Eridanus, quo non alius per pinguia culta Postquam est in thalami pendentia pumice tecta NOTES. 372. Eridanus: the river Po. This is the largest river of Italy. There is a seeming difficulty in reconciling what is here said of this river with matter of fact. We are told the Po is not a rapid river. It flows the greater part of its course through a level and highly cultivated country. This taken into consideration, no other river perhaps, under the saine circumstances, flows with greater rapidity. We are not to understand the poet as speaking absolutely, but comparatively. It falls into the Adriatic sea, or gulf of Venice. Taurino vultu. The form of a bull is of ten, by the poets, given to rivers, from their roaring and rapid course: the noise which they make, bearing some resemblance to the bellowing of that animal. They are also called cornuti, or horned, from the double banks or channels, into which they divide themselves or perhaps from the circumstance of their being sometimes formed by the union of two streams or smaller rivers. As for example, the river Ohio is formed by the union of the rivers Alleghany and Monongahela. Hercules is said to have brøken off one of the horns of Acheloüs. It is thus explained. That hero reduced the river to one channel or stream. The dried part or broken horn of the river was converted into fruitful fields and gardens. This gave rise to the fable of the cornucopiæ, or horn of plenty. This was given to the nymphs, and by them presented to the Goddess of Plenty. The verb erumpit is to be supplied with each of the preceding nominatives. 374. Pendentia: vaulted, or arched with pumice stone. Rumus says; structa impendente pumice. Perventum est: imp. verb, used in the sense of pervenit. 375. Inanes: vain, says Servius, because they were excited by a calamity easy to be removed. 376. Dant: in the sense of ferunt. L quidos fontes: in the sense of puras aquas. This water was brought for the use of Aristæus; manibus may therefore refer to his hands-for washing his hands: or it may refer to the hands of the nymphs who brought it—in their hands. 377. Mantilia: towels. It would seem they were made of some shaggy or nappy cloth, which was scmetimes shorn for the greater smoothness and delicacy. Our napkins were probably of the same sort formerly, the word seeming to be derived from nap. Tonsis villis: the shag or nap being cut off. 379. Panchais: an adj. from Panchæa, a region of Arabia, abounding in frankincense. Ara: the altars burn with Arabian frankincense. 380. Carchesia. The carchesium was a large oblong bowl or goblet, flatted about the middle, having handles reaching quite to the bottom. Mæonii: an adj. from Mœonia, the ancient name of Lydia in Asia Minor. It abounded in vines. Bacchi: for vini. 383. Servanı: in the sense of præsident. 384. Perfundit: she sprinkled-wet. Ardentem Vestam: the flaming fire: See Æn. 1. 292. Nectare: for vino. Nectar was prɔperly the best and purest wine, such as they assigned to the use of the gods. 385. Subjecia. This Ruæus takes in the sense of supposita; with what propriety, however, does not appear. The meaning plainly is: that when the wine was poured upon the fire, a flame arose, or blazed, and shone bright, as high as the roof of the house. Subjicis, from which subjecta is derived, signifies to rise, or mount up. See Ecl. x. 74, and Æn. xii. 288. It is here used in the sense of surgens. 387. Carpathio: an adj. from Carpathus, an island in the Mediterranean sea, between Cœruleus Proteus, magnum qui piscibus æquor, Et juncto bipedum curru metitur equorum. Hic nunc Emathiæ portus, patriamque revisit Pallenen; hunc et nymphæ veneramur, et ipse Grandævus Nereus: novit namque omnia vates, 393. Que sint præsen- Quæ sint, quæ fuerint, quæ mox ventura trahantur. tia, quæ fuerint præte- Quippe ita Neptuno visum est: immania cujus rita, et Armenta, et turpes pascit sub gurgite phocas. 390 395 400. Circùm hæc vin- Tende: doli circùm hæc demum frangentur inanes. 40G 401. Ego ipsa ducam Ipsa ego te, medios cùm Sol accenderit æstus, cula te in secreta senis, quò Cùm sitiunt herbæ, et pecori jam gratior umbra est, 402. Gratior pecori In secreta senis ducam, quò fessus ab undis quàm herba Se recipit; facilè ut somno aggrediare jacentem. 405 Illum correptum Verùm ubi correptum manibus, vinclisque tenebis; 405 Sed quantò ille magis formas se vertet in omnes; 113. Qualem videris Donec talis erit, mutato corpore, qualem illum NOTES. Rhodes and Crete, whence the neighboring sea was called Carpathian. It is now called Scarponto. Neptuni: Neptunus, the god of the sea, by meton. put here for the sea itself, according to Ruæus. That commentator takes gurgite in the sense of sinu; but it is better to take it in the sense of mari, and Neptuni in its usual acceptation. Vates Neptun: the prophet of Neptune. For Proteus, it is said, received from that god the gift of prophecy. 