Gens inimica mihi Tyrrhenum navigat aequor, 71.] In II. 14. 267, Here bribes Sleep by the offer of one of the Charites in marriage, they being represented in Hom. as her attendants, like the Nymphs here. 'Praestanti corpore,' G. 4. 538. 72.] Deiopea' is the reading of all Ribbeck's MSS. The common and easier readingDeiopeam,' which Heyne retained, is supported by quotations by Donatus and Maximus Victorinus. 'Deiopea' is mentioned with the epithet 'Asia' in G. 4. 343, as one of the companions of Cyrene. Forma pulcherrima,' v. 496 below. 73.] Heyne, whom Hermann (El. Doc. Met. p. 63) approves, gets over the diffi 70 75 culty of the quantity in connubio' by making it a trisyllable. The analogy of 'pronubus," "innubus," might be pleaded, as proving a variation of quantity; a view strongly supported by Luc. Müller, De Re Metrica, p. 258, Munro on Lucr. 3. 776. Propriam dicabo,' 'make her thine for ever.' See E. 7. 31, note. Juno speaks not only as the mistress of the nymph, but as the goddess of marriage. It is in the same character that she offers to dispose of the hand of Dido, 4. 126, where this line is repeated. The line in Il. 14. 268 is δώσω οπυιέμεναι καὶ σὴν κεκλῆσθαι ἄκοιτιν. Virg. characteristically keeps the form, while expressing himself in a different fashion. Ev Keкλñσdαι ǎкоITIV may remind us of "coniunx quondam tua dicta," 2. 678, and we may remember that "dico," "dicare" has an affinity in usage, if not in form, with dico," dicere" (comp. 6. 138 note). Tibi' is not expressed, being really given in the two following lines. 74.] Il. 14. 269, Od. 5. 210, hs alèv ééλdeai hμaтa návта. Virg. appears to have taken ééλdeal as the future, which, as Heyne remarks, would be supported by Ο. 6. 281, ἕξει δέ μιν ήματα πάντα. "Pro talibus ausis," 2. 535. 75.] The sense will be the same, whether 'pulchra prole' is taken with faciat ' ("per pulchros liberos, quos tibi pariat, te faciat parentem," as Forb. has it), or with parentem,' as a descriptive ablative. Weidner comp. Hor. 3 Od. 5. 5, "Milesne Crassi coniuge barbara Turpis maritus vixit ? " 76-80.] Acolus says he cannot refuse the goddess to whom he owes his power.' 76.] He throws the responsibility on her. Thine is the task to see well what thou askest.' So 'fas est' is exculpatory. I am doing my duty in executing thy commands.' The general sense is from Explorare labor; mihi iussa capessere fas est. Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversa cuspide montem ΙΙ. 14. 196, αὔδα ὅ τι φρονέεις τελέσαι δέ με θυμὸς ἄνωγεν. 77.] So Juno, 4. 115, "Mecum erit iste labor." 78.] Lucr. 2. 15, "Qualibus in tenebris vitae quantisque periclis Degitur hoc aevi quodcunque est." In both cases the form is depreciating, and here it denotes the depreciation of modesty. This poor realm of mine.' 'Tu sceptra Iovemque Concilias,' 'you make power and Jupiter's patronage mine.' Jupiter is the dispenser of the powers of the universe. Aesch. Prom. 229. Concilias-das-facis,' in the present, to express the tenure on which he continues to hold his station. Aeolus is far more complaisant than Sleep in Hom., who at first demurs violently to the request as dangerous to himself, and when promised a bride, exacts an oath from Here that she will keep her promise. In II. 14. 212, Aphrodite tells Here she cannot refuse one who is the partner of Zeus' bed. 79.] Virg. possibly, as Heyne suggests, had in his mind Here's first offer to Sleep, II. 14. 238, of a banqueting throne and a footstool; though this need not have been at the feast of the gods. He may also have thought of the "lectisternium." This proof of equality, however, is sufficiently common: comp. E. 4. 63, Hor. 3 Od. 3. 11, Aesch. Eum. 351. 80.] Virg. probably refers to some physical theory or legend connected with the character of Juno as queen of the air: this conception of her as making interest with an inferior god is however perfectly Homeric. There is an awkwardness about the present line, which apparently merely repeats v. 78, and this when the mention of the banquet has intervened. 