'feris,' to the high-spirited steeds. The description which follows, of Neptune careering over the sea and stilling its waves, is striking and magnificent in the highest degree. He flies lightly over the surface of the sea, in his sea-green chariot.

822.immania cete,' huge whales; Gr. § 94.

823-6. Names of various Nereids and sea-deities attendant on Neptune; see notes to Geor. I. 437, and Æneid I. 144, and V. 240. Scanned thus; Nesale Spiloque Thaliaque | Cymodo ceque.'

827-8. Hic-mentem,' then in turn, mild and pleasant feelings pervade the mind of Eneas, after it had been torn with anxiety. Such a revulsion of feeling, after the loss of some of his ships, and the pain of parting with a portion of his friends, was caused by the tranquil aspect of the sea, and the favorable breeze.

829-32. The masts to be raised, which were taken down on entering port, and the sails to be stretched upon the yards; brachia velis,' by hypallage. All together slackened the main sheet, or rope attached to the lower corner of the sail; they opened the folds of the sail equally on the right and left; the mast supporting the yard in the middle, and the wind being directly astern, the sail was filled on both sides of the ship. As the ropes confining the sail were drawn taught on one side, the end of the yard swung round that way, and then was partly swayed back again by pulling the ropes on the other side; hence, together they swing round the lofty ends of the yards, and draw them back to their place. Favorable winds carry forward the fleet. Cornua'; the technical term for the ends of the yards.

833-4. densum Agmen'; the ships were kept close together; Palinurus, in the ship of Æneas, led the way: adjussi,' the others were ordered to steer in his wake.

838-40. Somnus,' the god of sleep: ætheriis astris'; see note to line 517. 'dimovit'; dividing the air by passing through it; cut the air with his wings. somnia for somnum.'

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842-5. Phorbanti similis,' wearing the appearance of Phorbas; there were several of this name, one of whom was a son of Priam. Iaside,' son of Iasius. Equata-auræ,' the wind is fair, fills the sails equally on either side: 'fessos - labori,' steal a rest from labor for your wearied eyes.

846-7. tua- inibo,' I will hold your office: lumina,' for 'oculos.' 848-50. Do you wish me to be ignorant of the true nature of this semblance of a quiet sea and gentle waves, to put trust in this deceptive appearance? ' Ænean - quid,' why should I confide Eneas, &c. 852. clavum hærens,' keeping firm hold of the tiller.

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854. Lethæo'; see note to Geor. I. 78. Somnus sprinkles Palinurus with a branch wet with the waters of Lethe.

856. 'solvit,' unnerves, deprives of power: cunctanti,' 'illi' understood; struggling against the soporific effect: 'natantia,' wavering betwixt sleeping and waking.

858. super incumbens,' leaning over him.

861-3. Winged Somnus himself rose, flying into the upper air. Palinurus was not drowned, but swam to the shore, where he was murdered by the natives. A promontory in the south of Italy was called by his name, and it is probable, that some tradition connected with this place supplied the poet with the materials of this story. 'Currit tutum,' safely holds its course: 'interrita,' free from danger. 864-5. The abode of the Sirens was on some detached rocks, off the promontory of Surrentum. The Sirens were monsters, half women, famous for the sweetness of their voices. They allured mariners to the shore by the charms of their music, and then devoured them. It was fated they should perish, whenever a band of mariners should pass them safely, in spite of the attractions of their songs. Ulysses, informed beforehand of the danger, stopped up the ears of his crew with

wax, and, causing himself to be tied to the mast, sailed by in safety; whereupon the Sirens threw themselves into the sea. Hence, 'Difficiles quondam,' formerly difficult to be passed: ossibus,' with the bones of shipwrecked persons.

866-8. sale, salt spray: pater'; Æneas: 'fluitantem,' 'navem' understood. magistro,' the helmsman: ipse ratem rexit,' steered the ship himself.

871. in ignotâ arenâ,' on some unknown strand.

