previous next

[49] The tale is told of course for Dido's information; but, standing where it does, it is evidently meant to express what passed through Aeneas' mind at the time. There is a difficulty however in determining whether Aeneas is reflecting on a story which he knew already, or receiving a new communication, doubtless from Polydorus himself. The language would rather be in favour of the former; but if Aeneas had known the story, he would hardly have landed in Thrace, and v. 60 seems to show that it was not until informed by him that Anchises and the Trojans knew of Polymestor's treachery.

[50] Infelix is understood by Wagn. as referring not to Priam's end or to his ill-fortune generally, but to the misfortune about to be related, the treacherous murder of his son. Surely however an interpretation so restricted impairs the nature and poetical truth of the passage. Aeneas has just finished his narrative of the sack of Troy; and neither he nor Dido could associate the name of Priam with any other thought than that of unhappiness, while this new horror would come in to show that as ill-fortune had followed him persistently through his later years, it was now making itself felt after his death. ‘Furtim mandarat,ὑπεξέπεμψε, Eur. Hec. 6.

[52] Virg.'s meaning evidently is that as the Greeks grew stronger the siege was converted into a blockade—an unseasonable introduction of the military tactics of his own time into the heroic age, and not very consistent with his own account of the ultimate capture of the city. The language in Eur. Hec. 4 is more general, ἐπεὶ Φρυγῶν πόλιν Κίνδυνος ἔσχε δορὶ πεσεῖν Ἑλληνικῷ.

[53] Fortune is said to retire, as in v. 615 to remain.

[54] Res Agamemnonias, as we should say, the fortunes of Agamemnon. ‘Victricia arma’ is rather a strange grammatical combination, “victrix” being treated as a neuter adjective, apparently on the analogy of “felix” &c. It seems to be confined to the poets and later prose authors (see Forc.), and in general only found in the plural, though Claud. 6 Cons. Hon. 21 has “victrici concepta solo.

[55] Fas omne (5. 800) seems here to stand for all laws, human and divine.

[56] The use of ‘cogere’ with two accusatives, the cognate as well as that of the object, is not uncommon. Among other passages Forb. cites Ter. And. 3. 4. 44 “Quod vos vis cogit, id voluntate impetret,” Livy 6. 15 “Vos id cogendi estis.” Henry mentions a curious misinterpretation of Virg.'s words in Dante (Purgat. 22. 40), “Perchè non reggi tu, O sacra fame Dell' oro, l' appetito de' mortali?” “why, O sacred love of gold, moderatest thou not our appetite?” an eulogy of thrift.

[57] Sacra is commonly explained ‘accursed,’ a sense derived from the language of the old laws, where criminals were pronounced “sacri,” i. e. devoted to some god, and consequently put to death. It may be doubted however whether the use of the word here does not come under another head also mentioned by Forc., “sacrum dicitur quidquid religione aut opinione horrendum, aut alioquin terribile atque reconditum obscurumque est, praesertim si a dis venire credatur,” a sense for which he quotes “sacer ignisG. 3. 566, “sacer effera raptet Corda pavor” Val. F. 1. 798. Serv. remarks that Aeneas chooses a topic that would come home to Dido, who had suffered similarly from the murderous avarice of her brother.

[58] Primumque parentem: Aeneas would refer to Anchises first, not only as in private duty bound, but on account of Anchises' reputation for augury, 2. 687. Ladewig supposes, plausibly enough, that Anchises acts as “princeps senatus,” prodigies being at Rome always referred to the senate.

[59] Monstra deum occurs in a different sense 8. 698.

[60] Animus excedere: see on G. 1. 213. Here the infinitives seem to be in apposition to ‘animus.

