Page images
PDF
EPUB

700

Saepius occurrens, haec limina tendere adegit.
Stant sale Tyrrheno classes. Da jungere dextram,
Da, genitor; teque amplexu ne subtrahe nostro.'
Sic memorans, largo fletu simul ora rigabat.
Ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circum;
Ter frustra comprensa manus effugit imago,
Par levibus ventis, volucrique simillima somno.
Interea videt Aeneas in valle reducta
Seclusum nemus, et virgulta sonantia silvis,
Lethaeumque, domos placidas qui praenatat, amnem. 705
Hunc circum innumerae gentes, populique volabant;
Ac, velut in pratis ubi apes aestate serena
Floribus insidunt variis, et candida circum
Lilia funduntur; strepit omnis murmure campus.
Horrescit visu subito, causasque requirit

Inscius Aeneas; quae sint ea flumina porro,
Quive viri tanto complerint agmine ripas.
Tum pater Anchises: 'Animae, quibus altera fato
Corpora debentur, Lethaei ad fluminis undam
Securos latices, et longa oblivia potant.

Has equidem memorare tibi, atque ostendere coram,
Jampridem hanc prolem cupio enumerare meorum ;
Quo magis Italia mecum laetere reperta.

710

715

720

O pater! anne aliquas ad coelum hinc ire putandum est
Sublimes animas, iterumque ad tarda reverti
Corpora? quae lucis miseris tam dira cupido?
Dicam equidem, nec te suspensum, nate, tenebo,'
Suscipit Anchises; atque ordine singula pandit.

697. Sale = mari. Tyrrhenum (from the Tyrrheni, a Pelasgian race, whom the early Greeks considered as the inhabitants of all the west coast of Italy, afterwards confined to Etruria, north of the Tiber) was also called Etruscum, and Inferum mare.-698. Amplexu, for amplexui, the dative. See Ecl. 5, 29.-702. See A. 2, 794.

704. Silvis seems to give the cause of the rustling sound. The bushes were so plentiful, that as in woods, the wind sighed audibly through them. See A. 3, 442; 12, 522.-705. Lethaeum. See verse 295.706. In a gens there may be many populi.-709. Murmure, with the buzz of the shades.-711. Rogans (involved in requirit) porro quae. Or porro may refer to the extended course of the river.-714. Ad undam refers to their position on the bank of the river.-715. Securos, a well-known figure for securos reddentes. Latices. See A. 1, 686.717. Jampridem cupio influences both verses, and the repetition, hanc, is equivalent to et.-719. Coelum means simply the upper world. Ire sublimes, ascendere.

725

'Principio, coelum, ac terras, camposque liquentes,
Lucentemque globum Lunae, Titaniaque astra,
Spiritus intus alit; totamque, infusa per artus,
Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet.
Inde hominum pecudumque genus, vitaeque volantum,
Et quae marmoreo fert monstra sub aequore pontus.
Igneus est ollis vigor, et coelestis origo

730

Seminibus; quantum non noxia corpora tardant,
Terrenique hebetant artus, moribundaque membra.
Hinc metuunt, cupiuntque; dolent, gaudentque; neque

auras

Dispiciunt, clausae tenebris, et carcere caeco.
Quin et, supremo quum lumine vita reliquit,

735

Non tamen omne malum miseris, nec funditus omnes

Corporeae excedunt pestes, penitusque necesse est
Multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris.
Ergo exercentur poenis, veterumque malorum
Supplicia expendunt. Aliae panduntur inanes
Suspensae ad ventos: aliis sub gurgite vasto
Infectum eluitur scelus, aut exuritur igni.
Quisque suos patimur Manes: exinde per amplum
Mittimur Elysium, et pauci laeta arva tenemus,
Donec longa dies, perfecto temporis orbe,

740

745

724, &c. See verse 679. The spiritus, principle of life (4x), and mens of intelligence (vous), together constituting the anima mundi, are the source of life and activity.-725. Titania astra, the sun and other heavenly bodies. See A. 4, 119.-728. Inde, &c. From the spiritus and mens proceed the principles of life and activity of animals; 730. Ollis (see A. 1, 254) seminibus, referring to these principles.731. These principles manifest their heavenly source, so far as they are not impeded by corporeal bodies injuring their efficacy (noxia).— 733. Hinc, from their connection with body. Neque dispiciunt, their clear view is impeded, because clausae in the prison-house of the body.

