Aut illaudati nescit Busiridis aras ? 5 mina, que tenuissent vacuas mentes, jam vulgata sunt. 10 Cui non dictus Hylas puer, et Latonia Delos, NOTES. him at the command of an oracle, the severest labors: they were twelve in number, and go under the name of the twelve labors of Hercules. 5. Busiridis. Busiris, a king of Egypt, who sacrificed to his gods the strangers who visited him. He was slain by Hercules. Illaudati: impious-infamous. This kind of negatives express, generally, more than the mere want of a good quality. They imply the possession of a contrary one. Detestati, says Heyne. 6. Hylas. See Ecl. vi. 43. Latonia: an adj. from Latona, the daughter of Caus, one of the Titans, and mother of Apollo and Diana, whom she brought forth at a birth on the island Delos: hence called Latonian Delos. 7. Hippodame. She was the daughter of Enomaus, king of Elis, and Pise who having learned from an oracle that he was to be slain by his son-in-law; in order to avoid it, he proposed to the suitors of his daughter, a chariot race, upon this condition, that the one who got the victory should have his daughter; but if vanquished should be slain. After thirteen had lost their lives, Pelops won the beauteous prize, by bribing Myrtillus, the charioteer of Enomaus, to place the chariot upon a frail or brittle axle. It broke during the race, and Enomaus was so much bruised by the fall, that he died of his wounds. Thus the oracle was fulfilled. Pelops was the son of Tantalus, king of Phrygia; who, as the fable goes, invited the gods to a banquet, and having a mind to try their divinity, dressed his own son, and set before them. All abstained from so horrid a repast except Ceres, who took a piece of the child's shoulder. Jupiter afterwards restored him to life, and gave him an ivory one in its room. Hence insignis eburno humero: famed for his ivory shoulder. For this horrid deed, Tantalus, after death, was doomed to perpetual hun 15 ger and thirst; and compelled to abstain from both meat and drink, which were placed before him, by way of aggravation. 8. Acer equis. This may allude to his victory over Enomaus; or it may mean no more than that he was skilled in the management of horses; which is the sense of Ruæus. 11. Aonio vertice: from the Aonian mount, Helicon. This was a mountain in Beotia, originally called Aonia, sacred to the muses. 12. Primus referam: I, the first, will bring to thee, O Mantua, Idumæan palms-noble palms. The palm-tree abounded in Idumæa, a country of Syria; so called from Edom, a son of Esau, who settled there. Virgil was not the first who introduced the Greek poetry into Italy; and, therefore, to do away, or prevent any objection, he mentions Mantua, the place of his birth. He was, however, the first who brought it to any degree of perfection. 13. Ponam Templum. The poet appears to mean, that he will not only imitate the Greeks, but he will surpass them; and in honor of his victory, he will build a temple, and institute games. Through the whole, under color of honoring himself, he very artfully compliments Augustus, his prince and patron. Ponam: in the sense of extruam. 14. Errat: meanders-winds. 18. Centum. I will drive a hundred fourhorse chariots along the river. The poet takes the definite number 100 for an indefinite number; or he alludes to the Circensian games, when in one day there were twenty-five races of four chariots each, making the exact number here mentioned. These were in imitation of the Olympic games, and were on the margin of a river. Illi: for him-in honor of Cæsar. 19. Cuncta Græcia. The meaning is, that all Greece would leave their own games, Cursibus et crudo decernet Græcia cæstu. 