celeri: indicating his eagerness for arrival.
[2] Phrygium nemus: that clothing the slopes not of Dindymus but of Ida (cf. vv. 30, 52).
[2] citato cupide pede: emphazing the eager haste of the traveller, rather than indicating a land journey after reaching the shores of Asia (cf. vv. 47, 89), the poet is not writing as a geographer. Cf. v. 30 properante pede.
[3] opaca: cf. v. 32. The mad rush of the new devotees is contrasted with the silent mysteries of the abode of the goddess.
[4] ibi: thereupon; cf. vv. 42, 48, 76; and Catul. 66.33; Catul. 8.6n.
[4] furenti rabie: cf. v. 38 rabidus furor.
[4] vagus animis: the plural to indicate his divided, distorted emotions; cf. Verg. A. 8.228 “ecce furens animis aderat Tirynthius” .
[5] ili: genitive from the stem ilio-, a rare but legitimate variant for the more frequent ili-; cf. Cels. 4.1 “iliis” (dat. plur.); Gloss. Labb. “ilium λαγών” ; Marc. Emp. 36 “[ilium]” .
[6] sine viro: i.e. sine virilitate.
[7] terrae sola: (plural, as in v. 40 sola dura): cf. Lucr. 2.592 “nam multis succensa locis ardent sola terrae.”
[8] niveis manibus: cf. v. 10 n. teneris digitis. Adjectives descriptive of feminine beauty are employed to accord with the change of gender under which Attis is now spoken of, and himself speaks of his companions (vv. 12 Gallae, 15 exsecutae, 34 rapidae Gallae); cf. Hor. Carm. 2.4.3 “niveo colore” (of Briseis); Hor. Carm. 3.27.25 niveum latus (of Europe); Verg. A. 8.387 “niveis lacertis” (of Venus).
[8] citata: Attis is from henceforth a notha mulier (v. 27), and is described by feminine adjectives; cf. vv. 11 adorta, tremebunda, 31 furibunda, 32 comitata, etc.; but when he returns to himself and thinks with sorrow and loathing upon his condition, the masculine adjective is resumed; cf. vv. 51 miser, 78 hunc, 88 tenerum, 89 ille. The emendations by which all these later masculines (except v. 78 hunc) have been transformed to feminines are based on incorrect feeling.
[8] lene: the tympanum is probably called leve because it is cavum (v. 10).
[8] typanum: Gr. poet. form τύπανον metri gratia (cf. v. 21, etc. tympanum, Gr. τύμπανον); from representations in vase- and wall-paintings, an instrument like the modern tambourine, but with the rattling disks of metal suspended at intervals from its edge by short cords.
[9] tubam Cybelles: as the blare of the tuba is the summons and incitement to warriors, so is the beat of the tympanum to the votaries of Cybele; the phrase is further explained by tua initia. The famous norm of Bentley (on Lucan 1.600) that when the penult is short, the form Cybele should be written, but when it is long the form Cybebe, Cybelle being discarded altogether, is not well supported by either Greek or Latin usage. Cybelle (Gr. *ku/bella) is found in many good MSS.
[9] mater: Cybele was the Magna Mater Idaea of the Romans, as well as mater deorum; cf. intr. note; Hymn. Cyb. “μήτερα μοι πάντων τε θεῶν, πάντων τ᾽ ἀνθρώπων” .
[9] initia: technically used only of the mysteries of Demeter (cf. Varr. RR 3.I.5 “initia vocantur potissimum ea quae Cereri fiunt sacra” ), but here of the symbol of the secret worship of Cybele, perhaps by reason of the popular confusion of Cybele with Demeter.
[10] teneris digitis: cf. v. 8 n. niveis manibus; Ov. Ib. 456 “[ut Attis] quatias molli tympana rauca manu” ; Ov. Fast. 4.342 “feriunt molles taurea terga manus.”
[10] cava: the word tympanum also denoted a kettle-drum with a hemispherical resounding cavity and a single head of hide, and so cava, which would properly characterize it, is here used of its cognate instrument, the tambourine; cf. Ov. Fast. 4.183 “inania tympana tundent” ; Aus. Epist. 29.21 “cava tympana.”
