478. pulvis] the long i is archaic 479. And the loose spear he wont to wield, Makes dusty scoring on the field.' (C.) non aequae] 'unkindly.' 481. tunsae] 'beating,' cp. 320 N. Both this and the dishevelled hair are signs of grief. 482. The goddess Pallas and her statue are confused. 483. This line suggests the mangled state of the body. 484. auro] 'for gold,' L.P. 117. 487. Priam went into the Grecian camp to ransom the body of Hector. [Hector is much more prominent in Vergil than in Homer. The fact that he was reputed to be a connection of the Roman race brought him into an exaggerated prominence.] 488. 'Himself too he knew mingling in fray with the Achaean chiefs.' 489. 'Eastern bands' i.e. Indian Ethiopians. arma] made for him by Vulcan at the entreaty of his mother Aurora. 490. Later traditions, but not Homer, represent the Amazons fighting on the side of Troy. 492. subnectens] i.e. subnexa habens, 'fastening her golden belt beneath her bared breast.' (K.) 493. 'A warrior, and, maid though she be, she dares to fight with men.' 494. Dardanio] especially appropriate, for Aeneas had been lost in a Trojan reverie. videntur] are seen,' pass. 495. obtutu] with defixus. 497. incessit] cp. 46, 405 N. 498 f. Dido is compared with Diana. 'As on Eurotas' banks or over Cynthus' ridges Diana leads her dances, her a thousand mountain-nymphs follow and throng on this side and on that her quiver on her shoulder she wears, and as she steps along o'ertops the goddesses all; Latona's heart with silent joy rebounds.' As Conington remarks, the simile is much more natural of the princess Nausikaa dancing amid her nymphs, (its connection in Hom. Od. 7) than of Dido surrounded by her lords. 499. Diana] cp. Sichaeus 343 N. 501. deas] the nymphs. [Some good MSS. read dea which would be effective, but from a metrical point of view bold.] gaudia] as her mother, Homer's γέγηθε δέ τε φρένα 'And great Latona's silent breast the joys of godhead Λητώ. touch.' = 504. Urging on the work of her kingdom that was to be.' Cp. 54 N. 505. foribus d.] i.e. of the chapel within the temple containing the goddess's image. 'Beneath the temple's central dome.' 506. armis] 'armed men.' a. subn.] i.e. on a lofty throne. 508. sorte trahebat] chose them by lot,' a Vergilian variety for sortem trahebat eis. 510. fortem Cloanthum]. Cp. Addison, Spectator, numb. 273, Vergil falls infinitely short of Homer in the characters of his Poem, both as to their Variety and Novelty. Aeneas is indeed a perfect Character, but as for Achates, tho' he is stiled the Hero's Friend, he does nothing in the whole Poem which may deserve that Title. Gyas, Mnestheus, Sergestus, and Cloanthus are all of them Men of the same Stamp and Character,-Fortemque Gyan, fortemque Cloanthum.' 512. 'And had carried away to far other shores,' explaining dispulcrat. For the acc. cp. 2, N. 515. avidi ardebant] 'eagerly longed' w. inf. res incognita] i.e. their ignorance of the real state of affairs, as shown by the questions in 517, 518. 516. dissimulant] 'hide their presence' sc. se adesse. [or conceal their emotions.'] cava] enshrouding.' 518. cunctis nam] Vergil adds a clause to explain the questions. cunctis] i. e. from the thirteen saved with Ilioneus. [The variant quid veniant cuncti, 'why they come in a body' has some authority.] 519. veniam] 'grace,' cp. 525. clamore] 'amid shouting,' probably that of the great crowd, for surely loud clamour would not be the best way of attaining their end. 521. Ilioneus' calm dignity is contrasted with the surrounding noise. maximus] 'the eldest of them. 523. iustitia] 'with justice,' modal abl. dedit] governs both condere and frenare as objects. The more warlike the Africans the more glory for Rome who had overcome them. 524. maria o. vecti] cp. Tyrrhenum navigat acquor. 