657. Cytherea. Consult note on v. 257.-Novas artes versat. "Revolves new artifices."-658. Faciem mutatus. "Changed in form." Facies, though usually denoting the face or visage, is sometimes, as here, taken for the whole person.

659. Donisque furentem incendat, &c. "And inflame with the gifts the impassioned queen, and inwrap the fire (of love) into her very bones," i. e. introduce, or cause to enter, &c. Cicero uses implicare in a similar way. (De Divin. i. 36.) Some connect donis with furentem, but improperly.-661. Quippe domum timet, &c. "For she fears the line of dubious faith, and the Tyrians of double tongue," i. e. the treacherous Tyrians, who utter words in two senses, a true and a false one. Bilingues properly means "speaking two languages." The bad faith of the Carthaginians (Punica fides) became proverbial among the Romans.-Domum ambiguam. Venus suspects the line of Dido, from the specimen of treachery that had been given by Pygmalion. We have altered the punctuation of this passage with Wagner. The common text has a period after ignem, and a semicolon after bilingues, which pointing will give quippe the force of "namely." 662. Urit. "Disquiets her." Supply eam.-Sub noctem. "With the night." More literally, "at the approach of night." The poet represents the goddess, like an ordinary mortal, passing sleepless nights through anxiety for her son.-664. Meæ vires. "My strength," i. e. true source of all thy mother's mighty influence.-665. Patris summi Typhoïa tela. "The giant-quelling bolts of the omnipotent Father." Literally, "the Typhoïan missiles," i. e. the thunderbolts with which Jupiter smote down the monstrous giant Typhoëus, when he warred against the skies.

666. Tua numina. "Thy aid.”—667. Ut. "How."-668. Nota tibi. "Is well known to thee." The plural for the singular, notum tibi est, in imitation of an idiom prevalent among the Greek tragic writers. Thus, δεδογμέν ̓ ὡς ἔοικε, τήνδε κατθανεῖν, “ It is decreed, as it seems, that this female die." (Soph. Antig. 576.)

670. Hunc. "This brother of thine."-671. Et vereor, quo, &c. "And I fear me, whither this Junonian hospitality may be tending," i. e. this hospitality in a city over which Juno presides.-672. Haud tanto cessabit, &c. "She will not cease (from her machinations) in so critical a posture of affairs." More literally, at so important a hinging-point of affairs."

673. Capere ante dolis, &c. i e. to surround the queen so effectually with love for Eneas, that this may form an irresistible barrier to any evil machinations of Juno.-674. Ne quo se numine mutet. "That she may not change her sentiments through the influence of any divinity."

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676. Qua. "In what way." Supply ratione.-Nostram nunc accipe mentem. Listen now to my scheme."-677. Regius puer. Ascanius, as Æneas is often called rex Eneas.-679. Pelago et flammis, &c. Remaining from the deep and the flames of Troy."-680. Super alta Cythera, &c. "I will hide in my own sacred abode in lofty Cythera or in Idalium." The preposition super is not unfrequently used for in and ad, where lofty places are referred to. Thus Ovid: "Super alta perennis Astra ferar" (Met. xv. 875); and again in Livy, "Castris super ripam positis" (xxi. 5). On the other hand, sub is similarly used in speaking of low situations, as, for example, of valleys; thus, "Vidimus obscuris primum sub vallibus urbem.” (Virg. En. ix. 244.)

Cythera. The Greek accusative plural. Cythera was an island in the Ægean Sea, to the south of Laconia. It was celebrated in fable as having received Venus on her rising from the sea, and hence was sacred to her.-681. Idalium. A mountain and grove in the island of Cyprus, sacred to Venus.-682. Ne quâ scire dolos, &c. "That

he may not in any way be able to learn our stratagem, or present himself in the very midst of it." More literally, "come in contact with us, ," "meet us," and thereby disconcert our schemes.

