Dict.), a Boeotian fisherman who was changed into a sea-god, and became a sort of typical 'old man of the sea.' Plato (Rep. 611 c) comically describes this venerable being as being so 'broken and battered by the waves and overgrown with oyster-shells and sea-weed' as to retain few traces of his original shape.

Of the other names Palaemon is mentioned under his Greek name of Melicertes, G. 1. 437; Triton 1. 144; 6. 173; Phorcus and Panopaea 240; while Thetis is the mother of Achilles. Deuticke says that Virgil is here thinking of a marine group by Scopas in the Circus Flaminius, described by Pliny, Ñ. H. 36. 5. 26. Anyhow the lines sound well and leave a vague impression of learning; cf. the list of the Ocean Nymphs, G. 4. 334 seq. Milton revels in these rolling lists of names, cf. Par. L. 1. 582; Par. R. 2. 186 Calisto, Clymene, | Daphne or Semele, Antiopa | Or Amymone, Syrinx'; 2. 361; 2. 446; 3. 316; and the aged dame who yearned for that blessed word Mesopotamia' exactly appreciated the effect which such combinations of sound are intended to produce.

827-871. The fleet sails with fair winds, Palinurus leading the way. At midnight the god Sleep descends from heaven, and, taking the shape of a sailor, endeavours to persuade Palinurus to give up the helm to him and enjoy some rest. Palinurus refusing, the god first throws him into a profound sleep and then casts him overboard. Aeneas wakes, discovers the loss of his pilot, and takes his place.

827. suspensam blanda] Contrasted words. Instead of 'doubt' or 'anxiety' (described above 700, 720) now 'in turn soothing joys thrill his heart.' For suspensam cf. 4. 9 n.

829. intendi...] 'the yard-arms to be hung with sails,' cf. 403 n.; 4. 506 n.

830. fecere pedem] Usually explained 'adjusted the sheet,' fecere being used loosely, and pedes being the sheets or ropes (cf. 3. 267) at the bottom of a sail, by which its 'swelling folds' (sinus) can be 'let loose' (solvere) to the left or right. Torr, however (Ancient Ships, p. 97), explains pes of the lower corner of the sail when formed into a triangular shape by brailing up one half, as was regularly done in tacking. In this case fecere pedem is exactly like vela facit 281, and for pedem used not of the sheets but of a corner of the sail cf. Cat. 4. 19-21. Note the force of una, pariter, una : Virgil emphasises the way in which the whole fleet act together.

832. sua] 'favourable.' The winds which suit the fleet are 'its own winds.' For suus referring to a single word cf. 3. 469 n. 834. ad hunc]' after him,' following his lead'; cf. the use of ad in ad arbitrium, nutum, voluptatem alicuius and the like.

835. mediam metam] Night in her car (cf. 721) is supposed to ascend the sky, like the sun, and at midnight half her course is done and she begins to descend; the mid point in her career is therefore compared to the meta round which the chariots pass half-way in their round. Conington refers to Cic. Div. 2. 6 and Pliny 2. 47, where night is described as the shadow of the earth which rests over the earth in the shape of 'a cone' (meta), and suggests that meta may here = 'arch of the sky,' but the explanation is unnatural.

839. aëra...] 'parted the air cleaving the gloom,' i.e. in his flight.

840. somnia tristia] "grim dreams, i.e. death; the rest are sleeping and dreaming quietly, but Palinurus' dreams are to be of another sort." Nettleship.

841. deus] Not wholly pleonastic (cf. 1. 412 n.) but added to suggest the idea of the divine power which he will exert.

842. Phorbanti] Some sailor on the ship. loquellas: the remarkable diminutive suggests the soft insinuating words he uses, cf. Lucr. 1. 39 (of Venus entreating Mars) suaves ex ore loquellas | funde.

845. furare labori] 'steal from toil.' The dat. is usual after verbs of taking away,' such as abstraho, demo, eripio, eximo.

847. vix...] 'scarcely lifting his eyes,' i.e. keeping them steadily fixed on the prow and the star he was steering by, without attending to his interlocutor. The explanation with scarce lifted eyes,' as though they were already feeling the drowsy influence of the god, is forced and inconsistent with the very energetic reply which follows.

848. mene] With indignant emphasis-'Is it me whom thou biddest be ignorant of the calm sea's face (i.e. of how false it is) and of the peaceful waves?'

850. Aenean...] shall I trust Aeneas-what indeed?— to the treacherous breezes, and (shall I do it though) so often beguiled by the treachery of a calm sky?' Aenean is emphatic; assume that I am reckless about myself,' he says, can I expose Aeneas to such risk?' Quid enim negatives the question Aenean credam? as monstrous, and such a vivid and natural parenthesis fits in with the vigorous tone of Palinurus' words. It is usual to print Aenean credam quid enim 'why indeed should I trust Aen. ?' which gives the same sense less forcibly, and does not explain the position of quid enim. For fraude cf. Lucr. 5. 1002 placidi pellacia ponti.

Many, disliking to take et as 'and that too,' supply monstro after credam, 'shall I indeed trust Aeneas to it, though often deceived by treacherous breezes and....' Servius read et caelo and took sereni as a noun, 'shall I trust him to the treacherous breezes and the sky, though so oft deceived by the guile of cloudless calm?'

853. nusquam] stronger than numquam. amittebāt oculosque: cf. 1. 651 n. sub astra i.e. by which he was steering.

