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Regnorum immemores, turpique cupidine captos. Hæc passim Dea fœda virûm diffundit in ora. Protinùs ad regem cursus detorquet Iarbam ; Incenditque animum dictis, atque aggerat iras. 198. Hic satus Am- Hic Ammone satus, raptâ Garamantide Nymphâ, mone, Nyinphâ Gara- Templa Jovi centum latis immania regnis,

Jovi centum immania

135

mantide raptâ, posuit Centum aras posuit; vigilemque sacraverat ignem, 200 templa in latis regnis, Excubias Divûm æternas, pecudumque cruore

posuit centum aras; sa- Pingue solum, et variis florentia limina sertis.

craveratque 203. 1sque amens animi, et accensus amaro rumore, dicitur supplex

Isque amens animi, et rumore accensus amaro, Dicitur ante aras, media inter numina Divûm, Malta Jovem manibus supplex orâsse supinis : orâsse Jovem multa su- Jupiter omnipotens, cui nunc Maurusia pictis pinis manibus, stans ante Gens epulata toris Lenæum libat honorem, aras, inter media numina Aspicis hæc ? an te, genitor, cùm fulmina torques, Divûm. Nequicquam horremus? cæcique in nubibus ignes Terrificant animos, et inania murmura miscent ? Fœmina, quæ nostris errans in finibus urbem

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212. Cui dedimus litus Exiguam pretio posuit, cui litus arandum,

mem. se luxu.

Cuique loci leges dedimus, connubia nostra
Reppulit, ac dominum Ænean in regna recepit.

NOTES.

Ruæus says, traducere hyemem inter

194. Cupidine: by cupido, Servius informs us that the ancients understood an ungovernable and irregular passion of love -lust. Captos: enslaved.

198. Hic Ammone satus: this man, sprung from Ammon, had built to Jove, &c. Jupiter Ammon had a celebrated temple and oracle in Libya, on a spot of ground watered by a fountain, and enclosed by a pleasant grove. This temple is said to have been built by Bacchus, or Hercules. This Ammon some will have to be the same with Ham, the son of Noah. Sir Isaac Newton thinks him to have been the father of Sesostris, and cotemporary with Solomon, king of Israel. Iarbus was the son of this Jupiter Ammon, by the nymph Garamantis. Aggerat: in the sense of auget.

200. Vigilem ignem. Plutarch informs us that in this temple there was a lamp continually burning. This was also a custom common to many nations. Posuit: in the sense of ædificavit.

201. Excubias æternas Divûm: a perpetual watch of the gods-sacred to the service of the gods. Solum: a tract of ground enriched by the blood of victims.

202. Limina florentia: an entrance (into the temples) adorned with various garlands. Amens animi: distracted in mind; of à, privitivum, and mens.

204. Numina: the shrines or statues, which represented the gods. Supinis. Ruæus says, elatis: properly, with the palm apwards.

206. Qui nunc: to whom the Moorish

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nation, feasting on painted couches, &c. The Maurusii, vel Mauri, were inhabitants of Mauritania, an extensive country in Africa, bounded on the west by the Atlantic ocean, on the north by the Mediterranean sea, and on the east by Numidia and Carthage. It seems this news reached Iarbas, while he and his people were feasting upon the remains of the victims which had been offered to Ammon. At such banquets, it was usual to pour forth wine by way of libation to the gods-an offering of wine.

207. Lenæum honorem: simply, winethe liquor of Bacchus. Lenæus, a name of Bacchus, used as an adj. derived from a Greek word, signifying a wine-press. Epulata: feasting, or having feasted.

209. Caci undirected-fortuitous. Ignes: lightnings. Inania murmura: vain, or empty sounds.

212. Posuit: in the sense of condidit. Litus arandum: the shore to be ploughed. The province or territory of Carthage is here called litus, because it lay along the sea coast-a tract of country to cultivate. Pretio. This alludes to the price paid, or stipulated to be paid, for her territory, or tract of country. See the following note.

