ODES. BOOK I. escaped drowning,' to which the other is equivalent, but expresses more, namely, the hanging up of the clothes. 15. potenti-maris] Potenti' governs 'maris,' as i. 3. 1. potens Cypri," C. ODE VI. THIS Ode is addressed to M. Vipsanius Agrippa, the friend and general, and at a later time the son-in-law, of Augustus. It was probably written after the battle of Actium, where Agrippa commanded the fleet of Augustus against M. Antonius. He may have asked Horace to write an ode in his honor, and he declines in a modest way, professing to be unequal to such high exploits, which he places on the same level with those of Homer's heroes. ARGUMENT.Varius shall sing in Homeric strain of thy victories by sea and land. My humble muse does not sing of these, of the wrath of Achilles, or the wanderings of Ulysses, or the fate of Pelops's house, nor will she disparage thy glories and Caesar's. Who can fitly sing of Mars, mailclad, of Meriones, black with the dust of Troy, of Diomed, a match for gods? I sing but of feasts, and of the battles of boys and girls. 1. Scriberis] See next Ode, v. 1, n. L. Varius Rufus was a distinguished epic and tragic poet frequently mentioned by Horace, with whom he was intimate, and whom he introduced to Mæcenas. He was popular with his ,contemporaries, and much admired by them. Augustus also had an affection for him (see Epp. ii. 1. 247). 'Alite' is in apposition with 'Vario.' Translate, 'bird In prose the ablative of the agent without a preposition of Homeric song.' is not admissible. But Horace has the same construction, C. iii. 5. 24. S. ii. 1. 84. Epp. i. 1. 94. It is most frequently found in Ovid. Homer is called 'Maeonius' from the fact that Smyrna, a town of Lydia, more anciently called Mæonia, was one of those that claimed to be his birthplace. 2. carminis alite,] 3. Quam rem cunque] The construction is by attraction. The full expression would be 'scriberis et scribetur omnis res quamcunque.' Agrippa's great successes up to this time had been in the Perusian war against L. Antonius, B. c. 41 (in which he had the principal command under Augustus), in Gaul and Germany, by land; and against Sex. Pompeius and at Actium, by sea. 4. te duce] See next Ode, v. 27, n. 5. neque haec -nec gravem] This is as if he had said: 'I should not think of singing of these victories, any more than I should of the wrath of Achilles.' Compare C. iii. 5. 27-30: Neque amissos colores Lana refert medicata fuco, Nec vera virtus cum semel excidit Curat reponi deterioribus." 6 'As the stained wool does not recover its lost color, so true virtue once lost 7. duplicis] dinλoûs, double-minded or double-tongued,' as he is described by Hecuba in Euripides's play of the Trojan Women (v. 285) ; — ὃς πάντα τἀκεῖθεν ἐνθάδ' ἀντίπαλ ̓ αὖθις ἐκεῖσε διπτύχῳ γλώσσα φίλα τὰ πρότερ ̓ ἄφιλα τιθέμεμενος πάντων. Ulixe' is a genitive of the second declension, 'Ulixeus' being an old Latin form of Ulysses.' 8. saevam Pdopis domum] Alluding to Varius's tragedy Thyestes. Tantalus, the founder of his house, served up his own son Pelops at a feast of the gods. Pelops, restored to life, murdered Enomaus his father-in-law and his own son Chrysippus (Thucyd. i. 9). Atreus, the son of Pelops, murdered and placed before their father as a meal the children of Thyestes his brother, who had previously seduced the wife of Atreus. Atreus was killed by gisthus, his nephew and supposed son, who also seduced the wife of his cousin, Agamemnon (the son of Atreus), who was murdered by the said wife Clytemnestra, and she by her son Orestes, who was pursued to madness by the Erynnyes of his mother: all of which events furnished themes for the Greek tragedians, and were by them varied in their features as suited their purpose, or according to the different legends they followed. 11. Laudes] It is said that Varius wrote a panegyric on Augustus, and if so, it is possible Horace means indirectly to refer to it here. 13. tunica tectum adamantina] This expresses Homer's epithet xaλkoχίτων. 