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ΠΕ SIXTH BOOK OF THE AENEID
VIRGILIAN STUDIES ᾧ ᾧ
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@ “The best contribution to Virgilian Studies that this country has made for many years.’—THE OXFORD MAGAZINE.
By ΝΥ. WARDE FOWLER.
Tue GaTuerinG oF THE σαν : Observa- tions on Aeneid VII,
AENEAS AT THE SiTE OF Rome: Observations on Aeneid VIII,
Tur Deratu or Turnus: Observations on Aeneid XII,
By J. SARGEAUNT, M.A.
Tre Treks, SHRUBS, AND PLANTS OF VIRGIL,
By T. F. ROYDS, M.A,, B.D. Tue Beasts, Brrps, AND Bes oF VirGiL, Vircit anv Isaran : A Study of the Pollio,
By M. Μ. CRUMP, M.A.
Tue GrowTu oF THE AKNEID.
OXFORD: BASIL BLACKWELL
ς Fe
THE SIXTH BOOK OF ire AENEID
WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
HE BUTLER, MA.
PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN LONDON UNIVERSITY FORMERLY FELLOW OF NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD
a
Que \ “Ἵ’ OXFORD ι
BASIL BLACKWELL
1920
PREFACE
Or the many debts which I, like al] modern editors of Vergil, owe to the work of countless predecessors, those which I would specially desire to acknowledge are to the earliest and the latest of our commenta- tors. Servius, even admitting his palpable deficien- cies, has provided the foundation for all later work, and has received less than his due. Norden’s elaborate and erudite edition of the Sixth Book has raised many new points and provided fresh illustrative matter. The fact that I find myself in strong disagreement with many of his conclusions, and that his methods too often appear to me radically unsound, scarcely lessens my obligation. There is one other commentator whom I should wish to mention as having a special claim upon the gratitude of all students of Vergil—namely, the Spaniard La Cerda, whose influence on subsequent commentaries has been profound. To the other great Vergilian scholars I would express my indebtedness com- prehensively and in general terms. Of books not directly connected with Vergil I owe much to Diete- rich’s Nekyia, which is a model in point of form to all writers on such subjects; while, over and above
the wider obligations under which Mr. Warde Ξ
Preface
Fowler has laid all students of Vergil and of Roman religion, I have received much kind help at his hands.
It is hoped that this edition may serve to throw fresh light on some of the many problems of the Sixth Aeneid, and that it may be found to contain a considerable amount of information not hitherto accessible in English editions. A formal commentary is, no doubt, a dry way of presenting one’s views. But it is in many respects the most convenient form for practical use.
Mr. A. S. Owen, of Keble College, has been kind enough to read the proofs, and I owe much to his criticisms and the vigilance of his eye.
References to Norden indicate the first edition of his work. The second edition could not be obtained until after the completion of the present commentary.
ἘΠ ΕΣ ΕΙΠΕ
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. June, 1920.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . =
TExT - γον Τα a
CoMMENTARY - - ΤΕ. = 3
vii
ΠΗ StktH BOOK OF THE AENEID
INTRODUCTION
§ x. THE SIXTH Book OF THE AENEID.
THE Sixth Book of the Aeneid, together with the Second and Fourth Books, holds a special place in the affections of all lovers of Vergil. Some will prefer the sombre tragedy of Troy, others the pathos of Dido’s passion and self-slaughter. But be his personal predilection what it may, for the reader who considers the Aeneid as a whole and regards it as something more than a mere literary epic, the Sixth Book must hold a unique place. It is the very heart of the poem viewed as the National Epic of Rome, the Gesta popult Romani as it was sometimes known in ancient times! Hitherto the national element has only been shadowed forth, in a few vague prophecies and in the dying curse of Dido. The atmosphere thus far is Greek, and the poem no more than the greatest of Hellenistic epics, while its hero is almost as colourless as the Jason of the Argonautica of Apollonius. But with the Sixth Book comes a change. We are on the 1 Serv. ad Aen. 6. 752.
6
&
©
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
soil of Italy in a region familiar and very dear to’ Vergil’s heart. He describes scenes that he has known and loved, and the verse begins to glow with a richness of descriptive colour that it has_ hitherto only revealed in glimpses. The Sibyl, the guide and instructress of the hero, is a figure closely linked with Roman history, and the position which her dark oracles and the worship of the god whom she serves are to hold at Rome are unconsciously foretold by Aeneas! To _enter the world of the
edead_he needs the talisman of the Golden Bough,
pach, though νορωονσον μὲ ΤῊΝ nature are of Tealian 1 folklore.” a ere he can visit the shades of the dead he must be purified from the stain of death, for his comrade Misenus lies a corpse on the seashore. And thus is introduced the descriptiay of the familiar rites of funergl, no mere echo of the burials of Hector and Patroclus, but ἃ Roman funeral such as a Roman mourner for his dead could scarce have read without tears.3 The descent to the underworld takes us for a while into a purely Greek atmosphere. -Heroes-.and_ heroines, ghosts and goblins, hell and purgatory, the grouping of the spirits, and the doctrine of rebirth, all are Greek.4 That it should beso is inevitable. Roman beliefs — as to the existence of the dead were too impersonal and colourless to permit of poetic treatment, and from the horrors of the Etruscan Hell Vergil rightly
1 See notes on 69, 71. 2 See notes on 141, 204. 3 See notes on 212-232. 4 See Introd., p. 21 ff.
Introduction
stood aloof. Minos! alone appears in Roman gaghp, as the quaesitor with the urn whose lot decides the order in which the dead shall appear before him, and, it may be, with a Roman jury of spirits to assist him. And in the list of crimes that doom to eternal pain there are echoes of the sheer sim- plicity of early Roman law and dark hints of more than one unnamed criminal of Roman history.” But when we reach Anchises, the whole spirit_of the 1 poem oem changes. — It is not that we feel an atmosphere of greater beauty; for the book has been full of mystery, romance, and colour. Suddenly there dawns on us the vision of the grandeur οἵ Rome, and a deeper note is sounded than Roman
poet had sounded before or should sound again. ,
One by one the spirits.of the unborn pass before us; theleroes who are to make Rome the mistress of the world. The gallery of portraits is not com- plete: the canvas must not be overcrowded, and the gaps are to be supplemented later in the no less magnificent description of the Shield of Aeneas. But from the mythical builders of Latium, through the warrior Romulus, the priestly King Numa, the founder of the Republic who sacrificed his own sons to the public weal, to the heroes of recorded history, Fabricius, great amid his poverty, Regulus at the plough, the conquerors of Greece, and those who broke the power of Carthage, Fabius who “ by his delaying saved the State,’’ and the Scipios, the
1 See notes on 431-4 and p. 13.
2 See notes on 612, 613 and 621, 622. 3 8. 626 to end.
3
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid a
| thunderbolts of battle, and finally the two great ; protagonists of the civil war, every verse is instinct with the Roman spirit, every name wakes an echo. | If a slightly more artificial note is struck in the vision of Augustus, we must remember that the poet was on more difficult ground. It is hard ἕο. praise the living hero without exaggeration or artificiality, and the judgment of posterity may destroy the whole effect of the poet’s art. And yet Augustus, perhaps the most unheroic of heroes and the least of the great men of history, has stood the test of time not ill. For if in sober truth he had little of the true hero, he was more than one of the most astute of statesmen. He had a great and unique work to do, and he knew not merely - how to do that work and to restore the shattered fabric of the State by the most grandiose com- promise of history, but he knew also how to play the rdle of the second founder of Rome. And that he was accepted as such we cannot doubt. A world sick for peace and order may have been uncritical in its judgment of the man who gave it what its soul desired. Horace and Vergil may have been the most dexterous of Court poets. But securus iudicat oybis terrarum is not an utter lie, and neither Horace nor Vergil was a fawning fool. Their flattery is inspired not merely by genius, but by sincerity as well. And if the modern reader cannot feel the thrill that Vergil’s own age musi have felt at the words fic Caesar et omnis Iuli progenies!
1 789. 4
Introduction
jintroducing the romantic pageant of the new
Roman empire, even to-day there is no feeling of anticlimax, though the words follow on the superb picture of Rome of the seven hills, whose realm is conterminous with the bounds of earth, whose spirit with the sky’s, a “‘ fresh Cybele’? riding in pomp through all the cities of earth, with nations and kings nestling to her breast. It is at worst the apotheosis of Court poetry; but for most students of Roman history it is something more.
The vision draws toits apparent conclusion with the immortal comparison between Greece and Rome. The worldly greatness of Rome has been described; the poet seems to close on a note of moral grandeur.
tu vegere imperio populos, Romane, memento (hae {δὲ evunt artes) pacisque tmponere morem, parcere subiectis et debellare superbos.?
And there, perhaps, the vision was intended to close.2 But the end is not yet. Marcellus, the victor of Clastidium and Nola, advances bearing the sfolia opima, and with him moves a younger spirit overshadowed by the cloud of night, the young Marcellus, son of Octavia, the destined heir of Augustus, who died untimely, ere his promise could become reality, and left the throne of the Ceesars to fall into other and perhaps less worthy hands. Whether, as seems probable, this is a later addition to a book that was virtually com-
1 785. 2 851 544. 3 See Sabbadini, Aeneis IV., V., VI., Introd. xxiii, xxiv.
5
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
plete, cannot be said with certainty. It comes as an unexpected addition (cp. haec mirantibus addit), but the addition is effected with consummate art. If the praise of Augustus rings artificial to the ears of some, who cannot render to Cesar what they cannot conceive to be his due, here all forget that they are reading the utterance of a Court poet. For the pathos is intensely human, and the spirit of the boy who was born for the purple is still duly subordinated to his great ancestor who fulfilled in deeds what destiny did not siff-r his descendant to perform.
From this point the book draws to a rapid close and with the magical exit through the gates of sleep Aeneas is once again in upper air, and proceeds without delay upon his appointed task, a man new- nerved for his great task, and, as the subsequent development of his character shows, a hero indeed.
So much for what is the predominant feature of the Sixth Aeneid, the feature which gives it special significance and power. But it is not with the Roman element that its greatness ends. Through almost every passage runs that haunting and romantic beauty of which Vergil was a supreme master. The mysterious priestess and seer, the gloomy woods of Avernus, through which the golden bough sends its unearthly shimmer, the dark cave and the solemn sacrifices on Avernus shore, the great invocation to the gods of the underworld and the spirits of the silent dead, all form a noble intro- duction to the mysterious journey underground,
I i
Introduction
in the dim light as of faint moonbeams ‘“‘ when Jupiter has veiled the heaven with shadow and taken colour from the world.”
If the lower world itself is confused for those who desire a region as carefully mapped out and organised as Dante’s Inferno, there can be no doubt as to the effectiveness of each successive scene, nor of the grimness of the monsters and goblins that haunt the gates and portals of Hell. Mythology is never an encumbrance; the figures of legend are well chosen, and the poet is at his best in the brief descriptions which he gives of their pains or of their crimes. Above all, the meeting with Dido stands
out for its | ; dramatic p power, and the figure of the Queen of Carthage standing with ‘‘ sick and scornful looks averse” spurning the excuses offered by her faithless lover was never. surpassed even by Vergil. Until we reach Elysium there broods over the whole description of the dead an infinite melancholy, Suffering for sin there is, but that is dealt with but briefly. ‘‘ Non ragionam di lor, ma guarda e Ραββα. But the sadness of death is over all, whether Vergil writes of the ghosts, streaming like autumn leaves or migratory birds to the banks of Styx and stretching their hands in yearning for the further shore, or of the crying of dead children, or of the haters of the light, the slayers of them- selves who would gladly live their life again, of the sad lovers in the Fields of Grief or of the dead warriors, old friends and old enemies, who press round the hero or fly before him as they fled in
7
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
/\ife. It is a blend of popular superstition and literary mythology coloured and influenced by
Aa
‘Platonic or Orphic eschatology1 That there is at
times a certain confusion and lack of clearness in the description of this twilight world may be admitted 2 but there can be no question as to the picturesqueness, the romance and pathos which suffuses the whole.
When Elysium is reached, the poet’s grasp of his
theme tightens. After an exquisite description of
the Elysian fields, full of its happy warriors, its
stainless priests, the creators of civilisation and the masters of song, dancing to the music of Orpheus in a land of light, with its own sun and stars, the poet brings us to Anchises watching the spirits of the great unborn. In response to the enquiries of his son Anchises sets forth the doctrines of the fiery World-soul that permeates all creation and of the wheel of rebirth: how the earth-stained soul must be purified of its sins ere it can come to Elysium, and how thence, all, save a happy few, when they have rolled the wheel of a thousand years, return to live on earth anew. Here still the atmosphere is Greek, be the sources, to which we shall return, what they will. And Vergil rises to the height of his beautiful theme and for the first time gives a definite picture of the life after death, though even here there are difficulties and obscuri- ties, which, in the opinion of some, still await solution. But of the nobility of the picture as a 1 See Introd., p. 19 ff. 2: See Introd., p. 1277. are 8
Introduction
whole none have doubted. For pure poetry and exquisite diction it ranks with the very best of Vergil’s work.
To ask ‘‘ How far is it to be taken seriously ἢ may seem an irreverent question. But it is a real question as to whether Vergil is preaching a doctrine in which he believes or whether he regards it as
ἃ γενναῖον Ψψεῦδος. The question admits of no
definite answer. It is suggested by Servius that he was an Epicurean,? and for that we may com- pare his panegyric of Lucretius in the Georgics.? We are told too that he intended on the completion of the Aeneid to devote himself to philosophy.* But of his leanings. we have no real indication. The teaching of Pythagoras and the Mysteries could not but appeal to him as a poet, and for one who designed to give anything more than a purely mythological description of the underworld, the doctrine of metempsychosis imposed itself as a necessity. And for the poet who, like Vergil, designed to reveal the future in a vision of the unborn heroes of Rome, its adoption became doubly imperative. It is a subject on which it were ill to dogmatise. But the primary purpose of Vergil’s Pythagoreanism may well have been artistic rather than religious. That the theologian in Vergil is sunk in the artist there can be little doubt; and it is even possible that his artistic design is the raison d’étre pure and simple of his eschatology. To some 1 Serv. ad Aen. 6. 264. Ecl. 6. 13. 2 2. 490. 8 Sueton., Vit. Verg. 35. 9
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
this may seem little short of blasphemy. But it is a possibility which ought not to be ignored.
It is late in the day to belaud the Sixth Aeneid. Its beauties are familiar, its praise a commonplace. But it is not faultless. The conception of the underworld is not clear. A certain vagueness in the treatment of such a theme has no doubt some romantic advantages; and that in the present case Vergil maintains a consistent level of romantic beauty is not to be denied. With minor blemishes and inconsistencies we need not concern ourselves here. All great works of fiction are liable to such, even when, unlike the Aeneid, they have received the final revision of their authors. But there are certain questions of a more serious nature which inevitably present themselves and require some mention here, although they are discussed in greater detail in the commentary. In the earlier portion of the book there is nothing that calls for serious criticisn. There are, it is true, certain indications that the episode of the death and burial of Misenus did not form part of the original draft of the poem, but it has been so skilfully inserted that there can be no certainty on this point. Again, the prophecy of the Sibyl is of a perfunctory nature, telling Aeneas but little that he does not already know, and in any case failing entirely to correspond with the prediction of Helenus that the Sibyl will tell him all that shall befall him in Italy.2 This is
1 See note on 1. 149, Sabbadini, Aeneis IV., V., VI., p. xvii.
2 3. 440-462; 6. 83-97, 890-2; Introd., § 3.
(Le ΤΟ
Introduction
partly to be explained by the fact that the function assigned by Helenus to the Sibyl is actually per- formed by Anchises, and partly by the fact that a certain vagueness and obscurity is a regular characteristic of ancient oracles, while, further, there is some evidence that the prophecy in its present form is incomplete. But there can be no doubt that the figure of the Sibyl occupies a far less important place in the picture than was designed by Vergil when he wrote the Third Book.
It is, however, when we reach the underworld that the real difficulties begin. The first problem presents itself immediately after the passage of the Styx. What is the position of the spirits who dwell on the further shore, but have no part either in the pains..of.Tartarus-or.the joys of Elysium? The souls of young children, of men unjustly condemned to death, of suicides, of hapless lovers and warriors fallen in battle, all dwell in a kind of Limbo, of whose nature and_ purpose Vergil gives no hint. Recent research has thrown some light upon the matter. Norden! proves conclusively that this grouping of spirits was traditional, that the prin- ciple underlying this grouping is that all are the souls of those who died untimely, and that there are traces of an eschatological doctrine that such spirits were condemned to wander aimlessly until the term of their natural life was fulfilled. On the other hand, he has failed to provide a key to the * 1 Norden, VI. Aeneis, Introd., pp. 10 sqq. See 426-547, In- * troductory Note.
II
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
passage as it stands. For not merely does Vergil ignore this doctrine, but he is also unsystematic in his grouping, since among his dead lovers and warriors he has placed not a few who, if strict mythological chronology were followed, would by now have completed their term of wandering. Further, Sycheus appears among the victims of: love, while Dido might as appropriately have appeared among the suicides. These criticisms may perhaps seem carping. But they are not without their importance when taken into con- junction with Vergil’s silence on the cardinal point— namely, the reason for the presence of these spirits in the outer Limbo. It has long been felt by critics that this portion of Vergil’s Nekyia was confusing and lacked significance, nor can it be said that the difficulty is removed by Norden’s statement of the case. There is but one theory that will clear Vergil of the charge of carelessness and incoherence. We must assume that this portion of the Sixth Book gives the poet’s rough draft, and that he had intended to add the neces- sary explanations which would have rendered the position of these spirits intelligible. It is no defence to say that Vergil, like Plato may have regarded this doctrine as trivial and unworthy of mention. For Plato its suppression made no difference, since he virtually ignores this group of spirits. But Vergil has not so ignored them; he has described them with some detail and left his reader perplexed 1 Rep. 10-615 C. 12
Introduction
as to the reason for their appearance at this point of his story. That there must have been some reason for this grouping is obvious, that the ex- planation given by Norden is true is highly probable, and that Vergil was aware merely of the traditional location of these spirits, but unaware of the reason, is extremely unlikely. The deep pathos of the lines in which he describes their fate does not excuse or explain away the blemish. The intro- . duction of the spirits of those who died for love or ΤῸ πα has obvious advantages of which Vergil makes noble use in the scenes where Aeneas meets Dido and his old friends and comrades of Troy:~ But that is no reason why we should be left in darkness as to the reason of his meeting them where he does. Nor yet again can the diffi- culty be met by the plea that he omitted to explain, because he was speaking to those that understood. Roman familiarity with Greek eschatology was not such as to justify the omission to provide a key to the mystery.
So, too, we are ΠΝ by the introduction of Minos as judging in this mysterious Limbo. There is no question of punishment or reward: the func- tions of the judge seem to be confined merely to the allotment of a dwelling-place to the souls that come before him. The judgment of the great sinners is left to Rhadamanthus.? It will, it is true, involve no inconsistency, if we suppose that Minos merely allots a dwelling-place, while Rhada-
1 431 544. # i 2 566. 13
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
manthus assigns punishment for sin. But why is the description of the court of Minos embedded between two groups of those who died untimely ? It is no doubt suggested by the mention of those who were unjustly condemned on earth, upon which it follows immediately. The judge of the dead may be conceived as rectifying the miscarriage of justice in the world above. But we should expect Minos to appear as the judge of all the dead, and not to be associated merely with the spirits of those who dwell in Limbo. Plead as we may, the whole situation is left obscure by the position of the passage, the lack of explanation, and the unsystematic development of the subject. We are once more driven to the theory that the passage as it standsisinthe rough. It may even be doubted whether the lines dealing with Minos are in the actual position which the poet designed them ultimately to occupy. But no remedy is possible. The mischief was done by Vergil’s own untimely death, and there is no reason to suppose that any blame attaches to his editors, Varius and Tucca.
Nor is this the only sign of such lack of com- pletion. It is hard to believe that Vergil’s descrip- tion of the sinners in Tartarus has come down to us in what he intended to be its final form. The passage begins with a description of some of the more striking examples of punishment for great sin} In this portion the only indication of lack of completion is the attribution to Ixion and
1 580, 14
Introduction
Pirithous of punishments quite other than those usually assigned to them, though familiar in con- nexion with other sinners That this is due to textual corruption is highly improbable, while it is not likely, in view of Vergil’s treatment of Ixion in the fourth Georgic, in a passage written in all probability at no very distant date from the present,? that he had in his mind other versions of the legend. The most probable explanation is that a line referring to Tantalus and others should have preceded the description of the penalty, but that the poet had not written the required line or lines in a form that satisfied him at the time of his death. This is, however, a less serious problem than that which follows hard upon its heels. The Sibyl proceeds to mention certain classes of criminal without any reference to mythology, those that in life hated their brethren or struck their parents, ‘played their_clients..false__or_ brooded...miser-like over their gold and gave no share to their kin, adulterers slain for their sin, and those that. waged impious warfare or armed slaves against their masters.2 Then comes ἃ short list of typical penalties,4 which is followed once again by a short list of typical criminals—traitors who enslaved their country, corrupt politicians, and those guilty of incest.© Now, although there was no need for Vergil to give an exhaustive list of crimes or punish- ments for crime, the order seems confused and the 1 601-607. 2 See 305 note. 3 608-614. 4 615-620. 5 621-624. 15
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
selection of crimes somewhat casual. The text as it stands before us, is exactly what we should expect to arise if the poet had written different por- tions of the passage at different times! with a view to welding them into a compact and artistic whole. Death prevented this, and his editors did their best to give the passage a form as little unsatis- factory as possible. They did their work with skill and discretion, but there is still a lack of organisation and unity about the passage as it stands.
The remainder of the book stands on a different footing. With the exception of the fact that the vision of Cesar of Pompey is unfinished, as the half-line, proice tela manu, sanguis meus,2 shows, and not to speak of the fact that a little greater elaboration of so important a theme might seem to be desirable, there is nothing to lead us to suppose that we have not Vergil’s last word. Difficulties there are, but none of them insuperable. We can form no clear idea as to what Vergil means by the “fields of air,’’? as a description of Elysium, and the exact significance of the hero’s exit by the dream-gate of ivory* has long been a problem to Vergilian critics. Both may be relics of some earlier design to represent the vision of the world of spirits in the form of a dream, and the spirits of the blest may in that scheme have been repre- sented, like the heroes of the Somnium Scipionis, as dwelling in the highest heavens. But that must
1 See Introd., § 3, A. a 825% 3 887. 4 893 544.
16
Introduction
be a matter for conjecture and, whatever explana- tion we adopt, we can scarcely regard the presence of these passages as indicating lack of completion. So, too, the exquisite Marcellus episode reveals certain indications of being a later addition, but its insertion has been accomplished with such skill that the voice of criticism must be silent. More serious is the well-known difficulty presented by the poet’s account of the doctrine of metempsychosis. But here Norden! has provided a reasonable solution of the difficulty. The great bulk of the spirits of Elysium return to earth after they “ have rolled the wheel of-a thousand years.” The ‘“‘ few who abide in the happy fields” aré those who for their virtue ~are-spared the travail of rebirth: they dwell in bliss, each year removing the stains of earth until the ““orb-of-time ”’ 15. complete, and after the passage of ten thousand years are restored to the pure ethereal being that once was theirs, before they taught themselves to fashion aught But a pure celestial thought. Of the ultimate destiny of the happy spirit, become “all fire, all air,” Vergil says nothing, whether it remains in perfection of bliss in the paradise where it now dwells, or is caught up into the empyrean and reabsorbed into the divine fire2 It was not necessary that he should say more: he is poet, not mystagogue, and his main design is to write the 1 Norden, pp. 16 sgg. See 733-751, Introductory Note, 2 But cp. Georg. 4, 223. 17 ο
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Epic of the Roman people. Such vagueness and obscurity as there is in his exposition of the doctrine of rebirth is not of so serious a nature that it need trouble us, and if it be urged that an exact parallel for Norden’s interpretation is not forthcoming, it is sufficiently near the Pythagorean doctrines as set forth by Plato and the later syncretistic school of Stoics to make but small demand upon our faith. It is always possible that the poet’s final revision would have produced a clearer picture. But there is no need to postulate the necessity of such revision. For whatever view we take of Vergil’s Nekyia, on one point all critics will be agreed, that there is but one other vision to be compared with it, the Divina Commedia of Dante, who, while following other methods and aiming at an accuracy of detail, topographical and otherwise, such as his predecessor never contemplated, paid the Sixth Aeneid the noblest of all tributes by choosing Vergil for his guide through the circles of the Inferno. Whatever its blemishes and obscuri- ties, real or imaginary, the Sixth Aeneid is unique, and even although criticism may be a labour of love and a tribute of admiration, the critic cannot escape the feeling that he does it wrong, “ being so majestical,’’ by subjecting it to such analysis.
18
»
Introduction
ὃ 2.—THE SOURCES OF VERGIL’S ESCHATOLOGY.
The study of the sources of Vergil’s eschatology is an unsatisfying pursuit, unless the searcher be content with the engrossing occupation of making bricks without straw. It is, of course, possible to trace the history and development of Greek escha-
. tology with some degree of profit, as Dieterich’s
fascinating Nekyia has shown. But such investi- gations throw but little light on the precise sources to which Vergil went for his inspiration. And it is cold comfort to be told of certain works on which he may have drawn, when those works are lost, the exact nature of their contents unknown, and possibly even their very existence problematic. Our in- vestigation must therefore be restricted in its nature and unsatisfying in its results.
Two outstanding facts are, it is true, obvious. In the first place, the introduction of a Nekyia into the Aeneid is clearly suggested by the Eleventh Book of the Odyssey, while the place selected for the visit of Aeneid to the underworld is one that was not infrequently identified with Homer’s land of the Cimmerians.! Secondly, Vergil has been largely influenced by the teaching of the Pytha- goreans and the Orphic mysteries as regards his doctrine of rebirth and the allotment of reward and punishment to the righteous and the sinner. Again, © there is yet a third element of popular superstition
and folklore. 1 See note on 237.
10
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Vergil’s debt to Homer is small and easy to deter- mine. The actual resemblances are rare and con- fined entirely to minor details. We find echoes — of the meeting of Anticleia, Ajax, and Elpenort with Odysseus, the sacrifices preliminary to the descent of Aeneas have their analogies in the sacrifices of Odysseus in the land of the Cimmerians,? the Gates of Sleep? are borrowed from the Iliad (though to be employed for a strangely different purpose), while the four rivers of Hell are mentioned by Homer, though their position and functions are wrapped in mystery. For the rest the differences are greater than the resemblances. The whole conception of the spirit-world has changed in the centuries intervening between the two poets. In the Iliad, there are, it is true, indications that the dwelling of Hades was conceived as underground, guarded by a river that the unburied may not cross,> and by a watchdog® that was stolen by src Ee the Odyssey, on the other hand, the spirit-world is, to all appearances, above ground. The dead come forth to drink the blood of the victim that they may find strength to speak. Their existence is a shadowy and melancholy reflexion of the life that once was theirs.’ Of punishment and reward there is none. If Minos is a judge, he is judge only of the disputes that vex the dead,®
1 See 366, 456, 469, 696, 700 notes. 32. See note on 237.
5. 893 note. fH. 20. 61: 8 Tl. 23. 73; cp. Od. 10. 513. 6 Il. 8. 368; Od. 11. 625. 7 Od. 11. 488. 6 Od: 12.5690:
20
Introduction
and there is no trace of his functions as the awarder of eternal doom. At the close of the book there is a description of some of the more notorious criminals of mythology.t. But even this acknow- ledged interpolation provides no real parallel to the Vergilian Tartarus. And Tartarus? itself, although it is described by Homer as a bottomless pit, in language which has been closely imitated by Vergil, is not a hell for the general punishment of crime, but merely the prison-house of the earth- born Titans, while the Erinyes? are the avengers of sin on earth rather than in Hell. The Elysian fields are, it is true, already in existence, but they fie lat apartat ‘the world’ s end, and the _qualifica- tion for admission is divine descent or the posses- sion of a wife thus qualified. And it is in this paradise that the yellow-haired Rhadamanthus is to be found, for he has not yet acquired his position as co-judge with his brother Minos. Homer, there- fore, will help us little in our search.
At what date the belief in an organised spirit- world, where virtue was rewarded and sin chastened, may have originated is uncertain. But by the sixth century B.c. we begin to find traces of the mystical doctrines of Orphism, parallel to which runs the teaching of the Pythagorean philosophy.®
1 Od. 11. 576 sqq. 2-1). 8. 13, 481, and 14: 279. 3 Tl. 9. 453, 569; 15.204. Od.17. 475; 20. 78. * Od. 4. 563.
5 See especially Maass, Orpheus, Munich, 1895; Dieterich, Nekyia, Leipzig, 1893; J. Harrison, Prolegomena to Greek Religion; Abel, Orphica, Leipzig, 1885.
21
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Indeed, the two streams are so intermingled that no attempt will be made to distinguish between them. The main features of the new doctrine are the belief in purgatory, hell, paradise, metem- psychosis and rebirth, while the origin of the new eschatology, which, however, never cuts itself entirely adrift from the traditional mythology, lies in the consciousness of the vagueness and inade- quacy of popular belief and in the desire to create a new world which will redress the balance of this. The Orphics, therefore, postulate an immortality that shall right the evils of this life in another region, where good may triumph over evil and purity of motive and action come to their own. Neither Orphism nor Pythagoreanism involved a breach with the past. Whatever may have been the origin of the doctrines of transmigration and rebirth, in all else at any rate they developed and moralised the unsystematic popular beliefs regarding the other world. And whatever Vergil’s debt may be to Orphism, he is no hierophant of its mysteries. That is to say, eternal bliss lies within the reach of virtue without the necessity of initiation or of the observance of other rites than those of the State religion or of other rules than those of righteousness. Orpheus himself, though he has a place in the underworld, is the immortal singer living in eternal happiness and making music to the dead with barely a hint of his position as the divine founder of a new creed. * 645. 22
Introduction
With the details of Orphic-Pythagorean belief we are concerned only in so far as they are repro- duced by Vergil. And for those elements which he does so reproduce we shall have to rely, not on the fragmentary Orphic literature, most of which is of late date, nor yet again on the all too scanty relics of the teaching of Pythagoras, but in the main on the myths of Plato and a few exquisite lines in Pindar. The great fresco representing Odysseus’ visit to Hades, which Polygnotus painted on the walls of the Lesche at Delphi, throws but little light on the subject It represented a number of the more famous figures of legend as dwellers of the underworld. But there is no evidence of an ovganised underworld and no indication of the ultimate fate of the dead. It differs from the Homeric account in a number of points: Charon appears ferrying souls across the river, there are scenes of punishment for sins, and the fact that some of the sufferers are labelled ‘‘ Uninitiate ”’ reveals the influence of the mysteries. When, however, we turn to Pindar, we find in the passages referring to the spirit-world an atmosphere that recalls that of the Sixth Aeneid, even though it may differ in detail. The virtuous man, he tells us,?2 ‘‘ knoweth that immediately after death, on earth, it is the lawless spirits that suffer punish- ment, and the sins committed in this realm of Zeus are judged by One who passeth sentence stern
1 Paus. 10, 28, Robert’s Polygnot. Halle, 1892, 1893. 2 Olymp. 2. 58 (tr. by Sandys). 23
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
and inevitable; while the good, having the sun shining for evermore, for equal nights and equal days, receive the boon of a life of lightened toil, not vexing the soil with the strength of their hands, no, nor the water of the sea to gain a scanty live- lihood; but in presence of the honoured gods, all who were wont to rejoice in keeping their oaths share a life that knoweth no tears, while the others endure labour that none can look upon. But whosoever, while dwelling in either world, have thrice been courageous in keeping their souls pure from all deeds of wrong pass by the highway of Zeus into the tower of Cronus, where the ocean- breezes blow around the Islands of the Blest, and flowers of gold are blazing, some on the shore from radiant trees, while others the water fostereth; and with chaplets thereof they entwine their hands, and with crowns, according to the righteous councils of Rhadamanthus, who shareth for evermore the judgment-seat of the mighty Father.’”’ Again, there is the no less famous description of Elysium, a fragment fortunately preserved to us by Plutarch:* ‘“For them the sun shineth in his strength in the world below, while here ’tis night; and in meadows red with roses, the space before their city is shaded by the incense tree and is laden with golden fruits. . . . Some of them delight themselves with horses and\ with wrestling; others with draughts and with lyres; while beside them bloometh the fair flower ‘of perfect bliss. And o’er that lovely land frag- 1 Fr. 129 and 130 BRergk, Plut Consol. ad Apollon. 35., p. 120. 24
Introduction
rance is ever shed, while they mingle all manner of incense with the far-shining fire on the altars of the gods. From the other side sluggish streams of darksome night belch forth a boundless gloom.” Finally, in another fragment, preserved to us by Plato, he tells us that ‘“‘ As for those from whom Persephone shall exact the penalty of their pristine woe, in the ninth year she once more restoreth their sou's to the upper sunlight; and from these come into being august monarchs, and men who are swift in strength and supreme in wisdom; and for all future time, men call them sainted heroes.’’ From these passages we may gather that Pindar’s- creed? was that after death the soul passed before a judge in Hades. If accounted blameless in its past life, it is admitted to the Elysium in the under- world which is described in the second quotation. It does not, however, dwell there eternally, but must-rettirn to earth and live yet twice again, as we are told in the first passage. At length, how- ever, it is delivered from “‘its pristine woe,” and returns to earth to dwell in the body of a hero or a sage, after which, free from the wheel of birth, it passes to the Islands of the Blest. That here the influence of the mysteries may be traced is clear from other fragments in which he speaks of “‘ those who by happy fortune culled the fruit of the rite chat releases from toil,’’ or proclaims that “‘ blessed
1 Fr. 133 Bergk, Plato, Meno, 81 B. 2 See Rohde, Psyche, p. 499 sqq (Psyche, ii. 204-222, 2nd ed., 1808).
25
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
is he who hath seen these things before he goeth under the earth: for he understandeth the end of mortal life and the beginning (of a new life) given of God.’’ Here, then, we have a great poet who 500 years before Vergil sings of the life to come in not dissimilar tone.
Fuller and more striking are the famous myths of Plato. In the Phedo,! after an extremely elaborate account of the four rivers of the under- world (throwing no light, however, on the four rivers of Vergil), we are told that the spirits of the dead are conveyed each by his own ‘‘ demon’”’ to Hades and there sentenced. Those who lived without praise or blame are conveyed to Acheron, where they are purified, punished for their evil deeds, and rewarded for their virtues. Incurable crimes are punished eternally in Tartarus, while great sinners who have repented of their sins are released from Tartarus after a year, and then carried about by the streams of Hell, until they are pardoned by those whom they had wronged. The good go to a celestial place, while those who have been purified by philosophy rise to a yet higher region of eternal joy.
In the Phedrus* the essential features of the myth are that souls on rebirth pass into different classes of men according to the glimpses of the vision of truth that they have been vouchsafed in life, each life being a state of probation. Ten thousand years elapse before the soul can return to
t I1t sqq. 2 248 sqq. 26 Ε
Introduction
the place whence it came. Only the soul of the philosopher or the true lover may acquire wings in the third recurring period of one thousand years, and if they choose this life thrice in succession may find release from the cycle of birth at the close of three thousand years. Others receive judgment after their first life and go either to the house of correction under earth or to some place in heaven. At the end of the first thousand years good souls and evil cast lots and choose their second life, those who have never even had a glimpse of the truth passing into beasts.
The Gorgias! gives what is perhaps a simpler and more primitive picture. After death the souls pass before three judges, Rhadamanthus, A®acus, and Minos. Rhadamanthus judges Asia and AZacus Europe, while Minos presides over the court of appeal. Sin leaves its scars upon the soul, and the judge immediately detects these signs and estimates the guilt of those who stand before him. Sinners are once again divided into curable and incurable. Both alike are despatched, duly labelled, to Tartarus, while the good are conveyed to the Islands of the Blest. But there is yet another passage in the Gorgias? which is not irrelevant to our present enquiry, in which Socrates refers to the line of Kuripides, ‘‘ Life may be death, and death be life. Who knows?” and proceeds to say that he has heard a wise man allege that in this life we are dead, that the body is a tomb, and that the part of the
1.524. 3. 493. 2% 27
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
soul which is the seat of the passions is liable to be influenced and tossed about in different ways. A similar statement occurs in greater detail in the Cratylus!: ‘‘ For some say that the body is the tomb of the soul which may be thought to be buried in our present life; or, again, the sign of the soul, because the soul signifies through the body.” Probably the Orphic poets were the inventors of this play upon the words σῆμα and σῶμα, and he'd that the soul is suffering the punishment of sin, and that the body is an enclosure which may be com- pared to a prison in which the soul is incarcerated, as the name σῶμα (from σώζειν) was held to imply, until the penalty is paid.
Of all the myths, however, in which Plato has pictured the life of the world to come, the vision of Er the Armenian in the Tenth Book of the Republic? is the fullest and the most famous. In this the souls of the dead, after leaving the body, come to a place where there are two chasms side by side in the earth and two which match them in the heavens above. On arriving at this point judges bid the just ascend to heaven by the right- hand chasm, and the unjust descend through the left-hand chasm. But there are also souls descend- ing from heaven, clean and bright, and others ascending from earth, weary and travel-stained. For every evil deed they are punished tenfold, their journey being one of one thousand years, ten- fold the life of man, which is reckoned at a hundred
1 400 Ὁ. 2 614 sqq. 28
Introduction
years. Virtue is rewarded in the same proportion. The fate of infants dying soon after birth is dis- missed as scarce worth mention. Parricides and other murderers are punished in an abyss from which there is no issuing forth. The choice of the new life that each soul shall lead lies with the souls themselves. ἀντία ἐχομένου " θεὸς ἀναίτιος, although the order in which they chose is deter- - mined by lot. The choice made by each soul is governed largely by their previous existence. The life of a beast may be chosen no less than that of a man, while the choice once made is rendered final and irreversible by Atropos. The souls then pass onward from the place of choice to the Plains of Forgetfulness, where they drink of the river Un- mindful, after which they return to earth.
There is also a passage in the same work in which Socrates speaks in no complimentary terms of the Orpheotelestz, a set of priests, who in the name of Orpheus, Muszus, and Eumolpus, preach that the reward of virtue is a life of everlasting sensual pleasure in the next world, while the wicked are buried in a slough in Hades and punished in a variety of ways. In this passage Plato is clearly alluding to the baser and grosser side of the doctrines of which he himself makes free use in the tenth book.
In addition to these we may mention the descrip- tion of the underworld with which the pseudo- Platonic Axiochus? concludes. The abode of the
1363. 2) pp. 371. 29
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
spirits of the dead is shut in by the gates of Pluto, which are closed by iron bolts and bars. On passing these the rivers of Acheron and Cocytus are reached, which must be crossed by the spirits, before they can reach the plain of Truth where they are judged by Minos and Rhadamanthus. The virtuous go to a Paradise enjoying eternal summer, full of clear streams and flowery meadows. There dwell philosophers and poets; the meadow is full of dancing and song, of feasting and happiness made perfect. There is neither wintry cold nor scorching heat, but clear air and temperate sun- light. Special honour 15. paid to the “initiated. The wicked are-carried by the Erinyes into Tartarus and there tormented for their sins in every way. The authority cited by Socrates for these statements is that of Gobryas the mage.
These passages from Pindar and Plato, although they present much variety, are all more or less inspired by Orphic and Pythagorean doctrine. Of that much we may be sure. But when we try to get behind the evidence of Pindar and Plato to the original fountain-head, the path is lost. The Orphic literature which has come down to us is for the most part late and fragmentary,! while the evidence for the doctrines of the Pythagoreans is most meagre. Both creeds were to some extent the property of secret societies, a fact which may account for the unsatisfactory condition of our knowledge concerning them.
1 See Maass, Orpheus, ch. 3; Abel, Orphica. 30
Introduction
It will be seen that Vergil’s eschatology is in its essentials contained in the passages already cited. There are, it is true, no references to the mysteries in Vergil or to the possibility of the soul passing into the bodies of beasts. The mention of either would have been alien to his purpose. Vergil again makes immediate release from the wheel of birth possible at once for the most perfect, the ‘‘ few who hold the happy fields,’’ whereas Plato in the Pheedrus will only release them after three births— t.é., a period of three thousand years. None the less Vergil might easily have produced the greater and the most important portion of his eschatological doctrine! from the passages already quoted. No greater vemaniement would have been required than that which Plato must have given to the material from which he constructed his myths.
But there are other elements as well. There is, in the first place, the grouping of the souls of those who died untimely. If Norden’s explanation be true—namely, that these spirits remained in Limbo until they had fulfilled the term of what should have been their natural life—it is not improbable that here too we have an Orphic element, since Tertullian,? who is the authority for this view, attributes the doctrine to ‘‘ magic,’’ a term which he may well have applied to the teaching of Orphism.
There is also the doctrine of the anima mundi,
1 The reference to the ‘‘ wheel ”’ of time is, however, definitely Orphic; see note on 748. 2 See note on 426-547; Tertullian de an. 56.
31
rf
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
the all-pervading world-soul, a well-known tenet of Stoicism, with which Vergil must have been familiar from Varro, while there is also the proba- bility that it had been linked up with non-Stoic eschatological doctrines by eclectics such as Posi- donius.t
Further, there are numerous elements of popular belief, many of which no doubt were taken over by Orphism. There are, in the first place, the personified abstractions that haunt the gates of the underworld; for most of these we have evidence as old as Hesiod,? though it is impossible to say whether the employment made of them by Vergil is original or borrowed from some lost literary source. Immediately-beyond them _are the _monsters,? who are the actual guardians of the gate. For the existence of such monsters in Hades we have ample evidence in Aristophanes and elsewhere.*. But_here again the function given them by Vergil has no parallel and may be original. Cerberus, as we have seen, is as old as Homer, Charon, though non- Homeric, dates from high antiquity,® and the Furies are familiar as spirits of the underworld in post- Homeric literature.6 The legendary figures who are mentioned as dwelling in the various regions of the underworld present no serious difficulty. There are many possible sources from which they may have been selected. On the other hand, the Tree
1 For Varro see Aug. C. Ὁ. 7. 6. 2 See note on 274. 3 See note on 285-9. 4. See Dieterich, Nekyia, p. 46 sqq. 5 See note on 298. 8 See Dieterich, Nekyia, p. 54.544.
32
Introduction
of Dreams! and the Golden Bough? remain mysteries for us, as they were for Servius.
But all these facts, such as they are, bring us but little nearer to the answer to the main question before us. They give us, it is true, in a general sense the sources of his eschatology, but we have no means of judging his immediate sources. There is nothing to show that his picture is not the result of brilliant eclecticism applied to Greek literature of allages. The task would not have been difficult for one of his learning and his genius. But it obviously cannot be claimed that his doctrine of rebirth is a free reconstruction of the myths of Plato, nor even that he has been directly influenced by Plato, though there is nothing intrinsically improbable in such a theory. It is obvious that he may have owed much to the teaching of eclectic philosophers such as Posidonius,? and that the no
1 See note on 282-4. 2 See note on 136.
3 Norden has attempted in his edition of the Sixth Aeneid to bring the eschatology into connexion with the great but shadowy figure of Posidonius. But the arguments which he adduces do not bring the two authors appreciably nearer to one another, and the evidence on which he relies is of the most unsatisfactory character. Certain of his arguments suffer further from the fact that he accepts in varying degree the esoteric interpretation given of several passages by Servius to the effect that the spirit-world is in the heavens and not underground. In view of the fact that Vergil makes his hero go underground to reach it and gives no hint of his being elsewhere, such an assump- tion is, to say the least, gratuitous, though it is conceivable that the phrase aeris in campis (888) may be a survival of a once entertained but subsequently abandoned design, representing the spirit-world as being in the air, on the analogy of the Somnium
33 D
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
less eclectic Varro and the Pythagorean Nigidius Figulus may have contributed much to his con- ceptions. Again, the loss of practically all the Orphic literature existing in his day prevents us from ascertaining the amount and directness of his debt to Orphism. It is conceivable that his Nekyia may, as Dieterich! holds, be a free handling of some Orphic-Pythagorean poem on the underworld. It is even probable that he drew upon lost Greek καταβάσεις, such as the "Opdews καταβάσις,2 to which we find a few references in Servius. But the fact that no ancient critic, despite the interest taken by malevolent men of letters in discovering ““Vergil’s thefts,’ has suggested that his Nekyia or his doctrine of rebirth is derived from any special sources points strongly to the widest eclecticism.
If the sources on which Vergil drew for his
Scipionis. The suggestion of Servius that the movies Styx interfusa (439) refers to the nine heavenly spheres may be ruled out on the same grounds. Further, with regard to any attempt to connect Vergil and Posidonius, the extreme exiguity of our knowledge of the teaching of Posidonius must be borne in mind. Our knowledge of his views is by no means so great as is sometimes supposed. See Dobson, ‘ The Posidonius Myth,” Classical Quarterly, 1918, p. 179.
1 Dieterich, Nekyia, p. 158, where, however, the case is stated with far greater assurance than is warranted by the evidence.
2 See Abel, Orphica, 153 sqq. But in view of the fact that the only references in Servius are to be found in his notes on 565 and 392, it is not improbable that Vergil’s debt was but small. For Greek Nekyia see Ettig, Ackeruntica, Leipz. Stud. Norden’s arguments to show that Vergil must have used a Descent of Hercules and a Descent of Orpheus (see his Introd., p. 5) are not convincing, though there is nothing improbable in the hypothesis.
3 Cp. Sueton., Vit. Verg. 61 sqq.
34
Introduction
eschatology are uncertain, there is at any rate one great work which was almost undoubtedly a direct inspiration. The de Republica of Cicero, despite its fragmentary condition, breathes the same national spirit as the Sixth Aeneid, and presents some striking analogies. For although it is primarily inspired in its broad outlines by the Republic of Plato, it has many original features of its own. It is written by a statesman and not by a philosopher, by a man of affairs, and not by a visionary, while the problems discussed are based as a whole on the history and political needs of the Roman State. And in the Second and Sixth Books it presents features which may well have inspired Vergil with his conception of the vision of the greatness of Rome, which forms the heart of the Sixth Aeneid. For not only is the de Republica a superb panegyric of the Roman State and the race that made it, but, like the Sixth Aeneid, it contains a review of the makers of Rome, and concludes with a vision, revealed in a dream to Scipio Africanus the Younger, shortly before his death, of the paradise allotted to the spirits of those who have loved and served their country well. It is true that this vision cannot be regarded as a source of Vergil’s escha- tology, since the conception of the after-life of the righteous is essentially different. But it may well have suggested to Vergil the national treatment that he should give his theme. And it is noteworthy that in both cases it is the father of the hero who expounds the mysteries of the other world, although ie 35
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
in the Somnium Scipionis the exposition is divided, not unnaturally, between Paulus, the actual father of Scipio, and Africanus, his father by adoption. It is hard to believe that the de Republica, which even in its mutilated condition is one of Cicero’s masterpieces, should have had no influence on the great writer, who was to do for Roman poetry what the orator had done for Roman prose.
§ 3. THE COMPOSITION OF THE AENEID IN RELATION TO THE SIXTH Book.
Conclusions reached as to the composition of the Aeneid must from the very nature of the case be exceedingly precarious. The work was left un- finished at the poet’s death, and shows many traces of the lack of the author’s revision. That he him- self was under no delusions on the need for revision is clear from his instructions that the poem should be burned in the event of his dying before the completion of the work.
The external evidence on which we have to rely is as follows:
(A) Sueton, Vit. Verg., 34: Aeneida prosa prius ovatione formatam digestamque in XII. libros par- ticulatim componere institut, prout liberet quidque, et nihil in ordinem arripiens. ac ne quid impetum
1 Suet., Vit. 52 H: egevat cum Vario, priusquam Italia dece- devet, ut siquid sibt accidisset, Aeneida combureret : at is ita fac- turum se pernegarat: igituy in extrema ualetudine assidue scrinia
desidevauit, crematurus ipse; uerum nemine offerente nihil quidem nominatim de ea cuit.
36
Introduction
moraretur, quaedam imperfecta transmisit, alia leuis- sims uerbis ueluti fulsit, quae per iocum pro tibicinibus interpom aiebat ad sustinendum opus, donec solidae columnae aduenirent.
(B) Ib., 47: cui (sc. Augusto) tamen multo post perfectaque demum materia tres omnino libros reci- taut, secundum quartum et sextum, sed hunc notabilt Octauiae adfectione, quae cum recitationi interesset, ad illos de filio suo uersus (6. 884) ‘tu Marcellus eris’ defecisse fertur atque aegre focilata est. (So, too, Seru. ad 4. 323 with the variant primum for secundum.) This recitation took place after the death of Marcellus in 23 B.c.
(C) Seruius, pref., p. 4, 17 Th.: quidam superflue dicunt secundum primum esse, tertium secundum et primum tertium, ideo quia primum Ilium concidit, post errauit Aeneas, inde ad Didonis regna perucnit, nescierites hanc esse artem poeticam.
(D) Suet. Vit. 59: edidit autem auctore Augusto Varius, sed summatim emendata, ut gui uersus- etiam imperfectos sicut evant reliquerit ; quos multi mox supplere conati non perinde ualuerunt ob diffii- cultatem, quod omma fere apud eum hemistichia absoluto perfectoque sunt sensu praeter illud (3. 340) ‘quem tibi iam Troia.’ Nisus grammaticus audisse 86. ὦ senioribus aiebat, Varium duorum librorum ordinem commutasse, et qua nunc secundus sit in tertium locum transtulisse4 Cp. also Seruius,
1 This passage is obviously corrupt, as it implies that the recension of Varius was not accepted. Either tunc .. . esset (Hagen) must be read for nunc ... sit, or we must add in primum, tertium in secundum et primum (Reifferscheid) after sit.
37
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
pref., p. 2. 12. Th.: Augustus uero, ne tantum opus periret, Tuccam et Varium hac lege iussit emendare ut superfilua demerent, nihil adderent tamen.
This evidence taken by itself does not tell us very much.
(A) The first citation warns us to be on our guard against attaching too much importance to inconsistencies and contradictions, and against rashly asserting that any one book was completed before any other.
(B) The second merely shows that II., IV., and VI. were the first to reach that state of perfection which Vergil considered necessary to justify recita- tion to the Imperial Court. It also gives us an indication of date, as the recitation took place after 23... Ὁ
(C) The third by itself carries little weight, but may well be a distortion of something that actually occurred.
(D) The fourth lends some vague support to the third, and lays further emphasis on the unfinished condition of the poem.
As regards internal evidence we tread on very insecure ground. Minor inconsistencies are numer- ous: but such inconsistencies are not infrequent in most writers of fiction in spite of the advantages conferred on them by the invention of printing and proof-reading. Further, the poem was un- revised and the method adopted by Vergil in its composition (see A) was bound to lead to blemishes of this kind and to make the task of revision
38
Introduction
unusually severe. If any inference is to be drawn from such inconsistencies, they must be of a serious kind, such as can scarcely be attributed to care- lessness pure and simple.
Now there are certain discrepancies which to a greater or less degree come under this heading; and it is to these that this enquiry will be confined.
(a) In I. 755 and V. 626 the Trojans are spoken of as being in their seftima aestas of wandering—
(i) Although a year has elapsed since the death of Anchises (V. 46), immediately after which they had proceeded to Carthage, and though
(ii) The wanderings as described in III. bring them to Carthage in their ¢hivd year of wandering, and
(iii) Aeneas’ sojourn at Carthage extends to the winter (IV. 51), and his departure, according to Dido, is also in the winter (IV. 309).
(b) In VI. Palinurus is spoken of as having been lost Libyco cursu (338), whereas, according to V. 827 sqq., he was lost on the way to Italy from Sicily.
(c) In V. Acestes greets the Trojans, as though he had never seen them before (35), whereas they had already visited Drepanum a year previously and had performed the funeral rites of Anchises there (III. 707).
(4) The prophecy of Helenus (III. 458) states that tibt Italiae populos uenturaque bella, | et quo quemque modo fugiasque ferasque laborem, | expediet cursusque dabit uenerata sacerdos (t.e., the Sibyl). But in VI.
39
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
the Sibyl’s prophecy is as obscure as most oracles (83 sgg.) and, though it may give Aeneas hope, certainly does not give him enlightenment. It is the spirit of Anchises that does what Helenus had — foretold—that the Sibyl-should do (VI. 891) exin bella πῖγο memorat quae deinde gerenda | Laurentesque docet populos urbemque Latini, | et quo quemque modo fugiatque feratque laborem. Cp. also V. 724 sqq., where the methods actually followed for the revela- tion of the future in VI. are for the first time announced.
The above may be regarded as the crucial incon- sistencies in the first six books.
The solution of the problem thus suggested. cannot from the very nature of the case be certain, and must at best be tentative. If, however, we assume that in the original draft of the poem
IIT. was originally 1,
ἄρτος ἊΣ 2 (less the loss of Palinurus), i: }} }) 3,
at. ” 2) 4,
IV. τ 5 (plus the loss of Palinurus),
we get the following scheme:
Book III.—(z) The wanderings of Aeneas after the fall of Troy till his arrival in Sicily. The book may well have begun with the existing opening (Arma wuirumque cano), although Postquam res Asiae (3, 1) would obviously make an admirable opening in itself, even if not preceded by the existing exordaiunt.
Book V.—(z) The arrival at Drepanum, greeting
40
Introduction
from Acestes, death of Anchises and Funeral games.
Book I.—(3) The voyage from Sicily to Carthage, and welcome by Dido.
Book II.—(4) The story of the siege of Troy, followed by a brief summary of the wanderings of Aeneas, resumptive of the preceding books.
Book IV.—(5) The betrayal and death of Dido, departure of Aeneas and death of Palinurus (Libyco cursu).
If such were the original design of the Aeneid, the inconsistencies mentioned above would dis- appear, with the exception of the discrepancies (4) between III. and V. as to the number of years for which the Trojans had been wandering (3 in III., and 7 in V. and I.), and (ὁ) between the prophecies in III. and VI. (Incidentally this theory clears up a minor difficulty in VI. 355 as regards hibernas noctes : for if Palinurus did actually perish Libyco cursu, the season would be winter [cp. hiberno sidere, 1V., 309]). Finally, such a theory may represent the truth of the somewhat obscure statements of Suetonius (D) and Servius (C) with regard to a change having been made in the order of the books.
What, then, of the inconsistencies which still remain? The theory stated above involves two hypotheses: (i.) That the original draft of III. was written in the third person and later altered to the first, when transferred to its present position and placed in the mouth of Aeneas; (ii.) that it stands
41
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid |
in a certain isolation from the rest of the Aeneid, the first draft having in fact been written before the rest of the poem had been clearly conceived and formulated by the poet. It is not, of course, suggested that the alteration of the persons in III. was a merely mechanical alteration. It would clearly have involved a reshaping of the whole book, which must have been awaiting final revision when the poet died. If these two hypotheses be accepted, the chronological inconsistency which still remains may be regarded as the result of the comparative isolation of III. which we have just postulated. The discrepancy as regards the prophecies may be explained on the same lines. When Vergil wrote the first draft of III., he had in contemplation a different form of the revelation of the future greatness of Rome. This might have been given to Aeneas in the shape of a long narrative from the lips of the Sibyl, or may have taken the form of a vision by ἐγκοίμησις, in which the Sibyl may still conceivably have been his guide and the spirit-world possibly located in the skies, as in the Somnium Scipionis. As has already been indicated, this would provide a possible explanation of aeris in campis and of the Gates of Sleep. And, further, this form of revelation would have been natural enough in view of the statement in Cicero (de Div. 1, 21): Sint haec, ut dixi, somnia fabularum, hisque adiungatur etiam Aeneae somnium, quod in Numerit Fabit Pictoris Graecis annalibus eiusdem est, ut omnia, quae ab Aenea gesta sunt quaeque ill 42
Introduction acciderint, ea fuerint, quae ei secundum quietem visa sunt.
Stylistic considerations help us little in Vergilian problems. The books vary considerably in merit: the themes are not all equally inspiring, and the purely poetic quality fluctuates accordingly. Further, it is scarcely ever possible to say at what date any given passage was written, owing to the method adopted by Vergil in writing his epic (see A). But technically the poem maintains an extraordinarily high level. The last six books show perhaps the high-water mark of Vergilian technique, and, as they stand, are_the most finished, though not the most interesting or poetic portion of the poem, if they be regarded as a whole. They are probably the latest portion of the poem, or at any rate the most thoroughly revised: but on this point there have been many different opinions. The Second, Fourth, and Sixth Books, despite their extra- ordinary merits and their undeniable claim to be considered the three best books of the Aeneid, show more traces of the lack of the ultima manus. The Third Book, however, although it contains passages (such as the meeting with Andromache) which Vergil never surpassed, has been felt by many readers as being somewhat tame and per- functory compared with its immediate neighbours. To the present writer it reads like the work of a great poet who has not quite found the epic stride. But this is a personal impression. The critic who gives it the lie direct can scarcely be countered by
43
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
argument; and the theory outlined above does not necessarily depend on such an impression. Its weakness is that of all theories of the kind—namely, that the building material is scanty and insecure. The consideration of the many and varied views that have been held by different scholars may well give pause to the most confident builder of cloud- castles. The solution is not put forward as one which is capable of proof, but merely as providing the least difficult explanation of certain curious discrepancies in the Aeneid as Vergil left it, dis- crepancies which would no doubt have disappeared had the poet lived to complete his task.
With regard to the Sixth Book, considered apart from the general question of the composition of the Aeneid as a whole, there are few signs of any lack of finish other than those which have been indicated elsewhere. The description of the spirits in Limbo and in Tartarus can scarcely be considered as having received their final form. The fact that Theseus appears in one place as a hero (122), in another as a criminal condemned to eternal torment (618), may be no more than a slip. The positive signs of incompleteness are confined to the two half-lines (94 and 836).1_ As to the order of composition there are no certain indications, but it is not improbable that the Misenus episode and the passage in praise of the Marcelli are later editions to the original design (see notes on 149-152 and 854-887 respec- tively). The fact that Vergil recited the Sixth
1 And pcssibly 602 sqq. 44
Introduction
Book, together with the Second and Fourth, to Augustus does not prove that he considered it complete. It shows no more than that he con- sidered it sufficiently advanced for such partial publication. Recited in connexion with IT. and IV. the discrepancies discussed above would not be apparent.
The views given above are in their broad outlines those adopted by Sabbadini in his Disegno primitivo dell’ Eneide (Turin, 1900), although the problem is approached from a somewhat different angle. With the exception of the last paragraph, however, this chapter was written before I had seen his work, the only portion of which that was known to me being his ingenious theory of the rewriting of Book III. Thanks to the courtesy of Dr. Sabbadini I have since been able to make myself acquainted with his searching examination of the first six books of the Aeneid. While in general agreement with his views, I regard his detailed criticism as subsidiary to the main lines of the problem as stated above. Like all such investigators, he will seem to some to lay himself open to the charge of being over- minute and literal in his criticism. But that his method is sound, his criticism penetrating, and his taste such as to put to shame many of those who have attacked the same problem is to one of his readers beyond a doubt.!
No attempt has been made to summarise the
1 See also The Growth of the Aeneid by Miss Crump, in this series (Blackwell, Oxford, 1920).
45
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
conflicting views of the various scholars who have written on this subject, still less to criticise them. The subject is one of such complexity and uncer- tainty that a statement of the problem as far as it affects the Sixth Book and a tentative effort to suggest a solution have been regarded as likely to be of more value than any attempt to enter what is by now a very labyrinth of complicated and often contradictory criticism.
46
P. VERGILI MARONIS ere Be tty OCS
LIBER SEXTUS
Sic fatur lacrimans, classi jue inmittit habenas,
Et tandem Euboicis Cumarum adlabitur oris.
Obuertunt pelago proras; tum dente tenaci
Ancora fundabat nauis, et htora curuae 4
Praetexunt puppes. Iuuenum manus emicat ardens
Litus in Hesperium; quaerit pars semina flammae
Abstrusa in uenis silicis; pars densa ferarum
Tecta rapit, siluas, inuentaque flumina monstrat.
At pius Aeneas arces, quibus altus Apollo
Praesidet, horrendaeque procul secreta Sibyllae, Io
Antrum immane, petit, magnam cui mentem ani- mumque
Delius inspirat uates, aperitque futura.
Tam subeunt Triuiae lucos atque aurea tecta. Daedalus, ut fama est, fugiens Minoia regna,
Praepetibus pinnis ausus se credere caelo, 15
Insuetum per iter gelidas enauit ad Arctos,
Chalcidicaque leuis tandem super adstitit arce,
Redditus his primum terris tibi, Phoebe, sacrauit
Remigium alarum, posuitque immania templa.
In foribus letum Androgeo; tum pendere poenas 2
47
Oo
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Cecropidae iussi (miserum !) septena quotannis Corpora natorum; stat ductis sortibus urna. Contra elata mari respondet Gnosia tellus: Hic crudelis amor.tauri, suppostaque furto Pasiphae, mixtumque genus prolesque biformis 25 Minotaurus inest, Veneris monimenta nefandae; Hic labor ille domus et inextricabilis error; Magnum reginae sed enim miseratus amorem Daedalus ipse dolos tecti ambagesque resoluit, Caeca regens filo uestigia. Tu quoque magnam 30 Partem opere in tanto, sineret dolor, Icare, haberes Bis conatus erat casus effingere in auro, Bis patriae cecidere manus. Quin protinus omnia Perlegerent oculis, ni iam praemissus Achates Adforet, atque una Phoebi Triuiaeque sacerdos, 35 Deiphobe Glauci, fatur quae talia regi: ‘Non hoc ista 5101 tempus spectacula poscit ; “Nunc grege de intacto septem mactare iuuencos ‘ Praestiterit, totidem lectas de more bidentis.’ Talibus adfata Aenean (nec sacra morantur 40 - Iussa tiri) Teucros uocat alta in templa sacerdos. Excisum Euboicae latus ingens rupis in antrum, Quo lati ducunt aditus centum, ostia centum; Unde ruunt totidem uoces, responsa Sibyllae. Ventum erat ad limen, cum uirgo, ‘ Poscere fata 45 ‘ Tempus,’ ait; ‘ deus, ecce, deus !’ cui talia fanti Ante fores subito non uoltus, non color unus, Non comptae mansere comae; sed pectus anhelum, Et rabie fera corda tument; maiorque uideri ΜΝ Nec mortale sonans, adflata est numine quando 50 Iam propiore dei. ‘ Cessas in uota precesque,
48
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
‘ Tros,’ ait, ‘ Aenea, cessas ? neque enim ante dehis-
cent ‘ Attonitae magna ora Fete Et talia fata Conticuit. Gelidus Teucris per dura cucurrit Ossa tremor, funditque preces rex pectore ab imo: 55 “ Phoebe, grauis Troiae semper miserate labores, ‘ Dardana qui Paridis derexti tela manusque ‘ Corpus in Aeacidae, magnas obeuntia terras ‘ Tot maria intraui duce te penitusque repostas ‘ Massylum gentis, praetentaque Syrtibus arua; 60 “Tam tandem Italiae fugientis prendimus oras. “Hac Troiana tenus fuerit fortuna secuta. ‘ Vos quoque Pergameae iam fas est parcere genti, ‘Dique deaeque omnes, quibus obstitit Ilium et
ingens ‘Gloria Dardaniae. Tuque, ο sanctissima uates, 6 ‘ Praescia uenturi, da (non indebita posco “ Regna meis fatis) Latio considere Teucros, ‘ Errantisque deos agitataque numina Troiae. “Tum Phoebo et Triuiae solido de marmore tem-
plum
“Instituam, festosque dies de nomine Phoebi. 70 “Τὸ quoque magna manent regnis penetralia nostris ; ‘ Hic ego namque tuas sortis arcanaque fata, /
‘ Dicta meae genti, ponam lectosque sacrabo, ‘ Alma, uiros. Foliis tantum ne carmina manda, “ Ne turbata uolent rapidis ludibria uentis: = 75 “‘Ipsa canas oro.’ Finem dedit ore loquendi.
