Frena feris, manibusque omnis effundit habenas. "Auro frenat equum," where freno' is similarly supplied from 'frenat.' This seems more Virgilian than with Wagn. to make 'auro' dat. 'currui aureo.' "Genitor' of Neptune 1. 155, as of Tiber 8. 72, like 'pater' (note on G. 2. 4). Frena addit,' puts on the bridles, harnesses them. "Frena spumantia " 4. 135. 818.] Feris: note on 2. 51. Here it may be meant to express the spirit of the animals, like "ferox" in 4. 135 just referred to. "Omnis effundit habenas" 12. 499. 819.] Comp. 1. 147. 'Caeruleus' of marine things G. 4. 388 note (see on v. 123 of this book), though here it may be meant to be taken strictly. 'Levis seems to include easy motion (6. 17., E. 1. 60) and light pressure. Comp. v. 838 below. 820.] Tonanti' seems to refer to the sounding of the sea, of which Virg. has chosen to remind us, perhaps with a little sacrifice of propriety, by affixing the epithet to the chariot-wheel at the time when it is calming the waves. 821.] It may be doubted here and in 8. 89, whether aquis' is abl., in respect of,' or 'with its waters,' or dat., a smooth surface is laid for the waters.' Med. originally had 'equis.' For 'fugiunt vasto aethere' Med. as a second reading has fugiuntque ex aethere,' which Wagn. adopts against the whole consensus of the other MSS., objecting to the rhythm of 'vasto,' and asserting that it cannot be used appropriately of the sky, as it is used of things which inspire dread by their size, not simply wonder. The first objection is obviously futile: the second proceeds on a gratuitous supposition that because the word is used of objects of terror, it cannot be extended to cases where nothing is meant beyond enormous size, and that when 'vastum aequor' &c. occur in a neutral connexion (e. g. 3. 191), we are bound to suppose that Virg. meant us to regard the size as formidable, not simply as wonderful. 820 825 Following a hint of Jahn's, too, we may say that 'vasto' here may be meant to impress slightly the notion of the sky as a desert when unpeopled by clouds, not unlike "aera per vacuum" G. 3. 109 note. 822.] "Tum variae comitum facies' exquisitius quam comites varia facie et aspectu," Heyne. "Tam multae scelerum facies" G. 1. 506. Whales form part of Homer's description II. 13. 27, &taλλe de κήτε ̓ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ Πάντοθεν ἐκ κευθμῶν, οὐδ ̓ hyvoínσev Évakтα, though they are not there combined with sea-gods. 'Cete' a Greek pl., like mele,' 'pelage,' in Lucr. 823.] Glauci chorus' like "Phorci chorus" above v. 240. Senior,' old, like Glaucus himself, who was represented as so covered with marine incrustations as to have lost all trace of his pristine form (Plato, Rep. 10, p. 611), and to be constantly bewailing his immortality (Schol. on Plato 1. c.). Keats has seized this point in his elaborate description of him in Endymion Book 3. The chorus' " doubtless sea-gods, as in v. 240, though Glaucus was represented as accompanied by KhTea when he went about yearly to the coasts and islands of Greece (Paus. 9. 22, § 6). Inous Palaemon' G. 1, 437. are 824.] "Exercitus omnis" 2. 415., 11. 171, 598. Comp. G. 1. 382, where the word is applied to the rooks. Here it is doubtful whether sea-gods or sea-monsters are spoken of. Pliny 36. 5, in his description of a sculpture by Scopas (quoted by Heyne), speaks of "Tritones chorusque Phorci et pristes et multa alia marina," which might be pleaded for the latter view. But probably the two were not very sharply distinguished. 825.] Laeva' neut. pl.: see Forc. Tenet' Med., Gud. a m. s., 'tenent' Pal., Gud. a m. p. Rom. has 'tent.' Wagn. prefers the sing., Ribbeck the pl. Melite is one of the Nereids mentioned, Il. 18. 39 foll., among Thetis' companions, as are the five whose names follow hers here. Panopeaque virgo" above v. 240. Nesaee, Spioque, Thaliaque, Cymodoceque. Hic patris Aeneae suspensam blanda vicissim Una omnes fecere pedem, pariterque sinistros, 826.] See on G. 4. 338. Here the line seems to be found in all the MSS., though, as usual, the proper names undergo strange transformations. 827-871.] Rejoicing in the smoothness of the sea, Aeneas sets sail, his own ship, under Palinurus, going first. In the middle of the night, the god of sleep assails Palinurus with a temptation to quit his post, but finding him inflexible, throws him into a sleep and makes him drop into the water. Aeneas perceives the loss of his pilot, supplies his place, and laments him.' 827.] The preceding picture resembles one in Apoll. R. 4. 