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683. Tu faciem illius, &c. "Do thou, with guileful art, counterfeit his form," &c. Falle faciem a concise mode of speaking for faciem ejus simulando falle, "deceive by assuming his form."-684. Puer. A boy thyself "—686. Laticemque Lyæum. "And the liquor of Lyæus," i. e. wine. Bacchus was called Lycus, in Greek Avaios, from Xów, "to release," or "free," because he frees the mind from cares.-687. Figet. "Shall imprint."-688. Occultum inspires, &c. "Thou mayest breathe into her the hidden fire, and deceive her with thy poison."

691. Ascanio placidam, &c. "Bedews with placid sleep the limbs of Ascanius." The expression, irrigat per membra quietem, is poetic for irrigat membra quiete. Sleep descends upon Ascanius with its refreshing influence like the dew of the night upon the face of nature. Hence a Greek poet would speak of vурòç üπvоç, "humid sleep." -692. Fotum. "Cherished." Venus is compared to a fond parent cherishing her offspring in her bosom.

693. Ubi mollis amaracus, &c. "Where the soft marjoram, breathing upon, embraces him with its flowers and fragrant shade." The perfume of the amaracus (sweet-marjoram) is said to produce sleep, and, according to Pliny (H. N. xxi. 11), the best grew in Cyprus, whither Ascanius is now conveyed. Observe the beautiful image in aspirans: the flower breathes upon the boy, and steeps his senses in

repose.

696. Duce lætus Achate. Equivalent to duce gaudens Achate, and a mere ornamental expression for Achatem habens ducem.-697. Aulais jam se regina, &c. "The queen has already taken her seat on a golden couch (adorned) with rich coverings, and has placed herself in the midst." Not, as some maintain, on the middle seat or recliningplace of the couch, the seats on either side of her being intended respectively for Æneas and the false Ascanius; but, simply, occupy ing what would be in modern parlance the head of the table, with the couches for the guests, both Trojans and Tyrians, arranged on each side and extending down the hall.

Aulais. By these are here meant, not hangings, but couchcoverings, or vestes stragulæ.-698. Aureâ. To be pronounced, in scanning, as a dissyllable, aura.-Spondâ. Properly the open side of the couch, at which persons entered. It is here put for the couch itself.-Locavit. Supply sese.

700. Stratoque super, &c. "And recline upon the outspread purple," i. e. upon the couches over which are spread purple counterpanes, or vestes stragulæ. Literally, "it is reclined (by them)." Observe the force of dis in discumbitur, as referring to the different places of the guests on the different couches. The poet here speaks in accordance with Roman custom. This people reclined at their meals. On each couch there were commonly three persons. They lay with the upper part of the body reclined on the left arm, the head a little raised, the back supported by cushions, and the limbs

stretched out at full length, or a little bent; the feet of the first behind the back of the second, and his feet behind the back of the third, with a pillow between each. When they ate, they raised themselves on their elbow, and made use of the right hand. A banqueting-room generally contained three couches (Tpeiç kλīvai), holding nine guests, and, from the number of couches, was called triclinium.

701. Dant famuli, &c. Water is carried around for cleansing the hands of the guests previous to eating. It was poured from a ewer upon the hands of the person, a basin being held under.-Cereremque canistris, &c." And supply bread from baskets." Ceres, the goddess of husbandry, is here put by metonymy for bread. The loaves of the ancients were generally circular, and more or less flat.

702. Tonsisque ferunt, &c. "And bring towels with shorn nap." The mantilia here meant were woollen, with a soft and even nap. They were intended for drying the hands after washing, and also to answer as napkins. They would be particularly needful in the latter case, as the ancients ate with their fingers.

