[719] Corythus 3. 170., 7. 209., 9. 10.
[720] “Graius homo” Enn. A. 183, Lucr. 1.66. The words are probably meant simply to contrast Acron's descent with his dwelling-place, he being one of Evander's Arcadian followers (see 9. 10): though it is possible (as Heyne suggests) that Virg. may have followed the tradition given by Dionys. 1. 20. 26, that Cortona was taken and inhabited by the Pelasgi. The rhythm ‘profugus hymenaeos’ is like that of “despexit hymenaeos” Catull. 62 (64). 20, “novo auctus hymenaeo” ib. 64 (66). 11. Comp. E. 6. 53, A. 7. 398. Heyne comp. Il. 11. 241 foll. Ὣς ὁ μὲν αὖθι πεσὼν κοιμήσατο χάλκεον ὕπνον, Οἰκτρὸς ἀπὸ μνηστῆς ἀλόχου, ἀστοῖσιν ἀρήγων, Κουριδίης, ἧς οὔτι χάριν ἴδε (of Iphidamas). We may also comp. Il. 2. 700. ‘Profugus’ seems to be little more than an extension of ‘linquens.’
[721] Il. 5. 166, Τὸν δ᾽ ἴδεν Αἰνείας ἀλαπάζοντα στίχας ἀνδρῶν (Cerda). ‘Miscet’ as 1. 191, “omnem Miscet agens telis nemora inter frondea turbam.” ‘Media agmina:’ Acron was in the thick of the battle.
[722] “Purpurei cristis iuvenes” 9. 163. Comp. “cornibus ingens” 7. 483: “quibus ibat in armis Aureus” 9. 269. ‘Purpureus,’ the colour of love: comp. Ov. 2 Am. 1. 38., 9. 34, and Milton's “Celestial rosy red, Love's proper hue.” ‘Coniugis ostro,’ the purple robe given him by his lady. ‘Pactae:’ see on v. 79 above.
[723] “Inpastus ceu plena leo per ovilia turbans, Suadet enim vesana fames” 9. 339. With this and the following lines comp. Il. 12. 299 foll. Βῆ ῤ̔ ἴμεν, ὥστε λέων ὀρεσίτροφος, ὅστ᾽ ἐπιδευὴς Δηρὸν ἔῃ κρειῶν, κέλεται δέ ἑ θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ, Μήλων πειρήσοντα, καὶ ἐς πυκινὸν δόμον ἐλθεῖν κ.τ.λ. See also Il. 3. 23 foll. and 17. 61 foll., a passage which precedes the lines that served as Virg.'s model v. 716 above. ‘Stabula alta’ apparently as in 6. 179, “stabula alta ferarum” stands for the forest. ‘Saepe’ goes with the whole simile, not specially with ‘peragrans:’ comp. 1. 148 &c.
[724, 725] Surgentem in cornua is something like “consurgere in ensem” 9. 749., 12. 729, though that is only a momentary action. The notion of ‘in’ seems to be ‘in the direction of,’ hence ‘in respect of.’ “Irasci in cornua” 12. 104 is more subtle. Virg. is imitated by Ov. M. 10. 538, “celsus in cornua cervus” (Taubm.): comp. ib. 11. 753, “spatiosum in guttura mergum,” and Manilius 2. 245 “aries in cornua tortus.” Ὥστε λέων ἐχάρη μεγάλῳ ἐπὶ σώματι κύρσας, Εὑρὼν ἢ ἔλαφον κεραὸν ἢ ἄγριον αἶγα Πεινάων Il. 3. 23 foll.
[726] Arrexit, perf. not aor., i. q. “comis arrectis haeret.” Comp. “procubuit super atque haeret” 11. 150.
