Iam medio adparet fluctu nemorosa Zacynthos Hunc petimus fessi et parvae succedimus urbi; Ergo insperata tandem tellure potiti Med., vocabant' inferior MSS., which 270.] Again from Homer (Od. 9. 24), Δουλίχιόν τε Σάμη τε καὶ ὑλήεσσα Ζάκυνdos. Mr. Long says of 'nemorosa,' "This is true now, if the reference in Virg. and Hom. is to plantations, as I think it is, not to forests." Medio fluctu:' note on v. 73. 271.] Neritos in Hom. (Od. 9. 22., 13. 351) is a mountain in Ithaca. Some have thought that Virg. considers it so here; but the subsequent mention of Ithaca in the next line is against this, and all the other names here are names of islands. Mela 2. 7 mentions Neritos among the islands in the Ionian sea, and the same is evidently the meaning of Ov. M. 13. 712, Sil. 15. 305, who however as evidently have merely copied the present passage. Perhaps Virg. was thinking of II. 2. 633, where Neritos is mentioned separately from Ithaca among the places from which Ulysses followers came, Zacynthos and Samos following two lines afterwards. 270 275 however objects that they are not likely to have landed there, as the 'parva urbs' in that case must be Leucas, which was besides in a different part of the island, not, as the next sentence seems to prove, Actium; he accordingly thinks that the temple of Apollo at Actium is meant, thus separating v. 275 from v. 274. The following lines certainly seem to show that they landed in Actium: the present line naturally points to Leucata. Can Virg. have confused the two temples? Aperitur,' comes into sight, like 'aperire' v. 206. 277.] Repeated at the end of Book 6. 278-293.] At Actium we sacrifice and celebrate games, in joy of our escape so far. We winter there, and then depart, leaving a memorial of our sojourn. We next land in Chaonia.' 278.] Insperata' is explained by vv. 282, 283, as Wagn. remarks. Tellure potiti' 1. 172. 279.] Lustramur' middle. The purification was doubtless required by their recent adventure with the Harpies. Iovi,' in honour of Jupiter. The expression is imitated by Gratius Cyn. 492, "Lustraturque deae." It is asked why Jove is singled out rather than Apollo, the tutelary god of the place. Jove had doubtless been invoked foremost among the 'numina magna,' v. 264, and he would be specially propitiated here for the same reason, as aggrieved in the matter of the Harpies, partly perhaps by the inauspicious sacrifice, v. 223, partly by the attempt to injure his ministers, which the prophecy v. 251 seems to show that he resents. Votis here stand for votive offerings. Wagn. well comp. Aesch. Ag. 91, Buol dápio pré"Incensa altaria" γονται. 272.] Serv. may be right in supposing that something of a taunt may be intended in scopulos Ithacae, Laertia regna,' with which he comp. "inmania saxa, Vestras, Eure, domos " 1. 139. Taubm. appositely cites Cic. De Orat. 1. 44, "Ut Ithacam illam in asperrimis saxulis tanquam nidulum adfixam sapientissimus vir inmortalitati anteponeret." Here and in the next line Virg. is evidently glancing at Ulysses' own description of his country, Od. 9. 27, as τρηχεῖ ἀλλ ̓ ἀγαθὴ κουροτρόφος, and perhaps also, as Heyne thinks, at II. 3. 201, bs τράφη ἐν δήμῳ Ἰθάκης, κραναής περ λούσης. 274.] Leucata or Leucates is the promontory of Leucas, or Leucadia, celebrated as the scene of the Lover's Leap. 275.] Formidatus nautis Apollo' The vows are explained partly by what plainly indicates a temple of Apollo built follows, v. 282, partly by what precedes, on a dangerous rock. Such a temple exv. 261. isted on Leucata (Dict. G. Leucas). Heyne occurs 8. 285. Actiaque Iliacis celebramus litora ludis. 280.] The celebration of games at Actium by Aeneas is a compliment to Augustus, who instituted a quinquennial celebration at Actium in honour of his victory, Dion 51. 1. The adjective Actius' occurs again 8. 675, 701, and elsewhere in the Latin poets, the prose form being 'Actiacus.' 'Celebramus litora ludis' is a variety for 'celebramus ludos in litore,' 'celebrare' having its strict sense of 'to make populous.' 281.] The palaestra' is given as a specimen of other games, which may perhaps be the force of the plural. Exercent palaestras' like "choros exercet 1. 