At, Phoebi nondum patiens, immanis in antro
Bacchatur uates, magnum si pectore possit Excussisse deum : tanto magis ille fatigat 79
49 E
A A
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
,- Osrabidum, fera corda domans, fingitque premendo. " *° Ostia iamque domus patuere ingentia centum Sponte sua uatisque ferunt responsa per auras: “Ὁ tandem magnis pelagi tefuncte periclis, ‘(Sed terrae grauiora manent) in regna Lauini 84 ‘ Dardanidae uenient, mitte hanc de pectore curam, ~;" *Sed non et uenisse uolent. Bella, horrida bella,
“$ {44 i424
“Et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno. fv,
‘Non Simois tibi nec Xanthus nec Dorica castra ee
‘ Defuerint : alius Latio iam partus Achilles, δ“
‘ Natus et ipse dea? nec Teucris addita Iuno go
“ Usquam aberit ; cum tu supplex in rebus egenis
‘ Quas gentis Italum aut quas non oraueris urbes !
‘Causa mali tanti coniunx iterum hospita Teucris,
‘ Externique iterum thalami. ~
“Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito, 95
‘Quam tua te Fortuna sinet. Via prima salutis,
“Quod minime reris, Graia pandetur ab urbe.’ Talibus ex adyto dictis Cumaea Sibylla
Horrendas canit ambages antroque remugit,
Obscuris uera inuoluens? ea RE Pes I0o
Concutit et stimulos sub pectore uertit Apollo.
Ut primum cessit furor, et rabida ora quierunt,
Incipit Aeneas heros: Non_ulla laborum,
. . . - . . bev “Ὁ uirgo, noua mi facies“inopinaue surgit ; 104 “Omnia praecepi atque animo mecum ante peregi. ‘Unum oro: quando hic inferni ianua regis pure
‘ Dicitur’ét tenebrosa palus Acheronte refuso
‘Ire ad conspectum cari genitoris et. ora
“ Contingat ; doceas iter, et sacra ostia pandas.
‘ Tllum ego per flammas et mille sequentia tela 110 50
Ay
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
‘ Eripui his umeris, medioque ex hoste recepi; ‘ Tile, meum comitatus iter, maria omnia mecum ‘ Atque omnis pelagique minas caelique ferebat, ‘ TInualidus, uires ultra sortemque senectae. ἘΠῚ: ‘ Quin, ut te supplex peterem, et tua limina adirem, ‘Idem orans.mandata dabat. Gnatique patrisque, ‘Alma, precor, miserere, potes namque omnia, nec, te ‘ Nequiquam lucis Hecate praefecit Auernis. ‘ Si potuit Manis accersere coniugis Orpheus, ‘ Threicia fretus cithara fidibusque canoris; 120 ‘Si fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit, ‘ Itque reditque uiam totiens—quid Thesea magnum, ‘ Ouid Ta Alciden : ? Et mi genus ab Iove summo.’ Ree Talibus orabat dictis arasque tenebat ; _ Cum sic orsa loqui uates:‘ Sate sanguine diuom, 125 “© Tfos Anchisiade, facilis descensus Auerni; ‘ Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis; ‘Sed reuocare gradum superasque euadere ad auras, “ Hoc opus, hic labor est. Pauci, quos aequus ama-~
i
uit Pe gee
‘Tuppiter, aut ardens euexit ad aethera uirtus, 130 “Dis geniti potuere. Tenent media omnia siluae,
‘ Cocytusque sinu labens circumuenit atro.
‘Quod si tantus amor menti, si tanta cupido cst
“ Bis Stygios innare lacus, bis nigra uidere 2 Tartara, et insano iuuat indulgere labori; 135 : Accipe, quae peragenda prius. Latet arbore opaca | ‘ Aureus et foliis et lento uimine ramus,
‘Tunoni infernae dictus sacer: hunc tegit omnis
51
C+ fx. €
(Seago
Ψὕ
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
‘ Lucus, et obscuris claudunt conuallibus umbrae. ‘Sed non ante datur telluris operta subire, 140 ‘ Auricomos quam qui-decerpserit arbore fetus. ‘ Hoc sibi pulchra suum ferri Proserpina munus ‘ Instituit: primo auolso non deficit alter ‘ Aureus, et simili frondescit uirga metallo. - -E rgo a alte uestiga oculis et rite repertum 145 Carpe manu; namque ipse uolens facilisque scquetur ‘ Site fata uccant : aliter non uiribus ullis
‘ Vincere nec duro poteris conuellere ferro.
‘ Praeterea iacet exanimum tibi corpus amici, 149 ‘ (Heu nescis !) totamque incestat funere classem, ‘ Dum consulta petis nostroque in limine pendes. ‘Sedibus hunc refer ante suis, et conde sepulchro.
‘ Duc nigras pecudes; ea prima piacula sunto.
* Sic demum lucos Stygis et regna inuia uiuis,
‘ Aspicies.’ Dixit, pressoque obmutuit ore. 155: χάλι!
Aeneas maesto defixus lumina noltu Ingreditur linguens antrum, caecosque uolutat Enuentus animosecum. Cui fidus Achates It comes et paribus curis uestigia figit. Multa inter sese uario sermone serebant, 160 Quem socium exanimem uates, quod corpus human- dum .14 Diceret. Atque illi Misenum in litore sicco, Ut uenere, uident indigna morte peremptum, Misenum Aeoliden, quo non praestantior alter Aere ciere uiros Martemque accendere cantu. 165 Hectoris hic magni fuerat comes, Hectora circum Et lituo pugnas insignis obibat et hasta. Postquam illuin uita uictor spoliauit Achilles,
52
The Sixth Book or the Aeneid
Dardanio Aeneae sese fortissimus heros Addiderat socium, non inferiora secutus. 170 Sed tum forte caua dum personat aequora concha, - Demens, et cantu uocat in certamina diuos, Aemulus exceptum Triton, si credere dignum est, Inter saxa uirum spumosa immerserat unda. Ergo omnes magno circum clamore fremebant; 175 Praecipue pius Aeneas. Tum iussa Sibyllae, Haud mora, festinant flentes aramque sepulchro Congerere arboribus caeloque educere certant. Itur in antiquam siluam, stabula alta ferarum: Proecumbunt piceae; sonat icta securibus ilex; 180 Traxineaeque trabes cuneis et fissile robur Scinditur; aduoluunt ingentis montibus ornos. Nec non Aeneas opera inter talia primus. , « Hortatur socics paribusque accingitur armis. Atque haec ipse suo tristi cum corde udlutat, “185 Aspectans siluam inmensam, et sic forte precatur: “Si nunc se nobis ille aureus arbore ramus Use “ Ostendat nemore in tanto! quando omnia uere zs “ Heu ! nimium de te uates, Misene, lecuta est.’ Vix ea fatus erat, geminae cum forte columbae 199 Ipsa sub ora uiri caelo uenere uolantes, Et uiridi sedere solo. Tum maximus heros Maternas adgnoscit auis, laetusque precatur: “ Este duces, 0, Si qua uia est, cursumque per auras “ Derigite in lucos, ubi pinguem diues opacat 195 “Ramus humum. Tuque a dubiis ne defice rebus, nor ‘Diva parens.’ Sic effatus uestigia pressit Obseruans, quae signa ferant, quo tendere pergant. Pascentes illae tanttm prodire uolando,
53
The | Sixth Book of the Aeneid ᾿ .λ
Quantum acie possent oculi seruare sequentum. ~200
Inde ubi uenere ad fauces graue olentis Auerni,
Tollunt se celeres liquidumque,per aera lapsae
Sedibus optatis gemina super arbore sidunt,
Discolor unde auri per ramos aura rétulsit.
Quale solet siluis brumali frigore uiscum 205
Fronde uirere noua, quod non sua seminat arbos,
Et croceo fetu teretis circumdare truncos:
Talis erat species auri frondentis opaca
Ilice, sic leni crepitabat brattea uento.
Corripit Aeneas extemplo auidusque refringit 210
Cunctantem, et uatis portat sub tecta Sibyllae. Nec minus interea Misenum in lito e Teucri
Flebant et cineri ingrato suprema ferebant.
Principio pinguem taedis et robore secto
Ingentem struxere pyram, cui frondibus atris 215
Intexunt latera, et feralis ante cupressos
Constituunt, decorantque super fulgentibus armis.
Pars calidos latices et aénaundantia flammis
Expediunt, corpusque lauant frigentis et ungunt. 219
Fit gemitus. Tum membra toro defleta reponunt,
Purpureasque super uestis, uelamina nota,
Coniciunt. Pars ingenti subiere feretro,
Triste ministerium, et subiectam more parentum
Auersi tenuere facem. Congesta cremantur
Turea dona, dapes, fuso crateres oliuo. 225
Postquam conlapsi cineres et flamma quieuit,
Reliquias uino et bibulam lauere fauillam,
Ossaque lecta cado texit Corynaeus aéno.
Idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda
Spargens rore leui et ramo felicis oliuae, 230
54
r
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid as ἄν
Lustrauitque uiros, dixitque nouissima uerba. ere” At pius Aeneas ingenti mole sepulchrum : Inponit, suaque arma uiro remumque tubamque, Monte sub aerio; qui nunc Misenus ab illo Dicitur, aeternumque tenet per saecula nomen. 235 His actis propere exsequitur praecepta Sibyllae. Spelunca alta fuit uastoque immanis hiatu, Scrupea, tuta lacu nigro nemorumque tenebris; Quam super haud ullae poterant inpune uolantes Tendere iter pinnis: talis sese halitus atris 240 Faucibus effundens supera ad conuexa ferebat : [Unde locum Grai dixerunt nomine Aornon.] ἢ Quattuor hic-primum nigrantis terga iuuencos Constituit, frontique inuergit uina sacerdos ; Et summas carpens media inter cornua saetas 245 Ignibus inponit sacris, libamina prima, Voce uocans Hecaten, caeloque Ereboque potentem. Supponunt alii cultros, tepidumque cruorem Succipiunt pateris. Ipse atri uelleris agnam Aeneas matri Eumenidum magnaeque sorori 250 Ense ferit, sterilemque tibi, Proserpina, uaccam. Tum Stygio regi nocturnas incohat aras, Et solida inponit taurorum uiscera flammis, Pingue super oleum fundens ardentibus extis. Ecce autem, primi sub lumina solis et ortus, 255 Sub pedibus mugire solum, et iuga coepta moueri Siluarum, uisaeque canes ululare per umbram, Aduentante dea. ‘ Procul o, procul este, profani’ Conclamat uates, ‘ totoque absistite luco: ‘ Tuque inuade uiam, uaginaque eripe ferrum; 260 ‘Nunc animis opus, Aenea, nunc pectore firmo.’
595
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Tantum effata, furens antro se inmisit aperto: ille ducem haud timidis uadentem passibus aequat.
Di, quibus imperium est animarum, Umbraeque
silentes, 264
Et Chaos, et Phlegethon, loca nocte tacentia late, Sit mihi fas audita loqui; sit numine uestro Pandere res alta terra et caligine mersas.
Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte per umbram, Perque domos Ditis uacuas et inania regna: Quale per incertam lunam sub luce maligna 270 Est iter in siluis, ubi caelum condidit umbra Iuppiter, et rebus nox abstulit atra colorem. Vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae, | 274 Pallentesque habitant Morbi, tristisque Senectus, Et Metus, et malesuada Fames, ac turpis Egestas, Terribiles uisu formae, Letumque, Labosque; Tum consanguineus Leti Sopor, et mala mentis Gaudia, mortiferumque aduerso in limine Bel-
lum,
Ferreique Eumenidum thalami, et Discordia de-
mens, 280 Vipereum crinem uittis innexa cruentis.
In medio ramos annosaque bracchia pandit Ulmus opaca, ingens, quam secein Somnia uolgo Vana tenere ferunt, foliisque sub omnibus hacrent. Multaque practerea uariarum monstra ferarum 285 Centauri in foribus stabulant, Scyllaeque biformes. Zt centumgeminus Briareus, ac belua Lernae Horrendum stridens, flammisque armata Chimaera, Gorgones, Harpyiaeque, et forma tricorporis umbrae.
56
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Corripit hic subita trepidus formidine ferrum 200 Aeneas, strictamque aciem uenientibus offert,
Et, ni docta comes tenuis sine corpore uitas Admoneat uolitare caua sub imagine formae, Inruat, et frustra ferro diuerberet umbras. 294
Hinc via Tartarei quae fert Acherontis ad undas.
Turbidus hic caeno uastaque uoragine gurges Aestuat atque omnem Cocyto eructat harenam. Portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina servat Terribili squalore Charon: cui plurima mento Canities inculta iacet; stant lumina flamma; 300 Sordidus ex umeris “nado dependet amictus.
Ipse ratem conto subigit, uclisque ministrat,
Et ferruginea subuectat corpora cumba,
Iam senior; sed cruda deo uiridisque senectus.
Huc omnis turba ad ripas effusa ruebat, 305 Matres atque uiri, defunctaque corpora uita Magnanimum heroum, pueri innuptaeque puellae, Inpositique rogis iuuenes ante cra parentum: Quam multa in siluis autumni frigore primo. 309 Lapsa cadunt folia, aut ad terram gurgite ab alto ‘Quam multae glomerantur aues, ubi frigidus annus “Trans pontum fugat et terris inmittit apricis. Stabant orantes primi transmittere cursum, Tendebantque manus ripae ulterioris amore; Nauita sed tristis nunc hos nunc accipit illos, 315 Ast alios longe summotos arcet harena..
Aeneas mir τ enim motusque tumultu,
Bie aie oO uirgo, quid uolt concursus ad am
nem? — * Quidue petunt animae ? uel quo discrimine ripas 57
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
‘ Hae linquunt, illae remis uada liuida uerrunt ?” 320 Olli sic breuiter fata est longaeua sacerdos: “ Anchisa generate, deum certissima proles, ‘ Cocyti stagna alta uides Stygiamque paludem, ‘ Di cuius iurare timent et fallere numen. ‘ Haec omnis, quam cernis, inops inhumataque turba est; 325 ‘ Portitor ille Charon; hi, quos uehit unda, sepulti. ‘ Nec ripas datur horrendas et rauca fluenta ‘ Transportare prius, quam sedibus ossa quierunt. “Centum errant annos uolitantque haec litora cir- cum; 329 “Tum demum admissi stagna exoptata revisunt.’ Constitit Anchisa satus et uestigia pressit, Multa putans, sortemque animi miseratus iniquam Cernit ibi maestos et mortis honore carentis Leucaspim et Lyciae ductorem classis Orontem, Quos simul a Troia uentosa per aequora uectos 335 Obruit Auster, aqua inuoluens nauemque uirosque Ecce gubernator sese Palinurus agebat, Qui Libyco nuper cursu, dum sidera seruat, Exciderat puppi mediis effusus in undis. 339 Hunc ubi uix multa maestum cognouit in umbra, Sic prior adloquitur: ‘ Quis te, Palinure, deorum ‘ Eripuit nobis, medioque sub aequore mersit ? “Dic age. Namque mihi, fallax haud ante reper- tus, “ Hoc uno responso animum delusit Apollo, 344 “Qui fore te ponto incolumem finisque canebat “Venturum Ausonios. En haec promissa fides est ?’ 58
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Ille autem: ‘ Neque te Phoebi cortina fefellit,
‘ Dux Anchisiade, nec me deus aequore mersit.
‘Namque gubernaclum, multa ui forte reuolsum,
‘ Cui datus haerebam custos cursusque regebam, 350
‘ Praecipitans traxi mecum. Maria aspera iuro
‘Non ullum pro me tantum cepisse timorem,
‘Quam tua ne, spoliata armis, excussa magistro,
‘ Deficeret tantis nauis surgentibus undis. 354
‘Tres Notus hibernas immensa per aequora noctes
‘ Vexit me uiolentus aqua; uix lumine quarto
‘ Prospexi Italiam summa sublimis ab unda.
‘ Paulatim adnabam terrae: iam tuta tenebam,
‘ Ni gens crudelis madida cum ueste grauatum 359
‘ Prensantemque uncis manibus capita aspera mon- tis
‘ Ferro inuasisset, praedamque ignara putasset.
‘Nunc me fluctus habet, uersantque in litore uenti.
“ Ouod te per caeli iucundum lumen et auras,
‘ Per genitorem oro, per spes surgentis Tuli 364
‘Eripe me his, inuicte, malis: aut tu mihi terram
‘ Inice, namque potes, portusque require Velinos;
‘ Aut tu, si qua uia est, si quam tibi diua creatrix
‘ Ostendit (neque enim, credo, sine numine diuom
‘Flumina tanta paras Stygiamque innare palu- dem), 369
‘Da dextram misero, et tecum me tolle per undas;
‘Sedibus ut saltem placidis in morte quiescam.’
Talia fatus erat, coepit cum talia uates:
‘Unde haec, o Palinure, tibi tam dira cupido ?
‘Tu Stygias inhumatus aquas amnemque seuerum
‘ Eumenidum aspicies, ripamue iniussus adibis ? 375
59
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
‘ Desine fata deum flecti sperare precando. “Sed cape dicta memor, duri solacia casus. ‘Nam tua finitimi, longe lateque per urbes “ Prodigiis acti caelestibus, ossa piabunt, 379 “Et statuent tumulum, et tumulo sollemnia mit- tent, ‘ Aeternumque locus Palinuri nomen habebit.’ His dictis curae emotae, pulsusque parumper Corde dolor tristi: gaudet cognomine terra. Ergo iter inceptum peragunt fluuioque propin- quant. 384 Nauita quos iam inde ut Stygia prospexit ab unda Per tacitum nemus ire pedemque aduertere ripae, Sic prior adgreditur dictis, atque increpat ultro: ‘ Quisquis es, armatus qui nostra ad flumina tendis, ‘Fare age, quid uenias, iam istinc, et comprime gressum. 389 “ Umbrarum hic locus est, Somni Noctisque soporae; ‘Corpora uiua nefas Stygia uectare carina. “ Nec uero Alciden me sum laetatus euntem “ Accepisse lacu, nec Thesea Pirithoumque, ‘Dis quamquam geniti atque inuicti uiribus es- sent. 304 ‘ Tartareum ille manu custodem in uincla petiuit ‘Ipsius a solio regis, traxitque trementem: “Hi dominam Ditis thalamo deducere adorti.’ Quae contra breuiter fata est Amphrysia uates: ‘ Nullae hic insidiae tales; absiste moueri; 399 “ Nec uim tela ferunt: licet ingens ianitor antro ‘ Aeternum latrans exsanguis terreat umbras; “ Casta licet patrui seruet Proserpina limen. 60
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
‘ Troius Aeneas, pietate insignis et armis, ‘ Ad genitorem imas Erebi descendit ad umbras.
‘ Si te nulla mouet tantae pietatis imago, 405 ‘ At ramum hunc’ (aperit ramum, qui ueste late- bat)
‘ Adgnoscas.’ Tumida ex ira tum corda residunt. Nec plura his. Tle admirans uenerabile donum Fatalis uirgae, longo post tempore uisum, 409 Caeruleam aduertit puppim, ripaeque propinquat. Inde alias animas, quae per iuga longa sedebant, Deturbat, laxatque foros: simul accipit alueo Ingentem Aenean. Gemuit sub pondere cumba Sutilis, et multam accepit rimosa paludem. 414 Tandem trans fluuium incolumis uatemque uirum- que Informi limo glaucaque exponit in ulva. Cerberus haec ingens latratu regna trifauci Personat, aduerso recubans immanis in antro. Cui uates, horrere uidens iam colla colubris, Melle soporatam et medicatis frugibus offam 420 Obicit. Ille fame rabida tria guttura pandens Corripit obiectam, atque immania terga resoluit Fusus humi, totoque ingens extenditur antro. Occupat Aeneas aditum custode sepulto, Euaditque celer ripam inremeabilis undae. 425 Continuo auditae uoces, uagitus et ingens, Infantumque animae flentes in limine primo, Quos dulcis uitae exsortis et ab ubere raptos Abstulit atra dies et funere mersit acerbo. Hos iuxta falso damnati crimine mortis. 430 Nec uero hae sine sorte datae, sine iudice, sedes: 61
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Quaesitor Minos urnam mouet; ille silentum Consiliumque uocat uitasque et crimina discit. Proxima deinde tenent maesti loca, qui sibi letum Insontes peperere manu, lucemque perosi 435 Proiecere animas. Quam uellent aethere in alto Nunc et pagperiem et duros perferre labores ! Fas obstat, tristisque palus inamabilis undae Alligat, et nouiens Styx interfusa coercet. Nec procul hinc partem fusi monstrantur in om- nem 440 Lugentes campi; sic illos nomine dicunt. Hic, quos durus amor crudeli tabe peredit, Secreti celant calles et myrtea circum Silua tegit: curae non ipsa in morte relinquunt. His Phaedram Procrimque locis, maestamque Eri- phylen, 445 Crudelis nati monstrantem uolnera, cernit, Euadnenque, et Pasiphaen; his Laodamia It comes, et iuuenis quondam, nunc femina, Cae- neus, Rursus et in ueterem fato reuoluta figuram. Inter quas Phoenissa recens a uolnere Dido 450 Errabat silua in magna: quam Troius heros, Ut primum iuxta stetit adgnouitque per umbras Obscuram, qualem primo qui surgere mense Aut uidet aut uidisse putat per nubila lunam, Demisit lacrimas, dulcique adfatus amore est: 455 * Infelix Dido, uerus mihi nuntius ergo ‘Venerat extinctam, ferroque extrema secutam ἢ “ Funeris heu {101 causa fui? Per sidera iuro, ‘ Per superos, et si qua fides tellure sub ima est, 62
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
_‘Inuitus, regina, tuo de litore cessi. 460
“Sed me iussa deum, quae nunc has ire per umbras,
‘ Per loca senta situ cogunt noctemque profundam
‘Imperiis egere suis; nec credere quiui
“Hunc tantum tibi me discessu ferre dolorem, 464
‘Siste gradum, teque aspectu ne subtrahe nostro.
“Quem fugis ? Extremum fato, quod te adloquor hoc est.’
Talibus Aeneas ardentem et torua tuentem
Lenibat dictis animum, lacrimasque ciebat.
Illa solo fixos oculos auersa tenebat;
Nec magis incepto uoltum sermone mouetur, 470
Quam si dura silex aut stet Marpesia cautes.
Tandem corripuit sese, atque inimica refugit
In nemus umbriferum, coniunx ubi pristinus illi
Respondet curis, aequatque Sychaeus amorem.
Nec minus Aeneas, casu concussus iniquo, 475
Prosequitur lacrimis longe, et miseratur euntem. Inde datum molitur iter. TIamque arua tenebant
Ultima, quae bello clari secreta frequentant.
Hic illi occurrit Tydeus, hic inclutus armis
Parthenopaeus et Adrasti pallentis imago; 480
Hic multum fleti ad superos belloque caduci
Dardanidae, quos ille omnis longo ordine cernens
Ingemuit, Glaucumque, Medontaque, Thersilochum- que,
Tres Antenoridas, Cererique sacrum Polyboten,
Idaeumque, etiam currus, etiam arma tenentem. 485
Circumstant animae dextra laeuaque frequentes.
Nec uidisse semel satis est : iuuat usque morari
Et conferre gradum et ueniendi discere causas.
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The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
At Danaum proceres Agamemnoniaeque phalanges
Ut uidere uirum fulgentiaque arma per umbras, 490
Ingenti trepidare metu: pars uertere terga,
Ceu quondam petiere ratis; pars tollere uocem
Exiguam: inceptus clamor frustratur hiantis. Atque hic Priamiden laniatum corpore toto
Deiphobum uidit, lacerum crudeliter ora, 495
Ora manusque ambas, populataque tempora raptis
Auribus, et truncas inhonesto uolnere naris.
Vix adeo adgnouit pauitantem et dira tegentem
Supplicia, et notis compellat uocibus ultro: 499
‘ Deiphobe armipotens, genus alto a sanguine Teu- ὍΓΙ;
‘Quis tam crudelis optauit sumere poenas ?
‘Cui tantum de te licuit ? Mihi fama suprema
“ Nocte tulit fessum uasta te caede Pelasgum
“ Procubuisse super confusae stragis aceruum.
“ Tunc egomet tumulum Rhoeteo litore inanem 505
“ Constitui, et magna Manis ter uoce uocaui.
“ Nomen et arma locum seruant; te, amice, nequiui
“ Conspicere et patria decedens ponere terra.’
Ad quae Priamides: ‘ Nihil 0 tibi, amice, relictum;
“Omnia Deiphobo soluisti et funeris umbris. 510
“Sed me fata mea et scelus exitiale Lacaenae
‘His mersere malis: 116 haec monimenta reliquit.
‘“Namaue ut supremam falsa inter gaudia noctem
‘ Egerimus, nosti; et nimium meminisse necesse est.
“Cum fatalis equus saltu super ardua uenit 515
‘ Pergama, et armatum peditem grauis attulit aluo:
‘Tila, chorum simulans, euhantis orgia circum
‘Ducebat Phrygias; flammam media ipsa tenebat
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The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
‘Ingentem, et summa Danaos ex arce uocabat. “Tum me confectum curis somnoque grauatum 520 ‘Infelix habuit thalamus, pressitque iacentem ‘ Dulcis et alta quies placidaeque simillima morti. ‘ Egregia interea coniunx arma omnia tectis “Emouet, et fidum capiti subduxerat ensem: ‘Intra tecta uocat Menelaum, et limina pandit; 525 ‘ Scilicet id magnum sperans fore munus amanti, ‘Et famam exstingui ueterum sic posse malorum. “Quid moror ἢ inrumpunt thalamo; comes additus
una ‘ Hortator scelerum Aeolides. Di, talia Grais ‘ Instaurate, pio si poenas ore reposco. 530 “Sed te qui uiuum casus, age fare uicissim, ‘ Attulerint. Pelagine uenis erroribus actus, ‘An monitu diuom ? an quae te Fortuna fatigat, ‘ Ut tristis sine sole domos, loca turbida, adires 2’ Hac uice sermonum roseis Aurora quadrigis 535 Iam medium aetherio cursu traiecerat axem; Et fors omne datum traherent per talia tempus; Sed comes admonuit, breuiterque adfata Sibylla est : “Nox ruit Aenea; nos flendo ducimus horas. 539 “ Hic locus est, partis ubi se uia findit in ambas: “ Dextera quae Ditis magni sub moenia tendit, ‘Hac iter Elysium nobis: at laeua malorum ‘ Exercet poenas, et ad impia Tartara mittit.’ Deiphobus contra: ‘ Ne saeui, magna sacerdos; 544 ‘ Discedam, explebo numerum, reddarque tenebris. “T decus, i, nostrum; melioribus utere fatis.’ Tantum effatus, et in uerbo uestigia torsit.
Respicit Aeneas subito, et sub rupe simistra
65 F
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Moenia lata uidet, triplici circumdata muro; 549 Quae rapidus flammis ambit torrentibus amnis Tartareus Phlegethon, torquetque sonantia saxa. Porta aduersa ingens, solidoque adamante colum-
nae, Vis ut nulla uirum, non ipsi exscindere bello Caelicolae ualeant. Stat ferrea turris ad auras; Tisiphoneque sedens, palla succincta cruenta, 555 Vestibulum exsomnis seruat noctesque diesque. Hinc exaudiri gemitus, et saeua sonare Verbera: tum stridor ferri, tractaeque catenae. Constitit Aeneas strepituque exterritus hae-
sit: 559 ‘ Quae scelerum facies ? o uirgo, effare; quibusue ‘Urgentur poenis ? quis tantus plangor ad auras ?’ Tum uates sic orsa loqui: ‘ Dux inclute Teucrum, ‘ Nulli fas casto sceleratum insistere limen; ‘Sed me cum lucis Hecate praefecit Auernis, 564 “Ipsa deum poenas docuit, perque omnia duxit. ‘Gnosius haec Rhadamanthus habet durissima
regna, “ Castigatque auditque dolos, subigitque fateri, “Οὐδ quis apud superos, furto laetatus inani, ‘ Distulit in seram commissa piacula mortem. ‘Continuo sontis ultrix accincta flagello 570 ‘ Tisiphone quatit insultans, toruosque sinistra ‘Intentans anguis uocat agmina saeua sororum. “Tum demum horrisono stridentes cardine sacrae ‘Panduntur portae. Cernis, custodia qualis ‘ Vestibulo sedeat ? Facies quae limina servet ὁ 575 ‘ Quinquaginta atris immanis hiatibus Hydra
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The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
‘Saeuior intus habet sedem. Tum Tartarus ipse ‘ Bis patet in praeceps tantum tenditque sub um- bras, ‘Quantus ad aetherium caeli suspectus Olympum. ‘Hic genus antiquum Terrae, Titania pubes, 580 ‘ Fulmine deiecti, fundo uoluuntur in imo: ‘Hic et Aloidas geminos, immania uidi ‘Corpora, qui manibus magnum rescindere caclum ‘ Adgressi, superisque Iouem detrudere regnis. ‘ Vidi et crudelis dantem Salmonea poenas, 585 ‘Dum flammas Iouis et sonitus imitatur Olympi. ‘Quattuor hic inuectus equis et lampada quassans “ Per Graium populos mediaeque per Elidis urbem ‘Ibat ouans, diuomque sibi poscebat honorem, “ Demens, qui nimbos et non imitabile fulmen 500 ‘ Aere et cornipedum pulsu simularet equorum. ‘ At pater omnipotens densa inter nubila telum “ Contorsit, non ille faces, nec fumea taedis “Lumina, praecipitemque immani turbine ade- git. “Nec non et Tityon, Terrae omniparentis alum- num, 595 “ Cernere erat, per tota novem cui iugera corpus ‘ Porrigitur; rostroque immanis uoltur obunco “Immortale iecur tondens fecundaque poenis ‘ Viscera rimaturque epulis habitatque sub alto “ Pectore, nec fibris requies datur ulla renatis. 600 ‘ Quid memorem Lapithas, [xiona Pirithoumque ?*** “ Quos super atra silex iam iam lapsura cadentique “Imminet adsimilis: lucent genialibus altis ‘ Aurea fulcra toris, epulaeque ante ora paratae 67
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
“ Regifico luxu; Furiarum maxima iuxta 605
‘ Accubat, et manibus prohibet contingere mensas,
‘ Exsurgitque facem attollens, atque intonat ore.
‘Hic, quibus inuisi fratres, dum uita manebat,
‘ Pulsatusue parens, et fraus innexa clienti,
‘Aut qui diuitiis soli incubuere repertis, 610
‘ Nec partem posuere suis (quae maxima turba est) ;
‘ Quique ob adulterium caesi, quique arma secuti
‘ Impia, nec ueriti dominorum fallere dextras,
‘ Inclusi poenam exspectant. Ne quaere doceri,
‘Quam poenam, aut quae forma uiros fortunaue mersit. 615
‘Saxum ingens uoluunt alii, radiisue rotarum
‘ Districti pendent: sedet aeternumque sedebit
‘ Infelix Theseus; Phlegyasque miserrimus omnis
‘ Admonet, et magna testatur uoce per umbras:
‘ Discite tustitiam moniti et non tennere dinuos. 620
‘ Vendidit hic auro patriam, dominumque potentem
‘Inposuit, fixit leges pretio atque refixit:
‘Hic thalamum inuasit natae uetitosque hyme- naeos:
‘ Ausi omnes immane nefas, ausoque potiti. 624
‘Non, mihi si linguae centum sint oraque centum,
‘ Ferrea uox, omnis scelerum comprendere formas,
‘Omnia poenarum percurrere nomina possim.’ Haec ubi dicta dedit Phoebi longaeua sacerdos :
‘Sed iam age, carpe uiam, et susceptum perfice munus. 629
‘ Adceleremus,’ ait. ‘ Cyclopum educta caminis
‘Moenia conspicio, atque aduerso fornice portas,
‘ Haec ubi nos praecepta iubent deponere dona.’
68
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Dixerat, et pariter gressi per opaca uiarum Corripiunt spatium medium, foribusque propin-
quant. Occupat Aeneas aditum, corpusque recenti 635 Spargit aqua, ramumque aduerso in limine figit.
His demum exactis, perfecto munere diuae, Deuenere locos laetos, et amoena uirecta Fortunatorum nemorum, sedesque beatas. Largior hic campos aether et lumine uestit 640 Purpureo, solemque suum, sua sidera norunt. Pars in gramineis exercent membra palaestris, Contendunt ludo et fulua luctantur harena; Pars pedibus plaudunt choreas et carmina dicunt. Nec non Threicius longa cum ueste sacerdos 645 Obloquitur numeris septem discrimina uocum, Iamque eadem digitis, iam pectine pulsat eburno. Hic genus antiquum Teucri, pulcherrima proles, Magnanimi heroes, nati melioribus annis, 649 Tlusque Assaracusque οἱ Troiae Dardanus auctor. Arma procul currusque uirum miratur inanis. Stant terra defixae hastae, passimque soluti Per campum pascuntur equi. Quae gratia currum Armorumque fuit uiuis, quae cura nitentis Pascere equos, eadem sequitur tellure repostos. 655 Conspicit, ecce, alios dextra laeuaque per herbam Vescentis laetumque choro paeana canentis Inter odoratum lauri nemus, unde superne Plurimus Eridani per siluam uoluitur amnis 659 Hic manus ob patriam pugnando uolnera passi, Quique sacerdotes casti, dum uita manebat, Quique pii uates et Phoebo digna locuti,
69
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
Inuentas aut qui uitam excoluere per artis,
Quique sui memores aliquos fecere merendo.
Omnibus his niuea cinguntur tempora uitta, 665
Quos circumfusos sic est adfata Sibylla,
Musaeum ante cmnis: medium nam plurima turba
Hunc habet, atque umeris exstantem suspicit altis:
‘ Dicite, felices animae, tuque, optime uates: 669
“ Quae regio Anchisen, quis habet locus ? Illius ergo
‘ Venimus, et magnos Erebi tranauimus amnis.’
Atque hic responsum paucis ita reddidit heres:
‘ Nulli certa domus; lucis habitamus opacis,
‘ Riparumque toros et prata recentia riuis 674
“Tncolimus. Sed uos, si fert ita corde uoluntas,
‘ Hoc superate iugum; et facili iam tramite sistam.’
Dixit, et ante tulit gressum, camposque nitentis
Desuper ostentat; dehinc summa cacumina lin- quunt.
At pater Anchises penitus conualle uirenti Inclusas animas superumque ad lumen ituras 680 Lustrabat studio recolens, omnemque sucrum Forte recensebat numerum carosque nepotes, Fataque fortunasque uirum moresque manusque. Isque ubi tendentem aduersum per gramina uidit Aenean, alacris palmas utrasque tetendit, 685 Effusaeque genis lacrimae, et uox excidit ore:
‘ Venisti tandem, tuaque exspectata parenti
‘ Vicit iter durum pietas ? datur ora tueri,
‘ Nate, tua, et notas audire et reddere ucces ? 689
‘Sic equidem ducebam animo rebarque futurum,
‘Tempora dinumerans,—nec me mea cura fefellit.
‘ Ouas ego te terras et quanta per aequora uectum 70
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
‘ Accipio! quantis iactatum, nate, periclis !
“Quam metui, ne quid Libyae tibi regna nocerent !
Ille autem: ‘ Tua me, genitor, tua tristis imago, 695
“Saepius occurrens, haec limina tendere adegit.
‘ Stant sale Tyrrheno classes. Da iungere dextram,
‘Da, genitor; teque amplexu ne subtrahe nostro.’
Sic memorans largo fletu simul ora rigabat.
Ter conatus ibi collo dare bracchia circum: 700
Ter frustra comprensa manus effugit imago,
Par leuibus uentis uolucrique simillima somno. Interea uidet Aeneas in ualle reducta
Seclusum nemus et uirgulta sonantia siluae,
Lethaeumque domos placidas qui praenatat am- nem. 705
Hunc circum innumerae gentes populique uola- bant ;
Ac uelut in pratis ubi apes aestate serena
Floribus insidunt uariis, et candida circum
Lilia funduntur; strepit omnis murmure campus.
Horrescit uisu subito causasque requirit 710
Inscius Aeneas, quae sint ea flumina porro,
Quive uiri tanto complerint agmine ripas.
Tum pater Anchises: ‘ Animae, quibus altera fato
‘Corpora debentur, Lethaei ad fluminis undam
“Securos latices et longa obliuia potant. 715
“Has equidem memorare tibi atque ostendere co- ram
‘ Tampridem hanc prolem cupio enumerare meorum:
“Quo magis Italia mecum laetere reperta.’
“Ὁ pater, anne aliquas ad caelum hinc ire putan- dum est
7i
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
‘ Sublimis animas, iterumque in tarda reuerti 720 ‘Corpora ἢ Quae lucis miseris tam dira cupido ?’ ‘ Dicam equidem, nec te suspensum, nate, tenebo ;’ Suscipit Anchises, atque ordine singula pandit.
‘ Principio caelum ac terras camposque liquentis ‘Lucentemque globum Lunae Titaniaque astra 725 ‘ Spiritus intus alit: totamque infusa per artus ‘Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet. ‘Inde hominum pecudumque genus uitaeque
uolantum ‘Et quae marmoreo fert monstra sub aequore pon-
tus. ‘Igneus est ollis uigor et caelestis 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 cum luimine uita 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 740 ‘ Suspensae ad uentos; aliis sub gurgite uasto ‘Infectum eluitur scelus, aut exuritur igni. ‘Quisque suos patimur Manis;—exinde per am-
plum ‘Mittimur Elysium, et pauci laeta arua tenemus, ‘Donec longa dies, perfecto temporis orbe, 745
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‘Concretam exemit labem, purumque reliquit ‘ Aetherium sensum, atque aurai simplicis ignem. ‘Has omnis, ubi mille rotam uoluere per annos, “ Lethaeum ad fluuium deus euocat agmine magno: ‘ Scilicet inmemores supera ut conuexa reuisant 750 ‘ Rursus, et incipiant in corpora uelle reuerti.’ Dixerat Anchises: natumque unaque Sibyllam Conuentus trahit in medios, turbamque sonantem: Et tumulum capit, unde omnis longo ordine posset Adversos legere, et uenientum discere uoltus. 755 ‘Nunc age, Dardaniam prolem quae deinde sequa- tur ‘Gloria, qui maneant Itala de gente nepotes, ‘Inlustris animas nostrumque in nomen ituras, ‘Expediam dictis, et te tua fata docebo. ‘Tile, uides, pura iuuenis qui nititur hasta, 760 ‘ Proxima sorte tenet lucis loca, primus ad auras ‘ Aetherias Italo commixtus sanguine surget, ‘ Siluius, Albanum nomen, tua postuma proles; “Quem tibi longaeuo serum Lauinia coniunx ‘ Educet siluis regem regumque parentem; 765 “Unde genus Longa nostrum dominabitur Alba. * Proximus ille Procas, Troianae gloria gentis, ‘ Et Capys, et Numitor, et qui te nomine reddet ‘ Siluius Aeneas, pariter pietate uel armis 769 ‘ Egregius, si unquam regnandam acceperit Albam. “Qui iuuenes ! quantas ostentant, aspice, uiris, ‘ Atque umbrata gerunt ciuili tempora quercu ! ‘Hi tibi Nomentum, et Gabios, urbemque Fide- nam, * Hi Collatinas imponent montibus arces, 73
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‘Pometios, Castrumque Inui, Bolamque, Coram-
que. 775 “Haec tum nomina erunt, nunc sunt sine nomine terrae.
“Quin et auo comitem sese Mauortius addet
“Romulus, Assaraci quem sanguinis Ilia mater
“Educet. Viden’ ut geminae stant uertice cris-
‘tae, 779
“Εἰ pater ipse suo superum iam signat honore 9
‘En huius, nate, auspiciis illa incluta Roma
‘Imperium terris, animos aequabit Olympo,
“ Septemque una sibi muro circumdabit arces,
‘ Felix prole uirum: qualis Berecyntia mater
‘Inuehitur curru Phrygias turrita per urbes, 785
‘Laeta deum partu, centum complexa nepotes,
‘Omnis caelicolas, omnis supera alta tenentis,
‘Huc geminas nunc flecte acies, hanc aspice gen-
tem
“ Romanosque tuos. Hic Caesar, et omnis Iuli
‘ Progenies, magnum caeli uentura sub axem. 790 τ΄ Hic uir, hic est, tibi quem promitti saepius audis,
‘ Augustus Caesar, Diui genus, aurea condet
‘Saecula qui rursus Latio, regnata per arua
“Saturno quondam; super et Garamantas et Indos
‘ Proferet imperium; iacet extra sidera tellus, 795 2‘ Extra anni Solisque uias, ubi caelifer Atlas
“ Axem umero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum.
‘ Huius in aduentum iam nunc et Caspia regna
‘ Responsis horrent diuom et Macotia tellus,
‘Et septemgemini turbant trepida ostia Nili. 800
‘Nec uero Alcides tantum telluris obiuit,
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‘ Fixerit aeripedem ceruam licet, aut Erymanthi
‘ Pacarit nemora, et Lernam tremefecerit arcu: ‘Nec, qui pampineis uictor iuga flectit habenis,
‘ Liber, agens celso Nysae de uertice tigris. 805 ‘Et dubitamus adhuc uirtutem extendere factis ? ‘ Aut metus Ausonia prohibet consistere terra ? ‘Quis procul ille autem ramis insignis oliuae “Sacra ferens ? Nosco crinis incanaque menta “Regis Romani; primam qui legibus urbem 810 ‘Fundabit, Curibus paruis et paupere terra ‘ Missus in imperium magnum. Cui deinde subibit, ‘ Otia qui rumpet patriae residesque mouebit
‘ Tullus in arma uiros et iam desueta triumphis 814 ‘“Agmina. Quem iuxta sequitur iactantior Ancus, ‘Nunc quoque iam nimium gaudens popularibus
auris.
‘ Vis et Tarquinios reges animamque superbam ‘Ultoris Bruti fascisque uidere receptos ?
“ Consulis imperium hic primus saeuasque securis
‘ Accipiet, natosque pater, noua bella moventis, 820 ‘ Ad poenam pulchra pro lbertate uocabit,
‘ Infelix ! utcunque ferent ea facta minores. “Vincet amor patriae laudumque inmensa cupido. “Quin Decios Drusosque prccul, saeuomque se-
curi ‘ Aspice Torquatum, et referentem signa Camil- lum. 825
‘ Tllae autem, paribus quas fulgere cernis in armis,
“ Concordes animae nunc, et dum nocte premuntur, “δα quantum inter se bellum, si lumina uitae
‘ Attigerint, quantas acies stragemque ciebunt,
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‘ Aggeribus socer Alpinis atque arce Monoeci 830 * Descendens, gener aduersis instructus Eois ! ‘Ne, pueri, ne tanta animis adsuescite bella, “Neu patriae ualidas in uiscera wertite uiris: ‘ Tuque prior, tu parce, genus qui ducis Olympo; ‘ Proice tela manu, sanguis meus ! 835 ‘Ille triumphata Capitolia ad alta Corintho ‘Victor aget currum, caesis insignis Achiuis. ‘Eruet ille Argos Agamemnoniasque Mycenas, ‘TIpsumque Aeaciden, genus armipotentis Ach-
illi, 839 ‘Ultus auos Troiae, templa et temerata Mineruae. ‘Quis te, magne Cato, tacitum, aut te, Cosse, re-
linquat ?
Quis Gracchi genus, aut geminos, duo fulmina
belli, ‘Scipiadas, cladem Libyae, paruoque potentem ‘ Fabricium, uel te sulco, Serrane, serentem? 844 “Quo fessum rapitis, Fabii? Tu Maximus 1116 es, “Unus qui nobis cunctando restituis rem. ‘Excudent alii spirantia mollius aera, “Credo equidem, uiuos ducent de marmore uoltus, ‘Orabunt causas melius, caelique meatus ‘ Describent radio, et surgentia sidera dicent: 850 ‘Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento; “ Hae tibi erunt artes, pacisque inponere morem, ‘ Parcere subiectis, et debellare superbos.’
Sic pater Anchises, atque haec mirantibus addit : ‘ Aspice, ut insignis spoliis Marcellus opimis 855 ‘ Ingreditur, uictorque uiros supereminet omnis ! ‘Hic rem Romanam, magno turbante tumultu,
76 γι
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‘Sistet eques, sternet Poenos Gallumque rebellem, ‘ Tertiaque arma patri suspendet capta Quirino.’ Atque hic Aeneas (una namque ire uidebat 860 Egregium forma iuuenem et fulgentibus armis, Sed frons laeta parum, et deiecto lumina uoltu) ‘ Quis, pater, ille, uirum qui sic comitatur euntem ? ‘ Filius, anne aliquis magna de stirpe nepotum ? 864 ‘ Qui strepitus circa comitum! quantum instar in ipso ! ‘Sed nox αἶγα caput tristi circumuolat umbra.’ Tum pater Anchises, lacrimis ingressus obortis: “Ὁ nate, ingentem luctum ne quaere tuorum. ‘ Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata, neque ultra ‘Esse sinent. Nimium uobis Romana propago 870 ‘Visa potens, superi, propria haec si dona fuissent. ‘Quantos ille uirum magnam Mauortis ad urbem ‘Campus aget gemitus! uel quae, Tiberine, uidebis ‘ Funera, cum tumulum praeterlabere recentem ! “Nec puer Iliaca quisquam de gente Latinos 875 ‘In tantum spe tollet auos; nec Romula quondam ‘Ullo se tantum tellus iactabit alumno. ‘ Heu pietas, heu prisca fides, inuictaque bello ‘Dextera! Non illi se quisquam inpune tulisset ‘ Obuius armato, seu cum pedes iret in hostem, 880 “Seu spumantis equi foderet calcaribus armos. ‘Heu, miserande puer, si qua fata aspera rumpas, “Tu Marcellus eris. Manibus date lilia plenis ‘ Purpureos spargam flores, animamque nepotis ‘ His saltem adcumulem donis, et fungar inani 885 ‘ Munere.’—Sic tota passim regione uagantur Aéris in campis latis, atque omnia lustrant.
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Quae postquam Anchises natum per singula duxit,
Incenditque animum famae uenientis amore,
Exin bella uiro memorat, quae deinde gerenda, 890
Laurentisque docet populos urbemque Latini,
Et quo quemque modo fugiatque feratque laborem. Sunt geminae Somni portae: quarum altera fertur
Cornea, quae ueris facilis datur exitus umbris,
Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto, 895
Sed falsa ad caelum mittunt insomnia Manes.
His ibi tum natum Anchises unaque Sibyllam
Prosequitur dictis, portaque emittit eburna:
Tile uiam secat ad nauis, sociosque reuisit ;
Tum se ad Caietae recto fert litore portum. goo
Ancora de prora iacitur; stant litore puppes.
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COMMENTARY
1, 2. SERVIUS sane sciendum, licet primos duos uersus Probus et alii in quintt reliquerint fine, prudenter ad initium sexti esse translatos. nam et coniunctio poematis meltor est et Homerus etiam sic incohauit ὡς φάτο δακρυχέων (Il. 1. 357)- The dislocation of these lines is due, no doubt, to Vergil’s methods of composition. The beginning of Bk. 6 and the end of Bk. 5 were composed at different times, and these two lines written subsequently to form the connecting link. The original beginning of Bk. 6 (obueriunt pelago proras) was too
_abrupt to be permanently retained as an opening. See Conrad, Quaest. Verg. (Trier, 1863), p. xxiv, for a some- what more elaborate statement of this view.
τ. immittit habenas. Cp. 8. 708 laxos tam tamque tmmit- tere funis. The metaphor first occurs in Lucr. 5. 787 immissis habenis, though not there applied to a ship. It is, however, as Henry points out, highly appropriate to a ship, the rudentes (sheets) being the habenae.
2. Euboicis. Cp. Liv. 9. 22 Cumani ab Chalcide Euboica originem trahunt. The colonisation of Cumae took place about 700 B.c., long after Aeneas’ time. Vergil is thinking of the Cumae of his own day. For the transferred epithet cp. 9. 710 in Euboico Baiarum litore, and in this book Dardana Paridis tela (57).
adlabitur oris. Cp. 3. 131 Curetum adlabimur oris. 569 Cyclopum adlabimur orts.
3. For other disembarkations in the Aeneid, see 1. 157; 3.219; 7.107. Cp. also Od. 9. 85 and το. 56.
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The ship was headed to sea and backed on to the shelving shore. It was held at the bows with an anchor, at the stern by stern cables.
4. fundabat. “ Began to secure.” The ships came to shore in succession and were anchored as they came in. The phrase fundare nauem elsewhere (except for Claud. Mall. Cons. 113, which may be regarded as an imitation of Vergil) =“ to lay the keel of a ship”: cp. Plaut. Mil. 918 haec carina satis probe fundata et bene statuta est. Ov. P. 4. 3. 5 puppis ualida fundata carina. But the metaphorical use of fundare in the sense of “ to fix or establish ” is so common, that the present phrase presents no difficulties. Cp. Solin. 52, where fundamento is used of the parrot’s beak employed as an anchor {ancora in parallel passage in Apul. Flor. 12).
5. praetexunt. “Border” or “fringe.” Cp. E. 7.. 12 praetexit arundine ripas | Minctus.
juuenum manus. SERVIUS post conditam in Sicilia ciuitatem senum aut nulla aut rara fit mentio.
6. Hesperium. The name ‘Eovepia, ‘‘ Western land,” was given by the Greeks equally to Italy and Spain. Vergil adopts the word from Ennius (A. 23) est locus, Hesperium quem mortales perhibebant. Cp. 1. 530 est locus, Hesperium Grai cognomine dicunt. For Vergil Hesperia is always Italy. Horace uses the name both of Italy (Od. 3. 6. 8) and of Spain (Od. 1. 36. 4). .
6. semina flammae=“ sparks ”’: cp. seminibus (731). A - translation of the Homeric σπέρματα πυρός (Od. 5. 490). For the whole phrase cp. G. 1. 135 τὲ silicis uents abstrusum excuderet ignem.
7. Silicis. The hard lava rock still known as selce in Italy.
densa ferarum tecta. Cp. 179 stabula alta ferarum. Vergil describes a thinly inhabited land covered with virgin forests.
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Commentary
rapit. J.e., “ plunder for firewood.” Cp. Caes. B. G. 5. 39 qui lignationis munitionisque causa in siluas discesserints For this use of rapio cp. 2. 374 rapiunt incensa feruntque | Pergama. Tac. Ann. 13. 6 Armeniam rapere. Siat. Th. 7. 599. Sil. 15. 401. Others take rapit=‘‘ scour the woods,’’ t.e., for game as in 1, 184, or to find water. Cp. Stat. Th. 5. 3 campum sonipes rapit, and the common use of corripere with uiam (1. 418), spatia (5. 316), etc. But the sense is less natural. Three actions being described, of which two are the kindling of fire and the finding of water, it is natural to take the third as meaning lignatio, where there is no indica- tion to the contrary.
9. pius. SERVIUS guippe ad templa festinans.
altus. SERvIUS uel magnus, ut (το. 737) “‘tacet altus Orodes,” uel ad simulacri magnitudinem rettulit, quod fuisse constat altissimum. Coelius enim de Cumaeo Apolline ait “est in fano simulacrum Apollinis ligneum altum non minus pedes XV.” Both views are fanciful. The context clearly shows that alius means “‘ high-throned ” on the lofty arx of Cumae. It may also carry with it the suggestion of majesty as in the altus Apollo of το. 875.
The site of the temple and the general topography of 9-45. The Euboeans founded their city on a volcanic hill about too yards from the seashore. The sides of the hill are of precipitous trachyte accessible only on the S.E. The hill has two summits, one seawards on the.W., the other, slightly lower, on the E., near the entrance to the fortress town, On this latter eminence are the remains of a temple, which is shown by an inscription (C.I.L. ro. 211.) APOLLINI CVMANO | Q. TinElus Rurus, to have been the temple of Apollo Arche- getes, the sanctuary from which the cult of Apollo spread to the rest of Italy. In addition to the colossal statue of the god mentioned above (see n. on altus), it contained the bones
81 G
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of the Sibyl and the alleged teeth of the Erymanthine boar.
At the S.E. corner of the hill, below and to the right of the entrance to the arx, is a cave on the roof of which are reliefs depicting implements described by Beloch (Norden, p. 1 33) as instruments of sacrifice, by Gabrici (Mon. Ant., vol. 22, p. 50), as the tools used for hollowing out the cave. Imme- diately to the right of this cave is the mouth of a wide tunnel, leading upward by a staircase through the heart of the rock in the direction of the temple of Apollo, with which it may in ancient times have communicated. Local tradition identi- fies the cavern with the grotto of the Sibyl where her oracle was situated. The position of this cave exactly agrees with the minute description given by Agathias, i. 10: ἐν τῷ πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα τοῦ λόφου τετραμμένῳ ἀγκῶνι ἄντρον τι ὕπεστιν ἀμφηρεφές τε καὶ γλαφυρώτατον, ὡς ἄδυτά τε ἔχειν αὐτόματα καὶ κύτος εὐρὺ καὶ βαραθρωδὲς. ἐνταῦθα δὴ πάλαι φασὶ τὴν Σίβυλλαν τὴν πάνυ τὴν ᾿Ιταλίαν ἐνδιαιτωμένην φοιβόληπτόν τε εἶναι καὶ ἔνθουν καὶ προαγορεύειν τὰ ἐσόμενα τοῖς πυνθανομένοις.
This cave was in ancient times far larger. A grotto, forming a large apsidal anti-chamber to the existing cave, extended under the fortifications of the entrance to the arx, and opened to the left of the gateway. This was, however, destroyed by Narses in the sixth century A.D., the cave being used as a means of undermining the gateway fortifications (see Agathias, l.c.). As a result the left bastion has disappeared; the right bastion still stood when Di Iorio made his explorations in 1817. The existing mouth is immediately to the right of the latter bastion. See Beloch, Kampanien (2nd ed., p. 159 544.) and in Norden (1st ed., p. 133). Above all consult Gabrici,
Mon. Ant. 22 (1913, 14), PP» 9 Sqg-3 50: 757, 764. 82
9 ommentary
That this is the oracular cave of the Sibyl there can be little doubt. The existence of a Grotta della Sibilla on the shores of Avernus, and the fact that Aeneas is made to descend by this route to the underworld, have led many to assume that the Sibylline oracle was on the shores of the lake. That there was a tradition to this effect even in ancient times is probable enough: cp. Stat. Silv. 5. 3. 172 sic ad Auernales scopulos et opaca Sibyllae | antra rogaturae uentebant undique gentes (see also below). But it is perfectly clear from Vergil and his imitator Silius (13. 498) that the oracle was at Cumae itself, and is to be distinguished from the grotto of Avernus (see Cluverius, Italia antiqua, ed. 1624, p. 1113; Cocchia, La geografica delle Metamorfost d’Ovidio e l Averno Virgiliano, Att. R. Accad. archeol. di Napoli, xviii., 1898; Chiapelli, L’antro della Sibilla a Cuma, Alti, sc. mor. e pol. di Napoli, XXXi., 1900, p. 557). The Sibyl has two functions. She is the priestess of Apollo and of Triuia or Hecate. In the former capacity she is connected with the shrine of Apollo, the oracular cave, and the grove of Triuia at Cumae (13, 35, 42 sqq. Cp. also 69); in the latter capacity she is the priestess of the Avernian groves (118, 564). The éecta Sibyllae (211) are the cavern of Avernus (see n. ad loc.), With regard to these twofold functions of the Sibyl Norden (p. 118) suggests with plausibility that when the Greek colonists arrived at Cumae they found an ancient νεκυομαντεῖον. Cp. Strabo, 5. 244, where Ephorus is cited to the effect that there was an oracle there in ancient days, but that it had been removed elsewhere (see n. on 237). On dedicating a temple to their guide and patron, Apollo Archegetes, on the Citadel of Cumae, they did not venture to dispossess the ancient earth-goddess, whose worship existed as late as the third century B.c.: cp. Liv. 24. 12. 4 ad lacum Auerni per speciem sacrificandt descendit. Instead they united the worship of the two deities, 83
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the sun-god and the earth-goddess, identifying the latter with Hecate and dedicating a sacred grove in her honour hard by the temple of Apollo: one priestess was placed in charge of the two cults.
As regards the relation between the temple of Apollo and the oracular cave, Vergil is not explicit. But in view of what has been said above and the apparent existence of a passage leading from the cave or its immediate proximity to the temple of Apollo, it may be inferred that Aeneas, after entering by the gate of the arx and passing through the grove of Triuia, came to the door of the temple (13). While he lingered to gaze on the scenes depicted on the folding doors, the Sibyl came to him and led him into the temple (41). The next three lines describe the cave and in 45 we are told that they have reached the threshold. It has been suggested that they descended to the cave by the subterranean passage described above. Parallels may be found elsewhere. See Norden on 42-45. This view, however, merely complicates the difficulty, since in either case the omission of the description of the descent leaves a certain obscurity. (Norden in his second edition abandons this interpreta- tion.)
ro. procul secreta. (1) “ Far withdrawn,” 1.6., deep in the rock beneath the temple. (2) SERvIUS procul haud longe. The latter has probably some truth in it: cp. E. 6. 16 serta procul, tantum capiti de bapsa tacebant. A. το. 834 corpusque leuabat | arboris acclinis trunco. procul aerea ramis | dependet galea. But the sense is not precisely haud longe, but rather ‘apart’: Servius is, however, right in holding that no great distance is implied: see-Forcellini s.v.
Sibyllae. The origin of the Sibyl is uncertain, Utterances attributed to her were current in Greece in the sixth century B.c. Cp. Plut. de or. Py-h. 6 Σίβυλλα δὲ μαινομένῳ
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Commentary
στόματι καθ᾽ “Ἡράκλειτον ἀγέλαστα καὶ ἀκαλλώπιστα φθεγ- γομένη χιλιών ἐτῶν ἐξικνεῖται τῇ φωνῇ διὰ τὸν Oedv—i.e., she is a frenzied prophetess inspired by Apollo. Origin- ating in Asia Minor, she became localised in various Greek cities (Marpessus, Erythrae, Delphi, etc.), and broke up in course of time into several Sibyls. One of the Sibylline abodes was Cumae, the oldest Greek city in Italy and probably the fountain-head of the Apollo cult in Italy. The Sibyl..of.Cumae is identified with the Erythrean Sibyl by Pseudo-Aristot. de mirab. 1158, and by Servius on 321: Sibyllam Apollo pio amore dilexit et et obtulit poscendt quod uellet arbitrium. 1114 hausit harenam manibus et tam longam uitam poposcit. cui Apollo responditid posse fieri, st Erythream in qua habitabat insulam relinqueret et eam nunquam uideret. profecta igitur Cumas tenuit et illic defecta corporis uiribus uitam in sola uoce retinuit. quod cum ciues eius (sc. Erythraet) cognouissent siue insidia siue commiseratione commott et epistulam miserunt creta antiquo more signatum: qua wisa quia erat de eius insula in mortem soluta est. It was the Sibyl of Cumae who, according to legend, brought the Sibylline books to Rome in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus. The meaning of the name Sibylla is uncertain. Varro (ap. Lact. Inst. 1. 6.) derives it from the Aecolic cot βυλή -- θεοῦ βουλή, Diodorus (4. 66. 7) from σιβυλλαίνειν = ἐνθεάζειν κατὰ γλῶτταν; Pausanius regards it is Libyan (το. 12. 1), Suidas as Latin (? connected with sapiens, Diez, Lex. Etym., p. 300). It isnot improbable that the name is of Oriental origin.
There is no trace of any earlier legend connecting Aeneas with the Sibyl of Cumae; but in older legend he seems to have consulted the Sibyl of Marpessus (Maass, Hermes, 18, p. 322. Robert, Hermes, 22, p. 454). Vergil, in view of the important part played by the Sibylline books at Rome, may have been the first to introduce the Sibyl of Cumae into
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the Aeneas legend, one of his many devices for introducing national colour into his epic.
The Sibylline oracle had ceased by the time of Plutarch, l.c. Possibly all surviving Sibylline writings were taken to Rome after the burning of the original books in 83 B.c. (see notes on 71, 2). The Sibyl’s bones were exhibited in the temple of Apollo at Cumae according to Pausanias (l.c.), though according to others her tomb was at Lilybaeum (Solin. 2. 17 and 5. 7). See Buchholz in Roscher, Lex. Myth, s.v. Sibylla.
Ir. cui mentem animumgus inspirat. ‘Into whom he breathes his mighty mind and will.” Cp. il. 20. 110 ἔμπνευσε μένος μέγα ποιμένι λαῶν. The phrase mens animusque need not here be regarded as tautologous, which it frequently is elsewhere (e.g., Lucr. 1. 74 omne immensum peragrautt mente animoque, and the parallel Homeric phrase κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμόν).
12. Delius uates. The Delian god is himself a prophet, the “ uwates of Jove, as the Sibyl was of Apollo: cp. 3. 251 quae Phoebo pater omnipotens, mihi Phoebus Apollo | praedixit, uobts Furiarum maxima pando.’ Henry. Cp. also Aesch. Eum. 19. 616 sqq.
13. subeunt. The poet changes from the singular petit to the plural subeunt. It is Aeneas’ purpose which leads to the visit-hence petit; but he is not unaccompanied-hence subeunt,
Triuiae. The goddess of the three roads, a translation of Τριοδῖτις as an epithet of Hecate. This name, under which Diana is worshipped as goddess of the underworld, is found in Latin as early as Ennius (Tr. fr. 362, Ribbeck) and in inscriptions as in C.I.L. το. 3795 Dianae Tifatinae Triuiae. Hecate, a mysterious Chthonian goddess, is in Greek mytho- logy not necessarily identified with Artemis, but in Latin
86
Commentary
authors is invariably identified with Diana. So here, though she may have been originally a local earth-goddess (see n. on 9-45, above), she is for Vergil the Chthonian aspect of Diana and associated with her brother Phoebus.
aurea tecta. Sc. Phoebi.
14. ut fama est. An imitation of Hellenistic poetry. Cp. 266 audita logui, 284 ferunt, 893 fertur, 173 si credere dignum est. The motive for the introduction of such phrases is twofold: (a) the desire to give authority (cp. ἀμάρτυρον οὐδὲν ἀείδειν, Call. Fr. 242); (b) an apology for the mira- culous (cp. Ap. Rhod. 1. 59. Cp. also Ar. Poet. 1461b, 9; ats 64%2,10, 76,-F24, 212... Hor. Od. τ΄, 7. 233, 16.133 3.5. At, etc.).
Daedalus. Servius Daedalus primo Sardiniam, ut dicit Sallustius (Hist. 2. 6. Kr.), post delatus est Cumas. Other versions make him land in Sicily (Diod. 4.77. Paus. 7. 4. 6) without mentioning Cumae. With regard to his connexion with Cumae Norden suggests that it may be due to the fact that he was closely associated with Chalcis in Euboea, the mother city of Cumae, in early genealogies (cp. Toepftfer, Alttische Genealogie, p. 168).
