[845] In Aeschylus the Eumenides are cut off altogether from access to the gods of heaven: Ζεὺς τόδ᾽ ἀξιόμισον ἔθνος λέσχας ἇς ἀπηξιώσατο, Eum. 366; but here, as in Book 7, the Fury appears, as the minister of the upper deities, at the threshold of their abode. ‘Dirae’ answers to the Greek Ἀραί (Aesch. Eum. 417), whether in the sense of curses (“diras imprecari”) or of personal Furies. It has also the meaning of ‘ill omens,’ as in Cic. Div. 1. 16. 29, “Crasso quid acciderit dirarum obnuntiatione neglecta.” ‘Pestes’ 7. 505.
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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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