Ode XV
Nereus, the wise old man of the sea (Hes. Theog. 233; Pind. Pyth. 3. 92; Apoll. Rhod. 4. 771), becalms Paris, returning from Sparta with Helen, in order to predict the doom of Troy. See Herod. 2. 116. Cf. F. Q. 4. 11. 19, 'Thereto he was expert in prophecies, | And could the ledden (language) of the Gods unfold; | Through which, when Paris brought his famous prize, | The fair Tindarid lass, he him foretold | That her all Greece with many a champion bold | Should fetch again, and finally destroy | Proud Priam's town: so wise is Nereus old.'In this, perhaps youthful, experiment, Horace attempts, as Quintilian says of Stesichorus, to support the weight of an epic theme on the lyre. We cannot verify Porphyrio's statement, Hac ode Bacchyliden imitatur, nam ut ille Cassandram facit vaticinari futura belli Troiani, ita hic Proteum (probably a slip for Nerea. Some eds. read Proteus in l. 5). An extant fragment of Bacchylides warns the Trojans of the unfailing justice of Zeus who sitteth on high. Cf. further the imitation of Statius, Achill. 1. 20 sqq., and the Cassandras of Schiller and George Meredith. For the Voyage of Paris, cf. Hdt. 2. 117; 11. 6. 290, where he returns by way of Sidon; Andrew Lang, Helen of Troy, 3. 23 sqq. There is an imitation by Tickell in Dodsley's Poems, 1. 30. With 9 sqq., cf. Campbell, Lochiel's Warning.
pastor: Paris; Πάρις ὁ βουκόλος (Eur. Iph. A. 180). Cf. Bion. 2. 10; Verg. Aen. 7. 363, Phrygius pastor; Spenser, Shep. Cal. July, 'But nothing such thilk shepherd was, | Whom Ida hill did bear, | That left his flock to fetch a lass | Whose love he bought too dear.'—tralleret: was carrying off; sc. ἁρπάξας (Il. 3. 443).
Idaeis: the poets picturesquely treat the pines of Ida of which the ships of Paris were built as the cause of all the woe. Cf. Eurip. Hec. 631; Tenn. Oenone, 'They came, they cut away my tallest pines.'—perfidus hospitam: cf. 1. 6. 9. n.; 3. 3. 26, famosus hospes; Propert. 3. 32. 7, hospes in hospitium Menelao venit adulter; Eurip. Tro. 866, ξεναπάτης; Aesch. Ag. 401; Il. 13. 624.
ingrato: unwelcome; as celeres (1. 12. 10) the winds hate otium, 'Like us the Libyan wind delights to roam at large' (Arnold); or the epithet suggests the feelings of Paris.—otio: calm.
caneret: of prophecy. Cf. C. S. 25; Sat. 1. 9. 30; Epod. 13. 11.
avi: omen; cf. 3. 3. 61; 4. 6. 24; Epod. 10. 1; Cat. 61. 20. So the Greeks, 'An ox or an ass that may happen to pass, | A cry or a word by chance overheard, | If you deem it an omen you call it a bird' (Aristophanes, Birds, 719 sqq., Frere).
repetet: fetch again, κομίσαι. In Ov. Her. 15. 369, Paris assures Helen, aut igitur nullo belli repetere tumultu, | aut cedent Marti Dorica castra meo.
coniurata: at Aulis, Verg. Aen. 4. 425; Eurip. 1. A. 50. Cf. Ov. Met. 12. 5, qui rapta longum cum coniuge bellum | attulit in patriam: coniurataeque sequuntur | mille rates; Milton, 'The third part of heaven¹s sons | Conjur'd against the highest.'—rumpere: by a slight zeugma governs both nuptias and regnum, break up . . . and overthrow. Cf. Sen. Herc. Fur. 79, Titanas ausos rumpere imperium Iovis.
vetus: Priam was the sixth king. Cf. Aesch. Ag. 710, lΠριάμου πόλις γεραιά; Verg. Aen. 2. 363, urbs antiqua ruit.
sudor: cf. Il. 2. 390, ἱδρώσει δέ τευ ἱ.ππος; Stat. Theb. 3. 210; Val. Flac. 5. 288.—quanta: rhetorically stronger than quot.—moves: dost stir, begin, cause.—Dardanae = Dardaniae; cf. Romulae, C. S. 47.
aegida: aegis, the storm-cloud of Zeus (Il. 4. 167) and his shield, explained by popular etymology as the skin of the goat Amalthea (and now again by the whirligig of Science as the skin of the theanthropic goat), and worn with the Gorgon's head attached to it by Athene as shield or breastplate. Il. 5. 738; Eurip. Ion, 996; Verg. Aen. 8. 354, 435; Milt Comus, 'What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield, | That wise Minerva wore,' etc.
rabiem: for wrath as a weapon, cf. Aristoph. Birds, 401-402, Wasps, 243. For union of abstract and concrete, cf. Il. 4. 447; Ov. Met. 2. 146 and passim; Tac. Ger. 1, Germania . . .a Gallia . . . mutuo metu aut montibus separatur, and passim.
Veneris praesidio: the protection of Venus; he awarded her the apple. Cf. Tenn. Oenone; 11. 3. 54. 64 sqq.—ferox: trusting in.
caesariem: 11. 3. 55; Odes, 4. 5. 14, crines.
imbelli: 1. 6. 10.—divides: set to measure; probably of the division into measured times that belongs to all music. Cf. Shaks. Hen. IV. 1. 3. 1, 'Sung by a fair queen in a summer bower, | with ravishing division to her lute'; Rom. and Jul. 3. 5, 'Some say the lark makes sweet division'; Carew, 'For in your sweet dividing throat | She [the nightingale] winters and keeps warm her note.' Cf. μελίζειν.
thalamo: as in Il. 3. 382.
spicula: 3. 28. 12.—Cnosii: Cretan. Cnosus was the principal city of Crete, whose archers were renowned. Cf. Verg. Aen. 5. 306.
strepitum: the din of battle. Cf. 1. 2. 38, clamor.—celerem sequi: epexegetic inf. This is Oilean Ajax as distinguished from Telamonian Ajax. Cf. Il. 14. 520, Ὀϊλῆος ταχὺς υἱός.
tamen: resumes nequiquam, etc.—heu: objectively, a sigh for the doom, not of sympathy for the person.—serus: adj. for adv. Cf. χθιζός, Il. 1. 424. So frequently, serus (1. 2. 45), matutinus, vespertinus, and even hodiernus (Tibull. 1. 7. 53).
adulteros crines: for transfer of epithet, cf. Eurip. Tro. 881, τῆς μιαιφονωτάτης κόμης ἐπιπάσαντες; Tenn. Prin., 'Melissa shook her doubtful curls.' Cf. 1. 37. 7. n.; 3. 1. 17; 3. 2. 16; 3. 5. 22.
pulvere collines: cf. Il. 3. 55; Pind. Nem. 1. 68; Verg. Aen. 12. 99, foedare in pulvere crines | vibratos calido ferro mur raque madentes.
Laertiaden: Ulysses' theft of the Palladium determined the fall of Troy. Cf. Epp. 1. 2. 18.
exitium . . . genti: so Καδμείοισιν ὄλεθρον (Hes. Theog. 326). Cf. Eurip. Troad. 811. Some read gentis. Cf. nostri generis exitium (Sen. Herc. Fur. 358).
Pylium: Nestor was king of Pylos in Elis.—respicis: expresses both the warrior's furtive glance at the pursuing foe, and the ancient conception of future time overtaking us from behind. Cf. Verg. Aen. 8. 697; Il. 1. 343, ὀπίσσω; Pind. O. 10. 8.
Teucer: 1. 7. 21.—te: cf. 1. 35. 5; 3. 21. 13; 4. 1. 39; 4. 14. 42, etc. Some Mss. read et instead of repeated te.—Sthenelus: charioteer of Diomede. It was lie who boasted, 'we are better than our sires (Il. 4. 405).
sciens pugnae: μάχης εὖ εἰδώς. Cf. Il. 5. 549; 3. 9. 10; and rudis agminum, 3. 2. 9.
sive: as if sive had preceded. Cf. 1. 3. 16. But it is really an afterthought, vel si reproducing Homer's καὶ ὅθι χρή (Odyss. 9. 50).
Merionen: 1. 6. 15.
furit . . . reperire: furit is a strong volt, hence the inf. Cf. Menelaus raging in quest of Paris (Il. 3. 449).
Tydides: Diomede.
cervus uti: sc. fugit.—in altera: other of two, i.e. on opposite side, across.
sublimi . . . anhelitu: abl. of manner, but translate panting hard. The phrase is probably to be explained as the 'shallow breathing of fear' (James' Psychology). Cf. Eurip. Herc. 1092; Apoll. Rhod. 2. 207, ἐξ ὑπάτοιο στήθεος ἀμπνεύσας; O. W. Holmes, 'Fancying that her breathing was somewhat hurried and high or thoracic.' Cf. μετέωρος. The appropriateness of the epithet sublimis consists in the fact that the breath does not get completely down into the lungs. The common explanation that sublimis refers ultimately to the uplifted head of the stag is more picturesque than probable.
tuae: to thy light o' love. For Paris' boasts of his prowess to Helen, cf. Ov. Her. 15. 355-364.
The angry fleet of Achilles shall defer is the concrete Latin way of saying that the wrath of Achilles prolonged the war.
diem: so 'day' in the prophets (Isa. 13. 6; Ps. 87. 7)
Phrygum: of the Phrygians. The Trojans were a Phrygian people.
post certas: ἔσσεται ἦμαρ ὅταν, when the predestined ten years have elapsed.
Note ignĭs, trochaic instead of spondaic base. Hence some read Pergameas.