15. praepetibus pennis. praepes is specially connected with the science of augury. It is probably derived from prae and ῥείο (cp. impes=impetus). This is the view held by Servius, Festus, and Aulus Gellius (7. 6). But there is doubt as to the exact meaning. All agree that the word came from its use in augury to mean “ prosperous,” “ fair- omened.”’ But whether the original meaning is “ seeking that which is in front,” z.e., flying straight ahead, or possibly ‘* selecting a suitable spot to settle on in preference to all others ” (cp. Iul. Hyg. ap. Aul. Gell. l.c. quae idoneas sedes capiunt) cannot be determined. Servius paraphrases here as uel uelocibus uel felicibus. For the first interpretation there
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is No support save in so far as it can be implied by the meaning ‘* prosperous.’ We should therefore probably interpret it here=“‘ felicibus.”” Cp. Aul. Gell. l.c., where he defends Vergil against the judgment of Julius Hyginus: xam quoniam non ipsae tantum aues quae prosperius praeuolant, sed etiam loct quos capiunt quod idonei felicesque sunt, praepetes appel- lantur, idcirco Daedali pinnas praepetes dixit, quoniam ex locis in quibus periculum metuebat in loca tutiora peruenerat. Two other interpretations are given by Aulus Gellius: (1) auibus praepetibus contrarias aues inferas appellari Nigidius Figulus in libro primo auguriit priuati ita dictt “ discrepat dextra sinistrae, praepes inferae.”’ On this view praepetibus might mean “soaring.” (2) adulescens ego Romae cum etiam tum ad grammaticos itarem, audiui Apollin- arem Sulpicium...cum de iure augurio quaereretur et mentio praepetum auium facta esset . . . dicere praepetes sibi uidert esse alites, quas Homerus τανυπτέρυγας appellauerat, guoniam ἰδίας potissimum augures spectarent quae ingentibus alis patulae atque porrectae praeuolauerunt: cp. Il. 12. 237 τυνὴ δ᾽ οἰώνεσσι τανυπτερύγεσσι κελεύεις | πείθεσθαι κτλ. On this view the word is connected with patulus, pateo, etc. Norden accepts this derivation and explains Ennius, A. 478 praepete portu and (A. 97) praepetibus pulcrisque locis as “wide,” “open.” But they may equally well mean a “fair haven” and “ fair-omened,’’ while the weight of tradi- tion and the analogy of zmpes support the common deriva- tion from peto. But certainty is impossible ; the meaning was probably doubtful even in Vergil’s time. The word occurs also in 3. 361 in its augural sense (praepetis omina pennae).
τό. enauit. The metaphor first occurs in Ennius, A. 21 transnauit (Venus) cita per teneras caliginis auras. Cp. also Lucr. 3. 591 guam prolapsa foras enaret ad aeris auras, and in
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Vergil, G. 4. 59 nare, A. 4. 245 tranat nubila. Quintilian (8. 6. 18) styles the metaphor a speciosissima translatio, but bans its use in prose. It is first found in prose in Apuleius (Met. 5. 25).
gelidas ad Arctos can equally be interpreted of Daedalus northward flight and of his soaring high towards the stars; but the first is the more pointed.
17. Chaleidica. Seen. on 2.
super can be taken either as a preposition or an adverb. The fact that it is separated by adstitit from arce makes the latter more probable (cp. 1. 301. Libyae citus adstitit oris). In that case arce is loc. abl. Norden compares Pind. fr. 101 Bgk. σκοπιαῖσιν ἄκραις ὀρέων ὕπερ ἔστα.
arce. The precipitous rock citadel of Cumae, known as the Rocca di Cuma.
18. remigium alarum. Cp. Lucr. 6. 743 remigi oblitae pinnarum, and for the whole passage A. 1. 300 wolat 1116 per aethera magnum | remigio alarum ac Libyae citus adstitit oris. Also Aesch. Ag, 52 πτερύγων ἐρέτμοισιν ἐρεσσόμενοι. Norden suggests that the rare licence remigi in Lucr., l.c., points to the phrase being drawn from an older source.
posuitque immania templa. Cp. G. 3. 13 templum de marmore ponam. The temple is a votive offering. Norden regards the words quite unnecessarily as ἃ ὕστερον πρότερον. The dedication of the wings to Phoebus would be immediate and need not wait for the completion of the temple. In connexion with this line and the description of the reliefs carved upon the doors, the position of Daedalus in legend as the first of sculptors and the founder of arts and crafts must be borne in mind,
20. in foribus. Cp. G. 3. 26 in foribus pugnam ex auro solidoque elephanto | Gangaridum faciam, etc. A. τ. 453 544. where the fate of Troy is depicted on the walls or doors of
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the temple of Juno at Carthage: also 5. 250 sgg. On one of the folding doors are represented the scenes laid in Attica, on the other the adventures in Crete (cp. contra and respondet). It is possible that the temple of Cumacan Apollo possessed such reliefs in Vergil’s day.
letum. Sc. fecit, to be supplied from posuit : cp. faciam in Georg. l.c.
Androgeo is the reading of Servius, Charisius, Priscian, and Probus, as against Androgei of the MSS. Androgeo is the Attic gen. of ᾿Ανδρογέως, and on the principle of potior lectio difficillima is clearly to be preferred. Androgei is, however, the reading of 2. 392 (but cp, Androgeos (nom.) in 2. 371). In 5. 265 Demoleos (nom.) seems the true reading (cp. Quint. 8. 4. 25), while in 2. 425 all the weight of evidence is for Penelet, not Peneleo. The gen. in -i cannot be defended on logical grounds. The alternatives to the Attic forms of the names would be ᾿Ανδρόγαιος, IInveAdos, Δημολάος.
Androgeos was the son of Minos and coming to Athens was victorious at the Panathenaic games. Two versions of his death are given by Apollod. 3. 15. 7: (r) Aegeus sent him to fight the Marathonian bull which killed him; (2) Androgeos was on his way to the funeral games of Laius and was am- bushed and slain by rival competitors who feared his prowess. If the first form of the legend is that which Vergil had in his mind, the bull of Marathon on one door will be balanced by the bull of Crete (24) on the other. The form Androgeon is found in Prop. 2. 1. 62 Androgeona, and implied by Catullus (64. 67 Androgeonese).
21. Cecropidae. The Athenians, so-called from Cecrops, legendary king of Athens. Vergil is perhaps imitating Calli- machus, who in a somewhat similar context (Del, 315) calls the Athenians Κεκρόπιδαι, Catullus (64. 79) in the same context calls Attica Cecropia,
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Commentary
septena ... corpora natorum. Most versions of the story make the tribute, which Athens was compelled to pay for the murder of Androgeos, consist of 7 boys and 7 girls (Cp. Plut. Thes.15. Paus.1.27,10. Diod. 4.61.3. <Apollod. 3. 15. 8). Hyg. Fab. 41, however, agrees with Vergil and makes the tribute consist of 7 in all.
quotannis. The legend varies, making the tribute yearly as here (also Hyg. |.c.), or every 9 years (Plut. Thes. l.c.).
22. stat ductis sortibus urna. Not probably=stat urna et sortes inde ducuntur, though G. 2. 141 provides an adequate parallel; but rather =sitat post ductas sortes urna. The scene represents the parting of the Athenians from their children: the presence of the urn indicates what has occurred. If the lots are shown, they are seen lying beside the urn. This is the simplest and most literal interpretation of the passage, and there is no need to adopt the more elaborate interpreta- tion given above.
23. eontra=on the opposite door.
respondet = matches or corresponds.
Gnosia MR: Cnosia P. The correct Latin spelling is Gnosia, following the rule whereby “any guttural before n, m becomes the group gv, gm—e.g., ilignus from ilex, or the loan-word cygnus from κύκνος " (Lindsay, Latin Language, p. 292). Whether Vergil preferred the Latin or the Greek form it is impossible to determine. But see Norden, ad loc. ; the MSS. from whose evidence he attempts to reach a con- clusion give no certain answer. We cannot be sure as to Vergil’s practice, which may itself have been inconsistent.
24. tauri. Objective gen. “for the bull.”
suppostaque furto. ‘‘ Mated by stealth.”’ Cp. 7. 283 sup- posita de matre, The allusion is to the wooden cow devised by Daedalus for the purpose; cp, Prop. 4. 7. 57 Cressae .. . lignea monstra bouts.
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mixtumque genus prolesque biformis. Not tautologous. The first phrase gives the origin, the second the appearance of the Minotaur.
Minotaurus. Cp. Ov. Ars. Am. 2. 23 semibouemque uirum semiuirumque bouem.
labor ille domus et inextricabilis error. For labor cp. 1. 455 operumque laborem. Virtually=opus, but carrying with it the idea of the immense labour required to contrive the labyrinth. For inextricabilis error cp. Cat. 64. 115 inobserua- bilis error also applied to the Labyrinth. Cp. also 5. 591 falleret indeprensus et irremeabilis error. Here, again, we have abstract for concrete, error=‘‘ maze.” The Labyrinth may have been suggested by the complicated system of passages, chambers, and stairways in the ruins of Cnossus, but was conceived by the ancients as a square maze, in which form it is figured on the coins of Cnossus (Cp. Daremberg et Saglio, s.v. Labyrinthe, and Roscher, Myth. Enc., s.v. Minotauros), and in graffiti at Pompeii, with the words hic habitat Mino- taurus added (Dar. et Saglio, l.c.).
reginae amorem, not the passion of Pasiphae, but the love of her daughter Ariadne for Theseus. Vergil’s description of the legend is compressed and summary, as he is merely giving a brief outline of the sculptures on the Temple-gates.
sed enim=daAAa yap, enim=Gk. δή in its original meaning, cp. Lindsay, Latin Language, p. 603. ‘‘In O. Lat. an asse- verative particle merely (cf. enimuero), a usage imitated by Vergil—e.g., A. 8.84 quam pius Aeneas tibi enim, tibt maxima Iuno, | mactat sacra ferens.” Cp. also 6. 317 miratus enim. G. 2. 509 geminatus enim; 3. 70 semper enim refice. sed enim was archaic according to Quintilian, but is Ciceronian.
30, uestigia. The sense requires that uestigia should mean Thesei uestigia, though there has been no mention of Theseus» the phrase would naturally =swa uestigia or reginae uestigia
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neither of which is admissible. Cp. Cat. 64.113 errabunda regens tenut uestigia filo, where Theseus is the subject.
31. sineret dolor. The omission of si is unusual with past tenses of the subjunctive, though not uncommon with the present. But cp. Ov. M. 9. 490 omnia di facerent, essent communia nobis. The construction is best explained by regarding the protasis as expressed in the form of a wish or concession,
32. Cp. Od. 11. 206 τρὶς μὲν ἐφωρμήθη.
33. protinus=‘“‘ successively ”: cp. G. 4. 1.
omnia. Scanned as a dissyllable by synizesis of the last two syllables. Cp. 7. 237 uerba precantia. Macrobius (5. 14), objecting to this view, regards it as an instance of hyper- meter; this is impossible, as the next line does not begin with a vowel. It is possible that we should read omnia with Ambrosius for omnis MPR in G. 4. 221, while there is good, though not overwhelming, authority for Lauiniaque uenit in A. 1. 2, Here R reads omne, which was also probably the reading of Servius, whose MSS. give omnem. But this is clearly a correction to avoid the necessity of the synizesis. Similarly R reads precantum in 7. 237.
34. perlegerent. Cp. 13 subeunt. 40 morantur. Aeneas had not gone alone.
praemissus Achates. Cp. 1.644 praemittit Achaten. There has been no mention of this. Cp. 4. 416, where Dido ad- dresses her sister whom we should not otherwise have known to be present.
36. Deiphobe.—The name occurs only here. The name of the Cumaean Sibyl is given variously as Demophile, Hero- phile, Amalthea, Melanchraina in other authors,
Glauci, sc. filia. Cp. Liv, 27. 20, 4 Hasdrubal Gisgonis, The ellipse, regular in Greek, is found not infrequently with foreign names in Latin. With Roman names filius or filia is
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regularly added. Glaucus was aseagod and himself a prophet. Maass (Comment. Mythogr. Greisswald, 1886-87, p. 13 544.) points out that he was specially associated with Chalcis. Norden suggests that the Chalcidian connexion accounts for Detphobe Glauct here.
38. grege. SERVIUS gregem pro armento posuit, nam de tuuencis dicturus est: quae per poeticam licentiam saepe con- fundit. illo loco proprie posuit (7. 538) quinque greges illt balantum, quina redibant | armenta. grex can, however, be used of larger animals than sheep: cp. Cic, Phil. 3. 12. 31 greges armentorum ceterique pecoris. Verr. 2, 2. 7. 20 equarum. armentum (as its derivation from aro shows) is only applied to the larger cattle; consequently, when armenta and greges are contrasted, the distinction between grex and armentum made by Servius holds good, but only where there is such a contrast.
intacto. SERVIUS indomito ut et “intacta totidem ceruice iuuencas”’ (G. 4. 540). Cp. Macrob. 3. 5. 5 hostiae iniuges uocantur, quae nunguam domitae sunt aut tugo subactae sunt.
iuuencos. The male victims are for the god, the female for the goddess. Both are maiores hostiae: cp. Varro, R. R, 2.5.6. Gell. 16. 6. Ξ
septem. The odd numbers up to g recur continually in folk-lore. Cp. n. on ter (229). For 7 in general see a curious passage in Macrob. in S. Scip. 1. 6. 64 sqg. For 7 specially associated with worship of Apollo Norden cites Diels, Festschr. f. Gomperz (Vienna, 1902), 9.
praestiterit. ‘‘ It were better.” The perf. subj.=Gk. opt. with av, a polite suggestion taking the place of a command,
leetas. Cp. Macrob. l.c. eximiae hostiae quae ad sacrificium destinatae eximantur a grege.
de more. SERVIUS id est ne habeant caudam aculeatam, ne linguam nigram, ne aurem fissam. The position of the
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phrase and its remoteness from mactare renders it practically certain that it is to be taken with lectas. Norden prefers to take it with mactare, citing 5. 96 caedit binas de more bidentis ; also 4. 57 and 7. 93; 8. 544 mactat lectas de more bidentis.
bidentis. SERVIUS oues sunt circa bimatum habentes duo dentes eminentiores. Plin, 8. 206 Coruncanius ruminales hostias donec bidentes fierent puras negauit. Gell, τό, 6. 14. The word, however, is used of other animals than sheep; cp. Pomponius ap. Gell, l.c. bidenti uerri facere.
40. nec sacra morantur iussa uiri—i.e., the sacrifice is made at Delphi (cp. Herod. 7. 140. Eur. Ion. 226) on the βωμοὶ πρόναοι. Their actual sacrifice, a necessary pre- liminary to consulting the oracle, receives no further mention than in these words,
41, uocat alta in templa. They enter the temple to worship, then come out and descend to the cave: cp. n. on p. 84.
43. lati aditus, ostia centum. The exact arrangement of the oracular cavern is not clear in detail, One thing, however, is certain, that the aditus and ostia are not actual entrances, but openings in the wall of the inner shrine through which the answers of the Sibylare heard. The actual door of the adytwm is described by fores (47) and limen (45). At the present moment the Sibyl is ante fores; her entry into the shrine is not mentioned, but she is within by the time we reach 77 (cp. 77 antro). The consultants of the oracle remain outside at the dimen, and the replies of the prophetess reach them by the aditus and ostia; cp. 151 nostroque in limine pendes. The description of the cave in Bk. 3. 443-452 is of the most general kind; but there also an adytum is indicated: Cp. 447 werso tenuis cum cardine uentus | impulit et teneras turbauit ianua frondes.
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45. poscere fata. Cp. 3. 456 precibus oracula poscas. fatum is used in its primary sense of “ solemn utterance,” “‘ oracle.” Cp. Pac. ap. Cic. Div. 1. 31. 66 neque me Apollo fatis fandis dementent inuitam ciet. ib. 44. 100 fatis quae scripta Veienses haberent. A. 3. 444 fata canit, and 72 below.
46. deus eece deus. The repetition of deus is perhaps from actual ritual. Norden (q.v.) compares Ov. M. 15. 677, where the priestess cries en deus est, deus est, and the Aeneadae reverently repeat her geminata uerba (681). Cp. the re- petition of procul (258).
47. hon uoltus non color unus. Cp. Eur. I. T. 291 παρῆν δ᾽ ὁρᾶν ov ταὐτὰ μορφῆς σχήματα. For the whole description of the Sibyl’s frenzy cp. the exaggerated imitations of Lucan (5. 128) and Seneca (Ag. 710). The meaning of unus is more than that her face is changed; it is continually changing, Cp. Luc. 5. 214 stat nunquam facies.
48. non comptae mansere comae. The fillets binding her hair have already been removed, and there is nothing to restrain it. Cp. 3. 370 wittasque resoluit (of Helenus before prophesying).
49. maiorque uideri. SERviUS videbatur. This is pos- sible, but it may equally well be regarded not as histor. inf., but as the Gk. epexegetic infin. after maior =pei(wv εἰσιδεῖν,
50. nec mortale sonans. Cp. 1. 328 haud tibi uoltus | mortalis nec uox hominem sonat, where hominem is a bold example of the cognate acc. here represented by the neut. adj. mortale.
quando. Causal. For its position cp. 10. 366 aspera quis natura loct dimittere quando | suasit equos.
51, cessas in uota precesque. SERVIUS fardus es ad uota facienda: nam st dixeris “cessasin uotis,”’ hoc significat, tardus es dum ποία facis. Cp. Sen. Med. 406 nunquam meus cessabit in poenas furor. Instances of audere in (2. 347),
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Commentary
ardere in (12. 71), meditart im (το, 455), etc., are not exact parallels, as the verbs imply purpose or motion towards.
53. attonitae “‘is applied strictly and specially to the domus, which being ationzta will not or cannot open its mouth,” Henry, who compares Luc. 2. 21 sic funere primo | attonitae tacuere domus.
magna ora=aditus, ostia (above); cp. 81.
54: Cp. 2. 120 gelidusque per ima cucurrit | ossa tremor.
56. Cp. 1. 597 0 sola infandos Trotae miserata dolores.
57. For the death of Achilles cp. Il. 22. 359 ἤματι τῷ ὅτε κέν oe Ildpis καὶ Φοῖβος ᾿Απόλλων | ἐσθλὸν ἐόντ᾽ ὀλέσωσιν ἐνὶ Σκαιῇσι πύλῃσιν. Ov. M. 12. 596 (Apollo Paridi) “ἡ guid spicula perdis | sanguine plebis” ait. “‘ siqua est tabi cura tuorum, | uertere in Aeaciden caesosque ulciscere fratres.” | dixit et ostentans sternentem Troica ferro | corpora Peliden arcus obuertit in illum | certaque letifera dirextt sptcula dextra.
derexti. For the contraction cp. accestis (1. 201), exstinxem (4. 606), exstinxti (4. 682), traxe (5. 786), uéxet (11. 118).
58. corpus in Aeacidae. For the position of the pre- position cp. litus harenosum ad Libyae (4. 257), culmina perque hominum . . . perque deorum (4.671), fata per Aeneae (7. 234), gente sub Assaraci (9. 643).
obeuntia=circumflua. Cp. Ov. M. 5. 51 quam limbus obibat.
59. duce te. With special reference to the oracle of Apollo, 3. 90 sqq.
61. Massylum gentis. The Massylae were a Libyan tribe, mentioned 4. 132, 483. The name is used generally for African.
praetentaque Syrtibus arua. The statement is not geo- graphically correct, the Syrtes being to the E. of Carthage. The name is used vaguely of the African coast, and is in- tended to suggest the perils of approaching those shores.
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Syrtibus is dat. not abl., the dative being the natural con- struction. Conington takes it as abl. and quotes the analogous construction of praetextt with the abl. in 4. 172. It makes no difference to the sense, and involves a bolder construction.
61. Cp. 3. 496 arua neque Ausoniae semper cedentia retro. 5. 629 Italiam sequimur fugientem. fugientis may be either gen. sing. or acc. plur.
prendimus, a strong word=“‘ grasp,” “lay hold of.” Cp. 12. 775 teloque sequi quem prendere cursu | non poterat.
62. hae... tenus. For the tmesis cp. 5. 603 kac celebrata tenus. ‘‘ Thus far, and no further, let Troy’s ill fortune have followed us.”
64. dique deaeque omnes. Cp. G. 1. 21.
Ilium et ingens gloria Dardaniae. Repeated in 2. 325 with the substitution of Teucrorum for Dardaniae. Cp. also 3. 109 nondum Ilium et arces.
66. indebita fatis. indebitus does not occur before Vergil. It is found in Ovid, Val. Flacc., etc., and then as a technical word in the later writings of the jurists. fatis may be dat. or abl. ‘‘ Due to my destiny,” or ‘‘owed by my destiny.” For similar ambiguity cp. Tac. Agr. 13. 5 monstratus fatis Vespasianus. For the two constructions cp. 7.120 fatis mthi debita tellus and 11. 759 fatis debitus Arruns.
67. Cp. 4. 349 quae tandem Ausonia Teucros considere terra | inuidta est ¢
considere. The infin. after da is an imitation of the Gk. use after δός, Cp. Servius ad 1. 319 graeca figura est... unde “‘ da bibere”’ usus obtinuit.
68. agitata=‘‘ hunted,” not “storm-tossed.”” Cp. 12. 803 terris agitare uel undis | Troianos potuisti. The allusion is to the household gods taken with him from Troy: cp. 2. 717 tu, genttor, cape sacra manu patriosque penatis.
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Commentary
69. magnum de marmore templum. Here, as in the lines which follow, though the promise strictly refers to the immediate future, there can be no doubt that Servius is right in regarding this promise as a prophecy of the dedication in 28 B.c. by Augustus of the temple of Apollo on the Palatine in commemoration of his victory at Actium. Though the temple was not actually dedicated to Diana (Triutae), her statue stood there beside that of Apollo: cp. Prop. 2. 31. 15 deinde inter matreim deus tpse interque sororem |Pythius in longa carmine ueste sonat. Diana as an Italian goddess had no special association with Apollo. It is as the Roman equivalent of Artemis that she is thus united with him, and first appears associated with him at a lectisternium in 399 B.C. (Uva 5. 13a Dion. Hal. 12. 9).
70. festosque dies de nomine Phoebi. The /udi Apollinares founded in 212 B.c. (Liv. 25. 12. 15).
71. magna penetralia. A similar unconscious prophecy of the fate of the Sibylline books at Rome. These accord- ing to the well-known legend were brought by the Cumaean Sibyl to Rome in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus (Dion. Hal. 4. 62. Gell: τ. 39. Plin. 13. 88, etc.). They were kept in a stone chest in the temple of Jupiter Capito- linus (Dion. Hal. 4. 62. Dio Cass. Fr. 102. 2), destroyed in the fire of 83 B.c., and replaced by a new collection gathered from the various places where Sibyls were reported to have been active. In 76 B.c. they were deposited in the new temple on the Capitol (Varro and Fenestella ap. Lact. Inst. 1. 16. 11, 14; de ira dei 22.6. Dion. Hal. 4.62. Tac. Ann. 6. 12). On the dedication of the temple of Apollo on the Palatine in 28 B.c. (see on 69), the Sibylline books were transferred to it from the Capitol (Tib. 2.5.17. Suet. Aug. 31). Hence the close association in the present passage with the dedication of a temple to Apollo.
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72. hic=vregnis nostris.
sortes ... fata, ‘‘ Prophecies and oracles.”’ Cp. n. on fata (45).
73. lectos . . . uiros—i.c., the XVuiri sacris faciundis. SERVIUS. sciendum sane primo duos librorum futsse sacer- dotes, inde decem, inde quindecim usque ad Sullana tempora, postea creutt numerus : nam et sexaginta fuerunt, sed remanstt in his XVuirorum uocabulum. See Τὰν. 6. 37. 12 and 42. 2 for increase to 10 (367 B.c.). For later increases see Cic. Ep. Fam. 8. 4. 1. Dio. Cass. 42. 51: 4; 422 51. Ὁ» 51. 20. 3: C.ILL, 1, ps 29.
74. foliis .. . manda. He is carrying out the advice of Helenus (3. 456). poscas | ipsa canat uocemque uolens atque ora resoluat. For foliis cp. 3. 444 foliisque ποίας et nomina mandat, | quaecunque in foliis descripsit carmina προ | digeritin numerum atque antro seclusa relinquit: | tlla manent immota locts neque ab ordine cedunt. | uerum eadem, uerso tenuis cum cardine uentus | impulit et teneras turbauit tanua frondes | nunguam deinde cauo uolitantia prendere saxo | nec reuocare situs aut iungere carmina curat. SERVIUS ut Varro dictt, in foliis palmae interdum notis, interdum scribebat sermonibus, ut diximus supra (3. 444). That Vergil had not witnessed such giving of oracles at the Sibyl’s cave may be inferred from the fact that he seems from his description in Bk. 3 to have in his mind leaves much smaller than those of palm. .
76. ipsa eanas. Cp. the words of Helenus cited above.
77. nondum patiens. The metaphor here, as in the lines which follow, is from the taming of a fiery horse. SERVIUS. Sibyllam quast equum, Apollinem quasi equitem inducst et in ea permanet translatione. Cp. Suet. Jul. 61 sessoris patiens, Norden cites Or, Sib. 3. 4.
in antro. She has passed within the adytum.
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Commentary
immanis, predicative with bacchatur, “ wildly.”
79. excussisse deum. The metaphor _ is from a horse shaking off its rider. With regard to the use of the perfect infin., 1 here ere a prose author would have used the present, τς this use is no doubt largely determined by metrical convenience, it is best regarded here as an anticipation of the completion of the act. Cp. the use of the fut. perf. indicative or completed future, This is a regular idiom after wolo in prohibitions, and the use is imitated and extended by the poets and Livy, Cp, Liv. 37. 19 bellum possumus .. . per- fecisse, Ov. Fi 2, 322 tunicarum uincla relaxat | ut posset uastas exseruisse manus, Servius styles it Graeca figura, and is followed by some modern scholars, who explain the infin. as aoristic, a comprehensive explanation which is of small help.
79. fatigat. Cp. 11. 714 quadripedemque citum ferrata calce fatigat.
So. fingitque premendo. Imitated from Varius de morte (ap. Macrob. 6. 2. 19) insultare docet campis fingitque morando. Cp. also Hor. Ep. 1. 2. 64 fingit equum... magister. A similar phrase in a different context is employed by Vergil in G. 2. 407 fingitque putando. For premendo cp. 1. 63 et premere et laxas sctret dare iussus habenas.
81, patuere. The instantaneous perfect. Cp. G. 1, 330 terra tremit, fugere ferae. The result rather than the action itself is presented to the mind. For the opening of the ostia cp. 43 and 52.
83-97. The prophecy of the Sibyl is after the fashion of oracles obscure (cp. 100), and does not tell Aeneas much more than he already had learned from his dream in 5.729 lectos tuuenes fortisstma corda | defer in Italiam ; gens dura atgue aspera bello | debellanda tibi Latio est; it certainly cannot be considered as a reasonable fulfilment of the pro-
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phecy of Helenus in 3. 458 slla ἰδὲ Italiae populos uenturaque bella, | et quo quemque modo fugiasque ferasque laborem, | ex- pediet. This is actually done by Anchises (890, where see note. Also Introd.).
84. terrae MP: terra R. Servius recognises both readings, and justly remarks that it is all one which we read, But terrae (sc, pericla) is clearly the true reading, terra having originated from a failure to understand the genitive, which is parallel to pelagi.
84. Lauini. Servius alti “Latini” legunt. sed quia diuina loquitur, futura praeoccupat ; postea enim Lauinium dicetur : licet possit ad Lauinum, Latini fratrem, referri, qui tlic ante regnauit. The riddling obscurity of Lauini is characteristic of the oracle, For the scansion_of Lauint with first syllable short metri gratia cp. 1. 258, 270, For the first syllable long cp. 1. 2 and 4. 236; also 6. 764, etc.
85, Dardanidae placed in emphatic contrast with Lauint.
et with wolent. “ But they shall not also be glad that they have come,”
Thybrim, the Graecised form of the Latin Tiberis. Thybris is regularly preferred to Tiberis by Vergil, except on two occasions—G, 1, 499 quae Tuscum Tiberim et Romana Palatia seruas (a prayer to Vesta) and A. 7, 715 qui Tiberim Fabarimque bibunt (in the Gathering of the Clans)—in both of which passages the Latin form is specially appropriate. The reference is to the battle by the Trojan camp at the mouth of the Tiber in Bk. 9. Cp. for the language 8, 538 quam multa sub undas | scuta wirum galeasque et fortia corpora uolues, | Thybri pater. 12. 35 et recalent nostro Tiberina fluenta | sanguine adhuc. Cp. 1]. 7. 329 τῶν viv αἷμα κελαινὸν ἐύΐρροον ἀμφὶ Σκάμανδρον | ἐσκέδασ᾽ ὀξὺς Ἄρης. Norden suggests that the line may actually be suggested by some Sibylline oracles, citing Sib. Or. 5. 200 (time of Vespasian)
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ἔσσεται ἐν Βρύττεσσι καὶ ἐν Τ'άλλοις πολυχρύσοις | ᾽Ωκεανὸς κελαδῶν πληρούμενος αἵματι πολλῷ. | 372. ῥεύσει δ᾽ αἵματος ὄχθος ἕως ποταμῶν πολυδίνων, with which he compares the carmen Marcianum in Liv. 25. 12. 6 amnem Troiugena Cannam Romane confuge, etc.
88. nec Simois tibi nec Xanthus. Servius Tiberis et Numicus, in quem cecidit. Whether there is any special reference is uncertain. Xanthus is, after all, no more than another name for the Scamander, the river that rolls down its “ yellow” flood in time of spate. For this we may com- pare the epithet flawus applied to the Tiber in 7. 31 and elsewhere. For the death of Aeneas in the Numicus see Liv. 1. 2 ad fin. The Homeric reference is*to-Ik-zr the μάχη παραποτάμιος of Achilles.
Dorica castra. SERVIUS Graeca. et re uera: nam Turnus Graecus fuit, ut (7. 371) “οἱ Turno st prima domus repetatur origo, | Inachus Acrisiusque pater mediaeque Mycenae.”
89. defuerint. The fut. perf. used for the fut. is primarily no doubt metri gratia. The force of the tense here is “ will be found to have been absent ”—7.e., when you look back on them. praeoccupat futura as Servius says in a different context. Cp. 9. 298 where defwerit is found alongside of 6711.
Latio. Abl. of place, rather than dat.
Achilles. Turnus. Cp. Εἰ. 4. 36 atque tterum ad Troiam magnus mittetur Achilles, in a very different context how- ever,
partus “΄ 15 already found,” not “ born”: cp. matus in next line.
go, natus et ipse dea. Servius de Venilia, sorore Amatae, ut (το. 76) cut diua Venilia mater. Venilia is there identified with Salacia, the goddess of salt water, see Serv. ad το. 76. Ovid (M. 14. 334) makes her the wife of Janus. Perhaps a
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water-spirit, but nothing is known concerning her. It is to be noted that Iuturna, Turnus’ sister, is a water nymph. (see Wissowa, R. K., p. 19). et ipse. Sc. as Achilles was the son of Thetis.
addita. SERVIUS inimica, est autem uerbum Luctlti et antiquorum, ut Plautus ‘‘ additus Iont Argus”’ (Aulul. 556). Lucil. ap, Macrob. 6. 4. 2 st modo non praetor siet additus atque agitet me. The word means “ attached,” and gets its meaning of hostile from the context. Norden, App. I. 1 compares the Greek δαίμων ἔφεδρος.
ΟΙ. cum=elt tum.
92. urbes. MR: urbis P. Cp. Gell, 13. 21. 3 et Probum ait respondisse: quo (sc. modo) suam (sc. aurem) Vergtlius percontatus est, qui diuersts in locts urbis et urbes dixit arbttrio consilioque usus auris. nam in primo Georgicon, quem ego librum tpsius manu correctum legt, urbis per 1 lutteram scripsst (G, 1, 25)... uerte enim εἰ muta ut urbes dicas : insubidius nesctoquid et pinguius. contra in tertio Aeneidis (106) urbes dixit per 6 litteram. .. . hic item muta ut urbis dicas : nimis exilis uox erit et exsanguis. In the present passage urbes should be read as avoiding the repetition of -zs.
93. coniunx hospita. Sc. Lauinia, who plays the part of an innocent Helen.
causa mali tanti. Repeated 11. 480 in same context,
94. externique iterum thalami. A variation on contunx hospita. Norden compares Lycophr, 60 λέκτρων θ᾽ ἕκατι τῶν τ᾽ ἐπεισάκτων γάμων, Unfinished lines occur only here and 835 in this book. That they are deliberate and designed for effect is an untenable view. They are never imitated by any later epic poet, in spite of the almost slavish imitation of Vergil in which they indulge (e.g., Val. Flacc., Stat,, Sil. Ital.), and they are not, as a rule, specially effective. They are merely lines left unfinished by Vergil for the simple reason
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that he had not succeeded in completing them to his satis- faction, That such was his practice we know from Servius’ comment on 165, where he states that the words Martemque accendere cantu were added by a sudden inspiration during recitation. It is possible that in the present passage it may indicate that more than one half-line remained to be added, and that Vergil intended the Sibyl’s prophecy to be fuller and more explicit. But there is no clear indication of this.
95. sed contra audentior ito | quam tua te fortuna sinet. quam is the reading of the uncial MSS. and Servius. The sense Is “‘ Go forward more boldly than fortune shall permit ” —1.e., triumph over fortune, Cp. 5. 710 superanda omnis fortuna ferendo est. 10, 284. Ter. Phorm. 203. Sen. Med. 159. Tac. H. 2. 46 fortes etiam contra fortunam tnsistere spei, The difficulties which have been felt over this reading are really imaginary and due to the confusion of fortuna and fatum. qua, the reading of later MSS. and Sen. Ep. 82, 18, gives weaker sense, and lessens the force of audentior,
97. Graia...ab urbe. Pallanteum, the Arcadian Evander’s city on the Palatine. See Bk. 8. Norden cites Phlegon (Diels, Sib, Blatt., p. 115) Τρὼς δῆτ᾽ ἐκλύσει σε κακῶν ἅμα δ᾽ “Ἑλλάδος ἐκ γῆς, and follows Heinze (Hermes, 33 (1898), 478, 1) in regarding the conclusion of the prophecy as being influenced by the tendency of Sibylline oracles to refer to Greece.
99. ambages=‘“‘riddles.”” So used of oracles by Tac. a 2, AS: 32,163;
99. remugit. Cp. 3. 92 mugire adytis cortina reclusis. Phaedr. App. 6. 4 mugit adytis (sc. Pytho).
100. ea=falia : emphatic.
frena . . . concutit, . . . stimulos uertit. A return to the metaphor drawn from taming a fiery horse. Cp. 8. 3 acris
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concussit equos. 5. 147 wundantia lora | concussere tugis. 9. 718 stimulos sub pectore uertst.
102, Norden compares Sib. Or. 3. 3 ἄμπαυσον βαιόν pe κακῶν, κέκμηκε γὰρ ἥτορ, and also 3. 297 ἡνίκα δή μοι θυμὸς ἐπάυσατο ἐνθέου ὕπνου | καὶ λιτόμην γενετῆρα μέγαν παύσασθαι ἀνάγκης.
103, Aeneas’ reply must not be taken as asserting that he knew what the Sibyl has told him already. It is merely a statement that he had anticipated a hard struggle, and steeled his heart in advance. Cp. Sen. (Ep. 76. 33), who cites these lines with the Stoic comment scit sibi omnia restare ; quicquid factum est, dictt “ sctebam.”
104. laborum facies. Cp. 560 scelerum factes.
105. praecepi. Cp. Cic. de Off. 1. 90 fortis animi et con- stantis est non perturbari in rebus asperis . . .; quamquam hoc animi, illud etiam ingenit magni est, praecipere cogitatione futura et aliquanto ante constituere, quid accidere possit in utramque partem. See Norden ad loc.
mi only here and 123 in Vergil.
107. dicitur=hic est quae dicitur ; a Graecism. Cp. Soph. Trach, 638 ἐνθ “Ἑλλάνων dyopai ΠΠυλάτιδες καλέονται.
Acheronte refuso. There may be an allusion to the lacus Acherusius in the neighbourhood of Cumae, now Lago del Fusaro, between Cumae and Misenum, but there is clearly no identification. refuso of flood water, as in Tac. H. 1. 86 Tiberis refusus, rather than = ἀψόρροος, as in A. 7. 225 Oceanus.
10g. doceas iter. Norden’s suggestion that there is an implicit contradiction with what follows, where the Sibyl does more than give instructions, and acts as guide, is ridiculous. Aeneas had no knowledge of the procedure to be followed and his words are natural and obvious.
110. flammas ... tela. Α rhetorical exaggeration. There is no mention of them in 2, 721-9.
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115. See 5. 731-6.
117. potes namque omnia. Cp. Od. 5. 25 Sia γὰρ, Il. 16. 515 δύνασαι δὲ σὺ πάντος ἀκούειν.
118. Cp. 564 sed me cum lucis Hecate praefecit Auernis.
119. si potuit. The apodosis comes in 123 et mi genus ab Ioue summo, quid ... Alciden? being parenthetical.
Orpheus. Cp. G. 4. 453 544. Orph. Arg. 42 Ταίναρον ἡνίκ᾽ ἔβην σκοτίην ὁδὸν "Αἰδος εἴσω, | ἡμετέρῃ πίσυνος κιθάρῃ δι’ ἔρωτ᾽ ἀλόχοιο.
120, Threicia. Cp. 645 nec non Threicius longa cum ueste sacerdos | obloquitur numeris septem discrimina uocum. Prop. 3. 2. 24 Threicia . . . lyra. For the Thracian origin of Orpheus cp. Ap. Rhod. τ. 23 πρῶτα vey’ Ορφῆος μνησώμεθα τὸν ῥά ποτ᾽ αὐτὴ | Καλλιόπη Θρήικι φατίζεται εὐνηθεῖσα | Oidypy σκοπιῆς Πιμπληίδος ἄγχι τεκέσθαι.
121. si fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit. According to this form of the legend Castor and Pollux were both sons of Leda, but Castor had Tyndareus for father, Pollux Jupiter. Castor died, but Pollux the immortal obtained permission that on AGES days he should obtain Castor’s release by taking his place in the underworld. In the earliest legend (Il. 3. 243) both are dead. In the Odyssey (11. 303) we find the form of the legend adopted by Vergil (ἄλλοτε μὲν ζώουσ᾽ ἑτερήμεροι, ἄλλοτε δ᾽ αὖτε | τεθνᾶσιν) with the exception that both are represented as sons of Tyidareus. For the legend, as adopted by Vergil, making Pollux the son of Jupiter, cp. Pind, Nem. 10. 50 sqg. (79 Zeus 104.) ἐσσί por ὗὑιός: τὸν 8 ἔπειτα πόσις σπέρμα θνατὸν ματρὶ Ted πελάσαις στάξεν ἥρως.
122. quid Thesea magnum, quid memorem Alciden? Parenthetical. It is a question whether the comma should be placed after magnum with M, or before it with Servius. In favour of the first punctuation is the more natural
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rhythm, and the fact emphasised by Norden that a pause at the end of the 5th foot is rare in Vergil (see Norden Ap. II. 4. 4). In favour of Servius’ contention is the fact that Hercules is the greater of the two heroes, and that we should consequently expect magnum to refer to him (See Henry ad loc.). But Servius over-emphasises the point when he states that Theseus per se non est magnus (cp. Ov. M. 7. 433 maxtme Theseu.). There is no difficulty in applying the epithet to Theseus, and the assumed anti-climax in the un- supported Alciden is the work of super-sensitive criticism.
The mention of Theseus in this connexion is unfortunate, since he is found later in the book to be a prisoner in Tartarus to_all eternity: cp. 617 sedet aeternumque sedebit | infelix Theseus ; see n. ad loc. (393 is consistent with either passage). Servius remarks durum exemplum ; unde nec immoratus est in eo. dicit autem inferos debere patere pietati, qui patuerunt infanda cupienti. Here Vergil] thinks of Theseus as the hero of Athens to whom a sanctuary was dedicated, and whose bones were brought in solemn pomp from Scyros. In the later passage he has in mind the non-Athenian tradition, which allowed him no escape, and made his guilt equal with that of Pirithous. See Harrison, Proleg. Gk. Rel., p. 612.
123. et mi genus ab Iouesummo. Cp, 394 (same context) dis quamquam geniti atque inuictt uiribus essent, Aeneas refers to his descent from Iupiter through Venus, In τ. 380 the words genus ab Ioue summo are found=“ the race sprung from Jupiter ’’—i.e., the Trojan race descended from Jupiter through Dardanus.
124. Cp. 4. 219 talibus orantem dictis arasque tenentem, Aeneas speaks as a suppliant: cp. 115 supplex, etc. The reference is to the practice of touching the altar when praying, SERVIUS rogabant ita ansas avarum tenentes. Ov. Am. τ. 4. 27 lange manu mensam quo tagunt more precantes. A. 12. 201
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tango aras. Act. Ary. fratr., p. 34, avas contingére. Macr. pees Ἷ ae
125. sate gente deum. Cp. 123. For the phrase cp. 8. 36 0 sate gente deum. This use of satus is not confined to poetry; cp. Cic. Τ᾿ D. 1. 49. 118. Liv. 38. 58. 7 20n sanguine humano sed stirpe diuina satum. gente is abl. of origin: cp. use of satus with de ; Ov. F. 4. 54 Ilia cum Lauso de Numitore sati.
126, Anchisiade MPR: Anchisiada corr. M. The Latin form of Anchisiades is Anchisiada, but the a is short: cp. Hor. 5. 2, 3. 187 Alérida. Prop. 2. 14. 1 gauisusAtrida triumpho. Therefore Anchisiada could only be the Gk. voc. of the Doric form Anchisiadas. But the MSS. authority is heavily in favour of the commoner form in -es.
facilis descensus, ete. The sense of the passage is “‘ The return is more difficult than the going down, only because the going down is final and without return. All go down, and it is the easiest thing in the world to go down, and, if you please, there is nothing to hinder you. But then you must go as others go—i.e., you must die. This you don’t wish to do, and there is the rub. This difficulty is got over by the means prescribed, and with it the difficulty of return- ing.’ Henry, Cp. Anacr, 56 ad fin,
Auerni R: Auerno (corrected to -1), P: Auerno M. Servius recognises both readings. The question as to which reading is correct cannot be definitely decided. But Auerni un- doubtedly ought to beright. What is required is “‘ the descent of Avernus ”—4.e,, the cave at Avernus: cp. Plin. τό. 110 descensus speluncae. If we read Auerno=ad Auernum, the descent to Avernus can only mean the descent to Hades. That Auernus can be so used is undoubted: cp. Ov. Am. 3. 9. 27. Luc. 6. 636, etc. But it is not appropriate that it should be so used here in the immediate neighbourhood of the actual lake and cavern, |
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127. Ditis. Dis, the husband of Proserpine and king of the underworld, is not to be traced in Roman religion prior to 249 B.c., when the ludi Tarentini were initiated in honour of Dis and Proserpine with offerings of black victims (hostiae furuae): cp. Val. Max. 2. 4. 5. Zosim. 2. 3. 3: references to earlier dates are apocryphal: see Wissowa, R.K., pp. 255-7- The name is a translation of the Gk. Πλούτων (sc. through diues !) just as Proserpine is a transliteration of the Gk, Περσεφόνη (Usener, Rh. Mus. 22. 431), Varro’s derivation from proserpere (L. L. 5. 68) being negligible. In tanua Ditis the Sibyl picks up the inferni tanua regis of Aeneas (106). Cp. also Lucr. 1. 1112 tanua Leti. For the sentiment cp. Aesch. Pers. 689.
129. quos aequus amauit Iupiter. Cp. Hymn. Cer. 487 μέγ᾽ ὄλβιος ὅντιν᾽ ἐκεῖναι | προφρονέως φίλωνται. The phrase is quoted by Pliny, Ep. 1. 2. 2.
130. euexit ad aethera uirtus. Not merely metaphorical. It refers also to heroes who actually became gods, such as Hercules. An imitation of Ennius, A. 66 tollere in caerula caelt templa. Cp. also 1. 259 sublimemque feres ad sidera caelt | Aenean.
131 544. A reminiscence of Homer, Od. 11. 157 μέσσῳ γὰρ μεγάλοι ποταμοὶ καὶ δεινὰ ῥέεθρα, | ’Qkeavds μὲν πρῶτα τὸν οὐὔπως ἔστι περῆσαι κτλ.
media omnia—i.e., between the upper world and the shades. But of these trackless forests there is no mention, nor are the woods on the further side of Styx (444, 638, 658) spoken of as other than the dwelling-place of shades, or mentioned with any suggestion of horror. Whether these siluae are Vergil’s own invention, or derived from some lost Νεκύια, cannot be determined.
132. Cocytus PR. Cocytos M. It is indifferent which reading be adopted. Such divergences in the MSS. are com-
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mon, and no inference can be drawn from them. It is not improbable that Vergil used both terminations indifferently : cp. G. 1. 59, where AMPR all give Epiros. See Norden, App. 6.1. For Cocytus and other rivers of the underworld see ἢ. on 295.
sinu. “ Windings.”
133. quodsi tantus amor, ete. Cp. 2. 10 sed si tantus amor casus cognoscere nostros. For the construction of the infin. after amor, cupido, etc., cp. Enn. Medea fr. 3 cupido cepit miseram nunc me proloqus (cp. Eur. Med. 57 ὥσθ᾽ ἵμερος pe ὑπῆλθε... λέξα). A. 2. 349 cupido... sequi. An idiom providing a convenient variation metri gratia for the normal construction with the gerund.
134. A reminiscence of Od. 12. 21 σχέτλιοι of ζώοντες ὑπήλθετε δῶμ᾽ ᾿Αίδαο | δισθανέες, ὅτε τ᾽ ἄλλοι ἅπαξ θνήσκουσ᾽ ἄνθρωποι.
innare with acc. as in G. 3. 142 Ξε “ to swim forth into.”
lacus. Cp. 323 Stygiam paludem, “ the stagnant pools of Styx.” Cp. 6. 4. 493 stagnis Auernts.
135. Tartara. The neuter plural of the masc. sing, Tartarus as in Greek. The word is first found in Lucretius.
insano iuuat indulgere labori. Cp. 2. 776 quid tantum insano iuuat indulgere dolori. Cp. σχέτλιοι in Od. Le. (above). But insano and the whole sentiment of this and the lines immediately preceding are exaggerated in view of Aeneas’ motive and the authority he has for his desire.
137. aureus ramus. The nature and significance of the Golden Bough are wrapped in mystery. It was Iunont infernae dictus sacer (138), a gift beloved of Proserpine (142), and is compared, though not actually identified, with the mistletoe (205). The comparison may, however, be no more than a poetical and romantic method of identification. Two views are possible:
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1. The bough is of actual gold, and belongs wholly to the region of myth, though no doubt possessing a counterpart in Chthonian rites. Cp. Servius licet de hoc ramo hi, qui de sacris Proserpinae scripsisse dicuntur, quiddam esse mysticum affirment. What this mystic emblem may have been there is nothing to show. The boughs carried by the mystae were of myrtle, not of gold. (Hesychius χρυσορραγὲς ἔρνος. ἀπερρηγμένον ἢ ἀπεστραμμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ δένδρου cannot definitely be brought into connexion with the present passage.)
2. As opposed to this, the esoteric view, is the theory that it is the branch of a real tree or plant, in which case it can clearly be none other than the mistletoe. This view, however, leaves us in little less obscurity. We are reduced to re- ferring vaguely to the magical qualities of the mistletoe, for which it is famous in European folk-lore. Its mysterious growth and its winter fruitage alike made it remarkable. But for its meaning in ancient Greek or Roman folk-lore we have no evidence. It may obviously have symbolised life in the midst of death, and as such have been a welcome gift _ to Proserpine, ravished from earth to dwell among the dead. It may have been φυτὸν μυστικὸν σύμβολον τοῦ βίου καὶ τοῦ θανάτου, as another plant is described by Photios, lex. 1. 406, Naber and Bekker, anecd. gr., p. 279. Mr. A. B. Cook, again, suggests that it may have been regarded as a key to unlock the underworld on the analogy of its use in modern European folk-lore, as a divining rod unlocking the secrets of the earth (Class. Review, 1908, p. 405). But we have no evidence as to its properties in ancient Italy or Greece, save for a curious passage in Pliny, N. H. 13. 119, which states that Alexander Cornelius asserts that the uiscunt was indestructible by fire or water, which does no more than support its possible identification with the Golden
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Bough. Servius states that publica opinio identified it with the branch of the mysterious tree in the grove of Nemi, which must be plucked by a candidate for the priesthood of Diana, to qualify him for single combat with the reigning priest, ‘that slew the slayer, and shall himself be slain.’’ But there seems no special reason to identify this tree with the mistletoe, nor does this interpretation throw any fresh light on the significance of the Vergilian Golden Bough. But see Frazer’s Golden Bough (3rd ed.), vol. ii., for the development and discussion of this view. For a full dis- cussion of the present passage, almost wholly negative in its result, see Norden, on Aen. 6. 135.
138. Iunoni infernae. As 142 shows, she is identified with Proserpine. But there is no parallel either in Greek cr Latin for this identification; for though the name recurs with variations in Ov. M. 14. 114 I. Auerna, Stat. S. 2. 1.147, Th. 4. 526 I Stygia, etc., these passages are all deliberate imitations of Vergil. In lack of further evidence all that can be said is that as Pluto may be called Jupiter Stygius (4. 638), so his bride Proserpina may be called Juno inferna.
dictus. Servius dicatus. But this requires a parallel, while it is perfectly possible to take dictus=“ pro- nounced.”
omnis. ‘‘ As if the whole forest conspired to hide it.’ Conington. Cp. 187 st nunc se nobis ille aureus arbore ramus | ostendat nemore tn tanto.
141. auricomos. First appears here; a translation of the Gk. χρυσόκομος, Lucretius had paved the way with lauricomus (6. 152).
qui M: quis PR. Both are possible, though quz is prefer- able on grounds of euphony=ez qui,
142. pulera. Perhaps with a ritual significance, as Artemis is styled ἡ Καλὴ or Καλλίστη.
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ferrg instituit. Cp. E. 5. 41 mandat fieri sibi talia Daphats.
145. alte. ‘‘ Deeply,” not “on high.” SrERvius omni intentione.
rite. With carpe not repertum. SERVIUS id est cum obseruatione, non rite repertum. It is to be gathered by hand: no knife must be used. Cp. the cutting of the mistletoe with a stone knife: Plin. 24. 12 quidam id efficacius fiert putant prima luna collectum e robore sine ferro.
146. uolens. But see n. on cunctantem (211). 156 goes closely with wolens = ultro.
149. She announces the death of one of his companions, Misenus. It is urged by Sabbadini (Aen. 4, 5, 6, p. xvii) that this episode does not belong to the first draft of the book, or at least that it was not in Vergil’s design when he wrote the conclusion of Bk. 5, on the ground that in 814 (unus erit tantum quem amissum gurgite quaeres), though the death of one of his comrades is prophesied, that comrade is Palinurus; he further urges that praeterea is an indication of the insertion of 149-152 in the original draft, they having become necessary as an introduction to the episode which follows. (Note also the abruptness of duc nigras pecudes.) It may with justice be urged that the prophecy referred merely to the voyage, and not to anything that might occur after landing in Italy. Sabbadini, however, raises a more serious objection. The tecta Sibyllae (211) refer, not to the cave at Cumae, but the cave of Avernus. Aeneas is near this latter cave when he finds the bough, but after taking the bough to the cavern of Avernus, the action is interrupted ; in- stead of sacrificing at once Aeneas has to go off to bury Misenus, and it may be added the burial takes place at a considerable distance. Sabbadini urges with some justice that the flow of the narrative would be more easy if 149-152 and the description of the death and burial of Misenus
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were omitted: the visit to the “ ancient wood ” (179) would then be merely for the purpose of hewing wood for the sacrifice and the discovery of the Golden Bough, while the description of the cave of Avernus would follow in the most natural manner directly on the reference to tecta Sibyllae. There is much force in these arguments; Vergil has, however, intro- duced the episode with skill: the sacrifice is not due for performance till nightfall (cp. 252 mocturnas incohat aras), and there is no serious incoherence or inconsistency arising from the insertion of the episode: the distance of Misenum from Cumae is at least as serious an objection as any; but even here the difficulty is not insuperable. The fact that the death of Misenus is to some extent a doublette of the death of Palinurus counts for little, The two episodes are dealt with in very different style, while both are the natural outcome of the aetiological method adopted by Vergil in imitation of the Hellenistic poets. It is, moreover, a method with which we cannot quarrel, for it is a valuable instrument in the hands of the poet for linking up Greek or Italian legend with the actual facts of history and geography.
151. consulta petis=fata poscis, consulta being the decrees of Heaven.
pendes=‘“‘ delay.” Cp. 4. 88 pendent opera tnierrupia.
152. sedibus ... suis. “The tomb”: cp. 328 quam sedibus ossa quierunt,
153. duc nigras pecudes. The Sibyl proceeds to give instructions as to the preparations necessary before he can descend to the Lower world. Black victims (hostiae furuae) are to be brought for sacrifice to the gods of the dead; see 243 nigrantis terga tuuencos, and 249 αἰγὶ uellerts agnam, notes,
The passage is suggested by Od. το. 517, where Circe gives Odysseus instructions concerning the offerings to be made to the dead.
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piacula. ‘“‘ Offerings of appeasement.”
prima—.e., they must be offered as a necessary pre- liminary.
156. defixus lumina. The construction of the acc, with passive verbs, especially participles, is as old as Ennius (A. 392) succincti corda machaeris, is found in Lucretius and most of the poets, in Livy and in Tacitus. It is closely connected with the accusative of extent, cp. 243 migrantis terga inuencos, 495 lacerum ora, and is, perhaps, best re- garded as an extension of this use in imitation of Greek usage, and helped by the fact that the Middle voice survived in the shape of deponent verbs and in reflexive uses, such as accingor =accingo me (see Lindsay, L.L., p. 519 sqq.). Such accusatives, as a rule, express either (1) a part of the body, or (2) a thing worn. Cp. 281 uipereum crinem uittis innexa cruentis. 470 uultum mouetur.
ingreditur. ‘‘ Proceeds on his way,’ USE Cp. 5. 500 Cle. ἀν 9. τὸ Bk οι
figit = ponit.
160, sermone serebant. 5670 is frequently used in the sense of ‘‘ interchange” of words. Cp. Plaut. Curc, 193, sermonem serat. Liu. 3. 43 aliquid sermonibus occultis serere. Varro (L.L. 6, 64) implies an etymological connexion between the two words, sermo non potest in uno homine esse solo, sed ubi oratio cum altero coniuncta. Cp. SERVIUS hic proprie dictus est sermo qut inter utrumque seritur.
τότ. exanimem M: exanimum PR. The first is to be pre- ferred as avoiding the sequence of two words ending in -wm,
162, atque, almost=“‘and lo!” Cp. E. 7. 7 atque ego Daphnim aspicio,
Misenum. While the name of the promontory of Misenum was generally derived from the name of a legendary hero Misenus, there were doubts as to his identity. Strabo
116
?
a rare but classical
Commentary
1. 26 makes him a follower of Ulysses, a view which seems to be adopted by Ov. Met. 14. 103, where the grave Aeolidae canort is spoken of as existing before Aeneas’ visit to Cumae. The tabula Iliaca represents him as a companion of Aeneas, while Dion. Hal. 1. 53. 3 mentions his death as following on that of Palinurus. He is not following Vergil, for the account given of the death of Palinurus is different. The so-called doublette of the deaths of Palinurus and Misenus, therefore, may be presumed to have existed in handbooks of mythology prior to Vergil’s treatment of these themes. See n. on 149-152.
163. indigna. Servius miserabili, non congrua eins meritis.
164. Aeoliden. Perhaps the son of Aeolus, god of the winds, a fit father for a trumpeter, or possibly of the Trojan Aeolus (12. 542). For this and the following line cp, Erotem, librarium et libertum eius, exactae iam senectutis tradunt referre solitum, quondam in recitando eum duos dimidiatos uersus complesse ex tempore, et huic “‘aere ciere utros”: simili calore elatum subiunxisse “ Martemque accen- dere caniu”’ statimque sibi imperasse ut utrumque volumini adscriberet. Suet. vit. Verg. 12, 40.
quo non praestantior alter. Cp. Il. 2. 553 τῷ δ᾽ οὔπω τις ὁμοῖος ἐπιχθονίων yéver’ ἀνήρ | κοσμῆσαι ἵππους τε Kal ἀνέρας ἀσπιδιώτας.
Martemque accendere cantu. Cp. Aristoph. Pax 310 τὸν Πόλεμον ἐκζωπυρήσετ᾽ ἔνδοθεν κεκραγότες, SERVIUS hemis- tichium hoc dicitur addidisse dum Augusto hunc sextum librum recitaret, For the infinn. ciere and accendere dependent on praestantior cp. E. 5.1 boni . . . inflare. Hor. Od. 1. 12. 11 blandus ; . . ducere.
166, Hectoris. There is no mention of trumpeters in Homer, though the trumpet is mentioned in Il. 18. 219.
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167. lituo. A curved trumpet, as opposed to the straight tuba (Cp. Veget. 3. 5) which is mentioned below as the instru- ment used by Misenus. Vergil probably uses the two words indifferently, though he may be influenced here by the fact that he thinks of Hector as fighting from his chariot, the lituus being the trumpet of cavalry (Cp. Acro ad Hor. Od. Τὶ τῷ 23), ΐ
insignis. Cp. the Homeric κλυτὸς,
proelia obibat. Cp. Lucr. 4. 967 proelia obire.
170. non inferiora secutus. Cp. Il. 5. 467 κεῖται ἀνὴρ ὅν τ' ἶσον ἐτίομεν “Ἕκτορι δίῳ | Αἰνείας. τῇ. 513 Ἕκτωρ Αἰνείας θ᾽ ot Τρώων εἰσὶν ἄριστοι. Aen. 11. 289 Hectoris Aeneaeque manu utctoria Graium | haesit.
171. coneha. Cp. 10. 209 hunc uehit tmmanis Triton et caerula concha | exterrens freta. Hesych.s.v. κόχλος. κόχλοις τοῖς θαλασσίοις ἐχρῶντο πρὸ τῆς TOV σαλπίγγων εὑρέσεως, as, for instance, in Eur, I. T. 303 κόχλους τε φυσῶν συλλέγων θ᾽ ἐγχωρίους.
personat aequora. Cp. 417 latratu regna trifauci | personat.
172, demens= Homeric νήπιος. Cp. 590 demens qui, etc.
uocat in certamina diuos, as Marsyas challenged Apollo and Thamyris the Muses with no less disastrous results.
173. Si credere dignum est. Seen. on 14 wt fama est.
176. praecipue pius Aeneas. Repeated 1. 220.
177. aramque sepuleri. The pyre is compared to an altar (1) because of its shape, (2) because the burning of the dead may be conceived as or likened to asacrifice. Further, it may be noted that ava primarily means “ place of burning,” and is derived from the same root as ardeo aridus, etc, Cp. Varro, L.L., 5.38 ab ardore dictus ad quem ut sit fit ara, Isidor. 15. 4.13 avam quidem uocabant quod ibit incensae uictimae ardeant. For the phrase as applied to the pyre cp. Ov. Tr. 3. 13. 20 fuxeris ara. M.8. 480 sepulcrales arae, Sil. 15. 387
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Commentary
alta sepulcri ara. But the phrase means more than an κε altar-shaped pyre.” Actual offerings to the Di Manes are made on the pyre (224 turea dona, dapes, fuso crateres oliuo), just as offerings are made to the shade of Patroclus (Il. 23. 161). The dead man himself is not conceived as an offering to the gods of the underworld: it is rather to his spirit that_. the offerings are made, just as similar offerings were made at the true altar-tomb raised above the grave of a dead hero: cp. 3. 301 tum forte dapes et tristia dona . . . libabat cinert ; or, if there were no actual altar, at the tomb which is re- verenced as an altar: cp. Aesch. Choeph. 99 αἰδουμένη σοὶ βωμὸν ὡς τύμβον πατρός. Simon. ap. Diod. 11. 11 βωμὸς δ᾽ ὁ τάφος, Sen. Ep. 86 ara quam sepulcrum esse tanti wirt suspicor (sc. Africani),
178. The whole line suggests unwonted size and magni- ficence, with a certain splendid exaggeration.
179. Compare the comparatively prosaic description in Il. 23. 114 sgg., with the elaborate magnificence of the present passage, which is a close imitation of a ruder but no less splendid passage in Ennius (A. 193): incedunt arbusta per alta; securibus caedunt: | percellunt magnas quercus : exciditur ilex: | fraxinus frangitur atque abies constermitur alia: | pinus proceras peruortunt: omne sonabat | arbustum fremitu siluai frondosai. The same theme is treated again by Vergil in 11. 135 ferro sonat alta bipennt | fraxinus, euertunt actas ad sidera pinus, | robora nec cunets et olentem scindere cedrum | nec plaustris cessant uectare gementibus ornos.
stabula alta. The phrase recurs in g. 388 and το. 723; in both these cases alta means “lofty,” and the context requires the same meaning here; Vergil is emphasising the height of the forest trees hewn down.
antiquam siluam. Avernus was thickly clothed with wood, until the woods were felled in the construction of his
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new harbour by Agrippa, an incident which may well have been present in the poet’s mind when he wrote this passage. Cp. Strabo. 5, p. 244.
180. piceae=“‘ spruce’: cp. Plin. 16. τὸ feralis arbor et funebri indicio ad fores posita et rogis uirens.
181. euneis et fissile robur. Donatus in his paraphrase rightly takes cunets with what follows, while M also punctu- ates after trabes. This gives more point to fissile, and is supported by 11. 137 cited above (sc. robora nec cuneis).
182. ornos. The manna ash, Fraxinus ornus.
183. primus. Cp. 176 praecipue.
184. accingitur =“ provides himself”: cp. 9. 74 facibus pubes accingitur. 6. 570 accincta flagello. accingor, like cingor (2. 749), induor (2. 392) is used reflexively like a Greek middle: cp. n. on 156.
185. haee refers to what follows, and is repeated by szc.
tristi cum corde from Ennius (A. 473). Cp. 8. 522 multaque dura suo tristt cum corde putabant.
186. uoce R: forte MP Servius. In spite of the authority against it woce is preferable; it indicates that he prays aloud and not silently in his heart: cp. 9. 403 and 11. 784. forte, on the other hand, is pointless: cp. Servius uacat forte, et est uersus de his qui tibicines uocantur. It has probably crept in from 190.
188. quando omnia were, ete. Cp. Aesch. Ag. 1241 ἄγαν γ᾽ ἀληθόμαντιν οἰκτείρας ἐρεῖς.
190. forte. SERvIUS auguria aut oblatiua sunt, quae non poscuntur, aut tmpetratiua, quae optata ueniunt. hoc ergo quia oblatiuwm est, ideo dixit “ forte.”
191. ipsa sub ora. SERvIUS ne si longius uolarent, non ad eum pertinere uiderentur: nam moris erat ut captantes auguria certa sibi spatia designarent, quibus uolebant uidenda ad se pertinere.
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193. maternas. For the dove sacred to Venus cp. Prop. Ὁ 331; 4. 5: 62. “Ov. Mi τ. 673, etc:
194. SERVIUS et tam ex hoc loco esse inctpit impetratiuum quod fuerat oblatiuum. Cp. n. on 190.
195. pinguem diues. The juxtaposition is emphatic. The ground that bears such fruit must indeed be fertile.
