Loricamque simul subjectaque pectora rupit. Quo plangente gravem moribundo vertice terram Atque ait: Haec manus est, haec, qua modo vicimus, hasta: 120 Utar in hoc isdem: sit in hoc precor exitus idem.' Sic fatur Cygnumque petit: nec fraxinus errat, Tum, clypeo genibusque premens praecordia duris, 125 130 135 140 tion to aversum.-122. Fraxinus, by a not unusual metonymy for hasta, because the spears were made of ash.-124. Velut muro solidave a caute repulsa est. The preposition belongs to muro also, a favourite mode of expression with the Greek and Latin poets. So Metam. vii. 708: Pectore Procris erat, Procris mihi semper in ore.-126. Viderat et fuerat gavisus, the pluperfect, to denote that the impression was only momentary.-127. Sanguis. The lengthening of the last syllable by the arsis is of frequent occurrence with this and similar words which preserve the i in declension, in particular therefore with those which have the accusative in im, or the ablative in i.-130. Cavare, to hollow, to pierce.-136. Ante oculos natant tenebrae, his eyes grow dim, here graphically expressed by the swimming motion of dark clouds before the eyes.-138. Impulsum resupino corpore, stumbling backwards.—139. Vertit, dragged him hither and thither.-142. Elidunt, crush. So caput elidere in Plautus. Arma relicta videt: corpus deus aequoris albam 145 ACHILLIS MORS. AFTER an episode of some length the thread of the narrative is here resumed, and a short account given of the death of Achilles. AT deus, aequoreas qui cuspide temperat undas, 580 585 590 580. Cuspide, v. 594: triplici cuspide; that is, tridente.-581. Stheneleida. Cygnus, the friend of Phaethon, was the son of Sthenelus, king of the Ligurians. We must therefore suppose, if the reading is correct, that Ovid wishes to intimate that the Cygnus in the present fable was changed into a bird already existing, cujus modo nomen habebat (v. 145), and thereby refers us back to the original Cygnus. Compare xiii. 395.-582. Dolet, properly: regrets it, for it was himself that transformed him.-583. Memores iras. The attribute which belongs to the subject is here transferred to the anger. Metam. iv. 190: Exigit memorem Cythereïa poenam; xiv. 477: Memores de vulnere poenas Exigit. Civiliter, properly: as citizens should act towards citizens; hence moderately, considerately. Plus quam civiliter. Magis is usually joined to adjectives and adverbs; plus is strictly employed to indicate that the adjective does not exactly express the truth, does not completely exhaust the thought. Just as in the present passage, Lucan says in the beginning of his poem: Bella plus quam civilia, more than civil wars, wars between such as stand in a still nearer relation than that of citizen to citizen. So in Livy: Perfidia plus quam Punica; Cic. Phil. ii. 13: Confitebor eos plus quam sicarios esse. Exercet iras, not outwardly, in actions, but concipit animo, gerit animo.-585. Sminthea, from Sminthus, a town in Troas, noted for the worship of Apollo.-587. Irrita-Trojae. Neptune and Apollo assisted Laomedon to build the walls of Troy. By irrita Neptune seeks to rouse the anger of Apollo.-588. Ecquid, an urgent inquiry, here strengthened by its repetition.-591. Hectoris-tracti. This is the later Cum tamen ille ferox belloque cruentior ipso 595 600 Tela Parin; fassusque deum 'Quid spicula perdis Sanguine plebis?' ait. 'Si qua est tibi cura tuorum, 605 Quod Priamus gaudere senex post Hectora posset, Hoc fuit. Ille igitur tantorum victor, Achille, 610 Jam timor ille Phrygum, decus et tutela Pelasgi 615 Nescio quid, parvam quod non bene compleat urnam. sea. fable. In Homer, Achilles drags the corpse of Hector only round the grave of Patroclus.-592. Bello cruentior ipso, an unusual comparison of a man with a (no doubt personified) abstraction.-594. Det mihi se, let him only trust himself to me; that is, let him only venture on the Faxo. Gram. § 146, 6.-596. Non datur, sc. nobis, for both are meant. The emphasis lies on cominus and occulta.-601. Fassusque deum, fassusque se deum esse; properly: confessing the god that was concealed under the cloud.-607. Quod-gaudere posset. Instead of the ablative or a preposition with its case, gaudere here takes the accusative of a pronoun. See above, vi. 194. Post Hectora, post Hectora interfectum. Posset. The subjunctive may be explained by understanding some such condition as: if he were now capable of joy.611. Thermodontiaca-bipenni, by an Amazon, for the Amazons dwelt in the neighbourhood of the Thermodon.-612. Pelasgi Nominis, like nomen Latinum, where nomen is equivalent to race, nation, especially with reference to military affairs.-614. Deus idem, Vulcan, who had made the armour of Achilles.-616. Nescio quid, used to express what is trifling, Haec illi mensura viro respondet, et hac est 620 625 insignificant. Non bene, not completely, scarcely.-618. Haec mensura; namely, totius orbis.-621. Bella movet, usually of the party that commences war; here only occasions war. Arma feruntur, not strictly, for the strife is carried on not with weapons, but with words. The expression is chosen for the sake of the juxtaposition, armis arma.-623. Minor Atrides, Menelaus; bello major et aevo, Agamemnon.-624. Soli, grammatically referring to the first, but to both according to the sense. -625. Laërte, sc. creato.-626. Tantalides. Agamemnon is so called from his great-grandfather Tantalus, the father of Pelops, the father of Atreus. METAMORPH. LIB. XIII. CERTAMEN INTER AJACEM ET ULIXEN. CONSEDERE duces et, vulgi stante corona, Intendensque manus ' Agimus, pro Jupiter!' inquit 5 Quam pugnare manu! Sed nec mihi dicere promtum, 10 15 1. Vulgi stante corona, the common soldiers standing round in a circle.-2. Clypei septemplicis. Seven plies of bull's hide were covered with one of brass, and formed the shield of Ajax.-3. Utque erat gives the reason of what follows, utpote qui esset.-5. Intendens, equivalent to tendens.-6. Ante rates. An expression of the greatest bitterness at the very commencement. Before the ships which I alone saved: and yet there is a question about the decision! Ulixes, the genuine Latin form for Odysseus, as Ajax for Aias.-7. Hectoreis flammis, the flames with which Hector attempted to set fire to the Greek ships.-9. Fictis verbis, dolis, fallaciis. He thus intentionally depreciates skill in expression.-10. Dicere-facere, both in the strongest sense: words opposed to actions.-17. Superbum, not, as usual, in a subjective sense: haughty; but objective: bringing honour. Tenuisse, aorist, obtinuisse et tenere. |