67 N. 525. Cp. 538-541. 527. populare] 'We are not come either with the sword to devastate the African homes or to plunder and carry spoil to the shores.' The inf. = supine in -um is poetical. Cp. a somewhat similar usage 319. 529. vis]'violence.' 531. ubere] 'richness of soil.' antiqua] 'old in story.' Homer's οὖθαρ ἀρούρης. 533. Italus had been king of the Oenotrians. 534. hic cursus fuit.] These half-verses show (among other things) the unfinished state of the Aeneid: 'this (i.e. hither) was our course.' 535. adsurgens] of the rising of the star, subtly suggests also the rising of the waves. Orion rises about midsummer (cp. 756) and at his setting at the beginning of November the weather was often bad, hence his epithets of imbrifer, nimbosus, &c. 538. pauci]'a scanty remnant.' vestris oris] explaining huc. 539. quod g. h. h.] abrupt transition with asyndeton. 'Or what land so savage as to be the home of this conduct?' 541. prima terra]' on the edge of the strand.' 542. An indirect compliment is paid to Dido in acknowledging the power of Carthage. mortalia] transferred epithet. Cp. 355 crudelis aras. 543. Yet expect gods who forget not the righteous or unrighteous deed." sperate] = cxspectate, so used even in prose. 545. pietate iustior] 'more scrupulous at duty's call.' 6 546. Feeding upon the air of heaven' = 'living' has become a poetical commonplace. [Lachmann objects to the combination aetheria aura, and would substitute äeria aura on the ground that aether always refers to the upper air: but in Vergil at least his objection is not followed by editors.] non metus] 'we have no cause to dread.' 548. nec te] and thou wilt not repent (pres. conj.) that thou wert the first in the rivalry of good deeds. [Many editors follow a conjecture of Heins. non metus, officio ne i.e. 'there is no fear lest, &c.' which is easier.] [550. armaque, so most MSS. and editors. The Medicean MS. however reads arvaque (probably an assimilation to urbes), and is followed by some editors ] 552. str. r.] Homer, Od. 7, 269, àrožúvovoiv éoeтuá. 553. recepto] in sense applies to sociis, agreeing only with the chief subject. 554. Italiam] emphatically repeated. 555. 'But if our safety (i.e. Aeneas) be taken away.' 557. 'That at least we may make for the Sicilian waters and the home ready for us, from whence we came hither' &c. ; with petamus supply ut from 554. 559. 'With one shouted assent.' Cp. ἐπευφήμησαν ̓Αχαιοί. line. mouth all the children of Dardanus Hom. Il. 1, 22, ἔνθ ̓ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες Note the effective nature of the short 561. voltum demissa] 'casting down her eyes.' Cp. 320 N. 562. Free your hearts from fear' solvite corda metu, Vergilian variety. 564. custode] collective singular. So miles, the soldiery; rosa, roses, &c. 567. obtusa] predicate, 'not so unfeeling are the hearts we wear.' 570. E. finis] i.c. Sicily. optatis] 'choose.' 571. I will dismiss you guarded by an escort and help you with my means.' 572. If the note of interrogation be removed after regnis, the sentence becomes hypothetic, 'Should you wish to settle on equal terms with me in these realms,' &c. But an invitation is better. 573. Urbem q. s. v.] 'lo! the city which I am founding, 'tis yours.' urbem is by inverse attraction drawn into the relative clause. Cp. Ter. Eun. 653, Eunuchum quem dedisti nobis quas turbas dedit! 574. The prose construction is bene (male, &c.) cum aliquo agere. 575. The same South wind' would scarcely bring Aeneas to Carthage. Notus wind in general, as Euro 383, aquilonibus 391, austris 536. = 576. certos dim.] 'I will send trusty messengers about.' 578. Siquibus] 'to see if,' &c. |