Argolici clypei aut Phœbeæ lampadis instar : Nam, qualis quantusque cavo Polyphemus in antro Trunca manum pinus regit, et vestigia firmat. NOTES. near his brain, to denote his superior wisdom and sagacity; but that Ulysses outwitted him, and was said, for that reason, to put out his eye. 637. Phœbea lampadis: the lamp of Phobus-the orb of the Sun. The Grecian shield was large enough to cover the whole man and as that was of an oval form, the comparison denotes both the figure and magnitude of this eye. • 639. Miseri. He calls them miserable, or unfortunate, in having come to this coast, He He informs them that there were on the island a hundred other infandi Cyclopes, horrid Cyclops, such, and as huge as Polyphemus. 645. Tertia cornua Lunæ, &c. By this we are to understand that it had been about three lunar months since he had been in that unhappy situation: cùm traho vitam, &c. 647. Deserta lustra: the deserted dens, or haunts. lumen 649. Infelicem: poor-scanty. Corna: the fruit of the corneil tree. It is round, and protected by a hard shell. 650. Pascunt: in the sense of nutriunt. Dant: in the sense of præbent. 651. Collustrans: in the sense of circumspiciens. 652. Addixi me huic: I have surrendered myself to it, whatever it may be-I have given myself up into your hands; do with me as you please. 654. Vos potiùs absumite: take away this life of mine by any death, rather than leave me behind to die by the hands of these monof perdite. sters of rapacity. Absumite: in the sense 658. Cui lumen: whose eye had been taken out. Cui in the sense of cujus. The dat. is frequently used by the poets in the sense of the gen. Est is to be supplied with ademptum. hand. 659. Trunca pinus: a cut pine guides his From this we may form some idea stature. His staff is the trunk of a Heyne reads manu: in his hand. 661. Mali: in the sense of miseria vel doloris. Fistula pendet de collo. These words are probably spurious. They are left out in some editions. Heinsius, Donatus, and Heyne reject them. Nor does Homer mention any such circumstance Postquàm altos tetigit fluctus, et ad æquora venit, Dentibus infrendens gemitu: graditurque per æquor Jam medium, necdum fluctus latera ardua tinxit. 666. Nos trepidi cœpi- Nos procul inde fugam trepidi celerare, recepto mus celerare fugam pro- Supplice sic merito, tacitique incidere funem · cul inde, supplice, sic merito, recepto à nobis Verrimus et proni certantibus æquora remis. 669. Polyphemus sen- Sensit, et ad sonitum vocis vestigia torsit. sit hoc, et toisit Verùm ubi nulla datur dextrâ affectare potestas, 670. Nulla potestas Nec potis lonios fluctus æquare sequendo ; datur illi affectare nos Clamorem immensum tollit, quo pontus et omnes dextrâ, nec potis est Intremuere undæ, penitùsque exterrita tellus Italæ, curvisque immugiit Etna cavernis. 673. Exterrita fuit penitùs At genus è sylvis Cyclopum et montibus altis 679. Tales quales cùm Concilium horrendum: quales cùm vertice celso aëriæ quercus, aut coni- Aëriæ quercus aut coniferæ cyparissi feræ 682. Acer metus agit Constiterunt, sylva alta Jovis, lucusve Dianæ. socios præcipites excu- Præcipites metus acer agit quòcunque rudentes Excutere, et ventis intendere vela secundis. tere NOTES. whom Virgil here imitates. Ea sola voluptas, &c. probably refers to his sheep. 663. Inde in the sense of deinde. Or, perhaps it may be considered merely expletive. 665. Fluctus: in the sense of aqua. 668. Certantibus: in the sense of laborantibus. 669. Sonitum vocis. This may refer to the sound of their voices. For though it is said they went off silently; this can only mean, they did it with as little noise as possible. There must have been some, to give the necessary orders. But more probably to the sound of their oars; for vox sometimes signifies any sound whatever. 670. Affeclare dextrâ: to grasp or seize with his right hand. The comiron reading is dextram, but this is more difficult. Heyne reads dextra; which is approved by Valpy, although he retains dextram. Davidson observes some ancient copies have dextrâ altrectare. 