Et conferre gradum, et veniendi discere causas. 491. Cœperunt trepi- Ingenti trepidare metu: pars vertere terga, Vix adeò agnovit pavitantem, et dira tegentem Supplicia: et notis compellat vocibus ultrò: Deiphobe armipotens, genus alto à sanguine Teucri, 501. Quis optavit su- Quis tam crudeles optavit sumere pœnas? mere de te tam crudeles Cui tantum de te licuit? Mihi fama supremâ punas? Cui licuit suNocte tulit, fessum vastâ te cæde Pelasgûm mere tantum supplicii de te? Procubuisse super confusæ stragis acervum. Tunc egomet tumulum Rhoteo in litore inanem 508. Et decedens po- Constitui, et magnâ Manes ter voce vocavi. nere te sepultum patriâ Nomen et arma locum servant. Te, amice, nequivi 509. Priamides ait: Conspicere, et patriâ decedens ponere terrâ. terrâ Nihil, ô amice, relictum Ad quæ Priamides: Nihil ô tibi, amice, relictum est. Omnia Deiphobo solvisti, et funeris umbris: est amoris 511. Hæc vulnera tan- Sed me fata mea et scelus exitiale Lacænæ quam monumenta ejus His mersere malis: illa hæc monumenta reliquit. 513. Namque nôsti, Namque, ut supremam falsa inter guadia noctem ut egerimus Egerimus, nôsti; et nimiùm meminisse necesse est;; NOTES. 488. Conferre gradum: to meet him-to come in close conference with him: a phrase. Usque: in the sense of diu. 489. Phalanges: in the sense of turme. 492. Ceu quondam, &c. The account of the fight to which the poet here alludes, is given, Iliad 15. The Trojans under Hector drove the Greeks, forced their entrenchments, pursued them to their ships, and set them on fire. 493. Clamor inceptus: the cry begun, frustrates them, gaping and opening their throats. They were so terrified at the sight of Eneas, as to be unable to finish the scream which they had begun. It perished in their throats. Rumus takes frustratur in the sense of fallit. 495. Deiphobum. Deïphobus was the son of Priam, and married Helen after the death of Paris. What is here said of his being cruelly mangled, is agreeable to the account given by Dictys Cretensis. He was slain by Menelaus. This representation of Deiph bus' mangled shade or ghost, is acco to the philosophy of Plato, who tau the dead retain the same marks an es in their bodies, which the alive. 496. Populata: in the se 490 495 501 505 510 vel spoliata. Raptis: in the sense of sectis. When the concluding word of a preceding lin is repeated in the beginning of the following line, the figure is called anadiplosis. It is usually emphatical, as in the present instance. Truncas: cut-gashed. 499. Supplicia: in the sense of vulnera vel plagas. Nolis: familiar. Or it may have reference to their speaking the same language. This is the sense in which Ruæus takes it: cognita voce, says he. 500. Genus: offspring. It is placed in apposition with Deiphobe. 504. Confuse stragis: of mingled Cùm fatalis equus saltu super ardua venit Instaurate; pio si pœnas ore reposco. NOTES. 515. Cùm fatalis, &c. See Æn. ii. 234. et sequens. 517. Evantes: shouting in praise of Bacchus. The word is of Greek derivation; and is applied to the bacchanals, or devotees of the god Bacchus. Evantes orgia: ex more orgiorum, says Heyne. 519. Vorabat. Helen made signals from the walls to the Greeks, that all things were ready for the assault. Her leading the Phrygian women around the city, as if in honor of Bacchus, the giver of joy, on account of the departure of their enemies, was mere pretence-mere deception to cover her plans. 521. Infelix: unhappy; because he was slain in it, and thereby prevented from joining his comrades in arms, and avenging their falling country. Pressit. His sleep was so sound, that it seemed to press him down like a great weight, lying upon him. 523. Egregia conjux: precious wife. This is spoken ironically. The meaning is, odious-abominable. 524. Subduxerat: and had withdrawn my faithful sword from my head. It was a custom among the warriors to lay their swords under their heads when they slept. 525. Vocat Menelaum: she called Menelaus into the house, &c. After the death of Paris, Helen married Deïphobus, his brother. It is said she endeavored to be reconciled to her first husband, by aiding the Grecian 515 520 525 530 535 under his head. What befell Helen after the capture of Troy is not certain. Some say she returned to Sparta, and passed her days with Menelaus; and was buried with him in the same tomb. Others say, after his death, being banished from Sparta, she fled to Rhodes, where she died. Homer informs us, Odys. iv. 277, that Helen went three times round the wooden horse, calling each of the Greeks by name. To this the poet alludes, 517. supra. 526. Amanti: to her husband-viz. Menelaus. Munus: favor-gift. 527. Et famam: and that the infamy of her former crimes might in this way be blotted out. Famam: in the sense of infamiam. 529. Æolides. This is a reproachful name given to Ulysses. It insinuates that he was not the son of Laërtes, but of Sisyphus, the son of Eolus, with whom his mother Anti clea is said to have been familiar.. 