81-101.] He opens the cave, the winds rush out, and there is a dreadful tempest. Aencas, seeing nothing but death before him, wishes he had died with honour at Troy, like so many of his friends.' 80 85 81.] Henry rightly explains the meaning to be that Aeolus, going to the cave, pushed the mountain on the side with his spear turned towards it ('conversa cuspide'), and so opened the "claustra," which are to be conceived of as folding doors opening inwards. Comp. 7. 620, "Tum regina deum caelo delapsa morantis Inpulit ipsa manu portas," and the imitation of Val. F. (1. 608), "Cum valido contortam turbine portam Inpulit Hippotades." The words and rhythm of the line are imitated from Enn. A. inc. 77, "nam me gravis impetus Orci Percutit in latus," quoted by Serv. 'Excipit in latus' occurs 12. 507, and Stat. Theb. 1. 119 has "dubiumque iugo fragor inpulit Oeten In latus." The 'cuspis' is perhaps the same as the sceptre, v. 57; but we need not press these details. 82.] Velut agmine facto,' as it were with one accord, the sense of combination lying in the 'facto.' Comp. G. 4. 167, and Juv. 3. 162, agmine facto Debuerant olim tenues migrasse Quirites.” 83.] Qua data porta,' through the claustra,' so opened. 81.] For the instantaneous effect expressed by the transition to the perfect here and in v. 90, comp. G. 1. 330. Heavily they are fallen on the sea.' 85.] Οd. 5. 295, Σὺν δ' Ευρός τε Νότος τ' ἔπεσε, Ζεφυρός τε δυσαής, Καὶ Βορέης αιθρηγενέτης, μέγα κῦμα κυλίνδων. Comp. also Enn. A. 17, fr. 5. Seneca (Nat. Quaest. 16) reproves Virg. for having made three out of the four winds blow at once. Trapp and Heyne try to defend him on the plea that shifting winds are common. But this obviously is not his meaning. All the winds leave the cave at once. Milton's classicism has led him to the same violation of nature, Par. Reg. Book 4: "nor slept the winds Within their stony caves, but rushed abroad From the four hinges of the world, and fell On the vexed wilderness (quoted Africus, et vastos volvunt ad litora fluctus. by Henry). The effect of the emission of all the winds from the skin in Hom. (Od. 10. 54), is that Ulysses is blown back to the island from which he came. 'Ruunt' seems here to be upheave' (see note on G. 1. 105); but it is possible that the 'aequor' may be conceived of as a kind of ceiling, which crashes down on a movement from below. 87.] As in Od. 10. 121 foll., the havoc made on the ships is not expressly mentioned, but more vividly indicated by the cries of distress on board. Serv. quotes a fragment from the Teucer of Pacuvius: "armamentum stridor, flictus navium, Strepitus, fremitus, clamor tonitruum, et rudentum sibilus" (as restored by Hermann: see Ribbeck, Fragm. p. 100). 88.] Od. 5. 293, oùv dè vepécoσi káλve Γαῖαν ὁμοῦ καὶ πόντον ορώρει δ ̓ οὐρανόθεν vú. Comp. 3. 198, "Involvere diem nimbi et nox humida caelum Abstulit." 90.] Intonuere poli,' "axes, i. e. extremae partes caeli super quibus caelum vertitur, i. e. Toλeîтai, unde vertices Latine, Graece oλo dicuntur: duo enim sunt, Notios et Boreos, a quibus totum caelum contonuisse significat," Serv. It thunders from pole to pole.' Heyne and others think it would be more forcible to omit 'et,' with one or two MSS.; but this would spoil the sense, as of course the lightning really comes before the thunder, whereas, if the two were mentioned separately, it would seem as if the poet actually intended to reverse the natural order. 91.] "Ostentant omnia letum," Catull. 62. (64.) 187. 92.] Frigore,' chilling fear,' in 12. 951, where these words are repeated, the chill of death. In the same connexion Hom. (Od. 5. 297), kal тót' 'Odvoσños λúтo youvara kal píλov ħtop. 90 95 93.] Schirach renders 'duplicis,' 'clasped But see 7. 140, "Et duplicis caeloque Ereboque parentes." So Lucr. 6. 1146, "Et duplicis oculos suffusa luce rubentis." 94.] Referre' cannot here have its usual sense of reply;' nor can it mean to recount, as in "quid referam." Either then the word must be construed simply says, or it must be explained as an elliptical expression for "refert pectore," which we find 5. 409.-'O terque quaterque beati,' &c. The whole of this is closely imitated from part of the speech of Ulysses, Od. 5. 306–312. The horror of Ulysses is excited by the prospect of death without glory and without burial; that of Achilles when in danger of drowning (II. 21. 272), by the prospect of death without glory. Comp. also for the sentiment Aesch. Cho. 345 foll., 363 foll. 95.] Ante ora patrum' probably means dying with the friends, for whom they are fighting, to cheer them on. What is here the consolation of the son, is elsewhere the aggravation of the father's sorrow, as in G. 4. 477, A. 10. 443. Troiae sub moenibus altis,' 10. 469. 96.] Oppetere' is merely a synonym for obire,' as appears from Phaedr. 3. 16. 2, Sen. Troad. 3. 6. 9; not, as Forb. and Doederlein think, especially appropriated to death voluntarily or bravely encountered. Aeneas is nearly killed by Diomede, from whom he is rescued by Aphrodite, Il. 5. 297 foll. Diomede is characterized as the bravest of the Greeks by Helenus, II. 6. 98, Achilles being specially not excepted. 97.] From a fragment of Ennius quoted by Serv. on 2. 62, "Morti occumbunt obviam," it would seem as if "morti occumbere" was the full phrase; so that the pre 100 Non potuisse tuaque animam hanc effundere dextra, position may thus be explained. "Morte 99.] Saevus' has no special meaning here, but is the Homeric "EKTоpos àvopoφόνοιο. 100.] Virg. appears to have forgotten that in Hom. (Il. 16. 667 foll.) the body of Sarpedon is carried away to Lycia. Wagn. and Forb. however understand 'iacet' in the sense of a historic present, and render it was slain.' Perhaps we may say that Aeneas, who in the line before speaks of the act of dying, is here thinking merely of the moment of death. The expression however is the same in Od. 3. 108 foll., which Heyne comp.: ἔνθα δ ̓ ἔπειτα κατέκταθεν ὅσσοι ἄριστοι· ἔνθα μὲν Αἴας κεῖται ἀρήϊος, ἔνθα δ' Αχιλλεὺς κ.τ.λ., where the meaning seems to be "There we left Ajax, Achilles,' &c. Iacet telo '= ⚫stratus est telo.' Ubi tot Simois,' &c.: imitated from Hom. (Il. 12. 22), who however speaks of the spoils and bodies of those who fell on the banks of Simois. 66 Quos Simois premat ille viros," 11. 257. A few MSS. read sub undas,' a variety mentioned by Serv., and supported by the parallel passage 8. 539. Jahn and Forb. suppose the difference of case to be justified by the difference of tense between 'volvit and 'volves,' which is the word there. But it is not clear that in the present passage we ought not to connect sub undis with correpta," "volvit quae corripuit sub undis;" in which case the genius of the language would bear either reading. 102-123.] The storm grows worse: the ships are dashed on rocks, stranded on sandbanks, or spring leaks, and one is wholly lost.' 102.] Virg. continues to imitate Hom. (Od. 5. 313 foll.). Iactare' expresses the wild and whirling words' of Shakspeare. See on E. 2. 5. Iactanti' is a variety of the ethical dative, and may be illustrated by such passages as Livy 1. 8, "Locum qui nunc saeptus descendentibus inter duos lucos est, asylum aperit." Comp. the Greek idiom βουλομένῳ τινὶ εἶναι. 'Aquilone,' "ab Aquilone," Serv. But it seems better to render 'stridens Aquilone,' 'howling with the north wind.' Comp. Od. 12. 407 (a passage which Virg. had before him throughout this scene), alya yàp hλoev Κεκληγώς Ζέφυρος μεγάλῃ σὺν λαίλαπι evwv. The north wind, as Seneca remarked (see on v. 85), has not been hitherto mentioned; but it is evident that the variety is in the expression, not in the incident. So in v. 131, Eurus and Zephyrus are obviously meant to include all the winds. 103.] Velum adversa ferit,' 'strikes the sail full in front. Gud. and the first reading of Med. have fuctum. 104.] Franguntur remi:' the oars are broken in the portholes by the sudden stroke of the wave, which dashes them out of the hands of the rowers. Val. F., in his imitation (1. 618), has “excussi manibus remi." Rowing and sailing at the same time is contrary to the Homeric practice, so far as it can be gathered; and in Virg. himself (3. 