the Less. The literal meaning of Triones is "the ploughing oxen," this being the name more commonly applied to the two bears by the Romans. Hence Septemtrio, and also Septemtriones, "the North," i. e. the seven stars, or oxen (triones), forming the constellation of the Great Bear, near the North Pole.

745. Quid tantum Oceano, &c. "Why the winter-suns hasten so much to dip themselves in the ocean, or what delay impedes the slowmoving nights," i. e. why the days are so short in winter, and the nights so long.-747. Ingeminant plausu. "Redouble their plaudits." More poetical and elegant than ingeminant plausum.-Troësque sequuntur. "And the Trojans follow their example."

748. Vario noctem sermone trahebat. "Prolonged the night in varied converse." More elegant than sermonem trahebat in noctem.—749. Longumque bibebat amorem. "And drank in long draughts of love." 751. Aurore filius. Memnon, who was slain by Achilles. Servius says that the arms of Memnon were fabricated by Vulcan, but this is a mere figment of the grammarians. Dido's curiosity was excited by Memnon's having come from the remotest East, and she was anxious merely to ascertain his particular costume.-752. Diomedis equi. The horses of Rhesus, which had been carried off by Diomede. Consult 1. 472.-Quantus. i. e. how great in bodily strength and in heroic valour. No allusion is meant to any greatness of size.

755. Septima astas. "The seventh summer," i. e. year.

BOOK SECOND.

1. Conticuere omnes, &c. "All became silent, and kept their looks (fixed upon him) in deep attention." The aorist conticuere denotes an instantaneous result; the imperfect, tenebant, a continued action. -Intenti. Much stronger than attenti would have been. The latter is merely opposed to negligentes; whereas the former is a metaphorical expression, borrowed from the bending of a bow, and indicates, therefore, an eager degree of attention.

2. Alto. "Lofty." A mere ornamental epithet. The couches of the ancients, at banquets, were generally high, in order to display to more advantage the rich coverings and other ornaments, and were ascended by means of a bench or steps. Æneas begins his narrative while reclining on one of these.

3. Infandum. "Unutterable."-4. Ut. "To tell how."-Lamentabile. "Worthy of being lamented."-5. Quæque ipse miserrima vidi, &c. "As well as those most afflicting scenes which I myself beheld, and of which I formed a large part," i. e. and in which I personally took a conspicuous share.-6. Quis talia fando, &c. "Who of the Myrmidons, or Dolopians, or what soldier of the cruel Ulysses, can refrain from tears while relating such things?" Observe the unusual employment of the gerund, equivalent to quum talia fatur.Myrmidonum, &c. The Myrmidones and Dolopes were both Thessalian tribes under the sway of Achilles, and forming part of his forces before Troy. The Dolopes were under the immediate command of Phoenix, the friend and former preceptor of the son of Peleus.— 8. Temperet. Supply sibi. Observe the difference between temperare

with the accusative, "to regulate," and temperare with the dative, "to restrain."

9. Præcipitat. Supply se. Night is here personified, and, like the sun, moves through the heavens in a chariot. Her course is from east to west, along an imaginary arc, or semicircle, the middle point of which is the zenith, or the part of the heavens directly over our heads. The first half of her course is an ascending, the latter half a descending one, and on completing her route she plunges with her car into the western ocean. Præcipitat here refers to the latter half of her course, when the chariot of night plunges downward, after leaving the zenith, and hence the time indicated by the words of Eneas is shortly after midnight.

Suadentque cadentia sidera, &c. "And the sinking stars invite to repose." Literally, "advise slumbers." Cadentia must not be rendered "setting." The idea intended to be conveyed is merely this, that the stars had now passed the meridian, and commenced their downward course; in other words that it was now past midnight. Ruæus, therefore, is entirely wrong in making Æneas not begin his story until the stars were setting, that is, until near break of day. As the narrative is a long one, and occupies two books, it could not possibly have been concluded until broad daylight, which would be inconsistent with the commencement of the fourth book.

10. Amor. "A desire."-Cognoscere. "To become acquainted with." The infinitive is here employed, by a Græcism, for the genitive of the gerund, cognoscendi," of becoming acquainted with." So in the next line, audire for audiendi. 11. Supremum laborem. "The last (sad)

effort."

12. Meminisse horret, &c. "Shudders at the remembrance, and habitually shrinks back through grief." Refugit is here employed, not, as Servius thinks, merely for the sake of the metre, but as the aorist to denote what is habitual and customary. It is equivalent therefore, to refugere solet.-13. Incipiam. "I (nevertheless) will begin."

Fracti. "Broken in spirit."-Fatisque repulsi. "And repelled by the Fates," i. e., in their every attempt to take the city. It was fated that Troy should not be taken until after a siege of nine years. 15. Instar montis. "As vast as a mountain." Consult note on vi. 865. 16. Sectâ abiete. "With cut fir," i. e. with planks of fir. Abiete must be pronounced here as a word of three syllables, ab-yěte. 17. Votum pro reditu simulant. "They pretend that it has been vowed for a (safe) return," i. e. that it is a votive offering to Minerva, intended to propitiate the goddess, and secure a favourable return to their homes. Votum here is not a noun, but is put for rotum esse, as referring to equum.-Vagatur. "Spreads."

