Full text of "The sixth book of the Aeneid. With introd. and notes by H.E. Butler"

See other formats

€ 440249710 [9ὼι ὃ

{1111} 11}}{{|

ΟΙΝΟΒΟΙ 90 ALISHAAIN\

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2008 with funding from
Microsoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/sixthbookofaenei0Ovirguoft

ΠΕ SIXTH BOOK OF THE AENEID

VIRGILIAN STUDIES ᾧ ᾧ

Unirorm Votumes, 68, NET Eacu

@ “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

HE BUTLER, MA.

PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN LONDON UNIVERSITY
FORMERLY FELLOW OF NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD

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.

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.

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.

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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

/\ife. It is a blend of popular superstition and
literary mythology coloured and influenced by

‘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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

(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

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.

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

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

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

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).

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.

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

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,

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

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-~

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

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,

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,

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.’

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,

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

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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

‘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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

‘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,

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

‘ 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,

The Sixth Book ot the Aeneid

‘ 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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

‘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.

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

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.

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

Commentary

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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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,

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.

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

Commentary

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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

Commentary

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.

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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),

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.

97 H

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

οὗ

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.

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

100

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-

ΙΟΙ

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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)

102

Commentary

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

103

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

104

Commentary

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

105

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

106

Commentary

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

107

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

108

Commentary

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, |

109

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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-

IIo

Commentary

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:

111

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

112

᾿ Commentary

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.

113 Ι

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

114

Commentary

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.

115

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

117

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

118

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

110

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

120

Commentary

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

Τ21

The Sixth Book of fic Aeneid

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).

122

Commentary

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

123

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

124

Commentary

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

125

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

126

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).

127

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

128

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).

: 129 K

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

130

Commentary

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

131

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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-

132

Commentary

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.

133

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

134

Commentary

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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

136

Commentary

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

137

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

138

Commentary

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.

ses,

The Sixth Book ot the Aeneid

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;

140

Commentary

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-

141

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

‘

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

142

Commentary

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.

143

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

144

Commentary

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

145 L

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

146

~Commentary

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.

147

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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:

148

Commentary

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,

149

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

150

Commentary

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

152

er eee

Commentary

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

153

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

154

Commentary

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, |

155

({

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

156

Commentary

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

157

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

158

Commentary

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

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

160

Commentary

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.

161 M

The Sixth Book οἱ the Aeneid

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,

162

Commentary

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.

163

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

164

Commentary

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.

165

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

166

Commentary

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.

167

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

168

Commentary

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

169

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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,

170

Commentary

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

171

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

172

Commentary

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

173

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

174

Com mentary

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.

175

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

176

Commentary

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,

177 N

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

178

Commentary

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

179

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

180

Commentary

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.

181

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

182

Commentary

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.

183

The Sixth Book ot the Aeneid

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

184

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

{&5

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

186

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

187

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

188

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.

189

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

(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.

Ig1

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

192

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.

193 O

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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,

194

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

195

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

x 196

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.

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

198

‘ic Rigi lalla

Commentary

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.

100

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

200

Commentary

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]

201

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

202

Commentary

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

203

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

‘‘ 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.

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

205

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

206

Commentary

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.

207

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

208

eee

ΕΞ

Commentary

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

209 P

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

210

Commentary

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

211

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

212

Commentary

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.

213

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

214

Commentary

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.

215

The Sixth Book ot the Aeneid

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

216

Commentary

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

217

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

218

Commentary

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,

219

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

220

.» ~~

Commentary

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.

221

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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-

222

Commentary

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.

223

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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,

224

Commentary

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.

225 Q

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

226

Commentary

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.

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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-

228

Commentary

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

229

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

230

Commentary

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

231

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

232

Commentary

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

233

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

“‘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.

234

— δα ἔν

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.

735

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

237

The Sixth Book ot the Aeneid

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

238

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

239

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

240

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

241 R

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

242

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

243

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

244

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).

245

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

246

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.

247

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

248

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

249

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

250

Commentary

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

251

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

252

Commentary

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

253

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

254

Commentary

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

399

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

256

Commentary

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.

257 8

The Sixth Book οἵ the Aeneid

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.

258

Commentary

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

259

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

_ 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

260

Commentary

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.

261

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

262

Commentary

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

263

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

264

Commentary

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.

265

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

266

Commentary

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

267

The Sixth Book or the Aeneid

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

268

Commentary

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.

269

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

270

Commentary

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.

271

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

272

Commentary

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

273 ἂν

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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

274

Commentary

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

275

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

276

Commentary

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-

cal W |

The Sixth Book of the Aeneid

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.

278

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

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

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

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
BILLING AND SONS, LTUD., GUILDFORD AND ESHER

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

DOI τυ γεν. σοτοντον &

ῬΩ
Spr Z)

res
enh

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "The sixth book of the Aeneid. With introd. and notes by H.E. Butler"

See other formats