ELEGY VI. On Cynthia's faithlessness and the degeneracy of the times. V. 1-6. Lais, Thais, and Phryne were the most famous hetairae of antiquity. V. 10. Me tener in cunis et sine voce puer. Propertius simply means to say that he is jealous of the very infant in the cradle. Cynthia had no son of her own, consequently he had no occasion to feel annoyed on the score of paternity. Cf. Propert., iii. 9, 33: Cum tibi nec frater nec sit tibi filius ullus. V. 17, 18. Centauros-Pirithoum. In allusion to the quarrel between the Centaurs and the Lapithae at the nuptials of Pirith ous and Hippodamia. V. 20. Nutritus durae, Romule, lacte lupae. Cf. Propert., v. 4, 53, 54:— quem sine matris honore Nutrit inhumanae dura papilla lupae. = Alcestis. Lectus Ulixis = V. 23. Admeti conjunx Penelope. V. 25. Templa Pudicitiae. Pudicitia duplex erat, plebeia et patricia; et duo Pudicitiae templa, vetus et majus, patriciae, in Foro Boario, recentius minusve plebeiae in Vico Longo.—(Kuinoel.) V. 41. Nos uxor numquam, numquam diducet amica. So Lachmann, Keil, Mueller, and Paley: Barth and Kuinoel read— Uxor me nunquam, nunquam me ducet amica. ELEGY VII. Propertius congratulates Cynthia on the throwing out of the law that had threatened to put an end to their connection. V. 1. Sublatam-legem. The law seems to have been thrown out 726 A.U.C. V. 11, 12. In nuptial processions the guests marched to the strains of the tibia; at funerals, the tuba was sounded at intervals as the cortege moved slowly along. Cf. Ov. Her., xii. 140; Propert., iii. 4, 20, and v. 11, 9. V. 15. This line is certainly corrupt. V. 16. Castoris—equus Cyllarus. V. 17. Hinc etenim, &c. (" But I do not fight, for I am by profession a poet"); it is from this, not from deeds of arms, that my fame lives (Paley). Rather, I think, "It is from thee, Cynthia” (Nam sine te nostrum nil valet ingenium, iii. 22, 40), “that such glory crowns my name." ELEGY VIII. The poet bewails Cynthia's desertion of him, and threatens to kill both her and himself. V. 15, 16. An-caput. Cf. Catull., xv. 16, and cxvi. 4. V. 21. Boeotius Haemon. Haemon, son of king Creon of Thebes, loved Antigone, daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. She was buried alive by his father's orders, and he slew himself on her grave. V. 33, 34. Viderat informem multa Patroclon arena. Cf. Hom. Il., xviii. 26, 27 : ̓Αυτὸς δ ̓ ἐν κονίῃσι μέγας μεγαλωστὶ τανυσθεὶς Κείτο. V. 39. Matre. Thetis. ELEGY IX. Propertius reproaches Cynthia with ingratitude and cruelty, and declares his changeless affection. V. 6. Nocturno solvens texta diurna dolo. Cf. Ov. Amor., iii. 9, 30 :— Tardaque nocturno tela retexta dolo. V. 12. Simoënta. The Simois, a small river of Troas, which in Homeric times flowed into the Scamander: it now flows directly into the Hellespont. V. 16. Scyria-Deidamia. Deidamia, daughter of Lycomedes, king of Scyros, bore Pyrrhus (or Neoptolemus) to Achilles while he remained at her father's court that he might avoid the expedition to Troy. V. 25-28. From these verses it appears that this elegy was written after the 20th of the 3d Book (q. v.) V. 33. Syrtes. Two sand-banks on the northern coast of Africa. V. 50. Thebani - duces. Eteocles and Polynices, who fell in mortal combat before the eyes of their mother, Jocasta. BOOK III. ELEGY I.* The poet declares his intention to renounce love-poetry and sing the martial achievements of Augustus; but breaks off abruptly with a graceful compliment to the emperor, and an acknowledgment of his inability to pursue such a lofty theme. V. 2. Emathio, Mueller; Haemonio, vulgo. V. 4. Mei-ducis. Augustus. V. 13. Post terga tueri. The Parthians, in retreat, discharged their arrows in the face of their pursuers. Cf. Hor. Carm., i. 19, II, 12; and Propert., v. 3, 66. V. 14. Crassos. M. Licinius Crassus and Publius Crassus, father and son, were killed in the expedition against the Parthians, 54-53 B.C. Cf. Ovid. A. A., i. 179; and Propert., v. 6, 83, 84. V. 16. Intactae-Arabiae. The expedition of Aelius Gallus to Arabia was contemplated A.U.C. 729, and ended in an ignominious defeat in the following year. This elegy must therefore have been written in the interval before the non-success of the Roman arms. Cf. Propert., iv. II. V. 25. Ascraeos-fontes. The poet Hesiod was born at Ascra, in Boeotia, about 850 B.C. Permessi: Permessus, a spring or rill on Mount Helicon. It is by no means clear that a new Book begins with this elegy. See what I have said on this subject in the Life of Propertius, supra. ELEGY II. A word of warning to Cynthia. V. 3. Omnia-munera. "Carmina illa, quae laudes tuas celebrant" (Kuinoel). "All your accomplishments" (Paley). Why not the "presents" which Cynthia was in the habit of receiving from her admirers-from her friend the praetor, for example—a source of endless annoyance to Propertius, and quite sufficient to account for these bitter verses? Cf. Bk. iii. 7, passim, but especially vv. 43, 44, and i. 8, 37. V. 6. Docta puella. Cf. Propert., i. 7, 11, and iii. 4, 11. ELEGY III. In praise of the genius of the artist who first depicted Love as a winged Boy with bow and quiver full of arrows. V. 3. Sine sensu: "without seeing what is going on around them;" "heedless." Cf. Propert., iii. 5, 18 : Scilicet insano nemo in amore videt. "And a V. 10. Et pharetra ex humero Gnosia utroque jacet. Cretan quiver hangs from both his shoulders"-i.e., not slung to the side, but hanging down his back. Cf. v. 6, 40 (of Apollo's quiver) :Et favet ex humeris hoc onus omne meis. Gnosia. The Cretans were famous bowmen. : V. 24. Ut soleant molliter ire pedes. Cf. Catull., lxviii. 70, 71:— ELEGY IV. The poet says he sings to thrill the soul of Cynthia alone, whose love he values beyond all other things; gives instructions regarding his funeral; and bewails the fate that continued to him beyond childhood a wretched and precarious existence. V. 1. Etrusca, MSS.; Susa, the conjecture of Beroaldus, has been adopted by Scaliger, Barth, Kuinoel, Lachmann, Jacob, Keil, and Mueller; Hertzberg and Paley admit Itura, the conjecture of Pontanus (a word found in no ancient writer; the country is called Ituraea). Ellis (Professorial Dissertations, 1871-72, p. 9) suggests Atusa, from an inscription on a unique coin ('ArovσIéwv tŵv πpòs tòv Káπрov, inclosing an arrow and a palm-branch), supposed to belong to an Assyrian city on the Caprus or lesser Zab. V. 4. Ascraeum-nemus. Cf. Propert., iii. 1, 25. V. 5, 6. The wondrous feats performed by Orpheus, the Thracian bard. V. 8. Inachio-Lino. Linus, son of Apollo and Calliope, famous in the legends of Argos and Thebes. V. 19. Nec mea tunc longa spatietur imagine pompa. When the funeral of an individual of high rank and ancient lineage took place, the masks representing his distinguished ancestors (imagines majorum) were taken out of their cases in the atrium and worn in the procession (pompa), in front of the bier (lectus), by persons clad in dresses similar to those worn in their lives by the parties represented, and decorated with their insignia of office. V. 20. Tuba. Cf. Propert., ii. 7, 12, and v. II, 9. V. 22. Attalico-toro. The wealth of Attalus, king of Pergamus, who bequeathed his immense treasures to the Roman people, was proverbial. Cf. Hor. Carm., i. 1, 12; Propert., iii. 24, 12, and v. 5, 24. V. 30. Onyx, properly a kind of gypsum or marble; here, a small vase made from it, in which the finer sorts of perfumes were preserved. The coarser kinds were kept in shells (conchae), or bottles of a globular form (ampullae). V. 33. Busto. The place where the body was burnt (uro). from the slaughter of Polyxena." V. 48. Gallicus. "Trojan," from the river Gallus, in Phrygia, if the word be not corrupt. Lachmann reads Ilius. V. 49. Antilochi. Antilochus, son of Nestor, slain by Memnon. Cf. Juv. Sat., x. 250-255; and Hor. Carm., ii. 9, 13-15. V. 55. Vocitasse, Mueller; flevisse, Kuinoel; jacuisse, vulgo. |