213. Cuique dedimus: and on whom we imposed the laws of the place. We are told that Dido engaged to pay the Africans an annual tribute for the tract of country which she purchased for her colony. This, however, the Carthaginians afterwards refused to do, and was the cause of the first war in which they were engaged. Excepting this tribute, Carthage, from the first, was an independent sovereignty.

Et nunc ille Paris, cum semiviro comitatu,
Mæoniâ mentum mitrâ crinemque madentem
Subnexus, rapto potitur: nos munera templis
Quippe tuis ferimus, famamque fovemus inanem.
Talibus orantem dictis, arasque tenentem
Audiit omnipotens oculosque ad monia torsit
Regia, et oblitos famæ melioris amantes.
Tunc sic Mercurium alloquitur, ac talia mandat:
Vade, age, nate, voca Zephyros, et labere pennis:
Dardaniumque ducem, Tyriâ Carthagine qui nunc
Expectat, fatisque datas non respicit urbes,
Alloquere, et celeres defer mea dicta per auras.
Non illum nobis genitrix pulcherrima talem
Promisit, Graiûmque ideò bis vindicat armis :

Sed fore qui gravidam imperiis, belloque frementem
Italiam regeret, genus alto à sanguine Teucri
Proderet, ac totum sub leges mitteret orbem.
Si nulla accendit tantarum gloria rerum,

NOTES.

215. Et nunc ille Paris. Here Iarbas calls Eneas, Paris, to denote him effeminate, and a ravisher, who had carried off a princess whom he considered his own. In allusion to this, he says, potitur rapto: he possesses the ravished prize. Semiviro comitatu: with his effeminate train. This is said in allusion to the Phrygians, who were great worshippers of the goddess Cybele, whose priests were eunuchs.

216. Mœoniâ mitrâ: a Mæonian, or Lydian mitre. This was a kind of bonnet worn by the Lydian and Phrygian women. It was a part of dress unbecoming in men, more especially when it had the fillets or strings with which it was tied under the chin. Iarbas mentions it as a mark of infamy and badge of reproach. Mæonia: an extensive country in the Lesser Asia. It is here used as an adj. Its more modern name is Lydia, from Lydus, one of its kings, as Strabo tells us. That part bordering upon Ionia and Caria, still retains its ancient

name. Athenæus observes, that Homer attributes the use of unguents to none of his characters in the Iliad, besides Paris. These were chiefly for the hair. The use of them was considered a mark of effeminacy. Iarbas therefore says of Æneas, that his hair was moistened or besmeared with unguents -crinem madentem.

217. Subnexus: in the sense of subligatus. 218. Quippe nos ferimus: we to be sure bring offerings to thy temples, and cherish the vain report of being thy offspring.

Iarbas speaks by way of complaint. The offerings which we present unto thee are of no avail, and the report of thy being our father is vain and without foundation, or else thou wouldst not have suffered this evil to fall upon me. Heyne observes, that the

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words of Iarbas, quippe, &c. are extremely
ironical. Ironia acerba vocabulo, quippe, in-
est, says he. Both Ruæus and Heyne take
quippe in the sense of scilicet. But quippe
may be taken perhaps in the sense of dum:
while we are presenting offerings unto thee,
&c. Æneas is enjoying the ravished prize.

It was a custom in the more solemn acts of
219. Tenentem aras: holding the altars.
religion, to embrace the altars.
pecially so for suppliants.

It was es

221. Amantes: lovers-Eneas and Dido. 223. Pennis: in the sense of alis. Mer cury was represented as having winged shoes, on which he was borne through the air. They were called talaria.

225. Expectat in the sense of moratur. 228. Bis vindicat: preserved him twice, &c. Eneas was twice saved by Venus. from impending death: once in a contest with Diomede, when he was struck to the ground by the stroke of a huge stone, and

her veil over him, and carried him off from would have been slain, had not Venus cast the fight; and a second time, when under the flames of Troy, and the midst of his her own conduct, he passed unhurt through enemies, during the sack of that city.