In the description of the games celebrated in honor of Anchises, Virgil has closely imitated Homer's account of the ceremonies at the funeral pile of Patroclus. The lively and picturesque narration of these sports affords a pleasant relief to the mind, after the melancholy incident recorded at the close of the last book. But the episode is too long, and somewhat chills the interest with which we follow the progress of the story. The hero of the poem has little to do, and the reader learns to consider the course of his fortunes with indifference. There are few brilliant passages in the book, but the flow of poetry is graceful and well sustained, and the incidents are natural and properly diversified. The want of connexion between them may be attributed to the free use of legendary materials, and of the works of other poets, whose productions are now lost.

THE ENEID.

BOOK VI.

THE Trojans landing in Italy, on the shore near Cumæ, Æneas goes to visit the Sibyl's cave. On his way thither he finds a temple of Apollo, built by Dædalus, and examines the sculptures on the doors. The priestess, coming to meet him, commands him to offer sacrifices, and introduces him into the temple, where he offers a prayer to the god. Then the Sibyl, becoming inspired, informs him of the impending war, and encourages him to meet it bravely. Eneas entreating her aid, that he may visit the regions of the dead, she answers, that he must seek out a golden bough in the wood for an offering to Proserpina, and sacrifice black sheep. She tells him also, that one of his friends on the shore is dead. He returns, and finds that it is Misenus, the trumpeter of the fleet. While erecting a funeral pile for the deceased, two doves, sent by Venus, guide him to the spot where the golden bough is concealed, which he brings away with him. The funeral being over, led by the Sibyl, Æneas descends to the world of the dead. There, on the banks of the Styx, he finds many unburied persons, and among them Palinurus. Charon, at first, refuses to carry him over the river, but at the sight of the golden bough he relents, and the dog Cerberus is put to sleep by a medicated cake. Various classes of inhabitants of these realms are described. Eneas has an interview with the shade of Dido, and with that of Deiphobus. The place of punishment for the wicked he is not allowed to enter, but the Sibyl describes to him the kind of suffering inflicted on Salmoneus, Ixion, Theseus, and others. Turning to the right, he enters the Elysian fields, where Musæus informs him of the nature of the place, and the condition of its inhabitants, and then conducts him to his parent. Anchises begins by instructing his son in the Pythagorean doctrine respecting the spirit

that pervades the universe, and the history of the human soul. Then he lays open to him the glories that await his posterity, the power and dignity of Rome, and mentions briefly all the more distinguished persons in the Roman annals, down to the time of Augustus. Æneas is then allowed to return to the world above. He revisits his companions, and sails with them to the harbour of Caieta.

THE GEOGRAPHY AND MYTHOLOGY OF BOOK VI.

THE modern bay of Naples, named by the ancients the Gulf of Cumæ, is bounded on the north by the promontory of Misenum, now called Capo Miseno. Eneas landed near this lofty point, probably on its northern side. To the north of Misenum lies the city of Cumæ, founded at a very ancient period by a colony of Greeks from Eubœa, the modern Negropont; hence, Euboïcis oris.' Just behind the promontory, and near the shores of the gulf of Baiæ, are the lakes Lucrinus and Avernus, which were afterwards converted into a harbour by the Romans; see note to Geor. II. 161–164. The former has been nearly filled up by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; the latter remains nearly as it was, when described by Virgil. It is a small, but beautiful sheet of water, nearly enclosed with hills, which were once thickly covered with woods, but are now in part cleared and cultivated. The most curious circumstance respecting these hills, and nearly all the other elevations in the surrounding country, is, that their sides are pierced with a great number of grottos and caverns, some of them evidently of natural formation, but the greater part dug out by art. Far the largest of these is the celebrated grotto of Pausilippo, dug through the hill of that name, and still furnishing, as it has done for at least three thousand years, a carriage road between Naples and Baiæ. This greatgrandfather of all modern road tunnels is nearly half a mile in length, twenty-two feet in breadth, and about eighty feet in height. Over the entrance to it, on the side of Naples, is still shown a tomb, which tradition affirms, on good authority, to be that of Virgil. The other excavations, particularly those in the hills round lake Avernus, are much smaller. They are very long, but narrow and winding, and often, at some distance from the entrance, expand into small chambers hewn out of the rock, the bottom covered with a foot or two of water, and show. ing clear traces of having been used in ancient times as subterranean baths. Such is the one still pointed out to the traveller as the very cave, through which, according to Virgil, Eneas descended with the Sibyl to the world of the dead. Most of the other caverns are nearly choked up with rubbish, and by the frequent occurrence of earthquakes. On the summit of the hill, which formed the citadel of Cumæ, Dædalus alighted after his flight from Crete, and built there the temple to Apollo, which Eneas visits and examines, immediately after landing. A cavern was dug out beneath it, which some believe to be the place, where the Sibyl first delivered directions and prophecies to the Trojan leader, the grot itself being used as the adytum' of the temple. This place is now choked up with ruins, and Heyne maintains, with better reason, that this first scene between Æneas and the prophetess occurred in a cave, which is still shown, farther down on the side of the hill; see line 42, which seems to describe an excavation in the side of a mountain. It is believed, that this cavern once extended far under ground, and communicated with the one already described, by the side of Avernus. But the subterranean passage, if it ever existed, is now

