Silenum pueri somno videre jacentem, ject of his eclogue, and relates Silenum.] Elian tells us, that Silenus was the son of a nymph and that he was of a nature inferior to the gods, but superior to mortals. Ut semper.] These words express the perpetual drunkenness of Silenus. Iaccho.] One of the names of Bacchus. It is here put for wine. Procul tantum.] I believe we may agree with Ruæus, that procul always signifies at some distance, how little soever : but at the same time I must say, that on a careful consideration of all the numerous passages, where Virgil has used this word, it may generally be understood to mean at a very small distance within reach, or within sight, so that they who derive procul from porro ob oculis, or pro oculis, do not seem greatly to err. With regard to procul tantum, am verily persuaded, that it may be rendered near, or just by: for as tantum non signifies nearly, or almost, that is, barely not; so tantum procul may be well understood to signify, barely at a I 15 distance, or hardly at any distance at all, that is, near, or just by. Capiti.] For capite. The ancients often made the ablative to end in i instead of e. Et gravis attrita, &c.] The cantharus was a sort of drinking vessel, with ears or handles, sacred to Bacchus, and therefore properly made use of by his tutor. Marius is accused by Pliny of insolence, for having presumed to drink out of these vessels, after his victory over the Cimbri. There is something very expressive in the description which the poet gives of the flaggon in this line. It is said to be gravis, heavy, to denote its capaciousness: the handle is attrita, battered with much use and the flaggon hangs down by the handle; he is too drunk to sustain it, and too fond of it, even in this almost senseless condition, to let it go out of his hand. Ambo.] The ancients frequently wrote ambo for ambos. Injiciunt ipsis ex vincula sertis.] These inferior deities or demigods seem also to have required some force to be used, in order to gain an answer from them. In this manner Proteus is treated by Aristæus, in the fourth Georgick. Thus Ovid also, in the third book of his Fasti, represents Faunus and Picus sur BUCOLIC. ECL. VI. Addit se sociam, timidisque supervenit Ægle : prised by Numa. These deities Timidis.] These youngsters were afraid by themselves to attack Silenus, and therefore a Naiad assists them. It seems by this, that Chromis and Mnasylus were rather young shepherds than satyrs: for if they had been satyrs, they would not have been so much afraid of Silenus; nor would they have wanted the assistance of a nymph. Egle Naiadum pulcherrima.] Egle is said to have been the daughter of the Sun and Neæra. The Naiads were the nymphs, that presided over running water. Here Virgil makes four syllables of Naiadum: in the tenth eclogue he makes but three syllables of Naiades; Naiades indigno cum Gallus amore periret. Jamque videnti.] That is, just when he began to open his eyes: when he was beginning to re cover from the effects of his drunkenness. Sanguineis frontem moris, &c.] Servius says, many are of opinion that this alludes to the red colour, being sacred to the gods. Guellius thinks this painting of the face of Silenus with mulberries was to make a jest of him, fucum faciens, illudens, et os seni, ut Comicus inquit, sublinens. But La Cerda proves, that the opinion mentioned by Servius is right, and plainly shews, that the ancient Romans did really paint the images of their gods red. Hence he concludes, that Ægle did not paint his face to make a jest of him, but to render him more propitious. Pan is represented as stained with the same colour, in the tenth eclogue, ver. 26; Servius, and other commentators tell us, that the poet here alludes to the well known story of Pyramus and Thisbe, in which the mulberries are said to have been white at first; but that they became red by being stained with the blood of those lovers. But we have seen, in the passage just quoted, that the epithet sanguineis or blood-red is given to the dwarf-elder. Ille dolum ridens, &c.] Silenus waking and finding himself bound, laughs at the trick, and gives them such a song as draws the deities of the woods about him, and makes the very woods bend their heads to hear. Solvite me, pueri: satis est potuisse videri. Nec tantum Rhodope mirantur et Ismarus Orphea. Satis est potuisse videri.] According to Servius, the demigods were visible only when they thought fit. If this be the case, Chromis and Mnasylus must have been shepherds; for surely Silenus was always visible to the satyrs. In numerum.] That is, to the measure of his song; they kept time with the music. Faunos.] The Fauns are rural deities; as we read in the first Georgick; -Agrestum præsentia numina Fauni. They are called Fauns a fando, because they speak personally to men. See the note on ver. 10. of the first Georgick. Parnassia rupes.] See the note on ver. 291. of the third Georgick. Rhodope.] A mountain of Thrace, the country of Orpheus. This mountain is represented as resounding the lamentations of the Dryads for the death of that poet's wife Eurydice, in the fourth Georgick, 25 30 Ismarus.] A mountain of Thrace. See the note on ver. 37. of the second Georgick. Orphea.] See the notes on ver. 454. of the fourth Georgick. Namque canebat, &c.] Silenus begins his song with describing the creation of the world, according to the Epicurean philosophy.