P. VIRGILII MARONIS GEORGICA. LIBER PRIMUS. THIS BOOK opens with the plan of the whole work: and in the four first lines informs us of the subject of each book. The poet then proceeds to invoke the gods, that were thought to have any concern in the affairs of tillage or husbandry; and particularly, he compliments Augustus with divinity. After which, he goes on to show the different kinds of tillage proper for the different soils. He traces out, the origin of agriculture. He describes the various implements proper for that use. He notices the prognostics of the weather. And concludes, by relating the prodigies which happened about the time of Julius Cæsar's death; and by invoking the gods for the safety of Augustus, his prince. The whole is embellished with a variety of other matter, so judiciously blended with the subject, that, besides preventing languor and fatigue under the dryness of precept, it contributes to our pleasure and delight. QUID faciat lætas segetes; quo sidere terram NOTES. 1. Latas: in the sense of copiosas vel fertiles. 3. Qui cultus, &c. What management is necessary for raising cattle. It is plain that necessarius, aplus, or some word of the like import, is to be supplied, agreeing with cultus. Habendo may be a future part. pass. or a gerund in do, of the dat. case. 4. Quanta experientia, &c. How great care, or attention, is necessary to rear the frugal bees. Or, it may mean; how great experience, foresight, and regular management, in their affairs, there may be to the frugal bees. When sentences are very elliptical, it is sometimes difficult to fall upon the meaning of the author. 6. Lumina. We are here to understand, I apprehend, the sun and moon, as they go 2. O Maecenas, incipiam canere hinc, quid faciat lætas segetes, quo sidere conveniat vertere 5 terram qui 3. Quæ sit cura boum; 7. O Liber, et alma Cores, si vorn the seasons; rather than Ceres and Bacchus, as some imagine. 7. Liber et alma Ceres. Ruæus considers these as the Clarissima Lumina mundi in the preceding line. But the reason which he gives for so doing appears insufficient. Alma: an adj. cherishing-nourishing. In this sense it is a very appropriate epithet of Ceres, as being the goddess of husbandry. It also signifies, pure-holy, &c. 8. Chaoniam glandem: Chaonian acorns, or mast: here put for mast in general; the species for the genus. Chaoniam an adj. from Chaonia, a part of Epirus, in which was the famous grove Dodona,that abounded in mast-trees. 9. Acheloïa pocula: draughts of pure wa ter. Pocula, properly the cups, here put b 10. Et vos, O Fauni, Et vos, agrestûm præsentia numina, Fauni, præsentia numina agres- Ferte simul Faunique pedem Dryadesque puellæ ; tûm; O Faunique Dry- Muñéra vestra cano.Tuque ô, cu prima freirentem adesque puellæ, ferte Fudit equum magno tellus percussa tridenti, pedem simul 14. Et, tu Ŏ Aristae, Neptune: et cultor nemorum, cui pinguia Cææ cultor nemorum, cui ter Ter centum nivei tondent dumeta juvenci: centum nivei juvenci Ipse nemus linquens patrium, saltusque Lycæi, 16. Tu ipse, O Tegee Pan ovium custos, tua si tibi Mænala curæ, Pan, custos ovium, linquens patrium nemus, Adsis, ô Tegeæe, favens: oleæque Minerva NOTES. 14. Neptune. Neptune, god of the sea, and father of fountains and rivers. He was the son of Saturn and Ops, and brother of Jupiter and Pluto. In the division of the world with his brothers, he obtained the empire of the sea. He is said to have married Amphitrite, the daughter of Nereus or Oceanus. He is said to have been the first who tamed the horse. Hence the poets feign, that when a dispute arose between him and Minerva, respecting the name to be given to the city Athens, it was referred to the gods for their decision; who declared it should be called by the name of the party that should confer on mankind the greatest benefit; whereupon Neptune struck the earth with his trident and produced the horse, a warlike animal; and Minerva with her spear produced the olive, the emblem of peace upon which the case was given in her favor. Neptunus, by meton. is often put for the sea. Cultor nemorum. The person here meant is Aristaus, the reputed son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, the daughter of Peneus, the god of the river Peneus in Thessaly. After his son Acteon was torn to pieces by dogs for looking upon Diana, as she was bathing, Aristaus left Thebes, and took up his residence in the island Cœa, one of the Cyclades. He is said to have been the first, who taught mankind the cultivation of bees. See Geor. iv. 317. 