GEORGICS. NOTES TO BOOK I. THE subject of the first book of the Georgics is agriculture. After an invocation of the rural deities and of Octavianus Caesar (1-42) Virgil proceeds to describe the process of sowing (43-117); shows how, since the golden age, toil and labour are the lot of mankind (118-159); gives an account of the plough and other implements, the threshing-floor, and the method of choosing seeds (160-203); and enumerates the seasons for sowing, with a digression concerning the five zones and the sun's passage through the zodiac (204-251). The various employments suitable for the different days and seasons are next recounted (252-310), and the importance of observing the weather insisted on (311-350); then follows a long description of the signs of the weather, taken from the Diosemeia of Aratus (351-463); and this leads to the conclusion of the book, which consists of an enumeration of the signs which portended the death of Julius Caesar, a lament over the miserable state of the Roman Empire, and a prayer to the gods that Octavianus Caesar may be spared to restore prosperity. 1-4. Dedication of the poem to Maecenas, with a rough enumeration of the subjects to be treated of-viz. agriculture (Book I), the cultivation of vines (II), the care of cattle (III), and of bees (IV). 1,2. laetae segetes, according to Cicero, was a common expression among the country people. What makes the cornfields smile.' ulmis; vines were commonly trained on elms. 3, 4. qui cultus, 'what treatment for keeping cattle;' habendis must be supplied with apibus. pecori, apibus, on the hiatus see Introd. p. 17. 5. hinc ex hoc tempore, 'now.' Are they here identified with, or In favour of the identification is 18, and the awkwardness of the 6. lumina, i. e. the sun and moon. distinguished from, Liber and Ceres, 1. 7? the express statement of Macrobius, Sat. i. asyndeton between 11. 6 and 7: against it, the uncertainty whether as a fact Bacchus and Ceres were so identified in the mysteries. On the whole it seems best to separate Liber and Cercs from lumina, and accept the want of a connecting particle, as after 1. 15. 8, 9. Chaoniam, a conventional epithet, Chaonia being a district of Epirus, where were the celebrated oak forests of Dodona. pocula, 'draughts.' Acheloia: Achelous, said to be the oldest of rivers, represented water in general: Eur. Andr. 167 χερὶ σπείρουσαν ̓Αχελώου δρόσον. 10. praesentia, 'powerful,' the power of the ancient gods being dependent on their actual presence: cp. Aen. ix. 404 tu, dea, tu praesens nostro succurre labori. 12. cui, 'for whom,'' at whose bidding.' prima, adverbial. 14, 15. cultor nemorum, 'dweller in the woodland,' i. e. Aristaeus, the hero-god, said to have taught men bee-craft, and worshipped in the island of Ceos or Cea with the attributes of Zeus himself. ter centum, for an indefinite number. 16. ipse emphasises Pan as the great rural god. 10. puer, Triptolemus, said to have learnt the Ceres. 20. ab radice, 'torn from its roots.' 'Thou too, great Pan.' art of ploughing from 21-23. tueri = a verbal subst. in nom. case-quibus studium est τd dypoùs puλáoσew. non ullo semine, abl. of circumstance, 'where no seed has been sown.' satis, dat. pl. of sata, ' sown crops.' 24. tuque adeo, and thou above all.' See on Ecl. iv. II. 25. incertum est. Note the series of oblique interrogations depending on this phrase; (1) quae sint, (2) velisne . . . accipiat, (3) an venias . . . emat, (4) anne... addas. Translate: 'And thou above all, of whom we know not in what house of gods thou art in time to sit, whether it be our Caesar's pleasure to watch over cities and take charge of earth, that so the whole mighty world may welcome thee as the giver of its increase and lord of its changeful seasons.' 28. materna, i. e. of Venus, the ancestress of the Julian family. 29. venias, here 'become.' Cp. Juv. ii. 83 (quoted by Con.) nemo repente venit turpissimus. 