110 115 120 Pelias esse potest imbellibus hasta lacertis, 125 130 hence equivalent to: et hasta non potest non onerosa esse. — 109. Pelias, from Mount Pelion, from which the spear of Achilles was cut.-110. Vasticaelatus imagine mundi. According to the description of the shield in Homer, heaven, earth, and sea were represented upon it in raised work.-114. Cur spolieris erit, sc. causa, which, however, in such cases is regularly omitted.-116. Trahenti, since you must drag after you.-124. Murmur, fremitus, not signs of approbation, but the restlessness of a large assembly after listening to a speech of some length.-128. Pelasgi. Used by the Roman poets, without distinction of meaning, for Graeci.-129. Tanti certaminis, of the object of such a contest. Heres is only correct when Achilles is considered as dead; on the other hand, when he is here supposed for the moment to be alive, we must substitute a general word: compos, particeps.—130. Poteremur, the ancient form. Metam. xiv. 641: Ut poterentur ea. Potitur is of frequent occurrence. See Gram. § 169, note.-134. Per quem-Achilles. Compare v. 165, foll. Danais successit, came to the Greeks. Succedere is less usual in this sense than accedere, although it occurs often enough to be admitted as correct. It is here employed by the poet intentionally, for the sake of the play upon the word.-135. Hebes, dull, stupid, forms the antithesis to the following ingenium. Profuit, ingenium; meaque haec facundia, si qua est, 140 Jupiter huic : neque in his quisquam damnatus et exul. 145 150 155 Quis locus Ajaci? Phthiam haec Scyronve ferantur. Num petit ille tamen? Num, si petat, auferat arma? -139. Nec. Neu would be more usual. See above, iii. 116: Ne rape-nec te insere bellis, and the note. Nec sua bona quisque recuset, and let no one deny his own good qualities.-141. Retulit, with the first syllable long, as so frequently. Retulit, Ajax Esse Jovis pronepos, for se esse Jovis pronepotem. 144. Nam mihi Laërtes pater est. Ulysses takes no notice of the reproach which Ajax had thrown upon him on account of his supposed descent from Sisyphus, but only mentions with emphasis his father Laërtes.-145. Neque-damnatus et exul. Peleus had been compelled to leave his home because he had slain his brother Phocus. Ovid appears to consider Telamon also as guilty.-146. Cyllenius. Mercury, who was born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. Anticlea, the mother of Ulysses, was the daughter of Autolycus, the son of Mercury.-147. Altera nobilitas, altera causa nobilitatis.-149. Fraterni sanguinis_insons, not, like Peleus, guilty of the blood of his brother. 151. Dummodo non sit. Dummodo is usually joined with ne. In such a case as the present, non must be connected, not with the whole sentence, but with some particular word, here meritum. 153. Spoliis; properly, the spoils of the enemy; here the property of the dead, which is to be given to another.-154. Proximitas. This word does not occur in the best Latin.-156. Phthiam, as the abode of Peleus. Scyronve. Scyros, an island on the east coast of Greece, where Achilles had concealed himself, to avoid going to the war. Pyrrhus, his son by Deidania, was born there. - 157. Teucer, half-brother of Ajax, son of Telamon and Hesione. The mother of Ajax was Eriboea.-159. Nudum, merum. Trist. iii. 11, Plura quidem feci, quam quae comprendere dictis Dissimulat cultu natum : et deceperat omnes, Ergo opera illius mea sunt: ego Telephon hasta 160 165 170 Quod Thebae cecidere, meum est; me credite Lesbon, Me Tenedon Chrysenque et Cillan, Apollinis urbes, 175 180 17: Ut mala nulla feram nisi nudam Caesaris iram, Nuda parum nobis Caesaris ira mali est ?-163. Dissimulat cultu natum. Thetis had disguised Achilles in a female dress, to prevent him from going to Troy; for his fate was, either to die at Troy, or to reach an inglorious old age.-164. In quibus Ajacem, for et in his Ajacem, dependent on deceperat. With the relative, we should properly require in quibus Ajax erat. We have here, therefore, a kind of attraction. 166. Neque adhuc projecerat heros. It is said that Ulysses, in showing the armour, at the same time caused martial music to be played, at the sound of which Achilles tore off his woman's clothes, and impetuously seized on shield and spear.-168. Peritura, which, according to the decree of fate, can only fall when you take part in the war. 170. Injecique manum, a law expression for: to take possession of.