17. Si tua Manala, &c. The meaning is: if you have a regard for Mænalus, Lyceus, and the rest of your mountains in Arcadia, come and be propitious to my undertaking. These mountains were sacred to Pan. 18. Tegeme: an adj. from Tegen, a city of Arcadia, sacred to Pan. Minerva. Goddess ner. 10 15 of wisdom and the liberal arts. She is said to have been produced from the brain of Jupiter full grown, and immediately admitted into the assembly of the gods; where she distinguished herself by her wise counsel. Her power was very great. She could hurl the thunderbolts of Jupiter, prolong the lives of men, and bestow the gift of prophecy. Arachne, the daughter of Idmon, a Lydian, challenged the goddess to a trial of skill in embroidery. She represented on her piece the amours of Jupiter in a masterly manShe was, however, outdone, and having hung herself through chagrin, was changed into a spider by the victorious goddess. Minerva took a very active part in support of the Greeks at the siege of Troy, and protected her favorite Ulysses in all his dangers. Her worship was universally established. She had magnificent temples dedicated to her in most countries. Sais, Rhodes, and Athens, were her favorite places. She was variously represented according to the characters in which she appeared; but most generally with a helmet on her head, and a large plume waving in the air; with one hand holding a spear; with the other a shield, having the head of Medusa upon it. This shield was called the Egis. When she is represented as the goddess of the liberal arts, she is covered with a veil called the Peplum. She had a very celebrated statue called the Palladium, said to have been about three cubits in height, and represented her sitting, and holding in her right hand a pipe, and in her left a distaff and a spindle. It is said to have fallen from heaven near the tent of Ilus, as he was building the citadel of Troy, on the preservation of which, the safety of that city depended. It was carried off by Ulysses and Diomede, who privately found a way into the temple. It is said, however, that the true palladium was not taken away, but only a statue of similar shape; and that Æneas carried the true one with him to Italy. The olive-tree, the cock, the owl, and the dragon, were sacred to her. She had various names, and as various offices and functions attributed to her. called Athena, from the city of Athens, of which she was the tutelar goddess: Pallas, from a giant of that name whom she slew; She was Inventrix, uncique puer monstrator aratri: : NOTES. or rather, from a Greek word signifying to vibrate, because as goddess of war, she brandished a spear in her right hand: Parthenos, because she preserved her chastity: Tritona, because she was worshipped near a lake of that name in Africa: Glaucopia, because she had blue eyes: Agorea, because she presided over markets: Hippia, because she taught mankind to manage the horse: Stratia, and Area, because of her martial character. 19. Puer. Triptolemus the son of Celeus, king of Elusina, a city of Attica. He is said to have taught the Greeks agriculture, having himself been previously instructed by Ceres. See Ecl. v. 79. 20. Sylvane. One of those demi-gods that go under the general name of satyrs. He is said to have been passionately fond of the boy Cyparissus, who having, through mistake, killed a deer, of which he was very fond, pined away and died. He was changed into the Cypress tree. See Ecl. 5. 73. 21. Studium: in the sense of cura. 22. Non ullo semine. Some read nonnullo semine. But the former appears to be the better; and it is supported by several ancient manuscripts, as Pierus informs us. Nonullo semine: from no seed, that is, such as spring up spontaneously. Heyne, after Heinsius, reads non ullo semine. 