5 10 abstineas, Mors atra, precor: non hic mihi mater et fleat effusis ante sepulcra comis, Delia non usquam; quae me cum mitteret urbe, dicitur ante omnes consuluisse deos. illa sacras pueri sortes ter sustulit, illi rettulit e trinis omina certa puer. cuncta dabant reditus: tamen est deterrita numquam, 12. trinis Muretus triviis 0. omina over an erasure A omnia Y, apparently V. 5. For the repetition cf. I, I, in Ovid, Ex P. 1, 2, 58. 6. For the details of the ossilegium, which it was the duty of the nearest relative to perform, cf. 3, 2, 9-26 and nn. 7. Assyrios Syrios, by a common confusion due partly to the similarity in sound, and partly to the haziness of geographical knowledge at Rome. All the products of the East were frequently called Syrios, because shipped to Rome from Antioch, or other Syrian ports. So "Port" wine from Oporto; see Taylor, Words and Places, p. 282; cf. Cat. 68, 144; Prop. 2, 13, 30. — dedat: 'devote.' 8. sepulcra poetic plural. 9. cum mitteret: with conative force when she was trying to make up her mind to let me go.' 15 20 quin fleret nostras respiceretque vias. aut sciat egressum se prohibente deo. quid tua nunc Isis mihi, Delia, quid mihi prosunt 17. aves aut 14. respiceretque O respueretque o despueretque Haupt. waves dant 0. 18. Saturnive accepted by Broukhusius from a certain scholar Saturni 0. 22. sciat O sciet Doering. 15. solator: the appositive is here equivalent to a concessive clause: though I tried to console her'; cf. Madv. 220. - mandata: 'parting injunctions'; cf. Ovid, Trist. 1, 3, 59. 16. tardas: in the active sense; cf. Hor. Sat. 1, 9, 32: tarda podagra. 17. Cf. Ovid, Her. 5, 49-52; Met. 9, 767; Ter. Phorm. 705 sqq. 18. Saturnive . . . diem: subject of tenuisse. The Jewish Sabbath (the seventh day of the week) was known to the Romans as Saturn's day (Saturday). Of this use of the term in literature this is one of the earliest instances, perhaps the earliest. Many passages show that Jewish customs had their share of respectful observance at Rome along with the host of foreign superstitions by this time introduced into Roman life; cf. Edwin Post in Meth. Rev., Vol. 79 (1897), p. 81; Ovid, A. A. 1, 415: quaque die redeunt rebus minus apta gerendis culta Palaestino septima festa Syro; Rem. Am. 219; Hor. Sat. 1, 9, 69. săcram: Tibullus's rule in regard to this word's quantity seems to be that when one syllable is long the other is short; cf. e.g. sacra in v. 25. But cf. BPW., Vol. 32 (1912), Sp. 394. 22. sciat: i.e. 'let him learn' from sad experience like my own. deo Amore: i.e. even if the gods seem propitious, here is a really opposing divinity. = 23. tua ... Isis: the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis had become common at Rome, and was especially popular among women. As the patroness of navigation there would have been particular appropriateness in her being besought by Delia to give Tibullus a safe return. 25 30 illa tua totiens aera repulsa manu, quidve, pie dum sacra colis, pureque lavari te (memini) et puro secubuisse toro? nunc, dea, nunc succurre mihi (nam posse mederi picta docet templis multa tabella tuis), ut mea votivas persolvens Delia voces ante sacras lino tecta fores sedeat bisque die resoluta comas tibi dicere laudes insignis turba debeat in Pharia, 24. aera the sistrum, a rattle composed commonly of several pieces of metal (hence the plural), the usual accompaniment of Isisworship; cf. Ovid, A. A. 3, 635. 25. dum sacra colis: especially at the two more important annual festivals of the goddess. - pureque lavari . . et . . . secubuisse: sc. prosunt; the two principal requirements of the devotees of Isis at these festivals; cf. Prop. 2, 33, 1-4; also Tib. 2, 1, 11; Ovid, Am. 3, 9, 33. 27. posse mederi: sc. te. Cf. Stolz-Schmalz, 162, 2; Draeger, 454; Ter. Phorm. 