[11] tremebunda: in the quivermg of nervous excitement.
[12] agite: cf. Catul. 61.38n.
[12] Gallae: cf. v. 34, and intr. note.
[12] Cybeles: Gr. Κυβέλη; cf. v. 9 n. Cybelles.
[13] Dindymenae dominae: cf. v. 91; Catul. 35.14.
[13] vaga: of the purposeless wanderings of the crazed devotees; cf. vv. 18 erroribus; 25 vaga cohors; 31 vaga vadit.
[13] pecora: cf. Ov. Ib. 457 “pecus Magnae Parentis” (of the Galli)
[15] sectam meam exsecutae: under my rule; Attis acts as recruiting officer, and then (duce me） guides the new devotees to their place of service. comites implies here a certain subordination as in the case of the comites of a provincial governor; cf. Catul. 28.1 Catul. 11.1. Apparently exsequi is used with sectam only here, though Cicero uses sectam persequi (Cic. Verr. 2.5.70.181), and sectam sequi is frequently found (cf. Livy 29.27.2 “qui meam sectam secuntur” , a formal expression in an invocation).
[16] rapidum: of the rushing waves of the sea, as explained in truculenta pelagi; cf. Catul. 64.358 “rapido Hellesponto” .
[16] truculenta pelagi: with the construction cf. Verg. A. 9.81 “pelagi alta” ; Hor. Carm. 4.4.76 “acuta belli” ; with the sentiment, Hor. Carm. 1.3.10 “truci pelago” .
[18] hilarate, etc.: i.e. haste to gladden the heart of the goddess by the presence of this new accession of enthusiastic votaries.
[18] erroribus: the rabidus furor animi (v. 38) would lead the band, not directly to the temple, but in Maenad-like tortuousness of course.
[21] cymbalum: cymbala were hollow hemispheres of metal a few inches in diameter, held one in each hand by the aid of small rings or thongs attached to the center of their convex surfaces. Struck together, they gave a sharp, clanging sound that fitted well with that of the tympana and tibiae; cf. Catul. 64.262 “tereti tenuis tinnitus aere ciebant” ; Ov. Fast. 4.184 “aera tinnitus aere repulsa dabunt” ; Ov. Fast. 4.189 “sonus aeris acuti” ; Aus. Epist. 24.23 “tinnitus atinnitus aëni.eumlaut;ni.”
[21] reboant: cf. Aus. Epist. 24.21 “tentis reboant cava tympana tergis” .
[22] Phryx: the tibiae were said to be a Phrygian invention; cf. Catul. 64.264; Lucr. 2.620 “Phrygio stimulat numero cava tibia mentis” ; Tib. 2.1.86 “obstrepit et Phrygio tibia curva sono” ; Ov. Fast. 4.181 “inflexo Berecyntia tibia cornu” .
[22] curvo calamo: the tibia was originally made of a reed. The curved variety appears from bas-reliefs to have been shaped sometimes like the lituus, straight and of uniform diameter from the mouth-piece till near the bell, where it curved sharply back upon itself, but sometimes to have had a gentle double curve and an increasing diameter from mouthniece to bell, like a cow-horn. The straight varieties, more commonly used, were generally played in pairs, one with each hand, being often supported in position at the player's mouth by a band admitting the two mouth-pieces and fastened at the back of the head.
[22] graue: cf. Stat. Theb. 6.113 “signum luctus cornu grave mugit adunco tibia” .
[23] maenades: the poet borrows for the priests of Cybele the name appropriate to the frenzied maidens that attended upon the similar rites of Dionysus.
[23] capita vi iaciunt: frequent wall-paintings and engraved gems show the bacchanals beating the tympana and swaying the head violently back and forth; cf. Catul. 64.255 “capita inflectentes” ; Maec. frag. 4 Baehr. “sonante typano quate flexibile caput” ; Varr. Sat. Men. 132 Buech. “semiviri teretem comam volantem iactant” ; Ov. Met. 3.726 “ululavit Agave, collaque iactavit, movitque per aera crinem” .