703. Quinquaginta intus famula, &c. "In the interior of the mansion were fifty maid-servants." Intus here marks the place where the culinary operations were conducted.-704. Penum struere, et flammis, &c. "To arrange the food for culinary purposes, and enlarge the auspicious influence of the Penates by means of fires at the hearth," i. e. to bring out the family-stores from the penus, and cook the viands at the hearth. The Penates presided over the penus, or general receptacle of family-stores. They were supposed also to exercise an influence over those operations by which food was rendered more available for human purposes; operations, namely, of a culinary nature, by which the extent of their beneficial superintendence would be greatly enlarged. This idea lies at the bottom of adolere, which is used here in precisely the same sense as in the Moretum of Virgil, v. 38, where gelidos adolere liquores means render the cold water more available," "to increase its usefulness," to enlarge the sphere of its action." So adolere verbenas, thura, hostiam, &c., to make the vervain, the frankincense, the victim, have a more enlarged action or influence; in other words, to burn them on the altar, and thus, as it were, enlarge their sphere of action, and convert them into means of propitiating the gods.

706. Qui onerent

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to

ponant. Equivalent to quibus cura est ut ponant. Hence we see why the subjunctive is preferable here to the indicative.

onerent

707. Per limina læta frequentes, &c. "Assemble in great numbers throughout the joyous avenues of the mansion," i. e. joyous, because about to be the scene of festivity. Limina is here put by synecdoche for domus.-708. Toris pictis. "On the embroidered couches." Pictis is a beautiful epithet here, meaning, literally, "painted," i. e. by the needle.-710. Flagrantesque Dei vultus. "And the glowing countenance of the god." The reference is particularly to the sparkling fire of the eyes.-711. Pictum. "Embroidered along its border."

712. Infelix Phoenissa. "The unhappy Phoenician (queen)," i. e. Dido.-Pesti devota futuræ. "Wholly given up to a passion destined to be her destruction." Literally, "devoted unto future destruction." 713. Expleri mentem nequit. "Cannot be satisfied in mind," i. e. cannot sate the feelings that disquiet her.

715. Ubi complexu Æneæ, &c. "After he had hung in the em

brace and on the neck of Æneas, and had gratified the ardent affection of him who was not his parent." Literally, "of his false parent." Servius explains falsi by "qui fallebatur," but this is extremely harsh.-717. Reginam petit. These words seem plainly to favour the idea that Æneas and the pretended Ascanius were reclining apart from Dido, and not occupying the same couch with the queen.-718. Hæret. Keeps clinging to him."-Fovet. "Fondles

him."

Inscia Dido, &c. "(She) Dido being ignorant how mighty a god is settling down upon her, a wretched one," i. e. is bearing down upon her with all his power. We have placed a semicolon after fovet, so as to make a new clause commence with inscia. This gives a more forcible turn to the sentence than the common pointing, namely, a comma after foret.-719. Insidat. Wagner prefers insideat, a verb of rest, and explains it by the peculiar position of the parties, the queen being in a reclining posture on the couch, and the boy resting upon her bosom.

720. Matris Acidaliæ. "Of his Acidalian mother." Venus was called Acidalia, from a fountain of the same name at Orchomenus in Boeotia, which was sacred to her, and in which the Graces, her handmaids, were wont to bathe.-Abolere Sychæum. "To efface (from her bosom the image of) Sychæus."-721. Et vivo tentat, &c. "And strives to preoccupy with a living love her feelings long since unmoved by passion, and her heart (long) unaccustomed to its control." Observe the force of præ in composition: i. e. before the remembrance of Sychæus again becomes powerful.

723. Postquam prima quies, &c. "After the first cessation had taken place unto the banquet, and the viands were removed,” i. e. after the mere eating was gone through with. Mense is here merely equivalent to dapes, and there is no reference whatever to the Homeric custom of removing the tables themselves. In verse 736, Dido pours out a libation upon the table still remaining before her.

724. Crateras magnos statuunt. "They set down large mixers." The crater was a vessel in which the wine, according to the custom of the ancients, who very seldom drank it pure, was mixed with water, and from which the cups were filled. The liquid was conveyed from the crater into the drinking-cups by means of a cyathus, or small ladle.

Et vina coronant. "And crown the wine," i. e. deck with garlands the mixer containing the liquor. Buttmann, in his Lexilogus (p. 293, 294, Eng. Transl.), has very satisfactorily shown that we are not, in rendering these words, to think of the Homeric Torέpeo@aι TOTOTO, "to fill high with wine," since Virgil, in that case, would have written oinoque coronant.

725. Fit strepitus tectis. "A loud din arises throughout the hall." The noise of many voices engaged in conversation.-Dependent lychni, &c. "Blazing lamps hang down from the fretted ceilings overlaid with gold." The ceilings of the Roman houses seem originally to have been left uncovered, the beams which supported the roof, or the upper story, being visible. Afterwards planks were placed across these beams, at certain intervals, leaving hollow spaces called lacunaria, or laquearia, which were frequently covered with gold and ivory, and sometimes with paintings.

728. Gravem gemmis auroque .

66 pateram. A bowl heavy with gems and gold," i. e. a golden patera studded with gems. The patera

was a broad and comparatively shallow bowl, used for libations, and also for drinking out of at banquets. They were not always supplied with handles.

729. Implevitque mero, &c. Unmixed wine (mero) was always used for libations.-Belus. Not the father of Dido, but a distant ancestor, and probably the founder of the line.-Et omnes a Belo. "And all from Belus (downward)," i. e. and all his descendants.—730. Soliti. "Were wont to fill." Supply implere.

of

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731. Jupiter. Dido here offers up a prayer to Jupiter as the god hospitality.-Hospitibus. "To those who are connected by the ties of hospitality," i. e. to both guest and host.-732. Hunc lætum Tyriisque, &c. May it be thy pleasure, that this day prove a joyous one to both the Tyrians and those who have come from Troy."733. Nostrosque hujus, &c. "And that our descendants may hold this (same day) in their remembrance," i. e. may remember to celebrate it as often as it returns. With minores supply natu.

734. Et bona Juno. "And propitious Juno."-735. Cœtum. "The present meeting."-Faventes. "With favouring feelings."-763. Et in mensam laticum, &c. " And poured out upon the table a libation of the honouring liquor," i. e. of wine, the liquor wont to be poured out in honour of the gods.-736. Laticum. For laticis. The plural, as more intensive, is here put for the singular.-737. Libato. "The libation having been made," i. e. a part of the wine having been thus poured out. With libato supply vino.-Summo tenus attigit ore. "She touched (the remaining contents of the bowl) with the tip of her lips."-738. Increpitans. With a chiding air," i. e. with the air and manner of one playfully chiding him for his apparent delay, and conveying a challenge, as it were, to drain the cup.-Impiger hausit. "Not slowly drained." Some incorrectly render hausit "seized."-739. Et pleno se proluit auro. "And drenched himself with the contents of the full golden cup." Compare Horace (Sat. i. 5, 16), multâ prolutus vappâ, "drenched with plenty of poor wine."

740. Cithara crinitus Iopas, &c. "The long-haired Iopas, with his golden lyre, pours forth in loud song what things mightiest Atlas had taught him." Some editions read quem maximus Atlas, &c., "whom mightiest Atlas had taught;" but the words "Iopas cithara personat" require an accusative of the object, not of the subject.—Singers at banquets generally wore their hair long, in imitation of Apollo.

741. Maximus Atlas. Atlas, king of Mauritania, was celebrated in fable for his acquaintance with the heavenly bodies, and also for his invention of the sphere. In this way some explained the other fable of his supporting the heavens.

"And

742. Errantem lunam. "Of the wandering moon," i. e. of the path described by the moon in the heavens.-Solisque labores. of the eclipses of the sun," i. e. eclipses and their causes.-743. Ignes. "The fires of heaven," i. e. the lightning.-744. Arcturum. Arcturus is a star near the tail of the Great Bear (äρкTog, ovρa), in the constellation of Boötes.-Pluviasque Hyadas. "And the rainy Hyades." The Hyades are stars at the head of the Bull, whose setting, both in the evening and morning twilight, was a sure harbinger of rainy weather. Their number is variously given; most commonly, however, as seven. The name Hyades ('Yadeç) is derived from "w," to rain."

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Geminosque Triones. "And the two Bears," i. e. the Greater and