[613] It signifies little whether ‘patria’ is regarded as a substantive, or with Wund. as an adjective. ‘Infelicis’ answers to the Homeric πολύτλας.
[614] Nomen was found by Pierius in all the ancient MSS. which he consulted, and Heins. speaks of it as the reading of ‘potiores membranae nostrae.’ ‘Nomine’ however is the reading of Med., Gud., and some others. Rom. and fragm. Vat. are deficient, and Pal. illegible. Either would be in accordance with Latin usage, while ‘nomen’ would perhaps be the more liable to alteration. On the whole I have preferred ‘nomine,’ contrary to the opinion of the modern editors, Ribbeck excepted, on account of its external authority. Those who support ‘nomen’ are not agreed on its construction, some making it a nom., some an acc. ‘Achemenides,’ not ‘Achaemenides,’ is the reading of Med., supported by the Greek Ἀχημενίδης. ‘Genitore Adamasto’ is not constructed with ‘profectus,’ but taken absolutely, like “patre Benaco” 10. 205. The clause however is equivalent to saying that his father sent him to Troy.
[615] So Sinon's father is ‘pauper’ 2. 87. Here, as there, poverty is the reason why the soldier's calling is chosen, ‘mansisset’ &c. being tantamount to ‘Would I had been content with my lot!’ ‘Mansissetque utinam fortuna’ like “fecissentque utinam” 2. 110. So “et” is used in a parenthetical sentence, 11. 901.
[616] Virg. takes up Hom.'s story of Ulysses and the Cyclops. ‘Hic’ followed by ‘in antro,’ quasi-epexegetically: see on E. 1. 53.
[618] Sanie dapibusque cruentis goes with ‘domus,’ as an abl. of quality or circumstance, though, as the words apparently are to be taken as a predicate, we should have expected them to be constructed with an adj. or participle. ‘Cruenta’ is found in a single inferior copy, the Codex Wittianus.
[619] Pulsat sidera stronger than ‘tangit,’ like Horace's “Sublimi feriam sidera vertice” (1 Od. 1. 36).
[620] “Di, talem avertite casum” above v. 265.
[621] Virg. may have thought of Od. 9. 230, οὐδ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔμελλ᾽ ἑτάροισι φανεὶς ἐρατεινὸς ἔσεσθαι, ib. 257, δεισάντων φθόγγον τε βαρύν, αὐτόν τε πέλωρον. Macrob. Sat. 6. 1 says that Virg. has followed a passage in the Philoctetes of Attius, “Quem neque tueri contra nec adfari queas.” The exact meaning of ‘visu facilis’ seems to be ‘conformable in respect of being looked on.’ ‘Facilis’ is more commonly used of disposition or manner, but the transference to external appearance is not difficult. See on G. 2. 223., 4. 272. For ‘adfabilis’ there is a variant ‘effabilis,’ which was in Serv.'s copy, and is found in Pal., Gud., and others.
[623] Vidi egomet: comp. 2. 499. ‘Corpora:’ see on 2. 18. In Hom.'s account the Cyclops seizes two on three several occasions.
[624] The Cyclops in Homer is on his feet when he seizes the companions of Ulysses, 9. 288 foll., so that Burm may be right in explaining ‘resupinus’ of the giant's bending back to gain a spring ‘Medio in antro’ however is slightly in favour of supposing him to be lying down.
[625] In Hom. it is the brain that sprinkles the floor (v. 290): but we need hardly compare the details. ‘Adspersa’ is the reading of most MSS., including Med., but Serv. asserts ‘exspersa’ to be the true word, adding the critical remark that ‘adspersa natarent’ would combine a ταπείνωσις with a hyperbole. ‘Exspersa’ is likely enough to have been altered as a rare word, though found in Lucr. (5. 371), while it is certainly the more forcible of the two. We may translate ‘splashed and swimming with gore.’
[627] As in G. 1. 296, the MSS. vary between ‘tepidi’ and ‘trepidi,’ the latter of which is found in Med., though with a mark indicating that the ‘r’ is to be omitted, and is the second reading of Pal. The sense is clearly in favour of ‘tepidi,’ as ‘trepidi’ would be merely a tautology with ‘tremerent,’ not, as Jahn thinks, a fresh stroke of horror. Ovid's words “elisi trepident sub dentibus artus” (M. 14. 196) prove nothing.
628.[ ‘Haud inpune quidem’ may remind us of Od. 9. 317, εἴ πως τισαίμην, δοίη δέ μοι εὖχος Αθήνη, ‘nec talia passus Ulixes’ of ib. 475, Κύκλωψ, οὐκ ἄρ᾽ ἔμελλες ἀνάλκιδος ἀνδρὸς ἑταίρους Ἔδμεναι ἐν σπῆϊ γλαφυρῷ κρατερῇφι βίῃφι. With ‘Ulixes —Ithacus’ comp. v. 162, ‘Delius—Apollo,’ though here ‘Ithacus’ seems to be a second nominative.[630] Vino sepultus 2. 265. The description is copied from Od. 9. 371 foll. in all its loathsome details. We need not however blame Virg., as some crities have done, for introducing such things into an after-supper speech. Writing of Homeric events, he naturally adopts the Homeric manner.
