Tum quoque marmorea caput a cervice revulsum Haec Proteus, et se jactu dedit aequor in altum, 525 530 535 540 545 524. Oeagrius. From Oeager, king of Thrace, father of Or. pheus.-529. Sub vertice. Sub has the notion of motion upwards, and vertex that of an eddying effect, the whirl upwards; the foam. ing water, forming an eddy all around. -530. Cyrene did not seek her native waves, but counselled her trembling son as to the remedy, of the evil, the cause only of which Proteus had shown.-538, &c. The mode of expiation is here described. Aristaeus is to sacrifice to the Nymphs of the woody valleys (called, ver. 535, Napaeus) four bulls, at four separate altars, and to leave the carcases in the wood. On the ninth morning after the sacrifice he is to offer poppies and a black sheep to Orpheus. He is then to go back to the wood where he had left the bulls; and on finding that Eurydice (with the other Nymphs) is appeased, he is, in token of gratitude for his bees restored, to sacrifice in her honour a heifer. There is a difference of opinion as to the proper arrangement of the lines 545-547; but the one adopted, as here explained, seems to be the best; and it is supported by the majority of the manuscripts. - 539. Lycaei. A mountain to the south-west of Arcadia, where Aristaeus was worshipped, and where he is here said to have flocks. Sce v. 317.- 540. Intacta. Jugo completes the sense.- 545. For the form Orphei, see Zumpt, $52. Lethaea, a derivative from Lethe, the river of forgetfulness.-546. Nigram. Black victims were of fered to the infernal deities. See Aen. vi. 243, 249. Haud mora; continuo matris praecepta facessit, Haec super arvorum cultu pecorumque canebam 550 555 560 565 549. Monstratas, a matre.. - 554, &c. The infinitives in apposition with monstrum, furnish a fine illustration of the nature of the infinitive, as the substantive form of the verb.-555. Viscera ineludes the whole carcase within the skin.-557. Nubes avium. 558. Uvam. The grape-like clustering of bees had struck Homer, who calls it Boтpudóv (Il. ii. 89). See a picture somewhat similar, Aen. vii. 64, &c.-559-566. General conclusion to the Georgics. 1 AENEIDOS LIBRI DUODECIM. LIBER I. THIS is an Epic poem, which, according to the definition of Blair, is 'the recital of some illustrious enterprise in a poetical form.' The title Aeneis is derived from Aeneas (Aivɛías), the hero of the poem. Its professed object is to celebrate the ad ventures of Aeneas, while sailing from Troy, after the de struction of that city, in search of a settlement-his final landing in Italy-and his triumphant struggle with his enemies, and his rival, Turnus, in that country, leaving him free to marry Lavinia, the daughter of Latinus, king of the Latins, and to found Lavinium, the mother city of Rome, with all her glories. It is supposed by many that Virgil had a further object — to exalt his great patron, Augustus, whose character and martial deeds, according to this view, he shadows forth in the person of Aeneas. There can be no doubt that he intends to gratify Roman pride, by embodying in lofty song the legends that told of their descent from gods and heroes. The legends of Aeneas followed by Virgil develop themselves in the course. of the poem. It is proper to observe that they materially differ, in many respects, from the account of Aeneas given by Homer. The first Book may be thus divided:-Proposition of the subject, with address to the Muse, 1-11. Causes of Juno's hatred towards Aeneas, 12-33. Her feelings, when, in the seventh summer of his wanderings, she sees him sailing from Sicily to Italy, his destined home, 34-49. Her plans to prevent his reaching Italy, by persuading Aeolus to sink or disperse his fleet, 50-80. The consequent storm, in which one of the ships is lost, and the rest are scattered, 81-123. The interference of Neptune to calm the storm, 124-156. Aeneas, with seven out of twenty ships, lands on the coast of Africa, 157-222. Conversation between Jupiter and Venus regarding the fate of Aeneas and his posterity, 223-296. Mercury sent down to render Dido, queen of Carthage, friendly to Aeneas, 297-304. Interview