[5] Med. (originally) and Rom. have ‘Aeneas exsequiis,’ just as in v. 2 Pal. and Gud. originally had “famam moriens.”
[6] “Aggere tumuli” 5. 44. Comp. 3. 63 “Aggeritur tumulo tellus.” For ‘quierunt’ Serv. mentions a variant ‘quierant,’ supported by a grammarian whose name is variously given as Hebrus and Acron Helenus. “Quierant aequora” 4. 523. The reference perhaps is, as Wagn. suggests, to the gales mentioned by Palinurus 6. 354 foll.
[7] Tendit iter velis as “tendere iter pennis” 6. 240. Comp. 5. 28, “Flecte viam velis.” Probably Virg. also meant his readers to think of “tendere vela.” Pal. and Gud. have ‘portus,’ which is perhaps the more usual expression in Virg., being found in various places where only a single harbour seems to be meant (below v. 22., 5. 813., 6. 366; besides many others where the reference is uncertain); but we have had “Caietae portum” 6. 900.
[8] A fair wind blows steadily into the night (i. e. it does not fall at sunset and at other times, 3. 568), and the moon rising bright enables them to hold on their course. At other times they put in for the night, 3. 508 foll. ‘In noctem’ like “Nilus in aestatem crescit” Lucr. 6.712, “humor in lucem tremulo rarescit ab aestu” ib. 875. Mr. Munro, who formerly interpreted these words as = “aestate,” “luce,” explains them now (3rd edition) as = “every summer,” “every day,” comparing “in diem,” “in horas.” They might perhaps also bear the sense of “as summer, as light comes on:” “in noctem” here can hardly mean “every night,” but “towards the approach of night.” ‘Nec cursus negat’ = “et sinit currere.” ‘Candida’ and ‘tremulo’ seem to be from Enn. Melan. fr. 4 Vahlen, “Lumine sic tremulo terra et cava caerula candent,” as Macrob. Sat. 6. 4 remarks.
[10] ‘Proxuma’ after leaving Caieta. ‘Raduntur’ by the ships in passing, 3. 700. ‘Circaeae terrae,’ Circeii; which, being on the mainland, is identified with Homer's island of Circe (Od. 10. 135 foll.) by supposing that the island had become joined to the mainland, by alluvial deposits or, as Varro ap. Serv. says, by the draining of marshes. Comp. Theophrast. Hist. Plant. 5. 9, Pliny 3. 5. 9 (quoted by Heyne). Virg. himself calls it “Aeaeae insula Circae,” 3. 386, where Helenus predicts that Aeneas should visit it. Westphal (Die Römische Kampagne p. 59) says that the promontory was certainly no island even long before Homer's time, but that it looks like an island from the sea at a moderate distance from the shore, where the flat land of the marshes sinks below the horizon. For the legends which connected Ulysses with this part of Italy see Lewis pp. 327 foll. Telegonus, son of Ulysses and Circe, is the mythical founder of Tusculum. The very name Caieta was said by some to have been originally Αἰήτη (comp. Caulon, Aulon, note on 3. 553), a name associated by Lycophron, v. 1273, with the mooring of the Argo there, but more probably having to do with the Aeaean Circe, the sister of Aeetes of Colchis.
[11] Dives refers to the splendour of her palace (‘tectis superbis’). Comp. Od. 10. 211, 348 foll. ‘Lucos.’ The palace of Circe in Homer is in a wood (Od. 10. 210), which may be called ‘lucus,’ as the abode of a goddess. ‘Inaccessos,’ unapproachable, because dangerous on account of her sorceries. Circe is heard by the companions of Ulysses singing at her loom as they approach her palace, Od. 10. 221. The same lines occur in Od. 5. 61 on Calypso, and it is her cave that is full of the scent of burning cedar, an incident which Virg. has transferred to Circe. Circe is the daughter of Helios and Perse, Od. 10. 138.
[12] Resonat, makes them ring; a use of ‘resonare’ for which no parallel is quoted, though it is imitated by Sil. 14. 30. Hom. says of Circe's song δάπεδον δ᾽ ἅπαν ἀμφιμέμυκεν. ‘Adsiduo’ expresses that she is always plying her loom, so that the Trojans see the light in her palace as they pass it in the night.
[13] Nocturna in lumina: see on G. 1. 291., 2. 432. The parallel in Od. 5 is in favour of supposing firelight to be meant here. “Nocturna ad lumina” occurs Lucr. 6.900, where again the reference is doubtful. Med. has “nocturno in lumine.”