24. Adeò: in the sense of præcipuè. 25. Urbes. The common reading is urbis; but as all interpreters agree that it is for urbes, the acc. plu. I have ventured so to write it. The nom. and acc. plu. of the third declensions sometimes ended in eis, which was contracted into is; as, omneis, contracted omnis-urbeis, contracted urbis. But there is no reason that it should be retained in preference to the regular termination. Valpy reads urbes. 26. Maximus: the sup. in the sense of the pos.: the great world. saltusque Lycœi, si tua 20 Manala sint tivi curæ, adsis favens: Tu que O Minerva, inventrix 21. O omnes Dîque Deæque, quibus est studium 25 24. Tuque adeò O Cæsar, quem, incertum est, quæ concilia Deorum habitura sint mox: ne velis invisere urbes, et suscipere curam ter30 rarum: 27. Potentem: the ruler-one who has power over: rectorem, says Ruæus. It has here the force and efficacy of a substantive. Tempestatum: in the sense of temporum. 28. Materna myrto. The myrtle tree was sacred to Venus, the mother of Æneas, from whom, according to Virgil, Cæsar descended. 30. Thule. One of the Shetland islands on the north of Scotland, the farthest land westward known to the ancients. The poet, therefore, calls it ultima. Colant: in the sense of adorent, vel precentur. 31. Tethys. The daughter of Calus and Terra, and wife of Oceanus. She was mother of the nymphs Oceanides; elegantly put, by meton. for the sea itself. 32. Anne addas, &c. Or whether you would add yourself a new constellation to the slow summer months. The months are called slow, because the days in the summer are the longest, and so their motion appears the slower; or rather, to speak philosophically, because the earth moves slower in her orbit, during the summer months. 33. Erigonen. Erigone, the daughter of Icarus, who, on account of the murder of her father, hung herself for grief; but was translated to heaven, and made the constellation Virgo. Sequentes Chelas: the following claws the claws following the sign Virgo. The Chele were the claws or arms the sign of Libra. The ancients at first of Scorpio, extending over, and occupying divided the Ecliptic into eleven parts, leaving out the sign Libra, and giving to Scorpio a ducing it to an equality with the rest of the space of the Zodiac equal to 60°. By resigns, a space of 30° remained for Caesar, if he chose to occupy it. 34. Ardens: impatient-greatly desirous of thy coming; rather than ardent, burning, &c. as it is sometimes rendered. Scorpius, et cœli justâ plus parte reliquit. 36. Quicquid Numen Quicquid eris (nam te nec sperent Tartara regem, eris, da Nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira cupido: 41. Tuque miseratus Vere novo, gelidus canis cùm montibus humor 35 40 45 At priùs ignotum ferro quàm scindimus æquor, 50 discere 52. Cura sit nobis præ- Cura sit, ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum: 58. At nudi Chalybes India mittit ebur, molles sua thura Sabæi ? mittunt ad nos ferrum NOTES. 39. Proserpina. See Ecl. v. 79. 42. Ingredere: enter upon your office of a god, and even now accustom yourself to be invoked by vows. 43. Gelidus humor: here, ice or snow. Humor is properly any kind of moisture or liquor. Novo vere. The poet advises the husbandman to begin his ploughing in the early part of the spring, as soon as the snow melts from the mountains, and the earth be sufficiently softened, that he may be in due season with the work of the year. 45. Depresso aratro: in the plough put, or laid, deep in the earth. Or the words may be put absolutely: the plough being put deep in the earth. 48. Quæ bis sensit, &c. Which feels twice the summer, and twice the winter; that is, lies fallow for two years together, or without tillage. Seges: in the sense of terra, vel ager, says Heyne. 49. Ruperunt. The sense seems to require the present; accordingly Ruæus hath interpreted it by rumpunt: his immense harvests burst his barns-his barns are not capable of containing his crops. 50. Equor: properly any plain or level surface, whether land or waier. Here used in the sense of ager or campus. Ignotum: cujus natura ignota est nobis. 