800 800. Fas est te fidere omne meis regnis, unde ducis genus; merui quoque ut fidas 803. Nec minor cura fuit mihi tui Æneæ in 805 terris Si concessa peto; si dant ea monia Parcæ. His ubi læta Deæ permulsit pectora dictis, NOTES. 799. Tum Saturnius domitor. Mr. Davidson observes there is a grandeur and boldness in this line, suitable to the majesty of him whose speech it introduces, which make it worthy the attention of the reader. Neptune was the son of Saturn, and in the division of the world the sea fell to him by lot. Hence the adj. Saturnius, and also the propriety of Domitor alti maris. Edidit: in the sense of dixit. 801. Unde genus. This alludes to the fabulous account of her springing from the foam of the sea. 805. Exanimata: may mean that the Trojans were weary and out of breath, or were affrighted and struck with dismay. Impengeret: drove-forced. 810. Eripui cava nube: I snatched away in a hollow cloud Eneas engaging, &c. This encounter Homer gives us in the twentieth book of the Iliad. But the great slaughter which Achilles made among the Trojan troops, so as to choak the rivers Xanthus and Simois with their dead bodies, is given us in the following book. Cùm cuperem: though I wished to overturn from the foundation the walls, &c. See Geor. i. 502, and En. ii. 610. 812. Eadem mens: the same disposition. 813. Averni: Avernus, a lake in Campania, the fabulous descent to hell. See Æn. iv. 512 917. Auro: his golden car. The common 808. Tunc ego eripui cava nube Eneam con 810 gressum forti 815 820 816. Ubi Genitor permulsit læta pectora Des Be reading is curru, but Pierius observes that Davidson has auro. Heyne reads auro also: in the sense of aureo curru. 818. Effundit: in the sense of laxat. Feris in the sense of equis. : 823. Glauci. Glaucus, according to Servius, was a famous fisherman of Anthedon in Beotia, who, having laid some fishes on the grass that he had just caught, perceived them to recover their life and motion, and to leap into the sea. He supposed there was some virtue in those herbs that produced this effect: whereupon he tasted them, and was immediately transformed into a sea-god. Inoüs: an adj. from Ino, the daughter of Cadmus. See Geor. i. 437. Senior chorus Glauci: by commutatio, for chorus senioris Glauci. These were the nymphs and the tritons. Palamon. He is supposed by some to be the god whom the Latins worshipped under the name of Portunus. called from portus, because he was supposed to preside over ports and harbors. It was thought that mariners were under his special care and protection. See 241, supra. He was so 822. Tum variæ facies Tum variæ comitum facies; immania cete, comitum apparent; im- Et senior Glauci chorus Inoüsque Palæmon, mania cete ris Tritonesque citi, Phorcique exercitus omnis. Hic patris Æneæ suspensam blanda vicissim Unà omnes fecere pedem: pariterque sinistros, NOTES. 824. Omnis exercitus: the whole army of Phorcus-all the Nereïds, whom Phorcus was wont to collect. He was the son of Pontus and Terra, and father of the Gorgons. Tritones. Triton was the son of Neptune and Amphitrite. His upper part was like a man, and his lower part like a fish. He was said to be Neptune's trumpeter. He used the concha, or shell, in room of a trumpet. 826. Thetis et Melite, &c. These are the names of some of the sea-nymphs: all of Greek derivation. Of all the nymphs, it is said that Panopea was the only virgin. 827. Vicissim: in turn-in the room of the anxiety which he had before felt on account of the burning of his ships: now soothing (pleasant) joys, &c. 829. Intendi brachia velis. When they arrived in port, it was usual for mariners to take down the masts; and, when they departed, to raise them up again. The intendi brachia velis, is the same in import as intendi vela brachiis: to stretch the sails to the yards. The brachia were those parts of the antenna, or sail yards, which were near the mast, here put for the whole yards. The extremities of the antenna were called cornua. It may be observed, however, that the old Roman copy has intendi brachia remis: he orders their arms to be stretched to the oars; which is easier, and in Virgil's style. The antenna were long spars, extending across the mast at right angles; and to which the sails were fastened. Here called brachia, from their resemblance to the extended arms of a man. 825 830 835 840 they lengthened or shortened it, and sliifted it from one side of the ship to the other, as occasion required. Pedem. The pes was a rope, halser, or sheet, fastened to the lower corners of the sail, and also to the sides of the ship, when she was under sail. And, as these were lengthened or shortened, the sail would be turned accordingly, more or less to the wind. Solvêre: they spread— expand, or let out. The perf. here is used in its appropriate sense. It continues the past action up to the time in which it is mentioned. Sinus: in the sense of vela. Una-pariterque. These words imply that they all worked together with equal eagerness, and with uniform motions. Sinistros they turned the sails sometimes to the right, and sometimes to the left, as the wind veered or shifted. In nautical language, they shifted their tacks as, &c. 832. Sua in the sense of prospera vel secunda: prosperous gales-favorable winds. 833. Princeps: in the sense of primus. Palinurus was the pilot of the ship of Æneas. He fell overboard, and was drowned: the only one lost in the whole fleet. 834. Agmen in the sense of classem. Contendere. Palinurus led the fleet, and all the other ships were ordered to follow him-to direct their course after him. 835. Humida nox: humid night had almost reached the middle point of heaven. It was almost midnight. This is a metaphor taken from the races. It had almost reached the turning point. 840. Tristia somnia: in the sense of tris 830. Fecere pedem: they worked the sheet tem vel lethalem somnum. Phorbanti similis, fuditque has ore loquelas : Et 854. Ecce Deus quas855 sat ramum madentem Lethæo rore, soporatum que Stygia vi, super utraque tempora super incumbens, cum puppis parte revulsâ, Cumque gubernâclo, liquidas projecit in undas Præcipitem, ac socios nequicquam sæpe vocantem. 860 Ipse volans tenues se sustulit ales in auras. Currit iter tutum non seciùs æquore classis, Promissisque patris Neptuni interrita fertur. Jamque adeò scopulos Sirenum advecta subibat, NOTES. 842. Phorbanti. Phorbas was one of the sons of Priam. 843. Iaside. Iasius was some Trojan, the father or grandfather of Palinurus. 844. Equata: steady-fair. So that they spread the sails, in nautical language, wing and wing. 846. Inibo: I will discharge your offices, &c. 848. Me-ne jubes: do you bid me to disregard the face of the calm sea, and the waves at rest? do you bid me to trust to that appearance? As if he had said: though the face of the sea be sinooth, and its waves at rest, I am not so ignorant of sailing, as to trust to that circumstance; the winds may suddenly rise, and things be materially changed. Salis: in the sense of maris. 851. Et in the sense of etiam: even I so often deceived, &c. 854. Rore: in the sense of aqua. 855. Soporatum vi: impregnated with a Stygian quality. By this, Servius understands a mortal or deadly quality; such as effected his death. 856. Cunctanti: to him struggling against it, and endeavoring to keep awake. Solvit: in the sense of claudit. 857. Primos artus. Sleep is here represented as creeping, or diffusing itself over the several members of the body, and relaxing them one after another. The primos artus nay mean the extremities of the body, which are apt to be first affected with sleep. 858. Et super-incumbens: when (the god) 862. Classis currit iter in æquore non seciùs tutum, ferturque interrita leaning against him, threw him headlong, &c. The et here must have the force of cùm, as Mr. Davidson very justly observes. The part of the ship which Palinurus carried with him into the sea, enabled him to float three days. See Æn. vi. 350. 860. Nequicquam: in vain; because his companions were asleep, and could afford him no assistance. 861. Ales in the sense of celer. Ipse, nempe Deus somnus. 862. Non seciùs tutum: in the sense of non minùs tutum. Interrita: safe, without fear of danger. Secura, says Ruæus. 864. Scopulos Sirenum: the rocks of the Sirenes. Subibat: was approaching-was coming to. Classis is understood. The Sirenes are said to have been three beautiful women, who inhabited steep rocks on the sea-coast, whither they allured passengers by the sweetness of their music, and then put them to death. They are fabled to have been the daughters of Acheloüs, and Calliope. One sung, one played on the flute, and one on the lyre. The poets say, it was decreed that they should live till some person should be able to resist their charms. Ulysses being informed of this by Circe, escaped the fatal snare by stopping the ears of his companions with wax, and fastening himself to the mast of his ship. Upon which they threw themselves into the sea. in despair, and were transformed into fishes from the waist downward. The truth of the fable this: they were lewd women, who, by t misso, et 868. Cùm pater Æne- Difficiles quondam, multorumque ossibus albos; as sensit ratem errare Tum rauca assiduo longè sale saxa sonabant: Auitantem, magistro a- Cùm pater amisso fluitantem errare magistro Sensit, et ipse ratem nocturnis rexit in undis, Multa gemens, casuque animum concussus amici : O nimiùm cœlo et pelago confise sereno, 870. O Palinure, in quit, nimiùm confise se al enâ. NOTES. charms, enticed men to debauchery. The place of their residence was in the three islands called Sirenuse, in the Sinus Pastanus, in the Tyrrhene, or Tuscan sea. Their names were Leucosia, Ligea, and Parthenope. 865. Difficiles: dangerous on account of the rocks and shoals. Albos ossibus: white with the bones of ship-wrecked mariners. 867. Assiduo sale: with a constant dash ing of the waves against the rocks. 865 870 adrift-to be carried here and there at the pleasure of the winds and waves. 