Intendunt: scandit fatalis machina muros, Fæta armis pueri circùm innuptæque puellæ 239. Circùm canunt Sacra canunt, funemque manu contingere gaudent. Illa subit, mediæque minans illabitur urbi. sacra carmina 240. Illa machina subit 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 non 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, 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 habitation 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. Dardanidum: the same as Trojanorum, 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 Virgil here allades to the custom of the Romans in 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, formidinem, oblivionem injiciatis, Dii. According 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 signifies 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 promising to grant him her love; which, however, she afterwards refused to do. Not being able to withdraw from her the gift he had bestowed, he rendered it of no avail, by her predictions to be considered as false. destroying her credibility, and making all Jussu Dei: by the command of the god Apollo. Ora: for os; the plu. for the sing. Fatis futuris: to our approaching destruc tion 249. Kelamus delubra. It was their custom, 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. 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. The 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, expecting no danger, and taking needful repose. Mania: in the sense of urbem. Et jam Argiva phalanx instructis navibus ibat Laxat claustra Sinon: illos patefactus ad auras Tempus erat, quo prima quies mortalibus ægris 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. Tacita 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 favorable to the Greeks, by preventing discovery. Valpy understands by them the absence 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 Sinen protected by, &c. We are to understand that Helen or Sinon first gave the signal to Agamemnon that they were ready, by showing a lighted torch from the citadel, and he returned 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 infestis. Nobis is understood. 259. Furtim laxat Danaos: he opens privately the piny doors, and (lets out) the ̋ 255 260 265 270 Here we Greeks shut up in the womb. 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 Thessaly. He was also called Neoptolemus. See 469. seq. Primus. By this we are to understand that he was the first who descended 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 toward the Trojans, and our indignation against Sinon and the treacherous Greeks. Accipiunt: in the sense of admittunt. Portis patentibus may be put absolutely. 267. Conscia: friendly; or conscious, because they were acquainted with the plan of attack. 268. Ægris: in the sense of fessis. 269. Dono: by the favor, or indulgence. Serpit: creeps, or spreads over them. This is extremely significant. Iilis, vel vis, is to be supplied. 272. Bigis. Biga, properly a chario exuvias 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, Vel Danaum Phrygios jaculatus puppibus ignes! 276. Vel qui jaculatus Squalentem barbam, et concretos sanguine crines, Vulneraque illa gerens, quæ circum plurima muros 277. Nunc gerens squalentem barbam, et Accepit patrios: ultrò flens ipse videbar Compellare virum, et mœstas 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 est crines nis! Ut nos defessi aspicimus te, post hil ad hæc : 288. Graviter ducens gemitus de imo pectore, ait: Heu! fuge Expectate, venis? ut te post multa tuorum Funera, post varios hominumque urbisque labores, 287. Ille respondit ni- Ille nihil: nec me quærentem vana moratur ; 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. It agrees with Hector, mentioned above. 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 Greeks 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 understand the disasters of their allies, and by labores urbis, the disasters of his countrymen. Urbis: the city; by meton. put for the inhabitants. 275 280 285 290 295 286. Fadavit: 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 Saturnalia, 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. Jupiter, 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. 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 observes, were styled the great gods. They were also styled powerful: on which account Virgil here styles Vesta, the powerful goddess: Vestam potentem. Dionysius Halycarnassus informs us, that the symbols of these Penates at Rome were two wooden statues of young men, in a sitting posture, with javelins in their hands. 294. Mania: in the sense of urbem. Fatorum: of thy fortunes. 297. Æternum ignem. The sacred fire was Diverso intereà miscentur mœnia luctu: NOTES. kept burning all the year. It was brought by Eneas into Italy, where Numa Pompilius re-established the order of the Vestal Virgins; 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 derived 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 consecrated 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. Oblecta: 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 claroscunt magis atque magls 309. Fides verborum 310 Hectoris fuit manifesta 314. Nec erat sat rationis mihi in armis. Sed animi ardent glomerare from those animals that prick up their ears at every sound which gives them alarm. 304. Velut cum 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. Læta: in the sense of copiosa, or fertilia. 303. Accipicns: 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 En. 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 straits shine with the light of the flames. next. Lata Sigea freta: the broad Sigean Sigea: an adj. from Sigeum, a promontory 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 syllables 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 317. Succurrit mihi mentem pulchrum esse Sed glomerare manum bello, et concurrere in arcem 320. Ipse trahit sacra, Sacra manu, victosque Deos, parvumque nepotem summa res : 316 320 325 322. In quo loco est Quo res summa loco, Pantheu? quam prendimus arcem? 331. Tot millia, quot nunquam venêre è magnis : NOTES. alpha,privitium, and mens. It properly signifies, deprived of reason-destitute of presence 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. us, 319. Pantheus: he was the son of Otreus. Servius informs that on the overthrow of Troy by Hercules, and the death of Laoanedon, 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 Trojans. Sacerdos arcis Phœbique: priest of the tower and of Apollo: (that is) of the itadel or tower, where Apollo was worshipped, 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. 330 322. Summa res: the commonwealth-the common interests of his country; which was the summa res of Æneas, 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 introduction. 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 Trojans 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. Beside, there is a greater degree of elegance in expressing the death of a person, or the overthrow of a city, thus, indirectly, by fuit, stetit, 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. Adsunt: 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, Morea. |