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Ominibus. Sed regna Tyri germanus habebat
Pygmalion, scelere ante alios inmanior omnis.
Quos inter medius venit furor. Ille Sychaeum
Impius ante aras atque auri caecus amore
Clam ferro incautum superat, securus amorum
Germanae; factumque diu celavit, et aegram,
Multa malus simulans, vana spe lusit amantem.
Ipsa sed in somnis inhumati venit imago
Coniugis, ora modis attollens pallida miris ;
Crudelis aras traiectaque pectora ferro
Nudavit, caecumque domus scelus omne retexit.

riage, Catull. 62 (64). 21, quoted by
Cerda.

346.] Ominibus,' the omens of the marriage sacrifice, and so the marriage rite. Comp. Prop. 4. 20. 24, "Contineant nobis omina prima fidem." Prima' with reference to intactam.'

347.] 'Inmanior ante alios omnis: the comparative is pleonastic. Comp. 7. 55, "petit ante alios pulcherrimus omnis Turnus," and Hand, Tursell. 1, p. 387.

348.] Medios' is the reading of Med. and some other MSS.; but medius' is the idiomatic expression, and the origin of the variation is obvious. Serv. and Donatus connect these words with the preceding line, so as to make 'omnis' the antecedent to 'quos,'—“ ac si diceret, Sceleratior Atreo et Thyeste, vel Eteocle et Polynice;" but this punctuation, though approved by Trapp, is clearly less natural. Furor may perhaps refer to the unnatural character of the quarrel, as in Hor. Epod. 7. 13, Lucan 1. 8.

349.] Atque', couples caecus' with 'impius.' He was so blinded with the love of gold that he did not even respect the altar.' Henry refers impius' to the unnatural character of the murder, comp. Ov. Her. 7. 127; and this is doubtless included in the notion of the word here: but that it also denotes impiety in our sense is plain from such passages as 2. 163. 'Aras,' the altar of the Penates. Comp. 4. 21, and see on v. 355 below.

350.] Superat' is compared by Heyne with dauą (lays him low '), as not necessarily implying a struggle. With the passage generally comp. 3. 332. Securus amorum,' 10. 326.

352.] Malus,' to be taken adverbially. Comp. the phrase 'dolo malo.' The best commentary on vana spe lusit amantem' is Keats' Isabella, st. 29,

350

355

"Poor girl! put on thy stifling widow's weed,

And 'scape at once from Hope's accursed bands:

To-day thou wilt not see him, nor to

morrow,

And the next day will be a day of sorrow."

353.] Inhumati,' as Heyne suggests, may account for the unrest of the shade (comp. Il. 23. 71 foll.), as it enhances the barbarity of the murderer.

354.] Burm., followed by the recent editors, places a semicolon at 'coniugis,' and a comma at 'miris;' but 'ora modis attollens pallida miris' is obviously a description of 'imago. Comp. Lucr. 1. 123, "simulacra modis pallentia miris," already copied by Virg. G. 1. 477. 'Attollens' in fact expands 'venit,' much as Byron makes the witch of Endor call up Samuel in the words, "Samuel, raise thy buried

head!"

355.] Crudelis aras,' not unlike "crudelis terras," 3. 44. There the co-operation of the country in the crime of its king might be assumed naturally; here it is uncertain whether the Penates are those of Pygmalion, and so concerned in the murder, or those of Sychaeus, and so merely witnesses of it. Perhaps 4. 21, Ov. Her. 7. 113, point rather to the latter, which is also more probable if we suppose that Dido is made actually to see the altar and the treasure (see on next line). On the other hand, we should more naturally think of the crime as perpetrated, like that of Atreus, in the house of the murderer, and the concealment would then have been more easy. But where the data are so few conjecture degenerates into li

cence.

356.] Nudavit' will bear the general

Tum celerare fugam patriaque excedere suadet,
Auxiliumque viae veteris tellure recludit
Thesauros, ignotum argenti pondus et auri.
His commota fugam Dido sociosque parabat.
Conveniunt, quibus aut odium crudele tyranni
Aut metus acer erat; navis, quae forte paratae,
Corripiunt, onerantque auro; portantur avari
Pygmalionis opes pelago; dux femina facti.
Devenere locos, ubi nunc ingentia cernis
Moenia surgentemque novae Karthaginis arcem,
Mercatique solum, facti de nomine Byrsam,

sense of 'revealed,' which is applicable to
both the objects of the verb (see Forc.);
but it is more probably to be referred
specially to 'pectora,' so that we shall have
a zeugma. Whether the poet intended a
vision strictly speaking or a dream, is not
quite clear; if the former, nudavit' and
'tellure recludit' must be taken of words
spoken by the apparition; if the latter,
Dido was actually made to see the altar
and the cavern where the treasure lay.
The former seems more consistent with
analogy; but the latter is supported by
2. 297, where Hector, after appearing
in much the same way as Sychaeus here,
brings out the sacred things from the
penetralia. Domus scelus,' the domestic
crime,' as perpetrated by her brother, not
as perpetrated before the Penates.