[61] Some inferior MSS. and Donatus on Ter. And. prol. 16 have ‘linquere,’ which was the old reading. ‘Linqui’ however, which was restored by Heins. from Med., and is found in Pal., is to be preferred, as the more difficult, and as agreeable to Virg.'s love of variety. The same mixture of the passive with the active infinitive will meet us again 5. 773., 11. 84, as it has already met us E. 6. 85, though the harshness here is greater, as the active is resumed immediately. ‘Pollutum hospitium,’ like “polluto amore” 5. 6, “polluta pace” 7. 467, the notion in each case apparently being the breach of a sacred tie. So “polluere ferias,” “ieiunia,” are used by Gellius and Nigidius, of working on holidays, and breaking a fast: see Forc. ‘Dare classibus austros,’ the fleet being conceived of as waiting and hungering for the breeze which was to carry it over the sea. So “date volnera lymphis” 4. 683 note. Cerda well comp. Calpurnius 5. 29, “Campos ovibus, dumeta capellis Orto sole dabis.” There is nothing intrinsically absurd in Serv.'s notion of a hypallage, as we have repeatedly seen that Virg. uses one expression while thinking himself and intending his readers to think of another (see on 1. 381, G. 2. 364); but “dare classem austris” does not happen to be a Virgilian phrase, so that there is no reason to suppose that in this passage he thought of the winds as desiring the ships rather than vice versa.

[62] Instaurare is a term for sacrificial and other solemnities, so that we need not bring in the notion of a new interment, distinguished from the fortuitous one which Polydorus had already received. ‘Et ingens’ &c., as Wagn. remarks, expresses in detail what has been said generally in the earlier part of the verse.

[63] Tumulo is probably to be constructed with ‘aggeritur,’ the casual mound already existing (v. 22) being raised higher. In another context we might accept Wagn.'s interpretation, “ut tumulus inde fiat,” constructing ‘tumulo’ as an ablative, like “cumulo” 1. 105., 2. 498. ‘Stant Manibus arae’ refers to the Roman custom of erecting altars ‘dis Manibus,’ which many inscriptions survive to attest. In v. 305 Hector has two altars, which seems to have been the usual number (comp. E. 5. 66, where Daphnis has two, and see on A. 4. 610., 5. 81): in 5. 48 we hear of funeral altars to Anchises. See Lersch, Antiquitates Vergilianae, § 59. ‘Stant,’ are erected: comp. 4. 508.

[64] Altars are wreathed with fillets E. 8. 64, as elsewhere with boughs. ‘Caeruleus’ denotes that the wool was of a sad colour: see G. 1. 236. The use of the cypress in funerals (“feralis cupressos” 6. 215) was also Roman. The epithet ‘atra’ refers rather to these associations (comp. G. 1. 129., 4. 407) than to the actual colour of the leaves. ‘Maestae,’ as we should say, in mourning. Comp. 11. 35, “maestum crinem.

[65] Another Roman custom, which, as Lersch remarks, is the meaning of ‘de more.’ The line is nearly repeated 11. 35, which shows that we need not supply ‘stant’ to ‘circum,’ though ‘stant circum’ would be natural enough.

[66] Inferre was a sacrificial term: see Forc. Serv. says “inferias damus proprie;” but the similarity between the words seems merely accidental, though Forc. derives “inferium vinum,” the new wine which was offered to Jupiter at the Vinalia and on other occasions, from “inferre.” ‘Tepido,’ newly milked. Bowls of new milk, wine, and blood are offered to Anchises 5. 77, of milk, wine, and oil to Daphnis E. 5. 67. In Aesch. Pers. 609 foll. water and honey are added to the list: comp. Soph. O. C. 481. ‘Cymbia’ 5. 267.

[67] Sanguinis sacri, of the blood of victims, 5. 78. ‘Animam sepulchro condimus,’ just as we talk of laying a spirit, as the soul would wander so long as the body was unburied, 6. 327, &c. Gossrau remarks that there was a distinction between the Greek and the original Roman belief, the former placing the spirit of the buried body in the infernal regions, the latter in the tomb along with the body. Virg., in that case, must be supposed to have held himself free to adopt either view: here he is a Roman, in Book 6 a Greek. Gossrau comp. a similar expression from Ov. F. 5. 451, “Romulus et tumulo fraternas condidit umbras.

[68] The reference is to the ‘inclamatio,’ already mentioned in 1. 219. ‘Supremum’ is not the accusative of the object, as Thiel and Forb. think, but the adverbial or cognate, as Serv. takes it, the object being ‘animam.’ Comp. 6. 506, “Magna Manis ter voce vocavi.” ‘Condimus’ and ‘ciemus’ rather jar with each other, ‘ciere’ being specially used of calling up a shade to upper air, 4. 490.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

Sort places alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a place to search for it in this document.
Troy (Turkey) (1)
Rome (Italy) (1)

Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text.

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: