser
Asia. It falls into the Egean sea, nearly
opposite to Mitylene on the Island of Les-
bos. Hence the epithet Mysus.
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
149
Eridanus, quo non alius per pinguia culta
In mare purpureum violentior influit amnis.
Postquam est in thalami pendentia pumice tecta
Perventum, et nati fletus cognovit inanes
Cyrene: manibus liquidos dant ordine fontes
Germanæ, tonsisque ferunt mantilia villis
Pars epulis onerant mensas, et plena reponunt
Pocula; Panchæis adolescunt ignibus aræ.
Et mater: Cape Mæonii carchesia Bacchi:
Oceano libemus, ait. Simul ipsa precatur
Oceanumque patrem rerum, Nymphasque sorores,
Centum quæ sylvas, centum quæ flumina servant.
Ter liquido ardentem perfudit nectare Vestam:
Ter flamma ad summum tecti subjecta reluxit.
Omine quo firmans animum, sic incipit ipsa :
Est in Carpathio Neptuni gurgite vates,
NOTES.
372. Eridanus: the river Po. This is the
largest river of Italy.
There is a seeming difficulty in reconciling
what is here said of this river with matter
of fact. We are told the Po is not a rapid
river. It flows the greater part of its course
through a level and highly cultivated coun-
try. This taken into consideration, no other
river perhaps, under the same circumstan-
ces, flows with greater rapidity. We are
not to understand the poet as speaking ab-
solutely, but comparatively. It falls into
the Adriatic sea, or gulf of Venice.
Taurino vultu. The form of a bull is of
ten, by the poets, given to rivers, from their
roaring and rapid course: the noise which
they make, bearing some resemblance to
the bellowing of that animal. They are also
called cornuti, or horned, from the double
banks or channels, into which they divide
themselves: or perhaps from the circum-
stance of their being sometimes formed by
the union of two streams or smaller rivers.
As for example, the river Ohio is formed
by the union of the rivers Alleghany and
Monongahela.
Hercules is said to have broken off one
of the horns of Acheloüs. It is thus ex-
plained. That hero reduced the river to one
channel or stream. The dried part or bro-
ken horn of the river was converted into
fruitful fields and gardens. This gave rise
to the fablo of the cornucopiæ, or horn of
plenty. This was given to the nymphs, and
by them presented to the Goddess of Plenty.
The verb erumpit is to be supplied with
each of the preceding nominatives.
374. Pendentia: vaulted, or arched with
pumice stone. Ruæus says; structa impen-
dente pumice. Perventum est: imp. verb,
used in the sense of pervenit.
375. Inanes: vain, says Servius, because
they were excited by a calamity casy to be
removed.
372. Quo amne non
alius amnis influit vio-
lentior per
374. Postquam per-
375 ventum est in tecta tha-
lami
380 380. Et mater ait;
Cape
385
Lim
376. Dant: in the sense of ferunt.
quidos fontes: in the sense of puras aquas.
This water was brought for the use of Aris-
tæus; manibus may therefore refer to his
hands-for washing his hands: or it may
refer to the hands of the nymphs who
brought it-in their hands.
377. Mantilia: towels. It would seem
they were made of some shaggy or nappy
cloth, which was sometimes shorn for the
greater smoothness and delicacy. Our nap-
kins were probably of the same sort for-
merly, the word seeming to be derived from
nap. Tonsis villis: the shag or nap being
cut off.
379. Panchais: an adj. from Panchæa, a
region of Arabia, abounding in frankin-
cense. Ara: the altars burn with Arabian
frankincense.
380. Carchesia. The carchesium was a
large oblong bowl or goblet, flatted about
the middle, having handles reaching quite
to the bottom. Mæonii: an adj. from Mœ-
onia, the ancient name of Lydia in Asia
Minor. It abounded in vines. Bacchi: for
vini.
383. Servant: in the sense of præsident.
384. Perfundit: she sprinkled-wet. Ar-
dentem Vestam: the flaming fire: See Æn. 1.
292. Neclare: for vino. Nectar was pro-
perly the best and purest wine, such as they
assigned to the use of the gods.
385. Subjecia. This Ruæus takes in the
sense of supposita; with what proprioty,
however, does not appear. The meaning
plainly is that when the wine was poured
upon the fire, a flame arose, or blazed, and
shone bright, as high as the roof of the
house. Subjicio, from which subjecta is de-
rived, signifies to rise, or mount up. See
Ecl. x. 74, and Æn. xii. 288. It is here used
in the sense of surgens.
387. Carpathio: an adj. from Carpathus,
an island in the Mediterranean sea, between
150
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Coruieus Proteus, magnum qui piscibus æquor,
Et juncto bipedum curru metitur equorum.
Hic nunc Emathiæ portus, patriamque revisit
Pallenen; hunc et nymphæ veneramur, et ipse
Grandævus Nereus: novit namque omnia vates,
393. Quæ sint præsen- Quæ sint, quæ fuerint, quæ mox ventura trahantur.
tia, quæ fuerint præte- Quippe ita Neptuno visum est: immania cujus
rita, et
Armenta, et turpes pascit sub gurgite phocas.
Hic tibi, nate, priùs vinclis capiendus, ut omnem
Expediat morbi causam, eventusque secundet.
Nam sinè vi non ulla dabit præcepta, neque illum
Orando flectes: vim duram et vincula capto
390
393
400. Circùm hæc vin- Tende: doli circùm hæc demum frangentur inanes. 400
401. Ego ipsa ducam Ipsa ego te, medios cùm Sol accenderit æstus,
cula
te in secreta senis, quò Cùm sitiunt herbæ, et pecori jam gratior umbra est,
402. Gratior pecori In secreta senis ducam, quò fessus ab undis
quàm herba
Se recipit; facilè ut somno aggrediare jacentem.
405 Illum correptum Verùm ubi correptum manibus, vinclisque tenebis; 405
Tum variæ eludent species, atque ora ferarum.
Fiet enim subitò sus horridus, atraque tigris,
Squamosusque draco, et fulvâ cervice leæna.
Aut acrem flammæ sonitum dabit, atque ita vinclis
Excidet, aut in aquas tenues dilapsus abibit.
Sed quantò ille magis formas se vertet in omnes;
Tantò, nate, magis contende tenacia vincla :
413. Qualem videris Donec talis erit, mutato corpore, qualem
Videris, incepto tegeret cùm lumina somno.
illum
NOTES.
Rhodes and Crete, whence the neighboring
sea was called Carpathian. It is now call-
ed Scarpanto. Neptuni: Neptunus, the god
of the sea, by meton. put here for the sea
itself, according to Rueus. That commen-
tator takes gurgite in the sense of sinu;
but it is better to take it in the sense of
mari, and Neptuni in its usual acceptation.
Vates Neptun: the prophet of Neptune.
For Proteus, it is said, received from that
god the gift of prophecy.
388. Proteus: a sea-god. According to
fable, he was the son of Oceanus and Te-
thys, and received the gift of prophecy from
Neptune. He was very difficult of access,
and when consulted, he frequently eluded
the answers by transforming himself into
various shapes, and so making his escape.
Homer makes him an Egyptian, and Hero-
dotus, a king of Egypt. Sir Isaac Newton,
finding him cotemporary with Amenophis,
or Memnon, conjectures he was only a vice-
roy to that prince, and governed some part
of Lower Egypt in his absence.
Proteus is represented as drawn in a car
by marine horses; that is, their fore part
resembling the horse, their hinder a fish.
They would consequently have only two
feet, and those before. Hence bipedum
equorum.
410
389. Metitur: he measures, or rides over.
Juncto: yoked, or harnessed; alluding to
his marine horses, that were harnessed in
his car.
391. Pallenen: Pallene, a peninsula of
Macedonia, whose original name was Ema-
thia.
393. Trahantur. There is a great pro-
priety in the use of this word, according to
the heathen notion of fate. Future events
are said to be drawn, (trahi,) because, in
that series, or chain of causes and effects,
they so follow that one may be said to draw
the other.
395. Turpes: in the sense of immanes.
399. Flectes: in the sense of vinces.
400. Tende: apply rigid force and chains
to him, when seized. Ďoli: tricks—strata-
gems.
406. Ora: in the sense of forma. Elu-
dent. Illudent is the common reading. Pio-
rius found in the Roman manuscript ludent;
in the Lombard, Medicean, and most of the
ancient manuscripts, eludent which is the
reading of Heyne.
408. Draco: a serpent, or snake.
410. Excidet: will escape.
dissolved into water, &c.
Dilapsus:
412. Contende: in the sense of constringe.
414. Tegeret: in the sense of clauderet
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
151
1
Hæc ait: et liquidum ambrosiæ diffudit odorem, 415
Quo totum nati corpus perduxit; at illi
Dulcis compositis spiravit crinibus aura,
Atque habilis membris venit vigor. Est specus ingens
Exesi latere in montis; quò plurima vento
Cogitur, inque sinus scindit sese unda reductos ;
Deprensis olim statio tutissima nautis.
Intus se vasti Proteus tegit objice saxi.
419. Quò plurima un
420 da cogitur.
425
430
Hic juvenem in latebris aversum à lurnine Nympha
Collocat: ipsa procul nebulis obscura resistit.
Jam rapidus torrens sitientes Sirius Indos
Ardebat cœlo, et medium Sol igneus orbem
Hauserat arebant herbæ, et cava flumina siccis
Faucibus ad limum radii tepefecta coquebant:
Cùm Proteus consueta petens è fluctibus antra
Ibat eum vasti circùm gens humida ponti
Exultans, rorem latè dispergit amarum.
Sternunt se somno diversæ in litore phocæ.
Ipse (velut stabuli custos in montibus olim,
Vesper ubi è pastu vitulos ad tecta reducit,
Auditisque lupos acuunt balatibus agni)
Considit scopulo medius, numerumque recenset.
Cujus Aristao quoniam est oblata facultas:
Vix defessa senem passus componere membra,
Cum clamore ruit magno, manicisque jacentem
Occupat. Ille suæ contrà non immemor artis,
Omnia transformat sese in miracula rerum,
Ignemque, horribilemque feram, fluviumque liquentem.
435
440
•
423. Nympha Cyrene
collocat juvenem Aris-
tæum
427. Et radii Solis
coquebant cava flumina
tepefacta faucibus siccis
usque ad
437. Quoniam facul-
tas capiendi cujus oblata
est Aristo; vix
439. Ruit in eum cum
NOTES.
Somno incepto: at the beginning of his droughts: hence the propriety of the epi-
sleep.
thet sitientes.
415. Ambrosiæ. Ambrosia was the food
of the gods, and nectar their drink. But
the two are often confounded, as here, liqui-
dus odor is said of ambrosia. Liquidum odo-
rem: a pure fragrancy, or perfume.
416. Perduxit: in the sense of perunxit.
Pierius found perfudit in the Roman MS.
417. Aura: in the sense of odor.
the dat. in the sense of illius.
the dat, case is frequent with Virgil.
positis: in the sense of unctis.
Mi :
This use of
Com-
419. Exesi: in the sense of excavati.
421. Olim: in the sense of aliquando.
Deprensis: caught, or overtaken in a storm.
423. Aversum: in the sense of remotum.
424. Resistit: in the sense of remanet.
Obscura: in the sense of occulta.
425. Sirius: a star of the first magnitude
in the mouth of the dog. It rises about the
time the sun enters the sign Leo, which
takes place in the latter part of July,
causing what we call the dog-days. Tor-
rens pres. part. in the sense of comburens.
Indos. This word is here used for the in-
habitants of any warm climate. Such
countries are subject to long and excessive
426. Igneus Sol: the fiery sun had com-
pleted (drawn out) half his course. This
is a circumlocution to denote the middle of
the day. Hauserat: in the sense of cu
currerat.
428. Coquebant: in the sense of siccabant.
Faucibus: in the sense of alveis.
431. Amarum: the bitter spray. The
sea-water is bitter as well as salt.
432. Diversa: dispersed, or scattered
along the shore.
433. Stabuli: in the sense of armenti, by
meton.
435. Auditis. Some read auditi, to agree •
with agni: but the sense leads to auditis:
the bleating of the lambs being heard. Mr.
Davidson observes, that auditis is found in
the Roman, Medicean, and Cambridge ma-
nuscripts. Heyne reads auditis.
437. Facultas: an opportunity was pre-
sented.
439. Manicis: in the senso of vinculis.
Some manuscripts read vinculis.
441. Miracula: in the sense of prodigia,
wonderful shapes, says Valpy.
442. Liquentem: in the sense of fluentem
152
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
445
At ille.
Verùm ubi nulla fugam reperit fallacia, victus
In sese redit, atque hominis tandem ore locutus:
Nam quis te, juvenum confidentissime, nostras
446. At ille Aristaus Jussit adire domos? quidve hinc petis? inquit.
respondit :0 Proteu, scis, Scis, Proteu, scis ipse: neque est te fallere cuiquam.
Sed tu desine velle. Deum præcepta secuti
Venimus huc, lapsis quæsitum oracula rebus.
tu ipse
448 Velle fallere me
450. Effatus est
antum
hoc Tantum effatus. Ad hæc vates vi denique multâ
Ardentes oculos intorsit lumine glauco:
A
450
Et, graviter frendens, sic fatis ora resolvit :
Non te nullius exercent numinis iræ;
Magna luis commissa: tibi has miserabilis Orpheus
Haudquaquam ob meritum pœnas (ni fata resistant)
Suscitat, et raptâ graviter pro conjuge sævit.
456
457. Illa puella qui- Illa quidem, dum te fugeret per flumina præceps,
dem moritura, dum præ- Immanem ante pedes hydrum, moritura puella,
ceps per flumina fugeret
te, non vidit, ante pedes Servantem ripas altâ non vidit in herbâ.
in alta herba, immanem At chorus æqualis Dryadum clamore supremos
Implêrunt montes: flêrunt Rhodopeïæ arces,
464. Ipse Orpheus so. Altaque Pangæa, et Rhesi Mavortia tellus,
lans ægrum amorem ca- Atque Getæ, atque Hebrus, atque Actias Orithyia.
va testudine, canebat te, Ipse, cavâ solans ægrum testudine amorem,
O dulcis conjux; canebat Te, dulcis conjux, te solo in litore secum,
te secum in solo litore:
canebat te, die veniente; Te veniente dic, te decedente canebat.
canebat te, die decedente, Tænarias etiam fauces, alta ostia Ditis,
NOTES.
443. Fugam: escape. Fallacia: wiles-
tricks-stratagems.
447. Neque est cuique: nor is it in the
power of any one to deceive you.
449. Quæsitum: to seek divine counsel
in my ruined state-my adverse circum-
stances. A supine in um, put after venimus.
451. Ardentes: in the sense of coruscan-
tes. It is to be connected with lumine
glauco.
452. Sic resolvit. The poet now proceeds
to the answer of Proteus, in which he tells
Aristæus that the cause of his disaster was
the injury offered to Eurydice, the wife of
Orpheus. The whole story is told in so
beautiful a manner, that it does not seem
unworthy of the mouth of a god.
453. Ñon nullius numinis. Davidson ren-
ders this: of no mean deity. But the or-
dinary sense and meaning of the words are
to be preferred: of some deity. The two
negatives express affirmatively. Besides
the punishment of Aristaus was procured
by Orpheus and the nymphs, who were in-
ferior deities. Ruæus and Heyne say ali-
cujus Dei. Exercent: in the sense of per-
sequuntur.
454. Commissa: in the sense of scelera.
Miserabilis, &c. Unhappy Orpheus procures
this punishment for thee, by no means pro.
portionate to thy deserts, (and would pro-
cure greater,) if the fates did not oppose.
This appears to be the plain meaning of the
460
465
passage. It would be a useless labor to
enumerate the various opinions of commen-
tators upon it. Dr. Trapp observes, the
parenthesis, ni fata resistant, is the most
difficult passage in Virgil's works.
make any sense of it, we must supply the
words and would procure greater punish.
ment. Ob equal-proportionate to.
:
To
Orpheus was the son of Eagrus, king
of Thrace, and Calliope, one of the Muses.
He was distinguished for his skill in music
and poetry. He was one of the Argonauts.
It is said there are some hymns of his ex-
tant; but there is reason to believe they
are spurious. See Ecl. iii. 46.
for.
456. Savit: and grieves immoderately
461. Arces: the Rhodopean mountains.
See Geor. iii. 351.
462. Pangaa: neu. plu. sing. Pangaus:
a mountain in Thrace, in the confines of
Macedonia. Rhesi. See Æn. I. 469.
463. Getœ. See Geor. ii. 462. Orithyia.
See Ecl. vii. 51.
464. Testudine. The lyre was called
testudo, because anciently it was made of
tortoise shell. It is said that Mercury find.
ing a dead tortoise on the banks of the
river Nile, made a lyre of it; whence he is
called, parens curvæ lyræ.
Tænarus, a
467. Ingressus Tanarias.
promontory of the Peloponnesus, separa-
ting the Sinus Messenicus from the Sinus.
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
153
Et caligantem nigrâ formidine lucum
•
Ingressus, Manesque adiit, regemque tremendum,
Nesciaque humanis precibus mansuescere corda.
At cantu commotæ Erebi de sedibus imis
Umbræ ibant tenues, simulacraque luce carentûm :
Quàm multa in sylvis avium se millia condunt,
Vesper ubi, aut hybernus agit de montibus imber
Matres, atque viri, defunctaque corpora vitâ
Magnanimûm heroum, pueri, innuptæque puellæ,
Impositique rogis juvenes ante ora parentum
Quos circum limus niger, et deformis arundo
Cocyti, tardâque palus inamabilis undâ
Alligat, et novies Styx interfusa coërcet.
Quin ipsæ stupuere domus, atque intima leti
Tartara, cæruleosque implexæ crinibus angues
Eumenides; tenuitque inhians tria Cerberus ora;
Atque Ixionii cantu rota constitit orbis.
Jamque pedem referens, casus evaserat omnes;
Redditaque Eurydice superas veniebat ad auras,
NOTES.
Laconicus, fabled to be the entrance of the
infernal regions. Here Orpheus made his
descent to hell after his Eurydice. Ostia:
the doors, or gates of Pluto.
470. Corda nescia: and hearts know-
ing not (incapable of) to relent at human
prayers.
472. Simulacra: the shades or forms of
those wanting life. Luce: in the sense of
vita.
475. Corpora: and bodies of gallant he-
roes deprived of life. Corpora is here used
to denote the airy vehicle, or form, which
the ancients assigned to departed spirits.
This is the meaning here.
479. Cocyti. Cocytus, a river of Italy,
of no great magnitude, feigned by the poets
to be a river of hell. Its banks abounded
in reeds. Inamabilis: in the sense of odiosa;
and undâ for aquâ.
480. Circum alligat: surrounds-confines.
The parts of the verb are frequently sepa-
rated by Tmesis, for the sake of the verse.
Styx. A fabulous river of hell, around
which, the poets say, it flowed nine times.
It may therefore be said to restrain the
shades, and prevent them from returning to
the upper regions. See Geor. iii. 551. In-
terfusa: flowing between them and the upper
regions of light.
482. Tartara: properly the lowest part of
hell-the place in which the impious are
punished, according to the poets._ Intima:
in the sense of profundissima. Letum, or
Lethum, seems here to be used for the place,
or regions of the dead in general.
483. Eumenides. The furies were three
in number, and represented with their hair
entwined with serpents, to render them
470
475
480
485
471. Cantu Orphes
tenues
482. Eumenidos im-
plexæ quoad cæruleos
angues crinibus
more dreadful.
See Geor. i. 278. Cerbe-
rus: a huge dog with three heads, the
door-keeper of Pluto.
484. Cantu. Most copies have vento.
But it is extremely difficult to make any
sense of that. Davidson reads cantu, and
informs us that Pierius found cantu in se.
veral ancient MSS. This makes the senso
easy, and the passage intelligible.
Commentators have shown a good deal
of ingenuity in attempting to render this
passage intelligible with vento. Rumus
says: Orbis rotæ Ixioniæ quievit flante vento
contrario. Valpy that the wind relaxed,
by which the wheel was carried round; or
it stood to the wind.
Heyne hath a long note upon it. He
thinks vento should be taken in the abl.
The wind, by which the wheel was carried
round, subsiding, the wheel ceased to re-
volve: Vento,quo aliàs circum ugibatur rota,
subsidente, subsideret motus rota.
Or, by
oentus, may be understood the air or wind,
occasioned by the revolution of the wheel:
or lastly, says he, rota orbis may be taken
simply for the wheel: rota substitit vento:
the impulse of the wind ceasing, venti im-
pulsu cessante, the wheel stopped.
The fable represents all the infernal re-
gions charmed with the music of Orpheus.
The furies, the depths of Tartarus, Cerbe-
rus with his triple mouth, the wheel of
Ixion, all stopped to listen to it. Ixionii:
an adj. from Ixion, agreeing with orbis. Ix-
ion was sentenced to be bound to a wheel,
bis: the rotation, or revolution of the wheel.
that kept perpetually in motion. Rota or-
or simply for rota. See Geor. iii. 38.
486. Veniebat: was just coming to the
upper regions of light.
154
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
!
489. Dementia quidem
ignoscenda, si Manos
492. Rupta sunt
490
Ponè sequens; namque hanc dederat Proserpina legem.
Cùm subita incautum dementia cepit amantem,
Ignoscenda quidem, scirent si ignoscere Manes.
Restitit, Eurydicenque suam jam luce sub ipsâ,
Immemor, heu! victusque animi, respexit: ibi omnis
Effusus labor; atque immitis rupta tyranni
Fœdera: terque fragor stagnis auditus Avernis.
495
494. Illa Eurydice in- Illa, quis et me, inquit, miseram, et te perdidit Orpheu ?
quit: quis perdidit et Quis tantus furor? en iterum crudelia retrò
me miseram, et te, Fata vocant, conditque natantia lumina somnus!
Orpheu! quis tantus fu-
Jamque vale feror ingenti circumdata nocte,
ror est hic?
498. Non ampliùs tua Invalidasque tibi tendens, heu! non tua, palmas.
conjux. Dixit: et fugit Dixit: et ex oculis subitò, ceu fumus in auras
diversa ex oculis Orphei Commixtus tenues, fugit diversa: neque illum
Prensantem nequicquam umbras, et multa volentem
Dicere, prætereà vidit: nec portitor Orci
503. Passus est Or Ampliùs objectam passus transire paludem.
pheum
Quid faceret? quò se, raptâ bis conjuge, ferret ?
Quo fletu Manes, quâ numina voce moveret ?
Illa quidem Stygiâ nabat jam frigida cymbâ.
Septem illum totos perhibent ex ordine menses
ex ordine flevisse sub Rupe sub aëriâ, deserti ad Strymonis undam
aëria rupe, ad
Flevisse, et gelidis hæc evolvisse sub antris,
507. Perhibent illum
per septem totos menses
487. Legem: condition.
NOTES.
488. Subita dementia: a sudden frenzy,
which put the lover off his guard; or caused
him to forget the condition upon which his
Eurydice was suffered to return.
489. Ignoscenda quidem: pardonable in-
deed, if, &c. Orpheus looked back to be-
hold his loved Eurydice. This was the fa-
tal error, and not to be blamed in a lover.
Even Eurydice herself did not blame him,
for it proceeded from love to her. Ovid
says: Jamque iterum moriens non est de con-
juge quicquam questa suo: quid enim sese
queretur amatam? Manes, here, is put for
the infernal gods.
490. Sub ipsa luce: in the very region of
light.
491. Victus animi: not master of his af-
fections. Effusus: in the sense of perditus est.
493. Fœdera: the terms, or conditions.
Avernis: sing. Avernus; plu. Averna: a
lake of Campania, in Italy, by the poets
placed in the infernal regions; also, by me-
ton. put for the regions themselves. Fra-
gor. Servius takes fragor to mean the joy
and exultation of the shades at the return
of Eurydice among them: a shout--a cer-
tain dismal and hollow sound.
495. Füror: force, or violence. It is
plain that furor is not to be taken here in
its usual sense. It is probable that it refers
to the force or power which prevented her
from following her husband, which she
must have felt previous to her second death,
or return to the shades. This is the opi-
nion of Vossius.
500
505
496. Condit: in the sense of claudit.
497. Feror circumdata: I am carried
away, encompassed by thick darkness, and
stretching, &c.
500. Diversa: in the sense of, in diver-
sam partem. It agrees with illa.
502. Prætereà: in the sense of posteà.
Portitor Orci: Charon.. He was fabled to
be the son of Erebus and Nox. It was his
business to ferry the souls of the deceased
over the rivers Styx and Acheron, to the
place of the dead. Hence he is called por-
titor orci. The fable of Charon and his
boat seems to have originated from the
Egyptians, who had a custom of carrying
their dead across a lake to a place, where
sentence was to be passed upon them;
and according to their good or bad actions
in life, they were honored with a splendid
burial, or left unnoticed in the open air.
Orci: Orcus here signifies the regions of
the dead in general-hell.
503. Objectam paludem: the intervening
river-Styx. Orpheus had already re-cross-
ed the Styx, and was approaching the re-
gions of light, when Eurydice was taken
from him, and hurried back to the shades.
The infernal river, therefore, lay between
him and the regions of the dead, to which
Eurydice was carried a second time in the
Stygian boat.
506. Illa: she-Eurydice, lifeless, was
crossing, &c.
508. Strymonis: gen. of Strymon, a river
of Macedonia, on the borders of Thrace.
509. Hæc: these misfortunes of his.
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
155
Mulcentem tigres, et agentem carmine quercus.
Qualis populeâ mærens Philomela sub umbrâ
Amissos queritur fœtus, quos durus arątor
Observans nido implumes, detraxit: at illa
Flet noctem, ramoque sedens miserabile carmen
Integrat, et mœstis latè loca questibus implet.
Nulla Venus, nullique animum flexere hymenæi.
Solus Hyperboreas glacies, Tanaïmque nivalem,
Arvaque Riphæis nunquam viduata pruinis
Lustrabat, raptam Eurydicen, atque irrita Ditis
Dona querens: spreto Ciconum quo munere matres,
Inter sacra Deûm, nocturnique orgia Bacchi,
Discerptum latos juvenem sparsere per agros.
Tum quoque marmoreâ caput à cervice revulsum,
Gurgite cùm medio portans agrius Hebrus
Volveret, Eurydicen, vox ipsa et frigida lingua,
Ah miseram Eurydicen! animâ fugiente, vocabat:
Eurydicen toto referebant flumine ripæ.
Hæc Proteus: et se jactu dedit æquor in altum;
Quàque dedit, spumantem undam sub vertice torsit.
NOTES.
510. Agentem: in the sense of ducentem.
511. Philomela: the nightingale. See
Ecl. vi. 78. This is a most exquisite simile,
not more generally admired than beautifully
conceived. To heighten the picture, the
birds are not only implumes, without fea-
thers, but they are taken from the nest; not
only so, they are drawn from it by the
hands of a cruel, hard-hearted ploughman.
In reading it, an emphasis should be placed
upon durus and detraxit. It may be ob-
served that the poplar shade is very judi-
ciously selected by the poet to heighten the
image; because the leaves of the poplar
tree, trembling with the least breath of air,
make a kind of melancholy rustling. See
Ecl. vi. 78.
512. Queritur: laments her lost young.
514. Miserabile carmen: mournful song.
Integrat: in the sense of renovat.
516. Venus: love-person loved.
517. Tanaïm: Tanais, a large river of
Europe. It flows through the ancient Scy-
thia, and falls into the Palus Mæotis, or sea
of Azoff, forming a part of the boundary line
between Europe and Asia. Hodie, the Don.
518. Viduata: free from-destitute of.
Riphais. See Geor. i. 240.
520. Dona irrita. This alludes to the
condition, on which Pluto consented to the
return of Eurydice to life. The event
proved the favor to be a useless, and una-
vailing one to him. Querens: lamenting-
bemoaning. Ciconum. The Cicones were
a people of Thrace near mount Ismarus,
where the feasts of Bacchus were celebrated.
Quo munere spreto. The Thracian women,
as the fable goes, were much in love with
Orpheus. None, however, was able to
510
515
514. Flet per noctom
516. Animum Orphei
519. Raptam à se
520. Quo nuptiali mu-
521 nere spreto, matres Ci-
525
conum
523. Tum quoque cùm
agrius Hebrus volve-
ret ejus caput revulsum
à marmoreâ cervice, por-
tans id medio gurgite,
ejus vox ipsa, et frigida
lingua, vocabat
make any impression upon his mind except
Eurydice. After her death, they renewed
their suit, which was rejected. To this cir-
cumstance the words, quo munere spreto,
may refer: which (whose) offer being de-
spised. They may, however, refer to his
total indifference to all female charms, and
his disregard of marriage. In this sense,
Mr. Davidson takes them. It is said, verse
516, supra.: Nulla Venus, et nulli Hymenær
flexere animum. See Ecl. iii. 46. Heyne
reads spretæ, but the sense determines in
favor of spreto. This disregard and indif-
ference of Orpheus to the charms of the
Thracian women, so enraged them, that
during their revellings at a feast of Bacchus,
they set upon him, tore him in pieces, and
strowed his limbs over the Thracian fields.
521. Nocturni. The orgies of Bacchus
were usually celebrated in the night; hence
the epithet nocturnus, applied to Bacchus.
523. Marmorea: in the sense of candida.
524. Eagrius: an adj. from Eagrus, a
king of Thrace, and father of Orpheus.
Gurgite: in the sense of fluvio, vel alveo
Hebrus. It is the principal river of Thrace
With its tributary streams, it waters a con-
siderable extent of country. It falls into
the head of the Archipelago. Into this
river the furious Bacchanals cast the head
of Orpheus, which, as it floated down the
current, continued to repeat the name of
Eurydice.
527. Referebant: repeated-echoed.
528. Dedit: in the sense of immisit.
529. Torsit spumantem: he threw the
foaming water over his head. Dr. Trapp
observes, that although this episode be ad
mirable in itself, it is obvious to observe that
156
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
causa morbi apibus tuis
530. At Cyrene non At non Cyrene: namque ultrò affata timentein :
dedit se in altum mare: Nate, licet tristes animo deponere curas.
namque affata est timen- Hæc omnis morbi causa: hinc miserabile Nymphæ,
tem filium ultrò dicens :
532. Hæc est omnis Cum quibus illa choros lucis agitabat in altis,
Exitium misêre apibus. Tu munera supplex
Tende, petens pacem, et faciles venerare Napaas.
Namque dabunt veniam votis, irasque remittent.
Sed, modus orandi qui sit, priùs ordine dicam.
538. Primùm delige Quatuor eximios præstanti corpore tauros,
quatuor
Qui tibi nunc viridis depascunt summa Lycæi,
540. Earum cervice Delige, et intactâ totidem cervice juvencas.
intactâ jugo
Quatuor his aras alta ad delubra Dearum
541. His victimis con- Constitue, et sacrum jugulis demitte cruorem,
Corporaque ipsa boum frondoso desere luco.
Pòst, ubi nona suos aurora ostenderit ortus,
stitue
545. Tanquam inferias Inferias Orphei, lethæa papavera mittes,
Orphei
548. Est haud mora
illi
Placatam Eurydicen vitulâ venerabere cœsâ,
Et nigram mactabis ovem, lucumque revises.
Haud mora: continuò matris præcepta facessit:
Ad delubra venit, monstratas excitat aras,
Quatuor eximios præstanti corpore tauros
Ducit, et intactâ totidem cervice juvencas.
554. Hic verò aspi- Pòst, ubi nona suos aurora induxerat ortus,
ciunt monstrum subi- Inferias Orphei mittit, lucumque revisit.
tum, ac mirabile dictu, Hic verò subitum, ac dictu mirabile monstrum
nempe, apes stridere in
toto utero
Aspiciunt; liquefacta boum per viscera toto
Stridere apes utero, et ruptis effervere costis,
Immensasqué trahi nubes; jamque arbore summâ
557. Immensasque nu-
bes earum
NOTES.
it is introduced a little inartificially. For
it is not to be supposed that Proteus, having
been made a prisoner, and speaking by con-
straint, would tell this long story to enter-
tain Aristæus, who had thus offered violence
to him. It would have been enough for
him, to inform Aristæus that his misfortunes
were occasioned by the death of Eurydice,
without relating all the circumstances con-
sequent upon it. But it may be said, this
relation is more to the point than is usually
imagined. These circumstances greatly ag-
gravate the guilt of Aristæus, and so it was
proper enough, if not necessary, to relate
them. However the case may be, I would
not, says he, lose this episode to be the au-
thor of all the best criticisms that were ever
written upon it. Sub vertice: in the sense
of super verticem.
532. Hinc: hence, for the cause or reasons,
which Proteus had just mentioned.
533. Illa: Eurydice. Agitabat: in the
sense of ducebat.
535. Tende: in the sense of offer. Napa-
08: Nymphs of the groves, from a Greek
word, signifying a grove. Faciles: easy to
be appeased.
539. Summa viridis: the tops of verdant
530
535
540
545
550
555
Lycaus. This was a mountain in Arcadia,
where it is said, Aristaus sometimes resided.
Eximios: in the sense of insignes.
541. Dearum: the Nymphs. See Ecl. ii. 46.
542. Demitte: let out the sacred blood
from their throats.
543. Desere: in the sense of relinque.
545. Miltes: you shall offer Lethæan pop-
pies, as a sacrifice to Orpheus: i. e. to ap-
pease the Manes of Orpheus. Inferia:
properly were offerings, or sacrifices to the
gods below for the dead-to the Manes.
The poppy was usually offered in sacrifice
on such occasions, because its property is to
cause sleep, or forgetfulness: sleep being a
lively emblem of death. Lethaa: an adj.
from Lethum: of Greek origin.
549. Excitat: in the sense of erigit.-.
Monstratas: in the sense of præscriptas.
550. Præstanti: in the sense of pulchro.
The prep. è is understood.
553. Mittit: in the sense of offert.
554. Monstrum: in the sense of prodigium.
555. Liquefacta in the sense of putre-
facta.
556. Stridere: to hum or buzz-effervere
in the sense of erumpere.
557. Trahi: to be borne along.
GEORGICA. LIB. IV.
157
Confluere, et lentis uvam demittere ramis.
Hæc super arvorum cultu pecorumque canebam,
Et super arboribus: Cæsar dum magnus ad altum 560
Fulminat Euphratem bello, victorque volentes
Per populos dat jura, viamque affectat Olympo.
Illo Virgilium me tempore dulcis alebat
Parthenope, studiis florentem ignobilis otî:
Carmina qui lusi pastorum: audaxque juventâ,
Tityre, te patulæ cecini sub tegmine fagi.
swarm.
NOTES.
558. Confluere: to collect together-to
Demittere: to hang from the flex-
ile boughs, like a bunch of grapes. Depen-
dere in modum uvæ, says Ruæus.
562. Affectat viam : he prepares his way
to heaven. By the splendor of his actions,
he lays the foundation for divine honors.
These he afterward received by a decree of
the Senate. From this passage, it is infer-
red, that Virgil continued the care of the
Georgics as long as he lived; for the time
here mentioned was only the year before his
death. At that time, in the year of Rome
734, Augustus was at the head of the Ro-
man army on the banks of the Euphrates,
and forced Phraates, king of the Parthians,
to restore the Eagles, which they had taken
from Crassus, the Roman consul, in a for-
mer war. The neighboring nations, and
even the Indians, awed by the splendor of
his actions, made a voluntary submission to
him.
564. Parthenope: the city Naples. It
was founded by the Chalsidenses, and by
them called Parthenope, from the circum-
stance of their finding the tomb of one of
the Sirenes, of that name; who, because
she was unable to allure Ulysses on shore
with her music, killed herself. They how
563. Illo tempore dul-
cis Parthenope` alebata
me
Otium,
ever demolished it afterward, because it
proved an injury to Cuma, which they built
in the neighborhood. They re-built it at the
command of an oracle, and called it Neapo-
lis, or the New City. Studiis: flourishing
in the studies of inglorious ease.
very properly denotes the peaceful, and re-
tired life of a philosopher: which the poet
modestly calls inglorious, (ignobilis) in com-
parison of a public life. Every other occu-
pation besides war and public affairs, re-
ceived from the Romans, the name of Oti-
Or, ignobilis may here mean private,
retired, without noise and show. This is
the sense in which Dr. Trapp understands
it. Ruæus says, privati otii. Otium is pro-
perly opposed to labor, in signification. Otî:
by apocope for otii.
um.
Au-
565. Lusi: in the sense of cecini.
dax: in the sense of confidens. Virgil was
about twenty-nine years of age when he be-
gan his Eclogues, and finished them when
he was about thirty-three. Mr. Wharton
imagines these four last lines are spurious.
He thinks the book naturally concludes
with the words: Viamque affectat Olympo.
For, says he, nothing can be a more complete
and sublime conclusion, than this compli-
ment to Augustus.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this book?
Why does the poet call honey aërial ?
What places are proper for placing the
hives ?
What direction is given for recalling the
swarms, when flying away?
Is this practised by bee-masters at the
present day?
What is the character of the poet's de-
scription of a battle between two discordant
swarms?
The poet represents the leaders under the
appellation of kings: Is that strictly cor-
rect?
To which of the sexes do they belong?
How many different words does the poet
use for the hive?
What are they?
Was Virgil remarkable for this diversity
of style?
Is the bee a very sagacious animal ?
Whence did they receive, according to
the poets, this extraordinary sagacity?
What was this in consideration of?
How is this fable interpreted?
Why was the goat transferred to heaven,
and made a constellation?
To whom were his horns given ?
What property was added to these?
Was the opinion of the ancients concern-
ing the production of the bee, incorrect?
Is that opinion now exploded?
How many kinds of bees are there in the
hive?
Of what sex are the Drones ?
There is only one female bee in the hive,
and what is she called?
What is her employment?
Of what sex are the laboring bees?
Is the bee-hive a piece of exquisite work-
manship?
158
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
{
What does the poet emphatically call the
hives ?
Where was the city Canopus situated?
By whom was it built?
Why is it called Pellæan?
Why does the poet call the Egyptians,
Gens fortunata?
Where does the Nile take its rise?
What is the cause of its overflowing?
What course does it run?
By how many mouths does it empty?
What does it form towards its mouth?
How is the water of the Nile conducted
to the different parts of Egypt?
How high must it rise for that purpose?
If it fall short of that, what is expected?
What did the Romans call any people
living in a hot climate?
In what sense may the Nile be said to
have pressed upon the borders of Persia?
Who was Aristœus?
What is the character of this episode re-
specting him?
Is the production of the bee, as here re-
lated, fabulous?
Who was Proteus?
What property did he possess in an emi-
nent degree?
Where is he said to have had his place of
residence?
A
Whom does Herodotus make him?
Whom does Sir Isaac Newton consider
him?
With whom was he contemporary ?
How is Proteus represented as drawn?
How many opinions were there among
the ancients of the origin of rivers ?
What were they?
By what distinguished philosophers were
these different opinions maintained?
Which opinion does Virgil follow?
What was this grand reservoir or recep-
tacle called?
Why were the epithets Taurinus and
Cornutus sometimes given to rivers?
What is said of the river Acheloüs?
Whence arose the fable of the cornu-
copiæ ?
Who was Orpheus?
What is said of the music of his lyre?
What effect had it upon the shades be-/
low?
What effect had it upon Pluto himself?
Why did he descend to the realms of
Pluto?
What was the issue of it?
What was the probable origin of the fable
of Charon and his boat?
What does Dr. Trapp observe concerning
this episode of Aristous?
Is there reason to believe that Virgil con-
tinued to revise his Georgics as long as he
lived?
What is that reason?
INTRODUCTION TO THE ÆNEID.
THE Æneid is a heroic, or epic poem. It takes its name from Æneas, the
son of Anchises and Venus. By his father, he was allied to the royal family of
Troy. He was also the son-in-law of Priam; whose daughter, Creüsa, he had
married. Æneas is the hero of the poem. Its subject is his removal into
Italy with a colony of Trojans, and their settlement in that country.
Virgil was forty years of age when he commenced the Æneid. He had just
finished the Georgics: and Augustus, now thirty-three years old, had undis-
turbed possession of the Roman empire. And nothing appeared to interrupt
the universal repose, so desirable after the long civil wars that had desolated
the fairest portions of it. It was at this moment, when the minds of the Roman
people were turned from the desolating scenes of war to the milder arts of
peace, that the poet conceived the plan of writing the Æneid, a poem second
only to the Iliad, for the entertainment and instruction of his countrymen.
There are some, who think the principal object of the poet was to flatter the
pride and vanity of the Roman people, and especially Augustus, who was now
raised to the highest temporal power.
This part of his works is by far the noblest, though not the most perfect and
finished. It was his intention to have revised it before he published it to the
world; but he died leaving it incomplete, as appears by several imperfect lines
found in different parts of it. He bequeathed the whole to Augustus, who put
the manuscript into the hands of Tucca and Varus for publication, with an
injunction not to alter, in any way, the manuscript, nor to fill up the imperfect
lines.
In the first six books, Virgil imitates the Odyssey of Homer; in the last six,
he follows the Iliad; and it is probable that we should not have had the Æneid,
if we had not, at the same time, the Odyssey and the Iliad also. Homer may
be considered the master, Virgil the pupil; but it must, at the same time, be
acknowledged, that the Roman excelled the Grecian in many instances, par-
ticularly in propriety and judgment.
Paris, the son of Priam, an accomplished prince, visited the court of Mene-
laus, by whom he was received with the greatest cordiality. Here he became
enraptured with the beautiful Helen, the wife of his host, and conceived the
base purpose of taking her with him to Troy. Taking advantage of the absence
of her husband, he put his plan into execution. This atrocious deed excited
a general indignation through the states of Greece; and, after sending an
embassy to Troy upon the subject, to no purpose, it was determined, as the
last resort, to declare war against Priam, and with the united forces of the
Grecian princes, to avenge the perfidious act.
After a siege of ten years, the city was taken by stratagem, and rased to the
ground. Æneas, in the fatal night, after performing prodigies of valor, retired
160
INTRODUCTION TO THE ÆNEID.
some distance from the city, bearing his aged father upon his shoulders, and
leading his little son by the hand. He was followed by great numbers of his
countrymen, who had escaped the flames and the sword. At Antandros, a
small town in the neighborhood of Troy, he built him a fleet of twenty ships,
and having furnished himself with all things necessary for his enterprise, set sail
in search of a new settlement. He visited Thrace. Here he founded a city
which he called nos. He abandoned his undertaking at the direction of the
ghost of his friend. Thence he sailed to Crete, the land of Teucer, one of the
founders of the Trojan race. Here he attempted a settlement, but through the
unhealthiness of the climate, was compelled to relinquish it, after losing a great
number of his companions. In the midst of his distress, he is informed in a
vision, that Italy, the birth place of Dardanus, was the land destined to him by
the gods.
Upon this information he left Crete; and, after various fortunes by
sea and land, he arrived in Italy in about seven years after his departure from
his native land. He was kindly received by Latinus, king of Latium, who pro-
posed to bestow upon him his daughter Lavinia, the heiress of his kingdom.
Turnus, king of the Rutuli, a brave and valiant prince, had long sought her in
marriage. He opposed her connexion with Eneas. This occasioned a bloody
war, in which most of the Italian princes were engaged, on one side or the
other. It ended in the death of Turnus, which closes the Eneid.
Eneas afterwards married Lavinia, and succeeded Latinus in his kingdom.
He built a city, which he called Lavinium, in honor of his wife. This he made
the seat of his government. He was succeeded by Ascanius, or Iülus, who
reigned thirty years, when he built Alba longa, to which he removed with his
Here the government was administered by a line of Trojan princes for
three hundred years, till Romulus arose, who founded the city of Rome. After
Romulus, the royal line was broken, and the government transferred to Numa
Pompilius, a Sabine.
court.
The three first books are not arranged in the order of time. The second
book, which relates the downfall of Troy, and is the basis of the poem, is the
first in time. The third, which relates the voyage of Æneas, till after his
departure from Sicily for Italy, follows. The first, which relates the disper-
sion of his fleet, and his arrival in Africa, with his kind reception by Dido,
succeeds the third. The rest are all in the order of time. But this change,
so far from being a defect in the poem, is an advantage, and shows the
judgment of the poet. He was enabled thereby to make his hero relate the
downfall of his country, and the various fortunes of his long and eventful
voyage.
The poet hath contrived to introduce into his poem the outlines of the Ro-
man history, and a number of interesting episodes, which add to the whole
beauty and entertainment.
For further particulars, see the introduction to the several books.
What kind of poem is the Eneid?
Who is the hero of it?
What is its subject?
QUESTIONS.
What was the age of Virgil, when he be-
gan the Æneid?
How long was he engaged in it?
Who was then at the head of the Roman
empire?
What was the state of that empire?
What probably was the principal object
of the poet in writing the Eneid?
Do some suppose a different object?
In what light may the Eneid be con-
sidered, in regard to the Iliad?
Did Virgil live to perfect the Eneid?
To whom did he bequeath it?
Under whose inspection was it published?
What gave rise to the Trojan war?
How long was the city besieged?
What was the issue of the siege?
What did Encas do in the fatal night?
From what place did he set sail?
INTRODUCTION TO THE ÆNEID,
How many ships had he?
What place did he first visit?
What city did he found there?
To what place did he next sail?
Why did he go to Crete?
What befel him there?
From Crete, to what place did he direct
his course?
How many years elapsed before he arrived
in Italy?
Why was he directed to go to Italy?
How was he received by Latinus?
What prince opposed his connexion with
Lavinia, the daughter of Latinus ?
12
What was the consequence?
What was the issue of the war?
What did he do afterwards?
Did he build a city?
What did he call it?
161
Who succeeded him in the government?
What city did Ascanius afterwards build?
How long did it continue to be the seat
of the government?
Do the books of the Ænied follow each
other in the order of time?
What books are not placed in this order?
Did this afford the poet any advantage?
•
ད་ས
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
ENEIS.
LIBER PRIMUS.
THIS Book is considered one of the finest and the most perfect of the Eneid. Its subject,
and the cause of Juno's resentment being premised, it opens seven years after the
embarkation of Æneas. He had now arrived in the Tuscan sea, and was in sight of
Italy; when Juno, to avenge herself upon the Trojans, repaired to Eolus, and by fair
promises, prevailed upon him to let loose his winds. They rush forth in every direction,
and cause a violent tempest; which dispersed the Trojan fleet. It sunk one ship, and
drove several others on the shore. Neptune assuages the tumult of the waves, and
causes a calm. Having severely rebuked the winds for invading his dominions without
his permission, he assists in getting off the ships.
After this, Æneas directs his course southward, and arrives on the coast of Africa. Venus
complains to Jupiter of the hardship of her son, and prays that an end may be put to
his sufferings. Whereupon, he sends Mercury to procure him a kind reception among
the Carthaginians. In the mean time, Eneas walks abroad to make some discoveries
of the country, accompanied by Achates. Venus, in the form and attire of a virgin
huntress, presents herself to him. Upon his inquiry, she informs him to what country
he had arrived, what were the inhabitants, their manners, and customs. She also gives
him a brief account of Dido, and of the settlement of the country; and, veiled in a
cloud, she conducts him to the city. Passing through the crowd unseen, he goes to the
temple. Here he finds his companions, whom he expected to be lost. Here he sees
Dido, and is struck with her majesty and grace. By a device of Venus, she conceives
a passion for him; which, in the end, proves her ruin.
The poet hath introduced several interesting episodes; particularly the description of
Carthage, the representation of the Trojan battles, the song of Iopas, &c. The book
concludes, leaving Dido inquiring concerning Priam, and the Trojan heroes; concern-
ing Achilles and Diomede; concerning the Trojan disasters, the stratagems of the
Greeks, and the voyage of Eneas. These form the subject of the two following
books.
ARMA, virumque cano, Trojæ qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Lavinaque venit
Litora: multùm ille et terris jactatus et alto,
NOTES.
1. Virum: Æneas, the hero of the poem.
Vir, properly signifies a man, as distin-
guished from a woman; also, the male of
any species or kind, as distinguished from
the female. Troja: Troy, once a famous
city of Phrygia Minor, in the Lesser Asia;
so called from Tros, one of its kings. It
was sometimes called Ilium, Ilios, or Ilion,
from* Ilus, the son of Tros; Dardaniu, from
Dardanus, the grand-father of Tros. Having
killed his brother Janus, he fled from Italy
1. Qui profugus fato,
primus venit ab oris
Troje in Italiam
to Phrygia, and founded this city in con-
junction with Teucer, whose daughter he
married. It was also called Teucria, from
Teucer.
2. Profugus fato: driven-impelled by
fate. Æneas left his country at the direc-
tion of the gods; and under their conduct,
he came to Italy, and settled in Latium.
This circumstance the poet turns to the
honor of Æneas and the Romans, whom he
makes to descend from him. Lavina: an
164
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
5. Et passus est mul- Vi Superûm, sævæ memorem Junonis ob iram.
ta quoque
8. O Musa, memora
mihi causas earum re-
rum
Multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5
Inferretque Deos Latio: genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altæ mœnia Romæ.
Musa, mihi causas memora: quo numine læso,
Quidve dolens regina Deûm tot volvere casus
Insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores,
12. Quam Tyrii colo-
ni tenuere, Carthago
Impulerit. Tantæne animis cœlestibus iræ ?
nomine, contra Italiam, Urbs antiqua fuit, Tyrii tenuere coloni,
Tiberinaque ostia longè Carthago, Italiam contra, Tiberinaque longè
NOTES.
adj. from Lavinium, a city built by Eneas;
so called from Lavinia, the daughter of La-
tinus, whom he married. It was situated
about eight miles from the shore, in lat.
41° 40′ north, and long. 13° 10' east from
London.
4. Ob memorem iram: on account of the
lasting resentment of cruel Juno. Juno
was the daughter of Saturn and Ops, and
the sister and wife of Jupiter. She was
born, some say at Argos, but others say at
Samos. She was jealous of her husband,
and implacable in all her resentments. She
was enraged against Paris, the son of Priam,
because he adjudged the prize of beauty,
which was a golden apple, to Venus, rather
than to herself. From that moment, she
became a bitter eneiny to the whole Trojan
race, and even to Venus herself. Not con-
tent with the subversion of the kingdom
of Priam, she used her endeavor to destroy
the few, who escaped the sword and the
flames.
Juno had sumptuous temples dedicated
to her in various places. Among the chief
may be reckoned her temples at Argos, Sa-
mos, and Carthage. The hawk, the goose,
and the peacock were sacred to her. Va-
rious names were given her, chiefly on ac-
count of her offices, and the places where
she was worshipped; some of which are
the following: Saturnia, Olympia, Samia,
Argiva, Lacedæmonia, Lucina, Pronuba,
Sospita, and Ophegena.
6. Unde Latinum genus: hence (arose)
the Latin race.
Here is some difficulty. The Latins
could not spring from Eneas; for he found
them in Italy on his arrival. Some refer
the word unde to Latium, taking the mean-
ing to be: from which country sprung the
Latin race. Servius would explain it thus:
Æneas, having overcome all opposition, and
being seated on the throne of Latinus, in-
stead of changing the Latin name, as he
might have done, in right of his conquest,
incorporated his Trojans along with his sub-
jects under the general name of Latins, so
that he might not improperly be called the
founder of the Latin race.
7. Albanique patres. Ascanius, who suc-
10
ceeded his father, left Lavinium, and having
built Alba Longa, made it the seat of his
government. This city gave birth to Ro-
mulus, who founded the city Rome. The
Albans may therefore be called the fathers
of the Romans. Albani may be either an
adj. or a sub.
8. Quo numine læso: what god being in-
jured-what god had he injured. Quid:
in the sense of cur. Dolens in the sense
of offensa. Ruæus interprets læso by violato.
9. Volvere casus: to struggle with mis-
fortunes as with a load. Rumus takes this
in the sense of volvi casibus; but it is much
more poetical to take the verb in the active
voice. Volvere imports labor and difficulty,
like a person rolling a great weight, or a
river bearing down before it all opposition.
Volvere casus then represents Eneas reso-
lutely going forward, and rising superior to
all difficulties and dangers; but volvi casibus
would show him overcome and vanquished
by misfortunes. But this is not the design
of the poet.
10. Adire. This verb properly signifies,
to brave dangers-to look an enemy in the
face-to undertake any thing resolutely.
Labores, probably refers to the wars and
hardships which Æneas underwent after his
arrival in Italy; while casus may refer to
the toils, dangers, and misfortunes which
he passed through on his way thither. Im-
pulerit: forced, or doomed.
12. Tyrii: an adj. from Tyrus, a city in
Phoenicia, on the shore of the Mediterra-
nean. Hodie, Sur.
From this city, a colony removed to Afri-
ca under Xorus and Carchedon, and settled
at Utica: afterwards Dido followed with
her wealth, and a great number of her
countrymen, and founded, or, as some say,
fortified Carthage. See Æn. iv. 1. Tyrii
coloni: a Tyrian colony. Tenuere: inha-
bited-held.
13. Tiberina: an adj. from Tiber, the
name of a river of Italy. It rises in the
Appenines, and running in a south-easterly
direction, falls into the Mediterranean sea.
A few miles above its mouth, Rome was
afterwards built. It is the second river in
size in Italy.
ENEIS. LIB. I.
165
Ostia, dives opum, studiisque asperrima belli:
Quam Juno fertur terris magis omnibus unam
Posthabitâ coluisse Samo. Hic illius arma,
Hic currus fuit: hoc regnum Dea gentibus esse,
Si quà fata sinant, jam tum tenditque fovetque.
Progeniem sed enim Trojano à sanguine duci
Audîerat, Tyrias olim quæ verteret arces.
Hinc populum latè regem, belloque superbum,
Venturum excidio Libyæ: sic volvere Parcas.
Id metuens, veterisque memor Saturnia belli,
Prima quod ad Trojam pro charis gesserat Argis..
Necdum etiam causæ irarum, sævique dolores
Exciderant animo. Manet altâ mente repôstum
Judicium Paridis, spretæque injuria formæ,
Et genus invisum, et rapti Ganymedis honores.
His accensa super, jactatos æquore toto
NOTES.
14. Dives opum: abounding in wealth.
Opes properly signifies power acquired by
wealth. Asperima, &c. Dedita studiis belli,
says Heyne. Carthage was situated in
Africa, near where Tunis now stands. The
Carthaginians were a very commercial peo-
ple. They planted colonies in various parts
of Europe, and widely extended their con-
quests. For a long time, they disputed with
the Romans the empire of the world. They
were brave, and much devoted to the study
of the arts of war. See Æn. iv. 1.
15. Quam unam Juno: which one city,
Juno is reported to have loved more than all
lands. Samo posthabita: Samos being less
esteemed, or set by. Samos is an island in
the Icarian sea, over against Ephesus. Here
Juno was brought up and married to Jupiter.
Here she had a most splendid temple.
17. Dea jam tum regnum: the goddess
even thon both intended and cherished (the
hope that) it would become the ruler over
the nations-would be the capital of the
world. Ruæus interprets Hoc regnum gen-
tibus, by illa imperat populis. Heyne takes
the words in the sense of caput imperii ter-
rarum.-Currus. Juno had two kinds of
Juno had two kinds of
chariots, one in which she was wafted
through the air by peacocks, the other for
war, drawn by horses of celestial breed.
These last are here meant.
20. Olim: hereafter.
21. Populum, &c. (She had heard) that
a people of extensive sway, and renowned
in war, should come hence to the destruc-
tion of Lybia. Regem is plainly in the
sense of regentem, vel dominantem. Ruæus
interprets excidio Lybia, by, per cladem Ly-
biæ, implying by the destruction of Car-
thage, the chief city of Africa, Rome would
become powerful and renowned in war.
The sense I have given is evidently in the
spirit of the poet, and the best. Hine:
hence-from Trojan blood.
15
21. Audierat populum
20 regem latè, et superbum
bello, venturum esse hinc
excidio Libye: audierat
Parcas volvere sic.
turnia metuens id, me-
25
morque
Sa-
29. Arcebat longè à
Latio Troas, relliquias
Danaûm, atque immitis
Achillei, jactatos toto
quore: actique fatis
errabant
22. Parcas: the fates. See Ecl. iv. 47.
23. Metuens id. In the long and bloody
war which the Greeks carried on against
Troy, Juno took a very active part, and ex-
erted all her power in favor of the Greeks,
and she feared she should be again involved
in a similar contest with the Trojan race, in
favor of her beloved Carthage. The id re-
fers to the whole preceding sentence.
gis. Argos was one of the chief cities of
Greece. Here Juno had a particular resi-
dence: put, by synec. for Greece in general.
Ar-
24. Prima: an adj. agreeing with Satur-
nia. It appears to be used here in the sense
of princeps, the chief or principal in the
business.
25. Dolores: grief-resentment. Ruæus
says, indignatio. Savi: cruel-unrelenting.
27. Judicium Paridis: the judgment, or
decision of Paris. See verse 4, supra, and
nom. prop. under Paris. Repôstum: by syn.
for repositum. Forma: beauty. Injuria:
affront.
28. Genus invisum. In addition to the
decision of Paris, Juno hated the Trojans
on account of Dardanus, one of the found-
ers of their race. He was the son of Ju-
piter and Electra, the daughter of Atlas.
All her husband's illegitimate children were
the objects of her bitter resentment. Ho-
nores rapti Ganymedis: the honors of (con-
ferred upon) stolen Ganymede. The office
of cup-bearer to the gods was taken from
Hebe, the daughter of Juno, and conferred
upon Ganymede, a beautiful youth, the son
of Tros, king of Troy. He was taken up
to heaven by Jupiter in the form of an eagle,
when he was upon mount Ida. This was
another cause of her resentment.
29. Accensa super his: inflained at these
things; namely, the amour of her husband
with Electra, the honors conferred upon
Ganymede, and the decision of Paris in
favor of Venus. The fear of the future
166
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Troas, relliquias Danaûm atque immitis Achillei,
Arcebat longè Latio: multosque per annos
Errabant, acti fatis, maria omnia circùm.
33. Condere Roma- Tantæ molis erat Romanam condere gentem.
nam gentem, erat opus
tante molis
Vix è conspectu Siculæ telluris in altum
35. Vix Trojani læti Vela dabant læti, et spumas salis ære ruebant ;
dabant vela
Cùm Juno, æternum servans sub pectore vulnus,
37. Volvebat hæc se- Hæc secum: Mene incepto desistere victam,
cum: Me-ne victam
Nec posse Italia Teucrorum avertere regem?
Quippe vetor fatis. Pallasne exurere classem
Argivûm, atque ipsos potuit submergere ponto,
Unius ob noxam, et furias Ajacis Oïlei?
NOTES.
destruction of her favorite Carthage, and the
recollection of her past war, in which she
had encountered so many difficulties, do not
appear the only cause of her procedure.
They contributed, no doubt, with the other
particulars just mentioned, to increase the
flame in her breast.
30. Achillei: gen. of Achilles. He was
the son of Peleus, king of Thessaly, and
Thetis, a goddess of the sea. While he was
an infant, his mother dipped him all over in
the river Styx, to render him invulnerable,
except the heel by which she held him. He
was concealed among the daughters of Ly-
comedes, king of the island of Scyros, in
female apparel, that he might not go to the
siege of Troy. While there, he deflowered
Deïdamia, one of the princesses, who bore
him Pyrrhus. He was, however, discovered
by Ulysses, and afterward went to Troy.
He slew Hector in single combat, and drew
his dead body, behind his chariot, seven
times around the walls of Troy, in revenge
for his friend Patroclus, whom Hector had
slain in battle. And he was himself slain
by Paris, with an arrow, which pierced his
heel, while he was in the temple of Thym-
brian Apollo. He is sometimes called Pe-
lides, from Peleus his father: also acides,
from his grand-father acus. He is repre-
Eacus.
sented to have been of a cruel and vindictive
temper, but at the same time, very brave.
33. Molis: magnitude-labor-difficulty.
34. Sicula: an adj. from Sicilia. Sicily
is the largest island in the Mediterranean,
lying to the south of Italy, and separated
from it by the straits of Messina.
35. Ære with the brazen prow. The
beaks of their ships were of brass, or over-
laid with brass.-Dabant: spread.
36. Vulnus æturnum: a lasting resent-
ment. The same as memorem iram, verse iv.
supra. Servans: feeding, cherishing.
37. Me-ne viclam: shall I overcome, de-
sist from my purpose, nor be able, &c.-Me
victam the acc. after the verb volvebat, or
some other of the like import, understood.
Ne, when joined to a verb, is generally inter-
rogative, as in the present case. When it
30
35
40
does not ask a question, it either is a nega-
tive particle, or expresses some circumstance
or condition of an action.
38. Teucrorum. The Trojans were some-
times called Teucri, from Teucer, one of their
founders. See note 1. supra. By Regem
Teucrorum we are to understand Eneas. It
seems now to be the purpose of Juno to
prevent the settlement of the Trojans in
Italy; and by that means, counteract the
purposes of the gods concerning their future
grandeur and power; to destroy them utter-
ly, if it be possible, and disperse them over
the deep. To this end, she applies to
Eolus to raise a tempest on the sea, as the
most likely way to effect her object.
40. Argivûm for Argivorum, by syn.
properly the citizens of Argos: but by
synec. put for the Greeks in general, or any
part of them. Here it means the Locrians,
who, with Ajax, their king, returning home
from Troy, were shipwrecked. Ajax was
struck by Pallas with a thunderbolt for
having ravished Cassandra, the daughter of
Priam, in the temple of Pallas. But Homer
gives us a different account. He says, that
Ajax was drowned by Neptune, for having
impiously boasted that he would escape the
dangers of the sea, even against the will of
the gods.
The Greeks are sometimes called Danai,
from Danaus, one of their kings. He led a
colony from Egypt into Greece; and, for
his services and talents, was held in high
estimation through all the Grecian states.
41. Ajacis Oilei. There were two persons
at the siege of Troy, by the name of Ajax.
The one here meant was the son of Oileus.
king of the Locrians. He went with forty
ships against Troy. The other was, the
son of Talemon king of Salamis, an island
in the Sinus Saronicus, between Attica, and
the Morea, or Peloponnesus. It is said he
fell upon his own sword, because the armour
of Achilles was adjudged to Ulysses rather
than to himself. Noxam et furias. These
both refer to the crime committed by him
upon Cassandra. He offered violence to her
during the sack of Troy.
ENEIS. LIB. I.
167
ipsa, Jovis rapidum jaculata è nubibus ignem,
Disjecitque rates, evertitque æquora ventis :
Illum expirantem transfixo pectore flammas
Turbine corripuit, scopuloque infixit acuto.
Ast ego, quæ Divûm incedo regina, Jovisque
Et soror et conjux, unâ cum gente tot annos
Bella gero et quisquam numen Junonis adoret
Prætereà, aut supplex aris imponat honorem?
Talia flammato secum Dea corde volutans,
Nimborum in patriam, loca fœta furentibus Austris,
Eoliam venit. Ilic vasto rex Æolus antro
Luctantes ventos, tempestatesque sonoras
Imperio premit, ac vinclis et carcere frænat.
Illi indignantes magno cum murmure montis
Circùm claustra fremunt. Celsâ sedet Æolus arce,
Sceptra tenens; mollitque animos, et temperat iras.
Ni faciat, maria ac terras cœlumque profundum
Quippe ferant rapidi secum, verrantque per auras.
Sed pater omnipotens speluncis abdidit atris,
IIoc metuens: molemque et montes insuper altos
Imposuit; regemque dedit, qui fœdere certo
Et premere, et laxas sciret dare jussus habenas.
Ad quem tum Juno supplex his vocibus usa est:
Eole, (namque tibi Divûm pater atque hominum rex
Et mulcere dedit fluctus, et tollere vento,)
NOTES.
42. Ipsa jaculata. Beside Jove, several of
the Gods and Goddesses could hurl the
thunder of heaven. Here Pallas is said to
do it, to burn the ships of Ajax, to drown
their crews, and to pierce his breast with a
stream of lightning.
46. Quæ incedo: I who walk the Queen
of the Gods, and both the sister and wife
of Jove, carry on war, &c.
Servius observes that the verb incedo sig-
nifies to walk with dignity, and in state:
Cum dignilate aliqua ambulare: and is pro-
perly applied to persons of rank, and dis-
tinguished characters.
49. Prætereà: beside-in addition to the
reasons already given. If I shall show my-
self unable to effect my purpose, and satiate
my revenge-if I shall let them alone: who
will adore, &c.-Honorem, in the sense of
victimam.
If
The whole of this speech of Juno is ani-
mated, full of pride and haughtiness.
Pallas, a goddess of inferior honor, dignity,
and power, could destroy the fleet of Ajax,
drown his followers, and kill their leader;
surely I, who am both the sister and wife
of Jove, am able to destroy these few fugi-
tive Trojans, and their king.
51. Austris furentibus: places pregnant
with furious winds. Auster properly signi-
fies the south wind; but it frequently is put
45
50
55
60
65
45. Turbine corripuit
illum expirantem flam-
mas
52. Hic rex Eolus in
vasto antro premit im-
perio luctantes
58. Quippe, ni faciat
id, illi rapidi ferant se-
cum maria
62. Qui jussus sciret
et premere eos certo fœ-
dere, et dare illis laxas
habenas
for wind in general: the species for the
genus.
52. In Æoliam venit: she came into Æo-
lia, the country of storms.
The Eolian islands are seven in number,
situated between Italy and Sicily on the
west. They were sometimes called Vulcania,
and Hephaestiades. The chief of which are
Lipara, Hiera, and Strongyle. Here Eolus
have invented sails, and to have been a great
the son of Hippotas reigned. He is said to
Hence the poets make him the god of the
astronomer, and observer of the winds.-
winds. Homer tells us that he gave to Ulys-
ses all the winds, that could impede his
course to Ithaca, confined in a bag; but
that his companions, out of curiosity, untied
it, and let out all the adverse winds.
54. Frænat: he curbs or governs. This
is a metaphor taken from the rider, who ma-
nages his steed. Imperio: power, authority.
61. Molem et altos montes: for molem alto-
rum montium, by hendiadis: the weight of
lofty mountains. This mode of expression
is frequent with Virgil.-Insuper in the
sense of prætereà.
63. Premere: in the sense of cohibere.-
Jussus: commanded by Jove. Here again
is a metaphor taken from the rider: Ďare
laxas habenas: to give loose reins-to let
the horse go at full speed.-Fœdere : law-
rule.
168
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
}
tibi
Gens inimica mihi Tyrrhenum navigat æquor,
70
Ilium in Italiam portans, victosque Penates.
Incute vim ventis, submersasque obrue puppes :
70. Aut age eas in Aut age diversas, et disjice corpora ponto.
diversas partes, et Sunt mihi bis septem præstanti corpore Nymphæ :
72. Quarum jungam
stabili connubio Quarum, quæ formâ pulcherrima, Deïopeiam
Deiopeiam, quæ est pul- Connubio jungam stabili, propriamque dicabo:
cherrima earum omnium Omnes ut tecum meritis pro talibus annos
forma, dicaboque eam Exigat, et pulchrâ faciat te prole parentem.
propriam; ut exigat om- olus hæc contrà: Tuus, ô regina, quid optes,
76. Contrà Æolus res- Explorare labor: mihi jussa capessere fas est.
pondit hæc: O regina, Tu mihi, quodcunque, hoc regni, tu sceptra, Jovemque
Concilias tu das epulis accumbere Divûm,
nes annos
tuus labor est
est: tu concilias
81. Ubi hæc
sunt, inpulit
montem in latus
:
dicta Impulit in latus
78. Tu concilias mihi Nimborumque facis tempestatumque potentem.
hoc regni, quodcunque Hæc ubi dicta, cavum conversâ cuspide montem
dicta Impulit in latus; ac venti, velut agmine facto,
cavum Quà data porta, ruunt, et terras turbine perflant.
Incubuere mari, totumque à sedibus imis
84. Incubuere mari Unà Eurusque Notusque ruunt, creberque procellis
Eurusque notusque Af- Africus, et vastos volvunt ad litora fluctus.
ricusque creber procellis, Insequitur clamorque virum, stridorque rudentum.
unàque ruunt totum
Eripiunt subitò nubes cœlumque, diemque,
Teucrorum ex oculis: ponto nox incubat atra.
Intonuere poli, et crebris micat ignibus æther :
Præsentemque viris intentant omnia mortem.
mare
Extemplò Æneæ solvuntur frigore membra.
Ingemit, et duplices tendens ad sidera palmas,
Talia voce refert: O terque quaterque beati,
NOTES.
67. Tyrrhenum mare. That part of the
Mediterranean between the islands of Cor-
sica, Sardinia, and Sicily, was called the
Tuscan Sea.
68. Ilium: Troy; by meton. for the
Trojans those that survived the catastro-
phe of the city. See note 1. supra.-Pena-
tes: see Geor. 2. 505.
69. Incute vim: add force to your winds,
and overwhelm their ships sunk in the sea.
71. Præstanti: in the sense of pulchro.
73. Dicabo propriam: I will consecrate
her (to be) your own-your peculiar pro-
perty. This passage is in imitation of Ho-
Iliad 14. 301.
mer.
77. Labor: concern-business.-Fas est,
in the sense of æquum est.
78. Tu concilias, &c. The meaning of the
passage appears to be: I owe to thy favor
and kind offices the empire of the winds, and
the power and authority of a king, which
thou didst obtain of Jove for me. Through
thy favor also, I sit at the table of the gods.
Both duty and gratitude, therefore, impel
me to comply with your request, to do thy
commands.-Regni: gen. sing. governed by
hoc. It is best translated as if it were of the
same case with hoc. Concilias hoc regni, &c.
You procure for me this power, whatever it
75
80
85
90
be. Servius thinks no more is meant by Eo-
lus' receiving his kingdom and sceptre from
Juno, than that "the winds are, air put into
motion; which is sometimes called Juno."
80. Potentem: the present part. used as a
substantive: ruler of storms and tempests.
82. Agmine facto: in a formed battalion
-or a battalion being formed.-Impulit:
he struck.
84. Incubuere: the perf. in the sense of
the pres. they rest upon.
87. Rudentum: in the sense of funium.
90. Poli. Polus is properly that part of
the heavens, called the pole. By synec. put
for the whole heavens. Poli: the heavens
thundered.-Ignibus: lightning.—Æther :
in the sense of aër.
92. Solvuntur: shudder-are unnerved.
Duplices: in the sense of ambas.
93. Ingemuit: he groaned. Not indeed at
the fear of death absolutely considered, but
at the prospect of dying an inglorious death
among the waves.
94. Refert: he says, or pronounces such
like words. O terque, qualerquo beati :
Simply: O thrice happy they, to whom it
happened to die before the faces, &c. This
mode of expression denotes the highest state
of felicity. Or, if we suppose it an apo-
ÆNEIS. LIB. 1.
169
Queis ante ora patrum, Trojæ sub manibus altis,
Contigit oppetere! & Danaûm fortissime gentis
Tydide, mene Iliacis occumbere campis
Non potuisse? tuaque animam hanc effundere dextrâ ?
Sævus ubi acidæ telo jacet Hector, ubi ingens
Sarpedon ubi tot Simoïs correpta sub undis
Scuta virûm, galeasque, et fortia corpora volvit.
•
Talia jactanti stridens Aquilone procella
Velum adversa ferit, fluctusque ad sidera tollit.
Franguntur remi: tum prora avertit, et undis
Dat latus: insequitur cumulo præruptus aquæ mons.
Hi summo in fluctu pendent: his unda dehiscens
Terram inter fluctus aperit: furit æstus arenis.
Tres Notus abreptas in saxa latentia torquet;
Saxa, vocant Itali, mediis quæ in fluctibus Aras,
Dorsum immane mari summo. Tres Eurus ab alto
In brevia et syrtes urget, miserabile visu;
NOTES.
strophe to those, who fell on the plains of
Troy, fighting for their country, we may
render it: O thrice happy ye, to whom, &c.
This last is the more animated and poetical.
The former is the sense of Ruæus.
97. Tydide. Diomede, the son of Tydeus,
king of Ætolia. He was wounded by Ene-
as in a combat. Me-ne potuisse: the acc.
after the verb refert, or some other of the
same import, understood: why could I not
have fallen on the Trojan plains? &c.
98. Effundere: in the sense of amittere.-
Jacet: lies slain.
99. Sævus Hector: valiant Hector. He
was the son of Priam and Hecuba, and the
bravest of all the Trojans. He was at last
slain by Achilles, and his dead body drawn
behind his chariot around the walls of Troy,
and the tomb of Patroclus, whom Hector
had slain some time before. It was after-
wards ransomed by Priam at a great price,
and honorably buried. Eacida: Achilles.
See note 30. supra.
100. Sarpedon. He was the king of Ly-
cia, and came to the assistance of Priam.
He was slain by Patroclus. It is said that
he was the son of Jupiter by Laodamia.
Simois a river in Troas, rising out of
Mount Ida, and flowing into the Scamman-
der, and with it into the Hellespont, near
the promontory of Sigcum. Correpta: car-
ried-hurried down its current. Virûm, by
syn. for virorum: of heroes. The poet here
alludes to the bloody battle fought on the
banks of this river, between the Greeks and
Trojans, related by Homer; in which the
latter suffered a signal defeat.
102. Procella: properly, a storm at sea.
Hyems, a cold storm in the winter. Nim-
bus, a storm of rain with black angry clouds
and wind; a squall. Imber, a gentle show-
or of rain. They are, however, not always
95
100
96. O Tydide, fortis-
sime gentis Danaum,
menè non potuisse oc-
cumbere Iliacis
100. Ubi Simoïs vol-
vit sub undis tot scuta,
galeasque, et fortia cor-
pora virûm
102. Procella stridens
ab aquilone, adversa illi
jactanti talia, ferit ve-
lum
108. Notus torquet
106 tres naves abreptas in
latentia saxa, illa saxa,
quæ in mediis fluctibus,
Itali vocant aras; quo-
rum immane dorsum est
110 in summo mari. Eurus
urget tres naves ab alto
used with this discrimination. Jactanti:
in the sense of dicenti.
103. Adversa: an adj. agreeing with pro-
cella. As Eneas was steering toward Italy,
a north wind would be in his face, or against
him.
105. Insequitur. Nothing can exceed this
picture of a rolling billow. It follows (se-
quitur) rolling along, constantly on the in-
crease, (cumulo) till it becomes a broken and
rugged mountain of water: præruptus mons
aquæ.
107. Aperit terram. So high did the
waves roll, that between them the sand or
bottom of the sea appeared visible. This
may not appear incredible, when it is con-
sidered that they were near shore, and on
shallows. Dehiscens: opening. Ruæus in-
terprets unda, by mare. Estus: the tide,
or current.
108. Saxa. These rocks are generally
supposed to be the gates, three Islands
not far from the western promontory of Si-
cily, where the Romans and Carthaginians
made a treaty, which ended the first Punic
war. They received the name of altars,
from the oaths that were then made by the
contracting parties. There is a difficulty in
this interpretation. For it is said their huge
back was in the surface of the water, and
in the preceding line they are called latentia
saxa. Abreptas: driven-forced.
111. Brevia et Syrtes: shoals and quick-
sands. Syrtis is properly a large bank of
sand made by the action of the water.-
There were two of these banks, or Syrtes on
the coast of Africa, called the Syrtis Major,
and the Syrtis Minor: the former lay to the
east of Carthage, at a considerable distance;
the latter nearly opposite. Urget: in the
sense of impellit. Miserabile: shocking-
distressing. Visu, is either the supine in u,
170
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Illiditque vadis, atque aggere cingit arena.
114. Ingens pontus, Unam, quæ Lycios fidumque vehebat Orontem,
ante oculos Enea ip- Ipsius ante oculos ingens à vertice pontus
sius, ferit à vestice unam In puppim ferit: excutitur pronusque magister
navem in puppim, que Volvitur in caput: ast illam ter fluctus ibidem
vehebat
115
116. Ast circumagens Torquet agens circùm, et rapidus vorat æquore vortex.
Auctus torquet illam na- Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto :
vem ter ibidem
Arma virûm, tabulæque et Troïa gaza per undas.
118. Homines appa- Jam validam Ilionei navem, jam fortis Achatæ ;
rent rari nantes in vasto Et quâ vectus Abas, et quâ grandævus Alethes,
gurgite. Apparent quo- Vicit hyems: laxis laterum compagibus omnes
que arma
120. Hyems vicit jam Accipiunt inimicum imbrem, rimisque fatiscunt.
validam navem Ilionei ; Intereà magno misceri murmure pontum,
jam navem fortis Acha- Emissamque hyemem sensit Neptunus, et imis
tæ; et navem, in quâ Stagna refusa vadis graviter commotus, et alto
Abas vectus est, et na-
vem, in quâ
Prospiciens, summâ placidum caput extulit undâ
125. Neptunus sensit Disjectam Æneæ toto videt æquore classem,
pontum
Fluctibus oppressos Troas, cœlique ruinâ.
126. Stagna refusa Nec latuere doli fratrem Junonis, et iræ.
Eurum ad se Zephyrumque vocat: dehinc talia fatur
129. Et Troas oppres- Tantane vos generis tenuit fiducia vestri ?
BOS esse fluctibus
133. Jam audetis, O Jam cœlum terramque, meo sinè numine, venti,
esse, ex
NOTES.
to be seen; or, for visui, the dat. of visus,
to the sight. See Ecl. 5. 29.
112. Vadis: against the bottom. Vadum
is properly a shallow part of the sea; or a
part of a river that may be forded. Aggere:
a bank of sand.
113. Lycios. The Lycians were a people
of Asia Minor, who came to assist Priam.
After the death of Sarpedon their king, they
chose to accompany Encas. Orontes took
the command of them.
114. Pontus: here put for a wave of the
sea, by synec. It was so great that it scem-
ed as if the whole ocean was breaking upon
the ship. A vertice. Some understand by
this, the head or prow of the ship. The
common acceptation of the word is the
best: from above. It was so high that it
appeared to fall down upon the ship.
115. Pronus. I take this to denote the
posture of the helmsman, bending or stoop-
ing forward, in order to stand more firmly.
The helmsman (magister) is thrown from
his feet, and tumbled headlong into the sea.
117. Circumagens fluctus: the whirling
water.
118. Rari: scattered here and there.
Gurgite: in the sense of mari.
119. Gaza: this word, signifies all kinds
of valuable furniture, as well as treasures
of gold and silver.
122. Compagibus: the seams or streaks
of the sides being loosened, they all let in
the hostile water. Imber, though properly
a shower of rain, is here used for water in
general. Hyems, in the sense of tempestas.
120
125
130
Fatiscunt rimis: gape open in cracks, or
leaks.
126. Stagna: plu. of stagnum, the bottom
or deep part of the sea. Alto: altum, tho
deep, or open sea-out of sight of land.-
Fretum, a strait, or narrow sea. Pelagus
the sea near the land. But they are not
always used with this discrimination.
127. Placidum. This must refer either to
Neptune's natural character-to his mild-
ness in regard to the Trojans, or to the ef-
fect, which his countenance had upon the
raging sea. For he was greatly moved,
graviter commotus, at the winds, for invading
his realms without his permission.
129. Ruina cæli: with the ruin of heaven.
These words strongly denote the violence
of the tempest-the floods of rain-the thun-
derings and lightnings: all which seemed to
threaten the destruction of the world.
130. Doli Junonis: the wiles of Juno, and
her anger, did not lie concealed from her
brother--had not escaped the knowledge of
her brother. Neptune and Juno were chil-
dren of Saturn and Ops. See Geor. i. 14.
132. Tanta-ne fiducia: hath so great con-
fidence of your race possessed you? The
winds were the offspring of Aurora and
Astræus, one of the Titans. Neptune here
intimates, that if they imitated the rebellion
of the Giants, their ancestors, they must
expect to share in their punishment; or, at
least, they could not expect to escape with
impunity.
133. Numine: in the sense of auctoritate
vel voluntate. Moles in the sense of fluctus
ENEIS. LIB. I.
171
Miscere, et tantas audetis tollere moles?
Quos ego-Sed motos præstat componere fluctus.
Post mihi non simili pœnâ commissa luetis.
Maturate fugam, regique hæc dicite vestro :
Non illi imperium pelagi, sævumque tridentem,
Sed mihi sorte datum: tenet ille immania saxa,
Vestras, Eure, domos: illâ se jactet in aulâ
Eolus, et clauso ventorum carcere regnet.
Sic ait: et dicto citiùs tumida æquora placat,
Collectasque fugat nubes, Solemque reducit.
Cymothoë simul, et Triton adnixus, acuto
Detrudunt naves scopulo: levat ipse tridenti,
Et vastas aperit syrtes, et temperat æquor;
Atque rotis summas levibus perlabitur undas.
Ac, veluti magno in populo cùm sæpe coorta est
Seditio, sævitque animis ignobile vulgus ;
Venti, miscere cœlum
135 terramque
138. Imperium pelagi,
sævumque
tridentem
140 non datum esse illi, sed
145
Jamque faces et saxa volant; furor arma ministrat: 150
Tum, pietate gravem ac meritis si fortè virum quem
Conspexere, silent, arrectisque auribus adstant.
Ille regit dictis animos, et pectora mulcet.
Sic cunctus pelagi cecidit fragor; æquora postquàm
Prospiciens genitor, cœloque invectus aperto,
Flectit equos, curruque volans dat lora secundo.
Defessi Æneadæ, quæ proxima litora cursu
Contendunt petere, et Libyæ vertuntur ad oras.
NOTES.
135. Quos ego. Here puniam, or some
word of the like import, is understood:
whom I will punish, or chastise. But it is
better to still the raging waves, before I
do it.
136. Pòst non luetis mihi: hereafter ye
shall not atone to me for your offences
with a like punishment. Neptune here in-
timates it to be a matter of clemency in him
in permitting them to escape; but they must
beware; the next time they thus presume,
he shall chastise them in an exemplary
manner.
138. Imperium pelagi. In the division of
the world between the sons of Saturn, the
sea fell to Neptune, the heavens and the
earth to Jupiter, and the regions below to
Pluto. Sævum: in the sense of potentem.
139. Tenet immania: let him possess
those wild and uncultivated rocks, thy ha-
bitations, O east wind. Immania saxa are
the realms of Eolus, mentioned verso 52,
supra.
140. Jaciet se: boast, or glory.
in the sense of regia.
Aula:
The
Pla-
142. Citiùs dicto: sooner than said.
comp. citiùs governs dicto, in the abl.
cat: calms.
144. Cymothoë: a nymph of the sea, the
daughter of Nereus and Doris. Triton:
the son of Amphitrite. His upper part was
like a man, and his lower part like a fish.
He was very powerful among the sea-gods,
mihi
151. Tum, si forte con-
spexere quem virum gra-
vem pietate et meritis,
silent
153. Ille vir regit ani-
155 mos
158. Contendunt pe-
tere litora, quæ sunt
proxima in cursu
and could calm and embroil the sea at his
pleasure. Many of the marine gods were
called Tritons, but the name is properly ap-
plicable to those only that were half man
and half fish. Levat: assists-lightens.
148. Ac veluti cùm: as when in a great
crowd, a tumult often rises, and the ignoble
throng rages in their minds, &c.
This comparison is extremely beautiful,
as well as just. Nothing can be more pro-
per to represent the disorder and havoc of
a violent hurricane, than the rage and the
desolation occasioned by an incensed mob..
The suddenness, with which the noisy waves
subside, and sink into a calm, as soon as
Neptune surveys them, is finely marked by
the awe and silence, with which the sedi-
tious multitude is immediately struck, at
the sight of a man of superior merit and
authority.
150. Arma: in the sense of tela. Gra-
vem: in the sense of insignem. Arrectis:
with listening, or attentive ears.
155. Cœlo. Cœlum here means simply,
the air. He was wafted in the open air,
just above the surface of the ocean. Fra-
gor: the raging, or tumult..
156. Curru: the dat. for currui. See
Ecl. v. 29. Secundo: light-easy-moving.
157. Æneada: the Trojans; so called
from Æneas, their leader. Contendunt :
they strive to reach, or get to the nearest
shore.
172
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Est in secessu longo locus: insula portum
160. Quibus lateribus Efficit objectu laterum: quibus omnis ab alto
omnis unda veniens ab Frangitur, inque sinus scindit sese unda reductos.
alto frangitur, scindit
Hinc atque hinc vastæ rupes, geminique minantur
que sese
aquæ, sediliaque è vivo
saxo: videtur domus
160
In cœlum scopuli: quorum sub vertice latè
Æquora tuta silent: tum sylvis scena coruscis
Desuper, horrentique atrum nemus imminet umbrâ. 165
166. Est antrum in Fronte sub adversa scopulis pendentibus antrum :
pendentibus scopulis
Intus aquæ dulces, vivoque sedilia saxo;
167. Intus sunt dulces
Nympharum domus : hìc fessas non vincula naves
Ulla tenent; unco non alligat anchora morsu.
Huc septem Æneas collectis navibus omni
Ex numero subit: ac magno telluris amore
Egressi, optatâ potiuntur Troës̟ arenâ,
Et sale tabentes artus in litore ponunt.
Ac primùm silici scintillam excudit Achates
Suscepitque ignem foliis, atque arida circùm
Nutrimenta dedit, rapuitque in fomite flammam.
Tum Cererem corruptam undis, Cerealiaque arma
Expediunt fessi rerum: frugesque receptas
Et torrere parant flammis, et frangere saxo.
da
175. Circumdedit ari-
177. Tum fessi rerum
expediunt Cererem
Eneas scopulum intereà conscendit, et omnem
Prospectum latè pelago petit, Anthea si quà
Jactatum vento videat, Phrygiasque biremes,
Aut Capyn, aut celsis in puppibus arma Caïci.
NOTES.
159. Longo secessu: in a long or dark re-
cess. This description of the port and
harbor is beautiful in itself, and seasonably
introduced to relieve the reader, and com-
pose his mind, after having dwelt upon the
former images of horror and distress.
160. Objectu: in the sense of oppositu.
162. Rupes: properly, a precipice, or
broken rock. Scopulus, a high, sharp rock.
Saxum, any rock, or stone. Minantur:
reach, or extend to heaven,
164. Scena sylvis: an arbor formed of
waving trees, and a grove dark with its awful
shade, hangs over it from above. Ruxus
interprets scena by umbraculum.
166. Sub adversa fronte. This cave was
right in front, or opposite to them, as they
entered the harbor, and approached the
shore. Pondentibus: its roof was arched
with rocks. Rumus says suspensis, for pen-
dentibus.
169. Non ulla vincula tenent. The mean-
ing is: the harbor was so safe and secure,
that ships needed neither cables nor anchors.
Morsu: the fluke.
170. Huc Æneas: here Aneas entered
with seven ships, collected, &c. He left
Troas with twenty ships. One he had just
lost, and the rest were scattered in the
storm, but were not lost.
170
175
180
drenched with salt water-dripping with
salt water.
176. Arida nutrimenta: dry fuel. Ignem:
the spark struck from the flint. Rapuit:
he quickly kindled a flame among the fuel.
177. Cererem corruptam: their grain da-
maged by the water-wet. For Ceres, see
Ecl. v. 79. Arma: properly, the instru-
ments or tools of any art or profession. Ce-
realia arma, therefore, will be the instruments
or utensils used in breaking corn, and pre-
paring it for eating.
178. Fessi rerum: weary of their misfor-
tunes-their toils-their dangers. Fruges
receptas: the grain saved. The same with
Cererem, just mentioned.
But
179. Parani lorrere. Rumus takes torrere
in the sense of coquere; and in that case it
follows frangere, which must be connected
with fruges receptas: they prepare to break
the corn, and to bake it into bread.
torrere may be taken for the act of drying
the corn that had been wet, and partially
damaged by the water; which must pre-
cede its being broken, or prepared for ma-
king bread. Expediunt: they unlade, or
fetch it out of their ships.
181. Anthea: a Greek acc. of Antheus.
182. Biremes: bircmis is properly a gal-
ley of two banks of oars. See Æn. v. 119.
133. Arma Caïci: the arms of Caïcus;
173. Artus tabentes sale: their limbs that is, Caïcus himself.
ÆNEIS. LIB. I.
173
185 185. Hos tres ductores
à tergo
195
Navem in conspectu nullam; tres litore cervos
Prospicit errantes: hos tota armenta sequuntur
A tergo, et longum per valles pascitur agmen.
Constitit hic, arcumque manu celeresque sagittas
Corripuit, fidus quæ tela gerebat Achates.
Ductoresque ipsos primùm, capita alta ferentes
Cornibus arboreis, sternit: tum vulgus, et omnem 190
Miscet agens telis nemora inter frondea turbam.
Nec priùs absistit, quàm septem ingentia victor
Corpora fundat humi, et numerum cum navibus æquet.
Hinc portum petit, et socios partitur in omnes.
Vina, bonus quæ deinde cadis onerârat Acestes
Litore Trinacrio, dederatque abeuntibus heros,
Dividit, et dictis morentia pectora mulcet :
O socii, (neque enim ignari sumus antè malorum)
O passi graviora dabit Deus his quoque finem.
Vos et Scyllæam rabiem, penitusque sonantes
Accêstis scopulos; vos et Cyclopea saxa
Experti: revocate animos, mostumque timorem
Mittite forsan et hæc olim meminisse juvabit.
Per varios casus, per tot discrimina rerum,
Tendimus in Latium; sedes ubi fata quietas
Ostendunt: illìc fas regna resurgere Troja.
Durate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis.
Talia voce refert: curisque ingentibus æger,
Spem vultu simulat, premit altum corde dolorem.
Illi se prædæ accingunt dapibusque futuris.
NOTES.
mere
186. A tergo. This might seem
tautology, but it is consistent with the
purest Latin. Cicero says: Adolescens cursu
à tergo insequens. Longum agmen: the
long, or extended herd.
189. Ferentes alta: bearing their lofty
heads with branching horns. The poet fine-
ly describes the leaders. They move with
a degree of majesty, having their heads
erect, and their horns branching out like
trees. Gerebat: in the sense of ferebat.
191. Agens telis vulgus: pursuing with
his weapons the herd and the rest of the
throng, among the leafy groves, he disperses
them he puts them into confusion by
breaking their ranks. The word misceo, as
here used, is beautiful and expressive. Om-
nem turbam: in the sense of reliquam mul-
titudinem.
194. Partitur: he divides them among
all his companions. He had killed seven
huge deer, so that there was one for the
crew of each ship.
195. Acestes. See En. v. 35. Onerârat:
had put in casks, and given them.
196. Trinacrio: an adj. from Trinacria,
a name of Sicily, derived from its triangular
form. Its three promontorics are: Pachy-
num, on the south; Lilybæus, on the west;
and Pelorus, on the north.
195. Deinde dividit
vina, quæ bonus Acestes
onerårat in cadis Trina-
crio litore, herosque de-
derat illis abeuntibus
199. O vos passi gra-
200 viora
205
210
202. Vos experti estis
198. Antè malorum: of past evils, or dis-
tresses. Rumus takes antè here in the sense
of præteritorum. Or perhaps, malorum quæ
fuerunt antè.
200. Vos accêstis: ye have approached
both the rage of Scylla, and the rocks roar-
ing within. See Ecl. vi. 74, and Æn. iii.
420. Opposite the rock of Scylla is Cha-
rybdis, a dangerous whirlpool; which, taken
together, render the passage of the straits
between Sicily and Italy very hazardous.
Hence arose the proverb: Incidit in Scyllam,
qui vult vitare Charybdem. This Charybdis,
as fable says, was a voracious old woman,
who stole the oxen of Hercules. For which,
being struck by the thunder of Jove, she was
turned into this whirlpool. Accêstis: by
syn. for accessistis.
203. Olim: hereafter. Discrimina: in
the sense of pericula.
207. Secundis rebus: preserve yourselves
for prosperity. Durate: persevere.
208. Eger ingentibus: oppressed with
heavy careş, (full of anxious solicitude for
his friends,) he dissembles hope on his coun-
tenance, but represses, &c. Refert: in the
sense of dicit.
210. Accingunt se: they prepare them-
selves for. Tergora: the skins or hides of
the slain deer.
174
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
212.
Tergora diripiunt costis, et viscera nudant:
Pars in frusta secant, verubusque trementia figunt
Litore ahena locant alii, flammasque ministrant.
Tum victu revocant vires: fusique per herbam,
Figunt frusta Implentur veteris Bacchi, pinguisque ferinæ.
adhuc trementia verubus
216. Exempta est
218. Seu credant eos
Orontei;
Amyci
nunc casum
215
220
Postquàm exempta fames epulis, mensæque remotæ,
Amissos longo socios sermone requirunt,
Spemque metumque inter dubii: seu vivere credant,
Sive extrema pati, nec jam exaudire vocatos.
220. Æneas gemit se- Præcipuè pius Æneas, nunc acris Orontei,
cum nunc casum acris Nunc Amyci casum gemit, et crudelia secum
Fata Lyci, fortemque Gyan, fortemque Cloanthum.
Et jam finis erat: cùm Jupiter æthere summo
Despiciens mare velivolum, terrasque jacentes,
227. Atque Venus Litoraque, et latos populos; sic vertice cœli
tristior, et suffusa quoad Constitit, et Libyæ defixit lumina regnis.
nitentes oculos alloqui Atque illum tales jactantem pectore curas,
229. O tu, qui regis Tristior, et lachrymis oculos suffusa nitentes,
res hominumque
tur illum jactantem
cum.
Alloquitur Venus: O, qui res hominumque Deûmque
NOTES.
211. Viscera: neu. plu. of viscus, or vis-
It properly signifies all the parts of
the animal within the skin. Here it means
the flesh.
212. Pars secant: a part cut into pieces.
Nouns of multitude may have verbs in the
singular or plural.
213. Ahena: neu. plu. brazen dishes or
vessels. An adj. taken as a substantive.
Ministrant flammas: tend the fires.
215. Implentur. This is in imitation of
the Greeks, with whom verbs of filling go-
vern the genitive. Bacchi: in the sense of
vini.
217. Requirunt: they inquire after their
lost companions-converse about them.
219. Pati extrema: to suffer death
death being the last of all earthly things.-
Pati: the present in the sense of the perf.
Vocatos nec jam: being invoked, should not
now hear. This alludes to a custom among
the Romans, of calling the dead three times
by name: which was the last ceremony in
funeral obsequies. After which, the friends
pronounced the word Vale, three times, as
they departed from the tomb. The same
was observed of those, who perished by
shipwreck, or otherwise, when their bodies
could not be found.
220. Æneas gemit: Æneas laments now
the fate of brave Orontes, now, &c. The
most exalted and heroic minds are the most
susceptible of humanity and compassion.-
Virgil therefore says: Præcipuè pius Encas
gemit. But at the same time, he conducts
his grief with prudence, and carefully avoids
whatever would tend to discourage the rest;
and therefore it is said, that he grieves pri-
vately, secum, keeping his sorrow and grief
in his own bosom; and showing to his com-
225
panions an example of magnanimous forti-
tude only, which rises superior to dangers
and misfortunes.
224. Velivolum: navigable. Jacentes ter-
ras: the earth may be said to be lying (ja-
cens) still, dead and at rest, in opposition to
the sea, which is always in motion. The
poet considers here the sails of a ship under
the notion of wings, by which it flies over
the sea, as a bird moves through the air.-
Rumus takes jacentes in the sense of humi-
les: low-lying low. Populos: in the sense
of gentes.
225. Vertice: the pinnacle of heaven:
the zenith, or point over our heads.
226. Defixit oculos. Dr. Trapp observes,
that nothing to him breathes the soul of po-
etry, particularly Virgil's, more than this
delightful passage, in which the majesty of
Jupiter, and the beautiful grief of Venus are
so finely contrasted. She still remembers,
in all the abruptness of extreme sorrow,
that she is addressing the almighty Thun-
derer, and yet maintains all the sweetness
of female complaint, and tender expostula-
tion. Jactantem: in the sense of volven-
tem.
228. Suffusa oculos: wet, as to her shi-
ning eyes, with tears. See Ecl. i. 55. Fe-
male beauty never appears so engaging, and
makes so deep an impression upon the be-
holder, as when suffused with tears, and
manifesting a degree of anxious solicitude.
The poet therefore introduces Venus in that
situation, making suit to her father. The
speech is of the chastest kind, and cannot
fail to charm the reader.
229. Venus. The goddess of beauty and
love. She is said to have sprung from the
foam of the sea, near the island of Cyprus.
******
༣
ENEIS. LIB. I.
Æternis regis imperiis, et fulmine terres,
Quid meus Æneas in te committere tantum,
Quid Troës potuere? quibus tot funera passis,
Cunctus ob Italiam terrarum clauditur orbis ?
Certè hinc Romanos olim, volventibus annis,
Hinc fore ductores, revocato à sanguine Teucri,
Qui mare, qui terras omni ditione tenerent,
Pollicitus: quæ te, genitor, sententia vertit ?
Hoc equidem occasum Troja tristesque ruinas
Solabar, fatis contraria fata rependens.
NOTES.
or according to Hesiod, near the island of
Cythera. She was taken up to Heaven,
when all the Gods were struck with her
beauty, and became jealous of her superior
attractions. Jupiter attempted, in vain, to
gain her affection; and as a punishment to
her, for the refusal, bestowed her upon his
deformed son Vulcan. She, however, had
many intrigues with Mars, Mercury, and
Bacchus. Her partiality for Adonis, indu-
ced her to leave Olympus. She also had
an affection, it is said, for Anchises, and for
his sake, often visited the Groves of Mount
Ida. By him she had Æneas.
Venus possessed a mysterious girdle or
cestuis, which gave to any, however ugly and
deformed, beauty, elegance, and grace. Her
worship was universally established. The
rose, the myrtle, and the apple, were sacred
to her. The dove, the swan, and the spar-
row, were her favorite birds.
She had various names, derived chiefly
from the places where she was worshipped;
or from some property or quality she was
thought to possess. Some of which, are the
following: Cypria, from the island Cyprus:
Paphia, from Paphios: Cytherea, from the
island Cythera; in each of which places
she had splendid temples. She was also
called Telepegema, because she presided over
marriage: Verticordia, because she turned
the hearts of women to chastity: Elaira,
because she was the patroness of courtezans:
Acidalia, from Acidalus, a fountain in Beo-
tia: Basilea, because she was the queen of
love: Myrtea, because the myrtle was sa-
cred to her: Libertina, on account of her
inclinations to licentious amours: Pontea,
Marina, Lemnesia, and Pelagea, because she
sprung from the sea. The word Venus is
often taken for beauty and love; also for
the object of love-the person loved. It is
used sometimes for any sensual passion, or
lust the intercourse of the sexes. Imperiis:
in the sense of potentia.
233. Quibus passis: against whom, suf-
fering so many deaths, the whole world,
&c.
234. Hinc: hence-from the Trojans.
Ductores: probably, as Heyne observes, we
are to understand Julius Cæsar, and Octavius.
230
175
230. Terres mundum
fulmine: quid tantum
scelus potuit meus Æneas
committere in te!
234. Certè pollicitus
es Romanos orituros esse
235 hinc olim, annis volven..
tibus, fore ductores hinc
à revocato sanguine
Teucri, qui tenerent
238. Equidem hoc
promisso solabar occa-
235. Revocato, &c. Commentators are
divided in opinion, on these words. Corra-
dus takes sanguine Teucri, for the Trojans,
the offspring of Teucer; and revocato, in the
sense of restituto. Ruæus rejects this in
part. By sanguine Teucri, he understands
the Trojans; and by revocalo, their return
into Italy, whence Dardanus, the founder
of their race, originated. The blood of Teu-
cer, and that of Dardanus, were united in
the Trojans, their descendants. Revocato:
recalled-called back to take possession of
the land of their ancestor.
236. Ditione: sway-authority. Tene-
rent: in the sense of regerent. Sententia:
in the sense of consilium.
238. Hoc quidem: with this promise, I
was mitigating the fall, and sad catastro-
phe of Troy :-I was consoling myself, at,
&c.
239. Fatis rependens contraria: to these
fates balancing, (or placing) fates contrary,
or of an opposite nature. Fatum, as here
used, may mean, either the purposes of the
gods concerning the Trojans, or simply, their
fortune or destiny. Their city had been
rased, and a numerous train of ills had be-
fallen them. These, we are to understand
by fatis. By fata contraria, it is plain, we
are to understand prosperity, or a state of
things different from their former one.
Or,
if fala be taken for the purposes of the
gods toward them, the interpretation will
be the same.
The downfall of Troy was a very afflict-
ing circumstance to Venus. She strove
hard to prevent it. And after the event, she
consoled herself with the consideration, that
Troy was destined to rise again—that their
race was to be restored to the land of Dar-
danus, and there become the rulers of the
world. This lightened her sorrow, and as-
"suaged her grief. Here, perhaps, it may be
asked, if she knew that the future glory of
the Trojan race had been decreed and fixed
by fate; why does she appear to express so
much anxiety and solicitude upon that sub-
ject? It may be said, that the opposition
which Juno made to it, might make her
doubt, and her mind waver. For, Jupiter
alone had a perfect insight into futurity, and
176
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
sum, tristesque ruinas Nunc eadem fortuna viros tot casibus actos
Troja
Insequitur: quem das finem, rex magne, laborum ?
242. Antenor elapsus Antenor potuit, mediis elapsus Achivis,
mediis Achivis potuit Illyricos penetrare sinus, atque intima tutus
tutus penetrare
:
Regna Liburnorum et fontem superare Timavi :
Unde per ora novem vasto cum murmure montis
It mare proruptum, et pelago premit arva sonanti.
Hic tamen ille urbem Patavî sedesque locavit
Teucrorum, et genti nomen dedit, armaque fixit
Troïa nunc placidâ compôstus pace quiescit.
250. Nos, quibus tu Nos, tua progenies, cœli quibus annuis arcem,
annuis arcom cœli, na- Navibus, infandum! amissis, unius ob iram
vibus, infandum! Prodimur, atque Italis longè disjungimur oris.
amissis prodimur peri- Hic pietatis honos? Sic nos in sceptra reponis!
culis ob iram Junonis Olli subridens hominum sator atque Deorum,
253. Est-ne hic honos Vultu, quo cœlum tempestatesque serenat,
nostræ pietatis? sic
Oscula libavit natæ : dehinc talia fatur:
unius
NOTES.
the rest of the gods, knew no more than he
was pleased to reveal to them. See En.
iii. 251.
It is said, by some, that Virgil makes even
Jupiter subject to fate or destiny. But from
several passages, it will appear, that his
notion of fate was truly philosophical. He
makes fate to be nothing more than the de-
crees, purposes, or counsels of Heaven, pro-
nounced by the mouth of Jove; as the ety-
mology of the word implies. He often calls
destiny Fata deorum, which can mean no-
thing else than the Divine decrees, or coun-
sels. And, if he give to fate the epithets,
inexpugnabile and inexorabile, he must mean
that the laws and order of nature are fixed
and unchangeable, as being the result of
Infinite wisdom and foresight, and having
their foundation in the Divine mind, which
is subject to none of those changes that af-
fect feeble and erring mortals.
242. Antenor. He was a noble Trojan.
After the sack of Troy, he led a colony of
Trojans, and Henetes, a people who came
to assist Priam, and lost their king, in quest
of a settlement. After various toils and dis-
asters, he arrived at the head of the Adriatic,
and having expelled the Euganes, a people
inhabiting between the Alps and the sea, he
took possession of their country. He built
a city called Antenorea, after his own name.
Some say he built Patavium, now Padua.
The whole nation was called Veneti.
243. Illyricos: an adj. from Illyricum, an
extensive country on the borders of the
Adriatic, over against Italy, including the
ancient Liburnia and Dalmatia. Penetrare:
in the sense of intrare.
244. Superare fontem Timavi: to pass be-
yond the fountain of Timavus. We are told
by Servius, on the authority of Varro, that
the Timavus was a large river, and the
240
245
250
255
neighboring people gave to it the name of
sea. It was formed, says he, by the conflu-
ence of nine streams, issuing from a moun-
-tain. It is, however, at the present, a small
and inconsiderable stream, falling into the
Adriatic, near Istria.
245. Unde: whence-from the fountain.
The novem ora, I take to mean the nine
streams which formed the river, and not so
many channels, through which it fell into the
sea. Os significs the fountain, or head of a
river, as well as its mouth.
246. It it pours along. Proruptum:
rough-swollen. Premit: overflows-de-
luges. Thompson has finely imitated, in
his "Winter," this description of the Ti-
mavus.
249. Compôstus: by syn. for compositus.
settled. Fixit: in the sense of suspendil.
Nos. Here Venus speaks in the person of
Eneas to show how nearly she had his in-
terest at heart. Annuis: in the sense of
promittis. Thou hast promised that after
death he should be received among the
gods-should be deified. Arcem cœli: the
court or palace of heaven.
251. Infandum. This word is thrown in
like an interposing sigh, when she comes to
the most moving part of her complaint;
and the artful pauses in this and the two
following lines, together with the abrupt
manner in which the speech breaks off, show
her quite overpowered by the tide of her grief.
Unius: of one, to wit, Juno. Prodimur :
we are given up to destruction-we are
doomed to toils, misfortunes, and dangers.
through the resentment and influence of
Juno.
253. Honos: reward-recompense.
254. Olli: for illi, by antithesis. Sator:
in the sense of pater.
256. Libavit: he kissed the lips of his
ENEIS. LIB. I.
177
Parce metu, Cytherea: manent immota tuorum
Fata tibi: cernes urbem et promissa Lavinî
Moenia, sublimemque feres ad sidera cœli
Magnanimum Æneam; neque me sententia vertit.
Hic (tibi fabor enim, quando hæc te cura remordet
Longiùs et volvens fatorum arcana movebo)
Bellum ingens geret Italiâ, populosque feroces
Contundet, moresque viris et mœnia ponet :
Tertia dum Latio regnantem viderit æstas,
Ternaque transîerint Rutulis hyberna subactis.
At puer Ascanius, cui nunc cognomen Iülo
Additur (Ilus crat, dum res stetit Ilia regno)
Triginta magnos, volvendis mensibus, orbes
Imperio explebit, regnumque ab sede Lavinî
Transferet, et longam multâ vi muniet Albam.
Hic jam tercentum totos regnabitur annos
Gente sub Hectoreâ; donec regina sacerdos
Marte gravis, geminam partu dabit Ilia prolem.
NOTES.
daughter. The name Venus was given to
several. The one here meant, is the daugh-
ter of Jupiter and Dione, but is often con-
founded with her, who sprung from the
froth of the sea. Sec 229. supra.
257. Metu: for metui. See Ecl. v. 29.
Cytherea: Venus.
261. Fabor: in the sense of dicam.
262. Movebo arcana: I will unfold the se-
crets of the fates, tracing (volvens) them
down to a great distance of time. Remor-
det: troubles you.
264. Contundet: in the sense of domabit.
Mores: in the sense of leges.
265. Dum tertia atas: until the third year
shall see him, &c. The meaning is, that
three years were to be spent in the wars
with Turnus and the Rutuli; at the expira-
tion of which, having subdued his enemies,
Eneas should commence his government
in Latium. Dum: in the sense of donec.
266. Terna hyberna: three winters shall
have passed, the Rutuli being conquered.
267. Cui nunc cognomen to whom now
the sir-name of Iülus is added. This cir-
cumstance is thrown in to show the origin
of the Julian family, and the occasion of
changing the name of Ilus, to Iülus or Julius.
The poet designs this as a compliment to
the Cesars. Iülus succeeded his father in
the government, and reigned thirty years at
Lavinium. He built Alba Longa, and made
it the seat of his government. The throne
was filled for three hundred years by a suc-
cession of Trojan princes, down to the time
of Romulus. He founded Rome, and chang-
ed the seat of government from Alba Longa
to the new city. At his death, the line of
succession was changed, and Numa Pompi-
hus, a wise and virtuous prince of the Sa-
bines, filled the throne.
t;
260
265
270
261. Hic geret ingens
bellum in Italia
207. At puer Asca-
nius, cui nunc cogno-
men Iülo additur, exple-
bit imperio triginta mag-
nos orbes, mensibus
273. Donec Ilia, re-
gina sacerdos, gravis
Marte dabit
268. Ilia res: the Trojan state. Ilia: an adj.
from Ilium, a name of Troy. See 1. supra.
269. Orbes: in the sense of annos.
270. Imperio: government-reign. La
vinî: by apocope for Lavinii. See 2. su-
pra.
Vi: labor-strength.
273. Hectorea gente: under a Trojan line.
After the building of Rome, Alba continued
for a considerable time an independent go-
vernment, and was a rival of the new city.
It was finally destroyed by the Romans, and
its inhabitants transferred to Rome.
274. Ilia: a daughter of Numitor, king
of Alba Longa. She is called regina, on
account of her royal descent. She was one
of the vestal virgins, and for that reason
called sacerdos, or priestess. Being preg-
nant (gravis) by Mars, as it is said, she
brought forth twins, Romulus and Remus.
Amulius, having expelled his brother Nu-
mitor, commanded one Faustus, a shepherd,
to expose the children to wild beasts, that
they might perish. Instead of which, he
took them home, where they were nourished
by his wife, whose name was Lupa. This
gave rise to the story of their being brought
up by a wolf, lupa being the name of that
animal.
The children grew up, and when they
became acquainted with the conduct of their
uncle, they collected a band of men, attack-
ed him in his palace, slew him, and restored
Numitor to the throne. Afterwards, it is
said, each of the brothers began to build a
city. Remus leaped over the walls of the
city founded by Romulus; whereupon, be-
ing angry, he slew him. He called the city
Romulus was
Rome, after his own name.
sometimes called Quirinus, from Quiri, a
Sabine word, which signifies a spear. Ge-
minam prolem: simply, twins.
13
178
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
275. Inde Romulus Inde lupæ fulvo nutricis tegmine lætus
lætus fulvo tegmine nu- Romulus excipiet gentem, et Mavortia condet
tricis lupo excipiet gen- Mania, Romanosque suo de nomine dicet.
277 Dicet incolas Ro- His ego nec metas rerum, nec tempora pono:
Imperium sinè fine dedi. Quin aspera Juno,
tem
manos
275
Quæ mare nunc terrasque metu cœlumque fatigat, 280
Consilia in melius referet, mecumque fovebit
Romanos rerum dominos, gentemque togatam.
Sic placitum. Veniet, lustris labentibus, ætas,
Cùm domus Assaraci Phthiam clarasque Mycenas
Servitio premet, ac victis dominabitur Argis.
Nascetur pulchrâ Trojanus origine Cæsar,
Imperium Oceano, famam qui terminet astris,
288. Ille erit Julius, Julius, à magno demissum nomen Iülo.
nomen
Hunc tu olim cœlo, spoliis Orientis onustum,
Accipies secura: vocabitur hic quoque votis.
Aspera tum positis mitescent sæcula bellis.
Cana Fides, et Vesta, Remo cum fratre Quirinus,
NOTES.
276. Mavortia: an adj. from Mavors, a
name of Mars: warlike-martial. Mania:
in the sense of urbem.
278. Nec pono metas: I place (prescribe)
to them neither bounds nor duration of do-
minion. The Romans had a belief that
their empire would always continue, while
other governments would be unstable and
fluctuating.
280. Metu: through fear that the Trojans
would rise to power, and become dangerous
to her dear Carthage and Argos. Futigat:
in the sense of commovet.
281. In melius. This is taken adverbial-
ly: for the better. Referret: shall change.
282. Gentem togatam: the nation of the
gown. The toga, or gown, was the distin-
guishing badge of the Romans, as the pal-
lium was that of the Greeks. Rerum. Res
signifies power-rule-dominion. In the
present case it signifies, the world.
283. Sic placitum: thus it pleases me-
this is my pleasure-it is my decree. The
verb est is to be supplied. Etas venit: the
time shall come, years having passed away,
when, &c. Lustrum: properly the period
of four years. It is often put for time in
general. Etas: in the sense of tempus,
and lustris: for annis.
284. Domus Assaraci. By this we are to
understand the Romans. Assaracus was
the son of Tros, and brother of Ilus. He
was the father of Capys, and Capys the
father of Anchises, the father of Æneas,
from whom the Romans descended. Phthi-
am. This was a city of Thessaly, the royal
seat of Achilles. Mycenas-Argis. These
were cities of the Peloponnesus, over which
Agamemnon reigned, put, by synec. for
Greece in general. This prophecy was ful-
filled under the Roman generals Mummius,
285
290
who conquered Achaia; and Paulus Æmi-
lius, who subdued Macedonia and Thessaly.
Argis in the sing. Argos, neu.; in the plu.
Argi, mas. It was situated about two miles
from the sea, on the Sinus Argolicus. It
was founded by Inachus, 1856 years before
Christ. Its inhabitants were called Argo-
lici and Argivi: by synec. put for the Greeks
in general. Premet: shall subject to servi-
tude-shall subdue.
286. Pulchra: in the sense of illustris:
Cæsar, a Trojan of illustrious origin.
288. Nomen demissum: a name derived ·
from, &c.
289. Tu secura: you, sure, shall receive
him hereafter. Cæsar was honored with
four triumphs on four successive days. To
this, refer the words: Onustum spoliis ori-
entis. Cæsar received divine honors by a
decree of the senate.
291. Aspera sæcula. Here is an allusion
to the golden age; or, at least, to the uni-
versal peace which took place in the reign
of Augustus, when the temple of Janus was
shut. Mitescent: shall grow mild-soften
Aspera: in the sense of dura.
292. Cana fides. The meaning is. that
the fidelity of former times should return-
that men should devote more of their time
to the service of the gods-that there should
be no more civil wars, in which brother
should be armed against brother. The epi-
thet cana alludes to the figure of faith,
which was represented with hoary locks, to
denote that it was the peculiar virtue of
former times-the golden age. By the word
Vesta, Servius says, we are to understand
religion. Vesta was the daughter of Saturn
and Ops, the goddess of fire, and patroness
of the vestal virgins. Eneas was the first
who introduced her mysteries into Italy.
ANEIS. LIB. I.
179
•
Jura dabunt diræ ferro et compagibus arctis
Claudentur belli portæ : Furor impius intus
Sæva sedens super arma, et centum vinctus ahenis
Post tergum nodis, fremet horridus ore cruento.
Hæc ait: et Maiâ genitum demittit ab alto ;
Ut terræ, utque novæ pateant Carthaginis arces
Hospitio Teucris: ne fati nescia Dido
Finibus arceret. Volat ille per aëra magnum
Remigio alarum, ac Libya citus adstitit oris:
Et jam jussa facit: ponuntque ferocia Pœni
Corda, volente Deo: imprimis Regina quietum
Accipit in Teucros animum mentemque benignam.
At pius Æneas, per noctem plurima volvens,
Ut primùm lux alma data est, exire, locosque
Explorare novos; quas vento accesserit oras,
Qui teneant (nam inculta videt) hominesne, feræne,
Quærere constituit, sociisque exacta referre.
Classem in convexo nemorum, sub rupe cavatâ,
Arboribus clausam circùm atque horrentibus umbris,
Occulit ipse uno graditur comitatus Achate,
Bina manu lato crispans hastilia ferro.
Cui mater mediâ sese tulit obvia sylvâ,
Virginis os habitumque gerens, et virginis arma
Spartanæ vel qualis equos Threïssa fatigat
:
NOTES.
The Palladium of Troy was supposed to be
preserved in her temple; where a fire was
continually kept burning by certain virgins,
who dedicated themselves to her service.
There was another goddess of the same
name, but generally confounded with Ceres,
Cybelle, Tellus, &c. The word Vesta is fre-
quently used for fire, by meton.
293. Arctis compagibus: with close joints
-bound fast with bars of iron.
294. Porta. The gates, or doors of the
temple of Janus were open in time of war,
and shut in time of peace. This happened
only three times during a period of seven
hundred years, so constantly engaged were
the Romans in the work of death! Impius
furor. This, Turnebus thinks, alludes
to the image of warlike rage drawn by
Apelles, and dedicated by Augustus in the
Forum. But Germanus thinks it alludes
to the statue of Mars, which the Spartans
had in their city, bound in this manner, in
chains of brass. Nodis: in the sense of
catenis.
297. Genitum Maiâ: the son of Maia.
Mercury was the son of Jupiter, and Maia,
the daughter of Atlas. See Geor. i. 336.
298. Arces. This appears to be used in
the sense of urbs: that the country and city
of New Carthage might open in hospitality
to the Trojans-might receive them kindly,
and treat them with hospitality.
301. Remigio alarum; by the motion of
294
300
305
295. Et vinctus post
tergum cum centum
ahenis nodis, fremet
305. Volvens animo
306. Constituit exire,
explorareque novos lo-
cos, et quærere ad quas
oras accesserit vento;
qui teneant eas, homi-
nes-ne, feræ-ne (nam
310 videt loca inculta) refer-
315
reque exacta sociis. Oc-
culit classem
314. Cui mater obvia
tulit se mediâ sylva,
gerens os, habitumque
316. Vel erat talis qua-
lis Threissa
his wings. Utens alis quasi remis, says
Ruæus. The motion of his wings is beau-
tifully expressed; it was like the motion of
oars in propelling a boat forward.
302. Pœni. The Carthaginians were
sometimes called Pani, or Phæni, from
Phenicia, the country from which they
came. Corda in the sense of animos.
:
304. Quietum animum: a friendly mind,
and a benevolent disposition, or temper.
306. Data est: in the sense of orta est.
309. Exacta: neu. plu. the particulars of
his discovery.
310. In convexo. The place where Æneas
moored his fleet, lay in a circular form,
nearly surrounded by a grove. Here they
could be in safety,without fear of discovery.
The words convexus and concavus are some-
times used for each other, which seems to be
the case here; the former properly signify-
ing the exterior of a round surface; the
latter the interior. Horrentibus: deep-·
thick shades. Uno: in the sense of solo.
See En. iv. 451.
313. Crispans in the sense of quassans.
Lato ferro: of a broad barb, or point.
316. Spartanæ. The Spartan virgins
were trained to all kinds of manly exerci-
ses, such as running, wrestling, throwing
the quoit and javelin, riding and hunting,
which is the reason that the poet attires
Venus in their habit, or dress. Os: in the
sense of rullum.
180
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Harpalyce, volucremque fugâ præevertitur Eurum.
Namque humeris de more habilem suspenderat arcum
Venatrix, dederatque comam diffundere ventis ;
Nuda genu, nodoque sinus collecta fluentes.
321. Ac illa prior in- Ac prior, Heus, inquit, juvenes, monstrate, mearum
quit: Heus, juvenes, Vidistis si quam hìc errantem fortè sororum,
monstrate, si vidistis
Succinctam pharetrâ et maculosæ tegmine lyncis,
fortè quam mearum so-
rorum errantem hìc, suc- Aut spumantis apri cursum clamore prementem.
cinctam pharetrâ
Sic Venus: at Veneris contrà sic filius orsus :
Nulla tuarum audita mihi, neque visa sororum,
320
325
327. Mortalis vultus O, quam te memorem, Virgo? namque haud tibi vultus
haud est tibi, nec tua Mortalis, nec vox hominem sonat.
VOX
sis felix
O Dea certè :
An Phœbi soror, an Nympharum sanguinis una?
330. Quæcunque es, Sis felix, nostrumque leves quæcunque laborem :
Et quo sub cœlo tandem, quibus orbis in oris
Jactemur, doccas: ignari hominumque locorumque
Erramus, vento huc et vastis fluctibus acti.
Multa tibi ante aras nostrâ cadet hostia dextrâ.
Tum Venus: haud equidem tali me dignor honore.
Virginibus Tyriis mos est gestare pharetram,
Purpureoque altè suras vincire cothurno.
Punica regna vides, Tyrios, et Agenoris urbem :
Sed fines Libyci, genus intractabile bello
NOTES.
317, Harpalyce: a celebrated Amazon,
said to have rescued her father, who had
been taken in battle by the Geta. The
comparison here is simply between the habits
of Venus, and those of Harpalyce. Eurum.
Many copies read Hebrum; but there ap-
pears a manifest incongruity in it. It can
hardly be supposed, that the poet, describing
the swiftness of her speed, should say that
she could outride the course of a river, how-
ever rapid it might be. In that there could
be no difficulty. Besides, the epithet volu-
crem, is not very applicable to a river.
Eurum is certainly the best reading; it is the
language of poetry, while Hebrum is not.
Fuga: in the sense of cursu.
320. Nuda genu, &c. This is a Grecism:
naked as to her knee, and collected as to her
flowing robe in a knot. See Ecl. i. 55. The
meaning is, that she had her knee naked,
and her flowing robe collected in a knot.
Sinus: the folds of a garment; also the
garment itself, by synec. Nodo: nodus is
properly any thing that binds or ties.
Hence, a girdle, or belt-a knot, &c.
321. Quam: in the sense of aliquam.
323. Tegmine. It was a custom among
the ancients for hunters to wear the skin of
some one of the animals, they had killed.
Prementem: pursuing.
325. Orsus: part. of the verb ordior: he
began. The verb est is understood.
327. Quam te memorem? whom shall I
call you?
329. Nec vox sonat: nor does your voice
330
336
sound (like) a human being-it does not
indicate you to be mortal. Homo, is proper-
ly either a man or woman-a human being.
329. An soror Phœbi: art thou the sister
of Phoebus, or one of the blood of the
nymphs? See Ecl. iv. 10. The verb es is
to be supplied.
330. Felix: kind-propitious. Oris: in
the sense of regione. Orbis: of the world,
or earth.
334. Multa hostia: many a victim shall
fall for you before the altars.
335. Haud me dignor: I do not consider
myself worthy, &c.
338. Urbem Agenoris: Carthage, founded
by Dido, a descendant of Agenor. Punica
regna: the kingdom, or realm of Carthage.
It is distinguished from the city, which is
called Urbs Agenoris. Punica: an adj.
from Pæn, or Phæni.
339. Fines Libyer: the country is Africa.
Libycı: an adj. from Libya, agreeing with
fines. Libya was properly that part of
Africa bordering upon Egypt on the west;
but is frequently used for any part of Africa,
or Africa in general. Genus intractabile:
a race fierce in war. The Carthaginians
extended their conquests with unexampled
rapidity, and were the only people that ap-
peared to dispute the empire of the world
with the Romans. Their misfortunes, and
final ruin, were owing more, perhaps, to
party spirit and civil cabals, than to the
arms of the Romans. See Rol. An. His.
Art. Carthage.
ENEIS. LIB. 1.
181
Imperium Dido Tyriâ regit urbe profecta,
Germanum fugiens: longa est injuria, longæ
Ambages: sed summa sequar fastigia rerum.
Huic conjux Sichæus erat, ditissimus agri
Phoenicum, et magno miseræ dilectus amore:
Cui pater intactam dederat, primisque jugârat
Ominibus: sed regna Tyri germanus habebat
Pygmalion, scelere ante alios immanior omnes.
Quos inter medius venit furor: ille Sichæum,
Impius ante aras, atque auri cæcus amore,
Clam ferro incautum superat, securus amorum
Germanæ factumque diu celavit; et ægram,
Multa malus simulans, vanâ spe lusit amantem.
Ipsa sed in somnis inhumati venit imago
Conjugis, ora modis attollens pallida miris :
Crudeles aras, trajectaque pectora ferro
Nudavit, cæcumque domûs scelus omne retexit.
Tum celerare fugam, patriâque excedere suadet :
Auxiliumque viæ veteres tellure recludit
Thesauros, ignotum argenti pondus et auri.
His commota, fugam Dido sociosque parabat.
Conveniunt, quibus aut odium crudele tyranni,
Aut metus acer erat: naves, quæ fortè paratæ,
Corripiunt, onerantque auro: portantur avari
Pygmalionis opes pelago: dux fœmina facti.
NOTES.
340. Dido: the name of a Tyrian prin-
cess, implying beautiful, or well-beloved.
See En. iv. 1. Regit imperium: manages
the government.
342. Ambages longa: the circumstances
are long and tedious. Sequar summa fasti-
gia rerum: I will mention only the chief
heads of the business-I will trace only the
outlines of the affair. Ruxus takes sequar
in the sense of perstringam.
345. Primis ominibus: with the first
with the first
omens. This alludes to a custom among
the Romans of consulting the omens in all
the important concerns of life, before they
entered upon them, to see if they would
prove successful or not. Jugârat: by syn.
for jugaverat. Cui: to whom, to wit, Si-
chæus. Intactam: adhuc virginem, says
Ruæus.
347. Immanior scelere ante: great in wick-
edness above all others. The comp. is here
used in the sense of the pos.
348. Sichæum. He was the priest of Her-
cules, an office in dignity next to royalty.
It appears that Pygmalion came upon Si-
chæus unexpectedly, while he was officia-
ting at the altar, and slew him. This cir-
cumstance greatly adds to the atrocity of
the deed. Furor: in the sense of odium.
Inter quos: between Sichæus and Pyg-
malion.
350. Securus. regardless of the love of
his sister. Superat in the sense of interficit.
340
344. Dilectus magno
345 amore miseræ Didonis
345. Dederat eam in-
tactam
350
355
349. Ille impius atque
cæcus amore auri, clam
superat Sichæum ferro
ante aras incautum
352. Ille malus simu-
lans multa lusit ægram
amantem
358. Recluditque ve-
teres thesauros, depositas
in tellure tanquam aux-
360 ilium viæ, ignotum pon-
dus
361. Omnes conveni-
unt, quibus erat, aut
crudele
352. Ægram amantem: the afflicted, or
disconsolate lover. Lusit: deceived-de-
luded.
353. Inhumati. According to their sys-
tem of religion, the shades of those, who
were unburied, must wander a hundred
years, before they could be at rest. The
circumstance of Pygmalion's leaving the
body of Sichæus unburied, in this view,
greatly heightens the enormity of the crime
first committed. Imago: in the sense of
umbra.
354. Conjugis. Conjux is either a hus-
band or a wife; here the former. Pallida:
pale in a wonderful manner. Os in the
sense of vultum.
356. Nudavit: laid bare the cruel altars,
at which he was slain. Retexit: disclosed
-brought to light.
358. Recludit: shows, or opens to her,
&c. Justin tells us that Sichæus, for fear
of the king, buried his money in the earth,
fearing to keep it in his house; but no one
knew the place of its deposit during his
life.
362. Paratæ. Tyre, being a great com-
mercial city, in the ordinary course of busi-
ness, many ships might be prepared and
ready for sea. The verb sunt is to be sup-
plied.
364. Opes avari, &c. Either the wealth
of Sichæus, which Pygmalion now imagin-
ed lus own; or along with her husband's
1
132
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
estis vos?
bis.
365. Illi devenêre ad Devenêre locos, ubi nunc ingentia cernes
locos, ubi
Mania, surgentemque novæ Carthaginis arcem
367. Mercati sunt so- Mercatique solum, facti de nomine Byrsam,
lum, dictum Byrsam de Taurino quantum possent circumdare tergo.
nomine facti, tantum Sed vos qui tandem? quibus aut venistis ab oris?
spatii, quantum possent
369. Sed tandem, qui Quòve tenetis iter? Quærenti talibus ille
Suspirans, imoque trahens à pectore vocem :
370. Ille suspirans, O Dea, si primâ repetens ab origine pergam,
trahensque vocem à pec- Et vacet annales nostrorum audire laborum;
tore imo respondet ei Ante diem clauso componet vesper Olympo.
quærenti in talibus ver-
Nos, Trojâ antiquâ, si vestras fortè per aures
375. Tempestas suâ Trojæ nomen iit, diversa per æquora vectos,
forte appulit Libycis oris Forte suâ Libycis tempestas appulit oris.
nos vectos per diversa Sum pius Encas, raptos qui ex hoste Penates
æquora ab antiqua Tro- Classe veho mecum, famâ super æthera notus.
jâ, si
380. Meum genus est
Italiam quæro patriam ; et genus ab Jove summo.
Bis denis Phrygium conscendi navibus æquor,
Matre Deâ monstrante viam, data fata secutus:
Vix septem convulsa undis Euroque supersunt.
Ipse ignotus, egens, Libya deserta peragro,
385. Nec Venus passa Europâ atque Asiâ pulsus. Nec plura querentem
est eum querentem plura Passa Venus: medio sic interfata dolore est:
ab
NOTES.
money, Dido took the treasure of her brother,
and fled with it to Africa.
367. Mercati solum, &c. This passage
hath been differently interpreted. Donatus
explains it, of the money being made of
bull's leather, with which she purchased the
ground (solum) for the city. Others say,
that she cut the hide into very small strings,
and by connecting them together, surround-
ed twenty-two stadia, or furlongs. Neither
of these appears to be the true solution.
The language of the Phoenicians was a dia-
lect of the Hebrew, in which language the
word Bosra means a fortification, or forti-
fied place. The Greeks, mistaking this
meaning of the word, or overlooking it,
supposed, from the similarity of the words,
that it was the same with their Byrsa, which.
means a bull's hide. Virgil followed the
common received opinion. Mercati: they
bought the ground, which they called Byrsa,
from the name of the deed, &c. This story
of the bull's hide, Mr. Rollin observes, is
now generally exploded. It appears, how-
ever, that Dido was to pay the Africans an
annual tribute, as a quit rent, for the land
which she purchased. This the Carthagi-
nians afterward refused to do, which was
the cause of the first war in which they
were engaged. See Æn. iv. 1.
373. Et vacet: and there should be leisure
to you to hear, &c.
374. Annales: in the sense of historiam.
Componet: the evening star shall shut up the
day, before I shall have done my story. This
is an allusion to the opinion that night shut
or sealed up the gate of heaven, and the day
365
370
375
380
385
opened it. Clauso Olympo: heaven being
closed. Olympus is a mountain in Thessa-
ly. The ancients supposed its top touched
the heavens: from which circumstance, the
poets placed upon it the court of heaven,
It is about a mile and a half high. Olym-
pus is often put for heaven.
376. It hath reached, or come to.
377. Suâ forte. Ruæus says, solito casu
Sua vi, says Minelius.
378. Penates: properly, household gods.
See Geor. ii. 505. In the sack of Troy,
Eneas saved his Penales from the hands of
the Greeks, and took them as companions
of his adventures. See En. ii, 717. Æthe-
ra: a Greek acc. in the sense of cœlum.
380. Quæro Italiam: I seek Italy, iny
country: my descent (genus) is from Jove
supreme. Dardanus was an Italian, and
one of the founders of the Trojan race. Ile
was the son of Jove.
381. Bis denis navibus: with twenty
ships. Æquor: in the sense of mare: pro-
perly, any level surface, whether land or
water.
382. Secutus fata data: following the de-
crees of the gods made in my favor-obey-
ing the decrees, &c.
383. Convulsa: in the sense of concussæ,
agreeing with naves, understood. Euro:
the east wind, put for wind in general; the
species for the genus.
384. Ignotus: a stranger.
386. Interfata est: she thus interrupted
him in the midst of his grief: she could
bear the piteous story no longer.
ENEIS. LIB. I.
183
Quisquis es, haud credo, invisus cœlestibus auras
Vitales carpis, Tyriam qui adveneris urbem.
Perge modò, atque hinc te Reginæ ad limina perfer.
Namque tibi reduces socios classemque relatam
Nuntio, et in tutum, versis Aquilonibus, actam:
Ni frustrà augurium vani docuere parentes.
Aspice bis senos lætantes agmine cycnos,
Æthereâ quos lapsa plagâ Jovis ales aperto.
Turbabat cœlo: nunc terras ordine longo
Aut capere, aut captas jam despectare videntur
Ut reduces illi ludunt stridentibus alis,
Et cœtu cinxere polum, cantusque dedêre :
Haud aliter puppesque tuæ, pubesque tuorum
Aut portum tenet, aut pleno subit ostia velo.
Perge modò, et, quà te ducit via, dirige gressum.
Dixit et avertens roseâ cervice refulsit,
Ambrosiæque comæ divinum vertice odorem
Spiravere; pedes vestis defluxit ad imos,
Et vera incessu patuit Dea. Ille, ubi matrem
Agnovit, tali fugientem est voce secutus:
Quid natum toties crudelis tu quoque falsis
Ludis imaginibus? cur dextræ jungere dextram
Non datur, ac veras audire et reddere voces ?
Talibus incusat, gressumque ad mœnia tendit.
At Venus obscuro gradientes aére sepsit,
Et multo nebulæ circùm Dea fudit amictu
NOTES.
387. Cœlestibus: in the sense of superis.
388. Carpis: you breathe the vital air, &c.
390. Reduces: returned safe-brought
back.
392. Ni parentes vani: unless my parents
vainly taught me divination in vain-to no
purpose. Unless through a love of vanity
and ostentation, they taught, &c. Heyne
observes, that a person may be called anus,
who promises what he cannot perform, or
professes a false or useless doctrine. Actam:
in the sense of provectam.
394. Ales Jovis: the bird of Jovc-the
eagle. Ætherea plagâ: from the etherial
region. Agmine: in a flock. Turbati:
pursued-chased.
396. Nunc videntur: now they seem to
choose the ground where to alight, in a
long train or to look down upon it chosen
and selected. By alighting, they would be
out of danger from their pursuer.
397. Reduces: in the sense of tuti. Stri-
dentibus flapping-making a whizzing
noise.
398. Dedere: in the sense of emiserunt.
Pubes tuorum: the same in sense with tui
soci. Cinxere polum: and have made a
circle in the heavens in company. Polus,
is properly the pole; but by syncc. is often
put for the whole heaven, or any part there
of. Fowls in a flock usually fly around, ma-
king one or more circles in the air before
390
387. Quisquis es, haud
credo, ut tu carpis vita-
les auras, invisus cœ-
lestibus, qui
390. Nuntio tibi socios
esse reduces, classemque
relatam esse, et actam
in tutum locum
394. Quos ales Jovis
395 lapsa ex ætherea plagâ
turbabat
400
405
410
A
407. Quid tu quoque,
O crudelis mater, toties
ludis natum falsis
410. Ille incusat eam
talibus verbis
they alight.
they alight. By doing this, they descend
with more ease and safety.
403. Ambrosa: an adj. from ambrosia, the
food of the gods, according to the poets;
perfumed with ambrosia. Vertice: in the
sense of capite. Spiravere: in the sense of
emiserunt.
405. Patuit vera Dea. The poet here
mentions four characteristics of divinity:
her rosy-colored neck-her ambrosial locks
her long flowing robe, (which she had
gathered up in a knot to prevent discovery,)
and her gait, or motion. It was the opi-
nion of the ancients that their divinities did
not move upon the ground, but glided along
the surface with a regular motion.
these signs, Eneas knew her to be Venus,
whom he had hitherto taken for a Lybian
virgin. Voce: in the sense of verbis.
By
408. Ludis: in the sense of decipis.
Imaginibus: forms-figures. Veras: true
-real-not dissembled.
411. Gradientes: eos is understood. The
poet here hath in his view that passage of
the Odyssey, where Pallas spreads a veil of
air around Ulysses, and renders him invi-
sible.
412. Circumfudit. The parts of the
verb are separated by Tmesis, for the sake
of the verse: she surrounded them with
the thick garment of a cloud, that no one.
&c.
184
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
you
illi
Cernere ne quis eos, neu quis contingere posset,
Molirive moram, aut veniendi poscere causas.
Ipsa Paphum sublimis abit, sedesque revisit
416. Ubi est templum Læta suas; ubi templum illi, centumque Sabæo
Thure calent aræ, sertisque recentibus halant.
Corripuere viam intereà, quà semita monstrat
Jamque ascendebant collem, qui plurimus urbi
Imminet, adversasque aspectat desuper arces.
Miratur molem Æneas, magalia quondam :
Miratur portas, strepitumque et strata viarum.
423. Pars instat du- Instant ardentes Tyrii: pars ducere muros,
cere
Molirique arcem, et manibus subvolvere saxa:
Pars optare locum tecto, et concludere sulco.
Jura magistratusque legunt, sanctumque senatum
Hic portus alii effodiunt: hìc alta theatris
Fundamenta locant alii, immanesque columnas
429. Exciduntque im- Rupibus excidunt, scenis decora alta futuris.
manes columnas è rupi- Qualis apes æstate novâ per florea rura
bus, quæ sint alta
Exercet sub sole labor, cùm gentis adultos
Educunt fœtus, aut cùm liquentia mella
Stipant, et dulci distendunt nectare cellas;
430. Eorum labor est
talis, qualis exercet apes
Aut onera accipiunt venientûm, aut, agmine facto,
Ignavum, fucos, pecus à præsepibus arcent.
Fervet opus, redolentque thymo fragrantia mella.
NOTES.
414. Moliri: to cause-make.
415. Paphum: a city of Cyprus, an
island in the north-eastern part of the Me-
diterranean sea, dedicated to Venus. Verbs
of motion to a place have the acc. after
them.
416. Sabao thure with Arabian frank-
incense. Sabœo:
Sabao: an adj. from Saba, a
country of Arabia Felix, abounding in
frankincense. Illi: for her-in honor of
her.
417. Halant: emit odour from fresh gar-
lands-wreaths of flowers. Calent: burn
-are hot.
419. Collem. This hill was probably near
the city, from the top of which the whole
city appeared in full view. It seems that it
rose above the walls, so that you looked
down upon it from above. Imminet: in-
pends overlooks. Plurimus: in the sense
of valdè, or maximè. Arces: in the sense
of turres.
421. Miratur molem: he wonders at the
magnitude of the city, where there were
once only cottages.
422. Strata viarum: the paved work of
the streets-causeways.
423. Ardentes. An adj. or part. closely
connected with a verb is more elegantly
translated by its corresponding adverb.
Tyrii ardentes instant: the Tyrians eagerly
push on the work. The ardentes strongly
marks their zeal and activity. Ducere: in
the sense of extendere.
424. Moliri: to erect-build.
415
420
425
430
435
425. Pars aptare: a part (instat, pushes
on) to select the ground for building houses,
and to mark it out by a furrow-to arrange
and lay off the streets and squares of the city.
426. Legunt: in the sense of eligunt.
Jura: by meton. the courts of justice-the
place where justice is administered. They
choose the place for the courts of justice, &c.
427. Theatris: for the theatres-buildings
for public exhibitions.
429. Excidunt: they cut, or hew.
430. Nova æstate: in the beginning of
summer.
431. Sub sole: for per diem, says Heyne.
Educunt: lead out. Liquentia: in the
sense of pura. This fine comparison of
the industry of the Carthaginians in erect-
ing the buildings of their city, and other
works of improvement, to the zeal and as-
siduity of the bees in collecting honey, and
arranging the business of the hive, is taken
from Homer, who compares the movements
of the Grecian troops from their ships and
tents, to the issuing of bees from their hives.
433. Stipant: they lay up the pure honey.
Cellas: the comb.
435. Arcent: they drive from the hives
the drones, an idle herd. These are the
male bees. See Geor. iv. 200. Agmine
facto: a battalion being formed.
436. Opus fervet: the work goes briskly
on. It is a metaphor taken from the boiling
of water.
ENEIS
185
LIB. I.
O fortunati, quorum jam monia surgunt!
Æneas ait: et fastigia suspicit urbis.
Infert se septus nebulâ, mirabile dictu,
440
445
Per medios, miscetque viris: neque cernitur ulli.
Lucus in urbe fuit mediâ, lætissimus umbrâ ;
Quo primùm jactati undis et turbine Pœni
Effodêre loco signum, quod regia Juno
Monstrârat, caput acris equi: sic nam fore bello
Egregiam, et facilem victu per sæcula gentem
Hic templum Junoni ingens Sidonia Dido
Condebat, donis opulentum et numine Divæ :
Ærea cui gradibus surgebant limina, nexæque
Ære trabes: foribus cardo stridebat ahenis.
Hoc primùm in luco nova res oblata timorem
Leniit hic primùm Æneas sperare salutem
Ausus, et afflictis meliùs confidere rebus.
Namque, sub ingenti lustrat dum singula templo,
Reginam opperiens; dum, quæ fortuna sit urbi,
Artificumque manus inter se operumque laborem
Miratur; videt Iliacas ex ordine pugnas,
Bellaque jam famâ totum vulgata per orbem ;
Atridas, Priamumque et sævum ambobus Achillem.
Constitit, et lachrymans: Quis jam locus, inquit, Achate,
NOTES.
445. Nam sic fore: for thus (by this sign)
she showed that the nation should be illus-
trious in war, and victorious through ages
-easy to conquer through ages. Ruæus
interprets facilem victu, by aptam vivere æter-
na famâ, deriving victu from vivo, I live.
Others, with more propriety, derive it from
vinco, I conquer; making the meaning to
be: easy to conquer through ages-victo-
rious. The supine in u hath both an active
and passive signification; but most fre-
quently the latter. The former is the mean-
ing in this place.
446. Sidonia: an adj. from Sidon, a fa-
mous city of Phoenicia, not far to the north
of Tyro, subject to the same government.
Hodie, Sayd.
447. Numine Diva: with the presence of
the goddess. By this we are probably to
understand some rich statue of the goddess,
that was set up in the temple.
448. Cui area limina: to which the bra-
zen threshold rose in steps, &c.-whose
brazen threshold, &c. Cui: in the sense of
cujus: this is common with Virgil.
449. Trabes: these most probably were
the door posts, which were framed or fas-
tened together with brass.
452. Confidere: in the sense of sperare,
says Ruæus. Cœpit nunc habere magis fidu-
cium suæ fortunæ, benè de ea sperare, says
Høyne.
453. Singula. Singuli properly means
all, taken one by one. Omnis signifies all,
450
455
442. Quo loco Pœni
jactati undis, et turbine
primùm effodêre sig
num, nempe caput acris
equi
444. Nam sic monstra-
vit gentem fore egregi
am bello, et facilem vic-
tu per secula
collectively or individually. Cunctus, all
by parts, and universus, the whole.
454. Opperiens: waiting for the queen.
Dum miratur: while he wonders at the
fortune of the city; and at the skill of the
artists, and the difficulty of the work, (inter
se,) by turns. Ruæus refers the inter se to
the hands of the workmen, agreeing with
one another, manus artificum. In this case
the sense will be: he contemplates the skill
displayed in the workmanship and the mag-
nitude of the work by turns-he compares
them together. But La Cerda observes,
that by manus artificum, the skill of the art-
ists, we are probably to understand the
paintings of the Trojan battles, and the other
events of that war, which Æneas saw on his
entering the temple, and which ornamented
its walls: while operum laborem, may refer
to the temple itself the magnitude, and
difficulty of rearing such a magnificent edi-
fice. Fortuna: this Rumus interprets by
felicitas. Manus: properly the hand: by
meton. art, skill.
456. Videt Iliacas pugnas. Dr. Trapp,
observes, there never was a finer picture of
a picture than this. Virgil in a few verses.
selects the most striking, and beautiful
scenes in the Iliad, proper for the painter.
458. Atridas: acc. plu. of Atrida, the sons
of Atreus, Agamemnon, and Menelaus.—
Against the former, Achilles had a quar-
rol on account of the beautiful Brisseïs, a
captive. He withdrew with his troops, and
refused to take any part with the Greeks,
186
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
460
Quæ regio in terris nostri non plena laboris ?
En Priamus: sunt hìc etiam sua præmia laudi :
Sunt lachrymæ rerum, et mentem mortalia tangunt.
Solve metus: feret hæc aliquam tibi fama salutem.
Sic ait: atque animum picturâ pascit inani,
Multa gemens, largoque humectat flumine vultum. 465
Namque videbat, utì bellantes Pergama circum
467. Utl bellantes Hâc fugerent Graii, premeret Trojana juventus ;
Graii fugerent hàc cir- Hâc Phryges, instaret curru cristatus Achilles.
cum Pergama, dum Tro-
jana juventus premeret Nec procul hinc Rhesi niveis tentoria velist
curru.
472. Castra Græcorum
priùsquàm
470
475
eos; hàc Phryges fuge- Agnoscit lachrymans: primo quæ prodita somno
rent, dum cristatus Tydides multâ vastabat cæde cruentus :
Achilles instaret iis è Ardentesque avertit equos in castra, priusquàm
Pabula gustâssent Troja, Xanthumque bibissent.
Parte aliâ fugiens amissis Troïlus armis,
Infelix puer, atque impar congressus Achilli,
Fertur equis, curruque hæret resupinus inani,
Lora tenens tamen: huic cervixque comæque trahuntur
Per terram, et versâ pulvis inscribitur hastâ.
Intereà ad templum non æquæ Palladis ibant
Crinibus Iliades passis, peplumque ferebant
Suppliciter tristes, et tunsæ pectora palmis.
481. Tunsæ quoad pec-
tora palmis
NOTES.
till after the death of Patroclus, whom Hec-
tor slew in battle. Some copies have Atri-
den, which appears to be the more correct;
for we have no account that Achilles had
any disagreement with Menelaus. The am-
bobus refers to Agamemnon and Priam.
Achilles afterwards slew Hector, and igno-
miniously treated his dead body. He re-
fused to restore it to Priam, till he received
a large sum of money as a ransom.
460. Nostri labores: our sufferings, cala-
mities.
461. Laudi: in the sense here of virtuti.
462. Lachrymæ rerum: tears for our af-
flictions-compassion for our calamities or
sufferings. Mortalia: an adj. neu. plu. ta-
ken as a sub. human calamities.
465. Largo flumine: a large flood of
tears.
466. Pergama: neu. plu. In the sing.
Pergamus, properly the citadel of Troy,
built on the highest ground. whence the
whole city could be seen. Here, and in
many other places, put for the city itself;
by synec. Bellantes: valiant-warlike.
468. Cristatus: plumed--wearing a plume.
Instaret: in the sense of premeret.
469. Rhesi. Rhesus, king of Thrace, and
reputed son of Mars. When he came to as-
sist the Trojans, it was reported, as a decree
of the gods, that if his horses should drink
of the water of the river Xanthus, or taste
the grass of Troy, the city should not be
taken. On his arrival, he encamped on the
shore, when he was betrayed by one Dolon
to Diomede, and Ulysses, who slew him on
480
the first night of his arrival, and carried off
his horses to the Grecian camp.
470. Quæ prodita: which being betrayed
in the first night, &c. Somno: in the sense
of nocte. See Æn. 11. 242.
472. Ardentes: in the sense of acres.
473. Xanthum: a river of Troas, rising
out of mount Ida, and flowing into the Hel-
lespont. It is the same with the Scaman-
der.
474. Troïlus. A son of Priam. Virgil
calls him puer, probably on account of his
age. He was slain by Achilles.
475. Impar congressus Achilli: an une-
qual match for Achilles :-or meeting Achil-
les, an unequal match is drawn, &c. Resu
pinus: on his back, he hangs from his emp-
ty chariot.
478. Hasta versâ. The dust is not mark-
ed with the spear of Troilus; but with the
spear of Achilles, which had pierced has
body; and as he lay on his back, might be
said to be inverted; its point being down-
ward. Huic: in the sense of hujus.
479. Non æqux Palladis: of Pallas, un-
kind-offended on account of the decision
of Paris, in the contest of beauty between
her, Juno, and Venus.
•
480. Iliales: the Trojan matrons with
dishevelled hair, went, &c. Homer informs
us (Iliad. 6. 302.) that after the great
slaughter of the Trojans, Hecuba and the
Trojan matrons went in solemn procession,
with every external sign of sorrow, to the
temple of Pallas, carrying the richest pre-
sents, in hope to render her favorable to
ENEIS. LIB. 1.
187
Diva solo fixos oculos aversa tenebat.
Ter circum Iliacos raptaverat Hectora muros,
Exanimumque auro corpus vendebat Achilles.
Tum verò ingentem gemitum dat pectore ab imo,
Ut spolia, ut currus, utque ipsum corpus amíci,
Tendentemque manus Priamum conspexit inermes.
Se quoque principibus permixtum agnovit Achivis,
Eoasque acies, et nigri Memnonis arma.
Ducit Amazonidum lunatis agmina peltis
Penthesilea furens, mediisque in millibus ardet,
Aurea subnectens exertæ cingula mammæ,
Bellatrix, audetque viris concurrere virgo.
Hæc dum Dardanio Æneæ miranda videntur,
Dum stupet, obtutuque hæret defixus in uno :
Regina ad templum, formâ pulcherrima Dido,
Incessit, magnâ juvenum stipante catervâ.
Qualis in Eurotæ ripis, aut per juga Cynthi
Exercet Diana choros, quam mille secutæ
486
490
495
499
Hinc atque hinc glomerantur Oreades: illa pharetram
Fert humero, gradiensque Deas supereminet omnes :
Latonæ tacitum pertentant gaudia pectus.
NOTES.
their cause. Peplum: this was the richest
of vestments, embroidered by the Sidonian
women in the most costly manner, and
brought by Paris from Sidon. This they
carried to the goddess, hoping she would
be moved by it to regard their sufferings.
Passis: a part. of the verb pandor, spread,
or hanging loose.
:
482. Aversa: in the sense of offensa.
483. Achilles raptaverat. See Æn. 2. 542.
486. Ut spolia conspexit as he beheld
the spoils; as he beheld the chariot, &c. The
verb conspexit is to be repeated with each
nom. as is plain, from the repetition of the
ut.
This verse is of the same tender nature
with Ecl. viii. 41. Ut vidi, &c. It plainly
shows the skill of the poct. Any other
would have used the conjunction et or que.
But by the repetion of the ut, he shows
Eneas tracing these several affecting ob-
jects, and every now and then fetching a
Corpus amici: the body of
deep sigh.
Hector, we are to understand.
487. Inermes: unarmed-suppliant. Of
n, negativum, and armu.
489. Memnonis. Memnon the son of Au-
rora and Tithonus, the son of Laomedon,
king of Troy. He came to the assistance of
the Trojans with many troops from India
and Ethiopia. He was slain by Achilles.
Nigri swarthy-alluding to his color.
Eoas acies: eastern troops.
491. Penthesilea. She was queen of the
Amazons, who came to the aid of the Tro-
jans after the death of Hector. Her troops
were armed with bucklers in the form of a
crescent, or half-moon. Agmina lunatis
493. Virgoque sub-
nectens aurea cingula
exerto mamm, utpote
bellatrix, audet
peltis: her troops (armed) with crescent
shields. She was slain by Achilles; some
say by his son Neoptolemus. Furens : eager
courageous.
493. Bellatrix virgo: the warlike virgin,
binding a golden girdle under her naked
breast, dares, &c. It was a custom of the
Amazons to cut or scar one of their breasts
that it might be no hindrance to their shoot-
ing or darting of the javelin; the other they
bound with a girdle. The word Amazon is
compounded of the Greek alpha negativum,
and a word which signifies à breast: imply-
ing that they had only one breast. See nom.
prop. under Amazon.
admiration. It is to be taken with the verb
494. Miranda: wonderful-worthy of
videntur. Obtulu: posture. Hæret: in the
sense of stat.
497. Incessit: approached. See 46. supra.
leads the dance on the banks of Eurotas, or
498. Qualis Diana exercet : as Diana
over the tops of Cynthus, whom a thousand
mountain nymphs surround, &c. Eurotas,
a river of Laconia, near Sparta, a country
famous for hunting. Cynthi: Cynthus was
a mountain in the island of Delos, the birth
place of Diana. Glomerantur: in the sense
of glomerant. See Ecl. iv. 10.
500. Oreades: mountain nymphs; from a
Greek word which signifies a mountain. See
Ecl. ii. 46.
502. Latona. Latona, the mother of Di-
ana and Apollo. Joy pervaded her silent
breast at the sight of the grace and dignity
of her daughter.
188
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
bant
viris
505
Talis erat Dido, talem se læta ferebat
Per medios, instans operi regnisque futuris.
Tum foribus Divæ, mediâ testudine templi,
Septa armis solioque altè subnixa, resedit.
Jura dabat legesque viris, operumque laborem
Partibus æquabat justis, aut sorte trahebat :
Cùm subitò Æneas, concursu accedere magno
Anthea Sergestumque videt, fortemque Cloanthum, 510.
Teucrorumque alios: ater quos æquore turbo
Dispulerat penitùsque alias avexerat oras.
Obstupuit simul ipse, simul perculsus Achates
515
614. Ambo avidi arde- Lætitiâque metuque; avidi conjungere dextras
Ardebant: sed res animos incognita turbat.
Dissimulant, et nube cavâ speculantur amicti,
517. Quæ fortuna sit Quæ fortuna viris, classem quo litore linquant,
518. Ob quid veniant; Quid veniant: cunctis nam lecti navibus ibant
Orantes veniam, et templum clamore petebant.
520. Introgressi sunt, Postquàm introgressi, et coràm data copia fandi, 520
et copia fandi coram re- Maximus Ilioneus placido sic pectore cœpit:
gina data est illis
O regina, novam cui condere Jupiter urbem,
Justitiâque dedit gentes frænare superbas:
524. Nos miseri Troes, Troes te miseri, ventis maria omnia vecti,
nam homines
vecti per
Oramus prohibe infandos à navibus ignes;
Parce pio generi, et propiùs res aspice nostras
Non nos aut ferro Libycos populare Penates
Venimus, aut raptas ad litora vertere prædas.
Non ea vis animo, nec tanta superbia victis.
NOTES.
503. Talis erat Dido: such was Dido.
The comparison here between Diana and
Dido is taken from the Odyssey. Probus
considered the passage to be copied unhappi-
ly by Virgil. The comparison, according to
Scaliger lies in these particulars: Quemad-
modum Diana in montibus, ita Dido in urbe:
illa inter nymphas, hæc inter matronas: illa
instans venatoribus, hæc urbi.
505. Foribus Diva. In the interior part
of the temples, there was a place separated
from the rest by a wall, or vail, called the
Adytum or Penetrale. Here the poet sup-
poses Juno to have had an image or statue,
or some symbol of her presence. The door
or gate that led to it he therefore calls the
door of the goddess. Mediâ testudine: under
the middle of the arch, or canopy. Subnixa
altè: raised high on a throne, she sat down.
Foribus fores, properly folding doors-
opening on both sides. It has no singular.
506. Septa armis: surrounded by her
guards. Armis, by meton. for the men bear-
ing them.
507. Dabat jura: dispensed justice. Jus,
properly a natural law, or right: Lex, a
written or statute law: fas, a divine law.
509. Concursu: a crowd. Multitudine,
says Rumus.
511. Avidi: eager. See 423. supra.
debant: in the sense of cupiebant.
Ar-
525
512. Avexerat: had carried to other shores
far remote.
516. Speculantur: they conjecture what
is the fortune of their friends; on what
coast they had left their fleet; for what pur-
pose they came thither. For men chosen, &c.
with a cry, lamenting the hardness of their
519. Veniam: peace-favor. Clamore:
fortune.
521. Maximus: the chief, or principal
speaker. Placido pectore: from his composed
breast. A composed breast, or mind regu-
lates the voice and speech. Copia: leave
liberty.
523. Frænare: to restrain proud nations
with justice with laws. By superbas gentes,
we may understand the Numidians, and
other warlike nations of Africa, her neigh-
bors. For superbas, Ruæus says, feroces.
525. Frohibe: avert-turn away. In-
fandos: direful--cruel.
527. Libycos Penates: the African terri-
tory, or settlements: or, simply, the African
gods.
528. Vertere in the sense of abducere.
Raptas prædas: the plundered, or seized
booty.
529. Fis: in the sense of violentia. The
verb est is understood.
ENEIS. LIB. I
189
Est locus, Hesperiam Graii cognomine dicunt;
Terra antiqua, potens armis atque ubere glebæ:
Enotrii coluere viri; nunc fama, minores
Italiam dixisse, ducis de nomine, gentem.
Huc cursus fuit.
Cùm subitò assurgens fluctu nimbosus Orion
In vada cæca tulit, penitùsque procacibus Austris
Perque undas, superante salo, perque invia saxa
Dispulit: buc pauci vestris adnavimus oris.
Quod genus hoc hominum? quæve hunc tam
Permittit patria? hospitio prohibemur arena:
Bella cient, primâque vetant consistere terrâ.
Si genus humanum et mortalia temnitis arma ;
At sperate Deos memores fandi atque nefandi.
Rex erat Æneas nobis, quo justior alter
Nec pietate fuit, nec bello major et armis ·
Quem si fata virum servant, si vescitur aurâ
NOTES.
530. Hesperiam. Italy hath been called
by various names: Hesperia, (which was
the name also sometimes given to Spain,)
from Hesperus the brother of Atlas, king of
Mauritania, in Africa; or from Hesperus,
the name of the star Venus, when it goes
behind the sun, and signifies, a setting, or
the west. From which circumstance, the
Greeks to the eastward of those countries
called Italy Magna Hesperia, and Spain,
Hesperia Minor: Enotria, from Enotrus,
a king of the Sabines, or from a son of
Lycaon, king of Arcadia, of that name:
Ausonia, from the Ausones, an ancient peo-
ple of that country; and lastly, Italia, from
Italus, a king of Sicily; or, as some say,
from a Greck word signifying cattle, because
they abounded there. Dicunt: in the
sense of vocant.
531. Ubere: richness-fertility. Cogno-
mine: in the sense of nomine.
vens.
532. Enotrii viri: simply,the notrians
inhabited it. Minores: their descendants.
535. Orion: a constellation in the hea-
It rises with the sun in the month of
July, and was supposed to have an influence
upon the weather; hence the epithet nim-
bosus. It will appear hence, that the time
of Æneas' arrival at Carthage, was some
time in that month. He remained there
till the latter part of the following winter,
when he set sail for Italy, where he arrived,
as Sagrais supposes, some time in the spring.
Fluctu: in the sense of mari.
536. Austris procacibus: by violent winds.
Auster is here put for wind in general, and
not for the south wind, which would have
driven him from Africa. Tulit: carried, or
drove. Caca: in the sense of latentia.
537. Salo: in the sense of mari.
procacibus, Heyne says vehementibus.
540. Prohibimur: we are prohibited from
the enjoyment of the shore.
For
530
532. Nunc fama est
minores
535
536. Procacibusque
Austris dispulit nos pe-
nitùs
perque
undas,
barbara perque invia
539. Quod genus ho-
[morem minum est hoc? quæve
541 patria tam barbara per-
mittit
543. Sperate Deos esse
memores
544. Quo nec fuit al-
545 ter justior in pietate,
nec major bello
543. At sperate: but expect that the gods
are mindful of right and wrong. Fandi at-
que nefandi: gerunds in di, of the verb
for; in the sense of fas and nefas: for what
is right and just may be spoken; but what
is unjust, we may not speak.
The meaning of the passage is: if ye
despise the human race, and fear not the
just punishment from men, which this sa-
vage and barbarous conduct deserves, know
that the gods are mindful of right and
wrong, and will not fail to reward or pu-
nish accordingly. Mortalia arma: Ruæus
says, vindictam hominum, the vengeance of
men.
It
544. Quô justior alter, &c. Here we have
a summary of Æneas' character, piety and
valor. The first comprehends devotion to
the gods, and all the moral virtues.
shows him a tender son, an affectionate fa-
ther, and husband. He bore his father upon
his shoulders, and led his little son through
the flames of Troy to a place of safety.
And having lost his wife in the gene-
ral confusion of that fatal night, he ven-
tured into the midst of enemies in search
of her; nor did he cease, till her ghost ap-
peared to him, and bade him to desist: and
on all occasions, Ascanius appears the dar
ling of his soul. Æneas was also a patriot,
and firmly attached to the interests of his
country. In valor and prowess in war, he
appears on all occasions the real hero. Ho-
mer represents him second only to Hector.
He was the first to resist Achilles on his
return after the death of Patroclus.
did not engage him, but he manifested a calm
and determined courage. We see then how
justly he is characterized by, nec bello major
et armis. But his piety and moral virtues
have ennobled his character more than all
his deeds of valor.
He
546. Vescitur: in the sense of airct.
1.90
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Æthereâ, neque adhuc crudelibus occubat umbris;
548, Non sit metus Non metus, officio nec te certâsse priorem
nobis, nec pœniteat te Poeniteat. Sunt et Siculis regionibus urbes,
priorem certâsse cum illo
Armaque, Trojanoque à sanguine clarus Acestes.
officio
551. Liceat nobis sub- Quassatam ventis liceat subducere classem,
ducere ad terram clas- Et sylvis aptare trabes, et stringere remos.
Jem quassatam
Si datur Italiam, sociis et rege recepto,
554. Ut læti petamus Tendere, ut Italiam læti Latiumque petamus:
Italiam Latiumque, si
datur nobis tendere cur- Sin absumpta salus, et te, pater optime Teucrum,
sum ad Italiam, sociis, et Pontus habet Libyæ, nec spes jam restat Iüli,
555. Sin salus absump- Ut freta Sicania saltem sedesque paratas,
ta est, et pontus Libye Unde huc advecti, regemque petamus Acesten.
habet te, O optime
Talibus Ilioneus: cuncti simul ore fremebant
Dardanidæ.
557. Ut saltem peta-
mus freta Sicaniæ pa-
ratasque sedes, unde
advecti sumus huc
Tum breviter Dido, vultum demissa, profatur:
Solvite corde metum, Teucri, secludite curas.
560. Ilioneus orabat Res dura, et regni novitas me talia cogunt
talibus verbis.
vultum
Moliri, et latè fines custode tueri.
550
555
560
561. Demissa quoad Quis genus Eneadûm, quis Troja nesciat urbem? 565
Virtutesque, virosque, et tanti incendia belli ?
Non obtusa adeò gestamus pectora Pœni:
Nec tam aversus equos Tyriâ Sol jungit ab urbe.
569. Seu vos optatis Seu vos Hesperiam magnam, Saturniaque arva,
magnam
Sive Erycis fines, regemque optatis Acesten;
Auxilio tutos dimittam, opibusque juvabo.
Vultis et his mecum pariter considere regnis ?
Urbem quam statuo, vestra est; subducite naves
Tros Tyriusque mihi nullo discrimine agetur.
NOTES.
Occubat: lies dead-yields up his life to
the cruel shades.
549. Et: in the sense of etiam, or quoque.
550. Acestes. See En. v. 30.
552. Et aptare: and to fit (procure) spars
in the wood, to supply the place of those
that had been broken, or lost in the violence
of the storm and waves. Stringere remos:
to cut our oars-to cut timber, of which to
make oars.
557. Freta. Fretum is properly a nar-
row sea, or strait; here used for the sea in
general. Ut. Most copies have at, but
the former is preferable. Advecti: in the
sense of pulsi.
560. Fremebant ore: they applauded with
their mouth-they expressed their approba-
tion of his speech. Dardanida: the Tro-
jans; so called from Dardanus. They were
also called Teucri, from Teucer, both foun-
ders of Troy. See 1, supra.
563. Dura res: the difficult state of my
affairs. Moliri: in the sense of facere.
565. Genus Encadûm: the ancestry of the
Trojans the stock from which they sprung.
Eneade: the Trojans; from Æneas, their
leader.
566. Virtutes: illustrious actions. Viros:
heroes.
570
567. Pœni gestamus: we Carthaginians
do not carry with us hearts so insensible,
as to disregard the sufferings of our fellow
men.
568. Nec taṁ aversus: nor does the sun
so far from the Tyrian city join his steeds
to his chariot.
This is an allusion to an opinion of-the
ancients, that the inhabitants of cold cli-
mates are less susceptible of the tender and
humane feelings, than those of warm cli-
mates.
569. Saturnia arva: the lands of Saturn
Italy. See Ecl. iv. 6. Magnam: pow-
erful, or great; to distinguish it from
Spain, which was sometimes called Hespr-
ria Minor.
570. Fines Erycis: the coast of Eryx-
Sicily, where Eryx reigned. See Æn. v. 24
571. Opibus. This refers to the assist-
ance which Dido would afford them by her
wealth. Pariter: on equal terms, or con-
ditions. Et: in the sense of etiam.
573. Urbem quam: urbem, for urbs, by
antiptosis. Some take the words thus:
quam urbem statuo: which city I build; it
is yours.
574. Agetur: shall be treated. Discri
mine: difference-distinction.
ENEIS. LIB. 1.
191
Atque utinam rex ipse Noto compulsus eodem
Afforet Æneas! Equidem per litora certos
Dimittam, et Libyæ lustrare extrema jubebo;
Si quibus ejectus sylvis aut urbibus errat
His animum arrecti dictis, et fortis Achates,
Et pater Æneas, jamdudum erumpere nubem
Ardebant: prior Eneam compellat Achates:
Nate Deâ, quæ nunc animo sententia surgit?
Omnia tuta vides, classem, sociosque receptos.
Unus abest, medio in fluctu quem vidimus ipsi.
Submersum dictis respondent cætera matris.
Vix ea fatus erat, cùm circumfusa repentè
Scindit se nubes, et in æthera purgat apertum.
Restitit Æneas, clarâque in luce, refulsit,
Os, humerosque Deo similis namque ipsa decoram
Cæsariem nato genitrix, lumenque juventæ
Purpureum, et lætos oculis afflârat honores.
Quale manus addunt ebori decus, aut ubi flavo
Argentum Pariusve lapis circumdatur auro.
Tum sic reginam alloquitur, cunctisque repentè
Improvisus ait: Coràm, quem quæritis, adsum
Troïus Æneas, Libycis ereptus ab undis.
O sola infandos Troja miserata labores!
Quæ nos, relliquias Danaûm, terræque marisque
Omnibus exhaustos jam casibus, omnium egenos,
Urbe, domo socias. Grates persolvere dignas
Non opis est nostræ, Dido: nec quicquid ubique est
Gentis Dardaniæ, magnum quæ sparsa per orbem :
Dî tibi (si qua pios respectant numina, si quid
Usquam justitiæ est, et mens sibi conscia recti,)
NOTES.
575
575. Utinam Eneas
ipse, vester rex, afforet,
compulsus eodem noto.
578. Si fortè ille ejec-
tus errat in quibus syl-
580 vis, aut urbibus.
585
589.
Similis Deo,
590 quoad os, humerosque
595. Ego Troïus Æneas
vobis,
595 adsum coram
quem quæritis
597. O tu sola misera-
ta es
598. Quæ socias nos
in vestra urbe, et domo,
600 relliquias Danaûm, cx-
haustos jam omnibus
601. Nec est opis Dar-
daniæ gentis, ubique
quicquid ejus est, quæ
sparsa est per magnum
576. Certos in the sense of fidos. The for its white marble. Circumdatur: en-
word homines is understood.
577. Extrema: the farthest, or extreme
parts of Africa.
579. Arrecti animum: animated-encou-
raged in mind. A Grecism.
584. Unus abest one is wanting. This
was Orontes, mentioned verse 113, supra.
His ship and crew were lost.
585. Cætera respondent: the rest answer
to, &c. See 390, supra, et seq.
587. Purgat in apertum: it clears up
(dissolves) into pure air. Circumfusa nu-
bes: the surrounding cloud-the cloud that
hitherto had encompassed them. Here Vir-
gil imitates Homer, Odys. vii. 143.
589. Namque genitrix: for his mother
had breathed upon her son graceful locks,
and the bright bloom of youth, and a spark-
ling lustre to his eyes. Honores: grace-
Honores: grace-
beauty.
592. Quale decus: such beauty art gives,
&c. Manus: by meton. the skill of the
workman.
593. Parius lapis: the Parian marble.
Parus, an island in the Egean sea, famous
compassed-enchased.
597. Labores: disasters-calamities.
599. Exhaustos: worn out-having un-
dergone. Socias: in the sense of recipis.
601. Non est nostræ opis: it is not in our
power to render you, O Dido, suitable
thanks, nor is it (in the power) of the Tro-.
jan nation, wherever any of it is, which, &c.
603. Di tibi ferant: may the gods grant
you suitable rewards. Siqua numina: if
there be any powers above that regard, &c.
These words are not designed to express
any doubt in the mind of the speaker upon
the subject. They put an acknowledged
truth in the form of a supposition, the more
to strengthen the conclusion. You shall be
rewarded, as sure as there are any gods
above-as sure as there is any justice among
men, and any mind conscious to itself of
virtue and worth. Rumus concludes the
parenthesis at the verb est.
The meaning
will then be: may the gods and your own
mind, conscious of its own rectitude, re-
ward you. . Others extend it to embrace
recti. Heyne has no parenthesis Pios.
192
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
610. Quæcunque ter-
ræ vocant me
612. Pòst, petit alios,
fortemque
617. Tu-ne es
Eneas, quem Alma Ve-
nus genuit Dardanio
Præmia digna ferant. Quæ te tam læta tulerunt
Sæcula ? qui tanti talem genuere parentes?
605
In freta dum fluvii current, dum montibus umbræ
Lustrabunt convexa, polus dum sidera pascet;
Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudesque manebunt
Quæ me cunque vocant terræ. Sic fatus, amicum 610
Ilionea petit dextrâ, lævâque Serestum ;
Pòst, alios, fortemque Gyan, fortemque Cloanthum.
Obstupuit primò aspectu Sidonia Dido,
Casu deinde viri tanto; et sic ore locuta est:
Quis te, nate Deâ, per tanta pericula casus
Insequitur? quæ vis immanibus applicat oris ?
ille Tu-ne ille Æneas, quem Dardanio Anchisæ
Alma Venus Phrygii genuit Simoëntis ad undam?
Atque equidem Teucrum memini Sidona venire,
Finibus expulsum patriis, nova regna petentem
Auxilio Beli. Genitor tum Belus opimam
623. Casus Trojan Vastabat Cyprum, et victor ditione tenebat.
urbis est cognitus mihi
625. Teucer ipse quam-
Tempore jam ex illo casus mihi cognitus urbis
vis hostis ferebat Teu- Trojanæ, nomenque tuum, regesque Pelasgi.
Ipse hostis Teucros insigni laude ferebat;
cros
NOTES.
This word signifies virtuous men in gene-
ral; especially the kind, beneficent, and
generous.
605. Lata: in the sense of felicia. Sa-
cula: in the sense of tempora.
607. Dum umbra: while the clouds shall
move around, or encompass the mountains.
Ruæus says, umbra arborum: the shades of
trees. But with what propriety the shades
of trees can be said to move round, or en-
compass the mountains, doth not appear.
It certainly is not the meaning of the poet.
It is well known that the tops of high
mountains rise above the clouds; and the
region, or elevation of the clouds will be a
greater or less distance below the summit,
according to the height of the mountain,
and the density of the atmosphere. Con-
veza: properly the exterior of any round,
or circular body. It may then very proper-
ly denote the top, or curved surface of a
mountain; also its sides. Montibus: in the
sense of montɩum. Convexa montibus: the
tops of the mountains. The dat. among the
poets, is often used in the sense of the gen.
608. Dum polus: while the heaven feeds
(sustains) the stars-while there are any
stars in the heavens. Polus, properly the
pole; by synec. the whole heavens.
611. Ilionea: a Greek acc. of Ilioncus.
He was a Trojan, the son of Phorbas. The
penult syllable is naturally short, but it is
made long for the sake of the verse. No-
thing is known of Serestes, Gyas, and Cloan-
thus, further than Virgil informs us.
614. Casu: calamity-misfortune. De-
615
620
625
inde: in the next place. It has reference to
primò, in the preceding line.
615. Quis casus: what fortune. Quæ
vis: what power drives you, &c.
618. Genuit: in the sense of peperit.
619. Memini quidem. This Teucer was
the son of Telamon, king of the island of
Salamis, and Hesione, daughter of Laome-
don, king of Troy. On his return from the
Trojan war, he was banished by his father,
for not preventing the death of his brother
Ajax, who slew himself, because the arms
of Achilles were adjudged to Ulysses rather
than to him. This unnatural treatment of
his father, led him to disclaim all relation-
ship to him, and to reckon his lineage from
his mother. The poet, by concealing this
circumstance, hath made it reflect much
honor upon the Trojans.
621. Belus. See n. iv. 1.
622. Cyprum: an island in the Mediter-
ranean sea, sacred to Venus. Here, it is
said, she was born, and had a splendid tem-
ple. Hence she was sometimes called the
Cyprian Goddess. Opimam: rich-fertile.
Belus had been at war with the inhabitants
of the island, and at that time it was sub-
ject to him.
624. Pelasgi. These were a people of
Thessaly so called from Pelasgus, a son of
Lycaon, king of Arcadia, from whom they
were descended. They were frequently
taken for the Greeks in general. Here, and
in some other places, used as an adj.
625. Ferebat Teucros: he extolled the
Trojans with distinguished praise.
ENEIS. LIB. 1.
193
Seque ortum antiquâ Teucrorum à stirpe volebat.
Quare agite, ô tectis, juvenes, succedite nostris!
Me quoque per multos similis fortuna labores
Jactatam, hâc demum voluit consistere terrâ.
Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco.
Sic memorat, simul Ænean in regia ducit
Tecta, simul Divûm templis indicit honorem.
Nec minùs intereà sociis ad litora mittit
Viginti tauros, magnorum borrentia centum
Terga suum, pingues centum cum matribus agnos
Munera, lætitiamque Dei.
At domus interior regali splendida luxu
Instruitur, mediisque parant convivia tectis.
Arte laboratæ vestes, ostroque superbo :
Ingens argentum mensis, cœlataque in auro
Fortia facta patrum, series longissima rerum
Per tot ducta viros antiquæ ab origine gentis.
Æneas (neque enim patrius consistere mentem
Passus amor) rapidum ad naves præmittit Achaten,
Ascanio ferat hæc, ipsumque ad mœnia ducat.
Omnis in Ascanio chari stat cura parentis.
Munera prætereà, Iliacis erepta ruinis,
Ferre jubet, pallam signis auroque rigentem,
NOTES.
626. Volebatque se: and he wished (it to
be considered) that he sprang from the an-
cient stock of the Trojans. He sprang
from that stock by Hesione, the daughter
of Laomedon, who was the fifth from Teu-
cer and Dardanus, the founders of Troy.
See Geor. iii. 35. For volebat, Ruæus says
aiebat.
628. Labores: in the sense of casus.
630. Mali. This is a fine verse. The
sentiment is worthy of the most distinguish-
ed character. Memorat: in the sense of
loquitur.
632. Indicit honorem: she orders an of-
fering (to be made) in the temples. It was
an ancient custom to offer libations to Jove,
as being the god of hospitality, upon the
arrival of strangers. Servius thinks the
words, indicil honorem, mean, that she or-
ders contributions to be made in honor of
the gods; but this is questionable. He ob-
serves that the ancients, from their poverty,
were obliged to make collections from the
people, for their sacrifices: they also ap-
plied to that use the property of convicts
and malefactors. Hence supplicia, punish-
ments, came to signify prayers, supplica-
tions, and thanksgivings. So also sacer
came to signify both holy, and accursed.
633. Nec minùs: in the sense of quoque,
or nec non.
634. Centum horrentia terga: a hundred
bristly backs of huge swine; simply, a hun-
dred large swine. Terga: the backs, by
synec. put for the whole bodies, or carcasses.
628. Similis fortuna
voluit me quoque jacta-
630 tam per multos labores
consistero
633. Mittit munera
sociis ad litora, nempe
635 viginti tauros, centum
639. Hic sunt vestes
640 laboratæ arte
645. Ut ferat hæc As-
645 canio, duscatque
munera
647. Jubet Ascanium
ferre secum
erepta ex Iliacis ruinis,
nempe pallam
636. Lætitiam Dei: the joy of the god
(Bacchus-wine.) This is a beautiful cir-
cumlocution. The opinions of commenta-
tors upon this passage are various. The
sense, however, is easy. The queen sent.
them presents (munera) of twenty bulls, a
hundred swine, and wine to cheer their
hearts.
637. Interior domus: the inner part of
the palace, itself splendid, was furnished
with royal magnificence.
639. Superbo: rich-costly. Laborata:
finely wrought.
640. Ingens argentum: much silver (was)
upon the tables, and the mighty deeds of
her ancestors carved in gold, a very long
series of history, traced down through so
many heroes from the origin of their an-
cient family. Ingens argentum: by this we
are to understand a great quantity of plate,
and silver vessels of various descriptions,
on which were carved the noble actions of
her ancestors.
644. Præmittit: in the sense of mittit,
the compound for the simple word. Or re-
ference may be had to the entertainment
which Dido had ordered upon the occasion.
He sends Achates before supper, to bear the
news to Ascanius, and to bring him to the
city. He suffers no time to be lost, before
he communicates to his son the tidings of
their kind reception. Servius takes Pia-
mittit rapidum, for mittit prærapidum. Ra-
pidum: in the sense of celerem.
648. Rigentem signis auroque: stiff with
14
194
P. VIRGILII MARO IS
Et circumtextum croceo velamen acantho:
650. Quos illa extu- Ornatus Argivæ Helenæ quos illa Mycenis,
leratè Mycenis, cùm Pergama cùm peteret, inconcessosque Hymenæos,
peteret
Extulerat matris Leda mirabile donum.
Ilione maxima
656. Achates celerans
ferre hæc
658. Ut Cupido mu-
tatus quoad faciem, et
ora veniat pro
653. Prætereà jubet
eum ferre sceptrum, quod Prætereà sceptrum, Ilione quod gesserat olim
Maxima natarum Priami, colloque monile
Baccatum, et duplicem gemmis auroque coronam
Hæc celerans, iter ad naves tendebat Achates.
At Cytherea novas artes, nova pectore versat
Consilia. ut faciem mutatus et ora Cupido
Pro dulci Ascanio veniat, donisque furentem
Incendat reginam, atque ossibus implicet ignem.
Quippe domum timet ambiguam, Tyriosque bilingues.
Urit atrox Juno, et sub noctem cura recursat.
Ergò his aligerum dictis affatur Amorem :
664. O nate, meæ vi- Nate, meæ vires, mea magna potentia; solus,
res, mea magna poten- Nate, patris summi qui tela Typhoëa temnis :
tia; O nate, qui solus Ad te confugio, et supplex tua numina posco.
Frater ut Æneas pelago tuus omnia circum
tibi, ut tuus frater Æneas Litora jactetur, odiis Junonis iniquæ,
jactetur pelago
Nota tibi et nostro doluisti sæpe dolore.
temnis
667. Hæc nota sunt
NOTES.
figures, and with gold-with golden figures,
by Hendiadis. Velamen circumlexlum: a
vail woven round.
650. Ornatus Argive: the ornaments of
Grecian Helen. According to the poets,
Helen was the daughter of Jupiter, and
Leda, the wife of Tyndarus, king of Laco-
nia. She produced two eggs: from one of
them sprung Pollux and Hellen; from the
other, Castor and Clytemnestra. Horace
says that Castor and Pollux were from the
same egg. Helen married Menelaus, the
brother of Agamemnon, king of Mycena
and Argos. Having become son-in-law to
Tyndarus, he succeeded to the throne of
Laconia, after the death of Castor and Pol-
lux. Helen is called Argiva, either on ac-
count of her relationship to the royal family
of Argos, or because the Greeks in general
were sometimes called Argivi. Mycenis.
Mycena and Argos, the two principal cities
of Greece, are sometimes put for Greece in
general, by synec. See also nom. prop. un-
der Helen.
651. Pergama: Troy. See 466, supra.
Inconcessos Hymenaeos: unlawful match-
marriage.
653. Ilione: the eldest (maxima natarum)
of the daughters of Priam. She was mar-
ried to Polymnestor, king of Thrace, and
was invested with royal dignity.
654. Baccalumque monile: a pearled col-
lar for the neck-a necklace set with pearl.
Coronam duplicem: a crown double with
gems and gold-set with a double row of
golden.gems; by Hend.
657. Cytherea: Venus; so called from
650
655
660
665
Cythera, an island in the Peloponnesus, sa-
cred to that goddess.
659. Furentem reginam: the loving queen.
The queen already in love with Eneas.
Cupid was a celebrated deity, the god of
love, from the verb cupio. The one here
spoken of was the son of Jupiter and Venus,
and consequently was half brother to Æneas.
There were two others of the same name
among the ancients. Furentem: in the sense
of amantem.
of amantem. Furens signifies, being trans-
ported with an inordinate passion, whether
of love, or anger.
660. Implicet: should apply the fire (of
love) to her bones--should entwine it around
them.
661. Ambiguam domum: the equivocating
race, and double-tongued Tyrians. Bilin-
gues, either alludes to their speaking both
the Phoenician and Libyan languages, or to
their notorious perfidy. Punica fides was
proverbial for deceit and perfidy. Domum:
in the sense of gentem.
662. Urit: troubles her.
663. Amorem: Cupid. He is represented
as a winged infant, naked, and armed with
a bow and quiver full of arrows.
665. Typhoëa: an adj. from Typhoëus,
one of the giants that made war against the
gods. Jupiter struck him with a thunder-
bolt, and laid him under mount Etna. Ty-
phoëa arma: the thunder-bolts of Jove.
These words very forcibly express the irre-
sistible power of love.
666. Numina: in the sense of opem, vel
auxilium.
668. Iniqua: in the sense of iratæ, vel
infensa. See 4 and 27, supra
ENEIS. LIB. 1.
195
Hunc Phonissa tenet Dido, blandisque moratur
Vocibus et vereor, quò se Junonia vertant
Hospitia haud tanto cessabit cardine rerum.
Quocircà capere antè dolis et cingere flammâ
Reginam meditor: ne quo se numine mutet;
Sed magno Æneæ mecum teneatur amore.
Quà facere id possis, nostram nunc accipe mentem.
Regius, accitu chari genitoris, ad urbem
Sidoniam puer ire parat, mea maxima cura,
Dona ferens pelago et flammis restantia Trojæ.
Hunc ego sopitum somno, super alta Cythera,
Aut super Idalium, sacratâ sede recondam:
Ne quà scire dolos, mediusve occurrere possit.
Tu faciem illius, noctem non ampliùs unam,
Falle dolo: et notos pueri puer indue vultus,
Ut, cùm te gremio accipiet lætissima Dido,
Regales inter mensas laticemque Lyæum,
Cùm dabit amplexus, atque oscula dulcia figet;
Occultum inspires ignem, fallasque veneno.
Paret Amor dictis charæ genitricis, et alas
Exuit, et gressu gaudens incedit Iüli.
At Venus Ascanio placidam per membra quietem
Irrigat et fotum gremio Dea tollit in altos
Idalia lucos, ubi mollis amaracus illum
:
NOTES.
670. Phanissa Dido. She is here called
a Phænician, or woman of Phenicia. This
was a country extending along the eastern
shore of the Mediterranean, including Tyre
and Sidon. The Phoenicians were among
the carliest navigators, and are said to have
been the inventors of letters. Blandis:
kind-smooth words. Tenet: in the sense
of detinet.
671. Quò Junonia. The hospitality and
friendship which Encas received at Car-
thage, are here called Junonian; either be-
cause Juno may be considered the goddess,
as well as Jupiter the god, of hospitality;
or because she was the special guardian and
protectress of Carthage. Venus fears lest
this hospitality of Juno may turn to the de-
struction of Eneas and his friends.
672. Tanto cardine rerum: in so great a
crisis, or juncture of affairs.
674. Meditor antecapere: I contemplate
to uke possession of the queen before-
hand by stratagem, and to besiege her with
the flame of love. This is a metaphor ta-
ken from the manner of blocking up a town,
by planting fires around the walls to pre-
vent any from making their escape. Ne
mutet lest Dido should change herself
through the influence of any god-should
change her mind through the influence of
Juno.
•
676. Accipe: hear my opinion.
678. Sidoniam: an adj. from Sidon, a
city of Phoenicia, belonging to Tyre. Dido
670
675
680
677. Regius puer, mea
maxima cura, parat ire
ad
684. Tu puer indue
685 notos vultus pueri, ut,
cùm Dido
690
688. Fallasque eam
veneno amoris
692. Et Dea tollit eum
fotum in altos
and the Carthaginians were a colony from
Tyre. Hence Sidonia vel Tyria urbs, for
Carthage.
679. Restantia: in the sense of servata.
680. Recondam hunc: I will conceal him
in a sacred place, laid in sleep, &c. Cythera:
neu. plu. an island lying southward of the
Peloponnesus, sacred to Venus. Idalium,
or Idalia: a town and grove in the island
of Cyprus, sacred to Venus. Hence she is
sometimes called Idalœa.
682. Nequâ possit: lest by some means,
he could know the deceit, or intervene, to
prevent the success of the plan.
684. Falle dolo: counterfeit, through arti-
fice, his appearance for one night, and no
more.
686. Lyæum laticem: simply, wine.-
Lyæus, a name of Bacchus, derived from
the Greek. Mensas: in the sense of epulas,
vel dapes, by meton,
687. Figet: and she shall give you sweet
kisses-shall press your sweet lips. Inspi-
res in the sense of insinues. Fallas veneno.
Heyne takes these words in the sense of;
per fraudem instilles venenum.
692. Irrigat placidam: diffuses a placid
rest through, &c. Fotum gremio: pressel
to her bosom.
693. Amaracus: the herb marjorarn. It
was said to be baneful to serpents, and
therefore a very proper bed for Ascanius. It
abounded in Cyprus. Mollis : in the sense
of dulcis.
196
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Floribus et dulci aspirans complectitur umbrâ.
Jamque ibat dicto parens, et dona Cupido
Regia portabat Tyriis, duce lætus Achate.
Cùm venit, aulæis jam se Regina superbis
Aureâ composuit spondâ, mediamque locavit.
+
Jam Pater Æneas, et jam Trojana juventus
Conveniunt, stratoque super discumbitur ostro.
Dant famuli manibus lymphas, Cereremque canistris
Expediunt, tonsisque ferunt mantilia villis
703. Intus erant quin- Quinquaginta intus famulæ, quibus ordine longo
quaginta famulæ, qui- Cura penum struere, et flammis adolere Penates:
bus erat cura struere Centum aliæ, totidemque pares ætate ministri,
penum longo ordine, et
ministri
705. Erant centum Qui dapibus mensas onerent, et pocula ponant.
aliæ famula, totidemque Necnon et Tyrii per limina læta frequentes
Convenêre, toris jussi discumbere pictis.
Mirantur dona Æneæ, mirantur Iülum,
Flagrantesque Dei vultus, simulataque verba ;
712. Præcipuè infelix Pallamque et pictum croceo velamen acantho.
Phænissa devota futuræ Præcipuè infelix, pesti devota futuræ,
Expleri mentem nequit, ardescitque tuendo
pesti nequit
NOTES.
694. Aspirans: sending forth a sweet
smell-odoriferous.
695. Cupido parens dicto: Cupid obeying
the command, &c. As Cupid personates
Ascanius, he may be said to obey the com-
mands of Æneas, delivered by Achates.
This is the sense given to the words by
Ruæus. Davidson refers them to Venus.
697. Regina jam composuit. The couches
were calculated for three persons each. The
middle couch was considered the most ho-
norable, and of the seats, the middle one of
the middle couch. Here Dido sat down.
Locavitque mediam: and placed herself in
the middle, between Eneas and Cupid, sup-
posed to be Ascanius.
It was usual to have three of these couch-
es at table. Hence triclinium came to sig-
nify a dining room. Aulais may mean the
rich tapestry and curtains that were sus-
pended over the couch on which Dido sat;
or the rich coverings of the couch itself.
This appears to be the opinion of Rumus:
In aurea sponda, et magnificis tapetibus, says
he.
700. Discumbitur: a verb imp. they sit
down upon a couch richly ornamented with
purple. Ruæus says, in purpureis lectis.
Ostrum: the purple color itself, taken as
an adj.
702. Mantilia tonsis: towels of soft nap
-smooth and soft towels; the prep. è or ex
being understood. Or, tonsis villis may be
put absolutely: the shag, or nap being
cut off, would render them smooth. It was
a custom to wash before meals; hence, dant
lymphas manibus. Lymphas in the sense
of aquam.
:
703. Famula. These were female ser-
vants.
695
700
705
710
They are distinguished from the
male servants, who are called ministri.
704. Penum: properly all kinds of pro-
visions and stores. Here the word is taken
in a more limited sense. Adolere Penates
flammis: to worship the Penates by fire-
to burn incense to the Penates. See Geor.
ii. 505.
The business of the female servants seems
to have been to cook and dress the provi-
sions, and to arrange the several dishes be-
fore they were brought upon the table.
The other servants spread the table, brought
forward the several dishes when prepared,
and waited upon the guests at supper.—
Struere penum: instruere et adornare edulia
ac cibos, says Heyne.
705. Pares ætate: equal in age—of equal
age. Pocula: by meton. for wine.
707. Nec non: also-in like manner
Frequentes: in crowds-in great numbers.
708. Piciis toris : upon ornamented
couches.
709. Iülum: Cupid, who came in the
form of Iülus, or Ascanius.
710. Flagrantes: fresh-glowing. Simu-
lata: in the sense of ficta.
711. Pictum: Rumus says, intextum. It
is to be taken after velamen. When any cir-
cumstance depends upon the adj. it is to be
taken after the noun.
712. Devota future: devoted to future
love. It was the plan of Venus all along,
that Dido should fall in love with Æneas;
she may therefore be said to have been de-
voted to it. Pestis very strongly marks the
nature and destructive effects of love, when
indulged beyond due bounds.
713. Expleri: the pass. in the sense of
ÆNEIS. LIB. I.
197
:
Phænissa et pariter puero donisque movetur.
Ille, ubi complexu Æneæ colloque pependit,
Et magnum falsi implevit genitoris amorem,
Reginam petit: hæc oculis, hæc pectore toto
Hæret; et interdum gremio fovet, inscia Dido,
Insideat quantus miseræ Deus: at memor ille
Matris Acidaliæ, paulatim abolere Sichæum.
Incipit, et vivo tentat prævertere amore
Jampridem resides animos desuetaque corda.
Postquàm prima quies epulis, mensæque remotæ;
Crateras magnos statuunt, et vina coronant.
Fit strepitus tectis, vocemque per ampla volutant
Atria: dependent lychni laquearibus aureis
Incensi et noctem flammis funalia vincunt.
Hic Regina gravem gemmis auroque poposcit,
Implevitque mero, pateram; quam Belus, et omnes
A Belo soliti. Tum facta silentia tectis :
Jupiter, (hospitibus nam te dare jura loquuntur)
Hunc lætum Tyriisque diem Trojâque profectis
Esse velis, nostrosque hujus meminisse minores.
Adsit lætitiæ Bacchus dator, et bona Juno:
:
NOTES.
the act. explere. Or expleri quoad mentem,
a Grecism: to be satisfied as to her mind
-to satisfy her mind. Ardescitque: and
she is inflamed with love, while she gazes
upon him.
715. Falsi genitoris: his pretended, or
fictitious father.
717. Hæc hæret she sticks upon him.
with her eyes-she sticks upon him with
her whole heart. This very strongly marks
the steadfast attention, with which Dido
observed, and gazed upon him.
718. Fovet: she hugs him to her bosom.
719. Insideat: lies in wait for her, un-
happy (ill-fated) woman. This word very
forcibly expresses the insidious designs of
Cupid.
720. Acidaliæ. Venus, so called from a
fountain of that name in Beotia, dedicated
to the Graces, the daughters of Venus and
Bacchus. Abolere Sichæum: to obliterate or
efface from her mind the incmory of Siche-
us. He had been the husband of Dido; to
whom she had sworn inviolable constancy.
721. Prævertere: he endeavors to preoc-
cupy her languid affections, with an ardent
love for Æneas, and her heart long since
unaccustomed to love: lest Juno should in-
spire her with hatred toward him, and his
friends. Vivo amore. Some commentators
understood by these words: a love for a liv-
ing object, in opposition to one that is dead,
as was Sichæus. Rumus takes vivo in the
sense of vehementi; and prævertere, in the
sense of præoccupare. Heyne has this re-
mark: Quod occupamus, in co simul præver-
timus alios (we prevent others) ne occupent.
717. Hæc hæret in
715 eum cum oculis, hæc ha-
ret in eum cum toto pec-
tore
Dido
718. Interdum
fovet eum gremio, inscia
719. Meinor mandato-
720 rum matris
721. Prævertere vivo
amore Æneæ resides
animos reginæ
724. Ministri statuunt
728. Regina poposcit
725 pateram gravem
729. Quam Belus, et
omnes à Belo soliti sunt
implere
731. Tum silentia
facta sunt totis tectis,
730 Dido inquit: O Jupiter,
(nam homines loquuntur
te dare jura hospitibus)
velis hunc diem esse
lætum Tyriisque iisque
profectis à Trojà
723. Mensa: the tables, by meton. the food
upon them. Postquàm prima: when the
first rest was to the feast-when the first
course or service was ended. It was custom-
ary among the Romans to divide the feast
into two courses, and sometimes into three.
Hence we find: prima mensa, and secunda
mensa.
724. Coronant vina. By this we are to
understand that they filled the bowls or gob-
lets to the brim. Some understand by it
their dressing or adorning of the bowls with
garlands; which was a custom among the
Romans on certain occasions. Volutant: in
the sense of mittunt.
726. Incensi lychni: lighted lamps hung
from the golden ceilings.
727. Noctem: the darkness. Funalia:
torches lighted. Flammis: in the sense of
luce.
728. Gemmis auroque: in the sense of
aureis gemmis, by Hend.
729. Belus. This cannot be the father of
Dido, but some one of her ancestors; per-
haps the founder of her family. For other-
wise there can be no propriety in the words:
omnes à Belo: all after Belus. Mero: pro-
perly new wine. Here wine in general.
733. Minores: descendents.
pitious-kind.
Bona: pro-
736. Libavit. This libation or offering
consisted in pouring some drops of wine
upon the table at feasts, or upon the altar at
sacrifices, as an acknowledgment of the
bounty of the gods. Laticum: gen. plu. of
later, in the sense of vini.
198
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Et vos, ô cœtum, Tyrii, celebrate faventes.
Dixit: et in mensam laticum libavit honorem :
737 Eoque libato, illa Primaque libato, summo tenùs attigit ore.
prima attigit reliquum Tum Bitiæ dedit increpitans: ille impiger hausit
Spumantem pateram, et pleno se proluit auro:
Citharâ crinitus Iopas
vini
740. Pòst alii proceres Pòst alii proceres.
hauserunt
743. Unde genus ho-
minum ortum est, et
744. Canit Arcturum
736
740
745
Personat auratâ, docuit quæ maximus Atlas.
Hic canit errantem Lunam, Solisque labores :
Unde hominum genus, et pecudes: unde imber, et ignes
Arcturum, pluviasque Hyadas, geminosque Triones:
Quid tantùm Oceano properent se tingere soles
Hyberni, vel quæ tardis mora noctibus obstet.
748. Vario sermone Ingeminant plausum Tyrii, Troësque sequuntur.
cum Ænea
Necnon et vario noctem sermone trahebat
751. Quibus armis fi- Infelix Dido, longumque bibebat amorem;
lius Aurora venisset ad
Trojam: nunc quales Multa super Priamo rogitans, super Hectore multa
essent equi Diomedis Nunc, quibus Aurora venisset filius armis:
751
753. Age, O hospes, Nunc, quales Diomedis equi: nunc, quantus Achilles.
et dic nobis à prima ori- Immò age, et à primâ, dic, hospes, origine nobis
gine, insidias
755. Nam jam septi- Insidias, inquit, Danaûm, casusque tuorum,
ma æstas portat te er- Erroresque tuos: nam te jam septima portat
rantem omnibus terris. Omnibus errantem terris et fluctibus æstas.
NOTES.
737. Attigit: she just touched it with her
lips. Tenus: in the sense of tantummodò.
The Roman ladies were not permitted to
drink wine except at religious ceremonies.
Dido, therefore, takes it, but she does not
drink deep. She touches it with her lips:
she just tastes it, and no more. Summo ore:
the extremity of her mouth-her lips. Hau-
sit in the sense of potavit. Betias drank
off the bowl with so much haste and eager-
ness, that he wet himself (proluit se,) by
spilling some of the wine, which ran down
his chin and clothes. Auro: properly gold.
Hence by meton. any thing made of gold.
Here the golden bowl out of which he drank.
741. Atlas. See Æn. 4. 247.
742. Labores solis: eclipses of the sun.
Personat: he sings-plays upon his lyre.
Ignes: lightning.
744. Arcturum: a star in the constellation
Bootes, near the tail of the Great Bear.
Hyadas: these were seven stars in the front
of the Bull. See Geor. 1. 138. Geminos
Triones. These were two Northern signs;
formerly called, sometimes, the greater and
less Plough, because the stars were thought
to be in the form of a team of oxen, before a
plough. Pluvias: in the sense of imbriferus.
745. Quid hyberni soles: why the winter
suns hasten so much to touch themselves in
the ocean, or what delay retards the slow
nights. Simply: why the winter days are
so short, and those of summer so long.
The summer nights may be said to be slow
755
in their coming on, because of the length of
the day. They seem to be tardy and reluc-
tant, as if unwilling to arrive.
This song of Iopas is imitated from the
Odyssey of Homer. Virgil, however, has
surpassed his master. The subject of Ho-
mer's song is the actions of Ulysses. But
this of Virgil is of the sublimest kind, com-
prehending the most profound subjects of
philosophy.
749. Infelix Dido: unhappy Dido drew
out the night in various conversation, and
drank large draughts of love. Virgil, says
Davidson, is always very happy in setting
objects in contrast to one another.
Here
the anxious situation of Dido's lovesick mind
is seen in a fine light in opposition to the
general mirth. While Tyrians and Trojans
give loose to joy, and are making the roofs
resound with their repeated acclamations,
Æneas alone engages Dido's thoughts and
attention. She relishes neither the pleasures
of the feast, nor of the song; and can listen
to no music, but the charms of his voice.
Bibebat quasi longo haustu, says Heyne.
750. Filius Aurora. Memnon. See 489.
supra. Super: about or concerning.
753. Dic: by Apocope for dice, in the
sense of narra.
755. Septima astas: the seventh summer.
The meaning seems to be: the seventh sum-
mer now brings you hither, after you have
wandered on every land, and on every sea.
Fluctibus: in the sense of maribus.
ENEIS. LIB. 1.
199
What is the character of this book?
When does it open?
Where was Æneas at that time?
QUESTIONS.
What prevented him from proceeding to
Italy?
Who caused the storm?
At whose instigation was it raised?
What damage did the fleet of Æneas sus-
tain?
Who assuaged the storm?
Did he render the Trojans any other as-
sistance?
Where did Æneas then direct his course?
After his arrival, how was he received?
Who conducted him to Carthage, and
gave him an account of the country?
Having entered the city, to what place
does he go first?
Whom does he see there?
What effect had the appearance of Dido
upon him?
Are there any episodes in this book?
How many can you mention?
Who were the founders of Troy?
What are its several names?
And from whom derived?
Who was Dardanus?
Of what country was he a native?
Of what country was Teucer a native?
After Æneas arrived in Italy, whom did
he marry?
What city did he build?
What did he call it?
Where was it situated?
Who was Juno?
What is said of her?
What are some of her names?
What were the causes of her resentment
against the Trojans?
Where was Carthage situated?
Who was the Guardian Goddess of that
city?
What was the prize of beauty?
To whom was it adjudged?
By whom was it adjudged?
Where did Æolus reside?
How do you understand the fable of his
being the god of the winds?
In the division of the world between the
sons of Saturn, to whom did the empire of
the sea fall?
What is Neptune represented as bearing
in his hand?
What is the difference between procella,
hyems, nimbus, and imber?
Are they sometimes used indiscriminately
for each other?
Why was Sicily called Trinacria?
What are the names of its promontories?
Is the passage between Sicily and Italy
dangerous?
What is the cause of it?
Can you explain the fables of Sylla and
Charybdis?
Who was Venus?
What is said of her?
What are some of her names?
For what is the word taken, by meton.?
What part did she take in the affairs of
the Trojans?
Does the poet represent her as making
any speech in their favor, after their arrival
in Africa?
What is the character of that speech?
What does Dr. Trapp say of it?
Who was Antenor?
What did he do?
What city did he build?
Who succeeded Eneas in the govern-
ment?
What city did Ascanius build?
How long was this city the seat of go-
vernment?
Who was the mother of Romulus?
Whose daughter was she?
How were Romulus and his brother Re-
mus brought up?
What is the fabulous account?
What is the more probable account?
What was their mode of life?
What did Romulus do as soon as he came
to years of maturity?
Where did Romulus found his city?
What was the end of Remus?
What gave rise to the quarrel between the
brothers?
What other name had Romulus?
From what is it derived?
Who were the Amazons?
From what is the name derived?
Are they supposed to have been altogether
a fabulous people?
Who was their queen in the time of the
Trojan war?
What were the several names of Italy?
From what were they derived?
Who were the Pelasgi properly?
For whom is the word sometimes used?
What was Pergama properly?
For what was the word used by synec.?
What is the last episode in this book?
What are the subjects of that song?
From whom is it imitated?
What are the subjects of Homer's song?
How does this book conclude?
LIBER SECUNDUS.
DIDO having desired Æneas to relate to her the sufferings of his countrymen, he proceeds
to the mournful subject. He informs her that the city was taken after a siege of ten
years, through the treachery of Sinon, and the stratagem of a wooden horse: that it
was his determination not to survive the ruins of his country, till otherwise advised by
Hector's ghost, and the appearance of his mother Venus: that he then conceived the
plan of leaving his country, and seeking a settlement in another land. He then informs
her of his carrying his aged father upon his shoulders, while his little son followed by
his side, and his wife Creüsa at some distance behind: that when he came to the place
of general rendezvous, he found a great concourse of people ready to engage in any en-
terprise: that here he misses his wife, and, frantic with despair, he resolved to rescue
her, at the peril of his life. For this purpose he returned to the city; but, in the adven-
ture, her ghost appeared to him, quieted his mind, and informed him of the land des
tined to him by fate. He also relates the particulars of his own adventures in that fatal
night, when the powerful kingdom of Priam fell to the ground. This book may justly
be considered the most interesting one of the whole Eneid; and was one of the sin
which the poet himself read in the presence of Augustus and Octavia.
CONTICUERE omnes, intentique ora tenebant.
Inde toro pater Æneas sic orsus ab alto:
Infandum, Regina, jubes renovare dolorem :
4. Narrando ut Danai Trojanas ut opes, et lamentabile regnum
Eruerint Danai; quæque ipse miserrima vidi,
7. Aut quis miles Myr- Et quorum pars magna fui. Quis talia fando,
Myrmidonum, Dolopumve, aut duri miles Ulyssei,
midounm
5
•
NOTES.
2. Toro.: the couch on which he sat at
supper. Orsus: began. From the verb
ordior. Est is to be supplied.
3. Ut: in the sense of quomodo. Opes:
in the sense of potentiam. Lamentabile: in
the sense of plorandum.
5. Danai: the Greeks, so called from
Danaus, one of their kings. Quæque miser-
rima ipse: both what things (scenes) the
most pitiable I myself saw, and those of
which I was a principal part.
7. Myrmidonum. The Myrmidons were
the troops of Achilles. Dolopum. The Do-
lopians were the troops of Phenix; or, as
some say, of Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles.
Ulyssei. Ulysses was the son of Laërtes, and
Anticlea, king of the islands of Ithaca and
Dulachium. He married Penelope, the
daughter of Icarus, a virtuous and amiable
woman, with whom he lived for a time in
great happiness and domestic enjoyment.
After the rape of Helen by Paris, he was
summoned by the other princes of Greece,
to the war that had been resolved upon
against Troy. Unwilling to leave his king-
dom and beloved wife, he pretended to be
insane: and yoking an ox and an horse to-
gether, he went ploughing the shore, which
·
·
he sowed with salt. But he was detected
by Pelamides, a wise and eminent statesman,
in this manner. He took his son Telema-
chus, then a child, and laid him before the
plough of his father, who turned it aside to
save his son. He was obliged to go to Troy,
where he distinguished himself both by his
valor, his prudence, and his sagacity. By
his means, Achilles was discovered among
the daughters of Lycomedes, king of the
island of Scyros, under whose guardianship
his mother had placed him; and Philoctetes
was obliged to leave Lemnos, and take with
him the arrows of Hercules; without which
it was said Troy could not be taken.
He performed many daring achievements,
and executed many hazardous enterprises.
After the death of Achilles, he was reward-
ed with the arms of that hero. On his re-
turn home, he was exposed to many dan-
gers, hardships, and misfortunes, during the
space of ten years. After an absence of
twenty years, he arrived in his kingdom, to
the great joy of his constant wife. He is
said to have been slain by Telegonus, a son
of his by the sorceress Circe.
During his absence, his wife had many
suitors, whom she put off by telling them
ENEIS. LIB. II.
201
Temperet à lachrymis? et jam nox humida cœlo
Præcipitat, suadentque cadentia sidera somnos
Sed, si tantus amor casus cognoscere nostros,
Et breviter Troja supremum audire laborem ;
Quanquam animus meminisse horret, luctuque refugit,
Incipiam. Fracti bello, fatisque repulsi
Ductores Danaûm, tot jam labentibus annis,.
Instar montis equum, divinâ Pallidis arte,
Ædificant sectâque intexunt abiete costas.
Votum pro reditu simulant: ea fama vagatur.
Huc delecta virûm sortiti corpora furtim
Includunt cæco lateri: penitùsque cavernas
Ingentes, uterumque armato milite complent.
Est in conspectu Tenedos, notissima famâ
Insula, dives opum, Priami dum regna manebant :
:
NOTES.
that she could not comply with their wishes,
until she had finished a piece of work which
was then in her loom; but which she was
careful not to do: for she undid in the night
what she did in the day. By this device
she continued faithful to her husband.
The return of Ulysses to his native land,
and the adventures of Telemachus in search
of his father, form the basis of the Odyssey.
9. Cadentia sidera. In the language of
poetry, the stars may be said to set, when
they disappear at the approach of day;
and they are said to rise, when they become
visible, at the approach of night. From
this, we are to understand that it was near
morning, when Eneas entered upon the
mournful subject. Suadent invite to sleep.
11. Laborem: struggle. Heyne says,
cladem, ipsum excidium urbis.
12. Horret: shudders at, or dreads, the
recollection. Refugit luctu. The verb here
is in the perfect tense. As soon as his
mind was turned to the mournful subject, it
shrunk back, and revolted from it. This
change of tense is an elegance: it marks
the quickness of the impression upon his
mind. The verb refugio forms the third
person of the present and perfect of the in-
dicative, refugit. The penult of the for-
mer is short, of the latter long, as in the
present case. Some read Luctumque refu-
git: declines the mournful task; which is
the same sentiment,
13. Repulsi. The Greeks are here said
to be repulsed by the fates, because it was
decreed that Troy could not be taken till
the expiration of ten years, from the com-
mencement of the siege. Fracti: disheart-
ened.
15. Instar montis. It hath been objected
that this story of the horse has not proba-
bility enough to support it; that, besidos
the hardiness of the enterprise, it is not to
be supposed that the Trojans would receive
10 10. Si tantus amor
sit tibi
15.
20
17. Simulant equum
esse votum pro reditu
domum
18. Illi sortiti delecta
within their walls so enormous and suspi-
cious an engine with so implicit credulity.
But the poet, as Mons. Segrais observes,
has finely contrived the matter, so as to
render it not only plausible, but in a man-
ner necessary and unavoidable.
The Trojans, having heard the story of
Sinon, and seeing so strong a confirmation
of the truth of it in the terrible disasters
that befel Laocoon and his sons, had every
reason to believe the machine was an offer-
ing sacred to Minerva, and that all who
offered violence to it should feel the ven-
geance of heaven, as Laocoon and his sons
had done; and therefore they could not act
otherwise than the poet supposes them to
have done, consistently with their religion,
and system of belief. As to the hardiness
of the undertaking on the part of the Greeks,
M. Segrais observes, that modern history
furnishes examples of equally hardy enter-
prises, undertaken and executed with suc-
cess. He instances the Hollanders, forty of
whom ventured to conceal themselves in
a vessel, seemingly laden with turf, and
underwent those examinations which are
usually made for contraband goods, and
having landed, retook the town of Breda
from the Spaniards.
16. Intexunt: they line or cover the ribs.
Costas. These were the timbers that gave
form and figure to the horse-the frame.
Sectâ abiete: with sawn fir-with planks or
boards of fir.
17 Fama: in the sense of rumor.
18. Sortiti delecta corpora: having chosen
a select body of men, they privately shut
them up, &c. Sortiti: properly, having
chosen by lot.
19. Penitùs: in its inmost recesses.
21. Tenedos: an island lying opposite
Troy, not far from the promontory of Si-
gaum, and about forty stadia from the main
land.
Z02
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
25. Nos rati sumus eos
abiisse.
Nunc tantùm sinus, et statio malefida carinis:
24. Ductores Danaûm Huc se provecti deserto in litore condunt.
prevecti
Nos abiisse rati, et vento petiisse Mycenas.
Ergò omnis longo solvit se Teucria luctu :
Panduntur portæ : juvat ire, et Dorica castra,
Desertosque videre locos, litusque relictum.
Hìc Dolopum manus, hìc sævus tendebat Achilles
Classibus hic locus: hìc acies certare solebant.
30. Hic erat locus
31. Pars nostrum stu- Pars stupet innuptæ donum exitiale Minervæ,
pet
Et molem mirantur equi: primusque Thymates
Duci intra muros hortatur, et arce locari;
34. Sive faciebat id Sive dolo, seu jam Trojæ sic fata ferebant.
dolo, seu
At Capys, et quorum melior sententia menți,
Aut pelago Danaûm insidias suspectaque dona,
Præcipitare jubent, subjectisve urere flammis
35. Capys, et illi quo-
sententia, jubent aut præ-
cipitare
rum menti erat melior
Aut terebrare cavas uteri et tentare latebras.
Scinditur incertum studia in contraria vulgus.
40. Ibi Laocoon pri- Primus ibi ante omnes, magnâ comitante catervâ,
mus ante omnes decur- Laocoon ardens summâ decurrit ab arce :
rit
42. Et procul excla-
mat: quæ tanta insania
est vobis
44. An est Ulysses sic
notus vobis
Et procul: O miseri, quæ tanta insania, cives?
Creditis avectos hostes? aut ulla putatis
Dona carere dolis Danaûm? sic notus Ulysses?
Aut hoc inclusi ligno occultantur Achivi :
Aut hæc in nostros fabricata est machina muros,
NOTES.
23. Malefida: unsafe for ships. Carinis:
the keels: by synec. the whole ships.
26. Omnis Teucria: all Troy: the name
of the place put, by meton. for the inhabi-
tants.
See Æn. i. 1.
27. Dorica: an adj. from Doris, a coun-
try of Greece, situated between Etolia,
Phocis, and Thessaly; by synec. for Greece
in general.
29. Tendebat: pitched his camp. Ruæus
says, habebat tentoria.
Manus Dolopum:
simply, the Dolopians.
30. Acies is properly an army drawn up
in order of battle: agmen, an army in or-
der of march, from ago: exercitus, an army
in order of exercise, from exerceo. But they
are often used indiscriminately.
32. Thymates. It is said he married the
sister of Hecuba, the wife of Priam, by
whom he had a son, born on the same day
with Paris. Priam being informed by an
oracle that on that day a child was born,
who should be the cause of the destruction
of Troy, interpreted it against the son of
Thymates, and caused him to be put to
* death. On this account, it is supposed, that
he entertained a grudge against Priam, and
acted the part of a traitor to his country.
He was one of Priam's counsellors.
33. Duci: the inf. pass. of ducor. Equum
is understood before it.
34. Fata: destiny-fate.
the sense of velebant.
Ferebant: in
25
30
35
40
45
35. At Capys: but Capys, and others, to
whose mind there was a better judgment,
advised, &c.
Capys accompanied Eneas on his voy-
age, and was one of his chief men. He
afterwards founded Capua, in Italy, which
was a long time a rival of Rome, in wealth
and splendor.
37. Subjectis-ve. The common reading
is subjectisque. The former is to be preferred.
Valpy reads subjectis-ve.
38. Terebrare: to lay open and examine
the hollow recesses of the womb.
•
Con-
39. Incertum: fickle-inconstant.
traria studia: into different sentiments, or
opinions. Some were in favor of the mea-
sure proposed, others were against it.
40. Ante. Ruæus interprets this by coram,
in the presence of all. Davidson thinks it
implies that Laocoon was the first, or prin-
cipal (primus) person among those who op
posed the admission of the horse into the
city. Heyne thinks we are to understand
that Laocoon ran before-outran the rest.
Ante, signifies, before, with respect to time,
place, and degree. Laocoon, some say, was
the brother of Anchises; others say, he was
the son of Priam, and priest of Apollo.
41. Ardens: eager. Ruæus says celer.
43. Avectos: in the sense of profectos.
The verb esse is understood.
ÆNEIS. LIB. II.
203
Inspectura domos, venturaque desuper urbi ;
Aut aliquis latet error: equo ne credite, Teucri.
Quicquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes
Sic fatus, validis ingentem viribus hastam
In latus, inque feri curvam compagibus alvum
Contorsit: stetit illa tremens, uteroque recusso
Insonuere cavæ gemitumque dedêre cavernæ.
Et, si fata Deûm, si mens non læva fuisset,
Impulerat ferro Argolicas fœdare latebras :
Trojaque, nunc stares, Priamique arx alta, maneres !
Ecce manus juvenem intereà post terga revinctum
Pastores magno ad regem clamore trahebant
Dardanidæ : qui se ignotum venientibus ultrò,
Hoc ipsum ut strueret, Trojamque aperiret Achivis,
Obtulerat fidens animi, atque in utrumque paratus,
Seu versare dolos, seu certæ occumbere morti.
Undique visendi studio Trojana juventus
Circumfusa ruit, certantque illudere capto.
Accipe nunc Danaûm insidias; et crimine ab uno
Disce omnes.
50 50. Sic fatus, validis
viribus contorsit ingen-
tem
54. Si fata Deûm non
55 fuissent adversa
55. Ille impulerat nos
fœdare
57. Ecce, intereà Dar-
danide pastores magno
clamore trahebant ad
60 regem juvenein revinc-
tum quoad manus post
terga; qui ultrò obtule
rat se ignotum illis
63. Visendi illius
65
Namque, ut conspectu in medio turbatus, inermist
Constitit, atque oculis Phrygia agmina circumspexit :
Heu, quæ nunc tellus, inquit, quæ me æquora possunt
Accipere! aut quid jam misero mihi denique restat! 70
Cui neque apud Danaos usquam locus; insuper ipsi
NOTES.
47. Inspectura: about to overlook our
houses, and to come down upon the city.
It was higher than the walls and houses,
and might, with propriety, be said to over-
look them, and to come down upon the city
-to make an attack upon it.
48. Error: guile, deceit, or trick. It
properly signifies whatever is opposed to
truth.
49. Et in the sense of etiam: I fear the
Greeks even offering presents. There is a
peculiar emphasis to be placed upon the et
in this instance.
51. Feri: the horse. Ferus does not al-
ways signify a wild beast, or beast of prey:
it signifies a tame or domesticated animal
also. He struck that part of the horse,
where the timbers or ribs arose from their
horizontal to a perpendicular position. Cur-
vam compagibus: bending out in seams or
joints. Juncturis, says Rumus. Recusso:
- in the sense of repercusso.
53. Gemitum. This groan probably was
mado by the Greeks within, who now began
to be alarmed at their situation.
54. Fata: decrees, or purposes of the
gods.
55. Argolicas: an adj. from Argos, a city
of Greece, situated in the Peloponnesus;
by synec. sometimes put for Greece in ge-
geral. Latebras hiding places--recesses.
Trojaque, &c. This is a happy apostrophe:
had we taken his advice-had our minds
not been stupid and infatuated; now O
•
67. Ut Sinon constitit
Troy, thou wouldst be standing, and thou,
lofty citadel of Priam, wouldst be remain-
ing! Fadare: in the sense of excindere.
59. Dardanida: the Trojans; so called
from Dardanus, one of their founders. It
is here used as an adj.
60. Strueret: in the sense of efficeret.
61. Fidens animi: bold—daring of soul.
and prepared for either event; to carry into
execution his purpose, (versare dolos;) or,
in case of discovery, to yield to certain
death. He threw himself a stranger, and
unknown, in the way of these shepherds,
on purpose that they might take him, and
bring him before Priam and the Trojan
chiefs, the better to effect his purpose, to
persuade them to admit the horse within
their city.
64. Circumfusa: surrounding him-en-
compassing him on every side: a part. from
circumfundor. Capto: in the sense of cap-
tivo.
Ab
65. Accipe: in the sense of audi.
uno crimine: from one criminal person,
(namely, Sinon,) learn the character of all
the Greeks. This appears to be the sense
in which Heyne takes the words. Valpy
says: "From this instance of deceit and
treachery," &c. Davidson :
"From one
crime, take a specimen of the whole nation.”
Crimen properly a crime; by meton. a
criminal, or villanous person.
66. In medio conspectu: in the midst of
the gazing crowd.
204
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
T
Dardanidæ infensi pœnas cum sanguine poscunt,
73. Quo gemitu nos- Quo gemitu conversi animi, compressus et omnis
tri animi sunt conversi,
et
Argolica
Impetus hortamur fari, quo sanguine cretus;
74. Eum fari, ex quo Quidve ferat, memoret, quæ sit fiducia capto.
sanguine cretus sit; me- Ille hæc, depositâ tandem formidine, fatur :
moret, quid ferat, quæ-ve Cuncta equidem tibi, Rex, fuerint quæcunque, fatebor,
78. Me cretum esse de Vera, inquit: neque me Argolicâ de gente negabo;
79. Hoc est primum: Hoc primum: nec si miserum fortuna Sinonem
nec, si improba fortuna Finxit, vanum etiam mendacemque improba finget.
Fando aliquid si fortè tuas pervenit ad aures
83. Quem insontem Belidæ nomen Palamedis, et inclyta famâ
Pelasgi demisere neci
sub falsa proditione, in- Gloria: quem falsâ sub proditione Pelasgi
Insontem, infando indicio, quia bella vetabat,
finxit Sinonem
fando
eum
85. At nunc lugent Demisere neci; nunc cassum lumine lugent:
Illi me comitem, et consanguinitate propinquum,
87. Meus pater pauper Pauper in arma pater primis huc misit ab annis.
misit me comitem illi, et
88. Dum Palamides Dum stabat regno incolumis, regnumque vigebat
Consiliis, et nos aliquod nomenque decusque
stabat
NOTES.
74. Impetus fury-violence. Compres-
sus: restrained. The verb est is understood.
75. Memoret: in the sense of dicat. Quid
ferat: what message or news he brought, or
what confidence there might be placed in
him, a captive. This is the sense usually
given to the words; but Valpy gives them
another turn: "What he might have to re-
late in his own defence, and what ground
he had for hoping for mercy, now he was a
prisoner."
77. Cuncta vera: the whole truth-all
things true. Heyne and Valpy read, quod-
cunque fuerit, for quæcunque, &c.
80. Vanum: in the sense of fallacem.
Finxit: hath made, or rendered. Improba:
in the sense of adversa.
81. Si fortè, fando aliquid: if by chance,
by common report, the name of, &c. Fando
aliquid: the same as dum aliquid dicitur.
Narratione aliorum, says Heyne.
82. Belida Palamedis. Palamedes was
the son of Nauplius king of Euboea, an
island in the Ægean sea, and descended
from Belus, a king of Africa, by Amymone,
the daughter of Danaus. Ulysses, to avoid
going to the Trojan war, pretended to be
insane; but the deception was discovered by
Palamedes. See note 7, supra. This,
Ulysses never forgave, and finally he
wrought his ruin, by accusing him of hold-
ing a correspondence with Priam. To sup-
port this charge, he forged letters from
Priam to Palamedes, which he pretended to
have intercepted. He also conveyed gold
to his tent, pretending it was sent from Priam
as a bribe. Upon which Palamedes was
accused of treason, and stoned to death.
The whole of Sinon's speech is artful,
and calculated to impose upon his audience,
being made up, partly of truth, and partly
75
80
85
of falsehood. What he says of himself is
downright falsehood; what he says of Pa-
lamedes is in substance true. His death
might have been known to the Trojans by
common report, (fando aliquid,) though
the circumstances of it might not have been.
By relating them, therefore, he could not
fail of becoming interesting, of gaining a
favorable reception, and of preparing the
way for the accomplishment of his purpose.
83. Sub falsa proditione: under a false
accusation of treachery-treason. This al-
ludes to the letters, which Ulysses forged,
mentioned above. Pelasgi. See Æn. i. 624.
84. Infando indicio. This alludes to the
gold, which Ulysses conveyed to his tent,
and pretended to have been sent him by
Priam. This was adduced in evidence
against him: we may therefore render in-
fando indicio: upon an iniquitous evidence.
Quia vetabat bella. This was false: so far
from Palamedes being opposed to the war
against Troy, that he was among the first to
promote it.
85. Cassum lumine: deprived of the light
of life. Demisere: they condemned to
death.
86. Illi me comitem. Here, too, Sinon
speaks falsely. So far from his being a re-
lation of Palamedes, he was the relation of
Ulysses, whose mother was the sister of
sinus, the father of Sinon.
87. Ab primis annis: not from his infan-
cy, but from the first years of his bearing
arms, which among the Romans was at the
age of seventeen. Arma: by meton. war.
88. Regno. Regnum may either mean
the kingdom of Euboea, where his father
reigned; or the confederate power and
council of the Grecian states, that had
leagued together for the destruction of Troy.
ENEIS. LIB. II.
205
The
Gessimus invidiâ postquam pellacis Ulyssei
(Haud ignota loquor) superis concessit ab oris;
Afflictus vitam in tenebris luctuque trahebam,
Et casum insontis mecum indignabar amici.
Nec tacui demens: et me, fors si qua tulisset,
Si patrios unquam remeâssem victor ad Argos,
Promisi ultorem, et verbis odia aspera movi.
Hinc mihi prima mali labes: hinc semper Ulysses
Criminibus terrere novis: hinc spargere voces
In vulgum ambiguas, et quærere conscius arma.
Nec requievit enim, donec Calchante ministro—
Sed quid ego hæc autem nequicquam ingrata revolvo ?
Quidve moror? si omnes uno ordine habetis Archivos,
Idque audire sat est; jamdudum sumite pœnas.
Hoc Ithacus velit, et magno mercentur Atridæ.
Tum verò ardemus scitari, et quærere causas,
Ignari scelerum tantorum artisque Pelasgæ.
Prosequitur pavitans, et ficto pectore fatur :
Sæpe fugam Danai Trojâ cupiere relictâ
NOTES.
90. Gessimus aliquod: I also bore some
reputation and honor. Et: in the sense of
etiam. Nos: for ego.
91. Ab superis oris: from the upper re-
gions-this upper world. Concessit: in the
sense of decessit.
93. Indignabar: I grieved, or repined at
the death of my innocent friend.
94. Demens nec tacui: I, a fool, did not
hold my peace. Demens, compounded of
de and mens.
Si qua fors: if any opportu-
nity or chance should present. Tulisset: in
the sense of obtulisset.
95. Remeâssem: in the sense of rediissem.
97. Hinc mihi prima: hence the first
source of misfortune to me. Labes, proper-
ly signifies a stain, or blemish. An allusion
is here made to the first appearance of a
plague or contagious disease breaking out
upon the surface of the body in spots. Si-
non's declaration that he would avenge the
death of Palamedes roused the bitter resent-
ment of Ulysses; and from that time, (hinc,)
he began to plot his destruction. Labes:
in the sense of origo, vel causa.
Fuit is
understood.
98. Novis criminibus: with new charges
or accusations. Voces: in the sense of verba,
vel sermones.
99. Conscius: conscious, (of his crime
that he was guilty of the death of Palame-
des,) he began to seek the means of destroy-
ing me also. Arma: the means or imple-
ments by which any thing is done. Valpy
says: the means of defence against Sinon.
100. Calchante ministro: Calchas being
his assistant-being employed. Calchas was
a famous soothsayer in the Grecian camp,
and nothing of any moment was done with-
90
92. Ego afflictus tra-
hebam vitam
94. Et promis me
95 fore ultorem, si qua fors
tulisset, si unquam
100
97. Hinc Ulysses cœpit
semper
104. Magno pretio.
105 Tum verò nos ignari tan-
torum
out his being consulted. This sudden pause
and transition are very artfully contrived,
and show the great judgment of the poet in
the management of his subject. Requievit:
in the sense of cessavit. Enim: in the sense
of equidem.
101. Autem: here is an expletive; or used
in the sense of verè, vel equidem. Revolvo:
in the sense of narro. Nequicquam: in
vain-to no purpose: because the relation
of those unpleasant topics would not save
his life.
his life. Habetis: if ye regard or consider.
Uno ordine: on one footing-in the same
state, or condition of enemies.
103. Jamdudum. This is to be taken in
the sense of jam. Or we must suppose, as
Dr. Trapp observes, something to be under-
stood. Sumite pœnas jamdudum debetas, or
the like.
104. Ithacus. Ulysses is so called from
Ithaca, a barren and rocky island in the
Ionian sea, where he was born, and where
his father Laertes reigned. Sinon gives this
appellation to him by way of contempt.
Atrida: Agamemnon and Menelaus, the
sons of Atreus. Their religion required that
a devoted victim that had escaped from the
altar, should be put to death wherever found:
and Sinon having been destined as a victim
to the gods, to procure favorable winds for
their return, nothing could afford the Greeks
in general, and the leaders in particular,
greater joy, than to hear that the Trojans
had put him to death. Hoc velit: this, Ulys-
ses wishes, and the sons of Atreus will
chase it at a great price.
pur-
106. Artis: in the sense of fraudis Pe-
lasga: Grecian. See Æn. i. 624
206
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Moliri, et longo fessi discedere bello.
110. Aspera hyems Fecissentque utinam. Sæpe illos aspera ponti
ponti interclusit, et Aus- Interclusit hyems, et terruit Auster euntes.
ter terruit illos euntes.
116. O Danai, vos pla-
câstis
Præcipuè, cùm jam hic trabibus contextus acernis
Staret equus, toto sonuerunt æthere nimbi.
Suspensi Eurypylum scitatum oracula Phœbi
Mittimus isque adytis hæc tristia dicta reportat
Sanguine placâstis ventos, et virgine cæsâ,
Cùm primùm Iliacas, Danai, venistis ad oras:
Sanguine quærendi reditus, animâque litandum
Argolicâ. Vulgi quæ vox ut venit ad aures,
Obstupucre animi, gelidusque per ima cucurrit
121. Omnes sunt soli- Ossa tremor; cui fata parent, quem poscat Apollo.
citi noscere, cui fata pa- Hìc Ithacus vatem magno Calchanta tumultu
118. Reditus sunt quæ
rendi
119. Ut quæ vox venit
rent mortem
:
Protrahit in medios: quæ sint ea numina Divâm,
Flagitat et mihi jam multi crudele canebant
Artificis scelus, et taciti ventura videbant.
Bis quinos silet ille dies, tectusque recusat
Prodere voce suâ quemquam, aut opponere morti.
Vix tandem magnis Ithaci clamoribus actus,
Compositò rumpit vocem, et me destinat aræ.
NOTES.
109. Moliri fugam: in the sense of efficere
fugam.
110. Aspera hyems: a violent storm at
sea,
112. Contextus: framed, or built of ma-
ple timber. Some part of the horse might
have been built of maple, others of fir and
pine: so that the poet may be consistent in
what he says of this same machine, verse
15: Intexunt costas sectâ abiete; and also in
verse 258, infra, where he calls it, pinea
claustra.
113. Sonuerunt: raged-roared. Nimbi:
turbines,says Ileyne. See Æn. i. 102.
114. Suspensi: in suspense we send Eu-
rypulus. Homer informs us that he was a
famous augur, and brought with him forty
ships to the Trojan war. Scitatum: to con-
sult; a sup. in um, from the verb scitor, put
after mittimus, a verb of motion.
115. Adytis. Adytum was the most se-
cret, as well as the most sacred place of the
temple, and where the images of the gods
were placed the shrine from which the
responses were delivered. It is governed
by the preposition à or ab, understood.
116. Placâstis ventos: ye appeased the
winds with blood, and a virgin slain, when,
&c.
The Greeks, on their way to the siege of
Troy, came to Aulis, a port of Beotia, where
Diana, incensed against Agamemnon for
killing one of her favorite deer, withheld the
wind. Upon which Calchas was sent to
consult the oracle upon the subject. He
brought back the answer that Iphigenia, the
daughter of Agamemnon, must be sacrificed
to appease the anger of the goddess. When
110
115
120
125
the virgin was brought to the altar, he in-
formed them that Diana was satisfied with
that act of submission; but demanded that
the virgin should be transported to Tauris,
and there serve her in capacity of priestess.
The virgin was slain in intention, and saved
only by the interposition of the goddess.
This warrants the expression of the poet,
Virgine cæsa.
118. Litandum : a ger. in dum of the verb
lito: an atonement must be made with the
life of a Greek. Ruæus.interprets it by sa-
crificandum. But it implies more than sim-
ply to offer sacrifice; it includes the idea of
expiation, or atonement. The gerund in
dum has a peculiar signification. While it
has the form of a noun, it retains the nature
of the verb; and implies the necessity, duty,
or obligation, to do, or perform an action.
123. Numina Divûm: the will, purpose,
or response of the gods. Numen, from the
verb nuo: I express my will by a nod.
124. Et jam: and now many foretold to
me the atrocious design, or plot, of the vil
lanous man.
125. Taciti: not silent; for that would
contradict what is said just before: but
quiet, content, well satisfied. Ventura: in
the sense of res venturas. The best reason
why canere came to signify to prophesy, or
to foretell, is, that the responses of oracles
were at first delivered, and written in verse.
126. Tectus: in the sense of occultatus.
127. Prodere: in the sense of designare.
Opponere: in the sense of damnare.
128. Tandem vix actus: at length, with
difficulty forced or compelled, &c.
129. Rumpit vocem: he opens his mouth.
ENEIS. LIB. II.
207
Assensere omnes: et, quæ sibi quisque timebat,
Unius in miseri exitium conversa tulere.
Jamque dies infanda aderat: mihi sacra parari,
Et salsa fruges, et circum tempora vittæ.
Eripui, fateor, leto me, et vincula rupi:
Limosoque lacu per noctem obscurus in ulvâ
Delitui, dum vela darent, si fortè dedissent.
Nec mihi jam patriam antiquam spes ulla videndi,
Nec dulces natos exoptatumque parentem :
Quos illi fors ad pœnas ob nostra reposcent
130
131. Conversa esse in
exitium
135
Effugia, et culpam hanc miserorum morte piabunt. 140
Quòd te, per Superos et conscia numina veri;
Per, si qua est, quæ restat adhuc mortalibus usquam,
Intemerata fides, oro; miserere laborum
Tantorum; miserere animi non digna ferentis.
144
149
His lachrymis vitam damus, et miserescimus ultrò.
Ipse viro primus manicas atque arcta levari
Vincla jubet Priamus; dictisque ita fatur amicis :
Quisquis es, amissos hinc jam obliviscere Graios.
Noster eris mihique hæc edissere vera roganti:
Quò molem hanc immanis equi statuêre ? quis auctor?
Quidve petunt? quæ relligio? aut quæ machina belli?
Dixerat. Ille, dolis instructus et arte Pelasgâ,
Sustulit exutas vinclis ad sidera palmas :
NOTES.
130. Et, tulere qua: they permitted (were
content to have) what every one feared to
himself, to be turned to the destruction of
one unhappy being. Tulere conversa: sim-
ply for converterunt, says Heyne.
133. Salsa fruges: the salted cakes. This
cake was made of bran, or meal, mixed with
salt, and called mola. They sprinkled it
upon the head of the victim, the fire of the
altar, and upon the sacrificing knife. The
ceremony was called immolatio: hence the
verb immolare came to signify, to sacrifice
in general. Vitta: these were fillets of white
wool, with which the temples of the victim,
and also the priest, and statues of the gods,
were bound.
134. Rupi vincula. The victims were
loose and unbound when they were brought
forward to the altar. But even so, it is not
probable that Sinon could have made his
escape from the guards and spectators, that
would accompany him. By rupi vincula,
we may understand that he broke the pri-
son in which he was confined against the
day of sacrifice, and made his escape. Any
thing that binds, holds, or restrains another,
may be called vinculum. Eripui: rescued
or delivered.
135. Delituique obscurus: and I lay con-
cealed or hid. Lacu. Lacus here means a
fen, or marshy ground. Ulva: weeds, or
rushes.
137. Antiquam: dear country; or anti-
quam may be used in the sense of veterem,
or pristinam.
132. Sacra cœperunt
parari
141. Quòd oro te, per
Superos, et numina con-
scia veri; per fidem, si
qua est intemerata fides,
quæ
146. Priamus ipse pri-
mus jubet
151. Quæ religio est
in eo
138. Natos: in the sense of liberos. Ex-
optatum: dear-greatly beloved.
139. Quos illi fors: whom they, perhaps,
will demand for punishment on account of
my escape; and will expiate this fault of
mine by the death of those innocents.
Here the poet alludes to an ancient law
among the Romans, which subjected chil-
dren to suffer for some particular crimes,
committed against the state by their parents.
143. Intemerata: inviolable-pure-holy.
Laborum: sufferings.
144. Animi: animus, the soul, is here
used by meton. for the man, viz. Sinon.-
Pity me bearing such undeserved, or unme-
rited treatment. Non digna: in the sense
of indigna.
146. Manicas: hand-cuffs. Areta vincla:
tight cords.
149. Edissere: declare-speak.
plu. of verum, truth.
Vera:
150. Quò statuere: for what purpose did
they erect this mass of a huge horse? Who
was the author of it? The following inter-
rogatories, as Mr. Davidson observes, are
elliptical. They are thus supplied: Quid
petunt? What do they intend? Is it to
fulfil some duty of religion? If it be so,
quæ religio? What duty or motive of reli-
gion led to it?
gion led to it? Or is it an engine of war?
If so, quæ machina belli? What engine of
war is it?
153. Exutas vinclis: free from cords—
fetters
208.
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
154. Ait: Testor vos, Vos, æterni ignes, et non violabile vestrum
O æterni ignes,
155. Testor vos, O
aræ, infandique
158. Fas est
odisse
Testor numen, ait; vos, aræ, ensesque nefandi,
Quos fugi; vittæque Deûm, quas hostia gessi :
Fas mihi Graiorum sacrata resolvere jura;
mihi Fas odisse viros, atque omnia ferre sub auras,
Si qua tegunt: tencor patriæ nec legibus ullis.
160. Modò tu, O Tro- Tu modò promissis maneas, servataque serves
ja, maneas fidelis pro- Troja fidem: si vera feram, si magna rependam
Omnis spes Danaûm, et cœpti fiducia belli,
164. Sed enim ex quo Palladis auxiliis semper stetit. Impius ex quo
tempore impius
168. Ausique sunt Tydides sed enim, scelerumque inventor Ulysses,
contingere
Fatale aggressi sacrato avellere templo
missis tuis,
169. Ex illo tempore Palladium, cæsis summæ custodibus arcis,
spes Danaûm sublapsa Corripuere sacram effigiem; manibusque cruentis
cœpit fluere
Virgineas ausi Diva contingere vittas:
170. Eorum vires frac- Ex illo fluere, ac retrò sublapsa referri
tæ sunt, et
172. Vix simulacrum Spes Danaûm; fractæ vires, aversa Deæ mens.
fuit positum in castris, Nec dubiis ea signa dedit Tritonia monstris.
Vix positum castris simulacrum; arsere corusca
cùm corusco
NOTES.
154. Testor vos: ye eternal fires, I call
you, and your inviolable divinity, to wit-
ness.
Some think this is an allusion to the fire
of the altar. But Servius, with more pro-
priety, thinks the sun, moon, and other hea-
venly luminarics are meant: which the an-
cients thought to be globes of fire, to shine
with their own proper lustre; and to be in-
habited by divinities. The fire of the altar
could hardly be called eternal, unless there
be an allusion to the fire of Vesta.
155. Nefandi enses: ye horrid instruments
of death, which I escaped. I take enses
here for the implements used in offering the
sacrifice, such as the axe, knife, &c.
156. Viltaque Deûm: and ye fillets of the
gods, which as a victim I wore.
In order to excite their compassion the
more, and to show the horrid apprehensions
he had of the act, he speaks as if he had
actually been brought to the altar, and as if
that had been actually put in execution,
which had only been intended against him.
157. Sacrata jura: sacred obligations.
Jus properly signifies a natural right, law,
duty, or obligation. It differs from fas,
which properly signifies a divine right, law,
&c. Any thing that the laws of God per-
mit may be called fas.
158. Sub auras into light.
159. Siqua tegunt: if any lie hid. Nec
ullis legibus, &c. He is no longer bound by
any ties of his country. He is at liberty to
break or dissolve his allegiance, and place
himself under the protection of the Trojans.
Their barbarous treatment had cancelled all
his obligations to them: the ara on which
he was to have been slain-the enses nefan-
di, by which he was to have been slain-the
155
160
165
170
vitta, with which he was to have been bound,
were so many witnesses that he was now
under no obligations to regard the interests
of the Greeks, who had withdrawn all pro-
tection from him.
161. Si feram vera: if I relate the truth,
if I repay thee largely-great things.
164. Enim: in the sense of equidem.
166. Fatale Palladium. The Palladium
was a statue of Pallas with a small shield and
spear. It was said to have fallen from hea-
ven near the tent of Ilus, when he was build-
ing the citadel of Troy. Some say it was
made of the bones of Pelops. All, however,
agree that it was a pledge of the safety of
Troy.
Ulysses and Diomede entered the temple
where it stood, and carried it away to the
Grecian camp, having slain the guards. It
is called fatale, because, on the safe keeping
of it, the preservation of Troy depended.
169. Ex illo: from that time, the hope of
the Greeks, tottering, began to slip, and to
be carried backward.
This is a metaphor taken from a person
standing on a slippery place, and with diffi-
culty maintaining his position. The least
movement of his body destroys his equilibri
um. At first he totters, and reels to and
fro in order to recover himself. Unable to
do it, he is borne away, and hurried along
with accelerated motion.
171. Tritonia. This was a name of Pal-
las or Minerva, taken from a lake in Africa,
called Tritona, where she is said to have
been born: or, at least, where she first made
her appearance on earth. Monstris: pro-
digies-indications of her anger.
172. Corusca flamma: sparkling flames
flashed from her steady eyes. The signs
ENEIS. LIB. II.
209
Luminibus flammæ arrectis, salsusque per artus
Sudor iit, terque ipsa solo, mirabile dictu!
Emicuit, parmamque ferens hastamque trementem.
Extemplò tentanda fugâ canit æquora Calchas:
Nec posse Argolicis exscindi Pergama telis,
Omina ni repetant Argis, numenque reducant,
Quod pelago et curvis secum advexere carinis.
Et nunc quòd patrias vento petiere Mycenas;
Arma Deosque parant comites, pelagoque remenso,
Improvisi aderunt: ita digerit omina Calchas.