15. Merionen] The charioteer of Idomeneus, king of Crete. Pulvere Troico nigrum' is like 'non indecoro pulvere sordidos' (C. ii. 1. 22). With the help of Pallas, Diomed encountered Mars and wounded him (Il. v. 858). 18. Sectis-acrium] The order is, 'virginum in juvenes acrium, Sectis tamen unguibus.' 19. sive quid urimur] The construction has been noticed before (3. 15), and vacuus' occurs in the last Ode (v. 10). See Z. § 385. 20. Non praeter solitum leves.] Trifling, according to my usual practice.' ODE VII. MUNATIUS Plancus, who followed Julius Cæsar both in Gaul and in his war with Pompeius, after Caesar's death attached himself to the republican party, but very soon afterwards joined Augustus; then followed Antonius to the East, and D. c. 32, the year before Actium, joined Augustus again. He was consul in B. c. 42. See C. iii. 14. 27, 66 Non ego hoc ferrem, calidus juventa, Consule Planco." He had a son Munatius, who is probably the person referred to in Epp. i. 3. 31. To which of them this Ode was addressed, if to either, is uncertain. It might have been addressed to any one else, for its only subject is the praise of a quiet life and convivial pleasure, which is supported by a story about Teucer, taken from some source unknown to us. Much of the language and ideas seems to have been copied from the Greek. ARGUMENT. Let others sing of the noble cities of Greece, and dedicate their lives to the celebration of Athens and all its glories. For my part, I care not for Lacedæmon and Larissa, as for Albunea's cave, the banks of Anio, and the woods and orchards of Tibur. The sky is not always dark, Plancus drown care in wine, whether in the camp or in the shades of Tibur. As Teucer, though driven from his father's home, bound poplar on his head, and cheered his companions, saying: "Let us follow fortune, my friends, kinder than a father: despair not, while Teucer is your chief; Apollo has promised us another Salamis: drown care in wine, for to-morrow we will seek the deep once more." 1. Laudabunt] This future is like 'scriberis' in the last Ode (v. 1), 'others shall if they please.' Claram' means 'bright,' with reference to its cloudless skies. Bimaris' is an unusual word. It refers to the position of Corinth, which, standing at the south of the isthmus, commanded the shore of the Sinus Corinthiacus, by two long walls reaching from the town to the sea, and had its eastern port Cenchrew on the Sinus Saronicus. 5. Sunt quibus] There are those who make it the single business of their lives to tell of chaste Minerva's city in unbroken song, and to gather a branch from every olive to entwine their brow. A perpetuum carmen is a continuous poem, such as an Epic; and a branch from every olive,' or, more literally, an olive-branch from every quarter,' means that the various themes connected with the glory of Athens are as olive-trees, from each of which a branch is plucked to bind the poet's brow. The figure is appropriate to the locality, where the olive flourished and was sacred to Minerva (see Herod. v. 8. Soph. Oed. Col. 694, sqq.). We do not know of any poem or poems to which Horace may have alluded, but Athens furnished subjects for the inferior poets of the day. 8. Plurimus] This word for plurimi' standing alone occurs nowhere else; with a substantive it is not uncommon, as Oleaster plurimus,' Georg. ii. 182. 'Plurimus acger,' Juv. iii. 232. In honorem,' for the ablative, See Hom. Il. iv. is an unusual construction. But Propertius (iv. 6. 13) says, "Caesaris in nomen ducuntur carmina," which is an analogous case. 51, where Here says: ᾖ τοι ἐμοὶ τρεῖς μὲν πολὺ φίλταταί εἰσι πόλης, She had a celebrated temple between Argos and Mycena called the 'Hpaîov. Homer (Il. ii. 287) calls Argos inπоßатоν (aptum equis '), the plain in which the city was placed being famous for breeding horses. 'Dites Mycenas' is later: Mukývas Tàs Toλνxρúoovs (Soph. Elect. 