30. numina, 'divine power,' both in sing. and plur., literally the nod by which a god declared his will. 31. Caesar, if a sea-god, is to marry one of the Oceanides, and to receive from Tethys as a dowry the kingdom of the sea. 32. tardis, 'the slow-moving months,' whose pace will be accelerated by the new star; not specially of the summer months with their long days. Con. aptly quotes from Cowley's 'Davideis:' 'The old drudging Sun from his long-beaten way Shall at thy voice start, and misguide the day.' 33-35. Erigonen, the daughter of Icarius, who hung herself in grief for her father's death, and became the constellation Virgo. The locus here indicated is that of the constellation Libra, under which Augustus' birth took place. In the old calendars Libra was omitted, and two spaces given to the Scorpion with outstretched claws (chelae, Gk. xŋλaí), from which the Balance was hung. Virgil imagines the Scorpion to draw in his claws and leave his 'undue share of heaven' (caeli iusta plus parte), thus making room for Augustus as a new sign. The Balance symbolises justice: so that there is special flattery in assigning this place to the Emperor. 36, 37. nam refers to a suppressed thought-'except in Hades.' sperant is better and has more authority than sperent. Tartarus does not think of aspiring to such an honour; and may you never wish for empire there.' veniat, optative. dira onpido, 'wild desire' (the phrase recurs Aen. vi. 373, ix. 185), i. e. so intense a desire for empire on any terms as to wish to rule even in Hades. 41. mecum with miseratus. 42. ingredere, sc. divino muneri, 'assume the god.' 44. 'And the soil grows soft and crumbling beneath the west wind.' Zephyro, abl. instr. putris, proleptic, expressing the result of se resolvit. 45, 46. mihi, ethic dative. aratro, dat. after ingemere, 'Then would I have the bull begin to pant over the deep-driven plough.' The words depresso, attritus, splendescere, all point to the thoroughness of the ploughing. 47-49. seges, here 'land' or 'field.' demum (8) is a strengthening particle, like adeo 1. 24: 'that land above all.' Its temporal meaning 'at length' is only in connection with temporal words, e. g. nunc demum, tunc demum, etc. In bis... sensit Virgil appears to recommend four ploughings-three usual, in spring, summer, and autumn, and one additional for strong land, in the previous autumn. ruperunt=rumpere solent, have frequently burst.' It answers to the Greek frequentative' aorist. 51, 52. morem, 'temper.' patrios cultusque habitusque locorum, 'the traditional culture and aptitude of the localities.' 54. segetes, here 'crops.' felicius, 'more abundantly:' see on Ecl. v. 37. 55. arborei fetus, 'forest growths.' 56. Tmolus is in Lydia, whereas Cilicia was famous for saffron : but Virgil designates Western Asia loosely by the name of a well-known mountain. 57-59. mittit. On indic. sec note on Ecl. iv. 52. molles, 'unwarlike.' nudi, stripped for working in the forge. Eliadum palmas equarum, 'palms that mares of Elis win '-i. e. 'victorious mares of Elis,' contending in the Olympian games. 60, 61. continuo, Gk. evðús, ' from the first and onward.' leges, 'conditions.' foedera, 'laws' of nature, as Lucr. i. 586 foedera naturae, ii. 254 fati foedera. 'Such is the chain of law, such the eternal covenant with which Nature has bound certain climes.' 63. durum, as being sprung from stones. ergo, i. e. since this is Nature's law. Work, then, and fulfil your destiny.' iacentes, 'turned up and exposed.' pulverulenta, the epithet is transferred by poetic licence from glaebas to aestas. solibus, abl. instr. Let the clods be exposed for summer to bake them to dust with the sun's full heat.' 67-70. sub, 'just at the actual rising of Arcturus.' The true rising of Arcturus was September 8, the apparent Sept. 21. suspendere,' to lift it with a light furrow,' i. e. raise it lightly so as to leave it hanging. illic, 'in the former case' (pingue solum 1.64); hic,'in the latter' (tellus non fecunda). 71-76. 'You will likewise (idem) let your fields at intervals (alternis) lie fallow after reaping (tonsas) and suffer the lazy soil to harden by inaction (situ durescere); or (if you cannot afford this) you will at another season sow yellow corn in the soil (ibi), from which you have previously raised a rich bean-crop with its rattling pods... etc.' Virgil seems to recommend occasional fallowing as a rule; or, where this is not convenient, a leguminous' crop of peas, beans, lupins, or the like, for a spring crop, to be followed by a sowing of corn in autumn-the stalks of such a crop being ploughed in or burnt on the field as manure for the corn crop. Leguminous crops are specified; for (enim 1. 77) flax, oats, or poppies only exhaust the soil (urunt), and the land might as well lie fallow as have them. novales, lit. 