Luminibus flammæ arrectis, salsusque per artus Talibus insidiis, perjurique arte Sinonis, NOTES. here mentioned are truly ominous; and sufficient to have excited in the minds of the Greeks fear and alarm. 174. Ipsa: the goddess-the image of the goddess. Emicuit: in the sense of salivit. 175. Parmam-hastam: the shield and brandished spear. These were the arms by which the Palladium was distinguished. 176. Canit: in the sense of declarat. Cano is properly applied to oracles and predictions. It implies that Calchas spoke by inspiration, and declared it to be the will of the gods, that the sea, &c. Exscindi: be rased-destroyed. 178. Ni repetant: unless they should repeat the omens at Argos, and bring back the goddess, which, &c. This, Servius observes, alludes to a custom of the Romans, when they were unsuccessful in war, to return home, and again consult the omens: or, if they were too far for that purpose, they used to appropriate a part of the enemy's territory, and call it Rome, where they renewed the omens. Numen: the Palladium-the image or symbol of Pallas' divinity; which Sinon would make the Trojans believe had been carried to Argos and in the mean time, until they should return, as an atonement or offering to the offended goddess (numine læso,) the Greeks had built, and consecrated to her, this horse. 176 180 esse 176. Æquora tentanda 183. Illi moniti statuêre hanc effigiem equi, 185 quæ 189 139. Nam dicebat, si vestra 193. Dicebat Asiam ultrò venturam esse 196. Nos-que, quos neque Tydides, nec Larissæus Achilles domuit; nos, quos decem anni non domuere; quos mille 195 carina non domuere, capti sunt dolis Omina. Some copies have omnia. Digerit: interprets-explains. 184. Quæ piaret: which might expiate the horrid crime of carrying off the Palladium from her temple. 186. Roboribus textis: with compacted or joined timber. Robur properly signifies the heart of the oak. Hence it may signify timber in general, and all wooden materials, as planks, boards, &c. Immensam very high. Molem: for equum. 188. Neu tueri: nor defend the people under their ancient religion-under the religious patronage and protection of their ancient guardian goddess, Pallas, or Minerva. 190. In ipsum: which omen may the gods rather turn upon him, to wit, Calchas. It would be more emphatical, if it were in ipsos, meaning upon the Greeks. Some copies have in ipsos. Ultrò. Servius 193. Asiam. Asia Minor, or Natolia, in which Troy was situated. It is put, by meton. for the inhabitants. explains this by statim. But the usual acceptation of the word is easier, and more emphatic. Pelopeia mania: the city Argos, where Pelops reigned: by synec. put for Greece in general. See Geor. iii. 7. 194. Ea fata: the same fate or destiny. 195. Insidiis: in the sense of fraudibus. 196. Coactis lachrymis: by his feigned or 181. Arma: troops-forces, by meton. forced tears. Some copies read coacti, i 199. Hic aliud majus alta Quos neque Tydides, nec Larissæus Achilles, Non anni domuere decem, non mille carinæ. Hic aliud majus miseris multòque tremendum prodigium multòque ma- Objicitur magis, atque improvida pectora turbat. gis tremenduın Laocoon, ductus Neptuno sorte sacerdos, Solennes taurum ingentem mactabat ad aras. Ecce autem gemini à Tenedo tranquilla per 204. Gemini angues (Horresco referens) immensis orbibus angues venientes à Tenedo per Incumbunt pelago, pariterque ad litora tendunt: tranquilla alta Pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta, jubæque Sanguineæ exsuperant undas: pars cætera pontum Ponè legit, sinuatque immensa volumine terga. Fit sonitus spumante salo: jamque arva tenebant, 210. Suffecti quoad Ardentesque oculos suffecti sanguine et igni, ardentes Sibila lambebant linguis vibrantibus ora. NOTES. the nom. agreeing with nos, meaning the Trojans. But this is not so easy and natural; nor does it so well agree with the subject. The poet uniformly represents Sinon as an impostor, a cheat, and all his words and tears feigned and dissembled. Servius strongly insists upon coactis. Valpy reads coacti. Heyne, coactis. 197. Larissæus: an adj. from Larissa, a town of Thessaly, near Phthia, the place where Achilles was born. 198. Mille carina. Homer makes 1186 ships in all, that went in the Trojan expedition. Carina, the keel, put, by synec. for the whole ship. The poets often use a definite number for an indefinite, particularly if the number be very large. 