between Aeneas and Venus, at first in the guise of a huntress, 305-409. He proceeds to Carthage, along with Achates, both rendered invisible by the care of Venus, 411– 420. Description of rising Carthage, 421-436. Aeneas visits the temple of Juno, and sees depicted there the Trojan wars, 437-493. Dido visits the temple, 494-508. A deputation from the twelve missing ships of the Trojans waits on Dido, to complain of the outrages of her people, and bewail the loss of Aeneas, 509-560. Dido consoles them, and offers them a settlement, 561-578. Aeneas, freed from the cloud, appears, and addresses Dido, who replies kindly, and prepares to entertain him and his followers, 579-642. Aeneas sends for Ascanius, 643-656. Venus substitutes Cupid for Ascanius, 657-698. The banquet in Dido's palace, 699-747. Dido asks Aeneas to narrate the downfall of Troy, and his wanderings, 748-756. It may be seen from this that Virgil does not, as a historian would, introduce the subject with the fall of Troy, and conduct Aeneas, in the order of time, through his adventures till their conclusion. Following the example of Homer, in both his great Epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, he dashes at once into the middle of the subject-a plan praised by Horace (De Arte Poet. 148), and observed by the writers of Epic poems in modern times, as in Milton's Paradise Lost, which does not begin with the creation of the world, but takes up the subject after the world has been created, and many events bearing on the main action have already occurred. Ille ego, qui quondam gracili modulatus avena Ut quamvis avido parerent arva colono, ARMA virumqué cano, Trojae qui primus ab oris Many regard the first four lines as a spurious addition of some later writer. They are not, however, unworthy of Virgil-provided they be regarded as a mere inscription. Hence, it will be observed that in this edition these lines are not reckoned as part of the poem itself. 1. Arma virumque; either virum clarum armis, or perhaps arma is a general, virum a specific proposition. Primus may mean either first,' or, in ancient times,' or, 'surpassing all in fame.' The first seems preferable, as the most obvious; and although Antenor (see v. 242) settled in Cisalpine Gaul, Virgil may have regarded it as no part of Italy.—2. Ítaliam, without ad, a Litora multum me et fertis jactatus et álto Urbs antiqua fuit, Tyrii tenuere coloni Prima quod ad Trojam pro caris gesserat Argis— poetical construction. Zumpt, § 401. Laviniaque; pronounce Lavinyaque as four syllables.-3. llle, with jactatus and passus (v. 5), is to be regarded as in apposition with qui. — 4. Súperum seems to have the generic force of divorum. Aeneas was exposed to the violent opposition, not only of Juno, but of Aeolus, Juturna, and others. 5. Dum conderet. Conderet seems to have a potential force: till he was able to.'-8. Quo numine laeso. As no other deity than Juno (regina deum) is mentioned by Virgil as aggrieved by the enterprise of Aeneas, it is difficult to understand the precise force of these words. Virgil, in a subsequent passage, refers the resentment of Juno to two causes-the destined triumph of Rome over Carthage, and the insults to which she had been exposed from the Trojan race. Perhaps the easiest mode of interpretation is to conceive quo numine (divino consilio) laeso to refer to the first, and quidve dolens to the latter cause: both being conjoined with regina deum. 12. Antiqua. In reference to Virgil's own time.-15. Unam. Alone in respect to the degree in which Juno favoured it. 16. Samo. The final ō not elided. Virgil represents Juno as preferring Carthage even to Samos, an island off the coast of Ionia, where Juno was worshipped with great observance. - 19. Sed enim. In such expressions, sed infers an objection to a previous statement, enim introduces the reason of the objection. Here, Sed metuebat de regno Carthaginis, audierat enim, &c.-21. Regem, regnantem.-23. Saturnia. Juno was the daughter of Saturn. 24. Prima, olim; or, foremost in the ranks of the hostile deities. Argis. The capital of Argolis, where Juno was worshipped with special |