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Nec non Aeneas opera inter talia primus
Hortatur socios, paribusque accingitur armis.
Atque haec ipse suo tristi cum corde volutat,
Adspectans silvam inmensam, et sic voce precatur :
Si nunc se nobis ille aureus arbore ramus
Ostendat nemore in tanto! quando omnia vere
Heu nimium de te vates, Misene, locuta est.
Vix ea fatus erat, geminae cum forte columbae
Ipsa sub ora viri caelo venere volantes,
Et viridi sedere solo. Tum maxumus heros
Maternas adgnoscit aves, laetusque precatur :
Este duces, o, si qua via est, cursumque per auras
Dirigite in lucos, ubi pinguem dives opacat

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185.] Comp. above v. 157, "volutat secum. Multaque dura suo tristi cum corde putabant " 8. 522. See on G. 2. 147. 'Haec' seems to mean the things which he eventually utters: but in that case 'sic' follows rather awkwardly. Heins. restored cum' for 'tum,' the old reading, which is found in only one MS. in the parallel passage in Book 8.

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186.] The reading is exceedingly doubtful, Med., Pal., Gud., &c. giving 'forte,' Rom. 'voce,' the Longobardic of Pierius, and others 'ore.' Forte,' though preferred by Wagn., can scarcely be right, as it is not likely that Virg. meant to represent Aeneas' exclamation as fortuitous. An unexpected exclamation could hardly be intended to prepare us for any unex. pected event, as the point lies in the unuttered prayer rather than in its expression. The word may easily have come from v. 190. Serv., who gives 'forte,' regards it merely as a prop to the verse. Voce' on the other hand would have real force, praying aloud being contrasted with thinking silently. It does not appear, as Wagn. contends, that in 9. 403., 11. 784, where the words recur, any thing more than simple utterance is intended. Henry

185

190

195

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189.] 'Omnia vere locuta est,' the Homeric návтa deà vnμepréa elTev. Heu nimium' like Aesch. Ag. 1241, ǎyav y' aλnobμavτiv oiKTelpas èpeîs.

190.] Forte' denotes the coincidence.

191. Sub ora' like sub oculos:' see Forc. 'sub.' Serv. says that in augury certain distances were fixed, within which the omen was held to pertain to the person seeing it.

193.] Adgnovit' is found in Med. (according to Foggini: Heins. reports 'agnoscat') and one or two others.

194.] Virtually "este duces viae, si qua est." Cursum,' your flight, not our course (which would be possible, per auras' being taken i.q. 'volando'). Cursus' for 'volatus' seems to occur nowhere in Virg., unless E. 6. 80 (where see note) be an exception: it is found however elsewhere, as in Ov. Amor. 2. 6. 11, Omnes quae liquido libratis in aere cursus," quoted by Forb., who refers to a note of Heins.

there.

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195.] In lucos, ubi'in eam partem lucorum ubi.' 'Pinguem' seems to refer to the richness of the soil which could

produce a tree so gifted. Forc. gives

various instances of dives' more or less

resembling the present, among others Lucan 9. 658 of the cloud which yielded Danae's golden shower. Trapp questioned

Ramus humum. Tuque, o, dubiis ne defice rebus,
Diva parens. Sic effatus vestigia pressit,

Observans, quae signa ferant, quo tendere pergant.
Pascentes illae tantum prodire volando,
Quantum acie possent oculi servare sequentum.
Inde ubi venere ad fauces graveolentis Averni,
Tollunt se celeres, liquidumque per aera lapsae
Sedibus optatis geminae super arbore sidunt,

the applicability of opacat,' for which he would have preferred inaurat' but the poet's words are not to be so closely pressed, and we may say that 'opacat' is qualified by the juxtaposition of 'dives.' Scaliger, Poet. 4. 16, referred to by Taubm., commends the word as "rarum et dignitatis plenum."