[23] hederigerae: ἅπαξ λεγόμενον.
[24] acutis ululatibus cf. v. 28 Maec. frag. 5 Baehr. “comitum chorus ululet” Ov. Fast. 4.341 “exululant comites” , Met. l. c.
[25] illa: the demonstrative characterizes as well known the whole statement; in this use ille corresponds closely to our definite article.
[25] volitare vaga: so of Bacchus in Catul. 64.251, Catul. 64.390.
[25] cohors: i.e. comites; cf. v. 11 and 28.1 Pisonis comites, cohors inanis.
[26] tripudiis: of the wild, rhythmic dance connected with the worship.
[27] simul: sc. atque; cf. v. 45 and Catul. 22.15n.
[27] notha mulier: cf. Ov. Fast. 4.183 “semimares” (of the Galli); Ov. Ib. 453 “nec femina nec vir” (of Attis); Varro Sat. Men. 132 Buech. “semiviri” (of the Galli).
[28] thiasus: of a band of raving devotees, as in 64.252, and often, of the attendants of Iacchus.
[28] trepidantibus: as v. 11 tremebunda, of the quivering of nervous excitement; cf. Verg. A. 7.395 “aliae tremulis ululatibus aethera complent” (of the Bacchic worshippers).
[28] ululat: cf. v. 24 n. “ululatibus”.
[29] leve tympanum: cf. v. 8 leve tympanum.
[29] recrepant: the word apparently occurs only here and in Ciris 108 “lapis recrepat Cyllenia murmura pulsus” .
[30] viridem Idam: cf. v. 70; Culex 311 “iugis Ida patens frondentibus” ; Ov. AA 1.289 “sub umbrosis nemorosae vallibus Idae” ; Ov. Fast. 6.327 “in opacae vallibus Idae” ; Ov. Met. 11.762 “umbrosa sub Ida” ; Stat. Silv. 3.4.12 “pinifera Ida” .
[30] properante pede: cf. v. 34 properipedem.
[31] animam agens: to be explained from anhelans of the almost fainting condition resulting from haste, excitement, and exhaustion, gasping. It usually means ‘to give up the ghost’; cf. Cic. Fam. 8.13.2 “Q. Hortensius, cum has litteras scripsi, animam agebat.”
[32] comitata: usually with an ablative of person instead of thing when, as here, it has a personal subject.
[33] veluti iuvenca: etc. the comparison is usually employed by the poets of the yoke of love; cf. Catul. 68.118n.
[35] domum Cybelles: apparently the shrine of the goddess on the mountain-top.
[36] Cerere: cf. Cic. ND 2.23.60 “fruges Cererem appellamus, vinum autem Liberum; ex quo illud Terenti ‘sine Cerere et, Libero friget Venus’” (from Ter. Eun. 732).—The fasting in this case was probably not due to a requirement of ritual, but simply to the utterly exhausted condition of the new Galli.
[38] quiete molli: etc. cf. v. 44.
[38] rabidus furor: cf. v. 4 furenti rabie.
[39] oris aurei: doubtless to be construed with Sol rather than with oculis; cf. Lucr. 5.461 “aurea … matutina rubent radiati lumina solis” ; Verg. G. 1.232 “sol aureus” ; Ov. Met. 7.663 “iubar aureus extulerat sol” .
[39] radiantibus oculis: cf. Ov. Trist. 2.325 “radiantia lumina solis” ; and with the figure in oculis, F. W. Bonrdillon, “the night has a thousand eyes and the day but one.”
[40] lustravit: surveyed, rather than ‘illumined,’ as the figure in oculis shows.
[40] aethera album: etc. the adjectives album, dura, ferum describe permanent characteristics and not those peculiar to the morning, and hence album must be understood not merely of the sky brightened by dawn, but of the bright, fiery aether; cf. Cic. ND 1.13.33 “caeli ardorem” ; Cic. ND 2.15.41 “in ardore caelesti qui aether vel caelum nominatur” .
[40] sola: plural, since the sun views every region of earth.
[40] dura: solid, to distinguish the earth from the fluid aether and sea.
[40] feram: a traditional epithet of the sea; cf. v. 16 n.
