Adsit. Ita revereamur veritatem, ut eam quamvis tibi ingrata sit, confiteamur.' Absit. Ne tui reverentia nos impediat quominus verum dicamus.' 12. Tuli. i.e. non recusavi nubere. So Ov. Met. 13. 460 Scilicet aut illi servire Polyxena ferrem, and ib. 11.447 Nec vult Halcyonen in partem adhibere pericli. 15. Super stramen fenoque iacentibus. Remark the change in the construction of 'stramen' and 'feno.' Compare the following: His difficultatibus circumventus ubi videt neque per vim neque insidiis opprimi posse bominem tam acceptum popularibus. Sall. Iug. 7. Igitur fatalis dux ad excidium illius urbis servandaeque patriae M. Furius Camillus, &c. Liv. 5. 19. Quaque licet fugio, sicut ab boste, virum. Ov. Her. 8. 110. 16. Defensa. 'Defendere' signifies properly 'to ward off,' so Virg. E. 7. 47 Solstitium pecori defendite, iam venit aestas, and Senec. de Prov. 4 Imbrem culmo aut fronde defendunt. The student will find other examples in Hor. Od. 1. 17, 3, Sat. 1. 3, 14, Cic. de Sen. 15, &c. 19. Maculis. The knots of a net seem to be indicated by 'maculae.' N. Heins. would understand the coloured feathers employed to scare the beasts of chase, and drive them into the toils, as in Virg. G. 3. 372 Hos (sc. cervos) non immissis canibus, non cassibus ullis, Scheller in his Lexicon says that the maculae' are the meshes' or holes' of the net1. The word cannot bear either of the two last mentioned significations in the following passage from Varro, R. R. 3. II, where he is giving directions for the construction of a vŋσσoтPOPEĴOV or duck-yard;—after describing the manner in which the wall is to be built and plastered, he continues-idque saeptum totum rete grandibus maculis integitur ne eo involare aquila possit, neve ex eo evolare anas;— and so Columella, 8. 15, almost in the same words. In these passages 'grandibus maculis' must mean 'strong knots,' for 'large meshes' would admit of the very evil which the farmer is here taught to guard against. 1 And so Burm. ad Nemes. Cyneget. 302. 24. Recta, although found in most MSS., is scarcely intelligible, since it cannot be connected either with 'trunci' or 'nomina.' 'Rite,' which appears in two MSS., is probably the true reading. 'Recte' was perhaps placed in the margin as an explanation of ‘rite,' and might then find its way into the text, and finally would be changed into 'recta,' to prevent a violation of the laws of prosody. 25. Consita. Sero' and its compounds are used perpetually by Virgil and the prose writers upon agriculture, in the sense of 'to plant,' as well as in that of 'to sow.' 30. Ad fontem. The expression of rivers running backwards seems to have been applied proverbially, among the Greeks, to anything which was so strange as to seem a violation of the laws of nature. So the chorus in the Medea of Euripides, 414 *Ανω ποταμῶν ἱερῶν χωροῦσι παγαὶ Καὶ δίκα καὶ πάντα πάλιν στρέφεται, and in like manner Horace, when expressing his astonishment at the resolution of Iccius, Od. 1. 29, 10 Quis neget arduis Pronos relabi posse rivos Montibus, et Tiberim reverti, and Ovid himself, complaining of the perfidy of a friend, fully illustrates the idea, In caput alta suum labentur ab aequore retro Laturum misero quem mibi rebar opem. Tr. 1. 8, I. 31. Lymphae. Et lympha et nympha pro aqua ponitur; verum ubi poetae aquis actionem quandam humanam tribuunt, nympham potius quam lympham, dicunt.—Itaque Heins. e MSS. emendat nymphae' R. The two words, as might be expected from their resemblance both in form and meaning, are perpetually confounded in MSS. 32. Sustinet, nearly the same as 'tuli' in v. 12, implying that a person brings himself by an effort to do something from which he would naturally shrink. It occurs again in v. 52. So Cic. Verr. 2. I, 4 Sustinebunt tales viri se tot bominibus bonestissimis non credidisse? 33. Fatum... dixit. R understands 'dixit' to be equivalent here to 'praedixit,' which is unnecessary-'pronounced my doom' is the meaning. 34. Mutati, &c. 'Hiems vel tempestas de calamitate dicitur. Mutatus amor est aliorsum versus, metaphora sumpta a vento, qui cum secundus fuisset, mutatus et adversus est. Vulgo amoris biemem de amoris frigore accipiunt, quod nullo modo patitur vox mutati' R. 37. Micuere sinus. 'Mico' properly signifies to move rapidly backwards and forwards;' thus Virgil of a high-bred horse, G. 3. 84 Stare loco nescit, micat auribus, et tremit artus, and of a serpent darting its tongue, G. 3. 439 et linguis micat ore trisulcis. It is often applied, as in the present passage, to mental agitation, thus attoniti micuere sinus-corda micant regis—pulsantur trepidi corde micante sinus, &c., are all Ovidian expressions. 41. Classe peracta, the reading adopted by Burmann and approved by Ruhnken, can scarcely be defended. Parare' and 'ornare' are the technical words employed by the best writers with regard to the equipment of a fleet, while not a single example can be produced in favour of 'peragere.' In the passages quoted from Suetonius Calig. 