197. effatus. SERVIUS proprie effata sunt augurum preces : unde ager post pomeria ubi captabantur auguria dicebatur effatus.
uestigia pressit. SERvius guia ad capianda auguria post preces tmmobtles uel sedere uel stare consueuerani. pressit= represstt : ΟΡ. 331 constitit Anchisa satus et uestigia pressit.
199. pascentes. Not on the wing, but settling to feed and then flying on again. Servius detects a special signi- ficance in this comparing the feeding of the “sacred
chickens.”
200. possent. Final subj. expressing the purpose of the doves in their flight.
seruare, perhaps, with its technical augural sense, as in seruare de caelo.
sequentum may mean “ following with the eye,’’ or be used of actual rnotion; they follow the birds each time they fly on from the spot where they had settled.
201. graueolentis Auerni. See ἢ. on 240-42. For graueo- lentis cp. G. 4. 270 graueolentia centaurea. So, too, bene olentis (E. 2. 48).
202. liquidumque per aera. SERVIUS non est aeris per- petuum epttheton, sed purum et incorruptum ait Auerni com- paratione. A possible, but by no means necessary, inter- pretation.
203. sedibus optatis. (1) The “ wished-for resting-place,” which is explained by the lines which follow: this is a per- fectly natural explanation. (2) The “spot which they had
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chosen”: cp. 1. 425 optare locum tecto. It cannot mean “‘ chosen by Aeneas,”’ as Norden would take it, for the simple reason that Vergil did not write nonsense. The fact that optare is or may be a technical word of augury has nothing to do with the case. Of the two interpretations (1) is the most probable, as being the most obvious: it would, in fact, suggest itself to the ordinary reader of all ages and countries at a glance.
gemina super arbore MP. Donatus, Priscian: geminae super arbore R. Donatus quae frondem duplicem materiamque portabat. It has been objected that gemina cannot bear this meaning: it does, however, bear a very similar meaning in phrases such as gemini Chironis (Ov. M. 2. 630), geminum corpus Tritonis (Stat. S. 3. 2. 35): a closer analogy could scarcely be desired. Norden cites Columella for ites geminae, so called quod duplices uuas exigunt : so, too, Pliny 14. 22 speaks of gemellae uites, so called because they are characterised by geminae semper uuae. But the meaning in these passages is that the vines bear twin clusters, not clusters of different kinds of grapes. geminae is, in itself, a perfectly simple and satisfactory reading, but the weight of authority tells heavily against it, and it is probably, if not a deliberate simplification, an unconscious reminiscence of 190.
auri... aura. SERvIUS splendor auri. The gleam of the gold streaming is spoken of as a breath: cp. Callim. Hymn. Dian. 117 ¢aéos αὐτμή. No Latin parallel for this use of aura exists, but no other interpretation is possible. Norden connects aura with uwento (209), and apparently thinks that aura auri means ‘“ gold waving in the wind,” an im- possibly harsh and far-fetched interpretation. For the play on aura and aurum cp. Pacuy. 362 terra exhalat auram ad auroram humidam, Varro, Sat. 121 aurorat... auro (Norden).
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discolor—t.e., differing in colour from the tree on which it grows,
205. brumali frigore uiscum. There are two kinds of mistletoe. (1) Viscum album, the common mistletoe, an evergreen, The fruit is white, and it is rarely found on oaks (never in Italy, according to Pollini, cited by Lenz), (Botantk der alten Griechen und Rémer). (2) Loranthus Europaeus, a S. European species, deciduous with golden berries, and so frequently found on oak as to be called visco quercino (cp. Soph. F. 370 ἰξοφόρους δρυάς. Plin. 16. 245 uiscum in quercu robore ilice). Here the golden bough is found on an evergreen oak (ilex) and has golden berries. This points to Loranthus Europaeus. On the other hand, Loranthus Europaeus is leafless in winter, while Viscum album is not. This is a point in favour of the latter species (cp. fronde utrere noua). The probability is that Vergil does not accurately distinguish between the two plants, which closely resemble each other. See Frazer, Golden Bough, vol. 11, (3rd ed., 1913), note iv. brumali frigore. bruma, the date of the winter solstice, fell on December 25 in the Caesarian Calendar: cp. Plin. 18. 221. Mommsen on €.I.L. 1*, p. 288. The mistletoe thus, even here, is connected with the date of our own Christmas.
207. teretis =“ round.”
209. ilice. Seen. on 205.
209. brattea=‘‘ gold foil.” Cp. Lucr. 4. 728 tenuia ... obuia cum ueniunt, ut aranea bratteaque aurt.
211. cunctantem. But in 147 Aeneas was told ipse uolens facilisque sequetur. Either Vergil is guilty of an ex- ceedingly unfortunate inconsistency, or we must accept the interpretation of Servius: “‘ cunctantem”’ quia “ autdus,” ut ostendat tantam fuisse auellendi cupiditatem ut nulla ei satis- facere posset celeritas: nam tardantem dicere non possumus
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quit fataliter sequebatur. Norwood’s theory expounded in Class. Quart. 12, p. 148, 9, ignores the facts of the case, and will not hold water for a moment. He holds that the Sibyl was wrong i1 147. She held that the enterprise was either utterly impossible or entirely easy. Aeneas’ experience shows that it was possible, but difficult. Aeneas, he urges, is a new type of hero: he believes that his divine origin will help. But no; it is his pietas only that enables him to succeed. There is not a syllable in Vergil to support this view. The Sibyl had stated that it would be easy si te fata uocant. The whole Aeneid centres round the fact that Aeneas was not only pius, but the man of destiny. It is inconceivable that Vergil meant us to suppose that the Sibyl could be in error, or that he wrapped his meaning in such thick and impenetrable darkness.
tecta Sibyllae. This cannot be the oracular cave at Cumae. Aeneas does not return there. The moment the funeral is over he goes to the cave of Avernus (cp. 236, 7). It is clear, therefore, that the Grotta della Sibilla on the banks of Avernus is regarded as her dwelling-place, and that it is to this that reference is made in fecta Sibyllae.
212-235. While the description of the funeral rites of Misenus is, no doubt, suggested in a general way by the funerals of Patroclus and Hector in the closing books of the Iliad, it is something more than a mere imitation of Homer. Vergil appéals to the feelings of his readers by describing the solemn rites of Roman burial. In all the many references in Vergil to Roman ritual and custom, there is nothing more perfectly designed at once to move his readers and to lend Roman colour to the epic.
The Romans practised both inhumation and incineration, but the latter was the usual practice with the upper classes, and went back to remote antiquity. For similar descriptions
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of funeral rites cp. the funeral of Pallas in 11 ad init. and that of the fallen Trojans in the same book.
213. ingrato. SERvIUS Zristi, ut gratum laetum aliquid dicimus. alii ingrato dicunt gratiam non sentienti. On the first view ingrato=‘‘ unlovely,” “ unpleasing,” rather than “sad”: cp. Prop. 2. 13. 35 qué nunc tacet horrida puluis. But there can be little doubt that the second interpretation is preferable (‘‘ thankless”). Cp. Copa, 35 guid cineri ingrato seruas bene olentia serta? Hom. Il. 24. 54. Soph. El. 356.
eineri. The dead body called cinis by anticipation.
suprema. The last offerings: cp. 11. 25 supremis muneribus. 61 supremum honorem. The use of the word in this context is not found before Vergil.
214. Cp. the description of the pyre of Patroclus in 1]. 23. 162;
taedis ...robore secto. Cp. 4. 504 pyra... erecta ingenti taedis.
pinguem is best taken with taedis, being balanced by ingentem robore secto. It is, however, possible to take pinguem with robore secto as well, treating the whole line as predicative to ingentem struxere pyram. pinguem applies especially to the resinous taeda (Scotch pine), but may easily be extended to other fuel. The pyre is of rough-hewn logs: cp. XII. tab. ap. Cic. de leg. 2. 23 rogum ascia ne poli.
pyram. The Greek word for the Latin rogus (308), used here as in 4. 494, 504, and 11. 185, 204: found before Vergil only in auct. bell, Afr. 91, 2, and bell. Hisp. 39. Bua:
frondibus atris. If atris carries with it no more than the idea of colour, it will réfer to leaves of the cypress, yew, ilex, conifers, and evergreens_in general. If, on the other
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hand, it is used—ferales or infelices, cp. the lists of trees cited by Plin. 16. 45, and Macrob. (from Tarquitius Priscus) 3. 20. 3. Cp. also Stat. Theb. 6. 54 (cited on 220 toro).
216. ante cupressos constituunt. SreRvIus cupressus ad- hibetur ad funera uel quod caesa non repullulat uel quod per eam funestata ostenditur domus. Varro tamen dicit pyras 1deo cupresso circumdart propter grauem ustrinae odorem ne 60 offendatur populi circumstantis corona. It is not clear how the cypresses were placed. The statement cited from Varro shows that they form part of the pyre as does Statius (Th. 4. 460) frondes atque omne cupressus | intexit plorata latus. ante may be taken (1) locally, in which case the sense will be that the pyre is faced with cypress, or (2) temporally, in which case the cypresses are best regarded as uprights into which frondes atrae intexantur.
217. fulgentibus armis. Cp. Il. 6. 418. Od. 11. 74, and 12. 13. But it is noteworthy that the burning of armour is not mentioned either in the funeral of Patroclus (Il. 23) or of Hector (Il. 24). It is in any.case the Roman custom which Vergil has in mind: cp. 11. 78. Luc. 9. 175, and more especially the testamentum Basiliense (Wilmanns, Exx. Inscr. Lat. 315), for a long list of objects to be consumed with the deceased on the pyre. Whatever may have been the origin of the practice of incineration, for Vergil it probably meant the etherialisation of the material body, while the burning of arma, purpureae uestes, etc., would serve the purpose of rendering these articles ae for the spirit in the other world, The arms referred to may, or may not, have been the armour worn in life by Misenus; see 233 n.
218, ealidos latices. Servius Plinius (7.173 sqq,) dictt hanc esse causam ut mortui et calida abluantur et per interualla conclamentur, quod solet plerumque uitalis spiritus exclusus putari et homines fallere. Itis at least as probable that warm
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ς ommentary
water was used as it is to-day, because it is better for cleansing purposes. πο ας
aena undantia flammis. Cp. 7. 462 weluts cum flamma sonore | uirgea suggerttur costis undantis aent.
210. lauant et ungunt. The /ollinctio. Cp. Ennius, A. 155 Tarquinis corpus bona femina lautt et unxit. 1]. 18. 343. The anointing of the corpse was designed to prevent premature decay (cp. Lucian, de luct. 11) during the three to seven days (Schol. Cruq. ad Hor. Epod. 17. 48. Seru. ad Aen. 5. 64) allowed to elapse between death and burial. Cp. Apul. Flor. 19, where he recounts the revival of a seem- ingly dead man, tam misert illius membra omnia aromatis perspersa, iam os tpsius unguine odore delibutum, iam eum pollinctum, iam pyra paratum contemplatus . . . inuenit in illo uitam latentem, In the case of Misenus the anointing is a mere rite, serving no purpose, save to assist the consumption of the corpse.
220. fit gemitus. Perhaps corresponding to the formal lamentation by praeficae during the lying in state. Cp. bas-. relief, published in Mon. Ist. corrisp. archeol. Rom. 5. Plate VI. (reproduced in Daremberg et Saglio, s.v. funus, p. 1389). But the funeral of Misenus being rapid, the time and order of a formal funeral are not observed.
toro, The lectus funebris placed on the bier and committed with it to the flames. Such, at least, is the most probable interpretation in view of the imitation in Stat. Theb. 6, 54 tristibus interea ramus teneraque cupresso | damnatus flammae torus et puerile feretrum texttur. This interpretation justifies the epithet ingenti applied to feretro. Statius proceeds to describe a structure for which ingens is scarcely adequate, Such a lectus funebris borne on the feretrum is depicted in a telief found at Preturi in 1879 (Not. Scavi., 1879, p, 145; reproduced in Daremberg et Saglio, s.v. funus, p. 1392).
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221. purpureasque super uestes. Cp. Seru. ad. A. 3. 67 (citing Varro) sed quoniam sumptuosum erat et crudele utctimas uel homines interficere, sanguinei colorvis coepta est uestes mortuts inict ut et tpse testatur (6. 221) “ purpureasque super uestis uelamina nota” et (5. 79) “ purpureosque tacit flores.” It is not clear from the actual language whether these garments are additional offerings to the dead, or the garments actually worn by Misenus. Either is possible. For the latter view cp. Liv. 34. 7 purpura uiri utemur.. . magistratibus in colontis municipiisque .. . praetextae habendae ius permittemus, nec id ut uiui solum habeant tantum insigne, sed etiam ut cum eo crementur mortui. This view also receives support from uelamina nota, which, though it might mean the ‘“‘ customary pall,” is most naturally taken with Servius as 1951] cara. Cp>Plut. non posse suau. 2. 6. 1104} ἱμάτια συνήθη τοῖς τεθνηκόσι συνθάπτειν ; Lucian, Philops. 27] συγκατακαύσας καὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα ἣ ζῶσα ἔχαιρεν. For the burning of rich garments with the dead cp. 11. 72 tum gemtinas uestis auroque ostroque rigentis | extulit... harum iuuent supremum moestus honorem induit. Val. Max. 5. 5. 4. Suet. Ner. 50. Though the reason for the colour may have been as Varro states, the burning of the garments is probably to provide the dead with raiment in the other world. oh
222. ingenti. An adjective of which Vergil is inordinately fond (see Henry, Aeneidea, vol. 111., p. 39 sqq.): here, however, it is less appropriate to the bier than to the pyre (215). It may be regarded as suggesting the stature of the dead hero and the bulk of the feretrum bearing the lectus funebris. The epithet occurs no less than eighteen times in this book alone.
subiere. subeo is most commonly used with acc., but is not uncommon with the dat, in poetry (or possibly with
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Commentary
the abl., though there is no clear instance of the abl.: portzu Chaonio (3. 292) may equally well be dat. in μ). The bier was carried on the shoulders, as may be seen in the relief referred to in n. on foro (220). Cp. also Hor. S. 2. 5. 85 cadauer | unctum oleo largo nudis humerts tulit heres.
223. triste ministerium. Acc. in apposition with the sentence: cp. ἃ. 3. 40 interea Dryadum siluas saltusque sequamur | intactos, tua, Maecenas, haud mollia iussa. Norden points out that the phrase became a commonplace in inscriptions on tombs: see Biicheler, Carm. epigr. 1η4., p. 918.
subiectam. The pyre was naturally kindled from below.
- subicere is used in the same context of setting fire to a thing in 2. 37 and 11. 186. Cp. also Lucr. 6. 1285 subdebantque faces. Prop. 4. 11. 9 cum subdita nostrum | detraheret lecto fax inimica caput.
more parentum. Cp. 11.185 huc corpora quisque suorum | more tulere patrum. An echo of the familiar more maiorum : the parentes were Trojan, the reader could but feel a reference to Roman custom. There is no suggestion of any special duty of relatives as Servius supposes: the reference is general.
223. auersi. Probably for some such reason as that sug- gested by Norden, to avoid witnessing the εἴδωλον of the dead as it left the body; or it may be to avoid attracting the ghost’s attention. Cp. Ov. F. 5. 430 sqg., where the paterfamilias looks the other way while dropping beans for the ghosts; also Harrison, Prol. Gk. Rel., p. 605. ‘“‘ You may not look back when spirits are about from the underworld: if you do, you may have to join them.”
facem. SERVIUS de fune, ut ait Varro.
225. turea dona. Cp. Luc. 8. 729. Stat. Silv. 2. 1. 157. Plin. 12. 83. The offerings mentioned in this line are to the :anes of Misenus. Seen. on arvamque sepulcri (177).
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dapes. Perhaps merely cakes as in C.I.L. 3. 2919 ltbis. But more may be meant: cp. Arnob. 7. 51 pulticulae, tura cum carnibus rapacium alimenta sunt ignium et parentalibus coniunctissima. So, too, Catull. 59. 2 seems to imply more: saepe quam in sepulcretis | uidistis ipso rapere de rogo cenam. dapes is used in its primitive sense of sacrificial offerings of food.
fuso crateres oliuo. SrRvius dis superis tantum libabant, inferis uero sacrificantes etiam uasa in ignem mittebant, unde ait crateres: quod etiam Statius in Archemori sepultura commemorat (Th. 6. 206. Servius’ statement is incorrect. There the vessels are emptied over the pyre). There is no other reference to this practice. The words may equally mean ‘‘ bowls of poured-out oil,” the abl. being descriptive; and it is possible that Vergil intends no more than “bowlfuls.” But it is more natural to suppose that the bowls are burned as well. For offerings of olive oil to the dead cp. E. 5. 68 craterasque duos statuam tibi pinguis oliui. So, too, Arnob. 7. 20, cited by Lersch.
erateres. Vergil invariably uses the Greek form crater, as opposed to the Latinised forms creterra_and cratera.
226. Cp. Il. 9. 212 αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατὰ πῦρ ἐκάη καὶ φλὸξ ἐμαράνθη ; 23. 251 βαθεῖα δὲ κάππεσε τέφρη.
eineres. Ashes generally: fawillam (227), the glowing ember.
227. Cp. Il. 23. 251 πυρκαιὴν σβέσαν αἴθοπι οἴνῳ | ὅσσον ἐπὶ φλὸξ ἦλθε. But it was a Roman custom as well, for- bidden, it is true, by Numa (cp. Plin, 14. 88 Nwimae regis Postumia lex est: uino rogum ne respergito), but none the less practised: cp. Tibull. 3. 2. 19 et primum annoso spargent collecta Lyaeo. Stat. Silv. 2.6. 90. ΤΠ, 6. 1951. (Mr. Warde Fowler points out that the lex Numae does not necessarily apply to this rite, and suggests that the wine
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may have been a substitute for blood and intended to keep the ghost alive.) ane
228. eado. A brazen urn, such as is frequently found in tombs.
lecta. The ceremony known as ossilegium, performed under ordinary circumstances by near relatives after the departure of the other mourners. It is probable that Corynaeus (the name recurs again in g. 571 and 12. 298) is to be regarded as a relative.
229. The Trojans were polluted by the death of Misenus, precisely as a house was polluted by the presence of death. Under ordinary circumstances the house in which a man had died was purified before the funeral (exuerrae, see Festus, s.v. exuerreator). Then, after the funeral, came the purification of all who had taken part in it (suffitio): see Fest. s.v. aqua et ignt, p. 3 L. itaque funus prosecuti redeuntes ignem super- gradiebantur aqua aspersi: quod purgationis genus uocabant suffitionem.
ter. The sacred number. The. belief that.odd numbers are lucky is universal. The simpler odd numbers, 3, 5, 7, 9, recur continually: cp. Usener, Dreizahl. Rh. Mus. 58, pp. 1 5qq-, 161 sqq., 321 544. For the number 3 in ritual cp. 506 manis ter uoce uocaui. E. 8. 73 terna tibi haec primum triplict diuersa colore | licia circumdo, terque haec altaria circum | effigiem duco : numero deus impare gaudet. A. 11.188 ter circum accensos cincti fulgentibus armis | decurrere rogos, ter maestum funeris ignem | lustrauere in equis ululatusque ore dedero. G. τ. 345 (a case of actual lustratio) terque nouas circum felix eat hostia fruges.
eircumtulit. “Purified.” Servius purgauit. antiquum uerbum est. ... nam lustratio a circumlatione dicta est uel taedae uel sulpuris. Hence circumferre, originally used merely of the act of purification, came to be used in the
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sense “to purify”: cp. Piaut. Amph. 776 quaeso quin tu tstanc tubes pro cerrita circumferri. Fr. incert. 68 pro laruato te circumferam. Cato. agr. 141. 1. It is quite unnecessary to explain, as Conington does, “ on the analogy of circumdare, etc., aliquam rem alicut, and aliquem aliqua re,’ making the present phrase a variation for circumtulit socios puram undam. The word is old and popular, and has come to be considered as equivalent to purgare. lustro has undergone the opposite process: from “ purify’? it has come to mean “ range,” *‘ go round.”
230. spargens. Cp. Macrob. 3. 1. 6 constat dis superis sacra facturum corporis ablutione purgart ; cum wero inferis litandum est, satis uidetur st aspersio sola contingat.
rore et ramo. Hendiadys.
felicis oliuae. SrRvius arboris festae. sed moris fuerat ut de lauro fieret. sane dicit Donatus quod hoc propterAugustum mutautt. nam nata est laurus in Palatio eo die quo Augustus. unde triumphantes coronari consueuerant. propter quam vem noluit laurum dicere ad offictum lugubre pertinere. There is no other reference to the use of the olive for this purpose. The laurel was regularly employed (cp. Plin. 15. 138). Servius’ explanation is not very probable. But for the use of the olive at funerals, though for a very different purpose, cp. Plin. 35. 160 guin et defunctos sese multi fictilibus soliis condi maluere, sicut M. Varro, Pythagorico modo, in myrti et oleae et populi nigrae foliis. It is possible that we may have a trace of Pythagorean influence here, as so often in this book.
felicis. Not so much in contrast to the tnfelix oleaster (in sense “unfertile’’), as opposed to infelices arbores, *‘ill-omened ”’: cp. n. on 215 frondibus atris.
231. lustrauit. As in many cases of lustratio the rite_ involved going round the persons to be purified. Cp. cir-
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cumtulit above. See Warde Fowler, Rel. Exp. of Rom.People, Pp. 209.
nouissima uerba. SERVIUS (on 216) populi circumstantis corona, quae tam diu stabat respondens fletibus praeficae .. . quam diu consumpto cadauere et collectis cinertbus diceretur nouissimum uerbum “‘ilicet,’ quod tre licet significat. unde est “‘dixitque noutssima uerba,” (On 231) id est “‘ilicet’. nam “uale” dicebatur post tumuli quoque peracta sollemnia. Servius may be right, but we should expect the last farewell to be mentioned rather than the comparatively colourless “‘ilicet.” The farewell to Pallas (11. 97), however, takes place before the actual burning.
232. ingenti mole sepulerum. A great tumulus or barrow, like the barrow reputed to be the tomb of Achilles at Sigeum Cp. Il. 23. 255 τορνώσαντο δὲ σῆμα, θεμείλιά τε προβάλοντο
| ἀμφὶ πυρήν" εἶθαρ δὲ χυτὴν ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἔχευαν. 24, 797. Od. 12. 14 and 24. 80, Aesch, Cho, 351 πολύχωστον τάφον.
233. suaque arma. SERVIUS sculpsit in saxo, nam supra ea iam legimus concremata, There is no need for such an interpretation. The arma are the remus et tuba. Cp, 1. 177 Cerealia arma. The alternative is to take arma as the actual armour contrasted by the use of swa with the fulgentia arma burned on the pyre, which are not his arms, but those offered by his comrades: cp, 11. 193 aliz . . . coniciunt igni galeas ensesque decoros |. , . pars munera nota, | tpsorum clipeos et non felicia tela,
remumque tubamque, SERVIUS quia οἱ bellator et remex fuerat, licet possimus etiam tubam acctpere. remus enim dicitur lorum quod continet tubam—t.e., a leather case. But this is inappropriate: remum is a clear imitation of Od. 11. 77 and 12. 15, where Elpenor’s oar is spoken of as the mark to be set above his tomb.
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uiro “ explains sua, which would naturally refer to Aeneas himself ”’ (Conington).
234. monte sub aerio. Servius asserts that the tomb was on the summit; such a sense cannot, however, be ex- tracted from the Latin.
Misenus. The origin of place-names was a common topic of etiological poetry. The practice was canonised by Callimachus in his Αἴτια: cp. his Roman imitator, Pro- pertizs, 4. 1. 69 sacra diesque canam et nomina prisca locorum. For exx. in this book cp, 381 (Palinurus), and 507 (Deiphobus). Other exx. 1. 367; 7. 1; 10. 145. The site is probably to be identified with the Punta di Miseno, But it has also been identified with the Monte di Procida, over a mile farther West. In any case it should be noted (see n. on 149-152) that the site is a considerable distance from Cumae (4-5 miles). See Beloch, Kampanien?, p. 195.
237. spelunea. The cave known as Grotta della Sibilla, 4x5 m. broad, roo m. long, on south shore of Avernus. There is no longer any volcanic halitus. But the eruption of Monte Nuovo in 1538 has caused notable alterations in the district. See Beloch, op. cit., Ρ. 171. Cp. Strabo 5, p. 244. καὶ τὸ μαντεῖον ἐνταῦθά που ἵδρυται, Tov δὲ Πυριφλεγέθοντα ἐκ τῶν θερμῶν ὑδάτων ἐτεκμαίροντο τῶν πλήσιον τῆς Αχερουσίας. . « . Ἔφορος δὲ τοῖς Κιμμερίοις προσοικειῶν τὸν τόπον φησὶν αὐτοὺς ἐν καταγείοις οἰκεῖν... καὶ τοὺς ξένους εἰς τὸ μαντεῖον δέχεσθαι πολὺ ὑπὸ γῆς ἱδρυμένον. Ζῆν δὲ ἀπὸ μεταλλείας καὶ τῶν μαντευομένων .. . εἶναι δὲ περὶ τὸ χρηστήριον ἔθος πάτριον μηδένα τὸν ἥλιον ὁρᾶν ἀλλὰ τῆς νυκτὸς ἔξω πορεύεσθαι τῶν χασμάτων" καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ποιήτην περὶ αὐτῶν εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἄρα ᾿ οὐδὲ ποτ᾽ αὐτοὺς | ἠέλιος φαέθων ἐπιδέρκεται᾽ (Od. 11. 14). ὕστερον δὲ διαφθαρῆναι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὑπὸ βασίλεως τινὸς, οὐκ ἀναβάντος αὐτῷ τοῦ χρησμοῦ, τὸ δὲ μαντεῖον ἔτι συμμένειν μεθεστηκὺς εἰς ἕτερον τόπον. Max. Tyrius, 14. 2 ἦν δὲ που
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τῆς Ἰταλίας, , περὶ Λίμνην "Aopvov οὕτω᾽ καλουμένην μαντεῖον ἄντρον... ἐνταῦθα ὁ δεόμενος ἀφικόμενος, εὐξάμενος ἐντεμὼν σφάγια χεάμενος χοὰς ἀνεκαλεῖτο ψυχὴν ὅτου δὴ τῶν πατέρων ἢ φίλων. καὶ αὐτῷ ἀπήντα εἴδωλον, ἀμυδρὸν μὲν ἰδεῖν ενὺν͵ φθεγκτικὸν δὲ, ,. καὶ συγγενόμενον ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐδεῖτο ἀπηλλάττετο.
238. serupea. “ Rough,” “jagged,” a rare word found before Vergil only in Enn. Tr. fr. 139 V. and as a noun in Attius, Tr. 431 R. From serupus a sharp stone: cp. Fest. 448 L. scrupi dicuntur aspera saxa et difficilia attrectatu. For the present phrase cp. Att. ap. Non. 223. 2 scruposam specum.
tuta. ““ Protected.”’ Its original sense as past part. pass. of the archaic tweo, Cp. 1. 571 auxilio tutos.
nemorumque tenebris. The lake was surrounded with thick wood till 37 B.c., when Agrippa connected the Lucrine lake with the sea and with Avernus by canals, with a view to forming a landlocked harbour. Strabo, s, P- 244 544.
239-242. Cp. Lucr. 6. 740 principio quod Auerna uocantur nomine, id ab re | impositum est, quia sunt auibus contraria cunctis |... hic locus est Cumas apud, acri sulpure montes | oppleti calidis ubi fumant fontibus aucti. Lucretius clearly connects the name with awis, and there is no reason why Vergil should not have done likewise. 242, which gives the Greek derivation, is without parallel in Vergil (G. 3. 148 oestrum Grai uertere uocantes comes in a didactic poem, and is not in any case a true parallel).
The line is such as might be tolerable in a Periegesis, but is out of the question in an epic poem. Finally, (qa) it is pre- served by R alone among the better MSS., (Ὁ) ignored by Servius, and (c) occurs in Dionysius, Perieg. 1151 τούνεκα μιν καὶ φῶτες ἐπικλείουσιν "Aopviv, which is translated by
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Priscian, Perieg. 1056 unde locis Grai posuerunt nomen Aornis. It is clearly a gloss which has found its way into the text.
239. Cp. Ap. Rhod. 4. 601 (of the Eridanus) οὐδέ τις ὕδωρ κεῖνο διὰ πτέρα κοῦφα τανύσσας | olwvos δύναται βαλέειν ὕπερ.
uolantes. “Flying things,’ used substantivally as in 728, and Lucr. 2. 1083. Cp. also uolitans in the same sense in G. 3. 147.
240. Cp. 7. 7 tendit iter uelis.
241. As stated above, these exhalations have ceased. But the whole district of the Campi Flegrei is full of hot springs and exhalations of sulphur are not infrequent: cp. especially the Solfatara at Pozzuoli and the Grotta del Cane.
supera ad conuexa. FM? P? read supera, M1 P? R super. So, too, at 750 FM? read supera, M1 super. There is a like divergence in the text at 10. 251. There can, however, be no doubt that swpera is the true reading; conuexa requires either an adjective or a noun (e.g., caeli) to qualify it.
243 544. The sacrifices now offered are in accordance with Greek ritual rather than Roman. They are suggested pri- marily by those in Od. 11. Cp. especially the sacrifice of στεῖραν βοῦν (30) and div παμμέλανα (32), corresponding to sterilem uaccam and atri uelleris agnam in the present passage. They are, however, more elaborate and different in detail. While the language in certain points recalls the technical language of Roman sacrifice, there are certain features which are foreign to genuine Roman rite—e.g., the collection of the blood in bowls for offering to the dead, the holocaust (solida uiscera), and perhaps also the method of slaughter (supponunt cultros). See notes.
243. nigrantis terga iuuencos. Repeated in 5. 97. For the construction see n. on 156. The technical name for such victims was hostiae furuae (Val. Max. 2. 4. 5), black
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cattle being chosen for sacrifice to the deities of ‘the under- world, as white victims were selected for offerings to the di supert.
245. constituit. Cp. 5. 236 taurum | constituam ante aras, 9.627 statuam. 8. 85 sistit.
244. inuergit. SrRvius in quarto (61) ait “‘ media inter cornua fundit.” et fundere est supina manu libare, quod fit in sacris supernis ; uergere autem est conuersa in sinistram partem manu ita fundere ut patera conuertatur, quod in in- fernis sacris fit. Cp. Ov. Ms 7. 246, where inuergo is used in a similar context.
245. Cp. Od. 3. 445 πολλὰ δ᾽ ᾿Αθήνῃ | εὔχετ᾽ ἀπαρχόμενος κεφαλῆς τρίχας ἐν πυρὶ βάλλων.
libamina prima. A translation of the Gk. ἀπαρχαὶ. libare can be used of any offering, liquid or otherwise (e.g., tura, exta, uiscera): cp, Stat. Th. 6. 224 raptumque suis libamen ab armts.
247. Cp. Ap. Rhod. 3. 1209 ἐπὶ δὲ μιγάδας χέε λοιβὰς | Βριμὼ κικλήσκων Ἑκάτην ἐπαρωγὸν ἀέθλων.
uoce uocans means no more than calling aloud upon Hecate. SERVIUS non uerbis, sed quibusdam mysticis sonis. Possibly, but Vergil does not say so, and Servius, as often, refines overmuch.
Hecaten. See ἢ. on Triuiae 13.
248. supponunt cecultros. Cp. G. 3. 492 wix suppositi tinguuntur sanguine cultri, SERVIUS 14 est uictimas caedunt. fuit autem uerbum sacrorum, in quibus mali ominis uerba uitabant. Cp. the precisely similar use of ὑποτίθημι in Dio. Hal. 7. 72 συντελεσθείσης δὲ τῆς πομπῆς ἐβουθύτουν εὐθὺς
. καὶ ὁ τῶν θυηπολιῶν τρόπος ὃ αὐτὸς ἣν τῷ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν... τῶν δὲ (sc. ὑπηρετῶν) οὗ μὲν ἑστῶτος ἔτι τοῦ θυμιάματος σκυτάλῃ τοὺς κροτάφους ἔπαιον οἱ δὲ πίπτοντος ὑπετίθεσαν τὰς σφαγῖδας. He is describing the ritual at a Roman
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festival shortly after the regifugiwm on the authority of Fabius Pictor, and is concerned to show that the Romans have borrowed their ritual from the Greek.
248. suecipiunt. SERvIUS antique, nam modo suscipiunt dicimus. But cp. Caper Orth. 7. 98 Keil. suscipimus ad animum et mentem refertur, succipimus corpore. So, too, Velius Longus 7. 64. 17 Keil. The rite described is Greek, not Roman. Blood plays but little part in Roman ritual; see Warde Fowler, Relig. Exp. of Rom. People, p. 196, n. 36. The blood is an offering to Hecate and the spirits of the dead. Hecate is described in a late Orphic hymn as αἱμόποτις, p. 294, 53 Abel. Cp. also Theocr. 2. 12 τᾷ χθονίᾳ @‘Exdra, τὰν καὶ σκύλακες τρομέοντι | ἐρχομέναν νεκύων ava τ᾽ ἤρια καὶ μέλαν αἷμα. Bowls of blood are offered to the shades of Polydorus and Anchises in 3. 67 and 5. 78 in accordance with Greek practice, libation of blood being frequent, especially in Chthonian offerings. Cp. Harrison,Prol. Gk. Rel., p. 60 544.
pateris. The Gk. σφαγεῖον, Cp. Eur. El. 800 Schol. Od. 3. 444. Poll. ro. 65.
atri uelleris agnam. Cp. Od. 1.5. For black (Chthonian) victims in Greek ritual cp. Eur. El. 516. Strab. 6. 284. Ras 25, ES. 2, δ[δὲ
250. matri Eumenidum. Night. Cp. Aesch. Eum. 416. Aen. 12. 846.
magnaeque sorori. Earth. The statement that Earth, like Night, was the daughter of Chaos is not found in any existing Theogony. Hesiod (Theog. 115) merely states that Earth came into being after Chaos. For black sheep offered to Earth cp. Hom. 1]. 3. 104.
251. ense ferit. Repeated in 12. 458. Why the sword should be used is notclear. The victims previously mentioned had had their throats cut probably after being felled with a club or hammer (cp. Dion, Hal. l.c.). Norden suggests that
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it is because blood must flow in a Chthonian offering. SERVIUS ut eum contra umbras haberet consecratum. hinc est quod et dicit Sibylla (260) “‘ uaginaque eripe ferrum.”
sterilem uaccam. In Od. l.c. the στεῖρα βοῦς is to be offered to the shades. SERVIUS deae congruam nunquam enitenti. Cp. Arnob, 7. 21 bos st sterilis caedatur Unxiae, quam Proserpinae tribuitis.
252. Stygio regi. Pluto. Cp. 4. 638 Ioui Stygio.
nocturnas. The sacrifice is to be performed at midnight (cp. Sil. 13. 413 544. a medio cum se nox umida cursu | flexerit , etc.).
incohat. SrERvius est uerbum sacrum.
253. solida uiscera. SERVIUS wiscera sunt quicquid inter ossa et cutem est. .. . ergo per solida uiscera holocaustum significat. There is no trace of the holocaust in old Roman ritual (Wissowa, R.K. 352 n. 6), and in piacular offerings at Rome, the exta seem to have been laid upon the altar (Warde Fowler, Relig. Exp. of Rom. People, p. 191).
254. Cp. Il. 11. 775 σπένδων αἴθοπα οἶνον ἐπ᾽ αἰθομένοις ἱεροῖσι,
super. For the short vowel before -7 lengthened in arsis cp. 1. 668 litora iactetur odiis. All uncial MSS. read superque, que having been interpolated as in 1. 668, where MR add que, F alone preserving the true reading. super rests on the authority of later MSS.; cp. Pierius, who states that it occurs in “ aliquot antiqua.”
oleum. Cp. 225 oliuo, note.
255. primi sub lumina solis. So, too, it is just before dawn that Hecate answers Jason’s summons, Ap. Rhod. 3. 1212- 1224. Norden suggests that the hour immediately before dawn is chosen because the spirits of darkness must return to the underworld at dawn: cp. Lucian, Philops. 14. Prop. 4. 7. ot luce tubent leges Lethea ad stagna reuertt.
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256. mugiresolum. Cp. 4.490 mugire uidebis | sub pedtbus terram et descendere montibus ornos (at the approach of nocturni manes). Ap. Rhod. 3. 1218 πίσεα δ᾽ ἔτρεμε πάντα κατὰ στίβον.
257. canes. Cp. Ap. Rhod. 3. 1217 ἀμφὲὶ δὲ τήν ye | ὀξείῃ ὑλακῇ χθόνιοι κύνες ἐφθέγγοντο. Theocr, 2. 35, Hor. 5. 1. 8. 33 Hecaten uocat altera . . . uideres infernas errare canes. Hecate herself is sometimes represented with a dog’s head (Dieterich, Nekyia, p. 51, n. 2).
258. procul o procul este profani. A translation of the formula ἑκὰς, ἑκὰς ὅστις ἄλιτρος (cp. Callim, Hymn. Apoll. 2). Hecate is approaching, and the unhallowed are warned to withdraw.
260. uaginaque eripe ferrum. Aeneas is bidden to draw his sword because the spirits of the underworld fear cold iron. Cp. Od. 11. 48, where Odysseus draws his sword in conformity with Circe’s instructions. Also Schol. ad Od. lc. κοινή τις παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἐστίν ὑπόληψις ὅτι νεκροὶ καὶ δάιμονες σίδηρον φοβοῦνται. Lycophr. 685 φασγάνου πρό- βλημα δαιμόνων φόβος. Later (290), when Aeneas is about to use the sword, the Sibyl warns him that his adversaries are unsubstantial shadows to whom he can do no hurt. The sword is therefore drawn as a talisman, but no further reference is made to its use or power. For the phrase cp. 4. 579 uaginaque eripit ensem, and το. 475.
262. furens. The approach of Hecate renews the afflatus. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 141 ἢ σύ y’ ἔνθεος, ὦ κούρα εἴτ ἐκ Ἰ]ανὸς εἴθ᾽ “Exaras,
263. aequat “‘keeps pace with.” Cp. 3. 671 nec potis Ionios fluctus aequare sequendo.
264-267. Such invocations are the commonplaces of Epic, occurring not only at the commencement of a great poem such as the Odyssey or Iliad, but as introductions to special passages. Cp. Il. 2. 484 and 14.508. Aen. 7. 36, 641; 9. 525;
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10.163; 12.500. For an extreme, almost burlesque, example cp. Oppian, Hal. 1. 73. In primitive times it was a genuine prayer: the poet was the mouthpiece of the Muses, and drew his authority and warrant from them. This idea became subsequently a stereotyped epic convention. It is not always in the form of a prayer: cp. Ap. Rhod. 4. 1379 Μουσάων ὅδε μῦθος: ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὑπάκουος ἀείδω | ΠΙιερίδων καὶ τήνδε πανατρεκὲς ἔκλυον ὀμφήν. Orph. Fr. 49 Abel. But of all these ceremonial introductions there is none to equal the present for impressiveness. Vergil is not merely revealing the secrets of the nether world: he is expounding the mysteries of purification and rebirth, with which are inti- mately linked the destinies of the Roman people.
264. Cp. 5. 235 di quibus imperium est pelagt.
265. Chaos, the parent of Nox and Erebus: Hes. T. 123.
Phlegethon. Cp. Od. το. 513 ἔνθα μὲν εἰς ᾿Αχέροντα Πυριφλεγέθων τε ῥέουσιν Κωκυτός θ᾽ ὃς δὴ Στυγὸς ὕδατος ἐστιν ἀπορρὼξ. A, 6.550 moenia .. . quae rapidis flammis ambit torrentibus amnis 1 Tartareus Phlegethon, torquetque sonantia saxa.
loca nocte tacentia late. Cp. 463 loca senta situ. 534 loca turbida.
266 audita. Cp. Plat. Gorg. 524 Β. ταῦτ᾽ ἔστιν (description of Hades), ἃ ἐγὼ ἀκηκοὼς πιστεύω ἀληθῆ εἶναι. Meno, 81 A. Gorg. 493 A.
sit numine uestro. Not=sit fas, but sit=liceat. Cp. E. 10. 46.
269. uacuas... inania. SERVIUS nostri mundi com- paratione: simulacra enim illic sunt, quae tnania esse non dubium est.
270. ineertam=not “‘ fitful’: they are walking through “darkness visible,’ and the comparison to moonlight rendered intermittent by passing clouds would be inappro-
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‘
priate. The sense is either “uncertain,” “not to be de- pended on,” or “ giving no sure sign of its presence.” Cp. Hor. Od. 2. τό. 2 atva nubes | condidit lunam neque certa fulgent | sidera nautis. Servius reads inceptam—i.e., the new moon. But thesense is less picturesque, and his reading is not supported by the best MSS.
maligna=“ niggard.” Cp. 11. 525 aditusque maligni. SERVIUS malignum est proprie angustum.
273. uestibulum. The nearest parallel is in the pseudo- Platonic Axiochus 371 B. τὰ δὲ πρόπυλα τῆς εἰς Πλούτωνος ὁδοῦ σιδηροῖς κλείθροις καὶ κλεισὶν ὠχύρωται. ταῦτα δ᾽. ἀνοίξαντα ποταμὸς ᾿Αχέρων ἐπιδέχεται μεθ᾽ ὃν ΚΚωκυτὸς οὕς χρὴ πορθμεύσαντας ἀχθῆναι ἐπὶ Μίνω καὶ Ραδάμανθυν. They reach the outer gate of Hades. The westibulum of a house is the space in front of the main entrance, enclosed between two projecting wings, the door being thus set back from the street. ‘‘ Fore-court”’ is, perhaps, the nearest translation. The generally accepted derivation is we-stib-u-lum. Cp. Servius aliz dicunt ab eo quod nullus illic stet ; in limine enim solus est transitus: quomodo uesanus dicitur non sanus, sic uestibulum quast non stabulum. Cp. also Macrob. 6. 8. 14 sqq. The passage is discussed by Gellius 16. 5. His conclusion as to the meaning of the passage may be summed up in the following sentences: uestibulum appellat ante ipsam quast domum et ante Orct penetralia. .. . fauces uocat iter angustum per quod ad uestibulum adiretur. For the whole line cp. 2. 469 uestibulum ante ipsum primogue in limine Pyrrhus. For the metaphor of fauces cp. Lucr. 1. 852 Leti sub dentibus; it was, however, the regular term for the passage to the atrium.
Orei. The metaphor is helped out by the fact that Orcus is, strictly speaking, the god of the underworld. Cp. the identification with Pluto in Cic. Verr. 2. 4. 50. 111 ut alter Orcus uenisse Hennam et non Proserpinam sed ipsam Cererem
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rapuisse uideatur. Orcus is a genuine Italian deity, while Dis is merely a translation of the Gk. Πλούτων. See n. on Ditis, 127. Orcus is, however, often, as here, used for the underworld itself: cp. Prop. 3. 19. 27 Minos sedet arbiter Orct.
That the westibulum is not merely metaphorical, but is conceived as an actual fore-court, is shown by limine (279), fores (286), in medio (282). In the latter case the elm of dreams is regarded as growing in the midst of the westibulum and overshadowing it. Cp. Ὁ. 4. 20 palmaque uestibulum aut ingens oleaster obumbret. Suet. Vesp. 25 in media parte uestibult.
274. The list of the woes and passions which afflict man- kind, personified as evil spirits haunting the gates of Hades, has no exact parallel in earlier literature. But the personi- fication of these abstractions goes back to an early date: cp. Hesiod, T. 211, where the poet introduces as the children of Night, Mépos, Kipp, Θάνατος, Μῶμος, "Οιζυς, Ὕπνος, Νέμεσις, ᾿Απάτη, Τῆρας, Ἔρις, and as children of Ἔρις, Λήθηντε Λιμόν τε καὶ "AAyea δακρυοέντα |“Yopivas τε Φόνους τε Μάχας 7’ ᾿Ανδροκτασίας τε κτλ. So, too, Cicero, N.D. 3. 44, mentions as divine beings, Amor, Dolor, Motus, Labor, Inuidentia, Fatum, Senectus, Mors, Tenebrae, Miseria, Querela, Fraus, Pertinacia, Hesperides, Somnia quos omnes Erebo et Nocte satos ferunt. It has been suggested that the present passage is developed from Lucr. 3. 65 turpis enin ferme contemptus et acris egestas |semota ab dulct utta stabilique uidentur | et quast iam leti portas cunctarter ante. But it is equally probable that the suggestion came from some lost Greek Nekyia.
ultrices curae. SERVIUS conscientiae quae puntunt semper nocentes.
275. Cp. G. 3. 67 subeunt morbi tristisque senectus | et labor et durae rapit inclementia mortis.
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276. malesuada. ‘‘ Inciting to evil,” a very rare word, found before Vergil only in Plaut. Most. 213, and apparently not again until Sid. Ap. and Paul. Nol.
277. Letumque Labosque. An echo of the Hesiodic λήθην te Λιμόν τε, letum being regarded by Varro (L. L. 7. 42) as derived from λήθη. Letum is, according to Norden, more commonly personified than Mors : cp. Lucr. 1. 852 Leti sub dentibus, etc.; but there is little to choose in this respect be- tween the two words. Labos, the archaic form of labor, is preferred as more euphonious,
278. Cp. Il. 14. 231 ἔνθ' Ὕπνῳ ξύμβλητο, κασιγνήτῳ Θανάτοιο, Sleep finds himself in bad company, but he is at the entrance to Hades, (a) because he is the brother of Death and the other children of Night (see Cicero and Hesiod, ll. cc.), and (Ὁ) because he is the “death of each day’s life’ (Soph. Ant. 606), the weakener of man’s powers, who delivers over soul and body to the power of external forces. sopor is a stronger word than somnus, implying the torpor rather than the restfulness of sleep.
mala mentis gaudia. All evil «passions in which the soul takes delight.
aduerso in limine. Full on the threshold, barring the way.
279. Bellum. For the personification cp. 1. 294 and 7. 607. War is associated with the gates of the temple of the war-god: cp. the closing of the gates of Janus and the opening of the gates of War (7. 607). It is possible, too, that he is connected with the threshold in the Arval hymn (limen sali, sta), but the meaning of the passage is much disputed. Cp. Hes. T. lc. Méxas τ’ ᾿Ανδροκτασίας τε, the children of "Epxs, daughter of Night.
ferreique Eumenidum thalami. The Eumenides are children of Night (250). Thalami means no more than
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chambers. The question has been much discussed as to why, if this is the dwelling of the Furies, they are found in Tartarus in 555, 570 sqq., 605 544. Why, again, is Cocytus the river of the Eumenides (374)? The simplest answer is that Vergil combines different traditions, and is indifferent to such minor inconsistencies as may result. A Hydra similarly reappears in 576 (cp. 287).
ferrei. For the synezesis cp. 1. 726 aureis, 7. 609 aerel, 10. 496 baltei. The earliest example appears to be Hor. S. 1. 8. 43 cerea.
Discordia. The Ἔρις of Hesiod. Here represented as a Fury.
uipereum. The adj. is not found before Vergil, though uiperinus does occur. wuipereus is found again, 7. 351 and 753:
erinem innexa. For the construction cp. n. on 156. For the picture cp. Hor. Epod. 5. 15 Canidia breuibus inligata utperis crinem.
282-84. The elm-tree, wherein dreams make their nest, has all the appearance of a piece of ancient folk-lore, but cannot be paralleled. The nearest approach is to be found (Lucian, Ver. Hist. 2. 33) in the Island of Dreams, where is a wood inhabited solely by bats (Norden, p. 211).
283. uolgo. (1) SERVIUS cateruatim—i.e., to be taken closely with tenere: cp. 3. 643 habitant ad litora uolgo. Ov. M. τι. 613 passim somnia uana iacent. (2) with ~ ferunt.
284. foliisque sub omnibus haerent. The phrase seems to be imitated from 1]. 2. 312 πετάλοις ὑποπεπτηῶτες, a fact which points to the dreams being conceived as birds. There is no precise parallel for this, but such a superstition may be alluded to in Eur. Hec. 70 ὦ πότνια χθὼν μελανοπτερύγων μᾶτερ ὀνείρων, and other similar passages. Sleep takes the
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form of a bird in 1]. 14. 286. Night is winged in Eur. Or. 174, Aristoph. Av. 695, etc. Again, Silius (13. 595) in a free imitation of the present passage introduces a mysterious yew haunted by Harpies and ill-omened birds. See Granger, Class. Rev. 14 (1900), p. 25, for a vague and inconclusive discussion of this passage.
285-289. The list of monsters which follows is in a different category from that of the mysterious semi-allegorical beings which has preceded. In the Harpies, Centaurs, and Scyllas we encounter the terrible figures of popular superstition, of the same type as Charon and Cerberus, who appear later. There are traces of many such figures in Greek literature, devourers of the dead, such as the Eurynomus depicted by Polygnotus (Paus. το. 28. 7), the Cook of Hades in the Cyclops of Euripides (397), the snakes, the fierce wild beasts, and the only half-burlesque Ταρτησία μύραινα of the Frogs of Aristophanes. See Dieterich, Nekyia, p. 46 sqq. Vergil avoids the grosser and more ghastly features of these goblins of popular tradition. For him they serve but as grim and picturesque warders of the portals of the underworld; they dwell this side of Styx, not in the heart of Hell, and have lost the terrible functions assigned to them by popular superstition.
286. Centauri are not found among the monsters of Hell in any earlier author, though they reappear in Statius (Theb. 4. 534) in obvious imitation of Vergil. Whether their appearance here is due to Vergil’s own invention or not cannot be definitely stated. It is highly probable that Vergil is borrowing from some earlier source. Norden points out that they are styled ὠμοφάγοι in Theognis (542) and Apollodorus (2. 83), like the various eaters of the dead, to whom reference has been made above; while, further, one of the Centaurs in Ov. Met. 12. 436 is styled by the suspicious
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name of Chthonius. Cp. also Lucr. 4. 734, cited in the next note. The part played by the Centaur in modern Greek superstition lends additional colour to this view; see Lawson, Modern Greek Folklore, p. 190 ff.
inforibus. For stables near the entrance cp. Vitruv. 6. το. τ. Apul. Met. 1. 15 (all Greek houses, however).
Seyllae. Cp. Lucr. 4. 732 Centauros itaque et Scyllarum membra uidemus | Cerbereasque canum fauces stmulacraque eorum | quorum morte obita tellus amplectitur ossa. Though neither Centaurs nor Scyllas are specifically mentioned by Lucretius as monsters of Hell, the company in which he places them strongly suggests that they occurred to him in this connexion. But no Scylla appears in Hades in any other author, though she may well, as Norden suggests, be akin to the Harpies, the snatchers of men, even as the Scylla of the Sicilian straits was a snatcher of men (Cp. Od. 12. 100): it may be noted also that in the same passage of the Odyssey her cave is described as “turned to Erebus, toward the place of darkness.” The plural Scyllae occurs again in Lucr. 5. 893. In both passages of Lucretius, however, the plural need mean no more than “ monsters such as Scylla,” and we have nowhere any reference to more than one monster of this type. It is, however, possible that the existence of another Scylla daughter of Nisus, turned into a seabird (G. 1. 404), but identified with the monster of the Mediter- ranean in ἘΠ]. 6. 74, might have given rise to the plurel Scyllae. The two legends were confused in antiquity, as is shown by the efforts of the author of the Ciris to distinguish between them (see Skiitsch, Aus Vergil’s Frithzeit, p. 92). There is also the fact that Scylla has a number of different mothers allotted to her by legend (Crataiis, Lamia, Echidna), a circumstance which would facilitate the belief in several different Scyllas.
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biformes. Cp. Lucr. and Hom. Od. |.c., and Aen. 3. 426 prima hominis factes et pulcro pectore uirgo | pube tenus, postrema tmmani corpore pistrix | delphinum caudas utero commissa luporum.
287. ecentumgeminus=centumplex. Cp. 800 septemgemi- nus ; 4.510 tergeminus. For centumgeminus cp. Val. ΕἸ. 6.118.
Briareus is in Hades in Hes. Theog. 617, though in Homer (il. 1. 402) he appears as the helper of the gods. centum- geminus probably means no more than “ hundred-armed ”’: cp. Homer, 1.6. Cp. Aen. το. 565, where Aegaeon is represented as having fifty heads, a number appropriate to his 100 arms.
belua Lernae. The Hydra or water-snake slain by Hercules. It is not elsewhere represented as one of the terrors of Hades, but that, like the Chimacra, it was of a Chthonian character is clear from Hesiod, Thecg. 305, where it is stated that the Hydra, Chimaera, Cerberus, and Orthos (Geryon’s dog, see below) were all the offspring of Echidna, a Chthonian monster whom he describes as dwelling in Hades. Another Hydra further reappears on the side of Styx (576), q.v.
288. Chimaera. For the Chthonian origin of the Chimaera see preceding note. Her appearances as a goblin in Hades are late. Cp. Lucian, Dial. Mort. 30.1 ὁ δ᾽ ἱερόσυλος ὑπὸ τῆς χιμαίρας διασπαραχθήτω. Nekyom. 14 χίμαιρα δ᾽ ἐσπάραττε. There is but one Chimaera known to legend, the fire- breathing monster of Lycia slain by Bellerophon: cp. Il. 6. 180 πρόσθε λέων, ὄπιθεν δὲ δράκων, μέσση δὲ χίμαιρα. This monster was generally connected with the burning gas-spring near Phaselis in Lycia (Plin. 2. 106. Mela1r.15). Cp. for a similar explanation Strabo, 14. 655.
289. SERVIUS sane quidam dicunt uersus alios hos a poeta hoc loco relictos, qui ab etus emendatoribus sublati sunt:
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Gorgonis in medio portentum immane Medusae, | uipereae circum ora comae, cut sibila torquent | infamesque rigent oculi, mentoque sub imo |serpentum extremis nodantur uincula caudis. These lines have the true Vergilian ring, and were probably an alternative draft, bringing the passage more closely into line with the legend, making Hercules draw his sword upon Medusa. See below on 290.
Gorgones. Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. A Gorgon or Gorgons are found in Hades in Od. τι. 633, Aristophanes, Frogs 477, and elsewhere. They are monsters with snaky hair and terrible faces, whose gaze kills or turns to stone. See n. on 290.
Harpyiae. The Harpies of Hell are probably spirits of death, half-woman, half-bird: cp. Vergil’s description of them in 3. 216. There, however, they have no connexion with death; they “snatch ”’ the food from the feast, but not the bodies of human beings. In the Odyssey, however (1. 241 and 20. 78), they appear as mysterious beings, who carry off human beings to an inglorious and unknown death: cp. ἀκλειῶς, ἄιστος, ἄπυστος, in the first passage; in the second instance, after carrying off the daughters of Pandareos, ἔδοσαν στυγερῇσιν Epwiow ἀμφιπολεύειν. They may, there- fore, be perhaps regarded as spirits of sudden and inglorious death, involving the disappearance of the victim’s body. They have been regarded as being no more than storm- spirits, but they are probably something more. See Dieterich, Nekyia, p. 56, n. 1. The well-known Harpy- tomb of Xanthos, in Lycia, we see winged figures, which may, perhaps, be described as spiritualised Harpies, carrying off the souls of the dead. With the exception, however, of the passage quoted from Od. 20, where they are associated with the Erinyes, there seems to be no passage in literature con- necting them with the underworld,
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forma tricorporis umbrae. Geryoneus or Geryon, the fabulous king of Hesperia, with three bodies, slain by Hercules. For his presence in the underworld cp. Hor. Od. 2. 14. ὃ Plutona . .. qui ter amplum | Geryonen Tityonque tristi | compescit unda. He, like Cerberus, another victim of Hercules, is probably one of the many Chthonian goblins, cp. Wilamowitz, Eur. Her. F., 2nd ed., 45. 65. Geryon, like Pluto, has a dog of Chthonian breed, which, like Cerberus, falls a victim to the power of Hercules. This dog, Orthos by name, was the offspring of the Chthonian monster Echidna, and brother to the Hydra, Cerberus, and Chimaera. See Hes. Theog. 305 sqq.
290 594. Aeneas thinks to use his sword. So, too, Apol- lodorus (2. 122-24) tells how Heracles drew his sword against the Gorgon in Hades, but was told by Hermes that she was an unsubstantial shadow: cp. also Bacchy]l. 5. 71.
293 sqqg. admoneat ...inruat, ete. = admonuisset... irruisset, etc. The vivid present subjunctive is used, as in 1. 58 ni faciat . . . ferant, etc. The temptation to use this graphic construction was rendered all the stronger by the fact that the impf. and plpf. subj. are often intractable to metre.
sub imagine =“ clothed with the hollow semblance of form.”
294. diuerberet umbras, probably suggested by Lucr. 2. 152 diuerberet undas.
295-98. Vergil’s description of the rivers of Hades is confused. It is based on Od. το. 513 ἔνθα μὲν εἰς ᾿Αχέροντα Πυριφλεγέθων τε ῥέουσιν | Κωκυτός θ᾽ ds δὴ Στυγὸς ὕδατός ἐστιν ἀπορρώξ. That is to say that Acheron is fed by the other three rivers. The turbidus gurges of 296 should naturally refer to Acheron. But (385) it turns out to be the Styx, and that it is designed to be so taken here seems
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to be shown by the words omnem Cocyto eructat arenam, which are to be regarded as an amplification of Στυγὸς ὕδατός ἐστιν ἀπορρώξ. There is a further complication (439), where the Styx is said to encircle Hades nine times. Phlegethon has a place to itself as the fiery moat of Tartarus (550-51). Unlike Dante, Vergil has not troubled himself about the exact topography of his underworld. He aims at a vague sense of horror and mystery as regards the scenery and general accessories. His real interest is in the persons described, and in the moral and theological aspects of the after-life. Plato (Phaedo, 112) gives a more detailed and romantic description, but it has had no influence on Vergil.
295. hine—7.e., from within the outer gate of Orcus.
296. hie must, in view of what has been said above, be the adverb, and not the pronoun. If it be taken as the pronoun, the gurges is Acheron. If it be translated ‘‘ here,” it is possible to interpret gurges as referring to the Styx. For the description cp. Juv. 3. 266, where the Styx is styled caenosus gurges.
297. Cocyto. ‘Into Cocytus.”
298. portitor. Generally interpreted in its later sense of “‘ferryman,” on the erroneous supposition that it was derived from portare. In all cases where the word occurs before Vergil, it is used=“‘collector of harbour dues,” ““harbour-master.”” That the word is derived from portus is clear from its form. And it is in this sense that the passage is interpreted by Donatus: portitores dicuntur quit portus obseruant, ut sine ipsorum iussu nullus transeat in alienas regiones. So, too, Nonius 24. Charon is the harbour- master who collects dues and forbids the unauthorised to cross: cp. 316 alias longe summotos arcet arena. G.4. 502 nec portitor Orci | amplius obiectam passus transire paludem.
[51
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid It is true that he is also the ferryman, although the dead themselves row as well: cp. 320. Prop. 2. 27. 13, and the comic version in Aristoph. Ran. 197. Finally, his duty here is seruare flumina [cp. portus obseruant (above)].
Charon, a post-Homeric figure of popular superstition. The first trace of him is found in the references given by Pausanias, 10. 28. 2 ἐπηκολούθησε δὲ ὁ Πολύγνωτος ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν ποιήσει Μινυάδι" ἔστι γὰρ δὴ ἐν τῇ Μινυάδι ἐς Θησέα ἔχοντα καὶ Πειρίθουν ““ἔνθ᾽ ἤτοι νέα μὲν νεκυάμβατον, ἣν ὁ γεραιὸς | πορθμεὺς ἦγε Χάρων, οὐκ ἔλλαβον ἔνδοθεν ὅρμου. ἐπὶ τούτῳ οὖν καὶ Πολύγνωτος γέροντα ἔγραφεν ἤδη τῇ ἡλικίᾳ τὸν Χάροντα. The earliest existing literary references are Eur. H. F. 432. Alc. 255, 361. Aristoph. Ran. 182. He is frequently repre- sented on vases, sepulchral reliefs, etc. Vergil’s description may be regarded as typical. See vase-painting, published in Benndorf, Griech. Vasenbild., plate 27, reproduced by Roscher, where he is represented as wearing the exomis and wielding a pole, as here. He appears in Etruscan art as Charun; but there he is a monster winged, with the legs οὗ a bird. Vergil, as in practically every detail of-his Nekyia, follows Greek tradition, and avoids the more horrible features of legend. Charon survives as Charos or Charontas in modern Greek popular superstition: cp. Schmidt, Volksleben der Neugriechen, τ. 122; Lawson, op. cit., p. Ioo.
3.0 stant lumina flamma. stant by itself implies a fixed stare,
and with flamma conveys the idea that they are a “ mass of flame” (Henry). Cp. Enn. A. 592 stant puluere campt. Aen. 12. 407 puluere caelum | stare uideni. Ov. F. 6. 133 stantes oculi. flamma M?P? Servius (ad 1. 646) is clearly preferable to flammae M'P? R, as giving the more vivid picture, and avoiding the bold gen. of material.
301. He is represented as wearing the garb of a sailor. Cp. Plaut. Mil. 1177 facito uti uenias ornatu ornatus huc
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nauciertco| ... palliolum habeas ferrugineum, nam 1s colos thalassicust: |id connexum in humero laeuo, expapit- lato brachio.
nodo. It is tied with a knot, not fastened with a fibula. He wears the exomis knotted over the left shoulder.
302. ipse—i.e., he is more than a portitor or harbour- master; he is a boatman as well. It does not mean “ un- assisted ’’; see 321 and above on fortitor.
subigit. ‘‘ Drives from below.” The pole is used in the shallows, the sails in deep water.
uelis ministrat. SERvius aut per uela, et est septimus, aut uelis obsequitur, et est datiuus. Either is possible, but the first interpretation gives the fuller picture: cp. Val. Flacc. 3. 38 1256 ratem uenio stellisque ministrat. Aen. 10. 218 ipse sedens clauumque regit uelisque ministrat is on the other hand in favour of the second interpretation. In Tac. Germ. 44 all the MSS. read welis ministrantur : if this is correct, it gives strong support to the first view; on the other hand, most recent editions read Lipsius’ conjecture ministrant.
303. ferruginea=“‘ dark.” Cp. Seru, ad Aen. 9. 582 vicinus purpurae subnigrae. Nonius, p. 549, ferri similem esse volunt, vere autem est caeruleus. It is also colos thalassicus (see Plaut. l.c.). Vergil uses the word to describe the colour of the hyacinth (6. 4. 183), and of purple (A. 9. 582; 11. 772). Ovid describes the sea-god Glaucus’ beard as viridis ferrugine. It may, therefore, be taken as virtually equal to caeruleam (410), and is, perhaps, equivalent to the Homeric xvavorpwpos. Cp. Munro’s ἢ. on Lucr. 4. 76.
corpora. The dead are for the moment considered as cadauera, not as umbrae. That such a conception would come easily to the Roman mind, in spite of the prevalence of incineration, is shown by the description of Cynthia’s ghost in Prop. 4. 7. 7 544. and 94 mecum eris et mixtis ossibus
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ossa teram, followed in 96 by inter complexus excidit umbra meos.
