[260] Deriguit was restored by Heins. from Med. and others for ‘diriguit.’ ‘Cecidere animi:’ comp. “contunsos animos” G. 4. 240, and see on A. 2. 120.
[261] The “pax” which they sought by arms was liberty to feed unmolested: that which they seek by prayer is freedom from further annoyance, if the Harpies are merely monsters, deliverance from divine vengeance, such as that just denounced, if they are goddesses.
[263] Et was restored by Heins. for ‘at,’ which is supported by a correction in Med.
[264] Numina magna: the powers above, such as those from whom Celaeno derived her knowledge. He offers sacrifice on the shore.
[266] Placidi seems to have the force of ‘placati.’ Pal. and Gud. a m. pr. have ‘placide.’
[267] Med. has ‘diripere:’ see on 1. 211 &c. ‘Excutere rudentis’ v. 682 below. The ‘rudentes’ here are the ropes fastened to the bottom of the sail at its two corners (‘pedes’). “Before setting sail, these ropes, which our seamen call the sheets, would lie in a coil or bundle. In order therefore to depart, the first thing was to unroll or untie them, the next to adjust them according to the direction of the wind and the aim of the voyage . . . . ‘Laxate rudentes’ was equivalent to ‘ease the sheets.’” Dict. A. ‘rudens.’
[268-277] ‘We sail by the islands off the west coast of Greece, and at last land in Leucadia.’
[268] For ‘fugimus’ Heins. restored ‘ferimur,’ from Pal. a m. s., Gud., and a few other MSS.; but the authority is not sufficient to recommend the word, though it may have a slight rhythmical advantage. Wagn. thinks it may have arisen from 5. 33, “vela secundi Intendunt Zephyri: fertur cita gurgite classis;” but the resemblance is hardly great enough, and the parallel might be turned into an argument on the other side.
[269] Imitated from Od. 11. 10, τὴν δ᾽ ἄνεμός τε κυβερνήτης τ᾽ ἴθυνεν. ‘Vocabat’ Med., ‘vocabant’ inferior MSS., which Heyne retained.
[270] Again from Homer (Od. 9. 24), Δουλίχιόν τε Σάμη τε καὶ ὑλήεσσα Ζάκυν- θος. Mr. Long says of ‘nemorosa,’ “This is true now, if the reference in Virg. and Hom. is to plantations, as I think it is, not to forests.” ‘Medio fluctu:’ note on v. 73.
[271] Neritos in Hom. (Od. 9. 22., 13. 351) is a mountain in Ithaca. Some have thought that Virg. considers it so here; but the subsecuent mention of Ithaca in the next line is against this, and all the other names here are names of islands. Mela 2. 7 mentions Neritos among the islands in the Ionian sea, and the same is evidently the meaning of Ov. M. 13. 712, Sil. 15. 305, who however as evidently have merely copied the present passage. Perhaps Virg. was thinking of Il. 2. 633, where Neritos is mentioned separately from Ithaca among the places from which Ulysses' followers came, Zacynthos and Samos following two lines afterwards.
[272] Serv. may be right in supposing that something of a taunt may be intended in ‘scopulos Ithacae, Laertia regna,’ with which he comp. “inmania saxa, Vestras, Eure, domos” 1. 139. Taubm. appositely cites Cic. De Orat. 1. 44, “Ut Ithacam illam in asperrimis saxulis tanquam nidulum adfixam sapientissimus vir inmortalitati anteponeret.” Here and in the next line Virg. is evidently glancing at Ulysses' own description of his country, Od. 9. 27, as τρηχεἶ ἀλλ᾽ ἀγαθὴ κουροτρόφος, and perhaps also, as Heyne thinks, at Il. 3. 201, ὃς τράφη ἐν δήμῳ Ἰθάκης, κραναῆς περ ἐούσης.
[274] Leucata or Leucates is the promontory of Leucas, or Leucadia, celebrated as the scene of the Lover's Leap.
[275] Formidatus nautis Apollo plainly indicates a temple of Apollo built on a dangerous rock. Such a temple existed on Leucata (Dict. G. Leucas). Heyne however objects that they are not likely to have landed there, as the ‘parva urbs’ in that case must be Leucas, which was besides in a different part of the island, not, as the next sentence seems to prove, Actium; he accordingly thinks that the temple of Apollo at Actium is meant, thus separating v. 275 from v. 274. The following lines certainly seem to show that they landed in Actium: the present line naturally points to Leucata. Can Virg. have confused the two temples? ‘Aperitur,’ comes into sight, like “aperire” v. 206.
[277] Repeated at the end of Book 6.
[278-293] ‘At Actium we sacrifice and celebrate games, in joy of our escape so far. We winter there, and then depart, leaving a memorial of our sojourn. We next land in Chaonia.’
