[223] Finis erat is an imitation of the Homeric transitions, ὣς οἱ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον κ.τ.λ. ‘And now at last their mourning had an end.’ ‘Et iam’ followed by ‘cum,’ like “iamque” 3. 135.
[224] The scene between Venus and Jupiter is said to be from Naevius, by Macrob. Sat. 6. 2, quoted p. 23, above. ‘Velivolum’ is said by Macrob. Sat. 6. 5 to be borrowed from the Helena of Livius (Laevius?): “tu qui permensus ponti maria alta velivola.” It occurs as an epithet of ships in Lucr. 5.1442, and in two fragments of Ennius. The word here may be meant to recall the scene which has just taken place on the sea; but it need mean no more than the sea with all its sails, as the earth with all its peoples. Comp. Lucr. 1.2, “caeli subter labentia signa Quae mare navigerum quae terras frugiferentis Concelebras.” ‘Terris iacentis,’ the earth lying outstretched beneath his gaze, as “glebas iacentis” (G. 1. 65) is the soil lying outstretched to the sun.
[224] Dispiciens, the reading of two MSS., mentioned by Serv., is restored by Ribbeck, who refers to Lachm. on Lucr. 4.236. Lachm.'s position is that ‘despicere’ only takes the acc. in the sense of contempt, an opinion improbable in itself, as the metaphorical meaning must have come from the literal, and requiring the alteration of various passages. The change, as remarked on v. 211, is slight, and might be made even without MSS.; but the reason for it appears to fail completely.
[225] Latos populos occurs in Ennius, Ann. 1. fr. 4 (Vahlen). ‘Sic,’ i. e. ‘sic despiciens.’ Comp. 7. 668, where “sic subibat” refers to “torquens” and “indutus.” —‘Vertice caeli:’ Virg. has evidently taken these words from Il. 8. 51, αὐτὸς δ᾽ ἐν κορυφῇσι καθέζετο. Comp. also ib. 5. 754, ἀκροτάτῃ κορυφῇ πολυδειράδος Οὐλύμποιο. Hom. however intended the summit of the mountain Olympus; while Virg. apparently had a notion of the highest point of a celestial region, the same which he calls “caeli arcem,” v. 250.
[227] The import of ‘talis’ is to be gathered from the preceding lines, especially from ‘Libyae defixit lumina regnis.’
[228] The euphemistic comparative ‘tristior’ may be explained with reference either to the habitual joyousness of Venus, φιλομμειδὴς Ἀφροδίτη, or, as Henry thinks, to the tearless serenity of the gods, for which he comp. Ov. F. 4. 521.
[229] “Hominumque deorumque,” 2. 745, which Heins., Bentley, and Wakefield prefer here. Ribbeck observes in confirmation of this, that elsewhere in Virg. ‘deum’ always occurs in the middle, ‘deorum’ at the end of a verse: but this is more likely to have been the result of ordinary metrical convenience than of design, and other commentators seem right in claiming for the poet liberty to use a hypermeter or not as he pleases.—‘Res hominumque deumque,’ taken in a loose sense for the universe, is the object of ‘terres.’
[231] The language, as Heyne remarks, is modelled on Il. 4. 31, the sense on Od. 1. 62.
[232] Quibus clauditur. In prose we should have had “claudatur,” as the logical reference of the clause ‘quibus clauditur’ is evidently to ‘tantum.’ It matters little whether we explain ‘funera’ of the deaths that had actually thinned the Trojan nation, or as a strong expression for “clades.”
[233] Ob Italiam, ‘for the sake of Italy,’ i. e. to prevent their reaching Italy. This seems clearly better than with Schirach and Hand to explain the words “errantibus circum Italiam.”
[234, 235] We may either take ‘hinc— hinc’ as a mere repetition, or suppose that there are two clauses: ‘hinc fore Romanos, hinc fore ductores a sanguine Teucri.’ ‘Volventibus annis’ is Hom.'s περιπλομένων ἐνιαυτῶν. See on 8. 47 “redeuntibus annis.” ‘Revocato,’ ‘revived,’ after the national extinction of Troy. Comp. G. 4. 282, “Nec genus unde novae stirpis revocetur habebit.”
[236] ‘Omni dicione,’ with every kind of sovereignty, i. e. with full sovereignty; as Serv. says, “pace, legibus, bello.” So “omni cura” 7. 487 = “summa cura.” ‘Omnis’ (‘terras’) is read by fragmm. Vat. and Veron., and mentioned, though not with approval, by Serv.