388. Proteus: a sea-god. According to fable, he was the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and received the gift of prophecy from Neptune. He was very difficult of access, and when consulted, he frequently eluded the answers by transforming himself into various shapes, and so making his escape. Homer makes him an Egyptian, and Herodotus, a king of Egypt. Sir Isaac Newton, finding him cotemporary with Amenophis, or Memnon, conjectures he was only a viceroy to that prince, and governed some part of Lower Egypt in his absence. Proteus is represented as drawn in a car by marine horses; that is, their fore part resembling the horse, their hinder a fish. They would consequently have only two feet, and those before. Hence bipedum quorum. 410 389. Metitur: he measures, or rides over. Juncto: yoked, or harnessed; alluding to his marine horses, that were harnessed in his car. 391. Pallenen: Pallene, a peninsula of Macedonia, whose original name was Emathia. 393. Trahantur. There is a great propriety in the use of this word, according to the heathen notion of fate. Future events are said to be drawn, (trahi,) because, in that series, or chain of causes and effects, they so follow that one may be said to draw the other. 395. Turpes: in the sense of immanes. 399. Flectes: in the sense of vinces. 400. Tende: apply rigid force and chains to him, when seized. Doli: tricks-stratagems. 406. Ora in the sense of formæ. Eludent. Illudent is the common reading. Pierius found in the Roman manuscript ludent; in the Lombard, Medicean, and most of the ancient manuscripts, eludent which is the reading of Heyne. 408. Draco: a serpent, or snake. 410. Excidet: will oscape. dissolved into water, &c. Dilapsus 412. Contende: in the sense of constringe. 414. Tegeret: in the sense of clauderet Hæc ait: et liquidum ambrosiæ diffudit odorem, 415 Intus se vasti Proteus tegit objice saxi. Hic juvenem in latebris aversum à lumine Nympha 419. Quò plurima un 420 da cogitur. 425 430 435 440 Ignemque, horribilemque feram, fluviumque liquentem. 423. Nympha Cyrene collocat juvenem Aris tæum 427. Et radii Solis coquebant cava flumina tepefacta faucibus siccis usque ad 437. Quoniam facultas capiendi cujus oblata est Aristo; vix 439. Ruit in eum cum NOTES. Somno incepto: at the beginning of his droughts: hence the propriety of the episleep. 415. Ambrosiæ. Ambrosia was the food of the gods, and nectar their drink. But the two are often confounded, as here, liquidus odor is said of ambrosia. Liquidum odoTem: a pure fragrancy, or perfume. 416. Perduxit: in the sense of perunxit. Pierius found perfudit in the Roman MS. 417. Aura: in the sense of odor. Illi: the dat. in the sense of illius. This use of the dat. case is frequent with Virgil. Compositis: in the sense of unctis. 419. Exesi: in the sense of excavati. 421. Olim: in the sense of aliquando. Deprensis: caught, or overtaken in a storm. 423. Aversum: in the sense of remotum. 424. Resistit: in the sense of remanet. Obscura: in the sense of occulta. 425. Sirius: a star of the first magnitude in the mouth of the dog. It rises about the time the sun enters the sign Leo, which takes place in the latter part of July, causing what we call the dog-days. Torrens pres. part. in the sense of comburens. Indos. This word is here used for the inhabitants of any warm climate. Such countries are subject to long and excessive thet sitientes. This 426. Igneus Sol: the fiery sun had completed (drawn out) half his course. is a circumlocution to denote the middle of the day. Hauserat: in the sense of cucurrerat. 428. Coquebant: in the sense of siccabant. Faucibus: in the sense of alveis. 431. Amarum: the bitter spray. The sea-water is bitter as well as salt. 432. Diversa: dispersed, or scattered along the shore. 433. Stabuli: in the sense of armenti, by meton. 435. Auditis. Some read auditi, to agree with agni: but the sense leads to auditis: the bleating of the lambs being heard. Mr. Davidson observes, that auditis is found in the Roman, Medicean, and Cambridge manuscripts. Heyne reads auditis. 437. Facultas: an opportunity was pre sented. 439. Manicis: in the sense of vinculis. Some manuscripts read vinculis. 441. Miracula: in the sense of prodigia, wonderful shapes, says Valpy. 442. Liquentem: in the sense of fluenlem. 445 At ille, Verùm ubi nulla fugam reperit fallacia, victus In sese redit, atque hominis tandem ore locutus: Nam quis te, juvenum confidentissime, nostras 446. At ille Aristaus Jussit adire domos? quidve hinc petis? inquit. respondit :0 Proteu, scis, Scis, Proteu, scis ipse: neque est te fallere cuiquam. Sed tu desine velle. Deûm Venimus huc, lapsis quæsitum oracula rebus. tu ipse 448 Velle fallere me 450. Effatus est tantum præcepta secuti hoc Tantum effatus. Ad hæc vates vi denique multâ 450 Et, graviter frendens, sic fatis ora resolvit : Magna luis commissa: tibi has miserabilis Orpheus 456 flumina præceps, 457. Illa puella qui- Illa quidem, dum te fugeret per dem moritura, dum præ- Immanem ante pedes hydrum, moritura puella, ceps per flumina fugeret te, non vidit, ante pedes Servantem ripas altâ non vidit in herbâ. in alta herba, immanem At chorus æqualis Dryadum clamore supremos Implêrunt montes: flêrunt Rhodopeïæ arces, 464. Ipse Orpheus so. Altaque Pangæa, et Rhesi Mavortia tellus, O duleis conjux; canebat 443. Fugam escape. Fallacia: wiles tricks-stratagems. NOTES. 