BOOK III.

In this book, the wanderings of Æneas are purposely made to cross here and there the track of Ulysses in the Odyssey; but, with modesty as well as skill, Virgil avoids coming into direct comparison with the far wilder and bolder narrative of Homer.

I. postquam, etc., after it pleased the heavenly Powers to overwhelm the estate of Asia, and the unoffending race of Priam.-visum, see § 324; G. 563; H. 471, 4.—evertere, see § 270, b; H. 538.

2. immeritam, compare dis aliter visum, ii. 428.

3. humo, from the ground, showing its utter demolition: see § 258; G. 411, R.; H. 412, 2. fumat: the present, although historical, here denotes continued action; the perfect (visum est) momentary.

4. desertas terras, desolate lands, i.e. strange, remote, and uninhabited. - diversa, various, i.e. first one and then another.

5. sub ipsa, just by.

6. Antandro: Antandros, a town at the foot of Mt. Ida.

8. vix inceperat et iubebat, etc., the clauses are inverted, the real temporal clause becoming the main one. The idea is, I left, etc., as soon as the summer began, when Anchises began to urge me. It gives a greater idea of haste to say "hardly had these things occurred when I," etc. (§ 325, b; G. 581, iii. 2, R.). — prima aestas, early summer, the season, according to tradition, when Troy was taken.

9. fatis, a variation upon the usual ventis dare vela, to indicate more clearly the divine guidance and their own helplessness.

12. magnis dis (a spondaic line): he carried, as it were, the protection of the greater gods of his country, as well as the penates, or household deities, whose actual images he took with him. Whether he had any other relics or fetish to represent the greater gods we can hardly say, perhaps Virgil himself could not, or even what divinities are specially referred to. 13. procul, at some distance, not necessarily very far: in reality, across a narrow strait. Cf. Ecl. vi. 16. Mavortia: Virgil makes the

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fierce populations of Thrace know no god but Mars.

14. Lycurgo, the usual dative after the past participle: Lycurgus, who attacked the nurses of Bacchus with an ox-goad, and was blinded and afterwards destroyed by Jupiter (Il. vi. 130-140; Bry. 165).

15. socii penates, with household gods allied with ours: a symbol of hospitality and friendship; the words are grammatically in apposition with terra.

16. fuit, for tense see § 279, a; G. 220, R.; H. 471, I.

18. Aeneadas: there was a town Enea on the westward coast of Thrace (Liv. xliv. 10), with whose name Virgil connects his story; also an earlier Ænos (Il. iv. 520), at the mouth of the Hebrus, where was said to be a tomb of Polydorus. Here the two are confounded. — fingo, invent.

20. auspicibus, protectors: i.e. the sacrifices were intended to win their protection. — nitentem taurum: a white bullock was the usual offering to Jupiter, as at the Latin festival and the Ludi Romani.

22. forte fuit, there happened to be. mit, see § 193; G. 287, R.; H. 440, N.1

quo summo, on whose sum

23. hastilibus: both the cornel and the for spear-shafts. — myrtus, cf. Georg. ii. 447. and "loves the sea."

25. ramis, compare ii. 249.

myrtle have shoots suitable Myrtle is sacred to Venus,

28. huic, from this (§ 229, c; G. 344, R.2; H. 385, 4).—atro ... guttae = blood flows in black drops.— sanguine, ablative of material (source, § 244).

29. mihi (§ 235, a; G. 343, r.2; H. 384, 4, N.").

31. convellere (§ 271; G. 424; H. 533).

32. temptare, to try, or explore; compare ii. 691, and the note. He looks upon the occurrence as an omen.

34. nymphas agrestis, the hamadryads (see note, Ecl. v. 59). First he worships the divinities of the immediate place, then the greater divinity of the land at large. — venerabar, I prayed with reverence.

War

35. Gradivum, the strider, an epithet of Mars as god of War. was not, it would seem, originally his special province; but rather he is "the killing god, pre-eminently regarded as the divine champion of the burgesses, hurling the spear, protecting the flock, and overthrowing the foe." (Mommsen.)

36. rite, in due form. — secundarent: the omen not being understood might be a good one and be interpreted by further occurrences (see note on ii. 691); for mood see § 339; G. 655; H. 523, iii.—visus, the vision or portent. — levarent, i.e. lighten the weight of the omen. 37. sed, but (instead of this hoped-for result).

38. genibus, see § 248; G. 403; H. 419.—arenae, see § 228; G. 346; H. 386.

39. eloquar, see § 268; G. 467; H. 484, v.

41. quid (§ 240, a). — iam, at length.

42. parce... manus, spare to defile with guilt your pious hands. non... tulit, Troy bore me not (to be) alien to you.

43. aut... manat, and it is from no tree-stock this gore flows. The negative is continued by aut and so another is not needed.

45. ferrea seges, i.e. the spears thrust into him have taken root, and grow in the sand-mound that has heaped itself above his body. This was one of several tales respecting the death of Polydorus; in the Iliad (xx. 407; Bry. 513) he is slain by Achilles.

47. tum vero, regularly used of the most important moment; ah! then indeed; before, his horror had been slight in comparison. — ancipiti formidine, double terror, from the voice and the sight. — mentem pressus, oppressed at heart.