9). 'Opimae Larissae' is Homeric; Aápioσa epißwλag (Il. ii. 841). There were several towns of this name, and it is uncertain which Homer meant, but probably that in Thessaly. Horace perhaps took his town, with its But he may have been at all epithet, without thinking much where it was. these places while he was in Greece. Patiens' is the Spartan's historical character, but also that of Horace's age. Cicero (Tusc. v. 27) says, “Pueri Spartiatae non ingemiscunt verberum dolore laniati. Adolescentium greges Lacedaemone vidimus ipsi, incredibili contentione certantes pugnis, calcibus, unguibus, morsu denique, ut exanimarentur prius quam se victos faterentur." 'Percussit' is generally used with the ablative of the instrument or cause. Standing alone in this way, and in the aoristic perfect, it savors very much of λnge, which is used in the same sense. 12. Albuneae resonantis] Albunea, one of the Sibyls worshipped at Tibur, gave her name to a grove and fountain. See Virg. Aen. vii. 81, sqq. 13. Tiburni lucus] Tiburnus (or -tus), Catillus, and Coras were the mythiThe brothers were worcal founders of Tibur. See Virg. Aen. vii. 671. shipped and had a grove there. Tiburnus was the tutelar deity of Tibur, as Tiberinus was of the river Tiber, Anienus of the Anio, &c. They are in Tibur was famous for its orchards. As to uda' see fact adjectives. C. iii. 29. 6, n. Close to Tibur there is a fall of the Anio, which explains "praeceps.' 15. Albus-Notus] This is the λevxovOTos of the Greeks. 22 We have also 'candidi Favonii' (C. iii. 7. 1) and albus Iapyx' (C. iii. 27. 19). In the latter place it represents a treacherous wind. Horace prefers the older forms in eo,' as deterget,' 'tergere' (S. ii. 2. 24), 'densentur' (C. i. 28. 19). 19. fulgentia signis] The standards in front of the 'praetorium,' the commander-in-chief's quarters, were decorated with plates of burnished gold or silver. 21. Teucer] Teucer was brother of Ajax, and son of Telamon, king of Salamis, that island on the southern coast of Attica where Themistocles defeated the forces of Xerxes. When he returned from Troy, his father refused to receive him, because he came without his brother, whereupon he went with his followers to Cyprus, and built a city there, which he called after his native place, Salamis. 'Cum fugeret tamen' is an imitation of the Greek kai pevyov ouws. But this use of 'tamen' is not uncommon in Cicero. Teucer selected Hercules as his protector, and so wore a crown of poplar, which was sacred to that hero. See Virg. Aen. viii. 276. 25. Fortuna melior parente] Fortune, kinder than my father.' 27. duce et auspice] Horace puts technical distinctions into Teucer's lips, of which he could know nothing. The commander-in-chief of a Roman army had a power called 'imperium' given him, in virtue of which his acts in the war in which he was engaged were done on behalf of the state. He alone had the power of taking the auspices under which the war was carried on. The difference between dux' and 'auspex' was the difference between a commander who had the imperium' (and therefore the auspicium ') and one who had not. If an 'imperator' commanded in person, the war was said to be carried on under his ductus' as well as his auspicia'; otherwise only under his auspicia,' his 'legatus' being the 'dux.' Thus Tacitus says (Ann. ii. 41), "recepta signa cum Varo amissa ductu Germanici auspiciis Tiberii." Tiberius as 'imperator' alone had the auspicium,' which the emperors rarely delegated to their generals. See last Ode, v. 4. C. iv. 14. 33. Epp. ii. 1. 254. Certus is equivalent to σαφής in εἰ Ζεὺς ἔτι Ζεὺς χὼ Διὸς Φοίβος σαφής (Oed. Col. 623). 29. Ambiguam] Of doubtful name, i. e. liable to be confounded with the old Salamis. ODE VIII. THIS Ode contains an expostulation with a damsel, Lydia, who is supposed to be spoiling by her charms a youth, Sybaris, once distinguished in all manly sports, which he has now forsaken. Sybaris was the name of a Greek town on the Sinus Tarentinus, the inhabitants of which were idle and luxurious. The name, which was proverbial though the town had long been destroyed, is given to this youth by way of representing the character into which he has fallen. ARGUMENT.