18. Huc delecta virum, &c. "Hither, having selected them by lot, (they bring, and) shut up within its dark sides chosen warriors." Literally, "chosen bodies of warriors." Observe the double construction in huc includunt, implying a bringing to, and shutting up within.-20. Armato milite. "With armed soldiery." This story of the wooden horse was derived from the Odyssey, and from the Cyclic poets; but the skill with which Virgil has raised this idle fiction into importance is worthy of all praise.

21. Est in conspectu Tenedos. "There lies in view (of the Trojan land) Tenedos." The distance between this island and the mainland is only forty stadia, or a little more than four and a half miles.—

Notissima famâ. Heyne refers these words to the reputation which the temple and worship of Apollo Smintheus procured for the island. The poet, however, would rather seem to have had in view the sentiments and opinions of later times, when the island had become conspicuous in the songs of the posthomeric bards.

22. Dives opum. "Abounding in wealth." Heyne refers this to the riches of the temple. The allusion, however, seems to be a more general one, to the wealth of the inhabitants.-23. Nunc tantum sinus, &c. "At present there is merely a bay there, and a faithless station for ships," i. e. a station on the security of which no continued reliance can be placed.

"We

25. Nos abiisse rati &c., i. e. nos rati sumus eos abiisse. concluded that they were gone and had sought Mycenae with the wind."-Mycenas. By synecdoche, for Greece in general; the capital of the leader of the expedition, for the whole country whence his forces came.

26. Omnis Teucria. "All Troy." Servius supplies gens; Heyne regio. The former is preferable. The country itself was generally called after Dardanus; the people themselves, after Teucer, son of the

river-god Scamander.-27. Dorica castra. "The Grecian camp." A more euphonious reading would have been Doria castra. Virgil here follows the later and posthomeric poets, in making Dorica equivalent to Græca. Homer calls the Greeks by the general name of Achæi, Argiri, and Danai, but never by that of Dorians; and the reason is because the Doric race did not become a ruling power in Greece until eighty years after the fall of Troy, when they invaded the Peloponnesus along with the Heraclidæ.

29. Dolopum. The Dolopians are not mentioned by Homer among the forces of Achilles; still, however, as we learn from Eustathius, they formed part of his troops. They were under the sway of Peleus, and, as we have already remarked in note, 1. 3, were led to the Trojan war by Phoenix. Virgil, in the conspicuous mention which he makes of them, appears to have followed some posthomeric legend. -Tendebat. Lay encamped." Literally, "stretched their tents." Supply tentoria. There is an anachronism in tendebat. The Grecian troops at Troy were in huts not in tents.

66

30. Classibus hic locus. "Here was the spot for the vessels of the fleet," i. e. here was the naval encampment. The Greeks, after landing, drew their vessels up on shore, and surrounded them on the land side with a rampart. Classibus properly denotes here the armaments of the several tribes and communities, as forming, in the aggregate, the main fleet.-Hic acie certare solebant. "Here (the respective armies) were wont to contend in battle array." The common text has acies, but acie is much more elegant and spirited.

31. Pars stupet, &c. "Some gaze stupidly at the fatal offering to the spotless Minerva, and (then again) they express their wonder at the vast bulk of the horse." The horse is here called the offering of (i. e. intended for) that goddess. Some think that stupet and mirantur are inconsistent with each other, but the poet does not mean to indicate contemporaneous, but successive emotions. The feeling of stupid amazement comes first, and then that of active wonder succeeds.

32. Thymoetes. Servius cites a legend to the following effect: It had been predicted that a boy should be born on a certain day, who would prove the ruin of Troy. On the day fixed by this prophecy,

both the wife of Thymoetes, and Hecuba, Priam's queen, were delivered of sons, and the monarch immediately thereupon ordered the wife and child of Thymotes to be put to death, which was accordingly done. Hence Thymoetes, on the occasion mentioned in the text, was actuated in the advice which he gave by a desire of vengeance.-33. Duci put for ut ducatur. So locari for locetur. Virgil makes the Trojans display somewhat more wisdom than Homer ascribes to them on this occasion. With the former they deliberate before the horse enters the city; with the latter, after it has reached the citadel. (Odyss. viii. 504, seqq.)

Arce locari. Heyne thinks that this means in the temple of Minerva in the citadel. The size of the horse, however, militates against such an idea.-34. Dolo. Consult note on line 32.-Seu jam Troja, &c. "Or (because) the destinies of Troy now determined so." Literally, 66 now brought it so (along with them)."