filled up.

Lake Avernus itself, with its placid waters, and the beautiful shores and gently sloping hills that environ it, seems to agree ill enough with Virgil's description of it, as the jaws of hell, surrounded with gloomy forests, and sending forth noxious exhalations. But there is no reason to believe, that the poet's account of it is drawn wholly from imagination. We must consider the volcanic nature of the district, and the frequent and extensive alterations in the appearance of the ground, caused by the action of subterranean fires. One great convulsion, about three centuries ago, in thirty-six hours, filled up a large portion of the Lucrine lake, and produced a hill of considerable size, now called Monte Nuovo. Only a mile or two from this spot, there is a place called the Solfatara, evidently at some former time the crater of a volcano, which might now furnish a poet with some hints for a description of the infernal regions. The ground is strongly impregnated with sulphur, and from every crevice in it arise constantly smoke, steam, and oppressive exhalations. Some of the caverns in the neighbouring hills lead downwards by a narrow and gloomy passage to subterranean reservoirs of hot mineral waters, the steam of which, constantly pouring from the dark cave, might well suggest the idea of an opening to Pluto's kingdom. Lake Avernus was probably formed in the crater of an extinct volcano, and its waters, though now pure, might once have been impregnated with mineral products, and have sent forth the noxious vapors described by the poet.

It was very natural for the ancients to imagine, that in such a country as this there were direct communications with the nether world. Those who heard of it only at a distance, through exaggerated reports and traditions, would give full reins to their fancy in describing the horrors of the spot, and the supernatural sights and sounds which terrified the visitant. Among the Greeks of Homer's time, who knew little about any country that was not inhabited by some of their own kindred, the wildest stories were current respecting lands situated far to the west. What faint rumors reached them respecting this remarka ble district in the south of Italy, soon swelled into a grand and indistinct account of a region abounding with flaming mountains, holes in the ground from which issued noxious exhalations, gloomy lakes shut in by hills, and surrounded by interminable forests, and people dwelling in caverns, that were often shaken by fearful quiverings of the solid earth. Here, accordingly, Homer placed the land of the Cimmereans, and sent Ulysses to it to consult the shades of the dead. Oracles were established there, and prophets and Sibyls availed themselves of the popular belief, which assigned to them a direct communication with the world of spirits.

Of course, the wildness of these fables was corrected by the lapse of time, the progress of the arts, and the high pitch of civilization attained by the Roman people. Virgil lived in a refined and cultivated age, and, spending a large portion of his life in the immediate vicinity of the spot, was probably an eye-witness of some of those improvements, which deprived the country of its real and supposed horrors. The woods, which once gave such a gloomy aspect to the lake of Avernus, were cut down, and a communication opened with the sea, which converted it into a safe and commodious harbour for ships. But the same my thology was yet current, the general features of the country remained unchanged, and popular tradition preserved many curious legends respecting particular spots, and still spoke of the Sibyls who once prophesied there, and of the spirits which there rose from Tartarus. Here were fine materials for the poet, and Virgil made good use of them, in fashioning the most curious and striking portion of his immortal work.