499, "exercet ludos" Prop. 4. 14. 3. Oleo labente: the oil is said to slip, probably from its effect on the bodies of those who use it. 284.] The sun is said to roll round the year, as it is said to roll round the sky, the year being equivalent to what is traversed in the year. In a Greek author we should at once pronounce annum' to be a cognate accusative; here it is evidently an ordinary accusative of the object, though the acc. of the duration of time may help us to understand the expression. The epithet magnum' is merely an ornamental one, just as Hom. II. 2. 124 speaks of Aids μeyáλov iviauroí (comp. G. 4. 154 note), not, as Wakefield thinks, used with the feeling of an exile. For the date which this point marks in Aeneas' wanderings see Introduction to the present Book. 285.] The inference to be drawn from this line apparently is that they remained on shore during the winter, though prima facie it would seem from v. 289 that they started immediately. Here as elsewhere the narrative is touched very lightly. 286.] The name of Abas, an early king of Argos, son of Lynceus and Hypermnestra, is connected in legends with a 260 285 290 shield, which obtained victory even after his death (Dict. Biog., following Serv. on this passage). This shield appears to have been fastened up in the temple of Here at Argos, that the conqueror in the games celebrated there might bear it in proces sion. Another story, also mentioned by Serv., made Abas the inventor of the shield. Virg. can hardly be thinking of this mythical person, whose date would involve an anachronism here, though it is singular that the words 'de Danais victoribus,' v. 289, coincide with the pedigree of the shield, which is said originally to have belonged to his grandfather Danaus, while the story about the games again seems as if it might be glanced at in the Actian games just mentioned, as if Aeneas were bearding the old hero on his own ground. But for these coincidences, the Abas of the present passage would be to us merely the name of some unknown Grecian warrior whom Aeneas had slain at some time or other, and whose shield he hangs up on Grecian soil as a crowning act of triumphant joy after an unmolested sojourn there. Ov. M. 15. 664 talks of the shield of Euphorbus, which Pythagoras recognized as his own, as hanging up "Abanteis templo Iunonis in Argis." Gestamen' 7. 246. 66 287.] Multaque praeterea sacris in postibus arma” 7. 183. ‘Adversis,' as Heyne says, is merely ornamental-on the door as it faces you. It is not said where the door was; indeed, we are left to ima gine for ourselves how Aeneas contrived to inhabit the town unmolested. 288.] E. 7. 30 note. 289.] This and the next line are imitated from Od. 9. 103, 104, οἱ δ ̓ αἰψ ̓ εἴσβαινον καὶ ἐπὶ κληίσι κάθιζον, Εξῆς δ ̓ ἐζόμενοι πολιὴν ἅλα τύπτον ἐρετμοῖς. Protinus aerias Phaeacum abscondimus arces, Litoraque Epiri legimus portuque subimus Chaonio et celsam Buthroti accedimus urbem. Hic incredibilis rerum fama occupat auris Priamiden Helenum Graias regnare per urbes, Coniugio Aeacidae Pyrrhi sceptrisque potitum, Et patrio Andromachen iterum cessisse marito. Obstipui, miroque incensum pectus amore Compellare virum et casus cognoscere tantos. Progredior portu, classis et litora linquens, 291.] Abscondimus' of passing a place, or seeing it vanish, like arоkрúTTE Plato Protag. 338 A. Not unlike is the use of 'condere' E. 9. 52. The aeriae Phaeacum arces' (G. 1. 240) are the mountains of Corcyra, δρεα σκιόεντα Γαίης Φαιήκων, Od. 5. 279. 292.] Portu' may be either dat. or local abl. "Muro subibant" 7. 161, "subeunt luco" 8. 125, seem in favour of the former. 'Portus. . . Chaonios' is the reading of many MSS., including Med. a m. sec., the text having originally been 'portus... Chaonio,' which Valerius Probus actually explained as a genitive, comparing 'Chaonio' with 'Androgeo.' Serv. notices the plural as unmetrical. 