304. iam senior. senior is used as elsewhere=senex, But, strictly speaking, senior implies definite limits of age, the seniores at Rome being men above 40: cp. Gell. το. 28. While there can be no question of definite age being indicated here, this fact shows how it came about that senior was used = senex, the comparative force being ignored. Servius’ view that it is used explicitly = uirens senex cannot be main- tained.
eruda deo uiridisque senectus. The phrase is suggested by Il. 23. 791 ὠμογέρων. cruda=“ fresh,” “ young,” from the sense of “‘ unripe,” “ raw,” with the “‘ blood still in the veins as opposed to dried up and withered” (Conington). The word itself is derived from the same source as cruor. The phrase is repeated by Tac. Agric. 29 cruda ac uiridis senectus.
deo. Charon is styled a god elsewhere only in C.I.L. 8. 8992 deo Charoni Iulius Anabus uotum soluit. But cp. Cic. N, D. 3. 43, where the question as to whether he is deus is discussed.
305-312. Cp. G. 4. 472-77. 6. 4. 475-77 are identical with 306-8, while G. 4. 472-74 closely resemble 309-312. See also n. on 438,9. While, in view of the fact that the Aeneid never received its final revision, it is useless to discuss this “self-plagiarism,” it is worth noting that the Aristaeus episode was, according to Servius, only inserted in G. 4 after the death of Gallus in 26 B.c., to replace a panegyric of Gallus which had originally formed the conclusion of the Fourth Georgic. Vergil is not, therefore, going back to a much earlier published work, but is drawing on an epyllion which, as both style and external evidence show, was com- posed at a period when Vergil was already well embarked
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upon the Aeneid. Cp. Seru. ad Buc. το. 1 fuit (Gallus) amicus Vergilit adeo ut quartus Georgicorum a medio usque ad finem etus laudes teneret, quas postea iubente Augusto in Aristaet fabulam commutauit. The second edition of the Fourth Georgic can scarcely be earlier than 25 B.c., and is placed as late as 20-19 B.c. by Sabbadini [La composizione d Georg. di Virgilio, Riv. d. Filol. 29 (1901), p. 16].
305. hue. Either ad ripas or ad cymbam.
306. Cp. Od. 11. 37 νύμφαι τ’ ἠιθεοί τε πολύτλητοί τε γέροντες | παρθενικαί τ’ ἀταλαὶ νεοπένθεα θύμὸν ἔχουσαι" πολλοί 7 οὐτάμενοι καλχήρεσιν ἐγχείῃσιν, | ἄνδρες ἀρηίφατοι βεβροτημένα τεύχε᾽ ἔχοντες.
307. Magnanimum=magnanimorum, found also in 3. 704 and G. 4. 476: cp. Pacuu. ad Cic. Orat. 46. 155 prodigium horriferum portentum pauor. The contracted gen. pl. of the -a declension occurs 3. 21 caelicolum, 3. 550, and 8. 127 and 698. The form is archaic. Cp. Lindsay, L.L., p. 402. Varro, L.L. 8.71.
defuncta ... uita. The use of defunctus with uita does not appear before Vergil, but the use of defunctus in later Latin is so common that it is not probable that Vergil is the creator of the usage as Norden suggests.
309. The simile is drawn primarily from Bacchyl. 5. 64 Ψυχὰς ἐδάη παρὰ Κωκύτου ρεέθροις, διά τε φύλλ᾽ ἄνεμος Ἴδας ἀνὰ μηλοβότους πρῶνας ἀργηστὰς δονεῖ. But Vergil has also in mind Ap. Rhod. 4. 216 ἢ ὅσα φύλλα χαμᾶξε περικλαδέος πέσεν ὕλης | φυλλοχόῳ ἔνι μηνί, where the poet is speaking of a living crowd,
quam multa. For the omission of words expressing “ so many” before guam multa cp. the elliptical use of quot in phrases such as quot mensibus, quotannis, etc.
2411. Cp. Il. 3. 3 qire περ κλαγγὴ γεράνων πέλει οὐρανόθι πρὸ; | αἵ 7’ ἐπεὶ οὖν χειμῶνα φύγον καὶ ἀθέσφατον ὄμβρον, |
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κλάγγῃ ταί ye πέτονται ἐπ᾽ ᾽Ωκεανοῖο podwv. Soph. O. T.175 ἅπερ εὔπτερος ὄρνις... ἀκτὰν πρὸς ἑσπέρου θεοῦ (cp. A. 7. 703 and το. 264). The comparison is, however, Vergil’s own, nor is there any need to assume with Norden that the simile is drawn from poems which have not survived, and whose very existence is a matter of conjecture. The birds may be cranes, or any other migratory bird. Cp. Val. Flacc. 3. 359 qualiter Arctos | ad patrias auibus medio tam uere reuectis | Memphis et aprici statio silet annua Nili.
frigidus annus. For ammus=season cp. Hor. Epod. 2. 29 annus hibernus. Od. 3. 23. 8 pomifer annus.
313. orantes primi transmittere cursum. SrERvius Graeca jigura est ut primi transirent. The infin. after oro is rare, and first found in E. 2. 43.
transmittere cursum. The normal acc. after transmuitto is that of the thing crossed (cp. A. 4. 154 cerui transmittunt cursu campos), or the thing sent across (cp. 3. 403 transmissae classes). Here we have the cognate acc., transmittere being used, as often elsewhere, absolutely=go across, It is a bold extension of the ordinary use in phrases, such as ire uiam.
317. miratus enim motusque tumultu. These words are taken as parenthetical by Servius=“‘ for he wondered at.” This is possible, but it is simpler to take enim in its original sense (=Gk. δή) as emphasising the word to which it is attached. Cp. n. on 28 sed enim.
319. quo diserimine=“ in virtue of what distinction.”
320. hae linquunt. Servius repulsae scilicet, non tran- seuntes.
remis uerrunt. Cp. ἢ. on portitor (298 ad fin.).
liuida. Cp. Catull. 17. 10 tottus ut lacus putidaeque paludis liuidissima ... uorago.
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321. olli. The archaic form of illz occurs here only in Bk. 6. It occurs fifteen times in all in Vergil. ollis is found in 730 and 8. 659. olli (plural) occurs seven times in all. These are the only cases in which Vergil uses the archaic form. Cp. Lindsay, L.L., p. 436. The form was obsolete by the end of the second century B.c. Cp. also Quint. 8. 3. 25 olli enim et quianam . . . adspergunt illam quae etiam in picturis est gratissima uetustatis inimitabilem arti auctort- tatem.
longaeua. See ἢ. on Stbyllae (10).
S222 ΟΡ. Ὑ25, 191:
certissima = “ undoubted.” The epithet is not pointless, for divine parentage was not unnaturally frequently in doubt: cp. G. 4. 323 st modo quem perhibes, pater est Thym- braeus Apollo. Ov.M.1.753 “‘ matrique” ait “ omnia demens
| credis et es tumidus genitoris imagine falsi.” Callim. Hymn. Dem. 98 Wevdordrwp . . . εἴπερ ἐγὼ μὲν | σεῦ τε καὶ Αἰολίδος Κανάκας γένος.
323. See 296 note.
324. Cp. Il. 15. 37 καὶ τὸ κατειβόμενον Στυγὸς ὕδωρ ὅς τε μέγιστος | ὅρκος δεινότατός τε πέλει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν.
iurare οὐ fallere to be taken closely together=/peterare. iurare with acc. is not found before Cic. Ep. ad Fam. 7. 12. 2 Iouem lapidem iurare, though not uncommon afterwards. Possibly a Graecism. Cp. 351 maria aspera turo.
325. inops. “ Helpless,” though it may carry with it the suggestion that they have not the coin placed between the teeth of the dead before burial as the fare for their passage.
inhumata. Cp. 372. Cp. 1]. 23. 71 (Patroclus’ ghost, log.) θάπτε pe ὅττι τάχιστα, πύλας ᾿Αἴδαο περήσω. | τῆλέ με εἴργουσιν ψυχαὶ, εἴδωλα καμόντων, οὐδὲ μέ πω μίσγεσθαι ὑπὲρ ποταμοῖο ἐῶσιν, the earliest reference to this belief, though there is no mention of Charon, who
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is apparently unknown to Homer:. cp. n. on Charon, 299. So, too, Od. rz. 60 sgg., where Elpenor’s ghost asks for burial, but in vaguer terms.
328. transportare. With two acc. as in Caes. B.C. 1. 54 milites flumen transportat.
sedibus—i.e., the grave. Cp. 152 sedibus hunc refer ante suis.
329. centum annos. Servius (ad 325) centum autem annos ideo dicit, quia hi sunt legitimt ustae humanae, quibus completis potest anima transire ripas, id est ad locum purga- tionis uentre, ut redeat rursus in corpora. Varro, L.L. 6.11 saeclum spatium annorum centum uocarunt, dictum a sene, quod longissimum spatium senescendorum hominum τά putarunt. Plato again in Rep. το. 615A makes the spirits of the dead to be punished, or rewarded, through ten periods of 100 years each (cp. 748). Vergil, like Plato, is drawing from Pythagorean sources. See Norden, Introd., pp. 10, 11.
331. Anchisa satus. Cp. 5. 244 and 424.
uestigia pressit. Cp. 197.
332. multa putans. Cp. 8. 522. An uncommon use of puto: cp. Cic. Planc. 4. 10 guo primum illud putare debes.
animi M: animo PRM? Servius. All good MSS. give animi miserata in το. 686. animt is locative, and is found in similar phrases elsewhere in Vergil and other authors. Cp. 2. 61 fidens animi. 4. 529; 5. 202; 12. 19; G. 3. 289. Lucr. 1. 136 nec me animi fallit. Cic. T.D. 4. 16. 35 exant- matus pendet animt, etc.
333. mortis honore. Cp. το. 493 honos tumuli. 1]. 16. 457 τὸ yap γέρας ἐστὶ θανόντων.
334. Leucaspim. The name occurs only here in Vergil: it is used as an epithet of Deiphobus in 1]. 22. 294.
Lyciae ductorem classis Oronten. Cp. 1. 112 unam quae Lycios fidumque uehebat Oronten | ipsius ante oculos ingens
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a uertice pontus | in puppim ferit. ductorem. SERVIUS (ad 2. 14) ductores sonantius est quam duces : quod heroum extgit carmen. A common word in Vergil, found also in Cicero and Livy.
classis. Only one ship was mentioned as lost, but Vergil does not state that the Lycian contingent consisted only of one ship. The word, therefore, may mean fleet here, and need not be referred to one ship.
335. simul may mean that (1) Leucaspis and Orontes perished together in the same storm, or (2) that both sailed together with Aeneas from Troy—i.e., they were old and dear companions. The first is perhaps more obvious, but either may be right.
336. The rhythm of the line with the unusual caesura and rare elision of the iambic agua give a heavy plunging line, designed to recall the overwhelming seas. Cp. for a similar effect Prop. 3. 7.12 nunc tibi pro tumulo Carpathium omne mare est.
337. Palinurus. His loss is described 5. 833 sqg. In 5. 843 he is Iasides : cp. Iapyx Iasides, the Trojan physician in the Iliad. The scene which follows is obviously suggested by its counterpart in Od, r1—the meeting between Odysseus and Elpenor. The source from which Vergil drew this piece of aetiology is unknown. It is, however, recorded elsewhere in somewhat different form by Dion. Hal. 1. 53. 2 (in conjunc- tion with the death of Misenus, see 149-52 n.) οἱ δὲ σὺν τῷ Αἰνείᾳ πλέοντες ἀπὸ Σικελίας διὰ τοῦ Τυρρηνικοῦ πελάγους πρῶτον μὲν ὡρμίσαντο τῆς ᾿Ιταλίας κατὰ λιμένα τὸν Π|αλί- νουρον, ὃς ἀφ᾽ ἕνος τῶν Αἰνείου κυβερνητῶν τελευτήσαντος αὐτόθι ταύτης τυχεῖν λέγεται τῆς ὀνομασίας.
SERVIUS (ad 378) de historia hoc traxit. Lucanis enim pestilentia laborantibus respondit oraculum manes Palinuri esse placandos : ob quam rem non longe a Velia ei et lucum et
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cenotaphium dederunt (Norden suggests that the source may have been Timeus through Varro). Such etiological details are characteristic of Hellenistic poetry: cp. Callimachus’ "Avria and Ap. Rhod. 2 (passim). Vergil, however, makes artistic use of a device, which among the Hellenistic poets tended to become an affectation and a mannerism. The deaths of Misenus and Palinurus are introduced in part, no doubt, to give reality to the poem by bringing it into connexion with existing names, but they also enable Vergil to introduce two moving episodes described with all the pathos of which he is a master. For a discussion (often diffuse and irrele- vant) of the legend of Palinurus, see Immisch in Roscher, Myth. Enc.
sese agebat. SERVIUS sine negotio incedere: wrongly, for it is merely equivalent to ive. Before Vergil the phrase seems to be confined to the comic poets. It is used else- where by Vergil (8. 465 Aeneas se matutinus agebat. 9. 696 is enim se primus agebat).
338. Libyeo eursu. The statement is incorrect, the loss of Palinurus having taken place during the voyage from Sicily. On the significance of this inconsistency see Introd., p. 39 ff.
339. mediis in undis. ‘In mid-sea,” instead of “‘ into the midst of the waves.” Cp. medio aequore (342).
343. Cp. Aesch. Cho. 559 ἄναξ ᾿Απόλλων μάντις ἀψευδὴς τὸ πρίν.
344. hoe uno responso. There is no mention of any such oracle or anything to show whether this is due to an over- sight on the part of the poet, or to deliberate silence (for which cp. 1]. 21. 277, where Thetis is said by Achilles to have prophesied that Apollo would slay him in Troy, though there has been no previous mention of this). It can, in any case, hardly be called a blemish. The only prophecy re- ferring to the loss of Palinurus is found in 5. 814 unus erit
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tantum amissum quem gurgtte quaeres, and this prophecy is made by Neptune to Venus. But in view of the discrepancy in Libyco cursu (338), and the slight discrepancies in 348 sqq. (see n.), there is distinct ground for suspicion that a final revision would have led to modifications.
ponto. “On the deep,” a loc. abl. There is no justifica- tion in taking it with incolumem=“ unscathed.”
finesque canebat uenturum Ausonios. A typically am- biguous oracle: cp. Herod. τ. 53.
346. en haee promissa fides est. An exclamation, not a question, Cp. Donat. ad Ter. Phorm. 348 “en” habet uim indignationis post enarratam iniuriam.
347. cortina. Cp. 3. 92 mugire adytis cortina reclusis. cortina =the cauldron crowning the Delphic tripod on which the Pythoness sat. Cp. Prudent. Apoth. 506 tripodas cortina legit. Plin. 34. 14 cortinas tripodum.
348. Anchisiade. See ἢ. on 126.
nee me deus aequore mersit. In answer to 341. The statement is untrue, for (5. 842 sqq.) his fall was due to the direct agency of the god of Sleep, wearing the likeness of Phorbas. But there is no inconsistency. Palinurus did not know that the pretended Phorbas was the god of Sleep, and attributes his fall to accident.
349. gubernaclum. Cp. 5. 859 et super incumbens cum puppis parte reuulsa | cumque gubernaclo liquidas protecit tn undas. The portion of the bulwark at the stern, to which the gubernaculum, consisting of a single broad-bladed oar, was fastened, broke away, causing him to fall into the sea.
350. cui is most naturally taken with datus custos, but may conceivably depend on haerebam. The sense is the same in either case. But if cwi be taken with haerebam, quo must be supplied from cui to explain regebam.
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352. eepisse. The subject or object (sc. me) must be supplied according as we take timorem to be object or sub- ject. Either is possible. (1) cepisse=concepisse, a common use, though an exact parallel in Vergil is not forthcoming. Cp. Liv. 33. 27 capere metum. In that case the omission of the subject me will be a Graecism (cp. omission of αὐτὸς, and Prop. 3. 6. 40, where zuvo is used with nom. and infin. turabo bis sex integer esse dies). (2) timorem is subject and the object me must be supplied.
353. ne codd: wi Rufinianus. The authority for the archaic uz is not sufficient. It occurs in 3. 686 (a doubtful and disputed passage) mi teneant cursus, where Servius comments antiqui ni pro ne ponebant qua particula plenus est Plautus. See Lindsay, L.L. 611.
armis. The plural arma=“‘ rigging,” ‘‘ gear” (cp. Gk. ὅπλα) is used generally, though no more than the rudder is meant.
excussa magistro. A bold phrase for excusso magistro cp. 1. 115), “ the shock being regarded as having separated the ship from the pilot, rather than vice versa” (Coning- ton).
354. tantis surgentibus undis. But there was no storm at the time (cp. 5. 870 pelago confise sereno). The incon- sistency cannot be explained by reference 5. 866 (tum rauca assiduo longe sale saxa sonabant), or by saying that Palinurus “would naturally overrate the danger arising from his loss.” For the sea was actually stormy (cp. 355).
355. tris. Palinurus was lost off Sorrento (Sivenum scopuli 5. 864). Weshould naturally assume Aeneas to have reached Cumae the next morning. It is now the morning of his second day at Cumae. This would make Palinurus to have been only two nights at sea. But there is no precise indication of time. Vergil says (2) tandem adlabitur oris,
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but after classique immittit habenas we should expect the time to be no more than a few hours, especially as the wind was favourable (Notus). How, on the other hand, did a south-west wind take Palinurus to Velia in Lucania? These are details into which it is well not to pry too closely. hibernas noctes. Servius asperas. This is a safer inter- pretation than “‘ wintry.” But there can be no certainty on the point. The date is roughly a month after leaving Carthage. In 4. 309 Dido complains that Aeneas is leaving her in winter. On the other hand, both in 1. 755 and 5. 626, the Trojans are spoken of as being in their septima aestas of wandering. Which was Vergil’s standpoint when he wrote the present passage? It may be urged that the ancients avoided sailing in winter. But Aeneas was im- pelled by his destiny, and had left’ Carthage in a hurry under the express orders of Jupiter. See Introd., p. 36 ff.
356. lumine quarto. Cp. ἔπη. Med. fr. 8 secundo lumine. Lucr. 6. 1197.
357. Cp. Od. 5. 392 ὁ δ᾽ dpa σχεδὸν εἴσιδε γαῖαν | ὀξὺ μάλα προιδὼν μεγάλου ὑπὸ κύματος ἀρθείς.
358. paulatim adnabam terrae. Servius εἰ hic (sc. post “adnabam”) distingui potest et ‘‘adnabam” terrae. There is nothing to choose between the two punctuations.
For tuta alone cp. 9. 366 tuta capessunt; 8. 603 tula tenebant ; 11, 871 tuta petunt. For terrae tuta cp. 11. 882 tuta domorum. The one thing that is impossible is with Norden to take terrae both with adnabam and tuta.
tenebam ... ni inuasisset. The apodosis to mi inuasisset is suppressed (sc, “‘ and I should have been safe”): cp. 8. 522 multaque dura suo tristi cum corde putabant ; | ni signum caelo Cytherea dedisset aperto.
360. Cp. Od. 5. 428 ἀμφοτέρῃσι δὲ χερσὶν ἐπεσσύμενος λάβε πέτρης.
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capita. Not “summits,” which would be absurd, but ** juts of pointed rock ”’ projecting from the base. Any such point can be called caput, just as the points of roots are so- called. Cp. G. 2. 355. Cato, Agr. 33.
361. praedamque ignara putasset, a so-called ὕστερον πρό- tepov, but better described as an “ explanatory clause intro- duced by que or et,” which, though placed in parataxis, is really subordinate to the main clause, and may, as here and in 365, refer to “something prior in point of time to what the main clause describes,” See Page ad loc.
362. Cp. Eur. Hec. 28 κεῖμαι δ᾽ ἐπ’ ἄκταις ἄλλοτ᾽ ἐν πόντου σάλῳ.
363. quod. ‘‘ Wherefore,” adverbial acc. as frequently in entreaties: cp. 2. 141 quod te per superos ... oro.
364. Cp. 4. 274 Ascanium surgentem et spes heredis Iuli.
365. terram inice. Cp. Hor. 1. 28. 36 indecto ter puluere.
366. portusque require Velinos. See ἢ. on 361. SERVIUS (ad 359) sane sciendum Veliam tempore quo Aeneas ad Italiam uenit, nondum futsse. ergo anticipatio est, quae, ut supra diximus, st ex poetae persona fiat tolerabilis est. See also Gell. 10.16. Velia in Lucania was founded by the Phocaeans in the sixth century. It lies between Paestum and Cape Palinurus, being the modern Castellamare della Brucca. Cp. Od. 11. 66 (Elpenor loq.) viv δέ σε τῶν ὄπιθεν γουνάζομαι ov παρεόντων | πρὸς 7 ἀλόχου καὶ πατρὸς, 6 σ᾽ ἔτρεφε τυτθὸν ἐόντα, | Τηλεμάχου θ᾽ ὃν μοῦνον ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἔλειπες" | οἶδα γὰρ ὡς ἔνθενδε κιὼν δόμου ἐξ ᾿Αἴδαο νῆσον ἐς Αἰαίην σχήσεις εὐεργέα via |... μὴ μ᾽ ἄκλαυτον ἄθαπτον ἰὼν ὄπιθεν καταλείπειν.
367. diua ereatrix. Repeated in 8. 534.
468, sine numine diuom. Cp. A. 2. 777; 5.56. Eur. I. A. 808. Aesch. Pers. 162 οὐκ ἄνευ θεῶν, etc.
369 innare paludem. Cp. 134.
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370. Cp. 1]. 23. 75 Kai μοι δὸς τὴν χεῖρ᾽, ὀλοφύρομαι.
371. saltem. SrERvius wut saltem in morte requiescam sedibus placidis. et bene, quia nautae semper uagantur. He has wandered all his life, he is a wanderer still; peace, even in the world of death, is his one desire.
372. talia...talia. The repetition is awkward. Priscian, p. 1186, quotes the line uix ea fatus erat coepit cum talia uirgo, an improvement unsupported by the MSS.
373. tam dira cupido. Repeated in 721, Ὁ. 1. 37. A. 9. 185.
374. amnemque seuerum Euinenidum. Cocytus, not Styx. Cp. G 3. 37 Furtas amnemque seuerum Cocyti. Ar. Ran. 472 Κωκύτου κύνες. Cp. n, on 280,
375. adibis codd. abibis Donatus, Servius. SERvIUS πὲ“ abeo in Tuscos,” sicut diximus supra (4. 106): quanquam alit ‘‘ adtbis”’ legunt.
376. fata deum. Cp. 4. 614; 7. 239. Schol. Dan. ad 4. 614 “ fata” dicta, id est Iouis uoluntas=Ads βουλή. Cp. Sen. Ep. 77. 12 quid optas ? perdis operam. ‘“‘ desine fata deum flecti sperare precando.” rata et fixa sunt et magna atque aeterna necessitate ducuntur,
longe lateque per urbes, ete. “ Far and wide through all their cities plagued with portents sent from heaven.” SERviIuS de historia hoc traxit. Lucanis enim pestilentia laborantibus respondit oraculum manes Palinuri esse placandos : ob quam rem non longe a Velia et et lucum et cenotaphium dederunt.
379. piabunt. “ Will appease,” Cp. Hor, E, 2. 1. 143 Siluanum lacte piabant,
380, sollemnia. ‘‘ Yearly offerings,” Cp. 5. 605 tumulo referunt sollemnia,
mittent. Cp. 4, 623 cinerique hoc mittite nostro. G. 4. 545.
381, aeternum. Adj, not ady.: cp. 235 aeternumque tenet per saecula nomen.
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locus. Now Punta di Palinuro, S. of Velias
382. emotae. Amuchrarer word than amoueo, but common in Livy, and found elsewhere in Vergil (524, n.), and 2. 493 and 610.
383. gaudet cognomine terrae. So codd. and Nonius. Servius read terra, taking cognomine as abl. of the adj. cognominis, ‘He rejoices in the land that bears his name.” Cp. Plaut. Bacch. 39 meretrices cognomines. Liv. 5. 34: 9 cognominem Insubribus pago. Servius may be right; the cor- ruption to terrae would have been almost inevitable. But the testimony in favour of terrae is too unanimous to permit of its rejection. Further, the abl. of the adj, in -e instead of -Φ tells against cognomine terra. Such ablatives in -e are not found in Vergil, though they do occur in Ovid. See Norden ad loc.
384. ergo. “Resumptive. They had halted (331), and now resume their journey. Cp. 11. 799. Ὁ. 4. 206.
iter inceptum. Cp. 8. 90 ergo iter inceptum celerant.
peragunt. ‘‘Carry through point by point,” and so * proceed on.”
385. iam inde. “‘ Even from where he stood”: cp. iam tstinc, below.
386. nemus. Cp. 131 fenent media omnia siluae.
387. prior aggreditur dictis, ‘‘ Hails with words or ever they had spoken.” increpat uliro is more than a mere repetition of these words. wultro and increpat intensify prior and aggreditur respectively. For while aggreditur no doubt suggests “‘assails’”’ (cp, Serv, hoc sermone ostendit iratum), it does not necessarily mean more than “ hails”: cp. 3. 358 his uatem aggredior dictis ac talia quaeso.
389. fare age with tam istinc. SrERviusa loco in quo nunc es. For iam istine cp. Stat. T. 3. 347 1am illine a postibus aulae. Norden thinks that he can detect a lowering of the
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heroic tone here, on the ground that guid=cur and istine are colloquial, and that wectare only occurs in one other passage in Vergil (11. 138 plaustris wectare ornos). The evidence is insufficient to prove his point.
390. Noetisque soporae. This phrase tells heavily against Norden’s suggestion, cited in last note. soporus is not found in Vergil, and after him only in poets. The whole line is stately and in the genuine epic vein, as are those which follow.
392. nec me sum laetatus accepisse is, as Conington points out, a paraphrase of the Greek idiom οὔτι χαίρων εἰσεδεξάμην. SERVIUS lectum est et in Orpheo quod quando Hercules ad tnferos descendit, Charon territus eum statim sucepit : ob quam rem anno integro in compedibus fuit. What the Orpheus referred to may be is uncertain. It is conceivable that it is the Orpheus of Lucan, though when cited by Servius on G. 4. 492 the poet’s name is mentioned. More probably it refers to a lost Catabasis, known as Orpheus (cp. Lobeck, Aglaopham. 812). As Norden points out, in that poem, Charon must be represented as telling the same story to Orpheus.
394. quanquam. SERVIUS ac si diceret, hoc in te non probaut.
dis... geniti. Cp. 131 and 123. Theseus was des- cended from Poseidon, Peirithous from Zeus.
inuicti uiribus.—z.e., therefore he had no choice but to take them.
395» Tartareum custodem—.e., Cerberus: cp. 424. The legend of the carrying off of Cerberus by Hercules is as old as Homer: cp. Il. 8. 366. Od. 11. 623, though Cerberus is there merely the “dog of Hades,” and is not mentioned by name. Cp. also n. on 397.
in uincla petiuit. ‘Sought to bind.” Cp. Quint, 7. 1. 55 in 115 controuerstis in quibus petuntur in uincula qui parentes suos non alunt.
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396. ipsius a solio. Srrvius atgui Cerberus statim post flumina est, ut (417) . . .: nam illic quast est aditus inferorum, solium autem Plutonis interius est. ergo aut ad naturam canum referendum est qui territi ad dominos confugiunt aut, etc. Servius’ first reason is correct.
397. hi dominam Ditis thalamo. (1) Charon speaks of Proserpine as domina, because she is mistress and he is servant. (2) domina is frequently applied to goddesses (cp. 3. 113. Prop. 2. 5. 17, etc.), and 85-- δέσποινα is specially appropriate to Proserpine who, as Persephone, is styled δέσποινα. Cp. Plato, Laws, 796B. Paus. 8. 37. 1-10.
hi. Theseus and Peirithous, attempting to carry off Proserpine, were caught and punished. Accounts of their punishment vary, but the commonest form associates the rescue of Theseus or of both heroes with Hercules’ visit to Hades in search of Cerberus. Cp. Plut. Thes. 30. Apollod. 2. 5.12. 5. Dicd.4.26,etc. Butcp.n.on. 618. Pausanias (9. 31. 4) mentions a Catabasis of Theseus and Peirithous among poems attributed to Hesiod.
adorti with infin.=“‘ attempt,” as in Lucr. 3. 515, Cic. de Or. 2. 51. 205, and frequently in Livy.
Amphrysia. So called from her association with Apollo, whose epithet Amphrysius derives from the fact that, as a penalty for blood-guiltiness, he served Admetus as a herdsman on the banks of the Amphrysus in Thessaly: cp. G. 3. 2 pastor ab Amphryso. A highly allusive epithet in the Alexandrian style.
399. absiste moueri. Repeated 11. 408.
400, licet ingens ianitor. Seen.on 417. Cp, Prop. 4. 5. 3 Cerberus ultor | turpia tetuno terreat ossa sono,
Aor. exsangues. Contemptuous. ‘‘ Bloodless shades,” as opposed to the hero of flesh and blood whom she brings with her. patrui is similarly contemptuous. “The Sibyl falls
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excusably, perhaps, into a strain which, though natural to a philosophical ‘Roman, would not be found in Homer” (Conington). This is true, but such a tone might easily be found in an Alexandrian poet, such as Callimachus, who treats the gods with the utmost frankness, even when singing their praise.
402. casta. Predicative.
patrui. Proserpine was the daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, and therefore the niece, as well as the bride, of Pluto.
seruet ...limen. Like a good Roman housewife. Cp. Carm. Epigr. Biicheler 52 domum seruautt, Prop. 2.6. 24 et quaecunque uirt femina limen amat.
403. Troius Aeneas. Cp. 1. 596.
pietate insignis et armis. Cp. 1. 545 mec pietate fuit nec bello maior et armis.
ad genitorem ... ad umbras. The double ad is unusual, but natural enough, mas descendit ad umbras forming one notion, as Conington points out.
Erebi. Cp. 4. 26 wmbras Erebi noctemque profundam.,
405. For the thought cp. Accius (?), Ribbeck, p. 315, 21 fraterni nominis sollemne auxilium et nomen pietatis mouet ? For the form cp. 4. 272 si te nulla mouet tantarum gloria rerum.
nulla. “ Not at all.” Cp. Cic. Verr. 2. 2.17. 44 hereditas quae nulla debetur.
Pietatis imago. Repeated 9. 294 and το, 824, Here= “the sight of such filial love,”
406. at. Cp. Ὁ, 4. 241 at suffire thymo .., quis dubitet ?
407. Cp, Cic, TD. 3, 26 tumor animi residit. The metaphor is of a swollen sea changing to a calm. Cp. ex ira, “ after his wrath,” as ex imbri (G. τ. 393).
408. nee plura his. (1) Ais is dat., and we must supply dixit Charon. (2) his is abl. after plura: “no more than
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this”: we may, then, supply <i<it Sibylla, dixit Charon, or dixerunt, the first being, perhaps, the most natural.
donum. Cp. 142 and 632.
409. longo post tempore uisum. Vergil clearly refers to some earlier legendary occasion on which the Gelden Bough was employed to unlock the gates of Hades. The present statement seems to show that it was not connected directly with the mysteries, but with some one specific legend.
410. eaeruleam. See n. on ferrugineam (303).
411. alias animas. Shades already admitted to the boat, but now driven out to make room for the Sibyl and Aeneas. alias=other than the Sibyl and Aeneas.
iuga. Servius Graece dixit. (vya enim dicunt quae transtra nominamus. iugum Aces not occur elsewhere in this sense. The dead may be conceived as seated at the oars: cp. 320 ἢ.
412. laxatqueforos. “Clears the gangways.” Cp.11.151 uia uix uoct tandem laxata, tke closest parallel for this use, though it is but a slight satension of the common use ** open.”
alueo. For the synizesis cp. fluminis alueo (7. 33).
413. ingentem indicates not merely the heroic stature of Aeneas, but also his bulk and substance, as compared with the unsubstantial shades.
414. sutilis=‘‘ stitched.” The boat was made of leather like the coracles still in use on the Dee, or the caraghs em- ployed on the west coast of Ireland. The word can scarcely be applied to any other material. Cp. Plin. 24. 9. 40 sutiles naues. Wal. Flacc. 6, 81 ἐδί sutilis illis | et domus et crudo residens sub uellere coniunx: also sutor=cobbler. Tr. “ leathern,”
rimosa. Cp. Lucian, Dial. Mort. 22 τὸ σκαφίδιον καὶ ὑποσαθρόν ἐστι καὶ διαρρεῖ τὰ πολλά,
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aceepit paludem. Cp. 1. 122 ἰαχὶς laterum compagtbus omnes | accipiunt ininicum imbrem.
416. Cp. G. 4. 478 limus niger et deformis arundo. 10. 205 arundine glauca.
417. Cerberus. The offspring of Echidna. Cp. Hes. T. 311 544. and ἢ. on belua Lernae, Chimaera, forma tricorporis umbrae (287-89). In popular superstition and early legend Cerberus has far more terrible functions than merely guarding the gates of Hades: he is one of the devourers of the dead. Cp. SERVIUS (ad 395) Cerberus terra consumptrix omnium corporum. unde et Cerberus dictus est quast xpeoBopos. Hes. Τὶ 769 és μὲν ἰόντας | σαίνει ὁμῶς οὐρῇ TE καὶ οὔασιν ἀμφοτέροισιν, | ἐξελθεῖν δ᾽ οὐκ αὖτις ἐᾷ πάλιν, ἀλλὰ δοκεύων ἔσθιει dv κε λάβησι πύλεων ἔκτοσθεν ἰόντα. Tz. in Aristoph. Ran, 142 ὁ μὲν Πειρίθους ὡς ἅρπαξ τῷ Κερβέρῳ κατάβρωμα γίγνεται. Porphyr. ad Euseb, praep. ev. 3. 11. 8 παρὰ τὸ τὰς κῆρας ἔχειν πρὸς βοράν. Lucian, Catapl. 28 dp’ és τὸν Πυριφλεγέ- θοντά ἐστιν ἐμβλητέος ἢ παραδοτέος τῷ Κερβέρῳ; see Dieterich, Nekyia, p. 49 544. Vergil ignores the grosser and more horrible features of legend, and makes him but the guardian of the gate, though in 8. 297 we have an allusion to the more terrible aspects of the superstition: ¢e ianitor Orci | ossa super recubans antro semesa cruento.
trifauci. ἅπ λεγ. Cerberus is χαλκεόφωνος, but πεντη- κοντακάρηνος in Hes. Τί 311, where the scholiast says that Pindar made him r1oo-headed: cp. Hor. Od, 2. 13. 14 δεῖμα centiceps: but 3. 11. 17 cessit immanis tibi blandienti | ianitor aulae | Cerberus, quamuis furiale centum | muniant angues caput eius atque | spiritus teter saniesque manet | ore trilingui. La Cerda notes in tribus primis uersibus, qui per- tinent ad horrorem cants,littera canina(r) adhibetur supra dectes.
420, Cp, Ap. Met. 6, 20. The honey cake is the μελιτ- τοῦτα which formed part of the funeral offerings among the
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Greeks. Cp. Suidas, s.v. ἰστεόν ὅτι μελιττοῦτα ἐδίδοτο τοῖς νεκροῖς ὡς εἰς τὸν Κέρβερον.
421. melle soporatum et medicatis frugibus. Cp. 4. 486 spargens humida mella soporiferumque papauer. Τί the poppy is alluded to here, it is to be taken of the outer capsule and not the seeds, which are not narcotic: see Henry ad loc.
soporatam. Cp. 5. 855. wuigue soporatum Stygia (sc. ramum).
fame. So with lengthened -e in Lucr. 3. 732. Ov. Met. 5. 165; a survival of an archaic e-declension form: cp. gen. fami in Cato and Lucil. ap. Gell. 7. 14. το. Lindsay, L.L., 345 sqq.
422. immania terga resoluit. Cp. Ap. Rhod. 4. 150 (of the serpent, guardian of the Golden Fleece) δολιχὴν ἀνελύετ᾽ ἀκάνθαν | γηγενέος σπείρης, μήκυνε δὲ μυρία κύκλα. The whole passage in Ap. Rhod. should be compared, as Vergil clearly had it in mind when writing the present passage.
424. occupat Aeneas auditum. Repeated 635 occupat in both passages seems to be designed to indicate prompt action,
424. sepulto. Sc. somno. Cp. 2. 265 somno utinoque sepultam. Enn. A. 8 morbo adfectis somnoque sepultis.
425. euadit ripam. Cp. 2. 731 euasisse uiam 3. 282.
irremeabilis. Not before Vergil, and very rare after: cp. 5. 591 tndeprensus et irremeabilis error. ‘‘ Which none may cross again.”
426-547. Norden (p. 10 sqgqg.) has an interesting discussion of this passage, His statement suffers from over-emphasis, but he succeeds in showing why Vergil places those who died untimely at the portals of Hades—t.e., because there was a definite tradition which placed them there, and defined the length of time for which they were condemned to remain excluded. But in so far as he asserts that Vergil fully
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accepted the tradition, he fails to prove his case. Vergil makes use of it for artistic purposes, but ignores the reasons underlying the belief. Those who perished untimely are grouped together, but as to their fate in the underworld nothing is said. Dieterich’s objections to Norden’s views fall to the ground, if this not unimportant modification be made (see Nekyia, pp. 151 544.).
426-29. Why are the souls of children who died untimely placed at the gates of Hades? That there were theories as to their fate, as far back as Plato’s time, is shown by Rep. Io. 615 c., where Er is given information concerning the fate of the souls of young children, but states that it does not deserve mention. Tertullian (de an. 56), however, states that the souls of those who died untimely are doomed to wander until they have reached the full term of life. He urther states that these views are the teaching of magic, under which head he probably includes the teaching of Pythagoras and the mysteries. The next class (430-3) are those unjustly condemned to death, followed by suicides (434-39), the victims of love murdered or self-slain (440-76), and the souls of warriors fallen in war (477-547). Thus from 426-547 we are concerned with those who died untimely. It is noteworthy that we get the same grouping in Lucian (Catapl. 5), but like Vergil he is not concerned with the significance of such grouping; it is a picturesque traditional circumstance, and no more. There is a certain amount of cross-division in the grouping, for certain of the victims of Love might more correctly be placed among the suicides, Again, it may be objected (see Dieterich, |.c.) that some of the victims of Love (e.g., Pasiphae, Eriphyle, and Evadne), and the heroes of the Theban epic-cycle, Adrastus, Parthe- nopaeus, and Tydeus (479) must have filled up their term of years, and should have passed on to their allotted place in
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Hades. It may further be objected that Adrastus (480) did not fall in war, and that there is evidence that, though his death was tragic, it occurred at a ripe old age (see n. ad loc.).
Such minor inconsistencies need not trouble us, A certain neglect of mythological chronology is excusable, and a certain amount of cross division almost inevitable. But the whole passage, as it stands, is obscure, and apparently irrelevant. Two alternative explanations are possible. (1) Vergil merely accepts the traditional grouping, and does not concern himself with the precise fate of those who died untimely, treat- ing these groups merely as an opportunity for romantic description and dramatic and moving encounter, but other- wise regarding it as beside his purpose, and passing it by, as Plato does, as unworthy of explanation. On the other hand (2) it is reasonable to suppose that he was aware of the motive of the grouping, and it is a positive blemish that he does not make the necessary explanation. It would, after all, require but a few lines. It is, therefore, more respectful to his reputation to assume that this portion of the Book had not received its final shape, when he died, and that his editors made the best of a bad business (see Introd. p. 11). This view receives further support from the difficulties involved by the description of the functions allotted to Minos in 431 sqq.
426. Cp. Plut. de gen, Socr, 22, 590 F. ἀκούεσθαι. . , μυρίων κλαυθμὸν βρεφῶν.
427. in limine primo. This may refer (1) to the threshold of Hades, or (2) to what follows, the line being punctuated after flentes. (1) is the more natural interpretation, if the rhythm only of the line be considered, Henry objects that they are not i limine primo, But the words need not be taken too literally, They are not at the actual gate, but they are the first group of dead met on the further side of
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Styx. But (2) gives more forcible sense, and it was clearly thus that Silius understood the passage. For in his imita- tion (13. 547) he writes infantum hinc gregibus wersasque ad funera taedas | passis uirginibus turbaeque in limine utiae | est iter extinctae et uagitu ianua nota. Cp, also Sen. H. I’. 1131 ite ad Stygios, umbrae, portus, | ite innocuae, quas in primo | limine uitae scelus oppressit. See Henry ad loc.
428. exsortes. SERVIUS expertes. ἀκλήρους dicunt.
dulcis uitae. ἀπὸ κοινοῦ with imine and exsortes.
ab ubere raptos. Cp. 7. 484 ab ubere raptum.
429. Repeated 11. 28.
acerbo. SERVIUS zmmaturo: translatio est a pomis, Cp.Varro, ap. Non. 247.15 wirgo acerba. Ov.F. 4. 647 partus acerbos.
430. Cp. Plat. Apol. 41 εἴ τις τῶν παλαιῶν διὰ κρίσιν ἄδικον τέθνηκε. Lucian, Catapl. 5.
mortis with damnatus. Cp. Liv. 42. 43. 9 damnare absentem capitalis poenae.
431. The appearance of Minos at this point is curious and inappropriate (see Introd., p. 13). Minos _is_tradi- tionally the judge of all the dead, while here he appears as the judge merely of a group or groups of the dead, who are not deserving of punishment, aad concerning whom the only question can be the allotment of a suitable dwelling-place. If it be urged that the passage is parenthetical and that Vergil intended to represent him as the judge of all the dead, it can only be answered that such a parenthesis is an obscure and undesirable way of expressing the meaning which it is desired to convey. It is more charitable to suppose that here again we are confronted with a symptom of the unfinished nature of this portion of the poem, and that the position of Minos would have been cleared up by a final revision, the location of the present passage being, perhaps, due to Varius and Tucca.
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Failing this supposition the only possible explanation of the passage—an explanation which is really only an un- satisfactory piece of special pleading—would seem to be the following. These men were unjustly doomed to death in life: here their sentences are revised by strict justice: the quaesitor does not punish, but investigates each case, and the appointed dwelling-place is allotted by due form of law. It is probable that these lines apply to the cases which follow as well. But their position shows that they are suggested by, and that their special application is to, the cases of those who suffered from miscarriage of justice in life, That it does not apply to all cases is shown by 566, where Rhadamanthus is found judging the greatest sinners.
The language of these three lines is drawn from the ‘Roman law courts, Cp. Ps. Ascon. in Cic. Verr. 2. 1 (Norden) ‘Vergtlius Minoem, tanquam sit praetor rerum capitalium, quaesitorem appellat : dat ibi sortitionem, ubt urnam nominat ; dat electionem tudicum, cum dicit “ consiliumque uocat”’; dat cognitionem facinorum, cum dicit “‘ uttasque et crimina disctt.” The order in which the cases are to come on is decided by lot (SERVIUS non enim audiebantur causae nist per sortem ordinatae). The iudices are appointed to form the consilium, or jury, whose votes decide the case (see ἢ. on. constlium below). The conception of judges among the dead is found among the Greeks as well, but for the transference of Roman l egal forms to the underworld cp. the remarkable parallel in Prop. 4. 11. 19 544., where Cornelia pleads her case among the dead: aut st quis postta tudex sedet Aeacus urna, | in mea sortita uindicet ossa pila: assideant fratres, iuxta et Minoida sellam | Eumenidum intento turba seuera foro. 49 quaelibet austeras de me ferat urna tabellas. 99 causa perorata est: flentes me surgite testes.
-
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432. quaesitor Minos urnam mouet. Cp. Hor. Od. 3. 1. 14 aequa lege necessitas | sortitur insignes et tmos ; | omne capax mouet urna nomen. Sen. Ag. 24 quaesitor urna Gnosius uersat reos. H. F. 731 alta sede quaesitor sedens | tudicia trepidis sera sortitur reis. Stat. Silu. 2. 1. 218. Minos is represented as judging the dead in Od. 11. 568 ἔνθ᾽ ἦτοι Μίνωα ἴδον Διὸς ἀγλαὸν υἱὸν | χρύσεον σκῆπτρον ἔχοντα θεμιστεύοντα νέκυσσιν | ἥμενον" οἱ δέ μιν ἀμφὶ δίκας εἴροντο ἄνακτα | ἥμενοι ἑσταότες τε κατ᾽ εὐρυπυλὲς ’Aidos δῶ. But there he judges among the dead as among the living, settling disputes, etc.: he is not the awarder of judgment for sin on earth. The first references in literature to Minos as judge, awarding doom among the dead, are in Plato, Gorg. 524 (where Minos is a kind of judge of appeal, while Aeacus and Rhadamanthus judge the Asiatic and European dead respectively), and Apol. 41 (where Socrates speaks of Minos, Rhadamanthus, Aeacus, and Triptolemus as those who are said to be judges of the dead). Here (with the read- ing consilium) Minos is assisted by a jury. His brother, Rhadamanthus, on the other hand, who judges the sinners allotted to Tartarus (566), has summary jurisdiction like the triumuiri capitales at Rome. He, like Minos, is mentioned by Homer as dwelling in the other world (Od. 4. 564), but not as judge. There he dwells in the Elysian plain at the ends of the earth, “‘ where falls not any hail or rain or snow.’”’ So, too, Pindar makes him (Ol. 2. 76) πάρεδρος Κρόνου in Elysium. There is nothing earlier than Vergil making Rhadamanthus the especial judge of sinners destined for Tartarus. Norden cites Diod. 5. 79 ᾿Ῥαδάμανθυν λέγουσι τάς τε κρίσεις πάντων δικαιοτάτας πεποιῆσθαι καὶ τοῖς λησταῖς καὶ ἀσεβέσι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις κακούργοις ἀπαραίτητον ἐνηνοχέναι τιμωρίαν, which, at least, makes him an appro- priate judge. Lucian again (Catapl. 22) makes his Cynic,
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on being asked if Hades matches the description given in the mysteres, say, “Yes. Why, there is a woman with a torch. She must be Tisiphone.” He is brought up by Tisiphone for judgment by Rhadamanthus. From this, and Plato’s mention of Triptolemus, we may infer that the doctrine of the judges of the dead formed part of the teaching of the Mysteries, though, no doubt, they in turn derived it from popular superstition. (Cp. also Lucian, Dial. Mort. 12. Nekyom. 11.)
433. consilium. P: concilium MR. The choice between these two readings is extremely difficult. (1) constliwm has the advantage of being a legal technical term (see Ps. Ascon, cited above). If it be accepted, we have the picture complete. A consilium or jury, drawn from among the dead, assembles under the presidency of the quaesitor Minos, and decides by its vote the fate of the spirits who are brought before it. This is a bold innovation on legend, but may be paralleled from Prop. 4. 11. 49 quaelibet austeras de me ferat urna tabellas, where the urna is the voting urn of the iudices who decide Cornelia’s fate. (2) concilium, on the other hand, has more MS. support, and that of Donatus and Servius as well. It gives asimpler picture. Minos summons the assembly of the new-come silent dead before him, and tries them, one by one, according to the order given by the sortes. In this case tudex is identical with guaesttor. The picture is also in keeping with earlier legend, where there is no question of the formalities of the lawcourts. On the other hand, the parallel with the Roman lawcourts, as brought out by Ps. Asconius, is so close, and the confusion between constlium and concilium is so frequent in MSS. of all classes that, on the whole, consilium seems preferable.
434, 5. Cp. Lucr. 3. 79 et saepe usque adeo mortis formidine μίας | perctpit humanos odium lucisque uidendae, | ut sibt
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consciscant moerenti pectore mortem. Cp. Lucian, Catapl. 5, where, however, the suicides are those that slew themselves for love. Plato (Phaed. 62 B), Pythagoras (Athen. 4. 157 0), and the Orphics (Orph. fr. 221 Abel), as opposed to the Stoics, make suicide an offence punishable in the lower world. Vergii, however, covers himself by tsontes. For these there can only be pity, not punishment, and they are tried merely to allot them their place in Hades without question of punishment.
436. proiecere animas. ‘‘ Flung their lives away,” quasi vem utlem (Servius).
quam uellent. Cp. Od. 11. 488 μὴ δή μοι θάνατόν γε παραύδα, φαίδιμ’ ᾿Οδύσσευ- | βουλοίμην x’ ἐπάρουρος ἐὼν θητεύεμεν ἄλλῳ | ἀνδρὶ παρ᾽ εὐκλήρῳ, ᾧ μὴ βίοτος πολὺς εἴη,
ἢ πᾶσιν νεκύεσσι καταφθιμένοισιν ἀνάσσειν.
438. fas obstat is the reading of all good MSS. fata obstant is the reading of Servius, and later MSS. fas = θέμις. Cp. Auson. Technopaegn. de deis. 1 prima deum Fas | quae Themis est Grais. Ov. Tr. 2. 205 Fas prohtbet.
tristisque . . . coercet. Repeated in G. 4. 479, 480, with the variant tarda unda. Seen. on 305-12.
tristis PMR: frist? Servius. undae PM: undaR. The read- ing of the MSS. points clearly to tristis undae being correct. tristi unda gives a closer parallel with Ὁ. I.c., but Vergil may well have been seeking variety. Further, if unda be read, tristi also must be read; and ¢risti appears to be a conjecture of Servius ne duo sint epttheta.
439. nouies Styx interfusa. Servius quia quit altius de mundi ratione quaestuerunt, dicunt intra nouem hos mundt circulos inclusas esse utrtutes, in quibus et tracundiae sunt et cuptditates, de quibus tristitia nascitur, id est Styx, quae inferos cingit, td est terram, ut diximus supra. So, too, Favonius Eulogius (in S. Scip., p, 13 sg. Holder), who adds mystice ac
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Platonica dictum esse sapientia. Norden accepts this view: the circuli being—the highest heaven inhabited by God and the blessed, followed by Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon, below which begins the sphere of death, reaching to the earth (cp. S. Sc. 17). It cannot be too strongly insisted that Vergil gives not the least hint that this is his meaning, and that the heavenly spheres are not reached by going underground. Such esoteric interpreta- tions of Vergil are misleading, inartistic, and uncritical: the fact that Servius and other late writers made them does not justify a modern critic following in their footsteps. See also n. on 887 aeris in campis.
440-76. The vision of heroines, whom Love brought to an untimely end, is suggested by passages in Od. 11 (i.e., 225 sqg. and 321 544.). But the introduction of the love- motive is purely Alexandrian, though the source on which Vergil is drawing is not traceable: that there was such a source is suggested by ste illos nomine dicunt (441). Further, as Norden points out, Hyginus gives a list of heroines quae se ipsae interfecerunt, which suggests derivation from a similar source. Itis to be noted that the victims of Love are grouped irrespective of their merits. Laodamia and Evadne share the same lot as Pasiphae and Eriphyle. Philostratus (he-. 143) appears to place Laodamia, Evadne, Alcestis, and others in the Elysian fields.» The explanation of Vergil placing them in the lugentes campi is that he was influenced by the doctrine which condemned those who died untimely to exclusion till the term of their natural life had expired, although he ignores the doctrine itself. See n. on 426-547.
440. fusi is here first used of space (Conington), but the extension of the metaphor from persons to space is easy and natural. The wide expanse of the Lugentes campi is due, not to the multitudes of the spirits dwelling there, so much as
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the desire to give them room for solitude: see Heyne ad loc.
monstrantur. ‘‘ Meet the view.” Cp. 7. 568 hic specus horrendum et saeut spiracula Ditis | monstrantur.
448. 510 illos nomine dicunt. See above. This somewhat prosaic phrase serves the purpose of (1) referring the reader to authority (see n. on. 14), and (2) to ee the bold phrase Lugentes campi.
442, quos. SrERvIUS tantum feminarum posuit exempla, non quo destint uiri, sed elegit sexum impatientem ad amandum : tamen paulo post Sychaei facturus est mentionem.
443. Myrtea silua. Servius guae est Veneri consecrata, Cp. E, 7. 62 gratissima uitis Iaccho, | formosae myrtus Venert.
calles. ‘“‘ Avenues,” or “‘glades,’’ rather than paths (semitae): cp. 9. 383 per obscuros lucebat semita callis.
445. Cp. Od. 11, 321 Φαίδρην re Πρόκριν τε ἴδον καλὴν τ᾽ ᾿Αριάδνην and 326 Μαῖραν τε Κλυμένην τε ἴδον στυγερήν τ᾽ ᾿Εριφύλην.
Phaedra, the wife of Theseus, who slew herself on account of her unrequited passion for her stepson, Hippolytus.
Procris, daughter of Erechtheus, King of Athens, and wife of Cephalus, King of Phocis, was accidentally slain by her husband, who mistook her for a wild beast, as she watched him, hidden in the woods, suspecting him of in- fidelity, Cp. Ov, Met. 7. 694.
Eriphyla, wife of Amphiaraus, He, being a seer, knew that if he joined the expedition against Thebes, he was doomed to perish, He, therefore, hid himself, Eriphyla, bribed by Polynices with a gift of a golden necklace, revealed the hiding-place of her husband, who was thus compelled to join the expedition. Before departing he instructed his son Alcmaeon to slay Eriphyla so soon as he heard of his death. Cp. Apollod. 3. 6. 2.
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447. Euadne, wife of Capaneus, flung herself from a crag into her husband’s funeral pyre. Cp. Eur. Suppl. τοῖο, 1048. The subject was doubtless treated in the lost Theban Epic cycle. }
Pasiphaen. Seel.25,. As to her death there is no reference in extant literature, save Malalas 15. 106, who states that she was cast into prison by Minos and there died. The story was treated by Euripides in his Cretes, and it may be con- jectured that in the tragedy she was made to commit suicide,
Laodamia, wife of Protesilaus, the first of the Greeks to disembark at Troy, where he was slain by Hector, She obtained permission of heaven that his spirit should visit her, but unable to endure the prospect of losing him a second time, slew herself to join him in the underworld. The story seems to have been familiar to Homer, cp, 11, 2. 698. Euripides made it the subject of a tragedy.
448, Caeneus. Caenis, daughter of Elatos, King of the Lapith, was beloved by Poseidon, and at her request was rewarded by being turned intoaman, As Caeneus she fought for the Lapiths against the Centaurs, and was slain by them, In Hades she became a woman once more. The legend generally ignores the change of sex, and deals solely with the exploits of Caeneus, the warrior invulnerable to ordinary weapons, who is driven into the earth by the blows of the Centaurs’ clubs. Ovid (M. 12. 453 544.) tells the story of his death, and recognises that he had been a woman. His final fate, he tells us, was disputed (12. 517 exttus in dubio est). He himself says that he was believed to have turned into a bird. The source of the story of the change of sex is un- certain. It is probably derived from Alexandrian poetry, such as the Heteroiumena of Nicander, or the later Meta- morphoses by Parthenius, whose influence on the Roman
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Hellenistic School was great. See Nicand. ap: Ant. Lib. Scol. Ap. Rhod. 1. 57. Eustath. ad Il. 1. 264. Hyg. 14.
reuoluta. The fem. is used because she is now a woman. Vergil might have called her Caenis, but gives the masc. name as being more familiar. She is only indirectly one of the victims of Love, the death of Caeneus being indirectly due to the change of sex granted by Poseidon.
452. umbras PR: uwmbram M, Servius, Donatus (who both take it with obscuram). There can be no doubt, however, whichever reading be adopted, that obscuram refers to Dido. The sense is thus much more forcible and poetic, and the comparison is brought closer to the simile of Ap. Rhod. which Vergil is paraphrasing—+.e., obscuram, though applied to Dido, corresponds to ἐπαχλύουσαν (see below). per umbras is preferable, both in sound and as avoiding any possible ambiguity. It means “‘ gloom,” not “ shades of the dead.”
453. Cp. Ap. Rhod. 4. 1479 ὡς τίς τε νέῳ ἐνὲ quate μήνην
| 7) ἴδεν ἢ ἐδόκησεν ἐπαχλύουσαν ἰδέσθαι. Vergil improves on the original which refers to Heracles, seen far off in the desert by Lynceus.
455. demisit lacrimas. Cp. Od. τό. 191 δάκρυον ἧκε χαμᾶζε" ἐγὼ ἐπέεσσι προσηύδων μειλιχίοισι.
dulcique affatus amore. A beautiful version of Od. 11. 552 τὸν μὲν ἐγὼν ἐπέεσσι προσήνυδων μειλιχίοισιν.
456. uerus mihi nuntius. SERVIUS κατὰ τὸ σιωπώμενον intelligendum est quod stt nuntiatus Didonts interitus. alit ad ignem referunt uisum (5. 3): alit ad Mercurium (4. 364) qui ait ‘‘ certa mori”? ; sed in neutro et etiam mortis genus est significatum, et hic dictt “ ferroque extrema secutam.”
ergo. Like the Gk. dpa in Od. τι. 553 Αἶαν, παῖ Τελαμῶνος ἀμύμονος, οὐκ ἄρ᾽ ἔμελλες | οὐδὲ θανὼν λήσεσθαι ἐμοὶ χόλου εἵνεκα τευχέων | οὐλομένων.
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457. extrema secutam. For extrema=death cp. 1. 219 extrema pati. Tac.H.4.59 famem ferrumque et extrema pati. secuta denotes that the act was deliberate. It is not an imitation of πότμον ἐνισπεῖν (Il, 6. 412).
458. per sidera iuro, per superos. Cp. 3. 599 per sidera ᾿ testor, per superos, to which here is naturally added et st qua fides tellure sub ima est.
459. Cp. 2. 142 per sigua est quae restat adhuc mortalibus usquam | intemerata fides.
fides. ‘‘ Aught that may give assurance.” The phrase does not necessarily express doubt as Servius implies (abi promissa exitum non habent).
460. Cp. Catull. 66. 39 imuita, o regina, tuo de uertice cesst, | inuita ; adiuro teque tuumque caput (log. Coma Berenices). For the sentiment cp. 4. 361 Italiam non sponte sequor., of which this is a reassertion,
461. iussa . . . imperiis. Cp. 7. 239 sed nos fata deum uestras exquirere terras | imperiis egere suis.
quae nunc has ire per umbras may mean more than “ but for the will of heaven I would never face the horrors of the underworld,” and may suggest “1 have not come to vex you with my presence.”
462. loca senta situ, a paraphrase of Od. το. 512 ᾿Αΐδεω δόμον εὐρωέντα. sentus is found before Vergil in Ter. Eun. 236 uideo sentum squalidum senem pannis annisque obsitum, The meaning is uncertain. SERvius squalida ... et est translatio a terra inculta in qua sentes nascuntur. So, too, apparently Prudentius (Symm. 2. 1039. Apoth, 123), where it is applied to wepres and rubus. It can bear the same meaning in Terence, I.c. sc. “ bristly.”
If Servius is right, the sense will be “‘ neglected,” ‘‘ waste ”’ =horrida, inculta. Cp. Liv. 22. 16 stagna perhorrida situ. Norden interprets it as ‘‘ eaten away,” “ mouldering,” citing
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Commentary
Biicheler, Rk. Mus. 42. 1887, 586, connecting it with senium and the Gk. σίνεσθαι. But this derivation is uncertain, and there seems to be no reason to depart from the tradi- tional interpretation.
situ. From the sense of “ lying unstirred and unheeded.” situs comes to mean “‘ neglect,” and even the results of neglect such as “‘ mould” and “rust.” Servius is too precise when he says situs est lanugo quaedam ex humore procreata et fit in locis sole carentibus. Page’s translation, ‘through a land ragged and forlorn,” expresses the sense adequately,
464. Cp. 4. 419 hunc ego si totui tantum sperare dolorem.
465. Repeated 698 with amplexu for aspectu.
aspectu.. The dative of -w, as often elsewhere, the dat, being the regular construction after subtraho, Czsar, ac- cording to Gellius (4. 16), regarded the -u termination as the more correct. See Lindsay, Z.L., p. 387.
Dido begins to move «aay. Her actions described 469-73 extend through the v-t:ole of Aeneas’s speech, At its outset (incepto sermone 430) she remains motionless; then, before he ends, moves away (tandem corripuit sese 472)
466. quem fugis? An echv of the words used by Dido to Aeneas (4. 314) mene fugis ἢ
extremum quod te adloquor hoe est. Cp. Soph. Aj. 857 προσεννέπω πανύστατον δὴ κ᾽ ὀύποτ᾽ αὖθις ὕστερον.
quod. Cogn. acc. after adloguor.
467, torua tuentem ... animum. A bold phrase, which led Jortin to conjecture animam. But as torua tuentem is a Grecism (cp, 1], 3. 342 ἄγρια Sepxdpevos), so is the whole phrase, for which Norden compares Soph, Aj. 955 κελαινώπας θυμός, Aesch, Cho, 847 φρὴν ὠμματωμένη. torua tuentem may possibly be regarded (see Norden) as a translation of ταυρηδὸν βλέπειν through -. fancied connexion between toruus and taurus: but torvue bouis (G. 3. 51) and toruum
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taurum (Ov. M. 8. 132) do not lend any real support to this view.
lenibat. For the contracted form (metri gratia) cp. lenibant (4. 528), insignibat (7. 790), nutribant (7. 485), redimibat (το. 538), polibant (8. 436), uestibat (8. 160).
lacrimasque ciebat. SERvius sibi, non Didoni .. . 1116 immobilis manebat. tractum autem hoc est ab Homero (Od. ἯΙ. 563) qui inducit Atacis umbram Ulixis colloquia fugientem, quod et fuerat causa mortis.
469. Repeated from 1. 482. Cp. Od. 11. 563 ὡς ἐφάμην, ὁ δὲ μ᾽ οὐδὲν ἀμείβετο. Heyne well compares Ps. Longin. de subl. 9 ἡ τοῦ Αἴαντος ἐν νεκύιᾳ σιώπη μέγα καὶ πάντος ὑψηλότερον λόγου. Cp. also Med. 27. Theocr. 2. 12.
470. See n. on 465.
uoltum mouetur. Cp. n. on 156.
471. stet with the idea of immobility.
silex. The hard lava rock still known as selce in Italy.
Marpesia=Paria, Marpessos being a mountain in Paros. Dido stands cold, pale, and motionless as marble. The whole passage seems to be suggested by Eur. Med. 27 οὔτ᾽ ὄμμ᾽ ἐπαίρουσ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἀπαλλάσσουσα γῆς | πρόσωπον, ὡς δὲ πέτρος ἢ θαλάσσιος | κλύδων ἀκούει νουθετουμένη φίλων.
473. hemus. The myrtea silua of 4453:
coniunx pristinus. Cp. 1. 343 huic coniunx Sychaeus erat. Sychaeus was murdered by Dido’s brother Pygmalion (x. 348), and, therefore, is naturally placed among those who died untimely, though he does not strictly belong to the Lugentes campi.
euris. ‘‘ Passion” or “ griefs.” Dative.
474. Syehaeus. The first syllable is long in 1. 343, but short elsewhere,
475. nee minus—+.e., despite her flight.
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Commentary
casu concussus iniquo. Cp. 5. 700 casu concussus acerbo. 5. 869 casu concussus amici, Both passages tell against the variant percussus R in this passage.
476. lacrimis PR: lacrimans M. Cp, 12. 72 ne me lacrimis neue omine tanto | prosequere ... euntem. 6. 898 prose- quitur dictis, 9. 310 wotis, 11, 107 uenia, all support the ablative.
477-547. The ghosts of heroes fallen in war follow. Strict adherence to the doctrine concerning those who died untimely would demand the inclusion of violent deaths other than those of war. These are represented solely by Sycheus, who is, however, placed among the lovers, See n. on 426-547.
477. datum. SrRvius datum autem dixit aut ratione fati concessum aut oblatum fortutto, an intunctum. Any of these three views is possible, but the first is, perhaps, most probable.
molitur implies effort. The idea suggested is that Aeneas struggles forward through the gloom,
arua ultima. The last occupied by souls who are neither in Tartarus nor Elysium.
