[618] Dindyma 10. 252. ‘Biforem:’ Serv. quotes a passage from Varro, “Tibia Phrygia dextra unum foramen habet, sinistra duo, quorum unum acutum sonum habet, alterum gravem” (comp. Dict. A. ‘Tibia’), so that the reference here would be to a flute with two stops. Heyne comp. Hor. A. P. 202, “Tibia non, ut nunc, orichalco vincta tubaeque Aemula, sed tenuis simplexque foramine pauco.” No earlier authority is quoted for ‘biforis’ in this or in its literal sense. Probably Virg. was thinking of the διθύραμβος, which was originally performed to the flute (Dict. A. ‘Chorus,’ ed. 1), whether the etymology be a correct one or no.
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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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