Hanc pro Palladic moniti, pro numine læso,
Effigiem statuêre, nefas quæ triste piaret;
Hanc tamen immensam Calchas attollere molem
Roboribus textis, cœloque educere jussit:
Ne recipi portis, aut duci in mœnia possit;
Neu populum antiquâ sub relligione tueri.
Nam si vestra manus violâsset dona Minervæ ;
Tum magnum exitium (quod Dî priùs omen in ipsum
Convertant Priami imperio Phrygibusque futurum :
Sin manibus vestris vestram ascendisset in urbem,
Ultrò Asiam magno Pelopeia ad mœnia bello
Venturam, et nostros ea fata manere nepotes.
Talibus insidiis, perjurique arte Sinonis,
Credita res captique dolis, lachrymisque coactis,
NOTES.
here mentioned are truly ominous; and suf-
ficient to have excited in the minds of the
Greeks fear and alarm.
174. Ipsa: the goddess-the image of the
goddess. Emicuit: in the sense of salivit.
175. Parmam-hastam: the shield and
brandished spear. These were the arms by
which the Palladium was distinguished.
176. Canit in the sense of declarat. Ca-
no is properly applied to oracles and pre-
dictions. It implies that Calchas spoke by
inspiration, and declared it to be the will of
the gods, that the sea, &c. Exscindi: be
rased-destroyed.
178. Ni repetant: unless they should re-
peat the omens at Argos, and bring back
the goddess, which, &c.
This, Servius observes, alludes to a cus-
tom of the Romans, when they were unsuc-
cessful in war, to return home, and again
consult the omens: or, if they were too far
for that purpose, they used to appropriate a
part of the enemy's territory, and call it
Rome, where they renewed the omens. Nu-
men: the Palladium-the image or symbol
of Pallas' divinity; which Sinon would
make the Trojans believe had been carried
to Argos and in the mean time, until they
should return, as an atonement or offering
to the offended goddess (numine læso,) the
Greeks had built, and consecrated to her,
this horse.
:
176
180
176. Equora tentanda
esse
183. Illi moniti sta-
tuêre hanc effigiem equi,
185 quæ
185. Tamen Calchas
jussit eos attollere
189
189. Nam dicebat, si
vestra
193. Dicebat Asiam
ultrò venturam esse
196. Nos-que, quos
neque Tydides, nec La-
rissæus Achilles domuit;
nos, quos decem anni
non domuere; quos mille
195 carine non domuere,
capti sunt dolis
Omina. Some copies have omnia. Di-
gerit: interprets-explains.
184. Quæ piaret: which might expiate
the horrid crime of carrying off the Palla-
dium from her temple.
186. Roboribus textis: with compacted or
joined timber. Robur properly signifies the
heart of the oak. Hence it may signify
timber in general, and all wooden materials,
as planks, boards, &c. Immensam very
high. Molem: for equum.
188. Neu tueri: nor defend the people.
under their ancient religion-under the re-
ligious patronage and protection of their an-
cient guardian goddess, Pallas, or Minerva.
190. In ipsum: which omen may the
gods rather turn upon him, to wit, Calchas.
It would be more emphatical, if it were in
ipsos, meaning upon the Greeks. Some co-
pies have in ipsos.
193. Asiam. Asia Minor, or Natolia, in
which Troy was situated. It is put, by me-
ton. for the inhabitants. Ultrò. Servius
explains this by statim. But the usual ac-
ceptation of the word is easier, and more
emphatic. Pelopeia mania: the city Argos,
where Pelops reigned: by synec. put for
Greece in general. See Geor. iii. 7.
194. Ea fata: the same fate or destiny.
195. Insidiis: in the sense of fraudibus.
196. Coactis lachrymis: by his feigned or
181. Arma: troops-forces, by meton, forced tears. Some copies read coacts, in
15
210
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
A
199. Hic aliud majus
prodigium multòque ma-
gis tremendum
Quos neque Tydides, nec Larissæus Achilles,
Non anni domuere decem, non mille çarinæ.
Hìc aliud majus miseris multòque tremendum
Objicitur magìs, atque improvida pectora turbat.
Laocoon, ductus Neptuno sorte sacerdos,
Solennes taurum ingentem mactabat ad aras.
Ecce autem gemini à Tenedo tranquilla per alta
204. Gemini angues (Horresco referens) immensis orbibus angues
venientes à Tenedo per Ìncumbunt pelago, pariterque ad litora tendunt :
tranquilla alta
Pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta, jubæque
Sanguineæ exsuperant undas: pars cætera pontum
Ponè legit, sinuatque immensa volumine terga.
Fit sonitus spumante salo: jamque arva tenebant,
210. Suffecti quoad Ardentesque oculos suffecti sanguine et igni,
ardentes
Sibila lambebant linguis vibrantibus ora.
Diffugimus visu exsangues: illi agmine certo
Laocoonta petunt: et primùm parva duorum
Corpora natorum serpens amplexus uterque
NOTES.
the nom. agreeing with nos, meaning the
Trojans. But this is not so easy and natu-
ral; nor does it so well agree with the sub-
ject. The poet uniformly represents Sinon
as an impostor, a cheat, and all his words
and tears feigned and dissembled. Servius
strongly insists upon coactis. Valpy reads
coacti. Heyne, coactis.
197. Larissæus: an adj. from Larissa, a
town of Thessaly, near Phthia, the place
where Achilles was born.
198. Mille carina. Homer makes 1186
ships in all, that went in the Trojan expedi-
tion. Carina, the keel, put, by synec. for
the whole ship. The poets often use a de-
finite number for an indefinite, particularly
if the number be very large.
199. Hic aliud: here another greater pro-
digy, and one much more to be dreaded, is
presented to our sight, nobis miseris.
200. Improvida: improvident-not ex-
pecting any thing of the kind. Pectora: in
the sense of animos.
201. Laocoon. The priest of Neptune
having been put to death, because, by his
prayers and sacrifices, he did not prevent
the arrival of the Greeks, Laocoon was
chosen by lot to sacrifice to that god upon
the departure of their enemies. He was
the priest of Apollo Thymbræus. Some say
he was the brother of Anchises; others that
he was the son of Priam.
Hyginus, who relates the story, says the
crime for which Laocoon was thus severcly
punished, was his having married, and had
children, contrary to the orders of Apollo:
and that the Trojans construed this calamity,
which befel him, as an act of vengeance of
the gods for his having violated the offering
of Minerva. Virgil, therefore, judiciously
introduces this event, not only as it is a fine
embellishment of his poem; but also as it
200
205
210
gives the greater probability to the episode
of the wooden horse, and accounts for the
credulity of the Trojans.
202. Solennes aras: the appointed altars.
503. Tenedo. Tenedos is here mentioned
to signify, as Servius says, that the ships
were to come from hence to the destruction
of Troy. Per tranquilla alta: over the
smooth or calm sea. This circumstance is
mentioned, because it would afford the Tro-
jans an opportunity the better to view the
whole progress of the serpents, to hear their
dreadful hissings, and every lash they gave
the waves: it adds much terror to the hi-
deous spectacle.
204. Referens: in the sense of narrans.
Orbibus in the sense of spiris.
205. Incumbunt: with their immense folds
they rest (swim) upon the sea; and equally
(abreast, head and head) stretch to the
shore.
208. Sinuat: winds their huge backs in
folds. Their necks down to their breast,
were raised above the water; the other part
of them swept the sea behind. Juba: necks
—crests. Salo: in the sense of mari.
va in the sense of litus.
Ar-
210. Suffecti ardentesque: spotted as to
their glaring eyes with blood and fire, they
licked their hissing mouths. Vibrantibus:
in the sense of motantibus. Naturalists ob-
serve that no animal moves its tongue with
so much velocity as the serpent.
212. Certo agmine: in the sense of recto
cursu. Agmen here denotes the spiral mo-
tion of a serpent, shooting forward, fold af-
ter fold, in regular order, like a body of men
marching in military array.
214. Uterque serpens: each serpent em-
bracing, twines around the bodies of his two
sons, and mangles their wretched limbs with
their teeth.
ÆNEIS. LIB. II.
211
Implicat, et miseros morsu depascitur artus.
Post, ipsum auxilio subeuntem ac tela ferentem
Corripiunt, spirisque ligant ingentibus: et jam
Bis medium amplexi, bis collo squamea circùm
Terga dati, superant capite et cervicibus altis.
Ille simul manibus tendit divellere nodos,
Perfusus sanie vittas atroque veneno :
Clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit :
Quales mugitus, fugit cùm saucius aram
Taurus, et incertam excussit cervice securim.
At gemini lapsu delubra ad summa dracones
Effugiunt, sævæque petunt Tritonidis arcem :
Sub pedibusque Deæ, clypeique sub orbe teguntur.
Tum verò tremefacta novus per pectora cunctis
Insinuat pavor et scelus expendisse merentem
Laocoonta ferunt; sacrum qui cuspide robur
Læserit, et tergo sceleratam intorserit hastam.
Ducendum ad sedes simulacrum, orandaque Divæ
Numina conclamant.
Dividimus muros, et mænia pandimus urbis.
Accingunt omnes operi: pedibusque rotarum
Subjiciunt lapsus, et stupea vincula collo
NOTES.
Dr. Trapp renders depacitur, devours;
but there is no necessity of this; for it often
signifies no more than to mangle, prey upon,
waste, or consume away. Beside, we can
hardly suppose that the serpents devoured or
eat up
the bodies of his sons, and then laid
hold upon the father, to satiate their hunger.
There was a statue in the palace of Ves-
pasian, representing this story, (as mention-
ed by Pliny,) which showed Laocoon en-
twined by the serpents, and his sons dead
on the ground. It is probable that Virgil
took this description from that statue.
215. Morsu: teeth-fangs.
218. Bis amplexi. The serpents embrace
him twice about the middle; then rising
upward, they bind their scaly backs twice
about his neck; and holding him in that
situation, elevate their heads and bloody
crests above the head of their unhappy vic-
tim. Circumdati. The parts of a compound
verb are sometimes separated by Tmesis,
for the sake of the verse. This word is
either to be taken actively, in the sense of
circumdantes, and governing squamea terga;
or we must take the expression as a Grecism.
See Ecl. i. 55.
220. Tendit: in the sense of conatur.
Nodos: the folds of the serpent.
221. Perfusus: smeared, or stained, as to
his fillets.
224. Incertam securim: the erring blow-
the axe struck with an erring blow.
225. Delubra. Delubrum was properly
the place before the temple, or near the altar,
where they washed before they entered, or
before they performed sacrifice. It is de-
215
220
216. Pòst, corripiunt
ipsum subeuntem aux-
ilio natorum
223. Tales magitus,
quales taurus tollit, cùm
225 saucius
229. Insinuat se nobis
230 cunctis
235
rived from deluo. Varro, however, thinks
it was the shrine or place where the image
of the god was placed. It is often used for
the temple itself, by synec. Lapsu: by a
gentlo easy motion. Dracones: in the sense
of serpentes.
226. Arcem: the shrine of stern Minerva.
Tritonis, a name of that goddess.
230. Ferunt: they declare that Laocoon
justly suffered for his crime-that it was a
just punishment inflicted upon him for doing
violence to the sacred offering of Minerva.
By this their doubt was removed, and they
resolved to admit the fatal machinę, within
the city.
231. Tergo: in the sense of lateri.
232. Simulacrum. Virgil had an admi-
rable talent at varying his style. He hath
found out no less than twelve names for
this horse, all equally significant: Lignum,
Machina, Monstrum, Dolum, Pinea Claus-
tra, Donum, Moles, Effigies Equi, Equus,
Sacrum Robur, Simulacrum, and Cavum Ro-
bur. Ad sedes: to the proper place-the
hill, or eminence, on which the temple of
Minerva stood. Numina: in the sense of
divinitatem.
234. Mania: properly, the fortifications
or bulwarks of a city, from munio. Murus:
the wall that surrounds it. They are, how-
ever, used indiscriminately for a city, fre-
quently. Accingunt: apply themselves to
the work.
236. Lapsus rotarum: they place wheels
(or rollers) under its feet, and fasten hempou
cords to its neck. Lapsus rotarum: simply
for rotas.
212
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Intendunt: scandit fatalis machina muros,
Fota armis pueri circùm innuptæque puellæ
239. Circùm canunt Sacra canunt, funçmque manu contingere gaudent
Illa subit, mediæque minans illabitur urbi.
sacra carmina
240. Illa machina su-
bit
O patria, ô Divûm domus, Ilium, et inclyta bello,
Mœnia Dardanidûm! quater ipso in limine portæ
Substitit, atque utero sonitum quater arma dedêre.
244 Immemores pro- Instamus tamen immemores, cæcique furore,
digii
Et monstrum infelix sacratâ sistimus arce.
246. Tunc etiam Cas- Tunc etiam fatis aperit Cassandra futuris
sandra, jussu Dei Apol- Ora, Dei jussu nón unquam credita Teucris.
linis non unquam cre- Nos delubra Deûm miseri, quibus ultimus esset
dita Teucris,
248. Nos miseri Tro- Ille dies, festâ velamus fronde per urbem.
jani, quibus
Vertitur intereà cœlum, et ruit Oceano nox,
Involvens umbrâ magnâ terramque polumque,
Myrmidonumque dolos. Fusi per monia Teucri
Conticuere: sopor fessos complectitur artus.
NOTES.
237. Scandit muros: it ascends, or mounts
over the ruins of our walls. They had
been demolished to admit it, and afford it
entrance.
239. Funem: the ropes that had been
fastened to the neck and other parts of the
horse, by which they moved it forward.
241. Ilium, domus Divûm: Ilium, the ha-
bitation of the gods; either because its walls
had been built by Apollo and Neptune; or,
on account of the numerous temples and
consecrated places with which it abounded.
242. Dardanidûm: the same as Trojano-
rum, vel Troja.
243. Substitit quater, &c. Some are of
opinion that this stumbling, or stopping of
the horse in the very threshold, alludes to
a notion that prevailed of its being a bad
omen for one to stumble on the threshold,
especially when going out to war; as it is
said to have happened to Protesilaus, the
first of the Greeks, who was killed on the
plains of Troy. The malignity of this omen
was thought to proceed from the Furies, who
had their seats on the threshold.
·
244. Immemores. Servius thinks that Vir-
gil here alludes to the custom of the Romans
ip devoting their enemies and the places to
which they laid siege. In the form of words
which they used upon the occasion, they
poured forth these imprecations against
them: Eique populo civitatique metum, for-
midinem, oblivionem injiciatis, Dii. Ac-
cording to him, immemores will imply that
the Trojans were abandoned by the gods,
and given up to stupidity and infatuation.
Furore: with zeal-infatuation. Furor sig-
nifies any inordinate passion whatever, as
love, hatred, anger, zeal, &c. Immemores:
heedless-unmindful.
240
245
250
245. Infelix: in the sense of perniciosum,
vel fatale.
246. Cassandra. She was the daughter
of Priam and Hecuba, and endued with the
spirit of prophecy by Apollo, upon her pro-
mising to grant him her love; which, how-
ever, she afterwards refused to do. Not
being able to withdraw from her the gift he
had bestowed, he rendered it of no avail, by
destroying her credibility, and making all
her predictions to be considered as false.
Apollo. Ora: for os; the plu. for the sing.
Jussu Dei: by the command of the god
Fatis futuris: to our approaching destruc-
tion.
249. Velamus delubra. It was their cus-
tom, not only on festival days, but at all
times of public rejoicing, to adorn, or dress
the temples of the gods with the branches
of laurel, olive, ivy, &c.
The
250. Vertitur cœlum: the heavens are
turned around. By the diurnal rotation of
the earth, the heavens appear to revolve
about it once in twenty-four hours.
heavens as well as the earth are divided into
two hemispheres, the upper and the lower,
by the horizon. The diurnal hemisphere
rises with the sun, and sets with him in the
west, below the horizon. At the same time
the nocturnal hemisphere rises in the east.
This tends to explain nox ruit Oceano:
night rushes from the ocean, or rises from
the ocean.
251. Terramque. There is a great beauty
in thus singling out the stratagems of the
Greeks, as the object of chief attention,
among all the things in heaven and earth,
which that night concealed.
252. Fusi: stretched upon their beds, ex-
pecting no danger, and taking needful re-
pose. Mania: in the sense of nrbem.
ENEIS. LIB. II.
213
Et jam Argiva phalanx instructis navibus ibat
A Tenedo, tacitæ per amica silentia Lunæ,
Litora nota petens: flammas cùm regia puppis
Extulerat; fatisque Deûm defensus iniquis,
Inclusos utero Danaos et pinea furtim
Laxat claustra Sinon: illos patefactus ad auras
Reddit equus, lætique cavo se robore promunt
Tisandrus Sthenelusque duces, et dirus Ulysses,
Demissum lapsi per funem; Athamasque, Thoasque,
Pelidesque Neoptolemus, primusque Machaon,
Et Menelaus, et ipse doli fabricator Epeüs.
Invadunt urbem somno vinoque sepultam :
Cæduntur vigiles: portisque patentibus omnes
Accipiunt socios, atque agmina conscia jungunt.
Tempus erat, quo prima quies mortalibus ægris
Incipit, et dono Divûm gratissima serpit.
In somnis ecce ante oculos mœstissimus Hector
Visus adesse mihi, largosque effundere fletus :
Raptatus bigis, ut quondam, aterque cruento
NOTES.
254. Phalanx properly a body of men,
consisting of eight thousand, placed in a
square; here used for troops in general.
Instructis navibus: in their furnished ships.
255. Tacitæ Lunæ. Commentators have
variously interpreted these words. Some
have understood by them that the moon
was then new and shone with feeble light,
and the darkness in consequence was fa-
vorable to the Greeks, by preventing disco-
very. Valpy understands by them the ab-
sence of the moon during the first part of
the night. The Grecian army, says he,
may have chosen the decrease of the moon,
when she does not rise till near midnight.
This darkness was favorable or friendly to
them. But we are told by Scaliger and
others, that Troy was taken about the full
moon, when she shines the brightest. This
led Ruæus to understand by the silence of
the moon, the middle of the night, when
all things are silent and still. But Luna
may, by meton. be taken for nox, as Sol is
often put for dies. This will render it more
intelligible: the friendly silence of the still
(or calm) night. This is the opinion of
Heyne.
256. Cùm regia puppis: when the royal
ship erected a light, then Sinon protected
by, &c. We are to understand that Helen
or Sinon first gave the signal to Agamem-
non that they were ready, by showing a
lighted torch from the citadel, and he re-
turned it to them, by setting up a light upon
the stern of his ship.
257. Fatis: will, or purposes of the gods.
Iniquis: in the sense of adversis, vel infes-
tis. Nobis is understood.
259. Furtim laxat Danaos: he opens
privately the piny doors, and (lets out) the
255
260
265
270
258. Furtim laxat
pinea claustra, et Da-
naos inclusos utero equi
268. Erat tempus noc-
tis, quo
270. Ecce Hector mas-
tissimus visus est adesse
mihi ante oculos in som-
nis
Here we
Greeks shut up in the womb.
may observe that Virgil uses the verb laxat
with both the nouns claustra and Danaos,
when in strict propriety, it can be applied
to one only. This is a freedom which our
language will not always admit; but it fre-
quently occurs in the Latin and Greek
writers. See Æn. vii. 431.
260. Reddit: in the sense of effundit.
262. Lapsi per funem. After they were
let out, they slid down by a rope, secured
at the top of the horse, and reaching to the
ground.
263. Pelides: Pyrrhus, the son of Achil-
les, and grandson of Peleus, king of Thes-
saly. He was also called Neoptolemus.
See 469. seq. Primus. By this we are to
understand that he was the first who de-
scended the rope; and not the first, or chief
among these leaders.
263. Doli: for equi.
265. Sepultam somno, vinoque. This is
a very expressive metaphor, representing
the inhabitants of the city so deeply in
sleep, and so silent and still, that it would
almost seem as if their beds had been their
graves. This greatly moves our pity to-
ward the Trojans, and our indignation
against Sinon and the treacherous Greeks.
Accipiunt: in the sense of admillunt. Por-
tis patentibus may be put absolutely.
267. Conscia: friendly; or conscious, be-
cause they were acquainted with the plan
of attack.
268. Ægris: in the scnse of fessis.
269. Dono: by the favor, or indulgence.
Serpit: crceps, or spreads over them. This
is extremely significant. Ilis, vel ris, is to
be supplied.
272. Bigis. Bige, propely a chariot
214
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
H
est
277. Nunc
crines
gerens
nis! Ut nos defessi as-
picimus te, post
273. Trajectus quoad Pulvere, perque pedes trajectus lora tumentes.
lora per tumentes
Hei mihi, qualis erat! quantùm mutatus ab illo
275. Indutus quoad Hectore, qui redit exuvias indutus Achillis,
exuvias
Vel Danaum Phrygios jaculatus puppibus ignes!
276. Vel qui jaculatus Squalentem barbam, et concretos sanguine crines,
Vulneraque illa gerens, quæ circum plurima muros
squalentem barbam, et Accepit patrios: ultrò flens ipse videbar
Compellare virum, et mæstas expromere voces :
281. O Hector expec- O lux Dardania! spes ô fidissima Teucrûm !
tate, ab quibus oris, ve- Quæ tantæ tenuêre moræ ? quibus Hector ab oris
Expectate, venis? ut te post multa tuorum
Funera, post varios hominumque urbisque labores,
Defessi aspicimus? quæ causa indigna serenos
Fœdavit vultus? aut cur hæc vulnera cerno ?
Ille nihil: nec me quærentem vana moratur;
Sed graviter gemitus imo de pectore ducens :
Heu! fuge, nate Deâ, teque his, ait, eripe flammis
Hostis habet muros; ruit alto à culmine Troja :
291. Ulla dextrâ, fuis- Sat patriæ Priamoque datum: si Pergama dextrâ
sent defensa etiam hâc Defendi possent, etiam hâc defensa fuissent.
Sacra, suosque tibi commendat Troja Penates:
294. Quære monia Hos cape fatorum comites: his mœnia quære,
his, quæ statues magna, Magna pererrato statues quæ denique ponto.
ponto denique pererrato, Sic ait, et manibus vittas, Vestamque potentem,
Æternumque adytis effert penetralibus ignem.
287. Ille respondit ni-
hil ad hæc :
288. Graviter ducens
gemitus de imo pectore,
ait: Heu! fuge
mea dextrâ.
NOTES.
drawn by two horses. Here it means the
chariot of Achilles, behind which Hector's
dead body was drawn around the walls of
Troy several times. See Æn. i. 99.
273. Trajectus-que per tumentes: pierced
through his swelling feet with thongs.
agrees with Hector, mentioned above.
It
274. Qualis erat! how he looked! how
much changed from that Hector, &c.
275. Indutus exuvias: clad in the spoils
of Achilles. When Achilles left the Grecks ·
in disgust, his friend Patroclus requested of
him the favor of wearing his armour, with
a view of striking the greater terror to the
Trojans. He was slain by Hector, and
stripped of his armour. See Ecl. i. 55.
280. Expromere: to utter these sorrowful
words. This word is very appropriate here;
it shows him laboring to bring out his words
and give them utterance, like a person
drawing a heavy load.
281. Lux: in the sense of salus.
282. Tanta: in the sense of longa. The
pron. te is understood.
283. Expectate: earnestly desired, or
longed for. Ut defessi: how gladly do we,
worn out, (with toil and fatigue,) see thee,
after the many deaths of thy friends, &c.
By labores hominum, perhaps we are to un-
derstand the disasters of their allies, and
by labores urbis, the disasters of his country-
Urbis: the city; by meton. put for
the inhabitants.
men.
275
280
285
290
295
286. Fœdavit: hath disfigured thy serene
countenance.
287. Moratur: nor did he, by answering
these questions, detain me, &c.
291. Sat datum: enough has been done
for our country, and for Priam. Sat here
performs the office of a noun. Pergama:
properly the fort and fortifications of Troy,
but frequently used and taken for the whole
city, as in the present case, by synec.
293. Penates. Macrobius, in his Saturna-
lia, explains the Penates to be those gods by
whom we breathe, and to whom we owe the
faculties of our minds and bodies, i. e.
e. Ju-
piter, Juno, and Minerva. To these he adds
Vesta on which account the consuls, and
other magistrates, when they entered upon
their offices, used to pay divine honors to
the Penates, and Vesta.
the Penates, and Vesta. This seems to be
confirmed by the passage before us, where
Vesta is delivered to the care of Æneas, as
well as the Penates. These gods, he ob-
serves, were styled the great gods. They
were also styled powerful: on which account
Virgil here styles Vesta, the powerful god-
dess: Veslam potentem.
Dionysius Halycarnassus informs us, that
the symbols of these Penates at Rome were
two wooden statues of young men, in a sit-
ting posture, with javelins in their hands.
294. Mania: in the sense of urbem. Fa-
torum: of thy fortunes.
297. Æternum ignem. The sacred fire was
ÆNEIS. LIB. II.
215
7
Diverso intereà miscentur monia luctu:
Et magis atque magis (quanquam secreta parentis
Anchisæ domus, arboribusque obtecta recessit)
Clarescunt sonitus, armorumque ingruit horror.
Excutior somno, et summi fastigia tecti
Ascensu supero, atque arrectis auribus adsto.
In segetem veluti cùm flamma furentibus Austris
Incidit; aut rapidus montano flumine torrens
Sternit agros, sternit sata læta boumque labores,
Præcipitesque trahit sylvas: stupet inscius alto
Accipiens sonitum saxi de vertice pastor.
Tum verò manifesta fides, Danaûmque patescunt
Insidiæ; jam Deïphobi dedit ampla ruinam,
Vulcano superante, domus: jam proximus ardet
Ucalegon: Sigea igni freta lata relucent.
Exoritur clamorque virûm, clangorque tubarum.
Arma amens capio, nec sat rationis in armis :
NOTES.
kept burning all the year. It was brought
by Æneas into Italy, where Numa Pompilius
re-established the order of the Vestal Vir-
gins; whose office was to preserve this fire
in the temple of Vesta. It was suffered to
die away on the last day of the year, and
was rekindled again on the first day of March
from the beams of the sun. The origin of
this religious custom seems to have been de-
rived from the Persians, who were famous
for worshipping the sun, and the fire, as an
emblem of that luminary. This everlasting
fire was not only preserved in the temple of
Vesta, but also in private houses, and in the
palaces of the great; where was an altar
to Jupiter Hercæus, on which fire was kept
perpetually burning. Some suppose that
this was the fire which Priam had consecra-
ted on the altar, at which he was slain.
Adytis. Adytum properly was the most
sacred part of the temple-the place where
the images and statues of the gods were-the
shrine. This was commonly the interior or
middle of the temple. Hence the propriety
of adytis penetralibus. It is often taken for
the temple itself by synec.
298. Diverso: in the sense of vario.
299. Secreta: private, separated from
others—by itself: it agrees with domus. Fuit
is understood.
300. Obtecta: surrounded (covered) by
trees, was retired from noise and bustle.
301. Sonitus clarescunt: the sounds are
heard more and more clearly: and the din
or clashing of arms increases.
303. Ascensu: by climbing up, I ascend
to the summit of the palace. By this we
are to understand the watch tower, which
was usually built on the ridge, or highest
part of the house, that it might afford them
a more extensive prospect. Arrectis auribus:
with listening ears. It is a metaphor taken
300
305
298. Et sonitus claros-
cunt magis atque magis
309. Fides verborum
310 Hectors fuit manifesta
314. Nec erat sat ra-
tionis mihi in armis. Sed
animi ardent glomerare
from those animals that prick up their ears
at every sound which gives them alarm.
304. Velut cùm flamma, &c. This fine
simile is taken from Homer, Iliad ii. 455
Austris: for ventis.
305. Torrens rapidus: a torrent rapid
with a mountain flood prostrates the fields,
prostrates, &c. Auctus colluvie aquarum è
montibus, says Heyne.
306. Sata: properly crops of corn, from
sero. Lata in the sense of copiosa, or fer-
tilia.
303. Accipiens: in the sense of audiens.
Inscius: ignorant of the cause of the sound.
309. Fides: the truth of Hector's words
was now manifest.
310. Deiphobi. Deiphobus was the son
of Priam and Hecuba. After Paris was
slain by Pyrrhus, he married Helen, by
whose treachery he fell a sacrifice to the
resentment of the Greeks, among the first
of his countrymen. See Æn. vi. 494, et seq.
311. Vulcano: in the sense of igne. The
god of fire, by meton. put for fire itself.
312. Ucalegon. He was one of Priam's
counsellors: here put, by meton. for the
house of Ucalegon. His house burns the
next. Lata Sigea freta: the broad Sigean
Sigea: an adj. from Sigeum, a promontory
straits shine with the light of the flames.
of Troas.
Fretum is properly a narrow sea
or strait: it here means that part of the
Egean sea lying between Tenedos and
Troas.
313. Exoritur clamorque, &c. This is
one of the finest lines that ever imaged the
sense in the sound. The words and sylla-
bles are rough, hoarse, and sonorous; and
so artfully put together as to strike the ear
like the thrilling notes of the trumpet which
they describe. Clangor in the sense of
sonus.
314. Amens: compounded of the Greek
216
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Sed glomerare manum bello, et concurrere in arcem
Cum sociis ardent animi: furor iraque mentem
317. Succurrit mihi in Præcipitant; pulchrumque mori succurrit in armis
mentem pulchrum esse
Ecce autem, telis Pantheus elapsus Achivûm,
Pantheus Otriades, arcis Phœbique sacerdos,
320. Ipse trahit sacra, Sacra manu, victosque Deos, parvumque nepotem
victosque
Ipse trahit cursuque amens ad limina tendit:
summa res
316
320
325
322. In quo loco est Quo res summa loco, Pantheu? quam prendimus arcem ?
Vix ea fatus eram gemitu,cùm talia reddit:
Venit summa dies et ineluctabile tempus
Dardaniæ: fuimus Troës, fuit Ilium, et ingens
Gloria Teucrorum ferus omnia Jupiter Argos
Transtulit: incensâ Danai dominantur in urbe.
Arduus armatos mediis in manibus adstans
331. Tot millia, quot
Fundit equus, victorque Sinon incendia miscet
nunquam venêre è mag- Insultans: portis alii bipatentibus adsunt,
Millia quot magnis nunquam venêre Mycenis.
nis
NOTES.
alpha,privitivum, and mens. It properly sig-
nifies, deprived of reason-destitute of pre-
sence of mind, from any cause whatever.
315. Glomerare: in the sense of colligere.
316. Animi ardent: my mind burns to
collect, &c. The plural here has plainly
the sense of the singular animus.
319. Pantheus: he was the son of Otreus.
Servius informs us, that on the overthrow of
Troy by Hercules, and the death of Lao-
medon, Priam sent the son of Antenor to
consult the oracle of Delphi, whether he
should build up Troy again upon the same
foundations. Pantheus was then priest of
the Delphic Apollo, a youth of exquisite
beauty; and Antenor was so well pleased
with him, that he carried him off by force
to Troy. To make some amends for this
injury, Priam made him priest of Apollo.
However this may be, he was a person of
great note and authority among the Tro-
jans. Sacerdos arcis Phœbique: priest of
the tower and of Apollo: (that is) of the
citadel or tower, where Apollo was worship-
ped, together with Pallas or Minerva, to
whom it was sacred.
320. Sacra: sacred utensils. Here again
Virgil applies one verb to two or more nouns,
when in strictness it can be applied to one
only. Trahit is applicable enough to a child
who can hardly walk, and must be half
dragged along; but it cannot so well be
applied to things that are carried in the hand.
321. Limina. Some copies have Litora.
But Servius, Donatus, Heyne, and others,
read limina, which is manifestly to be pre-
ferred. Litora appears inconsistent with
the case.
Beside, it reflects much honor
upon Æneas, that both Hector and Pantheus
should bring the sacred things of Troy to
him for safe-keeping. It is a chief object
with the poet to aggrandize his hero.
330
322. Summa res: the commonwealth-
the common interests of his country; which
was the summa res of Enéas, his chief, his
highest concern; and will always be nearest
the heart of every good patriot. Virgil, to
show the haste and impatience of Æneas,
makes him throw out these short questions
abruptly, without any previous introduc-
tion. Loco: state, or condition. Reddit:
in the sense of respondet.
324. Ineluctabile tempus. Rumus takes
these words in the sense of inevitabilis ruina
Troja. Summa: in the sense of suprema vel
ultima.
325. Fuimus Troes, fuit Ilium: we Tro-
jans are no more; Ilium, and the great glory
of the Trojans, hath fallen.
It was a custom among the Romans, when
they would intimate a person to be dead, to
say fuit, or vixit, to shun sounds that were.
shocking, and accounted of bad omen. Be-
side, there is a greater degree of elegance
in expressing the death of a person, or the
overthrow of a city, thus, indirectly, by fuit,
stelit, vixit, &c. than in plain words. The
one is the language of poetry, the other of
prose. This seems to be an imitation of
Euripides in his Troades, where Andromache
and Hecuba thus alternately complain.
once we were happy-! Hecuba: now our
happiness is gone--Troy is no more.
329. Miscet: in the sense of spargit.
330. Bipatentibus: in the sense of apertis.
Doors or gates that open both ways, or on
both sides, may be called bipatentes. Ad-
sunt: in the sense of intrant.
331. Mycenis. Mycenae and Argos were
the chief cities of Greece; and frequently
put for Greece in general. They were situ
ated in the Peloponnesus. Hodie, Morca.
ÆNEIS. LIB. II.
217
Obsedêre alii telis angusta viarum
Oppositi: stat ferri acies mucrone corusco
Stricta, parata neci: vix primi prælia tentant
Portarum vigiles, et cæco Marte resistunt.
Talibus Otriadæ dictis, et numine Divûm
In flammas et in arma feror: quò tristis Erinnys,
Quò fremitus vocat, et sublatus ad æthera clamor.
Addunt se socios Ripheus, et maximus annis
Iphitus, oblati per lunam, Hypanisque, Dymasque;
Et lateri agglomerant nostro: juvenisque Chorobus
Mygdonides illis ad Trojam fortè diebus
Venerat, insano Cassandra incensus amore;
335
340
339. Ripheus, et Iphi-
tus maximus annis, Hy-
panisque, Dymasque ob-
lati per Lunam addunt
se socios mihi
Et gener auxilium Priamo Phrygibusque ferebat:
Infelix, qui non sponsæ præcepta furentis
Audîerat.
Quos ubi confertos audere in prælia vidi,
Incipio super his Juvenes, fortissima frustrà
Pectora, si vobis audentem extrema cupido est
Certa sequi; quæ sit rebus fortuna, videtis.
Excessêre omnes adytis arisque relictis
Dî, quibus imperium hoc steterat: succurritis urbi
Incensæ mogiamur, et in media arma ruamus.
NOTES.
332. Angusta viarum: the narrow places,
or passages of the streets. Loca seems to
be understood. It is used in the sense of
angustas vias.
Caco Marte: in the blind (doubtful) en-
counter. It is so called on account of the
darkness of the night; or because it was
sudden and unexpected, and resistance could
not, therefore, be made with any prospect
of success. Marte: in the sense of pugna
vel certamine.
336. Numine: impulse, or will of the
gods.
337. Erinnys: this is a common name of
the three furies. See Geor. i. 278.
In ar-
ma: in the sense of in pugnas.
339. Maximus annis. Some read armis:
but the former appears to be the true read-
ing from verse 435, seq. Heyne has armis.
340. Oblati: meeting me by the light of
the moon.
341. Agglomerant: in the sense of adha-
rent.
343. Insano: in the sense of magno, or
vehementi. Virgil has here applied to Chora-
bus, what Homer says of Othryoneus.
He was passionately in love with Cassan-
dra, the daughter of Priam, and hoped to
become his son-in-law: with that view he
came to his assistance. He was the son of
Mygdon.
345. Furentis: furens here means inspi-
red-prophetic. Sponsa: properly a woman
promised, or betrothed in marriage; from
the verb spondeo: also a young married
woman.
345
345. Infelix juvenis!
qui non
349. Si certa cupido
350 est vobis sequi me au
dentem extrema; vos vi-
detis, quæ fortuna sit
nostris
347. Audere in prælia: to have courage
for fight to be ready to engage. Quos:
in the sense of illos.
348. Super his: upon these things. Hav-
ing observed them collected together, and
prepared for fight, he then begins. Or, su-
per his may be in the sense of ad hæc, to
these things-to their readiness and courage
for fight, he begins. Servius takes them
differently. I begin in these words, the more
to animate them. In this case, super must
be for insuper; in the former, a prep. Da-·
vidson follows Servius. Heyne has post
hæc-inde.
248. Juvenes, pectora: there is a great
confusion, and neglect of order and method,
in this speech, to mark the hurry and dis-
order of Eneas' mind. O youths, souls
most valiant! Frustra: in vain; because
they could not save their country.
349. Certa cupido: a fixed, determined
resolution. Audentem: in the sense of ten-
tantem. Cupido: in the sense of animus.
351. Omnes Di, quibus: all the gods, by
whom this empire stood, have departed
from, &c. It was a prevailing opinion that
a city, or place, could not be taken, while
its tutelary divinities remained in it. It was
the practice, therefore, of the besiegers to
invite, or call them away. For this reason
the Romans took care to conceal the Latin
name of the god under whose protection
Rome was; and the priests were not allow-
ed to call the Roman gods by their names,
lest, if they were known, an enemy might
solicit and entice them away. To this cus
218
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Una salus victis, nullam sperare salutem.
Sic animis juvenum furor additus. Inde lupi ceu
Raptores, atrâ in nebulâ, quos improba ventris
355
357. Quos improba Exegit cæcos rabies, catulique relicti
rabies ventris exegit ex Faucibus expectant siccis: per tela, per hostes
antris cæcos periculo, Vadimus haud dubiam in mortem, mediæque tenemus.
quos-que catuli relicti in
Urbis iter: nox atra cavâ circumvolat umbrâ.
antrs
359. Sic nos vadimus
per tela
Quis cladem illius noctis, quis funera fando
Explicet? aut possit lachrymis æquare labores?
Urbs antiqua ruit, multos dominata per annos:
Plurima perque vias sternuntur inertia passim
365. Domos hominum, Corpora, perque domos, et relligiosa Deorum
et per
Limina. Nec soli pœnas dant sanguine Teucri :
Quondam etiam victis redit in præcordia virtus,
368. Ubique est crude- Victoresque cadunt Danai: crudelis ubique
Luctus, ubique pavor, et plurima mortis imago.
370. Androgeos pri-
Primus se Danaûm, magnâ comitante catervâ,
mus Danaûm offert se Androgeos offert nobis,.socia agmina credens,
nobis, magna caterva Inscius; atque ultrò verbis compellat amicis:
comitante eum, credens Festinate, viri: nam quæ tam sera moratur :
Segnities? alii rapiunt incensa feruntque
lis
nostra agmina esse socia
NOTES.
tom the poet may here allude; or rather to
the poetical fiction, that when Troy was
like to be taken, the gods were seen carrying
away their statues from the temples.
354. Una salus: the only safety to the
vanquished, is, to hope for no safety. This
is the same argument which the brave Le-
onidas used to animate His men to sell their
lives as dear as possible. Una: in the sense
of sola.
355. Inde ceu lupi: after that, as ravenous
wolves in a dark night, which excessive
hunger hath driven out blind to danger, &c.
Improba rabies ventris: excessive greediness
of the belly-pressing hunger. Raptores:
in the sense of rapaces, ravenous, rapacious.
Dr. Trapp objects to the justness of this
simile; but the comparison does not lie in
the action, but in the manner of performing
it. As hungry rapacious wolves are forced
from their retreats precipitately into danger,
without fear or dread, so we rush desperate-
ly on our foes, looking death and danger in
the face. The poet mentions another cir-
cumstance. Catuli relicti: their whelps,
left behind, wait with parched jaws. By
which he intended to represent those animals
in their fiercest and most ravenous state;
and, therefore, the more proper to denote
the fierceness and rage of men driven to
despair. In atra nebula: in the dark night;
because in the night, or dark weather, they
are the fiercest and least mindful of danger.
359. Vadimus: we march to certain death,
and take the way through the middle of the
city. This circumstance is mentioned to
show their courage and intrepidity. After
ward he is afraid of the enemy, when, he
360
365
370
has in charge his aged father, his wife, and
infant son; and endeavors to shun them by
tracing out the by-paths and unfrequented
lanes.
361. Fando: in the sense of verbis.
362. Labores: disasters-toils.
365. Inertia corpora. By these bodies, it
is most probable, we are to understand the
feeble and helpless part of the inhabitants-
old men, women, and children; and all who
did not take up arms in defence of their
country: they were slain (sternuntur) every
where, in their own houses, in the streets,
and in the temples whither they had fled for
protection. They are called inertia in op-
position to those who dared to make resist
ance, and nobly die. This is much better
than to take corpora in the sense of cadavera,
as is usually done; for then the epithet iner-
tia would be quite useless and superfluous.
366. Relligiosa limina: the sacred tem-
ples of the ods. Limen, the threshold, by
synec. put for the temple. Dant pœnas san-
guine; simply, suffer punishment with their
blood-by shedding their blood.
367. Præcordia: in the sense of corda,
vel pectora.
369. Plurima imago: very many forms of
death. This mode of expression is common
with Virgil, and is conformable to the Latin
idiom. So multa virtùs—multusque honos.
Æn. iv. 3. Such expressions, however, con-
vey an idea of plurality rather than of uni-
ty; and, in our language, require to be ren-
dered in the plural number.
271. Socia: friendly. Androgeos took
them to be of the party of the Greeks.
374. Nam qum segnuties: what sloth so
ÆNEIS. LIB. II.
219
Pergama: vos celsis nunc primùm à navibus itis?
Dixit: et extemplò (neque enim responsa dabantur
Fida satis) sensit medios delapsus in hostes.
Obstupuit, retròque pedem cum voce repressit.
Improvisum aspris veluti qui sentibus anguem
Pressit humi nitens, trepidusque repentè refugit
Attollentem iras, et cœrula colla tumentem.
Haud secùs Androgeos visu tremefactus abibat.
Irruimus, densis et circumfundimur armis :
Ignarosque loci passim et formidine captos
Sternimus: aspirat primo fortuna labori.
Atque hic exultans successu animisque Chorobus,
O socii, quà prima, inquit, fortuna salutis
Monstrat iter, quàque ostendit se dextra, sequamur.
Mutemus clypeos, Danaûmque insignia nobis
Aptemus: dolus, an virtus, quis in hoste requirat?
Arma dabunt ipsi. Sic fatus, deinde comantem
Androgei galeam, clypeique insigne decorum
Induitur: laterique Argivum accommodat ensem.
Hoc Ripheus, hoc ipse Dymas, omnisque juventus
Læta facit: spoliis se quisque recentibus armat.
Vadimus immixti Danais, haud numine nostro :
Multaque per cæcam congressi prælia noctem
NOTES.
late detains you. Rapiunt: in the sense of
vastant. Ferunt: in the sense of evertunt.
376. Extemplò sensit: he instantly per-
ceived that he had fallen into the midst of
enemies. Delapsus: in the sense of delap-
sum esse. A Grecism.
377. Fida: in the sense of amica. Neque:
in the sense of non.
378. Repressit pedem: he retreated back
with his words. As soon as he perceived
his mistake, he retreated back.
379. Aspris: by syncope for asperis. This
simile is taken from Homer, Iliad iii. verse
33. But Virgil is very happy in the appli-
cation, and has improved upon the original,
by the addition of several circumstances that
heighten the comparison, and give it more.
force and likeness.
380. Nitens humi: walking on the ground,
steps upon a snake unseen, &c.
382. Haud secùs: no otherwise-just so.
383. Circumfundimur: this verb here has
an active signification: we encompass them.
with our weapons close joined. Or, it may
have the sense of miscemur, as Rumus in-
terprets it.
384. Captos formidine. Mr. Davidson ob-
servos: by this we are to understand that
they were so under the power of fear, as
not to be able to exert themselves-enchain-
-enchain-
ed, arrested, or nonplussed by fear; and so
enslaved to it, that they could obey nothing
but its impulse. Rumus interprets it by
percitos metu.
335. Aspiral: in the sense of favet. La-
bori: in the sense of conatui.
375
379. Veluti homo qui
380 nitens humi pressit an-
quem improvisum ex
aspris sentibus
385
390
381. Refugit eum at-
tollentem
387. O socii, qua for-
tuna prima monstrat no-
bis iter salutis, quàque
dextra ostendit se,
390. Quis requirat in
hoste, an sit dolus, an
virtus. Ipsi occisi
394. Ripheus facil
395 hoc, Dymas ipse facit
hoc
386. Animis: courage-boldness.
388. Dextra: in the sense of propitia.
389. Insignia Danaûm: the armour of
the Greeks. This seems to allude to the
figures, or images, engraven upon their buck-
lers-those of the Greeks having the figure
of Neptune, and those of the Trojans the
figure of Minerva. Putting on the Grecian
figures, was the same thing as putting on
their armour.
Zenobius tells us, that Corabus was noted
for stupidity: as an instance, he mentions
that he used to amuse himself on the sea
shore by counting the waves as they dashed
against it. He came to the assistance of
Priam just before the city was taken; and
now he shows his stupidity and want of
foresight in suggesting a plan, rash in its
nature, and which in the event proved fatal
to him and his associates.
390. Requirat: ask-demand.
393. Induitur comantem: he puts on the
waving helmet of Androgeos. Induitur is
plainly to be taken actively, in the sense of
induit. Comantem: waving with a hairy
crest. The crests of their helmets were
made of the hair of beasts. Decorum in-
signe clypei: the beautiful, or comely figure
of his shield; i. e. his beautiful shield-his
shield richly ornamented.
396. Haud nostro numine: not with our
god. This is an allusion to their having
put off their own armour, on which was en-
graven the figure of Minerva, their guar-
dian goddess and protectress, and put on the
220
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Conserimus, multos Danaûm demittimus Orco.
Diffugiunt alii ad naves, et litora cursu
400. Pars præ turpi Fida petunt: pars ingentem formidine turpi
formidine
403. Ecce Cassandra
crinibus
400
Scandunt rursus equum, et notâ conduntur in alvo.
Heu, nihil invitis fas quenquam fidere Divis!
Ecce trahebatur passis Priameïa virge
Priameïa Virgo passis Crinibus à templo Cassandra adytisque Minervæ,
Ad cœlum tendens ardentia lumina frustrà,
406. Lumina, inquam: Lumina, nam teneras arcebant vincula palmas.
nam,
rum armorum
413. Danai commoti
Non tulit hanc speciem furiatâ mente Chorœbus,
Et sese medium injecit moriturus in agmen.
Consequimur cuncti, et densis incurrimus armis.
Hic primùm ex alto delubri culmine telis
Nostrorum obruimur, oriturque miserrima cædes,
412. Ex facie nostro- Armorum facie, et Graiarum errore jubarum.
Tum Danai gemitu, atque ereptæ virginis irâ,
gemitu, atque irâ virgi- Undique collecti invadunt: acerrimus Ajax,
nis ereptæ ex suis mani- Et gemini Atridæ, Dolopumque exercitus omnis.
Adversi rupto ceu quondam turbine venti
bus
:
416. Ceu adversi ven- Confligunt, Zephyrusque, Notusque, et lætus Eois
ti, Zephyrusque, Notus-
Eurus equis stridunt sylvæ, sævitque tridenti
que, et Eurus lætus Eois
equis, quondam confli- Spumeus atque imo Nereus ciet æquora fundo.
gunt, turbine rupto Illi etiam, si quos obscurâ nocte per umbram
NOTES.
Grecian armour, with the figure of Neptune,
the inveterate enemy of the Trojans. Im-
mixti Danais. It is one characteristic of
the valiant, that they mingle with the ranks
of the enemy. Homer says of Diomede,
that he so mingled with the Trojans, that a
spectator would have, sometimes, been at a
loss to know whether he belonged to the
Trojans, or to the Greeks.
398. Conserimus multa prælia: we wage
many a fight. Orco: in the sense of ad in-
feros.
402. Nihil fas: it is not right that any
one should have confidence, (trust in any
thing) the gods being against him. Nihil
and nil are often used simply in the sense of
The verb est is understood.
non.
404. Crinibus passis: with loose or dis-
hevelled hair. Passis, from the verb pan-
dor, to be loose or spread open.
405. Tendens: raising her glaring eyes to
heaven in vain. Frusta: in vain, either be-
cause the gods were inexorable, or because
she could not move the compassion of the
Greeks. This is a most moving represen-
tation of the beautiful prophetess and prin-
cess in distress. No wonder that it roused
the indignation of this valiant band, and
brought them to her rescue. They avenged
the horrid deed upon their enemies.
407. Speciem: sight-spectacle. This sight
Chorobus could not bear.
409. Incurrimus: we rush upon them to
the rescue of Cassandra. Densis armis :
with close weapons-in close array. Heyne
405
410
415
420
understands it of their rushing upon the
close or compacted body of the Greeks.
Irruimus in densum agmen hostium, says he.
412. Facie armorum: from the appearance
of their armour, the Trojans took them to
be Greeks. Jubarum: crests or plumes.
413. Gemitu: in the sense of dolore. The
Greeks (moved) with grief and resentment,
on account of the virgin rescued from their
hands, being collected together from all
quarters, attack us. Gemitus here is plainly
used in a wider sense than usual. Both
Ruæus and Heyne take it in the sense of
dolor.
414. Ajax. He was the son of Oileus.
He ravished Cassandra in the temple of
Minerva, for which he was afterward severe-
ly punished by that goddess. See En. i.
41. Ajax, the son of Telamon, had some
time before killed himself, for his failure in
the contest for the armour of Achilles.
415. Gemini Atrida: the two sons of
Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus.
416. Ceu adversi venti: as when opposite
winds, &c. This simile is in imitation of
Homer, Iliad 9. In comparing the two,
Scaliger found the preference so much due
to Virgil, that he reckons him the master,
and Homer the scholar. Confligunt: in the
sense of certant.
419. Nereus: a marine god. The tridont
was assigned to him by the poets, as well as
to Neptune. See Ecl. vi. 35.
420. Si quos fudimus: if we have routed
any by stratagem through the shades in the
ENEIS. LIB. II.
221
Fudimus insidiis, totâque agitavimus urbe,
Apparent primi clypeos mentitaque tela
Agnoscunt, atque ora sono discordia signant.
Ilicèt obruimur numero, primusque Chorobus
Penelei dextrâ divæ armipotentis ad aram
Procumbit: cadit et Ripheus, justissimus unus,
Qui fuit in Teucris, et servantissimus æqui;
Dîs aliter visum. Pereunt Hypanisque, Dymasque,
Confixi à sociis: nec te tua plurima, Pantheu,
Labentem pietas, nec Apollinis infula texit.
Iliaci cineres, et flamma extrema meorum,
Testor, in occasu vestro, nec tela, nec ullas
Vitavisse vices Danaûm: et, si fata fuissent
Ut caderem, meruisse manu.
Iphitus et Pelias mecum: quorum Iphitus ævo
Jam gravior, Pelias et vulnere tardus Ulyssei.
Divellimur inde,
Protinùs ad sedes Priami clamore vocati.
Hìc verò ingentem pugnam, ceu cætera nusquam
Bella forent, nulli totâ morerentur in urbe :
425
430
435
Sic Martem indomitum, Danaosque ad tecta ruentes 440
NOTES.
dusky night, &c. they also appqar. Menti-
ta tela: false or fictitious armour. It pur-
ported that those who wore it were Greeks;
but in truth were Trojans.
423. Signant ora: they observe our words
differing in sound from theirs. We speak
not their language, and, therefore, they know
there must be some deception in the busi-
Some understand by sono, the Gre-
cian watch-word. Ora: in the sense of
verba, by meton.
ness.
424. Ilicèt obruimur: instantly we are
overpowered by numbers. The word ilicèt
was anciently used in the sense of actum est:
all is over. It was an expression used by
the judge, who, when he thought fit to put
an end to business, ordered the crier to pro-
nounce ilicèt, i. e. ire licet: all may go-the
business is over.
425. Armipotentis Diva: the warlike god-
dess-Pallas. See Geor. i. 18. Pencleï:
Peneleus was one of the five generals of the
Beotians who came to the Trojan war.
428. Visum aliter Dis. Having mention
ed that his friend was the most just, and
most observant of justice among the Tro-
jans, Æneas certainly could not mean that
it seemed otherwise to the gods. Something
it is evident must be understood. Now, the
mention of this excellent man, would natu-
rally suggest the reflection that he deserved
a better end: he ought not to have fallen
with the rest; but he checks himself: Dis
aliter visum: it seemed otherwise to the
gods. Commentators have been much di-
vided in opinion upon these words. But in
this view they are plain and intelligible.
The verb est is understood.
·
422. Illi etiam appa-
rent; primique
427. Qui fuit unus
justissimus, et
432. Testor vos, me
vitavisse nec tela, nec
ullas vices Danaûm
438. Hic verò cerni-
mus ingentem pugnam,
ceu
429. Nec tua plurima pietas: nor did thy
great piety, nor the fillets of Apollo, protect
thee from falling.
431. Iliaci cineres: ye Trojan ashes, and
the last flames of my country, I call you to
witness, that, &c. Vices. By this Servius
understands pugnæ, fights; because they
fought by courses. Scaliger takes it to
mean wounds and deadly blows, vulnera et
cædes; because wounds in fighting are mu-
tually given and received. Donatus consi-
ders it an allusion to the gladiators; the
in fencing to parry off a thrust, in opposition
verb vito, joined with it, being a term used
For vices, Ruæus says
to peto, to aim one.
pericula. Heyne says casus pugna.
433. Fuissent: in the sense of sinuissent.
434. Meruisse manu: that I merited it by
this right hand, i. e. by fighting. There is
something noble in this sentiment. It con-
siders death as a prize or reward, which the
valiant win by their merit or valor. This
agrees with his former reflection: pulchrum
que mori succurrit in armis. Divellimur in-
de Iphitus, et: we are torn away from thence,
He speaks of it as a great affliction; and,
as it were, accuses his fate that denied him
the honor of so glorious a death.
435. Gravior avo: Iphitus was now op-
pressed or enfeebled with age; and Pelias
disabled by a wound which he had received
from Ulysses. Avo: for annis.
437, Protinùs: immediately-in haste
Vocati: sumus is understood.
438. Ceu: in the sense of quasi. It is
understood before nulli. Bella:" in the sonse
of pugnæ.
440. Martem indomitum: Mars, furious,
ungoverned. Mars, the god of war, put for
222
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Cerpimus, obsessumque actâ testudine limen.,
Hærent parietibus scale, postesque sub ipsos
443. Danai nituntur Nituntur gradibus; clypeosque ad tela sinistris
Protecti objiciunt, prensant fastigia dextris.
Dardanidæ contrà turres ac tecta domorum
446. His telis parant Culmina convellunt: his se, quando ultima cernunt,
defendère se
445
Extremâ jam in morte parant defendere telis;
Auratasque trabes, veterum decora alta parentum,
Devolvunt: alii strictis mucronibus imas
Obsedêre fores: has servant agmine denso.
450
451. Nostri animi sunt Instaurati animi, regis succurrere tectis,
instaurati
Auxilioque levare viros, vimque addere victis.
Limen erat, cæcæque forès, et pervius usus
455. Dum regna Pri- Tectorum inter se Priami, postesque relicti
A tergo infelix quà se, dum regna manebant,
ami
:
NOTES.
war, or fighting in general. Ad tecta: to
the palace.
441. Testudine actâ: the testudo being
formed. The testudo was a figure into which
the soldiers formed themselves in attacking
towns and other fortified places. The first
rank stood upright, the next behind them
stooped lower and lower by degrees, till the
last rank kneeled down: all holding their
targets or shields over their heads in their
left hands. By these means they were se-
cure from the missive weapons of the enemy
from the walls and towers. To carry on an
attack in this way was called, agere testudi-
nem to form the testudo, or target defence.
Limen: the passage which led up to the
palace-the place before the door.
442. Parietibus. Paries is properly the
wall of a house-murus, the wall of a city.
443. Nituntur gradibus sub, &c. By gra-
dibus, here, we may either understand the
steps that led up to the palace, or the steps
of the scaling ladders by which they mount-
ed up, or pressed to get up, to the roof, the
foot of these ladders being placed at the very
door-posts. Mr. Davidson understands the
passage in this last sense. The former, how
ever, is the easier: which is the sense of
Rumus. Ad ipsas portas, says he. The
Greeks ascend (nituntur) by the steps up to
the very doors. Postes, properly the frame
of the door, put, frequently, for the door it-
self, by meton.
~
-
444. Protecti sinistris: protected by their
left hands, (by the shields which they sup-
ported on their left arm,) they oppose their
shields, &c. Fastigia: the roof, or the eaves
or edge of the roof.
445. Tecta culmina domorum: the cover-
ed tops of their houses. Here tecta is a par-
ticipial adjective, from the verb tego. Its
nouter, tectum, properly signifies the roof or
covering of any building. Hence by synec.
the building itself a house, a palace.
455
447. In extrema morte: in the last catas-
trophe. Suprema ruinâ, says Ruæus.
448. Devolvunt auratas trabes: they tum-
ble down upon their enemies the gilded
rafters, the stately decorations of their an-
cestors. In this passage, the poet has drawn
a lively picture of men in despair. Some
copies have decora illa parentum; which
has a peculiar emphasis.
449. Alii obsedère. These I take to be
Trojan guards, who had taken possession of
the lower doors, to prevent the entrance of
the Greeks. Others understand the Greeks
themselves, who had besieged the doors.
Mucronibus. Mucro is properly the point of
the sword; by synec. put for the whole
sword.
450. Denso agmine: in a close, or coin-
pact body. Animi: courage.
452. Levare: in the sense of juvare. Vic-
tis: to those despairing fighting without
any hope of victory. Vim: force-vigor
In the sing. it is a triptot; in the plu. regu-
lar.
453. Pervius usus tectorum: lit. a tho-
roughfare (free communication) between
the palaces of Priam with each other, and
a gate left free (unobserved by the enemy)
from behind, where unhappy Andromache,
&c.
It appears that Priam had two palaces
near each other, with a communication be.
tween them; in one of which Hector and
Andromache resided, while he and Hecuba
resided in the other. Limen: an entrance.
Caca: private-secret. Through this pri-
vate, or back door, Eneas entered the pa-
lace, and ascended by the usual passage up
to the watch-tower.
454. Postes: in the sense of porta.
455. Quà infelix Andromache. The men-
tion of her using this secret passage of the
palace, gives a dignity to the circumstance,
which in itself is low.
ÆNEIS. LIB. II.
223
Sæpiùs Andromache ferre incomitata solebat
Ad soceros, et avo puerum Astyanacta trahebat.
Evado ad summi fastigia culminis, unde
Tela manu miseri jactabant irrita Teucri.
Turrim in præcipiti stantem, summisque sub astra
Eductam tectis, unde omnis Troja videri,
Et Danaûm solitæ naves, et Achaïca castra ;
Aggressi ferro circùm, quà summa labantes
Juncturas tabulata dabant, convellimus altis
Sedibus, impulimusque. Ea lapsa repentè ruinam
Cum sonitu trahit, et Danaûm super agmina latè
Incidit: ast alii subeunt: nec saxa, nec ullum
Telorum intereà cessat genus.
Vestibulum ante ipsum primoque in limine Pyrrhus
Exultat, telis et luce coruscus ahenâ.
Qualis ubi in lucem coluber, mala gramina pastus,
Frigida sub terrâ tumidum quem bruma tegebat;
NOTES.
457. Soceros: her parents-in-law-Priam
and Hecuba. Astyanacta: a Greek acc. of
Astyanax. Some say he was carried off by
Ulysses, others say by Menelaus, in the ab-
sence of Pyrrhus, and thrown over a preci-
pice, to evade the prophecy, which imported
that, if he lived, he would avenge his pa-
rents and country. The name is of Greek
origin, and signifies, a king of a city.
458. Evado ad fastigia: I ascend to the
top of the highest roof. The word evado
marks the danger of the enterprise, and the
hazard he ran of being intercepted by the
enemy.
It is probable that by fastigia here, we
are to understand the battlements, or watch-
tower, which had been built upon the high-
est part of the palace. We may suppose
the palace to nave been of different heights,
or to have consisted of several buildings,
differing in height, and connected together
so as to form one mass, each of them with
its respective roof; hence the propriety of
the expressions: summi tecti-summi cul-
minis, &c.
460. In præcipiti: in a dangerous place
-in a projecting situation.
461. Summis tectis: with its highest roof,
or simply, with its top. It is plain that tec-
tum here means the roof, or ridge of the
tower.
463. Ferro. Ferrum properly signifies
iron. Hence any instrument made of iron
-any edged tool; such as swords, axes, &c.
With these instruments they cut the tower
loose, where the topmost story gave weak
joints. Mr. Davidson observes, it is some-
what difficult to determine the meaning of
summa in this place; because the poet
speaks as if the whole tower had been torn
from its place, and not one story of it only.
He therefore thinks we may understand by
the summi labulata, the highest story of the
་
460
465
470
458. Hâc via evado
460. Nos circùm ag-
gressi ferro turrim
461. Unde omnis Tro-
ja solita est videri, et
naves Danaûm solitæ
sunt videri
468. Cessat jactari a
Danais
471. Talis, qualis co-
luber est, ubi serpit in
lucem, pastus mala gra-
mina, quem tumidum
frigida bruma tegebat
sub terra; nunc,
palace, on which the tower stood, and to
which it was fastened: or perhaps the high-
est story, or part of the tower only, was
overthrown. Labantes: in the sense of
infirmas.
464. Dabant: in the sense of habebant.
469. Ante ipsum: before the very en-
trance, or vestibule. The vestibulum pro-
perly was the court yard or space before
the door of the house. By primo limine,
we may understand the outer gate; perhaps
the one that gave admittance into the ves-
tibulum.
470. Coruscus ahend luce: gleaming in
arms, and brazen light; the brass of his
armour reflected the light.
Pyrrhus. He was the son of Achilles
and Deïdamia, so called from the color of
his skin, which was red. He was sometimes
called Neoptolemus, from two Greek words,
which together signify a new war.
He in-
herited much of the spirit and temper of
his father. He slew Priam while holding
the altar, to which he had fled for refuge;
and sacrificed his daughter Polyxena at the
tomb of his father. After the destruction
of Troy, he carried off Andromache, whom
he married; at least he had a son by her,
named Molossus. He afterwards married
her to Helenus, the son of Priam, upon his
falling in love with Herinione, the daughter
of Menelaus and Helen.
Pyrrhus was slain in the temple of
Apollo, at Delphi, by Orestes, to whom
Hermione had been promised. He was also
called Pelides, from Peleus, his grandfather.
471. Pustus mala: having fed upon poi-
sonous herbs. It is said that serpents, when
they lie in wait for either man or beast, eat
poisonous herbs and roots, to make their
hite more fatal.
472. Bruma: properly the shortest day
of winter-the winter solstice; hence by
224
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Nunc positis novus exuviis, nitidusque juventâ,
Lubrica convolvit, sublato pectore, terga
475. Unà cum Pyrrho Arduus ad Solem, et linguis micat ore trisulcis.
ingens Periphas, et Unà ingens Periphas, et equorum agitator Achillis
Automedon Armiger
Pyrrhi, quondam agita- Armiger Automedon; unà omnis Scyria pubes
tor equorum Achillis, Succedunt tecto, et flammas ad culmina jactant.
Ipse inter primos, correptâ dura bipenni,
unà etiam omnis
479. Pyrrhus ipse in- Limina perrumpit, postesque à cardine vellit
ter primos
Æratos; jamque excisâ trabe firma cavavit
Robora, et ingentem lato dedit ore fenestram.
Apparet domus intus, et atria longa patescunt :
Apparent Priami et veterum penetralia regum :
485. Danai vident ar- Armatosque vident stantes in limine primo.
matos custodes stantes
At domus interior gemitu miseroque tumultu
Miscetur: penitùsque cave plangoribus ædes
Fœmineis ululant: ferit aurea sidera clamor.
Tum pavidæ tectis matres ingentibus errant :
490. Figunt oscula Amplexæque tenent postes, atque oscula figunt.
Instat vi patriâ Pyrrhus; nec claustra, neque ipsi
Custodes sufferre valent: labat ariete crebro
illis
NOTES.
synec. the whole winter. Tumidum: swol-
len, or bloated with poison.
473. Novus exuviis: now, renewed, his
skin being cast off, and sleek with youth, he
rolls, &c. It is well known that the snake
changes, or creeps out of his skin, in the
spring of the year. Aristotle informs us
that they begin at the head, and having di-
vested themselves of their old garment,
they appear renewed in youth and beauty.
This is effected in about the space of twenty-
four hours.
475. Arduus ad solem: raised or elevated
to the sun; in order to receivo his heat, es-
pecially in the spring, when his warm beams
are the most cherishing. Trisulcis. The
poets represent serpents as having three-
forked tongues, probably on account of the
volubility of their tongues, in which they
are said to exceed all other animals. Micat:
in the sense of vibrat.
477. Scyria: an adj. from Scyros, one of
the Cyclades. Achilles was placed here
in the habit of a woman, under the care of
Lycomedes, king of the island, where he
defiled his daughter Deïdamia, who brought
him Pyrrhus. Some say Lycomedes gave
him his daughter in marriage. Pubes: in
the sense of juventus.
478. Succedunt tecto: come up to the pa-
lace, so that they could reach the roof with
the flames. They advance up to a proper
distance, to throw flames upon the roof.
481. Cavavit firma robora: and now hath
he pierced, or cut through the firm wood,
&c. This change of tense is very expres-
sive and beautiful. It marks the violence
of Pyrrhus, and the rapidity of his progress.
By trabe here, we may understand the bar,
475
480
485
490
or crosspiece, or other impediments, on the
inside of the door, to secure it. By limina,
we may understand the impediments or de-
fences on the outside of the door; and by
postes, the door itself, by meton. The per-
rumpit dura limina, and the vellit postes à
cardine, show Pyrrhus breaking through all
obstructions, and tearing down the doors;
and cavavit being in the perf. tense, marks
the case and rapidity with which the effect
was produced. Dedit: in the sense of fecit.
484. Penetralia. Penetrale properly sig-
´nifies the interior or private apartments of
a house, as here-that part of the temple
where the images stood the place whence
the responses of the oracles were given-
the shrine. Ruæus says, recessus.
487. Cavæ ædes: the rooms with concave
arches, or ceilings. Ululant: in the sense
of resonant. Plangoribus: shrieks, or la-
mentations. These rooms, or apartments
of the females, were in the middle, or inte-
rior part of the palace. This is expressed
by penitùs.
490. Amplexæ tenent, &c. This is an al-
lusion to a superstitious opinion among the
Romans, that the door-posts, gates, &c.
possessed a kind of divinity. These, there-
fore, the poet represents as being seized and
embraced by the Trojan matrons, who hoped
by these means to recommend themselves
to the protection of the deities that were
supposed to preside over them. Figunt os-
cula: fix their lips to them-kiss them.
489. Ingentibus tectis: in the spacious
apartments-halls.
492. Sufferre: in the sense of impedire.
Crebro ariete: with the frequent strokes of
the ram. This was an engine used in the
ÆNEIS. LIB. II.
225
455
Janua, et einoti procumbunt cardine postes.
Fit via vi: rumpunt aditus, primosque trucidant
Immissi Danai, et latè loca milite complent.
Non sic, aggeribus ruptis cùm spumeus amnis
Exiit, oppositasque evicit gurgite moles,
Fertur in arva furens cumulo, camposque per omnes
Cum stabulis armenta trahit. Vidi ipse furentem
Cæde Neoptolemum, geminosque in limine Atridas: 500
Vidi Hecubam, centumque nurus, Priamumque per aras
Sanguine fœdantem, quos ipse sacraverat, ignes.
Quinquaginta illi thalami, spes tanta nepotum,
Barbarico postes auro spoliisque superbi,
Procubuere: tenent Danai, quà deficit ignis.
Forsitan et, Priami fuerint quæ fata, requiras.
Urbis ubi captæ casum, convulsaque vidit
Limina tectorum, et medium in penetralibus hostem;
Arma diu senior desueta trementibus ævo
NOTES.
attack of towns and fortified places, to make
a breach in the walls. It was a long beam
or piece of timber, one end of which was
prepared with iron, somewhat resembling in
form the head of a ram, whence it took its
name. This was suspended in the middle
by the help of ropes, to another beam, ex-
tended across two posts, and thrown forward
by the besiegers with great violence against
the wall.
493. Postes: the door, or gate, by meton.
494. Rumpunt aditus: they force a pas-
sage, or entrance.
496. Non sic fertur: a river, when it hath
rushed forth foaming, its barriers being burst,
and hath overcome the opposing mounds
with its whirling current, is not borne into
the fields so furious with its flood, &c. The
poet here gives us a very lively idea of the
rage of the Greeks. It exceeded that of a
river pent up; at length, bursting its barri-
ers, overflowing the adjacent country, and
spreading desolation and destruction every
where in its course. Cumulo: auctu aqua-
rum, says Ruœus.
501. Hecubam. She was the wife of Pri-
am, and daughter of Cisseus, king of Thrace.
She was carried into slavery by the Greeks.
Centum nurus. Homer informs us that Priam
had only fifty sons, Iliad vi. He could not
therefore have a hundred daughters-in-law,
unless we suppose each one to have had two
wives. This might have been the case; but
there is no mention made of it. To explain
this difficulty, some take the definite num-
ber centum, for an indefinite one. Others,
among whom is Rumus, take nurus for an
attendant, or waiter, understanding by cen-
tum nurus, the hundred servants, or waiters
of Hecuba. But there is no impropriety in
supposing that the sons of Priam, imitating
the example of their father, had more than
505
495. Danai rumpunt
aditus, immissique
496. Amnis, cùm exiit
spumeus, aggeribus rup-
tis, evicitque oppositas
moles gurgite, non fertur
in arva sic furens
498. Cumulo aquarum
505. Danai tenent lo-
cum, quà
509. Senior nequic-
quam circumdat arma
diu desueta humeris tre-
mentibus ævo, et
one wife each; who, in the whole, might
make the exact number of a hundred. This
last is the best, or most probable explana-
tion.
502. Fœdantem: defiling with his blood
the fires which, &c. In the open court of
his palace, Priam had an altar consecrated
to Jupiter Hercæus, or the Protector:
this altar, we are told that hallowed fire was
kept perpetually burning
on
503. Illi thalami: those fifty bed-cham-
bers, the so great hope of posterity. These
were the separate rooms where his sons
lodged with their wives. Homer tells us
that Priam had twelve daughters, who, with
their husbands, lodged over against his sons.
He had therefore sixty-two children by his
several wives, nineteen of whom Hecuba
bore him. The rest he had by his other
wives. All these bed-chambers were in
Priam's palace.
504. Superbi barbarico auro: decorated
frequently called Phrygia, Barbary. Some
with foreign gold and spoils. The Romans
Phrygian gold. It is better to understand
therefore understand by barbarico auro,
it of the gold, which had been taken from
their vanquished enemies; more especially
since spoliis immediately follows it.
perbi: in the sense of ornati, or decorati.
Postes in the sense of portæ : doors.
:
the flames.
Su-
505. Danai tenent, &c. The Greeks are
here beautifully represented more cruel than
The fire abated, and fell from
its rage: but the more merciless Greeks
press on till all is destroyed.
507. Casum: in the sense of ruinam.
508. Limina tectorum convulsa: the door
of his palace torn down-broken through.
Penetralibus: in the inner or private apart-
ments of his palace.
16
226
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Circumdat nequicquam humeris, et inutile ferrum
510
Cingitur, ac densos fertur moriturus in hostes:
Edibus in mediis, nudoque sub ætheris axe
Ingens ara fuit, juxtàque veterrima laurus,
Incumbens aræ, atque umbrâ complexa Penates.
515: Condense sunt Hic Hecuba et natæ nequicquam altaria circùm,
circum altaria præcipi-
tes, ceu columbæ volant Præcipites, atrâ ceu tempestate columbæ,
amplexa
ab atra tempestate, et Condensæ, et Divûm amplexa simulacra tenebant.
Ipsum autem sumptis Priamum juvenilibus armis
518. Autem Hecuba, Út vidit: Quæ mens tam dira, miserrime conjux,
ut vidit Priamum ipsum, Impulit his cingi telis? aut quò ruis? inquit.
juvenilibus armis sump-
tis, inquit:
Non tali auxilio, nec defensoribus istis
520. Impulit te cingi
524. Aut tu moriere
simul nobiscum.
Tempus eget: non, si ipse meus nunc afforet Hector.
Huc tandem concede: hæc ara tuebitur omnes;
Aut moriere simul. Sic ore effata, recepit
Ad sese, et sacrâ longævum in sede locavit.
515
520
525
Ecce autem elapsus Pyrrhi de cæde Polites,
Unus natorum Priami, per tela, per hostes
Porticibus longis fugit, et vacua atria lustrat
Saucius: illum ardens infesto vulnere Pyrrhus
Insequitur, jam jamque manu tenet, et premit hastâ. 530
531. Tandem, ut eva- Ut tandem ante oculos evasit et ora parentum,
sit ante oculos et ora Concidit, ac multo vitam cum sanguine fudit.
parentum
Hic Priamus, quanquam in mediâ jam morte tenetur,
Non tamen abstinuit, nec voci, iræque pepercit :
At, tibi pro scelere, exclamat, pro talibus ausis,
Dî (si qua est cœlo pietas, quæ talia curet)
NOTES.
510. Circumdat: in the sense of induit.
Cingitur: in the sense of cingit.
512. Sub nudo axe: under the naked
(open) canopy of heaven. Axis, properly
the pole, by synec. the whole heaven or sky.
This altar was situated in the middle, or
centre of the palace-mediis ædibus. On
this altar, Priam had consecrated the per-
petual fire. Here he was slain. If we sup-
pose the palace of such form and dimen-
sions as to admit a large space or area in
the centre, exposed to the open air above,
there will be no difficulty in understanding
this passage.
514. Complexa Penates: embracing the
Penates with its shade. La Cerda would
understand by Penates, the palace, or house,
as the word sometimes signifies; because
this was not the place of the Penates, or
household gods. But others think the sta-
tues of the Penates were placed here, on the
same altar with that of Jupiter Hercæus.
515. Nato in the sense of filiæ, vel
nurus.
516. Præcipites: quick-in haste.
517. Condensæ circum: crowded around
the altars. Simulacra: in the sense of
statuas.
519. Miserrime: in the sense of infelicis-
sime, the voc. Conjux is either a husband
535
or wife; from the verb conjungo. Mens:
thought-purpose.
522. Ipse meus Hector: if my Hector him-
self were now here, he could be of no avail.
523. Concede: betake yourself hither now,
in this last extremity. This altar will pro-
tect us all. Altars and other consecrated
places were looked upon as sanctuaries and
places of refuge: to which it was usual to
flee for safety.
525. Longavum: in the sense of senem.
526. De cæde Pyrrhi: not from the death
of Pyrrhus; but from death by the hand of
Pyrrhus.
528. Longis porticibus: in the long pas-
sages. Mr. Davidson renders the words,
the long galleries. Lustrat: in the sense of
pererrat.
529. Investo vulnere: with the hostile
weapon.
Vulnus is here used by meton.
for the wounding instrument-the weapon
that inflicts the wound.
530. Jam jamque: almost seizes him with
his hand, and presses upon him with his
spear.
531. Evasit: in the sense of pervenit.
534. Abstinuit: in the sense of conticuit.
535. Pro scelere, pro: for such wicked-
ness, for such audacious deeds, may the
gods make you suitable returns, &c.
Pro-
ÆNEIS. LIB. II.
227
Persolvant grates dignas, et præmia reddant
Debita qui nati coràm me cernere letum
Fecisti, et patrios fœdâsti funere vultus.
At non ille, satum quo te mentiris, Achilles
Talis in hoste fuit Priamo; sed jura fidemque
Supplicis erubuit; corpusque exsangue sepulchro
Reddidit Hectoreum, meque in mea regna remisit.
Sic fatus senior, telumque imbelle sinè ictu
Conjecit: rauco quod protinùs ære repulsum,
Et summo clypei nequicquam umbone pependit.
Cui Pyrrhus: Referes ergo hæc, et nuntius ibis
Pelidæ genitori: illi mea tristia facta,
Degeneremque Neoptolemum narrare memento.
Nunc morere.
540
539. Funere ejus filii
540. A quo mentiris
te satum esse
545
549
Hæc dicens, altaria ad ipsa trementem
Traxit, et in multo lapsantem sanguine nati :
Implicuitque comam lævâ; dextrâque coruscum
Extulit, ac lateri capulo tenus abdidit, ensem.
Hæc finis Priami fatorum: hic exitus illum
NOTES.
sometimes signifies, in proportion to-cor-
responding to. In the present case it is also
emphatic. Ausis. Ausum is properly a
part. of the verb audeo; used as a sub.
538. Qui fecisti me coràm, &c. Priam
does not complain of his killing his son;
but for the barbarity in making him to be
the witness of so shocking a sight-for
slaying him before his eyes.
539. Fœdâsti patrios: hast defiled a fa-
ther's face with the dead body of his son.
Funus, says Servius, is a carcass or dead
body, warm and newly slain. When car-
ried out to receive funeral rites, it is called
Exsequia; the ashes of it, when burned,
are called Reliquiæ; and the interment of
it is called sepulchrum.
540. At Âchilles ille, quo: but Achilles
himself, by whom, you falsely say, you was
begotten, was not such toward Priam, his
enemy.
This is a severe sarcasm; as if he had
said: you claim descent from Achilles, but
your actions give you the lie; no man of
humanity could beget such a son. Satum:
in the sense of genitum.
542. Erubuit jura:, he blushed at the
laws of nations, and the faith due to a sup-
pliant he had regard to the laws, &c. The
word erubuit is extremely beautiful and ex-
pressive.
After the death of Hector, Achilles bound
his dead body to his chariot, and drew it
round the tomb of Patroclus, whom Hector
had slain, and around the walls of Troy, for
several days in succession. At this piteous
sight, Priam was induced to go to Achilles,
and beg the body, that it might receive the
rites of sepulture; who, after much en-
treaty, and many rich presents given him,
restored the body on the twelfth day after it
545. Quod repulsum
est protinûs
547. Cui Pyrrhus re-
spondit
549. Memento narra
re illi mea tristia facta,
Neoptolemum esse
553. Ac abdidit eum
lateri Priami tenùs ca-
pulo
was slain. Virgil, however, forbears to
mention these circumstances, and attributes
the restoration of Hector's corpse to the
generosity, justice, and sense of honor, of
Achilles, in order to set the character of
Pyrrhus in a more forcible light.
Achilles had it in his power to have de-
tained the aged monarch, or to have put him
to death; but he blushed (erubuit) at the
thought of violating the laws of nations,
which forbid all violence to the person of a
king; which require the forms of burial to
be allowed to the dead, and the laws of
humanity to be observed even to an enemy,
when disarmed: those laws he observed,
and that faith (fidem) which is due to a
suppliant, whose person has always been
held sacred by the laws of hospitality
544. Ictu: in the sense of impetu.
545. Repulsum: it was so repelled, that
it fell short of wounding him. It, however,
pierced the boss of his buckler, and hung
there harmless, having produced no effect.
546. Umbone. Umbo was the middle part
of the shield. This rose or projected for-
ward from the plane of the shield, in a curved
or circular form. By summo umbone, we
are to understand the farthest point of pro-
jection; which was also the centre of the
shield. Here the spear of Priam stuck. It
is sometimes taken for the whole shield, by
synec.
547. Ibis nuntius: you shall go a mes-
senger to my father Achilles, whom you
so much praise, and tell him that his son
has degenerated from the virtues of his fa-
ther.
548. Tristia: foul-horrid. Rumus says
indigna.
554. Fatorum: in the sense of vitæ. This
was the end of the life of Priam. Hic exi-
228
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Sorte tulit, Trojam incensam et prolapsa videntem 555
Pergama, tot quondam populis terrisque superbum
Regnatorem Asiæ: jacet ingens litore truncus,
Avulsumque humeris caput, et sinè nomine corpus
At me tum primùm sævus circumstetit horror :
560. Subiit mihi in Obstupui: subiit chari genitoris imago,
mentem
Ut regem æquævum crudeli vulnere vidi
Vitam exhalantem: subiit deserta Creüsa,
Et direpta domus, et parvi casus Iüli.
Respicio, et, quæ sit me circùm copia, lustro.
Deseruere omnes defessi, et corpora saltu
566. Dedêre ea ægra Ad terram misêre, aut ignibus ægra dedêre.
ignibus
Jamque adeò super unus eram, cùm limina Vestæ
NOTES.
tus tulit: this death carried him off (sorte)
by divine appointment. This is a singular
idiom. The several circumstances here
mentioned in the death of Priam, aggravate
the cruelty of the action, and set forth the
ferocious temper of Pyrrhus. He drew him
(traxit,) trembling with age and decay of
nature, to the very altar where he had fled
for safety; and slipping (lapsantem) in the
blood of his son; the sight of which was
worse than death: then he twisted his hair
with his left hand, and, with his right hand,
drew his glittering sword from its scabbard,
and plunged it into his body up to the hilt.
Here we have a lively picture of a man lost
to all sense of humanity, and capable of
perpetrating the most atrocious deeds. It
shows, also, the pen of a master. A painter
could copy it.
556. Pergama: neu. plu. properly the fort
of Troy. It is frequently taken for the city
itself, by synec.
Here it is used in its appro-
priate sense and meaning, as distinguished
from the city.
555. Videntem: it agrees with illum.
557. Superbum regnatorem: the proud ruler
over so many nations and countries of Asia.
Priam is said to have once reigned over
Phrygia Major and Minor: which included
the greater part of Asia Minor, or Natolia.
Rumus interprets the words thus: Regem
Asiæ, clarum propter tot gentes, et tot regiones.
Jacet ingens truncus: he lies a large trunk
upon the shore.
Some think the poet had
here in his view, the circumstances of the
death of Pompey, whose head his assassins
cut off, and threw his body on the shore.
Others say that Priam was not slain at the
altar; but drawn by Pyrrhus to the tomb of
his father, which was on the promontory of
Sigæum, and there slain to appease his
Manes. He may have been slain at the al-
tar, and his dead body afterward cast upon
the shore. This supposition will make the
poet consistent and intelligible. Regnatorem
put in apposition with illum.
558. Corpus sinè nomine: a body without
560
565
a name. The head being the index of the
person, that being cut off, there is no means
left to come at the name, or to distinguish
the person. Or, sinè nomine may mean,
without honor-despicable.
561. Ut: in the sense of cùm.
562. Creüsa. The daughter of Priam and
Hecuba, and wife of Æneas. She perished
in the sack of Troy. Direpta: plundered
563. Casus: in the sense of periculum.
565. Saltu: by a leap or spring.
566. Ægra: faint-worn out with fa-
tigue, so that they could fight no longer.
567. Jamque adeò: and so I was now re-
maining alone, when I behold Helen, &c.
The parts of the verb supersum are here se-
parated, for the sake of the verse, by Tmesis.
Some critics have doubted the genuine-
ness of this passage concerning Helen down
to the 588th line inclusive. The reasons as-
signed are three. First: What is hero said
of her fearing the resentment of Menelaus,
contradicts what he says of her, (lib. vi.
525.) having sought to make peace with
him by betraying Deiphobus. Secondly:
That Virgil here outrages the character of
his hero, by making him entertain a thought
of killing a woman, and perpetrating the
decd in the temple of Vesta. Thirdly: That
Virgil cannot be supposed so unacquainted
with the history of Helen, as not to know
that she left Troy long before it was taken.
In answer to the first objection, it may be
said that, though she endeavored to ingra-
tiate herself with Menelaus, by betraying
Deiphobus to him, it does not follow that
he was entirely reconciled to her. And we
are told by Euripides that he carried off
Helen as a captive along with the Trojan
women, with a view to have her put to
death by the Greeks whose sons had fallen
in the war. To the second objection, it may
be replied, that Æneas did hot put her to
death; and even if he had, the deed might
have been palliated, in a good degree, by a
consideration of the circumstances of the
case. In the hurry and confusion of min-
ENEIS. LIB. II.
229
Servantem, et tacitam secretâ in sede latentem
Tyndarida aspicio: dant clara incendia lucem
Erranti, passimque oculos per cuncta ferenti.
Illa, sibi infestos eversa ob Pergama Teucros,
Et pœnas Danaum, et deserti conjugis iras
Permetuens, Trojæ et patriæ communis Erinnys,
Abdiderat sese, atque aris invisa sedebat.
Exarsere ignes animo: subit ira cadentem
Ulcisci patriam, et sceleratas sumere pœnas.
Scilicet hæc Spartam incolumis patriasque Mycenas
Aspiciet? partoque ibit regina triumpho?
Conjugiumque, domumque, patres, natosque videbit,
Iliadum turbâ et Phrygiis comitata ministris?
Occiderit ferro Priamus? Troja arserit igni?
Dardanium toties sudârit sanguine litus?
Non ita namque etsi nullum memorabile nomen
Fœmineâ in pœnâ est, nec habet victoria laudem;
Extinxisse nefas tamen, et sumpsisse merentis
NOTES.
gled passions with which his mind must then
have been racked, who could have blamed
him if he had avenged his own and his coun-
try's sufferings upon her, who was justly
chargeable with the guilt of so many thou-
sand deaths, and the utter desolation of a
whole innocent people-a once flourishing
and powerful kingdom? But when, instead
of giving way to the first emotions of a just
resentment, he checks himself, deliberates
upon the merits of the action, and is at length
prevented from doing it by the interposition
of his goddess mother; or, in other words,
by the force of superior judgment, there is
no reason even for the severest critics to
censure his conduct. Lastly: Herodotus
informs us that he learned from some Egyp-
tian priests, who had received the same from
Menelaus himself, that the Trojans had sent
Helen to Egypt before the Greeks rede-
manded her. Of this fact, the historian ap-
pears to have been fully convinced. But
whether Virgil was acquainted with this
piece of his history or not, it is sufficient
that he had poetical tradition on his side;
and that he is supported by the authority of
Homer and Euripides. A moment's atten-
tion to the style and manner of expression
in these lines, will convince any one that
they are no interpolation. Unus: in the
sense of solus.
568. Servantem limina Vesta; the verb
servare signifies to look after any thing with
anxiety, and solicitude; with a jealous eye,
and watchful of every danger. Limina: in
the sense of templum.
569. Tyndarida: acc. of Tyndaris, a name
of Helen, the daughter of Jupiter and Leda;
so called, because Tyndarus, king of Sparta,
married Leda, her mother.
572. Deserti conjugis: her deserted, or
abandoned husband, Menelaus.
570
570. Mihi erranti, fe-
rentique oculos
571. Illa, communis
Erinnys Troja et ejus
patriæ, permetuens Teu-
cros infestos sibi ob ever-
575 sa Pergama, et
580
585
577. Hæc-ne scilicet,
inquiebam, incolumis as-
piciet Spartam
583. Non ita erit
namque
573. Permetuens: dreading-greatly fear-
ing. The per in composition increases the
signification of the simple word. Helen
proved fatal both to Greece and Troy; to
the former, in the loss of so many heroes;
to the latter, in being the cause of its ruin.
She is therefore styled the common fury.
Erinnys, a name common to the three furies.
See Geor. i. 278.
574. Invisa: hated-an odious sight; ra-
ther than unseen, as Rumus has it.
575. Ignes exarsere: flames flashed in my
mind. Ira subit: my resentment rose to
avenge my falling country.
576. Sumere sceleratas panas: to take se-
vere punishment. Or, perhaps, to take pu-
nishment of such a cursed woman. The
same as, sumere pœnas de scelerata fœmina
Ruæus says, pœnas sceleris. Heyne, pœna.
sumplas à scelerata.
577. Mycenas: Mycenae was not the place
of her own nativity, but of Menelaus, her
husband. She was born at Sparta. Scili-
cet hæc: shall she, indeed, in safety behold?
&c. These are all animated interrogatories.
and show the mind of Æneas hurrying from
object to object, and agitated with a tide of
passions. At last he concludes it must not
be. She must suffer the punishment due to
her crimes.
578. Parto triumpho: having obtained a
triumph-a triumph being obtained.
580. Comitala turbâ: accompanied by a
train of Trojan matrons, and Phrygian ser-
vants, shall she see her former marriage bed?
&c. Iliadum: gen. plu. of Ilias, a Trojan
woman. Conjugium: pristinum conjugem,
says Heyne. Patres: for parentes.
582. Dardanium : an adj. the same as
Trojanum.
583. Nomen: glory-renown.
585. Tamen laudabor: nevertheless, I shall
230
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Laudabor pœnas; animumque explêsse juvabit
587. Meorum civium. Ultricis flammæ, et cineres satiâsse meorum.
Talia jactabam, et furiatâ mente ferebar,
589. Cùm alma pa- Cùm mihi se, non antè oculis tam clara, videndam
rens, non visa tam clara
meis oculis antè, obtulit Obtulit, et purâ per noctem in luce refulsit
se videndam mihi, et ré- Alma parens, confessa Deam; qualisque videri
fulsit per noctem Cœlicolis et quanta solet; dextrâque 'prehensum
hensum dextrâ
596. Non aspicies pri-
ùs, ubi liqueris parentem
Anchisen, fessum
592. Continuit me pre- Continuit, roseoque hæc insuper addidit ore:
Nate, quis indomitas tantus dolor excitat iras?
Quid furis? aut quonam nostri tibi cura recessit?
Non priùs aspicies, ubi fessum ætate parentem
598. Circùm quos, Liqueris Anchisen? superet conjuxne Creüsa,
omnes Graiæ acies er- Ascaniusque puer? quos omnes undique Graiæ
rant undique
Circùm errant acies: et, ni mea cura resistat,
600. Tulerint eos, et
inimicus ensis hauserit Jam flammæ tulerint, inimicus et hauserit ensis.
eorum sanguinem.
Non tibi Tyndaridis facies invisa Lacænæ,
602. Sed inclementia Culpatusve Paris: Divûm inclementia, Divûm,
Divûm, Divûm, inquam, Has evertit opes, sternitque à culmine Trojam.
604. Namque eripiam Aspice: namque omnem, quæ nunc obducta tuenti
omnem nubem,quæ nunc Mortales hebetat visus tibi, et humida circùm
Caligat, nubem eripiam: tu ne qua parentis
evertit
obducta hebetat
NOTES.
be praised for having put an end to the
monster of wickedness, and taken vengeance
of one so justly deserving it. Nefas, very for-
cibly expresses the enormity of her crimes:
she was wickedness itself.
We are told that Helen was first ravished
by Theseus. Afterward she married Mene-
laus, whom she left for Paris. She also
committed incest with her son-in-law Ory-
thus, the son of Paris and Enone. It is
also said that she had an amour with Achil-
les. She may truly be called (nefas) a
monster of wickedness. Merentis: part. of
Mereor, agreeing with ejus understood: of
her deserving or meriting it.
586. Juvabit: it will delight me to have
satisfied my desire of burning or ardent re-
venge. Flammæ may here be used in the
sense of flammeæ vel ardentis. Animum:
in the sense of desiderium. Animus may
signify any affection of the mind; especially
in the plural. For ultricis flammæ, Ruæus
says, ardentis ultionis. Heyne says, flammâ
sive irà ultrice (hoc est) ultione.
589. Clara: manifest-clear: attended
with evident marks of Divinity.
591. Confessa Deam: manifesting the god
dess. Qualisque, et quanta: such, and as
illustrious as she used to be seen, &c. Ve-
nus was the most proper deity to interpose
in behalf of Helen, whom she had long pro-
tected, and had conferred on Paris, as a re-
ward for his adjudging the prize of beauty
to her, rather than to Juno or Minerva.
See Æn. i. 27. This interposition of Venus
was very seasonable in another respect; to
check the ardor of his soul, to divert him
590
595
600
605
from his present object, and to direct his re-
gard to his own-to his aged father, his
infant son, and his beloved wife, who other-
wise might have fallen victims to the fury
of the Greeks.
593. Addidit hæc: she added these words.
595. Tibi: in the sense of tua: thy care
regard. Quònam: the compound in the
sense of the simple quò.
597. Superet: in the sense of superest.
600. Tulerint: would have carried them
off-consumed them.
601. Lacœnæ Tyndaridis: of Spartan He-
len. See 569. supra. Invisa tibi: hateful
or odious to you.
602. Divûm inclementia. This reading is
much more emphatic than verùm inclemen-
tia Divûm, as in the common editions: and
it is supported by the authority of ancient
manuscripts: it is the reading of Heyne
and Valpy. Homer makes Priam exculpate
Helen, and lay the blame of the destruction
of his country to the gods themselves. Iliad
iii. 164.
603. Has opes: in the sense of hanc po-
tentiam. Opes, is, properly, power acquired
by wealth.
604. Quæ nunc obducta: which now spread
before you, looking earnestly, blunts your
mortal sight, &c. This passage Milton ap-
pears to have had in view, where the angel
prepares Adam for beholding the future vi-.
sion of his posterity, and their history:
which he is going to set before him. See
Paradise Lost, lib. xi. verse 411. Humida:
moist-impregnated with vapor so as to in-
crease the darkness.
ANEIS. LIB. II.
231
Jussa time, neu præceptis parere recusa.
Hic, ubi disjectas moles, avulsaque saxis
Saxa vides, mixtoque undantem pulvere fumum;
Neptunus muros, magnoque emota tridenti
Fundamenta quatit, totamque à sedibus urbem
Eruit. Hic Juno Scaas sævissima portas
Prima tenet, sociumque furens à navibus agmen
Ferro accincta vocat.
Jam summas arces Tritonia, respice, Pallas
Insedit, nimbo effülgens et Gorgone sævâ.
Ipse Pater Danais animos viresque secundas
Sufficit ipse Deos in Dardana suscitat arma.
Eripe, nate, fugam, finemque impone labori.
Nusquam abero, et tutum patrio te limine sistam
Dixerat et spissis noctis se condidit umbris.
Apparent diræ facies, inimicaque Troja
Numina magna Deûm.
Tum verò omne mihi visum considere in ignes
NOTES.
610. Hic Neptunus quatit: here Neptune
shakes the walls, &c. Neptune took an ac-
tive part against the Trojans, having become
their enemy on account of the perfidy of
Laomedon. See Geor. i. 502. This fable
is explained by supposing that Laomedon
employed the money which had been des-
tined for the service of that god, in building
the walls of Troy. Emota: in the sense of
evulsa.
612. Hic Juno: here Juno, most fierce,
occupies the Scean gate in front, &c. It is
most probable that prima, here, has reference
to the place of her standing, before, or in
front of the gate. It may, however, mean
that Juno was the first, or chief, in urging on
the Greeks in the work of destruction. We
are told the gates of Troy were six in num-
ber: the gate of Antenor; the gate of Dar-
danus; the Ilian; the Catumbrian; the Tro-
jan; and the Scean. Through this gate
the Trojan horse is said to have entered.
On which account, it is probable, the poet
placed Juno at this gate, clad in armour, and
calling upon her Greeks.
615. Pallas. She is sometimes called
Tritona: hence the adj. Tritonia. See 171.
supra.
616. Effulgens nimbo: resplendent with
a cloud. By nimbo, in this place, Servius
understands a lucid circle, resembling a dia-
dem about the head, to distinguish the gods
from mortals. Gorgone: the three daugh-
ters of Phorcus and Ceto, Medusa, Euryale,
and Stenyo, were called Gorgones, Gorgons,
or terrible sisters. The name is of Greek
derivation, and signifies fierceness. It is said
they had but one eye, which served them
all by turns. They had great wings: their
heads were attired with vipers instead of
hgir: their teeth were tusks like those of a
mortales visus tibi tuen-
ti
608. Hic, ubi vides
moles disjectas, sáxaqué
610 avulsa saxis, fumumque
undantem mixto pul-
vere, Neptunus quatit
muros Troja, fundamen-
taque emota magno tri-
denti
615
620
624. Omne Ilium vi-
sum est mihi
boar: they were armed with sharp and
crooked claws.
Medusa having been ravished in the tem-
ple of Minerva by Neptune, the goddess
gave her serpents the quality of transforming
men into stones at the sight of them. Per-
seus cut off her head by the aid of Miner-
va's buckler, which, being so finely polished,
that it reflected the image of the Gorgon's
head, secured him from the fatal influ-
ence of her eye. This head Minerva af-
terward wore upon her shield or buckler, to
render her more awful and tremendous. See
Lexicon, sub Ægide.
617. Pater ipse: the father himself gives
courage and successful strength to the
Greeks. Juno and Minerva opposed the
Trojans from selfish motives, because they
had been slighted by Paris; but Jove was
an enemy to them, because their cause was
unjust, in detaining Helen against the laws
of nations, when properly demanded.
620. Abero: in the sense of relinquam.
622. Diræ facies: horrid images appear—
the images of desolation, death, and despair.
623. Magna numina Deûm. The Ro-
mans divided the gods into two classes: the
Dii majorum, and the Dii minorum gentium.
In the first were ranked Jupiter, Neptune,
Minerva, and Juno. The three last, in an
especial manner, are represented as hostile
to Troy; and Jove, on this occasion, is op-
posed to them also. The magna numina
Deûm may simply mean the great gods; or
rather, the great powers of the gods, hostile
to Troy. The overthrow of Troy is all
along represented to have been effected, not
so much by the power of the Greeks, as by
the power of the gods. I am now persuaded
of the inutility of making any further resist-
ance, since it evidently appears that the
great powers of the gods are against us.
232
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
ornum in summis monti-
625
630
625. Ac veluti cùm Ilium, et ex imo verti Neptunia Troja.
agricolæ certatim in- Ac veluti summis antiquam in montibus ornum
stant eruere antiquam Cùm ferro accisam crebrisque bipennibus instant
bus, accisam ferro Eruere agricolæ certatim; illa usque minatur,
628. Illa usque mina- Et tremefacta comam concusso vertice nutat:
tur ruinam, et tremefac- Vulneribus donec paulatim evicta, supremùm
ta quoad comam
Congemuit, traxitque jugis avulsa ruinam.
Descendo, ac, ducente Deo, flammam inter et hostes
636. Quemque primùm Expedior: dant tela locum, flammæque recedunt
Ast ubi jam patriæ perventum ad limina sedis,
posse producere vitam, Antiquasque domos genitor, quem tollere in altos 635
Trojâ excisâ
Optabam primùm montes, primùmque petebam,
petebam, abnegat se
638. Ait: O vos, qui- Abnegat excisâ vitam producere Trojâ,
bus est sanguis integer
ævi; quibusque vires Exiliumque pati. Vos ô, quibus integer ævi
stant solidæ suo robore Sanguis, ait, solidæque suo stant robore vires;
642. Est satis supèr- Vos agitate fugam.
644. O vos, affati meum
que vidimus una exci- Me si coelicolæ voluissent ducere vitam,
dia, et
Has mihi servâssent sedes: satìs una supèrque
corpus, sic, sic positum, Vidimus excidia, et captæ superavimus urbi.
Sic, ô, sic positum affati discedite corpus.
discedite.
640
NOTES.
626. Ac veluti, &c. This simile is taken
from Homer, Iliad xvi. 481, who applies it
to the death of Sarpedon; but the copy ex-
ceeds the original.
627. Bipennibus. The axe is here used
for the stroke, or blow of the axe, by me-
Accisam in the sense of circumcisam.
628. Usque: in the sense of diu.
ton.
629. Nutat comam. It is usual with Vir-
gil to consider a tree in analogy to a human
body, and to call the extended limbs, or
branches, brachia, arms; and the leaves,
comam, hair, or locks. This diversifies his
This diversifies his
style, and renders it pleasant.
630. Vulneribus. in the sense of ictibus.
This is beautifully figurative. The allusion
to the human body is still kept up.
631. Avulsa jugis: torn from the sides of
the mountains.
632. Deo ducente. Deus is either a god
or goddess. Here it means Venus. Under
her conduct, Eneas made his way through
the dangers that beset him, to the house of
his father.
'633. Expedior. Habeo liberum ɩter, says
Habeo liberum iter, says
Heyne.
634. Ast ubi perventum. The imp. verb
perventum est is used for the personal verb
perveni. This mode of expression is very
common among the poets. Our language
will not admit of it, and we are under the
necessity of rendering such impersonals by
the personals of the correspondent verb, as
in the present case perventum est: I came,
or had come.
637. Abnegat: refuses to prolong his life.
We learn from Varro that the Greeks hav-
ing given permission to Encas to carry off
what was dearest to him, he took his father
upon his shoulders. The Greeks, struck
with this eminent example of filial tender-
ness and affection, gave him a second op-
tion, when he carried off his gods. Upon
this, they were induced to grant him full
liberty to take along with him his whole fa-
mily and all his effects.
638. Integer ævi: unimpaired, or entire,
on account of age. Causâ, or some word
of the like import, is probably to be under-
stood, to govern the gen. ye, whose
blood is not chilled and wasted by age, and
who are yet in the full vigor of youth, do
ye attempt your flight. The repetition of
the vos is emphatical. For robore, Ruæus
says firmitate.
642. Satis supèrque: it is enough, and
more, that I have seen one destruction of
my country, and survived the captured city.
This is an allusion to the siege and capture
of Troy by Hercules, in the reign of Lao-
medon, a fact mentioned by historians as
well as by poets. And Virgil says of An-
chises, that he had been twice saved from
the ruins of Troy. Æn. iii. 476.
644. Sic, O, sic affati: O ye, having ad-
dressed my body, thus, thus laid out, de-
part. There is a peculiar emphasis in the
repetition of the word sic. Anchises con-
siders himself as already dead, and his body
laid out in burial: corpus positum, placed
on the funeral pile: at which time it was
usual for the friends of the deceased to take
a solemn farewell, by repeating the word
vale three times. The repetition of the sic
shows his determined purpose of dying,
and his earnest desire of being left to pur-
sue his resolution. It is used in the same
way in the fourth book. where Dido, bent
ÆNEIS. LIB. II.
233
Ipse manu mortem inveniam: miserebitur hostis,
645
Exuviasque petet: facilis jactura sepulchri est
Jampridem invisus Divis et inutilis annos
647. Inutilis homini-
bus
648. Ex tempore, quo
pater
650
Demoror, ex quo me Divûm pater atque hominum rex
Fulminis afflavit ventis, et contigit igni.
Talia perstabat memorans, fixusque manebat.
Nos contrà effusi lachrymis, conjuxque Creüsa,
Ascaniusque, omnisque domus, ne vertere secum
Cuncta pater, fatoque urgenti incumbere vellet.
Abnegat, inceptoque et sedibus hæret in îsdemt.
Rursus in arma feror, mortemque miserrimus opto.
Nam quod consilium, aut quæ jam fortuna dabatur?
Mene efferre pedem, genitor, te posse relicto
Sperâsti? tantumque nefas patrio excidit ore?
Si nihil ex tantâ Superis placet urbe relinqui;
Et sedet hoc animo, perituræque addere Trojæ
Teque tuosque juvat: patet isti janua leto.
NOTES.
on death, is just going to plunge the dagger
into her bosom. She breaks forth into this
abrupt exclamation: Sic, sic juvat ire sub
umbras.
645. Manu. Servius understands by ma-
nu, the hand of the enemy; but it is easier
to understand it of his own hand. Rumus
says, propria manu. Hostis: the enemy will
take pity on me. This strongly marks the
anguish of his soul. He was so weary of
life, that he would consider it a favor in the
enemy to put an end to it.
646. Jactura: the loss of burial is easy-
the deprivation of burial rites is a matter of
no concern to me.
$
648. Demoror annos: I linger out my
years. Traho vitam, says Ruæus.
649. Aflavit me: blasted me with the
winds of his thunder, and struck me with his
lightning. The ancients supposed the winds
were the efficient cause of thunder.
It is said that this calamity was inflicted
upon Anchises for divulging his amour with
Venus. Some say he was struck blind:
others, with more propriety, say that he was
blasted in his limbs. Memorans: in the
sense of dicens.
651. Nos effusi: on the other hand, we,
bathed in tears, (beseech) my father that he
would not destroy all with himself, and press
upon the calamity (fato) already weighing
us down-that he would not, by the afflict-
ing circumstance of his own death, increase
the calamity already pressing us down with
its own weight. Ne vellet accelerare perni-
ciem instantem, says Heyne.
Dr. Trapp would read occumbere, or ra-
ther succumbere, if there were authority for
it. As it is, he thinks it a metaphor taken
from the falling on a sword. Mr. Davidson
takes it to be a metaphor drawn from one's
leaning or lying with all his weight upon a
654
652. Precamur, ne pa-
ter vellet vertere cuncta
secum
656. Nam quod aliud
consilium, aut quæ alia
fortuna jam
657. O genitor, spe-
râsti-ne me posse efferre
660 pedem, te relicto
load, which presses another down, so as to
add to the pressure, and to render it more
insupportable. Eneas and his family were
already grievously oppressed and weighed
down by the public calamity, (falo urgenti,
the fate that lay so heavy upon them,) and
therefore pray Anchises not to increase the
burden, by the additional weight of his per-
sonal sufferings and death. Rumus inter-
prets incumbere urgenti fato, by: addere vim
falo prementi nos.
654. Sedibus: in the sense of loco.
655. Miserrimus: most miserable-dis-
tracted-in despair.
656. Nam quod, &c. The meaning of this
line appears to be: for what other course
could I take, what else could I do, than arın
myself, and seek to renew the conflict?
Anchises had positively refused to survive
the fall of his country: Eneas could not
leave him behind: nothing remained for him
to do, but to sell his life as dear as possible.
For dabatur, Ruæus says offerebatur.
657. Efferre pedem: to depart. Sperâsti-
ne: didst thou expect that I could depart.
O father, without thee?
658. Nefas: impiety.
659. Superis. Superi are properly the
gods above, as distinguished from those
below.
660. Et hoc sedet: and this be fixed in thy
mind, and it pleases thee to add thyself, &c.
Rumus understands this of the gods just
mentioned; but Davidson and others refer
it to Anchises. This appears the more cor-
rect and natural; for Anchises is left per-
fectly free to act, either to stay behind, or to
depart, and to form his plans deliberately.
Si hoc fixum est in eorum mente, et delectai
eos, &c. says Ruæus.
661. Janua isti leto: the door to that
death is open. The isti refere to what An-
234
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
664. Erat-ne ob hoc
:
Jamque aderit multo Priami de sanguine Pyrrhus,
Natum ante ora patris, patrem qui obtruncat ad aras
Hoc erat, alma parens, quòd me, per tela, per ignes,
665. Ut cernam hos- Eripis? ut mediis hostem in penetralibus, utque
tem in mediis penetra- Ascaniumque, patremque meum, juxtàque Creüsam,
libus, utque cernam As-
Alterum in alterius mactatos sanguine cernam?
caniumque
Arma, viri, ferte arma: vocat lux ultima victos.
669. Sinite ut revisam Reddite me Danais, sinite instaurata revisam
Prælia nunquam omnes hodie moriemur inulti.
Hìc ferro accingor rursus: clypeoque sinistram
Insertabam aptans, meque extra tecta ferebam.
673. Conjux Creusa Ecce autem complexa pedes in limine conjux
complexa meos pedes in Hærebat, parvumque patri tendebat Iülum.
limine domûs
675. In omnia pericula
Si periturus abis, et nos rape in omnia tecum:
Sin aliquam expertus sumptis spem ponis in armis,
677. Cui parvus Iülus Hanc primùm tutare domum. Cui parvus Iülus,
relinquitur; cui tuus pa- Cui pater, et conjux quondam tua dicta, relinquor?
ter; et cui ego relinquor, Talia vociferans, gemitu tectum omne replebat:
quondam dicta tua con-
Cùm subitum dictuque oritur mirabile monstrum.
Namque manus inter mœstorumque ora parentum,
jux?
NOTES.
chises had said, verse 645, supra, of his find-
ing death by his own hand, or that the ene-
my would take pity on him, and kill him.
Æneas here tells him the door to that death
is open, and easy to come at; for he imme-
diately adds: Jamque Pyrrhus: Pyrrhus
will soon be here from the slaughter of Pri-
am. Servius takes isti for istic, but without
sufficient reason. Iste, properly, is that of
yours, hic, this of mine.
663. Qui obtruncat: who butchers the son,
&c. This alludes to his killing Polites in
the presence of his father, and after that
atrocious deed, killing the aged monarch,
dragged to the altars.
664. Hoc erat: was it for this, dear pa-
rent, that, &c. Ruæus says: Hæc-cine erat
causa, cùr.
665. Eripis: in the sense of servavisti.
Penetralibus: in the sense of domo, vel tecto.
See 484, supra.
667. Mactatos: butchered the one in the
blood of the other. This part. refers to the
three preceding nouns.
668. Lux: in the sense of dies.
670. Prælia instaurata: the fight renew-
ed. Nunquam: in the sense of non.
672. Insertabam: I put my left hand to my
shield, fitting it-I fixed my shield upon my
left arm. The clypeus was a shield of an
oval form, not so large as the scutum. It
was usually made of the skins of beasts, and
interwoven in such a manner, as to be im-
penetrable to the missive weapons of the
enemy. They carried it upon the left arm.
671. Tendebatque parvum, &c. The poct
here appears to have had in his view that
affecting scene between Hector and Andro-
·
665
670
675
680
mache, in the sixth book of the Iliad, where
the circumstances are nearly the same,
Andromache expostulates with Hector, as
Creüsa does with Æneas, and in like man-
ner pleads her future forlorn condition, and
that of her child, in case he should abandon
them: and to add force to her entreaties,
she puts Astyanax into his arms, as Creüsa
here does Iülus into the arms of Æneas.
in the sense of cape, vel trahe.
675. Et: in the sense of quoque. Rape:
676. Expertus: having experience in the
art of war-being skilled in war. Ponis
you place any, &c.
677. Tutare: in the sense of defende.
678. Quondam: once called your wife.
This is a very tender expostulation.
680. Subitum monstrum. This unexpect
ed prodigy, or miracle, is extremely well
timed. Had Anchises finally persisted in
his resolution, it must have put an end to
the poem, by involving Eneas and all his
family in one common ruin. He had been
urged by all human arguments in the strong-
est manner, without any avail; what then
remained for the poet, but to have recourse
to the interposition of the gods, to save his
hero in this extremity. This was complete-
ly successful. Anchises is convinced of his
duty to yield to the present necessity, and
to save his life by flight.. Oritur: in tho
sense of apparet.
G81. Inter manus oraque: between the
hands and face of his mournful parents-
while they were holding him in their arms,
behold, &c.
ÆNÉIS. LIB, [Ï.
235
·
Ecce levis summo de vertice visus Iüli
Fundere lumen apex, tactuqué innoxia molli
Lambere flamma comas, et circum tempora pasci.
Nos pavidi trepidare metu, crinemque flagrantem
Excutere, et sanctos restinguere fontibus ignes.
At pater Anchises oculos ad sidera lætus
Extulit, et cœlo palmas cum voce tetendit :
Jupiter omnipotens, precibus si flecteris ullis,
Aspice nos: hoc tantùm: et, si pietate meremur,
Da deinde auxilium, pater, atque hæc omina firma.
Vix ea fatus erat senior, subitoque fragore
Intonuit lævum, et de cœlo lapsa per umbras
Stella facem ducens multâ cum luce cucurrit.
Illam, summa super labentem culmina tecti,
Cernimus Idæâ claram se condere sylvâ,
Signantemque vias: tum longo limite sulcus
Dat lucem, et latè circùm loca sulfure fumant.
NOTES.
682. Levis apex: the waving tuft, or
plume. Apex properly signifies the top, or
eminence of any thing. Hence it may
mean the top of one's hat, cap, or bonnet,
as in Æn. viii. 664. Vertice: in the sense
of capite.
683. Fundere: in the sense of emittere.
Innoxia: inoffensive-not hurting him.
Tactu. This is the reading of Heyne and
Davidson. But Rumus and Valpy read
tractu. Molli: gentle-easy. Heyne has
mollis, agreeing with flamma. Most copies
have molli.
684. Lambere: to glide along his hair-
gently touch it.
685. Nos pavidi: we, trembling for fear,
(begin) to bustle about, to shake his fla-
ming hair, and to extinguish the sacred fire
with water. Fontibus: in the sense of
aqua.
689. Si flecteris: if thou art moved.
691. Firma hæc omina: confirm this
omen. The Romans deemed one omen not
sufficient, unless it were followed or con-
firmed by a second. Hence secundus and
secundo came to signify prosperous, and to
prosper.
693. Lævum intonuit: the left thundered
with a sudden peal.
Both the Greeks and Romans considered
those omens, that were presented in the
eastern part of heaven, to be prosperous or
lucky. But the former, in observing the
omens, turned their faces to the north, which
brought the east on their right hand. The
Romans, on the contrary, turned their faces
to the south, which brought the east on their
left hand. This was therefore a lucky
omen. It seconded, or confirmed the for-
mer, that is, the lambent flame on the head
of Ilus. See Ecl. i. 18. Lævum: an adj.
685
682. Levis apex visus
est fundere lumen de
summo vortice Iülii
flammaque innoxia visa
est lambere ejus comas
molli tactu
685. Nos pavidi metu
cœpimus trepidare
690 690. Petimus tantùm
hoc: et, si meremur
695
aliquid pietate, O Pater,
da
695. Cernimus illanı,
labentem super summa
culmina tecti, condere
se
of the neu. gender, used as a sub. the same
with lava pars cœli.
694. Stella lapsa, &c. Servius applies
the several parts of this prodigy as figura-
tive of the events that were to happen to
Eneas and his followers. The star is said,
condere se Idaa sylva, to fall or hide itself
upon mount Ida, to indicate that the Tro-
jans were to resort to that mountain: cum
multa luce, with much light, to figure their
future glory and dignity: signantem vias,
the sparkles of fire left behind, intimate the
dispersion of his followers, and that they
should fix their residence in various parts:
longo limite sulcus, marks Eneas' many
wanderings, and the length of his voyage:
lastly, by the smoke and sulphur, he under-
stands the death of Anchises. The stars
do not move from their stations; they are
fixed, and remain in the same part of the
heavens. Meteors are of common occur-
rence, and are supposed to consist of elec-
tric matter, which in passing from one part
of the atmosphere to another, becomes visi-
ble. In the language of the vulgar and
ignorant, such an appearance is called the
shooting of a star. Virgil conforms to this
mode of expression. He calls the meteor a
star. Facem: a train.
695. Labentem. Ruæus takes this in the
sense of cadentem: falling behind the roof
of the house. But it may be taken in its
usual acceptation, gliding, or passing over
the roof: for it appears that the meteor was
near, since it filled the air about them with
its sulphurous smell.
697. Sulcus: a trail-indented track.
The meteor drew after it a trail of light, as
it passed through the heavens. It appeared
to mark its way or path, which it left lumi-
nous behind it.
236
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Hic verò victus genitor se tollit ad auras,
Affaturque Deos, et sanctum sidus adorat:
700
Jam jam nulla mora est: sequor, et, quâ ducitis, adsum
Di patrii, servate domum, servate nepotem.
705
Vestrum hoc augurium, vestroque in numine Troja est.
Cedo equidem, nec, nate, tibi comes ire recuso.
Dixerat ille et jam per moenia clarior ignis
Auditur, propiùsque aestus incendia volvunt.
Ergò age, chare pater, cervici imponere nostræ :
Ipse subibo humeris: nec me labor iste gravabit.
709. Quòcunque res Quò res cunque cadent, unum et commune periclum,
cadent, periclum erit Una salus ambobus erit: mihi parvus Iülus
unum, et commune no- Sit comes, et longè servet vestigia conjux.
bis ambobus, salus erit
una et eadem nobis
Vos, famuli, quæ dicam, animis advertite vestris.
712. Tumulus est iis Est urbe egressis tumulus, templumque vetustum
egressis urbe
Desertæ Cereris; juxtàque antiqua cupressus,
716. Nos omnes venie- Relligione patrum multos servata per annos.
Hanc ex diverso sedem veniemus in unam.
mus ex diverso
710
715
NOTES.
699. Ad auras: upright-or towards
heaven.
702. Patrii Dii. By these we are to un-
derstand the guardian gods of Anchises'
family; those that his ancestors worshipped;
who presided over parental and filial affec-
tion. Domum: in the sense of familiam.
703. Hoc augurium est: this omen is
yours: Troy is under your protection. This
is plainly the meaning of numine in this
place. Ruæus says, potestate.
706. Incendia: in the sense of flamma.
Estus: heat.
707. Imponere: 2d person of the imp. be
thou placed, i. e. place yourself upon my
neck: I will bear you upon my shoulders.
Subibo humeris: portabo te humeris, says Ru-
æus. Labor in the sense of pondus.
710. Mihi parvus Iülus. Donatus reads,
mihi solus Iülus: let Iülus only be a com-
panion to me. This avoids the too frequent
repetition of parvus Iülus, and at the same
time shows the prudent caution of Eneas,
to secure their flight; since the fewer went
together, they would be the less liable to be
discovered. Pierius approves this reading.
711. Conjux servet: let my wife observe
my steps at a distance-let her stay behind,
yet so as to have me in view, that she may
not lose her way. The reason for his giv-
ing this direction was perhaps to prevent
discovery, and to diminish the danger of es-
cape by being divided into parties. This
reason justifies Æneas. It was proper for
the poet to mention this circumstance, to
give probability to the account of her being
lost. Servius takes longè in the sense of
valdè. The meaning then will be: let my
wife carefully observe my steps. The usual
acceptation of longè is the better. The loss
of Creüsa is a fine device of the poet. It
gave him an opportunity of finishing the
catastrophe of Troy from the mouth of
Eneas. As soon as he found his wife was
missing, he resolves to return in search of
her. He carefully retraces his footsteps,
visits his own house, which was now in
flames, and searches for her in the most fre-
quented parts of the city. In the course of
his search, he sees the spoils collected to-
gether in the temple of Juno, and the Gre-
cian guards standing around. Unable to find
her in any of these places, he calls her by
name, and makes the streets resound with
Creusa. Her ghost met him, solaced his
mind, unfolded to him the purposes of the
gods, and encouraged him to look for more
prosperous times. She tells him that in the
land destined him by fate, a royal bride
awaited him.
712. Advertite: turn with your minds to
those things which I shall say. This is
equivalent to, advertite vestros animos ad ea,
quæ dicam.
714. Desertæ Cereris.
This epithet of
deserted, is added to Ceres, on account of her
by Pluto; or on account of the state of her
being deprived of her daughter Proserpine
worship, which was then neglected, her
priest having been slain. Ruæus under-
stands it as referring to her temple: an an-
cient temple of Ceres deserted. He inter-
prets deserta by, desertum, agreeing with
templum. See Ecl. v. 79.
715. Relligione: by the religious venera
tion of our ancestors. Servata agrees with
antiqua cupressus. Juxtà: near-near by.
716. Ex diverso: the same as ex diversis
viis. Sedem: in the sense of locum.
ENEIS. LIB. fl.
*237
Tu, genitor, cape sacra manu, patriosque Penates.
Me, bello è tanto digressum et cæde recenti,
Attrectare nefas; donec me flumine vivo
Abluero.
720
725
Hæc fatus, latos humeros subjectaque colla
Veste super, fulvique insternor pelle leonis,
Succedoque oneri: dextræ se parvus Iülus
Implicuit, sequiturque patrem non passibus æquis.
Ponè subit conjux. Ferimur per opaca locorum:
Et me, quem dudum non ulla injecta movebant
Tela, neque adverso glomerati ex agmine Graii,
Nunc omnes terrent auræ, sonus excitat omnis
Suspensum, et pariter comitique onerique timentem.
Jamque propinquabam portis, omnemque videbar 730
Evasisse viam; subitò cùm creber ad aures
NOTES.
717. Sacra: the holy, or sacred utensils;
such as were used in offering sacrifices, and
in other ceremonies of religious worship:
nou. plu. of sacer, used as a sub. Heyne
thinks sacra here, and in verse 293, supra,
means the images of the gods; thus ma-
king it the same with Penates. The reader
must judge for himself. His words are:
Sacra et Penates possunt pro eadem re haberi:
et sic de Deorum simulacris, etiam de Pena-
tibus ipsis.
Penates. This word is derived probably
from penus, which signifies all kinds of food
or provisions for the use of man. The Pe-
nates were usually worshipped in the inte-
rior part of the house. Their number is
not known, nor is it certain what gods were
so denominated. Soine reckon Jupiter,
Juno, and Minerva, among the Peñates;
others, Neptune and Apollo; others again,
Calus and Terra: and Arnobius reckons
the Dii Consentes, or Complices, among their
number. There were three orders of the
Dii Penates. Those that presided over
kingdoms and provinces, were called solely
Penates: those that presided over cities
only, were called Dii Patrii, domestic gods,
or gods of the country: those that presided
over particular houses and families, were
called Parvi Penates.
It is not certain under what shape or
figure they were worshipped. Some sup-
pose it was under the figure of a young
man sitting and holding a spear. It is said
that Dardanus introduced them from Sa-
mothracia into Troy, and that Æneas took
them with him into Italy. See Geor. ii. 505.
719. Nefas me: it is unlawful for me, ha-
ving come, &c. In like manner, Homer
makes Hector say he was afraid of perform-
ing religious worship to Jupiter, while his
hands were polluted with blood, Iliad vi.
334. It was the custom of the Greeks and
Romans, and most other nations, to wash
their hands, and sometimes their whole bo-
718. Nefas esset me
digressum
722. Fatus hæc, in-
sternor super latos hu-
meros, subjectaque colla
726. Et nunc omnes
auræ terrent, omnis so-
nus excitat me, et reddit
me suspensum, et pari-
ter timentem comitique,
onerique; me, inquam,
quem dudum non ulla
injecta tela, neque Graii
dies in water, before they performed acts of
religion, especially if they had been pollu-
ted with bloodshed. On such occasions.
they were obliged to use pure water, like
that of fountains or running water. Hence
Eneas says: Donec abluero me vivo flumine:
until I shall have washed myself in pure or
living water. Flumine: in the sense of
aqua. Bello: in the sense of pugnâ.
722. Insternor super: I am covered upon
my broad shoulders and bended neck with a
garment, &c.—I cover myself, &c. This use
of the verb answers to the middle voice of
the Greeks. So imponere: be thou placed
place thyself; verse 707, supra. Subjecta:
in the sense of submissa.
723. Succedo oneri. The meaning is: 1
take my father upon my shoulders-I place
myself under the load.
725. Opaca locorum: the same as opaca
loca. Or the word spatia may be under-
stood, connected with opaca, and governing
locorum.
727. Glomerati ex adverso: collected to-
gether in hostile array. Here we have a
very beautiful image of our hero's pious
and filial affection. With unshaken forti-
tude he faced the greatest dangers, when
his own person only was exposed: now
every appearance of danger strikes him
with terror, on account of his dear charge.
Adverso: in the sense of hostili.
729. Suspensum: in the sense of solicitum.
730. Videbar, &c. Rumus interprets the
following words by, excessisse ex omnibus
viis; which appears entirely inadmissible.
The meaning is: that he seemed to have
escaped all the danger of the way; when, to
his surprise, a frequent sound of feet sud-
denly struck his ears.
731. Viam. This is the common reading.
Heyne, at the suggestion of Markland, reads
vicem, in the sense of periculum; which is
preferable, if we had sufficient authority for
the substitution.
238
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Visus adesse pedum sonitus: genitorque per umbram
733. Hostes propin- Prospiciens, Ñate, exclamat, fuge, nate: propinquant*
quant
Ardentes clypeos atque æra micantia cerno.
735. Hìc malè ami- Hìc mihi nescio quod trepido malè numen amicum
cum numen, necio quod Confusam eripuit mentem. Namque avia cursu
numen, eripuit mihi tre- Dum sequor, et notâ excedo regione viarum :
pido
738. Conjux Creusa Heu! misero conjux fatone erepta Creüsa
substitit; incertum est, Substitit, erravitne viâ, seu lassa resedit,
erepta-ne misero fato, Incertum: nec pòst oculis est reddita nostris.
erravit-ne viâ, seu Nec priùs amissam respexi, animumve reflexi,
741. Nec respexi, re- Quàm tumulum antiquæ Cereris, sedemque sacratam
Venimus hic demum, collectis omnibus, una
Defuit; et comites, natumque, virumque fefellit.
flexive animum, eam esse
amissam, priùsquàm ve-
nimus ad
:
743. Uxor una defuit Quem non incusavi amens hominumque Deorumque?
Aut quid in eversâ vidi crudelius urbe ?
Ascanium, Anchisenque patrem, Teucrosque Penates
750. Stat sententia re-
novare omnes
748. Recondo eos, in Commendo sociis, et curvâ valle recondo.
Ipse urbem repeto, et cingor fulgentibus armis.
Stat casus renovare omnes, omnemque reverti
755. Ubique est hor- Per Trojam, et rursus caput objectare periclis.
ror; simul ipsa silentia Principio, muros, obscuraque limina portæ,
noctis terrent animos. Quà gressum extuleram, repeto: et vestigia retrò
Inde refero me domum, Observata sequor per noctem, et lumine lustro.
ut viderem, si fortè, si
fortè Creüsa tulisset pe-
Horror ubique animos, simul ipsa silentia terrent.
dem huc.
Inde domum, si fortè pedem, si fortè tulisset,
NOTES.
732. Umbram: in the sense of tenebras.
734. Cerno: I see their glittering shields
and gleaming brass. Era: brazen armour.
735. Male: in the sense of non. Male
amicum in the sense of inimicum vel in-
festum.
736. Confusam mentem. His mind was
confused, and in a state of perturbation, for
fear that something might befall him in his
retreat. He had retained his presence of
mind so far as to make good his escape in
the best possible manner. Now, on a sud-
den, he loses all recollection; he forgets
himself; he knows not what he does: he is
deprived of that presence of mind which he
had hitherto retained, by some unfriendly
deity. In consequence of this he left the
plain road, taking the by-paths: nor did he
recollect to look back to see if his wife was
following him.
Avia: an adj. agreeing with loca under-
stood; out of the way: from the ordinary
or common way. Of a, privativum, and via.
737. Nota regione viarum: simply, from
the known or beaten way.
738. Misero fato. Some render misero, with
mihi understood. But miser signifies that
which makes miserable, as well as simply,
miserable. In this sense it may be connect-
be connect-
ed with fato: distressing fate. When thus
construed, it hath a peculiar force. Both
Ruæus and Heyne say, misero mihi.
741 Reflexi animum: turned back my
736
740
746
750
755
mind-reflected.
common reading is que.
742. Tumulum. The hill, or eminence, on
which the temple of Ceres was situated.
See 714. supra.
Heyne reads ve. The
745. Quem hominumque: whom both of
men and gods did I not blame? Amens :
distracted in mind-deprived of my reason:
of a, privativuin, and mens.
747. Teucros in the sense of Trojanos.
750. Stat. Sententia, or some word of
the like import, is understood: my purpose
is fixed: I am resolved. While the mind is in
doubt and uncertainty, it reels to and fro
from one thing to another, fluctuat, vacillat :
but when it is determined and resolved, then
it stands still; it is at rest. Casus in the
sense of pericula. Reverti: in the sense of
redire.
752. Limina: threshold-entrance.
753. Extuleram gressum: where I had
come out. A phrase.
754. Lumine. Lumen properly signifies
light: it also signifies an eye. In this last
sense, Ruæus takes it, and interprets it by
oculis.
oculis. It is perhaps better to understand it
of the light occasioned by the conflagration
of Troy. In this case, sequor, &c. may be
rendered:
rendered I follow back my footsteps ob-
served in the darkness, and search them out
by the light of the flames. Davidson agrees
with Rumus.
756. Si fortè, si fortè: if by chance, if by
ENEIS. LIB. II.
239
Me refero. Irruerant Danai, et tectum omne tenebant.
Ilicèt ignis edax summa ad fastigia vento
Volvitur; exsuperant flammæ; furit æstus ad auras.
Procedo ad Priami sedes, arcemque reviso.
760
Et jam porticibus vacuis, Junonis asylo,
Custodes lecti Phoenix et dirus Ulysses
Prædam asservabant: huc undiqué Troïa gaza
Incensis erepta adytis, mensæque Deorum,
Crateresque auro solidi, captivaque vestis
765
765. Solidi ex auro
Congeritur. Pueri et pavidæ longo ordine matres
Stant circùm.
Ausus quinetiam voces jactare per umbram
Implevi clamore vias: moestusque Creüsam
Nequicquam ingeminans, iterumque iterumque vocavi.
Quærenti, et tectis urbis sinè fine furenti,
Infelix simulacrum, atque ipsius umbra Creüsæ
Visa mihi ante oculos, et notâ major imago.
Obstupui, steteruntque comæ, et vox faucibus hæsit.
Tum sic affari, et curas his demere dictis :
Quid tantùm insano juvat indulgere dolori,
O dulcis conjux? non hæc sinè numine Divûm
Eveniunt: nec te comitem asportare Creüsam
NOTES.
chanco, she had returned thither. Tulisset
pedem: had returned, or gone thither. The
repetition of the si fortè, is emphatical.
760. Procedo. Creüsa was the daughter
of Priam, by Hecuba; which, perhaps, is
the reason of his going to his palace in
search of her.
761. Asylo: in the sense of templo. Por-
ticibus in the passages or aisles.
763. Gaza. This word signifies all kinds
of rich furniture-wealth-property. It is
of Persian origin. Erepta, is connected
with it.
764. Mensæ Deorum. These were the
tripods of the gods, which served for deli-
vering the oracles, or for bearing the sacred
vessels. Adytis: in the sense of templis.
763. Undique. This word may imply, that
the things here mentioned were collected
from all parts of the town, and thrown in
this place (huc,) or that they were piled up
here all around--in every part of the building.
770. Ingeminans: repeating her name in
vain-in vain, because she did not answer
him. Mæstus, agrees with ego, understood.
Furenti: for currenti.
772. Infelix simulacrum: the unhappy
apparition-unhappy, not on her own ac-
count, for she was blessed and at rest; but
because she was the source of sorrow and
unhappiness to her husband. Umbra. The
introduction of Creusa's ghost is extremely
well timed. No other expedient could be
found to stop the further search of Æneas
for his wife, and permit him to return to his
771
771. Infelix simula-
crum,atque umbra Creü
sæ ipsius, et imago ma-
jor notâ visa est mihi
ante oculos, quærenti
775 eam, et furenti
775. Tum illa cœpit
sic affari me
778. Nec fas est, aut
ille
regnator superi
friends in their expedition. It shows the
judgment of the poet.
773. Imago major notâ: her image larger
than life-than when alive. Spectres and
apparitions are usually represented of a
large size; fear having a tendency to en-
large objects that are presented to the ima-
gination. The darkness of the night has a
tendency to enlarge the appearance of ob-
jects seen obscurely and imperfectly.
This episode of Creusa's death is intro-
duced, not merely for the importance of the
event, but because it answered several im-
portant purposes of the poet. It gave him
an opportunity of more fully illustrating the
piety of Eneas, by showing him once more
exposed to all the dangers of the war in
search of his wife; and, in consequence of
that, leads us back with his hero to visit
Troy smoking in its ruins, and makes us
acquainted with several affecting circum-
stances, without which the narration would
not have been complete. And then it makes
way for the appearance of her ghost, that
affords comfort to Æneas in his distress, by
predicting his future felicity; and relieves
the mind of the reader from the horrors of
war and desolation, by turning him to the
prospect of that peace and tranquillity which
Eneas was to enjoy in Italy; and of that
undisturbed rest, and happy liberty, of which
herself was now possessed in the other
world.
776. Insano dolori: immoderate grief.
Numine: in the sense of voluntate.
240
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Olympi siuit te aspor- Fas, aut ille sinit superi regnator Olympi.
mitem tibi
780. Longa exilia fu-
taro hinc Creusam, co- Longa tibi exilia, et vastum maris æquor arandum. 780
Ad terram Hesperiam venies, ubi Lydius arva
Inter opima virûm leni fluit agmine Tybris.
Illic res lætæ, regnumque, et regia conjux
Parta tibi: lachrymas dilectæ pelle Creüsæ.
lura sunt
.784. Parta sunt tibi
Non ego Myrmidonum sedes Dolopumve superbas 785
Aspiciam, aut Graiis servitum matribus ibo,
787. Ego quæ sum Dar- Dardanis, et Divæ Veneris nurus.
danis, et
Sed me magna Deûm genitrix his detinet oris.
790. Deseruit me la- Jamque vale, et nati serva communis amorem.
chrymantem, et volen- Hæc ubi dicta dedit, lachrymantem et multa volentem
tem dicere
Dicere deseruit, tenuesque récessit in auras.
792. Ibi conatus sum Ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circùm :
ter circumdare
Ter frustrà comprensa manus effugit imago,
Par levibus ventis, volucrique simillima somno.
Sic demum socios, consumptâ nocte, reviso.
Atque hic ingentem comitum affluxisse novorum
Invenio admirans numerum; matresque, virosque,
Collectam exilio pubem, miserabile vulgus.
NOTES.
791
795
784. Dilectæ Creüsæ: for, or on account
of your beloved Creüsa.
786. Servitum: to serve in the capacity of
a servant. The sup. in um, of the verb ser-
779. Superi Olympi: of high heaven.
780. Exilia in the sense of itinera. It
implies that Æneas should be for a long
time destitute of any country, or fixed habi-
tation. Equor: properly any level surface, vio, put after ibo.
whether land or water. It is often used in
the sense of mare. Arandum: in the sense
of navigandum.
781. Ad: Heyne reads et. Some copies
have ut: that you may arrive or come, &c.
In this case there must not be a full point
after arandum. The usual reading is ad.
782. Lydius Tybris: the Tuscan Tyber
flows, with its gentle stream, between lands
rich in heroes.
The Tyber is here called Lydian, or Tus-
can. It separated Tuscany from Latium.
The former having been settled by a colony
of Lydians under Tyrrhenus, the son of
Atys, king of Lydia, in Asia Minor. He
called the inhabitants Tyrrheni, after his own
name. Agmine: in the sense of cursu vel
flumine. Virûm. Vir, properly signifies a
man, as opposed to a woman-a hero. Also,
the male of any kind or species of animals.
Arva: properly cultivated lands, from the
verb aro.
783. Res lætæ: prosperity. The same as
res secundæ. Eneas, after his arrival in
Italy, and the death of Turnus, married La-
vinia, the daughter of Latinus, king of
Latium, and succeeded him in his kingdom.
Æneas, in relating this prophecy to Dido,
plainly informs her that he was destined by
fate for Lavinia; and, by so doing, pleads
the necessity of his leaving Carthage. Dido,
therefore, betrays herself by an indiscreet
passion, and is not betrayed by any perfidy
of Eneas. See lib. iv. passim.
787. Dardanis. Creusa was the daugh
ter of Priam, and consequently descended
in a direct line from Dardanus, the founder
of the Trojan race: at least one of the
founders of it. See Æn. i. 1. Nurus: the
daughter-in-law. Æneas was the son of
Venus and Anchises, which made Creüsa
the daughter-in-law to Venus.
788. Genitrix: Cybele. She is said to
have been the mother of all the gods.
789. Serva: retain, or keep. Nati: As-
canius, who was the son of Creüsa and
Eneas.
792. Circumdare. The parts of the verb
are separated, for the sake of the verse, by
Tmesis.
793. Comprensa: a part. agreeing with
imago. Manus: acc. plu. Her image, seiz-
ed in vain three times, escaped his hands.
794. Par: in the sense of similis. Som-
no: a dream.
796. Hic admirans invenio, &c. The poet,
by this circumstance, signifies how greatly
Eneas was beloved by the Trojans, and the
weight and importance of his character. It
appears that this multitude, by resorting to
Æneas, and putting themselves under his
protection, chose him their king; which ap-
pellation is given him throughout the Æneid.
Affluxisse: in the sense of advenisse.
797. Miserabile vulgus: a pitiable multi-
tude. They assembled, from all quarters,
prepared in mind and fortune to follow me,
to whatsoever countries I might wish to lead
!
ENEIS. LIB. II.
241
Undique convenere, animis opibusque parati,
In quascunque velim pelago deducere terras.
Jamque jugis summe surgebat Lucifer Idæ,
Ducebatque diem: Danaique obsessa tenebant
Limina portarum: nec spes opis ulla dabatur
Cessi, et sublato montem genitore petivi.
NOTES.
them over the sea. Pubem: in the sense of
juventutem.
801. Jugis summa Ida. Mount Ida lay
to the east of Troy, and, consequently,
Lucifer, Venus, or the Morning Star, as it is
called when going before the sun, appeared
to those at Toy to rise from the top (jugis)
of that mountain. Summæ: in the sense of
altæ.
803. Opis. Ruæus interprets this by aux-
ilii; but it may mean wealth-property:
and by the expression we may understand,
that there was now no hope of obtaining
any more of their wealth or property, the
799. Illi convenero
800 undique, parati animis
opibusque sequi me
city being completely in the possession of
the Greeks.
804. Cessi: I yielded to my fate. Dr.
Trapp renders it, I retired; but it is much
better to understand it as an expression of
the piety and resignation of Æneas, espe-
cially if we consider what immediately pre-
cedes: nec spes opis ulla dabatur. Genitore
sublato. This instance of filial piety is highly
pleasing. A modern commander would
never have submitted to the task of bearing
such a load; but would have assigned it to
a servant, or imposed it upon a soldier.
Ruæus says, ferens patrem.
QUESTIONS.
What is the subject of this book?
What is its character, when compared
with the rest?
How long did the siege of Troy continue?
How was it taken at the last?
To whom was this horse designed as a
present?
In return for what?
What was the Palladium ?
By whom was it taken from the temple of
Minerva?
After building the horse, what did the
Greeks do?
How far was Tenedos from Troas?
Did they pretend that they were about to
return home, and relinquish the siege?
Did this obtain belief among the Trojans?
What was the real object of the Greeks
in building this horse?
Who acted a very distinguished part in
this business?
What is the character of Sinon?
Who opposed the adınission of this horse
within the walls?
What prodigy happened just at this time,
which overcame all doubts in the minds of
the Trojans ?
Who was Laocoon?
To what office had he been appointed by
lot?
What was the design of offering sacrifice
to Neptune at this time?
What did this horse contain?
How did it enter into the city?
Where was it placed?
How many names has the poet invented
for this engine of destruction?
What time was the assault made upon the
city?
What office did Sinon perform upon this
occasion?
Did the Grecian troops return from Te-
nedos, and join their friends?
How were they received into the city?
In what state were the Trojans at this
time?
Were they aware of any such treachery?
Finding the city in the hands of the enemy,
what course did Æneas pursue?
What were some of his actions?
Where were his last efforts made to avenge
his country?
What became of Priam?
What were the last actions of the aged
monarch?
What particularly roused his indignation
against Pyrrhus?
By whom was Priam slain ?
What was the manner of it?
What were the circumstances of it?
Where was Æneas during these transac-
tions?
What did he do, after he beheld the death
of Priam?
Under whose conduct did he pass in safety
through his enemies?
Did Æneas receive direction to leave the
city, and to seek his safety in flight?
How did he receive it? From whom?
What was the determination of his father
Anchises?
What effect had his refusal upon the mind
of Æneas?
What did his wife Creüsa do upon this
occasion?
How was the determination of Anchises,
not to survive the capture of the city,
changed?
#
17
+212
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
What wore the prodigies that effected that
change?
To what place did he retire?
How did he convey his father?
How his son Ascanius?
What direction did he give his wife
Creusa?
Did he arrive in safety to the place ap-
pointed?
What became of his wife?
What did he do in consequence of her
loss?
What effect had her loss upon him at the
first?
How was his mind quieted?
What directions did her apparition give
him?
After his return to the place of rendez-
vous, did he find great numbers there col-
lected?
Did they consider him their leader and
king?
Were they prepared and willing to under
take any enterprise, he might think proper?
LIBER TERTIUS.
ENEAS, having finished the sack of Troy, proceeds to relate to Dido the particulars of his
voyage. Having built a fleet of twenty ships near Antandros, he set sail in the spring,
probably, of the year following the capture of Troy. He landed on the shores of
Thrace, and there commenced the building of a city, which he called, after his own
name, Ænos, and the inhabitants, Æneada. He was, however, soon interrupted in the
prosecution of his work, by the shade of Polydorus, the son of Priam. He had been
barbarously put to death by Polynestor, king of Thrace, his brother-in-law, and buried
in this place. It directed him to leave the polluted land, and to seek another clime for
his intended city.
Having performed the funeral rites to Polydorus, he set sail, directing his course to the
south; and soon arrived on the coast of Delos, one of the Cyclades. Here he was
hospitably received by Anius, king of the island, and priest of Apollo. He was direct-
ed by the oracle to seek the land of his ancestors; there he should found a city, which
should bear rule over all nations. This information was joyfully received. Whereupon,
they concluded that Crete, the birth-place of Teucer, was the land to which the oracle
directed them.
- Leaving Delos, in a short time they arrive on the shores of Crete. They hail it with
joy as the termination of their wanderings. Here Æneas lays the foundation of a city
which he called Pergama, and was preparing to enter upon the business of agriculture,
when a sudden plague arose, which put an end to his prospects, and carried off many
of his companions. In this juncture, it was agreed that he should go back to Delos, to
obtain further instructions. In the mean time, in a vision, he was informed that Crete
was not the land destined to him, and that the oracle of Apollo intended he should seek
Italy, the land of Dardanus. This quieted his mind; and Anchises acknowledged that
both Teucer and Dardanus were the founders of their race, and that he had been mis-
taken in reckoning their descent in the line of Teucer.
Eneas, without delay, leaves Crete; and in a few days arrived on the coast of the Stro-
phades, in the Ionian sea, on the west of the Peloponnesus. Here he landed with his
fleet, and found these islands in the possession of the Harpies. Celano, one of them,
informed him, that, before he should found a city, they should be reduced to the necessity
of consuming their tables. This was the first intimation which he had received of want
and suffering, in the land destined to him. It sunk deep into his mind.
Leaving these islands, he directed his course westward, and soon arrived on the coast of
Epirus. He landed at Actium, ana celebrated the Trojan games.
From Actium, he proceeded to that part of Epirus called Chaonia. On his entering the
harbor, he heard that Helenus, the son of Priam, sat upon the throne of Pyrrhus, and
that Andromache had become his wife. Desirous of hearing the truth of this report,
he proceeds direct to Buthrotus, the seat of government. Here, to his great joy, he
finds his friends, and remained with them for some time. Helenus, at their departure,
loads them with presents. Andromache gives to Ascanius alone, who was the exact
picture of her son Astyanax.
From Epirus, Æneas passes over the Ionian sea, and arrives at the promontory Iäpygium.
Thence he sails down the coast of Magna Græcia, and the eastern shore of Sicily, to the
promontory Pachynum; thence along the southern shore to the port of Drepanum.
where he lost his father Anchises: which concludes the book.
ENEIS. LIB. III.
243
This book contains the annals of seven years, and is replete with geographical and his-
torical information. Nor is it wanting in fine specimens of poetry, and in interesting
incidents. The joy of Eneas at finding Helenus and Andromache on the throne of
Epirus-their happy meeting-their tender and affectionate parting-the description of
Scylla and Charybdis, and the episode of the Cyclops, are all worthy of the poet.
In this book, Virgil in a particular manner follows the Odyssey of Homer.
POSTQUAM res Asia Priamique evertere gentem
Immeritam visum Superis, ceciditque superbum
Ilium, et omnis humo fumat Neptunia Troja :
Diversa exilia, et desertas quærere terras,
Auguriis agimur Divûm: classemque sub ipsa
Antandro, et Phrygiæ molimur montibus Ida:
Incerti quò fata ferant, ubi sistere detur;
Contrahimusque viros. Vix prima inceperat æstas,
Et pater Anchises dare fatis vela jubebat.
NOTES.
1. Res Asia: the power of Asia.
2. Immeritam: undeserving such a cala-
mity. The ruin of their country was owing
to the crimes of Paris and Laomedon. See
Geor. i. 502, and Æn. i. Visum Superis: it
pleased, or seemed good to the gods. This
was a common mode of expression, when
events were not prosperous. The verb est
The verb est
is to be supplied with visum.
3. Neptunia. Troy is here called Nep-
tunean, because Neptune, with Apollo, it is
said, built its walls in the reign of Laome-
don. Homer and Virgil ascribe the build-
ing of the walls to Neptune alone. Rumus
takes Ilium to mean the citadel of Troy,
and distinguishes it from the whole town,
which is here expressed by, omnis Troja.
Homer uses Ilios, and Ovid, Ilion. Fumat.
The present here is much more expressive
than the past tense would have been:
smokes to the ground.
4. Diversa: in the sense of remota, or
longinqua. Although the Trojans, under
different leaders, as Æneas, Helenus, and
Antenor, settled in different regions, yet
diversa exilia plainly refers to Æneas and his
followers only, who were all appointed to
go in quest of the same settlement. Deser-
tas terras: unoccupied-uncultivated lands;
where they might settle in peace. Or, we
may suppose Æneas to speak the language
of his heart at that time. Having the dis-
mal idea of the destruction of his country
fresh in his mind, and the uncertain prospect
of a settlement in me unknown land, (in-
certi quò fata ferant, ubi sistere detur,) it
was natural for him to have uncomfortable
apprehensions of the country to which he
was going; to call it an exile, or place of
banishment, a land of solitude and deser-
tion. Some read diversas, for desertas.
5. Auguriis Divûm: by the intimations,
or prodigies of the gods. This refers to
the several prophetic intimations given to
him of his future fate by the ghost of Hec-
5
1. Postquam visum
est Superis evertere res
Asia
7 Ferant nos ubi de-
tur nobis sistere pedem
tor-by the lambent flame on the head of
Ascanius-and by the interview which he
had with the ghost of Creüsa. Ominibus
Deorum, says Ruæus.
6. Antandro. Antandros was a city of
the lesser Phrygia, at the foot of mount Ida,
and a convenient place to build and equip a
fleet. Molimur: in the sense of fabricamus
7. Incerti quò. We may be somewhat
surprised to hear Æneas express any doubt
as to his course and intended settlement.
ghost of his wife, that Italy was the place
He had been distinctly informed by the
he could not therefore have given full cre-
destined for him in the counsels of the gods:
dence to the account; or the dangers and
difficulties of the undertaking might have
filled his mind with anxious and distrustful
apprehensions: or perhaps it is a passage,
which the author would have corrected, if
he had lived to revise his work.
8. Prima œstas.
Scaliger thinks that
Troy was taken about the full moon, and
near the end of spring, and that Æneas set
But it is
out the beginning of summer.
evident that it would require a greater
length of time to build a fleet, and make
If
other preparations for his long voyage.
he be correct in the time of the capture of
Troy, the prima astas, with more propriety,
will mean the beginning of the summer of
the following year. This better agrees with
history. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in-
forms us that he collected an army and for-
tified himself on mount Ida; but not think-
ing it prudent to engage the enemy, he ca-
pitulated on honorable terms; one of which
was, that he should be allowed to depart
from Troas with his followers without mo-
lestation, after a certain time, which he en-
ployed in building and equipping a fleet.
9. Fatis: quò futa vellent, says Ruæus
Propter jussa et monila Deorum, says Heyne.
Some copies have ventis.
244
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Litora tum patriæ lachrymans, portusque relinquo,
Et campos, ubi Troja fuit: feror exul in altum,
Cum sociis, natoque, Penatibus, et magnis Dîs.
Terra procul vastis colitur Mavortia campis,
14. Quam Thraces Thraces arant, acri quondam regnata Lycurgo:
Hospitium antiquum Troja, sociique Penates,
15. Fuit antiquum Dum fortuna fuit. Feror huc, et litore curvo
hospitium Troja, cujus Moenia prima loco, fatis ingressus iniquis:
nostris, dum fortuna fuit Æneadasque meo nomen de nomine fingo.
arant
que Penates erant socii
nobis
22. Quo summo erant
cornea virgulta, et myr-
tus horrida densis
10
15
Sacra Dionææ matri, Divisque ferebam
Auspicibus cœptorum operum: superoque nitentem 20
Calicolûm regi mactabam in litore taurum.
Fortè fuit juxtà tumulus, quo cornea summo
NOTES.
10. Lachrymans. The shedding of tears
is an indication of compassion and humani-
ty. It is not inconsistent with true fortitude
and greatness of mind, and no way unbe-
coming a hero. But there is no necessity
of understanding it here, and in various
other passages where it occurs, as if Æneas
actually shed tears. Ruæus takes it in the
sense of lugens, grieving at the idea of
leaving his native country, and at the pros-
pect of the dangers which were before him.
12. Magnis Dîs. The great gods were
Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Pallas, Mercury, and
Apollo; sometimes called the Dii majorum
gentium. The Penates were domestic gods,
without any particular name. The images
of all these gods Eneas took with him into
Italy, and introduced their worship, as we
are told, into Latium, after he was settled
in that kingdom. Somé take the Magnis
Dîs to be the same with the Penatibus.
See Gcor. ii. 505, and Æn. ii. 717.
13. Mavortia terra : a martial land.
Thrace is so called, because said to be the
birthplace of Mars. This was a very exten-
sive country, bounded on the east by the
Euxine sea, south by the Propontis, Helles-
pont, and Ægean sea, and on the West by
Macedonia. Colitur: in the sense of habi-
tatur. Procul. This word sometimes sig-
nifies near, in view, as if pro oculis, as in
Ecl. vi. 16. In this sense it may be taken
here; for Thrace was only a short distance
from the port where Æneas set sail. But it
may have reference to Carthage, the place
where he then was; and then it may be
taken in its usual acceptation.
14. Acri Lycurgo: warlike Lycurgus. He
was the son of Dryas. Being offended at
Bacchus, it is said, he banished him and his
votaries from his kingdom; and ordered all
the vines to be destroyed in his dominions.
For which impiety the god deprived him of
his sight. Regnata, refers to terra: govern-
ed, or ruled.
15. Hospitium: an ancient retreat of
Troy, and its gods were our friends, while
fortune was with us
There had been a long and friendly alli-
ance between the two countries, by virtue of
which the Thracians gave a hospitable re-
ception to all strangers from Troy; and the
Trojans, in turn, repaid the kindness by
civilities to the Thracians. This hospitali-
ty was sometimes between whole nations,
between one city and another, and some-
times between particular families. Polym-
nestor, king of Thrace, married Ilione, the
daughter of Priam. By these means the
two nations became related in their respec-
tive heads: and their gods might be said to
be allied, confederate, and friends, in conse-
quence of it.
17. Prima mania: I place my first walls.
The city which Eneas first founded, we
are told, he called Enos. It was not far
from the mouth of the Hebrus, on the shore
of the Egean sea.
The tomb of Polydo-
rus was near this place. Ingressus: having
entered upon the business with fates unkind
against the will and purposes of the gods,
who directed him to the land of Dardanus.
18. Fingo Æneadas: I call the inhabi-
tants Encada, a name derived from my
name. Fingo: in the sense of voco.
19. Dionaœ: an adj. from Dione, the mo-
ther of Venus. Matri: to his mother, Venus.
Sacra: in the sense of sacrificia. And fere-
bam: in the sense of offerebam.
20. Auspicibus: the favorers or patrons
of our work begun. It is put in apposition
with Divis.
21. Mactabam: I was sacrificing a shining
bull to the high king of the gods.
Servius tells us that a bull was one of
those animals forbidden to be offered in sa-
crifice to Jove; and thinks Virgil, design-
edly, makes Eneas offer here an unlawful
sacrifice, in order to introduce the inauspi-
cious omen that followed. But La Cerda
assures us, upon the best authority, that it
was usual to sacrifice bulls to Jupiter, as
well as to the other gods. Nitentem. Rumus
says, pinguem: and Heyne, candidum.
22. Tumulus: a rising ground, or hillock.
Quo summo: on whose top. Cornea: an
ENEIS. LIB. III.
245
Virgulta, et densis hastilibus horrida myrtus.
Accessi, viridemque ab humo convellere sylvam
Conatus, ramis tegerem ut frondentibus aras:
Horrendum et dictu video mirabile monstrum.
Nam, quæ prima solo, ruptis radicibus, arbos
Vellitur, huic atro liquuntur sanguine guttæ,
Et terram tabo maculant. Mihi frigidus horror
Membra quatit, gelidusque coit formidine sanguis
Rursus et alterius lentum convellere vimen
Insequor, et causas penitùs tentare latentes :
Ater et alterius sequitur de cortice sanguis.
Multa movens animo, Nymphas venerabar agrestes,
Gradivumque patrem, Geticis qui præsidet arvis,
Ritè secundarent visus, omenque levarent.
Tertia sed postquam majore hastilia nixu
Aggredior, genibusque adversæ obluctor arena :
Eloquar, an sileam? gemitus lachrymabilis imo
Auditur tumulo, et vox reddita fertur ad aures:
Quid miserum, Enea, laceras? jam parce sepulto,
Parce pias scelerare manus: non me tibi Troja
Externum tulit: haud cruor hic de stipite manat.
NOTES.
adj. of the corneil tree. Densis hastilibus.
The long and tapering branches of a tree
may not improperly be called hastilia, spears.
There is a peculiar propriety in the use of
the word here, as being the spears with
which the body of Polydorus had been trans-
fixed; and had sprung up into a thick
body of trees or shrubs. Horrida: awful.
Rumus says, aspera.
24. Sylvam: in the sense, here, of ramos
vel ramum.
26. Monstrum: in the sense of prodigium.
27. Arbos: a shrub, bush, or small tree.
Solo: from the earth.
28. Huic in the sense of ex hâc. Liqu-
untur : in the sense of defluunt. Atro san-
guine in the sense of atri sanguinis. The
prep. e or ex is understood.
29. Horror: in the sense of tremor. Mihi:
in the sense of mea.
30. Sanguis gelidus: my blood, chilled
through fear, collects together-ceases to
flow in its regular course.
32. Insequor: I proceed to tear up. Vi-
men lentum: a limber, or pliant shoot or
shrub.
34. Venerabar Nymphas. These rustic
nymphs, to whom Eneas here prays, were
probably the Hamadryades, whose destiny
was connected with that of some particular
trees, with which they lived and dicd.
Eneas might consider this horrid omen, as
an indication of their displeasure, for his
ffering to violate those pledges of their
existence. Movens: in the sense of volvens.
35. Gradivum patrem: Mars. We are
told that Gradivus was an epithet, or name,
of Mars in time of war, as Quirinus was
24. Accessi ad locum,
25 conatusquo sum convel.
lere
30
35
27. Quæ arbos prima
vellitur solo, huic gutte
ex atro
30. Coit circùm cor.
31. Alterius arboris,
et penitùs tentare laten-
tes causas earum rerum;
et ater
36. Ut ritè secunda-
rent visus, levarentque
malum omen
40 41. Quid, O Ænea,
laceras me miserum?
jam parce mihi
43. De stipite arboris
sed de meo corpore
in time of peace. Its derivation is uncertain.
Geticis: an adj. from Geta, a people bor-
dering upon the Ister, or Danube; here put
for Thracian, on account of the vicinity of
the two countries: or, because Thrace was
thought to extend, indefinitely, to the North,
36. Secundarent. Two omens were re-
quired for confirmation: if the first happened
to be unlucky, and the second prosperous,
the latter destroyed' the former, and was
to prosper.
termed omen secundum; and hence secundo,
have the omen repeated, that the bad or un-
Eneas, therefore, wished to
taken away.
lucky import of it might be removed, or
Visus: vision, acc. plu. Le-
varent in the sense of averterent.
37. Tertia hastilia: a third shrub or tree.
Niru: in the sense of vi.
38. Aggredior: I attempt, or try to pull
up, &c. He exerted himself to eradicate
it, with his knees upon the ground, that he
might have the greater purchase, or power.
Adversæ opposite, right against his knees.
40. Reddita: in the sense of emissa ex eo.
42. Parce scelerare: forbear to pollute
your pious hands. It was the law of the
Twelve Tables, and, indeed, it is the voice of
humanity, that no injury be done to the
dead: defuncti injuria ne afficiantur. The
ghost of Polydorus, therefore, calls out to
Eneas: parce jam sepulto: let me alone:
leave me, at least, to my rest in the grave.
43. Externum non. Polydorus was the
son of Priam, and the brother of Creüsa, the
wife of Eneas. He was therefore not a
stranger or foreigner, in the truest sense of
the word, to Æneas. Cicero makes him the
246
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
hic
45
Heu! fuge crudeles terras, fuge litus avarum,
45. Ferrea seges te- Nam Polydorus ego: hìc confixum ferrea texit
lorum texit me confixum Telorum seges, et jaculis increvit acutis.
Tum verò ancipiti mentem formidine pressus
Obstupui, steteruntque comæ, et vox faucibus hæsit.
49. Quondam infelix Hunc Polydorum auri quondam cum pondere magno
47. Pressus quoad
mentem ancipiti
rat
Priamus furtim mandâ- Infelix Priamus furtim mandârat alendum
hunc Polydorum Threïcio regi; cùm jam diffideret armis
Threïcio regi alendum, Dardaniæ, cingique urbem obsidione videret.
cum magno pondere
auri
Ille, ut opes fractæ Teucrûm, et fortuna recessit,
53. Ille, nempe Polym- Res Agamemnonias victriciaque arma secutus,
nestor, ut opes Teucrûm Fas omne abrumpit, Polydorum obtruncat, et auro
Vi potitur. Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,
Auri sacra fames! Postquam pavor ossa reliquit,
Delectos populi ad proceres, primùmque parentem,
fractæ sunt
sententia de iis.
60. Est idem animus
omnibus excedere
59. Quæ sit eorum Monstra Deûm refero; et, quæ sit sententia, posco.
Omnibus idem animus, sceleratâ excedere terrâ,
Linquere pollutum hospitium, et dare classibus Austros
Ergò instauramus Polydoro funus, et ingens
Aggeritur tumulo tellus: stant manibus aræ,
Cœruleis mœstæ vittis atrâque cupresso:
NOTES.
son of Ilione, the daughter of Priam, and
wife of Polymnestor, king of Thrace. Tulit:
produced, or bore. Stipite: the body, or
trunk.
45. Ferrea seges. To understand this pas-
sage, we may suppose that these darts were
thrown in upon the body of Polydorus as he
lay in the grave; which they pierced: and,
taking root in that place, sprang up, and
grew in the form of sharp pointed javelins,
forming a shade over the tomb. Heyne
says: excreverunt in arbores unde jacula pe-
tuntur.
46. Increvit acutis: grew up into sharp
javelins into trees like sharp javelins.
47. Pressus: in the sense of percussus.
Ancipiir: dubia, says Ruæus.
50. Mandârat: in the sense of miserat.
51. Diffideret: in the sense of desperaret.
Dardania: in the sense of Troja. Seo En.
i. 1.
53. Opes Teucrûm: the power of the
Trojans was broken. Ut in the sense of
quando.
54. Res Agamemnonias: embracing (se-
cutus) the Grecian cause, and their victo-
rious arms, he breaks every sacred obliga-
tion. Agamemnon was captain general of
the Grecian forces in the expedition against
Troy. His interest, therefore, is the general
interest of the Greeks. Fas: properly a
divine, or sacred law. By the murder of
Polydorus, he broke through the ties of
consanguinity, hospitality, and friendship;
which are considered of a sacred nature.
57. Sacra fames auri: O cursed desire of
50
55
60
gold, what dost thou not force the hearts of
men to perpetrate! The word sacer signi-
fies, usually, sacred, holy: here, accursed,
execrable. The word facere or perpetrare,
is to be supplied. Heyne says, ad quid: to
what, &c.
59. Monstra Deûm: the prodigies of the
gods. Primùm: in the sense of præcipuè
Heyne says, primo loco
61. Hospitium: in the sense of locum
Dare austros classibus: to give the winds to
the fleet. In the sense of dure vela ventis
Auster, is here taken for the wind in gene-
ral: the species for the genus. The south
wind would have been against him, going
from Thrace to Delos.
62. Instauramus funus: we perform the
funeral rites to Polydorus.
He had not.
been buried with the usual solemnities, a
matter which the ancients considered of
great moment. These rites were called
justa. Without them, they thought the soul
wandered 100 years without any rest.
gil here gives a full account of the funeral
rites performed by the Romans, at the
interment of the dead.
Vir-
63. Ingens tellus: a huge pile of earth is
thrown up for the tomb. Ara stant mani-
bus. It appears that two altars were con-
secrated to the Manes. See 305, infra ;
also, Ecl. v. 66. By manibus here, we are
to understand the soul or spirit of Polydorus.
64. Mæstæ: mournful-dressed in mourn-
ing. These fillets were of a deep purple or
violet color-a color between blue and black
Rumus says, tristes.
ÆNEIS. LIB. III.
247
Et circùm Iliades crinem de more solutæ.
Inferiinus tepido spumantia cymbia lacte,
Sanguinis et sacri pateras: animamque sepulchro
Condimus, et magna supremùm voce ciemus.
Inde ubi prima fides pelago, placataque venti
Dant maria, et lenis crepitans vocat Auster in altum
Deducunt socii naves, et litora complent.
Provehimur portu, terræque urbesque recedunt.
Sacra mari colitur medio gratissima tellus
Nereïdum matri et Neptuno Ægæo:
Quam pius Arcitenens oras et litora circum
Errantem, Mycone celsâ Gyaroque revinxit ;
NOTES.
65. Solutæ crinem: loose as to their hair
-having their hair loose or dishevelled.
See Ecl. i. 55.
66. Inferimus cymbia: we offer bowls
foaming with warm milk, and goblets of the
consecrated blood. From the verb infero,
is formed inferia, sacrifices for the dead,
which consisted in pouring into or upon the
grave, milk and the blood of a victim slain,
as here mentioned.
67. Condimus animam: we place, or bury
the soul in the grave. Ruæus says, claudi-
mus animam.
It was a prevailing opinion among the
Romans and Greeks, that the soul could not
rest without burial; for this reason, they
were so anxious about funeral rites. Hence
conditorium came to signify a burial-place.
Et supremum and lastly, we call upon him
with a loud voice. This they did, to call
the soul to its place of its rest, and to take
the last farewell, by pronouncing the word
vale, three times. Ciemus: in the sense of
conclamamus. See Æn. i. 219.
69. Fides: confidence-security. Pla-
cata: in the sense of quieta, vel tranquilla.
It agrees with maria.
70. Auster: properly the south wind;
here taken for wind in general. Crepitans:
murmuring-rustling-blowing gently.
73. Gratissima tellus. The island Delos
is meant, the birth-place of Apollo and Di-
Matri Nereidum: to Doris, the wife
of Nereus, and mother of fifty sea-nymphs,
called Nereïdes. Colitur: in the sense of
incolitur, vel habitatur.
ana.
74. Ægœo. That part of the Mediter-
ranean sea, lying between. Asia on the east,
and the Morea, Attica, and Thessaly on the
west, was called the Ægean sea; from
Egeus, the father of Theseus, who threw
himself into it, and was drowned, expecting
that his son,
who had undertaken to fight
the Minotaur, was slain.
The fable is this: it was agreed between
the father and son, that if he subdued the
monster, and returned victorious, he should
hang out a white flag, or have white sails:
;
65 65. Iliades, solut»
quoad crinem de more,
stant circùm
69. Prima fides est pe-
69
lago.
72. Recedunt à nostro
aspectu
73. Gratissima tellus
sacra matri Nereïdum,
et Ægio:
75. Quam errantem
75 anteà circum oras, et
litora
but if he should fail in the attempt, the ship
should return with black sails.
Theseus, on his return, forgot to hang out
the white flag, through grief for his beloved
Ariadne, whom Bacchus had ravished from
him. The father, who was expecting him
with impatience, as soon as he, from the top
of a high rock, saw the ship in mourning,
threw himself into the sea, supposing his
son to have been slain. Egeus was king of
Athens.
The islands in the .southern part of this
sea were called Sporades, from a Greek word
which signifies, to scatter, or sow; because
they lay as if scattered or sown, without or-
der or regularity. The islands farther north
were called Cyclades, from a Greek word
signifying a circle, because they lay around
Delos in the form of a circle. Hodie, the
Archipelago.
Neptune is here called Egean, because
he was supposed to have his residence in
the gean sea.
75. Arcilenens. This was an epithet of
Apollo; also a name of Apollo, as in this
place; compounded of arcus and teneo. He
is here called pius, because, it is said, that
as soon as he was born, he slew the serpent
Python, which Juno sent to persecute his
mother Latona. Pierius would read priùs,
instead of pius, connecting it with errantem.
He assures us that it is found in several an-
cient copies.
Delos is a small island in the Ægean sea
in lat. 37° 30′ north, having Mycone on the
north-east, Gyarus and Naxus on the east
and south, and Rhena on the west.
The fable is this: Juno being angry at
her husband for loving Latona, resolved she
should have no place to bring forth in peace.
Jupiter directed her to Delos, which was
then a floating or wandering island, as a
place of safe retreat. Apollo, after his birth,
fixed and rendered it immoveable, for the
residence of his mother.
residence of his mother. Its original name
was Ortygia. This was changed into the
name Delos, which, in the Greek, signifies
apparent, or brought to view, it having been
248
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Immotamque coli dedit, et contemnere ventos.
78. Hæc placidissima Huc feror: hæc fessos tuto placidissima portu
insula accipit nos.
Accipit. Egressi veneramur Apollinis urbem.
79. Egressi navibus
veneramur
82. Occurrit nobis
85. Et sic dixi:
Rex Anius, rex idem hominum Phœbique sacerdos, 80
Vittis et sacrâ redimitus tempora lauro
Occurrit, veterem Anchisen agnoscit amicum.
Jungimus hospitio dextras, et tecta subimus.
0 Templa Dei saxo venerabar structa vetusto ;
Thymbræe Apollo, da Da propriam, Thymbræe, domum, da monia fessis, 85
nobis fessis propriam do- Et genus, et mansuram urbem: serva altera Trojæ
88. Quòve jubes nos
Pergama, relliquias Danaûm atque immitis Achillei.
ire? ubi jubes nos ponere Quem sequimur? quòve ire jubes? ubi ponere sedes ?
Da, pater, augurium, atque animis illabere nostris.
mum
nostras sedes?
90. Repentè omnia
visa sunt tremere
91. Totusque mons
visus est moveri
94. Eadem tellus, quæ
tulit vos à prima stirpe
Vix ea fatus eram : tremere omnia visa repentè,
Liminaque, laurusque Dei: totusque moveri
Mons circùm, et mugire adytis cortina reclusis.
Submissi petimus terram, et vox fertur ad aures:
Dardanidæ duri, quæ vos à stirpe parentum
NOTES.
hidden before under the waves. This part
of the fable some explain, by saying that
Apollo here gave out his oracles plain and
intelligible, but in every other place, in terms
dark and obscure. See Ecl. iv. 10.
77. Deditque: and rendered it fixed to be
inhabited, and to condemn the winds. This
alludes to the story of its having been a
wandering island, and driven about by the
winds, till fixed by Apollo for the residence
of his mother. Hence it became sacred to
her.
80. Idem rex hominum. It was a custom
among many nations to unite in the same
person the offices of king and priest. Anius
was both king, and priest of Apollo.
81. Redimitus: bound as to his temples
with fillets, and the sacred laurel. The
laurel was sacred to Apollo. Hence the
propriety of his priest being bound with it:
and the propriety of the epithet sacra.
83. Subimus tecta: we come under his
roof-we enter his palace. But tecta here
may mean the temple mentioned below the
word tectum properly signifying any covered
building. Or tecta may be taken for the
buildings of the city in general. The mean-
ing then will be; we enter the city.
84. Structa vetusto saxo: built of ancient
stone, or rock. Macrobius informs us that,
when the temple at Delphi, and the temples
built to Apollo in other places, were destroy-
ed in any way whatever, his temple at Delos
continued to stand unimpaired; and conse-
quently retained its ancient or original stone.
Whatever ravages the island had suffered,
the sanctity of the temple preserved it from
violation. Venerabar: I worshipped-I of-
fered prayers.
It is said that the altar of
Apollo at Delos was never stained with the
90
blood of victims; but only honored with
prayers, and other simple rites of ancient
worship.
85. Thymbræe. Thymbræus was an epi-
thet of Apollo, derived, as we are told by
Strabo, from Thymbra, a place near Troy,
where he had a famous temple. Propriam:
fixed, lasting.
86. Genus: offspring-posterity. Ruæus
says, familias. Mansuram: perinanent, to
reinain.
87. Pergama: neu. plu. properly the fort
or citadel of Troy; often used for the whole
city. Altera Pergama. Simply, the other
Troy-the city which Æneas prayed Apollo
to grant to him, and his followers, the re-
mains of the Greeks, and of cruel Achilles.
89. Augurium: a sign, or omen.
91. Laurus. Either the laurel, with which
the image of the god was crowned; or rather
the laurel tree, which was placed at the en-
trance of the temple. It was an opinion
among the ancients that the gods gave signs
of their approach, by causing the earth to
move and shake. To this the poet here al-
ludes. The laurel was sacred to Apollo.
92. Cortina. The covering of the tripod,
whence the priest delivered responses. Hence
by meton. the oracle itself. Adytis. The
sanctuary, or inner part of the temple, where
the Oracle was. Reclusis: in the sense of
apertis. Mons. This was mount Cynthus,
on which the temple was built: whence
Apollo was sometimes called Cynthius, and
Diana, Cynthia. Mugire: in the sense of
sonare.
94. Dardanida: the same as Trojani.
Servius observes that the Trojans might
ENEIS. LIB. III.
249
Prima tulit, tellus eadem vos ubere læto
Accipiet reduces: antiquam exquirite matrem
Hic domus Æneæ cunctis dominabitur oris,
Et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab illis.
Hæc Phœbus: mixtoque ingens exorta tumultu
Lætitia; et cuncti, quæ sint ea monia, quærunt,
Quò Phœbus vocet errantes, jubeatque reverti.
Tum genitor, veterum volvens monumenta virorum,
Audite, ô proceres, ait, et spes discite vestras.
Creta Jovis magni medio jacet insula ponto,
Mons Idæus ubi, et gentis cunabula nostræ.
Centum urbes habitant magnas, uberrima regna.
Maximus unde pater, si ritè audita recordor,
Teucrus Rhoteas primùm est advectus in oras,
NOTES.
have understood from this declaration of
the Oracle, that Italy was designed them,
whence Dardanus came; and not Crete,
which was the birthplace of Teucer. Stirpe:
in the sense of origine.
95. Læto ubere: in its joyous bosom: or
perhaps, in its fertile soil. Uber: signifies
the richness or fertility of the soil. Rumus
says, fertili sinu.
96. Reduces: brought back, or returning
in safety. Matrem. It is supposed that the
poet had in view the circumstance of Brutus,
and the Tarquins, who went to Delphi to
consult the Oracle of Apollo, concerning
the succession to the kingdom. They re-
ceived for answer, that the empire should
be his, who first kissed his great mother.
Brutus, on leaving the ship, feigned a fall,
and kissed the ground, which he considered
as the great parent of all. He received the
government, after the expulsion of the Tar-
quins, being chosen Consul. He was slain
by Aruns, one of the Tarquins, soon after
he entered upon his office.
97. Domus Æneæ: here the family of
Eneas shall bear rule over all lands, &c.
These two lines are taken from the Iliad.
Lib. 20. 306. It is there said, however,
that Æneas should reign over the Trojans.
Hence some have inferred that he remained
in Troas, and that the whole account of the
origin of the Romans is a mere fiction, a
compliment only to Augustus. But Diony-
sius of Halicarnassus understands it of his
reigning over the Trojans in Italy. And in
this he is followed by Eustathius in his
commentary upon this passage of the Iliad.
It may be observed that Virgil does not say,
Trojanis dominabitur, which answers to the
Greek of Homer; but cunctis dominabitur
oris. This circumstance hath led some to
alter the Greek text so as to conform to the
Roman.
101. Reverti: in the sense of procedere.
Quò in the sense of ad que loca.
102. Monumenta: records, or memorials.
These were of various kinds; not only wri-
95
99. Ingensque lætitia
100 exorta est cum mixto
101. Nos errantes
105
105. Ubi est Idæus
mons
106. Incolæ habitant
centum
107. Unde Teucrus
noster maximus pater
primùm
tings, but paintings, columns, tombs, and
statues. Rumus says, historias. Volvens: in
the sense of recogitans, vel revolvens in
mente.
104. Creta. A large island in the Mediter-
ranean, lying between the Archipelago on
the north, and the Lybian sea on the south :
Hodie, Candia. It was called Creta, from
Cres, who is 'said to have reigned there
after Jupiter. It is also sometimes called
Crete. Teucer, from whom the Trojans
were sometimes called Teucri, and Troy,
Teucria, was a native of this island. Ho
was the son of Scamander; and, in the
time of a famine, led a colony to Troas,
and settled at Rhateum, a promontory on
the shore of the Hellespont. He was most
probably the founder of the Trojans:
whence Anchises calls him Maximus pater.
They were, however, very fond of deriving
their descent from Dardanus, who fled
from Italy to Troas, and became the son-in-
law to Teucer. By marrying his daughter,
he obtained a share in the kingdom, and at
his death succeeded him in the government.
Crete is here called the island of great
Jove; because it was the place of his birth
and education. See Georg. 1. 121.
105. Cunabula: neu. plur. the cradle or
nursing place of your race.
Rumus says,
origo. Idaus: an adj. from Ida, a mountain
in Crete.
106. Habitant: in the sense of occupant.
Uberrima regna: most fertile realms. This
answers to lato ubere, mentioned, 95, supra,
and tended to mislead Anchises.
107. Audita: reports-traditions.
108. Rhæteas oras: the coast of Rheteum.
Rhateum was a promontory of Troas,
where Teucer landed with his colony from
Crete. He introduced the worship of Cy-
bele, the mother of the gods, and gave to
the mountains of Phrygia the name of Ida,
from mount Ida in Crete. He also changed
the name of Xanthus into that of Scam-
ander, after the name of his father. Hence
Homer says that the river was called Xan-
250
P VIRGILII MARONIS
Optavitque locuin regno: nondum Ilium et arces
Pergameæ steterant; habitabant vallibus imis.
111. Hinc venit mater Hinc mater cultrix Cybele, Corybantiaque æra,
Cybele
Idæumque nemus: hinc fida silentia sacris,
112. Hinc venerunt Et juncti currum dominæ subiere leones.
fida silentia
Ergò agite, et, Divûm ducunt quà jussa, sequamur.
Placemus ventos, et Gnossia regna petamus.
116. Illa distant longo Nec longo distant cursu: modò Jupiter adsit,
Tertia lux classem Cretæis sistet in oris.
cursu
NOTES.
thus by the gods, but Scamander by men-
the former being its original, and more ho-
norable name.
109. Optavit: in the sense of elegit. Stra-
bo agrees with Virgil in making Teucer the
first who reigned in Troy. Dardanus ar-
rived not long after, married his daughter
Batea, and succeeded him in the govern-
ment.
110. Pergameœ: in the sense of Trojana.
111. Cybele. The same with Rhea or Ops,
and wife of Saturn. She is so called pro-
bably from Cybelus, a mountain in Phrygia,
where she was worshipped. She is taken
sometimes for the earth; and in that sense
is the common parent of all its inhabitants.
Her priests were called Corybantes, Curetes,
and Idæi Dactyli. Among other things in
her worship, they used to beat brazen cym-
bals together. The origin of this practice
was to prevent the cries of the child Jupiter
from being heard by his father. Cybele is
here called Cultrix, most probably because
she was worshipped in a mountain of
Phrygia: whence it might be said that she
inhabited it, and, as it were, became the
protectress of that country. This is the
sense Ruæus gives. He says, protectrix loc.
Æra: brazen cymbals. Any thing made of
brass may be called as, or æru.
Heyne reads Cybela, the gen. of Cybela,
sometimes written Cybelus, the name of a
mountain in Phrygia. Mater Deûm, says
he, quæ colit, inhabitat Cybelen, montem
Phrygiæ taking cultrix in the sense of qua
colit vel inhabitat. After the arrival of
Teucer from Crete, he probably changed the
name of the mountain Cybela or Cybelus,
calling it Ida, after the Cretan Ida.
This goddess had several names: Cybele,
from the mountain already named, where it
is said she was first worshipped by sacrifi-
ces: Ops, from a word implying help, be-
cause she brings help or assistance to every
production of nature: Rhea, from a Greek
word signifying to flow, because her benefits
flow without ceasing: Dindymene, from the
mountain Dindymus in Phrygia: Berecyn-
ia, from Berecynthus, a castle in the same
country. See n. vi. 784. She was also
called Bona Dea, and Mater Deorum. Sce
Ecl. iv. 6. and Geor. i. 121.
Cor bantia: an adj. from Corybantes, the
10
115
priests of Cybele, derived from the Greek.
During her worship, they made a confused
noise with timbrels, pipes, and cymbals
They danced, tossed their heads, and struck
their foreheads against each other, appear
ing like mad men.
They were sometimes called Cureles,
from a Greek word which signifies a virgin,
because they wore a long robe like young
virgins. They were also called Dactyli,
from a Greek word signifying a finger, be-
cause they were ten in number, there being
so many fingers on both hands. The epi-
thet Idat is here ‘added, because they chiefly
resided on mount Ida.
Cybele is represented sitting on a car
with a robe of divers colors, and holding a
key in her hand, to denote that she unlocks
and distributes in summer those treasures,
that the winter had hid and concealed. Sho
wears a turreted crown on her head, and is
drawn by a pair of harnessed lions. The
box and the pine tree were sacred to her :
the former, because pipes were made of that
wood, and used in her worship; the latter
for the sake of the boy Atys, whom she
loved, and made president of her rites, or
ceremonies: but afterwards changed him
into the pine tree. Her sacrifices were per-
formed in private, and men were excluded
from participation. Silence was especially
enjoined in her mysteries. This will ex-
plain fida silentia sacris, in the following
line.
112. Hinc fida: hence the faithful secrecy
in her sacred rites. The mysteries of Cy-
belo, as well as those of Ceres, were care-
fully concealed from the common people.
Her chariot was drawn by harnessed lions,
juncti leones, to denote that maternal affec-
tion, figured by Cybele, or the earth, the
common parent of all, triumphs over the
most ferocious and savage natures. Subie-
re: in the sense of traxerunt. Dominæ.
This is an epithet of Cybele, as being the
mother of the gods.
115. Gnossia: an adj. from Gnossus, the
principal city of Crete, put by synec. for the
whole island.
116. Nec distant: nor are the realms of
Crete a long way distant. Modò: provided
that-in case that.
117. Lux: in the sense of dies.
ENEIS. LIB. III.
251
Sic fatus, meritos aris mactavit honores.
Taurum Neptuno; taurum tibi, pulcher Apollo;
Nigram Hyemi pecudem, Zephyris felicibus albam.
Fama volat, pulsum regnis cessisse paternis
Idomenea ducem, desertaque litora Cretæ,
Hoste vacare domos, sedesque adŝtare relictas.
Linquimus Ortygiæ portus, pelagoque volamus:
Bacchatamque jugis Naxon, viridemque Donysam,
Olearon, niveamque Paron, sparsasque per æquor
Cycladas, et crebris legimus freta consita terris.
Nauticus exoritur vario certamine clamor.
Hortantur socii, Cretam proavosque petamus.
Prosequitur surgens à puppi ventus euntes :
Et tandem antiquis Curetum allabimur oris.
Ergò avidus muros optatæ molior urbis,
Pergameamque voco: et lætam cognomine gentem
Hortor amare focos, arcemque attollere tectis.
Jamque ferè sicco subductæ litore puppės:
·
NOTES.
118. Mactavit: he offered-sacrificed.
Honores: in the sense of victimas. And
meritos in the sense of dignos.
120. Hyemi. By hyemi we are here to
understand the stormy winds. They were
considered as a kind of divinities, and were
accordingly worshipped in order to avert
their fury. Pecudem: in the sense of ovem.
Felicibus: in the sense of propitiis.
122. Idomenea: an acc. of Greek ending.
Idomeneus was the son of Deucalion, and
grand-son of Minos, king of Crete. He
was one of the leaders in the war against
Troy. On his return, being overtaken in
a storm, he made a vow to the gods to
sacrifice to them whatsoever he should first
meet, if they would save him. This hap-
pened to be his own son. The father, how-
ever, performed his vow. A plague soon
arising in his country, and his subjects con-
sidering him to have been the cause of it by
this inhuman deed, rose against him, and
expelled him from his kingdom. Litora de-
serta: the shores to be deserted-left with-
out a guard, or defence.
123. Sedes relictas adstarė: that the coun-
try being abandoned, lies open to us. Sedes:
in the sense of regiones.
124. Ortygiæ. The ancient name of De-
los was Ortygia, from a Greek word signi-
fying a quail: those fowls having abounded
in that island.
125. Bacchatam: frequented in its moun-
tains by the priests of Bacchus-whose
mountains resounded with the tumultuous
rantings of the Bacchanals. Viridem Do-
nysam. This island was famous for its
green marble, as Peros was for its pure white
marble. See 75 supra.
127. Cycladas sparsas. These were a
number of Islands, so called from a Greek
word signifying a circle, because they lay
119
119. Mactavit taurum
Neptuno; taurum tibi,
O pulcher
121. Fama volať du-
cem Idomenea, pulsum
cessisse paternis regnis,
litoraque Creta esse de-
125 serta, et domos vacare
130
nostro hoste
125. Legimusque Nax-
on bacchatam jugis, vi-
ridemque Donysam
130. Nos euntes
133. Vocoque urbem
Pergameam
135. Puppes subducte
sunt è mari in sicco li-
135 tore
in that form around Delos. Freta consita :
the straits set with many islands—the straits
and narrow passes formed by the nume-
rous islands, which diversified the sea.
127. Legimus: wo coast along the shore
--we sail near.
128. Certamine: in the sense of amula-
tione. Nauticus clamor : à shout of the sailors.
130. Surgens à puppi. This wind blew
from the north: their course lay to the
southward, and consequently it would be at
their stern.
131. Allabimur: we arrive at the ancient
shores of the Curetes. These were the mi-
nisters of Cybele, and thought by sonie to
be the same with the Corybantes and Idæi
Dactyli. Of ad and labor.
See 111, supra.
The Curetes are said to have been the ori-
ginal inhabitants of Crete; from whom the
island probably took its name.
132. Molior: in the sense of extruo.
133. Pergameam. Pliny mentions Per
gamus, among the cities of Crete. Homer
calls it, the hundred-city island. It is said
to have had a hundred cities. Gentem læ-
tam: my people delighted with the name.
Gentem, in the sense of populum, vel socios.
134. Amare focos: to love their homes-
to keep close at home, and not wander
abroad, until they should discover the dis-
position of the inhabitants towards them.
This agrees with the following injunction:
attollere arcem tectis, to raise a tower on
their houses in case of an attack, the better
to defend themselves.
Servius thinks Eneas. here intends to
recommend to his people to cultivate the
study of religion. It is an unnecessary re-
finement. Focos: properly the fire-places,
or hearth, by synec. put for the whole house,
in this place: also sometimes for the fire on
the hearth, by meton.
252
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
est connubiis
137. Tabida, miseran-
136. Juventus operata Connubiis arvisque novis operata juventus:
Jura domosque dabam: subitò cùm tabida membris,
daque lues, tractu cœli Corrupto cœli tractu, miserandaque venit
Arboribusque satisque lues, et letifer annus.
corrupto, venit eorum
membris, arboribusque Linquebant dulces animas, aut ægra trahebant
satisque, et annus est Corpora: tum steriles exurere Sirius agros.
letifer
Arebant herbæ, et victum seges ægra negabat.
141. Sirius cœpit exu-
Rursus ad orâclum Ortygiæ Phœbumque remenso
143. Pater hortatur Hortatur pater ire mari, veniamque precari:
me ire rursus ad oracu- Quem fessis finem rebus ferat; unde laborum
lum
Tentare auxilium jubeat; quò vertere cursus.
145. Et quærere quem Nox erat, et terris animalia somnus habebat.
Effigies sacræ Divûm, Phrygiique Penates,
rere
finem
150. Visi sunt adstare Quos mecum à Trojâ mediisque ex ignibus urbis
ante oculos mei jacentis Extuleram, visi ante oculos adstare jacentis
Insomnis, multo manifesti lumine: quà se
insomnis
153. Tum sic visi sunt Plena per insertas fundebat Luna fenestras.
Tum sic affari, et curas his demere dictis :
affari me, et
tibi delato ad
154. Apollo canit hìc
idem, quod dicturus est Quod tibi delato Ortygiam dicturus Apollo est,
Hìc canit: et tua nos en ultrò ad limina mittit.
156. Nos secuti sumus Nos te, Dardaniâ incensâ, tuaque arma secuti;
te, tuaque
Nos tumidum sub te permensi classibus æquor ;
158. Nos iidem tolle- Iidem venturos tollemus in astra nepotes,
159. Imperium orbis Imperiumque urbi dabimus. Tu monia magnis
Magna para, longumque fugæ ne linque laborem.
mus
tuæ urbi
NOTES.
136. Juventus operata: the youth had
sacrificed for their nuptials, and new lands.
They were prepared for contracting mar-
riages, and for commencing the business of
agriculture.
It was a custom among the Romans to
offer sacrifices before they entered upon
marriage, or any important business of life.
To this, the poet alludes. Sacrificabant pro
felici successu conjugiorum, et agrorum.
137. Dabam: in the sense of distribuebam.
Jura: justice among my people. Domos:
either the houses that had been abandoned
by the inhabitants; or the places where
they should build houses for themselves.
139. Tabidu miserandaque: a wasting and
pitiable disease came upon their limbs, &c.
This disease, or plague, was occasioned by
the infection of the air. Cæli: in the sense
of aëris, Tractu: a space, tract, or region,
Satis. Sata, properly, crops-any thing
planted and growing; from the verb sero.
Here, in the sense of segetes.
140. Animas: lives. Anima properly
signifies the animal life; animus, the soul.
Dr. Trapp thinks the expression an odd one,
and proposes to change linquebant to red-
debant. Ruæus says, amittebant. The dif-
ficulty is removed by rendering dulces ani-
mas, sweet, or dear lives.
•
141. Sirius: the dog-star; a pestilential
constellation, rising about the end of July,
140
145
150
155
160
when the heat of the sun is most intense.
It is sometimes called canicula.
142. Ægra seges: the diseased, or sickly
crop-corn.
144. Precari veniam: to supplicate his
favor, or assistance.
145. Fessis rebus: to our afflicted state,
or condition. Ferat: in the sense of ponat.
Laborum: distress-sufferings. Tentare:
in the sense of quærere.
146. Auxilium laborum: relief in our
sufferings.
148. Effigies: forms, or figures. Rumus
says statuæ. Penates. See Æn. ii. 717.
151. Insomnis: awake; an adj. agreeing
with mei jacentis. Most editors separate
the word into in and somnis, in my sleep.
This is evidently incorrect: for if he had
been asleep, the light of the moon would
have been unnecessary. Besides, verse 173
infra, he declares it was no delusion of the
fancy in sleep. Manifesti: in the sense of
conspicui.
152. Insertas fenestras: windows inserted,
or made in the side of the house. Fenestras,
quæ sunt in pariete, says Heyne. Fundebat
se: in the sense of mittebat se; simply,
shone.
154. Delato: carried back, or returned
to Delos. Canit: declares, or reveals.
160. Para magna: prepare a great city.
Populis, or some word of the like import, is
ENEIS. LIB. III.
253
Mutandæ sedes: non hæc tibi litora suasit
Delius, aut Cretæ jussit. considere, Apollo.
Est locus, Hesperiam Graii cognomine dicunt;
Terra antiqua, potens armis atque ubere glebæ.
Enotrii coluere viri: nunc fama, minores
Italiam dixisse, ducis de nomine, gentem.
Hæ nobis propriæ sedes: hinc Dardanus ortus,
Iasiusque, pater; genus à quo principe nostrum.
Surge, age, et hæc lætus longævo dicta parenti
Haud dubitanda refer. Corytum, terrasque require
Ausonias: Dictaa negat tibi Jupiter arva.
Talibus attonitus visis ac voce Deorum,
(Nec sopor illud erat; sed coràm agnoscere vultus,
Velatasque comas, præsentiaque ora videbar:
NOTES.
to be understood, with which magnis is to
agree for your powerful people. Magnis
nepotibus, says Heyne. Ruæus hath nobis
magnis: for us the great gods. Longum
laborem fuga: the same as laborem longa
fuga: the labor, or fatigue of the long voyage.
161. Sedes: in the sense of regio. The
verb sunt is to be supplied. Non suasit hæc:
Delian Apollo does not advise, or recom-
mend these shores to thee.
162. Creta: at Crete. The place where
is put in the gen. The same with, in Creta.
Delius: a name, and epithet of Apollo;
from Delos, the place of his birth.
163. Est locus. This passage had been
recited to Dido by Ilioneus, Æn. i. 530. As
they were the words of the oracle, it would
have been disrespectful and improper to
alter them in the least: besides, Dido would
be more confirmed in the truth of Æneas'
relation, when she found two witnesses de-
livering their testimony in the same words.
Locus in the sense of regio.
165. Enotrii: an adj. from Enotria, a
name given to that part of Italy, afterwards
called Lucania. It took its name from
Enotrus, the son of Lycaon, who settled
here with a colony of Arcadians.
The
notrians spread so widely, that all Italy
was sometimes called Enotria. Enotrii
viri: simply, the Enotrians.
167. Propriæ nobis: destined, or allotted
to us by the gods. The verb sunt is to be
supplied. Mr. Davidson takes propria in
the sense of perpetuæ. Ruxus says, ad-
dictæ.
167. Hinc: hence Iasius sprang, and
father Dardanus; from which prince our
race is derived. Principe here is a sub. a
prince—a chief—a founder. The construc-
tion is easier and more natural by connect-
ing pater with Dardanus. In this instance
I have ventured to depart from the common
ordo. Iäsius and Dardanus were sons of
Electra, the daughter of Atlas, king of Mau-
165
165. Nunc fama est
minores dixisse gentem
167. Hinc Iasius or-
tus est, paterque Darda-
nus, à quo principe nos-
trum genus deductum
170 est.
173. Sed videbar mihi
agnoscere vultus coràm
me, velatasque
ritania in Africa; who married Coritus,
king of Tuscany. It is said, however, that
Jove had an amour with her, and begat
Dardanus. Upon the death of their father
Coritus, a quarrel arose between the two
brothers, which ended in the death of läsius.
Upon which Dardanus fled first to Samo-
thracia, and afterwards to Phrygia, where
he married the daughter of Teucer, and, in
connexion with him, founded the Trojan
race.
170. Corytum: a city and mountain in
Tuscany, so called from Corytus, the sup-
posed father of Dardanus, and king of that
country. The name is derived from a Greek
word which signifies a helmet. Both the
city and mountain are now called Cortona.
Require. Heinsius, and after him Heyne,
reads requirat. But require is the common
reading, and is the easier.
171. Ausonias: an adj. from Ausonia, a
name of Italy; from Auson, or Ausonius,
as Servius informs us. Dictaa arva: the
Cretan territory, or lands. Crete is called
Dictaan, from Dicte, a mountain on that
island, where Jupiter was educated; put, by
synec. for the whole island.
172. Talibus visis: at such a vision, or
sight.
173. Nec sopor erat, &c. Dr. Trapp, and
some other commentators, imagine a diffi-
culty occurs here. To solve it, they make a
difference between sopor and somnus. But
this difficulty arises entirely from their taking
insomnis to mean, in sleep, and not taking it
as an adj. See verse 151, supra.
174. Velatas comas: the heads of the
images, or statues, were generally adorned
with fillets and flowers. Ora præsentia
their forms present before me. We see how
much pains the poet takes to make us be-
lieve that it was no dream-no mere fancy,
He mentions a variety of circumstances, all
of which go to show that Æneas was awake,
and not in sleep.
254
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
rebus
esse novo
184. Nunc repeto cam
portendere hæc loca de-
bita esse nostro generi;
et eam sæpe vocare
Tum gelidus toto manabat corpore sudor)
Corripio è stratis corpus, tendoque supinas
Ad cœlum cum voce manus, et munera libo
Intemerata focis. Perfecto lætus honore
175
180
185
179. Certum de his Anchisen facio certum, remque ordine pando.
Agnovit prolem ambiguam, geminosque parentes,
181. Seque deceptum Seque novo veterum deceptum errore locorum.
Tum memorat: Nate, Iliacis exercite fatis,
Sola mihi tales casus Cassandra canebat.
Nunc repeto hæc generi portendere debita nostro,
Et sæpe Hesperiam, sæpe Itala regna vocare.
Sed quis ad Hesperia venturos litora Teucros
Crederet? aut quem tum vates Cassandra moveret ?
188. Moniti nos sequa- Cedamus Phœbo, et moniti meliora sequamur.
mur meliora consilia.
Sic ait et cuncti dictis paremus ovantes.
Hanc quoque deserimus sedem, paucisque relictis
Vela damus, vastumque cavâ trabe currimus æquor.
Postquam altum tenuere rates, nec jam ampliùs ullæ
190
193. Sed undique cœ- Apparent terræ, cœlum undique, et undique pontus;
lum apparet, et
Tum mihi cœruleus supra caput adstitit imber,
Noctem hyememque ferens; et inhorruit unda tenebris
NOTES.
176. Corripio: I snatch my body from
my bed. Supinas: palm upward; agreeing
with manus.
177. Libo intemerata: I pour pure offer-
ings on the fire. This private offering con-
sisted of pure wine and incense, and was
usually poured upon the fire in honor of the
Lares.
178. Honore perfecto: the offering being
made, or completed.
179. Rem: in the sense of prodigium.
180. Geminos parentes: the double foun-
ders. The Trojans reckoned both Teucer
and Dardanus the founders of their race;
the former from Crete, the latter from Italy.
This ambiguam prolem, ambiguous, or dou-
ble descent, led Anchises to mistake the
oracle of Apollo. Agnovit: he owned-
acknowledged.
181. Novo errore. It is not easy, perhaps,
to fix the meaning of this line. Pierius in-
forms us that some copies have parentum
instead of locorum, which mends it much :
through the recent mistake of our ancient
founders. If locorum be read, it will be:
through the recent mistake of the places of
their birth.
Apollo had directed them to seek the land
of their ancestors, promising that it should
receive them in its fertile bosom. This An-
chises had interpreted of the land of Crete,
the birth-place of Teucer. It appears, then,
that this mistake lay in reckoning their
descent from him, and not from Dardanus,
whose country had been Italy. This mis-
take in computing he calls novus, a recent,
or new one because they usually deduced
their descent from Dardanus. See verse
94, et seq.
182. Exercile: exercised, or tried, in the
disasters of Troy.
183. Canebat: in the sense of prædicabat.
by Apollo with the gift of prophecy; but
Cassandra. The daughter of Priam, endued
i. 246.
no body believed her predictions. See En.
184. Repelo: I remember I call to mind.
Portendere: in the sense of prædicere. Vo-
care: mentioned-spake of by name.
188. Moniti meliora: being advised, let
us follow better counsels. This is the sense
of Ruæus and Dr. Trapp. Mr. Davidson
follow (the gods); taking meliora as a Gre-
renders them being better advised, let us
cism. Cedamus: in the sense of obediamus.
189. Ovantes: in the sense of læti.
190. Sedem: in the sense of terram. De-
serimus: in the sense of relinquimus.
191. Cava trabe: in the sense of cavis nu-
vibus. Currimus: we sail upon the vast
Trabe, by synec. put for the whole
sea.
sea.
ship.
192. Allum: properly, the deep, or open
Rates: in the sense of naves.
194. Imber: properly, a shower of rain;
by meton. the cloud containing, or bearing
along the rain, as in the present instance.
Caruleus, is what we may properly call.
leaden-colored. Clouds, that threaten thur-
der and rain, are often tinged with a deep
blue, intermingled with black. This is the
kind of cloud here meant.
195. Hyemem: in the sense of tempeste-
ANEIS. LIB. III.
255
Continuò venti volvunt mare, magnaque surgunt
Æquora dispersi jactamur gurgite vasto.
Involvêre diem nimbi, et nox humida cœlum
Abstulit ingeminant abruptis nubibus ignes.
Excutimur cursu, et cæcis erramus in undis.
Ipse diem noctemque negat discernere cœlo,
Nec meminisse viæ media Palinurus in undâ.
Tres adeò incertos cæcâ caligine soles
Erramus pelago, totidem sinè sidere noctes.
Quarto terra die primùm se attollere tandem
Visa, aperire procul montes, ac volvere fumum.
Vela cadunt; remis insurgimus: haud mora, nautæ
Adnixi torquent spumas, et cœrula verrunt.
Servatum ex undis Strophadum me litora primùm
Accipiunt. Strophades Graio stant nomine dicta
Insulæ Ionio in magno: quas dira Celano,
Harpyiæque colunt aliæ: Phineïa postquam
NOTES.
tem, vel procellam. Unda: in the sense of
Inhorruit: looked terrific with the
mare.
darkness.
197. Æquora: in the sense of fluctus.
198. Involvêre: wrapped up the day-ob-
scured. Nimbi: in the sense of nubes. So
also imber, in verse 194, supra. So imper-
vious was this cloud to the rays of the sun,
that it became dark as night-it converted
the day into night. Darkness, or night, be-
ing the absence or want of the light of the
sun. Humida: in the sense of imbrifera.
Cœlum: for lucem.
199. Ignes: lightnings, in quick succes-
sion, flash from the broken clouds. Some
copies have abrupti, agreeing with ignes;
which would be preferable, if it could be
supported by sufficient authority.
200. Excutimur: in the sense of dejici-
mur. Cæcis dark-unknown sea.
201. Palinurus ipse: Palinurus himself
denies that he can distinguish the day and
night, (the day from the night, on account
of the darkness,) in the heavens. Memi-
nisse: in the sonse of cognoscere. He was
the pilot of Æneas' ship, and represented as
the most skilful mariner in the fleet.
203. Adeò erramus: thus we wander over
the sea for three doubtful days in thick
darkness. Or, incertos may mean, uncer-
tain-undistinguished; because they could
be scarcely distinguished from night, on
account of the thick darkness. This is the
sense put upon the words by Ruæus and
others. Ambiguas propter tenebras obscuras,
says that commentator. Soles in the sense
of dies.
:
206. Volvere in the sense of emittere, or
erigere.
207. Insurgimus remis: we rise upon our
oars we ply them briskly.
208. Adnixi: part. of the verb adnitor:
196
200
198 Abstulit calum
à nobis
201. Negat se posse dis-
cornere
205 205. Terra visa est,
tandem attollere se, et
210
207. Haud mora est
208. Verrunt cœrula
maria
210. Insulæ, dicte
Strophades Graio no-
mine, stant in
exerting themselves-laboring with all their
strength, they toss the foam, and sweep the
azure deep.
209. Litora Strophadum: the shores of the
Strophades. These were two small islands,
lying on the west of the Peloponnesus, near
the Sinus Cyparissæus. Here Æneas with
his fleet landed.
211. Magno Ionio. That part of the
Mediterranean, lying between Greece on
the east, and Sicily and Italy on the west,
was called the Ionian sea. Mari is to be
supplied.
•
212. Harpyiæ aliæ. The Harpies were
commonly reckoned three in number: Iris,
Aëllo, and Ocypeta. Virgil here calls one
of them Celano. They are said to have
been the daughters of Neptune and Terra,
(according to Hesiod, of Thaumus and
Electra,) and are therefore supposed to in-
habit the islands principally. They had the
faces of women, but the bodies of vultures.
Their feet and fingers were armed with
claws. They emitted an infectious smell,
and poisoned whatever they touched. They
were called Harpyia, from the circumstance
of their rapacity and voracious nature. Ser-
vius thinks they were called Harpyia on
earth, Furia in hell, and Diræ in heaven.
Phineia an adj. from Phineus, a king of
Arcadia or Thrace, who put out the eyes of
his two sons, at the instigation of his wife,
their step-mother. For this unnatural con-
duct, Jove deprived him of sight, and sent
the Harpyia to torinent them; which they
did, till Calais and Zetes, the sons of Bo-
reas and Orithyia, expelled them from his
kingdom, in return for the favors which
they had received of him on their way to
Colchis, after the golden fleece. They pur-
sued these monsters as far as these islands;
when, being admonished by Jove to pursue
256
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
213. Phineia domus Clausa domus, mensasque metu liquêre priores
Tristius haud illis monstrum, nec sævior ulla
clausa est illis
Pestis et ira Deûm Stygiis sese extulit undis.
216. Vultus earum vo- Virginei volucrum vultus, fœdissima ventris
lucrum sunt Virginei; Proluvies, uncæque manus, et pallida semper
est iilis fœdissima prolu-
vies
ruimus in ea ferro
Ora fame.
Huc ubi delati portus intravimus; ecce
Læta boum passim campis armenta videmus,
221. Caprigenumque Caprigenumque pecus, nullo custode, per herbas.
pecus errans per herbas Irruimus ferro, et Divos ipsumque vocamus
cum nullo custode. Ir- In partem prædamque Jovem : tunc litore curvo
Extruimusque toros, dapibusque epulamur opimis.
At subitæ horrifico lapsu de montibus adsunt
Harpyiæ, et magnis quatiunt clangoribus alas :
Diripiuntque dapes, contactuque omnia foedant
vox. Immundo: tum vox tetrum dira inter odorem.
Rursùm in secessu longo, sub rupe cavatâ,
228. Tum dira
crat illis inter
215
220
225
230. Nos circum clausi Arboribus clausi circùm atque horrentibus umbris, 230
arboribus
Instruimus mensas, arisque reponimus ignem.
Rursùm ex diverso cæli, cæcisque latebris,
Turba sonans prædam pedibus circumvolat uncis,
Polluit ore dapes. Sociis tunc, arma capessant,
236. Faciunt haud Edico, et dirâ bellum cum gente gerendum.
secùs ac jussi sunt Haud secùs ac jussi faciunt, tectosque per herbam
NOTES.
them no farther, they returned. Hence
they were called Strophades, from a Greek
word implying a return. Their former
name was Plota. Here the Harpyia took
up their residence. This serves to explain
the words, postquam Phineïa domus: after
they were expelled from the palace of
Phineus.
214. Haud tristius: there is not a monster
more fell than they; nor any more cruel pest
and scourge (ira) of the gods, &c. Est, is
understood.
215. Stygirs undis: from the waters of
Styx. This was a fabulous river of Hell,
around which, the poets say, it flowed nine
times. The gods held its waters in great
veneration. If they swore by it, the oath
was inviolable. It is said to have derived
its name from the nymph Styx, who assisted
Jupiter in the war against the giants. See
Geor. iii. 551.
217. Proluvies ventris: a most offensive
efflux of the belly. Ora semper pallida: and
their faces always pale through hunger.
220. Lata: in the sense of pinguia,
agreeing with armenta.
223. In partem prædamque: for in partem
prædæ, by hendiadis. It was a custom
among the Romans when they went out to
war, or to the chase, to vow to consecrate
a part of the spoils, or booty, to the gods.
Vocamus: we invoke the gods, and Jove
himself, to a share of the booty.
224. Toros: tables-couches.
Opimis
235
dapibus: upon the rich, or delicious meat.
See 231, infra.
225. Lapsu: motion. Adsunt: in the
sense of adveniunt, vel advolant.
226. Magnis clangoribus: with a mighty
noise. Some copies have plangoribus, as
Pierius informs us.
227. Diripiunt: in the sense of rapiunt.
230. Horrentibus: in the sense of densis.
Secessu longo: in a long retreat-in a re-
mote place.
231. Instruimus mensas: we spread our
tables.
232. Ex diverso cœli: from a different
quarter of the sky, and from their secret
retreats. The word tractu is to be supplied
with diverso: in the sense of diversa parte
cœli. The Mythologists make the harpies
only three in number. Virgil however
speaks of them as being numerous, calling
them turba and gens, so that they no sooner
left one part of the Island than they were
troubled with them in another. But the
poets do not always conform to historical
or fabulous tradition, farther than suits
their design.
233. Prædam. This I take for their meat,
or flesh in general; while dapes means that
portion of it dressed, and prepared for
eating. Polluit: spoils or defiles with
the mouth. Sonans, flapping their wings—
whizzing.
235. Edico: in the sense of jubeo.
236. Faciunt haud: they do no other-
ANEIS. LIB. III.
257
Disponunt enses, et scuta latentia condunt.
Ergò, ubi delapse sonitum per curva dedêre
Litora; dat signum speculâ Misenus ab altâ
Ære cavo invadunt socii, et nova prælia tentant,
Obscœnas pelagi ferro fœdare volucres.
Sed neque vim plumis ullam, nec vulnera tergo
Accipiunt celerique fugâ sub sidera lapsæ,
Semesam prædam et vestigia fœda relinquunt.
Una in pracelsâ consedit rupe Celano,
Infelix vates, rumpitque hanc pectore vocem :
Bellum etiam pro cæde boum stratisque juvencis,
Laomedontiada, bellumne inferre paratis?
Et patrio insontes Harpyias pellere regno?
Accipite ergò animis atque hæc mea figite dicta :
Quæ Phobo pater omnipotens, mihi Phœbus Apollo
Prædixit, vobis furiarum ego maxima pando.
Italiam cursu petitis, ventisque vocatis
Ibitis Italiam, portusque intrare licebit.
Sed non antè datam cingetis mœnibus urbem,
Quàm vos dira fames, nostræque injuria cædis,
Ambesas subigat malis absumere mensas.
NOTES.
wise than they are commanded-they do
just as they are commanded.
237. Condunt: they hide their shields,
concealed among the grass. Latentia: in
the sense of occulta. Delapsæ: in the sense
of advolantes.
239. Specula. This was an elevated spot,
or place, commanding a wide prospect. It
is derived from the old verb specio. Hence
the verb speculor. Signum: the signal for
the attack.
240. Tentant nova: and try a new kind
of fight. Ere: trumpet: see 111. supra.
242. Vim: in the sense of ictum. The
epithet obscœnas is added to these birds,
either because they were of bad omen; or
were filthy, and to be abhorred on account
of their nastiness. Fœdare: the primary
meaning of this word is, to mangle-to cut
in pieces to make havoc of. Hence the pro-
priety of its being connected with ferro.
243. Lapse: flying-shooting away.
244. Semesam: half eaten. Of semi, and
esam, of the verb edo.
246. Infelix. As felix sometimes signifies
propitious, favorable, auspicious; so infelix.
oftentimes signifies ill-boding, inauspicious,
as here: ill-boding prophetess. Hanc vo-
cem: the same as hæc verba.
247. Pro cæde: for (in return for) the
slaughter of our cattle, and bullocks slain.
In addition to the crime of killing our herds
and taking our property; do you prepare
to wage war against us, and to drive us from
our paternal realms, who have done you no
injury or harm, and are in every respect in-
nocent.
238. Ubi Harpyia de-
lapsæ
240.
245
250
255
245. Celæno una ex
iis, infelix vates, conse-
dit in
248. Paratis-ne inferre
bellum nobis, etiam bel-
lum, inquam, pro cæde
boum
251. Ego maxima fu-
riarum pando vobis ea.
quæ Omnipotens pater
prædixit Phœbo, et Pho-
bus Apollo prædixit mi-
hi.
255. Cingetis urbem
datam vobis mœnibus an-
tèquam dira fames
In calling them the sons of Laomedon,
Celano reproaches them as being impious,
unjust and faithless, like that prince, who
did not keep his promises even with the
gods. See Geor. i. 502.
248. Laomedontiada: a patronymic noun
from Laomedon, the father of Priam, and
king of Troy. The same with Trojani.
249. Patrio regno: from our paternal
kingdom. This is said, because Neptune,
their father, had the empire of the sea, and
the islands.
250. Accipite: hear-attend to.
252. Maxima furiarum. Servius infers
from this passage that the Harpies and the
Furies were the same. Pando: in the sense
of explico.
255. Datam: in the sense of concessam,
vel prædictam.
256. Dira fames: direful hunger, and the
injury (done to) of our race, forces you to
consume your gnawed trenchers. Malis:
in the sense of dentibus. Injuria nostræ
cæds. This injury consisted in killing their
cattle; and in making an attack upon them.
257. Absumere mensas, &c. The sense of
this prediction is seen from its accomplish-
ment in the seventh book, verse 116. The
story is not merely a poetical invention; it
was a historical tradition. Dionysius and
Straho say that Æneas had received a re-
sponse from an Oracle, foretelling that be-
fore he came to a settlement in Italy, he
should be reduced to the necessity of eating
his trenchers, mensas. Varro says he re-
ceived it from the Oracle of Dodona in Epi- .
18
258
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
armis, sed votis
Dixit: et in sylvam pennis ablata refugit.
At sociis subitâ gelidus formidine sanguis
260. Eorum animi ce- Diriguit: cecidere animi: nec jam ampliùs armis, 260
cidere: nec jam ampliùs Sed votis precibusque jubent exposcere pacem,
jubent exposcere pacem Sive Deæ, seu sint diræ obscœnæque volucres.
At pater Anchises, passis de litore palmis,
Numina magna vocat, meritosque indicit honores :
265. Inquit: O Dî, Dî, prohibete minas; Dî, talem avertite casum,
prohibete has minas à Et placidi servate pios. Tum litore funem
nobis
Diripere, excussosque jubet laxare rudentes.
Tendunt vela Noti: ferimur spumantibus undis,
Quà cursum ventusque gubernatorque vocabant.
Jam medio apparet fluctu nemorosa Zacynthos,
Dulichiumque, Sameque, et Neritos ardua saxis.
274. Nimbosa cacumi- Effugimus scopulos Ithaca, Laërtia regna,
Et terram altricem sævi exsecramur Ulyssei.
Mox et Leucatæ nimbosa cacumina montis,
na montis Leucatæ ape-
riuntur conspectui
NOTES.
rus. Virgil puts it in the mouth of the
Harpyia, as being both suitable to their
nature, and more apt to raise surprise, when
coming from them. This prophecy receiv-
ed its fulfilment in the following manner.
Having arrived in Italy, and being destitute
of dishes, they were forced to eat their meat
or flesh upon large oval cakes, made of flour,
which they used for bread. And after they
had eaten their flesh, they consumed their
cakes also; which they had used in the room
of plates.
258. Pennis: in the sense of alis. Abla-
ta: in the sense of sublata.
259. Sanguis gelidus: the blood chilled
through sudden fear, grew thick, &c. Their
blood ceased to flow in its ordinary course;
the heart being unable to propel it to the ex-
tremities with its usual force.
263. Palmis passis de litore: in the sense
of palmis extensis de litore.
264. Magna numina: the great gods.
See Geor. i. 498. Indicit: and appoints
proper sacrifices or offerings.
265. Prohibete: in the sense of avertite.
Casum: calamity-misfortune.
266. Placidi: in the sense of placati, vel
benigni. Funem: the cable.
267. Diripere: in the sense of avellere.
Some copies have deripere: which is the
reading of Heyne.
Rudentes: in the sense of funes. By
these we are probably to understand those
ropes, by the help of which the sails were
hoisted and spread-the main sheets. They
had already weighed anchor: they now let
off the sheets-they extended the sails, and
the wind fills them. Excussos. Heyne takes
this in the sense of evolutos.
270. Zacynthos. An island in the Ionian
sea, on the west of the Peloponnesus: Ho-
die, Zante. The south wind was necessary
265
270
in sailing from the Strophades to this place.
Fluctu: in the sense of mari.
271. Dulichium. This island lies in the
mouth of the Sinus Corinthiacus, and is one
of the Echinades. Hodie, Dolicha. Same vel
Samos: hodie, Cephalonia. These islands
formed a part of the kingdom of Ulysses.
272. Ithaca. Ithaca was a very barren and
rocky island, between Cephalonia and Du-
lichium, the birth-place of Ulysses. Hence
he is called Ithacus. On this island was a
barren and rocky mountain, called Neritos.
The word is sometimes applied to the whole
island. Scopulos Ithaca. This is said by
way of irony and contempt, in allusion to
its rocks and barrenness. He adds, Laërtia
regna, the realms of Laertes. He was king
of that island, and the father of Ulysses.
273. Execramur terram: we execrate the
land, the nurse (birth-place) of cruel Ulysses.
These words express very forcibly his detes-
tation of so great an enemy to the Trojans.
274. Leucala montis: the cloudy summit
of the mountain Lucates. Leucas, Leucates
vel Leucate, an island lying very near the
coast of Acarnania, in Epirus. Hodie, St.
Maura. It is said to have once been con-
nected with the main land. It took its name
from a famous white mountain, or rock,
called Leucate, (from a Greek word, signi-
fying white,) lying at the southern extremity
of the island. It was supposed to have the
virtue of curing despairing lovers, who were
wont to cast themselves from it into the sea.
Among those who made the experiment of
its virtues, was the celebrated poetess Sap-
pho, who fell in love with Phaon, a beauti-
ful youth of Lesbos.
According to Strabo, Apollo had a tem-
ple on this rock, or mountain, from which
a human victim was cast yearly into the
sea, as a sacrifice to that god. On account
ENEIS. LIB. III.
259
Et formidatus nautis aperitur Apollo.
Hunc petimus fessi, et parvæ succedimus urbi.
Anchora de prorâ jacitur; stant litore puppes.
Ergò insperatâ tandem tellure potiti,
+
Lustramurque Jovi, votisque incendimus aras:
Actiaque Iliacis celebramus litora ludis.
Exercent patrias oleo labente palæstras
Nudati socii: juvat evasisse tot urbes
Argolicas, mediosque fugam tenuisse per hostes.
Intereà magnum Sol circumvolvitur annum,
Et glacialis hyems Aquilonibus asperat undas.
Ære cavo clypeum, magni gestamen Abantis,
Postibus adversis figo, et rem carmine signo :
Eneas hæc de Danais victoribus arma.
NOTES.
of this; or on account of the roughness of
the coast, he is called Apollo formidatus
nautis: Apollo dreaded by sailors. The
name of the god, put by meton. for the
temple. Nimbosa: some copies have um-
brosa.
276. Hunc. This may refer to mount
Leucata, mentioned before. Or we may
suppose, with more probability, that Encas
continued his course hence to the Sinus
Ambracius, where there was the small city
Ambracia, (afterwards enlarged by Augus-
tus, and called Nicopolis, in allusion to his
victory,) and another temple of Apollo.
If we make this supposition, the hunc may
refer to this latter temple, or to the god to
whom it was dedicated. Near this place
Augustus afterwards obtained a complete
victory over the combined forces of An-
thony and Cleopatra, queen of Egypt.
To this victory the poet alludes, with a
view to compliment his prince. Here he
landed, and performed those games, which
Augustus afterwards instituted, in comme-
moration of his victory; and celebrated
every fifth year.
Or
277. Puppes: in the sense of naves.
it may imply that the sterns of his ships lay
aground, while the prows were afloat. This
is the opinion of Dr. Trapp.
278. Insperata: greatly desired, or longed
for. The prep. in, in composition, often in-
creases the signification of the simple word,
as well as changes it to a contrary sense.
The former I take to be the case here; the
same as valdè sperata. For after the many
dangers and perils of his voyage, what could
be more desirable, than to find a place
where he could land in safety, and enjoy
the hospitality of the shore?
279. Lustramur Jovi: in the sense of
sacrificamus Jovi. Incendimus aras volis.
Rumus says, cumulamus aras victimis. Vo-
tum, by met. the thing vowed-the victim.
275
280
286. Figo adversis
postibus templi clypeum
285 è cavo ære, gestamen
magni Abantis, et sig-
no rem hoc carmine:
Eneas suspendit hæc
arma capta
280. Actia litora. The poet here plainly
alludes to the famous games which Augus-
tus instituted on the promontory of Epirus,
in commemoration of his victory over An-
thony and Cleopatra, in the year of Rome
723. These were celebrated every fifth
year. Hence, some have conjectured, that
four years had now elapsed since Eneas
left Troy. Virgil would make his prince
believe that Eneas landed on this shore,
and instituted these very games.
281. Exercent patrias: they practise their
country's exercises with the slippery oil.
The palæstra was an exercise, in which the
persons were naked; and, that they might
free themselves the easier from the hands of
their antagonists, they used to besmear their
bodies and arms with oil. It is also applied
to all kinds of games or exercises, such as
wrestling, leaping, &c. Also the place
where these exercises are performed.
283. Fugam: in the sense of cursum, vel
iter.
284. Magnum annum: the sun completes
(rolls round) a great year: a solar year of
12 months, as distinguished from a lunar
year, which consists of 12 lunations, or 354
days. Circumvolvitur, is plainly in the sense
of circumvolvit.
285. Hyems asperat : the icy winter rough-
ens. Undas: in the sense of mare.
286. Gestamen. This word signifies any
covering any thing worn or carried by a
person; from the verb gesto. Abantis. It
is probable that Abas was
one of those
Greeks, whom Æneas and his party slew
in the night of the sack of Troy, stript of
their armour, and exchanged for their own.
Gestamen, is put in apposition with clypeum.
287. Adversis postibus: the fronting door
posts of the temple. Figo: in the sense of
suspendo. Signo rem carmine: I declare
the transaction by this verse—inscription.
Rem: in the sense of factum.
260
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
298. Pectus incensum
est miro
289. Tum jubeo socios Linquere tum portus jubeo, et considere transtris.
linquere
Certatim socii feriunt mare, et æquora verrunt.
Protinùs aërias Phæacum abscondimus arces,
Litoraque Epiri legimus, portuque subimus
Chaonio, et celsam Buthroti ascendimus urbem.
Hic incredibilis rerum fama occupat aures,
Priamiden Helenum Graias regnare per urbes,
301. Tum fortè An- Conjugio Æacidæ Pyrrhi sceptrisque potitum,
dromache libabat cineri Et patrio Andromachen iterum cessisse marito.
pes, et tristia dona, ante Obstupui: miroque incensum pectus amore
urbem in luco ad undam Compellare virum, ct casus cognoscere tantos.
falsi Simoëntis, voca- Progredior portu, classes et litora linquens.
batque Manes ad Hec- Solemnes tum fortè dapes et tristia dona,
toreum tumulum, quem Ante urbem, in luco, falsi Simoëntis ad undam,
ridi cespite, et geminas Libabat cineri Andromache, Manesque vocabat
aras, causam lachrymis. Hectoreum ad tumulum, viridi quem cespite inanem,
Hectoris solemnes da-
inanem sacraverat è vi-
NOTES.
289. Transtris: upon the benches or
thwarts. They extended across the vessels
from side to side: the rowers sat upon
them.
290. Certatim: eagerly-striving to out-
do one another. Equora: the surface of
the sea, which they sweep with their oars.
Equor: properly any plain or level surface,
whether land or water. It is here used in
its appropriate sense.
291. Phearum: of the Phæacians-so
called from Phæacia, an island lying to the
west of the promontory of Actium. Hodie,
Corfu. It was famous for its orchards.
Here Homer placed the gardens of Alcinous,
who was king of the island. Abscondimus:
we hide the aerial towers, &c. we lose sight
of them.
292. Legimus Epiri: we coast along the
shores of Epirus. This was once a flourish-
ing kingdom, bounded on the east by
Achaia and Thessaly; on the north by
Macedonia; and on the south and west by
the Ionian sea. It was divided into four
principal parts; Etolia, Acarnania, Thes-
protia, and Chaonia. In the last of which
was the city Buthrotus or Buthrotum. It
was built upon a hill. Hence the epithet
celsam. For ascendimus, Heinsius, and
Heyne after him, read accedimus.
294. Incredibilis fama rerum: an incredi-
ble report of things. It was an incredible
revolution of fortune indeed, that a son of
Priam should reign in Epirus, and should
be married to Andromache, the widow of
his brother, after she had been the wife of
Pyrrhus, that very son of Achilles, who
slew the venerable Priam in the most cruel
manner. Yet these things are not the mere
invention of the poet. Justin informs us,
that after the taking of Troy, Pyrrhus was
reconciled to Helenus, shared with him his
290
235
300
kingdom, and gave him Andromache in
marriage.
295. Priamiden: the son of Priam-a
patronymic noun.
296. acido Pyrrhi: of Pyrrhus, a de-
scendent of Macus. He was king of Thes-
saly, and father of Peleus. Æacides was a
name both of Achilles and Pyrrhus. Con-
jugio: in the sense of uxore. Sceptris: in
the sense of regno.
297. Andromachen cessisse: that Andro-
mache again had fallen to a husband of her
own country. She was a Theban princess
by birth; but by marrying Hector, Troy
became her country. Patrio marito: in the
sense of Trojano marito.
298. Miro: in the sense of magno, vel
vehementi. Amore: desire.
299. Tantos cosus: so great events-such
a wonderful change of fortune.
301. Tum fortè libabat: then by chance
Andromache was offering the yearly feast,
and mournful gifts to the ashes of Hector,
&c. Among other funeral ceremonies, was
the custom of pouring into, or upon the
grave, blood and milk; because it was
thought that the (anime) souls delighted
and fed upon these, and particularly upon
the blood. These constituted the feast and
mournful gifts, which Andromache repeated
yearly to the ashes or shade of Hector. See
verse 66, supra.
302. Falsi Simoëntis: fictitious Simois.
This was a small river of Epirus, to which
Helenus and Andromache gave the name of
Simoïs, after a river of that name in Troas.
It was not the real Simoïs. Undam: in the
sense of aquam.
304. Inanem: empty-not the real tomb
of Hector; but one in memory of him.
Such a one was called tumulus vacuus, vel
inanis. These tombs, or cenotaphs were
ENEIS. LIB. III.
261
305
Et geminas, causam lachrymis, sacraverat aras.
Ut me conspexit venientem, et Troïa circùm
Arma amens vidit; magnis exterrita monstris,
Diriguit visu in medio: calor ossa reliquit :
Labitur; et longo vix tandem tempore fatur:
Verane te facies, verus mihi nuntius affers,
Nate Deâ? vivisne? aut, si lux alma recessit,
Hector ubi est? Dixit: lachrymasque effudit, et omnem
Implevit clamore locum. Vix pauca furenti
Subjicio, et raris turbatus vocibus hisco:
Vivo equidem, vitamque extrema per omnia duco.
Ne dubita, nam vera vides.
Heu! quis te casus dejectam conjuge tanto
Excipit? aut quæ digna satìs fortuna revisit?
Hectoris Andromache, Pyrrhin' connubia servas ?
NOTES.
honorary merely, and erected to persons
buried in another place; or to those who
received no burial, and whose relics could
not be found. The same religious regard
was paid to these tumuli inanes et honorarii,
as to real tombs. Viridi cespite: she made
(consecrated) this tomb of green turf.
305. Geminas aras. Some will have it,
that one altar was for Hector, and the other
for Astyanax, her son, whom the Greeks
threw headlong from the tower of Troy.
Others, however, think she erected (conse-
crated) both to Hector, it being customary
to erect two altars to the Mancs, especially
of Heroes, who were considered inferior
deities. See verse 63, supra. Causam: the
cause, or incentive to her tears. They
brought more forcibly to her mind the re-
collection of her husband, and renewed her
former grief.
307. Amens: amazed. It agrees with
illa understood. Exterrita monstris: asto-
Exterrita monstris: asto-
nished at the mighty prodigy, she fainted in
the midst of the sight.
Any thing that happens, or is contrary to
the ordinary course of things, may be called
monstrum. The sight of her countrymen
was so unexpected, so improbable, and so
far from the ordinary course of events, that
it might well enough be called magnum
monstrum.
308. Diriguit: in the sense of defecit.
309. Labitur: she falls.
310. Vera-ne facies: do you, a real form,
a true messenger, present yourself to me?
-are you really Æneas, or are you his
image only?-are the things which I be-
hold true and real, or are they mere phan-
toms? Lux: in the sense of vita.
313. Furenti: to her grieving, or sorrow-
ing. Furens properly significs, being trans-
ported with any inordinate passion or af-
fection, as love, sorrow, anger, &c.-griev-
ing immoderately. Ruæus says, mærenti.
309. Et tandem vix
310 fatur longo tempore pòst
311. Recessit à te
315
319. O Andromache,
quondam uxor Hectoris,
servas-ne connubia Pyr-
rhi?
314. Subjicio: in the sense of respondeo.
Hisco: I open my mouth in broken, dis-
connected words. They were few in num-
ber, and interrupted by sighs and tears.
315. Per omnia extrema: through all pe-
rils and distress. Extrema, here, is a sub.
Ruxus says, per omnes miserias.
316. Vera: true things-realities.
317. Quis casus : what event hath be-
fallen thee, deprived of so great a husband?
Conjuge, here, plainly means Hector, her
former husband. Ruæus interprets excipit
te, by, successit tibi; and dejectam, by pri-
valam.
319. Servas connubia, &c. These words
of Æneas would carry with them a severe
reproach, if Andromache had been the mis-
tress of her own fortune. Catrou observes,
that this slavery rendered her connexion
with Pyrrhus excusable; yet she is confused
upon the occasion, casts her eyes upon the
ground, and replies with a low voice,
not answering his question directly, but
breaking out into a passionate exclama-
tion: Ofelix, &c. The sense which Ruxus
gives to the passage is plainly incorrect. He
interprcts the words thus: 0 Andromache,
O
tenes-ne conjugem Hectoris, an Pyrrhi?
which will be: Andromache, are you wed-
ded to Hector, or to Pyrrhus? which is ma-
nifestly absurd, especially after what Æneas
had said just before; dejectam tanto conjuge,
meaning that she was brought low by being
deprived of so great a husband. The con-
struction is as in the ordo: is Hector's An-
dromache wedded to Pyrrhus? which is not
so much a question, as an exclamation of
surprise. That Hectoris Andromache is to
be construed in this way, appears from Jus-
tin, who gives them the same honorable de-
signation, Lib. xvii. cap. 3. Ile there says,
that Pyrrhus gave the kingdom of Epirus to
Helenus, the son of Priam; and also gave
him (Andromachen Hectoris) Ilector's An-
262
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
*
•
nostilem
321. O Priameïa vir- Dejecit vultum, et demissâ voce locuta est
go, una felix, ante alias O felix una ante alias Priameïa virgo,
virgines, jussa mori ad Hostilem ad tumulum Trojæ sub manibus altis,
325. Nos vectæ per
Jussa mori: quæ sortitus non pertulit ullos,
diversa æquora, patria Nec victoris heri tetigit captiva cubile!
incensâ, enixe servitio, Nos patriâ incensâ diversa per æquora vectæ,
tulimus fastus Achilles Stirpis Achilleæ fastus, juvenemque superbum
stirpis
330. Ast Orestes, in- Servitio enixæ tulimus: qui deinde secutus
flammatus magno amore
Ledæam Hermionem, Lacedæmoniosque Hymenæos,
conjugis erepte à se, et Me famulam famuloque Heleno transmisit habendam.
agitatus furiis scelerum, Ast illum, ereptæ magno inflammatus amore
excipit illum, nempe, Conjugis, et scelerum furiis agitatus, Orestes
Pyrrhum,
NOTES.
dromache, who had been his wife. Servas.
This is the usual reading: but Heyne ob-
serves that some copies have servat. This
renders the passage somewhat easier: does
Hector's Andromache preserve the marriage
of Pyrrhus? Is she joined in marriage with
Pyrrhus?
320. Demissa voce: in a low voice.
321. Priameïa virgo: Polyxena, the
daughter of Priam and Hecuba. Achilles
fell in love with her; and being invited to
Troy by Priam for the purpose of celebra-
ting their nuptials, while in the temple of
Apollo, where the marriage was to have
been performed, he was killed by Paris with
an arrow. Achilles, with his last breath,
conjured his son Pyrrhus to revenge his
death upon Priam's family, and to immolate
Polyxena at his tomb, whenever Troy
should be taken. This accordingly he did.
This accordingly he did.
Quinctilian quotes this passage as an in-
stance of Virgil's talent at the pathetic. In
order, says he, to show the extremity of
Andromache's misery, he makes her even
envy the fate of Polyxena, who, in the eyes
of all the world besides, was most wretched
and miserable. How wretched then must
Andromache's condition have been, if,
when compared to her, even Polyxena was
happy! Instit. Lib. vi. cap. 3. Una: in
the sense of sola.
323. Quæ non pertulit: who hath not
borne any lots. The Grecian princes, after
the capture of Troy, cast lots among them-
selves for the captives.
324. Nec captiva: nor as a captive, hath
touched the bed of a victorious lord. This
is the calamity from which Andromache
declares Polyxena happy, in being delivered
by death.
325. Nos vecta: in the sense of ego vecta.
326. Fastus: acc. plu. pride-haughti-
ness. Stirpis Achillea: Pyrrhus, the off-
spring of Achilles. Some read fastum.
327. Enixa: a part. of the verb enitor,
agreeing with nos vectæ, abovo. It signifies
to labor and toil with our hands in gene-
ral; also the pain and labor of bearing
320
325
330
children. In this last sense, perhaps, we
are to take it here. For it is said, she bore
a son to Pyrrhus, called Molossus, who gave
his name to a part of Epirus. Some, how-
ever, understand it of labor and toil in ge-
neral: laboring in servitude. Rumus says,
parientes in captivitate: bringing forth chil-
dren in captivity.
328. Hermionem. Hermione was the
daughter of Menelaus, king of Sparta or
Lacedæmon, and Helen, the daughter of
Jupiter and Leda; hence the adj. Ledaam,
Ledean. She was betrothed by Tyndarus
to her cousin Orestes, in the absence of her
father, who, it seems, had promised her to
Pyrrhus, while he was at Troy. After his
return, he went to Sparta, and carried off
his spouse. This so enraged Orestes, that
he followed Pyrrhus to Delphi, where he
went to consult the oracle of Apollo con-
cerning his future race, and there slew him.
Hymenaeos: marriage-match: also nuptials.
329. Transmisit: in the sense of dedit,
vel tradidit. Habendam: to be had—pos-
sessed-enjoyed.
331. Conjugis: namely, Hermione. Agi-
talus furiis: hurried on by the furies of
his crimes. Orestes, it is said, slew his mo-
ther Clytemnestra, for assisting Ægistus in
procuring the death of his father Agamem-
non. After which he is said to have been
haunted and tormented by the furies, (the
remorse and stings of a guilty conscience,)
for imbruing his hands in his mother's blood.
It is said he was acquitted by the court of
the Areopagus at Athens; and, after the
death of Pyrrhus, he married Hermione,
and added the kingdom of Sparta to his
own hereditary dominions.
The furies were three in number, Alecto,
Tisiphone, and Megara. After they ceased
to torment Orestes, they received the name
of Eumenides, which implies benevolence
and compassion. He built a temple to them,
and offered them sacrifices. They were
represented as holding a burning torch in
one hand, and a whip in the other. Tho
stings and remorses of conscience were the
ÆNEIS. LIB. III.
263
Excipit incautum patriasque obtruncat ad aras.
Morte Neoptolemi, regnorum reddita cessit
Pars Heleno; qui Chaonios cognomine campos,
Chaoniamque omnem Trojano à Chaone dixit:
Pergamaque, Iliacamque jugis hanc addidit arcem.
Sed tibi qui cursum venti, quæ fata, dedêre ?
Aut quis te ignarum nostris Deus appulit oris?
Quid puer Ascanius? superatne, et vescitur aurâ ?
Quem tibi jam Troja-
Ecqua jam puero est amissæ cura parentis?
Ecquid in antiquam virtutem animosque viriles,
Et pater Æneas, et avunculus excitat Hector?
Talia fundebat lachrymans, longosque ciebat
Incassùm fletus; cùm sese à manibus heros
Priamides multis Helenus comitantibus affert,
Agnoscitque suos, lætusque ad limina ducit;
Et multùm lachrymas verba inter singula fundit.
Procedo, et parvam Trojam, simulataque magnis
Pergama, et arentem Xanthi cognomine rivum,
Agnosco Scææque amplector limina portæ
NOTES.
furies of Orestes, which the poet calls the
Furia scelerum, the furies of his crimes. It
is probable that he pictured to his imagina-
tion this notion of his being haunted by the
furies, armed with all those terrors, with
which they were represented by the poets.
Suetonius says of Nero: Sæpe confessus ex-
agitari se maternâ specie, verberibus furia-
rum, ac tædis ardentibus.
Ad
332. Excipit: surprised-caught.
patrias aras: at his country's altars. The
temple of Apollo at Delphi was nearly in
the centre of Greece, the country of Pyrr-
hus. In this sense Ruæus and Turnebus
understand the expression. Others take the
words to mean: at his father's altars; be-
cause Achilles was slain at the altar of
Thrymbaan Apollo, at Troy; and he, at the
altar of Apollo at Delphi.
333. Reddita: in the sense of data. Cessit:
fell to Helenus.
335. Dixit: in the sense of vocavit, vel
nominavit. Chaone. Chaon was the son of
Priam, and consequently the brother of He-
lenus, who slew him, while hunting, acci-
dentally and in memory of him, he called
his kingdom Chaonia.
:
336. Jugis: in the sense of monte. Ad-
didit in the sense of condidit.
:
338. Appulit: in the sense of duxit, vel
direxit. Ignarum: Rumus says, inscium.
339. Superat: in the sense of superest.
Vescitur: in the sense of spirat.
840. Quem tibi, &c. This, and some
other imperfect lines in the Æncid, is a proof
that Virgil did not put the finishing stroke
to this part of his works. It was his inten-
tion, if he had lived, to revise it. To com-
plete the sense of the line, something must
be supplied. Some have added: peperit fu-
334. Pars regnorum
335 reddita cessit Heleno:
qui dixit campos Chao-
nios cognomine, om-
nemque illam regionem
Chaoniani
339. Quid puer Asca-
340 nius agit?
345. Cùm heros He-
lenus Priamides affert
345 sese à manibus, multis
comitantibus eum
349. Et agnosco par-
vam Trojam, Pergama-
que parva simulata
magnis
350 350. Dictum cogno-
mine Xanthi
mante Creüsa. But at the time of the sack
of Troy, Ascanius was several years old, and
able to accompany his father. En. ii. 724.
Others have added: obsessâ est enixa Creüsa :
whom Creüsa bore you, Troy already being
besieged-during the siege of Troy. This
probably is the sense, but it has not the
poetic spirit of Virgil.
341. Cura: in the sense of dolor, vel soli-
citudo.
342. Ecquid. This word is used hero,
merely as an interrogative, in the sense of
an, vel num.
Dr. Trapp, in his translation of the
Eneid, makes a number of excellent re-
marks upon this interesting interview be-
tween Eneas and Andromache. He con-
cludes by saying: "That man surely can
have no idea of friendship, nor of human
nature itself, who is not sensibly touched
with this whole passage; which to me is the
most affecting in all the Æneid."
courage. Antiquam virtutem: in the sense
of virtutem majorum. Excitat is to be con-
nected with each nominative case. Eum,
vel illum, is understood after the verb.
Animos:
344. Fundebat: in the sense of dicebat.
Ciebat: in the sense of excitabat, vel move-
bat. Longos: in the sense of multos. Hein-
sius reads largos.
348. Multùm: an adv. in the sense of co-
piosè, vel abundè; or rather in the sense of
multas, agreeing with lachrymas.
349. Simulata: resembling-looking like.
350. Arentem: in the sense of parum.
It was small, and perhaps, at some seasons
of the year, dry.
351. Amplector, &c. It was a custom,
when persons were going from home, or re-
C
264
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
356. Jamque unus
dies, alterque
Necnon et Teucri sociâ simul urbe fruuntur.
Illos porticibus rex accipiebat in amplis.
Aulaï in medio libabant pocula Bacchi,
Impositis auro dapibus, paterasque tenebant.
Jamque dies, alterque dies processit; et auræ
Vela vocant, tumidoque inflatur carbasus Austro.
His vatem aggredior dictis, ac talia quæso :
360. Qui sentis numi- Trojugena, interpres Divûm, qui numina Phœbi,
na Phœbi, qui sentis tri- Qui tripodas, Clarii lauros, qui sidera sentis,
podas, et lauros Clarii Et volucrum linguas, et præpetis omina pennæ,
Apollinis, qui sentis
355
360
Fare, age (namque omnem cursum mihi prospera dixit
Relligio; et cuncti suaserunt numine Divi
Italiam petere, et terras tentare repôstas :
365. Harpyia Celano Sola novum dictuque nefas Harpyia Celano
sola canit novum prodi- Prodigium canit, et tristes denuntiat iras,
Obscœnamque famem) quæ prima pericula vito ?
gium
NOTES.
turning, to embrace the pillars and threshold
of their houses.
354. Aulaï: for aula. The gen. of the
first declension was sometimes formed in
ai. See Grammar. Bacchi: Bacchus, the
god of wine, by meton. put for wine itself.
Libabant pocula. It was customary at enter-
tainments, after the first table or course, to
introduce wine, with a libation to the gods;
which consisted in pouring a few drops upon
the altar, or upon the table. Libabant: in
the sense of bibebant.
355. Impositis auro: served up in gold
in golden dishes.
357. Tumido Austro: by the rising wind.
Auster here is put for wind in general. Car-
basus: the canvass, of which the sails were
made.
358. Aggredior: I address the prophet
Helenus.
360. Qui sentis numina: who knowest
the will of Phœbus. The verb sentis is to
be supplied with each accusative following.
The poet here enumerates five ways of di-
vination. First, by the immediate inspira-
tion of the gods-sentis numina Phœbi.
Second, by sitting upon the Tripod. Third,
by burning laurel. Fourth, by contempla-
ting the stars. Fifth, by the observation of
birds.
•
360. Tripodas. The tripod was a kind of
three footed stool, upon which the priestess
of Apollo sat, when she delivered the ora-
cles. Clarii. Clarius was an epithet of
Apollo, from Claros, a city of Greece, where
he had a celebrated temple. One way of
divination was, to burn a branch of the
laurel tree. If it made a crackling noise, it
was a good omen; but if not, it was consi-
dered a bad one.
361. Linguas volucrum. The omens
were taken from birds in two ways; from
the sounds they uttered, and the manner
365
of their flight. The former was called av
gurium; the observation of which constitu-
ted the art of the augures: the latter was called
uspicium; the observation of which con-
stituted the art of the auspices.
Omina præpetis penna: the omens of the
swift wing-widely extended wings. The
augurs were certain persons, who pretended
to foretell future events, principally from the
noise of certain birds. Romulus created
three; Servius Tullius added another, and
Sylla appointed six additional ones. So that
the number in his time was ten. They gene-
rally sat upon some tower, or high place, the
better to make their observations.