-According to the doctrine of Epicurus, there were two principles of all things, body, and void; that is, matter, and space. The particles, or smallest parts of matter, are solid and indivisible; but by accidentally uniting, they form compound bodies. These particles or atoms, of which all visible bodies are compounded, our poet calls seeds. By the immense void, is meant the space in which these bodies are moved about, and find opportunities of uniting. Anima.] Anima seems also to have been used for air by Lucretius, in his sixth book: Ventus ubi, atque animæ subito vis maxima. Omnia, et ipse tener mundi concreverit orbis. Tum durare solum, et discludere Nerea ponto Cœperit, et rerum paulatim sumere formas: Jamque novum ut terræ stupeant lucescere solem, Altius atque cadant submotis nubibus imbres : Incipiant sylvæ cum primum surgere, cumque Rara per ignotos errent animalia montes. Hinc lapides Pyrrhæ jactos, Saturnia regna, Caucaseasque refert volucres, furtumque Promethei, Marisque.] The poet uses the sea for water in general. Discludere Nerea ponto.] The meaning of this passage is, that the earth, by growing compact and solid, forced the waters to retire from it, and to form the seas. That is, by this means the sea was separated or distinguished, which is the proper meaning of discludere.-Nereus, a sea-god, and father of the Nereids, is here put for the waters. Pontus is used for the cavity of the sea. Novum solem.] The poet does not, as some imagine, speak according to the opinion of those who imagine the sun to perish every night, and be renewed the next morning. He only means the first appearance of the sun in the new formed world. Hinc lapides, &c.] Silenus, having sung of the first formation of the world, proceeds to mention the renovation of it by Pyrrha, Saturn, and Prometheus; and then adds some other ancient fables, wherein he shews the evil consequences that follow perturbations of the mind, 35 40 the impure passion of Hercules for Hylas, the unnatural lust of Pasiphae, the vanity of the daughters of Prœtus, the avarice of Atalanta, and the ambition of Phaeton. Thus, as Catrou has justly observed, it is without reason that some have blamed Virgil for connecting these stories with an account of the formation of the world.These fables are not introduced at random; for they set forth the moral doctrine of Epicurus, that we ought to avoid all perturbations of the mind. Lapides Pyrrha jactos.] See the note on ver. 62, of the first Georgick. Saturnia regna.] By the reign of Saturn, is meant what the poets called the golden age. Caucaseasque refert volucres, &c.] Prometheus, the son of Iapetus, having formed a man out of clay, animated him with the fire which he had stolen, by applying a ferula to the chariotwheels of the sun. Jupiter, offended at his audaciousness, ordered Mercury to chain him to a rock on the mountain Caucasus, where an eagle or vulture His adjungit, Hylan nautæ quo fonte relictum At non tam turpes pecudum tamen ulla secuta est Et is continually gnawing his liver. Caucasus is a mountain between the Euxine and Caspian seas. Hylan.] Hylas was a young lad who accompanied Hercules in the Argonautic expedition. He was lost in a fountain, where he went to draw water; whence he is said to have been carried away by a Naiad. The Argonauts called for him a long time in vain; whence it is said that an annual custom was established of calling aloud for Hylas. Naut.] The Argonauts. Quo fonte.] It was not certainly known in what particular fountain he was lost. Pasiphaen.] Pasiphae was the daughter of the sun, and wife of Minos, king of Crete. She is said to have fallen in love with a bull. Virgo.] See the note on ver. 263. of the third Georgick. Pratides.] The daughters of Prœtus, king of the Argives, having compared their beauty 45 50 to that of Juno, were afflicted with a madness, which made them fancy themselves to be cows, running about the fields, and lowing. They were cured of this disease by Melampus, who had one of them in marriage for his reward. He tells Pasiphae, that though these ladies fancied themselves to be real cows, yet they were not possessed by such a passion as hers for a bull. Falsis mugitibus.] Their lowings are called false, because they were not real cows, but only fancied themselves to be such; and therefore endeavoured to imitate the voice of those |