196.] Deficere' of forsaking a cause: see Forc.Rebus' is of course the dat. < Forsake not our cause at this crisis.'

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197.] The old editions had alma parens,' which Pierius says is found in Rom. and some others. Ribbeck however mentions no other reading than diva.' Vestigia pressit' see above on v. 159. 'Pressit' might ='inpressit,' as in 11. 787, where however per ignem' and 'multa pruna' define the sense: but every thing here is in favour of the sense of repressit,' as Forb. admits. "Attoniti pressere gradum, ," is quoted by Forc. from Val. Fl. 2. 454. So "comprime gressum" below v. 389,"pedem repressit" 2. 378. Premere vestigia' is also found, as Forb. remarks, of treading in the steps of another (see Forc.); but this is not likely to be meant here.

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198.] Quae signa ferant quid significent," as ea signa dedit" 2. 171 "id significavit." "Signum' is used of omens see on 4. 167.

199.] The meaning seems to be that they keep flying on and alighting to feed alternately-in other words that in their feeding they fly on from spot to spot.

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200.] Possent' is rightly explained by Forb. as indicating the object of the doves in flying onward, as against Wagn., who thinks it implies repeated action-as far as at each given time' &c. 'Acies' is used strictly of the pupil of the eye as the organ of vision. "Acies ipsa, qua cernimus, quae pupula vocatur Cic. N. D. 2. 57. Servare of observing or keeping in view, as in v. 338 below &c. Sequentum' may mean following with the eye, as Forb.

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200

takes it: but it would seem from the context that though Aeneas stopped at first, he afterwards went on as they went on, so that the word may have its more ordinary sense. We hear nothing later of Aeneas' movements till v. 210, where the expression shows that he did not remain standing for the whole previous time.

201.] Graveolentis' is explained by vv. 240 foll. below. For the word comp. G. 4. 270.

202.] Tollunt se celeres' may possibly refer, as Serv. explains it, to their desire to escape the stench, so fatal to birds; but the meaning is sufficiently clear with

out.

203.] Sedibus optatis' seems to mean having chosen their place to settle' (comp. 1. 425., 3. 109, 132), as Heyne explains it. The birds are said to mark the spot before finally alighting there. Wagn.'s objection that optare' is used of choosing the site of a permanent abode tells for little in a passage where the term is evidently used metaphorically, being applied to the birds simply in virtue of their being about to settle, no matter for how long. At the same time it is quite possible to take it wished for' with Wagn., as though Aeneas wished for no definite spot, he wished for the spot where the golden branch grew, wherever that might be. 'Gemina' is the reading of Med. and most MSS., and also of Priscian, p. 1001; I agree with Henry however that it cannot be made to yield a natural sense, though the word sometimes biformis,' and is applied in this sense in poetry to Triton and Chiron: see Forc. Geminae,' the reading of Rom. and the Longobardic MS., as quoted by Pierius, and a few others, was adopted by Burm. and Heyne, and gives, as Henry remarks, a vivid and natural picture. We do not care to know whether they flew precisely together; but that they settled at the same moment in the same spot is a pleasing circumstance. A Greek writer in

Discolor unde auri per ramos aura refulsit.
Quale solet silvis brumali frigore viscum
Fronde virere nova, quod non sua seminat arbos,
Et croceo fetu teretis circumdare truncos:
Talis erat species auri frondentis opaca
Ilice, sic leni crepitabat bractea vento.
Corripit Aeneas extemplo avidusque refringit
Cunctantem, et vatis portat sub tecta Sibyllae.

speaking of it might change from the plural to the dual. Super: they alight at the top of the tree.