362. Prospera relligio: favorable or propi-
tious auspices and predictions have direct-
Numine: in
ed (dixit) my whole course.
the sense of auctoritate. Some take this
for omnis relligio dixit mihi prosperum cur-
sum: by hypallage. Here relligio is to be
the oracles, and the various intimations
taken for the responses and predictions of
which he had received: all which declared
that he should arrive safe in Italy. Ruæus
says, ceremoniæ propitiæ.
364. Repôstas: by syn. for repositas. It
may mean remote, or at a distance: also
reserved, laid up in store. In this sense
Rumus takes it here. In either case it will
be true, as it respects the land of Italy, whi-
ther he was going. Tentare: to search
out-to find: in the sense of petere.
365. Nefas dictu: horrible to be told.
Nefas here is taken as an adj. indeclinable :
the same as nefandum.
366. Canit: in the sense of prædicit.
367. Obscœnam: in the sense of rabidam
vel vehementem. Quæ pericula prima vito?
What dangers first do I shun?—what are
the first, or chief dangers, which I have to
avoid?
ENFIS. LIB. III.
265
Quidve sequens, tantos possim superare labores ?
Hic Helenus, cæsis primùm de more juvencis,
Exorat pacem Divûm, vittasque resolvit
Sacrati capitis, meque ad tua limina, Phœbe,
Ipse manu multo suspensum numine ducit:
Atque hæc deinde canit divino ex ore sacerdos :
Nate Deâ; nam te majoribus ire per altum
Auspiciis manifesta fides: sic fata Deûm rex
Sortitur, volvitque vices: is vertitur ordo.
Pauca tibi è multis, quò tutior hospita lustres
Æquora, et Ausonio possis considere portu,
Expediam dictis: prohibent nam cætera Parcæ
NOTES.
368. Quid sequens: following what coun-
sel, can I surmount, &c.
370. Resolvit vittas: the priest in per-
forming sacrifice, had his head bound about
with fillets: now he is about to prophesy,
he unbinds, and takes them from his head.
Pacem favor-grace.
372. Suspensum: in the sense of solicitum,
vel trepidantem. Multo numine: at thy aw
ful majesty-thy mighty power. Ruæus
says, ob magnam reverentiam Dei.
Some copies have suspensus, which means
that Helenus was full of anxiety, perturba-
tion, and awe, from the power or influence
of the god. But suspensum is the better
reading, referring to Æneas, who had good
reason to be in awful suspense and anxiety
about his future fortune, which the god was
about to declare to him by the mouth of
Helenus.
373. Canit: in the sense of eloquitur.
374. Majoribus auspiciis: may mean, with
the greater auspices, signs, or manifestations.
Among the various omens or signs, which
were thought to give insight into futurity,
some were considered more important than
others. Of these were visions, appearances
in the heavens, &c. which all along had ac-
companied Æneas. But auspicium signifies
any event or fortune. If this be the mean-
ing here, which most probably is the case,
then majoribus auspiciis will be, for greater
or more important events-for better for-
tune for more prosperous days. This is
the opinion of Heyne.
375. Sic rex Deûm: thus the king of the
gods dispenses his decrees, and fixes (volvit,
rolls) the series of events: this order (or
course of things) is fixed.
It is plain the poet hath here in view the
fabulous story of the Parca, who were
thought to preside over the events of human
life; and to order, or fix, whatever befell to
every individual from his birth to the close
of his life. The first was represented as
holding the distaff; the second as drawing
out, or turning off (volvere,) and fixing the
course of events; the third as cutting the
thread. See Ecl. iv. 46.
370
371. Ipseque ducit m
mana ad tua limina, O
Phabe, suspensum mul-
to numine
274. Manifesta fidos
375 est mihi te ire
377. Expediam dictis
pauca tibi, è multis, quò
tu tutior lustres hospita
@quora
376. Sortitur. This alludes to the custom
of consulting the oracle, which was some-
times done by casting or drawing lots: or-
dinat, says Heyne.
377. Hospita: an adj. intervening. Ru-
æus interprets it by, quae excipient te: which
shall receive you.
It is plain that the seas over which he was
to pass, were those that intervened, or lay
between Epirus, and that part of Italy to
which he was bound. These would be the
Ionian sea, lying between Epirus and the
extremity of the peninsula; that part of the
Mediterranean lying to the east and south
of Sicily; and the Tuscan sea, lying between
Sicily, Italy, and the islands of Sardinia and
Corsica. Lustres: in the sense of naviges.
Valpy takes hospita, in the sense of ignota:
to which he was a stranger.
379. Parca prohibent: the fates forbid
that you should know the rest. Pierius ob-
serves, that in most of the ancient copies
there is a full stop after scire; Servius ap-
proves of it, and it appears the best. The
sense is easier, and we avoid any incon-
sistency. If we make both the verbs, prohi-
bent and vetat, refer to Helenus, there will
be an inconsistency. For, would Juno forbid
him to declare what he did not know him-
self? Besides, he had just said that he would
only inform him of a few of the events that
were to befall him; which certainly implies
that he knew the rest, but was restrained by
heaven from communicating them to him.
Some of these events it was not proper for
him to know; because the accomplishment
depended on his own free will. Others
Juno prevented him from revealing, that he
might be the more perplexed with doubts
and uncertainty; and the more surprised
and unprovided against the calamity when
it came. Of this kind is the interpretation
of Celano's prophecy, which Helenus ap-
pears to have understood: for he forbids
him to be much concerned about it, for the
gods would find a way to extricate him from
it: verse 394. infra.
Another particular is the death of An-
chises. Æneas does not question the fore-
266
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Scire: Helenum farique vetat Saturnia Juno.
381. Príncipio, longa Principio, Italiam, quam tu jam rère propinquam,
via invia longis terris Vicinosque, ignare, paras invadere portus,
procul dividit Italiam à
Longa procul longis via dividit invia terris.
te, quam tu, O ignare
vir, jam rere esse propin- Antè et Trinacriâ lentandus remus in undâ,
quam, parasque invadere Et salis Ausonii lustrandum navibus æquor,
vicinos portus.
Infernique lacus, ææque insula Circæ,
386. Înfernique lacus Quàm tutâ possis urbem componere terra.
transeundi sunt, insula-
que ex Circo adeun- Signa tibi dicam : tu condita mente teneto.
da est, antè quàm tu pos- Cùm tibi sollicito secreti ad fluminis undam
Litoreis ingens inventa sub ilicibus sus,
sis
389. Cùm ingens sus, Triginta capitum fœtus enixa jacebit,
inventa tibi sollicito ad Alba, solo recubans, albi circum ubera nati;
undam secreti fluminis Is locus urbis erit; requies ea certá laborum.
enixa fœtus triginta ca- Nec tu mensarum morsus horresce futuros.
pitum, jacebat solo re- Fata viam invenient, aderitque vocatus Apollo.
sub litoreis ilicibus,
NOTES.
knowledge of Helenus concerning that event:
he only complains that he did not reveal it
to him: verse 712. infra. Expediam: in-
the sense of explicabo.
381. Rere: in the sense of putas.
382. Invadere: to take possession of-to
enter.
383. Longa via invia: a long voyage,
interrupted by extensive lands, separates
Italy at a distance from you, which, &c.
Invia: in the sense of perdifficilis. Eneas'
voyage was much lengthened by his being
obliged to sail round the southern part of
Sicily; the islands that lay in his course,
and other lands, rendered it long, difficult,
and dangerous; and much interrupted and
turned from a direct course.
384. Trinacriâ: a name of Sicily, (used
here as an adj.) taken from its triangular
form. Its three promontories were Pelorus,
Pachynus, and Lilybeum. Remus lentandus:
the oar must be bent in the Sicilian sea.
This implies that they were to labor hard at
the oar. The verb est is to be supplied.
385. Æquor Ausonii salis: the surface of
the Italian (Tuscan) sea is to be sailed over.
Salis: gen. of sal: by meton. put for the
sea. Equor is here used in its proper sense
and meaning.
386. Inferni lacus: the infernal lakes
must be passed, and the island of Ææan
Circe must be approached, before that (antè
quàm) you can, &c. Helenus here intimates
to Æneas his descent to hell, which is the
subject of the 6th book.
Čirce was a celebrated sorceress, the
daughter of the sun, and the nymph Perse.
She is here called Eaan, from Ea, an
island and city of Colchis, not far from the
river Phasis. She married a king of Sarma-
tia, whom she poisoned. After which she
fled into Italy, to a mountain and promon-
380
385
390
395
tory, which, from her, was called Circe's
Mount. Hodie, Circello.
387. Componere: in the sense of condere.
Tuta terra: in a safe land. This, perhaps,
is said in allusion to his being obliged to
abandon the settlements he had made in
Thrace and in Crete. In Italy he should
find a sure and permanent residence.
388. Condita: in the sense of reposita:
it agrees with ea, understood.
389. Tibi sollicito-inventa: found by you
solicitous-anxious-musing. The dat. is
frequently used by the poets in the sense of
the abl.; also, in the sense of the gen. Ad
undam fluminis. The river Tiber is here
meant.
390. Sub litoreis: under the holm-trees
shading the river-growing on the banke of
the river.
391. Enixa fœtus: having brought forth
a litter of thirty head.
392. Recubans: this I take in the sense
of prostratus, flat (at full length) on her side,
in reference to the manner of her lying;
that being the position of the female when
she gives suck to her young. Jacebit solo
recubans, alba: shall lie on the ground flat
on her side; herself white, and her pigs
white around her teats. In this ordo of con-
struction, recubans conveys an additional
idea to that already communicated by the
verb jacebit, and is very significant. In the
usual ordo it is mere tautology. This cir-
cumstance of finding a white
cumstance of finding a white sow, with thirty
pigs, was founded on ancient historical tra-
dition. Alba, a city built by Ascanius, and
made the seat of his government, took its
name from this omen of the white sow and
her pigs, as Varro informs us.
394. Morsus: the eating, or consumption
of your tables.
395. Aderit: in the sense of adjuvabit.
ÆNEIS. LIB. III.
267
Has autem terras, Italique hanc litoris oram,
Proxima quæ nostri perfunditur æquoris æstu,
Effuge cuncta malis habitantur mænia Graiis
Hic et Narycii posuerunt monia Locri,
Et Salentinos obsedit milite campos
Lyctius Idomeneus: hìc illa ducis Melibœi
Parva Philoctetæ subnixa Petilia muro.
Quin, ubi transmissæ steterint trans æquora classes,
Et positis aris jam vota in litore solves;
Purpureo velare comas adopertus amictu:
Ne qua inter sanctos ignes in honore Deorum
Hostilis facies occurrat, et omina turbet.
Hunc socii morem sacrorum, hunc ipse teneto:
Häc casti maneant in relligione nepotes.
Ast, ubi digressum Sicula te admoverit oræ
Ventus, et angusti rarescent claustra Pelori;
Læva tibi tellus et longo læva petantur
NOTES.
396. Effuge has terras. Helenus means
the lands of Calabria, Apulia, and all the
lower part of the peninsula of Italy, which
was called Magna Gracia: the whole of
which lies not far from Chaonia, in Epirus.
After the Trojan war, many of the Greeks
were forced on this coast, and formed set-
tlements in various places. Hence this
part of the peninsula of Italy took the name
of Magna Græcia. It now constitutes a
considerable part of the kingdom of Naples.
It was washed on the east by the Ionian
sea, which Helenus here calls nostri æquoris,
because the same sea washed the shores of
Epirus.
398. Malis: in the sense of hostilibus.
399. Narycii Locri. The Locrians origi-
nally were a people of Phocis, in Achaia.
They followed Ajax, the son of Oïleus, to
the Trojan war: and, after the capture of
that city, a colony of them settled in this
part of Italy, most probably under the con-
duct of Evanthes; Ajax having perished on
his return home. There they built a city
called Narycia or Narycium, probably after
the name of Naryx, the city of Ajax.
401. Idomeneus. He was called Lyctius,
from Lyctus, a city of Crete. Being expelled
from his dominions, he came to Italy, and
planted a colony on the promontory of Sa-
lentum, then in possession of the Salentini.
This peninsula, which extends almost to the
coast of Epirus, was formerly called Messa-
pia, and Iäpygia; hodie, Terra d'Otranto:
and its extremity, the cape of St. Mary, or
St. Mary de Lucca. Idomeneus either sub-
dued the Salentini; or, which is more pro-
bable, expelled them from their country.
See verse 122. supra. Obsedit: in the sense
of occupat.
402. Philoctete. Philoctetes was the son
of Peas, king of Melibœa, a city of Thes-
400
405
cubans, ipsa alba; et
nati albi
401. Hic est illa parva
Petilia subnixa muro
Philoctete
406. Ne qua hostilis
facies occurrat inter
sanctos ignes
408. Socii
tenento
hunc morem sacroruni,
410 tu ipse teneto hunc
.410. Te digressum
hinc Sicula oræ
saly, near the foot of mount Ossa. He set
fire to the funeral pile of Hercules, at the
request of that hero, and received in return
his bow and arrows, that had been dipped
in the poisonous blood of the Hydra Lernæa.
He set out for Troy with the other Greeks,
but was abandoned by them in the island of
Lemnos, on account of a wound which he
had received from a serpent. But it being
predicted, that Troy could not be taken
without these arrows, the chiefs were obliged
to send for him. On his return from Troy,
hearing that the Melibeans had revolted,
he went to Italy, and founded the city Peti-
lia, or as some say, only fortified it. Sub-
nixa: in the sense of defensa.
404. Solves: you shall pay, or discharge.
405. Velare adopertus: be thou veiled-
covered as to your hair, with a purple veil.
Simply, cover your head with a purple veil.
From this circumstance, it is said, the Ro-
mans derived the custom of veiling or cover-
ing the head in sacrifice, and other acts of
worship. Velure. Heyne takes this active-
ly, the verb memento being understood: re-
member to veil your locks, covering them, &c.
406. Honore. Ruæus says, cultu.
409. Casti: in the sense of pii. Relligi-
one: rites-ceremonies.
410. Admoverit: in the sense of appule-
rit, vel altulerit.
411. Claustra: the straits of narrow Pe-
lorus shall widen-grow widor. Pelorus is
the northern promontory of Sicily: hodie,
Capo di Furo. It is separated from Italy by
the straits of Messina. As Eneas approach-
ed, the shores would appear to separate
and grow wider.
•
412. Læva Tellus. Helenus advisesÆneas,
as soon as he had approached Sicily so
near that the straits of Pelorus should ap-
pear to view, and plainly to grow wider, it
268
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Æquora circuitu: dextrum fuge litus et undas.
414. Homines ferunt Hæc loca, vi quondam et vastâ convulsa ruinâ,
hæc loca, quondam con- (Tantùm ævi longinqua valet mutare vetustas).
vulsa vi, et vastâ ruinâ Dissiluisse ferunt: cùm protinùs utraque tellus
Una foret, venit medio vi pontus, et undis
Hesperium Siculo latus abscidit, arvaque et urbes
419. Angustoque es- Litore diductas angusto interluit æstu.
tu interluit arva, et urbes Dextrum Scylla latus, lævum implacata Charybdis
diductas, quasque suo li-
Obsidet: atque imo barathri ter gurgite vastos
Sorbet in abruptum fluctus, rursusque sub auras
Erigit alternos, et sidera verberat undâ.
tore
426. Prima facies est
cum
hominis, et illa est virgo At Scyllam cæsis cohibet spelunca latebris,
hominis, et illa est virgo Ora exsertantem, et naves in saxa trahentem.
pulchro pectore,
tenùs pube: postrema Prima hominis facies, et pulchro pectore virgo
pars est pristis cum im- Pube tenùs: postrema immani corpore pristis,
niani corpore, commissa Delphinum caudas utero commissa luporum.
quoad caudas Delphi- Præstat Trinacrii metas lustrare Pachyni
num utero luporum
429. Præstat te ces- Cessantem, longos et circumflectere cursus,
santem lustrare metas Quàm semel informem vasto vidisse sub antro
NOTES.
would then be time to alter his course to
the left, and coast down the eastern shore
of Sicily, rather than venture through the
strait, the passage of which was attended
with many difficulties and dangers to those
who were not acquainted with it.
415. Longinqua vetustas ævi: in the sense
of longa duratio temporis potest mutare res
tantùm. Ferunt: they report.
416. Cùm utraque tellus : when each
land was entirely one-united and formed
one contiguous tract. It is supposed that
It is supposed that
Sicily at first was united to Italy, and rent
or torn from it by some convulsion of na-
ture; and there is some ground for such a
supposition. Virgil here gives us a full ac-
count of the tradition.
417. Pontus: in the sense of fretum.
418. Abscidit: in the sense of separavit.
It separated the Italian shore from the
Sicilian.
419. Angusto æstu: with a narrow strait
or current, flows between, &c. meaning the
straits of Pelorus, now Messina, which se-
parate Sicily from Italy. Diductas: in the
sense of disjunctas.
420. Scylla-Charybdis. Scylla, is a rock
lying in the straits of Messina on the Ita-
lian side. Charybdis, a dangerous whirl-
pool opposite to Scylla, on the Sicilian side.
These rendered the passage of the straits
very dangerous. They were represented
by the poets as hideous monsters.
Scylla was the daughter of Phorcus,
whom Circe is said to have transformed into
this monster, because she was her rival.
Charybdis is said to have been a rapacious
prostitute, who, having stolen the oxen of
Hercules, was thunderstruck by Jupiter, and
thrown into the sea, where she was changed
415
420
425
430
into this devouring whirlpool. See Ecl. vi.
74. Implacata: insatiable-greedy. Ru-
æus says, immanis. Obsidet: in the sense
of occupat.
421. Atque imo gurgite: and thrice she
swallows the vast waves precipitately into
the deep gulf of her maw, and again raises
them alternate on high, and strikes the
stars. Charybdis is represented as a hun-
gry and voracious monster. In abruptum,
may be taken adverbially, denoting the ra-
pidity and quickness with which she absorbs
the water. Taken as a sub. it conveys no
additional idea: it is merely expletive.
425. Exsertantem: in the sense of pan-
dentem. It agrees with Scyllam. She is
here represented as a most hideous monster;
her upper part down to her waist resembling
a human being, while her parts below were
a huge Pristis, whose belly resembled that
of a wolf, with the tail of a dolphin.
426. Hominis: gen. of homo. It is here
used in the sense of humana. Homo pro-
perly signifies a man or woman-the human
kind. Prima facies: in the sense of supe-
rior pars.
428. Commissa: in the sense of conjuncta.
It is a part. adj. agreeing with pristis. This
is a fish of the whale kind, said to be of
great length. Pliny mentions one of them
in the Indian sea, to have been two hundred
cubits in length.
429. Lustrare: in the sense of circum-
navigare. Pachyni. Pachynum is the south-
ern promontory of Sicily. Trinacrii: an
adj. from Trinacria, a name of Sicily, from
its triangular figure, or form. Hodie, Capc
Passaro.
430. Cessantem: delaying.
ENEIS. LIB. III.
269
434. Si qua fides est
435 habenda ei vati; si Apol-
lo
Scyllam, et cœruleis canibus resonantia saxa.
Prætereà, si qua est Heleno prudentia, vati
Si qua fides, animum si veris implet Apollo;
Unum illud tibi, nate Deâ, præque omnibus unum
Prædicam, et repetens iterumque iterumque monebo..
Junonis magnæ primùm prece numen adora :
Junoni cane vota libens, dominamque potentem
Supplicibus supera donis: sic denique victor
Trinacriâ fines Italos mittêre relictâ.
Huc ubi delatus Cumæam accesseris urbem,
Divinosque lacus, et Averna sonantia sylvis,
Insanam vatem aspicies, quæ rupe sub imâ
Fata canit, foliisque notas et nomina mandat.
Quæcunque in foliis descripsit carmina virgo,
Digerit in numerum, atque antro seclusa relinquit:
Illa manent immota locis, neque ab ordine cedunt.
Verùm eadem verso tenuis cùm cardine ventus
Impulit, et teneras turbavit janua frondes ;
Nunquam deinde cavo volitantia prendere saxo,
Nec revocare situs, aut jungere carmina curat.
Inconsulti abeunt, sedemque odêre Sibyllæ.
Hìc tibi ne qua moræ fuerint dispendia tanti,
Quamvis increpitent socii, et vi cursus in altum
Vela vocet, possisque sinus implere secundos;
NOTES.
432. Saxa: and the rocks resounded with
sea-green dogs. This interprets that part
of the fable respecting the lower part of
the monster resembling dogs, or wolves.
The waves, dashing against the rocks in the
lower part, caused a hoarse growling noise,
which resemblod that of a dog, or the howl-
ing of a wolf. See Ecl. vi. 74, and Æn. I.
200. Virgil took this description from the
Odyssey of Homer, Lib. xii.
433. Prudentia: in the sense of scientia.
436. Moncbo: in the sense of inculcabo.
Numen: Rumus says, divinitatem.
Ruæus
438. Cane: offer vows to Juno.
says, fer, vel ferto. Dominam: in the sense
of reginam.
441. Cumœam: an adj. from Cumæ, a city
of Campania, but long since destroyed.
See Ecl. iv. 4.
442. Divinos lacus. The lakes of Aver-
nus and Lucrinus are here called divine,
probably on account of their nearness to
the cave of the Sibyl. The lake Avernus,
(plu. Averna,) was formerly surrounded
with high woods, which occasioned a very
noxious atmosphere; so that it is said no
bird could fly over it without being suffoca-
ted. Hence it derived its name. From the
noxious quality of its waters, the poets
feigned it to be the mouth of hell. See En.
vi. 126.
443. Insanam vatem: the inspired pro-
phetess.
444. Cant: here. in the sense of expli-
435. Prædicam tibi
unum, unumque præ
omnibus, et repetens
illud iterumque iterum-
440 que monebo te
445
450
455
441. Ubi tu delatus
huc accesseris
448. Verum cúm te-
nuis ventus
eadem
impulit
450. Curat prendere
folia volitantia cavo
saxo, nec
cat, vel aperit. Mandat: in the sense of
inscribit. Notas: her characters. Nomina:
words-prophecies.
Varro informs us, that the prophecies of
the Sibyl were written on the leaves of the
palm-tree.
445. Carmina. Carmen properly signi-
fies a verse or song. But because the re-
sponses were delivered in poetic numbers,
carmen came to signify, as here, a prophecy,
or prediction. Descripsit: in the sense of
inscripsit.
446. Digerit in numerum : she places in
measure-she arranges in poetic numbers.
Seclusa: a part. of secludor: laid by them-
selves in her cave.
449. Janua: the door being open, hath
deranged. Saxo: for antro.
451. Revocare: in the sense of restituere.
452. Inconsulti: without receiving ad-
vice-unadvised. Homines is understood.
453. Ne qua dispendia more: let no ex-
pense of delay be to you of so much value,
(importance,) but that you go to the pro-
phetess, &c.
455. Secundos sinus: prosperous sails-
full sails. Sinus is properly the middle, or
belly of the sail; here put for the whole sail.
The expression implies that the wind be
fair for prosecuting their voyage. It would
be better to read this and the preceding line.
as a parenthesis. Fi: in the sense of ve-
hementer.
270
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
456. Poscasque pre- Quin adeas vatem, precibusque oracula poscas
cibus ut ipsa canat ora- Ipsa canat, vocemque volens atque ora resolvat.
cula, volensque resolvat Illa tibi Italiæ populos, venturaque bella,
vocem
458. Illa expediet tibi Et quo quemque modo fugiasque ferasque laborem,
populos Italie
Expediet; cursusque dabit venerata secundos.
460. Illa venerata da- Hæc sunt, quæ nostrâ liceat te voce moneri.
bit
Vade, age, et ingentem factis fer ad æthera Trojam.
Quæ postquàm vates sic ore effatus amico est,
Dona dehinc auro gravia sectoque elephanto
460
Imperat ad naves ferri, stipatque carinis
Ingens argentum, Dodonæosque lebetas,
Loricam consertam hamis, auroque trilicem;
Et conum insignis galeæ, cristasque comantes,
465
Arma Neoptolemi: sunt et sua dona parenti.
Addit equos, additque duces;
470
Remigium supplet: socios simul instruit armis.
Intereà classem velis aptare jubebat
Anchises, fieret vento mora ne qua ferenti.
478. Necesse est ut Quem Phœbi interpres multo compellat honore :
præterlabare hanc prox- Conjugio Anchisa Veneris dignate superbo,
imam partem Italia pe- Cura Deûm, bis Pergameis erepte ruinis,
lago
479. Illa pars Auso-
niæ est procul, quam
Apollo pandit tibi
Ecce tibi Ausoniæ tellus: hanc arripe velis.
Et tamen hanc pelago præterlabare necesse est.
Ausoniæ pars illa procul, quam pandit Apollo
NOTES.
457. Canat: reveal-disclose-declare.
460. Expediet: in the sense of explicabit.
463. Postquàm: in the sense of cùm.
464. Dehinc: in the sense of deinde.
Gravia auro: heavy with gold and ivory.
Ivory is the tooth of the elephant, cut and
polished.
465. Stipat: stows, or crowds in his ships
a great mass of silver. Carinis: properly,
the keels; here taken for the ships, by
synec.
466. Dodonæos lebetas: Dodonean kettles
-kettles made of Dodonean brass. Dodona
was a city of Epirus, whose brass was much
celebrated. Here Jupiter had a very cele-
brated temple. The manner of delivering
the oracles in this temple, we are told, was
by a certain number of brass kettles sus-
pended, so as to touch each other; and any
motion communicated to any one of them,
would be given to the rest. From the
sounds thus emitted, the meaning of the
oracle was gathered by the priests.
467. Loricam. The Lorica was a coat of
armour, which covered the body down as
far as the waist. It was at first made of
leathern thongs, whence it derived its name.
It was afterwards made of thin plates (la-
mina) of iron, linked together with hooks
or rings. These plates were sometimes
single, sometimes double, and triple. The
one here mentioned was of the latter form.
Hamis auroque: for aureis hamis, by hend.
The meaning is, that this coat of armour
was of triple fold, or consisting of three
475
plates (trilicem) of iron, fastened (consertam)
together with gold rings, or hooks.
468. Conum. Whatever has the form of
the fruit of the pine may be called conus,
a conc. This form is round, and diminish-
ing to the top. Hence it is taken for that
part of the helmet, which rises at the top,
and supports the crest, or plume. All these
accusatives are governed by the verb stipat.
469. Sua dona: there are also for my
father his own gifts-gifts suitable to his
dignity. Arma Neoptolemi. The coat of
mail, the helmet, and the crest, had belonged
to Pyrrhus; at whose death, they fell to
Helenus, as his successor. Sua: in the sense
of propria vel apta.
470. Duces: pilots to direct their course.
471. Remigium: in the sense of remiges.
473. Ferenti: blowing fair. Rumus says,
faventi. Interpres in the sense of vates.
475. Anchisa: O Anchises, honored with
the cxalted bed (embrace) of Venus, the
care, &c.
476. Erepte: agreeing with Anchisa.
He was twice saved from the ruins of Troy :
first when it was taken by Hercules, and a
second time, when destroyed by the Greeks.
477. Arripe hanc: take possession of it
with your ships-direct your course to it.
Velis in the sense of navibus; so says
Ruœus.
478. Præterlabare: in the sense of navi-
ges ultrà.
479. Pandit: in the sense of ostendit.
ENEIS. LIB. III.
271
Vade, ait, ô felix nati pietate: quid ultrà
Provehor, et fando surgentes demoror Austros?
Nec minùs Andromache, digressu mosta supremo,
Fert picturatas auri subtemine vestes,
480
485
Et Phrygiam Ascanio chlamydem; nec cedit honori :
Textilibusque onerat donis, ac talia fatur.
Accipe et hæc, manuum tibi quæ monumenta mearum
Sint, puer, et longum Andromachæ testentur amorem,
Conjugis Hectoreæ. Cape dona extrema tuorum,
O mihi sola mei super Astyanactis imago!
Sic oculos, sic ille manus, sic ora ferebat;
Et nunc æquali tecum pubesceret ævo.
Hos ego digrediens lachrymis affabar obortis :
Vivite felices, quibus est fortuna peracta
Jam sua: nos alia ex aliis in fata vocamur.
Vobis parta quies; nullum maris æquor arandum;
Arva neque Ausoniæ semper cedentia retrò
NOTES.
481. Provehor: in the sense of procedo.
Austros here is taken for wind in general,
the species for the genus.
482. Nec minus: likewise Andromache,
sad at our departure, brings garments
wrought (embroidered) with a thread of
gold.
Heyne conjectures these vestments were
wrought with the needle; and accordingly
takes subtemine auri, for.a thread of gold.
He also takes picturatas in the sense of pic-
tas. Her presents of the loom textilibus
donis, are mentioned, verse 485, and are dif-
ferent from these.
484. Chlamydem. The Chlamys was pro-
perly a military garment, a cassock, which
the general wore over his corslet. It was
embroidered with needlework, of which the
Phrygians were the inventors. Nec cedit
honori: nor does she fall below her dignity.
Nec malè respondet ejus dignitati, says Ruæus.
Scaurus explains the word thus: non cedit
Heleno liberalitate et munificentia, taking
honori for honore in the abl. Servius says,
Tanta dat munera, quanta merebatur Asca-
nius: nor is her bounty disproportionate to
the merit and quality of its object.
485. Oneral textilibus donis: and she
loads him with woven presonts-presents,
the production of her loom. It was usual
for women of the highest rank tó be enga-
ged in the works of the loom, as appears
from the story of Penelopo, the wife of
Ulysses.
486. Puer, accipe et hæc: O boy, take
even these, which, &c. Monumenta: me-
morials. Et, here is plainly in the sense of
etiam, aut quoque.
487. Longum: lasting-continuing long.
489. O sola imago: O thou, the only
image of my Astyanax, remaining to me!
Super, here is plainly in the sense of super-
489. O tu qui es sola
490 imago mei Astyanactis
super mihi
493. Vivite felices, vos,
quibus
494. Vocamur ex aliis
495 fatis in alia fata. Quies
parta est vobis
stes, vel supervivens
Rumus says, Quæ
restat. Heyne, quæ superes, in the 2d pers.
Astyanax was the son of Hector and An-
dromache. His name is compounded of
two Greek words, and signifies the king of
a city. After the destruction of Troy, the
Greeks were delayed for some time from
returning home by contrary winds. In the
mean time, Chalcas, their augur and pro-
phet, declared that Astyanax must be put
to death. For if he lived, he would prove
a greater hero than his father, and would
avenge his country. Whereupon Ulysses,
having discovered where his mother had
hid him, killed him, by throwing him from
the wall.
490. Sic ille ferebat: just so he moved his
eyes, just so his hands, just so his counte-
nance: he had just such eyes-just such
hands, &c. This reflection of Andromache
is extremely delicate and moving. It is the
voice of nature. She immediately adds: Et
nunc, &c. This suggests the delight she
would have felt to have seen Iülus, and As-
tyanax together, engaged in friendship, and
fond of the same pursuits.
It may be observed, that while Helenus
gives presents to Anchises and Æneas, An-
dromache is entirely taken up with Asca-
nius, and the recollection of her lost Astya-
nax. She confines her gifts to him alone.
491. Et nunc pubesceret: and now he
would be of equal age with thee, if he had
lived.
492. Obortis: gushing from my eyes.
494. Nos vocamur ex aliis in: we are
called from one series of calamities to an-
other.
496. Cedentia: a part. agreeing with
arva: retreating, or fleeing backward. It
implies an impatience on the part of Eneas
to arrive at, and take possession of his des-
272
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
>
Quærenda effigiem Xanthi, Trojamque videtis,
Quam vestræ fecêre manus, melioribus, opto,
Auspiciis, et quæ fuerit minùs obvia Graiis.
Si quando Tybrim vicinaque Tybridis arva
Intrâro gentique meæ data moenia cernam :
502. Faciemus olim Cognatasque urbes olim, populosque propinquos
cognatasque urbes, pro- Epiro, Hesperiâ, quibus idem Dardanus auctor,
pinquosque populos, tuos Atque idem casus, unam faciemus utramque
in Epiro, meos in Hespe-
ria, quibus idem Darda- Trojam animis: maneat nostros ea cura nepotes.
nus fuit auctor, atque Provehimur pelago vicina Ceraunia juxta :
quibus fuit idem casus, Unde iter Italiam, cursusque brevissimus undis.
faciemus, inquam, utram- Sol ruit intereà, et montes umbrantur opaci.
que Trojam esse unam Sternimur optatæ gremio telluris ad undam,
animis
500
505
Sortiti remos; passimque in litore sicco
Corpora curamus: fessos sopor irrigat artus.
Necdum orbem medium nox horis acta subibat:
Haud segnis strato surgit Palinurus, et omnes
Explorat ventos, atque auribus aëra captat.
5.10
516. Circumspicit Arc- Sidera cuncta notat tacito labentia cœlo,
turum, pluviasque Arcturum, pluviasque Hyadas, geminosque Triones,
NOTES.
tined country. And, although he had been
several years in pursuit of it, it was still at
a great distance. The verb sunt is to be
supplied with quærenda.
497. Effigiem Xanthi: the image or re-
presentation of Xanthus. It appears that
Andromache gave the name of Xanthus to
some river of Epirus, and also the name of
Troy to some town. Xanthus was a river
of Troy, the same as Scamander. Homer
says its first name was given by the gods,
but the latter by men.
499. Melioribus auspiciis: for better for-
tune. Obvia: in the sense of exposita.
501. Data: in the sense of destinata.
502. Olim. This word refers to time past,
and also to time to come. This last is the
meaning here-hereafter.
504. Faciemus olim cognatas :
we will
make hereafter the kindred cities, and re-
sembling people (yours) in Epirus, (and
mine) in Italy, &c. Buthrotus, the city of
Helenus, bore some resemblance, perhaps,
to old Troy; or this may be the city which
he called by the name of Troy. Æneas,
when he arrived in Italy, intended to build
a city, and call it Troy; each of which
cities, utramque Trojam, he designed should
be one in affection and good will. The
distance of the Tiber from Epirus is too
great to justify the taking of propinquos in
the sense of vicinos, as Ruæus has it. Mr.
Davidson renders it by allied, (near of kin;)
but this is mere tautology. That relation
is sufficiently expressed by cognatas. It ap-
pears the better to understand it, of the
people resembling each other in manners,
customs, and habits; both having descend-
515
ed from the same stock, Dardanus being the
parent (auctor) and founder of both. Casus.
fortune-calamity.
506. Ceraunia: neu. plu. These were
exceeding high mountains on the north of
Epirus, so called from their being much ex-
posed to thunder. They are sometimes
called Acroceraunia. They lie over against
the promontory of Iäpygium. Here the dis-
tance between Italy and Epirus is the short-
est; it is said about 50 miles. The prep.
in or ad is understood to govern Italiam.
508. Ruit: in the sense of occidit.
509. Sternimur: in the sense of the mid-
dle voice of the Greeks: we throw ourselves
down upon the bosom of the wished for land.
510. Sortiti remos: having distributed the
oars by lot-having cast lots for the oars,
to see who should perform the duty of oars-
men. This they did before they retired to
rest, that they might start the following day
without hindrance or delay. Ad undam
refers to sternimur, and not to sortili, as in
some copies.
511. Curamus: we refresh our bodies.
Irrigat: invigorates.
This is a beautiful
metaphor. It is taken from the effect and
influence which gentle showers, or perco-
lating streams, have upon the thirsty land,
and parched herbs.
512. Acta: in the sense of provecta. Nec-
dum, &c. This is a fine circumlocution to
denote that it was not yet midnight.
516. Arcturum. Arcturus, a star near the
tail of the Great Bear: it rises about the
beginning of October. See Geor. i. 63. IIy-
adas: they are said to have been the daugh-
ters of Atlas, king of Mauritania, in Africa ;
ÆNEIS LIB III
273
Armatumque auro circuinspicit Oriona.
Postquàm cuncta videt cœlo constare sereno,
Dat clarum è puppi signum; nos castra movemus,
Tentamusque viam, et velorum pandimus alas.
Jamque rubescebat stellis Aurora fugatis;
Cùm procul obscuros colles, humilemque videmus
Italiam. Italiam primus conclamat Achates;
Italiam læto socii clamore salutant.
T'um pater Anchises magnum cratera coronâ
Induit, implevitque mero, Divosque vocavit,
Stans celsâ in puppi :
520
525
Dî, maris et terræ tempestatumque potentes,
Ferte viam vento facilem, et spirate secundi.
528. O Dî, inquit, po
tentes maris
Crebrescunt optatæ auræ, portusque patescit
Jam propior, templumque apparet in arce Minervæ.
Vela legunt socii, et proras ad litora torquent.
Portus ab Eoo fluctu curvatur in arcum ;
Objectæ salsa spumant aspergine cautes:
Ipse latet gemino demittunt brachia muro
Turriti scopuli, refugitque à litore templum.
NOTES.
who, grieving immoderately for the death
of their brother Hyas, who had been killed
by a wild boar, pined away, and died. They
were five in number. After their death they
were transferred to the heavens, and made
stars near the constellation Taurus. The
ancients supposed their rising and setting
to be always attended with much rain.
Their name is derived from a Greek word
signifying to rain. Triones: the greater
and lesser bear, two constellations near the
north pole.
517. Oriona: a Greek acc. Orion is a
constellation near the feet of the bull. It
rises about the first of March, and rains and
storms were supposed to attend it. Hence
Virgil gave it the epithets nimbosus, and
aquosus. Æn. i. 535. and iv. 52. Orion
was a celebrated hunter, and companion of
Diana. Being bit by a serpent, he lost his
life. The gods, taking pity on him, trans-
lated him to the heavens. His constellation
is very lucid, consisting of many very bright
stars, particularly in his belt or girdle, in
which his sword hangs. He is here said to
be armed with gold, on account of his many
ucid stars.
518. Videt cuncta constare: he sees all
things to indicate fair weather-all the signs
to agree in indicating fair weather. Post-
quam videt cœlum habere omnia, quæ signifi-
cant serenitatem, says Servius.
519. Movemus castra. This was a mili-
This was a mili-
tary expression, denoting the commence-
ment of march, from the place of encamp-
ment.
520. Tenlamus: in the sense of incipimus.
522. Humilem. Rumus thinks Italy is
bere called lot, either because in that part,
530
535
535. Portus ipse latet
there are no mountains, because the high-
est parts appear low when seen at a dis-
tance-or because the sea every where ap-
pears higher than the land. He interprets
it by planam.
525. Induit magnum: he crowned a large
bowl with a garland. Coronare poculum,
sometimes, signifies no more than simply to
fill it up to the brim. But, in the present
case, it is taken literally, to adorn the bow
with flowers: otherwise what follows will be
mere tautology. Mero. Merum, aere, is
taken for wine in general; the species for
the genus. Induit: in the sense of cinxit.
528. Potentes: in the sense of præsides
vel rectores. Minelius beautifully illustrates
the design of this libation : Maris, quod na-
vigo; terræ, quam peto; tempestatum, quas
timemus.
529. Ferte: in the sense of date. Spirate
secundi: and blow propitious upon us.
531. Templum Minerva. Strabo mentions
a temple of Minerva, on the promontory of
läpygium, which is the one most p.obably
meant. Legunt: in the sense of colligunt.
Arce: for monte.
533. Portus curvatur: the port is curved
into (the form of) a bow by the eastern
waves, and the cliffs opposite each other
foam with salt spray, occasioned by the
dashing of the waves against them. These
two projecting cliffs formed the mouth of
the harbor.
the harbor. Eoo: the adj. Eoüs is derived
from a Greek word signifying the morn-
ing-also, the East. This part of Italy is
washed on the east by the Ionian sea. Ileyne
reads Euroo, from the sub. Eurus.
536. Scopuli. Scrpulus is properly a high
sharp rock. Those here mentioned resem
19
274
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
537. Hìc vidi in gra- Quatuor hic, primum omen, equos in gramine vidi
mine primum omen, Tondentes campum latè, candore nivali.
nempe, quatuor equos è Et pater Anchises: Bellum, ô terra hospita, portas:
Bello armantur equì: bellum hæc armenta minantur
539. Et pater Anchi- Sed tamen îdem olim curru succedere sueti
ses inquit
nivali candore, tonden-
tes
;
Quadrupedes, et fræna jugo concordia ferre :
Spes est pacis, ait. Tum numina sancta precamur
Palladis armisonæ, quæ prima accepit ovantes :
545. Et velamur quoad Et capita ante aras Phrygio velamur amictu ;
capita Phrygio amictu Præceptisque Heleni, dederat quæ maxima, ritè
ante ejus aras; exque Junoni Argivæ jussos adolemus honores.
præceptis Heleni,
548 Haud mora est
54)
545
Haud mora: continuò, perfectis ordine votis,
Cornua velatarum obvertimus antennarum,
Grajugenûmque domos, suspectaque linquimus arva. 550
Hinc sinus Herculei, si vera est fama, Tarenti
Cernitur. Attollit se Diva Lacinia contrà,
Caulonisque arces, et navifragum Scylacæum.
Tum procul è fluctu Trinacria cernitur Ætna:
NOTES.
bled towers, and stretched forth on both
sides in the form of arms, making a double
wall. Refugit. While they were at a dis-
tance, the temple appcared near the shore;
but, as they approached, the distance be-
tween it and the port seemed to increase.
It receded, or fled, from the shore.
537. Hic vidi: here I saw the first omen.
It was a custom among the ancients care-
fully to observe the first objects which pre-
sented at landing in a country where they
designed to form settlements: and hence to
draw prognostics of their future good or bad
fortune. Tondentes: in the sense of carpen-
tes. Gramine: in the sense of pratis.
539. Hospita. This Rumus interprets by
hospitalis; but that illy agrees with portus
bellum. Mr. Davidson renders it, foreign:
o which we are strangers.
See
541. Curru: for currui, the dat.
Ecl. v. 29. Concordia fræna: the gentle
reins. This implies perfect submission to
the will of the driver. Jugo. Jugum pro-
perly signifies the yoke which passes over
the necks of the horses, and holds up the
tongue or pole of the carriage. Here, per-
haps, the harness in general. Olim: in the
sense of diu.
543. Numina: ir the sense of divinitatem.
544. Armisona: sounding in arms. This
is an epithet of Pallas, or Minerva, as god-
dess of war. Ovantes: in the sense of latos.
Nos is understood.
547. Adolemus jussos honores. Ruæus in-
terprets these words by, offerimus præscripta
sacrificia. Jussos: ordered, or appointed
by Helenus. See 435. supra, et sequens.
548. Continuò: immediately-forthwith.
Rumus considers it an adj. agreeing with
ordine. Perfeclis: ir the sense of persolutis.
549. Velatarum antennarum. The anten-
na were spars or yards which crossed the
mast, to which the sails were fastened and
suspended. The extremities of them were
called cornua. By shifting or turning his
sails, he would naturally alter his course.
He now sails southward; and, as he passes
along, he gives us a very particular descrip-
tion of the country. He takes his depar-
ture from the promontory of Iäpygium.
551. Tarenti. Tarentum was a famous
city and port at the northern extremity of
the Sinus Tarentinus, founded by Taras, the
son of Neptune, according to Straba. The
same author informs us that Hercules had
here a colossus of brass, made by Lysippus,
which Fabius Maximus carried to Rome.
Not only the city, but also the adjacent
country, was famous for the actions of that
hero. Hence the poet gives it the epithet,
Herculean.
552. Contrà: on the other side (of the
bay) the goddess Lacinia raises herself,
Diva Lacinia is here put for the temple of
the goddess, by meton. Lacinia as an epi-
thet of Juno, taken from the promontory
Lacinium, on which the temple stood.
553. Arces Coulonis: the towers of Cau-
lon, or Caulonia. Caulon was a city far-
ther south, at first called Aulonia, from a
valley, which was in sight. It was founded
by the Greeks. Scylacæum. This was a city
situated near the southern extremity of a
bay of that name, founded by a colony of
Athenians, according to Strabo. The na-
vigation on this coast was dangerous.
Hence it is called navıfragum.
554. Etna: a well known mountain and
volcano on the island of Sicily. It is said
to be sixty miles in circumorence at its
ENEIS. LIB. III
275
Et gemitum ingentem pelagi, pulsataque saxa
Audimus longè, fractasque ad litora voces
Exultantque vada, atque æstu miscentur arena.
Et pater Anchises: Nimirùm hæc illa Charybdis :
Hos IIelenus scopulos, hæc saxa horrenda canebat.
Eripite, ô socii, pariterque insurgite remis.
Haud minùs ac jussi faciunt: primusque rudentem
Contorsit lævas proram Palinurus ad undas:
Lævam cuncta cohors remis ventisque petivit.
Tollimur in cœlum curvato gurgite, et îdem
Subductâ ad Manes imos descendimus undâ.
Ter scopuli clamorem inter cava saxa dedêre :
Ter spumam elisam et rorantia vidimus astra.
Intereà fessos ventus cum Sole reliquit :
Ignarique viæ, Cyclopum allabimur oris.
Portus ab accessu ventorum immotus, et ingens
NOTES.
base. Fluctu: in the sense of mari. The
meaning is: while they were a great distance
at sea.
555. Pulsata: beaten, or lashed by the
waves. Voces in the sense of sonitus.
Gemitum in the sense of fremitum.
557. Vada exultant: the shallows boil,
and the sands are mingled with the tide.
The sea breaks and foams upon the shal-
lows, and the sand is tossed up by the
whirling eddies.
559. Scopulos-saxa. Scopulus properly
signifies a high sharp rock; saxum, any
rock-rocks in general. Canebat: for præ-
dicebat.
560. Pariter: equally-all as one.
561. Minus: in the sense of aliter. Ac:
in the sense of quàm.
562. Palinurus primus: Palinurus first
turned the creaking prow to the left waters.
Some read rudente, for rudentem, a sub. in-
stead of the part. By this they would un-
derstand a rope fastened to the side of the
ship, by the help of which the helmsman
turned the ship which way he pleased. Ru-
æus interprets it by stridentem: creaking as
it plunged into the waves.
563. Cuncta cohors: in the sense of om-
nes socii.
564. Gurgite: in the sense of fluctu.
565. Manes. These properly were that
part of the dead, which the ancients sup-
posed to be below-the shade, or ghost.
Sometimes it is used for the place of the
dead, and sometimes for the infernal gods.
The plain meaning is: that when they were
on the top of a surge, or wave, they were
elevated very high; and when they were
in a hollow between two waves, they de-
scended very low; in other words, the sea
here was very, rough.
566. Clamorem in the sene of sonitum.
567. Rorantia astra: the stars bedewed,
555
560
565
560. Eripite vos hine,
ô socii
561. Illi faciunt haud
minùs ac jussi facere
563. Lævam partem
remis
568. Nos fessos cum
sole
570. Portus est immo
570 tus ab accessu
or besprinkled. This is an extravagant hy-
perbole. Catrou, and some others, would
understand this of the dewy drops, which
thrown up by the dashing of the waters
against the rocks, sparkled like stars in the
sun-beams. This appears to be the opinion
of Heyne.
568. Ventus cum sole. These circum-
stances have a happy effect in preparing the
reader for the following description of mount
Etna. The winds are hushed, that the
bellowings of the mountain might be more
distinctly heard; and night is brought on
that in the dusky sky the flames might ap-
pear more conspicious.
569. Cyclopum. It is said the Cyclops
were the first inhabitants of Sicily, especial-
ly about mount Etna. They are said to
have been of gigantic stature, and of a na-
ture savage, cruel, and inhospitable. Hence
the poets took occasion to represent them
of a monstrous form, having only one eye,
and that in their forehead, and as being can-
nibals. From their vicinity to Etna, it is
said, they were employed by Vulcan in
forging the thunderbolts of Jupiter.
The port, where Œueas landed, was near
the place where the city Catanea now stands,
near the foot of mount Etna. The Cyclops.
were supposed to be the sons of Cœlus and
Terra. They took their name from the
circumstance of their having but one eye.
This tradition originated from their custom
of their wearing small bucklers of steel,
which covered their faces. These had a
small aperture in the middle, which cor-
responded exactly to the eye. They were
reckoned among the gods, and had a temple
dedicated to them at Corinth. Etna is
now called mount Gibel, and stands not far
from the castern shore of Sicily. Its modern
name implies, the mount of mounts.
570. Ingens: in the sense of capax.
276
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Ipse; sed horrificis juxtà tonat Ætna ruinis:
Interdumque atram prorumpit ad æthera nubein,
Turbine fumantem piceo et candente favillâ :
Attollitque globos flammarum, et sidera lambit
Interdum scopulos avulsaque viscera montis
Erigit eructans, liquefactaque saxa sub auras
Cum gemitu glomerat, fundoque exæstuat imo.
Fama est, Enceladi semiustum fulmine corpus
Urgeri mole hâc, ingentemque insuper Ætnam
580. Impositam insu- Impositam, ruptis flaınmam expirare caminis:
Et, fessum quoties mutat latus, intremere omnem
Murmure Trinacriam, et cælum subtexere fumo.
por eun
583. Nos tecti in syl- Noctem illam tecti sylvis immania monstra
vis perferimus
590. Nova forma viri
Perferimus nec, quæ sonitum det causa, videmus.
Nam neque erant astrorum ignes, nec lucidus æthrâ
Sidereâ polus; obscuro sed nubila cœlo,
Et Lunam in nimbo nox intempesta tenebat.
Postera jamque dies primo surgebat Eoo,
Humentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram;
ignoti nobis, confecta Cùm subitò è sylvis, macie confecta supremâ,
supremâ macie, mise- Ignoti nova forma viri, miseranda que cultu,
randaque cultu, proce- Procedit, supplexque manus ad litora tendit.
dit è sylvis,
Respicimus. Dira illuvies, immissa que barba,
593. Dira illuvies erat Consertum tegmen spinis: at cætera Graius,
594. At quoad cætera Et quondam patriis ad Trojam missus in armis.
Isque ubi Dardanios habitus et Troïa vidit
ei
erat
NOTES.
572. Prorumpit: in the sense of emittit.
573. Candenie favillâ: with hot, or burn-
ing embers.
574. Lambit: in the sense of tangit.
576. Eructans: in the sense of evomens.
Avulsa: torn loose.
572
580
586
500
595
to them-the appearances were new and
unexpected. Hence they may be called
with propriety, immania monstra.
585. Ignes: lights of the stars. Polus
lucidus: nor the heaven bright in the starry
firmament. Polus, by synec. put for the
577. Glomerat: and whirls about melted whole heaven.
rocks into the air.
578. Fama est: there is a report, that the
body of Enceladus, half consumed by light-
ning, is pressed under this mass of matter;
and that ponderous Ætna being placed upon
hiin, casts up flames from its burst furnaces;
and as often as he, &c.
Virgil here gives us the fabulous account
of the origin of this burning mountain, and
the cause of its eruptions. Enceladus was
the chief of the Giants, and the son of Ti-
tan and Terra. In the war of the Giants
against the gods, he was struck with the
thunderbolt of Jupiter, and placed under
mount Etna, by way of punishment: and,
as often as he turns his weary side, an
cruption follows. Ovid places Typhous,
another of the Giants, under the same
mountain. Insuper in the sense of super.
580. Expirare: in the sense of emittere.
583. Immania monstra: in the sense of
mfanda prodigia. Illam noctem: in the
sense of per illam noctem.
584. Perferimus: we endure or suffer.
The cause of this eruption was unknown
587. Intempesta nox: profound darkness.
It properly signifies the darkest time of
night-midnight. Here it denotes the qua-
lity of that night in particular, when one
face of thick darkness prevailed through the
whole night, like that which prevailed at the
midnight hour. Nimbo: in the sense of ne-
buloso aëre.
588. Primo Eoo: with the first dawn.
Eous, the star Venus. When it rises before
the sun, it is called Lucifer; when setting
after him, Hesperus: here put for the dawn
of day. Aurora. See Geor. i. 249.
590. Confecta supremâ: wasted away
with extreme leanness. Confecta agrees
with forma.
591. Nova forma viri ignoti: simply, a
man unknown to us.
594. Tegmen consertum: his covering
sewed, or fastened together with thorns. It
probably consisted of the leaves of trees.
Rumus says, vestis contexta spinis. At ca-
tera: but as to other things-his stature,
gait, language, &c. he was a Greek.
596. Habitus: in the sense of vestes,
ÆNEIS. LIB. III.
277
Arma procul, paulùm aspectu conterritus hæsit,
Continuitque gradum : mox sese ad litora præceps
Cum fletu precibusque tulit: Per sidera testor,
Per Superos, atque hoc cœli spirabile lumen,
Tollite me, Teucri; quascunque abducite terras :
Hoc sat erit. Scio me Danais è classibus unum,
Et bello Iliacos fateor petiise Penates.
Pro quo, si sceleris tanta est injuria nostri,
Spargite me in fluctus, vastoque immergite ponto.
Si pereo, manibus hominum periise juvabit.
Dixerat: et genua amplexus, genibusque volutans
Hærebat. Qui sit, fari, quo sanguine cretus,
Hortamur; quæ deinde agitet fortuna, fateri.
Ipse pater dextram Anchises, haud multa moratus,
Dat juveni, atque animum præsenti pignore firmat.
Ille hæc, depositâ tandem formidine, fatur :
Sum patriâ ex Ithacâ, comes infelicis Ulyssei,
Nomen Achemenides: Trojam, genitore Adamasto
Paupere, mansissetque utinam fortuna! profectus.
Hic me, dum trepidi crudelia limina linquunt,
Immemores socii vasto Cyclopis in antro
NOTES.
597. Hæsit: hesitated-paused.
599. Testor: in the sense of precor.
600. Hoc spirabile lumen: by this vital
light of heaven-by this light (air) of hea-
ven, which we breathe, and by which we
livo. Lumen: in the sense of aër, vel
aura.
603. Iliacos Penates. The Penates pro-
perly were the household gods-the gods of
one's country. Hence the word came to
signify, one's house and country, and what-
ever a person held most dear, by meton.
See Æn. ii. 717.
604. Pro quo: for which-for his being a
Greek, and having taken part in the war
against Troy. Sceleris injuria. Ruæus says,
iniquitas criminis. Si scelus meum tantum
est, says Heyne.
605. Spargite: in the sense of projicile :
tear me in pieces, and cast me into the sea.
606. Si pereo, &c. Dr. Wharton makes
the following reflections upon this passage.
Nothing, says he, can more forcibly strike the
imagination, than these circumstances of
the wandering Trojans, sheltered in a wood,
upon an unknown coast, and hearing strange
and terrible noises during a dark and moon-
less night; and not knowing whence the
dreadful sounds proceeded, or by what they
might be occasioned. At daybreak, how
sudden and great the surprise, to see the
ghastly figure of a man, who first runs to-
wards them with great precipitation, as if
to beg some assistance; but suddenly starts
pack at the sight of Trojan habits and arms.
At last, recovering himself a little, he re-
solves to fling himself into their hands, what-
ever might be the consequence. ´Received
600
605
600. O Teucri, inquit,
testor vos per sidera, por
Superos
602. Scio me esse
unum
608. Hortamur eum
fari, qui sit, et ex quo
610 sanguine cretus est; de-
615
inde fateri, quæ
614. Achemenides est
nomen mihi: profectus
sum Trojam
616. Hic socii imme-
mores mei deseruêre ine
in vasto antro Cyclopis,
dum
into a vessel, he gives them the dreadful
narration of Polyphemus, informs them that
this was the island of the Cyclops, begs
them to leave it instantly, and concludes
most pathetically, that if he must die, it
would be some comfort to him to perish by
the hands of men, and not by monsters.
607. Amplea us: embracing our knees,
and falling upon his own knees, he clung
to us. Servius observes, that the several
members of the body were consecrated to
particular deities: the ear, to memory; the
knees, to mercy; the right hand, to faith.
Suppliants were accustomed to throw, or
cast themselves upon their knees, and ein-
brace those of the person of whom they
asked or begged any thing.
608. Cretus: in the sense of ortus.
610. Haud multa moratus: delayed not
a moment.
611. Præsenti pignore. The right hand
among all nations is considered a pledge of
friendship. Præsens here signifies, ready-
propitious. So adsum, I am present, signi-
fies also, to favor-to be propitious.
613. Ithacâ: an island in the Ionian sea.
It formed a part of the dominion of Ulys-
ses. Hodie, Isola del Compare.
614. Adamasto: Adamastus my father be-
ing a poor man. He mentions his poverty as
an excuse for his going to the war; it was
not his choice. Sinon pleads the same ex-
cuse. See Æn. ii.-87. Utinam: I wish the
same state of poverty had remained to me!
617. Cyclopis. Polyphemus is here meant.
It is said he was the son of Neptune and
Thoosa, the daughter of Phorcys. It
said that Ulysses, on his return from T
273 ·
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
i
**
618. Ejus domus in- Deseruere.
Domus sanie dapibusque cruentis,
tus est opaca, ingens, et Intus opaca, ingens: ipse arduus, altaque pulsat
plena sanie
Sidera; Dî, talem terris avertite pestem!
Nec visu facilis, nec dictu affabilis ulli.
Visceribus miserorum, et sanguine vescitur atro.
623 Egomet vidi, cùm Vidi egomet, duo de numero cùm corpora nostro,
ille resupinus in medio Prensa manu magnâ, medio resupinus in antro,
intro frangeret duo cor-
Frangeret ad saxum, sanieque aspersa natarent
pora de nostro numero,
brensa magnâ manù, ad Limina: vidi, atro cùm membra fluentia tabo
Manderet, et tepidi tremerent sub dentibus artus.
628. Fecit id quidem Haud impunè quidem: nec talia passus Ulysses,
haud impunè: nec Ulys- Oblitusve sui est Ithacus discrimine tanto.
ses passus est talia
saxum
620
625
Nam simul expletus dapibus, vinoque sepultus
Cervicem inflexam posuit, jacuitque per antrum
Immensus, saniem eructans ac frustra cruento
Per somnum commixta mero; nos, magna precati
Numina, sortitique vices, unà undique circùm
Fundimur, et telo lumen terebramus acuto
Ingens, quod torvâ solum sub fronte latebat,
630
635
NOTES.
visited Sicily, and the straits of Messina.
He lost a part of his fleet in the whirlpool
of Charybdis. This was a dangerous place
to all who attempted to pass the straits. It
gave rise to this proverb: Incidit in Scyllam,
qui vull vitare Charybdim, implying that in
avoiding one evil, we frequently fall into
a greater. But no whirlpool is now to be
found, sufficiently large to answer to the
description given by the poets and other an-
cient writers. It is probable some change
aas been effected in this part of the sca in
the course of time.
621. Nec facilis visu: nor is he easy to
be looked upon, nor easy to be spoken to
by any one. His terrific aspect fills you
with dread, and deprives you of the power
of speech. Servius says: Cujus possit etiam
aspectus ferre formidinem; and Stephens:
Cujus ne aspectum quidem facile quis sus-
lineat.
625. Limina aspera.
Limen properly
signifies the threshold of the door; also the
door itself, by meton. If it be taken in this
sense here, then limina aspersa sanie nalarent
may mean: the door being bespattered
with the blood, trickled or ran down. Rumus
says, porta. It may be taken cither way.
627. Manderel in the sense of devoraret.
629. Ithacus : a name of Ulysses, from
thaca, his native island. Tanto discrimine:
in so important a crisis-in so great dan-
ger.
631. Inflexam: bent, or reclined. Per-
sons in a complete state of intoxication are
unable to hold their heads erect. They re-
cline them either upon their shoulders or
breast. This was the case with Polyphe-
mus. His head was reclined before he lay
down to sleep.
632. Immensus. Some read immensum,
to agree with antrum.
But immensus is pre-
ferable, referring to the dimensions of Po-
lyphemus. Frusta commixta: pieces (of
human bodies) mingled with bloody wine.
Per somnum is to be connected with eruc-
tans.
634. Sortiti vices: having drawn by lot
our parts to act, all at once, we surround
him from all quarters, and dig out, &c.
Donatus thinks it should be tenebramus, in-
stead of terebramus: we darken, or extin-
guish the light of his eye which would
express, as he thinks, the quickness and
celerity of their action. But Homer,
whom Virgil here follows, expressly men-
tions the circumstance of the boring out of
the monster's eye; and compares the ac-
tion of Ulysses and his companions to a
carpenter boring a piece of timber.
Cir-
cùmfundimur, is probably here used in the
sense of the middle voice of the Greeks.
No
636. Latebat: lay concealed; because
his eye was shut in sleep. Quod solum,
&c. The Cyclops are represented as hav-
ing only one eye, and that one in their
forehead. This is doubtless a fiction.
such people ever existed. Eustathius ex-
plains the fable thus: that in violent pas-
sion, men see only one single object, as that
passion directs; in other words, see with
one eye only and further, that passion
transports men into savages, and renders
them brutal and sanguinary, like Polyphe-
mus; and he, who by reason extinguishes
that passion, may be said to put out that
eye. Others explain it by alleging that
Polyphemus was a man of uncommon wis-
dom and penetration, who is therefore re
presented as having only one eye, and that
:
ENEIS. LIB. III.
279
Argolici clypei aut Phœbeæ lampadis instar:
Et tandem læti sociorum ulciscimur umbras.
Sed fugite, ◊ miseri, fugite, atque ab litore funem
Rumpite.
Nam, qualis quantusque cavo Polyphemus in antro
Lanigeras claudit pecudes, atque ubera pressat;
Centum alii curva hæc habitant ad litora vulgò
Infandi Cyclopes, et altis montibus errant.
Tertia jam Lunæ se cornua lumine complent,
Cùm vitam in sylvis, inter deserta ferarum
Lustra domosque traho, vastosque ab rupe Cyclopas
Prospicio, sonitumque pedum vocemque tremisco.
Victum infelicem, baccas, lapidosaque corna
Dant rami, et vulsis pascunt radicibus herbæ.
Omnia collustrans, hanc primùm ad litora classem
Conspexi venientem huic me, quæcunque fuisset,
Addixi: satìs est gentem effugisse nefandam.
Vos animam hanc potiùs quocunque absumite leto.
Vix ea fatus erat, summo cùm monte videmus
Ipsum inter pecudes vastâ se mole moventem
Pastorem Polyphemum, et litora nota petentem :
Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens, cui
ademptum.
Trunca manum pinus regit, et vestigia firmat.
Lanigeræ comitantur oves: ea sola voluptas,
Solamenque mali: de collo fistula pendet.
NOTES.
near his brain, to denote his superior wis-
dom and sagacity; but that Ulysses out-
witted him, and was said, for that reason,
to put out his eye.
637. Phœbeæ lampadis: the lamp of Pho-
bus-the orb of the Sun. The Grecian
shield was large enough to cover the whole
man and as that was of an oval form, the
comparison denotes both the figure and mag-
nitude of this eye.
Sed
639. Miseri. He calls them miserable, or
unfortunate, in having come to this coast,
and being exposed to such danger.
fugile. This interruption in his speech is
extremely beautiful. The fear of the Cy
clops, and the recollection of the dangers,
which he had escaped, rush upon his mind,
and stop him for a moment, to give the
Trojans advice to flee immediately. He
then resumes the subject.
He informs them that there were on the
Island a hundred other infandi Cyclopes,
horrid Cyclops, such, and as huge as Poly-
phemus.
645. Tertia cornua Lunæ, &c. By this we
are to understand that it had been about
three lunar months since he had been in that
unhappy situation: cùm traho vitam, &c.
647. Deserta lustra: the deserted dens, or
haunts.
640
645
650
653. Satis est mihi
effugisse
655 655. Cûm videmus
summo monte, pasto-
rem Polyphemum ip-
sum, moventem se
lumen
660
660. Comitantur eum
ea est sola voluptas ips
649. Infelicem: poor-scanty. Corna:
the fruit of the corneil tree. It is round,
and protected by a hard shell.
650. Pascunt: in the sense of nutriunt.
Dant: in the sense of præbent.
651. Collustrans: in the sense of circum-
spiciens.
652. Addixi me huic: I have surrendered
myself to it, whatever it may be-I have
given myself up into your hands; do with
me as you please.
life of mine by any death, rather than leave
654. Vos potiùs absumite: take away this
me behind to die by the hands of these mon-
of perdite.
sters of rapacity. Absumite: in the sense
658. Cui lumen whose eye had been
taken out. Cui: in the sense of cujus.
The dat. is frequently used by the poets in
the sense of the gen. Est is to be supplied
with ademptum.
659. Trunca pinus: a cut pine guides his
hand. From this we may form some idea
of his stature. His staff is the trunk of a
pine. Heyne reads manu: in his hand.
661. Mali: in the sense of miseria vel
doloris. Fistula pendet de collo. These
words are probably spurious. They are
left out in some editions. Heinsius, Do-
natus, and Heyne reject them. Nor does
Homer mention any such circumstance
230
P. VIRGILII MARUNIS
Postquàm altos tetigit fluctus, et ad æquɔra venit,
Luminis effossi fluidum lavit inde cruorem,
Dentibus infrendens gemitu: graditurque per æquor
Jam medium, necdum fluctus latera ardua tinxit.
666. Nos trepidi cœpi- Nos procul inde fugam trepidi celerare, recepto
mus celerare fugam pro- Supplice sic merito, tacitique incidere funem ·
cul inde, supplice, sic
merito, recepto à nobis Verrimus et proni certantibus æquora remis.
669. Polyphemus sen- Sensit, et ad sonitum vocis vestigia torsit.
sit hoc, et toisit
Verùm ubi nulla datur dextrâ affectare potestas,
670. Nulla potestas Nec potis Ionios fluctus æquare sequendo ;
datur illi affectare nos Clamorem immensum tollit, quo pontus et omnes
dextrâ, nec potis est
673. Exterrita fuit
Intremuere undæ, penitùsque exterrita tellus
penitùs
Italæ, curvisque immugiit Ætna cavernis.
665
670
At genus è sylvis Cyclopum et montibus altis
Excitum ruit ad portus, et litora complent.
Cernimus adstantes nequicquam lumine torvo
Ætnæos fratres, cœlo capita alta ferentes,
678
679. Tules quales cùm Concilium horrendum: quales cùm vertice celso
aëriæ quercus, aut coni- Aëriæ quercus aut coniferæ cyparissi
feræ
682. Acer metus agit
Constiterunt, sylva alta Jovis, lucusve Dianæ.
socios præcipites excu- Præcipites metus acer agit quòcunque rudentes
Excutere, et ventis intendere vela secundis.
tere
NOTES.
680
whom Virgil here imitates. Ea sola voluptas,
&c. probably refers to his sheep.
663. Inde: in the sense of deinde. Or,
perhaps it may be considered merely ex-
pletive.
665. Fluctus: in the sense of aqua.
668. Certantibus: in the sense of laboran-
tibus.
669. Sonilum vocis. This may refer to
the sound of their voices. For though it is
said they went off silently; this can only
mean, they did it with as little noise as pos-
sible. There must have been some, to give
the necessary orders. But more probably to
the sound of their oars; for vox sometimes
signifies any sound whatever.
670. Affectare dextrâ: to grasp or seize
with his right hand.
The common reading is dextram, but this
is more difficult. Heyne reads dextra;
which is approved by Valpy, although he
retains dextram. Davidson observes some
ancient copies have dextrâ altrectare.
671. Fluctus: in the sense of mare. He
could not equal the depth of the sca.
677. Lumine: in the sense of oculo. Ne-
quicquam: in vain; because we were out of
their reach.
679. Concilium: in the sense of turbam.
680. Conifera cyparissi: such as when
the aërial oaks, or cone bearing cypresses
stand together with their lofty tops, &c.
The cypress tree bears a fruit resembling the
figure of the cone; hence called conifera.
sylva Jovis: and the cypress was sacred to
The quercus was sacred to Jove; hence alla
Proserpina or Diana; hence lucus Dianæ
682. Præcipites: in the sense of celeres.
Quocunque: for quocunque modo, in any
direction or way whatever.
683. Excutere rudentes. Rudentes may
be taken for those ropes, which seamen call
the sheets. By the help of these, they draw
in the sail when they wish to go near the
wind; or let it out when they sail before it,
or with a fair wind. It is usually fasten
ed to the extremity of the sail, or to the
boom or yard which extends the sail. That
it does not here mean the cables, will ap-
673. Undæ intremuere. Dr. Trapp says, pear, when we consider that they had al-
this is a most noble hyperbole. Some there ready cut their cables, incidere funem, verse
are, who think it too bold. But they not 667 supra, and were out at sea. Excutere
only forget the prerogative of poetry, but the rudentes, therefore, will be, to let out, to loose
real nature of fear; which always swells or extend the sheets, so as to sail before the
and heightens its object. Penitùs in the wind.
:
This is more fully expressed by
sense of intimè.
intendere vela secundis vintis, to spread the
sails to the favorable winds. It was not so
much the object of Æneas, in this juncture,
to proceed on his direct course, as to sail in
674. Immugiil: in the sense of remugiit.
675. Genus: in the sense of gens. Some
copies read gens.
ÆNEIS. LIB. III
281
Contrà, jussa monent Heleni Scyllam atque Charybdim:
Inter utramque viam, leti discrimine parvo,
Ni teneant cursus; certum est dare lintea retrò.
Ecce autem Boreas angustâ à sede Pelori
Missus adest: vivo prætcrvehor ostia saxo
Pantagiæ, Megarosque sinus, Tapsumque jacentem.
Talia monstrabat relegens errata retrorsùm
Litora Achemenides, comes infelicis Ulyssei.
Sicanio prætenta sinu jacet insula contra
Plemmyrium undosum: nomen dixere priores
Ortygiam. Alpheum fama est huc, Elidis amnem,
NOTES.
any direction, so as to escape the hands of
the Cyclops. Heyne says, explicare, inten-
dere, evolvere rudentes. Sce 267. supra.
684. Contrà jussa Heleni: on the other
hand, the commands of Helenus warn (my
companions) of Scylla and Charybdis. That
they may not hold their course in either
way, in so great danger (small a distance)
of death, it is determined to sail backward.
That we may not pass near Scylla and Cha-
rybdis, nor near the monster Polyphemus,
and his associates; in either way, we should
be in imminent danger of death, we deter-
mine to spread our sails backward. The
usual explication of this passage refers
utramque viam, to Scylla and Charybdis:
implying that the passage between the rock
Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis was
dangerous, and parùm à morte distare. The
explanation, referring utramque viam both
to the straits of Messina, and the Cyclops,
appears the easicst. In order to shun the
dangers of each, they determined to sail
back into the open sea, or from whence they
came. The wind probably at that moment
blew from the south, and prevented them
from pursuing their direct course. But
shifting to the north, they changed their
purpose, and sailed down the eastern shore
of Sicily. This, and the two following lines,
Heyne conjectures are an interpolation.
685. Discrimine: in the sense of spatio,
vel distantia: also, of periculo.
686. Ni: in the sense of ne. Lintea:
in the sense of vela.
687. Pelori. Pelorus is the northern pro-
montory of Sicily, forming, with Italy, the
straits of Messina, so called from a city of
that name on the Sicilian shore. These
straits are about one mile and a half wide.
The wind blowing from them, was fair for
him to sail down the eastern shore of Sicily,
according to the direction of Helenus. It
is here called Boreas, because it came from
the north. Æneas speaks of this wind as a
person sent, or commissioned by Heaven to
aid and assist him: Missus adest. Angusta
sede.
Ruæus says: angusto frete.
689. Pantagiæ ostra. Pantagia was a
small river, whose mouth (ostia) was en-
685
690
690. Relegens retror
sùm litora errata jam
antè à se
694. Fama est Alpho-
um amnern Elidis egis-
se sibi occultas vias huc
subter mare; qui amnis
exiens è tuo ore, O Are-
thusa, nunc
closed on each side with a steep rock. The
prep. è, vel ex, is understood before vivo
saxo. Megaros Sinus: the bay of Megara.
This bay lies between the river Terias and
Syracuse. In this bay was Tapsus, a penin
sula, which lay low, and almost level with
the sea.
690. Monstrabat: Achemenides pointed
out to us these things, as he was sailing
back along the shores, along which he had
wandered before.
Virgil here follows the opinions of those
who make Ulysses to have sailed from the
country of the Lotophagi in Africa, to the
southern part of Sicily; and turning the
promontory of Pachynum, sailed along the
eastern shore, and visited Etna, and the
country of the Cyclops. The course of
Eneas being to the south, was the reverse
of that of Ulysses. Achemenides, therefore,
might be said to sail back again, with the
greatest propriety. Dr. Wharton observes,
that Virgil is an exact observer of probabili-
ty. If it should be objected by any one,
that Eneas was a perfect stranger to this
coast, and could not be supposed acquainted
with the several places, which he passed;
an answer is at hand: Achemenides, who
had lately passed along the same shores,
pointed them out to him.
This may
691. Infelicis: unfortunate.
refer in general to the disasters he suffered
in his return from Troy; and particularly
the loss of a part of his fleet in the straits of
Messina. The return of Ulysses from Troy,
is the subject of the Odyssey.
front of the Sicilian bay, over against bois-
692. Insula prætenta: an island lies in
terous Plemmyrium. This was a promon-
tory near Syracuse, against which the waves
Hence the epithet undo-
Between this promontory and Syra-
cuse lay the island of Ortygia.
froin the sea beat.
sum.
693. Priores: in the sense of majores.
694. Alpheum. Alpheus, a celebrated river
of the Peloponnesus, rising from the moun
tain Stymphalus, running in a westerly di
rection, passing through a part of Arcadia
and Elis, falls into the Sinus Cyparissaus
3
282
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Occultas egisse vias subter mare; qui nunc
Ore, Arethusa, tuo Siculis confunditur undis.
697. Ut eramus jussi Jussi numina magna loci veneramur: et inde
Heleno, veneramur Exsupero præpingue solum stagnantis Helori.
Hinc altas cautes projectaque saxa Pachyni
Radimus; et fatis nunquam concessa moveri
Apparet Camarina procul, campique Geloi,
Immanisque Gela, fluvii cognomine dicta.
Arduus inde Agragas ostentat maxima longè
695
700
Moenia, magnanimâm quondam generator equorum
Teque datis linquo ventis, palmosa Selinus:
705
Et vada dura lego saxis Lilybeïa cæcis.
Hinc Drepani me portus et illætabilis ora
Accipit. Hic, pelagi tot tempestatibus actus,
Heu! genitorem, omnis curæ casûsque levamen,
710. Hìc, O optime Amitto Anchisen: hìc me, pater optime, fessum
pater, deseris mo fessum Deseris, heu! tantis nequicquam erepte perîclis.
NOTES.
696. Arethusa. This was a fountain on
the west side of the island of Ortygia. The
poets feigned that Alpheus, the river-god,
being in love with the nymph Arethusa,
rolled his stream from Elis under ground,
pasing through the sea, without intermin-
gling with it, and arose up in this fountain,
iningling his waters with those of the nymph.
What makes this fable the more absurd, is,
that the distance between the Peloponnesus
and Sicily is not less than 450 miles. Egisse:
in the sense of fecisse. Ore: in the sense
of fonte. Undis: in the sense of aquis.
698. Exsupero: in the sense of prætereo.
It is sometimes written, exupero. Helori.
Helorus, or Elorus, was a river falling into
the sea, a little to the north of the promon-
tory Pachynum. It overflowed its banks
like the Nile of Egypt, and rendered the
country fertile, through which it passed.
Hence the epithet stagnans, overflowing
stagnating.
699. Pachyni. The southern promonto-
ry of Sicily was called Pachynum. Hodie,
Capo Passaro.
701. Camarina. The name of a lake at
tne southern part of Sicily, near a city of
the same name, built by the people of Syra-
cuse. In the time of a plague, which the
inhabitants imagined originated from its
stagnant waters, they consulted the oracle of
Apollo concerning the expediency of drain-
ing it. The oracle advised them to let it
remain, alleging it would be better to endure
its noxious vapors, than to remove it. This
explains the words: nunquam concessa mo-
veri fatis; never permitted by the fates to
be removed. However, the people made
the experiment, and they found the words of
the oracle true. For the enemy entered on
the ground where the lake stood, and took
the city. Hodie, Lago di Camarina. Campi
Galoi: the plains of Gelas. Geloi: an adj.
710
of Gelas, or Gela, a river not far from Ca-
marina, near the mouth of which stood Ge-
la, once a large (immanis) and respectable
city, founded by the Rhodians and Cretans.
It was destroyed by the Agrigentini.
702. Dicta cognomine: called after the
name of the river.
703. Agragus: a city situated at the mouth
of a river of the same name. It was built
on the summit of a hill, or mountain: hence
called arduus, high. It was one of the largest
cities of Sicily. Its horses were celebrated
for their performance at the Olympic games.
Hence, quondam, &c. once the breeder of
generous horses.
705. Selinus: a city whose plains abound-
ed in paim-trecs. Hence the epithet palmo-
sa. Datis in the sense of farentibus.
706. Lilybeïa: an adj. from Lilybeum,
the western promontory of Sicily. The
water here is said to be shoal to the distance
of three miles from the land, and the bottom
rocky. Hence lego: I coast along the Li-
lybeian shallows, dangerous (dura) with
latont rocks. Rumus interprets dura by as-
pera. In this sense it will allude to the
roughness of the sea, occasioned by the
rocks lying on the bottom.
707. Portus Drepani. Drepanum (hodie,
Trepani) a city and harbor a few miles to the
north of the promontory just mentioned
Here Æneas lost his father. He therefore
calls it illætabilis ora: an unjoyous coast
It is said the inhabitants still show his tomb.
708. Actus: in the sense of jactatus.
709. Levamen: in the sense of solatium.
710. Fessum: weary-worn out with toils
and misfortunes.
711. Ereple: voc. agreeing with optime
pater. In placing the death of Anchises
here, Virgil differs from Strabo, who repre-
sents Eneas as arriving in Italy with his
father, and his son Ascanius.
ÆNEIS. LIB II.
283
Nec vates Helenus, cùm multa horrenda moneret,
Hos mihi prædixit luctus; non dira Celæno.
Hic labor extremus, longarum hæc meta viarum.
Hinc me digressum vestris Deus appulit oris.
Sic pater Æncas, intentis omnibus, unus
Fata renarrabat Divûm, cursusque docebat:
Conticuit tandem, factoque hic fine quievit.
NOTES.
712. Moneret: in the sense of prædiceret.
714. Hic extremus: this line may be taken
n two senses either to mean the end of
Inchises' labor, and the termination of his
ing voyage, or that the death of his father
as to Eneas the greatest of all his afflic-
tions, and the end of his voyage toward the
Italian coast. Ruxus takes it in the former
sense; Mr. Davidson in the latter.
15. Deus appulit: a god directed me,
departing hence (from the coast and port of
Drepanum) to your shores.
715
713. Dira Celano nos
prædixit
714. Hic fuit extre-
mus labor
718. Fine narrationis
717. Unus renarrabat: he alone related
the purposes (decrees) of the gods (toward
him,) and declared his wanderings. Unus :
in the sense of solus.
718. Quievit: he rested-he went to rest.
Segrais observes that the second and third
books may be recited in two hours. The
story did not appear long to Dido and the
guests: for he ceased, intentis omnibus, and
at midnight too, nor will they appear long
to any reader of taste and judgment.
QUESTIONS.
How did Æneas employ his time during
nis residence at Antandros?
How many ships had he when he set sail?
At what time of the year did he set sail?
How long probably after the capture of the
city?
To what place did he direct his course?
What city did he found in Thrace?
What did he call the name of it?
What did he call his followers from this
circumstance?
Did he soon abandon the idea of remain-
ing in Thrace?
Why did he thus abandon it?
Who was Polydorus?
How came he by his death?
Who were the founders of the Trojan
race?
Of what country were they natives?
From Crete, to what country was he di-
rected to sail?
How did he receive this instruction?
What befel him soon after he set sail?
What land did he first make?
In what sea are the Strophades?
By whom were these islands inhabited?
Who was the chief of the Harpies?
Did she give to Æneas any intimation of
suffering and want, before he should find a
permanent settlement?
How was this prediction accomplished?
From these islands, which way did he di-
From Thrace, to what place did Æneas rect his course?
direct his course?
Where is Delos situated?
Of what cluster of islands is it one?
How was he here received?
Who was at that time king of the island?
For what is this island famous?
What is the fable or story respecting it?
From what Greek word is the name de-
rived?
What is the signification of that word?
Did he consult the oracle of Apollo at
this place concerning the land destined to
him?
What answer did he receive?
How did his father Anchises interpret
that answer?
From Delos, to what place did he sail?
What prevented him from making a set-
tlement in Crete?
What did he call the city, which he there
founded?
Why did Æneas go to Crete?
At what places did he land?
What games did he celebrate?
For what was this coast celebrated?
Between whom was the battle fought '
From Actium, to what part of Epirus did
he proceed?
What surprising news did he hear on en-
tering the port?
Was the meeting of his friends very in-
teresting as well as unexpected?
What does Dr. Trapp observe of it?
How was Andromache employed at that
timie ?
What effect had the sight of Æneas and
the Trojans upon her?
Leaving Epirus, what sea did he first pass
over?
How many miles is Italy from Epirus in
that place?
What was the name of the promontory,
where he landed?
What course did he then take ›
- 284
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Why did he not pass through the strait of
Messina?
Where does this strait lie?
What is the navigation of it-safe or
dangerous?
What renders it dangerous?
Why is Sicily sometimes called Trina-
cria?
What are the names of its three promon-
tories?
Where did Æneas first land on this island?
What fainous mountain was near?
How long did he remain?
Was there an eruption at that time?
What effect had it upon the Trojans ?
What is the fabulous account of the cause
of an eruption?
Is this very far from the true cause?
Who were the inhabitants of that part of
Sicily?
Who was at that time their king?
From what circumstance were they call-
od Cyclops?
How large was their eye said to be?
What was their employment according to
the poets?
Who had been upon this coast a short
time before the arrival of Æneas?
To what place was Ulysses bound?
What misfortune befel him in the strait of
Messina?
What did he do to Polyphemus?
Why did he thus punish him ?
From whom did Eneas receive this ac-
count of the Cyclops?
How many of these giants were there
then on the island?
Who was Achemenides?
On what part of Sicily did Æneas after
ward land?
What is the name of the port?
What loss befel him here?
Does this close the account, which Æneas
gave to Dido at her request?
When does the poem open?
Where was Æneas at that time?
LIBER QUARTUS.
THIS book opens with the love of Dido for Æneas, and her conference with her sister
Anna upon the subject. Juno perceiving her passion, conceived the plan of forming
a connexion between them. To effect this the easier, she endeavors to draw Venus
over to her views. In the mean time, Æneas and Dido prepare to go on a party of
hunting; and while in the chase, Juno raises a violent tempest. The thunder rends the
skies, and torrents of rain fall. The party seck shelter wherever they can. Through
a device of Juno, Eneas and Dido repair to the same cave, where the goddess conso-
crates their nuptials. Fame immediately spread the news abroad; and it reached the
ears of larbas, king of the Getuli, the reputed son of Jupiter Ammon. He had for-
merly proposed a match with Dido, who rejected his offers. As soon as he heard that
she was married to a stranger, he was transported to rage, mingled with grief. In
this state of mind he made complaint to his father, who, taking pity on him, sends
Mercury to dissolve the match, and to order Æneas to prepare to leave Carthage for
Italy. In obedience to his commands, he privately makes the necessary preparations
for setting sail. Dido perceiving his movements, endeavors to dissuade him from his
purpose, in the tenderest and most affectionate strain; but it had no influence over
him. Being warned a second time, he weighs anchor in haste, and the love-sick
Queen beholds him leaving her coast. The sight wrung her soul, and drew from her
lips the most severe reproofs and bitter imprecations. She enjoins it upon her people
to revenge the injury done to her, and to pursue his descendants with irreconcilable
hatred. Having ordered a funeral pile to be erected, she ascends it, and with her
own hand puts an end to her existence. The nature of the subject renders this book
highly interesting; and it is considered one of the finest in the Æneid.
At regina, gravi jamdudum saucia cura,
NOTES.
1. Regina. Dido sometimes called Eliza,
was a Tyrian princess. Josephus informs
us her father's name was Melginus. He
obtained his information from the records of
the Tvrians and Theophilus of Antioch
calls him Metten. Her grandfather was
Badezorus, and her great grandfather was
Ithobalus, called in Scripture Ethbaal, whose
daughter Jezebel was married to Ahab, king
of Israel.
of Israel. Virgil, however, makes the name
ENEIS LIB IV.
285
Vulnus alit venis, et cæco carpitur igni.
Multa viri virtus animo, multusque recursat
Gentis honos: hærent infixi pectore vultus,
Verbaque nec placidam membris dat cura quietem. 5
Postera Phoebeå lustrabat lampade terras,
Humentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram
NOTES.
of her father to be Belus. Æn. i. 625. Marol-
lius has given a list of the kings of Tyre, and
makes Belus an abbreviation of Ithobalus,
the father of Pygmalion and Dido; but he
follows fabulous and traditionary accounts,
which should always be received with cau-
tion. Among other things, what renders
his account doubtful, is, that he brings Dido
upon the stage of action more than a hun-
dred years before the destruction of Troy.
After the death of his father, Pygmalion
ascended the throne. He was an avaricious
prince, and stopped at nothing by which he
could increase his riches. He conceived the
plan of murdering Acerbas, or Sicharbas, the
beloved husband of his sister. Virgil calls
him Sichæus, softening the name to make
it flow more easily into his verse. Sichæus
was the richest of all the Tyrians. Pyg-
malion coveted his treasures; but there was
no way to possess them while he was living.
He therefore formed the purpose of taking
away his life. He came upon him unex-
pectedly, and slew him while he was per-
forming his devotions before the altar. This
atrocious deed, the base prince had the ad-
dress to conceal, for some time, from his
sister. At length the whole matter was laid
open to Dido by the ghost of her deceased
husband, and she was admonished to flee
her country. Having collected what trea-
sure she could on so sudden an emergency,
and seizing some vessels that were then
ready for sea, she set sail, accompanied by
many of her countrymen: and, after a long
and tedious voyage, she arrived in Africa.
t appears to have been her purpose to join
her countrymen, who, many years before,
under Xorus and Carchedon, had formed a
settlement, to which they gave the name of
Utica, about 15 miles from the place where
Tunis now stands. This place was after-
ward rendered famous by the death of the
second Cato, who was hence called Cato,
Uticensis. Dido met with a welcome recep-
tion, and was desired to build a city on the
spot where she landed. For this purpose,
she purchased a tract of country of the na-
tives, many of whom joined her, together
with some from Utica. She called her city
Cutharda or Carthage, which, in the Phani-
cian and Hebrew languages, signifies a new
city. It stood about 700 years, and was
destroyed by the Romans under Scipio, in
the year of Rome 603, and before Christ
145. See Rollin's An. His. lib. ii. ch. 1.
There are some who say that Dido, on
6. Postera Aurora
lustrabat terras PLæbea
lampade
her arrival in Africa, found Carthage al-
ready built, and that she only fortified it,
and added a tower or citades, which she
called Byrsa. This word is evidently from
the Hebrew Bosra, which means a fortifica-
tion, or fortified place. The Greeks, mis-
taking the meaning, or overlooking it, sup-
posed, from the similarity of the words, that
it was the same with their Byrsa, which
means a bull's hide. Virgil followed the re-
ceived opinion. See Æn. i. 367. It has been
the general opinion that Virgil, in making
Eneas and Dido cotemporary, is guilty of
an anachronism. Bochart is positive of this,
and says that all the ancient chronologers
of any credit, place the destruction of Troy,
at least 60 years before the reign of Saul,
king of Israel; and the time of Dido's build-
ing Byrsa, the fortress of Carthage, at least
200 years after it, making 260 years to in-
tervene between the destruction of Troy,
and the building of Byrsa. In this case, the
destruction of Troy will be 1160 years be-
fore the Christian era. Sir Isaac Newton,
however, in his chronology, has brought it
down nearly 300 years; and thus makes
Eneas and Dido cotemporary. However
the case may be, it was undoubtedly a re-
ceived opinion among the Romans, that they
were cotemporary, and this was sufficient
for the poet; and even if he knew otherwise,
he acted prudently in following the general
opinion, since it contributed so much to the
embellishment of his poem.
Jamdudum: a long while.
plains it by nimiùm, or vehementiùs. Though
a long while. Servius ex-
it were only a short time since Æneas came
to Carthage, yet, with respect to Dido's
passion, and the impatience of her love, it
might be said to be a long time. Cura:
Ruæus says, solicitudine.
2. Alit vulnus: she nourishes a wound in
her veins, and is consumed by the secret fire
of love. This is said in allusion to Cupid's
arrow and torch; the former to wound, and
the latter to inflame. Caco igni. Valpy
says, "a concealed passion.'
""
3. Multa viri virtus: the many virtues of
the hero, and the many honors of his race,
recur to her mind. By his father, Æneas
descended from the royal family of Troy:
and, by Venus his mother, from Jove him-
self.
:
6. Phabeâ Lampade with the lamp of
Phœbus, that is, with the sun. By Tapino
sis.
Polo in the sense of co lo.
:
=
286
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
hic successit
8. Malè sana regina Cùm sic unanimem alloquitur malè sana sororem
alloquitur
Anna soror, quæ me suspensam insomnia terrent !
10. Quis novus hospes Quis novus hic nostris successit sedibus hospes!
Quem sese ore ferens! quàm forti pectore et armis !
12. Eum esse genus Credo equidem, nec vana fides. genus esse Deorum.
Degeneres animos timor arguit. Heu, quibus ille
Jactatus fatis! quæ bella exhausta canebat!
Si mihi non animo fixum immotumque sederet,
Deorum
16. Ne vellem sociare Ne cui me vinclo vellem sociare jugali,
me cui in jugali vinclo, Postquàm primus amor deceptam morte fefellit;
postquàm meus primus Si non pertasun thalami tædæque fuisset ;
amor fefellit me
24. Sed optem vel Hric uni forsan potui succumbere culpæ.
ima tellus dehiscat mihi, Anna, fatebor enim, miseri post fata Sichæi
vel pater omnipotens adi- Conjugis, et sparsos fraternâ cæde penates,
gat me fulmine ad um- Solus hic inflexit sensus, animumque labantem
bras, pallentes umbras Impulit agnosco veteris vestigia flammæ.
Erebi, profundamque
noctem, priùsquàm, O Sed mihi vel tellus optem priùs ima dehiscat,
10
15
20
pudor, ego violo te Vel pater omnipotens adigat me fulmine ad umbras, 25
NOTES.
14. Canebat: in the sense of narrabat.
15. Sederet: in the sense.of maneret.
16. Sociare: to connect myself in mar-
riage with any one.
8. Malè sana: the love-sick queen address- tum signifies, sometimes, as in this place-
ed her concordant sister. Unanimem, here, distress-misfortunes-calamities.
is very emphatical. It implies that there
was such a harmony and agreement sub-
sisting between them, that they both seemed
to be animated with the same soul: (of
unus and animus.) Malè sana: Malè, here,
has the force of non. The queen was so in
love with Æneas, that she disregarded the
sober dictates of reason, and her better
judgment. Valpy says, "with disturbed
mind." Insomnia: dreams. Suspensam: in
the sense of solicitam.
11. Quem sese ferens ore: what an illus-
trious person, showing himself (to be) by
his countenance! of how great fortitude and
prowess!
The Quàm forti pectore et armis, is an
elliptical expression. It is thus filled: Quàm
forti pectore est ille; et quàm fortibus armis.
The preposition è, or ex, being still under-
stood, governing the ablative cases. By the
forti pectore, we are to understand his forti-
tude in undergoing hardships, and support-
ing misfortunes: and by the armis, his cou-
rage and prowess in arms.
13. Timor arguit: fear shows a base and
ignoble mind. As fear argues a base and
ignoble mind, so courage and valor bespeak
a noble and divine original. The poet has
filled the speech of Dido with these abrupt
half sentences, and made her speak incohe-
rently, on purpose to show the confusion
and perturbation of her mind.
14. Exhausta: drawn out-endured to
the last. Not only begun, but accomplished,
and with resolution brought to an end. Here
is plainly an allusion to the draining of some
bitter cup to the very last dregs. A parti-
ciple from exhaurio. Falis. The word fa-
17. Primus amor: after my first love de-
ceived me, disappointed by the death of
my husband. She had pictured to herself
an uninterrupted course of conjugal felicity,
of which she was disappointed by the death
of her husband. This led her to enter into
the resolution of never forming a second
connexion.
Tædæ.
been weary (displeased) with the marriage
18. Si non pertæsum fuisset : if I had not
bed, and nuptial torch, perhaps, &c.
It was a custom among the Romans to carry
a torch before the newly married wife, when
she was conducted to the house of her hus-
band. Hence it is often put for the nuptials
themselves.
19. Potui: I might yield to this one fault.
Potui in the sense of potuissem.
Second marriages were considered disre-
putable among the Roman women, as show-
ing a want of respect for the memory of the
deceased, and as conveying a suspicion of
incontinency.
But culpa is sometimes taken simply for
the indulgence of the passion of love, how-
ever innocent.
21. Fraternâ cæde. Sichæus was murder
ed, by her brother, at the altar. Hence the
murder is called fraternal. Fata: in the
sense of mortem. See note 1. supra.
22. Inflè rit sensus: he alone hath changed
my inclinat ons, and made an impression
upon my wavering mind.
ENEIS. LIB. IV
287
Pallentes umbras Erebi, noctemque profundam,
Antè, pudor, quàm te violo, aut tua jura resolvo.
Ille ineos, primus qui me sibi junxit, amores
Abstulit; ille habeat secum, servetque sepulchro.
Sic effata, sinum lachrymis implevit obortis.
Anna refert: O luce magìs dilecta sorori,
Solane perpetuâ mœrens carpêre juventâ ?
Nec dulces natos, Veneris nec præmia nôris?
Id cinerem, aut Manes credis curare sepultos?
Esto ægram nulli quondam flexere mariti,
Non Libyæ, non antè Tyro: despectus Iarbas,
Ductoresque alii, quos Africa terra triumphis
Dives alit: placitone etiam pugnabis amori?
Nec venit in mentem, quorum consederis arvis?
Hinc Getulæ urbes, genus insuperabile bello,
Et Numidæ infræni cingunt, et inhospita Syrtis:
Hinc deserta siti regio, latèque furentes
NOTES.
30
28. Ille Sichæus abstn-
lit meos amores, qui
31. O tu, magìs diloc-
ta sorori lucê, sola-ne
mærens carpêre in per-
petuâ juventâ?
34. Credis cinerem
35 Sichæi, aut sepultos
40
36. Esto: Iarbas de-
spectus est, aliique duc-
tores
26. Erebi: the place of the dead-the in- undertake the business; upon this the queen
fernal regions.
27. Antè. The antè here is plainly ex-
pletive. Priùs goes before it, and is to be
connected with quàm. Some copies have
violem and resolvam. Pudor: in the sense
of pudicitia.
30. Implevit sinum: she filled her bosom
with flowing tears. Servius and Turnebus
take sinum, here, for the cavity of the eye.
But the common import of the word is much
more expressive, as it shows her tears to be
much more copious, and paints her passion
as more violent. Refert: in the sense of
respondet. Luce: in the sense of vita.
32. Sola-ne carpêre: will you fade and
wither away, mourning alone as a widow
through all your youthi, &c. Ruæus says,
an sola consumeris dolens per totam juventu-
lem. But carpêre may be used in the sense
of the Greek middle voice. The meaning
is obvious.
35. Nulli mariti: no suitors moved you
sorrowing-while your loss was fresh in
your memory, and your grief unabated.
your grief unabated.
Marili: in the sense of proci. Ægram: in
the sense of dolentem. Te is understood.
36. Iarbas. Ainong the many who made
suit to Dido, was Iarbas, a rich and power-
ful prince of Africa, and reputed son of
Jupiter Ammon. But Justin gives a very
different account of the matter from the one
given here by the poet. He says, Iarbas,
having gotten ten of the principal Cartha-
ginians, demanded of them Dido in mar-
riage; and, in case of a refusal, he threaten-
ed to declare war against them. Fearing
to deliver the message to the queen, they
said the king demanded a person who might
teach him and his people the arts of civilized
life;
but that no one could be found who was
willing to leave his relations and friends to
rebuked them, and declared that if the safety
of his country required it, any one should
be willing to give up even his life. They
then opened the whole matter, saying, the
very thing she had enjoined on others, she
had to perform herself, if she would consult
the good of the city. Being taken by this
device, after much lamentations, and many
invocations of her husband, she declared
that she would obey the call of her country.
Having passed three months in this manner,
she caused a funeral pile to be erected in
one part of the city, as if to appease the
Manes of her departed husband, and to offer
sacrifices for him before her nuptials. She
ascended the pile, and taking a sword in her
hand, said to her people, that she would go
to her husband as they required, and, with
her own land, put an end to her existence,
While Carthage remained, she was worship-
ped as a goddess.
37. Terra dives triumphis. It appears from
Servius, that the Africans were the inventors
of triumphal shows. Some say they never
triumphed. But Justin tells us that Asdru
bal, in particular, was honored with four
triumphs. Placito: in the sense of grato.
Ne is interrogative.
40. Getulæ urbes. The Getuli were a
brave and warlike people, to the south of
Carthage. Hinc, when it has its corres-
pondent hinc, the former is rendered, on the
one side; and the latter, on the other side.
41. Numida. The Numidians, again, were
a people fierce and uncivilized, lying to the
westward. Inhospita Syrtis. Both the
greater and the less Syrtis lay in the Sinus
Libycus, to the north and east of Carthage,
and rendered the navigation dangerous.
42. Deserta sili rendered desert by
drought.
·
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Barcæi. Quid bella Tyro surgentia dicam,
Germanique minas?
45. Ego equidem reor Dîs equidem auspicibus reor, et Junone secundân,
Iliacas carinas tenuisse Huc cursum Iliacas vento tenuisse carinas.
45
cursum huc vento, Dîs Quam tu urbem, soror, hanc cernes! quæ surgere regna
auspicibus, et Junone
secundâ.
54. Animum jam in-
Conjugio tali! Teucrûm comitantibus armis,
Punica se quantis attollet gloria rebus !
Tu modò posce Deos veniam, sacrisque litatis,
Indulge hospitio, causasque innecte morandi;
Dum pelago desævit hyems, et aquosus Orion;
Quassatæque rates, et non tractabile cœlum.
His dictis incensum animum inflammavit amore,
Spenique dedit dubiæ menti, solvitque pudorem.
Principio delubra adeunt, pacemque per aras
omnes, cui jugalia vin- Exquirunt : mactant lectas de more bidentes
Legiferæ Cereri, Phœboque, patrique Lyæo
60. Pulcherrima Dido Junoni ante omnes, cui vincla jugalia curæ.
ipsa tenens pateram
dextrâ fundit vinum in- Ipsa tenens dextrâ pateram pulcherrima Dido,
eensum amore
59. Sed Junoni ante
cla sunt cura.
ter media cornua can-
dentis vaccœ:
Candentis vaccæ media inter cornua fundit:
Aut ante ora Deûm pingues spatiatur ad aras,
NOTES.
43. Barcai. These were a people to the
cast, inhabiting a dry and barren country.
Quid dicam: why shall I mention the
wars arising from Tyre, and the threats of
your brother? Justin says, when Pygmalion
understood that Dido had fled her country,
and taken with her much treasure, he detcr-
mined to pursue her; but was dissuaded
from his purpose by his mother, and the
threats of the gods.
45. Junone secunda. Juno is here parti-
cularly named, because she presided over
marriage, and because Carthage was under
her peculiar protection. Auspicibus: in the
sense of fautoribus, vel auctoribus. Secunda:
in the sense of propitia.
49. Quantis rebus: by what noble deeds
will the Carthaginian glory exalt itself, the
arms of the Trojans accompanying yours?
50. Sacris litatis: sacrifices being offered.
The proper signification of litare, is, to pro-
pitiate by sacrifice. Sacris: in the sense of
victimis.
51. Innecte: devise causes for detaining
him.
52. Desævit. Ruæus takes this in the
sense of desæviet, the present for the future.
53. Non tractabile: in the sense of procel-
lorum, vel sævum. Cœlum: the air or weather.
Eneas arrived in Africa, it is probable, in
the latter part of autumn, some time before
the approach of winter. It appears to be
the plan of Anna to detain him during the
pleasant part of the season, until the navi-
gation should become dangerous, and when
it would be imprudent to set sail; in the
hope that having passed so long a time
with them, he might be persuaded finally to
settle at Carthage, and give over his intend-
ed purpose of settling in Italy.
50
55
60
54. Incensum: burning, or inflamed with
love.
55. Dubia: wavering. Solvit pudorem.
removed her scruples in regard to disrespect
to the memory of her late husband. Valpy.
57. Exquirunt pacem per aras: they seek
peace by the altars.
peace by the altars. This refers to the way
of prying into the entrails of the victims, in
order to know the will of the gods. Biden-
tes lectas de more. It was a regulation that
no victims should be offered to the gods, but
such as were without blemish. Bidentes ·
properly sheep of two years old.
58. Legifera Cereri. Ceres was the
daughter of Saturn and Ops, and the god-
dess of husbandry. It is said, she was the
first institutor of laws, especially those of
marriage. See Ecl. v. 79. Phœbo. Dido
offers sacrifices to Phœbus, as the god who
presided over futurity, that he might send
her favorable omens. See Ecl. iv. 10. To
father Bacchus, as the god of mirth and
jollity, that he might crown the match with
joy. See Ecl. v. 69. And especially (ante
omnes) to Juno, as the goddess who presided
over nuptials. Cui vincla jugalia curæ: to
whom the marriage knot is for a care. See
En. i. 4.
61. Fundit, &c. This was according to
the manner of the Romans performing sa-
crifice. After the immolatio, which consist-
ed in throwing corn and frankincense, to-
gether with the mola, (which was made of
bran or meal mixed with salt and water,)
upon the head of the victim, the priest
sprinkled wine between the horns.
a
62. Spatiatur: she walks before the
images (oru) of the gods, &c. It was
custom among the Romans for matrons to
walk on holy days, in a grave and solenın
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
289
Instauratque diem donis, pecudumque reclusis
Pectoribus inhians, spirantia consulit exta.
Heu, vatum ignaræ mentes! quid vota furentem,
Quid delubra juvant? est mollis flamma medullas
Intereà, et tacitum vivit sub pectore vulnus.
Uritur infelix Dido, totâque vagatur
Urbe furens: qualis conjectâ cerva sagittâ,
Quam procul incautam nemora inter Cressia fixit
Pastor agens telis, liquitque volatile ferrum
Nescius: illa fugâ sylvas saltusque peragrat
Dictæos hæret lateri lethalis arundo.
Nunc media Æneam secum per moenia ducit;
Sidoniasque ostentat opes, urbemque paratam.
Incipit effari, mediâque in voce resistit.
Nunc eadem, labente die, convivia quærit;
Iliacosque iterum demens audire labores
Exposcit, pendetque iterum narrantis ab ore.
Pòst, ubi digressi, lumenque obscura vicissim
Luna premit, suadentque cadentia sidera somnos;
Sola domo mæret vacuâ, stratisque relictis
Incubat illum absens absentem auditque videtque :
Aut gremio Ascanium, genitoris imagine capta,
Detinet, infandum si fallere possit amorem.
Non cœptæ assurgunt turres, non arma juventus
Exercet, portusve, aut propugnacula bello
Tuta parant: pendent opera interrupta, minæque
Murorum ingentes, æquataque machina cœlo.
:
NOTES.
manner, before the altars, with torches in
their hands. Ora : in the sense of statuas,
vel imagines.
63. Instaurat: she passes the day in of-
ferings. Rumus says, renovat sacrificia per
diem.
64. Inhians: prying into-exploring at-
tentively. Spirantia throbbing-palpita-
ting. Exta: properly the part which we
call the lungs, including the heart, liver, &c.
65. Vatum: in the sense of extispicum.
66. Mollis flamma est: a gentle flame
consumes. Est in the sense of edit. Fu-
rentem: in the sense of amantem. Tacitum:
concealed.
69. Qualis cerva. This is a very proper
comparison, and agrees almost in every cir-
cumstance. There is a peculiar beauty in
the harit lateri lethalis arundo, which strong-
ly images the fast hold that the arrows of
Cupid had gotten of Dido's heart. Cressia:
Cressia:
an adj. Cretan.
71. Ferrum: in the sense of arundinem.
74. Mania: properly the fortifications of
a city. Rumus says, munimenta.
77. Eadem: the same entertainment she
had received the preceding night.
81 Luna obscura vicissim: the moon, in
turn obscure, withdraws her light. This
shows the approach of day. When the
65 65. Eam furentem
69. Talis, qualis cer-
70 va, sagitta conjecta,
quam pastor agens telis
fixit incautam procul
inter Cressia nemora,
liquitque volatile fer-
rum in vulnere, nescius
75 facti
74. Nunc Dido ducii´
Eneam secum
79. Ore Enea nar-
80 rantis
85
80. Ubi omnes digressi
sunt ad quiotem
83. Illa absens audit-
que videtque
stars disappear in the superior light of the
sun, they are said to set; so when the sun
disappears, and withdraws his light, they
become visible, and are said to rise. The
same may be said of the moon. Vicissim.
after having given light in her course.
82. Relictis stratis. The couch on which
Encas had been sitting, and which he had
just left to retire to rest.
84. Capta: taken, or captivated with the
resemblance of his father, she hugs, &c.
88. Pendent: stand, or remain. Inter-
rupta: in the sense of imperfecta. Ingentes
mina murorum. Heyne takes this simply
for the high walls, (alti muri,) which by
their altitude, presented a threatening as-
pect. Valpy is of the same opinion: but
most interpreters take mina murorum to be
the fortifications built upon the walls, which
presented a threatening appearance to an
enemy. Hortensius and Ruæus are of opi-
nion, they were huge and unfinished parts
of the wall, which seemed to threaten a
ruin, and presented a terrific appearance.
89. Machina. By this we are most pro-
bably to understand the engines used in
raising stones, beams, and timber generally,
for carrying on the building. Heyne says,
moles-ædificium, referring to the buildings
themselves.
t
20
290
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
90. Quam (Didonem) Quam simul ac tali persensit peste teneri
simul ac Saturnia, cha- Chara Jovis conjux, nec famam obstare furori,
ra conjux Jovis, persen- Talibus aggreditur Venerem Saturnia dictis :
sit teneri tali peste, nec
famam obstare ejus fu- Egregiam verò laudem, et spolia ampla refertis
rori, aggreditur Vene- Tuque puerque tuus, magnum et memorabile numen;
rem talibus dictis: verò Una dolo Divûm si fœmina victa duorum est :
tuque tuusque puer re- Nec me adeò fallit, veritam te mænia nostra,
fertis egregiam laudem
et ampla spolia, mag-
num et memorabile nu- Sed quis erit modus? aut quò nunc certamina tanta?
men; si una fœmina Quin potiùs pacem æternam pactosque hymenæos
victa est dolo duorum Exercemus ? habes, totâ quod mente petîsti:
Divûm. Nec adeò fal- Ardet amans Dido, traxitque per ossa furorem.
lit me, te, veritam nos-
Suspectas habuisse domos Carthaginis altæ.
tra monia habuisse do- Communem hunc ergò populum, paribusque regamus
mos altæ Carthaginis Auspiciis: liceat Phrygio servire marito,
suspectas.
98. Modus nostræ con-
tentionis
103. Liceat Didoni
servire
Dotalesque tuæ Tyrios permittere dextræ.
Olli, sensit enim simulata mente locutam,
Quò regnum Italiæ Libycas averteret oras,
Sic contrà est ingressa Venus: Quis talia demens
107. Contrà Venus Abnuat, aut tecum malit contendere bello?
ingressa est respondere Si modò, quod memoras, factum fortuna sequatur.
olli sic; enim sensit eam Sed fatis incerta feror, si Jupiter unam
locutam esse simulatâ Esse velit Tyriis urbem, Trojâque profectis;
mente, quò
averteret
NOTES.
90. Peste: in the sense of amore. Rumus
says, veneno.
93. Spolia: in the sense of victoriam.
94. Numen. This is the reading of
Heyne, after Pierius, Heinsius, and Burman-
It is also approved by Valpy, though
he retains the common reading, nomen.
a note upon this passage, he has numen, and
nus.
In
observes that vestrum is understood. "Your
divine power will be nobly employed," says
he. Heyne makes this turn to the words:
Magnum verò et memorabile erit numen ves-
trum, si vos duo Dei circumveneritis unam
fæminam. He takes numen in the sense of
potestas, vel potentia. Nomen is the com-
mon reading. This part of Juno's speech
is extremely satirical. Tuus puer: Cupid.
He was the son of Jupiter and Venus.
98. Aut quò nunc or, for what purpose
now are so great contentions? Juno and
Venus took opposite sides in the affairs of
Aneas and the Trojans. The former is
always represented their bitterest enemy,
and the latter their warmest friend. The
whole of Juno's speech is artful, and the
plan deep laid. She now proposes to lay
down their arms, to conclude a lasting peace
-to form a match between Eneas and
Dido, and by these means unite the Trojans
with the Carthaginians into one people.
This plan, could she have brought it about,
would have been to her a complete victory
over her antagonist. The common reading
is certamine tanto. Heyne reads certamina
tanta, which is much easier, and he says, is
the true reading.
99. Hymenæos: match.
90
95
100
105
110
102. Regamus hunc populum. The mean-
ing plainly is: Let us rule this people (com-
munem) composed of Trojans and Cartha-
ginians, with equal authority and power.
Let them be both equally under our protec-
tion and auspicious influence. Auspiciis.
in the sense of potestate.
The
103. Phrygio. Servius, and some others,
say, that Phrygio, here, is a word of con-
tempt, and implies that Æneas was in exile
and in slavery, as the Phrygians then were.
But Virgil uses the words Phrygius and
Trojanus promiscuously. Beside, Juno plays
the hypocrite, and would, therefore, industri-
ously avoid every expression that might be
offensive, or render her suspected.
expression servire marito is in allusion to one
of the three ways of contracting marriage
among the Romans, (viz.) Coemptio: when
the parties solemnly bound themselves to
each other by the ceremony of giving and
taking a piece of money. By this the wo-
man gave herself over into the power of the
man, and entered into a state of liberal ser-
vitude, or subjection to him.
104. Dotales: as a dowry. Dos is proper-
ly the patrimony of the wife-any thing
given to the husband with the wife. Tyrios
nempe, regnum Carthaginis.
105. Olli for illi, by antithesis.
110. Feror incerta fatis, si: Iam rendered
uncertain by the decrees of the gods, whe-
ther, &c
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
291
Miscerive probet populos, aut fœdera jungi.
:
Tu conjux tibi fas animum tentare precando.
Perge; sequar. Tum sic excepit regia Juno:
Mecum erit iste labor : nunc quâ ratione, quod instat,
Confieri possit, paucis, adverte, docebo.
Venatum Æneas, unàque miserrima Dido,
In nemus ire parant, ubi primos crastinus ortus
Extulerit Titan, radiisque retexerit orbem.
His ego nigrantem commixtâ grandine nimbum,
Dum trepidant alæ, saltusque indagine cingunt,
Desuper infundam, et tonitru cœlum omne ciebo.
Diffugient comites, et nocte tegentur opacâ.
Speluncam Dido dux et Trojanus eandem
Devenient. Adero, et, tua si mihi certa voluntas,
Connubio jungam stabili, propriamque dicabo.
Hic Hymenæus erit. Non adversata, petenti
Annuit, atque dolis risit Cytherea repertis.
Oceanum intereà surgens Aurora reliquit.
It portis, jubare exorto, delecta juventus
Retia rara, plagæ, lato venabula ferro,
Massyliqué ruunt equites, et odora canum vis.
Reginam thalamo cunctantem ad limina primi
Pœnorum expectant: ostroque insignis et auro
Stat sonipes, ac fræna ferox spumantia mandit.
Tandem progreditur, magnâ stipante catervâ,
114. Excepit: replied-answered.
NOTES.
117. Venatum: a sup. in um, of the verb
venor, put after the verb ire. Dido is here
called miserrima, most unhappy, on account
of the issue of her love.
119. Titan: in the sense of Sol. See Ecl.
iv. 6. and Geor. iii. 48. Radiisque: and
shall have disclosed the world by his beams.
The poets pretended that light sunk into
the ocean every night, and was every morn-
ing brought from hence by the returning
sun.
lerit.
Hence the propriety of the verb extu-
121. Dum alæ. By ala, Servius under-
stands the horsemen, or riding hunters, who
are termed alæ, wings, because they covered
the foot as the cavalry of an army. Or ala
may signify the horsemen in general spread
over the ground, like stretched out wings.
Trepidant very strongly expresses the hurry
and bustle of a company of horsemen, flying
and scampering over the ground in quest of
their prey. Indagine. By this some under-
stand the arranging of the hounds, and the
placing of them in proper places for taking
the game: but Ruæus, and most commen-
tators, take it for the nets and toils in which
the game was taken. For ala, Ruæus has
equites.
126. Jungam: I will join them in firm
wedlock, and will consecrate her to be his
I will give her over to be his peculiar
own.
property.
114
120
regnum Italiæ ad Liby-
cas oras
113. Tu es ejus con-
Jux: fas est tibi tentare
115. Nunc, adverte tu,
docebo paucis verbis, qua
ratione, id, quod instat,
possit confieri.
121. Dum alæ trepi-
dant, cinguntque saltus
indagine, ego desuper
infundam his nigrantem
nimbum, grandine com-
125 mixta, et ciebo omne
cœlum tonitru.
125. Si tua voluntas
sit certa mihi
128. Cytherea non ad-
versata annuit ei petenti,
130 atque risit dolis repertis.
135
127. Hic Hymenæus erit: this shall be a
marriage. Some take the meaning to be
that Hymen should be present. But this
would be unnecessary, since the nuptials
were to be performed by Juno, without the
assistance of any other. See Geor. iii. 60.
Cytherea, a name of Venus. See Æn. i.
229.
130. Jubare: in the sense of luce vel dilu-
culo.
131. Retia rara: the wide nets, the toils,
the spears of broad point, and the Massilian
horsemen, &c. rush forth.
132. Odora vis canum. Vis is here used
in the sense of copia, or multitudo. And
odora, in the sense of odororum, by antiptosis :
a multitude of strong scented dogs. Mas-
syli. They were a people of Africa, placed
by Virgil to the westward of Carthage. Lit-
tle is known concerning them.
133. Primi: in the sense of primores.
135. Stat sonipes insignis her horse
stands ready, richly decked in purple and
gold. Stat: in the sense of adest. To take
it literally would ill agree with the fine
image of the courser here given; ferox man-
dit spumantia fræna. Insignis: in the sense
of ornatus.
137. Circumdata Sidoniam: covered with
a Tyrian cloak. The chlamys was both a
military and hunting dress. It was a loose
upper garment, which covered the breast-
plate, and folded about the left arm to de-
a
292
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
ex auro
Sidoniam picto chlamydem circumdata limbo:
138. Cui est pharetra Cui pharetra ex auro; crines nodantur in aurum ;
Aurea purpuream subnectit fibula vestem
Necnon et Phrygii comites, et lætus Iülus,
Incedunt ipse ante alios pulcherrimus omnes
alios infert se socium.
142. Æneas ipse pul- Infert se socium Æneas, atque agmina jungit:
cherrimus ante omnes Qualis, ubi hybernam Lyciam Xanthique fluenta
143. Talis, qualis est Deserit, ac Delum maternam invisit Apollo,
Apollo, ubi deserit hy- Instauratque choros, mixtique altaria circum
bernam Lyciam, fluen- Cretesque Dryopesque fremunt, pictique Agathyrsi :
taque Xanthi, ac invisit Ipse jugis Cynthi graditur, mollique fluentem
maternam Delum
auro
148. Implicat cum
151. Postquam ven-
Fronde premit crinem fingens, atque implicat auro
Tela sonant humeris. Haud illo segnior ibat
Æneas; tantum egregio decus enitet ore.
140
145
150
Postquam altos ventum in montes, atque invia lustra,
tum est in altos montes, Ecce feræ saxi dejectæ vertice capræ
atque invia lustra; ecce Decurrêre jugis: aliâ de parte patentes
feræ capræ dejectæ ver-
cervi transmittunt
tice saxi decurrêre jugis Transmittunt cursu campos, atque agmina cervi
153. De aliâ parte Pulverulenta fugâ glomerant, montesque relinquunt.
At puer Ascanius mediis in vallibus acri
Gaudet equo jamque hos cursu, jam præterit illos :
Spumantemque dari pecora inter inertia votis
159. Optatque votis Optat aprum, aut fulvum descendere monte leonem.
spumantem aprum dari
Intereà magno misceri murmure cœlum
sibi inter inertia pecora Incipit : insequitur commixtâ grandine nimbus.
Et Tyrii comites passim, et Trojana juventus,
Dardaniusque nepos Veneris, diversa per agros
Tecta metu petiere; ruunt de montibus amnes.
Speluncam Dido dux et Trojanus, eandem
Deveniunt: prima et Tellus et pronuba Juno
NOTES.
fend them from the wild beasts. The con-
struction is a Grecism.
143. Qualis. The poet (Æn. i. 498.) com-
pared Dido to Diana: here he compares
Eneas to Apollo, her brother. It was a
common opinion that, at certain times of the
year, the gods changed the place of their
residence. Servius says, it was believed
that Apollo gave out oracles at Patara, a city
of Lycia, a country of Asia Minor, during
the six months of the winter; and at Delos,
the remaining six months of the year. Hence
he was called both Patareus and Delius.
Fluenta in the sense of fluvium.
144. Maternam Delum. See Æn. iii, 75.
146. Cretesque: the Cretans, Dryopes,
and painted Agathyrsi, mingled together, ex-
press their joy (fremunt) around the altars.
When Apollo came, or was thought to come
to Delos, the several people that came to
consult his oracle, celebrated his arrival
with hymns and dances. Dryopes. These
were a people who dwelt at the foot of
mount Parnassus. Agathyrsi. These were
a people of Scythia, who used to paint their
bodies with various colors. The nations
156
160
165
here mentioned seemed to be selected for
Apollo's retinue, on account of their skill in
archery.
148. Premit: binds up. Fingens: ad-
justing it. Molli fronde: with a soft wreath
of leaves. Ruxus says, tenera coronâ.
Auro: in the sense of aurea vitta.
149. Haud segnior: he moved not less
graceful than he-than Apollo himself.
150. Ore: in the sense of vultu.
152. Dejecta: dislodged-routed. Jugis:
the sides of the rocks, or mountains.
154. Transmittunt: in the sense of per-
currunt.
155. Glomerant fugâ: in their flight, they
crowd together the dusty herds, &c. Ruæus
says, colligunt se in greges pulverulentos.
159. Optat votis: he wishes with vows-
he greatly wishes, that a foaming boar, &c.
163. Dardanius nepos Venèris: the Tro-
jan grandson of Venus-Ascanius. Tecta;
tectum signifies any covered place.
shelters, or retreat from the storm.
Here
166. Tellus et pronuba. Pronuba, a title
of Juno, from her being the goddess of
marriage: compounded of pro and nubo.
*
ANEIS. LIB. IV.
293
Dant signum: fulsere ignes, et conscius æther
Connubiis; summoque ululârunt vertice Nymphæ.
Ille dies primus lethi, primusque malorum
Causa fuit: neque enim specie famâve movetur,
Nec jam furtivum Dido meditatur amorem :
Conjugium vocat: hoc prætexit nomine culpam.
Extemplò Libyæ magnas it Fama per urbes :
Fama, malum, quo non aliud velocius ullum:
Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo :
Parva metu primò: mox sese attollit in auras,
Ingrediturque solo, et caput inter nubila condit.
Illam Terra parens, irâ irritata Deorum,
Extremam, ut perhibent, Coo Enceladoque sororem
Progenuit, pedibus celerem et pernicibus alis:
Monstrum horrendum, ingens: cui quot sunt
Tot vigiles oculi subter, mirabile dictu!
Tot linguæ, totidem ora sonant, tot subrigit aures.
Nocte volat cœli medio terræque per umbram
Stridens, nec dulci declinat lumina somno.
Luce sedet custos, aut summi culmine tecti,
Turribus aut altis, et magnas territat urbes ·
Tam ficti pravique tenax, quàm nuntia veri.
Hæc tum multiplici populos sermone replebat
Gaudens, et pariter facta atque infecta canebat:
Venisse Æneam, Trojano à sanguine cretum,
Cui se pulchra viro dignetur jungere Dido:
Nunc hyemem inter se luxu, quàm longa, fovere,
NOTES
Its primitive meaning is bride-maid. Some
rank Tellus among the Divinities that pre-
sided over marriage. She gave signs of
disapprobation by an earthquake, or some
motion of the earth. Servius says, there
was no omen more inauspicious to nuptials
than this. Juno also gave her sign against
the match, by rain and storms of hail.
Flashes of lightning supplied the place of
the nuptial torch; and the only song was
the howling of the mountain nymphs.
These were all sad presages of the future.
169. Ille dies primus fuit causa: that day,
the first (in an especial manner,) was the
cause of death to Dido; and the beginning
(primus) of her woes.
170. Specie fama-ve. By the species we
are to understand the appearance and de-
formity of the action, as it passed in review
before her own mind; and by fama, the
scandal and infamy of it, in the eyes of the
world.
172. Prætexit: palliates or covers.
pam: in the sense of crimen.
Cul-
174. Fama malum quo: Fame, a fiend,
than which there is not another more swift,
&c. In this account of fame, the Poet imi-
tates Homer's description of discord. A ju-
dicious critic is of opinion that this descrip-
tion of fame is one of the greatest orna-
ments of the Æneid. It has not, however,
167. Conscius connu-
biis fulsit
169. Ille dies primus
170 fuit causa lethi Didoni,
primusque fuit causa
malorum
175
178. Parens terra ir-
ritata irâ Deorum pro-
genuit illam, ut homines
perhibent, extremam so-
180 rorem Cœo Encelado-
corpore que, celerem pedibus, et
[plumæ,
pernicibus alis
181. Monstrum hor-
rendum, ingens; cui sunt
tot vigiles oculi subter,
185 mirabile dictu! tot lin-
guæ, totidem ora sonant,
subrigit tot aures, quot
sunt plumæ in corpore.
191. Canebat Eneam
venisse, cretum à Troja-
190 no sanguine, cui viro
pulchra Dido dignetur
jungere se: nunc luxu
fovere inter se hyemem,
quàm longa est,
escaped censure.
pestis vel monstrum.
Malum in the sense of
:
179. Cœo Enceladoque. These were two
Giants, who took the lead in the war
against the gods. They were the sons of
Titan and Tellus. Their object in the war
was to restore their father Titan to the
throne, from which Jupiter had driven him.
They attempted to attack Heaven, by put-
ting mount Ossa upon Pelion; but in the
attempt they were chastised by Jupiter, in
an exemplary manner. At this vengeanco
(ira) of the gods, Tellus was irritated; and
by way of revenge, produced fame, their
youngest sister, swift on the foot, and on
the nimble wing.
184. Medio: in the middle of heaven and
earth-between heaven and earth. Um-
bram: in the sense of lenebras.
186. Luce: in the sense of die. Custos:
a spy.
188. Tam tenax: as tenacious of false-
hood and wickedness, as a messenger of
truth.
189. Sermone: in the sense of rumore.
190. Canebat: she equally proclaimed
facts and fictions.
193. Nunc fovere luxu: that now in lux-
ury they caress one another during the
winter, as long as it may be. Hyemem
quàm longa: in the sense of longam hye-
294
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Regnorum immemores, turpique cupidine captos.
Hæc passim Dea fœda virûm diffundit in ora.
Protinùs ad regem cursus detorquet Iarbam ;
Incenditque animum dictis, atque aggerat iras.
198. Hic satus Am- Hic Ammone satus, raptâ Garamantide Nymphâ,
mone, Nyınphâ Gara- Templa Jovi centum latis immania regnis,
Jovi centum immania
195
205
mantide raptâ, posuit Centum aras posuit; vigilemque sacraverat ignem, 200
templa in latis regnis, Excubias Divûm æternas, pecudumque cruore
posuit centum aras; sa- Pingue solum, et variis florentia limina sertis.
craveratque
Isque amens animi, et rumore accensus amaro,
203. Isque amens ani- Dicitur ante aras, media inter numina Divûm,
mi, et accensus amaro Multa Jovem manibus supplex orâsse supinis :
rumore, dicitur supplex
orâsse Jovem multa su- Jupiter omnipotens, cui nunc Maurusia pictis
pinis manibus, stans ante Gens epulata toris Lenæum libat honorem,
aras, inter media numina Aspicis hæc ? an te, genitor, cùm fulmina torques,
Nequicquam horremus? cæcique in nubibus ignes
Terrificant animos; et inania murmura miscent?
Fœmina, quæ nostris errans in finibus urbem
Divûm.
212. Cui dedimus litus Exiguam pretio posuit, cui litus arandum,
mem.
se luxu.
Cuique loci leges dedimus, connubia nostra
Reppulit, ac dominum Ænean in regna recepit
NOTES.
Rumus says, traducere hyemem inter
194. Cupidine: by cupido, Servius in-
forms us that the ancients understood an
ungovernable and irregular passion of love
-lust. Captos: enslaved.
198. Hic Ammone satus: this man, sprung
from Ammon, had built to Jove, &c. Jupiter
Ammon had a celebrated temple and oracle
in Libya, on a spot of ground watered by a
fountain, and enclosed by a pleasant grove.
This temple is said to have been built by
Bacchus, or Hercules. This Ammon some
will have to be the same with Ham, the son
of Noah. Sir Isaac Newton thinks him to
have been the father of Sesostris, and cotem-
porary with Solomon, king of Israel. Iar-
bus was the son of this Jupiter Ammon, by
the nymph Garamantis. Aggerat: in the
sense of auget.
200. Vigilem ignem. Plutarch informs
us that in this temple there was a lamp con-
tinually burning. This was also a custom
common to many nations. Posuit: in the
sense of ædificavit.
201. Excubias æternas Divûm: a perpe-
tual watch of the gods-sacred to the ser-
vice of the gods. Solum: a tract of ground
enriched by the blood of victims.
202. Limina florentia: an entrance (into
the temples) adorned with various garlands.
Amens animi: distracted in mind; of à, pri-
vitivum, and mens.
204. Numina: the shrines or statues,
which represented the gods. Supinis. Ru-
eus says, elatis: properly, with the palm
upwards.
206. Qui nunc: to whom the Moorish
210
nation, feasting on painted couches, &c.
The Maurusii, vel Mauri, were inhabitants
of Mauritania, an extensive country in Af
rica, bounded on the west by the Atlantic
occan, on the north by the Mediterranean
sca, and on the east by Numidia and Car-
thage. It seems this news reached Iarbas.
while he and his people were feasting upon
the remains of the victims which had been
offered to Ammon. At such banquets, it was
usual to pour forth wine by way of libation
to the gods-an offering of wine.
207. Lenæum honorem: simply, wine-
the liquor of Bacchus. Lenæus, a name of
Bacchus, used as an adj. derived from a
Greek word, signifying a wine-press. Epu-
lata: feasting, or having feasted.
209. Caci: undirected-fortuitous. Ig-
nes: lightnings. Inania murmura: vain, or
empty sounds.
212. Posuit: in the sense of condidit.
Litus arandum: the shore to be ploughed.
The province or territory of Carthage is
here called litus, because it lay along the
sea coast-a tract of country to cultivate.
Pretio. This alludes to the price paid, or
stipulated to be paid, for her territory, or
tract of country. See the following note.
213. Cuique dedimus: and on whom we
imposed the laws of the place. We are told
that Dido engaged to pay the Africans an
annual tribute for the tract of country which
she purchased for her colony. This, how-
ever, the Carthaginians afterwards refused
to do, and was the cause of the first war in
which they were engaged. Excepting this
tribute, Carthage, from the first, was an in-
dependent sovereignty.
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
· 295
*
Et nunc ille Paris, cum semiviro comitatu,
Mæoniâ mentum mitrâ crinemque madentem
Subnexus, rapto potitur: nos munera templis
Quippe tuis ferimus, famamque fovemus inanem.
Talibus orantem dictis, arasque tenentem
Audiit omnipotens oculosque ad monia torsit
Regia, et oblitos famæ melioris amantes.
Tunc sic Mercurium alloquitur, ac talia mandat :
Vade, age, nate, voca Zephyros, et labere pennis:
Dardaniumque ducem, Tyriâ Carthagine qui nunc
Expectat, fatisque datas non respicit urbes,
Alloquere, et celeres defer mea dicta per auras.
Non illum nobis genitrix pulcherrima talem
Promisit, Graiûmque ideò bis vindicat armis :
Sed fore qui gravidam imperiis, belloque frementem
Italiam regeret, genus alto à sanguine Teucri
Proderet, ac totum sub leges mitteret orbem.
Si nulla accendit tantarum gloria rerum,
NOTES.
215
217. Subnexus quoad
220
mentum madentemque
crinem Moonia mitrâ,
potitur rapto
220. Omnipotens au-
diit eum orantem in ta-
libus dictis, tenentem-
que aras, torsitque ejus
oculos ad regia monia,
et ad amantes oblitos
225 melioris famæ.
230
226. Alloquereque
Dardanium ducem, qui
nunc expectat in Tyria
Carthagine, nonque re-
spicit urbes datas ei-
fatis
227. Ejus pulcherrima
genitrix non promisit
215. Et nunc ille Paris. Here Iarbas words of Iarbas, quippe, &c. are extremely
calls Æneas, Paris, to denote him effemi- ironical. Ironia acerba vocabulo, quippe, in-
nate, and a ravisher, who had carried off a est, says he. Both Rumus and Heyne take
princess whom he considered his own. In quippe in the sense of scilicet. But quippe
allusion to this, he says, potitur rapto: he may be taken perhaps in the sense of dum:
possesses the ravished prize. Semiviro co- while we are presenting offerings unto thee,
mitatu: with his effeminate train. This is &c. Eneas is enjoying the ravished prize,
said in allusion to the Phrygians, who were
great worshippers of the goddess Cybele,
whose priests were eunuchs.
216. Mœoniâ mitrâ: a Mæonian, or Ly-
dian mitre. This was
a kind of bonnet
worn by the Lydian and Phrygian women.
It was a part of dress unbecoming in men,
more especially when it had the fillets or
strings with which it was tied under the
chin. Iarbas mentions it as a mark of in-
famy and badge of reproach. Mæonia: an
extensive country in the Lesser Asia. It is
here used as an adj. Its more modern name
is Lydia, from Lydus, one of its kings, as
Strabo tells us. That part bordering upon
Ionia and Garia, still retains its ancient
name. Athenæus observes, that Homer at-
tributes the use of unguents to none of his
characters in the Iliad, besides Paris. These
were chiefly for the hair. The use of them
was considered a mark of effeminacy. Iar-
bas therefore says of Æneas, that his hair
was moistened or besmeared with unguents
-crinem madentem.
217. Subnexus: in the sense of subligatus.
218. Quippe nos ferimus: we to be sure
bring offerings to thy temples, and cherish
the vain report of being thy offspring.
Iarbas speaks by way of complaint. The
offerings which we present unto thee are of
no avail, and the report of thy being our
father is vain and without foundation, or
else thou wouldst not have suffered this evil
to fall upon me. Heyne observes, that the
It was a custom in the more solemn acts of
219. Tenentem aras. holding the altars.
religion, to embrace the altars. It was es-
pecially so for suppliants.
221. Amantes: lovers-Eneas and Dido.
223. Pennis: in the sense of alis. Mer-
cury was represented as having winged
shoes, on which he was borne through the
air. They were called talaria.
225. Expectat: in the sense of moratur.
228. Bis vindicat: preserved him twice,
&c. Eneas was twice saved by Venus
from impending death: once in a contest
with Diomede, when he was struck to the
ground by the stroke of a huge stone, and
would have been slain, had not Venus cast
her veil over him, and carried him off from
the fight; and a second time, when under
her own conduct, he passed unhurt through
the flames of Troy, and the midst of his
enemies, during the sack of that city.
Ruæus says,
229. Gravidam imperiis.
plenam regnis. Servius says, parituram
imperia, vel unde multi imperatores possunt
creari. Heyne says, quæ proferet multos po-
tentes, et latè imperantes populos. It appears
to be in the sense of paritura magnum im-
perium, populumque latè dominantem.
which a mighty empire is about to be es-
tablished, says Valpy.
In
231. Proderet genus: should evince or
prove his descent, &c.
296
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
nobis illum fore talem, Nec super ipse suâ molitur laude laborem :
ideòque bis vindicat Ascanio-ne pater Romanas invidet arces ?
illum ab armis Graiûm: Quid struit? aut quâ spe inimicâ in gente moratur? 235
sed promisit illum fore
unum, qui regeret Itali- Nec prolem Ausoniam et Lavinia respicit arva ?
am gravidam imperiis, Naviget. Hæc summa est: hic nostri nuntius esto.
frementemque bello; qui Dixerat. Ille patris magni parere parabat
proderet
Imperio et primùm pedibus talaria nectit
237. Hic esto illi nun- Aurea; quæ sublimem alis, sive æquora supra,
tius nostri
Seu terram, rapido pariter cum flamine portant.
Tum virgam capit: hâc animas ille evocat Orco
Pallentes; alias sub tristia Tartara mittit :
240
Dat somnos adimitque, et lumina morte resignat.
Illâ fretus agit ventos, et turbida tranat
245
Nubila. Jamque volans apicem et latera ardua cernit
Atlantis duri, cœlum qui vertice fulcit :
cinctum atris nubibus
bri: nix infusa
248. Atlantis, cui pi- Atlantis, cinctum assiduè cui nubibus atris
niferum caput assiduè Piniferum caput et vento pulsatur et imbri :
pulsatur et vento et im- Nix humeros infusa tegit: tum flumina mento
Præcipitant senis, et glacie riget horrida barba.
Hìc primùm paribus nitens Cyllenius alis
Constitit hinc toto præceps se corpore ad undas
Misit: avi similis, quæ circum litora, circum
Piscosos scopulos, humilis volat æquora juxta.
256. Haud aliter Cyl- Haud aliter, terras inter cœlumque, volabat
NOTES.
233. Molitur laborem: undertakes the en-
terprise for his own glory.
235. In gente inimicâ: in a hostile nation.
This is said by anticipation, because of the
enmity which subsisted between Rome and
Carthage in after times. Struit in the
sense of parat.
236. Lavinia arva, See En. i. 2.
239. Talaria. These were
a kind of
winged shoes, which the poets say the mes-
sengers of the gods wore-sandals.
241. Flamine: in the sense of vento.
242. Virgam. This was the celebrated
rod, or Caduceus, presented to Mercury by
Apollo, in return for his lyre. Mercury, in
his way to Arcadia, observing two serpents
going to fight, appeased them by casting
down his rod between them. Hence a rod
wreathed round with two serpents, became
a symbol of peace. Orco: the place of the
dead.
243. Tartara: the lowest part of hell-
the place of the damned.
244. Lumina morte resignat: he opens
eyes in death.
This is the sense given to
resigno by Turnebus, Davidson, and others.
They think the poet alludes to a Roman
custom of opening the eyes on the funeral
pile, though shut all the time the corpse lay
in the house. But Servius takes resigno in
the sense of claudo: he closes, or shuts
eyes in death. Ruæus says, aperit oculos ex
morte, id est, revocat corpora è morte. This
seems to be the opinion of Heyne.
247. Allantis duri. Atlas is a very high
250
255
mountain,.or rather range of mountains,
commencing at the Atlantic ocean, to which
it gives name, and running in an easterly
direction, dividing Mauritania from Libya
Interior. It is fabled that Atlas, king of
Mauritania, was transformed into this
mountain by Perseus, at the sight of his
Gorgon's head, because he refused to treat
him with hospitality. Virgil describes the
mountain as retaining the form and shape
of a man. Atlas was a very skilful astro-
nomer and astrologer: this probably gave
rise to the fable. His supporting heaven
on his shoulder is explained, from the cir-
cumstance of the top of the mountain being
lost in the clouds. Its top, or suinmit, was
covered with perpetual snow. Hence, nix
infusa tegit humeros.
248. Čui: in the sense of cujus.
250. Mento senis: from the chin of the
old man.
252. Cyllenius: Cyllenius moving (nitens)
on equal or balanced wings, stopped. This
was a name of Mercury, from Cyllene, in
Arcadia, the place of his birth. He was
the son of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, by
Jupiter.
254. Similis avi. The whole of this
pas
sage is in imitation of Homer, Odys. Lib.
v. 43. The bird here alluded to, is sup-
posed to be the coot, or cormorant.
256. Volabat. This and the two follow-
ing lines, Heyne marks as spurious. They
were probably left in an unfinished state.
Bentley would alter volabat to legebat, which
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
297
Litus arenosum Libyæ, ventosque secabat,
Materno veniens ab avo Cyllenia proles.
Ut primùm alatis tetigit magalia plantis,
Eneam fundantem arces, ac tecta novantem
Conspicit atque illi stellatus iaspide fulvâ
Ensis erat, Tyrioque ardebat murice læna
Demissa ex humeris: dives quæ munera Dido
Fecerat, et tenui telas discreverat auro.
Continuò invadit: Tu nunc Carthaginis altæ
Fundamenta locas, pulchramque uxorius urbem
Extruis! heu, regni rerumque oblite tuarum!
Ipse Deûm tibi me claro demittit Olympo
Regnator, cœlum et terras qui numine torquet :
Ipse hæc ferre jubet celeres mandata per auras :
Quid struis? aut quâ spe Libycis teris otia terris?
Si te nulla movet tantarum gloria rerum,
Nec super ipse tuâ moliris laude laborem;
Ascanium surgentem et spes hæredis Iüli
Respice: cui regnum Italiæ Romanaque tellus
Debentur. Tali Cyllenius ore locutus,
Mortales visus medio sermone reliquit,
260
265
270
275
lenia proles veniens ab
materno avo volabat
arenosum litus Libya,
inter terras cœlumque,
secabatque ventos.
Arrectæque horrore coma; et vox faucibus hæsit. 280
Et procul in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram.
At verò Æneas aspectu obmutuit amens ;
Ardet abire fugâ, dulcesque relinquere terras,
Attonitus tanto monitu imperioque Deorum.
Heu! quid agat? quo nunc reginam ambire furentem
Audeat affatu? quæ prima exordia sumat ?
Atque animum nunc huc celerem, nunc dividit illuc;
In partesque rapit varias, perque omnia versat.
NOTES.
is the reading of Davidson; but without
sufficient authority. Between heaven and
earth, he flew along the sandy shore, and
cut the winds.
258. Ab materno avo. Mercury was the
son of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, which
made him his grandfather on his mother's
side. Cyllenia proles: simply, Mercury.
259. Magalia: neu. plu. either the huts
of the African shepherds, mentioned Geor.
iii. 340, or the towers and buildings of Car-
thage erected on the spot where the magalia
ance stood.
261. Ensis erat illi stellatus: there was to
him a sword studded with yellow jasper.
The hilt and scabbard were studded with
gems, sparkling like stars, particularly with
jaspers. Servius informs us it was a recei-
ved opinion that there was a virtue in the
jasper-stone, to assist orators in their plead-
ings, and that Gracchus wore one of them
for that purpose.
262. Læna. This was a thick double
garment--a cassock. Arbebat: in the sense
of fulgebat.
264. Discreverat telas: had distinguished
286
280. Come sunt ar-
rectæ
the web with a small thread of gold. Rumus
says, distinxerat.
265. Invadit: in the sense of alloquitur.
266. Uxorius: a slave to your wife. It
refers to the pron. tu, understood.
267. Oblile: the voc. of oblitus, agreeing
with Æneas, understood.
271. Teris otia: you waste your time.
Struis: in the sense of facis, vel paras.
276. Tali ore: in the sense of talibus
verbis.
277. Reliquit: in the sense of mutavit.
Mercury had assumed a human form, morta-
les visus, in his conference with Æneas; but
as soon as he had ended his speech, in me-
dio sermone, and before Æneas had time to
make any reply, he left, changed, or put it
off, and vanished from his eyes. Sermo is
properly a conference between two or more
persons, and, when one only has spoken, it
is not complete or finished.
279. Amens: in the sense of attonitus vcl
stupefactus.
283. Quo affatu: in what words-by what
address. Ambire: to speak to-to address.
285. Dividit: in the sense of vertit.
298
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Hæc alternanti potior sententia visa est.
Mnesthea Sergestumque vocat, fortemque Cloanthum:
289. Jubet ut taciti Classem aptent taciti, sociosque ad litora cogant,
aptent classem.
Arma parent; et, quæ sit rebus causa novandis,
Dissimulent sese intereà, quando optima Dido
Nesciat, et tantos rumpi non speret amores,
293. Intereà statuit Tentaturum aditus, et quæ mollissima fandi
sese tentaturum aditus,
et quæ sint mollissima
tempora fandi; quis mo-
dus sit dexter rebus con-
ficiendis
Tempora ; quis rebus dexter modus. Ocyùs omnes
Imperio læti parent, ac jussa facessunt.
·
At regina dolos (quis fallere possit amantem ?)
Præsensit, motusque excepit prima futuros,
Omnia tuta timens. Eadem impia Fama furenti
Detulit armari classem, cursumque parari.
Sævit inops animi, totamque incensa per urbem
301. Talis qualis Thy- Bacchatur: qualis commotis excita sacris
as, excita
Thyas, ubi audito stimulant trieterica Baccho
Orgia, nocturnusque vocat clamore Citharon.
Tandem his Æneam compellat vocibus ultrò:
305. O perfide homo, Dissimulare etiam sperâsti, perfide, tantum
sperâsti te posse
290
295
300
305
Posse nefas, tacitusque meâ decedere terra ?
Nec te noster amor, nec te data dextera quondam,
Nec moritura tenet crudeli funere Dido?
Quin etiam hyberno moliris sidere classem,
Et mediis properas Aquilonibus ire per altum,
311. O crudelis hospes! Crudelis! Quid si non arva aliena domosque
Quid? si tu non peteres Ignotas peteres, et Troja antiqua maneret;
Troja per undosum peteretur classibus æquor?
310
NOTES.
287. Hæc alternanti: this plan seemed
the better to him, wavering in mind, and
examining what had best be done in his
present situation. Rumus says consilium, for
sententia.
293. Aditus: the avenues or passages to
her heart. Qua: what might be the fittest
or softest moments of addressing her, to
obtain her consent. Rebus: for effecting
his purposes.
Ti-
298. Excepit: heard-found out.
mens omnia_tuta: fearing all things when
even safe-fearing danger when all things
are safe. Furenti: in the sense of ad aures
furentis, sive amantis. Impia: in the sense
of sava, says Heyne. Detulit: in the sense
of nuntiavit.
300. Inops animi: devoid of reason.
301. Qualis Thyas: as a bacchanal roused
at the moving of the sacred symbols, &c.
Servius informs us that commovere sacra was
a phrase used by the Romans to signify the
opening of the solemnities of particular di-
vinities, on their high festival days; when
their sacred symbols were removed from
their temples, in order to be carried about
in pompous procession. This was particu-
larly the case in celebrating the Orgia, or
mysteries of Bacchus, when the statues of
that god were removed from his temples,
and carried about in procession by his fran-
tic votaries. The mysteries of Bacchus were
celebrated every third year: hence they are
called trieterica.
302. Thyas: a bacchanal; from a Greek
frantic disorder.
word signifying to roar about in wild and
303. Nocturnus Citharon. Citharon was
a mountain in Bcotia sacred to Bacchus.
Here his mysteries were celebrated in the
most distinguished manner by his infatuated
celebrated in the night. Hence nocturnus
followers. They were, for the most part,
Citharon. Eam is understood after vocat.
307. Dextera quondam data: thy right
hand once given. This alludes to their
marriage. Supra, 172. Tenet is to be sup-
plied, or repeated, with each of the prece-
ding nominatives.
309. Moliris classem: do you prepare your
fleet in the winter season. The north winds
were directly against Æneas in sailing from
Africa to Italy. This speech of Dido is
tender and persuasive. And since it ap-
peared his purpose to sail to Italy, she en-
deavors to dissuade him from it, until the
winter and contrary winds were over, in the
hope that, by repeated instances of her af
fection and regard, ne might be induced to
ÆNEIS. LIB. IV.
299
315
314. Ego oro te per
has lacrymas, tuamque
dextram (quando ipsa
jam reliqui nihil aliud
mihi misera) per nostra
317. Aut si quicquain
meum fuit dulce tibi,
320 miserere
325
Mene fugis? per ego has lacrymas dextramque tuam, te,
Quando aliud mihi jam miseræ nihil ipsa reliqui,
Per connubia nostra, per inceptos Hymenæos;
Si benè quid de te merui, fuit aut tibi quicquam
Dulce meum; miserere domûs labentis, et istam,
Oro, si quis adhuc precibus locus, exue mentem.
Te propter Libycæ gentes, Nomadumque tyranni
Odere, infensi Tyrii: te propter eundem
Extinctus pudor, et, quâ solâ sidera adibam,
Fama prior. Cui me moribundam deseris, hospes ?
Hoc solum nomen quoniam de conjuge restat.
Quid moror? an mea Pygmalion dum monia frater
Destruat? aut captam ducat Getulus Iarbas?
Saltem si qua mihi de te suscepta fuisset
Ante fugam soboles; si quis mihi parvulus aulâ
Luderet Æneas, qui te tantùm ore referret;
Non equidem omninò capta aut deserta viderer.
Dixerat. Ille Jovis monitis immota tenebat
Lumina, et obnixus curam sub corde premebat.
Tandem pauca refert: Ego te, quæ plurima fando
Enumerare vales nunquam, regina, negabo
Promeritam: nec me meminisse pigebit Elisæ;
Dum memor ipse mei, dum spiritus hos reget artus.
Pro re pauca loquar. Nec ego hanc abscondere furto
Speravi, ne finge, fugam; nec conjugis unquam
NOTES.
give over the idea of it altogether. Sidere:
in the sense of tempore.
316. Hymenæos in the sense of amores.
Qui novitate sunt dulces, says Servius.
319. Mentem: purpose-design of leav-
ing me.
320. Tyranni Nomadum: the kings of the
Numidians. The ancient Romans used the
words tyrannus and rex promiscuously.
321. Tyrii infensi. She here alludes to
the purpose of her brother to pursue her, as
already mentioned.
322. Pudor extinctus: my chastity is gone,
and my former fame, by which alone I reach-
ed the stars.
324. Quoniam hoc nomen: since this name
alone remains of the husband. It is to be
observed that Dido does not address him by
the endearing name of husband, but by that
of stranger or guest, hospes: and she can
look upon him in no other light, since he is
going to leave her.
325. Quid moror? what do I wait for?
328. Siquis parvulus: if any little Eneas
could play to me in my hall, who only might
resemble you in form, I should not, &c.
Some ancient copies read tamen, instead of
tantùm: who nevertheless should resemble
thee, &c. Some explain the words, qui te
tantùm referret ore; as if Dido did not wish
her son to resemble Eneas in his mind,
cruelty and hardness of heart, but only in
330
321. Odere me, et Ty-
rii infensi sunt mihi:
propter te eundem, meus
pudor extinctus est, et
mea prior fama
327. Siqua soboles sal
tem suscepta fuisset mi-
hi de te ante fugam; si
quis parvulus Eneas
334. O Regina, ego
nunquam negabo te pro-
335 meritam esse plurima de
me, quæ tu vales enume-
rare fando
336. Dum ego ipse ero
memor mei, dum
person and features. But. this sentiment
does not very well agree with the present
strain of her discourse; which is full of ten-
derness, soft address, and moving expostu-
lation.
Since she could not enjoy his person, it
would have been some alleviation of her
distress, if she had a son by him, who might
only set the image of the father before her
eyes, if he could do nothing more. Heyne
reads tamen. Ruæus says, qui repræsenta-
rit te tantùm modò vultu.
330. Capta. Rumus interprets this by
decepta, which is very harsh, and cannot be
the meaning of the speaker. Capta refers
to what she had said just before, 326 supra,
aut captam ducat Getulus Iarbas.
In order to paint her distress to Æneas in
the liveliest colors, she represents him as the
only person, on whom she could depend for
protection; and now he was going to aban-
don her, considers herself forlorn, deserted,
and left a prey to her enemies, who had al-
ready, as it were, made her their captive.
This is the dreary image that haunts her
disturbed fancy by day, and her dreams by
night. See verse 466. infra.
333. Refert: in the sense of respondet.
337. Loquar pauca pro re: I will speak a
few things to the point in question. Nec
ego speravi: nor did I hope to conceal my
departure, &c. This is a reply to Dido's
300
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Prætendi tædas, aut hæc in fœdera veni.
Me si fata meis paterentur ducere vitam
Auspiciis, et sponte meâ componere curas;
340
Urbem Trojanam primùm dulcesque meorum
Relliquias colerem ; Priami tecta alta manerent ;
Et recidiva manu posuissem Pergama victis.
345. Grynæus Apollo Sed nunc Italiam magnam Grynæus Apollo;
iussit me capessere mag- Italiam Lycia jussêre capessere sortes.
nam
quærere
Italiam, Lycia Hic amor, hæc patria est. Si te Carthaginis arces
sortes jussêre me
Phoenissam, Libycæque aspectus detinet urbis :
350. Fas sit et nos Quæ tandem Ausoniâ Teucros considere terrâ
Invidia est? et nos fas extera quærere regna.
353. Turbida imago
patris Anchise admonet Me patris Anchisæ, quoties humentibus umbris
et terret me in somnis, Nox operit terras, quoties astra ignea surgunt,
quoties
Admonet in somnis et turbida terret imago:
354. Puer Ascanius, Me puer Ascanius, capitisque injuria chari,
injuriaque ejus chari ca- Quem regno Hesperia fraudo et fatalibus arvis.
pitis, quem fraudo regno
Hesperiæ, et fatalibus Nunc etiam interpres Divûm, Jove missus ab ipso,
arvis, admonet me. (Testor utrumque caput) celeres mandata per auras
NOTES.
accusation, dissimulare etiam, &c. Verse
305, supra.
339. Prætendi. Rumus takes this in the
sense of Prætexui, in allusion to verse 172,
where it is said of Dido, prætexit culpam
hoc nomine: nor did I ever cover over our
marriage with the name of husband, or come
into the bands of Hymen.
Some take prætendi in the sense of præ-
tuli: nor did I ever bear before me the nup-
tial torch: in allusion to a Roman custom
of carrying lighted torches before the new
married couple. In either case, the plain
meaning is: I had no part in our nuptials-
I consented not to them; nor did I enter
into any contract of that nature. This an-
swers Dido's charge against him: Nec te
noster amor, &c. Verse 305, supra.
340. Si fata paterentur: if the destinies
had permitted me to lead my life, &c.
This passage furnishes the critics with a
pretext to condemn Æneas of ingratitude
and insensibility. Was it not enough, say
they, for him to let Dido know that he was
forced by the Destinies elsewhere, without
insulting her with an open declaration, that
he preferred other objects to her? But we
shall not think Eneas so much to blame,
if we consider the true meaning of his
words. Dido had urged him to stay; he
answers, it is not in his power, because the
Destinies opposed it: in proof of it, he as-
sures her that if they had left him to his
own choice, he would never have left his
native country: he would have rebuilt Troy,
which now lay in ashes. This is not say
ing; if I were at liberty, I would forsake
you and return, and rebuild Troy; but I
would never have formed any other design
than that of repairing the desolation of my
345
350
355
country. What makes the objection appear
the more specious is, that Virgil uses colerem
for coluissem; but there are many instances
where the imperfect of the sub. has the
same signification with the plup., and it is
plain that it has in the present instance,
both from the sense, and the use of posuissem
in the following line, with which the pre-
ceding verbs are connected. Auspiciis: in
the sense of voluntate. Curas: in the sense
of negotia, says Heyne.
344. Recidiva: rebuilt-raised up after a
fall. Posuissem: in the sense of restituissem.
345. Grynæus Apollo. The epithet Gry-
naus was given to Apollo from Gryna, a
city of Eolia, near which was a grove call-
ed Grynaum, where Apollo had an oracle of
great antiquity, and also a splendid temple.
346. Lycia sortes. Lycia, a maritime
country of Asia Minor, in which was the
city Patara, where Apollo had a famous
temple and oracle. This and some other
Oracles were called Sortes, because they de-
termined the fate of the person by casting
or drawing lots, throwing dice, or by some
such method, which was thought to be un-
der the immediate direction of the god.
350. Fas. This word properly signifies a
divine law-what is right or lawful—also a
duty towards God. Et, often, as here, hath
the sense of etiam, vel quoque.
355. Fatalibus arvis: fields destined to
him by fate.
Æneas had all along been directed to go
to Italy, under the assurance of a peaceful
settlement. This country the gods had des-
tined to him.
357. Testor utrumque caput: I call to
witness each god, viz. Mercury and Jove.
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
301
Detulit. Ipse Deum manifesto in lumine vidi
Intrantem muros, vocemque his auribus hausi.
Desine meque tuis incendere, teque querelis:
Italiam non sponte sequor
Talia dicentem jamdudum aversa tuetur,
Huc illuc volvens oculos, totumque pererrat
Luminibus tacitis, et sic accensa profatur:
360
[est ?
Nec tibi Diva parens, generis nec Dardanus auctor, 365
Perfide, sed duris genuit te cautibus horrens
Caucasus, Hyrcanæque admôrunt ubera tigres.
Nam quid dissimulo ? aut quæ me ad majora reservo?
Num fletu ingemuit nostro ? num lumina flexit?
Num lachrymas victus dedit? aut miseratus amantem
Quæ quibus anteferam ? jam jam nec maxima Juno,
Nec Saturnius hæc oculis pater aspicit æquis.
Nusquam tuta fides. Ejectum litore, egentem
Excepi, et regni demens in parte locavi :
Amissam classem, socios à morte reduxi.
Heu! furiis incensa feror. Nunc augur Apollo,
Nunc Lycia sortes, nunc et Jove missus ab ipso
Interpres Divûm fert horrida jussa per auras.
Scilicet is Superis labor est, ea cura quietos
Sollicitat. Neque te teneo, neque dicta refello.
I, sequere Italiam ventis; pete regna per undas.
NOTES.
Caput, by synec. is here put for the whole
body, or person: so also in line 354. Val-
py understands it of Dido and Æneas. But
he is singular in this. Ruæus says, utrum-
que Deum.
359. Hausi his auribus: I drew his voice
into these ears-I heard his voice. This is a
pleonasmus common to most languages.
adds strength to the affirmation.
360. Incendere: to trouble-afflict.
362. Aversa: in the sense of infensa.
363. Pererrat: surveys him all over.
364. Tacitis: steady-fixed.
It
365. Nec tibi Diva, &c. Dido, finding
Eneas deaf to all her entreaties, after recall-
ing all the fine things she had said of him,
verse 12 et sequens, breaks forth into the
most bitter invectives: Nor is a goddess
your parent-nor Dardanus the founder of
your race; but frightful Caucasus brought
you forth among its hard rocks, and the
Hyrcanian tigers gave you suck.
Caucasus: a very inhospitable mountain,
which divides Scythia from India. It lies
between the Caspian and Euxine seas.
Hyrcaniæ tigres: Hyrcania, a country in
Asia, anciently a part of Parthia, lying be-
tween Media on the west, and Margiana on
the east; and having the Caspian sea on the
north. It is subject to the Persians. Ho-
die, Tabarestan. This country was infested
with the most savage beasts. Admôrunt:
they moved their teats to you.
362. Dido jamdudum
aversa tuetur illum di-
centem
374. Excepi eum ejec
375 tum litore, egentem om-
nium; et demens locavi
eum in parte regni
380
368. Majora: in the sense of majores in-
jurias.
369. Num ingemuit nostro: did he sighat
my tears? did he move his eyes, &c. This
refers to 331 supra: Ille Jovis monitis immota
tenebat lumina.
371. Quæ quibus anteferam: what things
can I mention before these? Rumus says:
Inter quæ omnia signa immanitatis, quænam
aliis majora dicam. Valpy says: how shall
I express myself? to which feeling shall I
first give utterance? But the words will
bear another meaning: before whom can 1
carry these things? viz. my complaints. To
this we are led from considering what fol-
lows; as if Dido had said: to whom can I
apply for redress? since neither powerful
Juno, nor father Jove regards my sufferings
with equal eyes. There is justice neither
in heaven nor earth.
373. Ejectum: shipwrecked.
375. Reduxi: in the sense of servavi.
See Æn. vii. 431. Amissam: in the sense
of quassatam.
376. Nunc augur Apollo. She here al-
ludes to what Æneas had said before, verse
345, et sequens. Feror: in the sense of ra-
pior.
381 1, sequere Italiam ventis, &c. This
Quintilian gives as an instance of the iro-
nical style. Nothing is more in character
of an injured lover, than to order him to do
the very thing, which was contrary to her
•
302
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
382. Spero equidem Spero equidem mediis, si quid pia numina possunt,
te hausurum supplicia Supplicia hausurum scopulis, et nomine Dido
in mediis scopulis, et
385
sæpe vocaturum Dido Sæpe vocaturum. Sequar atris ignibus absens
nomine, si pia numina Et, cùm frigida mors animâ seduxerit artus,
possunt efficere quid Omnibus umbra locis adero. Dabis, improbe, pœnas :
387. Hæc fama tua- Audiam, et hæc Manes veniet mihi fama sub imos.
rum pœnarum veniet His medium dictis sermonem abrumpit, et auras
mihi sub imos
Ægra fugit, seque ex oculis avertit et aufert,
390. Linquens eum Linquens multa metu cunctantem et multa parantem
cunctantem metû, et
Dicere. Suscipiunt famula, collapsa que membra
Marmoreo referunt thalamo, stratisque reponunt.
At pius Æneas, quanquam lenire dolentem
Solando cupit, et dictis avertere curas;
395. Labefactus quoad Multa gemens, magnoque animum labefactus amore :
animum magno amore, Jussa tamen Divûm exsequitur, classemque revisit.
tamen exsequitur jussa Tum verò Teucri incumbunt, et litore celsas
Deducunt toto naves: natat uncta carina;
401. Cernas Trojanos Frondentesque ferunt remos, et robora sylvis
migrantes, ruentesque Infabricata, fugæ studio.
402. Ac veluti cùm Migrantes cernas, totâque ex urbe ruentes.
formica memores hy- Ac veluti ingentem formicæ farris acervum
tem acervum farris, re-
emis populant ingen- Cùm populant, hyemis memores, tectoque reponunt:
ponuntque in tecto It nigrum campis agmen, prædamque per herbas
NOTES.
in clinations. Servius observes too, that
Dido commands in a way that implies dis-
suasion, by mentioning the winds and the
waves, which served to remind him of his
danger; and by using the word sequere, as
if Italy fled from him.
:
382. Spero equidem: I hope indeed you
will suffer punishment among the interven-
ing rocks, &c. Hausurum: part. fut. of
hauro: to drink. This seems to be used
in allusion to the death which she hoped he
would die, that is, by drowning. This was
reckoned the peculiar punishment reserved
by Heaven for perfidious lovers. Dido: a
Greck acc. of the contracted nouns.
384. Absens sequar, &c. The meaning
is that the remembrance of Dido, whom
he had abandoned, though absent, would
still haunt his guilty mind, like a grim fury.
This satisfaction she should have in life; and
when death should separate her soul and
body, and her ghost, umbra, should be at
liberty to range over the universe, it should
also haunt him wherever he went. Atris
ignibus refers probably to the representation
of the furies, armed with torches; which
Cicero explains of the stings and torments
of a guilty conscience.
386. Umbra adero: I, a shade, or ghost,
will be present with you, &c.
387. Hæc fama veniet: this news shall
come to me under the lowest shades. The
ancients observed a threefold distinction in
the immortal part of man, viz.: the Umbra,
391
396
400
phantom or shade, which commonly fre-
quented the place where the body was bu
ried; or haunted those abodes to which it
had been accustomed in life: the Manes,
which were confined to the lower regions;
and the Spiritus, which returned to heaven,
its original abode. Manes is frequently
taken for the place of the dead, by meton.
which is the meaning here.
388. Auras: in the sense of lucem.
389. Egra fugit auras: faint, she fled the
light-she withdrew from further conference
with Æneas, into her private apartment.
Here, quite overcome, she fainted, as we
may suppose, when her servants came to
her aid, and placed her upon her bed. "She
withdrew from the light to her apartment,"
says Valpy. Some think she fainted quite
away, and ceased to breathe; but this is not
consistent with what follows: avertit et
aufert, &c.
390. Multa. The multa in the preceding
part of the line, appears entirely expletive.
393. Dolentem: referring to Dido. Some
copies have dolorem, as Heyne informs us.
398. Deducunt: launch the lofty ships.
along the whole shore.
399. Ferunt remos: they bring from the
woods green (unwrought) oars, and rough
timber; such was their hurry and impa-
tience to be gone. Frondentes: covered
with leaves-not even stripped of their
leaves.
403. Tecto: in their cells, or holes.
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
303
Convectant calle angusto: pars grandia trudunt
Obnixa frumenta humeris: pars agmina cogunt,
Castigantque moras: opere omnis semita fervet.
Quis tibi tunc, Dido, cernenti talia sensus?
Quosve dabas gemitus, cùm litora fervere latè
Prospiceres arce ex summa, totumque videres
Misceri ante oculos tantis clamoribus æquor?
Improbe amor, quid non mortalia pectora cogis!
Ire iterum in lachrymas, iterum tentare precando
Cogitur, et supplex animos submittere amori ;
Ne quid inexpertum, frustrà moritura, relinquat.
Anna, vides toto properari litore: circùm
Undique convenêre: vocat jam carbasus auras,
Puppibus et læti nautæ imposuêre coronas.
Hunc ego si potui tantum sperare dolorem—
Et perferre, soror, potero. Misera hoc tamen unum
Exsequere, Anna, mihi: solam nam perfidus ille
Te colere, arcanos etiam tibi credere sensus ;
Sola viri molles aditus et tempora noras.
I, soror, atque hostem supplex affare superbum :
NOTES.
405. Convectant: they carry often. By
using this verb, the poet represents those
animals marching backward and forward,
and returning frequently to their cells, full
laden with their booty, like soldiers reaping
the spoils of an enemy. Pars obnixa:
part, shoving with their shoulders, push
along the large grains.
406. Moras: in the sense of morantes:
those that delay. Frequent allusions have
been made by poets of all ages to the ants,
as examples of industry, wisdom, and fore-
sight. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, con-
sider her ways, and be wise," says Solomon.
Modern observation has not discovered in
them any such instances of industry. .On
certain days they carry out of their cells,
and expose to the warmth of the sun, their
eggs; but we find no store of provisions
laid up against approaching want. For
during the cold season of the year, they lie
in a torpid state, and require no food.
409. Fervere: to be all in a bustle-to be
busily occupied.
412. Improbe: in the sense of crudelis, vel
vehemens.
414. Cogitur ire iterum: she is forced
again to go into tears, again to try him by
supplication, &c. As the poet had used
cogis just before, so here he repeats the same
word, and shows the constraining power of
love in Dido's conduct-she is forced, in
spite of her pride, her resentment, her reso-
lutions, and her imprecations.
Animos. Animus, in the plu. properly
signifies the affections or passions of the
mind. The meaning of the passage is: she
is forced again to have recourse to tears,
again to try him with prayers, and to submit
her passions, her resentment, her pride, and
405
410
415
408. Quis sensus erat
tunc tibi
410. Videresque totum
æquor misceri
412. Quid non cogis
mortalia pectora perpe-
trare
419. O soror, si ego
potui sperare hunc tan-
tum dolorem, potui per-
419 ferre; et potero perferre
eum.
421. Nam ille perfidus
homo solebat colere te
solam, etiam credere ar-
canos sensus tibi : tu sola
nôras molles aditus
her indignation, to love-to give up all to
the superior power and efficacy of her love.
415. Moritura frustrà. Commentators
are not agreed upon the meaning of the
word frustrà in this place. Servius con-
nects it with inexpertum. The meaning
then will be: that she might not leave any
thing unattempted, though in vain; since
she was resolved to die. But it is more like
a lover to entertain some glimmering hope
as long as the dear object is within reach.
The better meaning is: lest by leaving any
thing unattempted, or untried, she should
die in vain-she should seem to throw away
her life.
416. Properari: there is a hastening, stir,
or bustle around on the whole shore. This
verb is used impersonally.
418. Nauta imposuere: the joyous ma-
riners have placed garlands on the sterns.
It was a custom among sailors to deck the
sterns of the ship, both at sailing and land-
ing. The reason for this was, that on the
sterns was a chapel in honor of the gods
Petaci, who were considered the patrons
and protectors of the ship.
419. Si ego potui sperare, &c. Rumus
obscures this, and the following line, by con-
necting them closely together. It is plain
there is an ellipsis of the words potui per-
ferre, which must be supplied. This sudden
and abrupt transition is perfectly agreeable
to the temper of Dido's mind, and shows the
propriety of potero being in the future:
which otherwise cannot be justified on any
principles of language.
421. Exsequere: do-perform.
422. Colere: in the sense of amare.
424. Hostem. This word sometimes was
used by the ancients in the sense of hospes
804
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
425. Ego non juravi Non ego cum Danais Trojanam exscindere gentem 425
Aulide cum Danais ex- Aulide juravi, classemve ad Pergama misi :
scindere Trojanam ur-
Nec patris Anchise cineres Manesve revelli.
bem, misi-ve,
Cur mea dicta negat duras demittere in aures?
Quò ruit? extremum hoc miseræ det munus amanti :
Expectet facilemque fugam, ventosque ferentes.
Non jam conjugium antiquum, quod prodidit, oro;
Nec pulchro ut Latio careat, regnumque relinquat
Tempus inane peto, requiem spatiumque furori ;
Dum mea me victam doceat fortuna dolere.
Extremam hanc oro veniam: miserere sororis !
Quam mihi cùm dederit, cumulatum morte remittam.
NOTES.
a guest or stranger. Cicero says: Apud
majores nostros, is dicebatur hostis, quem nunc
peregrinus dicemus.
426. Aulide: abl. of Aulis, a town upon
the strait, which separates Euboea from
Beotia, nearly opposite Chalcis. Here the
Greeks, on their way to the siege of Troy,
took an oath never to return to their coun-
try, till they had destroyed that city.
427. Revelli: in the sense of violavi.
428. Demittere: to admit-receive.
430. Ferentes: in the sense of secundos.
Munus: benefit-favor.
431. Non jam oro: I do not now plead
our former marriage, which he hath violated.
Antiquus sometimes signifies, honorable.
This is the sense Mr. Davidson gives to the
word in this place.
433. Peto inane tempus: I ask a little
time as a respite, and a space for (allaying)
my love. Ad extinguendum amorem, says
Rumus.
435. Veniam: request-favor.
436. Quam mihi cùm. This verse has
very much perplexed commentators, and di-
vided their opinions. The readings, also,
are various. Ruæus' reading is most gene-
rally approved. He makes the following
comment upon the passage: Cùm contulerit
mihi hoc beneficium paulò longioris morœ,
hanc extremam gratiam, remittam illum, si-
nam abire, et aajiciam meam mortem, quasi
cumulum votis ejus.
The meaning of this much disputed pas-
sage will in a great measure depend upon
the reading either of cumulatum or cumula-
tam. Servius reads: Quam mihi cùm dede-
ris, cumulatam morte relinquam, referring
to her sister Anna. Morte relinquam, he
takes in the sense of sola morte relinquam te.
Here cumulatam is made to agree with the
pron. te.
But of this it is difficult to make
any sense. Nor will it be easier, if we refer
the cumulatam to veniam, as some commen-
tators have done. Heyne reads: Quam
mihi cùm dederis, cumulatam morte remittam,
referring likewise to Anna. Cumulatam
remittam, he takes in the sense of cumulatè
430
435
referam, and morte in the sense of antequam
moriar, vel grata ero per totam vitam úsque
ad mortem. This must appear to the most
superficial reader a forced and unwarranted
exposition; and nothing but the difficulty
attending the reading could have led that
learned commentator into it. Valpy ob-
serves of this exposition of Heyne, that
though stated by him with considerable
confidence, it appears forced and impro-
bable."
((
If we consider the passage as referring to
Eneas, it will be rendered easier. In this
case, we must read cumulatum. Ruæus
considers it in this view,
considers it in this view, but appears to have
mistaken the sense of cumulatum, and
thereby given to the words, cumulatum
morte remittam, a turn which they will
hardly bear. Adjiciam meam mortem, quasi
cumulum votis ejus, says he. By adjiciam
meam mortem, we are to understand that
Dido informed her sister of her resolution
to kill herself, and that she makes a direct
declaration to that effect. But from the
subsequent part of the story, it appears to
have been her anxious solicitude to conceal
from her that desperate resolution. And,
by cumulum votis ejus, we are given to un-
derstand that her death was an object of
desire to Æneas-that it would afford him
pleasure, and be a source of gratification to
him. But this is altogether inconsistent
with those feelings which he manifested to-
wards her, verse 393 supra, et sequens; and
also with those tender expressions of his in
the sixth book, when he met her in the re-
gions below. See verse 450, et sequens.
Hortensius reads cumulatum, and takes it
in the sense of abundè pensatum: abundant-
ly, or fully compensated, or requited.
Dido had besought Æneas to stay a short
time longer with her, till the weather should
be more favorable for his departure, since
he was resolved to leave her; and till she
should bring her mind the better to bear his
loss. This was the extremam veniam, the
last, the only favor she asked of him; and
if granted to her, she would dismiss him, or
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
£
305
Talibus orabat,.talesque miserrima fletus
Fertque refertque soror: sed nullis ille movetur
Fletibus, aut voces ullas tractabilis audit.
441. Ac velut cum
Alpini Boreæ nunc hinc,
nunc illinc certant inter
se flatibus, eruere quer-
cum validam annoso
445 robore.
Fata obstant; placidasque viri Deus obstruit aures. 440
Ac velut annoso validam cùm robore quercum
Alpini Boreæ, nunc hinc, nunc flatibus illinc
Eruere inter se certant; it stridor, et altè
Consternunt terram concusso stipite frondes:
Ipsa hæret scopulis: et quantùm vertice ad auras
Æthereas, tantùm radice in Tartara tendit.
Haud secùs assiduis hinc atque hinc vocibus heros
Tunditur, et magno persentit pectore curas:
Mens immota manet; lachrymæ volvuntur inanes.
Tum verò infelix fatis exterrita Dido
Mortem orat: tædet cœli convexa tueri.
Quò magis inceptum peragat, lucemque relinquat;
Vidit, thuricremis cùm dona imponeret aris,
Horrendum dictu! latices nigrescere sacros ;
NOTES.
consent to his departure, fully compensated
or requited for the favor and indulgence, by
her death.
Dido here conforms to the usual language
of disappointed lovers, who suppose they
confer the greatest possible favor upon those
they love, by dying for their sake. See
Ecl. viii. verses 59 and 60. The most
weighty objection to this interpretation is,
that it includes a declaration of her death;
but it does not necessarily imply, that it
would be by her own hand. Her grief,
sorrow, and affliction, in consequence of his
loss, might become insupportable, and bring
her to the grave.
But, after all the ingenuity displayed by
commentators, cumulatum, perhaps, is to be
taken in its usual acceptation. Cumulatum
morte remittam: I will dismiss him loaded,
or oppressed, with iny death-with the re-
flection and consciousness of being the cause
of my death, by leaving me in this cruel
inanner.
This appears the least objectionable of
any solution that has been proposed. Nor
does it necessarily include the idea of sui-
cide. Dido may be supposed to declare,
that though he should comply with her re-
quest, and tarry with her till the weather
became favorable for his departure, yet that
she should eventually be unable to support
nis loss, and that grief and disappointment
would be the cause of her death.
For this suggestion, I acknowledge my
obligations to a distinguished classical
scholar of our own country.
438. Miserrima soror: her sister, most
distressed, carries, and again carries, such
tears-such piteous messages. Preces cum
lachrymis, says Heyne.
450
445. Tendit tantùm
radice ad Tartara, quan-
tùm vertice tendit ad
thereas auras.
453. Cùm imponeret
dona thuricremis aris,
vidit sacros latices.
439. Tractabilis: in the sense of exora-
bilis.
442. Borea. The north wind is here
called Alpine, from the circumstance of the
Alps lying north of Mantua, and a great
part of Italy. And the poet would give us
to understand that the north wind had its
seat among those mountains, and from
thence descended in storms, and mighty
blasts.
446. Tantùm radice. This is said accord-
ing to the opinion of those naturalists, who
body.
suppose the roots of the tree equal to the
Tartara: neu. plu. properly the
lowest part of hell-that place which the
poets assign for the punishment of offenders.
In Tartara: toward Tartarus-downward.
It is opposed to ad æthereas auras: toward
heaven-upward.
448. Curas: in the sense of dolores.
449. Inanes: his tears are useless-una-
vailing, both with respect to himself and Di-
do; as they produced not the effect which
she desired, and altered not his steadfast re-
solution.
451. Tædet: it irketh her to behold the
canopy of heaven. Convexa, neu. plu. of
convexus, taken as a substantive. It appears,
hence, that convexus in Latin, has a differ-
ent meaning from convex in English. The
convex face of heaven to us is invisible. It
is the vaulted arch, or canopy alone, which
we can behold-the cava cœli convexitas, as
Dr. Clark explains it. So, also: in convexo
nemorum, in the bosom, or under the shelter
of the bending groves. And Justin, speak-
ing of the actions of Xerxes, says: montes
in planum ducebat, et convexa vallium œqua-
bat.
21
306
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Fusaque in obscænum se vertere vina cruorem.
455
456. Effata est hoc vi- Hoc visum nulli, non ipsi effata sorori.
sum nulli, non etiam
Prætereà, fuit in tectis de marmore templum
Conjugis antiqui, miro quod honore colebat,
Velleribus niveis et festå fronde revinctum.
460. Hinc voces, et Hinc exaudiri voces et verba vocantis
verba viri vocantis eam Visa viri, nox cùm terras obscura teneret:
visa sunt exaudiri, cùm Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo
obscura nox teneret ter-
ras: solaque bubo sæpe Sæpe queri, et longas in fletum ducere voces.
visa est queri ferali car- Multaque prætereà vatum prædicta piorum
mine super culminibus, Terribili monitu horrificant. Agit ipse furentem
In somnis ferus Æneas: semperque relinqui
466. Æneas ipse ferus Sola sibi, semper longam incomitata videtur
agit eam furentem in
somnis; semperque vi- Ire viam, et Tyrios desertâ quærere terrâ.
et ducere
detur sibi relinqui sola, Eumenidum veluti demens videt agmina Pentheus,
semper incomitata ire Et solem geminum, et, duplices se ostendere Thebas :
longam viam, et que- Aut Agamemnonius scenis agitatus Orestes,
rere
Armatam facibus matrem et serpentibus atris
400
465
471
Cùm fugit; ultricesque sedent in limine Diræ.
Ergò ubi concepit furias, evicta dolore,
Decrevitque mori; tempus secum ipsa modumque 475
NOTES.
455. Obscœnum cruorem. Servius explains
obscænum, by mali ominis, of bad omen. So
says Heyne. Vina fusa: the wine poured
out upon the altar, to turn, &c.
457. Fuit in tectis: there was in the pa-
lace a marble chapel of her former husband.
By templum, some understand the sepulchre
of Sichæus, which Dido had caused to be
built in her palace, and which she had con-
secrated to his memory. Others think it
to have been a chapel, or shrine, sacred to
his memory. Others again take it to be an
image or statue sacred to his memory. Ser-
vius thinks Virgil had reference to the cus-
tom of the Romans, of the bride, when she
came to the door of her husband's house,
which was garnished with flowers and
leaves, binding about the posts woollen fil-
lets, and washing them over with melted
tallow to keep out enchantments and sor-
cery. According to him, Dido, in building
this temple to Sichæus, had devoted herself
to him forever, by performing the same nup-
tial rites towards him as if he had been
living; and thereby signified her resolution
never to marry again. But this appears a
refinement. It is much easier to consider it
a reference to the general custom of adorn-
ing the door-posts of temples with fillets of
wool, especially on holy-days.
461. Viri: of her husband calling her.
462. Bubo: the owl. Ferali carmine: in
a mournful strain-cry. Sola: some copies
have sera, in reference to the time of her
singing; which is generally late at night.
Voces notes.
464. Piorum.
Some copies have prio-
rum: but piorum is the best. It is a proper
epithet of prophets. Heyne reads piorum.
469. Eumenidum: as crazy Pentheus secs
bands of furies, and a double sun, and Thebes
to show itself double. The poet here com-
pares the fury of Dido with that of the
frantic Pentheus and Orestes. Pentheus was
king of Thebes in Beotia, son of Echion.
and grandson of Cadmus. He prevented
his subjects from worshipping Bacchus, and
commanded that god to be put in prison;
for which he was deprived of his senses by
the god. After this, he went to mount Ci-
theron, where the bacchanals were cele-
brating their orgies. As soon as they saw
him, they set upon him, and tore him in pie-
ces.
See Ovid Met. 3. 700. Virgil here
speaks of the furies as being an army
(agmina) whereas they were only three in
number. See Geor. i. 278.
470. Et solem. This line is taken from
Euripedes.
471. Orestes. He was the son of Aga-
memnon. He is said to have been haunted
by the ghost of his mother, Clytemnestra,
whom he had slain, and by the furies. He
went to the oracle of Apollo, at Delphi, to
consult in the business, and was informed
that he had been acquitted by the court of
Areopagus, at Athens. Whereupon the fu-
ries blocked up the door, so that he could
not get out. He, however, made his escape.
Hence the expression, sedent limine: they
sit in the door. See Æn. iii. 331. Agitatus :
acted, or exhibited on the stage.
474. Concepit: received or admitted.
ÆNEIS. LIB. IV.
307
Exigit; et, mostam dictis aggressa sororem,
Consilium vultu tegit, ac spem fronte serenat;
Inveni, germana, viam, gratare sorori,
Quæ mihi reddat eum, vel eo me solvat amantem.
Oceani finem juxta Solemque cadentem,
Ultimus Æthiopum locus est: ubi maximus Atlas
Axem humero torquet, stellis ardentibus aptum.
Hinc mihi Massylæ gentis monstrata sacerdos,
Hesperidum templi custos, epulasque draconi
Quæ dabat, et sacros servabat in arbore ramos,
Spargens humida mella, soporiferumque papaver.
Hæc se carminibus promittit solvere mentes,
Quas velit; ast aliis duras immittere curas;
Sistere aquam fluviis, et vertere sidera retrò :
Nocturnosque ciet Manes. Mugire videbis
Sub pedibus terram, et descendere montibus ornos.
Testor, chara, Deos et te, germana, tuumque
Dulce caput, magicas invitam accingier artes.
Tu secreta pyram tecto interiore sub auras
NOTES.
476. Exigit: she concludes—fixes upon.
Aggressa: in the sense of compellans.
477. Serenat spem fronte: she brightens,
(or clears up) hope on her countenance. She
shows it on her countenance. Vullu: vi-
sage-looks.
481. Ethiopum. Ethiopia is properly a
country of Africa, now called Abyssinia.
But the name was frequently applied by the
ancients to any country lying in a warm cli-
mate. Ethiops is compounded of two Greek
words, and means a person of a tawny com-
plexion-one scorched by the heat of the
sun.
482. Aptum: fitted-adorned-bespan-
gled with refulgent stars. See 247, supra.
See 247, supra.
Axem: for cœlum.
483. Massylæ gentis.
The Massyli or
Masasyli were a people between the rivers
Malva and Mulucha, both of which fall into
the Mediterranean. Hence the adj. Massy-
lus. Sacerdos: in the sense of saga. Mon-
strata: was shown to me. Est is under-
stood.
484. Custos templi Hesperidum. The gar-
dens of the Hesperides, Virgil places in Mau-
ritania, near the shore of the Atlantic, and
not far from the town of Lixus. There
are, however, various opinions respecting
their situation. The Hesperides were the
fabled daughters of Atlas, or of Hesperus,
his brother, and the nymph Hesperis. Their
father gave thein gardens, in which were
trees producing golden apples. Hercules,
at the command of Eurystheus, king of My-
cena, stole the apples, having slain the
dragon that kept them. These apples were
sacred to Venus.
The truth of the matter is this: the Hes-
perides were shepherdesses of noble birth,
480
485
487. Hæc promittit se
posse solvere illas mentes,
quas velit; ast immittere
duras curas aliis.
492. O chara germana,
testor Deos et to, tuum-
490 que dulce caput, me in-
vitam accingier ad has
•
494. Tu secreta erige
pyram in interiore tecto
sub auras; et superim-
ponas arma viri
whose flocks produced wool of a reddish
color, somewhat resembling gold, which
Hercules plundered, having slain their keep-
er, whose name was Draco. The Greek
word for sheep, signifying also apples, made
the poets feign that Hercules stole the apples
of the Hesperides: and their keeper's name
being Draco, led them to pretend they were
kept by a dragon. See Ecl. vi. 61.
486. Soporiferum papaver. As the dragon
was always to be awake, a question arises,
how the priestess came to feed him with
poppy. To solve this there are several con-
jectures. Some will have it that poppies
mixed with honey, was his food, and had no
effect to lay him asleep. Others say it was
to procure sleep for him at certain intervals.
Servius thinks that the poppy, which pro-
cures sleep to men, has a contrary effect
upon dragons, and keeps them awake.
Others again, to avoid this difficulty, make
a full stop after ramos, connecting this line
with the following one. Some again think
it is only mentioned to show the skill of the
Sorceress, that she was even able to lay the
wakeful dragon asleep. But as this animal
had a hundred heads, we may suppose that
they kept awake and slept by turns.
She
is said to be the keeper, custos, of the tem-
ple, because she gave food to the dragon,
and supported him.
487. Solvere mentes: to free minds from
love by her magic rites (carminibus) or
charms.
493. Accingier invitam: that I was un-
willing to betake myself to these magic arts.
Accingier: by paragoge, for accingi. The
verb here is used in the sense of the Greek
middle voice. It has a reflux signification
308
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Erige et arma viri, thalamo quæ fixa reliquit
Impius, exuviasque omnes, lectumque jugalem,
Quo perii, superimponas. Abolere nefandi
Cuncta viri monumenta jubet monstratque sacerdos.
Hæc effata silet: pallor simul occupat ora.
Non tamen Anna novis prætexere funera sacris
501. Nec concipit tan- Germanam credit: nec tantos mente furores
tos furores esse in ejus Concipit; aut graviora timet, quàm morte Sichæi.
mente; aut timet gra- Ergò jussa parat.
viora quàm quæ evene-
rant morte Sichæi. Ergò
secta ilice
495
500
505
At regina, pyrâ penetrali in sede sub auras
parat que jussa erant Erectâ ingenti, tædis atque ilice sectâ,
504. Ingenti pyrå Intenditque locum sertis, et fronde coronat
erectâ in penetrali sede Funereâ: super exuvias, ensemque relictum,
sub auras, è tædis atque Effigiemque toro locat, haud ignara futuri.
Stant aræ circùm : et crines effusa sacerdos,
Tercentum tonat ore Deos, Erebumque, Chaosque, 510
Tergeminamque Hecaten, tria virginis ora Dianæ.
Sparserat et latices simulatos fontis Averni;
Falcibus et messæ ad Lunam quæruntur ahenis
Pubentes herbæ, nigri cum lacte veneni.
509. Effusa quoad
crines
NOTES.
495. Arma viri. The sword which Ene-
as left hanging in Dido's bedchamber.
498. Jubet: the priestess orders and di-
rects me to burn all the memorials of the
cursed man. These she had just mention-
ed--his sword-his clothes-the bridal bed,
&c.
500. Prætexere: in the sense of celare.
504. Penetrali sede: in the inner court-
middle of the palace.
505. Tædis. The tada or teda was a tree
of a resinous nature, of which torches were
made. The ilex was a species of oak called
the holm. Of these two kinds of wood the
funeral pile was constructed.
506. Intendit: in the sense of. cingit.
508. Effigiem: she places his image on
the bed upon his clothes and sword.
One of the rites of magic was to prepare
an image of the person against whom the
enchantment was designed, either of wax or
wool, and use it in the same manner as they
would have used the person himself if he
had been present. Or, super may be taken
in the sense of insuper (moreover;) or su-
per-locat may be considered a compound
word in the sense of superimponit. The
meaning will then be, that the image, the
clothes, and sword, were placed upon the
bed without any reference to their situation.
510. Tonat ore: she thunders out with
her voice three hundred gods. Servius in-
forms us, that in the sacred rites of Hecate
in particular, they used to imitate thunder;
which gives a reason for the use of the word
tonat. Hortensius would read sonat.
are not to suppose that the priestess invoked
the precise number of three hundred gods-
We
that definite number is used for an indefinite
number. Erebum. Erebus was the son of
Chaos and Nox. For aiding the Titans in
their war against the gods, he was changed
into a river, and placed in the lowest part of
hell. He is one of the infernal gods. Chaos.
He was the most ancient of the gods, and
the father of them all, according to Hesiod.
Geor. iv. 347.
511. Hecaten. Hecate is called tergemi-
nam from the circumstance of her having
three names. In heaven she is called Luna;
on the earth Diana; in hell Proserpina.
Hecate was not so properly her name, as
an epithet given her to denote her hundred
various qualities; or because she was ap-
peased by a hundred victims. From a Greek
word signifying a hundred. The goddess
was painted with three heads, one of a
horse, another of a dog, and another of a
man. Hence tria ora virginis: the triple
form of the virgin.
512. Sparserat: she had sprinkled the fic-
titious (or substituted) waters of the lake
Avernus. In performing magic rites, those
materials requisite to the occasion, that
could not be conveniently procured, were
allowed to be emblematically représented;
as in the present case. Averni. Avernus,
a lake in Campania, fabled to be the en-
trance of hell. Its waters were of a very
noxious quality, which occasioned an un-
wholesome atmosphere; insomuch so, that
it was shunned by birds of every kind. Its
name is of Greek origin. See Geor. iv,
493.
514. Pubentes herba full blown herbs,
cut by moonlight, are sought for. The
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
309.
Quæritur et nascentis equi de fronte revulsus,
Et matri præreptus amor.
515
515. Et amor equ
revulsus de fronte nas-
centis equi, et præreptus
matri
Ipsa molâ manibusque piis, altaria juxta,
Unum exuta pedem vinclis, in veste recinctâ,
Testatur moritura Deos, et conscia fati
Sidera: tum, si quod non æquo fœdere amantes
Curæ numen habet justumque memorque, precatur
Nox erat, et placidum carpebant fessa soporem
Corpora per terras, sylvæque et sæva quiêrant
Æquora cùm medio volvuntur sidera lapsu :
Cùm tacet omnis ager, pecudes, pictæque volucres,
Quæque lacus latè liquidos, quæque aspera dumis
Rura tenent, somno positæ sub nocte silenti
Lenibant curas, et corda oblita laborum.
At non infelix animi Phonissa: neque unquam
Solvitur in somnos, oculisve aut pectore noctem
Accipit. Ingeminant curæ, rursusque resurgens
Sævit amor, magnoque irarum fluctuat æstu.
Sic adeò insistit, secumque ita corde volutat :
En! quid ago? rursusne procos irrisa priores
NOTES.
dews, which were thought to distil from the
moon upon herbs, were reckoned favorable
for magic. Those herbs, however, were to
be cut with brazen sickles, ahenis falcibus.
Lacte: in the sense of succo.
516. Et amor revulsus: and the love (of
the mare) torn from the forehead of a newly
foaled colt. The poet here means what is
called the hippomanes; of which there are
two kinds. See Geor. iii. 280. et sequens.
The one here meant is very different from
the one there described. According to the
account given of it by the ancients, it was
a lump of flesh growing on the forehead of
the foal just brought forth, which the mare
presently devours, or else she loses all af-
fection for her young, and denies it suck.
Its being so greedily sought after by the
mother, is the reason of its being called her
love. The circumstance just mentioned gave
rise to the vulgar opinion of its efficacy in
philtres, love potions, and magic rites.
518. Exuta pedem. It appears from this
passage that Dido put herself in the habit
of a sorceress. According to Ovid, it was
their custom to strip bare one of their feet,
and to be clad in a loose flowing robe. Ru-
mus takes recincta, in the sense of succincta;
but in this he differs from most commenta-
tors. Heyne takes it in the sense of soluta.
520. Non æquo fœdere : by this we are to
understand an inequality in the love and af-
fection of the parties-in an unequal match:
where love is not reciprocated.
522. Nox erat. The whole of this de-
scription is a most beautiful, and, at the
same time, perfect image of nature. Dr.
Trapp objects to it as imperfect. But it is
to be observed that the poet did not design
517. Dido ipsa mori-
tura, exuta quoad unum
520 pedein vinclis, in re-
cincta veste, stans justa
altaria, molâ piisque
manibus, testatur Deos,
et sidera conscia fati.
Tum precatur numen,
525 si quod justumque me-
morque habet amantes
junctos non æquo fœdere
curæ sibi.
526. Quæque latè te-
,nent liquidos lacus, quæ-
530 que tenent rura aspera
dumis, omnes positæ sub
silenti nocte lenibant cu-
ras somno; et corda ob-
lita sunt laborum.
it as a description of night in general; but
only of a calm and serene one, in order that
he might set off to greater advantage the
opposite image of Dido's anxiety and dis-
quietude. And indeed nothing could give
us a more lively idea of her restless situation,
than thus to set it forth in opposition to the
universal quiet and repose which reigned
over all nature beside. She is so far from
partaking of the blessings of sleep with the
rest of the world, that the silence and soli-
tude of the night, which dispose others to
rest, only feed her care, and swell the tumult
of her passion.
524. Lapsu: in the sense of cursu.
527. Tenent: in the sense of incolunt.
528. Lenibant curas, &c.
&c. This beautiful
line Heyne marks as spurious, and con-
cludes the sentence at silenti. It is not
found in some ancient MSS.
529. Phænissa. Dido is so called, be-
cause she was a native of Phenicia, a coun-
try lying on the eastern shore of the Medi-
terranean; within the boundaries of which
was the kingdom of Tyre. The words
leniebat curas are to be supplied.
530. Noctem in the sense of quietem.
532. Irarum: passions-affections. Amor
sævit. Here love is represented as a mighty
sea, which had been for some time calm and
still; but now begins to rise in furious waves,
and rack her soul with a variety of tumul-
tuous passions. Volutat: in the sense of
cogitat.
534. Rursus-ne irrisa, &c. Ruæus and
Servius take rursus in the sense of vicissim :
shall I in turn have, &c. Dido had rejected
the match of Iarbas and others; and shall
she now pay court to them, as they had
310
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
+
Experiar? Nomadumque petam connubia supplex, 545
Quos ego sum toties jam dedignata maritos?
Iliacas igitur classes, atque ultima Teucrûm
538. Quiane juvat me Jussa sequar? quiane auxilio juvat antè levatos,
eas antè levatos fuisse Et benè apud memores veteris stat gratia facti ?
meo auxilio; et gratia Quis me autem, fac velle, sinet ? ratibusque superbis 540
veteris facti stat apud eos Invisam accipiet? nescis heu, perdita, necdum
benè memores ejus?
540. Autem fac me Laomedonteæ sentis perjuria gentis?
velle sequi eos, quis Quid tum? sola fugâ nautas comitabor ovantes?
543. Quid tum agen- An Tyriis, omnique manu stipata meorum,
dum est? ego-ne sola
Insequar? et quos Sidoniâ vix urbe revelli,
fugâ comitabor
544. An stipata Tyriis,
Rursus again pelago, et ventis dare vela jubebo?
omnique manu meorum Quin morere, ut merita es, ferroque averte dolorem.
civium insequar eos Tu lachrymis evicta meis, tu prima furentem
His, germana, malis oneras, atque objicis hosti.
Non licuit thalami expertem sinè crimine vitam
Degere more feræ, tales nec tangere curas ?
Non servata fides cineri promissa Sichæo.
552. Fides promissa
Sichæo cineri non ser-
vata est.
Tantos illa suo rumpebat pectore questus.
556. Forma Dei re- Æneas celsâ in puppi, jam certus eundi,
deuntis eodem vultu ob- Carpebat somnos, rebus jam ritè paratis.
tulit se huic in somnis, Huic se forma Dei, vultu redeuntis eodem,
visaque est rursus ita
similis Obtulit in somnis, rursusque ita visa monere est ;
eum :
Mercurio quoad omnia, Omnia Mercurio similis, vocemque, coloremque,
monere
NOTES.
formerly done to her? Irrisa
Irrisa: mocked-
despised. Rumus says, contemnenda.
536. Dedignata sum: disdained as hus-
bands.
537. Ultima: the lowest-basest.
538. Quia-ne juvat: because it delighted
me formerly, that they should be relieved by
my assistance; and the grateful remem-
brance of my former deed remains with
them, duly mindful of it? Dido here speaks
ironically. Some copies have exilio, in allu-
sion to the friendly retreat which Dido gave
to Æneas and his followers: but auxilio is
the most approved reading.
541. Invisam: hated—an object of their
aversion. Some copies have irrisam. This
is the reading of Ruæus. Heyne reads, in-
visam, and assures us it is the best.
542. Necdum sentis, &c. Here Dido al
ludes to the well known story of Laomedon,
who defrauded the gods, Neptune and Apol-
lo, of their hire for building the walls of
Troy. See Geor. i. 502. Laomedonteæ: an
adj. in the sense of Trojana.
543. Ovantes: in the sense of lætantes, vel
triumphantes. It is applicable to mariners
in general, who usually set out with accla-
mations of joy: but here it is to be con-
sidered in that particular, in which Dido
viewed them as triumphing over her in their
departure. Insequar. Some copies have in-
ferar. This is the reading of Heyne, and
Valpy after him.
544. Stipata: in the sense of comitata.
545
550
555
546. Rursus agam: shall I again conduct
on the sea, those whom with difficulty I forced
from the Sidonian city? Sidonia: an adj.
from Sidon, which formed a part of the
kingdom of Tyre: here in the sense of Ty-
ria. Revelli: this expresses the difficulty of
her former enterprise.
248. Tu, Germana, evicta: thou, O sister
overcome by my tears, thou first, &c. Fu-
rentem: in the sense of amantem.
Dido
here alludes to the speech of her sister. See
verse 32. supra, and following. Anna could
not bear to see her pine away in mournful
widowhood, and therefore dissuaded her
from it, and encouraged a love for Æneas.
550. Non licuit: was it not lawful for
me, without blame, to lead a life free from the
marriage bed, &c. Some copies have exper-
tam vitam: a life having experienced the
the most approved reading.
marriage bed. But the other is evidently
Though Dido here seemingly approves of
a single life; by representing it as the life
of a savage beast, she in fact condemns it;
and insinuates that marriage is the most
perfect society, and distinguishes the life of
man from that of brute animals.
551. Tangere: to know, or experience.
558. Simiis Mercurio omnia: like Mer-
cury in all things. All the commentators
make this god to be Mercury himself, except
Catrou. He thinks it to be some other god,
who assumed the likeness of Mercury.
ÆNEIS. LIB. IV.
311
+
Et crines flavos, et meinbra decora juventa:
Nate Deâ, potes hoc sub casu ducere somnos?
Nec, quæ circumstent te deinde pericula, cernis?
Demens! nec Zephyros audis spirare secundos ?
Illa dolos dirumque nefas in pectore versat,
Certa mori, varioque irarum fluctuat æstu.
560
Non fugis hinc præceps, dum præcipitare potestas? 565
Jam mare turbari trabibus, sævasque videbis
Collucere faces; jam fervere litora flammis;
Si te his attigerit terris Aurora morantem.
Eia age, rumpe moras: varium et mutabile semper
Fœmina. Sic fatus nocti se immiscuit atræ.
Tum verò Æneas, subitis exterritus umbris,
Corripit è somno corpus, sociosque fatigat:
Præcipites vigilate, viri, et considite transtris:
Solvite vela citi. Deus æthere missus ab alto,
570
563. Illa Dido certa
mori versat dolos
566. Dum potestas
est tibi præcipitare
Festinare fugam, tortosque incidere funes,
575
Ecce iterum stimulat. Sequimur te, sancte Deorum,
Quisquis es, imperioque iterum paremus ovantes.
Adsis, ô, placidusque juves, et sidera cœlo
Dextra feras! Dixit: vaginâque eripit ensem
Fulmineum, strictoque ferit retinacula ferro.
580
Idem omnes simul ardor habet: rapiuntque, ruuntque :
Litora deseruere: latet sub classibus æquor.
Adnixi torquent spumas, et cœrula verrunt.
Et jam prima novo spargebat lumine terras
Tithoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile :
NOTES.
560. Sub hoc casu: in this juncture or
crisis of affairs.
561. Deinde: this appears to be in this
place entirely expletive. Videtur otiosum esse,
says Heyne.
563. Versat: in the sense of meditafur.
566. Turbari trabibus: to be in commo-
tion with ships. Heyne says, impleri navi-
bus Carthaginiensium: and Ruæus, agilari
remis.
567. Fervere: to glitter-to shine with
flames. The meaning is, that as soon as
the morning shall return, Dido will pursue
you with her ships, with torches and with
flames. You must weigh anchor and be
gone.
570. Fœmina: a woman is something al-
ways variable, and subject to change. This
is a singular construction. Mercury here
insinuates that hatred may succeed to Dido's
love for him; which might induce her to
seek revenge. Umbris: apparition.
572. Fatigat: arouses his companions.
573. Vigilate: wake quick-in haste.
Transtris: the seats or benches on which the
rowers sal.
575. Torlos funes: the ropes, or cables, by
which the ships were moored. Dr. Bentley
thinks the anchors are intended; but how
tortos can be applied to them, I sce not.
576. Sancle Deorum: O holy one of the
585
576. Ecce Deus mis-
sus ab alto æthere ite-
rum stimulat me festi-
nare fugam, incidoreque
tortos funes.
583. Cœrula maria.
gods, whoever thou art, &c. This mode of
expression is in imitation of the Greeks.
578. O udsis: O may thou be propitious.
579. Dextra sideru: favorable, or propi-
tious stars in the heavens. Feras: give-
grant.
580. Ferit: in the sense of secat. Ful-
mincum: shining, glittering. Rumus says,
coruscantem.
582. Deseruere litora. This change of the
tense adds much to the description. They
hale off, and hurry away; and no sooner
have they done this, than they have left the
shore, and are completely out to sea.
585. Et jam Aurora: and now Aurora,
leaving the saffron bed of Tithonus, first
spreads the earth over with early light. Ti-
thonus was either the son or brother of La-
omedon, king of Troy. On account of his
beauty and gracefulness, Aurora fell in love
with him, and endued him with immortality;
but not thinking to bestow on him perpetual
youth and beauty, he grew so weak and ex-
hausted by old age, that he wished for mor-
tality. But the goddess not being able to
restore it to him, in pity to his case, changed
him into a grasshopper. See Geor. iii. 48.
This is a most beautiful circumlocution to
denote the early dawn, when the earth be-
comes first enlightened by the beams of the
sun.
312
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
A
Regina è speculis, ut primùm albescere lucem
Vidit, et æquatis classem procedere velis;
Litoraque et vacuos sensit sinè remige portus:
589. Percussa quoad Terque quaterque manu pectus percussa decorum,
decorum pectus manu, Flaventesque abscissa comas: Proh Jupiter! ibit
Abscissaque quoad fla-
Hic, ait, et nostris illuserit advena regnis ?
ventes comas, ait: Proh
Non arma expedient, totâque ex urbe sequentur ?
593. Non-ne alii diri- Diripientque rates alii navalibus? ite,
pient
590
Ferte citi flammas, date vela, impellite remos.
Quid loquor? aut ubi sum? quæ mentem insania mutat?
Infelix Dido! nunc te facta impia tangunt.
594
quem
600
697. Decuit te tum Tum decuit, cùm sceptra dabas. En dextra, fidesque !
cogitare de his, cùm da- Quem secum patrios aiunt portare Penates!
bas sceptra tua perfido Quem subiisse humeris confectum ætate parentem!
homini. En dextra,
fidesque illius, Non potui abreptum divellere corpus, et undis
aiunt
Spargere? non socios, non ipsum absumere ferro
601. Non potui absu- Ascanium, patriisque epulandum apponere mensis ?
mere socios, non potui Verùm anceps pugnæ fuerat fortuna: fuisset.
absumere Ascanium ip-
sum ferro, apponereque
Quem metui moritura? faces in castra tulissem·
Implêssemque foros flammis: natumque patremque 605
eum,
Cum genere extinxêm: memet super ipsa dedissem.
Sol, qui terrarum flammis opera omnia lustras ;
Tuque, harum interpres curarum et çonscia, Juno,
Nocturnisque, Hecate, triviis ululata per urbes,
6C6. Ego ipsa dedis-
sem memet super eos.
NOTES.
587. Velis æquatis: the sails were equal-
by distended on each side of the mast. This
shows that the wind blew fair, and directly
after them: in nautical phrase, wing and
wing.
593. Diripient alii: will not others tear
my ships from the docks, and go in pursuit
of him?
596. Nunc impia facta. Mr. Davidson
observes that this is the reading of the
Cambridge edition, founded on the autho-
rity of Probus and the Codex Mediceus;
and it makes the sense obvious. By impia
facta, we are to understand the violation of
her faith to Sichæus, and her amours with
Eneas; by which she brought on herself
infamy and disgrace. Now she feels the
weight of those actions, and the punish-
ment due to her deeds. Ruæus and others,
who read fata, take impia in the sense of
crudelia. Nunc ultima fata, dura sors, su-
prema dies instant tibi, says Ruæus. Heyne
and Davidson read facta.
599. Subiisse: to have carried, or borne
upon his shoulders.
600. Divellere. There is here an allusion
to the manner in which the Bacchanals
tore the bodies of Orpheus and Pentheus in
preces.
602. Apponere : served him up to be feast-
ed upon at his father's table Reference is
here had to the story of Progne, who, to be
revenged upon Tereus, for his cruel treatment
of her sister Philomela, served up his son
Itys for him at a banquet. See Ecl. vi. 78.
603. Fortuna: in the sense of eventus.
604. Moritura: in the sense of cùm de-
creverim mori. Castra in the sense of
classem.
605. Foros: the decks or hatches of his
ships. Extinxêm: by syn. for extinxissem :
in the sense of interfecissem..
607. Sol. Dido invokes the sun, either
because he is the supporter of life in gene-
ral, or because, surveying all things here
below, could be a witness of her wrongs;
Juno, because she was the goddess of mar-
riage; and Hecate, because she presided
over magic rites; the Furies, because they
were the avengers of wrongs. Flammis:
in the sense of luce.
608. Interpres interpreter of these my
cares (sorrows) and conscious of my
wrongs. Servius takes interpres to mean,
witness, judge, or arbitress. Ruæus inter-
prets curarum by nuptialium negotiorum.
•
609. Hecate ululata: Hecate invoked, or
called upon, &c. When Pluto ravished
Proserpine, or Hecate, her mother Ceres
traversed the earth in search of her with
lighted torches, stopping at those places
where two or three ways met, to invoke her
name, which she did with a doleful outcry.
Hence it became a custom in her sacred
rites, for the matrons, on certain days, to go
about the streets and crossways filling the
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
313
Et Diræ ultrices, et Dî morientis Elisæ,
Accipite hæc, meritumque malis advertite numen,
Et nostras audite preces. Si tangere portus
Infandum caput, ac terris adnare necesse est ;
Et sic fata Jovis poscunt: hic terminus hæret :
At bello audacis populi vexatus et armis,
Finibus extorris, complexu avulsus Iüli,
Auxilium imploret, videatque indigna suorum
Funera: nec, cùm se sub leges pacis iniquæ
Tradiderit, regno aut optatâ luce fruatur;
610
615
620
Sed cadat ante diem, mediâque inhumatus arenâ.
Hæc precor: hanc vocem extremam cum sanguine
fundo.
Tum vos, ô Tyrii, stirpem et genus omne futurum
Exercete odiis: cinerique hæc mittite nostro
:
Munera nullus amor populis, nec fœdera sunto.
Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor;
Qui face Dardanios ferroque sequare colonos,
Nunc, olim, quocunque dabunt se tempore vires.
Litora litoribus contraria, fluctibus undas
Imprecor, arma armis pugnent ipsique nepotes.
:
NOTES.
air with shrieks and howlings. Nocturnis
triviis. The epithet nocturnis is used, be-
cause the rites of Hecate were celebrated
in the night, and in a place where three
ways met. See 511, supra.
611. Advertite: turn a due regard to my
misfortunes. Rumus and others understand
by malis, the wicked, to wit, the Trojans.
But this seems not to agree with the tenor
of the subject. Rumus says: applicate nu-
men meritum à sceleratis huc. Heyne, on the
other hand, says: advertite vestrum numen
(vim et potestatem) contra improbos et impios
Trojanos. Davidson renders the words:
turn your divine regard to my wrongs.
613. Caput: properly, the head; by sy-
nec. the whole body-here, Æneas.
614. Hæret in the sense of fixus sit.
615. At bello vexatus. It was a prevailing
opinion among the ancients, that the pray-
ers of the dying were generally heard, and
their last words prophetic. Thus Virgil
makes Dido imprecate upon Æneas a series
of misfortunes, which actually had their
accomplishment in his own person, or in
his posterity. After his arrival in Italy, he
was engaged in a war with Turnus, a bold
and warlike prince. He was torn from the
embrace of his son, and as it were an exile,
forced to go to Etruria, to implore the as-
sistance of Evander. See Æn. viii. 80. He
saw his friends slain, and lie dead before his
eyes. It is said he submitted to the terms
of a disadvantageous peace with king La-
tinus, among which it was stipulated that
the Trojans should abandon their native
language, drop their appellation, and adopt
that of the Latins. In the third year after
612. Si necesse est
infandum caput tangere
portus, ac
615. At rexatus bello
et armis audacis populi
extorris suis finibus,
avulsus complexú Iüli
624. Esto nullus amor
625 his populis, nec sunto
628. Imprecor litora
contraria litoribus, un-
das contrarias fluctibus,
arma contraria armis
this treaty, in a war with the Tuscans, he
was himself slain (ut plerique tradunt) by
Mezentius their king, on the banks of the
river Numicus, where his body was left un-
buried, and finally carried off by its waters,
and never more seen. The Romans aud
Carthaginians were bitter enemies to each
other: no league, no religious obligations,
could bind them in peace; and after Han-
nibal arose, he proved himself Dido's aven-
ger. He entered Italy with fire and sword;
the Roman armies fled before him; and
Rome itself was providentially saved from
his conquering arms.
617. Indigna: cruel-undeserved.
620. Cadat ante diem: let him fall before
his time-let him die an untimely death.
621. Vocem: in the sense of verba.
623. Mitlite hæc: present these offerings
to my ashes. This is said in allusion to the
sacrifices that were offered to the dead.
They were usually poured upon the tomb,
and consisted of milk, wine, and blood.
Exercete: in the sense of persequimini.
625. Exoriare aliquis ultor: arise some
avenger from my bones. This is much
more forcible, and shows more fully the
state of her mind, than if she had used the
third person.
Allusion is here made to
Hannibal. Dardanios colonos: simply, the
Trojans. Dardanios: an adj. from Ďarda-
nus, one of the founders of Troy.
627. Olim. This word signifies the fu-
here-
ture, as well as the past time: now,
after, whenever power shall present itself.
628. Contraria: in the sense of hostilio
vel infesta.
314
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
1
Hæc ait et partes animum versabat in omnes,
Invisam quærens quàm primùm abrumpere lucem
632. Affata est Barcen Tum breviter Barcen nutricem affata Sichæi,
Namque suam patriâ antiquâ cinis ater habebat :
634. O chara nutrix, Annam, chara, mihi, nutrix, huc siste sororem :
siste sororem Annam Dic corpus properet fluviali spargere lymphâ,
huc mihi : dic ut prope- Et pecudes secum et monstrata piacula ducat.
Sic veniat: tuque ipsa piâ tege tempora vittâ.
Sacra Jovi Stygio quæ ritè incepta paravi,
ret
639. Animus est mihi Perficere est animus, finemque imponere curis ;
.perficere sacra ritè in- Dardaniique roguin capitis permittere flammæ.
cepta, quæ paravi Sty- Sic ait. Illa gradum studio celerabat anili.
gio Jovi, imponereque
At trepida, et cœptis immanibus effera Dido,
Sanguineam volvens aciem, maculisque trementes
644. Interfusa quoad Interfusa genas, et pallida morte futurâ,
trementes genas macu- Interiora domûs irrumpit limina, et altos
lis, et pallida
Conscendit furibunda rogos, ensemque recludit
Dardanium, non hos quæsitum munus in usus.
Hic postquam Iliacas vestes notumque cubile
Conspexit, paulùm lachrymis et mente morata,
Incubuitque toro, dixitque novissima verba:
Dulces exuviæ, dum fata Deusque sinebant,
Accipite hanc animam, meque his exsolvite curis.
Vixi, et, quem dederat cursum fortuna, peregi;
Et nunc magna mei sub terras ibit imago.
NOTES.
635. Spargere fluviali lymphâ: to sprinkle
her body with river water. It was a custom
of the Greeks and Romans to wash their
bodies before they performed sacrifice. See
En. ii. 719. But this was only observed in
regard to the superior gods. They sprinkled
themselves only, when they were to offer sa-
crifice to the infernal gods, as in the present
case.
636. Pecudes: in the sense of victimas.
Monstrata: in the sense of jussa, vel desig-
nata.
638. Stygio Jovi: Pluto. He was the
brother of Jupiter, and in the division of the
world, the infernal regions fell to him by lot.
The epithet Stygius is added, from Styx, a
well known fabulous river of hell.
640. Permitlere: to commit the funeral
pile of the Trojan (Eneas) to the flames,
Capitis: by synec. for the body, or whole
man-here, the Trojan, to wit, Æneas.
641. Studio: zeal-officiousness.
642. Immanibus: awful-horrid. Effera:
in the sense of efferala.
644. Interfusa spotted-streaked.
645. Irrumpit: she rushed into the inner
apartment of the palace. It is plain that
limen signifies any part of the house, as
well as the threshold. The funeral pile was
erected in penetrali side, in the inner apart-
ment. See 504, supra.
646. Rogos. The funeral pile was called
rogus, before it was set on fire: while burn-
630
635
640
645
650
ing, it was called pyra; and after it was
consuined, bustum : all of which are derived
from the Greek.
647. Munus non quæsitum: a present not
designed, or gotten for such a use-for being
the instrument of her death. From this,
some infer that Æneas had made Dido this
present of a Trojan sword-Dardanium
ensem. But it is more probable that it was a
present from Dido to Eneas; and that in
his hurry to be gone, he had left it with
some other things, in her bedchamber.
Quæsitum. Ruæus says, comparatum.-
Heyne, paratum, acceptum, datum.
652. Curis: troubles-sorrows.
654. Et nunc and now my ghost (imago)
shall descend illustrious to the shades be-
low. Mei: in the sense of mca, agreeing
with imago.
Turnebus thinks the epithet magna is
used, because ghosts make their appearance
at night, when to the affrighted imagination
of the spectators, the object appears larger
than life. But this is a very singular opi-
nion. Dido is speaking in the language of
majesty, and setting forth her illustrious
deeds. She had built a flourishing city,
and laid the foundation of a powerful king-
dom-she had punished her brother for the
death of her husband-she had reigned in
glory-in a word, she had been happy in
every instance, till the Trojan fleet visited
her coast. In this situation of mind, nothing
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
315
Urbem præclaram statui: mea mœnia vidi;
Ulta virum, pœnas inimico à fratre recepi :
Felix, heu nimiùm felix! si litora tantùm
Nunquam, Dardaniæ tetigissent nostra carinæ.
Dixit: et, os impressa toro, moriemur inultæ !
Sed moriamur, ait: sic, sic juvat ire sub umbras.
Hauriat hunc oculis ignem crudelis ab alto
Dardanus, et nostræ secum ferat omina mortis.
Dixerat: atque illam media inter talia ferro
Collapsam aspiciunt comites, ensemque cruore
Spumantem, sparsasque manus. It clamor ad alta
Atria: concussam bacchatur fama per urbem :
Lamentis, gemituque, et fœmineo ululatu
Tecta fremunt: resonat magnis plangoribus æther.
Non aliter quàm si immissis ruat hostibus omnis
655
660
661. Crudelis Darda-
nus hauriat hunc ignem
suis oculis ab alto, et
664. Comites aspi-
ciunt illam collapsam
ferro inter media talia
665 verba, ensemque spu-
mantem, manusque ejus
sparsas cruore
671. Perque culmina
Deorum
672. Soror exanimis
Carthago, aut antiqua Tyros; flammæque furentes 670 audiit hæc, exterritaque
Culmina perque hominum volvantur perque Deorum.
Audiit exanimis, trepidoque exterrita cursu,
Unguibus ora soror fœdans et pectora pugnis,
Per medios ruit, ac morientem nomine clamat:
Hoc illud, germana, fuit? me fraude petebas ?
Hoc rogus iste mihi, hoc ignes aræque parabant?
Quid primùm deserta querar? comitemne sororem
Sprevisti moriens? eadem me ad fata vocâsses,
Idem ambas ferro dolor, atque eadem hora tulisset.
His etiam struxi manibus, patriosque vocavi
Voce Deos; sic te ut positâ crudelis abessem?
Extinxstî me teque, soror, populumque, patresque
NOTES.
can be more natural than for her to conceive
her ghost to be of great and illustrious rank,
and distinguished even in the other world
above others, as she had been herself dis-
tinguished in this.
656. Recepi pœnas. She had recovered
from her brother her own wealth, and the
treasure for which he murdered her hus-
band. It is with great propriety, therefore,
she uses the word recepi, when speaking of
the revenge she had taken of Pygmalion.
659. Moriemur inultæ: shall I die unre-
venged? but let me die. Thus, thus, it de-
lights me to descend to the shades below.
Inulta: unrevenged of Æneas and the Tro-
jans. The fatal moment having arrived,
the poet represents her to us in the very act
of stabbing herself, by the turn of his verse.
The repetition of the sic sets her before us,
plunging the instrument in her breast, and
thrusting it home with a kind of desperate
complacency. Impressa os toro: having
kissed the bed, she said, &c.
666. Bacchatur: in the sense of discurrit.
Concussam: in the sense of commolam, vel
allonitam
668. Fremunt: in the sense of resonant.
669. Ruat: falls. Rumus says, subver-
tatur.
675
680
trepido cursu, fœdans
ora unguibus, et pectora
pugnis, ruit per medios,
et clamat morientem so-
rorem nomine
676. Iste rogus para-
bat hoc mihi; isti ignes,
aræque parabant hoc
mihi?
Struxi rogum
680.
etiam his manibus, vo-
cavique patrios Deos
você, ut crudelis abes-
sem te sic positâ? O
soror, extinxstî me teque
670. Furentes: the furious flames were
rolling through the houses of men, and the
(temples) of the gods. Culmen is properly
the ridge of the house; by synec. put for
the whole house.
675. Hoc illud fuit: O sister, was this
your design-was this the object you had in
view, in erecting this funeral pile?
677. Deserta: being thus abandoned, of
what shall I first complain?
678. Fata: in the sense of mortem.
679. Dolor: pain-ache-anguish. Heyne
says, vulnus.
681. Sic positâ: thus lying dead.
682. Extinxstî: thou hast destroyed me
and thyself, &c. Some copies have exstinxi,
in the first person. By this Anna turns the
reproach from Dido to herself. But most
commentators prefer the second person. Si-
donios patres. By these we are to under-
stand probably the Carthaginian senators,
or the legislative branch of the government.
It is plain that they are distinguished from
the body of the people. Extinxsti: by
syn. for extinxisti. Date: in the sense of
ferte. Lymphis: in the sense of
This was a rite performed towards the bo-
dies of the dead by their nearest relations.
Hence the mother of Euryalus regrets that
aquâ.
1
316
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
}
f
abluam vulnera
683. Date aquam ut Sidonios, urbemque tuam. Date, vulnera lymphis
Abluam, et, extremus si quis super halitus errat,
Ore legam. Sic fata, gradus evaserat altos,
Semianimemque sinu germanam amplexa fovebat
Cum gemitu, atque atros siccabat veste cruores.
Illa, graves oculos conata attollere, rursus
Deficit: infixum stridet sub pectore vulnus.
Ter sese attollens cubitoque innixa levavit,
Ter revoluta toro est: oculisque errantibus, alto
692. Ingemuitque, ea Quæsivit cœlo lucem, ingemuitque repertâ.
repertâ.
flavum crinem vertice,
damnaveratque caput
Stygio Orco, quia
Tum Juno omnipotens longum miserata dolorem,
Difficilesque obitus, Irim demisit Olympo,
685
690
700
Quæ luctantem animam nexosque resolveret artus. 695
696. Nam Proserpina Nam, quia nec fato, meritâ nec morte peribat,
nondum abstulerat illi Sed misera ante diem, subitoque accensa furore;
Nondum illi flavum Proserpina vertice crinem
Abstulerat, Stygioque caput damnaverat Orco.
Ergò Iris croceis per cœlum roscida pennis,
702. Ego jussa fero Mille trahens varios adverso Sole colores,
hunc crinem sacrum Devolat, et supra caput adstitit: hunc ego Diti
Diti; solvoque te ab isto Sacrum jussa fero, teque isto corpore solvo.
705. Omnis calor di- Sic ait: et dextrâ crinem secat. Omnis et unà
lapsus est.
Dilapsus calor, atque in ventos vita recessit.
corpore.
NOTES.
she had not shut his eyes, nor washed his
wounds. En. ix. 485.
684. Siquis extremus: if any last breath
remain, that I may catch it with my mouth.
Virgil is here thought to allude to a cere-
mony among the Greeks and Romans:
when a person was just expiring, the near-
est relation put his mouth to his that he
might catch the last breath. Rumus inter-
prets super by adhuc. Super-errat is evi-
dently used in the sense of superesset. The
substitution of esset for errat makes the read-
ing easy. Some copies have esset.*
688. Conata: agreeing with Dido.
689. Vulnus stridet: the wound hisses,
occasioned by the gushing out of the blood.
Infixum made.
693. Dolorem: pain. Obitus: departure
-death.
695. Resolveret animam: might separate
her soul and body. Nexos artus: compact-
ed or united limbs.
696. Quia nec fato. The ancients divided
death into three kinds: natural, merited or
deserved, and accidental. The natural death
was when a person accomplished the ordi-
nary term of human life, or that space al-
lotted to him in the councils of the gods.
The merited or deserved death was, when
a person was deprived of life by the imme-
diate interposition of the gods for the pu-
705
nishment of atrocious conduct. The casu-
al, or accidental, was, when a person took
away his own life in some way or other:
such an one was said to die before his time.
This was the case with Dido.
697. Furore: passion. Diem: in the
sense of tempus.
698. Nondum illi: Proserpine had not
yet plucked for her the yellow lock, &c.
The ancients had a notion that none could
die till Proserpine, either in person, or by
Atropos, had cut a lock of hair from the
crown of their head. This was considered
a kind of first-fruits to Pluto. This custom
took its rise from sacrifices: when they used
to pluck some of the hairs from the front of
the victim, and cast them into the fire.
699. Orco: dat. of Orcus, a name of Pluto.
700. Iris ergò: dewy Iris flies through
heaven. Iris was the messenger of the god-
desses, especially of Juno.
desses, especially of Juno. She is said to
be the daughter of Thaumas and Electra.
Servius observes that Iris is, for the most
part, employed in matters of mischief, and
contention. See Æn. v. 606. and ix. 803.
Iris: the rainbow. This interesting appear-
ance is occasioned by the rays of the sun,
reflected by the vapors or drops of rain. It
can only take place, or be seen, when the
sun and cloud are opposite to each other, in
regard to the spectator.
✓
ENEIS. LIB. IV.
317
What is the subject of this book?
What is its nature, and character?
How does it commence?
QUESTIONS.
What plan did Juno propose to effect her
purpose of averting the Trojans from Italy?
Did she effect a union between Dido and
Æneas?
Was that union dissolved? ·
By whom was it dissolved?
By whom was Æneas commanded to leave
Carthage?
How did Dido receive the information
that he was ordered to leave her?
What effect had it upon her?
Did many of her countrymen accompany
her?
What appears to have been her original
purpose in leaving Tyre?
Had a colony of Tyrians previously set-
tled in Africa?
Who were the leaders of that colony?
Where did they settle?
What did they call their settlement?
How was Dido received by her country-
men?
What did they desire her to do?
What did she call her city?
What is the meaning of that word in the
What course did she pursue in order to Phoenician language?
divert him from his purpose?
As soon as the match was concluded be-
tween Dido and Eneas, was the news of
that event spread abroad?
By whom was it spread?
Whom does Virgil imitate in the descrip-
tion of Fame ?
Who was Iarbas?
What had he previously proposed to
Dido?
How was that proposition received?
What effect had the news of Dido's mar-
riage upon that prince?
How was he occupied at that time?
Who was said to be his father?
Who was Jupiter Ammon?
Had he any celebrated temple?
Where was it situated?
But do not some give a different account?
What do those historians say?
What did she call the town or citadel?
What is the meaning of Byrsa in the
Greek language?
To what mistake did that lead?
How have some attempted to explain that
story?
What does Rollin say of it in his history
of Carthage?
Did Dido purchase any tract of country
for her city?
What was the nature of the contract?
Did the Carthaginians perform it?
What was the consequence of their refu-
sal?
Is it supposed by some that Virgil is guil-
ty of an anachronism in making Dido and
Whom does Sir Isaac Newton make this Eneas cotemporary?
Ammon to have been?
Does Justin the historian give a different
account of this matter?
What does he say of it?
What was the issue of it as related by
him?
In what character was Dido considered
afterward by her countrymen?
Who was Dido?
What is the meaning of that word?
By what other name was she sometimes
called?
What was the name of her father, ac-
cording to Josephus?
What does Virgil call him?
What does Marollius call him?
Is Belus, probably, an abbreviation of Itho-
balus?
To whom was she married at Tyre?
Who was Sichæus ?
What office did he hold?
What was the character of Pygmalion,
her brother?
What atrocious deed did he perform?
What was his conduct afterward?
How was Dido informed of the cruel
deed?
What advice did the ghost of her hus-
band give her?
What did she do in consequence of that'
What does Bochart say of it?
=
Upon what does he found his conclusions?
Does Sir Isaac Newton make a different
calculation?
How much later has he brought down the
destruction of Troy?
Is it a fair conclusion that it was a general
received opinion, they were cotemporary?
Was this sufficient ground for the poet to
assume it as a fact?
Does the introduction of Dido into the
Eneid add much to its embellishment?
How long did Carthage continue ?
What was the character of its inhabitants?
Were the Carthaginians a powerful na
tion?
Who was the most distinguished com-
mander and general among them?
By whom was Carthage finally destroyed?
In what year of Rome was that effected?
Finding she could not prevail upon Æneas
to remain at Carthage, what desperate re-
solution did Dido make?
Under what pretence did she order the
altar to be erected?
What effect had the departure of the
Trojans from her coast upon her?
Did she make any imprecation against
Aneas and the Trojans?
318
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
A
Was it realized with regard to Æneas, if
we may believe history?
Was it realized in regard to the Romans,
his descendants?
Was there always a jealousy subsisting
between the two nations?
How many celebrated wars wore waged
between them?
How does the book conclude?
How did Dido put an end to her life?
LIBER QUINTUS.
THIS book opens with the departure of Æneas from Carthage. He had not been long at
sea before a violent storm arose, which forced him to turn his course to Sicily. He
entered the port of Drepanum. Here he is received with great cordiality and affection
by king Acestes. After offering sacrifice, and celebrating the anniversary of his father's
death, Æneas institutes four kinds of games in honor of him. These occupy from verse
114 to 602. In the mean time, the Trojan women, at the instigation of Iris, who was
sent by Juno for that purpose, set fire to the ships, in the hope, by these means, to put
an end to the voyage of which they were weary. At the intreaty of Æneas, Jupiter
sent a heavy shower of rain, which extinguished the flames. Four of the fleet, how-
ever, were lost. Upon this Nautes advises Æneas, since he had lost part of his fleet, to
leave in Sicily the aged, and all who were weary of the voyage. This advice was
confirmed the following night by the ghost of Anchises, which appeared to him in a
vision. It also directed him to go to the Sibyl of Cuma, who would conduct him to
the infernal regions, where he should receive a fuller account of his own fortune, and of
that of his race.
The hero followed the advice; and having founded a city, which he called Acestes, after
his venerable friend, he set sail for Italy.
He had not long been at sea, before he lost Palinurus, the pilot of his ship, who fell over-
board in sleep; after which Æneas took upon himself the duty and business of pilot.
This book is of a gay and lively nature, and very properly comes after the tragical account
of Dido's unhappy end. The games are imitated from the 23d book of the Iliad, where
Achilles is represented as instituting games in honor of his friend Patroclus.
5. Sed duri labores
INTEREA medium Æneas jam classe tenebat
Certus iter, fluctusque atros Aquilone secabat:
Mania respiciens, quæ jam infelicis Elise
Collucent flammis: quæ tantum accenderit ignem,
Causa latet: duri magno sed amore dolores
ex magno amore pol- Polluto, notumque, furens quid fœmina possit,
luto, noti; quidque fu-
rens fœmina possit fa- Triste per augurium Teucrorum pectora ducunt.
Ut pelagus tenuere rates, nec jam ampliùs ulla
9. Sed undique cœ- Occurrit tellus, cœlum undique, et undique pontus,
lum, et undique pontus Olli cæruleus supra caput adstitit imber,
apparet
Noctem hyememque ferens: et inhorruit unda tenebris.
cere, notum, ducunt
LO
5
10
NOTES.
1. Medium iter. This is literally the mid-
dle of his course. But this, strictly speak-
ing, cannot be; for he beheld the flames of
Dido's funeral pile. Rumus and Davidson
take medium in the sense of profundum; and
understand the phrase to mean, that Æneas
had gotten into the full or deep sea.
could read mare instead of iter, then there
would be no difficulty in this interpretation.
2. Certus: determined on going. Fluctus
atros Aquilone: he cut the waves blackened
If we
by the wind; or he cut the blackened waves
before the wind. Aquilo: the north wind,
put for wind in general; the species for the
genus. Mania: in the sense of urbem.
6. Polluto: in the sense of læso, vel
violato.
7. Per triste augurium: through gloomy
presages or conjectures.
8. Ut in the sense of quando.
10. Imber: in the sense of nubes vel nim-
bus. Olli for illi, by antithesis.
ENEIS. LIB. V.
319
15
12. Palinurus ipse
gubernator exclamat "ab
altâ puppi: heu! quia-
nam
21. Nos sufficimus noc
tendere contrà, noc tan-
20 tùm obniti
Ipse gubernator puppi Palinurus ab altâ :
Heu! quianam tanti cinxerunt æthera nimbi?
Quidve, pater Neptune, paras? sic deinde locutus,
Colligere arma jubet, validisque incumbere remis;
Obliquatque sinus in ventum, ac talia fatur:
Magnanime Ænea, non, si mihi Jupiter auctor
Spondeat, hoc sperem Italiam contingere cœlo.
Mutati transversà fremunt, et vespere ab atro
Consurgunt venti: atque in nubem cogitur aër.
Nec nos obniti contrà, nec tendere tantùm
Sufficimus: superat quoniam fortuna, sequamur:
Quòque vocat, vertamus iter. Nec litora longè
Fida reor fraterna Erycis, portusque Sicanos,
Si modò ritè memor servata remetior astra.
Tum pius Æneas: Equidem sic poscere ventos
Jamdudum, et frustrà cerno te tendere contrà.
Flecte viam velis. An sit mihi gratior ulla,
Quòque magis fessas optem demittere naves;
Quàm quæ Dardanium tellus mihi servat Acesten, . 30 chise in ejus gremio?
NOTES.
13. Quianam: in the sense of cur.
14. Quidve, pater Neptune, paras? This
apostrophe to Neptune gives us a very lively
idea of his wonder and astonishment.
15. Arma: properly signifies any kind of
instruments whatever-here the tackling of
the ship-the sails, spars and rigging of
every description. Davidson confines it to
the sails. But this is not necessary. It was
proper that all things should be stowed
away, as well as the sails reefed, that the
ship might the better weather the storm.
16. Obliquat sinus: he turns the sail into
the wind-he brings the vessel more into
the wind-he lies, in nautical language,
nearer the wind.
17. Auclor: the founder of our race.
18. Cœlo: in this weather. Vespere: in
the sense of occidente.
19. Transversà: an adj. neu. plu. taken
as an adverb in imitation of the Greeks.
21. Nec nos sufficimus: nor are we able
to proceed against it, nor so much as to
hold our own-to bear up against the storm
-to contend against it.
24. Reor fida: I think the faithful frater-
nal shores of Eryx, &c. Eryx was the son
of Butes and Fenus, according to common
report. Some say, his mother was Lycaste,
a Sicilian courtezan, who, on account of her
extraordinary beauty, was called Venus.
Virgil, following tradition, calls him the
brother of Æneas, both being reputed to be
the sons of Venus. His grandfather was
Amycus, who was slain by Pollux in a con-
test with the gauntlet: upon which Butes
fled into Sicily, and founded a city. Eryx,
in like manner, was slain by Hercules. He
gave his name to a mountain and city not
far from the Promontorium Lilybæum.
25. Si modò ritè: if now, remembering
24. Nec reor fida fra-
terna litora Erycis, Si-
canosque portus esse
longè.
28. An ulla tellus sit
25 gratior mihi, quòque ma-
gìs optem demittere fes-
sas naves, quàm quæ
servat mihi Dardanum
Acesten, et quæ com-
plectitur ossa patris An-
rightly, I measure over again the stars ob-
served before. From the relative situation
of those stars which he had observed upon
the coast of Sicily, and from their corres-
pondence with his present observations, he
judges himself to be on that coast again.
27. Tendere: strove-contended.
28. Viam: in the sense of cursum.
your course before the wind. The south-
west wind was favorable for them to go to
Sicily.
Turn
29. Demittere: in the sense of dirigere.
30. Acesten. What is said of the origin
of Acestes, is so incorporated with fable
that little dependence can be placed upon it.
The account, which Dionysius Halicarnas ·
sus gives, is probably the most correct. It
appears that Laomedon, king of Troy, be-
ing offended at some Trojan nobleman,
caused him and his sons to be put to death.
Lycophron calls him Phænodamus: but Ser-
vius and Pomponius call him Hippotes. But
thinking his daughters, who were three in
number, less deserving his displeasure, the
king sold them to some Sicilian merchants,
on condition that they should transport them
to some foreign country. A person of some
distinction being on board, by the name of
Crinisus, Crimisus, or Crimissus, fell in love
with one of them, whose name was Egesta,
and married her. Soon after she bore a son,
whom Virgil calls Acestes, but others Egestes,
or Egestes. Upon the death of Laomedon,
he obtained permission of Priam to return
to Troy; where he was during the siege
and destruction of that city, when he con-
tracted a friendship with Æneas. He after-
ward returned to Sicily. The river Crini-
sus being afterward called by his name, gave
rise to the fabulous account of his birth.
320
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
sunt
35. At Acestes ex ex-
Et patris Anchise gremio complectitur ossa?
32. Ubi hæc dicta Hæc ubi dicta, petunt portus, et vela secundi
Intendunt Zephyri: fertur cita gurgite classis:
Et tandem læti notæ advertuntur arena.
At procul excelso miratus vertice montis
celso vertice montis pro- Adventum, sociasque rates, occurrit Acestes,
cul miratus adventum, Horridus in jaculis et pelle Libystidis ursæ :
sociasque rates, occurrit
Troïa Crimiso conceptum flumine mater
nobis, horridus
39. Quem Troïa ma- Quem genuit. Veterum non immemor ille parentum,
ter genuit conceptum Gratatur reduces, et gazâ lætus agresti
Crimiso flumine.
42. Cùm postera clara
dies fugârat stellas pri-
mo oriente, Æneas
Excipit, ac fessos opibus solatur amicis.
Postera cùm primo stellas oriente fugârat
Clara dies; socios in cœtum litore ab omni
Advocat Æneas, tumulique ex aggere fatur:
45. Quorum genus est Dardanidæ magni, genus alto à sanguine Divûm,
Annuus exactis completur mensibus orbis;
Ex quo reliquias divinique ossa parentis
50. O Dî, vos, sic vo- Condidimus terrâ, mæstasque sacravimus aras.
luistis.
51. Ego agerem hunc Jamque dies, ni fallor, adest; quem semper acerbum,
Semper honoratum, sic Dî voluistis, habebo.
prensus-ve
diem, si essem exul în
Gætulis syrtibus, de- Hunc ego Gætulis agerem si syrtibus exul,
Argolicove mari deprensus, et urbe Mycena:
55. Nunc ultrò adsu- Annua vota tamen, solemnesque ordine pompas
ipsius parentis, equidem Exsequerer; strueremque suis altaria donis.
reor haud sinè numine Nunc ultrò ad cineres ipsius et ossa parentis,
Haud equidem sinè mente, reor, sinè numine Divûm,
mus ad cineres et ossa
Divûm
NOTES.
33. Gurgite: in the sense of mari.
34. Læti: socii is understood: my joyous
companions.
35. Miratus: observing-wondering at.
Our arrival was unexpected, and a matter
of wonder to him.
37. Horridus in jaculis: rough with jave-
lins, and the hide of an African bear. The
word horridus is vory applicable to the dress
and equipage of a hunter, bearing his darts
and javelins in his hands, and guarded
against the savages of the mountains. In
which character Acestes is here represented.
Libystidis an adj. from Libystis, and that
from the noun Libys. Pliny says there were
no bears in Africa, on account of its great
heat. But there are many good authorities
against him. Solinus says the Numidian
bears excel all others in beauty and form:
which is probably the reason that Virgil
dresses Acestes in one of their skins.
:
39. Genuit. in the sense of peperit.
40. Agresti gasâ: with his homely fare.
Gaza is a word of Persian origin, and signi-
fies any kind of sumptuous expense, either
in provision or furniture. Nos is to be con-
nected with reduces.
44. Aggere: summitate, says Ruæus.
46. Annuus orbis: the annual circle (to
wit, a year) is completed.
;
49. Acerbum: afflictive-sorrowful.
35
40
45
50
55
50. Habebo: I shall consider. Agerem:'
I would observe, or keep.
53. Solemnes pompas. This is peculiarly
proper in this place. Pompa properly signi-
fies a funeral or other procession; and, exse-
querer: I would perform the exsequiæ, or fu-
neral obsequies; the principal of which was
the following of the corpse to the grave, or
funeral pile. Hence exsequiæ came to sig-
nify the whole funeral rites: from sequor,
follow.
1
altars with his own proper gifts. These
54. Struerem altaria: I would cover the
were milk, wine, honey, and blood, poured
upon the tomb. Upon these it was thought
the Umbra, or shade of the deceased, fed,
and especially upon the blood. Valpy says.
fit offerings.
56. Haud sinè mente. Eneas here attri
butes their arrival in Sicily to the interposi-
tion of the gods, as if they designed it to
afford him an opportunity of paying divine
honors to his father. Mente: design. Ru-
æus says, consilio.
58. Lætum honorem: the joyous festival.
Rumus interprets honorem by sacrificium.
But it is plain that honorem includes every
part of the rites and ceremonies which were
performed upon that occasion, as well as the
offerings or sacrifices.
ÆNEIS. LIB. V.
321
56. Et nos delati huc
instramus
59. Poscamus ventos
60 ab eo, atque ut velit me,
urbe positâ, quotannis
ferre hæc sacra in temp-
lis dicatis sibi
Adsumus; et portus delati intramus amicos.
Ergò agite, et lætum cuncti celebremus honorem :
Poscamus ventos, atque hæc me sacra quotannis
Urbe velit positâ templis sibi ferre dicatis.
Bina boum vobis Trojâ generatus Acestes
Dat numero capita in naves: adhibete Penates
Et patrios epulis, et quos colit hospes Acestes.
Prætereà, si nona diem mortalibus almum
Aurora extulerit, radiisque retexerit orbem,
Prima cita Teucris ponam certamina classis.
Quique pedum cursu valet, et qui viribus audax,
Aut jaculo incedit melior, levibusve sagittis ;
Seu crudo fidit pugnam committere cæstu ;
Cuncti adsint, meritæque expectent præmia palmæ. 70
Ore favete, omnes, et cingite tempora ramis.
65
62. In singulas naves
67. Et qui incedit au-
dax viribus
Sic fatus, velat maternâ tempora myrto :
Hoc Elymus facit, hoc ævi maturus Acestes,
Hoc puer Ascanius: sequitur quos cætera pubes.
Ille è concilio multis cum millibus ibat
Ad tumulum, magnâ medius cômitante catervâ.
Hic duo ritè mero libans carchesia Baccho
Fundit humi, duo lacte novo, duo sanguine sacro ;
Purpureosque jacit flores, ac talia fatur:
Salve, sancte parens: iterum salvete, recepti
NOTES.
60. Positâ urbe: a city being built-that
is, after they had founded a city and erected
temples in it dedicated to him.
61. Acestes generatus. Acestes sprung
from Troy, gives, &c. Bina capita boum:
simply, two oxen.
62. Adhibete Penates, &c. Servius is of
opinion that the poet here alludes to the
Roman custom called Lectisternia, or sacred
banquets, prepared at the solemn games for
the gods, whose images were placed on
couches, and set down at the most honorable
part of the table, as principal guests.
64. Si: in the sense of cùm.
66. Ponam: in the sense of instituam.
Eneas here institutes four kinds of games
or sports-a rowing match-a foot race-a
shooting match, and a gauntlet fight; and
proposes suitable rewards for the victors in
each.
67. Valet: in the sense of præstat. Ince-
dit in the sense of est.
69. Fidit: in the sense of audet.
70. Præmia merita palma: rewards of
meritorious victory-or rewards worthy of
victory. Palma: in the sense of victoriæ:
by moton.
71. Favete omnes ore: favete ore, vel favete
linguis, was the phrase made use of by the
public criers before the celebration of solemn
games or sacrifices. The inport seems to
be: Favor us with your religious attention
-pronounce no words of bad omen that
75
80
75. Ille ibat medius è
concilio cum multis mil-
libus ad
may profane the sacred ceremonies: or, let
us have the concurrence of your prayers to
render the gods favorable to us: or, lastly,
aid us by your applause and joyful acclama-
tions.
72. Velat tempora. The poet here alludes
to a practice among the Romans, of persons
of every age and condition, who appeared
at these solemn games, to wear a garland
upon their heads. The myrtle was sacred
to Venus; hence the propriety of the expres-
sion, materna myrto.