20 Ipse, caput tonsæ foliis ornatus olivæ, Dona feram. Jam nunc solemnes ducere pompas Ad delubra juvat, cæsosque videre juvencos: 24. Vel videre ut scena Vel scena ut versis discedat frontibus, utque discedat, 28. Atque hic sculpam Nilum undantem bello Purpurea intexti tollant aulæa Britanni. In foribus pugnam ex auro solidoque elephanto and come to these, as far excelling in grandeur and magnificence. Alpheum: a river of Elis, in the Peloponnesus, near the city Olympia. Hence the games there celebrated were called Olympic. The river here, by meton. is put for the games themselves. They were instituted by Hercules, in honor of Jupiter, as near as their date can be ascertained, in the summer of the year of the world, 3228, and before Christ, 776. They were celebrated every fifth year; or after an entire revolution of four years; which was denominated an Olympiad. This formed a very important era in the history of Greece. Lucos Molorchi: the groves of Molorchus by meton. the Nemea certamina, or Nemean games. These were instituted in honor of Hercules, on account of his killing the lion in the Sylva Nemaa, near Cleone, a city of the Peloponnesus. Molorchus was the name of the shepherd who entertained the hero, and at whose request he slew the Nemean lion. Besides these, there were other games called Pythia, instituted in honor of Apollo, on account of his killing the serpent Python. Hence he derived the name Paan, from a Greek word signifying to pierce or wound. There were also games called Isthmia. These were instituted by Theseus, king of Athens, in honor of Neptune. They derived their name from the circumstance of their being celebrated on the Isthmus of Corinth. Mihi: for me-in honor of me. 20. Crudo: because the castus, or gauntlet, was made of raw hide: or simply, cruel -bloody. See Æn. v. 379. 22. Pompas. These were images of the gods carried in procession before the people at the Circensian games-the procession itself. Feram dona: in the sense of proponam præmia. 24. Ut: in tne sense of quomodo. Scena: that part of the stage where the actors were -the curtain, or hanging, behind which they retired from the audience. raised up when the actors were upon the It was 25 30 stage, and let down when they retired from it. It appears to mean the saine thing with aulaa in the following line. See Geor. ii. 381. 25. Intexti. The Britons (the victories of Julius Cæsar over them) supposed to be painted on, or interwoven in, the curtains; which, by a figure of speech, they might be said to hold, or lift up. 27. Gangaridûm. The Gangarida were a people of India, near the Ganges. Quirini. This is cne of the many reasons we have for believing that Virgil continued to revise the Georgics until his death. It was debated in the senate, whether Octavius should be complimented with the name of Augustus, or Romulus, who was also called Quirinus. But this debate did not take place till three years after the publication of the Georgics; and was seven years before his victory over the Gangarida. The poet must, therefore, have added this line at least ten years after the first publication, or in the year of Rome, 734. 27. Faciam: in the sense of sculpam. 28. Magnum: Ruæus takes it in the sense of longè. Copiosè, says Heyne. Undantem: swelling and waving with war, as it did with its waters. This is a metaphor, beautiful and grand. The poet here alludes to the victory obtained by Augustus over Anthony and Cleopatra, and the capture of Alexandria, the principal city of Egypt, near the mouth of the Nile. It was built by Alexander the Great. All Egypt soon followed the fate of Alexandria, its capital. Bisque triumphatas utroque ab litore gentes. Stabunt et Parii lapides, spirantia signa, Nomina; Trosque parens, et Troja Cynthius auctor. ern. NOTES. ny, the one at Actium, in Epirus, on the attempt upon Juno, he was cast down to northern shore of the Mediterranean, the hell, and bound with twenty snakes to a other at Alexandria, in Egypt, on the south-wheel, which kept constantly turning, as a Hence the propriety of utroque litore. Rapta manu: obtained by valor, or by his own hand-where he commanded in person. Diverso hoste, and triumphatas gentes, mean the same; and probably we are to understand the Asiatic and African troops that composed the army of Anthony in these two battles. This is the opinion of Ruæus. Some understand the passage as referring to the Gandarida, a people of Asia, and to the Britanni, situated in Europe, in different quarters of the world. But Augustus did not conquer the Britons. 34. Parii lapides: Parian marble. Parii: an adj. from Paros, one of the Cyclades, famous for its shining marble. Spirantia signa: figures, or statues to the life. They shall be of such exquisite sculpture, that one could scarcely distinguish them from real life-they should almost breathe. 