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nobiz illum fore talem, Nec super ipse suâ molitur laude laborem : ideòque bis vindicat Ascanio-ne pater Rcmanas invidet arces ?

illum ab armis Graiûm : Quid struit? aut quâ spe inimicâ in gente moratur ? 235
sed promisit illum fore
unum, qui regeret Itali- Nec prolem Ausoniam et Lavinia respicit arva ?

am gravidam imperiis, Naviget. Hæc summa est: hic nostri nuntius esto.
frementemque bello; qui Dixerat. Ille patris magni parere parabat
proderet
Imperio et primùm pedibus talaria nectit
Aurea; quæ sublimem alis, sive æquora supra,
Seu terram, rapido pariter cum flamine portant.
Tum virgam capit: hâc animas ille evocat Orco
Pallentes; alias sub tristia Tartara mittit:

237. Hic esto illi nuntius nostri

240

f

Dat somnos adimitque, et lumina morte resignat.
Illâ fretus agit ventos, et turbida tranat

245

Nubila. Jamque volans apicem et latera ardua cernit
Atlantis duri, cœlum qui vertice fulcit

248. Atlantis, cui pi- Atlantis, cinctum assiduè cui nubibus atris niferum caput assiduè Piniferum caput et vento pulsatur et imbri : cinctum atris nubibus Nix humeros infusa tegit: tum flumina mento pulsatur et vento et imbri: nix infusa Præcipitant senis, et glacie riget horrida barba. Hic primùm paribus nitens Cyllenius alis Constitit: hinc toto præceps se corpore ad undas Misit: avi similis, quæ circum litora, circum Piscosos scopulos, humilis volat æquora juxta. 256. Haud aliter Cyl- Haud aliter, terras inter cœlumque, volabat

NOTES.

233. Molitur laborem: undertakes the enterprise for his own glory.

235. In gente inimicâ: in a hostile nation. This is said by anticipation, because of the enmity which subsisted between Rome and Carthage in after times. Struit in the sense of parat.

236. Lavinia arva. See En. i. 2. 239. Talaria. These were a kind of winged shoes, which the poets say the messengers of the gods wore-sandals.

241. Flamine: in the sense of vento. 242. Virgam. This was the celebrated rod, or Caduceus, presented to Mercury by Apollo, in return for his lyre. Mercury, in nis way to Arcadia, observing two serpents going to fight, appeased them by casting down his rod between them. Hence a rod wreathed round with two serpents, became a symbol of peace. Orco: the place of the

dead.

243. Tartara: the lowest part of hell— the place of the damned.

244. Lumina morte resignat: he opens eyes in death. This is the sense given to resigno by Turnebus, Davidson, and others. They think the poet alludes to a Roman custom of opening the eyes on the funeral pile, though shut all the time the corpse lay in the house. But Servius takes resigno in the sense of claudo: he closes, or shuts eyes in death. Ruæus says, aperit oculos ex morte, id est, revocat corpora è morte. This seems to be the opinion of Heyne.

247. Atlantis duri. Atlas is a very high

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255

mountain, or rather range of mountains, commencing at the Atlantic ocean, to which it gives name, and running in an easterly direction, dividing Mauritania from Libya Interior. It is fabled that Atlas, king of Mauritania, was transformed into this mountain by Perseus, at the sight of his Gorgon's head, because he refused to treat him with hospitality. Virgil describes the mountain as retaining the form and shape of a man. Atlas was a very skilful astronomer and astrologer: this probably gave rise to the fable. His supporting heaven on his shoulder is explained, from the circumstance of the top of the mountain being lost in the clouds. Its top, or suinmit, was covered with perpetual snow. Hence, nir infusa tegit humeros.

248. Cui: in the sense of cujus.

250. Mento senis: from the chin of the old man.

252. Cyllenius: Cyllenius moving (nitens) on equal or balanced wings, stopped. This was a name of Mercury, from Cyllene, in Arcadia, the place of his birth. He was the son of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, by Jupiter.