199. Hic aliud: here another greater prodigy, and one much more to be dreaded, is presented to our sight, nobis miseris. 200. Improvida: improvident-not expecting any thing of the kind. Pectora: in the sense of animos. 201. Laocoon. The priest of Neptune having been put to death, because, by his prayers and sacrifices, he did not prevent the arrival of the Greeks, Laocoon was chosen by lot to sacrifice to that god upon the departure of their enemies. He was the priest of Apollo Thymbræus. Some say he was the brother of Anchises; others that he was the son of Priam. Hyginus, who relates the story, says the crime for which Laocoon was thus severely punished, was his having married, and had children, contrary to the orders of Apollo: and that the Trojans construed this calamity, which befel him, as an act of vengeance of the gods for his having violated the offering of Minerva. Virgil, therefore, judiciously introduces this event, not only as it is a fine embellishment of his poem; but also as it 200 205 210 gives the greater probability to the episode of the wooden horse, and accounts for the credulity of the Trojans. 202. Solennes aras: the appointed altars. 503. Tenedo. Tenedos is here mentioned to signify, as Servius says, that the ships were to come from hence to the destruction of Troy. Per tranquilla alta: over the smooth or calm sea. This circumstance is mentioned, because it would afford the Trojans an opportunity the better to view the whole progress of the serpents, to hear their dreadful hissings, and every lash they gave the waves: it adds much terror to the hideous spectacle. 204. Referens: in the sense of narrans. Orbibus: in the sense of spiris. 205. Incumbunt: with their immense folds they rest (swim) upon the sea; and equally (abreast, head and head) stretch to the shore. 208. Sinuat: winds their huge backs in folds. Their necks down to their breast, were raised above the water; the other part of them swept the sea behind. Juba: necks crests. Salo: in the sense of mari. Arva in the sense of litus. 210. Suffecti ardentesque: spotted as to their glaring eyes with blood and fire, they licked their hissing mouths. Vibrantibus: in the sense of motantibus. Naturalists observe that no animal moves its tongue with so much velocity as the serpent. 212. Certo agmine: in the sense of recto sursu. Agmen here denotes the spiral motion of a serpent, shooting forward, fold after fold, in regular order, like a body of men marching in military array. 214. Uterque serpens: each serpent embracing, twines around the bodies of his two sons, and mangles their wretched limbs with their teeth. Implicat, et miseros morsu depascitur artus. Dividimus muros, et monia pandimus urbis. NOTES. Dr. Trapp renders depacitur, devours; but there is no necessity of this; for it often signifies no more than to mangle, prey upon, waste, or consume away. Beside, we can hardly suppose that the serpents devoured or eat up the bodies of his sons, and then laid hold upon the father, to satiate their hunger. There was a statue in the palace of Vespasian, representing this story, (as mentioned by Pliny,) which showed Laocoon entwined by the serpents, and his sons dead on the ground. It is probable that Virgil took this description from that statue. 215. Morsu: teeth-fangs. 218. Bis amplexi. The serpents embrace him twice about the middle; then rising upward, they bind their scaly backs twice about his neck; and holding him in that situation, elevate their heads and bloody crests above the head of their unhappy victim. Circumdati. The parts of a compound verb are sometimes separated by Tmesis, for the sake of the verse. This word is either to be taken actively, in the sense of circumdantes, and governing squamea terga; or we must take the expression as a Grecism. See Ecl. i. 55. 220. Tendit: in the sense of conatur. Nodos: the folds of the serpent. 221. Perfusus: smeared, or stained, as to his fillets. 