11. ubi...pugnae 'when the decision of the senate for war is definitely fixed.' It seems difficult to explain the gen. pugnae except as governed by certus. The construction may be compared to certus esse sententiae (Quint. 4, 3, 8), for patribus sententia patres, and pugnae sententiae a decision for = war. 12. Quirinali trabea] 'with the trabea of Romulus.' The trabea was a toga with horizontal stripes of purple, a royal robe it was believed of Romulus (Quirinus), assumed afterwards by the Consuls, and other officers. Cinctu Gabino 'with toga girded in the fashion of Gabii,' a peculiar mode of adjusting the toga, one end being thrown over the head, and the other passed round the waist. It is not known how it was connected with Gabii, 34, 18. 15. And brazen horns bray forth in hoarse assent.' Cp. Aen. 8, 2 et strepitu sonuerunt cornua rauco. conspirant 'breathe together,' i.e. there is a flourish of trumpets. XXXVI. [The story of the giant of the Aventine. One of the traditions of shepherd life when the Aventine was still in great part forest and pasture. Ovid [F. 1, 539] and Propertius [5, 9] have told the same story of Cacus Aventinae timor atque infamia silvae; which may be compared in some respects to the myth of the Sicilian monster shepherd, the Cyclops.] 1. Evander is telling the story to Aeneas. Evander came from Pallantium in Arcadia and founded a city Pallantium on the hill thence called the Palatine. He is pointing to the Aventine and the intervening Velabrum. A cave is still shown as that of Cacus near the Porta Trigemina. saxis suspensam 'overhanging with crags,' or 'with overhanging crags.' 2. ut] C. hesitates between translating ut, 'where,' or 'how.' Dr. K. suggests that it should be construed since the time when' = ex quo. With this I agree. Ovid more than once uses ut in this sense [Tr. 4, 6, 19; 5, 10, 1]. It would then explain suspensam. Overhanging ever since the huge mass was rent and scattered wide, and the cave (montis domus) has been standing tenantless, and the (falling) rocks brought down with them immense debris.' The difficulty of this is the present The objection to take aspice ut remark how 'is that in this sense ut requires the subjunctive. tense stat. 4. Ovid (F. 1, 156) proque domo longis spelunca recessibus 52 ingens Abdita vix ipsis invenienda feris. 5. semihominis Caci facies dira] So Ov. dira viro facies 'the terrible face of the half-bestial Cacus.' 6-8. The monster like the Cyclops devours human flesh, and treats his victims as slaughtered beasts, fastening their skulls and bones over the door, as the heads of wild beasts were placed [Eur. Bacch. 1212. 'I would Have Pentheus set a ladder against his house ora. 'skulls.' Cp. Ov. F. 1, 558 Ora super postes affixaque brachia pendent Squalidaque humanis ossibus albet humus. pallida 'ghastly.' 9. illius] sc. Vulcan's. So Ovid says that he used fire against Hercules, patrias male fortis ad artes Confugit et flammas ore sonante vomit. According to Propertius he had three heads, and breathed out fire from each of them, per tria partitos qui dabat ora focos. magna mole' with huge bulk.' Ovid corpus grande. 12. maxumus ultor] 'that mightiest avenger,' i.c. Hercules who punished so many monsters. 13. Geryonae] Geryones of Erythea [a fabulous island in the West] was a monster with three bodies. 15. vallem amnemque] The low ground between the river and the Palatine, including the Forum Boarium and Velabrum. 18-19. praestanti corpore] 'of goodly size.' superante forma of eminent beauty,' abl. of quality with epithet, L.P. § 115. 21-22. versis...indiciis] 'with their footprints turned backwards.' Alcmenè's 25. Amphitryoniades] Amphitryon was mortal husband, and thus putative father of Hercules stabulis 'from the stalls,' abl. of separation; L.P. § 123. 26-27. mugire.....impleri...relinqui] historic infinitives; cp. 5, 5. L.P. § 140. Notes on Synt. vii. A. clamore = cum clamore 'noisily.' 29. custodita] 'though close kept.' 53 30-32. exarserat] 'blazed up.' C. says the pluperf. in past time equivalent to the instantaneous perf. in present. furiis abl. of manner 'furiously.' cursu 'at full speed.' 34. turbatum oculis] 'with terrified eyes,' abl. of respect cp. 29, 8. 37. arte paterna] 'with the smith's craft of his father' Vulcan, v. 9. 