[157] Prima tenet 5. 194, 338. ‘Rostro Phrygios subiuncta leones’ apparently means ‘with lions joined to its beak underneath:’ the construction being like “delphinum caudas utero commissa luporum” 3. 428, and Horace's “laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto.” The beak of a ship was generally (though not always) below the ornament or parasemon (Dict. A. ‘Navis’), and this seems to be the case here. The lions are joined to the beak beneath them, and over them (‘super’ v. 158) rises the figure or the painting of Ida, the figure-head consisting of the whole group. Wagn.'s explanation “leones rostro ita subiuncti ut ipsum rostrum in leonum faciem abiret” puts an unnecessary strain on the words. ‘Phrygii leones’ the lions of Cybele, the special guardian of the Trojan fleet.
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John Conington. P. Vergili Maronis opera. P. Vergili Maronis Opera. The works of. Virgil. , with a Commentary by John Conington, M.A. and Henry Nettleship, M.A. London. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane;. George Bell and Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1876.
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