'fallow-lands,' here used somewhat artificially, as the lands would not be fallow till after they had ceased to produce crops. situ (from sino, to let alone) here denotes the 'inaction' or 'idleness' of fallow land. tristis, 'bitter.' silvam sonantem, rustling thicket,' a phrase to denote the rich crop of lupin. 79. alternis, 'by changes (of crops) the strain (of producing two crops in succession without an interval of fallow) is lightened;' only you must not spare manure. 80. pudeat, because the work is dirty' (Sidg.). 82. sic quoque. By this method as well (as by fallowing), the soil gets rest under the change of crops; nor are you meanwhile without return from your land, because unploughed '—i. e. you get your crop of vetch, etc. 84 sqq. A way of improving poor (steriles) land is to burn the stubble upon it, the result being advantageous in different ways to different soils. Con, wrongly takes steriles as = 'reaped,' 'with nothing but the stubble left on it.' 89-93. caeca relaxat spiramenta, 'opens hidden pores.' durat, sc. terram. venas, passages' or 'channels.' tenues, 'thin,' 'fine,' and so 'searching' rains. rapidi solis, 'the fierce burning sun:' see on Ecl. ii. 10. penetrabile, in active sense 'piercing,' cp. Lucr. i. 494 penetrale frigus; and for similar use of forms in -bilis, Hor. Od. i. 3. 22 Oceano dissociabili, etc. adurat, by zeugma with pluviae, with which word the general notion of 'injuring' must be supplied. 95, 96. vimineas crates, 'osier hurdles,' dragged over the ground after the clods had been broken with the rastrum (a hoe or rake). The whole process was called occatio. nequiquam (not nequidquam or nequicquam) is the form in all the best MSS. and editions. It is from quiquam the old abl., cp. nequaquam. 97-99. The process of cross-ploughing' is here distinguished from that of harrowing, as if they were not applied by the same person or to the same land: but Virgil does not mean to do more than distinguish between them. proscisso, technical term for the first breaking up with the plough. terga, the 'ridges' of clods thrown up by the plough. in obliquum verso aratro, ‘by cross-ploughing,' lit. 'with plough turned at right angles (to its former course).' imperat, 'lords it over' the fields, i. e. forces them to own his rule. This and other expressions (subigere, compescere, exercere), applied to agricultural operations, illustrate the conception of a constant struggle against the reluctant forces of Nature, which Virgil derives from Lucretius. Cp. Lucr. v. 206-212: Quod superest arvi, tamen id natura sua vi sponte sua nequeant liquidas existere in auras. 100. solstitin,' summers.' When used by itself, without the addition of aestivum, hibernum, etc., the word denotes the summer solstice. 102. Mysia, especially the region about Gargarus, was proverbial for fertility. nullo tantum cultu, 'never does Mysia show itself off so well,' nullo cultu being used loosely as='under no circumstances.' Some editors transl. 'no cultivation will make Mysia so fertile as a dry winter:' but if this is the meaning, it is obscurely expressed. 104, 105. comminus, the image is that of the Roman soldier first throwing his spear (lacto semine), and then attacking at close quarters. ruit, ‘ levels,' ' throws down,' as Aen. ix. 516 molęm volvuntque ruuntque : elsewhere (G. ii. 308 ruit atram Ad caelum... nubem) it = 'throw up :' so in legal phrase ruta caesa=minerals (things dug up) and timber. The general idea is violent movement, the direction of which is determined by the context. cumulos, i. e. the top of the ridges. male pinguis = non pinguis, 'unfertile,' cp. male fida Aen. ii. 23, male sana Acn. iv. 8. 108. supercilio clivosi tramitis, 'from the brow of the channelled slope' (Con.), lit. 'sloping channel,' a poetical variety of expression. The picturesque force of ecce ('Oh joy!') is well pointed out by Con.; and the melodious grace of 11. 108-110 harmonises with their subject. 111, 112. quid, sc. dicam, as l. 104. Excessive luxuriance is to be cor. rected by feeding down when the blade is young and green (tenera in herba), lest when come to maturity the corn stalks should droop under the weight of the ears. 113, 114. cum primum, etc. defines tenera in herba more precisely. sulcos aequant, 'reach the furrows' top.' bibula deducit harena, 'drains off by means of soaking sand;' how, is not clear. Con. thinks the drains were partly filled with sand or gravel; Kenn. that sand was carted to the places where water had collected and formed pools (lacunae) in order to soak up the water. |