224. Incertam securim: the erring blowthe axe struck with an erring blow. 225. Delubra. Delubrum was properly the place before the temple, or near the altar, where they washed before they entered, or before they performed sacrifice. It is de rived from deluo. Varro, however, thinks it was the shrine or place where the image of the god was placed. It is often used for the temple itself, by synec. Lapsu: by a gentle easy motion. Dracones: in the sense. of serpentes. 226. Arcem: the shrine of stern Minerva. Tritonis, a name of that goddess. 230. Ferunt: they declare that Laocoon justly suffered for his crime-that it was a just punishment inflicted upon him for doing violence to the sacred offering of Minerva. By this their doubt was removed, and they resolved to admit the fatal machine within the city. 231. Tergo: in the sense of lateri. 232. Simulacrum. Virgil had an admirable talent at varying his style. He hath found out no less than twelve names for this horse, all equally significant: Lignum, Machina, Monstrum, Dolum, Pinea Claustra, Donum, Moles, Effigies Equi, Equus, Sacrum Robur, Simulacrum, and Cavum Robur. Ad sedes: to the proper place-the hill, or eminence, on which the temple of Minerva stood. Numina: in the sense of divinitatem. 234. Mania: properly, the fortifications or bulwarks of a city, from munio. Murus: the wall that surrounds it. They are, however, used indiscriminately for a city, frequently. Accingunt: apply themselves to the work. 236. Lapsus rotarum: they place wheels (or rollers) under its feet, and fasten hempen cords to its neck. Lapsus rotarum: simply for rotas. Intendunt: scandit fatalis machina muros, Fæta armis pueri circùm innuptæque puellæ 239. Circùm canunt Sacra canunt, funemque manu contingere gaudent. Illa subit, mediæque minans illabitur urbi. sacra carmina 240. Illa machina subit O patria, ô Divûm domus, Ilium, et inclyta bello, Mœnia Dardanidûm! quater ipso in limine portæ Substitit, atque utero sonitum quater arma dedêre. 244. Immemores pro- Instamus tamen immemores, cæcique furore, digii Et monstrum infelix sacratâ sistimus arce. 246. Tunc etiam Cas- Tunc etiam fatis aperit Cassandra futuris sandra, jussu Dei Apol- Ora, Dei jussu non unquam credita Teucris. Nos delubra Deûm miseri, quibus ultimus esset 248. Nos miseri Tro. Ille dies, festâ velamus fronde per urbem. jani, quibus linis non unquam credita Teucris, Vertitur intereà cœlum, et ruit Oceano nox, Involvens umbrâ magnâ terramque polumque, Myrmidonumque dolos. Fusi per monia Teucri Conticuere: sopor fessos complectitur artus. NOTES. 237. Scandit muros: it ascends, or mounts over the ruins of our walls. They had been demolished to admit it, and afford it entrance. 239. Funem: the ropes that had been fastened to the neck and other parts of the horse, by which they moved it forward. 241. Ilium, domus Divûm: Ilium, the habitation of the gods; either because its walls had been built by Apollo and Neptune; or, on account of the numerous temples and consecrated places with which it abounded. 242. Dardanidum: the same as Trojanorum, vel Troja. 243. Substitit quater, &c. Some are of opinion that this stumbling, or stopping of the horse in the very threshold, alludes to a notion that prevailed of its being a bad omen for one to stumble on the threshold, especially when going out to war; as it is said to have happened to Protesilaus, the first of the Greeks, who was killed on the plains of Troy. The malignity of this omen was thought to proceed from the Furies, who had their seats on the threshold. 244. Immemores. Servius thinks that Virgil here alludes to the custom of the Romans in devoting their enemies and the places to which they laid siege. In the form of words which they used upon the occasion, they poured forth these imprecations against them: Eique populo civitatique metum, formidinem, oblivionem injiciatis, Dii. According to him, immemores will imply that the Trojans were abandoned by the gods, and given up to stupidity and infatuation. Furore: with zeal-infatuation. Furor signifies any inordinate passion whatever, as love, hatred, anger, zeal, &c. Immemores: heedless-unmindful. 240 245 250 245. Infelix: in the sense of perniciosum, vel fatale. 