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114.

Tritonidis. One of the names of Pallas, variously explained; possibly it has a reference to a stream called Triton, near Alalcomenae, in Boeotia, where Athena was worshipped. 117. Sortibus links the end of the story with its beginning.

VI.

ANDROMEDA'S RELEASE.

THE story of Perseus is another of those in which modern criticism finds a poetical description of natural phenomena. It bears a certain resemblance to the Scandinavian legend of Sigurd and Brynhild, and so has probably a common origin. Perseus travels from East to West, where the Graiai and the Gorgons dwell, whom, as Eschylus tells us (Prometheus Vinctus, 796), neither the sun nor the nightly moon visits with its rays. He goes to slay the Gorgon Medusa. So the sun

even in his setting hastens to triumph over darkness and death. The deliverance of Andromeda may be an added episode, to bring out the special feature of Medusa's head turning all to stone. Preller's explanation (Griechische Mythologie, II. 71), that Andromeda is the moon in the shape of a beautiful maiden attacked by the darkness in the shape of a sea-monster and rescued by the sun-god, seems far-fetched. While we may accept the main outline of a solar myth, we may surely allow some licence to the poetic faculty in the details.

It is interesting to compare with this story the legend of our national champion St. George, the hero of the Faerie Queene.' St. George was a native of Cappadocia. In travelling to join his legion he came to a city of Libya called Selene, whose people were plagued by a dragon which ravaged their lands. To prevent this monster from coming up to their city they offered to him daily two sheep; and when the sheep were exhausted they were obliged to sacrifice daily two of their children. These were taken by lot, and at last the lot fell on the king's only daughter, Cleodolinda. The king offered all that he had to redeem her, but the people refused, and he was obliged to yield. The maiden went out towards the dwelling of the dragon, and as she went met the Cappadocian knight, who heard her story, and then, calling on the name of the Redeemer, attacked the monster and pinned him to the earth. He asked the maiden for her girdle, and bound the dragon fast, so that she led it to the city like a dog. When they reached the city her deliverer slew the monster, and demanded for his reward that the people should believe in his God, and should be baptized. So the king and his people believed and were baptized-20,000 in one day! See Mrs. JAMESON's Sacred and Legendary Art, vol. II.

I.

2.

Æolus, the son of Hippotes, and ruler of the winds.
The harbinger of day, the time for work.

3. Ille, Perseus.

4.

Hermes had given him a curved sword or scimitar (1. 65), and the nymphs, the winged sandals, and the helmet of Hades to render him invisible, and a magic bag to carry the head of Medusa.

7.

Cephea, of Cepheus, a king of Ethiopia, husband of Cassiopeia, and father of Andromeda.

8. Maternae linguae. Cassiopeia had boasted that her beauty exceeded that of the Nereids. Others say that it was of Andromeda's beauty that she boasted (so Kingsley), but maternae formae in 1. 25 seems inconsistent with this. Immitis refers only to this oracle. The temple of Jupiter Ammon was the chief oracular seat of Libya.

9.

IO.

II.

Simul simulac.

Perseus was grandson of Acrisius, the son of Abas.

13. Ignes, the flame of love or desire.

14.

20.

22.

23.

Stupet, was dazzled, blinded. Correptus, fascinated.

Note the juxtaposition of virum virgo. It was unseemly for a maiden to address (appellare) a man.

Quod, antecedent?

Sua, emphatic; he would think that the crime which she would not confess was her own.

25. Maternae belongs in meaning to fiducia, but shows that it is pride in her own and not in her daughter's beauty. Imminet, towers over. Possidet, occupies. Her boasting had been the cause of all the mischief.

28.

30.

33. You will have time enough to weep afterwards.

35. If I wooed her on my own merits, my claim would be irresistible; but now I propose only to claim a life which I shall have saved. The contrast is between dotes and meritum.

36. Clausam, though in prison.

37. Anguicomae, with snaky locks.

42. Legem, the conditions.

43. Dotale, an anachronism; in the heroic times the husband paid the dower, as the price of his bride.

47.