930 foll. (referred to on v. 241 above), where Thetis and the Nereids push the Argo through the Planctae. There it is apparently meant that the powers of the sea were visible: here it would be needless to suppose it to be meant, any more than in v. 241. Aeneas sees the extraordinary calm, and his anxiety, of which we are not told expressly, though we may infer it from the cares which preceded, vv. 700, 720, as from Venus' own, is followed by joy. 828.] "Pertemptant gaudia pectus " 1. 502. 829.] Seeing the winds favourable, he orders the masts to be set up and the sails spread. Some copyists, not seeing the sense, wrote remis' for 'velis,' as if 'bracchia' meant the arms of the rowers, as in v. 136 above; and 'remis' is actually found in both Rom. and Med., though Pal. and the majority of the MSS. have 'velis.' Bracchia' however are the sail-yards, "veluti bracchia mali," as Forc. says-a metaphor perhaps invented by Virg., and followed by Val. Fl. 1. 126, " Pallada velifero quaerentem bracchia malo," of the building of the Argo. Velis' then will be the abl., the meaning being that the sails are stretched on the yards, which Virg. has chosen to express by saying that 830 835 the yards are stretched with or in respect of the sails. Comp. 4. 506 note. 830.] The description is somewhat minute, perhaps in imitation of such passages as II. 1. 433 foll. The important words are 'una,' 'pariter,' and 'una,' the rest being merely a description of sailing with a more or less shifting wind. Pedes' or Todes were the ropes attached to the two lower corners of a square sail (Dict. A. Ships'). The word is as old as Hom., occurring Od. 5. 260., 10.32. These are fastened to the sides of the vessel, towards the stern, an operation briefly expressed by fecere,' which follows the analogy of "facere vela." The wind keeps shifting, so the sails are spread ("solvere vela" 4. 574, opp. to legere') first left, then right, to catch it, and this is done pariter' (like una ') by all the vessels at the same time. The omission of nunc' before sinistros' is to be noted. Forc. says it occurs sometimes, but gives no other instance of it. 832.] Cornua,' the extremities of the 'antennae' (3. 549 note), are turned this way and that, 'torquent detorquentque,' as the sail is shifted. Sua flamina' like "ventis iturus non suis" Hor. Epod. 9. 30, showing that what is said of the shifting of the wind above is not intended to be more than may happen in the most favourable voyage. 833.Primus ante omnis" 2. 40. 834.] Ad hunc,' after or according to him, a use of the preposition largely illus trated by Hand. Turs. 1. pp. 107 foll. The accusative generally expresses, what is here implied, the rule or law that is followed, as "ad voluntatem," "ad arbitrium," "ad nutum," "ad numerum." 835.] "Mediam metam" is a metaphor from the diavλos, where the race is round the goal, which accordingly marks that half the course is over. We may then Contigerat; placida laxabant membra quiete comp. Ov. M. 3. 145, who says, speaking of midday, "Et sol ex aequo meta distabat utraque," though the race he contemplates is a different one, from one point to another, each of which he calls meta.' But it is possible that Virg. may have an entirely different meaning, considering the arch of the sky as a 'meta' or cone, of which the topmost point is reached at midnight. This is evidently Serv.'s meaning when he says, Perite locutus est: nam medium caelum meta est avaßißáÇovтos circuli, qui medius est inter ortum et occasum." Such an interpretation is strongly confirmed by Cic. Div. 2. 6, who, speaking of an eclipse of the moon, says "quando illa e regione solis facta incurrat in umbram terrae, quae est meta noctis," words, as Forc. says, practically commented on by Pliny 2. 10, 'neque aliud esse noctem quam terrae umbram, figuram autem umbrae similem metae ac turbini inverso." Heyne apparently confuses or combines the two explanations. 66 836.] With Jahn, Ladewig, and Ribbeck I have restored laxabant,' the reading of the earliest editions, and, as now appears, of all the best MSS., Med., Pal., Rom., Gud. &c., for laxarant.' The question between them is about as important as that between conplebant' and 'conplerant' v. 107 above: either might well stand, laxarant' being supported by laxaverat' v. 857, where the act is regarded as completed, laxabant' by 'laxabant' 9. 225, where it is regarded as continuing. 837.] The meaning seems to be that they slept on the benches beside their oars. 'Dura' is a touch of late civilization which we should scarcely have found in Hom. 838.] Levis' v. 819. 