358.] Pierius's Medicean MS. reads 'auxilioque viae,' which might be worth adopting if it had more authority. Tellure recludit,' tells her where they are buried if it is a vision, opens the cavern before her if it is a dream. Tellure,''from the earth,' a construction frequently found with words compounded with 're,' as Wund. remarks. Comp. 5.99. The course of the narrative, especially v. 349, shows that these are hereditary treasures belonging to Sychaeus, not an ancient and forgotten hoard.

359.] Ignotum is explained by 'recludit.

360.] His must be taken with 'commota,' by these revelations,' not 'his (thesauris) parabat.' With 'fugam parabat' comp. "cursum parari," 4. 299, with 'socios parabat," "deos parant comites," 2. 181. 361.] Crudele' seems to mean 'fierce,' or 'savage.' Serv. and others call it a hypallage, and probably the juxtaposition of tyranni' partially accounts for the epithet. Metus acer' occurs again 3. 682, of the Trojans escaping from the Cy

360

365

clops. The epithets here are emphatic. The word tyrannus' in Virgil sometimes seems to bear a neutral sense, but more frequently it occurs in connexions which imply the notion of arbitrary if not of abused power. Here the circumstances of the story rather remind us of Greeks flying from a rúpavvos.

364.] The opes' are evidently the aurum;' not, as Henry and after him Forb. suppose, the resources which constituted the power of Pygmalion, a sense which would not well agree with 'portantur.' Pygmalion may not have actually taken possession of the treasures, but they were his from the time when he slew their owner. The epithet avari' should be remarked. The wealth for which he has committed the crime is wafted away from him over the sea. The expression is meant to be terse and almost epigrammatic, as 'dux femina facti' shows. Comp. Dido's words Ov. Her. 7. 149," Hos potius populos in dotem, ambage remissa, Accipe, et advectas Pygmalionis opes," where there is evident reference to paying a dowry in

treasure.

365.] Heyne and Ribbeck, from Pal., Rom., and Gud., read 'cernes; which you will see when you are at the top of the hill;' but Wagn. with apparent justice objects that nunc' with the future could not mean, you will see by and by.' 'Cernis' is the reading of Med., and may be rendered with sufficient accuracy, 'where now meet your eye.'

366.] Novae Karthaginis:' see on v. 298.

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367.] Mercatique' (sunt) to be coupled with 'devenere.' Jahn makes it a part., supposing that Venus interrupts herself at the end of v. 368,-not a very natural thing, as there is no abruptness in the context (the case of 2. 100 foll. is obviously different); and Ribbeck thinks the

Taurino quantum possent circumdare tergo.
Sed vos qui tandem, quibus aut venistis ab oris,
Quove tenetis iter? Quaerenti talibus ille
Suspirans imoque trahens a pectore vocem :

O dea, si prima repetens ab origine pergam,
Et vacet annalis nostrorum audire laborum,
Ante diem clauso conponat Vesper Olympo.
Nos Troia antiqua, si vestras forte per auris

passage unfinished, and incloses this and
the next line in brackets. Byrsa, whence
the legend of the bull's hide (Búpσa) arose,
appears to have been the Greek corruption
of Bosra, the Phoenician name for the
citadel of Carthage. Facti de nomine' is
copied by the author of the Ciris, v. 487.

368.] Taurino tergo.' The story was that they cut the hide so as to make one thong; the bargain being that they should have as much ground as they could compass with a bull's hide.

369.] Tandem.' See v. 330. Rom. and some others have advenistis' for 'aut venistis,' which was restored by Heins. Med. hasaud,' altered into 'aut,' and other MSS. show signs of correction

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371.] Apoll. R. 2. 207, è inάтоio στήθεος ἀμπνεύσας.

372-386.] Aeneas tells his name and fortunes.'

372.] The thought seems to be from Od. 11. 330 (comp. ib. 3. 113 foll.). The words' prima repetens ab origine' are repeated from G. 4. 285, where the object of repetens' ('famam') is expressed, not as here left to be implied from the context. If I should tell my story throughout, beginning at the first.'

373.] Macrob. Sat. 3. 2 fancies that 'annalis' is used with singular propriety, the annales maxumi' at Rome being made by the Pontifex Maxumus, with which character Virg. is supposed to imply that Aeneas is invested. Virg.'s love of recondite half-allusions to traditions which he does not expressly adopt is unquestionable; but where, as here, there is no more than a possibility of such a reference, we may perhaps make the question one of poetical taste, which here

370

375

would certainly seem to exclude any thing of the sort. The word doubtless has a propriety of its own, but it is merely as suggesting the notion of a minute and rather tedious narrative.