35. Proles Assaraci: the offspring of Assaracus, and the names of the family, &c. The poet here, as in other places, compliments the Cæsars with divine descent. According to him, it may be thus traced: Dardanus was the son of Jupiter and Electra; Erichthonius, the son of Dardanus; Tros, the son of Erichthonius; Ilus and Assaracus, sons of Tros; Ilus begat Laomedon, the father of Priam, and Assaracus begat Capys, the father of Anchises; of Anchises and Venus sprang Æneas, the father of Ascanius, or Iülus, the father of the Julian family. 36. Cynthius: Apollo. He was born on the island Delos, where was a mountain by the name of Cynthus; hence he was called Cynthius. He and Neptune, it is said, built the walls of Troy in the reign of Laomedon. See Ecl. iv. 10, and Geor. i. 502. 37. Infelix. This epithet is added to envy, because it is the principal source of unhappiness to men. 38. Cocyti: Cocytus, a fabulous river of hell, flowing out of Styx. Ixionis: Ixion, the father of the Centaurs. For making an punishment for his crime. The poets say, that Jupiter substituted a cloud in the form of Juno, and of it he begat the Centaurs. Upon his return to the earth, he boasted of his amour with the queen of the gods, and was punished for it by Jupiter in this exemplary manner. The truth is, the Centaurs were a people of Thessaly. They dwelt in a city by the name of Nephele. That being the Greek word for a cloud, gave rise to the story of their being the offspring of a cloud. They were the first who broke and tamed the horse. Ixion was their king. The poet here intimates in a very delicate manner the unhappy end of those who envied Augustus the glory due to his illustrious deeds; who dared refuse to submit to his authority; and who meditated a renewal of the civil wars. 39. Saxum. Sisyphus, a notorious robber, was slain by Theseus, king of Athens, and for his punishment, he was sentenced to hell; there to roll a stone to the top of a hill, which always rolled back before he could reach it. This made his labor perpetual. Non exsuperabile: not to be gotten to the top of the hill. 41. Tua haud mollia jussa: thy difficult commands. Virgil, at the request of Mecenas, wrote the Georgies; to which circumstance he here alludes a subject new, and which had not been handled or treated of by any preceding writer. Sequamur: we will enter upon. The one 43. Citharon: a mountain in Beotia, abounding in pasture, and herds of cattle. Taygeti: Taygetus, a mountain in Laconia, famous for hunting. Epidaurus. There were several places by that name. here intended, is probably in Argolis, on the eastern shore of the Peloponnesus, near the Sinus Saronicus, that part being celebrated for its horses. The meaning is, that he shall now treat of those animals that abounded in the above mentioned places tenùs crurum. 54. sunt magna: 56. Nec vacca insignis maculis et albo displiceat mihi: Et vox assensu nemorum ingeminata remugit. Seu quis, Olympiacæ miratus præmia palmæ, 52. Forma torve bo- Corpora præcipuè matrum legat. Optima torvæ que est tota 62. Cætera ætas ea corpora, tu malis mutari. 45. Vox Assensu, &c. The meaning is, that the groves unite in inviting him, and echo back the call. 46. Ardentes: in the sense of illustres. Accingar: in the sense of the Greek middle voice: I will prepare myself. The poet here seems to intimate his purpose of writing the Eneid; which was chiefly designed to flatter Augustus and the Roman people. 48. Tithoni. Tithonus was either the son or brother of Laomedon, and greatly beloved by Aurora. From his time down to Augustus, were one thousand years, according to the best accounts. But to extend his fame only for that length of time, would not come up to the design of the poet, whose wish was to perpetuate his fame to the latest posterity. According to Servius and Eustathius, Tithonus may here be taken for the sun, in the same sense that Titan is; they both being derived from the same Greek verb. This would fully come up to the views of the poet in immortalizing his prince. The sun having existed from the beginning of time, may be considered a quædam eternitas; or the poet may assume the definite number, 1000 years, for an indefinite period. See Æn. iv. 585. 51. Legat: in the sense of eligat. 