Quamprimum cernens ut laeta gaudia mente
Agnoscam, cum te reducem aetas prospera sistet.
Haec mandata prius constanti mente tenentem
Thesea, ceu pulsae ventorum flamine nubes
Aerium nivei montis, liquere, cacumen.

At pater, ut summa prospectum ex arce petebat,
Anxia in assiduos absumens lumina fletus,
Cum primum infecti conspexit lintea veli,
Praecipitem sese scopulorum e vertice jecit
Amissum credens immiti Thesea fato.
Sic funesta domus ingressus tecta paterna
Morte ferox Theseus, qualem Minoidi luctum
Obtulerat mente immemori, talem ipse recepit.
Quae tamen adspectans cedentem maesta carinam
Multiplices animo volvebat saucia curas.
At parte ex alia florens volitabat Iacchus

236. Gaudia, as often the cause of joy: 'welcome the glad sign (omen).'

237. Aetas, when a happy time shall have brought you safe back to me.' 'Sors' and 'fors are mere conjectures for aetas.' Cp. Virg. Ae. 8. 200 Attulit et nobis aliquando optantibus aetas Auxilium adventumque Dei.'

240. Aerium. Cp. Virg. G. 3. 474 'Aerias Alpes.'

Nivei is added as a picturesque illustration of the mountain's height.

Liquere, i. e. after the curse of Ariadne, v. 200.

241. Ex arce: not the Acropolis, but 'a hill-top.' Cp. v. 233 nostros invisent lumina colles;' and v. 244 scopulorum e vertice.' With the alliteration in the next line cp. vv. 53, 101, 159, 262; instances of a less direct assonance occur in 1, 3, 37, 241, 261, 282, 297, 389.

240

245

250

'exultant at the Minotaur's death,' but with 'funesta,'' the house in mourning for his father's death,' paterna being ablative.

Minoidi. This is one of the few passages where the imitation of the Greek form is carried to the extent of shortening the final syllable of the dative. In 64 (66). 70, we have Lux autem canae Tethyi restituit,' and in the second epistle of Aulus Sabinus (Ovid's contemporary), v. I 'Phyllidi Demophoon patria dimittit ab urbe,' though here some editions read hanc tibi.' Sillig considers 'Minoidi' here to be a trisyllable. Some MSS. have Minoida,' whence the conjectural reading 'qua Minoida luctu' (=‘luctui,' the dat.), 'plunged her into grief.'

248. Recepit: 're' emphatic, 'met with in return,' answering to obtulerat.'

249. Tamen. Doering's reading of 'tum prospectans' was probably an invention of those who were unable to find a meaning for 'tamen,' which is given in the best MSS. Quae tamen' is not simply = 'at illa. Perhaps it means that though Ariadne's love for Theseus made her grieve at his departure, yet her wounded spirit made her ponder vengeance on his treachery, the 'curae' here being the 'furores' of v. 54, or better, though her prayer was being heard, she knew it not, but still stood.' 'Tamen' is really an apology for the pictorial representation of her unaltered attitude.

251. At parte ex alia, i. e. another device embroidered on the coverlet was

Cum thiaso Satyrorum, et Nysigenis Silenis,
Te quaerens, Ariadna, tuoque incensus amore:
Quae tum alacres passim lymphata mente furebant,
Euhoe bacchantes, euhoe, capita inflectentes.
Harum pars tecta quatiebant cuspide thyrsos;
Pars e divolso jactabant membra juvenco;
Pars sese tortis serpentibus incingebant;
Pars obscura cavis celebrabant orgia cistis,
Orgia, quae frustra cupiunt audire profani.
Plangebant aliae proceris tympana palmis,
Aut tereti tenues tinnitus aere ciebant.
Multis raucisonos efflabant cornua bombos,
Barbaraque horribili stridebat tibia cantu.

Bacchus and his attendants looking for the
forsaken Ariadne. The same scene is de-
picted by Ovid, Ars Am. 1. 527 foll.

Florens Dryden's 'Bacchus, ever fair and ever young.'

