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1 See B. v. c. 9.
2 The site of this labyrinth has not been traced, but Sir G. Wilkinson is inclined to think that it was at Howarah el Soghaï in the Faiöum.
3 Similar, probably, to the one at Hampton Court.
4 Most modern writers, and some of the ancients, have altogether denied the existence of the Cretan Labyrinth; but, judging from the testimony of Tournefort and Cockerell, it is most probable that it really did exist, and that it was a vast natural grotto or cavern, enlarged and made additionally intricate by human ingenuity. There are many caverns of this nature in Crete, and one near Gortyna, at Hagios-Deka, is replete with galleries and intricate windings similar to those ascribed to the Labyrinth of Dædalus.
5 See Chapter 13 of this Book. He is surprised that the people of Egypt, a country which abounded in exquisite marbles, should have used that of another country in preference to their own.
6 As to the meaning of this word, see B. v. c. 9.
7 See Chapter 5 of this Book.
8 "Ulnæ." See Introduction to Vol. III.
9 The ὰρουρα was a Greek square measure, containing 2500 square feet.
10 See Chapter 11 of this Book.
11 As to the meaning of this word, see Chapter 4 of this Book, page 317, and Note 77.
12 "Circummon" is a more common reading.
13 Or acacia. See B. xxiv. c. 65.
14 Welcker remarks that it is uncertain whether this Labyrinth was erected as a temple of the Cabiri, or whether it had any connection with the art of mining.
15 Smilis lived, probably, 200 years before Rhœcus and Theodorus, and was a native of Ægina, not Lemnos. Sillig, however, is inclined to think that there were two artists of this name; the elder a contemporary of Dædalus, and the maker of several wooden statues.
16 See B. xxxv. c. 43.
17 See B. iii. c. 8.
18 A round, broad-brimmed hat, such as we see represented in the statues of Mercury.
19 Where two brazen vessels were erected on a column, adjoining to which was the statue of a boy with a whip; which, when agitated by the wind, struck the vessels, and omens were drawn from the tinkling noise produced, significant of future events, it was supposed.
20 A building like this, as Niebuhr says, is absolutely impossible, and belongs to the "Arabian Nights." The description in some particulars resembles that of a Chinese pagoda.
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- Commentary references to this page
(1):
- E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, 64
- Cross-references to this page
(2):
- Harper's, Gagae
- Harper's, Labyrinthus
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page
(3):
- Lewis & Short, Pandōra
- Lewis & Short, gĕnĕsis
- Lewis & Short, magnĭfĭcentĭa