734. Clausae animae.-735. Even after death, the soul is not wholly freed from the base passions which the contact of earthly bodies produces.-739. As in the rites of purification preparatory to admission into the sacred mysteries, so souls are represented as undergoing various modes of purification by air, water, and fire.-743, &c. These words, Quisque suos patimur Manes, constitute what commentators call a locus vexatissimus. Eight different interpretations, in some cases, indeed, partly reconcilable, have been proposed by more than as many critics :

1. Manes is put for the 'penalties,' the punishments themselves, 'we suffer our respective punishments,' which is the vulgar; and that

Concretam exemit labem, purumque relinquit
Aethereum sensum, atque auraï simplicis ignem.
Has omnes, ubi mille rotam volvere per annos,
Lethaeum ad fluvium deus evocat agmine magno;
Scilicet immemores supera ut convexa revisant,
Rursus et incipiant in corpora velle reverti.'
Dixerat Anchises: natumque, unaque Sibyllam,
Conventus trahit in medios, turbamque sonantem;
Et tumulum capit, unde omnes longo ordine posset
Adversos legere, et venientum discere vultus.

750

755

'Nunc age, Dardaniam prolem quae deinde sequatur

Gloria, qui maneant Itala de gente nepotes,
Illustres animas, nostrumque in nomen ituras,
Expediam dictis, et te tua fata docebo.

to which all the others more or less approximate. Compare Auson. Ephem. 57:

Si poenitet altaque sensus

Formido excruciat tormentaque sera gehennae
Anticipat, patiturque suos mens saucia manes.

2. We suffer (are tormented by) demons peculiar to us,' as pati Furias, &c.-LA CERDA and RUAEUS.

[ocr errors]

3. Patimur suos quisque manes-that is, suos quisque inferos, suum, dny, ubi castigati vexatique purgemur-that is, we suffer each in a hell of his own.'-BAUER.

4. We suffer when in the state and condition of Manes (that is, quoad Manes).-HEYNE, THIEL, and JAHN.

5. We all atone for the degree of guilt in which our Manes may be at the moment of death."

6

6. Each suffers his atonement in some peculiar way.'-MUENSHER. 7. We severally undergo such punishments (there being three kinds) as are best suited to the impure nature of our Manes, stained with a greater or less degree of guilt.'-FORBIGER. This interpretation blends the ideas presented by the preceding two.

8. We atone for the guilt of our respective Manes.'-WAGNER. Manes suos pati being equivalent to se pati, which means, delictorum suorum poenas pati.

6

[ocr errors]

Wagner, an acute and accurate scholar, not content with previous derivations, ventures one of his own. The word Manes,' says he, "is connected with μów, μivos, μivw, Manes, and is cognate with mens, the feeling, "the conscience of a human being;" and he thus interprets, accordingly, the present passage: suam quisque in sinu ferimus felicitatem ante factorum et pietatis justam mercedem.'-747. Auraï. See A. 3, 354.-748. Has omnes, as contrasted with pauci, &c., seems to mean that a few, among whom was Anchises, are permitted to remain in the enjoyment (tenere) of Elysium, from which the rest ascend. Rotam volvere, to roll round the wheel of time.'-752. Dixerat. See A. 2, 621.-753. Sonantem. See verse 709.

[ocr errors]

756. A passage admirably conceived to gratify the Romans, and especially Augustus. Deinde, post te.

'Ille, vides, pura juvenis qui nititur hasta,
Proxima sorte tenet lucis loca; primus ad auras
Aetherias Italo commixtus sanguine surget,
Silvius, Albanum nomen, tua postuma proles,
Quem tibi longaevo serum Lavinia conjux
Educet silvis regem, regumque parentem,
Unde genus Longa nostrum dominabitur Alba.
Proximus ille, Procas, Trojanae gloria gentis,
Et Capys, et Numitor, et, qui te nomine reddet,
Silvius Aeneas; pariter pietate vel armis
Egregius, si unquam regnandam acceperit Albam.
Qui juvenes! quantas ostentant, aspice, vires!
Atque umbrata gerunt civili tempora quercu,
Hi tibi Nomentum, et Gabios, urbemque Fidenam;
Hi Collatinas imponent montibus arces,

760

765

770

[Laude pudicitiae celebres, addentque superbos]
Pometios, Castrumque Inuï, Bolamque, Coramque.
Haec tum nomina erunt; nunc sunt sine nomine terrae.
Quin et avo comitem sese Mavortius addet