254. Similis avi. The whole of this passage is in imitation of Homer, Odys. Lib. v. 43. The bird here alluded to, is supposed to be the coot, or cormorant.

256. Volabat. This and the two following lines, Heyne marks as spurious. They were probably left in an unfinished state. Bentley would alter volabat to legebat, which

Litus arenosum Libyæ, ventosque secabat,
Materno veniens ab avo Cyllenia proles.

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Ut primùm alatis tetigit magalia plantis,
Eneam fundantem arces, ac tecta novantem
Conspicit: atque illi stellatus iaspide fulvâ
Ensis erat, Tyrioque ardebat murice læna
Demissa ex humeris: dives quæ munera Dido
Fecerat, et tenui telas discreverat auro.
Continuò invadit: Tu nunc Carthaginis altæ
Fundamenta locas, pulchramque uxorius urbem
Extruis! heu, regni rerumque oblite tuarum!
Ipse Deûm tibi me claro demittit Olympo
Regnator, cœlum et terras qui numine torquet:
Ipse hæc ferre jubet celeres mandata per auras :
Quid struis? aut quâ spe Libycis teris otia terris ?
Si te nulla movet tantarum gloria rerum,
Nec super ipse tuâ moliris laude laborem;
Ascanium surgentem et spes hæredis lüli
Respice cui regnum Italiæ Romanaque tellus
Debentur. Tali Cyllenius ore locutus,
Mortales visus medio sermone reliquit,
Et procul in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram.
At verò Æneas aspectu obmutuit amens ;

Arrectæque horrore comæ ; et vox faucibus hæsit.
Ardet abire fugâ, dulcesque relinquere terras,
Attonitus tanto monitu imperioque Deorum.

Heu! quid agat? quo nunc reginam ambire furentem
Audeat affatu? quæ prima exordia sumat?
Atque animum nunc huc celerem, nunc dividit illuc ;
In partesque rapit varias, perque omnia versat.

NOTES.

is the reading of Davidson; but without sufficient authority. Between heaven and earth, he flew along the sandy shore, and cut the winds.

258. Ab materno avo. Mercury was the son of Maia, the daughter of Atlas, which made him his grandfather on his mother's side. Cyllenia proles: simply, Mercury.

259. Magalia: neu. plu. either the huts of the African shepherds, mentioned Geor. iii. 340, or the towers and buildings of Carthage erected on the spot where the magalia once stood.

261. Ensis erat illi stellatus: there was to him a sword studded with yellow jasper. The hilt and scabbard were studded with gems, sparkling like stars, particularly with jaspers. Servius informs us it was a received opinion that there was a virtue in the jasper-stone, to assist orators in their pleadings, and that Gracchus wore one of them for that purpose.

262. Læna. This was a thick double garment-a cassock. Arbebat: in the sense of fulgebat.

264. Discreverat telas: had distinguished

lenia proles veniens ab materno avo volabat arenosum litus Libya, inter terras cœlumque, 260 secabatque ventos.

265

270

275

280

286

280. Comæ sunt ar recta

the web with a small thread of gold. Ruæus says, distinxerat.

265. Invadit: in the sense of alloquitur. 266. Uxorius: a slave to your wife. It refers to the pron. tu, understood. 267. Oblite: the voc. of oblitus, agreeing with Æneas, understood.

271. Teris olia: you waste your time. Struis: in the sense of facis, vel paras. 276. Tali ore: in the sense of talibus verbis.

277. Reliquit: in the sense of mutavit. Mercury had assumed a human form, mortales visus, in his conference with Eneas; but as soon as he had ended his speech, in medio sermone, and before Æneas had time to make any reply, he left, changed, or put it off, and vanished from his eyes. Sermo is properly a conference between two or more persons, and, when one only has spoken, it is not complete or finished.

279. Amens: in the sense of attonitus vel stupefactus.

283. Quo affatu: in what words-by what address. Ambire: to speak to-to address. 235. Dividit: in the sense of vertit.

Hæc alternanti potior sententia visa est.

290

Mnesthea Sergestumque vocat, fortemque Cloanthum: 289. Jubet ut taciti Classem aptent taciti, sociosque ad litora cogant, aptent classem. Arma parent; et, quæ sit rebus causa novandis, Dissimulent sese intereà, quando optima Dido Nesciat, et tantos rumpi non speret amores,

293. Intereà statuit Tentaturum aditus, et quæ mollissima fandi

sese tentaturum aditus, Tempora ; quis rebus dexter modus. Ocyùs omnes Imperio læti parent, ac jussa facessunt.

et quæ sint mollissima tempora fandi; quis modus sit dexter rebus conficiendis

At regina dolos (quis fallere possit amantem ?)
Præsensit, motusque excepit prima futuros,
Omnia tuta timens. Eadem impia Fama furenti
Detulit armari classem, cursumque parari.
Sævit inops animi, totamque incensa per urbem
301. Talis qualis Thy- Bacchatur: qualis commotis excita sacris

as, excita

Thyas, ubi audito stimulant trieterica Baccho
Orgia, nocturnusque vocat clamore Citharon.
Tandem his Æneam compellat vocibus ultrò

305. O perfide homo, Dissimulare etiam sperâsti, perfide, tantum sperâsti te posse

295

300

305

Posse nefas, tacitusque meâ decedere terra? Nec te noster amor, nec te data dextera quondam, Nec moritura tenet crudeli funere Dido? Quin etiam hyberno moliris sidere classem, Et mediis properas Aquilonibus ire per altum, 311. O crudelis hospes! Crudelis! Quid ? si non arva aliena domosque Quid? si tu non peteres Ignotas peteres, et Troja antiqua inaneret ; Troja per undosum peteretur classibus æquor?

310

NOTES

287. Hæc alternanti: this plan seemed the better to him, wavering in mind, and examining what had best be done in his present situation. Ruæus says consilium, for sententia.

293. Aditus: the avenues or passages to her heart. Qua: what might be the fittest or softest moments of addressing her, to obtain her consent. Rebus: for effecting his purposes.

Tr

298. Excepit: heard-found out. mens omnia tuta: fearing all things when even safe-fearing danger when all things are safe. Furenti: in the sense of ad aures furentis, sive amantis. Impia: in the sense of sava, says Heyne. Detulit: in the sense of nuntiavit.

300. Inops animi: devoid of reason. 301. Qualis Thyas: as a bacchanal roused at the moving of the sacred symbols, &c. Servius informs us that commovere sacra was a phrase used by the Romans to signify the opening of the solemnities of particular divinities, on their high festival days; when their sacred symbols were removed from their temples, in order to be carried about in pompous procession. This was particularly the case in celebrating the Orgia, or mysteries of Bacchus, when the statues of that god were removed from his temples,

and carried about in procession by his frantic votaries. The mysteries of Bacchus were celebrated every third year: hence they are called trieterica.

302. Thyas: a bacchanal; from a Greek word signifying to roar about in wild and frantic disorder.

303. Nocturnus Citharon. Citharon was a mountain in Beotia sacred to Bacchus. Here his mysteries were celebrated in the followers. They were, for the most part, most distinguished manner by his infatuated celebrated in the night. Hence nocturnus Citharon. Eam is understood after vocat.

307. Dextera quondam data: thy right hand once given. This alludes to their marriage. Supra, 172. Tenet is to be supplied, or repeated, with each of the preceding nominatives.

309. Moliris classem: do you prepare your fleet in the winter season. The north winds were directly against Æneas in sailing from Africa to Italy. This speech of Dido is tender and persuasive. And since it appeared his purpose to sail to Italy, she endeavors to dissuade him from it, until the winter and contrary winds were over, in the hope that, by repeated instances of her affection and regard, ne might be induced to

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