-Lydia, why art thou spoiling Sybaris thus, so that he shuns all manly exercises? He who was once so active, why does he no longer ride and swim and wrestle, and throw the quoit and javelin in the Campus Martius? Why does he hide himself with thee, like Achilles, in woman's apparel? 3, 4. apricum campum] The Campus Martius, where the youth of Rome used to practise manly and warlike exercises. 5. militaris] 'as a soldier should.' 6. Gallica nec lupatis] The best horses were bred in Cisalpine Gaul. Lupata (plur.) is used as a substantive by Virgil (Georg. iii. 208). It was the sharpest kind of bit, so called from the jagged teeth of the wolf, which it resembled. It was also called 'lupus.' The participle is not elsewhere used. 8. Tiberim tangere? Cur olivum] The Romans bathed often in the Tiber, before which, and before their exercises in the Campus Martius, they were wont to rub oil on their limbs. C. iii. 12. 6. S. i. 6. 123; ii. 1. 8. 10. armis] The discus (S. ii. 2. 13) and lance, the violent use of which strained and discolored the arms. 13. Quid latet,] Why is he hiding himself in your house?' as Achilles was hid in a woman's dress, in the palace of Lycomedes, in the island of Scyros, lest he should be carried to Troy; a legend which Homer knew nothing of Thetis foresaw that the siege of Troy would be fatal to Achilles. In Ŏvid (Met. xiii. 165, sqq.) Ulysses relates the story, and tells how he discovered Achilles and dragged him to the war. 16. Lycias-catervas?] The Lycians assisted the Trojans under the command of Sarpedon and Glaucus. ODE IX. THIS is a drinking song for the winter, imitated from an Ode of Alcæus. A party is supposed to be assembled in the city, and one calls upon the master of the feast to bring out his best wine, and make the fire burn bright, that they may banish care and all thought for the future, since youth is the time for innocent enjoyment. ARGUMENT. - You see how Soracte stands out with snow, and the woods are bending with their burden, and the sharp frost hath frozen the streams. Heap logs on the fire, and draw your best Sabine wine, feast-master, and leave the rest to the gods, at whose bidding the fierce winds are still and the woods have rest. Ask not what is to come; enjoy the present day; let the dance be ours while we are young, the Campus Martius, the promenade, the nightly assignation, and the coy girl that loves to be caught. 1. stet] 'stands out.' This signifies a fixed and prominent appearance. 'Stant lumina flamma' (Aen. vi. 300) may be rendered in the same way. Soracte was one of the Faliscan range of hills, about 2200 feet high and twenty-four miles from Rome. It is now called Monte Tresto, a corruption from San Oreste.' It is seen very clearly from the northern point of the city. Apollo had a temple there: "Summe deum sancti custos Soractis Apollo," Aen. xi. 785. 4. constiterint] have ceased flowing.' See Ov. Tr. v. 10. 1: "Ut sumus in Ponto ter frigore constitit Ister." Acuto,' as applied to cold, corresponds to the oέeia xiv of Pindar, and 'penetrabile frigus' of Virgil. But Horace also applies it to heat (Epp. i. 10. 17): "Cum semel accepit solem furibundus acutum." In English, we say a sharp frost,' but do not use the same word for heat. 7. Deprome quadrimum Sabina,—diota.] The first of these words means here to draw the wine from the diota' into the crater or bowl in which it was mixed with water. The diota (so called from its having two handles or ears, Ta) was the same as the 'amphora' (so called for the same reason), 'testa,' or cadus,' which were names for the vessels of earthen-ware or glass in which the wine was kept, as we keep it in bottles, after it was drawn from |