[636] An adaptation of Il. 5. 449 foll., where Apollo, having taken Aeneas out of the fray and placed him in Pergamus, makes an image to resemble him, about which the Greeks and Trojans continue to fight. Αὐτὰρ ὁ εἴδωλον τεῦξ᾽ ἀργυρότοξος Ἀπόλλων, Αὐτῷ τ᾽ Αἰνείᾳ ἴκελον καὶ τεύχεσι τοῖον, &c. ‘Cava’ unsubstantial: comp. 6. 292, “Et ni docta comes tenuis sine corpore vitas Admoneat volitare cavae sub imagine formae,” &c. “Nube cava” 1. 516., 5. 810. ‘Sine viribus’ may be a translation of ἀμενηνός, the Homeric epithet of the dead. Comp. Aesch. Prom. 547, “ὀλιγοδρανίαν ἄκικυν ἰσόνειρον”, and Shakspeare, Macbeth, Act 3, sc. 4, “Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold.”
[637] In faciem Aeneae ornat like “in faciem nascuntur” G. 2. 85. ‘Monstrum’ apparently in apposition with ‘umbram,’ though it might be in apposition with the action of the verb: see on 6. 223., 8. 487.
[638] Dardaniis telis like “Dardana Paridis tela” 6. 57.
[639] Gud. gives ‘membra’ as a variant for ‘verba:’ ‘verba’ in Pal. is written over an erasure. Serv.'s explanation of ‘inania,’ “nec a membris nec a mente venientia,” may account for the variety. ‘Inania’ unreal: “inania cervorum simulacra” Lucr. 4.995. Contrast “veras voces” 1. 409.
[640] Gressum Med.: comp. 5. 649 “vel gressus eunti.” ‘Euntis’ gen. One inferior MS. has ‘inertes:’ a happy error, as Heyne remarks.
[641, 642] Lucr. 1.134, 135, “Cernere uti videamur eos audireque coram Morte obita quorum tellus amplectitur ossa.” ‘Figura’ is the Lucretian equivalent for εἴδωλον: see Munro on 4. 34, “cum saepe figuras Contuimur miras simulacraque luce carentum.” The whole passage is a reminiscence of Lucr. 4.749— 793, where the question of phantoms seen in sleep or otherwise is discussed: for the language comp. l. l. v. 788, “Quid porro in numerum procedere cum simulacra Cernimus in somnis et mollia membra movere,” &c.
[643, 644] With ‘primas ante acies’ comp. 9. 595, of Numanus, Il. 3. 16, of Paris. ‘Exsultat’ 2. 470. ‘Inritat telis,’ by brandishing, not by throwing, darts. The darts must surely be as unsubstantial as the figure itself. ‘Lacessit,’ comp. v. 718 below: “Missilibus longe et vasto clamore lacessunt.”
[648] Haurire to drink in: so Cic. pro Cael. 24. 59, “haurire dolorem.” ‘Turbidus’ bewildered, not master of himself: so of Turnus 9. 57.
[649, 650] Thalami = marriage, as in 6. 94. “Pactos Hymenaeos” 4. 99: comp. ‘pactas’ v. 79 above. With the thought of ‘hac dabitur dextra’ &c. comp. v. 741 below “eadem mox arva tenebis:” Aesch. Ag. 455, ἐχθρὰ δ᾽ ἔχοντας ἔκρυψεν, and many expressions in Aesch. Theb. For the sake of liveliness “inquit” or “ait” is omitted.
[651, 652] Talia vociferans 2. 679. ‘Sua gaudia’ his hopes of triumph, which were bound up with the phantom. With ‘ventos ferre’ comp. “tradam protervis in mare Creticum Portare ventis” Hor. 1 Od. 26. 2, ἄλλα ταῦτα μὲν Ῥείτω κατ᾽ οὖρον Soph. Trach. 467, and the Homeric ἀνεμώλιος.