21, and Oth. 6, it is applied to buildings the construction of which required great time and toil. 42. Ceratas, i. e. cera piceque oblitas, so again Ov. R. A. 447 Non satis una tenet ceratas ancora puppes. 43. Parce negare, i. e. noli negare, cave neges. This use of the verb 'parco' is very common among the poets, although scarcely admissible in prose composition, e. g. Hor. Od. 3. 8, 26 Parce privatus nimium cavere, and Virg. E. 3. 94 Parcite, oves, nimium procedere, non bene ripae Creditur. 44. Praeterito,' the love which once you bore to me, but which now has passed away.' 45. Nostros vidisti flentis ocellos, i. e. mei flentis ocellos. This peculiar construction, by which the possessive pronoun is substituted for the genitive of the personal, is found occasionally in the best writers. It may be useful to the student to give a few examples : quum mea neno Scripta legat vulgo recitare timentis. Hor. S. 1. 4, 22. Saepe mibi dices vivas bene: saepe rogabis Vt mea defunctae molliter ossa cubent. Ov. Am. 1. 8, 107. Cui nomen meum absentis bonori fuisset, ei meas praesentis preces non putas profuisse? Cic. Planc. 10. Tuum bominis simplicis pectus nudum vidimus. Cic. Phil. 2. gratae in vulgus leges fuere. Quas quum solus (sc. Publicola) pertulisset, ut sua unius in bis gratia esset, tum, &c. Liv. 2. 8. In vacuum pontem Gallus processit, et, Quem nunc, inquit, Roma virum fortissimum babet, procedat, agedum ad pugnam, ut noster duorum eventus ostendat, utra gens bello sit melior. Liv. 7. 9. Cogor vestram omnium vicem unus consulere. Liv. 25. 38. The use of nostros in the passage before us, instead of meos, renders the expression still more complicated; to this we have a parallel in Martial. 7. 51, 7 Si tenet absentis nostros cantatque libellos. and again, Sophocl. Oedip. Col. 345 σφὼ δ ̓ ἀντ ̓ ἐκείνων τἀμὰ δυστήνου κακὰ ὑπερπονεῖτον. 50. Ille secundus erat. 'Scilicet mihi amanti, quia te retinebat, nec illo flante abire poteras' B. A singular misapprehension of the meaning. Oenone intends to say that when the wind was really favourable for the voyage, Paris, unable to tear himself from her arms, and eager to frame an excuse for delay, complained that it was adverse, a pretext so flimsy that 'riserunt comites.' 54. Eruta. 'Translatio ducta est ex agricultura; nam proprie fossor dicitur eruere terram' R. We have a double metaphor in Ov. Amor. 3. 8, 43 Non freta demissi verrebant eruta remi. 59. Alii, est dativus commodi, ut grammatici loquuntur' R. Votis ergo meis. This line is probably corrupt, for the final syllable in 'ergo' is uniformly made long by the writers of the Augustan age, and by Ovid himself elsewhere. See the question fully discussed in 'Ramsay's Manual of Latin Prosody,' p. 58. 60. Pellice, i. e. Helena. Blanda, i. e. supplex-precibus delinivi Deas marinas. 61. Nativa, i.e. the work of nature,' as opposed to any bulwark reared by the hand of man. So in the Fasti, 5. 149 Est moles nativa: loco res nomina fecit: 64. Impetus, 'impulse,' as opposed to ratio, ‘a meditated plan.' 69. Morabar. 'Haec non intelligo: forte rectius morabor cum Leidensi codice' H. The meaning is this, 'It was not enough that I beheld with fluttering heart a woman's cheek-for had that been enough to satisfy me of your infidelity, why did I madly linger? No, I did not believe the worst, until, upon a nearer view, I saw an impure mistress clasped in your embrace—there was no longer any room for doubt-Tunc vero rupique sinus et pectora planxi,' &c. Heusinger and Jahn read Non satis id fuerat? quid enim furiosa morabar? but the interrogation in the first member of the clause does not suit the ‘quid enim' which follows. Ruhnken, who adopts this punctuation, understands it thus, Cur me non subduxi, ut Helenam ne viderem in gremio tuo haerentem.' The explanation of Burmann is harder to understand than the passage itself. 71. Sinus, i. e. vestes. Properly speaking, 'the folds of the garment;' it is used in the same general sense in Ep. 13, 36 Indue regales, Laodamia, sinus. 73. Idam v. Iden. A number of nouns of the first declension, chiefly proper names, are employed by the poets, sometimes under their Greek, sometimes under their Latin shape, as best suits their purpose. Thus we have 'Ida' and 'Ide;' 'Leda,' 'Lede;' 'Helena,' Helene;' 'Creta,' 'Crete;' and many others. Where either form is equally admissible, as in the present passage, we must be guided entirely by the best MSS. Sacram... Iden. Sacra dicitur, quod Cybeles sacra in hoc monte celebrabantur, quae inde etiam matris Idaeae nomen habet' R. Compare Ov. Fast. 4. 249 Dindymon, et Cybelen, et amoenam fontibus Iden Semper, et Iliacas Mater amavit opes. 74. Mea saxa, 'the rocky cave which formed my abode.' 75. Desertaque coniuge, sc. a coniuge. The preposition is omitted in like manner in Her. 12. 161 Deseror (amissis regno, patriaque, domoque) Coniuge: qui nobis omnia solus erat. 77, 78. If we read 'sequuntur' and 'destituunt,' it will make 'quae ' |