478. secreta. “Set apart.” Cp. 8. 670 secretosque pios.
479. The first three ghosts are all of heroes of the Theban cycle of epic.
Tydeus, King of Calydon, was wounded by Melanippus, whom he slew. Athena brought him a remedy for his wound, which should make him immortal. Amphiaraus at this moment brought the head of Melanippus to Tydeus, who bit it to the brain, thereby so shocking Athena that she withheld her gift, and he died. Apollod, 3. 6. 8,
Parthenopaeus, son of Atalanta, was slain before Thebes by Periclymenus. Paus, 9. 18.6. Eur. Phoen. 1158.
Adrastus, King of Argos, and leader of the Seven against Thebes, died of old age and grief over the loss of one of his
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sons in the second expedition of the Epigoni against Thebes. Paus, 1. 43.1. If Vergil follows this legend, why is he among the βιαιοθάνατοι ? It is possible that Vergil follows another legend recorded by Hyg. Fab. 242, which made Adrastus and his son Hipponoos throw themselves into a fire on the bidding of the oracle of Apollo; or that he has merely in- cluded Adrastus by an oversight with the other heroes of the expedition against Thebes.
pallentis. Cp. Amm. Marc. 14. 11. 22 Adrasteo pallore perfusus, which may be a curious allusion to the present passage, or may, on the other hand, be connected with Adrastia.
481. multum fleti= πολύκλαντοι,
ad superos—i.e., in the upperworld. Cp. Liv. 1, 3 celebre ad posteros nomen, Sil. 13. 607 non digna neque aequa ad superos passi Manes, Conington interprets of lamentation rising to the skies, and compares 561 quis tantus clangor ad auras? and Il, 8. 364 ἤτοι ὁ μὲν κλαίεσκε πρὸς οὐρανόν. But the context demands that superos should mean the upper world of the living.
eaduci. Donatus fructus quorum pars appellatur caduca quae in usus hominum non cadit. inde translatum est ut caduci dicantur homines qui in pueritia aut tuuenta moriuntur. Cp. Hom. ἀρηΐφατοι.
462. The next group is drawn from the Trojan cycle. There is no individual mention of Greek heroes,
483. Cp. Il. 17. 216 Τλαῦκόν τε MéSovrd τε Θερσίλοχόν τε.
Glaucus, a Lycian chief, follower of Sarpedon, was slain by Agamemnon (?Ajax): cp, Hyg. Fab, 113. For other r. f- erences to him in Homer, cp, 1], 2, 876; 3. 313; 6. 119-236.
463. Cp. 1]. 11. 59 τρεῖς τ’ ᾿Αντηνορίδας Πόλυβον καὶ ᾿Αγήνορα δῖον | ἠϊθεόν τ᾿ ᾿Ακάμαντα, Agenor was slain by Neoptolemus, Paus. to, 27.1; Acamas by Meriones, I]. 16. 343.
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Commentary
Polyboten P: Polyboeten MR. The name Polyboetes is not found elsewhere. Polybotes is found in Theocr. 10. 15. There is no mention of any such hero in Homer, and the name must come from the Cyclic poets. There is no justi- fication for the emendation Polypheten (Il. 13. 791).
485. Idaeum. The charioteer of Priam. Cp. Il. 3. 248; 24. 325.
arma tenentem. He is represented as armour-bearer as well.
487. conferre gradum. ‘‘ To walk by his side.”
4go. Cp. Od. 11. 605 sgg., where Heracles terrifies the shades with his bow.
492. 6611 quondam petiere rates. Cp. 1]. 8. 75 and 15. 320. Also A, 2. 399.
494. exiguam. Expressed by τρίζειν in 1], 23. τοι. Od. 24. 5.
inceptus . . . hiantes. ‘‘ The cry of battle scarce begun cheats their gaping lips.”
494. Priamiden . . . Deiphobum. Deiphobus the dearest of Hector’s brothers (11.122. 233), after Paris’ death, married Helen. This fact is not expressly mentioned in Homer, but is implied by Od. 4. 276, where Deiphobus accompanies Helen to view the Trojan Horse and 8. 517, where Menelaus and Odysseus make for the house of Deiphobus, and a fierce fight ensues there. Proclus records that the fact was mentioned in the Little Iliad (cp. also Eur. Tro. 959. Seru. ad A. 2. 166). As to the details of the story, as here given, (1) the signal of the torch is mentioned only in Vergil, but reappears in Tryphiodorus 512, who may have been imitating Vergil, but may equally well have drawn from the same source as the poet. There is no inconsistency with 2. 256, which refers to a fire signal given by the Greeks. Other versions make Sinon or Antenor give the signal from Troy.
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(Schol. Lyc. 340). (2) That Deiphobus was slain by Menelaus is consistent with Od. 8. 517 and Quintus Smyrnzus, who states that he perished fighting, dud’ “Ἑλένης λεχέεσσι, while the fact is definitely stated by Hyg. Fab. 113. As regards the other details of the story, they are peculiar to Vergil. It is probable that he derives them from an older source, but of evidence there is nil (see Norden for a plausible, but visionary, discussion of the subject). Obvious possible sources are the Iliupersis and Stesichorus, For a previous reference to Deiphobus see 2. 310, where his house is men- tioned as in flames. The present passage is .inconsistent with 2. 567-88, but those lines, though almost certainly by Vergil, clearly do not form part of the Aeneid in its present form.
495. uidit. Servius. FPR read widet lacerum: Μ uidit et lacerum. There can be no doubt that Servius is right; the rhythm is better with widit than with widet et: while lacerum should not be connected by et with laniatum corpore toto, which includes all the detailed mutilations which follow.
lacerum erudeliter ora. For the construction see n. on 156. This and the other mutilations were carried out, not merely from lust of revenge, but to prevent the spirit of the dead man from haunting his slayers. For this practice of ἀκρωτηριασμός or μασχαλισμός cp. Aesch. Cho. 439 and Soph, El. 445, where Clytemnestra is represented as having treated the body of Agamemnon in like fashion, For the belief that the dead carry the disfigurements of life to the underworld cp. Plat. Gorg. 524 c.
496. ora. For the anaphora cp. ro. 821, 2 and E. 6. 20; τ.
populataque tempora... truncas nares. It matters little whether we regard these accusatives as dependent on
100
ς ommentary
lacerum, or as direct objects of widit. populata. “ Ravaged.” A bold metaphor used also with capillos by Ovid (M. 2. 319).
497. inhonesto. “‘ Shameful,” “ disfiguring.”
498. uix adeo. “Scarce indeed.” Cp. E. 4. 11 teque adeo decus hoc aeut te consule inibit.
499. compellat uocibus ultro. Repeated in 4. 304, and perhaps an imitation of Enn. A. 35, where compellare uoce occurs.
500. An imitation from Enn. Alexander, Fr. 8. 0 lux Trotae, germane Hector |, quid ita . . . cum tuo lacerato | corpore abtectu’s miser aui qui | te sic respectantibus | trac- tauere nobis? Cp. also Od. 11. 397, the dialogue between Odysseus and Agamemnon on which the whole scene is modelled.
genus alto a sanguine Teucri. Repeated in 4. 230, and with diuom for Teucri in 5. 45. For genus=“‘ offspring ” cp. also 792. and 839.
501. optauit. “Chose” rather than “wished.” SERVIUS elegit ut sumeret.
502. de te. Sc. sumere poenas, though licuit de te may possibly be used absolutely, as licere in generum is used by Lucan (9. 1024).
503. fessum te caede. Sc. as a result of the desperate battle of Od. 8. 517: a clear reference to the Homeric tradi- tion which Deiphobus’ story rejects.
505. egomet. Emphatic: the duty was not left to others.
Rhoeteo litore FPR: Rhoeteo tn litore MP?. The omission of the preposition avoids a not very common elision. Rhoeteum is just to the north of Troy.
506. Manis ter uoce uocaui. Cp. n. on. 231 noutssima uerba and 229 ter. Cp. the similar 3. 68 magna supremum uoce clemus.
507, nomen. Cp. 235 and 381.
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The Sixth Βοοῖ οὗ the Aeneid
arma. Cp. 233. Here te arms are obviously not Deiphobus’ own.
te amice. For the hiatus and the shortening of the long monosyllable cp. E. 2. 65 0 Alexi. 8. τοῦ an qui amani. While in Vergil this may be a Graecism, instances occur in early poetry under circumstances where this is extremely improbable, and we may assume “this prosodical hiatus to reflect the ordinary pronunciation as it did in Greek,” Lindsay, L.L., pp. 209, 210.
509. Priamides. The first ὦ is lengthened as in the Greek metri gratia.
sro. omnia soluisti. We are not told especially that the erection of a cenotaph, a symbolic burial, has enabled Deiphobus to cross the Styx. but it is distinctly implied, though we are at liberty to suppose that others buried him, if we will.
funeris umbris. ‘‘ The shades of the dead.” For funus= “dead body ” cp. 9. 491 funus lacerum, and the similar use of mors, Cic. pro Mil. 86. Plin. 14. 119.
511. sed—i.e., You have done all you could for me, but, etc.
Lacaenae. Cp. the contemptuous ἡ Λάκαινα of Eur. Tro. 861. It carries with it the idea of “harlot ”: cp. Eur. Andr. 486 and 595 sqq. οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἰ βοόυλοιτό τις | σώφρων γένοιτο Σπαρτιατίδων κόρη. Also Ov. Her. 5. 99.
512. monimenta. Possibly a bitter travesty of Od. 15. 125 δῶρόν τοι καὶ ἐγὼ τέκνον φίλε, τοῦτο δίδωμι, | μνῆμ᾽ “Ελένης χειρῶν (Conington).
513. Cp. 2. 248, where, however, all that is said is nos delubra deum miseri, quibus ultimus esset | 1116 dies, festa uelamus fronde per urbem. But cp. Eur. Hec. 905 and Tro. 542.
515, 6. Cp. Enn. Alex. 13 “am maximo saltu superabit
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Commentary
grauidus armatis equus, | gui suo partu ardua perdat Pergama. Aesch. Ag. 825 ἵππου νεοσσός, ἀσπιδηφόρος λεώς, | πήδημ᾽ ὀρούσας ἀμφὶ Πλειάδων δύσιν, | ὑπερθορὼν δὲ πύργον, ὠμήστης λέων, | ἄδην ἔλειξεν αἵματος τυραννικοῦ. This bold metaphor implies no special version of the legend other than that given in 2. 234. It is a poetical description of the dragging of the Trojan horse through the breach in the wall.
517. Cp. 7. 385 samulato numine Baccht.
euhantis first occurs in Cat. 64. 391. It governs orgza, a bold cognate acc.
519. As has been said above, there is no actual incon- sistency between this passage and 2. 254. Vergil may have written this passage without giving a thought to the lines in Bk. 2. But the two passages are easily recon- cilable.
520. confectum curis. SERVIUS aqui wacauerat gaudits. sed illud ostendit quod ait Statius (T. 12. 11) “΄ stant weteres ante ora metus”? : nam curae ferebantur suo impetu ex pristino bellorum tumultu. The line is an imitation of 1]. το. 98 καμάτῳ ἀδηκότες, ἠδὲ καὶ ὕπνῳ, or Od. 6.2 ὕπνῳ Kal καμάτῳ ἀρημένος. Schrader’s emendation choreis is unnecessary. Norden suggests that Vergil may be refining the original version and have substituted curis, when tradition would have led him to write wino. Cp. Quint. Smyrn. 13. 354 καὶ τότε δὴ Μενέλαος ὑπὸ ξίφει στονοέντι | Δηίφοβον κατέ- πεῴνε καρηβαρέοντα κιχήσας | ἀμφ᾽ “Ἑλένης λεχέεσσι.
522. Cp. Od. 13. 79 καὶ τῷ νήδυμος ὕπνος ἐπὶ βλεφάροισιν ἐπίπτεν | νήγρετος, ἥδιστος, θανάτῳ ἄγχιστα ἐοικώς.
523. egregia. For the ironical use cp. 4. 93 egregiam wero laudem et spolia ampla refertis.
524. emouet. FR: amouet M: etmouet P. See n. on 382. amoueo is the commoner verb, but never occurs in Vergil.
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eapiti. Sc. from beneath his pillow. Cp. Tac. H. 2. 49 pugionem capiti subdidit. Suet. Oth. 11, describing the same incident, substitutes puluinus for caput.
subduxerat. Pluperfect because this was the first thing — done by Helen, as being the most necessary. The removal of other weapons was subsequent.
526. amanti. ‘“ Her lover”: a bitter taunt both against Helen and Menelaus. Deiphobus regards Menelaus as an unlawful rival and Helen as a faithless wife.
529. Aeolides=Ulysses. SrERvius nam Anticleiae filius est, quam ante Laertis nuptias clam cum Sisypho, Aeoli filo concubuit, unde Ulixes est. hoc οἱ et tn Ouidio Aiax obicit “et sanguine cretus Sisyphio”’ (Met. 13. 31): cp. also Soph. Aj. 190. Phil. 417.
di talia, ete. Cp. Soph. Phil. 315 οἷς ᾿Ολύμπιοι θεοὶ | δοῖεν ποτ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἀντίποιν᾽ ἐμοῦ παθεῖν.
530. instaurate. From zm and staurus (= σταῦρος) “ to prop up” and so “‘to renew”: from this the transition to “repay ”’ is slight.
pio... ore. Cp. Soph. Trach. 809.
531- Cp. Od. 11. 155 τέκνον ἐμὸν πῶς ἦλθες ὑπὸ ζόφον ἠερόεντα | ζῶος ἐών ; χαλεπὸν δὲ τάδε ζωοῖσιν ὁρᾶσθαι. | ἢ νῦν δὴ Τροίηθεν ἀλώμενος ἐνθάδ᾽ ἱκάνεις | νηί τε καὶ ἑτάροισι πολὺν χρόνον.
534. Cp. Od. 11. 94 ὄφρα ἴδῃ νέκυας καὶ ἀτερπέα χῶρον.
sine sole. Cp. Eur. Alc. 852 ἀνηλίων μυχῶν, HF. 607.
loca turbida. ‘‘ Home of confusion.” ‘“‘ turbida perhaps gives the idea of formless confusion”? (Conington). Cer- tainly, but it does not mean “obscure,” as Conington also asserts.
535. hae uice sermonum—.e., the conversation con- tinued, and Aeneas answers Deiphobus’ questions. But, a3 his answer is known in substance to the reader, it is implied,
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Commentary
not stated. wice is abl. of circumstance: cp. Ov. T. 4. 4. 79 uice sermonis. For the whole cp. Od. τι. 81 νῶι μὲν ὡς ἐπέεσσιν ἀμειβόμενοι στυγεροῖσι | ἥμεθα.
roseis quadrigis. Cp. 7. 26 in rosets bigis. The chariot of dawn is two-horsed in Od. 23. 246. Servius Donatus autem dicit Auroramt cum quadrigis positgin solem signt- ficare.
536. medium traiecerat axem. The heavens regarded as turning on their poles: cp. 4. 481 ubi maximus Allas | axem humero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum. It is now midday; they had started at dawn (225). Cp. Il. 8. 68 ᾿Ηέλιος μέσον οὐρανὸν ἀμφιβεβήκει.
527. Cp. Od. τό. 220 καὶ νύ κ᾽ ὀδυρομένοισιν ἔδυ φάος ἠελίοιο.
datum. Cp. 477 n.
traherent. “Drag out.” Cp. 1. 748 uario noctem sermone trahebat.
539. mox ruit. “Rushes up from Ocean.” Cp. 2. 250 ruit Oceano nox. 8.369. 2.250 1s conclusive for the meaning. For the opposite representation of night falling from the sky cp. 2. 8 nox caelo praecipitat.
540. partes ubise uia findit in ambas. The immediate source probably Plat. Gorg. 524 A ἐξ ἧς φέρετον τὼ 080 . . . ἡ μὲν és μακάρων νήσους, ἡ δ᾽ εἰς Τάρταρον, The belief is derived from the teaching of the Orphics and Pythagoreans. Cp. Hippolyt. 5. 8, p. 164, 76 sqq. DS. μικρὰ δ᾽ ἐστὶ τὰ μυστήρια τὰ τῆς Περσεφόνης κάτω, περὶ ὧν μυστηρίων καὶ τῆς ὅδου τῆς ἀγούσης ἐκεῖ, οὔσης πλατείας καὶ εὐρυχώρου καὶ φερούσης τοὺς ἀπολ- λυμένους ἐπὶ τὴν Περσεφόνην. . . καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς δέ φήσιν αὐτὰρ ὑπ’ αὐτὴν ἔστιν ἀτάρπιτος ὀκρίοεσσα, | κοίλη, πηλώδης, ἡ δ᾽ ἡγήσασθαι ἀρίστη | ἄλσος ἐς ἱμεροὲν πολυτιμήτον ᾿Αφρο- δίτης (cited by Dieterich, Nekyia, p. 191 q.v.). It is but a small step from this conception to the moral parable of the
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two ways of virtue and vice, for which cp. Hes. Op. 287, and Prodicus’ myth of Heracles (Xen. Mem. 2. 120), and the teaching of the Pythagoreans by means of a similar allegory (Schol. ad Pers. 3. 56).
ambas. SERVIUS compendiosius quam si “‘ duas”’ diceret. poteramus enim etiam tertiam sperare. The present use is apparently unique.
541. Cp. 630 Cyclopum educta caminis | moenia conspicio.
542. iter Elysium. Cp. 3. 507 iter Italiam. An extension of the omission of prepositions before the names of towns.
543. exercet. “‘ Plies.”
544. ne saeui. SERVIUS antique dictum est: nam nunc “ne saeuias.”” The construction is common in Vergil and the poets for obvious metrical reasons.
545. explebo numerum. “I will fill up the number of the shades ’—1.e., I will go to my place among them. The dead have been numbered and marshalled in bodies. Cp. Sen. Hipp. 1153 constat inferno numerus tyranno. Norden cites Lucian, Catapl. 4 (Hermes to Clotho) ἐπεὶ δὲ κατ᾽ αὐτὸ ἤδη τὸ στόμιον ἦμεν, ἐμοῦ τοὺς νεκροὺς ὡς ἔθος ἀπαριθμοῦντος τῳ Αἰάκᾳ καὶ ἐκείνου λογιζομένου αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸ παρὰ τῆς σῆς ἀδελφῆς (Atropos) πεμφθὲν αὐτῷ σύμβολον, λαθὼν οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅπως ὃ τρισκατάρατος ἀπιὼν ᾧχετο. ἐνέδει οὖν νεκρὸς εἷς τᾷ λογισμῷ. (.1.1,. 8. Suppl. 12505 te rogo qui infernales partes tenes, commendo tibt Iuliam Faustillam Marit filiam, ut eam celerius abducas et in numerum tu habeas. He further points out that the metaphor is found in Livy in a military sense (24. 11. 4) numerum legionum explere.
547. Cp. το. 877 tantum effatus et infesta subit obuius hasta. 3. 669 ad sonitum uocts uestigia torsit.
effatus. Sc. est. Though the words are in imitation of Il. 22. 247 ὡς φαμένη καὶ κερδοσύνῃ ἡγήσατ᾽ ᾿Αθήνη, there is no need to assume an anacoluthon in the Latin.
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Commentary
torsit. ‘‘ Turned aside.” MR read pressit=“ ceased from following them.” westigia pressit has occurred twice already (197, 331), and pressit has probably found its way into the MSS. as a reminiscence. The rarer and more forcible torsit is Clearly to be preferred.
548. sinistra. Cp. laewa (542).
549. There is no closer parallel for this description of Tartarus as walled in than Hes. T. 726 τὸν περὶ χάλκεον ἕρκος ἐλήλαται.
moenia. The wider generic term: muri the narrower and more specific.
551. Phlegethon. The IlvpipAcyéOwv of Od. το. 513. The name Φλεγέθων does not occur in extant Greek authors.
torquetque sonantia saxa. The relative quae is ignored: cp. G. 2. 207 aut unde iratus siluam deuexit arator | et nemora euertit, where there is a similar disregard of unde. Conington suggests that the phrase may be due to a misunderstanding of Plato, Phaed. 113 B Πυριφλεγέθοντα οὗ καὶ of ῥύακες ἀποσπάσματα ἀναφυσῶσιν, ὅπη ἂν τύχωσι τῆς γῆς, these ἀποσπάσματα being portions of Pyriphlegethon, not rocks. But such a suggestion is uncalled for: the passage in Plato might easily suggest the present phrase without any misunderstanding on the part of the poet. Nor is any reference to Plato necessary: what is true of earthly torrents and lava-streams does not need a literary source to justify it.
552. Cp. Il. 8. τς ἔνθα σιδήρειαί te πύλαι καὶ χάλκεον οὖδας.
adamante. Cp. Prop. 4. 11. 4 non exorato stant adamante wiae. An undefined unbreakable substance, perhaps steel; cp. Hes. Sc. 231 and T. 61, where it is styled yAwpds and πολιός. It was later identified with the diamond. Cp. Theophr. Lap. 19.
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552. bello FPR: ferro M. The latter reading is probably an echo of 9. 137 ferro sceleratam exscindere gentem. The occurrence of ferrea in the next line makes it inadmissible.
554. Stat. SERVIUS eminet, erecta est.
turris. Norden suggests that this is a counterpart of the “Tower of Cronus” in the islands of the Blest (Pind. Ol. 2. 70). ad auras after the idea of rising implied by stat. SERVIUS auras autem congruas inferis intelligamus. Statius de Mercurio ait “ pigrae aurae eius impediebant uolatum.” de illo etiam loco multi quaerunt (561) “‘ quis tantus clangor ad auras?” et Pollio dicit Aeneae et Sibyllae, quas illi secum traxerant, cum constet esse etiam illic auras.
555. Tisiphone. Identical with the custodia of 574. See n. on 571.
palla suceineti cruenta. The picture is drawn from 1]. 18. 538, where ὀλοὴ κήρ is described as follows: εἶμα δ᾽ €y’ ἀμφ᾽ ὦὥμοισι δαφοινεὸν αἵματι φώτων.
palla, a long sweeping cloak, chiefly worn by women, and not to be distinguished from the Gk, ἱμάτιον,
556, exsomnis. Not before Vergil, and very rare after him,
557. hine exaudiri gemitus. Cp. 4. 460 hinc exaudiri uoces. Norden compares similar passages from Plut. de gen. Socr, 22, 590 F ὅθεν ἀκούεσθαι... μύριον κλαυθμὸν βρεφῷν καὶ μεμιγμένους ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν ὀδυρμοὺς, ψόφους δὲ παντοδαποὺς καὶ θορύβους, and Lucian, V. Hist. 2. 29 ἠκούομεν καὶ μαστίγων ψόφον καὶ οἰμωγήν.
558. uerbera...catenas. Cp. Plat. Rep. 2. 361 E μαστιγώσεται, στρεβλώσεται, δεδήσεται. Derived from the teaching of the Mysteries, cp. Plat, Rep. 363 C, where Eumolpus and Musaeus are referred to.
stridor ferri is made more precise by ¢ractae catenae. 559. strepitu. .. haesit MP?: strepitum ... hausit.
FPR Servius (haesit F'R). There 15 little to choose betwee ἢ
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the two readings. haesit is perhaps the more vivid and forcible: cp. also 3. 597 aspectu conterritus haesit. 11. 699 subitoque aspectu territus haesit. haesit amplifies constitit : cp. 331 constitit Anchisa satus et uestigia pressit.
560. seelerum facies. “Forms of crime.” Cp. G. tr. 506.
561. quis M: gui PR. Either is possible, but guis is the rarer and is preferred by Vergil: see Wagner, quaest. 22.
plangor MR: clangor P Servius. So, too, clangoribus P for plangoribus MR in 4. 668. plangor refers back to gemitus and has greater pathetic force.
ad auras MR Servius: ad auris P. There is nothing to choose in point of sense. ad auras may mean (1) “rising to the air,” cp. 554, or (2) ‘on the air,” cp. ad superos (481).
562. Cp. 125 cum sic orsa logui uates.
564. Cp. 118 lucis Hecate praefecit Auernis.
565. deum poenas. ‘“‘The punishment inflicted by Heaven.”
566. Gnosius. Cp. 23 n.
Rhadamanthus. Brother of Minos: cp. 432 Minos, n.
567. castigatque auditque dolos. Not as Conington asserts, a ὕστερον πρότερον. castigat may be simply “rebukes,” ** chides,” a common use of the word: see Norwood, Class. Quart., 12. 148, 9. This is simpler than with Page (Class. Rev. 4. 465 and 8. 203) to suppose that castigat means to ‘torture and so exact confession.”
568. furto. Not to be taken literally, but in the wider sense “‘ stealth ’—7.e., guilty concealment.
569. commissa piacula. ‘The incurred atonement.” Cp. Cic. Verr. 2. 3. 12. 30 poenam committere. Clu. 37. 103 multam commiserit. It is impossible to take piacula= “‘crimes,’’ as Conington and Servius apparently do, since it makes distulit meaningless.
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570. ultrix. Cp. Servius ad 4. 609 ultrix, hoc est Tistphone. nam Graece τίσις ultio dicitur. Norden points out that such allusions to derivations are common in Vergil, and compares 1. 366 nouae Carthaginis, where Servius points out that Carthago=“ new town”; 3. 692 Plemmyrium undosum, where undosum translates the name; 7. 684 Hernica saxa, where Servius states that hernae is Sabine for “‘ rocks,” etc.
aceineta, not “ girt with,” but in the metaphorical sense “armed with.” Cp. 184 accingitur.
571. Tisiphone. There is no inconsistency with 555, where Tisiphone is said to guard the gate night and day: the trial of the guilty takes place at the gate, and Tisiphone is present at the trial. For the presence of the Furies at the trial of the dead cp. Prop. 4. 11. 22 Eumenidum intento turba seuera foro. The function of the Erinyes as punishers of crime is as old as Homer (Il. 3. 276. 19. 258). The fact that there they are spoken of only as punishing perjury is due to the context: they punish other crimes in the upper world (Il. 9. 454. Od. 2. 135, and 11. 278); but there is no reason to suppose that the punishment of sin by the Erinyes in the underworld is confined to perjury. Cp. Dieterich, Nekyia, Ρ. 54 544. Cp. also Axiochus, p. 371 Εἰ ἄγονται πρὸς ᾿Ερινύων ἐπ’ Ἔρεβος καὶ Χάος διὰ Ταρτάρου.
571. Sinistra. In her right hand she holds the scourge.
572. uocat agmina saeua sororum. Sc. to carry away the sinners. She cannot leave the gate.
573. The gates are not actually opened, while she speaks. She says, ‘‘ You see Tisiphone at the gate. There is a yet more terrible figure inside, the Hydra,” etc. Aeneas does not see beyond the gate. There is at least nothing to suggest it.
574. eustodia—custos. Cp. 9. 166, where custodia= custodes. So, too, our “sentinel,” “spy,” “scout,” “ guard,” are all originally feminine.
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576. Hydra. This is not a doublette of 287, where the Hydra is carefully called belua Lernae to avoid the repetition of the name. Here the Hydra is simply a many-headed snake, with no special reference to the Lernacan Hydra. Cp. Aristoph. Ran. 473.
578. An imitation of Il. 8. 16 τόσσον ἔνερθ᾽ ᾿Αἴδεω ὅσον οὐρανός ἐστ᾽ ἀπὸ γαίης, an estimate which is doubled by Vergil’s bis. Vergil has also in his mind Lucr. 4. 416 despectum praebet sub terras impete tanto, |a terris quantum caeli patet altus hiatus.
579. “As the heavenward gaze reaches toward airy Olympus.”
eaeli goes with suspectus and not with Olympum, as Ladewig would take it. The standpoint is that of one looking skyward from earth, not from Hades.
580-625. In the list of sinners which follows, we have, as elsewhere in Vergil, a mixture of popular legend and theology. Tartarus is the abode of those for whom purifica- tion is of no avail. Cp. Plat. Rep. 615 E. Phaed. 113 E of δ᾽ ἂν δόξωσιν ἀνιάτως ἔχειν διὰ τὰ μεγέθη TOV ἁμαρτημάτων ἡ προσήκουσα μοῖρα ῥίπτει ἐς τὸν Τάρταρον ὅθεν οὔποτε ἐκβαίνουσι. From 580-607 we have legendary sinners. From 608-615 and 621-624 we have nameless sinners suffering eternal punishment for various offences. 616-620 inter- rupt the list. The Sibyl pauses to give a vague indica- tion of the nature of the punishments of the damned: these are drawn from legend. At 621 she resumes and completes the catalogue of the sins. The order is awkward, and cannot be justified on the plea that Vergil inserts 616-620 to break the monotony of the catalogue. No such monotony would result from so short a list of sinners. The dislocation of the natural order is probably due to the fact that this portion of the book had not received its fina]
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form. We are not justified in such drastic remedies as transposition. Deuticke would transpose 608-615 to follow 624, while Havet would place 616-620 after 601. Of these remedies the latter is the most satisfactory, as it disposes of the difficulty presented by 602-607, as applied to Ixion and Pirithous. Vide ad loc. There is, however, no reason to doubt that the text, as it has reached us, represents the text as prepared by Varius and Tucca. See also Sabbadini, Primitivo disegno dell’ Eneide, p. 46, n. 3.
580. genus antiquum terrae. The Titans, children of Ouranos and Gaia, cast down from heaven to Tartarus by Zeus after the Gigantomachy. See Hes. T. 717. Homer refers to the legend in 1]. 14. 279 τοῦς ὑποταρταρίους ot Τιτῆνες καλέονται. The race is antiquum as belonging to the generation before Zeus.
582. Aloides. Otus and Ephialtes, sons of Poseidon and Iphimedeia, the wife of Aloeus. They attempted to storm heaven by piling Ossa on Olympus and Pelion on Ossa, but were slain by Apollo; see Od. 11. 305-320. Homer makes no mention of their being cast down to Tartarus. They are found there in Hyg. Fab. 28 and Culex, 234.
585. Salmonea. The first reference to this legend is found in the Aeolus of Euripides, fr. 14 ὃς δ᾽ er ᾿Αλφείου ῥοαῖς | θεοῦ μανεὶς ἔρριψε Σαλμωνεὺς φλόγα. He is mentioned by Homer (Od. 11. 236) as ἀμύμων, while a fragment of Hesiod, cited by Schol. ad Pind. Ol. 4. 252, calls him ἄδικος, He was son of Aeolus, and originally associated with Thessaly (cp, Suidas, s.v. Apollod. 1. 89, Argum. 4. Ar, Ran.), Later he came to be connected with Elis as the founder of Salmone (Strab. 8, p. 356. Eustath. ad Od. l.c.), or Salmonia (Diod. 4. 68. 1) in Elis.
586. This line can only mean that Salmoneus is condemned to imitate Jupiter in Hades amid his torment. This is
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Grossrau's view, and is unduly derided by Norden. It receives some support from an epigram of Tullius Geminus in A.P. 16. 30, which represents Salmoneus’ punishment as being a continued repetition of his punishment in life. χείρ pe TloAvKAcirov Θασίου κάμεν" εἰμὶ δ᾽ ἐκεῖνος | Σαλμωνεύς, βρονταῖς ὃς Διὸς ἀντεμάνην, | ὅς με καὶ εἰν ᾿Αἔδῃ πορθεῖ πάλι, καί με κεραυνοῖς | βάλλει μισῶν poy κὸν λαλέοντα τόπον, Cp. also the belief attributed by Aristotle (Anal. Post. 2. 11. 94. 632) to Pythagoras that the thunder frightened sinners in Tartarus. The alternatives to this view are unsatisfactory. La Cerda interpreted dum=quod, which is out of the question. Forbiger took the line as intro- ducing what follows, but dum provides a most unnatural connexion with the main clause. Jacobi’s view, adopted by Conington and Norden, is no more satisfactory. Norden paraphrases as follows: uidi 12 Tartaro etiam Salmonea, qui dum Iouis flammas et Olympt sonitum imitatur, crudeles dedit poenas Iouis fulmine detectus. “dum,” he proceeds, ‘is in the same time as dantem, not as uidi, and poenae are not to be understood of Salmoneus’ punishment in Tartarus, but of his actual blasting by Zeus.”’ This involves taking dantem poenas=qut dedit poenas, which is awkward at any time, but doubly so after widi, Nor does Conington help matters by his comment: ‘“‘ we may say, if we please, that the sight of his punishment recalls the thought of his im- piety, and so that the Sibyl may be said to have witnessed the latter. The construction generally resembles that of the well- known lines dic, hospes, Spartae nos te hic uidisse tacentes | dum sanctis patriae legibus obsequimur.”’ Even if dantem could=qui dedit, the ambiguity of dantem crudelis poenas would be a fatal objection. It is safer to assume that Vergil meant what he said.
587. quassans. Rather with a view to display, and in imitation of Jupiter brandishing the thunderbolt, than to
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‘‘ sive force to the blow and make the blaze brighten,” as Conington takes it.
588. mediae Elidis urbem. ‘“‘ The city set in the midst of Elis ”—7.e., Salmone: see n. on 585, and cp. also Stephanus. Σαλμώνη πόλις Πισάτιδος, media Elis=Pisatis, the middle district of Elis.
590. demens qui. Cp. 172 demens. An imitation of the Homeric νήπιος ὃς κτὰ (e.g., Od. τ. 8).
nimbos =“ storm-clouds.”
fulmen. The thunderbolt, not the lightning (fdlgur), which is the flash of the flying fulmen.
591. aere. Apollodorus (1. 9. 7) makes the imitation of the thunder take the form of the dragging of brazen vessels along the ground. Manilius (5. 91 Salmoneus (qui caelum imitatus in urbe | pontibus impositis missisque per aera quadrigis | expressisse sonum mundi sibi uisus et tpsum | admouisse Iouem terris, dum fulmina fingit) speaks of a brazen bridge, which would suit pulsu cornipedum equorum better, the tramp of the horses on the brazen bridge making a sound like thunder. For the belief that thunder was the trampling of Jupiter’s horses cp. Ov. Her. 9. 28 rapidis qui tonat altus equts.
pulsu FMP: cursu R. pulsu is right, as a word expressing sound is required.
cornipes. Not found before Vergil.
simularet. Causal subjunctive.
593- non ille. For ille=6 ye cp. 1. 3 multum ille, where Servius comments est archaismos.
fumea. Not found before this passage.
594. immani turbine may mean the whirling fall of Salmoneus, the wind of the thunderbolt, or the whirl of the thunderbolt itself, as in 12. 531 praecipitem scopulo atque ingentis turbine saxt | excutil.
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Commentary
595. Cp. Od. τι. 576 καὶ Τιτυὸν εἶδον Γαίης ἐρικυδέος υἱὸν
| κείμενον ἐν δαπέδῳ" ὁ δ᾽ ἐπ’ ἐννέα κεῖτο πέλεθρα" | yore δέ
μιν ἑκάτερθε παρημένω ἧπαρ ἔκειρον, | δέρτρον ἔσω δύνοντες"
ὁ δ᾽ οὐκ ἀπέμυνετο τῶν | Λητὼ γὰρ ἕλκησε, Διὸς κυδρὴν
παράκοιτιν | ἸΤυθώδ᾽ ἐρχομένην διὰ καλλιχόρου rade Also Lucr. 3. 984.
omniparentis. First in Lucr. 2. 706.
Terrae... alumnum. alumnus, “ nursling,’ may mean either “child” or “ foster-child.”” In the first case cp. Od. 11. 576 (above); in the second cp. Ap. Rhod. 1. 761 Τίτυον μέγαν ὃν ῥ᾽ ἔτεκέν ye | St’ ᾿Ελάρη, θρέψεν δὲ καὶ ἂψ ἐλοχεύσατο Γαῖα.
596. cernere erat. A Graccism according to some; but it is as old as Cato, R. RR. Proem. 1. Ter. A. 828 scire est (v. 1. SCireS).
nouem iugera. Cp. Od. ].c. Lucr. l.c. Prop. 3. 5. 44.
597. obunco M: adunco P: abunco FR. The rarer obunco, not found before Vergil, and seldom afterwards, is to be pre- ferred. abuncus is not found.
598. immortale iecur tondens. Cp. Od. l.c. δέρτρον ἔσω δύνοντες and Hes. T. 523 ἦπαρ ἀθάνατον.
599. Cp. Lucr. 3. 985 sub magno scrutentur pectore. Od. 1.c. -epulis. Dat. of purpose=ad epulas.
600. fibris used generally=“ entrails.” Cp. Val. Flacc. 7. 355 fibraPromethea. Plin. 33 praef. 1 persequimur omnes eius (sc. terrae) fibras.
6o1. Lapithas, Ixiona Peirithoumque. Both had committed similar crimes, Ixion having attempted to ravish Juno, Peirithous Proserpine. Ixion is elsewhere (Cp. G. 3. 38 and 4. 484) represented as bound to a wheel, while the punish- ment allotted here to the two Lapiths is nowhere else mentioned, It must be assumed, if we regard the text as sound, that Vergil follows a tradition of which all trace has
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been lost. As against this, it may be argued that the penalties of the overhanging stone and of hunger and thirst are both told of Tantalus (e.g., Pind. Ol. 1. 55. Lucr. 3. 980. Od. 11. 582). Ribbeck, therefore, reading guo (R) in 602, argued that 602-607 referred to Tantalus, and that 601 was either left by them where they found it, or wrongly inserted by them. The last supposition seems gratuitous. The probability is that the line referring to Tantalus was
intended, but never actually written, by Vergil, and that his
editors, following the injunction to add nothing, made no attempt to remedy the defect. Neither Servius nor Donatus appears to realise the difficulty, though Servius does, it is true, refer lucent genialibus altis to the story of Tantalus, separating it from the previous penalty. Statius, imitating this passage (T. 1. 712), assigns both penalties to Phlegyas, while Val. Flacc. (2. 192) represents both Phlegyas and Theseus as condemned to an elusive banquet. Havet’s transposition of 616-620 to follow 601 would meet the difficulty, as the penalties would then refer to Phlegyas and Theseus. But the remedy is too bold to be justifiable. The error is probably as old as the edition of Varius and Tucca.
Ixiona Pirithoumque. Cp. 393 Thesea Pirithoumque.
602. atra, because silex is the black lava rock (Ital. selce).
iam iam... adsimilis. Cp. 12. 754 tam tamque tenet stmilisque tenenti | increpuit malis.
cadentique. ‘‘ The hypermeter has a rhetorical effect, the overlapping syllable expressing the just falling stone” (Conington). This is, perhaps, over-fanciful. All depends on the amount of pause allowed for the end of the line, which we cannot estimate. Hypermeter goes back as far as Ennius: Seneca ap. Gell. 12. 2. 10, though no example has survived. It is also found in Callimachus, Ep. 41. 1.
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genialibus . . . toris is regarded as one notion: altis is epithet. genialis torus, in its narrower sense, is torus qut nuptits sternitur in honovem Genii. But in its wider signi- ficance it is any torus spread 1m honorem Genii, as, for instance, on a birthday, and from its association with festivals comes to mean “festive.” Cp. Santra ap. Non. 117. 18 scis enim geniales homines ab antiquis appellatos, qui ad inuitandum et largius apparandum cibum promptiores essent.
604. fulera. The posts of the couch, not, as Henry asserts, the whole couch.
605. regifico. Archaic==regali. First found in Ennius (Andr. fr. 9 Νὴ auro ebore instructam regifice. The word recurs in Vergil’s imitators, Val. Flacc. and Stat.
606. Furiarum maxima. Cp. Eur. I.T. 963 πρέσβειρα ᾿Ερινύων. Stat. T. 7. 477 Eumenidum antiquissima. The harpy Celaeno describes herself as Furiarum maxima in 3. 252, whence Servius unjustifiably interprets the phrase=Fames here. It is useless to attempt to identify the Fury.
607. intonat FMR: increpat P. The stronger word is clearly preferable. Cp. 4. 510 ¢onat ore. intonat ore is also found closing a line in Culex, 179. In 8. 527 tucrepat ingens there is a similar divergence of reading, but in that case tonare (529) shows increpat to be right.
608. inuisi fratres. Fratricides are mentioned by Piat. Rep. 10. 615 D as being in Tartarus. There is no special allusion to legend, though such instances will readily occur e.g., Polynices and Eteocles).
609. pulsatusue parens. Cp. Ar. Ran. 147 εἴ που ξένον τις ἠδίκησε πώποτε | ἢ μητέρ᾽ ἡλόησεν ἢ πατρὸς γνάθον | ἐπάταξεν ἢ 'πίορκον ὅρκον ὥμοσεν, But Vergil, perhaps, has specially in mind the law of Servius Tullius preserved in Festus (260 L.) οἱ parentem puer uerberit, ast ille plorassit paren», puer diuis parentum sacer esto.
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fraus innexa elienti. SrRrvius ex lege XII tabularum tuenit in quibus repertum est “ patronus si clienti fraudem fecerit, sacer esto.”
610. diuitiis . . . repertis is not to be restricted literally fo treasure trove, but is to be taken metaphorically of treasure in general, however acquired.
incubuere. Cp. G. 2. 507 defossoque incubat auro. A common metaphor: cp. Liv. 6.15.5. Quint.10.1.2. Norden refers to the goblin guardian of treasure Iucubo in Petron. 38. The moral idea contained in these lines is found as far back as Pindar (N. 1. 31). But they are commonplaces of popular morality at all times and in all places. Norden points out that
the theme was treated by the Stoics: cp. Cic. de Off. 1. 42.
sqq. Hor. S. 1. 1. 80 sqq., 2. 2. 102 sqg. Pers. 3. 69 sqq. quis modus argento : quid fas optare ; quid asper | utile nummus habet ; patriae carisque propinguis | quantum elargiri deceat. It is, however, a little surprising to find the avaricious placed in this company, though avarice may be regarded merely as a typical instance of neglect of one’s kin and fellow-men.
611. posuere. ‘‘ Placed before” and so “ gave.”
quae maxima turba est has all the appearance of one of Vergil’s props or éibicines.
612. quique ob adulterium caesi. Why this group should be confined to those slain for adultery, and not include adulterers in general, is not clear. Norden’s suggestion, that it is due to the fact that by Roman law the husband might kill the adulterer caught in the act, throws no light on the passage. The sins here mentioned are probably selected as the most tragic and striking instances of men “ cut off even in the very blossom of their sin,’ and perhaps, as Conington suggests, with the added idea that punishment in life confers no immunity after death. It is also probable that Vergil had in his mind the legislation of Augustus for
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the improvement of morals. That such legislation was at least contemplated at the time is shown by Prop. 2. 7, though no actual legislation of the kind can be traced before the lex Iulia of 18 B.c.
arma impia. Vergil refers to civil wars in general, bit has perhaps more especially in his mind a civil war which is otesely linked with the reference to slave wars which follows. Servius melius est ergo ut bellum a Sexto Pompeio in Siculo freto gestum accipiamus. nam occiso patre Siciliam tenutt et collectis inde seruitiis uastauit sex annis ultro citroque Siciliam Servius is arguing that arma impia cannot refer to civil war in general, on the ground that Augustus and Julius Cesar would be involved in the condemnation. Vergil probably had Sextus Pompeius more especially in mind, but that arma impia has the wider significance is none the less certain. All who take part in civil war are not impit. The passage refers to those on whom the true guilt of civil war rests.
nec ueriti dominorum fallere dextras. As regards the reference to Sextus Pompeius cp. the words of Augustus himself: Mon. Anc. 5. 1 eo bello seruorum qui fugerant a dominis suis et arma contra rempublicam ceperunt, XXX fere millia capta dominis ad supplicium sumendum tradidi. Other slave wars had frequently threatened or actually occurred —e.g., in 419 B.c. (Liv. 4. 45), 198, 196, 185-133, 100, and 73 B.C.
The phrase fallere dextras implies the existence of fides or pietas of a kind between slave and master. The indica- tions of such a relationship are somewhat faint. But the fact that a slave was bound to defend his master to the death (Dig. 29. 5. 1. 18), and that the punishments for offences committed against his master by a slave were of the severest kind (cp. App. B.C, 1. 120, Oros. 5. 24. 7 for the crucifixion
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of 6,000 slaves along the Appian road after the revolt of Spartacus), does perhaps point in this direction. See Momm- sen, Strafrecht, p. 82, where this view is developed. It is also possible that Vergil has in his mind the treachery of freedmen like Menas, who deserted Sextus Pompeius for Octavian, and Octavian for Sextus Pompeius, and finally betrayed Sextus Pompeius (see Grossau, ad loc.). The relation existing between freedmen and their masters did undoubtedly involve the conception of pietas.
614. inelusi poenam exspectant. Such a phrase would naturally describe prisoners awaiting sentence. But this is inconsistent with the situation, for Tartarus is the actual place of punishment. The sinners are, therefore, represented as prisoners waiting their turn of torture. Norden quotes acta Thomae 54 τοῦτο ἐστι τὸ δεσμωτήριον τουτῶν τῶν ψυχῶν ὧν εἶδες: ἐπὰν γὰρ πληρώσωσι τὰς κολάσεις αὐτῶν ὧν μία ἑκάστη ἔπραξεν, ὕστερον πάλιν ἄλλαι διαδέχονται αὐτὰς. An alternative, which is perhaps simpler, is to take the words as describing what happens to each sinner on his arrival. They are shut up and wait their punishment. No long delay is implied.
615. quam poenam. Sc. exspectant.
forma. Servius takes forma=causa criminis—t.e.=regula, formula in the legal sense. Such a usage is, however, not found in classical times, and it is simpler therefore to take forma=species. Cp. 560 scelerum facies. 626 scelerum formae. Such a use is found in Cic. Top. 4. 14, and 7. 31. Cp. also Quint. 5. 10. 62 genus et species, quam eandem formam Cicero uocat.
mersit. ‘‘ Has engulfed.’ For the indicative in indirect question cp. Ter. Hec. 471 memorare uelim | quam fideli animo et benigno in illam fui. Prop. 2. 16. 29; 3. 5. 27 544. Aen. 6. 779 widen’ ut geminae stant uertice cristae. An alternative
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would be to explain mersit as 3rd pers. sing. of an old subj. form mersim (cp. faxim, ausim, etc., see Lindsay, L.L., p. 465); but the indic. for subj. is sufficiently frequent in poetry to make such an explanation unnecessary.
616. saxum ingens uoluunt alii—e.g., such as Sisyphus (Od. 11. 594). This and the next reference are not merely to Sisyphus and Ixion, but to all who suffer hke punishment.
radiisque rotarum distrieti. Such as Ixion, for whose punishment Pindar (Pyth. 2. 39) is the earliest authority. See also n. on 602. districti—t.e., with limbs bound out- stretched along the spokes of the wheel.
618. infelix Theseus. Cp. Gell. 10. 16 (citation from Hyginus) qui autem, inquit, fiert potest, ut aeternum apud inferos sedeat, quem supra cum is nominat (122) qua descenderint illuc atque inde rursus euaserint praesertim cum ita sit fabula de Theseo, atque st Hercules eum euellertt de petra et in lucem ad superos eduxerit? The contradiction is implicit, if not explicit, and cannot be explained away. The version of the eternal punishment of Theseus is, however, of great antiquity. Theseus is in Hades in Od. 11. 631. For the | details of his punishment cp. Panyasis, fr. 9 Kinkel ὡς Θησεὺς καὶ Πειρίθους ἐπὶ τῶν θρόνων παράσχοιντο σχῆμα ov κατὰ δεσμώτας, προσφυὲς δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ χρωτὸς ἀντὶ δεσμῶν σφίσιν ἔφη τὴν πέτραν. Pausanias also records that Theseus and Pirithous were represented by Polygnotus as ἐπὶ θρόνων καθεζόμενοι (το. 29).
Phlegyas, King of the Lapithae, enraged at Apollo’s seduction of his daughter Coronis, set fire to the temple of the god at Delphi, and was slain by his arrows. Cp. Apollod. 3. 5. 5. Schol. Stat. Theb. 1. 713. Serv. ad loc. He is in Hades as ἱερύσυλος, a type of sinner depicted by Poly- gnotus as in Hades (Pausan. το. 28. 2),
620. An imitation of Pind. Pyth. 2. 43 where Ixion cries
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from his wheel τὸν evepyérav ἀγανᾶις ἀμοιβαῖς ἐποιχομένους river Oar.
621. These two lines are borrowed from Varius, de morte Caesaris (2p. Macrob. 6. 1. 39 wendidit hic Latium populis agrosque Quiritum | eriputt, fixit leges pretio atque refixit). Vergil passes from Greek sinners to Roman. SERVIUS etiam haec generaliter dicantur, habent tamen specialitatem : nam Lasthenes Olynthum Philippo uendidit, Curio Caesari XXVIIS. Romam : de quo Lucanus (4. 820) ‘Gallorum captus spolits et Caesaris auro. To this quotation we may add 4. 823 emere omnes, hic uendidit urbem. That Vergil had Curio in his mind is probable enough, though he could scarcely have mentioned so prominent a partisan of Julius Cesar by name, much less have spoken of Julius as dominus potens. He therefore confirms himself to generalities as regards the class of traitors.
622. SERVIUS possumus Antonium accipere secundum Ciceronem in Philippicis ubi ait “ legesne fixisti.’ About the correctness of this attribution there can be no doubt; Vergil employs Roman terminology, and the facts were notorious. Nor is there any difficulty in the reference to Antonius: his action was subsequent to Caesar’s death, and he had been the opponent of Augustus. Cp. Mon. Anc. 1. 2 rempublicam dominatione factionis oppressam in libertatem uindicaut. For fixit pretio atque refixit cp. Lex Iulia de pecul. (Dig. 48. 13. 10) qui tabulam aeream leges formamue agrorum aut quid aliud continentem refixerit .. . peculatus tenetur. Cic. Phil. 2. 98; 5.12; 13.5. vefigo=abrogation of laws, while figo=publication of laws on tablets of bronze.
623. thalamum inuasit. Perhaps an imitation of the Homeric εὐνῆς ἐπεβήσετο, In this line Vergil refers to a special form of incest (thalamum natae), and the sin in general (uwetitosque hymenaeos). Vergil refers probably in the main
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to legendary stories, such as those of the love of Cinyras for his daughter Myrrha, of Clymenus for his daughter Harpalyce, of Caunus for his sister Byblis, etc., favourite themes with Alexandrian poets. Cp. Hygin. fab.253. Parthen. 5, 11, 13, 17.
624. ausi. . . potiti. Norden takes this line as referring to the sins indicated in the previous line, and quotes various parallels for audere and potiri used in an erotic significance. Apart from the context, this is a perfectly possible inter- pretation. But coming at the end of a passage describing the various classes of sinners punished in Tartarus, it 15 more natural to take the line as summing-up the sinners in general. For auso potiti cp. Ov. M. 11. 242 auso foret ille potitus ; Hor. Ep. 1. 13. 11 uictor propositt.
625. An imitation of Il. 2. 489 οὐδ᾽ εἴ μοι δέκα μὲν γλῶσσαι δέκα δὲ στόματ᾽ εἶεν, | φωνὴ δ᾽ ἄρρηκτος, χάλκεον δέ μοι ἦτορ ἐνείη, and an appropriation from Lucr. fr. placed by Lachmann at 6. 840 non mihi si linguae centum stint oraque centum, | aerea uox; and repeated from G. 2. 43. Cp. also Hostius ap. Macrob. 6. 3. non si mihi linguae | centum atque ora sient totidem uocesque liquatae.
626. scelerum formas. See n. on 615.
629. munus is best taken=“ gift” in view of perfecto munere diuae (637; cp. also 142).
630. educta M, Servius: ducta FPR. educta is preferable as being the more expressive. Norden takes it=“‘ forged,” comparing Herod. r, 68 ἐξελαύνειν cidnpov—t.e., “beat out.” This suits caminis well, but a Latin parallel is required. In view of the fact that Vergil elsewhere uses educere of building to a height (2. 186, 461; 12. 674), it is, however, simpler to take it=“‘reared high by the forges of the Cyclops.” The walls are of iron like the tower in 554.
632. praecepta sc. deorum.
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633. opaca uiarum. A Graccism as old as Ennius (A. 92 infera noctis), and frequent in Vergil: cp. 2. 332 angusta uiarum ; ib. 725 opaca locovum.
634. eorripiunt spatium. This phrase is not found before Vergil, but may be paralleled by the yet bolder wzam uorare of Catullus (35. 7).
635. ocecupat. Cp. ἢ. on 424.
corpusque recenti | spargit aqua. Aeneas purifies himself with fresh water before making his offering to the goddess, as though he were at the doors of a temple in upper air: cp. 2. 719; 4. 635. “γε must suppose that there were means of lustration, at the entrance of Pluto’s palace, like the περιῤῥαντήρια at the entrance of Greek temples” (Conington). SEeRvius purgat se ; nant impiatus fuerat uel aspectu Tartari uel auditu scelerum atque poenarum.
637. Cp. perfice munus 629.
638. deuenere locos laetos. Repeated from 1.365. For acc. of motion towards without a preposition cp. 696 haec limina tendere adegit. This use, not found before Vergil, is po:sibly a Graecism, but is rendered easy in Latin by the use of similar accusatives in the case of names of towns, rus, domus, foras, etc. For other exx. in the Aeneid cp. 1. 2 Lauinaque uenit moenta.
amoena uirecta suggested by Ennius, A. 39 amoena salicta.
639. fortunatorum nemorum. fortwnatus is a translation of the Gk. μάκαρ. Cp. Plaut. Trin. 549 fortunatorum insulae=pakdpwv νῆσοι.
640. largior hie aether, ete. See ἢ. on aeris in campis. It is possible that in writing these lises Vergil had in his mind the doctrine which placed the abode of the blest in the upper regions of air. But it is certain that he does not adopt that doctrine. He is merely providing a supernatural
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illumination for his underworld Elysium. In his description of this light he imitates Homer’s description of Olympus, Od. 6. 44 ἀλλὰ μάλ᾽ αἴθρη | πέπταται ἀνέφελος λευκὴ δ᾽ ἐπιδέδρομεν αἴγλη, but his conception of Elysium as a land of light is in accordance with Greek popular and religious belief: cp. Dieterich, Nekyia, p. 19 sqq.
largior, as Conington points out, corresponds to the μάλα πέπταται of Homer, while purpureo lumine answers to his λευκὴ αἴγλη, purpureus being used=“ dazzling.” Cp. Hor. Od. 4. 1. 10 purpureis ales oloribus. El. in Maec. 62 purpurea candidtiora niue.
et connects largior and purpureo lumine, largior being predicative.
642. Cp. Pind. Fr. 129, 130 Β΄ καὶ τοὶ μὲν ἱππείοις γυμνα- σίοις, Tol δὲ πέσσοις, τοὶ δὲ φορμίγγεσι τέρπονται.
644. pars pedibus plaudunt choreas. An imitation of Od. 8. 264, πέπληγον δὲ χορὸν θεῖον ποσίν, where, however, χορός is the dancing ground. But the Latin presents no difficulty: choreas is cognate acc. after plaudunt : “ they beat out the dance with their feet’’—1.e., they dance with rhythmic tread.
plaudo in its primary sense is “ to beat,” the sense “ to applaud” being merely secondary.
645. Threicius . . . sacerdos. Orpheus is represented as a priest in virtue of his position as hierophant of the under- world in the mysteries associated with his name; that, however, is the sole reference to his special significance in this connexion. Here he is actually depicted as the peerless musician. Cp. Plato, Apol. 41 A ἢ αὖ Ορφεῖ συγγένεσθαι καὶ Μουσαίῳ καὶ ᾿Ησιόδῳ καὶ Ομήρῳ ἐπὶ moow dv τις δέξαιτ᾽ ἂν ὑμῶν.
longa cum ueste. He wears the garb of a citharoedus. Cp. Propertius’ description of the statue of Apollo citharoedus, 2. 31. 16 Pythius in longa carvimina ueste sonat.
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646. This line clearly refers to Orpheus’ singing to the accompaniment of the lyre, the actual playing on the in- strument being described in 647.
Septem discrimina uocum. The seven notes of the heptachord, discrimen being a translation of διαστῆμα.
obloquitur numeris. It is most natural to take numeris as dative dependent on obloguitur (=dvriupwvei) ““ accom- panies the tune,” or “the rhythm of the dance.” The alternative is to translate “utters in melody the seven notes.” Cp. Ov. ex P. 3. 1. 21 non auis obloquitur.
For numeris=tune cp. E. 9. 45 numeros memint st uerba tenerem. A. 9. 776 numerosque intendere neruts.
647. The right hand uses the flectrum, the left the fingers: cp. Philostr. iun. imag. 6 (p. 400, Kayser) ἡ μὲν δεξιὰ συνίσχουσα ἀπρὶξ τὸ πλῆκτρον ἐπιτέταται τοῖς φθόγγοις ἡ λαία δὲ ὄρθοις πλήττει τοῖς δακτύλοις τοὺς μίτους. The plectrum would be used when greater volume of sound was required.
pectine. This, the Latin translation of the Gk. πλῆκτρον, is employed because of the resemblance of the strings of the lyre to the warp of a loom, the plectrum being inserted between the strings as the weaver’s comb was between the upright threads of the warp. In form the Plectrum cannot have resembled a comb, being represented in vase-paintings simply as a slender peg.
648. Teucri. Teucrus (Τεῦκρος), the first King of Troy, hence Teucri=Trojans (cp. Herod. 5. 122). Dardanus came from Samothrace to Troy, married Teucrus’s daughter and succeeded him as King (Apollod. 3. 12. 3. Diod. 4. 75). Other versions made Dardanus indigenous and Teucrus his son-in-law (Serv. ad Aen. 3. 108). Vergil (3. 108) represents Teucrus as an immigrant from Crete (cp. also Strabo 12, p.604. Tzetz.ad Lyc. 29. 1302, 1306). See n.on Dardanus
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below. For the form of the line cp. 580 hic genus antiquum Terrae, Titania pubes.
649. Cp. Catull. 64. 22 0 nimis optato saeclorum tempore nati | heroes, saluete, deum genus. But nati melioribus annis means more here than “ born in the golden age of heroes ”’; it means also “‘ born before ever the sons of the Achaeans came to Troy.”
650. Cp. 1]. 20. 232 Ἶλός τ’ ᾿Ασσάρακός te καὶ ἀντίθεος Τανυμήδης.
Ilus, son of Tros and brother of Assaracus, according to Il. lic. There was, however, an older Ilus, son of Dardanus (Apollod. 3. 12. 1).
Assaracus, brother of Ilus and grandfather of Anchises, ep. Il. 20. 239.
Troiae Dardanus auctor. Cp. Hom. Il. 20. 215 Δάρδανον ad πρῶτον τέκετο νεφεληγερέτα Ζεὺς, | κτίσσε δὲ Aapdavinv. Vergil follows the view which makes Dardanus the founder of Troy, Teucrus having migrated previously to the Troad from Crete, but not having founded Troy itself (Cp. 3. 107 maximus unde pater, . . . Teucrus Rhoeteas primum est aduectus ad oras | optauitque locum regno. nondum Ilium et arces |Pergameae steterant ; habitabant uallibus imts.
651. procul, “Apart” almost=hard by. Cp. ἢ. on procul, 1. το.
inanis. The chariots are empty, the horses turned loose to graze, while the heroes rest. Servius wrongly (on 652) takes inanis=“‘ ghostly.”
652. stant terra defixae hastae. Cp. Il. 3. 135 παρὰ δ᾽ ἔγχεα μακρὰ πέπηγεν where the opposing armies are resting.
terra MPR: terrae F. The dative may be paralleled by G. 2. 290 terrae defigitur arbos, and Varr. ap. Non. 221. 13 cruci defiguntur. But the sound is less pleasing, and the
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feading is probably due to assimilation with the termination of defixae.
653. eurrum contracted for curruum. Cp. Mon. Anc. 5. 40 exercitum for exercituum, the only examples of this contraction. Priscian 7798 P, while recognising the con- traction, points out that curruum might be treated as a hypermeter.
654. nitentis=“ sleek.”
656. per herbam. “The object is to give a picture of natural golden-age simplicity, with which we may contrast the elaboration of art in the infernal banquet above ”’ (603). Cp. A. τ. 214; 3. 221, etc., where the Trojans feast in the grass.
paeana. For the Paean to Apollo following on the banquet cp. Il. 1. 471 νώμησαν δ᾽ ἄρα πᾶσιν ἐπαρξάμενοι δεπάεσσιν *— οἱ δὲ πανημέριοι μολπῇ θεὸν ἱλάσκοντο | καλὸν ἀείδοντες παιήονα. Some are still feasting, some have finished and are singing the Paean in chorus.
658. odoratum lauri nemus. The laurel-grove of Elysium may be suggested by the laurel-grove in the far west, where the Sun-god rests after his day’s labours. Cp. Stesichorus Fr. 8 Bt ὁ & ἐς ἄλσος ἔβα δάφναισι κατάσκιον ποσσί πάις Διός.
superne regularly means ‘“‘above” or ‘from above.” The latter meaning is inadmissible here, as comparison with the parallel passage in G. 4. 366—a passage written at a much later date than the rest of the Georgics—shows that the rivers are regarded as springing from the underworld. omnia sub magna labentia flumina terra | spectabat diuersa locis Phasimque Lycumque | et caput unde altus primum se erumpit Entpeus |... et gemina auratus taurino cornua uultu | Eridanus quo non alius per pinguia culta |in mare purpureuin uiolentior effluit amnis. superne therefore
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means “above in the upperworld.’”” Norden takes it as ᾿ meaning ‘to the upperworld.” But there is no earlier example of this use of superne than Plin. 19. 76 superne tendit non in terram.
659. Eridani. The Eridanus, though actually identified with the Po (cp. G. τ. 482) and the Rhone (Plin. 37. 32. Paus. etc.), is also a mythical river of the garden of the gods in the far west, where Phacthon met his end and his sisters were turned into poplars: cp. Eur. Hipp. 732 546. In the far west lie the islands of the Blest, the garden of the Hesperides, the realm of the dead. The other world is for Vergil the underworld, but the river of the garden of the gods is transferred thither. The only other reference to Eridanus in this connexion is found in a Scholium to Eur. Orest. 981 εἰς τὸν ᾿Ηριδανὸν ποταμὸν κρέμαται ὁ Τάνταλος. See Dieterich, Nekyia, p. 27.
per siluam. This wood is not to be confused with the lauri nemus ; it is the poplar grove where Phaethon’s sisters weep tears of amber into the river, mourning their brother’s death. Cp. Eur. Hipp. lc. Ov. M. 2. 340 sqq.
660. Cp. 7. 182 ob patriam pugnando uolnera passt.
661. dum uita manebat. As in 608, “ when they were alive ” ; the phrase is suspiciously like one of Vergil’s “ props,” or tibicines.