530. Instaurate: in the sense of reddite. 532. Erroribus: dangers. Davidson renders it casualties. 533. Quæ fortuna: what (adverse) fortune forces or impels you, that, &c. 534. Turbida: in the sense of obscura, vel tenebrosa. 535. Hâc vice sermonum: during the course (or change) of conversation, the sun in his rosy chariot had now passed, &c. By Aurora, here, we are undoubtedly to understand the sun. Quadrigis: properly, a chariot drawn by four horses. Rumus thinks the middle of the day is here meant by medium axem; and not the middle of the Jam medium æthereo cursu trajecerat axem, 537. Per talia cullo- Et fors omne datum traherent per talia tempus; quia quæ tenait 542. Hac via est iter nobis au Elysium: àt læva pars exercet Sed comes admonuit, breviterque affata Sibylla est: 540 541. Dextera est via, Dextera, quæ Ditis magni sub mœnia tendit : 552. Est porta adversa 553. Ut nulla vis virûm valet, non runt exaudiri hinc 557. Gemitus cœpe- Tisiphoneque sedens, pallâ succincta cruentâ, 558. Tum stridor fer- Vestibulum insomnis servat noctesque diesque. ri, tractæque catena Hinc exaudiri gemitus, et sæva sonare cœperunt exudiri Verbera tum stridor ferri, tractæque catenæ. 560. O virgo, inquit, Constitit Egeas, strepitumque exterritus hausit: effare, quæ facies sceleQuæ scelerum facies, ô virgo, effare, quibusve rum sunt illic Urgentur pœnis? quis tantus plangor ad auras? NOTES. night, as Servius, and most interpreters suppose. The time appointed for performing the preliminary rites, and visiting the infernal regions, here called tempus datum, was a day and two nights, as we learn from Plutarch's treatise concerning the genius of Socrates. Now Eneas had passed the whole of the first night in offering the prescribed sacrifices, verse 255. He commenced his descent the next morning about sunrise. Medium axem must therefore mean the meridian, which the sun had passed, and was hastening to the western horizon. The intervening time Eneas may be supposed to have passed in going through so many apartments. The remaining part of the day and following night, he visits his father, and the Elysian fields; and returns the following morning to his companions. 537. Fors in the sense of foriasse. 542. Lava exercet, &c. The meaning of this passage is, that they had now arrived at the place where the way separated into two: the right led to the city of Pluto, and the left ed to the place where the impious are punished. Tendit: in the sense of ducit. Mittit, also, in the sense of ducit. 545. Discedam; explebo numerum, &c. The meaning of this line has not been settled by commentators. There are three opinions which seem to prevail. 1. Discedam et implebo numerum turbæ, ex qua discessi ut 550 555 560 te alloquerer: I will depart, and fill up the number of the multitude which I left, that I might converse with you. This is the opinion of Heync and Davidson. According to Plato's notion of transmigration, the souls of the deceased passed a certain number of years in purification, before they assumed other bodies; therefore, 2d. Discedam, impleturus numerum annorum purgationis, quæ fit in his tenebris: I will depart to fill up the number of the years of purification, which is done in this darkness. 3. Discedam; modo, sine ut expleam numerum, et periodum orationis meæ, quam incepi: I will depart; only let me fill up the number and period of the discourse which I have begun. Only let me finish what I have begun to say. This last Ruæus prefers. 546. I decus, i, nostrum: pass on, pass on, thou glory of our nation: experience fates more propitious. The repetition of the I is emphatical. 549. Mania: in the sense of urbem. 551. Phlegethon: the name of one of the five rivers of hell: from a Greek word signifying, to burn, or to be on fire. 558. Verbera: scourges-lashes. Stridor ferri a grating, or din of iron. 559. Hausit strepitum: he heard the tumult-confused noise. 560. Facies: forms-kinds. 561. Urgentur: in the sense of crucian 565 570 Tum vates sic orsa loqui: Dux inclyte Teucrûm, î Corpora; qui manibus magnum rescindere cœlum 571. Qualit: strikes. Verberat, says Ru æus. 572. Sæva agmina sororum. The furies were reckoned three in number. Their names are Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megara. They may be called agmina, bands or troops, on account of their complicated rage; or these may be only the principal ones, and might have others under their command. Intentans: shaking or brandishing. 573. Sacræ in the sense of scelerata. 576. Hiatibus: mouths. 579. Suspectus: height-distance. Ethereum Olympum: the ethereal vault of heaven-the highest pinnacle-the seat of the gods. 580. Titania pubes: the giants, the sons of Titan and Terra. They attempted to scale heaven, and dethrone Jupiter; but he 563. Fas est nulli casto insistere 567. Subigitque eos fateri quæ piacula commissa apud superos, quis distulit 571. Tisiphone ultrix, accinta flagello, quatit sontes insultans; sinistraque manû 574. Sibylla inquit: 575 cernis-ne qualis 580 585 577. Sævior Hydra, immanis quinquaginta atris hiatibus 579. Quantus est crushed them with his thunder. Their object, in the attempt, was to restore their father to his throne, from which he had been driven by Jupiter. Volvuntur: in the sense of premuntur. 