[237] Wagn. (after Heyne) supposes an anacoluthon, as if “quam sententiam vertisti” should have followed; but this would be very harsh, resembling rather the licences of the Greek poets than those of Virg. The omission of the verb subst. with the second person is paralleled by 5. 687., 10. 827. Ribbeck, who has attacked the omission of the verb subst. in various passages where it is acknowledged to be right in Wagn.'s elaborate essay on the whole subject, Q. V. 15, here reads ‘pollicitu's,’ as in 5. 687 “exosu's,” in 10. 827 “laetatu's.” In defending these readings in his Prolegom. p. 154, he fails to show that contractions admissible in Terence or even in Catullus are equally suited to a poem like the Aeneid, while he admits that in 5. 192 “usi” stands for “usi estis.” Rau proposed ‘pollicitum,’ which would be awkward.—‘Quae te sententia vertit:’ ‘quae’ is for “cur,” or “quomodo” (like “quo numine laeso” for “quam ob laesionem numinis,” v. 8); as appears from v. 260, “neque me sententia vertit.” ‘Te sententia vertit’ is poetical for “tu sententiam vertisti,” the opinion being supposed to change the mind as external persuasion might.
[238] Solabar occasum Troiae. Comp. Cic. Mil. 35, “solari brevitatem vitae.” ‘Occasum,’ 2. 432.
[239] The meaning of ‘fatis contraria fata rependens’ is clearly, ‘compensating or repaying destiny (of the destruction of Troy) with destiny’ (of reaching Italy). “Rependere et compensare leve damnum delibatae honestatis maiore alia honestate,” Gell. 1. 3. ‘Contraria’ expresses the opposition between destiny and destiny as in 7. 293, “fatis contraria nostris Fata Phrygum.” Strictly then the epithet would agree with ‘fatis,’ as the latter of the two correlatives, but by a poetical variety it is joined with ‘fata,’ the former.
[240] Comp. 6. 62, “Hac Troiana tenus fuerit fortuna secuta.” No MS. appears to give ‘actis,’ which might have been expected as a variety, as in the parallel passages “omnibus exhaustos iam casibus,” v. 591, “pelagi tot tempestatibus actus,” 3. 708, the abl. is found in some of the best MSS.
[241] Das: Jupiter is addressed not merely as the interpreter of fate, but as identified with it, and answers accordingly “Inperium sine fine dedi,” v. 279. So “pollicitus,” v. 237. Comp. 3. 375. Otherwise ‘dare’ would bear the modified signification of announcing; see on 3. 85.
[242] The legend of Antenor is given by Livy, 1. 1, where it is said that he led a colony of Trojans and of Heneti from Paphlagonia to the head of the Adriatic, whence he expelled the Euganei; and that the place where he and his followers first landed was called Troja. His story was variously told, Pindar, Pyth. 5. 19, taking the Antenoridae to Cyrene: the Romans however cherished naturally the legend of a migration to Italy, and one Largus, a contemporary of Ovid, wrote a poem on it. See Heyne's Excursus on this passage. ‘Elapsus:’ others, such as Sophocles, made him escape by collusion with the conquerors.
[243] Tutus is contrasted with ‘tot casibus actos,’ as Forb. remarks. ‘Penetrare’ is not so much to penetrate into, as to make his way through or past; Illyricum, the Liburni, and the Tergestinus Sinus, in which is the ‘fons Timavi,’ being all left on Antenor's right as he sailed to Venetia. The expression seems to denote the difficulty of a coasting voyage, such as Antenor would make up the east of the Adriatic, whether arising from the dangerous nature of the coast itself, or from the barbarity of the inhabitants. ‘Illyricos sinus’ may be either the Adriatic, as washing the shore of Illyricum, or the indentations in the Illyrican coast. ‘Intima regna Liburnorum’ is not so much the interior of the Liburnian territory, which Antenor coming by sea would not penetrate, as the kingdom lying far inward in the Adriatic. ‘Superare’ is said to be a nautical word by Serv., who quotes from Lucilius “promontorium remis superamus Minervae.” Here and E. 8. 6, where it is also applied to the Timavus, it probably denotes difficulty. It is just possible, however, that Virg. may intend to represent Antenor as sailing up the stream of the Timavus, in which case we may comp. 8. 58, “Adversum remis superes subvectus ut amnem.”
