Ode VIII
Lydia, why wilt thou ruin Sybaris with thy love? He no longer witches the world with noble horsemanship, nor distinguishes himself in the manly sports of the campus. Is he hiding in woman's dress like Achilles among the girls of Scyros?The names Lydia and Sybaris are perhaps symbolic of luxury and effeminacy. Trans. by John Evelyn, imitated in Henry Luttrell's Advice to Julia.
per te deos: the usual order. Cf. G. L. 413. n. 2.
amando: by love, thine or his not distinguished. Cf. Verg Ecl. 8. 71, cantando rum pitur anguis, by song.
campum: the Campus Martius, by the Tiber, where the young Romans played their games and practiced athletic exercises. Cf. 3. 7. 26; Epist. 1. 7. 59; 2. 3. 162, aprici gramine campi; Sat. 1. 6. 126.—patiens: he who once bore so well. With gen., as 3. 10. 20; Juv. 7. 33, pelagi patiens. Cf. Sat. 2. 2. 110, metuensque futuri.—solis: so in Greek literature the hardy man is ἡλιωμένος (Plat. Rep. 556. D; Eurip. Baechac, 457)
militarīs: among his soldier mates. Others, militaris (nom.), like a soldier.
equitat: the indirect subj. is abandoned for the direct form.
Gallica . . . ora, the mouths of Gallic steeds. Cf. 3. 7. 25; 3. 12. 8; 3. 24. 54; F. Q. 1. 7. 37, 'A goodly person and could manage fair | His stubborn steed with curbed canon bit'; Stat. Silv. 5. 2. 113 sqq. The Gaulish horses were noted for their spirit.—lupatis: jagged, like a wolf's teeth.
Tiberim: a swim naturally followed the exercises of the campus. Cf. 3. 7. 27; 3. 12. 7; Sat. 2. 1. 7, Ter uncti | Trans nanto Tiberim somno quibus est opus alto.—olivum: the oil used for anointing wrestlers.
sanguine, etc.: brachylogy for quam vitat sanguinem. Cf. 4. 9. 50. For viper's blood as poison, cf. Epod. 3. 6.
He whose discus used to fly clear beyond the mark (ὑπέρπτατο σήματα πάντα, Odyss. 8. 192) no longer displays ('wears,' 'sports') his arms black and blue from the bruises of the discus and the javelin, which are the arma referred to here. Cf. arma campestria, A. P.379; Epist. 1. 18. 54. The discus was a circular plate of stone, iron, or bronze. The object of the game was to throw it as far as possible. The same is true of the javelin in this passage. Cf. illust. in Harper's Class. Dict. s.v. Discus.—saepe . . . expedito: having often won fame (nobilis) by throwing the discus, often by throwing the javelin clear beyond the mark. Expedire means to let loose, and so of a missile, to let fly.
Thetis, aware of the fate that awaited him at Troy, concealed her son Achilles in the garb of a girl among the daughters of Lycomedes, king of Scyros. Odysseus placed arms among gifts offered to the girls, and Achilles betrayed himself by seizing upon them. The tale is post-Homeric. It perhaps originated in the Cypria and Little Iliad, and was treated in a lost play of Sophocles (ἐν Σκυρίαις). Cf. Ov. Met. 13. 162, Praescia venturi genetrix Nercia leti | dissimulat cultu natum; Bion. Idyll 2. 15; Statius Achill. 1. 325 sqq.; Sir Thomas Browne, Urn Burial, 'What song the Syrens sang, or what name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, though puzzling questions, are not beyond all conjecture.' Cf. Sueton. Tib. 70, quod Achilli nomen inter virgines fuisset.
marinae . . . Thetidis: the sea-nymph Thetis; cf,4. 6. 6.
sub: just before. Cf. sub noctem, 1. 9. 19.—lacrimosa:1. 21. 13. n.
funera: fall; cf. Lucret. 5. 326, funera Troiae. For thought that cities die like men, cf. Sulpicius (Cic. Fam. 4. 5), tot oppidurn cadavera; Tasso, Ger. Lib. 15. 20, 'muojòno le città'; Gosse, Ballad of Dead Cities; Lucian, Catapl. 23; Anth. Pal. 9. 151, 284; Pausan. 8. 33.—cultus: garb, 4. 9. 15. The Lycians were the chief allies of the Trojans.