73. Maturus avi: a Grecism. In the sense
of provectus ætate, vel annis.
77. Hic duo ritè: here in due form offer-
ing, he pours on the ground, &c. Carchesia :
large bowls without handles: plu. of carche-
sium. Libans: pouring out-offering. Bac-
cho: for vino. Mero: pure-unmixed.
80. Iterum salvete: Ye ashes revisited in
vain, and soul and shade of my father, again
hail.-Cineres recepti nequicquam. By these
words Servius understands Anchises himself,
whom Eneas rescued from the flames of
Troy in vain; since he lost him before his
arrival in Italy. But the sense given above
is easier. Æneas lost his father a year be-
fore on his way to Italy; but, meeting with
a storm, he was obliged to go to Africa.
Now on his return he visits his tomb, and in
a manner receives him again, but in vain ;
since it was not permitted that he should
take him with him to Italy. Animæque um-
22
322
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
82. Non licuit mihi Nequicquam cineres, animæque umbræque paternæ.
tecum quærere Italos Non licuit fines Italos, fataliaque arva,
fines
85
Nec tecum Ausonium, quicunque est, quærere Tybrim.
85. Cùm ingens lu- Dixerat hæc : adytis cùm lubricus anguis ab imis
bricus anguis traxit sep-
tem gyros
Septem ingens gyros, septena volumina traxit,
87. Cui terga cœrules Amplexus placidè tumulum, lapsusque per aras :
notæ incendebant, et cu- Cœruleæ cui terga notæ, maculosus et auro
jus squamam fulgor
Squamam incendebat fulgor: ceu nubibus arcus
90. Tandem ille ser- Mille trahit varios adverso Sole colores.
pens longo agmine inter Obstupuit visu Æneas: ille agmine longo
Tandem inter pateras et levia pocula serpens,
Libavitque dapes, rursusque innoxius imo
Successit tumulo, et depasta altaria liquit.
Hôc magis inceptos genitori instaurat honores:
Incertus, Geniumne loci, famulumne parentis
Esse putet cædit quinas de more bidentes,
Totque sues, totidem nigrantes terga juvencos:
Vinaque fundebat pateris, animamque vocabat
Anchisæ magni, Manesque Acheronte remissos,
Necnon et socii, quæ cuique est copia, læti
90
95
100
Dona ferunt: onerant aras, mactantque juvencos
Ordine ahena locant alii: fusique per herbam
Subjiciunt verubus prunas, et viscera torrent.
Expectata dies aderat, nonamque serenâ
Auroram Phaethontis equi jam luce vehebant.
105
NOTES.
braque. Some consider these as genitives
connected with and governed by cineres.
Servius explains it upon the principles of
Plato and Aristotle; who gave to man a
fourfold soul-the intellectual, the sensual,
the vital, and the vegetative. To each of
these they assigned a shade or ghost. It is
most probable the poet here, as elsewhere,
uses the plural for the singular, in order to
aggrandize his subject: that is, animæ for
anima, and umbræ for umbra, in the voc.
sing. This is the opinion of Ruæus and
Heyne.
84. Adytis. The tomb of Anchises here
is spoken of as a temple-a shrine.
87. Cui: in the sense of cujus. Terga:
acc. plu. governed by incendebant, or some
other verb of like import, understood.
88. Fulgor maculosus: a brightness varie-
gated with gold-with a golden hue. In-
cendebat: made or rendered resplendent.
91. Serpens: a part. of the verb serpo,
agreeing with ille in the preceding line.
92. Libavit dapes: tasted the banquet,
and again, &c. The dapes was the offer
ing to the shade of Anchises, spoken of 54,
supra.
93. Depasta: fed upon-just tasted.
94. Instaurat: in the sense of renovat.
Honores: in the sense of sacrificia.
95. Incertus-ne: uncertain whether he
should consider him (the serpent) to be, &c.
The ancients had a notion that there were
Genii appointed, some the protectors of
countries and cities, and others the guar-
dians of particular persons, who never left
them even after death.
98. Vocabat. Eneas here not merely
called upon his ghost to partake of the re-
past he had prepared, but invoked him as a
god to be propitious to him, thereby deify-
ing him.
99. Manes remissos Acheronte: the shade
or ghost sent back from the dead to partake
of the banquet. Acheron: a fabulous river
of hell-often put for hell itself: or the place
of the dead, as here.
secundùm copiam quæ est unicuique.
100. Quæ copia est cuique: in the sense of
101. Onerant: some copies have onerant-
que. Heinsius, Pierius, and Heyne omit the
que.
103. Viscere: by this we are to understand
the meat in general.
105. Equi Phaethontis: the horses of the
sun brought the ninth, &c. Photon, was the
son of Phœbus and Clymene. He obtained
from his father the management of his cha-
riot for one day; but unable to govern the
fiery steeds, he was precipitated into the Po.
See Ovid. Met. 2. Here put for the Sun
himself. The poets represented the sun as
drawn in a chariot by four horses, whose
names were Pyroïs, Eoüs, Ethon, and Phle-
gon, all of Greek origin.
ENEIS. LIB. V?
323
Famaque finitimos et clari nomen Acesta
Excierat læto complêrant litora cœtu,
Visuri Æneadas, pars et certare parati.
Munera principio ante oculos, circoque locantur
In medio, sacri tripodes, viridesque coronæ,
Et palmæ, pretium victoribus; armaque, et ostro
Perfusæ vestes, argenti aurique talenta :
Et tuba commissos medio canit aggere ludos.
Prima pares ineunt gravibus certamina remis
Quatuor, ex omni delectæ classe, carinæ.
Velocem Mnestheus agit acri remige Pristin,
Mox Italus Mnestheus, genus à quo nomine Memmî :
Ingentemque Gyas ingenti mole Chimæram,
Urbis opus, triplici pubes quam Dardana versu
Impellunt: terno consurgunt ordine remi.
Sergestusque, domus tenet à quo Sergia nomen,
Centauro invehitur magnâ; Scyllâque Cloanthus
Cœruleå, genus unde tibi, Romane Cluenti.
Est procul in pelago saxum, spumantia contra
Litora; quod tumidis submersum tunditur olim
Fluctibus, hyberni condunt ubi sidera Cori :
Tranquillo silet, immotâque attollitur undâ
Campus, et apricis statio gratissima mergis.
Hic viridem Æneas frondenti ex ilice metam
Constituit, signum nautis, pater: unde reverti
Scirent, et longos ubi circumflectere cursus.
NOTES.
108. Æneadas: in the sense of Trojanos.
110. Sacri tripodes. The tripod was pro-
perly a kind of three-footed stool or table,
on which were placed the sacred bowls and
other vessels for the libation. It is called
sacred on account of its various uses in the
ceremonies of religion. We learn from Ho-
mer that the Greeks used to make presents
of tripods to their heroes and great men.
111. Palma. The palm was the ordina-
y prize of every conqueror at the games.
Plutarch gives this reason for it; because
the palm is a fit emblem of fortitude, as it
is not crushed, nor borne down by any
weight; but still maintains its growth,
and rises superior to opposition. Per-
fusa dyed, or colored. Talenta: one talent
of each.
116. Agit: in the sense of regit vel gu-
bernat. Acri remige: with a valiant band
of rowers.
117. A quo nomine: from whose name is
the family of Memmius. In order to recom-
mend himself to the noble families at Rome,
Virgil derives their origin from Trojans of
distinction. Genus: in the sense of familia.
118. Opus urbis: in the sense of instar
urbis.
119. Triplici versu: with a triple row of
oars. What Virgil says of the nature of
these boats, is in anticipation; but it was
110
115
108. Pars visuri
Eneadas, et pars parati
certare.
111. Pretium destina-
tum victoribus
113. Tuba canit è me-
dio aggere ludos com-
missos esse.
115. Quatuor carinæ
delectæ ex omni classe,
pares gravibus remis
117. A quo nomine
oritur genus
118. Gyas agit ingen-
tem Chinæram ex in-
genti mole
121. Sergestusque, à
120 quo Sergia domus tenet
nomen, invehitur mag-
na Centauro; Cloan-
thusque invehitur cæru-
leâ Scylla; unde genus
est tibi
125
127. Silet in tranquillo
cœlo, attolliturque ex im-
motâ unda, tanquam
campus
129. Hic pater Æneas
constituit viridem me-
130 tam ex frondenti ilice,
tanquam signum nautis:
unde.
not necessary that he should conform ex-
actly to chronological fact. The, galley, it
is well known, was not invented till long
after, and was of various sizes. Some had
two, some three, and others four banks, or
rows of rowers: and, accordingly, they were
called Biremis, Triremis, quadriremis, &c.
Their banks of rowers were raised, slopingly
one above another, so that those of the
second bench rested their feet where those
of the first were seated, &c. `Remi consur-
gunt terno ordine. By this we are to under-
stand that the oars rose together, and, as it
were, kept time throughout the three rows.
Ruæus makes a distinction between versus
and ordo. The first, according to him, sig-
nifies the series of oars reckoned horizontally
from stem to stern. The ordines he makes
to be the same oars reckoned vertically, or
as they rose obliquely above one another.
121. Domus: properly the house, by me-
ton. the family-race.
123. Genus: race—family.
125. Olim: continually-usually.
126. Condunt: cover over-hide them in
clouds.
127. Tranquillo. In calm weather this
rock was visible; but in storins it was cover-
ed with waves, and resounded with the dash-
ing of the waters. It rose above the sur-
face like a plain,
324
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
132, Ipsi ductores Tum loca sorte legunt: ipsique in puppibus auro
longè effulgent in pup- Ductores longè effulgent ostroque decori:
pibus, decori auro os- Cætera populeâ velatur fronde juventus,
troque.
nitescit.
:
135. Perfusa quoad Nudatosque humeros oleo perfusa nitescit.
nudatos humeros oleo Considunt transtris, intentaque brachia remis :
Intenti expectant signum: exultantiaque haurit
Corda pavor pulsans, laudumque arrecta cupido.
Inde, ubi clara dedit sonitum tuba, finibus omnes,
Haud mora, prosiluere suis ferit æthera clamor
Nauticus; adductis spumant freta versa lacertis.
Infindunt pariter sulcos: totumque dehiscit
Convulsum remis rostrisque tridentibus æquor.
Non tam præcipites bijugo certamine campum
145. Currus non tam Corripuere, ruuntque effusi carcere, currus:
præcipites corripuere Nec sic immissis aurigæ undantia lora
campum
Concussere jugis, pronique in verbera pendent.
Tum plausu fremituque virûm, studiisque faventûm
Consonat omne nemus, vocemque inclusa volutant
Litora; pulsati colles clamore resultant.
151. Gyas effugit ante
alios: primusque elabi- Effugit ante alios, primusque elabitur undis
135
140
145
150
tur undis inter turbam Turbam inter fremitumque Gyas: quem deinde Cloanthus
fremitumque.
Consequitur, melior remis; sed pondere pinus
NOTES.
134. Populea fronde. Servius observes,
the reason of their wearing garlands of the
poplar tree, was, that they were celebrating
funeral games. Hercules, it is said, brought
that tree from the infernal regions.
136. Brachia intenta remis: their arms
are stretched to the oars. Ruæus has no
stop after remis, but connects it with the
following words. This, however, is not so
easy and, beside, it takes from the so-
lemnity of the description. The verb sunt
is understood.
It
138. Pulsuns pavor: throbbing fear, and
an eager desire of praise, draws their beat-
ing hearts. This is very expressive.
raises such palpitations in their breasts, as
if it would draw their hearts out of their
bodies. Pulsans is a very proper epithet to
pavor, beating-palpitating.
139. Finibus. Finis, here, means the line,
place, or bound, from which they start-the
mark. Sonitum: the signal.
141. Lacertis adductis.
Dr. Trapp ob-
serves, by this we are to understand the
motions of the rowers, when, in pulling at
the oar, they draw the arms close to the
body. This they do, especially when they
row with all their strength.
142. Infindunt pariter sulcos: they cleave
furrows in the sea at the same time-they
start all at once.
143. Equor convulsum: the whole sur-
face of the sea convulsed, &c. Some edi-
tions have stridentibus. But this violates
the measure of the verse; the first syllable
of stridentibus being always long. Ancient
medals explain the matter; on some of
which there is plainly seen a rostrum, or beak
of a ship with three teeth. Tridens, of tres
and dens.
144. Præcipites: in the sense of celeres.
Certamine: the chariot race. Bijugo signi-
fies or implies that two horses were yoked
or harnessed in the chariot. Macrobius ob-
serves that Virgil here excels Homer. In-
deed nothing can be more finely imagined,
or represented more to the life. Carcer:
the mark, or starting place; meta, the goal
or turning place. Currus, by meton. for
equi.
146. Nec auriga sic: nor have the cha-
rioteers so shook, &c. Jugis: the yoke,
by meton. put for the horses harnessed in it.
Immissis jugis: the horses flying with loos-
ened reins-at full speed.
148. Studiis: in the sense of acclama-
tionibus.
149. Litora inclusa, &c. Rumus observes
for volutant inclusam vocem.
that this is, by a figure called commutatio,
Or perhaps
inclusa may be taken here in the sense of
curva.
. 151. Primus. Davidson has primis, agree-
ing with undis. He glides away on the
nearest waves. Primus is however the
easier, and conveys the same idea. It is
the reading of Rumus and others. Resul-
tant: echo it back.
153. Pinus: the timber of the pine tree,
put by meton. for the ship or galley made
of it.
ENEIS. LIB. V
325
Tarda tenet. Post hos, æquo discrimine, Pristis
Centaurusque locum tendunt superare priorem.
Et nunc Pristis habet; nunc victam præterit ingeną
Centaurus; nunc unà ambæ junctisque feruntur
Frontibus, et longâ sulcant vada salsa carinâ.
155
160
165
170
Jamque propinquabant scopulo, metamque tenebant;
Cùm princeps, medioque Gyas in gurgite victor,
Rectorem navis compellat voce Menœten:
Quò tantùm mihi dexter abis? huc dirige cursum,
Litus ama, et lævas stringat, sine, palmula cautes :
Altum alii teneant. Dixit: sed cæca Mencetes
Saxa timens, proram pelagi detorquet ad undas.
Quò diversus abis? iterum, Pete saxa, Menote,
Cum clamore Gyas revocabat: et ecce Cloanthum
Respicit instantem tergo, et propiora tenentem.
Ille inter navemque Gyæ scopulosque sonantes
Radit iter lævum interior, subitusque priorem
Præterit; et metis tenet æquora tuta relictis.
Tum verò exarsit juveni dolor ossibus ingens,
Nec lachrymis caruere genæ: segnemque Menoten,
Oblitus decorisque sui,sociûmque salutis,
In mare præcipitem puppi deturbat ab altâ.
Ipse gubernâclo rector subit, ipse magister:
Hortaturque viros, clavumque ad litora torquet.
At gravis ut fundo vix tandem redditus imo est
Jam senior, madidâque fluens in veste, Menotes,
Summa petit scopuli, siccâque in rupe resedit.
Illum et labentem Teucri, et risere natantem :
Et salsos rident revomentem pectore fluctus.
163. Et sine ut pal-
mula stringat lovas
cautes
!
174. Oblitusque sui
175 decoris, salutisque so-
ciûm, deturbat segnem
Menoten, præcipitem
180
Hìc læta extremis spes est accensa duobus,
Sergesto Mnestheoque, Gyam superare morantem.
Sergestus capit antè locum, scopuloque propinquat: 185
NOTES.
154. Discrimine: in the sense of intervallo.
Superare: in the sense of occupare, vel ob-
tinere.
156. Habet. This is the reading of Hein-
sius, Heyne, Davidson, and others. Ruæus
has abit.
157. Junctis frontibus. They moved on
together head and head. Neither one gain-
ing of the other. It is of the same import
with aquatis rostris.
158. Salsa vada: the briny sea.
178. At ut Menetes
senior et gravis undis
jam tandem vix reddi-
tus est imo fundo:
fluensque in madida
veste, petit summa sco-
puli, reseditque
cut along the left way (iter lævum) and sud-
denly passed Gyas, who just before had been
ahead of him; præterit Gyam modò priorem.
Both in the naval and chariot race the great
art lay in turning as near the goal as possi-
ble. For the nearer they kept to it, the
shorter circumference they had to make, and
the less distance to run. This was a great
advantage to be gained, but it was attended`
with danger. Subitus. Some copies have
subitò. The sense is the same with either.
160. Princeps in the sense of primus. Heyne has subitò, on the authority of Bur-
Gurgite in the sense of mari.
161. Rectorem: the helmsman-steersman.
162. Mihi. Ruæus conjectures that mihi
here is merely expletive, as in many other
places. Ama litus: keep close to or hug the
rock.
166. Diversus: contrary-a different way.
170. Ille radit interior, &c. In the races
it was customary to keep the meta, or goal,
on the left hand. This will serve to explain
the present case. Cloanthus on the inside
(interior) and nearer the meta than Gyas,
mannus; but observes that the other is the
more poetical.
172. Juveni: the dat. in the sense of the gen-
174. Decoris: in the sense of dignitatis.
176. Rector ipse. Gyas hitherto had only
acted as pilot. He now discharges the of
fice both of pilot and helmsman.
177. Litora: to the rock or goal.
178. Redditus est: issued or rose from
with difficulty.
183. Accensa est: was kindled-arose
184. Superare: in the sense of præterirc.
326
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
186. Noc tamen ille Nec totâ tamen ille prior præeunte carinâ :
est prior, tota carina Parte prior, partem rostro premit æmula Pristis.
præeunte; una parte est At media socios incedens nave per ipsos
prior; Æmula Pristis
premit aliam
aliam partem Hortatur Mnestheus: Nunc, nunc insurgite remis,
Hectorei socii, Trojæ quos sorte supremâ
rostro.
194. Ego Mnestheus
non peto prima loca
Delegi comites: nunc illas promite vires,
Nunc animos; quibus in Gætulis syrtibus usi,
Ionioque mari, Maleæque sequacibus undis.
190
196
Non jam prima peto Mnestheus, neque vincere certo :
Quanquam ô! sed superent, quibus hoc, Neptune, dedisti.
196 O utinam possem Extremos pudeat rediisse : hoc vincite, cives,
Et prohibete nefas. Olli certamine summo
Procumbunt: vastis tremit ictibus ærea puppis,
Subtrahiturque solum tum creber anhelitus artus
Aridaque ora quatit: sudor fluit undique rivis.
:
Attulit ipse viris optatum casus honorem.
202. Namque dum Namque furens animi dum proram ad saxa suburget
Sergestus furens animi Interior, spatioque subit Sergestus iniquo;
suburget proram
Infelix saxis in procurrentibus hæsit.
Concussæ cautes, et acuto in murice remi
Obnixi crepuere; illisaque prora dependit.
NOTES.
187. Prior parte. The meaning is, that
Sergestus was ahead, but not by the whole
length of his galley; only by a part of it.
190. Hectorei socii: my brave companions,
whom I chose, &c. In order to animate
them the more, he calls them Hectorei, as
brave and valiant as Hector. Nothing can
be more expressive. Sorte: in the sense of
ruinâ, vel exitio.
192. Gæœtulis: African. The Gatuli were
a people of Africa, not far from Carthage.
The word is here used as an adj. Syrtibus:
see Æn. i. 111. Usi: sunt is to be supplied.
193. Ionio mari. That part of the Medi-
terranean lying between Epirus, Italy, and
Sicily, was called the Ionian sea. Through
or over this sea Æneas passed with his fleet.
Maleæ. Maleæ, a promontory of the Pelo-
ponnesus between the Sinus Argolicus and
the Sinus Laconicus, extending about five
miles into the sea. It was dangerous sailing
near it. It gave rise to the proverb, Maleam
legcns, oblwiscere, quæ sunt domi. The epi-
thet sequacibus, given to the waves of that
coast, represents them as so many fierce
and devouring monsters, that pursued ships
in order to overwhelm them.
195. Quanquam, ô? This is an instance
where Virgil is eloquent even in silence.
This abrupt exclamation is more expressive
of the mind of Mnestheus than any words
could have been, especially to those who
saw the looks and gestures that would ac-
company his voice. Having observed that
he did not strive with an expectation of
conquering, he turns upon himself: O that
I could! but let them conquer, to whom, O
Neptune, thou hast given that honor.
200
205
197. Nefas: disgrace-ignominy, of be-
ing the last to come out. Olli: by anti-
thesis for illi, they. Procumbunt: they ply
their oars with the greatest earnestness—
they spring upon them with all their strength.
199. Solum subtrahitur: the surface is
drawn from under them. Whatever is spread
under any thing as its support and founda-
tion is called in Latin solum, as the sea is to
a ship; the air to a fowl on the wing. So
rapidly did the galley move that the surface
of the sea seemed to withdraw from under
her.
201. Casus ipse: chance itself-mere
chance.
202. Suburget prorum: while he presses
the prow to the rock on the inside, &c. In-
terior, between Mnestheus and the goal,
taking a nearer course to it. But he had
not left to himself sufficient room, and was
therefore forced to run his galley upon that
part of the rock which projected farther than
the other points of the same rock. Ruœus
reads prorâ in the abl. Heyne, Davidson,
and Valpy, read proram.
203. Iniquo: in the sense of angusto.
205. Cautes concussa: the rocks were
struck. In other words, the galley received
a violent shock; for action and reaction are
equal. Murice. Murex properly signifies
the shell-fish, of the liquor of which, it was
thought, purple color was made. Hence
it is taken for the prominence of a rock,
which tapers into a sharp point like the shell
of that fish.
206. Crepuere: in the sense of fracti sunt.
The prow ran or slid up upon the rock, and
in that elevated situation stuck fast
ENEIS. LIB. V.
327
•
Consurgunt nautæ, et magno clamore morantur :
Ferratasque sudes, et acutâ cuspide contos
Expediunt, fractosque legunt in gurgite remos.
At lætus Mnestheus successuque acrior ipso,
Agmine remorum celeri, ventisque vocatis,
Prona petit maria, et pelago decurrit aperto.
Qualis speluncâ subitò commota columba,
Cui domus et dulces latebroso in pumice nidi,
210
213. Tulis qualis co-
lumba; cui domus et
Fertur in arva volans, plausumque exterrita pennis 215 dulces nidi sunt in late-
Dat tecto ingentem: mox aëre lapsa quieto,
Radit iter liquidum, celeres neque commovet alas:
Sic Mnestheus, sic ipsa fugâ secat ultima Pristis
Equora; sic illam fert impetus ipse volantem.
Et primùm in scopulo luctantem deserit alto
Sergestum, brevibusque vadis; frustràque vocantem
Auxilia, et fractis discentem currere remis.
Inde Gyan, ipsamque ingenti mole Chimæram
Consequitur; cedit, quoniam spoliata magistro est.
Solus jamque ipso superest in fine Cloanthus :
Quem petit, et summis adnixus viribus urget.
Tum verò ingeminat clamor; cunctique sequentem
Instigant studiis: resonatque fragoribus æther.
Hi proprium decus, et partum indignantur honorem,
Ni teneant; vitamque volunt pro laude pacisci.
Hos successus alit: possunt, quia posse videntur.
Et fors æquatis cepissent præmia rostris;
Ni palmas ponto tendens utrasque Cloanthus
Fudissetque preces, Divosque in vota vocâsset:
220
225
broso
pumice, subitò
commota è speluncâ, vo-
lans fertur in arva; ex-
territaque dat ingentem
plausum tecto pennis.
229. Hi indignantur
230 mi teneant proprium de-
cus et honorem jam par-
tum; voluntque pacisci
Dî, quibus imperium est pelagi, quorum æquora curro;
Vobis lætus ego hoc candentem in litore taurum
NOTES.
207. Clamore: noise-bustle-confusion.
Morantur: are delayed-stopped.
208. Sudes. This was a pole used by boat-
mien,
and usually prefixed with iron. Hence
the epithet ferratas. Heyne reads trudes.
211. Celeri agmine: by or with the quick
motion of the oars. Acrior: ardentior, says
Ruæus.
212. Petit prona: he seeks the easy wa-
ters, &c. Pronus here is easy-unobstruct-
ed, as appears from the words which follow,
pelago decurrit aperto: he runs on the open
sea.
214. Dulces nidi: the nests are here put
for the young ones in them, by meton. Cui:
in the sense of cujus.
216. Dat ingentem: the pigeon gives the
stroke to her nest (tecto) with her wings
when she first leaves it, and commences her
flight.
217. Liquidum: in the sense of aëreum.
218. Ultima æquora: by this we are to
understand the last part of the race-that
part of it which lay beyond the meta, or goal.
220. Desert: in the sense of præterit.
Brevibus vadis: simply, shallows. Here the
rock on which his galley stuck.
236
222. Discentem: in the sense of tentantem.
224. Cedit: she yields-falls behind.
225. Cloanthus superest, &c. Mnestheus
had gotten ahead of Sergestus and Gyas,
and Cloanthus remained alone to contest
the prize with him. Him he pursues, and
presses closely, straining every nerve.
prize was not to be given to him, who first
arrived at the goal, but to him who return-
ed first to the port, or place from whence
they set out.
4
The
228. Fragoribus. Some ancient manu-
scripts have clamoribus, but this makes false
quantity. The other is doubtless the true
reading. Studiis: huzzas--acclamations.
229. Hi indignantur: these consider it a
disgrace, unless, &c. Hi: these, meaning
the crew of Cloanthus. Hos, in verse 231
infra, the crew of Mnestheus.
231. Alit: in the sense of animat.
232. Et fors cepissent: they would have
gotten to the shore together; so that it
could not have been determined who was
the victor, and both received equal prizes,
had not Cloanthus, &c. Fors: in the sense
of fortasse.
328
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Constituam ante aras voti reus, extaque salsos
Porriciam in fluctus, et vina liquentia fundam.
Dixit: eumque imis sub fluctibus audiit omnis
Nereïdum Phorcique chorus, Panopeaque virgo;
Et pater ipse manu magnâ Portunus euntem
Impulit. Illa Noto citiùs volucrique sagittâ
Ad terram fugit, et portu se condidit alto.
Tum satus Anchisâ, cunctis ex more vocatis,
Victorem magnâ præconis voce Cloanthum
Declarat, viridique advelat tempora lauro :
Muneraque in naves, ternos optare juvencos,
Vinaque, et argenti magnum dat ferre talentum.
et ferre magnum talen- Ipsis præcipuos ductoribus addit honores:
248. Dat ei optare
ternos juvencos vinaque,
munera in naves.
240
245
tum argenti; quæ erant Victori chlamydem auratam, quam plurima circùm 250
Purpura Mæandro duplici Melibœa cucurrit ;
250. Victori Cloantho Intextusque puer frondosâ regius Idâ
dat auratam
Veloces jaculo cervos cursuque fatigat,
Acer, anhelanti similis: quem præpes ab Idâ
Sublimem pedibus rapuit Jovis armiger uncis.
Longævi palmas nequicquam ad sidera tendunt.
Custodes, sævitque canum latratus in auras.
At, qui deinde locum tenuit virtute secundum,
Levibus huic hamis consertam auroque trilicem
Loricam, quarn Demoleo detraxerat ipse
NOTES.
237. Reus voti. When a person has taken
upon himself a vow on a certain condition,
he is said to be Reus voti, exposed to, or
liable for his vow. When the condition is
granted on the part of the gods, he is said
to be damnatus voti or damnatus votis: bound
to the performance of his vow. See Ecl.
v. 80.
238. Porriciam: in the sense of projiciam.
This verb properly signifies to place an offer-
ing to the gods upon an altar or otherwise.
Liquentia: in the sense of pura.
240. Omnis chorus: all the choir of the
Nereids, &c. The Nereids were the fabu-
lous daughters of Nereus and Doris. See
Ecl. 6. 35. Phorci. Phorcus or Phorcys
was a marine god, the son of Neptune and
Terra, and father of the Gorgons. Pano-
pea, one of the Nereids. Servius says she
is here mentioned by name, because she was
the only virgin among them.
241. Pater ortunus ipse: father Portu-
nus himself, &c. Portunus, one of the ma-
rine gods, whose name is derived from por-
tus, because he presided over ports and har-
bors. Euntem may agree either with eum,
(to wit,) Cloanthum, understood, or with na-
pem. The sense is the same in either case.
It may be observed, that Virgil omits no
opportunity to instruct, as well as to please.
He keeps to strict decorum in this first game.
He gives the palm of victory to him who had
invoked the gods. He shows us, also, the
rashness of youth punished in the case of
255
260
Gyas, whose fool-hardiness makes him lose
the victory, of which he had the fairest
prospects at the first. He sets forth the
equity and liberality of Eneas in rewarding
Sergestus for saving his galley, since he
could not give him a prize as a conqueror.
242. Illa: to wit, navis. Noto: the south
wind, put for wind in general-the species
for the genus.
250. Circum quam plurima: around which
very much Melibean purple run in a double
maze. Maander was a river in the Lesser
Asia, running between Caria and Ionia into
the Ægean sea. It was so full of windings
and turnings, that the word came to be used
for any turning or windings whatever. For
meandro, Ruæus says flexu. Melibea was
a city in Thessaly, at the foot of Mount
Ossa, famous for dying purple. Here used
as an adj.
252. Regius puer intextus: the royal boy
interwoven in it, (the chlamys,) pursues with
his javelin, and with speed, &c. The boy
here meant is Ganymede. He was taken up
from Mount Ida by Jove in the form of an
eagle, and made cupbearer to the gods in
the place of Hebe. See Æn. i. 28. Fatigat
in the sense of sequitur.
255. Prapes armiger Jovis: the swift-
winged armour-bearer of Jove-the eagle.
Pliny observes that the eagle is proof against
thunder; and this is the reason of its being
selected for Jove's armour-bearer.
260. Loricam consertam, &c. The coat
ENEIS. LIB. V.
329
Victor apud rapidum Simoënta sub Ilio alto,
Donat habere viro, decus et tutamen in armis.
Vix illam famuli Phegeus Sagarisque ferebant
Multiplicem, connixi humeris: indutus at olim
Denoleus, cursu palantes Troas agebat.
Tertia dona facit geminos ex ære lebetas,
Cymbiaque argento perfecta, atque aspera signis.
Jamque adeò donati omnes, opibusque superbi,
Puniceis ibant evincti tempora tænîs:
Cùm sævo è scopulo multâ vix arte revulsus,
Amissis remis, atque ordine debilis uno,
Irrisam sinè honore ratem Sergestus agebat.
Qualis sæpe viæ deprensus in aggere serpens,
Ærea quem obliquum rota transiit, aut gravis ictu
Seminecem liquit saxo lacerumque viator:
Nequicquam longos fugiens dat corpore tortus;
Parte ferox, ardensque oculis, et sibila colla
Arduus attollens; pars vulnere clauda retentat
Nexantem nodos, seque in sua membra plicantem.
Tali remigio navis se tarda movebat :
Vela facit tamen, et plenis subit ostia velis.
Sergestum Æneas promisso munere donat,
Servatam ob navem lætus, sociosque reductos.
Olli serva datur, operum haud ignara Minervæ,
Cressa genus, Phôloë, geminique sub ubere nati.
Hoc, pius Æneas, misso certamine, tendit
Gramineum in campum, quem collibus undique curvis
Cingebant sylvæ: mediâque in valle theatri
Circus erat; quò se multis cum millibus heros
NOTES.
of mail usually consisted of several thin
plates of iron or brass, which were fastened
together with hooks or rings. Hence con-
sertam hamis. See En. iii. 467. and vii.
639.
264. Multiplicem. Multiplex, any thing
consisting of many folds, or thicknesses. Of
multum et plico.
265. Agebat palantes Troas. The poet
here pays to Æneas a very high compliment
in an indirect manner. For if Damoleus
was able to drive before him whole troops
of Trojans, flying in confusion and dismay:
how great a hero must he be, who slew this
mighty champion!
266. Facit: in the sense of dat. This
This
present was given to Gyas, who came in the
third victor. Signis: with figures-with
carved work.
265
269. Evincti quoad
270 tempora
ratem
270. Cùm Sergestus
agebat irrisam
sinè honore, vix revul-
sus è sævo scopulo mul-
tâ artê, remis amissis,
275 atque debilis uno ordine.
275. Aut viator gravis
ictu liquit seminecem,
lacerumque saxo;
280
285
278. Altera pars clauda
285. Cressa quoad ge-
nus, nomine Pholoė, ge-
minique
this means all the oars on one side. But
this cannot be, since the galley had three
banks or tiers of oars on a side.
273. Aggere viæ. Agger via is properly
the eminence or the highest part of the
road; which is raised or cast up in the mid-
dle for the purpose of carrying off the rain.
276. Dat: in the sense of movet vel for-
mat. Tortus: in the sense of flexus.
278. Retentat: in the sense of moratur.
Nexantem nodos: in the sense of torquentem
se in nodos. Heyne reads, nodis.
284. Serva datur. The games here are
imitated from Homer. In that barbarous
age, that one of the prizes should be a fe-
male, is no matter of wonder. Haud igna-
ra: not unskilled in the works of Minerva;
that is, in manufactures. The Cretans were
very skilful in manufactures and the works
268. Donati: were rewarded. The verb of the loom.
sunt is to be supplied.
270. Revulsus. Some copies have revul-
sam, agreeing with ratem vel navem. But
revulsus, referring to Sergestus, is the most
upproved reading. If revulsam be read, then
we must read debilem, instead of debilis.
271. Debilis uno ordine: disabled in one
bank or tier of oars. Dr. Trapp thinks
286. Certamine: in the sense of ludo.
Misso: in the sense of finito, vel dimisso.
289. Erat circus theatri. The theatrum
was the place at Rome appropriated for
scenical representations. See Geor. ii. 381
The circus was destined for the celebration
of the Roman games, especially horse-races
It was built by Tarquinius Priscus, between
330
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Consessu medium tulit, extructoque resedit.
291. Hle pretiis invi- Hic, qui fortè velint rapido contendere cursu,
tat animos eorum, qui Invitat pretiis animnos, et præmia ponit.
fortè velint
208. Salius, simul et
Patron seculus est hunc
300. Tum secuti sunt
duo Trinacrii
Undique conveniunt Teucri, mixtique Sicani :
Nisus et Euryalus, primi.
Euryalus formâ insignis, viridique juventâ ;
Nisus, amore pio pueri: quos deinde secutus
Regius egregiâ Priami de stirpe Diores.
290
295
Hunc Salius, simul et Patron; quorum alter Acarnan :
Alter ab Arcadiâ, Tegeææ sanguine gentis.
Tum duo Trinacrii juvenes, Elymus Panopesque,
Assueti sylvis, comites senioris Acestæ.
302. Prætereà multi Multi prætereà, quos fama obscura recondit.
secuti sunt; quos ob- Æneas quibus in mediis sic deinde locutus :
Accipite hæc animis, lætasque advertite mentes:
Nemo ex hoc numero mihi non donatus abibit.
scura
306. Dabo iis ferre Gnossia bina dabo lævato lucida ferro
bina Gnossia spicula Spicula, cœlatamque argento ferre bipennem :
Omnibus hic erit unus honos. Tres præmia primi
Accipient, flavâque caput nectentur olivâ.
lucida lævato ferro,
311. Alter victor ha- Primus equum phaleris insignem victor habeto.
Alter Amazoniam pharetram, plenamque sagittis
beto
NOTES.
the mountains Aventinus and Palatinus, for
the celebration of games in imitation of the
Olympic games. This Sicilian valley, hav-
ing some resemblance to it, is therefore call-
ed circus theatri, the circuit of a theatre.
See Geor. ii. 381.
290. Resedit, &c. The meaning probably
is, that Æneas sat down upon an eminence
that had been erected for the occasion. In
this case, loco is to be understood with ex-
tructo: on a place built up. Ruaus seems
to think otherwise: he says, in composito
cætu resedit. By connecting consessu with
extructo, he implies that the company or as-
sembly sat down on an elevated place.
And it is no way improbable that Æneas,
with some of the chief men, was seated in
the centre of the whole assembly on an ele-
vated place, that they might be the more
conspicuous.
There seems to be here an allusion to the
custom, in the Roman camp, of the general
to address his soldiers from the agger, or
suggestus.
292. Pretiis. By pretium we may under-
stand the value of the rewards; and, by
præmia, the rewards themselves.
An ac-
296. Pio amore. Pius amor signifies a
generous, tender, and disinterested love,
such as that of parents to children.
count of the love of Euryalus for Nisus, we
have in the 9th book, verse 176, and follow-
ing. Nothing can more forcibly set forth
his love for the lad, than that tender expos-
tulation in his favor, verse 427 et seq. quod
vide.
300
305
310
298. Salius. The names here mentioned
are not of the poet's invention. Varro says
that Salius caine into Italy with Evander,
and there instituted the Salian dance; which
was performed by persons clad in armour, in
honor of Mars. Acarnan, a native of Acar-
nania: a region of Epirus.
299. TegeϾ gentis. Tegea was a city of
Arcadia, sacred to Pan. Patron was a na-
tive of this city, and Salius was of Epirus.
Heyne reads Arcadio, an adj. agreeing with
sanguine: of Arcadian blood. But Arca-
dia is the common reading.
302. Quos fama: whose names, fame ob-
scure by length of time, hath concealed
from us.
304. Mentes: thoughts-attention.
306. Gnossia spicula: Gnossian darts.
Gnossius, an adj. from Gnossus, a city of
Crete, whose darts and missive weapons
were very much celebrated. The spiculum
was about five feet long, tipped with steel
of a triangular form: hence lucida lavato
ferro: shining with polished steel. It was
the same with the pilum, u military weapon,
used by footmen; which in a chargo, they
darted against the enemy.
309. Nectentur: they shall be bound, as
to the head, with yellow olive. This alludes
to the conquerors at the Olympic games,
who were crowned with garlands of olive
leaves, which are of a yellow color. The
olive was sacred to Minerva.
311. Amazoniam: an Amazonian quiver;
one of the same form with those that the
Amazons used. They were said to have
ENEIS. LIB. V.
331
Threïciis; lato quam circùrnplectitur auro
Balteus, et tereti subnectit fibula gemmâ.
Tertius Argolicâ hâc galeâ contentus abito.
Hæc ubi dicta, locum capiunt, signoque repentè
Corripiunt spatia audito, limenque relinquunt
Effusi, nimbo similes: simul ultima signant.
Primus abit, longèque ante omnia corpora Nisus
Emicat, et ventis et fulminis ocyor alis.
Proximus huic, longo sed proximus intervallo,
Insequitur Salius. Spatio pòst deinde relicto,
Tertius Euryalus.
Euryalumque Elymus sequitur. Quo deinde sub ipso
Ecce volat, calcemque terit jam calce Diores,
Incumbens humero: spatia et si plura supersint,
Transeat elapsus prior, ambiguumve relinquat.
Jamque ferè spatio extremo fessique sub ipsum
Finem adventabant: levi cùm sanguine Nisus
Labitur infelix, cæsis ut fortè juvencis
Fusus humum viridesque super madefecerat herbas.
Hic juvenis, jam victor ovans, vestigia presso
Haud tenuit titubata solo: sed pronus in ipso
Concidit immundoque fimo, sacroque cruore.
Non tamen Euryali, non ille oblitus amorum :
Nam sese opposuit Salio per lubrica surgens;
Ille autem spissâ jacuit revolutus arenâ.
Emicat Euryalus, et munere victor amici
Prima tenet, plausuque volat fremituque secundo.
Pôst Elymus subit; et nunc tertia palma Diores.
Hic totum caveæ consessum ingentis, et ora
NOTES.
been a nation of females inhabiting a part
of Thrace. Much is said of them among
the ancients, the greater part of which is
doubtless fable. Alter: in the sense of se-
cundus.
312. Circumplectitur. The common read-
ing is circùm amplectitur. Heyne reads, cir-
cumplectitur, and observes that the best co-
pies do the same. Balteus lato auro. Rumus
says, latus balleus ex auro.
316. Relinquunt limen: they leave the
mark, rushing forth like a tempest. Corri-
piunt spatia: they seize the first ground
they start. Limen. In the Roman circus,
when at the height of its magnificence, the
racers started from under a kind of portico;
over whose threshold they leaped. Hence
limen came to signify the starting place.
In a temporary circus, such as the one here
mentioned, a line drawn in the sand served
as the barrier, or starting place. Spatium
we may suppose to be the whole ground
lying between the carcer and meta. The
race was twice that distance, or divided in
the middle by the meta, or turning place.
Hence the propriety of the plu. spatia, as
applied to the race ground.
317. Signant, &c. Notant oculis, animo-
312. Balteus è lato
auro
315
315. Ubi haq sunt
dicta, omnes
320
325
321. Deinde, spatio
relicto pòst Salium, Eu-
ryalus sequitur tertius
323. Sub quo ipso ecce
Diores deinde volat
326. Certamen ambi-
guum
329. Ut fortè ex ju-
vencis cæsis fusus erat
331 super humum, madefo-
ceratque virides herbas.
334. Ille non oblitus
335 est Euryali, non oblitus
340
est amorum
335. Lubrica loca
336. Ille Salius jacuit
338. Tenet prima spa-
tia, volatque
They
que designant metam, says Heyne.
fix their eyes steadfastly upon the goal. U-
tima: spatia is understood.
318. Omnia corpora: all the rest. Nisus
is to be taken with primus. He gets the
start of all the others.
323. Sub quo ipso: close up to whom-to
Elymus.
325. Si plura spatia supersint: if there
had been more distance to run, he would
have overtaken Elymus and gotten ahead
of him; or at least left the victory doubtful.
332. Haud tenuit: did not hold firm his
tottering steps, &c.
337. Munere: in the sense of beneficio.
339. Pòst Elymus subit: afterward Ely.
mus comes out; and now Diores (comes
out) the third victor. Palma: the prize, or
victory itself, put by meton. for the victor
or conqueror.
340. Ingentis caveœ. The middle part
or area of the Roman theatre was called
cavea, because it was considerably lower
than the other parts of it. Here the com-
mon people had their seats. It was capable
of containing 80,000 men. By synec. put,
for the whole theatre.
332
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Prima patrum magnis Salius clamoribus implet;
Ereptumque dolo reddi sibi poscit honorem.
Tutatur favor Euryalum, lachrymæque decoræ,
Gratior et pulchro veniens in corpore virtus.
345. Diores adjuvat Adjuvat, et magnâ proclamat voce, Diores,
Euryalum
$
345
Qui subiit palmæ: frustràque ad præmia venit
Ultima, si primi Salio redduntur honores.
Tum pater Eneas, Vestra, inquit, munera vobis
Certa manent, pueri, et palmam movet ordine nemo.
Me liceat casûs misereri insontis amici.
350
Sic fatus, tergum Gætuli immane leonis
Dat Salio, villis onerosum atque unguibus aureis.
355
Hic Nisus, Si tanta, inquit, sunt præmia victis,
Et te lapsorum miseret; quæ munera Niso
Digna dabis, primam merui qui laude coronam
356. Ni eadem inimica Ni me, quæ Salium, fortuna inimica tulisset?
fortuna tulisset me, quæ Et simul his dictis faciem ostentabat, et udo
tulit Salium
Turpia membra fimo. Risit pater optimus olli,
362. Pòst, ubi cursus Et clypeum efferri jussit, Didymaonis artes,
confecti sunt, et peregit Neptuni sacro Danais de poste refixum.
dona, Eneas inquit: Hoc juvenem egregium præstanti munere donat.
Nunc, si sit cui virtus, Pòst, ubi confecti cursus, et dona peregit :
animusque præsens in Nunc, si cui virtus animusque in pectore præsens,
pectore, ille adsit, et
attollat brachia evinctis Adsit, et evinctis attollat brachia palmis.
palmis
Sic ait, et geminum pugnæ proponit honorem :
NOTES.
360
365
341. Salius implet prima ora: Salius fills
the whole assembly of the huge pit, and the
foremost seats of the fathers, &c. Virgil
here applies a verb to two nouns, though in
strict propriety it suits only one of them.
Implet concessum is very proper, but implet
prima ora can only be used in poetry. The
patres and principal men sat in the first or
foremost seats; hence the epithet prima.
The meaning appears to be this: that Sa-
lius standing before, or in front of the patres
or principal men, demanded the palm of
victory in loud and vociferous language,
which filled the ears of the whole assembly.
Prima ora patrum: in the sense of priores
ordines, quibus seniores sedebant.
344. Veniens: in the sense of existens, vel
apparens.
346. Venit ad ultima præmia. The three
first, by the condition of the race, were to
have a prize. And Diores, who was next
to Elymus, was entitled to the third or last,
provided Salius was set aside, and Euryalus
allowed to have the first prize.
351. Tergum: in the sense of pellem.
352. Onerosum villis: heavy with shag
and golden claws. The fur of lions and
other wild beasts were worn in ancient
times by persons of distinction, and their
claws were often gilt for ornament and
show. Africa was infested with lions and
other wild beasts of prey, especially Gætulia,
whose lions are said to have been the largest,
and the most savage.
355. Laude: in the sense of virtute in
cursu. Coronam : honor-reward. Merui:
in the sense of meruissem.
culiar signification: to bear down, to over-
356. Tulisset. This verb here has a pe-
it by Hypallage: for tulissem inimicam for-
power, or get the better of. Some explain
takes tulisset in the sense of obstitisset.
tunam; but this is hardly allowable. Rumus
359. Artes: the workmanship of Didy-
maon.
This is a fictitious name, signifying
a skilful or ingenious workman.
360. Refixum Danais: torn down by the
Greeks from the sacred post of Neptune's
temple. Servius thinks that this was a
buckler or shield, which Pyrrhus had taken
from Neptune's temple in the sacking of
Troy; and that after his death it fell into
the hands of Helenus, who presented it to
Æneas at his departure from Epirus. It
was usual to fix up arms won from the ene-
my on the door posts of the temples, as con-
secrated offerings to the gods.
363. Virtus. This, for the most part, sig
nifies military bravery, skill, and prowess.
These the ancients considered the most
valuable qualities and the first virtues.
364. Palmis: with his hands bound with
the gauntlet.
ÆNEIS. LIB. V.
333
Victori velatum auro vittisque juvencum ;
Ensem, atque insignem galeam, solatia victo.
Nec mora: continuò vastis cum viribus effert
Ora Dares, magnoque virûm se murmure tollit :
Solus qui Paridem solitus contendere contra :
Idemque ad tumulum, quo maximus occubat Hector,
Victorem Buten immani corpore, qui se
Bebryciâ veniens Amyci de gente ferebat,
Perculit, et fulvâ moribundum extendit arenâ.
Talis prima Dares caput altum in prælia tollit,
Ostenditque humeros latos, alternaque jactat
Brachia protendens, et verberat ictibus auras.
Quæritur huic alius: nec quisquam ex agmine tanto ·
Audet adire virum, manibusque inducere cæstus.
Ergò alacris, cunctosque putans excedere palmâ,
Æneæ stetit ante pedes: nec plura moratus,
Tum lævâ taurum cornu tenet, atque ita fatur:
Nate Deâ, si nemo audet se credere pugnæ,
Quæ finis standi? quò me decet usque teneri ?
Ducere dona jube. Cuncti simul ore fremebant
Dardanidæ, reddique viro promissa jubebant.
Hic gravis Entellum dictis castigat Acestes,
Proximus ut viridante toro consederat herbæ :
Entelle, heroum quondam fortissime frustrà,
NOTES.
366. Velatum auro vittisque: ornamented
with gold and fillets-simply, golden fillets,
by hendiadis. It was customary to adorn
the oxen with fillets, and gild their horns,
both when they were designed for sacrifice,
and also when they were to be given away
as rewards of merit.
370. Paridem. Paris, the son of Priam,
though dissolute and effeminate in his morals,
was naturally strong and valiant, as appears
from Homer, and always behaved himself
well in arms. He is said to have been su-
perior to Hector in the gauntlet fight. Mur-
mure: applause-shouts of applause.
371. Quo maximus Hector. It is said,
upon the death of Hector there was a truce
of two months between the Greeks and
Trojans, during which games were celebra-
ted by the latter at Hector's tomb on the
promontory of Sigeum; where Dares distin-
guished himself.
372. Buten perculit: he smote victorious
Butes, of huge body, who boasted that he
sprung from the Bebrycian race of Amycus,
&c. The Butes here mentioned was not
the son of Amycus and father of Eryx, for
he must have been dead long before; but of
another of the same name, who lived in the
time of the Trojan wars, and boasted to be
of the same race as the other.
373. Bebryciâ. This was the original
name of Bythinia, a province of Asia Minor.
Here Amycus reigned. He is said to have
received no person into his dominions, only
370'
375
380
385
367. Victo ensem at
que insignem galeam
quæ sint solatia ejus.
371. Idemque Dares
ad tumulum, quo maxi-
mus Hector occubat,per-
culit victorem Buten im-
mani corpore, qui ferebat
se, utpote veniens de Be-
brycia gente Amyci, et
extendit eum moribun-
dum in flava arena.
384. Quòusque decet
me teneri
386. Promissa præmia
reddi
on the condition that they would try the
gauntlet with him. He was at last van-
quished and slain by Pollux, one of the Ar-
gonauts.
379. Audet adire virum: dares engage the
man, and draw the gauntlets on his hands.
It is not easy to say what was the exact na-
ture of the cœstus. Some take it to be a
kind of club or bludgeon, with lead at the
end. It is more probable, however, it was
a sort of leathern guard for the hands and
arms, composed of thongs, and filled with
lead to add force and weight to the blow-
It was bound about the hands and arins, as
high as the elbows, both as a guard, and to
keep them from slipping off. This explains
evinctis palmis, 364, supra.
To this, the account which Virgil here
gives of the weapon best agrees. The word
cæstus most probably is derived from the
word cado. The gauntlet fight was so cruel
and bloody that the celebrated Lycurgus
made a law forbidding the Spartans to prac-
tise it.
380. Excedere palmâ: to decline or leave
the prize-to depart from it.
381. Plura moratus. Rumus says, diutiùs
plu. is taken adverbially in imitation of the
tardans. Plura here, properly an adj. neu.
Greeks.
384. Standi: in the sense of expectandi.
385. Fremebant ore: they all expressed
approbation with their mouths.
334
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
390. Tam-ne patiens Tantane tam patiens nullo certamine tolli
sines tanta dona tolli Dona sines? ubi nunc nobis Deus ille, magister
391. Ubi nunc est
Eryx, ille Deus nobis, Nequicquam memoratus, Eryx ? ubi fama per omnem
nequicquam memoratus Trinacriam, et spolia illa tuis pendentia tectis?
•
tuus magister? Ubi est Ille sub hæc: Non laudis amor, nec gloria cessit
tua fama inclyta Pulsa metu: sed enim gelidus tardante senectâ
Sanguis hebet, frigentque effœtæ in corpore vires.
397. Si, si nunc illa Si mihi, quæ quondam fuerat, quâque improbus iste
juventa foret mihi, quæ Exultat fidens, si nunc foret illa juventa ;
quondam fuerat
Haud equidem pretio inductus pulchroque juvenco
Venissem: nec dona moror. Sic deinde locutus,
In medium geminos immani pondere cæstus
Projecit: quibus acer Eryx in prælia suetus
Ferre manum, duroque intendere brachia tergo.
404. Animi spectato- Obstupuere animi: tantorum ingentia septem
rum obstupuere: septem Terga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant.
ingentia terga tantorum
boum rigebant plumbo
Ante omnes stupet ipse Dares, longèque recusat:
ferroque insuto. Magnanimusque Anchisiades, et pondus, et ipsa
Huc illuc vinclorum immensa volumina versat.
Tum senior tales referebat pectore voces:
Quid si quis cæstus ipsius et Herculis arma
Vidisset, tristemque hoc ipso in litore pugnam?
infecta
413. Cernis ea adhuc Hæc germanus Eryx quondam tuus arma gerebat.
Sanguine cernis adhuc fractoque infecta cerebro.
414. Ego suetus sum His magnum Alciden contra stetit: his ego suetus,
pugnure his, dum melior Dum melior vires sanguis dabat, æmula necdum
sanguis dabat vires mihi,
necdum æmula senectus Temporibus geminis canebat sparsa senectus.
Sed, si nostra Dares hæc Troïus arma recusat,
sparsa canebat
NOTES.
394. Sub: in the sense of ad. Inquit, or
a verb of the same import, is understood.
Non: in the sense of nec.
395. Enim: in the sense of equidem. He-
bet is chilled. Tardante: enfeebling old
agc.
396. Frigent: fail. In the sense of lorpent.
400. Moror: value-regard. Præmium
non curo, says Heyne.
403. Tergo: properly the back; by meton.
the hide or skin. Ferre manum in prælia:
to engage in fight; a phrase. Intendere: in
the sense of cingere.
406. Longè: in the sense of valde vel ve-
hementer. Recusat: declines the fight.
407. Anchisiades: the son of Anchises
Eneas. A patronymic noun.
408. Vinclorum: by syn. for vinculorum:
the castus or gauntlets with which their
hands and arms were bound.
409. Senior: namely, Entellus.
411. Tristem pugram. The fight is called
tristem, sad or woful; because Eryx was
slain. The occasion of the combat is said
to have been this: Hercules having slain
Geryon, king of Spain, was returning with
his booty, which was a herd of fine oxen.
In his way having visited Sicily, he received
a challenge from Eryx to fight him with the
390
395
400
406
410
415
gauntlet. If the victory fell to Eryx, he
was to have the oxen; and if he were van-
quished, the island of Sicily was to fall to
Hercules. Some say one of the oxen passed
over into Sicily and was taken by Eryx.
who refused to give it up, which occasioned
the combat.
412. Tuus germanus Eryx: your brother
Eryx. See verse 24, supra.
413. Fracto. This is the reading of Heyne,
on the authority of Heinsius, Burmannus,
and others, as he informs us.
The common
reading is sparso. The sense is the same
with either.
414. Alciden: Hercules, who, though the
reputed son of Jupiter and Alcmene, was
also called Amphitryoniades, from Amphi-
tryo, the husband of Alcmene; and Alcides,
from Alcæus the father of Amphitryo. See
En. vi. 801.
415. Emula senectus: envious age, not
yet spread over my temples, &c. The
meaning is: while old age had not yet co-
vered his head with gray hairs. Some say,
old age is here called (amula) envious, be-
cause it is apt to envy the strength and vigor
of youth, and emulate their feats in vain.
But it may be called envious on account of
the many evils and infirmities which it
ENEIS. LIB. V.
835
420
Idque pio sedet Æneæ, probat auctor Acestes;
Aquemus pugnas. Erycis tibi terga remitto;
Solve metus: et tu Trojanos exue cæstus.
Hæc fatus, duplicem ex humeris dejecit amictum :
Et magnos membrorum artus, magna ossa, lacertosque
Exuit; atque ingens mediâ consistit arenâ.
Tum satus Anchisâ cæstus pater extulit æquos,
Et paribus palmas amborum innexuit armis.
Constitit in digitos extemplò arrectus uterque,
Brachiaque ad superas interritus extulit auras.
Abduxere retro longè capita ardua ab ictu :
Immiscentque manus manibus, pugnamque lacessunt.
Ille, pedum melior motu, fretusque juventâ ;
Hic, membris et mole valens: sed tarda trementi
Genua labant: vastos quatit æger anhelitus artus.
Multa viri nequicquam inter se vulnera jactant;
Multa cavo lateri ingeminant; et pectore vastos
Dant sonitus: erratque aures et tempora circum
Crebra manus: duro crepitant sub vulnere malæ.
Stat gravis Entellus, nisuque immotus eodem :
Corpore tela modò atque oculis vigilantibus exit.
Ille, velut celsam oppugnat qui molibus urbem,
Aut montana sedet circum castella sub armis ;
Nunc hos, nunc illos aditus, omnemque pererrat
Arte locum, et variis assultibus irritus urget.
Ostendit dextram insurgens Entellus, et altè
Extulit: ille ictum venientem à vertice velox
Prævidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit.
Entellus vires in ventum effudit, et ultrò
Ipse gravis, graviterque ad terram pondere vasto
Concidit: ut quondam cava concidit aut Erymantho,
NOTES.
brings along with it, and the little comfort
it yields, as if it envied man the enjoyment
of life. Emula: in the sense of invida.
418. Sedet: in the sense of placet vel pro-
batur. Auctor: the author or adviser of the
combat.
419. Terga: the gauntlets of Eryx.
423. Exuit: in the sense of nudavit.
425. Innexuit: bound the hands, &c.
426. In digitos: upon their toes. Each
stood, tiptoe that the blow might fall with
the more force.
430. Ille, melior motu: the former (Dares)
is more active in the movements of his feet,
and relying upon his youth; the latter (En-
tellus) excelling, &c.
431. Membris et mole: simply, the size of
his limbs, by hend.
432. Tarda janua labant: his feeble knees
totter under him trembling. Hard breath-
ing, &c.
433. Nequicquam: in vain, because they
were without effect. Fulnera: in the sense
of ictus.
434. Ingeminant: they repeat.
435. Erral: moves, or passes around, &c.
424. Tum pater Eneas
425 satus Anchisâ extulit
430
435
439. Ille, velut qui op-
440 pugnat molibus celsam
urbem, aut sedet sub ar-
mis circum montana cas-
tella, nunc pererrat hos,
nunc illos aditus, om-
nemque locum arte.
445
448. Ut quondam cava
pinus eruta radicibus,
concidit aut
437. Gravis: in the sense of firmus.
438. Modò exit: he only with his body
and watchful eyes avoids the blows. Exit:
in the sense of evitat vel eludit. Tela: for
ictus.
439. Molibus: with batteries: engines.
441. Pererrat: in the sense of exquirit.
442. Irritus: being foiled-disappointed
-baffled.
445. Elapsus cessit: simply for elabitur.
447. Et ipse gravis, graviterque: and heavy
he fell heavily to the ground with his vast
weight. The graviterque appears to be
merely expletive. The sense is complete
without it. Entellus had raised himself with
the intention of giving a heavier blow to
Dares, who, having observed it, slipt from
the stroke. By these means his own na-
tural weight, and the impetus he gave to
himself, brought him to the ground. Or the
gravis may refer to his unwieldy size and
bulk, while the graviter refers to the vio-
lence of the shock he gave himself in missing
the blow aimed at Dares. But this is rather
a. refinement.
448. Erymantho: Erymanthus was a fa-
336
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
#
450. Diversis studiis
461.
Pater Eneas
haud passus est iras
Aut Idâ in magnâ, radicibus eruta pinus.
Consurgunt studiis Teucri et Trinacria pubes:
It clamor cœlo: primusque accurrit Acestes,
Equævumque ab humo miserans attollit amicum
At non tardatus casu, neque territus heros :
Acrior ad pugnam redit, ac vim suscitat ira :
Tum pudor incendit vires, et conscia virtus :
Præcipitemque Daren ardens agit æquore toto;
Nunc dextrâ ingeminans ictus, nunc ille sinistrâ.
Nec mora, nec requies: quàm multâ grandine nimbi
Culminibus crepitant; sic densis ictibus heros
Creber utrâque manu pulsat versatque Dareta.
Tum pater Æneas, procedere longiùs iras,
Et sævire animis Entellum haud passus acerbis :
Sed finem imposuit pugnæ; fessumque Dareta
Eripuit, mulcens dictis, ac talia fatur:
Infelix! quæ tanta animnum dementia cepit ?
Non vires alias, conversaque numina sentis?
Cede Deo. Dixitque, et prælia voce diremit.
468. Ast fidi æquales Ast illum fidi æquales, genua ægra trahentem,
ducunt illum ad naves, Jactantemque utroque caput, crassumque cruorem
trahentemque ægra ge-
Ore ejectantem mixtosque in sanguine dentes,
Ducunt ad naves: galeamque ensemque vocati
Accipiunt: palmam Entello taurumque relinquunt.
Hic victor, superans animis, tauroque superbus,
Nate Deâ, vosque hæc, inquit, cognoscite, Teucri,
Et mihi quæ fuerint juvenili in corpore vires,
476. Et à qua morte Et quâ servetis revocatum à morte Dareta.
Dixit et adversi contra stetit ora juvenci,
480. Arduusque, dex- Qui donum adstabat pugnæ: durosque reductâ
ros cæstus inter media Libravit dextrâ media inter cornua cæstus
cornua, illisitque eos in Arduus, effractoque illisit in ossa cerebro.
ossa, cerebro effracto, Sternitur, exanimisque tremens procumbit humi, bost
nua
servetis
trá reducta, libravit du-
NOTES.
mous wood and mountain in Arcadia, where
Hercules slew the celebrated boar.
453. At heros non tardatus: but the hero
not disabled, nor terrified by the fall, &c.
By the rules of the combut, if one fell, the
other was not to take the advantage of it,
but allow him time to rise and return to the
fight.
459. Sic: in the sense of tam, correspond-
ing with quam in the preceding line. Nim-
bi: storms.
463. Eripuit fessum Dareta: he rescued
weary Dares. Virgil follows Homer through-
out these games, but has varied from him in
the issue of the combat, with judgment, and
with an improvement of the moral. He
gives his readers the pleasure of seeing an
arrogant boaster humbled by an infirm old
man, roused by his courage to engage in an
unequal contest. Whereas in Homer, the
vounger and the stronger vanquishes the
more feeble, which contributes nothing to
the surprise or pleasure of the reader.
450
455
460
465
470
475
480
466. Non sentis alias vires: do you not
perceive other strength, and the gods to be
changed? Alias vires: other or foreign
strength-that which you did not expect to
be exerted against you, and therefore it is in
vain to contend. Cede Deo. By the god
here mentioned we are to understand the
one by whom Entellus was aided; perhaps
Eryx, whom the Sicilians had deified.
470. Ejectantem: some copies have re-
jectantem. Pierius prefers this. Heyne reads
ejectantem; so also Heinsius and Davidson.
473. Superans: in the sense of lætans.
476. Revocatum: rescued-freed-deli-
vered.
478. Donum: in the sense of præmium.
481. Sternitur: the ox falls, and trembling,
&c. This verse Servius thinks a very bad
one, because it ends with a monosyllable.
Mr. Davidson thinks it is to be admired for
that very reason. This abrupt ending of
the verse, says he, is like a rub in a person's
ENEIS. LIB V
337
Ille super tales effudit pectore voces:
Hanc tibi, Eryx, meliorem animam pro morte Daretis
Persolvo: hic victor cæstus artemque repono.
Protinus Æneas celeri certare sagitta
Invitat, qui forte velint, et præmia ponit:
Ingentique manu malum de nave Seresti
Frigit; et volucrem trajecto in fune columbam,
Quò tendant ferrum, malo suspendit ab alto.
Convenere viri: dejectamque ærea sortem
Accepit galea: et primus clamore secundo
Hyrtacıda ante omnes exit locus Hippocoöntis:
Quem modò navali Mnestheus certamine victor
Consequitur, viridi Mnestheus evinctus olivâ.
Tertius Eurytion, tuus, ô clarissime, frater,
Pandare: qui quondam, jussus confundere fœdus,
In medios telum torsisti primus Achivos.
Extremus galeâque imâ subsedit Acestes,
Ausus et ipse manu juvenum tentare laborem.
Tum validis flexos incurvant viribus arcus,
Pro se quisque, viri, et depromunt tela pharetris:
Primaque per cœlum nervo stridente sagitta
Hyrtacidæ juvenis volucres diverberat auras,
Et venit, adversique infigitur arbore mali.
Intremuit malus, timuitque exterrita pennis
Ales, et ingenti sonuerunt omnia plausu.
Post acer Mnestheus adducto constitit arcu
NOTES.
way; it forces him to stop and dwell upon
the object with attention.
483. Meliorem: either, because brute vic-
tims were more acceptable to the gods than
human victims; or it alludes to the second
victims, which, when the first escaped, were
substituted in their room, and were called
meliores, better. Animam: in the sense of
victimam.
484. Repono, &c. This is an allusion to
the gladiators in after times, who, when
their age exempted them from practising the
art, hung up the arms of their profession on
the doorposts of the temple of Hercules.
Persolvo in the sense of immolo.
487. Ingentique manu: Æneas may not
do it with his own hand; for men are often
said to do what they order to be done by
others. Heyne says, magna multitudine.
488. In fune trajecto: by a rope put through
the mast; trajecto per malum. Volucrem:
fluttering. Ferrum: for sagittam.
491. Erea galea accepit, &c. In war, and
among soldiers, a helmet supplied the place
of an urn to receive the lots.
492. Hippocoöntis. Hippocoön, the son
of Hyrtacus. - Homer says he was cousin to
Rhesus, who was slain by Ulysses and Dio-
mede in the first night after his arrival on the
Trojan shore. See En. i. 469. Locus: in
the sense of sors.
485
490
495
482. Super bove
488. Et suspendit ab
alto malo volucrem co-
lumbam
492. Locus Hippocoön-
tis Hyrtacidæ exit pri-
mus ante omnes
495. Eurytion est ter-
tius, tuus
500
501. Tum viri, quis.
•
505
que pro se, incurvant
flexos arcus
506. Omnia loca
=
496. Pandare. Pandarus was the son of
Lycaon. Homer makes him to have broken
the truce (confundere fœdus) between the
Greeks and Trojans, when they had agreed
to put the decision of the war upon the issue
of a single combat between Paris and Me-
nelaus. Paris was rescued by Venus, when
he was nearly overcome. Juno, unwilling
that the disaster of Troy should so soon be
terminated, urged Jupiter to bring about a
violation of the truce. He employed Mi-
nerva as his agent in the business. By her
persuasion, Pandarus shot an arrow among
the Greeks at Menelaus, which rekindled
the war. The epithet clarissime, is given to
him as being a distinguished archer. Ho-
mer equals him to Apollo. He was at last
killed by Diomede.
498. Acestes subsedit. Acestes remained
the last in the bottom of the helmet: that
is, the lot of Acestes.
501. Tela: in the sense of sagittæ.
502. Sagitta juvenis Hyrtacidae: the ar-
row of the youth Hippocoön first, &c. Stri-
dente nervo: from the whizzing string.
503. Volucres auras: the light air.
504. Arbore mali: in the wood of the mast.
505. Timuit: flutterod with her wings-
expressed signs of fear.
506. Ingenti plausu: with loud shouts, or
acclamations of the spectators.
23
338
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
•
515. Jam speculatus
columbam lætum in va-
cuo cœlo, et plauden-
tem alis, figit eam sub
523. Ingens
docuit hoc pòst
exitus
:
Alta petens, pariterque oculos telumque tetendit:
Ast ipsam miserandus avem contingere ferro
Non valuit nodos et vincula linea rupit,
Queis innexa pedem malo pendebat ab alto.
Illa Notos atque atra volans in nubila fugit.
Tum rapidus jamdudum arcu contenta parato
Tela tenens, fratrem Eurytion in vota vocavit :
Jam vacuo lætam cœlo speculatus, et alis
Plaudentem nigrâ figit sub nube columbam
Decidit exanimis, vitamque reliquit in astris
Aëriis, fixamque refert delapsa sagittam.
Amissâ solus palmâ superabat Acestes:
Qui tamen æthereas telum contorsit in auras,
Ostentans artem pariter arcumque sonantem.
Hìc oculis subitò objicitur magnoque futurum
Augurio monstrum: docuit pòst exitus ingens,
Seraque terrifici cecinerunt omina vates.
Namque volans liquidis in nubibus arsit arundo,
Signavitque viam flammis, tenuesque recessit
527. Ceu sæpe sidera Consumpta in ventos: cœlo ceu sæpe refixa
refixa è cœlo transcur- Transcurrunt, crinemque volantia sidera ducunt.
runt, volantiaque
Attonitis hæsêre animis, Superosque precati
Trinacrii Teucrique viri: nec maximus omen
Abnuit Æneas: sed lætum amplexus Acesten
Muneribus cumulat magnis, ac talia fatur :
NOTES.
510. Nodos et linea vincula rupit: he cut
the knots, and the hempen cords, with which,
being tied by the foot, &c. Mr. Pope, in
comparing the games of Homer and Virgil,
owns that Virgil has outdone his master by
the addition of two circumstances that make
a beautiful gradation. In Homer, the first
archer cuts the string that held the bird, and
the other shoots him as he is mounting. In
Virgil, the first only hits the mark, the se-
cond cuts the string, the third shoots him,
and the fourth, to show the strength of his
arm, directs his arrow up to heaven, where
it kindles into a flame, and makes a pro-
digy.
512. Fugit in notos: Notus is properly the
south wind. Sometimes it is put for any
wind. Here it seems to be used for the air
simply; wind being only air put in motion.
In nubes ac cælum evolavit, says Heyne.
513. Tum rapidus Eurytion: then intre-
pid Eurytion, a long time holding the arrow
extended on his ready bow, &c. Servius
Servius
says that Pandarus was worshipped as a
hero among the Lycians. This explains the
conduct of Eurytion in invoking him, in this
critical moment, to direct his arrow.
520. Contorsit: the reading of Heyne is
contendit.
523. Monstrum: here a prodigy, and
about to be of great import, is suddenly
presented to our eyes. Monstrum signifies
Monstrum signifies
any thing that is, or happens, contrary to
510
515
520
525
580
the ordinary course of events. It is from
monstro; because prodigies were thought to
be sent from heaven to signify some remark-
able future event. This one presaged the
burning of the fleet of Eneas. Subito. This
is the common reading. Heyne, after Hein-
sius, reads subitum.
524. Cecinerunt: they interpreted the
omens late.
Servius explains sera by gravia, others by
futura, and Cerdanus by tarda.
The com-
mon aceptation of the word is the easiest,
implying that the soothsayers could make
nothing of the omen, till the event took
place; and then, when it was too late to
avert it, and the ships on fire, they agreed
that this must have been the thing signified
by the prodigy.
528. Crinem: a train of light.
529. Hæsère attonitis: they stood with
astonished minds. Ruæus says: stelerunt
stupefacti animo.
531. Æneas abnuit: nor did great Æneas
reject the omen; but embracing joyful Aces-
tes, &c. He accepted it, considering it to be
propitious or favorable to him. He was
probably led to this from its resemblance to
that which shone from the head of Ascanius,
his son. See Æn. ii. 680. It appears from
this that the soothsayers had not yet inter
preted the omen; otherwise Eneas would
not have received it with joy.
ÆNEIS. LIB. V.
339
Sume, pater; nam te voluit rex magnus Olympi
Talibus auspiciis exsortem ducere honorem.
Ipsius Anchise longævi hoc munus habebis :
Cratera impressum signis, quem Thracius olim
Anchisa genitori, in magno munere, Cisseus
Ferre sui dederat monumentum et pignus amoris.
Sic fatus, cingit viridanti tempora lauro,
Et primum ante omnes victorem appellat Acesten
Nec bonus Eurytion prælato invidit honori,
Quamvis solus avem calo dejecit ab alto.
Proximus ingreditur donis, qui vincula rupit :
Extremus, volucri qui fixit arundine malum.
At pater Æneas, nondum certamine misso,
Custodem ad sese comitemque impubis Iüli
Epytiden vocat, et fidanı sic fatur ad aurem :
Vade, age, et, Ascanio, si jam puerile paratum
Agmen habet secum, cursusque instruxit equorum,
Ducat avo turmas, et sese ostendat in armis,
Dic, ait. Ipse omnem longo decedere circo
Infusum populum, et campos jubet esse patentes.
Incedunt pueri, pariterque ante ora parentum
Frænatis lucent in equis: quos omnis euntes
Trinacriæ mirata fremit Trojæque juventus.
Omnibus in morem tonsâ coma pressa coronâ .
Cornea bina ferunt præfixa hastilia ferro,
Pars leves humero pharetras: it pectore summo
Flexilis obtorti per collum circulus auri.
Bors.
NOTES.
534. Exsortem: compounded of ex and
An allusion is here had to a custom
among the Greeks, who used, before the
booty was divided among the soldiers, to
give those who had distinguished them-
selves, some of the choicest articles, not by
lot, but as they judged meet and right. By
exsortem honorem, we are, therefore, to un-
derstand the first or choicest honor. David-
son renders it, an honor out of course. Heyne
reads, exsortem honores, referring the exsor-
tem to the pron. te. Valpy reads the same.
Ruæus says, extraordinarium honorem. The
common reading is exsortem honorem.
Talibus auspiciis: by such signs, tokens,
or omens.
536. Signis: in the sense of figuris.
537. Cisseus. He was king of Thrace,
and the father of Hecuba, the first wife of
Priam.
541. Prælato. Heyne takes this in the
sense of prærepto. He does not envy the
honor taken from him, and given to Acestes.
But prælato may retain its usual significa-
tion, if we give the passage this gloss: he
does not envy the honor to Acestes prefer-
red before him. This is the sense of Mark-
lund.
543. Ingreditur: he enters next for the
prizes, who, &c. Both ingreditur, and ince-
535
ter
533. Sume hæc, O pa-
536. Quem Thracius
Cisseus olim dederat
Anchise genitori ferre
in magno munere, quasi
monumentum et pignus
540 sui amoris.
544. Ille ingreditur
545 extremus, qui fixit
545. At pater Æneas.
certamine nondum mis-
so, vocat Epytiden ad
sese
548. Vade, age, ait.
550 et dic Ascanio, si jam
habet puerile aginen pa-
ratum secum, instruxit
que cursus equorum, ul
ducat turmas avo, et
555
556. Coma pressa est
omnibus tonsâ coronâ in
morem.
558. Pars fert leves
pharetras humero.
dit are military terms, and imply stateliness,
and an air of dignity and pride.
546. Custodem: either the guardian of his
education, or his tutor in the military art.
547. Epytiden: a patronymic noun; the
son of Epytus, the herald of Anchises. His
name was Periphas, or Periphantes.
549. Agmen: troop-battalion. Instrux-
it cursus: hath arranged the movements,
march, &c.
551. Circo: ring-course. Infusum: in
the sense of diffusum, vel sparsum.
553. Pueri incedunt: the boys march for
ward, and shine equally, &c. This game,
commonly known by the name of lusus
Troja, is wholly of the poet's invention.
He had no hint of it from Homer. He sub-
stituted this in the room of three in Homer.
(viz.) the wrestling, the single combat, and
the discus; and it is worth them all. Virgil
added this game to please Augustus, who,
at that time, renewed the same.
554. Fremit: in the sense of plaudit, vel
laudat.
556. Tonsa corona. This crown consist-
ed of green boughs, bent into a circular
form, resembling a crown. It was probably
placed upon their helmets.
559. Flexilis circulus obtorti auri. This
is a circumlocution to express a golden chain.
340
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
568. Alter dux
Atys.
Tres equitumn numero turma, ternique vagantur
Ductores: pueri bis seni quemque secuti,
Agmine partito fulgent, paribusque magistris.
563. Est una acies ju- Una acies juvenum, ducit quam parvus ovantem
venum, quam ovantem Nomen avi referens Priamus, tua clara, Polite,
parvus Priamus
Progenies, auctura Italos: quem Thracius albis
566. Vestigia primi Portat equus bicolor maculis: vestigia primi
pedis sunt
Alba pedis, frontemque ostentans arduus albam.
est Alter Atys, genus unde Attî duxere Latini;
Parvus Atys, pueroque puer dilectus Iülo.
570. Extremus dux Extremus, formâque ante omnes pulcher, Iülus
est Iülus, pulcher ante Sidonio est invectus equo; quem candida Dido
omnes formâ, invectus Esse sui dederat monumentum et pignus amoris.
Sidonio equo
Cætera Trinacriis pubes senioris Acestæ
Fertur equis.
560
565
570
578. Illis paratis
Excipiunt plausu pavidos, gaudentque tuentes
Dardanidæ ; veterumque agnoscunt ora parentum.
Postquam omnem læti consessum oculosque suorum
Lustravêre in equis: signum clamore paratis
Epytides longè dedit, insonuitque flagello.
Olli discurrêre pares, atque agmina terni
Diductis solvêre choris; rursùsque vocati
575
580
582. Infesta tela in se Convertêre vias, infestaque tela tulere.
Inde alios ineunt cursus, aliosque recursus,
invicem.
NOTES.
It goes over the neck, down to the upper
part of the breast.
560. Vagantur: march along. Oberrant,
says Ruæus.
562. Magistris: in the sense of ducibus.
564. Polite. Polites was the son of Priam,
and slain by Pyrrhus in the presence of his
father. See Æn. ii. 526. He is said, how-
ever, to have accompanied Æneas into Italy,
and to have founded the city Politorium,
which was afterward destroyed by Ancus, a
king of the Romans. Virgil seems to at-
tribute the building of the city to his son
here mentioned. Auctura Italos: either to
increase the Italians by founding a city, or
by conferring honor and dignity upon them.
566. Vestigia: the fetlocks of his fore
feet. Cerdanus explains this of his right
foot alone But vestigia is here evidently
used out of its ordinary sense.
568. Unde genus: whence the Latin At-
ti, &c. Virgil mentions this in compliment
to his prince, whose mother's name was At-
tia. Attius Balbus married Julia, the sister
of Julius Cæsar, and had by her a daugh-
ter, who married Octavius, the father of
Augustus. The poet signalizes fülus, and
Atys, the founders of his prince's family,
both on his father's and mother's side and
by making so close a friendship to subsist
between the two, he alludes to the affinity
between the Julian and Attian families, now
united in the person of Augustus. Some
say however, that he was the son of Julia,
the sister of Caesar, and his lawful heir.
576. Dardanidæ excipiunt: the Trojans
with applause receive them, anxious and
solicitous for praise and victory; and, be-
holding them, they rejoice, and know the
features of their aged parents. They trace
the resemblance between the children and
parents, and know the former by the latter.
For pavidos, Ruæus says, solicitos de gloria.
577. Postquam læti: after they joyous
went round the whole assembly, and the
eyes of their parents, &c. The oculos, suo-
rum,
if duly considered, will appear very
beautiful and emphatic. They made the
circuit of the spectators', and their parents'
eyes; as much as to say, their parents were
all eyes, and all attention to their motions
and whole deportment.
·
580. Pares. This may imply that they
moved or marched abreast-head and head:
in the sense of pariter. Or it may mean
that they marched in a double file, that is,
two abreast. This is the sense given to
pares, by Davidson. Terni: some copies
have ternis, which makes the sense easier.
The meaning of the passage is: after they
had marched round the company in order
to be reviewed, upon a signal given, they
(the three leaders, terni) divided (solvêre) the
troops into three separate companies, (di
ductis choris) and marched over the plain
each company performing its exercises on
different grounds.
581. Choris: in the sense of turmis.
583. Cursus: a going forward--advance
Recursus: a retreat a going backward.
ENEIS. LIB. V.
341
585
586. Nunc quasi in-
fensi vertunt spicula in
se invicem
588. Ut Labyrinthus
in alta Cretâ fertur
590 quondam habuisse iter
textum cæcis parietibus,
dolumque ancipitem
mille viis, quà
Adversis spatiis; alternosque orbibus orbes
Impediunt, pugnæque cient simulacra sub armis.
Et nunc terga fugâ nudant, nunc spicula vertunt
Infensi, factâ pariter nunc pace feruntur.
Ut quondam Cretâ fertur Labyrinthus in altâ
Parietibus textum cæcis iter, ancipitemque
Mille viis habuisse dolum, quà signa sequendi
Falleret indeprensus et irremeabilis error.
Haud aliter Teucrûm nati vestigia cursu
Impediunt, texuntque fugas et prælia ludo:
Delphinum similes, qui per maria humida nando
Carpathium Libycumque secant, luduntque per undas.
Hunc morem cursûs, atque hæc certamina primus
Ascanius, longam muris cùm cingeret Albam,
Rettulit, et priscos docuit celebrare Latinos;
Quo puer ipse modo, secum quo Troïa pubes:
Albani docuere suos: hinc maxima porrò
Accepit Roma, et patrium servavit honorem :
Trojaque nunc pueri, Trojanum dicitur agmen.
Hàc celebrata tenus sancto certamina patri.
Hìc primùm fortuna fidem mutata novavit.
Dum variis tumulo referunt solemnia ludis,
Irim de cœlo misit Saturnia Juno
Iliacam ad classem: ventosque aspirat eunti,
Multa movens, necdum antiquum saturata dolorem.
Illa viam celerans per mille coloribus arcum,
NOTES.
Alios appears to be merely expletive in both
places. Ineunt: they advance and retreat
from opposite grounds, or in front of each
other.
584. Alternos orbes: alternate circles, or
circles in turn, one after another. Heyne
reads alternis, agreeing with orbibus. Impe-
diunt in the sense of implicant vel miscent.
Cient in the sense of exhibent.
:
587. Feruntur: in the sense of incedunt.
589. Cæcis: obscure-dark. Ancipilem
dolum: a maze, intricate, and perplexed by
a thousand passages. The Labyrinth was
an edifice full of cells, which communicated
with one another; and was perplexed with
winding avenues, disposed in such manner
as to lead backward and forward in a maze;
and so bewildered those who entered it, that
they could not trace their way out. The
original one was in Egypt, carried on at the
expense of many kings, and at last finished
by Psammetichus. After this model, Dæda-
lus built one in Crete, but much smaller, in
which the Minotaur was confined.
590. Quà signa sequendi: where error un-
discoverable, and inextricable, deceived the
signs of going forward. The nature of the
labyrinth was to perplex and bewilder the
visitant, while he discovered, or knew no-
thing of it; and when he supposed he was
coming out. to carry him backward.
597. Ascanius primus
rettulit hunc morem
596 cursûs, atque hæc cer-
tamina, cùm
599. Quo modo puer
ipse celebravit ea, quo
modo Troïa pubes se-
600 cum; eodem modo Alba-
ni docuere suos posteros.
hinc porrò maxima Ro-
ma accepit
602. Nuncque pueri
et Trojanum agmen di-
605 citur Troja
603. Hactenus certa -
mina celebrata sunt
sancto patri
609. Illa virgo Iris
celerans viam
594. Similes delphinum: like dolphins.
Similes has sometimes the genitive after it;
but most commonly the dative.
595. Carpathium: an adj. That part of
the Mediterranean between Crete and the
island of Rhodes, was called the Carpathian
sea, from the island Carpathus. Libycum:
an adj. from Libya, a part of Africa lying
over against Crete. Mare is understood.
hunc morem, hos cursus.
595. Hunc morem cursûs. Heyne reads,
604. Mutata novavit: simply for mutavit,
says Heyne. Fortune is here represented
as a friend, on whom Æneas had depended
for favor and protection. She now changes
sides, breaks her faith, and becomes treach-
erous. Referunt: they pay--perform.
606. Irim misit. Servius observes, that
as Mercury is mostly sent on messages of
peace, so Iris is generally sent on mesages
of mischief and contention. She is chiefly
employed by Juno, but sometimes carries
messages for the other deities.
607. Aspirat ventos: Ruæus says, adjun at
eam euntem ventis.
608. Movens multa: revolving much mis-
chief in her mind-plotting, &c. Saturata
may be taken as a Grecism. Here is an
allusion to the decision of Paris. See En.
i. 4.
342
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Nulli visa cito decurrit tramite virgo.
610
611. Concursum
ludos vel certamına,
ad Conspicit ingentem concursum; et litora lustrat,
Desertosque videt portus, classemque relictam.
At procul in solâ secreta Troades actâ
Amissum Anchisen flebant, cunctæque profundum
615. Heu! tot vada Pontum aspectabant flentes: heu, tot vada fessis,
et tantum maris super- Et tantum superesse maris! vox omnibus una.
esse nobis fessis! erat Urbem orant: tædet pelagi perferre laborem.
una vox omnibus.
nus non traxerit ad le-
tum in bello sub
618. Ergò Iris haud Ergò inter medias sese haud ignara nocendi
ignara artis nocendi Conjicit, et faciemque Deæ vestemque reponit.
conjicit sese inter Fit Beroë, Ismarii conjux longæva Dorycli,
Cui genus, et quondam nomen, natique fuissent.
Ac sic Dardanidûm mediam se matribus infert:
623. O miser vos, in- O miseræ, quas non manus, inquit, Achaïca bello
quit, quas Achaïca ma- Traxerit ad letum, patriæ sub manibus! ô gens
Infelix cui te exitio fortuna reservat?
Septima post Trojæ excidium jam vertitur æstas;
Cùm freta, cùm terras omnes, tot inhospita saxa,
Sideraque emensæ ferimur; dum per mare magnum
Italiam sequimur fugientem, et volvimur undis.
630. Hic sunt fraterni Hic Erycis fines fraterni, atque hospes Acestes:
fines Erycis, atque hic
Quis prohibet muros jacere, et dare civibus urbem?
633. Nulla-ne mænia O patria, et rapti nequicquam ex hoste Penates!
dicentur mania Troja? Nullane jam Trojæ dicentur mania? nusquam
est
NOTES.
611. Lustrat. Ruæus reads, lustrans-
Heyne, lustrat. Davidson, also, reads, lus-
trat.
613. At Troades, &c. It was reckoned an
indecency among the Greeks and Romans,
for women to be present at the public games.
Virgil, who all along has a view to the Ro-
man customs, represents the matrons us
apart by themselves on the lonely shore, de-
ploring the death of Anchises.
620. Beroë-Dorycli: these are fictitious
names. Ismarii: an adj. from Ismarus, a
mountain in Thrace.
621. Cui quondam: to whom there was
a noble descent, and once renown, and illus-
trious offspring. Genus here is used in the
sense of nobilitas; Valpy says, rank. No-
men: in the sense of fama.
623. Achaïca manus: the Grecian troops.
628. Ferimur: in the sense of vagamur vel
erramus. Emensa: having measured out
having passed over so many seas, &c. Ferimur
emensæ: in the sense of emensæ sumus, says
Heyne. Sidera: clines--regions. To account
for Æneas's having spent seven years in his
voyage, a French critic (says Davidson) has
the following computation. He finds from
history that Troy was taken in the month of
May or June. He allows Æneas ten months
for fitting out his fleet at Artandros, and
makes him set out in the month of March in
the following year. From this to his arrival
in Epirus he computes four years and some
months which time he spent in building ci-
•
615
620
625
630
ties in Thrace and in Crete. Having spent
some time in Epirus, he set out from thence
in the end of autumn in the fifth year, and
having made a compass almost round Sici-
ly, arrived at Drepanum in the beginning
of the following year. Here he lost his fa-
ther in the beginning of February, and, ac-
cording to the custom of the ancients, de-
voted ten months to grief and retirement.
According to his calculation, Eneas did not
sail from Sicily till the month of November,
and here the action of the Eneid begins,
En. i. 34. Vix è conspectu. Soon after
this he was driven by a storm on the coast
of Carthage, about the middle of the seventh
year of his voyage, where he spent three
months of winter, and from thence set out
for Italy in the end of January following,
and arrived again in Sicily in the month of
February, about the end of the seventh year,
where he spent one month in celebrating his
father's anniversary, and about the begin-
ning of the eighth year arrived in Italy, in
the end of March or beginning of April,
when the spring was in bloom.
629. Sequimur Italium: while over the
mighty deep we pursue Italy fleeing from
us. This is highly poetical. Servius takes
magnum to mean stormy-swelling high.
Heyne says, vastum-immensum. Volvimur:
in the sense of jactamur.
630. Fraterni. For the reasons that Eryx
is here called the brother of Eneas, sue 24,
supra.
ÆNEIS. LIB. V.
343
•
Hectoreos amnes, Xanthum et Simoënta videbo ?
Quin agite, et mecum infaustas exurite puppes.
Nam mihi Cassandra per somnum vatis imago
Ardentes dare visa faces: hic quærite Trojam ;
Hic domus est, inquit, vobis: jam tempus agit res.
Nec tantis mora prodigiis: en quatuor aræ
Neptuno! Deus ipse faces animumque ministrat.
Hæc memorans, prima infensum vi corripit ignem :
Sublatâque procul dextrâ connixa coruscat,
Et jacit. Arrectæ mentes, stupefactaque corda
Iliadum. Hic una è multis, quæ maxima natu,
Pyrgo, tot Priami natoruin regia nutrix :
Non Beroë vobis; non hæc Rhœteïa, matres,
Est Dorycli conjux divini signa decoris,
Ardentesque notate oculos: qui spiritus illi,
Qui vultus, vocisve sonus, vel gressus eunti.
Ipsa egomet dudùm Beroën digressa reliqui
Ægram, indignantem, tali quòd sola careret
Munere, nec meritos Anchise inferret honores.
Hæc effata.
:
At matres primò ancipites, oculisque malignis
Ambiguæ, spectare rates, miserum inter amorem
Præsentis terræ fatisque vocantia regna :
Cùm Dea se paribus per column sustulit alis,
Ingentemque fugâ secuit sub nubibus arcum.
Tum verò attonitæ monstris, actæque furore,
Conclamant, rapiuntque focis penetralibus ignem :
Pars spoliant aras, frondem ac virgulta facesque
Conjiciunt furit immissis Vulcanus habenis
Transtra per, et remos, et pictas abiete puppes.
NOTES.
634. Hectoreos amnes: tlre Trojan streams.
638. Tempus agil res: now the time de-
mands the thing. Some read tempus agi
res: it is time the things be done. But Pie-.
rius found the former in the Codex Romanus
and Mediceus, and in some others. Heyne
reads, agi res. Ruæus prefers the former;
Occasio ipsa urget rem, says he.
639. En quatuor aræ, &c. It is not said
by whom these altars were erected. Ruæus
conjectures they were built by Cloanthus
for his naval victory. See 234, supra. Or
by the Trojans generally, for mention is
made of their offering sacrifice. See 100,
supra. The verb sunt is understood.
642. Sublatâque : and exerting her strength,
her right hand being raised; she waved the
torch (infensum ignem) and threw it at a
distance. Infensum: in the sense of inimi-
cum.
645. Pyrgo. This is a fictitious name.
The tendency of her speech was not to dis-
suade the Trojan matrons from executing
the purposes of Juno, but rather to incite
them to it, by showing them that the person
who appeared to them in the form of Beroë
was really a goddess. Rhæteia: an adj. from
Rhetium, a promontory of Troas.
635
636. Nam imago vatis
Cassandra per somnum
visa est dare
640 tis
645
650
655
660
•
639. Nec sit mora tan-
643. Mentes Iliadum
sunt arrecte
644. Hic una è mul-
tis, quæ erat maxima na-
tu, Pyrgo nomine, regia
nutrix tot natorum Pri-
ami, inquit: hæc non est
Beroë vobis.
653. Illa effata est hæc.
Et matres primò cœpe-
runt spectare rates ma-
lignis oculis, ancipites,
ambiguæque inter mise-
rum amorem præsentis
terræ regnaque
648. Ardentes oculos. Here are mention-
ed four distinguished marks or signs of a
divine person: 1. Beauty, radiant eyes, &c.,
qui vulius: 2. A fragrant breath which per-
fumed the air around, qui spiritus: 3. An
easy and majestic motion, qui gressus: 4.
A sound, tone, or accent of voice which dis-
tinguished them from mortals, qui sonus
vocis.
651. Careret: that she should be deprived
of such an employinent-of celebrating the
anniversary of Anchises. Indignantem: in
the sense of dolentem.
655. Ambigua: in the sense of dubiæ.
Ancipites in the sense of infesta.
660. Focis penetralibus: from the inmost
hearths. Davidson renders it, from the hal-
lowed hearths. Ruæus says, intimis aris.
662. Vulcanus: the god of fire, put by
meton. for fire itself. Immissis habenis:
without restraint-with violence.
663. Pictas abiete: either the sterns, by
synec. for the whole ships, on which was
carved work of the fir tree; or pictas must
be taken in the sense of constructas, built or
made. Rumus says, structas ex abiete pictas
puppes. Valpy says, constructed of fir.
·
!
344
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
:
Nuntius Anchisæ ad tumulum, cuneosque theatri,
665. Eumelus nuntius Incensas perfert naves Eumelus: et ipsi
ad tumulum Anchise Respiciunt atram in nimbo volitare favillam.
perfort naves incensas
Primus et Ascanius, cursus ut lætus equestres
Ducebat, sic acer equo turbata petivit
esse
Castra: nec exanimes possunt retinere magistri.
Quis furor iste novus? quò nunc, quò tenditis, inquit,
Heu miseræ cives! non hostem, inimicaque castra
672. Sed uritis vestras Argivûm, vestras spes, uritis. En ego vester
врев
Ascanius! Galeam ante pedes projecit inanem,
Quâ ludo indutus belli simulacra ciebat.
Accelerat simul Æneas, simul agmina Teucrûm.
Ast illæ diversa metu per litora passim
677. Petuntque furtim Diffugiunt, sylvasque, et sicubi concava furtim
sylvas, et sicubi sint Saxa petunt: piget incepti, lucisque: suosque
concava saxa
Mutatæ agnoscunt: excussaque pectore Juno est.
Sed non idcircò flammæ atque incendia vires
Indomitas posuere : udo sub robore vivit
Stuppa, vomens tardum fumum: lentusque carinas
Est vapor, et toto descendit corpore pestis:
Nec vires heroum, infusaque flumina prosunt.
Tum pius Æneas humeris abscindere vestem,
Auxilioque vocare Deos, et tendere palmas :
687. Si nondum tu Jupiter omnipotens, si nondum exosus ad unum
exosus es Trojanos ad Trojanos, si quid pietas antiqua labores
unum; si tua antiqua
685. Pius Æneas cœ-
pit
pietas respicit humanos Respicit humanos; da flammam evadere classi
labores quid, nunc, O Nunc, pater, et tenues Teucrûm res eripe leto:
me morti cum infesto
pater, da classi
692. Vel tu demitte Si mereor, demitte; tuâque hìc obrue dextrâ.
Vix hæc ediderat, cùm effusis imbribus atra
695. Arduaque loca Tempestas sinè more furit: tonitruque tremiscunt
terrarum, et campi tre- Ardua terrarum, et campi: ruit æthere toto
Turbidus imber aquâ; densisque nigerrimus Austris ·
Vel tu, quod superest, infesto fulmine morti,
miscunt tonitru.
NOTES.
664. Cuneos. These were seats in the
Roman theatre for the common people, so
called because they were in the form of a
wedge, the narrowest part toward the stage.
Reference is here made to the theatre men-
tioned or spoken of 288, supra.
668. Sic acer equo: the meaning is that
Ascanius rode up to the confused camp
quick on his horse, just in the same habit as
he led the cavalcade, equestres cursus.
669. Magistri: either Priamus and Atys,
commanders of the cavalcade, or Epytides
and the other guardians and instructors of
the youth.
you
670. Quò nunc tenditis: what now do
aim at?what do you intend by thus burn-
ing your ships? The repetition of the quò
is emphatical.
679. Juno excussa est pectore: Juno is
driven from their breast-the fury with
which she had inspired them. This is an
allusion to the frantic Bacchanals, who re-
turned to themselves after the god, with
665
671
675
680
685
690
695
whom they pretended to be possessed was
driven out of them.
682. Stuppa: this was a kind of coarse
flax or hemp driven into the seams and
chinks, and then overlaid with pitch to keep
out the water and render the vessel tight-
oakum. Vivit: lives-continues to burn.
Lentus vapor: a slow fire. Est: in the sensø
of edit. Pestis: in the sense of flammæ.
684. Flumina: in the sense of aqua.
685. Pius Æneas abscindere, &c. Tear-
ing their hair and garment was rockoned a
sign of extreme distress both by Jews, Egyp-
tians, and Greeks.
688. Pietas: pity-compassion-ciemency.
693. Effusis imbribus: with failing rains
-with floods of rain. Imbribus: in the
sense of pluviis.
696. Imber turbidus: the cloud, thick with
water, and black with the heavy south winds,
pours down from the whole heaven.
The
south winds were more impregnated with
ÆNEIS. LIB. V.
345
Implenturque supèr puppes: semusta madescunt
Robora, restinctus donec vapor omnis; et omnes,
Quatuor amissis, servatæ à peste carinæ.
At pater Æneas casu concussus acerbo,
Nunc huc ingentes, nunc illuc, pectore curas
Mutabat; versans, Siculisne resideret arvis
Oblitus fatorum, Italasne capesseret oras
Tum senior Nautes, unum Tritonia Pallas
Quem docuit, multâque insignem reddidit arte,
Hæc responsa dabat; vel quæ portenderet ira
Magna Deûm, vel quæ fatorum posceret ordo,
Isque his Æneam solatus vocibus infit:
Nate Deâ, quò fata trahunt retrahuntque, sequamur.
Quicquid erit, superanda ominis fortuna ferendo est.
Est tibi Dardanius divinæ stirpis Acestes:
Hunc cape consiliis socium, et conjunge volentem.
Huic trade, amissis superant qui navibus; et quos
Pertæsum magni incepti rerumque tuarum est ;
Longævosque senes, ac fessas æquore matres;
Et quicquid tecum invalidum, metuensque perîcli est,
Delige; ct his habeant terris, sine, mania fessi.
Urbem appellabunt permisso nomine Acestam.
Talibus incensus dictis senioris amici :
Tum verò in curas animus diducitur omnes.
Et nox atra polum bigis subvecta tenebat.
Visa dehinc cælo facies delapsa parentis
Anchisæ, subitò tales effundere voces:
Nate, mihi vitâ quondam, dum vita manebat,
Chare magis; nate Iliacis exercite fatis,
Imperio Jovis huc venio, qui classibus ignem
Depulit, et cœlo tandem miseratus ab alto est.
Consiliis pare, quæ nunc pulcherrima Nautes
NOTES.
vapor than any other, which, meeting with
the cold northern air, was condensed into
clouds and rain. Ilence the epithet, densis.
Imber is, properly, a shower or fall of rain.
It may, by meton. be taken for the cloud
containing the vapor. In this sense the
meaning is plain and easy.
697. Semusta: for semiusta, by syn. This
contraction is necessary for the sake of the
versc. Supèr: in the sense of desuper.
702. Mutabat: in the sense of volvebat.
Versans in the sense of deliberans.
704. Unum: in the sense of solum; or we may
take it in the sense of unicum, vel præcipuum.
705. Arte: knowledge. Ruæus says, mul-
tis vaticiniis.
713. Qui superant. Nautes advises to
deliver to Acestes the crews of those ships
that had been burnt-those who were weary
of the enterprise-the old men and women,
&c. and to found a city for them in Sicily, to
be called after the name of their friend,
Acestes. This city was on the western side,
about five miles from the shore.
It was
also called Egesta, Ægesta, and Sergesta.
700
705
711
712. Cape hunc so-
cium tibi in tuis consi-
liis
713. Trade huic eos,
715 qui superant
720
725
715. Deligeque lon-
gævos senes, ac matres
fessas
717. Et sine ut illi
fessi habeant mœnia
719. Aneas incensus
est
722. Denne facies
parentis Anchise delap-
sa cœlo visa est subitò
effundere tales voces:
Nate, quondam magis
chare mihi vitâ ipsa,
dum
716. Pericli: by syn. for periculi.
718. Permisso nomine: by a permitted
Acestes agreed that it might be so
name.
called.
720. Animus. Davidson and Heyne read
animum, in the acc. Valpy and Ruæus
have animus,,which is the easier.
721. Atra nox: dark night, wafted in her
two-horse chariot, possessed the heavens.
As the chariot of the sun is represented as
drawn by four horses, so that of the moon
and the night by two, and those of a black
or sable color. Polum: by synec. the whole
heavens.
722. Facies delapsa, &c. The ancients
distinguished between the soul and the shade
or phantom. The former. they believed,
went to heaven, while the other had its resi-
dence in the infernal regions. Thus Anchi-
ses descends from heaven in regard to his
soul, while at the same time his shade was
in the regions below, as appears from verse
733.
725. Fatis: in the sense of casibus.
727. Pulcherrima: in the sense of optima.
346
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
744. Supplexque vene
ratur Pergameum La-
rem, et penetralia canæ
Vestæ pio farre
:
730
735
Dat senior lectos juvenes, fortissima corda,
Defer in Italiam: gens dura, atqué aspera cultu,
Debellanda tibi Latio est. Ditis tamen antè
Infernas accede domos, et Averna per alta
Congressus pete, nate, meos. Non me impia namque
Tartara habent tristesque umbræ; sed amœna piorum
Concilia, Elysiumque colo. Huc casta Sibylla
Nigrantům multo pecudum te sanguine ducet.
Tum genus omne tuum, et, quæ dentur mania, disces.
Jamque vale torquet medios nox humida cursus,
Et me sævus equis Oriens afflavit anhelis.
Dixerat: et tenues fugit, ceu fumus, in auras.
Æneas, Quò deinde ruis? quò proripis? inquit:
Quem fugis? aut quis te nostris complexibus arcet?
Hæc memorans, cinerem et sopitos suscitat ignes ;
Pergameumque Larem, et canæ penetralia Vestæ
Farre pio, et plenâ supplex veneratur acerrâ.
Extemplò socios, primumque arcessit Acesten,
Et Jovis imperium, et chari præcepta parentis
Edocet; et quæ nunc animo sententia constet.
Haud mora consiliis; nec jussa recusat Acestes.
Transcribunt urbi matres, populumque volentem
NOTES.
730. Cultu: in the sense of moribus.
731. Tamen antè accede, &c. This appa-
rition of Anchises, and the direction he gives
his son to descend to the regions below, are
a proper preparation for the following book.
The art of the poet is admirable in thus
making one event rise out of another and
preparing the reader beforehand. This raises
that pleasing suspense, which is the princi-
pal thing that charms in an epic poem. Di-
tis: gen. of Dis, a name of Pluto.
735. Elysium. This was the name of
the place assigned for the residence of the
happy. Here they placed their heroes and
other distinguished characters. Casta Si-
bylla: the Sibyl hath the epithet casta, be-
cause those prophetesses were virgins. Con-
cilia: in the sense of sedes.
736. Multo sanguine: with much blood of
black victims; that is, after having offered
many black victims in sacrifice. Victims of
a black color were sacrificed to the infernal
dcities.
738. Humida nox; humid night turns its
middle course.
This is a metaphor taken
from the chariot-races, when they wheeled
about at the meta or goal, and returned to
the carcer or starting place. So here night
was on her return, having passed her farthest
point, the hour of midnight, which divides
her course in the middle.
739. Savus Oriens: the cruel morning (the
approaching sun) had breathed on me with
his panting steeds. The morning is here
called særus, because. it broke off his con-
versation, and forced him to retire. It was
a prevailing opinion that ghosts and appa-
740
745
750
ritions were only allowed to appear in the
darkness of night, and were chased away by
the dawn of day.
743. Suscital cinerem: he opens the ashes
and kindles up the dormant fire. Thus is
one of those passages where Virgil uses the
same verb with two nouns, when it can be
properly applied only to one of them.
pitos: buried up-covered over.
So-
744. Veneratur: he worships the Trojan
Larcs, and the shrine of hoary Vesta, &c.
The Lares were the images consecrated to
the souls of their departed ancestors, which
the ancients worshipped at their own houses
by oblations of incense and cakes of fine
flour, called far; see Geor. iii. 344. The
Lares, like the Penates, were household gods.
Penetralia Vesta: this shrine, or sanctuary
of Vesta, was commonly the hearth or fire-
place in the apartment where they lodged,
Here was kept a fire always burning, in
honor of that goddess. See Æn. i. 292.
Eneas is said to have introduced into Italy
the worship of the Penales, the Lares, and
of Vesta or the unextinguished fire. Heyne
takes penetralia Vesta for Vesta herself, bo-
cause, says he, the goddess had her residence
in the inmost part of the house, remote from
the view of men. She is called cana, either
on account of the antiquity of her worship,
or because the vestal virgins were clad in
white robes.
748. Constet: in the sense of sedel.
750. Transcribun'. This word was ap-
plied to those whose names were enrolled
in order to be transported to some new co-
ony; and those this enrolled were called
ÆNEIS. LIB. V
347
Deponunt, animos nii magnæ laudis egentes.
Ipsi tianstra novant, flammisque ambesa reponunt
Robora navigiis: aptant remosque rudentesque :
Exigui numero, sed bello vivida`virtus.
Intereà Eneas urbem designat aratro,
Sortiturque domos: hoc, Ilium, et hæc loca, Trojam
Esse jubet; gaudet regno Trojanus Acèstes,
Indicitque forum, et patribus, dat jura vocatis.
Tum vicina astris Erycino in vertice sedes
Fundatur Veneri Idaliæ: tumuloque sacerdos
Et lucus latè sacer additur Anchisæo.
Jamque dies epulata novem gens omnis, et aris
Factus honos; placidi straverunt æquora venti:
Creber et aspirans rursus vocat Auster in altum.
Exoritur procurva ingens per litora fletus :
Complexi inter se noctemque diemque morantur.
Ipsæ jam matres; ipsi, quibus aspera quondam
Visa maris facies, et non tolerabile numen,
Ire volunt, omnemque fugæ perferre laborem.
Quos bonus Æneas dictis solatur amicis,
Et consanguineo lachrymans commendat Acestæ.
NOTES.
754. Exigui in nume-
755 ro, sed eorum virtus erat
vivida bello.
760
765
770
757. Jubet hoc spa-
tium esse Ilium, et hæc
loca esse Trojam.
767. Jam matres ip-
sæ; et ipsi homines, qui÷
bus quondam facies
This whole island was sacred to Ve-
nus. Sedes in the sense of templum.
transcripti; hence the word came to signify prus.
to transfer, designate, or appoint.
751. Deponunt: they leave--set apart.
Egentes: in the sense of cupidos.
755. Designat urbem. This refers to a
custom of the Romans, who, when they were
about to build a city, first marked out the
boundary of it by drawing a furrow with a
plough, which they lifted over those spaces
where they intended to have the gates.
Hence porta (from porto, to carry) came to
signify a gate.
756. Hoc, Ilium: history mentions no city
in Sicily by the name of Ilium. Eneas may
have called it so at first, but agreed that
Acestes should change its name afterward.
Or Ilium may be the tower of the city Aces-
ta or Segesta, and here taken for the whole
city by synec. as Pergamus, the tower or
citadel of Troy, is often put for the city it-
self. This is the opinion of Ruæus. Strabo
mentions two rivers near the city Segesta,
by the names of Xanthus and Simoïs, and
that they were so called by Æneas.
753. Indicit forum: he appoints courts of
justice, and gives laws to his assembled
senators. The Roman senators were called
Patres, either on account of their age, or to
remind them that they were the fathers of
the people.
759. Erycino: an adj. from Eryx, a moun-
tain in Sicily, in height next to Etna; from
Eryx, king of that island, who was slain by
Hercules. See 411, supra. Æneas built a
temple to his mother Venus on the top of
this mountain. Some say it was founded
by Eryx, and only decorated by Eneas.
Venus is called Idalian, froin Idalium or Idu-
lia, a town and grove on the island of Cy-
·
761. Lucus additur. A priest and grove,
sacred far around, is added to the tomb of
Anchises. It appears hence that he was
buried on Mount Eryx. Some say that he
arrived in Italy along with his son: others
that he died before he arrived in Sicily.
762. Gens: in the sense of populus. The
verb fuerat is to be connected with epulata.
Honos factus: in the sense of sacrificium
factum eral. All his people had kept the
anniversary festival of his father for nine
days, and performed the usual offerings,
when the weather became favorable; and
having repaired the damages occasioned by
the fire, they make ready for their depart-
ure. Here a most interesting scene ensued.
A day and a night they pass in embracing
each other before their final separation.
Those who before were weary of the voy-
age, now summon up courage, and are will-
ing again to encounter the danger of the sea.
The interesting scene brought tears from the
hero's eyes.
768. Numen. This is the usual reading.
The sense is, that the divinity, or divine
power, of the sea, seemed to them insupporta-
ble-more than they could endure after all
their fatigues. But Heyne, upon the au-
thority of Heinsius, reads nomen. The sense
in this case will be: and the name of sea
seemed insupportable to them. They could
not bear to hear its name mentioned. No-
men maris, says he, auditu, et dictu intolera-
bile visum. He observes of numen: Ex-
plicationem commodam non habet. The reaa-
er will judge for himself.
771. Consanguineo. Acestes was in truth
348
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Tres Eryci vitulos, et teinpestatibus agnam
Cædere deinde jubet, solvique ex ordine funes.
Ipse evinctus Ipse caput tonsæ foliis evinctus olivæ,
quoad caput foliis tons Stans procul in prorâ, pateram tenet, extaque salsos 775
olive, stans
774.
Porricit in fluctus, ac vina liquentia fundit.
Prosequitur surgens à puppi ventus euntes :
Certatim socii ferunt mare, et æquora verrunt.
At Venus intereà Neptunum exercita curis
784. Nec quiescit in- Alloquitur, talesque effundit pectore questus:
fracta imperio Jovis fa- Junonis gravis ira et inexsaturabile pectus
783. Quam, nempe Ju-
nonem.
pœnam:
tisve. Non satis est ei Cogunt me, Neptune, preces descendere in omnes:
nefandis odiis exedisse Quam nec longa dies, pietas nec mitigat ulla;
urbem de media gente Nec Jovis imperio fatisve infracta quiescit.
Phrygum, et traxisse ejus Non mediâ de gente Phrygum exedisse nefandis
relliquias per omnem Urbem odiis satis est, pœnain traxisse per omnem
789. Tu ipse fuisti Relliquias: Troja cineres atque ossa peremptæ
testis mihi, quam molem Inscquitur. Causas tanti sciat illa furoris.
subitò excierit nuper in Ipse mihi nuper Libycis tu testis in undis
Libycis undis.
792. Ausa est hoc in Quam molem subitò excierit. Maria omnia cœlo
tuis regnis.
Miscuit, Æoliis nequicquam freta procellis :
795. Et, classe amis- In regnis hoc ausa tuis.
sâ, subegit socios lin- Proh scelus! ecce etiam Trojanis matribus actis,
guere eas mulieres igno- Exussit fœdè puppes; et classe subegit
to
796. Oro ut liceat Tro- Amissâ socios ignotæ linquere terræ.
janis dare tibi vela tuta Quod superest: oro, liceat dare tuta per undas
per undas; ut liceat iis Vela tibi: liceat Laurentem attingere Tybrim :
NOTES.
no way related to Eneas. See 30, supra.
Consanguineus is properly a relation by
blood; agnalus, one by the father's side;
cognatus, by the mother's side; and affinis,
by marriage.
772. Tempestalibus. Storms and tempests
were deified by the Romans, and goats and
lambs were offered to them in sacrifice.
773. Cædere: in the sense of immolare.
Funes: the cables. Some copies have fu
nem. This is the reading of Heyne, after
Pierius and Ileinsius. The sense is the
same either way.
775. Stans procul: standing at a distance
on the prow, he holds the bowl and scatters
the entrails upon the briny waves. Procul
implies that he stood as far as he could from
the shore on the extremity of the head of
the vessel toward the sea. Porricit, from
porro and jacio: to throw at a distance. It
was a custom among the Romans to present
offerings to the marine gods before sailing,
which consisted principally in casting the
entrails of the victims upon the sea.
the sea. Some-
times, however, they offered libations also,
as in the present instance.
781. Gravis ira Junonis: the heavy an-
ger of Juno, &c. An allusion is here made
to the decision of Paris in the case of the
prize of beauty, which ever after made her a
bitter enemy to the Trojan race. Pectus":
in the sense of animus.
780
785
790
795
784. Infracta: overcome-made to desist
from her purpose. Dies: in the sense of
tempus. Juno persisted in her opposition to
Eneas, in spite of the authority of Jove, and
the decrees of the gods, which directed him
to Italy.
787. Cineres et ossa: the ashes and bones
of ruined Troy. By these we are to under-
stand Æneas and his company, who were
on their way to Italy-the only remains or
survivors of that once flourishing city.
788. Illa scrat: she may know, &c. Ve-
nus here insinuates that there was no cause
for her resentment. She may perhaps know;
as for me, I do not.
790. Quam molem: what a tempest she
raised, &c. Molem: for tempestatem.
read
per
791. Nequicquam freta: relying in vain,
&c. Because she had not accomplished her
ɩl
purposes; she and Eolus being controlled
by Neptune. See Æn. i. 8€, I sequens.
793. Proh scelus. Heyne and some others
scelus taking per in the sense of
in, vel ad. Trojanis matribus actis in vel
ad scelus. The common reading appears the
easiest, which takes Proh scelus as an ex-
clamation or interjection. Oh horrid crime!
-Oh wickedness! Juno burned the Trojan
ships, by impelling their matrons to do it.
797. Tibi: by thec-under thy care and
protection. Si: in the senso of siquidem.
ENEIS. LIB. V.
349
800
800. Fas est te fidero
omne meis regnis, unde
ducis genus; merui quo
que ut fidas
803. Nec minor cura
fuit mihi tui Æneæ in
805 terris
Si concessa peto; si dant ea monia Parcæ.
Tum Saturnius hæc domitor maris edidit alti;
Fas omne est, Cytherea, meis te fidere regnis,
Unde genus ducis; merui quoque. Sæpe furores
Compressi, et rabiem tantam cœlique marisque ;
Nec minor in terris, Xanthum Simoëntaque testor,
Æneæ mihi cura tui. Cùm Troïa Achilles
Exaninata sequens impingeret agmina muris,
Millia multa daret leto, gemerentque repleti
Amnes, nec reperire viam atque evolvere posset
In mare se Xanthus; Pelidæ tunc ego forti
Congressum Æneam, nec Dîs, nec viribus æquis,
Nube cavâ eripui; cuperem cùm vertere ab imo
Structa meis manibus perjuræ monia Troja.
Nunc quoque mens eadem perstat mihi: pelle timorem.
Tutus, quos optas, portus accedet Averni.
Unus erit tantùm, amissum quein gurgite quæret ;
Unum pro multis dabitur caput.
His ubi læta Deæ permulsit pectora dictis,
Jungit equos auro Genitor, spumantiaque addit
Fræna feris, manibusque omnes effundit habenas.
Coeruleo per summa levis volat æquora curru :
Subsidunt undæ, tumidumque sub axe tonanti
Sternitur æquor aquis: fugiunt vasto æthere nimbi.
NOTES.
799. Tum Saturnius domitor. Mr. Da-
vidson observes there is a grandeur and bold-
ness in this line, suitable to the majesty of
him whose speech it introduces, which make
it worthy the attention of the reader. Nep-
tune was the son of Saturn, and in the di-
vision of the world the sea fell to him by lot.
Hence the adj. Saturnius, and also the pro-
priety of Domitor alti maris. Edidit: in the
sense of dixit.
801. Unde genus. This alludes to the
fabulous account of her springing from the
foam of the sea.
805. Exanimata: may mean that the
Trojans were weary and out of breath, or
were affrighted and struck with dismay.
Impengeret: drove—forced.
810. Eripui cava nube: I snatched away
in a hollow cloud Æneas engaging, &c.
This encounter Homer gives us in the twen-
tieth book of the Iliad. But the great
slaughter which Achilles made among the
Trojan troops, so as to choak the rivers Xan-
thus and Simoïs with their dead bodies, is
given us in the following book. Cùm cupe-
Cùm cupe-
rem: though I wished to overturn from the
foundation the walls, &c. See Geor. i. 502,
and Æn. ii. 610.
812. Eadem mens: the same disposition.
813. Averni: Avernus, a lake in Campa-
nia, the fabulous descent to hell. See En.
iv. 512.
817. Auro: his golden car.
The common
810
815
820
808. Tunc ego eripui
cava nube Eneam con-
gressum forti
816. Ubi Genitor per-
mulsit læta pectora Des
reading is curru, but Pierius observes that
all the ancient manuscripts have auro in-
stead of curru. It has more dignity, and
saves the disagreeable repetition of curru,
which occurs in the next line but one. Be-
side, nothing is more common than to put,
by meton. the metal for the instrument made
or composed of it, as ferrum, for a sword,
axe, or knife; auro, for a golden bowl, &c.
Davidson has auro. Heyne reads auro
also: in the sense of aureo curru.
818. Effundit: in the sense of laxat. Fe-
ris in the sense of equis.
823. Glauci. Glaucus, according to Ser-
vius, was a famous fisherman of Anthedon
in Beotia, who, having laid some fishes on
the grass that he had just caught, perceived
them to recover their life and motion, and
to leap into the sea. He supposed there was
some virtue in those herbs that produced
this effect: whereupon he tasted them, and
was immediately transformed into a sea-god.
Inoüs: an adj. from Ino, the daughter of
Cadmus. See Geor. i. 437. Senior chorus
Glauci: by commutatio, for chorus senioris
Glauci. These were the nymphs and the
tritons. Palamon. He is supposed by some
to be the god whom the Latins worshipped
under the name of Portunus.
He was so
called from portus, because he was supposed
to preside over ports and harbors. It was
thought that mariners were under his special
care and protection. See 241, supra.
350
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
822. Tum variæ facies Tum variæ comitum facies; immania cete,
comitum apparent; im- Et senior Glauci chorus Inousque Palæmon,
mania cete
ris
Tritonesque citi, Phorcique exercitus omnis.
825. Læva spatia ma- Læva tenent Thetis et Melite, Panopeaque virgo,
Nesæe, Spioque, Thaliaque, Cymodoceque.
Hic patris Æneæ suspensam blanda vicissim
Gaudia pertentant mentem: jubet ocyùs omnes
Attolli malos, intendi brachia velis.
Unà omnes fecere pedem: pariterque sinistros,
Nunc dextros solvêre sinus: unà ardua torquent
Cornua detorquentque: ferunt sua flamina classem.
Princeps ante omnes densum Palinurus agebat
Agmen ad hunc alii cursum contendere jussi.
Jamque ferè mediam cœli nox humida metam
Contigerat placidâ laxârant membra quiete ·
:
837. Nautæ fusi per Sub remis fusi per dura sedilia nautæ :
dura sedilia sub remis Cùm levis æthereis delapsus Somnus ab astris
axârant
Aëra dimovit tenebrosum, et dispulit umbras,
Te, Palinure, petens, tibi tristia somnia portans
Insonti: puppique Deus consedit in altâ,
NOTES.
824. Omnis exercitus: the whole army of
Phorcus-all the Nereids, whom Phorcus
was wont to collect. He was the son of
Pontus and Terra, and father of the Gor-
gons. Trilones. Triton was the son of
Neptune and Amphitrite. His upper part
was like a man, and his lower part like a
fish. He was said to be Neptune's trum-
peter. He used the concha, or shell, in room
of a trumpet.
826. Thetis et Melite, &c. These are the
These are the
names of some of the sea-nymphs: all of
Greek derivation. Of all the nymphs, it is
said that Panopea was the only virgin.
827. Ficissim: in turn-in the room of
the anxiety which he had before felt on ac-
count of the burning of his ships: now
soothing (pleasant) joys, &c.
829. Intendi brachia velis. When they
arrived in port, it was usual for mariners to
take down the masts; and, when they de-
parted, to raise them up again. The intendi
Irachia velis, is the same in import as inten-
di vela brachiis: to stretch the sails to the
yards. The brachia were those parts of
the antennæ, or sail yards, which were near
the mast, here put for the whole yards.
The extremities of the antenna were called
cornua. It may be observed, however, that
the old Roman copy has intendi brachia re-
mis: he orders their arms to be stretched to
the oars; which is easier, and in Virgil's
style. The antenna were long spars, ex-
tending across the mast at right angles; and
to which the sails were fastened. Here
called brachia, from their resemblance to
the extended arms of a man
825
830
835
840
they lengthened or shortened it, and shift-
ed it from one side of the ship to the other,
as occasion required. Pedem. The pes was
a rope, halser, or sheet, fastened to the low-
er corners of the sail, and also to the sides
of the ship, when she was under sail. And,
as these were lengthened or shortened, the
sail would be turned accordingly, more or
less to the wind. Solvêre: they spread-
expand, or let out.
The perf. here is used
in its appropriate sense. It continues the
past action up to the time in which it is
mentioned. Sinus: in the sense of vela.
Und-pariterque. These words imply that
they all worked together with equal eager-
ness, and with uniform motions. Sinistros:
they turned the sails sometimes to the right,
and sometimes to the left, as the wind veer-
ed or shifted. In nautical language, they
shifted their tacks as, &c.
832. Sua: in the sense of prospera vel se-
cunda: prosperous gales-favorable winds.
833. Princeps: in the sense of primus.
Palinurus was the pilot of the ship of Æneas.
He fell overboard, and was drowned: the
only one lost in the whole fleet.
834. Agmen: in the sense of classem. Con-
tendere. Palinurus lcd the fleet, and all the
other ships were ordered to follow him-to
direct their course after him.
835. Humida nox: humid night had al-
most reached the middle point of heaven.
It was almost midnight.
It was almost midnight. This is a meta-
phor taken from the races. It had almost
reached the turning point.
840. Tristia somnia: in the sense of tris-
830. Fecere pedem: they wor ed the sheet tem vel lethalem somunu.
ENEIS. LIB. V.
351
Phorbanti similis, fuditque has ore loquelas :
laside Palinure, ferunt ipsa æquora classem,
Equata spirant auræ, datur hora quieti.
Pone caput, fessosque oculos furare labori.
Ipse ego paulisper pro te tua munera inibo.
Cui vix attollens Palinurus lumina fatur :
Mene salis placidi vultum fluctusque quietos
Ignorare jubes? mene huic confidere monstro?
Eneam credam quid enim fallacibus Austris,
Et cœli toties deceptus fraude sereni ?
Talia dicta dabat: clavumque affixus et hærens
Nusquam amittebat, oculosque sub astra tenebat
Ecce Deus ramum Lethæo rore madentem,
Vique soporatum Stygiâ, super utraque quassat
Tempora; cunctantique natantia lumina solvit.
Vix primos inopina quies laxaverat artus,
845
850
849. Jubes-ne me
854. Ecce Dens quas-
855 sat ramum madentem
Lethæo rore, soporatum
que Stygia vi, super
utraque tempora
Et super incumbens, cum puppis parte revulsâ,
Cumque gubernâclo, liquidas projecit in undas
Præcipitem, ac socios nequicquam sæpe vocantem. 860
Ipse volans tenues se sustulit ales in auras.
Currit iter tutum non seciùs æquore classis,
Promissisque patris Neptuni interrita fertur.
Jamque adeò scopulos Sirenum advecta subibat,
•
NOTES.
842. Phorbanti. Phorbas was one of the
sons of Priam.
843. Iaside. Iasius was some Trojan, the
father or grandfather of Palinurus.
844. Equata: steady-fair. So that they
spread the sails, in nautical language, wing
and wing.
846. Înibo: I will discharge your offices,
&c.
848. Me-ne jubes: do you bid me to dis-
regard the face of the calm sea, and the
waves at rest? do you bid me to trust to
that appearance? As if he had said: though
the face of the sea be smooth, and its waves
at rest, I am not so ignorant of sailing, as to
trust to that circumstance; the winds may
suddenly rise, and things be materially
changed. Salis: in the sense of maris.
851. Et: in the sense of etiam: even I so
often deceived, &c.
854. Rore: in the sense of aqua.
855. Soporatum vi: impregnated with a
Stygian quality. By this, Servius under-
stands a mortal or deadly quality; such as
effected his death.
856. Cunctanti: to him struggling against
it, and endeavoring to keep awake. Solvit:
in the sense of claudit.
857. Primos artus. Sleep is here repre-
sented as creeping, or diffusing itself over
the several members of the body, and relax-
ing then one after another. The primos
artus may mean the extremities of the body,
which are apt to be first affected with sleep.
858. Et super-incumbens: when (the god)
862. Classis currit iter
in æquore non seciùs tu-
tum, ferturque interrita
leaning against him, threw him headlong,
&c. The et here must have the force of
cùm, as Mr. Davidson very justly observes.
The part of the ship which Palinurus carried
with him into the sea, enabled him to float
three days. See Æn. vi. 350.
860. Nequicquam: in vain; because his
companions were asleep, and could afford
him no assistance.
861. Ales: in the sense of celer. Ipse,
nempe Deus somnus,
862. Non seciùs tutum: in the sense of
non minùs tutum. Interrita: safe, without
fear of danger. Secura, says Rumus.
864. Scopulos Sirenum: the rocks of the
Sirenes. Subibal: was approaching-was
coming to. Classis is understood.
The Si-
renes are said to have been three beautiful
women, who inhabited steep rocks on the
sea-coast, whither they allured passengers
by the sweetness of their music, and then
put them to death. They are fabled to have
been the daughters of Achelous, and Calli-
ope. One sung. one played on the flute, and
one on the lyre. The poets say, it was de-
creed that they should live till some person
should be able to resist their charms. Ulys-
ses being informed of this by Circe, escaped
the fatal snare by stopping the ears of his
companions with wax, and fastening himself
to the mast of his ship. Upon which they
threw themselves into the sea in despair,
and were transformed into fishes from the
waist downward. The truth of the fable is
this: they were lewd-women, who, by their
352
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
868. Cùm pater Æne- Difficiles quondam, multorumque ossibus albos;
as sensit ratem errare Tum rauca assiduo longè sale saxa sonabant:
lluitantem, magistro a- Cùm pater amisso fluitantem errare magistro
misso, et
870. () Palinure, in- Sensit, et ipse ratem nocturnis rexit in undis,
quit, nimiùm confise se- Multa gemens, casuque animum concussus amici :
reno cœlo et pelago, nu- O nimiùm cœlo et pelago confise sereno,
dus jacobis in ignota Nudus in ignotâ, Palinure, jacebis arenâ.
arenâ.
NOTES.
charms, enticed men to debauchery. The
place of their residence was in the three
islands called Sirenuse, in the Sinus Pasta-
nus, in the Tyrrhene, or Tuscan sea. Their
names were Leucosia, Ligea, and Parthe-
nope.
865. Difficiles: dangerous on account of
the rocks and shoals. Albos ossibus: white
with the bones of ship-wrecked mariners.
867. Assiduo sale: with a constant dash-
ing of the waves against the rocks.
865
870
adrift-to be carried here and there at the
pleasure of the winds and waves.
870. O nimiùm confise: O Palinurus, trust-
ing too much, &c. Æneas had been asleep;
and he speaks only by conjecture as to the
cause of his misfortune, not knowing that a
The truth
god had thrown him overboard.
of the case is this: Palinurus was overcome
by sleep in spite of his efforts to keep awake;
Some
and, in that situation, fell overboard.
say he was not drowned; but swam to the
Italian coast, and was there killed by the
See Æn. vi. 387.
868. Errare fluitantem: to stray, or go inhabitants.
QUESTIONS.
How does this book open?
What is its nature and character?
What happened to Eneas soon after he
was out to sea?
To what place was he forced to direct his
course?
At what place in Sicily did he land?
How was he received by his friend Acestes?
What did Æneas do soon after his arrival?
How long had Anchises been dead?
Did he institute games in honor of him?
How many kinds of games?
From whom were they imitated?
In honor of whom were Homer's games
instituted?
By whom were they instituted?
In what book of the Iliad is the account
of them given?
What befel Nisus?
Who was next to him?
And why did not Salius obtain the prize?
What was the third game?
What is the nature of the gauntlet fight?
Can it be practised in an improved state
of society?
What did Lycurgus in regard to this kind
of exercise?
Who entered the list on the part of the
Trojans in this game?
Had Dares distinguished himself in this
fight before?
Whom had he slain on the plains of
Trov?
With whom was he accustomed to con-
end at Troy?
Was Paris said to be superior to Hector
What do you understand by carcer, when at the gauntlet?
applied to races in general?
What by meta?
Why is the word limen sometimes used
for the starting place?
What was the first game?
How many ships or galleys contended
for the prize?
Who was the first conqueror?
To what circumstance does the poet at-
tribute his victory?
Who was the second victor?
Did Mnestheus make any animated ad-
dress to his oarsmen?
What did he call them?
What effect had this address upon them?
What was the second game?
Who entered the list for the prizes?
Who took the first prize?
How did it happen that Euryalus came
out the first?
Who was the antagonist of Dares?
Who was Entellus?
What was his age?
What was the issue of the contest?
What was the fourth game?
Where was the bird suspended?
Whose arrow cut the cord by which the
bird was bound?
Whose arrow pierced her?
Where was the bird at that moment?
Whose brother was Eurytion?
What is Pandarus said to have done du-
ring the Trojan war?
Was he a distinguished archer?
Is it said that he received divine honors?
Who last shot his arrow?
What happened to it as it passed through
the air?
In what light was this considered by
Æneas?
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
353
Could the soothsayers interpret the omen,
or prodigy, in a satisfactory manner?
What was it afterward understood to
point out?
What was the fifth game?
Can you give me an account of this ca-
valcade?
Who were the leaders?
How many turma, or companies, were
thero?
At whose instigation was the fleet of
Eneas set on fire?
Who was Iris?
What did he call it?
In the mean time, did the ghost of his
father appear to him in a vision?
What direction did it give him?
Having repaired his fleet, to what place
did he direct his course?
In his voyage, did he lose his pilot over-
board?
How was that effected, and by whom?
Who were the Sirenes?
How many in number were there?
What were they said to do?
How did Ulysses escape when he ap-
On what kind of business was she usu- proached their shores?
ally employed?
How many ships were destroyed?
How was the fire finally extinguished?
What was the design of the Trojan wo-
men in burning their ships?
Were they weary of their long voyage?
What effect had the loss of these ships
upon the mind of Æneas?
What course was he advised to pursue
by Nautes?
Did he found a city for those who were
willing to remain in Sicily?
What islands did they inhabit?
What were they supposed to be?
What became of them at last?
After his arrival in Italy, did Æneas fol-
low the direction of his father?
Who conducted him to the regions be-
low?
Who was this Sibyl?
Where did she reside?
What was the place whence she delivered
her predictions?
By what god was she inspired?
*
•
LIBER SEXTUS.
This is one of those books which Virgil read in the presence of Augustus and Octavia.
The subject is the descent of Eneas to the infernal regions. After his arrival in Italy,
he repaired immediately to the cave of the Sibyl, where he learned the difficulties that
awaited him before his peaceful settlement. He then consults her about his intended
descent. She informed him of the danger of the enterprise, and that he must, in the
first place, obtain a golden bough from a certain tree which was sacred to Hecate. She
then informs him that one of his friends lay dead on the shore, and directs him to
perform his funeral rites, and afterward come and offer sacrifice. He returned to his
companions, and found Misenus dead. Having found the golden bough, he goes to the
Sibyl, who conducts him down to hell. She describes to him the various scenes of those
regions as they pass along, and shows him the several apartments; in one of which he
sees Dido. He attempts to address her, but she turns from him in proud disdain. He
then proceeds till he comes to the residence of his father; who explains to him the na-
ture of transmigration according to the notion of Pythagoras, and shows him the illus-
trious race of heroes that should descend from him. After which he returns to the
upper regions, through the ivory gate, and revisits his companions.
This book is entirely episodical, and interrupts the thread of the story. It is probable
that Virgil took the hint of conducting his hero to the regions of the dead, from Her-
cules, Orpheus, Ulysses, and others, who had visited them before. This gave him an
opportunity of elucidating the economy of those regions according to the doctrines of
Pythagoras, Plato, and other philosophers; of inculcating, in the most forcible manner
principles of morality and religion; of developing the leading incidents of Roman his-
tory, and of flattering the vanity of his countrymen, and his prince.
Bishop Warburton considers this book as an allegorical representation of the Eleusinian
Mysteries, at one time very much celebrated through Greece. But there is a difficulty
in this interpretation. A considerable portion of the book cannot be considered in that
light for it contains a biographical sketch of the principal characters, from Æneas
down to the time of Augustus, and embraces the most important events connected with
the Roman government. Besides, it is not certain that Virgil was ever initiated into
those mysteries; and, if it were, it is doing injustice to his character to suppose he would
:
24
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
1
354
divulge them; when every one that was admitted, bound himself, in the most solemn
manner, to keep them secret, and from the knowledge of the vulgar. Heyne observes
there is some resemblance between the mysteries and the machinery of the poet; but to
consider the book as an allegory, destroys the force and beauty of the whole. Perit
tandem omnis epica vis et poëtica suavitas, si res à poëta narrata ad allegoriam revocetur,
says he.
Those who would see the substance of the arguments on both sides, may consult M'Knight
on the Epistles-introduction to the epistle to the Ephesians.
SIC fatur lachrymans, classique immittit habenas :
Et tandem Euboïcis Cumarum allabitur oris.
Obvertunt pelago proras: tum dente tenaci
Anchora fundabat naves, et litora curvæ
Prætexunt puppes: juvenum manus emicat ardens
Litus in Hesperium: quærit pars semina flammæ,
7. Pars rapit sylvas, Abstrusa in venis silicis; pars densa ferarum
densa tecta ferarum, Tecta rapit sylvas, inventaque flumina monstrat.
At pius Æneas arces, quibus altus Apollo
monstratque
b
10
10. Immaneque an- Præsidet, horrendæque procul secreta Sibyllæ,
trum, secreta Sibyllæ Antrum immane, petit: magnam cui mentem animumque
horrendæ procul; cui
Delius vates inspirat
Delius inspirat vates, aperitque futura.
Jam subeunt Triviæ lucos, atque aurea tecta.
Dædalus, ut fama est, fugiens Minoïa regna,
Præpetibus pennis ausus se credere cœlo,
Insuetum per iter gelidas enavit ad Arctos,
NOTES.
1. Sic fatur. This refers to what he said
in the two last lines of the preceding book.
O nemiùm confise, &c. Immittit: he gives
full reins to his fleet. It implies that the
wind was fair, and that the ships were un-
der full sail.
This is a common metaphor, taken from
the horse and his rider.
2. Euboïcis: an adj. of Eubœa, an island
in the Ægean sea, lying to the east of
Achaia; hodie, Negropont. From hence
Megasthenes, of the city of Chalcis, trans-
planted a colony into Italy, and built Cuma,
a town in Campania. Hence, Euboïcis oris
Cumarum.
4. Anchora fundabat: the anchor moored
the ships. Fundabat: in the sense of tene-
bat.
5. Puppes: here used in its appropriate
sense-the sterns of the ships.
6. Semina: the seeds-the sparks of fire.
8. Rapit: plunders the wood; for the
purpose of collecting fuel. Ruæus says, col-
ligil ligna arborum. Densa tecta, &c. is put
in apposition with sylvas.
9. Arces: in the sense of templum. We
are informed that a temple was built to
Apollo in this place, in the form of a cave,
that seemed to be hollowed out of a rock.
In the inmost part of this temple, was the
grotto, or cell, of the Sibyl.
40. Horrendæ procul. The avenues and
approaches to her cell were awful and gloomy,
for a considerable distance. It is the pecu-
liar characteristic of this Sibyl, that she
15
keeps her consultors at an awful distance,
and fences the approaches to her cave with
Procul, O procul este, profani!
11. Cui magnam: whose great mind and
soul Apollo inspires. Cui has the sense of
cujus. Mens properly signifies the under-
standing-animus, the soul. Delius vates:
Apollo. He is called Delian from Delos,
the place of his birth.
13. Trivia. Trivia, a name of Diana.
Aurea tecta. This was the temple built to
Apollo by Dædalus.
14. Daedalus. An Athenian artist, who,
having put to death Perdix, his sister's son,
for rivalling him in his art, fled to Crete:
where he soon incurred the displeasure of
Minos, then king of that island, for assisting
his wife Pasiphaë, in carrying on her amours
with Taurus: and, on that account, was
confined with his son Icarus in a tower.
He escaped, however, by the help of wings.
He flew into Sicily, according to Pausanias
and Diodorus; but, according to Virgil and
others, to Cuma, where he built this temple
to Apollo, for conducting him safe in his
flight through the airy element.
+
16. Enavit. There is such a similitude
between sailing or swimming, and flying,
that the terms which properly belong to the
one, are indiscriminately applied to the
other. A ship is said to fly through the li-
quid element, and Mercury is said to swim
through the air. En. iv. 245. And Dada-
lus, on wings, swam to the cold north, and
consecrated remigium alarum, those wings
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
355
Chalcidicâque levis tandem superadstitit arce.
Redditus his primùm terris, tibi, Phœbe, sacravit
Remigium alarum; posuitque immania templa.
In foribus, letum Androgeï: tum pendere pœnas
Cecropidae jussi, miserum! septena quotannis
Corpora natorum: stat ductis sortibus urna.
Contrà elata mari respondet Gnossia tellus.
Hìc crudelis amor tauri, suppôstaque furto
Pasiphaë, mixtumque genus, prolesque biformis
Minotaurus inest, Veneris monumenta nefandæ
Hic labor ille domûs, et inextricabilis error.
Magnum reginæ sed enim miseratus amorem
Dædalus, ipse dolos tecti ambagesque resolvit,
Caca regens filo vestigia. Tu quoque magnam
Partem opere in tanto, sineret dolor, Icare, haberes.
NOTES.
on which he had cut his way through the
air, as oars divide the water. But what gives
a greater propriety to these phrases, is, that
Daedalus was the inventor of navigation by
the use of sails; and that his wings were
nothing else than the sails of the ship, in
which he escaped from Crete. Enavit: in
the sense of advolavit.
17. Chalcidica: an adj. from Chalcis, a
city of Eubœa. See 2. supra. Chalcidica
arce: the city of Cuma. Here Daedalus
first landed in Italy; and built the temple
to Apollo, which Æneas is about to enter.
It is said that he first went to Sardania, and
from thence to Italy. Redditus: having
arrived.
20. Androgeï: gen. of Androgeus. He
was the son of Minos; and frequenting the
public gaines at Athens, contracted a friend-
ship with the sons of Pallas, brother to
Egeus, king of Athens. Not having as yet
acknowledged Theseus to be his son; and
suspecting Androgeus to have entered into a
conspiracy with his nephew to dethrone him,
Ægeus employed assassins to take away his
life. To revenge this atrocious deed, Minos
made war upon him, and forced him to sue
for peace.
This was granted on the condi-
tion that he should every year, or, as others
say, every third, or ninth year, pay a tax of
seven of their young men, and as many vir-
gins, who were chosen by lot as victims, for
the preservation of their country. Some
say that Androgeus having been repeatedly
victorious at the public games of Greece,
excited the envy and jealousy of some per-
sons, who procured his death. However
the case may be, his death brought upon the
Athenians a war with Minos, his father, then
king of Crete.
The death of Androgeus was represented
on the gates or doors of the temple, the
Athenian youth sent as an expiation for the
barbarous deed, and the urn from which
the fatal lots were drawn. On the opposite
20
20. In foribus lethum
Androgei sculptum erat :
tum Cecropidæ jussi
quotannis pendere pœ-
nas, O miserum ! «nem-
pe, bis septena corpora
25
suorum natorum
24. Hic inest crudelis
amor tauri, Pasiphaë
que suppôsta furto, Mi-
notaurusque mixtum ge-
nus, biformisque proles,
nefando
monumenta
30 Veneris.
31. Si dolor patris
side arose the island of Crete-Pasaphaë,
the wife of Minos-the Minotaur-the La-
byrinth, and the ingenious workmen (Dæ-
dalus) explaining its mysteries to Theseus;
all these were in carved work. Posuit: in
the sense of ædificavit. Pendere pœnas: to
make retribution or satisfaction for the
crime.
21. Cecropida: the Athenians so called
from Cecrops, their first king. He built the
city of Athens, and called it Cecropia.
23. Gnossia tellus: Crete. Gnossia:
adj. from Gnossus, a city of that island.
an
24. Amor tauri. Pasiphaë, the wife of
Minos, and daughter of the Sun, was fabled
to have fallen in love with a beautiful bull
and to have gratified her passion by a con-
trivance of Dedalus, who shut her up in a
wooden cow. From this unnatural con-
nexion sprang the Minotaur, a monster half
man and half bull, that fed on human flesh;
and devoured the Athenian youth, whom
Minos shut up in the Labyrinth. The truth
of the story is this: Pasiphaë fell in love
with a nobleman of the court, whose name
was Taurus; and made Dædalus her confi-
dant, who kept it concealed, and even lent
his house to the lovers. Supposita furto.
This refers to Pasiphaë's being shut up in
the wooden cow that she might receive the
embrace of the bull-substituted through
artifice or contrivance in the room of a cow.
26. Inest: in the sense of sculptus est
Veneris nefanda: of execrable lust.
27. Labor domûs, &c. By these we are
to understand the Labyrinth. See Æn. v.
588.
28. Miseratus magnum: Dædalus, pitying
the great love of the queen, discovers (to
Theseus) the deception and intricacies of
the structure, &c. Theseus, the son of
Egeus, king of Athens, proposed to go to
Crete, along with the victims, to fight the
Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Ariadne, the
daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, whom
356
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Bis conatus erat casus effingere in auro ;
Bis patriæ cecidêre manus. Quin protinùs omnia
34. Ni Achates præ- Perlegerent oculis; ni jam præmissus Achates
missus ad Sibyllam ab Afforet; atque unà Phœbi Triviæque sacerdos,
Enea, jam afforet, at- Deiphobe Glauci, fatur quæ talia regi:
que unà Deïphobe filia Non hoc ista sibi tempus spectacula poscit
Glauci, sacerdos
vocat Teucros
in
Nunc grege de intacto septem mactare juvencos
Præstiterit, totidem lectas de more bidentes.
40. Sacerdos affata Talibus affata Æneam, nec sacra morantur
Eneam talibus verbis Jussa viri, Teucros vocat alta in templa sacerdos.
41. Ingens latus Eu. Excisum Euboïca latus ingens rupis in antrum;
boice rupis excisum est Quò lati ducunt aditus centum, ostia centum ;
Unde ruunt totidem voces, responsa Sibyllæ.
Ventum erat ad limen, cùm virgo, Poscere fata
46. Cui fanti talia an- Tempus, ait: Deus, ecce, Deus! Cui talia fanti
te fores, subitò non est Ante fores, subitò non vultus, non color unus,
unus vultus, non unus Non comptæ mansêre comæ : sed pectus anhelum,
color; comæ non man-
Et rabie fera corda tument; majorque videri,
sêre comptæ; sed pectus
anhelum est, et ejus fera Nec mortale sonans: afflata est numine quando
corda tument rabie: Jam propiore Dei. Cessas in vota precesque,
cœpitque videri major Tros, ait, Ænea? cessas? neque enim antè dehiscent
vitâ, nec vox ejus est so-
Attonitæ magna ora domûs. Et talia fata,
nans mortale.
52. Antè quàm emi- Conticuit. Gelidus Teucris per dura cucurrit
Ossa tremor; fuditque preces rex pectore ab imo:
Phoebe, graves Troja semper miserate labores,
seris vota precesque.
NOTES.
Virgil here calls regina, fell in love with The-
seus, and taught him how to vanquish the
Minotaur, and also gave him a clew, which
she had received from Daedalus, whereby he
could extricate himself from the Labyrinth.
It was agreed as a condition of the combat,
that if Theseus killed the Minotaur, the
Athenian youths should be released, and his
country freed from that humiliating condi-
tion. Theseus was victorious. By the clew
we are to understand the plan and contri-
vance of the Labyrinth. Enim: in the
sense of equidem.
29. Resolvit: in the sense of explicuit.
30. Caca: in the sense of incerta.
31. Icare. Icarus, as the fable goes, was
the son and associate of Dedalus. He at
tempted to make his escape from Crete by
the help of wings, but being unable to ma-
nage them with dexterity, he wandered from
his way, and fell into the Egean sea, and
was drowned. He gave name to Icarus, an
island between Samos and Mycene.
33. Patriæ manus cecidêre. Dedalus at-
tempted to represent the calamity (casus) of
Icarus, but his grief and sorrow prevented
him. He attempted it twice, and twice his
hands failed; otherwise Icarus would have
made a distinguished figure in the carved
work.
34. Perlegerent omnia : the Trojans would
have examined all the carved work and cu-
85
40
45
50
55
rious sculpture of the temple, had not Acha-
tes, &c. Protinus: in the sense of in ordine.
Perlegerent: in the sense of perlegissent.
35. Afforet: in the sense of redivisset.
38. Intacto: untouched by the yoke.
39. Bidentes: in the sense of oves.
40. Nec viri morantur: nor do the men
(the Trojans) delay to perform her sacred
commands concerning offering sacrifice. Sa-
cerdos. The daughter of Glaucus. She was
the priestess, attendant upon the Sibyl, who
was at this time in her cell or cave. Antrum.
This is the same with alta templa in the pre-
ceding line. By this we are not to understand
the temple of Apollo already mentioned,
but the residence of the Sibyl-her cave,
here called templum.
45. Ventum erat: they had come to the
entrance of the cave, when, &c. Fata: in
the sense of oracula. Est is understood with
tempus.
46. Ecce, Deus: behold, the god, the god
is here-Apollo.
47. Subitò non vultus: suddenly her counte-
nance changes, and her color comes and goes.
50. Quando jam afflata est: when now she
is inspired with a nearer influence of the god
Apollo. Cessas: dost thou delay to go into
vows and prayers? Neque: in the sense of
non.
57. Qui direxti Dardana tela: who didst
direct the Trojan darts, and the hands of
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
357
· Dardana qui Paridis dirêxti tela manusque
Corpus in acidæ magnas obeuntia terras
Tot maria intravi, duce te, penitùsque repôstaş
Massylum gentes, prætentaque Syrtibus arvą :
Jain tandem Italiæ fugientis prendimus oras.
Hàc Trojana tenus fuerit fortuna secuta.
Vos quoque Pergameæ jam fas est parcere genti,
Dique Deæque omnes, quibus obstitit Ilium, et ingens
Gloria Dardaniæ. Tuque, ô sanctissima vates,
Præscia venturi, da, non indebita posco
Regna meis fatis, Latio considere Teucros,
Errantesque Deos, agitataque numina Troja.
Tum Phœbo et Trivia solido de marmore templa
Instituam, festosque dies de nomine Phœbi.
59. Te duce, intravi
60 tot maria obeuntia mag-
nas
65
70
terras,
terras, gentesque
Massylum penitùs re-
pôstas
66. Da Teucros, er-
rantesque Deos, agita-
taque numina Troja
considere in Latio, non
posco.
Te quoque magna manent regnis penetralia nostris.
Hic ego namque tuas sortes, arcanaque fata
Dicta meæ genti ponam; lectosque sacrabo,
Alma, viros: foliis tantùm ne carmina manda,
Ne turbata volent rapidis ludibria ventis :
Ipsa canas, oro. Finem dedit ore loquendi.
At, Phœbi nondum patiens immanis in antro
NOTES.
Paris, against the body of Achilles. It is
said that Achilles was killed by Paris in the
temple of Apollo, at Troy.
57. Dirêxti: for direxisti, by syncope.
59. Penitùs repôstas: far remote.
60. Massylum. The Massyli, a people of
Africa, put for the Africans in general, or
for the Carthaginians in particular. See
En. iv. 483. Prætenta: lying before. Arva:
the lands-country.
61. Italiæ fugientis: the nearer they ap-
proached to Italy, new obstructions arose,
which seemed to prevent access to it, as if it
fled from them.
62. Hactenus: hitherto-thus far. It is
separated by tmesis, for the sake of the verse.
Trojano fortuna: id est, adversa fortuna.
64. Dique Deœque omnes, quibus: ye
gods and goddesses all, to whom Ilium and
the great glory of Troy was offensive, it is
just that you too, &c. The deities here
meant were Juno, Minerva, and Neptune.
Obstitit: invisa sunt, says Heyne.
68. Agitata numina: persecuted deities
of Troy.
70. Instituam Phœbo: I will build to
Phoebus and Diana temples of solid marble,
and institute festival days, &c. Here is an
allusion to the Ludi Apollinares, which were
instituted in the first Punic war, and to the
building of a temple to Apollo by Augustus,
after his victory over Anthony and Cleopa-
tra, at Actium. Heyne reads templum, after
Heinsius. The common reading is templa.
Virgil here uses the verb instituam with two
nouns, when in strict propriety it can apply
to one of them only. We can say, institute
festivals, but it is quite another thing to say,
75
75. Ne turbata volent
tanquam ludibria rapidis
ventis: oro ut tu ipsa
canas ea ex ore.
institute a house or temple. Our language
will not admit of this liberty and freedom of
expression. See Æn. vii. 431, and Æn. viii.
410. Some copies have constituam.
71. Te quoque magna: a spacious sanc-
tuary too awaits thee in our realms. This
alludes to the shrine or sanctuary in the
temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, where the
Sibylline books were kept in a stone chest
under ground. Fifteen persons, called Quin-
decemviri, were appointed to take care of
them, and to consult them in the affairs of
state. They were chosen from the Patri-
cians, and had great influence in public af-
fairs. It was a very easy matter to make
these Sibylline books speak what language
they pleased.
12. Sortes: in the sense of oracula. Dicta:
in the sense of declarata.
74. Ne manda: do not commit, &c. It
was the custom of this Sibyl to write her
prophetic responses upon the leaves of the
palm tree. Before the invention of parch-
ment and paper, there was no better mate-
rial for writing than the leaves and bark of
trees. Alma: O holy prophetess.
77. Nondum patiens, &c. The meaning
is this: the Sibyl was not docile and sub-
missive (patiens) to Phœbus, and would not
utter oracles according to his will, but re-
sisted him until he had subdued her ferocious
temper and formed her to his purposes by
force and restraint. Excussisse: the perf.
in the sense of the pros. The terms here
used are taken from the horse and the rider.
The Sibyl is compared to the former; and
Apollo, breaking her and rendering her sub-
missive and obedient to him, to the latter
353
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
1
78. Tentans, si possit Bacchatur vates, magnum si pectore possit
Excussisse Deum : tantò magis ille fatigat
excussisse
ricula
86. Sed et volent se
non venisse eò.
Os rabidum, fera corda domans, fingitque premendo 80
Ostia jamque domûs patuere ingentia centum
Sponte suâ, vatisque ferunt responsa per auras :
83. O tu tandem de- O tandem magnis pelagi defuncte perîclis!
functe magnis periclis Sed terrâ graviora manent. In regna Lavinî
pelagi! sed graviora pe- Dardanidæ venient, mitte hanc de pectore curam :
Sed non et venisse volent. Bella, horrida bella,
Et Tybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno.
Non Simoïs tibi, nec Xanthus, nec Dorica castra
89. Alius Achilles par- Defuerint: alius Latio jam partus Achilles,
Natus et ipse Deâ: nec Teucris addita Juno
91. Cùm in egenis re- Usquam aberit. Cùm tu supplex in rebus egenis,
bus, quas gentes Italûm, Quas gentes Italûm, aut quas non oraveris urbes ?
aut quas urbes, non tu
supplex oraveris? Con- Causa mali tanti conjux iterum hospita Teucris;
jux hospita iterum erit Externique iterum thalami.
tus est tibi
causa tanti mali Teu- Tu ne cede malis; sed contrà audentior ito,
cris; externique thalami Quà tua te fortuna sinet. Via prima salutis,
iterum erunt causa.
Quod minimè reris, Graiâ pandetur ab urbe.
Talibus ex adyto dictis Cumaa Sibylla
NOTES.
The verb excutio is applied to the horse
when he throws his rider. Immanis: in the
sense of immaniter vel vehementer. An ad-
jective closely connected in construction
with a verb, is better rendered by its corres-
ponding adverb. Bacchatur: furit in more
Baccharum, says Ruæus.
80. Fatigat rabidum os: he curbs-holds
in, &c. This alludes to the manner of break-
ing and taming horses when they are unru-
ly and impatient of the bit. The rider curbs
or holds them in by pulling up the reins.
Fingitque: and forms and prepares her for
the delivery of his oracles.
82. Ferunt: in the sense of emittunt.
83. Defuncte: voc. O thou, having pass-
ed through escaped. Ruæus says, Qui
evasisti. Periclis: by syn. for periculis.
84. Lavini: by apocope for Lavinii, gen.
of Lavinium, a country to the cast of the
Tyber, so called from the city Lavinium,
which Eneas built. See Æn.i.2. Some read,
regna Latini, which perhaps is the best read-
ing: the kingdom of Latinus. He received
Aneas, on his arrival, with hospitality, gave
him his daughter in marriage, and was suc-
ceeded by him in his kingdom. Heyne pre-
fers Lavinî, and observes that it is more in
the language of prophecy than Latini.
88. Non Simois tibi: neither Simoïs, nor
Xanthus, nor the Grecian camp, shall be
wanting to you, &c. Here the prophetess,
to prepare the mind of Eneas to meet the
worst, or rather the poet to do honor to his
hero in overcoming such powerful opposi-
tion, gives a terrible representation of the
war in which he was to be engaged in Italy,
85
90
95
comparing it with the Trojan war, both as
to its similitude of characters, places, and
causes. Xanthus and Simoïs are the Tyber
and Numicus; Turnus is Achilles; Lavinia,
the daughter of Latinus, is a second Helen.
90. Natus Deâ: Turnus, a brave and
warlike prince, the son of the nymph Venilia.
Addita in the sense of inimica. Rumus
says infesta; et quasi lateri semper affixa.
:
91. Cùm: in the sense of tum, says Heyne.
Rumus reads quem, but gives no authority
for it; the best copies have cùm. Rebus
egenis: in your distress-difficulty.
93. Conjux hospita. As the rape of Helen
by Paris, whom she entertained in her palace
at Sparta, was the cause of the Trojan war,
so shall Lavinia, the daughter of Latinus, who
shall receive Æneas under his hospitable roof,
be the cause of a second war, by espousing
Æneas after she had been promised to Tur-
nus. Thalami: in the sense of nuptiæ.
96. Quà: the common reading is quàm,
but of this it is difficult to make sense. It
is not probable that the Sibyl could advise
Eneas to proceed with more courage or
boldness than prudence dictated, or his for-
tune permitted. To preserve the reading of
quàm, Mr. Davidson renders the words quàm
tua, &c., "The more that fortune shall op-
pose you;" giving to the verb sinet a turn
which it will by no means bear. Heyno
reads quà, taking it in the sense of qua via
et ratione, vel quantùm per fatum licebit,
Heinsius and Burmannus read quàm, which
they take in the sense of quantum.
97. Graiâ urbe: this was the city Pallan-
teum, where Evander reigned. See Lib. 8.
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
359
•
Horrendas canit ambages, antroque remugit,
Obscuris vera involvens: ea fræna furenti
Concutit, et stimulos sub pectore vertit Apollo
100
105
106. Dicitur esse hic,
et tenebrosa palus sur-
gens ex Acheronte
109. Ut contingat mi-
110 hi ire ad
Ut primùm cessit furor, et rabida ora quiêrunt:
Incipit Æneas heros: Non ulla laborum,
O virgo, nova mî facies inopinave surgit :
Omnia præcepi, atque animo mecum antè peregi.
Unum oro; quando hic inferni janua regis
Dicitur, et tenebrosa palus Acheronte refuso;
[re ad conspectum chari genitoris, et ora
Contingat; doceas iter, et sacra ostia pandas.
Illum ego per flammas et mille sequentia tela
Eripui his humeris, medioque ex hoste recepi :
Ille meum comitatus iter, maria omnia mecum,
Atque omnes pelagique minas cœlique ferebat
Invalidus, vires ultra sortemque senectæ.
Quin, ut te supplex peterem, et tua limina adirem,
Idem orans mandata dabat. Natique patrisque,
Alma, precor, miserere: potes namque omnia; nec te
Nequicquam lucis Hecate præfecit Avernis.
Si potuit Manes arcessere conjugis Orpheus,
Threïciâ fretus citharâ fidibusque canoris :
Si fratrem Pollux alternâ morte redemit,
112. Ille comitatus
est meum iter; et inva-
lidus ferebat omnia ma-
ria mecum, atque omnes
115 minas pelagique cœli-
que, ultra
120
Itque reditque viam toties. quid Thesea, magnum
Quid memorem Alciden? et mî genus ab Jove summo.
Talibus orabat dictis, arasque tenebat.
NOTES.
99. Canit horrendas: she delivers her aw-
ful predictions. Ambages: (ex ambi, et ago)
nysteries, says Valpy.
100. Ea frana furenti: Apollo shakes
those reins over her, raging, (inspired,) and
turns his spurs under her breast. The meta-
phor of the horse and the rider, is still con-
tinued.
104. Mi: by apocope for mihi. Eneas
speaks like a man long accustomed to the
calamities and misfortunes (laborum) of life,
and so well fortified in his mind to meet
every vicissitude of things, that no form of
toil and suffering could arise, new and un-
expected.
195. Præcepi: I have anticipated all things
-I have received information of all those
difficulties before.
107. Tenebrosa palus: the gloomy lake,
(arising) from the overflowing of Acheron.
The lake here is Avernus, which was fabled
to arise from the overflowing of the river
· Acheron, a fabulous river of the infernal
regions. See Geor. iv. 4.
111. Eripui: in the sense of sustuli.
114. Sortem: state-condition.
119. Si Orpheus potuit: if Orpheus could
call back the ghost of his wife, relying upon,
&c. See the story of his descent to hell.
Geor. iv. 454.
121. Si Pollux redemit: if Pollux redeem-
115. Quin, idem An-
chises orans dabat man-
data mihi, ut
122. Quid memorem
Thesea
123. Est mî et genus
ab
ed his brother by an alternate death, &c.
Castor and Pollux were twin brothers of Le-
da, the wife of Tyndarus, king of Sparta.
Jupiter being the father of Pollux, he was
immortal, while Castor, being only the son
of Tyndarus, was subject to mortality.
Upon the death of Castor, his brother, out
of the great love he bore to him, obtained of
Jupiter leave to share with him his immor-
tality; whereupon they lived, by turns, one
day in heaven and one in hell.
122. Thesea: a Greek acc. He was the
son of geus, king of Athens. He and Piri-
thous are fabled to have made a descent to
hell for the purpose of liberating Proserpina,
but were seized by Pluto, who gave Piri-
thous to Cerberus to be devoured, while
Theseus he bound in chains, where he re-
mained till he was set at liberty by Hercu
les. See 28, supra.
123. Alciden: Hercules, so called from
Alceus, his grandfather. He was the son of
Jupiter and Alcmene. He is said to have
descended to the infernal regions, and to
have carried off Cerberus in spite of Pluto
himself. Mî: for mihi, by apocope, and
in the sense of meum. Mî genus: my de-
scent also is from Jove supreme. Eneas
descended from Dardanus, the son of Jove
He was also the son of Venus, the daughter
of the same god. Et: in the sense of etiam
380
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
131. Geniti Dîs,
tuere efficere id
Tunc sic orsa loqui vates: Sate sanguine Divům, 125
Tros Anchisiade, facilis descensus Averni :
Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis:
Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras,
Hoc opus, hic labor est. Pauci, quos æquus amavit
Jupiter, aut ardens evexit ad æthera virtus,
po- Dis geniti, potuere. Tenent media omnia sylvæ,
Cocytusque sinu labens circumfluit atro.
Quòd si tantus amor menti, si tanta cupido est,
Bis Stygios innare lacus, bis nigra videre
Tartara; et insano juvat indulgere labori:
130
135
136. Accipe ea,
ount peragenda
quæ Accipe quæ peragenda priùs. Latet arbore opaca,
tibi Aureus et foliis et lento vimine ramus,
priùs.
140. Non datur
Junoni infernæ dictus sacer: hunc tegit omnis
Lucus, et obscuris claudunt convallibus umbræ.
su- Sed non antè datur telluris operta subire,
140
bire operta loca telluris Auricomos quàm quis decerpserit arbore fœtus.
antè quàm quis Hoc sibi pulchra suum ferri Proserpina munus
Instituit. Primo avulso, non deficit alter
Aureus; et simili frondescit virga metallo.
145. Ergò vestiga ra- Ergò altè vestiga oculis, et ritè repertum
tum
mum oculis altè, et ma- Carpe manu: namque ipse volens facilisque sequetur,
nu ritè carpe eum reper- Si te fata vocant; aliter non viribus ullis
147. Vocant te ad in- Vincere, nec duro poteris convellere ferro.
feros.
Prætereà jacet exanimum tibi corpus amici,
Heu nescis! totamque incestat funere classem ;
Dum consulta petis, nostroque in limine pendes.
Sedibus hunc refer antè suis, et conde sepulchro
153. Deinde duc ad Duc nigras pecudes: ea prima piacula sunto.
aram nigras
Sic demùm lucos Stygios, regna invia vivis
NOTES.
128. Revocare gradum: to return-to re-
trace your steps; a phrase. Superas auras:
to this upper world-the upper regions of
light; they are so called in reference to the
regions below.
132. Cocytusque : and Cocytus gliding
along with its gloomy stream, flows around
them. Cocytus, a river in Campania in Ita-
ly, but by the poets feigned to be a river in
hell. Sinu: in the sense of flexu.
134. Innare: in the sense of navigare.
Insano: vast-mighty. Ruæus says, vano.
135. Accipe: in the sense of audi, vel
disce.
137. Ramus aureus: a bough, golden both
in its feaves and limber twig, &c. lies con-
cealed in a shady tree. This is considered
by some a mere fiction of the poet, but pro-
bably it is founded on some historical fact,
or refers to some fabulous tradition, which
it is not easy to find out. Servius thinks it
alludes to a tree in the midst of the sacred
grove of Diana, not far from Aritia, a city
of Latium, where, if a fugitive came for
sanctuary, and could pluck a branch from
the tree, he was permitted to fight a single
145
150
combat with the priest of her temple, and if
he overcame him, to take his place.
138. Junoni: Proserpine. She is here
called Infernal Juno; as Pluto is sometimes
called Stygius Jupiter.
141. Auricomos fœtus: the golden bough.
Fetus: the young of any thing animate or
inanimate. Here, a bough, shoot, or scion.
142. Suum: in the sense of charum.
143. Instituit: in the sense of jussit. Pri-
Rumus says, uno.
mo avulso: ramo is understood. For primo,
144. Frondescit: in the sense of pullulat.
Virga: in the sense of ramus. When one
bough was plucked, another immediately
shot forth of the same form, shape, and
color.
146. Sequetur: will follow-will yield to
you, if, &c.
148. Avellere: in the sense of amputart
vel cædere.
150. Incestat: defiles. Funere: in the
sense of cadavere. Consulta: advice-
counsel.
151. Pendes: in the sense of hæres.
152. Suis sedibus: to his own proper
place to the earth.
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
361
Aspicies. Dixit; pressoque obmutuit ore.
F
155
160
Æneas masto defixus lumina vultu
Ingreditur, linquens antruni, cæcosque-volutat
Eventus animo secum: cui fidus Achates
It comes, et paribus curis vestigia figit.
Multa inter sese vario sermone serebant,
Quem socium exanimem vates, quod corpus humandum
Diceret. Atque illi Misenum in litore sicco,
Ut venêre, vident indignâ morte peremptum;
Misenum Æoliden, quo non præstantior alter
Ære ciere viros, Martemque accendere cantu.
Hectoris hic magni fuerat comes.
161. Quem socium
vates diceret esse exani-
mem, quod corpus hu-
mandum esse
165
Hectora circum
167, Et obibat pug-
nas circum Hectora, in-
signis lituo et hastå.
170
Et-lituo pugnas insignis obibat et hastâ.
Postquam illum victor vitâ spoliavit Achilles,
Dardanio Æneæ sese fortissimus heros
Addiderat socium, non inferiora secutus.
Sed tum, fortè cavâ dum, personat æquora conchâ,
Demens, et cantu vocat in certamina Divos,
Emulus exceptum Triton, si credere dignum est,
Inter saxa virum spumosâ immerserat undâ.
Ergò omnes magno circùm clamore fremebant ;
Præcipuè pius Æneas. Tum jussa Sibyllæ,
Haud mora, festinant flentes: aramque sepulchri
Congerere arboribus, cœloque educere certant.
Itur in antiquam sylvam, stabula alta ferarum:
Procumbunt piceæ: sonat icta securibus ilex:
Fraxineæque trabes, cuneis et fissile robur
Scinditur advolvunt ingentes montibus ornos.
Necnon Æneas opera inter talia primus
Hortatur socios, paribusque accingitur armis.
:
Atque hæc ipse suo tristi cum corde volutat,
Aspectans sylvam immensam, et sic ore precatur :
NOTES.
156. Defixus lumina: a Grecism. Or, in the
sense of figens oculos in terram, says Ruæus.
160. Serebant multa: they made many
conjectures-they talked much, &c.
164. Eoliden. Misenus is here called
the son of Eolus, the fabulous god of the
winds; because he excelled in blowing upon
wind instruments. Præstantior: more ex-
pert. The verb erat is understood.
165. Martemque accendere cantu. This
hemistich Virgil is said to have added in
the mere heat of fancy, while he was re-
citing the book before Augustus; having
left the line imperfect at first. Ere: with
his brazen trumpet. Any thing made of
brass may be called æs.
167. Lituo. The lituus was a trumpet
not so straight as the tuba, nor so crooked as
the cornua. It was used, for the most part,
by the cavalry. Obibat pugnas: simply, he
fought.
170. Inferiorà: in the sense of inferiorem
ducem.
171. Personat æquora: he makes the sea
resound. &c. Concha. Shell trumpets were
175
175. Circum illum
180
185
177. Tum fientes fes-
tinant exsequi jussa Si-
byllæ
in use at first; before those instruments
came to be made of brass.
172. Vocat: he challenges the gods to a
trial of music.
173. Triton æmulus: Triton envious (jea-
lous of his fame) drowned in the foaming
waves the man taken by surprise among
the rocks. Triton was the son of Neptune
and Amphitrite. He was half man and
half fish; and was Neptune's trumpeter.
175. Fremebant: in the sense of lamenta-
bantur.
177. Aramque sepulchri: the funeral pile,
so called because built in the form of an
altar. Ingentem pyram, says Heyne.
180. Sonat: in the sense of procumbit. Tra-
bes: for arbores. Fissile robur: the fissile oak.
183. Primus: chief in command-cap-
tain of the company.
184. Accingiturque, &c.: and is arrayed
with equal arms. By armis, we are to un-
derstand the axes, and other implements
for cutting and preparing wood for the fu-
neral pile of Misenus.
186. Ore. This is the common reading;
362
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
>
Si nunc se nobis ille aureus arbore ramus
Ostendat nemore in tanto! quando omnia verè
189. Nimium verè Heu! nimiùm de te vates, Misene, locuta est.
Vix ea fatus erat, geminæ cùm fortè columbæ
Ipsa sub ora viri cœlo venêre volantes,
Et viridi sedêre solo. Tum maximus heros
Maternas agnoscit aves, lætusque precatur :
195. O vos, este duces Este duces, ô, siqua via est; cursumque per auras
mihi, siqua
199. Illæ pascentes
cœperunt prodire volan-
tes tantùm
Dirigite in lucos, ubi pinguem dives opacat
Ramus humum: tuque, ô, dubiis ne defice rebus,
Diva parens. Sic effatus, vestigia pressit,
Observans quæ signa ferant, quò tendere pergant.
Pascentes illæ tantùm prodire volando,
Quantùm acie possent oculi servare sequentûm.
Inde, ubi venêre ad fauces graveolentis Averni;
Tollunt se celeres; liquidumque per aëra lapsæ,
Sedibus optatis geminæ super arbore sidunt,
Discolor unde auri per ramos aura refulsit.
205. Quale viscum, Quale solet sylvis brumali frigore viscum
quod sua arbos non se- Fronde virere novâ, quod non sua seminat arbos,
minat, solet in sylvis vi- Et croceo fœtu teretes circumdare truncos.
rere novâ fronde in bru- Talis erat species auri frondentis opacâ
mali frigore
Ilice: sic leni crepitabat bractea vento.
210. Corripit ramum Corripit extemplò Æneas, avidusque refringit
Cunctantem, et vatis portat sub tecta Sibyllæ.
Nec minùs intereà Misenum in litore Teucri
Flebant, et cineri ingrato suprema ferebant.
213. Ferebant supre-
ma officia.
but Heyne and others have voce.
is the same either way.
NOTES.
The sense
187. Si: in the sense of utinam.
189. Vates: the prophetess.
193. Maternas aves. Pigeons were sa-
crod to Venus, it is said, on account of their
fecundity.
196. Dubiis rebus: perplexity-difficulty.
Defice in the sense of desere.
197. Pressit vestigia: he stopt his pace-
he stood still.
198. Ferant: in the sense of dent vel
prabant. Pergant: proceed to go. Ten-
dere: in the sense of ire vel prodire.
198. Illa pascentes, &c.: they flew, and
then alighted to feed. And this they did by
turns, so that they just kept within sight of
the followers, sequentûm.
200. Acie: with the sight. Ruæus says,
acutissimo visu.
201. Fauces: in the sense of os. The
junction of the lakes Avernus and Lucrinus.
Graveolentis: noxious-pestiferous.
203. Optatis sedibus: they both alight on
the tree near the place whence the golden
Dough shone through the branches of the tree.
204. Discolor aura: the variegated gleam
of gold shone through the boughs. It va-
ried its color according to the different
shades of light in which it was seen. The
190
195
200
205
210
*****
leaves mingling their green shade with the
lustre of the gold, produced that variega-
ted color. Aura: in the sense of splendor.
205. Viscum. This is a kind of shrub of a
glutinous nature, called misletoe. It grows on
trees principally of the oak kind. The winter
is the proper season for its production; and
it is of a color resembling gold. It was
thought to grow out of the excrements of
birds, that alighted on those trees: to which
the poet alludes in these words: quod non
sua seminat arbos: which its own tree does
not produce: but this opinion is incorrect.
The ancient Druids made great use of this
in their religious ceremonies.
206. Seminat: in the sense of producit.
Fatu: see 141. supra.
208. Frondentis auri: of the golden
bough-the verdant gold.
Ruæus says,
pullulantis auri.
209. Bractea: the golden leaves rustled
in the gentle wind. Bractea, properly, thin
laminæ, or leaves of gold; taken here in
the sense of auræ frondes.
211. Cunctantem: in the sense of tardé
sequentem.
213. Ferebant suprema: they were per-
forming the last offices. Ingrato: being in
sensible of the honors conferred upon it, and
therefore ungrateful for them. Or it may
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
363
•
Principio pinguem tædis et 1obore secto
Ingentem struxere pyram: cui frondibus atris
Intexunt latera, et ferales antè cupressos
Constituunt, decorantque supèr fulgentibus armis
Pars calidos latices et ahena undantia flammis
Expediunt; corpusque lavant frigentis et unguunt
Fit gemitus: tum membra toro defleta reponunt,
Purpureasque supèr vestes, velamina nota,
Conjiciunt. Pars ingenti subiere feretro,
Triste ministerium! et subjectam more parentum
Aversi tenuere facem. Congesta cremantur
Thurea dona, dapes, fuso crateres olivo.
Postquam collapsi cineres, et flamma quievit,
Relliquias vino et bibulam lavêre favillam:
Ossaque lecta cado texit Chorinæus aheno.
Idem ter socios purâ circumtulit undâ,
Spargens rore levi et ramo felicis olivæ ;
Lustravitque viros, dixitque novissima verba.
At pius Æneas ingenti mole sepulchrum
NOTES.
be understood as causing sorrow to all-
being an object or spectacle no way plea-
sant or agreeable. In this sense, ingrato
may be rendered mournful-unjoyous. Ci-
neri: in the sense of cadaveri. Ingrato:
nec sentienti nec referenti gratiam, says
Heyne.
Virgil here gives us most of the ceremo-
nies used among the Romans in burying the
dead.
214. Tædis. The tada, or pine, is a fat
and unctuous wood. Hence the epithet pin-
guem. Secto robore: in the sense of fisso
robore.
215. Pyram. The funeral pile was called
pyra when it was set on fire, rogus before it
was set on fire, and bustum after it was con-
sumed. The higher it was raised, the more
honorable it was considered; and therefore
they endeavored to raise it to heaven: cer-
tant educere cœlo, 173. supra. Cui frondi-
bus atris: whose sides they interweave with
black boughs. The boughs of the yew, pine,
and such like trees, are of a sable color, and
were therefore used in funeral obsequies.
Cui: in the sense of cujus.
216. Cupressos: the cypress is here called
mournful; and used on the occasion, either
because its strong smell prevented any thing
disagreeable from the corpse; or rather as
it was a fit emblem of death; for when it
is once cut, it never grows up again. Antè:
before-in front: an adv.
217. Super above-on the top.
218. Latices: in the sense of aquam.
221. Nota velamina: the garments of Mi-
zonus. Or it is said in allusion to a Roman
custom of placing a purple covering over
the corps of distinguished persons on the
funeral pile
215
220
215. Struxere ingen-
tem pyram, pinguem e
tædis et robore secto
225
226. Collapsi sunt.
230
222. Pars subiere: a part supported
(went under) the huge bier, a mournful of-
fice! and turned (aversi) away with their
faces, held a torch under it, &c. They turn-
ed away their faces to show how unwilling
they were to part with him, and that their
grief would not allow them to look upon
his pale and lifeless body; which was now
about to be reduced to ashes.
225. Dapes. By this we are to under-
stand the fat and other parts of the victims
that were consecrated to the gods. Cra-
teres: goblets of oil poured out upon the
pile.
Whole goblets were offered to the
infernal gods; but to the celestial gods only
libations. Thurea dona: gifts of frankin-
cense.
There is an allusion here to the
custom of placing frankincense, oil, and
other unctuous substances upon the funeral
pile, to accelerate its burning.
227. Relliquias, &c. After the body was
consumed, they extinguished (lavêre) the
coals and embers with wine, that the ashes
might the more easily be collected. Bibu-
lam: in the sense of siccam.
228. Cado: in the sense of urna. Texit:
in the sense of inclusit.
229. Idem ter circumtulit: the same thrice
went around his companions with holy wa-
ter, sprinkling them, &c. The ordo of con-
struction is, tulit seter circum socios, &c.
which means, to go round them three times:
but because the priest used to sprinkle them,
at the same time, with the aqua lustralis, or
holy water, it came to signify, to purify.
230. Levi rore: with a dew or spray. He
sprinkled the water with a bough of olive.
231. Lustravit : he purified the men. No-
vissima verba. These were vale, vale, vole,
when they all departed.
994
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Imponit, suaque arma viro, remumque, tubamque,
Monte sub aërio, qui nunc Misenus ab illo
Dicitur, æternumque tenet per sæcula nomen,
235
ullæ volantes.
His actis, properè exsequitur præcepta Sibyllæ.
Spelunca alta fuit, vastoque immanis hiatu,
Scrupea, tuta lacu nigro nemorumque tenebris ;
239. Super quam haud Quam super haud ullæ poterant impunè volantes
Tendere iter pennis: talis sese halitus atris
Faucibus effundens supera ad convexa ferebat;
Unde locum Graii dixerunt nomine Avernum.
243. Hic sacerdos Quatuor hic primùm nigrantes terga juvencos
constituit quatuor ju- Constituit, frontique invergit vina sacerdos ;
vencos nigrantes quoad Et summas carpens media inter cornua setas,
Ignibus imponit saeris libamina prima,
Voce vocans Hecaten, coloque Ereboque potentem
Supponunt alii cultros, tepidumque cruorem
Suscipiunt pateris. Ipse atri velleris agnam
terga
246. Imponit
quasi prima libamina
eas,
250. Æneas ipse ferit Æneas matri Eumenidum magnæque sorori
ense agnam atri velle- Ense ferit; sterilemque tibi, Proserpina, vaccam.
Tum Stygio regi nocturnas inchoat aras,
ris matri
254. Superfundens Et solida imponit taurorum viscera flammis,
que pingue
Pingue supèrque oleum fundens ardentibus extis.
256. Solum cœpit Ecce autem, primi sub lumina Solis et ortus,
mugire sub pedibus, et Sub pedibus mugire solum, et juga cœpta moveri
juga sylvarum cœpta
sunt moveri, canesque Sylvarum; visæque canes ululare per umbram,
Adventante Deâ. Procul, ô, procul este, profani.
vise sunt
NOTES.
233. Imponit, &c, The poet here uses
the verb imponit with two nouns, when, in
strict propriety it can agree with one of
them only. He builds a tomb, and places
upon it (imponit) his arms, &c. He orders
to be carved upon it his arms, to denote that
he was a warrior-an oar, to show that he
perished in a naval expedition-and a trum-
pet, to denote his office.
234. Monte sub aério, qui. The mountain
here meant is the promontory Misenus,
which forms the western shore of the Sinus
Puteolanus, or Neapotilanus. Hodie, Capo
Miseno. Not far from it was the Portus Mi-
scnus, where Augustus kept a part of his
fleet.
238. Tuta: in the sense of defensa. Vo-
lantes: in the sense of aves.
240. Halitus: vapor-stench. Supera con-
vexa: the high canopy of heaven. Effun-
dens in the sense of erumpens.
:
242. Avernum. See Geor. iv. 493.
243. Hic primùm, &c. The lake Avernus
appears to have been chosen as the place of
this sacrifice, because, by it, it was thought
an easier access was had to the infernal dei-
ties, particularly Hecate. Having prepar-
ed her victims, the Sibyl poured wine be-
tween their horns; afterward cut a lock of
the topmost hair, and cast it upon the fire
as the first offering, to show that the sacri-
240
246
250
255
fice was then begun, and that the victims
were then devoted to the gods.
247. Vocans Hecaten. Servius informs us,
that Hecate was usually invoked not by
words, but by certain mystic and inarticu-
late sounds.
248. Alii supponunt: others apply the
knives (i. e. slay the victims) and catch, &c.
Suscipiunt in the sense of excipiunt.
250. Matri Eumenidum: to the mother
of the furies, that is, Nox. See Geor. i.
278. Night is said to have brought forth
the furies to Acheron; which, in the lan-
guage of poetry, signifies that night or dark-
ness is the mother of horrid shapes, vision-
ary forms, and apparitions. Magnæ sorori:
to her great sister, that is, to the earth, Tel-
lus: for night is only the shadow of the
earth, or the absence of light.
252. Aras: by meton. for the sacrifices
offered upon them. They were offered in
the night: hence the epithet nocturna. For
aras, Ruæus says sacrificia.
253. Solida viscera. By these we are to
understand the whole or entire carcases of
the victims; so that this sacrifice was pro-
perly what was called a holocaust, or whole
burnt-offering. Totam victimam, says Heyne.
256. Şolum: in the sense of terra.
258. Procul! O procul! be at a distance
at a distance, O ye profane! This was
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
365
260
265
261. Nunc opus est
animis, O Ænea,
263. Ille æquat du-
cem vadentem, haud t-
624. Vosque silentos
umbræ, et
266. Fas sit mihi ves-
tro numine, pandere res
mersas
Conclamat vates, totoque absistite luco.
Tuque invade viam, vaginâque eripe ferrum :
Nunc animis opus, Ænea, nunc pectore firmo.
Tantum effata, furens antro se immisit aperto :
Ille ducem haud timidis vadentem passibus æquat.
Dî, quibus imperium est animarum, umbræque silentes, midis
Et Chaos, et Phlegethon, loca nocte silentia latè,
Sit mihi fas audita loqui: sit numine vestro
Pandere res altâ terrâ et caligine mersas.
Ibant obscuri solâ sub nocte per umbram,
Perque domos Ditis vacuas, et inania regna.
Quale per incertam Lunam sub luce malignâ
Est iter in sylvis; ubi cœlum condidit umbrâ
Jupiter, et rebus nox abstulit atra colorem.
Vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci,
Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curæ :
Pallentesque habitant Morbi, tristisque Senectus,
Et metus, et malesuada Fames, et turpis Egestas,
Terribiles visu formæ ! Letumque, Laborque:
Tum consanguineus Leti Sopor, et mala mentis
Gaudia, mortiferumque adverso in limine Bellum,
Ferreique Eumenidum thalami, et Discordia demens
NOTES.
the usual preamble with which the sacred
mysteries were ushered in. Those who were
not initiated, were called scelesti, inexpiati,
and profani; and were prevented from ac-
cess to such holy rites. Dea adventante. By
Dea, we are to understand Hecate, accom-
panied by her dogs. Heyne observes that
the furies are sometimes called canes. But
they are not so to be taken in this place.
Sunt canes Hecaten comitantes, et passim me-
morati in sacris magicis.
259. Absistite: in the sense of recedite.
260. Eripe ferrum: draw the sword from
the sheath. This indicated danger, and the
hazard of the enterprise.
262. Tantum: so much-this only.
263. Vadentem: in the sense of euntem,
vel ingredientem.
265. Chaos: properly, a confused and
indigested mass of matter, out of which it
is supposed all things were made.-One of
the most ancient gods of the Heathens; or
rather the parent of them all. Phlegethon:
the name of one of the infernal rivers, of
Greek derivation. According to the poets,
there were five rivers of hell, Acheron, Co-
cytus, Styx, Phlegethon, and Lethe, all of
Greek derivation. Silentia: this is the com-
mon reading; but Heyne, on the authority
of Heinsius, has tacentia.
267. Mersas: in the sense of tectas vel oc-
cultas.
268. Obscuri solâ nocte: by hypallage, for
soli obscura nocte.
270. Per incertam lunam. By this, some
understand the new moon soon after its
change, when it shines with a feeble or glim-
270 270. Tale quale est
iter in sylvis per incer-
tam Lunam
275
275. Hic quoque pal-
lentesque morbi
278. Tum in adverso
limine sunt Sopor
mering light. Others, the moon occasion-
ally hid and obscured by clouds. Maligna
luce: envious light-that which shines so
faintly, as if it grudged one the happiness
of enjoying it. Condidit: hath hid, or co-
vered.
273. Vestibulum. This was the space or
area contained between the house and high-
way. In this vestibulum of hell, the poet
describes the various calamities of human
life, as having their residence: all of which
he clothes with a kind of airy body.
274. Cura: in the sense of conscientia,
says Heyne.
276. Fames malesuada: hunger persuad-
ing to evil. Quæ suadet rapinas sceleraque,
says Heyne. Non tantùm inopia victûs; sea
etiam avaritia, et auri sacra fames, says Ru-
æus. That avarice and thirst for gold, which
persuades and hurries men to the perpetra-
tion of crimes, and is the fruitful source of
evils.
278. Sopor: sleep, the brother of death.
The poets tell us that Somnus and Mors
were children of Nox. Or, in the language
of poetry, sleep and death may be called
brothers, on account of their resemblance.
Mala gaudia mentis: the criminal joys of
the mind. Tum: then-in the next place.
280. Ferrei thalami, &c. By the iron beds
of the furies, we are to understand the rack-
ing torments of a guilty conscience, the
consequence of a course of vice and sensua-
lity: and, by frantic discord, bound as to
its viperous locks with bloody fillets, we are
to understand all those base and turbulent
passions, which unhinge the mind, and over-
366
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
1
Vipereum crinem vittis innexa cruentis.
281
•
In medio ramos annosaque brachia pandit
Ulmus opaca, ingens: quam sedem Somnia vulgò
Vana tenere ferunt; foliisque sub omnibus hærent.
285. Multa monstra Multaque prætereà variarum monstra ferarum,
variarum ferarum sta- Centauri in foribus stabulant, Scyllæque biformes,
bulant in foribus Orci, Et centum geminus Briareus, ac bellua Lernæ
nempe, Centauri
Horrendùm stridens, flammisque armata Chimæra ;
Gorgones, Harpyiæque ; et forma tricorporis umbræ.
Corripit hic subitâ trepidus formidine ferrum
Æneas, strictamque aciem venientibus offert.
292. Et irruat, et frus- Et, ni docta comes tenues sinè corpore vitas
Admoneat volitare cavâ sub imagine formæ,
admoneat eum illas te- Irruat, et frustrà ferro diverberet umbras.
trà diverberat umbras
ferro, ni docta comes
285
290
nues vitas volitare sinè Hinc via, Tartarei quæ fert Acherontis ad undas. 295
Turbidus hic cœno vastâque voragine gurges
corpore
bidus cœno
295. Hinc est via, quæ Æstuat, atque omnem Cocyto eructat arenam.
296. Hic gurges tur- Portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina servat
298. Portitor Charon Terribili squalore Charon: cui plurima mento
horrendus terribili squa- Canities inculta jacet: stant lumina flamma :
lore servat
Sordidus ex humeris nodo dependet amictus.
Ipse ratem conto subigit, velisque ministrat,
Et ferrugineâ subvectat corpora cymbâ
NOTES.
turn the peace of society. These, with great
propriety, are placed in the opposite threshold,
confronting the criminal joys of the mind.
Thalami: not the marriage bed; for the
furies were never married; but rather the
place where they were begotten, or where
they resided.
284. Hærent. Dreams are here represent-
ed as only perching upon the leaves, per-
haps on account of their light wandering
nature. Ferunt: they report say. Tenere:
in the sense of occupare.
285. Multa monstra: many forms or spec-
tres of savage beasts.
286. Centauri: these were fabled to have
been monsters, half man and half horse.
They may, therefore, properly be said to be
stabled. The truth is, they were a people of
Thessaly, who first broke horses, and made
use of them in war Scyllæ biformes. See
Ecl. vi. 74.
287. Briareus: one of the giants, said to
have had a hundred hands. Bellua Lernæ:
the beast of Lerna-the snake which was
-bred in the lake of Lerna, and destroyed by
Hercules. It had seven heads, and some
say fifty; and as soon as any one of them
was cut off, another sprang up in its place.
Stridens: hissing horribly.
288. Chimæra: a monster said to vomit
flames. Its head was that of a lion, its
breast and middle parts resembled a goat,
and its tail a serpent. He was slain by Bel-
lerophon on the horse Pegasus. The truth
of the fable is this: Chimara was the name
of a mountain in Lycia, in Asia Minor,
300
whose top was infested with lions, and its
bottom with serpents, while its middle parts
and sides abounded with goats. Bellero-
phon rendered it habitable, and was there-
fore said to have slain the monster.
289. Forma tricorporis umbra: the form of
the three-bodied ghost Geryon. He was
fabled to have had three bodies, because he
reigned over three islands, Minorca, Major-
ca, and Urica. He was a king of Spain.
291. Offert presents. Vitas: in the sense
of umbras.
293. Forma: in the sense of figuræ vel
corporis.
296. Gurges: the river Styx or Acheron.
Eructat: in the sense of immittit. Cocyto:
in the sense of in Cocytum.
298. Horrendus terribili squalore: fright-
ful with horrid filthiness.
299. Cui plurima mento: on whose chin
a very large hoary beard lies neglected and
undressed. Cui: in the sense of cujus.
300. Lumina: in the sense of oculi. Flam-
ma. This is the common reading, but the
Roman, Medicean, and some other copies,
have flammæ in the plu. Davidson reads
flamma. Heyne reads flamma, but takes it
in the sense of flammea, and stant, in the sense
of sunt: Lumina sunt flammea. Some copies
have lumine stant flammæ, taking lumine
for oculis, which makes the reading easy.
Ruæus says, oculi sunt pleni igne. Valpy
reads, flammâ, in the abl.
303. Corpora: in the sense of umbras, vel
inania corpora. Ferrugineâ: dark-colored
of an iron hue.
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
367
Jam senior: sed cruda Deo viridisque senectus.
Huc omnis turba ad ripas effusa ruebat;
Matres, atque viri, defunctaque corpora vitâ
Magnanimum heroum, pueri innuptæque puellæ,
Impositique rogis juvenes ante ora parentum :
Quàm multa in sylvis autumni frigore primo
Lapsa cadunt folia, aut ad terram gurgite ab alto
Quàm multæ glomerantur aves, ubi frigidus annus
Trans pontum fugat, et terris immittit apricis.
Stabant orantes, primi transmittere cursum,
Tendebantque manus ripæ ulterioris amore.
Navita sed tristis nunc hos, nunc accipit illos :
Ast alios longè submotos arcet arenâ.
Æneas, miratus enim motusque tumultu,
Dic, ait, ô virgo, quid vult concursus ad amnem ?
Quidve petunt animæ ? vel quo discrimine ripas
Hæ linquunt, illæ remis vada livida verrunt?
Olli sic breviter fata est longæva sacerdos:
Anchisâ generate, Deûm certissima proles,
Cocyti stagna alta vides, Stygiamque paludem,
Dî cujus jurare timent et fallere numen :
304. Cruda viridisque
305 senectus est illi utpote
Deo
309. Tam multi, quam
310 multa folia lapsa cadunt
in sylvis primo frigore
autumni; aut quàm mul-
tæ aves glomerantur
315
320
326
Hæc omnis, quam cernis, inops inhumataque turba est:
Portitor ille Charon: hi, quos vehit unda, sepulti.
Nec ripas datur horrendas, nec rauca fluenta
Transportare priùs, quàm sedibus ossa quiêrunt.
Centum errant annos, volitantque hæc litora circum :
Tum demum admissi stagna exoptata revisunt.
Constitit Anchisâ satus, et vestigia pressit,
Multa putans, sortemque animo miseratus iniquam.
Cernit ibi mœstos, et mortis honore carentes,
NOTES.
306. Defuncta: in the sense of privata.
310. Gurgite: in the sense of mari. Glo-
merantur: in the sense of congregant. Fri-
gidus annus: the cold season of the year-
the approach of winter.
315. Tristis: inexorable. Rumus says,
asper.
316. Ast arcet alios: but drives others re-
moved far from the shore. Those that were
unburied were not permitted to pass over,
until such time as they had received the
rites of burial.
318. Quid vult: what means this con-
what means this con-
course, &c.
319. Quo discrimine: by what distinc-
tion; or by what reason.
320. Vada: in the sense of aquas, vel
amnem.
321. Longæva sacerdos. Servius tells us
that Apollo, out of affection for the Sibyl,
promised her whatever she should ask; up-
on which she took up a handful of sand,
and desired to have her life prolonged to a
length of years equal to the number of the
sands the mass contained. Her request was
granted, on condition she should remove
from Erythra to Cuma, and there spend the
remainder of her days. She lived so long
330
327. Nec datur ei
transportare eos horren-
das ripas, nec rauca
that she was so completely emaciated that
she retained nothing but her voice.
323. Alta stagna: the deep waters.
324. Cujus numen Di: by whose divinity
the gods fear to swear and to deceive. The
river Styx was held in such veneration by
the gods that they used to swear by it, and
if they violated their oath they were de-
prived of their divinity, and were excluded
from nectar and ambrosia for nine years;
some say for a hundred years. The reason
assigned for their conferring this honor upon
Styx is, that her offspring, Victory and
Strength, had given the gods such signal
assistance in the war against the Titans.
Per cujus numen Dii, &c.
325. Inops: poor--unable to pay their
fare, which was an obolus. Or, unable to
pay the expenses of burial, and so remained
inhumata, unburied.
327. Datur: in the sense of permittitur.
328. Sedibus: in their graves.
330. Admissi: in the sense of recepti.
Revisunt: in the sense of transeunt.
331. Pressit vestigia: in the sense of con
tinuit gressum vel pedem; a phrase.
333. Honore mortis: burial.
nore sepulturæ, says Rumus.
Privatos ho
868
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Leucaspim, et Lyciæ ductorem classis Orontem:
Quos simul à Trojâ ventosa per æquora vectos
Obruit Auster, aquâ involvens navemque virosque
Ecce gubernator sese Palinurus agebat:
Qui Libyco nuper cursu, dum sidera servat,
Exciderat puppi, mediis effusus in undis.
Hunc ubi vix multâ mæstum cognovit in umbrâ,
Sic prior alloquitur: Quis te, Palinure, Deorum
Eripuit nobis, medioque sub æquore mersit?
Dic, age. Namque mihi fallax haud antè repertus,
Hoc uno responso animum delusit Apollo;
Qui fore te ponto incolumem, finesque canebat
Venturum Ausonios: en! hæc promissa fides est ?
Ille autem: Neque te Phœbi cortina fefellit,
Dux Anchisiade; nec me Deus æquore mersit.
349. Namque præci- Namque gubernaclum multâ vi fortè revulsum,
pitans traxi mecum gu- Cui datus hærebam custos, cursusque regebam,
Præcipitans traxi mecum. Maria aspera juro,
351. Juro per aspera Non ullum pro me tantum cepisse timorem;
maria me non cepisse ul- Quàm tua ne, spoliata armis, excussa magistro,
343. Namque Apollo:
haud antè repertus mihi
fallax, delusit animum
hoc uno responso; qui
canebat
bernaclum fortè revul-
sum
lum
358. Tuta loca, ni cru-
delis gens ferro invasis-
set me
335
340
345
350
355
Deficeret tantis navis surgentibus undis.
Tres Notus hybernas immensa per æquora noctes
Vexit me violentus aquâ : vix lumine quarto
Prospexi Italiam, summâ sublimis ab undâ.
Paulatim adnabam terræ, et jam tuta tenebam ;
Ni
gens crudelis madidâ cum veste gravatum,
Prensantemque uncis manibus capita aspera montis, 360
Ferro invasisset, prædamque ignara putâsset.
Nunc me fluctus habet, versantque in litore venti
NOTES.
336. Obruit: drowned-sunk.
337. Agebat sese: in the sense of ferebat sese.
338. Libyco cursu. Palinurus was not
drowned in the Libyan, but in the Tuscan
sea, after he set sail from Sicily. The voy-
age was commenced from Africa, or Libya,
which is the reason of its being called a
Libyan course, or voyage. Effusus: in the
sense of lapsus vel præcipitatus.
347. Cortina: the table or tripod on which
the statue of Apollo was placed, whence re-
sponses were given; by meton. the oracle
itself. Neque te. In this and the following
line some imagine a difficulty; to remove
which, they make a point after the pronoun
me, reading it thus: Nor hath the oracle of
Apollo deceived you, nor me; a god plunged
me into the sea. For the poet had inform-
ed、us, Lib. v. 841, that Palinurus was ac-
tually thrown overboard by the god Somnus.
Others connect the me with mersit, and say,
though it was a god, yet Palinurus believed
it to be Phorbas, one of the sons of Priam.
But there is no need of this refinement.
348. Nec mersit: nor hath a god drowned
me in the sca. Although Palinurus was
thrown overboard by Somnus, he was not
drowned. He arrived safe to the shores of
Italy, and therefore the promise of Apollo
was not false and deceptive.
the sense of submersit.
Mersit: in
350. Cui hærebam: to which I clung, be-
ing the appointed helmsman. With the part
of the ship which he carried with him, Pali-
nurus kept himself above the water, and was
enabled to swin to the land.
353. Ne tua navis, spoliata: lest your ship
being deprived of its rudder and destitute of
a pilot, &c. Arma signifies, when applied to
navigation, the whole tackling or equipments
of a ship, whether for use, steerage, orna-
ment, or defence. Excussa: in the sense of
privata. Armis: for gubernaculo.
357. Sublimis: raised high on the top of
a wave, I saw Italy. Lumine: in the senso
of die.
358. Paulatim : at my ease-slowly.
There are several instances in Virgil where
the indicative appears to be used instead of
the subjunctive, or where the sense evident-
ly requires the sub. Jam tuta tenebam: I
should have now been safe on land, had
not, &c.
359. Ni: in the sense of sed, vel autem.
361. Putâsset: by syn. for putavisset.
They ignorant thought me a prize.
362. Versant: toss my dead body on the
shore.
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
369
Quòd te per cœli jucundum lumen et auras,
Per genitorem oro, per spes surgentis lüli;
Eripe me his, invicte, malis: aut tu mihi terram
Injice, namque potes; portusque require Velinos ·
Aut tu, si qua via est, si quam tibi Diva creatrix
Ostendit (neque enim, credo, sinè numine Divûm
Flumina tanta paras Stygiamque innare paludem)
Da dextram misero, et tecum me tolle per undas,
Sedibus ut saltem placidis in morte quiescam.
Talia fatus erat: cœpit cùm talia vates :
Unde hæc, ô Palinure, tibi tam dira cupido?
Tu Stygias inhumatus aquas, amnemque severum
Eumenidum aspicies? ripamve injussus adibis?
Desine fata Deûm flecti sperare precando.
Sed cape dicta memor, duri solatia casûs.
Nam tua finitimi, longè latèque per urbes
Prodigiis acti cœlestibus, ossa piabunt;
365
370
375
379
385
Et statuent tumulum, et tumulo solemnia mittent :
Eternumque locus Palinuri nomen habebit.
His dictis curæ emotæ, pulsusque parumper
Corde dolor tristi: gaudet cognomine terrâ.
Ergò iter inceptum peragunt, fluvioque propinquant:
Navita quos jam inde ut Stygiâ prospexit ab undâ
Per tacitum nemus ire, pedemque advertere ripæ ;
Sic prior aggreditur dictis, atque increpat ultro :
Quisquis es, armatus qui nostra ad flumina tendis,
Fare, age, quid venias: jam istinc et comprime gressum.
Umbrarum hic locus est, Somni, Noctisque soporæ :
Corpora viva nefas Stygiâ vectare carinâ.
Nec verò Alciden me sum lætatus euntem
NOTES.
365. Eripe me: rescue me from these evils,
invincible hero. While he remained unbu-
ried he could not pass over to the peaceful
abodes of heroes; not until the expiration
of a hundred years.
This was the evil here
complained of.
366. Portus Velinos. Velinos, an adj. from
Velia, a city on the shore of Lucania, be-
tween the promontories of Palinurus and
Posidium, founded by Servius Tullius, more
than six hundred years after Æneas. The
poct mentions this by way of anticipation.
367. Creatrix: in the sense of mater.
369. Innare: in the sense of transire.
371. Quiescam: that at least in death I
may rest in peaceful seats. Palinurus' life
had been full of labor and toil: and, there-
fore, there is a peculiar emphasis in his beg-
ging for rest in the regions of the dead.
376. Futa: decrees-purposes.
to be changed, or turned from the fixed or-
der of things.
Flecti:
379. Prabunt ossa. We are told by Ser-
vius that the inhabitants of Lucania, as a
punishment for the inhuman murder of Pa-
linurus, were visited with a plague. They
consulted an oracle upon the subject, and
391
373. Unde est haec
tam dira
375. Alteram ripam
377. Sed memor cape
mea dicta, tanquam so-
latia tui duri casus.
Nam finitimi acti cœles-
tibus prodigiis piabunt
tua ossa
382. Curæ emotæ sunt,
dolorque parumper pul-
sus est ejus
385. Quos. ut navita
jam inde ab Stygiâ undâ
prospexit, ire per
391. Nefas est vec-
tare
were directed to appease his Manes. They
dedicated to him a grove, and built him a
tomb to the south of Velia, upon the pro-
montory, which from that time was called
after his name.
380. Mittent solemnia: they shall make
anniversary offerings upon the tomb. Fe-
rent inferias, says Heyne. Ferent munera,
says Ruæus.
Cogno-
Vide
383. Gaudet cognomine terrâ: le delights
in the land called after his name.
mine: an adj. agreeing with terrâ.
cognominis.
385. Navita: Charon.
387. Ultrò: of his own accord-first-be-
fore being spoken to.
389. Jam istinc: and now stop your pro-
gress there-from this moment proceed
not a step farther. Quid in the sense of
Or, ob quid venias.
cur.
392. Nec lætatus sum: nor indeed was I
pleased that I took over the lake Hercules,
coming hither, &c. The poets tell us that
when Hercules descended to hell, Charon
was terrified at his appearance, and imme-
diately took him into his boat, for which
25
870
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
ut
Accepisse lacu; nec Thesea, Pirithoümque;
Dîs quanquam geniti, atque invicti viribus essent.
Tartareum ille manu custodem in vincla petivit,
Ipsius à solio regis traxitque trementem :
Hi dominam Ditis thalamo deducere adorti.
Quæ contra breviter fata est Amphrysia vates
Nullæ hic insidiæ tales; absiste moveri ;
400. Nostra tela fe- Nec vim tela ferunt: licet ingens janitor antro
runt vim: per nos licet ternùm latrans exsangues terreat umbras ;
Casta licet patrui servet Proserpina limen.
Troïus Æneas, pietate insignis et armis.
395
400
Ad genitorem, imas Erebi descendit ad umbras.
Si te nulla movet tantæ pietatis imago,
405
Nec plura his dicta suni.
At ramum hunc (aperit ramum, qui veste latebat)
407. Corda Charonis Agnoscas. Tumidâ ex irâ tum corda residunt.
residunt ex tumidâ irá. Nec plura his. Ille admirans venerabile donum
Fatalis virgæ, longo pòst tempore visum,
Coeruleam advertit puppim, ripæque propinquat.
Inde alias animas, quæ per juga longa sedebant,
Deturbat, laxatque foros: simul accipit alveo
Ingentem Æneam. Gemuit sub pondere cymba
Sutilis, et multam accepit rimosa paludem.
415. Tandem Charon Tandem trans fluvium incolumes vatemque virumque
exponit vatemque vi- Informi limo glaucâque exponit in ulva.
rumque incolumes
Cerberus hæc ingens latratu regna trifauci
Personat, adverso recubans immanis in antro.
Cui vates, horrere videns jam colla colubris,
Melle soporatam et medicatis frugibus offam
NOTES.
Pluto bound him in chains for a whole year.
To this he here alludes.
394. Quanquam geniti: although they
were the sons of the gods, and invincible in
strength. Hercules was the son of Jupiter;
Theseus, of Neptune; and Pirithoüs, accord-
ing to Homer, was the son of Dia, the wife
of Ixion, by Jove.
395. Tartareum custodem: the Tartarean
keeper the dog Cerberus. Ilis proper
place was at the entrance of the infernal re-
gions. Ille: Hercules. He drew Cerberus
from the throne of his master, whither he
had fled for shelter. Or, by the throne of
Pluto we may understand his dominions in
general. Petivit seized-bound him in
chains.
397. Hi adorti: Theseus and Pirithoüs.
These attempted to carry off Proserpine
from the bed of Pluto: both daring attempts.
398. Amphrysia vates: the prophetess of
Apollo. Amphrysia: an adj. from Amphry-
sus, a river of Thessaly, where Apollo kept
the flocks of Admetus, when banished by
Jove from heaven for killing the Cyclops,
who forged his thunderbolts. Here taken
as a name of Apollo. Contra quæ: in an-
swer to which-in reply to which.
402. Patrui: gen. of patruus. Pluto
410
414
420
was both uncle and husband of Proserpine.
She was the daughter of Ceres and Jove,
the brother of Pluto.
406. Aperit: in the sense of ostendit.
409. Fatalis virga. By this we are to un-
derstand the bough or branch, which was
the pledge or evidence that the person who
bore it was authorized and licensed by fate
to be admitted into the infornal regions.
This appears to have been presented to
Charon for a similar purpose, at a former
time: perhaps by Theseus or Pirithous.
412. Deturbat alias animas: he drives out
other souls, that sat on the long benches
(juga) and clears the deck. Or, Laxat foros
may be rendered, opens the hatches. Valpy
says, "empties the hold."
414. Sutilis-rimosa: patched-leaky
Paludem: for aquam.
416. Exponit: lands.
417. Cerberus. He was represented as
having three separate heads. Hence the
epithet trifauci.
418. Personat hæc regna: the same as
sonat per hæc regna.
420. Objicit offam: she throws a cake,
soaked in honey and medicinal fruits. By
frugibus we are to understand the seeds of
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
371
•
Objicit. Ille fame rabidâ tria guttura pandens,
Corripit objectam, atque immania terga resolvit
Fusus humi, totoque ingens extenditur antro.
Occupat Æneas aditum, custode sepulto,
Evaditque celer ripam irremeabilis undæ.
Continuò auditæ voces, vagitus et ingens,
Infantumque animæ flentes in limine primo:
Quos dulcis vitæ exsortes, et ab ubere raptos
Abstulit atra dies, et funere mersit acerbo.
Hos juxta, falso damnati crimine mortis.
Nec verò hæ sinè sorte datæ, sinè judice, sedes.
Quæsitor Minos urnam movet: ille silentûm
Conciliumque vocat, vitasque et crimina discit.
Proxima deinde tenent mosti loca, qui sibi letum
Insontes peperêre manu, lucemque perosi
Projecêre animas. Quàm vellent æthere in alto
Nunc et pauperiem et duros perferre labores!
Fata obstant, tristique palus inamabilis undâ
Alligat, et novies Styx interfusa coërcet.
NOTES.
the poppy, and other soporiferous ingre-
dients.
422. Resolvit: relaxes. Terga: in the
sense of artus, vel
corpus.
424. Sepulto: buried in sleep. Somno
being understood.
425. Evadit: he ascends-or mounts the
bank of the impassable stream.
Unde non
reditur, says Ruæus.
427. Infantumque anima. The wailings
of those infant ghosts or shades, considered
only in a poetical light, are very properly
disposed of in the entrance of Pluto's king-
dom, as they cast a melancholy gloom over
the scene, and excite such tender passions
in the mind of the reader, as prepare him
for relishing the beauties of so grave and
solemn a representation. But then their la-
montation and weeping we are not to con-
sider as the effect of punishment, so much
as an expression of their grief and sorrow
at being taken away by an untimely death.
428. Exsortes dulcis vitæ: deprived of
sweet life, and snatched from the breast, &c.
Ruæus says, privatos.
429. Funere: in the sense of morte. Da-
vidson says, 66
an untimely grave."
430: Damnati mortis. That they should
be punished who suffer death under a false
charge or accusation, may at first view ap-
pear unjust. Though they were innocent
of the crime for which they were condemn-
ed, it does not follow that they were wholly
free from fault, and innocent in their lives.
And according to the doctrine of the Platonic
philosophy, none could have access to the
Elysian fields till their stains and pollutions
were purged away. It became necessary,
therefore, that they should undergo a degree
425
430
422. Corripit eam ob-
jectam, atque fusus hu-
mi
428.. Quos exsortes
dulcis vitæ, et raptos ab
ubere atra dies abstulit
430. Sunt illi damnati
mortis sub
432. Silentûm umbra-
rum.
434. Deinde masti,
435 qui insontes peperêre le-
tum sibi sua manu, pe-
rosique lucem projecêre
animas, tenent proxinia
loca
of punishment, proportioned to their actual
sins.
431. Sorte. Servius takes sorte to imply
sentence, appointment, or destination. Ju
dice. The judges of hell, according to the
poets, were three: Minos, Rhadamanthus,
and acus. Minos was a king of Crete,
celebrated for the equity of his administra-
tion, and the justice of his laws; hence
feigned to be the first judge of hell. Rho-
damanthus was his brother and prime minis-
ter; both were sons of Jove and Europa.
acus was the son of Jove and Ægina, the
father of Peleus, king of Thessaly, and grand-
father of Achilles.
The several apartments of the infernal
regions were appointed or assigned to the
several shades, according to the decision of
the judges appointed to sit in judgment up-
on their lives and actions.
In
432. Movet urnam: he shakes the urn
which contains each one's sentence.
other words, he determines every one's
This is an allusion to the custom among
doom, and assigns their proper stations.
the Greeks, who used two urns, into the
one or other of which the judges cast their
calculi sortes, or suffrages, according as they
were inclined to condemn or absolve. Si-
lentûm: of the shades.
434. Mæsti: the sad-melancholy.
435. Insontes: innocent, in other respects,
436. Quàm vellent: how willing they now
are to bear, &c. Alto æthere: in the upper
world-in the regions of light.
438. Fata. This is the common reading.
Heyne reads Fas, and informs us that Hein-
sius, Servius, and Donatus, do the same.
Inamabilis : hateful—odious.
439. Styx: it was said to flow nine times
372
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Nec procul hinc, partem fusi monstrantur in omnem
Lugentes campi: sic illos nomine dicunt.
442. Hic secreti cal- Hìc, quos durus amor crudeli tabe peredit,
les celant, et myrtea syl- Secreti celant calles, et myrtea circùm
va circùm-tegit eos, quos Sylva tegit: curæ non ipsâ in morte relinquunt.
durus
446. Eneas
Phadram
stetit,
441
His Phædram Procrinque locis, moestamque Eriphylen
cernit Crudelis nati monstrantem vulnera cernit,
Evadnenque, et Pasiphaën. His Laodamia
446
450
It comes; et, juvenis quondam, nunc fœmina, Cæneus,
Rursùs et in veterem fato revoluta figuram.
Inter quas Phoenissa recens à vulnere Dido
451. Juxta quam, ut Errabat sylvâ in magnâ: quam Troïus heros
primùm `Troïus heros Ut primùm juxta stetit, agnovitque per umbram
Obscuram; qualem primo qui surgere mense
Aut videt, aut vidisse putat, per nubila lunam;
Demisit lachrymas, dulcique affatus amore est:
456. Ergò verus nun- Infelix Dido! verus mihi nuntius ergò
tius venerat mihi te esse Venerat, extinctam, ferroque extrema secutam ?
extinctanı, secutamque
Funeris heu tibi causa fui! per sidera juro,
extrema ferro?
453. Talem qualem,
qui aut videt
459. Et per fidem, si Per Superos, et, si qua fides tellure sub imâ est,
qua fides
Invitus, regina, tuo de litore cessi.
•
Sed me jussa Deûm, quæ nunc has ire per umbras,
Per loca senta situ cogunt, noctemque profundam,
NOTES.
around the realms of Pluto. Fusi: spread-
extending in every direction.
445. Phædram. She was the daughter of
Minos, and wife of Theseus. She fell in
love with her step-son Hippolytus, who re-
fused to comply with her request. Where-
upon, she accused him to her husband of
offering violence to her. Upon this he slew
him with his own hand. As soon as she
heard of this, she was so stung with remorse
that she finally hung herself Procrin. Pro-
cris was the daughter of Erechtheus, king
of Athens, and wife of Cephalus. She lost
her life through jealousy of her husband.
She watched him one day in the woods,
where he was wont to go a hunting, and
overheard him, in the heat of the day, in-
voking the cool breeze, and repeating to
himself, aura veni. She imagined he was
calling his mistress;' and, coming from the
place of her concealment to make the dis-
covery, she made the bushes move; which
Cephalus observing, and taking her for some
beast of prey, slew her with a javelin. Eri-
phylen. She was the wife of Amphiaraus,
the prophet of Argos. Foreseeing that he
should die if he went to the Theban war
against Eteocles, he sought to conceal him-
self; but was discovered by his wife, who
was bribed by Polynices, the brother of
Eteocles, with a golden necklace. He was
forced to the war, and perished by an earth-
quake as he was fighting valiantly. His
son Alcmaon revenged his death by killing
Eriphyle, his mother.
455
460
447. Evadnen. She was the daughter of
Mars, and wife of Capaneus. Her husband
being slain in battle; while she was per-
forming his funeral rites, she threw herself
on the pile, and was consumed with him.
Laodamia. She was the daughter of Acas-
tus, and wife of Protesilaus, who was the
first of the Greeks slain in the Trojan war.
When she heard the news of her husband's
death, nothing would satisfy her, but the
sight of his ghost, which the gods granted
to her: she breathed out her soul in the
fond embraces of the phantom. Pasiphaën.
See 24. supra.
See 24. supra. Extrema: in the sense of
mortem. Seculam: esse is understood. To
have brought death upon yourself, &c.
Elatheus, one of the Lapitha.
448. Cœneus. Canis, the daughter of
By subject-
ing herself to the embrace of Neptune, she
obtained from him the change of her sex;
and that she should never be wounded by
an arrow.
After the change had been ef-
fected, Caneus distinguished himself in the
much elated with pride, that he despised the
wars against the Centaurs, and became so
gods themselves. Whereupon, they deter-
mined he should return to his former sex,
that is, become a woman again. Hence,
revoluta fato: changed by fate.
453. Primo mense: in the first of her
monthly course-soon after her change,
when her light is feeble.
462. Senta: in the sense of sparsa vel
plena. A metaphor taken from lands in a
ENEIS. LIB. VI
373
Imperiis egêre suis: nec credere quivi,
Hunc tantum tibi me discessu ferre dolorem.
Siste gradum, teque aspectu ne subtrahe nostro.
465
466. Hoc est extre-
mum tempus permissum
fato, quod alloquoi te.
Talibus dictis Æneas
lenibat ejus animum ar-
470 dentem, et tuentem tor-
475
Quem fugis? extremum fato quod te alloquor hoc est.
Talibus Æneas ardentem et torva tuentem
Lenibat dictis animum, lachrymasque ciebat.
Illa solo fixos oculos aversa tenebat:
Nec magis incepto vultum sermone movetur,
Quàm si dura silex, aut stet Marpesia cautes.
Tandem corripuit sese, atque inimica refugit
In nemus umbriferum; conjux ubi pristinus illi
Respondet curis, æquatque Sichæus amorem.
Nec minùs Æneas casu percussus iniquo,
Prosequitur lachrymans longè, et miseratur euntem.
Inde datum molitur iter. Jamque arva tenebant
Ultima, quæ bello clari secreta frequentant.
Hic illi occurrit Tydeus, hìc inclytus armis
Parthenopaus, et Adrasti pallentis imago.
Hic multùm fleti ad superos, belloque caduci
Dardanidæ quos ille omnes longo ordine cernens,
Ingemuit: Glaucumque, Medontaque, Thersilochumque,
Tres Antenoridas: Cererique sacrum Polyboten,
Idæumque, etiam currus, etiam arma tenentem.
Circumstant animæ dextrâ lævâque frequentes.
Nec vidisse semel satis est: juvat usque morari,
NOTES.
va
478. Quæ secreta viri
clari bello frequentant.
480
485
487. Nec satìs est iis
vidisse eum semel:
state of neglect-covered with weeds and generals who commanded at the Theban
filthiness.
463. Quivi: in the sense of polui.
466. Quod. If he could read quo, in the
abl. the passage would be easier. Rumus
takes it in that sense: quo tecum loquor, says
he.
467. Talibus dictis Æneas: in such words
Eneas was soothing her soul, &c. Torva:
an adj. of the neu. plu. of torvus, taken as
an adverb in imitation of the Greeks, the
same as torvè.
469. Aversa: turned from him. Ruæus
says, infensa; but that idea is expressed by
inimica, infra.
470. Movetur vultum : moved with regard
to her countenance: a Grecism. This in-
terview of Æneas and Dido, is in imitation
of the Odyssey, where the poet brings Ulys-
ses and Ajax together in the infernal regions.
The conduct of Dido is copied from that of
Ajax. Longinus observes that the silence
of Ajax is more sublime than any words
could have been.
471. Marpesia: an adj. from Marpesus, a
mountain on the island of Paros, one of the
Cyclades, famous for its white marble.
472. Inimica: hating-detesting him.
475. Iniquo casu: in the sense of acerba
morte. Nec minus: nevertheless.
477. Molitur: in the sense of prosequitur.
479. Tydeus. Tydeus was one of those
war, about thirty years before the siege of
Troy. He was the father of the famous
Diomede, and was slain by Menalippus the
Theban, at the siege of Thebes. Partheno-
paus was the son of Meleager and Atalanta.
Ho went to the Theban war when very
young. It is said he afterward died at the
Adrasti. Adrastus was
siege of Troy.
father-in-law both to Tydcus and Polynices.
Having lost a numerous army before Thebes,
he was forced to raise the siege of that city,
and retreat precipitately to his own country.
paleness is a companion of flight and fear.
His ghost, or shade, is called pale, because
world the living. Multum: in the sense of
481. Superos: those above-the upper
valdè.
483. Glaucum. Glaucus was the son of
Hippolochus, and grandson of the famous
Bellerophon. He, with Sarpedon, command-
ed the Lycian troops in the Trojan war.
Thersilochus. He was of Macedonia, in the
confines of Thrace. He was slain by Achil-
les. Tres Antenoridas: the three sons of
Antenor. Homer calls them, Polybus, Age-
nor, and Acamus. Idæum. He was the
charioteer of Priam.
484. Sacrum: in the sense of sacerdotem.
Homer makes no mention of Polybates
He mentions hum
among the Trojans.
among the Greeks, under the name of Po-
lypates, the son of Pirithous
374
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Et conferre gradum, et veniendi discere causas.
At Danaûm proceres, Agamemnoniæque phalanges,
Ut vidêre virum, fulgentiaque arma per umbras,
491. Cœperunt trepi- Ingenti trepidare metu: pars vertere terga,
dare ingenti metu: pars Ceu quondam petiêre rates: pars tollere vocem
cœpit vertere.
Exiguam inceptus clamor frustratur hiantes.
Atque hic Priamiden laniatum corpore toto
495. Lacerum crude- Deiphobum vidit, lacerum crudeliter ora;
liter quoad ora, ora, am- Ora, manusque ambas, populataque tempora raptis
basque manus, tempora- Auribus, et truncas inhonesto vulnere nares.
que populata
Vix adeò agnovit pavitantem, et dira tegentem
Supplicia: et notis compellat vocibus ultrò :
Deiphobe armipotens, genus alto à sanguine Teucri,
501. Quis optavit su- Quis tam crudeles optavit sumere pœnas?
mere de te tam crudeles Cui tantum de te licuit? Mihi fama supremâ
pœnas? Cui licuit su-
Nocte tulit, fessum vastâ te cæde Pelasgûm
mere tantum supplicii
de te?
Procubuisse super confusæ stragis acervum.
Tunc egomet tumulum Rhoteo in litore inanem
508. Et decedens po- Constitui, et magnâ Manes ter voce vocavi.
nere te sepultum patria Nomen et arma locum servant. Te, amice, nequivi
509. Priamides ait: Conspicere, et patriâ decedens ponere terrâ.
terrâ
Nihil, ô amice, relictum Ad quæ Priamides: Nihil ô tibi, amice, relictum est.
Omnia Deïphobo solvisti, et funeris umbris:
est
511. Hæc vulnera tan- Sed me fata mea et scelus exitiale Lacænæ
quam monumenta ejus His mersere malis: illa hæc monumenta reliquit.
amoris
513. Namque nôsti, Namque, ut supremam falsa inter guadia noctem
ut egerimus
Egerimus, nôsti; et nimiùm meminisse necesse est:
NOTES.
488. Conferre gradum: to meet him-to
come in close conference with him: a phrase.
Usque: in the sense of diu.
489. Phalanges: in the sense of turmæ.
492. Ceu quondam, &c. The account of
the fight to which the poet here alludes, is
given, Iliad 15. The Trojans under Hector
drove the Greeks, forced their entrench-
ments, pursued them to their ships, and set
them on fire.
493. Clamor inceptus: the cry begun,
frustrates them, gaping and opening their
throats. They were so terrified at the sight
of Eneas, as to be unable to finish the
scream which they had begun. It perished
in their throats. Ruæus takes frustratur in
the sense of fallit.
495. Deiphobum. Deiphobus was the son
of Priam, and married Helen after the death
of Paris. What is here said of his being
cruelly mangled, is agreeable to the account
given by Dictys Cretensis. He was slain by
Menelaus. This representation of Derpho-
bus' mangled shade or ghost, is according
to the philosophy of Plato, who taught that
the dead retain the same marks and blemish-
es in their bodies, which they had when
alive.
496. Populata: in the sense of privata
490
495
501
505
510
vel spoliata. Raptis: in the sense of sectis.
When the concluding word of a preceding
line is repeated in the beginning of the fol-
lowing line, the figure is called anadiplosis.
It is usually emphatical, as in the present
instance. Truncas: cut-gashed.
499. Supplicia: in the sense of vulnera
vel plagas. Notis: familiar. Or it
Or it may
have reference to their speaking the same
language. This is the sense in which Ru-
æus takes it: cognita voce, says he.
500. Genus: offspring. It is placed in
apposition with Deiphobe.
504. Confusa stragis: of mingled car-
cases.
507. Nomen et arma: by commutatio, for
locus servat nomen et arma: the place pre-
serves your name and arins.
509. Ad quæ. Ruæus, and some others
read atque hic. Heyne and Valpy read, ad
quæ. Heinsius and Burmannus read, ad
quæ hæc.
510. Funeris: the corpso, or dead body
itself.
511 Lacœnæ : of Helen--of the Lacedæ-
monian.
512. Illa reliquit: she hath left those scars
and wounds, which you see, as monuments
of her love.
ÆNEIS. LIB. VI.
375
•
515
Cùm fatalis equus saltu super ardua venit
Pergama, et armatum peditem gravis attulit alvo.
Illa chorum simulans, evantes orgia circùm
Ducebat Phrygias: flammam media ipsa tenebat
Ingentem, et summâ Danaos ex arce vocabat.
Tum me confectum curis, somnoque gravatum
Infelix habuit thalamus, pressitque jacentem
Dulcis et alta quies, placidæque simillima morti.
Egregia intereà conjux arma omnia tectis
Emovet, et fidum capiti subduxerat ensem.
Intra tecta vocat Menelaum, et limina pandit.
Scilicet id magnum sperans fore munus amanti,
Et famam exstingui veterum sic posse malorum.
Quid moror? irrumpunt thalamo; comes additur unà
Hortator scelerum Eolides. Dî, talia Graiis
Instaurate; pio si pœnas ore reposco.
Sed te qui vivum casus, age, fare vicissim,
Attulerint: pelaginę venis erroribus actus?
An monitu Divûm ? an quæ te fortuna fatigat,
Ut tristes sinè sole domos, loca turbida, adires?
Hâc vice sermonum roseis Aurora quadrigis
NOTES.
520
525
518. Ducebat Phar-
gias fœminas, evantes
circùm orgia
526. Sperans id fore
magnum munus amanti,
et famam
530
532. Venis-ne huc ac-
tus erroribus
535
515. Cùm fatalis, &c. See Æn. ii. 234. under his head. What befell Helen after
et sequens.
517. Evantes: shouting in praise of Bac-
chus. The word is of Greek derivation;
and is applied to the bacchanals, or devotees
of the god Bacchus. Evantes orgia: ex more
orgiorum, says Heyne.
519. Vocabat. Helen made signals from
the walls to the Greeks, that all things were
ready for the assault. Her leading the
Phrygian women around the city, as if in
honor of Bacchus, the giver of joy, on ac-
count of the departure of their enemies,
was mere pretence-mere deception to cover
her plans.
521. Infelix: unhappy; because he was
slain in it, and thereby prevented from join-
ing his comrades in arms, and avenging
their falling country. Pressit. His sleep
was so sound, that it seemed to press him
down like a great weight, lying upon him.
523. Egregia conjux : precious wife. This
is spoken ironically. The meaning is, odi-
ous-abominable.
524. Subduxerat: and had withdrawn
my faithful sword from my head. It was a
custom among the warriors to lay their
swords under their heads when they slept.
525. Vocal Menelaum: she called Mene-
laus into the house, &c. After the death of
Paris, Helen married Deïphobus, his brother.
It is said she endeavored to be reconciled to
her first husband, by aiding the Grecian
arms. Here she calls to him, and opens the
door. That Deiphobus might fall an easy
prey, she had previously removed all the
arms from the house, and his sword from
the capture of Troy is not certain. Some
say she returned to Sparta, and passed her
days with Menelaus; and was buried with
him in the same tomb. Others say, after his
death, being banished from Sparta, she fled
to' Rhodes, where she died. Homer informs
us, Odys. iv. 277, that Helen went three
times round the wooden horse, calling each
of the Greeks by name. To this the poet
alludes, 517. supra.
526. Amanti: to her husband-viz. Me-
nelaus. Munus: favor-gift.
527. Et famam: and that the infamy of
her former crimes might in this way be blot-
ted out. Famam: in the sense of infamiam.
529. Eolides. This is a reproachful name
given to Ulysses. It insinuates that he was
not the son of Laertes, but of Sisyphus, the
son of olus, with whom his mother Anti-
clea is said to have been familiar.
530. Instaurate: in the sense of reddite.
532. Erroribus: dangers. Davidson ren-
ders it casualties.
533. Quæ fortuna: what (adverse) fortune
forces or impels you, that, &c.
534. Turbida: in the sense of obscura, vel
tenebrosa.
535. Hâc vice sermonum: during the course
(or change) of conversation, the sun in his
rosy chariot had now passed, &c. By Au-
rora, here, we are undoubtedly to under-
stand the sun. Quadrigis: properly, a cha-
riot drawn by four horses. Rumus thinks
the middle of the day is here meani by
medium axem; and not the middle of the
+
*
376
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Jam medium æthereo cursu trajecerat axem,
537. Per talia collo- Et fors omne datum traherent per talia tempus;
quia
541. Dextera est
quæ tendit
Sed comes admonuit, breviterque affata Sibylla est:
Nox ruit, Ænea: nos flendo ducimus horas.
Hic locus est, partes ubi se via findit in ambas.
via, Dextera, quæ Ditis magni sub monia tendit :
Hâc iter Elysium nobis: at læva malorum
iter Exercet pœnas, et ad impia Tartara mittit.
542. Hàc via est
nobis ad Elysium: àt
læva pars exercet
Deiphobus contrà: Ne sævi, magna sacerdos :
Discedam; explebo numerum, reddarque tenebris.
I decus, i, nostrum: melioribus utere fatis.
Tantum effatus, et in verbo vestigia torsit.
Respicit Æneas subitò; et sub rupe sinistrân
Monia lata videt, triplici circumdata muro :
Quæ rapidus flammis ambit torrentibus amnis
Tartareus Phlegethon, torquetque sonantia saxa.
552. Est porta adversa Porta adversa, ingens, solidoque adamante columnæ :
553. Ut nulla vis vi- Vis ut nulla virûm, non ipsi exscindere ferro
rûm valet, non
Cœlicolæ valeant. Stat ferrea turris ad auras :
557. Gemitus cœpe- Tisiphoneque sedens, pallâ succincta cruentâ,
558. Tum stridor fer- Vestibulum insomnis servat noctesque diesque.
ri, tractæque catena Hinc exaudiri gemitus, et sæva sonare
cœperunt exudiri
runt exaudiri hinc
Verbera tum stridor ferri, tractæque catenæ.
560. O virgo, inquit, Constitit Æneas, strepitumque exterritus hausit :
effare, quæ facies scele- Que scelerum facies, & virgo, effare, quibusye
ô
Urgentur pœnis? quis tantus plangor ad auras?
rum sunt illic
NOTES.
night, as Servius, and most interpreters sup-
pose. The time appointed for performing
the preliminary rites, and visiting the infer-
nal regions, here called tempus datum, was
a day and two nights, as we learn from Plu-
tarch's treatise concerning the genius of So-
crates. Now Eneas had passed the whole
of the first night in offering the prescribed
sacrifices, verse 255. He commenced his
descent the next morning about sunrise.
Medium axem must therefore mean the me-
ridian, which the sun had passed, and was
hastening to the western horizon. The in-
tervening time Eneas may be supposed to
have passed in going through so many
apartments. The remaining part of the
day and following night, he visits his father,
and the Elysian fields; and returns the fol-
lowing morning to his companions.
537. Fors: in the sense of fortasse.
542. Lava exercet, &c. The meaning of
this passage is, that they had now arrived
at the place where the way separated into
two: the right led to the city of Pluto, and
the left ed to the place where the impious
are punished. Tendit: in the sense of du-
cit. Mittit, also, in the sense of ducit.
545. Discedam; explebo numerum, &c.
The meaning of this line has not been set-
tled by commentators. There are three opi-
nions which seem to prevail. 1. Discedam
et implebo numerum turbæ, ex qua discessi ut
◄
540
545
550
555
560
te alloquerer: I will depart, and fill up the
number of the multitude which I left, that
I might converse with you. This is the
opinion of Heyne and Davidson. Accord-
ing to Plato's notion of transmigration, the
souls of the deceased passed a certain num-
ber of years in purification, before they as-
sumed other bodies; therefore, 2d. Disce-
dam, impleturus numerum annorum purga-
tionis, quæ fit in his tenebris: I will depart
to fill up the number of the years of puri-
fication, which is done in this darkness. 3.
Discedam; modo, sine ut expleam numerum,
et periodum orationis meæ, quam incepi: I
will depart; only let me fill up the number
and period of the discourse which I have
begun. Only let me finish what I have be-
gun to say. This last Rumus prefers.
546. I decus, i, nostrum: pass on, pass on
thou glory of our nation: experience fates
more propitious. The repetition of the I is
emphatical.
549. Mania: in the sense of urbem.
551. Phlegethon: the name of one of the
five rivers of hell: from a Greek word sig-
nifying, to burn, or to be on firc.
558. Verbera: scourges-lashes. Stridor
ferri: a grating, or din of iron.
559. Hausit strepitum: he heard the tu-
mult-confused noise.
560. Facies: forms-kinds.
561. Urgentur: in the sense of crucion
ENEIS. LIB VI.
377
Tun vates sic orsa loqui: Dux inclyte Teucrâm,
Nulli fas casto sceleratum insistere limen :
Sed, me cùm lucis Hecate præfecit Avernis,
Ipsa Deum pœnas docuit, perque omnia duxit.
Gnossius hæc Rhadamanthus habet durissima regna,
Castigatque, auditque dolos: subigitque fateri,
Quæ quis apud superos, furto lætatus inani,
Distulit in seram commissa piacula mortem.
Continuò sontes ultrix accincta flagello
Tisiphone quatit insultans; torvosque sinistrâ
Intentans angues, vocat agmina sæva sororum.
Tum demum horrisono stridentes cardine sacræ
Panduntur portæ. Cernis, custodia qualis
Vestibulo sedeat? facies quæ limina servet?
Quinquaginta atris immanis hiatibus hydra
Sævior intus habet sedem. Tum Tartarus ipse
Bis patet in præceps tantùm, tenditque sub umbras,
Quantus ad æthereum cœli suspectus Olympum.
Hic genus antiquum Terræ, Titania pubes,
Fulmine dejecti, fundo volvuntur in imo.
Hic et Aloïdas geminos, immania vidi
Corpora; qui manibus magnum rescindere cœlum
Aggressi, superisque Jovem detrudere regnis.
Vidi et crudeles dantem Salmonea pœnas,
Dum flammas Jovis et sonitus imitatur Olympi.
Quatuor hic invectus equis, et lampada quassans,
NOTES.
tur. Plangor: shricking-outcry. The verb
surgit, is understood.
568. Apud superos: with the living-in
the upper world. Furto: privacy-conceal-
ment. Inani: vain or unprofitable, because
however great the privacy might have been,
in which crimes were committed; they
were, nevertheless, all known to the gods.
Rumus says, vana simulatione.
569. Piacula: in the sense of crimina, vel
scelera.
571. Quatit: strikes. Verberat, says Ru-
æus.
572. Sæva agmina sororum. The furies
were reckoned three in number. Their
names are Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megara.
They may be called agmina, bands or troops,
on account of their complicated rage; or
these may be only the principal ones, and
might have others under their command.
Intentans: shaking or brandishing.
573. Sacræ : in the sense of sceleratæ.
576. Hiatibus: mouths.
579. Suspectus: height-distance. Ethe-
reum Olympum: the othereal vault of hea-
ven-the highest pinnacle-the seat of the
gods.
580. Titania pubes: the giants, the sons
of Titan and Terra. They attempted to
scale heaven, and dethrone Jupiter; but he
565
570
563. Fas est nulli casto
insistere
567. Subigitque eos
fateri quæ piacula com
apud superos,
missa
quis distulit
571. Tisiphone ultrix.
accinta flagello, quatit
sontes insultans; sinis-
traque manû
574. Sibylla inquit:
575 cernis-ne qualis
580
585
577. Sævior Hydra,
immanis quinquaginta
atris hiatibus
579. Quantus est
crushed them with his thunder. Their ob-
ject, in the attempt, was to restore their fa-
ther to his throne, from which he had been
driven by Jupiter. Volvuntur: in the sense
of premuntur.
582. Aloïdas. These were the giants Otus
and Ephialtes, the sons of Neptune by Iphi-
media, the wife of Aloeus. Homer makes
them nine cubits broad, and nine ells high,
in the ninth year of their age. Odyss. xi.
304.
585. Salmonea: a Greck acc. of Salmo-
ncus. He was the son of Æolus, a king of
Elis. He made a bridge of brass, over which
he drove his chariot, boasting that by the
rattling of his wheels, and the prancing of
his horses, he imitated the thunder of Jove;
who was highly honored at Elis. At the
same time, to counterfeit his lightning, he
hurled flaming torches at his subjects, and
ordered every one to be put to death, at
whom he threw his torch. He was struck
by the thunderbolt of Jove, for his impi-
ety and cruelty. Panas. Pana proper-
ly signifies a recompense or satisfaction.
Hence the phrase dare pænam vel panas,
to be punished-that is, to make retribution
or satisfaction.
586. Flammas: lightning. Sonitus: thun-
der.
378
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Per Graiûm populos, mediæque per Elidis urbem
Ibat ovans, Divamque sibi poscebat honorem:
Demens! qui nimbos, et non imitabile fulmen
Ære et cornipedum cursu simularet equorum.
592 Tlle Jupiter non At pater omnipotens densa inter nubila telum
contorsit faces, nec lumi- Contorsit (non ille faces, nec fumea tædis
Da fumea è tædis, ut Lumina) præcipitemque immani turbine adegit.
Salmoneus fecit
Nec non et Tityon, Terræ omniparentis alumnum,
596. Licitum erat cer- Cernere erat: per tota novem cui jugera corpus
nere Tityon
Porrigitur; rostroque immanis vultur obunco
Immortale jecur tundens, fœcundaque pœnis
Viscera, rimaturque epulis, habitatque sub alto
Pectore: nec fibris requies datur ulla renatis.
Quid memorem Lapithas, Ixiona, Pirithoümque?
Quos super atra silex jamjam lapsura, cadentique
Imminet assimilis. Lucent genialibus altis
604. Epulæ parate Aurea fulcra toris, epulæque ante ora paratæ
sunt ante eorum ora, cum Regifico luxu: Furiaruin maxima juxtà
608. Hic sunt illi, qui-
bus fratres erant invisi
Accubat, et manibus prohibet contingere mensas;
Exsurgitque facem attollens, atque intonat ore.
Hic, quibus invisi fratres, dum vita manebat,
Pulsatusve parens, et fraus innexa clienti ;
Aut qui divitiis soli incubuêre repertis,
Nec partem posuere suis; quæ maxima turba est
Quique ob adulterium cæsi; quique arma secuti
NOTES.
588. Urbem media Elidis. For mediam
urbem Elidis: through the middle of the
city of Elis. Heyne observes that some co-
pies read mediam, which is the easier.
590. Nimbos: storms-tempests.
591. Simularet. This is the reading of
Heyne. Most copies have simulârat, the plu.
perf. of the ind.
592 Telum: thunderbolt.
nus.
595. Tityon. Tityus was the son of Ju-
piter and Elara, the daughter of Orchome-
When Jupiter found her with child,
he shut her up in the earth for fear of Juno;
where Tityus issuing forth in a gigantic
form, was thought to be the son of the
earth. Virgil, therefore, calls him alumnus,
&c : the foster-child of all-bearing earth. He
was slain by Apollo for offering violence to
Latona. He was punished by a huge vul-
ture, that continually preyed upon his liver
and vitals; which, as they were devoured,
always grew afresh. Hence immortale jecur:
his immortal liver; because it never was
consumed. Rimatur epulis : rummages them
for his meal. Renatis: springing up anew.
596. Cui: in the sense of cujus.
598. Tundens: beating-tearing. This is
the common reading. But Heyne reads
condens. Fæcunda pænis: fertile in punish-
ment. This is said, because as soon as any
part was torn away, and consumed by the
vulture, its place was immediately supplied.
590
595
600
605
610
His punishment would therefore be perpe-
tual.
601. Lapithas: the Lapitha were a peo-
ple of Thessaly of dissolute manners. Ixi-
ona. Ixion, the son of Phlegyas, was their
king. He was admitted to an intimacy with
Jupiter, which he forfeited by designing an
intimacy with Juno. Jupiter knowing his
purpose, substituted a cloud for the god-
dess; and was content at first only to re-
move him from heaven; but finding that
Juno's bed, he hurled him down to Tarta-
he boasted of having been honored with
rus, and ordered Mercury to bind him to
a wheel, hung round with serpents, which
mission. Pirithoüm. He was the son of
he was doomed to turn without any inter-
Ixion. See 122, supra.
609. Pulsus-ve parens: the crime of par-
ricide is so horrid and unnatural, that he
passes it by, not supposing any of the hu-
the case only of one who had beaten a pa
man race could be guilty of it. He puts
rent. Fraus innexa clienti: fraud practised
upon a client. The claim of the client to
the faith and protection of his patron was
considered sacred among the Romans; like
that of a child to the protection of the pa-
rent. Among the laws of the twelve tables
it is said: "if any patron shall defiaud his
client, let him be accursed."
611. Nec partem: nor have distributed a
pait to their own, Arma: in the sense of bella
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
379
•
Impia; nec veriti dominorum fallere dextras ;
Inclusi pœnam expectant. Ne quære doceri
Quam pœnam, aut quæ forma viros fortunave mersit.
Saxum ingens volvunt alii, radiisque rotarum
Districti pendent. Sedet, æternùmque sedebit
Infelix Theseus: Phlegyasque miserrimus omnes
Admonet, et magnâ testatur voce per umbras
Discite justitiam moniti, et non temnere Divos.
Vendidit hic auro patriam, dominumque potentem
Imposuit: fixit leges pretio atque refixit.
Hic thalamun invasit natæ, vetitosque hymenæos.
Ausi omnes immane nefas, ausoque potiti.
Non, mihi si linguæ centum sint, oraque centum,
Ferrea vox, omnes scelerum comprêndere formas,
Omnia pœnarum percurrere nomina possim.
614
620
614. Hi omnes inclusi
hic expectant
615. Quam pœnam
pendent, aut quæ forma
624. Hi omnes ausi
€25 sunt immane nefas, et
potiti sunt auso
630
Hæc ubi dicta dedit Phœbi longæva sacerdos :
Sed jam age, carpe viam, et susceptum perfice munus :
Acceleremus, ait. Cyclopum educta caminis
Moenia conspicio, atque adverso fornice portas,
Hæc ubi nos præcepta jubent deponere dona.
NOTES.
613. Fallere dextras dominorum: to vio-
late the faith of their masters-pledged to
their masters. Dextra: in the sense of fides.
615. Forma-fortuna. By forma, Servius
understands the form or rule of justice: and
by fortuna, Dr. Trapp understands the sen-
tence of the judge. What punishment they
undergo, or in what form or state of misery
they are overwhelmed or involved. This
is plainly the meaning of the passage.
Heyne says, Quæ forma pœnæ, quod-ve mise-
riæ genus mersit, vel manet viros.
616. Ingens saxum. This refers to the
case of Sisyphus, the son of Æolus, a noto-
rious robber. He was sentenced to hell, and
compelled to roll a great stone to the top
of a hill; which, before he reached the top,
returned to the bottom again. Thus his
labor became perpetual. Districti radiis:
bound to the spokes of wheels, they hang.
This alludes to the case of Ixion. See 601,
supra.
617. Eternum sedebit. This may be ex-
plained by referring it to the shade or ghost
of Theseus after death: for he was set at
liberty by Hercules, after he had been bound
by Pluto, and returned to the intercourse of
men. See 122, supra.
618. Phlegyas. He was the father of Ix-
ion, and king of the Lapithe. His daugh-
ter Coronis, being ravished by Apollo, in re-
venge for the injury, he burnt his temple;
for which he was thrust down to Tartarus.
He is represented as calling aloud to the
shades, and admonishing all to take warning
by him, not to despise the gods, nor commit
acts of impiety.
620. Moniti discite justitiam: ye being
adinonished by my example, learn justice.
