275 285 Marte gravis geminam partu dabit Ilia prolem. Finibus arceret. Volat ille per aëra magnum 290 295 300 274. Ilia, elsewhere called Rhea Sylvia, of royal blood (regina), and priestess of Vesta (sacerdos).-276. Excipere is, 'to receive in succession' -'to succeed to.' Then follows a splendid passage in honour of Roman glory and the fame of Augustus.-282. Togatam. No one but a Roman was allowed to wear the toga. See 73.-283. Jupiter foretells the subjugation of the victorious Greeks (Phthia in Thessaly was the native country of Achilles, Mycenae the city of Agamemnon, and Argos of Diomedes) under the Romans, descended from the Trojan Assaracus, the great-grandfather of Aeneas.-286. Caesar. Probably Augustus, called, v. 288, Julius, for the reason stated at v. 267. Others refer this to Julius Caesar.-287. A future clause introduced by a relative which is dependent on another future, is expressed by the present subjunctive: nascetur qui terminet.-292. Quirinus, the name of the deified Romulus.-293. Dirae, &c. Referring to the fact, that the temple of Janus was shut, as a sign of peace, the third time from the foundation of the city, in the reign of Augustus, B. C. 29.--297. Maia genitum, Mercurium. Remigio alarum, ac Libyae citus adstitit oris. 305 310 Virginis os habitumque gerens et virginis arma, 315 320 325 Ac prior, Heus, inquit, juvenes, monstrate, mearum 301. Remigio. The similarity between sailing and flying involved in this expression appears also in Greek and in English, as 'Sails between worlds and worlds.' -Milton's Paradise Lost, vi. 268. See Aen. vi. 19.-308. Vidět; made long by the arsis.-310. See the description, 159, &c.-312. Comitatus. Mark the passive sense, and that it is accompanied by the ablative.-313. Bina, duo, a poetical usage. -317. Harpalyce, to whom Venus is here compared, was a Thracian princess, of manly accomplishments. Hebrum. See Ecl. x. 64.—-318. This description seems to have been taken from a statue of Diana.320. Nuda genu. Her tunic was shortened, so as to reach only to the knee, and the folds were gathered together so as to form a knot. Sinus collecta. Ecl. i. 55.-326. Mark audita mihi for the more ordinary a me. -329. An-an do not follow each other as alternative particles; that 330 340 Sis felix, nostrumque leves, quaecumque, laborem, 345 350 355 would require utrum-an. Translate both clauses as distinct questions.-332. Locorumque. Que elided before e of Erramus.-337. Alte. The cothurnus reached high up the leg, to defend the wearer while hunting in brakes and thickets.-338. Punica regna, 339. Fines Libyci. The immediate country is under the rule of Phoenicians-the district is in Libya. Fines is in apposition with genus. See Aen. iv. 40. Agenor, twin brother of Belus, was king of Phoenicia, and an ancestor of Dido, whose story Venus proceeds to narrate.-343. Observe the double construction of ditissimus agri, ditissimus Phoenicum.-344. Miserae dilectus. See 326.-347. Mark immanior ante, &c. instead of the ablative.-350. Securus, sine cura.-353. Inhumati. This increased the atrocity of the deed, as the ancients regarded with religious horror the fate of being unburied.-358. Tellure recludit: not in, but from the earth. His commota fugam Dido sociosque parabat. O dea, si prima repetens ab origine pergam, 6 Quisquis es, haud, credo, invisus coelestibus auras 360 365 370 375 380 385 365. Devenere locos. Mark the construction for ad locos.-367. Byrsam, commonly derived from Búgra, a hide.-374. Night is poetically described. Vesper shuts the gate of heaven (see Ecl. v. 50), and prepares for the rest of the day-god.-377. Forte sua, casu tempestati proprio.-378. Pius. The leading characteristic of Aeneas in Virgil expresses the firmest possession of all the natural affections, which is the proper meaning of pius, as to the gods, to one's father or children. This Virgil maintains throughout in his delineation of Aeneas.-379. Fama, &c. This is not so much personal boasting, as a reference to the celebrity of all those concerned in the Trojan war.-380. Referring to the legend that connected Dardanus, the ancestor of Aeneas, and son of Jupiter, with Etruria. See Aen. iii. 163, &c.-381. Denis. See 313.-383. Euro. These words for the winds are used without any special reference to the direction from which they blow; as in line 391, aquilonibus.-388. Adveneris, with qui, has the force of quoniam advenisti. It gives her ground for stating Perge modo, atque hinc te reginae ad limina perfer. Et multo nebulae circum dea fudit amictu, 390 395 400 405 410 that he is haud invisus coelestibus. Auras, &c. equivalent to vivis.389. The per in pergo (perrego) and perfer expresses the intensity, the completion of the action.-391. Versis aquilonibus; either the ablative absolute, or the dative, governed by actam.-393. Senos, for sex. See vv. 266, 313. Cycnos. The swan was sacred to Venus.-394. Jovis ales, aquila.-395. Turbabat, was lately.-396. Capere seems here to be equivalent to eligere, to select a place on which to alight.-398. The perfect tenses mark what has preceded their present joyful return to the safe earth. Cantus. For the hoarse note of the swan. See Aen. xi. 458. 401. Modo. This brings back the mind to 389.-402. Rosea. The same remark applies to this as to purpureum. Ecl. ix. 40.-403. Ambrosiae, used by the deities as an unguent.-404. Defluxit. Her huntress dress reached only to her knees. See 320.-405. Incessu. Compare vv. 46, 497, for the notion of stateliness involved in incedo. The walk of the deities was represented as a gliding motion, unlike the mortal pedetentim. Dea; the a not elided. Ille, with its emphatic force, 'he on the other hand.'-409. Veras, wherein they would speak as mother and son-their true position.-410. Gressum. The gait of Venus was incessus; theirs gressus.-412. Dea. From its position, it is evident that this is no mere epithet applied to Venus, but has this force-' by her divine power.' J |