Page images
PDF
EPUB

pates (occupat) the attack, and, with a blow of his descending sword, severs the head of Lynceus from his body. Dexter in my former note was rendered skillful, but I now adopt the interpretation of Ruaeus and others in preference.- -776. Numeros intendere nervis; a poetic transposition for ad numeros intendere nervos; to tune the strings to numbers.- -781. Deinde, still, farther.- -787. Segnes, cowards; acc. agreeing with vos. -803. Sufficere, to afford, or supply; as II, 618.- -804. Germanae; Juno. See I, 47, and XII, 830.- -806. Subsistere, to withstand. Tantum, so much; so much as would be necessary to maintain the fight. Comp. V, 21. -813, 814. Piceum flumen agit, urges along a pitchy stream; the sweat breaking out from his face and body flows mingled with blood and dust, and looks black, like pitch. 816. Ille refers to fluvius; the Tiber.

[graphic][merged small]
[graphic]

Jupiter and the Olympian gods. (From a Grecian bas-relief.)

BOOK TENTH.

Council of the gods. Pallas, Lausus, Mezentius.

1-117. Jupiter calls the gods to a council in Olympus, and persuades them to put an end to discord. Venus complains of the hard persecution of the Trojans, and Juno bitterly replies Jupiter declares at last that the fates shall decide the conflict without any interference of the gods.

1. Panditur. Olympus was opened in the morning and closed in the evening. Comp. I, 374. Omnipotentis, supreme or sovereign, as the seat of the Omnipotent. Bipatentibus, with two-valved doors. See on II, 330.7. Versa retro i. e., turned back again to the same bitter hostility as in former times during the Trojan war.- --13. Alpes immittet apertas, will send the opened Alps; a bold expression for hostis per Alpes apertas immittet;

referring to the invasion of Hannibal. The language is analogous to that of Tacitus, Agr. 18, mare expectabant, for hostes per mare expectabant. 24. Aggeribus murorum. Comp. IX, 769. For murorum some MSS. give the archaic form moerorum. -28. Arpis; called Aetolian because Diomed, its founder, was of Aetolian descent.- -29. Volnera. Diomed had inflicted a wound on the hand of Venus in battle at the siege of Troy. The occasion was the same as the one alluded to in I, 94, sqq.- 42. Super imperio, concerning the supreme dominion; namely, that promised to the Trojans in I, 257. -53. Hic; i. e., domi meae, in my home in either or all of the three favorite resorts mentioned.- -54. Premat. Supply ut. The infinitive is the regular construction after iubere. Inde, from that quarter; i. e., from Ascanius and his posterity. Summam belli, the direction of the war. 71. Tyrrhenam-quietas, to stir up an Etrurian league or peaceful tribes. To excite the peaceful Tyrrhenians to a warlike alliance. Agitare is used rather with reference to gentis than to fidem.73. Hic, here; on this present occasion of difficulty, where is the agency of Juno or Iris?- -77. Quid, what (is it)? is it shameful for the Trojans to commit violence, to oppress, etc.? Face atra. See IV, 384.- -79. Soceros, pactas; referring to Latinus and Lavinia. 80. Praefigere arma. See on I, 183.- -83. It was by Cybele that the ships were actually transformed; but every favor to the Trojans, by whomsoever effected, is ascribed by Juno to Venus. is an irregular construction after quae causa fuit. quae causa fuit Europae Asiaeque consurgendi ?trembling in its depths or foundations. Supply silescit. proleptic. 108. Fuat; an archaic form for sit. makes a genit. after obsidione. Others join it with fatis. Castra; i. e., of the Trojans.- -110. Sive errore, etc., or whether by a mistake of Troy, or the Trojan party (in the departure of Aeneas at this crisis), and by the fatal warnings (of Iris to Turnus, now working mischief). -111. Sua exorsa,

-90. The infinitive The prose would be -102. Tremefacta solo, -103. Placida is 109. Italum Heyne

etc., his own beginnings (his own enterprises) shall bring to each, etc. 113-115. Comp. IX, 104-106.

118-145. The Trojans are distributed along the ramparts, and, though dejected, resolutely maintain the defense under the direction of Mnestheus and other leaders.

118. Circum; adverbially; round about. Portis; abl., at the gates. Instant; with infin. as in I, 423. -133. Caput; Greek acc. limiting detectus. -136. Buxo; either dat. or abl. Comp. II, 19. It retains the final o. -144. Moerorum; the old form of murorum. See on 24.- -145. Campanae urbi; Capua. The derivation of the name from Capys is, of course, fanciful. Both Campania and Capua probably have the same root as campus.

146-214. Aeneas forms an alliance with the Etrurians, who immediately set out with him in their ships, to carry succor to his beleaguered camp. The poet enumerates the ships and the forces on board, and mentions the leaders of the Etrurians. There are thirty ships, and the troops are arranged under four leaders, Massicus, Abas, Asilas, and Astur.