293.] Adscendimus,' the reading before Heins., is favoured by celsam,' but hardly agrees with what follows, vv. 300, 345, which shows that Aeneas did not reach the city till afterwards. The epithet of lofty cannot be applied with any propriety to Buthrotum," Dict. G. Perhaps it is only meant to be a perpetual epithet of a city. 294-343.] Here I am told that Priam's son, Helenus, is king of the country and married to Andromache. Going to the city, I find her making offerings at Hector's tomb. From her I hear that the tale is true, Andromache having been given by Pyrrhus to Helenus, when he was wearied of her himself, and Helenus having succeeded to part of Pyrrhus' dominions after Pyrrhus had been killed by Orestes.' 294.Incredibilis rerum fama' incredibilium rerum fama," Serv. 296.] Coniugio' for coniuge' 2. 579. The story of Aeneas' meeting with Helenus seems to have been told by Varro in his 2nd book Rerum divinarum' (Serv. on vv. 256 above, 349 below), as it is told by Dionys. Hal. 1. 51. Both appear to have agreed in one point omitted by Virg., the consultation by Aeneas of the oracle at 295 300 Dodona (see on v. 257). Varro makes the parva Troia' (v. 349) a name given to the site where the Trojans encamped while waiting for Aeneas' return from the oracle. 297.] Patrio,' as being an Asiatic, Andromache being the daughter of Eetion, king of the Cilician Thebe (II. 6. 395). 'Cessisse' passed to, as in v. 332 below, 12. 17. 298.] For 'incensum' a few MSS. give incensum est,' a few others 'incensus,' which Jahn prefers, coupling 'compellare' with 'progredior.' In any case the infinitives depend on 'amore,' as 2. 10., 8. 163 show. 299.] Partly from 2. 280, partly from 2. 10. 300.] "Notandum sane finitum esse versum participio, quod rarum apud Latinos est, apud Graecos vitiosissimum,” Serv. Wagn. examines this dictum in an excursus on 12. 609-613, ending by accepting it in a very limited sense, as applying to the supposed case of a bona fide participle in the nominative terminating a paragraph, of which he finds no example in Virg., and which he thinks objectionable on account of the weakness of such a ter mination. The question is one of some interest, but belongs perhaps more properly to a treatise on Latin composition than to a commentary on a Latin poet. Serv. is evidently wrong at the outset in the distinction which he takes between Latin and Greek poetry, as if the offending participle were more to be condemned in the case of the latter than in that of the former. The present participle at any rate is known to be much more idiomatic in Greek than in Latin. Homer says in one of his most wonderful passages (II. 6. 201) To καπ πεδίον τὸ ̓Αλήϊον οἷος ἀλᾶτο, Ὃν θυμὸν κατέδων, πάτον ἀνθρώπων ἀλεεί. Cicero renders it nearly verbally (Tusc. 3. 26) "qui miser in campis mae νων. Sollemnis cum forte dapes et tristia dona rens errabat Aleis, Ipse suum cor edens, hominum vestigia vitans ;" and we at once feel the difference. As a matter of fact, one book of the Iliad (the 18th), and two of the Odyssey (the 5th and the 15th) end with the obnoxious participle. 301.] Tum,' which Heyne preferred, is the reading of two of Ribbeck's cursives. Ladewig rightly observes against Wagn., that if we adopt cum' we must understand it not in the sense of δὴ τότε, “ quae multo alacriorem ac rei necopinatae convenientiorem reddit orationem," a sense which would not suit the imperfect, but in the sense of at the time when,' so that the semicolon which Wagn. and others put after linquens' should be changed into a comma. Tum forte' would be supported by 9.3,638. 'Sollemnis dapes' may refer merely to the libations which formed the staple of the offerings to the dead (see on v. 66 above), as 'libabat' would seem to show; but there may very well be a zeugma. Dapes' are distinguished from libations in the funeral offerings to Misenus 6. 225, where see note. In 5. 92 the meaning is doubtful. 302.] So a grove is planted and a chapel built on Anchises' tomb 5. 760. Falsi,' pretended: see 1. 684, 716. 303.] "Cineri: non dixit exin latius intelligitur." Serv. vocabat: v. 68 above. cuius, sed 304.] Hectoreum' 2.543. Tumulum inanem' 6. 505, where a cenotaph is erected because the body could not be found, not, as here, because it had been buried elsewhere. Cerda mentions a story that the ashes of Hector were removed from Troy to Thebes. Emm. comp. Stat. Theb. 12. 