Balearica. The people of the Balearic islands, now Majorca and
Minorca, were famous as slingers. Hannibal had 870 of them

in his army.-LIVY, XXI. 21.

48. Plumbo. The missile used with the sling was a bullet of lead about the size of a hen's egg. Caeli, gen. after quantum. 52. Vacuo, open, without trees.

54.

Occupat aversum, comes down upon him from behind. So adversus is 'in front.'

56. Praeceps is used almost as if it were a participle, 'darting down.'

57.

Immisso, quickened.

Frementis, sc. ferae.

58. Inachides

=

Cp. admisso. IV. 78.

Argive. Inachus was king of Argos.

59. Se is carried on to subdit and versat.

63. The sea shells stuck to his hide, like barnacles to a ship.

67. Maduere graves. Cp. V. 63; the wet made them heavy.

68. He could not trust his wings, thus heavy with wet, and so sought

some standing place.

70. Contrast between stantibus and moto, which is emphasized by their position. How?

The aequor motum is looked on as an agent.

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85. They notice the transformation, and try experiments. Whatever Medusa's head was turned upon became stone. According

to another version of the story Perseus turned it upon the monster and petrified him.

87. Semina iterant, i.c., procure new plants by sowing the seeds; or possibly iterant jactata forms one idea and iterum atque iterum jactant.

89. Ut capiant, &c., explains natura. What kind of sentence is it? The Romans knew only the red coral, which is abundant on the borders and around the islands of the Mediterranean. course the account of it given here is perfectly fanciful.

Of

VII.

THE SPIDER'S WEB.

3. Loco nec origine gentis, station or birth.

4.

Colophonius. Colophon was one of the twelve Ionian cities in
Asia Minor, seven miles from Ephesus.

5. Phocaico. Phocaea was an important maritime city, the northernmost of the Ionian cities. It was the mother-city (μnτрóπоλis) of Marseilles. The murex, or purple fish, from which the purple dye was obtained, was brought in by the Phocaean fishermen. Bibulas, that drink in the dye. Quaesierat, had won.

8.

9.

13.

Hypaepis, a town of Lydia, on the south slope of Mount Tmolus.
The Pactolus was a river of Lydia.

Note the position of solum. So graceful were her motions that
it was a pleasure to see her at work.

15. Rudem, in its raw state.

Glomerabat, wound it into balls.

16. Repetitaque. And going over the fleeces again and again, by repeated lengthening fined them down till they matched the

mist.

We should say, fine spun as gossamer. So Tennyson compares the fine threads of a waterfall tò 'sheets of finest lawn.' (Lotos-caters.)

19. Pingebat acu, i.e., embroidered in various colours.

20.

22.

She was the highest teacher, and yet Arachne thought it an insult to be called her pupil.

Simulat, takes the shape of.

Canos, understand capillos. In (not ad), to place on.

26. Ne sperne. In prohibitions the 2nd pers. imperative is only used in poetry, the prose form is ne spreveris.

27.

30.

Join inter mortales maxima. Mortales, in contrast to deae.
Torvis, sc. oculis.

32. Why obscuram ?

34. Join nimium diu.

36. I am satisfied to be my own adviser. You need not think you have gained anything by your advice: I am of the same opinion still.

39.

43.

Venit, she is here; exhibuit, disclosed.

Ut solet, &c., a beautiful description of an Italian sunrise. In the twilight the distant hills stand out a dark purple; the sky is grey, then it flushes with the palest gold, which turns to a rosy hue (purpureus), till at last the sun puts forth his face, and the whole east glows with white light.

45. Solis ab ortu, upon the sun's rising.

46.

51.

