Fit gemitus. Tum membra toro defleta reponunt, Triste ministerium! et subjectam more parentum 220 225 so many precautions, says Pliny, against premature interment, where a party was not actually dead, but only in a state of suspended animation. 221. Purpureasque super, &c. His best attire is now thrown over the deceased. 222. Ingenti subiere feretro. "Went under the huge bier," i. e. carried the bier to the funeral pile, and placed it thereon. 223. Subjectam. "Placed beneath," i. e. applied to the base of the pile. 224. Aversi. This turning away of the face was done "ominis causa," and the act of firing the pile was performed by the nearest relation.-Facem. On ancient monuments, the torch appears to be formed of wooden staves or twigs, either bound by a rope drawn round them in a spiral form, or surrounded by circular bands at equal distances. The inside of the torch may be supposed to have been filled with flax, tow, or other vegetable fibres, the whole being abundantly impregnated with pitch, rosin, wax, oil, and other inflammable sub stances. 225-231. Turea dona, &c. These and various other articles, such as ornaments, vestments, &c. were accustomed to be thrown into the fire as the flames began to rise.-Dapes. Some commentators, following Homer (Il. xxiii. 168), make this term signify "the fat of animals." Others understand by it "dishes of food." We have preferred, however, following the opinion of Heyne, according to whom it means pieces of the flesh of different animals (oxen, swine, sheep, &c.) thrown into the flames as portions of so many victims.-Fuso crateres olivo. "Bowls of out-poured oil," i. e. out-poured by bowlsful. 227. Reliquias vino, &c. "They soaked the remains and the imbibing ember with wine." 228. Cado aëno. "In a brazen urn." Brazen, or, rather, bronze funeral urns were not so frequently employed as those of marble, alabaster, or baked clay. Still, however, they are sometimes found even in modern times. The funeral urns were most commonly square or round. Those preserved at the present day have usually an inscription or epitaph upon them, beginning with the letters D.M.S. or only D.M. that, Dis Manibus Sacrum, followed by the name of the deceased, with the length of his life, &c. 228. Socios circumtulit undâ. Put for tulit undam circa socios. Compare the analogous usage in the case of circumdare, where we can either say, for example, circumdare oppidum castris, or circumdare castra oppido. Corynæus, on this occasion, carries the lustral water round in a vessel, and sprinkles the company with it by means of a branch of olive, for the reason stated at ver. 150. The domestic olive is meant, as opposed to the oleaster or wild olive, which is unproductive, and therefore termed Idem ter socios purâ circumtulit undâ, 230 235 infelix. Compare Georg. ii. 314. 231. Dixitque novissima verba. This consisted in pronouncing vale, "farewell," three times. 233-236. Suaque arma viro, &c. He was both oarsman and trumpeter. In Homeric times the warriors themselves handled the oar. The implements of a person's calling were in early times placed upon his tomb, as in the present case. As, however, they were liable to injury from exposure, the custom afterward arose of representing them in stone or marble. 234. Misenus. This is the Misenum promontorium, now Cape Miseno, still retaining the name of the warrior, supposing the origin of that name to be true (which, however, is not the case), and forming the upper extremity of the Bay of Naples. It may not be amiss, before leaving this part of the poem, to enumerate briefly the different steps taken in the interment of the dead, as they are alluded to in the text: 1. The corpse is washed with warm water, and then anointed. 2. A dirge is sung. 3. The body is laid upon the bier. 4. The most valuable raiment of the deceased is placed upon the corpse. 5. The bier is then placed upon the top of the funeral pile. 6. This funeral pile, which has meanwhile been erecting, is of an altarshape, and is constructed of resinous woods, oak, cypress logs, &c. 7. The pile is set fire to by the nearest relative, whose face is turned away at the time. 8. When the flames begin to rise, various perfumes are thrown into the fire, pieces of the flesh of victims, bowls of oil, ornaments, vestments, and other things supposed to be agreeable to the deceased. 