50. infelix, wretched in all his later fortunes. Æneas tells the story, apparently, as related to him by the ghost of Polydorus. (§ 294, d; G. 431; H. 544, N.2).

alendum

51. diffideret, began to lose confidence: iam with the imperfect gives regularly this meaning.

53. ille: introduced to change the subject, and refer to Polydorus.

54. victricia, a late and poetic use of the neuter, formed regularly, however, from victrix, in its adjective sense victorious; and besides, these nouns of agency are constantly treated as adjectives. — secutus, siding with (§ 290, b; G. 278, R.; H. 550, N.1).

55. fas omne, every law of right.

56. potitur, with penult short, third conjugation (§ 134). — quid (§ 240, a; G. 331, 2; H. 375).

57. auri sacra fames, accursed craving for gold: sacer, anciently applied to things devoted to some deity, and hence doomed to perish, like things tabooed in the South Sea Islands. Compare Dido's experience with Pygmalion (i. 349).

58. primum parentem, to my father first, as first in rank and age. The Trojan chiefs are consulted (like the Roman senate) respecting the prodigy, and Anchises is princeps.

59. refero, the regular Roman word for laying a matter before the - sententia, properly, official opinion, or vote.

senate.

61. linqui: the construction changes to the passive in Latin, doubtless for metrical reasons, but it need not change in the translation. dare classibus austros, admit the winds to the [waiting] ships.

62. instauramus, the technical word for a renewal of any imperfect ceremonies. — funus, funeral rites.

63. Manibus: the Manes are the spirits of the dead considered as inhabiting the Lower World. When conceived as ghosts hovering about their old seats, or haunting the living, they are lemures or larvae.

64. atra, black, i.e. funereal.

66. inferimus, a sacrificial term.— lacte, etc., comp. Ecl. v. 67.

68. condimus, we lay the perturbed spirit: as we say, to "lay a

ghost." From the expression here it would seem that the soul was supposed to remain with the body after death (see La Cité Antique); but compare iv. 705, v. 517, which seem to imply a different idea. The first view is doubtless the more primitive and less philosophical, and was retained and confused with the later one.-supremum ciemus, we utter the last call; compare ii. 644; for construction see § 238.

69. placata dant, render calm (Ecl. ii. 26).

70. lenis crepitans, gently whistling in the cordage. — auster, represented generally as the strongest of the winds.

71. deducunt, launch: their ships were regularly beached while in port, and this word is the technical term for drawing them into the water. 73. mari medio, in mid-sea: simply, surrounded by water. 74. Nereidum matri, Doris, cf. Ecl. x. 5.—Neptuno: Delos is said to have been sacred to Poseidon, until yielded by him to Latona. 75. pius, filial, alluding to his care of Latona.

76. errantem: it is possible that the little island of Delos from its position had often eluded the early mariners, and so led to the story that it was adrift, until its place was fixed by Myconus and Gyarus, to which Apollo was then supposed to have "moored" it. -e: this word, omitted by many editors, seems to have the best Ms. authority. It must indicate the directions from which the imaginary bands came, something like "moored off.” — celsa: any island would be high compared to the sea. 77. immotam, see § 185; G. 324. — coli, to be dwelt on; see § 273; G. 424, 4; H. 533, ii.

78. huc, see § 149, foot-note. haec (sc. tellus). 79. egressi, landing, the regular word.

80. Anius, see Ovid, Met. xiii. 632-704. Various legends connect his name with Anchises and with Æneas. - rex, etc., the two offices were no doubt regularly united in the most ancient times; compare the functions of the early Roman kings, also the rex sacrificulus, and Melchizedek. 81. vittis, as a priest.

83. hospitio, in hospitality, i.e. as hereditary friends.

84. saxo, see § 244; G. 396, 2; H. 415, iii. — vetusto, old, according to Servius, because Delos, from its sacredness, had been exempt from earthquakes as well as from invasion.

85. propriam, permanent. - Thymbraee: Apollo, having a famous temple at Thymbra near Troy.

86. mansuram urbem, an abiding city (§ 293, b; G. 279; H. 549). 87. Pergama, i.e. citadel. — reliquias, etc., cf. i. 30.

88. quem sequimur, i.e. who shall be our guide? (present for future; compare ii. 322).

89. inlabere: Apollo, as the god of prophecy, is supposed to inspire his worshippers with knowledge, as well as his priest.

91. limina, laurus: an altar appears in many representations of Delphi in front of the temple, and near by, a laurel.

92. cortina (properly vat or cauldron) is the vessel which formed the body of the tripod, and which was provided with a cover to form a seat, on which the priestess sat. (See Fig. 78.)-adytis (loc. abl.), the tripod itself is represented as in the inner temple.

Fig. 78.

93. submissi, on our knees. 94. duri, toil-worn.

G.

95. prima, see § 191; G. 324, R.7; H. 443. — tellus (§ 200, b, N. ; 618). — ubere laeto, in her fruitful bosom, i.e. nourishing (alluding to matrem, below).

97. hic domus Aeneae, etc.: these two lines are taken (slightly altered) from Il. xx. 307, 308; Bry. 387. An old tradition reports Homer to have received this oracle from Orpheus, who had it direct from Apollo. For explanation see v. 163. —oris, see § 229, c.

IOI. quo, see § 148, N.