252. Nysigenis Silenis. It appears that the older Satyrs were usually termed 'Sileni' or 'Seileni,' represented with bald heads and beards as contrasted with the younger Σατυρίσκοι. We have the Σειληvoi mentioned in Hom. Hym. ad Ven, 263. Being the constant companions of Bacchus they are called, like him, natives of the Indian 'Nysa.' The individual Silenus is only the most prominent personage of the group.

255. Euhoe. Cp. v. 61 and note; and with 'capita inflectentes' cp. 61 (63). 23 Ubi capita Maenades vi jaciunt hederigerae.' As the following practices and rites are usually ascribed to the female Bacchanals, and the best MSS. read, as below, harum' and aliae,' I incline to Haupt's supposition that a line has dropped out after v. 253, in which special mention was made of the Maenades, to which the quae' (MSS. qui') of v. 254 would refer. Orelli, however, maintains that on ancient monuments the Fauni and Sileni, no less than the Maenads, are represented with drums and cymbals, and as employed in the same ministrations as the female Bacchanals.

256. Tecta cuspide. Cp Virg. E. 5. 30 'Daphnis thiasos inducere Bacchi Et foliis lentas intexere mollibus hastas.' With the following passage cp. Eur. Bacchae 739 foll. aλλai de daμáλas diepóрovv σnapayμασιν ; Ib. 103 θεὸν στεφάνωσεν τε δρακύντων στεφάνοις, ἔνθεν ἄγραν Θυρσοφόροι μαινάδες ἀμφιβάλλονται πλοκάμοις. See

255

260

too Hor. Od. 2. 19, 19 foll. Nodo coerces viperino Bistonidum sine fraude crines.' 259. Obscura, mystic."

Celabant has been conjectured here for celebrabant.'

Cistis. The sacred chest which held the utensils for the rites. Cp. Ov. Ars Am. 2. 609 Condita si non sunt Veneris mysteria cistis.' See Theocr. 26. 7 (of the Bacchae) ἱερὰ δ ̓ ἐκ κίστας πεποναμένα χερσὶν ἑλοῖσαι Εὐφάμως κατέθεντο νεοSpéπtav ènì Baμŵv.

260. Audire, 'comprehend.'

261. Proceris, 'upraised.' The drums and cymbals always went together in the Bacchanalian rites. Cp. 61 (63). 29 'Leve tympanum remugit, cava cymbala recrepant.'

262. Tereti aere, 'the round cymbals.' Tenues, sharp,' treble,' as contrasted with the deep tones of the tympanum." The alliteration in both these lines is significant. Compare a fragment of the 'Hoavol of Aeschylus, from which this passage may have been imitated. Fragm. 54 (Ddf.).

203. Multis, the dative: the variation in the construction is pleasing, rather than otherwise. The MSS. give 'multi' or 'multaque.'

Raucisonos, hoarse, hollow boomings of the horn.'

264. Barbara.. tibia: cp. 61 (63). 22 Tibicen ubi canit Phryx curvo grave calamo.' The epithet barbarus' seems to have been specially applied to the Phrygians. Cp. the barbarico auro' of Virg. Ae. 2. 504, and Hor. Epod. 9. 6 'Sonante mixtum tibiis carmen lyra, Hac Dorium, illis barbarum,' and many other places.

Talibus amplifice vestis decorata figuris
Pulvinar complexa suo velabat amictu.
Quae postquam cupide spectando Thessala pubes
Expleta est, sanctis coepit decedere divis.
Hic qualis flatu placidum mare matutino
Horrificans Zephyrus proclivas incitat undas,
Aurora exoriente, vagi sub limina Solis,
Quae tarde primum clementi flamine pulsae
Procedunt, leni resonant plangore cachinni:
Post, vento crescente, magis magis increbrescunt,
Purpureaque, procul nantes, ab luce refulgent:
Sic tum vestibuli linquentes regia tecta
Ad se quisque vago passim pede discedebant.