626. Non possim com-
prendere omnes formas
632. Ubi Dî jubent nos
This is the great moral of all those infernal
punishments, that the example of them might
deter from vice, and stimulate to virtue.
Moniti meo exemplo, says Heyne.
622. Fixit leges: he made and unmade
laws for a price. This is said in reference
to the Roman custom of engraving their
laws upon tables of brass, and fixing them
up in public places, to the view of the peo-
ple; and when those laws were abrogated
or repealed, they were said to be refigi, to
be unfixed, or taken down. Hymenaeos: in
the sense of nuptias.
But the sense
undertaking. Dr. Trapp thinks auso may
624. Potiti auso: accomplished their bold
be used for præmio usi, they now have their
reward, by way of sarcasm.
commonly given is easier, and contains this
wickedness, they are not the less odious
moral, that however successful men are in
to God, and will hereafter receive their due
reward.
undertaken offering. This refers to the
629. Perfice susceptum munus: finish the
golden bough, which Æneas promised to
deposit in the palace of Proserpine.
630. Cyclopum. The Cyclops were the
first inhabitants of Sicily. To them is at-
tributed the invention of forging iron, and
of fortifying cities. The expression here
denotes that these walls were made of iron,
and strongly fortified. Educta: drawn out,
or wrought in the forges of the Cyclops.
See Geor. i. 471.
631. Portas fornice adverso: the gates,
with their arch directly opposite to us, or in
front of us.
632. Hæc præcepta dona: these command-
380
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
641 Incolæ nôrunt
Dixerat: et pariter gressi per opaca viarum,
Corripiunt spatium medium, foribusque propinquant
Occupat Æneas aditum, corpusque recenti
Spargit aquâ, ramumque adverso in limine figit.
His demum exactis, perfecto munere Divæ,
Devenêre locos lætos, et amona vireta
Fortunatorum nemorum, sedesque beatas.
Largior hic campos æther, et lumine vestit
Purpureo solemque suum, sua sidera nôrunt.
Pars in gramineis exercent membra palæstris,
Contendunt ludo, et fulvâ luctantur arenâ :
Pars pedibus plaudunt choreas, et carmina dicunt.
Necnon Threïcius longâ cum veste sacerdos
Obloquitur numeris septem discrimina vocum:
Jamque eadem digitis, jam pectine pulsat eburno.
Hic genus antiquum Teucri, pulcherrima proles,
Magnanimi heroës, nati melioribus annis:
635
640
645
648. Hic est antiquum
genus
Ilusque, Assaracusque, et Troje Dardanus auctor. 650
Arma procul, currusque virûm miratur inanes.
Stant terrâ defixæ hastæ, passimque soluti
Per campos pascuntur equi. Quæ gratia currûm
Armorumque fuit vivis ; quæ cura nitentes
655. Eadem cura se- Pascere equos; eadem sequitur tellure repôstos.
quitur eos repôstos tel- Conspicit ecce alios dextrâ lævâque per herbam
Vescentes, lætumque choro paana canentes,
lure.
NOTES.
ed gifts. This refers to the golden bough,
which was sacred to Proserpine, and which
Eneas was directed to deliver to her. Ru-
œus says, munera decerpta ex arbore.
633. Opaca viarum: the dark places of
the way, or simply, the dark way. Spatia
vel loca may be understood.
634. Spatium: ground-way.
636. Spargit corpus: he sprinkles his body
with fresh water; either because he was
polluted by the sight of Tartarus, or because
he presented an offering to Proserpine. Spar-
git aquâ, &c. In the entrance of the heathen
temples, aqua lustralis, or holy water, was
placed, to sprinkle the devout on their en-
trance. This custom of sprinkling with holy
water in the Roman church, La Cerda ad-
mits was borrowed from this practice of the
heathen.
637. Diva: Proserpine. Perfecto: finish-
ed-presented to her.
638. Devenêre: they came to.
639. Fortunatorum: in the sense of feli-
cium. Amana viriditate herbarum arborum-
que, says Ruæus.
640. Vestit: in the sense of circumdat.
641. Purpureo: clear-resplendent.
642. Palæstris: in the sense of locis. Pa-
læstra, both the place of exercise, and the
exercise itself.
644. Dicunt: in the sense of canunt.
645. Threïcius sacerdos: the Thracian
poet warbles the seven distinctions of sound
655
Or-
(the seven different notes) in music.
pheus is here represented clothed in a long
robe, that being anciently the garb both of a
priest and musician; in which character he
is here represented.
646. Septem, &c. Allusion is here had to
the harp or lyre, which at first had only
seven chords or strings. Two were after-
wards added to make the number nine, in
honor of the muses. Pectine. The pecten
or plectrum, was a kind of instrument which
the musician struck the strings of the harp
or lyre with, called a quill.
647. Eadem. Markland conjectures this
should be changed to fidem, the strings or
chords of the lyre. The present reading re-
fers to discrimina. The same (discrimina)
he at one time strikes with his fingers, at
another, &c.
650. liusque. For the genealogy of these,
see Geor. iii. 35.
653. Gratia: in the sense of amor. Vi
vis: iis is understood: in the sense of dum
illi vixerunt.
657. Pœana. Pean was a sacred hymns
or song of praise. It was sometimes sung
in honor of Mars, especially before battle.
It was sung in honor of Apollo, after a vic-
tory; and it was sometimes sung in honor
of all the gods. It is derived from a Greek
word, signifying to wound or pierce. It was
first sung in honor of Apollo after he killed
the Python. Inter: simply, for in.
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
381
Inter odoratum lauri nemus: unde supernè
Plurimus Eridani per sylvam volvitur amnis.
Hic manus, ob patriam pugnando vulnera passi
Quique sacerdotes casti, dum vita manebat.
Quique pii vates, et Phœbo digna locuti:
Inventas aut qui vitam excoluêre per artes ·
Quique suî memores alios fecêre merendo
Omnibus his niveâ cinguntur tempora vittâ.
Quos circumfusos sic est affata Sibylla,
Musæum ante omnes: medium nam plurima turba
Hunc habet, atque humeris exstantem suspicit altis:
Dicite, felices animæ, tuque, optime vates;
Quæ regio Anchisen, quis habet locus? illius ergo
Venimus, et magnos Erebi tranavimus amnes.
Atque huic responsum paucis ita reddidit heros:
Nulli certa domus : lucis habitamus opacis,
Riparumque toros, et prata recentia rivis
Incolimus sed vos, si fert ita corde voluntas,
Hoc superate jugum, et facili jam tramite sistam.
Dixit: et ante tulit gressum, camposque nitentes
Desuper ostentat: dehinc summa cacumina linquunt.
At pater Anchises penitùs convalle virenti
Inclusas animas, superumque ad lumen ituras,
NOTES.
658. Unde supernè. Interpreters are not
agreed as to the meaning of this passage.
Some make it to be this: unde magna pars
Eridani è superis præcipitat ad inferos. This
interpretation is founded on what we are told
by Pliny, that the Po, soon after its rise,
passes under ground and flows out again in
a part of Piedmont. Others: unde magnus
Eridanus fuit ad superiores incolas terræ.
This seems to be the opinion of Ruæus. This
appears to be founded upon the general re-
ceived opinion that the great source of rivers
is in the body of tho earth.
Mr. Davidson
differs from both of these interpretations.
He takes supernè in its common accepta-
tion, denoting from an eminence or rising
ground. Unde: whence (that is, from the
Elysian fields,) from an eminence, or rising
ground, the great river Eridanus rolls or
flows. This is the easiest and most natural
meaning.
662. Quique pii vates. Vates signifies
either a poet or a prophet. Poets were ori-
ginally the only persons who taught a know-
ledge of the divine nature, and declared the
sublime doctrines of religion. Locuti digna
Phœbo: and spoke things worthy of Phoebus;
such doctrines of religion and morality as
were worthy of the inspiration of that God.
663. Excoluêre: improved human life.
664. Quique fecêre alios: and those who
had made others mindful of them by their
merit. These included all patriots and pub-
lic spirited men-all who had distinguished
all who had distinguished
themselves in the arts and sciences, and all
the benefactors of mankind.
680
660. Hic est manus
eorum, qui passi runt
vulnera pugnando
661. Quique fuerant
casti
662. Fuerant pii vates,
665 et locuti
670
672. Paucis verbis
673. Est certa domus
nulli nostrum.
677. Tulit gressum
675 ante eos
679. Pater Anchises
lustrabat animas peni-
tùs inclusas in virenti
convalle, iturasque ad
superum lumen, recolens
680 eas studio
665. His omnibus: the dat. in the sense
of the gen. horum omnium.
666. Circumfusos: in the sense of circum
stantes.
667. Musæum. Museus was the disciple
of Orpheus. He was an Athenian by birth,
and flourished under Cecrops the second, a
considerable time before the destruction of
Troy. He was an heroic poet. There are
said to be some fragments of verses which
go under his name, but probably they are
the production of a later poet. Some have
censured Virgil for preferring Musæus to
Homer as a poet. But it is to be remem-
bered that Homer did not live till some time
after this descent of Æneas, and therefore
to have mentioned him, would have been
wholly out of place.
668. Exstantem: rising above the rest by
his head and lofty shoulders. Suspicit: in
the sense of admiratur. Eneas is under
stood.
670. Ergo illius: on account of him we
have come. Ergo is here used in the sense
of causâ.
ripas. Recentia rivis: verdant or green on
674. Toros riparum: Ruæus says, herbosas
account of its streams or rivers. Virentia
propter vicinas aquas, says Heyne. Fert: in-
clines you.
676. Jugum: in the sense of collem.
678. Antè tulit gressum; he (Musæus)
went before them; a phrase.
680. Superum lumen: the upper world-
the regions of light. Here is an allusior te
382
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Lustrabat studio recolens: omnemque suorum
Fortè recensebat numerum, charosque nepotes,
Fataque, fortunasque virûm, moresque, manusque.
684. Vidit Ænean ten- Isque ubi tendentem adversùm per gramina vidit
dentem cursum adver- Ænean; alacris palmas utrasque tetendit,
sum ei per gramina
686. Lachrymæ effuse Effusæque genis lachrymæ, et vox excidit ore:
sunt genis
Venisti tandem, tuaque spectata parenti
688. Tuaque pietas Vicit iter durum pietas! datur ora tueri,
spectata mihi parenti Nate, tua; et notas audire et reddere voces !
vicit durum
Sic equidem ducebam animo rebarque futurum,
Tempora dinumerans: nec me mea cura fefellit.
692. Per quas terras, Quas ego te terras, et quanta per æquora vectum,
et per quanta æquora Accipio! quantis jactatum, nate, perîclis!
accipio te esse vectum!
688
690
700. Collo patris
Quàm metui, ne quid Libyæ tibi regna nocerent!
Ille autem: Tua me, genitor, tua tristis imago
Sæpiùs occurrens, hæc limina tendere adegit.
Stant sale Tyrrheno classes. Da jungere dextram,
Da genitor: teque amplexu ne subtrahe nostro.
Sic memorans, largo fletu simul ora rigabat.
Ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circùm ;
Ter frustrà comprênsa manus effugit imago,
Par levibus ventis, volucrique simillima somno.
Intereà videt Æneas in valle reductâ
695
700
Seclusum nemus, et virgulta sonantia sylvis,
Lethæumque, domos placidas qui prænatat, amnem. 705
Hunc circum innumeræ gentes populique volabant.
Ac veluti in pratis, ubi apes æstate serenâ
Floribus insidunt variis, et candida circum
Lilia funduntur: strepit omnis murmure campus.
Horrescit visu subito, causasque requirit
Inscius Æneas: quæ sint ea flumina porrò,
Quive viri tanto complêrint agmine ripas.
Tum pater Anchises: Animæ, quibus altera fato
NOTES.
the doctrine of transmigration, maintained
by Pythagoras and his followers.
683. Manus: achievements-noble deeds.
Tendentem: in the sense of venientem ad se.
687. Spectata. This is the reading of
Heync, and is easier than expectata, which is
the common reading. Ruæus seems to ap-
prove of it, although he has expectata.
Doctissimi legunt spectata, id est, cognita,
perspecta, probata, says he.
688. Datur: in the sense of permittitur.
Mihi is understood.
690. Sic equidem ducebam: indeed I was
concluding in my mind, and thinking it
would be so; computing and reckoning the
time for you to arrive. The ghost of An-
chises had directed Eneas to repair to the
regions below. See lib. v. 731.
693. Accipio in the sense of audio.
697. Tyrrheno sale. That part of the
Mediterranean lying to the south of Italy,
and having Sicily on the east and Sardinia
and Corsica on the west, was called the
Tuscan sea.
meton.
710
Sale: in the sense of mari, by
699. Largo fletu: in the sense of multis
lachrymis.
700. Circumdare: they are separated by
tmesis for the sake of the verse. Conatus
sum, &c.
704. Seclusum: in the sense of separatum.
Virgulta sonantia sylvis. Ileyne takes these
words in the sense of virgulta sylvarum so:
nantia; and this again for sylva sonantes.
Sonantia: sounding-rustling with the wind.
705. Prænatat: in the sense of præter -
fluit.
709. Funduntur: in the sense of volant.
713. Anima quibus: the souls, for which
other bodies are destined by fate, drink,·
&c. There were some who were exempt
from transmigration. Such were those, who,
for their exalted virtue, had been admitted
into the society of the gods. Among this
number was Anchises. What Encas here
converses with under the appearance of his
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
389
Corpora debentur, Lethæi ad fluminis undam
Securos latices et longa oblivia potant.
Has equidem memorare tibi, atque ostendere coràm,
Jampridem hanc prolem cupio enumerare meorum:
Quò magis Italiâ mecum lætere repertâ.
715
716. Equidem jampri
dem cupio memorare ti-
bi, atque ostendere has
animas coràm, et enume
rare hanc prolem meo-
720 rum; quò
O pater, anne aliquas ad cœlum hinc ire putandum est
Sublimes animas? iterumque ad tarda reverti
Corpora? quæ lucis miseris tam dira cupido ?
Dicam equidem, nec te suspensum, nate, tenebo;
Suscipit Anchises, atque ordine singula pandit.
Principio cœlum, ac terras, camposque liquentes,
Lucentemque globum Lunæ, Titaniaque astra.
Spiritus intus alit; totamque infusa per artus
Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet.
Inde hominum pecudumque genus, vitæque volantûm,
Et quæ marmoreo fert monstra sub æquore pontus.
Igneus est ollis vigor, et cœlestis origo
Seminibus; quantùm non noxia corpora tardant,
Terrenique hebetant artus, moribundaque membra.
Hinc metuunt cupiuntque, dolent gaudentque: neque
Respiciunt, clausæ tenebris et carcere cæco.
Quin et supremo cùm lumine vita reliquit ;
Non tamen omne malum miseris, nec funditùs omnes
Corporea excedunt pestes; penitùsque necesse est
Multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris.
Ergò exercentur pœnis, veterumque malorum
NOTES.
father, was only his image, his Idolum or
Simulacrum, which the poets feigned to re-
side in the infernal regions, while the soul
was in heaven among the gods. Latices se-
curos: draughts expelling care-producing
a peaceful and quiet mind.
719. Cœlum: this means here the upper
world—the regions of light: ad superas au-
ras-ad vitam.
720. Sublimes: in the sense of illustres.
Lucis in the sense of vitæ.
724. Principio spiritus: in the first place
a spirit within supports the heaven, &c.
Here Anchises explains to Æneas the system
or economy of the world, on the principles
of the Pythagorean, and Platonic philosophy.
Te same is explained in other words, Geor.
iv. 221, et seq. The doctrine here inculca-
ted is, that God is intimately united with
every part of the universe, and that his spirit
sustains the whole, the heavens, the earth,
and the starry lamps; that a mind, or intel-
ligence, diffused through every part of mat-
ter, actuates and gives life and motion to
the whole. And from this active principle
sprang the various kinds of animals. Li-
quenles campos: elegantly put for the sea,
or watery element.
725. Titania astra. By these we are to
understand the sun and stars, since they all
equally shine by their own light. Titania:
725
730
728. Unde oritur ge-
nus hominum
729. Et monstra, quæ
pontus fert
732. Terrenique artus,
au- moribundaque membra
non hebetant illum vigo-
[ras rem
735
733. Hinc animæ me-
tuunt
738. Multa vitia diu
concreta penitùs inoles-
cere iis
an adj. from Titan, a name given to the sun,
of Greek origin. Also, the son of Calus
and Vesta, and the father of the Titans.
These were all distinguished astronomers,
as we are told by Diodorus and Pausanias,
especially Hyperion. This might lead the
poets to feign them transformed into the bo
dies of the sun and stars after their death.
726. Agitat: in the sense of movet. Ar-
tus: in the sense of omnes partes.
728. Volantum: in the sense of avium.
730. Ollis for illis, by antithesis.
731. Non tardant: do not clog it.
733. Hinc metuunt. The passions.are
generally ranked under these four heads:
fear and grief; joy and desire. The two
first have for their object present or future
evil; the two last, present or future good.
Auras: in the sense of cœlum.
735. Quin et cum: but when life hath left
them, even in the last glimmering light, &c.
737. Pestes: stains-pollutions.
738. Diu concreta: a long time habitual.
Ruæus says, conglutinata. Mala is under-
stood in the sense of pestes, as above. Inoles-
cere in the sense of adhærescere.
739. Ergò exercentur pœnis. These pu-
nishments were of three kinds, according to
the nature of the stains with which the soul
was infected. Those. whose stains or pol.
884
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Supplicia expendunt. Aliæ panduntur inanes
Suspensæ ad ventos: aliis sub gurgite vasto
Infectum eluitur scelus, aut exuritur igni.
740
748. Deus evocat om-
nes has animas
Quisque suos patimur Manes. Exinde per amplum
Mittimur Elysium, et pauci læta arva tenemus :
Donec longa dies, perfecto temporis orbe,
Concretam exemit labem, purumque reliquit
Æthereum sensum, atque auraï simplicis ignem.
Has omnes, ubi mille rotam volvêre per annos,
NOTES.
lutions were the slightest, were suspended
and exposed to the winds; others were
washed away; others again, whose pollu-
tions were of the deepest dye, were burnt in
the fire. The elements, air, water, and fire,
are of a purifying nature, and have been
figuratively used by all writers as emblems
of moral purification.
740. Expendunt: suffer-undergo. Ina-
nes in the sense of leves.
743. Quisque patimur: we all suffer every
one his own Manes. This passage hath
very much perplexed commentators. It is
not certain in what sense we are to take
Manes. The ghosts, or Manes of the dead,
were supposed to haunt and disturb the liv-
ing, from whom they had received any great
injury. Hence the word Manes may signify
the fiends, furies, or tormenting demons of
the lower world. According to Plato, every
person at his birth hath assigned him a ge-
nium or demon, that guards him through
life, and after death accompanies him to the
shades below, and becomes a minister of
purification. By Manes we may understand
these Platonic demons. Some understand
by Manes the stings and fierce upbraidings
of a guilty conscience. These every offend-
er carries about with him, and by these
means becomes his own tormentor. Pati-
mur Manes is the same with patimur suppli-
cium per Manes. The above is the usual
acceptation of the words. In the present
instance Héyne differs from the current of
interpreters. He confesses it a perplexed
and intricate passage, and conjectures it was
left in an unfinished state by the poet. That
part of the dead which the ancients called
Manes they placed in the infernal regions,
while the umbru remained upon earth and
the soul ascended to heaven. He takes
Quisque suos patimur Manes, in the sense of
nostrum omnium Manes patiuntur: vel, ista
supplicia patienda omnibus Manibus. His
ordo of construction is: nos Manes patimur
quisque quoad suos. According to the no-
tion of Plato and others, all must undergo
purification before they could be admitted
to Elysium, to the lata arva. Now as the
Manes alone descended to the shades below,
they alone could suffer: Hi sunt, qui pur-
gantur: qui patiuntur: qui subeunt illas
746
purgationes, pro sua cujusque parte. This
is the substance of his reasoning.
745. Donec longa dies, &c. It is the ge-
neral opinion of commentators that the ordo
is here inverted, and that this line should
immediately follow Quisque suos patimur
Manes; and that exinde, &c. should follow
after auraï simplicis ignem. This is the only
way in which the common meaning of donec
can be retained: we suffer every one his
own Manes, till length of time, the period
of time being completed, hath taken away
the inherent stains, and left the ethereal
sense pure, &c. then, after that, we are sent:
exinde mittimur, &c. Ruæus takes donec in
the sense of quando, and it is the only sense
it will bear in the present ordo of construc-
tion. Exinde, &c.: then we are sent―
when length of time, &c.
746. Labem. The poet hath found no less
than five different words to express the stains
or pollutions of sin: malum, corporea pestes,
vetera mala, infectum seclus, and labes." Con-
cretum: inherent-contracted-habitual.
747. Ignem simplicis aurai. By this we
are to understand the soul. The Platonists
supposed the soul to be of a fiery quality
This may have led the poet to call it em-
phatically the fire, or flame of simple bright-
ness. Simplicis: simple-uncorupted-un
compounded. Aurai: for auræ. Nouns of
this declension sometimes formed the gen.
sing. in aï.
748. Has omnes. The meaning is, that
after these animæ, or souls, had passed a
thousand years in Elysium, the god calls
them to the river Lethe, where, by drinking
copiously of its water, they might forget the
happiness of those peaceful abodes, and be
prepared and willing to return again to life,
and to visit this upper world. This notion
of the transmigration of souls, as little as it
is founded in truth, was generally received
among the ancients.
His among the ancients. There were some ex-
ceptions to this transmigration. Those who
had been admitted into the society of the
gods, such as deified heroes, were exempt-
ed.
ed. Their anima or soul resided in heaven,
while their Idolum, vel simulachrum, always
remained in Elysium, to enjoy its pleasures
and delights.
So we are to understand
of Anchises. His Idolum conversed with
ÆNEIS. LIB VI
385
Lethæum ad fluvium Deus evocat agmine magno.
Scilicet immemores supera ut convexa revisant,
Rursùs et incipiant in corpora velle reverti.
Dixerat Anchises: natunique, unàque Sibyllaın,
Conventus trahit in medios, turbamque sonantem.
Et tumulum capit, unde omnes longo ordine possit
Adversos legere, et venientûn discere vultus.
Nunc age, Dardaniam prolem quæ deinde sequatur
Gloria, qui maneant Italâ de gente nepotes,
Illustres animas, nostrumque in nomen ituras,
Expediam dictis, et te tua fata docebo.
Ille, vides, purâ juvenis qui nititur hastâ,
Proxima sorte tenet lucis loca; primus ad auras
Ethercas Italo commixtus sanguine surget,
Sylvius, Albanum nomen, tua postuma proles:
Quem tibi longævo serum Lavinia conjux
Educet sylvis regem, regumque parentem ·
Unde genus Longâ nostrum dominabitur Albâ.
Proximus ille, Procas, Trojanæ gloria gentis;
Et Capys, et Numitor; et, qui te nomine reddet,
Sylvius Æneas; pariter pietate vel armis
Egregius, si unquam regnandam acceperit Albam.
Qui juvenes quantas ostentant, aspice, vires!
At, qui umbrata gerunt civili tempora quercu ·
Hi tibi Nomentum, et Gabios, urbemque Fidenam ;
NOTES.
Eneas, while his anima enjoyed the converse
of the gods. Rotam volvêre: in the sense of
traduxerunt tempus. It is a metaphor taken
from the rolling or turning of a wheel.
749. Deus. Some take the god here
mentioned to be Mercury. But Heyne thinks
deus is here used indefinitely for any de-
mon or genium, in allusion to the notions
of Plato, which the poet here hath in his
view. Perhaps it is better to suppose that
each shade is called by its own special de-
mon to the waters of Lethe, to prepare for a
return to life. This makes the sense casier,
and is in perfect accordance with the prin-
ciples of that philosophy, here inculcated
and explained.
750. Supera convexa: in the sense of su-
perus auras; or simply, vitam.
753. Sonantem: in the sense of strepentem.
755. Legere: in the sense of recensere, vel
cognoscere.
763. Sylvius. Dionysius Halicarnassus
informs us that Lavinia, at the death of
Eneas, was pregnant, and for fear of As-
@anius fled into the woods to a Tuscan
shepherd, where she was delivered of a son,
whom, from that circumstance, she called
Sylrms. But Ascanius, moved with com-
passion toward her, named him his succes-
sor in the kingdom of Alba Longa. Froin
him, the kings of Alba took the common
name of Sylvii. Livy, however, makes him
750
755
750. Scilicet ut imme
mores prætcritorum revi
sant
756. Nunc age, expo-
diam dictis, quæ gloria
deinde sequatur Darda-
niam prolem, qui ne-
potcs maneant Le
760 Itala gente
760. Ille juvenis,
mititur
763. Dutus Sylvius.
764. Quem serum con
765 jux Lavinia n sylvis
educet tibi longævo fu
turum regem
767. Ille proximus en
768. Deinde sunt et
Capys, et Numitor; et
770 Sylvius Æneas, qui
772. Hi imponent No-
mentum
the son of Ascanius. In order to make tho
historian and the poet agree, some would
understand by longaro, in the following
line, advanced to the gods, immortal, relying
upon Eschylus, who calls the gods longævi.
Postuma proles. The meaning of postuma
here will, in a good degree, depend upon the
sense given to longarvo. If it be taken as
abovementioned, to denote one advanced to
the life of the gods, then postuma proles will
mean posthumous child, one born after the
death of the father. But if we take longave
in its ordinary acceptation, to denote an old
man, or one advanced in age, then postuma
must be taken in the sense of postrema: last
-your last child, whom late your wife La-
vinia brought to you advanced in age.
765. Educet: in the sense of parict.
767. Proximus. Not the one who should
succeed Sylvius in the throne of Alba, for
Procas was the thirteenth king; but the
one who stood next to him in the Elysian
fields.
772. Al, qui gerunt: but who bear their
temples shaded with the civic crown. This
was made of oak, because the fruit of that
tree supported man at the first. It was con
ferred upon the man who had saved the life
of a Roman citizen in battle. Quercu: the
oak; by meton, the crown made of it.
773. Hi Nomentum: these shall found
Nomentum, &c. This was a tcwf the
Sabines, situated upon the river a, about
26
986
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Hi Collatinas imponent montibus arces,
780
Pometios, Castrumque Inuï, Bolamque, Coran.que. 77b
Hæc tum nonina erunt, nunc sunt sinè nomine terræ.
Quin et avo comitem sese Mavortius addet
Romulus, Assaraci quem sanguinis Ilia mater
Educet. Viden' ut geminæ stant vertice cristæ,
Et pater ipse suo Superûm jam signat honore?
En hujus, nate, auspiciis illa inclyta Roma
Imperium terris, animos æquabit Olympo,
Septemque una sibi muro circumdabit arces,
Felix prole virûm: qualis Berecynthia mater
Invehitur curru Phrygias turrita per urbes,
Læta Deûm partu, centum complexa nepotes,
Omnes cœlicolas, omnes supera alta tenentes.
Huc geminas huc flecte acies: hanc aspice gentem,
789. Hic est Cæsar, et Romanosque tuos. Hic Cæsar, et omnis lüli
Progenies, magnum cœli ventura sub axem.
791. Quem sæpius Hic vir, hic est, tibi quem promitti sæpiùs audis,
audis promitti tibi,nempe Augustus Cæsar, Divi genus; aurea condet
787. Omnes texentes
upera el alta loca
omnis
Sæcula qui rursùs Latio, regnata per arva
Saturno quondam super et Garamantas et Indos
NOTES.
twelve miles from Rome, on the east. Gabii:
a town about ten miles from Rome, also to-
ward the east. Fidena: a town situated on
the Tyber, about five miles north of Rome.
Collatia: a town not far from Fidena, to the
east. Pomelia, or Pometii: a town of the
Volsci, situate to the north of the Pomptine
paludes. Castrum Inui: a maritime town
of the Rutuli. It was dedicated to that god
whom the Greeks called Pan, but the Latins
called Inuus or Incubus. Bole vel Bola:
town of the Æqui near Præneste, to the east.
Cora: a town of the Volsci not far from
Pomelia, to the north. These towns were
not all in Lalium, properly so called, as the
poet would insinuate. They were built after
their respective people were incorporated
among the Romans, and their lands made a
part of the Roman state.
774. Imponent: in the sense of condent.
Collatinas arces: the town or city Collatiæ.,
777. Comitem avo. Comes here is an as-
sistant or helper. Numitor, the son of Pro-
cas, was driven from his throne by his bro-
ther Amulius. Romulus being informed of
this, collected a company of men, joined the
party of Numitor, and restored him to his
throne. Romulus was the reputed son of
Mars und Ilia, the daughter of Numitor,
who was therefore his grandfather. Mavor-
tius: an adj. from Mavors, a name of Mars,
agreeing with Romulus, who is said to have
been the son of that god.
779. Educet: in the sense of pariet.
780. Pater Superum: Jupiter, who is
styled the father of the gods, and king of
men. Some understand Mars, the father of
Romulus.
785
790
781. Auspiciis: conduct-government.
782. Animos: courage-valor.
783. Unaque circumdabit: and it alone
shall surround for itself seven hills.
784. Berecynthia mater: as the Berecyn-
thian mother, crowned with turrets, is wafted
in her car, &c. Cybele is here meant, who
was said to be the mother of most of the
gods. Hence læta Deum partu: rejoicing
in a race or progeny of gods. The epithet
Berecynthia is added to her frein Berecyn-
thium, a castle of Phrygin, on the river Sa-
garis, or from a mountain of that name,
where she was worshipped in a distinguish-
ed manner. Cybele is often put, by meton.
for the earth; for which reason she is repre-
sented as wearing a turreted crown.
virûm : in a race of heroes.
Prole
788. Gentem: race-progeny.
792. Genus Divi: the offspring of a god.
This the poet says to flatter the vanity of
Augustus, who, from the time that he dei-
fied Julius Cæsar, his father by adoption, as-
sumed the title of the son of a god, filius
Divi, as appears from ancient inscriptions.
Or his divine descent might be traced from
the reputed son of Jove. Some copies have
Dardanus, the founder of the Trojan race,
condet: who again shall establish the golden
Divum. Heyne reads Divi. Aurea sæcula
age in Latium, through the country, &c.
See Ecl. iv, 6.
793. Augustus. This is the first time that
Virgil called his prince Augustus. This
title was decreed to him by the senate, in the
year of Rome 727.
ÆNEIS. LIB. VI.
387
Proferet imperium jacet extra sidera telius,
Extra anni solisque vias, ubi cœlifer Atlas
Axem humero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum.
Hujus in adventu jam nunc et Caspia regna
Responsis horrent Divûm; et Mæotica tellus,
Et septemgemini turbant, trepida ostia Nili.
Nec verò Alcides tantum telluris obivit;
Fixerit æripedem cervam licèt, aut Erymanthi
Pacârit nemora, et Lernam tremefecerit arcu.
Nec, qui pampineis victor jugn flectit habenis
Liber, agens celso Nysa de vertice tigres.
Et dubitamus adhuc virtutem extendere factis?
Aut metus Ausoniâ prohibet consistere terrâ?
Quis procul ille autem, ramis insignis olivæ,
Sacra ferens? nosco crines incanaque menta
NOTES.
795. Proferei imperium super: he shall
extend his empire over, &c. The Gara-
mantes were a people inhabiting the interior
of Africa. Indos. Suetonius informs us that
the kings of India, properly so called, being
moved at the fame of Augustus, sought his
friendship. But it is well known that he
did not extend his empire over them. Most
probably the people here mentioned under
the name of Indos were the Ethiopians, or
some nation of Africa. Besides, any coun-
try lying in a hot climate, or within the
tropics, was anciently called India, and its
inhabitants Indi, as might be shown by
abundant testimony.
795. Tellus jacet: their land lies, &c. Si-
dera, here, does not mean the stars and con-
stellations in general; but the particular
signs of the zodiac, as appears from the fol-
lowing words: extra rias annui solis. This
description agrees very well to Africa, which
extends beyond the tropic of Cancer to the
north, and, also, beyond the tropic of Capri-
corn to the south.
797. Axem: by synec. for calum.
798. Caspia regna. By this we are to un-
derstand the kingdoms bordering upon the
Caspian sea. To the north were the Sar-
matians and Scythians; to the south, the
Parthians; to the west, the Arininians.
This sea has no visible outlet or communi-
cation with any other waters. It is said to
be about 630 miles long, and 260 broad.
The Wolga, the largest river in Europe,
empties into it. Mantica tellus. By this we
are to understand the northern nations of
Europe, bordering on the Palus Mæotis, or
sea of Azoff, on the north of the Euxine,
Horrent: tremble at the re-
or black sca.
sponses of the gods.
800. Trepida ostia: the astonished mouths
of the seven-fold Nile are troubled. Tur-
bant has, in this place, the signification of
turbintur, vel trepidant. Ruæus says, com-
795
800
804. Nec Liber obivat
805 tantum telluris, qui vic-
tor flectit juga pampi-
ncis habenis, agens
808. Autem quis est
ille procul, insignis ra-
mis
moventur. The Nile is the largest river'ot
Africa, and falls into the Mediterranean sea
by seven mouths. It annually overflows its
banks, and occasions the fertility of Egypt.
The Egyptians worshipped it as a divinity.
801. Alcides: a name of Hercules, from
Alcæus, his grandfather. He is sometimes
called Amphitryoniades, from Amphitryon,
the husband of Alemene, of whom Jupiter be-
gat him.
He travelled over many parts of
the world, performing feats of valor. He
was in the Argonautic expedition. In Egypt
he slew Busiris; in Spain, Geryon; in Si-
cily, Eryx; in Thrace, Diomede; in Africa
he destroyed the gardens of the Hesperides.
The poet here mentions three instances of
his valor: 1. His piercing the brazen-footed
hind. Fixerit æripedem, &c. This hind in-
habited the mountain Manalus, in Arcadia.
Servius, in order to reconcile Virgil wit
mythology, takes fixerit, in the sense o
statuerit, stopped, out-run, took, &c. becauso
being sacred to Diana, it would have been.
impious to put her to death. Heyne takes
fixerit in the sense of ceperit. 2. His sub-
duing the groves of Erymanthus: pacûrit
nemora; that is, subdued the wild boar that
infested them. He took him alive, and car
ried him to Eurystheus, king of Mycena
3. His making Lerna tremble with his bow
Lernam tremefecerit; that is, the fens of
Lerna, between Argos and Mycena, where
he slew the Hydra with fifty heads.
804. Juga: the yoke, by meton. for the
carriage. The car of Bacchus was drawn
by tigers.
805. Nysæ. There were several moun
tains by this name, all sacred to Bacchus
Agens tigres: driving the tigers from, &e.
Tigers are said to be transported with furg
at the sound of tabrets and drums; which
perhaps, is the reason of their being given
to Bacchus, the god of fury and enthusiastic
rage.
375
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Regis Romani; primus qui legibus urbem
Fundabit, Curibus parvis et paupere terra
812. Cui deinde Tul- Missus in imperium magnum. Cui deinde subibit,
lus subibit, qui rumpet Otia qui rumpet patriæ, residesque movebit
otia patriæ, movebitque Tullus in arma viros, et jam desueta triumphis
Agmina. Quem juxtà sequitur jactantior Ancus,
Nunc quoque jam nimiùm gaudens popularibus,aurís
817. Vis-ne videre et Vis et Tarquinios reges, animamque superbam
Tarquinios
Ultoris Bruti, fascesque videre receptos ?
Consulis imperium hic primus, sævasque secures
NOTES.
810. Romani regis. The person here
spoken of is Numa Pompilius, the second
king of Rome. He was a Sabine by birth.
After the death of Romulus, a dispute arose
between the Romans and Sabines upon the
choice of his successor. They finally agreed
that the Romans should choose, but the
choice must fall upon a Sabine. It accord-
ingly fell upon Numa. He proved to be a
peaceful monarch. He is, therefore, here
represented as bearing an olive branch, the
badge of peace. He reigned forty-three
years, and died at the age of eighty. This
justifies the incana menta; his white chin
-beard. The prep. in, in composition,
sometimes changes the signification of the
primitive, at others, increases it. This last
is the case here. Hitherto the Romans
had been little better than a band of robbers,
associated together for the purpose of ex-
tending their rapine more widely. It was
Numa's first care to establish the influence
of religion over the minds of his subjects,
and to enact a code of laws for their civil
government. He is therefore represented
bearing sacred utensils. See nom. prop.
under Numa. Hence it is said, fundabit ur-
bem legibus: he shall found the city by laws.
811. Curibus: Cures was a small city of
the Sabines. Paupere terra: from a poor
or humble estate.
814. Tullus. Tullus Hostilius, the third
king of the Romans. He was a descend-
ant neither of Numa, nor Romulus. The go-
vernment of Rome was then an elective mo-
narchy, though great deference was paid to
the will of the last king, and sometimes it
very much influenced the choice. Tullus
broke the peace with the Albans, and a bloody
war ensued. Viros resides movebit et agmina:
he shall rouse his inactive men to arms, and
his troops long unaccustomed to triumphs.
Otra: in the sense of pacem.
815. Ancus. This was Ancus Martius,
the fourth king of Rome. He courted the
favor of the people: hence it is said of him,
gaudens popularibus auris. Nor was he in-
ferior to his predecessor in the arts of peace
and war.
He was the grandson of Numa
by his daughter. Being indignant that Tul-
us should possess the throne in preference
810
£15
to himself, he sought means to procure his
death, and that of his family. No mention
is here made of Servius Tullius, the sixth
king of Romie.
816. Auris: aura, applause-favor.
These
818. Ultoris Bruti. Tarquin, surnamed
the proud, the seventh and last king of
Rome, had rendered himself odious to the
people. His son Sextus, enamored with the
beautiful Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus,
beautiful_Lucretia,
offered violence to her. Unable to survive
the disgrace, she killed herself with her own
hand. This caused a general sensation.
Brutus, a leading member of the Senate,
roused that body to assert their rights
against the tyrant, and procured a decreo
to banish Tarquin and his family for ever.
For this reason, he is called ultor, the aven-
ger. The government was changed from
regal, to consular; and Brutus and Collati-
nus were chosen the first consuls.
officers were chosen annually. Fasces recep-
tos: these words may mean, the authority
and power recovered, and restored to the
people, from whom they had been taken by
usurpation and tyranny. Heyne says, re-
giam dignitatem, el imperium translatum à
regibus in consules. This is also the opinion
of Dr. Trapp. But this is going too far.
It is better to understand it of the power
recovered and restored to the people, from
whom it had been taken.
whom it had been taken. In confirmation
of this, history informs us, that the consuls
were obliged to bow their fasces to the as-
sembly of the people, as an acknowledg-
ment that the sovereign power was theirs.
Fascis properly, a bundle of rods bound
together with an axe in the middle, carried
before the consuls and chief magistrates, lo
denote that they had the power to scourge
and to put to death-the rods to scourge,
and the axe (securis) to put to death. Hence
by meton. it came to signify the power itself
the ensigns of authority and royalty-
also power and authority in general. Se-
curis is properly an axe. But being used as
an instrument of exccuting the sentence of
the law against offenders, it came to signify
the sentence itself. And as the sentence of
the law is to be considered just, it is taken
also for justice in a general sense.
Sævas
ÆNEIS. LIB. VI
389
Accipiet; natosque pater, nova bella moventes,
Ad pœnam pulchrâ pro libertate vocabit
Infelix. Utcunque ferent ea facta minores,
Vincet amor patria, laudumque immensa cupido.
Quin Decios, Drusosque procul, sævumque securi
Aspice Torquatum, et referentem signa Camillum.
Illæ autem, paribus quas fulgere cernis in armis,
Concordes animæ nunc, et dum nocte premuntur,
Heu! quantum inter se bellum, si lumina vitæ
Attigerint, quantas acies stragemque ciebunt!
Aggeribus socer Alpinis, atque arce Monoci
Descendens; gener adversis instructus Eois.
Ne, pucri, ne tanta animis assuescite bella:
Neu patriæ validas in viscera vertite vires.
Tuque prior, tu parce, genus qui ducis Olympo
Projice tela manu, sanguis meus!
Ille triumphatâ Capitolia ad alta Corintho
NOTES.
secures: rigid, stern, or impartial justice
the sword of justice. Perhaps the poet here
alludes to the sentence passed upon the sons
of Brutus, for being among the number of
conspirators to restore the Tarquins, which
was rigidiy enforced by their father. They
were beheaded with the axe.
820. Natos. The two sons of Brutus, Ti-
tus and Tiberius, conspired with other noble
youths of Rome, to recall Tarquin. But
being discovered, their father cominanded
them to be put to death; and stood by, and
saw the sentence put in execution. The
epithet infelix, connected with pater, is very
just, as well as expressive.. Some copies
connect infelix with utcunque minores. How-
ever posterity shall regard that action, love
of country will prevail and justify the father.
824. Decios aspice: but see the Decii, &c.
They were a noble family at Rome. Three
of them devoted their lives for their coun-
try. Drusos: Drusus was the surname of
the Livian family, from Drusus, a general
of the Gauls, slain by one of that family.
Of this family was Livia Drusilla, the wife
of Augustus.
825. Torquatum. Titus Manlius, sur-
named Torquatus, from a golden chain or
collar (torques) which he took from a gene-
ral of the Gauls, whom he slew, anno urbis,
393. It became afterward the common naine
of the family. He was three times consul,
and as often dictator. He ordered his son
to be slain for fighting the enemy against
nis order, although he gained the victory.
In allusion to this, he is called sævum securi.
Camillum: a Roman of noble birth. He
was banished from Rome for envy of his
talents and military renown. While he was
in exile, the Gauls made an incursion into
Italy, and took Rome. This roused Ca-
millus. He forgot the injury done to him;
and, collecting a body of men, fell upon
820
829. Infelix pater vo
cabit natos, moventes
825
830
826. Autem ille en-
mæ, quas cernis fulgere
in paribus armis concor
des nunc, et dum pre-
muntur nocte, heu!
835
835. Tu qui es meus
sanguis
them unawares, and cut them in pieces. He
was five times dictator, and four times he
triumphed.
828. Heu! quantum: alas! how great a
war, &c. Here is an allusion to the civil
war between Cæsar and Pompey. Pompey
married Julia, the daughter of Cæsar. The
troops that composed the army of Cæsar
(socer, the father-in-law) were chiefly Gauls
and Germans from the west. Hence he is
said to come from the Alpine hills, and the
tower of Monacus. This was a town and
port on the coast of Liguria, where the Alps
begin to rise. The place was well fortified.
The troops of Pompey (gener, the son-in-
law,) were from the eastern part of the em-
pire, adversis Eois: from the opposite east.
Populis vel militibus is understood.
832. Ne assuescite tanta bella animis: by
commutatio, for ne assuescite animos tanlis
bellis.
833. Neu patria. This verse, in a very
remarkable manner, conveys to the ear the
sound of tearing and rending, which it is
designed to express.
as.
835. Meus sanguis. Julius Cæsar is here
meant, who, according to Virgil, descended
from Venus, through Iülus, the son of Æne-
The poet here very artfully expresses
his abhorrence of the civil war which placed
the Cæsars on the imperial throne; but he
does it so artfully as leaves to Augustus no
room for taking offence.
836. Corintho triumphatâ: Corinth being
triumphed over. This was a famous city of
Greece, situated on the isthmus which con
nects the Peloponnesus with the main land
This city privately formed an alliance with
the principal Grecian states; which gave
offence to the Romans. Upon this, they
sent ambassadors to dissolve this alliance
or council of the states, as it was called;
who were treated with violence and abuse.
390
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Victor aget currum, cæsis insignis Achivis.
Eruet ille Argos, Agamemnoniasque Mycenas,
Ipsumque aciden, genus armipotentis Achillei;
Ultus avos Troja, templa et temerata Minervæ.
840
Quis te, magne Cato, tacitum ; aut te, Cosse, relinquat?
842. Quis relinquat Quis Gracchi genus? aut geminos, duo fulmina belli,
genus Gracchi tacitùm?
Scipiadas, cladem Libyæ? parvoque potentem
Fabricium? vel te sulco, Serrane, serentem?
ant
NOTES.
Reme instantly declared war, which ended
in the destruction of Corinth, and the sub-
jugation of its allies. This was completed
by the consul Mummius, in the year of Rome
609. Ille victor. This refers to Mummius.
He was honored by a triumph. Capitolia:
neu. plu. a famous temple of Jupiter at
Rome, commenced by Tarquinius Priscus
upon the hill called Tarpius, but afterward
Capitolinus, from the circumstance of a hu-
man head (caput) being found when they
were laying the foundation of that edifice.
Hitherto the victors used to be drawn in a
car to place their laurels in the lap of Jove.
838. Ille eruet Argos: he shall overthrow
Argos, &c. Virgil is here supposed by Hy-
ginus to confound two events which took
place at different periods-the war of Acha-
ia, which ended in the destruction of Co-
rinth, and the war with Pyrrhus, king of
Epirus. The former was conducted by the
consul Mummius, to whom the ille, in the
preceding line, refers; but it is not certain
to whom the ille here refers; whether to
Quinctius Flaminius, Paulus Emilius, Cœ-
rilius Metellus, or M. Curius, each of whom
acted a distinguished part in the war with
Greece and Epirus. By Argos-Mycena,
the best interpreters understand the power
of Greece in general. And by aciden,
not Pyrrhus, but the power-the govern-
ment of Epirus. This was not destroyed
during the reign of that monarch. It was,
however, completed in the reign of Perses
> Perseus, king of Macedonia, the last of
ne descendants of Achilles, whom Paulus
Æmilius led in triumph. He may be called
acides, as being descended from Achilles,
'ne grandson of Eacus, by Olympias, the
daughter of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus. He
united the interests of northern Greece.
840. Ultus avos Troje: having avenged
his ancestors of Troy. Temerata templa:
the violated temple of Minerva. This al-
ludes to the violence offered to it by Diomede
and Ulysses, in taking away the Palladium.
841. Cato. There were two distinguish-
ed persons of this name. The one here
spoken of is the Cato Major, sometimes call-
ed Cato Censorius, from his great gravity
and strictness in the censorship. He lived
to a very great age. He sprang from an
obscure family; and, on account of his wis-
dom and prudence, was called Cato, from
catus, wise or prudent. The other Calo
was his great grandson, and called Minor.
He arrived at the prætorship. He subju.
gated Sardinia; and, in the year of Rome
560, obtained a triumph in Spain, where he
acted as proconsul. He took part against
Cæsar, and, when he saw the republic was
lost, slew himself. Cosse: Cornelius Cossus.
He slew the king of the Veientes, and con-
secrated his spoils to Jupiter Feretrius.
These were the second spolia opima, since
the building of Rome.
the building of Rome. He was afterward
nominated dictator, and triumphed over the
Volsci.
842. Genus Gracchi. Tiberius Sempro-
nius Gracchus was the most distinguished
of his family. He was appointed prætor,
and triumphed over the Celtiberi in Spain,
destroying three hundred of their towns, in
the year of Rome 576. He was twice con-
sul, and once censor. He married Cornelia,
the daughter of Scipio Africanus. By her,
among other children, he had the two fa-
mous brothers Tiberius and Caius. They
were both appointed tribunes of the people at
different times, and were the sincere advo-
cates of their rights. This excited the jealousy
of the senate, who raised a tumult, in which
they both perished. The former in the year
of Rome 621, and the latter in the year 633.
843. Scipiadas. There were two Scipios,
Cornelius Scipio major, and Cornelius Sci-
pio minor. They were both surnamed Af-
ricanus. The latter was grandson of the
former, and was adopted by Paulus Emi-
lius, and to distinguish him from the former,
he was called also Æmilianus. They were
both distinguished men. At the age of
twenty-four, Scipio Major was appointed to
command in Spain against the Carthagi-
nians, whom he expelled from that country.
He was afterward, anno urbis 549, made
consul. He passed over into Africa, where
he defeated them again, and terminated the
second Punic war, much to the advantage
of the Romans. He obtained a triumph,
anno urbis 553.
anno urbis 553. Hence he was called Afri-
canus. Scipio Minor was appointed consul
in 607. He took the department of Africa
in the third Punic war, and entirely erased
Carthage. He triumphed in 608. Hence
also called Africanus. Duo fulmina belli:
two thunderbolts of war. They were so
called by Lucretius and Cicero.
*ÆNEIS. LIB. VI.
391
Quo fessum rapitis, Fabii? Tu Maximus ille es,
Unus qui nobis cunctando restituis rem.
Excudent alii spirantia molliùs æra,
Credo equidem: vivos ducent de marmore vultus ;
Orabunt causas meliùs; cœlique meatus
Describent radio, et surgentia sidera dicent:
Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento:
Hæ tibi erunt artes; pacisque imponere morem,
Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.
Sic pater Anchises: atque hæc mirantibus addit :
Aspice, ut insignis spoliis Marcellus opimis
Ingreditur, victorque viros supereminet omnes.
Hic rem Romanam, magno turbante tumultu,
Sistet eques: sternet Pœnos, Gallumque rebellem;
Tertiaque arma patri suspendet capta Quirino.
Atque hìc Æneas; unà namque ire videbat
NOTES.
844. Fabricium. Fabricius was raised
from a low estate to the command of the
Roman army.
The Samnites and Pyrrhus
both attempted to corrupt him with money;
but he gave them to understand that Rome
was not ambitious of gold, but gloried in
commanding those who possessed it. He
was twice consul, and twice he triumphed.
Serrane: Quinctius Cincinnatus. He was
twice dictator. At the
At the age of eighty he was
taken from his farm of four acres only,
which he ploughed and sowed with his own
hand. Whence he is called Serranus, from
the verb scrO. Florus calls him dictator ab
aratro.
845. Fabii. These were a noble family
at Rome, of whom Quintius Fabius was
the most distinguished. In the second Pu-
nic war Annibal reduced the Roman state
to the brink of ruin by two signal victories
obtained over them, one at Trebia, the other
at Trasimenus. In this state of things, Fa-
bius was appointed dictator, and took the
command of the army against the con-
queror. By delaying to give him battle,
by degrees he broke his power and com-
pelled him to leave Italy. Cunctando resti-
tuis rem: by delaying you restore the state.
He was honored with the surname of Maxi-
He was five times consul, twice dic-
tator, once censor, and twice he triumphed.
846. Rem: the state--the republic. Most
copies have restituis, in the present; some
restitues, in the future.
mus.
847. Alii excudent: others shall form
with more delicacy the animated brass, &c.
The Corinthians were famed for statuary;
the Athenians for eloquence, and the Chal-
deans and Egyptians for astronomy. These
are the arts or sciences here alluded to. The
Romans are advised to neglect them, or
consider them of inferior importance to the
art of war, to ruling the nations, and dicta-
ing the conditions of peace. It is well known
845
850
845. Fabii, quò rapı-
tis me fessum?.
854. Pater Anchises
dixit: atque
857. Hic eques sistei
855 Romanam rem, magno
tumultu turbante eam
860. Hic Encas ait:
O pater quis est ille, qui
sic comitatur virum
euntem? namque vide-
860 bat
that for a long time the Romans paid little
attention to the arts of civilized life; not un-
til they had made themselves masters of
Greece. Vivos: to the life. Era : statuas
ex ære.
849. Meatus cœli: nempe, cursus sidcrum.
Radio: the radius was a stick or wand,
used by the geomitricians to mark or de-
scribe their figures in the sand. Dicent.
shall explain-treat of.
852. Morem: in the sense of legem, vel
conditiones.
855. Marcellus ingreditur : Marcellus
moves along, distinguished by triumphal
spoils, &c. The spolia opima were those
spoils which a Roman general took from the
general of the enemy, whom he had slain
with his own hand on the field of battle.
Such spoils Marcellus won from Viridoma-
rus, the general of the Gauls. Tumultu. By
tumultus here we are to understand a Gallio
war, which broke out and threatened the
peace of Italy. A civil war, or intestine
commotion, was properly called tumultus.
Majores nostri tumultum Italicum, quod erat
domesticus; tumultum Gallicum, quòd eral
Italiæ finitimus; præterea nullum tumultum
nominabant, says Cicero.
Marcellus was
appointed to the command of the
wishing to attack the Gauls by surprise, or
before they were prepared to receive him.
he left his infantry behind, and proceeded
with his cavalry, or horse, alone, because
they could march with speed. Hence he is
called here eques. Sistet in the sense of
firmabit.
army,
and
859. Suspendetque tertia arma. The first
spolia opima were offered to Jupiter Fere-
trius by Romulus, taken from Acron, king
of the Caninenses. The second were offer-
ed by Cornelius Cossus, mentioned 841, su-
pra. The third were taken by Marcellus
from Viridomarus. It is not certain who
*392
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Egregium formâ juvenem, et fulgentibus armis ;
Sed frons læta parùm, et dejecto lumina vultu ·
Quis, pater, ille virum qui sic comitatur euntem ?
865. Quis strepitus Filius? anne aliquis magnâ de stirpe nepotum ?
comitum est circa cum! Quis strepitus circà comitum ! quantum instar in ipso est!
quantum instar Mar- Sed nox atra caput tristi circumvolat umbrâ.
telli est in ipso!.
869. Neque sinent cum Tum pater Anchises lachrymis ingressus obortis •
esse ultrà. Romana O nate, ingentem luctum ne quære tuorum :
propago visa esset vobis, Ostendent terris hunc tantùm fata, neque ultrà
O Superi, esse nimiùm Esse sinent. Nimiùm vobis Romana propago
polens, si
872. Quantos gemitus
Visa potens, Superi, propria hæc si dona fuissent.
virum ille campus ad Quantos ille virûm magnam Mavortis ad urbem
magnam urbem
Campus aget gemitus! vel quæ, Tyberine, videbis
Funera, cùm tumulum præterlabêre recentem!
Nec puer Iliacâ quisquam de gente Latinos
In tantùm spe tollet avos: nec Romula quondam
Ullo se tantùm tellus jactabit alumno.
Heu pietas heu prisca fides! invictaque bello
Dextera! non illi quisquam se impunè tulisset
Obvius armato: seu cùm pedes iret in hostem,
Seu spumantis equi foderet calcaribus armos.
NOTES.
879. Non quisquam
obvius tulisset se illi
armato impunè, seu
we are to understand by Patri Quirino, to
whom these spoils were to be suspended and
offered. Nascimbænus explains Quirino by
Marte, vel bello. He suspends to father
Jove the spoils taken (capta) in battle. Ser-
vius, by Quirino understands Romulus. He
suspends to father Romulus, &c. and pro-
duces a law of Numa which ordered the
first spolia opima to be offered to Jupiter,
the second to Mars, and the third to Romu-
lus. But this law regarded those who might
repeat the spolia opima. Ruæus understands
by Patri Quirino, Jupiter Feretrius, in the
same manner as Janus is called Quirinus
by Suetonius; because he presided over
war, and because his temple was built by
Romulus Quirinus. He thinks Jupiter Fc-
retrius may be called Quirinus. Suspendet,
&c. he shall suspend to father Jove the
third triumphal spoils taken froin the ene-
my. Marcellus was of a plebeian family,
and was advanced to the consulship five
times. In his third, ho was sent to Sicily,
where he distinguished himself in the de-
feat of Hannibal. He laid siege to Syracuse,
and took it after he had been before it three
years. It was nobly defended by the cele-
brated mathematician Archimedes, who re-
peatedly destroyed the fleet of the assailants
by his machines and burning glasses. It
was at last taken by stratagem, and Archi-
medes slain.
862. Parùm leta: in the sense of tristis.
863. Virum: M. Marcellus, the consul.
867. Ingressus: in the sense of cœpit.
Oborti gushing from his eyes.
869. Fata ostendent: the fates will only
snow him to the earth, &c. This is Marcus
866
870
875
880
Marcellus, the son of Caius Marcellus and
Octavia, the sister of Augustus. He de-
signed him for his daughter Julia. When
a boy, he adopted him as a son, and intenu-
ed him for his successor in the empire. He
died about the age of twenty years, at Baïas.
His body was carried to Rome, and con-
sumed to ashes in the campus Martius. The
Romans were much affected at his loss, and
made great lamentation over him. He was
interred near the banks of the Tiber with
great pomp. Propago: race-stock-off
spring.
871. Propria: lasting-permanent; that
is, if Marcellus had been permitted to live.
872. Quantos gemitus ille: how great
groans of men shall that Campus Martius
send forth! Mavortis, gen. of Mavors, a
name of Mars. Rome was sacred to Mars,
as being the father both of Romulus and
Remus. Aget: in the sense of emittel. Ad·
in the sense of prope.
876. Tantùm spe. Some read, in taniam
spem: others, in tanta spe. Heyne reads
in tantùm spe; so also Ruæus. But spe may
be for spei, the gen. (as die is put for die.
Geor. i. 208.) governed by tantùm. Th.s
last I prefer.
878. Heu pietas! heu prisca fides! The
poet here deplores the loss which virtue, in-
tegrity, and valor, sustained in him. Both
Velleius and Seneca give young Marcellus a
most excellent character.
880. Seu cùm pedes. The meaning is:
whether, as a footman, he should rush against
the foe, or whether he should spur on his
foaming steed to the attack.
881. Armos: in the sense of latera.
ENEIS. LIB. VI.
393
Ileu, miserande puer! si quà fata aspera rumpas,
Tu Marcellus eris. Manibus date lilia plenis .
Purpureos spargam flores, animamque nepotis
Ilis saltem accumulem donis, et fu igar inani
Munere. Sic totâ passim regione vagantur
Aëris in campis latis, atque omnia lustrant.
Quæ postquam Anchises natum per singula duxit,
Incenditque animum famæ venientis amore :
Exin bella viro memorat quæ deinde gerenda ;
Laurentesque docet populos, urbemque Latini;
Et quo quemque modo fugiatque feratque laborem.
Sunt geminæ Somni portæ : quarum altera fertur
Cornea, quâ veris facilis datur exitus umbris:
Altera, candenti perfecta nitens elephanto:
Sed falsa ad cælum mittunt insomnia Manes.
His ubi tum natum Anchises unàque Sibyllam
Prosequitur dictis, portâque emittit eburnâ.
Ille viam secat ad naves, sociosque revisit.
Tum se ad Caïetæ recto fert litore portum.
Anchora de prorâ jacitur: stant litore puppes.
NOTES.
882. Aspera: in the sense of dura, vel
crudelia. Plenis manibus: in full hands.
885
890
895
900
888. Por que singula,
postquam Anchises dux
it natum
895. Altera nitens por
fecta est è candenti ele-
phanto; sed per hane
Manes mittunt
897. Ubi. This is the common reading.
Some copies have ibi. The sense is the
same with either.
898. Prosequitur Anchises: Anchises ac
companies Eneas and the Sibyl through
the various parts of the infernal regions, and
discourses with them as they pass along, till
they arrive at the ivory gate, through which
he dismisses them. Servius thinks that Vir-
883. Marcellus eris. On hearing this line,
is said, Octavia fainted. The encomium
which the poet passes upon this noble youth
s esteemed one of the finest passages of the
Æneid. Augustus was so much pleased
with it when he heard Virgil read it, that he
ordered a present to be given him of ten ses-
tertia for every line, which is about seventy-gil, by telling us that Encas passed through
eight pounds sterling.
886. Munere: Ruæus says officio.
887. Latis campis aëris. By this we are
to understand the Elysian fields, so called;
quia vacuum, et inanibus umbris habitatum;
vel quia situm in aëreis pratis, says Ruæus.
Heyne takes the words simply in the sense
of locis caliginosis.
888. Per quæ: through all which things.
Singula: properly, all taken separately and
singly-all one by one. Venientis in the
sense of futurœ.
890. Viro: Æneas. Exin: (for cxinde :)
in the sense of tunc.
891. Laurentes. See Æn. vii. 63.
893. Gemina porta. This fiction is bor-
rowed from the Odyss. lib. 19. The most
probable conjecture why true dreams are
said to pass through the horn gate, and false
ones through the ivory gate, is, that horn is a
fit emblem of truth, as being transparent and
pervious to the sight, whereas ivory is im-
pervious and inpenetrable to it.
894. Umbris. Heyne takes this in the
sense of somniis. Ruæus says figuris.
895. Perfecta: in the sense of facta est.
896. Manes: here the inferna! gods. Ad
cœlum: in the sense of ad homines, vel ad
nyeras auras.
the ivory gate, would have us believe all he
had been here saying was fiction. But it is
hardly to be imagined that so judicious a
poet, by one dash of his pen would destroy
the many fine compliments he had paid his
prince and the whole Roman people, by in-
forming them the whole was false. Mr.
Davidson conjectures that Virgil had in view
the Platonic philosophy. By emitting his
hero through the ivory gate, through which
lying dreams ascend to the earth, he might
mean that thus far he had been adınitted tr
see the naked truth-had the true system of
nature laid open to his view, and the secrets
of futurity unveiled; but henceforth he was
returning to his former state of darkness,
ignorance, and error; and therefore he is
sent forth from those regions of light and
truth by the ivory gate, in company with
lying dreams and mere shadows, which are
to attend him through life. But, on the
whole, as the poet hath concealed from us
the reason of his hero's passing through the
ivory gate, after all our conjectures on the
subject, we may be as far as ever from the
truth. Prosequitur: in the sense of alle
quitur.
900. Fert se ad portum: he takes himself
along the shore direct to une port, &c. Caïela
394
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
was a piɔmontory and town of the Ansones
(hodie, Gaëta) a name derived from the
Larse of Æneas, who died there. Some de-
rive it from a Greek word, which signifies
to burn, because the fleet of Eneas was
here burnt by the Trojan women, as some
authors say. Litore: this is the common
reading, but Heyne reads limite in the senso
of via, vel itinere.
QUESTIONS.
Is this one of the books which Virgil read
in the presence of Augustus and Octavia?
What is the subject of it?
What is the nature of it?
What, probably, suggested to the poet this
tine episode?
Can you mention any others who, accord-
ing to the poets, visited those regions?
What, probably, was the object of the
poet in conducting his hero thither?
In what light does bishop Warburton con-
sider this book?
Were these mysteries in great repute at
one time in Greece?
Is there no difficulty in this interpreta-
tion?
What are the principal difficulties?
Is it certain that Virgil was ever initiated
into those mysteries?
If he had been acquainted with them, is
it probable he would have divulged them?
What does Heyne say upon this subject?
At what place in Italy did Æneas land?
Who founded the city of Cuma?
What celebrated temple was there?
By whom was it built?
Who was Daedalus?
What is said of him?
Was there any curiously carved work up-
on the doors of this temple?
What was this sculpture designed to re-
present?
What was the residence of the Sibyl?
By whose inspiration did she give pro-
phetic responses?
What direction did she give Æneas in re-
gard to his descent to the regions below?
Where was this golden bough to be found?
In what way did he find it?
To whom was the bough considered sa-
التنا
Where does the poet represent the en-
trance to those regions?
What did Æneas and his guide do imme-
diately preceding their descent?
What is the lake Avernus properly?
Why was that thought to give admission
to the regions of the dead?
From what circumstance did it receive the
name of Avernus ?
What is its Greek name?
According to the poets, how many rivers
watered the realms of Pluto?
What were their names?
Which one was said to flow around them
nine times?
Why did the gods swear by the river
Styx
If they violated their oath, wnat was the
penalty?
Who was Charon?
What was his employment?
From what historical fact is this fable
supposed to be derived?
On the approach of Æneas, what did the
ferryman do?
What effect had the sight of the golden
bough upon him?
What punishment had he received for
carrying over Hercules?
Who was said to be the door keeper of
Pluto's realms?
How many heads had Cerberus?
What did Hercules do to him?
What did the Sibyl do that he might per
mit them to pass?
How many were represented as judges of
the dead?
What were their names?
Who was Minos?
Who Radamanthus?
Who acus?
Why were they made judges of the dead?
How was Minos employed, when Æneas
visited his court?
As he passed along, and viewed the van
ous apartments, did he see Dido?
What effect had the sight of her upon him?
What is the nature of his address to her ?
What effect had it upon her?
Did Dido leave him abruptly?
Where did she go?
What passage of the Odyssey had Virgil
here in view?
What was the conduct of Ajax?
What does Longinus say of his silence
After this, to what place did he go?
What was his object in visiting the court
of Pluto?
Where did he see the place of punishment?
What was the name of that place?
What river surrounded it?
What is the ineaning of the word Phlege-
thon?
From what language is it derived?
From the palace of Pluto, where then did
Eneas and the Sibyl go?
Whom did they meet in the way?
What was the employment of Orpheus?
What poet was distinguished above all
the rest?
Why was no mention made of Homer?
Who was Musœus?
When did he flourish?
Are there any fragments of his poems es-
tant?
•
ENEIS.
395
LIB. VII.
What information did Musmus give them?
Where did they find Anchises?
In what part of the regions below?
How was Anchises engaged at that time?
Was he expecting the arrival of his son?
What was the nature of their meeting?
Anchises explained to Æneas the system
of the world upon the Pythagorean and Pla-
tonic philosophy: what were some of the
leading points of that philosophy?
Had this philosophy many advocates?
Who was the inventor of the doctrine of
transmigration?
What were some of its leading principles ?
According to the principles of that philo-
sophy, Anchises points out to his son a list of
distinguished men who were to descend from
him: can you mention some of their names?
Whom does he specially mention?
Was Augustus highly pleased with any
part of this book?
What part was that?
Is it said that Octavia fainted at the meu
tion of Marcellus?
Who was this Marcellus?
What did Augustus order to be given Vir-
gil for each line of that eulogium?
To how much would that amount in ster-
ling money?
What leading doctrine of religion and
morality does the poet here inculcate?
Are the punishments here inflicted in pro-
portion to the offence?
Is that a principle founded in reason and
justice?
How long was the time assigned for a
visit to the regions below?
Through which gate did Æneas ascend
to the upper regions?
How many gates were there?
What is the most probable reason that
can be given for his ascent through the ivory
gate?
LIBER SEPTIMUS.
FROM Caïata, or Cajeta, Æneas pursues his course westward, and arrives in the Tiber, in
the kingdom of Latium; where he was kindly entertained by Latinus, then advanced
in age.
He had an only daughter, the heiress of his crown, then young and beautiful.
Many of the neighboring princes sought her in marriage; among whom was Turnus,
king of the Rutuli, every way worthy of her; and whose addresses were pleasing to
her mother Amata. For several reasons, however, her father was opposed to the match;
particularly, on account of the responses of the oracle of Faunus. From this he learn-
ed that a foreigner was destined to be his son-in-law. He conceived Eneas to be the
person pointed out by the oracle, and accordingly proposed to him a match with his
daughter. In the mean time, Juno, displeased at the friendly reception of the Trojans,
and especially at the proposal of the king, set about to frustrate it. For this purpose,
she called Alecto from below. Through her means Turnus is roused to arms, and a
ski; .sh brought about between some Latin shepherds and rustics on one side, and the
Trojans on the other; in which Almon, the eldest son of Tyrrhus, the royal herdsman,
was slain. This kindles the war. Both Turnus and the Latins repair to the palace of
the king, and urge him to an immediate declaration of war. The aged monarch resists
their importunity. In this stato, things remain, till Juno descends from above, and
opens the brazen doors. The report is soon spread abroad that war is begun. The
neighboring nations join Turnus, and make a common cause of the war. The poet
concludes by giving us an account of the auxiliaries, and their respective leaders.
Throughout the whole, he has displayed a great degree of taste and judgment. In
these six last books, the poet has imitated the Iliad of Homer.
A celebrated critic, Valpy observes, accuses Virgil of losing, instead of increasing, in inte
rest, in these books. The Trojan and Greek heroes, whose names have been familia.
with us from infancy, disappear; and we are introduced to personages of whom we
have not before heard; and whose names do not appear elsewhere either in fable or
history. But he does not consider, in making his charge, that the poet wrote for his
own countrymen, and not for us. The adventures of Eneas in Italy, little as we may
be interested in them, relate to the supposed ancestors of the Romans, to their domestic
history, and to the foundation of their empire. The narration must, therefore, have
then excited emotions in which we do not partake; and caused an interest in them, to
which we, as we are situated, and at this distance of time, are strangers.
396
!
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
ossa in magna
TU quoque litoribus nostris, Eneïa nutrix,
Eternam moriens famam, Caïeta, dedisti:
3. Nomen tuum signat Et nunc servat honos sedem tuus; ossaque nomen
Hesperiâ in magnâ, si qua est ea gloria, signat.
At pius exsequiis Æneas ritè solutis,
Aggere composito tumuli, postquam alta quiêrunt
Equora, tendit iter velis, portumque relinquit.
Aspirant auræ in noctem : nec candida cursum
Luna negat: splendet tremulo sub lumine pontus.
Proxima Circææ raduntur litora terræ ;
Dives inaccessos ubi Solis filia lucos
Assiduo resonat cantu, tectisque superbis
Urit odoratam nocturna in lumina cedrum,
Arguto tenues percurrens pectine telas.
15. Hinc gemitus cœ- Hinc exaudiri gemitus, iræque leonum
perunt exaudiri
Vincla recusantûm, et serâ sub nocte rudentûm :
17. Setigerique sues, Setigerique sues, atque in præsepibus ursi
atque ursi auditi sævire Sævire, ac formæ magnorum ululare luporum:
19. Quos sæva Dea Quos hominum ex facie Dea sæva potentibus herbis
Circe induerat
Induerat Circe in vultus ac terğa ferarum.
Quæ ne monstra pii paterentur talia Troës
Delati in portus, neu litora dira subirent,
NOTES.
1. Tu quoque. This refers to what he had
old us in the preceding bɩok, verse 232, et
sequens, of the monument erected to the
memory of Misenus, on the Italian coast.
Thou, also, O Cajeta, didst give, &c.
3. Tuus honos. Some consider this an
hypallage, for sedes servat tuum honorem:
the place preserves thy honor. But perhaps
her name may be considered a kind of guar-
dian to the place. In this sense, there is no
need of any figure. The words may be
taken as they stand: thy honor, or fame,
protects the place. This is the better and
more poetical. Sedem: in the sense of lo-
cum. Ossa in the sense of sepulchrum.
There is a promontory and city in this part
of Italy, by the name of Cajeta, or Gaïela.
6. Aggere tumuli composilo: a tomb being
erected. The earth heaped up over the
orpse or ashes of the dead, was called agger
tumuli.
8. Auræ aspirant. Dr. Trapp observes
that, down to the 18th line, is, beyond ex-
pression, elegant and affecting. A funeral
had been just performed. They sail in the
still night by the light of the moon. They
pass along an enchanted coast, whence they
hear the roaring of lions, and other beasts of
prey. Upon the four last lines he passes the
highest encomium. Candida. As the sun,
from his flaming brightness, is called aureus,
golden; so the moon, from her paler light, is
called candida, white or silvered.
10. Circuæ: an adj. from Circe, a cele-
brated sorceress, the daughter of Sol, and
the nymph Perse. She was the sister of
Etes, king of Colchis, the father of the fa-
10
15
20
mous Medea. Some say she was the sister
of Medea. She was called Eaa, from Ea,
an island and city of Colchis, near the
mouth of the river Phasis. It is said she
married a king of the Sarmatians, whom she
killed with her poisons; after which she fled
to Italy to the promontory and mountain
which, from her, is called Circœus: hodie,
Circello.
12. Resonat inaccessos lucos: she makes
the inaccessible groves resound with her con-
tinual song. Not absolutely inaccessible;
for Ulysses and his company landed here-
but difficult of access.
14. Argulo pectine: the shrill sounding
shuttle.
15. Ira: the rage-fury.
18. Formæ magnorum luporum: simply,
the great wolves.
19. Quos ex facie hominum: whom the
cruel goddess Circe had changed from the
shape of men, into the apperance and form
(terga) of wild beasts, &c. Induerat is evi-
dently to be taken in the sense of mutaverat.
Terga: the backs, by synec. for the whole
bodies.
The fable of Circe is taken from the
Odyssey, lib. 10. where Homer informs us
that the followers of Ulysses were changed
into swine. He aione was preserved by the
aid of Mercury, and the eating of the herb
moly. At his request, however, they were
restored to their former shapes. Beside poi-
sonous herbs, she made use of a magical
wand, with which she touched them.
21. Quæ talia monstra: any such mon
strous changes-shapes-forms.
ÆNEIS. LIB. VII.
397
Neptunus ventis implevit vela secundis,
Atque fugam dedit, et præter vada fervida vexit.
Jamque rubescebat radiis mare, et æthere ab alto 25
Aurora in roseis fulgebat lutea bigis :
Cùm venti posuere, omnisque repentè resedit
Flatus, et in lento luctantur marmore tonsæ.
Atque hic Eneas ingentem ex æquore lucum
Prospicit hunc inter fluvio Tiberinus ameno,
Vorticibus rapidis et multâ flavus arenâ,
:
30
In mare prorumpit. Varie circùmque supràque
Assuetæ ripis volucres et fluminis alveo,
Æthera mulcebant cantu, lucoque volabant.
Flectere iter sociis, terræque advertere proras
Imperat et lætus fluvio succedit opaco.
35
Nunc age, qui reges, Erato, quæ tempora, rerum
Quis Latio antiquo fuerit status, advena classem
Cùm primùm Ausoniis exercitus appulit oris,
Expediam et primæ revocabo exordia pugnæ.
Tu vatem, tu, Diva, mone. Dicam horrida bella,
Dicam acies, actosque animis in funera reges,
Tyrrhenamque manum, totamque sub arma coactam
Hesperiam. Major rerum mihi nascitur ordo:
Majus opus moveo. Rex arva Latinus et urbes
Jam senior longâ placidas in pace regebat.
Hunc Fauno et Nymphâ genitum Laurente Maricâ
NOTES.
26. Bigis. Aurora is represented by the
poets as drawn in a chariot of two horses.
Lutea: an adj. from lutum, an herb with
which yellow or saffron color is dyed. The
poet, herc, has given a charming description
of the morning.
27. Posuere: in the sense of quieverunt.
28. Tonsæ: the oars labor in the smooth
surface of the sea. Tonsa, properly, the
blade of the oar. Dr. Trapp takes lento, to
denote here yielding or giving way to the
Marmore the sea unruffled by the
oar.
wind.
30. Tiberinus inter hunc: through this
grove, with its pleasant streams and rapid
course, (whirls,) yellow with much sand, &c.
Some take Tiberinus, not for the river itself.
but for the god of the river. In this case it
may be rendered Tiberinus, god of the plea-
sant river, in rapid whirls, &c. The prep.
è, or ex, being understood. The Tibet is,
next to the Po, the largest river in Italy. It
rises in the Appennines, and running in a
southern direction, dividing Latium from
Etruria or Tuscany, falls into the sea by
two mouths. Its original name, we are told,
was Albula. It took its present name from
a Tuscan king, who was killed near it. But
Livy says it took its name from Tiberinus,
a king of the Albans, who was drowned
in it.
34. Mulcebant æthera: they charmed the
air with their song. This is highly poetical.
40
45
37. Nunc age, O Erato
expediam qui reges, quæ
tempora, quis status re
rum fuerit
47. Accipimus hunc
genitum esse Fauno, et
Maricâ Laurente Nym-
phâ. Picus eral pater
The air, calm and still, is represented as
listening to the music of the birds that were
flying in all directions about the river, and
being charmed with their melody. Indeed
the whole is extremely beautiful, and cannot
be too much admired. It would appear from
this, that Eneas arrived in the Tiber about
the middle of the spring, when the birds
are most lively and musical.
37. Erato: the muse that presides over
love affairs. She is invoked because the
following wars were in consequence of the
love of Turnus and Eneas for Lavinia. It
is derived from the Greek. Rerum. Most
Rerum.
commentators connect rerum with tempora ;
hut it is evident its place is after status: what
state of things there was in Latium, when
first a foreign army arrived on the Italian
shores. 'leyne connerts it with temporu
Davidson with status.
42. Animis: in the sense of ira.
43. Manum: troops-forces.
45. Latinus. Virgil places Latinus unl,
three generations from Saturn. Taunus
Picus, then Saturn. Others place hun a
the distance of nine. His origin is much ob-
scured. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, agrees
with Virgil, that, when Æneas arrived in
Italy, Latinus reigned in Latium--that he
had no male issue; but an only daughter,
whom Æneas married. Area: the country.
Placidas: in the sense of quielas.
!
398 :
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Accipimus. Fauno Picus pater. ipse parentem
Te, Saturne, refert: tu sanguinis ultimus auctor.
50. Fuit nullus filius Filius huic, fato Divûm, prolesque virilis
huic Latino fato Deo- Nulla fuit: primâque oriens erepta juventâ est.
rum, nulla virilis proles: Sola domum et tantas servabat filia sedes;
quæque oriens
Jam matura viro, jam plenis nubilis annis.
Multi illam magno è Latio totâque petebant
Ausoniâ. Petit ante alios pulcherrimus omnes
56. Quem regia con- Turnus, avis atavisque potens : quein regia conjux
jux Amata properabat Adjungi generum miro properabat amore ·
miro amore adjungi ge- Sed variis portenta Deûm terroribus obstant.
nerum sibi
Laurus erat tecti medio, in penetralibus altis,
Sacra comarn, multosque metu servata per annos :
61. Quam inventam, Quam pater inventam, primas cùm conderet arces,
pater Latinus ipsc fere- Ipse ferebatur Phœbo sacrâsse Latinus;
batır sacrâsse Phœbo, Laurentisque ab eâ nomen posuisse colonis.
cùm
64. Denso apes, vecta Hujus apes summum densæ, mirabile dictu!
ngenti stridore trans li- Stridore ingenti liquidum trans æthera vectæ,
quidum æthera obsedêre Obsedêre apicem: et, pedibus per mutua nexis,
summum apicem hujus Examen subitum ramo frondente pependit.
arboris.
Continuò vates, Externum cernimus, inquit,
Adventare virum, et partes petere agmen easdem
Partibus ex îsdem, et summâ dominarier arce.
NOTES.
48. Accipimus: in the sense of audimus.
49. Ultimus auctor: the first or remotest
founder of our race. Ullimus, ascending, is
the same with primus, descending. Refert:
in the sense of habet.
50. Filius huic. It is evident that Lati-
nus had, in the course of his life, male issue;
but at that time he had none. It is not said
whether he had one, two, or more sons; and
we have a right to suppose either. I have
supposed that he had, in the course of his
life, several, and accordingly have inserted
the word quæque, before oriens: quæque
oriens: every one growing up was snatched
away in early life.
52. Filia ola servabat. By this we are
to understand, that his daughter alone pre-
served his family from extinction, and his
kingdom from passing into the hands of
chers: or that she alone was the heiress of
his crown and kingdom-tanlas sedes. To-
tam regionem, says Ruæus.
56. Polens avis atavisque: powerful (in
grandfathers and great grandfathers) in his
ancestors. The queen was taken with such
an illustrious match for her daughter; and
accordingly urged, with great importunity,
that Turnus should be received into the fa-
mily as their son-in-law. Amore: Ruæus
says, studio.
59. Penetralibus. The interior of a house
or palace, though not roofed, may be called
penetrale. Such must have been the palace
of Latinus; otherwise a stately laurel could
rot have grown in that place
50
686
60
65
70
60. Servata metu: preserved with reli-
gious awe and veneration. Sacra comam: a
Grecism.
63. Laurentis colonis. The name Laurens
was originally given to a grove of laurel,
near the shore of the Tuscan sea, extending
to the east of the Tiber. Hence the neigh-
boring country was called Laurens. Also,
the nymph Marica, the wife of Faunus, and
mother of Latinus, was called Laurens.
Turnus, too, is called Laurens, from the cir-
cumstance of this grove bordering upon his
dominions. It appears that Latinus only
raised fortifications, and embellished the
city, which must have been built before; for
we are told that his father Picus had erected
here a noble palace; see 171.
sce 171. The city,
after the time of Latinus, was called Lau-
rentum, from a very large laurel growing on
the spot where he founded the tower. This,
however, was the common name of the
whole neighboring country, from the grove
above mentioned.
The inhabitants were
called Laurentes-Laurentini-Laurentii et
Laurenti.
64. Densæ apes: a thick swarm of bees.
66. Per mulua: taken adverbially. Their
fect being mutually joined or linked to-
gether.
68. Cernimus: we sce a foreigner ap- .
proach, and an army seek those parts,
which the bees sought, from the same parts
from which they came.
70. Dominarier: by paragoge, for domi
nari: to rule-bear sway.
ENEIS. LIB. VII.
299
}
Prætereà castis adolet dum altaria tædis ;
Ut juxta genitorem adstat Lavinia virgo,
Visa, nefas! longis comprêndere crinibus ignem,
Atque omnem ornatum flammâ crepitante cremari :
Regalesque accensa comas, accensa coronam
Insignem gemmis: tum fumida lumine fulvo
Involvi, ac totis Vulcanum spargere tectis.
Id verò horrendum ac visu mirabile ferri.
Namque fore illustrem famâ fatisque canebant
Ipsam, sed populo magnum portendere bellum.
At rex sollicitus monstris, oracula Fauni
Fatidici genitoris, adit; lucosque sub altâ
Consulit Albuneâ; nemorum quæ maxima sacro
Fonte sonat, sævamque exhalat opaca mephitim.
Hinc Italæ gentes, omnisque notria tellus
In dubiis responsa petunt: huc dona sacerdos
Cùm tulit, et cæsarum ovium sub nocte silenti
Pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit :
Multa modis simulacra videt volitantia miris,
Et varias audit voces, fruiturque Deorum
Colloquio, atque imis Acheronta affatur Avernis.
Hic et tum pater ipse petens responsa Latinus;
Centum lanigeras mactabat ritè bidentes;
Atque harum effultus tergo stratisque jacebat
Velleribus. Subita ex alto vox reddita luco est:
Ne pete connubiis natam sociare Latinis,
:
O mea progenies thalamis neu crede paratis.
Externi veniunt generi, qui sanguine nostrum
Nomen in astra ferent; quorumque à stirpe nepotes,
NOTES.
1. Dum adolet altaria: while he kindles
the altar with holy torches, &c. Some con-
nect adolet with Lavinia, and understand
her to have set fire to the altars. But it is
But it is
evidently better to understand this cf the
father, his daughter standing near him.
Castis: in the sense of puris vel sacris.
72. Út: et is the common reading.-
Heyne reads ut, which makes the sense
easier.
76. Fulvo. Rumus takes this in the sense
of ruti¡anti.
77. Vulcanum: in the sense of flammam
vel ignem.
78. Id verò, &c. This line is capable of a
double meaning. according to the sense giv-
en to ferri. If it be taken in its usual sense,
it will be: this terrible thing, and wonderful
to the sight, (began) to be spread abroad. It
it be taken in the sense of haberi, it will be:
this thing (began) to be considered terrible
and wonderful to the sight. This is the sense
given both by Ruxus and Davidson. Dr.
Trapp favors the former.
79. Fatis. Fatum, here, is in the sense of
fortuna. Canebant: in the sense of madi-
cebant.
73. Visa est, O nefas !
comprendere ignem lon-
75 gis crinibus
80
85
90
95
75. Visa est accensa
quoad regales comas,
accensa quoad
76. Tum fumida visa
est involvi
79. Namque vates ca-
nebant Laviniam ipsam
fore
81. Monstris: at the prodigies, or wonder
ful signs. Monstrum. any thing that is con
trary to the ordinary course of nature. Fa
tidici: prophetic.
82. Consulit: he consults the grove under
lofty Albuna. This was a fountain from
which flowed the river Albula. Its waters
were very deeply impregnated with sulphur.
It was surrounded with a very gross and
putrid atmosphere, which the poet calls sœ-
vam mephitim. Here was a grove sacred to
Faunus.
85. Enotria tellus: Italy. See Æn. i.
530.
91. Affatur Acheronta: converses with
the infernal powers in deep Avernus. Ache-
ronta: acc. sing. of Greck formation. Ache-
ron, by the poets, is made one of the rivers
of hell. Here it is evidently used for the
infernal gods.
94. Alque jacebat: and lay, supported by
their skins and outspread fleeces-he lay
down upon them.
97. Paratis. This alludes to the contem
plated match with Turnus. Tholamis in
the sense of nuptiis.
99. Quorumque stirpe: descending fron
400
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
sponsa
Omnia sub pedibus, quà Sol utrumque recurrens
Aspicit Oceanum, vertique regique videbunt.
Hæc responsa patris Fauni, monitusque silenti
103. Latinus ipse non Nocte datos, non ipse suo premit ore Latinus ;
premit suo ore hæc re- Sed circùm latè volitans jam fama per urbes
Ausonias tulerat ; cùm Laomedontia pubes
Gramineo ripæ religavit ab aggere classem.
Æneas, primique duces, et pulcher Iülus,
Corpora sub ramis deponunt arboris altæ :
Instituuntque dapes, et adorea liba per herbam
Subjiciunt epulis (sic Jupiter ille monebat)
Et Cereale solum pomis agrestibus augent.
112. Hic fortè aliis Consumptis hic fortè aliis, ut vertere morsus
cibis consumptis, ut pe- Exiguam in Cererem penuria adegit edendi;
nuria edendi
Et violare manu, malisque audacibus orbem
Fatalis crusti, patulis nec parcere quadris :
Heus! etiam mensas consumimus, inquit Iülus.
117. Nec dixit plura Nec plura, alludens. Ea vox audita laborum
Prima tulit finem primamque loquentis ab ore
119. Paterque eripuit Eripuit pater, ac stupefactus numine pressit.
eam primam ab ore filii Continuò, Salve, fatis mihi debita tellus ;
loquentis
verba
100
106
110
115
120
Vosque, ait, ô fidi Troja, salvete, Tenates.
Hic domus, hæc patria est. Genitor mihi talia, namque
124. Dicens, O nate, Cùm te, nate, fames ignota ad litora vectum
Nunc repeto, Anchises fator arcana reliquit :
Accisis coget dapibus consumere mensas;
cum fames coget to vec-
tum
NOTES.
whose stock, our posterity shall see all things
reduced, &c. This alludes to the extent of
the Roman empire, which, in the height of
its greatness, embraced the greater part of
the then known world. It ruled the subject
nations with a rod of iron.
105. Laomedontia pubes: the Trojan
youth; so called from Laomedon, one of
the kings of Troy. Tulerat: spread them
abroad.
106. Religavit: moored.
110. Subjiciunt: they place along the
grass wheaten cakes under their meat. They
use them in the room of plates or trenchers.
1. Solum any thing placed under ano-
ther to support it, may be called solum. Ce-
reale solum, therefore, must be those wheaten
cakes which they used on this occasion as
plates. Augent: they load them with, &c.
112. Morsus: in the sense of dentes.
113. Ut penuria edendi: when want of
other provisions forced them to turn their
teeth upon the small cake, &c. Edendi: in
the sense of cibi.
114. Violare. The eating tables among
the ancients were considered sacred. They
were a kind of altar, on which libations
were made to the gods, both before and af
ter meals. To destroy them was consider-
ed a kind of sacrilege or violence. Orbem
falalis crusti. By this we are to understand
125
the cake or trencher-the orb of the ominous
cake. Fatalis is not to be understood in the
sense of fatal in English, but rather as im-
porting some great event, or something des-
tined and ordered by fate. Patulis quadris:
the broad or large quadrants. These cakes
were divided by two lines, crossing each
other in the centre, and dividing each cake
into four equal parts, called quadrants. Au-
dacibus malis: with greedy or hungry jaws.
The
117. Alludens: joking-smiling.
119. Stupefactus numine pressil.
prophetic Celano (Æn. iii. 257.) had fore-
told that the Trojans should be reduced to
such extremity as to consume their tables
before they could expect an end to their wan-
derings. By numine we are to understand
the solution or fulfilment of this prophecy,
or divine purpose. Pressit does not refer to
the words of Ascanius, as Servius supposes,
but to Eneas. The prophecy had been
wrapped up in mystery till the present mo-
ment. The solution of it was a matter of
surprise and joy. It excited a degree of
wonder and admiration, and caused him to
pause a while upon the subject. Pressit:
he kept silencc. Vocem is understood.
123. Repeto: I recollect—I call to memo.
ry Memoriam is understood.
125. Dapibus accisis: your provisions
having failed-being consumed.
ENEIS. LIB. VII
401
Tum sperare domos defessus, ibique memento
Prima locare manu, molirique aggere tecta.
IIæc erat illa fames: hæc nos suprema manebant,
Exitiis positura modum.
Quare agite, et primo læti cum lumine solis,
Quæ loca, quive habeant homines, ubi monia gentis,
Vestigemus; et à portu diversa petamus
Nunc pateras libate Jovi, precibusque vocate
Anchisen genitorem, et vina reponite mensis.
:
Sic deinde effatus, frondenti tempora ramo
Implicat, et, Geniumque loci, primamque Deorum
Tellurem, Nymphasque, et adhuc ignota precatur
Flumina tum Noctem, noctisque orientia signa,
Idæumque Jovem, Phrygiamque ex ordine matrem
Invocat; et duplices coloque Ereboque parentes.
Hic pater omnipotens ter cœlo clarus ab alto
Intonuit, radiisque ardentem lucis et auro
Ipse manu quatiens ostendit ab æthere nubem.
Diditur hic subitò Trojana per agmina rumor,
Advenisse diem, quo debita moenia condant.
Certatim instaurant epulas, atque omine magno
Crateras læti statuunt, et vina coronant.
Postera cùm primâ lustrabat lampade terras
Orta dies; urbem, et fines, et litora gentis
Diversi explorant: hæc fontis stagna Numici,
Hunc Tybrim fluvium, hìc fortes habitare Latinos.
Tum satus Anchisâ delectos ordine ab omni
Centum oratores augusta ad monia regis
Ire jubet, ramis velatos Palladis omnes:
Donaque ferre viro, pacemque exposcere Teucris.
Haud mora: festinant jussi, rapidisque feruntur
Passibus. Ipse humili designat mœnia fossâ,
NOTES.
129. Modum: bounds-end. Exitiis: to
our woes-calamities.
133. Pateras: the bowls, by meton. put
for the wine in them.
136. Primam Deorum.
siod, Tellus, or Terra, was
of the gods except Chaos.
sense of cingit.
According to He-
reckoned the first
Implicat: in the
138. Noclem. This goddess sprang from
Chaos, according to Hesiod. Eneas invokes
her, fearing, perhaps, during the darkness,
some mischief from the natives.
139. Idæum: an adj. from Ida, a moun-
tain in Crete, where Jupiter was brought
up. Phrygiam matrem: Cybele.
140. Duplices parentes: both his parents,
Venus and Anchises; the former in heaven,
the latter in Elysium; at least his idolum,
or simulacrum
141. Clarus: may mean loud-shrill; or
perhaps it may imply that the sky was clear,
which was considered a good omen.
130 130. Nos læti vestige-
mus, quæ sint hæc loca,
qui-ve homines habeant
ea; ubi sint mœnia gen-
tis; et petamus diversa
loca à portu.
135
140
145
150
155
142. Ipseque ostendit
ab æthere nubem arden-
tem radiis lucis et auro,
quatiens eam manu
150. Discunt hæc esse
stagna fontis Numici,
hunc esse
152. Jubet centum
oratores delectos ab om-
ni ordine ire
aureis radiis lucis, by hend, the golden beams
of light.
144. Diditur: is spread abroad.
145. Debita in the sense of destinata.
148. Lamparle: in the sense of luce.
150. Stagna fontis: the streams of the
fountain Num us. This was a small river,
or stream, flowing between Laurentum and
Ardea. Diversi: they in different directions.
154. Ramis Palladis: with the boughs of
Pallas-with the olive. The olive was sa-
cred to Minerva, and the badge of peace.
Velatos: coronatos, says Ruæus.
157. Ipse designat: he himself, in the
mean time, marks out his city with a low
furrow, and prepares the place for building.
This city of Eneas was situated on the east
bank of the Tiber, a little above the sea.
He called the name of it Troy. In after
times, Ancus Martius, a king of the Romans,
founded here a city, which he called Ostia,
from its vicinity to the mouth of the Tiber,
142. Radiis lucis et auro, This. is for See En. v. 755.
27
માર
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
158, Cingitque primas Moliturque locum; primasque in litore sedes,
sedes in litore pennis at- Castrorum in morem, pinnis atque aggere cingit.
que aggere
160. Jamque juvinęs
emensi iter cernebant
Jamque iter emensi, turres ac tecta Latinorum
Ardua cernebant juvenes, muroque subibant.
Ante urbem pueri, et primævo flore juventus
Exercentur equis, domitantque in pulvere currus.
Aut acres tendunt arcus, aut lenta lacertis
Spicula contorquent, cursuque ictuque lacessunt.
Cùm prævectus equo longævi regis ad aures
Nuntius ingentes ignotâ in veste reportat
Advenisse viros. Ille intra tecta vocari
169. Medius suorum Imperat, et solio medius consedit avito.
owium.
Tectum augustum, ingens, centum sublime columnis,
174. Hoc templum Urbe fuit summâ, Laurentis regia Pici,
erat illis curia; he sedes Horrendum sylvis et religione parentum.
destinatæ erant sacris Hinc sceptra accipere, et primos attollere fasces
epulis.
Regibus omen erat: hoc illis curia templum,
177. Effigies veterum Hæ sacris sedes epulis: hìc ariete caso
avorum e cedro antiqua
adstabant vestibulo, po-
Perpetuis soliti patres considere mensis.
sitæ ex ordine
Quin etiam veterum effigies ex ordine avorum •
NOTES.
159. Cingitque primas: and he incloses
his first settlement on the shore with a ram-
part, and a mound, &c. The pinnæ origi-
nally were the tufts or crests on the soldier's
helmet. Hence they came to be applied to
the turrets and battlements in fortifications.
160. Emensi iter: having completed their
journey to the city of Latinus.
163. Domitant: they break the harnessed
steeds in the dusty plain. Currus is pro-
perly a chariot: by meton. the horses har-
nessed in it.
164. Acres arcus: elastic bows. Lenta:
tough-rigid-not easily bent.
165. Lacessunt: they challenge one ano-
ther at the race, and missive weapon. La
Cerda understands by cursu the throwing of
the javelin as they ran forward: and by
ictu, the shooting of the arrow. But it is
better to take cursu for the races and other
exercises on horseback and in the chariot,
and ictu for the shooting of the arrow and
throwing of the javelin.
167. Nuntius prævectus: a messenger on
horseback relates, &c.
169. Avrlo solio: on the throne of his an-
cestors.
170. Tectum augustum: a building, &c.
put in apposition with regia.
171. Regia Laurentis Pici. This mag-
nificent palace was erected by Picus, the fa-
ther of Latinus. It was situated on the
highest ground or part of the city, and sup-
ported by a hundred columns. Horrendum:
awful by its sacred groves, and the religion
of their ancestors. By religione, Mr. David-
son understands the religious monuments,
images, groves, &c. that had been consecra-
180
165
17
17h
ted by the founders of the family; some of
which are mentioned. Sublime: high-rais
ed high upon, &c.
173. Primos fasces: the first badges or
authority-the first ensigns of power: by
meton, the first power.
174. Omen erat regibus. Ruæus and Dr.
Trapp take omen in the sense of initium.
Davidson takes omen in the sense of mos, a
custom or practice; but one on which they
laid a religious stress, and on which they
imagined the prosperity of their kings, in a
degree, to depend; and had they been con-
secrated in any other place, they would
have considered it deficient and imperfect.
Valpy is of the same opinion with Davidson.
Hoc templum. In this noble structure, it
appears there was one part for religious pur-
poses, another for the senate, and a third for
sacred banquets.
175. Ariete caso: in the sense of victimâ
casa: sacrifice being offered.
176. Considere perpetuis. The most an-
cient posture at table was sitting; after-
ward luxury introduced that of reclining
on couches. Perpetuæ mensæ, were tables
that extended from one end of the hall te
the other.
177. Quin etiam effigies: moreover the
statues of their ancestors of ancient cedar
stood in the vestibule arranged in order, &c
Ruæus and Heyne connect Vitisator with
pater Sabinus, which appears incorrect; for
the planting of the vine in Italy is ascribed
to Saturn by most authors; and the scythe
was the well known symbol of that god,
La Cerda makes a full stop after Sabinus.
which is unnecessary and improper.
ENEIS. LIB VII
403
Antiq â è cedro, Italusque, paterque Sabinus,
Vitisator, curvam servans sub imagine falcem,
Saturnusque senex, Janique bifrontis imago,
Vestibulo adstabant: aliique ab origine reges,
Martia qui ob patriam pugnando vulnera passi.
Multaque prætereà sacris in postibus arma,
Captivi pendent currus, curvæque secures,
Et crista capitum, et portarum ingentia claustra,
Spiculaque, clypeique, ereptaque rostra carinis.
Ipse Quirinali lituo parvâque sedebat
Succinctus trabeâ, lævâque ancile gerebat
Picus, equûm domitor; quem capta cupidine conjux
Aureâ percussum virgâ, versumque venenis,
Fecit avem Circe, sparsitque coloribus alas.
180
185
190
Tali intus templo Divûm, patriâque Latinus
Sede, scdens, Teucros ad sese in tecta vocavit :
Atque hæc ingressis placido prior edidit ore:
Dicite, Dardanida; neque enim nescimus et urbem, 195
Et genus, auditique advertitis æquore cursum ;
Quid petitis? quæ causa rates, aut cujus egentes,
Litus ad Ausonium tot per vada cœrula vexit?
Sive errore viæ, seu tempestatibus acti,
(Qualia multa mari nautæ patiuntur in alto)
Fluminis intrâstis ripas, portuque sedetis:
Ne fugite hospitium; neve ignorate Latinos
Saturni gentem, haud vinclo nec legibus æquam,
Sponte suâ, veterisque Dei se more tenentem.
Atque equidem memini (fama est obscurior annis)
NOTES.
178. Antiqua: may here mean durable
-lasting. It is the quality of cedar not to
decay. Italus: a king of Sicily, who ex-
tended his conquests into Italy, then called
Enotria, to which he gave the name of Ita-
lia. Sabinus. He was the second king of
Italy, and the founder of the Sabines, to
whom he gave name.
179. Sub imagine. Servius explains this
by sub oculis. The meaning is, that the
scythe hung down in his hand, and the sta-
tue was in a stooping posture over it, and
looking upon it.
180. Janique bifrontis: double-faced Ja-
nus. See 610, infra.
187. Quirinali lituo: the augural wand.
The lituus was a wand or rod used by the
augurs. It was crooked toward the extre-
mity. It is here called Quirinalis, from
Quirinus, a name of Romulus, who, we are
informed, was very expert at augury.
188. Trabea. This was a robe worn by
augurs, and sometimes by kings and other
officers of state. Broad trimmings of pur-
ple ran across it like beams, from which it
took its name. Ancile. This was a small
oval shield worn chiefly by the priests of
Mars.
191. Circe: a famous sorceress. Conjux,
181. Alique reges ab
origine gentis, qui passi
sunt
A
187. Picus ipse, do-
mitor equûm sedobat
cum Quirinali lituo, suc-
cinctusque
189. Quem percussum
aurca virgâ, versumquo
venenis conjux Circe.
capta cupidine ejus, fecit
avem
194. Illis ingressis
196. Vosque audit.
advertitis cursum huc
æquore.
197. Quæ causa vexit
rates vestras ad Auso-
200 nium litus per tot cæru-
la vada, aut egentes cu-
jus rei advenistis huc ?
sive acti errore viæ
204. Sed suâ sponte
205
here, is plainly used in the sense of amatria.
a lover. She desired to become his wife.
Sparsit alas: she spread or covered his wings
with colors. These were purple and yellow.
The bird into which Picus was changed, is
the pie or woodpecker. See Ovid. Met. lib
xiv. 320.
194. Edidit: in the sense of dixit.
196. Auditi: head of-being known.
198. Vada. Vadum, properly, signifies
shallows, places in the sea, or rivers, where
one may walk, from vadere. Here it is put
for the sea in general.
200. Multa qualia: many such things.
202. Neve ignorate: in the sense of nos-
cite.
203. Equam just, not by restraint, nor
by laws. Vinculum is any thing that binds
or fastens. Reference may here be made to
the golden age, when Saturn reigned. La-
tinus calls his people the nation of Saturn,
either because he reigned in Latium over
the same people; or because they governed
themselves by the principles of justice and
equity, and walked in the steps of that god.
205. Fama est obscurior annis: the tra-
dition is rather obscure through years. Sca
liger would understand it, as being more
obscure than might be expected, consider
ว
404
P VIRGILII MARONIS
212. Et Ilioneus secu-
tus est dicta regis
rimur consilio
Auruncos ita ferre senes: his ortus ut agris
Dardanus Ideas Phrygiæ penetravit ad urbes,
Threiciamque Samum, quae nunc Samothracia fertur.
Hinc illum Corythi Tyrrhenâ ab sede profectum
Aurea nunc solio stellantis regia cœli
Accipit, et numerum Divorum altaribus auget.
Dixerat. Et dicta Ilioneus sic voce secutus :
Rex, genus egregium Fauni, nec fluctibus actos
Atra subegit hyems vestris succedere terris;
Nec sidus regione viæ, litusve fefellit.
216. Nos omnes affe- Consilio hanc omnes animisque volentibus urbem
Afferimur; pulsi regnis, quæ maxima quondam
Extremo veniens Sol aspiciebat Olympo.
220. Noster rex ipse
ortus de suprema gente Ab Jove principium generis: Jove Dardana pubes
Jovis, Troïus Æneas no- Gaudet avo. Rex ipse, Jovis de gente supremâ,
Troius Æneas tua nos ad limina misit.
mine, misit
effusa
222. Quisque audiit Quanta per Idæos sævis effusa Mycenis
quanta tempestas belli Tempestas ierit campos; quibus actus uterque
225. Et si extrema Europæ atque Asiæ fatis concurrerit orbis,
tellus submovet quem Audiit; et si quem tellus extrema refuso
refuso Oceano ; et si Submovet Oceano, et si quem extenta plagarum
plaga iniqui Solis ex- Quatuor in medio dirimit plaga solis iniqui.
tenta in medio quatuor Diluvio ex illo tot vasta per æquora vecti,
plagarum dirimit quem
ab cæteris hominibus, ille Dîs sedem exiguam patriis, litusque rogamus
Innocuum, et cunctis undamque auramque patentem
audivit.
NOTES.
ing how few years had elapsed since. But
this is a gloss which the passage will hardly
bear. Virgil mentions the fact as having
taken place long before; and handed down
from the ancient Aurunci. These were the
first inhabitants of Italy. And as several
kings had reigned in Troy after Dardanus,
it is plain his departure from Italy was an-
cient, the tradition or report of it obscure,
and the memory of it almost lost.
206. Ferre: in the sense of narrare, vel
dicere.
208. Samum. Samus was an island in
the Ægean sea, not far to the south of the
mouth of the Hebrus. There were two
others of the same name: one in the Ionian
sea, to the west of the Sinus Corinthiacus;
the other in the Icarian sea, not far from the
ancient city of Ephesus, in Asia Minor.
209. Corythi. Corythus was a mountain
and city of Tuscany, where Dardanus re-
sided; hodie, Cortona. After his death,
Dardanus was deified; which the poet
beautifully expresses: nunc aurea regia stel-
lantis, &c.
215. Nec sidus: neither star nor shore
hath misled (fefellit) us from the direct
course of our voyage.
217. Pulsi regnis. The greatest part of
Asia Minor was subject to Priam. This
justifies Ilioneus in saying they were expel-
led from the greatest kingdom the sun sur-
+
210
215
220
225
veyed in his diurnal course. Afferimur: we
are all brought to your city by design, &c.
222. Quanta tempestas: how great a tem-
pest of war issuing from cruel Mycena over-
ran the Trojan plains, &c. This is beauti-
ful and highly poetical. Quibus fatis: by
what fates each world of Europe and Asia
impelled, engaged in arms.
225. Extrema tellus. The ancients sup-
posed the frigid zones were not habitable on
account of the extreme cold; as, also, the
torrid or burning zone, on account of its
extreme heat. Experience, however, has
proved their opinion incorrect. By extrema
tellus, we are to understand the frigid zone;
and by plaga iniqui solis, the torrid zone.
Dr. Trapp takes refuso in the sense of "e-
fluens, refluent, ebbing and flowing. David-
son takes it in the sense of wide, expanded,
which certainly is sometimes the meaning
of the word. This last I prefer. In this
sense Valpy takes it.
228. Diluvio. The poet had represented
the war under the figure of a tempest, rising
out of Greece; and he continues the idea.
The effect of this tempest was a deluge, which
swept away the Trojan state, and the wealth
of Asia.
230. Innocuum: safe-secure-that will
be offensive to none. Undam: in the sense
of aquam. Patentem: in the sense of com-
munem.
ENEIS. LIB. VII
405
Non erimus regno indecores: nec vestra feretur
Fama levis, tantive abolescet gratia facti :
Nec Trojam Ausonios gremio excepisse pigebit.
Fata per Æneæ juro, dextramque potentem,
Sive fide, seu quis bello est expertus et armis :
Multi nos populi, multæ (ne temne, quòd ultrò
Præferimus manibus vittas ac verba precantia)
Et petiêre sibi et voluêre adjungere gentes.
Sed nos fata Deûm vestras exquirere terras
Imperiis egêre suis. Hinc Dardanus ortus,
Huc repetit: jussisque ingentibus urget Apollo
Tyrrhenum ad Tybrim, et fontis vada sacra Numici.
Dat tibi prætereà fortunæ parva prioris
231
234. Perque us po-
235 tentem dextram, sive
quis expertus est eam
fide
236. Multi
populi,
multæ gentes, et petiêre,
et voluêre adjungere
240 nos sibi
243. Prætereà noster
rex dat tibi parva mu-
nera
Munera, relliquias Trojâ ex ardente receptas.
Hoc pater Anchises auro libabat ad aras :
245
Hoc Priami gestamen erat, cùm jura vocatis
More daret populis; sceptrumque, sacerque tiaras,
Iliadumque labor, vestes.
Talibus Ilionei dictis, defixa Latinus
Obtutu tenet ora, soloque immobilis hæret,
Intentos volvens oculos. Nec purpura regem
Picta movet, nec sceptra movent Priameïa tantùm,
Quantùm in connubio natæ thalamoque moratur ;
Et veteris Fauni volvit sub pectore sortem :
Hunc illum fatis externâ à sede profectum
Portendi generum, paribusque in regna vocari
Auspiciis: hinc progeniem virtute futuram
Egregiam, et totum quæ viribus occupet orbem.
Tandem lætus ait: Dî nostra incepta secundent,
Auguriumque suum. Dabitur, Trojane, quod optas:
250
255
255. Hunc illum pro
fectum à sede externa
portendi generum
257. Hinc progeniem
futuram esse
NOTES.
231. Feretur: in the sense of habebitur.
Levis small-light.
232. Abolescet: be effaced from our minds.
237. Præferimus. It was a custom among
the ancients for suppliants to carry in their
hands a bough of olive, bound about with
woollen fillets. The fillets here are only
mentioned. Precantia: Ruæus reads, pre-
cantûm.
242. Vada: properly, the shallow, or shoal
part of the river. Here the water of the
river. Fontis: in the sense of rivi vel flu-
minis.
244. Receptas: saved from, &c.
245. Hoc auro: in this golden bowl, fa
ther Anchises, &c.
246. Gestamen: the garment-robe.
250. Obtutu: in a steady, attentive pos-
239. Fata: decrees-declaration. Ruus ture.
says, voluntas.
240. Dardanus. Dardanus, sprung from
hence, calls us hither. This is the sense
given by Davidson. This seems to be the
opinion of Valpy, who connects repetit with
Dardanus ortus. Rumus interprets repetit
by revertitur. This represents Dardanus as
coming in person to claim, and take posses-
sion of Italy, his native country. This is
the more poetical. Heyne seems to consi-
der Apollo the nominative to repetit. He
says, Dardanus ortus hinc; huc repetit jus-
sisque ingentibus urget Apolio. If we take
Apollo for the nom. to repetit, there should
be a colon after ortus, or at least a semi-
colon. It was principally under the direc
tions of this god, that Eneas came to taly.
252. Picta purpura: the embroidered pur-
ple robe. Embroidery was invented among
the Phrygians.
253. Moratur: reflects upon-dwells or
meditates upon.
254. Sortem: in the sense of oraculum vel
responsum oraculi.
255. Hunc illum: that this very person
come, &c. Portendi: in the sense of desig-
nari.
257. Auspiciis: in the sense of potestate.
Progeniem: issue-race-offspring.-
Hinc: from the union of the Trojans and
Latins in the persons of Æneas and Lavinia.
260. Augurium: this refers to the re-
sponse of the oracle of Faunus, concerning
the marriage of Lavinia. See 96, supra.
406
P. VIRGILII MARÒNIS
I
Munera nec sperno. Non vobis, rege Latino,
Divitis uber agri, Trojæve opulentia deerit.
Ipse modò Æneas, nostri si tanta cupido est,
Si jungi hospitio properat, sociusque vocari,
Adveniat; vultus neve exhorrescat amicos.
Pars mihi pacis erit dextram tetigisse tyranni.
Vos contrà regi mea nunc mandata referte
268. Est mihi nata, Est mihi nata, viro gentis quam jungere nostræ,
quam sortes ex patrio Non patrio ex adyto sortes, non plurima cœlo
adyto non sinuni, plu- Monstra sinunt: generos externis affore ab oris,
non sinunt, jungere viro Hoc Latio restare canunt, qui sanguine nostrum
271. Canunt hoc res- Nomen in astra ferant.
Nomen in astra ferant. Hunc illum poscere fata
tare Latio, generos af- Et reor, et, si quid veri mens augurat, opto.
Hæc effatus, equos numero pater eligit omni.
Stabant tercentum nitidi in præsepibus altis.
276. Extemplò jubet Omnibus extemplò Teucris jubet ordine duci
alipedes instratos ostro Instratos ostro alipedes pictisque tapetis.
pictisque tapetis duci
Aurea pectoribus demissa monilia pendent:
rima monstra de cœlo
fore
280. Jubet currum, ge- Tecti auro fulvum mandunt sub dentibus aurum.
minosque jugales equos Absenti Æneæ currum geminosque jugales,
ab æthereo semine, spi- Semine ab æthereo, spirantes naribus ignem :
rantes ignem naribus
duci absenti Enem; Illorum de gente, patri quos Dædala Circe
equos de gente illorum, Suppositâ de matre nothos furata creavit.
quos Dædala Circe, fu- Talibus Æneadæ donis dictisque Latini
rata patri Soli, creavit Sublimes in equis redeunt, pacemque reportant.
nothos de supposita Ecce autem Inachiis sese referebat ab Argis
288. Et ex æthere Sæva Jovis conjux, aurasque invecta tenebat:
longê usque ab Siculo Et lætum Æneam, classemque ex æthere longè
Pachyno
Dardaniam Siculo prospexit ab usque Pachyno.
matre.
NOTES.
262. Uber divitis agri: the fruitfulness of
a rich soil, &c. Deerit. In scanning, the
two first vowels make one syllable.
266. Pars erit pacis: it will be part of a
treaty of amity and friendship, to have
touched the right hand of your king. It
will be a considerable step toward it. Pars:
in the sense of pignus, says Heyne.
269. Sortes. The responses of some ora-
cles were given by drawing or casting lots.
Hence sors came to signify an oracle, or the
response of the oracle.
Ex patrio adyto:
from his father's oracle. See 97, supra.
Adytum: the most sacred place of the tem-
ple, particularly the place where the oracle
stood. Hence the oracle itself, by meton.
Plurima monstra: very many prodigies from
heaven, &c. some of which were mentioned
59, supra, et seq.
277. Alipedes. Alipes, properly, an adj.:
swift of foot. Here it is used as a sub.: swift
horses. Pictis tapetis: with embroidered
trappings.
279. Mandunt: they champ the golden
bit under their teeth. Aurum, properly, gold
-any thing made of gold: also, a golden o
yellow color.
282. De gente illorum. Circe, as the fable
26
265
270
275
280
285
goes, stole, by some means, one of the fiery
steeds of her father Phoebus. By substi-
tuting a mare of common breed, she was ena-
bled to procure what is called, in common
language, a half blood. This production,
or mixed breed, the poet calls nothos. Of
this race, or stock, descending from the ce-
lestial breed, were the horses that Latinus
presented to Eneas. Dadala: an adj. of
Dædalus, an ingenious artificer of Athens.
He built a labyrinth at Crete, in imitation
of the one in Egypt. It is said he escaped
from Crete on artificial wings. Dadala :
cunning-artful.
285. Sublimes. This may mean simply
high, elevated upon their horses. Or it may
be taken in the sense of lati.
286. Argis: a city of the Peloponnesus,
dear to Juno. It is called Inachian, from
Inachus, one of its kings; or from the river
Inachus, which flowed near it.
238. Longè ex æthere usque: and from
the heavens afar off, even from Sicilian Pa-
chynus, she beheld joyous Æneas, &c. Pa-
chynus: the southern promontory of Sicily.
Hodie, Capo Passaro. For longè, Heyne reads
longo, agreeing with athere: but longè is
the common reading, and is the easier.
ENEIS. LIB. VII.
407
290
294, Num potuêre oc
295 cumbere Sigeïs campis
num capti potuêre capi?
Moliri jam tecta videt, jam fidere terræ,
Deseruisse rates. Stetit acri fixa dolore ;
Tum, quassans caput, hæc effudit pectore dicta:
Heu stirpem invisam, et fatis contraria nostris
Fata Phrygum! num Sigeïs occumbere campis ?
Num capti potuêre capi? num incensa cremavit
Troja viros? medias acies, mediosque per ignes
Invenêre viam. At, credo, mea numina tandem
Fessa jacent: odiis aut exsaturata quievi.
Quin etiam patriâ excussos infesta per undas
Ausa sequi, et profugis toto me opponere ponto.
Absumptæ in Teucros vires cœlique marisque.
Quid Syrtes, aut Scylla mihi, quid vasta Charybdis
Profuit? optato conduntur Tybridis alveo,
Securi pelagi atque mei. Mars perdere gentem
Immanem Lapithûm valuit: concessit in iras
Ipse Deûm antiquam genitor Calydona Dianæ :
Quod scelus, aut Lapithas tantum, aut Calydona meren- rentes, aut Calydona
tem?
NOTES.
290. Moliri: to build-to lay the foun-
dations of their houses. The word Trojanos
is to be supplied, governed by videt. Fidere:
to trust to the land. Davidson reads sidere:
to settle on the land. He informs us that
Pierius found sidere in the most of the an-
cient MSS. The sense is the same with
either.
291. Stetit: she stops pierced with, &c.
294. Num Sigeis: could they fall upon
the Sigean plains? could the captives be
taken? &c. Juno here speaks as if nothing
less than the protection of the gods, that
were opposed to her, could have saved them
amidst such havoc and desolation of fire
and sword. She had done her best to de-
stroy them.
Fata Phrygum. This may mean the
success or fortune of the Trojans, in es-
caping all the dangers, and surmounting all
the difficulties in their way to Italy. And
fatis nostris, may mean the power, will, or
inclination of Juno. It was her earnest de-
sire to destroy them all, and she exerted
her utmost power to effect it; but she was
baffled in all her attempts. Their success,
or fortune, prevailed against her. Or, by
fata Phrygum, we may understand the de-
crees and purposes of the gods in their favor,
opposed to the will and inclinations of Juno,
and baffling all her power.
298. Aut odiis. This is capable of a two-
fold version: I, satiated with resentment,
have ceased: or, satiated, I have ceased
from my resentment. The sense is the same
either way.
299. Excussos: expelled or cast from their
country. It is a metaphor taken from a per-
son's being tost or thrown out of a chariot.
304. Mars valuit. Pirithoüs, king of the
Lapitha, invited all the gods to his nuptials
299. Infesta ausa sum
300 sequi eos excussos pa-
triâ per undas
305
307. Quod tantum
scelus aut Lapithas me
merentem ?
with Hippodame, except Mars. This in-
dignity the god revenged upon his subjects.
The Lapitha were a people of Thessaly,
inhabiting mount Pindus. Immanem: savage
barbarous or great, large, in reference
to their size and stature. This last seems
to suit the design of the speech the best;
which was to magnify the power of Mars,
in destroying such an enemy. Securi: re-
gardless of safe from.
vindictam, says Heyne.
305. In iras: in the sense of ad pœnam el
306. Calydona: acc. sing. of Greek for-
mation, from Calydon, the chief city of Eto-
lia, near the river Evenus. Æneas, its king,
paid homage to all the gods, except Diana.
The goddess being provoked at this neglect,
sent a wild boar that laid waste his whole
country, till he was slain by his son Mele
ager.
307. Quod tantum scelus. Ruæus and Da-
vidson have Lapithis, Calydone merente: the
meaning will then be: what so great punish-
ment did the Lapitha or Calydon deserve?
Scelus is here in the sense of puna vel sup
plicium: the punishment for crimes or wick
ed actions. Heyne, and others, read Lapi-
thas, and Calydona merentem, governed by
the verb concessit understood. In this case,
the words may be rendered: deserving what
so great punishment did he give up either
the Lapitha to Mars, or Calydon to Diana.
If the Lapithæ deserved such signal punish-
ment for neglect shown to Mars; and it
Calydon deserved it for contempt of Diana
what do not these Trojans deserve for con-
tempt of me, the wife of Jove, and queen
of the gods? Thus she reasoned. For the
cause of Juno's resentment against the Tro.
jans, see Æn. 1. 4, and 28.
408
P VIRGIN MARONIS*
Ast ego, magna Jovis conjux, nil linquere inausum
Quæ potui infelix, quæ memet in omnia verti;
Vincor ab Eneå. Quòd si mea numina non sunt 310
311 Quod numen ost Magna satìs, dubitem haud equidem implorare quod
aquam
usquam est.
Flectere si nequeo Superos, Acheronta movebo.
313. Esto, non dabitur Non dabitur regnis, esto, prohibere Latinis,
mihi prohibere Trojanos Atque immota manet fatis Lavinia conjux.
Latinis regnis
At trahere, atque moras tantis licet addere rebus,
At licet amborum populos exscindere regum.
Hâc gener atque socer coëant mercede suorum.
Sanguine Trojano et Rutulo dotabere, virgo:
Et Bellona manet te pronuba. Nec face tantùm
Cisseïs prægnans ignes enixa jugales:
Quin idem Veneri partus suus, et Paris alter,
Funestæque iterum recidiva in Pergama tædæ.
Hæc ubi dicta dedit, terras horrenda petivit.
Luctificam Alecto dirarum ab sede sororum,
Infernisque ciet tenebris: cui tristia bella,
Iræque, insidiæque, et crimina noxia cordi.
Odit et ipse pater Pluton, odere sorores
Tartarea monstrum: tot sese vertit in ora,
sunt illi; illa atra pul- Tam sævæ facies, tot pullulat atra colubris.
Quam Juno his acuit verbis, ac talia fatur:
329. Tam sævæ facies
lulat tot colubris.
NOTES.
308. Quæ potui: who could leave nothing
untried-who had power to try every thing.
309. Infelix: unsuccessful-not having
accomplished my purpose. Verti memet in
omnia: I have had recourse to all expedi-
ents-I have tried all the means in my
power.
312. Acheronta: acc. sing. of Acheron:
properly, a river of hell. Here put for the
infernal gods.
314. Immota: certain-fixed-determined.
315. Trahere: in the sense of differre.
317. Hâc mercede: at this cost, or price
of their people, let them unite. Merces
sometimes signifies a condition. In this
sense it will be: let them unite upon this
condition, viz. the destruction of both their
people, the Trojans and Latins, mentioned in
the line above. Heyne takes mercede in the
sense of malo et pernicie.
318. Virgo, dotabere: O virgin, thou shalt
be dowered with Trojan and Rutulian.blood
-thou shalt receive thy dowry in Trojan,
&c.
319. Bellona manet: and Bellona awaits
thee as a bride-maid. Bellona, the goddess
presiding over war. She was the sister of
Mars, and prepared his chariot for him, when
he went out to war. Pronube were the
women who managed those things that per-
ained to nuptials, and placed the bride in
ner bed. It is used in the singular for the
goddess of marriage. What gives empha-
Bis to the expression here, is, that Juno her-
315
320
325
330
self was the Pronuba, as being the goddess
who presided over marriage.
320. Cisseïs. Hecuba, the wife of Priam,
is so called, from Cisseüs, her father. Be-
fore she was delivered of Paris, she dreamed
she had a torch in her womb. Enixa ju-
gales ignes: she brought forth a nuptial
fire-brand, to wit, Paris; who was the cause
of the Trojan war, and the destruction of
connected with marriage, or the marriage
his country. Any thing belonging to or
state, may be called jugalis.
321. Quin suus partus; but her own sor
shall be the same to Venus, even another
Paris. The meaning is, that Æneas should
prove the same to Venus his mother, that
Paris did to his. He should kindle the
flames of another war, which should end in
the destruction of Troy, rising again from
ruins. It is evident that this must be the
meaning of recidiva. Æneas had just founded
from the ruins of old Troy. Rumus takes
a city which he called Troy. It was rising
recidiva, in the sense of iterum cadentia.
322. Tædæque funesta: and a torch or fire-
brand, again fatal, &c.
324. Luctificam : doleful—causing sorrow.
See Geor. i. 278.
326. Cordi: dat. of cor, for a pleasure or
delight. The verb sunt is to be supplied.
327. Pluton. The n is added on account
of the following word, beginning with the
vowel o.
ENEIS. LIB. VII.
409
2
Hune mihi da proprium, virgo sata nocte, laborem,
Hanc operam; ne noster honos, infractave cedat
Fama loco; neu connubiis ambire Latinum
Eneadæ possint, Italosve obsidere fines.
l'u potes unanimes armare in prælia fratres,
Atque odiis versare domos: tu verbera tectis
Funereasque inferre faces: tibi nomina mille,
Mille nocendi artes: fœcundum concute pectus,
Disjice compositam pacem, sere crimina belli:
Arma velit, poscatque simul, rapiatque juventus.
Exin Gorgoneis Alecto infecta venenis
Principio Latium et Laurentis tecta tyranni
Celsa petit, tacitumque obsedit limen Amatæ :
Quam super adventu Teucrûm, Turnique hymenæis,
Fœmineæ ardentem curæque iræque coquebant.
Huic Dea cœruleis unum de crinibus anguem
Conjicit, inque sinum præcordia ad intima subdit :
Quo furibunda domum monstro permisceat omnem.
Ille inter vestes et levia pectora lapsus
Volvitur attactu nullo, fallitque furentem,
Vipeream inspirans animam: fit tortile collo
Aurum ingens coluber, fit longæ tænia vittæ,
Innectitque comas, et membris lubricus errat.
Ac dum prima lues udo sublapsa veneno
Pertentat sensus, atque ossibus implicat ignem,
Necdum animus toto percepit pectore flammam;
NOTES.
331. Hunc proprium laborem: this pecu-
liar task-this task or business which pro-
perly belongs to you.
332. Infracta declining-broken. Of in
and fracta. Ruæus says, victa.
333. Ambire: in the sense of circumve-
nire.
336. Domos: in the sense of familias.
337. Mille nomina: there are to you a
thousand pretences, a thousand ways of do-
ing hurt, or mischief. Verbera: blows-
scourges. Inferre: in the sense of immit-
tere.
339. Disjice. This is the common read-
ing. Heyne reads dissice. Pierius says he
found dissice in all the ancient MSS. Cri-
mina belli: the causes of war. Compositam
pacem: the treaty to which Latinus had
agreed, or the match of Lavinia with
Æneas.
341. Gorgoneis venenis infecta: infected
with Gorgonian poisons-with such poisons
as the serpents had, with which the head of
the Gorgon, Medusa, was encircled. Ac-
cording to fable, Perseus cut off her head,
and took it with him in his travels into Af-
rica. The drops falling from it, sprung up
immediately into venomous reptiles. The
Gorgons were the daughters of Phorcys and
Ceto. They were three in number, Stheno,
Medusa, and Euryale. See Ovid. Met. lib.
335
1
340
315
331. O vergo saia
nocte, da mili
336. Tu potés inforre
verbera
340. Fac ut Juventus
velit, simulque poscat
344. Quam Amatam
ardentem super adventu
Teucrûm hymenæisque
Turni, fœmineæque
349. Ille anguis lap-
350 sus inter vestes
355
352. Ingens coluber
fit tortile
iv. Exin: forthwith. She stays not to
make reply. She is so bent on mischief
that she obeys as soon as desired. See nom.
prop. under Gorgon.
345. Fœmineæ curæ: female cares and
angry passions tortured her, inflamed at, &c.
The cura may refer to the match with Tur-
nus, which she was very anxious to bring
about; and the ira, to the arrival of the
Trojans.
346. Cœruleis crinibus: from her serpen
tine locks. Cœruleis. This is said of ser
pents, because they are streaked with bluish
spots. Instead of hair, the heads of the
Gorgons were attired with serpents. Huic.
to Amata.
348. Quo monstro: by which serpent, ren
dered furious, (or driven to fury,) she migh
embroil the whole family.
350. Nullo attactu: without any percep-
tible touch.
352. Tortile aurum collo: wreathed gold
for the neck-a chain of wreathed gold-a
necklace.
354. Prima lues sublapsa: and while the
first infection, gliding gently downward, with
its humid poison, penetrates the senses, &c.
Most interpreters connect subiapsa udo ve-
neno together, and consider the infection as
gliding under the humid poison. David-
son thinks, udo veneno should be connected
410
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
F
357. Regina locuta Molliùs, et solito matrum de more, locuta est,
ast molliùs, et de solito Multa super natâ lachrymans, Phrygiisque hymenæis:
more matrum, lachry- Exulibusne datur ducenda Lavinia Teucris,
mans multa
O genitor! nec te miseret natæque tuique ?
361. Nec miseret te Nec matris miseret; quam primo Aquilone relinquet
matris; quam iste perfi- Perfidus, alta petens, abductâ virgine, prædo?
dus prædo relinquet pri- At non sic Phrygius penetrat Lacedæmona pastor,
mo Aquilone
Ledæamque Helenam Trojanas vexit ad urbes ?
365. Quid erit tua Quid tua sancta fides, quid cura antiqua tuorum,
sancta fides
Et consanguineo toties data dextera Turno?
Si gener externâ petitur de gente Latinis,
Idque sedet, Faunique premunt.te jussa parentis :
369. Equidem reor Omnem equidem sceptris terram quæ libera nostris
omnem terram esse ex- Dissidet, externam reor; et sic dicere Divos.
ternam, quæ libera à Et Turno, si prima domûs repetatur origo,
nostris sceptris dissidet
à nobis ; et reor Divos Inachus Acrisiusque patres, mediæque Mycena.
dicere sic. Et, si prima His ubi nequicquam dictis experta, Latinum
origo ejus domûs repe- Contrà stare videt; penitùsque in viscera lapsum
tatur, Inachus, Acrisius- Serpentis furiale malum, totamque pererrat:
que reperientur patres Tum verò infelix, ingentibus excita monstris,
Turno; Mycenæque me-
diæ Grecia, ejus patria. Immensam sinè more furit lymphata per urbem :
Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo,
NOTES.
with pertentat sensus. He observes that ser-
pents leave a humidity, a kind of infectious
poison or slime, where they pass along; and
as the motion of this serpent was down-
ward, sublapsa is very properly used.
360. Genitor. The whole of this speech
of the queen is very artful, and very well
calculated to produce the intended effect.
She applies to him not the title of king, nor
the name of husband; but the tender ap-
pellation of father. Thus making her ad-
dress to his parental affections, that if he
had any compassion, it might be moved in
behalf of his only daughter, the support of
his family, and the heiress of his kingdom:
She puts him in mind of the conduct of
Paris at the court of Menelaus; and inti-
mates that Eneas, like a perfidious robber,
would carry off his daughter the first op-
potunity.
363. At non. This is the common read-
ing. Mr. Davidson reads an non. Phry-
gius pastor: Paris. Penetrat: in the sense
of intravit.
366. Turno. His mother's name was Ve-
nilia, the sister of Amata, the wife of Lati-
nus. He was therefore connected with the
royal family of Latium. Consanguineo:
properly, a relation by blood.
368. Sedet: is resolved upon. Statutum
est, says Ruæus.
370. Dissidet: in the sense of separatur.
372. Inachus. He was one of the first
kings of Argos, and gave his name to the
river near that city. Acrisius was one of
nia descendants, and the last king of Argos.
.
360
365
370
375
He, or his grandson Perseus, removed the
seat of government to Mycena. He order-
ed his daughter Danaë to be shut up in a
wooden chest, and cast into the sea. Here
it is said she was impregnated by Jupiter,
and had Perseus. She was wafted to the
coast of Italy, where she was taken up by
Polydectes. Afterward, she married Pilum-
nus, who was one of the ancestors of Tur-
She founded the city Ardea, in the
country of the Rutuli. Mycena was situ-
ated on the river Inachus, which flows into
the Sinus Argolicus, on the eastern side of
the Peloponnesus. It is here said to be the
middle of Greece. But this is more from
its being the chief city, or capital of Greece,
than from its local situation.
nus.
373. Experta: having tried-addressed
him.
374. Stare contrà: in the sense of resistere.
375. Furiale malum: the infuriate poison.
Pererrat: in the sense of penetrat.
376. Excita ingentibus: roused by the
mighty monsters. The effect of the poison
upon her imagination made her see a thou-
sand monsters, which affrighted and dis
tracted her.
377. Lymphata frantic,-furious. This
is thought, by most interpreters, to express
that kind of fury with which persons are
seized who have been bitten by a mad dog:
and whose madness, when it comes to the
height, is accompanied with a dread of wa
ter.
From lympha, water. Sinè more: be
yond bounds-immoderately.
378. C'eu quondam: as when a top whin
ENEIS. LIB. VII
411
Quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circum
'ntenti ludo exercent. Ille actus habenâ
Curvatis fertur spatiis: stupet inscia turba,
Impubesque manus, mirata volubile buxum :
Dant animos plaga. Non cursu segnior illo
Per medias urbes agitur, populosque feroces.
Quin etiam in sylvas, simulato numine Bacchi,
Majus adorsa nefas, majoremque orsa furorem,
Evolat; et natam frondosis montibus abdit,
Quò thalamum eripiat Teucris, tædasque moretur .
Evoë Bacche, fremens; solum te virgine dignum
Vociferans, etenim molles tibi sumere thyrsos,
Te lustrare choro, sacrum tibi pascere crinem.
Fama volat: furiisque accensas pectore matres
Idem omnes simul ardor agit, nova quærere tecta.
Deseruere domos: ventis dant colla comasque.
Ast aliæ tremulis ululatibus æthera complent,
Pampineasque gerunt incinctæ pellibus hastas.
Ipsa inter medias flagrantem fervida pinum
Sustinet, ac natæ Turnique canit hymenæos,
Sanguineam torquens aciem: torvùmque repentè
Clamat: Io matres, audite, ubi quæque, Latinæ :
Si qua piis animis manet infelicis Amatæ
Gratia, si juris materni cura remordet ;
NOTES.
ing under the twisted lash, which boys, in-
tent on their sport, &c. Dr. Trapp observes,
this simile is the perfection of elegance.
Nothing can be more finely described.
380. Exercent: in the sense of agitant.
Habenâ: with the string.
382. Buxum: the box wood, of which
tops were made-the top itself, by meton.
383. Dant animos plaga. This is capable
of two meanings, according as plaga is ta-
ken for the nom. plu. or the dat. sing. Dr.
Trapp insists on the former, and renders it:
the lashes give (it) life; taking animos in
the sense of vitam; and this again for rapi-
dum motum. Davidson objects to this, and
prefers the latter: they give their souls to
the stroke. This is the more elegant, and
poetical. Dryden renders it thus: "and
lend their little souls to every stroke." Val-
py takes animos in the same sense with Dr.
Trapp. Heyne says, concitatiorem motum.
Non segnior: not less impetuous is the queen
driven in her course through, &c.
386. Orsa: part. from ordior, I begin or
enter upon. Numine Bacchi: the influ-
ence of Bacchus being pretended. She pre-
tended to be under the influence or impulse
of that god. Rumus takes numen in the
sense of religio, making the queen to feign
a zeal for the service or worship of Bacchus.
Valpy says, under a pretence of celebrating
the orgies of Bacchus. Adorsa: attempt-
ing. Nefas: in the sense of crimen vel
scelus
380
384. Regina agitur
385 non segnior illo cursu
per
389. Vociferans te,
390 Bacche, solum esse dig-
num virgine; eam su-
mere molles thyrsos tibi,
lustrare te
395
400
397. Regina ipsa fer-
vida sustinet
400. Io Latinæ matres,
audite, ubi quæque estis :
si qua gratia infelicis
Amatæ manet
388. Thalamum: in the sense of conju-
gium. Tadas: in the sense of nuptias.
390. Etenim. In some editions, there is a
full stop after vociferans. This perplexes the
whole passage: whereas, if we make voci-
ferans to govern the following infinitives, all
will be plain and easy. Ruæus, and Dr.
Trapp, think they are governed by fama vo-
lat. The etenim, here, appears to be exple-
tive.
tive. Thyrsos. The thyrsus was a kind of
spear wrapped about with vine and ivy
leaves, which Bacchus and his retinue used
to wear.
391. Choro. Some copies have choris,
others choros. The sense is, however, the
same with either. The bacchanals used to
dance round the image of Bacchus. Sa
crum tibi. It was a custom among the Ro-
mans and Greeks, for maidens to consecrate
their hair to some god or goddess; and
never to cut it off till just before they were
married, when they suspended it in the tem-
ple of that deity, in honor of whom they
had preserved it. Lustrare: in the sense
of circumire. Pascere: in the sense of
servare.
393. Tecta: abodes, to wit, the woods.
399. Torvùm: an adj. neu. taken as an
adverb; in imitation of the Greeks. In the
sense of torvè.
400. Latinæ matres: ye Latin matrons
hear, wherever any of you be. The verb
estis is understood. Ubi: in the sense of
ubicunque.
412
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Solvite cinales vittas, capite òrgia mecumn.
404. Alecto agit Re- Talem inter sylvas, inter deserta ferarum,
ginam talem stimulis Reginam Alecto stimulis agit undique Bacchi.
Bacchi undique
Postquam visa satis primos acuisse furores,
Consiliumque omnemque domum vertisse Latini
406. Postquam Alecto
visa est sibi acuisse pri-
mos furores Amatæ
406
Protinùs hinc fuscis tristis Dea tollitur alis
Audacis Rutuli ad muros: quam dicitur urbem
Acrisioneïs Danaë fundâsse colonis,
410
Præcipiti delata Noto: locus Ardua quondam
Dictus avis, et nunc magnum manet Ardea nomen.
Sed fortuna fuit. Tectis hic Turnus in altis
Jam mediam nigrâ carpebat nocte quietem.
Alecto torvam faciem et furialia membra
415
Exuit
in vultus sese transformat aniles,
Et frontem obscœnam rugis arat: induit albos
Cum vittâ crines: tum ramum innectit olivæ.
Fit Calybe, Junonis anus, templique sacerdos
420. Et offert se juveni Et juveni ante oculos his se cum vocibus offert :
ante oculos cum his ver- Turne, tot incassùm fusos patiere labores,
bis
427. Adeò omnipotens
Saturnia ipsa jussit me
fari hæc palam tibi, cùm
420
425
Et tua Dardaniis transcribi sceptra colonis?
Rex tibi conjugium, et quæsitas sanguine dotes
Abnegat; externusque in regnum quæritur hæres.
I nunc, ingratis offer te, irrise, perîclis:
Tyrrhenas, i, sterne acies: tege pace Latinos
Hæc adeò tibi me, placidâ cùm nocte jaceres,
Ipsa palam fari onnipotens Saturnia jussit.
Quare age, et armari pubem, portisque moveri
Lætus in arma para: et Phrygios, qui flumine pulchro
Consedêre, duces pictasque exure carinas.
NOTES.
407. Vertisse: in the sense of turbavisse.
410. Fundâsse, &c. Danaë founded a
city, which she called Ardea or Ardua, most
probably from its high and elevated situa-
tion. Acrisioneïs colonis: for her Grecian
colony. Acrisioneïs: an adj. from Acrisius,
the name of her father. See 372, supra.
431
421. Fusos: part.of fundor: to be lost-
to be thrown away, in vain. Esse is under-
stood.
422. Transcribi: to be transferred to a
Trojan colony. This word was generally
applied to those persons, whose names were
enrolled in order to be transplanted into
some new colony. Such persons were (all-
transcripti. Hence the verb came to
signify to transfer.
411. Præcipiti noto: by a violent wind
wafted to Italy. Noto: the south wind, puted
for wind in general.
412. Avis: in the sense of majoribus.
Magnum: great-illustrious.
413. Sed fortuna fuit. Most interpreters
take this to mean no more than fortè, or ita
evenit: so it was, or so it happened; and
connect it with what follows. It happened
so that Turnus, &c. Ruæus says, casus ita
tulit. But this is very flat, and makes the
conjunction sed a mere expletive. It is bet-
ter to refer it to Ardea just mentioned;
which, though illustrious and flourishing,
was now doomed to be destroyed by Eneas;
taking fortuna fuit in the sense of En. ii.
325. where fuimus Troes, fuit Ilium, imports:
we Trojans once were, Ilium once was; but
is now no more.
417 Obscœnam: filthy-deformed. Arat:
n the sense of sulcat
423. Conjugium: in the sense of Lavini-
am, vel nuptias Lavinia.
426. Tege: defend-protect. The Latins,
in their wars with the Tuscans, received aid
from Turnus, and by his means obtained
peace. To this circumstance, here is an al-
lusion..
430. Para: in the sense of jube. Arma·
in the sense of bellum.
431. Exure Phrygios, &c.
The poets
sometimes connect two words together in
the same sentence to be governed by a verb:
when strictly it can agree with one of them
only. Thus, in the present case, exure
agrees with the pictas carinas; but it does
not suit Phrygios duces. The meaning is
destroy the Trojan leaders, and burn their
painted ships.
ENEIS. LIB. VII.
413
Cœlestum vis magna jubet. Rex ipse Latinus,
Ni dare conjugium, et dicto parere fatetur,
Sentiat, et tandem Turnum experiatur in armis.
Hìc juvenis vatem irridens, sic orsa vicissim
Ore refert: Classes invectas Tybridis alveo,
Non, ut rere, meas effugit nuntius aures:
Ne tantos mihi finge metus: nec regia Juno
Immemor est nostrî.
Sed te victa situ, verique effœta senectus,
O mater, curis nequicquam exercet; et arma
Regum inter, falsâ vatem formidine ludit.
Cura tibi, Divûm effigies et templa tueri :
Bella viri pacemque gerant, queis bella gerenda.
Talibus Alecto dictis exarsit in iras.
At juveni oranti subitus tremor occupat artus
Diriguere oculi: tot Erinnys sibilat hydris,
Tantaque se facies aperit. Tum flammea torquens
Lumina, cunctantem et quærentem dicere plura
Reppulit, et geminos erexit crinibus angues,
Verberaque insonuit, rabidoque hæc addidit ore :
En! ego victa situ, quam veri effœta senectus
Arma inter regum falsâ formidine ludit.
Respice ad hæc: adsum dirarum à sede sororum ;
Bella manu, letumque gero.
435
435. Hic juvenis Tur-
nus irridens vatem, sic
vicissim refert hæc orsa
er ore: nuntius non ef-
fugit meas aures, ut tu
rere
440 440. Sed, O mater,
senectus victa situ, effœ-
taque veri
445
443. Sit tibi cura tueri
effigies
449. Reppulit eum
450 cunctantem
452. En! ego sum illa
victa situ
455
Sic effata facem juveni conjecit, et atro
Lumine fumantes fixit sub pectore tæda's.
Olli somnum ingens rupit pavor: ossaque et artus
Perfudit toto proruptus corpore sudor.
Arma amens fremit; arma toro tectisque requirit.
Sævit amor ferri, et scelerata insania belli,
Ira supèr. Magno veluti cùm flamma sonore
Virgea suggeritur costis undantis aheni,
Exsultantque æstu latices: furit intus aquæ vis,
460
461. Amor ferri, et
scelerata insania belli,
super ira sævit. Veluti
cùm virgea flamma
NOTES.
432. Vis: in the sense of potentia.
433. Ni fatetur: unless he consent to ra-
tify the match, and abide by his word, &c.
435. Orsa: in the sense of verba; from
the verb ordior.
440. Situ. Situs properly signifies the
squalor or mustiness that grows upon old
walls and dark places. Here put for the
hoariness, (gray hairs,) deformity, or rust of
old age.
Ruaus interprets it by annis,
and it may be used very well for years, or
old age, by meton. Effœta is said of a wo-
man who is past child-bearing. Effata veri,
will then mean, barren of truth-one who
has ceased to speak the truth. Dr. Trapp
renders it, impotent of truth. Victa: en-
feebled-overcome.
442. Ludit: in the sense of decipit. Va-
tem a priestess. Te is understood. Inter
arma regum. Ruæus says, super bellis re-
gum.
446. Oranti: in the sense of loquenti, vel
dicenti
•
448. Tanta facies: so horrid an appear
ance of her disclosed itself to his view. She
displayed so terrif c an appearance to the
astonished youth, that a sudden trembling
seized his limbs, &c.
450. Reppulit: prevented-repelled.—
Erexit: in the sense of extulit.
451. Verbera: her lash-whip.
457. Fumantes atro lumine: smoking with
gloomy light. Servius interprets atro by
furiali-inferno.
459. Proruptus: gushing-bursting from
his whole body, drenched-wet, &c.
460. Fremit: he raves for his arms. Ru-
us says, fervet.
462. Super. This is used here in the sense
of insuper: furthermore-beside. It may
seem a strange climax, says Dr. Trapp, to
mention anger after madness. The former
relates to the hurry of his thoughts about
war in general, and the latter to his own re
sentment and jealousy. Veluti cùm: as
when a fire of twigs, with a great roaring.
414
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Fumidus atque altè spumis exuberat amnis :
Nec jam se capit unda; volat vapor ater ad auras
467 Ergò Turnus in- Ergo iter ad regem, pollutâ pace, Latinum
heit primis juvenum Indicit primis juvenum: et jubet arma parari,
tor ad regem
Tutari Italiam, detrudere finibus hostem :
470. Ait se venire sa- Se satis ambobus Teucrisque venire Latinisque.
Hæc ubi dicta dedit, Divosque in vota vocavit,
Certatim sese Rutuli exhortantur in arma.
Is ambobus
473. Egrogium decus Hunc decus egregium formæ movet atque juventæ ;
formæ atque juventæ Hunc atavi reges; hunc claris dextera factis.
sur regis movet hunc:
Dum Turnus Rutulos animis audacibus implet,
reges ejus atavi movent
hunc: dextera inclyta Alecto in Teucros Stygiis se concitat alis:
Arte novâ speculata locum, quo litore pulcher
Insidiis cursuque feras agitabat Iülus.
claris factis movet hunc
Hìc subitam canibus rabiem Cocytia virgo
Objicit, et noto nares contingit odore,
465
470
475
480
Ut cervum ardentes agerent: quæ prima laborum
Causa fuit, belloque animos accendit agrestes.
Cervus erat formâ præstanti, et cornibus ingens
484. Quem raptum Tyrrheida pueri quem matris ab ubere raptum
ab ubere matris pueri Nutribant, Tyrrheusque pater, cui regia parent
Tyrrheide nutribant
Armenta, et latè custodia credita campi.
486. Cui custodia
campi latè erat credita. Assuetum imperiis soror omni Sylvia curâ
Sylvia soror eorum orna- Mollibus intexens ornabat cornua sertis.
bat eum assuetum
Pectebatque ferum, puroque in fonte lavabat.
Ille manum patiens, mensæque assuetus herili,
Errabat sylvis rursùsque ad limina nota
NOTES.
placed under the sides of a boiling chal-
dron, &c.
464. Latices: in the sense of aqua. Ex-
ultant: boil up. Aquæ vis: the force or
power of the water. Heyne reads Aquaï:
the old gen. of aqua, and connects it with
fumidus amnis. The common reading is
aquæ vis.
465. Fumidus amnis: the steam or va-
por. Exuberat: abounds-overflows. No-
thing can give us a greater and more terri-
ble idea of human rage and fierceness, than
the boiling of water in a chaldron. Dr.
Trapp thinks with Pierius, that the force of
eloquence is here wonderfully displayed in
the variety of words to express the same
thing.
467. Pace pollutâ. A league or treaty of
peace was considered sacred, and ratified by
rolemn rites of religion; and the violation.
of it was considered an act of pollution and
profaneness.
470. Salts venire: that he is a match for
both, &c. Venire: in the sense of esse.
472. Certatim: eagerly-with emulation.
In arma: in the sense of ad bellum.
473. Hunc: one--this one.
474. Atavi: in the sense of majores. The
poot hero enumerates the different incite-
ments to the war. One is induced to take up
485
490
arms from the grace and dignity of his king;
a second, from a consideration of his long
line of royal ancestors; and a third, from
his noble achievements and feats in arms.
Atavi reges. These words are here used
in the sense of regales majores: his royal
ancestors.
477. Speculata: having observed the place,
on what shore beautiful Iülus, &c. Nova
arte: with a new purpose, design, or object
in view-with a design different from her
visit to Latinus or Turnus, that she might
actually kindle the war.
478. Insidiis: snares-traps.
479. Cocytia: hellish or infernal; an adj.
from Cocytus, a fabulous river of hell.
480. Noto odore: the known scent of the
stag.
481. Ardentes: cager-fierce.
484. Tyrrheida: the sons of Tyrrheus-
a patronymic noun. Tyrrheus kept the
herds of Latinus.
487. Imperiis: authority-commands.
Ruæus takes assuetum, in the sense of do
cilem.
489. Ferum. Ferus properly signifies a
wild or savage animal. Here, and in some
other places of Virgil, it signifies a tame
one.
ENEIS. LIB. VII.
415
Ipse domum serà quamvis se nocte ferebat.
Hunc procul errantem rabidæ venantis Iüli
Commovêre canes. fluvio cùm fortè secundo
Deflueret, ripâque æstus viridante levaret.
Ipse etiam eximiæ laudis succensus amore
Ascanius curvo direxit spicula cornu :
Nec dextræ erranti Deus abfuit, actaque multo
Perque uterum sonitu, perque ilia venit arundo.
Saucius at quadrupes nota intrà tecta refugit,
Successitque gemens stabulis; questuque cruentus
Atque imploranti similis, tectum omne replevit.
Sylvia prima soror, palmis percussa lacertos,
Auxilium vocat, et duros conclamat agrestes.
Olli, pestis enim tacitis latet aspera sylvis,
Improvisi adsunt: hic torre arinatus obusto,
Stipitis hic gravidi nodis: quod cuique repertum
Riinanti, telum ira facit. Vocat agmina Tyrrheus,
Quadrifidam quercum cuneis ut fortè coactis
Scindebat, raptâ spirans immanè securi.
At sæva è speculis tempus Dea nacta nocendi,
Ardua tecta petit stabuli, et de culmine summo
Pastorale canit signum, cornuque recurvo
Tartaream intendit vocem: quâ protinùs omne
Contremuit nemus, et sylvæ intonuêre profundæ.
Audiit et Triviæ longè lacus, audiit amnis
Sulfureâ Nar albus aquâ, fontesque Velini :
NOTES.
493. Rabida: in the sense of furiosa.
494. Deflueret secundo: when by chance.
he was swimming down the stream-along
with the current. Commovêre: roused up
as he was roving at large.
495. Levaret: allaying-assuaging the
heat.
497. Curvo cornu: from his bent, or elas-
tic bow.
•
498. Deus. Alecto is here meant. Deus
is of both genders. Erranti: Dr. Trapp
observes, there is an elegancy in this. He
erred even by hitting the animal, consider-
ing the consequences. But he thinks by
Deus, we are to understand any god, or for-
tune.
It
Most commentators, however, take
erranti in its common acceptation. His
hand was erring in itself, and would have
erred, had it not been guided by the goddess.
Acta: in the sense of immissa, vel impulsa.
499. Sonitu: in the sense of stridore.
made a whizzing noise as it cut the air.
505. Aspera pestis: the odious fiend
lurks, &c. But La Cerda understands it of
the fury which seized the rustics. This is
not so natural and easy, though the sense
be the same.
509. Cuneis coactis: with wedges driven
into it.
510. Spirans immane. Davidson under-
stands this of the passion into which Tyr-
•
495
500
505
501. Cruentusque, at-
que similis imploranti
opem, cervus replevit
505. Aspera pestic
Alecto latet
507. Hic armatus no-
dis gravidi stipitis adest.
ira facit id telum, quod
est repertum cuique ri-
510 manti. Tyrrheus spirans
immanè, securi raptâ,
vocat agmina, ut fortè
515
rheus was thrown, on hearing of the death
of the stag: breathing fury-panting for
vengeance. Dr. Trapp understands it of his
puffing and blowing in felling and splitting
timber. Valpy is of the saine opinion with
Davidson.
514. Intendit: she swells her infernal
voice through the crooked horn. By means
of the horn, the sound was greatly in-
creased.
515. Profunda sylva: either the woods in
deep valleys, or the inmost and thickest par
of the woods.
516. Lacus Trivia: the lake of Diana.
This was near the city Aricia, about three
leagues from Laurentum to the north. Ho-
die, Lago di Nemo.
•
517. Nar. This river rises in the Apen-
nines, and running in a south-western di-
rection, separating Umbria from the country
of the Sabines, falls into the Tiber. Its
surface is whitened for a considerable dis-
tance by the foam, occasioned by the dash-
ing of the water against the rocks that lie
in its bed. Its name is of Sabine origin,
and signifies sulphur, with which the water
is impregnated. Hodie, Nera. Fontes Ve-
lini: the river Velinus. This river rises in
the country of the Sabines, and flows into
the Nar
416.
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Et trepidæ matres pressêre ad pectora natos.
519. Tum verò indo- Tum verò ad vocem celeres, quà buccina signum
miti agricolæ celeres Dira dedit, raptis concurrunt undique telis
concurrunt undique, to-
lis raptis, ad vocem, quà
Indomiti agricolæ : necnon et Troïa pubes
dira
Ascanio auxilium castris effundit apertis.
Direxere acies: non jam certamine agresti,
Stipitibus duris agitur, sudibusve præustis;
Sed ferro ancipiti decernunt, atraque latè
Horrescit strictis seges ensibus, æraque fulgent
Sole lacessita, et lucem sub nubila jactant.
Fluctus utì primo cœpit cùm albescere vento;
Paulatim sese tollit mare, et altiùs undas
Erigit, inde imo consurgit ad æthera fundo.
531. Hic juvenis Al-
mon, qui fuit maximus
natorum Tyrrhei, ster-
nitur, ante
Hic juvenis primam ante aciem stridente sagittâ,
Natorum Tyrrhei fuerat qui maximus, Almon
Sternitur. hæsit enim sub gutture vulnus, et udæ
Vocis iter, tenuemque inclusit sanguine vitam.
535. Multa corpora Corpora multa virûm circà: seniorque Galæsus,
virûm sternuntur circà Dum paci medium se offert, justissimus unus
illum: seniorque Gelæ- Qui fuit, Ausoniisque olim ditissimus arvis.
sus sternilur quoque
Quinque greges illi balantûm, quina redibant
Armenta, et terram centum vertebat aratris.
520
625
530
535
Atque, ea per campos æquo dum Marte geruntur,
Promissi Dea facta potens, ubi sanguine bellum
Imbuit, et primæ commisit funera pugnæ;
Deserit Hesperiam, et cœli convexa per auras,
Junonem victrix affatur voce superbâ :
541
545
545. En discordia per- En perfecta tibi bello discordia tristi!
ecta est tibi
Dic, in amicitiam coëant, et fœdera jungant,
547. Dic illis, sit co- Quandoquidem Ausonio respersi sanguine Teucros.
Hoc etiam his addam, tua si mihi certa voluntas :
cant
NOTES.
520. Indomiti: rude, unpolished, country-
men, &c.
522. Effundit: in the sense of mittit.
523 Direxere acies: they arranged the
lines. They drew up their respective forces
in order of battle. Non agitur agresti: they
do not now engage in rustic fight, with, &c.
Agitur: in the sense of pugnatur.
525. Ancipiti ferro: with the two-edged
sword. Puus says, dubiis gladiis, alluding
to the issue of the contest. Atra seges: a
direful field (crop) of drawn swords waves
afar, &c. The prep. è is understood before
trictis ensibus.
526. Ara: brazen armor; plu. of as:
brass. Any thing made of brass may be
called æs, vel æra.
533. Vulnus: the wound; here put, by
meton. for the wounding instrument-the
arrow. Uda Vocis. The voice is here call-
ed humid, because it passes through a moist
humid passage.. The same as udum iter
vucis.
534. Inclusit: in the sense of obstruxit.
536. Medium pacı: a mediator of peace.
538. Redibant: returned home to him
from pasture. He had five flocks of sheep,
and five herds of cattle.
540: Equo Marte. This cannot mean
that the loss was equal on both sides, for
the slain was on the part of the Latins only.
Donatus explains it by aperto Marte; and
Ascensius, by æquo et plano campo; mean-
ing, that the field of battle was a plain and
level spot of ground. Ruæus takes it to re-
fer to the fight itself; when the issue was as
yet equal; or it was uncertain, on which
side the victory would turn.
541. Dea facta potens: the goddess hav-
ing accomplished her promise. Potens: in
the sense of compos. Bellum. Davidson
renders it, by field of war; which evidently
is its meaning in this place. When she
stained the field of battle with blood, she
had then fulfilled her engagement with Juno.
542. Funera: in the sense of cædem
Commissit: in the sense of incepit.
543. Convexa: in the sense of vecta.
544. Victrix: victorious-having effected
her object.
ENEIS
417
LIB. VII.
Finitimas in bella feram rumoribus urbes,
Accendamque animos insani Martis amore,
Undique ut auxilio veniant: spargam arma per agros.
Tum contra Juno: Terrorum et fraudis abundè est:
Stant belli causæ : pugnatur cominùs armis.
Quæ fors prima dedit, sanguis novus imbuit arma.
Falia connubia et tales celebrent hymenæos
Egregium Veneris genus, et rex ipse Latinus.
l'e super æthereas errare licentiùs auras
Haud pater ipse velit summi regnator Olympi.
Cede locis. Ego, si qua super fortuna laborum est,
Ipsa regam. Tales dederat Saturnia voces:
(İla autem attollit stridentes anguibus alas,
Cocytique petit sedem, supera ardua linquens.
Est locus, Italiæ in medio sub montibus alti
Nobilis, et famâ multis memoratus in oris,
Amsancti valles: densis hunc frondibus atrum
Urget utrinque latus nemoris, medioque fragosus
Dat sonitum saxis et torto vortice torrens.
Hìc specus horrendum, et sævi spiracula Ditis
Monstrantur: ruptoque ingens Acheronte vorago,
Pestiferas aperit fauces: queis condita Erinnys,
Invisum numen, terras cœlumque levabat.
Nec minùs intereà extremam Saturnia bello
Imponit regina manum. Ruit omnis in urbem
Pastorum ex acie numerus: cæsosque reportant,
NOTES.
550. Amore insani. Rumus takes this for
insano amore Martis, by hypallage. But in-
sonus is an epithet highly applicable, and
proper for Mars, or war; where nothing but
havoc and mad fury reign.
551. Arma: in the sense of bella.
554. Novus sanguis: new (or recent)
blood hath stained the arms, which, &c. The
novus, alludes to the blood which had been
shed in the recent or late encounter. Fors:
chance-fortune. Dedit: offered-presented.
559. Cede locis: depart from the places
of this upper world. The earth is called the
celestial or ethereal regions, in opposition to
the infernal regions, or regions of darkness.
Superest. The parts of the verb are sepa-
rated by tmesis. Fortuna laborum: Ruæus
says, discrimen in hoc negotio.
560. Voces: in the sense of verba.
561. Attollit: in the sense of explicat. She
(Alecto) spreads her wings hissing, &c.
562. Supera ardua: the lofty places of
this upper world. Loca being understood.
565. Valles Amsancti. Commentators are
not agreed about the situation of this place.
Mr. Addison is of opinion that the Velinus,
mentioned 517, is the place which the poet
had in his view. The river, says he, is ex-
tremely rapid before its fall, and rushes down
a precipice a hundred yards high. It throws
itself into the hollow rock, which nas pro-
bably been worn by such a constant fall of
water. It is impossible to see the bottom,
550
555
556. Æneas, egregium
genus Veneris, et rax
Latinus ipse celebrent
558. Pater Jupiter
ipse regnator summi
560 Olympi haud velit te
errare
565 565. Nempe valles am-
sancti. Latus nemoris,
atrum densis frondibus
urget hunc locum utrin-
que, medioque ejus
570 570. In queis Erinnys,
invisum numen, condita
on which it breaks, for the thickness of the
mist that rises from it; which looks at a
distance like clouds of smoke, ascending
from some vast furnace; and distils in per-
petual rains on all the places near it. He ob-
serves, that this was the most proper place
in the world for a fury to make her exit, after
she had filled a nation with distractions and
alarms; and, I believe, continues he, that
every reader's imagination is pleased, when
he sees the angry goddess, thus sinking as
it were in a tempest, and plunging herself
into hell amidst such a scene of horror and
confusion. This cascade is near the middle
of Italy. Amsanctus: of the old amphi, and
sacer vel sanctus.
567. Torto vortice: with its whirling eddy
Fragosus: roaring among the rocks.
568. Spiracula: in the sense of ostia,
569. Ingens vorago: a vast gulf issuing
from overflowing Acheron-from Ache-
ron, having burst its barriers. Acheron, a
river of hell: also hell itself-the infer
nal deities. Davidson takes it absolutely
with rupto.
570. Condita: being hid-sunk. Levabat
relieved them from her presence, by disap-
pearing from these upper regions. Heyne
says, linquebat.
572. Saturnia regina: Juno, the daugh-
ter of Saturn, and wife of Jove. Hence
sometimes styled the queen of the gods.
28
418
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
vocari
nis
580. Tum illi, quorum
matres attonite Baccho
insultant thiasis per
Almonem puerum, fœdatique ora Galæsi
Implorantque Deos, obtestanturque Latinum.
Turnus adest, medioque in crimine cædis et ignis,
578. Quer itur Toucros Terrorem ingeminat: Teucrosque in regna vocari;
Stirpem admisceri Phrygiam; se limine pelli.
579. Admisceri Lati- Tum, quorum attonita Baccho nemora avia matres
Insultant thiasis, neque enim leve nomen Amatæ
Undique collecti coëunt, Martemque fatigant.
Ilicèt infandum cuncti contra omina bellum,
Contra fata Deûm, perverso numine poscunt.
Certatim regis circumstant tecta Latini.
Ille, velut pelagi rupes immota, resistit :
Ut pelagi rupes, magno veniente fragore,
Quæ sese, multis circumlatrantibus undis,
Mole tenet: scopuli nequicquam et spumea circùm
Saxa fremunt, laterique illisa refunditur alga.
Verùm ubi nulla datur cæcum exsuperare potestas
Consilium, et sævæ nutu Junonis eunt res:
Multa Deos, aurasque pater testatus inanes,
Frangimur heu fatis, inquit, ferimurque procellâ!
vos Ipsi has sacrilego pendetis sanguine pœnas,
588. Quæ tenet sese
sua mole, magno fra-
gore procellæ veniente
·
595. O miseri !
ipsi pendetis has
O miseri! Te, Turne, nefas, te triste manebit
Supplicium; votisque Deos venerabere seris.
Nam mihi parta quies, omnisque in limine portus;
NOTES.
575. Ora: in the sense of caput; and
fœdati, in the sense of occisi: or ora fædati
Galasi, may mean simply the body of Gala-
sus, mangled and disfigured with wounds.
577. Medio crimine, &c. By crimen here
we are undoubtedly to understand the
charge or accusation, which the rustics
brought against the Trojans, for the death
of Almon and Galmesus. While they are
making the accusation, in medio crimine,
Turnus comes up, and increases the alarm.
Dr. Trapp takes it for the crime of murder
simply; and Ruæus interprets it by in me-
dio cadaverum.
580. Attonitæ: inspired-under the in-
fluence of. Rumus says, percitæ.
581. Insultant thiasis: leap and dance
in choirs through the pathless groves. For
thiasis, Ruæus says choreis. Nomen: in-
fluence-authority.
582. Fatigant: in the sense of poscunt.
Martem: war.
583. Omina. These were the flight of
bees and fiery appearance about Lavinia.
See 64, supra et sequens.
584. Fata: these were the responses of
the Oracle of Faunus. Perverso numine.
]
s takes this in the sense of contra vo-
luntatem Deorum: the will of the gods
being against it. Heyne is of the same
opinion. Perverso: in the sense of adverso.
587. Fragore: in the sense of tempestate.
588 Circumlatrantibus: in the sense of
circumsonantibus.
578
581
585
590
595
589. Scopuli: properly high sharp rocks.
Saxa: any rocks-rocks in general.
590. Alga illisa: the sea-weed dashed
against its sides is repelled, or washed off.
VACUUM
591. Cœcum: in the sense of insanum.
593. Testatus multa: having often be
sought the gods and skies-having called
them to witness. Multa: a Grecism, for
Inanes auras:
multùm, vel sæpe.
aërem, says Ruæus. Auras: the skies or
heavens, as the word frequently significs.
Dr. Trapp thinks it should be read aras, and,
accordingly, he connects inanes with it: the
vain or useless altars; because of the league
which had been made in due form, but now
was broken. But Davidson reads inanis,
agreeing with pater, in the sense of inaniter.
in vain-to no purpose; and he observes
it is the reading of soine ancient copies.
Heyne reads inanes agreeing with auras.
Valpy and La Cerda do the same. Pierius
connects inanes with frangimur.
595. Sacrilego sanguine. Latinus calls
their blood sacrilegious, because they had
compelled him to the war against the will
of the gods.
596. Nefas: an impious or wicked person.
As Æn. ii. 585. Or it may be taken in the
sense of fandum, agreeing with supplicium,
Rumus interprets it by crimen. Davidson
renders it: te impious promoter of this
war," in apposition with Turne.
598. Nam quies: for rest is prepared for
ENEIS. LIB. VII
419
Funere felici spolior. Nec plura locutus,
Sepsit se tectis, rerumque reliquit habenas.
Mos erat Hesperio in Latio, quem protinùs urbes
Albanæ coluêre sacrum, nunc maxima rerum
Roma colit, cùm prima movent in prælia Martein
Sive Getis inferre manu lachrymabile bellum,
Hyrcanisve, Arabisve parant; seu tendere ad Indos,
Auroramque sequi, Parthosque reposcere signa.
Sunt geminæ belli portæ, sic nomine dicunt,
Relligione sacræ, et sævi formidine Martis :
Centum ærei claudunt vectes, æternaque ferri
Robora; nec custos absistit limine Janus.
Has, ubi certa sedet patribus sententia pugnæ;
Ipse, Quirinali trabeâ cinctuque Gabino
Insignis, reserat stridentia limina consul;
Ipse vocat pugnas: sequitur tum cætera pubes,
Æreaque assensu conspirant cornua rauco.
Hoc et tum Eneadis indicere bella Latinus
More jubebatur, tristesque recludere portas.
NOTES.
me, and my whole haven is at the door.
This is a fine metaphor. The weather-
beaten mariner enters the haven with joy.
It is a place of rest and quiet, from the
dangers of the ocean. So the aged monarch
views death at the door, as the end of his
toils, and as a rest from his cares and labors.
All he loses is the satisfaction of leaving his
people in peace and prosperity.
600. Habenas rerum; the reins of govern-
ment. A metaphor, taken from the manage-
ment of horses, with bit and reins. Sepsit: in
the sense of clausit.
601. Mos erat. This custom was institu-
ted in the time of Numa, as we are told by
Livy; but, for the sake of embellishment,
the poet refers the origin of it to the earliest
ages of his country. Protinus: constantly.
Ruæus says, perpetuò.
602. Coluêre: in the sense of servaverunt.
Rerum: the world.
603. Movent Martem. We are told that
the Romans used, upon the declaration of
war, to enter the temple of Mars, where
the sacred bucklers were suspended, and
strike upon then, with the words: Murs
vigila, Mars awake. Hence the expression,
movent Martem: in the sense of excitant
Martem.
604. Getis. The Gets were a people of
Dacia, near the mouth of the Danube. The
proconsul L. Crassus triumphed over them,
just before the time of Virgil.
605. Hyrcanis. Hyrcania was formerly
a part of Parthia. Against them, as a dis-
tinct people, the Romans did not declare
war. In the year of Rome 730, Augustus
attempted the subjugation of the Arabians,
but he failed in it. Indos. It is well known
that the Romans made no conquests in In-
dia, properly so called. But Dion informs
600
606
610
615
604. Sive parant ma
nu inferre
611. Ubi certa senten
tia pugnæ sedet patri
bus, consul ipse insignis
Quirinali trabeâ, Gabi-
noque cinctu reserat has
portas, (i. e.) stridentia
limina
us that, overawed by the fame of Augustus,
they made peace with him, and presented
him with rich gifts, while he tarried at Sa-
mos, in Asia, about the year 734. Tendere
ad: to march against the Indians, and to
penetrate the remotest parts of the east, se-
qui auroram.
606. Parthos reposcere: to demand back
the standards from the Parthians.
608. Relligione: religious veneration.
609. Vectes æternaque: a hundred brazen
bars, and eternal strength of iron, shut
them.
610. Janus. This is said because the
statue of Janus was in the threshold; or be-
cause he presided over all doors, which,
from him, were called janua. Janus was
the most ancient king of Italy. Some sup-
pose him to have been Japhet, the son of
Noah. See Ecl. iv. 6. He was represent
ed with two faces.
611 Pugnæ: in the sense of belli. Sen
tentia: determination; and sedet: in the
sense of hæret. Has. This must refer to
portas understood. But it would seem quite
unnecessary. The idea is sufficiently con-
veyed by limina stridentia, which is to be
placed in this case, in apposition with has
portas. Ruæus takes limina in the sense of
cardines, but this seems a refinement unne-
cessary. He says, has (portas) et earum
stridentes cardines. Heyne and Valpy take
them as meaning the same thing-the doors
of the temple of Janus.
612. Quirinali trabeâ: with his augural
robe. So called, because worn by Romulus,
who was also called Quirinus. See 187,
supra. Gabino cinctu. This dress Servius
derives from Gabii, a city of Latium. See
Lex. under cinctus.
617. Re:ludere: to open the direful doors.
420
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
020. Tum
Abstinuit taetu pater, aversusque refugit
Fœda ministeria, et cæcis se condidit umbris.
Saturnia Tum regina Deûm, cœlo delapsa, morantes
regina Deûm, delapsa, Impulit ipsa manu portas, et, cardine verso,
Belli ferratos rupit Saturnia postes.
cœlo, ipsa
Ardet inexcita Ausonia atque immobilis antè:
Pars pedes ire parat campis; pars arduus altis
Pulverulentus equis furit: omnes arma requirunt.
Pars leves clypeos et spicula lucida tergunt
Arvinâ pingui, subiguntque in cote secures:
Signaque ferre juvat, sonitusque audire tubarum.
Quinque adeò magnæ positis incudibus urbes
620
625
magnæ urbes
629. Adeò quinque Tela novant: Atina potens, Tiburque superbum,
Ardea, Crustumerique, et turrigeræ Antemnæ.
Tegmina tuta cavant capitum, flectuntque salignas
Umbonum crates: alii thoracas ahenos,
Aut leves ocreas lento ducunt argento.
Vomeris huc et falcis honos, huc omnis aratri
Cessit amor; recoquunt patrios fornacibus enses.
Classica jamque sonant: it bello tessera signum.
Hic galeam tectis trepidus rapit: ille frementes
630
635
NOTES.
The doors of the temple of Janus were open
in time of war, but shut in time of peace.
Immediately on the declaration of war, the
consul, with much parade and solemnity,
opened them.
What is said here on the
subject, is by anticipation. Jubebatur: is
urged-importuned.
622. Postes. Postis, properly, the door-
post, or that part of the frame to which the
door is hung. Also, the door itself, by me-
ton.
624. Pars arduus: a part raised on lofty
steeds, involved in clouds of dust, rage for
war. The meaning of the passage is: a
part prepare to take the field as infantry,
(pedites,) a part as cavalry.
627. Arvinâ: tallow-any fat.
629. Urbes: the cities; by meton. the in-
nabitants. Incudibus positis: on their erect-
ed anvils, or their anvils being erected.
630. Novant tela: they repair their wea-
pons. Atina: a city of the Volsci. Tibur:
this was a city in the northern part of Lati-
am, near the cataract of the river Anien.
It was situated near the top of a mountain.
Hence the epithet superbum. Hodie, Tri-
voli.
631. Ardea. This was the capital of the
Rutuli. See 372, and 410, supra. Crus-
tumeri: this was a city situated not far from
the place where Rome was afterward built.
Little, however, is known of it.
is known of it. Antemna:
a city near the confluence of the rivers Ani-
en and Tiber.
633. Crates umbonum. These were the
supporters or frames of the shields, made of
osiers, or small pieces of wood, and after-
ward covered with the hides of beasts m-
bo: the farthest projecting point of the
shield; by synec. put for the whole shield
These frames were made of willow.
634. Ducunt: in the sense of excudunt
Leves ocreas: smooth greaves of ductile sil
ver. These were armor for the legs and
thighs.
635. Honos vomeris: the honor (regard)
of the ploughshare and of the pruning knife
gives place (huc) to the preparations for war;
and all the love of the plough yields to them
They are so intent upon war, that they dis-
regard the business of agriculture.
636. Recoquunt: they form anew-they
make over again.
637. Tessera signum: the tessera, the signal
for war, goes forth.
This was a square
figure like a dice, on which was inscribed
the watchword or private signal, by which
they could distinguish friends from foes in
battle. Or, according to others, it contain-
ed the order and regulations of the march.
This was distributed among the soldiers.
Hence the phrase: it tessera. It was after-
ward given viva você. Classica: the trum-
pets. The tubu was a straight trumpet: the
cornua, a crooked trumpet, resembling a
horn. They were also called buccina. The
lituus was a trumpet not so straight as the
tuba, nor so crooked as the cornu. Classi-
cum, properly, the sound of the trumpet :
the trumpet itself, by meton.
639. Trilicem auro. The coat of mail was
composed of plates of iron linked together
by rings. Some of them were fringed or
bordered in the lower extremity wrh gold
tissue of two or three textures, and vere ac
cording y called bilix, tri ix, &c. Al Juga
ÆNEIS. LIB. VÄ
421
Ad juga cogit equos; clypeumque, auroque trilicem
Loricam induitur, fidoque accingitur ense.
Pandite nunc Helicona, Deæ, cantusque movete
Qui bello exciti reges: quæ quemque secutæ
Complêrint campos acies: quibus Itala jam tum
Floruerit terra alma viris, quibus arserit armis.
Et meministis enim, Divæ, et memorare potestis:
Ad nos vix tenuis famæ perlabitur aura.
Primus init bellum Tyrrhenis asper ab oris
Contemptor Divûm Mezentius, agminaque armat.
Filius huic juxtà Lausus; quo pulchrior alter
Non fuit, excepto Laurentis corpore Turni :
Lausus equûm domitor, debellatorque ferarum,
Ducit Agyllinâ nequicquam ex urbe secutos
Mille viros; dignus patriis qui lætior esset
Imperiis, et cui pater haud Mezentius esset.
:
639. Induiturque cly
640 peum, loricamque trili
645
650
655
Post hos, insignem palmâ per gramina currum,
Victoresque ostentat equos, satus Hercule pulchro
Pulcher Aventinus; clypeoque insigne paternum,
Centum angues, cinctamque gerit serpentibus hydram :
Collis Aventini sylvâ quem Rhea sacerdos
Furtivum partu sub luminis edidit oras,
Mixta Deo mulier postquam Laurentia victor,
Geryone extincto, Tirynthius attigit arva,
NOTES.
to the chariots. Chariots were anciently
used in war by all distinguished persons.
640. Induitur: in the sense of induit.
641. Helicona: a Greek acc.: a mountain
in Beotia sacred to the muses. The poet
here imitates the Iliad. lib. ii. both in this
invocation, and in the enumeration of the
forces of the Italian princes. But, in seve-
ral particulars, he has improved upon his
model.
646. Tenuis aura: a small breath of fame,
&c.-scarcely a slender thread of tradition
hath extended down to us.
647. Asper: fierce-cruel.
648. Mezentius. We are told that he
commanded his subjects to pay him a tax of
the first fruits, and the firstlings of their
flocks; which before were given to the gods.
On this account, he was considered an athe-
ist, contemptor divûm. The poet here gives
us a list of the troops engaged on the part of
Turnus.
649. Huic. The dative of the personal
pronouns is often used in the sense of the
genitive. Huic: in the sense of hujus.
650. Corpore Turni: a Grecism, for Tur-
nus himself.
652. Argyllina: an adj. from Argylla, a
city of Tuscany, near the confines of Lati-
um. It was founded by a colony of Thes-
salians. Nequicquam: in vain, because he
was to be slain in the war with his troops:
or, because he could not prevent thereby
the purposes of the gods concerning the
Trojans.
660
cem auro
641. O Dee Musa,
pandite
642. Qui reges excit
fuerint; quæ acies
643. Quibus viris jam
tum Itala, alma terra
648. Asper Mezentius,
contemptor Divûm, pri-
mus init
649. Huic filius Lau-
sus sequitur juxtà, quo
652. Ducit mille viros
secutos eum nequicquam
655. Post hos pulcher
Aventinus, satus pul-
chro Hercule, ostentat
currum insignem palmâ
657. Clypeoque gerit
paternum insigne, nempe
659. Quem Rhea sa-
cerdos, mulier mixta
Deo, partu edidit furti-
vum sub oras luminis
653. Dignus, &c. This line is somewhat
perplexed. The usual ordo is, dignus qui
esset lætior, &c. It would be easier by trans-
position thus: qui esset dignus (fuisse) lætior,
&c.: who was worthy to have been happier
in his father's authority. It was in obedi-
ence to his father that he came to the war.
If he had not been constrained, he would
have tarried at home, shunned the toils and
dangers of the war, and by that means have
saved his life. He was worthy to have
lived. Ruæus interprets imperiis by regno,
implying that he deserved to be happier in
his father's kingdom-to have remained at
home, and, by that means, saved his life
Cui: to whom Mezentius ought not to have
been a father; who could have imposed
such commands upon a son.
657. Pulcher. Dr. Trapp thinks this can
not here mean beautiful; but rather stout,
illustrious, renowned; as the same word is
applied to Hercules, his father. Paternum
insigne : his father's ensign, or impress.
This was the figure of the conquered hydra,
shooting up into a hundred heads.
660. Edidit partu: brought forth at a
birth into life, &c.
661. Mixta: uniting-mingling with--
having intercourse with. Hercules, after he
had slain Geryon, the king of Spain, and
taken his herds, returned with them through
Italy. It was at this time, that the priestess
Rhea conceived Aventinus, and afterward
bore him to that hero.
•
662. Tirynthius a name of Hercules
422
P VIRGILII MARONIS
Tyrrhenoque boves in flumine lavit Iberas.
664. Ejus milites ge- Pila manu, sævosque gerunt in bella dolones :
runt
670. Tum gemini fra-
tres, Catillusque, acer-
que Coras, Argiva ju-
ventus, linquunt
678. Nec Cæculus fun-
Et tereti pugnant mucrone, veruque Sabello.
Ipse pedes, tegmen torquens immane leonis,
Terribili impexum setâ, cum dentibus albis,
Indutus capiti: sic regia tecta subibat
Horridus, Herculeoque humeros innexus amictu.
Tum gemini fratres Tiburtia mœnia linquunt,
Fratris Tiburti dictam cognomine gentem,
Catillusque, acerque Coras, Argiva juventus :
Et primam ante aciem densa inter tela feruntur.
Ceu duo nubigenæ cùm vertice montis ab alto
Descendunt Centauri, Omolen Othrynque nivalem
Linquentes cursu rapido: dat euntibus ingens
Sylva locum, et magno cedunt virgulta fragore.
Nec Prænestinæ fundator defuit urbis ;
dator Prænestinæ urbis Vulcano genitum pecora inter agrestia regem,
defuit ; quem regem Inventumque focis, omnis quem credidit ætas,
omnis ætas credidit ge- Cæculus. Hunc legio latè comitatur agrestis:
682. Quique viri co- Quique altum Præneste viri, quique arva Gabinæ
lunt altum Præneste, Junonis, gelidumque Anienem, et roscida rivis
quique colunt,
Hernica saxa colunt : quos, dives Anagnia, pascis ;
685. Quos tu pascis, O
pater Amasene. Arma Quos, Amasene pater. Non illis omnibus arma,
non sunt omnibus Nec clypei currusve sonant: pars maxima glandes
nitum esse
NOTES.
from Tyrins, a city near Argos, where he
was brought up.
663. Tyrrheno flumine: the river Tiber,
which divided Tuscany or Etruria from La-
tium.
Iberas boves: his Spanish herds. Ibe-
ras: an adj. from Iberus, a river of Spain.
Hodie, Ebro.
664. Dolones. These were long poles or
battoons, with bayonets enclosed at the end,
which were hardly to be observed. Hence
they were called dolones, from dolus, being
a kind of deceitful weapon.
665. Veru. This was a kind of dart used
by the Sabines and Samnites. Hence the
epithet Sabello, that is, Sabino vel Samnitico.
668. Indutus capiti: he put it (the shaggy
lion skin) upon his head. Cinctus circa
caput, says Ruæus.
669. Innexus: covered, as to his shoul-
ders, with the garment of Hercules, his fa-
ther.
lion.
This was the hide of the Nemean
673. Feruntur: in the sense of incedunt..
Ante primam: before the first line-in the
front of the battle.
674. Nubigena: cloud-born sons. These
were the Centaurs, whom Ixion begat, it is
said, upon a cloud. They were a people of
Thessaly, and celebrated for horsemanship.
xion was their king.
675. Omolen-Othryn. These were moun-
tains of Thessaly, where the Centaurs re-
sided.
678. Fundator &c Cæculus, we are told,
665
670
67b
680
685 *
had very small eyes, as his name implies
He was very ambitious, and was the found
er of a colony. He pretended that he was
the son of Vulcan, and that the brightness
of his father's fire had injured his sight.
He built the city Præneste, situated on a
mountain. Hence called altum Præneste,
about 24 miles from Rome.
680. Inventum focis: found upon the
hearth. He was therefore reputed the son
of Vulcan. The verb esse vel fuisse is un-
derstood.
682. Gabinæ Junonis. Gabinœ: an adj.
from Gabii, a town of the Volsci, between
Here Juno had a
Rome and Præneste.
splendid temple. Hence she is called Ga-
binian Juno.
683. Gelidum Anienem : the river Anien,
which empties into the Tiber from the north-
east. Its water was very cold. Hence the
epithet gelidum.
Hence
684. Hernica saxa: the towns of the
Hernici. They were a people between the
Æqui, the Marsi, and the Volsci. Their
country was very mountainous.
their towns were called saxa, being built
amongst rocks. Their chief town was
Anagnia. Roscida rivis: watered with rills
or streams.
685. Amasene. The river Amasenus,
which watered the country about Anagnia.
The epithet pater is common to all the river
gods. Hodie, Toppia.
686. Glandes plumbi balls of lead. Spar
git: throws.
ENEIS. LIB. VII.
423
Liventis plumbi spargit, pars spicula gestat
Bina manu, fulvosque lupi de pelle galeros
Tegmen habet capiti: vestigia nuda sinistri
Instituêre pedis; crudus tegit altera pero.
At Messapus equûm domitor, Neptunia proles,
Quem neque fas igni cuiquam nec sternere ferro,
Jampridem resides populos, desuetaque bello
Agmina, in arma vocat subitò, ferrumque retractat.
Hi Fescenninas acies, æquosque Faliscos;
Hi Soractis habent arces, Flaviniaque arva,
Et Cimini cum monte lacum, lucosque Capenos.
Ibant æquati numero, regemque canebant :
Ceu quondam nivei liquida inter nubila cycni
Cùm sese è pastu referunt, et longa canoros
Dant per colla modos: sonat amnis, et Asia longè
Pulsa palus.
Nec quisquam æratas acies ex agmine tanto
Misceri putet, aëriam sed gurgite ab alto
NOTES.
688. Fulvos galeros: tawny caps of the
wolf's skin, &c.
689. Vestigia nuda: they formed the prints
or tracks of the left foot naked-their left
foot was naked. Crudus pero: unwrought
leather covers the other. Vestigia is un-
derstood. The pero was a kind of high
shoe, made of raw hide, and worn by rustics
principally. Instituêre: in the sense of po-
suêre.
691. Messapus. By birth he was a Greek.
After his arrival in Italy, he occupied the
eastern part, which was from him called
Messapia, afterward Calabria. He was a
skilful navigator; and hence called Nep-
tunia proles: the offspring of Neptune. Vir-
gil places his dominions in the eastern part
of Etruria, not far from the place where
Rome was afterward built.
693. Populos jampridem: his people, a
long time inactive, and disengaged from the
pursuits of war.
695. Fescenninas acies: the Fescennine
troops. These were from the city Fescen-
nia, or Fescennium, a town of Etruria, a
little below the confluence of the Nar and
Tiber. Acies, properly, an army drawn up
in order of battle. Here, troops in general.
Equosque Faliscos. These were a people
situated a little below Fescennium. Their
city was Faliscum. Servius says, they were
called Aquos, because the Romans borrow-
ed from them their jura feciala, or laws of
arins: also, a supplement to the laws of the
twelve tables. Others make qui the name
of a people, called, also, quicolæ, and
read, Equosque Faliscosque. The hi in this
and the following line, appears to refer to
Messapus, within whose territories all these
cities and people were, here mentioned; and,
consequently, he was their commander in
690
692. Quem nequ
erat fas cuique sterne
695 695. Hi ducunt Fes-
cenninas
700
chief. The plu. may be used for the sing.
by way of aggrandizement, as is common
to all languages. Or the hi must refer to
the subordinate officers and commanders of
Messapus. This seems to be the opinion of
Ruæus, who has: hi duces Messapi.
696. Soractis. Soracte was the name of a
mountain in the country of the Falisci. Ar-
ces: the towers or strong places built upon
it. Flavinia arva. Little is known of this
place, nor is its situation exactly ascertained.
697. Cimini. Ciminus was a mountain
in the western part of Etruria. It had a
lake and a grove. Capenos: an adj. of Ca-
pena, a city on the banks of the Tiber. Here
ed Messapus to the war.
was a grove and temple. All these follow-
698. Ibant æquali: they marched with
equal steps, and uniform motion. By nume-
ro, we are to understand a kind of harmony
and keeping time with their music. Or,
rather, the order of their march-rank and
file.
699. Ceu quondam, &c. This simile is
taken from the Iliad, lib. ii. and is very fine-
ly expressed.
701. Amnis et Asia: the river and the
Asian lake, struck from afar, resound. The
Amnis is the Caÿstrus. See Geor. i. 383.
Modos: in the sense of voces.
702. Nec quisquam putet: nor would any
one (who heard their music only) have
thought them armed troops of so great num-
bers, united and joined together; but an
aërial cloud of sonorous fowls, &c. The
words, who heard their music only, are ne
cessary to make the sense complete. Fui
the poet could not intend that those whe
saw them, would have taken them for
flock of birds.
424
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
710. Unà cum eo ibant
ingens Amiterna cohors,
priscique
705
710
Urgeri volucrum raucarum ad litora nubem.
Ecce, Sabinorum prisco de sanguine, magnum
Agmen agens Clausus, magnique ipse agminis instar,
Claudia nunc à quo diffunditur et tribus et gens
Per Latium, postquam in partem data Roma Sabinis.
Unà ingens Amiterna cohors, priscique Quirites,
Ereti manus omnis, oliviferæque Mutuscæ:
712. Illi quoque ibant Qui Nomentum urbem, qui rosea rura Velini :
qui colunt urbem No- Qui Tetricæ horrentes rupes, montemque Severum,
me..tum, qui colunt ro-
sea rura Velini; qui co- Casperiamque colunt, Forulosque et flumen Himella.
Qui Tybrim Fabarimque bibunt: quos frigida misit 715
715. Illi ibant quoque, Nursià; et Hortinæ classes, populique Latini :
quos frigida Nursia mi- Quosque secans infaustum interluit Allia nomen.
Quàm multi Libyco volvuntur marmore fluctus,
717. Illi que, quos Al-
lia, infaustum nomen,
Sævus ubi Orion hybernis conditur undis :
secans interluit, ibant Vel quàm Sole novo dense torrentur aristæ,
Aut Hermi campo, aut Lyciæ flaventibus arvis.
lunt
sit
unà cum eo.
NOTES.
707. Clausus. After the expulsion of the
kings, Atta Clausus removed with his fami-
ly, and about five thousand clients and
friends, from Regillum, a city of the Sa-
bines, to Rome. After which he took the
name of Appius. He was admitted into the
patrician order. The poet makes the Clau-
sus here named, to have been one of his an-
cestors. Instar agminis: himself like a
mighty army-a match for.
708. Diffunditur: in the sense of propa-
gatur, vel spargitur.
709. In partem Sabinis. The poet here
alludes to the union of the Sabines and Ro-
mans, which put an end to the wars between
the two nations. These were the conditions
of the compact. The Sabines were to re-
move to Rome, which was to retain its name.
The citizens were to take the name of Qui-
rites, from Cures, a city of the Sabines; and
the government was to be jointly adminis-
tored by Tatius and Romulus.
710. Amiterna cohors. The poet here
enumerates various places, all belonging to
the Sabines. Amiterna: an adj. from Ami-
ternum, a town situated among the Apen-
nines. Quirites were the inhabitants of
Cures, whence the Romans were afterward
sometimes called Quirites. Eretum was a
village near the confluence of the rivers
Alla and Tiber. Hodie, Monte Rotundo.
Mutusca: a village beyond the Palus Rea-
tina, to the north. Hodie, Monte Leone.
Nomentum, was a town near Eretum on the
east. Hodie, Nomentano.
712. Rosca rura. Part of the country of
Reatina, according to Pliny, was called ro-
sea,
from ros, dew; which, falling copiously,
fertilized that part of the country. Mr.
Addison observes, that the river Velinus is
shaded by a green forest made up of seve-
ral kinds of trees, which preserve their ver-
720
dure all the year. The neighboring moun-
tains are covered with them; and, by reason
of their height, are more exposed to dews
and drizzling rains than the adjacent parts.
Some copies have roscida. Dr. Trapp pre-
fers rosea, and takes it for a patronymic ad-
jective; and observes it should be written
with a capital R. Heyne writes it with a
capital. Tetrica-Severum. The names of
two mountains, so called from their wild
aspect and barrenness. Their situation is
uncertain.
714. Casperiam. Casperia was a town
not far from Cures. Hodie, Aspera. Foru-
los. Foruli was a town in the neighborhood
of Amiternum. Himella. This was a small
river falling into the Tiber, a little below
Cures. Hodie, Aia.
716. Nursia. This city was situated
among the Apennines, and much exposed to
frost. Hence the epithet, frigida. Hodie,
Norica. Hortina: an adj. from Hortanum
or Horta, a city at the confluence of the
Nar and Tiber. Classes. It is plain that
classes here means land forces, or troops in
general. Heyne says, copia.
717. Allía. A river that runs into the
Tiber a little below Eretum. Here the Ro
mans were completely defeated by the Galli
Senones, under Brennus, their king: on
which account, Virgil calls it infaustum no-
men: an inauspicious name. Secans: in
the sense of dividens.
719. Orion: a constellation much dreaded
by mariners; hence called savus: stormy.
720. Novo sole. By this interpreters un-
derstand the sun in the beginning of the
summer. But perhaps the sun is called
new, not in respect of the year; but of the
arista, the ears of corn. Hermi. Hermus
was a river of Lydia, a most fertile country
Lycia. This was a country on the south of
ENEIS. LIB. VII.
425
Scuta sonant, pulsuque pedum tremit excita tellus
Hinc Agamemnonius, Trojani nominis hostis,
Curru jungit Halesus equos, Turnoque feroces
Mille rapit populos. Vertunt felicia Baccho
Massica qui rastris: et quos de collibus altis
Aurunci misére patres, Sidicinaque juxta
Equora quique Cales linquunt; amnisque vadosi
Accola Vulturni; pariterque Saticulus asper,
Oscorumque manus. Teretes sunt aclides illis
Tela; sed hæc lento mos est aptare flagello:
Lævas cetra tegit: falcati cominùs enses.
725
725. Rapit mille fero-
ces populos in auxilium
Turno. Illi veniunt qui
vertunt rastris Massica
arva felicia Baccho; et
illi veniunt quos Aurun-
730 ci patres, Sidicinaque
juxta æquora misêre
732. Četra tegit lævas
manus ; falcati enses
sunt illis ad pugnandum
cominùs. Nec tu, O
735 pater bale, abibis in-
dictus
Nec tu carminibus nostris indictus abibis,
bale; quem generâsse Telon Sebethide Nympha
Fertur, Teleboûm Capreas cùm regna teneret
Jam senior: patriis sed non et filius arvis
Contentus, latè jam tum ditione premebat
Sarrastes populos, et quæ rigat æquora Sarnus :
Quique Rufas, Batulumque tenent, atque arva Celennæ :
Et quos maliferæ despectant monia Abellæ:
NOTES.
Asia Minor, abounding in corn. Torrentur:
Torrentur:
dried-ripened.
722. Excita: in the sense of commota.
723. Hinc: in the next place, Halesus, &c.
724. Halesus. Either the natural son of
Agamemnon, or an illegitimate one. Or
perhaps by Agamemnonius, we are to under-
stand simply his being a Greek by birth.
Curru: for currui.
726. Massica. The poet here mentions
several nations and places in Campania.
Massica: an adj. agreeing with arva under-
stood. Massicus was a mountain in Cam-
pania near the sea, in the confines of La-
tium, very fertile in vines. Aurunci patres.
The Auruncu, or Ausones, were the most
ancient inhabitants of Italy, and therefore
styled Patres. They were between Campa-
nia and the Volsci. Sidicina: plu. of Sidi-
cinum, a tract of country to the eastward
of the Aurunci, bordering upon the sea.
Cales: plu. a town built upon the mountain
Massicus. Hodie, Calvi.
729. Accola: the inhabitants of the forda-
ble river Vulturnus—those who live near
the river, &c. came also to the war. Mr.
Davidson observes that vadosus must be
used here metaphorically, to signify danger-
ous; or it must refer to those parts of the
river near the mouth, where it spreads and
runs with a gentle course, and consequently
is shoal. The Vulturnus is a river of Cam-
pania, noted for its rapidity. Vadosus:
from vadum, a shoal or sand-bank. This
river takes its rise in the Apennines, and
after a very circuitous course falls into the
sea not far from the ancient Cuma. Sulicu-
us: an inhabitant of Suticula, or Satricula, a
town to the east of Vulturnus, and Cavus.
739. Veniuntque, qui
tenent
740 nia
740.-Et illi quos mœ.
Manus Oscorum. The Osci, were a people
descended from the ancient Ausones, and in-
habited the city Capua. All these troops
were under the command of Halesus.
730. Teretes aclides. The aclis was a kind
of missive weapon, with a sharp point at
each end. It had a string fastened to it,
by which the owner drew it back after a
throw. These in close fight were formida-
ble weapons. It is probable they bound
them about the wrist with a cord, (flagello,)
or string, by way of security.
732. Falcati: in the sense of curvi.
733. Indictus: unsung-unmentioned.
734. Telon: acc. of Greek ending. Sebe
thide: the nymph Sebethis.
735. Capreas: Caprea, an island over
against the Surrentinum Promontorium. The
Teleboi, a colony from Epirus, possessed it.
Hodie, Capri.
737. Premebat ditione : held in bondage--
in subjection.
738. Sarnus. A river flowing through
Campania, into the Sinus Neapolitanus.
Sarrastes. These were the inhabitants of
the promontory Surrentinum, in that part of
Italy called Campania. Æquora: in the
sense of campi vel arva. Equor, properly
signifies any plane, or level surface, whether
land or water
739. Rufas: Rufæ, or Rufre, was a city
farther to the east. Hodie, Rufo. The
situation of Batulum and Celenna is un-
known.
740. Abella: Abella a town to the north
of Sarnus, in the confines of Campania and
the Harpini. It was celebrated for that sort
of nuts, called nuces avellana, or fillert-nuts,
Hodie Avella. It was built on an elevated
•
426
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Teutonico ritu soliti torquere cateias ;
742. Queis tegmina Tegmina queis capitum raptus de subere cortex,
Æratæque micant peltæ, micat æreus ensis.
capitum sunt cortex
morum, paret.
Et te montosæ misêre in prælia Nursæ,
Ufens, insignem famâ et felicibus armis :
746. Cui præcipue Horrida præcipuè cui gens, assuetaque multo
Equicola in duris gle- Venatu nemorum, duris Æquicola glebis.
bis, horrida gens, assu-
etaque multo venatu ne- Armati terram exercent; semperque recentes
Convectare juvat prædas, et vivere rapto.
Quin et Marrubiâ venit de gente sacerdos,
Fronde super galeam et felici comptus olivâ,
Archippi regis missu, fortissimus Umbro:
Vipereo generi et graviter spirantibus hydris
Spargere qui somnos cantuque manuque solebat,
Mulcebatque iras, et morsus arte levabat.
Sed non Dardaniæ medicari cuspidis ictum
Evaluit: neque eum juvêre in vulnera cantus
Somniferi, et Marsis quæsitæ in montibus herbæ.
759. Nemus Angitis Te nemus Angitiæ, vitreâ te Fucinus undâ,
flevit te, Fucinus vitreâ Te liquidi flevêre lacus.
750. Quin et fortissi-
mus Umbro venit missu
regis Archippi, sacerdos
de Marrubia gente.
754. Qui solebat spar-
gere somnos vipereo
undâ flevit te
Ibat et Hippolyti proles pulcherrima bello,
74
750
755
760
NOTES.
situation. Hence it is said to look, de-
spectant, down upon the inhabitants below.
Malifera: fruit-bearing.
741. Cateias. The cateia was a kind of
halbert or dart, used by the Germans, and
Gauls. All the nations just mentioned were
subject to Ebelus, and followed him to the
war. Ritu: after the Teutonic manner,
they used, &c. Soliti: sunt is understood.
The Teutones were a people of Germany,
near the Chersonesus Cimbrica. Hodie, Den-
mark.
742. Tegmina: coverings for the head-
helmets. Ruæus says, galeæ. Queis: the
dat, in the sense of quorum.
744. Nursa: the situation of this place
is not known, probably it was among the
Apennines.
745. Insignem famà: illustrious by fame,
and successful arms. This is equivalent
to insignem famâ felicium armorum.
748. Exercent: in the sense of colunt.
749. Vivere rapto: to live upon plunder.
This is agreeable to what Livy says of
those nations: Fortuna Volscis Aquisque
prædonum poliùs mentem quàm hostium dedit.
The Equicoli or Æqui were a people to
the east of Latium, not far from the source
of the river Anien. Their country was
hard and mountainous. Virgil calls it,
Equicola duris glebis: Equicola of hard
soil. These were under the command of
Ufens, and followed him to the war.
750. Marrubiâ. an adj. of Marrubium or
Marruvium, a city of the Marsi, to the east
of the Æqui, on the river Liris.
751. Comptus super: decked upon his
helmet with leaves, and the auspicious
olive-having his helmet adorned with the
leaves of the happy olive. Fronde et felici
oliva, by hend. for fronde felicis olivæ.
752. Missu: by the command, or order.
754. Spargere somnos: to diffuse sleep
over the viperous race, &c. Cantu: by his
charms, or incantations.
755. Levabat: he healed -cured.
756. Ictum: in the sense of vulnus. The
wounds inflicted by the weapons of the
Trojans.
757. Juvêre: helped-aided. Rumus says,
profuerunt.
758. Somniferi cantus: soporific charms.
Herba: herbs gathered in the mountains of
the Marsi. These people were skilled in
enchantments, particularly in charming ser-
pents. This they learned from Marsus, the
son of Circe, the founder of their race.
759. Angitia. Angitia was the sister of
Circe, and came with her into Italy. She
occupied the country in the neighborhood
of the lake Fucinus. The town she built is
now called Luco, situated to the westward
of the said lake. Hodie, Lago Fucino. Vi
trea: clear-pellucid.
760. Liquidi: in the sense of puri.
761. Hippolyti: Hippolytus was the son
of Theseus king of Athens. Refusing the
overtures of his step-mother Phædra, he
was accused by her to his father, who con
demned him to death. As he was driving
his chariot along the shore, his horses were
affrighted by sea-monsters, tore his chariot
in pieces and killed him. Diana pitying
his hard fate, by the help of Esculapius
ENEIS. LIB VII.
427
Virbius; insignem quem mater Aricia misit,
Eductum Egeriæ lucis, humentia circum
Litora, pinguis ubi et placabilis ara Dianæ.
764
Namque ferunt famâ Hippolytum, postquam arte novercæ
Occiderit, patriasque explêrit sanguine pœnas,
Turbatis distractus equis, ad sidera rursus
Ætherea, et superas cœli venisse sub auras,
Pæoniis revocatum herbis, et amore Dianæ.
Tum pater omnipotens, aliquem indignatus ab umbris
Mortalem infernis ad lumina surgere vitæ,
Ipse repertorem medicinæ talis et artis
Fulmine Phœbigenam Stygias detrusit ad undas.
At Trivia Hippolytum secretis alma recondit
Sedibus, et Nymphæ Egeriæ nemorique relegat:
Solus ubi in sylvis Italis ignobilis ævum
Exigeret, versoque ubi nomine Virbius esset.
Unde etiam Trivia templo lucisque sacratis
Cornipedes arcentur equi, quòd litore currum
Et juvenem monstris pavidi effudêre marinis.
Filius ardentes haud seciùs æquiore campi
Exercebat equos, curruque in bella ruebat.
Ipse inter primos præstanti corpore Turnus
Vertitur, arma tenens, et toto vertice supra est.
Cui triplici crinita jubâ galea alta Chimæram
Sustinet, Ætnæos efflantem faucibus ignes:
Tam magis illa fremens, et tristibus effera flammis,
NOTES.
restored him to life, and commended him to
the care of Egeria, the nymph of the Arici-
nean grove. Here he was worshipped as a
demi-god and called Virbius; from the
words vir and bis. Virgil makes him the
son of Hippolytus and the nymph Aricia.
By mater, we are to understand his mother.
762. Aricia. This was a city of ancient
Latium, not far from the mouth of the Tiber.
It might be so called from the nymph Ari-
cia. Servius understands by mater this city,
which was the birth-place of the mother of
Augustus, and the parent of an illustrious
family. But it is better to take it as above.
In its neighborhood was a grove sacred to
Egeria. With this nymph, Numa Pompi-
lius pretended to be intimate, and to receive
instructions in religion.
763. Humentia litora: the shores of the
lake Aricinus. .
764. Pinguis: this is said of the altar, in
reference to the number of victims offered
apon it. Placabilis: easy to be appeased.
The verb est is understood.
766. Explêrit: had satisfied-filled up.
Turbatis: affrighted.
768. Sub superas auras cæli: to the upper
regions of light-this upper world.
769. Pæoniis herbis: such herbs as were
und by Paan, the physician of the gods
771
775
780
785
765. Hippolytum i-
bium, postquam occide-
rit arte noverca, distrac
tusque turbatis equis,
explêrit patrias pœnas,
venisse rursus
772. Fulmine detrusit
Phœbigenam, reperto-
rem
781. Filius hujus Vir-
bii haud seciùs exer-
cebat
784. Et est supra om-
nes toto vertice
787. Illa est tam ma-
gls fremens, et effera tris-
tibus flammis,
by Apollo, his father, who is also styled
Paan-medicinal herbs.
773. Phœbigenam: Esculapius, the son
of Phoebus and Coronis, the daughter of a
king of the Lapithe. He is esteemed the
father of physic. It is said he raised several
from the dead.
775. Relegat: she consigns him to the
nymph, &c. Trivia: a name of Diana,
from tres et via.
776. Ignobilis: unknown-retired from
the world.
778. Unde: hence-from that circum-
stance-to wit, their being affrighted at the
monsters.
780. Pavidi: affrighted at the sea-mon-
sters, they overturned-ran away with the
chariot, &c.
781. Filius haud: the son, not less intre
pidly than the father, managed the fiery
steeds, &c.
784. Vertitur inter primos: he marches
in the foremost ranks. Vertitur: in the
sense of incedit.
785. Galea crinita: his lofty helmet wav
ing with a triple crest, &c. The figure of
the Chimera was represented on his helmet
See Æn. vi. 288.
787. Effera: fierce-dreadful. Tristibus
horrid-awful.
428
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Turni
Quàm magis effuso crudescunt sanguine pugnæ.
789. At Io ex auro At levem clypeum sublatis cornibus Io
sublatis cornibus, insig- Auro insignibat, jam setis obsita, jam bos,
nibat levem clypeum Argumentum ingens! et custos virginis Argus,
Calatâque amnem fundens pater Inachus urnâ.
Insequitur nimbus peditum, clypeataque totis
Agmina densantur campis, Argivaque pubes,
Auruncæque manus, Rutuli, veteresque Sicani,
796. Labici picti quoad Et Sacranæ acies, et picti scuta Labici:
scuta: qui arant tuos Qui saltus, Tiberine, tuos, sacrumque Numici
saltus, O Tiberine
Latus arant: Rutulosque exercent vomere colles,
Circæumque jugum : queis Jupiter Anxurus arvis
Præsidet, et viridi gaudens Feronia luco:
801. Gelidusque Ufens Quà Saturæ jacet atra palus; gelidusque per imas
quærit iter per
Quærit iter valles, atque in mare conditur Ufens.
Hos super advenit Volscâ de gente Camilla,
805. Illa non assucta Agmen agens equitum et florentes ære catervas,
est fœmineas manus colo Bellatrix: non illa colo calathisve Minervæ
NOTES.
788. Crudescunt: rage-grow more and
more fierce and bloody.
789. Io. The poets say she was the
daughter of the river-god Inachus. Jove
had an amour with her; and likely to be
discovered by Juno, he changed her into a
heifer. Juno suspecting the trick, desired
the heifer to be given to her. Having ob-
tained her request, she gave her into the
custody of the shepherd Argus, fabled to
have had a hundred eyes. He was slain by
Mercury; and Juno placed his eyes in the
tail of her peacock. After this she drove
the heifer into Egypt, where she was re-
stored to her former shape by Jove. Here
she married Osiris, king of Egypt; and
after her death, was worshipped as a god-
dess, under the name of Isis. This fable
was represented on the shield of Turnus.
He was descended from Inachus, king of
Argos. See 372, supra.-sublatis: high-
wide-spreading.
790
rab
800
805
796. Sacrana: an adject. from Sacrani.
These were a people made up of the abori
gines and the Pelasgi: who, after their ex
pulsion of the Siculi, were themselves driven
by the Sabines beyond the river Anien, and
settled near the place where Rome was af-
terward built. Labici. Their city Labi-
cum, was in the northern part of Latium.
798. Exercent: in the sense of excindunt
vel vertunt.
799. Circæum jugum. This was the hill
and promontory which bounded old Latium
on the east. Here was the residence of the
celebrated Circe. Hodie, mount Circello.
Anxurus: an epithet of Jupiter, from Anxur,
or Anxurus, a town of the Volsci, where he
was particularly worshipped.
800. Feronia: Feronia rejoicing in a ver-
dant grove. This was situated between
Mons Circæus, and Terracina or Anxur. It
is not certain what goddess is meant by
Feronia. Most interpreters take her to be
790. Obsita: covered with hairs. Bos: the same with Juno. But La Cerda thinks
in the sense of vacca.
791. Argumentum: subject-device. In-
gens: noble-illustrious.
792. Pater, here refers to the father of Io.
Calata urna: from his embossed urn.
794. Argivaque pubes. The poet now
enumerates the nations that followed Tur-
nus. The Argive troops, most probably
came from Ardea. See 372, supra.
795. Aurunca manus. These were the
descendants of the old Aurunci, or Ausones,
the first people of Italy. Sicani. These
were the inhabitants of some part of Lati-
um; or the remains of the Siculi, whom
Cluverius thinks to have been among the
first inhabitants of Italy; but, being expell-
ed their country, fled to Sicily, to which
islam' they gave their name.
her to be the same with Flora, relying on the
authority of Dionysius.
801. Atra palus Saturæ: the dismal lake
of Satura. By this we are to understand
the palus pontina, or pontine lake, which ex
tended along the maritime coast of the
Volsci. It gave rise to many foul and un
wholesome streams. Here fitly called atra
palus. Ufens. This river flows in deep
winding vales, to which the sun can hardly
have access. Hence the epithet, gelidus.
803. Super hos: beside these-in addi-
tion to the troops already mentioned, Ca-
milla brings her squadrons of horse and
foot.
804. Florentes are: glittering, or gloam.
ing in brazen armor. The Volsci, her peo-
.
ple, were brave and warlike; and had the
ENEIS. LIB. VII.
429
+
Fœmineas assueta manus; sed prælia virgo
Dura pati, cursuque pedum prævertere ventos.
Illa vel intactæ. segetis per summa volaret
Gramina, nec teneras cursu læsisset aristas:
Vel mare per medium, fluctu suspensa tumenti,
Ferret iter, celeres nec tingeret æquore plantas
Illam omnis tectis agrisque effusa juventus,
Turbaque miratur matrum, et prospectat euntem,
Attonitis inhians animis; ut regius ostro
Velet honos leves humeros; ut fibula crinem
Auro internectat; Lyciam ut gerat ipsa pharetram,
Et pastoralem præfixâ cuspide myrtum.
NOTES.
Latins on the west, the Aurunci and Cam-
pani on the east, and the Hernici and Æqui
on the north.
806. Assueta: she had not accustomed
her female hands to the distaff, &c. Cala-
this Minerva. Calathus is a basket for wo-
men to put their sewing and other work into.
Hence, by meton. the work itself. Then
will calathis Minerva mean, light and easy
female employments in general. She had
not accustomed her hands to these; but to
endure the fatigue and hardships of war.
808. Illa vel volaret: she could even fly
along the topmost stalks of the corn un-
touched, &c. Gramina: the stalks or blades
of corn.
We may observe that the poet
here does not say she actually flew over the
fields of corn; but, by an hyperbole, to de-
note her swiftness, she could even do it, nor
touch them in her course.
812. Omnis juventus effusa: all the youth
810
815
806. Sed virgo assueta
est pati dura prælia
810. Suspensa tumen
ti fluctu, vel ferret iter
per medium mare
814. Videns ut regius
issuing from city and country, and the crowd
of matrons, wonder at her, &c. Tectis and
agris are plainly opposed to each other; the
one put for the city, and the other for the
country.
814. Inhians: gazing upon her.
815. Regius honos: how the regal orna-
ments, &c.
816. Ut ipsa gerat: how she bears the
Lycian quiver, &c. The poet gives her this
quiver, because the Lycians were famed for
skill in archery.
817. Myrtum. The myrtle was a suitable
wood for spears. Hence, by meton. the
spear itself. It is called pastoral, because
she had lived among shepherds with her fa-
ther Metabus. Cuspide: this is put for the
point of the spear, which was tipped with
steel. Ruæus says, armatam cuspide; mean- ·
ing myrtum, the spear or javelin.
QUESTIONS.
From Cajeta to what place did Eneas
direct his course?
What time of the day did he set sail?
What does Dr. Trapp observe of the open-
ing of this book?
After his arrival in the Tiber, what were
the first measures which he adopted?
How were his ambassadors received by
Latinus?
Who was Latinus?
How inany generations was he from Sa-
turn?
Why was his kingdom called Latium?
Had he any children?
What was the name of his daughter?
In the course of his life, had he any sons?
What was the age of his daughter at that
time?
Had any of the Italian princes sought her
in marriage?
Who was the most distinguished of her
suitors?
Had she been promised in marriage to
Turnus?
Who was Turnus?
Of what country were his ancestors?
What was the character of Turnus?
Was Latinus in favor of this connexion?
What was the reason of his opposing it?
What particularly influenced his mind
upon this subject?
What was the response of the oracle of
Faunus ?
Did he consider Æneas to be the person
alluded to by the oracle as his son-in-law?
Did he propose to the Trojan ambassa-
dors a connexion between him and his
daughter?
Was this connexion opposed by Turnus?
What was the consequence of this?
How was the mother of Lavinia affected
toward Turnus?
What was her name?
Did she endeavor to persuade her husband
to consent to the match?
Did she make any speech to him upon
the subject?
What is the character of that address?
430
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
flow was she affected with the determi-
uation of Latinus ?
Eneas had been told that his followers
should be reduced to the necessity of con-
suming their trenchers, before they should
find a permanent settlement: how was that
prediction fulfilled?
Who made this prophetic declaration to
Eneas?
How was the accomplishment received by
him and his associates?
How was Juno affected with this kind re-
ception of the Trojans?
What does the poet represent her as doing
to kindle the war?
What course does Alecto pursue?
In time of peace, what was the state of
the temple of Janus?
What in time of war?
After the war had been thus declared
what effect had it upon the neighboring na-
tions?
Which side did they join?
Who may be considered the commander-
in-chief?
How does the book conclude?
Who was the first who joined the con-
federacy?
Who was Mezentius?
Over what people was he king?
What was his character?
Why did the people expel him from his
While these things are going on, what do throne?
the Trojans?
While in the chase, what does Ascanius?
To whom did this beautiful stag belong?
Whither did the wounded animal flee?
What effect had this upon the minds of
the rustics?
Who was killed in this skirmish?
Who was Almon?
Who was Tyrrheus?
What was his employment?
Was there any other person slain?
Did the Trojans suffer any loss?
What was the next measure adopted?
What course did Latinus pursue?
Did Turnus also urge the aged monarch
to declare war against the intruders?
How was the war finally declared?
What was the manner or form of decla-
ring war?
Had he any son?
What was his name?
What does the poet say of him?
Who is mentioned as a distinguished
horseman ?
What troops had he under his command?
Among the commanders, was there any
distinguished female? What was her name?
Of what people was she queen?
For what was she especially distinguish-
ed?
What does the poet say of her speed, and
the rapidity of her course?
Do these last books excite in us an inte-
rest equal to the first books of the Æneid?
Has the poet been censured on this ac-
count?
Is this censure justly founded?
Why is it not justly founded?
LIBER OCTAVUS.
WAR being determined upon, Turnus sends to Diomede to engage him in his interest;
and Æneas, at the direction of the god of the Tiber, ascends that river to Evander to
obtain supplies. He finds the aged monarch engaged in the sacred rites of Hercules.
He receives him very kindly, informs him of their relationship, and of his former ac-
quaintance with Priam and Anchises, who visited Arcadia, his native country. He then
proceeds to give him an account of the victory of Hercules over the monster Cacus, a
noted robber: in memory of which, the rites, in which he was then engaged, were in-
stituted. He also recounts to him the antiquities of that part of Italy, and mentions,
particularly, the rock or hill on which the Capitol at Rome was afterward built. While
these things are going on, Venus repairs to Vulcan, and engages him to make armor for
Eneas. He immediately repairs to the Eolian Islands, where he had his forges, and
sets about the business with all haste.
At
Evander furnishes two hundred horse, and sends Pallas, his son, with as many more.
this time the Tuscans are in arms to avenge the barbarities of Mezentius, their king
who had fled to Turnus for safety. These gladly join Æneas in the war. The book
concludes with a description of the armor of Eneas, brought to him by Venus through
the air. The scene is here changed from the country of Latinus to that of Evandor
This book is chiefly episodical, and abounds in matter of the most interesting kind.
Dr. Trapp thinks, on the whole, it is one of the noblest, most elegant, and most enter
taining of the whole Æneid.
ENEIS. LIB. VIII.
431
UT belli signum Laurenti Turnus ab arce
Extulit, et rauco strepuerunt cornua cantu;
Utque acres concussit equos, utque impulit arma :
Extemplò turbati animi: simul omne tumultu
Conjurat trepido Latium, sævitque juventus
Effera. Ductores primi, Messapus, et Ufens,
Contemptorque Deûm Mezentius, undique cogunt
Auxilia, et latos vastant cultoribus agros.
Mittitur et magni Venulus Diomedis ad urbem,
Qui petat auxilium, et Latio consistere Teucros,
Advectum Æneam classi, victosque Penates
Inferre, et fatis regem se dicere posci,
Edoceat; multasque viro se adjungere gentes
Dardanio, et latè Latio increbrescere nomen.
Quid struat his cœptis, quem, si fortuna sequatur,
Eventum pugnæ cupiat, manifestiùs ipsi,
Quàm Turno regi, aut regi apparere Latino.
Talia per Latium: quæ Laomedontius heros
Cuncta videns, magno curarum fluctuat æstu;
Atque animum nunc huc celerem, nunc dividit illuc,
In partesque rapit varias, perque omnia versat.
Sicut aquæ tremulum labris ubi lumen ahenis
Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine Lunæ,
Omnia pervolitat latè loca; jamque sub auras
Erigitur, summique ferit laquearia tecti.
Nox erat, et terras animalia fessa per omnes
Alituum pecudumque genus sopor altus habebat :
Cùm pater in ripâ gelidique sub ætheris axe
Æneas, tristi turbatus pectora bello,
Procubuit, seramque dedit per membra quietem.
Huic deus ipse loci, fluvio Tiberinus amono,
Populeas inter senior se attollere frondes
Visus. Eum tenuis glauco velabat amictu
NOTES.
1. Sıgnum. The poet here alludes to the
custom among the Romans, of hanging out
the sign or signal of war from the Capitol.
2. Cornua: trumpets. See Æn. vii. 637.
Concussit equos: roused the active horses.
This he did by the sound of the trumpets,
the clashing of their arms, &c. Impulit ar-
ma.
Some understand by this the throwing
of the spear into the enemy's country, which
was a practice among the Romans. This
was a declaration of war. Servius under-
stands it of the rattling of the arms in the
temple of Mars. But it is easier to under-
stand it of his striking on his shield as a sign
and prelude to the war.
8. Vastant: in the sense of spoliunt. Cul-
toribus: the farmers-inhabitants.
9. Urbem Diomedis: the city of Diomede,
Arpos or Argyripa, a city built by him in
Apulia, after the destruction of Troy. See
Æn. xi. 243, et seq.
12. Posci fatis: that he was demanded
5
10
15
4. Extemplò animi
turbati sunt
10. Et edoceat eum
Teucros consistere La-
tio; Æneam advectum
esse classi,
15. Et addat, quid
Eneas struat his cœptis;
quem eventum pugnæ
cupiat, si fortuna sequa-
tur eum, apparere mani-
festiùs ipsi Diomedi
20 quàm
25
30
18. Talia fiunt per
Latium; quæ cuncta
28. Cùm pater Æneas,
turbatus quoad pectora,
procubuit
by the fates or destinies as a king over the .
Latins.
14. Nomen: the name of Eneas-his
fame-renown, had spread widely.
18. Talia: the verb fiunt, or another o
the like import, is understood.
22. Sicut aqua: as when the tremulous
light in brazen vats of water, reflected from
the sun, or the image of the radiant moon,
flies through, &c. This simile Dr. Trapp
observes is of the low kind; but extremely
elegant and beautiful. By sole, we are to
understand the image of the sun.
24. Sub auras: simply, on high.
27. Alituum: in the sense of volucrum.
28. Sub axe: under the canopy of the
cold sky.
31. Senior Tiberinus, Deus loci: old Ti-
berinus, the god of the place, seemed to him
to raise himself from the pleasant stream
among, &c. This is a incst beautiful de
scription.
432
- P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Carbasus, et crines umbrosa tegebat arundo.
35. Tum cœpit affari Tum sic affari, et curas his demere dictis :
eum sic
O sate gente Deûm, Trojanam ex hostibus urbem
Qui revehis nobis, æternaque Pergama servas,
Expectate solo Laurenti, arvisque Latinis:
39. Hic erit certa do- Hìc tibi certa domus; certi, ne absiste, Penates
mus tibi; hic erunt certi Neu belli terrere minis. Tumor omnis et iræ
Penates tibi: ne absiste Concessêre Deûm.
ab incepto
Jamque tibi, ne vana putes hæc fingere somnum,
Litoreis ingens inventa sub ilicibus sus,
44. Jacebit recubans Triginta capitum fœtus enixa, jacebit,
solo, ipsa alba, et ejus Alba, solo recubans, albi circum ubera nati.
nati albi circum ubera
49. Nunc adverte, do- Ilic locus urbis erit, requies ea certa laborum :
cebo te paucis verbis, quâ Ex quo ter denis urbem redeuntibus annis
Ascanius clari condet cognominis Albam.
ratione tu victor
51. Arcades, genus Haud incerta cano. Nunc, quâ ratione, quod instat,
profectum a Pallante, Expedias victor, paucis, adverte, docebo.
qui comites secuti sunt Arcades his oris, genus à Pallante profectum,
regem Evandrum, qui
secuti sunt ejus signa, Qui regem Evandrum comites, qui signa secuti,
delegêre
Delegêre locum, et posuêre in montibus urbem
NOTES.
34. Tenuis carbasus: fine lawn-a robe
of lawn. In this habit, river-gods were com-
monly represented on medals and ancient
monuments.
36. Gente: of the family-race-stock.
Eneas sprang from Jove both by Dardanus.
and Venus.
37. Revehis: who bringest back to us the
Trojan city, &c. Eterna Pergama: and
Pergamus to continue forever-to be eternal.
Here is an allusion to the opinion of the
Romans, of the eternal duration of their em-
pire. Dardanus, the founder of the Trojan
race, was a native of Italy.
38. Expectate: welcome-looked for: a
part. adj. agreeing with sate in the voc.
"Solo: in the sense of terra.
39. Penates: properly household gods;
by meton. a house or dwelling. Certi Pena
tis: a certain or fixed abode.
41. Concessêre. It is evident that Juno
was still the enemy of the Trojans. To
save Virgil from a seeming inconsistency,
Servius makes the sense, as well as the line,
abrupt; and observes that some have filled
it up thus: Concessêre Deûm profugis nova
Mania Teucris. La Cerda observes, that
Virgil does not say all the gods, and thinks
that it is sufficient for the poet's purpose,
that Jupiter and Neptune, who took part
with the Greeks, were now reconciled to the
Trojans. Ira: the anger of the gods has
ceased-subsided.
44. Fætus enixa: having brought forth a
litter of thirty head, &c. Helenus informed
A.neas, (lib. iii. 389.) that when he should
find a white sow under the holms on the side
of the river, with a litter of thirty white pigs
around her, he might be assured that was
•
35
40
45
50
the place destined to him by the gods. Tr
berinus here repeats the same, lifts the cur-
tain of futurity, and gives him some direc-
tions in his critical affairs.
45. Jacebit recubans: shall lie prostrate,
or stretched on the ground, &c. I think
recubans should be taken in the sense of
strata, or prostrata, and connected with ja-
cebit. To take recubans in its usual sense
and meaning, would be mere tautology. But
in the sense of strata, it gives this addition
al idea, that the animal was lying flat, or at
full length, in the attitude of giving suck to
her pigs.
47. Ex quo: from which time, thirty years
having rolled away, Ascanius shall, &c. The
reckoned from the discovery of the sow, for
thirty years here spoken of, are not to be
reckoned from the discovery of the sow, for
that would not agree with history; but from
the death of Eneas, who sat on the throne
of Lavinium three years. Ascanius suc-
ceeded him, who, in the thirtieth year of his
reign, built Alba Longa, and made it the
seat of his government.
49. Cano: in the sense of dico, vel præ
dico.
50. Expedias: you may accomplish, o
effect.
51. Arcades: plu. of Arcas, a native of
Arcadia, a country of the Peloponnesus.
This was the birth-place of Evander. He
migrated into Italy, and settled on the banks
of the Tiber, upon a mount, which he called
Palantium, Pallanteum, or Palatium, from
his native city Pallantium: or from Pallas,
king of Arcadia, his great grandfather. On
the same spot Rome was afterward built.
53. Posuêre: in the sense of condiderunt.
ENEIS
432
LIB VILL.
Pallantis proavi de nomine, Pallanteum.
Hi bellum assiduè ducunt cum gente Latinâ :
Hos castris adhibe socios, et fœdera jungo.
Ipse ego te ripis et recto flumine ducam,
Adversum remis superes subvectus ut amnem.
Surge, age, nate Deâ ; primisque cadentibus astris
Junoni fer ritè preces, iramque minasque
Supplicibus supera votis.
Mihi victor honorem
Persolves. Ego sum, pleno quem flumine cernis
Stringentem ripas, et pinguia culta secantem,
Cœrulcus Tybris, cœlo gratissimus amnis.
60
Hic mihi magna domus; celsis caput urbibus exit. 65
Dixit deinde lacu fluvius se condidit alto
:
Ima petens: nox Æneam somnusque reliquit.
62. Ego sum ille, quem
cernis
Surgit, et ætherii spectans orientia Solis
Lumina, ritè cavis undam de flumine palmis
Sustulit, ac tales effudit ad æthera voces ;
Tuque, ô Tybri tuo genitor cum flumine sancto,
Accipite Ænean, et tandem arcete perîclis.
70
72. Tuque, O genitor
Nymphæ, Laurentes Nymphæ, genus amnibus unde est; Tybri, cum tuo sancte
Quo te cunque lacus miserantem incommoda nostra
Fonte tenet, quocunque solo pulcherrimus exis;
Semper honore meo, semper celebrabere donis :
Corniger Hesperidum fluvius regnator aquarum,
NOTES.
54. Pallanteum: the name of the city.
56 Junge fœdera: make-ratify a treaty
with them.
57. Recto flumine. This does not mean
that the river was straight, or in a direct
line; but that it would lead him to the place
of his destination-to the residence of Evan-
der, in a direct or unerring course. Absque
errore, says Ruæus.
58. Adversum amnem. By this we are to
understand the current of the river, which
was against him as he ascended it. Ut sub-
vectus: that borne along, you may over-
come, &c.
59. Primis astris cadentibus: the first stars
setting. By this we are to understand the
early dawn. The stars are said to set, when
they disappear at the approach of the sun.
63. Stringentem ripas: touching lightly,
or rolling gently along the banks with my.
full stream. Secantem: in the sense of di-
videntem.
65. Caput exit, &c. There are some com-
mentators who take these words in a pro-
photic or oracular sense, that here should be
the head to lofty cities-Rome, the empress
of the world. The chief difficulty in this
is the word exit, the present for the future:
Dr. Trapp thinks this not very material,
especially in a prophetic or oracular sen-
tence. Others take them in a literal sense.
Here is my palace; my source or head rises
near, or flows from lofty cities. The for-
mer is the best idea. But it is probable,
75
flumine
75. Quocunque sole
tu exis pulcherrimus
amnis; tu celebrabers
semper meo honore,
semper meis donis: 0
corniger fluvius
Virgil intended to include both: and, there-
fore, expressed himself ambiguously. Da-
vidson renders the passage thus: "here is
my spacious mansion; near lofty cities my
fountain springs."
66. Alto lacu. the deepest part of the
stream-the bed of the river.
68. Spectans orientia, &c. It was a cus-
tom of the ancients, in prayer, to turn their
faces toward the east. It was also a cus-
tom to wash their hands before they per-
formed any acts of religion. Eneas for that
purpose takes water (undam) from the ri-
ver, and turns his face toward the rising
sun.
74. Quocunque fonte: in whatever place
thy lake holds, or contains thee pitying, &c.
It was the opinion of some philosophers,
that rivers took their rise from great lakes,
or reservoirs of water under ground. Ænea-
here promises to worship the god Tiber, in
whatever place he found his residence to
be; whether in his primary reservoir, in his
fountain, or in the course of the river. Fon-
te appears to be used here in the sense of
loco.
76. Celebrabere. Some manuscripts have
venerabere: thou shalt be worshipped. Ho-
nore: worship-veneration.
77. Corniger fluvius. Horns are an em
blem of power, and are therefore, applica-
ble to the Tiber, here called the ruler of the
Italian rivers. But it is common with the
poets to ascribe to rivers the form of the
29
434
P VIRGILU MARÓNIS
Adsis ô tantùm, et propiùs tua numina firmes !
Sic memorat: geminasque legit de classe biremes,
Remigioque aptat: socios simul instruit armis.
81. Autem ecce mon- Ecce autem subitum atque oculis mirabile monstrum!
strum subitum atque Candida per sylvam cum fœtu concolor albo
mirabile offert sese ocu- Procubuit, vindique in litore conspicitur sus:
lis, candida sus, conco-
lor, cum albo fœtu pro- Quam pius Æneas, tibi enim, tibi, maxima Juno,
cubuit per sylvam Mactat, sacra ferens, et cum grege sistit ad aram.
84. Quam pius Æneas Tybris eâ fluvium, quàm longa est, nocte tumentem
martat tibi, (enim tibi Leniit; et tacità refluens ita substitit undâ,
jussus est) O maxima
Mitis ut in morem stagni placidæque paludis
Juno, ferens sacra, et
sistit eam
Sterneret æquor aquis, remo ut luctamen abesset.
88. Ut sterneret æquor Ergò iter inceptum celerant rumore secundo.
aquis in morem mitis Labitur uncta vadis abies: mirantur et unḍæ,
stagni
Miratur nemus insuetum, fulgentia longè
his spectaculis miratur Scuta virûm, fluvio pictasque innare carinas.
scuta virum, fulgentia Olli remigio noctemque diemque fatigant,
longè
Et longos superant flexus, variisque teguntur
95. Longos flexus flu- Arboribus, viridesque secant placido æquore sylvas
Sol medium cœli conscenderat igneus orbem,
Cùm muros, arcemque procul, et rara domorum
Tecta vident, quæ nunc Romana potentia cœlo
vii
92. Nemus insuctum
NOTES.
bull. The reason of this is, that the roar-
ing noise of rivers resembles the bellowing
of that animal. See Geor. IV. 372. The
The
Tiber could not be called the king of Italian
rivers from its magnitude; that belongs to
the Eridanus or Po, called the king of ri-
vers.
Geor. I. 482. There must be some
other reason for it; the future magnitude
and glory of Rome, built on its banks; or
Eneas may be supposed to speak from his
own knowledge, supposing the Tiber to be
the largest river. Fluvius, here, is plainly
in the vocative case.
78. Numina: oracles-prophetic declara-
tions.
84. Enim tibi. Mr. Dryden says the
word enim was of such necessity among the
Romans, that a sacrifice could not be per-
formed without it. But this appears a no-
tion entirely his own. Servius says, it is
merely expletive and ornamental. It is
plain there is an ellipsis, which, to make
sense, must be filled. Æneas had just been
ordered by Tiberinus to offer prayers and
supplications to Juno, and to overcome her
resentment by vows and offerings. He sa-
crifices (mactat) to thee, O supreme Juno;
for to thee he was commanded, &c. As Ju-
piter is called Maximus, so Juno, his consort
and queen, is called Maxima. For the
same reason, she is sometimes called omni-
potens.
85. Grege: her pigs-litter of pigs.
86. Ed nocte: in that night. Tumentem
lenart: it smoothed (lowered) its swelling
current.
80
85
90
95
89. Ut sterneret: that it might level the
surface of its waters in the manner, &c.
Aquis: the dat, in the sense of the gen.
90. Secundo rumore. By this we are,
most probably, to understand the shouts
and acclamations with which they animated
each other, under the assurance of a prosper-
ous issue. This assurance they had from
the omen of the white sow. They under-
stood by this that they should succeed to
their wishes.
91. Uncta abies labitur: the ship glides
easily along on the water, as if it were
moving down the current. Abies: properly
the fir-tree; by meton. a ship, because ships
were made of that wood. This is the sense
given by Ruæus and Davidson. Heyne
connects secundo rumore with uncta abies,
understanding by it the noise made in the
water by the oars and the keel as they
moved along. Valpy is of the same opin-
ion. It appears to be an unnecessary re-
finement.
92. Insuetum: unaccustomed to such
sights. His spectaculis, says Ruæus.
94. Fatigant: in the sense of traducunt.
Remigio: in rowing.
95. Flexus: the windings and flexures of
the river.
96. Secant virides: they cut the verdant
trees in the smooth surface-the shades of
the trees, which appeared in the water of
the river, by meton.
97. Medium orbem. This is a fine cir-
cumlocution for the middle of the day. The
sun had ascended the middle of his course
ENEIS. LIB VUI
435
+
Equavit. tum res inopes Evandrus habebat
Ocyùs advertunt proras, urbique propinquant.
Fortè die solemnem illo rex Arcas honorem
Amphitryoniadæ magno Divisque ferebat,
Ante urbem, in luco. Pallas huic filius unà,
Unà omnes juvenum primi, pauperque senatus,
Thura dabant: tepidusque cruor fumabat ad aras.
Ut celsas vidêre rates, atque inter opacum
Allabi nemus, et tacitis incumbere remis;
Terrentur visu subito, cunctique relictis
Consurgunt mensis audax quos rumpere Pallas
Sacra vetat, raptoque volat telo obvius ipse,
Et procul è tumulo, Juvenes, quæ causa subegit
Ignotas tentare vias? quò tenditis? inquit.
100
105
110
106. Dabant thura
huic Deo
107. Atque viros alla
bi inter
111. Ipseque, telo rap
to, volat obvius iis, et
procul è tumulo inquit
114. Qui estis quoad
Unde venistis
115 genus?
120
Qui genus? unde domo? pacemne huc fertis, an arına?
Tum pater Æneas puppi sic fatur ab altâ,
Paciferæque manu ramum prætendit olivæ :
Trojugenas ac tela vides inimica Latinis,
Quos illi bello profugos egêre superbo.
Evandrum petimus: ferte hæc, et dicite lectos
Dardaniæ venisse duces, socia arma rogantes.
Obstupuit, tanto perculsus nomine, Pallas:
Egredere, & quicunque es, ait, coràmque parentem
Alloquere, ac nostris succede penatibus hospes.
Accepitque manu, dextramque amplexus inhæsit.
Progressi subeunt luco, fluviumque relinquunt.
Tum regem Æneas dictis affatur amicis:
Optime Grajugenûm, cui me fortuna precari,
Et vittâ comptos voluit prætendere ramos:
Non equidem extimui, Danaûm quòd ductor et Arcas,
NOTES.
or circuit. The next day after their depar-
ture, they arrived at the city of Evander ;
it was small, and its inhabitants poor.
102. Arcas rex. Evander is called Arcas,
an Arcadian, because he was a native of that
country. Honorem: in the sense of sacrifi-
cium.
103. Amphitryoniada magno: to great
to great
Hercules. A patronymic noun, from Am-
phitryon, the husband of Alcmene, the mo-
ther of Hercules, by Jove. See Æn. VI.
801.
106. Dabant: in the sense of offerebant.
108. Tacitis: silent-not moving. The
impetus, which the galleys had already re-
ceived, was carrying them forward, without
the assistance of the oars, which conse-
quently were still. The oarsmen were rest-
ing upon their oars at the same time, incum-
bere, &c.
aomo?
124. Accepit Æneam
manu
127. Cui fortuna vo
125 luit me precari, et præ-
tendere
129. Equidem non ex-
timui facere id, quòd
fores ductor Danaûm, et
Arcas, quòdque
place to place without any habitation. The
same term he used, Æn. I. 2. in reference to
his leaving his own country, &c. As Pallas
had proposed his questions in a brief man-
ner, so Eneas is as brief in his answers.
Trojugenas profugos answers to the ques-
tion: Qui genus, et unde domo? The olive-
branch is a sufficient reply to Pacem-ne huc
fertis, an arma? To remove any suspicion
arising from their arms, he informs him they
were Inimica Latinis. Having been made
satisfied of their friendly intention, Pallas
immediately invites them on shore.
122. Egredere: come on shore—land, who-
ever thou art-whatever be thy name.
Eneas had informed him they were Tro-
jans, but had not as yet told his name.
126. Regem: Evander.
128. Ramos comptos vittâ: to hold out
113. Quò tenditis: whither are you go- boughs adorned with the fillet. Olive boughs
ing?
114 Arma: in the sense of bellum.
118 Profugos. Most probably we are to
understand by this, the Trojans driven from
their native country, and wandering from
wrapped around with wreaths of white
wool, hanging down over the hands of the
suppliant, were emblems of peace, and de-
noted that the persons came with a friendly
ictention.
436
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Quodque à stirpe fores geminis conjunctus Atridis;
Sed mea me virtus, et sancta oracula Divum,
Cognatique patres, tua terris didita fama,
Conjunxere tibi, et fatis egêre volentem.
Dardanus, Iliacæ primus pater urbis et auctor,
Electrâ, ut Graii perhibent, Atlantide cretus,
Advehitur Teucros: Electram maximus Atlas
Edidit, æthereos humero qui sustinet orbes.
181
135
candida Maia fudit
138. Quem conceptum Vobis Mercurius pater est, quem candida Maia
Cyllenes gelido conceptum vertice fudit.
At Maiam, auditis si quicquam credimus, Atlas,
Idem Atlas generat, cœli qui sidera tollit.
Sic genus amborum scindit se sanguine ab uno.
His fretus; non legatos, neque prima per artem
Tentamenta tui pepigi; memet ipse, meumque
Objeci caput, et supplex ad limina veni.
142. Sic genus ambo-
rum nostrum scindit so
143. Ego fretus his re-
ous non pepigi
nos quoque
149. Et teneant mare,
140
145
150
146. Eadem Daunia Gens eadem, quæ te, crudeli Daunia bello
gons, quæ insequitur te Insequitur: nos si pellant, nihil abfore credunt,
crudeli bello, insequitur Quin omnem Hesperiam penitùs sua sub juga mittant,
Et mare, quod suprà, teneant, quodque alluit infrà.
Sunt nobis fortia bello
quod alluit eam suprà, Accipe, daque fidem.
quodque alluit eam infrà Pectora, sunt animi, et rebus spectata juventus.
152. Ille Evander jam- Dixerat Æneas: ille os oculosque loquentis
dudum lustrabat os ocu- Jamdudum, et totum lustrabat lumine corpus.
losque Æneæ loquentis Tunc sic pauca refert: Ut te, fortissime Teucrûm,
NOTES.
130. A stirpe fores conjunctus, &c. It ap-
pears that Evander was related to the sons
of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus, the
bitter enemies of the Trojans. Atlas was
their common ancestor. He had seven
daughters; of one of them Jove begat
Tantalus, the grandfather of Atreus. Of
another (Maia) he begat Mercury, the repu-
ted father of Evander. Stirpe: in the sense
of origine.
131. Oracula: these were the answers or
responses of the Sibyl. See En. VI. 96.
Dilata diffused-spread.
132. Cognati patres. Electra, the daugh-
ter of Atlas, was the mother of Dardanus, by
Jove; so that Æneas and Evander had the
same
common origin-Atlas and Jove.
T'heir ancestors were relations.
133. Fatis: by their power-authority;
they forced or impelled me hither by their
authority. Yet he came willingly-their
commands and directions concurred with
Lis own inclinations.
135. Cretus: sprung from Electra, the
daughter of Atlas. Here the poet traces
the line of relationship between Æneas and
Evander.
137. Edidit: in the sense of genuit.
139. Fudit: in the sense of peperit, vel
edidit.
140. Si credimus quicquam: if we give
any credit to things heard-to tradition.
Atlas. See Æn. IV. 247. and Geor. I. 138.
Cyllenes: gen. of Cyllene: a mountain in
Arcadia, where Mercury was born; whence
he is sometimes called Cyllenus.
143. Genus: in the sense of gens, vel fa-
milia.
144. Non pepigi prima: I did not make
the first trial of your inclinations in this
matter by ambassadors, nor by art; but I
have come in person-I have exposed my
self and my life to the consequences. Pe
pigi: the perf. of pango. Heyne says, non
priùs le sentovi per legatos, et callida consilia,
which is evidently the sense of the passage.
146. Daunia: an adj. from Daunus, the
father of Turnus.-Rutulian or Italian.
149. Et mare, quod: should they be able
to expel us, they hope to be able to subject
all Italy, from the Adriatic sea on the north,
to the Tuscan or lower sea on the south.
151. Spectata rebus: tried or exercised in
action. Animi: courage.
153. Lustrabat lumine: surveyed with an
attentive cye. Lumine: in the sense of
oculis.
157. Hesiones: Hesione was the daughter
of Laomedon, king of Troy. She married
Telamon, king of the island of Salamis, in
the Sinus Saronicus. Hesiones: gen. of
Hesione; put in apposition with sororis.
159. Protinùs. Dr. Trapp renders this
in his way. But Arcadia lies to the west of
Salamis. It must mean, at the same time-
continuing his journey forward. Priam, being
ÆNEIS. LIB. VIII
137
•
>
Accipio, agnoscoque libens! ut verba parentis
Et vocem Anchise magni vultumque recordor!
Nam memini Hesiones visentem regna sororis
Laomedontiadem Priamum, Salamina petentem,
Protinùs Arcadia gelidos invisere fines.
Tum mihi prima genas vestibat flore juventa:
Mirabarque duces Teucros, mirabar et ipsum
Laomedontiaden: sed cunctis altior ibat
Anchises. Mihi mens juvenili ardebat amore
Compellare virum, et dextræ conjungere dextram.
Accessi, et cupidus Phenei sub mœnia duxi.
Ille mihi insignem pharetram, Lyciasque sagittas
Discedens, chlamydemque auro dedit intertextam,
Frænaque bina, meus quæ nunc habet aurea Pallas.
Ergò et, quam petitis, juncta est mihi fœdere dextra :
Et, lux, cùm primùm terris se crastina reddet,
Auxilio latos dimittam, opibusque juvabo.
Intereà sacra hæc, quando huc venistis amici,
Annua, quæ differre nefas, celebrate faventes
Nobiscum, et jam nunc sociorum assuescite mensis.
Hæc ubi dicta, dapes jubet et sublata reponi
Pocula, gramineoque viros locat ipse sedili :
Præcipuumque toro et villosi pelle leonis
Accipit Eneam, solioque invitat acerno.
Tum lecti juvenes certatim aræque sacerdos
155
160
165
170
175
Viscera tosta ferunt taurorum, onerantque canistris 180
Dona laboratæ Cereris, Bacchumque ministrant.
Vescitur Æneas, simul et Trojana juventus,
Perpetui tergo bovis, et lustralibus extis.
NOTES.
on a visit to his sister at Salamis, proceeded
with his company and attendants to visit
the cool borders of Arcadia. Anchises ac-
companied him, with whom Evander, then
a youth, contracted an acquaintance and
friendship.