207) the crew lower the sail first, and then take to the oar. Med., Gud., and some other MSS. (not Rom.), have proram avertit,' which Jahn adopts. But procella,' as Wagn. remarked, can hardly be nom. to 'dat latus,' though it might be to proram avertit;' and it would be very harsh to understand "navis' with both. We have "avertens "in an intrans. sense v. 402. Wagn. now says (Lect. Verg.) proram restituo, sed paene invitus." Haupt and Ribbeck retain prora.' The oars being broken, the ship is at the mercy of the waves, which turn her head round. Weidner comp. Val. F. 1. c. “conversaque frontem Puppis in obliquum resonos latus accipit ictus." 105.] Undis dat latus,' like "telo dat pectus," 10. 425. Cumulo' is an adverbial ablat. So 2. 498, "amnis Fertur in arva furens cumulo," in a mass.' 'Praeruptus Hi summo in fluctu pendent; his unda dehiscens aquae mons' is taken from Apoll. R. 2. · 106.] Hi' is seen from what follows (Tris Notus,' &c.) to refer to different ships, not to men in different parts of the same. Here the elevation and depression are described as simultaneous; in 3. 564 foll. they are undergone successively by the whole fleet. Pendent' as in 10. 303. 107.] Henry rightly understands furit arenis, raves with the sand,' not 'on the sand; comp. "aestu miscentur arenae," in the parallel passage 3. 557, note. As he remarks, Virg. may be thinking of, if not specially referring to, the Syrtes, which are described by Sall. Jug. 78, "Ubi mare magnum esse et saevire coepit ventis, limum arenamque et saxa ingentia fluctus trahunt... Syrtes ab tractu nominatae." Weidner comp. 7. 530, G. 3. 241. Comp. also Soph. Ant. 590, kuλívdet Burobber κελαινὰν θῖνα καὶ δυσάνεμον, and Apoll. R. 4. 1265 (speaking of the Syrtes, and probably imitated by Virg.), ἤλιθα δ ̓ ὕδωρ Ξαινόμενον πολιῇσιν ἐπιτροχάει ψαμάθοισιν. 'Surf and sand are raving together.' 108.] Latentia,' i. e. in a storm, for in a calm they are visible, dorsum inmane mari summo. Comp. 5.125. These 'saxa are generally supposed to be the " Aegimori insulae" at the mouth of the bay of Carthage. Pliny 5. 7, "Contra Carthaginis sinum duae Aegimori arae, scopuli verius quam insulae, inter Siciliam maxime et Sardiniam." Mr. Long, however, identifies the 'saxa' with the Skerki Rocks, which are on the Adventure Bank, a shallow plateau between Sicily and Tunis. 109.] Suspicion has been cast by Heyne on this verse as a prosaic interpolation, but it is acknowledged by Quinct. Inst. 8. 2; and without it, as Wagn. remarks, 'dorsum inmane mari summo would contradict 'latentia.' The order is' saxa quae 110 115 mediis in fluctibus (exstantia) Itali vocant aras.' Med. and Gud. 'mediisque,' an obvious error. 110.] Dorsum,' 10. 303. Ab alto,' from the deep sea, contrasted with 'brevia.' 111.] In brevia et Syrtis,' i. e. "in brevia Syrtium." We have "brevibus vadis," 5. 220. So Tac. A. 1. 70, "Neque discerni poterant incerta ab solidis, brevia a profundis." Serv. compares và Вpaxéa. 113.] Oronten: Med. and Gud. here, and in 6. 334 (in the latter passage Rom. also), have Oroutem.' But the analogy of other words of the sort formed from the Greek, as written in the best MSS. of Virg., is in favour of 'Oronten ;' which is supported too by Charisius (see on v. 220), and defended by Wagn. (Q. V. 3); who however does not appear altogether consistent in adopting 'im' as the accus. of names in 'is,' though the best MSS. support him. Fidus' is a natural epithet of an ally who had followed the fortunes of Troy, not only during the siege, but in exile. 114.] Ipsius,' Aeneas. Ingens pontus,' a vast mass of sea,' as we speak of shipping a heavy sea.' No authority is quoted for this use of pontus;' and from the imitation by Val. F. (4. 666), 'magno puppim procul aequore vestit," it would appear to be a phrase invented by Virg. himself. Od. 5. 313, čλaσev μéya κῦμα κατ ̓ ἄκρης Δεινὸν ἐπεσσύμενον. vertice' is a translation of kат' åкρns. 'A 'Ma 115.] Ferit (navim) in puppim,' like "montem inpulit in latus," v. 81. gister,' properly the pilot, who is here the same as the steersman, "gubernator." Both names are given to Palinurus, 6. 337, 353 (where "excussa magistro" is parallel to 'excutitur'). Comp. Od. 12. 413. Serv. says some in his time read pronum.' 116.] Ibidem,' on the spot. † d'èλ€λixon ñâσa, Od. 12. 416. |