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204.] Aura auri' is explained 'splendor auri' by Serv., who may be right in applying the same doctrine to Hor. 2 Od. 8. 21, but goes too far in making 'aura in this sense the root of aurum.' The account of this use of the word is apparently to be sought in the connexion between the notions of light and air (see on G. 2. 340, and comp. v. 747 below, "aurai simplicis ignem "), and also between those of light and motion, as in alóλos, &c., the gleaming light being naturally identified with the flickering breeze. The jingle is of course intended: see on 2. 494 &c. "Discolor,' nam per arborem viridem fulsit color aureus," Donatus. Refulsit' 1. 402 note. Rom. and another give 'auro.' 205.] Viscum' G. 1. 139 of the birdlime collected from the mistletoe, here of the plant itself. Brumali frigore' the mistletoe flourishes in the winter, and the time is naturally chosen for the sake of contrast between its leaves and the bareness of the tree on which it grows, though the circumstance really makes it less like that with which it is compared, as there the golden bough was seen among green

ones.

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206.] Quod non sua seminat arbos' might refer to the growth of the plant from a tree which is not really its parent, 'non sua' being joined as in G. 2. 82: but it more probably alludes to the opinion of the ancients that it was really an animal product, the excrement of birds (Pliny 16. 44., 24. 4), not, as later research has proved it to be, a parasitic plant, the seeds of which are deposited by birds on other trees. 'Sua' then refers to natural production, as " sopor suus G. 4. 190 seems to mean natural or kindly sleep. 'Seminat' seems to be used vaguely in the sense of producing. Comp. the use of 'semina' for plants in G. 2. 268, 356 &c. The word is prosaic rather than poetical:

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see Forc.

205

210

207.] Croceo fetu: Pliny 24. 4 says of the mistletoe "Optumum est... extra fulvum, intus porraceum." The colour is of course a prominent feature in the comparison. Truncos' the trunks, as in G. 3. 233: see Forc. Some MSS. mentioned by Pierius have ramos.'

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208.] Auri frondentis:' comp. v. 144 above. Opaca' v. 136. The dark shade of course gives the contrast.

209.] Ilice' the particular kind of tree has not hitherto been specified by Virg., a proof that he attaches no importance to the specification. Leni vento' 3. 70. 'Crepitabat' is not strictly speaking a point in the comparison. Virg. only means the leaf looked thus as it rustled tinkling in the wind.' Bractea' is thin foil, thinner than lamina,' a metallic plate. It is classed with cobweb for its thinness by Lucr. 4. 727. The leaf is called bractea' here, as the 'bractea' is called 'folium' in Latin, in Greek πéταλov, and in English foil or leaf. Lachm. on Lucr. 1. c. prefers the spelling 'brattea,' which is found here in Med. and Rom. and supported by Pal. brattia.' As usual, I have followed Wagn. Some MSS. (including Gud. originally) have 'crepitabant,' which Heins. adopted, strangely regarding bractea' as a noun of multitude, whereas the fact would seem to be, as Heyne remarks, that bractea' was mistaken for a neuter plural.

210.] "Corripit:' ne prolixior esset narratio, non dixit quomodo ad ipsam arborem Aeneas venerit," Donatus. The old reading before Heins. was "extemplo Aeneas." Rom. has 'exemplo.'

211.] Cunctantem' is not to be pressed, as we know from vv. 147 foll. that it cannot really have offered any resistance, so that it must be taken as a correlative to avidus,' Aeneas' eagerness being too great even for the willingness of the branch. Even thus however the choice of the word seems a little unfortunate. Heyne com "lento vimine" above v. 137. For t

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Nec minus interea Misenum in litore Teucri
Flebant, et cineri ingrato suprema ferebant.
Principio pinguem taedis et robore secto
Ingentem struxere pyram, cui frondibus atris
Intexunt latera, et feralis ante cupressos
Constituunt, decorantque super fulgentibus armis.
Pars calidos latices et aena undantia flammis
Expediunt, corpusque lavant frigentis et unguunt.

application of the word to things inanimate comp. G. 2. 236, "glaebas cunctantis." "Tecta Sibyllae' seems to be the temple. 212-235.] 'Meantime the Trojans were conducting Misenus' funeral through all its details. Aeneas raises a tomb over his remains.'