610: venire salvom volup est. 28. picta... tabella: the custom of placing a votive picture in the temple of a deity after escape from sickness, shipwreck, or other danger, was a common one, especially in temples of Isis; cf. Juv. 12, 27: votiva testantur fana tabella plurima; pictores quis nescit ab Iside pasci; Hor. Car. 1, 5, 13; Sat. 2, 1, 33. The custom still persists in some churches in Italy. 29. votivas.. Voces = vota, i.e. those of Tibullus himself, viz. vv. 30-32. 30. lino tecta: clothed in linen.' The priests and devotees of Isis wore linen so much as to have the standing epithet liniger, like the goddess herself; cf. Ovid, Met. 1, 747 linigera. . . turba ; Ex P. 1, 1, 51: linigerae.. Isidis. Linen raiment was worn also by those consulting the subterranean oracle of Trophonius (Paus. 9, 39, 8), in the cult of earth gods (Dieterich, Abraxas, 158 A), in magic rites (ib. 179, 9, etc.), and in incubation (Deubner, De Incubat. p. 25). — sedeat: cf. Prop. 2, 28, 45. 31. bisque die: in the early morning, before sunrise, and towards evening. -resoluta comas: cf. 2, 5, 66, where the Sibyl is likewise engaged in serving a deity. 32. insignis: i.e. for her unusual beauty.-Pharia = Aegyptia; Pharos was the island on which stood the famous lighthouse at the entrance to the harbor of Alexandria. 35 40 45 at mihi contingat patrios celebrare penates nec vagus ignotis repetens conpendia terris 33. contingat: like sedeat (v. 30), and debeat (v. 32), introduced by ut (v. 29). — celebrare penates: the usual custom on returning from a journey; cf. Ter. Phorm. 311. 34. antiquo in comparison with such new-fangled cults as that of Isis. menstrua: the lar was worshiped especially on the Calends, as well as the Ides, the Nones, and festival occasions. lari: up to the time of Augustus the lar familiaris was spoken of properly only in the singular, indicating the protector of the familia as a whole; cf. Wissowa, Rel. u. Kult. d. Römer, p. 149. 35. The following description of "the good old days" of the "golden age" under Saturn's rule is worthy to be compared with the many similar passages in the Roman poets, such as Ovid, Met. 1, 89-112; Am. 3, 8, 35-44; Fast. 2, 289–298; Hor. Epod. 16, 41-66; Verg. Ec. 4, 9 sqq.; Georg. I, 125 sqq. Like Vergil, Tibullus distinguishes but two ages; Horace and Aratus have three; Ovid, four; Hesiod, five. The golden age was already recognized as a trite theme in the Aetna, vv. 9-15. 36. longas . . . vias: cf. I, I, 26. Acc. of purpose. 37. contempserat : cf. Hor. Car. 1, 3, 21-24; Tibullus is wishing that he had never set sail on this expedition; the idea of 'spurning the billows' has become a commonplace even among English poets. 38. On the position of -que cf. 2, 5, 72, n. 45. ipsae... quercus: the very oaks'; the emphasis is on quercus, a kind of tree which does not ordinarily give honey, but was be 50 55 obvia securis ubera lactis oves. non acies, non ira fuit, non bella, nec ensem inmiti saevus duxerat arte faber. nunc love sub domino caedes et vulnera semper, hic choreae cantusque vigent, passimque vagantes 50. repente G reperte AV multa reperta via w. lieved to have done so in this fabulous age; cf. Verg. Ec. 4, 29-30: incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva, et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella; Ovid, Met. I, 111-112: flumina iam lactis, iam flumina nectaris ibant, flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella; also the Israelitish "land flowing with milk and honey.”" 46. securis sc. dominis. They were free even from the ordinary care of providing themselves daily food. 48. duxerat: i.e. on the anvil; cf. Eng. “ductile"; Verg. Aen. 7,633. 50. repente: with adjectival force; cf. A. 321, d.; mare is one of these new ways of sudden death; cf. Prop. 3, 7, 31, n. |