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374.] Conponat.' The MSS. authority is divided between conponet' (Med., Gud.) and conponat' (Rom., Pal., the latter however altered into 'conponet'), conponet' being further supported by quotations in Macrob., Priscian, Nonius, and other early writers. The question is argued in favour of the future indicative by Forb. against Wagn., who in his large edition supports 'conponat,' but in his smaller edition tacitly admits 'conponet.' 'Vacet,' implying that the condition will not happen, separates this passage from such

as

"Si fractus illabatur orbis Impavidum ferient ruinae" (Hor. 3 Od. 3. 7), and "Sit spes fallendi, miscebis sacra profanis" (Hor. 1 Ep. 16. 54), where it is implied that the condition may very conceiv ably happen, as Wagn. remarks. In the only strictly parallel passage quoted, Cic. Tusc. 5. 35. 102, "Dies deficiet, si velim paupertatis caussam defendere," there is the same variety of reading as here. Being thus left to decide between the authority of MSS., which in a case like this proves little, and what would seem to be the propriety of language, I have preferred conponat.' Clauso Olympo,' closing the gates of heaven through which the day issues. Comp. the expression porta caeli" G. 3. 261. Conponat,' would lay the day to sleep.' Comp. G. 4. 189, "Post ubi iam thalamis se conposuere." In Hor. 1 Od. 9. 20 "conposita hora" seems to mean evening.

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375.] Troia' with vectos.' See Madv. $275. Per auris iit,' passed through your ears and so entered your mind. A similar expression is found Lucr. 1. 417, where though the thought is different from that in the present line, it bears a strong resemblance to that in the lines immediately preceding. The whole passage is worth quoting, as showing the variety of small obligations which Virg. has incurred to

Troiae nomen iit, diversa per aequora vectos Forte sua Libycis tempestas adpulit oris. Sum pius Aeneas, raptos qui ex hoste Penatis Classe veho mecum, fama super aethera notus. Italiam quaero patriam et genus ab Iove summo. Bis denis Phrygium conscendi navibus aequor, Matre dea monstrante viam, data fata secutus; Vix septem convolsae undis Euroque supersunt. his predecessor, now borrowing thoughts without words, now words without thoughts:

"Usque adeo largos haustus e fontibu' magnis

Lingua meo suavis diti de pectore

fundet,

Ut verear ne tarda prius per membra

senectus

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376.] Diversa per aequora vectos' may merely mean 'over various seas,' as in v. 756, "Omnibus errantem terris et fluctibus;" or we may take it with Heyne as out of our course.' He quotes Od. 9. 261 (which Virg. doubtless had in view, as the entire passage shows), Olkade iéμevoi, &λ λην ὁδόν, ἄλλα κέλευθα Ηλθομεν : but the other sense of diversa' might be supported from the previous lines, 'Hueîs To Τροίηθεν ἀποπλαγχθέντες Αχαιοὶ Παντοίοις ἀνέμοισιν ὑπὲρ μέγα λαῖτμα θαλάσσης.

377.] Forte sua' is an adaptation of the phrase 'sponte sua' to the nature of the weather. The tempest drove us hither by mere accident without any purpose of ours. Contrast Ilioneus' language to Latinus 7. 213 foll., especially "consilio "

216.

V.

378.] Hom. Od. 9. 19, Eíμ' 'Odvoeds Λαερτιάδης, ὃς πᾶσι δόλοισιν ̓Ανθρώποισι μέλω, καί μεν κλέος οὐρανὸν ἵκει.

380. Some inferior MSS. omit 'et,' which Burm. and Heyne follow. The line would then run" Italiam quaero patriam; genus ab love summo,"-- My country is Italy which I am seeking; my descent is from Jove.' Retaining et,' we must of course couple genus' with 'patriam.' 'I am on my way to Italy my country, and to my forefathers, sprung from Jove,'

380

referring not to his own descent from Jove through Venus, but to that of his nation through Dardanus. Comp. 3. 129, Cretam proavosque petamus," and see 7. 240 foll. Rom. has love magno.'

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aequor to be said of physically climbing 381.] Serv. considers 'conscendere the sea,-"secundum physicos, qui dicunt terram inferiorem esse aqua, quia omne quod continetur supra illud est quod continet." It would be more natural to suppose that the poet referred to some commoner appearance or sensation such as the the wave; climbing ever up the climbing elevation of the horizon or the rising of is so completely appropriated as a techwave' (Tennyson). Conscendo' however nical term for embarking, being used in that sense even without an accusative, that we can hardly avoid giving it such a meaning in a connexion like this. Here as elsewhere (see on G. 2. 364) it seems that Virgil while he secured the sense embark' by the use of conscendo,' arranged his words so as to give him the advantage at the same time of some other ideas, of which that of climbing the wave just mentioned may have been one, and the notion opposed to demittere” (“ quove magis fessas optem demittere navis" 5. 29), whether of actual ascent or of effort, may have been another. Navibus' constructed as in 10. 213, "ter denis navibus ibant."

