[94] Referre cannot here have its usual sense of ‘reply;’ nor can it mean to recount, as in “quid referam.” Either then the word must be construed simply ‘says,’ or it must be explained as an elliptical expression for “refert pectore,” which we find 5. 409.—‘O terque quaterque beati,’ &c. The whole of this is closely imitated from part of the speech of Ulysses, Od. 5. 306—312. The horror of Ulysses is excited by the prospect of death without glory and without burial; that of Achilles when in danger of drowning (Il. 21. 272), by the prospect of death without glory. Comp. also for the sentiment Aesch. Cho. 345 foll., 363 foll.
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John Conington. P. Vergili Maronis opera. P. Vergili Maronis Opera. The works of Virgil, with a Commentary by John Conington, M.A. Late Corpus Professor of Latin in the University of Oxford. London. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane. 1876.
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