582. Aloidas. These were the giants Otus and Ephialtes, the sons of Neptune by Iphimedia, the wife of Aloëus. Homer makes them nine cubits broad, and nine ells high, in the Linth year of their age. Odyss. xi. 304. 585. Salmonea: a Greek acc. of Salmoneus. He was the son of Aolus, a king of Elis. He made a bridge of brass, over which he drove his chariot, boasting that by the rattling of his wheels, and the prancing of his horses, he imitated the thunder of Jove; who was highly honored at Elis. At the saine time, to counterfeit his lightning, he hurled flaming torches at his subjects, and ordered every one to be put to death, at whom he threw his torch. He was struck by the thunderbolt of Jove, for his impiety and cruelty. Panas. Pana properly signifies a recompense or satisfaction. Hence the phrase dare pænam vel pænas, to be punished-that is, to make retribution or satisfaction. 586. Flammas: lightning. Sonitus: thun der. Per Graiûm populos, mediæque per Elidis urbem Ibat ovans, Divumque sibi poscebat honorem : Demens! qui nimbos, et non imitabile fulmen Ære et cornipedum cursu simularet equorum. 592. Ille Jupiler non At pater omnipotens densa inter nubila telum contorsit faces, nec lumi- Contorsit (non ille faces, nec fumea tædis na fumea è tædis, ut Lumina) præcipitemque immani turbine adegit. Salmoneus fecit Nec non et Tityon, Terræ omniparentis alumnum, 596. Licitum crat cer- Cernere erat : per tota novem cui jugera corpus nere Tityon Porrigitur; rostroque immanis vultur obunco Immortale jecur tundens, fucunda que pœnis Viscera, rimaturque epulis, habitatque sub alto Pectore: nec fibris requies datur ulla renatis. Quid memorem Lapithas, Ixiona, Pirithoümqué? Quos super atra silex jamjam lapsura, cadentique Imminet assimilis. Lucent genialibus altis 604. Epulæ parate Aurea fulcra toris, epulæque ante ora paratæ sunt ante eorum ora, cum Regifico luxu: Furiarum maxima juxtà Accubat, et manibus prohibet contingere mensas; Exsurgitque facem attollens, atque intonat ore. bus fratres erant invisi 608. Hic sunt illi, qui- Hic, quibus invisi fratres, dum vita manebat, NOTES. 588. Urbem media Elidis. For mediam urbem Elidis: through the middle of the city of Elis. Heyne observes that some copies read mediam, which is the easier. 590. Nimbos: storms-teinpests. 591. Simularet. This is the reading of Heyne. Most copies have simulârat, the plu. perf. of the ind. 592 Telum: thunderbolt. nus. 595. Tityon. Tityus was the son of Jupiter and Elara, the daughter of OrchomeWhen Jupiter found her with child, he shut her up in the earth for fear of Juno; where Tityus issuing forth in a gigantic form, was thought to be the son of the earth. Virgil, therefore, calls him alumnus, &c.: the foster-child of all-bearing earth. He was slain by Apollo for offering violence to Latona. He was punished by a huge vulture, that continually preyed upon his liver and vitals; which, as they were devoured, always grew afresh. Hence immortale jecur: his immortal liver; because it never was consumed. Rimatur epulis : rummages them for his meal. Renatis: springing up anew. 596. Cui: in the sense of cujus. 598. Tundens beating-tearing. This is the cominon reading. But Heyne reads ondens. Fœcunda pœnis: fertile in punishment. This is said, because as soon as any part was torn away, and consumed by the vulture, its place was immediately supplied. 590 595 600 605 610 His punishment would therefore be perpetual. 601. Lapithas: the Lapitha were a people of Thessaly of dissolute manners. Ixiona. Ixion, the son of Phlegyas, was their king. He was admitted to an intimacy with Jupiter, which he forfeited by designing an intimacy with Juno. Jupiter knowing his purpose, substituted a cloud for the goddess; and was content at first only to rehe boasted of having been honored with move him from heaven; but finding that Juno's bed, he nurled him down to Tartarus, and ordered Mercury to bind him to a wheel, hung round with serpents, which mission. he was doomed to turn without any interIxion. See 122, supra. Pirithoüm. He was the son of ricide is so horrid and unnatural, that he 609. Pulsus-ve parens: the crime of par passes it by, not supposing any of the huthe case only of one who had beaten a paman race could be guilty of it. He puts rent. Fraus innexa clienti: fraud practised upon a client. The claim of the client to the faith and protection of his patron was considered sacred among the Romans; like that of a child to the protection of the parent. Among the laws of the twelve tables it is said: "if any patron shall defraud his client, let him be accursed." 611. Nec partem: nor have distributed a part to their own. Arma: in the sense of bella |