[41] sonipedibus: first in Lucil. 15.15. Muel. “Campanus sonipes” ; also in Cic. De Or. 3.47.183 “paeon … sicut … sonipedes” ; and frequently in later poets.
[42] ibi: temporal, as in v. 4 (see note).
[42] Somnus: etc. the morn having come, Somnus is released from duty and flies eagerly (citus) back to Pasithea, whose reciprocal eagerness of longing is indicated by v. 43 trepidante sinu. Pasithea was one of the lesser Graces, and was promised to Sleep as a wife by Hera in Hom. Il. 14.267ff.
[45] simul: cf. v. 27 n. “simul”.
[46] liquida mente: of passionless calm; cf. Pl. Epid. 643 “animo liquido et tranquillo's: tace!” Pl. Ps. 232 “nihil curassis: liquido's animo: ego pro me et pro te curabo” .
[46] ubique: the quantity of the penult shows the equivalence to et ubi.
[47] animo aestuante: contrasted with liquida mente; there was but a moment of clear and calm mental vision succeeded by the torture of recollection.
[47] rasum: so sometimes in earlier Latin (including Lucretius) for later rursus.
[47] reditum tetulit: cf. v. 79 uti reditum ferat; Catul. 61.26 “aditum ferens” ; Catul. 61.43 aditum ferat. On the archaic form of the verb cf. v. 52; Catul. 34.8n.
[48] maria vasta: cf. Catul. 31.3 “mari vasto” ; Catul. 64.127 “pelagi vastos aestus” .
[49] miseriter: for misere, as puriter for pure in Catul. 39.14; Catul. 76.19.
[51] miser: while under the influence of his mad enthusiasm, Attis gloried in his emasculation, but now, in his recovered senses, he speaks of his condition only with loathing, using feminines (v. 68) to point this feeling, but of course not using a feminine adjective in this expression of passionate longing for his home.
[53] ferarum gelida stabula: cf. Verg. A. 6.179 “itur in antiquam silvam, stabula alta ferarum” . On the lengthening of the final syllable before initial st see Intr. 86g.
[55] reor: indicative present with future meaning; cf Catul. 1.1n. dono.
[56] pupula: cf. Cic. ND 2.57.142 “acies ipsa, qua cernimus, quae pupula vocatur.”
[56] derigere: so, rather than dirigere, of the fixed gaze in a single direction; cf. Catul. 22.8 “derecta plumbo” .
[57] carens est: for caret; cf. Catul. 64.317n. fuerant exstantia.
[59] genitoribus: i.e. parentibus; cf. Lucr. 2.615 “ingrati genitoribus” (of the Galli).
[60] foro: the poet here employs the corresponding Latin word for the Greek ἀγορά.
[61] miser ah miser: cf. Catul. 61.139.
[61] etiam atque etiam: cf. Pl. Trin. 674 “te moneo hoc etiam atque etiam” ; Ter. Eun. 56 “etiam atque etiam cogita” ; and often in later writers.
[62] figurae: under the word is the Greek feeling for the beauty of the human form that had made Attis the object of so much adoration; cf. Cic. ND 1.18.47ff.
[63] mulier: starting with the torturing thought of his present hateful condition, he retraces the steps of his former career as the passionate admiration of a whole city.
[63] adulescens: cf. Catul. 12.9n. puer; Censor. Die Nat. 14.2 “[Varro putat] usque annum XV. pueros dictos … ad tricensimum annum adulescentes … usque quinque et quadraginta annos iuvenis … adusque sexagensimum annum seniores … inde usque finem vitae senes” .
[63] ephebus: cf. Censor. Die Nat. 14.8 “de tertia autem aetate adulescentulorum tres gradus esse factos in Graecia prius quam ad viros perveniatur, quod vocent annorum xiiii. παῖδα, μελλέφηβον autem xv., dein sedecim ἔφηβον,tunc septemdecim ἐξέφηβον.”
[64] gymnasi flos: with the figure cf. Catul. 17.14n.
[64] olei: i.e. palaestrae, as the contestants were well rubbed with oil before the sports; cf. Cic. De Or. 1.18.81 nitidum … genus verborum … sed palaestrae … et olei.
