[387] The name of Entellus is a Sicilian one, as appears from the city Entella. Serv. says that according to Hyginus ‘de familiis Troianis’ he was a Trojan. Here as elsewhere (above v. 73) Virg. has perhaps confused those born in Sicily, those who migrated thither from Troy before its destruction, and those who accompanied Aeneas. ‘Gravis’ qualifies ‘castigat.’ In Il. 23. 681 foll. Euryalus is backed by Diomed against Epeus, but there is no speaking.
[388] Ut, as he happened to be sitting. Forb. comp. 7. 72, and adduces the use of ‘ut forte.’ It is in effect the same as the use of ‘ut,’ ὡς, &c. to express ‘just as he was’ (comp. αὔτως, οὕτως, ‘sic’）—a sense which Forb. well brings out by paraphrasing “sede quam forte tenebat non mutata, non surgens ex sede sibi commoda.” It matters little whether ‘proxumus—consederat’ be applied to Acestes or to Entellus. ‘Consederat’ from ‘considere,’ had sat down, so that it practically =‘consedebat.’ ‘Toro herbae:’ comp. “Riparumque toros” 6. 674.
[389] Heyne comp. Aeneas' address to Pandarus Il. 5. 171 foll., but the resemblance is not great. “Fortissima frustra Pectora” 2. 348. Here the meaning is that his former prowess is all in vain now. So ‘nequiquam’ v. 392.
[391] For ‘sines’ a few MSS. give ‘sinis,’ which some of the editors prefer: but the rhetorical difference between them is as slight as may be.—Henry is right in making ‘nobis’ the ethical dative, and comparing v. 646 below, “Non Beroe vobis, non haec Rhoeteia, matres, Est Dorycli coniunx.” ‘Where are we to look now for’ &c. He is perhaps right too in pointing after ‘ille,’ though it is difficult to say, as ‘deus ille magister’ might mean ‘your divine master.’
[392] “Fama multis memoratus in oris” 8. 565. ‘Memoratus’ is probably to be understood ‘celebrated by us,’ or ‘by you.’ It does not seem to have come to mean ‘celebrated’ simply till a later period: at least Forc. only quotes three instances from Gellius. ‘Eryx:’ Dict. Myth.
[394] The hint of Entellus' speech seems to be taken from Il. 23. 626 foll., where Nestor, on receiving a present from Achilles, laments the loss of his ancient prowess. ‘Sub haec:’ Forc. quotes Livy 35. 31, “Sub hanc vocem fremitus variantis multitudinis fuit.” Id. 7. 31, “sub haec dicta omnes in vestibulo curiae procubuerunt.” ‘Gloria’ seems to be used instead of “gloriae amor,” by a tour de force similar to, though not identical with that by which “laus” has just been used (v. 355) for “merita.” With ‘cessit’ and ‘pulsa’ comp. “fiducia cessit Quo tibi, diva, mei?” 8. 395, “quo tibi nostri Pulsus amor?” G. 4. 325.
[395] Sed enim 1. 19 note. Nestor's language in Hom.l.c. is more lively, οὐ γὰρ ἔτ᾽ ἔμπεδα γυῖα, φίλος, πόδες, οὐδ᾽ ἔτι χεῖρες Ὤμων ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἐπαΐσσονται ἐλαφραί. ‘Tardant’ and ‘hebetant’ are conpled 6. 731, 732.
[396] Hebet: ἀμβλύς is used of sluggishness in Greek. ‘In corpore vires’ v. 475 below. Comp. generally 2. 638, 639.
[397] εἴθ᾽ ὣς ἡβώοιμι βίη τέ μοι ἔμπεδος εἴη, Il. 23. 629. ‘Fuerat’ = “erat”: see Madv. § 338 obs. 6, and 10. 613 note. ‘Inprobus’ seems to have the notion here of shamelessness, the point noted in Dares being his self-assertion. ‘Your shameless braggart there.’
[398] Iuventas G. 3. 63. Here Pal. and Gud. a m. p. have ‘iuventus,’ others again ‘iuventa.’
[400] Deinde v. 14.
[402] Quibus instrumental, like “his” below v. 414.
[403] In proelia ferre manum like “congressi in proelia” 12. 631, ‘in proelia,’ which occurs frequently in Virg., meaning ‘for battle.’ ‘Ferre manum’ of a single fighter, as ‘conferre manum’ or ‘manus’ is used of two, or of one viewed with reference to his antagonist. ‘Duroque— tergo’ an adjunct not grammatically connected with the relative clause: see on G. 2. 208. ‘Intendere bracchia tergo:’ see on 2. 236, 4. 506. It is only necessary to add here that in the present expression, besides the notion of binding, which is the prominent one, Virg. wishes to introduce a reference to the phrase “intendere bracchia” (above v. 136), to strain or string the arms, according to his custom, which has been elsewhere illustrated, e. g. on G. 2. 364.
[404] Obstipuere animi: see on 2. 120. ‘Tantorum’ has given some trouble to the commentators, Serv. joining it with ‘animi,’ while others have wished to alter it into ‘Teucrorum’ (found in one MS.), ‘totorum,’ ‘tanto nigrantia.’ Virg. however merely means to say ‘so huge and terrible were the weapons,’ which with his usual love of elaboration he expresses ‘so great were the oxen whose seven huge hides were stiff,’ &c. The size of the bulls and their hides is demurred to by Gossrau as irrelevant; but if the vastness and strength of the gauntlets is enforced by our being told that it required seven hides to make them, our sense of it is surely increased when we hear that the hides were large as well as numerous. Comp. σάκος ἑπταβόειον Ταύρων ζατρεφέων, Il. 7. 222, which shows that Virg. does not mean merely seven folds of hide. ‘Septem’ better with ‘terga’ than with ‘boum.’ These monstrous implements, “covered with knots and nails and loaded with lead and iron,” seem to answer to the μύρμηκες of the Greeks (Dict. A. ‘Cestus’).
