5 9 Maecenas eques Etrusco de sanguine regum, intra fortunam qui cupis esse tuam, quid me scribendi tam vastum mittis in aequor? non sunt apta meae grandia vela rati. turpe est, quod nequeas, capiti committere pondus, et pressum inflexo mox dare terga genu. 3, 9 In reply to a request from Maecenas to essay the grand style of poetry, Propertius says that thus far he has tried to imitate his patron's modesty, and hints that he must continue to do so until Maecenas shows him the way to heroic strains. That this is, however, only an argumentum ad hominem is evident from a comparison of 3, 1, 7 and 9; 2, 1, and various other elegies indicating clearly the poet's own taste. Mallet, Quaestiones Propertianae, P. II. Cf. 1-6: 'Noble, yet modest Maecenas, why do you urge me beyond my strength? 7-20: Men differ in their gifts. Non omnia possumus omnes. 21-34: I have imitated your own modesty of achievement. 35-46: Rather than venture into the epic field, I have been satisfied with the themes of elegy; 47-60: but, if you will set the pace, perhaps I may yet relate great deeds.' 1. eques... regum: Maecenas voluntarily chose to remain in the rank of the Equites rather than undertake a senatorial career. Horace frequently refers to this fact, and to the royal ancestry of his patron, e.g. Car. 1, 20, 5: care Maecenas eques; I, I, I: Maecenas atavis edite regibus ; Sat. 1, 6, 1-13; Car. 3, 16, 20; 29, I. 2. Cf. Vell. Pat. 2, 88, 2: C. Maecenas equestri, sed splendido genere natus nec minora consequi potuit, sed non tam concupivit; Ovid, Trist. 3, 4, 25: intra fortunam debet quisque manere ΙΟ omnia non pariter rerum sunt omnibus apta, in Veneris tabula summum sibi poscit Apelles, Parrhasius parva vindicat arte locum, 9. 8. fama w flamma 0 (flamina LD) (cf. Enk) palma Itali. ulla O una w. II. summum Rothstein suma L summam NFDV. terga: Propertius mixes metaphors here; for this phrase belongs to military life. ... rerum: stronger 7. omnia than omnes res, just as opaca locorum (Verg. Aen. 2, 725) is stronger than opaca loca, implying minuter detail. The idea of the verse is a commonplace. 8. The thought of this muchdiscussed verse (cf. B. O. Foster in Matzke Memorial Volume, pp. 103 sqq.) is closely connected by nec to that of the preceding verse. Men have their individual excellencies, and cannot excel if compelled to do exactly as their neighbors, i.e. to trot in pairs; for in a pair, team-work is desired, as in a single hitch individual superiority is striven for. aequo may perhaps be rendered 'equalizing.' 9. Lysippo: his specialty was bronze statuary and his portrait work was so celebrated that Alexander the Great gave him the exclusive right to represent him in statuary; cf. Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 239: edicto vetuit, ne quis se .. alius Lysippo duceret aera; Cic. Ad Fam. 5, 12, 7: Alexander ille.. 10. exactis: 'perfect.' — Calamis: a contemporary of Phidias. His subjects were general; but the same superiority in modeling horses that is here emphasized is suggested by other passages; cf. Ovid, Ex P. 4, 1, 33: vindicat ut Calamis laudem, quos fecit, equorum. — mihi: 'in my opinion.' II. Veneris tabula: the celebrated painting of the Venus (Aphrodite) Anadyomene, often referred to in Roman literature, e.g. Ovid, Ex P. 4, 1, 29: ut Venus artificis labor est et gloria Coi, aequoreo madidas quae premit imbre comas; Pliny, N. H. 35, 91. summum: sc. locum from v.12. -Apelles: grouped with Lysippus in Cic. Ad Fam. 5, 12, 7 (cited at v. 9) as the only painter whom Alexander the Great would permit to paint his portrait. This portrait brought the sum of twenty talents, and was placed in the temple of Diana (Artemis) at Ephesus. 12. Parrhasius: a contemporary and rival of Zeuxis, who flourished 15 argumenta magis sunt Mentoris addita formae, Praxitelen propria vindicat urbe lapis. est quibus in celeres gloria nata pedes. 