[65] ianuae frequentes: devoted admirers flocked to his doors by day.
[65] limina tepida: finding no entrance, his lovers spent the night in complaints on his door-stone; cf. Plat. Symp. 183a “οἱ ἐρασται … ποιούμενοι … κοιμήσεις ἐπι θύραις” ; Aristaenetus 2.20 “ὅτε μὲν γὰρ αὐτοὶ ποθεῖτε, ἀστρώτους καὶ χαμαιπετεῖς κοιμήσεις ἐπὶ θύραις ποιεῖσθε” ; Hor. Carm. 3.10.20 “non hoc semper erit liminis patiens latus” , Prop. 1.16.22 “tristis et in tepido limine somnus erit” ; Ov. Met. 14.709 “posuit in limine duro molle latus” .
[66] corollis: the door-posts and threshold were decorated with garlands by the lovers in token of their devotion; cf. Lucr. 4.1177 “at lacrimans exclusus amator limina saepe floribus et sertis operit” ; Ov. Met. 14.708 “interdum madidas lacrimarum rore coronas postibus intendit” ; Prop. 1.16.7 “mihi non desunt turpes pendere corollae” .
[67] linquendum ubi: etc. the proudly careless boy affected so completely to disregard the attentions of his lovers as to be aware of them only as he left the house in the morning for the stadium and palaestra.
[67] esset: only one earlier instance of the subjunctive of repetition with ubi can be cited (Pl. Bacch. 431). In the silver age the construction becomes more frequent; cf. Hor. Carm. 3.6.41 “sol ubi montium mutaret umbras.”
[68] deum ministra: not specifically a servant of the general pantheon, but simply a temple servant, an unknown priest instead of the beloved of a city: the needful specification follows in Cybeles famula; cf. Tac. Ann. 1.10.5; Tac. Ann. 4.37.5 “effigie numinum” .
[68] ministra, famula: not content with the contrast between the lord of a cityful of lovers and the slave of a mysterious divinity, Attis brands his present disgrace by using the feminine form.
[69] maenas: cf. v. 23 n. maenades.
[70] viridis Idae: cf. v. 30 n.
[71] altis Phrygiae columinibus: the following verse makes it clear that mountain-summits are meant, though the form appears to be used only here in that sense; but the form culmen is so used by Caes. BG 3.2 and by Suet. Dom. 23, and perhaps columinibus is here used metri gratia.
[72] silvicultrix, nemorivagus: each adjective is ἅπαξ λεγόμενον, though Verg. A. 10.551 uses silvicola, and Lucr. 2.597 “montivagum” .
[73] iam iam: with the repetition cf. Cic. Phil. 2 34.87 “iam iam minime miror te otium perturbare” ; Verg. A. 12.875 “iam iam linquo acies” .
[73] iam iamque: not = et iam iam, for the passionate exclamation of sorrow demands an asyndeton; the phrase rather = iam et iam; cf. Cic. Att. 7.20.1 “at illum ruere nuntiant et iam iamque adesee” ; Cic. Att. 16.9 “iam iamque video bellum” : and in Catullus himself Catul. 38.3 and Catul. 64.274 “magis magis” beside Catul. 68.48 “magis atque magis” .
[74] roseis labellis: the youthful beauty of Attis is thus contrasted with the intensity of his suffering and the bitterness of his plaint; cf. Catul. 45.12n. purpureo ore.
[75] geminas: cf. Catul. 51.11 “gemina teguntur lumina nocte” (where, however, there is a transfer of epithet); Culex 150 “geminas aures” ; Verg. A. 5.416 “temporibus geminis” ; Ov. Fast. 2.154 “geminos pedes” ; Stat. Silv. 4.4.26 “geminas aures” ; Mart. 10.10.10 “geminas manus” .
[75] deorum aures: somewhat loosely said, as if Cybele were not alone on the summit of Ida, but in the company of the other gods.
[75] nuntia: the neuter singular in the sense of ‘news’ is very unusual, and the neuter plural in the same sense is still more rare; cf. however Sedul. 2.474 “grandia nuntia” .
