NOTES ON THE ODES. BOOK I. ODE I. In this introductory ode, Horace exhibits, in union, two sentiments, inseparable from his life and character-his love for his art, and his friendship for Maecenas. After illus. trating the various wishes and pursuits of men, he declares, with a noble enthusiasm, that he himself aspires to the exalted honors of poetry, and that he shall reach the height of his ambition, if, by his patron and friend, he shall be numbered among lyric bards. 1. Atavis-regibus; i. e. atavis (or majoribus) qui reges erant; royal ancestors. The Cilnian gens, to which Maecenas belonged, traced its descent to one of the Lucumones, or sovereigns, of Etruria. Comp. similar expressions, in O. iii., 29, 1; Sat. i., 6, 1–4. 3. Pulverem Olympicum. The Olympic games, the greatest of the Greek national festivals, were celebrated at Olympia, in Elis. The interval of the celebrations was four years; whence the chronological era of the Olympiad. These games continued to be observed down to A. D. 394.-See Dict. Antiqq.· 4. Collegisse. The Latin poets, and some prose writers, use the perfect infinitive in many places, where, in translation, the English idiom requires the present. Of this usage, we have here an illustration; for others, see O. iii., 4, 52; Sat. i., 2, 28; ib. ii., 3, 187; Ars P. 168; ib. 455. See Z. 590; also Krager, ý 477, A. 2. Reisig, in Vorlesgg., 290, suggests that the poets resort to this use of the perfect, wherever the present would be excluded by the metre. Juvat. The ordinary construction requires here the subjunctive. The choice of the indicative illustrates a poetic usage, very common in Horace. See A. & S. ý 264, 6; Z. § 563; also Krüger, p. 836, foot note 2.- - Meta -evitata. The two metae of the ancient Circus consisted each of three conical pillars, which stood at the two extremities of the low wall, called spina, which ran lengthways through the course. They formed the turning-points of the course; and the charioteer who shunned or just grazed them, by coming as near as possible without hitting them, saved space, got round quickest, and won the prize. See Dict. Antiqq., and Rich's Companion, under Circus. 6. Terrarum dominos. I prefer, with Orelli and Dillenburger, to join these words with the object of evehit, and not with deos. Exalts to the gods, as if they (i. e. the victors) were the rulers of the earth. The passage illustrates the well-nigh divine honors, ascribed by the Greeks to the victor in the Olympian games. 8. Tergeminis. The offices of Curule aedile, Praetor, and of Consul.-10. Libycis. Africa was one of the chief granaries of Rome. Observe in this word, and below, Cypria, Myrtoum, Icariis, etc., the use of particular expressions, because more forcible and lively than such general ones as mare, navis, etc. 12. Attalicis. Attalus III., king of Pergamus, who bequeathed his vast possessions to the Roman people. 15. Fluctibus, dative with luctantem, instead of the prose construction, abl. with cum. Horace has the same construction with other verbs; e. g. O. i., 3, 13; ii., 6, 15; Epod. xi., 18; Sat. i., 2, 73. - 18. Pauperiem. Not absolute poverty, which is expressed by inopia or egestas, but narrow means; paupertas, or pauperies, is opposed to divitiae, inopia to copia or opulentia, egestas to abundantia. Döderlein. -19. Massici. The Massic wine (from the Mons Massicus) was one of the best Italian wines, inferior only to the Setinian and the Falernian. The Massic and the Falernian were grown in Campania. See Dict. Antiqq. p. 1056. 20. Solido-die. The dies solidus was the chief portion of the day, devoted to the serious business of life; its cares and toils once over, then came the coena, when one might indulge in social recreation. But the voluptuary, in his hot haste for sensual indulgence, is here said to take away a part from the solid day, in order to waste it upon the pleasures of the table.. 21. Membra. An example of the so-called Greek accusative; it is the acc. of the part to which any statement applies. It is incorrect to say, that such an acc. depends upon a word understood. See A. & S. § 234, ii.; Z. § 458.. 23. Lituo tubae. Lituo, abl. governed by permixtus; so below, 1. 30, Dis. But miscere and its compounds govern also the dat. See n. O. iv., 1, 22.-The tuba was deep-toned, the lituus shrill; the former was peculiar to the infantry, and was straight in its form; the latter was peculiar to the cavalry, and was slightly curved at the extremity.—See Dict. Antiqq. 24. Matribus. Dat. for abl. with a or ab; as often in poetry. So below, 1. 27, catulis. See Z. ý 419; A. & S. § 225, ii. 25. Manet; i. c. pernoctat; see Sat. ii., 2, 234. Dillenb.- -Sub Jove. Ὑπὸ Διός. The word Jupiter here, as often in poetry, means the air. 28. Teretes plagas. Teretes, firmly twisted. Plăga is from tλékw, plico, to twist; and must be distinguished from plaga, from Tλhoow, TANYŃ, a blow, and from vlaga, from #λáž, a region. See Doederlein, vol. 6, p. 272. The plagae were used in hunting the larger animals; retia is a general word for fishing, as well as hunting, nets.-Comp. Epod. ii., 32 -32. Tibias. The pipe was one of the earliest and commonest musical instruments of the ancients. With the Greeks and Romans it was Hence here, and often, the plural. See illustration of a tibia on p. 115, 33. Euterpe-Polyhymnia. usual to play on two pipes at a time. See Dict. Antiqq., and n. O. iv., 15, 30. and of tibiae on p. 139, of this volume. Here used figuratively, as personifications of the Muse of lyric poetry; and the conditional form si, etc., expresses the modest, hesitating manner in which the poet hopes for her all-inspiring aid. - -34. Lesboum ; in allusion to the Greek lyric poets, Alcaeus and Sappho; both natives of Lesbos. Comp. O. i., 32, 5, and note. - - Barbiton. This instrument belonged to the class of lyres, but was larger, and had thicker strings than the ordinary lyre. See Dict. Antiqq. and Rich's Companion; also the illustration on p. 164 of this book. ODE II. This ode was written in honor of Octavianus; whom the poet represents as the sole source of hope and safety for the Roman people. After describing the national calamities, which had followed the assassination of Julius Caesar, the poet calls upon Jupiter to commit to some deity the task of expiating that act; and at length insinuates, that Mercury is to descend from heaven, and in the form of Octavianus, to avenge Caesar's death. The ode was probably written B. c. 29, the year in which Octavianus returned from Egypt to Rome, and the year which marks the termination of the Roman Republic. At the beginning of B. C. 27 Octavianus received the title of Augustus and of Imperator. 1-20. These five stanzas describe a terrible storm with which Rome was visited (1-12), and an inundation of the Tiber; both which events the poet represents as visitations from heaven for the murder of Julius Caesar. Comp. the fine passage in Virgil, Georgics, i., 463-497.1. Nivis. 3. Arces. Jaculari is generally construed with the dat. or the acc. with the prep. in. Horace has, however, another instance like this, in O. iii., 12, 11. · Arces refers to the temples of the Capitol. · -5. Terruit-ne;=terruit ita, ut metuerent, ne, etc. See n. O. i., 9, 4. 6. Saeculum Pyrrhae. In allusion to the legend of Deucalion and Pyrrha, and of the deluge in Thessaly, of which they were the only survivors. Ovid gives the legend in Metam. i., and Juvenal alludes to it, Sat. i., 81.- -Nova monstra, strange prodigies; inversions of the order of nature, such as are described in the lines that immediately follow.. Proteus; a sea deity, described by the poets as the keeper of Neptune's herds, the phocae, and other sea-monsters. See Homer. |