16. propria O Paria Broukhusius Parius w patria Hertzberg. about 400 B.C. — parva. . . arte: as Parrhasius excelled in accurate drawing, correct proportion, and the representation of fine shades of expression, it seems best to take these words in the sense of 'his skill in details,' or 'fine points of excellence.' 13. After comparing two sculptors of differing tastes and two painters, Propertius compares two silver chasers. - argumenta: 'subjects'; i.e. the artistic conception and arrangement of his groups or scenes. Cf. Ovid, Met. 13, 683: fabricaverat Alcon Hyleus, et longo caelaverat argumento. Mentoris: cf. I, 14, 2, n. — - formae : 'design.' 14. Myos: Mys, the other toreutic artist, did his greatest work a generation after Phidias, when he engraved on the inside of the Ishield of Athene Promachos the battle of the Centaurs after a design of Parrhasius (cf. v. 12); evidently he excelled in workmanship and graceful finish. — exiguum : probably the more slender, spiny acanthus was used in such deco 20 25 30 35 naturae sequitur semina quisque suae. cogor et exemplis te superare tuis. et liceat medio ponere iura foro, vel tibi Medorum pugnaces ire per hastas atque onerare tuam fixa per arma domum, crede mihi, magnos aequabunt ista Camillos. 21. recepi: 'I have adopted as my own.' 22. exemplis : Maecenas repeatedly declined honors. rare: confute.' supe 23. dominas: here used adjectivally: emblems of power' = 'imperial.'— honore: 'official position.' secures those of the lictors. 24. ponere: used by zeugma. Hor. Sat. 1, 3, 105 uses the expression ponere leges, as in English we say "lay down the law," but dare leges is more usual. 26. Cf. Tib. 1, 1, 54. — per arma: poetic for armis: cf. Ovid, Her. 18, 7: freta ventis turbida perque cavas vix adeunda rates. 28. insinuentur = in sinus cadant, i.e. 'pour into your lap.' is 29. parcis: the intransitive use very rare. - te colligis: 'shrink.' 30. subtrahis: 'furl.' The mcre usual word is contrahere; cf. Hor. Car. 2, 10, 22: sapienter idem contrahes vento nimium secundo turgida vela. 31. Camillos: tradition attributed to the famous M. Furius Camillus a contentment which became proverbial. Cf. L. 1105. 40 45 tuta sub exiguo flumine nostra morast. haec urant pueros, haec urant scripta puellas, 36. tuta w tota 0. 44. Coe Beroaldus dure 0 Dore Scriverius dare Ayrmann docte Foster. Philita is accepted for poeta by Hosius from an anony mous source. soon became general in all verbs. Cf. Intr. § 43. 36. sub: 'under the protection of'; the poet is thinking of his surroundings in the imagined pic ture. 37. flebo tell the harrowing tale'; cf. 1, 7, 18. arcem . . Cadmi: cf. 1, 7, 1, n.-paternos : Propertius is ambiguous, as often; he seems to be referring to the city-state of Thebes, the fatherland, and trying to indicate its complete destruction, in which the fall of the citadel involved the whole. 38. septem proelia: the warfare waged by the Seven against Thebes cf. H. & T. § 171. clade pari: all the heroes (except Adrastus) met the same fate. Many literary masterpieces were composed upon the legends of Thebes. As an epic theme it attracted many; cf. 1, 7; H. & T. § 167; the only surviving work of this nature is the Thebaid of Statius. 39. The poet refers to the story of the Iliad. Scaeas: sc. portas; the famous western gate of Troy, where Homer represents Helen coming to meet the oldest councilors of the city (I. 3, 149). — Apollinis: Apollo and Neptune (Poseidon) built the walls (cf. Neptunia, v. 41). 41. pressit aratro: i.e. the ultimate result to which the ruse of the wooden horse led. 42. Palladiae. artis: 'contrived by Pallas'; gen. of the author. 43. Cf. 3, I, I. 46. Cf. Ovid, Rem. Am. 813: postmodo reddetis sacro pia vota poetae. |