35. Capys. Already mentioned among the followers of Æneas, in i. 183.-Et quorum melior, &c. "And they whose minds were influ

enced by wiser sentiments." Literally, "to whose mind there was a better opinion."—36. Aut pelago Danaúm, &c. "Bid us either cast headlong into the deep the treacherous snare and suspected offerings of the Greeks, and consume it by flames placed beneath." Insidias Danaum and suspecta dona refer to the horse.-37. Subjectisque. We have retained this reading with Wagner in place of subjectisce, which is adopted by Hunter, Voss, and others. The copulative is here perfectly correct, the proposition being twofold, either to destroy or bore through the horse, and the first part being subdivided into destruction by water and by fire. (Consult Wagner, Quæst. Virg. xxxiv. 1.)

38. Terebrare et tentare. "To bore through and explore." Tentare, literally, "to make trial of," is here elegantly used for explorare.39. Scinditur incertum, &c. "The wavering population are divided into conflicting opinions."

40. Primus ante omnes. "First before all." Alluding to the crowd that followed him.-41. Ardens. "With impetuous zeal."42. Et procul. "And while yet afar (exclaims)."-43. Avectos, i. e. have sailed away to Greece.-44. Sic notus Ulixes? "Is Ulysses thus known to you :" i. e. do you know so little of the deep and crafty character of Ulysses, as to suppose that he would allow such an opportunity as this to pass unimproved?

47. Inspectura domos, &c. "To command a view of our dwellings, and to come down from above upon our city." The idea is borrowed from some large military engine, or tower, which is filled with men and brought near to some city. They who are within this machine obtain first a view of the place from their high position, and then, by means of small bridges (pontes), descend upon the city walls. Somewhat in a similar way the armed men in the belly of the horse will descend upon the city of Troy.

"Even

48. Aut aliquis latet error. "Or else some other guile lurks within it." Aliquis for alius quis.-49. Et dona ferentes. when bringing gifts," i. e. unto the gods, or even when wearing the garb of religion.

50. Validis ingentem viribus, &c. "He hurled his huge spear with powerful strength against the side and against the belly of the beast swelling out with its joined timbers," i. e. where the timbers, let into one another, imitated the curvature of a horse's side.

52. Tremens. "Quivering."-Uteroque recusso, &c. "And the womb being shaken by the blow, its hollow caverns resounded and gave forth a groan."

54. Et si fata deúm, &c. "And if the destinies of heaven had not been against us; if our own minds had not been infatuated, he would have impelled us to mutilate with the steel the Grecian lurking-places." "Observe the zeugma in læra, which has one meaning as applied to fata, and another when referring to mens.-55. Impulerat. Heyne and others make this stand for impulisset. But the indicative implies that he would certainly have impelled them to the step, had not the two causes just mentioned operated against him. On the other hand, impulisset expresses uncertainty; "he might perhaps have impelled," &c. Impulerat, therefore, may be literally rendered " he had impelled."

Fodare. A strong term. To hack and hew, and thus render an object all unsightly and repulsive; in other words, fœdum aliquid facere.-56. Trojaque nunc staret, &c. "And Troy would now be standing, and thou, lofty palace of Priam, wouldst still remain." We have adopted staret, with Wagner, instead of stares, which makes a disagreeable jingle with maneres. Virgil evidently wrote staret to avoid this similarity of termination; and, besides, there is far more of feeling in the sudden change from the nominative to the vocative. So vii. 684: "Quos dixes Anagnia pascit: Quos, Amasene pater.”

57. Manus rerinctum. "Bound tightly as to his hands." Manus is the accusative of nearer definition.-59. Dardanida. Equivalent to Trojani. Qui se ultro, &c. i. e. who had purposely thrown himself in their way.-60. Hoc ipsum ut strueret. "That he might bring about this very result," i.e. to be arrested by them and brought before Priam. More literally, "that he might put this same thing in train."

61. Fidens animi. "Resolute of spirit." More poetical than animo fidenti.-Atque in utrumque paratus, &c. "And prepared for either issue, whether to execute his treacherous purpose, or to encounter certain death." 62. Versare equivalent to agitare or exercere, "to put into active and unremitted operation."

63. Visendi. For videndi or aspiciendi.-64. Circumfusa ruit. "Pour tumultuously around." Equivalent to circumfunditur.-Certantque illudere capto. "And vie with one another in insulting the captive."

65. Accipe nunc, &c. "Listen now to the treachery of the Greeks, and from one instance of wickedness learn the character of the whole nation." With accipe supply auribus.—Crimine ab uno. Equivalent, in fact, to ab (or ex) scelere unius. "From the wickedness of one of their number."

67. Namque ut conspectu, &c. "For, as he stood amid the gaze of all, with an agitated air, completely defenceless, and looked all around with earnest gaze upon the Trojan bands.”—Turbatus, inermis. Observe the force imparted to the clause by the absence of the connective conjunction-68. Oculis circumspexit. An expression beautifully graphic. We see Sinon looking slowly around him, and fixing his earnest gaze in succession on various parts of the surrounding group. Observe, also, the art of the poet in making the line a spondaic one, so that the cadence of the verse may be an echo to the

sense.

70. Quid mihi, &c. Sinon means that the land is shut against him