[741] Personat, fills the hall. Comp. Tac. A. 16. 4, “Plebs personabat certis modis plausuque conposito.” ‘Quem’ is the reading of Med., Rom., Pal., and other MSS. adopted by the later editors. Heyne and formerly Wagn. read ‘quae,’ which has the authority of Serv., “quae legendum est, non quem,” and some MSS. Were the change worth making, the MSS. would scarcely stand in the way, as ‘e’ is often written for ‘ae,’ and QVEMAXVMVS might be interpreted either way (see on G. 2. 219). Atlas in Hom. Od. 1. 52 knows the depths of the sea, and supports the pillars of earth and heaven, the epithet given to him being ὀλοόφρων. He seems also to have been a sort of mythical representative or progenitor of physical philosophers, among whom he is recorded by Diogenes Laertius. Being identified with the African mountain, he is naturally chosen by Virg. here as the instructor of a Carthaginian bard. For the conception of Iopas see note on G. 2. 477, and comp. the song of Orpheus Apoll. R. 1. 496 foll., and that of Virg.'s own Silenus, which is imitated from it, E. 6. 31 foll.
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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. Late Corpus Professor of Latin in the University of Oxford. London. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane. 1876.
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