Aut aliquam in magno sequitur grege. Claudite nymphæ, Si qua forte ferant oculis sese obvia nostris at first swallow their food has- Dictaa.] Dicte is the name of a mountain of Crete. It seems to be put here for Crete itself. Saltus.] See the note on ver. 471. of the second Georgick. Forsitan illum.] Servius understands the poet's meaning to be, a fear lest the bull should the regal seat of 56 60 visible many columns of marble, granite, and red and white jasper. The Turks, who are now in possession of the country, have carried away the finest, and in some places set them up as gates to sorry gardens. The herds of the sun are said to have been kept near this city. Hesperidum miratam mala puellam.] Virgil here alludes to the fable of Atalanta, the daughter of Schoeneus, king of Scyros, an island in the Ægean sea. She was warned by the oracle of Apollo not to marry; and therefore she studiously avoided entering into that state. The beauty, however, of this princess was so great, that she could not avoid the solicitation of many lovers. Being endued with great swiftness, she made this proposal to them; that go to Gusband of Pasiphae, whosoever could outrun her Minos, the and a desire that he should rather go to Gortyna. Ruæus understands him to mean the very contrary; that, if the nymphs do not carefully guard the lawns, the bull may perhaps follow the cows to Gortyna. Stabula ad Gortynia.] Gortyna was a famous city of Crete, near which the famous labyrinth is still to be seen. It is now a heap of ruins, among which are H should be her husband; but if any one was exceeded by her, he should forfeit his life. Hippomenes, the son of Megareus, who was the grandson of Neptune, not discouraged by the fate of several unhappy lovers, was determined to contend for the prize. Atalanta, being pleased with his person and character, was loth to be the cause of his death, and used all the Tum Phaethontiadas musco circumdat amaræ Corticis, atque solo proceras erigit alnos. Tum canit, errantem Permessi ad flumina Gallum arguments in her power to dis- Tum Phaethontiadas, &c.]Phaetusa, Lampetie, and Lampetusa, were the sisters of Phaeton, who being reproached by Epaphus, king of Egypt, as having falsely pretended to be the son of Sol, begged of his father to permit him to drive his chariot for one day, that he might prove himself to be his son. This being granted, he guided the horses so unskilfully, that the earth began to burn, and would have been consumed, if Jupiter had not killed him in 65 stantly with a thunderbolt, and thrown him into the river Eri. danus. His sisters, having sought for him a long time, at last found his body on the banks of that river, where they consumed themselves with weeping, and were turned into trees.Here Virgil calls these trees alders; but in the tenth Æneid, ver. 189. he seems to make them poplars. Tum canit, errantem, &c.] The poet, having represented the evil effects of unruly passions in these several examples, now represents the more happy condition of a wise man, who devotes himself to the quiet studies of literature. Under this character, he takes an opportunity of paying a most elegant compliment to his friend Gallus, who was a good poet. He represents him to be introduced by one of the Muses to the presence of Apollo, where the whole assembly rises up to do him honour, and Linus presents him with the pipe, which formerly belonged to Hesiod. Permessus.] A river of Bœotia, rising in the mountain Helicon, and sacred to the Muses. Aonas in montes.] See the note on ver. 11. of the third Georgick. Una sororum.] One of the nine Muses, to whom the mountain Helicon was feigned by the poets to be sacred. Utque viro, &c.] It was a Ut Linus hæc illi divino carmine pastor, Floribus atque apio crines ornatus amaro, Dixerit: Hos tibi dant calamos, en accipe, Musæ ; 70 Ne quis sit lucus, quo se plus jactet Apollo. makes him give a shepherd's pipe to Gallus, the very same pipe with which that ancient poet sung his immortal verses. Ascræo seni.] See the note on et quis fuit alter, ver. 40. of the third eclogue. Quid loquar? ut Scyllam Nisi, aut quam fama secuta est, custom among the ancients to and therefore with propriety rise from their seats at the entrance of any person whom they intended to honour. There could not be a greater compliment imagined to be paid to Gallus, as a poet, than for the Muses to rise up, on his being introduced into their company. This respect