160. Flore. Flos here may mean the
down on his cheeks, before he had properly
a beard. Rumus says, lanugine. Vestibat:
by syn. for vestiebat.
165. Phenei. Pheneum or Pheneus, was
a city in Arcadia, near mount Cyllene.
Duzi: I led Anchises, &c.
166. Lycias: an adj. from Lycia, a coun-
try of Asia Minor, whose inhabitants were
famed for their skill in archery. Here Apol-
lo, the god of the bow, had a famous temple.
.169. Mihi: in the sense of mea, agreeing
with dextra.
171. Auxilio. This may refer to the men,
whom Evander sent with him to the war,
and opibus, to the provisions, and other ne-
cessaries, with which he furnished him.
172. Intereà hæc sacra. This is an episode
of the finest kind, and adds much to the
excellence of this book. The story in brief
is this: Cacus, a monster, the son of Vu..an,
half man and half beast, had his residence
m an inaccessible mountain, whe ice he used
166. nle discedens de
dit mihi
172. Interea, quando
vos venistis huc tanquam
amici, faventes celebrate
nobiscum hæc annua sa-
cra, quæ est nefas differre
175. Ubi hæc dicta
sunt, jubet
to make excursions into the plain, and plun
der and lay waste the country. Hercules
on his return from Spain, happened to pass
this way; and having discovered the mon-
ster, by the lowing of one of his heifers,
which he had stolen, came upon him and
slew him. For this act, the inhabitants con-
sidered him their benefactor, and paid him
divine honors.
175. Reponi: to be replaced-brought
back. They had finished their repast, and
the dishes had been removed.
178. Acerno: maple-made of the wood
of the maple-tree.
179. Sacerdos aræ. The feast at the end
of the ceremony was always considered as
a part of the sacrifice. The priest, there-
fore, does nothing out of character in serv-
ing at this entertainment.
180. Tosta viscera: the roasted flesh, &c. -
181. Dona laborala Cereris: a circumlo
cution for bread. Bacchum: for vinum.
183. Tergo perpetui bovis: they feast upon
the chine of an entire ox, and the hallowed
entrails. At some of their entertainments,
it is evident from Homer, that the ancients
used to roast, and serve up whole oxen.
Homer assigns the chine to his heroes, and
that whole and unbroken.
·
438
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Postquam exempta fames, et amor compressus edendi,
Rex Evandrus ait: Non hæc solemnia nobis,
Has ex more dapes, hanc tanti numinis aram,
186
191. Ut moles disjecte
sunt procul
Vana superstitio veterumve ignara Deorum
Imposuit: sævis, hospes Trojane, perîclis
Servati facimus, meritosque novamus honores.
Jam primùm saxis suspensam hanc aspice rupem :
Disjectæ procul ut moles, desertaque montis
Stat domus, et scopuli ingentem traxêre ruinam.
193. Hic fuit spelunca Hic spelunca fuit vasto submota recessu,
submota vasto recessu, Semihominis Caci facies quam dira tenebat,
quam inaccessam radiis
solis, dira facies
Solis inaccessam radiis; semperque recenti
Cæde tepebat humus; foribusque affixa superbis
Ora virûm tristi pendebant pallida tabo.
Huic monstro Vulcanus erat pater: illius atros
199. Ille vomens atros Ore vomens ignes, magnâ se mole ferebat.
ignes illius patris ex ore Attulit et nobis aliquando optantibus ætas
ferebat se
201. Nam Alcides ade- Auxilium adventumque Dei: ram maximus ultor,
rat, maximus ultor cri- Tergemini nece Geryonis spoliisque superbus,
minum, superbus nece, Alcides aderat : taurosque hàc victor agebat
spoliisque
Ingentes: vallemque boves amnemque tenebant.
At furiis Caci mens effera, ne quid inausum
Aut intractatum scelerisve dolive fuisset,
209. Atque occultabat Quatuor à stabulis præstanti corpore tauros
hos opaco saxo, tractos Avertit, totidem formâ superante juvencas.
in speluncam caudâ, rap- Atque hos, ne qua forent pedibus vestigia rectis,
Caudâ in speluncam tractos, versisque viarum
arum, ne qua vestigia
forent ex pedibus rectis Indiciis raptos, saxo occultabat opaco.
tosque versis indiciis vi-
NOTES.
184. Compressus: was allayed. The verb
est is understood.
186. Hanc aram: this sacrifice in honor
of so great a god. Ara, by meton. for the
sacrifice offered upon it.
187. Non superstitio: not superstition,
vain and ignorant of the old gods, hath im-
posed on us these solemn rites, these, &c.
Superstition here is opposed to religion. The
former was the worship of modern gods, to
the neglect of the old ones; while the latter
was adhering to the established worship of
the old gods exclusively. The religion of
Evander was not a false superstition, disre-
garding the ancient gods, and the establish-
ed order of their worship. It was founded
in gratitude to Hercules, for a great deliver-
ance from a most cruel monster.
189. Meritos honores: Ruæus says, meri-
tum culluт. Novamus: we repeat.
191. U in the sense of quomodo.
194. Dira facies Caci, &c. Dr. Trapp
observes, it is a peculiar elegancy in poetry,
to put a person's most remarkable quality
in a substantive, as an epithet to him in an
adjective. Thus: sapientia Lali, for wise
Lælius. Vis Herculis, for powerful Hercu-
les. Dira facies Casi, for direful-looking
Cacus. See supra. 172.
197. Ora: in the sense of capita.
190
195
200
205
210
199. Magnâ mole: of vast size or magnitude.
200. Etas aliquando: time at length
brought also aid, and the presence of a god
to us wishing it-greatly desiring it. Et.
also. It brought aid, &c. to us, as it had
done to many others, whose grievances Her-
cules had redressed.
202. Geryonis: Geryon was said to have
three bodies, because he reigned over the
three islands, Majorca, Minorca, and Ivica,
on the Spanish coast of the Mediterranean.
See Æn. vi. 289.
204. Amnem: this must mean the banks
of the river, and not the river itself. Effera:
in the sense of concitata. Mens Caci: the
mind of Cacus, by meton. for Cacus himself.
203. Avertit: in the sense of abducit. Su-
perante: in the sense of eximia, vel pulchra.
The prep. è is understood, to govern formâ.
It also governs corpore, in the preceding line.
209. Ne qua vestigia forent, &c. The
meaning is that Cacus drew the cattle
backward to his cave, that their tracks might
seem to proceed from it; and might lead the
searcher for them the other way; and by
that means prevent discovery.
211. Saxo opaco. By this we may under
stand his cave, which was in a rocky moun
tain. Or by saxum, the stone which shu:
the mouth or entrance of his cave. He hid
ENEIS. LIB. VIII
439
Quærentem nulla aa speluncam signa ferebant.
Intereà cùm jam stabulis saturata moveret
Amphitryoniades armenta, abitumque pararet,
Discessu mugire boves, atque omne querelis
Impleri nemus, et colles clamore relinqui.
Reddidit una boum vocem, vastoqué sub antro
Mugiit, et Caci spem custodita fefellit.
Hic verò Alcide furiis exarserat atro
Felle dolor: rapit arma manu, nodisque gravatum
Robur, et aërii cursu petit ardua montis.
Tum primùm nostri Cacum vidêre timentem,
Turbatumque oculis. Fugit ilicèt ocyor Euro,
Speluncamque petit: pedibus timor addidit alas.
Ut sese inclusit, ruptisque immane catenis
Dejecit saxum, ferro quod et arte paternâ
Pendebat; fultosque emuniit objice postes;
Ecce furens animis aderat Tirynthius, omnemque
Accessum lustrans, hue ora ferebat et illuc,
Dentibus infrendens. Ter totum fervidus irå
Lustrat Aventini montem; ter saxea tentat
Limina nequicquam; ter fessus valle resedit.
Stabat acuta silex, præcisis undique saxis,
Speluncæ dorso insurgens, altissima visu,
Dirarum nidis domus opportuna volucrum.
Hanc, ut prona jugó lævum incumbebat ad amnem,
Dexter in adversum nitens concussit, et imis
NOTES.
them in his cave, by shutting the entrance
upon them. Indiciis: in the sense of signis.
212. Quærentem: Hercules searching for
his cattle. Ferebant: in the sense of duce-
bunt.
214. Abitum: a sup. in um, of abeo; to
depart.
215. Discessu: in their departure-as he
was driving them off. This bellowing of
his cattle was in consequence of the loss of
those that had been stolen by Cacus. At
this moment one of those shut up in the
cave, hearing the bellowing of her mates,
answered, and by that means, led to a disco-
very.
216. Relinqui: the hills were left by the
cattle, to proceed on their way; and conse-
quently, they would cease to resound with
the lowings of the herd.
219. Furiis: in the sense of in furias.
220. Dolor atro felle: then indeed rage
from the black gall of Hercules, flamed into
fury. Alcide: gen. of Alcides, a name of
Hercules. The poet here supposes the gall
to be the seat of the angry passions.
221. Robur: the club was the principal
weapon of Hercules.
223. Oculis. By this is evidently meant
the sight of Hercules. On seeing the hero
approach, Cacus was filled with fear and
consternation. Dr. Trapp and Mr. David-
son, both give a very singular turn to this.
215
220
225
230
235
212. Nulla signa fere-
bant heroa quærentem
boves
215. Boves cœperunt
mugire discessu, atque
omne nemus cæpit im-
pleri querelis. et colles
cœperunt relinqui cla-
more
221. Ardua jugu aérii
montis
222. Nostri homines
-236. Hercules dexter
nitens in adversum con-
cussit hanc silicem, ut
prona incumbebat jugo
ad lævum amnem, et
solvit eam avulsam
They think that Cacus by his eyes ex
pressed his fear and dismay. Rumus says
visu.
226. Paterna ärte: by his father's art.
The Cyclops, the servants of Vulcan, are said
tỏ håve invented the art of fortifying cities.
227. Postes: properly the door-posts. By
meton. the door or entrance. Objice: from
obex, à bolt or bar-any thing that shutteth
in or out, and preventeth passage. Fultos:
secured.
228. Tirynthius. A name of Hercules,
from Tirynthus, a town of Argolis, in the
Peloponnesus, where he passed the greater
part of his youth.
229. Ferebat ora: he cast his eyes-he
looked on every side.
233. Acuta silex stabat, &c. The mean-
ing of the passage is this: on the side of
the cave, stood.a large flinty rock, and pro-.
jecting with its top over the river on the left.
This the hero observing, he took his stand
opposite to it on the right; and exerting his
strength, started it from its bed, and pulled
it over. By this means, an aperture was
made into the cave of the monster.
cave was on Mount Aventinus, on the east
of the Tiber. Saxis præcisis undique: the
rock being sharpened or tapered all around
toward the top. This rock was a suita-
ble place for the haunts of inauspicious
birds.
This
440
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
*
Avulsam solvit radicibus: inde repentè
Impulit, impulsu quo maximus insonat æther:
Dissultant ripæ, refluitque exterritus annis.
At specus, et Caci detecta apparuit ingens
Regia, et umbrosa penitùs patuere cavernæ.
243. Non secùs ac Non secùs ac siquâ penitùs vi terra dehiscens
siquâ vi terra dehiscens Infernas reseret sedes, et regna recludat
penitùs reseret infernas
sedes
Pallida, Dîs invisa; supèrque immane barathrum
Cernatur, trepidentque immisso lumine Manes
247. Ergo Alcides pre- Ergò insperatâ deprensum in luce repentè,
mit eum telis desuper, Inclusumque cavo saxo, atque insueta rudentem,
repentè deprensum in
Desuper Alcides telis premit, omniaque arma
insperata luce
Advocat, et ramis vastisque molaribus instat.
240
245
·
256. Alcides
animis non tulit
ipseque jecit
in nodum
250
Ille autem, neque enim fuga jam super ulla pericli est,
Faucibus ingentem fumum, mirabile dictu!
Evomit; involvitque domum caligine cœcâ,
Prospectum eripiens oculis: glomeratque sub antro
Fumiferam nocteni, commixtis igne tenebris.
ardens Non tulit Alcides animis; seque ipse per ignem
hoc; Præcipiti jecit saltu, quà plurimus undam
255
Fumus agit, nebulâque ingens specus æstuat atrâ.
Hic Cacum in tenebris incendia vana vomentem
260. Complexus eum Corripit, in nodum complexus; et angit inhærens
Elisos oculos, et siccum sanguine guttur.
Panditur extemplò foribus domus atra revulsis :
Abstractæque boves, abjuratæque rapinæ
Calo ostenduntur; pedibusque informe cadaver
Protrahitur. Nequeunt expleri corda tuendo
265. Nostra corda ne-
queunt,
236. Jugo: in the sense of vertice.
238. Solvit: loosened it.
NOTES.
239. Quo impulsu : by the fall of which.
240. Ripa dissultant. Mr. Davidson thinks
this is to be taken in a literal sense; the
banks leap different ways. The tumbling
rock shatters the bank, and makes it fly in
pieces. These shattered fragments, together
with the splinters of the rock, falling into
the river, drive back its current. This
plain natural effect, the poet describes in
animated style: Dissultant ripæ, &c.
241. Delecta: uncovered.
242. Umbrose: in the sense of tenebrosa.
Penitùs widely-deeply.
244. Rescret: in the sense of aperiat.
245. Invisa Dis: abhorred-hated by the
gods. Ruæus interprets invisa, by inaspec-
ta: unseen-invisible. Dr. Trapp thinks
this to be one of the finest similes that ever
was written. The idea is taken from Ho-
mer. Iliad, Lib. 20. Super: in the sense
of desuper.
248. Rudentem insuetà: roaring hugely.
Insueta: an adj. neu. plu, taken as an adv.
in imitation of the Greeks.
250. Ramis. Here the boughs are taken for
the trees that bore them, by synec.; for the
boughs would have been too feeble weapons.
Molare vroperly a mill-stone-here any
260
265
stone. Advocat: calls to his aid every kind
of weapon, &c.
251. Fuga: escape. Super est. The parts
of the verb are separated by tmesis.
253. Involvit: in the sense of implet.
254. Oculis: from the eyes of Hercules.
Glomerat: whirls around in his cave, &c.
256. Animis: in the sense of irâ.
257. Quà fumus: where the smoke as-
cends thickest in wavy columns; and where
the capacious den waves in black clouds of
smoke.
260. Inhærens angit: holding him fast, he
squeezes his eyes started from their sockets,
and his throat destitute of blood. He held
him so fast about the neck, that his eyes
started from their sockets. It also prevented.
the circulation of the blood; the conse-
quence of which was death.
263. Abstracta boves: these were the sto-
len or filched heifers of Hercules. Abjura-
tæ
ta rapina: abjured plunder. Most proba-
bly these were things which Cacus had ae-
oath to have been in his posses-
nied
sion.
upon
264. Cœlo: in the sense of luci.
265. Corda: in the sense of animi, vel
oculi.
ENEIS. LIB VIII.
441
Terribiles oculos, vultum, villosaque setis
Pectora semiferi, atque extinctos faucibus ignes.
Ex illo celebratus honos, lætique minores
Servavere diem; primusque Potitius auctor,
Et domus Herculei custos Pinaria sacri,
Hanc aram luco statuit; quæ maxima semper
Dicetur nobis, et erit quæ maxima semper.
Quare agite, ô juvenes, tantarum in munere laudum,
Cingite fronde comas, et pocula pôrgite dextris;
Communemque vocate Deum, et date vina volentes.
Dixerat. Herculeâ bicolor cùm populus umbrâ
Velavitque comas, foliisque innexa pependit;
Et sacer implevit dextram scyphus. Ocyùs omnes
In mensam læti libant, Divosque precantur.
Devexo intereà propior fit vesper Olympo:
Jamque sacerdotes, primusque Potitius, ibant,
Pellibus in morem cincti, flammasque ferebant.
Instaurant epulas, et mensæ grata secundæ
Dona ferunt, cumulantque oneratis lancibus aras.
Tum Salii ad cantus, incensa altaria circum
NOTES.
269. Auctor: institutor-founder.
270. Domus: in the sense of familia. Sa-
cr: in the sense of sacrificii, says Rumus.
Custos: keeper-preserver. Ruæus inter-
prets it by ministra; which implies that this
family performed the offerings and sacrifices
to Hercules themselves. Davidson renders
it: "the depository of this institution sacred
to Hercules.' ">
271. Quæ dicetur: which shall always be
called the greatest by us, &c. Dionysius
informs us that this was the altar on which
Hercules offered the tenth of his spoils. On
that account it became the object of their
chief veneration; and was therefore called
maxima, to distinguish it from the numerous
altars, which that hero had in Italy.
273. Munere tantarum : in the celebration
of so great virtue, &c. Laudum : praise-
worthy deeds. Munus, says Donatus, dici-
tur cura cujusque rei perficiendæ imposita
cum necessitate faciendi.
275. Communem Deum. Those gods were
called communes, or common, who were wor-
shipped on account of their general good,
or utility. Such were Mars and Mercury.
Hercules was one of them. The Arcadians,
Trojans, and Italians, equally worshipped
them.
276. Populus bicolor, &c. The poplar tree
was sacred to Hercules, because, in his de-
scent to hell, he made himself a crown of the
leaves of that tree. The part next his head
retained its color, while the outer part be-
came black with the smoke of the infernal
regions. Hence it is called bicolor: double-
colored. Herculeâ umbra: with its Hercu-
Can shade.
267. Pectora seriferi
Caci villosa
268. Ex illo tempore
honos Herculis celebra-
270 tus est
270. Et Pinaria do
mus, custos Herculei
sacri
275. Herculem com-
276 munem Deum.
280
285 Tum Salii evincti
quoad tempora populeis
285 ramis adsunt
278. Scyphus: a large vessel or cup used
by Hercules, and sacred to that god. It is
of Greek origin.
280. Vesper fit: the evening becomes
nearer, the heaven being set-the day being
closed. This is said according to the notion
of those philosophers, who taught that the
whole heavens revolve about the earth in
the space of twenty-four hours. As the
hemisphere of day sets, that of the night
arises. Devexo Olympo: the day drawing
toward a close. This is the better version.
For night had not yet arrived. It was only
fast approaching-it was coming near.
282. Cincti: clad in skins according to
custom. This custom was founded on the
habit of Hercules, which was the skin of a
lion.
284. Cumulant aras: they heap the al
tars with full chargers. La Cerda under-
stands this of the incense, which, on soleinn
occasions, used to be offered on broad plates.
This seems to agree best with the following
words: circum incensa altaria: around the
altars burning with incense. Others refer it
to the dona secundæ mensæ; the fruits and
other delicacies which used to be served up
in the second course; and, in the sacred
banquets, were first presented on the altar
by way of consecration. The ancients di
vided their feasts into one, two, and some-
times three courses, or tables: the first
Course consisted of meats, which being re
moved, a second course was brought on,
consisting of fruits, deserts, wine, &c. They
were denominated prima mensa, secunda
mensa, &c.
285. Salii. These were a choir of twelve
277. Innera: in the sense of implicata. men of patrician order, first instituted by
442
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
•
287. Hic est chorus Populeis adsunt eyineti tempora ramis.
ros, mactas bimembres
juvenam, ille est chorus Hic juvenum chorus, ille senum; qui carmine laudes
senum; qui
Herculeas et facta ferunt: ut prima novercæ
288. Ut premens ma-
nu eliserit prima mon-
Monstra manu, geminosque premens eliserit angues,
stra novercæ Junonis, Ut bello egregias idem disjecerit urbes,
geminosque angues: Trojamque, chaliamque; ut duros mille labores
293. Tu, O invicte he- Rege sub Eurystheo, fatis Junonis iniquæ,
nubigenas
Pertulerit. Tu nubigenas, invicte, bimembres,
296. Cerberus janitor Hylæumque, Pholumque manu; tu Cressia mactas
Ocri, recubans cruento Prodigia, et vastum Nemeæ sub rupe leonem
antro super semesa ossa, Te Stygii tremuere lacus: te janitor Orci,
tremuit te: nec ulla fa- Ossa super recubans antro semesa cruento.
Nec te ulla facies, non terruit ipse Typhous
300. Lernæus anguis
cum turba capitum cir- Arduus, arma tenens: non te rationis egentem
cumstetit te non egen- Lernæus turbâ capitum circumstetit anguis.
Salve, vera Jovis proles, decus addite Divis;
302. Tu dexter adi et Et nos, et tua dexter adi pede sacra secundo.
cies terruerunt te
tem rationis.
nos et tua sacra
NOTES.
Numa in honor of Mars. Virgil supposes
that Evander was the founder of it in ho-
nor of Hercules, so called from salio. Evan-
der divided his band into two choirs; the
one consisting of youths, the other of old men.
286. Adsunt: in the sense of accedunt vel
saltant. Cantus: music-song. Ruæus
says, inter cantus.
288. Ferunt carmine: they celebrate in
song the praises of Hercules, and his heroic
deeds. The chief of these are ten, which
are denominated labors. 1. When in his
cradle, he killed the two serpents that Juno
sent to devour him; 2. He took Troy in the
reign of Laomedon, because he refused to
pay the promised reward for delivering his
daughter Hesione from a whale; 3. He
destroyed the city of Echalia, in Thessaly,
because Eurytus, its king, refused to give
him his daughter after he had promised her
to him; 4. The servitude imposed upon him
by Eurystheus, king of Mycena; 5. His
victory over the centaurs, a people of Thes-
saly; 6. His victory over the bull that ra-
vaged Crete. This bull vomited or breath-
ed flames. Some say he killed him, others
that he carried him to Eurystheus; 7. His
victory over the lion in the Nemean grove;
8. His descent into hell; 9. He assisted the
gods in the war against the giants; 10. He
killed the hydra of a hundred heads in the
lake of Lerna. It is said he built a funeral
pile on mount Ela, in Thessaly, on which
he threw himself; and having become pu-
rified from all mortal pollution, he ascended
to heaven, and took a seat among the gods.
See Lex. under Hercules. Ferunt: in the
sense of memorant vel celebrant.
289. Premens: grasping in his hand, he
killed the first monsters, &c. Ut: how.
292 Eurystheo. Eurystheus was king of
Myc.no, to whom Hercules was made sub-
jeo, by the fates for a term of years. He
290
295 -
300
imposed on him the severest labors, at the
instance of Juno, with an intention to des-
troy him. Juno was the bitter enemy of
her stepson. Hence she is called iniquæ
Junonis. Fatis: by the order-destination.
Per potestatem Junonis, says Ruæus.
293. Nubigenas: the cloud-born sons.-
They were fabled to have been the sons of
Ixion and Nubes. Their upper part was
human, their lower part a horse. Hence
they are called binnembres : double membered.
The truth of the fable is this: Mount Pe-
lion was infested by a species of wild cattle
or bulls, that proved very troublesome to the
inhabitants of the adjacent country. Ixion,
king of Thessaly, offered a great reward to
any who should destroy them. Whereupon,
the young men of a village called Nephele
undertook it. For this purpose they mount-
ed on horseback, and attacked them with
such success, that, in a short time, they were
utterly destroyed. Hence the fable of their
being begotten by lxion on a cloud, Nephele
being the Greek word for a cloud. They
were called Centaur, from the circumstance
of their killing these bulls. Tu, invicte.
This is a beautiful transition from the third
person to the second. This figure, properly
used, renders composition animated and
lively.
294. Cressia prodigia: the bull that
breathed fire, and the hind with brazen feet.
Prodigia: monsters.
296. Tremuëre: in the sense of timuerunt.
299. Egentem rationis: wanting presence
of mind-reason. Circumstetit: surround-
ed-assaulted on every side.
301. Addite: added to the gods as an
honor to their assembly. Addile: a part.
agreeing with vera proles, in the voc.
302. Dexter: favorable-propitious. Adi:
approach-visit. Rumus says, veni. Se-
cundo pede: with favorable omens-signs.
ÆNEIS LIB. VIJ!.
448
Talia carminibus celebrant; super omnia Caci
Speluncam adjiciunt, spirantemque ignibus ipsum.
310
315
Consonat omne nemus strepitu, collésque resultant. 305
Exin se cuncti divinis rebus ad urbem
Perfectis referunt. Ibat rex obsitus ævo;
Et comitem Æneam juxtà natumque tenebat
Ingrediens, varioque viam sermone levabat.
Miratur, facilesque oculos fert omnia circum
Æneas, capiturque locis; et singula lætus
Exquiritque auditque virum monumenta priorum.
Tum rex Evandrus, Romanæ conditor arcis:
Hæc nemora indigenæ Fauni Nymphæque tenebant,
Gensque virûm truncis et duro robore nata:
Qucis neque mos, neque cultus erat; nec jungere tauros.
Aut componere opes norânt, aut parcere parto ;
Sed rami, atque asper victu venatus alebat.
Primus ab æthereo venit Saturnus Olympo,
Arma Jovis fugiens, et regnis exul ademptis.
Is genus indocile ac dispersum montibus altis
Composuit, legesque dedit: Latiumque vocari
Maluit, his quoniam latuisset tutus in oris.
Aurea, quæ perhibent, illo sub rege fuerunt
Sæcula; sic placidâ populos in pace regebat.
Deterior donec paulatim ac decolor ætas,
Et belli rabies, et amor successit habendi.
Tum manus Ausoniæ, et gentes venêre Sicanæ :
Sæpiùs et nomen posuit Saturnia tellus.
Tum reges, asperque immani corpore Tybris ;
A quo pòst Itali fluvium cognomine Tybrim
Diximus amisit verum vetus Albula nomen.
NOTES.
303. Super omnia: above all-in addition
to all other things.
307.Obsitus avo: sown thick with age-
with gray hairs, and other marks of age.
This is a metaphor taken from a field of
corn.
310. Faciles oculos: his rolling eyes-his
eyes eager to observe the various scenes that
presented to his view.
311. Capitur: is captivated-charmed.
312. Singula: all-every one. This word
signifies all taken singly-one by one.
313. Conditor Romana arcis. Evander's
city Pailanteum was built upon the hill,
afterward called mons Palatinus; where
Romulus laid the foundation of Rome.
314. Indigena: properly, a sub. here used
as an adj.: born in the place-native of the
country-not foreign.
315. Gens virûm nata: a race of men
sprung from the trunks of trees and hard
oak. At first men inhabited the deserts and
forcsts. Hence they were thought to have
sprung from trees. Mos: in the sense of
leges. Cultus: civil institutions.
317. Aut parcere parto: or to use frugal-
y what they had acquired. This descrip-
320
325
330
313. Conditor Roma
næ arcis inquit: Fauni,
Nymphæque indigene,
gensque virùm nata
322. Maluitque régi-
vocari Latium,
onem
quonia
D
330. Tum reges vene
runt; asperque Tybris
ex immani corpore venit,
à quo nos Itali pòst
tion of the state of the spot where Rome
was afterward built, and its comparison
with its state when the poet wrote, must
have been highly gratifying to his country-
men.
318. Asper: in the sense of durus.
320. Regnis ademptis: his possessions
(kingdom) being taken from him-banished
from his throne and kingdom.
322. Composuit: he united together-he
formed into society a race, &c.
326. Donec deterior· till, by little and lit-
tle, a depraved and corrupt age, and a rage
for war, &c. Here is an allusion to the sil
ver, brass, and iron ages. See Ecl. iv. 6.
327. Habendi: of possessing-getting
wealth.
329. Posuit nomen: changed its name
laid it down.
330. Tybris. He was a king of the Tus-
cans, and, being slain near the river, gave
his name to it. Its original name was Al-
bula. Some derive its name from Tiberinus,
king of the Albans, who was drowned in
it. Asper: fierce.
332. Diximus: called. Apellavimus, says
Ruæus.
144
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
336. Tremendaque mo-
nita Carmentis Nymphæ
meæ matris, et Deus
Apollo auctor egêre me
huc.
progressus monstrat
339. Quam homines
mentis
Me pulsum patriâ, pelagique extrema sequentem,
Fortuna omnipotens et ineluctabile fatum
His posuere locis: matrisque egêre tremenda
Carmentis Nymphæ monita, et Deus auctor Apollo.
Vix ea dicta, dehinc progressus, monstrat et aram,
Et Carmentalem Romano nomine portam,
335
340
345
Quain memorant Nymphæ prisçum Carmentis honorem
337. Vix ea dicta fue- Vatis fatidicæ; cecinit quæ prima futuros
runt, dehinc Evander Æneadas magnos, et nobile Pallanteum.
Hinc lucum ingentem, quem Romulus acer asylum
memorant fuisse priscum Rettulit, et gelidâ monstrat sub rupe Lupercal,
honorem Nymphæ Car- Parrhasio dictum Panos de more Lycæi.
Necnon et sacri monstrat nemus Argileti :
342. Hinc monstrat in- Testaturque locum, et letum docet hospitis Argi.
347. Hinc ducit Æne- Hinc ad Tarpeiam sedem et Capitolia ducit,
Aurea nunc, olim sylvestribus horrida dumis
Jam tum relligio pavidos terrebat agrestes
351. Evander inquit: Dira loci; jam tum sylvam saxumque tremebant.
Dous (sed quis Deus, est
incertum,) habitat hoc Hoc nemus, hunc, inquit, frondoso vertice collem,
Quis Deus, incertum est, habitat Deus. Arcades ipsum
gentem
an ad
nemus, et hunc
NOTES.
333. Sequentem: experiencing the dangers
of the sea.
Ruæus says, quærentem ultima
spatia maris. Heyne takes extrema pelagi,
in the sense of ultimum mare.
336. Auctor. By this Servius understands
the author of oracles. Ruæus takes it in
the sense of suasor: persuader, or adviser.
This is the sense given to the word by Da-
vidson.
337. Dehinc: in the sense of cùm.
340. Fatidicæ vatis: a prophetic prophet-
ess. Cecinit in the sense of prædixit.
342. Quem asylum: which Romulus ren-
dered an asylum-reduced or turned into an
asylum. This was a place of safety to all
criminals who should take refuge in it.
Multitudes fled thither from the neighbor-
ing nations. By this means, Romulus in-
creased the number of his subjects; which
was the object he had in view. But then
they were desperate and abandoned charac-
ters generally. Hinc: in the sense of deinde.
343. Lupercal. This was a piace at the
foot of Mount Palatine, where the Arcadians
under Evander built a temple to Pan, the
god of Arcadia; where he was worshipped
as the protector of their flocks from wolves.
Lupercal, from lupus, a wolf. Here the
young men performed their annual plays
naked, and were called Luperci. Some sup-
pose Romulus to have instituted these sports,
because, in that place, he was nourished by
Lupa.
344. Dictum de: so called from the Ar-
cadian manner of Lycman Pan. Parrhasto:
an adj. from Parrhasia, a district and city
of Arcadia. Lycai: an adj. from Lycæus,
a mountain in Arcadia, where Pan was par-
ticularly worshipped.
350
345. Argileti. Argiletum was a place be-
tween mount Aventinus and Capitolinus, so
called because it belonged to Argus; or be-
cause he there hospitably entertained Evan-
der on his arrival in Italy; or, lastly, be-
cause he was buried there. For some cause
or other, Argus was killed by the new
comers, without the knowledge of Evan-
der, who gave him a sumptuous burial.
346. Testatur locum: he calls the place to
witness, &c. On seeing the place, the re-
membrance of his friend and host sensibly
affected him. He began immediately to
make protcstations of his innocence, and
call the place to witness that he was clean
from the foul deed. Docet: he relates-he
informs Æneas of the death of his host.
347. Tarpeiam sedem: the Tarpeian rock.
This is so called by anticipation. It was
not given to the place till the time of Ro-
mulus. It was first called Saturnium, from
a city built by Janus, in memory of his
friendship and union with Saturn. After-
wards called by Romulus Tarpeium, and
lastly Capitolinum, because the head of a
foundations of the capitol were laid.
man (caput) was found there, when the
349. Dira relligio: even then the awful
sanctity of the place terrified the fearful rus-
tics. Dr. Trapp observes, there is some-
thing wonderfully grand and awful in this
image, both as it is in itself, and as it is con-
nected with what follows; the capitol is to
be built upon it. A god had already chosen
it for his residence. Rumus says, horrida
sanctitas.
350. Tremebant: they feared even then
the grove, &c.
ENEIS. LIB. VIII.
445
Credunt se vidisse Jovem ; cùm sæpe nigrantem
Ægida concuteret dextrâ, nimbosque cieret.
Hæc duo prætereà disjectis oppida muris,
Relliquias veterumque vides monumenta virorum.
Hanc Janus pater, hanc Saturnus condidit urbem:
Janiculum huic, illi fuerat Saturnia nomen.
Talibus inter se dictis ad tecta subibant
Pauperis Evandri; passimque armenta videbant
Romanoque foro et lautis mugire Carinis.
Ut ventum ad sedes: Hæc, inquit, limina victor
Alcides subiit; hæc illum regia cepit.
'Aude, hospes, contemnere opes, et te quoque dignum
Finge Deo, rebusque veni non asper egenis.
Dixit: et angusti subter fastigia tecti
Ingentem Æneam duxit; stratisque locavit,
Effultum foliis et pelle Libystidis ursæ.
355
355. Prætereà vides
hæc duo oppida
358. Janiculum fuerat
nomen huic, Saturnia
360 fuerat nomen illi.
365
370
375
Nox ruit, et fuscis tellurem amplectitur alis.
At Venus haud animo nequicquam exterrita mater,
Laurentûmque minis et duro mota tumultu,
Vulcanum alloquitur; thalamoque hæc conjugis aureo
Incipit, et dictis divinum aspirat amorem :
Dum bello Argolici vastabant Pergama reges
Debita, casurasque inimicis ignibus arces;
Non ullum auxilium miseris, non arma rogavi
Artis opisque tuæ nec te, charissime conjux,
Incassùmve tuos volui exercere labores;
Quamvis et Priami deberem plurima natis,
Et durum Æneæ flevissem sæpè laborem ;
Nunc Jovis imperiis Rutulorum constitit oris :
Ergò cadem supplex venio, et sanctum mihi numen
NOTES.
354. Agida: acc. sing. of ægis, a shield
made of goat skin, from a Greek word
signifying a goat. Nimbos: nimbus pro-
perly signifies those deep and black clouds,
which brew storms, thunder, and lightning
-the tempest itself.
355. Muris disjectis: their walls being
demolished-thrown down.
361. Carinis. Carina was the name of
a magnificent street in Rome, where Pom-
pey had his house.
362. Ad sedes: to the palace of Evander.
Ventum est is understood: in the sense of
venerunt.
364. Aude: be not afraid to despise.
Davidson says,
"have greatness of mind to
undervalue magnificence," &c.
365. Finge te quoque: manifest yourself
worthy of a god. By Deo, some under-
stand Hercules, whom Evander would have
Æneas to imitate. But the quoque seems to
determine it to be taken in a general sense:
as Hercules acted worthy of a god, so do
you, Veni non asper: come not displeased
with our poverty. Finge: Rumus says, os-
tende. Asper: -for offensus.
380
361. Mugire in loco,
deinde dictoque Romano
foro, et lautis Carinis.
367. Locavitque eum
stratis, effultum foliis
370. At Venus mater
Æneæ haud nequicquam
exterrita animo, mota-
que
372. Incipitque hæc
verba in aureo
376. Non rogavi ullum
auxilium miseris Troja-
nis, non rogavi ulla arma
tuæ artis opisque
370. At Venus. This is a fine episouo.
It consists, properly, of three parts: the con-
versation between Venus and her husband
the casting and forging of the arms by
the Cyclops, with a description of the place
-the sculpture upon the shield of Æneas,
&c. The whole is in imitation of the Iliad,
lib. 12. where Thetis entreats Vulcan to
make arms for her son. But Virgil is supe-
rior to Homer in dignity of sentiment.
373. Aspirat. Some copies have inspirat.
The sense is the same in either case. She
inspires into her husband a divine love by
her endearing words.
375. Debita: destined-doomed to de-
struction, in consequence of the perjury of
Laomedon. After which, Neptune and
Apollo became the enemies of Troy. See
Geor. i. 502.
379. Deberem: I owed very much to the
sons of Priam.
382. Eadem venio: I, the same affection-
ate wife, who have always been so tender
of your honor, and so loth to give you
trouble, come to you a suppliant, and ask
of your divinity, sacred to me arms a
446
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
mis
388. Fovet
383. Thetis filia Nerei Arma rogo, genitrix nato. Te filia Nerei,
potuit flectere te, et Ti- Te potuit lachrymis Tithonia flectere conjux.
thonia conjux potuit
flectere te suis lachry- Aspice, qui coëant populi, quæ mania clausis
Ferrum acuant portis, in me excidiumque meorum.
Dixerat: et niveis hinc atque hinc Diva lacertis
Deum Cunctantem amplexu molli fovet: ille repentè
cunctantem molli am- Accepit solitam flammam; notusque medullas
Intravit calor, et labefacta per ossa cucurrit :
Non secùs atque olim tonitru cùm rupta corusco
Ignea rima micans percurrit lumine nimbos.
Sensit læta dolis, et formæ conscia conjux.
plexu.
393 Conjux ejus læta
dolis, et conscia formæ
suæ sensit id
Tum pater æterno fatur devinctus amore :
Quid causas petis ex alto? fiducia cessit
Quò tibi, Diva, mei? similis si cura fuisset,
Tum quoque fas nobis Teucros armare fuisset.
Nec pater omnipotens Trojam, nec fata vetabant
Stare, decemque alios Priamum superesse per annos.
Et nunc, si bellare paras, atque hæc tibi mens est :
401. Quicquid cure Quicquid in arte meâ possum promittere curæ,
est in mea arte possum Quod fieri ferro, liquidove potest electro,
promittere tibi.
403. Quantùm ignes
Quantùm ignes animæque valent: absiste precando
Viribus indubitare tuis. Ea verba locutus,
animæque valent, pro-
mitto id:
Optatos dedit amplexus: placidumque petivit
Conjugis infusus gremio per membra soporem.
Inde, ubi prima quies medio jam noctis abactæ
NOTES.
mother for a son. Verbs of asking, &c. go-
vern two accusatives.
383. Filia Nerei: the daughter of Ne-
reus-Thetis, the reputed mother of Achil-
les. See Ecl. iv. 37.
384. Tithonia conjux: Aurora.
385. Mania: cities-fortified towns. Here
put for the inhabitants, by meton. Acuant:
sharpen-prepare.
386. In me: against me. Venus here
identifies herself with Æneas and the Trojans.
388. Cunctantem: hesitating-loth to un-
dertake the business.
391. Atque in the sense of quàm. Olim:
sometimes. This word signifies time past,
future, and indefinite. This last is the
meaning here.
392. Ignea rima. Rumus says, flammeus
hiatus, apertus fulgenli fulmine. Nimbos:
in the sense of nubes. Servius, whom Dr.
Trapp follows, takes corusco, for darted or
prandished. Rumus interprets it by ful-
genti, shining. The former is the best, in-
asmuch as thunder does not shine; it is the
lightning alone that becomes visible. There
may be reference here to the darting of the
thunderbolt of Jove. It pierces the cloud,
and disengages the lightning, which, let
loose, runs across the heavens in forked
ight. Ignea rima, very beautifully ex-
presses a stream of fire, bursting through a
rived cloud-lightning.
394. Pater: Vulcan is meant.
385
390
395
400
405
395. Quid causas petis: why do you seca
reasons from far? Instead of coming to
the point at once, you have recourse to far-
fetched arguments.
398. Nec pater. It hath been observed by
commentators, upon this and similar pas-
sages of Virgil, that though the fates could
not be changed, they might be deferred. But
Mr. Dryden hath made it appear, that this
very deferring is in consequence of a decree.
In this sense, these words of Vulcan are to
be understood. Troy did fall at such a
time; but it was not necessary it should.
The fates would have permitted me to defer
its doom for ten years longer; and I would
have done it, if you had desired it but I
could have done it no longer-it being then
destined to be destroyed.
401. Cura: skill.
402. Liquido electro. A composition of
gold and silver is called electrum. Play
makes the proportion to be four fifths of
silver, and one fifth of gold. Here put for
metals in general: the species for the genus.
403. Anima: the wind or breath of the
bellows. Absiste: cease to distrust your
power at entreaty.
406. Infusus gremio: and resting on the
bosom of his spouse, he sought soft sleep,
&c. Ruæus says, jacens.
407. Medio curriculo noctis jam: in the
middle course of night, now being past,
This marks the time to be just after mid
ENEIS: LIB. VIII.-
447 ·
་
Curriculo expulerat somnum; cùm fœmina, primum
Cui tolerare colo vitam tenuique Minervâ,
Impositum cinerem et sopitos suscitat ignes,
Noctem addens operi, famulasque ad lumina longo
Exercet penso; castum ut servare cubile
Conjugis, et possit parvos educere natos.
410
415
..408. Cùm fœmina, cu
est primum officium to
lerare vitam colo
418. Subter quam spe
cus, et Ætnæa antra ex
420 esa caminis Cyclepu
Haud secùs ignipotens, nec tempore segnior illo,
Mollibus è stratis opera ad fabrilia surgit.
Insula Sicanium juxta latus, Æoliamque
Erigitur Liparen, fumantibus ardua saxis;
Quam subter specus, et Cyclopum exesa caminis
Antra Ætnæa tonant, validique incudibus ictus
Auditi referunt gemitum, striduntque cavernis
Stricturæ Chalybum, et fornacibus ignis anhelat,
Vulcani domus, et Vulcania nomine tellus.
Huc tunc ignipotens cœlo descendit ab alto.
Ferrum exercebant vasto Cyclopes in antro,
Brontesque, Steropesque, et nudus membra Pyracmon.
His informatum manibus jam parte politâ
Fulmen erat; toto genitor quæ plurima cœlo
Dejicit in terras;. pars imperfecta manebat.
Tres imbris torta radios, tres nubis aquosæ
NOTES.
night. Rest is here said to expel sleep, be-
cause, when we have taken rest, sleep be-
comes unnecessary. Curriculo: circle-
course. Rumus says, spatio.
409. Tenui Minerva. This may mean
handycraft in general, or spinstry in parti-
cular. Or, perhaps, it is better to under-
stand it of the works of the loom.
410. Suscitat impositum, &c. Virgil here
connects the same verb with two substan-
tives, when it can properly be used with one
of them only. This is frequent with him,
and is a beauty which our language will not
admit. Cinerem impositum is, doubtless, the
ashes that cover the fire, which she first re-
moves; and then she kindles or awakes the
dormant fire (sopitos ignes) into a flame.
See En. vii. 431.
411. Addens noctem: adding the night to
her work-working in the night, before the
approach of day.
412. Castum: chaste-undefiled. Here
the poet gives us a fine description of do-
mestic industry, on the part of the mistress
of the house.
414. Ignipotens: a name of Vulcan. Nec
segnior: nor less active--industrious than she.
415. Ad fabrilia opera: to his mechanic
labors.
416. Insula erigitur, &c. Between Sicily
and the Italian coast there are seven islands,
called Æolidæ, from Eolus, who reigned
there;.
and Vulcaniæ, from Vulcanus, whose
forge was fabled to have been in one of them.
This is imitated from Homer. He, how-
over, places Vulcan's forge in heaven; Vir-
gil, with more propriety, places it on the
tonant.
422. Hæc est domus
Vulcani, et tellus dicta
est Vulcania, ejus no-
mine.
426. Erat his in ma-
426 nibus fulmen informa-
tum ex illis, quæ pluri-
ma genitor Deorum de-
jicit toto cœlo in terras,
parte jam politâ •
earth. As the eruptions of Ætna are mat-
ters of fact, the poet, with much judgment,
places the forge of the Cyclops in the neigh-
borhood of that mountain. The whole de-
scription is of the noblest kind. Brontes,
Steropes, and Pyracmon, were his principal
assistants. All of Greek derivation.
418. Exesa: excavated-hollowed out by
the forges of the Cyclops.
421. Stricture: bars of iron or steel.
Chalybum. The Chalybes were a people of
Spain; or, according to some, of Pontus,
celebrated for their iron works. Here, by
meton. put for iron and steel.
426. Informatum: unfinished. A part only
was polished, the rest remaining in an im-
perfect state.
429. Tres radios torti imbris. By the torti
imbris, the wreathed shower, commentators
understand hail. The torti expresses the
violence with which hail in a storm is hurled
or darted. Radios. These are the forks or
spikes with which lightning is painted or
described. The form of thunder, to which
Virgil here seems to allude, is known from
medals. It consisted of twelve wreathed
spikes or darts, extended like the radıi of a
circle, three and three together, with wings
spread out in the middle. The wings de-
note the lightning's rapid motion, and the
spikes or darts, its penetrating quality. By
the four different kinds of spikes, Servius
understands the four seasons of the year.
According to him, the tres imbris torti ra-
dios, or the three spikes of hail, denote the
winter season, when hail-storms abound.
The tres nubis aquosæ radios, or the three
448
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
urbes ad arma:
*Addiderant, rutili tres ignis et alitis Austri.
Fulgores nunc terrificos, sonitumque,-metumque
Miscebant operi, flammisque sequacibus iras.
Parte aliâ Marti currumque rotasque volucres
434. Quibus ille exci- Instabant, quibus ille viros, quibus excitat urbes .
tat viros, quibus excitat Ægidaque horriferam, turbatæ Palladis arına,
436. Certatimque po-
Certatim squamis serpentum auroque polîbant,
lîbant horriferam Ægida, Connexosque angues, ipsamque in pectore Divæ
arma turbatæ Palladis Gorgona, desecto vertentem lumina collo.
squamis
Tollite cuncta, inquit, cœptosque auferte labores,
438. Gorgonaque ip- Ætnæi Cyclopes, et huc advertite mentem.
sam in pectore Dive
Arma acri facienda viro: nunc viribus usus,
vertentem
439. Vulcanus inquit, Nunc manibus rapidis, omni nunc arte magistrâ :
Vos, O Ætnæi Cyclopes, Præcipitate moras. Nec plura effatus. At illi
tollite cuncta hæc
Ocyus incubuêre omnes, pariterque laborem
441. Nunc est usus Sortiti. Fluit æs rivis, aurique metallum ;
viribus
Vulnificusque chalybs vastâ fornace liquescit.
430
435
44C
445
tem contra
447. Unum sufficien- Ingentem clypeum informant, unum omnia contra
Tela Latinorum; septenosque orbibus orbes
Impediunt. Alii ventosis follibus auras
Accipiunt redduntque; alii stridentia tingunt
Æra lacu gemit impositis incudibus antrum.
Illi inter sese multâ vi brachia tollunt
450
454. Dum Lemnius In numerum, versantque tenaci forcipe massam.
pater Vulcanus properat Hæc pater Æoliis properat dum Lemnius oris,
456. Matutini cantus Evandrum ex humili tecto lux suscitat alma,
volucrum sub culmine
Et matutini volucrun sub culmine cantus.
humili tecto, aima lux Consurgit senior, tunicâque inducitur artus,
Et Tyrrhena pedum circumdat vincula plantis.
suscitant Evandrum ex
Auscitat eum.
NOTES.
spikes of a watery cloud, denote the spring
season, which is called imbriferum ver, be-
cause rain then abounds. The tres rutuli
ignis radios, or the three spikes of sparkling
fire, denote the summer season, when light-
ning is most frequent. The tres alitis Au-
stri radios, or the three spikes of winged
wind, denote the autumual season, when
storms of wind are frequent and violent.
430. Addiderant. This part they had
completed; therefore he uses the plu. perf.
tense: they had done with it. But in the
following line, he says, nunc miscebant: they
were now mingling with the work, the ter-
rific lightning, &c. This distinction of tense
is worthy of notice.
432. Sequacibus: persecuting-avenging.
435. Horriferam. Pierius informs us that
this is the true reading of all the ancient
manuscripts. Heyne reads, horriferum. Da-
vidson reads the same. Valpy and Rumus
have horrificam. Turbate: in the sense of
iratæ.
436. Squamis serpentum auroque: with
the scales of serpents and gold; by hend.
for aureis squamis serpentum. Polibant: in
the sense of ornabant.
438. Gorgona: acc. sing. of Gorgon. See
}
455
Æn. ii. 616. Desecto collo: her neck being
cut off.
444. Incubuêre: they applied vigorously→→
they set about it in earnest.
445. Sortiti: having distributed by lot-
having assigned to each one his part.
446. Chalybs: steel. See 421, supra.-
also, Geor. i. 58. Unum: alone sufficient.
449. Impediunt: they involve or infold
seven orbs in orbs. Ruæus says, connec-
tunt. Alii accipiunt: simply, some blow
the bellows, others put, &c.
451. Lacu: the trough.
452. Illi tollunt brachia. In the very turn
of the verse, we see them lifting up, and
letting fall their hammers alternately, and
keeping time with one another. In nume-
rum : in regular motion-keeping stroke
with one another.
454. Lemnius pater: Vulcan. He was
banished from heaven to Lemnos, an island
in the Ægean sea, not far from the Helles
pont. See Geor. i. 295.
457. Inducitur: in the sense of induit
vel vestit.
458. Tyrrhena vincula: he binds his Tus
can sandals to the bottom of his feet. These
sandals were of wood, about four inches
ÆNEIS. LIB. VIII
449
Tum lateri atque humeris Tegeæum subligat ensem,
Demissa ab læva pantheræ terga retorquens.
Necnon et gemini custodes limine ab alto
Procedunt, gressumque canes comitantur herilem.
Hospitis Æneæ sedem et secreta petebat,
Sermonum memor et promissi muneris, heros.
Nec minùs Æneas se matutinus agebat..
Filius huic Pallas, olli comes ibat Achates.
Congressi jungunt dextras, mediisque residunt
Edibus, et licito tandem sermone fruuntur.
Rex prior hæc.
Maxime Teucrorum ductor, quo sospite, nunquam
Res equidem Troja victas aut regna fatebor.
Nobis ad belli auxilium pro nomine tanto
Exiguæ vires. Hinc Tusco claudimur amni;
Hinc Rutulus premit, et murum circumsonat armis.
Sed tibi ego ingentes populos, opulenta que regnis
Jungere castra paro, quam fors inopina salutem
Ostentat fatis huc te poscentibus affers.
Haud procul hine saxo colitur fundata vetusto
Urbis Agyllinæ sedes: ubi Lydia quondam
Gens, bello præclara, jugis insedit Etruscis.
Hanc multos florentem annos rex deinde superbo
Imperio et sævis tenuit Mezentius armis.
Quid memorem imandas cædes? quid facta tyranni
Effera? Dî capiti ipsius generique reservent!
Mortua quin etiam jungebat corpora vivis,
Componens manibusque manus atque oribus ora,
NOTES.
orced, and fastened to the feet with gilded
thongs. The poet here makes a very hap-
py transition from the smoke, fire, and noise
of Vulcan's cavern, to the sweet air of the
morning, and the charming music of birds.
45). Tegcæum: an adj. from Tegea, a
city of Arcadia, where Pan was especially
worshipped: Arcadian.
460. Retorquens terga, &c. This panther's
skin was cast or thrown back over the right
shoulder, passed around, and hung down
over the left. Terga: in the sense of pel-
em.
461. Gemini canes, &c. These two dogs,
that are all the guard Evander has, gives us
a lively image of the poverty and simplicity
of that good monarch.
463. Secreta: private apartments, which
Encas occupied.
464. Muneris: aid-assistance.
465. Agebat: in the sense of movebat.
468. Licito: free-unrestrained.
471. Res Troja: the power of Troy.
472. Pro tanto nomine: for, or in propor-
ion to, the greatness of the Trojan name;
or the greatness of the cause in which he
was about to engage.
460 460. Rotorquens in
destram terga pantherm
465
470-
475
466. Pallas filius ibat
comes huic Evandro ;
Achates ibat comes oll
Æneæ.
171. Nunquam equi-
dem fatebor res Troja
victas esse, aut regna
eversa esse. Sunt nobis
exigua
474. Premit nos, et
circumsonat
murum armis.
nostrum
480
481. Deinde rex Me-
zentius tenuit hanc ur-
bem florentem multos
annos
484. Dî reservent talia
485 capiti ipsius, generique.
which bounded his territory on the west, and
divided it from the Tuscans.
476. Paro: Ruæus says, meditor.
478. Fundata: structa antiquis lapidi-
bus, says Ruæus.
479. Agyllina: an adj. from Agylla, a
city of Etruria or Tuscany. It was planted
by a Lydian colony. It was afterward call-
ed Cerè. Hodie, Cerveteri. Lydia: an ex-
tensive country of Asia Minor: here used
as an adjective. Part of it was called Ma-
onia.
480. Etruscis jugis: on the Tuscan moun-
tains.
482. Mezentius tenuit, &c. This story is
of importance to the subject, and very pro-
perly introduced in this place. For, without
the auxiliary forces of the Tuscans, Æneas
could not have carried on the war. The
tyranny of Mezentius gives an air of proba
bility to the whole.
485. Quin etiam jungebat: moreover he
joined dead bodies to the living, putting, &c.
The invention of this cruel kind of punish-
ment, is ascribed, by Cicero and others, to
the Tuscans. Virgil takes occasion hence
473. Exiguæ vires: small ability, or means to form a character of uncommon barbarity
to support, &c. Trusco amni: the Tiber, in one of his personages.
30
150
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
487. Genus tormenti! Tormenti genus! et sanie taboque fluentes,
et sic necabat homines Complexu in misero, longâ sic morte necabat.
fluentes sanie taboque, At fessi tandem cives infandà furentem
in nos misero
* 491.
et defendier armis
Armati circumsistunt, ipsumque, domumque :
Jactant ignem Obtruncant socios, ignem ad fastigia jactant.
ad fastigia ejus regiæ. Ille inter cædes Rutulorum elapsus in agros
493. Cœpit confugere Confugere, et Turni defendier hospitis armis.
Ergò omnis furiis surrexit Etruria justis,
Regem ad supplicium præsenti Marte reposcunt.
His ego te, Ænea, ductorem millibus addam.
Toto namque fremunt condensæ litore puppes,
cens, O dolecta juventus,
498. Retinet eos: di- Signaque ferre jubent. Retinet longævus aruspex,
Fata canens: Ŏ Mæoniæ delecta juventus,
Flos veterum virtusque virûm; quos justus in hostem
Fert dolor, et meritâ accendit Mezentius irâ ·
Nulli fas Italo tantam subjungere gentem:
Externos optate duces.
501. Et quos Mezen-
tius accendit merita irâ;
est fas nulli Italo
sit oratores
cedam
Tum Etrusca resedit
Hoc acies campo, monitis exterrita Divům.
505. Tarchon ipse mi- Ipse oratores ad me regnique coronam
Cum sceptro misit, mandatque insignia, Tarchon.
507. Rogans ut suc- Succedam castris, Tyrrherraque regna capessam.
Sed mihi tarda gelu, sæclisque effoeta, senectus
509. Viresque jam ni-
mis seræ ad fortia facta Invidet imperium, seræque ad fortia vires.
invident mihi. Exhor- Natum exhortarer, ni, mixtus matre Sabellâ
tarer meum natum facere Hinc partem patriæ traheret. Tu, cujus et annis
id, ni
Et generi fatum indulget, quem numina poscunt,
Ingredere, ô Teucrûm atque Italûm fortissime ductor.
Hunc tibi prætereà, spes et solatia nostrî,
Pallanta adjungam. Sub te tolerare magistro
515. Adjungam hunc
meum filium Pallanta
tibi, spes, et solatia nos-
trî; ut sub te magistro Militiam, et grave Martis opus, tua cernere facta
NOTES.
487. Genus tormenti: O horrid kind of
torture! This is the sense of Ruæus and
Valpy. But Heyne and Davidson take them
not as an exclamation. Fluentes: wasting
-pining away.
489. Infandà: an adj. neu. plu. taken as
an adverb, in imitation of the Greeks: in
the sense of immaniter.
490. Circumsistunt: in the sense of obsi-
dent.
491. Socios: his friends-those who ad-
hered to the king. Their houses were co-
vered with straw, even the palaces of kings;
which was the reason of their throwing fire
on the roof of Mezentius's palace.
493. Defendier: by paragoge, for defendi.
497. Puppes: the ships, by meton. for the
troops in them. Fremunt: impatient for the
war.
498. Ferre signa: to bear forward the
standards-to march. A military phrase.
499. Mæonia. Mæonia is a country of
Lydia, in Asia Minor, wher.ce a colony re-
moved to Tuscany, and settled. They built
the city Agylla. Lyca and Maonia are
Tised, however, sometimes indiscriminately
for the same country.
490
495
499
505
510
515
501. Dolor: in the sense of indignatus
Fert: in the sense of impellit.
502. Subjungere: to subdue.
503. Resedit: sat down. Acies: troopa
in general. Optate: choose ye.
504. Monitis: admonitions-prophetic
declarations. Rumus says, oraculo. The
same with fata, verse 499.
506. Mandatque: and commits the en-
These
signs (or badges) of royalty to me.
were the crown and sceptre just mentioned.
508. Tarda gelu: benumbed by the frost
of age. This is highly metaphorical. See-
clis. Sæculum properly signifies the space
of thirty years; in which the old actors are
already gone off the stage, and new ones
have arisen in their room. Thus Nestor is
said to have lived three ages, or ninety
years, as Plutareh explains it. Sæclis: by
syn. for sæculis: here used in the sense of
annis. Effeta: worn out-enfeebled.
510. Sabellâ matre: his Sabine mother
By her, he became heir to a part of her na
tive country. It was therefore inconsistent
with his duty to his people, to accept of the
Tuscan crown.
ENEIS. LJB VII
451
520
525
525. Et omnia visa
sunt ruere repentè
Assuescat; primis et te miretur ab annis.
Arcadas huic equites bis centum, robora pubis
Lecta, dabo; totidemque suo tibi nomine Palles
Vix ea fatus erat, defixique ora tenebant
Eneas Anchisiades et fidus Achates,
Multaque dura suo tristi cum corde putabant,
Ni signum cœlo Cytherea dedisset aperto.
Namque improvisò vibratus ab æthere fulgor
Cum sonitu veni, et ruere omnia visa repentè,
Tyrrhenusque tubæ mugire per æthera clangor.
Suspiciunt: iterum atque iterum fragor intonat ingens:
Arma inter nubem, cœli in regione serenâ,
Per sudum rutilare vident, et pulsa tonare.
Obstupuere animis alii: sed Troïus heros
Agnovit sonitum, et Divæ promissa parentis.
Tum memorat: Ne verò, hospes, ne quære profectò
Quem casum portenta ferant: ego poscor Olympo.
Hoc signum cecinit missuram Diva creatrix,
Si bellum ingrueret; Vulcaniaque arma per auras
Laturam auxilio.
530
535
533. Ego poscor Olym-
po ad bellum.
535. Seque laturam
Vulcania arma per au-
ras pro auxilio mihi
540
*
Heu quantæ miseris cædes Laurentibus instant!
Quas pœnas mihi, Turne, dabis! quàm multa sub undas
Scuta virûm, galeasque, et fortia corpora volves,
Tybri pater! Poscant acies, et fœdera rumpant.
Hæc ubi dicta dedit, solio se tollit ab alto:
Et primùm Herculeis sopitas ignibus aras
Excitat: hesternumque Larem, parvosque Penates
NOTES.
517. Primis annis: from his first and
earliest years for bearing arms; which,
among the Romans, was about the age of
seventeen.
522. Putabant: they were just entering
into a train of perplexing thoughts, as to
the present crisis of affairs: and would have
pursued them, had not Venus interposed.
They were revolving in their minds many
difficulties that might arise, &c.
524. Fulgor vibrutus: a flash of lightning
darting across the sky, &c.
526. Tyrrhenus clangor: a Tuscan sound
of the trumpet began, &c. The sound of the
trumpet is called Tuscan, because it is said
they were the inventors of that instrument.
It was understood to indicate that Æneas
was invited to the throne of the Tuscans.
529. Pulsa tonare. This seems to imply
that the thunder was the effect of the clash-
ing of the arms that appeared in the air.
Being struck (pulsa) they seemed to thun-
der. Rutilare: to flash-shine through the
clear air or sky. Visa sunt is understood.
532. Ne verò, hospes, ne: do not indeed,
do not indeed, inquire what event these pro-
digies portend. This repetition is very em-
phatical. Some copies repeat the quare
thus: ne quære verò, ne quære profectò.
534. Cecinit: in the sense of prædixit.
Missuram: that she would send, &c.
537. Instant: in the sense of imminent.
540. Poscant acies: let them demand war
let them break their treaties. This is
spoken ironically. Rumus says, petant bel-
lum. Latinus had proposed Æneas for a son-
in-law; and entered into an alliance or treaty
of friendship with him. To that circum-
stance this is an allusion.
542. Sopitas aras, &c. Most commenta-
tors take this for, sopitos ignes in Herculeis
aris, by hypallage: the dormant fires on the
altar of Hercules. But it does not appear
that Encas returned to the grove, where
the sacred rites had been performed the day
before to Hercules. The altar here men-
tioned may have been Evander's domestic
altar, to which the remains of the hallowed
fire, from the altar of Hercules, might have
been conveyed. If we suppose this, there
will be no need of an hypallage. Excitat:
he kindles up the dormant altars with the
Herculean fire-the fire taken from the altar
of Hercules as supposed. This seems to be
the opinion of Ruæus and Davidson.
543. Hesternum Larem. By this some un-
derstand the hallowed hearth, on which the
sacrifices have been offered the day before
But it may be Evander's Lar, or guardian
god, to whom Eneas had sacrificed th
day before; and with whom he had ther
become acquainted. Parvos Penales. Tr
452
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Lætus adit: mactant lectas de more bidentes
Evandrus pariter, pariter Trojana juventus
Post hinc ad naves graditur, sociosque revisit:
547. De numero quo- Quorum de numero, qui sese in bella sequantur,
rum legit eos præstantes Præstantes virtute legit; pars cætera pronâ
Fertur aquâ, segnisque secundo defluit amni,
Nuntia ventura Ascanio rerumque patrisque.
Dantur equi Teucris Tyrrhena petentibus arva :
552. Ducunt unum ex- Ducunt exsortem Æneæ, quem fulva leonis
sortem equum Æneæ Pellis obit totum, præfulgens unguibus aureis.
Fama volat parvam subitò vulgata per urbem,
Ocyùs ire equites Tyrrheni ad limina regis.
Vota metu duplicant matres; propiùsque perîclo
It timor, et inajor Martis jam apparet imago.
558. Complexus dex- Tum pater Evandrus dextram complexus euntis
tram filii euntis hæret Hæret, inexpletum lachrymans, ac talia fatur:
O mihi præteritos referat si Jupiter annos!
illi
561. Et faciat me ta- Qualis eram, cùm primam aciem Præneste sub ipsâ
lem, qualis eram, cùm Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos :
stravi primam aciem
567. Et exuit eum to-
tidem armis. Nunc ego
non divellerer usquam
Et regem hâc Herilum dextrâ sub Tartara misi:
Nascenti cui tres animas Feronia mater,
545
550
ნაა
560
Horrendum dictu! dederat ; terna arma movenda; 565
Ter leto sternendus erat: cui tunc tamen omnes
Abstulit hæc animas dextra, et totidem exuit armis.
Non ego nunc dulci amplexu divellerer usquam,
NOTES.
Penates were tutelary deities, either for fa-
milies, or for cities and provinces. The
former were the Parvi Penates, sometimes
called Lares: the latter, the Magni Pe-
nates.
544. Bidentes: properly sheep of two
years old, of bis and dens.
549. Fertur pronâ aqua: borne down the
descending stream. Segnis defluit. without
labor, float down the current at their ease,
float, &c. Ruæus says, lenta descendit.
550. Ventura nuntia: to be messengers
to Ascanius, of his father, and of the state of
his affairs-to bear tidings to Ascanius, &c.
551. Petentibus Tyrrhena: to the Trojans
going to the Tuscan territory.
552. Exsortem: in the sense of insignem :
a distinguished horse.
553. Aureis unguibus. The claws of the
skin were overlaid with gold, for the sake of
ornament. Obit in the sense of tegit.
557. Timor it propiùs, &c. This passage,
has puzzled commentators very much. Da-
vidson supposes the word major, is to be
supplied with timor: their fear grows greater,
the nearer they are to danger. Rumus takes
propius in the sense of prope: near-ap-
proaching to. He makes the meaning to be:
their fear comes near to-danger. They are
so much impressed with the idea of danger,
that becomes to them almost a reality.
It: in the sense of est vel fit. Most copies
have jam immediately after Martis. But
Pierius informs us, that in most of the an
cient MSS. which he consulted, it was want
ing. Heyne reads jam.
559. Inexpletum: an adj. neu. gen, used
as an adverb: immoderately-beyond mea-
sure.
560. O mihi, &c. This is one of the finest
parts of the Æneid. We see an aged father,
delivering his farewell address to his only
son, the hope and solace of his old age,
while he holds him close in his embrace,
and is full of anxious apprehension of never
seeing him again. The relation of those
exploits, which he performed when he was
in the vigor of manhood, is very natural, and
the conclusion is extremely pathetic.
561. Præneste. The founder of this city
was Cæculus, who took part with Turnus.
See Æn. vii. 678. How then could Herilus
have been its king so long before?
might have laid its foundations, and Cæcu-
lus added its fortifications, &c. Hence he
might be called its founder.
He
562. Scutorumque, &c. It was a custom
among the Romans, to gather up the armor
that lay scattered on the field of battle, and
burn it as an offering to one of their deities.
564. Feronia mater: to whom, at his birth
his mother had given three lives, and three
sets of armor to be wielded. See Æn. vii.
800.
568. Non ego nunc : I would not now be
torn from thy sweet embrace. This is a
ÆNEIS LIB. VIII.
453
+
Nate, tuo: neque finitimus Mezentius unquam,
Huic capiti insultans, tot ferro sæva dedisset
Funera, tam multis viduâsset civibus urbem
At vos, & Superi, et Divûm tu maxime rector
Jupiter, Arcadii, quæso, miserescite regis,
Et patrias audite preces. Si numina vestra
Incolumem Pallanta mihi, si fata reservant;
Si visurus eum vivo, et venturus in unum;
Vitam oro patiar quemvis durare laborem.
Sin aliquem infandum casum, Fortuna, minaris ;
Nunc, ô, nunc liceat crudelem abrumpere vitam,
Dum curæ ambiguæ, dum spes incerta futuri;
Dum te, chare puer, mea sera et sola voluptas,
Complexu teneo; gravior ne nuntius aures
Vulneret. Hæc genitor digressu dicta supremo
Fundebat famuli collapsum in tecta ferebant.
Jamque adeò exierat portis equitatus apertis :
Æneas inter primos et fidus Achates;
Inde alii Troja proceres: ipse agmine Pallas
In medio, chlamyde et pictis conspectus in armis.
Qualis ubi Oceani perfusus Lucifer undâ,
Quem Venus ante alios astrorum diligit ignes,
Extulit os sacrum cœlo, tenebrasque resolvit.
Stant pavidæ in muris matres, oculisque sequuntur
Pulveream nubem, et fulgentes ære catervas.
Olli per dumos, quà proxima meta viarum,
Armati tendunt. It clamor; et, agmine facto,
Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum.
Est ingens gelidum lucus prope Cæritis amnem,
Relligione patrum latè sacer: undique colles
NOTES.
most tender line, and paints the paternal
affections in the deepest colors.
571. Viduâsset: in the sense of privâsset.
574. Numina: power--will.
576. Venturus in unum: to meet him
again.
577. Patiar: I will consent-agree to.
578. Sin Fortuna minaris: but if, O For-
tune, thou threatenest any dire calamity to
him. Infandum: properly is that which
may not be spoken, or expressed-which 1
dare not name.
579. Nunc, ô, nunc, &c. This is much
of the nature of Æn. ii. 644. Sic, O sic, &c.
There is so much force and emphasis in the
repetition of the sic, that if we remove it,
we destroy the chief beauty and energy of
the line. So also with the nunc, in the
present instance.
580. Dum cure: while my sorrows be
doubtful, &c. While it be yet uncertain,
whether I shall see my dear son again.
583. Supremo digressu: at his final de-
parture.
588. Conspectus: conspicuous-distin-
guished.
589. Qualis ubi, &c. This is a beautiful
670
575
580
585
576. Et vonturus m
unum locum cum illo, oro
580. Dum meæ cura
sunt ambiguæ, dum spes
futuri est incerta
589. Talis qualis Lu-
590 cifer est, quem Venus di-
ligit ante alius ignes as-
trorum, ubi perfusus un-
da Oceani extulit
595
594. Quà meta via-
rum est proxima
596. Ungula equorum
quatit putrem
simile, and said to have been greatly ad-
mired by Scaliger. Perfusus: wet, dipped.
590. Ante alios ignes astrorum: above other
orbs of the stars-above other starry orbs.
591. Resolvit in the sense of dissipat.
:
594. Mela viarum: the boundary of the
way. Simply, the way.-Via, says Heyne.
Proxima: the nearest. Olli: for illi, by
antithesis.
595. Agmine. Agmen properly signifies
a moving body or multitude-an army of
me on the march. Tendunt: in the sense
of redunt, vel progrediuntur. It: in the
sense of urgit.
596. Quadrupedante sonitu: with a pran-
cing sound. Every ear perceives, that the
numbers of the verse imitate the pranting
of the horses.
of the horses. There are no less than five
dactyls in it, which give it a quick and gal
loping motion. Quatit: strikes.
597. Cæritis prope gelidum: near the cold
river of Caris. Caris: a town of Tuscany,
whose inhabitants were called Carites. In
the neighborhood was a small river with a
grove. Hence the epithet, gelidus.
598. Relligione: religious veneration-
regard.
454
P VIRGILII MARONIS
600
608
610
Inclusêre cavi, et nigrâ nemus abiete cingunt.
600. Fama est veteros Sylvano fama est veteres sacrâsse Pelasgos,
Pelasgos, qui primi ali- Arvorum pecorisque Deo, lucumque diemque,
quando habuere Latinos
fines sacrâsse lucumque,
Qui primi fines aliquando habuere Latinos.
diemque Sylvano
610. Utque vidit natum
secretum procul
612. En munera per-
fecta promissâ
Haud procul hinc Tarcho et Tyrrheni tuta tenebant
Castra locis celsoque omnis de colle videri
Jam poterat legio, et latis tendebat in arvis.
Huc pater Æneas et bello lecta juventus
Succedunt, fessique et equos et corpora curant.
At Venus, æthereos inter Dea candida nimbos,
Dona ferens aderat: natumque in valle reductâ
Ut procul egelido secretum flumine vidit ;
Talibus affata est dictis, seque obtulit ultrò :
En perfecta mei promissâ conjugis arte
:
Munera ne mox, aut Laurentes, nate, superbos,
Aut acrem dubites in prælia poscere Turnum.
Dixit et amplexus nati Cytherea petivit :
Arma sub adversâ posuit radiantia quercu.
Ille, Deæ donis et tanto et lætus honore,
Expleri nequit, atque oculos per singula volvit ;
Miraturque; interque manus et brachia versat
Terribilem cristis galeam, flammasque vomentem,
622. Talem, qualis est
cœrulea nubes, cùm in- Fatiferumque ensem, loricam ex ære rigentem,
Sanguineam, ingentem: qualis cùm cœrula nubes
Solis inardescit radiis, longèque refulget:
Tum leves ocreas electro auroque recocto,
Hastamque, et clypei non enarrabile textum.
ardescit
624. Tum versat ocreas
leves ex electro.
626. Ignipotens, haud
ignarus vatum, inscius-
que venturi ævi fecerat
illic
Illic res Italas, Romanorumque triumphos,
Haud vatum ignarus, venturique inscius ævi,
*
NOTES.
615
620
625
at
599. Cavi: in the sense of curvi: wind- and his arms. Miratur: he wonders at
ing hills.
them. Ruæus says, stupet.
600. Pelasgos. These were a colony from
Emonia, the ancient name of Thessaly.
They expelled the Etrusci, and settled in
their country. They, in turn, were expelled
by the Tyrrheni, a colony from Lydia, or
Mæonia in the lesser Asia.
605. Tendebat: pitched their tents in the
open fields. Legio: troops in general.
607. Curant: rest-refresh. Rumus says,
reficiunt.
608. Nimbos: in the sense of nubes.
610. Flumine: near the cool river-on
the banks of the cold stream. Secretum :
retired-remote.
612. Perfecta: made-finished.
613. Mox ne dubites: clad in this armor,
my son, you may not hesitate to challenge
either the proud, &c. The epithet superbos,
refers to the outrage, which they had offer-
ed to Eneas and his followers, mentioned
118. supra.
618. Expleri: to be satisfied in looking
upon them.
619. Versat interque: he turns and shifts
his armor every way, the less in his hands,
the larger in his arms-between his lands
620., Galeam: the helmet vomiting out
flames. He means only that the crest or
plume was of a fiery red color, and seemed
to rise out of his helmet like flames.
621. Fatiferum: mortal-causing death.
622. Cœrula nubes: an azure cloud; such
an one as receives the tincture, and reflects
the various colors of the rainbow.
624: Leves: smooth-polished. Recocto
doubly purified. Rumus says, repurgato.
625. Non enarrabile textum: the inex
pressible texture of the shield.
626. Italas res: the Italian history.
627. Haud ignarus, &c. We now come
to the conclusion of the book; and, cer-
tainly, there never was a book more nobly
finished. Having given us the particulars of
the arms and armor, the poet proceeds to
the description of the sculptures upon the
shield. And by way of prophecy, he gives
us a very important piece of history in these
engravings, and by that means, makes them
one of the most important parts of the poem.
It is imitated from Homer; but greatly im-
proved. Vatum: in the sense of vaticinio-
rum vel prædictionum. Valpy says, " Of
ÆNEIS. LIB. VIII
455
Fecerat Ignipotens illic genus omne futuræ
Stirpis ab Ascanio, pugnataque in ordine bella.
Fecerat et viridi fatam Mavortis in antro
Procubuisse lupam: geminos huic ubera cirœım
Ludere pendentes pueros, et lambere matrem
Impavidos: illam tereti cervice reflexam
Mulcere alternos, et corpora fingere linguâ.
:
Nec procul hinc Romam, et raptas sinè more Sabinas
Concessu caveæ, magnis Circensibus actis,
Addiderat subitòque novum consurgere bellum
Romulidis, Tatioque seni, Curibusque severis.
Post îdem, inter se posito certamine, reges
Armati, Jovis ante aras paterasque tenentes
Stabant; et cæså jungebant fœdera porcâ.
Haud procul inde cita Metium in diversa quadrigæ
Distulerant; at tu dictis, Albane, maneres '
Raptabatque viri mendacis viscera Tullus
Per sylvam; et sparsi rorabant sanguine vepres.
Nec non Tarquinium ejectum Porsenna jubebat
Accipere, ingentique urbem obsidione premebat.
NOTES.
what had been foretold," by preceding pro-
phets. Davidson says of Vulcan: "A pro-
phet not unskilful," taking ignarus vatum
in the sense of ignarus vates vel propheta.
628. Ignipotens: a name of Vulcan; of
ignis and potens. Fecerat: in the sense of
expresserat.
630. Fætam: not pregnant, but in the
sense of enixam having just brought forth
her young. This description is thought to
have been taken from a statue of Romulus
and Remus sucking the wolf, that was in
the capitol in Virgil's time. See Æn. i. 274.
635. Sabinas raptas. After Romulus had
founded his city, he became sensible that
a body of men could not long be kept to-
gether, without some common bond; nor
could his state continue long without
women. He therefore proposed alliances
with his neighbors, for the purpose of ob-
taining wives for his subjects; but they re-
fused any connexion with a band of ruffians.
He then conceived the plan of taking them
by violence. For this purpose he instituted
sports, which were then called Consuales,
afterward Circenses. In these he invited his
neighbors, especially the Sabines, from the
city Cures, and upon a signal given, the Ro-
mans were to rush upon the women. and
convey them to their own homes. This they
did, in violation of good faith, and every
principle of justice. War immediately en-
sued between the two states, which however
was settled between Tatius king of the Sa-
bines, and Romulus, upon these conditions:
the Sabines should migrate to Rome; the
government should be administered jointly
by the two kings; that Rome should re-
tain its name; but that the citizens should
630
636
64U
645
628. Illic expresserat
omne genus
635. Nec procul hine
addiderat Romam, et
Sabinas virgines raptas
sinė more
636. Circensibus ludis
actis.
645. Et vepres sparsi
sanguine rorabant. Nec
non Porsenna jubebat
Romanos accipere
be called Curites, or Quirites, from Cures.
Sinè more: without regard to law or right.
Servius says, absque exemplo, whom Ruæus
follows: without precedent, or example. Da-
vidson thinks it should be taken in the sense
of malo more: wickedly-atrociously. For,
says he Romulus, solatus earum mæstitiam,
docuit, non injuriâ sed connubir causâ, ipsas
raptas esse; et demonstravit morem istum et
Græcum et antiquum esse. Ex Dionysio.
636. Concessu caveæ: in the crowded circus
in the assembly of the circus: when the
great Circensian games were celebrated.
For caveæ, see Geor. ii. 381.
638. Romulidis: dat. of Romulidæ, the
Romans, so called from Romulus. Curibus
severis. Cures, was a city of the Sabines: by
meton. put for the inhabitants. These are
again put by synec. for the Sabines in ge-
neral. They were a people remarkable for
their integrity and rigid virtue. Hence the
epithet severis.
640. Tenentes pateras: holding goblets
ready to offer libations on the altar.
642. Metium distulerant. The poet, sen-
sible that the story of Metius might shock
the humanity of his reader, is careful to re-
mind him of the cause, for which the Ro-
man king was so terribly severe, both in
his apostrophe to the traitor, and in giving
him the epithet of mendax, false or treache
rous. See nom, prop. under Metius.
645. Rorabant: in the sense of distillabani.
646. Porsenna. He was king of the
Etrusci, and took part with Tarquin after
his expulsion, and endeavored to restore
him to his throne. And he came near ef
fecting it. He took possession of Janicu
lum, on the western bank of the Tiber
456
P VIRGILII MARONIS
652. In summo clypeo
Manlius, custos
Eneadæ in ferrum pro libertate ruebant.
Illum indignanti similem, similemque minanti
Aspiceres, pontein auderet quòd vellere Cocles,
Et fluvium vinclis innaret Cloelia ruptis.
In summo custos Tarpeiæ Manlius arcis
Stabat pro templo, et Capitolia celsa tenebat:
Romuleoque recens horrebat regia culmo.
Atque hic auratis volitans argenteus anser
Porticibus, Gallos in limine adesse canebat:
Galli per dumos aderant, arcemque tenebant,
Defensi tenebris, et dono noctis opacæ.
659. Erat ollis aurea Aurea cæsaries ollis, atque aurea vestis ;
Virgatis lucent sagulis: tum lactea colla
Auro innectuntur; duo quisque Alpina coruscant
662. Protecti quoad Gæsa manu, scutis protecti corpora longis.
corpora
663. Hic extuderat
exsultantes Salios
Hic exsultantes Salios, nudosque Lupercos,
Lanigerosque apices, et lapsa arcilia cœlo,
NOTES.
over which a bridge was built to connect it
with the main city. This bridge was de-
fended on the western end by Cocles, against
the Etruscan army, as they attempted to
pass it, until the Romans on the eastern
shore broke it down. After which he cast
himself into the river, and swam to his
friends. By this means the city was saved.
See nom. prop. under Tarquinius.
648. Æneada: the Romans, so called from
Eneas.
649. Illum: Porsenna.
651. Clœlia. One of the conditions of
peace exacted by Porsenna of the Romans,
was the surrender of their virgins to him as
hostages. Among these hostages was Clo-
lia. Under the pretence of bathing herself,
she eluded her guards, and with some others
mounted their horses, and swam over the
Tiber. Porsenna demanded her, and she
was restored. But he set her at liberty with
such other of the hostages, as she thought
proper to name. The Romans presented her
with an equestrian statue.
、
652. Manlius. In the year of Rome 364,
the Gauls, under Brennus, routed the Ro-
man army at the river Allium, and pro-
ceeded to Rome and took it. Marcus Man-
lius collected a body of men, threw himself
into the capitol, and defended it. By this
means the city was saved. See 347. supra.
654. Regia horrebat: the palace appeared
rough, and newly repaired with Romulian
straw. This thatched palace of Romulus,
which was built on mount Capitolinus, was
repaired from time to time, as it fell to de-
cay. Virgil here represents it as standing
in the time of Manlius, 327 years after the
death of Romulus. It was held in great
veneration, as a monument of their ancient
frugality.
650
656
660
the time the Gauls held possession of Kamo,
an attempt was made to seize upon the
capitol in the dead of the night. The only
access was by a
was by a narrow passage. The
Gauls had succeeded in eluding the guards;
and an alarm was given by the noise of a
flock of geese, which was near this private
passage: and by that means the capitol was
saved. The goose afterward was held in
high estimation. To this circumstance the
poet here alludes.
656. Canebat: in the sense of monebat,
vel indicabat.
658. Dono: by the favor-assistance.
659. Aurea cæsuries, &c. Here we have
a description of the Gauls, and an account
of their armor. They are said by Livy and
others to have had long yellow hair, and a
remarkable white neck. Their hair, there-
fore, the poet calls aurea, golden, and their
necks lactea, milk-white.
660. Sagulis. The sagulum was a cloak
or upper garment worn by the ancient
Gauls. It was streaked or striped with
different colors. Hence the epithet vir-
gatis.
661. Auro: in the sense of aureis moni-
libus.
662. Gæsa. The gasum was a long, but
a light and slender spear, so that two of
them could easily be carried in one's hand.
They are here called Alpina, because pecu
liar to the Gauls, who inhabited about the
Alps.
663. Salios. See 285. supra. Lupercos.
See 343. supra.
664. Lanigeros apices: woollen caps. An-
cilia. The ancile was a kind of oval shield,
worn only by the priests of Mars on certain
days. One of them is said to have fallen
from heaven in the reign of Numa; anu
655. Argenteus anser. It is said that at to have portended that the city of Rome
ANEIS. LIB. VIII.
457
·
665
Extuderat castæ ducebant sacra per urbem
Pilentis matres in mollibus. Hinc procul addit
Tartareas etiam sedes, alta ostia Ditis:
Et scelerum pœnas: et te, Catilina, minaci
Pendentem scopulo, Furiarumque ora trementem :
Secretosque pios: his dantem jura Catonem.
Hæc inter tumidi latè maris ibat imago
Aurea, sed fluctu spumabant cœrula cano;
Et circûm argento clari delphines in orbem
Æquora verrebant caudis, æstumque secabant.
In medio classes æratas, Actia bella,
Cernere erat totumque instructo Marte videres
Fervere Leucaten, auroque effulgere fluctus.
Hinc Augustus agens Italos in prælia Cæsar,
Cum patribus, populoque, Penatibus, et magnis Dîs,
Stans celsâ in puppi: geminas cui tempora flammas
NOTES.
should become most powerful, and be ren-
dered invinsible, so long as that remained
in it.
665. Extuderat: had represented. Rumus
rays, sculpserat.
666. Pilentis, &c. In the war with the
Veientes, Camillus vowed an offering of gold
to Apollo of Delphi; and not having it in
his power to perform it, the women of dis-
tinction brought together their jewels, and
presented them to him. Whereupon they
received the honor of being carried at the
public shows, and other exhibitions, in light
coaches (pilentis mollibus) at the public ex-
pense.
668. Catilina. L. Sergius Catiline was
of patrician rank, but of a very abandoned
character. He twice sought the consulate,
and was as often disappointed; which so en-
raged him, that he entered into a conspiracy
with some others to murder the consuls and
burn the city. The whole plot was disco-
vered by the vigilance of Cicero, and Ca-
tiline expelled from Rome. He afterward
perished on the field of battle, about the mid-
dle of December, 58 years before the Chris-
tian era.
His associates also perished, many
of them miserably, by the hand of the pub-
lic executioner. Sallust has given a full
account of this most daring conspiracy,
written in purely classic style.
670. Catonem. Some understand Cato
the Censor; but others, with more reason,
perhaps, Cato Uticensis La Cerda here
censures Virgil very much in making Cato
give laws in hell to gratify Augustus. But,
it is to be observed, that Cato does not sus-
tain that character in the place of the con-
demned; but in the abodes of the blessed.
Beside, it could not be a dishonor to Cato to
be ranked with Minos and Rhadamanthus,
those distinguished legislators. A question
may here arise: what is the use of giving
670
675
670. Piosque secretos
ab impiis: et Catonem
672. Sed cærula æquo
ra spumabant cano fluc
tu
675. In medio mare
erat cernere
laws to those in Elysium, who are establish-
ed in perfection and virtue? Perhaps by
jura, we are to understand their rights or
just rewards. This Cato was distinguished
for his integrity and rigid virtue.
671. Inter hæc, &c. The poet now pro
Augustus obtained over Antony and Cleo-
ceeds to the ever memorable victory which
patra on the shores of Epirus, near Actium,
in the year of Rome 723. Upon this, the
poet exerts all the energy of his mind, with
a view to immortalize the name of his
prince. The previous description of the
sea is a painting which nothing can surpass.
Imago ibat: the surface of the wide-swell-
ing sea was golden. Ibat: in the sense of
erat vel apparebat.
672. Cœrula. Maria is understood. This
expresses the waters in general, without
any particular reference to color in this
place. Cano fluctu: with white silvered
waves.
673. Clari: shining in silver.
674. Æslum: in the sense of fluctus vel
mare.
675. Actia bella: the Actic fight. Actia:
an adj. from Actium, a promontory of Epi-
rus, where Augustus gained a complete vic-
tory over Antony and Cleopatra, in the
year of Rome 723. This victory placed
Augustus securely on the imperial throne.
Eratas: brazen beaked.
676. Instructo marte: with the marshalled
fight. Leucaten. See Æn. iii. 274.
·
678. Hinc Augustus, &c. Here the poet
arranges the respective armies. On the one
side, Augustus, with his Italian forces, the
fathers of his country, and its guardian
gods. On the other side, Antony, with his
foreign forces, and the gods of Egypt. Every
line is beyond expression admirable.
680. Cui læta tempora: whose joyous
temples, &c. Cui: in the sense of cujus.
Geminas flammas. Some refer this to his
t
P VIRGILII MARONIS
45%
Læta vomunt, patriumque aperitur vertice sidus
682. In alia parte erat Parte aliâ, ventis et Dîs Agrippa secundis,
Agrippa
683. Cui tempora ful-
gent. rostrata navali co-
roná
Arduus, agmen agens: cui, belli insigne superbum,
Tempora navali fulgent rostrata corona.
Hinc ope barbaricâ variisque Antonius armis
685. Hinc victor An- Victor, ab Aurora populis et litore rubro
tonius, barbaricâ ope, Ægyptum, viresque Orientis, et ultima secum
variisque armis, vehit Bactra vehit: sequiturque, nefas! Egyptia conjux.
Ægyptum, viresque Ori-
antis, et ultima Bactra Unà omnes ruere, ac totum spumare reductis
•secum, usque ab populis Convulsum remis rostrisque tridentibus æquor.
689. Omnes videntur Alta petunt: pelago credas innare revulsas
ruere unà, ac totum Cycladas, aut montes concurrere montibus altos :
Tantâ mole viri turritis puppibus instant.
Stuppea flamma manu, telisque volatile ferrum
æquor
NOTES.
helmet, the cone or tuft of which had red
fiery plumes. Others, to his diadem, which
was set with sparkling gems.
681. Patrium sidus. This alludes to the
manner in which he used to be represented
in the Roman sculpture, having over his
head the star into which his adopted father
Julius Cæsar was supposed to have been
changed. Vomunt flammas. The poet here
imitates Homer in his description of the
helmet of Diomede.
682. Agrippa: a noble Roman, and high-
ly honored by his prince. To his skill and
conduct, the victory at Actium was chiefly
owing. He was the son-in-law of Augus-
tus, and also his adopted son. He died in
the year of the city 742. Secundis: in the
sense of propitiis.
crown.
684. Rostrata: adorned with the naval
This crown was bestowed on such
as signalized themselves in an engagement
at sea. It was set around with figures like
the beaks of ships.
sar,
685. Antonius. Marcus Antonius was
the companion of Julius Cæsar in all his
expeditions, and was magister equitum du-
ring his dictatorship. After the death of Co-
he was triumvir with Octavius (after
ward Augustus) and Lepidus. He over-
threw the army of Brutus and Cassius, and
with them the hopes of the republicans, on
the plains of Philippi. He performed many
noble deeds for his country, and triumphed
over the Parthians in the year of Rome
716. He put away his wife for the sake of
Octavia, the sister of Augustus. He put
her away in turn, and married Cleopatra,
queen of Egypt; whereupon he was decla-
red an enemy by the Senate. War was im-
mediately declared against him. The two
armics, or rather fleets, engaged at Actium,
a promontory of Epirus. Antony was
vanquished, and fled to Alexandria in Egypt,
which was soon besieged; and was taken
the following year. He killed himself, to
prevent falling into the hands of his enemies.
681
685
690
The same was the end of Cleopatra, who
died by the bite of asps, which she kept for
that purpose. The army of Antony was
made up chiefly of Asiatics. Hence popu-
lis Aurora: from the nations of the morn-
ing-of the east. Variis armis: with vari-
ous arms-with arms of various kingdoms
and nations.
686. Rubro litore: from the coast of the
Red sea. This sea separates Egypt from
Arabia. Victor. This is mentioned with
reference to his victory and triumph over the
Parthians. It is added to do honor to Au-
gustus in conquering so formidable an
enemy.
688. Bactra: neu. plu.: a principal city
of Bactriana, a country lying to the south-
east of the Caspian sea, put, by synec. for
the whole country. The Romans, like the
Greeks before them, called all other nations
barbarians. So here the forces of Antony
are called, barbarica opes. Ultima: the
farthest, or most remote part of the empire.
Egyptia conjux: Cleopatra.
690. Reductis remis: with laboring oars.
Reductis, shows the men laboring at the oar.
and with all their might pulling home every
stroke. Tridentibus rostris: with trident
beaks. See n. v. 143.
692. Cycladas. The Cyclades were a clus-
ter of islands in the Ægean sea. Delos, onu
of them, was the birth-place of Apollo and
Diana. The poet likens the ships, on ac-
count of their maguitude, to these islands
floating. on the sea, and to mountains en-
gaging with one another. The comparison
is of the noblest kind.
693. Turritis puppibus. These were ships
that had turrets or towers erected on their
decks; from which the soldiers threw all
manner of weapons, as if they had been on
dry land; and so engaged with the greatest
fury imaginable. Of so great size or bulk :
tantâ mole.
694. Stuppea flamma. These were bur-
dles of tow or hemp set on fire, and cast on
ENEIS. LIB VIII.
459
Spargitur arva novâ Neptunia cæde rubescunt.
Regina in mediis patrio vocat agmina sistro.
Necdum etiam geminos à tergo respicit angues.
Omnigenûmque Deûm monstra, et latrator Anubis,
Contra Neptunum et Venerem, contraque Minervam
Tela tenent. Sævit medio in certamine Mavors
Cœlatus ferro, tristesque ex æthere Diræ ;
Et scissâ gaudens vadit Discordia pallâ,
Quam cum sanguineo sequitur Bellona flagello.
Actius hæc cernens arcum intendebat Apollo
Desuper omnis eo terrore Ægyptus, et Indi,
Omnis Arabs, omnes vertebant terga Sabæi.
Ipsa videbatur ventis regina vocatis
Vela dare, et laxos jam jamque immittere funes.
Illam inter cædes, pallentem morte futurâ,
Fecerat Ignipotens undis et Iapyge ferri:
Contrà autem magno morentem corpore Nilum,·
Pandentemque sinus, et totâ veste vocantem
Cœruleum in gremium, latebrosaque flumina victos.
NOTES.
board the enemy. Stuppea: an adj. from
stuppa. Telis volatile ferrum. It is not easy
to come at the meaning of these words. If
we could take telis in the sense of machinis,
the engines with which the weapons were
thrown, there would be no difficulty. Heyne
thinks this can hardly be done. He sug-
gests the reading of teli in the gen. The
volatile steel of the dart is thrown. The
dat. is frequently used in the sense of the
gen. If it be in the present case, the mean-
ing will be: The volatile steel of (to) the
darts is thrown; that is, the darts and mis-
sive weapons themselves. Ferrum: the point
or barb of the dart, by synec. the whole
dart.
695. Neptunia arva: a most beautiful ex-
pression for the sea. Nova cæde: with
great-unusual slaughter.
696. Sistro. The sistrum was a kind of
timbrel peculiar to the Egyptians, and used
by them in the worship of Isis. The epithet
patrio is therefore very proper.
697. Geminos angues. This is supposed
to allude to the manner of her death. As
she was to die by the bite of asps, it is sup-
posed that Vulcan engraved them behind
her, to show what was to be her destiny,
though she was not then apprehensive of it.
698. Omnigenûm, &c. The Egyptians
were notorious for consecrating as gods the
several kinds of animals. Cicero says of
them: omne ferè genus bestiarum Ægyptii
consecrârunt. The deities, however, most
honored, were Osiris, one of their kings,
and Isis his wife. Also, Anubis. He was
most probably their servant, and, for his
fidelity, was consecrated. He was repre-
sented with a dog's head, in allusion to his
fidelity; the dog being the most faithful of
animals. Virgil calls him latralor.
695
700
705
696. In mediis parti
bus clypei regina Cleo-
palra vocat
701. Tristesquo Dira
sæviunt ex æthere.
710. Ignipotens tece-
rat illam inter cædes,
pallentem futura morte
ferri
711. Autem contra
710 cælaverat Nilum magno
corpore mærentem, pan-
dentemque suos sinus, et
tota veste expassâ vo
cantem victos
702. Gaudens scissâ pallâ: discord rejoic-
ing in her rent mantle. By the rent mantle,
the poet very forcibly expresses the effect of
discord in dividing the minds of men, and
destroying the peace of society.
704. Actius. Apollo is here called Actius,
from Actium, a promontory on the coast of
Epirus, where he had a famous temple. The
whole coast was sacred to him. The word
Actium is derived from a Greek word which
signifies the shore, or litus.
Ethiopians. These composed a part of the
705. Indi: either the Bactrians, or the
forces of Antony. The inhabitants of any
warm climate were sometimes called Indi,
indiscriminately. Sabai: the inhabitants of
Arabia Felix. These, also, were with An-
tony. Eo terrore: with the fear of that, &c.
708. Immittere laxos funes: to give loose
ropes-to let go the ropes that contracted
the sails. This is a metaphor taken from
loosening the reins of a horse, to let him
go at full speed.
710. Iapyge. This wind blew from Apu-
lia, the most eastern part of Italy, and con-
sequently toward Egypt. It is called Iapyx,
from the ancient name of Apulia. Fecerat:
had engraved-represented.
711. Nilum. This personification of the
river Nile is extremely fine. The Nile is
the largest river of Africa. Rising in the
mountains of Abyssinia, and running a north-
erly course, fertilizing the country through
which it passes, it falls into the Mediterra-
nean sea by seven mouths. Its inundations
are occasioned by the periodical rains, which
fall within the tropics. Mærentem: in the
sense of dolentem.
713. Latebrosa: winding-affording a safe
and secure retreat.
160
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
At Cæsar, triplici invectus Romana triumpho
Mœnia, Dîs Italis votum immortale sacrabat,
716. Nempe tercentum Maxima ter centum totam delubra per urbem.
maxima delubra
Lætitiâ, ludisque via plausuque fremebant:
718 Erat chorus ma- Omnibus in templis matrum chorus; omnibus aræ
trum in omnibus temp- Ante aras terram cæsi stravêre juvenci.
lis; erant aræ
720. Augustus ipse, Ipse, sedens niveo candentis limine Phœbi,
sedons in niveo limine Dona recognoscit populorum, aptatque superbis
candentis templi
finxerat genus
Postibus. Incedunt victæ longo ordine gentes,
Quàm variæ linguis, habitu tam vestis et armis.
724. Hic Mulciber Hic Nomadum genus, et discinctos Mulciber Afros,
Hic Lelegas, Carasque, sagittiferosque Gelonos
Finxerat. Euphrates ibat jam mollior undis,
neris
729. Æneas miratur Extremique hominum Morini, Rhenusque bicornis,
talia dona parentis Ve- Indomitique Dahæ, et pontem indignatus Araxes.
Talia, per clypeum Vulcani, dona parentis
Miratur: rerumque ignarus imagine gaudet,
Attollens humero famamque et fata nepotum.
730. Gaudetque ima-
gine rerum, quarum est
adhuc ignarus
NOTES.
714. Triplici triumpho. Augustus obtain-
ed three victories: one over the Illyrians,
another over Antony and Cleopatra, and a
third over Egypt, which was reduced to a
Roman province. This was effected by the
capture of Alexandria in the year of Rome
724, and in the month Sextilis; which after-
ward was called Augustus. Soon after this,'
the year was begun on the first day of Ja-
nuary.
716. Ter centum, &c. A definite number
is here used for an indefinite number. We
are informed that Augustus built several
sumptuous temples at Rome, among which
was one to Julius Cæsar, his adopted father.
This was built on mount Palatine, of white
Parian marble. Hence the epithet canden-
tis, verse 720, infra. Via: the streets of
the city. Fremebant: in the sense of reso-
nabant.
723. Linguis: language. Habitu: man-
ner, or form of their apparel.
724. Nomadum. The Nomadæ vel Numa-
da were a people of Africa, situated to the
west of Carthage. Their capital city was
Cirta. They derived their name from a
Greek word which signifies pasture; pas-
turage being their chief business. Discine-
tos: the Africans are so called from the
looseness of their apparel, or from their ge-
neral inactivity and aversion to labor. Mul-
ciber: a name of Vulcan.
725. Lelegas. The Lelega were a people
of Asia Minor. Homer places them about
the bay of Adramyllium. By some they
are confounded with the Cares. These were
718
720
725
730
a people to the south of Ionia, and to the
north of Doris. Gelonos. These were a
people of Scythia, or Thrace, skilful in
throwing the arrow.
726. Finxerat: in the sense of sculpserat.
727. Morini. These were a people in-
habiting the northern parts of Gaul over
against Britain; which the Romans consi-
dered the boundary of the world to the
westward. Hence they are called extremi
hominum: the most remote of men. Their
capital was Tarvanna. Caius Carinus tri-
umphed over them, on the same day that
Augustus obtained his first triumph. Rhe-
nus: the Rhine, a well-known river. It
arises in the Alps, and taking a northerly
direction, unites with the Main from the east
Hence it is called bicornis, two horned. It
falls into the German sea by several mouths.
728. Daha. Where these people were
situated is uncertain. Stephanius thinks
they were a nation of Scythia. Others place
them in Asia, near the river Oxus, which
falls into the Caspian sea, from the south-
east, separating Bactriana from Sogdiana.
If this be correct, they were allies of Anto-
ny. Araxes. This is a river, rising in Ar-
menia, taking an easterly direction, and fall-
ing into the Caspian sea.
It carried away
the bridge which Alexander built over it.
Hence it is said: indignatus pontem: it dis-
dained a bridge.
730. Ignarus, &c. Although Æneas was
delighted with these figures and representa-
tions upon his shield, he knew not what they
were designed to represent and foreshow.
ENEIS. LIB. VIII.
461
What is the subject of this book?
QUESTIONS.
At whose direction did Æneas go to the
court of Evander?
Where was his city situated?
What was the name of it?
Why was it called Pallanteum?
How was he received by the aged mo-
narch?
Of what country was he a native?
What was he doing at the time of the
arrival of Eneas?
Were Æneas and Evander in any way re-
lated to each other?
How was that relationship deduced?
Who was their common ancestor?
Had Evander any acquaintance with An-
chises?
On what occasion had he seen him?
Where is the island of Salamis situated?
How came Priam to visit that island?
What other places did he visit at the same
time?
On what account were those sacred rites
instituted in honor of Hercules, in which
Evander was then engaged?
Who was Hercules?
What other names had he?
On what occasion did he visit Evander?
Who was Cacus?
Where had he his residence?
What had he done to bring the vengeance
of Hercules upon him?
In what way did he take these heifers to
his cave?
What was his object in doing this?
How was a discovery finally made?
Where was the cave of Cacus situated?
On the approach of Hercules, what did
Cacus do?
What are some of them?
How many men did he send with Æneas?
Who commanded them?
What was the age of Pallas at that time?
What was the state of the Tuscans?
Where were they situated in respect to
the Tiber?
What was the cause of their being in
arms?
Was the throne of Tuscany at that time
vacant?
Had they made any offer of the crown to
Evander?
Why did he decline it?
Who commanded the Tuscan troops?
What was the object of Æneas in visiting
the Tuscan camp?
Did the Tuscans willingly place them-
selves under his command
Had there been any prophetic declarations
upon this subject?
What prince does Turnus endeavor to
bring over to his interest?
In what part of Italy were his posses
sions?
What was the name of his city?
Who was Diomede?
What did Venus in the mean time?
Where were the forges of Vulcan?
Who were his workmen ?
What were the names of the chief of
them?
What were they doing at that time?
On the shield of Eneas was there any
carved work?
Were there any events of the Roman his-
tory there represented?
What were some of those events?
How did Æneas receive this impenetra-
How did the hero find admission into his ble shield?
den?
What resistance did he make?
How did Hercules kill the monster?
Did Hercules perform any other distin-
guished actions?
What are some of them?
To whom was he made subject by Juno?
How many actions did he perform at the
command of that king?
What are they called by way of distinc-
tion and eminence?
What was the object of Eneas in going
to the court of Evander?
Did he furnish him with men and supplies
for the war?
What was the character of Evander as a
soldier?
Had he performed, in his youth, any feats
of valor?
Where was he at the time?
Was this a very unexpected event to him?
In what light may this book be consi
dered?
Where is the scene laid?
What does Dr. Trapp observe of this
book?
What part, in particular, is the finest and
most noble?
In what description does the poet appea
to have exerted all the powers of his mind
Where was that battle fought?
What was the consequence of that victe
ry to Augustus?
What was the end of Antony?
What was the end of Cleopatra'
In what manner did she die?
How does the book conclude?
LIBER NONUS.
In this book the war commences. Turnus, taking the advantage of the absence of
Eneas, assaults the Trojan camp; and attempts to set fire to their ships, when they are
changed into sea-nymphs. In a state of consternation, they send Nisus and Euryalus
to recall Æneas. This introduces the episode of their friendship, generosity, and the
conclusion of their adventures: which extends from the 176th line to the 502d, and is
one of the finest pieces of the Eneid. The next morning, Turnus renews the assault,
and performs prodigies of valor. At length, being informed that the Trojans had
The
opened the gates, he repairs thither; when a most desperate conflict ensues.
Trojans take refuge within their gates. The hero enters along with them, and the
gates are closed upon him. Juno assists him, and a great slaughter ensues. The Trojans
flec in all directions before him. At last, however, they are rallied by Mnestheus and
Sergestus, and renew the fight. Turnus retires before them, escapes from their entrench-
ments, and returns in safety to his camp.
This book is distinguished from the rest by the total absence of Æneas. It contains more
fighting than any of the other. Dr. Trapp considers the transformation of the ships
into nymphs of the sea, as a blemish to the book.
ATQUE ea diversâ penitùs dum parte geruntur,
Irim de cœlo misit Saturnia Juno
Audacem ad Turnum. Luco tum fortè parentis
Pilumni Turnus sacratâ valle sedebat :
Ad quem sic rosèo Thaumantias ore locuta est :
Turne, quod optanti Divûm promittere nemo
Auderet, volvenda dies en attulit ultrò!
Æneas, urbe, et sociis, et classe relictâ,
Sceptra Palatini sedemque petivit Evandri.
10. Nec est hoc satis; Nec satis: extremas Corythi penetravit ad urbes :
penetravit
Lydorumque manum, collectos armat agrestes.
5
10
12. Nunc est tempus Quid dubitas? nunc tempus equos, nunc poscere currus:
poscere equos
Rumpe moras omnes, et turbata arripe castra.
Dixit: et in cœlum paribus se sustulit alis ;
Ingentemque fugâ secuit sub nubibus arcum.
NOTES.
1. Geruntur. This refers to what has
been related in the preceding book-the
transactions at the court of Evander.
3. Parentis. Pilumnus was not the im-
mediate parent of Turnus, but one of his
ancestors; either his grandfather or great
grandfather. Servius says Pilumnus was
the common name of the family.
5. Thaumantias. Iris, the daughter of
Thaumas and Electra. See Æn. iv. 700.
6. Optanli: to you wishing so favorable
an opportunity.
7. Dies volvenda: the time (that was) to
bu revolved-the time destined by the fates.
Dise: in the sense of tempus.
8. Urbe. This city of Eneas is sometimes
called a camp. It was a camp, fortified in
Ih
the form of a city, with turrets, ramparts,
and gates.
9. Evandri. Evander is here called Pa- ·
latine, because he dwelt on mount Palatine,
or Palilinus, where Romulus afterward
dwelt; and, also, the Roman emperors, down
from Augustus. Sceptra: the realms. Ru-
æus says, regna. Sedem: palace-city.
10. Corythi. Corythus, a city of Tusca-
ny founded by Corytus, a Tuscan king, and
called by his name.
11. Lydorum. The Tuscans are called
Lydians, because they were a colony from
Lydia in Asia Minor.
15. Secuit arcum: she cut the mighty bow,
&c. The rainbow was reckoned the chariot
of Iris; so that the meaning is: she cut
ANEIS. LIB. IX.
463
Agnovit juvenis, duplicesque ad sidera palmas
Sustulit, ac tali fugientem est voce secutus:
Iri, decus cœli, quis te mihi nubibus actam
Detulit in terras? unde hæc tam clara repentè
Tempestas? medium video discedere cœlum,
Palantesque polo stellas Sequar omina tanta,
Quisquis in arma vocas. Et sic effatus, ad undam
Processit, summoque hausit de gurgite lymphas,
Multa Deos orans: oneravitque æthera votis.
Jamque omnis campis exercitus ibat apertis,
Dives equûm, dives pictaï vestis, et auri.
Messapus primas acies, postrema coërcent
Tyrrheidæ juvenes: medio dux agmine Turnus
Vertitur arma tenens, et toto vertice suprà est.
Ceu septem surgens sedatis amnibus altus
Per tacitum Ganges; aut pingui flumine Nilus,
Cùm refluit campis, et jam se condidit alveo.
Hic subitam nigro glomerari pulvere nubem
Prospiciunt Teucri, ac tenebras insurgere campis.
Primus ab adversâ conclamat mole Caïcus:
NOTES.
her way through it, to mount up again into
heaven in that vehicle.
16. Palmas: properly, the palm of the
hand by synec. the whole hand.
19. Unde hæc tam: whence this so glaring
brightness, all on a sudden? Tempestas evi-
dently means, in this place, serenity, bright-
ness, or brilliancy. Detulit: in the sense of
demisit. Tempestas tam clara. Rumus says,
facies cœli tam splendida.
20. Video medium: I see heaven open in
the midst, and stars shooting across the sky.
When the lightning bursts through the
clouds, the skies seem at times to be rent
asunder. We are to understand by stellas,
the moteors, and other electric appearances,
that shoot across the skies like stars. Ser-
vius understands it of the stars themselves.
That they should ever appear in the day-
time is very extraordinary, but that they
should appear in the additional light brought
by Iris, was much more so. This, therefore,
confirmed Turnus in the opinion that it was
something preternatural and divine. Sequar
tanta omina, was therefore his immediate
determination.
23. Lymphas: in the sense of aquam.
Summo gurgite: from the surface of the
stream.
24. Æthera: in the sense of cœlum.
26. Pictaï the old genitive for pictœ: va-
riegated-embroidered.
27. Coërcent: in the sense of inferant.
Rumus says, regunt. Postrema: the rear.
Agmina is understood.
28. Tyrrheide: the sons of Tyrrheus, a
patronymic noun. Tyrrheus was the shep-
herd of Latinus, whose eldest son was killed
in the first skirmish. See Æn. vii.
20
25
16. Juvenis Turnus
agnovit eam
Et
22. Quisquis Deorum
vocas me in arma.
sic effatus processit ad
undam Tibris
27. Messapus coėrcet
primas acies
29. Et est supra om-
30 nes alios toto vertice
31. Aut ceu Nilus pin-
gui flumine fluit, cùm
35
29. Vertitur: in the sense of incedit. This
line is marked by Heyne as an interpola-
tion.
ges, rising silently from seven still streams
30. Ceu altus Ganges: as the deep Gan-
Hows on its course silent and still, so moves
the army of Turnus. This is a beautiful
simile, and is intended to express the majes-
tic slowness and silence of their march:
also, their order, after having been scattered
and dispersed; as those rivers glide within
their channels, after having overflowed the
country. An ellipsis here is necessary in
order to make the sense clear, which I have
filled. The Ganges is the largest river of
Asia, and divides India into two parts.
it recieves the waters of a number of con-
After a course of about 2,000 miles, in which
siderable streams, it falls into the bay of
Bengal by several mouths. Like the Nile,
it overflows its banks. By septem sedatis
amnibus, we are to understand the several
rivers which flow into the Ganges, and aug
ment its waters. Hence the propriety of
surgens. The natives worship the river as
a god.
31. Per tacitum: taken adverbially, in the
sense of tacitè.
32. Cùm refluit: when it hath retire 1,
or flowed back from the plains, and confined
itself to its channel. Pingur flumine: with
its fertilizing waters. The fertility of Egypt
is wholly owing to the overflowing of the
Nile.
See Geor. iv. 293. and n. viii. 711
33. Glomerari: to be formed-to ascend 11
wreathy columns, like clouds of smoke.
35. Mole: rampart-tower
464
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Quis globus, ô cives, caligine volvitur atrâ?
Ferte citi ferrum, date tela, scandite muros.
Hostis adest, eja. Ingenti clamore per omnes
39. Omnes Teucri con- Condunt se Teucri portas, et moenia complent.
dunt se ingenti clamore Namque ita discedens præceperat optimus armis
Æneas si qua intereà fortuna fuisset;
per portas
41. Intereà siqua dura
fortuna fuisset
Ne struere auderent aciem, neu credere campo :
Castra modò, et tutos servarent aggere muros.
Ergò, etsi conferre manum pudor iraque monstrat,
Objiciunt portas tamen, et præcepta facessunt ;
Armatique cavis exspectant turribus hostem.
40
45
Turnus, ut antevolans tardum præcesserat agmen,
Viginti lectis equitum comitatus, et urbi
Improvisus adest: maculis quem Thracius albis
Portat equus, cristâque tegit galea aurea rubrâ.
51. O juvenes, ecquis Ecquis erit mecum, juvenes, qui primus in hostem?
estrum erit, qui primus En, ait; et jaculum intorquens emittit in auras,
irruet in hostem me- Principium pugnæ; et campo sese arduus infert.
Clamore excipiunt socii, fremituque sequuntur
Horrisono. Teucrum mirantur inertia corda :
56. Viros non dare se Non æquo dare se campo, non obvia ferre
cum !
equo campo, non ferre
arma obvia
50
55
60
Arma viros; sed castra fovere. Huc turbidus atque huc
57. Turnus turbidus Lustrat equo muros, aditumque per avia quærit.
lustrat
Ac veluti pleno lupus insidiatus ovili,
Cùm fremit ad caulas, ventos perpessus et imbres,
64. Rabies edendi col- Nocte super mediâ: tuti sub matribus agni
lecta ex longo tempore Balatum exercent: ille asper et improbus irâ
fatigat eum, et fauces
sicca sanguine fatigunt
Sævit in absentes: collecta fatigat edendi
Ex longo rabies, et siccæ sanguine fauces
eum
NOTES.
36. Globus: a troop, or multitude of sol-
diers. Quis: in the sense of quantus. Vol-
vitur: is approaching. Ruæus says, accedit
ad nos. But volvitur may be taken perhaps
in the sense of involvitur: is involved, or
concealed from us, in that thick cloud of dust.
37. Ferrum: here, must mean arms in
general.
38. Per: in the sense of intra.
40. Optimus armis: most skilful in the
art of war-most valiant in arms.
41. Siqua fortuna: if there should be any
danger or hazard during his absence, he di-
rected that they should not, &c. If war
should break out while, &c.
43. Modò: only-they should attempt
nothing more. Aggere in the sense of
munimentis.
44. Monstrat conferre: urges them to en-
gage hand to hand-in close quarters, and
on equal terms, yet, &c.
48. Equitum: gen. plu. for equitibus, to
⚫gree with lectis.
49. Albis maculis: of white spots. The
prep. è vel ex is understood.
52. Intorquens jaculum: brandishing his
Javelin, he threw it into the air, as the begin-
ning, &c. This is an allusion to the Roman
ceremony of throwing a javelin into the ene
my's territory, as a signal of war. Princi
pium: in the sense of initium.
54. Horrisono fremitu: with terrific shouts.
Excipiunt: they answer with acclamation
they second, &c.
55. Inertia cowardly-fearful.
56. Obvia: in the sense of adversa.
57. Fovere castra: to cherish or hug their
camp-keep close to it. This is an oppro-
brious expression. It is a metaphor taken
from timorous mothers, who hug their chil-
dren, and keep them close to their bosoms.
when apprehensive of their being in danger.
Turbidus: in the sense of iratus.
58. Per avia: in the sense of per inac
cessa loça. Avia: of a priv. and via.
60. Cùm fremit: growls around the sheep.
cotes. Perpessus: enduring-suffering.
61. Super: until-as far as. Rumus says,
sub mediam noctem.
62. Ille asper: he fierce and outrageous
with anger, &c. Absentes: the lambs shut
up in the fold, and out of his reach. Exer
cent in the sense of emittunt.
63. Savit: in the sense of furit. Eos is
understood.
64. Rabies edendi: a rage for eating-
ENEIS. LIB. IX.
465
·
Haud aliter Rutulo muros et castra tuenti
Ignescunt iræ: et duris dolor ossibus ardet;
Quâ tentet ratione aditus; et quâ via clausos
Excutiat Teucros vallo, atque effundat in æquor.
Classem, quæ lateri castrorum adjuncta latebat,
Aggeribus septam circùm et fluvialibus undis,
Invadit; sociosque incendia poscit ovantes,
Atque manum pinu flagranti fervidus implet.
Tum verò incumbunt urget præsentia Turni,
Atque omnis facibus pubes accingitur atris.
Diripuêre focos: piceum fert fumida lumen
Tæda, et commixtam Vulcanus ad astra favillam.
Quis Deus, & Musæ, tam sæva incendia Teucris
Avertit? tantos ratibus quis depulit ignes?
Dicite. Prisca fides facto, sed fama perennis.
Tempore, quo primùm Phrygiâ formabat in Idâ
Eneas classem, et pelagi petere alta parabat;
Ipsa Deûm fertur genitrix Berecynthia magnum
NOTES.
hunger. Edendi: in the sense of cibi. Fa-
tigat urges him on. Ruæus says, vexat.
Sicca dry-thirsting for blood.
•
65. Kululo: to the Rutulian-to Turnus.
66. Dolor: indignation—anguish.
67. Qua ratione: in what way he may
obtain access; and in what way he may
dislodge the Trojans, shut up in their in-
trenchments, &c. It is much better to
take via in the abl. than the nominative to
the verb excutiat, with Heyne and Valpy.
This obscures the sense, while the former
renders it obvious. Ruæus and Davidson
read quâ via. Heyne, quæ via.
69. Adjuncta: adjoining-near to. Ru-
wus says, admota.
70. Circum septam: protected around.
Rumus says, defensam. Fluvialībus undis:
by the waters of the river-simply, by the
river Tiber.
71. Poscit incendia: he demands flames
of his joyous companions. He orders them
to take fire, and assist him in burning the
ships. Verbs of commanding, &c. govern
two accusatives.
73. Incumbunt: they exert all their
strength--they spring to it earnestly.
75. Diripuere: they strip-plunder the
hearths. Fert: in the sense of emittit.
76. Vulcanus: the god of fire, by moton.
put for fire itself. Tada: a firebrand-
torch. Favillam: the sparks.
78. Depulit: in the sense of avertit.
79. Prisca fides, &c. There have been
various conjectures upon the sense of this
passage. Servius takes prisca in the sense
of obsolete. It was once believed, but now
is not; yet the report continues, and is like
ly to be immortal. This Dr. Trapp ap-
proves. Some tako prisca fides facto, sim-
ply for priscum factum, with the addition of
65
70
75
80
76. Et Vulcanus feri
commixtam favillam ad
astra.
79. Est prisca fides
facto, sed fama ejus est
perennis.
82. Berecynthia ipsa
genitrix Deûm fertur af-
fata esse magnum Jovem
its being believed. But to put fides facto for
factum, though with the addition of belief,
is harsh and singular. Heyne takes facto,
in the sense of facti, which makes the sense
easier. The belief of the fact was ancient,
but the report or tradition will always con-
tinue. Davidson renders the words: " an-
cient is the testimony of the fact, but im-
mortal is its fame." Valpy says, "the fact
was at first credited on good authority, but
the tradition has been constant."
80. Tempore, quo, &c. By some critics,
Virgil has been censured for this metamor-
phosis of the ships of Æneas into sea-nymphs.
Dr. Trapp has considered this matter at some
length in a note upon this place. In con-
clusion he says: Virgil we know was not
the first who wrote of the coming of Ene-
as into Italy: and, among other tradi-
tions of his country, it is probable he found
the story coined to his hand, and could not
omit it without disobliging those whom it
was his business to please. This appears
probable, if we consider the judgment of
this great poet, (who is not likely to be the
inventor of a story which exceeds all Ovid's
in improbability,) and also the hints which
he gives of his own disapprobation of it.
However, he does all he can to cover its
absurdity. and deludes us as much as possi-
ble. He invokes the muses afresh; intro-
duces it as a thing scarcely credible: it is
dore by the greatest of the gods at the re-
quest of his mother. The story is short
and elegant. But when all is said, the
faulty image is not covered. Upon the
whole, I am satisfied that Virgil was forced
to insert it contrary to his judgment; or
that he would have erased it, had he lived to
perfect the poem. Alta: spatia is understood.
82. Berecynthia: a name of Cybele, who
31
406
P VIRGILII MARONIS
nempe, lucus
88. Ego læta dedi has
arbores
87
Vocibus his affata Jovem : Da, nate, petenti,
Quod tua chara parens domito te poscit Olympo
85. Fuit in summâ Pinea sylva mihi multos dilecta per annos,
arce pinea sylva dilecta Lucus in arce fuit summa, quò sacra ferebant,
mihi per multos annos, Nigranti piceâ trabibusque obscurus acernis.
Has ego Dardanio juveni, cùm classis egeret,
Læta dedi: nunc solicitam timor anxius urget.
Solve metus, atque hoc precibus sine posse parentem, 99
91. Ut illæ naves ne Ne cursu quassatæ ullo, neu turbine venti
vincantur quassate ullo Vincantur. Prosit nostris in montibus ortas.
cursu, neu ullo turbine Filius huic contrà, torquet qui sidera mundi :
venti: prosit iis eas or-
tas esse in
O genitrix, quò fata vocas? aut quid petis istis ?
Mortaline manu factæ immortale carinæ
eulis maris tenebunt
Fas habeant! certusque incerta pericula lustret
Æneas? cui tanta Deo permissa potestas?
98. Ubi defunctæ peri- Imò, ubi defunctæ finem, portusque tenebunt
Ausonios; olim quæcunque evaserit undis,
Dardaniumque ducem Laurentia vexerit arva;
101. Eripiam huic Mortalem eripiam formam, magnique jubebo
Æquoris esse Deas: qualis Nereïa Doto
mortalem
Et Galatea secant spumantem pectore pontum.
104. Annuitque id ra- Dixerat: idque ratum, Stygii per flumina fratris,
tum esse per flumina
Per pice torrentes atrâque voragine ripas,
108. Cùm injuria Tur- Annuit: et totum nutu tremefecit Olympum.
Ergò aderat promissa dies, et tempora Parcæ
Cybelen depellere tædas Debita complêrant; cùm Turni injuria matrem
ni admonuit matrem
NOTES.
is said to have been the mother of the gods.
See Æn. vi. 784.
84. Olympo domito. Jupiter had dethroned
his father Saturn, and reduced all the gods
to his obedience. The mention of this cir-
cumstance is emphatical. For kings are
most likely to grant favors on their first ac-
cession to their thrones. And besides, it was
peculiarly proper to be mentioned by her;
for it was by her means that he was so ad-
vanced. He had been preserved by her
from Saturn; and for the undisturbed pos-
session of Olympus, he was indebted to his
mother. Jove could not therefore refuse
her prayer.
86. Lucus: put, in apposition with pinea
ylva. Ferebant: in the sense of offerebant.
Sacra: sacrifices.
87. Obscurus: darkened-shaded; agree-
ing with lucus. Arce summa: mount Ida,
where Cybele was peculiarly worshipped.
This mountain was sacred to her. Trabibus
ncernis: ash-trees. Trabs: the trunk, put
Trabs: the trunk, put
by synec. for the whole tree.
88. Classis: gen. governed by egeret.
89. Urget: this is the common reading.
Davidson reads angi!.
90. Solve metus: dismiss my fears. Fear
may be considered as a yoke in which a
person is bound. Ruæus says, expelle. Posse
hoc to obtain this by intreaties-to have
sufficient influence with you to obtain, &c.
:
*
95
100
105
91. Ullo cursu in any voyage-course.
Turbine venti: a storm, or gale of wind.
94. Vocas: in the sense of vertis. Fata
the course-order of things. Istis: for thos
ships. Navibus is understood.
96. Immortale fas: an immortal privilege,
or right. Lustret: surmount-pass through.
Certus: safe-secure from harm. For lus-
tret, Ruæus says adibit.
100. Laurentia arva: Italy-the land of
Laurentum. The prep. ad is understood.
102. Doto-Galatea: the names of two
nymphs of the sea, the daughters of Ne-
reus and Doris. See Ecl. ii. 46.
104. Annuitque id ratum: he assented it
should be granted-he bowed his head us a
sign that it was granted to her. The gods
were wont to swear by the infernal rivers,
particularly by Styx; and if they did not
perform, they lost their divinity for an hun-
dred years. See Geor. iii. 551.
105. Torrentes: in the sense of fluentes.
Cybele had requested of Jove, that the
ships of Æneas should not, under any cir
cumstance, be overcome or destroyed, He
intimates this to be a singular request.
Could ships built by mortal hands, enjoy
the privilege of immortality? was it certain,
that Eneas would escape the dangers of
his long and perilous voyage? what she de-
manded was out of his power to grant un
conditionally. But if any of them shoul
ENEIS. LIB. IX
467
}
A‹tmonuit sacris ratibus depeilere tædas.
Hic primùm nova lux oculis effulsit, et ingens
Visus ab Aurorâ cœlum transcurrere nimibus,
Idæique chori tum vox horrenda per auras
Excidit, et Troüm Rutulorumque agmina complet:
Ne trepidate meas, Teucri, defendere naves,
Neve armate manus: maria antè exurere Turno
Quàm sacras dabitur pinus. Vos ite solutæ,
Ite, Deæ pelagi: genitrix jubet. Et sua quæque
Continuò puppes abrumpunt vincula ripis ;
Delphinumque modo demersis æquora rostris
Ima petunt. Hinc virgineæ, mirabile monstrum!
Reddunt se totidem facies, pontoque feruntur,
Quot priùs æratæ steterant ad litora proræ.
Obstupuere animis Rutuli: conterritus ipse
Turbatis Messapus equis: cunctatur et amnis
1
Rauca sonans; revocatque pedem Tiberinus ab alto.
At non audaci cessit fiducia Turno.
Ultrò animos tollit dictis, atque increpat ultrò:
Trojanos hæc monstra petunt: his Jupiter ipse
Auxilium solitum eripuit: non tela, nec ignes
Expectant Rutulos. Ergò maria invia Teucris,
Nec spes ulla fugæ rerum pars altera adempta est:
Terra autem in manibus nostris: tot millia gentes
Arma ferunt Italæ. Nil me fatalia terrent,
Si qua Phryges præ se jactant, responsa Deorum
Sat fatis Venerique datum, tetigere quòd arva
Fertilis Ausoniæ Troës. Sunt et mea contrà
NOTES.
escape the dangers of the sea, and arrive
safe in Italy, he would grant to such, to be-
come nymphs of the sea. This he promises
in the most solemn manner, and ratifies it
by the usual oath.
109. Tadas: in the sense of flammas.
110. Hic primùm, &c. This implies, that
Cybele had before been unknown in Italy:
and now made her first appearance in that
country, in favor of the Trojans. Oculis:
in the sense of visui.
111. Nimbus: a bright cloud, or cloud of
glory, the vehicle of the goddess. Aurora:
the east.
112. Idæique chori: her Idean choir.
These were the priests of Cybele, the Cory-
bantes, Curetes, or Dactyli. They made a
sound about the goddess on their brazen
cymbals, as she passed through the sky.
Horrenda: awful-inspiring dread.
113. Excidit: in the sense of emittitur.
114. Trepidate: in the sense of properate.
116. Vos ite solutæ: go, ye, free, go, god-
desses of the sea.
119. Modo: in the sense of more. De-
mersis: sunk-immerged. Like dolphins,
ti:ey dive with their prows or beaks to the
bottom of the sea.
121. Reddunt se, &c. The meaning is·
110
115
112. Idæique chorì s
mul: tum
115. Dabitur Turno
exurere maria antequàm
has sacras pinus
116. Genitrix Deorum
jubet id.
120
120. Hinc totidem vir
ginem facies
126
130
130. Ergo maria sunt
invia
133. Fatalia responsa
Deorum, si qua Phryges
jactant præ se
136. Et sunt mihi mea
135 fata contrà illa, nempe
exscindere
after they had gone to the bottom, each one
came up with a virgin face, and floated down
the stream into the sea.
124. Turbatis: affrighted--alarmed. Cunc-
tatur: stopt-delayed.
125. Raucà: an adj. neu. plu., taken as
an adv. Revocat pedem: recalls his current
from the deep.
127. Tollit animos: he rouses the courage
of his men (militum) by his words, and re
bukes their fears.
128. Petunt. in the sense of spectant. `.
130. Expectant: naves Trojanæ is under
stood.
131. Altera pars rerum: one part of the
world is taken from them, now their ships
have left them; namely, the sea: and the
land is in our possession. There is no way
for them to escape.
133. Arma: by meton. for the men who
bear them. Ferunt: bring to our aid. Ter-
rent nil, &c. This whole speech of Turnus,
bespeaks him the soldier and intrepid com
mander. And to turn those very prodigies,
which encouraged and animated his ene-
mies, against them, marks his undaunted
spirit. He calls them Phrygians by way of
contempt.
463
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Fata mihi, ferro sceleratam exscindere gentem,
Conjuge præreptâ. Nec solos tangit Atridas
Iste dolor; solisque licet capere arma Mycenis.
140. Sed dicetur, est Sed periisse semel satìs est: peccare fuisset
satìs cos periisse semel: Antè satìs, penitùs modò non genus omne perosos
fuisset satis eos peccare Fœmineum. Quibus hæc medii fiducia valli,
antè, penitùs perosos esse
non modò omne
146. Sed vos, O lecti
viri, quis vestrum appa-
rat
Fossarumque moræ, leti discrimina parva,
Dant animos. At non viderunt mœnia Trojæ,
Neptuni fabricata manu, considere in ignes?
Sed vos, ô lecti, ferro quis scindere vallum
Apparat, et mecum invadit trepidantia castra ?
Non armis mihi Vulcani, non mille carinis
Est opus in Teucros: addant se protinùs omnes
150. Ne timeant tene- Etrusci socios: tenebras et inertia furta
bras
Palladii, cæsis summæ custodibus arcis,
Ne timeant: nec equi cæcâ condemur in alvo.
Luce palam certum est igni circumdare muros.
154. Faxo ut haud Haud sibi cum Danais rem, faxo, et pube Pelasgâ
putent esse rem sibi cum Esse putent, decimum quos distulit Hector in annum.
Danais
Nunc adeò, melior quoniam pars acta diei;
Quod superest; læti benè gestis corpora rebus
NOTES.
138. Conjuge præreptâ. Lavinia had been
promised to Turnus in marriage: and he
already considered her as his wife. She was
taken (prærepta) from him, and transferred
to Eneas.
139. Licetque Mycenis: nor is it lawful
for Greece alone to take up arms. It is
lawful for us too, in a similar cause. It is
plain that the negation is to be continued, in
this last member of the sentence.
+
140. Sed periisse semel, &c. This is a diffi-
cult passage; and it is so rendered by its
conciseness. To make the sense, something
must be supplied. There is a note in the
Variorum edition upon this place, in these
words: Verùm dicent Trojani se luisse jam
Helena raptum. Respondet: desiissent ergò
peccare: dedicissent odisse potiùs fœminas
omnes, quàm vel unam rapere: quod quia in
Lavinia faciunt, iterum pereant. Ex quo
colligitur, quotieş peccaverint, toties eos perire
debere. Upon the words penitùs modo non,
Dr. Trapp observes, the penitùs should be
connected with perosos: and the modo non,
he takes in the sense of propemodum, and
joins them with omne genus, &c. That they
should utterly hate almost the whole female
sex. They could not hate all women; their
mothers, sisters, and relations, must be ex-
cepted. Ruæus makes the first clause an
interrogation: which is incorrect. It is a
supposed objection, to which peccare fuisset,
&c. is the answer.
142. Quibus hæc fiducia: to whom this
confidence of an intervening rampart, &c.
give courage. The meaning of the passage
is this: let them not presume on their forti-
140
145
150
155
fications and ramparts, that these will save
them from death, since their former treache-
ry was punished, when they were guarded
by much stronger munitions, even those
walls which were built by the hand of Nep-
tune. Parva discrimina lethi: a small space,
or feeble partition between them and death,
Medii: intervening-between them and us.
144. At this is the reading of Heyne,
and Valpy. The common reading is an.
147. Trepidantia castra: trembling-in
terror and consternation, now their leader
is absent.
148. Non armis opus est: either that he
needed not arms made by Vulcan, such as
Achilles had; or that he would not use his
own sword, which was also the workman-
ship of the god of fire. See Æn. xii. 90.
151. Palladii, &c. Here is an allusion to
the exploit of Diomede and Ulysses, who
privately entered the temple of Minerva in
Troy, and stole the Palladium, having slain
the guards. Hence, inertia furla: such
cowardly and unmanly conduct, Turnus
disdains.
153. Luce palàm: I am resolved to sur-
round, &c. Turnus promises the Trojans
fair play, that he will not have recourse to
those stratagems and arts, which the Greeks
employed when before Troy. This bespeaks
a manly and dignified spirit; one, truly be-
coming the hero. Luce palàm: openly-
in the day.
154. Foxo: I will do or cause that, &c.
157. Rebus benè gestis. These words are
to be taken absolutely. Things being favor-
ably begun. This is the sense given by
ENEIS. LIB. IX.
469
Procurate, viri; et pugnam sperate parati.
Intereà vigilum excubiis obsidere portas,
Cura datur Messapo, et moenia cingere flammis.
Bis septem Rutuli, muros qui milite servent,
Delecti: ast illos centeni quemque sequuntur,
Purpurei cristis juvenes, auroque corusci.
Discurrunt, variantque vices, fusique per herbam
Indulgent vino, et vertunt crateras ahenos.
Collucent ignes: noctem custodia ducit
Insomnem tudo.
Hæc super è vallo prospectant Troës, et armis
Alta tencnt; nec non trepidi formidine portas
Explorant, pontesque et propugnacula jungunt:
Tela gerunt. Instant Mnestheus acerque Serestus:
Quos pater Æneas, si quando adversa vocarent,
Rectores juvenum, et rerum dedit esse magistros.
Omnis per muros legio sortita perîclum
Excubat, exercetque vices, quod cuique tuendum est.
Nisus erat portæ custos, acerrimus armis,
Hyrtacides; comitem Æneæ quem miserat Ida
Venatrix, jaculo celerem levibusque sagittis :
Et juxtà comes Euryalus, quo pulchrior alter
Non fuit Æneadûm, Trojana nec induit arına ;
Ora puer primâ signans intonsa juventâ.
His amor unus erat, pariterque in bella ruebant:
Tunc quoque communi portam statione tenebant.
Nisus ait: Dî-ne hunc ardorem mentibus addunt,
NOTES.
Davidson and Ruæus. Or the meaning may
be: prepare yourselves for noble exploits, on
the morrow.
158. Procurate: refresh-invigorate. Spe-
rate: in the sense of expectate.
159. Excubiis vigilum: simply, with sen-
tinels or guards. Obsidere: to besiege the
gates of the Trojan camp-to block up, &c.
160. Cingere mania: to encompass their
walls with fires to give them light in the
night, lest the enemy should sally out upon
them unobserved; or in despair, leave their
city.
162. Sequuntur illos quemque: follow them
every one. Quisque is a distributive pronoun.
Delecti: fourteen Rutulians were chosen to
superintend the watch, and see that due at-
tention was paid, and each one performed
his duty. Milite: with soldiers; the same
as militibus. The guard amounted then to
fourteen hundred men.
164. Variant vices: they shift, or change
their tours of duty. They stand guard by
turns.
169. Alta: the high places of the walls.
Loca or spatia is understood.
170. Jungunt, &c. The same as jungunt
propugnacula cum pontibus They laid
bridges from one bulwark or tower to ano-
ther, for the purpose of ready and easy com-
160
165
170
158. O viri, læti pro-
turate corpora
162. Ast centoni juve-
nes purpurei cristis
172. Quos pater Æneas
dedit esse rectores juve-
num, et magistros rerum
175. Exercetque vices
176 quoad id, quod est cui-
que tuendam.
179. Et juxta eum
180 comes Euryalus, quo
munication. They connected their towers
or ramparts together by means of bridges.
172. Adversa: in the sense of res adversa.
Vocarent: should require-demand.
173. Dedit: appointed.
175. Exercet vices: they perform their
watch in turns. Exercet: in the sense of
variat. Tuendum: to be attended to-per-
formed-done.
176. Nisus erat, &c. Here the poet be-
gins his celebrated episode of the friendship
of Nisus and Euryalus. He had in the fourth
book considered the force of love. Here
he gives us a specimen of his skill in the
power of friendship; and never was any
thing more artfully disposed, more noble,
more moving, and pathetic, than this piece.
It is introduced without any formal intro.
duction. He was speaking of the several
posts that were to be defended; and among
the rest, was one committed to the care of
these two friends.
177. Ida: either the mother of Nisus
or mount Ida, which is sometimes called
venatrix, because it abounded in game, and
was frequented by hunters. Hyrtacides: a
noun patronymic, from Hyrtacus, the father
of Nisus.
181. Intonsa ora: his beardless faro-
unshaven face.
182. Bella: in the sense of pugnam.
470
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
185. An sua dira cu- Euryale? an sua cuique Deus fit dira cupido?
pido fit Deus cuique ?
188
Aut pugnam, aut aliquid jamdudum invadere magnum
Mens agitat mihi; nec placidâ contenta quiete est.
Cernis, quæ Rutulos habeat fiducia rerum :
Lumina rara micant: somno vinoque soluti
Procubuêre: silent latè loca. Percipe porrò,
190
196. Videor mihi posse
reperire viam sub illo
tumulo ad
201. Meus genitor
latum
Quid dubitem, et quæ nunc animo sententia surgat.
Æneam acciri omnes, populusque, patresque,
Exposcunt; mittique viros, qui certa reportent.
Si tibi, quæ posco, promittunt; nam mihi facti
Fama sat est; tumulo videor reperire sub illo
Posse viam ad muros et monia Pallantea.
Obstupuit magno laudum perculsus amore
Euryalus, simul his ardentem affatur amicum:
199. Nise, fugisne ad- Me-ne igitur socium summis adjungere rebus,
jungere me socium tibi Nise, fugis? solum te in tanta pericula mittam?
in summis rebus? Non ita me genitor, bellis assuetus Opheltes
Opheltes assuetus bellis Argolicum terrorem inter Trojæque labores
non sic erudiit me sub- Sublatum erudiit: nec tecum talia gessi,
Magnanimum Ænean et fata extrema secutus.
205. Hic est, hic est Est hic, est animus, lucis contemptor; et istum
animus, contemptor lu- Qui vitâ benè credat emi, quò tendis, honorem.
cis, et qui credat istum Nisus ad hæc: Equidem de te nil tale verebar;
honorem, quo tendis, Nec fas: non.
benè emi vitâ ipsa.
Ita me referat tibi magnus ovantem
209. Quicunque Deus Jupiter, aut quicunque oculis hæc aspicit æquis.
aspicit
Sed si quis (quæ multa vides discrimine tali)
Si quis in adversum rapiat casusve Deusve,
Te superesse velim : tua vitâ dignior ætas.
NOTES.
185. Dira: great, vehement, or ardent.
Rumeus says, ardens.
187. Agitat: urges-impels. Mihi: in
the sense of mea.
189. Rara: here and there-few. Mi-
cant: in the sense of splendent.
190. Percipe quid dubitem: hear what I
am meditating, and what, &c. This first
speech is noble and disinterested. Nisus com-
municates his purposes to his friend; who
is struck with the proposal, and takes it ill,
that he should think of excluding him from
a share of the danger and glory of the en-
terprise. Dubitem: in the sense of mediter.
193. Certa: the truth-true things.
195. Fama: the glory of the deed, &c.
196. Mœnia Pallantea: the city of Evan-
der.
197. Laudum in the sense of gloriæ.
199. Rebus: enterprises-undertakings.
200. Fugis: refuse-reject.
202. Inter labores Troje. This intimates
that he was about seventeen years of age.
For Æneas' wanderings had continued seven
years, and the Trojan war ten years. This
made him just the age when youth among
the Romans began to hear arms. It also
agrees with what is said verse 181, supra, of
nis just beginning to have a beard.
195
200
205
210
203. Sublatum. This alludes to the Ro
man custom of laying down the child naker
upon the ground as soon as born, that the
father might take it up, in token of his own-
ing it for his own child. Heyne says, natum
et educatum. Nec gessi: nor have I perform-
ed such actions in your company, that you
should now refuse me as your companion
and partner in your hazardous enterprise;
nor have I acted so cowardly, &c.
205. Est hic, &c. These two lines are
extremely fine. Nisus replies to them in a
speech extremely pathetic. He declines the
company of Euryalus, chiefly on account of
the dangers of the undertaking, his youth
and inexperience; and his being more worthy
of a long life. The whole is greatly height-
ened by the mention of his aged mother.
Hic est, est animus: here is, here is a soul, a
despiser of life; and which, &c. Lucis: in
the sense of vitæ.
aspire, or aim at.
206. Quò tendis: whither-to which you
210. Tali discrimine: in such a hazard.
ous enterprise, as he had in contemplation.
211. Adversum: a sub. in the sense of
periculum. Rapist me: hurry me-cariy ma
&c
ENEIS. LIB. IX.
471
215
Sit, qui me raptum pugnâ, pretiove redemptum,
Mandet humo solitâ; aut, si qua id fortuna vetabit,
Absenti ferat inferias, decoretque sepulchro.
Neu matri miseræ tanti sim causa doloris :
Quæ te sola, puer, multis è matribus ausa,
Persequitur; magni nec monia curat Acesta.
'Ille autem: Causas nequicquam nectis inanes;
Nec mea jam mutata loco sententia cedit.
Acceleremus, ait. Vigiles simul excitat: illi
Succedunt, servantque vices: statione relictâ,
Ipse comes Niso graditur, regemque requirunt.
Cætera per terras omnes animalia somno
Laxabant curas, et corda oblita laborum.
Ductores Teucrûm primi, et delecta juventus,
Consilium summis regni de rebus habebant:
Quid facerent, quisve Æneæ jam nuntius esset.
Stant longis adnixi haștis, et scuta tenentes,
Castrorum et campi medio. Tum Nisus, et unà
Euryalus, confestim alacres admittier orant :
Rem magnam, pretiumque moræ fore. Primus Iülus
Accepit trepidos, ac Nisum dicere jussit.
Tunc sic Hyrtacides: Audite, ô, mentibus æquis,
Eneadæ; neve hæc nostris spectentur ab annis,
Quæ ferimus. Rutuli somno vinoque sepulti
Conticuere locum insidiis conspeximus ipsi,
Qui patet in bivio portæ, quæ proxima ponto.
Interrupti ignes, aterque ad sidera fumus
Erigitur. Si fortunâ permittitis uti,
NOTES.
213. Sit qui mandet: may there be some
one who will commit me to the solitary
carth, snatched from the field of battle, or
redeemed with money, &c.
215. Ferat: or may perform the funeral
rites to me absent, and honor me with an
empty tomb. It was usual among the Ro-
mans, when the corpse could not be obtain-
ed, to perform the same funeral rites, as if it
were present. The tomb was said to be
empty, because the corpse was not there.
Of such a burial, Nisus here speaks.
217. Ausa: having courage-daring. Ru-
eus says, audax.
218. Mania Acesta. This was the city
which Æneas founded in Sicily, and called
after the name of his friend Acestes. Hero
he left the aged and infirm, and all who
were not willing to accompany him into
Italy. The mother of Euryalus was among
those who braved the dangers of the voyage,
and accompanied him, the poct intimates,
for the sake of her son.
219. Causas: pretexts-excuses.
221. Excitat vigiles: at the same time, he
wakes the watch-those who were to keep
watch in turn.
223. Regem: Ascanius here is intended,
as being a prince and heir to the crown.
213. Sit aliquis, qui
inandet me solitâ humộ
219. Autem ille Eury
220 alus respondet.
225
230
235
240
232. Dicunt rem esse
magnam
224. Cætera animalia, &c. This is very
expressive, and greatly heightens the image.
At this time, when all nature was silent, and
enjoying repose, the Trojan chiefs were as-
sembled in council upon the state of their
affairs. At this moment, they are surprised
by Nisus and Euryalus, who demand to be
admitted.
227. Regni: government-state.
231. Admittier: by paragoge, for admitti.
232. Pretium mora. He observes that the
subject he wished to propose, was of great
importance, and would sufficiently compen-
sate for the interruption of their delibera-
tions.
235. Spectentur: in the sense of æstimen
tur. Ferimus: in the sense of proponimus.
237. Insidiis locum: we have observed a
place for our purpose-one fit for the exe-
cution of our design. Nos ipsi: we our-
selves.
238. In bivio porta: in the forked ways
of the gate-where the way before the gate
divides into two paths.
239. Ignes interrupti: the fires are dying
away; or, only here and there one is burn-
ing, the rest having gone out.
240. Uti fortunâ: to embrace this oppor
tunity.
172
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
241. Si permititis nos Quæsitum Ænean ad monia Pallantea,
ui hâc fortuna, vos cer- Mox hìc cum spoliis, ingenti cæde peractâ,
netis Enean quæsitum Affore cernetis.
a nobis ad monia Pal-
lantea, mox affore hic
Nec nos via fallit euntes :
Vidimus obscuris primam sub vallibus urbem
Venatu assiduo, et totum cognovimus amnem.
245
243
Hic annis gravis, atque animi maturus Alethes :
Di patrii, quorum semper sub numine Truja est,
Non tamen omnino Teucros delere paratis,
Cùm tales animos juvenum, et tam certa tulistis
Pectora. Sic memorans, humeros dextrasque tenebat
Amborum, et vultum lachrymis atque ora rigabat.
Quæ vobis, quæ digna, viri, pro talibus ausis
præmia rear posse solvi Præmia posse rear solvi? pulcherrima primùm
vobis, O viri, pro
Dî, moresque dabunt vestri: tum cætera reddet
Actutùm pius Æneas, atque integer ævi
252. Quæ, quæ digna
meriti
256. Non unquam fu- Ascanius, meriti tanti non immemor unquam.
turus immemor tanti
Immò ego vos, cui sola salus genitore reducto,
257. Ascanius, cui so- Excipit Ascanius, per magnos, Nise, Penates,
la salus est in genitore Assaracique Larem, et canæ penetralia Vestæ,
reducto, excipit; immò Obtestor; quæcunque mihi fortuna fidesque est,
ago obtestor vos, O Nise In vestris pono gremiis; revocate parentem,
262. Nihil erit triste Reddite conspectum : nihil illo triste recepto.
nobis illo recepto.
Bina dabo argento perfecta, atque aspera signis
Pocula, devictâ genitor quæ cepit Arisbâ;
Et tripodas geminos, auri duo magna talenta ;
Cratera antiquum, quem dat Sidonia Dido.
Si verò capere Italiam, sceptrisque potiri,
255
260
265
268. Si verò contige- Contigerit victori, et prædæ ducere sortem :
rit mihi victori
Vidisti quo Turnus equo, quibus ibat in armis,
Aureus? ipsum illum clypeum cristasque rubentes 270
Excipiam sorti: jam nunc tua præmia, Nise.
242. Peractâ: made-done.
NOTES.
244. Primam urbem: the front of the
houses, or the skirts of the city Pallanteum.
Perhaps, simply, the suburbs of the city.
246. Animi: understanding-judgment.
247. Numine: in the sense of potestate.
248. Non tamen, &c. The word tamen
shows that there is an ellipsis here of licet
ud tempus irascamini, ɔr of some others of
the like importance were angry with us for
a time, yet yo determine not to destroy, &c.
249. Tulistis: ye have produced or grant-
ed. Pectora: courage-resolution.
252. Talibus ausis: for such an enter-
prise, or bold undertaking. Heyne reads,
istis laudibus; and Valpy after him. The
common reading is talibus ausis.
253. Pulcherrima: in the sense of optima.
254. Mores vestri: your virtues. Cætera:
.præmia is understood.
255. Integer ævi. Dr. Trapp thinks this
refers to the future manhood of Ascanius.
This, too, is the opinion of the Variorum
edition. Others take it for the present state
of his youth-mature in age.
258. Excipit: in the sense of incipit.
259. Larem Assaraci. This was the tute-
lar deity or guardian god of Assaracus and
his family. Vesta was the goddess that pre-
sided over the inextinguishable fire. She
was called cana, hoary, or aged, because
she was the most ancient of all the goddess-
es, and deemed the mother of all the living.
263. Signis: figures-carved work.
264. Arisbâ devictâ. Most interpreters
understand by this that Arisba was taken by
the Trojans. But Catrou thinks it was one
of those cities taken by the Greeks in the
first nine years of the war; and that these
cups were saved by Eneas from the hands
of the Greeks, when they plundered the
town. Pliny inforins us that Arisba was a
city of Troas, and part of the kingdom of
Priam.
267. Sceptris: in the sense of imperio vel
regno, by meton.
268. Ducere sortem: to draw lots for the
booty-to divide tl.e booty by lot.
271. Excipiam: I will exempt from the
lot-I will rosurve,
ÆNEIS. LIB. IX
473
:
274. Insuper his, ge-
275 nitor dabit id campi
quod
280
Prætereà bis sex genitor lectissimna matrum
Corpora, captivosque dabit, suaque omnibus arma :
Insuper his. campi quod rex habet ipse Latinus.
Te verò, mea quem spatiis propioribus ætas
Insequitur, venerande p ier, jam pectore toto
Accipio, et comitem casus complector in omnes.
Nulla meis sinè te quæretur gloria rebus :
Seu pacem, seu bella geram, tibi maxima rerum
Verborumque fides. Contra quem talia fatur
Euryalus Me nulla dies tam fortibus ausis
Dissimilem arguerit; tantùm fortuna secunda,
Haud adversa cadat. Sed te super omnia dona
Unum oro genitrix Priami de gente vetustâ
Est mihi, quam miseram tenuit non Ilia tellus
Mecum excedentem, non mænia regis Acestæ.
Hanc ego nunc ignaram hujus quodcunque perîcli est,
Inque salutatam linquo: nox, et tua testis
Dextera, quòd nequeam lachrymas perferre parentis.
At tu, oro, solare inopem, et succurre relictæ.
Hanc sine me spem ferre tui: audentior ibo
In casus omnes. Percussâ mente dederunt
Dardanidæ lachrymas; ante omnes pulcher Iülus ;
Atque animum patriæ strinxit pietatis imago.
Tum sic effatur :
Spondeo digna tuis ingentibus omnia cœptis.
Namque erit ista mihi genitrix, nomenque Creûsæ
Solum defuerit: nec partum gratia talem
NOTES.
272. Bis sex lectissima corpora: twelve
most choice matrons, and as many captives
of men, &c. Sua: in the sense of propria:
it should be taken after arma. The arms
peculiar to (that belonged to) them all. Cor-
pora matrum: simply, matrons-women.
274. Insuper his: in addition to these-
beside these. Some copies have insuper, id
campi quod, &c. The sense will be the same
either way.
We are not to understand the
kingdom of Latinus; but his own private
lands and possessions.
275. Propioribus spatiis. By this we are
to understand that Ascanius and Euryalus
were nearly of the same age. Davidson
renders the words: "in the nearer stages of
hfe."
280. Contra: in the sense of ad.
282. Arguerit: shall show me unequal to.
Rumus says, ostendet degenerem. Tantùm
fortuna secunda: only let fortune fall pros-
perous, and not adverse. This is the read-
ing of Heinsius, Ruæus, and Davidson.-
Heyne reads, tantum: fortuna, secunda aut
adversa, cadat, which scarcely makes sense.
The pointing, too, tends to obscure it. Val-
py, who follows Heyne, sensible of the diffi-
culty attending this reading, conjectures the
passage was left by the poet in an unfinished
stute.
285
290
295
275. Verò accipio te,
venerande puer,
285. Quam miseram
excedenteni mecum non
Ilia tellus
288. Nos, et tua dex
tra sunt testis, quòd
283. Super: above-more than.
284. Genitrix, &c. The meaning is, that
neither the land of Troy, nor the city of
Acestes, could prevent or induce his mother
from following the fortunes of her son
through all dangers. This reply of Fury-
alus is very pathetic. It speaks a dutiful
and affectionate son.
286. Excedentem: from going with me—
from accompanying me in all our dangers.
288. Inque salutatam: this is for insalu-
tatamque, by tmesis: not bidden farewell.
Nox et tua dextera, &c. This picture of
filial piety is admirably drawn.
290. Relicta: bereaved-disconsolate.
292. Dederunt: in the sense of effude-
runt. Percussâ. This is the reading of
Heyne. Some copies have perculsa, from
the verb percello.
the verb percello. The sense is the same
with either.
294. Imago patriæ pietatis, &c. The Tro-
jans were moved at this image, or pattern of
piety toward a parent; but in an especial
manner it touched the heart of young Asca-
nius; who consoles the anxious youth, as-
suring him that his mother should not want
a friend while he had life-that he would
immediately take her for his mother, and
load her with honors.
299. Manet: awaits--is due. Partum
474
P. VIRGILII. MARONIS
nis manus
Parva manet. Casus factum quicunque sequetur,
Per caput hoc juro, per quod pater antè solebat
Quæ tibi polliceor reduci, rebusque secundis,
Hæc eadem matrique tuæ generique manebunt.
Sic ait illachrymans: humero simul exuit ensem
Auratum, mirâ quem fecerat arte Lycaon
Gnossius, atque habilem vaginâ aptârat eburnâ.
Dat Niso Mnestheus pellem horrentisque leonis
Exuvias: galeam fidus permutat Alethes.
308. Quos euntes om- Protinùs armati incedunt; quos omnis euntes
primorum, Primorum manus ad portas juvenumque senumque
juvenumque senumque Prosequitur votis: necnon et pulcher Iülus,
prosequitur
300
305
310
Ante annos animumque gerens curamque virilem,
Multa patri portanda dabat mandata: sed auræ
Omnia discerpunt, et nubibus irrita donant.
Egressi superant fossas, noctisque per umbram
Castra inimica petunt; multis tamen antè futuri
Exitio. Passim vino somnoque per herbam
Corpora fusa vident; arrectos litore currus ;
Inter lora rotasque viros, simul arma, jacere,
Vina simul. Prior Hyrtacides sic ore locutus:
Euryale, audendum dextrâ; nunc ipsa vocat res.
320. Aliquid auden- Hâc iter est: tu, ne qua manus se attollere nobis
dum est dextrâ
323. Ego dabo
loca vasta, et
tes
A tergo possit, custodi, et consule longè.
Hæc ego vasta dabo, et lato te limite ducam.
315
320
326
hæc Sic memorat, vocemque premit: simul ense superbum
Rhamnetem aggreditur; qui, fortè tapetibus altis
Extructus, toto proflabat pectore somnum;
Rex idem, et regi Turno gratissimus augur;
Sed non augurio potuit depellere pestem.
329. Juxta eum pre- Tres juxtà famulos temerè inter tela jacentes,
mit tres famulos jacen- Armigerumque Remi premit, aurigamque sub ipsis
Nactus equis; ferroque secat pendentia colla.
a son.
NOTES.
the bringing forth such a son-bearing such
Rumus says: nec levis favor debetur
ipsi, quòd peperit talem filium.
300. Juro per hoc caput, &c. The head
was considered by the ancients as some-
thing sacred, and they were wont to swear
by it. Ascanius, therefore, swears by his
head: which Æneas had done on several
occasions before.
301. Rebusque secundis: and the enter-
prise being successful; namely, his journey
to Æneas.
302. Generi: Ruæus says, familiæ.
303. Illachrymans: weeping abundantly.
Of in, intensivum, and lachrymans.
304. Lycaon. He was a famous artificer
of Gnossus, a city of Crete, where arms were
curiously made. Arte: art-skill.
305. Aptârat habilem: had fitted it exact
with, &c.
suû. Horrentis: rough-shaggy.
309. Primorum: gen. of primores: no-
bles-chief men.
331
311. Ante annos: above his years-more
than could be expected considering his age.
313. Sed auræ: but the winds disperse
them all, and give them unavailing to the
clouds. This is a beautiful metaphor. By
this the poet intimates they were to die be
fore they reached Æneas, and be lost entire-
ly. Discerpunt: in the sense of dissipant.
315. Anlè: not before they reached the
camp of the enemy, but before they were
slain themselves. Futuri: to be for a de-
struction to many, before they were slain.
317. Currus arrectos: their chariots turn-
ed up, as when laid aside from use. Their
poles or tongues were standing ercct.
318. Vina: wine; by meton, for the ves
sels containing it.
322. Tu custodi, et: watch thou, and ob-
serve at a distance, that no hand, &c. Hac
vasta: arva vel loca is understood: those
fields laid waste.
328. Pestem: in the sense of mortem.
330. Premit he kills three servants, &c
•
ENEIS LIB. IX
475
Tum caput ipsi aufert domino, truncumque relinquit
Sanguine singultantem: atro tepefacta cruore
Terra torique madent. Nec non Lamyrumque Lamum-
que
335
340
Et juvenem Serranum; illâ qui plurima nocte
Luserat, insignis facie, multoque jacebat
Membra Deo victus: felix, si protinùs illum
Equâsset nocti ludum, in lucemque tulisset.
Impastus ceu plena leo per ovilia turbans,
Suadet enim vesana fames, manditque trahitque
Molle pecus, mutumque metu: fremit ore cruento.
Nec minor Euryali cædes: incensus et ipse
Perfurit; ac multam in medio sinè nomine plebem,
Fadumque Hebesumque subit, Rhotumque Abarimque
Ignaros; Rhætum vigilantem, et cuncta videntem; 345
Sed magnum metuens se post cratera tegebat :
Pectore in adverso totum cui cominùs ensem
Condidit assurgenti; et multâ morte recepit
350
Purpureum vomit ille animam, et cum sanguine mixta
Vina refert moriens. Hic furto fervidus instat.
Jamque ad Messapi socios tendebat, ubi ignem
Deficere extremum, et religatos ritè videbat
Carpere gramen equos: breviter cùm talia Nisus,
(Sensit enim nimiâ cæde atque cupidine ferri)
Absistamus, ait: nam lux inimica propinquat.
Pœnarum exhaustum satis est: via facta per hostes.
Multa virûm solido argento perfecta relinquunt
:
NOTES.
334. Noc non occidit
Lamyrumque
336. Jacebatque vic-
tus quoad membra
343. Ac subit multam
plebem sinè nomine in
medio, Fadumque
345. Ignaros periculi
347. Cui assurgent
condidit totum ensem
cominùs
353. Enim sensit se e
socium ferri nimiâ cæde
355 atque cupidine
Temerè carelessly-at random. Promis- the sword red, or bathed in blood, having
cuè, says Ruœus.
332. Domino: their master Remus.
333. Singultantem, &c. Dr. Trapp ren-
ders this, weltering in blood; but this is not
the meaning of singulto, which denotes the
sound that a liquid makes when poured out
of a bottle, or some vessel of a narrow neck.
335. Plurima: neu. plu. taken as an adv.
a imitation of the Greeks: very much.
337. Deo multo: by much wine. See En.
i. 636. By Deo, we are to understand Bac-
chus, the god of wine, put by meton. for
wine itself. Felix si protinus: happy if he
had, without intermission, equalled that
sport with the night-if he had continued it
all the night.
Ruæus
338. Tulisset in the sense of produxisset.
339. Per ovilia turbans: Dr. Trapp thinks
with Servius, that this is for perturbans, by
tmusis. Ceu: as
a hungry lion raging
among a full fold of sheep, &c.
says, tumultuans in plenis ovilibus.
340. Vesana: in the sense of immoderata
vel vehemens. Trahit: in the sense of lace-
rat. Suadet: in the sense of impellit.
344. Subit: he comes to-he assaults-
attacks. Ruæus says, aggreditur. Mullam
lebem: a promiscuous throng—a great
number.
349. Recepit purpureum: he drew back
effected a mortal wound. Heyne says, re-
traxit ensem purpureum cum multo sanguino.
This also is the sense of Rumus: he says,
retraxit eum (ensem) post certam mortem.
Dr. Trapp renders recipit: he receives him
(Rhetus) with certain death. Rhatus was
rising up toward Euryalus, and as it were
meeting him half-way. He buried the sword
in his breast, and received him with certain
death, meaning the full and fair stroke which
he had at his breast. This he insists upon as
the true interpretation. Davidson renders
the words: "he receives him with copious
death." Heyne reads purpureum connected
with ensem. The common reading is purpu-
ream, agreeing with animam: but of that it
is not easy to make sense. Valpy, Ruæus.
and Davidson, read purpuream.
350. Furto: in the sense of cædi vel stragı:
any thing done in a private or secret man-
ner, may be celled furtum.
352. Religatos: in the sense of saiutos.
354. Nimiâ cæde atque cupidine: the same
as nimia cupidine cœdis: with too great a
desire of slaughter.
356. Satis pœnarum: enough of ven-
geance or punishment has been taken. Ex-
haustum: in the sense of sumptum.
357. Perfecta: in the sense of ornata vel
facta.
476
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Armaque, craterasque simul, pulchrosque tapetas.
359. Euryalus rapit Euryalus phaleras Rhamnetis, et aurea bullis
phaleras
Cingula Tiburti Remulo ditissimus olim
301. Quæ dona ditis- Quæ mittit dona, hospitio cùm jungeret absens,
տատ Cedicus mittit Cædicus: ille suo moriens dat habere nepoti:
olim Tiburti Remulo,
Post mortem bello Rutuli pugnâque potiti :
cum absens jungeret se
illi
Hæc rapit, atque humeris nequicquam fortibus aptat.
Tum galeam Messapi habilem cristisque decoram
Induit. Excedunt castris, et tuta capessunt.
Intereà præmissi equites ex urbe Latinâ,
tum equites omnes scu- Cætera dum legio campis instructa moratur,
tati, Volscente magistro, Ibant, et Turno regi responsa ferebant,
ibant, et ferebant re- Tercentum, scutati omnes, Volscente magistro.
missi ex Latinâ urbe, Jamque propinquabant castris, muroque subibant;
Cùm procul hos lævo flectentes limite cernunt:
372. Hos duos juvenes Et gaiea Euryalum sublustri noctis in umbrâ
374. Adversa radiis Prodidit immemorem, radiisque adversa refulsit.
Luna refulsit
367. Intereà tercen-
sponsa regi Turno, præ-
dum
$60
365
37C
Haud temerè est visum :- conclamat ab agmine Volscens,
State, viri: quæ causa viæ ? quive estis in armis ?
377. Illi voluerunt ten- Quòve tenetis iter? Nihil illi tendere contrà;
dere nihil contrà; sed Sed celerare fugam in sylvas, et fidere nocti.
ceperunt
Objiciunt equites sese ad divortia nota
376
Hinc atque hinc, omnemque aditum custode coronant.
Sylva fuit, latè dumis atque ilice nigrâ
383. Rara semita du- Horrida, quamn densi complêrant undique sentes:
robat ad eam sylvam Rara per occultos ducebat semita calles.
NOTES.
359. Phaleras. These were certain orna-
ments worn by persons of distinction among
the Romans. Dr. Trapp and some others,
explain this of the ornaments of Rhamnes'
horse. But they, doubtless, belonged to his
own person for Euryalus put them on.
Bullis: the bulla were studs or bosses upon
girdles, something like the head of a nail,
and usually of gold. Cingula aurea bullis:
a girdle or belt with golden bosses.
363. Post mortem: after the death of Re-
mulus, &c. This is one of the thirteen
passages of Virgil, which Servius considers
inexplicable. The common editions have
pugnâque; but the Roman manuscript has
pradaque. The meaning appears to be this:
that in a war between the Tiburtines and
the Rutulians, in which the grandson of
Remulus, who commanded the former, was
slain, the Rutulians took from him those
spoils, with the rest of the booty. David-
son reads præda. Heyne and Rumus read
pugna. Politi: gained the battle-the vic-
tory; and consequently the booty fell into
their hands. The verb sunt is understood.
364. Aptat nequicquam: he fits them to
his shoulders in vain-in vain, because he
was so soon to be slain, and lose them.
366. Capessunt: in the sense of petunt.
Loca is understood with tuta.
368. Calera legio. These were the foot.
A Roman legion consisted of four thousand
•
381
foot, and three hundred horse. These troops
were furnished by Latinus, or rather Amata,
his queen. The horse, as being light troops
and more expeditious in their movements,
advanced, and arrived in the camp, while
the infantry were on the plain advancing
more slowly.
372. Lævo limite: the left-hand way, or
path. See 238. supra.
373. Galea: this was the helmet of Mes-
sapus, which he had put on. Immemorem :
heedless-unmindful of the danger he in
curred by so doing.
374. Adversa: opposite to. That part of
the helmet struck by the rays of light, re-
flected them to a distant object—it shone.
375. Haud temerè visum est. Ruæus takes
these words in the sense of non falsò visum
est nobis, referring them to Volscens. Heyne
says, res animadversa est haud in vanum--
res non neglecta est. He makes a full stop
after visum. Davidson renders the words
Scarcely was the object seen, when Vol-
scens," &c. "This passed not unobserved,”
says Valpy.
377. Tendere: in the sense of respondere.
379. Divortia: passes-passages.
380. Coronant: in the sense of circum-
dant, vel obsident. Heyne reads abitum.
The common reading is aditum.
383. Rara: few-dispersed here and there
Occultos calles: secret or private ways.
ENEIS. LIB IX.
47
Euryalum tenebræ ramorum onerosa que præda
Impediunt, fallitque timor regione viarum.
Nisus abit: jamque imprudens evaserat hostes,
Atque lacus, qui pòst Albæ de nomine dicti
Albani: tum rex stabula alta Latinus habebat.
Ut stetit, et frustra absentem respexit amicum:
Euryale infelix, quâ te regione reliqui ?
385
385. Fallit eum à recta
regione
388. Alta stabula ¿Vic.
390
Quàve sequar? Rursùs perplexum iter omne revolvens
Fallacis sylvæ, simul et vestigia retrò
Observata legit, dumisque silentibus errat :
Audit equos, audit strepitus, et signa sequentûm.
Nec longum in medio tempus, cùm clamor ad aures 395
400
Pervenit, ac videt Euryalum; quem jam manus omnis,
Fraude loci et noctis, subito turbante tumultu,
Oppressum rapit, et conantem plurima frustrà.
Quid faciat? quâ vi juvenem, quibus audeat armis
Eripere? an sese medios moriturus in hostes
Inferat, et pulchram properet per vulnera mortem ?
Ocyùs adducto torquens hastile lacerto,
Suspiciens altam Lunam, sic voce precatur:
Tu, Dea, tu præsens nostro succurre labori,
Astrorum decus, et nemorum Latonia custos :
Si qua tuis unquam pro me pater Hyrtacus aris
Dona tulit; si qua ipse meis venatibus auxi,
Suspendi-ve tholo, aut sacra ad fastigia fixi :
IIunc sine me turbare globum, et rege tela per auras.
Dixerat: et toto connixus corpore ferrum
Conjicit. Hasta volans noctis diverberat umbras,
Et venit adversi in tergum Sulmonis; ibique
NOTES.
384. Onerosa: in the sense of gravis.
386. Imprudens: regardless of his friend
-not aware of his being behind.
387. Lacus. This is the reading of Heyne
and Davidson. But Ruæus reads locos, and
thinks it to be the true reading. For, says
he, the lake Albanus was at least four leagues
distant. Beside, it was about the middle of
the night, when Nisus and his friend left the
Trojan camp. He could not have had time
to do so much, to go that distance, and re-
turn in search of his friend: and all this in
the space of half a summer's night. For
this reason, he prefers locos, and explains it
of the Alban territory, which might extend
as far as the place where he then was.
391. Revolvens: in the sense of remetiens.
393. Legit vestigia: he follows, or traces
nis steps, &c.
397. Fraude loci et noctis: through the
treachery of the place, and of the night.
The poet represents the place and night as
two traitors, to whom Euryalus had com-
mitted his safety, and they betrayed him.
Subito tumultu turbante: in a sudden tumul-
vous bustle-there being a sudden, &c.
395. Nec longum tem-
pus intervenit in medio
404. Tu, O Latonia
405 Dea, tu præsens succurre
nostro labori, tu decus
410
408. Suspendi-ve alt-
qua dona tholo
398. Oppressum: in the sense o inler
ceptum, vel traditum.
400. Eripere: rescue-free.
is Luna in heaven, and Hecate in hell. She
403. Allam Lunam. Diana on the earth,
is called Latonia from Latona, the name of
her mother.
404. Succurre: in the sense of fave.
• 407. Si qua: dona is to be supplied
Auxi: have increased-added any offering
to those made by my father.
408. Tholo: tholus was the middle, and
highest part of the arched roof of the tem-
ple, from which the spoils of war used to be
suspended.
409. Hunc globum: this company of men.
412. Adversi. Adversus signifies right
against, or opposite, without regarding
whether the face or back be turned to the ob-
ject. This passage, Servius reckons among
his thirteen inexplicables. The meaning in
plainly this: the spear entered his back and
reached to his breast, which it might very
well do, though it were broken (frangitur)
from the wood. Adversi. This is the com-
mon reading. Heyne reads aversi. Rumus
says, oppositi.
478
MARONIS
P. VIRGILII
Frangitur, ac fisso transit præcordia ligno.
Volvitur ille, vomens calidum de pectore flumen,
Frigidus, et longis singultibus ilia pulsat.
416. Ecco idem acrior Diversi circumspiciunt. Hoc acrior idem
hoc successu
Ecce aliud summâ telum librabat ab aure;
Dum trepidant. Iit hasta Tago per tempus utrumque
Stridens, trajectoque hæsit tepefacta cerebro.
Sævit atrox Volscens, nec teli conspicit usquam
Auctorem; nec quò se ardens immittere possit.
Tu tamen intereà calido mihi sanguine pœnas
Persolves amborum, inquit. Simul ense recluso
Ibat in Euryalum. Tunc verò exterritus, amens
Conclamat Nisus; nec se celare tenebris
Ampliùs, aut tantum potuit perferre dolorem :
427. Me, me occidite: Me, me; adsum, qui feci; in me convertite ferrum,
adsum qui feci id: O O Rutuli! mea fraus omnis. Nihil iste, nec ausus ;
Rutuli, convertite fer- Nec potuit; cœlum hoc, et conscia sidera testor :
. est mea. Iste fecit nihil, Tantùm infelicem nimiùm dilexit amicum.
nec ausus est; nec po- Talia dicta dabat: sed viribus ensis adactus
tuit facere.
rum in me: omnis fraus
Transabiit costas, et candida pectora rumpit.
Volvitur Euryalus leto, pulchrosque per artus
It cruor, inque humeros cervix collapsa recumbit.
Purpureus veluti cùm flos, succisus aratro,
Languescit moriens; lassove papavera collo
Demisêre caput, pluviâ cùm fortè gravantur.
At Nisus ruit in medios, solumque per omnes
415
420
425
430
43:
Volscentem petit: in solo Volscente moratur ;
Quem circùm glomerati hostes hinc cominùs atque hinc
Proturbant. Instat non segniùs, ac rotat ensem
Fulmineum, donec Rutuli clamantis in ore
441
Condidit adverso, et moriens animam abstulit hosti.
Tum super exanimem sese projecit amicum
Confossus, placidâque ibi demùm morte quievit.
445
·
NOTES.
413. Fisso ligno. Fissus here must be
taken in the sense of fractus; unless we
suppose the wood might be broken, and
split and shattered withal; and this split
and shattered part to pass through his pre-
cordia. This appears to be the opinion of
Dr. Trapp.
414. Volvitur: in the sense of cadit. Flu-
men: for sanguinem.
416. Diversi: they look about them in
different directions. Idem: namely, Nisus.
418. Tago: to Tagus. The dat. is fre-
quently used in the sense of the gen., espe-
cially among the poets. The spear pierced
both his temples.
419. Tepefacta: warmed by its rapid mo-
tion through the air.
421. Auctorem: the owner of the weapon
-the one who threw it.
424. Ibat: in the sense of irruebat.
427. Me, me, &c. This abrupt exclama-
tion admirably marks the perturbation and
disorder of his mind He calls them Rutu-
The
lians, although they were Latins.
former were the principals in the war.
431. Dabat: in the sense of dixit. Ensis :
the sword of Volscens.
432. Rumpit: pierces-lays open.
435. It in the sense of fluit.
437. Languescit: withers. This is a most
beautiful comparison.
439. Moratur. Ruteus says, defigit oculos
in, &c. "Persists in his attack upon Vol-
scens," says Valpy.
440. Circum quem, &c. The enemy ga-
thored around Nisus to keep him off, and
prevent him from doing any mischief to
them, wishing to take him a prisoner, rather
than kill him.
441. Segniùs. Heyne reads seciùs. The
common reading is segniùs.
442. Fulmineum. This is very expressive.
It denotes the rapid motion of the sword,
and the force with which it was driven, as
well as its glittering. Rotat: brandishes
1
ENEIS. LIB. IX.
479
Fortunati ambo! si quid mea carmina possunt,
Nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet ævo:
Dum domus Æneæ Capitolì immobile saxum
Accolet, imperiumque pater Romanus habebit.
Victores præda Rutuli spoliisque potiti,
Volscentem exanimem flentes in castra ferebant.
Nec minor in castris luctus, Rhamnete reperto
Exsangui, et primis unâ tot cæde peremptis,
Serranoque, Ñumâque. Ingens concursus ad ipsa
Corpora, seminecesque viros, tepidâque recentem
Cæde locum, et plenos spumanti sanguine rivos.
Agnoscunt spolia inter se, galeamque nitentem
Messapi, et multo phaleras sudore receptas.
Et jam prima novo spargebat lumine terras
Tithoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile :
Jam Sole infuso, jam rebus luce retectis,
Turnus in arma viros, armis circumdatus ipse,
Suscitat; æratasque acies in prælia cogit
Quisque suas, variisque acuunt rumoribus iras.
Quin ipsa arrectis, visu miserabile! in hastis
Præfigunt capita, et multo clamore sequuntur,
Euryali et Nisi.
450
455
-452. Nec fuit minor
luctus in castris Rutu-
lorum
459. Et jam prima
460 Aurora, linquens cro-
465
ceum cubile
464. Quisque dux co
git suas
465. Quin præfigunt
ipsa capita Euryali et
Nisi in arrectis hastis
NOTES.
447. Nulla dies: no length of time shall
ever erase you from mindful posterity. This
is the meaning of memori avo.
448. Immobile saxum. This implies that
the foundation of the Roman empire was to
be as fixed and lasting as the Capitoline
mount, on which the city was built. After
the time of Tarquinius Priscus, the Romans
were of opinion that their empire would be-
come universal, and have no end. Some
explain domus Æneæ, of the family of Au-
gustus; which Virgil deduces from Æneas.
But it may with propriety be taken for the
Romans in general. Heyne says, Julia gens:
the Julian family.
449. Pater Romanus. Ruæus thinks Ro-
mulus is meant, he being the founder of
Rome. Davidson thinks Pater here means
prince, as kings are often called the fathers
of their people. Pater Romanus, then will
mean a Roman prince, or sovereign. Heyne
understands, by Pater Romanus, Jupiter
Capitolinus; to whom a famous temple was
built upon the Capitoline mount. This story
of Nisus and Euryalus makes a very consi-
derable part of this book, and a very inte-
resting part too. It is nevertheless liable to
objection on the ground of probability. It
is difficult to conceive that a whole army
should be asleep, and their sentinels among
the rest, when it was their business to see
that the Trojans were kept close. It is said
one was awake indeed; but he gave no
alarm. Besides, we might suppose that they
would have considered themselves sufficient-
ly fortunate, to be able to pass the camp of
the enemy in safety, without attempting
any thing. But poetry delights in the won-
derful and marvellous.
453. Primis: chief men-nobles.
455. Tepida cæde. Davidson reads tepi-
dum, agreeing with locum. Heyne reads
tepida. So also Ruæus, and others. The
Roman manuscript has tepidum. The sense
is the same with either. Ruæus interprets
the words: ad locum tepefactum recenti strage.
456. Rivos plenos, &c. Dr. Trapp thinks,
that no more is meant than streams of blood
upon the ground: rivos spumantis sanguinis.
It is difficult to imagine that two men, in so
short a space, could spill so much blood as to
justify the hyperbole, that the rivers were
filled and foamed with blood. Beside, there
was only one river, and that one not very
near. Heyne is of the same opinion with
Dr. Trapp.
458. Sudore: in the sense of labore. Pha
leras. These were taken from Rhamnes.
See 359, supra.
461. Sole jam infuso: the sun now being
ushered into the world-the sun having al-
ready arisen. Rebus: objects-things. Re-
tectis: brought to view-uncovered. The
world and all things therein had been wrapt
up in the mantle of night. They are now
disclosed and brought to view, by the lays
of light.
463. Acies: troops in general. Eratas
armed with brass-clad in brazen armor.
464. Rumoribus: Heyne takes this in the
sense of hortationibus vel vocrous. Iras: in
the sense of furorem
480
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Æneadæ duri murorum in parte sinistrâ
Opposuere aciem; nam dextera cingitur amni,
471. Præfixa hastis, Ingentesque tenent fossàs, et turribus altis
nimis nota miseris sociis Stant mosti; simul ora virûm præfixa videbant,
-
Nota nimis miseris, atroque fluentia tabo.
Intereà pavidam volitans pennata per urbem
· Nuntia Fama ruit, matrisque allabitur aures
Euryali at subitus miseræ calor ossa reliquit
Excussi manibus radii, revolutaque pensa.
Evolat infelix; et, fœmineo ululatu,
478. Scissa quoad co- Scissa comam, muros amens atque agmina cursu
mam, amens
481. Tu-ne es ille fu-
turus sera
Prima petit: non illa virûm, non illa perîcli,
4
475
481
480. Illa non erat me- Telorumque memor: cœlum dehinc questibus implet:
mor virûm, illa non erat Hunc ego te, Euryale, aspicio? tu-ne illa senectæ
memor perîcli
Sera meæ requies? potuisti linquere solam,
Crudelis? nec te, sub tanta pericula missum,
483. Nec copia data Affari extremùm miseræ data copia matri ?
est miseræ matri affari Heu! terrâ ignotâ, canibus data præda Latinis
Alitibusque, jaces! nec te tua funera mater
produxi te ad tua funera Produxi, pressive oculos, aut vulnera lavi,
488. Tegens tuum ca- Veste tegens; tibi quam noctes festina diesque
daver veste, quam ego Urgebam, et telâ curas solabar aniles.
te
486. Nec ego mater
festina
Quò sequar? aut quæ nunc artus avulsaque membra,
Et funus lacerum tellus habet? hoc mihi de te,
485
491
NOTES.
469. Aciem: the army of Turnus. Cin- mùm. This alludes to the custom of the
gitur: protected-defended.
474. Nuntia: as a messenger-herald.
475. Subitus: in the sense of subitò. At:
this is the reading of Heyne.
476. Radii excussi: the shuttle fell from
her hands, as she was weaving. Or, by the
radii, we may understand a machine with
spokes something like a wheel, which the
women held in their hands, and on which
they wound or reeled the yarn from the spin-
dles, on which it was put, as it was spun.
What is properly called the episode of
Nisus and Euryalus, ended with the 449th
verse. The lamentation of the mother of
Euryalus most agreeably brings us back to
the subject again, when we imagined we had
lone with it. Whether it be considered a
part of, or a sequel to, that episode, is not
material. It certainly equals, if not exceeds,
any part of it; and we are much indebted
the poet for the picture, which he has
given us of maternal grief and sorrow.
Scaliger was enraptured with it. Pensa:
her work-labor.
481. Aspicio hunc te: do I see that you?
-Is that one I see you, O, Euryalus? These
oroken half sentences she uttered, while she
heheld his head suspended upon the spears
of the Rutulians, as she stood upon the
ra nparts.
482. Sera requies: in the sense of serum
solatium.
484. Copia: leave--opportunity. Extre-
Romans, when they retired from the tomb,
of repeating the word vale three times.
487. Produxi te tua, &c. Servius takes
tua funera, for the nom. agreeing with mater,
and tells us that the near relations of the
dead assisted at burial, and were called
Funera. But it is better to adhere to the
usual acceptation of the word. And this
we may do, if we supply the prep. ad before
it. Produxi may signify the laying out of
the corpse for burial, or walking before it
to the place of interment. This is consi-
dered an intricate passage: and various
have been the conjectures upon the proper
construction. Heyne proposes funere, for
funera: and Ruæus informs us that proluxi
has been proposed for produxi. He seems
to take funera, with Servius and Scaliger, in
the nom. He says, nec ego mater protuli te
ante ædes, ut curatrix tui funeris. The con-
struction proposed above appears the easiest.
Davidson renders the words, "Nor I, thy
mother, laid thee out for thy funeral obse
quies." Valpy observes, that though no va-
riation from this reading has been disco-
vered in any of the ancient MSS., there is
probably some error.
489. Solabar: I was consoling my aged
cares with the loom-with weaving and
preparing garments for you.
490. Sequar: in the sense of ibo.
491. Funus: in the sense of cadaver. Qua
tellus nunc, &c.
ENEIS. LIB. IX.
481
Nate, refers? hoc sum terrâque marique secuta?
Figite me, si qua est pietas; in me omnia tela
Conjicite, Rutuli; me primam absumite ferro:
Aut tu, magne pater Divûm, miserere, tuoque
invisum hoc detrude caput sub Tartara telo ;
Quando aliter nequeo crudelem abrumpere vitam.
Hoc fletu concussi animi, mœstusque per omnes
It gemitus torpent infractæ ad prælia viros.
Illam incendentem luctus Idæus et Actor,
Ilionei monitu et multùm lachrymantis Iüli,
Corripiunt, interque manus sub tecta reponunt.
At tuba terribilem sonitum procul ære canoro
Increpuit: sequitur clamor, cœluinque remugit.
Accelerant actâ pariter testudine Volsci,
Et fossas implere parant, ac vellere vallum.
Quærunt pars aditum, et scalis ascendere muros ;
Quâ rara est acies, interlucetque corona
Non tam spissa viris. Telorum effundere contrà
Omne genus Teucri, ac duris detrudere contis,
Assueti longo muros defendere bello.
Saxa quoque infesto volvebant pondere, si quà
495
500
505
192. O nate, refore
hoc caput solum mihi de
te
495. Miserere mei, ac-
trudeque hoc meum ca-
put invisum tibɩ
498. Animi Trojano
rum concussi sunt
500. Idæus et Actor,
monitu Ilionei et Iüli
509. Contrà Teucri
510 cœperunt
Possent tectam aciem perrumpere: cùm tamen omnes
Ferre juvat subter densâ testudine casus.
Nec jam sufficiunt: nam, quâ globus imminet ingens,
Immanem Teucri molem volvuntque ruuntque,
Quæ stravit Rutulos latè, armorumque resolvit
NOTES.
492. Secuta sum: have I followed this
(caput) over sea and land? Have I followed
thee over sea and land for this--to come to
this?
493. Pictas. Here pietas, doubtless, means
pity, or compassion. If there be any pity
in you, O Rutulians, &c.
194. Me primam. We are to suppose her
speaking from the rampart, where none, as
yet, had been slain.
497. Aliter. Dr. Trapp observes, that
what is here said cannot be true, unless
aliter be taken in a limited sense. Being
full of grief, and referring every thing to
that, he thinks she refers this, also; as if
she had said: since my grief will not end
ny wretched life as I would have it, I de-
sire either the enemy or the gods to do it.
M.. Davidson thinks she only talks some-
what inconsistently, as might be expected
in her state of mind; and observes that it
is not improbable she had attempted to lay
violent hands upon herself, and was hindered
by those about her.
The crime of self-murder is of so horrid
a nature, that the poet might well suppose
no one could be guilty of it. She wished
for death, since her son, the support and so-
lace of her declining years, was taken from
her. But where can she find it? Not from
ner friends. She had called upon the enė-
514
514. Cùm tamen juvat
Rutulis ferre omnes ca-
sus
515. Nam quâ ingens
globus hostium
my; and now she appeals to Jove, and en-
treats him to end her miserable existence;
for otherwise she could not break the cords
of life.
499. Infracta: in the sense of fracta.
Torpent: fail.
505. Testudine actâ: the testudo being
formed. See Æn. ii, 441.
508. Quâ acies est rara. The meaning is:
they seek to attack the walls and fortifica-
tions, where the troops are thin; and the
ranks or lines not so thick with men, but
they may be seen through. Acies: properly
an army drawn up in order of battle-here
troops in general. Corona: a body of men
standing round in the form of a circle. Here,
the ranks or lines of the men upon the walls,
without any distinction.
510. Detrudere: to push down the enemy
with, &c.
511. Longo bello. This alludes to the
Trojan war, which lasted ten years.
512. Infesto: in the sense of ingenti vel
magno. By their great weight, they became
fatal to the enemy.
513. Tectam aciem: the protected troops
-those who were covered by the testudo, or
target defence.
516. Molem: any large mass of matter
may be called moles. Ruæus jays, sɑrum.
32
49%
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
'Tegmina: nec curant cæco contendere Marte
Ampliùs audaces Rutuli; sed pellere vallo
520. Sed cortant pel- Missilibus certant.
-ere Trojanos
Parte aliâ horrendus visu quassabat Etruscam
Pinum, et fumiferos infert Mezentius ignes.
At Messapus, equûm domitor, Neptunia proles,
Rescindit vallum, et scalas in mania poscit
625. Vos, O Musa, Vos, ô Calliope, precor, aspirate canênti ;
priempre Chiliope, pre- Quas ibi tum ferro strages, quæ funera Turnus
cor. aspirate miha ca-
Ediderit; quem quisque virum demiserit Orco:
nenti
Et mecum ingentes oras evolvite belli:
Et meministis enim, Divæ, et memorare potestis
Turris erat vasto suspectu, et pontibus altis,
Opportuna loco; summis quam viribus omnes
Expugnare Itali, summâque evertere opum
533. Contrà Troës Certabant: Troës contrà defendere saxis,
donsi certabant defen- Perque cavas densi tela intorquere fenestras.
doro eam saxis, densique Princeps ardentem conjecit lampada Turnus,
Et flaminam affixit lateri; quæ plurima vento
Corripuit tabulas, et postibus hæsit adesis.
538. Trojani turbati Turbati trepidare intus, frustràque malorum
cœperunt trepidare
Velle fugam. Dum se glomerant, retròque residunt.
In partem, quæ peste caret; tum pondere turris
Procubuit subitò, et cœlum tonat omne fragore.
542 Troiani semine- Semineces ad terram, immani mole secutâ,
ces veniunt ad terram, Confixique suis telis, et pectora duro
immani mole turris se- Transfossi ligno, veniunt.
Vix unus Helenor,
Et Lycus elapsi; quorum primavus Helenor;
Mæonio regi quem serva Lycimnia furtim
cutâ
NOTES.
518. Caco Marte: concealed or covered
fight-covered and protected by their shields
hold over their heads.
522. Pinum: his spear or javelin made
of the pine tree-pineam hastam. Fumife-
ros ignes. By this we are to understand a
fire-brand-some resinous wood which Me-
zentius carried in one hand on fire. The
poet, on every occasion, represents Mezen-
tius as a monster in wickedness, in shape,
and in appearance. He is here horrendus
visu: horrid to the sight. Visu: for visui.
See Ecl. v. 29. Infert: Ruæus says, injicit.
525. Calliope. She was chief of the
muses, and presided over heroic poetry: for
which reason, she is particularly mentioned.
Aspirate: in the sense of docete.
627. Ediderit: in the sense of fecerit vel
effecerit.
528. Oras belli: limits, extent, or con-
pass of the war. Evolvite in the sense of
explicate.
530. Pontibus altis. The planks on which
they ascended from one story to another of
these towers, were called pontes, stages.
Vasto suspectu: of vast height, or altitude.
The prop. e or er being understood
531. Lo^o: in the sense of situ.
620
525
630
535
540
545
532. Summa vi opum: with the utmost
force in their power.
534. Fenestras: the holes or apertures
made in the tower through which to annoy
the assailants.
535. Lampada. Lampas was a kind of
flaming brand, made up of hemp, pitch,
rosin, and such like materials; which being
stuck around with sharp points, and hooks
of iron, was flung against wooden walls,
&c. where it stuck fast till it seized the
boards with its flame. Lampada: a Greek
acc.
536. Quæ plurima vento: which being
widely spread by the wind-becoming very
large, &c.
537. Adesis postibus: to the consumed
timbers-till the timbers were consumed.
539. Fugam malorum: a flight-escape
from the danger. Malum: in the sense of
periculum. Residunt: in the sense of rece
dunt.
540. Peste: the devouring flame.
545. Primavus: born first-the elder of
the two.
546. Mæonio regi. Mæonia was a cour
try of Asia Minor, sometimes confoundea
with Lydia, Homer reckons its peuple
ÆNEIS. LIB. IX.
483
550
555
Sustulerat, vetitisque ad Trojam miserat armis ;
Ense levis nudo, parmâque inglorius alba.
Isque ubi se Turni media inter millia vidit;
Hinc acies, atque hinc acics adstare Latinas :
Ut fera, quæ densâ venantûm septa corona
Contra tela furit, seseque haud nescia morti
Injicit, et saltu supra venabula fertur ;
Haud aliter juvenis medios moriturus in hostes
Irruit; et, quà tela videt densissima, tendit.
At pedibus longè melior Lycus, inter et hostes,
Inter et arma, fugâ muros tenet; altaque certat
Prendere tecta manu, sociûmque attingere dextras.
Quem Turnus, pariter cursu teloque secutus,
Increpat his victor: Nostrasne evadere, demens,
Sperâsti te posse manus? Simul arripit ipsum
Pendentem, et magnâ muri cum parte revellit.
Qualis ubi, aut leporem, aut candenti corpore cycnum
Sustulit alta petens pedibus Jovis armiger uncis:
Quæsitum aut matri multis balatibus agnum
Martius à stabulis rapuit lupus. Undique clamor
Tollitur. Invadunt, et fossas aggere complent:
Ardentes tædas alii ad fastigia jactant.
560
548. Ille erat lovis nu-
do enso
560. Increpat eum s
verbis
561. O demens juve-
nis, sperâsti-ne te posse
evadere
563. Talis, qualis ubi
565 Aquila armiger Jovis,
petens alta cœla sustulit
uncis pedibus aut
565. Aut talis quals
Martius lupus, ubi rapuit
568. Ad fastigia mu-
Ilioneus sternit
570 rorum.
Ilioneus saxo, atque ingenti fragmine montis,
Lucetium, portæ subeuntem ignesque ferentem :
Emathiona Liger, Chorinæum sternit Asylas:
Hic jaculo bonus, hic longè fallente sagittâ:
Ortygium Cæneus, victorem Cænea Turnus:
Turnus Ityn, Cloniumque, Dioxippum, Promulumque,
Et Sagarim, et summis stantem pro turribus Idam : 575
Privernum Capys. Hunc primò levis hasta Themillæ
Strinxerat: ille manum, projecto tegmine, demens
NOTES.
among the auxiliaries of Priam. Helenor
was an illegitimate son of the king of Mæ-
onia, by his slave Licymnia.
547. Vetitis armis: in forbidden arms.
Either against the will of the gods; or in
allusion to a law or custom of the Romans,
which forbid slaves to bear arms, unless they
had been set free, except in cases of the
greatest danger. In the time of Hannibal,
all hands were employed in the common de-
fence. Sustulerat : in the sense of pepererat.
548. Levis nudo ense. The poet here de-
scribes Helenor such, as those troops among
the Romans called Velites, from velocitas.
They had a small round shield or buckler,
a sword, and some light missive weapons.
Alba parma.
There was no heroic device
upon it. He had done nothing to distinguish
him, and deserve praise. His shield was a
mere blank.
551. Corona: a troop-company. Septa:
surrounded-encircled.
553. Supra venabula: upon the hunting
spears.
556. Melior: in the sense of celerior
Lucetium
572. Hic erat bonus
sagittâ fallante longè:
Cæneus occidit
576. Capy's occidit
Privernum.
557. Tenet: reaches -arrives at the walls
558. Tecta alta: the high summits, or tops
of the walls. Rumus interprets it by altas
pinnas.
559. Pariter cursu: he followed him with
equal pace, and, with his dart, kept close to
his heels. Or, he kept pace with the dart
which he flung at him. This last gives us
a fine idea of the quickness of his speed.
It equalled the motion of his dart. Valpy
takes it in this sense.
565. Balatibus: bleatings-much bleating.
566. Martius. The wolf was sacred to
Mars: hence the epithet Martius.
567. Aggere: simply, with earth.
572. Hic bonus jaculo: the one skilfu.
throwing the javelin; the other, &c. Sa
gittâ fallante longè. This is a beautiful epi-
thet of an arrow; which steals upon its ob-
ject unawares, and surprises him with un-
seen death.
575. Pro: before-in front. Or, perhaps,
we are to understand that he stood on the
front of the towers next the enemy.
577. Strinxerat: in the sense of vulnera-
484
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Ad vulnus tulit; ergò alis allapsa sagitta,
Et lævo infixa est lateri manus, abditaque intus
Spiramenta animæ letali vulnere rupit.
680
Stabat in egregiis Arcentis filius armis,
Pictus acu chlamydem, et ferrugine clarus Iberâ,
Insignis facie; genitor quem miserat Arcens,
Eductum Martis luco, Symathia circum
Flumina, pinguis ubi et placabilis ara Palici.
586. Mezentius ipse, Stridentem fundam, positis Mezentius armis,
armis positis, egit stri-
Ipse ter adductâ circum caput egit habenâ :
dentem fundam
588. Et diffidit media Et media adversi liquefacto tempora plumbo
tempora juvenis adversi Diffidit, ac multâ porrectum extendit arenâ.
590. Tum primùm
Ascanius dicitur
Tum primùm bello celerem intendisse sagittam
Dicitur, antè feras solitus terrere fugaces,
Ascanius, fortemque manu fudisse Numanum,
Cui Remulo cognomen erat; Turnique minorem
594. Quique habebat Germanam, nuper thalamo sociatus, habebat.
Is primam ante aciem digna atque indigna relatu
596. Tumidusque quoad Vociferans, tumidusque novo præcordia regno
præcordia
598. Ait, non pudet
Ibat, et ingenti sese clamore ferebat:
vos, O Phryges, bis capti, Non pudet obsidione iterum valloque teneri,
Bis capti Phryges, et morti prætendere muros?
minorem
teneri
NOTES.
verat. Tegmine: his shield. Being wound-
ed, he put his hand to the wound to stop
the blood, and threw away his shield for
that purpose. Hence he is called demens.
578. Sagitta allapsa alis: the arrow glided
swiftly on its wings, &c. The arrow passed
through his hand as he held it upon his
wound, fixed it to his side, and then passed
into his body, piercing his vitals. Spiramen-
ta animæ: the lungs. This was not the ar-
row that first wounded him.
582. Pictus: embroidered as to his cloak
with needle work-having an embroidered
cloak. Ibera ferrugine: in Iberian purple.
Ferrugo is the color of polished iron, which
approaches nearly to purple. Ibera: an
adj. from Iberia. Some take this for a coun-
try lying between the Euxine and Caspian
seas, formerly called Iberia, now Georgia.
A colony of these people removed to Spain,
and settled near the river Iberus, to. which
they gave name. Others take it for Spain
itself, sometimes called Iberia. It abounded
in the best iron and steel. Facie: in the
sense of formâ. Clarus: in the sense of
splendens.
585. Palici. These were the sons of Jove
and the nymph Thalia, the daughter of Vul-
can. They were gods worshipped in Sicily,
near the river Symethia. It is not easy-to
assign the reason of their altar being called
placabilis. Some conjecture they were ap-
Deased only by human victims at first; but
afterward by common victims. Perhaps
heir altar may be so called, because it was
the altar of atonement, as distinguished
585
590
595
from others that were altars of thanksgiving
and divination. Diodorus Siculus relates
that slaves, who were illy treated by their
masters, fled here for safety. And their
masters were not allowed to take them away
until they had given security for their good
treatment of them. Hence Ruæus thinks it
was called ara placabilis. This is the most
probable reason.
587. Habenâ ter: the string being whirl-
ed three times around his head to give the
greater force to the ball.
588. Liquefacto plumbo: with the melted
lead. This is a poetical exaggeration, to
express the velocity of the ball through the
air. The expression is borrowed from Lu-
cretius. Or the poet may allude to the cast-
ing of the ball at first.
ing of the ball at first. Ruæus says, cale-
facto plumbo.
590. Intendisse: to have shot-directed.
592. Fudisse: in the sense of stravisse.
593. Cui Remulo: in the sense of cur
Remulus erat cognomini: to whom Remulus
was for a surname. This construction is in
imitation of the Greeks.
594. Socialus nuper: being lately connect-
ed with her in marriage.
595. Relatu: a sup. in u, in the sense of
dictu.
596. Novo regno: with his new power,
which he acquired by being connected with
the royal family.
597. Ferebat sese: marched along-took
himself along.
598. Teneri: in the sense of claudi.
599. Prætendere to oppose your walls to
•
ENEIS. LIB. IX.
485
En qui nostra sibi bello connubia poscunt !
Quis Deus Italiam, quæ vos dementia adegit?
Non hic Atridae; nec fandi fictor Ulysses.
Durum à stirpe genus. Natos ad flumina primùm
Deferimus, sævoque gélu duramus et undis
Venatu invigilant pueri, sylvasque fatigant;
Flectere ludus equos, et spicula tendere corņu.
At patiens operum, parvoque assueta juventus,
Aut rastris terram domat, aut quatit oppida bello.
Omne ævuin ferro teritur, versâque juvencûm
Terga fatigamus hastâ. Nec tarda senectus
Debilitat vires animi, mutatque vigorem.
600
600. En homines, qul
poscunt
60b
606. Eorum ludus ess
610
Canitiem galeâ premimus; semperque recentes
Convectare juvat prædas, et vivere rapto.
Vobis picta croco et fulgenti murice vestis;
Desidiæ cordi; juvat indulgere choreis;
613. Juvat nos
614. Esi vobis vestis
615 picta
615. Desidiæ sunt vo-
bis cordi:
Et tunicæ manicas, et habent redimicula mitræ.
O verè Phrygiæ, neque enim Phryges! ite per alta
Dindyma, ubi assuetis biforem dat tibia cantum.
Tympana vos buxusque vocant Berecynthia matris
Idææ. Sinite arma viris, et cedite ferio.
Talia jactantem dictis, ac dira canentem
Non tulit Ascanius: nervoque obversus equino
NOTES.
death-to screen yourselves behind your
wall, and save yourselves from death. Heyne
reads, Marte. The common reading is morti.
600. Nostra connubia: our brides. This
is said in allusion to the case of Lavinia.
602. Fictor fandi: the dissembler of
speech. Fandi: in the sense of verborum.
603. Durum genus: but we are a hardy
race from our origin.
605. Venatu: for venatui. See Ecl. v.
29. Invigilant: are fond of have a special
regard to. Fatigant sylvas: weary the woods
-the beasts or game in the woods, by meton.
606. Cornu: from the bow. Spicula: in
the sense of sagittas.
608. Domat : in the sense of exercet. Qua-
ta: in the sense of impugnat.
609. Ferro: with the sword; that is, in
war.
610. Fatıgamus terga: we strike the backs
of our oxen, &c. So constant were they
in the use of their arms, that they did not
even lay them aside when engaged in agri-
culture. They used their spears, &c. to spur,
or urge on their oxen while in the plough.
611. Mutat: in the sense of pellit.
612. Premimus, &c. By this we are to
understand that their old men had sufficient
vigor and strength of nerve, to bear arms.
613. Rapto: the plunder.
615. Desidiæ cordi: sloth is to you for
pleasure and delight.
616. Tunicæ habent: your vests have
sleeves, and the ribbons of the mitre. Other
nations, particularly the Romans, had their
arms and necks naked, and looked upon
620
618. Vobis assuetis
huic song,
621. Ascaniug non ty-
lit Numanum jactan-
tem, ac
the covering of those parts as a mark of
effeminacy. This is said by way of reproach.
617. Overè Phrygiæ, &c. He here speaks
by way of contempt, calling them not even
Phrygian men, but Phrygian women. The
Phrygians were noted for their effeminacy
and luxury. See En. iv. 216.
618. Dindyma: neu. plu. sing. Dindymus,
a mountain in Phrygia, sacred to Cybele.
Hence she is sometimes called Dindymine.
Its name is of Greek origin, and signifies
double-topt-having two tops. Biforem.
Some understand by this a pipe with only
two stops: others, two pipes with different
stops, which, being played upon together,
made very indifferent harmony. Biforem
cantum: discordant music. Rumus says,
imparem.
619. Tympana: neu, plu.: timbrels. Bere-
cynthia: an adj. from Berccynthus, a moun-
tain and castle in Phrygia, sacred to Cybele;
who sometimes was called Berecynthia.
Buxus: properly, the box-wood; by meton.
a pipe made of the box-wood. This wood
is supposed to have abounded on mount
Berccynthus.
620. Idœœ: an adj. from Ida, a mountain
just back of Troy, sacred to Cybele, the
mother of the gods. Hence she is called
sometimes Idææ. Sinite: in the sense of
relinquite.
621. Canentem dira: uttering such indig-
nities-such reproaches. Ruæus says, lo-
quentem.
622. Equino nervo: the string of his bow
was made of horse-hair
486
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Contendit telum, diversaque brachia ducens,
Constitit, antè Jovem supplex per vota precatus •
Jupiter omnipotens, audacibus annue cœptis.
626. Ego ipse feram Ipse tibi ad tua templa feram solemnia dona,
solemnia dona tibi ad Et statuam ante aras auratâ fronte juvencum
twa
625
630. Genitor Deorum
audiit
Candentem, pariterque caput cum matre ferentem,
Jam cornu petat, et pedibus qui spargat arenam.
Audiit, et cœli genitor de parte serenâ
Intonuit lævùm. Sonat unà letifer arcus;
Et fugit horrendùm stridens elapsa sagitta,
630
Perque caput Remuli venit, et cava tempora ferro
Trajicit. I, verbis virtutem illude superbis.
Bis capti Phryges hæc Rutulis responsa remittunt.
635
636. Ascanius dixit Hæc tantùm Ascanius. Teucri clamore sequuntur,
hoc tantum.*
Lætitiâque fremunt, animosque ad sidera tollunt.
Æthereâ tum fortè plagâ crinitus Apollo
Desuper Ausonias acies urbemque videbat,
Nube sedens; atque his victorem affatur Iülum :
Macte novâ virtute, puer: sic itur ad astra,
642. Omnia bella ven- Dîs genite, et geniture Deos. Jure omnia bella
tura fato,
640
Gente sub Assaraci fato-ventura resident:
Nec te Troja capit. Simul hæc effatus, ab alto
Æthere se mittit, spirantes dimovet auras,
645
Ascaniumque petit: formâ tum vertitur oris
Antiquum in Buten. Hic Dardanio Anchisæ
Armiger antè fuit, fidusque ad limina custos:
649. Tum pater Æneas Tum comitem Ascanio pater addidit. Ibat Apollo
addidit hunc
Omnia longævo similis, vocemque, coloremque
650. Similis longævo Et crines albos, et sæva sonoribus arma :
quoad omnia
Atque his ardentem dictis affatur Iülum :
Sit satis, Æneada, telis impunè Numanum
Oppetiisse tuis: primam hanc tibi magnus Apollo
NOTES.
623. Ducens brachia: drawing his arms
asunder. This is the posture of a man
drawing the bow to its full stretch. Telum:
his arrow.
624. Antè: in the sense of primùm.
628. Cadentem: in the sense of candi-
dum.
629. Petat: he pushes-butts.
631. Intonuit lævum: the left thundered;
or it thundered on the left. This was a lucky
See Ecl. i. 18.
omen.
632. Stridens: whizzing loud.
633. Ferro: ferrum, here, the point of the
arrow, which was tipt with iron or steel-
the barb.
637. Animos: the courage-valor of As-
canius.
638. Plaga: here, a part, or quarter of
the sky or heaven.
641. Macte: go on-persevere. Sic itur
ad astra: thus men arise to the stars, thou
descendant of the gods, &c. By great and
noble actions, men obtain immortality. As-
canius descended from Venus by Eneas his
father, and from Jove, by Dardanus, the
650
founder of the Trojan race. From Asca-
nius, called sometimes Iülus, descended Ju-
lius and Augustus Cæsar, according to Vir-
gil, both of whom received divine honors.
643. Sub gente Assaraci: under the fa-
mily of Assaracus. He was of the royal
family of Troy, and one of the ancestors of
Ascanius. Jure: by justice or equity.
Here is an allusion to the universal peace
which took place under Augustus, at the
beginning of the Christian era.
For-
645. Spirantes: blowing--whispering.
646. Oris: in. the sense of vultûs.
mâ. This is the reading of Valpy and Ru-
æus. Heyne reads, formam. But forma is
the easier.
651. Sæva: harsh in sound-terrible in
sound.
652. Ardentem: fierce-ardent-eager for
fight.
653. Æneada: the voc. of the patronymic
Eneades: the son of Aneas. Impune
without injuring thyself.
654. Oppetiisse: in the sense of occubu
isse vol cecidisse.
ENEIS. LIB. IX.
487
655
660
665
Concedit laudem, et paribus non invidet armis.
Cætera parce, puer, bello. Sic orsus Apollo,
Mortales medio aspectus sermone reliquit,
Et procul in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram.
Agnovêre Deum proceres divinaque tela
Dardanide, pharetramque fugâ sensêre sonantem.
Ergò avidum pugnæ dictis ac numine Phobi
Ascanium prohibent: ipsi in certamina rursùs
Succedunt, animasque in aperta pericula mittunt.
It clamor totis per propugnacula muris.
Intendunt acres arcus, amentaque torquent.
Sternitur omne solum telis: tum scuta, cavæque
Dant sonitum flictu galeæ: pugna aspera surgit.
Quantus ab occasu veniens pluvialibus hædis
Verberat imber humum: quàm multâ grandine nimbi
In vada præcipitant, cùm Jupiter horridus Austris
Torquet aquosam hyeinem, et cœlo cava nubila rumpit.
Pandarus et Bitias, Idæo Alcanore creti,
Quos Jovis eduxit luco sylvestris Hiera,
Abietibus juvenes patriis et montibus æquos,
Portam, quæ ducis imperio commissa, recludunt,
Freti armis, ultròque invitant moenibus hostem.
Ipsi intus, dextrâ ac lævâ, pro turribus adstant,
Armati ferro, et cristis capita alta corusci.
Quales aëriæ liquentia flumina circum,
Sive Padi ripis, Athesim seu propter amœnum,
NOTES.
655. Paribus armis. Apollo, when a child,
killed the serpent Python in defence of his
mother, as Ascanius does here Nunianus in
defence of his country. Dr. Trapp thinks
puribus is to be taken in a qualified sense:
not equal skill or glory in arms, but of the
like kind or sort of art in arms: for it can
hardly be supposed that he would compli-
ment a boy to the dishonor of himself.
656. Cætera parce: hereafter, boy, abstain
from fight-as to what remains, abstain, &c.
Orsus: having thus said: a part. of the verb
ordior. Catera: in the sense of cæterùm
vel cæterò.
659. Dardanida proceres: the Trojan no-
bles, or chiefs. Dardanide: a sub. used
adjectively.
663. Millunt animas: they expose their
lives, &c. Succedunt: in the sense of re-
deunt.
665. Amenta. These were properly a kind
of thongs, tied to javelins, by which they
were darted out-of the hand. They served
to direct thre weapon with more certainty.
The armenta here appears to be used for
the darts or javelins themselves; by meton.
Acres: elastic.
667. Flictu: in the sense of conflictu.
668. Hædis. The hædi, or kids, are two
stars in the constellation Auriga, just below
his shoulder. The rising and setting of
670
675
668. Quantus imber
veniens pluvialibus ho-
dis ab occasu solis
675. Quæ commissa
erat ipsis imperio
678. Et corusci quoad
alta capita cristis. Tales
quales geminæ aèria
630 quercus consurgunt
which were thought to influence the wea-
ther, and render it rainy. Veniens: arising
through the influence of the rainy kids.
670. Jupiter: in the sense of aër. Hor-
ridus: black-deeply impregnated with va-
por. In vada: upon the sea.
Rumus says,
in mare.
672. Ideo: an adj. from Ida, a mountain
of Phrygia.
674. Juvenes æquos: youths equal to their
paternal oaks and mountains. This is an
hyperbole to denote their great size and
strength. It is said they were brought up
by Hiera. Turnebus conjectures it should
be Hyana, which is a beast resembling a
wolf; because it is said that Romulus was
brought up by a wolf. Abietibus et montibus:
the same as abietibus montanis, by hend.
675. Recludunt: in the sense of aperiunt.
676. Invitant: they invite--challenge.
They stand in the entrance of the gate, and
defy the enemy.
677. Pro turribus: like towers-in the
room or place of towers: or perhaps before
the towers.
680. Padi. Padus or Eridanus, the Po,
a well known river of Italy, of considerable
magnitude. Athesim. This river rises in
the Alps, passes through Venice, and falls
into the Adriatic, not far from the mouth of
the Po.
488
P VIRGILII MARONIS
Consurgunt geminæ quercus, intonsaque cœlo
Attollunt capita, et sublimi vertice nutant.
Irrumpunt, aditus Rutuli ut vidêre patentes.
Continuò Quercens, et pulcher Equicolus armis,
Et præceps animi Tmarus, et Mavortius Hæmon,
686. Totis agminibus Agminibus totis aut versi terga dedêre,
hostrum
Aut ipso portæ posuere in limine vitam.
Tum magis increscunt animis discordibus iræ :
Et jam collecti Troës glomerantur eòdem,
Et conferre manum, et procurrere longiùs audent.
Ductori Turno diversâ in parte furenti,
Turbantique viros, perfertur nuntius, hostem
Fervere cæde novâ, et portas præbere patentes.
Deserit inceptum, atque immani concitus irâ
Dardaniam ruit ad portam, fratresque superbos.
696. Et primum, ja- Et primùm Antiphaten, is enim se primus agebat,
culo conjecto, sternit Thebanâ de matre nothum Sarpedonis alti,
Antiphaten, nothum alti
Volat Itala cornus
Sarpedonis de Thebana Conjecto sternit jaculo.
matre, enim
tian
685
690
699
695
700
Aëra per terfuem, stomachoque infixa sub altum
Pectus abit: reddit specus atri vulneris undam
Spumantem, et fixo ferrum in pulmone tepescit.
Tum Meropem atque Erymantha manu; tum sternit
Aphydnum :
703. Tum sternit Bi- Tum Bitian ardentem oculis, animisque frernentem,
Non jaculo; neque enim jaculo vitam ille dedisset ;
Sed magnùm stridens contorta falarica venit,
NOTES.
681. Geminæ aëriæ quercus: as two aëri-
al oaks rise around, &c. This is a fine si-
mile. It is taken from Homer, Iliad xi.
685. Præceps. Rumus says, temerarius.
688, Tum iræ: then rage increases more
and more in the hostile minds of the Tro-
jans. Discordibus: in the sense of hostili-
bus. Ruæus says, infensis.
690. Conferre manum: to engage in close
combat: a phrase.
692. Turbanti: routing-driving before
him.
693. Fervere: rage with uncommon slaugh-
ter. Fervene signifies to be hot-to be busi-
ly engaged also, to rage. Nova: uncom-
mon-unusual. Ruæus says, recenti. But
he takes fervere, in the sense of animari: to
be animated-encouraged. Præbere: in the
sense of offerre vel dare.
694. Deserit: in the sense of relinquit.
695. Superbos fratres: Pandarus and Bi-
tias, mentioned above, the sons of Alcanor.
696. Agebat se: presented himself—took
himself along.
697. Sarpedonis. Sarpedon was the re-
puted son of Jupiter. Hence the epithet
alti, high, or nobly born. He was king of
Lycia, and assisted Priam against the Greeks.
T'hebana: an adj. from Thebes. There were
several cities of that name; one in Egypt,
one in Beotia, and one in Thessaly. The
705
one here alluded to was in Asia Minor: the
sovereignty of which was long disputed be-
tween the Lydians and Mysians. Nothum:
an illegitimate son.
698. Cornus: the corneil-tree-also, a
javelin or dart made of the wood of that
tree, by meton.
700. Specus atri vulneris: the cavity of
the dark wound emits, &c. Specus is pro-
perly a den or cave, which is usually dark
and gloomy. This idea the poet transfers
to the wound made by the javelin of Tur-
nus. Some copies have sanguinis in the
room of vulneris. In this case, atri sangui-
nis must be governed by undam, and not by
specus; which would signify the wound it-
self. The common reading is vulneris. Val-
py takes specus for the wound itself-the
gaping wound. Undum: a stream
stream-tide of
blood. Reddit: in the sense of emittit.
701. Fixo: in the sense of transfixo.
703. Ardentem: flashing fire with his eyes.
704. Non jaculo enim, &c. The meaning
of this line is: that Turnus did not kill him
with an ordinary javelin, for he would not
have yielded his life to a javelin-it would
have had no effect on him. The others he kill-
ed with his hand-
ed with his hand-with an ordinary weapon.
705. Falarica. This was an oblong kind
of javelin, bound about with wild fire. It
was usually shot out of an engine against
ENEIS. LIB. IX.
489
Fulminis acta modo; quam nec duo taurea terga,
Nec duplici squamâ lorica fidelis et auro
Sustinuit collapsa ruunt immania membra.
:
709. Intonat super
710 eum.
Dat tellus gemitum, et clypeum super intonat ingens.
Qualis in Euboïco Baiarum litore quondam
Saxea pila cadit, magnis quam molibus antè
Constructam jaciunt ponto: sic illa ruinam
Prona trahit, penitusque vadis illisa recumbit.
Miscent se maria, et nigræ attolluntur arenæ.
Tum sonitu Prochyta alta tremit, durumque cubile 715
Inarime Jovis imperiis impôsta Typhoo.
Hic Mars armipotens animum viresque Latinis
Addidit, et stimulos acres sub pectore vertit:
Immisitque fugam Teucris, atrumque timorem.
Undique conveniunt, quoniam data copia pugnæ;
Bellatorque animo Deus incidit.
Pandarus, ut fuso germanum corpore cernit,
Et quo sit fortuna loco, qui casus agat res,
Portam, vi multâ converso cardine, torquet,
NOTES.
wooden towers for the purpose of setting
them on fire. To show the prodigious
strength of Turnus, the poet intimates that
at was cast by him. To express the rapi-
dity of its flight, he says, it flew like a thun-
der-bolt: modo fulminis.
706. Actu: driven-sent. Modo: in the
sense of more.
707. Duplici squamâ. The plates of a
coat of mail were called squama, from their
resemblance to scales. Squama et auro: for
aurea squama, by hend. Fidelis: trusty-
faithful. It had hitherto protected him in
danger.
708. Ruunt: in the sense of cadunt. Col-
lapsa: failing-losing their strength.
709. Intonal, &c. These words may be
rendered: he, falling upon his mighty shield,
thunders; or, his mighty shieid falling upon
him, &c. Clypeum: the same with clypeus.
This passage is imitated from Homer, Iliad
v. 42.
710. Euboico litore Baiarum. Baie was
a place in Campania, famous for its foun-
tains of warm water, situated in the upper
part of the Sinus Neapolitanus, near the
promontory Misenus. Â colony from Chal-
ais, on the island Euboea, hodie, Negropont,
founded the city Cuma, not far from this
place. Hence the shore is called Eubœan.
Qualis, &c. The meaning is that Betias
fell like a mass of rocks, which had been
built up to a great height, and cast into the
sea, for the purpose of forming a dam or
barrier to the water.
711. Molibus: for a dam or pier.
713. Prona: in the sense of ca lens. Illi-
su: dashing upon the water. Penitùs in
the sense of profundè. Recumì it: it sinks
deep to the bottom-it rests, &c. This.
720
711. Quam construo-
tam antè homines ja
ciunt
712. Sic illa caden
prona
716. Inarimeque im-
pôsta Typhoo quasi du-
rum cubile imperis Jo-
vis, tremit.
720. Latini conveni-
unt undique, quoniam
copia pugnæ data est
ipsis
to us, would be a novel way of making a
dam or pier in the water.
714. Miscent se: in the sense of turbantur.
715. Prochyta: an island lying to the south
of the promontory Misenus, and formerly
separated from the main land, by an earth-
quake, according to Pliny. Its name is of
Greek origin. Hodie, Procida. Alta: high,
in reference to its surface. Or, alta may
be taken in the sense of altè vel profundè.
Rumus says, intima. Heyne observes, that
alla may be considered as an epithet proper
for all islands, inasmuch as they are eleva-
ted, or raised above the sea, or surface of
the water: alla, epitheton commune omnium
insularum, quatenùs mari cminent.
716. Inarime. This is a high and elevated
island, laying to the west of Prochyta. This
passage is taken from Homer, Iliad ii. 283.
Typhoo. Typhæus was one of the giants
that attempted to scale heaven, and was
signally punished by Jove for the audacious
attempt.
718. Vertit acres: he turns his sharp
spurs under their breast. This is a meta-
phor taken from the application of the spur
to the sides of the horse, to increase his
speed and courage.
719. Atrum: in the sense of horridum
grim-ghastly.
720. Copia: in the sense of opportunitas.
721. Incidit: in the sense of subiit ve'
illabitur.
722. Corpore fuso: with his body stretë n
ed on the ground. Ut: in the sense of
quando.
723. Casus: misfortune-danger. Agat
attends their affairs-rules-governs, Ru
æus says, impellat.
724. Torquet: he shuts the gate,
490
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Obnixus latis humeris multosque suorum
•
Monibus exclusos duro in certamine linquit;
Ast alios secum includit, recipitque ruentes :
Demens! qui Rutulum in medio non agmine regem
725
729. Incluscrit
arbi, veluti
eum Viderit irrumpentem, ultròque incluserit urbi :
Immanem veluti pecora inter inertia tigrim.
Continuò nova lux oculis effulsit, et arma
Horrendùm sonuêre: tremunt in vertice crista
Sanguinem, clypeoque micantia fulgura mittunt.
Agnoscunt faciem invisam atque immania membra
Turbati subitò Æneada. Tum Pandarus ingens
Emicat, et, mortis fraternæ fervidus irâ,
730
731-
Effatur: Non hæc dotalis regia Amatæ ;
Nec muris cohibet patriis media Ardea Turnum.
739. Est nulla potes- Castra inimica vides: nulla hinc exire potestas.
Las
Olli subridens sedato pectore Turnus:
740
Incipe, si qua animo virtus, et consere dextram
Hic etiam inventum Priamo narrabis Achillem.
Dixerat. Ille rudem nodis et cortice crudo
intorquet, summis adnixus viribus, hastam.
Excepêre auræ vulnus: Saturnia Juno
Detorsit veniens; portæque infigitur hasta.
At non hoc telum, mea quod vi dextera versat,
Effugies: neque enim is teli nec vulneris auctor.
745
750
749 Sic Turnus ait: Sic ait: et sublatum altè consurgit in ensem,
et consurgit
Et mediam ferro gemina inter tempora frontem
Dividit, impubesque immani vulnere malas.
NOTES.
726. Duro: in the sense of mortifero.
731. Continuò nova lux, &c. Davidson
refers this to the eyes of the Trojans, and
not to those of Turnus. The comeliness of
his person and the brightness of his arms
rendered him easy to be distinguished by
the enemy. New light struck their eyes.
Both Dr. Trapp and Ruæus refer it to Tur-
nus. Ruæus says, novum lumen emicuit
ex oculis Turni.
732. Tremunt: wave.
733. Micantia: gleaming-reflecting from
his shield. Mittunt: in the sense of mit-
tunt se throws-darts itself at a distance.
Davidson and Rumus read mittit, referring
to Turnus. Heyne reads mittunt, agreeing
with fulgura in the nom. If we read mittit,
fulgura will be the acc. plu. governed by
that verb.
What follows of the feats of Turnus is
astonishingly grand. But it may be object-
ed, that the story is beyond probability.
We are to recollect, however, that it is al-
lowable in poetry to go beyond real life:
and, beside, he is assisted in his amazing ex-
ploits by a divine power.
737. Hæc non dotalis regia: this is not
the palace of Amata, promised as a dowry
to thee. It was the purpose of Amata to
bestow her daughter Lavinia upon Tur-
nus, and, with her, the kingdom of Latium.
The verb est is to be supplied.
738. Ardea. The capital city of the Ru-
tuli. Media: the middle or centre of your
dominions. Cohibet: in the sense of tenet.
Patriis: paternal walls.
741. Consere dextram : engage hand to
hand with me.
742. Etiam: also-as well as among the
Greeks.
743. Hastam rudem: a spear rough with
knots, &c.
745. Vulnus: in the sense of ictum, by
meton.
746. Detorsit: turned it aside. Veniens
in the sense of interveniens.
748. Enim neque auctor teli: for neither
the owner of the weapon, nor the author of
the stroke, is the same. He far excels you
in the strength of his body, and the nerve
of his arm. Vulneris: in the sense of ictûs.
Is: in the sense of idem.
749. Consurgit: he rises upon his sword,
raised high. He lifts up his sword, and rises
on tiptoe, to give greater force to the blow.
Alle may be connected with consurgit, or sub-
latum. The sense is the same in either case.
750. Mediam frontem: his head in the
middle between, &c.
751. Impubes: beardless-without beard.
ENEIS. LIB. IX
491
Fit sonus. ingenti concussa est pondere tellus.
Collapsos artus atque arma cruenta cerebro
Sternit humi moriens: atque illi partibus æquis
754. Atque caput pe-
Huc caput atque illuc humero ex utroque pependit. 755 pendit illi scissum in
Diffugiunt versi trepidâ formidine Troës.
Et, si continuò victorem ea eura subîsset,
Rumpere claustra manu, sociosque immittere portis,
Ultimus ille dies bello gentique fuisset.
Sed furor ardentem cædisque insana cupido
Egit in adversos.
@quis partibus huc
759. Gentique Troja·
760 norum..
765
770
763. Hinc ingerit has
tas raptas ab occisis in
tergum
765. Comitem illis in
morte, et Phegea, eus
parmâ confixa
766. Deinde occidit
Alcandruinque, &c. ig-
naros ejus ingressûs in
muris
769. Connixus dexter
ab aggere, Turnus occu
pat Lyncea
Principio Phalarim, et, succiso poplite, Gygen
Excipit: hinc raptas fugientibus ingerit hastas
In tergum: Juno vires animumque ministrat.
Addit Halyn comitem, et confixâ Phegea parmâ:
Ignaros deinde in muris, Martemque cientes,
Alcandrumque Haliumque Noémonaque Prytanimque.
Lyncea tendentem contrà, sociosque vocantem,
Vibranti gladio connixus ab aggere dexter
Occupat huic uno dejectum cominùs ictu
Cum galeâ longè jacuit caput. Inde ferarum
Vastatorem Amycum, quo non felicior alter
Ungere tela manu, ferrumque armare veneno:
Et Clytium Æoliden, et amicum Cretea Musis ;
Cretea Musarum comitem: cui carmina semper
Et citharæ cordi, numerosque intendere nervis ;
Semper equos, atque arma virûm, pugnasque
pugnasque canebat.
Tandem ductores, auditâ cæde suorum,
Conveniunt Teucri, Mnestheus acerque Serestus ;
Palantesque vident socios, hostemque receptum.
Et Mnestheus, Quò deinde fugam? quò tenditis? inquit, gitis fugam?
NOTES.
754. Illi: in the sense of illius. His head
hung, &c. Sternit: he brings to the ground.
Rumus says, trahit.
757. Subisset victorem: had the thought
come into the mind of the victor to burst,
&c. Claustra: the bars of the gate-the
gate itself.
761. Egit in adversos: drove him furious
upon his foes.
Ho could not resist the
temptation of pursuing his revenge on his
enemies, when they were full in his view.
763. Excipit: in the sense of interficit.
Ile receives or surprises them with death.
Ingerit: in the sense of intorquet, vel jacit.
766. Ignaros: ignorant of his being within
their walls. Not thinking of danger, and
not imagining that Turnus and death were
so near them. Cientes: rousing the martial
courage of his friends-encouraging the
fight.
768. Tendentem contrà: meeting him
coming opposite to him.
769. Dexter: on the right hand: or, dex-
terous, skilful.
770. Occupat: receives-takes. Interci-
pit, says Rumus.
775
780
771. Inde occidit Amy
cum
774. Et occidit Cly-
tium
775. Cui carmina, et
citharæ fuerant semper
cordi
780. Receptum in mu
ris. Et Mnestheus in
quit: quo deinde dırı
771. Caput huic. The same as, huju
caput: the dat. in the sense of the grn.
772. Felicior: more skilful-expert.
773. Ungere: to anoint. Manu: art—
skill, by meton. The practice of poisoning
arrows, and other missive weapons, obtained
among some nations of antiquity. It is
said to be done at the present day by some
tribes of Indians, and some of the barba-
rous nations of Africa. Ferrum: the point
or barb.
774. Æoliden. He was skilful at playing
on wind instruments. He is therefore called
metaphorically the son of Eolus. There
is a propriety, therefore, in joining him with
Creteus, who was a distinguished musician,
and consequently a friend and companion
of the muses. Cretea, Lyncea, Phegea, are
Greek accusatives.
776. Intendere numeros: to apply notes
to the strings of the lyre-to apply verse to
music. Ruæus says, edere sonos chordis.
Cordi: for a delight. Cithara, may here
mean musical instruments in general.
781. Quò deinde fugam? where next will
ye direct your flight? Servius says this
192
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
787. Non miseretque
pudetque vos, O segnes,
Quos alios muros, quæ jam ultrà mœnia habetis?
783. Unus homo, et Unus homo, vestris, ô cives, undique septus
alle septus vestris agge- Aggeribus, tantas strages impunè per urbem
ribus undique
Ediderit? juvenum primos tot miserit Orco ?
Non infelicis patriæ, veterumque Deorum,
Et magni Æneæ, segnes, miseretque pudetque?
Talibus accensi firmantur, et agmine denso
Consistunt. Turnus paulatim excedere pugnâ,
Et fluvium petere, ac partem quæ cingitur amni.
Acriùs hôc Teucri clamore incumbere magno,
Et glomerare manum, Ceu sævum turba leonem
Cùm telis premit infensis: at territus ille
infelicis
789. Turnus paulatim
incipit
791. Teucri incipiunt
acrius hộc
Asper, acerbà tuens, retrò redit: et neque terga
Ira dare aut virtus patitur; nec tendere contrà
785
790
796
795. Nec ille est potis
tendere contrà per tela Ille quidem hoc cupiens, potis est per tela virosque.
virosque, quidem cu-
Haud aliter retrò dubius vestigia Turnus
piens hoc
Improperata refert; et mens exæstuat irâ.
Quin etiam, bis tum medios invaserat hostes;
Bis confusa fugâ per muros agmina vertit,
Sed manus è castris properè coit omnis in unum
Nec contrà vires audet Saturnia Juno
800
803. Sufficere vires ei Sufficere: aëriam cœlo nam Jupiter Irim
contra Teucros.
806.
Demisit, germanæ haud mollia jussa ferentem;
Ni Turnus cedat Teucrorum manibus altis.
Ergò juvenis Ergò nec clypeo juvenis subsistere tantum,
valet subsistere tantumn Nec dextrâ valet: injectis sic undique telis
impetum, nec clypeo,
nec dextrâ
Obruitur. Strepit assiduo cava tempora circum
Tinnitu galea, et saxis solida æra fatiscunt:
CUSS
810. Jubæ sunt dis- Discussæque jubæ capiti; nec sufficit umbo
Ictibus: ingeminant hastis et Troës, et ipse
Fulmineus Mnestheus. Tum toto corpore sudor
NOTES.
is a bitter sarcasm. It implies that they had
already fled into their camp, and shut them-
selves up through fear, within their in-
trenchments. Tenditis in the sense of
ibilis.
784. Aggeribus: in the sense of muris.
785. Ediderit: in the sense of effecerit.
787. Segnes: cowards. Ruæus says, O,
merles. It is better to consider segnes, as
the voc. than the acc. agreeing with vos un-
derstood, and governed by the verbs miseret
and pudet. It is more animated, and more
in the spirit of address.
788. Firmantur: in the sense of animan
tur. By these words of Mnestheus the Tro-
jans were encouraged, and rallied; and
again returned to the attack.
790. Partem: the part of the walls which
was bounded by the river.
791. Hốc acrius, &re. This retreat of
Turnus gave courage to the Trojans, who
began to press upon him more closely, and
to form a band about him with a view to
qurround him, and take him prisoner.
792. Turba: a company of hunters.
805
810
794. Acerbà: an adj. neu, plu. taken as
an adverb. This is common among the
poets. Tuens, a part. of tueor: looking
fiercely.
795. Tendere contrà: to go forward.
798. Improperata: slow-deliberate. Of
in, negativum, and properatus.
800. Confusa: confused-disordered. Ru-
æus and some others read conversa.
801. In unum: against him alone. Coit:
unites. Of con, and eo.
805. Ni Turnus. A threat is intimated
or implied in the words, haud mollia man-
data; which would be put in execution,
unless Turnus retired from the Trojan walls.
809. Tinnitu: ringing. Strepit: in the
sense of sonat.
810. Juba: the plumes or feathers in
his helmet. These were struck from his
head. Umbo. The boss or extreme part
of the shield, by synec. the whole shield.
This is not able to withstand the blows of
the missive weapons.
812. Fulmineus: in the sense of ardens.
The Trojans, with Mnestheus. at their head,
ENEIS. LIB. IX.
493
Liquitur, et piceum, nec respirare potestas,
Flumen agit: fessos quatit æger anhelitus artus.
Tum demùm præceps saltu sese omnibus armis
In fluvium dedit. Ille suo cum gurgite flavo
Accepit venientem, ac mollibus extulit undis;
Et lætum sociis ablutâ cæde remisit.
NOTES.
attack Turnus with such fury that he is
unable to maintain his ground. His solid
armor of brass is bruised and shattered by
the heavy stones hurled at him; his plumes
fall from his head; his trusty shield begins
to give way; and the enemy to repeat their
strokes with redoubled fury, with darts and
spears. In this situation, worn out with
fatigue, and panting for breath, he flings
himself into the Tiber, and returns in safety
to his camp.
814. Agit piceum flumen: pours a black
pitchy stream. Turnus sweat so copiously
that it fell from him in a stream. Mingled
815
813. Nec est potentas
illi respirare
816. Ille fluvius aċce
pit eum venientem cum
suo flavo gurgite, ac ex-
tulit eum mollibus undis;
et remisit 'eum lætum so
ciis, cæde ablutâ.
with dust, which would adhere to his body,
it became tough and clammy like pitch, and
nearly of a similar color. Eger anhelitus.
This is such a difficulty of breathing as they
have, who are sickly, and asthmatic.
816. Ille suo gurgite. This is extremely
beautiful. The poet represents the river
god, expanding his gulfy bosom to receive
Turnus, and bearing him off in safety upon
his waves.
818. Cæde ablutâ: the blood being washed
off. Not the blood from any wounds he had
received; but from those wounds which he
had inflicted.
QUESTIONS.
How is this book distinguished from all
the rest?
What does Turnus in the mean time?
Does he attempt to burn the Trojan ships?
What becomes of them?
At whose particular request was this
granted to them?
What does Dr. Trapp observe of this pas-
sage?
Does he consider it a blemish to the book?
By whom is Turnus roused to arms?
To what does the poet compare the
marching of his troops?
Where does the Ganges empty?
What is its length?
What course does it run?
In what light is it considered by those
who live near it?
Where does the Nile rise?
Where does it empty?
And by how many mouths?
What effect has it upon the fertility of
Egypt?
What occasions its inundations?
Is this a fine comparison?
Having failed to burn the fleet, what
course does Turnus determine to pursue?
Was there any prodigy in the heavens at
this time?
What was that prodigy?
What effect had it upon the Trojans?
What effect had it upon the Rutulians?
Did Turnus make an address to his men
apon the occasion?
What effect had it upon them?
What is the character of that speech?
At the conclusion, what does he recom-
mend to his men?
When does he resolve to attack the camp
of the Trojans?
What orders docs he give to be observed
during the night?
What is the condition of the Trojans?
What do they in the mean time:
Is there any proposition made to rocall
Eneas?
By whom was it made?
Who were Nisus and Euryalus?
Had any mention been made of their
friendship before?
In what book?
And upon what occasion?
What is the character of this episode?
How many lines does it occupy?
In what state does the poet represent the
Rutulian camp during the night?
Which of the two friends is the elder?
Do they pass peaceably through the ene-
my's camp?
What then did they do?
How long did they continue the slaugh-
ter?
Did they both make their escape from
the camp?
What prevented Euryalus from accompa-
nying Nisus?
By whom was he taken prisoner?
Who commanded this troop of horse?
Where was Nisus during these transac
tions?
When he perceived his friend to be mis-
ing, what course did he pursue?
194
.P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Having found him in the hands of the
enemy, what did he do?
Whom did he kill?
What effect had this upon the mind of
Volscens?
By whom was Euryalus slain?
When he found he was about to be killed,
did Nisus discover himself?
Did he make any appeal to the enemy
upon this occasion?
What was his object in doing this?
Unable to save his life, what resolution
did he take?
Whom did he kill?
Was he slain himself also?
What is the character of this episode?
Is it objectionable in any respect?
What are the principal grounds of objec-
tion?
At the return of day, what does Turnus do?
In what way did the Trojans learn of the
death of Nisus and Furyalus?
What effect had the news upon the mo-
ther of Euryalus?
How was she employed at that time?
What effect had the sight of his head upon
her?
In what light may her lamentation be
considered?
What is the character of this sequel?
Who among the ancients is said to have
greatly admired it?
By what troops was the assault com-
menced?
What do you mean by the testudo, or tar-
get defence?
On what occasion was that used?
What was the character of this assault?
Were the enemy repulsed in this attack?
What feats of valor did Turnus perform
What effect had the burning of the tower
upon the Trojans?
By whom was it set on fire?
After this, was the assault renewed?
Was any part of the Trojans, at this
time, without the ramparts?
Were they able to defend themselves?
What did the sentinels at the gates do in
this crisis?
Why did they open the gates?
Who were stationed as guard at the gates?
What was their stature and strength?
Did Turnus enter along with the fugi-
tives?
Was he perceived at the time?
Was the gate closed immediately on his
entrance?
What feats of valor does he here perform?
Whom does he first kill?
Are the Trojans able to stand before him?
What remark does the poet make after
the admission of Turnus, and the closing of
the gate?
How does the poet account for this want
of thought in the hero?
By whom are the Trojans finally rallied,
and brought again to the attack?
What becomes of Turnus?
How does he escape from them?
Did he receive any injury from the host
of weapons sent at him?
By whom was Turnus assisted in hie
mighty achievement; ?
Did he return in safety to his troops?
LIBER DECIMUS.
JUPITER calls a council of the gods, and forbids them to assist either side. On this occa-
sion, Venus makes a very pathetic speech in favor of the Trojans, and entreats Jupiter
to interfere in their favor, and not to suffer them to be entirely destroyed. Juno replies
in a strain haughty and imperious, and attributes their misfortunes to their own folly
and misconduct, and particularly to the conduct of Paris in the case of Helen; and
insinuates that Eneas was playing the same game at the court of Latinus. Jupiter
concludes their deliberations by a speech, in which he declares he will assist neither
party, that success or disaster should attend their own actions.
As soon as Eneas had concluded a treaty with the Tuscans, he hastens his return, accom-
panied by his allies. On his way he is met by a choir of nymphs: one of whom informs
him of the transformation of his ships. of the attack of Turnus upon his camp, of the
great slaughter he had made, and the distress to which his friends were reduced. When
he arrives in sight of his camp, the Trojans shout for joy; and Turnus resolves to
prevent their landing. Leaving a sufficient number to besiege the camp, he marches
with the rest of his forces to the shore. Eneas divided his troops into three divisions,
and, in that order, effected a landing. Here a general engagement commences, and
Eneas performs prodigies of valor. The Arcadians were routed by the Latins. When
Pallas perceives them give way, he hastens along the ranks, animates his men, and
brings them again to the charge. Here he performs feats of valor. Lausus, who com-
manded one wing of the Latins, opposed him with equal skill and valor. Arcadian,
Tuscan and Trojan, fell before him.
*
ÆNEIS. LIB. X.
495
In the mean time, Turnus, informed of the havoc made by Pallas, determines to attack
him in person. He proceeds against the youthful warrior, who, undaunted, meets him
with strength and arms unequal.
After the death of Palias, a great slaughter of the Trojans ensues. Æneas, in an other
part of the line, informed of the death of Pallas and the slaughter of his troops, imme-
diately sets out in search of Turnus. In his way he kills a great number, and puts to
flight whole ranks. Venus assists the Trojans, and Juno intercedes with her husband
to favor the Latins; but to no purpose. However, he permits her to bear away Turnus
from the fight, and save him from the vengeance of Eneas. The goddess instantly
repairing to the field of battle, assumed the shape and attire of Æneas; and, by a de-
vice of hers, conducted Turnus from the fight. As soon as he was out of danger, the
phantom vanished. Discovering the deception, the hero becomes frantic with rage and
disappointment.
Mezentius succeeds Turnus in command, and makes head against the Trojans. The
fight is renewed with great fury, and he performs feats of valor. Victory, for a time.
seems equally poised. Æneas beholds him thundering along the ranks, prostrating all
who stand before him; and resolves to meet him. Mezentius throws a spear, which,
glancing from the shield of Æneas, kills Antores, who had been the companion of Her-
cules. The
The spear of Æneas wounds him in turn, but not mortally. In this situation.
Lausus succors his father, and, flinging himself between the combatants, affords him an
opportunity to retire, and, in the pious duty, loses his own life. He retires to the river,
and washes his wound. All his anxiety is for his son, his affectionate, his dutiful Lau
sus. Messenger after messenger he sends to recall him from the fight. But when he
learns his death, he resolves to return to fall by the hand of Æneas, or to bear off his
spoils. For this purpose, he mounts his faithful courser, arms himself, and rushes into
the field, seeking the victor. The book concludes with the death of Mezentius.
PANDITUR intereà domus omnipotentis Olympi :
Conciliumque vocat Divûm pater atque hominum rex
Sideream in sedem; terras unde arduus omnes,
Castraque Dardanidûm aspectat, populosque Latinos.
Considunt tectis bipatentibus. Incipit ipse:
Cœlicolæ magni, quianam sententia vobis
Versa retrò? tantùmque animis certatis iniquis?
Abnueram bello Italiam concurrere Teucris :
Quæ contra vetitum discordia? quis metus, aut hos,
Aut hos arma sequi, ferrumque lacessere suasit?
Adveniet justum pugnæ, ne accersite, tempus,
NOTES.
1. Olympi. Olympus is a very high moun-
tain in the confines of Thessaly and Mace-
donia, whose summit is above the clouds.
Hence the poets made it the residence of
Jove. Here they assigned him a sumptu-
ous palace. The epithet omnipotens is added
by way of eminence; that being the pro-
per epithet of "Jove, who had there his re-
sidence. The poet here imitates Homer,
Iliad, lib. viii.
4. Aspectat: in the sense of despicit. Ar-
duus: in the sense of sublimis.
5. Bipalentibus: opening both ways, to
the right and left.
6. Calicola: in the sense of Superi. Qui-
anam: in the sense of cur. The meaning
is: why have ye changed your purpose of
assisting neither party? Why do ye con-
tend with so much animosity? and disre-
gard my prohibition that the Italians should
not oppose the Trojans?
8. Abnueram: I had forbidden the Italian
nations, &c. This prohibition had not been
5 5. Super considunt
tectis bipatentibus. Ju
piter ipse incipit sic
10
9. Quæ est hæc dis
cordia contra meum veti
tum? Quis metus suasit
aut hos Italos, aut hos
Teucros sequi
mentioned by the poet before. On the con-
trary, Jove had declared that Æneas should
carry on a great war in Italy, bellum in-
gens geret Italia. Æn. i. 263. It is proba-
ble that the poet would have corrected this
passage, if he had lived to revise this part of
his works.
10. Lacessere: in the sense of commovere,
says Ruæus. Suasit: in the sense of im-
pulit. Arma: by meton. for bellum.
11. Adveniet justum: the proper time for
war will arrive, &c. Jove declares in coun-
cil that the Italians had engaged in the
war against the Trojans, contrary to his
wish and inclination; that it was his desire
Italy should open its bosom, and receive
them in friendship and amity. But do not
ye gods, infer hence that I wish they should
always escape the calamities of war.
time will come in its proper season, nor do
ye hasten it, when warlike Carthage shall
bring a great destruction upon the Roman
towers. Then you may indulge your ani
The
496
P VIRGILII MARONIS
16. Jupiter dixit hæc
paucis verbis.
Cùm fera Carthago Romanis arcibus olim
Exitium magnum, atque Alpes immittet apertas.