161, "Nomina, quod superest, acuis datis orba sepulchris, Absentisque 305 310 animas ad inania busta vocatis,” where ‘ad busta,' like ad tumulum' here, is to be understood at the tomb,' not, as might at first sight seem plausible, constructed with 'vocatis.' 305.] See on v. 63. "Caussam lacrimis:' hoc tantum, ut caussam lacrimarum haberet." Serv. The feeling is the same as in the well-known lines in Andromache's speech Il. 24. 742 foll.— ἐμοὶ δὲ μάλιστα λελείψεται ἄλγεα λυγρά· οὐ γάρ μοι θνήσκων λεχέων ἐκ χεῖρας ὄρεξας, οὐδέ τί μοι εἶπες πυκινὸν ἔπος, οὗ τέ κεν alel μεμνήμην νύκτας τε καὶ ἤματα δακρυ χέουσα. 'Caussa' is generally found in Virg. with a gen.: comp. however 4. 290, "quae sit rebus caussa novandis." 308.] Deriguit visu in medio:' dum me cernit, obstipuit," Serv. The lines are perhaps imitated, as Heyne suggests, from Od. 4. 704 foll. δὴν δέ μιν ἀμφασίη ἐπέων Aáße. · Οψε δὲ δή μιν ἔπεσσιν ἀκειβομévn πpoσéeiπev. .... 309.] Longo tempore' E. 1. 30. 310.] For the nom. where we should have expected the accusative comp. 1. 314 &c. Med. has 'verum.' 'Verus nuntius' is explained by Heyne "ut vere ille sis quem voltus nuntiat:" but it is perhaps better to suppose Andromache to mean one who can really give me news,' as a living friend after a separation of years would be able to do. 312.] Serv. has a just observation," Hoc ad Aeneae pertinet gloriam, ut ab Hectore nunquam discessisse videatur. Sensit Inplevit clamore locum. Vix pauca furenti Vivo equidem, vitamque extrema per omnia duco; Heu! quis te casus deiectam coniuge tanto autem hoc: si umbrae videntur in sacris, 315.] Ducere vitam' is common enough -here the metaphor is extended and modified by the introduction of the thing through which life is drawn or dragged along, like " "poenam traxe per omnem 5. 786. دو 316.] Vera fides' is found in several late MSS., a plausible variety, as fides' might be used of seeing as well as of hearing. 317.] Deiectam coniuge' is an expression apparently formed on the model of 'deiici honore,' 'spe' &c., as Heyne suggests. Not unlike is Eur. Alc. 879, åuapτεῖν πιστῆς ἀλόχου. 318.] Excipere of receiving in succession, G. 2. 354 note (see also on G. 4. 207), perhaps with an actual reference to the metaphor in deiectam,' as in Ov. M. 11.785 (comp. by Forb.) "Tethys miserata cadentem Molliter excepit." The expression will then be very similar to the wellknown lines in Shaksp. Hamlet Act 1, sc. 5, though in Virg.'s words there is no reproach: "O Hamlet, what a falling off was there, the vow I made to her in marriage-and to de cline 315 320 319.] Ladewig and Henry are apparently right in restoring Andromachen' for Andromache' from fragm. Vat. (Bottari: but Ribbeck is silent) and some other MSS., supported by the testimony of Serv., who mentions both readings. The external authority for the accusative is perhaps not great in v. 303 above Andromache' is corrupted into Andromachen' by fragm. Vat., and the 'n' here may have arisen from Pyrrhin',' which in fragm. Vat., as in some other copies, was originally Pyrrhi.' But the common reading is objectionable as conveying an unfeeling reproach to Andromache, understood as it must be with Wagn., "tune, Hectoris coniunx, in Pyrrhi, et hostis, et multo deterioris viri, matrimonium venisti ?"--a reproach, too, which would be unmeaning in itself, as Aeneas well knew that Andromache had become Pyrrhus' captive, and therefore, according to the Homeric usage, his concubine, and inconsistent with the previous context, as though Aeneas finds the rumour of Helenus' good fortune incredible, he nevertheless assumes its truth in action (v. 299). The force of these objections might be to a certain extent abated; but enough would remain to make the passage as commonly read difficult and awkward. If we accept the accusative, all is clear: Aeneas asks, as Henry remarks, 'In what condition do I find Hector's wife?' the second clause going beyond the first, and referring to the report of her new prosperity, while in the third he inquires whether she is still united to Pyrrhus, in other words, whether the report is a false one. 'Hectoris Andromachen' will then balance deiectam Pyr coniuge tanto. For the genitive 'Hec- |