[727] Incumbens, the reading of Med., is given by Gud. as a variant: ‘accumbens’ Pal., Rom., Gud., and three other of Ribbeck's cursives, one in an erasure, supported by Macrob. 5. 10. 7. The edd. from Heyne to Ribbeck read ‘incumbens,’ which perhaps suits ‘super’ better; but ‘super accumbens’ is not worse than “super adsistens” v. 490 above. ‘Accumbens’ is better in sense, suggesting the idea of a feast: and ‘super incumbens’ may be a reminiscence of 5. 858. ‘Lavat’ Rom. ‘Lavit’ is supported by Serv., Priscian 861, Nonius 327. 8 al., and Eutychius 2. 16. Virg. always writes “lavit” and “lavĕre,” never “lavat” or “lavare:” but “lavant,” “lavabat,” “lavabo,” “lavandi.” Ennius, Andromache p. 7, has “laverent:” Horace, “lavis” and “lavimus.” So (in older Latin) “sonĕre” exists side by side with “sonare.” ‘Visceribus,’ the flesh: see on 1. 211, but the word is suggested by Il. 17. 64, ἔπειτα δέ θ᾽ αἷμα καὶ ἔγκατα πάντα λαφύσσει. ‘Inprobus’ as in 9. 62 of the wolf: see on 2. 356. Παρήϊον αἵματι φοινόν Il. 16. 159. For ‘inproba taeter’ Med. a m. p. gives ‘improbat aether:’ a m. s. ‘improbus ather’ (‘ater’?): comp. G. 3. 211, “lavit ater corpora sanguis.”
[729] Sic densos inruit Pal. and Gud.: a curious violation of metre. ‘Alacer’ of Turnus, 12. 337.
[730] Comp. v. 404 above, “Caedit semianimis Rutulorum calcibus arva.” ‘Atra humus:’ Hom.'s γαῖα μέλαινα.
[731] “Tela infracta suo tinguentes sanguine saevi” of boars, Lucr. 5.1327. “Infracta arundine telum” 12. 387.
[732] “Oroden, virum fortem, intellegimus in fugam necessitate esse conversum” (see v. 737), Serv. Orodes' flight and death are very shortly disposed of.
[733] Caecum volnus because dealt on the back. “Nudum et caecum corpus” Sall. Jug. 107 (of the back): comp. Xen. Cyropaed. 3. 3. 45, “τὰ τυφλὰ τοῦ σώματος καὶ ἄοπλα”.
[734, 735] Comp. Il. 7. 243, Αλλ᾽ οὐ γάρ σ᾽ ἐθέλω βαλέειν, τοιοῦτον ἐόντα, Λάθρη ὀπιπτεύσας, ἀλλ᾽ ἀμφαδόν, εἴ κε τύχοιμι. ‘Obvius adversoque’ 5. 498 note. ‘Obvius occurrit’ note on v. 552 above. The halfpun ‘furto—fortibus’ is like that on “onus” and “honos” (Livy 22. 30, Ov. Her. 9. 31 &c.). Comp. Tibull. 1. 10. 2, “Quam ferus et vere ferreus ille fuit.” ‘Furto’ as 9. 350. ‘Melior’ seems to mean conquering, or as we should say, showing himself the better man, κρείσσων: though it may be intended to characterize him generally: comp. 11. 338 (of Drances), “Largus opum et lingua melior, sed frigida bello Dextera.”
[736] Adapted from Il. 16. 862, 863, δόρυ χάλκεον ἐξ ὠτειλῆς Εἴρυσε, λὰξ προσβάς: τὸν δ᾽ ὕπτιον ὦσ᾽ ἀπὸ δουρός (‘abiectum’): where the dying Patroclus has been addressing Hector. Mezentius is said to press the body with his planted foot and his spear, the meaning being that he pulls with his spear while his foot is planted on the body. ‘Abiectum’ then must be understood proleptically, as the result of disengaging the spear.
[737, 738] Another adaptation from Hom., Il. 22. 391 foll., where Achilles speaks to his comrades after killing Hector:—
νῦν δ᾽ ἄγ᾽ ἀείδοντες παιήονα, κοῦροι Ἀχαιῶν, νηυσὶν ἔπι γλαφυρῇσι νεώμεθα, τόνδε δ᾽ ἄγωμεν: ἠράμεθα μέγα κῦδος: ἐπέφνομεν Ἕκτορα δῖον, ᾧ Τρῶες κατὰ ἄστυ, θεῷ ὥς, εὐχετόωντο. Mezentius' speech is meant to express the last two lines, which are the paean or triumph-song. Thus the old punctuation is right in v. 738, connecting ‘laetum paeana’ with ‘secuti:’ the followers clamorously take up the paean which the leader had begun. Comp. 11. 758, “ducis exemplum eventumque secuti Maeonidae incurrunt.” For ‘viri’ many old edd. before Heins. read ‘viris,’ found in two or three of Ribbeck's cursives, and mentioned by Serv. as adopted by Asper. We have had the same variation above, v. 280. ‘Pars belli haud temnenda—Orodes’ like “Lausus, pars ingens belli” v. 427 above. Comp. generally 11. 14 foll. ‘Actus’ Med. for ‘altus.’ “Laetum paeana” 6. 657.[739] Comp. Il. 22. 359, where Hector reminds Achilles of the day when Πάρις καὶ Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων Ἐσθλὸν ἐόντ᾽ ὀλέσωσιν, which may explain ‘quicumque es.’
[740] Il. 16. 852 (Patroclus to Hector), Οὔ θην οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸς δηρὸν βέῃ, ἀλλά τοι ἤδη Ἄγχι παρέστηκε θάνατος καὶ Μοῖρα κραταιή. “Nec longum pueri fato laetabere” Ov. M. 5. 65 (Forb.). ‘Non me inulto nec longum laetabere’ is like “obvius adversoque occurrit” v. 734: there being no real distinction between the two clauses separated by the disjunctive.
[741] With the thought of ‘arva tenebis’ comp. v. 650 note.
[742] Ad quem Rom., ‘at quem’ Med. a m. s. ‘At quae’ Verona fragm. and Gud., ‘at quaec’ (the last three letters struck out) Pal., ‘atque’ Med. a m. p., ‘ad quae’ Menag. pr., and so (perhaps rightly) Ribbeck, as against Heyne and Wagn., who read ‘ad quem.’ Wagn. makes a distinction between ‘ad quae’ and ‘ad quem’ which is hardly a difference: “Mezentii oratio non est tam respondentis quam poenas ab eo exigentis qui tam acerbe locutus fuerat.” The reading of Pal. coupled with some of the other varieties may point to ‘atque haec.’ For ‘ad’ see Munro on Lucr. 1.750 (3rd ed.).
[743] Il. 22. 365, Τέθναθι: Κῆρα δ᾽ ἐγὼ τότε δέξομαι, ὁππότε κεν δὴ Ζεὺς ἐθέλῃ τελέσαι ἠδ᾽ ἀθάνατοι θεοὶ ἄλλοι. Serv. tries to explain Virg.'s words so as to suit Mezentius' impiety: “id est, viderit utrum Mezentio possit nocere ille quem vos deorum et hominum creditis rectorem;” but the defiance is not to Jupiter, but to Orodes ‘Ast’ before a consonant is unusual, but is defended as antiquated.
[744] Viderit, a common phrase, as we say ‘let him see to it,’ or ‘it is his lookout.’ “Sed de illa ambulatione fors viderit, aut si qui est qui curet deus” Cic. Att. 4. 10, comp. by Forb. ‘Hoc dicens’ 2. 550., 12. 956.
[745] Ὣς ὁ μὲν αὖθι πεσὼν κοιμήσατο χάλκεον ὕπνον Il. 11. 241. ‘Urguere’ as in G. 3. 523, “oculos stupor urguet inertis:” comp. Hor. 1 Od. 24. 5. ‘Oculos:’ so Il. 5. 82 &c. τὸν δὲ κατ᾽ ὄσσε Ἔλλαβε πορφύρεος θάνατος καὶ Μοῖρα κραταιή.
[746] In aeternam noctem: comp. “siletur in noctem” G. 4. 190. But the words might mean ‘are shut up into night.’