870. O nimiùm confise: O Palinurus, trusting too much, &c. Æneas had been asleep; and he speaks only by conjecture as to the cause of his misfortune, not knowing that a god had thrown him overboard. The truth of the case is this: Palinurus was overcome by sleep in spite of his efforts to keep awake; and, in that situation, fell overboard. Some say he was not drowned; but swam to the Italian coast, and was there killed by the 868. Errare fluitantem: to stray, or go inhabitants. See Æn. vi. 387 How does this book open? 4 QUESTIONS. What is its nature and character? What happened to Æneas soon after he was out to sea? To what place was he forced to direct his course? At what place in Sicily did he land? In honor of whom were Homer's games instituted? By whom were they instituted? In what book of the Iliad is the account of them given? What do you understand by carcer, when applied to races in general? What by meta? What befel Nisus? Who was next to him? And why did not Salius obtain the prize? What did Lycurgus in regard to this kind of exercise? Who entered the list on the part of the Trojans in this game? Had Dares distinguished himself in this fight before? Whom had he slain on the plains of Troy? With whom was he accustomed to contend at Troy? Was Paris said to be superior to Hector at the gauntlet? Who was the antagonist of Dares? What was his age? What was the issue of the contest? Where was the bird suspended? Whose arrow cut the cord by which the bird was bound? Whose arrow pierced her? Where was the bird at that moment? Whose brother was Eurytion? What is Pandarus said to have done during the Trojan war? Was he a distinguished archer? Is it said that he received divine honors? What happened to it as it passed through the air? In what light was this considered by Eneas? Could the soothsayers interpret the omen, or prodigy, in a satisfactory manner? What was it afterward understood to point out? What was the fifth game? Can you give me an account of this ca valcade? Who were the leaders? How many turma, or companies, were there? At whose instigation was the fleet of Eneas set on fire? Who was Iris? What did he call it? In the mean time, did the ghost of his father appear to him in a vision? What direction did it give him? Having repaired his fleet, to what place did he direct his course? In his voyage, did he lose his pilot over board? How was that effected, and by whom? How many in number were there? How did Ulysses escape when he ap On what kind of business was she usu- proached their shores? ally employed? How many ships were destroyed? Were they weary of their long voyage? What effect had the loss of these ships upon the mind of Æneas? What course was he advised to pursue by Nautes? What islands did they inhabit? After his arrival in Italy, did Æneas for low the direction of his father? Who conducted him to the regions be low? Who was this Sibyl. Where did she reside? What was the place whence she delivered Did he found a city for those who were her predictions? willing to remain in Sicily? By what god was she inspired? LIBER SEXTUS. THIS is one of those books which Virgil read in the presence of Augustus and Octavia. The subject is the descent of Eneas to the infernal regions. After his arrival in Italy, he repaired immediately to the cave of the Sibyl, where he learned the difficulties that awaited him before his peaceful settlement. He then consults her about his intended descent. She informed him of the danger of the enterprise, and that he must, in the first place, obtain a golden bough from a certain tree which was sacred to Hecate. She then informs him that one of his friends lay dead on the shore, and directs him to perform his funeral rites, and afterward come and offer sacrifice. He returned to his companions, and found Misenus dead. Having found the golden bough, he goes to the Sibyl, who conducts him down to hell. She describes to him the various scenes of those regions as they pass along, and shows him the several apartments; in one of which he sees Dido. He attempts to address her, but she turns from him in proud disdain. He then proceeds till he comes to the residence of his father; who explains to him the nature of transmigration according to the notion of Pythagoras, and shows him the illustrious race of heroes that should descend from him. After which he returns to the upper regions, through the ivory gate, and revisits his companions. This book is entirely episodical, and interrupts the thread of the story. It is probable that Virgil took the hint of conducting his hero to the regions of the dead, from Hercules, Orpheus, Ulysses, and others, who had visited them before. This gave him an opportunity of elucidating the economy of those regions according to the doctrines of Pythagoras, Plato, and other philosophers; of inculcating, in the most forcible manner. principles of morality and religion; of developing the leading incidents of Roman history, and of flattering the vanity of his countrymen, and his prince. Bishop Warburton considers this book as an allegorical representation of the Eleusinian Mysteries, at one time very much celebrated through Greece. But there is a difficulty in this interpretation. A considerable portion of the book cannot be considered in that light for it contains a biographical sketch of the principal characters, from Æneas down to the time of Augustus, and embraces the most important events connected with the Roman government. Besides, it is not certain that Virgil was ever initiated into those mysteries; and, if it were, it is doing injustice to his character to suppose he would |