775

760. Virgil, following the traditions that ascribe the race of Alban kings to the descendants of Aeneas by Lavinia (see p. 61, line 6), enumerates a few of them. Ille. See verse 326. Vides, parenthetic. Pura hasta, a spear without the iron head-either a reward for prowess in war, or simply a sceptre.-761. The ordinary construction would require luci.-763. Silvius, a child of Aeneas by Lavinia, and born in the woods (silvae)-Aeneas having first died, an old man-was to be the first of the race of shades that was to ascend to the upper world, and to reign in Alba, his name being common to all the subsequent kings of Alba (Albanum nomen), Liv. I, 3.-766. For the construction Longa Alba, the adjective in prose being accompanied with the preposition in, see Zumpt, § 399. Unless, indeed, it mean, from Alba Longa.767. Reckoning Ascanius as the first king of Alba Longa (A. 1, 271), and following the order of Livy, Procas is the thirteenth, Capys the seventh, Numitor (grandfather of Romulus) the fourteenth, and Aeneas the third. Proximus, then, means simply, 'standing next Silvius.'768. Numitor has the last syllable long by the arsis.-770. Si, &c. According to Servius, he with difficulty escaped the treacherous designs of his guardian. Regnandam. See A. 3, 14.-772. The corona civilis (or, more commonly, civica) of oak-leaves was given to one who had saved the life of a citizen.-773. Of these towns, which Virgil represents as colonised from Alba, Nomentum and Fidenae (Virgil uses the rarer singular form) were, in after-times, in the territories of the Sabines, the rest in Latium in its widest sense.-775. This verse is said to be an interpolation by Fabricius Lampugnanus, a native of Milan.

776. Pometios, Suessa Pometia. Inui, identified with the Greek Pan.-778. Romulus, son of Mavors, Mars (Mavortius), is associated

Romulus, Assaraci quem sanguinis Ilia mater
Educet. Viden', ut geminae stant vertice cristae,
Et pater ipse suo superûm jam signat honore?
En! hujus, nate, auspiciis illa incluta Roma
Imperium terris, animos aequabit Olympo,
Septemque una sibi muro circumdabit arces,
Felix prole virûm: qualis Berecyntia mater
Invehitur curru Phrygias turrita per urbes,
Laeta deûm partu, centum complexa nepotes,
Omnes coelicolas, omnes supera alta tenentes.
Huc geminas nunc flecte acies, hanc aspice gentem,
Romanosque tuos. Hic Caesar, et omnis Iuli
Progenies, magnum coeli ventura sub axem.
Hic vir, hic est, tibi quem promitti saepius audis,
Augustus Caesar, divi genus, aurea condet
Saecula qui rursus Latio, regnata per arva
Saturno quondam; super et Garamantas et Indos
Proferet imperium: jacet extra sidera tellus,
Extra anni solisque vias, ubi coelifer Atlas
Axem humero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum.
Hujus in adventum jam nunc et Caspia regna
Responsis horrent divûm, et Maeotia tellus,
Et septemgemini turbant trepida ostia Nili.
Nec vero Alcides tantum telluris obivit,

780

785

790

795

800

with Numitor, father of his mother Ilia.-779. Assaraci. See verse 648.780. Viden'. See A. 3, 319.-785. Rome, with its numerous heroes, is compared to Cybele (Berecyntia, from Berecyntos, a mountain in Phrygia, where she was worshipped), who is identified here with Rhea or Terra, the mother of the gods. Cybele is generally represented as crowned with towers (turrita).-790. Julius Caesar. Iuli. See A. 1, 267.-792. A flattering compliment to Octavianus Caesar, who received the cognomen of Augustus, 27 B. C., eight years before Virgil's death.-793. Genus. See A. 4, 12.-795. Saturno. See 4. 8, 319, &c. Garamantas. See Ecl. 8, 44. Indos. These words are not to be construed in their strict meaning. Here Indos probably alludes generally to Eastern nations, as the Parthians.-796. Virgil, by a strong exaggeration, extends the Roman arms, under Augustus, beyond the northern hemisphere (extra sidera), and south of the zodiac (extra anni, &c.).—797. Atlas. See A. 1, 741; 4, 247.--798. See 4. 4, 482.

799. Virgil represents as even then trembling at the prospect of the advent of Augustus, the inhabitants of the shores of the Caspian Sea the Hyrcanians and Bactrians; the inhabitants of the shores of the Palus Maeotis, the Sea of Azov-the Scythians; and the Egyptians on the banks of the Nile with its seven mouths.-801. Observe turbant, used intransitively. See A. 5, 234.-802. Virgil prefers the

« PreviousContinue »