38. fultosque...postes] 'blocked up with its weight and pressed against the posts.' fultos the posts are supported by the weight of the rock let down between them. 39. furens animis] cp. 34. Tirynthus 'Hercules' from Tiryns near Argos, where he was said to have been brought up. 40. ora ferebat] 'turned his eyes.' accessum lustrans 'examining every possible means of access.' 45-46. dorso insurgens 'standing out on the ridge of the cavern,' cp. Hor. Sat. 2, 6, 69 pracrupti nemoris dorso praecisis undique saxis 'with crags rising sheer on every side.' dirarum 'ill-omened. 48. dexter nitens] 'pushing it from the right.' The crag sloped to the left, and therefore was best pushed from the other side. 49. inde...impulit] 'then with a sudden push he hurled it down.' 51. dissultant ripae] 'the banks are dashed apart.' 55-56. regna pallida] 'the ghastly kingdoms,' L.L. dis invisa is from the Homeric τά τε στυγέουσι θεοί περ, 11. 20, 63. superque and from above' desuper. [L. L. translate = 'also.'] 59-60. inclusum cavo saxo] 'shut up in his cave,' 54 because the door had been already blocked. insueta 'with strange sounds.' omnia 'every sort of.' molaribus 'huge stones,' lit. 'millstones.' It is properly an adjective (molaris lapis). 65-66. glomeratque] 'and makes in the cave a volume of smoky gloom, the darkness being mingled with fire.' 67. non tulit] 'could bear it no longer.' qua plurimus undam fumus agit 'where the thickest smoke is rolling.' aestuat 'is surging.' 71. in nodum complexus 'grappling him with tightdrawn embrace.' in nodum after the manner of a knot. angit 'throttles him,' hence the word angina 'the quinsy. [The word is from the root which appears in ἄγκος, ἄγχω, ȧyxón, angustus, anxius, angiportus.] 72. elisos oculos etc.] is proleptic 'so that his eyes start from his head, and his throat is drained of blood.' 75. informe cadaver' a monstrous corpse,' informe refers to his half-brutish shape. 76. expleri corda] cp. 30, 6; 31, 2. XXXVII. [An episode in the war between Turnus and the Trojans. Aeneas is away visiting Evander, and the Trojans under the charge of Iulus are left in their camp on the Tiber. Turnus seizes the opportunity of Aeneas' absence to attack the camp. There is much anxiety to find means to let Aeneas know what has happened, and Nisus and Euryalus volunteer to make their way through the camp of the enemy and take the news to Aeneas. The episode is founded on the adventure of Ulysses and Diomede in the Iliad, lib. x., though unlike those heroes Nisus and his friend perish.] 1-3. armis.. jaculo] cp. 29, 8. 55 5. Aeneadum] The patronymic Aencades is used for the 'followers of Aeneas.' prima juventa signans 'streaking with the first down of manhood.' 10. dira] 'intense.' 13. Rutulos] the Rutuli were a people of Latium whose capital was Ardea, a town about twenty-four miles S. of Rome. Here Turnus has his residence. fiducia rerum confidence in the turn of affairs,' obj. gen. Cp. Aen. 1, 452 adflictis melius confidere rebus. 16. quid...dubitem] 'what I am revolving.' Dubito may take an acc. or it may be used absolutely, or followed by quin or by de with abl. 56 17. patres] 'senators.' 18. qui...reportent 'to bring back.' Cp. 27, 21. 21. muros et moenia Pallantea] 'the walls and buildings of Pallantium,' the city of Evander on the Palatine, where Aeneas then was. muros are the city walls. would include the walls of the buildings of all sorts. moenia 24. summis rebus] 'extreme danger.' 27. Argolicum terrorem] 'the terrors inspired by the Greeks,' i.e. when invading Troy. 28. sublatum] 'reared.' The use of tollere in this sense came from the practice of the father lifting an infant whom he wished to be reared and not exposed for death. 29. fata extrema] 'his desperate fortunes.' 30. et istum...honorem] and one to believe the honour you are aiming at (istum) cheaply purchased at the cost of life.' For qui credat cp. v. 17; L.P. § 150. vita is abl. of price; L.P. § 117. bene emi exactly equivalent to the French bon marché. 32. equidem strengthened form of quidem cp. 9, 23. [The fact that it most often occurs with verbs in the first person led to the false etymology ego...quidem]. 33-34. non] 'not so!' ovantem 'triumph.' [¿F-úw‘to shout' cp. 9, 31.] aequis 'kindly.' 35-36. quae multa...tali] 'for such things often befall in an adventure such as this.' in adversum whither I would not,' i.e. into misfortune. " |