246. Cassandra. She was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba, and endued with the spirit of prophecy by Apollo, upon her promising to grant him her love; which, however, she afterwards refused to do. Not being able to withdraw from her the gift he had bestowed, he rendered it of no avail, by destroying her credibility, and making all Jussu Dei: by the command of the god her predictions to be considered as false. Apollo. Ora: for os; the plu. for the sing. Fatis futuris: to our approaching destruc tion. 249. Velamus delubra. It was their cus tom, not only on festival days, but at all times of public rejoicing, to adorn, or dress the temples of the gods with the branches of laurel, olive, ivy, &c. 250. Vertitur cœlum: the heavens are turned around. By the diurnal rotation of the earth, the heavens appear to revolve about it once in twenty-four hours. The heavens as well as the earth are divided into two hemispheres, the upper and the lower, by the horizon. The diurnal hemisphere rises with the sun, and sets with him in the west, below the horizon. At the same time the nocturnal hemisphere rises in the east. This tends to explain nox ruit Oceano : night rushes from the ocean, or rises from the ocean. 251. Terramque. There is a great beauty in thus singling out the stratagems of the Greeks, as the object of chief attention, among all the things in heaven and earth, which that night concealed. 252. Fusi: stretched upon their beds, expecting no danger, and taking needful repose. Mania: in the sense of urbem. Et jam Argiva phalanx instructis navibus ibat Laxat claustra Sinon: illos patefactus ad auras Tempus erat, quo prima quies mortalibus ægris In somnis ecce ante oculos mastissimus Hector NOTES. 254. Phalanx: properly a body of men, consisting of eight thousand, placed in a square; here used for troops in general. Instructis navibus: in their furnished ships. 255. Tacita Lunæ. Commentators have variously interpreted these words. Some have understood by them that the moon was then new and shone with feeble light, and the darkness in consequence was favorable to the Greeks, by preventing discovery. Valpy understands by them the absence of the moon during the first part of the night. The Grecian army, says he, may have chosen the decrease of the moon, when she does not rise till near midnight. This darkness was favorable or friendly to them. But we are told by Scaliger and others, that Troy was taken about the full moon, when she shines the brightest. This led Ruæus to understand by the silence of the moon, the middle of the night, when all things are silent and still. But Luna may, by meton. be taken for nox, as Sol is often put for dies. This will render it more intelligible: the friendly silence of the still (or calm) night. This is the opinion of Heyne. 256. Cùm regia puppis: when the royal ship erected a light, then Sinon protected by, &c. We are to understand that Helen or Sinon first gave the signal to Agamemnon that they were ready, by showing a lighted torch from the citadel, and he returned it to them, by setting up a light upon the stern of his ship. 257. Fatis: will, or purposes of the gods. Iniquis in the sense of adversis, vel infestis. Nobis is understood. 259. Furtim laxat Danaos: he opens privately the piny doors, and (lets out) the 255 260 265 270 Here we Greeks shut up in the womb. 260. Reddit: in the sense of effundit. 262. Lapsi per funem. After they were let out, they slid down by a rope, secured at the top of the horse, and reaching to the ground. 263. Pelides: Pyrrhus, the son of Achil les, and grandson of Peleus, king of Thessaly. He was also called Neoptolemus. See 469. seq. Primus. By this we are to understand that he was the first who descended the rope; and not the first, or chief among these leaders. 263. Doli: for equi. 265. Sepultam somno, vinoque. This is a very expressive metaphor, representing the inhabitants of the city so deeply in sleep, and so silent and still, that it would almost seem as if their beds had been their graves. This greatly moves our pity toward the Trojans, and our indignation against Sinon and the treacherous Greeks. Accipiunt: in the sense of admillunt. Portis patentibus may be put absolutely. 267. Conscia: friendly; or conscious, because they were acquainted with the plan of attack. 268. Ægris: in the sense of fessis. 269. Dono: by the favor, or indulgence. Serpit: creeps, or spreads over them. This is extremely significant. Iilis, vel is, is to be supplied. 272. Bigis. Biga, properly a chari |