[244] Fontem Timavi is rightly explained by Henry of the fountain or source of the Timavus. Between this and the sea (a distance of about a mile) there are subterranean communications, through which the salt water forces its way, breaking out at the fountain through seven mouths or holes in the limestone rock, and overflowing the channel of the river. See the account quoted by Henry from Cluverius, Ital. Antiq. 1. 20, and more recent descriptions cited in the same note from Wittmann and Schlözer. It appears from Serv. that this view was received by many in his time; but the subsequent commentators, including Heyne, Wagn., and Forb., understand ‘mare’ and ‘pelago’ of the volume of the waters of the river, so that ‘fontem Timavi’ has to stand for the river itself.
[245] Per ora novem: the general account, as intimated above, appears to be that there were seven of these ‘ora,’ or sources. Cluverius however l. c. speaks of the whole of the country to the sea as “unum perpetuumque saxum innumeris passim altissimisque antris perforatum;” and it seems from Wittmann's account that the ‘ora’ are constantly overflowed, so that their number is not easy to ascertain. Polybius asserts that the water in all but one of these ‘ora’ is salt, which Strabo denies. The two are reconciled by Cluverius, who reports from actual observation that the sea occasionally bursts up through six of the sources, and renders the water undrinkable. ‘Vasto cum murmure montis’ refers to the sound of the water re-echoing through the limestone rock as it bursts up; ‘pelago sonanti,’ to its sound after bursting up. “Magno cum murmure montis” v. 55 note. ‘Proruptum,’ ‘bursting up:’ comp. 7. 459, “toto proruptus corpore sudor.” Gud. originally and fragm. Veron. corrected have ‘praeruptum,’ which is mentioned but disapproved by Serv. This description of the Timavus has been censured as out of place in the speech of Venus; it however expresses the portentous character of the region into which Antenor is allowed to penetrate with safety.
[247] Tamen, in spite of all these dangers.
[248] Genti nomen dedit, probably Veneti, which was identified with Heneti. Henry however argues from ‘Troia arma’ that Troja is meant: see on v. 242. ‘Arma fixit,’ hung up his arms and those of his comrades, in token that their sufferings by flood and field were over. Serv. comp. Hor. 1 Ep. 1. 4, “armis Herculis ad postem fixis.”
[249] Nunc, &c.: Wagn., Forb., and Jahn understand these words of the death of Antenor; but in spite of the special pleading of the former that a peaceful death would naturally be mentioned as the climax of the wanderer's happiness, and that Antenor, even during the Trojan war, must have been near the grave, it is evident that the sense required is rather that of a tranquil settlement following on labours. The language undoubtedly is such as is more generally applied to death or sleep, but the occurrence of such expressions as “conponere pacem” (7. 339., 12. 822), or “foedus” (10. 15), “conponere bellum foedere” (12. 109), and “urbem tuta conponere terra” (3. 387), proves abundantly that the words ‘conpostus pace’ may well have been used of the repose of a peaceful life. Possibly too Virg. may have thought of Ennius' celebrated lines (A. 18. 7), “Sicut fortis equus, spatio qui saepe supremo Vicit Olympia, nunc senio confectu' quiescit,” where of course peaceful old age, not death, is meant. The antithesis between ‘fixit’ and ‘nunc quiescit’ merely implies that, after having founded his city, named his nation, and hung up his arms for ever, he entered on a prosperous reign.
[250] Nos: she rhetorically identifies herself with her son. ‘Arcem caeli’ (for which see note on v. 225) denotes here the fullest enjoyment of divine honours which had been promised to Aeneas after death. ‘Adnuis’ with acc. 12. 187. ‘Adnuis’ has a special propriety as applied to a promise of Jupiter. ὑπέσχετο καὶ κατένευσεν, Il. 2. 112.
[251] Infandum interjected, like “miserum” 6. 21, “nefas” 8. 688. ‘Unius ob iram’ recalls “saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram,” v. 4.
[252] Prodimur, forsaken by Jupiter, not, as Heyne takes it, betrayed to destruction by the wiles of Juno.
[253] Honos, ‘reward,’ as in 5. 249, 308. ‘Reponis,’ restore us in Italy to the empire we have lost at Troy, though Weidner's interpretation of the prefix, referring it to the performance of a promise, is not impossible. ‘Reponere’ is connected with ‘in sceptra,’ which virtually means ‘into the possession of the sceptre.’ ‘Is this to restore a king to his throne?’
[254-296] ‘Jupiter reassures her, telling her what the course of the destined Trojan empire is to be, beginning with Lavinium, passing into Alba, and ending in Rome, whose greatness is to be perfected in the golden age of Augustus.’