51. Prædiscere ventos, &c. To learn before hand the winds and the various qualities of the weather-to observe, to what winds 55 the fields are most exposed, and whether the climate be moist or dry, cold or hot. Morem cœli: naturam vel tempericm aëris, says Heyne. 52. Patrios cultus: the culture of our fathers. This is the sense of Davidson and Heyne. Colendi rationer probatam usu majorum, says the latter. Ruæus says: Propriam culturam. Habitus locorum: the habits of the places-the habit or peculiar nature of the various soils. Land, by being tilled in a certain way, acquires an aptitude to produce some kinds of grain better than others. This is what is meant here. 54. Feliciùs: more luxuriantly. 55. Arborei fætus: nurseries, or young trees. Fetus signifies the young of any kind, animate or inanimate. Injussa: not sown--spontaneously. 56. Tmolus. A mountain in Phrygia, in the confines of Lydia, famous for its saffron: hence the epithet croceos. 57. Molles Sabai: the effeminate Sabe Ergò age, terræ Castorea, Eliadum palmas Epirus equarum? Hic, sterilem exiguus ne deserat humor arenam. Et segnem patiere situ durescere campum. NOTES. 59. Virosa castorea: strong-scented castor. According to Pliny, the castor was contained in the testicles of the beaver. But the moderns have found that the castor is contained in certain odoriferous glands about the groin, and in both sexes. Epirus palmas, &c. Epirus (produces) the victors of the Olympic mares-produces those mares that obtain the palm of victory in the Olympic races. Palmas equarum; Ruæus says equas victrices in Olympico cursu. Epirus, once a powerful kingdom, is bounded by the Ionian sea on the south and west, and by Thessalia, Macedonia, and Achaia on the north and east, famous for its excellent horses. Elidum: an adj. gen. plu. from Elis, or Elea, a maritime country of the Peloponnesus, the chief cities of which were Elis, on the river Peneus, and Olympia, on the river Alpheus, famous for the games there celebrated in honor of Jupiter. They were instituted 1458 years before Christ, and celebrated every fifth year. 60. Fœdera: in the sense of conditiones. 62. Deucalion. See Ecl. vi. 41. 63. Nali: in the sense of orti sunt. 66. Solibus: Sol, properly the sun, by meton. heat. Maturis: in the sense of vehementibus, vel ardentibus. Coqual: emoliat et rarefacial, says Heyne. 68. Sub ipsum Arcturum: about the rising of Arcturus. This is a star of the first magnitude in the constellation Bootes, near the tail of the great Bear. The poet recommends, if the soil be rich, to turn it up with a deep furrow carly, that it may lie and bake through the heat of the summer; but if the land be of a thin soil, and light, it will be sufficient to turn it up with a thin furrow, and some time in the fall, about the rising of Arcturus. In the former case, (illic) that the grass and weeds may not injure the springing crop; in the latter case (hìc) that the scanty moisture may not leave the barren land. 71. Tonsas novales, &c. You should suffer your reaped fallow grounds to rest every other year. Novalis terra, is properly new ground, or ground newly broken up. Hence it came to signify fallow ground, because by resting it is recruited, and, as it were, renewed. 72. Silu: with a sword. Situs here means the grass, weeds, &c. which overspread the ground, and bind it down into what is commonly called a sword. Campum segnem: your field lying idle. 73. Sidere mutato: the year being changed. Some copies read semine mutato. Sidus, ir. the sense of annus, is frequently used by Virgil. 74. Lætum: in the sense of fertile vel copiosum. Siliqua: in the rattling pod, or shell. 75. Tristis: bitter. Tenues fœtus, Ruæus interprets by parva grana. 76. Sylvam. This word is frequently used for a thick luxurious crop or growth of any thing. 78. Papavera perfusa: poppies impregnated with oblivious sleep, or possessing the quality of causing sleep. Lethao: an adj. from Lethe, a word of Greek origin, implying forgetfulness or oblivion. The poets feigned it to be one of the rivers of hell, the water of which the dead were said to drink after they had been in the regions below some time. It was represented |