662. pii uates. ‘‘ Moral bards.” The poet is regarded as the teacher of moral and religious truths. Cp. Hor. Ep. 2. 1.126 sqq., where this function of poetry is dealt with at length. Vergil has, perhaps, especially in mind the earlier poetry of Greece before the rise of prose, when didactic poetry had not yet become a literary exercise and philosophers taught in verse. But it may be noted that such piefas is pre-eminently characteristic of the Georgics and Aeneid. Servius refers the line to prophets, an unnecessary restriction,
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663. qui uitam excoluere per artes. Those who have brought fresh beauty and civilisation to the life of mankind by their discoveries. The phrase includes artists, men of science, and philosophers. Norden (pp. 34, 5) compares Cic. T. Ὁ. 1. 62 gui cultum uitae inuenerunt, and Somn. Sc'p. 18 gui praestantibus ingentis in uita humana diuina studia coluerunt; these latter are represented as being among the blessed in heaven. He points out that Posidonius taught that the discovery of the arts which have made man civilised was due to the philosophers (cp. Sen. Ep. 90), and suggests that Vergil is drawing on Posidonius. This may or may not be the case; as he himself justly asserts that Posidonius was following the teaching of the Orphics and Pythagoreans (Cp. Lactant. de ira, 1. 11. 7, where such teaching is attributed to uetustissimt Graeciae scriptores quos illi theologos nuncupant, and Axiochus 371 C, where φιλόσοφοι are mentioned as dwelling in Elysium with poets and musicians), it is not impossible that Vergil drew on some older source, or was merely following the commonplaces of popular eschatology, In dealing with such commonplaces it is of little profit to attempt to discover the precise source from which they are drawn.
664. aliquos F1MPR Serv.: alios ἘΞ and the MSS. of Macrobius and Donatus. The authority for alios is inferior, and aliquos gives an equally good meaning, the limiting sense being not too strong. It suggests the “elect,” but not necessarily the “chosen few.’ This line gives a “ more general description of the benefactors of the human race ”’ (Conington). Here, too, Norden holds that Vergil is drawing upon Posidonius on the ground that Seneca (l.c.) states that Posidonius included the first Kings, statesmen, and law- givers among the philosophers. He compares also Cic. Somn. Scip. 13 omnibus qui patriam conseruauerint auxerint certum
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esse in caelo definitum locum, ubi beati aeuo sempiterno fruantur. But Vergil is at least as likely to have drawn on Plato, Rep. 615 b, where he speaks of rewards for εὐεργεσίας εὐεργετηκότες, or on Pindar, Ol. 2. 63-end.
665. niuea uitta. They wear snow-white fillets as conse- crated to Heaven, like the victim (G. 3. 487), or the priest (Ov. M. 13. 643). Cp. also Aristid. Or. 32. 34.
667. Musaeum. A mythical poet, prophet, and mysta- gogue, by some described as the son of Orpheus (e.g., Serv. ad loc.), and generally regarded as his follower and successor (cp. Paus. το. 7. 2). He was regarded as the earliest poet, and various works, mainly of a religious, mythological, or mystical character, were attributed to him—e.g., Oracles (Ars Ran. 1031; Herod. 8. 96), Precepts (Suidas s.v.), Theogonia (Diog. Laert. Proem. 3), Παραλύσεις, Τελεταί, καθαρμοί (Schol. ad Aristcph. l.c. Plat. Rep. 363 C).
668. Cp. Il. 3. 227 (of Ajax) ἔξοχος ᾿Αργείων κεφαλήν τε καὶ εὐρέας ὥμους. A, 2. 721; 7. 784; 8. 162.
670. illius ergo. The preposition ergo occurs in Vergil only here. It is found in Lucretius and Cicero, and in Livy among Augustan writers, but then drops out of literary use, and had probably a slightly archaic colouring for Vergil and his contemporaries.
675. Cp. Lucr. 3. 46 si fert ita forte uoluntas,
679. pater Anchises. Anchises is styled pater not merely as being Aeneas’ father. The word is used to invest him with patriarchal dignity, as it is used of Aeneas himself and others. _ Norden, citing Enn. A. 55 pater Tiberinus and 121 Quirinus pater, asserts that Vergil is imitating Ennius. Both authors, however, are probably following old religious usage: cp. C.I.L. 9. 4676 pater Reatinus, and Liv.5. 52 and 8. 9, where in invocations, which are probably actual quota- tions from ritual, pater is used of Quirinus.
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680. superumque ad lumen ituras. Cp. 758 nostrumaue in nomen tturas. superum lumen is found in Enn. A. 102 and Lucr. 6. 856. See 748 544.
681. lustrabat . . . recensebat. A suggestion of the lustvatio and cezsus of the Roman people which took place every five years. Justratio, while primarily implying purifica- tion, came to be used in the sense ‘‘ review,” solemn reviews of the troops being accompanied by purification. recensebai= “counted over.”
ecolens=“ considering.”
683. manusque=“ deeds,” “ works” as often. Cp. 1.455.
685. aduersum. Predicative adj. with tendentem.
6.6. genis=‘“‘ from his eyes.” For this not uncommon usage cp. Prop. 4. 5. 16 cornicum imincritas erutt ungue genas.
excidit ore—z.e., a sudden cry.
687. Cp. Od. 16. 23 ἦλθες, ᾿Γηλέμαχε, γλυκερὸν φάος.
exspectata. With reference to the instructions given by Anchises in the vision of 5. 731.
689. notas audire et reddere ucces. Repeated from 1. 409 with substitution of ποίας for uweras. Cp. Cat. 64. 166 nec missas audire queant nec reddere uoces.
690. rebar. Archaic. Cp. Cic. de Or. 3. £53.
691. mea cura=‘“‘my longing.” Servius nec decepit me dulcissimus filius.... et dictum est sicut (το. 132) Veneris dulctssima cura. This use of cura is not uncommon, but the interpretation is less natural here.
692. A reminiscence of Cat. ror. 1 multas per gentes et multa per aequora uectum, and perhaps also of Pacuv. 319 R. guam te post multis tueor tempestatibus.
696. saepius. The only vision actually described is that in 5. 722 544. But in 4. 351 me patris Anchisae quotiens umentibus umbris | nox operit terras, quoliens astra ignea surgunt, | admonet in sonimis et turbida terret imago. Con-
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ington asserts that Anchises seems to be unaware of these apparitions of himself to his son. The fact that he does not mention them is no proof at all; his language is perfectly natural to the circumstances, and the difficulty is purely imaginary.
haec limina tendere adegit. For acc. of motion towards see note on 638. It is found with tendere in τ. 554. For adegit cp. Od. 11. 164 μῆτερ ἐμή, Xpew με κατήγαγεν εἰς ᾿Αἴδαο.
697. stant sale Tyrrheno classes. Aeneas in these words announces his arrival in the promised land of Italy. Norden fancifully detects an imitation of Od. 24. 299, where Lacrtes asks ποῦ δαὶ νηῦς ἔστηκε G07, and Odysseus answers (308) νηῦς δέ μοι ἥδ᾽ ἕστηκεν ἐπ’ ἄγρου νόσφι πόληος. stant “are beached.” Cp. gor stant litore puppes.
698. teque amplexu ne subtrahe nostro. Repeated from 465, with substitution of amplexu for aspectu.
700-702. Repeated from 2. 792-794, and an imitation cf Od. 11. 206 τρὶς μὲν ἐφωρμήθην, ἑλέειν TE pe θυμὸς ἀνώγει
| τρὶς δέ μοι ἐκ χειρῶν σκιῇ εἴκελον ἢ καὶ ὀνείρῳ | ἔπτατο.
703. in ualle reducta. ‘‘ Within the vale’s recess.”’ The phrase recurs in 8. 609.
704. siluaeGMPR: siluis FM2. siluis has less authority and gives poor sense; the brake cannot be said to “rustle with woods (or forest trees).”’ siluds is probably due to a remin- iscence of 3. 442 Awerna sonantia siluis. Cp. also 12. 522 uirgulia sonantia lauro.
705. Lethaeum amnem. See n. on 735.
praenatat. Servius Ennium secutus est qui att fluctusque natantes (A. 584): but it is also used of water by Lucretius— €.g., 5. 488; 6. 267,1142. praenato is not found before Vergil, and rarely after.
706. Cp. Od. 11. 632 ἔθνεα μυρία νεκρῶν.
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707. Cp. Il. 2. 87 ἐπεσσεύοντο δὲ Aaoi | Hite ἔθνεα εἶσι μελισσάων ἀδινάων | πετρῆς ἐκ γλαφυρῆς del νέον ἐρχομενάων * βοτρυδὸν δὲ πέτονται ἐπ᾽ ἄνθεσιν εἰαρινοῖσιν. Ap. Rhod. τ. 879 ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε λείρια καλὰ περιβρομέουσι μέλισσαι | πέτρης ἐκχύμεναι συμβληίΐδος, ἀμφὶ δὲ λειμὼν | ἑρσήεις γάνυται, τὰ δὲ γλυκὺν ἄλλοτε ἄλλον | καρπὸν ἀμέργουσιν πεποτημέναι. While Vergil’s debt to these two passages is undoubted, it is probable that the simile here has a special significance. Norden quotes Soph. Fr. 794 N βομβεῖ δὲ νεκρῶν σμῆνος, which is preserved in Porph. de antr. nymph. 18 f, with the comment that the name μέλισσαι was given by οἱ παλαιοὶ to τὰς ψυχὰς εἰς γένεσιν ἰούσας. This suggestion clearly gives special point and significance to the comparison.
711. porro is here used in its local sense=procul. Cp. Plaut. Rud. 1034 ubi tu hic habitas ? porro illic. This use is mainly ante-classical, and is only found here in Vergil.
713-5. See ἢ. On 735-751.
715. securos latices. Cp. Plat. Rep. 621 A τὸν ᾿Αμέλητα ποταμόν.
obliuia. Cp. Mar. Victorin. G.L.K. 6. 25. 10 contagio apud omnes fere scriptores est nominatiuo casu, ut... obliuio: sed poetarum licentia primo fecit contagia et obliuia, postea dici coepit et obliuium et contagium. Obliuium first occurs in Tac. H. 4. 9 (Norden).
716, 7. These two lines may be as Vergil left them, but the thought inevitably suggests itself that they are not as he intended to leave them. For the connexion is un- deniably awkward. Ribbeck brackets the first line, on the ground that Vergil must have meant to omit it in his final draft, and that its survival is due to the scrupulosity of his editors. But, as Henry points out, the first line is necessary to the sense. Anchises’ meaning “‘is not that he had been a long time desirous to enumerate his offspring,
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but that he had been a long time desirous to enumerate his offspring to his son Aeneas (#57) ; and not merely to enumerate them to him, but, as clearly appears from every line of the sequel, to show them to him in person (ostendere coram).” This argument is conclusive for the retention of the first line. The awkwardness still remains as regards the connexion of the two. Henry’s explanation is possible, but not wholly satisfactory. zampridem is added to the second line, just as we would say in English, “1 have been wishing to tell you, this long time have I been wishing to see you and tell you all.” The awkwardness of the Latin reappears in Henry’s English. It is tempting to believe that Vergil would ulti- mately have written ac for hanc (Heyne and Nettleship), if he did not actually write it.
719. SERVIUS noua breuitas. nam dicendo ‘‘o pater” qui loquatur ostenditur.
anne is rare in single direct questions: this use is found only here in Vergil.
putandum est “‘ may remind us of Lucr. 2. 39 quod superest animo quoque nil prodesse putandum and other passages. Aeneas has slipped, as it were, into the tone appropriate to the pupil of a philosopher ” (Conington).
720. sublimis predicative with ire. Servius takes it in the moral sense. But that is wholly out of keeping with the tone of Aeneas’ words: cp. 721.
721. miseris. They are wretched in that they desire to return to a world of misery. Norden takes miserts as pro- leptic=wt miserae fiant, which is harsh and wholly needless.
tam dira cupido. Repeated from 373.
The line reveals the bitterness that still reigns in the heart of Aeneas, though he has found the shores of Italy. It is from his father’s words that he is to win hope and strength for the future.
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722. Cp. Lucr. 6. 245 expediam neque te in promisstis plura morabor. Georg. 2. 45 non hic te carmine ficto | atque per ambages et longa exorsa morabor.
723. suscipit. ‘Takes up ”’=Gk. ὑπολαμβάνει.
724. Cp. 6. 4. 221 deum namque tre per omnis | terrasque tractusque maris caelumque profundum; | hinc pecudes, armenta, uiros, genus omme ferarum, | quemque stbi tenuis nascentem arcessere uitas.
The doctrine here expounded is that of the Stoics. A soul permeates the world, composed of fire, of which all forms of life are as sparks. At 733 he breaks off into the language of the Orphic-Pythagorean school.
principio, as in 3. 381. He is perhaps imitating Lucretius, who makes frequent use of the word to introduce a subject, Cp. also Cic. de Div. 1. 11 principio aetherio flammatus lupiter ignt | uertitur et totum conlustrat lumine mundum, | menteque diuina caelum terrasque petessit, | quae penttus sensus hominum ustasque retentat, | aetheris aeternt saepta atque tnclusa cauernts.
camposque liquentis. Cp. campigue natantes in Lucr. 6. 1142, and repeated by Vergil in G. 3. 198; also 8. 695 arua Neptunia.
725. lucentemque globum lunae. Cp. Lucr. 5. 69 lunaique globum.
Titaniaque astra. The sun. Cp. 4. 118 ubi primos crastinus ortus | extulerit Titan. For the plural cp. Ov. M. 14. 172 sidera solis. Val. Flacc. 2. 364 Saturnia sidera.
726. spiritus intus alit. The anima mundi. Cp. Cic. N.D. 2. 22. 58 ipsius uero mundi, qui omnia complexa suo coercet et continet natura non artificiosa solum sed plane artifex, ab eodem Zenone dicitur consultrix et prouida utilitatum opportunitatumque omnium.... talis igitur mens mundt cum sit, etce Sen. N.Q. 2. 45 (crediderunt Iouem) rectorem
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custodemque uniuerst, animum ac spirttum mundi. This mens or Spiritus is of fire: cp. Stob. Ἐπ]. 1. 58 Διογένης καὶ Κλεάνθης τὴν τοῦ κοσμοῦ ψυχὴν Θεὸν λέγουσιν... . Hove- δώνιος πνεῦμα νοερὸν καὶ πυρῶδες, οὐκ ἔχον μὲν μορφὴν, μεταβάλλον δὲ εἰς ὃ βούλεται καὶ συνεξομοιούμενον πᾶσιν. .... Ζήνων ὁ Στωικὸς νοῦν κόσμου πυρινόν.
alit. Cp. Cic. N.D. 2. 15 ille corporeus (ignts), uttalis et salutaris, omnia conseruat alit auget sustinet sensuque affictt. So, too, Sen. N.Q. 6. 16, where this function of the spiritus uitalis et uegetus is discussed at length.
727. Magno se corpore miscet. It is a κρᾶσις δι’ ὅλου in Stoic phraseology.
This fiery anima mundi is the source of all life, but is hampered by matter, represented in Stoic terminology by the elements of earth and water.
729. Marmoreo aequore. Cp. Il. 14. 273 ἅλα pappdpeov =the bright sea, whereas marmoreus rather implies smooth- ness. Cp. the use of marmor (first in Ennius, A. 377)=sea.
730. igneus uigor. The soul is a spark (semen) of the anima mundi (cp. Epictet. 1. 14. 6 αἱ ψυχαὶ συναφεῖς τῷ θεῷ ἅτε αὐτοῦ μόρια οὖσαι καὶ ἀποσπάσματα; also Posidon. ap. Sext. Emp. 9. 100), and, like the world soul, is composed of fire.
ollis, See n. on olli (321).
eaelestis origo. Fire is ἀβαρές and dvwdepés according to Chrysippus, ap. Plut. Sto. Rep. 42. The purest fire is in the sun and stars. Cp. Cic. N.D. 2. 15.
731. The doctrine expressed in this and the following lines is not in any way inconsistent with Stoic doctrine, and finds a parallel in many passages of Seneca; see Zeller’s Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics, p. 207 sqq. But in 734 the language tends to become definitely Pythagorean, as leading up to the doctrine of mztempsychosis which follows.
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733-751. There are grave difficulties as to the interpreta- tion of this famous passage. The soul has been polluted by contact with the body shut in tenebris et carcere caeco (734). Therefore purification is necessary (739-742). This purifica- tion accomplished the spirits proceed to Elysium, where a few hold the happy fields until the wheel of time has come full circle and purged them of all stain, so that they become beings of pure etherial fire. All the spirits whom now Aeneas sees, after they have rolled the wheel of a thousand years, are summoned to the river of Lethe, that they may drink forgetfulness thereof, and be ready once more to re-enter mortal bodies. Down to 742 the sense is clear, and, again, from 748 there is no obscurity. But what of the intervening lines. Why do only a few inhabit the fields of bliss ? and what is this further purification which they receive that leaves them “all fire, all air’ ? Two alternatives seem possible. (1) Many are called, but few chosen, while the stay in Elysium completes the cleansing of the souls. “‘Pauci,’ says Page, “seems added to mark that these purified souls bear but a small proportion to the whole number of the dead.” But this is contrary to all that we know of the doctrine of rebirth. Only incurable sinners abide in Tartarus for ever. And even assuming that the purification of the curable sinners occupies the whole of the 1,000 years between birth and rebirth, why does Vergil make no mention of it? And if such persons can be reborn after the drastic purification of fire, water, and air, what is the significance of the purification which the happy spirits undergo in Elysium ? The apparent simplicity of this explanation leaves us in scarcely less confusion than before. (2) The true explanation would seem to be that given by Norden (pp. 16 sgqg.). After purification, all the spirits proceed to Elysium to receive the reward of their virtues, as they have received the punish-
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ment of their sins (cp. Plat. Rep. το. 615; Phaedr. 249 AB). Of these a few for their virtue remain in Elysium without need of rebirth, and abide there until lapse of time (10,000 years) has purified them to the degree necessary to enable them to return to their divine existence, which the soul enjoyed before ever it entered into the wheel of birth (745-7). Anchises himself is one of these (tenemus 744). He then returns to the question raised by Aeneas (719), and points to the souls before him, and proceeds (748). All these, after the wheel of 1,000 years is completed, are called forth to drink of Lethe and undergo rebirth. Thus, there are two classes of inhabitants of Elysium: (a) The small number of the elect who are spared rebirth, though not yet sufficiently pure to return to heaven, their home; and (4) the vast majority, who, after purification, await the fulfilment of 1,000 years in the underworld, and are then reborn. That the passage would have been developed and clarified by the poet, had he lived, is probable; but it must be remembered that the ob- scurity may be largely due to the modern reader’s unfamiliarity with the doctrine that Vergil is developing.
The teaching as to the respective periods of 1,000 and 10,000 years is to be found in the Phaedrus of Plato (248 D), where it is stated that 10,000 years ‘‘ must elapse before the soul can return to the place from whence she came, for she cannot grow her wings in less; only the soul of a philosopher, guileless and true, or the soul of a lover, who is not without philosophy, may acquire wings in the third recurring period of a thousand years.” The period of a thousand years passed in the other world before rebirth recurs again in the vision of Er in Rep. το. There is no fixed period of purifica- tion. In Rep. το. 615 Plato states that the soul receives both punishment and reward ten times over. The pro- portion of time spent in Elysium will, therefore, vary for
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individual souls (t.e.=1,000 years less the time required for purgation by fire, water, air, etc.). The view that the elect escape from the necessity of rebirth and await the-completion of the 10,000 years in Elysium is not to be found in Plato, though an analogous remission is mentioned in the passage cited from the Phaedrus. It is, however, to be noted that with regard to the purification of souls in Plato 11, cc. the best escape it and await rebirth in the heavens.
Before quitting the discussion of the problem, two other interpretations require consideration. (1) Dieterich, while adopting the interpretation of perfecto temporis orbe=10,000 years (Nekyia, 154 sqq.), would place a full-stop after tenemus and a comma after igmem, interpreting as follows: “‘ The cycle of rebirth every 1,000 years goes on until such time as the larger cycle of 10,000 years is complete, and the souls are fit to return to heaven, This makes the order unnatural, and would seem to require the transposition of 745-7 to follow 751.” (2) Ribbeck would transpose 745-7 to follow 742. This remedy, quite apart from its drastic nature, makes the period of time involved by the purifications of 739-742 long and involving the completion of a definite cycle of years (orbe). But if this is the case, how comes Anchises to be already in Elysium? If, on the other hand, the period involved by 739-742 is merely propor- tionate to the pollution incurred on earth, there is no diffi- culty of this kind. Both these interpretations may, there- fore, be rejected. .
As to the precise source from which Vergil draws there is no evidence. It is probable that he allowed himself great freedom in the treatment of his sources. The purifications mentioned by Vergil also find parallels in Plato. In the Gorgias sinners are hung up as a punishment (525); in the Phaedo (113) those who have lived neither ill nor well are
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purified by being plunged in Acheron; in the spurious Axiochus (372 A) transgressors are punished by fire. Be- tween punishment and purification no sharp distinction can be drawn: cp. Plat. Gorg. 479 C, D 22. dp’ οὖν συμβαίνει μέγιστον κακὸν ἡ ἀδικία καὶ τὸ ἀδικεῖν. IQA. φαίνεταί ye. TQ. καὶ μὴν ἀπαλλαγή γε ἐφάνη τούτου τοῦ κακοῦ τὸ δίκην διδόναι. Finally, the first reference to the river of Lethe is found in the vision of Er (Rep. 10), where the souls due for rebirth gather in the plain of Lethe and drink of a stream, described first as ᾿Αμέλης ποταμός and later as 6 τῆς Λήθης ποταμός, That the river of Lethe was, however, a familiar feature of popular eschatology is clear from Aristoph. Ran. 186.
There was an actual well of Lethe at the oracle of Tro- phonius (cp. Paus. 9. 39. 5-14).
As to the antiquity of the doctrine of rebirth among the Greeks nothing very definite can be stated, save that it was old. Herodotus (2. 122) states that the doctrine was borrowed from the Egyptians; Plato (Phaedo 70 C) speaks of it as an ancient doctrine. See Introduction.
733. metuunt cupiuntque, dolent gaudentque. The four- fold division of passions—fear, desire, pain, pleasure—is found again in Horace (Ep. 1. 6. 12) gaudeat an doleat, cupiat metuatne, quid ad rem? This formal classification of the passions originated with the Stoics, and had become a commonplace. Cp. also Plat. Phaed. 83 B τῶν ἡδονῶν τε καὶ ἐπιθυμιῶν καὶ λυπῶν καὶ φόβων, though in that case there is no formal classification. Cp. Servius Varro et omnes philosopht dicunt quattuor esse passiones, etc. Cic. T.D. 3. 11. 24.
clausae tenebris et carcere caeco. An Orphic belief: cp. Plat. Cratyl. 400 C καὶ yap σῆμά τινές φασιν αὐτὸ εἶναι τῆς ψυχῆς, ὡς τεθαμμένης ἐν τῷ νῦν παρόντι" καὶ διότι αὖ τούτῳ σημαίνει ἃ ἂν σημαίνῃ ἣ ψυχὴ καὶ ταύτῃ σῆμα ὀρθῶς
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καλεῖσθαι. δοκοῦσι μέντοι μοι μάλιστα θέσθαι οἱ ἀμφὶ ᾿'Ορφεὰ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα, ὡς δίκην διδούσης τῆς ψυχῆς ὧν δὴ ἔνεκα δίδωσιν, τοῦτον δὲ περίβολον ἔχειν ἵνα σῴζηται, δεσμωτηρίου εἰκόνα. Also Gorg. 493 A.
735- supremo lumine. ‘“ When life’s last ray is extin- guished,” a variation for supremo tempore (Lucr. 1. 546).
738. diu conereta. Cp. 746 concretam labem. Norden compares the Gk, σύμφυτον κακόν, Plat. Rep. το. 609 AB; Tim. 42 AC; Phaed. 81 C.
modis inolescere miris. For miris modis cp. Lucr. 1. 123 simulacra modis pallentia miris, imitated by Vergil, G. 1. 477; 4.309. A. 1. 354; 10. 822.
inolescere=“‘ to grow in,” here ‘to become engrained.” The metaphor is from grafting: cp. G. 2. 77 huc aliena ex arbore germen | includunt udoque docent inolescere libro.
740. inanis probably with wentos : cp. 10. 82 wentos inants. It would be possible with Henry to take imanes as nom., re- ferring to the unsubstantial shades. But the parallel from Bk. ro points the other way, and suspensae has to be taken with panduntur, and there is no need to overload the verb with a double predicate.
742. infeetum—guo infectae sunt. There seems no parallel for inficere with the cognate acc. of the dye or stain. But such a construction would present no difficulty.
exuritur. Elsewhere exuro, seems to mean “burn up,” ‘*“consume.”’ Here it means rather ‘‘ burn away,” a perfectly natural use, which, as Conington points out, may be defended by the analogy of eluitur.
743. quisque sucs patimur manis. While there can be no doubt that these words may be interpreted in general terms, “each of us suffers his own spiritual doom,” there is, and must from the nature of the case continue to be, considerable doubt as to the precise conception which Vergil had in his
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mind. (1) The simplest interpretation is that of Warde Fowler: ‘‘ Each individual of us must endure his own in- dividual ghosthood ”—1.e., with all the pains and purifica- tions involved by sin committed in the body. This affirma- tion of personal immortality harmonises perfectly with the Orphic-Pythagorean eschatology of the sixth book, without involving any difficulty in itself. Warde Fowler points out (Rel. Experience of the Roman People, p. 341) that in earlier days “ the spirit of a dead Roman was not thought of as definitely individualised: it joined the whole mass of the Manes in some dimly conceived region beneath the earth: there is no singular to the word Manes.”’ With the spread of Greek teaching the individualisation of the spirit of the dead became a familiar idea, and by the end of the Republican period tombstones begin to show the words Di Manes as representing the spirit of the individual (ib. l.c. and p. 386). The fact that manes has no singular is no obstacle here in view of the plural patimur. (2) But the consideration of certain passages in Plato and Plutarch, together with the Roman belief in the genius, makes it quite possible that the above view errs on the side of simplicity (see Norden, p. 32). Cp. Plato, Phaed. 107 D, where it is stated that after death the δαίμων of each man leads his spirit to the underwor!d, where (113 D) the sinner suffers for his wrong-doing in the world above. Plutarch again (de gen. Socr, 22. 592 BC) asserts that each soul in the next world is punished by his δαίμων for having yielded himself to the passions of the body; while, according to Galen (de Hipp. et Plat. dogm. 1. 5, p- 449, Miller), Posidonius attributed the origin of the passions to τὸ μὴ κατὰ πᾶν ἕπεσθαι TO ἐν αὑτῷ δαίμονι σνγγενεῖ.
Finally, Servius explains manes in the present passage as follows: supplicia quae sunt apud manes, ut st quis dicat
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“‘tudicium patimur.”’ estetaliud uerius. namcum nascimur, duos genios sortimur. wunus est qui hortatur ad bona, alier quit deprauat ad mala. quibus adsistentibus post mortem aut asserimur in meliorem uitam aut condemnamur in deteriorem : per quos aut uacationem meremur aut redttum in corpora
ergo manes genios dicit quos cum uita sortimur. Servius’ statement is not consistent with earlier Roman belief which assigns but one genius to man at birth. Cp. Hor. Ep. 2. 2. 183 cur alter fratrum cessare et ludere et ungut | praeferat . . « alter | diues et importunus ad umbram lucts ab ortu | siluestrem flammis et ferro mitigat agrum, | sctt gentus natale comes qui temperat astrum, | naturae deus humanae mortalis, in unum |quodque caput, uoltu mutabilts, albus et ater. Varro (Agahd. M. Terent. Varr. ant. rer, diuin. 200) genitum untiuscuiusque animam rationalem et ideo esse singulos singu- lorum. But genius and δαίμων are closely parallel con- ceptions, and are actually identified by Apuleius (de deo Socr. 15) guodam significatu etiamnunc in corpore daemon nuncupatur ... cum nostra lingua ut ego interpretor,... poteris genium, quod is deus, qui est animus sui cuique, quan- quam sit immortalis, tamen quodammodo cum homine gignitur. In view of Vergil’s acquaintance with, and use of, Greek eschatology, it is conceivable that he had the idea of the δαίμων, who corrects and purifies the soul to which he is attached, present to his mind when he wrote the present passage. But he was a poet and not a formal theologian, and used the vague and at once more awful and familiar manes instead of genius, But the fact that he avoids further precision prevents the commentator from insisting on an absolutely definite interpretation, while it must further be noted that manes and genius cannot be formally identified; they are regularly distinguished in funeral inscriptions—e.g., C.I.L. 5. 246 manibus et genio, etc.
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Commentary
747. See n. on 724-732. Cp. G. 4. 220 partem diuinae mentis et haustus aethcrtos. ; aurai. The uncial MSS. all give aurae. aurai is the read- ing of Servius, Donatus, and several of the cursive MSS. Cp. Serv. ad. 7. 464 notandum quod in Vergilio non repertuntur nist quatiuor diaereses, hoc loco (sc. aquai) et in tertio (354), aulat, et in sexto (747)... et in nono (26) pictat. The archaism is frequent as late as Cicero and Lucretius.
748. rotam uoluere per annos. SERVIUS est sermo Ennianus. (Cp. Enn. A. 548). Though the words may be drawn from Ennius, the reference is to the “‘ wheel’ men- tioned in Orphic-Pythagorean writings, Cp. Compagno Tablet 1 (Kaibel, 0.1.6. τ. 8. 641) κύκλου δ᾽ ἐξέπταν βαρυπένθεος ἀργαλέοιο. Diog. Laert. 7. 12. Proclus ad Tim., p. 330 A, κύκλος τῆς γενέσεως ἐν TH τῆς εἱμαρμένης τρόχῳ. See Harrison, Proleg. Gr. Relig., p. 589 sqq.
749. deus. SERVIUS mon dicit quis... sed alit Mer- curtum uolent propter hoc (4. 242) “ hac animas 1116 euocat Orco
| pallentes, alias sub Tartara tristia mittit,” Cp. Orph. hymn. 57. 6 αἰνομόροις ψυχαῖς πομπὺς κατὰ γαῖαν ὑπάρχων, | ἃς κατάγεις, ὅποτ᾽ ἂν μοίρης χρόνος εἰσαφίκηται, | εὐιέρῳ ῥάβδῳ θέλγων ὑπνοδώτιδι πάντα | καὶ πάλιν ὑπνώοντας ἐγείρεις. But Vergil has spoken vaguely, and dews may be ὁ Θεός, ὁ δαίμων.
750. supera ut conuexa. See n. on 241.
753. turbamque sonantem. Repeated 12, 248. Cp. 709 strepit omnis murmure campus.
755. legere. ‘‘Scan”’ as perlegerent (34).
756. Dardaniam opposed to Jtala, The line of Kings is half Trojan, half Italian. Servius Albanos reges, qui tredecim fuerunt, de Aeneae et Lauiniae genere : unde ait Itala de gente.
757- maneant. “ Are held in store by fate.”
Itala. The adj. Italus is not found before Hor. S. 1. 7. 32. For scansion of the word see n. on 61.
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758. nostrumque in nomen ituros. omen carries with it a wealth of meaning. (i) The royal house of Troy. (2) The nation that is to be (cp. zomen Latinum): so Servius in gentem ut (12. 515) nomen Echionium matrisque genus Peridiae. (3) Our own fame.
animas. The nom. in apposition to nepotes would have been more natural; but Vergil for the sake of variety writes animas, the object of expediam. The line thus is to be re- garded as equivalent to a clause parallel to those in the two preceding lines (sc. guae animae in nostrum nomen iturae sint). For the whole line cp. 680 inclusas animas superumque tn lumen tturas.
759. expediam. Cp. 3. 379 expediam dictis (a prophecy as here).
fata docebo. Perhaps a reminiscence of Ennius (A. 18) doctusque Anchisa, Venus quem pulcherrima dium | fata docet.
760. uides. Parenthetical.
pura hasta. Servius id est sine ferro: nam hoc fuit praemium apud maiores eius qui tunc primum wtctsset in proelio. It was, however, a reward not merely for the first victory, but for any special act of valour: cp. Plin. 7. 1o2. Gell, 2. 11, where it is recorded of one man that he had won 18 hastae. It is represented on a coin of the gens Arria, as a staff with a knob at each end. See Cohen, Monn. de la République, pl. 7. 1.2. See Daremberg et Saglio and Pauly- Wissowa, s.v. hasta pura.
761. proxima sorte tenet lucis loca. Two interpretations
have been given. (1) lucts is taken with loca=proxima uttae
loca: “‘ holds the next place in the upperworld of light.”
(2) Henry takes sorte with lucis, and translates ‘“‘ holds the
nearest place by lot of life ”—7.e., the order in which they
are to ascend to the upperworld is determined by lot. 236
“μα lb tage
Commentary
Cp. 11. 110 Martis sorte. Ov. F. 3. 463 sorte tori. Tr. 5. 3. 28 sors uitae. This interpretation is perfectly possible, but is rhythmically less satisfactory: loca is somewhat too iso- lated if detached from lucis, though 434 proxtma deinde tenent may be cited as a parallel. It matters little which view be adopted. The objections brought against the first are unreal and fanciful.
sorte does not necessarily imply that lots are actually drawn by the souls. It may imply no more than that each soul has its allotted place to avoid the confusion of which Lucretius (3. 776) makes such sport. But it is quite possible that Vergil intended to suggest that lots were actually drawn. Cp. 431 nec uero has sine sorte datae .. . sedes. Above all cp. Plat. Rep. το. 617 E, where the souls draw lots that they may choose in due order the lives they will live on their return to the upperworld.
762. Siluius. SreRvius (citing Cato) primo bello perttt Latinus, secundo pariter Turnus et Aeneas. postea Mezentium interemit Ascanius et Laurolauinium tenuit. cutus Lauinta timens insidias grauida confugit ad siluas « .. et tlltc enixa est Siluium. sed cum Ascanius flagraret inuidia, euocautt nouercam et ei concessit Laurolauintum, stbt uero Albam constituit. qui quoniam sine liberis pertit, Siluio, qui et tpse Ascanius dictus est, suum reliquit imperium ... postea Albani omnes reges Siluii dicti sunt ab hutus nomine. Cp. Dion. Hal. 1. 70. That this tradition is very different from that adopted by Vergil is evident, alike from the statement about the deaths of Latinus, Aeneas, and Mezentius, and also from what follows in the present passage. See notes on longaeuo, postuma proles and in siluts (below). What exactly Vergil’s views were as to the different legends cannot be precisely ascertained. All that he tells us is to be found in the prophecy in Book J. 261 hic (sc. Aeneas) tibi . . « bellum
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ingens geret Italia populosque ferocis | contundet moresque uiris et moenia ponet, | tertia dum Latio regnantem uiderit aestas | ternaque transierint Rutulis hiberna subactis. | at puer Ascanius, cui nunc cognomen Iulo | additur (Ilus erat dum res stetit Ilia regno), | triginta magnos uoluendis mensibus orbis | imperio explebit, regnumque ab sede Lauini | transferet, et longam multa ut muniet Albam. He proceeds to say that 300 years must elapse between the founding of Alba and the birth of Romulus. There is no inconsistency between this passage and the present, except that longaeuo seems to assume a longer reign for Aeneas after the conquest of the Rutuli than merely three years. Further, the tradition pre- served by Servius asserts that Ascanius died childless. This view must have been rejected by Vergil: for Ascanius-Iulus was the founder of the gens Iulia. Cp. 789 omnis Iuli pro- gentes. It is probable that he adopted the tradition given by Diodorus (7. 5. 8), which, while making Siluius the son of Aeneas (though not by Lauinia), recorded that Ascanius had a son Iulus from whom the Iulii were descended: he never held the kingship, but was compensated by the ap- pointment to an important priesthood.
Albanum nomen. See Servius (above) and Liv. 1. 3. 7 manstt Siluiis postea omnibus cognomen.
tua postuma proles. He was according to the legend as given by Cato called Siluius Postumus because born after his father’s death. Cp. Varr. L.L. 9. 60 is qui post patris mortem natus est, dicttur postumus. So, too, Fest. 274 L. and legal writers (Gai. Inst. 1.147). On the other hand, Caesellius Vindex ap. Gell. 2. 16. 5 says postuma proles non eum significat qut patre mortuo, sed qui postremo loco natus est, sicuti Siluius, quit Aenea tam sene, tardo seroque partu est editus. That this was Vergil’s opinion is probable. Aeneas is Jongaeuus, but is clearly still alive when the son is born. postwmus literally
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Commentary
means no more than “ last,” and is not used by Vergil in its technical and legal sense.
764. longaeuo. Aeneas is clearly still in the prime of life in the Aeneid, and therefore longaeuo implies that he ruled for a number of years after his conquest of the Rutulians. This is not consistent with the statement in Book I (see above on Silutus).
Lauinia. Other versions make Siluius the son of Aeneas and Siluia (Diod. 7. 5. 8), or of Ascanius and Lauinia (Liv. E13. 6):
765. siluis. In view of the importance attaching to Ascanius, as founder of the gens Iulia, the discreditable story of his jealousy must be ignored, and it must be assumed with Livy (1. 3. 6) that Siluius was casu quodam natus in siluis. The legend recorded by Cato is naturally avoided by Vergil and Livy.
regem regumque parentem. Livy, Ovid, and Dion. Hal. all agree that Ascanius was the first King of Alba, and Siluius the second. There is no reason to suppose that Vergil rejects this tradition. Ascanius is ignored for the purpose of the present passage, because he is alive and because Siluius is the first King of Trojan-Italian descent.
766. Longa Alba. The site of this ancient town has been much disputed: it is probably to be placed on the triangular plateau to north-east of the Alban Lake, between the lake and the Acqua Ferentina. See Hiilsen in Pauly-Wtssowa, R.E. For the name Longa see Liv. 1. 3 ab situ porrectae in dorso urbis Alba Longa appellata.
767. Procas is proximus only in the group of spirits. The order and names of the Kings of Alba differ in the various historians. Aeneas Siluius (Liv. and Dion. Hal. ll. cc.) is the immediate successor of Siluius. Then, after an interval of three Kings comes Capys, while there is an interval of seven
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between Capys and Numitor. Procas was the father of Amulius and Numitor. Vergil is not concerned with the historical order.
Troianae gloria gentis. This phrase has no special signi- ficance; perhaps one of Vergil’s tibtctnes.
768. Capys. The nameis Trojan. There was a Capys, son of Assaracus (Il. 20. 239): cp. Ov. F. 4. 45 recidiua uocabula Troiae. There was a Capys among the followers of Aeneas: cp. 2. 35; 1. 183, and 9. 576, who, according to Servius ad 2. 35, was the founder of Capua. Others attribute the founding of Capua to the King of Alba.
Numitor. Brother of Amuliusandson of Procas. Amulius, the younger son, deprived Numitor of his kingdom, and when Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, bore Romulus and Remus ordered the destruction of mother and children. When Romulus and Remus grew to manhood they restored Numitor and slew Amulius. See Ov. F. 3. 67.
769. Siluius Aeneas. The son of Siluius Postumus; else- where styled Aeneas Siluius: see Liv. 1. 3. 6. SERVIUS acceperit autem a tutore qui eius inuasit imperium : quod et uix anno quingquagesimo restituit. He is omitted from the list of Alban Kings given by Ovid in F. 4. 40 and M. 14.610. Dion. : Hal. 1. 71 states that he reigned thirty-one years. Servius alone preserves the tradition of his exclusion from the throne.
772. eiuili quercu. SERvius ciuica debuit dicere, sed mutauit, ut Horatius “ motum ex Metello consule ciuicum.” querceam autem coronam accipiebant qui in bello ciuem liberassent. Cp. Plin. 16. 11. Gell. 5.6. The corona ciuica was accompanied in later times by the inscription 0b ciuem seruatum (Sen. Clem. 1, 26). It was conferred on Augustus (Dio Cass. 53. 16), and here, perhaps, as a delicate com- pliment to Augustus, appears as one of the insignia of the good Kings of old.
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Commentary
773-5. There follows a list of the colonies of Alba, members of the Latin league, though only six are named out of thirtys
Nomentum, the modern Mentana up the valley of the Tiber.
Gabios. Gabii stood on the east bank of the present Lago di Castiglione, on the Via Praenestina, twelve miles from Rome. It had become a byword for desolation. Cp. Hor. Ep. 1.11.7. Diod. 4.53. SeePapers Brit. School of Arch., Rome, Vol. 1., p. 180 sqq. (T. Ashby, Classical Topography of the Campagna).
Fidenam. Fidenae stood on the Via Salaria on the site of Villa Spada near Castel Giubileo, about five miles from Rome. It, like Gabii, was almost deserted: cp. Hor. l.c. Cic, de leg. Agr. 2.35. See Ashby, op. cit. 3.,p.18. Thesingular, Fidena, is found also in Sil. 15.91. Tac. A. 4.62. Elsewhere the plural form is used. The first syllable is long elsewhere.
Collatinas arces. Collatia is represented by the modern Lunghezza on the Anio, and approached by the Via Colla- tina. It, likewise, was deserted: cp. Cic. lc. Plin. 3. 68, See Ashby, op. cit. 1, p. 145.
montibus. These are low mounds rather than hills.
Pometios. The form Pometit is found only here, and in Diod. ap. Euseb. vers. Armen., p. 287, Schéne (Norden). Elsewhere it is called Pometia or Suessa Pometia. It was destroyed 502 B.c. (Liv.2.17). It was in the Volscian region, perhaps between Velletri and Cisterna: see Nissen, Ital. Landeskunde, 2. 2. p. 634. Its site, however, cannot be identified: Pliny, l.c., speaks of it as one of the towns which had perished utterly.
Castrum Inui. IJnuus was a primitive god, who was either identical with Faunus or came to be so identified. See Serv. ad loc. Prob. ad G. 1. 10, Rut. Nam. 1. 232, Macrob. 1. 22. 2, Arnob. 3. 23, Liv. 1, 5. 2, all identify him with Pan. The name is probably preserved in Fosso d’Incastro, a
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stream near Ardea. See Hiilsen in Pauly-Wissowa. Rutilius (1. 232) mentions a Castrum Inui in S. Etruria. This appears, however, to be an error, the name having been Castrum Nouum : cp. Borman, C.I.L. 11, p. 531.
Bolam. Bola cannot be identified. See Hiilsen, op. cit. T. Ashby, op. cit. 5, p. 409. It had perished utterly by the time of Pliny (l.c.). It has been variously identified with Labico, Zagarolo, or ad Statuas, near Quintanae. A city of the Aequi (Liv. 4. 49).
777. auo. Numitor.
comitem sese addet—z.c., will join his grandfather on earth.
Mauortius—i.e., son of Mars. The adj. of the archaic Mauors occurs also in 1. 276 and 6. 4. 462, and is adopted by later poets.
778. Assaraci. See on 650.
Ilia. Her Trojan origin is emphasised; she also bears the name Rhea Siluia as descendant of the Siluit. The name is found in Ennius (A. 56). See also Ov. F. 2. 383, etc.
779. Widen. SeErRvius posuit Ennium secutus. For uidesne. The e was dropped in colloquial language, the s followed suit, and the second syllable became shortened, the accent falling on the first syllable. The word occurs in Terence and Plautus, Catullus, Tibullus, etc. The final ὁ was universally short according to Servius in his time. See Lindsay, L.L., p. 163.
geminae eristae. There is no reference elsewhere to this insigne Romuli, but it is probably regarded as marking him out as the son of Mars: cp. Val. Max. 1. 6 (cited by Henry) cognitum pariter atque creditum est Martem patrem tunc populo suo adfuisse: inter cetera huiusce ret manifesta indicia galea quoque duabus distincta pinnis, qua caeleste caput tectum fuerat, argumentum praebuit.
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Commentary
780. et pater ipse suo superum iam signat honore. Two interpretations are possible. (1) pater superum==Jupiter, the father of the gods; suo honore=godhead. Henry quotes Sil. 3. 601 (Jupiter loq.) nec Stygis ille lacus uiduataque lumine vegna,|sed superum sedem nostrosque tenebit honores. (2) pater tpse=Mars, the father of Romulus. superum honore=with the honour of the gods—1t.e., of godhead. Of these views (2) is perhaps more pointed and appropriate, (Servius takes superum as acc.=“‘ marks him as a god”; but swperus is nowhere used in the singular in this sense; suo honore might, on this view, mean the geminae cristae.)
781. auspiciis is not metaphorical, but literal, as referring to the auguries drawn from the twelve vultures. Vergil imitates Ennius A. 494 augusto augurio postquam incluta condita Roma est.
782. Cp. 1. 287 tmpertum Oceano, famam qué terminet astris.
783. Repeated in G. 2. 535 with circumdedit for circumdabit.
una. “One city, she shall gird with ramparts her seven hills.”
784. prole. roles is mentioned by Cicero (de or. 3. 153) among ἃ number of slightly archaic words, gutbus loco positis grandior atque antiquior oratio saepe utdert solet.
Berecyniia mater. Cybele, so called from her shrine on Mt. Berecyntusin Phrygia. For the description of the goddess cp. Lucr. 2. 606 muralique caput summum cinxere corona |
. . quo nunc insignt per magnas praedita terras | horrifice fertur diuinae mairis imago.| .. . magnas inuecta per urbes
| muntficat tactta mortalis muta salute. In addition to its magnificence this famous simile has, as Norden well points out, a special significance. The worship of the Magna Mater, imported into Rome from Phrygia, toward the close of the second Punic War, might well be regarded by the poet as the
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second coming of Troy to Italy. The foundation of the worship of Cybele on Mt. Ida was attributed to Idaeus, the son of Dardanus (Dion. Hal. 1. 61. 4), while the coming of the Mighty Mother to Rome is treated by Ovid (F. 4. 249) as the return of the goddess to her own. Cp. 251 cum Trotam Aeneas Italos portaret in agros, | est dea sacriferas paene secuta rates. 272 in Phrygios Roma refertur auos.
785. turrita. ‘‘ Wearing the mural crown.”’ Cp. Lucr. Le. Also A. 10. 252 alma parens Idaea deum, cui Dindyma cordi,
| turrigeraeque urbes.
786. As She is the Mother of Gods, so Rome is the Mother of Nations.
787. supera alta tenentes. See n. on 241.
788. geminas aeies. Cp. Cat. 63. 75 geminas aures.
789. omnis luli progenies—z.c., the gens Julia. But Julius Caesar does not appear. He is postponed to 826. The reason is obvious. Augustus must have a place to himself. He cannot be placed near Julius without being dwarfed: if not dwarfed, it would be at the expense of historical truth and would involve fulsome flattery, compared with which the praise of the present passage would be moderation itself. Augustus, therefore, appears alone as the second founder of Rome.
790. eaeliaxem. ‘The rolling heaven.” Cp. 536 n.
791. hie uir, hic est. The masculine hic is distinguished from the adverb in early poetry by being short, but in classical poetry is generally long; the word was according to gram- marians pronounced hicc (Lindsay, L.L., p. 433). The only other passage in Vergil, in which it is demonstrably short, is 4. 22 solus hic. In view, however, of the history of the word and its pronunciation, it cannot be asserted that we have a change of scansion here, as in 2. 663 natum ante ora pairis, patrem qui obtruncat ad aras, cited by Norden.
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2
Commentary
promitti saepius. A rhetorical exaggeration.
792. Diui. Sc. Julius Caesar, who adopted him.
genus. Cp. 500, 839.
aurea condet saecula. ‘‘ Shall be the founder of the golden age.” A repetition of the prophecy in E. 4. 9 nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum | desinet ac toto surget gens aurea mundo. See J. B. Mayor, Vergil’s Messianic Eclogue, p. 107. condere saeclum is used by Lucr. 3. 1090 in its technical sense “ to bring to a close”: cp. condere lustrum. Cic. Liv. 1. 44 bi exercitum .. . lustrauit idque conditum lustrum appellatum quia is censendo finis factus est. Here, however, there can be no doubt about the meaning.
793. Latio regnata per arua Saturno quondam. Cop. G. 2. 538 aureus hanc uitam in terris Saturnus agebat. Aen. 8. 319 primus ab aetherio uenit Saturnus Olympo | arma Iouts fugiens et regnis exul ademptis. | is genus indocile ac dispersum montibus altis | composuit legesque dedit Latiumque uocart | maluit, his quoniam latuisset tutus in orts. | aurea quae perhibent illo sub rege fuere | saecula. The Golden Age was in | the days of Kronos (Hes. Op. 109), with whom Saturn, the : old Roman god of agriculture, is regularly identified. As Saturn was the original civiliser of Italy, so Augustus is to give civilisation a new birth. For regnata Saturno cp. 3. 14 regnata Lycurgo.
794. Garamantas. A people of Mauretania (Fezzan) conquered by L. Cornelius Balbus in 19 B.c., so that Anchises’ prophecy was fulfilled. Doubtless an expedition had been in contemplation for some time previously, but the passage may have been written during the last two years of Vergil’s life. It is, however, unsafe to base any such conjecture on this passage in view of its rhetorical nature; the Garamantes may be mentioned merely as one of the peoples at the ends of the earth (cp. Lucan. 4. 334).
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Indos. Cp. Prop. 2. 10. 15 India quin, Auguste, tuo dat colla triumpho | et domus intactae te tremit Arabiae. | et st qua extremis tellus se subtrahit oris | sentiat illa tuas postmodo capta tuas. There was no expedition against any part of India. There were, however, two occasions on which the Indians sent embassies to Augustus: (1) in 26 or 25 B.C. Orosius 6. 21. 19. (2) in 20 B.c. Dio. 54.9. Itis probably to the first that Vergil refers, but may be the second (cp. n. on Garamantas).
795. iacet extra sidera tellus. In this and the two following lines Vergil loosely describes the lands of the Garamantes and India as lying outside the path of the Zodiac. But the connexion of thought is not too clear, and the language is vague. The position of the passage forbids our regarding it as alluding to the Far North, or to expeditions such as that of C. Petronius in Ethiopia (22 B.c.). A more definite allusion, such as Pindar’s (Isth. 6. 23) καὶ πέραν NetAovo mayav καὶ δὶ Ὕπερβορέους, would have been more satis- factory.
796. extra anni Solisque vias. The Zodiac, cp. Arat. Phaen. 321 ἠελίοιο κέλευθος. Cp. also G. 1. 232 per duodena regit mundt sol aureus astra, ... uia secta per ambas | oblicus qua se signorum uerteret ordo.
eaelifer Atlas. Cp. 4. 481 wliimus Aethipum locus est, ubt maximus Atlas | axem humero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum. Vergil is imitating Ennius (A. 37) qui caelum uersat stellis fulgentibus aptum. The sky is conceived as a sphere set with stars, and revolving round the earth. The legend of Atlas is as old as Hesiod (Theog. 517), who places him near the garden of the Hesperides. Geographically, as far as the phrase can be given precise meaning, Vergil refers to regions south of the Atlas range.
eaelifer. Not before Vergil.
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Commentary
498. huiusin aduentum. “ In expectation of his coming”; cp. the use of in futurum.
Caspia regna ... Maeotia tellus. Rhetorical exaggera- tion; no expedition to the Caspian or to the Crimea seems ever to have been contemplated. The Greek rulers of the Crimea were, however, under Roman protection (see Mommsen, Rom. Prov. 1, p. 312 sqq.), while the Caspian and Caucasian regions were more or less vaguely involved in the policy to be followed against Parthia. Maeotia from L. Maeotis, the sea of Azoff. Cp., however, Mon. Anc. 5. 51 nostram amicitiam petierunt per legatos Bastarnae Scythaeque et Sarmatarum qui sunt circa Tanain et extra.
799. responsis diuom. Perhaps such prophecies were current [see Norden, Rh. Mus. 54 (1899), 466 sqq.], of the same type as the late Sib. or. 5. 16 (reign of Hadrian), ov Θρῃκὴη πτήξει καὶ Σικελιή καὶ Μέμφις. Cp. also Suet. Aug. 94.
8oo. septemgemini Nili. From Catull. 11. 7.
turbant. Intrans. ‘‘ are in commotion.” This use is found in prose as well as verse: Varro, R.R. 3.17. Tac. Ann. 3. 47.
802. aeripedem ceruam. aeripes first occurs here. The pursuit of the doe of Cerynaia in Arcadia, with horns of gold and feet of brass, led Hercules as far as the land of the Hyperboreans: cp. Pind. Ol. 3. 31 τὰν μεθέπων ἴδε καὶ κείναν χθόνα πνοιᾶς ὄπιθεν Bopéa ψυχροῦ. Identified with the reindeer by Ridgeway, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., Oct. 25, 1894. In the opposite direction his furthest point is the garden of the Hesperides (Hyg. Fab. 31). But later authors extended his wanderings to Egypt (Herod. 2. 43, 113, 145. Diod. 5. 76), Phoenicia (Plin. 36. 5), and India (Plin. 4. 39; 6. 89. Arrian, Ind, 8. 9. Philostr. Vit, Apoll. 3. 46). Hesychius s.v, Δορσάνης.
fixerit. Other versions make him bring the doe alive to Eurystheus.
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Erymanthi. Hercules- slew the boar of Erymanthus. The scene is variously laid in Arcadia (Apollod. 2. 5. 4. Diod. 4. 12) in Thessaly and Phrygia (Eur. H. F. 368; Hyg. Fab. 30).
803. Lernam. See ἢ. on belua Lernae (287).
The instances chosen by Vergil, with the exception of the first, are geographically irrelevant, and might have been better selected.
804. For Bacchus’ Indian expedition see Strabo 15, p. 687, which shows the legend to be older than Eratosthenes and Theophrastus. Euripides in the Bacchae speaks of Dionysus’ wanderings in the East, but does not take him further than Arabia and Asia (16. 7). For the picture cp. Hor. C. 3. 3. 14 le ..., Bacche pater, tuae | uexere tigres indocilt tugum
| collo trahentes.
805. Nysae. This mythical mountain is variously placed: in India=Mons Merus (Plin. 6. 79 Nysam urbem plerique Indiae ascribunt montemque Merum Libero patri sacrum), near the Nile (Hom. Hymn. Dionys. 34), in Thrace, Asia Minor, Naxos, etc.
806. uirtutem ... factis M Servius: wirtute... utres PR and Diomedes (p. 411), with wértutem for uirtute). The latter reading, “ increase your power by the exercise of your valour,” is somewhat colourless, and certainly less forcible and beautiful than the reading of M, which means “ extend your valour’s glory by your deeds.” Henry compares two fine passages from Silius: 9. 374 breuis hoc uitae quodcunque relictum | extendamus, ait : nam uirtus futile nomen | ni decors sat sint partendo temporaleti. 2.511 extendam lets decus aique in saecula mittam. Cp. above all A. το. 467 breue et irre- parabile tempus | omnibus est uitae: sed famam extendere factis | hoc utrtutis opus. extendere is extension in time, rather than in space, though the latter is clearly implied as well.
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Commentary
807. consistere. “ΤῸ take a firm stand.”
809-818. There follows a selection of Roman kings, Numa, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus, and the two Tarquins, Servius Tullius being omitted.
808. oliuae. The emblem of peace and priesthood. Cp. 7.418 and 750. G.3.21. Ciris, 146, in all of which passages the olive garland is associated with a sacerdos.
8og. sacra ferens. ‘‘ Carrying the holy things” in his capacity as officiating priest. sacra is vague, and may mean sacred emblems, images, or portions of the sacrifice, etc. The phrase occurs not infrequently. Cp.8.85. Hor.S. 1. 3. τ Manil. τ. 6, etc.
nosco. Numa is first descried afar off. As they draw nearer Anchises begins to recognise him.
incana. Found before Vergil with certainty only in Plaut. Rud. In Vergil it occurs also in G. 3. 311 incanaque menta. Servius records a legend that Numa’s hair was white from his youth. But it is probable that the reference is to the venerable age at which he died. According to Livy (x. 21. 6) he reigned 43 years. (Flauius Vopiscus, vit. Tac. 5 states that when Tacitus declined the empire on the ground of his advanced age, the whole senate cried ten times “ et tu legisti ‘incanaque menta regis Romani.’” Hadrian, also, according to Spartianus, drew these lines as a sors Vergiliana. See Henry ad loc.)
810. regis Romani. Numa Pompilius, the successor of Romulus, the first lawgiver of Rome and the first to organise the State religion.
primam qui legibus urbem fundabit. Cp. Liv. 1. 19 urbem nouam conditam ui et armis, iure eam legibusque ac moribus de integro condere parat. primam has the support of all the good MSS. as against primus, once the accepted reading. The point is the same as in the passage cited from Livy. It
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is a second founding of the city on a moral basis. Cp. Henry ad loc. “ First, not in reference to others who were to come after Numa, nor as if Vergil had said that Numa would be the first to establish the city with laws, but first with refer- ence to fundabit legibus : as if Vergil had said, ‘ who will give the city its first legal juridical stability.’ Cp. 7. 61 primas cum conderet arces, where primas is first in relation to conderet +. . also 5. 857 uix primos inopina quies laxauerat artus, where primos is first in reference to laxauerat. In every one of the cases the sense is precisely as if, instead of primam, primas, primos, Vergil had written primum.”
For the reforms of Numa cp. Liv. 1. 19 sqq.
81x. Curibus paruis. A small Sabine town on the left bank of the Tiber near Via Salaria. Cp. Liv. 1. 18 tncluta iustitia religioque ea tempestate Numae Pompili erat. Curtbus Sabinis habitabat consultissimus uir ut in illa quisquam aetate esse poterat omnis diuini atque humant turts.
812. cui P: gut M: quid R. These readings have been thought to point to an original guoi, which is found in later MSS. But the archaic guoi occurs nowhere else in Vergil. Further Quint. 1. 7. 27 shows that cui was still sometimes spelt gui under the early empire. Cp. also Velius Longus (G. L. K. 7.70. 18) haec pronomina “ cuius” et “ cut” per g censuerunt quidam scribenda.
813. otia qui rumpet patriae, ete. Cp. Livy’s account of Tullus Hostilius’ character (1. 22) hic non solum proximo regi (sc. Numae) dissimilis, sed ferocior etiam quam Romulus fuit. cum aetas uiresque, tum auita quoque gloria animum stimulabat. senescere igitur ctuitatem otio ratus undique materiam excitandt belli quaerebat. For an account of his wars against Alba and Fidenae and the Sabines see Liv, ic,
resides ... desueta. Cp. 1. 722 restdes animos desuetaque
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corda. 1. 693 resides animos desuetaque bello | agmina in arma uocat.
815. iactantior Ancus. The character of Ancus as given by Livy (x. 32) is very different. NumaePompili regis nepos, filia ortus Ancus Marcius erat. qui ut regnare coepit et auitae gloriae memor, et quia proximum regnum, cetera egregium, ab una parte haud satis prosperum fuerat aut neglectis religionibus aut praue cultis, longe antiquissimum ratus sacra publica ut ab Numa instituta erant facere, etc. It has been suggested that Vergil is confusing Ancus and Servius Tullius: cp. Dion. Hal. 4. 8. 3 ὁ Τύλλιος ἐπὶ τὸ δημαγωγεῖν καὶ θεραπεύειν τοὺς ἀπόρους τῶν πολιτῶν ἐτράπετο κτλ. This is conceivable, but it is more probable that Vergil is referring to some incident in the career of Ancus of which all trace has been lost.
816. popularibus auris. Cp. Hor. Od. 3. 2. 20. Cic. Har. Resp. 20. Liv. 22. 26 aura fauoris popularis, and for the plural Luc. 1. 132 totus popularibus auris impelli.
817. Tarquinios reges. Tarquinius Priscus and Tarquinius Superbus, the intervening king, Servius Tullius, being omitted.
animamque superbam. Servius takes these words as referring to Tarquinius Superbus. This involves taking the -que following fasces, as connecting the two lines, an awkward though not unparalleled position for -gue. There is not the slightest objection to taking animam superbam in its natural connexion with ultoris Brutt, who is proud as being the founder of the liberties of Rome.
818. receptos. ‘‘ Recovered” for the State out of the dangerous hands of Tarquin. Cp. Liv. 2. 2 (log. Brutus) non credere populum Romanum solidam libertatem recupera- tam esse.
819. saeuasque securis. Cp. Lucr. 3. 996 and 5. 1234, and 825 (below). The sons of Brutus were beheaded.
820. noua bella. The sons of Brutus plotted to bring back
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the Tarquins; noua bella, therefore, means “‘ fresh civil wars.” See Liv. 2. 5.
822. infelix ! uteunque ferent, ete. Two interpretations are possible. (1) Aug. C.D. 3. 16 quod factum Vergilius postea- quam laudabiliter commemorautt, continuo clementer exhorrutt. cum enim dixtsset, “ natosque pater . . . uocabit,” mox deinde exclamauit, et ait “‘infelix ... minores.” quomodolibet, ingquit, ea facta posteri ferant—t.e., praeferant extollant: qui filtos occidit, infelix est. et tanguam ad consolandum in- felicem subiunxit “ uincet . . . cupido.”’ So, too, Macrobius, 4. 6. 18. (2) utcunque is taken with what follows, not with what precedes—t.e., however posterity may criticise his deed, the love of his country will prevail. ‘“‘ He will risk being called cruel by posterity, so long as he forces them to acknow- ledge that he is great”? (Conington). Henry adopts the same general view, but gives a slightly different interpreta- tion. “ Whatever posterity may think of your act, you, at least, were only influenced by patriotism.”
Though (2) is perfectly possible, it lacks the pathos of the first interpretation, so admirably given by Augustine. It is objected by Henry that ferant cannot mean “ extol.” But ferant can take its colour from the context, and refer to good comment or ill, as circumstances may demand.
minores. The execution of his sons by Brutus was a favourite theme for declamation in the schools of rhetoric, as Norden has pointed out (cp. auct. ad Herenn. 4.66. Cic. Paradox. 12. Sen. Contr. 9. 2. 9, and το. 3. 8. Val. Max. 5.8. Quint. 5. 11. 7). The whole problem, therefore, as to whether the father or the patriot should prevail had been thoroughly canvassed by posterity.
823. laudumque immensa ecupido. Cp. 5. 138 laudumque arrecta cupido. Not merely desire for men’s praise, but desire for the praise that is due to virtue.
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824. Decios. There were three Romans of the name Decius Mus, father, son, and grandson, who are recorded to have sacrificed themselves to win victory for the arms of Rome: (1) In the war with the Latins, 340 B.c. (Liv. 8. 9); (2) in the war against the Gauls in 295 B.c. (Liv. 10. 28); (3) in the war against Pyrrhus in 279 B.c. at Asculum. Cp. Cic. Dok 27. 80:
Drusos. With special reference to (1) M. Livius Drusus, the first Roman to reach the Danube (112, 111 B.c.). (2) M. Livius Drusus, the famous tribune of the plebs, murdered in gt B.c. (His fate was also a theme for the declaimers: cp. auct. ad Herenn., 4. 31 and Norden ad loc.) Possibly also (3) to the first Drusus, who, according to Suetonius (Tib. 3), assumed the name Drusus after slaying a Gallic chieftain named Drausus. In introducing the Drusi, Vergil had the additional motive of rendering homage to the house of Livia and her son Drusus. Cp. Hor. C. 4. 4. 36 sqg. Consol. ad Liu. 451 hoc ataut monuere met, proauique Nerones: | fregerunt ambo Punica bella duces. It is not impossible that, like the author of the Consolatio, Vergil had in his mind the greatest glory of the gens Livia, M. Livius Salinator who, with C. Claudius Nero, defeated Hasdrubal on the Metaurus. But he did not bear the name Drusus.
825. Torquatum. T. Manlius Torquatus Imperiosus, who won the name from the ¢orguis or necklace taken in single combat from a Gallic chieftain (Liv. 7. 10). He is saeuus securi, because he had his son executed for disobeying his orders by engaging one of the enemy in single combat in the Latin war of 340 B.c. (Liv. 8. 3-12).
referentem signa Camillum. M. Furius Camillus, who freed Rome from the Gauls (Liv. 5. 9. 12 544.) In 390 B.C., and recovered the standards taken by the latter at the battle of the Allia. Cp. Eutrop, 1.20 secutus eos Camillus
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tia cecidit ut . . . omnia quae ceperant militaria signa reuo- caret. Prop. 3. 11. 67 nunc ubi Scipiadae classes, ubi signa Camilli ?