855. utraque tempora] Cf. 233 n.

856. cunctantique...] and despite his efforts (i.e. his struggles to keep awake) loosens his swimming eyes': solvit in opposition to tenebat 853, which describes an 'intent' gaze.

857. vix...quies laxaverat... et proiecit] 'scarce had slumber relaxed...when he (i.e. the god) flung him'; for construction cf. 2. 172 n.

858. cum...cumque] For this cf. 2. 51 n.

862. currit iter] 'speeds on its path,' cf. 1. 524 n.

864. iamque adeo] Cf. 2. 567 n. The rocks of the Sirens (see Od. 12. 39) seem to have been placed in the south of the bay of Naples.

865. quondam] 'of old,' from the point of view of Virgil rather than of Aeneas. Cf. Od. 12. 45 πολὺς δ ̓ ἀμφ' ὀστεόφιν

θὶς | ἀνδρῶν πυθομένων.

866. tum...] then the rocks were booming hoarse...when the father perceived....' The noise of the surge roused him from his slumbers, when he perceived his loss and danger. Note the imitative sibilants in the line.

871. nudus] 'unburied.' To be left 'unburied' in a 'strange (ignota)' land was reckoned the worst of calamities.

BOOK VI

1-13. Aeneas lands in Italy and proceeds to the temple of Apollo to consult the Sibyl.

1. sic fatur lacrimans] Hom. Il. 1. 357 s páтo dakpvxéwv. inmittit habenas: a metaphor specially applicable to the loosening of the sheets (rudentes) so that the sails might be filled.

2. For the elision of -em, -um, cf. 3. 131 n. tandem: i.e. after long wanderings. Euboicis: Cumae was founded from Chalcis in Euboea.

3. obvertunt...] Cf. 901. They seem to have turned the ship round with her prow towards the sea, dropped the anchor from the prow, backed water until the anchor held, and then made the ship fast in that position, ready for immediate departure, by attaching stern-cables (retinacula, πрvμvýσia) to the shore.

4. fundabat...et...praetexunt] The change of tense marks the clause with fundabat as logically dependent on the clause with praetexunt-they fringe the shore for' or 'while the anchor held them.'

5. emicat ardens] 'flashes forth aglow': they were in hot haste, because they had at last reached the promised land.'

6. semina flammaе] σπéрμа Tuрós Od. 5. 490. The 'seeds of flame' are the sparks supposed to be hidden in the flint until struck out of it: from them comes the 'full-blown flame,' flammae flos Lucr. 1. 900, Tupòs av0os Aesch. Prom. V. 8.

8. rapit] 'hurries over,' 'scours' (cf. 629 carpe viam, 634 corripiunt spatium, Stat. Theb. 5. 3 campum sonipes rapit), with a view to finding fresh water, as the next words show the second half of the phrase explaining and elucidating the first, as often in Virgil: cf. 543, 545.

To render strip,' 'rob,' i.e. of firewood, is wrong; the lighting a fire has been already described. What would be the use of seeds of flame' before you got firewood?

9. It is often difficult to realise the descriptions of Virgil. He purposely throws over his scenery 'the magic veil of Poesy' (der Dichtung zauberische Hülle, Schiller), thus with true art stimulating the imagination but not satisfying it. Thus much, however, seems fairly clear. The temple is high up and approached through a sacred grove (Triviae lucos 13). The great outer doors are described at length 14-33. It is here that the Sibyl, who has been summoned by Achates (34), joins Aeneas and after a sacrifice (40) conducts him with his followers 'into the lofty temple.' At the back of the temple where the cella (cf. 1. 505 n.) usually is, there is in this case the prophetic cave of the Sibyl (antrum inmane 11, antro 77, adyto 98), hewn out of the face of the rock (42). It is at the threshold (limen 45) of this cave that Aeneas consults the oracle, and before its doors (fores 47) the Sibyl begins to feel the power of the deity now nearer,' and bids Aeneas offer prayer (56-76). While he is thus praying she is clearly supposed to pass (by some side entrance) into the recess, where she feels the full afflatus and whence her reply issues, the peculiarity of this particular oracle being that the voice of the Sibyl reaches the hearer through a quantity of perforations in the volcanic rock which all communicate with the recess in which she stands. These are the 'great mouths of the house' (53) which will open their lips' (dehiscent 52) in prophecy, and the 'hundred huge openings (81). See Henry ad loc., and cf. 3. 91 n. ; also description of the temple at Delphi, Journ. Hell. Stud. vol. ix. part 2, p. 282.

The acropolis of Cumae is a volcanic eminence and "the rock is perforated in every direction with passages and shafts (Baedeker).

altus: closely with praesidet. Apollo is identified with his temple, and the temple 'sits throned upon the rocky height.' 10. procul] perfectly vague: 'hard by,' cf. 3. 13 n.

11. mentem animumque] Poetic fulness of expression. Strictly speaking mens is the 'intelligence' or 'insight' into the future which attends inspiration, while animus is either the inspiration itself or the 'fervour,' 'exaltation' which it causes. Both words are the direct acc. after inspirat: 'inspiration' is regarded as something almost material; the god breathes into' his prophetess 'mighty insight and inspiration'; cf. Gen. ii. 7 God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.'

13. Triviae lucos] The grove surrounding the temple (aurea tecta) is described as sacred to Trivia, and (35) the Sibyl is