Stolidae, inverted epithet; the desire is foolish. The two webs of alternate threads of the warp (stamina, because the loom was upright) are attached to the frame of the loom, and kept apart by the arundo, so that the shuttle (radius) may pass between, and so convey the thread of the woof (subtemen), which is then driven home by a toothed comb (pecten). Then by means of a series of loops attached to their ends, and fastened to two rods, the two sets of the alternate threads of the warp are crossed, so as to wrap over the thread of the woof. The shuttle is then passed back, and thus this second thread of the woof passes over the set of warp threads, which the first passed under, and under the alternate threads. 55. Cinctae, middle; vestes, accusative.

57. Aënum, vat.

58. Tenues, &c., delicate shadings of colour.

59. Solibus, the sun's rays being reflected.

63. The two shades that touch seem identical; it is only by comparing the extremes that you can see the difference. The truth of this is abundantly shown by the spectroscope. Each line in the solar spectrum corresponds to a ray of a certain refrangibility, and therefore of a different shade of colour, and the dark lines alone that have been counted are more than 3,000, the dark lines simply representing the rays that have been absorbed, and do not reach us.

64. Lentum, the flexile gold thread.
66. The high rock on Mars' Hill at Athens.

Cecropia, from Cecrops, the legendary first king of Attica. The
Areopagus (Mars' Hill) was west of the Acropolis. It was
accessible from the south side by a flight of steps cut in the
rock. It gave its name to the celebrated council which sat
there, and before which this conflict took place.

67. When Athens was built, Pallas and Neptune contended which of them should give a name to the city. It was agreed that whichever should produce the most useful gift to the human race should be adjudged the victor. Neptune created the horse, Pallas the olive, the symbol of peace. The latter obtained the prize. Hence, according to the common legend, the name 'Avaι from 'A0ŋvâ. But the derivation will not hold.

68. Medio Jove, abl. abs. with Jove in the midst. 70. Just as the saints in mediaeval paintings are distinguished by conventional types or emblems: St. Peter, for instance, by the keys, St. Paul by the sword, St. Mary Magdalene by her box of ointment; so here you might recognize each god by his conventional figure: Jove by his kingly insignia, Neptune by his trident, Pallas by her aegis.

71.

Stare facit, represents as standing.

72. Note the metaphor in vulnere: the chasm in the rock.' 74. As Pallas was represented in the famous colossal statue that stood on the Acropolis at Athens.

75. Aegide, the breastplate in which was set the Gorgon's head. 76. De sometimes denotes cause—so XIII. 49, 'passu de vulnere tardo.'

77. Canentis, from the white silvery shimmer of the under side of the olive leaf.

78. Operi victoria finis. The rim of olive leaves that completes the work is the symbol that she was victorious.

81. Maeonis, the Lydian.

Europa was carried off by Jupiter in the shape of a bull.
gives a very beautiful picture of this in these three lines.

86. Limbo, fringe or border.

87.

Ovid

Intertextos. This is called a spondaic ending. When there is a spondee in the fifth place, the fourth must have a dactyl. But the usage is rare.

88. Non-Livor. Not envy itself.

89. Flava, golden-haired. Pallas is called virago from her masculine appearance.

90.

Caelestia crimina, their excellence was a slur upon the goddess. 91. Cytoriaco, from Cytorus a mountain in Paphlagonia, where boxwood grows so = of boxwood.

93.

96.

98.

99.

Animosa, high-spirited, independent, she could not bear such a slight.

Futuri. Cp. III. 50, interrita leti. The genitive defines the
word on which it depends.

Hecate, the goddess of gloom and of dismal enchantments. Cp.
SHAKESPEARE'S Macbeth, Act III. Sc. 5.

Tristi medicamine, with baleful drug.

VIII.

LATONA'S REVENGE.

THE story in its earliest form is found in HOMER, Iliad, XXIV. 602—
617. (Achilles is persuading Priam to take food after Hector's funeral.)

Not fair-hair'd Niobe abstained from food
When in the house her children lay in death,
Six beauteous daughters and six stalwart sons.
The youths Apollo with his silver bow,
The maids the Archer-Queen, Diana, slew,

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