52. Turpe: large-disproportionate. Bovis in the sense of vacca. 56. Maculis-et albo : the same as albis maculis, by Hendiadis. Aspera: pushing, or butting. 45 50 55 60 65 60. Lucinam: the goddess of child-bearing, so called à luce, quam infantibus dabat. by ineton. child-bearing itself—the bringing forth of young in general. Hymenaeos. Hymen or Hymenæus, was the son of Bacchus and Venus; the god of marriage: by meton. marriage itself also the intercourse of the sexes, as in the present instance. The meaning of the poet is, that the proper time for cattle to breed, ends before the tenth, and begins after the fourth year of their age. 63. Intereà: in the mean time-between the years of four and ten, let loose the males among your herds. Superat: abounds—is vigorous. 64. Pecuaria: properly pasture grounds: by meton. the cattle fed upon them. Here, the females; the boves, vel vaccæ. 65. Suffice: raise up one stock after another. Evi: in the sense of vila. 68. Inclementia: rigor severity. 69. Semper erunt. This, and the two following lines, Dr. Trapp thinks to be an interpolation. He says, the sense of the whole three lines is extremely jejune and flat. What occasion of admonishing the farmer to continue the succession of his cattle? The thing had just been expressed before. Let it be further considered, what a different face it puts upon the whole, if these lines are left out. Having concluded the article of the propagation of kine, with that fine reflection upon the imperfect state Semper enim refice: ac, ne pòst amissa requiras, 70 74. Impende præci75 puum laborem illis jam inde à teneris annis, 80 85 90 94 Hunc quoque, ubi aut morbo gravis, aut jam segnior Deficit, abde domo, nec turpi ignosce senectæ. [annis NOTES. of mortality, he immediately passes on to the propagation of horses. And what further confirms him in this opinion, is, the use of the verbs antevenio and sortior. The former, says he, is no where else used by Virgil; and the latter never, in the sense it is used here: for substituo. 71. Sobolem: a succession-issue. 73. Submittere: in the sense of seponere. 75. Pullus generosi: a colt of generous breed-of noble blood. Continuò: from the first-as soon as foaled. 76. Reponit mollia crura: he moves his pliant, or nimble legs. Reponit implies both the alternate movements of his feet, and the quickness and frequency of them. 81. Luxuriat toris: his courageous breast abounds (swells out) in muscles. 82. Spadices, glauci: the bright bay, and dappled-gray, are good colors; the worst color is the white and dun. It is very difficult, as Dr. Trapp observes, to ascertain the names of colors in a foreign and dead language. Besides, one nation may prefer this color, and another may prefer that. He takes albus for a dull, dirty white, and to be distinguished from candidus; because, anteire nives candore, Virgil makes the mark of a fine horse. See En. xii. 84. 84. Fremens. The common reading is premens; but several ancient copies have fre quos, 79. Est illi ardua 82. Spadices, glaucique sunt honesti colores 84. Tremit per artus 90. Et tales erant bijuges equi Martis, et currus magni Achilles, quorum mens, as Heyne informs us. That learned editor reads, fremens. Ignem: in the sense of calorem, vel ardentes anhelitus. Of the horses of Diomede, Lucretius says: ignem naribus spiraverunt. 87. Duplex: round-large. In a lean horse, as the spine or back-bone rises up sharp; so in a fat horse, there is a kind of hollow or gutter running through the middle of the back, and seeming to divide it into two parts. In this sense, duplex spina may be a double spine. Agitur: passes along, or extends. 87. Lumbos: in the sense of dorsum, vel tergum. 89. Talis Cyllarus: such was Cyllarus, broke by the reins, &c. Amyclæi: an adj. from Amycle, a city of Laconia, not far from Lacedæmon, where Castor and Pollux were born. Hence they are sometimes called Lacedæmonii, as well as Amyclæi. Cyllarus was the name of the horse. 91. Currus: in the sense of equi, by me ton. 92. Et talis pernix Saturnus ipse and such swift Saturn himself spread his mane. Saturn, as the poets say, was in love with Philyra, the daughter of Oceanus. During their amours, on a certain occasion, Rhea, his wife, came upon them. To prevent a discovery, Saturn transformed himself into |