10

5

5. Parthos... Britannos: the two widely remote objects of the ambition of Augustus, constantly reappearing in the literature of the period. sequitur: the subject is supplied from homini.

6. Epexegetical of v. 5; maris et terrae modify viae.

7. fletis: here followed by three different constructions: acc. and inf. (v. 7), acc. alone (v. 9), and subj. with ne (v. 10). In the last two instances the idea of fear is the prominent one in fletis.

8. Mavors: this longer and perhaps more impressive, because more sonorous, form occurs only here in Propertius, though he uses the shorter usual form six times.

9. Cf. Juv. 3, 190-202.

10. nigra 'deadly'; cf. Verg. Aen. 4, 514: nigri cum lacte veneni. - tuis: for a similar ex

II. periturus: sc. sit: cf. 1, 8, 37. -a qua: cf. for the use of the preposition, 3, 2, 25; 4, 3, 39; Tib. 2, 1, 56; Uhlmann, p. 40.

12. morte: i.e. the disfavor of his darling.

13. sub: cf. 3, 9, 36.. arundine characteristic of the banks of sluggish streams like those in the infernal world; cf. Verg. Georg. 4, 478: quos circum limus niger et deformis arundo Cocyti tardaque palus inamabilis unda alligat, et noviens Styx interfuso coercet. remex: Aristophanes (Frogs, 197 sqq.) represents the dead as paddling their own canoe; and Vergil (Aen. 6, 320: illae remis vada livida verrunt) probably implies the same.

15

14. tristia vela ratis: the phantom ferryboat of Charon appears to be equipped not merely with oars but also with sails to catch any shadow of a breeze that may stir in that calm locality!

15. clamantis: it might be at the conclamatio just after death, at the funeral pyre, or perhaps at the tomb. aura: the faintest whisper only might reach the Styx, indeed only the breath of the voice might fan the ghostly cheeks of the lover.

16. Cf. 4, II, 4.

2,28

reader. For various parallels, cf. Ovid, Am. 2, 13.

1-4: 'Juppiter, show pity in my darling's hour of need; 5-14: true, she may have brought her affliction upon herself by offending some divinity, perhaps through perjury or overweening pride. 15-24 Yet, like other famous beauties who had offended some divinity, you too, Cynthia, may ultimately triumph over your difficulties; 25-30: but if you must die, glory and fame will be yours in death; 31-34: humble yourself, however, before the gods; and hesitate not, Jove, to grant our petition. 35-46: All the omens and incantations fail to give us any encouragement; my life is bound up in hers; pity us both, and both of us will pay thee our Vows; 47-58: Persephone and Pluto, confirm my hope; already fair ones enough are in your realms, and sooner or later must we all come to you. 59-62: And, light of my life, forget not to pay

Cynthia is dangerously ill. Propertius utters fervent, and ultimately effectual, prayers for her recovery. The arguments advanced by different editors for dividing this elegy variously into two or three separate poems seem insufficient. The natural vacillations of anxiety, despair, hope, and ultimate confidence pass swiftly before the sympathies of the

20

25

16. extremo: 'ultimately'; cf. 2, 10, 7, n.

17. Io versa: on account of the jealousy of Hera. caput: Propertius is following two types of her representation in the same sentence; she was frequently represented as a beautiful woman with only the horns of a heifer to call attention to the myth; but both Greek and Egyptian art also represented her as a heifer throughout. A type representing her as a cow-headed maiden was, perhaps, invented to identify Io with Isis. Cf. Harv. Stud., Vol. 12, pp. 335 sqq.

18. dea: Isis, with whom Io was ultimately identified. — bibit : perfect tense.

19. Ino: daughter of Cadmus. When pursued by her insane husband Athamas, she leaped into the sea, and becoming a marine divinity was known as Leucothea (Leucothoë in v. 20 and in

2, 26, 10, q.v.). - terris: as contrasted with her later home in the

sea.

21. Andromede: daughter of Cassiope (or lope) and Cepheus. Her mother's proud boast of being more beautiful than the sea nymphs brought upon the unhappy girl the fate of being exposed on the shore to a sea monster. Cf. v. 51, n. — monstris poetic plural.

22. Persei: Perseus rescued the maiden and became her husband. Ultimately she found a place among the stars.

23. Callisto daughter of Lycaon, the Arcadian king; an attendant of Artemis; beloved of Zeus; changed by Artemis or Hera in anger into a bear; translated by Zeus to the skies as Ursa Maior; mother of Arcas and the Arcadian race.

25. properarint: 'prove to have decreed a premature (death).'— quietem cf. Verg. Aen. 10, 745: