ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES. [In the Notes reference is made to the lines in Paley's Edition.] BOOK I. ELEGY I. ADDRESSED to Tullus, nephew of L. Volcatius Tullus, who was Consul 721 A.U.C., and afterwards Proconsul of Asia. V. I. Cynthia. See Life of Propertius, supra. V. 9. Milanion. The lover of Atalanta, daughter of Iasus (or Iasius). V. 11. Partheniis—antris. Parthenius, a mountain in Arcadia. V. 13. Hylaei-rami. The club of the Centaur Hylaeus.” V. 16. Preces et benefacta. The devotion of Milanion, and his services against the Centaurs. V. 24. Cytainis, Jacob; Cytaines, Hertzberg and Mueller; Cytaeaeis, Barth, Lachmann, and Paley. The allusion is evidently to Medea, born at Cyta, in Colchis; hence called Cytaeis (ii. 4, 7). ELEGY II. On Cynthia's inordinate love of dress. V. 2. Coa veste. Cos (now Stanko, a corruption of és ràv Kw) was celebrated for its fine transparent silk fabrics. V. 3. Orontea-myrrha. Perfumes from the banks of the Orontes, in Syria. V. 15, 16. Phoebe and Hilaïra, daughters of the Messenian prince Leucippus—the former a priestess of Athena, the latter of Artemis- were beloved and carried off by Castor and Pollux. V. 17, 18. Idas, son of Aphareus, carried off Marpessa, daughter of Evenus, who was beloved by Phoebus. The suitors fought for the maiden; but Jupiter interfered, and allowed her to choose her lover, whereupon she took Idas. Her father, who had pursued Idas and her without success, drowned himself in the river Lycormas, which ever after bore his name. V. 19, 20. Pelops carried away Hippodamia, daughter of Oenomaus, king of Pisa, in Elis, after vanquishing her father in the chariot-race, and killing him. V. 22. Apelleis-tabulis. Apelles, the celebrated painter of Cos, was famed for the delicate colouring of his figures. V. 28. Aoniam-lyram. Aonia, a district in Boeotia, near Mount Helicon, was a favourite haunt of the Muses. ELEGY III. Propertius, flushed with wine, finds Cynthia asleep, and is afraid to disturb her. At length she is awakened by the beams of the moon, and reproaches him with his cruelty in leaving her so long. V. 2. Gnosia. Ariadne, daughter of Minos, king of Crete, was deserted by Theseus at Dia or Naxos. V. 3, 4. Qualis—Andromede. Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus, king of Aethiopia, and Cassiopeia, was bound to a rock and exposed to the fury of a sea-monster, from which she was rescued by Perseus. See Propert., v. 7, 63-66. V. 5. Edonis. The Edones, a Thracian people, were noted for their worship of Bacchus : hence Edonis=a Bacchanal. V. 6. Apidanus. A tributary of the Peneus in Thessaly. V. 16. Osculaque admota sumere et arma manu. A corrupt line. For et arma, Barth and Kuinoel admit ad ora, the correction of Gronovius. Mueller reads cara. V. 20. Argus-Inachidos. Io, daughter of Inachus, was changed by the jealous Juno into a heifer, and guarded by the hundredeyed Argus. After many sufferings and wanderings, she reached the banks of the Nile, was restored by Jupiter to her former shape, and was deified as Isis by the Egyptians. Cf. Propert., iii. 20, 17, 18. V. 24. Cavis-manibus. Scilicet Cynthiae: casus est tertius. A pomis jure Vulpius sensum obscoenum removet propter v. 26. (Barth). Apples were the favourite gifts of lovers. Cf. the beautiful passage in Catullus (lxv. 19, sq.):— Ut missum sponsi furtivo munere malum V. 41. Purpureo-stamine. Cf. Propert., v. 3, 34. : V. 43. Leviter all the good copies. Barth, Kuinoel, and Lachmann read graviter. ELEGY IV. The poet remonstrates with Bassus on account of his attempts to wean him from Cynthia; threatens him with her implacable vengeance; and eulogises her fidelity. V. I. Basse. Mentioned by Ovid, Trist., iv. 10, 47 :— Ponticus heroo, Bassus quoque clarus iambo. V. 5. Antiopae-Nycteidos. Antiope, daughter of Nycteus, and mother of Amphion and Zethus by Jupiter. See Propert., iv. 15, II-42. V. 6. Spartanae-Hermionae. laus and Helen. Hermione, daughter of Mene ELEGY V. Propertius, apparently jealous of Gallus, will not incur the responsibility of introducing him to Cynthia, who, he assures him, would, in the event of her entertaining his suit, prove to him a terrible plague. V. 6. Et bibere e tota toxica Thessalia. Cf. Tibull., ii. 4, 56:— Quidquid et herbarum Thessala terra gerit. Thessaly was famed for its poisonous herbs. V. II. Non tibi jam somnos, non illa relinquet ocellos. She will rob you of your rest by night; she will wear away your eyes in watchings and tears." Paley explains non illa relinquet ocellos by tui juris esse non sinet. "She will not let you call your eyes your own." |