-171. Telephon. See Metam. xii. 112.173. Thebae, ibid. 110. Lesbos, the well-known island in the Aegean Sea, said to have been betrayed into the hands of Achilles by a girl who was in love with him.-174. Tenedon. See Metam. xii. 109. Chrysen, a town in Troas, opposite Lemnos. Cillan, likewise in Troas, and, like Chryse, sacred to Apollo.-175. Scyron, also a town in this district, not to be confounded with the island in the Aegean. 176. Lyrnesia moenia. See Metam. xii. 108.-177. Saevum, not in a bad sense, but: brave, formidable. -179. Illis armis, the dative: for those arms with which I detected Achilles. -180. Post fata, post mortem.-181. Dolor unius, Menelai ob raptam Helenam. ·182. Aulidaque Euboïcam. Aulis, in Boeotia, a Flamina sunt, duraeque jubent Agamemnona sortes Denegat hoc genitor divisque irascitur ipsis, 185 Atque in rege tamen pater est. Ego mite parentis Ingenium verbis ad publica commoda verti. Nunc equidem fateor, fassoque ignoscat Atrides: Difficilem tenui sub iniquo judice causam. Hunc tamen utilitas populi fraterque datique Mittor et ad matrem, quae non hortanda, sed astu Summa movet sceptri, laudem ut cum sanguine penset; Decipienda fuit. Quo si Telamonius isset, Orba suis essent etiam nunc lintea ventis.- Vix tenuere manus-scis hoc, Menelaë—nefandas, Post acies primas urbis se moenibus hostes 190 195 200 205 spacious harbour opposite Euboea.-187. Pater est, paternum animum ostendit.-190. Tenui causam, I maintained the cause, carried it through. Sub iniquo judice. Agamemnon had to decide between the father and the king; but he was a partial judge, he favoured the father.-192. Summa sceptri, equivalent to summa imperii, summum imperium, because the sceptre is the symbol of command. Laudem ut cum sanguine penset, to weigh honour with blood, to see which of the two scales is the heavier. -193. Astu Decipienda. It was pretended to Clytemnestra that Iphigenia was to be married to Achilles.-195. Suis ventis, justis ventis; the winds without which they could do nothing.-196. Mittor, with Menelaus, to procure peace on honourable terms.197. Altae Trojae. Altus is a frequent epithet of great cities (so Roma, Carthago), and must not be understood as meaning high in the literal sense, but proud, noble. Curia, borrowed from Roman life.-200. Praedamque Helenamque, not one and the same, but praeda refers to the treasures which Paris carried off along with Helen.-201. Antenora. Antenor, an aged Trojan, advised peace, and was generally looked upon as the advocate of the Greeks. Hence, at the destruction of Troy, his house was spared.— 202. Sub illo, those who acted under his command, his servants.— 205. Longa referre mora est. Just so, i. 214: Longa mora est enumerare. In such phrases, the Latin language gives the expression of the greatest definiteness; as if the action, which is not to take Ulla fuit; decimo demum pugnavimus anno. Mente ferant placida; doceo quo simus alendi 6 Nec mora, Quid facitis? Quae vos dementia' dixi Quidve domum fertis decimo nisi dedecus anno?" 210 215 220 225 230 235 place, were already commenced. -211. Quis tuus usus erat. Tuus here, in passive sense, for tui: of what use were you!-216. Ecce, Jovis monitu. Jupiter had promised to Thetis that the Greeks should atone for the insult which Agamemnon had offered to Achilles. He therefore caused a vision to appear to Agamemnon, urging him to make an attack on the enemy; for that now the time was come when Troy should fall. But Agamemnon, to test the soldiers, made the opposite proposal, that they should give up the siege, and return home. -218. Auctore, Jove, whom he gives out as the author of his proposal.-219. Non sinat, like the Greek optative with av, to express a modest expectation: Ajax would no doubt not approve of this.' The proposition which is negative in the first half, is continued in the affirmative. -220. Quodque potest, quatenus potest, quantum potest.—221. Det quod vaga turba sequatur. Supply aliquid, exemplum, or some such word. 222. Magna loquenti, magnifice loquenti, as Metam. i. 751: quem quondam magna loquentem Non tulit Inachides. See the note there. 226. Captam Trojam, Troy already won, as good as_won.-228. In quae dolor ipse disertum Fecerat. In quae, sc. proferanda. So above, ii. 282: Vix equidem fauces haec ipsa in verba resolvo.-233. Thersites, the most deformed and insolent of the Greeks, who was constantly |