'Aetheriis astris' v. 518 note. 839.] Dimovit' and 'dispulit,' simply by flying through them. 840.] Heyne preferred tristia somnia,' 840 845 a reading which seems to be very slenderly 841.] Insonti,' as he did not yield to sleep deliberately, but was overcome by drowsiness against his will. 842.] Phorbas may be the same as the father of an Ilioneus killed by Peneleos II. 14. 489 foll.: but all that we can say is that Virg. borrowed the name for one of Palinurus' comrades, who, from the speech he makes, may be reasonably supposed, as Gossrau observes, to have been acquainted with steering. Fudit' was read before Pier. 843.] Med. gives sua flamina' as in v. 832: but the words are marked as faulty by some later hand. 844.] Aequatae,' not shifting, but taking the ship exactly in the stern (comp. v.777), and filling the sails evenly. Comp. 4.587 note. Datur hora quieti' is not explained by the commentators: yet it is susceptible of several meanings: (1) the hour is given (you) for rest:' (2) ' the hour is sacred to rest' (3) the hour is being given (by others) to rest,' i.e. every one is asleep. On the whole the second seems preferable, though I know of no parallel expression in Virg. or elsewhere which might place it beyond doubt. 845.] Ponere caput' 11. 830. Hor. 2 S. 8. 58. < Furare,' as Heyne remarks, is used like the Greek KλÉRTE, though no more is meant than withdrawing, "subtrahere," much as we in a different connexion might talk of stealing a nap. The construction with the dative is one of those facts which seem to point to a connexion Ipse ego paulisper pro te tua munera inibo. between the dat. and the abl. See on E. 7.47. 846.] Inire' seems to contain the notion of entering upon, as in 'inire magistratum.' So "inire inperia" is said by Stat. Ach. 1. 280, not, as Forc. says, in the sense of 'subire et iis parere,' but with a special reference to a horse being only just submitted to the process of breaking in. Virg. probably avoided 'obibo' from his usual love of variety, wishing his readers to be reminded of the one compound by the other, while choosing a word which has a meaning of its own. 847.] “Vix attollens lumina' aut a sideribus removens, aut certe numinis praesentia praegravatus, quod est melius," Serv. Heyne agrees with this preference of the latter interpretation, but Wagn. and Forb. are surely right in adopting the former, which agrees with v. 853. Strictly speaking Palinurus would have to turn rather than raise his eyes in order to look at the pretended Phorbas; but the attitude of looking down is so natural to those engaged in work, that we easily understand how Virg. came to speak of looking up. 818.Salis' of the sea 1. 35 &c. 849.] Palinurus asks in effect Do you bid me, who know so well the real nature of this quiet sea, to act as if I did not know it?' Monstrum' is apparently used of the sea to express its strange and noxious qualities, much as we should use 'monster.' We may comp. its use of the Trojan horse, 2. 245, of Polyphemus, 3. 658, of Cacus, 8. 198, as well as note on G. 1. 185. 850.] This and the next line present considerable difficulty, as the structure of v. 850 seems to show that auris' is the dative after 'credam,' while that of v. 851 pleads for coupling it with caeli fraude sereni.' Serv. appears to have read 'caelo,' the reading of some of Pierius' copies, and originally of Pal., and so Ribbeck; but though this would make it easy to take 'auris' as a dat., it would introduce clumsiness and obvious tautology. Donatus 850 also read 'caelo,' reading too 'fallacius' for 'fallacibus,' and so making 'quid-caelo' parenthetical. A further change, also sanctioned by some MSS. (e. g. Gud. a m. p.), would be to read caelo sereno;' but fraude' would then be an awkward and superfluous adjunct of deceptus.' The proposal, revived by Bothe, to take quid enim parenthetically, supplying 'monstro' to 'credam,' and leaving 'auris' to go with fraude,' had already been rejected with reason by Heyne as contrary to the sense of quid enim.' Accepting the ordinary pointing as the only natural one, we cannot separate credam' from 'auris,' as Jahn still wishes to do; while on the other hand to understand ‘et deceptus,' ‘and that after having been deceived,' with Heyne, Wagn., &c., seems scarcely natural. I would then regard it as one of the instances where Virg. has coupled by a copula two forms of expression not grammatically co-ordinate (see on 3. 