447. Neque est cuique: nor is it in the power of any one to deceive you. 449. Quæsitum: to seek divine counsel in my ruined state-my adverse circumstances. A supine in um, put after venimus. 451. Ardentes: in the sense of coruscantes. It is to be connected with lumine glauco. 452. Sic resolvit. The poet now proceeds to the answer of Proteus, in which he tells Aristæus that the cause of his disaster was the injury offered to Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus. The whole story is told in so beautiful a mai.ner, that it does not seem unworthy of the mouth of a god. 453. Non nullius numinis. Davidson renders this: of no mean deity. But the ordinary sense and meaning of the words are to be preferred: of some deity. The two negatives express affirmatively. Besides the punishment of Aristaus was procured by Orpheus and the nymphs, who were inferior deities. Ruæus and Heyne say alicujus Dei. Exercent: in the sense of persequuntur. 454. Commissa: in the sense of scelera. Miserabilis, &c. Unhappy Orpheus procures this punishment for thee, by no means proportionate to thy deserts, (and would procure greater,) if the fates did not oppose. This appears to be the plain meaning of the 460 465 Orpheus was the son of Eagrus, king of Thrace, and Calliope, one of the Muses. He was distinguished for his skill in music and poetry. He was one of the Argonauts. It is said there are some hymns of his extant; but there is reason to believe they are spurious. See Ecl. iii. 46. 456. Savit and grieves immoderately for. 461. Arces: the Rhodopean mountains. See Geor. iii. 351. 462. Pangaa: neu. plu. sing. Pangaus: a mountain in Thrace, in the confines of Macedonia. Rhesi. See n. I. 469. 463. Geto. See Geor. ii. 462. Orithyia See Ecl. vii. 51. 464. Testudine. The lyre was called testudo, because anciently it was made of tortoise shell. It is said that Mercury find. ing a dead tortoise on the banks of the river Nile, made a lyre of it; whence he is called, parens curva lyre. Tænarus, a 467. Ingressus Tanarias. promontory of the Peloponnesus, separating the Sinus Messenicus from the Sinus Et caligantem nigrâ formidine lucum Jamque pedem referens, casus evaserat omnes; 475. Corpora and bodies of gallant heroes deprived of life. Corpora is here used to denote the airy vehicle, or form, which the ancients assigned to departed spirits. This is the meaning here. 479. Cocyti. Cocytus, a river of Italy, of no great magnitude, feigned by the poets to be a river of hell. Its banks abounded in reeds. Inamabilis: in the sense of odiosa; and undâ for aquâ. 480. Circum alligat: surrounds-confines. The parts of the verb are frequently separated by Tmesis, for the sake of the verse. Styx. A fabulous river of hell, around which, the poets say, it flowed nine times. It may therefore be said to restrain the shades, and prevent them from returning to the upper regions. See Geor. iii. 551. Interfusa: flowing between them and the upper regions of light. 482. Tartara: properly the lowest part of hell-the place in which the impious are punished, according to the poets. Intima: in the sense of profundissima. Letum, or Lethum, seems here to be used for the place, or regions of the dead in general. 483. Eumenides. The furies were three in number, and represented with their hair entwined with serpents, to render them more dreadful. See Geor. 1. 278. Cerberus a huge dog with three heads, the door-keeper of Pluto. 484. Cantu. Most copies have vento. But it is extremely difficult to make any sense of that. Davidson reads cantu, and informs us that Pierius found cantu in se veral ancient MSS. This makes the sense easy, and the passage intelligible. Ruæus Commentators have shown a good deal of ingenuity in attempting to render this passage intelligible with vento. says: Orbis rote Ixioniæ quievit flante vento contrario. Valpy that the wind relaxed, by which the wheel was carried round: or it stood to the wind. : Or, by Heyne hath a long note upon it. He thinks vento should be taken in the abl. The wind, by which the wheel was carried round, subsiding, the wheel ceased to revolve: Vento,quo aliàs circum ugibatur rota, subsidente, subsideret motus rota. ventus, may be understood the air or wind, occasioned by the revolution of the wheel: or lastly, says he, rota orbis may be taken simply for the wheel: rota substitit vento: the impulse of the wind ceasing, venti impulsu cessante, the wheel stopped. The fable represents all the infernal regions charmed with the music o. Orpheus. The furies, the depths of Tartarus, Cerberus with his triple mouth, the wheel of Ixion, all stopped to listen to it. Ixionii: an adj. from Ixion, agreeing with orbis. Ixion was sentenced to be bound to a wheel, that kept perpetually in motion. Rota orbis: the rotation, or revolution of the wheel; or simply for rota. See Geor. iii. 38. 486. Veniebat: was just coming to the upper regions of light. 20 |