671. Fluctus: in the sense of mare. could not equal the depth of the sea. He 673. Unda intremuere. Dr. Trapp says, this is a most noble hyperbole. Some there are, who think it too bold. But they not only forget the prerogative of poetry, but the real nature of fear; which always swells and heightens its object. Penitûs: in the sense of intimè. 674. Immugiit: in the sense of remugiit. 675. Genus: in the sense of gens. Some es read gens. 665 670 67b 680 Ne 677. Lumine: in the sense of oculo. quicquam in vain; because we were out of their reach. 679. Concilium: in the sense of turbam. 680. Conifera cyparissi: such as when the aërial oaks, or cone bearing cypresses stand together with their lofty tops, &c. The cypress tree bears a fruit resembling the The quercus was sacred to Jove; hence alta figure of the cone; hence called conifera. sylva Jovis: and the cypress was sacred to Proserpina or Diana; hence lucus Diana. 682. Præcipites: in the sense of celeres. Quocunque: for quocunque modo, in any direction or way whatever. 683. Excutere rudentes. Rudentes may be taken for those ropes, which seamen call the sheels. By the help of these, they draw in the sail when they wish to go near the wind; or let it out when they sail before it, or with a fair wind. It is usually fasten ed to the extremity of the sail, or to the boom or yard which extends the sail. That it does not here mean the cables, will appear, when we consider that they had already cut their cables, incidere funem, verse 667 supra, and were out at sea. Excutere rudentes, therefore, will be, to let out, to loose or extend the sheets, so as to sail before the wind. This is more fully expressed by intendere vela secundis vintis, to spread the sails to the favorable winds. It was not so much the object of Æneas, in this juncture, to proceed on his direct course, as to sail in Contrà, jussa monent Heleni Scyllam atque Charybdim: Inter utramque viam, leti discrimine parvo, Ni teneant cursus; certum est dare lintea retrò. NOTES. any direction, so as to escape the hands of the Cyclops. Heyne says, explicare, intendere, evolvere rudentes. See 267. supra. 684. Contrà jussa Heleni: on the other hand, the commands of Helenus warn (my companions) of Scylla and Charybdis. That they may not hold their course in either way, in so great danger (small a distance) of death, it is determined to sail backward. That we may not pass near Scylla and Charybdis, nor near the monster Polyphemus, and his associates; in either way, we should be in imminent danger of death, we determine to spread our sails backward. The usual explication of this passage refers utramque viam, to Scylla and Charybdis: implying that the passage between the rock Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis was dangerous, and parùm à morte distare. The explanation, referring utramque viam both to the straits of Messina, and the Cyclops, appears the easiest. In order to shun the dangers of each, they determined to sail back into the open sea, or from whence they came. The wind probably at that moment blew from the south, and prevented them from pursuing their direct course. But shifting to the north, they changed their purpose, and sailed down the eastern shore of Sivily. This, and the two following lines, Heyne conjectures are an interpolation. 685. Discrimine: in the sense of spatio, vel distantia: also, of periculo. 686. Ni in the sense of ne. Lintea: in the sense of vela. 687. Pelori. Pelorus is the northern promontory of Sicily, forming, with Italy, the strails of Messina, so called from a city of that name on the Sicilian shore. These straits are about one mile and a half wide. The wind blowing from them, was fair for him to sail down the eastern shore of Sicily, according to the direction of Helenus. It is here called Boreas, because it came from the north. Eneas speaks of this wind as a person sent, or commissioned by Heaven to aid and assist him: Missus adest. Angusta sede. Ruæus says: angusto fretc. 