Obsedêre alii telis angusta viarum Talibus Otriadæ dictis, et numine Divûm Et gener auxilium Priamo Phrygibusque ferebat: Quos ubi confertos audere in prælia vidi, 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) encounter. 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 arma: in the sense of in pugnas. 339. Maximus annis. Some read armis: but the former appears to be the true reading from verse 435, seq. Heyne has armis. 340. Oblati: meeting me by the light of 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. Having observed them collected together, and prepared for fight, he then begins. Or, super 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 inust be for insuper; in the former, a prep. Davidson 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 disorder of Æneas' 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 tentantem. Cupido: in the sense of animus. 351. Omnes Dî, 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 allowed to call the Roman gods by their names, lest, if they were known, an enemy might solicit and entice them away. To this cus Una salus victis, nullam sperare salutem. Sic animis juvenum furor additus. Inde lupi ceu 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. antris 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 lis 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 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 Leonidas 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 desperately on our foes, looking death and danger in the face. The poet mentions another circumstance. 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 355 360 365 370 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. 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 opposition to those who dared to make resistance, and nobly die. This is much better than to take corpora in the sense of cadavera, as is usually done; for then the epithet inertia would be quite useless and superfluous. 366. Relligiosa limina: the sacred temples of the gods. Limen, the threshold, by synec. put for the temple. Dant pœnas sanguine; 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 virtus-multusque honos. En. iv. 3. Such expressions, however, convey an idea of plurality rather than of unity; and, in our language, require to be rendered in the plural number. 271. Socia: friendly. Androgeos took them to be of the party of the Greeks. 374. Nam quæ segnities: what sloth so Pergama: vos celsis nunc primùm à navibus itis? NOTES. 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. for This 379. Aspris: by syncope: asperis. simile is taken from Homer, Ilíad iii. verse 33. But Virgil is very happy in the application, and has improved upon the original, by the addition of several circumstances that heighten the comparison, and give it more force and likeness. 380. Nilens 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 interprets it. 384. Captos formidine. Mr. Davidson observes: by this we are to understand that they were so under the power of fear, as not to be able to exert themselves-enchained, arrested, or nonplussed by fear; and so enslaved to it, that they could obey nothing but its impulse. Rusus interprets it by percitos metu. 385. Aspirat: in the sense of favet. Labori: in the sense of conatui. 375 379. .Veluti homo qui 380 nitens humi pressit anquem improvisum er aspris sentibus 385 390 381. Refugit eum attollentem 387. O socii, quà fortuna prima monstrat nobis iter salutis, quàque dextra ostendit se, 390. Quis requirat in hoste, an sit dolus, an virtus. Ipsi occisi 386. Animis: courage-boldness. 389. Insignia Danaûm: the armour of the Greeks. This seems to allude to the figures, or images, engraven upon their bucklers-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 insigne 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 engraven the figure of Minerva, their guar dian goddess and protectress, and put on the Conserimus, multos Danaûm demittimus Orco. 400. Pars præ turpi Fida petunt: pars ingentem formidine turpi ormidine 403. Ecce Cassandra crinibus Scandunt rursus equum, et notâ conduntur in alvo. Priameïa Virgo passis Crinibus à templo Cassandra adytisque Minerva, nam, Non tulit hanc speciem furiatâ mente Chorobus, 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 irà virgi- Undique collecti invadunt: acerrimus Ajax, nis ereptæ ex suis mani- Et gemini Atridæ, Dolopumque exercitus omnis. Adversi rupto ceu quondam turbine venti rum armorum bus 413. Danai commoti que, et Eurus lætus Eoïs 416. Ceu adversi ven- Confligunt, Zephyrusque, Notusque, et lætus Eois ti, Zephyrusque, Notus- Eurus equis: stridunt sylvæ, sævitque tridenti 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. Immixli 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. 393. Conserimus multa prælia: we wage many a fight. Orco': in the sense of ad inferos. 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 non. The verb est is understood. 404. Crinibus passis: with loose or dishevelled hair. Passis, from the verb pandor, to be loose or spread open. 405. Tendens: raising her glaring eyes to heaven in vain. Frusta: in vain, either because the gods were inexorable, or because she could not move the compassion of the Greeks. This is a most moving representation of the beautiful prophetess and princess 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 400 405 410 415 420 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 Oïleus. He ravished Cassandra in the temple of Minerva, for which he was afterward severely punished by that goddess. See Æn. 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 trident 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 Fudimus insidiis, totâque agitavimus urbe, Protinùs ad sedes Priami clamore vocati. 425 430 435 Sic Martem indomitum, Danaosque ad tecta ruentes 440 NOTES. 425. Armipotentis Diva: the warlike goddess-Pallas. See Geor. i. 18. Penelei: Peneleus was one of the five generals of the Beotians who came to the Trojan war. 428. Visum aliter Dis. Having mentioned that his friend was the most just, and most observant of justice among the Trojans, 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 naturally suggest the reflection that he deserved a better end: he ought not to have fallen with the rest; but he checks himself: Dis aliler visum: it seemed otherwise to the gods. Commentators have been much divided in opinion upon these words. But in this view they are plain and intelligible. The verb est is understood. ૭ ૧ 422. Illi etiam appa rent; primique 487 427. Qui fuit unus justissimus, et 432 432. Testor vos, me vitavisse nec tela, nec, ullas vices Danaûm 458 438. Hic verò cernimus 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 mutually given and received. Donatus considers 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 to pelo, to aim one. For vices, Ruæus says pericula. Heyne says casus pugnæ. 433. Fuissent: in the sense of sinuissent. this right hand, i. e. by fighting. There is 434. Meruisse manu: that I merited it by something noble in this sentiment. It considers 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 inde 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 oppressed or enfeebled with age; and Pelias disabled by a wound which he had received from Ulysses. Evo: for annis. 437. Protinus: immediately-in haste. Vocali: sumus is understood. 438. Ceu in the sense of quasi. It is understood before nulli. Bella: in the sense of pugnæ. 440. Martem indomitum: Mars, furious, ungoverned. Mars, the god of war, put for |