[76] iuga resolvens: while unfastening the lion from the yoke she addresses him. Cybele is often depicted by the poets as riding in a chariot drawn by yoked lions; cf. Lucr. 2.600 “hanc veteres Graium docti cecinere poetae sedibus in curru biiugos agitare Ieones” ; Verg. A. 3.113 “et iuncti currum dominae subiere Ieones” ; Verg. A. 10.253 “biiugi ad frena leones.”
[77] laevum: the ‘nigh’ lion; the specification is doubtless introduced for the sake of increasing the realistic effect of the lion's attack by details of word painting.
[77] pecoris hostem: probably with reference to the Greek descriptions of the lion as ταυροβόρος (Anth. Plan. 94), ταυροκτόνος (Soph. Phil. 400), ταυρολέτωρ (Man. Chron. 252), ταυροσφάγος (Lyc. 47), ταυροφόνος (Orph. Hym. 14.2); for pecus indicates neat cattle as well as sheep; cf. Varro RR 2.1.12 “de pecore maiore, in quo sunt … boues, asini, equi” .
[77] stimulans: probably not with a goad, but with her words.
[78] agedum, age: with the repetition cf. Ter. And. 310 “age age” .
[78] fac ut: with the construction cf. v. 79 Catul. 64.231; Catul. 109.3; but for fac and subjunctive without ut, v. 82; Catul. 68.46.
[79] reditum ferat: cf. v. 47 reditum tetulit.
[81] caede terga cauda: this habit of the lion in rage is noted by Plin. NH 8.16.49, and by
.“ mox ubi se saevae stimulavit verbere caudae
erexitque iubam et vasto grave murmur hiatu
infremuit
”
[82] fac retonent: with the construction cf. Catul. 68.46 and v. 78 n. retonent is ἅπαξ λεγόμενον.
[84] minax: of Cybele's attitude toward Attis.
[84] religat iuga: frees the lion from the yoke, completing the action begun in v. 76 iuncta iaga resolvens; with this conjunction of resolvere and religare in the same meaning cf. Pallad. Rut. 3.13 “providendum est omnibus annis vitem resolvi ac religari” . For religare in the other sense cf. Catul. 64.174.
[85] rabidum: Cybele's exhortation was to arouse the lion to fury rather than to haste, and that is the characteristic passion of his subsequent action; hence rapidum, the reading of V, must be an error for rabidum, as rapidos for rabidos in v. 93, where a similar collocation occurs, incitatos rabidos being like rabidum incitat.
[86] pede vago: the lion rushes now here, now there, in search of his prey; otherwise in Catul. 64.277.
[87] albicantis: not of the general color of sea-sand, but of the whiteness and sparkle of a foamwet beach, as the position and use of umida indicate.
[87] loca litoris: cf. v. 70 Idae loca.
[88] tenerum: not of the beauty, but of the present effeminate condition of Attis; cf. Juv. 1.22 “tener spado” .
[88] marmora pelagi: cf. Hom. Il. 14.273 “ἅλα μαρμαρέην” . The word seems to describe the sparkling of the sea that occurs when it is covered with ripples only, and hence to convey the idea of a calm expanse (nitens aequor).
[89] demens: sc. with present fear, not with past recollections.
[90] famula: repeating the feminine used by Attis himself in v. 68, and leaving with the reader, as the final thought, the irrevocable character of the awful self-consecration with which the poem opened.
[91-93] The epilogue is a brief hymn to the dread goddess herself.
[91] dea magna: cf. Prop. 4.17.35 “dea magna Cybelle” .
[91] domina Dindymi: cf. v. 13; Catul. 35.14.
[92] procul: etc. cf. Ov. Fast. 4.116 “a nobis sit furor iste procul” .
[93] age: with the verb in this sense with an adjective expressing, as it were, the result of the action, cf. Ov. Met. 5.13 “quae te, germane, furentem mens agit in facinus?” Tac. Agr. 41 “sic Agricola … in ipsam gloriam praeceps agebatur.”
[93] incitatos … rabidos; cf. the same collocation in v. 85 rabidum incitat.