212.] "Nec minus interea " 1. 633 &c., a common form of transition in Virg. Hom. generally draws the contrast between two contemporaneous actions by repeating the first in a summary form before proceeding to the second-ὡς ὁ μὲν . . . αὐτάρ: and so does Virg. sometimes, as in 1. 656 foll. The meaning here is that while Aeneas is plucking the bough and carrying it to the temple, the Trojans, having finished hewing wood, are constructing the pile, &c.

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213.] Flebant' of funeral lamentation E. 5. 21. Ingrato: tristi, ut gratum laetum aliquid dicimus. Alii ingrato' dicunt gratiam non sentienti," Serv. Heyne, after Taubm., rightly prefers the latter. So in the Copa (attributed to Virg.) v. 35, Quid cineri ingrato servas bene olentia serta?" Heyne comр. кwoǹν yaîav of the body of Hector, Il. 24. 54. The dead body is called 'cinis' by anticipation, as Donatus remarks. Forc. quotes no instance of suprema' for obsequies earlier than Virg., after whose time it is frequent. Supremis muneribus 11. 25, " supremum honorem" ib. 61. Ferre' of offerings 3. 19 &c.

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214.] With the description of the pile comp. that of the pile of Patroclus Il. 23. 163 foll. On the whole I agree with Wakef. and Henry in connecting 'taedis' with pinguem,' 'robore secto' with ingentem: see on 4. 505, where 'taedis' and robore secto' are also explained.

215.] Ingentem: comp. v. 178 above. The greater the pile, the greater the honour. Patroclus' pile measured a hundred feet both ways, II. 1. c.; there however many bodies of men and horses were burnt. 'Frondibus atris,' leafy boughs from fune

ral trees like the yew.

215

216, 217.] "Sectaque intexunt abiete costas" 2. 16. Cerda distinguishes 'frondibus atris intexunt latera' from 'feralis ante cupressos constituunt,' making the latter refer to the custom of planting cypresses at Rome before the doors of the dead (Pliny 16. 33). This however does not prove that cypresses were planted before funeral piles, while we know on other authority that they were used in making or dressing the piles. Serv. tells us from Varro that piles were surrounded with cypresses that the smell of the burning wood might overpower that of the burning body, and Stat. 9. 460., 5. 54, in passages apparently imitated from the present, makes the cypress used in the composition of the pile. (Sil. 10. 535 has "maestas ad busta cupressos," which may possibly support Cerda's view, as the cypresses are distinguished from other trees which would form a part of the pile: but the passage is too brief to build upon.)

Ante constituunt' will then refer to the laying down or perhaps setting upright of cypress trees or branches before the process indicated by intexunt' takes place. Or Heyne may be right in taking 'ante' locally, the pile being faced with trunks of cypresses. These he supposes to be used for trophies, like the oak in 11. 4, in which sense of course he understands the next clause 'decorantque' &c.; but Forb. seems right in arguing from 11. 193 foll. that the arms (whether of Misenus himself, II. 6. 418, Od. 12. 13, or of enemies despoiled by him) are thrown on the pile. See on 4. 496.

218.] The washing and anointing of Patroclus' body are described more minutely Il. 18. 343 foll. Undantia' with flammis,' as it is the process of boiling that is going on. Comp. Virg.'s own simile 7. 462 foll.

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219.] Expediunt' 1. 178. The meaning is simply that they get the pots boiled, or get ready boiling water. The remainder

Fit gemitus. Tum membra toro defleta reponunt,
Purpureasque super vestes, velamina nota,
Coniiciunt. Pars ingenti subiere feretro,
Triste ministerium, et subiectam more parentum
Aversi tenuere facem. Congesta cremantur

of the line is from Enn. A. 3. fr. 8, "Tarcuini corpus bona femina lavit et unxit," as Serv. remarks. Frigentis corpus' is more poetical than mortui corpus' or than frigidum corpus.'