[631] Cervicem posuit like “pone caput” 5. 845.
[632] Some copies have ‘immensum’ (Pal.) or ‘immensam,’ the former of which is supported by Serv. The old reading was ‘ac frusta,’ which Heyne retained.
[634] Hom. (vv. 331 foll.) makes them cast lots for four who should take part with Ulysses. Virg. apparently means that they settled by lot which part of the work should fall to each, all being assumed to share in it.
[635] Ti. Donatus read ‘tenebramus,’ a reading mentioned by Serv., which has a certain superficial plausibility in connexion with ‘lumen.’ But this poetical prettiness would be out of place here. ‘Terebramus’ expresses a process which Hom. describes in several lines (vv. 382 foll.), the rest forcing the stake into the eye, while Ulysses from above twirls it about, as a ship-carpenter bores a hole in a plank. The ‘telum’ is doubtless the stake.
[636] Latebat seems to express the appearance of the eye as he lay, sunken, and overshadowed by the huge brow and lashes, not as Serv., “dormienti scilicet.” Here again, as in v. 535 above, Serv. represents Donatus as reading unmetrically ‘late patebat;’ but these words look more like an attempt at explanation founded on an etymological blunder, “latebat, i. e. late patebat,” like that mentioned by Pierius as given by Varro, “oculi quod sub fronte occulantur.” It does not appear that ‘patebat’ existed as a various reading, but one copy has ‘iacebat.’
[637] The point of the comparison lies, as Henry remarks, in the fact that the various objects were huge, round, and glaring. The Argive shield was round, and protected the whole body. The comparison to the shield is from Callim. Hymn to Artemis, v. 53 (speaking of the Cyclops), “τοῖσι δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ὀφρὺν Φάεα μουνόγληνα, σάκει ἴσα τετραβοείῳ, Δεινὸν ὑπογλαύσσοντα”.
[638] See on v. 628.
[641] Qualis quantusque: see on 2. 591.
[642] Virg. has not previously spoken of Polyphemus' shepherd habits: here he introduces them incidentally, the whole line being a poetical synonyme for “est,” as Heyne remarks.
[643] Volgo = “passim,” as in 6. 283, E. 4. 25, G. 3. 363, 494, comp. by Wund. and Wagn.
[644] Some copies (including the second readings of Pal. and Med.) have ‘atque altis,’ evidently from a mistake about the quantity of ‘Cyclopes.’
[645] With the construction Forb. comp. Prop. 3. 12. 21, “Septuma iam plenae deducitur orbita lunae, Cum de me et de te compita nulla tacent.”
[646] Deserta, Forsaken or unfrequented, not of course by the beasts themselves, but by men. “Inter silvas, inter deserta ferarum” occurs 7. 404, ‘deserta’ being there a substantive.
[647] Heyne and Henry seem right, after Cerda, in connecting ‘ab rupe’ with ‘Cyclopas.’ The Cyclops live on the mountain-tops (Od. 9. 113), and Achemenides sees them skulking among the woods on the low ground. So immediately below, v. 655, ‘summo monte’ belongs not to ‘videmus’ but to ‘moventem.’ ‘Ab rupe’ may either mean ‘in the direction of the cliff,’ like “vicino ab limite” E. 1. 53, or ‘coming down the cliff.’ The singular furnishes no objection, as Achemenides may well be thinking of a single occasion when he saw and heard a Cyclops on a cliff. ‘Prospicio’ however, as Mr. Long remarks, is in favour of supposing Achemenides to have mounted a rock for observation, as he apparently does v. 651.
[648] Tremesco is the spelling of Med. and most other MSS. The construction with acc. occurs again 11. 403.
[649] Comp. G. 2. 500, “Quos rami fructus, quos ipsa volentia rura Sponte tulere sua, carpsit,” which gives the more pleasing side of the picture. ‘Infelicem’ like “infelix lolium” E. 5. 37, i. q. ‘silvestris,’ though with a further rhetorical force. ‘Lapidosa corna’ G. 2. 34.
[650] Volsis radicibus, their roots torn up from the soil, a variety for ‘volsae a radicibus.’ The words are constructed with ‘herbae,’ not with ‘pascunt.’ So “ruptis radicibus” above v. 27.
[651] Primum almost = “tandem” here: see on E. 1. 44.
[652] Med. and two or three others have ‘prospexi,’ which may be right, though it seems likely to have come from ‘prospicio’ v. 648. For the tense of ‘fuisset’ see on 2. 94.
[653] Addixi expresses total surrender, and so prepares us for the language of self-abandonment which follows.
[655-691] ‘As he spoke, the blind monster Polyphemus appeared from the mountain with his sheep, and advanced into the water, which did not reach to his sides. We put to sea quickly, while he strode after us: but finding we outstripped him, he called out, and his giant-brethren thronged to the shore. We hurried away, not knowing whither, though anxious to avoid Scylla and Charybdis. A breeze sprung up from the north and carried us along, Achemenides being our guide.’