689. Pantagia ostia. Pantagia was a small river, whose mouth (ostia) was en 685 690 690. Relegens retrorsùm litora errata jam antè à se 694. Fama est Alpheum amnem Elidis egisse sibi occultas vias huc subter mare; qui amnis exiens è tuo ore, O Arethusa, nunc closed on each side with a steep rock. The prep. è, vel ex, is understood before vivo saxo. Megaros Sinus: the bay of Megara. This bay lies between the river Terias and Syracuse. In this bay was Tapsus, a peninsula, which lay low, and almost level with the sea. 690. Monstrabat: Achemenides pointed out to us these things, as he was sailing back along the shores, along which he had wandered before. Virgil here follows the opinions of those who make Ulysses to have sailed from the country of the Lolophagi in Africa, to the southern part of Sicily; and turning the promontory of Pachynum, sailed along the eastern shore, and visited Etna, and the country of the Cyclops. The course of Æneas being to the south, was the reverse of that of Ulysses. Achemenides, therefore, might be said to sail back again, with the greatest propriety. Dr. Wharton observes, that Virgil is an exact observer of probability. If it should be objected by any one, that Æneas was a perfect stranger to this coast, and could not be supposed acquainted with the several places, which he passed; an answer is at hand: Achemenides, who had lately passed along the same shores, pointed them out to him. This may 691. Infelicis: unfortunate. refer in general to the disasters he suffered in his return from Troy; and particularly the loss of a part of his fleet in the straits of Messina. The return of Ulysses from Troy, is the subject of the Odyssey. front of the Sicilian bay, over against bois692. Insula prætenta: an island lies in terous Plemmyrium. This was a promontory near Syracuse, against which the waves from the sea beat. Hence the epithet undosum. Between this promontory and Syracuse lay the island of Orlygia. 693. Priores: in the sense of majores. 694. Alpheum. Alpheus, a celebrated river of the Peloponnesus, rising from the mountain Stymphalus, running in a westerly di rection, passing through a part of Arcadia and Elis, falls into the Sinus Cyparissæus. Occultas egisse vias subter mare; qui nunc 697. Ut eramus jussi Jussi numina magna loci veneramur: et inde 695 700 Arduus inde Agragas ostentat maxima longè Monia, magnanimûm quondam generator equorum. Teque datis linquo ventis, palmosa Selinus: 705 Et vada dura lego saxis Lilybeïa cæcis. Hinc Drepani me portus et illætabilis ora 710. Hic, O optime Amitto Anchisen: hìc me, pater optime, fessum pater, doseris me fessum Deseris, heu! tantis nequicquam erepte perîclis. NOTES. 696. Arethusa. This was a fountain on the west side of the island of Ortygia. The poets feigned that Alpheus, the river-god, being in love with the nymph Arethusa, rolled his stream from Elis under ground, pasing through the sea, without intermingling with it, and arose up in this fountain, iningling his waters with those of the nymph. What makes this fable the more absurd, is, that the distance between the Peloponnesus and Sicily is not less than 450 miles. Egisse: in the sense of fecisse. Ore: in the sense of fonte. Undis: in the sense of aquis. 698. Exsupero: in the sense of prætereo. It is sometimes written, exupero. Helori. Helorus, or Elorus, was a river falling into the sea, a little to the north of the promontory Pachynum. It overflowed its banks like the Nile of Egypt, and rendered the country fertile, through which it passed. Hence the epithet stagnans, overflowing stagnating. 699. Pachyni. The southern promontory of Sicily was called Pachynum. Hodie, Capo Passaro. 701. Camarina. The name of a lake at ine southern part of Sicily, near a city of the same name, built by the people of Syracuse. In the time of a plague, which the inhabitants imagined originated from its stagnant waters, they consulted the oracle of Apollo concerning the expediency of draining it. The oracle advised them to let it remain, alleging it would be better to endure its noxious vapors, than to remove it. This explains the words: nunquam concessa moveri fatis; never permitted by the fates to be removed. However, the people made the experiment, and they found the words of the oracle true. For the enemy entered on the ground where the lake stood, and took the city. Hodie, Lago di Camarina. Campi Gslai: the plains of Gelas. Geloi: an adj. 710 of Gelas, or Gela, a river not far from Camarina, near the mouth of which stood Gela, once a large (immanis) and respectable city, founded by the Rhodians and Cretans. It was destroyed by the Agrigentini. 702. Dicta cognomine: called after the name of the river. 703. Agragas: a city situated at the mouth of a river of the same name. It was built on the summit of a hill, or mountain: hence called arduus, high. It was one of the largest cities of Sicily. Its horses were celebrated for their performance at the Olympic games. Hence, quondam, &c. once the breeder of generous horses. 705. Selinus: a city whose plains abounded in palm-trees. Hence the epithet palmosa. Datis in the sense of faventibus. 706. Lilybeia: an adj. from Lilybeum, the western promontory of Sicily. The water here is said to be shoal to the distance of three miles from the land, and the bottom rocky. Hence lego: I coast along the Lilybeian shallows, dangerous (dura) with latent rocks. Rumus interprets dura by aspera. In this sense it will allude to the roughness of the sea, occasioned by the rocks lying on the bottom. 707. Portus Drepani. Drepanum (hodie, Trepani) a city and harbor a few miles to the north of the promontory just mentioned Here Eneas lost his father. He therefore calls it illætabilis ora: an unjoyous coast. It is said the inhabitants still show his tomb. 708. Actus: in the sense of jactatus. 709. Levamen: in the sense of solatium. 710. Fessum: weary-worn out with toils and misfortunes. 711. Erepte: voc. agreeing with optime pater. In placing the death of Anchises here, Virgil differs from Strabo, who represents Encas as arriving in Italy with his father, and his son Ascanius. Nec vates Helenus, cùm multa horrenda moneret, Sic pater Æneas, intentis omnibus, unus NOTES. 712. Moneret: in the sense of prædiceret. 714. Hic extremus: this line may be taken in two senses: either to mean the end of Anchises' labor, and the termination of his long voyage, or that the death of his father was to Æneas the greatest of all his afflictions, and the end of his voyage toward the Italian coast. Ruæus takes it in the former sense; Mr. Davidson in the latter. 715. Deus appulit: a god directed me, departing hence (from the coast and port of Drepanum) to your shores. 717. Unus renarrabat: he alone related the purposes (decrees) of the gods (toward him,) and declared his wanderings. Unus: in the sense of solus. 718. Quievit: he rested-he went to rest. Segrais observes that the second and third books may be recited in two hours. The story did not appear long to Dido and the guests: for he ceased, intentis omnibus, and at midnight too, nor will they appear long to any reader of taste and judgment. QUESTIONS. How did Æneas employ his time during his residence at Antandros? How many ships had he when he set sail? At what time of the year did he set sail? How long probably after the capture of the city? To what place did he direct his course? What city did he found in Thrace? What did he call the name of it? What did he call his followers from this circumstance? Did he soon abandon the idea of remain ing in Thrace? Why did he thus abandon it? Who was Polydorus? How came he by his death? Who were the founders of the Trojan race? Of what country were they natives? From Crete, to what country was he directed to sail? How did he receive this instruction? In what sea are the Strophades? Did she give to Encas any intimation of suffering and want, before he should find a permanent settlement? How was this prediction accomplished? From these islands, which way did he di From Thrace, to what place did Eneas rect his course? At what places did he land? For what was this coast celebrated? Between whom was the battle fought? From Actium, to what part of Epirus did he proceed? What surprising news did he hear on entering the port? Was the meeting of his friends very interesting as well as unexpected? What does Dr. Trapp observe of it? How was Andromache employed at that time? What effect had the sight of Æneas and the Trojans upon her? Leaving Epirus, what sea did he first pass over? How many miles is Italy from Epirus in that place? What was the name of the promontory, where he landed? What course did he then take? |