Hectoris hic magni fuerat comes; Hectora circum Postquam illum vita victor spoliavit Achilles, Addiderat socium, non inferiora secutus. Et viridi sedere solo. Tum maximus heros 'Este duces, O! si qua via est, cursumque per auras 170 175 180 185 190 170. Inferiora. Referring to Aeneas as not inferior to Hector. See A. 11, 289.-171. As the contest was with Triton (see A. 1, 144), Virgil appropriately equips Misenus with Triton's own instrument the concha, for a description of which, see Ovid, Met. 1, 333, &c.-174. Immerserat, a change of tense, from the poet's mind shifting the point of time. This is not uncommon. See verses 339, 524; and another instance, Ecl. 7, 6. --175. Fremebant (compared with vident, verse 163) seems to lead us to the conclusion, that Aeneas found them mourning. If so, fremuit is necessary as the verb to Aeneas.-177. Haud mora est. Aram sepulchri; alluding to the altar-like shape of the funeral pile. 184. Paribus (similar) armis; that is, securibus. Accingitur. See A. 1, 210. Besides, it has here the force of the Greek middle voice (= se accingit). -186. Forte. Others read voce.-187. Si ostendat. A prayer. See A. 8, 560.-188. Quando, &c. From the Sibyl's truth in one particular, Aeneas infers her truth in the other.-193. Maternas aves. The dove 195 200 205 Dirigite in lucos, ubi pinguem dives opacat 210 215 was sacred to his mother Venus.-197. Pressit. See verse 159.199. Prodire. The historical infinitive. See Zumpt, § 599. The doves alternately flew and fed, so that Aeneas could follow their movements. -200. Possent. The subjunctive marks the intention of the doves.— 203. Gemina, as presenting the natural tree and the golden branch. Others read geminae.-205. Virgil compares the gleam of the gold on the green tree to the appearance of the mistletoe, a parasitical plant which flowers in winter.-211. Looking at verse 146, we must understand cunctantem to mean, that to the eagerness of Aeneas (avidus) it seemed to hesitate. 212. Here Virgil describes Roman funeral rites. See A, 1, 73.— 214. Construe pinguem with taedis, and ingentem (indicating the rank of the deceased) with robore secto, as in A. 4, 505. The body of the pile was composed of fagots; the sides were interwoven with black-leaved branches. In front of the pile, cypress trunks were placed, bearing the arms of the dead hero. Triste ministerium, et subjectam more parentum 225 Postquam collapsi cineres, et flamma quievit; 230 Imponit, suaque arma viro, remumque, tubamque, 235 His actis, propere exsequitur praecepta Sibyllae. Voce vocans Hecaten, Coeloque Ereboque potentem. 240 245 223. Those who applied the torch, to indicate reluctance, turned away their heads (more parentum), either as near relations do,' or following the usage of their ancestors.-228. Corynaeus is mentioned again, in A. 9, 571-229. Socios circumtulit unda, the same as undam circum socios tulit.-230. Rore. See G. 4, 431. Felicis. See Ecl. 5, 36, for the opposite, infelix, which is also applied, G. 2, 314, to the barren wild-olive.-231. Novissima verba. See A. 4, 650.-235. Aeternumque. The promontory Misenum, in Campania, still bears the name Miseno. 236. Praecepta. See verse 153.-237. Virgil now shifts the scene northwards to a cavern on the steep banks of Lake Avernus (tuta lacu). This lake was said to have derived its name from the noisome vapours (grave olentis, verse 201) that arose from it, destroying any birds that chanced to fly over it. It is now pure and wholesome. See G. 2, 161. -242. This verse is universally and justly regarded as spurious.247. Hecaten, &c. See A. 4, 510-243. Supponunt. Victims offered to the infernal gods were slain by having their throats cut from below, Aeneas matri Eumenidum, magnaeque sorori, 250 255 260 Ille ducem haud timidis vadentem passibus aequat. Et Chaos, et Phlegethon, loca nocte tacentia late, Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte per umbram, 265 270 275 the head hanging down. -250. The mother of the Eumenides (see A. 4, 469) was Nox, whose sister was Terra.-252. Stygio regi. See A. 4, 638.-253. Solida viscera, a holocaust. For viscera, see G. 4, 555.256. When the passive voice follows coepi, it, too, is generally used in the passive, as coepta moveri.-257. Visae ululare, a strange collocation. See A. 4, 460.-258. Dea, Hecate. Procul, &c. The usual formula (ixas, ixàs, irre Bénλ) used in the sacred mysteries, to warn off the uninitiated, who had no right to be present. 265. Chaos. See A. 4, 510. Phlegethon. See verse 295.-266. Fas. See A. 2, 157. Sit fas; or sit, liceat. See G. 4, 446. 268. They have left Avernus, and are journeying through the cave to the nether world.-273. Virgil represents the porch of Orcus (A. 2, 398; 4, 702) occupied by phantoms, fit guards of the realms of Death.-274. Ultrices Curae. The pangs of conscience that punish Tum consanguineus Leti Sopor, et mala mentis In medio ramos annosaque brachia pandit 285 290 Hinc via Tartarei quae fert Acherontis ad undas. 295 crime. 279. Beyond the vestibulum, and in the threshold right opposite, were War and its accompaniments. Here the slaves that acted as porters had in the Roman houses their sleeping apartments (thalami).-280. Ferrei, as two syllables. We have the Eumenides again, verse 555, &c.; and at Jove's threshold, A. 12, 849.-281. Crinem innexa. See A. 5, 511. 282. Midway between the porch and the threshold grew an elm, the haunt of idle dreams. See verse 894.-283. Vulgo (passim) tenere seems better than vulgo ferunt.-286, &c. At the doors were housed the Centaurs (see A. 7, 675), half-men, half-horses, sons of Ixion (see verse 601) and Nephele (a cloud; see A. 7, 675), whom he mistook for Juno: Scyllae; see A. 3, 424: Briareus (identical with Aegaeon, A. 10, 565), one of the Uranides, having a hundred hands (centumgeminus), and fifty heads, according to one tradition, placed at the gates of Hades to guard the Titans: the Hydra, a many-headed dragon that infested Lerna, a lake and river near Argos (4. 12, 518), and was slain by Hercules: Chimaera, a Lycian monster-lion, goat, and dragon, that snorted forth flames; see A. 7, 785: Gorgones (see A. 2, 616), three monstrous forms, originally women from Libya: Harpyiae; see A. 3, 211, 212: and Geryon (forma, &c.), a king in the south of Spain, with three bodies, slain by Hercules, who took from him his beautiful oxen. See A. 7, 661; and 8, 202. Milton had this passage in his mind when he wrote Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimaeras dire.'-Par. Lost, 2, 628. Compare with this passage of Virgil, verses 951-967 of the same book. -293. Admoneat. See A. 5, 325. 295. It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to picture distinctly Virgil's ideas of the rivers of the nether world. He seems to have made the Acheron the main-trunk, flowing through Tartarus, properly so called. See A. 5, 733. As it leaves this region, it gushes with mud, sand, and |