147. Illi refers both to the Trojans and their Rutulian assailants.148. Castris ingressus Etruscis. The narrative is resumed from VIII, 602. -149. Regi; Tarchon, the Etrurian_commander.- -153. Haud fit, etc.; the apodosis after ut-preces. So Ribbeck.-154. Libera fati; free in respect to fate; no longer held by the prohibition of the fates, mentioned in VIII, 502, sqq. For the genit. see on II, 638.- -155. Lydia. See on II, 781. 156. Duci retains the final i.- 157. Subiuncta leones; literally, joined as to lions under the beak. Comp. III, 428.-158. Ida; perhaps a personification of Mount Ida carved in wood, and drawn in a chariot by lions; the latter projecting from the prow of the ship.-159. Hic, here, or

in this ship. -180. Solo, in respect to soil, or territory, i. e., in location, contrasted with ab origine.- -188. Crimen amor vestrum, your fault (was) love. The words may refer to Cycnus and the sisters of Phaethon; or, possibly, to Cinyras and Cupavo. Formaeque insigne paternae, and your device or crest (was) of your father's form; explanatory of olorinae pennae. The ornament on the helmet of Cupavo was the form of a swan, worn to commemorate the transformation of his father, Cycnus, into a swan.- -190. Um

[graphic][merged small]

bram. The sisters of Phaethon were transformed into poplar-trees.-196. Saxum-minatur, threatens (to hurl) a huge rock into the waves. The centaurs were sometimes sculptured in the act of hurling rocks, as if in battle. 202. Triplex. Vergil assigns to his native city a threefold origin, Etruscan, Greek, and, perhaps, Umbrian, while each of these three elements is represented in four towns (quaterni populi), making twelve in all, subject to Mantua. The strongest element, however, vires, is Tuscan.- -204. In se. Mezentius, by his cruelty, has excited the Tuscans to revolt against him.205. Benaco. Supply ortus. Comp. X, 666.- -206. Mincius. The river-god, Mincius, is the figure-head of the ship.- -207. Gravis. The term is transferred from the ship to its commander. Comp. V, 270, 271. Others take it literally. Centena arbore; for centum remis. Comp. terno, V, 120.

215-286. While Aeneas is pursuing his voyage in the moonlight, the nymphs into which the Trojan ships have been transformed appear to him on the water, and one

of them, Cymnodoce, informs him of the assault on his camp. He prays to Cybele, and directs his followers to be instantly ready for battle. On his approach to the camp, the Trojans on the ramparts raise a shout, and engage in the defense with still more vigor, while Turnus, nothing daunted, prepares to resist the new-comers at their landing.

215, 216. Curru Phoebe pulsabat Olympum. See on III, 512; V, 721.221. Numen habere maris, to have the divinity of the sea; to possess the divine character or attributes pertaining to sea-goddesses. -234. Hanc faciem refecit, has reproduced this form; has reproduced us, but in this new form. 238. Iam loca iussa, etc. We must understand that the Etrurian cavalry have been directed by Aeneas to join the Arcadian cavalry of Pallanteum, and to proceed with them down the bank of the Tiber to some point appointed by him (loca iussa) near the place of his expected disembarkation. We learn from 362, 363, below, that this spot was at the junction of some small stream with the Tiber. Turnus will of course aim to prevent the arrival of the allied forces at the Trojan camp. Etrusco; sing. for pl. Etruscis.

-239. Medias opponere turmas, to interpose his squadrons; i. e., between the new allies and the camp.- 253. Ad frena. Supply iuncti.- 254, 255. Propinques augurium, bring near the omen, or the promised event. -270. Capiti. Supply Aeneae.- -274. Ille expressed for emphasis, in apposition with ardor. See on I, 3.- -277. Praecipere; for occupare; to anticipate them in getting possession of the shore.279. Perfringere, to break through their ranks. -281. Referto, reproduce; imitate.-283. Vestigia; Greek acc. limiting labant. Comp. V, 331, 332.

287-361. The ships come to land in safety, excepting that of Tarchon, which is forced upon a sand-bank and broken to pieces. Aeneas and his allies on landing are instantly engaged in the conflict.

288, 289. Servare--pelagi, to watch the retreat of the ebbing sea; so as to spring upon the beach when the wave had retired.- -290. Per remos; others spring to the land by means of oars which they plant with one end in the sand, and thus swing themselves or spring to land. So Hevne. Others think they slide over the oars.- -291. Spirant, heave or boil.- -292. Inoffensum, unresisted; i. c., unbroken by any bold, rocky bank. Tarchon seeks a point where the wave rolls up steadily increasing or spreading (crescenti aestu) to the beach, intending to take advantage of this movement to push his ships far on the land.- 295. Tollite-rates, lift, push on your ships; i. e., by a powerful stroke of the oars.- -304. Fluctus fatigat refers to the swinging to and fro of the two ends of the ship on the waves before it goes to picces. The impulse given by the oars, aided by the movement of the water, had driven it partially across the sand-bank or ridge, so that both the forward and hinder part are thrown one way and another by the action of the waves for a few moments, and then the hull, in consequence of the strain, breaks in the midst and goes to pieces.319. Herculis arma; that is, the clava. Comp. V, 410.- -325. Nova gaudia, the new love; in apposition with Clytium.- -334. Steterunt. The penult is short.- -345. Curibus, from Cures. -350. Boreae de gente suprema, of the lofty race of Boreas. Comp. VII, 220.- -351. Ismara. This is understood by some as a neuter plural, by others as a feminine singular. The latter is probably correct. In Ge. II, 37, it is plural. See Dictionary.

362-438. Pallas, the son of Evander, sees the Arcadian cavalry turning their backs, and hastens to rally them to the fight. He sets them the example of heroism, while on the other side Lausus, the son of Mezentius, slays several of the Arcadians, Etruscans, and Trojans.

362. Parte ex alia; at that point, namely, where Aeneas had directed the Arcadian and Etruscan cavalry to await his landing. See 238. It seems

« PreviousContinue »