Though, after Eneas descends with the Sibyl through the cavern, all the descriptions apply to places below ground, yet Virgil seems to

have copied the geography of the infernal regions from the aspect of the earth above. At least, tradition points out, even at the present day, all the localities of the imaginary journey through Tartarus. The traveller is still shown the Stygian lake, the rivers of hell, and the Elysian fields, not altâ terrâ et caligine mersas,' but bright and smiling under an Italian sun. The Stygian lake is now called Mare Morto, and is little more than a marsh, though, in the time of the Roman emperors, it was the inner basin of the harbour of Cape Misenum. The Elysian fields extend along its banks, and the great number of tombs found in them makes it probable, that the plain was used at a very remote period as a burial-place. There can be little doubt, that Virgil kept before his eyes these real localities, while painting from imagination the realms below; and some obscure and difficult passages seem to prove, that at times he confounded, in his own mind, fictitious with actual topography. The whole book is of such a novel and peculiar character, that some preliminary information, more general than what could be given in the notes, seems to be necessary before the pupil can comprehend the design of the poet, or follow with an intelligent eye the thread of his

narration.

1-5. immittit habenas,' loosed the reins, instead of spread all sail; Virgil is fond of metaphors taken from races. 'Eubofcisoris,' approaches the Eubean shores of Cuma; see "Geography" &c. Obvertunt- proras'; the ships were stationed with their prows pointing towards the sea, so that they might quickly put off. 'fundabat,' stayed, held firmly: 'emicat ardens,' eagerly leaped forth.

6-8. quærit silicis'; a poetical phrase for striking a light, in order to kindle a fire; seeds of flame instead of sparks. ' rapit,' 'cursu understood; pass hastily through densa Tecta ferarum, silvas,' the thick forests, the habitations of wild beasts: flumina'; their purpose

was to find fresh water.

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9-13. arces ་ - immane,' the mountain height over which lofty Apollo presides, and the remote and private dwelling of the dreadful Sibyl, in a vast cave: magnam mentem animumque,' an enlightened intellect and lofty spirit: Delius vates'; Apollo. Triviæ,' of Hecate; this grove was on the side of the hill, the top of which was crowned with the temple of Apollo.

14. Dædalus, as the report goes, flying from the kingdom of Minos. This famous artist, an Athenian by birth, resided long in Crete, where he built the labyrinth for king Minos. But, by ministering to the passions of Pasiphae, he incurred the displeasure of that king, who shut up him and his son Icarus in a tower. But Dædalus made wings out of wax and feathers, and they both flew away. Icarus, flying too high, the heat of the sun melted his wings, and he dropped into that part of the Mediterranean, afterwards called from him the Icarian sea. Dædalus directed his course towards the cold north, and alighted at Cumæ, where he built this temple to Apollo.

16-9.enavit,' flew; the similarity between flying and swimming is noted again in the phrase 'Remigium alarum,' instead of 'alas.' 'Chalcidica arce,' on the Chalcidian summit, from Chalcis, a city of Euboea, whence the colonists of Cume came.

20-2. 'In Androgei,' on the doors was sculptured the death of Androgeus; he was a son of Minos, and being often victorious at the Grecian games, the jealous Athenians slew him. For this cause, they were attacked and vanquished by Minos, who sentenced them to pay a yearly tribute of seven Athenian youths, and as many maidens, who were sent to Crete to be devoured in the labyrinth by the Minotaur. 'Cecropidae'; the Athenians were thus called from their first king Cecrops: septena quotannis,' seven each year: Corpora natorum,' for natos': 'stat—urna'; the victims were selected by lot.

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