[14] Nearly repeated from G. 1. 294, which is itself from Od. 5. 62, “ἱστὸν ἐποιχομέιη χρυσείῃ κερκίδ᾽ ὕφαινεν”.
[15] Exaudiri, reached the ears of the Trojans. In Hom. the lions and wolves are tamed by Circe's sorceries, so that they fawn upon comers, and are suffered to run loose. The swine are men metamorphosed, and are kept in sties. There are no wild boars or bears. “Hinc exaudiri gemitus” 6. 557. ‘Gemere’ is used by the Roman poets of the roaring of wild beasts, as by Hor. Epod. 16. 51 of bears. Lucr. 3.297 has “leonum Pectora qui fremitu rumpunt plerumque gementes Nec capere irarum fluctus in pectore possunt,” which Virg. probably had in his mind, as he certainly had when writing v. 466 below. ‘Gemitus iraeque’ is thus ἓν διὰ δυοῖν, as Serv. takes it, though Gossrau wishes to distinguish between the tones of grief and those of indignation.
[16] Rudere is another word used loosely by Roman poets: see on G. 3. 374. On ‘sera sub nocte’ Serv. says, with some imaginative feeling, “quasi eo tempore quo naturali libertate uti consueverunt.” Pal. has ‘saeva’ for ‘sera.’
[17] ‘In praesepibus’ (“caveis” Serv.) should be taken both with ‘sues’ and ‘ursi.’ Lucr. 5.969 has “saetigeris subus.”
[18] There seems no reason with Sturz ap. Wagn. to take ‘saevire’ as a special expression for the roaring of bears. It implies, like ‘gemitus iraeque,’ that the animals were confined. Ribbeck rather ingeniously suggests that ‘saevire’ may have been corrupted by ‘saetigeri,’ having been originally ‘mugire.’ Price on Appuleius Met. 4. p. 76, approved by Wagn., understands ‘formae’ as denoting the size of the creatures: but it is more probably to be explained by what follows. They were men in the form of wolves. Comp. The use of the word to denote unreal shapes 6. 289, 293. ‘Saevire’ and ‘ululare’ are equivalent to “saevientes” and “ululantes exaudiri.”
[19] “Hominis facies” 3. 426. “Potentibus herbis” 12. 402 (comp. ib. 396); here with ‘induerat,’ not with ‘saeva.’ It is a translation of ἐπεὶ κακὰ φάρμακ᾽ ἔδωκεν, Od. 10. 213. ‘Dea saeva’ is Hom.'s δεινὴ θεός, of Circe, Od. 10. 136.
[20] “Indue voltus” has occurred 1. 684. “Induit in florem” G. 1. 188. The construction with ‘ex’ may remind us of “exuere.” ‘Voltus ac terga’ expresses briefly Hom.'s οἱ δὲ συῶν μὲν ἔχον κεφαλὰς φωνήν τε τρίχας τε Καὶ δέμας, Od. 10. 240.
[21] ‘That the Trojans might not undergo this dire transformation.’ So “monstra perferimus” 3. 884 of suffering from preternatural sounds. The word is probably suggested by Hom.'s αἰνὰ πέλωρα, Od. 10. 219. ‘Pii’ gives the reason of Neptune's solicitude. So Anchises 3. 265 prays “Di talem avertite casum Et placidi servate pios,” and Ilioneus, 1. 526, calls the Trojans “pio generi.” Venus had however engaged the favour of Neptune for the Trojans, 5. 779 foll. ‘Quae’ is followed by ‘talia’ here and 10. 298 as “haec” G. 4. 86 by “tanta.” Comp. “hunc talem virum” Cic. pro Mil. 27.
[22] Delati in portus 3. 219. ‘Subire’ of entering a haven 1. 400., 3. 292.
[23] τοῖσιν δ᾽ ἴκμενον οὖρον ἵει ἑκάεργος Ἀπόλλων Il. 1. 479.
[24] Fugam need only mean a swift passage: but in the present context it may be taken strictly. With ‘fugam dare’ comp. “cursus negare” above v. 8. ‘Vada fervida,’ as Heyne remarks, is the breakers on the headland of Circeii. “Fervetque fretis spirantibus aequor” G. 1. 327.
[25-36] ‘In the morning they come to a river, sail up it, and land.’
