[54] “Si mens non laeva fuisset,” E. 1. 16. Here ‘non’ is to be taken closely with ‘laeva,’ ‘si fata fuissent’ being explained as in v. 433 below, “had fate so willed.” Heyne's other explanation, ‘si fata non fuissent,’ “had it not been fated that Troy should fall,” though supported by Od. 8. 511, αἶσα γὰρ ἦν, is harsh, as we should rather have expected ‘si non mens laeva.’ A third possible view, which would make ‘laeva’ the predicate to both ‘fata’ and ‘mens,’ might be defended from G. 4. 7; but ‘mens’ in that case would be contrasted rather baldly with ‘fata deum.’ ‘Fata deum’ 6. 376., 7. 239.
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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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