270. Proclivus, the earlier form of proclivis;' so hilarus,' sterilus,' ' gracilus,' ' sublimus,' are used by Lucretius.

271. Vagi Solis, the never-resting Sun,' like vaga luna,' 'sidera,' 'nox,' 'aer,'' aequora." For a somewhat similar use of this image, cp. Hom. II. 4. 422, and Virg. G. 3. 237. It would seem as though the point of comparison lay not only in the thickening onward rush of the waves with the swelling crowd of those departing, but also in the increasing noise produced by the motion in either case.

273. Leni resonant plangore seems better than either 'lenique sonant' or 'leviterque sonant.'

Cachinni being the nominative plural, not the genitive singular, may be said almost to require the asyndeton in the text, even without the parenthesis in

265

270

275

which Haupt and Lachmann place the
sentence. The leni resonant' is em-
phatic, answering to tarde procedunt:'
as slow in motion, so low in sound. In
soft-sounding plash the ripples break.'
From plangor being nowhere else found
in connection with water the reading ‘clan-
gor' has found favour with many, espe
cially as the verb occurs in a passage of
Accius, from which these lines may have
been imitated, Ac ubi curvo litore latrans
Unda sub undis labunda sonit
sonando Crepiter clangente cachinnat.'
'Planctus,' however, is used by Lucretius
of the sea; why not plangor'? A
more singular supposition is that Catullus
wrote placore,' a barbarous word belong-
ing to ecclesiastical Latin. Compare the
κύματα καχλάζοντα of Theocr. 6. 12.
The κυμάτων γέλασμα of Aeschylus is a
different idea.

saeva

Quorum post abitum princeps e vertice Peli

Advenit Chiron portans silvestria dona.

Nam quotcumque ferunt campi, quos Thessala magnis 280
Montibus ora creat, quos propter fluminis undas

Aura parit flores tepidi fecunda Favoni,
Hos indistinctis plexos tulit ipse corollis,
Quo permulsa domus jocundo risit odore.
Confestim Penios adest viridantia Tempe,
Tempe, quae silvae cingunt superimpendentes,
Naiasin linquens doris celebranda choreis
Non vacuus: namque ille tulit radicitus altas
Fagos, ac recto proceras stipite laurus,
Non sine nutanti platano, lentaque sorore

278. Peli. Cp. Hom. II. 19. 390, where Cheiron is represented as having given Peleus the heavy lance which Achilles afterwards bore, Πηλιάδα μελίην τὴν πατρὶ φίλῳ πόρε Χείρων Πηλίου ἐκ κορυφῆς. He is always spoken of as living on Mount Pelion, Lachmann reads Pelei' for 'Peli.'

280. Quotcumque, sc. 'flores,' v. 282: The best MSS. give quodcunque.' For quos (MSS.) Haupt has quot.' The flowers growing on plains, on mountains, and in valleys by the river side, are severally distinguished. It is not often that the Latin poets speak of flowers, as distinct from trees, growing on the mountains.

281. Ora used here, as frequently, not for the sea-board, but the country generally.

283. Indistinctis, 'twined promiscuously into garlands,' the various kinds of flowers intermixed. Orelli and Weber prefer, as in some MSS., in distinctis,' i.e.

in separate garlands.' 'Indistinctus' appears not to be used elsewhere in the poets, but occasionally by prose authors.

Ipse, 'in person,' marking the interest he took in the bridal: as he had made the wreaths, so now he brought them.

284. Quo. This conjecture of Faernus has been accepted by Lachmann and Haupt, though Orelli and Doering keep the 'queis' of old editions, to which the house smiled a welcome.'

=

d

MSS. ' Quot.'

It is better to take odore with permulsa than with risit, unless perhaps Catullus may have had in his mind Hom. Hym. ad Cer. 14 kηwdei d' ödμn πᾶς τ ̓ οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθε, γαίά τε πᾶσ' ἐγέλασσε.

285. Confestim, though found in

285

290

Virgil, and once in Horace, is little used by the poets: it is connected probably with the root of festino.'

Penios. As Chiron had come in the character of friend to Peleus, Penios, the river god, a son of Tethys, came as relative to Thetis: see v. 29 and note.