[406] Longe is explained by Serv. ‘valde,’ by Forb. ‘diu.’ The only instances quoted for the latter sense contain not ‘longe,’ but ‘longius,’ which is doubtless the comparative of ‘longum,’ though Plaut. Rud. 4. 1. 24 has ‘longissime’ for ‘longissimum tempus.’ The word is doubtless to be taken here in its ordinary sense, meaning either that Dares actually recoils many paces from the weapons and will not come near them, or metaphorically that he shrinks from them utterly and declines the contest. So Lucr. 6.68, “Quae nisi respuis ex animo longeque remittis Dis indigna putare.” (Comp. Id. 1. 410, “Quod si pigraris paulumve recesseris ab re.”) Taubm. quotes from Prudent. Psychom. 149, “monumenta tristia longe Spernit,” and from Enn. Hect. Lust. 17, “ius atque aequum se a malis spernit procul.” Comp. “aversari,” “abhorrere,” ἀποστρέφεσθαι, and the Scriptural expression “be it far from me.”
[407] Ipsa of the caestus itself (which is what is intended by ‘vinclorum volumina,’ the hides or thongs twisted over and over), as distinguished from one of its attributes, its weight. Aeneas feels the weight, and turns the gauntlets wonderingly over and over. Thus ‘versat’ is used with ‘pondus’ by a kind of zeugma. Comp. 8. 619 foll., where ‘versare’ is used of Aeneas handling his new-made armour. Virg. may have thought of Od. 21. 400, νωμᾷ ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα, of Ulysses handling the bow.
[409] ‘Fetched from his breast,’ which is perhaps the explanation of ‘refert’ in such passages as 1. 94. Comp. the use of ‘reddere’ in such expressions as “sanguinem reddere.” The notion perhaps is that in such natural processes as the utterance of words, discharge of blood, &c., the thing is as it were given back, given by what ought not to retain it to what ought to receive it.
[410] ‘What would you say had you seen.’ ‘Caestus ipsius et Herculis arma’ has the air of a double hendiadys, though ‘ipsius’ is not independent of ‘Herculis,’ any more than “nostra” of “Thalia” in E. 6. 2. See above on 3. 162. The meaning apparently is that Hercules' weapons were still more terrible than those of Eryx. We might however take this line as merely an ornamental amplification of the thought expressed in the next, understanding Entellus to mean ‘What if you had seen a fatal combat between two champions like Hercules and Eryx, each armed with these weapons, in this very place?’
[411] Tristem, because fatal to Entellus' friend and master.
[412] Entellus is addressing Aeneas' and calls Eryx ‘germanus tuus’ as the son of Venus, thus conciliating sympathy for his patron's fate. So in 1. 667 Venus calls Aeneas “frater tuus,” speaking to Cupid. Comp. v. 24 above.
[413] Not the blood and brains of Eryx himself, which could not well have been sprinkled on his own gauntlets (though Serv. says “Erycis, qui infecerat se tegendo,” a view which might conceivably be supported by Val. Fl. 4. 298, 332), but those of the men he had slain in his time. ‘Quondam gerebat’ forms a sort of contrast with ‘stetit,’ the one referring to his whole pugilistic life, the other to his last fatal conflict. ‘Sparso’ Rom., Med., Pal., &c., ‘fracto’ some other MSS., which Heins. preferred and Heyne retained. But Wagn. rightly remarks that “effracto cerebro” v. 480 would hardly justify “fracto cerebro” here.
[414] ‘His’ was restored by Heins. from the best MSS. for ‘hic.’ ‘Contra stetit’ 11. 282, ἀντέστη. “Stat contra starique iubet” Juv. 3. 290. The second ‘his’ is doubtless the ordinary dative after ‘suetus,’ though it would be possible to complete the sentence ‘his ego suetus sum stare contra adversarios.’
[415] Melior, as we might say, in my better days. ‘Aemula,’ jealous of my glory. Old age is regarded as a rival to vigorous youth, which it seeks to impair. Not unlike is 8. 508, “Sed mihi tarda gelu saeclisque effeta senectus Invidet inperium.” So Horace's “fugerit invida Aetas,” 1 Od. 11. 7.
[416] Sparsa seems to refer to the sprinkling of white hair among the dark, not to the thinness of the white hair. Prop. 4. 5. 24 has “Sparserit et nigras alba senecta comas.”
[417] ‘If Dares with his Trojan gauntlets refuses to encounter me with mine.’ See vv. 419, 420 below.
[418] It matters little whether we refer ‘id’ to what follows ‘aequemus pugnas,’ with Henry, or, as agrees better with the Latin usage, to something implied in the previous line, e. g. “his armis non esse utendum.” “Sedet animo” of a fixed resolution 2. 660., 4. 15: here and in 11. 551 without ‘animo.’ In the latter place however there is a shade of difference in the meaning of the word, which is applied to the acquiescence of the mind in one course after weighing many others. Aeneas had already shown what his feeling was, if not by words, at any rate by his manner in handling the gauntlets. ‘Auctor:’ comp. 12. 159, “auctor ego audendi.” The meaning seems to be not ‘probat auctor,’ sanctions by his authority, makes himself an ‘auctor’ by approving, but ‘auctor Acestes,’ Acestes, who is already my adviser, or as we might say, my backer.
[419] Remitto = “concedo,” as 11. 359. ‘Solve metus’ in the next line seems to be said contemptuously.