329), fallacibus auris' being equivalent to 'falsus auris,' deceptus caeli fraude' to 'fraudi caeli quae decepit me.' As such it is rightly included by Wagn. in his Q. V. 34. 2, though with Heyne he gives to 'et' the sense of et quidem.' In these cases Virg. generally contents himself with coupling two words, such as an adverb and an adjective: here he goes further, so that we might almost class it with instances of the confusion of two constructions, were it not that here the two constructions are completed before they are forced into co-ordination. 'Auris was restored by Wagn. from Med. and Rom. for austris,' which is found in Pal. from a correction and in Gud., and is supported by Donatus and the Dresden Serv. vas 852.] Pal. and two other good MSS. have dictabat,' as in 9. 323 some have " tabo" for "vasta dabo," varieties which support Lambinus' "nuda dabant" for "nudabant" in Lucr. 5. 970. The imperfects are intended to show that while he was speaking he moved neither hand nor eye. Virg. doubtless took his description Nusquam amittebat, oculosque sub astra tenebat. 'from Od. 3. 281, where Menelaus' pilot dies by a visitation of Apollo in the performance of his duty, andάior μerà xépol leovons vnos exovra. For clavum' Med. a m. p. gives clavo,' a natural variation, which might also be accounted for by the form 'clavom,' found in Pal. a m. p. and adopted by Ribbeck. 853.] For nusquam' one MS. (Hamb. 1 a m. sec.) gives numquam,' which Wagn. was inclined to adopt: but Forb. rightly refers to Hand. Turs. 4. p. 349, where however the most apposite parallel, Plaut. Bacch. 5. 2. 84, rests on a false or doubtful reading. Nusquam discedere' is a phrase found more than once in Cic. where we might have expected numquam' (Ep. Att. 5. 11): and so Virg. has already used nusquam abero' 2. 620. There is however generally some little force in the substitution, which here there can hardly be said to be. 854.] A branch is used by the god as the best instrument for sprinkling, as by Medea Apoll. R. 4. 156 foll. in putting the dragon to sleep. Heyne reminds us of the lustral bough, 6. 230. For the image of dew used in connexion with sleep see on 1. 692. 855.] Soporare,' to affect with sleep, is commonly applied to making persons drowsy, more rarely, as here and 6. 420, to imparting soporific properties. The transition is sufficiently natural, especially in poetry, and may be illustrated by Shakspeare's insane root that takes the reason prisoner. No illustration has been quoted of this supposed soporific effect of the waters of Styx. Perhaps the poet, having mentioned Lethe, added Styx, to show that this was not an ordinary sleep, but a baleful and fatal one. So Serv. "morte plenum." 856.] Cunctanti' of resistance 6. 211, G. 2. 236. Heyne rightly remarks that sleep may be said with equal propriety to 855 860 bind or to relax the eyes. Comp. 9. 189 "somno vinoque soluti," 10. 418 "leto canentia lumina solvit." Here there is a special propriety in the image, as opposed to the unremitting tension which Palinurus had kept up. Natantia lumina G. 4. 496. 857.] Vix' followed by 'et' 2. 692 note. Burm. erroneously took cum' in v. 858 as 'quum,' which would involve the awkwardness of referring superincumbens' to 'quies,' not to speak of other objections. Primos' has really the force of primum,' as in 1. 723., 3. 69: but it is also meant to be taken of those limbs, or that part of them, which were first affected by sleep. We should say 'sleep had scarcely begun to relax his limbs,' looking at the process as separable into parts, though the effect of each part would extend equally to the whole body: Virg. chooses to suppose one part of the body affected before another. 858.] We need not, with one or two of the later editors, press Virg., as if the breaking away of the rudder and a part of the stern were unlikely in itself and inconsistent with v. 868, where Aeneas manages to perform the part of pilot. The account is at least consistent with 6. 349 foll. 860.] For saepe' Med. and one or two other MSS. read voce,' doubtless, as Wagn. remarks, from a recollection of such passages as 6. 506., 10.873. 'Saepe' is confirmed, as he observes, by 4. 384, "nomine Dido Saepe vocaturum." 861.] Some MSS. (including Pal. and Gud.) give 'in auras,' which would be the stronger expression of the two, into the sky' rather than 'sky-ward: see Wagn. Q. V. 10. 1. Ad' is supported by G. 1. 408, qua se fert Nisus ad auras." 'Sustulit' is connected closely with ales,' almost as if it had been "sustulit alis," as in v. 657 above. 66 862.] Currit iter' like "decurre la |