382.] Serv. thinks there is an allusion to the legend that Aeneas was led by the star of Venus to Italy: see note on 2. 801. 'Fata,' oracles. Comp. 3. 444, “quae rupe sub ima Fata canit;" and 4. 345, "Sed nunc Italiam magnam Grynaeus Apollo, Italiam Lyciae iussere capessere sortes." The oracle itself is given 3. 94 by Apollo at Delos.

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an

383.] Undis Euroque' with volsae, not, as Serv. suggests as alternative, with supersunt.' The two however come virtually to the same thing, as the meaning seems to be 'survive the strain of wind and wave,'

Ipse ignotus, egens, Libyae deserta peragro,
Europa atque Asia pulsus. Nec plura querentem
Passa Venus medio sic interfata dolore est :

Quisquis es, haud, credo, invisus caelestibus auras
Vitalis carpis, Tyriam qui adveneris urbem.
Perge modo, atque hinc te reginae ad limina perfer.
Namque tibi reduces socios classemque relatam
Nuntio et in tutum versis aquilonibus actam,
Ni frustra augurium vani docuere parentes.
Aspice bis senos laetantis agmine cycnos,
Aetheria quos lapsa plaga Iovis ales aperto
Turbabat caelo; nunc terras ordine longo
Aut capere aut captas iam despectare videntur :

384.] Ignotus,' in a land where I am unknown, far from friends. 'Libyae:' he profits by Venus' information that he is in Africa, and contrasts it with the better known parts of the globe.

385.] Nec plura querentem passa' should be taken together, not interfata querentem.' There seems to be a confusion between nec plura queri passa' and non amplius querentem passa.'

387-401.] Venus assures him of a welcome from the queen, and also of the safety of his missing ships.'

387.] Od. 3. 27, où yàp biw Oũ σe Oew åéknti Yevéσbai te Tрadéμev Te. In 'quisquis es' Venus seems to speak as a Tyrian maiden, to whom the history of Troy is unknown. 'Auras vitalis' is common in Lucr., 3. 405, 577., 5. 857., 6. 1227.

389.] The commentators have been unable to find instances of 'se perferre ad aliquem locum.' Se ferre ad aliquem locum' however is common enough, and 'per' is naturally prefixed here as Aeneas is bidden to go on till he reaches the palace. 390.] The namque' refers to her injunction to go straight without further anxiety to the palace. Relatam' is to be explained by reduces,' 'brought back to haven.' A few MSS. have receptam.'

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391.] The wind has shifted, and instead of driving it into danger now drives it into safety.

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392.] Vani,' false pretenders. Comp. 2. 80, vanum etiam mendacemque inproba finget." She sees the swans, and professes to interpret the omen on the spot by the rules her parents have given her. The parents are those of the supposed huntress, not, as Donatus, "maiores nostri."

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385

390

395

393.] The swans are the birds of Venus, and their number is that of the missing ships. Serv. quotes Aemilius Macer in his opviðoyovía, Cycnus in augurio nautis gratissimus augur: Hunc optant semper, quia nunquam mergitur undis." Agmine,' 'in order,' is opposed to 'turbabat,' and explained by 'ordine longo.' Comp.

agmen' in v. 186, contrasted with 'miscet' in v. 191. Connect laetantis agmine,' 'in jubilant order.'

394.] Aetheria lapsa plaga,' 'swooping from the sky; the aetheria plaga' being higher than the caelum.' 'Aperto caelo,' the wide air,' harmonizing with 'turba bat.' As Forb. remarks, it is parallel to the wide ocean over which the ships were tossed. Forb. well comp. Ov. M. 6. 692, "Idem ego [Boreas], cum fratres caelo sum nactus aperto (Nam mihi campus is est), tanto molimine luctor."

396.] This line seems to answer in structure and therefore probably in sense to v. 400. Its meaning has been the subject of much controversy; the word 'capere' being variously understood either as to settle on or to mark out for settling (capere oculis '), which latter would agree with the military sense of "locum capere." The difficulty in each case consists in the words 'captas despectare,' which could not very naturally, as Henry thinks, stand for the action of the swans rising again and hovering over the place where they had settled, while Wagner's view (in his smaller edition), that some mark their ground, others look down on it after having marked it, is open to the obvious objection that such a distinction could not possibly be observed or pointed out by a spectator. It seems best then, with Burmann, to take 'captas'

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