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220.] Forb. comp. Ter. And. 1. 1. 101, "ad sepulcrum venimus: In ignem inposita est: fletur." Fit gemitus' like fit strepitus" 1. 725, "fit sonitus" 2. 209. 'Defleta' like "fleti" v. 481, "deflere having the additional force of weeping one's fill, as in 11.59. Toro'='feretro,' the bier being laid on the pile and burnt with it. Comp. 4. 507, 659, where it is used of the lectus iugalis' which Dido has spread on the top of the pile.

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221.] Purple robes were used for wrapping the dead at great Roman funerals. See among a number of testimonies in Cerda's note Livy 34. 7, "Purpura viri utemur... magistratibus in coloniis municipiisque... togae praetextae habendae ius permittemus, nec id ut vivi solum habeant tantum insigne, sed etiam ut cum eo crementur mortui." There is also some Homeric analogy for the custom. In Od. 24. 59 the ocean nymphs put immortal garments round the dead Achilles, who is apparently burned in them: in Il. 24. 795 foll., when Hector has been burned, his relations collect his bones and put them in a basket, πορφυρέοις πέπλοισι καλύψαντες μαλακοῖσιν. Virg. makes Aeneas wrap Pallas in the same manner 11. 72 foll. 'Velamina nota,' as Heyne remarks, can hardly be understood except of the garments Misenus had worn when alive. The other alternative would be to refer nota' to the customariness of thus covering the dead. There is the same sort of doubt about "munera nota" 11. 195.

222.] Subire' in the sense of supporting generally takes an acc., sometimes, though rarely, the dat. or abl. It is not easy to distinguish these two last cases: in sense they would appear to differ, the one being equivalent to the acc. (move towards a thing, place one's self under), the other denoting motion when placed under. In the few instances where the construction occurs the reading is not always certain, the acc. being generally

220

found as a variety. Forc. quotes among others Cic. Div. Verr. 14, "Poterisne eius orationis subire invidiae ?" the reading of Asconius, who comments on it, “Quasi Latine dixit, ut magno ponderi subire.'” But the MSS. of Cic. give 'invidiam.' To carry the bier was esteemed an honour to the deceased among the Romans, as to bear the pall with us: Taubm. comp. Tac. A. 1. 8, "Conclamant patres, corpus (Augusti) ad rogum humeris senatorum ferendum."

223.] Triste ministerium' is not, as Heyne thought, an interjection, but a cognate acc., or acc. in apposition to the action of the verb. The construction is infinitely rarer in Latin than in Greek (see on G. 3. 41): Forb. however comp. 9. 53., 10. 311., 11. 383, to which add 8. 487. 'Subiectam' &c. subiecere et tenuere.' 'Subiicere' of setting fire to a thing 2. 37., 11. 186. Cerda comp. Lucr. 6. 1285,"subdebantque faces," of burning the dead during the plague of Athens. It would seem from 11. 185, "huc corpora quisque suorum More tulere patrum," that 'more parentum' here refers to the whole action, probably indeed to the whole process of the funeral. If it has any special reference, it would probably be to aversi,' as Lersch understands it Antiqq. 9. § 86. Serv. however says "More parentum :' propinquioribus enim virilis sexus hoc dabatur officium," an explanation which may either mean that Virg. implies that the nearest male relatives officiated, or that Misenus' comrades took the part which would naturally have devolved on his parents. This latter view is taken by Erythraeus, who comp. Lucan 6. 530 foll. (of the witch Erichtho):

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"Fumantis iuvenum cineres ardentiaque

ossa

E mediis rapit ipsa rogis ipsamque pa

rentes

Quam tenuere facem."

But the sense of more parentum' is fixed by "more patrum" 11, 1. c. Virg. perhaps means that the same who carried the bier afterwards applied the torch: but his

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