9. The pile being burned down, the embers are soaked with wine, and the bones and ashes of the deceased are gathered by the nearest relatives and placed in an urn. 10. All present are then thrice sprinkled by a priest with lustral water from a branch of olive (for which bay was often substituted). 11. All then bade farewell to the deceased, by repeating the word vale thrice. 236-243. Propere exsequitur. He has obtained the golden bough, and is now prepared to act. 237. Spelunca alta vastoque immanis hiatu. "And vast (to the view) with its wide-yawning mouth." This cave lay between the Lake Avernus, on the one side, and a gloomy wood on the other, and was the opening to the world below. As the lake was surrounded by hills, it is very probable that there was some vast cave in one of these, which Virgil, guided by popular superstition, had in view. The adjacent country, indeed, is said to abound in such openings. 238. Tuta. "Fenced," i. e. rendered difficult of access. Quam super haud ullæ poterant impune volantes Voce vocans Hecaten, Coloque Ereboque potentem. 240 245 Suscipiunt pateris. Ipse atri velleris agnam Æneas matri Eumenidum, magnæque sorori, 250 The participle of tueor or tuor. 239. Impune. The exhalation from the cave, and also from the lake, killed them while attempting to fly over.-Volantes. Equivalent to volucres. 241. Convexa. Consult note on Æn. iv. 451. 242. Unde locum Graii, &c. This line is generally considered spurious. In some manuscripts it does not occur at all, while in others it appears written by a more recent hand.— Aornon. From à, not, and õpvis, "a bird," because no bird could fly over. Hence, according to some, the Latin Avernus. The derivation, however, is of no value. 244-254. Invergit. "Pours." Invergo properly means 66 to bend," and here describes the bending or inverting of the cup as the contents were poured out. This inverting of the cup was customary, according to Servius, in sacrifices to the gods below. 245. Summas setas. These were plucked out, or cut off, and thrown into the fire as primitiæ. Compare Hom. Il. ii. 237. Od. v. 446. and see on En. iv. 696. 247. Calo Ereboque potentem. The same goddess was Luna in the sky. Diana on earth, and Hecate or Proserpina in the world below. 248. Supponunt cultros. "Put knives under," i. e. under the throats of the victims. Poetic phraseology for mactant. 249. Pateris. The object was to let none of the sacred blood fall upon the ground. As regards the form of the patera, consult note on Æn. i. 728.—Atri velleris. Black victims were always selected for the deities below. Compare nigrantes terga juvencos, in ver. 243. 250. Matri Eumenidum. Night, who was fabled to have brought forth the Furies unto Acheron as their sire.-Magnæque sorori. "And to her mighty sister." Tellus, or the goddess of the earth. According to Servius, Night and Earth were daughters of Chaos. 251. Sterilem vaccam. This was the customary offering to Proserpina. Homer calls it Boug orɛîpa (Od. xi. 30). 252. Nocturnas inchoat aras. "He erects nocturnal altars," i. e. he erects altars, and offers a sacrifice thereon during the night season. This time was purposely selected, inasmuch as the offering was to a god of the lower world. Inchoare, according to Servius, is a religious term, equivalent to facere, or erigere. 253. Solida viscere. "Entire car Pingue super oleum infundens ardentibus extis. 255 260 265 Dî, quibus imperium est animarum, Umbræque silentes, Et Chaos, et Phlegethon, loca nocte tacentia late, Sit mihi fas audita loqui; sit, numine vestro, Pandere res altâ terrâ et caligine mersas. Ibant obscuri solâ sub nocte per umbram, Perque domos Ditis vacuas, et inania regna: casses," i. e. holocausts or whole burnt-offerings. Consult, as regards the peculiar force of viscera here, the note on Æn. i. 211. 254. Ardentibus extis. 66 Upon the burning victims." Exta is here taken, like viscera above, for the carcasses of the victims, or, in other words, for the victims themselves. 258-263. Dea. Hecate, accompanied by her infernal hounds, in imitation of Diana accompanied by her pack of the upper world.Procul, O! procul, &c. This was the solemn preamble with which the celebration of the sacred mysteries used to be ushered in, the form of expression in Greek being, ἑκάς, ἑκὰς ἐστὲ βέβηλοι. By profani, on the present occasion, are meant, as Wagner thinks, the Trojans who had accompanied Æneas thus far. The possession of the golden bough rendered Æneas himself pure, and fit to enter on his fearful journey. 260. Ferrum. Servius says he had consecrated his sword to do service against the shapes of the lower world, by having struck the victims with it in the recent sacrifice! 263. Vadentem. "As she moves along." 264-267. Di, quibus imperium, &c. A general invocation unto the gods of the lower world. Warburton thought that Virgil, in the description which he here gives of the lower regions, meant to portray the sacred mysteries of Eleusis, celebrated every fifth year in the city of Eleusis, in Attica. He is ably refuted, however, by the historian Gibbon. 265. Et Chaos, et Phlegethon. Consult Index of Proper Names.Nocte tacentia late. "Lying silent far and wide in night," i. e. wrapped in silent night. 266. Audita. Supply a me.-Numine vestro. your divine permission." By 268-272. Ibant obscuri, &c. "They moved along amid the gloom, shrouded in obscurity, under the lonely night," i. e. they moved on alone amid the gloom of night, shrouded in obscurity. The expression obscuri solâ sub nocte is equivalent, in fact, to sub obscura nocte soli. 269. Inania regna. All general privations, observes Burke, are great, Quale per incertam Lunam sub luce malignâ Est iter in silvis, ubi cœlum condidit umbrâ Jupiter, et rebus nox abstulit atra colorem. Vestibulum ante ipsum, primisque in faucibus Orci, 270 275 Pallentesque habitant Morbi, tristisque Senectus, because they are terrible-vacuity, darkness, solitude, and silence. With what fire of imagination has Virgil amassed all these circumstances at the mouth of hell! (Subl. and Beaut. ii. 6.) 270. Incertam lunam. Clouds floating through the sky, and shrouding at intervals the brightness of the moon.-Malignâ. "Glimmering." Heyne :-Lux ma ligna, parca, infirma, ac tenuis. 273-281. Vestibulum ante ipsum, &c. The vestibulum did not pro. perly form part of the house, but was a vacant space before the door, forming a court, which was surrounded on three sides by the house, and was open on the fourth to the street. The two sides of the house joined the street, but the middle part of it, where the door was placed, was at some distance from the street. We see from this the general meaning of vestibulum in the present passage, as applied to the open space in front of the entrance to the lower world. 274. Luctus. Before the entrance to Orcus are grouped, according to the poet, all the ills and calamities that infest human life, and make us wish for the grave as a place of final repose.-Ultrices Cure. The stings of conscience. Remorse. 275. Tristisque Senectus. Old age is here described as sorrowing over the recollections of the past, and sighing for days gone by. 276. Metus. "Despondency." The continual ap prehension of evil.-Malesuada. "That persuades to crime." 278. Consanguineus Leti. "Own brother of death." Compare Hom. II. είν. 231 : Ὕπνος κασίγνητος θανάτου. Hesiod makes Death and Sleep the sons of Night. (Theog. 756.)-Et mala mentis Gaudia. "And the sinful joys of the mind," i. e. the criminal lusts of the heart. 279. Adverso in limine. "On the very threshold itself, as it confronts the view,” i, e. in the very entrance itself. 280. Ferreique Eumenidum thalami. The Furies guard the entrance, and have there their cells of iron (as rigid and unbending as their own hearts), just as in ancient mansions the gatekeeper or Supwpós (janitor) had his station at the door of the dwelling, and near it his room or cell. 282-294. In medio. Supply vestibulo. 283. Vulgo. Here, as Servius well remarks, equivalent to catervatim, and not to be joined in construction with ferunt. The language of the text, it will be observed, |