Tum certare odiis, tum res rapuisse licebit.
Nunc sinite, et placitum læti componite fœdus.
Jupiter hæc paucis: at non Venus aurea contrà
Pauca refert:
O pater, ô hominum Divûmque æterna potestas!
16
20
19. Quid aliud numen (Namque aliud quid sit, quod jam implorare queamus?)
sit, quod
Cernis ut insultent Rutuli? Turnusque feratur
Per medios insignis equis, tumidusque secundo
Marte ruat? non clausa tegunt jam monia Teucros :
Quin intra portas, atque ipsis prælia miscent
Aggeribus murorum, et inundant sanguine fossæ
Eneas ignarus Æneas ignarus abest. Nunquamne levari
25.
harum rerum abest.
Obsidione sines? muris iterum imminet hostis
Nascentis Troja, nec non exercitus alter:
Atque iterum in Teucros Ætolis surgit ab Arpis
NOTES.
mosities, then you may foment discord; but
now cultivate harmony, and practice good
will toward each other. Carthage was the
most powerful rival of Rome. It was a
very flourishing and commercial state. The
interests of the two nations soon began to
interfere, and a war broke out between
them. A naval battle was fought off Sicily,
in which the Carthaginians were victorious;
but the Romans had the advantage by land.
A peace was concluded very much to the
disadvantage of the former. The Cartha-
ginians gave up all the islands between
Africa and Italy, and agreed to pay 2,200
talents annually, for twenty years, to the
Romans. This took place in the year of
Rome 513. Twenty-four years after this, a
second war broke out between the two rival
powers. Hannibal was commander-in-chief
of the Carthaginians. He led his army
into Spain, which he subjugated as far as
the Iberus. He thence passed over the Alps
into Italy, where he defeated the Romans in
several engagements, with great slaughter,
and filled Rome itself with fear and conster-
nation; and if he had marched directly to
Rome, it would, in all probability, have fallen
before his victorious arms. In this juncture
of affairs, Fabius Maximus was made dic-
tator; who, by his prudent measures, and,
above all, by his declining a general engage-
mnt, and protracting the war, in some
measure, recovered the Roman affairs. In
the mean time, Scipio was sent into Africa
to attack Carthage. Hannibal was recalled
to defend his country. The Romans, how-
ever, were victorious, and Carthage became
tributary. The intrepid Hannibal saved his
life by fleeing his country. This war lasted
seventeen years. In the third Punic war,
as it was called, Carthage was utterly ra-
sed, under the younger Scipio, in the year of
Rome 608
12. Fera: warlike-fierce.
25
13. Apertas Alpes. Scaliger thinks per is
to be supplied; meaning that the Carthagi-
nians marched through or over the Alps.
This to be sure is the true meaning: but
the construction will not bear it. We must
not throw away the atque. Both Dr. Trapp
and Ruæus understand the people of the
Alps, whom Hannibal took with him. I can
hardly think this to be the meaning. The
expression is highly figurativo and poetical.
It represents Hannibal and his army pour-
ing through the passages of the Alps, as if
the mountains themselves were moved or
sent against Rome.
14. Tum licebit, &c. The gods are here
represented as divided and split into factions
and parties. To calm their dissentions, Jove
tells them a time will come when they may
indulge their passions, and plunder and
commit acts of violence. Dr. Trapp thinks
the words licebit, &c. refer to the Trojans
and Latins, on account of whom the gods
were split into factions. It is common for
writers, especially the poets, to ascribe the
evil actions of men to the gods, under whose
influence they were supposed to act. Res:
the Roman state. Rumus says, Trojanas res.
15. Sinite: be quiet-permit it to be so.
Componite: in the sense of facite, vel concı-
liate. Placitum: in the sense of destinatum.
Quod placet mihi, says Ruæus.
22. Tegunt: protect-defend.
23. Miscent: in the sense of committunt.
24. Ipsis aggeribus: on the very ramparts
of the walls.
27. Nec non in the sense of quoque, vel
etiam. Imminet: presses upon-besieges.
Ruæus says, instat.
28. Etolis Arpis. Arpi was a city of
Apulia. It is called Ætolian from Ætolia,
the country of Diomede, who led a colony
into that part of Italy, and founded Arpi.
}
ÆNEIS. LIB. X.
497
30 30. Et ego tua frogo
nies
31. Si Troës petière
Italiam sine
33. Sin fecerunt id so
cuti tot responsa oracu·
35 lorum, quæ
Tydides. Equidem, credo, mea vulnera restant:
Et tua progenies mortalia demoror arma.
Si sinè pace tuâ, atque invito numine, Troës
Italiam petiêre, luant peccata; neque illos
Juveris auxilio. Sin tot responsa secuti,
Quæ Superi Manesque dabant; cur nunc tua quisquam
cur nunc tua quisquam
Flectere jussa potest? aut cur nova condere fata ?
Quid repetam exustas Erycino in litore classes ?
Quid tempestatum regem, ventosque furentes
Æoliâ excitos? aut actam nubibus Irim?
Nunc etiam Manes (hæc intentata manebat
Sors rerum) movet et superis immissa repentè
Alecto, medias Italûm bacchata per urbes.
Nil super imperio moveor: speravimus ista,
Dum fortuna fuit: vincant, quos vincere mavis.
Si nulla est regio, Teucris quam det tua conjux
Dura: per everse, genitor, fumantia Trojæ
Excidia obtestor; liceat dimittere ab armis
Incolumem Ascanium; liceat superesse nepotem.
Æneas sanè ignotis jactetur in undis ;
Et, quamcunque viam dederit fortuna, sequatur:
Hunc tegere, et diræ valeam subducere pugnæ.
Est Amathus, est celsa mihi Paphos, atque Cythera,
Idaliæque domus: positis inglorius armis
Exigat hic ævum. Magnâ ditione jubeto
NOTES.
He was the son of Tydeus. Turnus sent to
him with a view to engage him in the war,
but without success, as will appear in the
following book. Venus, to aggravate her
case, would insinuate that a Grecian army
was approaching the Trojan camp under the
conduct of great Diomede. This is the hos-
tis, and the alter exercitus, just mentioned.
29. Mea vulnera restant: my wounds re-
main. Ruæus thinks this is a reference to
The wound she received from Diomede, when
she rescued Æneas from the encounter with
that hero. Iliad, v. 335. And she fears the
same thing may happen again. This eluci-
dates the words demoror mortalia arma. But
Venus may speak in the name of the Tro-
jans, considering their wounds and suffer-
ings as her own. Demoror: in the sense
of expecto.
31. Pace: permission or leave. Pace:
m the sense of venia. Numine: in the sense
of voluntate.
34. Manesque. This perhaps refers to the
predictions and intimations, which Æneas
had received from the ghosts of Hector,
Anchises and Creusa. Manes, sometimes
are taken for the infernal gods. It is here
opposed to Superi, the gods above.
35. Flectere: to avert or turn aside. Fata:
purposes-decrees. Condere: to make--or-
dain-appoint. Ruæus says, statuere.
38. In Erycino litore: on the Sicilian
35. Aut cur quisquam
potest condere
39. Nunc etiam June
40 movet
45
50
40. Alecto immissa
in superis regionibus lu-
cis
43. Dum fortuna fuit
propitia: illi vincant
45. O genitor, obtos
tor te per fumantia ex-
cidia
52. Ascanius inglo
rius exigat ævum nìc,
armis positis.
shore. See Æn. v. 660. Where the Trojan
matrons, at the instigation of Iris, set fire to
their ships. Repetam: in the sense of com-
memorem.
37. Regem: Eolus king of the winds.
See En. i.
39. Manes movet. Here Manes plainly
means the infernal powers, whom Juno rous-
ed up against the Trojans, when she called
up Alecto from her dire abode. This was the
first time Juno had recourse to the powers
below, to assist her in the destruction of the
Trojans. This will help us to understand
the words: hæc sors rerum manebat intentata,
Sors: in the sense of pars.
41. Bacchata: est is understood.
42. Moveor nil: I am not solicitous about
empire-I am not moved, &c.
46. Liceat: may it be permitted me to
remove (or take) Ascanius, &c.
50. Valeam: I would wish to be able-
I could desire to be permitted. Tegere: to
protect-rescue.
51. Amathus: gen. amathuntis; a city of
the island of Cyprus. Hodie, Limisso. Pa-
phos or Paphus; another city of the sam
island. Hodie, Paffo. Cythera: neu. plu,
an island between the Peloponnesus and
Crete. Idalium or Idalia: a city of Cyprus
All these places were sacred to Venus.
52. Domus: ir the sense of sedes.
33
498
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
obatahit
54. Nihil ortum inde Carthago premat Ausoniam nihil urbibus inde
Obstabit Tyriis. Quid pestem evadere belli
55. Quid juvit Ænean Juvit, et Argolicos medium fugisse per ignes?
evadere
57. Totque pericula Totque maris, vastæque exhausta pericula terræ,
maris, vastæque terre Dum Latium Teucri, recidivaque Pergama quærunt?
fuisse exhausta, dum Non satiùs cineres patriæ insedisse supremos,
56
Atque solum, quo Troja fuit? Xanthum et Simoënta 60
61. Miseris Teucris Redde, oro, miseris; iterumque revolvere casus
Da, pater, Iliacos Teucris. Tum regia Juno
Acta furore gravi: Quid me alta silentia cogis
Rumpere, et obductum verbis vulgare dolorem ?
Ænean hominum quisquam Divûmque subegit
Bella sequi, aut hostem regi se inferre Latino?
Italiam petiit fatis auctoribus, esto,
Cassandra impulsus furiis. Num linquere castra
Hortati sumus, aut vitam committere ventis ?
70. Num persuasimus Num puero summam belli, num credere muros?
ei credere summam belli, Tyrrhenamve fidem, aut gentes agitare quietas ?
ero? Num persuasimus Quis Deus in fraudem, quæ dura potentia nostra
ci agitare
Egit? ubi hìc Juno, demissave nubibus Iris ?
num credere muros pu-
65
70
NOTES.
54. Inde: hence-from Ascanius. He will
not be in the way, or oppose the Tyrian city.
55. Pestem: destruction-ruin.
57. Exhausta: undergone-finished-ex-
nausted to the very dregs. The verb esse,
vel fuisse, is understood.
58. Recidiva. Davidson thinks recidiva,
nere, means tottering again, or threatening
a fall. But it also signifies, set up again
after it is fallen, or rebuilt. Dr. Trapp takes
it here in this sense. Commentators are not
agreed upon the true import of the word.
The whole speech of Venus is extremely
artful, and well calculated to produce the
desired effect. It is distinguished for its
sweetness, tenderness, and pathos.
59. Non satiùs: would it not have been
better for them to have settled upon, &c.
The verb esset, vel fuisset, is understood.
62. Da, pater: grant, O, father, that they
struggle again with the Trojan disasters;
rather than continue in this state of sus-
pense. These words, or words of the like
import, appear to be requisite to complete
the sense, and preserve the connexion.
63. Acta: in the sense of impulsa vel
agitata.
4. Obductum: in the sense of occultum.
67. Italiam petiit, &c. This speech of
Juno is very different from that of Venus:
the one is tender, persuasive, and pathetic;
the other haughty, imperious, and sarcastic.
In the beginning, she acknowledges that
Eneas undertook his voyage at the direc-
tion of the gods; but she will have it, that
it was particularly at the instance of Cassan-
dra, the daughter of Priam, a prophetess
whom nobody believed. Auctoribus: ad-
visers-persuaders, or the first movers.
·
68. Furiis: this Rumus interprets by va.
ticiniis.
70. Summam: the management-chief
command.
71. Fidem, aut gentes, agitare, &c. This
is a difficult passage, arising partly from the
conciseness of the expression, and partly
from the falsehood of the assertion. Com-
mentators are generally agreed that fidem
is to be taken for alliance or friendship, in
the sense of fœdus. To connect agitare with
it in that sense, we must take the verb in
the sense of implorare, which it will hardly
bear. But if we take fidem to mean the
loyalty and allegiance, which the Tuscans
bore to Mezentius their king; and there is
no reason, why it may not; then agitare, in
its common acceptation, to disturb, shake
or unsettle, may be connected with it, as
well as with quietas gentes. It was not true,
however, that the nations to which Eneas
applied for assistance were at peace.
both the Tuscans and Arcadians were at
war with the Latins. Heyne takes agitare
fidem, in the sense of solicitare societatem et
fœdus. Quietas: at peace.
For
72. Quæ dura nostra: what rigid power
of ours. This refers to the epithet dura,
which Venus uses in relation to her, verse
44. Commentators generally take fraudem
to mean detriment-damage. Rumus in-
terprets it by damnum, and it may so mean
here; for Juno, all along, reflects upon the
false steps and bad management of Æneas.
But it may also mean fraud, alluding to the
attempt to draw the Tuscans from their
allegiance to their king. Heyne takes frau
dem in the sense of malum. Servius, in the
sonse of periculum. Davidson renders it
ENEIS. LIB. X
499
Indignum est, Italos Trojam circundare flammis
Nascentem, et patria Turnum consistere terrâ ;
Cui Pilumnus avus, cui diva Venilia mater.
Quid, face Trojanos atrâ vim ferre Latinis?
Arva aliena jugo premere, atque avertere prædas?
Quid, soceros legere, et gremiis abducere pactas?
Pacem orare manu, præfigere puppibus arma?
Tu potes Æneam manibus subducere Graiûm,
Proque viro nebulam et ventos obtendere inanes;
Et potes in totidem classem convertere Nymphas :
Nos aliquid Rutulos contrà juvisse, nefandum est.
Æneas ignarus abest: ignarus et absit.
Est Paphos, Idaliumque tibi; sunt alta Cythera :
Quid gravidam bellis urbem, et corda aspera tentas?
Nos-ne tibi fluxas Phrygiæ res vertere fundo
Conamur? nos? an miseros qui Troas Achivis
Objecit? quæ causa fuit consurgere in arma
Europamque Asiamque, et fœdera solvere furto?
NOTES.
by the words "guileful measures," alluding
to what is said in the preceding line.
74. Indignum est: it is a heinous crime, to
be sure, that the Italians, &c.
76. Pilumnus: a king of the Rutuli, and
reputed son of Jove. He was one of the
ancestors of Turnus, and was deified. Veni-
na: she was the sister of Amata, and mo-
ther of Turnus. She also was made a
goddess.
77. Quid, Trojanos: what is it for the
Trojans to offer violence, &c. Servius ex-
plains atra face, by savo bello. Dr. Trapp
thinks this is an allusion to the story of
Paris, whose mother dreamed she should
bring forth a torch or fire-brand; he being
the cause of the war, which proved the ruin
of Troy. Fux, signifies the first motives or
incentives to any thing. Fax belli, is there-
fore the commencement of war. Incendia
belli, is a war when it hath come to its height,
and lays every thing waste before it, like a
devouring flame. Atrå face: with black or
hostile torches. Ruæus says, nigris tædis.
78. Premere jugo: to subjugate. Arva:
in the sense of terras vel regiones.
79. Legere. Servius renders it, by furari.
Hence they are called Sacrilegi, qui sacra
legunt; i. e. furantur. Pactas: betrothed
spouses; sponsas being understood, or per-
haps it is implied in pactas. Legere soceros :
to steal fathers-in-law; that is, to marry
their daughters without their consent, and
against their wills. Heyne says, eligere—
sumere.
80. Orare pacem: to implore peace with
the hand, and to fix arms on the sterns of
their ships. This refers to the olive boughs,
which they held in their hands as a sign of
peace when they visited the court of Lati-
75
77. Quid est illud, Tro
janog
79. Quid est illud, le
80 gere soceros, et abdu
cere pactas sponsas e
gremiis sponsorum ?
84. Nos juvisse Rutu-
85 los aliquid contrà Troja-
90
nos.
85.
Eneas ignarus
periculi urbis
89. Num, nos, inquam.
an ille Paris qui
nus. This is an invidious reflection of
Juno, and entirely groundless. If it refer
to the Latins, there was no crime in suing
for peace, and being at the same time pre-
pared for war. It was the most likely way
to obtain it. If it relate to the Arcadians:
they had no design of war upon them.
Their arms were designed only to guard
them against the insults of enemies on their
passage to the court of Evander.
84. Nefandum est: it is a horrid crime for
us, &c. The following line contains a most
severe sarcasm. As if Juno had said: if
Eneas, the general of an army, choose to
be absent in so critical a juncture, and is
not careful to inform himself of their state,
let him, for aught I care, remain ignorant,
and never return.
87. Urbem. The city Laurentum, to the
government of which Æneas would arrive,
by marrying Lavinia. Gravidam: potentem,
says Rumus. Aspera : in the sense of belli-
cosa.
88. Tibi. This is either redundant, o1
Phrygia. Juno here speaks in the present
used in the sense of tua, agreeing with
time, though reference is had to the Trojan
war. This change of tense is often very
elegant. It gives life and animation to the
subject. Fluxas res. Rumus says, fragile
regnum, the frail power of thy Troy.
89. Qui. This refers to Paris, who was
the cause of the Trojan war. Nos: was it
I, or was it not rather that Paris, who expo
sed the unhappy, &c.
91. Furto: here adultery, treachery Fur-
tum also signifies any private, or secret act
of wickedness. An allusion is here made
to the rape of Helen, which was an act of
the basest kind; a most perndious crime.
After this the Greeks, we mavs">pose, would
500
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
94 Tuis Trojanis
Me duce, Dardanius Spartam expugnavit adulter ?
Aut ego tela dedi, fovi-ve cupidine bella?
Tunc decuit metuisse tuis; nunc sera querelis
Haud justis assurgis, et irrita jurgia jactas.
Talibus orabat Juno: cunctique fremebant
Cœlicolæ assensu vario: ceu flamina prima
Cùm deprênsa fremunt sylvis, et cæca volutant
95
Murmura, venturos nautis prodentia ventos.
Tum pater omnipotens, rerum cui summa potestas,
Infit. Eo dicente, Deûm domus alta silescit,
Et tremefacta solo tellus, silet arduus æther:
101
105
103. Posuêre flatum; Tum Zephyri posuêre; premit placida æquora pontus.
pontus
Accipite ergò animis atque hæc mea figite dicta.
Quandoquidem Ausonios conjungi fœdere Teucris
Haud licitum est, nec vestra capit discordia finem :
107. Secat sibi factis, Quæ cuique est fortuna hodie, quam quisque secat spem,
sive fuat Tros, Rutulus- Tros Rutulusve fuat, nullo discrimine habebo:
ve, habebo eos
109. Seu castra Tro- Seu fatis Italûm castra obsidione tenentur,
janorum tenentur
Sive errore malo Trojæ, monitisque sinistris.
Nec Rutulos solvo. Sua cuique exorsa laborem
Fortunamque ferent. Rex Jupiter omnibus idem.
Stygii per flumina fratris,
Per pice torrentes atrâque voragine ripas
113. Ille annuit per Fata viam invenient.
flumina
NOTES.
have no further intercourse, or treaties, with
the Trojans: which is the idea conveyed in
solvere fœdera. Heyne takes furto, in the
sense of raptu.
92. Expugnavit Spartam. History informs
us that Paris did not carry off Helen in an
amicable manner, but by violence and force.
In her heart, however, she might not have
been averse to it. This the Trojan prince
effected in the absence of the Grecian king,
who had entertained him in a very hospita-
ble manner. Juno here calls him an adul-
terer, and represents him as an insidious
enemy. Expugnavit: he assaulted, &c.
93. Fovi bella: fomented-caused wars
through lust. Cupidine: unlawful desire,
or love.
94. Nunc: this refers to the time of the
rape of Helen. Here Juno is extremely
severe.
95. Haud justis: in the sense of injustis.
Jurgia: reproaches-complaints.
97. Vario assensu: with various assent;
some approved of the speech of Venus,
others of the speech of Juno.
98. Deprênsa: caught-pent up in the
woods. Cœca murmura. murmurs scarcely
to be heard. Prodentia: intimating to, &c.
101. Infit: in the sense of incipit.
102. Solo. Whatever supports any thing
may be called solum. Solum terra would be
the foundation of the earth. Rumus says,
à fundamentis.
103. Fremit: levels-renders smooth. Ru-
Dus says, så snil.
110
107. Quam spem, &c. Servius and some
others take secat: in the sense of tenet vel
habet. But Turnebus, in the sense of sumit;
and Ruæus, in the sense of assumit: takes,
or assumes to himself; as when one divides
a thing into parts or portions. Heyne dif-
fers from most commentators in the sense of
the verb secat. He takes it in the sense of in-
cidere, vel perdere: to cut off, or destroy by
their actions.
109. Fatis Italûm, &c. This is generally
understood of the fates unkind or hostile to
the Italians. Rumus interprets fatis, by
damno: loss or damage. Davidson thinks
malis is to be supplied.
110. Malo errore: whether by a fata.
error of Troy, and inauspicious presages-
repelling the assaults of the Italians: this is
whether the Trojans shall be successful ir.
expressed in the preceding line, seu fatis: or
whether the Italians should prove victorious
over the Trojans; these having been de-
fatal error, in coming hither to find a per-
ceived by false predictions, and led into a
manent settlement.
111. Sua exorsa: their own enterprises o- -
actions shall bring to each party disaster or
success. The issue of the war shall depend
upon the parties engaged-I will assist nei-
ther. Laborem: Ruæus says, damnum.
112. Idem: in the sense of æquus. The
verb erit is understood.
113. Stygii fratris. Pluto. See Geor. iii.
551.
ENEIS. LIB. X
501
Annuit, et totum nutu tremefecit Olympum
Hic finis fandi. Solio tum Jupiter aureo
Surgit, cœlicolæ medium quem ad limina ducunt.
Intereà Rutuli portis circùm omnibus instant
Sternere cæde viros, et mœnia cingere flammis.
At legio Æneadûm vallis obsessa tenetur;
Nec spes ulla fugæ.
ulla fugæ. Miseri stant turribus altis
Nequicquam, et rarâ muros cinxêre coronâ.
Asius Imbrasides, Hicetaoniusque Thymates,
Assaracique duo, et senior cum Castore Tymbris,
Prima acies: hos germani Sarpedonis ambo,
Et clarus, et Hæmon, Lyciâ comitantur ab altâ.
Fert ingens toto connixus corpore saxum,
Haud partem exiguam montis, Lyrnessius Acmon,
Nec Clytio genitore minor, nec fratre Mnestheo.
Hi jaculis, illi certant defendere saxis ;
Molirique ignem, nervoque aptare sagittas.
Ipse inter medios, Veneris justissima cura,
Dardanius caprt ecce puer detectus honestum,
Qualis gemma, micat, fulvum quæ dividit aurum,
Aut collo decus, aut capiti: vel quale per artem
Inclusum buxo, aut Oriciâ terebintho
Lucet ebur. Fusos cervix cui lactea crines
Accipit, et molli subnectit circulus auro.
Te quoque magnanimæ viderunt, Ismare, gentes
Vulnera dirigere, et calamos armare veneno,
Mæoniâ generose domo: ubi pinguia culta
Exercentque viri, Pactolusque irrigat auro.
Affuit et Mnestheus, quem pulsi pristina Turni
Aggere murorum sublimem gloria tollit;
Et Capys: hinc nomen Campanæ ducitur urbi.
NOTES.
115. Annuit: he ratified or confirmed it.
117. Calicola medium, &c. This alludes
This alludes
to the Roman custom of conducting the
consul from the senate house to his own
dwelling, or apartment.
120. Legio Eneadûm: simply the Tro-
jans. The Trojans were called Eneada,
from Eneas their leader.
122. Cinxêre muros: they defend the walls
with thin ranks. Ruæus says, exiguo nu-
mero.
128. Lyrnessins: an adj. from Lyrnessum
a city of Phrygia, near the Sinus Adramyt-
tenus.
130. Hi-illi. Davidson renders these:
some-others. Valpy refers the hi to the
Rutulians who were assaulting the ram-
parts; and the illi to the Trojans who were
defending them. But when these pronouns
refer to separate members of the sentence,
ille refers to the one first mentioned or more
remote; and hic to the latter, or last men-
tioned.
131. Molirique ignem: to throw flames.
115
120
125
130
135
140
125. Hi sunt prima
acies
128. Lyrnessivs Ac-
mon, nec minor Clytio
genitore, nec fratre
Mnestheo, fert
130. Hi certant de-
fendere urbem jaculis;
illi certant defendere eam
saxis
132. Ecce Dardanius
puer ipse, justissima
cura Veneris, detectus
quoad honestum caput,
inter medios, micat, qua-
lis gemma
135. Vel quale ebur
lucet per artem
141. Pinguia culta
arva
143. Quem pristina
gloria Turni pulsi ag-
145 gere
136. Terebintho: the terebinthus, or tur-
pentine tree.
pentine tree. Its wood bears a resemblance
to ebony. Oricia: an adj. from Oricum, a
town of Macedonia in the confines of Epi-
rus, where those trees abounded.
140. Armare: in the sense of ungere.
Calamos: darts, or missive weapons in ge-
neral. Generose: voc. agreeing with Ismare ·
nobly descended from a Lydian family.
142. Pactolus irrigat: Pactolus waters
them with its gold-golden stream. This
was a small river, on whose banks stood the
famous city Sardes, the capital of Lydia.
Here Cræsus held his court. It empties into
the Hermus, one of the largest rivers of
Asia Minor, and with it flows into the sea
near the city of Ephesus. They were both
celebrated for their golden sands. The poet
here supposes the water of the Pactolus to
be of a golden hue.
145. Campana urbi. Capua, the capital of
Campania. Here Hannibal took up dis
winter quarters. But the luxury and dissi-
pation of the place, proved the ruin of lus
affairs in Italy.
502
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
148. Namque ut pri-
mùm digressus ab Evan-
dro, et ingressus
150. Edocet quidve
157. Tenet prima loca,
subjuncta quoad Phry-
gios leones rostro.
162. Jam quærit iter
opaca noctis; jam quæ
dura Eneas passus est
Illi inter sese duri certamina belli
Contulerant: media Eneas freta nocte secabat.
Namque ut ab Evandro castris ingressus Etruscis
Regem adit, et regi memorat nomenque genusque ;
Quidve petat, quidve ipse ferat; Mezentius arma
Quæ sibi conciliet, violentaque pectora Turni
Edocet; humanis quæ sit fiducia rebus
150
155
1C0
Admonet, immiscetque preces. Haud fit mora: Tarchon
Jungit opes, fœdusque ferit. Tum libera fatis,
Classem conscendit jussis gens Lydia Divûm,
Externo commissa duci. Eneïa puppis
Prima tenet, rostro Phrygios subjuncta leones:
Imminet Ida super, profugis gratissima Teucris.
Hic magnus sedet Æneas, secumque volutat
Eventus belli varios: Pallasque sinistro
Affixus lateri, jam quærit sidera, opacæ
Noctis iter; jam quæ passus terrâque marique.
Pandite nunc Helicona, Deæ, cantusque movete
Quæ manus intereà Tuscis comitetur ab oris
Ænean, armetque rates, pelagoque vehatur.
Massicus æratâ princeps secat æquora Tigri :
167. Sub quo erat Sub quo mille manus juvenum; qui mœnia Clusî,
Quique urbem liquêre Cosas queis tela, sagittæ,
Corytique leves humeris, et letifer arcus.
Abas Unà torvus Abas: huic totum insignibus armis
erat unà cum illo: huic Agmen, et aurato fulgebat Apolline puppis.
totum agmen fulgebat Sexcentos illi dederat Populonia mater
Expertos belli juvenes: ast Ilva trecentos,
manus mille
170. Torvus
NOTES.
147. Freta: the waters of the Tiber. Con-
tulerant: they had joined engaged in. Inter
sese: the two armies.
149. Regem in the sense of ducem vel
imperatorem: the commander, or chief offi-
This was Tarchon.
cer.
Con-
150. Ferat: in the sense of efferat.
151. Pectora: the mind or temper.
ciliet procures-gains over to his interest.
This alludes to a supposed alliance with
Turnus and the Rutulians.
154. Opes troops-means of carrying
on the war-power. Ferit: in the sense of
sancit.
155. Lydia gens: after the expulsion of
Mezentius, the Tuscans were forbidden by
the fates to make themselves a king, unless
he were a foreigner; or to march against
him, unless under the command of a fo-
reign general. They are free from this
restraint, now that Æneas had arrived,
and are at liberty to enter under his
banner. The Tuscans were originally a
colony from Lydia. Hence they are called
Lydia gens. It is most likely, they had a
Acet already prepared for an expedition.
For in the short time Eneas was with them,
they could not have built or even equipped
one.
:
165
170
157. Subjuncta. The ship of Æneas had
Phrygian lions yoked together, and placed
under its prow or beak for its ensign. The
lion was sacred to Cybele, who presided
over Phrygia, and particularly over mount
Ida, of whose pines Eneas had built his
fleet.
158. Ida: the name of one of the galleys,
commanded by Æneas in person. Super im-
minet: rises-towers above the rest.
161. Quærit: inquires concerning, &c.
165. Pelago: in the sense of fluvio.
167. Clusi. Clusium was a city of Tus-
cany. Hodie, Chiusi.
168. Cosas: the acc. plu. of Cosæ or Cosa,
a maritime tow of Tuscany, near the pro-
montory Argenturium. Cosas is put in ap-
position with urbem. Queis: whose wea-
pons were arrows, &c. Queis: in the sense
of quorum.
169. Coryli. Corytus is a word originally
Greek, of the same import with pharetra, a
quiver.
172. Populonia: an adj. from Populoni
um, a city on the promontory of that name
It is called mater, in the sense that Italia is
called parens. Populonia mater: simply,
the city Populonium.
173. Ilva: an island to the south of Popu
ENEIS. LIB. X.
503
175
Insula inexhaustis Chalybum generosa metallis
Tertius, ille hominum Divumque interpres Asylas,
Cui pecudum fibræ, cœli cui sidera parent,
Et linguæ volucrum, et præsagi fulminis ignes:
Mille rapit densos acie, atque horrentibus hastis.
Hos parere jubent Alpheæ ab origine Pisæ,
Urbs Etrusca solo. Sequitur pulcherrimus Astur, 180
Astur equo fidens et versicoloribus armis.
Ter centum adjiciunt, mens omnibus una sequendi,
Qui Cærete domo, qui sunt Minionis in arvis ;
Et Pyrgi veteres, intempestaque Graviscæ.
Non ego te, Ligurum ductor fortissime bello,
Transierim, Cinyra; et paucis comitate, Cupavo,
Cujus olorinæ surgunt de vertice pennæ.
Crimen amor vestrum, formæque insigne paternæ.
NOTES.
tonium. Hodie, Elba. It abounded in iron
mines (metallis) according to Strabo. Vir-
gil here calls them inexhaustible. This
island sent three hundred men. Generosa :
abounding in. Ruæus interprets it by in-
clyta. Expertos: expert-skilful.
177. Ignes: the dashes of the ominous
lightning.
173. Densos: in the sense of confertos.
Milites is understood.
179. Pisa, urbs Etrusca solo: Pisa, a city,
Tuscan in its situation, Alphean in its ori-
gin, orders these troops to obey Asylas.
This city stood on the western bank of the
river Arnus, in Tuscany. It was supposed
to have been founded by a colony from the
Peloponnesus. Hence called Alphea, from
Alpheus, a river of that country, on whose
banks stood the famous city Olympia Pisa.
Solo in the sense of situ.
183. Cærete domo: from the city Care.
It was subject to Mezentius. Hodie, Cerve-
teri. Minionis. Minio was the name of a
river.
Hodie, Mugnone.
184. Pyrgi. These people inhabited a
maritimo town, not far from Cære, or Cære-
tanæ. It has long since been destroyed.
Gravisca: the name of a town on the sea-
coast, unwholesome on account of the fens
or marshes in the neighborhood. It took its
name from gravitas aëris. All these differ-
ent cities, with one mind, enter the war.
185. Ligurum: the gen. of Ligures, the
inhabitants of Liguria, an extensive country
of Italy; a part of which is now the terri-
tory of Genoa.
186. Cinyra-Cupavo. This passage is
obscure and difficult. It has divided the
opinions of commentators. Phaëton, the
son of Phoebus and Clymene, desired of his
father the government of his chariot for one
day; which with difficulty was granted him.
The youth being unable to guide the fiery
steeds, they turned from their diurnal track,
and came so near the earth that it began to
185
175. Tertius erat ille
Asylas interpres
178. Ille rapit mille
viros densos acie
183. Qui sunt ex do-
mo Cærete, qui sunt in
arvis Minionis
186. Et te, O Cupavo.
comitate paucis militi
bus
burn. He was thrown headlong into the
Po. His sisters sought him every where.
At length, finding his tomb on the banks of
that river, they pined away with grief at
the fate of their brother, and were trans-
formed either into alder or poplar trees.
See Ovid. Met. 2. Cinyra, king of the Li-
gures, was a near relation of Phaeton, and,
grieving immoderately at his misfortune,
was changed into a Cycnus, or swan. Dr
Trapp takes Cinyra and Cupavo to have
been brothers, the sons of him who was
transformed into a swan. In this case, the
application of vestrum is easy and proper.
But to apply it to Cupavo alone, as most
commentators do, is not so proper. He sup-
poses their crime to have been the honoring
of their father too much, by bearing his
metamorphosed figure (the swan) engraven
upon their shields, and his feathers on their
helmets. Their love amounted to a crime,
because it was for one whom the gods had
punished for an offence committed against
them, in his immoderate grief for Phaëton.
Ruæus thinks vestrum crimen, to be the crime
of the family in general, who, by their im-
moderate grief for Phaeton, offended the
gods, and were many of them changed into
other forms. It may be objected to the in-
terpretation of Dr. Trapp, that filius is after-
ward used in the singular number. But he
observes, though they were brothers, the
oldest might be mentioned by way of dis-
tinction and eminence. Davidson reads,
Cycnus. See Ecl. vi. 62. and Æn. v. 105.
Heyne conjectures there is here an interpo-
lation. He differs from commentators in
general in the interpretation of verse 186.
He connects Cinyra with Cupavo in the
same member of the sentence. Non transi-
erim te, Cupavo, comitate à Cinyra, et paucis
aliis, is his ordo of construction.
188. Amor crimen : Rumus says, amor est
crimen vestræ familiæ, et insigne petitum “z
transformatione patris
504
P VIRGILII MARONIS
Namque ferunt, luctu Cycnum Phaëtontis amati,
190. Dum canit inter Populeas inter frondes umbramque sororum
populeas frondes
•
Dum canit, et mæstum musâ solatur amorem ;
Canentem molli plumâ duxisse senectam,
Linquentem terras, et sidera voce sequentem.
Filius, æquales comitatus classe catervas,
195. Ille Centaurus Ingentem remis Centaurum promovet: ille
instat
190
195
Instat aquæ, saxumque undis immane minatur
Arduus, et longâ sulcat maria alta carinâ.
Ille etiam patriis agmen ciet Ocnus ab oris,
Fatidicæ Mantûs et Tusci filius amnis,
Qui muros, matrisque dedit tibi, Mantua, nomen,
200
201. Sed non est unum Mantua, dives avis, sed non genus omnibus unum.
genus omnibus. Illi gens Gens illi triplex, populi sub gente quaterni;
est triplex in origine:
sunt quaterni populi sub Ipsa caput populis; Tusco de sanguine vires.
gente: Mantua ipsa est Hinc quoque quingentos in se Mezentius armat,
caput populis: ejus vires Quos, patre Benaco, velatus arundine glaucâ,
Mincius infestâ ducebat in æquora pinu.
sunt de
205. Quos Mincius
oriens ex patre Benaco,
velatus.
It gravis Auletes, centenâque arbore fluctum
Verberat assurgens: spumant vada marmore verso.
Hunc vehit immanis Triton, et cœrula conchâ
NOTES.
190. Umbram sororum: the shade of his
sisters-the shade of the trees, into which
his sisters were transformed.
191. Musô: with music, or song.
192. Canentem: growing white, or being
eloathed, with the downy plumes of the
swan, passed out his old age, &c.
195. Centaurum. The name of the ship
was the Centaur, so called from having a
Centaur painted, or carved upon the stem,
holding a huge stone in his hand, with which
he seemed to threaten the waves. The Cen-
tauri were fabled to be monsters, half man
and half horse. See Geor. ii. 456. Pro-
movet in the sense of impellit.
198. Ocnus. He was not the founder of
Mantua; but rather the fortifier and enlarg-
er.
The same as Bianor. See Ecl. ix. 60.
He gave it the name of Mantua, from Manto,
ne name of his mothe Manto: gen. Man-
tûs, the name of a nymph. Hence the epi-
thet fatidica: prophetic. Ciet: in the sense
of movet vel ducit.
201. Sed non genus, &c. It appears that
the inhabitants of the Mantuan territory
were not of one common origin. We are
told they were partly from Tuscia or Etru-
ria, partly from Venetia, and partly from
Gallia. This explains gens illi triplex: im-
plying that the population consisted of people
from those three nations. The whole terri-
tory was divided into four cities, districts
or communities: populi sub gente quaterni.
Each of which had its Lucomon, or petty
king. Of these four, Mantua was the prin-
cipal or chief city, ipsa caput populis. This
territory was a part of Etruria, which was
205
divided into twelve lucommonies, or regal-
ities. Gens: in the sense of natio. Genus:
lineage-descent.
203. Vires de Tusco, &c. By this we are
to understand that the Tuscan part of the
Mantuan population was the greatest.
He furnishes a just cause for their rising in
204. Armat in se: Mezentius arms, &c.
arms against him.
205. Patre Benaco. The Benacus is a
lake in the territory of Verona. Hodie, La-
go
di Garda. The river Mincius rises out
of it. Hence the epithet patre is added to
Benacus.
206. Mincius: here the god of the river
Mincius. He is represented as moving down
his stream in hostile ships to join in the war
against Mezentius. Hence the epithet patre,
which is common to all the deities. It is
here given to the lake Benacus, out of which
the river Mincius rises. Velatus: in the
sense of coronatus, says Ruæus. Pinu in-
festa. Ruæus says, navibus inimicis Mezen-
tio.
Pinus, by meton. for navis vel naves.
207. Centena arbore: with an hundred
oars. The oar is here called arbor, to de-
note its size and magnitude. Marmore ver-
so: the surface being upturned. Vada, here,
is plainly put for the water of the Tiber;
for, on this river, the fleet of Eneas was
equipped. It: in the sense of ducit. Au-
letes was the commander of these troops.
209. Triton. He was the trumpeter of
Neptune, and used a shell instead of a trum-
pet. His upper part was represented as a
man, his lower part as a fish. Here the name
ÆNEIS. LIB. X.
505
Exterrens freta: cui laterum tenùs hispida nanti
Frons hominem præfert, in pristin desinit alvus
Spumea semitero sub pectore murmurat unda
Tot lecti proceres ter denis navibus ibant
Subsidio Trojæ, et campos salis ære secabant.
Jamque dies cœlo concesserat, almaque curru
Noctivago Phoebe medium pulsabat Olympum.
Eneas (neque enim membris dat cura quietem)
Ipse sedens clavumque regit, velisque ministrat.
Atque illi medio in spatio, chorus ecce suarum
Occurrit comitum, Nymphæ, quas alma Cybele
Numen habere maris, Nymphasque è navibus esse
Jusserat innabant pariter, fluctusque secabant,
Quot priùs æratæ steterant ad litora proræ.
Agnoscunt longè regem, lustrantque choreis.
Quarum, quæ fandi doctissima, Cymodocea,
Ponè sequens, dextrâ puppim tenet: ipsaque dorso
Eminet, ac lævâ tacitis subremigat undis.
Tum sic ignarum alloquitur: Vigilasne, Deûm gens,
Enea? vigila, et velis immitte rudentes.
Nos sumus Idææ sacro de vertice pinus,
Nunc pelagi Nymphæ, classis tua.
Perfidus ut nos
210
210. Cui Tritoni nanti
hispida frons præfert
215
hominem tenùs
219. Ecce chorus sua-
220 rum comitum occurrit
illi, nempe Nymph,
quas
225
230
225. Quarum Cymo.
docea, quæ est doctissi-
ma fandi
228. Tum alloquitur
eum ignarum harum re-
rum sic
231. Olim tua classi8
Præcipites ferro Rutulus flammâque premebat:
Rupimus invitæ tua vincula, teque per æquor
Quærimus. Hanc genitrix faciem miserata refecit,
Et dedit esse Deas, ævumque agitare sub undis.
At puer Ascanius muro fossisque tenetur
235
235. Dedit nos esse
Deas maris
Tela inter media, atque horrentes Marte Latinos.
Jam loca jussa tenet forti permixtus Etrusco
Medias illis opponere turmas,
Arcas eques.
Ne castris jungant, certa est sententia Turno.
NOTES.
240
of a ship; or the figure prefixed to the stern,
like the Centaur above mentioned.
210. Tenus laterum: down to the waist.
214. Ere: with their brazen prows. Es
signifies any thing made of brass.
215. Concesserat: had given way-yield-
ed to the night. Nocti is understood.
216. Pulsabat : arrived at-touched. Ru-
æus says, attingebat. Olympum: for cælum.
Phœbe: the moon.
221. Habere numen maris: to have divi-
nity of the sea-to become nymphs of the
sea.
224 Lustrant: in the sense of circum-
eunt.
227. Eminet dorso: she rises above the
surface of the water with her back. Subre-
migal: she swims-rows herself along, &c.
228. Gens: in the sense of soboles.
229. Immitte rudentes velis: give the sheets
to the sails-spread the sails to the full
length of the halsers or sheets.
230. Fertice: in the sense of monte.
232. Præcipites: in the sense of pericht
fantes
234. Refecit: in the sense of mutavit
changed us into this form. Genitrix: Cy
bele, the mother of the gods.
237. Horrentes: Rumus says, feroces. Mar
te: in the sense of bello.
238. Permixtus: in the sense of junctus
Etrusco: the singular for the plu. : the va
liant Tuscans.
239. Arcas eques: the Arcadian horse.
These were the cavalry furnished by Evan-
der. It is most probable that Æneas gave
direction to the Arcadians and Tuscans, his
allies, to repair to some particular place by
land, while he went with the fleet by water;
although no such place is mentioned by the
poet. Turnus being informed of what was
going on in Tuscany, and that Æneas was
coming on with reinforcements, like a skill-
ful general, resolves to intercept them, to
attack them on the way, and prevent them
from forming a junction with the Trojans
in the camp, whom he was then blockading.
240. Jungant: joir themselves to the
camp-to the troops in the camp. The
pron. sese is understood
06
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Surge, age, et Aurorâ socios veniente vocari
Primus in arma jube; et clypeum cape, quem dedit ipse
Invictum Ignipotens, atque oras ambiit auro.
Crastina lux, mea si non irrita dicta putâris,
Ingentes Rutulæ spectabit cædis acervos.
Dixerat: et dextrâ discedens impulit altam,
245
247. Illa navis
250
Haud ignara modi, puppim. Fugit illa per undas,
Ocyor et jaculo et ventos æquante sagittâ.
Inde aliæ celerant cursus. Stupet inscius ipse
Tros Anchisiades; animos tamen omine tollit.
Tum breviter, supera aspectans convexa, precatur .
252. Idæa Cybele, alma Alma parens Idea Deûm, cui Dindyma cordi,
Turrigeræque urbes, bijugique ad fræna leones;
Tu mihi nunc pugnæ princeps; tu ritè propinques
Augurium, Phrygibusque adsis pede, Diva, secundo. 256
Tantum effatus: et intereà revoluta ruebat
Matura jam luce dies, noctemque fugârat.
Principio sociis edicit, signa sequantur,
parens Deorum, cui
Dindyma sunt cordi
253. Bijugique leones
dociles ad fræna ;
256. Æneas effatus est
hoc tantum.
Atque animos aptent armis, pugnæque parent se.
Jamque in conspectu Teucros habet et sua castra,
Stans celsâ in puppi. Clypeum tum deinde sinistrâ
Extulit ardentem. Clamorem ad sidera tollunt
Dardanidæ è muris. Spes addita suscitat iras.
Tela manu jaciunt. Quales sub nubibus atris
Strymoniæ dant signa grues, atque æthera tranant
Cum sonitu, fugiuntque Notos clamore secundo.
267. At ea cœperunt At Rutulo regi ducibusque ea mira videri
Ausoniis; donec versas ad litora puppes
Respiciunt, totumque allabi classibus æquor.
videri mira
270. Apex galea ardet Ardet apex capiti, cristisque à vertice flamma
capiti Æneæ
Funditur, et vastos umbo vomit aureus ignes.
Non secùs ac liquidâ si quando nocte cometa
NOTES.
242. Dedit: in the sense of reddidit.
243. Oras: the borders or edges of the
shield.
249. Atiæ celerant: the other nymphs ac-
celerate the motion of the other ships, as
Cymodocëa had done that of Æneas.
250. Tollit animos. Dr. Trapp under
stands this of Æneas taking courage him-
self. Davidson, of his encouraging his men.
"He raises the spirits of his troops."
251. Supera convexa: the high canopy of
heaven.
252. Dindyma: neu. plu. Dindymus, in
the sing. a mountain in Phrygia, so called
from its having two tops. Cordi: for a de-
light.
1
254. Propinques augurium: render the
amen propitious in due form. Ruæus says,
recundes omen benè præsens sis hoc augurio.
Here the verb propinquo, though properly
intransitive, becomes transitive, and has the
cc. after it. Of propinques augurium ritè,
Aeyne says, fac ostentum hoc ritè eventum
260
266
270
suum habere. La Cerda says, facias augu-
rium propitium. Valpy: "by your own
presence give effect to the augury.'
""
255. Phrygibus adsis: aid the Trojans
with thy propitious presence, pede secundo.
259. Aptent: fit-prepare. Rumus says,
excitent.
265. Grues dant, &c. This comparison is
taken from Homer. The cranes are called
Strymonian, from Strymon, a river of Ma-
cedonia, in the confines of Thrace, where
cranes abounded. Signa: signs or signals
of the approaching storm by their voices.
269. Totum æquor: the whole surface of
the water to be covered, &c. Rumus says,
appelli.
270. Apex ardet capiti. This description
of the armor of Eneas, is taken from Ho-
mer's description of that of Achilles.
271. Vomit: in the sense of emittit. Um
bo: the middle point of the shield, by synec.
taken for the whole shield.
272. Cometi Comets are planets irre
ENEIS. LIB. X.
507
Sanguinei lugubrè rubent; aut Sirius ardor;
Ille, sitim morbosque ferens mortalibus ægris,
Nascitur, et lævo contristat lumine cœlum.
IIaud tamen audaci Turno fiducia cessit
Litora præripere, et venientes pellere terrâ.
Ultrò animos tollit dictis, atque increpat ultrò :
Quod votis optâstis, adest, perfringere dextrâ :
In manibus Mars ipse, viri. Nunc conjugis esto
Quisque suæ tectique memor; nunc magna referto
Facta, patrum laudes. Ultrò occurramus ad undam,
Dum trepidi, egressisque labant vestigia prima.
Audentes fortuna juvat.
Hæc ait et secum versat, quos ducere contrà,
Vel quibus obsessos possit concredere muros.
Intereà Æncas socios de puppibus altis
Pontibus exponit. Multi servare recursus
Languentis pelagi, et brevibus se credere saltu;
Per remos alii. Speculatus litora Tarchon,
Quà vada non spirant, nec fracta remurmurat unda,
Sed mare inoffensum crescenti allabitur æstu,
Advertit subitò proras, sociosque precatur:
Nunc, ô lecta manus, validis incumbite remis:
Tollite, ferte rates: inimicam findite rostris
NOTES.
gular in their motions, moving in very ec-
centric orbits. Sometimes they approach
very near the sun; when they have a pro-
jection, or tail, which has a fiery or luminous
appearance. This is always directly oppo-
site the sun as seen from the comet, and is,
most probably, its dense atmosphere, illumi-
nated by the sun, and propelled by the force
of the rays of light issuing from the sun.
They were formerly considered ominous,
portending disaster to men. The word is
derived from the Greek. Liquida: a clear
night.
273. Rubent lugubrè: blaze frightfully-
oalefully that is, portending disaster to the
world. Sanguinei: fiery-red. Sirius ar-
dor: the star Sirius. It is sometimes called
the dog-star, from the circumstance of its
being in the sign Canis, or the dog. Sirius
is here used as an adjective. It is a star of
the first magnitude.
275. Lavo: inauspicious.
277. Præripere: in the sense of anteca-
pere. It was the plan of Turnus to take
possession of the shore, and, if possible, to
prevent the landing of the troops. By do-
ing this, he would have an advantage over
thein.
278. Increpat. This Ruæus interprets by
adhortatur. “Ultrò animos. This line is not
found in several ancient MSS. Heyne
marks it as an interpolation. Ultrò, here,
implies that Turnus, immediately on seeing
the enemy advance to the shore, addressed
his men, and animated them to the contest.
275
280
285
290
295
278. Ultrò tollit ani
mos suorum his dictis
279. Adest vobis per
fringere hostem dextrâ.
quod
283. Dum sunt trepidi
primaque vestigia labant
iis egressis aquâ.
285. Quos possit du-
cere contra Ænean, vel
quibus
290. Alii exponunt se
"per remos.
The address is short, but it bespeaks the soi
dier and the commander.
Servius says
279. Perfringere dextrâ.
this is a military phrase, and imports facere
fortiter. Adest: it is arrived-the time is
come. Tempus
come. Tempus is understood.
280. Mars ipse: the battle is in your,
power, O men.
281. Nunc referto: now let each one imi-
tate-call to his memory.
Ruæus says.
memoret.
282. Laudes: the glory of his ancestors.
Davidson reads, laudesque. Others omit the
que.
284. Audentes: the bold-courageous.
285. Versat: in the sense of volvit.
The one
288. Multi servare: many began to ob-
serve the retreat of the ebbing sea, &c.
The landing or debarkation of the troope
was effected in three divisions.
under Æneas landed on bridges thrown from
the ships upon the shore. Another sought
flats and shallows, which might be overflowu
when the tide was full, and bare at the ebb
They leap out upon these, and, by the help
of oars, get to the shore. The division un-
der Tarchon sought an open and smooth
shore, where the waves flowed on without
meeting with an impediment or obstacle;
and where landing would be less dangerous.
The verb cœperunt is understood.
289. Languentis: ebbing-fallir g.
291. Spirant. This is the reading of
Heyne. The common reading is sperat.
Qua vada: where the bottom or shallows
508
P. VARGILII MARONIS
Hanc terram, sulcumque sibi premat ipsa carina.
Frangere nec tali puppim statione recuso,
Arreptâ tellure semel. Quæ talia postquam
299. Socii cœperunt Effatus Tarchon, socii consurgere tonsis,
consurgere tonsis
non erat innocua
309. Totam aciem suo-
rum, et sistit eos in litore
contrà Æneam.
Spumantesque rates arvis inferre-Latinis,
Donec rostra tenent siccum; et sedêre carinæ
302. Sed tua puppis Omnes innocuæ ; sed non puppis tua, Tarchon.
Namque inflicta vadis dorso dum pendet iniquo,
Anceps sustentata diu, fluctusque fatigat,
Solvitur, atque viros mediis exponit in undis :
Fragmina remorum quos et fluitantia transtra
Impediunt, retrahitque pedes simul unda relabens
Nec Turnum segnis retinet mora; sed rapit acer
Totam aciem in Teucros, et contrà in litore sistit.
Signa canunt. Primus turmas invasit agrestes
317. Nec longè hinc
dejecit leto
Æneas, omen pugnæ: stravitque Latinos,
319. Arma Herculis Occiso Therone; virûm qui maximus ultrò
juvêre illos nihil; suæ Æneam petit. Huic, gladio perque ærea suta,
validæ manus, genitor- Per tunicam squalentem auro, latus haurit apertum.
que Melampus, comes Inde Lycam ferit, exsectum jam matre peremptâ,
Alcidæ usque dum terra
præbuit graves labores Et tibi, Phoebe, sacrum; casus evadere ferri
illi, juvêre eos nil. Quòd licuit parvo. Nec longè Cissea durum,
323. Sistit illud in ore Immanemque Gyam, sternentes agmina clavâ,
ejus clamantis. Tu quo- Dejecit leto. Nihil illos Herculis arma,
que, O infelix Cydon, Nil validæ juvêre manus, genitorque Melampus,
dum sequeris Clytium,
tua nova gaudia, fla- Alcidæ comes usque, graves dum terra labores
ventem quoad malas Præbuit.
Ecce Pharo, voces dum jactat inertes,
prima lanuginê, mise- Intorquens jaculum, clamantis sistit in ore.
rande juvenis, jaceres
stratus Dardania dextrâ, Dum sequeris Clytium infelix, nova gaudia, Cydon,
Tu quoque, flaventem primâ lanugine malas
securus amorum juve-
num, qui semper erant Dardaniâ stratus dextrâ, Securus amorum,
Qui juvenum tibi semper erant, miserande, jaceres ;
*chari tibi; ni
NOTES.
were not rough. Spirant: in the sense of
æstuant.
292. Inoffensum: smooth-unobstructed.
Nec fracta: not broken-dashed against any
obstruction.
296. Premat: in the sense of aperiat.
299. Tonsis: properly, the blade; by sy-
nec. the whole oar. Remis, says Ruæus.
301. Siccum: locum is understood.
302. Innocua: safe. Ruæus says, illæse.
303. Iniquo dorso: an uneven or broken
bank of sand.
304. Sustentata diu anceps: continuing
a long time in that dangerous situation.
Fatigatque fluctus. Servius explains this by
fluctus fatigat navem; taking fluctus for the
noin. But it is easier, and more poetical
to say:
"the ship tires the waves." They
beat and dash against it so long, that they
may be said poetically and elegantly to be
tired or wearied out. Valpy says, "buffets
the waves."
310. Canunt signa: they sound the signal
for the fight, Canunt: in the sense of so-
nant.
300
305
310
315
320
326
311. Omen: in the sense of initium vel
faustum auspicium.
313. Suta: part. pass. of the verb suo
taken as a sub. the seams or folds of the
shield-the shield itself. Erea suta: the
brazen shield. Some copies have scuta.
314. Haurit: in the sense cá transfigit.
Huic in the sense of hujus.
his mother, when dead.
315. Exsectum: cut out, or extracted from
316. Ferri. Ferrum here is the instru
ment with which his mother was opened.
Casus: the danger of that instrument upon
the body of the infant. Parvo: to him a
child, or rather infant.
320. Nil. Heyne reads nec.
mon reading is nil.
The com-
324. Flaventem: yellow as to his cheek.
with the first down. His beard had just
begun to grow.
325. Nova gaudia: in the sense of novum
amicum. Heyne says, delicias. Is qui amatur,
326. Securus amorum: regardless of the
love of the youths &c. because dead.
ENEIS. LIB X.
509
330
335
331. Alma Venus de-
flexit partim tantùm
stringentia corpusÆneæ.
340
339. Protinùs altera
hasta missa,
lacerto
Ni fratrum stipata cohors foret obvia, Phorci
Progenies; septem numero, septenaque tela
Conjiciunt: partim galeâ clypeoque resultant
Irrita; deflexit partim stringentia corpus
Alma Venus. Fidum Æneas affatur Achaten
Suggere tela mihi; non ullum dextera frustrà
Torserit in Rutulos; steterunt quæ in corpore Graiûm
Iliacis campis. Tum magnam corripit hastam,
Et jacit. Illa volans clypei transverberat æra
Mæonis, et thoraca simul cum pectore rumpit.
Huic. frater subit Alcanor, fratremque ruentem
Sustentat dextrâ : trajecto missa lacerto
Protinùs hasta fugit, servatque cruenta tenorem ;
Dexteraque ex humero nervis moribunda pependit.
Tum Numitor, jaculo fratris de corpore rapto,
Æneam petiit: sed non et figere contrà
Est licitum, magnique femur perstrinxit Achatæ.
Hic Curibus, fidens primævo corpore, Clausus
Advenit, et rigidâ Dryopen ferit eminùs hastâ
Sub mentum graviter pressâ, pariterque loquenti
Vocem animamque rapit, trajecto gutture: at ille
Fronte ferit terram, et crassum vomit ore cruorem.
Tres quoque Threïcios, Boreæ de gente supremâ;
Et tres, quos Idas pater, et patria Ismara mittit,
Per varios sternit casus. Occurrit Halæsus,
Auruncæque manus: subit et Neptunia proles,
NOTES.
330. Partim:, a noun partitive: some of
them. Resultant: in the sense of resiliunt.
331. Deflexit: turns aside, so that they
just touched his body.
333. Suggere: give to me the darts, &c.
339. Hasta protinùs missa. It is generally
thought by commentators that the same
spear which killed Mæon, also wounded
Alcanor in the arm. But it is difficult to
conceive that a javelin, after it had passed
through a shield of brass and a breast plate,
should retain so much force as to pass
through the body of a man, and in its
course wound another person in the arm;
and, after this, that it should continue its
way some distance. Some conjecture they
were different weapons: and for this there
is considerable ground of probability. Those
who think there was only one spear, rely
much upon the word protinùs, which they
say, means, strait-way-right forward; but
it also means, forthwith-immediately. Be-
side, Alcanor did not seize his brother till he
was in the act of falling, and the dart, con-
sequently, done its execution, and passed
from the body on its way. Granting that
strait-way is the proper meaning of protinus
in this place, may it not refer to the quick-
ness of Æneas in repeating his throws, as
well as to the motion of the dart? After
all, the supposition of there being two darts,
345
Alcanoris trajecto, fugit
350
350. Per varios casus
sternit tres Threicios
quoque, de suprema
makes the sense easier, and does no violence
to the words.
After Æneas had killed Moon, observing
his brother in the act of supporting him, and
bearing him off, immediately, so that there
seemed to be no interval between the two
darts, hurled one at him which passed
through his shoulder; and, bloody from the
wound it had inflicted, continued on its
course for some distance.
course for some distance. This is the opi-
nion of Heyne. He says, hasta alia missa
ab Ænea.
343. Contrà: in the sense of vicissim.
345. Curibus: from Cures. This was a
city of the Sabines. Of this city was Clau-
sus, who commanded the Sabine troops.
See Æn. vii. 707.
347. Pressâ graviter: driven with violence
under his chin. Pressa agrees with hasta.
Pariter: in the sense of simul.
350. Borea. Boreas, properly, the north
wind, fabled to have been the son of the
river Strymon in Macedonia, or rather of
the god of the river Strymon. Suprema
in the sense of altâ vel sublimi. Some take
it in the sense of extrema, remote: meaning,
they were a remote or distant nation of the
earth.
351. Ismara: a city of Thrace, not fa
from mount Ismarus, according to Servius
352. Casus: in the sense of modos.
510
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
354. Nunc hi, nunc Insignis Messapus equis. Expellere tendunt
illi tendunt expellere alii Nunc hi, nunc illi. Certatur limine in ipso
Ausoniæ. Magno discordes æthere venti
Prælia ceu tollunt, animis et viribus æquis:
alios è loco.
358. Ipsi venti non in- Non ipsi inter se, non nubila, non mare, cedunt:
ter se, non nubila, non Anceps pugna diu, stànt obnixa omnia contrà
mare, cedunt
364. Ut primùm Pal-
las vidit Arcadas, insue-
tos
Haud aliter Trojanæ acies, aciesque Latinæ
Concurrunt hæret pede pes, densusque viro vir.
At parte ex aliâ, quâ saxa rotantia latè
Impulerat torrens, arbustaque diruta ripis,
Arcadas, insuetos acies inferre pedestres,
Ut vidit Pallas Latio dare terga sequaci :
Aspera queis natura loci dimittere quando
Suasit equos; unum quod rebus restat egenis ;
368. Ille accendit vir- Nunc prece, nunc dictis virtutem accendit amaris;
tutem suorum, nunc Quò fugitis socii? per vos, et fortia facta,
prece, nunc amaris dic- Per ducis Evandri nomen, devictaque bella,
tis; quod unum
369. Oro, per vos, et Spemque meam, patriæ quæ nunc subit æmula laudis,
Fidite ne pedibus. Ferro rumpenda per hostes
Est via, quâ globus ille virûm densissimus urget:
fortia facta
356
360
235
370
374. Hâc parte alta Hâc vos, et Pallanta ducem patria alta reposcit
patria reposcit.
Numina nulla premunt; mortali urgemur ab hoste 375
375. Nos mortales ur- Mortales; totidem nobis animæque manusque.
gemur ab mortali hoste;
sunt nobis totidem ani- Ecce, maris magno claudit nos objice pontus:
mæque manusque, quot Deest jam terra fugæ : pelagus, Trojamne petemus
Hæc ait: et medius densos prorumpit in hostes.
Obvius huic primùm, fatis adductus iniquis,
Fit Lagus hunc, magno vellit dum pondere saxum,
sunt illis.
NOTES.
354. Messapus. See Æn. vii. 691. He
is there called domitor equûm, because the
horse was sacred to Neptune, his reputed fa-
ther. Hence he is called, Neptunia proles.
358. Cedunt. The common reading is
cedit in the sing. Heyne reads cedunt, which
is preferable.
359. Obnixa. Some copies have obnixi.
But Pierius informs us that he found obnixa
in all the ancient manuscripts which he ex-
amined. It makes the sense easier, and is
probably the correct reading. All things
stand struggling against one another: venti
ventis, nubes nubibus, mare mari. Heyne
reads, obnixa. Valpy has obnixi.
363. Arbusta: in the sense of arbores.
364. Inferre pedestres acies: to sustain a
fight on foot: simply, to fight on foot.
A part of the field of battle was rough
and uneven ground, occasioned by the floods
of the Tiber, or some torrent from the hills.
Here the Arcadians chanced to fall, and
being cavalry, they could not use their
horses, and were obliged to dismount, and
oppose the Latins on foot. But being un-
accustomed to this mode of fight, they were
soon thrown into confusion, and were fleeing
before the enemy. In this critical state of
affairs, Pallas hastened along the ranks, the
380
only thing that remained to be done, to rally
his men, and bring them up to the charge.
He puts them in mind that their only hope
of safety is in victory. He mentions their
valiant achievements, their battles won, the
name of their venerable monarch, &c. Up
on this occasion, Pallas manifested the in-
trepid cammander.
365. Latio: the country, put by meton
for the inhabitants. Sequaci: valiant-or
pursuing them in flight.
366. Dimillere: to dismount-to leave
their horses. Queis: to whom, to wit, the
Arcadians.
367. Suasit: in the sense of coëgit.
370. Ducis: in the sense of regis. Deve-
ta bella: your victorious wars. Ruæus says,
relatas victorias.
371. Subit: in the sense of surgit. Pa-
triæ laudis: my father's glory.
374. Reposcit: in the sense of vocat.
377. Maris: in the sense of aquæ.
378. Petemus. The meaning is: we must
either cast ourselves into the sea, and there
perish, or cut our way through the enemy to
the Trojan camp. Nothing else remains for
We have no place for flight.
us.
382. Discrimina costis: division-separa-
ÆNEIS. LIB. X.
511
Intorto figit telo, discrimina costis
Per medium quâ spina dedit: hastamque receptat
390
395
Ossibus hærentem. Quem non super occupat Hisbon,
Ille quidem hoc sperans: nam Pallas antè ruentem, 385
Dum furit, incautum, crudeli morte sodalis,
Excipit, atque ensem tumido in pulmone recondit.
Hinc Sthenelum petit, et Rhæti de gente vetustâ
Anchemolum, thalamos ausum incestare novercæ.
Vos etiam gemini, Rutulis cecidistis in arvis,
Daucia, Laride Thymberque, simillima proles,
Indiscreta suis, gratusque parentibus error :
At nunc dura dedit vobis discrimina Pallas.
Nam tibi, Thymbre, caput Evandrius abstulit ensis :
Te decisa suum, Laride, dextera quærit;
Semnianimesque micant digiti, ferrumque retractant.
Arcadas accensos monitu, et præclara tuentes
Facta viri, mixtus dolor et pudor armat in hostes.
Tum Pallas bijugis fugientem Rhotea præter
Trajicit. Hoc spatium, tantùmque moræ fuit Ilo.
llo namque procul validam direxerat hastam :
Quam medius Rhoteus intercipit, optime Teuthra,
Te fugiens, fratremque Tyren: curruque volutus
Credit semianimis Rutulorum calcibus arva.
Ac velut optatò, ventis æstate coortis,
Dispersa immittit sylvis incendia pastor :
Correptis subitò mediis, extenditur unà
Horrida per latos acies Vulcania campos :
Ille sedens victor flammas despectat ovantes.
Non aliter sociûm virtus coit omnis in unum,
Teque juvat, Palla. Sed bellis acer Halæsus
Tendit in adversos, seque in sua colligit arma.
NOTES.
tion-parting to the ribs. Ruæus says, di-
vortium costarum.
383. Receptat: in the sense of retrahit.
384. Occupat´in the sense of intercipit.
389. Anchemolum. He was the son of
Rhetus, king of the Marrubii, a people of
Italy. He had an amour with his step-mo-
ther Casperia. To escape the vengeance of
his father, he fled to Turnus.
391. Daucia proles simillima: these sons
of Daucus, Laridus, and Thymber, resem-
bled each other so exactly-were so much
alike, that they could not be distinguished
from each other even by their parents.
Gratus error: a pleasing error, or delusion.
393. Dura discrimina: cruel-fatal dis-
tinction. He singled those two brothers
from among the rest of the enemy, as the
particular objects of his vengeance.
394. Evandrius ensis: the sword of Pal-
las, the son of Evander. He cut off the
head of Thymber, and the right hand of
Laridus. This explains the following line:
ertera decisa: thy right hand cut off, seeks
nee its owner.
400
405
410
382. Figit hunc intorto
telo, quà spina dedit dis-
crimina costis per me-
dium dorsi, dum
384. Quem stantem
super Lagum
385. Nam Pallas ex-
cipit eum antè ruentem,
incantum, dum
390. Vos etiam gemini
fratres, Laride, Thym-
berque, cecidistis in Ru-
tulis arvis.
399. Fugientem præ
ter eum bijugis
400. Hoc fuit spatium
vitæ tantùmque moræ ad
mortem Ilo
407. Mediis sylvis sa-
bitò
412. In hostes adversos
396. Micant: in the sense of movent.
400. Hoc spatium, &c. The circumstance
of Rhoteus intercepting the dart aimed at
Ilus, which would have killed him, gave him
a short space or time of life, and was sc
much respite from death.
404. Cædit: in the sense of pulsat, vel ferit.
405. Optatò: to his wish.
406. Dispersa: scattered abroad.
408. Horrida Vulcania acies: the horrid
squadrons of fire, &c. This conveys a lively
idea of a devouring fire raging without con-
trol, and increasing its forces in its progress,
like an army pouring troops after troops.
Servius censures the poet in applying acies,
troops, or marshalled squadrons, to fire. The
expression, to be sure, is bold, but not incon-
gruous. The word in poetry is applied to
fire, spreading and raging, and destroying
every thing in its way, like a desplating
army. Vulcania: an adj. from Vulcanus,
the god of fire; by meton. fire itself.
409. Ovantes: exulting-victorious.
411. Acer: valiant-intrepid in war.
412. Colligit se: he stoops, and contracts
$12
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
426. At Lausus, in-
gens pars belli, non sinit
agmina perterrita esse
Hic mactat Ladona, Pheretaque, Demodocumque,
Strymonio dextram fulgenti diripit ense,
Elatam in jugulum: saxo ferit ora Thoantis,
Ossaque dispergit cerebro permixta cruento.
Fata canens sylvis genitor celârat Halæsum:
Ut senior leto canentia lumina solvit,
Injecêre manum Parcæ, telisque sacrârunt
Evandri: quem sic Pallas petit, antè precatus:
Da nunc, Tybri pater, ferro, quod missile libro,
Fortunam atque viam duri per pectus Halæsi :
Hæc arma exuviasque viri tua quercus habebit.
Audiit illa Deus: dum texit Imaona Halæsus,
Arcadio infelix telo dat pectus inermum.
At non, cæde viri tantâ perterrita, Lausus,
Pars ingens belli, sinit agmina. Primus Abantem
Oppositum interimit, pugnæ nodumque moramque
Sternitur Arcadiæ proles, sternuntur Etrusci :
430. Et vos, O Teu- Et vos, ô Graiis imperdita corpora, Teucri.
cri, quorum corpora erant Agmina concurrunt, ducibusque et viribus æquis
imperdita Graiis, cadi- Extremi addensent acies; nec turba moveri
tis.
434. Hinc Lausus in-
stat et urget contrà
435. Ambo erant egre-
gii formâ.
Tela manusque sinit. Hinc Pallas instat et urget;
Hinc contrà Lausus: nec multùm discrepat ætas ;
Egregii formâ; sed queis fortuna negârat
In patriam reditus. Ipsos concurrere passus
Haud tamen inter se magni regnator Olympi:
Mox illos sua fata manent majore sub hoste.
Intereà soror alma monet succurrere Lauso
NOTES.
himself behind the covert of his armor, par-
ticularly his shield.
413. Mactat: in the sense of interficit.
414. Strymonio: the dat. in the sense of
the gen.
He cut off the right hand of Stry-
monius, raised against his throat-raised
for the purpose of cutting the head from
Halosus. Diripit: in the sense of abscindit.
416. Dispergit in the sense of Diffindit.
417. Canens in the sense of prædicens,
agreeing with genitor. Fata: in the sense
of mortem ejus.
:
418. Ut solvit as soon as the old man
closed (loosed) his eyes in death, the fates,
&c. Rumus interprets canentia by senilia.
Heyne considers the words lumina canentia,
as referring to the gray hairs, eye brows,
and beard of the old man-to his appear-
ace in general, without a particular refer-
ence to the color of his eyes.
421. Libro: in the sense of mitto.
422. Duri: hardy-valiant.
425. Inermum: naked-unprotected by
his armor. Dat: in the sense of offert.
426. Tanta cædê piri. Most commenta-
tors take this for cæde tanti viri, by hypal-
lage at the slaughter or death of so great
a man; to wit, Halæsus. But it is easier,
and more natural to understand it of the
great slaughter, and havoc made by Pallas.
415
420
425
430
435
428. Nodum moramque: the strength, and
support of the fight. The words imply that
he, (Abas,) made a firm stand against the
enemy-that he was the life and soul of the
fight, and a principal obstacle to victory
Ruæus interprets nodum, by difficultatem.
430. Imperdita: not slain-destroyed. Re
ference is here made to the Trojan wai,
which proved fatal to so many Trojans.
432. Extremi, &c. The meaning appears
to be this: that the rear ranks pressed upon
the front, who were already engaged, that
they also might come into action. By this
means, the men became so close that they
could not move their hands, or wield their
weapons. Turba: the crowd.
433. Pallas-Lausus. One would natu-
rally suppose, that the poet would have
made these two young princes, so equally
matched in every respect, try the fortune of
the fight. But he well knew that it would
be more to their glory, to fall by the hand
of a superior foe, than to kill each other.
He makes a fine use of their deaths after-
ward. The former was slain by Turnus,
the latter by Æneas.
438. Fara: in the sense of mors.
439. Soror alma: the nymph Juturna, the
sister of Turnus. She was made a nymph
by Jove, who had an amour with her, as a
ENEIS. LIB. X
T'urnum, qui volucri curru medium secat agmen.
Ut vidit socios: Tempus desistere pugnæ;
Solus ego in Pallanta feror; soli mihi Pallas
Debetur cuperem, ipse parens spectator adesset.
Hæc ait: et socii cesserunt æquore jusso.
At Rutulûm abscessu, juvenis tum jussa superba
Miratus, stupet in Turno; corpusque per ingens
Lumina volvit, obitque truci procul omnia visu;
Talibus et dictis it contra dicta tyranni :
Aut spoliis ego jam raptis laudabor opimis,
Aut leto insigni: sorti pater æquus utrique est :
Tolle minas. Fatus medium procedit in æquor.
Frigidus Arcadibus coit in præcordia sanguis.
Desiluit Turnus bijugis, pedes apparat ire
Cominùs. Utque leo, speculâ cùm. vidit ab altâ ·
Stare procul campis meditantem prælia taurum,
Advolat ; haud alia est Turni venientis imago.
Hunc ubi contiguum missæ fore credidit hastæ,
Ire prior Pallas, si quà fors adjuvet ausum,
Viribus imparibus; magnumque ita ad æthera fatur :
Per patris hospitium, et inensas, quas advena adîsti,
Te precor, Alcide, cœptis ingentibus adsis:
Cernat semineci sibi me rapere arma cruenta,
Victoremque ferant morientia lumina Turni.
Audiit Alcides juvenem, magnumque sub imo
440
445
450
513
441. Inquit: est terp-
pus
443. Cuperem ut ejus
parens
454. Utque leo advo
455 lat, cûm ab alta specula
vidit taurum stare
461
Corde premit gemitum, lachrymasque effudit inanes. 465
Tum genitor natum dictis affatur amicis :
Stat sua cuique dies; breve et irreparabile tempus
Omnibus est vitæ: sed famam extendere factis,
Hoc virtutis opus. Trojæ sub mœnibus altis
Tot nati cecidere Deûm: quin occidit unà
Sarpedon, mea progenies. Etiam sua Turnumn
Fata vocant, metasque dati pervenit ad ævi.
NOTES.
compensation for her violated chastity. See
An. xii. 138. et sequens.
440. Secat: in the sense of dividit.
444. Cesserunt æquore jusso: retired from
the commanded plain-from that part of the
field of battle, where Pallas was, to make
room for Turnus to advance against him.
son.
447. Obit: surveys. Omnia may refer to
his armor more particularly, than to his per-
That had been mentioned just before.
Truci visu: with a stern or steady look.
448. I: in the sense of dicit, vel respondet.
449. Spoliis opimis. For the spolia opima,
see Æn. vi. 855-859.
450. Pater æquus. Dryden takes pater
hore for Jupiter, who, it is true, may be con-
sidered the father of all, just and impartial.
But it is better to take it for Evander, the
father of Pallas. It was the same thing to
him whether his son were slain, or returned
victorious. He was equally prepared for
either event. Equus: in the sense of pa-
atus.
470
458. Cœpit ire prior.
imparibus viribus, ten-
tans si quà
460. O Alcide, precor
te, per
462. Turnus cernat
me rapere
452. Coit: congeals. It retired from the
extremities to the heart; there thickened,
and ceased to circulate. Such was the fear
of the Arcadians for the issue of the combat.
Apparat: in the sense of parat.
457. Contiguum: within reach of his mis-
sive spear.
460. Hospitium. Hercules, on his return
from Spain, was entertained by Evander,
and after the death of Cacus was magnifi-
cently worshipped. See En. viii. 184. et
sequens.
461. Adsis: may you favor-aid.
462. Rapere: in the sense of auferre.
463. Ferant: may the dying eyes of Tur-
nus endure to behold me victorious.
466. Natum: Hercules. He was the son
of Jupiter by Alcmene, the wife of Amphitry-
Hence, sometimes called Amphitryoni-
on.
ades.
467. Stat: is fixed.
472. Ad metas dati ævi: to the end of his
appointed life.
"
34
514
P VIRGILII MARONIS
476. Illa hasta volans
incidit, quà summa
Sic ait, atque oculos Rutulorum rejicit arvis
At Pallas magnis emittit viribus hastam,
Vaginâque cavâ fulgentem deripit ensem.
Illa volans, humeris surgunt quà tegmina summa,
Incidit, atque viam clypei molita per oras,
Tandem etiam magno strinxit de corpore Turni.
Hìc Turnus ferro præfixum robur acuto
In Pallanta diu librans jacit, atque ita fatur :
Aspice, num magè sit nostrum penetrabile telum.
482. Ac cuspis teli Dixerat: at clypeum, tot ferri terga, tot æris,
transverberat medium Cùm pellis toties obeat circumdata tauri,
clypeum vibranti ictu, Vibranti cuspis medium transverberat ictu,
cùm pellis tauri circum- Loricæque moras, et pectus perforat ingens.
data toties obeat eum, Ille rapit calidum frustrà de vulnere telum :
perforatque moras Unâ eâdemque viâ sanguisque animusque sequuntur
486. Ille Pallas frustrà Corruit in vulnus; sonitum super arma dedêre ;
488. Arma dedêre so- Et terram hostilem moriens petit ore cruento.
nitum super eum.
tot terga ferri, tot æris,
Pallanta ei
Quem Turnus super assistens :
Arcades, hæc, inquit, memores mea dicta referte
492. Remitto filium Evandro: qualem meruit, Pallanta remitto.
495. Et fatus talia Quisquis honos tumuli, quicquid solamen humandi est
pressit eum exanimem Largior. Haud illi stabunt Æneïa parvo
497. Nefasque impres- Hospitia. Et lævo pressit pede, talia fatus,
sum in eo, nempe, ma- Exanimem, rapiens immania pondera baltei,
nus juvenum cæsa fuerit Impressumque nefas; unâ sub nocte jugali
501. O mens hominum Cæsa manus juvenum fœdè, thalamique cruenti;
Quæ bonus Eurytion multo cælaverat auro:
503. Cùm optaverit Quo nunc Turnus ovat spolio, gaudetque potitus.
se emptum esse magno Nescia mens hominum fati, sortisque futuræ,
pretio Pallanta intactum Et servare modum, rebus sublata secundis!
fœdè
nescia
esse
504. Diemque, quò Turno tempus erit, magno cùm optaverit emptum
Intactum Pallanta; et cùm spolia ista diemque
interfecit eum.
NOTES.
473. Rejicit oculos: he turned his eyes
from, &c. that he might not behold a death,
which he would have prevented, but was not
able. Rumus interprets the words by retulit
oculos ad campos. Heyne says, jacit retrò―
avertit.
-477. Molita viam : opening, or making a
way for itself, &c. A part. agreeing with
hasta, understood.
It
478. Strinxit: it glanced from, &c.
hit his body, but did not wound him.
479. Robur: a dart, or javelin. Magè, for
magis.
481. Penetrabile: penetrating. Adjec-
tives of this form are generally passive in
their signification. There are some few in-
stances of their being used in an active
sense This is one of them.
482. Terga: in the sense of laminæ: so
many plates of iron, so many, &c. The
spear of Turnus passed through (transver-
berat) the middle of his shield, which was
composed of so many plates, &c.
483 Cum: in the sense of quamvis. Obear
476
480
48E
490
495
500
circumdata: simply, for circumdatur. Or,
circumdata may be taken in the sense of
complicata: folded up-doubled.
485. Moras: any thing that prevents-a
stop or hindrance. It is here used for the
folds and texture of the coat of mail.
490. Assistens: in the sense of stans.
493. Humandi: a gerund in di, in the
sense of humationis vel sepulchri.
494. Largior: I freely bestow, or grant
it. Rumus says, concedo.
497. Sub una jugali nocte, &c. The story
of the daughters of Danaus, who murdered
their husbands in the night of their mar-
riage, is here meant. See nom. prop. under
Danaïdes.
499. Eurytion. The name of some arti-
ficer. The belt of Pallas was covered or
overlaid with gold; in which this horrid
crime was carved or engraven. Bonus
skilful. Nefas: any great or horrid en
also, a wicked or odious person.
502. Modum: moderation--bounds.
503. Erit: in the sense of veniet.
ENEIS. LIB X
Oderit. At socii multo gemitu lachrymisque
Impositum scuto referunt Pallanta frequentes.
O, dolor, atque decus magnum, rediture, parenti !
Hæc te prima dies bello dedit, hæc eadem aufert ·
Cùm tamen ingentes Rutulorum linquis acervos.
Nec jam fama mali tanti, sed certior auctor
Advolat Æneæ, tenui discrimine leti
Esse suos; tempus versis succurrere Teucris.
Proxima quæque metit gladio, latumque per agmen
Ardens limitem agit ferro, te, Turne, superbum
Cæde novâ, quærens. Pallas, Evander, in ipsis
Omnia sunt oculis; mensæ, quas advena primas
Tunc adiit, dextræque datæ. Sulmone creatos
Quatuor hic juvenes, totidem, quos educat Ufens,
Viventes rapit: inferias quos immolet umbris,
Captivoque rogi perfundat sanguine flammas.
Inde Mago procul infensam contenderat hastam :
Ille astu subit, ac tremebunda supervolat hasta :
Et genua amplectens effatur talia supplex:
Per patrios Manes, et spes surgentis Iüli,
Te precor, hanc animam serves natoque patrique.
Est domus alta: jacent penitùs defossa talenta
Cælati argenti: sunt auri pondera facti
Infectique mihi: non hìc victoria Teucrûm
Vertitur haud anima una dabit discrimina tanta.
Dixerat: Æneas contrà cui talia reddit:
Argenti atque auri, memoras quæ, multa talenta,
Natis parce tuis: belli commercia Turnus
Sustulit ista prior, jam tum Pallante perempto.
:
NOTES.
506. Referunt: his friends gathering in
crowds, (frequentes) carry his body from the
field of battle.
507. O dolor, &c. This is an exclamation
either of the poet, or of his companions,
bearing away the dead body, with a view
to the grief of Evander when he should
hear of the death of his son. But his grief
would be in some measure lightened by the
consideration of his distinguished actions.
Fama: a
510. Auctor: in the sense of nuntius.
Certior in the sense of certus.
report or rumor.
511. Tenui discrimine: in a small dis-
tance-in great hazard of. Modico interstitio
mortis, says Servius. Parùm distare ab exitio,
says Rumus.
512. Suos socios is understood. Tempus:
esse is understood.
514. Agit: in the sense of facit: he cuts
down-forces with his sword, &c.
519. Umbris: the plu. for umbrâ in the
wing. as in Æn. v. 81, which see. Inferias:
offerings to the dead. These were poured
upon, or into the grave. They were milk,
honey, wine, &c. Upon these, it was sup-
posed, the umbra feasted.
120. Perfundat: might wet, or sprinkle.
505
510
515
516
507. O Palia, rediture
dolor, atque magnum
decus parenti!
516. Imprimis mense,
quas primas ille tunc
advena adiit,
518. Hic rapit qua-
tuor juvenes, creatos
520 Sulmone; totidem, quos
Ufens educat, omnes vi-
ventes quos immolet
tanquam inferias umbris
Pallantis
525
525. Ut serves hane
animam
530
532. Parce tuis natis
multa talenta argenti
521. Contenderat: in the sense of mittebat
522. Subit: he stoops. Astu: with dex-
terity.
524. Per patrios manes, &c. This address
of Magus is imitated from Homer, Iliad vi
where Adrastus supplicates Agamemnon
But the Roman poet has much improved
upon the Greek. Mr. Pope observes, that
nothing could be a more artful piece of ad
dress than the first lines of this supplication,
when we consider the character of Æneas.
to whom it was made: per patrios Manes, &c.
526. Defossa penitùs: buried deep in the
earth.
527. Pondera: masses: plu. of pondus.
Auri facti. By this we are to understand,
gold wrought into vases, statues, &c. Auri
infecti: of bullion-gold unwrought. Co-
lati: of embossed silver-silver carved or
wrought into vases.
529. Tanta discrimina: so great differ-
ence. The victory of the Trojans does not
turn upon this point (htc.) My life can
make no great difference; beside, you shall
be abundantly rewarded for your clemency
in doing it.
532. Ista commercia: those terms or con
ditions. Ista pacta belli, says Rumus
516
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
534. Manes patris An- Hoc patris Anchise Manes, hoc sentit Iülus.
Sic fatus, galeam lævâ tenet; atque reflexâ
chisi sentiunt
536. Abdidit ensem Cervice, orantis capulo tenus abdidit ensem.
tenus capulo in corpus Nec procul Æmonides, Phœbi Triviæque sacerdos,
eus orantis. Nec erat Infula cui sacrâ redimibat tempora vittâ,
monides procul,
brâ mortis.
Totus collucens veste atque insignibus armis.
Quem congressus agit campo, lapsumque superstaħs
541. Ingentique um- Immolat, ingentique umbrâ tegit: arma Serestus
Lecta refert humeris, tibi, rex Gradive, trophæum.
Instaurant acies, Vulcani stirpe creatus
Cæculus, et veniens Marsorum montibus Umbro.
545. Umbro dejecerat Dardanides contrà furit. Anxuris ense sinistram,
sinistram Anxuris ense, Et totum clypei ferro dejecerat orbem.
et totum
536
531
545
Dixerat ille aliquid magnum, vimque affore verbo
Crediderat, cœloque animum fortassè ferebat,
Canitiemque sibi, et longos promiserat annos.
hæc
556. Super eum fatur
557. Tu, hostis metu-
ende,
Tarquitus exsultans contrà fulgentibus armis,
Sylvicolæ Fauno Dryope quem Nympha creârat,
550
555
552. Æneæ ardenti. Obvius ardenti sese obtulit: ille reductâ
Ille, hasta reductâ, im- Loricam clypeique ingens onus impedit hastâ :
pedit ejus loricam
Tum caput orantis nequicquam, et multa parantıs
Dicere, deturbat terræ: truncumque tepentem
Provolvens, super hæc inimico pectore fatur:
Istìc nunc, metuende, jace. Non te optima mater
Condet humi, patriove onerabit membra sepulchro :
Alitibus linquêre feris, aut gurgite mersum
Unda feret, piscesque impasti vulnera lambent.
Protinùs Antæum et Lycam, prima agmina Turni,
Persequitur fortemque Numam, fulvumque Camertem,
Magnanimo Volscente satum; ditissimus agri
NOTES.
538. Infula. This was a sort of diadem
worn by priests and illustrious persons. The
vitta was a kind of label or fillet, that hung
down from the infula, on each side. Cui:
in the sense of cujus.
540. Congressus: engaging, or meeting:
a part. agreeing with Eneas.
""
541. Ingenti umbrâ: with the shades of
death—an everlasting shade. Ruæus says,
magnis tenebris. Davidson says, "with the
deep shades of death.' Heyne thinks it re-
fers to the shield and body of Æneas; which
is a very singular interpretation. Super-
stans ingenti umbrâ tegit, says he. Tegit:
in the sense of opprimit.
542. Arma lecta: his arms gathered up,
to be a trophy to thee, O Mars, king of war.
Gradivus, a name of Mars.
543. Acies: in the sense of pugnam.
545. Dardanides: Eneas.
546. Dejecerat: Umbro had cut off the
left arm of Anxur just as Eneas came up.
He had thrown down his left arm, and with
it his shield fell to the ground. This, and
some other embarrassed sentences, occur,
particularly in this book, which plainly show
that Virgil had not put the finishing hand
560
to the Æneid. Totum orbem clypei: simply
the whole shield.
547. Vim: force-efficacy. Aliquid mag
num. He had repeated some spell or in
cantation, which he hoped would prove effi-
cacious against the darts of Eneas, and
therefore he made head against him. Da-
vidson says, "some mighty spell he had
pronounced." Ruæus observes: magicia
quibusdam consecrationibus et carminibus ad-
versùs vulnera se munierat. Germanus, and
in the place of magnum.
some others think magicum should be read
551. Sylvicola: the dat. agreeing with
Fauno: an inhabitant of the woods. Of
sylva and colo. Creârat: in the sense of
pepererat.
553. Hasta reductâ: his spear being drawn
back, that he might throw it from him with
greater force. Impedit: he encumbers, or
renders useless to him, his corslet, &c. be-
cause his spear remained fast in them.
561. Prima agmina: the chief or princt
pal leaders. They were so valiant, they
were a host themselves. Heyne says, qui
pugnant ante ordines vel qui in prima acse
ENEIS. LIB. X.
517
Qui fuit Ausonidûm, et tacitis regnavit Amyclis
Ægæon qualis, centum cui brachia dicunt,
Centenasque manus, quinquaginta oribus ignem
Pectoribusque arsisse; Jovis cùm fulmina contra
Tot paribus streperet clypeis, tot stringeret enses
Sic toto Eneas desævit in æquore victor,
Ut semel intepuit mucro. Quin ecce Nyphæi
Quadrijuges in equos, adversaque pectora tendit :
Atque illi longè gradientem et dirà frementem
Ut vidêre, metu versi, retròque ruentes,
Effunduntque ducem, rapiuntque ad litora currus.
Intereà bijugis infert se Lucagus albis
In medios, fraterque Liger: sed frater habenis
Flectit equos; strictum rotat acer Lucagus ensem
Haud tulit Æneas tanto fervore furentes;
Irruit, adversâque ingens apparuit hastâ.
Cui Liger :
565
570
575
565. Turs qualis erat
Egæon, cui homines di
cunt fuisse centum
570. Mucro gludu in-
tepuit sanguine
572. Illi equi, ut pri-
mùm vidêre eum longè
578. Eos furentes tanto
580
Non Diomedis equos, non currum cernis Achillis,
Aut Phrygiæ campos: nunc belli finis et ævi
His dabitur terris. Vesano talia latè
Dicta volant Ligeri: sed non et Troïus heros
Dicta parat contrà; jaculum nam torquet in hostein.
Lucagus ut pronus pendens in verbera telo
Admonuit bijugos, projecto dum pede lævo
Aptat se pugnæ, subit oras hasta per imas
Fulgentis clypei, tum lævum perforat inguen.
586
NOTES.
564. Ausonidûm: gen. plu. for Ausonida-
rux, by syn. The Ausones were among
the early inhabitants of Italy. Tacitis Amy-
clis. Amycle was a city of Latium, near
Terracina, which is said to have perished
through silence. The city having been fre-
quently thrown into confusion by false
alarms, at length a law was made that none
of its inhabitants should mention the ap-
proach of an enemy. So that, when an ene-
my actually advanced against the city, it
was suddenly destroyed for want of timely
intelligence. Servius assigns another reason
for the singular epithet of tacita. He ob-
serves, they held the doctrines of Pythago-
ras, which forbade them to offer any violence
to serpents, and enjoined, at the same time,
a silence of five years. At a time, a host of
serpents issued from a lake near the city;
the inhabitants refusing to attack them, fell
a prey to them.
ra.
565. gaon: the son of Cœlus and Ter-
The same as Briareus.
568. Tot paribus clypeis. It is generally
thought these words imply, that the num-
ber of his shields was equal to his arms or
hands. But it is difficult to conceive how
that could be. The warrior carried a shield
only on his left arm; and with his right
hand he wielded the sword, the javelin, &c.
His shields and swords (enses,) doubtless,
equalled together the number of his hands.
But paribus may mean that they were all of
equal size and shape. Streperet: in the
sense of sonabat.
570. Ut semel: when once his sword, &c.
Mucro: properly, the point of the sword, by
synec. the whole sword.
571. Adversa pectora. By these words, we
are to understand the breasts of the steeds,
rather than the breast of the charioteer Ni-
phæus. It gives us a higher idea of the
courage of Æneas, who dared to stand
against, and oppose the course of these
horses.
572. Dirà: an adj. of the neu. plu. used
as an adv. in imitation of the Greeks.
574. Effundunt: they throw out the dri
ver.
575. Bijugis: bijugi is, properly, a pai
of horses harnessed: by meton. the carriage
in which they are harnessed. Of bis and
jugum. Lucagus was drawn in a chariot b▾
a pair of white horses.
578. Fervore: heat-violence.
582. Ævi: of your life.
583. His terris: on this spot-in this place.
584. Vesano Ligeri: from insolent Liger.
Liger is declined like nouns of the third
declension, some of which make the abl. in
i, as well as in e. Et: also.
587. Admonuit: goaded on his horses
with a dart-the point of his javelin, or
dart. Rumus says, excitavit.
+
518
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
A
✓
593. Vertêre eos
rotis
Excussus curru moribundus volvitur arvis ;
Quem pius Æneas dictis affatur amaris:
Lucage, nulla tuos currus fuga segnis equorum
Prodidit, aut vanæ vertêre ex hostibus umbræ :
590
598
594. Tu ipse saliens Ipse rotis saliens juga deseris. Hæc ita fatus,
Arripuit bijugos. Frater tendebat inermes
Infelix palmas, curru delapsus eodem:
597. Oro per te, per Per te, per qui te talem genuêre parentes,
parentes, qui
599. Æneas respondit
illi oranti pluribus verbis
600. Tu frater ne de-
Are
Vir Trojane, sine hanc animam, et miserere precantis.
Pluribus oranti Æneas: Haud talia dudum
Dicta dabas: morere, et fratrem ne desere frater. 600
Tum, latebras animæ, pectus mucrone recludit.
Talia per campos edebat funera ductor
Dardanius, torrentis aquæ vel turbinis atri
605
More furens. Tandem erumpunt, et castra relinquunt
Ascanius puer, et nequicquam obsessa juventus.
Junonem intereà compellat Jupiter ultrò:
O germana, mihi atque eadem gratissima conjux !
Ut rebare, Venus, nec te sententia fallit,
609. Non est illis viris Trojanas sustentat opes! non vivida bello
dextra
Dextra viris, animusque ferox, patiensque perîcli!
Cui Juno submissa : Quid, & pulcherrime conjux,
Sollicitas ægram, et tua tristia dicta timentem?
613. Si foret mihi Si mihi, quæ quondam fuerat, quamque esse decebat,
eadem vis in amore, quæ Vis in amore foret! non hoc mihi namque negares
Omnipotens; quin et pugnæ subducere Turnum,
Et Dauno possem incolumem servare parenti.
Nunc pereat, Teucrisque pio dét sanguine pœnas
NOTES.
590. Excussus: thrown-tost from his
chariot.
591. Pius Æneas. Dr. Trapp observes
the epithet pius seems a little incongruous,
while he is insulting a fallen enemy. Some
soldier-like epithet would seem much more
proper
for our hero on this occasion. But
he is avenging the death of his friend Pallas,
who had just been slain; and among the
heathon, that was looked upon as an act of
piety.
592. Lucage: Mr. Davidson observes, this
is a very poor sentiment, an ill-timed affec-
tation of wit, unworthy both of the poet and
the hero. Virgil appears to have been led
into it, from an over fondness for Homer.
Nulla segnis: no slow flight of your horses,
&c.
594. Juga: properly the yoke: here, the
chariot. Sometimes, also, the horses, by
meton.
598. Sine: spare, or save this life. In
the sense of parce. Rumus says, omitte.
601. Latebras anima: the seat of life.
kæus says, quo latet anima. Latebras is
put in apposition with pectus.
607. Conjux. Juno was both the sister,
and wife of Jove. Conjux is both a husband,
and wife.
610
615
608. Venus, ut rebare, &c. This is said
ironically, as appears both from the turn of
the sentence, and the answer of Juno, which
shows that she considered it in that light.
How Venus supports the Trojan strength!
609. Opes: in the sense of vires. She
gives strength, or power to the Trojans, to
perform such mighty deeds. Vivida: in the
sense of ardens.
611. Submissa: humble-submissive.
612. Ægram: afflicted -full of grief. The
pron. me, is understood.
613. Si foret mihi vis : O, that there were
the same force in my love-O, that I had
the same influence over thy affections, &c.
but I have lost it; for otherwise, thou
wouldst not deny me this.
616. Possem: I would be able-I could
desire to have power, &c.
617. Pereat: now he must perish, and
make retribution, &c.
This is said by Juno with a degree of in
dignation, that the favorite of Venus should
thus prevail, and that the daughter should
have more influence with Jove than the
wife. Davidson renders the words det pœ-
nas: "let him glut the vengeance of the
Trojans with his pious blood." His blood
ENEIS. LIB. X.
519
Ille tamen nostrâ deducit origine nomen ;
Pilumnusque illi quartus pater; et tua largå
Sæpe manu, multisque oneravit limina donis.
Cui rex ætherei breviter sic fatur Olympi :
Si mora præsentis leti, tempusque caduco
Ɔratur juveni, meque hoc ita ponere sentis;
Tolle fugâ Turnum, atque instantibus eripe fatis.
Hactenus indulsisse vacat. Sin altior istis
Sub precibus venia ulla latet, totumque moveri
Mutarive putas bellum, spes pascis inanes.
Cui Juno illachrymans: Quid si, quod voce gravaris,
Mente dares; atque hæc Turno rata vita maneret ?
Nunc manet insontem gravis exitus! aut ego veri
Vana feror: quòd ut ô potiùs formidine falsâ
Ludar; et in meliùs tua, qui potes, orsa reflectas!
Hæc ubi dicta dedit, cœlo se protinùs alto
Misit, agens hyemem nimbo succincta per auras,
Iliacamque aciem, et Laurentia castra petivit.
Tum Dea nube cavâ tenuem sinè viribus umbram,
In faciem Æneæ, visu mirabile monstrum!
Dardaniis ornat telis: clypeumque jubasque
Divini assimulat capitis; dat inania verba :
620
625
630
635
625. Vacat mihi in
dulsisse libi
631. Quòd, ô sit Hum
ut potiùs
636. Tum Dea ornat
Dardaniis telis tenuem
umbram sinè viribus è
cava nube.
A
Dat sinè mente sonum, gressusque effingit euntis.
640
Morte obitâ, quales fama est volitare figuras,
Aut quæ sopitos deludunt somnia sensus.
At primas læta ante acies exsultat imago,
Irritatque virum telis, et voce lacessit.
Instat cui Turnus, stridentemque eminùs hastam
645
Conjicit illa dato vertit vestigia tergo.
:
Tum verò Ænean aversum ut cedere Turnus
Credidit, atque animo spem turbidus hausit inanem :
646. Illa imago vertit
NOTES.
is called pious, because Turnus was descend- word augur, vel aruspex, is understood.
ed from the gods.
619. Quartus pater. Turnus was the
fourth in a direct line from Pilumnus, who
is, therefore, called his fourth father.
was his great-grandfather's father.
He
620. Limina tua: in the sense of tua
lempla.
622. Mora: a delay--respite from. Ca-
luco about to fall-doomed to fall by the
band of Æneas. Mox casuro, says Heyne.
623. Ponere: to settle, fix or determine.
Constituere, says Heyne. Oratur: iś asked
by thee.
625. Vacat: in the sense of licet. Hac
tenus: so far.
626, Venia: in the sense of gratia.
628. Gravaris: you are loth, or unwilling
to grant by words.
629. Quid si dares. Juno here seems to
express some fear, that her husband was
not sincere in granting her even this favor.
Mente from your heart-sincerely.
630. Exitus: in the sense of mors. Vana
here has the sense of ignara. Or else the
Ruæus says, dicor ignara veritatis.
632. In miliùs: taken adverbially, for the
better. Orsa in the sense of incepta. Qua
potes: who hast power. Jupiter could con-
trol the fates, by deferring, or impeding their
purposes, or decrees.
634. Nimbo: in the sense of nube.
636. Tum Dea, &c. This is taken from
Homer, Iliad v., where Apollo raises a phan-
tom in the shape of Eneas. But Virgil has
greatly improved upon the original.
638. Ornat: in the sense of instruit.
640. Effingit: represents. Ruæus says,
exprimit.
641. Morte obitâ: after death-death be-
ing past.
642. Sopitos sensus: the slumbering senses
-or senses buried in sleep. Qua: in the
sense of qualia.
646. Tergo dato: the back being turned
toward Turnus, it fled from him.
647. Cedere: in the sense of fugere.
648. Turbidus: in the sense of tumens-` -
elatus arrogantiâ.
A
520
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
655 Quâ nave rex Osi-
nius advectus fuerat à
649." Inquit, Ænea, Quò fugis, Ænea? thalamos ne desere pactos:
quò fugis?
Hâc dabitur dextrâ tellus quæsita per undas.
650. Tellus quæsita Talia vociferans sequitur, strictumque coruscat
per undas dabitur tibi
hac mea dextrâ.
Mucronem: nec ferre videt sua gaudia ventos.
Fortè ratis, celsi conjuncta crepidine saxi,
Expositis stabat scalis, et ponte parato,
Quâ rex Clusinis advectus Osinius oris.
Hùc sese trepida Æneæ fugientis imago
Conjicit in latebras: nee Turnus segnior instat,
Exsuperatque moras, et pontes transilit altos.
Vix proram attigerat: rumpit Saturnia funem,
Avulsamque rapit revoluta per æquora navem.
Illum autem Eneas absentem in prælia poscit:
Obvia multa virûm demittit corpora morti.
Tum levis haud ultrà latebras jam quærit imago,
Sed sublimè volans nubi se immiscuit &træ :
Cùm Turnum medio intereà fert æquore turbo.
Respicit ignarus rerum, ingratusque salutis,
Et duplices cum voce manus ad sidera tendit :
Omnipotens genitor, tanton' me crimine dignum
Duxisti? et tales voluisti expendere pœnas?
660. Rapitque navem
avulsam à litore per re-
voluta.
650
655
660
665
669
Quò feror? unde abii? quæ me fuga, quemve reducet?
Laurentes-ne iterum muros aut castra videbo ?
672. Quid illa manus Quid manus illa virûm, qui me meaque arma secuti?
virûm dicet, qui secuti Quosque, nefas! omnes infandâ in morte reliqui?
Et nunc palantes video, gemitumque cadentûm
sunt
NOTES.
649. Pactos thalamos: the promised match.
652. Nec videt: nor does he perceive that
the winds bear off his joys. This is a pro-
verbial expression, denoting disappointment.
Mucronem: in the sense of ensem.
653. Conjuncta: the ship was connected
with, or moored to the top of a high rock.
Crepidine, the abl. for crepidini, the dat.
654. Expositis: extended-reaching to
the shore. These ladders and bridge had
been made, for the purpose of landing troops
from the vessel or ship.
655. Osinius. It is probable he was com-
mander of these troops, or at least some dis-
tinguished man among his citizens; for rex
does not always imply a king: sometimes a
nobleman. Massicus appears to have been
the king of Clusium.
657. Latebras. This word properly sig-
nifies any hiding place-or place of conceal-
ment. Here it plainly means the hold of
the ship, into which the shadow or image
of Æneas concealed itself.
658. Moras: obstacles-hindrances.
660. Revoluta æquora: the rolling billows.
Servius thinks revoluta is to be connected
with navem by hypallåge. But this is un-
necessary here; for revoluta is a very proper
epithet for the sea; whose surface is con-
tinually in motion. Valpy says "through
the ebbing tide.”
€74
666. Ingratus: unthankful for his safety
He considers it no favor to be rescued from
the field of battle, where, if he fell, he should
fall in the defence of his honor, and the
glory of his country.
668. Duxisti. Ruæus says, existimâtı.
Crimine: crime--disgrace—-base actions.
Didst thou consider me deserving of such
an imputation, such disgrace upon my cha-
racter, as that arising from deserting my
companions in battle? Throughout this ad-
dress, Turnus manifests the soldier and the
hero. Tanton': for tanto-ne.
669. Expendere: to suffer-undergo.
670. Quemve: or what sort of a person-
how disgraced? Qualem, says Ruæus. Abii
in the sense of discessi.
671. Castra. Turnus here means his own
camp; perhaps the field of battle. By mu-
he may mean the capital of his king-
dom; or his country in general.
ros,
672. Manus virûm: that band of men-
those troops of mine. Ruæus says, multi-
tudo hominum. Dicet is understood.
673. Nefas. This is here taken as an in
terjection. O, disgrace!-O, foul ingrati-
tude! Infanda: in the sense of crudeli.
Quosque: this is the common reading.
Heyne has quos-ne: which he takes in the
sense of eos-ne.
674. Palantes: fleeing-wandering, as
being without a leader Cadentûm: in the
ENEIS. LIB. X.
521
Accipio. Quid agam? aut quæ jam satis ima dehiscat
Terra mihi? Vos, o potiùs miserescite, venti,
In rupes, in saxa, (volens vos Turnus adoro,)
Ferte ratem, sævisque vadis immittite syrtis;
Quò neque me Rutuli, neque conscia fama sequatur. 679
Hæc memorans, animo nunc huc, nunc fluctuat illuc,
An sese mucrone ob tantum dedecus amens
Induat, et crudum per costas exigat ensem;
Fluctibus an jaciat mediis, et litora nando
Curva petat; Teucrûmque iterum se reddat in arma.
Ter conatus utramque viam : ter maxima Juno
Continuit; juvenemque animi miserata repressit.
Labitur alta secans, fluctuque æstuque secundo
Et patris antiquam Dauni defertur ad urbem.
Ly
676 Vos, O venti
potiùs miserescite mei,
et ferte ratem in rupes,
in saxa
679. Conscia meœ fugæ
685
685. Ter conatus est
690
694
At Jovis intereà monitis Mezentius ardens
Succedit pugnæ, Teucrosque invadit ovantes.
Concurrunt Tyrrhena acies, atque omnibus uni,
Uni odiisque viro telisque frequentibus instant.
Ille, velut rupes, vastum quæ prodit in æquor,
Obvia ventorum furiis, expôstaque ponto,
Vim cunctam atque minas perfert cœlique marisque,
Ipsa immota manens. Prolem Dolichaonis Hebrum
Sternit humi; cum quo Latagum, Palmumque fugacem :
Sed Latagum saxo atque ingenti fragmine montis
Occupat os faciemque adversam poplite Palmum
Succiso volvi segnem sinit; armaque Lauso
Donat habere humeris, et vertice figere cristas.
Nec non Evantem Phrygium, Paridisque Mimanta
Æqualem comitemque: unâ quem nocte Theano
NOTES.
sense of morientûm. Accipio: in the sense
of audio.
675. Dehiscat: can open sufficiently deep
for me-
-in proportion to my crime. Agam.
This is the common reading. Heyne has ago.
677 Adoro: in the sense of supplico.
682. Induat: in the sense of transfodiat.
Crudum: in the sense of crudelem, vel nudum.
Rumus interprets it by durum. Heyne ob-
serves, that the Roman copy has microni in
the dat., which he thinks preferable to the
common reading, inasmuch, as it makes the
sense of induat easier. In this case it would
have the sense of irruat: he rushed or fell
upon the point of his sword. Induo, com-
pounded of in and duo vel do. Valpy takes
it in the sense of transfodiat: whether he
should stab himself, &c.
685. Utramque viam: each expedient-
way.
C86. Miserata animi: pitying the anguish
of his mind, restrained and prevented the
youth from executing his purpose. Animi:
this is the reading of Heyne. Dolorem, or
a word of the like import, is understood as in
the ordo. Rumus and Davidson have animo.
687. Secundo fluctu: the waves and cur-
rent being favorable. The motion of the
700
686. Miserata dolorem
animi
691. Atque instant
viro uni, illi uni, omni-
busque odiis
693. Ille manet immo
tus, velut
697. Unà cum quo
sternit
699. Sed occupat La
tagum quoad os, fa
ciemque
·
701. Vertice capitis
Nec non sternit
waves carried the vessel forward: which is
saying, in other words, that the wind was in
his favor. Labitur: in the sense of prove-
hitur. Alta: for maria.
691. Tyrrhena acies. The Tuscan troops
accompanied Eneas, for the purpose of
taking vengeance upon Mezentius, on ac-
count of the cruelties he had done, during
his reign. And now they see him entering
the fight, they rush upon him from all parts,
and press him with their great efforts. But
they are foiled in every attack. He stands
their assaults like an immovable rock. The
comparison is very significant.
sea.
693. Prodit: projects, or extends into the
Rumus says, procurrit.
694. Obvia: in the sense of opposita
Ponto to the sea-the rage of the sea.
696. Prolem: in the sense of filium.
699. Occupat Latagum: he strikes Lata-
gus upon the mouth and face, as he stood
opposite him.
700. Volvi segnem: to wallow, or roll on
the ground-disabled and wounded. Rumus
takes segnem, in the sense of jacentem. Sinit
he leaves him, &c.
791. Habere: in the sense of ferre.
704. Und quem nocte, &c. The meanin
522
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
ora habet
707
709. Laurentia palus
defendit multos annos
712. Nec est virtus
cuique
705
In lucem genitori Amyco dedit; et face prægnans
705. Paris occubat Cisseïs regina Parin: Paris urbe paternâ
paternâ urbe: Laurens Occubat; ignarum Laurens habet ora Mimanta.
Ac velut ille canum morsu de montibus altis
Ac velut ille
aper, actus de altis mon-
Actus aper, multos Vesulus quem pinifer annos
tibus inorsu canum, Defendit, multosque palus Laurentia, sylvâ
pastus
Pastus arundineâ; postquam inter retia ventum est. 710
Substitit, infremuitque ferox, et inhorruit armos
Nec cuiquam irasci propiùsve accedere virtus,
Sed jaculis tutisque procul clamoribus instant;
Ille autem impavidus partes cunctatur in omnes,
Dentibus infrendens, et tergo decutit hastas.
716. Haud aliter, non Haud aliter, justæ quibus est Mezentius iræ,
est animus ulli eorum, Non ulli est animus stricto concurrere ferro;
quibus
Missilibus longè, et vasto clamore lacessunt.
Venerat antiquis Corythi de finibus Acron,
Graius homo; infectos linquens profugus hymenæos
Hunc ubi miscentem longè media agmina vidit,
Purpureum pennis, et pactæ conjugis ostro :
Impastus stabula alta leo ceu sæpè peragrans;
723. Ceu impastus leo Suadet enim vesana fames; si fortè fugacem
bula
sæpè peragrans alta sta- Conspexit capream, aut surgentem in cornua cervum ;
Gaudet hians immanè, comasque arrexit, et hæret
Visceribus super incumbens: lavit improba teter
Ora cruor:
Sic ruit in densos alacer Mezentius hostes.
Sternitur infelix Acron, et calcibus atram
Tundit humum expirans, infractaque tela cruentat.
NOTES.
Dr.
18, that in the very same night Theano bore
Mimas, and Hecuba, Paris. Hence they are
said to be of equal age, æqualem.
Bentley observes, that creat is quite redun-
dant: for the sentence is perfect without it.
Beside, there is something incongruous in
making creat, and dedit, in different tenses;
and also the omission of the nom. to the
verb occubat perplexes the sense. He, there-
fore, conjectures the reading, as Virgil left it,
must be:
-unâ quem nocte Theano
In lucem genitori Amyco dedit; et face
prægnans
Cisseïs regina Parin. Paris urbe paternâ
occubat.
Dedit: in the sense of peperit, vel protulit.
705. Paris: Heyne omits creat, which is
the common reading, and substitutes Paris.
706. Ignarum: in the sense of ignotum.
707. Morsu: in the sense of latratu. Ille
aper: a boar. Servius says the pron. ille is
used by an idiom of the language, to enno-
ole or enlarge the subject.
716. Pastus. Servius thinks this is for
pastum, agreeing with quem, by antiptosis.
Dr. Bentley thinks the poet wrote pascit or
pavit, whose nominative would be Lauren-
tia palus. Sylvâ pastus: having fed upon reeds.
The verb defendit is understood after palus
Laurentia. Ventum est: in the sense of venit
*15
713
724
730
711. Inhorruit armos: he bristles up his
shoulders.
712. Irasci: to engage him-to wreak his
vengeance on him.
714. Cunctatur. Ruæus says, opponit se
716. Justæ iræ: for a just resentment.
720. Profugus. Rumus says, advena Da-
vidson renders it, "deserted to Æneas.” Hy-
menæos infectos: in the sense of nuptias
imperfectas.
721. Miscentem: putting into confusion-
breaking through the middle ranks. Rumus
says, turbantem.
722. Purpureum : red with plumes, and
the purple of his betrothed spouse-which
was given him by her.
724. Suadet: in the sense of urget, vel
impellit. Vesana: excessive-immoderate
Fugacem: timorous.
725. Surgentem in cornua. This expresses
the stately motion of a large stag, whose
branching horns, as he moves along, seem to
lift him up from the ground.
726. Comas: in the sense of jubam.
727. Incumbens. Some copies have ac-
cumbens. For lavit, the Roman copy hath
lavat. Improba: hungry-ravenous. Visce-
ribus: the flanks-aiming his deadly grasp
at the flanks of the victim.
731. Infracta: in the sense of fractu
ENEIS. LIB. X.
523
Atque idem fugientem haud est dignatus Oroden
Sternere, nec jactâ cæcum dare cuspide vulnus :
Obvius adversoque occurrit, seque viro vir
Contulit; haud furto melior, sed fortibus armis.
Tum super abjectum posito pede, nixus et hastâ :
Pars belli haud temnenda, viri, jacet altus Orodes.
Conclamant socii, lætum Pæana secuti.
Ille autem expirans : Non me, quicunque es, inulto,
Victor, nec longum lætabere: te quoque fata
Prospectant paria, atque eadem mox arva tenebis.
Ad quem subridens mixtâ Mezentius irâ :
735
740
Nunc morere! Ast de me Divûm pater atque hominum
rex
745
Viderit! Hoc dicens, eduxit corpore telum.
Olli dura quies oculos et ferreus urget
Sornnus; in æternam clauduntur lumina noctem.
Cædicus Alcathoum obtruncat, Sacrator Hydaspen:
Partheniumque Rapo, et prædurum viribus Orsen:
Messapus Cloniumque, Lycaoniumque Ericeten:
Illum, infrænis equi lapsu tellure jacentem ;
Hunc, peditem pedes. Et Lycius processerat Agis,
Quem tamen haud expers Valerus virtutis avitæ
Dejicit: Athronium Salius; Saliumque Nealces,
Insignis jaculo, et longè fallente sagittâ.
Jam gravis æquabat luctus et mutua Mavors
Funera: cædebant pariter, pariterque ruebant
Victores victique: neque his fuga nota, neque illis.
Dî Jovis in tectis iram miserantur inanem
Amborum, et tantos mortalibus esse labores.
Hinc Venus, hinc contrà spectat Saturnia Juno.
Pallida Tisiphone media inter millia sævit.
NOTES.
732. Haud dignatus est: ho disdained to
kill, &c.
733. Cuspide: the point, taken by synec.
for the whole spear.
735. Abjectum: in the sense of prostratum.
We have here the image of a hero. Me-
zentius disdained to take any advantage of
his enemy, although the laws of war would
have justified him in so doing; but he met
him face to face, (adverso,) and gave him an
opportunity to try the strength of his arm,
himself not his superior in stratagem, but
in deeds of valor.
738. Secuti: in the sense of repetentes, vel
canentes. Paana: in the sense of cantum.
739. Autem ille, &c. Here Virgil makes
Orodes foretell the death of his victor. In
this he follows Homer, who makes Hector
foretell the death of Achilles, who was after-
ward slain by Paris.
740. Fata: in the sense of mors.
741. Prospectant: in the sense of manent.
745. Olli for illi by antithesis: the dat.
in the sense of the gen., to be connected
with oculos
732. Atque idem M.
sentius haud dignatus
est
736. Super eum abjec-
tum
737. Ait, O viri, hic
altus Orodes jacet, pars
belli
739. Ait: quicunque
es, non vives victor, nec
lætabere longum tempus
me inulto.
750 cat
49. Messapus obtrun-
750. Illum, nempe, Clo-
nium jacentem
751. Hunc, nempe,
Ericeten peditem, ipse
pedes. Et Lycius Agis
755 processerat in Messa-
pum
760
757. Nota est his
748. Prædurum: very powerful.
750. Illum. Ille frequently signifies the
former, or first mentioned, and hic the latter,
or last mentioned. In the present case, il-
lum means Clonius, who had fallen from his
restive horse; while hunc means Ericetes,
who fought on foot. Messapus, though the
commander of the horse, was now on foot,
pedes. Infrænis: in the sense of indomiti.
752. Expers: degenerate from-destitute
of. Of ex and pars. The poet here com-
pliments the Valerian family, then very in-
fluential at Rome, to which the famous Pub-
licola belonged. Avita: in the sense of
majorum.
753. Dejicit: prostrates-kills. This verb
is to be supplied with Salius, and Nealces.
754. Longè fallente: striking him from a
distance-it was shot from a distance, and
approached unperceived. Feriente á longin-
quo incautum, says Heyne.
758. Tectis: in the palace of Jove. This
was situated on Mount Olympus. Inanem:
uscloss-tending to no purpose. Vanum.
says Rumus
524
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
At verò ingentem quatiens Mezentius hastam
Turbidus ingreditur campo. Quàm magnus Orion,
764. Cùm incedit pe- Cùm pedes incedit medii per maxima Nerei
des, scindens viam sibi Stagna viam scindens, humero supereminet undas; 760
per maxima stagna Aut summis referens annosam montibus ornum,
Ingrediturque solo, et caput inter nubila condit.
Talis se vastis infert Mezentius armis.
769. Contrà Æneas, Huic contrà Æneas, speculatus in agmine longo,
speculatus eum in longo Obvius ire parat. Manet imperterritus ille,
agmine, parat
772. Emensus oculis Hostem magnanimum opperiens, et mole suâ stat:
spatium, quantum esset Atque oculis spatium emensus, quantum satìs hastæ:
satis haste, ait: hæc Dextra, mihi Deus, et telum, quod missile libro,
dextra, quæ est Deus Nunc adsint! Voveo prædonis corpore raptis
mihi, et hoc missile te-
lum, quod libro, nunc Indutum spoliis ipsum te, Lause, trophæum
Æneæ. Dixit: stridentemque eminùs hastam
adsint mihi!
:
775. O Lause, voveo Injicit illa volans clypeo est excussa, proculque
te ipsum habiturum tro- Egregium Antorem latus inter et ilia figit:
phæum Æneæ, et, fore Herculis Antorem comitem, qui missus ab Argis
indutum spoliis ejus
783. Illa transiit per
Hæserat Evandro, atque Italâ consederat urbe.
cavum orbem clypei trip- Sternitur infelix alieno vulnere, cœlumque
lici ære, per linea terga, Aspicit, et dulces moriens reminiscitur Argos.
opusque intextum
Tum pius Æneas hastam jacit: illa per orbem
785. Imaque pars sui Ere cavum triplici, per linea terga, tribusque
Transiit intextum tauris opus; imaque sedit
sedit in
790. Lausus, ut pri-
mùm vidit genilorem vul- Inguine; sed vires haud pertulit. Ocyùs ensem
Æneas, viso Tyrrheni sanguine, lætus,
neratum
tustas latura est fidem
791. Hic, si qua ve- Eripit à femore, et trepidanti fervidus instat.
tanto operi, equidem non Ingemuit chari graviter genitoris amore,
silebo casum tuæ dure Ut vidit, Lausus; lachrymæque per ora volutæ.
Hic, mortis duræ casum, tuaque optima facta,
mortis
770
775
780
785
790
મ
NOTES.
763. Turbidus: furious-fierce-all in a
rage. It would seem from hence that Me-
-zentius hitherto had only been in the skirts
of the battle. Now he presses on amidst
the thickest ranks, furious for fight. This
agrees best with the following comparison.
Orion is here mentioned, in regard to his
magnitude among the constellations. There
is a great majesty and sublimity in the
figure," O..on marching through the waves.
It is taken from Homer.
764. Nerei. Nereus, a god of the sea,
taken by meton. for the sea itself. Stagna:
properly the deep parts of the sea, or river.
Pedes. a foot-man-on foot.
766. Referens: resembling. This appears
better than to take it with Ruæus in the
sense of reportans. Davidson observes, that
referens here may mean resembling, as it
does in some other places. Valpy says,
"resembling."
773. Dextra Deus. Mezentius is all along
represented as an Atheist, and a monster of
impiety and cruelty. Here the only god he
invokos is his right hand, and the weapons
which he is about to throw. Them he in-
vokes-adsint nunc: may they aid me-
assist my efforts.
777. Injicit. This is the reading of Heyne.
The common reading is jecit, in the perf.
tense. Ruæus and Davidson have at illa.
Heyne omits the at. Valpy does the same.
779. Missus: having come from Argos,
had joined, &c. Antores had been the com-
panion of Hercules in his travels.
*
781. Alieno vulnere: by a wound design-
ed for another. Or, vulnere may be taken
for the weapon inflicting the wound, by me-
ton. By a weapon intended for another-
for Æneas.
783. Orbem, Orbis may be taken simply
for the shield. Rumus says, clypeum. His
shield, it appears, consisted of three plates
of brass, (triplici ære,) and as many thick-
nesses of the bull's hide, (tribus tauris,) so
wrought and interwoven as to be a protec-
tion against missive weapons. These were
fastened and bound together by iron or brass
nails, set thick in every part of the shield.
Hence as is sometimes taken for a shield.
Terga: folds. The spear of Æneas, after
making its way through the shield of Me
ENEIS. LIB. X
525
Si qua fidem tanto est operi latura vetustas,
Non equidem, nec te, juvenis memorande, silebo
Ille pedem referens, et inutilis, inque ligatus
Cedebat, clypeoque inimicum hastile trahebat.
Prorupit juvenis, seseque immiscuit armis.
Jamque assurgentis dextrâ, plagamque ferentis
Æneæ subiit mucronem, ipsumque morando
Sustinuit; socii magno clamore sequuntur;
Dum genitor nati parmâ protectus abiret :
Telaque conjiciunt, proturbantque eminùs hostem
Missilibus. Furit Æneas, tectusque tenet se.
Ac velut, effusâ siquando grandine nimbi
Præcipitant, omnis campis diffugit arator,
Omnis et agricola, et tutâ latet arce viator,
Aut amnis ripis, aut alti fornice saxi,
Dum pluit in terris; ut possint, sole reducto,
Exercere diem: sic obrutus undique telis
Æneas, nubem belli, dum detonet, omnem,
795
793. Nec silebo to ip-
sum, O memorande ju-
venis. Ille pater refe-
rens pedem, et inutilis
pugnæ
798. Subiitqie mu-
cronem Æneæ, jam as-
800 surgentis
805
Sustinet et Lausum increpitat, Lausoque minatur: 810
Quò, moriture, ruis? majoraque viribus audes?
Fallit te incautum pietas tua.
Nec minùs ille
Exsultat demens. Sævæ jamque altiùs iræ
Dardanio surgunt ductori, extremaque Lauso
Parcæ fila legunt. Validum namque exigit ensem,
Per medium Æneas juvenem, totumque recondit.
Transiit et parmam mucro, levia arma minacis,
NOTES.
zentius, had spent its force, haud pertulit
vires; and settled down in his groin.
792. Latura est: will give credit to. Ve-
turtas: in the sense of posteritas vel posteri.
793. Memorande: in the sense of cele-
brande-worthy to be praised.
Here the poet may be supposed to express
his own feelings of pity and compassion for
the fall of so noble a youth. The character
which he has drawn of Lausus shows the
consummate skill of the poet at this species
of description. And surely no one can read
it without partaking of his feelings, and en-
tertaining a regret that so brave, and at the
same time so pious a youth, could not have
been spared to be a blessing to his people.
794. Inque ligatus: by tmesis, for que in-
ligatus: incumbered by the spear of Æneas.
Ille. Mezentius.
796. Prorupit: he sprang forward. Ar-
mis: the weapons of the enemy. One de-
scription of the valiant man, is, that he
mingles with the enemy.
798. Mucronem: the poet here has in his
view a circumstance recorded in the Roman
history. Scipio Africanus, when he was
only seventeen years old, protected his father
in this manner; nor did he retreat until he
had received twenty-seven wounds. Mu-
cronem: in the sense of gladium
815
802. Tectusque clypeo
811. Ait; quo ruis,
O juvenis, moriture
815. Fila vita Lauso
816. Minacis juvenis
799. Sustinuit ipsum: the meaning is,
that he prevented Æneas from giving the
blow, which was aimed at his father, by
parrying it off, and keeping him at bay for
a time, until he could recover himself, and
retire from the coinbat. This he did under
cover of the shield (parma) of his son.
Sequuntur: in the sense of adjuvant. Socii:
the companions of Lausus.
801. Proturbant: keep off-repel. Ruæus
says, propellunt.
803. Nimbi effusâ grandine: a storm of
impetuous hail rushes down. The prep. ex
is understood, to govern effusâ grandine.
804. Omnis arator: every ploughman.
Omnis: all, collectively or individually.
805. Arce. Arx here, as in some other
places, signifies any place of shelter, or safe
retreat. Fornice: under the projection or
covert of a high rock.
808. Exercere dicm: to pursue the labors
of the day. Operari per diem, says Ruæus.
809. Nubem: storm of war.
the sense of furit vel sævit.
Detonet : in
811. Audes majora: thou attemptest things
beyond thy strength-greater than.
815. Parca legunt: the destinies wind up
the last thread, &c. See Ecl. iv. 47. Rumus
says, colligunt.
816. Totum: ensem is understood.
17 Minacis: boasting-bold-daring.
526
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
821. Et ora ejus mo-
rientis
dabitur tibi pro istis
829. Tamen, O infelix
juvenis, tu solabere
Et tunicam, molli mater quam neverat auro;
Implevitque sinum sanguis: tum vita per auras
Concessit mæsta ad Manes, corpusque reliquit.
At verò ut vultum vidit morientis et ora,
Ora modis Anchisiades pallentia miris,
Ingemuit miserans graviter, dextramque tetendit;
Et mentem patriæ subiit pietatis imago :
825. O puer miseran- Quid tibi nunc, miserande puer, pro laudibus istis,
de, quid honoris nunc Quid pius Æneas tanta dabit indole dignum?
Arma, quibus lætatus, habe tua: teque parentum
Manibus, et cineri, si qua est ea cura, remitto.
Hôc tamen, infelix, miseram solabere mortem :
Æneæ magni dextrâ cadis. Increpat ultrò
Cunctantes socios, et terrâ sublevat ipsum,
Sanguine turpantem comptos de more capillos.
Intereà genitor Tiberini ad fluminis undam
Vulnera siccabat lymphis, corpusque levabat,
Arboris acclinis trunco. Procul ærea ramis
Dependet galea, et prato gravia arma quiescunt.
Stant lecti circùm juvenes: ipse æger, anhelans
Colla fovet, fusus propexam in pectore barbam.
Multa super Lauso rogitat: multosque remittit,
840. Qui revocent eum Qui revocent, mæstique ferant mandata parentis.
à prælio
At Lausum socii exanimum super arma ferebant
Flentes, ingentem, atque ingenti vulnere victum
Agnovit longè gemitum præsaga mali mens:
Canitiem immundo deformat pulvere, et ambas
NOTES.
818. Molli auro: with fine threads of gold.
Gold is a very ductile metal, and capable of
being drawn into very fine threads, or wire.
819. Tum vita masta, &c. Dr. Trapp ob-
serves, that every incident in the death of
Lausus is well chosen, especially the con-
trast between so pious a son, and so wicked
a father; between the rash valor of the
youth, and the generous care and friendly
admonition of his heroic enemy. Pallas had
fallen by the hand of Turnus. Lausus and
Pallas were of equal valor; but there is a
wide difference between the conduct and
bravery of their conquerors. Turnus eager-
ly seeks the combat, and challenges the
youthful warrior. He even wishes his father
were present, to behold the death of his son.
Eneas is far from seeking Lausus, and
gling him out as the object of his ven-
gance. And even when he exposed him-
self for the sake of his father, he begged
him to retire from the combat, assuring him
that his tenderness for his father would
bring on him sure destruction. Nor does
he attack him until he is compelled to do it
in his own defence. And after he is slain,
the victor fetches a deep groan, looks upon
him with an eye of pity, and the image of
his filial piety touches his generous heart.
820. Masia: sad-mournful. Concessit :
in the sense of abiit.
820
825
830
835
840
822. Anchisiades: Eneas. A patrony-
mic noun: the son of Anchises.
825. Laudibus: in the sense of virtutibus.
Ruæus says, meritis.
826. Indole: disposition-excellence of
character.
828. Remitto: in the sense of reddo. Cu-
ra: care-solicitude of thine.
831. Ipsum: Lausus.
832. Genitor: the father of Lausus.
834. Siccabat: staunched his wounds with
water-washed them with water, which be-
ing cold, stopped the flowing of the blood.
Ruæus says, tergebat: rinsed-cleansed. Dr.
Trapp takes siccabat in the same sense
Lymphis: in the sense of aquá.
835. Procul: apart by themselves—at
some distance from him. This word usually
implies distance, but that distance may be
very small. Acclinis: leaning against, or
upon. It agrees with Mezentius.
837. Æger: faint with loss of blood.
Fovet: eases-supports. Ruæus says, sus
tentat. He leaned his head forward upon
his breast, spreading his long beard over it.
Fusus: in the sonse of fundens: or,
it may
be taken as a Grecism. Ruæus says, de-
ponens.
841. Super arma: upon his shield.
844. Deformat: he throws dust upon his
head. Canitiem: his hoary hairs.
ÆNEIS. LIB. X
527
845. Inhæret corpora
845
filii
850
Ad cœlum tendit palmas, et corpore inhæret:
Tanta-ne me tenuit vivendi, nate, voluptas,
Ut pro me hostili paterer succedere dextræ,
Quem genui? tua-ne hæc genitor per vulnera servor,
Morte tuâ vivens? Heu! nunc misero mihi demum
Exilium infelix! nunc altè vulnus adactum !
Idem ego, nate, tuum maculavi crimine nomen,
Pulsus ob invidiam solio sceptrisque paternis.
Debueram patriæ pœnas, odiisque meorum :
Omnes per mortes animam sontem ipse dedissem!
Nunc vivo! neque adhuc homines lucemque relinquo !
Sed linquam. Simul hæc dicens, attollit in ægrum
Se femur: et, quanquam vis alto vulnere tardat,
Haud dejectus equum duci jubet. Hoc decus illi,
Hoc solamen erat: bellis hôc victor abibat
847. Ut paterer te,
quem genui, succedere
hostili dextræ pro me?
Ego-ne genitor
849. Nunc demum
exilium es infelix mihi
misero
853. Meorum subdi
854 torum
857. Quanquam vis
doloris ex alto vulnere
tardat eum
Omnibus. Alloquitur mærentem, et talibus infit: 860 860. Mærentem equum,
Rhabe, diu; res si qua diu mortalibus ulla est;
Viximus. Aut hodie victor spolia illa cruenta,
Et caput Æneæ referes, Lausique dolorum
Ultor eris mecum: aut, aperit si nulla viam vis,
Occumbes pariter: neque enim, fortissime, credo
Jussa aliena pati, et dominos dignabere Teucros.
Dixit: et exceptus tergo consueta locavit
Membra; manusque ambas jaculis oneravit acutis ;
Ære caput fulgens, cristâque hirsutus equinâ.
Sic cursum in medios rapidus dedit. Estuat ingens
Imo in corde pudor, mixtoque insania luctu,
NOTES.
846. Voluptas: in the sense of cupido.
847. Succedere: to substitute himself for
ine to the arm of the enemy-to come up
to, &c.
848. Quem genui: whom I begat. This
speech of Mezentius over the dead body of
his son is extremely pathetic. He now sees
the errors of his former conduct, and the
misery to which he had reduced himself
now stares him in the face.
850. Infelix: in the sense of durum, vel
intolerabile. While his son was living, he
could bear up under the burden of exile from
his country and throne; but now he is no
more, it is become insupportable to him,
reduced to a state of wretchedness and de-
spair. The wound (the sense of his wicked-
ness and crimes) is now opened deep and
afresh. Adactum: is driven deep into my
heart. Est: is understood.
851. Idem ego: I, the same father who
begat you, and suffered you to lose your life
for him, have tarnished your good name by
my crimes.
852. Invidiam. This may signify his own
invidious measures, and cruel and tyrannical
government; or the odium and resentment
of his subjects against him, which drove him
from his throne, and brought upon him a
train of evils. The former is the most in
accordance with the context, since he is now
et infit talibus verbis ·
864. Aperit mihi viam
865 ad ultionem
871
865. Pariter mecum:
enim neque credo, O
fortissime equorum, ul
tu dignabere pati
867. Consuetahui
equo
awakened to a sense of his crimes, and-con
demns himself for them. Servius, however,
prefers the latter sense; Davidson the former.
Ruæus says, propter meam cupiditatem.
853. Panas: satisfaction-atonement.-
Dedissem: to the resentment of my people,
I should have given up my guilty life.
856. Ægrum: in the sense of saucium.
857. Vis: the violence of the pain from
the wound he had received.
858. Hoc: this; to wit, his horse.
859. Hôc: here, is in the abl. with this
horse. Equo is understood.
860. Mærentem: sorrowing-grieving. -
Mæstum, says Rumus. Davidson renders it
"sympathizing."
861. Rhabe, diu viximus: such apostro
phes, both to the animal and vegetable world.
so far from being unnatural, are among the
greatest beauties of poetry, and always show
high emotion of soul. Had the poet made
the horse reply to his master, he could not
so easily be justified. This is in imitatior
of Homer.
863. Referes: you shall bear away.
867. Exceptus: being received by the ani-
mal upon his back, he placed.
868. Ornavit: in the sense of armavit.
869. Crista equina: a crest of horse hai
-made of horse hair.
871. Imo. In many of the ancient copies
528
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Et furiis agitatus amor, et conscia virtus.
Atque hic Æneam magnâ ter voce vocavit.
Æneas agnovit eum, lætusque precatur :
875. Faciat, ut tu in- Sic pater ille Deûm faciat, sic altus Apollo,
cipias
Incipias conferre manum.
877. Æneas effatus Tantum effatus, et infestâ subit obvius hastâ.
est tantum
Ille autem: Quid me erepto, sævissime, nato
878. Autem ille Me- Terres? hæc via sola fuit, quâ perdere posses.
sentius ait:
Nec mortem horremus, nec Divûm parcimus ulli :
Desine. Jam venio moriturus; et hæc tibi porto
Dona priùs. Dixit: telumque intorsit in hoster
Inde aliud super atque aliud figitque, volatque
884. Umbo Æneæ sus- Ingenti gyro: sed sustinet aureus umbo.
tinet illa.
adstantem
875
୫୧୦
885
Ter circùm adstantem lævos equitavit in orbes,
885. Circum Ænean Tela manu jaciens: ter secum Troïus heros
887. Immanem sylvam
Immanem ærato circumfert tegmine sylvam.
jaculorum infixam erato Inde ubi tot traxisse moras, tot spicula tædet
888. Tædet Æneam Vellere; et urgetur pugnâ congressus iniquâ :
traxisse tot moras, et Multa movens animo, jam tandem erumpit, et inter 890
vellere tot spicula è cly- Bellatoris equi cava tempora conjicit hastam.
peo
Tollit se arrectum quadrupes, et calcibus auras
Verberat, effusumque equitem super ipse secutus
NOTES.
which Pierius consulted, he found uno corde:
in one and the same breast. Heyne reads
uno. The common reading is imo. Insania:
rage-fury.
872. Et furiis. This verse is wanting in
the ancient Roman manuscript. Heyne
marks it as an interpolation.
876. Conferre manum: to engage with me,
hand to hand. This address of Æneas to the
gods is a fine contrast to the impiety of Me-
zentius, who acknowledges no other deity
than his own arm: verse 773, supra. The
prayer is short, but the approach of a furious
en my would not permit him to say more.
877. Subit: in the sense of occurrit.
878. Quid me terres, &c. Mezentius see-
ing Eneas coming up against him with his
hostile spear, instead of discovering any
signs of fear, appears hardened against the
terrors of death, since his son, for whose
sake he lived, was now taken from him,
nato erepto..
880. Parcimus ulli: Ruæns says, revere-
mur ullum numen: I do not regard any of
the gods. Some take parco in its usual ac-
ceptation, and understand by it that Mezen-
tius would not have spared the gods them-
selves, had they appeared in the field against
him he looked on them as his enemies, and
would have discharged his wrath against
them. Heyne takes parcimus in the sense
of curo-vereor vel metuo.
:
883. Super. This word here is used in
the sense of insuper, vel prætereà. Figit:
in the sense of jacit, vel torquet.
885. Equitavit in lavos orbes: he rode
But
about to the left, that he might reach the
right side of Æneas, which was not protect
ed by his shield; and in this way he turned
quite about, forming an orb, or circle.
Eneas wheeled at the same time, and kept
the same relative situation to his antagonist,
as appears from the next verse: ter Troius:
thrice the Trojan hero, &c.
887. Tegmine: in the sense of clypeo.
Immanem sylvam: this means the spears, or
darts, which Mezentius had thrown at
Eneas, and which stuck in his brazen shield.
These he carried around with him as he
turned, following his antagonist.
Ruœus
says, magnum numerum jaculorum.
888. Traxisse tot moras: to spend so
much time.
889. Congressus: being engaged in un-
equal fight. Mezentius being on horseback,
and Æneas on foot, they were not on equal
terms.
890. Movens: in the sense of revolvens.
892. Calcibus. Calces here doubtless is to
be taken for the fore feet. The horse rear-
ed, or lifted himself upon his hind feet, and
in that position buffetted the air. Posterio-
ribus pedibus, says Heyne.
893. Ipse secutus: by the rearing and
kicking of his horse, Mezentius was thrown
(effusum) to the ground. The horse him-
self soon following, falls upon his rider
(equitem,) and lays upon his shoulder, as he
was thus prostrate. By these means, he was
unable to rise to meet his foe, or defend him-
self in any manner. For secutus Rureus
says, cadens.
ENEIS. LIB. X.
599
894. Implicat Menen-
895 tium equitem
Implicat, ejectoque incumbit cernuus armo.
Clamore incendunt cœlum Troësque Latinique.
Advolat Æneas, vaginâque eripit ensem :
Et super hæc Ubi nunc Mezentius acer, et illa
Effera vis animi? Contrà Tyrrhenus, ut auras
Suspiciens hausit cœlum, mentemque recepit:
Hostis amare, quid increpitas, mortemque minaris? 900
Nullum in cæde nefas, nec sic ad prælia veni;
Nec tecum meus hæc pepigit mihi fœdera Lausus.
Unum hoc, per, si qua est victis venia hostibus, oro;
Corpus humo patiare tegi. Scio acerba meorum
Circumstare odia: hunc, oro, defende furorem,
Et me consortem nati concede sepulchro.
Hæc loquitur, juguloque haud inscius accipit ensem,
Undantique animam diffundit in arma cruore.
NOTES.
894. Implicat: incumbers-presses him
down. Cernuus: Ruæus says, pronus in
caput, referring to the horse.
898. Vis: violence-impetuosity. Ut:
when-as soon as. Ruæus says, postquam.
899. Suspiciens auras hausit. These words
are capable of a two-fold version: as soon
as looking up, he saw the light; taking
colum in the sense of lucem, and supplying
the word oculis. This Heyne prefers. Or,
as soon as looking up, he drew in his breath;
taking cœlum in the sense of spiritum. This
is the sense of Ruæus and Davidson. Au-
ras: the prep. ad, is understood.
902. Pepigit hæc agreed upon these
terms with you for me. Venia: a favor.
897. Et stans super
eum dixit hæc: Ubi eu
nunc
901. Est nullum nefas
in mea cæde: nec sic ve-
ni ad prælia, ut parceres
mihi
903. Per veniam, si
905 qua venia est victis hos-
tibus, ut tu patiare meum
corpus
906. Concede me esse
consortem
that he could claim it as a right. As they
had not been separated in life, he wished
not to be in death. It may here be remark-
ed, that how wicked soever a person may
have been in life, at, the hour of his death,
he earnestly desires the reward of virtue,
and that in the future life, he may be a par-
taker with the righteous.
908. Diffundit: pours out his life. Un-
danti cruore: the blood flowing, or gushing
upon his armor.
It may be remarked here, that the poet
differs widely from the current of historians.
They say, that in a war which broke out be-
tween the Latins and Tuscans, over whom
Mezentius was king, that Æneas was slain
by him in a battle, fought on the banks of
the river Numicus, whose waters carried his
dead body into the sea, where it was never
afterwards found. Hence it was believed.
that he was taken to heaven and made a
906. Concede: grant-permit. Mezentius demi-god.
Mezentius demi-god. This took place about three
desired to be buried in the same grave with years after the building of the city Lavini-.
his son. This he begged as a favor, not um. See Æn. iv. 615.
904. Meorum: of my former subjects.
905. Defende hunc: avert, or forbid the
indulgence of their furious resentment. Ru-
Eus says, contine.
QUESTIONS.
How does this book open?
Where was this council held?
What is the conclusion of their delibera-
tions?
Were there any speeches made upon the
occasion?
What is the subject of the speech of Ve-
nus?
What is the character of it?
What is the nature of Juno's reply?
What is the character of it?
What is the decision of Jove?
Whom does the poet here imitate?
What book of the Iliad?
Where is mount Olympus?
Why was it taken by the poets for heaven?
Why is it here called omnipotens?
Where was Æneas during the transactions
of the preceding book?
Having effected his object, does he make
any further delay?
What part of his allies did he send by
land?
By whom is he met on his way down the
Tiber?
Who was the chief speaker among those
nymphs?
Did she give him any particular informa-
tion?
What was that information?
How was Turnus engaged in the mean
time?
On the arrival of Æneas, what course did
Turnus adopt?
35
530
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Would this give him any advantage over
the enemy?
How did Æneas effect a landing?
Into how many divisions were his troops
arranged?
Was any loss sustained in landing?
Who assault him with fury?
Why do the Tuscans attack him in this
manner?
What effect had their assault upon him?
Whom of them did he kill?
Dare any of them engage him hand to
Who commanded that division of the hand?
fleet?
Dia Turnus effectually prevent the land-
ing of Æneas?
What took place after the landing?
What feats of valor did Æneas perform?
Who was the first killed by him?
What took place in the wing commanded
by Pallas?
Why were the Arcadians beaten by the
Latins?
What was the nature of the ground, where
they were engaged?
Upon this occcasion, what did Pallas do?
What effect had his address upon his
troops?
What feats of valor did he then perform?
Whom did he kill?
Who commanded the troops opposed to
Pallas?
Who was Lausus?
What feats of valor did he perform?
What were the ages of these young com-
manders?
Why did not the poet make them engage
each other?
By whom were they slain?
•
Does he finally put them all to flight?
At this time, how stands the scale of
victory?
Eneas observed Mezentius thundering
through the thickest of the enemy, putting
whole squadrons to flight; and what did he
resolve to do? .
Is Mezentius ready to meet him?
Who commences the assault?
Did his spear hit Æneas?
Whom did it kill?
Who was this Antores? Was he a valiant
champion?
Had the spear of Eneas any effect upon
Mezentius?
Was the wound mortal?
Who succors him in this critical moment?
How does Lausus meet the foe?
What effect had the sight of him upon
Eneas?
Does he make an address to him?
Is it a source of regret to him, to kill so
noble a youth?
What becomes of his father in the mean
time?
Does he express any concern about his
In what pious duty did Lausus meet his son?
death?
After the death of Pallas, what took place?
Who was the principal agent in effecting
this defeat of the Trojans?
At this crisis, what did Æneas do to re-
store the fight?
Why does he go in search of Turnus?
By whom are the Trojans enabled to per-
form such feats of valor?
What did Juno do in the mean time?
What effect had her speech upon Jove?
Does she give any assistance to the Latins?
What then is she permitted to do for
Turnus?
How does she effect that object?
Where does she conduct him?
What does he do?
After being informed of his death, what
resolution does he take?
Having arrived on the field of battle, does
he challenge the foe?
Is Eneas ready to meet him?
Who commenced the fight?
What effect had his darts upon his anta-
gonist?
Where did Æneas direct his dart?
Did he kill the faithful courser?
What effect had the pain of the wound
upon him?
Did he throw his rider? And what did he
do afterwards?
Did Æneas kill Mezentius in this situa-
When he discovered the deception, what tion?
effect had it upon him?
What did he do?
What was the character of that address?
Is he in any way thankful for the favor of
Juno?
If he must die, where did he desire to
do it?
Who prevented him from killing himself
in this state of distraction?
Whither was he finally carried by the
winds?
Who succeeded Turnus in the command?
What feats of valor did he perform?
Was this a fair trial of strength and dex-
terity?
Did Mezentius beg any favor of the victor?
What was that favor?
Does the poet here agree with historians,
in this particular?
Do they inform us that Mezentius was
slain by Æneas?
Who then was the victor in the combat?
Where was the battle fought?
How long after his settlement in Italy,
and the building of Lavinium?
What became of the body of Æneas?'
LIBER UNDECIMUS.
THE death of Mezentius turned the scale of victory in favor of the Trojans, and thei.
allies.
This book opens with preparations for burying the dead, and performing the funeral rites
to Pallas. A thousand men accompany his corpse to the city of Evander in slow and
solemn procession.
In the mean time, ambassadors arrive from Latinus, praying for a truce, for the purpose
of burying their dead. Æneas grants their request.
While these things are going on in the field, fear and alarm pervade the city of Latinus.
Here Turnus had arrived. Drances, an aged and influential counsellor, accuses him
of being the cause of the war, and the author of their calamities; and urges him to
decide the dispute by single combat. Turnus however has many friends, who recount
his noble deeds of valor. At this juncture, the ambassadors, who had been sent to the
court of Diomede (Lib. 8.) returned. Latinus calls a council of all his senators and
nobles to receive the reply, and to consult upon the present state of affairs. Venulus,
the chief of the embassy, gives a full account of the mission; of his reception by Dio-
mede; of the opinion of that monarch concerning the war, and the reason of his de-
clining any interference in it. Latinus gives his opinion in favor of peace, and proposes
to send ambassadors with rich presents to Æneas, bearing proposals of peace and amity.
Drances follows in a speech of much virulence and invective against Turnus, accusing
him of flight and cowardice, and proposed, if he were the mighty champion he claimed
to be, that he should decide the dispute by single combat with Æneas, and prevent
further effusion of blood.
Turnus replies in a manly strain: he repeis the charge of cowardice by adverting to his
noble achievements. to the thousands whom he had slain, and to the dismay which he
had occasioned to the whole Trojan camp. He endeavors to allay their fears, and to
inspire them with the hope of success. He recounts the valor of his troops; he men-
*ions the cause in which they were engaged-the cause of their country: nor does he
omit to mention the number, and fidelity of his allies. He concludes by observing, that-
he would not decline to meet the conqueror, if the common good required it; nor had
he been so much abandoned by victory, as to refuse an enterprise of so glorious prospect,
even though his enemy should prove himself a great Achilles. The whole of Turnus'
speech bespeaks the soldier and the hero.
A messenge now arrives informing of the approach of the Trojans. The council dis-
solves. All prepare to defend the city. Turnus gives commands to several of his officers,
arms himself, and appears at the head of his troops. Here he has an interview with
Camilla. He confers on her the chief command of the horse, assisted by Messapus,
with direction to engage the Tuscan cavalry in close fight, while he, with a chosen body
of troops, would lie in ambush in a woody vale, through which, according to his infor
mation, Eneas would, with the main body of his army, advance upon the city.
The Tuscan horse in the mean time approach the city, and the embattled squadrons are
arranged in order of battle in front of each other. The Trojans commence the attack
and repulse the Latins, who rally, and in turn drive the Trojans. At length a most
desperate conflict takes place. Camilla displayed distinguished skill and valor. She
rode among the thickest combatants, and whole squadrons fled before her. Tarchon
rallies as flying Tuscans, and renews the fight. Camilla is at last slain by Aruns; who
also loses inis lite. The Trojans gain a victory. The expiring queen sends a messenger
to inform Turnus of the event of the contest. He instantly leaves his retreat, and
marches into the plain. No sooner had he done this, than Æneas, with his army, entered
the defile, passed it, and reached the plain.
The battle would have been renewed between the rival princes, but night approached.
Both armies encamp in sight of each other, and wait the coming day.
4
532
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
vebat vota Deûm primo
Eöo, quanquam
7. Quod erat trophæum
tibi, O magne
OCEANUM intereà surgens Aurora reliquit.
2. Eneas, victor sol- Æneas, quanquam et sociis dare tempus humandis
Præcipitant curæ, turbataque funere mens est,
Vota Deûm primo victor solvebat Eöo.
Ingentem quercum decisis undique ramist
Constituit tumulo, fulgentiaque induit arma,
Mezentî ducis exuvias; tibi, magne, trophæum,
Bellipotens: aptat rorantes sanguine cristas,
Telaque trunca viri, et bis sex thoraca petitum
Perfossumque locis: clypeumque ex ære sinistræ
Subligat, atque ensem collo suspendit eburnum.
Tum socios, namque omnis eum stipata tegebat
Turba ducum, sic incipiens hortatur ovantes :
14. O viri, maxima Maxima res effecta, viri: timor omnis abesto.
rex est
est
10
20
Quod superest: hæc sunt spolia, et de regc superbo 15
16. Mezentius casus Primitia: manibusque meis Mezentius hic est.
Nunc iter ad regem nobis murosque Latinos.
Arma parate, animis et spe præsumite bellum :
19. Ne qua mora im- Ne qua mora ignaros, ubi primùm vellere signa
pediaɩ vos ignaros, sen- Annuerint Superi, pubemque educere castris,
tentiaque tardet vos seg- Impediat, segnesque metu sententia tardet.
nes metu, ubi primùm
Intereà socios inhumataque corpora terræ
Mandemus: qui solus honos Acheronte sub imo est.
Ite, ait: egregias animas, quæ sanguine nobis
Hanc patriam peperêre suo, decorate supremis
Muneribus: mæstamque Evandri primus ad urbem
Mittatur Pallas, quem non virtutis egentem
Abstulit atra dies, et funere mersit acerbo.
Sic ait illachrymans, recipitque ad limina gressum
3. Funere: at the death of Pallas.
NOTES.
4. Primo Eöo. Eous here is taken as a
substantive: with the first dawning light.
The first business of the pious Eneas is to
return thanks to the gods for his victory,
although he wished to perform the last offi-
ces to his friends and companions in arms,
and especially to Pallas.
6. Tumulo: on a rising ground. This
trophy was consecrated to Mars, the god of
war. It consisted of a trunk of a tree
placed in the ground, with its branches cut
off, and dressed in shining armor, the spoils
(exuvias) of Mezentius, whom it was in-
tended to represent. It had his waving
plumes, his breast-plate, perforated in seve-
ral places, his brazen shield bound to his left
arm, and his ivory handled sword suspended
from his neck.
8. Rorantes: besmeared with blood-
dripping with blood.
9. Petitum: struck, or hit.
15. Hæc sunt spolia. By the rex superbus
here, some understand Turnus: from him he
had won the spoils in general, to which he
first points; then to the trophy representing
Mezentius, which he had just erected, and
hung around with his arms.
is Mezentius slain by my hand.
25
Hic est: here
16. Primitia: the first fruits; put in ap-
position with hæc spolia. These Æneas here
dedicated to Mars, the warrior god, in the
same manner as the first fruits of the earth
were offered to the gods.
18. Præsumite: anticipate.
the sense of pugnam.
Bellum: in
19. Ubi primùm Superi: when first the
gods permit us, &c. They never raised or
pulled up the standards to march, without
first consulting the gods.
21. Sententia metu: resolution-purpose
accompanied by fear. The same as dubia
sententia.
opinion, that those who were unburied could
23. Qui honos solus. It was the received
not pass over the river Styx into the peace-
ful abodes of the happy, till after the revo-
lution of a hundred years; which time the
shade or umbra, roamed at large along its
banks, in anxious expectation of the appoint-
ed period. See Æn. vi. 325, et sequens.
Acheronte. Acheron here is used for the re-
gions below, in general.
25.Peperêre: gotten--obtained--procured.
29. Recipitque gressum.
This alludes
ENEIS. LIB. X
533
Corpus ubi exanimi positum Pallantis Acœtes
30
Servabat senior, qui Parrnasio Evandro
32. Sed tum ibat co-
Armiger antè fuit; sed non felicibus æquè
Tum comes auspiciis charo datus ibat alumno.
Circùm omnis famulûmque manus, Trojanaque turba,
Et mæstum Iliades crinem de more solutæ.
;
Ut verò Æneas foribus sese intulit altis
Ingentem gemitum tunsis ad sidera tollunt
Pectoribus, mœstoque immugit regia luctu.
Ipse caput nivei fultum Pallantis et ora
Ut vidit, levique patens in pectore vulnus
Cuspidis Ausoniæ, lachrymis ita fatur obortis :
Te-ne, inquit miserande puer, cùm læta veniret,
Invidit fortuna mihi? ne regna videres
Nostra, neque ad sedes victor veherere paternas ?
Non hæc Evandro de te promissa parenti
Discedens dederam; cùm me complexus euntem
Mitteret in magnum imperium; metuensque moneret
Acres esse viros, cum durâ prælia gente.
Et nunc ille quidem spe multùm captus inani,
Fors et vota facit, cumulatque altaria donis.
Nos juvenem exanimum, et nil jam cœlestibus ullis
Debentem, vano mœsti comitamur honore.
Infelix, nati funus crudele videbis !
Hi nostri reditus, expectatique triumphi !
Hæc mea magna fides! At non, Evandre, pudendis
Vulneribus pulsum aspicies: nec sospite dirum
NOTES.
to the custom of laying out the dead in the
vestibule, or entrance before the door, after
it was washed, anointed, and crowned with
garlands. In such a place was the dead
body of Pallas laid out, and watched by his
aged friend Acœtes.
•
31. Parrhasio. Evander is called Par-
rhasian, from Parrhasia, a country, and also
a city, of Arcadia, where he was born.
33. Comes: guardian, or tutor. Datus:
appointed.
35. Iliades mœstum. The poet here repre-
sents the Trojan matrons standing around
the corpse of Pallas, in mourning attire. He
had before told us, Æn. ix. 216, that Æneas
left them all in Sicily, except the mother of
Euryalus. Servius understands female slaves
in this place. But they are never called
Iliades. The poet would have, probably,
altered the passage, had he lived to put the
last hand to the Æneid.
39. Nivei Pallantis. The epithet niveus
here may refer to the fairness of his face
and countenance while living; or more pro-
bably to his countenance now white, and
pale. and cold in death. Fultum: support
ed--bolstered up.
41. Cuspidis. Cuspis is here taken for
the whole spear, by synec. It is the spear
mes datus charo alumno
non æquè
34. Omnisque manus
35 &c. stant circùm
40
45
35. Solutæ
mæstum crinem
quoad
48. Moneret me Lat
nos esse acres viros, et
50 prælia esse mihi cum
54. Hi sunt nostri pro
55 missi reditus
with which Turnus killed the noble youth .
here called Ausonian, or Italian.
42. Invidit-ne fortuna: did fortune, when
she came propitious, (læta,) envy thee to me,
O lamented youth?
44. Veherere: in the sense of reducereris.
47. In magnum imperium: against a pow-
erful empire. Or it may mean, in prospect
of a mighty empire. The former best agrees
with what follows. Ruæus says, in magnum
imperium Etruscorum: which is the sense of
Valpy. Heyne refers it to Latium, to the
government of which Æneas was about to
succeed. It was by the aid of Evander that
he overcame the Rutuli and Latini.
50. Fors in the sense of fortasse.
51. Nil debentem ullis. Commentators
subject of the gods above, but in the power
understand by this, his being no longer a
of the gods below. But it may mean, that
he was now discharged from every vow
which he had made to the celestial gods-
that he would never return to perform any
he had made himself, or which his father
was making for him. Vano: unavailing.
Inutili, says Ruæus. All their pomp (honore)
and parade were of no avail to him.
living are subject to the gods above, the
dea 1 to those below :" Valpy.
"The
56. Pulsum: in the sense of cœsum
534
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
?
Optabis nato funus pater. Hei mihi! quantum
58. Tu, O Ausonia, Præsidium, Ausonia, et quantum tu perdis, Iüle!
in Pallante
Hæc ubi deflevit, tolli miserabile corpus
Imperat; et toto lectos ex agmine mittit
Mille viros, qui supremum comitentur honorem,
62. Quæ sunt exigua Intersintque patris lachrymis: solatia luctus
Exigua ingentis, misero sed debita patri.
solatia
texunt crates
64. Alii haud segnes Haud segnes alii crates et molle feretrum
Arbuteis texunt virgis, et vimine querno,
Extructosque toros obtentu frondis inumbrant.
Hìc juvenem agresti sublimem in stramine ponunt :
68. Talem, qualem Qualem virgineo demessum pollice florem
florem seu mollis viola, Seu mollis violæ, seu languentis hyacinthi;
seu languentis hyacin- Cui neque fulgor adhuc, necdum sua forma recessit t;
thi, demessum
Non jam mater alit tellus, viresque ministrat.
Tum geminas vestes, auroque ostroque rigentes,
Extulit Æneas: quas illi læta laborum
Ipsa suis quondam manibus Sidonia Dido
Fecerat, et tenui telas discreverat auro.
76. Quasi supremum Harum unam juveni, supremum mæstus honorem
77. Alterâque
comas
81. Manus
veste
quasi amictu obnubit Induit, arsurasque comas obnubit amictu.
Multaque prætereà Laurentis præmia pugnæ
eorum, Aggerat, et longo prædam jubet ordine duci.
quos mitteret lanquam Addit equos et tela, quibus spoliaverat hostem.
Vinxerat et post terga manus, quos mitteret umbris
Inferias, cæso sparsuros sanguine flammam;
inferias umbris Pallan-
lis
82. Flammam rogi
NOTES.
Though it would be a source of grief to see
his son a corpse; it would nevertheless be
some mitigation of that sorrow, to find that
he fell not by dishonorable wounds-that he
fell facing his enemy, and not in flight. It
was considered disgraceful to be slain, or to
receive a wound in the back. Pudendis: in
the sense of indecoris.
57. Nec pater optabis: These words are
susceptible of a double meaning: the father
will not imprecate a cruel death to himself,
in consequence of the disgrace of his son:
or, he will not imprecate a cruel death upon
his son, whose life had been disgracefully
preserved. This last is the sense given to the
passage by Davidson. Ruæus says, nec op-
tabis tibi mortem acerbam, filio turpiter salvo,
taken it in the former sense. This is also
the opinion of Heyne.
58. Præsidium: protection.
59. Ubi deflevit: when he said these
things weeping-having spoken these things
with tears.
62. Intersint: may be present at, or bear
a part with.
64. Segnes: in the sense of tardi.
65. Arbuteis: of the arbute tree.
66. Toros: here is the bed raised, or made
high upon the fevetrum, or bier. Obtentu
frondis. Ruæus says, umbraculo foliorum.
They shaded the bed by spreading (obtentu)
eafy branches over it.
60
65
Ο
75
80
67. Stramine agresti. By this we are to
understand the bed mentioned in the pre-
ceding line. It is called agresti, rural, or rus-
tic, because it was made of the green boughs
of trees, leaves, &c. Stramen, from sterno
properly signifies any thing placed, or
strewed under as a bed; such as straw,
leaves, &c.
68. Qualem florem: This is a beautiful
simile. He looks fair, and still blooming
like a flower, just plucked by the the vir-
gin's hand.
69. Languentis. This very beautifully
represents the hyacinth, just after it is
plucked, beginning to fade, and droop its
head.
70. Forma: beauty-comeliness.
74. Quas Sidonia Dido ipsa which Si-
donian Dido herself, pleased with the labor,
had made, &c.
75. Discreverat. Ruæus says, distinxerat.
Tenui auro: with a slender thread of gold.
77. Obnubit: he binds up, or veils.
78. Pugna: of the battle, fought upon
the plains of Laurentum.
81. Vinxerat manus: he bound the hands
of those, &c. This barbarous custom the
poet takes from Homer. It might suit the
temper of Achilles, but does not agree with
that of Æneas.
82. Caso in the sense of fuso. Inferias:
sacrifices for the dead. Ūmɔris: to the
ENEIS. LIB. XI.
535
Indutosque jubet truncos hostilibus armis
Ipsos ferre duces, inimicaque nomina figi.
Ducitur infelix ævo confectus Acœtes,
Pectora nunc fœdans pugnis, nunc unguibus ora:
Sternitur et toto projectus corpore terræ.
Ducunt et Rutulo perfusos sanguine currus.
Post bellator equus, positis insignibus, Æthon
84. Figi hu truncis
85 arborum.
90
[tur,
It lachrymans, guttisque humectat grandibus ora.
Hastam alii galeamque ferunt; nam cætera Turnus
Victor habet. Tum mosta phalanx, Teucrique sequun-
Tyrrhenique duces, et versis Arcades armis.
Postquam omnis longè comitum processerat ordo,
Substitit Æneas, gemituque hæc addidit alto:
Nos alias hinc ad lachrymas eadem horrida belli
Fata vocant. Salve æternùm mihi, maxime Palla,
Æternùmque vale. Nec plura effatus, ad altos
Tendebat muros, gressumque in castra ferebat.
Jamque oratores aderant ex urbe Latina,
Velati ramis oleæ, veniamque rogantes,
Corpora, per campos ferro quæ fusa jacebant,
Redderet, ac tumulo sineret succedere terræ :
Nullum cum victis certamen, et æthere cassis ;
Parceret hospitibus quondam, socerisque vocatis.
NOTES.
shade of Pallas. Eight prisoners were sent
as victims to be offered at the funeral pile of
Pallas. The poet mentions this circum-
stance, without any expression of disappro-
bation. It is true, Achilles, in the Iliad,
does the same thing at the tomb of his friend
Patroclus; but he is represented as a person
of a very different character from Eneas,
the hero of the Æneid. And moreover, the
loss which he had sustained was more se-
vere, and his grief more poignant. But
above all, he lived in a state of society very
different from that in which Virgil lived.
These things serve in some measure to miti-
gate the enormity of the deed. And yet
there is one passage of Homer, which Eu-
stathius understands as conveying a strong
censure of the barbarous act.
The practice of sacrificing prisoners at
the funerals of their generals, in process of
time, appeared to the Romans barbarous
and cruel. They therefore changed it, says
Servius, for the milder shows of the gladia-
tors! See Æn. x. 518. et seq.
83. Truncos: trunks of trees. These were
considered the less trophy, and were carried
in the hand. They were dressed in the
spoils of the enemy.
84. Inimica nomina: the names of the
enemies to be inscribed upon them.
95
- 100
103. Ut ille redderet
illis corpora, quæ
104. Esse illi nullum
certamen cum victis, et
iis cassis æthere, ut par-
105 ceret iis
being laid aside, he is now dressed in
mourning. Pòst: behind.
90. It lachrymans: he moves on weeping.
Virgil here is indebted to Homer for this
thought, Iliad. 17. Where the horses of
Achilles are represented as weeping at the
death of their master, and obstinately re-
fusing to obey their driver. Both Aristotle
and Pliny say, that horses often lament their
masters slain in battle, and even shed tears
over them.
94. Processerat. This is the common read-
ing. Davidson reads præcesserat, upon the
authority of Pierius, who assures us he found
that reading in the Roman, and other manu-
scripts, which he consulted. Heyne reads
processerat. Ordo: the procession.
96. Ad alias lachrymas: to other scenes
of sorrow-to the burial of the other dead.
97. Salve mihi. This is after the manner
of the Greeks, who used their personal pro-
noun in the same manner. Salve-vale:
these were the novissima verba, or last words,
with which they departed from the funeral.
Farewell for ever, farewell for ever, most illus
trious Pallas. Fata: state-condition.
101. Veniam: the favor, that he would
restore to them, &c.
102. Fusa: in the sense of casa vel strata.
103. Succedere tumulo: to be buried, or
87. Sternitur terræ: he grovels, or rolls interred in the earth.
on the ground.
89. Æthon: the name of the horse of
Pallas. Insignibus positis: his trappings
104. Cassis: deprived of: a part. from
careo. Æthere: in the sense of luce.
105. Quondam: his former host-friend.
536
P VIRGILII MARONIS
106. Quos precantes Quos bonus Æneas, haud aspernanda precantes,
ea quæ sunt haud
Prosequitur veniâ, et verbis hæc insuper addit
Quænam vos tanto fortuna indigna, Latini,
109. Vos, qui fugiatis Implicuit bello, qui nos fugiatis amicos?
nos
et vivis
112. Nec veni huc, nisi
Pacem me exanimis, et Martis sorte peremptis
111. Concedere pacem Oratis? equidem et vivis concedere vellem.
Nec veni, nisi fata locum sedemque dedissent;
Nec bellum cum gente gero. Rex nostra reliquit
Hospitia, et Turni potiùs se credidit armis.
Aquiùs huic Turnum fuerat se opponere morti
116. Si ille apparat Si bellum finire manu, si pellere Teucros
finire
et
127. Hæc tua verba
129. Alia fœdera
130. Quin juvabit nos,
Apparat, his decuit mecum concurrere telis:
Vixêt, cui vitam Deus aut sua dextra dedisset.
Nunc ite, et miseris supponite civibus ignem.
Dixerat Æneas. Olli obstupuere silentes;
Conversique oculos inter se atque ora tenebant.
Tum senior, semperque odiis et crimine Drances
Infensus juveni Turno, sic ore vicissim
Orsa refert: O famâ ingens, ingentior armis,
Vir Trojane, quibus cœlo te laudibus æquem?
Justitiæ-ne priùs mirer, belli-ne laborum?
Nos verò hæc patriam grati referemus ad urbem .
Et te, si qua viam dederit fortuna, Latino
Jungemus regi: quærat sibi fœdera Turnus.
Quin et fatales murorum attollere moles,
Saxaque subvectare humeris Trojana juvabit.
Dixerat hæc unoque omnes eadem ore fremebant
Bis senos pepigêre dies; et, pace sequestrâ,
NOTES.
Soceris: parents-in-law, Latinus and Ama-
ta. By marrying Lavinia, he would become
related to the whole Latin nation.
107. Prosequitur veniâ: he follows, or
accompanies them with the desired favor.
He granted their request as soon as asked.
It was reasonable in its nature, and conso-
nant with the laws of war.
109. Implicuit: hath entangled-involved.
110. Pacem, me. This is the reading of
Heyne, and Valpy after him. Some ancient
copies have the same. The common read-
ng is pacem-ne. Peremptis: for those slain
by the lot of war. Martis: for belli.
112. Veni: in the sense of venissem.
115. Æquiùs fuerat: it had been more
just that Turnus, &c. It may nere be re-
marked, that Latinus did not take part with
Turnus of his own free will and accord; but
was forced into it by the importunities of
his wife Amata. He was convinced that he
acted against the will and purposes of the
gods, in so doing.
117 Apparat: in the sense of statuit.
Manu: by force, or valor.
118. Vixêt: by syncope, for vixisset: the
one of us would have lived, to whom, &c.
It appears here that the first proposal of end-
110
. 115
120
125.
130
ing the war by single combat was made by
Eneas.
122. Odiis et: in hatred and crimination
inimical, &c. Drances embraced every op-
portunity to vent his envy and hatred against
Turnus, and to throw upon him all the blame
of the war. It is supposed, that under the
character of Drances, the poet portrays
Cicero, who was no friend of Virgil. See
infra, 336. et seq.
124. Orsa: in the sense of verba.
126. Justitia-ne: this is the common
reading. Catrou however reads, justitiâ-ne
priùs mirer, belli-ne laborê, which Pierius
says, is the reading of the Roman, and of
some other manuscripts of antiquity. Ser-
vius justifies the common reading, by making
it a Grecism. Priùs: chiefly, or most. Shall
I most admire thy justice, or thy achieve-
ments in war? Rumus says: Admirabor te
ob justitiam, an ob opera bellica. Heyne
reads, as in the text.
130. Moles murorum: your walls-or the
towers and fortifications built upon them.
Fatales: destined by the fates.
133. Sequestra: intervening-intermedi-
ate. They had agreed upon a truce, or
cessation of hostilities for twelve days, for
ÆNEIS. LIB. XI
537
Per sylvas Teucri, mixtique impunè Latini,
Erravêre jugis. Ferro sonat alta bipenni
Fraxinus: evertunt actas ad sidera pinus:
Robora nec cuneis, et olentem scindere cedrum,
Nec plaustris cessant vectare gementibus ornos.
Et jam fama volans, tanti prænuntia luctûs,
Evandrum Evandrique domos et mœnia complet;
Quæ modò victorem Latio Pallanta ferebat.
Arcades ad portas ruêre, et de more vetusto
Funereas rapuêre faces; lucet via longo
Ordine flammarum, et latè discriminat agros.
135
135. Et in jugis
137. Nec cessant scin
140
Contrà turba Phrygum veniens plangentia jungunt 145
Agmina. Quæ postquam matres succedere tectis
Viderunt, mostam incendunt clamoribus urbem.
At non Evandrum potis est vis ulla tenere;
Sed venit in medios. Feretro Pallanta repôsto
dere
141. Eadem fama, quæ
modò ferebat Latio Pai
lanta esse victorem
146. Quæ agmina
postquam matres
151 151. Præ dolore
Procumbit super, atque hæret lachrymansque gemensque :
Et via vix tandem voci laxata dolore est :
Non hæc, ô Palla, dederas promissa parenti,
Cautiùs ut sævo velles te credere Marti!
Haud ignarus eram, quantum nova gloria in armis,
Et prædulce decus primo certamine posset.
Primitia juvenis miseræ bellique propinqui
Dura rudimenta ! et nulli exaudita Deorum
Vota, precesque meæ ! tuque, ô sanctissima conjux,
Felix morte tuâ, neque in hunc servata dolorem!
Contrà ego vivendo vici mea fata, superstes
Restarem ut genitor. Troûm socia arma secutum
Obruerent Rutuli telis! animam ipse dedissem;
Atque hæc pompa domum me, non Pallanta, referret!
Nec vos arguerim, Teucri, nec fœdera, nec quas
NOTES
the purpose of burying the dead, and other
rites of sepulture. This was intermediate
between the war, before and after; during
which time no act of hostility could be done
by either party. Hence the propriety of the
word impunè in the following line, in safety,
or without fear of injury.
135. Ferro bipenni: an axe with two
edges, one that cuts both ways.
136. Actas: raised-grown up to.
139. Prænuntia: a forerunner, or har-
Linger, in apposition with fama.
140. Complet. This is the common read-
ing. But Pierius observes that most of the
ancient manuscripts have replet.
་
155
160
156. O miseræ primi-
tiæ juvenis
161. Ut ego genitor
restarem superstes filio.
Rutuli obruerent me
149. Repôsto: for reposito. The bier being
placed on the ground.
151. Tandem vix dolore via. At the first
sight of the corpse, he was overwhelmed
with grief, which entirely prevented his
speech. At length, however, recovering
from it, he gives utterance to the effusions
of his heart, but with difficulty. A true
pathos pervades this whole speech of Evan-
der. The various turns of passion, and the
alternate addresses to the living and the
dead, are the very language of sorrow.
155. Decus: in the sense of honor. Posset
in the sense of valeret.
156. Primitia: beginnings-essays. Pro
143. Longo ordine: in a long train, or pinqui: neighboring-confederated, or al
Succession. Ruæus says, long serie.
i
144. Discriminat. This word Rumus in-
terprets by dividit. Davidson renders it
"illuminates."
145. Contrà: in an opposite direction-
meeting the mourners from the city.
147. Incendunt: in the sense of concitant.
Rumus says, commovent.
148. Potis est: the same as potest.
lied.
Evander assisted Æneas as an ally:
their arms were associated in the war. Ru
æus says, vicini.
157. Rudimenta: in the senso of experi-
menta.
160. Ego vici mea fata: I have overcume
my time by living-I have outlived my time.
Or, fata may mean the purposes and de-
crees of the gods; that regular and ordinary
P VIRGILII MARONIS
538
Junxinus hospitio, dextras: sors ista senectæ
Debita erat nostræ! Quòd si immatura manebat
Mors natum; cæsis Volscorum millibus antè,
Ducentem in Latium Teucros, cecidisse juvabit.
Quin ego non alio digner te funere, Palla,
Quàm pius Æneas, et quàm magni Phryges, et quàm
171. Dignati sunt te. Tyrrhenique duces, Tyrrhenûm exercitus omnis.
Illi ferunt magna tro- Magna trophæa ferunt, quos dat tua dextera leto.
phua ex illis, quos Tu quoque nunc stares immanis truncus in armis,
174. Si esset mihi par Esset par ætas, et idem si robur ab annis,
atas, et idem robur ab Turne. Sed infelix Teucros quid demoror armis ?
annis tecum; tu, O Vadite, et hæc memores regi mandata referte :
Turne
vides
181. Nec est fas: sed
capio perferre hunc nun-
tium mortis Turni
176. Vestro regi: 0 Quòd vitam moror invisam, Pallante perempto,
Ænea, tua dextra est Dextera causa tua est; Turnum natoque patrique
causa, quòd
Quam debere vides meritis. Vacat hic tibi solus
179. Quam dextram Fortunæque locus. Non vitæ gaudia quæro,
Nec fas: sed nato Manes perferre sub imos.
Aurora intereà miseris mortalibus almam
Extulerat lucem, referens opera atque labores.
Jam pater Æneas, jam curvo in litore Tarchon
Constituêre pyras: huc corpora quisque suorum
More tulere patrum: subjectisque ignibus atris
Conditur in tenebras altum caligine cœlum.
Ter circum accensos, cincti fulgentibus armis,
189. Rogos suorum Decurrêre rogos: ter mæstum funeris ignem
Lustravêre in equis, ululatusque ore dedêre.
Spargitur et tellus lachrymis, sparguntur et arma.
It cœlo clamorque virûm, clangorque tubarum.
Hinc alii spolia occisis direpta Latinis
amicorum
195. Pars conjiciunt
mortuis nota munera, Conjiciunt igni, galeas, ensesque decoros,
nempe, clypeos
Frænaque, ferventesque rotas: pars, munera nota,
NOTES.
course of things, which takes place in the
world: which is, that the son should outlive
the father. This is the sense given by Heyne.
Valpy says, "I have survived my own fate
-I have exceeded the natural bounds of
ife."
165. Sors: calamity.
168. Juvabit: it will console me that he
fell leading, or preparing the way for, the
Trojans, &c.
169. Digner non: I cannot honor thee,
&c. Rumus says, non honorabo.
170. Phryges: the Trojans. They are so
called from Phrygia, a country of the lesser
Asia. It was divided into the greater and
the less. The less Phrygia was also called
Troas, the ancient kingdom of the Trojans.
174. Par ætas, &c. This may refer to
refer to
Pallas or Evander; neither of whom was
able by inequality of age and strength to
meet Turnus. Ďavidson refers it to the
father: who, had his age permitted, would
have gone to the war in person. And in
this case, had he met Turnus, he would
have been victorious, and brought back his
165
*69
175
180
185
190
195
trophy to grace his triumph. See 6. supra
175. Armis: in the sense of ab bello.
179. Quam: which (right hand) you see,
owes Turnus to the son and father deserv-
ing it. Meritis: a part. plu. agreeing with
the nouns nato and patri. Heyne connects
meritis with vacat. Ruxus and Davidson,
with nato patrique.
180. Hic locus vacat: this method alone
remains to thee, and thy fortune. Modus
solandi me restat tibi, says Ruæus. For va
cat, Heyne says relictus est.
187. Caligine: in the sense of fumo. In te-
nebras. Ruæus says, in similitudinem noctis.
189. Cincti: clad in shining armor they
marched, &c. Lustravêre in equis: they
rode around. The former has reference to
that part of the ceremony performed by the
infantry, or foot; the latter, to that per-
formed by the horse, or cavalry. Funeris:
in the sense of pyræ.
192. It cœlo: in the sense of tollitur að
cœlum.
193. Hinc: in the next place-after this.
195. Ferventes: in the sense of rapidus,
ENEIS. LIB XI.
539
Ipsorum clypeos, et non felicia tela.
Multa boum circà mactantur corpora morti:
Setigerosque sues, raptasque ex omnibus agris
In flammam jugulant pecudes. Tum litore toto
Ardentes spectant socios, semiustaque servant
Busta: neque avelli possunt, nox humida donec
Invertit cœlum stellis fulgentibus aptum.
200
205
Tunc undique vasti
Nec minùs et miseri diversâ in parte Latini
Innumeras struxêre pyras; et corpora partim
Multa virûm terræ infodiunt; avectaque partim
Finitimos tollunt in agros, urbique remittunt:
Cætera, confusæque ingentem cædis acervum,
Nec numero, nec honore cremant.
Certatim crebris collucent ignibus agri.
Tertia lux gelidam cœlo dimoverat umbram :
Mærentes altum cinerem et confusa ruebant
Ossa focis, tepidoque onerabant aggere terræ.
Jam verò in tectis, prædivitis urbe Latini,
Præcipuus fragor, et longè pars maxima luctûs.
Hìc matres, miseræque nurus, hìc chara sororum
Pectora morentum, puerique parentibus orbi,
Dirum execrantur bellum, Turnique hymenæos :
Ipsum armis, ipsumque jubent decernere ferro;
Qui regnum Italiæ, et primos sibi poscat honores.
Ingravat hæc sævus Drances; solumque vocari
T'estatur, solum posci in certamina, Turnum.
Multa simul contrà variis sententia dictis
Pro Turno; et magnum reginæ nomen obumbrat :
Multa virum meritis sustentat fama trophæis.
NOTES.
vel celeres. Nota munera: offerings of the
arms which had been theirs, and consequent-
ly known to them.
196. Non felicia: unsuccessful darts-
those that failed to do execution, when
thrown against the enemy.
*197. Morti: to the divinity Mors.
199. Jugulant: they kill over the flame,
c. This they did, probably, that the blood
:f the victim might fall upon the pile.
201. Busta. Bustum properly is the fune-
ral pile after it is consumed. Semiusta: of
semi and ustus.
204. Partim infodiunt. The meaning is:
that they buried a part of the slain, and a
part they sent to the city of Latinus. Par-
lim may be considered here, a sub. in appo-
sition with multa corpora. Virûm: of their
heroes. Avecta: a part. of the verb avehor:
carried away.
208. Numero. Numerus here may be
taken in its usual acceptation; but it may
also mean decency, or regard. They burned
all the rest, a confused heap of slain, with-
out any particular marks of regard, or ho-
nor, by way of distinction.
211. Ruebant. The meaning is that
210
210. Umbram noces
cœlo: illi mærentes
214. Erat præcipuus
215
218. Jubent ipsum
decernere armis
220
222. Contrà est multa
sententia
they collected together the ashes and the
bones mingled on the places (focis) where
the funeral piles had been erected. After
this they covered them with a mound of
earth. Altum implies that the ashes lay
thick, or deep upon the ground. Ruæus
says, evertebant. Heyne says, legebant. Ruo,
is here taken as an active verb.
213. In tectis urbe in the houses through-
out the city. Davidson says, "in the courts
of Latinus, and in the city."
214. Fragor: in the sense of plangor.
Præcipuus: in the sense of magnus, vel
maximus.
215. Nurus. Nurus here may mean any
Chara pectora
married woman.
young
marentum : dear hearts of sisters mourning
dear, or affectionate sisters mourning the
loss of their brothers and friends.
218. Decernere: to decide, or settle the
dispute by the sword.
220. Savus: in the sense of acerbus, says
Ruæus.
221. Testatur: in the sense of dicit.
222. Multa: various-manifold.
223. Obumbrat: in the sense of protegit
vel tutatur.
224. Multa fuma. Multa here is plainly
540
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
actum
228. Dona valuisse
nil, nec
Hos inter motus, medio flagrante tumultu,
Ecce supèr mæsti magnâ Diomedis ab urbe
227. Aiunt nihil esse Legati responsa ferunt: nihil omnibus actum
Tantorum impensis operum; nil dona, neque aurum,
Nec magnas valuisse preces
preces; alia arma Latinis
Quærenda, aut pacem Trojano ab rege petendam.
Deficit ingenti luctu rex ipse Latinus.
Fatalem Ænean manifesto numine ferri
233. Recentesque tu- Admonet ira Deûm, tumulique ante ora recentes.
muli ante ora admonent Ergò concilium magnum, primosque suorum
Imperio accitos, alta intra limina cogit.
Olli convenêre, fluuntque ad regia plenis
Tecta viis. Sedet in mediis, et maximus ævo,
Et primus sceptris, haud lætâ fronte, Latinus.
Atque hic legatos Etolâ ex urbe remissos,
Quæ referant, fari jubet; et responsa reposcit
241. Silentia facta sunt Ordine cuncta suo. Tum facta silentia linguis,
242. Parens dicto La- Et Venulus dicto parens ita farier infit :
tini
246 Dictam cogno-
mine
Vidimus, ô cives, Diomedem Argivaque castra,
Atque iter emensi casus superavimus omnes:
Contigimusque manum, quâ concidit Ilia tellus.
Ille urbem Argyripam, patriæ cognomine gentis,
NOTES.
in the sense of magna. His great fame
arose from his distinguished valor, and tro-
phies nobly won. Meritis: noble-distin-
guished. Ruæus says, partis.
225. Flagrante: raging-fierce.
226. Super: in the sense of præterea vel
insuper: beside—in addition to these things.
Servius says, ad cumulationem malorum.
230. Petendam. Some copies have peten-
dum.
232. Fatalem: destined, and appointed by
the gods to marry Lavinia, and to rule the
Latin state. Manifesto by the evident
Dower and assistance of the gods. Admo-
net: declares. Rumus says, ostendit. What-
ever hesitance and doubt rested on the mind
of Latinus, concerning his son-in-law, it was
now removed. He plainly saw in the late
transactions, the immediate interposition of
the gods in favor of Æneas.
235. Imperio: in the sense of jussu. Pri-
mos: the chief men—the nobles of the peo-
ple. Cogit: in the sense of congregat, vel
convocat.
236. Fluunt: in the sense of ruunt vel
currunt. Plenis: in the sense of stipatis.
238. Sceptris: in power-authority. Reg-
Ro, says Ruæus. Haua læta: sad-sorrow-
ul.
239. Ex Ætola urbe: the city Arpi, built
by Diomede. Remissos: returned.
242. Farier: for fari, by paragoge. Infit:
m the sense of incipit.
243. Diomedem. .Diomede was the son
of Tydeus and Deïphyle, and king of Eto-
225
230
235
240
245
lia. He was one of the most valiant captains
at the siege of Troy. With Ulysses, he stole
the Palladium from the temple of Minerva,
at Troy, and attacked the camp of Rhesus,
king of Thrace, whom they killed, and
carried off his horses to the Grecian camp,
before they had tasted the grass of Troy or
drank the water of the Xanthus. On every
occasion, he distinguished himself. He had
a rencounter with Hector, and with Æneas;
the latter was wounded by him, and would
have been slain, if it had not been for the
timely aid of Venus. During his absence
from his home, his wife Ægiale had an
amour with Cometes, one of her servants.
Disgusted with her infidelity to him, he de-
termined to leave his country, and came into
that part of Italy called Magna Grecia.
Here he built a city, and called it Argyrippa.
He married a daughter of Danaus, king of
the country. He died with extreme old age,
in-law. His death was greatly lamented by
or as some say, by the hands of his father-
his companions; who, according to fable,
They took their flight to some islands on
were changed into birds resembling swans.
the coast of Apulia, where they became
remarkable for their tameness toward the
Greeks, and for the horror with which they
shunned all other nations. They are called
the birds of Diomede. He was worshipped
as a god.
244. Emensi: having measured out our
journey-having finished our journey, &c.
245. Ilia tellus: in the sense of Troianum
regnum.
ENEIS
541
LIB. XI.
Victor Gargani condebat Iapygis arvis.
Postquam introgressi, et coram data copia fandi,
Munera præferrimus, nomen patriamque docemus,
´¿ui bellum intulerint, quæ causa attraxerit Arpos.
Auditis ille hæc placido sic reddidit ore :
O fortunatæ gentes, Saturnia regna,
Antiqui Ausonii; quæ vos fortuna quietos
Sollicitat, suadetque ignota lacessere bella?
Quicunque Iliacos ferro violavimus agros,`
Mitto ea, quæ muris bellando exhausta sub altis,
Quos Simoïs premat ille viros) infanda per orbem
Supplicia, et scelerum pœnas expendimus omnes,
Vel Priamo miseranda manus. Scit triste Minervæ
Sidus, et Euboïcæ cautes, ultorque Caphereus.
Militiâ ex illâ diversum ad litus adacti :
Atrides Protei Menelaus ad usque columnas
Exulat: Ætnæos vidit Cyclopas Ulysses.
Regna Neoptolemi referam, versosque Penates
Idomenei? Libyco-ne habitantes litore Locros?
NOTES.
247. Gargani: gen. of Garganus, a moun-
tain in Apulia. Hodie, Monte di St. Angelo.
A part of Apulia was called Iapygia, from
Iapyx, the son of Dedalus, who settled in
those parts. Iapygis: an adj. for Iapygii,
agreeing with Gargani―Apulian.
248. Copia: leave-liberty.
253. Fortuna: Ruæus says, sors.
254. Ignota bella: wars to which you are
unaccustomed. Suadet: in the sense of im-
pellit. Lacessere: in the sense of movere.
255. Quicunque violavimus: whoever of
us violated, &c. The expression implies that
it was sacrilege to injure them.
256. Exhausta: sustained-endured in
fighting. Mitto: in the sense of omitto vel
prætereo.
257. Premat: overwhelmed-bore away.
Homer informs us that the river Simoïs,
was so choaked with the dead bodies of
those slain in one engagement, that its wa-
ters were interrupted in their course. To
this, Diomede here alludes. The present
tense is here used plainly for the past.
258. Expendimus: have endured unspeak-
able hardships, and suffered every punish-
ment of our crimes. Rumus says, luimus.
The war of Troy proved ruinous to the
Greeks as well as Trojans. Most of the
Grecian heroes suffered extreme hardships
on their return. Some perished on the voy-
age; and others found their kingdoms in a
state of revolt, and their domestic peace
de troyed.
259. Manus: a company to be pitied, even
by Priam himself. The calamities which
befell them, though conquerors, were greater
than those which befell the vanquished.
Even Priam might pity them. Triste :
stormy-baleful.
250
255
250. Bellum nobis
quæ causa attraxerit nos
ad urbem Arpos
auditis, ille
Hu
255. Quicunque nos-
trum
256. Ea mala, quæ
exhausta sunt nobis
260
261. Ex illa militia
nos adacti sumus
265
264. Versa regna
260. Triste sidus: the storm, in which
Ajax the son of Oïleus was drowned, and
the raging constellation Arcturus, by whose
influence that storm was raised, are here as-
cribed to Minerva, whom that hero had of
fended by violating Cassandra in her temple.
Caphereus: a rock on the island Eubea,
where Ajax was shipwrecked. Hence the
epithet ultor: the avenger.
262. Protei. The visit of Menelaus to
Proteus, king of Egypt, is related at large
in the Odyss. lib. 4. This account of the
disasters of the Grecian chiefs after the
downfall of Troy forms an agreeable epi-
sode. It is very natural for the poet to
make the aged hero dwell upon the misfor-
tunes of his companions in arms. And it is
pleasing to see him, who was so active and
fierce in the Iliad, and the first in every en-
terprise, laying aside his armor, and exhort-
ing the ambassadors to peace. Homer in-
forms us, that Menelaus wandered eight
years in the seas in the neighborhood of
Egypt, and went as far as the island of
Pharos, the boundary of the realms of Pro-
teus. Sir Isaac Newton observes, that Pro-
teus was not the king of Egypt, but a go-
vernor or viceroy of the king, and governed
a part of lower Egypt. See Geor. iv. 388.
Columnas: in the sense of terminos vel limi-
tes regni Protei.
263. Exulat: in the sense of errat.
264. Referam: shall I mention the sub-
verted realms, &c. Penates: the country
of Idomeneus' overthrown. Rumus says do
mus, for Penates. He was king of Crete.
See Æn. iii. 122.
265. Locros: the Locrians, on their re-
turn, it is said, were forced to the coast or
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
542
Ipse Mycenæus magnorum ductor Achivům
Conjugis infandæ prima intra limina dextrâ
268. Adulter Ægysthus Oppetiit: devictam Asiam subsedit adulter.
269. Referam-ne Deos Invidisse Deos, patriis ut redditus oris
redditus
273. Factique aves
invidisse mihi. ut ego Conjugium optatum, et pulchram Calydona viderem ?
Nunc etiam horribili visu portenta sequuntur :
Et socii amissi petierunt æthera pennis,
Fluminibusque vagantur aves, heu dira meorum
Supplicia! et scopulos lachrymosis vocibus implent.
Hæc adeò ex illo mihi jam speranda fuerunt
Tempore, cùm ferro cœlestia corpora demens
Appetii, et Veneris violavi vulnere dextram.
Ne verò, ne me ad tales impellite pugnas.
279. Nec est mihi ul- Nec mihi cum Teucris ullum pòst eruta bellum
lum
Pergama; nec veterum memini, lætorve malorum.
280. Pergama eruta
sunt: Nec memini, læ- Munera, quæ patriis ad me portâtis ab oris,
Vertite ad Æneam. Stetimus tela aspera contra,
malorum Trojanorum. Contulimusque manus: experto credite, quantus
283. Credite mihi ex- In clypeum assurgat, quo turbine torqueat hastam.
perto
Si duo prætereà tales Idæa tulisset
tor-ve causâ
veterum
Terra viros; ultrò Inachias venisset ad urbes
Dardanus, et versis lugeret Græcia fatis.
NOTES.
Africa, where they settled in the district
called Pentapolis.
266. Mycenaus ductor: Agamemnon, who
was king of Mycena, and commander in
chief of the Greeks in the Trojan war. On
his return home, he was slain by Egysthus,
with whom his wife Clytemnestra had an
intrigue during his absence. She is there-
fore called nefandæ conjugis. Intra prima
limina implies, that he was slain as soon as
he entered his palace. Servius takes it in
the sense of primo latore, implying, that he
was murdered as soon as he arrived on the
shore.
268. Subsedit devictam: he lay in wait for
conquered Asia. By killing Agamemnon,
Egysthus hoped to succeed him in his go-
vernment, and take possession of his con-
quests in Asia. Heyne takes Asiam devic
tam, in the sense of victor em Trojœ the con
queror of Troy. Rumus says, post Asiam
devictam adulter insidiatus est er. Davidson
renders the passage. "the adulterous assas-
sin possessed himself of conquered Asia."
Valpy takes Asiam devictam, with Heyne.
Oppetiit: perished-was slain.
269, Invidisse Deos. Diomede, on account
of the conduct of his wife, left his native
country, and wont into exile in Apulia. Ve-
nus is said to have sent upon him this do-
nestic affliction, as a punishment for his
wounding her in battle. To this circum-
stance the words invidɩsve Deos refer. Ca-
lydona: acc. sing. the name of his country.
Inviaisse: Rumus says, obstitiss David-
"forbade."
son says,
26.0
27b
280
285
274. Implent scopulos. On the coast of
Apulia are several islands frequented by soa
birds, into which it is said the companions
of Diomede were changed.
276. Demens. Diomede here imputes all
his misfortunes to the resentment of Venus.
This gives importance to the goddess, the
mother and protectress of Æneas. But he
does not mention his having given Mars a
wound also. From the time that he pre-
sumptuously assailed the Cœlestials, these
evils were to have been expected. Demens:
presumptuous-infatuated.
278. Ne verò: do not, do not urge me.
The repetition of the ne is emphatic.
283. Contulimus manus: we engaged hand
to hand. Virgil here compliments his hero,
out of the mouth of Diomede. But the ac-
count which Homer gives of the rencounter
is very different. He was wounded, and
would have been slain, if he had not been
rescued by Venus.
284. Assurgat. In the act of throwing
the javelin, or dart, the shield was levated
on the left arm, to give full room for the
action of the right arm. Turbine: in the
sense of impetu.
285. Prætereà: beside him. Its proper
place is after tales viros. If the Trojan land
had produced, &c. Idaa: an adj. from Iaa
a mountain of Phrygia Minor, near the city
of Troy.
286. Inachias: Grecian: so called from
Inachus, one of the early kings of Greece.
Ultrò: of their own accord-in offensive war.
287. Dardanus. By this we are to un-
ENEIS. LIB. XI
543
Quidquid apud duræ cessatum est mœnia Troja,
Hectoris Æneæque manu victoria Graiûm
Hæsit, et in decimum vestigia retulit annum.
Ambo animis, ambo insignes præstantibus armis :
Hic pietate prior. Coëant in fœdera dextræ,
Quà datur: ast, armis concurrant arma, cavete.
Et responsa simul quæ sint, rex optime, regis
Audîsti, et quæ sit magno sententia bello.
Vix ea legati; variusque per ora cucurrit
Ausonidûm turbata fremor: ceu, saxa morantur
Cùm rapidos amnes, clauso fit gurgite murmur,
Vicinæque fremunt ripe crepitantibus undis.
290
295
288. Quidquid tempo
ris
291. Ambo erant in
signes
292. Hic Eneas eras
prior
295. Quæ sit senten
tia Diomedis de
296. Vix legati dia
erunt ea
Ut primùm placati animi, et trepida ora quiêrunt,
Præfatus Divos solio rex infit ab alto:
Antè equidem summâ de re statuisse, Latini,
Et vellem, et fuerat meliùs; non tempore tali
Cogere concilium, cùm muros obsidet hostis.
Bellum importunum, cives, cum gente Deorum,
Invictisque viris, gerimus: quos nulla fatigant
Prælia, nec victi possunt absistere ferro.
300. Placati fuerunt
301
303. Et non cogere
305
Spem, si quam accitis Ætolûm habuistis in armis,
308. Ponite spem, si
Ponite spes sibi quisque; sed, hæc quàm angusta, vide- habuistis quam spem
Cætera quâ rerum jaceant perculsa ruinâ,
Ante oculos interque manus sunt omnia vestras.
Nec quemquam incuso: potuit quæ plurima virtus
Esse, fuit: toto certatum est corpore regni.
NOTES.
aerstand the Trojans, who were the de-
scendants of Dardanus, one of the founders
of Troy. Versis: in the sense of mutatis.
The state of things would have been changed,
and Troy would have been victorious over
the Grecian states.
288. Cessatum est. was delayed, or spent
before, &c.
289. Victoria hæsit: the victory of the
Greeks was suspended by the valor, &c.
This is very complimentary to the valor of
those two heroes, Hector and Eneas. Re-
tulit vestigia: retreated into the tenth year
-was put off-deferred till the tenth year.
Hasit Heyne says, retardata est. Ruæus
says, substitit.
292. Dextræ coëant. The aged hero ad-
vises the Latins to unite in league, or
treaty, with Æneas, on any terms that might
be offered; but by all means, avoid to en-
gage in arms against such a mighty cham-
pion. Hic prior pietate. This comparison
of Æneas with Hector, is no exaggeration
of the poet in favor of his hero. Homer
had done it before him. This goodness and
clemency of Eneas, which followed from
his piety, are reasons for the Latins to hope
for peace.
293. Quà datur: in any way that may
be given on any practicable terms.
294. Regis: this is the reading of Heyne
and Pierius. It is governed by responsa,
[tis.
309. Quisque sit sibi
311 sua spes: sed quàm an-
gusta hæc spes sit
310. Nostrarum rerum
the answer of king Diomede. The common
reading is regum, which is not so easy.
297. Fremor in the sense of murmur.
•
298. Gurgite clauso: in a pent up flood,
or stream. Crepitantibus: roaring-dash-
ing against the rocks.
300. Trepida ora: tumultuous mouths-
discordant tongues.
301. Præfatus Divos: having addressed
the gods, the king, &c. It was the custom
of orators to usher in their speeches, when-
ever the subject was solemn, and of publie
concern, with an address to the gods.
302. Summâ re: for the safety of the
state-for the common good.
305. Gente Deorum: with a nation of
gods-with a nation deriving their origin
from the gods. Importunum: dangerous-
difficult.
308. Accitis: sought after-invited.-
tolûm: from Diomede, who was their
king. He declined to have any thing to do
with the war.
309. Ponite spem: lay aside the hope-
cease to hope. The remainder of this line
is, by some, supposed an interpolation.
310. Quâ ruinâ: in what ruin the rest of
our affairs lie overthrown-prostrate; all
things are, &c.
*
312. Virtus. valor.
sense of maxima.
Plurima: in the
544
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
cis verbis
usque
Nunc adeò, quæ sit dubiæ sententia menti,
315. Docebo vos pau- Expediam; et paucis, animos adhibete, docebo.
Est antiquus ager Tusco mihi proximus amni,
317. Occasum solis, Longus in occasum, fines super usque Sicanos.
Aurunci Rutulique serunt, et vomere duros
319. Asperrima loca Exercent colles, atque horum asperrima pascunt.
horum agrorum
Hæc omnis regio, et celsi plaga pinea montis
Cedat amicitiæ Teucrorum; et fœderis æquas
Dicamus leges; sociosque in regna vocemus.
Considant, si tantus amor, et moenia condant.
Sin alios fines, aliamque capessere gentem
Est animus, poscuntque sclo decedere nostro;
Bis denas Italo texamus robore naves,
322. Trojanos socios
323. Considant illic,
si sit illis
327. St
complere eas
illi™ valent Seu plures, complere valent: jacet omnis ad undam
Materies ipsi numerumque modumque carinis
Præcipiant; nos æra, manus, navalia demus.
330. Prætereà placet Prætereà, qui dicta ferant et fœdera firment,
mihi centum Latinos Centum oratores primâ de gente Latinos
Ire placet, pacisque manu prætendere ramos :
Munera portantes eborisque, aurique talenta,
334. Insignia nostri Et sellam, regni trabeamque insignia nostri.
regni
Consulite in medium, et rebus succurrite fessis.
Tum Drancès idem infensus; quem gloria Turni
oratores de
NOTES.
313. Toto corpore: with the whole power,
or force of the kingdom.
315. Adhibete animos: give attention.
316. Tusco amni: the river Tiber. This
river formed the eastern boundary of Tus-
cany; hence called Tuscan. Est mihi an-
tiquus: This proposal of Latinus to grant
a tract of land to the Trojans, is no fiction
of the poet. It is mentioned by historians,
and other writers. It is said, that Æneas
accepted the proposal. It is generally con-
sidered to be that tract of country lying be-
tween the city Laurentum and the Tiber,
including the Trojan camp, or Nova Troja.
The extent of the tract is quite uncertain.
Cato, whom Servius follows, supposes it to
contain about 700 acres. Others suppose
that it contained 40 stadia in every direc-
tion from the city Lavinium, forming a cir-
cle of about ten miles in diameter, Others
again enlarge it to 400 stadia in circumfe-
rence. It is called antiquus, because it be-
longed to the ancient dominion of the Latin
kings.
317. Longus: extended-stretching even
beyond. Sicanos: an
an ancient people of
Italy. See Lib. vii. 795. This tract of
country the Aurunci formerly, and then the
Rutuli, cultivated. The most rugged parts
of it, they reserved for pasturage. Serunt:
in the sense of colunt.
320. Plaga: in the sense of tractus.
321. Cedat: in the sense of detur.
322. Leges: conditions, or terms.
aus: let us appoint-name
Dica
815
320
325
330
33b
324. Gentem: region-country.
325. Poscunt. This is the reading of
Heyne, and of Valpy after him. Rumus reads
possunt.
326. Texamus: in the sense of struamus.
to fill, or man them. Undam: by the wa-
327. Seu: in the sense of vel. Complere:
ter of the Tiber.
329. Præcipiant: in the sense of pro-
scribant. Modum: the form, or shape.
Navalia. Navale is a dock where vessels
lie; or a ship-yard, where they are built.
Also, the materials of which they are built,
and with which they are equipped. This
last is probably the meaning here. Era:
the money necessary to defray the expenses
of building. Manus: the workmen.
331. Primâ gente: of the first rank.
333. Portantes munera: bearing presents.
This alludes to the Roman custom of send.
ing such presents to kings.
334. Sellam: the chair of state Trabeam
the trabea was a narrow robe, worn by
the kings, and the consuls.
335. Consulite: advise, or consult for the
common good. Fessis rebus: distressed
state, or condition.
336. Infensus: spiteful-bearing spite.
The glory of Turnus-his noble birth-his
fame in war, had excited his envy; and he
embraced the present opportunity to give
vent to his feelings. Idem: reference is
here made to verso 122, supra et seq. The
sarie Drances, &c.
ENEIS. LIB. XI.
545
Obliquâ invidia stimulisque agitabat amaris;
Largus opum, et linguâ melior, sed frigida bello
Dextera, consiliis habitus non futilis auctor,
Seditione potens; genus huic materna superbum
Nobilitas dabat, incertum de patre ferebat;
Surgit, et his onerat dictis, atque aggerat iras:
Rem nulli obscuram, nostræ nec vocis egentem,
Consulis, ô bone rex. Cuncti se scire fatentur,
338. Sed cujus dexte-
ra erat
340.
341. Enim ferebat in
certum genus de patre
342. Onerat Turnum
Quid fortuna ferat populi; sed dicere mussant.
Det libertatem fandi, flatusque remittat,
Cujus ob auspicium infaustum, moresque sinistros,
Lumina tot cecidisse ducum, totamque videmus
Consedisse urbem luctu: dum Troïa tentat
345
346. Turnus det
(Dicam equidem, licèt arma mihi mortemque minetur)
Castra fugæ fidens, et cœlum territat armis.
Unum etiam donis istis, quæ plurima mitti
Dardanidis dicique jubes, unum, optime regum,
Adjicias: nec te ullius violentia vincat,
Quin natam egregio genero dignisque hymenæis
Des pater, et pacem hanc æterno fœdere jungas.
Quòd si tantus habet mentes et pectora terror;
Ipsum obtestemur, veniamque oremus ab ipso;
Čedat, jus proprium regi patriæque remittat.
Quid miseros toties in aperta pericula cives
Projicis? ô Latio caput horum et causa malorum !
Nulla salus bello: pacem te poscimus omnes,
NOTES.
337. Obliquâ. Dr. Trapp observes, that
envy is uneasy at another's happiness, and
so cannot look directly upon it. Ruæus
takes it in the sense of occulta. The envious
person sees every thing with distorted, or
crooked eyes. Oculos habens distortos. Agi-
tabat: goaded-spurred on. Amaris stimu-
lis: with sharp, or pungent stings.
338. Largus: in the sense of abundans.
Melior lingua. Ruæus says, abundantior
etoquentiâ. Drances, with all his qualifica-
tions, his eloquence, his wisdom in council,
and his noble birth, was a coward. Some
have imagined, that under the character of
Turnus, Mark Antony is represented; and
that Cicero is shadowed by Drances. It
would seem, that Virgil was no great friend
to Cicero, for he makes no mention of him
in any part of his works.
340. Potens seditione: powerful in fac-
tions--a powerful party man.
341. Materna nobilitas: on his mother's
sido, he was nobly descended from her he
had an illustrious descent, or extraction.
Ferebat: in the sense of habebat.
342. His dictis: with these invectives-re-
proaches. Iras: the common hatred against
Turnus.
350
355
3.60
352. O optime regum,
adjicias unum alterum,
etiam unum, nempe, fili-
am istis donis, quæ
357. Tantus terror
Turni habet nostras
361. O Turne, caput,
ot causa horum
362. Est nobis nulla
345. Quid fortuna: what the state of the
nation requires. Populi: in the sense of
gentis. Mussant: in the sense of verentur.
Heyne says, non audent.
346. Flatus: vaunting-pride-arrogance.
347. Auspicium: conduct-influence.-
Drances here attributes the disasters of the
state to the unfortunate influence which
Turnus had in the councils of Latinus, and
relation to the war.
to his perverse and determined conduct in
349. Tot lumina ducum: so many illus-
trious chiefs.
351. Territat: in the sense of minatur.
352. Unum etiam. In addition to the
many presents which the king had proposed
to send to Æneas, Drances advises him to
add another, namely, his daughter Lavinia,
as the surest means of conciliating the con-
queror, and obtaining for his people a last
ing peace.
356. Jungas: in the sense of confirmes.
358. Veniam. This favor was, that Tur-
nus should yield, or give up to the king, his
own peculiar authority and right in the dis-
posal of his daughter; and that he should
resign his claim to her, for the good of his
344. Consulis in the sense of suades vel country.
hortaris.
359. Remittat: in the sense of relinquat.
36
546
P. VIRGUII MARONIS
363 Simul poscimus Turne, simul pacis solum inviolabile pignus.
volum
tibi
Primus ego, invisum quem tu tibi fingis, et esse
Nil moror, en supplex venio! miserere tuorum;
Pone animos; et pulsus abi. Sat funera fusi
Vidimus, ingentes et desolavimus agros.
Aut, si fama movet, si tantum pectore robur
Concipis, et si adeò dotalis regia cordi est;
Aude, atque adversum fidens fer pectus in hostem
Scilicet, ut Turno contingat regia conjux,
Nos, animæ viles, inhumata infletaque turba,
Sternamur campis. Et jam tu, si qua tibi vis,
374. Siqua vis est tibi, Si patrii quid Martis habes, illum aspice contrà,
Qui vocat.
Talibus exarsit dictis violentia Turni :
365
370
375
Dat gemitum, rumpitque has imo pectore voces:
Larga quidem, Drance, tibi semper copia fandi
Tunc, cùm bella manus poscunt: patribusque vocatis,
380. Tu primus ades Primus ades: sed non replenda est curia verbis,
Quæ tutò tibi magna volant; dum distinet hostem
Agger murorum, nec inundant sanguine fosse,
383. Quod est solitum Proinde tona eloquio, solitum tibi; meque timoris
Argue tu, Drance, quando tot stragis acervos
Teucrorum tua dextra dedit, passimque trophæis
Insignis agros. Possit quid vivida virtus,
387. Licet ut tu ex- Experiare licet: nec longè scilicet hostes
periare cam
Quærendi nobis: circumstant undique muros.
Imus in adversos? quid cessas? an tibi Mavors
Ventosâ in linguâ, pedibusque fugacibus istis
Semper erit?
NOTES.
363. Pignus. This pledge consisted in
his resignation of Lavinia in favor of Æneas.
364. Invisum: inimical-a foe. Nil mo-
ror: I do not hesitate to be. Non curo esse,
ays Ruæus.
366. Fusi: we, beaten, or routed, have
seen, &c. This alludes to their recent de-
feat. Animos: in the sense of iras.
369. Adeò cordi: for such a delight to
thee. Dotalis: given in dowry. Any pro-
perty, or inheritance, belonging to a woman
at the time of her marriage, may be called
dotalis. Lavinia was the only child of Lati-
nus, and the heiress of his kingdom. Should
Turnus marry her, he would possess the
palace and throne, in right of his wife.
370. Aude: have courage-play the hero.
Adversum: in front-right against. It agrees
with pectus.
371. Ut regia conjux: that a royal spouse
may fall to Turnus, we vulgar souls, &c.
This is extremely severe, and sarcastic.
374. Martis: in the sense of fortitudinis.
Drances concludes, by observing that, if
Turnus was that hero represented, and if he
possessed any of his country's valor, he
would meet Æneas, hand to hand, who had
given already the challenge. In this dis-
380
386
390
pute, the poet shows himself a perfect mas-
ter óf artful and elegant abuse. In these
speeches of Drances and Turnus, there are
some fine specimens of eloquence, not ex-
celled even by the great masters of the art.
Aspice illum: look him in the face-meet
him face to face.
376. Violentia: in the sense of ira. Valpy
says, violentia Turni, is to be taken for Tur-
nus himself.
378. Larga copia fandi: great fluency of
speech-a copious profusion of words. Ma-
nus, here, means action, in opposition to
mere words.
381. Magna: in great abundance-in
torrents.
382. Agger: ramparts, or bulwarks.
383. Tona: thunder on.
384. Quando tua: since thy right hand
hath made so many heaps, &c. This is keen
irony. Stragis. Strages is properly slaugh
ter: also the bodies of the slain. Rumus
says, cadaverum Trojanorum.
386. Insignis: you adorn, or decorate the
fields, &c.
389. Adversos: in the sense of hostes. Ma-
vors: a name of Mars: here used for cou-
rage, or valor. Tibi in the sense of tuus
•
ENEIS. LIB. XI.
547
395
Puisus ego aut quisquam meritò, fœdissime, pulsum
Arguet, Iliaco tumidum qui crescere Tybrim
Sanguine, et Evandri totam cum stirpe videbit
Procubuisse domum, atque exutos Arcadas armis?
Haud ita me experti Bitias et Pandarus ingens,
Et quos mille die victor sub Tartara mısi,
Inclusus muris, hostilique aggere septus.
Nulla salus bello! capiti cane talia, demens,
Dardanio, rebusque tuis. Proinde omnia magno
Ne cessa turbare metu, atque extollere vires
Gentis bis victa; contrà premere arma Latini.
Nunc et Myrmidonum proceres Phrygia arma tremiscunt!
Nunc et 'Tydides, et Larissæus Achilles !
400
Amnis et Hadriacas retrò fugit Aufidus undas ! 405
Vel cùm se pavidum contra mea jurgia fingit
Artificis scelus, et formidine crimen acerbat.
Nunquam animam talem dextrâ hâc, absiste moveri,
Amittes habitet tecum, et sit pectore in isto.
Nunc ad te, et tua, magne pater, consulta revertor. 410
Si nullam nostris ultrà spem ponis in armis;
Si tam deserti sumus, et, semel agmine verso,
Funditùs occidimus, neque habet fortuna regressum .
will thy valor always consist in, &c.
Mavors, Ruæus says, fortitudo.
NOTES.
For
393. Arguet pulsum. Turnus here vin-
dicates himself from the charge of being
vanquished, made by Drances: Who will
accuse me of being beaten, that shall see
the swollen Tyber, &c. Arguet : in the sense
of dicet. Rumus says, accusabit. Esse vel
fuisse is understood with pulsum.
394. Totam domum: and the whole family
of Evander, with his race, to be prostrated.
Pallas was the only son of Evander, and as
far as we know, his only child. In his death,
then, the family and race became extinct.
396. Bitias et Pindarus. These were two
brothers of gigantic stature, whom Turnus
slew, at the time of his entering the Trojan
camp. See Æn. ix. 672, et sequens.
mo
392. O fœdissime ho-
396. Haud ita experti
sunt; et mille alii, quos
in uno die ego victor
402. Contrà ne cessa
405. Amnis Aufidus
versus retrò
407. Sua formidine
403. Proceres: the Grecian chiefs. Aga-
memnon and Menelaus may be more par
ticularly alluded to. Myrmidonum. These
were the troops of Achilles. By synec. put
for the Greeks in general.
405. Aufidus. A river rising in the Apen-
nines, and in the territories of the Hir-
pini, and passing througn Apulia, Daunia,
and Peucetia, falls into the Adriatic sea.
This river fled back, as if affrighted at the
sight of the Trojan fleet, and ceased to flow
in its usual course. Such is the language
of the miscreant Drances, in extolling the
Trojans, and spreading the terror of their
name, even when, &c. These, or some other
of the same import, are requisite to connect
the subject, and make sense. Fugit: flowed
back-fled back from. Hadriacas: an adj.
from Hadria.
406. Jurgia mea: my menaces, or threats.
Fingit: in the sense of simulat.
399. Dardanio capiti: to the Trojan chief:
simply, to the Trojan. Caput: the head,
by synec. is frequently put for the whole
body, or person. Cane: proclaim-declare. 407. Scelus artificis: that base villain
Drances appears to have been at the head Such was the depravity of his character
of the Latin party, which favored the Tro- that he was baseness and wickedness itself
jan interest in opposition to Turnus. By This form of expression is common with the
tuis rebus, we are to understand this party poet. It is usually rendered by the corres-
at Latium, or the Trojans themselves, his pondent adjective, with which the following
friends.
word is made to agree. Ruæus says, ille
scelestus accusator. Valpy says, artifex sce-
leris. Crimen: in the sense of accusationem.
402. Gentis bis victa: of the nation twice
conquered. Turnus considers that he had
already subdued the Trojans; and the
Greeks had done the same thing before, on
the plains of Troy. And indeed, it appears,
he had greatly the advantage over them,
during the absence of Eneas.
409. Isto pectore: in that bosom of thing
This is said by way of contempt.
413. Funditùs: we are utterly ruined,
For occidimus, Rucus says perimus. Ro
Re
gressum: return.
548
VIRGILII MARONIS
Oremus pacem, et dextras tendamus inermes.
Quanquam ô! si solitæ quicquam virtutis adesset !
416. Ille videretur mi- Ille mihi ante alios fortunatusque laborum,
hi ante alios
Egregiusque animi, qui, ne quid tale videret,
Procubuit moriens, et humum semel ore momordit.
Sin et opes nobis, et adhuc intacta juventus,
Auxilioque urbes Italæ populique supersunt:
Sin et Trojanis cum multo gloria venit
422. Si sunt illis sua Sanguine: sunt illis sua funera, parque per omnes
423. Curnos indecores Tempestas: cur indecores in limine primo
424. Nostros artus
Deficimus? cur ante tubam tremor occupat artus ?
Multa dies variusque labor mutabilis ævi
Retulit in meliùs: multos alterna revisens
427. Eus in solido statu Lusit, et in solido rursus fortuna locavit.
Non erit auxilio nobis Etolus, et Arpi?
At Messapus erit, felixque Tolumnius, et quos
Tot populi misêre, duces: nec parva sequetur
431. Homines delectos è Gloria delectos Latio et Laurentibus agris.
438. Contra Enean;
licèt ille præstet se vel
439. Paria armis
Achillis
441. Ego Turnus de-
vovi hanc
442. Me solum
Est et Volscorum egregiâ de gente Camilla,
Agmen agens equitum, et florentes ære catervas.
Quòd si me solum Teucri in certamina poscunt,
Idque placet, tantùmque bonis communibus obsto:
Non adeò has exosa manus victoria fugit,
Ut tantâ quicquam pro spe tentare recusem.
Ibo animis contrà; vel magnum præstet Achillem,
Factaque Vulcani manibus paria induat arma
416
420
425
430
435
Ille licèt. Vobis animam hanc, soceroque Latino, 440
Turnus ego, haud ulli veterum virtute secundus,
Devovi Solum Eneas vocat? et, vocet, org.
NOTES.
416. Fortunatus: happy in his toils-la-
bors. A Greek idiom. So also egregius
animi: illustrious-heroic in soul. Ruæus
says, præstans vertute.
433. Florentes are: shining-gleaming in
brass.
436. Victoria non adeò. On many of the
old coins, are to be seen persons holding
419. Intacta: fresh-that hath not been victory in one hand. To this circumstance,
engaged in action.
420. Populi: nations.
422. Tempestas par: an equal storm of
war on both sides. Ruæus
Ruæus says, par clades.
By per omnes, we may understand both sides,
the Trojans and Italians.
424. Ante tubam: before the trumpet sound.
425. Dies: in the sense of tempus. Mu-
tabilis ævi: of changing or revolving years.
Retulit multa: changes many things, &c.
Ruæus says, vertit. Labor: change-vicis-
situde-revolution. Ruæus says, motus.
426. Fortuna alterna: fortune revisiting
men alternately, hath deceived many-
played an unexpected game with them, and
again, &c. Alterna in the sense of alternis.
428. Etolus: the Etolian (namely) Di.
omede; who was by birth an Etolian, and
at that time, reigned over the city Arpi.
429. Tolumnius. He was an augur, and
foretold the success of the war, and thereby
animated the troops. He, therefore, is called
felix.
Mr. Addison conjectures, the poet here al-
ludes. Exosa here is to be taken actively.
Victory, disdaining his hand so much, had
not abandoned him, that he would refuse,
&c. This speech of Turnus is of the nc blest
character, and shows him to be the real
soldier. It is very different from that of the
envious and cowardly Drances.
437. Tanta spe: in the hope of victory
tory; a royal bride.
or the hope of obtaining the prize of vic
vel repræsentet. Animis: courage—confi-
438. Præstet: in the sense of exhibeat,
dence of victory.
439. Paria arma: arms equal to those of
Achilles, and made by the hands of Vulcan,
Turnus was at this time ignorant that
Eneas actually possessed armor made by
Vulcan.
441. Haud secundus not interior-not
second to any of his illustrious ancestors in
valor. Veterum in the sense of najorum.
ENEIS. LIB. XI.
549
Nec Drances potiùs, sive est hæc ira Deorum,
Morte luat; sive est virtus et gloria, tollat.
445
449. Dicens Teucros
450 instructos acie, Tyrrhe-
Illi hæc inter se dubiis de rebus agebant.
Certantes; castra Æneas aciemque movebat.
Nuntius ingenti per regia tecta tumultu
Ecce ruit, magnisque urbem terroribus implet:
Instructos acie Tiberino à flumine Teucros,
Tyrrhenamque manum totis descendere campis.
Extemplò turbati animi, concussaque vulgi
Pectora, et arrectæ stimulis haud mollibus iræ.
Arma manu trepidi poscunt, frerit arma juventus :
Flent mosti mussantque patres. Hic undique clamor
Dissensi vario magnus se tollit in auras.
A
Haud secùs atque alto in luco cùm fortè catervæ
Consedêre avium piscosove amne Padusæ
Dant sonitum rauci per stagna loquacia cycni.
Immò, ait, ô cives, arrepto tempore, Turnus,
Cogite concilium, et pacem laudate sedentes:
Illi armis in regna ruant. Nec plura locutus
Corripuit sese, et tectis citus extulit altis.
Tu, Voluse, armari Volscorum edice maniplis ;
Duc, ait, et Rutulos: equitem Messapus in armis,
Et, cum fratre, Coras, latis diffundite campis.
Pars aditus urbis firment, turresque capessant:
Cætera, quâ jussô, mecum manus inferat arma.
Ilicet in muros totâ discurritur urbe.
Concilium ipse pater et magna incepta Latinus
Deserit; ac tristi tarbatus tempore differt.
Multaque se incusa, qui non acceperit ultrò
NOTES.
443. Nec Drances. The meaning of these
two lines, is this: that Drances should not
die; whether the vengeance of the gods re-
quired that one of them should perish; or,
whether valor and glory were the result of
the contest, he should not bear off the prize
of victory. Mr. Dryden has expressed the
same sentiment:
Drances shall rest secure, and neither share
The danger, nor divide the prize of war.
Though Turnus had somewhat recovered
his temper, during the time of his address-
ing the king, yet he could not conclude,
without giving Drances this severe stroke.
444. Luat morte: atone by his death: that
is, lose his life. If one of them must die,
Turnus chose rather to be the one himself.
445. Agebant: in the sense of dicebant.
449. Acie: in order of battle-in battle
array.
452. Arrecta: aroused.
pulse.
Stimulis: in-
453. Trepidi: quick-in haste. Fremit:
in the sense of flagitat.
454. Patres: the senators. The council
of state. Mussant: repine-grieve.
455. Dissensu disagreement-discord-
ance
455
460
numque
451. Turbati sunt
456. Cùm fortè cater-
væ avium consedêre in
alto luco; rauci-ve cycni
dant sonitum piscogo-ve
464. Messapus et Co-
465 ras cum fratre, vos, dif
fundite equitem
470
457.. Padusa: one of the mouths of the
river Po. Piscoso amne: in the fishy stream.
458. Stagna. Stagnum, is, properly, the
deep parts of the sea, or river. Here it is
taken for the whole river, or stream. Lo
quacia: resounding—echoing.
459. Tempore arrepto: the occasion being
taken, Turnus, &c. These words of Turnus
are extremely sarcastic.
461. Illi: the enemy.
463. Maniplis: in the sense of turmis
Edice: in the sense of jube, vel impera.
464. Equitem: the cavalry-horsemen in
general. This is the reading of Heyne. Ru
us says, equites. Messupus-Coras. These
are in the nom. for the voc. after the Greek
idiom.
465. Diffundite: lead out-draw up the
cavalry in arms.
467. Cætera manus: let the other troops
&c. Jusso: for jussero, by syn.
470. Deserit: in the sense of relinquit
vel abrumpit. Latinus, alarmed at the dis-
mal crisis of his affairs, gives up his plan
of conciliation, and again relies upon defen-
sive measures.
550
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Dardanium Æneam, generumque asciverit urbi.
Præfodiunt alii portas, aut saxa sudesque
Subvectant. Bello dat signum rauca cruentum
Buccina. Tum muros variâ cinxêre coronâ
Matronæ puerique; vocat labor ultimus omnes.
475
Nec non ad templum summasque ad Palladis arces
Subvehitur magnâ matrum regina catervâ,
est causa
480. Dejecta quoad
decoros
479. Lavinia virgo est Dona ferens: juxtàque comes Lavinia virgo,
comes juxta eam; quæ Causa mali tanti, atque oculos dejecta decoros.
Succedunt matres, et templum thure vaporant,
Et mostas alto fundunt de limine voces:
Armipotens belli præses, Tritonia virgo,
Frange manu telum Phyrgii prædonis, et ipsum
Pronum sterne solo, portisque effunde sub altis.
Cingitur ipse furens certatim in prælia Turnus.
487. Ille indutus quoad Jamque adeò Rutulum thoraca indutus ahenis
Horrebat squamis, surasque incluserat auro,
Tempora nudus adhuc : laterique accinxerat ensem,
Fulgebatque altâ decurrens aureus arce:
Exsultatque animis, et spe jam præcipit hostem.
Qualis, ubi abruptis fugit præsepia vinclis,
Tandem liber, equus, campoque potitus aperto ;
Aut ille in pastus armentaque tendit equarum ;
Aut assuetus aquæ perfundi flumine noto
Emicat, arrectisque fremit cervicibus altè
Rutulum
489. Ille nudus adhuc
quoad
492. Talis qualis equus,
ubi fugit præsepia, vin-
clis abruptis, tandem li-
ber
498. Cui,nempe, Turno, Luxurians; luduntque jubæ per colla, per armos.
Camilla, acie
Obvia cui, Volscorum acie comitante. Camilla
NOTES.
473. Præfodiunt portas: some dig trench-
es before the gates, with a view to keep off
the enemy.
474. Subvectant: this is the reading of
Heyne and Davidson. Ruæus reads, subji-
ciunt.
475. Variâ coronâ: in various companies,
or troops. They manned the walls in va-
rious parts. So universal was the sense of
danger, that all who were capable of making
resistance, took up arms. The last struggle,
the ultimus labor, called upon every one to
unite in making what resistance they could,
in aid of the regular forces. Corona: a
company, or body of men, standing around
in the form of a circle or ring, was called
corona. Here taken for the troops in general.
481. Vaporant: perfume.
483. Armipotens præses: O! powerful
patroness of war, &c. This prayer is taken
from Homer, Iliad 17, where the Trojan
matrons invoke the aid of Pallas against
Diomede. It is almost a literal version of
the Greek, which Mr. Pope hath elegantly
rendered into English:
Oh, awful Goddess! ever dreadful maid,
Troy's strong defence, unconquer'd Pallas,
aid;
Break thou Tydides' spear, and let him
fall,
Prone on the dust, before the Trojan wall.
480
485
490
495
484. Prædonis. She calls Æneas a rob-
ber, in allusion to the conduct of Paris, at
the court of Menelaus.
485. Effunde: rout him-break in pieces
his power under, &c.
488. Ahenis squamis: in his brazen armor
Squama: the plates in a coat of mail, which
in some degree resembled the scales of a
fish. By meton. the corslet, or coat of mail
itself: and hence, by synec. armor in gene-
ral. Horrebat: in the sense of lucebal hor-
rificè. Incluserat suras: he had bound his
legs in gold. He had put on his golden
sandals. Any thing made of gold may be
called aurum.
491. Præcipit: in the sense of præoccupat.
494. Tendit: in the sense of fert se.
495. Perfundi: in the sense of lavari.
496. Emicat: he springs forth. Ruæus
says, exilit. Fremit: neighs. Altè may be
connected either with arrectis, or luxurians.
This last is used in the sense of exsullans.
498. Acie Volscorum: the troops of the
Volsci accompanying her. Acies: properly
an army in order of battle; sometimes it is
put for troops in general. Here Virgil gives
an instance of the high respect, that was
anciently paid to the general of an army.
Camilla, though a queen, leaps from her
horse, to do Turnus honor; and all her
troops follow her example. This speech of
ÆNEIS. LIB. XI.
551
Occurrit, portisque ab cquo regina sub ipsis
Desiluit; quam tota cohors imitata relictis
Ad terram defluxit equis. Tum talia fatur:
Turne, sui meritò si qua est fiducia forti,
Audeo, et Æneadûm promitto occurrere turmæ,
Soláque Tyrrhenos equites ire obvia contra.
Me sine prima manu tentare pericula belli :
Tu pedes ad muros subsiste, et mœnia serva.
Turnus ad hæc, oculos horrendâ in virgine fixus :
O, decus Italiæ, virgo, quas dicere grates,
Quasve referre parem? sed nunc, est omnia quando
İste animus supra, mecum partire laborem.
Æneas, ut fama fidem missique reportant
Exploratores, equitum levia improbus arma
Præmisit, quaterent campos : ipse ardua montis
Per deserta jugo superans adventat ad urbem.
Furta paro belli convexo in tramite sylvæ,
Ut bivias armato obsidam milite fauces.
Tu Tyrrhenum equitem collatis excipe signis.
Tecum acer Messa pus erit, turmæque Latinæ,
Tiburtique manus: ducis et tu concipe curam.
Sic ait et paribus Messapum in prælia dictis
Hortatur, sociosque duces; et pergit in hostem.
Est curvo anfractu vallis, accommoda fraudi,
Armorumque dolis: quam densis frondibus atrum
Urget utrinque latus: tenuis quò semita ducit,
Angustæque ferunt fauces, aditusque maligni.
Hanc super, in speculis, summoque in vertice montis
Plan.ties ignota jacet, tutique receptus :
NOTES.
Camilla, though short, as the time required,
is full of courage, and it bespeaks the he-
roine.
501. Defluxit: leaped on the ground-
dismounted after the example of their
queen.
507. Horrenda: courageous-valiant-
Inspiring terror.
511. Fidem: assurance-certainty. It is
governed by reportant. Heyne takes it in
the sense of nuntium.
512. Improbus: wicked-infamous-with
a base design. Ruæus says, callidus. Levia
arma equitum: the light-armed cavalry.
Arma: by meton. for those who bear them.
513. Quaterent. Ruæus says, vastarent.
514 Superans. This is the reading of
Heyne. Rumus and Davidson read prope-
rans. Deserta ardua: the high deserts of
the mountains. Or, loca may be understood
connected with deserta. Jugo: passing over
the top, or ridge of the mountain. The
poet here, probably, has in view the Alban
mountains, which might extend into the ter-
ritory of Laurentum. Through this moun-
tainous tract, Turnus learned, that Eneas
was about to march his army. He therefore
proposes to lay in ambush.
500
505
510
515
520
525
502. Si qua fiducia
sui sit forti meritò, ego
audeo
505. Med manu
507.
Turnus, fixus
quoad oculos in horren-
dâ virgine, respondet ad
hæc
510. Quando iste tuus
animus est supra omnia
pericula
513. Ut quaterent
523. Quam vallem la-
tus sylva atrum densis
515. Furta: in the sense of insidras.
Convexo: crooked-winding.
516. Fauces: straits-defiles: which led
through the mountains in two ways. Ob.
sidam: take possession of-block up. Ru
æus says, оссирет.
517. Collatis signis: in close fight. Con-
ferre signa, is a military term, signifying to
engage in close fight.
519. Concipe curam: take upon yourself
the charge of the general-take the chief
command. Ruæus says, sume.
522. Curvo anfractu: in a mazy winding
-circuit. Fraudi: for stratagem-ambush.
523. Dolis: wiles of war. Armorum: in
the sense of belli. The valley through which
this path led, was enclosed on each side by
a thick wood. Perhaps atrum should be
connected with densis frondibus.
525. Maligni aditus: small-scanty ways
-passages. Ferunt: in the sense of ducunt,
as above.
526. In speculis: the same as, in summo
vertice: on the highest part-pinnacle.
527. Ignota: unknown to the Trojans.
528. Occurrere pugna: the same as occur
rere hostibus. Jugis: from the top, or sides
of the mountain
552
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
tur
532. Intereà, Latonia,
in superis sedibus com-
pellabat
Seu dextrâ lævâque velis occurrere pugnæ ;
529. Saxa in hostem, Sive instare jugis, et grandia volvere saxa.
Huc juvenis Turnus fer- Huc juvenis notâ fertur regione viarum,
Arripuitque locum, et sylvis insedit iniquis.
Velocem intereà superis in sedibus Opim,
Unam ex virginibus sociis, sacrâque catervâ,
Compellabat, et has tristi Latonia voces
Ore dabat: Graditur bellum ad crudele Camilla,
O virgo, et nostris nequicquam cingitur armis,
Chara mihi ante alias: neque enim novus iste Dianæ
Venit amor, subitâque animum dulcedine movit.
Pulsus ob invidiam regno, viresque superbas,
540. Cum Metabus, Priverno antiquâ Metabus cùm excederet urbe,
pulsus regno ob
Infantem fugiens media inter prælia belli
542. Sustulit eam in- Sustulit exilio comitem, matrisque vocavit
fantem, comitem exilio, Nomine Casmillæ, mutatâ parte, Camillam.
vocavitque eam Camil-
lam de nomine ejus ma- Ipse sinu præ se portans juga longa petebat
530
535
540
tris Casmillæ, parte no- Solorum nemorum: tela undique sæva premebant, 545
minis inutata
vius Amasenus
Et circumfuso volitabant milite Volsci.
547. Medio fugæ flu- Ecce, fugæ medio, summis Amasenus abundans
Spumabat ripis; tantus se nubibus imber
551. Sedit illi versanti Ruperat. Ille, innare parens, infantis amore
552. Erat immane te- Tardatur, charoque oneri timet.
Omnia secum
Versanti, subitò vix hæc sententia sedit.
.um, quod
554. Huic telo impli- Telum immane, manu validâ quod fortè gerebat
Bellator, solidum nodis et robore cocto :
cat natam,
tibro
librans
556. Quam hastam Huic natam, libro et sylvestri subere clausam,
Implicat, atque habilem mediæ circumligat hastæ;
557. O virgo Latonia, Quam dextrâ ingenti librans, ita ad æthera fatur:
558. Illa prima tan- Alma, tibi hanc, nemorum cultrix, Latonia virgo,
quam supplex
Ipse pater famulam voveo: tua prima per auras
alma cultrix
NOTES.
529. Jugis. The proper place for this
word appears to be after volvere: to tumble,
or roll large rocks from the top of the moun-
tain upon the enemy.
531. Iniquis: rough-uneven.
says, asperis.
Ruæus
533. Catervâ: retinue-band.
534. Latonia: a name of Diana; from
Latona, the name of her mother. Voces:
in the sense of verba.
536. Nostris armis. Camilla was armed
like Diana and the nymphs. O, Virgo:
meaning Opis.
537. Chara: referring to Camilla. Alias:
virgines is understood.
539. Invidiam, viresque superbas. David-
son renders these words: "Invidious mea-
sures, and insolent abuse of power." His
tyrannical and oppressive government ex-
cited the hatred of his subjects, who, by
force of arms, drove him from his throne.
Privernum was the name of his city.
541. Prælia belli: contentions-strifes of
In the sense of certamina belli. Ru-
war.
wus says, pugnas belli.
544. Longa: in the sense of longè posita
550
555
vel remota. Portans: carrying his child in
his bosom.
545. Solorum: of the lonely-solitary
groves. The groves upon the distant noun-
tains, lonely and solitary.
546. Volitabant. This verb expresses the
rapidity, and quickness of their motions.
547. Amasenùs: a river of the Volsci.
Hodie, Toppia. Summis ripis: over the top
of its banks.
551. Subitò hæc: on a sudden this resolu-
tion, or purpose, was fixed upon by, &c.
Vix. He came to this determination, despe
rate indeed; but nothing better presented,
with difficulty, in spite of all his tender fears
for the safety of his child. Sedit: in the
sense of fixa est.
553. Cocto: hardened in the fire.
555. Circumligat: he binds the infant
easy (so as not to hurt her) to the middle
of the spear: having previously enclosed
the child in bark and sylvan cork, to secure
her from injury. Implicat: Ruæus says,
alligat.
558. Ipse pater. This is said, because
none but the father had a right to devote
ENEIS. LIB XI.
553
Tela tenens supplex hostem fugit: accipe, testor,
Diva, tuam, quæ nunc dubiis committitur auris.
Dixit: et adducto contortum hastile lacerto
Immittit: sonuêre undæ : rapidum super amnem
Infelix fugit in jaculo stridente Camilla.
At Metabus, magnâ propiùs jam urgente catervâ,
Dat sese fluvio, atque hastam cum virgine victor
Gramineo, donum Triviæ, de cespite vellit,
Non illum tectis ullæ, non manibus urbes
Accepêre: neque ipse manus feritate dedisset;
Pastorum et solis exegit montibus ævum.
Hic natam in dumis interque horrentia lustra,
Armentalis equæ mammis et lacte ferino
560
565
570
Nutrîbat, teneris immulgens ubera labris,
Utque pedum primis infans vestigia plantis
Institerat, jaculo palmas oneravit acuto;
Spiculaque ex humero parvæ suspendit et arcum.
Pro crinali auro, pro longæ tegmine pallæ,
Tigridis exuviæ per dorsum à vertice pendent.
Tela manu jam tum tenerâ puerilia torsit,
Et fundam tereti circum caput egit habenâ,
Strymoniamque gruem aut album dejecit olorem.
Multæ illam frustrà Tyrrhena per oppida matres
Optavêre nurum: solâ contenta Dianâ,
Æternum telorum et virginitatis amorem
Intemerata colit. Vellem haud correpta fuisset
Militiâ tali, conata lacessere Teucros !
Chara mihi, comitumque foret nunc una mearum.
Verùm age, quandoquidem fatis urgetur acerbis,
Labere, Nympha, polo, finesque invise Latinos,
NOTES.
his children to the service of the gods. And
those, who were thus devoted, were, by the
Latins, called Camilli. I the father devote,
Szc.
559. Fugit hostem: escapes from the enemy.
560. Auris: in the sense of ventis.
563. In jaculo: upon the whizzing spear.
566. Cespite in the sense of ripa. Tri
via: : a name of Diana. See Ecl. iv. 10.
Donum: the infant bound to the spear; a
present or gift to Diana.
567. Non ullæ urbes: no cities received
him, &c.
568. Neque ipse: nor would he have given
his hand, (accepted the invitation,) on ac-
count of his savage nature, choosing rather
to inhabit the mountains and woods.
569. Evum: in the sense of vitam
571. Mammis: the breast, or teats of a
brooding mare-of one belonging to the
herd, or drove of mares kept for breeding.
In this solitary retreat, did Metabus bring
up his infant daughter upon the milk of a
brooding mare, milking the teats into her
tender lips. This is a beautiful picture of
paternal care and affection. Lacte ferino.
This is the same with the milk of the animal
573. Plantis pedum
575
580
584. Ego vellem d
585 illa haud
586. Foret chara mihi,
unaque
587. Verùm age, O
nympha
just mentioned. Ferino: an adj. from ferus
which sometimes signifies a horse, or other
domestic animal.
573. Primis in the sense of prima, to
agree with vestigia: or in the sense of pri-
mum: and as soon as the child, &c.
575. Parve: of the child.
576. Crinali auro. Rumus says, aureo
ornatu capillorum. It may be a clasp to
bind and adjust the hair, or a net-work
worn over the hair to keep it in order;
either of which may be considered a mark
of effeminacy and luxury. Camilla was not
so adorned. The skin of a tiger was the
only ornament of her head.
577. Exuviæ : the skin of a tiger hangs, &c.
578. Puerilia: light, such as are suited
to the strength of children.
579. Egit fundam: she whirled the sling.
584. Intemerata: she, pure and unpol.
luted, content with Diana alone, cherished
a perpetual love, &c. She had no inclination
to taste the pleasures of the conjugal state.
585. Tali militia: with the love of such
a war, attempting, &c.
587. Acerbis: in the sense of crudelibus
554
P VIRGILII MARONIS
590. Cape hæc tela
592. Sit-ne Tros Ita-
lus-ve, det
n
593. Miserandæ virgi-
595. At illa Opis de-
apsa
596. Circumdata quoad
corpus
608. Uterque exercitus
progressus
Tristis ubi infausto committitur omine pugna
Hæc cape, et ultricem pharetra deprome sagittam
Hâc, quicunque sacrum violârit vulnere corpus,
Tros Italusve, mihi pariter det sanguine pœnas.
Pòst ego nube cavâ miserandæ corpus et arma
Inspoliata feram, tumulo patriæque reponam.
Dixit: at illa levés cœli delapsa per auras
Insonuit, nigro circumdata turbine corpus.
At manus intereà muris Trojana propinquat,
Etruscique duces, equitumque exercitus omnis,
Compositi numero in turmas. Fremit æquore toto
Insultans sonipes, et pressis pugnat habenis,
Huc obversus et huc: tum latè ferreus hastis
Horret ager; campique armis sublimibus ardent.
Nec non Messapus contrà, celeresque Latini,
Et cum fratre Coras, et virginis ala Camillæ,
Adversi campo apparent: hastasque reductis
Protendunt longè dextris, et spicula vibrant :
Adventusque virum, fremitusque ardescit equorum
Jamque intra jactum teli progressus uterque
Substiterat. subito erumpunt clamore, frementesque
Exhortantur equos: fundunt simul undique tela
Crebra, nivis ritu, cœlumque obtexitur umbrâ.
Continuò adversis Tyrrhenus et acer Aconteus
NOTES.
589. Infausto: inauspicious-unlucky.
590. Cape hæc: take these weapons.
While she is thus speaking, Diana gives to
Opis her quiver of arrows, and directs her
to draw from it one, which should be fatal
to any person that, during the engagement,
might violate the sacred body of Čamilla.
591. Sacrum corpus: the sacred body of
Camilla. Hac with this arrow. Sagitta
is understood.
593. Miseranda: lamented, or unhappy
virgin. Virginis vel Camilla, is plainly to
be supplied.
594. Inspoliata:`safe-untouched by the
enemy-not taken away by them. The god-
dess here promises to bear off the body of
her favorite maid, together with her armor,
entire and untouched; and restore her to
her own country for burial.
This episode is finely contrived. Just as
we supposed the hostile troops were to com-
mence the work of death, the poet suspends
their operations, and relates the birth and
education of Camilla; who was destined to
perform the most distinguished part in the
military operations of the day.
597. Manus: in the sense of milites vel
igmen.
599. Compositi: arranged into battalions,
in order of battle.
600. Pugnat: he resists (struggles against)
the tight drawn reigns, turning, &c. He
wishes no restraint-he desires loosened
reins
590
595
600
605
610
602. Horret ager: an iron field of spears.
Sublimibus: raised high.
603. Celeres Latini: the light-armed La-
tins. These were more nimble, and their
motions quicker, than those who carried
heavy arms.
604. Ala. This word signifies the wing
of our army. Also, troops in general: here
the cavalry of Camilla. These all appeared
on the plain, opposite to the Trojan and
Tuscan troops.
606. Protendunt: they extend their spears
with their hands drawn far back." They
draw their arms far back, that they may
give a greater force to the dart. Rumus
interprets protendunt by immittunt, which is
not correct. They have not commenced the
fight as yet. In this menacing manner, just
ready to discharge them upon the enemy,
the combatants advance to the charge.
607. Adventus: the advance of the men,
and the neighing of the horses, grows more
and more fierce. As the armies approached
each other, we may suppose their ardor in
creased, and the neighing of the horses be-
came louder. Mr. Davidson observes, ad-
ventus is a feeble word to express the move-
ments of an army, just on the point of giving
battle.
610. Exhortantur: in the sense of conci
tant.
611. Ritu nivis: after the manner of
snow-thick as the flakes u snow. Umbrâ:
with darkness. So thick was the shower of
ANEIS. LIB. XI
555
Connixi incurrunt hastis, primique ruinam
620
Dant sonitu ingenti, perfractaque quadrupedantum
Pectora pectoribus rumpunt. Excussus Aconteus 615
Fulminis in morem, aut tormento ponderis acti,
Præcipitat longè, et vitam dispergit in auras.
Extemplò turbatæ acies; versique Latini
Rejiciunt parmas, et equos ad monia vertunt.
Troës agunt; princeps turmas inducit Asylas.
Jamque propinquabant portis: rursùsque Latini
Clamorem tollunt, et mollia colla reflectunt :
Hi fugiunt, penitùsque datis referuntur habenis.
Qualis ubi alterno procurrens gurgite pontus
Nunc ruit ad terras, scopulosque superjacit undam
Spumeus, extremamque sinu perfundit arenam :
Nunc rapidus retrò, atque æstu revoluta resorbens
Saxa, fugit, litusque vado labente relinquit.
Bis Tusci Rutulos egêre ad mœnia versos:
Bis rejecti armis respectant terga tegentes.
Tertia sed postquam congressi in prælia, totas
Implicuêre inter se acies, legitque virum vir.
NOTES.
darts, that they intercepted the rays of the
sun.
613. Ruinam: onset-charge. Impetum,
says Ruæus.
£14. Perfracta: dashed-broken. Quad-
rupedantum: in the sense of equorum.
615. Rumpunt pectora: they almost rive
the breasts of their horses, dashed against
each other-they rush their horses breast to
breast against each other, with such impe-
tuosity, that they almost split, or rived them.
Heyne says, perfringunt.
616. In morem fulminis: Aconteus, thrown
from his horse with the velocity of light-
ning, or of a weight thrown by an engine.
This is an extravagant hyperbole. Præci-
pitat: in the sense of præcipitatur: is
thrown, at a distance.
619. Rejiciunt parmas: they turned their
shields behind them. This was to secure
them against the missive weapons of the
Trojans in their retreat. This manner of
fleeing, and then facing about, was accord-
ing to the rules of fighting with the cavalry,
as practised by the Romans.
625
630
618. Acies Latinorum
turbate suni
622. Móllia colla equo-
rum
623. Hi, nempe, Tro-
jani fugiunt invicem
624. Qualis ubi pon-
tus procurrens alterio
gurgite
630. Rutuli bis rejecti
respectant Tuscos
This, also, is the sense given to the passage
by Davidson. Heyne and Valpy refer it to
the moving of a wave, or surge, against the
shore.
•
626. Sinu perfundit: and washes the
margin (or edge) of the shore with its curl
ing waves. Servius explains sinu, by cur-
vatione et flexu, the curling and winding of
the waves. It signifies the expanded skirts,
or volumes of water, into which the flowing
sea stretches itself further and further on
the shore, and overspreads the beach like a
garment.
627. Atque resorbens: and sucking in the
rocks, rolled back with its tide, retreats
backward. Rapidus: in the sense of celer
vel præceps.
628. Vado: in the sense of fluctu vel
undâ. The surge, or wave, declining, or
going back, leaves the shore, until another
surge succeeds. The retreat of the water
from the shore is frequently so rapid, that
it carries along with it stones and other
substances that lie on the shore. To this
the poet here alludes. But Heyne takes
620. Agunt: in the sense of instant vel
saxa “evoluta astu, &c. to imply, that the
sequuntur.
waves passed over, or through the rock, in
622. Mollia: obedient-submissive to the approaching and retreating from the shore:
reins.
623. Penitùs: fully-wholly. Rumus
says, omninò. It is to be connected with
datis.
The Trojans retreat (are carried
back) at full speed-as fast as their horses
can carry them.
624. Procurrens alterno: rolling forward
in alternate surges. Pontus: in the sense
of fluctus, says Heyne. Ruæus says mare.
But then he takes the poet here to have
reference to the ebb and flow of the tide.
per quæ fluctus vel unda revolvitur, says he.
630. Respectant: they see the enemy
covering their backs with their shields.
The plain meaning is, that the Latins put
the Tuscans to flight in turn: they see them
covering their backs with their shields.
631. Tertia prælia: the third assault-
the third time they engaged.
632. Implicuêre: in the sense of miscu
crunt. They engaged in close fight.
44
556
P VIRGILII MARONIS
633. Gemitus mori- Tum verò et gemitus morientûm; et sanguine in alto
entûm audiuntur
cussus equo
641. Catillus dejicit
Armaque, corporaque, et permisti cæde virorum
Semianimes volvuntur equi: pugna aspera surgit.
Orsilochus Remuli, quando ipsum horrebat adire,
Hastam intorsit equo, ferrumque sub aure reliquit.
638. Jactat crura alta, Quo sonipes ictu furit arduus, altaque jactat,
pectore
Vulneris impatiens, arrecto pectore crura.
040. Ille Remulus ex- Volvitur ille excussus humi, Catillus Iolam,
Ingentemque animis, ingentem corpore et armis
Iolam, Herminiumque Dejicit Herminium: nudo cui vertice fulva
mgentem
Cæsaries, nudique humeri: nec vulnera terrent :
612. Cui erat fulva Tantus in arma patet. Latos huic hasta per armos
cæsaries in nudo ver- Acta tremit, duplicatque virum transfixa dolore.
tice, humerique erant
Funditur ater ubique cruor: dant funera ferro
Certantes: pulchramque petunt per vulnera mortem.
At medias inter cædes exsultat Amazon,
649. Amazon, nempe Unum exserta latus pugnæ, pharetrata Camilla.
Camilla pharetrata ex- Et nunc lenta manu spargens hastilia denset,
sultat, exserta quoad
Nunc validam dextrâ rapit indefessa bipennem.
Aureus ex humero sonat arcus, et arma Dianæ.
Illa etiam, si quando in tergum pulsa recessit,
Spicula converso fugientia dirigit arcu.
655. At circum eam, At circùm lectæ comites, Larinaque virgo,
Tullaque, et æratam quatiens Tarpeia securim,
sunt lecte
635
640
645
650
655
NOTES.
636. Horrebat adire: he feared to attack
him. Timeret, says Ruæus.
638. Jactat crura; The meaning is, that
his horse reared upon his hind feet, throw-
ing his fore feet, and beating the air with
them. In doing this, he threw his rider.
642. Dejicit in the sense of prosternit.
Cui: in the sense of cujus. So huic: for
hujus, 644. infra. Vertice: in the sense of
capite. His yellow hair waved upon his
naked head.
644. Patet tantus: so great he stands
opposed to arms. This is the sense given
to the words by Davidson; who observes,
that Servius, and most commentators after
him, understand the words to mean: that
he stood so large a mark exposed to the darts
of the enemy.
But this is so far from being
a reason for his not being afraid, that it is
a strong reason why he should be. In,
may be taken in the sense of contrà.
645. Acta: in the sense of immissa; agree-
ing with hasta. Transfixa: passing through
his shoulders, doubles the man with the
pain of the wound. The pain inflicted by
the spear was so great, that he was no
longer able to maintain an erect posture.
Rumus says, incurvat hominem.
-
The reading above is that of Heyne,
founded upon the Roman, Medicean, and
other MSS. of antiquity, and generally
adopted by modern editors. Some read
duplicatque viri transfixa dolorem. This
Turnebus approves.
Others read dupli
catque, virum transfixa, dolorem.
647. Certantes: a part. of the verb certo,
taken as a sub. The combatants-the
contending armies.
Or,
649. Exserta unum latus pugnæ: her
right side was naked, and disengaged for
action, (pugnæ,) but her left was incumber-
ed with her bow, and half-moon shield.
Such a shield the Amazons wore.
pugna may signify the attacks of the enemy.
Then the sense will be: that she had one
side (to wit, the right,) exposed to the ene-
my, while the other was covered with her
shield; which prepares the reader for the
circumstance mentioned afterwards, of her
receiving her mortal wound in this part of
her body. Camilla is here called an Ama-
zon, because she was armed like one of
them.
650. Spargens: this expresses, as well
as denset, the rapiuity with which she re-
peated her throws. She scattered her javo-
lins thick on every side. Spargit den‹è.
says Heyne.
652. Arma: in the sense of sagittæ.
653. In tergum: backward: in the sense
of retrò.
654. Spicula: the winged arrows from
her inverted bow. She turned her bow
over her shoulder, and in that position dis-
charged her winged arrow upon
the enemy.
In this manner the Parthians conducted
ENEIS. LIB. XI.
557
Italides: quas ipsa decus sibi dia Camilla
Delegit, pacisque bonas bellique ministras.
Quales Threïciæ, cùm flumina Thermodontis
Pulsant, et pictis bellantur Amazones armis;
Seu circum Hippolyten; seu cùm se Martia curru
Penthesilea refert; magnoque ululante tumultu
Fœminea exsultant lunatis agmina peltis.
660
657. Omner Italides.
quas dia Camilla ipsa
delegit esse decus sibi,
ministrasque
664. O aspera virgo
665
Quem telo primum, quem postremum, aspera virgo,
Dejicis? aut quot humi morientia corpora fundis?
Eumenium Clytio primùm patre; cujus apertum
Adversi longâ transverberat abjete pectus.
Sanguinis ille vomens rivos cadit, atque cruentam
Mandit humum, moriensque suo se in vulnere versat.
Tum Lirin Pagasumque supèr: quorum alter, habenas
Suffosso revolutus equo dum colligit; alter
Dum subit, ac dextram labenti tendit inermem,
Præcipites pariterque ruunt. His addit Amastrum
Hippotaden sequiturque incumbens eminùs hastâ
Tereaque, Harpalycumque, et Demophoonta, Chromim-
que :
Quotque emissa manu contorsit spicula virgo;
Tot Phrygii cecidêre viri. Procul Ornytus armis
Ignotis, et equo venator Iapyge fertur:
Čui pellis latos humeros erepta juvenco
Pugnatori operit; caput ingens oris hiatus,
Et malæ texêre lupi cum dentibus albis ;
666. Primùm interficit
Eumenium natum
670. Tum interficit
671 Lirin, Pagasumque su-
pèr. Illi ruunt præci-
pites pariterqne; ouo-
rum alter
675
678. Venator Ornytės
fertur in ignotis
680
NOTES.
their retreat; which the poet here has in his
view.
657. Italides: Italian nymphs.
658. Bonas: skilful-expert.
659. Flumina: the river, put by meton.
for the banks of the river. They beat the
banks so as to make the river resound.
Thermodontis: gen. of Thermodon, a river
of Thrace, the country said to have been
inhabited by the Amazons.
660. Pictis armis: with party-colored, or
variegated arms. Bellantur: in the sense
of pugnant.
661. Hippolyten. Hippolyte was a fa-
mous queen of the Amazons. It is said she
was vanquished by Hercules. Penthesilea
was also queen of that female race. She
came to the assistance of Priam during the
Trojan war, and was slain by Achilles, or
his son Parrhus. See Æn. i. 491.
:
662. Magnoque ululante with a loud
yelling noise.
:
663. Lunatis peltis: with their crescent
shields-shields in the form of a half moon.
664. Aspera in the sense of bellicosa.
665. Fundis: in the sense of sternis.
667. Abjete: for abiete: the fir tree-any
thing made of the wood of that tree-a
spear or javelin of that wood. Adversi: an
adj. agreeing with cujus: right against
opposite to-in front of.
670. Super in the sense of prætereà: be-
side-in addition to those before mentioned.
671. Revolutus falling backward from
his wounded horse, while, &c.
672. Labenti: to him falling-to his fall-
ing friend.
673. Pariter: at the same time--both at
once fall to the ground. Ruunt: in the
sense of cadunt.
674. Incumbens: in the sense of petens
vel instans. The simple meaning of the
expression is: she killed these men as they
stood at a distance from her, with her jave-
lins, thrown at them. Virgil had an admi-
rable talent for varying his style and ex-
pression.
678 Ignotis armis: arms that were strange
and unusual to him. Iapyge, for Iapygio.
an adj. from Iapyx, the son of Dædalus,
who first settled in Apulia: Apulian.-
Fertur: rides along-moves on.
:
679. Cui in the sense of cujus. Juvenco:
in the sense of tauro. This was some wild
bull, killed by the hunter, in whose hide he
had dressed himself. Pugnatori: put in
apposition with juvenco. Heyne says, syl
vestri-cum quo pugnaverat.
680. Ingens hiatus: lit. the large opening
of the mouth, and the jaws of a wolf with
His head
white teeth, covered his head.
was covered with the skin taken from the
552
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
vertice
Agrestisque manus armat sparus. ipse catervis
685
663. Suprà alios toto Vertitur in mediis, et toto vertice suprà est.
Hunc illa exceptum ; neque enim labor, agmine verso ;
684. Camilla illa tra-
Trajicit, et super hæc inimico pectore fatur :
jicit hunc exceptum;
enim neque erat labor Sylvis te, Tyrrhene, feras agitare putâsti ?
ei; ejus agmine Advenit qui vestra dies muliebribus armis
tem
Cit
685. Super eum jaren-
687. Dies advenit, qui
690. Protinùs interfi-
Verba redarguerit. Nomen tamen haud leve patrum
Manibus hoc referes, telo cecidisse Camillæ.
Protinùs Orsilochum et Buten, duo maxirna Teucrûm
Corpora: sed Buten adversum cuspide fixit
691
694. Illa fugiens
692. Quà colla ejus Loricam galeamque inter, quà colla sedentis
sedentis equo
Lucent, et lævo dependet parma lacerto;
Orsilochum fugiens, magnumque agitata per orbem,
Eludit gyro interior, sequiturque sequentem.
Tum validam perque arma viro perque ossa securim,
Altior insurgens, oranti et multa precanti
Congeminat vulnus calido rigat ora cerebro.
695
Incidit huic, subitoque aspectu territus hæsit.
700. Bellator
filius Apenninicolæ bellator filius Auni,
Auni Apenninicole, Haud Ligurum extremus, dum fallere fata sinebant.
haud extremus Ligu-
rum, dum fata sinebant Isque, ubi se nullo jam cursu evadere pugnâ
eum fallere, incidit huic, Posse, neque instantem reginam avertere, cernit ;
territusque
Consilio versare dolos ingressus et astu,
705. Quid est tam Incipit hæc quid tam egregium, si fœmina forti
egregium, si tu bellatrix Fidis equo? dimitte fugam, et te cominùs æquo
fœmina fidis
Mecum crede solo, pugnæque accinge pedestri:
Jam nosces, ventosa ferat cui gloria fraudem.
707. Accinge te
NOTES.
head of a wolf, while his shoulders were
covered with the hide of a wild bull. The
former the hero wore for a helmet, the lat-
ter for a corslet.
682. Sparus: a kind of rustic weapon.
683. Vertitur: in the sense of incedit vel
movet.
684. Exceptum: in the sense of intercep-
tum. Verso: routed-thrown into disorder.
688. Redarguerit: shall confute thy
words. He had, perhaps, boasted of his
valor.
Nomen: honor-renown.
691. Adversum: opposite-right against
her. Pierius found aversum in some of the
best manuscripts; but the sense is in favor
of adversum : the wound which he received
was in the throat, inter loricam, galeamque,
which could not have happened, if his back
Lad been turned towards her. Heyne reads
aversum.
694. Fugiens: the sense of this passage
appears to be this: the queen, fleeing from
Orsilochus, was pursued by him in a large
circuit. Here she lost him in the crowd,
(eludit,) that is, he lost sight of her, which
wa the object she had in view. Then
urning about in a circle smaller, and on the
nner side, (gyro interior,) she came in be
aind him, who was supposing he was all
the time in pursuit of her, and so became
700
705
the pursuer in turn. Coming up with him.
rising high to give her blows more effect.
she drove her sturdy axe through, &c.
696. Viro: in the sense of viri.
698. Congeminat: Ruæus says impingit.
699. Incidit huic: met her by chance.
Hasit: stood amazed at the sudden and
unexpected sight.
701. Ligurum: gen. of Ligures. These
were a people of Italy, whose country was
bounded on the north by the Apennines,
and extended to the Tuscan sea on the
south. Cato mentions them as notorious
for their tricks and deception. To this trait
of character the poet here alludes, in the
words fallere. &c. Pugnd: Heyne reads
pugnæ.
703. Instantem: pressing upon him.
704. Ingressus: attempting to effect (put
in practice) his tricks and deception, by
stratagem and cunning, he says (incipiť,
these things. Rumus says, incipiens.
705. Forti: in the sense of celeri.
706. Dimitte fugam: dismiss your flight-
your horse, which enables you to flec.
quo solo: on the lovel ground-equal
terms with me.
708. Ventosa gloria: vain-empty boast
ing. Ventosa is used here with peculiar
propriety- mere empty vaunting-light as
ENEIS. LIB. XI
559
Dixit At illa furens, acrique accensa dolore,
Tradit equum comiti, paribusque resistit in armis,
Ense pedes nudo, purâque interrita parmâ.
At juvenis, vicisse dolo ratus, avolat ipse,
Haud mora, conversisque fugux aufertur habenis,
Quadrupedemque citum ferratâ calce fatigat.
Vane Ligur, frustràque animis elate superbis,
Nequicquam patrias tentâsti lubricus artes:
Nec fraus te incolumem fallaci perferet Auno.
Hæc fatur virgo, et pernicibus ignea plantis
Transit equum cursu: frænisque adversa prehensis
Congreditur, pœnasque inimico à sanguine sumit.
Quàm facilè accipiter saxo sacer ales ab alto
Consequitur pennis sublimem in nube columbam,
Comprênsamque tenet, pedibusque eviscerat uncis:
Tum cruor, et vulsæ labuntur ab æthere plumæ.
710
715
720
730
At non hæc nullis hominum sator atque Deorum 725
Observans oculis, summo sedet altus Olympo.
Tyrrhenum genitor Tarchontem in prælia sæva
Suscitat, et stimulis haud mollibus incitat iras.
Ergò inter cædes cedentiaque agmina Tarchon
Fertur equo, variisque instigat vocibus alas,
Nomine quemque vocans; reficitque in prælia pulsos :
Quis' metus, ô nunquam dolituri, ô semper inertes
Tyrrheni, quæ tanta animis ignavia venit?
Fœmina palantes agit, atque hæc agmina vertit ?
Quò ferrum? quidve hæc gerimus tela irrita dextris?
NOTES.
the wind. Fraudem: this is the common
reading. It is the reading of the Roman
MS., and for which Servius contends. Heyne
reads laudem, but expresses a doubt upon
it.
Fraudem is to be taken in the sense of
damnum―detrimentum vel pœnam, which
sometimes is the meaning of the word. If
laudem be read, it may be taken in its usual
acceptation.
709. Acri dolore: with keen resentment.
711. Resistit: this is the reading of Heyne.
Rumus and Davidson read assistit. The
sense is the same with either. Purâ parmâ:
with her shield which had no impress upon
t. The same as alba parma. Lib. ix. 548.
Pedes: a footman-on foot.
713. Conversis habenis: his reins being
turned. Here habenis is plainly put for the
head of his horse. He turned his horse,
and left her at full speed.
714. Ferrata calce: with his iron heel
with his spurs. Fatigat: in the sense of
impellit.
715. Ligus: gen. Liguris: deceitful Li-
gurian.
716. Lubricus: slippery-turning every
way to answer his purposes of deception.
717. Perferet: in the sense of reducet.
718. Ignea transit: burning with ire, she
with swift foot passes his horse in his course.
•
712. Ratus se vicisse
eam dolo
721. Tam facilè quàm
accipiter, ales sacer Mar-
ti volans ab alto saxo
725. At Jupiter, sator
727. Tum ille, genitor
731. Quemque homi-
nem
733. O Tyrrheni, nun-
quam dolituri, O semper
inertes
735. Quò nos gerimu
ferrum
This action of Camilla would have been in
credible, if we had not been previously pre
pared for something of the kind. See Lib
vii. 808. where her swiftness is described
Ignea: Valpy says, swift, or quick as light.
ning. Rumus says, ardens.
719. Adversa: opposite-right against him,
in front.
723. Pedibus: by this we are to under-
stand the talons, or claws of the hawk,
which are crooked, or bending: hence the
propriety of uncis. Eviscerat: in the sense
of dilaniat.
725. Non nullis oculis: with some atten
tion-regard. It implies, that he was atten
tively regarding the scenes that were passing
upon the field of battle.
730. Alas: the light troops. See 604,
supra.
731. Reficit pulsos: he rallies and brings
back the flying troops to the fight. Ruæus
says, revocat.
732. Dolituri nunquam: never to feel re-
sentment: a part. of the verb doleo.
735. Quò ferrum: for what intent-to
what purpose do we bear the sword? Irrita:
useless-unavailing in our hands.
Tarchon is very severe upon the Tuscans
calling them stupid, and patient of insults
and injuries. He alludes, perhaps, to the
560
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
736. At vos non estis At non in Venerem segnes, nocturnaque bella.
regnes..
ante suum
Aut, ubi curva choros indixit tibia Bacchi,
Expectare dapes, et plenæ pocula mensæ,
736
740
745
739. Hic est wester (Hic amor, hoc studium) dum sacra secundus aruspex
amor, hoc est vestrum
Nuntiet, ac lucos vocet hostia pinguis in altos.
Hæc effatus, equum in medios moriturus et ipse
Concitat, et Venulo adversum se turbidus infert;
Dereptumque ab equo dextrâ complectitur hostem,
744. Aufert Venulum Et gremium ante suum multâ vi concitus aufert.
Tollitur in cœlum clamor, cunctique Latini
Convertêre oculos. Volat igneus æquore Tarchon
Arma virumque ferens: tum summâ ipsius ab hastâ
Defringit ferrum, et partes rimatur apertas,
Quà vulnus letale ferat. Contrà ille repugnans
Sustinet à jugulo dextram, et vim viribus exit.
Utque volans altè raptum cùm fulva draconem
Fert aquila, implicuitque pedes, atque unguibus hæsit:
Saucius at serpens sinuosa volumina versat,
Arrectisque horret squamis, et sibilat ore,
749. Ille Venulus
751. Utque cùm fulva
aquila volans altè fert
minùs
755. Illa aquila haud Arduus insurgens: illa haud minùs urget adunco
Luctantem rostro; simul æthera verberat alis.
Haud aliter prædam Tiburtum ex agmine Tarchon
Portat ovans. Ducis exemplum eventumque secuti
Mœonidæ incurrunt. Tum fatis debitus Āruns
Velocem jaculo et multà prior arte Camillam
NOTES.
tameness with which they endured the ty-
ranny of Mezentius, and patiently submit-
ted to it till it became past endurance; and
now they are not ashamed to turn their
backs before a woman. Gerimus. This is
the reading of Heyne, and is found in the
best MSS. Rumus reads geritis.
736. Venerem: in the sense of voluptatem
vel cupidinem.
737. Indixit: proclaimed-appointed.
739. Secundus: favorable-propitious.-
The person who predicted future events by
inspecting the entrails of victims, was called
aruspex. When the auspices were favora-
ble, he was called secundus. After the an-
nouncement of the auspices, the feast im-
mediately followed. Sacra. Rumus says
sacrificia. Davidson, sacred rites.
742. Turbidus: in the sense of acer.
743. Complectitur: he grasps in his right
b. id.
144. Ante suum gremium: in the sense
of ante se.
746. Igneus: in the sense of ardens.
18. Defringit ferrum: he breaks off the
steel from the end of his spear, so that he
could do him no injury. Rimatur: in the
sen e of quærit. Partes: the exposed part
of his throat.
750. Exit: in the sense of avertit. It is
here used actively. Sustinet: in the sense
of repellit.
752. Hasit: and griped him in his talons.
750
755
760
755. Urget: the more the snake strug
gles, and endeavors to extricate itself, the
closer does the eagle gripe it in his talons
and crooked beak: just so Tarchon bears
off Venulus in his tenacious grasp. Tibur-
tum: the same with Venulum. He was
commander, and a principal inan among the
Tiburtines. Their city was called Tibur,
situated, some say, about twenty miles north
of the place where Rome was afterwards
built. It was founded by Tiburtus, the son
of Amphiaraus. See Æn. vii. 630.
759. Mæonida: the Tuscans. They are
here so called, because their ancestors re-
moved from Mæonia, a country of Asia Mi-
nor, and settled in Italy. Aruns debitus
fatis: Aruns devoted to death. It is said
of him, because he was to kill Camilla; and
whoever killed her, forfeited his life to Di-
ana, by a decree of that goddess. See 591,
supra. Incurrunt: in the sense of irruunt.
Fatis: in the sense of morti.,
760. Circuit: he goes around Camilla,
for the purpose of discovering some unpro-
tected place, where he may give her a mortal
wound. He follows her over the field of
battle, and closely observes her movements;
and continues unobserved by her, until the
fatal moment arrived. She was in the pur-
suit of Chloreus, and intent upon his spoils
when Aruns, having observed a favorable
opportunity to effect his purpose, threw his
spear, and a god directed it to the naked
ENEIS. LIB XI.
765
Circuit, et, quæ sit fortuna facillima, tentat.
Quâ se cunque furens medio tulit agmine virgo;
Hâc Aruns subit, et tacitus vestigia lustrat;
Quâ victrix redit illa, pedemque ex hoste reportat ;
Hâc juvenis furtim celeres detorquet habenas.
Hos aditus, jamque hos aditus, omnemque pererrat
Undique circuitum; et certam quatit improbus hastam.
Fortè sacer Cybelæ Chloreus, olimque sacerdos,
Insignis longè Phrygiis fulgebat in armis:
Spumantemque agitabat equum ; quem pellis ahenis 770
In plumam squamis auro conserta tegebat.
Ipse, peregrinâ ferrugine clarus et ostro,
Spicula torquebat Lycie Gortynia cornu:
Aureus ex humeris sonat arcus, et aurea vati
Cassida: tum croceam
croceam chlamdemque, sinusque
Carbaseos fulvo in nodum collegerat auro,
Pictus acu tunicas, et baibara tegmina crurum.
Hunc virgo, sive ut templis præfigeret arma
Troïa, captivo sive ut se ferret in auro
Venatrix, unum ex omni certamine pugnæ
Cæca sequebatur; totumque incauta per agmen,
Femineo prædæ et spoliorum ardebat amore.
Telum ex insidiis cùm tandem, tempore capto,
Conjicit, et Superos Aruns sic voce precatur :
Summe Deûm, sancti custos Soractis, Apollo,
Quem primi colimus, cui pineus ardor acervo
Pascitur; et medium freti pietate per ignem
NOTES.
breast of the virgin warrior. Circuit: of
circùm and eo.
761. Fortuna: time-opportunity. Valpy
says, "the most vulnerable point-where the
chance of hitting seemed most favorable."
766. Pererrat: examines-surveys. Ru-
æus says, percurrit. Aditus: access-ap-
proaches.
767. Certam: unerring-certain. Impro-
bus: with wicked design. Rumus says,
malignus.
71. Conserta: compacted, or fastened
with brazen nails, and gold. In plumam:,
in the form of a plume. The nails were so
placed in the skin, as to represent the figure
of a plume, or plumes; and served, in some
easure, as defensive armor for the horse.
772. Peregrinâ ferrugine: in foreign blue
and purple. Clarus: in the sense of splen-
dens.
773. Gortynia: an adj. from Gortyna, a
city of Crete. Cornu: in the sense of arcu.
776. Collegerat: then he had collected
nis saffron-colored cloak, and its rustling
folds of fine linen, into a knot with yellow
gold.
561
762. Quâcunque tú
rens virgo tulit so
770. Quem equum pel
lis conserta ahenis squa
mis et auro
774. Aurea cassida
774 est huic vati in capite
777. Ille erat pictus
cre-
[pantes acu quoad tunicas
778. Virgo, sive ut
præfigerat Troïa arma
templis, sive ut vena-
trix ferret se in captive
780 auro, cæca sequebatur
hunc unum
785
783. Cùm tandem
Aruns, tempore capto,
conjicit
785. O Apollo, summe
787. Et nos tui cul.
tores, freti nostra pie-
tate
780. Ex omni: Ruæus says, ex omnibus
certantibus in prælio. Davidson, "of all the
warring chiefs." In this case, certamen will
be by meton. for certator vel bellator. The
meaning is, that she singled him out of all
the combatants, and pursued him over the
field of battle, as being the richest prize, and
affording the most valuable spoils. This
idea is expressed, and assigned in the fol-
lowing lines, as the reason of her procedure.
She was so intent upon the booty and spoils,
that she forgot her perilous situation. She
did not perceive Aruns, nor was she in any
way apprized of his design against her.
783. Ex insidiis: privately-or from his
concealment.
785. Soractis. Soractes o Soracte was a
mountain of Etruria, near the Tiber, about
twenty-six miles north of the place where
Rome was afterward ouilt. It was sacred
to Apollo; who thence called Custos
Soractis,
786. Ardor: in the sense of ignis. Cui.
for whom-in honor of whom. Ligni is to
be supplied after acervo.
787. Freti pietate premimus, &c. This cir-
cumstance is illustrated from an historical
passage in Pliny, lib. 7. Haud procul urbe
Roma, in Faliscorum agro, familiæ sunt
în
paucæ, quæ vocantur Hirpiæ: quæ sacrificio
777. Pictus; embroidered as to his tunic.
Barbara tegmina: the foreign coverings of
his legs. These may be called barbara, be-
cause they were of Phrygian fashion.
37
P. VIRGILTI MARONIS
662
Cultores multâ premimus vestigia prunâ :
Da, pater, hoc nostris aboleri dedecus armis,
Omnipotens! Non exuvias, pulsæve trophæum
Virginis, aut spolia ulla peto
Mihi cætera laudem
792. Hæc dira pestis Facta ferent. Hæc dira meo dum vulnere pestis
Camilla
Pulsa cadat, patriam remeabo inglorius urbem.
794. Phœbus audiit; Audiit, et voti Phœbus succedere partem
et dedit
Mente dedit: partem volucres dispersit in auras.
Sterneret ut subitâ turbatam morte Camillam,
797. Annuit illi oran- Annuit oranti: reducem ut patria alta videret,
ti, ut
mor
790
795
Non dedit; inque Notos vocem vertêre procellæ.
Ergò, ut missa manu sonitum dedit hasta per auras, 800
Convertêre- animos acres, oculosque tulere
801. Ipsa est nihil me- Cuncti ad reginam Volsci. Nihil ipsa neque auræ,
Nec sonitûs memor, aut venientis ab æthere teli;
Hasta sub exsertam donec perlata papillam
Hæsit, virgineumque altè bibit acta cruorem.
Concurrunt trepidæ comites, dominamque ruentem 805
Suscipiunt. Fugit ante omnes exterritus Aruns
Lætitiâ, mixtoque metu: nec jam ampliùs hastæ
809. Ille lupus, pas- Credere, nec telis occurrere virginis audet.
tore, magno-ve juvenco
occiso. conscius audacis Ac velut ille, priùs quàm tela inimica sequantur,
facti, continuò avius Continuò in montes sese avius abdidit altos,
NOTES.
annuo, quod fit ad montem Soractem Apollini,
super ambustam ligni struem ambulantes non
aduruntur.
788. Multa prund. It is said, so manifest
was the power of Apollo here displayed,
that his priests and votaries could walk
through the midst of fire, and tread upon
burning coals, without receiving the least
injury from the flames. Vestigia: in the
sense of pedes.
789. Hoc dedecus: this disgrace of fleeing
before a woman, and falling under her vic-
torious arm.
791. Mihi: in the sense of mea.
792. Dum: provided that-on condition
that. Meo vulnere: in the sense of mea
hasta. Vulnus is frequently put by meton.
for the weapon that gives the wound. Ru-
æus says, vulnere à me inflicto.
793. Remeabo, &c. It was an inglorious
act in Aruns to wound Camilla, in that pri-
vate manner, like a coward, without daring
to enter the list with her in fair combat.
He was sensible of this, and that he would
be looked upon as a coward. Nevertheless,
he was willing to lie under that disgrace,
provided he could accomplish his wishes.
795. Mente dedit. Phoebus heard his
prayer, but gave no external indication of
his purpose concerning it; or else Aruns
would have been deterred from the action:
he granted it in his mind, and only a part
of his prayer, not the whole.
796. Turbatam: confused--in a state of
'perturbation.
.
810
797. Alta: in the sense of clara vel no-
bilis.
798. Procellæ: the tempest. The word
properly means a violent storm at sea.
Notos: here taken for winds in general;
properly the south wind. Vocem: in the
sense of verba, the words of Aruns: (to wit)
that he would return in safety to his own
country.
801. Nihil: in the sense of non.
803. Perlata: wafted-borne. Rumus
says, veniens. Sub: deep into her naked
breast. This word is frequently used in this
sense by the poet.
805. Ruentem: in the sense of cadentem.
806. Exterritus lætitiâ: struck-alarmed
with joy, and mingled fear above, &c. His
sensation was joy mingled with fear. He
rejoiced that he had wounded Camilla, and
at the same time, he feared the avenging
weapons of the Latins. He fled immedi-
ately. We may observe how very different
ly the poet represents the characters and
actions of Camilla and Aruns. She appears
in every respect the heroine; both valiant
in action, and fearless in danger: he, on
all occasions, showing himself the coward
and poltron. Our feelings are interested in
her behalf: and we regret, since she was
doomed to fall, that it had not been by a
nobler arm.
809. Ille lupus: and as a wolf, &c. Ille
is used in the same sense, Æn. x. 407. An
velut ille aper: and xii. 5. Ille leo.
810. Avius: alone-in secret.
ENEIS. LIB. XI.
563
Occiso pastore, lupus, magnove juvenco,
Conscius audacis facti: caudamque remulcens
Subjecit pavitantem utero, sylvasque petivit
Haud secùs ex oculis se turbidus abstulit Aruns,
Contentusque fugâ mediis se immiscuit armis.
Illa manu moriens telum trahit: ossa sed inter
Ferreus ad costas alto stat vulnere mucro.
Labitur exsanguis; labuntur frigida leto
Lumina: purpureus quondam color ora reliquit
Tum sic exspirans, Accam, ex æqualibus unam,
Alloquitur, fida ante alias quæ sola Camillæ,
Quîcum partiri curas; atque hæc ita fatur :
Hactenus, Acca soror, potui: nunc vulnus acerbum
Conficit, et tenebris nigrescunt omnia circùm.
Effuge, et hæc Turno mandata novissima perfer:
Succedat pugnæ, Trojanosque arceat urbe.
Jamque vale. Simul his dictis linquebat habenas,
Ad terram non sponte fluens. Tum frigida toto
Paulatim exsolvit se corpore, lentaque colla
Et captum Jeto posuit caput, arma relinquens ;
Vitaque cum gemitu fugit indignata sub umbras.
Tum verò immensus surgens ferit aurea clamor
Sidera dejectâ crudescit pugna Camilla.
Incurrunt densi, simul omnis copia Teucrûm,
Tyrrhenique duces, Evandrique Arcadis alæ.
At Triviæ custos jamdudum in montibus Opis
Alta sedet summis, spectatque interrita pugnas.
Utque procul medio juvenum in clamore furentûm
Prospexit tristi multatam morte Camillam
Ingemuitque, deditque has imo pectore voces:
NOTES.
813. Subjecit caudam: puts his trembling
tail between his legs, (under his belly,)
keeping it close. Remulcens: cherishing it
-fondly taking care of it.
817. Stat: in the sense of hæret. Mucro:
the point-barb of his spear.
818. Labitur exsanguis: Donatus reads,
labitur et sanguis, `seemingly, to save the
appearance of contradiction in the narra-
tion for Camilla does not fall from her
horse, till some time after this, verse 827.
But labitur does not necessarily imply that
she fell to the ground; but she faints, or
sinks down, being supported perhaps on her`
horse, by her attendants, for some minutes.
Davidson.
819. Quondam: soon after-presently.
Ora: in the sense of vultum. She became
pale, and her eyes became cold in death.
822. Quicum: the abl. for quâcum: with
whom.
823. Potui. Servius supposes vivere vel
pugnare to be understood. Ruæus and
Heyne supply pugnare. La Cerda, David-
son, and Valpy, take it absolutely. Hacte-
nus potui: hitherto I have been powerful-
I
815
820
825
830
835
840
816. Illa Camilla
821. Quæ sola erat
fida Camillæ ante alias,
quicum solebat
828. Illa frigida pan
latim
my strength hath availed me; now, &c.
Conficit: in the senso af interficit. Me is
understood.
828. Fluens: in the sense of labens.
829. Lenta colla: she reclined her droop-
ing-lifeless neck.
830. Captum: overcome.
833. Dejecta: in the sense of occisa vel
interfecta.
834. Incurrunt: rush in crowded ranks
upon the enemy.
835. Ala: in the sense of equites.
836. Triviæ. This is a name of Diana;
either because she presided over Trivia, the
crossways; or, because she was fabled to
have three forms. She was called Luna in
heaven, Diana on the earth, and Hecate in
hell. Opis: a nymph of Diana's train. She
is called, therefore, custos in the sense of
comes vel famula. She was appointed by
Diana to avenge any injury done to Ca-
milla, upon the author of it. She, therefore,
hastens to kill Aruns.
839. Multatam: in the sense of interfec-
Ruæus says, affectam.
840. Dedit: in the sense of emisit.
tam.
564
P. VIRGILI MARONIS
Heu! nimiùm, virgo, nimium crudele luisti
842. Tu O virgo, luisti Supplicium, Teucros conata lacessere bello !
nimiùm
Nec tibi desertæ in dumis coluisse Dianam
Profuit, aut nostras humero gessisse pharetras.
Non tamen indecorem tua te regina relinquet
846 Hoc tuum letum Extremâ jam in morte: neque hoc sinè nomine letum
Per gentes erit, aut famam patieris inultæ.
Nam quicunque tuum violavit vulnere corpus,
854. Ut vidit eum
849. Fuit ingens bus- Morte luet meritâ. Fuit ingens monte sub alto
tum Dercenni, antiqui Regis Dercenni terreno ex aggere bustum
Laurentis regis
Antiqui Laurentis, opacâque ilice tectum.
Hic Dea se primùm rapido pulcherrima nisu
Sistit, et Aruntem tumulo speculatur ab alto.
Ut vidit fulgentem armis, ac vanà tumentem:
Cur, inquit, diversus abis? huc dirige gressum:
856. Veni huc,*tu, pe- Huc, periture, veni; capias ut digna Camillæ
Præmia. Tu-ne etiam telis moriere Dianæ ?
Dixit: et auratâ volucrem Threïssa sagittam
Deprompsit pharetrâ, cornuque infensa tetendit;
r.ture; ut
860. Duxit illud longè Et duxit longè, donec curvata coirent
Inter se capita, et manibus jam tangeret æquis,
862. Nempe, lævâ ma- Lævâ aciem ferri, dextrâ nervoque papillam.
nu tangeret aciem ferri, Extemplò teli stridorem aurasque sonantes
dextrâ manu nervoque Audiit unà Aruns, hæsitque in corpore ferrum.
tangeret ejus papillam.
865. Socii obliti lin- Illum expirantem socii atque extrema gementem
Obliti ignoto camporum in pulvere linquunt :
Opis ad æthereum pennis aufertur Olympum.
Prima fugit, dominâ amissâ, levis ala Camillæ
Turbati fugiunt Rutuli; fugit acer Atinas;
anunt illum
NOTES.
841. Luisti· thou hast suffered, &c. Ni-
mɩùm. The nimiùm is here emphatical;
and is to be repeated with crudele: too
cruel, or severe.
843. Deserto: alone-by thyself.
845. Indecorem: in the sense of inhono-
ratam.
846. Noming: renown-glory.
847. Famam inulta: the infamy of one
unavenged. Famam, here is plainly to be
taken in the sense of infamiam, as it some-
times signifies. It was considered dishonor-
able to die in battle, without being avenged,
and a mark of infamy.
849. Luet: the meaning is: he shall
atone for, or expiate the crime, with, &c.
Crimen vel scelus, is understood.
850. Dercenni. This Dercennus was pro-
bably one of the kings of the aborigines, the
primitive inhabitants of Italy. Bustum: a
tomb.
852. Nisu: in the sense of molu.
845
850
855
860
865
856. Capias digna: the meaning is, that
thou mayest be slain-mayest receive the
just reward for killing Camilla. Morte, or
a word of the like import, is understood to
govern Camilla.
857. Tu-ne moriere: shalt thou die by the
weapons of Diana? Dost thou, miscreant,
deserve to die by the weapons of Diana?
The words imply, that he was utterly un-
worthy of a death so honorable.
858. Threissa. Latona, it is said, brought
some nymphs from the Hyperboreans to
educate her children, Diana and Apollo.
Servius makes them to be the same with
the Thracians; and probably Opis was one
of them.
of them. Threïssa: nympha is understood
The same with Opis.
In-
859. Cornu: in the sense of arcum.
fensa: angry. Ruæus says, inimica, agree-
ing with Opis.
860. Duxit longè: stretched it wide asun-
der, until the extremities, &c. Rumus says.
extremitates ejus inflexœ. Coirent :
together-meet. Equis: level-horizontal.
She touched the barb with one hand, and
ome
854. Vanà: an adj. neu. pleu., used as an
adverb, in imitation of the Greeks: in the
sense of vanè.
855. Diversus in the sense of in diversam her breast with the other. The bow was
artem.
bent to the full length of her arms.
Aciem
ENEIS. LIB. XI.
565
Disjectique duces, desolatique manîpli
Tuta petunt, et equis aversi ad monia tendunt
870
871. Tuta loca
Nec quisquam instantes Teucros, letumque ferentes
Sustentare valet telis, aut sistere contrà :
874
Sed laxos referunt humeris languentibus arcus,
Quadrupedumque putrem cursu quatit ungula campum.
Volvitur ad muros caligine turbidus atrâ
:
Pulvis et è speculis percussæ pectora matres
Fœmineum clamorem ad cœli sidera tollunt.
Qui cursu portas primi irrupêre patentes,
Hos inimica super mixto premit agmine turba.
Nec miseram effugiunt mortem; sed limine in ipso,
Manibus in patriis, atque inter tuta domorum
Confixi, exspirant animas. Pars claudere portas :
Nec sociis aperire viam, nec mœnibus audent
Accipere orantes: oriturque miserrima cædes
Defendentûm armis aditus, inque arma ruentûm.
Exclusi, ante oculos lachrymantûmque ora parentum,
Pars in præcipites fossas, urgente ruinâ,
Volvitur; immissis pars cæca et concita frænis
Arietat in portas, et duros objice postes.
psæ de muris summo certamine matres
(Monstrat amor verus patriæ) ut vidêre Camillam,
NOTES.
terra: the point of the arrow was tipped
with iron, or steel, to make it enter the object
:nore easily.
870. Manipli. The manipulus was pro-
perly the standard bearer, so called from a
bundle of hay tied to the end of a pole,
which the first Romans used instead of an
ensign. It was afterwards used for the com-
panies, or bands of soldiers, to which a ma-
nipulus was attached: also, for troops in
general, by meton. Desolati: deserted by
their officers-left alone. Disjecti: scattered
abroad-slain. Ruæus says, dissipati.
871. Aversi: in the sense of conversi.
873. Sustentare: to stop-to resist.
876. Pulvis turbidus, &c. The meaning
is, that dust rising in clouds of thick dark-
ness approaches the city. This was a pre-
sage of defeat to the Latins, and filled the
matrons with dismay and consternation.
During the engagement they had been spec-
tators of the conflict.
877. Speculis in the sense of muris.
880. Mixto agmine. This may refer either
o the Trojans or Latins. If it refer to the
ormer, it will imply that they mingled with
he Latins, and slew them without regard to
he order of attack: if it refer to the latter,
t will imply that they fled in confusion and
confusion and
isorder, and in that state were pursued by
he enemy. It appears that some of the
oremost of the pursuers entered the gates
ong with the Latins, and continued the
877. Matres percussa
quoad
880 880. Inimica turba
premit
885
890
882. Tuta loca domo-
rum
883. Pars
claudere
incipit
886. Miserrima cædes
eorum defendentûm
887. Pars eorum, qui
exclusi sunt volvitur
præcipites in
892. Monstrat viam
work of death within the walls, and among
the very houses of the city.
886. Defendentûm: of those who by force
of arms oppose the entrance of the flying
troops, and of those, who wish to force an
entrance to save themselves from the hands
of the enemy.
888. Præcipites: headlong-quick--un-
expected, denoting the manner of their fall.
It will agree with pars, as a noun of inulti-
tude. Fossas: these were the large holes,
or pits, which the Latins dug before the
gates, to impede the approach of the enemy.
See 473. supra.
889. Franis immissis: at full speed-the
reins being given to the horses. Caca: this
implies that they had lost their presence of
mind, and knew not what they were doing.
Concita: in the sense of celeris.
890. Duros objice: strengthened-made
strong-secured by bars.
891. Summo certamine with the greatest
zeal, or earnestness. Hoyne says, extremo
certamine.
892. Ut vidêre: as they saw Camilla.
Heyne says, exemplo Camilla. They had
been spectators of the battle, and beheld her
noble deeds of valor; and how much patri-
otism and love of country were displayed in
all her actions. Prompted by her example,
they now arm themselves in haste, and re-
pair to the place cf danger, ready to die in
their country's cause.
566
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Tela manu trepida jaeiunt: ac robore duro,
Stipitibus ferrum sudibusque imitantur obustis
Præcipites, primæque mori pro mœnibus ardent.
Intereà Turnum in sylvis sævissimus implet
Nuntius, et juveni ingentem fert Acca tumultum :
898. Dicit acies Vols- Deletas Volscorum acies, cecidisse Camillam,
corum deletas esse
901. Ille Turnus
Ingruere infensos hostes, et Marte secundo
Omnia corripuisse; metum jam ad moenia ferri.
Ille furens, nam sæva Jovis sic numina poscunt,
Deserit obsessos colles, nemora aspera linquit.
Vix è conspectu exierat, campumque tenebat;
Cùm pater Æneas, saltus ingressus apertos,
Exsuperatque jugum, sylvâque evadit opacâ.
Sic ambo ad muros rapidi totoque feruntur
Agmine, nec longis inter se passibus absunt.
Ac simul Æneas fumantes pulvere campos
Prospexit longè, Laurentiaque agmina vidit:
Et sævum Ænean agnovit Turnus in armis,
Adventumque pedum, flatusque audivit equorum.
Continuò pugnas ineant, et prælia tentent :
Ni roseus fessos jam gurgite Phoebus Ibero
Tingat equos, noctemque, die labente, reducat
Considunt castris ante urbem, et monia vallant.
895
300
905
910
915
NOTES.
893. Trepida: in haste-quick. So, also, in the sense of dura. Nam. this is the
præcipites, in verse 895. infra.
894. Imitantur: they imitate the weapons
of iron, with hard oak stakes, and poles
hardened at the point. With these weapons,
made on the exigency of the moment, in
imitation of iron weapons, they arm them-
selves, and are desirous of dying first in the
defence of their country. Manibus: in the
sense of urbi vel patriæ.
897. Fert: in the sense of refert vel nun-
ciat. Secundo: in the sense of favente vel
¡uvante.
901. Numina: decrees-purposes. Sava:
How does this book open?
common reading. Heyne reads, et.
shows the danger he had been in from the
905. Evadit: escapes from the wood. This
ambush, which Turnus laid for him.
907. Longis passibus. Longis must be
taken here in the sense of multis or passi-
bus in the sense of intervallo. Luxus says,
longo intervallo.
910. Sævum: fierce-valiant in arms.
911. Flatus: in the sense of hinnitus.
913. Ibero gurgite: in the western ocean.
Here the poet supposed the sun to extinguish
his light every evening.
915. Mania: in the sense of castra.
QUESTIONS.
What does Eneas do with the body of
Pallas?
How many chosen men accompany it?
What effect had the news of his death
upon his father?
How many captives did Eneas send as
victims to his Manes?
Whom does the poet here imitate?
Does the poet here outrage the character
of his hero?
Is there any expression of Homer, which
disapproves of the conduct of Achilles, in
offering human victims at the tomb of Pa-
troclus?
Is there a difference in character between
the two heroes?
What are the distinguishing features of
character?
When the news of the defeat reached the
city, what effect did it produce upon the
Latine?
Did Latinus send ambassadors to Eneas,
to desire a truce, for the purpose of burying
their dead?
Was this granted to them?
How long a time was agreed upon for
that purpose?
Who was a principal person of this em
bassy?
Who was Drances?
What is his character?
Where was Turnus at this time?
On the return of the ambassadors from
ENEIS. LIB. XI.
567
Diomede, did Latinus call a council of state
to receive the answer?
What was the nature of that answer?
What effect had it upon the Latins?
Who was the principal person of that
embassy?
Who was Diomede ?
Why did he come to Italy?
What were his reasons for declining to
take part with Turnus and the Latins?
What does he say of the valor of Eneas?
What course did he advise Latinus to
take?
What city did he build in Italy?
Where was it situated?
What is said of his companions in arms?
Is this a ridiculous and improbable story?
What is the conclusion of Latinus in re-
gard to the war?
Did he make any speech upon the occa-
sion?
What did he propose to do?
What is the character of the speech of
Drances?
Of what did he accuse Turnus?
What is the character of the reply of
Turnus?
What is his object in this reply?
What was the nature of the ground over
which each division was to pass?
How did Turnus receive this information?
What resolution did he take on receiving
this intelligence?
Would this give him any particular ad-
vantage over Æneas?
In what would it consist?
Where does Turnus meet Camilla?
Does he confer upon her the command of
the cavalry?
What direction does he give her?
Who was Camilla?
Who was her father?
What did his subjects do to him?
What was the age of Camilla at. that
time?
How did he save his child from the fury
of his subjects?
How did he save himself?
To whom did he dedicate his daughter?
What was the manner of her education?
Was she a favorite of Diana?
Did she afterward succeed to the throne
of the Volsci?
How was Camilla armed?
For what was she distinguished?
Who assisted her in command, during the
Were there any political parties at this action?
time among the Latins?
Who inay be said to have been at the
head of the party in favor of Turnus?
Who was at the head of the other party?
What did this party wish to effect?
Was any proposition made to Turnus to
decide the dispute with Eneas in single
combat?
Who made the proposition?
How was it received by Turnus?
Did he express any reluctance to meet
Æneas?
During the deliberations of the council,
what information reaches Laurentum?
What effect had this advance of the enemy
upon Latinus?
What did Turnus do upon this emer-
gency?
In how many divisions were the enemy
to advance?
Under whose command were the infantry
to march?
In what way were they to approach the
city?
How were the cavalry to advance?
Could they come in any other way?
Who commenced the fight?
How many times did the combatants
charge each other and retreat?
What took place after this?
How did Camilla distinguish herself?
What were some of her deeds of valor?
By whom was she finally killed?
What effect had her death upon the issue
of the battle?
By whom was Aruns slain?
By whose orders was he slain?
And by whose arrow?
Did Aruns conduct in a cowardly manner
on this occasion?
Was he sensible of it?
Finding herself mortally wounded, what
did Camilla do?
Whom did she send to acquaint Turnus
of the state of the battle?
What effect had the news upon hin?
Did he leave his place of concealment?
What took place immediately afterward'
Was this an unlucky circumstance for
Turnus?
What prevented a renewal of the fight?
When was the decisive action fought?
LIBER DUODECIMUS.
TURNUS. perceiving his troops to be disheartened by their reverses, resolves to accept the
proposal of deciding the dispute by single combat with Eneas. Latinus, in a tender
and pathetic speech, endeavors to dissuade him from it. He advises him to relinquish
his claim to Lavinia, and seek a wife among the daughters of the Italian princes. He
plainly tells him, that the gods forbid him to unite his daughter to any other than a
foreigner. He recounts the disastrous consequences of his opposition to the Trojans,
and concludes by reminding him of his aged father, and the sorrow that would fall upon
him, if the issue were to prove disastrous. At this critical moment, the queen comes
in, seconds her husband's entreaties, and beseeches him to relinquish his rash purpose.
She declares, the safety of their family and kingdom depends upon his life; and that
she is resolved to perish with him, and not to see Lavinia transferred to Æneas. But
the hero is not moved from his purpose, and prefers to die rather than part with his
beloved Lavinia.
The virgin heard the expostulation of her mother, and love kindled a blush upon her
cheeks. This thrilled through the heart of Turnus, and all the tender emotions of his
soul were roused. Forthwith he sends Idmon to the Trojan camp to proclaim, that on
the following day, he would decide the dispute with Eneas.
In the mean time, he prepares his armor, and examines his steeds. At the return of day,
the parties repair to the field. Latinus accompanies Turnus. Here he ratifies a league
with Eneas, and calls the gods to witness. To prevent its execution, Juno sent the
nymph Juturna, the sister of Turnus, to rouse the Rutulians to arms, and kindle the
war. For this purpose, she caused a portentous sign in the heavens, which the augur
interpreted favorably for the Italians. Forthwith he hurled a spear among the Trojans,
and the two armies rushed to the combat with great impetuosity. Latinus hastens
from the field. Æneas is wounded by an arrow, which caused great confusion among
the Trojans. Turnus, observing this, inounts his car, and drives over the field, spread-
ing death and desolation in his course. Wherever he directs his way, whole troops and
squadrons flee before him. He performs prodigious feats of valor.
In the mean time, Æneas retires from the field, and demands the speediest relief. He is
miraculously healed by Venus. This being done, the hero calls for his arms, embraces
Ascanius, and goes in search of Turnus. The fight now is renewed on the part of the
Trojans, and the victorious Rutulians fly. At this crisis, Juturna takes the reins of her
brother's steed, and drives him victorious over the plain. Æneas pursues, and seeks by
every method to meet and engage him; but Juturna baffles all his efforts. Unable to
effect his purpose, he resolves to wreak his vengeance upon the Rutulians; and here
he commenced a dreadful slaughter: the noblest of the Italians fall. Turnus, too, drives
on with no less impetuosity, and Trojan, Tuscan, and Arcadian bite the ground.
Eneas, at the suggestion of Venus, resolves to attack the city, and by one decisive blow,
either force Turnus to the combat, or overthrow the empire of Latinus. For this pur-
pose he assembles his troops, explains his designs, and exhorts them to assault the city
with vigor. They instantly mount the walls, and spread the devouring flames. At
this sudaen change of affairs, all hearts are filled with dismay. The queen, expecting
that Turnus was slain, and his troops routed, resolved not to survive the sad catastrophe,
and frantic with despair, hung herself.
In this state of things, Sages flies to Turnus, and informs him that Æneas was thundering
in arms; that the city was in the hands of the enemy; that all looked to him for pro-
tection; and that, in despair, the queen, his faithful friend, had deprived herself of life.
At this information the hero is struck with amazement, and turning his eyes, he beholda
the very tower, which he himself had built for the defence of the city, wrapt in flames.
He could not bear the sight; and leaving his sister, he sprang from his chariot, and
rushed through darts and foes, calling upon the hostile armies to desist from the fight;
that he was come to enter the lists with Eneas. Instantly a cessation of arms took
place, and the two heroes prepare for the combat. At first they throw their javelins
from a distance, and rush to close combat with great violence. They blows on blows
redouble. Turnus, rising high to give his blow more effect, breaks his sword by the
ENEIS.
569
LIB. XII.
hilt. He now discovers a fatal mistake. When first he mounted his car, ardent for the
fight, he had taken the sword of his charioteer, Mitescus, instead of his own trusty
sword, which Vulcan had made for his father Daunus. He is now left defenceless, and
at the mercy of his foe. He flies off swift as the wind, pursued by Æneas, and pressed
on all sides by the Trojans. He calls for his heavenly-tempered sword, and chides the
Rutulians. None of them dare to interfere, being prevented by the threats of Eneas.
Juturna, at length, restored his sword to him, and Venus disengaged the spear of Æneas.
The two heroes again prepare for the combat.
At this juncture, Jove interposes in favor of Æneas. His first care is to withdraw Juturna
from the contest. For this purpose, he despatches one of the furies to the field of battle,
which, assuming the form of an owl, flies backward and forward before the face of
Turnus. The hero knew the portentous omen. A shivering pervaded his limbs: cold-
ness unnerved his arm. His reason left him: his speech forsook him. As soon as
Juturna heard the whizzing of the fury's wings, she recognised the direful messenger;
and in all the agony of grief and distress, and uttering the tenderest expressions of
affectionate attachment to her brother, she fled from his sight, and plunged herself in
the deep river.
Eneas in the mean time urges on the attack, and calls upon Turnus no longer to decline
the contest. He replied, "I fear not thee, nor thy boasting words: I fear the gods
alone: I fear Jove, who is my enemy." At this moment, he seizes a huge stone that
lay near him, and hurled it at Æneas; but it reached him not. The fury had deprived
him of his wonted strength. His efforts, therefore, were unavailing. His knees sunk
under him; and trembling seized his whole body. Æneas throws a javelin, which
wounds him in the thigh, and caused him to fall upon his knee. In this situation, he
acknowledges himself vanquished, and resigns Lavinia, the royal bride, to the victor.
One favor he asked, on account of his aged father, that his body might be restored to
his friends. Æneas, moved with compassion at the mention of his aged father, was
about also to spare his life; when, discovering upon his shoulder tne belt which Pallas
wore, he became indignant, and plunged into his bosom his naked sword.
TURNUS ut infractos adverso Marte Latinos
Defecisse videt, sua nunc promissa reposci,
Se signari oculis: ultrò implacabilis ardet,
Attollitque animos. Pœnorum qualis in arvis
Saucius ille gravi venantûm vulnere pectus,
Tum demùm movet arma leo; gaudetque comantes
Excutiens cervice toros, fixumque latronis
Impavidus frangit telum, et fremit ore cruento.
Haud secùs accenso gliscit violentia Turno.
Tum sic affatur regem, atque ita turbidus infit :
Nulla mora in Turno: nihil est quód dicta retractent
Ignavi Æneadæ; nec, quæ pepigêre, recusent.
Congredior: fer sacra, pater, et concipe fœdus.
Aut hâc Dardanium dextrâ sub Tartara mittam,
Desertorem Asiæ; sedeant, spectentque Latini!
Et solus ferro crimen commune refellam :
3. Oculis omnium
5 5. Qualis ille leo in
arvis Pœnorum, saucius
quoad pectus gravi
10
12. Recusent facere
ea quæ
15
NOTES.
1. Infractos: broken-disheartened. Mar
te: in the sense of
pugna vel bello.
2. Promissa: his promises that he would
meet Æneas in single combat.
3. Ultrò. This word implics, that Turnus
was impelled by some violent, but voluntary
emotion.
4. Panorum: the Carthaginians, here put
for the Africans in general.
6. Movet arma: he moves his arms-he
propares for the attack. Comantes toros:
the shaggy, or bushy mane. Ille leo: a lion,
by way of eminence.
7. Latrons: the hunter. Fixum: that
had pierced his breast.
9. Gliscit: in the sense of crescit
11. Retractent dicta: that they should re
tract their words. Eneas was the first who
proposed to decide the dispute in single
combat with Turnus; and he had pledged
himself to accept the proposition: to this
reference is made verse 2, supra. Quòd: a
conj. or in the sense of ob quod.
13. Fer: in the sense of offer. Concipe:
in the sense of sanci.
16. Refellam: in the sens of avertam vel
570
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
17. Aut Trojanus ha-
beat nos. victos; et La-
vinia conjux cedat illi
victori.
20. Consulere tibi
O
Aut habeat victos; cedat Lavinia conjux
Olli sedato respondit corde Latinus:
præstans animi juvenis, quantùm ipse feroci
Virtute exsuperas, tantò me impensiùs æquum est
Consulere, atque omnes metuentem expendere casus.
Sunt tibi regna patris Dauni, sunt oppida capta
20
Multa manu: nec non aurumque animusque Latino est.
24. Innuptæ virgines Sunt aliæ innuptæ Latio et Laurentibus agris,
missam
32. Ex illo tempore, O
Turne, vides
Nec genus indecores. Sine me hæc haud mollia fatu 25
Sublatis aperire dolis; simul hæc animo hauri.
Me natam nulli veterum sociare procorum
Fas erat, idque omnes Divique hominesque canebant.
Victus amore. tui, cognato sanguine victus,
Conjugis et mæstæ lachrymis, vincla omnia rupi ;
31. Eripui cam pro- Promissam eripui genero; arma impia sumpsi.
Ex illo qui me casus, quæ, Turne, sequantur
Bella, vides; quantos primus patiare labores
Bis magnâ victi pugnâ, vix urbe tuemur
-Spes Italas: recalent nostro Tiberina fluenta
Sanguine adhuc, campique ingentes ossibus albent.
Quò referor toties? quæ mentem insania mutat?
sum Si, Turno exstincto, socios sum accire paratus ;
Cur non, incolumi, potiùs certamina tollo ?
Quid consanguinei Rutuli, quid cætera dicet
41. Fors refutet hee Italia, ad mortem si te; fors dicta refutet!
hæe
mea dicta
Prodiderim, natam et connubia nostra petentem?
Respice res bello varias; miserere parentis
38. Si paratus
accire Trojanos
39. Eo incolumi
NOTES.
refutabo. Crimen: either the common dis-
grace, by the preceding defeat and flight: or
the inputation thrown upon him by Drances
and others, of his wanting courage to meet
Æneas. This last appears to be the sense
of Ruæus.
19. Feroci: bold-daring. Quantùm: in
the sense of quantò, corresponding with
tantò. Præstans animi: excelling in cou-
rage-valor.
20. Tantò impensiùs æquum: by so much
the mōre anxiously, it is just that I should
consult your safety.
21. Casus: hazard-dangers.
23. Nec non aurumque: Servius takes the
sense of these words to be: Latinus satès
opulentus est, et nobilis etiam absque his nup-
tiis implying that, as Turnus was power-
ful and wealthy enough without contracting
an alliance with Latinus, so Latinus needed
not to match his daughter with him for the
sake of aggrandizing himself. Though this
makes sense of aurum, it puts a forced sig-
nification upon animus. Ruæus says, sunt
Ruæus says, sunt
quoque Latino divitiæ et benevolentia.
The expression implies, that Latinus en-
tertained a friendly disposition towards Tur-
nus, and desired to promote his happiness in
any way that his wealth could contribute to
it, but he could not bestow his daughter
30
35
40
upon him. He advises him to seek a wife
among the Italian princesses; among whom
he would find some one worthy of so dis-
tinguished a prince. Manu: by valor.
26. Dolis sublatis: guile, or deceit being
taken away-in plain words. Fatu: sup.
in u of the verb for: to be spoken, or said.
Hauri: in the sense of audi.
28. Canebant: in the sense of prædice
bant vel moncbant.
29. Cognato sanguine. Turnus was the
son of Venilia, the sister of Amata, the wife
of Latinus. Hence the propriety of cognato
sanguine: kindred blood. Vincla: re-
straints-obligations.
33. Primus: in the sense of princeps.
34. Bis victi. They were first beaten on
the banks of the Tiber, when Æneas landed
his reinforcements from Etruria; and a se-
cond time vanquished under the walls of
Latium, in the horse fight, when Camilla
was slain. See the preceding book.
37. Quò referor: why am I carried so
often backward?-why do I change my re-
solution so often, of giving my daughter to
Eneas?
39. Certamina: disputes-contests.
41. Fors: fortune-the issue of the con-
test.
43 Res: state-condition
ENEIS: LIB. XII.
571
1
Longævi, quem nunc mostum patria Ardea longè
Dividit Haudquaquam dictis violentia Turni
Flectitur exsuperat magis, ægrescitque medendo.
Ut primùm fari potuit, sic institit ore :
44. Longè à té
45
Quam pro me curam geris, hanc precor, optime, pro mne 48. O optime regum
Deponas, letumque sinas pro laude pacisci.
Et nos tela, pater, ferrumque haud debile dextrâ.
Spargimus, et nostro sequitur de vulnere sanguis.
Longè illi Dea mater erit, quæ nube fugacem
Fœmineâ tegat, et vanis sese occulat umbris.
At regina, novâ pugnæ conterrita sorte,
Flebat, et ardentem generum moritura tenebat:.
Turne, per has ego te lachrymas, per si quis Amatæ
Tangit honos animum. Spes tu nunc una senectæ,
Tu requies miseræ decus imperiumque Latini
Te penès in te omnis domus inclinata recumbit.
Unuin oro; desiste manum committere Teucris.
Qui te cunque manent isto certamine casus,
Et me, Turne, manent. Simul hæc invisa relinquam
Lumina, nec generum Æneam captiva videbo.
Accepit vocem lachrymis Lavinia matris,
Flagrantes perfusa genas: cui plurimus ignem
Subjecit rubor, et calefacta per ora cucurrit.
Indum sanguineo veluti violaverit ostro
Si quis ebur; vel mixta rubent ubi lilia multâ
Alba rosâ tales virgo dabat ore colores.
Illum turbat amor, figitque in virgine vultus.
Ardet in arma magis; paucisque affatur Amatam :
Ne, quæso, ne me lachrymis, neve omine tanto
Prosequere in duri certamina Martis euntem,
NOTES.
44. Ardea: the capital city of the Rutuli.
The whole address of Latinus is tender and
pathetic, and bespeaks the goodness of his
heart. Among other arguments to dissuade
Turrus from the combat, he mentions his
aged father.
45. Dividit: in the sense of separat.
46. Egrescit medendo: he grows more
abstinate by being persuaded-by applying
remedies. Medendo: a gerund. in do, of
medeor. This is said by way of metaphor.
47. Institit: he proceeded-began to
speak.
48. Geris: in the sense of habes.
49. Pacisci to exchange death for glory
-to obtain glory and renown in the room of
death-for death.
51. De vulnere nostro: from the wound
inflicted by us.
52. Dea mater erit longè illi. This is a
Latin idiom. The meaning is his mother
will be far from affording him any assistance,
as she had done on former occasions.
will not be in her power to do it.
It
54. Sorte: sors here means the terms, or
conditions of the combat. These were, if
precor ut deponas hanc
50 curam pro me, quam
geris
55
52. Eum fugacein
56. O Turne, precor
te per has lachrymas,
per honorem Amatæ, si
quis honos ejus tangit
tuum
60 58. Tu es sola requies
mihi miseræ
65
70
me
61. Quicunque casus
62. Iidem manent et
72. O mater, quæso,
ne, ne prosequere me
Turnus were slain, that Lavinia should fall
to Æneas; that the Rutuli should be his
subjects, &c. Verse 17, supra.
57. Honos: respect-regard.
59. Domus: in the sense of familia. In.
clinata: in the sense of prona vel labens.
60. Desiste: in the sense of omitte. Com
mittere manum: to engage in close combat.
Ruæus says, conserere manum.
63. Lumina: in the sense of lucem vel
vitam.
64. Accepit: in the sense of audiit.
65. Perfusa genas: wet as to her blush.
ing checks with tears. A Grecism, See
Ecl. i. 55.
66. Rubor: modesty, by meton. Ignem
the glow, or blush, which her extreme mo.
desty diffused, or spread over her cheeks
Subjecit properly signifies, spread under the
skin. Calefacta: red (or blushing) counte-
nance.
67, Violaverit: in the sense of tinxerit.
70. Turbat : in the sense of agitat
72. Tanto: in the sense of infausto. The
repetition of the ne is emphatical. Prose.
quere properly signifies, to convoy here, to
1
572
P. VIRGILII· MARÓNIS
74. Mora mortis est O mater: neque enim Turno mora libera mortis
libera Turno. Tu, O Nuntius hæc, Idmon, Phrygio mea dicta tyranno
Idmon, nuntius refer
Haud placitura refer: cùm primùm crastina cœlo
Puniceis invecta rotis Aurora rubebit ;
75
Non Teucros agat in Rutulos: Teucrum arma quiescant
Et Rutulûm nostro dirimatur sanguine bellum
Illo quæratur conjux Lavinia campo.
:
80
Hæc ubi dicta dedit, rapidusque in tecta recessit,
82. Tuens eos fremen- Poscit equos, gaudetque tuens ante ora frementes,
tes ante ejus ora
84. Qui equi
Pilumno quos ipsa decus dedit Orithyia ;
Qui candore nives anteirent, cursibus auras.
Circumstant properi auriga, manibusque lacessunt
Pectora plausa cavis, et colla comantia pectunt.
87. Dehinc Turnus Ipse dehinc auro squalentem alboque orichalco
ipse
Circumdat loricam humeris; simul aptat habendo
Ensemque, clypeumque, et rubræ cornua cristæ:
Ensem, quem Dauno ignipotens Deus ipse parenti
Fecerat, et Stygiâ candentem tinxerat undâ.
Exin, quæ mediis ingenti adnixa columnæ
Ædibus adstabat, validam vi corripit hastam,
Actoris Aurunci spolium: quassatque trementem,
Vociferans: Nunc, ô nunquam frustrata vocatus
Hasta meos, nunc tempus adest; te maximus Actor,
96. Olim maximus
Actor gerelat te
Te Turni nunc dextra gerit; da sternere corpus,
98. Revulsam ab illo Loricamque manu validâ lacerare revulsam
Semiviri Phrygis, et fœdare in pulvere crines,
Vibratos calido ferro, myrrhâque madentes.
His agitur furiis, totoque ardentis ab ore
95. O hasta, nunquam
frustrata
mea valida
101. Ejus ardentis
85
90
95
100
NOTES.
follow, or accompany. Her tears were an
inauspicious omen, or presage of the event.
74. Neque enim: as if he had said: your
tears will be of no avail, for I have passed
my word; and, if death be the event, I can-
not retract; I have no power to retard, or
put off my destiny. This is the plain
meaning of the passage; yet Servius con-
siders it inexplicable. Mora: a putting off,
or deferring.
78. Non agat: let him not lead his Tro-
jans, &c.
83. Orithyia: the daughter of Erech-
theus king of Athens, who was said to be
carried away by Boreas into Thrace. She
was reputed a goddess, and Virgil makes
Pilumnus, the great-grandfather of Turnus,
to have received these horses from her.
Thrace, the place of her residence, was fa-
mous for breeding generous steeds. Decus:
plainly in the sense of munus vel donum.
Rumus says, ornamentum.
84. Anteirent: excelled-surpassed.
Auras: in the sense of ventos.
5. Lacessunt: in the sense of palpant.
Heyne takes lacessunt plausa, simply for
plaudunt.
86; Plausa cavis: stroked, or patted with
their hollow hands. Colla: in the sense of
jubæ.
87. Squalentem: rough with gold, and
pale, &c.
88. Habendo: for carrying-wearing. A
gen. in do of the dat. case. The same as ad
habendum. Ruæus says, ut gestentur.
89. Cornua rubræ cristœ: the extremities
of the crimson plume. The crista were the
feathers worn upon the helmet, and rising
above it. The cornua were the ends, or ex-
tremities of these plumes, put for the whole
plume or tuft, by synec.: and these again,
for the helmet, by meton.
90. Ignipotens Deus: Vulcan.
91. Tinxerat: in the sense of merserat.
been taken from Auruncian Actor, either by
93. Validam hastam. This spear had
Turnus himself, or one of his ancestors.
Hence it is called spolium. Actor was slain.
95. Frustrata: deceiving-disappointing.
98. Lacerare: to rend--break in pieces.
of Eneas, is said by way of reproach; in
99. Semiviri Phrygis. What is here said
allusion to some custom of the Asiatics.
100. Vibratos: curled, or twisted up with
a hot iron. To curl the hair, and sinear it
with unguents, were considered marks of
effeminacy.
ENEIS
573
LIB. XII
Scintillæ absistunt: oculis micat acribus ignis.
Mugitus veluti cùm prima in prælia taurus
Terrificos ciet, atque irasci in cornua tentat,
Arboris obnixus trunco, ventosque lacessit
Ictibus, et sparsâ ad pugnam proludit arenâ
Nec minus intereà maternis sævus in armis
Æneas acuit Martem, et se suscitat irâ,
Oblato gaudens componi fœdere bellum.
Tum socios mœstique metum solatur Iïli,
Fata docens: regique jubet responsa Latino
Certa referre viros, et pacis dicere leges.
Postera vix summos spargebat lumine montes
Orta dies; cùm primùm alto se gurgite tollunt
Solis equi, lucemque elatis naribus efflant.
Campum ad certamen, magnæ sub manibus urbis,
Dimensi Rutulique viri Teucrique parabant ;
In medioque focos, et Dîs communibus aras
Gramineas. Alii fontemque ignemque ferebant
Velati lino, et verbenâ tempora vincti.
Procedit legio Ausonidûm, pilataque plenis
Agmina se fundunt portis. Hinc Troïus omnis,
Tyrrhenusque ruit variis exercitus armis ;
Haud secùs instructi ferro, quàm si aspera Martis
Pugna vocet. Nec non mediis in millibus ipsi
Ductores auro volitant ostroque decori;
Et genus Assaraci Mnestheus, et fortis Asylas,
Et Messapus equûm domitor, Neptunia proles.
Utque dato signo spatia in sua quisque recessit,
Defigunt tellure hastas, et scuta reclinant.
Tum studio effusæ matres, et vulgus inermum,
Invalidique senes, turres et tecta domorum
Obsedêre alii portis sublimibus adstant.
At Juno è summo, qui nunc Albanus habetur ;
NOTES.
102. Absistunt: fly off from. Rumus says,
erumpunt.
103. Mugitus: bellowings. Ciet: in the
sense of emittit.
105. Lacessit: in the sense of provocat.
106. Proludit. Ruæus says, parat.
107. Maternis armis: the armor made by
Vulcan, at the desire of his mother. Hence
called maternis. Nec minus: in the sense
of nec non: likewise-also-in like manner.
108. Martem: in the sense of pugnam.
Acuit: prepares for the combat.
109. Oblato fœdere: upon the conditions,
or terms offered.
111. Docens fata: teaching them the pur-
poses of the gods concerning him. Ruæus
says, aperiens fata illis.
12. Dicere: in the sense of proponere.
Leges: terms-conditions.
114. Allo gurgite: from the deep ocean.
116. Campum: the ground-space. De-
mensi having measured it out.
105
110
115
118. In medio para-
bant
120 120. Vincti quoad tom
125
130
pora
124. Instruct sunt
125. Vocet eos
131. Studio videndi
certamen
134. At Juno prospi-
ciens è summo tumulo
119. Fontem: in the sense of aquam.
120. Velati lino. Servius says that the
priests and sacred ministers among the Ro-
mans, were prohibited from wearing any
thing of linen; and that Virgil designedly
clothes the feciales or priests in linen veils
on this occasion, to give us to know before-
hand, that the league was to be broken;
since it was ushered in with unlawful rites.
Heyne reads, limo, which was a kind of
apron worn by the priests in time of sacri-
fice, that reached down from the navel to
the feet. The common reading is lino.
121. Pilata: armed with darts or javelins.
Agmina: troops.
124. Instructi ferro: furnished, and equip-
ped with arms.
127. Genus: offspring, or descendants.
Assaraci. See Geor. iii. 35.
133. Obsedêre: in the sense of impleve-
runt. Adstant: in the sense of stant.
134.
Habetur: in the sense of vocatur
++
纂
​P. VIRGILI MARONIS
574
Tum neque nomen crat, nec honos, aut gloria monti;
Prospiciens tumulo, campum spectabat, et ambas
Laurentûm Troûmque acies, urbemque Latini.
138. Diva Juno sie Extemplò Turri sic est effata sororem
affata est sororem Tuini Diva Deam, stagnis quæ fluminibusque sonoris
Præsidet hunc illi rex ætheris altus honorem
Jupiter ereptâ pro virginitate sacravit :
Deam; quæ
quæcunque Latinæ vir-
gines
:
142. Ut prætulerim te Nympha, decus fluviorum, animo gratissima nostro,
unain cunetis virginibus, Scis, ut te cunctis unam, quæcunque Latinæ
Magnanimi Jovis ingratum ascendêre cubile,
145. Te in parte cœli Prætulerim, cœlique lubens in parte locârim.
Disce tuum, ne me incuses, Juturna, dolorem
Quà visa est fortuna pati, Parcæque sinebant
mecum
1.36
140
145
148. Res cedere pros- Cedere res Latio, Turnum et tua monia texi :
pere Latio
Nunc juvenem imparibus video concurrere fatis,
Parcarumque dies et vis inimica propinquat.
Non pugnam aspicere hanc oculis, non fœdera possum
152. Si tu audes facere Tu, pro germano si quid præsentiùs audes,
quid
154. Vix dixerat ea
160. Eam incertam
161. Reges procedunt
ab urbe
150
Perge; decet forsan miseros meliora sequentur.
Vix ea; cùm lachrymas oculis Juturna profudit,
Terque quaterque manu pectus percussit honestum. 155
Non lachrymis hoc tempus, ait Saturnia Juno;
Accelera, et fratrem, si quis modus, eripe morti :
Aut tu bella cie, conceptumque excute foedus.
Auctor ego audendi. Sic exhortata reliquit
Incertam, et tristi turbatam vulnere mentis.
Intereà reges: ingenti mole Latinus
Quadrijugo vehitur curru, cui tempora circùm
NOTES.
This mount was called Alban, from Alba
Longa, a city built by Ascanius after he had
reigned at Lavinium thirty years. For the
reason of its name, see En. viii. 44.
140. Præsidet. Juturna is by Ovid called
a Naiad. A fountain issuing from the foot
of mount Alban, and a lake which it sup-
plied, were sacred to her. The river flowed
into the Tiber. Its water was celebrated
for its purity.
141. Sacravit: in the sense of donavit.
This honor Jupiter conferred upon her, in
compensation of her lost virginity.
143. Prætulerim te: I preferred thee alone,
&c.
144. Ingratum: the bed here is called
un rateful, to save the indecency of giving
that harsh epithet to Jove. The amours of
Jupiter were always displeasing to Juno.
Valpy observes, that the word is to be taken
in the sense of ingrati, agreeing with Jovis.
Heyno says, invisum mihi, referring to Juno.
145. In parte: in the sense of participem.
11. Quâ: as far as-as long as. Ruæus
says, quatenus.
148. Texi: in the sense of defendi.
150. Dies et inimica: this is a circumlo-
cution, denoting that the last day of the
life of Turnus had arrived.
160
152. Præsentiùs. Servius takes this in
the sense of efficaciùs, vel vehementiùs. But
it may refer to what Juno had just before
said; non pugnam: I cannot bear to see the
combat; I can only lament his hard fate,
and intercede for him at a distance: but, if
you have courage (audes) to lend your
brother some nearer aid, and assist him
with your presence, then set about it imme-
diately it becomes you to attempt it. Ru
æus says, utiliùs.
:
155. Honestum : in the sense of decorum.
158. Cie: in the sense of excita. Con
ceplum: in the sense of inceptum. Excute:
in the sense of frange. Ruæus says, dissipa.
159. Ego auctor audendi: I am the author
(advisor) of the daring attempt. The ge-
rund is here used in the sense of ausi.
160. Tristi vulnere: with bitter agony of
mind. Vulnus, is properly a wound; by
meton. the wounding instrument; also the
pain, or anguish arising from the wound
Ruæus says, solicitudine.
161. Ingenti mole: with a mighty retinue.
Rumus says, magno apparatu.
163. Bis sex aurati radii: twelve golden
rays or beams represented the twelve signs
of the zodiac. Cui tempora: around whose
refulgent temples, &c.
ENEIS. LIB. XII
575
Aurati bis sex radii fulgentia cingunt,
Solis avi specimen: bigis it Turnus in albis,
Bina manu lato crispans hastilia ferro.
Hinc pater Æneas, Romanæ stirpis origo,
Sidereo flagrans clypeo et cœlestibus armis,
Et juxtà Ascanius, magnæ spes altera Romæ,
Procedunt castris: purâque in veste sacerdos
Setigeræ fœtum suis, intonsamque bidentem
Attulit, admovitque pecus flagrantibus ars.
Illi ad surgentem conversi lumina Solem,
Dant fruges manibus salsas, et tempora ferro
Summa notant pecudum, paterisque altaria libant.
Tum pius Æneas stricto sic ense precatur :
Esto nunc Sol testis, et hæc mihi terra precanti,
Quam propter tantos potui perferre labores:
Et, pater omnipotens, et tu, Saturnia Juno,
165
170
175
Jam melior, jam Diva, precor: tuque, inclyte Mavors,
Cuncta tuo qui bella pater sub numine torques,
Fontesque fluviosque voco; quæque ætheris alti
Relligio, et quæ. cæruleo sunt numina ponto :
Cesserit Ausonio si fors victoria Turno,
Convenit, Evandri victos discedere ad urbem ;
Cedet Iülus agris; nec pòst arma ulla rebelles
NOTES.
164. Specimen after the manner of his
grandsire, the Sun. Latinus was the grand-
son of Picus, who took Circe the daughter
of the Sun to wife, and by her had Faunus,
the father of Latinus, who was, therefore,
the grandson of the Sun. Albis Bigis: in
a chariot drawn by two white steeds. It:
in the sense of vehitur.
167. Flagrans: in the sense of resplendens
vel lucens.
of
170. Fætum setigera suis: the young
a bristly sow-a pig. Ruæus observes, that
the ewe-lamb (intonsam bidentem) was of-
fered for Æneas after the manner of the
Greeks, who commonly ratified a league
with the sacrifice of a sheep or lamb. The
swine again is for Latinus, after the Roman
or Italian manner; which, according to Livy,
was of great antiquity. He gives the form
of ratifying a league in the reign of Tullus
Hostilius. Having invoked Jupiter, the fe-
cialis or priest says: Illis legibus populus
non deficiet. Si prior defecerit, publico con-
silio, dolo malo; tu illo die, Jupiler, populum
sc ferito, ut ego hunc porcum hodie feriam:
tantò magis ferito, quanto magis potes pol-
lesque.
171. Pecus: in the sense of victimas. At-
tulit: in the sense of adduxit. Admovit:
in the sense of statuit.
172. Lumina: in the sense of oculos vel
faciem.
180
185
168. Et juxta eum
176. Nunc tu, O Sol,
et hæc terra, propter
quam potui perferre tan-
tos labores, esto testis
mihi
179. Precor vos
180. O inclyte pater
Mavors, qui
184. Trojanos victos
174. Pecudum: in the sense of victima.
rum. Paterisque: and they made libations
upon the altars. This was the dropping, or
sprinkling of wine, or other liquor, upon the
altar, from the sacred bowls, or goblets.
179. Melior Diva. Juno was the impla
cable enemy of the Trojan race. Eneas
would intimate, that now at length, she was
ceasing from her resentment, and becoming
more favorable to them. Precor: I beseech
you. Melior in the sense of propitia vel
mitis.
180. Torques: in the sense of regis vel
tenes. Numine: in the sense of potestate.
181. Quæque relligio. By relligio we are
here to understand the objects of religious
worship-the gods of heaven above; in op-
position to the objects of religious worship
on the earth. The verb est is to be supplied.
Ruæus says, quæcunque divinitas. Voco:
in the sense of invoco vel precor.
Æneas here makes a very solemn invoca-
tion of the gods above, and of the deities
that preside over the sea, to witness the
ratification of the treaty. The deities here
named were those that were called Dii com-
munes, or gods common to both sides or
parties to the contract.
183. Fors: in the sense of fortè.
184. Convenit: it is agreed upon. Ad
173. Dant: in the sense of spargunt. urbem Evandri: this was the city Pallan-
Fruges in the sense of molam.
teum. See Æn. viii. 54.
*
576
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Æneadæ referent, ferrove hæc regna lacessent.
Sin nostrum annuerit nobis victoria Martem,
188. Firment spem (Ut potiùs reor, et potiùs Dî numine firment)
Non ego nec Teucris Italos parere jubebo,
Nec mihi regna peto. Paribus se legibus ambæ
Invictæ gentes æterna in fœdera mittant.
Sacra Deosque dabo: socer arma Latinus habeto,
193. Socer habeto so- Imperium solemne socer. mihi monia Teucri
Constituent, urbique dabit Lavinia nomen.
lemne
terram
Sic prior Æneas: sequitur sic deinde Latinus,
Suspiciens cœlum, tenditque ad sidera dextram :
197. O Ænea, juro per Hæc eadem, Ænea, terram, mare, sidera juro,
hæc eadem numina, per Latonæque genus duplex, Janumque bifrontem,
Vimque Deum infernam, et diri sacraria Ditis:
Audiat hæc genitor, qui fœdera fulmine sancit :
Tango aras; mediosque ignes et numina testor :
Nulla dies pacem hanc Italis, nec fœdera rumpet,
Quò res cunque cadent: nec me vis ulla volentem
204. Non; si illa vis Avertet: non, si tellurem effundat in undas
offundat
190
195
200
Diluvio miscens; cœlumve in Tartara solvat :
Ut sceptrum hoc (dextrâ sceptrum nam fortè gerebat)
Nunquam fronde levi fundet virgulta, nec umbras,
:
NOTES.
187. Nostrum: noster here is used in the
sense of propitium vel secundum. Mars is
his, or on his side, whose interest he es-
pouses. Annuerit: shall prove, show, or
declare Mars. Servius takes it by hypal-
lage, for noster Mars annuerit victoriam
nobis.
188. Numine: Ruæus says, auctoritate.
189. Non: this appears to be merely ex-
pletive.
190. Leges: terms-conditions. Mittant:
in the sense of jungant.
192. Socer habeto arma: let my father-in-
law have the management of peace and war:
which is the same thing as being king. This
is more fully expressed in the next line.
Solemne: usual-customary. Heyne says,
legitimum: Ruxus, supremum. Dabo: I
will attend to religious rites, and to the
gods-I will regulate the ceremonies of re-
ligion, and the worship of the gods. This
alludes to the Penates, and Vesta, whose
worship, it is said, Æneas introduced into
Italy.
197. Juro hæc eadem. Latinus swears by
the same gods, by whom Æneas had just
sworn, besides those here enumerated. Ďu-
nlex genus: by this we are to understand
Apollo and Diana, who were twin children
of Latona.
199. Vim infernam: by the infernal power
off e gods-the power of the infernal gods.
That is, the infernal gods themselves. So
vis odora canum. En. iv. 132. Sacraria:
sanctuary of direful Pluto.
200. Genitor: Jupiter
205
201. Tango aras. It was a custom for
those who made supplication, offered sacri-
fice, or took an oath, to lay their hands upon
the altar. This custom has descended to
the present time, in administering the so
lemnities of an oath. The party taking the
oath lays his hand on the bible, and calls
God to witness the truth of his declaration
Medios ignes: those fires common to both
parties-in which they partook.
203. Quòcunque: the parts of the word
are separated by tmesis, for the sake of the
verse: howsoever. Avertel in the sense of
abducet.
204. Si effundat. Servius takes this as an
hypallage for effundat undas in tellurem:
should deluge the earth-throw the waters
over the earth. Ruæus takes it to imply
the sinking and dissolving of the earth
itself into the waters of the ocean. Heyne
appears to adopt the same opinion.
Latinus here expresses his full determi-
nation to abide by the conditions of the
treaty, and declares, that no power should
divert him from it with his consent, not even
if the world were wrapped in a deluge, and
a general dissolution of things take place
Rumus says, dissolvat terram in aquas, con-
fundens eam diluvio.
205. Solvat. Rumus says, dejiceat. Da-
vidson renders the words, "plunge heaven
into hell." Heyne says, misceat cœlum ac
Tartarum.
206. Ut sceptrum. This comparison is
taken almost literally from Homer. Fun-
det: shall put forth, or produce.
ENEIS. LIB. XII.
57™
Cùm semel in sylvis imo de stirpe recisum
Matre caret, posuitque comas et brachia ferro;
Olim arbos; nunc artificis manus ære decoro
Inclusit, patribusque dedit gestare Latinis.
Talibus inter se firmabant foedera dictis,
Conspectu in medio procerum. Tum ritè sacratas
In flammam jugulant pecudes, et viscera vivis
Eripiunt, cumulantque oneratis lanċibus aras
At verò Rutulis impar ea pugna videri
Jamdudum, et vario misceri pectora motu :
Tum magis, ut propiùs cernunt non viribus æquis.
Adjuvat incessu tacito progressus, et aram
Suppliciter venerans demisso lumine, Turnus,
Tabentesque genæ, et juvenili in corpore pallor.
Quem simul ac Juturna soror crebrescere vidit
Sermonem, et vulgi variare labantia corda :
In medias acies, formam assimulata Camerti,
Cui genus à proavis inger, clarumque paternæ
Nomen erat virtutis, et ipse acerrimus armis,
In medias dat sese acies, haud nescia rerum,
Rumoresque serit varios, ac talia fatur:
Non pudet, ô Rutuli, cunctis pro talibus unam
Objectare animam? numerone, an viribus æqui
Non sumus? En, omnes et Troës et Arcades hi sunt,
Fatalisque manus, infensa Etruria Turno.
Vix hostem, alterni si congrediamur, habemus.
Ille quidem ad Superos, quorum se devovet aris,
Succedet famâ, vivusque per ora feretur :
NOTES.
208. Cùm semel: since once cut in the
woods from the lowest stem, it is deprived
of the nourishment of its parent stock.
209. Posuit: hath laid aside-been strip-
ped of.
210. Manus: the skill of the artist.
nus: the hand, by nieton, art-skill.
Ma-
211. Patribus: in the sense of regibus.
214. Pecudes jugulant: they kill the sa-
cred victims over the flames of the altar.
215. Cumulant: they heap, or load the
altars. Sen n. viii. 284. Oneratis: in
the sense of plenis.
221. Tabentes gena: lank, or fallen cheeks.
Some copies read pubentes: but tabentes is
confirmed by the authority of the best nia-
nuscripts, and is most agreeable to the de-
sign of the poet. Heyne says, tabentes.
222. Vidit: in the sense of sentit.
223. Labantia: in the sense of mobilia.
Variare in the sense of dissentire: to be
dissatisfied at the conditions of the treaty,
nade between Latinus and Æneas.
224. Assimulata: personating the form of
Camertus, she throws herself, &c. The in
medias acies is to be taken after the same
words, in line 227, infra.
225. Genus: origin-descent. Cui: in
the sense of cujus, Ingens: great-illus-
trious.
210
210. Olim erat abos
211. Inclusit eam de
coro ære
214. Iisdem vivis
215
216. Ea pugna cœpi
220
225
230
235
218. Cernunt duces
esse non
219. Turnus adjuvat
hane opinionem, pro-
gressus
222. Quem sermonem
inter Rutulos simul
227. Inquam, in me
dias acies, haud
234. Ille Turnus
235. Per ara hominum
226. Nomen: renown-fame. Acerrimus
in the sense of fortissimus. Erat is to be
repeated with this word, and also with
genus, in the preceding line.
229. Talibus. Servius thinks we are to
understand by this word that all of them
were equal to Turnus in valor. Rumus
says, omnibus iis. Davidson renders it,
all these." Animam unam: the life of
Turnus.
231. Hi: this is the reading of Heyne
The common reading is hìc.
•
232. Fatalis manus. By these words Ser-
vius understands the Trojans, who were
destined to come into Italy. But it is bet
ter to understand it of the Tuscans, who
were directed by fate to put themselves
under the conduct of Eneas, a foreign
leader; and on that condition alone, they
were assured of success. See Lib. viii. 501.
This interpretation frees Virgil from the im-
putation of idle repetition. Etruria infensa
Turno: one part of Etruria was hostile to
Turnus; and another assisted him, under
the command of Messapus. The fatalis
manus is evidently the same as Etruria in-
fensa Turno.
233. Alterni: every other one. They
were double the number of the enemy.
235. Vivusque feretur per orÜ. This im
38
579
P VIRGILII MARONIS
Nos, patriâ amissa, dominis parere superbis
Cogemur, qui nunc lenti consedimus arvis.
Talibus, incensa est juvenum sententia dictis
Jam magis atque magis: serpitque per agmina murmur
249. Mutatı suni men- Ipsi Laurentes mutati, ipsique Latini;
tibus
244. His rebus
247. Namque aquila,
fulvus ales Jovis
Qui sibi jam requiem pugnæ, rebusque salutem
Sperabant; nunc arma volunt, foedusque precantur
Infectum, et Turni sortem miserantur iniquam.
His aliud majus Juturna adjungit, et alto
Dat signum cœlo: quo non præsentius ullum.
Turbavit mentes Italas, monstroque fefellit.
Namque volans rubrâ fulvus Jovis ales in æthrâ,
Litoreas agitabat aves, turbamque sonantem
Agminis aligeri: subitò cùm lapsus ad undas
240
245
Cycnum excellentem pedibus rapit improbus uncis. 250
Arrexêre animos Itali; cunctæque volucres
Convertunt clamore fugam, mirabile visu!
Ætheraque obscurant pennis, hostemque per auras,
254. Donec ales vic- Factâ nube, premunt: donec vi victus, et ipso
tus vi, et ipso pondere Pondere defecit, prædamque ex unguibus ales
cycni
Projecit fluvio, penitùsque in nubila fugit.
Tum verò augurium Rutuli clamore salutant,
Expediuntque manus: primusque Tolumnius augur,
259. Hoc, hoc erat id, Hoc erat, hoc, votis, inquit, quod sæpe petivi ;
quod
260. Accipio omen
255
Accipio, agnoscoque Deos. Me, me duce, ferrum 260
Corripite, ô Rutuli, quos improbus advena bello
NOTES.
plies, that he should be immortal. Succedet:
in the sense of ascendet.
237. Lenti: idle-lazy-at our ease.-
Rumus says, otiosi.
238. Sententia: resolution-mind. Heyne
says, animus.
241. Rebus: to the state.
243. Infectum: unmade-broken,
244. His: to these incentives-incite-
ments.
245. Præsentius: more effectual: an adj.
of the comp. neu. agreeing with portentum
vel monstrum, understood. It governs quo
in the abl. than which. It may be rendered
adverbially.
246. Monstro: deceived them by the pro-
digy. Any thing that is, or happens, con-
trary to the ordinary course of things, may
be called monstrum.
247. Rubrâ æthrâ in the ruddy sky.
Litoreas aves: sea-fowls-fowls frequenting
the sea shore.
248. Turbam: in the sense of multitudi-
nem. Aligeri agminis: of the winged tribe:
the same in sense with volucrum. Sonan-
tem: refers to the sound made by the mo-
tion of their wings, as they passed through
the air. Ruæus says, strepitantem.
250. Improbus: in the sense of avidus.
251. Arrexêre: in the sense of sustulerunt.
252. Fugam: their course,
254. Nube factâ: a cloud being formed-
closing in thick array around him, they form
a cloud, and darken the sky with their
wings.
255. Defecit: failed in his strength.
257. Augurium. This word here is used
in its proper sense, which is an omen or
prognostic, taken from the flight, or chirping
of birds. The Rutulians were right in ex-
plaining the eagle to mean Æneas, the swan,
Turnus, and the other birds, to mean them-
selves. But they were mistaken, in taking
this augury, which Juturna procured, to
have been sent from the gods. To this an
allusion is made in verse 246, monstroque
fefellit. This interposition of a superior
power, was necessary to account for the
sudden change produced in the minds of
the Rutulians and Latins.
258. Expediunt manus. By this, Valpy
understands elevating of their hand in token
that they were prepared and ready for battle.
Ruæus says, explicant manus. Davidson
renders the words, "they put their troops
in array," which is the sense of Ruæus.
Heyne differs from both these interpretations.
He says, expediunt manus ut arma capiunt.
they prepare to take their arms. These had
been laid aside, while the preparations were
making, and the league was ratifying. See
verse 130, supra.
ENEIS. LIB. XII.
579
Territat, invalidas ut aves; et litora vestra
Vi populat. Petet ille fugam, penitùsque profundo
Vela dabit. Vos unanimi densate catervas,
265
270
Et regem vobis pugnâ defendite raptum.
Dixit et adversos telum contorsit in hostes
Procurrens: sonitum dat stridula cornus, et auras
Certa secat. Simul hoc; simul ingens clamor; et omnes
Turbati cunei, calefactaque corda tumultu.
Hasta volans, ut fortè novem pulcherrima fratrum
Corpora constiterant contrà, quos fida creârat
Una tot Arcadio conjux Tyrrhena Gylippo;
Horum unum ad medium, teritur quà sutilis alvo
Balteus, et laterum juncturas fibela mordet,
Egregium formâ juvenem et fulgentibus armis,
Transadigit costas, fulvâque effundit arenâ.
At fratres, animosa phalanx, accensaque luctu,
Pars gladios stringunt manibus, pars missile ferrum
Corripiunt, cæcique ruunt: quos agmina contrà
Procurrunt Laurentûm. Hic densi rursùs inundant 280
Troës, Agyllinique, et pictis Arcades armis.
Sic omnes amor unus habet decernere ferro.
Diripuêre aras: it toto turbida cœlo
Tempestas telorum, ac ferreus ingruit imber:
268. Simul hoc fit
269. Turbati sunt
273. Hasta volang
transadigit unum horum
275 fratrum per costas, ju
venem egregium formå,
et fulgentibus armis, ad
medium corpus, quâ su-
tilis balteus
Craterasque, focosque ferunt. Fugit ipse Latinus 285
Pulsatos referens, infecto fœdere, Divos.
Infrænant alii currus, aut corpora saltu
Subjiciunt in equos, et strictis ensibus adsunt.
Messapus regem, regisque insigne gerentem,
NOTES.
262. Invalidas aves: this agrees with quos,
mentioned before, and signifies the same
with it as week birds.
263 Profundo: in the sense of mari. Pe-
nitùs: far remote-far distant. Longè, says
Rumus.
264. Densate: thicken your ranks-in
close and compact array, defend, &c. Rumus
says, colligite agmina.
267. Cornus: this was a spear (hasta)
whose shaft was made of the corneil-tree.
268. Simul hoc. The meaning is, that as
soon as the spear was thrown by Tolumnius,
all the troops were eager to engage, and
their courage was roused for battle. This
they signified by a great shout.
269. Cunei. The cuneus was a company
of men drawn up in the form of a wedge:
hence it came to signify troops in general,
as in the present case.
270. Corpora fratrum: simply, fratres.
271. Creârat: by syn. for creaverat: in
the sense of pepererat.
272. Conjux: wife. Una: one.
273. Qua sutilis: where the stitched belt
is worn around the belly.
274. Mordet: binds, or fastens. Junctu-
ras: the ends or extremities of the belt.
►
278. Stringunt in the sens of educunt.
279. Caci: blind to danger.
280. Inundant: deluge the plain. The
word is very expressive. They move like a
devouring flood. Agyllini: the Tuscans, so
called from Agylla, one of their cities.
282. Unus amor: one mind-desire.
283. Diripuêre: they stripped the altars.
284. Ingruit: pours down upon them.
Tempestas: a cloud-storm. It: covers the
whole heaven. Turbida: thick-terrific.
285. Focos: in the sense of ignes.
287. Infrænant currus: they prepare their
chariots-they harness their horses in them.
Subjiciunt: with a spring, they mount, or
throw themselves upon their horses. Livy
uses this verb in the same sense: pavidum
regem in equum subjecit.
288. Adsunt: in the sense of instant, vel
concurrunt.
289. Messapus avidus, &c. The meaning
of the passage appears to be this: Messapus
desirous of breaking the league, as soon as
mounted on his horse, made an attack upon
Tuscan Aulestes, with his horse full in front.
This so alarmed him, that attempting to re-
treat or give back, he fell from his horse
among the altars, which had just beer.
erected for the purpose of ratifying the
league. In this situation, Messapus, rising
580
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Tyrrhenum Aulesten, avidus confundere fœdus,
Adverso proterret equo: ruit ille recedens,
292. In aris oppositis Et miser oppositis à tergo involvitur aris,
à tergo
eum orantem multa
vulnus
gam
304. Podalirius
quens nudo ense
In caput, inque humeros. At fervidus advolat hasta
Messapus, teloque orantem multa trabali
295. Altusque equo Desuper altus equo graviter ferit, atque ita fatur :
desuper graviter ferit Hoc habet: hæc melior magnis data victima Divis.
296. Ille habet hoc Concurrunt Itali, spoliantque calentia membra.
Obvius ambustum torrem Chorinæus ab arâ
299. Obvius Ebuso Corripit, et venienti Ebuso plagamque ferenti
venienti, ferentique pla- Occupat os flammis. Olli ingens barba reluxit,
Nidoremque ambusta dedit. Supèr ipse secutus
Cæsariem lævâ turbati corripit hostis,
Impressoque genu nitens terræ applicat ipsum.
se- Sic rigido latus ense ferit. Podalirius Alsum
Pastorem, primâque acie per tela ruentem,
Ense sequens nudo superimminet: ille securi
Adversi frontem mediam mentumque reductâ
Disjicit, et sparso latè rigat arma cruore.
Olli dura quies oculos et ferreus urget
Somnus; in æternam clauduntur lumina noctem.
At pius Æneas dextram tendebat inermem
Nudato capite, atque suos clamore vocabat :
Quò ruitis? quæve ista repens discordia surgit?
314. Fœdus ictum est O cohibete iras! ictum jam fœdus, et omnes
315. Jus concurrere Compositæ leges: mihi jus concurrere soli :
est mihi soli; sinite me Me sinite, atque auferte metus. Ego fœdera faxo
Firma manu: Turnum jam debent hæc mihi sacra
Has inter voces, media inter talia verba,
307. Ejus adversi
pugnare
316. Ego faxo manu,
ut fædera sint.
NOTES.
high upon his steed to give the blow more
effect, gives him a mortal wound; while he
in the mean time is pleading for his life,
without avail. Insigne: in the sense of or-
namentum.
291. Proterret: affrights-alarms-con-
founds. Ruit: in the sense of cadit.
294. Trabali: in the sense of ingenti.
296. Melior victima: a better, or more
effectual victim to appease the gods, than
those that had been offered for the league
on the altars, where he had fallen; to wit,
a lamb or a pig. Habet hoc. This was an
expression made by the spectators at the
shows of the gladiators, when any one re-
ceived a mortal wound.
297. Spoliant: strip his limbs yet warm.
Ruæus says, nudant.
298. Obvius: in the sense of adversus.
Ruæus says, occurrens.
300. Occupat os: he strikes him on the
face with the fire-brand. This prevented the
blow that was intended by Ebusus to be
given to him. Occupat os: Rumus says, in-
'ercepit vullum flammis. Heyne says, ferit
occupando. This Chorineus was a Trojan
Driest. He had been engaged in offering
290
295
300
305
310
315
the sacrifices; which accounts for his being
at the altars. Reluxit: his beard caught
fire, and shone-blazed.
301. Super: in the sense of insuper vol
prætereà. Ipse: Chorinæus.
302. Turbati: affrighted-confused.
303. Impresso genu: exerting himself with
his knee being thrust hard against him, he
is enabled to pull Ebusus over, and bring
him to the ground. Applicat: Rumens says,
sternit.
306. Superimminet: in the sense of premit
vel urget. Securi reductâ: his axe being
drawn back to give the blow—with his axe
drawn back.
308. Disjicit: in the sense of scindit vel
secat.
309. Olli: for illi, and this again in the
sense of illius.
311. Inermem: unarmed: of in, and arma.
313. Repens: in the sense of subita.
315. Leges: the terms or conditions of the
treaty.
316. Ego faxo: the meaning is: I will
make good my part of the treaty, and these
sacred rites give me security, that Turnus
will perform his vart. Faxo: for facero
ENEIS. LIB. XII.
581
Ecce, viro stridens alis allapsa sagitta est:
Incertum quâ pulsa manu, quo turbine adacta ;
Quis tantam Rutulis laudem, casusne, Deusne,
Attulerit. Pressa est insignis gloria facti;
Nec sese Æneæ jactavit vulnere quisquam.
320. Est incertum, quâ
320
manu pulsa sit
325
330
331. Qualis sangui
neus Mavors, cùm
Turnus, ut Æneam cedentem' ex agmine vidit,.
Turbatosque duces, subitâ spe fervidus ardet :
Poscit equos, atque arma simul, saltuque superbus
Emicat in currum, et manibus molitur habenas.
Multa virûm volitans dat fortia corpora leto:
Semineces volvit multos, aut agmina curru
Proterit, aut raptas fugientibus ingerit hastas.
Qualis apud gelidi cùm flumina concitus Hebri
Sanguineus Mavors clypeo increpat, atque furentes
Bella movens immittit equos: illi æquore aperto
Ante Notos Zephyrumque volant: gemit ultima pulsu
Thraca pedum: circùmque atræ Formidinis ora,
Iræque, Insidiæque, Dei comitatus, aguntur.
T'alis equos alacer media inter prælia Turnus
Fumantes sudore quatit, miserabilè cæsis
Hostibus insultans: spargit rapida ungula rores
Sanguineos, mixtâque cruor calcatur arenâ.
Jamque neci Sthenelumque dedit, Thamyrimque, Pho- 342. Congressus est
hunc et hunc cominùs;
lumque,
illum, nempe, Sthenelum
IIunc congressus et hunc; illum eminùs: eminùs ambos eminùs; congressus est
Imbrasidas, Glaucum atque Ladem; quos Imbrasus ipse eminùs ambos
NOTES.
It
319. Viro: to the hero, i. e. Æneas. Alis:
here denotes the swiftness of the arrow.
moved on wings.
320. Quo turbine: by what whirling force:
simply, by what force. Quo impetu, says
Ruæus. Pulsa: in the sense of missa.
322. Pressa est: is concealed. No one
has the glory of so illustrious a deed.
325. Fervidus ardet: the absence of Æneas
raises the courage of Turnus, and inflames
him for battle. He is once more victorious,
as he had been before on the banks of the
Tiber, when Eneas was absent in Etruria.
This indirect method of praising his hero,
Virgil had learned from Homer, who makes
his victory to lean on the side of the Tro-
jans during the absence of Achilles; so, here,
the absence of Æneas makes the scales turn
in favor of the Latins. The absence of
Eneas was sudden and unexpected by Tur-
nus; and as soon as he saw him withd-aw
from the field, he was fired with the hope of
retrieving the lost fortunes of his country.
326. Superbus: in the sense of animosus.
327. Molitur: in the sense of tractat.
330. Proterit: he crushed. Rumus says,
sternit. Agmina: the troops-the enemy.
As Turnus drove furiously through the
anks of the enemy, the wheels of his chariot
crushed some to death, and others wounded
335
336. Circumaguntur
cum
339. Ungula ejus equo-
340 rum
and half dead they rolled and tumbled along
as they lay prostrate on the field. Ingerit
he hurled-threw. Raptas: in the sense of
correptas vel arreptas. Ruæus says, immittit
fugientibus hastas abstractas iisdem: which
implies that Turnus took the spears from the
fugitives, and then threw them at them.
The word raptas frequently signifies no
more than, snatched up-suddenly taken.
See
331. Flumina Hebri: along the streams
of Hebrus-along the river Hebrus.
Ecl. x. 65.
332. Increpat: in the sense of sonat.
333. Immittit: lets loose-gives full reins
to his furious steeds.
335, Ora atræ formidinis: the form or
countenance of grim terror-grim terror
itself.
336. Comitatus Dei: the retinue of the
god, i. e. Mars. The word comit rtus agrees
in apposition with the preceding nomina-
tives Ora, Ira, Insidiæ.
338. Quatit: in the sense of impellit.
Miserabilè cæsis: miserably slain.
339. Sanguineos rores: simply, blood.
342. Hunc, et hunc: the two last he en-
gaged in close fight; the former at a dis-
tance. Hic sometimes signifies the latter
or last mentioned; ille, the former, or first
mentioned, as in the present case-
こ
​582
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Nutrîerat Lyciâ, paribusque ornaverat armis,
Vel conferre manum, vel equo prævertere ventos
Parte aliâ, media Eumedes in prælia fertur,
347. Qui erat proles Antiqui proles bello præclara Dolonis,
antiqui
Nomine avum referens, animo manibusque parentem :
Qui quondam, castra ut Danaûm speculator adiret,
350. Ausus est pos- Ausus Pelidæ pretium sibi poscere currus.
Illum Tydides alio pro talibus ausis
Affecit pretio ; nec equis aspirat Achillis.
cere
353. Hunc Eumeden Hunc procul ut campo Turnus conspexit aperto;
Antè levi jaculo longum per inane secutus,
Sistit equos bijuges, et curru desilit, atque
Semianimi lapsoque supervenit: et, pede collo
Impresso, dextræ mucronem extorquet, et alto
Fulgentem tingit jugulo, atque hæc insuper addit:
359. En, Trojane, ja- En, agros, et, quam bello, Trojane, petîsti,
cens, metire agros
reaque
Hesperiam metire, jacens : hæc præmia, qui me
Ferro ausi tentare, ferunt: sic monia condunt.
Huic comitem Buten, conjectâ cuspide, mittit :
346
350
355
360
365
363. Interficit Chlo. Chloreaque, Sybarimque, Daretaque, Thersilochumque,
Et sternacis equi lapsum cervice Thymaten.
Ac velut Edoni Boreæ cùm spiritus alto
Insonat Ægæo, sequiturque ad litora fluctus;
Quâ venti incubuêre, fugam dant nubila cœlo:
Sic Turno, quâcunque viam secat, agmina cedunt,
Conversæque ruunt acies: fert impetus ipsum;
NOTES.
344. Ornaverat: and had furnished them
with equal arms—with equal skill, or valor
in arms. Conferre manum: to engage in
close fight.
347. Proles præclara bello. This is to be
understood ironically, as appears from what
follows: and particularly, from the charac-
ter of Dolon in Homer, Iliad, lib. 10, where
he appears to have undertaken the adven-
ture here alluded to, not from true courage,
but from merc covetousness. He demanded
the chariot of Achilles, as a reward for this
service.
348. Referens: representing-bearing the
name of. He bore the name of his grand-
father, but was like his father in courage
and valor.
349. Qui: this refers to the father, men-
tioned immediately before.
350. Pelida: gen. of Pelides, a name of
Achilles; from his father Peleus: a patro-
aymic. Pretium: as a reward for his deed.
352. Affecit alio pretio. It is here inti-
mated that Dolon was slain by Diomede.
354. Antè secutus: having thrown a swift
dart at him before-having pursued him
with a swift javelin, &c. Inane: in the sense
of aërem. Longum: distant-at a distance.
357. Mucronem dextræ. Though fallen
y the spear of Turnus, and dying of his
wounds, Eumedes held a dagger in his hand.
This the conqueror wrenched from him, and
buried deep in his throat.
358. Tingit: stains. Rumus says, im
mersit. He buries his glittering sword in
his throat. Immittit in jugulum ut sanguine
tingatur, says Heyne.
359. En agros: after a victory, the con
querors divided the conquered lands and
territory; and in the first place took the di-
mensions of them, in order to distribute
them equally among their troops. To this
custom Turnus, in this bitter sarcasm, seems
to allude.
362. Cuspide: in the sense of jaculo.
364. Sternacis equi: cither stumbling and
apt to fall himself; or rearing and pitching,
in order to throw his rider. Cervice: shoul-
ders-back. Rumus says, collo.
Thracian Boreas. Boreas, the north wind,
365. Spiritus Edoni Borea: the blast of
is here called Thracian, because it blew from
that country. The Edoni were a people of
Thrace: hence the adj. Edopus. Alto: in
the sense of mari. Spiritus: in the sense
of flatus vel ventus.
367. Dant fugam: in the sense of fugiunt
Incubuêre: blow-rush or press for ward.
369. Ruunt in the sense of fugiunt
ENEIS. LIB. XII.
Et cristam adverso curru quatit aura volantem.
Non tulit instantem Phegeus, animisque frementem:
Objecit sese ad currum, et spumantia frænis
Ora citatorum dextrâ detorsit equorum.
Dum trahitur, pendetque jugis, hunc lata retectum
Lancea consequitur, rumpitque infixa bilicem
Loricam, et summum degustat vulnere corpus.
Ille tamen, clypeo objecto, conversus in hostem
Ibat, et auxilium ducto mucrone petebat:
Cùm rota præcipitem, et procursu concitus axis
Impulit, effuditque solo: Turnusque secutus,
Imam inter galeam summi thoracis et oras,
Abstulit ense caput, truncumque reliquit arenâ.
Atque ea dum campis victor dat funera Turnus ;
Intereà Æneam Mnestheus, et fidus Achates,
Ascaniusque comes, castris statuêre cruentum,
Alternos longâ nitentem cuspide gressus.
Sævit, et infractâ luctatur arundine telum
Eripere; auxilioque viam, quæ proxima, poscit :
Ense secent lato vulnus, telique latebram
Rescindant penitùs, seseque in bella remittant.
Jamque aderat Phobo ante alios dilectus Iapys
Iasides; acri quondam cui captus amore
Ipse suas artes, sua munera, lætus Apollo
Augurium, citharamque dabat, celeresque sagittas.
NOTES.
370. Adverso curru: in his chariot facing
the wind. Aura: in the sense of ventus.
Volantem: waving. But curru may be for
currui, in the dat. The wind blowing against
his chariot facing it, (adverso,) causes his
plumes to wave. Dum currus adversùs ven-
tum fertur, says Heyne.
573. Detorsit ora: with his right hand he
turned around the heads, &c. This he did
to stop them, that on more equal terms he
might engage Turnus. These were the
horses of Turnus. Spumantia: foaming at
the bit. Citatorum: in the sense of animo-
sorum, vol celerum.
375. Rumpit: in the sense of penetrat.
378. Petebat: he sought aid with his
drawn sword. He hoped to succeed against
Turnus by attacking him sword in hand.
Rumeus says, vocabat auxilium. Davidson
renders it," he sought assistance from his
unsheathed sword." Mucrone: in the sense
of gladio.
379. Axis: the extremities of the axle-
tree extended beyond the hub of the wheel.
It was most probably this part that struck
Phegeus, and threw him headlong on the
ground. Concitus: quickened and accele-
rated by its rapid career. The impetus it
had acquired in its course served to increase
its velocity. Turnus seeing him in that si-
uation sprang froin his chariot, and took
off his head between the upper part of his
370
583
371. Turnum instan-
tem
375 375.Lata lancea Turni
380 ·
385
388. Quæ est proxi-
ma: jubet ut medicı se-
390 cent
392. Cui quondam
Apollo ipse captus acri
amore, lætus dabat
breast-plate, and the lower part of his hel-
met. Cùm this is the reading of Heyne
and Davidson. Ruæus reads quem. It ap-
pears that Phegeus had let go of the horses,
and was preparing to attack Turnus, when
they sprang forward, and the wheel in its
rapid motion struck him.
386. Nitentem alternos: supporting his
alternate steps, &c. Cuspide: in the sense
of hasta, by synec.
387. Arundine: the shaft of the arrow.
It is placed absolutely with infracta. Te-
lum: the barb or point of the arrow.
388. Auxilio: for relief. He orders them
to make a gash or incision (vulnus) down
to the very blade of the dart or javelin,
(latebram teli,) and extract it without delay,
that he may again enter the fight, and check
the career of Turnus. Proxima: the speed-
iest-quickest.
390. Rescindant: in the sense of aperian.
392. Cui: in the sense of cujus: with an
ardent love of whom, Apollo, &c.
393. Suas artes dabat: he gave to him the
choice of his arts. This appears to be the
meaning from verse 396, infra, maluit scire,
&c. The arts of Apollo were, 1. Prophecy.
2. Music: whence, he is often represented
with a lyre, and considered the god of poets.
3. Skill in archery: hence, he is represented
with a quiver. 4. Medicine. This last was
the choice of Iapys.
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
:
584
399. Immobilis mag-
no concursu juvenum
400. Ille senior Iapys
succinctus amictu retor-
to in Pæonium
Ille, ut depositi proferret fata parentis,
396
400
Scire potestates herbarum, usumque medendi
Maluit, et mutas agitare inglorius artes.
Stabat acerbà fremens, ingentem nixus in hastam
Æneas, magno juvenum, et mœrentis Iüli
Concursu, lachrymisque immobilis. Ille retorto
Pæonium in morem senior succinctus amictu,
Multa manu medicâ Phœbique potentibus herbis
Nequicquam trepidat; nequicquam spicula dextrâ
Sollicitat, prensatque tenaci forcipe ferrum.
Nulla viam fortuna regit; nihil auctor Apollo
Subvenit: et sævus campis magis ac magis horror
Crebrescit; propiùsque malum est. Jam pulvere cœlum
Stare vident; subeunt equites, et spicula castris
Densa cadunt mediis. It tristis ad æthera clamor
Bellantûm juvenum, et duro sub Marte cadentûm.
Hìc Venus, indigno nati concussa dolore,
Dictamnum genitrix Cretaâ carpit ab Idâ,
Puberibus caulem foliis, et flore comantem
414. Illa gramina sunt Purpureo. Non illa feris incognita capris
non incognita
Gramina, cùm tergo volucres hæsêre sagittæ.
416. Venus circum- Hoc Venus, obscuro faciem circumdata nimbo,
data quoad faciem
Detulit: hoc fusum labris spendentibus amnem
Inficit, occultè medicans; spargitque salubres
Ambrosia succos, et odoriferam panaceam.
NOTES.
395. Depositi: sick-dangerously ill. Fa-
ta: in the sense of mortem. Proferret: put
off-defer.
396. Medendi: the gerund in di, of me-
deor in the sense of medicina. Potestates:
properties-qualities.
397. Mutas artes: silent arts-arts more
useful than showy. The other arts of Apollo
were more ostentatious and showy. Agi-
lare: practice or exercise.
398. Acerbà: an adj. neu. plu., used ad-
verbially in the sense of acerbè.
399. Mærentis: of grieving--afflicted.
Iülus: Heyne connects lachrymis with Iüli
mærentis. In this construction, Iulus alone
is represented as shedding tears. The others
assemble to see the wounded hero.
401. Pæonium: an adj. from Pæon the
physician of the gods; here put for any
physician. Retorto: turned back after the
manner of Pæon, that he might perform the
operation more conveniently.
403. Trepidat multa. in the sense of fes-
tinat multa: he tries many expedients to
extract the arrow, to no purpose. Multa
tentat, says Heyne..
404. Sollicitat: he moves, or pulls. Fer-
rum: the blade, or barbed part of the spear.
Fortuna: success-advantage.
406. Subvenit: in the sense of adjuvat.
Auctor: the author of medicine. Horror:
n the sense of terror, says Heyne. It may
mean a din or clashing of arms; which will
405
410
416
make the sense of malum easy. See Æn.
ii. 301.
407. Jam vident: they see the air or sky
stand thick with dust-to be overspread or
filled with dust.
411. Indigno: unmerited-undeserved.
412. Dictamnum: the herb dittany. It
is said to have grown only in Crete, whence
it had its name from Dicte, a mountain in
that island. Its stalk bears soft downy
leaves; and its blossoms are not single, but
grow upon almost every leaf: whence, it is
said to be comantem flore purpureo: this last
denotes the color of the flower. Caulem .
the stem or stalk: it is here put in apposi-
tion with dictamnum.
415. Gramina: in the sense of herba.
416. Hoc this herb dittany. The hoc in
the following line is in the abl. with this she
tinged. Rumus says, imbuit. Amnem : in
the sense of aquam.
417. Labris: the vessel in which the
herbs of lapys were infused.
419. Succos ambrosia. Homer makes
ambrosia to be the food of the gods. It
properly signifies immortality. Panacea
a salutary herb, of which Pliny mentions
three kinds. According to the etymology
of the word, it should be a remedy for al
diseases. Spargit: she diffuses in it the
healing juices of ambrosia
Rumus says
miscet.
ÆNEIS. LIB. XII.
585
Fovit eâ vulnus lymphâ longævus lapis,
Ignorans subitòque omnis de corpore fugit
Quippe dolor; omnis stetit imo vulnere sanguis.
Jamque secuta manum, nullo cogente, sagitta
Excidit, atque novæ rediêre in pristina vires.
Arma citi properate viro: quid statis? Iapis
Conclamat: primusque animos accendit in hostes.
Non hæc humanis opibus, non arte magistrâ
Proveniunt; neque te, Ænea, mea dextera servat:
Major agit Deus, atque opera ad majora remittit.
Ille avidus pugnæ suras incluserat auro
420
425 cia
430
435
Hinc atque hinc; oditque moras, hastamque coruscat.
Postquam habilis lateri clypeus, loricaque tergo est;
Ascanium fusis circùm complectitur armis,
Summaque per galeam delibans oscula, fatur:
Disce, puer, virtutem ex me, verumque laborem :
Fortunam ex aliis. Nunc te mea dextera bello
Defensum dabit, et magna inter præmia ducet.
Tu facito, mox cùm matura adoleverit ætas,
Sis memor, et te animo repetentem exempla tuorum,
Et pater Æneas, et avunculus excitet Hector.
Hæc ubi dicta dedit, portis sese extulit ingens,
Telum immane manu quatiens: simul agmine denso
Anteusque Mnestheusque ruunt: omnisque relictis
Turba fluit castris. Tum cæco pulvere campus
Miscetur, pulsuque pedum tremit excita tellus.
Vidit ab adverso venientes aggere Turnus,
Vidêre Ausonii; gelidusque per ima cucurrit
Ossa tremor. Prima ante omnes Juturna Latinos
Audiit, agnovitque sonum, et tremefacta refugit.
Ille volat, campoque atrum rapit agmen aperto.
Qualis, ubi ad terras abrupto sidere nimbus
:
NOTES.
Stetit:
420. Fovit: in the sense of lavit.
421. Ignorans: ignorant of the virtues
which had been communicated to it.
422. Quippe indeed-truly.
ceased to flow. Constitit, says Rumus.
427. Hæc: this cure-these things.
428. Proveniunt: spring-arise from.-
Magistrâ: in the sense of medica.
429. Agit: performs the cure.
C
424. in pristina oft-
425. O viri citi
427. Addit prætered,
hæc non proveniunt
436. Sed disce fortu
nam
437. Ducet te
438. Tu facito ut sis
memer meæ virtutis, cùm
440 mox
445
446. Trojanos venien-
tes
450
450. Ille Æneas volat
faciet. Inter in the sense of ad. Heyne
takes præmia in the sense of victorias.
438. Adoleverit: shall have become-shall
have ripened.
439. Repetentem: calling to your mind.
Ruæus says, revolventem animo. The fol-
owing line is repeated from Æn. iii. 343.
440. Hector. He was the uncle of Asca
nius, his mother, Creüsa, being the daughter
430. Incluserat suras: had incased his of Priam. It is the wish of Æneas that his
legs on each side in gold.
432. Habilis: in the sense of aptus.
433. Complectitur: he embraces Asca-
nius, with his arms spread around him.
The cir cùm and fusis are to be united into
one word.
434. Delibans: gently touching his lips
through his helmet. We have here a most
Interesting instance of paternal affection,
and of tender solicitude for the future wel-
fare of his son.
435. Laborem: fortitude-patience under
difficulties.
437. Dobil: in the sense of reddet vel
own example, and the example of his uncle,
may excite him to piety and virtue, and to
the performance of deeds of valor.
་
444. Turba: the troops--all that were
in the camp. Fluit: in the sense of rum-
punt vel ruunt. Caco: darkening, or ob
scuring the air.
445. Excita: in the sense of commota.
446. Aggere: in the sense of tumulo ve.
colle.
450. Rapit: in the sense of ducit vel
trahit. Alrum: Ruæus says, densum.
451. Sidere abrupto. Davidson observes,
that sidere here may be taken for a storia.
586
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
452. Ille nimbus dabit It mare per medium: miseris, heu, præscia longe
453. Heu, corda mi- Horrescunt corda agricolis! dabit ille ruinas
soris agricolis præscia
455
Arboribus, stragemque satis, ruet omnia latè.
Antevolant, sonitumque ferunt ad litora venti.
Talis in adversos ductor Rhoteïus hostes
Agmen agit densi cuneis se quisque coactis
Agglomerant. Ferit ense gravem Thymbræus Osirim .
Archetium Mnestheus, Epulonem obtruncat Achates,
Ufentemque Gyas. Cadit ipse Tolumnius augur,
Primus în adversos telum qui torserat hostes.
Tollitur in cœlum clamor : versique vicissim
Pulverulenta fugâ Rutuli dant terga per agros.
460
468. Concussa quoad
mentem hộc
464. Eos aversos morti Ipse neque aversos dignatur sternere morti ;
Nec pede congressos æquo, nec tela ferentes
Insequitur: solum densâ in caligine Turnum
Vestigat lustrans, solum in certamina poscit.
Hoc concussa metu mentem Juturna virago,
Aurigam Turni media inter lora Metiscum
Excutit, et longê lapsum temone relinquit.
465
470
471. Ipsa subit in ejus Ipsa subit, manibusque undantes flectit habenas,
locum
Cuncta gerens, vocemque, et corpus, et arma Metisci.
Nigra velut magnas domini cùm divitis ædes
Pervolat, et pennis alta atria lustrat hirundo,
Pabula parva legens, nidisque loquacibus escas; 475
Et nunc porticibus vacuis, nunc humida circum
NOTES.
464. Aversos morti. Pierius found aversos
in the Roman manuscript.
The poet is
here telling us, that Eneas disdained to
fight with any of the Rutulian army but
Turnus.
Or, if Turnus. This he does by a circumlocution,
dividing the Rutulians into three divisions:
1. The aversos morti: those that were on
the flight. 2. The congressos æquo pede :
those who were engaged in close fight, on
equal terms. 3. The ferentes tela: those
who fought with missive weapons, at a dis-
tance. Heyne reads aversos.
which was thought to be the effect of some
furious constellation. In this sense, abrupto
sidere will mean the same with abrupta
lempestate, vel abruptis procellis: bursting
storms, as in the third Georgic. Or, if
sidere be taken in its proper sense, then
abrupto must be taken in the sense of ca-
dente, setting; the constellations being
thought more furious toward the time of
their setting. Nimbus: a black cloud,
a black cloud,
fraught with thunder and rain. This is
its proper meaning. Heyne takes sidere
abrupto in the sense of nube abrupta: the
cloud bursting, or being burst.
452. Præscia longè presaging disaster,
while the storm is yet at a distance-fore-
seeing the danger at a distance.
453. Agricolis miseris: the dat. in the
sense of the gen. The hearts of the, &c.
454. Ruet in the sense of evertet.
•
456. Rhæteïus: in the sense of Trojanus,
so called from Rhoteum, a promontory on
the coast of Troas.
ง
457. Cuneis coactis: the ranks being
closed: "in thick array," says Davidson.
Agglomerant se: they crowd themselves to-
gether,
458. Gravem: in the sense of fortem.
462. Versi: in the sense of fugati. The
Rutuli had been victorious, while Eneas
was disabled by his wound. Now he is on
the field, the scale of victory is turned, and
they, in turn, are put to flight.
•
465. Ferentes: in the sense of inferentes.
466. Caligine: in the sense of pulvere, vel
nube pulveris.
468. Virago the heroine Juturna.
470. Excutit: in the sense of dejicit vel
præcipitat.
472. Gerens cuncta: assuming-taking
all things, both the voice, &c.
473. Velut cùm nigra hirundo. The epi-
thet nigra, Scaliger observes, is added to
distinguish this kind of swallow from those
that haunt the banks of rivers, and are of a
sandy color. Petronius calls it urbana
Progne, because it loves to frequent towers,
and such stately buildings as are in cities.
des: palace. Ruæus says, domum.
475. Nidis: the nests are here put for the
young in the nests, by meton. Escas: put
in apposition with parva pabula.
ÆNEIS. LIB. XI.
587
477: Similis huic avr
Juturna
480
480. Nec patitur eum
Stagna sonat: similis medios Juturna per hostes
Fertur equis, rapidoque volans obit omnia curru:
Jamque hic germanum, jamque hic, ostendit ovantem:
Nec conferre manum patitur: volat avia longè.
Haud minùs Æneas tortos legit obvius orbes,
Vestigatque virum, et disjecta per agmina magnân
Voce vocat. Quoties oculos conjecit in hostem,
Alipedumque fugam cursu tentavit equorum ;
Aversos toties currus Juturna retorsit.
Heu! quid agat? vario nequicquam fluctuat æstu :
483. Vocat Turnum
magnâ voce
485
Diversæque vocant animum in contraria curæ.
Huic Messapus, utì lævâ duo fortè gerebat
Lenta, levis cursu, præfixa hastilia ferro,
Horum unum certo contorquens dirigit ictu.
Substitit Æneas, et se collegit in arma,
Poplite subsidens; apicem tamen incita summum
Hasta tulit, summasque excussit vertice cristas.
Tum verò assurgunt iræ; insidiisque subactus,
Diversos ubi sensit equos currumque referri,
Multa Jovem, et læsi testatur fœderis aras.
Jam tandem invadit medios, et Marte secundo
Terribilis, sævam nullo discrimine cædem
Suscitat, irarumque omnes effundit habenas.
NOTES.
477. Sonat: chirps, or chatters.
478. Obit: goes over, or around. Rumus
says, percurrit.
480. Longè avia: far out of the way, so
as not to meet Eneas. Avia: an adj. from
avius, agreeing with Juturna. Conferre ma-
num: to engage in close combat, or fight
with Eneas.
481. Legit lortos orbes obvius: traces the
mazy circles and windings of Turnus, not
for the purpose of overtaking him, but for
the purpose of meeting him. This is the
sense of obvius.
482. Disjecta: scattored-flying before
him.
484. Fugam: the speed--swiftness. Ru-
eus says, celeritatem. Alipedum: in the
sense of celerum: the swift, or winged horses
of Turnus.
485. Retorsit currus. The meaning is:
whenever Æneas was about to intercept
her course, coming up in front, Juturna
wheeled about the chariot, and drove back-
ward, so as to prevent the meeting of the
two champions. Currus: the chariot, by
meton. the horses.
486. Heu quid agat. Dr. Trapp explains
this of Juturna; but it is evident we are to
understand it of Eneas. It is he who is
disappointed, and crossed in his design of
meeting Turnus. Estu: with a tide of
passions. Irarum is understood.
487. In contraria: in opposite directions-
in different ways. Taken in the sense of in
contrarias partes.
488. Messapus, ut
fortè levis cursu gerebat
490
lævâ manu duo lenta
hastilia
490. Huic Æneæ
495
pi diversos
495. Equos Turnı ra-
497. Medios hostes
489. Levis: in the sense of celer, agreeing
with Messapus. Præfixa: in the sense of
armata.
491. Collegit se in arma: he contracted,
or collected himself into his armor. Though
the word arma is here mentioned in general,
it must be restricted to the shield, behind
which he hid himself, bending upon his
knee, and contracting his body. Virgil uses
the word in the same sense in other places.
492. Subsidens: in the sense of cadens.
Rumus says, incurvans se. Incita: in the
sense of immissa vel celer.
493. Concita hasta tulit: the meaning is:
the rapid spear just grazed the top of his
head, and carried with it the tuft, or plume
of his helmet. Vertice: in the sense of
capite.
494. Subactus insidiis: baffled by the stra
tagems of Juturna. Rumus says, coactus.
496. Testatur. This is the reading of
most of the ancient manuscripts. It is pre-
ferable to testatus, which is the reading of
Rumus. Heyne reads testatur. Multa: in
the sense of multùm. Ruæus says, sæpe.
499. Suscitat: in the sense of facit. Ef
fundit habenas: he gives full reins to his
anger. This is a metaphor taken from the
chariot race. Effundere habenas: to give
full rein to your horses-to set them at full
speed. Dare-laxare-miltere—immittere.
&c.-habenas vel frana, are phrases deno
ting the same thing.
588
P VIRGILII MARONIS
500. Nunc quis, quis
lous expediat mihi car-
mine tot acerba funera
•
• 503. Placuit-ne te, O
Jupiter
rem venientem
501
Quis mihi nunc tot acerba Deus, quis carmine cædes
Diversas, obitumque ducum, quos æquore toto
Inque vicem nunc Turnus agit, nunc Troïus heros,
Expediat? tanton' placuit concurrere motu,
Jupiter, æternâ gentes in pace futuras ?
Æneas Rutulum Sucronem, (ea prima ruentes
Pugna loco statuit Teucros,) haud multa moratus,
Excipit in latus, et, quà fata celerrima, crudum
Transadigit costas et crates pectoris ensem.
Turnus equo dejectum Amycum, fratremque Diorem,
505
510. Ferit hunc Dio- Congressus pedes; hunc venientem cuspide longâ, 510
Hunc mucrone ferit; curruque abscissa duorum
Suspendit capita, et rorantia sanguine-portat.
Talon
513. Ille Æneas mittit Ille Talon, Tanaïmque neci, fortemque Cethegum,
Tres uno congressu, et mæstum mittit Onyten,
Nomen Echionium, matrisque genus Peridiæ.
516. Hic Turnus in- Hic fratres Lyciâ missos, et Apollinis agris,
tcrficit fratres
Et juvenem exosum nequicquam bella Menoten
Arcada piscosa cui circum flumina Lernæ
Ars fuerat, pauperque domus: nec nota potentûm
521. Duo ignes im- Limina, conductâque pater tellure serebat.
missi è diversis
522. In sonantia vir- Ac velut immissi diversis partibus ignes
gulta è lauro
Arentem in sylvam, et, virgulta sonantia lauro;
NOTES.
501. Obitum: in the sense of mortem.
502. Inque vicem: for invicemque, by
tmesis. Agit: causes, or effects.
503. Motu rage-violence. Tanton':
For tanto-ne, by apocope.
505. Pugna: attack-assault. Statuit:
stopped. The meaning of this passage may
be that the opposition made by Sucro
checked the Trojans, who were before rush-
ing on the enemy, and raging without con-
trol. Or, this assault of Æneas upon Sucro
caused him, and the Trojans, to stop their
career and pursuit of Turnus, and remain
in the same place. This is the sense given
to it by Heyne. Rumus proposes a third
meaning to the words, to wit: that the as-
sault of Æneas upon Sucro first caused the
Trojans to rally and stand their ground,
who before were fleeing, and unable to re-
sist so great a hero.
506. Multa: in the sense of multùm. This
is in imitation of the Greeks, who used ad-
jectives of the neu. gen. as adverbs.
507. Excipit: in the sense of ferit, vel
vulnerat. Quà fata: where death is easiest
to be effected. Fata: in the sense of mors.
The verb sunt is understood.
508. Crates: acc. plu. Ruæus says, sep-
tum.
Crudum: naked-bloody. Costas
Crates. These are governed in the acc. by
the prep. trans, in comp., while the verb
adigit governs crudum ensem.
510. Congressus pedes: Turnus on foot en-
gaging Amycus, &c. Congredi : signifies to
515
520
engage in close combat-to fight hand to
hand.
514. Congressu : onset-assault. Ruæus
says, impetu. Genus: in the sense of prolem
vel filium.
515. Echionium: an adj. from Echion,
the name of the Theban, who accompanied
Cadmus at the building of Thebes in Beotia.
Onytes was an Echionian, or Theban name.
Ruæus says, Thebanum.
516. Lycia: a country of Asia Minor,
celebrated for the oracles of Apollo. It is
here put in apposition with agris. See Æn.
iv. 143.
517. Exosum: a part. agreeing with juve-
nem, and governing bella. Menates was an
Arcadian.
519. Ars: business, or employment. Cur:
in the sense of cujus. Lernæ: a lake near
the city of Argos in the Peloponnesus, fa-
mous for its having been the abode of the
Hydra, that was slain by Hercules. Flumi-
na: in the sense of aquas.
520. Limina potentûm: the palaces of the
great were not known to him. Ursinus as-
sures us that limina is the reading of the
most ancient manuscript, Liber Colitianus
vetustissimus, and he makes no doubt of its
being the true reading. Heyne and David-
son read limina. Rumus and Valpy read
munera. Of this it is difficult to make
sense, whereas limina is easy. Conducta
in hired land. He had no farm of his own.
522. Virgulla: in the sense of nemoru.
ENEIS. LIB. XII.
589
Aut ubi decursu rapido de montibus altis
Dant sonitum spumosi amnes, et in æquora currunt,
Quisque suum populatus iter: non segniùs ambo
Eneas Turnusque ruunt per prælia; nunc, nunc
Fluctuat ira intus. rumpuntur nescia vinci
Pectora: nunc totis in vulnera viribus itur.
Murranum hic, atavos et avorum antiqua sonantem
Nomina, per regesque actum genus omne Latinos.
Præcipitem scopulo atque ingentis turbine saxi
Excutit, effunditque solo. Hunc lora et juga subter
Provolvêre rota; crebro supèr ungula pulsu
Incita nec domini memorum proculcat equorum.
Ille ruenti Hyllo, animisque immanè frementi,
Occurrit, telumque aurata ad tempora torquet :
Olli per galeam fixo stetit hasta cerebro.
Dextera nec tua te, Grajûm fortissime Creteu,
Eripuit Turno: nec Dî texêre Cupencum,
Æneâ veniente, sui: dedit obvia ferro
Pectora, nec misero clypei mora profuit ærei.
Te quoque Laurentes viderunt, Æole, campi,
Oppetere, et latè terram consternere tergo:
Occidis, Argivæ quem non potuere phalanges
Sternere, nec Priami regnorum eversor Achilles.
Hic tibi mortis erant metæ domus alta sub Idâ ;
Lyrnessi domus alta; solo Laurente sepulchrum.
Totæ adeò conversæ acies, omnesque Latini,
Omnes Dardanidæ. Mnestheus acerque Serestus,
Et Messapus, equûm domitor, et fortis Asylas,
Tuscorumque phalanx, Evandrique Arcadis alæ.
Pro se quisque, viri summâ nituntur opum vi.
Nec mora, nec requies: vasto certamine tendunt.
523 Decursu: descent.
NOTES.
524. Æquora: in the sense of mare.
525. Populatus: laying waste.
527. Nescia vinci: knowing not to be con-
quered-invincible. Rumpunter: are burst
-pant and heave as if they would burst
with rage.
528. Itur: they go-march.
529. Sonantem: in the sense of jactan-
tem vel gloriantem. Actum: in the sense of
deductum.
531. Turbine: with the force. Heyne
says, jactu.
532. Excutit: in the sense of dejicit vel
sternit.
533. Supèr: in the sense of insuper vel
prætereà.
534. Incita: quick-in rapid movement.
536. Aurata tempora: his temples decked
with a gilded helmet.
537. Fixo: being pierced-the spear
passed through his helmet.
539 Eripuit. Rumus says, servavit.
540. Sui: in the sense of propitii vel
faventes. Or, his own gods-those gods
525
524. Aut ubi amnes
spumosi rapido decursu
525. Quisque amnis
529. Hic Æneas sco-
530 pulo, atque turbine -
gentis saxi, excutit Mur-
ranum.
532. Effundit
præcipitem
eum
533. Ungula equorum,
535 nec memorum
540
535. Ille Turnus oc-
currit Hyllo
2.
544. Tu occidis, quem
545
546. Erat tibi alta do-
mus sub Idâ; erat tibi
alta domus Lyrnessi;
nunc est tibi.
548. Conversæ sunt
550 in se
552. Omnes viri, quis-
que pro se
whose priest he was. Cupencus, in the Sa-
bine language, signified a priest.
541. Erei. Pierius found æris in all the
ancient manuscripts which he examined,
instead of arei, as in the common editions.
Heyne reads arei. Mora: resistance.
543. Oppetere. This word properly signi-
fies to die, like a hero, on the field of battle
quasi ore petere terram, to bite the ground,
as we say
as we say in English.
544. Occidis: thou fallest. Ruæus says,
moreris.
546. Metæ mortis : for meta vitæ, the limit
or boundary of life. This is n imitation of
Homer's rλos Davaruo.
547. Lyrnessi: Lyrnessus was a city of
Phrygia, near the Sinus Adramyllenus.
548. Coversæ: Ruæus says, permixtæ.
The verb sunt is understood.
551. Ala: in the sense of equites, vel
equitatus.
552. Nituntur: strive-struggle. Opum:
this appears merely expletive
Ruæus says.
virium.
553. Tendunt: in the sense of contendun
vel luctantur.
590
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
circumtulit
Hic mentem Encæ genitrix pulcherrima misit,
Iret ut ad muros, urbique adverteret agmen
Ocyùs, et subitâ turbaret clade Latinos.
657. Ille Æneas ut Ille ut vestigans diversa per agmina Turnum,
Huc atque huc acies circumtulit; aspicit urbem
Immunem tanti belli, atque impunè quietam.
560. Accendit animum Continuò pugnæ accendit majoris imago:
parte pro nobis
567. Eruam urbem
Mnesthea, Sergestumque vocat, fortemque Serestum,
Ductores; tumulumque capit, quò cætera Teucrûm
Concurrit legio; nec scuta aut spicula densi
Deponunt. Celso medius stans aggere fatur:
565. Jupiter stat hâc Ne qua meis esto dictis mora: Jupiter hâc stat:
Neu quis ob inceptum subitum mihi segnior ito.
Urbem hodie, causam belli, regna ipsa Latini,
Ni frænum accipere et victi parere fatentur,
Eruam; et æqua solo fumantia culmina ponam.
Scilicet exspectem, libeat dum prælia Turno
Nostra pati? rursùsque velit concurrere victus ?
Hoc caput, ô cives, hæc belli summa nefandi.
Ferte faces properè, fœdusque reposcite flammis.
572. Hoc est caput,
nempe, urbs Laurentum
576. Scale apparue-
runt
hostes
Dixerat: atque animis pariter certantibus omnes
Dant cuneum, densâque ad muros mole feruntur.
Scalæ improvisò, subitusque apparuit ignis.
Discurrunt alii ad portas, primosque trucidant:
Ferrum alii torquent, et obumbrant æthera telis.
Ipse inter primos dextram sub monia tendit
Æneas, magnâque incusat voce Latinum:
Testaturque Deos, iterum se ad prælia cogi;
$82. Italos jam bis esse Bis jam Italos hostes; hæc altera fœdera rumpi.
Exoritur trepidos inter discordia cives :
Urbem alii reserarę jubent, et pandere portas
Dardanidis; ipsumque trahunt in monia regem.
NOTES.
554. Mentem: mind-design-purpose.
Muit: in the sense of immisit. Heyne
takes mentem in the sense of consilium.
558. Acies: in the sense of oculos: some
understand it of the various parts of the ar-
my. Immunem: in the sense of expertem.
563. Nec scuta: this was according to the
custom of the Roman soldiers, who were
wont to be drawn up in arms before their
genera., when he harangued them. Legio:
in the sense of turmæ vel acies. Ruæus
sas, exercitus.
665. Stat hâc. stands here with us-favors
us-is on our side, in this bold undertaking.
This may be said in allusion to is being the
avenger of violated faith.
568. Fatentur: unless they consent to re-
ceive the reins and obey. Accipere frænum,
vel ræna is military phrase, denoting un-
conditions, submission to the conqueror.-
Rumus cays, volunt.
565. Æqua: level with the ground. Po-
num: in the sense of prosternam.
555
560
565
670
575
580
585
571. Pati nostra prælia: to fight with me.
Ruæus says, ferre pugnam.
575. Dant cuneum: they form themselves
into the military wedge, which is drawn to
a point in the front, and widens toward the
rear; and in this close body (densa mole)
they rush against the city. Dant: in the
sense of formant vel faciunt. Feruntur: in
the sense of irrunt. Rumus interprets mole
by multitudine.
578. Ferrum. Any missive weapon tipped
with iron or steel, may be called ferrum.
579. Tendit: in the sense of protendit.
Sub: in the sense of ad.
582. Hæc altera fœdera. The first treaty
was, when Latinus promised to Ilioneus to
take Æneas for his ally, and son-in-law,
Æn. vii. 259. The second league or treaty
was that which ratified the single combat
between Turnus and Eneas, 195. supra.
585. Trahunt: they draw the king to the
walls, that he may ratify the treaty, and so
put an end to the war.
ÆNEIS. LIB. XII.
59]
Arma ferunt alii, et pergunt defendere muros.
Inclusas ut cùm latebroso in pumice pastor
Vestigavit apes, fumoque implevit amaro :
Illæ intus trepida rerum per cerea castra
Discurrunt, magnisque acuunt stridoribus iras.
Volvitur ater odor tectis; tum murmure cæco
Intus saxa sonant: vacuas it fumus ad auras.
Accidit hæc fessis etiam fortuna Latinis,
Quæ totam luctu concussit funditùs urbem.
Regina ut tectis venientem prospicit hostem,
Incessi muros, ignes ad tecta volare :
Nusquam acies contrà Rutulas, nulla agmina Turni :
Infelix pugnæ juvenem in certamine credit
Extinctum et, subitô mentem turbata dolore,
Se causam clamat, crimenque, caputque malorum:
Multaque per mæstum demens effata furorem,
Purpureos moritura manu discindit amictus,
Et nodum informis leti trabe nectit ab altâ.
Quam cladem miseræ postquam accepêre Latinæ,
Filia prima manu flavos Lavinia crines,
Et roseas laniata genas; tum cætera circùm
Turba furit resonant latè plangoribus ædes.
Hinc totam infelix vulgatur fama per urbem.
Demittunt mentes: it, scissâ veste, Latinus,
Conjugis attonitus fatis, urbisque ruinâ,
Canitiem immundo perfusam pulvere turpans:
Multaque se incusat, qui non acceperit antè
Dardanium Æneam, generumque adsciverit ultrò.
NOTES.
586. Pergunt: in the sense of parant.
587. Pumice. Pumex is properly the
panice stone here put for any stone.
588. Vestigavit: hath found-discovered.
589. Castra: their hives. Trepidæ rerum:
alarmed for their state-condition. Timentes
suis rebus, says Rumus. So fessi rerum,
En. i. 178.
591. Tectis: this again means the hives.
Odor: fume- vapor, or smoke. Coco:
smothered-obscure.
593. Fortuna: in the sense of calamitas.
Fessis afflicted-distressed.
594. Concussit: in the sense of implevit.
595. Tectis. Tectum here is in the sense
of urbs. Incessi: the inf. of the verb inces-
sor: to be assaulted. Ut: when-as soon as.
599. Turbata: in the sense of commota.
Mentem is put as a Grecism.
Of de,
600. Crimen: the criminal author.
601. Demens: wanting reason.
and mens. Affata: in the sense of dicens
"el loquens. Per: through-during.
603. Informis: unnatural-awful. Heyne
says, turpis. The poet here expresses his
nisapprobation of suicide, by calling it in-
jormis leti. According to the pontifical
books, sucn persons were deprived of the
590
595
588. Implevit locum
597. Contrà prospicu.
nusquam Rutulas acier.
apparere
598. Credit juvenem
600 Turnum extinctum esse
600. Se esse causam
605
610
605. Lavinia prima
furit, laniata quoad
rites of burial. Nectit: she binds, or ties
the rope. Nodum: in the sense of funem,
says Heyne.
605. Accepêre: in the sense of audiverunt.
Quam cladem: in the sense of cujus mortem.
606. Lavinia laniata. After the women
had learned the tragic end of her mother,
Lavinia was the first to express her grief.
This she did by tearing her hair, and mang-
ling her rosy cheeks. Servius reads floros,
or floreos, instead of flavos, in imitation of
Ennius. But there is no authority to sup-
port this reading; and there is no necessity
for the alteration; for yellow, or golden hair,
was the color most admired among the an-
cients.
609. Demittunt: their resolution fails-
they despond. Rumus says, dejiciunt ani-
mos. Davidson renders it," their souls
despond."
610. Fatis: in the sense of morle.
611. Turpans: defiling-tearing.
612. Multa: in the sense of multùm. This
and the following line are introduced from
Æn. xi. 471. In some copies they do not
appear in this place.
613. Adsciverit: admitted, or received him
as a son-in-law.
692
P VIRGILII MARONIS
Intereâ extremo bellator in æquore Turnus
Palantes sequitur paucos, jam segnior, atque
615
Jam minùs atque minùs successu lætus equorum.
Attulit hunc illi cæcis terroribus aura
$18. Commixtum cœ- Commixtum clamorem, arrectasque impulit aures
fis terroribus
Confusæ sonus urbis, et illætabile murmur.
Hei mihi! quid tanto turbantur mœnia luctu!
Quisve ruit tantus diversâ clamor ab urbe ?
Sic ait: adductisque amens subsistit habenis.
Atque huic, in faciem soror ut conversa Metisci
Auriga, currumque et equos et lora regebat,
620
625. Occurrit huic in Talibus occurrit dictis: Hâc, Turne, sequamur
Lalibus dictis: hâc parte, Trojugenas, quâ prima viam victoria pandit
✓ Turne
Sunt alii, qui tecta manu defendere possint.
Ingruit Æneas Italis, et prælia miscet:
Et nos sæva manu mittamus funera Teucris.
630. Numero cœsorum Nec numero inferior, pugnæ nec honore recedes.
631. Turnus respondet Turnus ad hæc :
O soror, et dudum agnovi, cùm prima per artem
Fœdera turbâsti, teque hæc in bella dedisti:
Sed Et nunc nequicquam fallis Dea. Sed quis Olympo
quis Deorum voluit te Demissam tantos voluit te ferre labores?
634. Fallis me.
lemissam
623
630
635
An fratris miseri letum ut crudele videres?
Nam quid ago? aut quæ jam spondet fortuna salutem ?
638. Ego ipse vidi in- Vidi oculos ante ipse meos, me voce vocantem
gentem Murranum op- Murranum, quo non superat mihi charior alter,
petere ante meos oculos, Oppetere ingentem, atque ingenti vulnere victum.
Occidit infelix, ne nostrum dedecus, Ufens,
643. Nostris miseris Aspiceret: Teucri potiuntur corpore et armis.
Exscindi-ne domos, id rebus defuit unum,
vocantem me voce, atque
victum
"ebus
NOTES.
614. Equore: in the sense of campo.
615. Segnior. Rumus says, tardior.
616. Successu equorum. Servius, and most
interpreters after him, take the meaning to
be that Turnus was now less pleased with
his horses, because they were out of breath,
and fatigued. But it seems much better to
understand it of his being less pleased with
the easy victory he gained, now that Æneas
was retired, and only a few straggling troops
left in the field. This agrees with the ex-
pressions paucos palantes. Successu equo-
rum: this last intimates, that the victory he
gained was now so easy, that he had only
to drive the enemy before his chariot, with-
Cu meeting with any resistance: Turnus
Light think the victory not worthy of his
valor, and was therefore less pleased with
it, than if it had more richly rewarded him.
This better accords with the sentiments of
the soldier. This is the opinion of David-
son. He renders the words; "with tho
che p victory of his horses." Heyne agrees
with Servius. Ruæus observes: he was
less pleased with his horses, because they
had carried him so far from the fight.
640
617. Aura: in the sense of ventus. Cacts
unknown-uncertain. Rumus says, incertis.
619. Illætabile: mournful-unjoyous. Of
in, neg. and lætabilis.
621. Diversâ; in the sense of ab diversa
parte urbis. Rumus says, dissita.
625. Occurrit: in the sense of respondet.
627. Tecta: in the sense of urbem.
629. Mittamus: in the sense of demus
Funera sæva: in the sense of crudelem mor-
tem, says Ruæus. "Let us spread cruel
death among the Trojans." Valpy.
630. Numero: in the number of the slain.
Turnus should equal Eneas in the number
of his slain, and in the glory of the fight.
632. Agnovi: the pron. te is understood.
633. Turbâsti: in the sense of rupisti.
634. Fallis: Heyne says, vis latere.
638. Murranum. He was one of the Ita-
lian princes, and slain by Eneas, verse 529.
supra. Ingentem: mighty-powerful.
641. Ufens. He cominanded the Agricola.
See Æn. vii. 745.
643. Unum: in the sense of solum. The
only thing wanting to our complete wrotch-
edness and misery.
ENEIS. LIB. XII
644
655
Perpetiar? dextrâ nec Drancis dicta refellam?
Terga dabo? et Turnum fugientem hæc terra videbit ?
Usque adeòne mori miserum est ? vos ô mihi Manes
Este boni; quoniam Superis aversa voluntas.
Sancta ad vos anima, atque istius inscia culpæ,
Descendam, magnorum haud unquam indignus avorum.
Vix ea fatus erat; medios volat, ecce, per hostes 650
Vectus equo spumante Sages; adversa sagittâ
Saucius ora ruitque, implorans nomine Turnum :
Turne, in te suprema salus; miserere tuorum.
Fulminat Æneas armis, summasque minatur
Dejecturum arces Italûm, excidioque daturum:
Jamque faces ad tecta volant. In te ora Latini,
In te oculos referunt. mussat rex ipse Latinus,
Quos generos vocet, aut quæ sese ad fœdera flectat.
Prætereà regina, tui fidissima, dextrâ
Occidit ipsa suâ, lucemque exterrita fugit.
Soli pro portis Messapus et acer Atinas
Sustentant aciem Circum hos utrinque phalanges
Stant dense, strictisque seges mucronibus horret
Ferrea tu currum deserto in gramine versas.
Obstupuit variâ confusus imagine rerum
Turnus, et obtutu tacito stetit. Estuat ingens
Imo in corde pudor, mixtoque insania luctu,
Et furiis agitatus amor, et conscia virtus.
660
599
646.
Est-ne usque
adeò
647. Voluntas Supe-
ris est aversa mıhi
652. Saucius quoad
adversa ora
653. Nostra suprema
salus est
ces
655. Daturum eas ar-
663. E strictis mucro-
nibus
665
Ut primùm discussæ umbræ, et lux rèddita menti,
Ardentes oculorum acies ad monia torsit
Turbidus, èque rotis magnam respexit ad urbem.
Ecce autem, flammis inter tabulata volutus
669. Sunt discusss
670
NOTES.
644. Dicta Drancis. See Æn. xi. 336, the state of Latinus' mind.
et sequens.
646. Est-ne usque adeò: is it indeed so
grievous a thing to die?
647. Superis: in the sense of Superorum.
Boni: propitious-kind. Turnus now plain-
ly sees, that the gods above are against
him, and that he must fall beneath the
sword of Æneas. He addresses himself to
the gods below, (Manes,) not so much with
a view to obtain their assistance against
the purposes of Jove, as they might give
his shade, his sancta anima, a welcome re-
ception; since it would descend to them
covered with glory, free from any imputa-
tion of cowardice or fault, and no way de-
generate from his illustrious ancestors.
648. Inscia istius culpæ: free from the
fault or crime of deserting his friends in
thair distress, and difficulty. This he will
not do, though he knows that it must ter-
minate in his death. Sancta: pure-un-
polluted.
652. Ora: in the sense of vultum. He
was wounded full in the face-right in front.
Implorans in the sense of vocans.
655. Dejecturum: would rase.
On the one
hand, he was inclined to match his daughter
with Eneas, and fulfil his engagements:
on the other, he was overawed by Turnus,
and durst not openly declare his sentiments;
but faintly hinted them, like one who mut-
ters what he is afraid to speak out. Ruæus
says, dubitat. Heyne says, tacitè deliberat.
Referunt: turn-cast. The verb is to be
repeated before each objective case.
659. Tui: in the sense of tibi.
662. Aciem: in the sense of pugnam.
Phalanges: the troops in general.
664. Deserto gramine: in the sense of ex-
tremo campo. See 614, supra.
665. Rerum: of distress-affliction. Im-
agine: form-image.
667. Ingens pudor: this, and the follow
ing line are repeated from Æn. x. 870.
668. Insania: distraction. Rumus says,
amentia. Furiis. Heyne conjectures refer-
ence is had to the nuptials of Lavinia, of
which he now began to despair.
670. Acies oculorum: the sight of his eyes;
simply, his eyes. Heyne reads, orbes.
671. Rotis: in the sense of curru.
672. l'ortex flammis: a whirling volume
657. Mussat. This word strongly marks of flame rolled, &c. The prep. è is under
39
594
P VIRGILII MARONIS
676
Ad cœlum undabat vortex, turrimque tenebat ;
Turrim, compactis trabibus quam eduxerat ipse,
Subdideratque rotas, pontesque instraverat altos.
Jam jam fata, soror, superant; absiste morari .
Quò Deus, et quò dura vocat fortuna, sequamur.
678: Stat mihi pati Stat conferre manum Æneæ: stat, quicquid acerbi est
quicquid acerbi est in Morte pati; nec me indecorem, germana! videbis
morte
680. Ante mortem
684. Velut cùm saxum
uit præceps de vertice
686. Solvit illud è loco
Ampliùs. Hunc, oro, sine me furere antè furorem.
Dixit: et è curru saltum dedit ocyùs arvis:
Perque hostes, per tela ruit; mœstamque sororem
Deserit; ac rapido cursu media agmina rumpit.
Ac, veluti montis saxum de vertice præceps
Cùm ruit avulsum vento, seu turbidus imber
Proluit, aut annis solvit sublapsa vetustas;
Fertur in abruptum magno mons improbus actu,
Exsultatque solo, sylvas, armenta, virosque
Involvens secum: disjecta per agmina Turnus
Sic urbis ruit ad muros, ubi plurima fuso
Sanguine terra madet, stridentque hastilibus auræ:
Significatque manu, et magno simul incipit ore :
Parcite jam, Rutuli; et vos, tela inhibite, Latini;
694. Fortuna hujus Quæcunque est, fortuna mea est; me veriùs unum
Pro vobis fœdus luere, et decernere ferro.
695. Luere violatum Discessêre omnes medii, spatiumque dedêre.
feedus
At pater Æneas, audito nomine Turni,
701. Tantus quantus Deserit et muros, et summas deserit arces;
est Athos, aut quantus Præcipitatque moras omnes: opera omnia rumpit,
est Eryx, aut quantus est
pater Apenninus ipse, Lætitiâ exsultans, horrendùmque intonat armis :
cùm fremit
Quantus Athos, aut quantus Eryx, aut ipse coruscis
pugnæ est mea: est ve-
riùs
NOTES.
stood to govern flammis. Tabulata: the
stages or stories of the tower.
674. Turrim, quam ipse: the tower which
he himself had raised, &c. Eduxerat: in
the sense of struxerat.
it.
681
685
690
695
700
681. Arvis: in the sense of terræ.
685. Turbidus imber: a violent heavy rain
686. Proluit: washed away-undermineo
Vetustas: in the sense of tempus. Sub-
lapsa: having passed away. Ruæus says,
675. Subdiderat : had placed under it labente. Solvit torn it away-broken it
wheels.
Towers were built of wood, and commonly
several stories (tabulata) high. They were
for the purpose of defence, or assault; and
were so constructed that they could be
moved by means of wheels or rollers, placed
under them, to the place where they were
required. Sometimes several of them were
connected by means of bridges (pontes) at
the tops, made of planks and timber. By
these bridges the men could pass from one
to another, whenever it became necessary.
678. Stat: the imp. of sto. I am resolved
-it is fixed. Ruæus says, deliberatum est.
680. Furere hunc: in the sense of indul-
gere huic furori. The construction is ac-
cording to a Greek idiom. Permit me, O,
sister to rage in this manner--to indulge
this passion. Ante: this refers to his death,
or his engagement with Æneas, in which he
was persuaded he should be slain: ante
mortem, vel antiquam moriar.
loose.
687. Mons fertur improbus: the massy
rock is carried violent, &c. Mons here evi
dently means the same as saxum, just be-
fore mentioned. In abruptum: down the
sides of the mountain. Improbus implies
that the rock rushed down with an irresis-
tible force. Actu: in the sense of impetu.
689. Involvens: in the sense of rapiens
Disjecta: scattered-fleeing before him.
690. Plurima: in the sense of plurimùm.
This implies that Turnus rushed into the
hottest of the battle-where the earth was
wet the most with blood.
692. Ore: in the sense of voce.
693. Parcite: cease, or spare your arms.
694. Veriùs: in the sense of æquius.
Pro vobis: in your room, and stead.
698. Deserit: in the sense of relinquit.
699. Rumpit: in the sense of abrumpit.
700. Intonat: in the sense of sonat.
701. Athos: a mountain in Macedon
ENEIS. LIB. XII.
Cùm fremit ilicibus quantus, gaudetque nivalı
Vertice, se attollens pater Apenninus ad auras.
Jam verò et Rutuli certatim, et Troës, et omnes
Convertêre oculós Itali; quique alta tenebant
Monia, quique imos pulsabant ariete muros;
Armaque deposuêre humeris. Stupet ipse Latinus,
Ingentes genitos diversis partibus oil is
Inter se coiisse viros, et cernere ferro.
Atque illi, ut vacuo patuerunt æquore campi,
Procursu rapido, conjectis eminùs hastis,
Invadunt Martem clypeis atque ære sonoro.
Dat gemitum tellus: tum crebros ensibus ictus
Congeminant: fors et virtus miscentur in unum.
Ac velut, ingenti Silâ, summove Taburno,
Cùm duo conversis inimica in prælia tauri
Frontibus incurrunt; pavidi cessêre magistri ;
705
Stat pecus omne metu mutum; mussantque juvencæ,
Quis pecori imperitet; quem tota armenta sequantur :
Illi inter sese multâ vi vulnera miscent,
Cornuaque obnixi infigunt, et sanguine largo
Colla armosque lavant: gemitu nemus omne remugit.
Haud aliter Tros Æneas et Daunius heros
Concurrunt clypeis: ingens fragor æthera complet.
Jupiter ipse duas æquato examine lances
Sustinet, et fata imponit diversa duorum;
Quem damnet labor, et quo vergat pondere letum.
NOTES.
projecting into the Egean sea. It is said
to be sixty miles in length, and so high that
it overshadows the island of Lemnos. Ho-
die, Monte Santo. It is so called from the
number of monasteries upon it. Eryx: a
mountain in Sicily, next in height to Etna,
so called from a king of that name who was
slain by Hercules. It is situated near the
western side of the island. Hodie, Monte
Giuliano.
703. Pater Apenninus: mount Apennine
is here called pater, either as being the pa-
rent of so many noble rivers and woods;
or by way of dignity, as being the greatest
mountain in Italy. The Apennines are pro-
perly a range of mountains running the
whole length of Italy, and dividing it nearly
m the middle.
704. Certatim: eagerly.
708. Ingentes viros: that two mighty he-
roes born in, &c.
709. Coüsse: in the sense of congredi.
Cernere: in the sense of pugnare, vel decer-
nere.
710. Campi: the ground-the space clear
ed for the combatants.
712. Invadunt Martem: in the sense of
incipiunt pugnam.
714. Congeminant: they repeat-redou-
ble. In unum: into one-together.
715. Sila: a vast forest, or tract of hills,
enved with wood, that formed part of the
595
708. Duos ingenses
viros genitos in
710 710. Ut primùm
715
719. Quis taurus
720
721. Cornua inter se
invicem
725
Apennine mountains in Calabria. Taburno:
this was a mountain in the confines of Cam-
pania, which blocks up the famous straits of
Caudi or Caudium. Here the Roman army
was obliged to surrender to the Samnites,
and to pass under the yoke.
717. Magistri: in the sense of pastores.
Cessêre: in the sense of fugerunt.
718. Mussant: Heyne says, tacitè exper-
tant. Ruæus says, timidè, et quasi tacitè
mugiunt.
721. Largo: in the sense of multo.
722. Lavant: Rumus says, lingunt.
723. Daunius heros: Turnus. He was
the son of Daunus and Venilia.
725. Equato examine: equal poise or
balance. Examen is the tongue, or needle
of the balance, which, being exactly in equi-
librio, shows the scales to be equal.
The
727. Quem labor damnet: whom the com-
bat should devote or doom to death.
fates, or destiny, were not at the disposal of
Jove. He could only examine into futurity.
He puts (imponit) the fates of the combat-
ants into the scales of the balance, to see
which end of the beam would rise. Servius,
and some others, take the words in the senso
of quem fèlix labor damnet votis: whom the
combat shall oom to pay his vows-whe
shall be the successful combatant. But it
is easier to consider the expression as refer.
ring to one and the same person: whom the
P. VIRGILIJ MARONIS
546
Emicat hic, impunè putans, et corpore toto
729. Putans futurum Altè sublatum consurgit Turnus in ensem,
impunè sibi, Turnus hic Et ferit. Exclamant Troës, trepidique Latini,
Arrectæque amborum acies. At perfidus ensis
Frangitur, in medioque ardentem deserit ictu,
emicat
Ni fuga subsidio subeat. Fugit ocyor Euro,
Ut capulum ignotum, dextramque adspexit inermem.
730
735. Fama est, cum Fama est, præcipitem, cùm prima in prælia junctos 735
præcipitem, cùm con- Conscendebat equos, patrio mucrone relicto,
scendebat equos junctos Dum trepidat, ferrum aurige rapuisse Metisci :
in prima prælia, dum tre-
pidat, rapuisse
746. Eneas insequi-
Idque diu, dum terga dabant palantia Teucri,
Suffecit: postquam arma Dei ad Vulcania ventum est,
Mortalis mucro, glacies ceu futilis, ictu
:
740
Dissiluit fulvâ resplendent fragmina arenâ.
Ergò amens diversa fugâ petit æquora Turnus,
Et nunc huc, inde huc, incertos implicat orbes.
Undique enim densâ Teucri inclusêre coronâ :
Atque hinc vasta palus, hine ardua mœnia cingunt. 745
Nec minùs Æneas, quanquam tardata sagittâ
tur, quanquam genua Interdum genua impediunt, cursumque recusant,
tardata sagittâ
Insequitur: trepidique pedem pede fervidus urget.
Inclusum veluti si quando flumine nactus
748. Pedem trepidi
Turni
venator nactus
749. Si quando canis Cervum, aut punicea septum formidine pennæ,
Venator cursu canis et latratibus instat :
Ille autem, insidiis et ripâ territus altâ,
Mille fugit refugitque vias: at vividus Umber
NOTES.
combat shall devote to ruin, as above. This
is the opinion of Valpy, Davidson renders
the words, "whom the toilsome combat
destines to victory." Labor; in the sense
of pugnu, says Heyne. The poet here imi-
tates Homer, who makos Jove, in like man-
ner, weigh the fatos of Hector and Achilles.
Quo pondere: in which scale. Death was
to fall to the party, whose scale sunk or fell.
Ruæus says, mors inclinat.
729. Altè: this is to be taken with subla-
tum.
730. Ferit: Enean is understood. Tre-
pidi: trembling-in anxious fear. Consur-
git: in the sense of insurgit,
731. Arrecta: in the sense of suspensœ.
The verb sunt is understood.
732. Deserit: leaves him ardent for the
fight, at the mercy of his antagonist. These
last, or words of the like import, are neces-
sary to make the sense complete. When
he mounted his chariot, it was his intention
to take his trusty, heavenly tempered sword
that sword made by Vulcan for his father;
but in his haste and perturbation, he took
the sword of Metiscus, his charioteer; which
here deceived him. It is therefore, called
perfidus ensis.
733. Ni fuga: had not flight come to his
aid--had he not instantly fed, he would
nave fallen under the arm of Æneas, being
left in that defenceless state.
750
734. Capulum: the hilt only remained in
his hand. He now discovered the fatal mis-
take. Ut: when-as soon as.
737. Trepidat: in the sense of properat.
739. Suffecit: in the sense of satis fuit,
Vulcania arma Dei: in the sense of arma
Dei Vulcani, vel Divina arma Vulcani.
Those arms which Vulcan made for Æneas.
This construction is imitated from the
Greeks.
740. Martalis mucro: a sworo made by
men-a mortal sword. Futilis: in the sense
of fragilis,
741. Dissiluit: in the sense of fractus est,
742. Diversa æquora: different parts of
the plain. Amens: alarmed. Of a priv.
and mens.
743. Implicat: in the sense. of facit vel
format. He wheels around in his flight,
forming irregular figures, or circles.
744. Corona densa: in close ranks-in a
close compact body.
746. Sagitta: the arrow by which he was
wounded in the beginning of the action,
Heyne says, vulnere.
748. Fervidus: in the sense of ardens.
749. Flumine: some copies have in flu-
mine. Heyne omits the in. This is the read-
ing of the Roman MS. Inclusum: enclosed,
or confined by a river.
750. Formidine. The formido, as Dr.
Trapp observes, was a rope stuck thick with
ANEIS. LIB. XII
597
*
754. Hians hæret illi
755 jam jamque tenet cum
760
765
Hæret hians, jam jamque tenet, similisque tenenti
Increpuit malis, morsuque elusus inani est.
Tum verò exoritur clamor: ripæque lacusque
Responsant circà, et cœlum tonat omne tumultu.
Ille simul fugiens, Rutulos sinul increpat omnes,
Nomine quemque vocans; notumque efflagitat ensem.
Æneas mortem contrà, præsensque minatur
Exitium, si quisquam adeat: terretque trementes,
Excisurum urbem minitans, et saucius instat.
Quinque orbes explent cursu, totidemque retexunt
Huc, illuc nec enim levia aut ludicra petuntur
Præmia; sed Turni de vitâ et sanguine certant.
Forte sacer Fauno foliis oleaster amaris
Hìc steterat, nautis olim venerabile lignum ;
Servati ex undis ubi figere dona solebant
Laurenti Divo, et votas suspendere vestes :
Sed stirpem Teucri nullo discrimine sacrum
Sustulerant, puro ut possent concurrere campo.
Hìc hasta Æneæ stabat: huc impetus illam
Detulerat, fixam et lentâ in radice tenebat.
Incubuit, voluitque manu convellere ferrum,
Dardanides; teloque sequi, quem prendere cursu
Non poterat.
Tum verò amens formidine Turnus,
Faune, precor, miserere, inquit: tuque optima ferrum
Terra tene: colui vestros si semper honores,
Quos contrà Æneadæ bello fecêre profanos.
Dixit: opemque Dei non cassa in vota vocavit.
NOTES.
red or crimson feathers to enclose, and
frighten the deer, or other animals. See
Geor. iii. 371.
753. Umber: a dog of Umbria, in the
north of Italy. Canis is understood. Vivi-
dus: quick scented.
155. Increpuit: Rumus says, insonuit.
He shuts his jaws, as if in the act of seizing
him.
761. Si quis adeat. Virgil here outrages
the character of his hero. It is true he has
the example of Homer for it. But it is to
be remembered the two poets lived in very
different states of society. Turnus is forced
to the contest with unequal weapons. Of
his sword he is deprived, and left without
arms. In this situation, he is pursued by
Æneas, who threatens to put the person to
death, who shall give him his sword, that he
may be in a condition to defend himself,
and be on more equal terms with his adver-
sary. This is a course of conduct, which
no age or nation, however barbarous, can
justify. Much less is it becoming in the sol-
uier, and the hero. The putting to death
of unarmed and defenceless persons may be
practised, but cannot be justified. Valpy.
763. Retexunt totidem: they retrace, or
form back again, as many more. The mean-
ing is, that Turnus went five times around
the field of combat, pursued by Eneas
770
758. Ille Turnus si-
mul est fugiens
761. Adeat Turnum:
terretque eos trementes,
minitans se excisurum
768. Ubi illi servat
ex undis
træ
772. Impetus ejus dex
775 775. Sequique Tur
num telo, quem
780
Explent: in the sense of conficiunt. Retex
unt: Ruæus says, relegunt.
764. Enim: in the sense of equidem. Lu
dicra: trifling-of no value.
766. Oleaster. The wild olive was fre-
quently planted before temples, that the
consecrated offerings might be suspended
upon its boughs. It was a very durable tree.
and not apt to receive any injury, though
ever so many nails were driven into its
wood. Its leaves were bitter.
767. Lignum: in the sense of arbor. Ve-
nerabile: in the sense of venerandum.
769. Votas: in the sense of devotas.
770. Nullo discrimine: with no regard to
its sacredness. Nullo respectu habito, says
Heyne.
771. Puro: in the sense of aperto, vel
Sustulerant: in the sense of abscire-
vacuo.
derant.
•
773. Lenta radice: in the tough root. It
stuck fast in the root, so that it could not be
drawn out.
775. Dardanides: Eneas. A patronymic
from Dardanus.
Incubuit: Ruæus says,
insistit.
776. Amens: Ruæus says, exanimatus.
778. Colui: I have regarded, or held sa
cred.
780. Cassa: in the sense of inutilia.
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
598
Namque diu luctans, lentoque in stirpe noratus'
Viribus haud ullis valuit discludere morşus
Roboris Æneas. Dum nititur acer et instat,
784. Rursus Daunia Rursùs in aurigæ faciem mutata Metisci
Dea mutata in faciem
Procurrit, fratrique ensem Dea Daunia reddit
Quod Venus audaci Nymphæ indignata licere,
Accessit, telumque alta ab radice revellit.
Olli sublimes, armis, animisque refecti,
Hic gladio fidens, hic acer et arduus hastâ,
Adsistunt contrà certamine Martis anheli.
Junonem intereà rex omnipotentis Olympi
Alloquitur, fulvâ pugnas de nube tuentem.
Quæ jam finis erit, conjux? quid denique restat?
794. Tu ipsa scis, et Indigetem Æneam scis ipsa, et scire fateris,
fateris te scire Eneam Deberi cœlo, fatisque ad sidera tolli.
indigetem deberi
Quid struis? aut quâ spe gelidis in nubibus hæres ?
Mortalin' decuit violari vulnere Divum ?
Aut ensem (quid enim sine te Juturna valeret?)
799. Decuit-ne eum Ereptum reddi Turno, et vim crescere victis?
Divum violari
785
790
795
Desine jam tandem, precibusque inflectere nostris : 800
Nec te tantus edat tacitam dolor; et mihi curæ
Sæpe tuo dulci tristes ex ore recursent.
Ventum ad supremum est. Terris agitare vel undis
805. Domum Latini Trojanos potuisti; infandum accendere bellum,
806. Veto te tentare Deformare domum, et luctu miscere hymenæos :
quicquam
Ulteriùs tentare veto. Sic Jupiter orsus ·
NOTES.
782. Discludere morsus roboris: to loosen,
or separate the hold of the wood. The
poet here represents the root of the tree
(stirpe) as a fierce dog, or wild beast, whose
tusks take so fast hold of the prey, that
there is no disengaging them. Lento: in
the sense of tenace. Discludere: in the sense
of solvere.
783. Acer in the sense of ardens. Æneas
is to be supplied.
785. Daunia Dea: Juturna, the sister of
Turnus, and daughter of Daunus: hence
the adj. Daunia. See 139, supra, et seq.
786. Quod: in the sense of hoc. It is
governed by indignata: indignant-angry.
788. Refecti: in the sense of reparati vel
animati.
789. Arduus: in the sense of elatus.
790. Contrà: against each other-face
each other. Anheli: Rumus refers it to
Turnus and Æneas. Heyne connects it
with Martis; and it is a very appropriate
epithet of a fight, like the present. The
sense is the same in either construction.
794. Indigetem. Indiges is, properly, a dei-
fied hero-a demi-god. Such an one was
Eneas after his death.
796. Hæres: in the sense of manes.
797. Divum: this is said by anticipation.
Eneas was not yet a god. Or divum may
be in the sense of divinum; and then it will
refer to the origin of Æneas; who, on the
805
side of his mother, was of divine descent.
Valpy says, “destined to divinity."
798. L'aleret: in the sense of posset facere.
799. Ereptum. This alludes to his trusty
sword, which he forgot to take with him
when he mounted his chariot at the begin-
ning of the fight. It was taken, or snatched
from him, by his forgetfulness.
800. Inflectere: in the sense of movere.
Edat: consume-waste away. Rumus says,
angat. Et. The et here connects, and con-
tinues the preceding negative. The nec is
to be repeated after the et; or the et is to
be taken in the sense of nec. This last is
the opinion of Valpy. Heyne observes, the
nec is to be repeated. Negativa nec repe-
tenda est, says he. Cura: troubles. Solici
tudines, says Ruæus.
804. Accendere bellum: to kindle horrid
war. See Æn. vii. 323; where Juno raises
Alecto from the infernal regions, who broke
the league which Latinus had made with
Eneas, and kindled the war.
805. Deformare: to afflict-trouble-dis-
grace. Davidson says, "dishonor." Heyne
thinks reference is here made to the death
of Amata, who hung herself. Disgrace and
ignominy always attend suicide. Hymenæos.
the match of Lavinia and Æneas. Miscere
in the sense of turbare.
806. Orsus: in the sense of locutus est.
Of the verb ordior.
ENEIS. LIB. XII.
699
Sic Dea submisso contrà Saturnia vultu :
Ista quidem quia nota mihi tua, magne, voluntas,
Jupiter, et Turnum et terras invita reliqui.
Nec tu me aëria solam nunc sede videres
808. O magne Jupi-
ter, quia quidem ista
tua voluntas est nota
810
Digna indigna pati; sed flammis cincta sub ipsâ
Starem acie, traheremque inimica in prælia Teucros.
Juturnam misero, fateor, succurrere fratri
Suasi, et pro vitâ majora audere probavi :
Non ut tela tamen, non ut contenderet arcum.
815
Adjuro Stygii caput implacabile fontis,
Una superstitio superis quæ reddita Divis.
815. Tamen non sua-
si, nec probavi ut jaceret
tela, non suasi, nec pro-
bavi ut
Et nunc cedo equidem, pugnasque exosa relinquo.
Illud te, nullâ fati quod lege tenetur,
Pro Latio obtestor, pro majestate tuorum :
Cùm jam connubiis pacem felicibus, esto,
Component; cùm jam leges et fœdera jungent:
Ne vetus indigenas nomen mutare Latinos,
Neu Troas fieri jubeas, Teucrosque vocari ;
Aut vocem mutare viros, aut vertere vestes.
Sit Latium; sint Albani per sæcula reges :
Sit Romana potens Itala virtute propago:
Occidit, occideritque sinas cum nomine Troja.
Olli subridens hominum rerumque repertor:
Et germana Jovis, Saturnique altera proles,
Irarum tantos volvis sub pectore fluctus?
Verùm age, et inceptum frustrà submitte furorem :
NOTES.
807. Submisso: in the sense of tristi.
The verb respondit, or some other of the like
import, is understood.
810. Nec tu nunc some words appear
necessary here to make the sense complete:
otherwise, you would not, &c. If I had not
known it to be your will, you would not
now see, &c. Aèriâ sede: in the aerial re-
gions. Reference is here had to verse 792,
where Juno is represented as viewing the
field of battle, seated on a cloud.
811. Pali digna indigna: to bear things,
becoming and unbecoming. This is a pro-
verbial expression, the import of which is,
to bear every thing, even the greatest in
sults and indignities."
812. Inimica. Ruæus says, adversa.
816. Stygii fontis: Styx, a fabulous river
of hell. The gods were wont to swear by
; and if they swore falsely, they were
doomed to lose their divinity for a length of
time. Hence it is called implacabilis: in-
exorable. Fontis: in the sense of fluvii.
Caput: the head, or source; put for the
whole stream, by synec. Adjuro caput
Stygii: simply for, juro per Stygem, says
Heyne.
817. Una superstitio: the fear, or dread.
Servius says, the sole, or only obligation.
Heyne takes superstitio for religio, et metus
ex ea ortus. Reddita. Servius takes this
820
825
830
820. Obtestor te con-
cedere illud pro
823. Ne jubeas Lati-
nos indigenas mutare
825. Sit Latium in
æternùm
828. Troja occidit, tu
que sinas ut
830. Ait: tu, et ger-
mana
in the sense of data vel facta. Others take
it to imply, imposed or retaliated upon the
gods above, by the infernal gods: as if this
fear, or dread of swearing by Styx, made
the gods above subject, in their turn, to the
gods below, as much as these latter are to
the former.
819. Tenetur : withheld-prohibited.
820. Tuorum. The Latin kings derived
their descent from Saturn, the brother of
Jove.
822. Component: in the sense of consti-
tuent.
823. Indigenas: natives-those born in
the country.
825. Vocem: language. The meaning is:
do not order the men to change their lan-
guage, or their dress.
827. Romana propago sit: let the Roman
offspring be powerful, by Italian valor: i. e.
let all the future glory and grandeur of the
Romans be grafted on the valor of the
Latins. Propago: in the sense of proles.
829. Repertor: in the sense of auctor vel
pater.
830. Et germana Jovis: Ruæus and som
others read es, in the place of et. Heyne
reads et.
831. Volvis: why dost thou roll such
mighty, &c.
832. Submitte: restrain-curb.
*600
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
$833. Victusque tuis Do, quod vis; et me, victusque volensque, remitto
precibus
Sermonem Ausonii patrium moresque tenebunt :
835. Corpore Latini Utque est, nomen erit: commixti corpore tantùm
Dopuli
Subsident Teucri: morem ritusque sacrorum
Adjiciam faciamque omnes uno ore Latinos.
ortum hinc
838. Videbis genus Hinc genus, Ausonio mixtum quod sanguine surget,
Supra homines, supra ire Deos pietate videbis.
Nec gens ulla tuos æquè celebrabit honores.
Annuit his Juno, et mentem lætata retorsit
Intereà excedit cœlo, nubemque reliquit.
843. Genitor Deorum
ipse
His actis, aliud genitor secum ipse volutat.
Juturnamque parat fratris dimittere ab armis
845. Dicuntur esse ge- Dicuntur geminæ pestes, cognomine Diræ ;
mine
Quas, et 'Tartaream Nox intempesta Megæram,
Uno eodemque tulit partu; paribusque revinxit
Serpentum spiris, ventosasque addidit alas.
Hæ Jovis ad solium, sævique in limine regis
Apparent, acuuntque metum mortalibus ægris;
851. Morbusque ho- Si quando letum horrificum morbosque Deûm rex
minibus
Molitur, meritas aut bello territat urbes.
Harum unam celerem demisit ab æthere summo
Jupiter, inque omen Juturnæ occurrere jussit.
Illa volat, celerique ad terram turbine fertur,
Non secùs, ac nervo per nubem impulsa sagitta;
Armatam sævi Parthus quam felle veneni,
NOTES.
833. Remitto me: I surrender myself-I
give myself up to your entreaties and your
tears.
834. Sermonem: in the sense of linguam.
836. Subsident: shall settle in Latium.
Valpy says,
"shall take the lower places."
Heyne says, infimum locum occupent. Mo-
rem ritusque : in the sense of modos ceremo-
niasque religionis. This alludes to the in-
troduction of the worship of the Penales
and of Vesta into Italy, by Æneas. Heyne
takes sacrorum in the sense of religionis.
837. Uno ore: of one language. The
prep. è is understood. I will cause both
nations to be incorporated under the gene-
ral name of Latins, and to use one and the
same language.
839. Ire supra Deos. This is a most ex-
travagant compliment to the Caesars, from
the mouth of Jove. Ruæus says, superare
Deos, in which Heyne agrees. Davidson
says, "exalted above gods."
840. Nec ulla gens. Juno was highly
honored among the Romans, particularly
by the women. A magnificent temple was
built to her upon mount Aventinus, in which
Scipio deposited her statue that he brought
from Carthage.
841. Retorsit: in the sense of convertit.
Heyne says, inflexit vel mutavit.
845. Dira. The furies were three in
number, Tisiphone, Megara, and Alecto.
Two of them stand before the throne of
Jove, to be the ministers of his vengeance
835
840
846
850
855
upon guilty men. Cognomine: in the sense
of nomine.
846. Nox intempesta: dead, inactive night,
unseasonable for business, and when there
is nothing stirring. Ruæus says, profunda
nox.
848. Ventosas alas: wings of the wind-
swift as the wind.
849. Sævi regis.
character of Jove.
sumes, at times.
is in wrath.
Savus is not the habitual
It is only what he as-
The meaning is: when he
850. Apparent: they appear. They give
their attendance, as the ministers of his
will. Acuunt: in the sense of excitant.
Agris. Ruæus says, miseris.
852. Meritas: deserving, or meriting
punishment-guilty. Molitur: in the sense
of parat.
854. In omen: for an omen, or portentous
sign. Quasi portentum, says Ruæus.
856. Impulsa: in the sense of missa. Est
is understood. Non secùs ac: no otherwise
than-just so as-just as.
857. Felle sævi veneni: with the essence
of strong poison. Valpy says, with bitter
poison." Davidson renders the words,
"with the quintessence of malignant poi-
son."
Armatam: imbued-impregnated
-tinged. It was usual with barbarous
nations to dip the point of their arrows, and
other missive weapons, into poison, in order
to render their wounds incurable. The
Parthians were celebrated archers. The
ÆNEIS. LIB XII
601
*
Parthus sive Cydon, telum immedicabile torsit;
Stridens, et celeres incognita transilit umbras.
Talis se sata Nocte tulit, terrasque petivit.
Postquam acies videt Iliacas, atque agmina Turni,
Alitis in parvæ subitò collecta figuram,
Quæ quondam in bustis, aut culminibus desertis
Nocte sedens, serùm canit importuna per umbras :
Hanc versa in faciem, Turni se pestis ad ora
Fertque refertque sonans, clypeumque everberat alis.
Illi membra novus soivit formidine torpor :
Arrectæque horrore comæ, et vox faucibus hæsit.
At, procul ut Diræ stridorem agnovit et alas,
Infelix crines scindit Juturna solutos,
Unguibus ora soror fœdans, et pectora pugnis.
Quid nunc te tua, Turne, potest germana juvare?
Aut quid jam miseræ superat mihi? quâ tibi lucem
Arte morer? talin' possum me opponere monstro?
Jam jam linquo acies. Ne me terrete timentem,
Obscœnæ volucres: alarum verbera nosco,
Letalemque sonum: nec fallunt jussa superba
Magnanimi Jovis. Hæc pro virginitate reponit?
Quò vitam dedit æternam? cur mortis adempta est
Conditio? Possem tantos finire dolores
Nunc certè, et misero fratri comes ire per umbras'
Immortalis ego! Aut quicquam mihi dulce meorum
Te sine, frater, erit! O quæ satìs alta dehiscat
NOTES.
word Parthus, by the repetition of it, is
made emphatic.
858. Immedicabile: inflicting an incurable
wound. Cydon: an inhabitant of the city
Cydon, or Cydonia, in Crete, founded by a
colony from Samos. Hodie, Canea. The
Cretans were celebrated archers.
859. Transilit: in the sense of trans-
ourrit.
860. Sata: in the sense of nata vel filia.
862. Parvæ alitis: of a small bird: small
in comparison with the size of the goddess.
Subitò. This is the common reading.
Heyne has subitam. Collecta: in the sense
of contracta.
863. Bustis: in the sense of sepulcris.
864. Importuna: in the sense of infausta.
The bird here meant is the owl, which is
the only fowl that sings in the night. Se-
rùm late-in reference to the time of her
singing.
866. Pestis fertque: the fury flies forward
and backwards before the face of Turnus,
screaming horribly. Fertque refertque se:
she advances and retreats.
867. Novus: unusual-new. Solvit: in
the sense of debilitat.
869. Stridorem et alas: in the sense of
stridorem alarum: the noise, or whizzing of
her wings.
871. Fœdans: tearing her face, &c.
872. Quid: Rumus says, quomodo.
858. Parthus, inquam**
sive Cydon torsit fun-
860 quam immedicabile t
luin; illa stridens
865
870
875
in
862. Illa collcta est
865. Dira pestis versa
in
868. Come sunt
870. Ut Juturna infe-
lix soror Turni procul
agnovit
876. O vos, obscœnæ
volucres
878. Reponit-ne hæe
mihi pro virginitate
880 ereptâ
883. Quicquam meo-
rum bonorum erit dulce
874. Morer: can I prolong. Lucem: m
the sense of vitam.
875. Jam, jam, &c. This is in imitation
of Homer, who makes Apollo quit the field
just before Hector is slain by Achilles.-
Acies: the fight-the field of battle.
876, Obscænæ : inauspicious-of ill omen
Verbera: the strokes-flapping of your
wings.
878. Hæc reponit. Jove had an amour
with Juturna; and as a reward for her vio-
lated virginity, he conferred upon her im-
mortality. See verse 141, supra. Reponit·
in the sense of reddit vel dat. Superba: in
the sense of sæva vel dura.
879. Adempta est: taken away from me.
Quò: why-for what purpose. Some copies
have cur.
880. Possem: I wish I could-O! that I
could end, &c.
881. Certè: at least surely.
882. Immortalis: This is the reading of
Heyne. Valpy and Ruæus read mortalis.
This will make a difference in the sense. It
will strip the words of any expression of
strong passion on the part of Juturna. It
implies that if she were mortal, she would
accompany her brother to the shades below.
Aut: Valpy and Rumus read haud. Hayne
reads aut, with an interrogation. Run
and Valpy read without any.
883. Satis alta: sufficiently deep
602
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Terra mihi, Manesque Deam demittat ad imos!
885. Dea effata tan- Tantum effata, caput glauco contexit amictu,
Multe gemens, et se fluvio Dea condidit alto.
cum
892. Opta te sequi
894. Ille Turnus quas-
sans caput, ait: O ferox
hostis
Æneas instat contrà, telumque coruscat
Ingens, arboreum, et sævo sic pectore fatur:
885
Quæ nunc deinde mora est? aut quid jam, Turne, re-
tractas?
Non cursu, sævis certandum est cominùs armis.
Verte omnes tete in facies; et contrahe quicquid
Sive animis, sive arte, vales: opta ardua pennis
Astra sequi, clausumque cavâ te condere terrâ.
Ille, caput quassans: Non me tua fervida terrent
Dicta, ferox: Dî me terrent, et Jupiter hostis.
Nec plura effatus; saxum circumspicit ingens,
Saxum antiquum, ingens, campo quod fortè jacebat,
Limes agro positus, litem ut discerneret arvis.
Vix illud lecti bis sex cervice subirent,
Qualia nunc hominum producit corpora tellus.
901. Ille heros, insur- Ille manu raptum trepidâ torquebat in hostem,
gens altior, et concitus Altior insurgens, et cursu concitus heros.
cursu torquebat illud
899. Vix bis sex lccti
homines subirent illud
Baxum
907. Nec evasit totum
spatium viri, nec
Sed neque currentem se, nec cognoscit euntem,
Tollentemve manu, saxumque immane moventem
Genua labant: gelidus concrevit frigore sanguis.
Tum lapis ipse viri, vacuum per inane volutus,
Nec spatium evasit totum, nec pertulit ictum.
Ac velut in somnis, oculos ubi languida pressit
Nocte quies, nequicquam avidos extendere cursus
NOTES.
884. Demittat: send me a goddess, &c.
Ruæus says, detrudet. Arboreum : massy as
a tree-like a tree.
890. Certandum est: the contest is to be
decided in close fight, not at running. Sævis:
in the sense of duris.
891. Facies in the sense of formas. Con-
trahe: in the sense of collige.
892. Opta: desire-wish to ascend to.
Sequi: in the sense of ascendere.
894. Fervida: in the sense of superba.
898. Limes agro: placed as a limit or
boundary to the land. Discerneret: that it
might terminate (prevent) disputes about
the fields. Davidson says, "to distinguish
the controverted bounds of the fields."
899. Bis sex lecti, &c. Here the poet had
two passages of Homer in his eye: Iliad
v. 302, where Diomede throws a stone at
Æneas, such as two men in Homer's time
could hardly have wielded: and Iliad, lib.
'xxi. 405, where Minerva gives Mars a blow
with a stone that was set for a landmark.
These, and some other imitations, discover
less judgment and correctness, than is to be
een in the rest of the poet's works. This
stone, which our hero wields with so much
ease, the poet informs us was so large that
twelve men, in his time, would have scarcely
been able to carry it upon their shoulders!
Homer maker his heroes throw stones when
890
895
900
905
they have no other weapons. Turnus has
his trusty sword, but there is no mention
made of it. Jove prevents him from the
use of it.
903. Sed neque cognoscit se: so disordered
in his senses, that he does not perceive him-
self to be running, &c. The fury had de-
prived him not only of his strength of body.
but of the powers of his mind.
says, videt solitas vires sibi deesse.
Heyne
905. Concrevit: hath congealed-grown
thick. Frigore: may mean the fear and con-
sternation, occasioned by the fury, by meton
This appears better than to take it for cold o¹
chillness. That idea is expressed by gelidus
906. Per vacuum inane: moved through.
the empty air. Inane: in the sense of
aërem. Viri. Servius connects viri with
lapis; but it illy suits the place. Its proper
place is after spatium, implying that the
stone, passing or thrown through the air,
did not go the whole distance to Æneas, but
fell short of him, and consequently did not
give him a blow. Rumus connects totum
with ctum; but improperly: for that would
imply that the stone gave Æneas a partial
stroke; but it is plain .i did not hit him at
all, since it did not reach him. Heyne takes
vir with Servius, in the sense of Turni
Ruxus connects it with spatium.
919. Avidos cursus the fond races-the
ENEIS. LIB. XII.
Velle videmur, et in mediis conatibus ægri
Succidimus: non lingua valet, non corpore notæ
Sufficiunt vires, nec vox nec verba sequuntur.
Sic Turno, quâcunque viam virtute petivit,
Successum Dea Dira negat. Tum pectore sensus
Vertuntur varii. Rutulos aspectat et urbem ;
Cunctaturque metu; telumque instare tremiscit.
Nec, quò se eripiat, nec quâ vi tendat in hostem,
Nec currus usquam, videt, aurigamque sororem.
Cunctanti telum Æneas fatale coruscat,
Sortitus fortunam oculis; et corpore toto
Eminùs intorquet. Murali concita nunquam
Tormento sic saxa fremunt, nec fulmine tanti
Dissultant crepitus. Volat atri turbinis instar
Exitium dirum hasta ferens; orasque recludit
Loricæ, et clypei extremos septemplicis orbes:
Per medium stridens transit femur. Incidit ictus
Ingens ad terram duplicato poplite Turnus.
603
910
915
920
925
Consurgunt gemitu Rutuli, totusque remugit
Mons circùm, et vocem latè nemora alta remittunt.
Ille humilis supplexque oculos, dextramque precantem,
Protendens, Equidem merui, nec deprecor, inquit: 931
Utere sorte tuâ. Miseri te si qua parentis
Tangere cura potest, oro, (fuit et tibi talis
Anchises genitor) Dauni miserere senectæ ;
Et me, seu corpus spoliatum lumine mavis,
Redde meis. Vicisti: et victum tendere palmas
Ausonii vidêre : tua est Lavinia conjux.
Ulteriùs ne tende odiis. Stetit acer in armis
NOTES.
races on which we are intent, and eager in
the pursuit.
910. Ægri: weak-faint from our great
exertions. Succidimus: in the sense of defi-
cimus.
911. Nota: in the sense of solita. Cor-
pore: in the sense of corpori, the dat.
913. Quacunque virtute: by whatever
(efforts of) valor he sought the way of at-
tacking Æneas, or of making his escape.
914. Sensus: thoughts. Vertuntur: in the
sense of volvuntur.
917. Nec videt quò
eripiat
919. Turno sic cune
tanti
931.
mortem
Nec deprecor
932. Si qua cura mi-
seri parentis
933. Oro ut tu mise-
935 rere
935. Et redde me meis
amicis sive vivum, seu
tu mavis, redde meum
corpus
mighty peals burst from the thunder. Cre-
pitus: properly a roaring or crashing. Dis
sultant: in the sense of eduntur vel excitan-
tur. Instar: like a black whirlwind-swift
as a whirlwind.
924. Recludit: opens or penetrates the
extremity of his coat of mail. Ora: the
edge or border of any thing. Exitium: in
the sense of mortem.
925. Extremos orbes: by this we are to
understand the lower part of the shield.
Septemplicis: having seven folds or plates
916. Cunctatur: he hesitates-he knows of brass.
not what to do-he is at a stand.
917. Tendat: in the sense of irruat.
919. Coruscat: in the sense of vibrat.
920. Sortitus fortunam oculis: Servius ex-
plains these words thus: Æneas oculis ele-
git hunc locum ad feriendum, quem fortuna
destinaverat vulneri. Fortunam in this sense,
is of the same import with locum vulneris.
Heyne is of the same opinion. Rumus says,
opportunitatem.
921. Murali tormento: this was an engine,
or machine for battering the walls of cities,
and for throwing missive weapons. Concita:
thrown, or senɩ,
·
923. Nec tanti crepitus nor do such
926. Ictus: in the sense of percussus, vel
vulneratus.
927. Duplicato poplite: upon his bended
knee. Heyne says, inflexo genu.
929. Remittunt: echo-return the sound
Vocem: in the sense of sonum.
931. Deprecor: nor do I entreat that you
should spare me.
932. Sorte: in the sense of fortuna. Mi-
seri: in the sense of infelicis.
935. Redde me meis, &c. Turnus confesses
himself vanquished; and entreats Æneas
to send him back to his father and friends;
but if he choose rather (mavis) to deprive
him of life, in that case, that he would send
604
P. VIRGILII MARONIS
Æneas, volvens oculos, dextramque repressit.
940. Sermo Turni Et jam jamque magis cunctantem flectere sermo
cœperat flectere Eneam Coperat; infelix humero cùm apparuit alto
Ounctantem
940
Balteus, et notis fulserunt cingula bullis,
Pallantis pueri; victum quem vulnere Turnus
Straverat, atque humeris inimicum insigne gerebat
Illo, oculis postquam sævi monumenta doloris,
Exuviasque hausit, furiis accensus et irâ
945
941. Ait: Tu-ne in- Terribilis: Tu-ne hinc spoliis, indute, meorum
dute spoliis meorum Eripiare mihi? Pallas te hoc vulnere, Pallas
amicorum
Immolat, et pœnam scelerato ex sanguine sumit.
Hoc dicens, ferrum adverso sub pectore condit
Fervidus. ast illi solvuntur frigore membra,
Vitaque cum gemitu fugit indignata sub umbras.
NOTES.
his dead body to them, that it might be
treated according to the rites of his country.
940. Flectere: to turn or change him.
Rumus says, commovere.
941. Infelix: inauspicious-unfortunate.
It had proved so to Pallas, whom Turnus
slew it now proves so to Turnus, who in
turn is slain by Eneas. Alto: this is the
reading of Heyne and Davidson. Ruæus
and Valpy read ingens, referring to the belt
(balteus) of Pallas, which Turnus wore upon
his shoulders. Alto: refers to Turnus. This
last is the best. Bullis: studs or bosses.
Rumus says, clavis.
943. Pueri: in the sense of juvenis.
944. Insigne: in the sense of ornamentum.
945. Hausit oculis: he saw. Savi doloris:
the death of Pallas caused excessive grief
to Æneas; and from the moment that he
heard of his fall, he vowed vengeance on
Turnus. The sight of these memorials,
these spoils, of his friend, roused him into
fury. He had otherwise, perhaps, spared
his suppliant. Hausit: in the sense of vidit.
950
947. Indute: voc. agreeing with tu, from
the verb induo: clad. Meorum: of my
friends: namely, Pallas.
948. Eripiare: the passive is here used
in the sense of the middle voice of the
Greeks: canst thou rescue thyself from my
hands?
949: Scelerato: devoted.
Ruæus says,
impio, in reference to his having slain Pal-
las. Heyne is of the same opinion. Im-
molat: sacrifices you to the gods below.
951. Fervidus: in the sense of ardens.
Illi: in the sense of illius. Frigore: with
the chill of death.
952, Indignata cum gemitu. Heyne takes
this in the sense simply of gemens vel mœ-
rens.
Mr. Davidson observes, the conclusion of
this beautiful poem is unworthy of the dig
nity of the subject. And if Virgil had lived
to finish it to his mind, he would, in all
probability, have given it a more elegant
termination.
QUESTIONS.
What is the condition of the troops of
Turnus at the opening of this book?
What resolution does he take in conse-
quence of that?
Did Lavinia hear this conversation of her
mother with Turnus?
What effect had it upon her?
Did Turnus behold this blush upon her
Does Latinus endeavor to dissuade him cheek?
from the combat?
What is the character of his address to
him?
What effect had it upon Turnus?
Does he refuse to give up Lavinia to
Eneas?
What is the character of the reply of
Turnus?
Is it characteristic of the soldier and the
patriot?
Did the queen also, endeavor to dissuade
nim?
What arguments did she use for that
purpose'
Did he consider it indicative of her love?
What effect had it upon the hero?
What resolution did he instantly take?
Whom did he send to acquaint Æneas of
that resolution?
When was the time appointed for the
combat?
What did Turnus in the mean time?
What preparations were made upon the
field?
For what purpose do they erect altars?
Who were the parties to this league?
What did Juno do to prevent its execu
tion?
ENEIS. LIB. XII.
605
To what place does Juturna repair?
Whose form does she assume?
What is her object in repairing to the field
of battle?
What effectually roused the Rutulians to
arms?
What was that prodigy or omen?
Who was the first to observe it?
How did Toiumnius interpret it?
Who was this Tolumnius? What effect
had this upon the minds of the Italians?
Who cast the first javelin? Whom did
it kill?
What immediately followed?
What became of Latinus?
What did Eneas upon this emergency?
Was he wounded? Is it known by whom
that wound was inflicted?
What effect had this upon the Trojans?
At this juncture, what course did Turnus
take?
What feats of valor does the hero perform?
Who were among the first that lie killed?
What became of Æneas?
Who attempted to extract the arrow?
Who was this lapis?
By whom is it said, he was instructed in
the healing art?
Was he able to effect a cure?
By whom was the hero finally cured?
Where did Venus obtain the plant?
What is the name of it?
What was the state of the battle, while
Eneas was in his camp?
When he returned to the fight, was the
scale of victory turned?
Whom does he seek to engage?
Is he prevented from meeting with Turnus?
By whom is he prevented?
How did she accomplish it?
At this juncture, what is the state of the
battle?
Finding himself baffled by Turnus, what
resolution does Eneas take?
What did he do previous to the assault?
Having animated his men, did they take
possession of the city?
Where was Turnus in the mean time?
What affect had this upon the queen?
What became of her?
Who 'rought the news to Turnus of the
capture of the city, and the death of the
QUOAN :
What effect had it upon his mind?
What course did he take?
Upon the arrival of Turnus, did the Tro
jans instantly desist from the assault?
How did the heroes commence the com
bat?
After that, what did they do?
What misfortune happened to Turnus?
Had he omitted to take his own sword?
By whom was his sword made?
How did he save his life at that juncture?
Was he pursued by Æneas?
Did he call for his heavenly tempered
sword?
By whom was it restored to him?
What favor did Venus do for Eneas at
the same time?
Having recovered their arms; do the he-
roes prepare for a second assault?
At this moment, which side did Jove fa-
vor?
What course did he pursue?
Whom did he send to the field of battle ·
What form did the fury assume?
What does she do?
What effect had her sound upon Juturna?
What did she instantly do?
Did she utter any tender expressions for
her brother?
What effect had the fury upon Turnus?
Æneas calls upon Turnus no longer to
decline the fight; and what reply does he
make him?
Does he express any signs of fear for him?
Whom then does he fear?
Does Turnus forget that he has his trusty
sword?
With what does he attempt to assault
Æneas?
What was the size of the stone?
Did it reach his antagonist?
Why did it not?
At this moment, what did Æneas do?
Did the spear wound Turnus?
Where did it wound him?
Does he acknowledge himself conquered?
Does he relinquish his claim upon Lavi
nia?
What favor does he ask of the victor?
Was he about to spare his life also?
Why did he not spare it?
What does Mr. Davidson observe of the
ending of this book'
PUBLII VIRGILII MARONIS OPERUM
FINIS.
A TABLE OF REFERENCE
TO THE NOTES.
THE abbreviations Ecl., Geor., and Æn., stand for Eclogue, Georgic, and Æneid. Thus,
Ecl. iv. 32, refers to the fourth Eclogue, and note upon the thirty-second line: and Geor.
tii. 7, refers to the third book of the Georgics, and note upon the seventh line: and so
of the Æneid.
A.
Amaryllis,
Ecl. i. 31 Assaracus,
Geor. iii. 35 | Amazoniam,
En. v. 311
Arbusta,
40
Alburnum,
146 Amycus,
373
Ararim,
62
Asylas,
146
Atys,
568
Amphion,
ii. 24
Aquarius,
304
Ardentes oculos,
648
Alcimedon,
iii. 37
Amycle,
343
Antennæ,
829.
Archimedes,
40
Amello,
iv. 271 Androgei,
vi. 20
X. 1
Ambrosia,
415
Aureus ramus,
137
Aratus,
iii. 40
Alba Longa,
En. i.
7 | Ajax,
470
Alternis,
59
Adire,
10 Adrasti,
479
Astræa,
Apollo,
iv. 6
10
Achilles,
30 Antenorides,
483
ii. 542 Aloïdas,
582
En. iv. 143 Argivi,
i. 40 Animas quibus,
713
vi. 398
Ajax,
40
748
Argonautæ,
Ecl. iv. 35
41
Alcides,
801
Alcon,
V. 11
ii. 414
Ancus Martius,
815
Atalanta,
Alga,
Astrum,
Arethusa,
vi. 61 Antenor,
vii. 42 Assaraci,
ix. 47 Argos,
X. 1
Geor. iv. 344 Atridas,
i. 242
Alii excudent,
847
284 Aurunci,
vii. 205
284 Adytum,
269
vi. 838 Amata,
360
i. 458 Acrisius,
372
Æn. iii. 696
Adytum,
505 Ardea,
372
Alpheus,
Ecl. x. 2
Geor. iii. 19 Arcturus,
ii. 115 Amsancti,
565
i. 744 Argylla,
652
1
En. iii. 696
iii. 516
Amasenus,
685
Aganippe,
Adonis,
Ecl. x. 11 Acies,
18 Amens,
ii. 30
Acies,
695
314
xi. 498
Alpes,
57 Astyanacta,
457
Amiterna cohors,
vii. 710
Acheloüs,
Geor. i. 9
iii. 489
Allia,
717
iv. 372
Ariete,
ii. 492
Ausones,
72€
Aristæus,
i. 14 Antandros,
iii. 6
Aclides,
730
iv. 317
Arcitenens,
75
Abella,
740
Arachne,
i. 18 Actia litora,
280 | Angitiæ,
759
iv. 247
Andromache,
294 Aricia,
762
Arcturus,
i. 68
297 Asylum rettulit,
viii. 342
Atlantiades,
Arcton,
Ariadne,
En. vi. 28
Anguis,
Aurora,
249 Ale,
Asius,
Aconita,
Avernus,
138
138 Auspiciis,
246 Achemenides,
222
Geor. i. 244 Agrigas,
Æn. iv. 585 | Ammone,
vi. 535 Atlantis duri,
Geor. i. 383
ii. 152 Aulide,
482 Argiletum,
345
374 Agyllinæ,
479
606 Anser,
655
607 Ancile,
664
690
Actia bella,
671
703
675
iv. 121
678
198
Agrippa,
682
247 Antonius,
685
Geor. i. 138
Æn. iv. 426
161 Arma,
V.
15
Augustus,
Araxes,
Annuit id,
714
728
ix. 104
En. iii. 442
vi. 353
Arisba,
264
iv. 512 Acestes,
30
Adversi,
412
vi. 243 Anime-umbræ,
80
Alba parma,
548
Assyrio,
Geor. i. 465 Agger,
273 Ascanius-Jülus,
641
608
*TABLE OF REFERENCE.
I
Ascanius-Iulus, Æn. ix. 643 | Cremona,
Ecl. ix. 28 | Ceraunia,
Æn. iii. 506
Amenta,
665
Athesim,
680
Cycni,
Chaonia,
29
Caulonis,
553
Geor. i. 8
Camarina,
701-
Apertas Alpes,
r.13 | Chalybes,
58
Cœus,
iv. 179
Arpi,
28 Corybantes,
Citharon,
303
121
Amathus,
51 Curites,
Caucasus,
365
Atra face,
77
Anchemolum,
389
iv. 150
Æn. iii. 111
Convexa,
451
Chaos et nox,
510
Amyclse.
564
131 Carcer-Meta,
v. 144
Antiquus ager est, xi. 316 Cœum,
Geor. i. 279 | Caveæ,
340
Aufidus,
405 Cyllenius,
336 Cæstus,
379
Ala,
604 Caystrus,
383
Carpathium,
595
Aruns debitus,
759 Cyclopes,
471
Cuneos,
664
793
En. iii. 569
Consanguineo,
771
806
vi. 630
Chalcis,
vi. 17
Aciem ferri,
860
viii. 416
Cecropidæ,
21
Anteirent,
xii. 84
Cothurnus,
Geor, ii,
9
Castor t Pollux,
127
Augurium,
257
Clitumnus,
146 Cupres DS,
216
Apollo,
393
Camillus,
169 | Chaos,
265
Aversos morti,
464
Capua,
169
Centauri,
286
Athos,
701
Canis,
353
viii. 293
Apenninus,
703
Cynthius,
iii. 36
Chimæra,
vi. 288
Cocytus,
38
Cortina,
347
B..
En. vi. 132
Charon,
392
Citharon,
Geor. iii. 43 | Cæneus,
448
Bacchus,
Ecl. v.
69
Chiron,
550 Camillus,
825
Boreas,
vii. 51
Corycium,
iv. 129 Corintho,
836
Bruma,
Geor. i. 211
Centaurea,
270
Capitolia,
836
Bootes,
229
Cui nomen,
270
Cato,
841
Balearides,
309
Canopi,
287
Cornelius Cossus,
841
Bactra,
ii. 138
Clymene,
345
Celtiberi,
842
Benacus,
160
Carpathio,
387
Cincinnatus,
844
Busiridis,
iii. 5
Charon,
502
Campis aëris,
887
Biremis,
En. v. 119
Carthago,
En. i. 14
Cajeta,
900
Bijugo,
144
339
Corythi,
vii. 209
x. 575
iv. 1
Calydona,
306
Buten,
v. 372
213
Crinem pascere,
391
Bebrycia,
373 Charybdis,
i. 200
Crimine,
577
Brachia,
829
iii. 420
Cæculus,
678
Bellua Lernæ,
vi. 287 Convexo,
i. 310
Cimini,
697
Burutus,
818
607
Clausus,
707
Bigis,
Bellona,
vii. 26 Conjux,
319 Cyprum,
54
Caspariam,
714
622 Cateias,
741
Bactra,
Berecynthia,
viii. 688 Calchas,
ix, 82 Cassandra,
619❘ Creüsa,
ii. 100 Circæum jugum,
799
246 Camilla,
806
760
808
Betias-Pandarus,
674
773 Cuspide,
817
Baix,
710
711 Cacus,
viii. 172
Boreæ,
x. 350
787
194
xii. 365 Creta,
iii. 104
Capitolium,
347
Busta,
xi. 201 Cybele,
111 Cocles,
346
Bis sex lecti,
xii. 899
vi. 784
Clolia,
651
Cycladas,
iii. 74
Catilina,
668
C.
127
Catonem,
670
Corytus,
170
Cleopatra,
685
Calamo,
Ecl. i. 10 Corythus,
Cycladas,
692
Conon,
iii. 40 Chaonia,
335
Cares,
725
Cumæ,
iv. 4 Circæ,
386
Cingere, mœnia,
ix. 169
Æn. vi.
2
v. 864
Corona—acies,
508
Codrus,
Curru,
Ecl. v. 11
vii. 10
xi. 475
29
19
xii. 744
Cev 18,
79
282
Cui Remulo,
ix. 593
Caucasus,
iv. 58
Ecl. vi. 42 Chlamydem,
Clytemnestra, Æn. xi. 266
En. ii. 714 Claustra Pelori,
412 Capua,
iii. 484 Cinyra-Cupavo,
iv. 137 | Cycnus,
iii. 410
Citharæ,
776
x. 145
186
186
TABLE OF REFERENCE.
609
Cometa,
En. x. 272 | Daha,
Æn. viii. 730 | Erato,
Æn. vii. 37
Capherous,
xi. 280
Domus Æneæ,
ix. 448
Extrema tellus,
225
Camilla,
498
Dindyma,
618
Excussos,
299
594
Diomede,
Σ.
28
Egeria,
701
780
29
762
Cornua Cristo,
xii. 89
xi. 243
Evander,
viii. 51
Cunei,
269
269
130
457
276
ix. 9
575
Daucia proles,
x. 391
Eurystheo,
viii. 292
Cupencus,
540
Drances,
xi. 122
Electro,
402
Crepitus,
923
338
Exhausta,
x. 5*
Cydon,
858
Dotalis,
xi. 369
Eurytion,
499
Costhurnus, Ecl. viii. 10
Dardanio capiti,
399 Equitem,
Dictamnum,
xii. 412 Edoni,
xi. 464
xii. 365
D.
Dardanides,
775 Echionium,
515
Deformare domum,
805
Dexter,
Ecl. i. 18
Dire-Furiæ,
845
Depasta florem,
55
F.
Diana,
iv. 10
E.
Demophoon,
V. 10
Ferulas,
Ecl. x.
25
Daphnis,
20
Echo,
Ecl. ii. 46
Fas-Jus,
Geor. i. 269
52
Eurydice,
iii. 46
Fascos,
ii. 495
Damnabis,
80
Geor. iv. 317
Favos,
iv. 104
Deucalion,
vi. 41 Epicurus,
Ecl. vi. 31
Fucus,
244
Dulichium,
76 Eurotas,
83
Fata rependens,
n. i, 239
Dodona,
Geor. i. 121
Die,
208 Erigone,
En. i. 498
Geor. 33
Feri,
ii. 51
Fuimus Troes,
325
Duodena astra,
232 Epirus,
59
Fastigia,
458
Dii majores,
En. i. 295
Furiis,
iii. 331
498
Dii minores,
Elis,
Geor. i. 58
vi. 572
Decii,
ii. 169
Eumenides,
278
Fas,
iv. 350
Dacus,
497
iv. 483
Formidine,
Geor. iii, 371
Dicte,
536
Æn. iii. 331
En. xii. 750
Dædala,
iv. 179
Emathia,
Geor. i. 492 | Favete ore,
v. 71
En. vi.
14
Etruria,
ii. 533
Ferimur emensæ,
628
Defrutum,
Geor. iv. 269
Eurystheus,
iii.
4
Facies delapsa,
722
Danai,
En. i.
40
Epidaurus,
43
Ferrei thalami,
vi. 280
Deïphobi,
310
Eridanus,
iv. 372
Fasces,
818
567
i. 482
Securis, S
vi. 495
An. vi. 658
Fabricium,
844
525 Electra,
i. 28
Fabii,
845
Delos,
iii. 75
Equum,
Dardanus,
167
170
Enixe,
ii. 15
232
iii. 327
Fatalis,
vii. 114
xi. 233
xii. 232
vii. 240
Enceladi,
598
Fata Phrygum,
vii. 294
Dulichium,
iii. 271
Exhaustum,
iv. 14
Fumidus amnis,
465
Dodonæos,
466 Erebus,
510
Ferum,
489
Drepani,
707 | Eryx,
V. 24
Fescenninas acies,
695
Dido,
iv. 1
411
Faliscos,
695
36
xii. 701
Facialia jura,
695
654 Exsequiæ,
V. 53
Ferulos,
714
Dos,
104 Entillus,
447
Feronia,
800
Draco custos,
Dares,
484 Erymantho,
448
Fœtus enixa,
viii. 44
v. 447
466
Fluvius corniger,
74
Damnati mortis,
Datum tempus,
vi. 430
535
463 Eurytion,
Exsortem,
Elysium,
513
Fovere castra,
ix. 57
534
Funera tua,
487
735
Ferrugo,
582
Disredam,
545 Euboea,
vi. 2
Falarica,
705
Deus,
749
ix. 710
Fera Carthago.
x. 11
Decios,
824 Enavit,
vi. 16
Furtum,
91
Drusos,
824 Eriphylen,
445
Fauces,
xi. 516
Danaë,
vii. 732 Eteocles,
445 Fortuna,
761
410 Evadnen,
447
Famam inulte,
847
Dii Coma unes,-
viii. 275 Evantes,
517
Fætum suis,
xii. 170
xii. 181 | Exercentur pœnis,
739
Flavos crines,
608
40
610
TABLE OF REFERENCE.
Yurere furorem, Æn. xii. 680 | Helleboros,
Felle sævi veneni,
857
Hortos,
Hydaspes,
Geor. iii. 451 | Iberi
iv. 118 Indi,
211
Geor. ii. 408
iv. 203
Æn. vi. 795
G.
Hypanis,
Geor. iv. 370
vii. 605
Hector,
En. i. 99
viii. 705
Galatea,
Ecl. i. 31
zii. 440 Inferio
Geor. iii. 66
Glaucus,
vi. 74
Harpalyce,
i. 317
iv. 545
Geor. i. 437
Hesperiam,
530 Juno,
En. i. 4
En. v. 823
Helene,
650
ii. 612
Grynium,
Ecl. vi. 72
ii. 567
Invisum genus,
i. 28
Gallus,
X.
vi. 525
Illyricos,
243
Ganges,
Geor. ii. 137
x.
92
Iülus,
267
Gangaridæ,
Getæ,
iii. 27 Hecubam,
462
ii. 501
v. 568
vii. 320 Ilia,
i. 274
Galesus,
iv. 126 Hospitium,
iii. 15
vi. 777
Galbanum,
264
Harpyiæ,
212❘ Iliades,
i. 480
Gallæ,
267
vii. 119
xi. 35
Ganymedis,
An. i.
28
Helenum,
iii. 294 Ithacus,
i. 104
v. 252
Hermionem,
328 Jus-fas,
ii. 157
Gorgone,
ii. 616
Hospita æquora,
377 Immixti,
396
vii. 341
Hyrcania,
iv. 365
Idomenea,
iii. 122
Gradivus,
iii. 35
vii. 605
401
Getæ,
35
Hecate,
vi. 511
Ithaca,
272
vii, 604
609
Inspirata,
278
Germinos parentes, iii. 180
Hectorei,
v. 190
Inanis Tumulus,
304
181
Hippocoöntis,
492
Inventa sus,
389
Gela,
Getulæ,
701
iv. 40
Hoc, Ilium,
Hercules,
756
392
vi. 123
Intempesta nox,
587
v. 192
395
Jussa Heleni,
684
Gravidam imperiis, iv. 229
801
Iarbas,
iv. 36
X. 87
viii. 288
198
Grynæus,
iv. 345 Hannibal,
Gnossia,
v. 306
vi. 845 Iris,
Σ. 11
700
v. 606
Geryon,
vi. 289
Helicona,
vii. 641 Ionio mari,
193
vii. 661
Hernica saxa,
viii. 202
Hortinæ,
716 | Ino,
Glaucum,
vi. 483
Hermi,
684 Imberturbidus,
720 Icarus,
696
823
vi. 14
Genus Divi,
792 Halesus,
724
31
Augustus,
793 Hippolyti,
761
Incertam Lunam,
270
Gracchi,
842 Hesione,
viii. 157
Ignem simplicis,
747
Geminæ portæ,
893❘ Hædi,
ix. 668
In,
810
Gabinæ,
vii. 682
Hasta protenùs,
x. 339
Infelix pater,
820
Gæsa,
viii. 662
Hippolyten,
xi. 661
Italus,
vii. 178
Gelonos,
725
Hausit oculis,
xii. 945
Jugalis,
320
Ganges,
Gravisco,
Gargani,
ix. 30
x. 184
xi. 247
Janus,
610
I. & J.
617
Io,
789
Juniperi,
Ecl. vii. 53
Indegene,
viii. 314
H.
X. 76
xii. 823
Hylan,
Hesperides,
Ecl. vi. 43
61
Ismarus,
Jupiter,
viii. 44 Ignea rima,
viii. 392
Geor. i. 121 | Iapyge,
710
iv. 150
Iberia,
ix. 582
Æn. iv. 484
En. ix. 84
Idæ,
620
Hippomenes,
Ecl. vi. 61
670
Inarime,
716
Heliades,
Hebrus,
X
65
62 Ingenium fato,
Indigetes,
Geor. i. 416
Intendere numeros,
776
498 Idalium,
x. 51
Hyades,
Geor. i. 138
En. iii. 516
Halcyones,
Ityræi,
Istrum,
Æn. xii. 794 | Ille-hic,
Geor. ii. 448
130
750
Hæmus,
Hermus,
Hippodame,
Hero,
Hippomanes.
280 Inachim,
Geor. iii. 153
Hippomanes,
Geor. i. 399
492❘ Isthmia,
ii. 137 Ixion,
iii. 7
258
En. iv. 516 Inachie,
497
iii. 19. Ilva,
38 Ismara,
iv. 484 Infula,
En. vi. 601 Ille apo
Æn. vii. 372 | Inferias imbris
xii. 342
I. 173
351
538
707
xi. 809
82
TABLE OF REFERENCE.
61.
lapyx,
En. xi. 247 | Lucretia,
Juturna,
xii. 140
Latinus,
Iapis,
393
In contraria,
487
En. vi. 818 | Mensas,
vii. 45 Magna Græcia,
50 Manes,
xii. 164
En. ii. 257
Informis leti,
603
Laurens,
iii. 396
iv. 387
vi. 743
565
vii. 63
Improbus,
Geor. i. 145 | Laurentum,
x. 39
En. xii. 687
Lymphata,
377
xii. 674
Importuna.
864
Lupercal,
viii. 343
Mauritania,
iv 206
Inane,
906
Luperci,
343
Mæonia mitra,
216
Infelix,
941
Lyceum,
344
Mercurius,
252
Lupam fœtam,
630
Magalia,
259
Lelegas,
725
Maleæ,
v. 193
L.
Legio,
ix. 368
Meander,
250
xii. 563
Mens,
vi. 11
Lupercalia-Lyca, Ecl. ii. 31
Lampada,
ix. 535
Minos,
20
Lucina,
iv. 10
Lydia gens,
x. 155
431
Geor. iii. 60
Ligurum,
185
Minotaurus,
24
Linus,
Ecl. iv. 56
xi. 701
Massylûm,
60
Lustro,
V. 75 Lausus,
x. 793
Misenus,
164
Lucifer,
Lethe,
viii. 17
Geor. i. 78 Locros,
219
ix. 715
T
xi. 265
Malesuada fames,
vi. 276
Lycaon,
138
Movet urnam,
432
Laomedon,
502
M.
Menelaus,
525
Lucrinus,
ii. 161
xi. 262
En. iii. 442 Malum,
Ecl. ii. 51
Museum,
vi. 667
Ligures,
Geor. ii. 168 | Myrtus,
54
Mootica tellus,
798
Lapithæ,
iii. 115
vii. 62 Marcellus,
855
En. vi. 601
Muse,
iii. 60
869
vii. 307
Murex,
iv. 44
883
Leander,
Geor. iii. 258
Myrica,
vi. 10 Mercede,
vii. 317
Lynx,
264
Mænalus,
viii. 21
Mycenæ,
372
Lares,
344
Medea,
47
Multa,
393
En. v. 744
Mars,
X. 44
viii. 543
Lydia,
Geor. iv. 211
En. iii. 13
vi. 777
Movent Martem,
Mezentius,
603
648
viii. 482
Lavinium,
En. i.
2❘ Minerva,
Geor. i. 18
x. 71
Lycios,
Libya,
Latona,
113
339 Mysia,
502
Monstrum,
Laocoon,
ii. 40
201
v. 523
Lævus,
Æn. ii. 693
xii. 246
Massica,
Æn. ii. 171
Geor. i. 102 Messapus,
184
Æn. iii. 307
908
vii. 691
x. 354
735
xii. 289
vii. 726
Ecl. i. 18
Melicertes,
Geor. i. 437 | Marrubium,
750
Lydius Tibris,
En. ii. 782
Media,
ii. 126 Myrtum,
817
Lycurge
iii. 14
Massicus,
143
Mensæ secundæ,
viii. 284
Leucatæ,
Loricam,
467
Lilybeum,
414 Marsi,
vii. 639 Mantua,
iii. 706
167
Mæonia,
499
En. vii. 758
ix. 546
Geor. ii. 198
Metium,
viii. 642
+
Æn. x. 198
Manlius,
652
Luna obscura,
Lycia sortes,
Lacertis adductis,
Loricam,
Limen,
Lusus Troja,
iv. 81
346
Molorchus,
v. 141
Milesus,
260
201
Morini,
727
Geor. iii. 19
Mœnia Acestæ,
ix. 218
306
Mincius,
x. 206
Labem,
Lavinia,
Lernam.
Ecl. iv. 4
Æn. vi. 447
529
746 Mense,
763 Myrmidones,
801 Monia,
Labyrinthus,
Ludi Apollinares,
Longæva sacerdos,
Laodamia,
Laërtes,
Mœotis,
316 Molossus,
553 Melampus,
589 Melissæ,
590 Mantilia,
vi. 70 Mycenæ,
321
Mercati solum,
Manus artificum,
Memnon,
Melior victima,
vi. 838 Mussat,
i. 367 Murali tormento,
349
Manus miseranda,
xi. 259
405
Moonidæ,
759
550
Mycenæus ductor,
266
iv. 150
Manîpli,
870
377
xii. 296
Æn. i. 284 | Multà,
506
657
921
454
489
N.
723
ii.
7 Nymphe,
Ecl. ii. 46
234 Narcissus,
46
612
4
TABLE OF REFERENCE.
Narcissus,
Geor. iv. 160 | Orestes,
En. iv. 471 | Paros,
Geor iii, 34
Nectar,
Nereus,
Ecl. v.
vi.
71 Omen regibus,
35 | Osci,
Nereides,
Nisus,
74
Oricia,
Nemus,
X. 9
Neptunus,
Geor. i. 14
Æn. iii. 3
v. 799
35 Omnigenûm Deorum,viii 698
Ocnus-Bianor,
Orbem triplice ære,
vii. 174 Potniades,
729 | Phasim,
Proteus,
268
iv. 367
388
x. 136 Parthenope,
564
198❘ Polus,
Æn. i 90
783
Procella,
102
Opis,
xi. 836
Portæ belli,
294
+
Orithyia,
xii. 83
Paphus,
415
Naryx,
Geor. ii. 438
Occupat os,
300
Patroclus,
458
Nilum,
iii. 28
Oppetere,
543 Pergama,
466
iv. 287
Olcaster,
766
Peplum,
480
293
Penthesilea,
491
En. vi. 800
Polasgi,
624
viii. 711
P.
vii, 796
Niphates,
Geor. iii. 30
viii. 600
Noricum,
474
Parthus,
Ecl. i.
62 Phænissa,
i. 670
Arimbus,
En. i. 102
Pan,
ii. 31
iv. 529
viii. 354
Pierides,
iii. 60
Palamedis,
ii. 82
Nurus,
ii. 501
Parcæ,
iv. 47
Phalanx,
254
Numina Magna,
623
Phyllis,
V. 10
Pantheus,
319
Narycii Locri,
Numidæ,
iii. 399
Puniceus,
17
Plurima imago,
369
iv. 41
Pœni,
27
Pyrrhus,
470
viii. 724
En. i. 302
263
Nox atra,
v. 721 Fentheus,
Ecl. v. 69
iii. 294
Numitor,
Numa,
Nar,
Nefas,
Nomentum,
vii. 517 Parnassus,
vi. 773
Proserpina,
79
Penetralia,
ii. 484
777
810
En. iv. 511
698
Priami fatorum,
554
557
Ecl. vi. 29 Polydorus,
iii. 42
596
x. 499
X. 11
43
Pyrrha,
vi. 41
Phineus,
212
673
Prometheus,
42
Phæacum,
291
Nubigenæ,
vii. 674
Prœtides,
48
Priameïa Virgo,
321
viii. 293
Phaethontiades,
62
Philoctete,
402
Nursia,
vii. 716
Phaëton,
62
Petilia,
402
viii. 579
ix. 176 Philomela,
Nec non,
Nunc, ô nunc,
Nisus-Euryalus,
Navale,
Nec minùs,
Nostrum,
Nox intempesta,
Nun secùs ac,
205
xi. 329 Progne,
xii. 107 Phabo,
107
187❘ Priapus,
846
856 Pollio,
Ecl. vi. 78
Geor. iv. 511
Ecl. vi. 78
Pelorus,
Pachynum,
82 Pygmalion,
Pronuba,
iv. 10
Ecl. vii. 33
Geor. iv. 111
Ecl. iv. 12
Parvulus Æneas,
Pentheus,
vii. 319
En. v. 105
Polyphemus
617
636
687
698
น
iv. 1
166
iv. 328
469
viii. 6
Pluto,
638
O.
Pontus,
Pindus,
95
Pompas,
v. 53
X. 11
Palma,
111
Palladium,
Geor. i. 18
Phorcus,
240
Olympus,
Ecl. v.
En. i. 374
56
An. ii. 166
Panopea,
240
Pallas,
Geor. i.
18
Portunus,
2.11
X.
1
Orgia,
Ecl. v.
69
Pleiades,
Plurima,
138
Paridem,
370
187❘ Pandare,
496
En. iv. 301
Pœnas,
405 Prælato,
541
Orion,
Ecl. viii. 55
Philippi,
490 Polites,
564
En. i. 535
Pharsalia,
490
Porta,
755
iii. 517 Panchaïa,
ii. 139
Palomon,
823
Olympia,
Geor. i. 59❘ Penates,
Podem facere,
830
505
iii. 19 Penetrales,
Palinurus,
833
Oscilla,
ii. 389
Æn. ii. 293
870
Orphea,
Ecl. iii. 46
717
vi. 338
Geor. iv. 454
v. 744
348
520
viii. 543
37,9
En. vi. 645
Pales,
Geor. iii.
1 Pasiphaë,
14
Otium,
Orestes,
Geor. iv. 564
En. iii. 328 | Pythia
Pelops,
7
24
19 Perithoüs.
122
TABLE OF REFERENCE.
613
Perithoüs,
Pyramı,
Procul O,
Phlegethon,
Phædram.
vii. 304
En. vi. 394 | Quirites, Æn. vii. 709 | Sisyphus,
710 Silari,
Geor. ii. 39
146
vi. 215
Quocunque fonte, viii. 74 | Styx,
551
258
Quadrupedante,
596
iv. 488
225
Quem labor damnet, xii. 727
Æn. vi. 265
445
324
vii. 761
xii. 816
Procris,
vi. 445
R.
Scrpyllum,
Geor. iv. 31
Protecilaus,
447
Speluncis,
364
Pulsus parens,
609 Rhodope,
Geor. i. 332
Samo,
Æn. i.
15
Phlegyas,
、 618
iii. 351
Sarpedon,
100
Pœana,
657 Rostrum,
ii. 508
ix. 697
vii. 769
Romulus,
Æn. i. 274
Principio spiritus,
vi. 724
vi. 777
Simoïs,
Syrtis,
i. 100
111
Pompeius Mag-
Rhesus,
nus,
828
Rudentes,
i. 469 Sanguine Teucri,
iii. 267 | Sichæus,
235
348
Perses-Pyrrhus,
Prosequitur Anchises,
838
683
iv.
1
898 | Rogos,
iv. 646
Scamander,
i. 473
Plaga iniqui solis,
vii. 225 Remigium,
vi. 16
Sidera cadentia,
ii. y
Pero,
689
Regna Caspia,
798
Sinonem,
82
Partem Sabinis,
709
Rerum Lachyrmæ,
i. 462
86
Pallanteum,
viii. 51
Recidiva,
vii. 321
Sponsæ,
345
Porsenna,
646
X. 58
Scyria,
477
Puppibus turritis,
693
Romulidis,
viii. 638
Sub axe,
512
Pilumnus,
ix.
3
Regia horrebat,
654
Sic, O, sic,
644
X. 76
Rostrata coronâ,
684
Superi,
659
Prisca fides,
ix. 70
Rhenus,
viii. 727
Stella lapsa,
694
Parva discrimina,
142 | Remulus,
ix. 363
Stat,
750
Pontes,
170 Rejiciunt parmas,
xi. 619
Strophadum,
iii. 209
xii. 675
Religio,
xii. 181
212
Phaleras,
ix. 359
ii. 409
Servire Phrygio,
iv. 103
Pater Romanus,
449
363
Serinone,
277
Produxi te,
487
Rerum trepida,
xii. 589 Si fata,
340
Palici,
585
Romana propago,
827❘ Selum,
v. 199
Prochyta,
715
vii. 111
Pactas sponsas,
X.
79
x. 102
Pactolus,
142
S.
Salius,
v. 298
Populonia,
172
Spiculum-pilum,
306
Pisa,
179 Sinistra,
Ecl. i. 18
Spatium,
316
Pyrgi,
184
Scythiam,
66
Sirenes,
864
Phaeton,
186 Sibylla,
iv. 4
Somnus-Mors,
vi. 278
Pallas-Lausus,
433
Saturnus,
6 Salmonea,
585
Penetrabile,
481
Saturnia regna,
6
Sisyphus,
616
Paphus,
55
Satyri,
V.
73
Spargit corpus,
636
Partim,
xi. 204
Syracuse,
vi.
1
Sylvius,
763
Protei,
262
X.
1
Scipiadas,
843
Pharos,
262 Silenus,
vi. 14
Spolia opima,
859
Priverno,
539 Scyllam,
74
Sabinus,
vii. 178
Penthesilea,
661
En. i. 200
Samum,
208
Præcipites,
888
Pacisci letum,
xii. 49
iii. 420
684
Sortes,
269
iv. 346
Poonium,
401 Sardoüs,
Ecl. vii. 41
Situ,
vii. 440
Panaceam,
419
Solstitium,
47
Soractis,
696
Pati digna indigna,
811
Sophocles,
viii. 10
xi. 785
Specula,
59
Sarnus,
vii. 738
Saltus,
X.
9
Sarrantes,
738
Q.
Sylvanus,
24
Sicani,
795
Salii,
44
Sacrani,
796
Quinque Zone, Geor. i. 233
Geor. i. 20
Siculi,
795
Quadrigo,
512
Sabri,
57
Spectans orientia,
viu
68
En. vi. 535
Sirius,
218
Supertitio,
187
Quæ quibus,
Quam mihi cùm,
iv. 371
436
iv. 425
Salii,
285
En. x. 373
Sæculum,
508
Quisque patimur,
Quirinus,
vi. 743 Scres,
859 Sabini,
Geor. ii. 121
Sabinas raptas,
635
532
Sistrum,
690
614
TABLE OF REFERENCE
Stellas palantes, Æn. ix.
Sed periisse semel,
Sul 'atum,
Sic tur ad astra,
Specus atri,
140
20 | Tritonia,
Tacite Lunæ,
203 Testudine acta,
"
Æn. ii. 171 | Ut spolia, &c.
255 Umbræ,
En, i. 486
607
441 Ulysses,
641 Thalami,
503
Squamæ,
xi. 488
700 Thymbræus,
707
Transtris,
iii. 85
Ecl. iv. 10
iii. 289
Umbone,
ii. 7
iii. 617
634
il. 546
vii. 633
Solus honos sub,
23 Tripodas,
360
Sidus triste,
260 Tarenti,
Scelus artificis,
407
Tædæ,
551
iv. 18
Utramque Trojam,
Utrumque caput,
iii. 504
iv. 357
Umbra,
387
Secundus aruspex,
739
Titan,
Æn. iv. 179
Sidere abrupto,
xii. 451
Ecl. iv. 6
Successu equorum,
616
Superis,
Sila,
Superstitio,
647 Talaria,
715 Thyas-Baccho,
817 Tartara,
Æn vi. 725
iv. 239
V.
301
446 Vaccinia,
Ecl. ii. 18
Sævi regis,
849 Trivia,
609 Varus,
vi. 7
Scelerato,
949
xi. 836 Virgo,
47
Tripodas,
v. 110
Vesper,
86
Triremis,
119
Vulcanus,
Geor. i. 295
T.
Tegems,
v. 299
Vesta,
498
Transcribunt,
750
Æn. i. 292
Tigrim,
Eel. i. 62
Triton,
824
Thetim,
iv. 32
vi. 173
ii. 297
v. 745
Thalia,
vi. 2 Theseus,
20
ix. 259
Tereus,
78
28 Vacuum,
Geor, iv. 226
Taurus,
Geor. i. 218
Tithonus,
249
Tyndarus,
Tydeus,
121 Virum,
En. i.
1
479
Volvere,
i.
9
iii. 48
Titania pubes,
580 | Vale,
219
Tyrrhenus,
ii. 193
Tityon,
595
xi. 97
Tartara,
292
Tyrrheno sale,
697 Viscera,
i. 211
iv. 482
Tellus jacet,
795
Venus,
229
Theatrum,
381
Tullus Hostilius,
814
Virgine cœsa,
ii. 116
En. v. 289
Tarquinius,
818
Visum aliter, Dîs,
428
340
Torquatus,
825
Vis canum,
iv. 132
Thespis,
Geor. ii. 383
Tumultum,
855
Virgam,
242
Theseido,
383
Turnus,
vii. 56
Vexatus bello,
615
Tantalus,
iii.
7
63
Virtus,
v. 363
Timavus,
474
Traboa,
188 Viscum,
vi. 205
Taygete,
iv. 232
Thyrsos,
390
Velinos portus,
366
Tempe, plu.,
317
Transcribi,
422
Violare orbem crusti, vii. 114
Taurino,
372 Tessera,
637
Velinus,
517
Tænarus,
467
Tuba-classica,
637 Vulnus,
533
Tanaïs,
517
Teutones,
741
xii. 160
Troja,
Æn. i.
1
Tybris,
viii. 330
Vulturnus,
Tyrii,
12
Tarpeiam sedem,
347
Virbius,
Tiber,
13
Tres radios,
429
Volsci,
vii. 729
761
Geor. ii. 168
vii. 30
Tyrrhenus clangor,
526
En. vii. 804
Thetis,
i. 30
Teucri,
38
Ter centum,
Thebana,
716 Vada,
x. 207
ix. 697
xi. 628
f'ydeus,
97
Trinacria,
196
Tyrrhena acies,
Tolumnius,
x. 691 Vulcania acies,
x. 408
xi. 429 | Velati (feciales,)
xii. 120
iii. 384
Thermodon,
659
170
Timavi,
Togatam,
i. 244
Tibur,
755❘ Vortex,
672
282
Tiburtus,
755
'Troïlus,
474
Tango aras,
xii. 201
Teucer,
619
Tabulata,
675
X
iii. 104 Taburno,
715
108
Xanthi,
Æn. iii. 491
Typhoëus,
i. 665
ix. 716
U..
Triones,
i. 744
Z.
T' ymœtes
ii. 32
Tenedos,
21
203 | Urbes,
Ut vidi, &c.
Ecl. viii. 41 Zacynthos,
Geor. i. 25
Æn. iii. 270
TABLE OF REFERENCE
615
E.
Eneas,
Æn. i. 544 | Era,
iv. 615
Æquos,
Egle,
Ethiopes,
Fol. vi. 20
xi. *292 Esculapius,
X. 68
Estas prima,
iii.
8
Ægysthus,
En, x. 783
vii. 895
773
xi. 268
En. iv. 481
Egeo,
74
Equato examine,
xii. 725
Equor,
Goor. i. 50
50
Æneæ domus,
97
Æn. iii. 290
Eacides,
296
Œ.
Eollam,
i. 52
Etna,
554
Eolas,
52
Estas septima,
i. 755 balim,
Geor. iv. 125
viii. 416
v. 628
Eneade,
1. 157 | Ziя,
vil. 626
agrus,
Enotria,
524
Æn. iii. 165
T

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