287. Naiasin. This correction of Haupt's involves the least change from the MS. Minosim,' out of which numerous conjectures have arisen, the latest being Mr. Ellis' Magnessum' according to Hom. II. 2. 756. As to Doering's 'Mnemonidum,' the Muses would surely be out of place here. More is to be said for Nereidum,' comparing Claudian de Tert. Cons. Hon. 116 Post Pelion intras Nereis illustre choris (al. toris).' With Naiasin' cp. Apoll. R. 4. 816 viósὃν δὴ νῦν Χείρωνος ἐν ἤθεσι κενταύροιο Νηϊάδες κομέουσι. Similar forms we have in Propertius, Thyniasin,' Dryasin,' 'Hamadryasin.'

Lachmann retains doris as in the best MSS., but suggests crebris,' which Haupt receives into his text. Doering has 'doctis,' which, however, suits the Muses better than the Naiads.

288. Non vacuus, 'not emptyhanded:' most ingenious emendation by Guarinus of (MSS.) Nonacrios,' or 'Non acuos.' Compare the Homeric rhythm of oùk olos, e. g. Il. 3. 143.

Radicitus, i. e. with the roots.' Heinsius suggests actas for altas. 290. Nutanti, waving.' One MS. has 'luctanti:' Voss conjectures 'laetanti.' Lenta, pliant.' Scaliger thinks Catullus wrote fleta,' nearly all his MSS. giving 'letaque.'

The soror Phaethontis is either the

Flammati Phaethontis et aeria cupressu;
Haec circum sedes late contexta locavit,
Vestibulum ut molli velatum fronde vireret.
Post hunc consequitur sollerti corde Prometheus
Extenuata gerens veteris vestigia poenae,
Quam quondam silici restrictus membra catena
Persolvit pendens e verticibus praeruptis.
Inde pater divum sancta cum coniuge natisque
Advenit coelo, te solum, Phoebe, relinquens,
Unigenamque simul cultricem montibus Idri.
Pelea nam tecum pariter soror aspernata est,

of

Prometheus. The Oceanides, whom Thetis may be reckoned one, are generally represented in the legend as devoted to Prometheus. In Aeschylus' play they form the chorus of sympathizers with him in his sufferings: hence it is not unnatural that he should appear at the wedding of Thetis, especially as it was he who warned Zeus against the danger to his sovereignty, if he were to become by Thetis the father of a son.

295. Extenuata gerens, bearing the faded traces of his ancient torture:' i. e. the marks of the nails by which he was fastened to the rock, the vulture's bite, etc. • Extenuare' became later a medical word, often used of a wound when healing.

Some have imagined that vestigia refers to a ring made of iron and set with Caucasian stone, which Prometheus is said to have worn in memory of his agony, as mentioned by Pliny N. H. 37. 1, and

295

300

298. Natisque. The elision of 'que' in synapheia is very common. Out of twenty-one instances of this figure occurring in Virgil, seventeen are cases where 'que' is affected by it. We have another example in Catullus 113 (115). 5 ‘Prata, arva, ingentes silvas saltusque paludesque.' Virgil, however, in imitation of Ennius, uses this licence much more frequently than Catullus.

299. It is doubtful whether coelo should be taken with advenit = 'arrived from heaven,' or with relinquens, 'leaving thee in heaven.'

300. It would seem better, with Weber, to construct montibus with relinquens than with cultricem, the latter word being always used by the poets with a genitive. None of the instances of such a use of the dative as 'caput populis,' ' collo decus' Virg. Ae. 10. 135, 203, or (if it be so taken) populis regnatorem' id. 2. 556, would justify cultrix montibus.'

Idrus is said to be a mountain in Caria, sacred to Diana. Others propose 'Idae,' 'Hydrae.' Homer makes all the gods attend the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Apollo assisting with his lute. See II. 24. 62, 3. Cp. Aesch. Fragm. 266 (of Phoebus) αὐτὸς ἐν θοίνῃ παρών. It may be supposed that Phoebus would absent himself, as he was to be the instrument of the death of Achilles.