of this; or on account of the roughness of the coast, he is called Apollo formidatus nautis: Apollo dreaded by sailors. The name of the god, put by meton. for the temple. Nimbosa: some copies have umbrosa.

276. Hunc. This may refer to mount Leucate, mentioned before. Or we may suppose, with more probability, that Eneas continued his course hence to the Sinus Ambracius, where there was the small city Ambracia, (afterwards enlarged by Augustus, and called Nicopolis, in allusion to his victory,) and another temple of Apollo. If we make this supposition, the hunc may refer to this latter temple, or to the god to whom it was dedicated. Near this place Augustus afterwards obtained a complete victory over the combined forces of Anthony and Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. To this victory the poet alludes, with a view to compliment his prince. Here he landed, and performed those games, which Augustus afterwards instituted, in commemoration of his victory; and celebrated every fifth year.

277. Puppes: in the sense of naves. Or it may imply that the sterns of his ships lay aground, while the prows were afloat. This is the opinion of Dr. Trapp.

278. Insperata: greatly desired, or longed for. The prep. in, in composition, often increases the signification of the siniple word, as well as changes it to a contrary sense. The former I take to be the case here; the same as valdè sperata. For after the many dangers and perils of his voyage, what could be more desirable, than to find a place where he could land in safety, and enjoy the hospitality of the shore?

279. Lustramur Jovi: in the sense of sacrificamus Jovi. Incendimus aras votis. Ruæus says, cumulamus aras victimis. Votum, by met. the thing vowed-the victim.

275

280

286. Figo adversis postibus templi clypeum 285 è cavo ære, gestamen magni Abantis, et signo rem hoc carmine:

Eneas suspendit hæc arma capla

280. Actia litora. The poet here plainly alludes to the famous games which Augus tus instituted on the promontory of Epirus, in commemoration of his victory over Anthony and Cleopatra, in the year of Rome 723. These were celebrated every fifth year. Hence, some have conjectured, that four years had now elapsed since Eneas left Troy. Virgil would make his prince believe that Eneas landed on this shore, and instituted these very games.

281. Exercent patrias: they practise their country's exercises with the slippery oil. The palestra was an exercise, in which the persons were naked; and, that they might free themselves the easier from the hands of their antagonists, they used to besmear their bodies and arms with oil. It is also applied to all kinds of games or exercises, such as wrestling, leaping, &c. Also the place where these exercises are performed.

283. Fugam: in the sense of cursum, vel

iter.

284. Magnum annum: the sun completes (rolls round) a great year: a solar year of 12 months, as distinguished from a lunar year, which consists of 12 lunations, or 354 days. Circumvolvitur, is plainly in the sense of circumvolvit.

285. Hyems asperat: the icy winter roughens. Undas: in the sense of mare.

286. Gestamen. This word signifies any covering-any thing worn or carried by a person; from the verb gesto. Abantis. It is probable that Abas was one of those Greeks, whom Eneas and his party slew in the night of the sack of Troy, stript of their armour, and exchanged for their own. Gestamen, is put in apposition with clypeum.

287. Adversis postibus: the fronting doo posts of the temple. Figo: in the sense of suspendo. Signo rem carmine: I declare the transaction by this verse-inscription Rem: in the sense of factum.

est miro

Hectoris solemnes da

inanein sacraverat è vi

289. Transtris: upon the benches or thwarts. They extended across the vessels from side to side: the rowers sat upon them.

290. Certatim: eagerly-striving to outdo one another. Equora: the surface of the sea, which they sweep with their oars. Equor: properly any plain or level surface, whether land or water. It is here used in its appropriate sense.

291. Phæacum: of the Phæacians-so called from Phæacia, an island lying to the west of the promontory of Actium. Hodie, Corfu. It was famous for its orchards. Here Homer placed the gardens of Alcinoüs, who was king of the island. Abscondimus: we hide the aerial towers, &c. we lose sight of them.

292. Legimus Epiri: we coast along the shores of Epirus. This was once a flourishing kingdom, bounded on the east by Achaia and Thessaly; on the north by Macedonia; and on the south and west by the Ionian sea. It was divided into four principal parts; Elolia, Acarnania, Thesprotia, and Chaonia. In the last of which was the city Buthrotus or Buthrotum. It was built upon a hill. Hence the epithet celsam. For ascendimus, Heinsius, and Heyne after him, read accedimus.

294. Incredibilis fama rerum: an incredible report of things. It was an incredible revolution of fortune indeed, that a son of Priam should reign in Epirus, and should be married to Andromache, the widow of his brother, after she had been the wife of Pyrrhus, tl.at very son of Achilles, who slew the venerable Priam in the most cruel manner. Yet these things are not the mere invention of the poet. Justin informs us, that after the taking of Troy, Pyrrhus was reconciled to Helenus, shared with him his

290

295

300

kingdom, and gave him Andromache in marriage.

295. Priamiden: the son of Priam-a patronymic noun.

296. Eacida Pyrrhi : of Pyrrhus, a descendent of Eacus. He was king of Thessaly, and father of Peleus. Eacides was a name both of Achilles and Pyrrhus. Conjugio: in the sense of uxore. Sceptris: in the sense of regno.

297. Andromachen cessisse: that Andromache again had fallen to a husband of her own country. She was a Theban princess by birth; but by marrying Hector, Troy became her country. Patrio marito: in the sense of Trojano marito.

298. Miro: in the sense of magno, vel vehementi. Amore: desire.

299. Tantos casus: so great events-such a wonderful change of fortune.

301. Tum fortè libabat: then by chance Andromache was offering the yearly feast, and mournful gifts to the ashes of Hector, &c. Among other funeral ceremonies, was the custom of pouring into, or upon the grave, blood and milk: because it was thought that the (anima) souls delighted and fed upon these, and particularly upon the blood. These constituted the feast and mournful gifts, which Andromache repeated yearly to the ashes or shade of Hector. See verse 66, supra.

302. Falsi Simoëntis: fictitious Simoïs. This was a small river of Epirus, to which Helenus and Andromache gave the name of Simois, after a river of that name in Troas. It was not the real Simoïs. Undam: in the sense of aquam.

304. Inanem: empty-not the real tomb of Hector; but one in memory of him. Such a one was called tumulus vacuus, vel inanis. These tombs, or cenotaphs were

305

honorary merely, and erected to persons buried in another place; or to those who received no burial, and whose relics could not be found. The same religious regard was paid to these tumuli inanes et honorarii, as to real tombs. Viridi cespite she made (consecrated) this tomb of green turf.

305. Geminas aras. Some will have it, that one altar was for Hector, and the other for Astyanax, her son, whom the Greeks threw headlong from the tower of Troy. Others, however, think she erected (consecrated) both to Hector, it being customary to erect two altars to the Manes, especially of Heroes, who were considered inferior deities. See verse 63, supra. Causam: the cause, or incentive to her tears. They brought more forcibly to her mind the recollection of her husband, and renewed her former grief.

307. Amens: amazed. It agrees with illa understood. Exterrita monstris: astonished at the mighty prodigy, she fainted in the midst of the sight.

Any thing that happens, or is contrary to the ordinary course of things, may be called monstrum. The sight of her countrymen was so unexpected, so improbable, and so far from the ordinary course of events, that it might well enough be called magnum

monstrum.

308. Diriguit: in the sense of defecit.
309. Labitur: she falls.

310. Vera-ne facies: do you, a real form, a true messenger, present yourself to me? -are you really Eneas, or are you his image only?-are the things which I behold true and real, or are they mere phantoms? Lux: in the sense of vita.

313. Furenti: to her grieving, or sorrowing. Furens properly signifies, being transported with any inordinate passion or affection, as love, sorrow, anger, &c.-grieving immoderately. Ruæus says, mærenti.

309. Et tandem vix 310 fatur longo tempore post 311. Recessit à te

315

319. O Andromache, quondam uxor Hectoris, servas-ne connubia Pyrrhi?

314. Subjicio: in the sense of respondeo. Hisco: I open my mouth in broken, disconnected words. They were few in number, and interrupted by sighs and tears.

315. Per omnia extrema: through all perils and distress. Extrema, here, is a sub. Ruæus says, per omnes miserias.

316. Vera: true things-realities.

317. Quis casus: what event hath befallen thee, deprived of so great a husband? Conjuge, here, plainly means Hector, her former husband. Ruæus interprets excipit te, by, successit tibi; and dejectam, by privatam.

319. Servas connubia, &c. These words of Eneas would carry with them a severe reproach, if Andromache had been the mistress of her own fortune. Catrou observes, that this slavery rendered her connexion with Pyrrhus excusable; yet she is confused upon the occasion, casts her eyes upon the ground, and replies with a low voice, not answering his question directly, but breaking out into a passionate exclamation: O felix, &c. The sense which Ruæus gives to the passage is plainly incorrect. He interprets the words thus: O Andromache, tenes-ne conjugem Hectoris, an Pyrrhi? which will be: Andromache, are you wedded to Hector, or to Pyrrhus? which is manifestly absurd, especially after what Æneas had said just before; dejectam tanto conjuge, meaning that she was brought low by being deprived of so great a husband. The construction is as in the ordo: is Hector's Andromache wedded to Pyrrhus? which is not so much a question, as an exclamation of surprise. That Hectoris Andromache is to be construed in this way, appears from Justin, who gives them the same honorable designation, Lib. xvii. cap. 3. He there says, that Pyrrhus gave the kingdom of Epirus to Helenus, the son of Priam; and also gave him (Andromachen Hectoris) Hector's An

Servas.

dromache, who had been his wife. This is the usual reading: but Heyne observes that some copies have servat. This renders the passage somewhat easier: does Hector's Andromache preserve the marriage of Pyrrhus? Is she joined in marriage with Pyrrhus?

320. Demissa voce: in a low voice. 321. Priameia virgo: Polyxena, the daughter of Priam and Hecuba. Achilles fell in love with her; and being invited to Troy by Priam for the purpose of celebrating their nuptials, while in the temple of Apollo, where the marriage was to have been performed, he was killed by Paris with an arrow. Achilles, with his last breath, conjured his son Pyrrhus to revenge his death upon Priam's family, and to immolate Polyxena at his tomb, whenever Troy should be taken. This accordingly he did. Quinctilian quotes this passage as an instance of Virgil's talent at the pathetic. In order, says he, to show the extremity of Andromache's misery, he makes her even envy the fate of Polyxena, who, in the eyes of all the world besides, was most wretched and miserable. How wretched then must Andromache's condition have been, if, when compared to her, even Polyxena was happy! Instit. Lib. vi. cap. 3. Una: in the sense of sola.

323. Quæ non pertulit: who hath not borne any lots. The Grecian princes, after the capture of Troy, cast lots among themselves for the captives.

324. Nec captiva: nor as a captive, hath touched the bed of a victorious lord. This is the calamity from which Andromache declares Polyxena happy, in being delivered by death.

325. Nos vecta: in the sense of ego vecta. 326. Fastus: acc. plu. pride-haughtiness. Stirpis Achillea: Pyrrhus, the offspring of Achilles. Some read fastumt.

327. Enixa: a part. of the verb enitor, agreeing with nos vecta, above. It signifies to labor and toil with our hands in general; also the pain and labor of bearing

320

325

330

children. In this last sense, perhaps, we are to take it here. For it is said, she bore a son to Pyrrhus, called Molossus, who gave his name to a part of Epirus. Some, however, understand it of labor and toil in general: laboring in servitude. Ruæus says, parientes in captivitate: bringing forth children in captivity.

328. Hermionem. Hermione was the daughter of Menelaus, king of Sparta or Lacedæmon, and Helen, the daughter of Jupiter and Leda; hence the adj. Ledœam, Ledman. She was betrothed by Tyndarus to her cousin Orestes, in the absence of her father, who, it seems, had promised her to Pyrrhus, while he was at Troy. After his return, he went to Sparta, and carried off his spouse. This so enraged Orestes, that he followed Pyrrhus to Delphi, where he went to consult the oracle of Apollo con. cerning his future race, and there slew him. Hymenaeos: marriage-match: also nuptials.

329. Transmisit: in the sense of dedit, vel tradidit. Habendam: to be had-possessed-enjoyed.

331. Conjugis: namely, Hermione. Agitatus furiis: hurried on by the furies of his crimes. Orestes, it is said, slew his mother Clytemnestra, for assisting Ægistus in procuring the death of his father Agamemnon. After which he is said to have been haunted and tormented by the furies, (the remorse and stings of a guilty conscience,) for imbruing his hands in his mother's blood. It is said he was acquitted by the court of the Areopagus at Athens; and, after the death of Pyrrhus, he married Hermione, and added the kingdom of Sparta to his own hereditary dominions.

The furies were three in number, Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megara. After they ceased to torment Orestes, they received the name of Eumenides, which implies benevolence and compassion. He built a temple to them, and offered them sacrifices. They were represented as holding a burning torch in one hand, and a whip in the other. The stings and remorses of conscience were the