826 «44. The vision of Pompeius and Julius Cacsar. That this passage was unfinished is shown by the incomplete line 835. It isnatural that it should be so, for it was perhaps the most difficult and exacting of all the themes chosen by the poet. Its fragmentary character is further shown by what it omits. There is no mention of the great military achievements of either, no reference to Caesar’s death and deification, It may be argued that it is better so, and that the praises of Julius Caesar have already been sung in 1. 286, where there was no risk of dwarfing the fame of Augustus; but it is hardly credible that Vergil’s final design could have passed over Caesar, the adoptive father of Augustus and the descendant of Iulus, so briefly. As it stands, only the most painful aspect of his life is revealed.
826. paribus armis with reference to the Civil War. Cp. Luc. 1. 6 obuia signis | signa, pares aquilas et pila minantia pilis.
fulgere found only here in Vergil. But cp. effulgere and feruere in 8. 677. The archaic form of these verbs is not improbably taken from Ennius.
830. socer. Caesar, whose daughter Julia was married by Pompeius,
aggeribus Alpinis ... arce Monoeci. The troops which forme ! the bulk of Caesar’s army in the Civil War were his Gallic legions, The statement that they descended from the Alps is untrue. He was himself south of the Alps with a small force when the final rupture took place, and the legions which he summoned to his assistance must have come by the coast route in the dead of winter. The same rhetorical exaggeration is found in Luc. 1. 183 tam gelidas Caesar curs u
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superauerat Alpes. The arx Monoect is the modern Monaco, the Portus Monoect Herculis.
831. Eois. Pompey had withdrawn from Italy aval drew mainly on the peoples of the East (Zoz) for his forces, since his reputation as the conqueror of the East still stocd high above all other Roman generals.
832. A paraphrase of Il, 7, 279 μηκέτι παῖδε φίλω πολε- μίζετε μηδὲ μάχεσθον.
pueri may mean no more than that Anchises addresses them as his descendants. It is conceivable that it may mean more. Caesar and Pompeius are represented as boys or young men at an age when nothing can have come betw+en them to give rise to rivalry, or the clash of ambition. On the other hand (809), Numa is represented in the guise in which he would naturally occur to the Roman mind—+.e., that of an old man.
animis adsuescite bella. The phrase is curious. Two interpretations are possible. (1) A Graccism on the analogy of εἴθισμαί τι. Cp. iuxta inuia ac deuia assueti (Liv. 21. 33. 4). “‘ Become accustomed to wars in your hearts.’’ (2) The normal construction would, however, be anzmos adsuescite bellis. Cp. Hor. S. 2. 109 qui pluribus adsueutt mentem. It is, therefore, no less possible that we have a case of hypallage, the present phrase being an inversion of the normal for the sake of variety.
833. Cp. Enn. 300 walidis cum uiribus.
834. tuque prior, tu parece. Servius Caesari dictt, quem clementem circa Pompetanos legimus : cui uult tunc ab Anchise hoc esse mandatum.
Olympo. Sc. through Iulus to Venus and Jupiter,
835. sanguis meus. Cp. Hor. C. 3, 50 clarus Anchisae Venerisque sanguts,
$36. ile. L. Mummius Achaicus, consul 146, the first
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nouus homo to win a title such as Achaicus. He defeated the army of the Achacan league at the Isthmus of Corinth, captured Corinth and sacked it. From this dates the foundation of the province of Achaia, of which Mummius was the first proconsul. As a military victory his success was no great achievement, the opposition being insignificant. But the victory was epoch-making, and Mummius was a man of no mean capacity, as his organisation of the province showed. Further, the triumph which he celebrated on his return to Rome in 145 B.c. was little less epoch-making than his victory, since it was adorned with the works of art taken from the captured town, and marked the beginning of the passion for Greek art, which developed so rapidly at Rome. Incharacter Mummius, in spite of his ruthless despolia- tion of Corinth, seems to have been worthy to be placed in the company of other heroes, whose names follow. He appro- priated none of the wealth which he had captured, and died poor. --Cp: Polyb. 37. 14. 17. > Cic. ΕΣ 2. 3. 21. 55. ΟἿ᾽ 2.22. 7:
838. ille. No Roman overthrew Argos and Mycenae, But the reference must clearly be definite, and can only be applied to L. Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, who defeated Perseus, King of Macedonia, at the battle of Pydna in 168 B.c., thereby bringing Macedonia under Roman rule (Liv. 44. 32-46).
Argos .. . Myeenas. A rhetorical exaggeration, which, as far as it has any meaning, refers to the fact that the victory of Pydna first gave Rome a definite footing in Greece. The Peloponnese did not become a Roman province till after the victory of Mummius.
Argos, accus. of the plural form Argi. Cp, Varro, L.L. 9. 89 dicimus hic Argus, cum hominem dicimus, cum oppidum Graece hoc Argos, cum Latine Argi. Vergil always uses the
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plural form. The Greek Argos in the singular is found in Hor. Od. 1. 7. 9.
839. Aeaciden. Perseus claimed to be descended from Achilles through his grandmother Phthia, grand-daughter of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, who claimed lineal descent from Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles. Cp. Prop. 4. 11. 39 et Persen proauo stimulantem pectus Achille. Ennius had already described Pyrrhus as Aeacida (ann. 6. 6). So, too, Sil. Ital. 14. 93.
840. templa et temerata Mineruae. The reference is to the violation of the temple of Pallas by Ajax Oileus’ rape of Cassandra, Cp. 2. 402.
841. magneCato. M. Porcius Cato the censor (224-149 B.c.), the irreconcilable enemy of Carthage, and the author of the famous phrase delenda est Carthago.
tacitum in the strict participial sense ‘“‘ passed over in silence.” Cp. Cic. Ep. Fam. 3. 8. 2 prima duo capita epistulae tuae tacita miht quodammodo relinquenda sunt.
Cosse. A. Cornelius Cossus, consul 428 B.c., who won the spolia opima by slaying Tolumnius, King of Veii. See Liv. 4. 19 544. His spolia opima were dedicated in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, and seen there by Livy. Cp. also Prop. 4. 10 and Florus 1.12. Cp. also n. on 855 sqq.
842. Gracehi genus. This general term for the Gracchi more especially recalls (1) Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, a distinguished general who fell in the Carthaginian war 212 B.C. (2) ΤΊ. Sempronius Gracchus, father of the two famous tribunes (3) and (4), born 210 B.c. He won great renown in Hispania Citerior, of which he was governor in 181 B.c. He was consul in 177 and 163 B.c., and censor in 169 B.C., in which capacity he was remarkable for his strict- ness. He was for his day a distinguished orator. As regards character he may be: taken as a type of Roman /ietas.
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Cp. Cic. de or. 1. 9. 38 homo prudens et grauis .. . et saepe alias et maxime censor salutt reipublicae fuit. (3) Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, the famous orator and tribune (133 B.c.). (4) C. Sempronius Gracchus, whose tribunate (122 B.c.), genius, and powers of oratory were even more famous than those of his brother.
geminos, duo fulmina belli, Scipiadas. Not the two Scipios who fell in Spain, as Servius asserts, though the phrase is perhaps suggested by Cic. pro Balb. 15 cum duo fulmina imperit nostri subito in Hispania, Cn. et P. Scipiones, exstincti occidissent, as well as by the passage of Lucretius cited below.
As cladem Libyae shows, the passage can only refer to the two conquerors of Carthage, the elder and the younger Africanus: Cp. Lucr. 3. 1034 Scipiades, belli fulmen, Car- thaginis horror. Hor. 5. 2. 1. 72. For the form Scipiades employed here, and in G. 2. 170 in a similar context cp. Romulidae (Lucr. 4. 683. A. 8. 638), Memmiades (Lucr. 1. 26). It is possible that both Vergil and Lucretius are imitating Ennius. The Hellenised name Scipiades is due to the fact that Scipio is metrically intractable, except in nom. and voc. sing. for the dactylic hexameter.
fulmina. Munro on Lucr. 1.6. remarks “ when we think of the words scipio and scapus, and the English ‘shaft’ and σκίπων, σκᾶπτον, σκῆπτρον, and then σκῆπτος, σκήπτω, and cognate words and their connexion with the thunder- bolt, we might be tempted to think that the Scipios loved to refer their name to it rather than to the more homely staff. I find but one recorded coin of the family, and it has on the reverse a Jupiter with thunderbolt in the right and sceptre in the left hand: which might recall both meanings of the word.”
843. paruoque potentem. “On little great.’”’ Conington in- terprets “on little rich,” citing Hor. Od. 2. 18,12. Phaedr.
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1. 24. 1 to illustrate this meaning. But it is impossible to exclude the wider meaning “ great,” though the phrase was doubtless meant to suggest the narrower meaning as well.
844. Fabricium. C. Fabricius Luscinus, consul in 282 and 278 B.c., famous as a general, and still more for his extreme simplicity of life and his refusal of the bribes of Pyrrhus and the Samnites. With Cincinnatus and Curius Dentatus he is frequently mentioned as a type of all that was best in the old Roman character.
Serrane. C. Atilius Regulus, consul 257 B.c. His cog- nomen Serranus was generally supposed in antiquity to be derived from serere, and the fact that he was engaged in sowing his fields when the news reached him that he had been elected consul. But the name is probably derived frora Saranum, an Umbrian town: cp. C.LL. 1. 549 Sex. Atilius M. F. Saranus. He was distinguished as an admiral in.the first Punic War.
suleo serentem. Cp. 12. 520 conducta tellure serebat. For the popular derivation cp. Plin. 18. 20 serentem inuenerunt dati honores Serranum ; inde cognomen.
845. fessum. ‘“‘ My wearied tongue.” There are numbers of Fabii whose deeds might be told—e.g., the 396 Fabii who fell in battle on the Cremera in 477 B.c. Cp. Liv. 2. 48-50. But Anchises selects only Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator, who was appointed dictator after the disaster of Trasimene, and more than any other Roman general contributed to the defeat of Hannibal by the adoption of tactics of delay.
tu MR: tun P (with m struck through). tum makes the phrase a question, a feeble rhetorical trick completely spoiling the force of the passage, which requires the emphatic state- ment introduced by tu,
846. Servius ille est de quo Ennius “‘unus qui nobis
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_ cunctando restituit rem.” sciens enim Vergilius quast pro exemplo hune uersum posuit. The passage in Ennius (A. 313) actually runs wnus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem: | noenum rumores ponebat ante salutem: | ergo postque magisque uiri nunc gloria claret. The line was one of the most famous in Ennius, and is quoted more than once else- where. Servius is clearly defending Vergil against those who charged him with plagiarism—e.g., the Aeneidomastix of Carbilius; cp. Suet. vit. Verg., p. 139, and Macrob. 6. 1. 6 denique et iudicio transferendi et modo imitandt consecutus est ut quod apud illum legerimus alienum aut illius esse malimus aut melius hic quam ubi natum est sonare miremur.
848-854. Servius est rhetoricus locus. The fact is obvious enough. Norden develops this statement, and attempts to show that Vergil follows a definite ῥητορικὸν σχῆμα by comparison with the rules laid down by the late rhetoriclan known as Menander for encomia of cities. He applies a similar analysis to the lament for Marcellus. In both passages the actual themes employed by Vergil are the commonplaces of rhetoric of all ages. Vergil may or may not be following definite rhetorical rules. It cannot be proved that he was, nor is the point of importance. The important point is that he invested the commonplaces in question with such surpassing splendour, For other panegyrics of Rome cp. Claudian, 24, 130, and Rutilius, 1, 47, and in prose Aristides,
The comparison between Greece and Rome is to be found in germ in Cic. de or, 3. 137 ut utrtutis a nostris, sic doctrinae ab illis exempla petenda sunt,
847, excudent. This future with those which follow is used because Anchises is prophesying the future, The general sense of the passage would have been unaltered had the concessive subjunctive been used, but the lines would have
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lost in naturalness. excudere, though here primarily used of bronze statues=to beat out, and excusor is used by Quint. 2. 21 in the special sense of a maker of bronze vessels.
848. ducent is strictly used of moulding forms from soft material, such as wax, clay, molten metal. Cp. A. 7. 634 leues ocreas lento ducunt argento. Vitr. 2. 3 ducere lateres de terra. Pers. 5. 40. Iuv. 7. 237. Here, however, it is applied by a beautiful transference to marble, which is repre- sented as becoming ductile beneath the artist’s creative touch.
849. orabunt causas melius. Rome learned, and was still learning, the art of rhetoric from Greece. The form and structure of speeches, the rhythm of sentences, the delivery of the speaker, were all based on rules borrowed from Greece. Roman oratory rose to great heights, but Rome was always conscious of her debt to Greece, and though Quintilian says (το. 1. 105) that he would place Roman eloquence on the same level as Greek, Vergil’s judgment will be agreed with by most modern critics, and his statement was probably almost a commonplace in his day.
eaelique meatus. Cp. Lucr. 5. 76 solis lunaeque meatus. Vergil’s phrase is vaguer, and refers to the orbits of the heavenly bodies in general.
850. radio. The wand with which the astronomer draws his diagrams in the sand, Cp. E. 3. 41 descripsit radio totum qui gentibus orbem.
surgentia sidera dicent, ‘ Will foretell the risings of the stars.” Cp. G, 1, 231, where, after describing the zones of heaven and the path of the zodiac, Vergil goes on to speak of the risings and settings of the stars. There is no necessity with Norden to restrict the meaning of caeli meatus to the path of the sun through the zodiac. The parallel is rather to be found in Ὁ. 2. 477 caelique uias et sidera monstrent.
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851. regere imperio. Cp. Lucr. 5. 1128 regere imperio res uelle et regna tenere.
Romane. Cp. Hor. 3. 6. 2 delicta maiorum immeritus lues, | Romane.
populos. Cp. for the whole passage 1. 263 populosque feroces | contundet moresque uiris et moenia ponet.
852. hae MP?R. haec MP4. Norden holds that the archaic form haec is to be preferred as the lectio difficilior, almost certain to be altered to the current hae by the vast majority of copyists. It is the sole form employed by Lucretius: cp. 6. 456. Munro’s note. It is found in the best MSS. of G. 3. 305 haec . . . tuendae. The evidence for it here is, however, scarcely strong enough.
pacisque imponere morem. All the uncial MSS. give pacique. The reading pacisque is derived from Servius, who paraphrases pacis leges. ‘The meaning is, however, rather to “impose the habit of peace ”’—i.e., to establish the pax Romana (Sen. Clem. 1.8.2. Plin. 27. 3) with all the arts of civilisation accompanying it. Cp. the somewhat similar expressions pacis dicere Irges (12. 112), and modum pacis facere (Liv. 9. 14). If paci be read morem imponere will mean (1) ‘‘ to impose morality on peace”’—1.e., to curb the luxury and vice that are fostered by peace, or more probably paci=pacatis gentibus. In either case mos will come near having the meaning of mores=morality. Cp. perhaps 8. 316 quis neque mos neque cultus erat. (2) “Τὸ impose custom on peace ”’—i.e., peace is to be based on custom: cp. Plaut. Trin, 1043 leges mori seruiunt. But the phrase is in any case somewhat obscure and hard to parallel, and none of the interpretations give as forcible and natural sense as pacrsque.
853. parcere subiectis et debellare superbos. Cp. Hor. C. S. 51 (bellante prior, iacentem lenis in hostem), and more especially Augustus himself in Mon. Anc. 1 externas gentes
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quibus tuto ignosci potuit, conseruare quam excidere malut. debellare is not found before the Augustan age, and is a favourite word with Livy.
855. Marcellus is introduced at this point to lead up to the vision of the young Marcellus his descendant. It is not improbable that the whole of this passage (854-886) was a late addition to the book. 847-853 form a solemn and natural conclusion to the review of Roman heroes. In that case the bulk of the book was already finished before 23 B.c., when the young Marcellus died. See Sabbadini, Aeneis, IV., Ve VL is eK:
The praises of his great ancestor had been introduced by Augustus in the funeral oration delivered over his nephew’s dead body: cp. Pl\ut. Marcell. 30.
M. Claudius Marcellus defeated the Insubrian Gauls when consul in 222 B.c., and slew their leader, Virdomarus or Britomartus, in single combat, thereby winning the spolia opima, which had previously only been won by Romulus and Cossus. See Prop 4.10. Liv. 1. το, and 4. 20.
spoliis opimis. See n. on 859. The derivation of opimus is uncertain. Festus derives it from ops. An alternative modern derivation traces it to the same root as pinguis πίων, πιμελή: it is hard on this view to account for the 0. See Walde, Etym. Worterbuch. The meaning is in any case SEGRE
856. supereminet. Not found before Vergil.
857. rem Romanam. From Ennius (A. 455).
tumultu. Cp. Cic. Phil. 8. 1. 2 potest enim esse bellum sine tumultu, tumultus esse sine bello non potest. quid enim est aliud tumultus nist perturbatio tanta ut maior timor oriatur ? inde etiam nomen dictum est tumultus. itaque maiores nostri tumultum Italicum quod erat domesticus, tumultum Gallicum quod erat Italiae finitimus, praeterea nulluim nominabant
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grauius autem tumultum esse quam bellum hinc intelligi licet, quod bello uacationes ualent, tumultu non ualent. Here the reference is to a tumultus Gallicus. Cicero’s derivation is baseless ; the word is connected with tumeo.
858. sistet. Though the punctuation of the best MSS. takes sistet with egues, and the pause with this punctuation would be more natural, the sense is more forcible at first sight if egues be taken closely with sternet=xaOirracer, “ride down”; and many editors have consequently so taken it. But such a view introduces an unusual, and in this case a somewhat unnatural, pause. As Henry points out, in the only other passage where Vergil uses egues in the nom. sing., he places it precisely in this position, and followed by a pause—t.e., 10. 239 Arcas eques: medias illis opponere turmas, etc. Further, as Norden (App. 2. 3) shows, such a pause after an initial trochee can only be proved with certainty in eight cases (4. 114; 5. 834; 8. 33; τὸἍ 45, 73. 746; II. 313; 12.153). It is therefore, on the whole, preferable to take eques with sistet. The reference will then be to the battle of Clastidium against the Gauls, which was essentially a cavalry battle (Plut. Marcell. 7.). As regards Poenos, there would be little’force in egues sternet, unless the rhetorical description in Silius (12. 178) of the battle of Nola, Marcellus’ first defeat of the Carthaginians, can be regarded as evidence that cavalry were of special importance in that battle. It would, however, be unwise to place his tawdry epic “set piece” in the balance against Livy (23. 16), who gives no support to the later poet.
Poenos. In three battles at Nola and subsequently in Sicily.
rebellem. (1) Because the Gauls had sued for peace, and failing to obtain it had renewed the war—Plut. Marcell.
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6, Polyb. 2. 36—or (2) because the war is regarded as a renewal of the first Gallic war.
859. tertiaque arma patri suspendet capta Quirino. Marcellus, according to Plutarch, Marc. 8. and Propertius, 4. 10, dedicated the spolia opima, won from the Gallic chief Virdomarus, to Jupiter Feretrius. Why then does Vergil make him dedicate them to pater Quirinus ?
The answer is to be found in Festus and Plutarch. Servius saw dimly where the truth lay, as his note shows.
After a futile attempt to explain capta Quirino as qualia et Quirinus cepit, id est Romulus (patri on this view=TJout), he continues “‘ possumus et, quod est melius, secundum legem Numae hunc locum accipere, qui praecepit prima spolia opima Tout Feretrio debere suspendi, quod iam Romulus fecerat ; secunda Marti, quod Cossus fecit; tertia Quirino, quod fecit Marcellus. Quirinus autem est Mars qui praeest pact et intra ciuitatem colitur : nam belli Mars extra ciuitatem templum habuit.... warie de hoc loco tractant commenta- tores, Numae legis immemores, cuius facit mentionem et Liuius.”
For this lex “Numae we must have recourse to Plutarch and Festus, Livy’s reference to the law having apparently been made in one of the lost books.
Festus, p. 189, ‘‘ opima magnifica et ampla, unde spolia quoque quae dux popult Romani duct hostium detraxit : quorum tanta raritas est ut intra annos paulo (lacuna of nineteen letters) trina contigerint nomini Romano: una quae Romulus de Acrone ; altera quae Cossus Cornelius de Tolumnto ; tertia quae Marcellus Iout Feretriode Virdomaro fixerunt. M. Varro ait opima spolia esse etiam st manipularis miles detraxerit dummodo duct hostium *sed prima esse quae dux duct neque enim quae a duce capta* non sint ad aedem Iouts Feretri pont:
* Words between asterisks conjecturally supplied by Hertzberg.
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testimonio esse libros pontiyizam in quibus ait: pro primis spoliis boue, pro secundis solitaurilibus, pro tertiis agno publice fiert debere : esse etiam Pompili regis legem opimorum talem : ‘ cuius auspicio classe procincta opima spolia captuntur, Ioui Feretrio darier oportet, et bouem caedito ; qui cepit, CCC darier oportet. secunda spelia in Martis ara in Campo, solitaurilia utra uoluerit caed:to ; qui cepit, et aerts CC dato. tertia spolia Ianui Quirino agnum marem caedita; C qui ceperit ex aere dato. cuius auspicio captum dis piaculum dato.’ ”’
Plutarch, Marc. 8 καίτοι φασὶν ἐν τοῖς ὑπομνήμασιν Nov- μᾶν ἸΠομπίλιον καὶ πρώτων ὀπιμίων καὶ δευτέρων καὶ τρίτων μνημονεύειν. τὰ μὲν πρῶτπ ληφθέντα τῷ Φερετρίῳ Διὶ κελεύοντα καθιεροῦν, τὰ δεύτερα δὲ τῷ Λρει, τὰ δὲ τρίτα τῷ Κυρίνῳ, καὶ λαμβάνειν γέρας ἀσσάρια τριακόσια τὸν πρῶτον, τὸν δὲ δεύτερον διακόσια, τὸν δὲ τρίτον ἑκατόν. 6 μέντοι πολὺς οὗτος ἐπικρατεῖ λόγος ὡς ἐκείνων μόνον ὀπιμίων ὄντων, ὅσα καὶ παρατάξεως οὔσης καὶ πρῶτα καὶ στρατηγοῦ στρατηγὸν ἀνελόντος.
From the above passages it is clear that prima, secunda, and fertia were used in tw2 different senses in connexion with the spolia opima: (1) With regard to chronological order and reference to the three occasions on which Roman generals won them; (2) in the sense of first, second, and third class. Norden, it is true, gives a different interpretation: ““ Nach einer anderen Tradition, die auf ein Gesetz des Numa suruckgefuhrt wurde, war die Ehre nicht in diesen engen Grenzen eingeschlossen, sondern die drei ersten Soldaten, die je einen Feind spolierten, brachten die drei Spolien der Reihe nach dem Jupiter Feretrius, dem Mars und dem Quirinus dar.’ This interpretation, however, is improbable from every point of view, and is not borne out by the statements of Festus and Plutarch. The obvious interpretation of the
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passages in question is that given by Hertzberg, to the effect that there were three classes of spolia opima won by (1) the actual general, (2) officers other than the general, (3) a com- mon soldier, and the rewards and the place of dedication varied accordingly (see Philologus, 1. p. 331). That officers other than the general could win spolia opima is borne out by Florus (2. 17. 11, “‘ Vaccaeos de quibus Scipio ille posterior singulart certamine, cum rex fuerat prouocator, opima rettu- lerat”’), and by Valerius Maximus (3. 2. 6, ‘‘ eodem wirtutis et pugnae genere usi sunt P. Manlius Torquatus et Valerius Coruinus et Cornelius Scipio. hi nempe ultro prouocantes hostium duces interemerant, sed quia alienis auspiciis rem gesserant, spolia Iout Feretrio non posuerunt consecranda’’). Cp. also Dio Cassius 51. 24. It is also clear that the term spolia opima had come to be generally accepted only as referring to the first class. Further, both Cossus and Marcellus had actually dedicated their spolia to Jupiter Feretrius. See Livy (4. 20), who had actually seen the spoils dedicated by Cossus, Plutarch (Mare. 8.), and Proper- tius (4. 10). It may, therefore, be assumed that the second and third classes of spolia opima provided for by Numa’s law had become obsolete.
How, then, account for Vergil’s statement that Marcellus was destined to dedicate his spoils to Quirinus ? That the statement is historically false can scarcely be denied, though it is conceivable that other traditions may have existed. But Vergil, being, as he was, passionately devoted to ancient lore and acquainted with the lex Nwmae, determined to accept its authority. He mistook the meaning of prima, secunda, and tertia, and assumed that they referred to the chronological order of the winning, and not to the class of spoil won. It would not be difficult to misinterpret the lex Numae. Or it is possible that Vergil did not make the
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mistake himself, but followed some older authority who had committed himself to this not unnatural misinterpretation. No other interpretation of the passage would seem possible in face of the evidence. Identification of Quirinus with Jupiter Feretrius is unwarrantable, as is the assumption that there was a statue of Quirinus in the temple of Jupiter Feretrius; even if there were any evidence for this last supposition, it would not justify Vergil’s statement.
Who is pater Quirinus ? The lex Numae tells us that he is Ianus Quirinus, another name for Janus Geminus, the two-faced Ianus of the Forum, whose gates were closed in times of peace: cp. Hor, Od. 4. 15. 9, Mon. Anc. Lat. 2. 42, Suet. Aug. 22, But pater Quirinus would more naturally refer to the ancient deity Quirinus, who forms one of a triad with Jupiter and Mars, a fact which suits the context in the lex Numae admirably well: cp. Serv. ad Aen. 8. 663, salios qui sunt in tutela Iouis Martis Quirini ; Livy 8. 9, lane, Jupiter, Mars, pater Quirine; 5. 52 Mars Gradiue, tuque Quirine pater. That Quirinus was at any rate in some aspects a war-god is clear from Macrob. 1. 9, 16, Plut. Rom. 29, Dion. Hal. 2. 48 (ΞΞ Ἐνυάλιος). But the whole question of the functions of Quirinus is so obscure that it is impossible to determine, with any precision, his relations either to Ianus or to the spolia opima (see Wissowa, R.K., p. 139).
The significance of the name Quirinus is uncertain, (1) It may mean no more than “ of the Quirites.” (2) It may go back direct to guiris (a spear), as stated by Macrob, lc, (3) It was suggested by Niebuhr that it came from a place name Quirium, identified by Wissowa with the original settlement on the Quirinal. In which case, for pater Quirine cp. C.I.L. ix. 4676. Reatinus pater, See Wissowa in Roscher, Myth, Lex. s.v. Quirinus.
861-887. The vision of the young Marcellus. M. Claudius
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Marcellus, the son of Octavia, adopted by Augustus, and destined to be his heir, died at Baiae in his twentieth year, September 23 B.c. For his character in addition to the present passage cp. Vell. Pat. 2. 93. 1 sane, ut atunt, in- genuarum uirtutum laetusque animi et ingeni. Sen. Cons. Marc. 2. 3 adulescentem animo alacrem, ingenio potentem, «νον sed et frugalitatis continentiaeque in illis aut annis aut opertbus non mediocriter admirandae, pattentem laborum, uoluptatibus alienum. Propertius wrote an elegy (3. 18) on his death, a stately but cold poem contrasting sharply with the moving epicedion of Vergil.
SERVIUS huius mortem uehementer ciuitas doluit ; nam et adfabilis fuit et Augusti filius. ad funeris huius honorem Augustus sescentos lectos ire iussit: hoc enim apud matores gloriosum fuerat et dabatur pro qualitate fortunae ; nam Sulla sex milia habuit. igitur cum ingenti pompa adlatus et in Campo Martto est sepultus. ergo modo in Augusti adulationem quasi epitaphion et dicit. et constat hunc librum tanta pro- nunttatione esse recitatum ut fletu nimio imperarent silentium nist Vergilius finem esse dixisset. qui pro hoc aere graui donatus est, id est massis ; nam sic et Liuius argentum graue dicit. So, too, Sueton. vit. Verg. p. 737 H. cut (sc. Augusto) tamen multo post perfectaque materia tres omnino libros recitautt, secundum quartum et sextum, sed hunce notabili Octauiae adfectione, quae cum recitatione interesset, ad illas de filio suo uersus “ tu Marcellus eris” defecisse fertur atque aegre focillata est,
865. Cp. Eur, Phoen, 158 ὡς ὄχλος νιν ὑστέρῳ ποδὲ | πάνοπλος ἀμφέπει.
qui FP: quis MR, quis is rejected by Ribbeck on grounds of euphony, But in point of sound there is little to choose, A stronger argument in favour of quz is that, as Conington points out, we are dealing with an exclamation, not a question.
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quantum instar. ‘‘A plausible derivation of instar, a word first used in Cic. Verr. 2. 5. 44, and literally meaning ‘weight’ (cp. Cic. Off. 3. 3. 11 ut omnia ex altera parte collocata uix minimi momenti instar habeant), makes it the infinitive, used as a substantive, of insto, ‘to be of equal weight,’ ‘to show equipoise of the balance’ ”’ (Lindsay, L.L., p. 205). It is an indeclinable noun, used here alone with another word in agreement, and generally meaning “‘ equiva- lent,” “likeness.” Here Servius interprets stmuilitudo. The sense is unsatisfactory. The meaning must be “weight ” in the sense of ‘‘ presence ”; almost=momentum.
866. Cp. 2. 360 nox atra caua circumuolat umbra. For the present context cp. Hor. S. 2. 1. 58 mors atris circumuolat umbris. Od. 20. 351 ἃ δειλοί, τί κακὸν τόδε πάσχετε; νυκτὶ μὲν ὑμέων | εἰλύαται κεφαλαί τε πρόσωπά τε νέρθε τε γοῦνα.
867. ingressus. ‘‘ Began” asin 4.107. There is no trace of this use before Vergil.
870. Cp. 12. 827 sic Romana potens Itala uirtute propago.
871. propria. SrERvius perpetua, ut (1. 73) “ propriamque dicabo.”’ But the sense is rather “‘ all her own.’’ So, too, in A. 1. 73 and E. 7. 31 si proprium hoc fuertt.
872. Mauortis from its position must be taken with urbem : cp. 1. 276 Romulus accipiet gentem et Mauortia condet | moenia Romanosque suo de nomine dicet. But as Marcellus was buried in the Campus Martius, the genitive seems as though it were intended to do double duty, although Campus by itself is sufficient indication of locality. The funeral was held in great state. He was buried in the Mausoleum of Augustus (Cons. ad Liu. 67. Dio. 53. 30. 5): 600 cars bearing the imagines of his ancestors took part in the pro- cession, and Augustus himself delivered the funeral oration (Dio. 1, c. Cons, ad Liu. 442. Seru. ad A. 1, 712 “‘ denota”’ uero de oratione Augustt translata locutio, quam habutt in
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laudatione funeris Marcelli, cum diceret illum tmmaturae morti deuotum esse.
873. aget gemitus. “Utter groans.” Cp. G. 3. 203 spumas aget. Heyne suggests that there may underlie the idea of agere in places such as agere triuimphum.
Tiberine sc. pater. The Tiber god himself. Cp. n. cn patri Quirino ad fin. (859).
874. recentem both in the sense that Marcellus was only newly buried, and that the Mausoleum designed for the Julian family had only been built five years previously.
876. in tantum spe tollet auos. Two interpretations are possible. (1) “ Will so exalt his ancestors with hope ”’— z.e., the shades of his ancestors will be full of hope that he will prove the “noblest Romaa of them all.” (2) “ Will so exalt the glory of his ancestors by his promise of great things.” So Servius eriget generis antiquitatem. et rhetorice spem laudat. est aitem Ciceronis in dialogo Fannio “‘ causa difficilis laudare puerum : non enim res laudanda sed spes est.” This view is defended by Henry, and may be correct: he fails, however, to adduce any real argument against the first and simpler interpretation. spe has been regarded as a genitive: cp. Conington and Kern. Progr. Schweinfurt, 1881, 43. It is a possible form of the genitive: cp. die in G. 1. 208, and A. 1.636. Also Gell. 9.14. Lindsay, L.L.,p. 382. In that case it would be dependent on tastwm=in tantam spem. shes, the reading of R, would, if accepted, also be gen.: see Lindsay l.c. But the ablative spe presents no difficulty.
Romula. The noun form in heu of the adjectival, as in Hor. Od. 4.5.1. Prop. 3.11.52,and 4.4.26. Cp. Dardanus and possibly Sychaeus in 4. 552 cinert Sychaeo.
quondam. ‘In days to be.”
878. pietas ... prisca fides... inuicta dextra. The qualities making up the ideal Roman character, Cp. Hor.
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Se νυ ΧΟ ore Ree i The Sixth Book of the Aeneid C.S. 57 tam Fides et Pax et Honos Pudorque | priscus et ᾿ neglecta redire uirtus | audet. Rome is regarded as under- going spiritual new birth under the government of Augustus, and Marcellus, if he grows to manhood, will typify the ideal Roman.
87¢. tulisset—7.e., had it been written in the fates that he should come to full manhood.
880. Cp. Od. 9. 49 ἐπιστάμενοι μὲν ad ἵππων | ἀνδράσι μάρνασθαι Kat ὅθι χρὴ πεζὸν ἐόντας. Marcellus had already shown such courage in the Cantabrian War of 27, 26 B.c. according to Krinagoras (A. P. 6. 161).
881, seu cum... iret... seu... foderet. The first seu== “ whether,”’ the second=“ or if.” For the sake of variety cum is not repeated, and the construction is slightly changed. Cp. for the second sew Hor. A.P. 63 siue receptus terra Neptunus classes Aquilonibus arcet. An alternative is to regard the second sew=vel, and to supply cum.
armos. SERVIUS species pro genere equi armos pro equo posuit: non enim possunt armi calcaribus fodi. It has been widely assumed that this explanation is correct, and that armi “shoulders ”’ is loosely used for “ flanks.’? This is a poor defence. Henry has supplied the correct explana- tion. armi are spoken of by Horace (S. 1. 6. 104) as the seat of the horseman. nunc mihi curto ire | licet mulo, uel si libet usque Tarentum, | mantica cut lumbos onere ulceret atque eques armos. ‘‘ The armi being thus established as the seat of the rider, it is easy and natural to suppose that it was the lower part of the armi , . . which looks toward the ground, and was directly under, or even in front, of the rider, which was spurred by the horseman not encumbered in those ancient times with stirrups, nor taught that it is graceful and elegant to ride with the toes turned inwards ... , but sitting at ease as all untaught horsemen sit, with the toes out and the
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heels in, and the legs thrown very much forward, exactly as we see horsemen represented in ancient medals and statues.”
882. miserande puer. Cp. 10. 825; 11. 42. He was in his twentieth year. Cp. Prop. 3. 18. 15 occidit et misero steterat uicesimus annus.
si qua fata aspera rumpas, tu Marcellus eris. “If only shouldst break the bar of cruel fate, thou shalt assuredly be Marcellus.” Servius talis qualis est Marcellus. He is both in the underworld and in his brief life above, but sfes Marcelli, not fated to be “‘ the gentle knight, the mass of sterling worth and honesty, the invincible warrior, in one word Marcellus” (Henry). There is no anticlimax here. It would have been fulsome flattery to make the boy the greatest of his line, and no more moving tribute could be paid to his memory than this. For the construction cp. Hor. Od. 3. 3. 7 st fractus illabatur orbis, | impauidum ferient ruinae. The sudden change to the indicative expresses certainty of the logical necessity of the apodosis. For a parallel to the general sense of the passage cp. Val. Flacc. 3. 183 spes maxima bellis | pulcher Hylas, si fata sinant. Wagner punctuates with an exclamation after rwmpas, making the sentence a prayer. Then follows the statement, ‘ Thou shalt be Marcellus.” This is inferior, on the whole, in pathos to the sense given by the traditional punctuation. - Here, for Anchises Marcellus is the great Marcellus. The name, as it occurs here, can only be used with reference to the great passage which has preceded. Vergil has shown his sense of proportion, and has avoided the error into which later imitators, such as Statius, fell, when dealing with the imperial house,
883. manibus date lilia plenis purpureos spargam flores. Two interpretations are possible. (1) spargam is dependent on daie, on the analogy of the common construction, whereby
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the subj. is made to depend on a verb of allowing, granting, permitting. The sense will then be “Grant me to scatter handfuls.”? (2) The alternative is to punctuate after plenis, and to translate ‘‘ Give me lilies; let me scatter.” spargam is then a hortative subjunctive. The first view is strongly supported by 4. 683 date uolnera lymphis | abluam : cp. also Prudent. contr. Symm. date uincula demam.
lilia is most naturally taken with purpureos flores. While purpureus can mean no more than bright (cp. 641 n.), it may refer to the crimson Martagon lily. Cp. Plin. 21. 25 sunt et purpurea lilia. Theophr. Hist. Pl. 6. 6. 3.
The offering of flowers is clearly suggested by the offering of flowers to the dead (see 886 n.). [1165 are so employed in A. P. 7. 485. The purple hue is associated with offerings to the dead (cp. 221 n.). For such offerings cp. A. 5. 79. Aesch. Pers. 618. Soph. El. 895. Prop. 1. 17. 22, and “7.35. ἤν. 207.
885. accumulem donis. Cp. 5. 531 Acesten | muneribus cumulat. Norden regards the phrase as a poetical inversion for animae accumulem dona : this construction does not, how- ever, occur before Sil. 11.143. For the present construction cp. Val. Flacc. 4. 339. Stat. T. το. 788. Plin. 17. 124.
886. munere, used here as of the last gifts of funeral. Cp. 4. 623 and 11. 25 egregias animas . . . decorate supremts muneribus. As Conington points out, “ Anchises identifies himself with Augustus, and those who are conducting his funeral on earth.”
887. aeris in campis. These happy regions are, perhaps, spoken of as the “ fields of air” in somewhat the same way that Tennyson speaks of the “spiritual city” in the Holy Grail. aeris gives the idea of purity and unsubstantiality. Cp. also 640, 1 largior hic campos aether et lumine {6511} | purpureo. Norden attempts to show that Vergil places
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his “Purgatorio” in the atmosphere, following Servius (locutus est secundum eos qui putant Elysium lunarem esse circulum). So, too, Ps. Prob., p. 12, Keil. This is out of the question: cp. n. on 439. Aeneas and the Sibyl are underground. The only means by which such an inter- pretation could be rendered possible would be to assume that the line is the relic of an earlier draft of the poem, making Aeneas see all these things in a dream (see n. on. 893 544.). The generally accepted interpretation is that Vergil by aerts translates the Homeric ἠεροείς (cp. Il. 8. 13 Τάρταρος. Od. 20. 64 κέλευθα, also passim ζόφος)---“ misty,” “ murky.” There is, however, no parallel for such a use of ger in Latin, _ and the gen. is difficult, as there is no parallel for gen. of~ quality unsupported by an adjective, and to explain it as a possessive gen. is of little help. Further, such an inter- pretation brings us into conflict with 640, 1. Auson. Cup. Cruc. 1 aeris in campis quos dicit Musa Maronis, and Stat. Silv. 5. 3. 286 et monstrate nemus, quo nulla inrupit Erinys, | in quo falsa dies caeloque simillimus aer throw but little light on the passage.
889. uenientis. M. gives melioris, which has crept in from 4. 221 famae melioris.
890. 3. 456 (Helenus loq.) guin adeas uatem precibusque oracula poscas | ipsa canat uocemque uolens atque ora resoluat. | illa tibi Italiae populos uenturaque bella, | et quo quemque modo fugiasque ferasque laborem | expediet. Helenus’ pro- phecy is not fulfilled as Vergil intended when he wrote this portion of Book 3. The Sibyl’s prophecy (87 544.) is per- functory and enigmatic. The detailed instructions are received here from Anchises (cp. 5. 737). The Sibyl is only indirectly the source of Aeneas’ information, in so far as she has enabled him to meet his father’s spirit. The incon- sistency does not amount to absolute contradiction, But
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that Vergil when he wrote Book 3 had other designs in con- templation is clear. The prophecy of Helenus in Book 3 must have been written at a very considerable interval ot time from the writing of Book 6. See Introd., pp. 39 ff. Alteration would have been imperatively necessary on a final revision, and it would have been the prophecy of Helenus and not the conclusion of Book 6 that would have required the greater remaniement.
Apart from the inconsistency between Books 3 and 6, the double prophecy of the Sibyl andof Anchises within the limits of this one book is awkward, and forms one of the minor blemishes of the poem. The blemish arises doubtless from the fact that the Sibylline oracle, whether at Cumae or Marpessus, probably played a part in the tradition as it reached Vergil, and in view of the subsequent importance of the Sibylline oracles at Rome could scarcely be disregarded by the poet. On the other hand, the whole scheme of the vision of the Rome that was to be, and the part played by Anchises as guide and instructor, made it inevitable that he, too, should give guidance to Aeneas by foretelling what lay in front of him. See Norden, p. 44, for a slightly different view of the problem.
It may be noted, finally, that the present prophecy is from one point of view somewhat inartistic. If Aeneas knows all these facts, he will have no doubts or anxieties over the future. This is one of the drawbacks of Vergil’s copious use of prophecy, and is a point on which too much stress must not be laid.
890. uiro. “ Introduced for the sake of conjunction with bella’? (Conington),
891. Laurentis populos. Cp. 7. 63. The plural may be used for the singular, but is probably meant to suggest the various peoples of Latium and the surrounding districts.
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Cp. Enn. A. 24 populi ... Latini, though whether, as Norden suggests, there is deliberate imitation of Ennius, it is impossible to say. Cp. also 7. 738 Sarrastes populos.
893-898. Vergil had to provide Aeneas with an exit from Hades. He could, of course, be made to return by the way by which he had come, as, for instance, Psyche does in Apuleius (Met. 6. 20), This course was open to objection on two grounds: it would involve either (1) a repetition of previous scenes (as in Apul. l.c.), or (2) a dull and _per- functory statement that he returned by the same path,
To avoid this Vergil had recourse to the somewhat daring expedient of employing the dream-gates of Homer (Od. 19. 562). He returns Aeneas to earth by the gate of ivory, by which false dreams go forth by night. But what Aeneas has seen is a true vision. Why, then, the gate of ivory ? Various answers have been given.
1. The simplest expianation is that Aeneas was not a dream, and consequently that, if he used the dream-gates, it did not matter which he used. Further, we may note with Dubner that the gate of horn was used only by werae wmbrae, which Aeneas was not.
2. There was a belief in antiquity that false dreams appeared before midnight, and true dreams after midnight, Cp. Moschus, 2. 1. Hor, S. 1, 10. 33 post mediam noctem
. cum somnia uera, We may also compare A, 5, 719-739 and 8. 67, where veridical visions appear just before dawn. The exit by the ivory gate is on this theory due to the exigencies of time. Aeneas leaves Hades before midnight, and the door of horn is still shut, The descent began at early dawn (255), it is midday in 535 and Aeneas returns to upper air before midnight. See W. Everett, Class. Rev. 14, 1900, Ὁ. 153 544. It may be urged against this view that, while it is consistent with facts, the interpretation is far-
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fetched and liable to the criticism that it explains obscurum per obscurius.
3. The passage is to be regarded as a picturesque way of saying, ‘‘ This is no more than a poet’s dream.” To which we may reply, “‘ Why should Vergil say this ?” It is out of keeping with the solemn invocation of 264-7, and the whole spirit of the book. For a statement of this view see Henry, Aeneidea (3., p. 457), and F. Grainger, Class. Rev.14, 1900, p. 26. R.S. Conway, Essays, etc., presented to W. Ridgeway (1913), p. 222. This view is somewhat more crudely stated by Servius: wut autem intelligt falsa esse omnia quae dixit.
Of these views (1) is the least unsatisfactory. Vergil sought a picturesque exit, and therefore chose the Gate of Ivory. It has been suggested that Vergil’s original design was to reveal the future in a dream to Aeneas, and that the present passage was originally written with this in view: cp. Cic. Div. 1. 21 sint haec ut dixi somnia fabularum, hisque adiungatur etiam Aeneae somnium, quod in Numerit Fabii Pictoris Graecis annalibus eiusmodi est, ut omnia, quae ab Aenea gesta sunt quaeque illi acciderunt, ea fuerint quae et secundum quietem uisa sunt. The suggestion does not, however, help us to get over the difficulty of the use of the Ivory Gate (see Gercke, Enstehung d. Aeneis, p. 191 544.).
893. Cp. Od. το. 562 δοιαὶ γάρ τε πύλαι ἀμενήνων εἰσὶν ὀνείρων. | αἱ μὲν yap κεράεσσι τετεύχαται, at δ᾽ ἐλέφαντι, SERVIUS per portam corneam ocult significantur . .. per eburneam uero portam os significatur ἃ dentibus. Cp. Plaut. Truc, 489 pluris est oculatus testis unus quam auriti decem.
Somni—Somniorum. Cp. Od. 1.56. Vergil had no choice but to use Somnus metri gratia. Cp. 7. 607 sunt geminae belli portae.
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Commentary
895. perfectanitenselephanto. elephanto concludes the line as in the Homeric original. Cp. the frequent occurrence of other Greek words of similar scansion at the end of 623 hymenaeos (as often), terebintho (10. 136), hyacinthi (11. 69), cyparissi (3, 680), elephanto (3. 464), orichalco (12, 87), panacea (12.419). For perfecta nitens cp. G, 4, 370 saxosusque sonans. A. 3.70 lenis crepitans. The adj, is predicative.
896. Manes is perhaps used loosely for the underworld. But cp. Tib. 2. 6. 37 ne tibi neglecti mittant mala somnia Manes, and Soph. El. 459, where it is suggested that Clytem- nestra’s dream has been sent by Agamemnon.
insomnia=evirvia (cp. Macrob. in 5. Scip. τ. 3. 4), of which it is probably a translation. The word is not found in this sense before Vergil. In earlier authors we find insomnia=airvia. Cp. Ter. Eun. 219. Cic. de Sen. 44.
897. his 101. M and Donatus read wht. In favour of ubi is the parallel passage in 7. 607 sunt geminae portae . . . 611 has ubi. On the other hand, such parallels can be pressed too far, and ibz gives the present passage a somewhat more natural flow. As Conington points out, portaque emittit eburna loses force by being thrown into the protasis. Further, it may be urged that if we read 201 and place a full-stop after eburna, we get an effective and clear-cut division between the Nekyia and the return to the activities of the upperworld.
898. Cp. 9. 310 prosequitur uotts.
his dictis. Cp. 890-2.
899. uiam secat. Cp. 12. 368. A translation of the Gk, τέμνειν ὅδον. For the whole line cp. the conclusion of the Homeric Nekyia, Od. 11. 636.
goo, 1. recto litore. ‘“‘ Straight along the shore”’: cp. 8. 57 recto flumine. litore recurs in the same position in the next line; a careless repetition, if the text is correct. Two remedies have been proposed: (1) To read limite with some
279
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
of the later MSS., for which Henry compares Val. Flacc. 4. 614 sed limite recto | puppis et aequali transcurrat carbasus aura. Stat. S. 2. 2. 83 una tamen cunctis procul emine, una diaetas, | quae tibi Parthenopen directo limite ponti | ingerit. We are not, however, justified in departing from the best MSS. in view of their high authority, and the fact that the poem was left unfinished. (2) With Bentley we may reject 901. It is not found in MRP, and occurs also in 3.277. On the other hand, it may be regarded as an epic “tag,” or a Vergilian tibicen. Apart trom the repetition of litore it gives a better conclusion than goo, as it actually brings us to Caieta, and is quite in the epic manner. The point urged by Norden that the opening of 7. 1 (tu quoque litoribus nostris, Aeneia nutrix, | aeternam famam Caieta, dedisti) connects better with 900 may be disregarded, as the presence of gor in no way impairs the connexion.
Caietam. The modern Gaeta. Vergil anticipates. The name was not given till after the death of Caieta (7. 1). Ovid is more precise. Cp. Met. 14. 157. So, too, Dante in Inf. 28.
280
INDEX
Numbers refer to pages.
ABSTRACTIONS personified, 143
Acamas, 188
accingor, 120
accumulem donis, 274
accusative, adverbial, 164 cognate, 96, 156, 185, 193 of motion without prepos.,
214, 223
with passive verbs, 116
acerbus, 175
Achates, 93
Acheron, 106, 151
Achilles, death of, 97
ad auras, 199
ad superos, 188
adamas, 197
addita, 104
adortus with infin., 168
Adrastus, 187
adulterium, caesi ob, 208
Aeacides, 257
Aemilius Paulus, 256
Aeneid, composition of, 70,
104, 149, 154, 160, 174, 175 |
Aeneas, age of, 239 descent of, 108 reply to Sibyl, 106
Aeneas Siluius, 240
Aeolides, 117, 194
aeripes cerua, 247
aeris in campis, 274
aetiology, 160, 166
Agenor, 188
agere gemitus, 271
agere sese, 160
Alba Longa, 239
28
aiiquos or alios, 220
Aloides, 2024
aita, 119; alte, 114 aiternative lines, possible, 149,
225
altus Apollo, 81
alumnus, 205
ambas = duas, 196
amoena uirecta, 214
Amphrysius, 168
Amulius, 240
Archisiade, 109
Ancus, 251
Androgeo, 90
anima mundi, 226
animamque superbam, 251
animi, 158
animis adsuescite bella, 255
anne, 225
annus, 156
Antenoridae, 188
Aornos, 135
apes, 224
apodosis suppressed, 163
Apollo, temple and statue at Cumae, 81, 89; temple on Palatine, 99; prophecy by, 160
ara sepulcri, 118
Arctos, 89
Argos, 256
Ariadne, 92
arma (=rigging), 162
arma, burning of, with dead, 126, 132
«ima impia, 209
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
armi, 272
Ascanius, 239
ashes quenched with wine, 130 Assaracus, 217
Atlas, 246
atque, 116
atrae frondes, 125
attonita domus, 97
Augustus, 244, 245
aura auri, 122
aurai, 235 aureus ramus, III, 114, 123, 170
aurea condet saecula, 245
auricomus, 113
auso potiti, 213
auspicia, 243
Auerni, descensus, 109
Auernus, derivation and topo- graphy, 135
auersi tenuere facem, 129
Bacchus, wanderings in India, 248
Bellum, 144
Berecyntia mater, 243
bidens, 95
black victims, 115, 136, 138
Bola, 242
Briareus, 148
bruma, 123
Brutus, 251, 252
caduci, 188
cadum, 131
caeli axis, 244
caeli meatus, 261 Caeneus, 182
Caieta, 280
calidi latices, 126 calles, 181
Camillus, 253
capita, 164
Capys, 240
Caspia regna, 247 castigatque auditque dolos, 199 Castor and Pollux, 107 Castrum Inui, 241 Cato, 257
Cecropidae, 90
Centauri, 146
centumgeminus, 148
cepisse metum, 162
Cerberus, 167, 171
cernere erat, 205
cessas in uota, 96
Chalcidicus, see Euboicus
Chaos, 141
Charon, 152, 154, 167, 168
children, dead, 173
Chimaera, 148
circumferre, 131
citharoedus, 215
Civil war, 254
classis, 159
clausi tenebris et carcere caeco, 231
Cocytus, 110, 151, 165
Collatinae arces, 241
commissa piacula, 199
concha, 118
confectum curis, 193
consilium, 177
contracted genitive, 218; im- perfect, 186
cornipes, 204
corpora = umbrae, 153
corpusque recenti spargit aqua, 214 Ὁ
cortina, 161
Corynaeus, 131
Cossus, 257
crater, 130
cruda senectus, 154
Cumae, topography of, 81-84
cunctantem, 123
cupressi, 126
cura, 222
Cures, 250
currum = curruum, 218
custodia, 200
Cybele, 243
Daedalus, 87 dapes, 130 Dardania, 98 Dardanidae, 102 Dardanus, 217
282
Index
dative in -u, 185; of purpose,
205 debellare, 263 Decii, 253 defuncta uita, 155 deification of heroes, 112 Deiphobe Glauci, 93 Deiphobus, 189 demens, 118, 204 demisit lacrimas, 183 densa ferarum tecta, 80 descensus Auerni, 109 deus, 235 deus ecce deus, 96 dictus sacer, 113 deuenere locos laetos, 214 Dido, news of death, 183 Dis, 110 Discordia, 145 disembarkations, 79 discrimina uocum, 216 disfigurements persisting spirit world, 190 Divine parentage, doubts as to, 157 domina, 168 Dorica castra, 103 Dreams, tree of, 145 Drusi, 253 duco, 261 ductor, 159 dum flammas—imitatur, 203
in
Earth, sister of Night, 138
educta, 213
effatus, 121
elephantus, 279
emota, 166; emouet, 193
enim, 156
Ennius, 119, 120, 127, 191, 192, 223, 259
ense ferit, 138, 150
ergo, 183, 221
Eridanus, 219
Erinyes, 200
Eriphyla, 181
Erymanthus, 248
Euadne, 182
Euboicus, 79
Eumenides, 144, 165 exanimis or exanimus, 116 excudere, 261
excussa magistro, 162 excussisse deum, IOI explere numerum, 196 extrema secutam, 184
Fabii, 259
Fabius Maximus, 259 Fabricius, 259
fallere dextras (dominorum),
τὸ ο Xe)
fata = oracles, 96
fatum, 165
fauces, 142
feretrum, 127, 128
ferrugineus, 153
fibrae, 205
Fidenae, 241
‘edhe Week τ΄ 212
foliis ne carmina manda, 100
foliisque sub omnibus haerent, 145
forma, 210
forma tricorporis umbrae, 150
forte, 120
fortunatorum nemorum, 214
fratricides, 207
fraus innexa clienti, 208
fulcra, 207
fulmina belli, 258
fundabat naues, 80
funeral rites, 124
funus, 192
Furiarum maxima, 207
fuso crateres olivo, 130
future perfect, 103
. atque refixit,
Gabii, 241
Garamantes, 245
gemina super arbore, 122 geminae cristae, 242 gemitus, 127
genae, 222
| genialis torus, 207
283
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
genitive plural, contracted, 155, 218
Genius, 233
gens Iulia, 244
Georgic, date of composition of fourth, 154
Geryon, 150
Glaucus (god), 93; (hero), 190
Gnosia, 91
Golden age, 245
Golden bough, 111, 114, 123, 170
Gorgones, 149
Gracchi, 257
BIEX, 94
gubernaclum, 161
haec = hae, 262
Harpyiae, 149
Hecate, 86
Hector, 118, 119
Helenus, prophecy of, 100, ror, 273
Hercules, 107, 247
heroines who died for love, 180
heroes fallen in war, 187
Hesperia, 80
hiatus, 192
hic uir hic est, 244
hinc exaudiri gemitus, 198
his ibi, 279
honey cake, 171
honor mortis, 158
hostiae furuae, 136
Hydra, 148, 201
hypermeter, 206
hysteron proteron, 164
iacet extra sidera tellus, 246 Idaeus, 189
igneus uigor, 227
ilex, 123
Ilia, 242
Ilium, 98
1105, 217
immani turbine, 204
in tantum spe tollet auos, 271 inanis, 141, 217, 232 incanaque menta, 249 incerta luna, 141
| | |
inchoat, 139
inclusi poenam exspectant, 210
incubuere, 208
indebita fatis, 98
Indi, 246
Indicative in indirect quest., 210
infelix utcunque ferent, etc., 252
infinitive after dare, 98; epexegetic, 96; perfect, 101
ingens, 128, 170
ingratus cinis, 125
ingredior, 116
ingressus, 270
inhumatus, 157
innare, III
inolescere, 232
inops, 157
insomnia, 279
instar, 270
instaurate, 194
intacto grege, 94
intonat ore, 207
Invocations, epic, 140
inuergo, 142
Inuus, 241
irremeabilis, 172
Itala, 235
Ivory, gate of, 277
Ixion, 205, 211
iacet extra sidera tellus, 246 Judgment of the dead, 175 lugum, 170
lulia gens, 244
Iulius Caesar, 244, 245, 254 Iuno inferna, 113
iurare with accus., 157 luturna, 104
iuuenum manus, 80
labor ille domus et inextrica- bilis error, 92
Labos, 144
Lacaena, 192
Laodamia, 182
Lapithae, 205
| largior aether, 214
284
Index
1 audumque immensa cupido, ἘΞ 252
Lauini, 102
Lauinia, 104, 239
Laurentis populos, 276
lauri nemus, 218
laxat foros, 170
lectae de more, 94
lecti uiri, 100
lectus funebris, 127
Lernae belua, 148
Lethe, 231
Letum, 144
Leucaspis, 158
libamina, 137; (of blood), 138 Libyco cursu, 160
lilia, 274
lines excised by Varius and
Tucca, 148
lituus, 118
locative, 158," 161 lucentemque globum
226
ludi Apollinares, 99 lugentes campi, 180 lustro, 132, 222
lunae,
Maeotia tellus, 247
magnanimum, 155
maior uideri, 96
malesuada, 143
maligna, 142
Manes, 232, 279
manibus date lilia plenis, 273
manus, 222
Marcellus, 263
Marcellus (the young), 544.
marmoreum aequor, 227
Marpesia cautes, 186
Martem accendere cantu, 117
Massylae, 97
Mauors, 270
Mauortius, 242
media Elis, 204
mediis in undis, 160
medium traiecerat axem, 195
mentem animumque, 86
mersit, 210
268
Metempsychosis, doctrine of, 228 sqq.
Minos, 175, 177
Minotaurus, 92
Misenus, 116, 134; episode of, 114; funeral of, 119, 124
Misers, 208
moenia, 197
Monoeci arx, 255
monsters at entrance to Hades, 146
more parentum, 129
Mummius, 256
Musaeus, 221
Mutilation of dead, 190
Mycenae, 256
myrtea silva, 181
ni for ne, 162
Night, 138
nigrae pecudes, 115, 136, 138
niuea uitta, 221
Nomentum, 241
nostrumque in nomen ituros, 236
nouies Styx interfusa, 179
nouissima uerba, 133
nox ruit, 195
Numa, 249
Numitor, 240
Nysa, 248
obliuia, 224
obloquitur numeris, 216
occupat Aeneas aditum, 172
Offerings to the dead, 119, 129
oliua, 130, 132, 249
olli, 157
omnia (disyllable), 93
optare, 121, 191
orabunt causas melius, 261
Oracles, 161
Orcus, 142
ornus, 120
Orontes, 158
Orpheus, 107, 215
ossilegium, 131
ostia centum, 95
285
The Sixth Book of the Aeneid
pacisque imponere morem, 262
Palinurus, 159, 161, 162, 163
palla, 198
Pallanteum, 105
parcere subiectis, 262
partes ubi se uia findit in ambas, 195
Parthenopaeus, 187
paruoque potentem, 258
pascentes, 121
Pasiphae, 92, 182
Passions, classification of, 231
pater Anchises, 221
pater ipse suo superum iam signat honore, 243
pater Quirinus, 268
paterae, 138
pecten, 216
perfect, instantaneous, future, 103
Perseus, 257
Phaedra, 181
Phlegethon, 141, 151, 197
Phlegyas, 211
piacula, 116, 199
piceae, 120
pietatis imago, 170
pii uates, 219
Pirithous, 168, 205
plangor, 199
plaudunt choreas, 215
plectrum, 216
Pluto, 110, 169
pollinctio, 127
pollution by corpse, 131
Polybotes, 189
Pometii, 241
Pompey, 254, 255
populares aurae, 251
porro, 224
portitor, 151
postuma proles, 238
praepes, 87
preposition following noun, 97; omitted, 196, 214
Priamides, 192
primam qui legibus fundabit, 249
principio, 226
τοι;
urbem
Procas, 239
Procris, 181
procul, 84, 217
procul o procul este profani, 140
Proserpine, I10, 113, 168, 169
protenus, 93
proxima sorte tenet lucis loca, 236
pulsatus parens, 207
punishment, period of, 158
pura hasta, 236
purpureus, 128, 215, 273
puto, 158
Pythagoreanism, 229 sqq.
quadrigae roseae, 195
quam tua te Fortuna sinet, 105
quercus Ciuilis, 240
qui or quis, 113, 269
qui uitam excoluere per artes, 220
quid Thesea magnum, quid memorem Alciden, 107
Quindecimviri sacris faciundis, 100
Quirinus, 268
quisque suos patimur Manis, 232 544.
quoi, 250
radius, 263
rapit siluas, 81 rebar, 222
recto litore, 279 regificus, 207 reginae amorem, 92 remigium alarum, 89 remumque tubamque, 133 Rhadamanthus, 177 Rhythm, 159
Rivers of Hades, 150 Romula, 271
rotam uoluere, 235
sacra ferens, 249
sacrifices at Avernus, 136, 13 9 Salmoneus, 202
Saturnus, 245
286
Index
scelerum facies, 199
Scipiades, 258
scrupea, 135
sculptures on temple doors, 89
Scyllae, 147
sed enim, 92
senior, 154
senta, loca, 184
septem (mystic number), 94
septemgeminus, 247
septena corpora, 91
sermone serebant, 116
Serranus, 259
seruare, 121
ΒΕ weg SCL 272
si omitted in apodosis, 93
si qua fata aspera rumpas, 273
Sibyl, origin of, 84; name of, 84; cave of (Avernus), 124 134; (Cumae), 82, 83, 95; frenzy of, 96; prophecy of,
= 101; oracle given on leaves, 100
Sibylline books, 99
silex, 80
Siluius, 237, 238, 239
Simois, 103
sistet eques, 264
situs, 185
Sleep, gates of, 277
Sopor, 144
sorte, 237
spolia opima, 263, 266
stant lumina flamma, 152
stant sale Tyrrhenae classes, 223
stat ductis sortibus urna, ΟἹ
stat ferrea turris, 191
sterilis uacca, 139
Stoic doctrines, 226, 227
strepituque exterritus haesit, 198
Stygius rex, 139
Styx, 151, 180
succipio, 138
suicides, 179
super adstitit arce, 89
supera ad conuexa, 136
superne, 218
suppliants, attitude of, 108 supponunt cultros, 137 sutilis, 170
Sychaeus, 186
synezesis, 93, 145, 170 Syrtes, 97
taeda, 125
Tantalus, 206
Tarquinii, 251
Tartara, TI
Tartarus, 201
te amice, 192
ter (mystic number), 131
terra defixae hastae, 217
tertiaque arma patri suspendet capta Quirino, 265
Teucrus, 216
thalamum inuasit natae, 212
Theseus, 92, 108, 168, 211
Thybris, 102
Tisiphone, 200
Titaniaque astra, 226
Titans, 202
Tityus, 205
tmesis, 98
Torquatus, 253
torquetque sonantia saxa, 197
torua tuentem animam, 185
Traitors in Tartarus, 212
transmittere cursum, 156
Tribute to Minotaur, οἱ
Triuia, 86
Trojan Horse, 192
tuba, 118
Tullus Hostilius, 250
tumultus, 263
turbida, loca, 194
turbo (intrans.), 247
turea dona, 129
Turnus, 103
turris ferrea, 198
turrita, 244
Tydeus, 187
ultrix Tisiphone, 200 Unburied dead, 158 Unfinished lines, 104
287
The Sixth Boek of the Aeneid
Untimely dead, their place in Hades, 172 sqq. urbes or urbis, 104
Velia, 164
uelisque ministrat, 153
uendidit hic Latium, 212
Venilia, 103
uestibulum, 142
victims, male and female, 94; black, 115, 136, 138; holo- caust, 136, 139
uiden, 242
uirtutem
extendere factis, 248
uiscera solida, 139
uiscum, 123
uix adeo, I9I
uoce precatur, 120
uolgo, 145
vowel, short, lengthened in arsis, 139
Xanthus, 103 Zodiac, 246
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