was paid to Virgil by the people of Rome, who rose up when his verses were recited in the theatre; and shewed the same reverence to his person as they did to that of Augustus himself. Linus.] See the note on ver. 56. of the fourth eclogue. Pastor.] It does not appear that Linus was really a shepherd. Perhaps Virgil represents him under that character, as he does himself and Gallus in these Bucolicks. Apio.] See the note on ver. 121. of the fourth Georgick. Grynei nemoris.] Strabo places Grynium in Æolia, and speaks of an ancient oracle of Apollo there, and a sumptuous temple, built of white stone. Quid loquar, &c.] The poet just mentions the fables of Scylla and Tereus, with which he concludes the song of Silenus. Ut Scyllam Nisi, aut quam.] For Scylla, the daughter of Ni. sus, see ver. 404. of the first Georgick, and the note on ver. 405. Scylla, the daughter of Phorcus, was greatly beloved by Glaucus, who, not being able to obtain her favour, applied to Circe for her assistance. But Circe, being in love with Glaucus, resolved to get rid of Scylla. She poisoned the water where Scylla used to bathe; so that as soon as she went in up to the middle, she found her lower parts surrounded with barking monsters. Scylla being affrighted, ran away, not imagining Hos tibi dant calamos, &c.] Hesiod himself does not speak of a pipe being given him by the Muses; but of a branch of bay, by which he was inspired to sing of things past and future. However, as Hesiod had represented himself as a shepherd, Virgil seems to have represented Linus under the same character, Candida succinctam latrantibus inguina monstris, 75 Dulichias vexasse rates, et gurgite in alto, Quas illi Philomela dapes, quæ dona pararit ? Quo cursu deserta petiverit, et quibus ante these monsters to be part of Dulichias.] Dulichium is one of those islands in the Ionian sea, called Echinades. It lies over against the mouth of the river Achelous, and was subject to the dominion of Ulysses. Vexasse.] We are informed by Aulus Gellius, that some ancient grammarians, among whom was Cornutus Annæus, in their comments on Virgil, found fault with this word, as being ill chosen and mean. They thought it applicable only to trifling uneasinesses; and not strong enough to express so great a misery, as the being devoured by a horrid monster. But that learned critic affirms it to be a very strong word; and thinks it was derived from vehere, to carry, which expresses force; because a man is not in his own power when he is carried. A man who is taken up, and carried away by violence, is properly said to be vexatus. For as taxare is a much stronger word than tangere, from which it is derived; 80 jactare than jacere; and quassare than quatere; so is vexare also more forcible than its primitive vehere. And though in common speech, one who is incommoded by smoke, wind, or dust, is said to be vexatus; yet we are not to relinquish the original and proper sense of the word, as it was used by the ancients. He confirms this by a quotation from an oration of Cato, where, speaking of the greatest calamity that ever Italy endured, he makes use of the verb vexo. Aut ut mutatos Terei, &c.] See the note on ver. 15. of the fourth Georgick. Omnia quæ Phœbo, &c.] The poet concludes this fine eclogue with telling us, that Silenus related all the stories also which Apollo himself sung on the banks of the Eurotas, when he courted his darling Hyacinthus. Eurotas.] This river, according to Strabo, has its spring near that of Alpheus: for they both rise near Asea, a village belonging to Megalopolis, in the Peloponnesus. They both run under ground for some furlongs, and then break out again; when the Alpheus takes its course Ille canit: pulsæ referunt ad sidera valles ; Cogere donec oves stabulis, numerumque referre Jussit, et invito processit Vesper Olympo. through the Pisatis, and the Eurotas through Laconia, running by Sparta, passing through a small valley at Helos, falls into the sea between Gythium, which is the maritime town of Sparta and Acrææ. Jussitque ediscere lauros.] The banks of the Eurotas are said to abound with bay-trees. Hence perhaps Apollo was fancied by the ancients to be more particularly fond of this river than of any other. Cogere donec oves, &c.] At the end of the first eclogue, the evening was described by the smoking of the cottage chimneys, and lengthening of the shadows in the second, by the oxen bringing back the plough : : 85 |