[184] Amor edendi is ἔρον ἐδητύος in the Homeric αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο. Virg. may have meant to distinguish hunger from pleasure in eating, but a tautology is quite in his manner. He was thinking also of Lucr. 4.869, “amorem obturet edendi,” spoken of the effect of food in satisfying hunger. “Postquam exempta fames” 1. 216.
[185] Livy, 1. 7, says that this worship of Hercules at the Ara Maxuma was the only foreign worship adopted by Romulus; and this apology of Evander points to the same feeling, the jealous dislike of strange gods. Livy's apology is that Romulus felt, a prophetic sympathy for deified virtue.
[186] Dapes, the sacrificial feast, vv. 179 foll. ‘Ex more’ is, in effect, an adverb for an adjective. ‘Tanti numinis,’ attrib. gen., favoured with so great a presence, so holy: comp. 1. 447, “templum... donis opulentum et numine divae.” Cerda rather plausibly, but unnecessarily, conj. “tanti nominis,” i. e. “maxuma.”
[187] Vana superstitio, a vague empty feeling, which, having no root in old belief, catches blindly at new. Virg. is speaking not simply in the spirit of the old Roman belief, but in that of his own time, which repelled e. g. Oriental gods: comp. v. 698 below. ‘Veterumve,’ the reading before Heins., is found in one of Ribbeck's cursives. ‘Ignara’ probably i. q. “oblita,” as we say to ignore.
[188] Inposuit has the notion of an institution, and also of a burden. Evander says, it is a sense of deliverance from a tangible danger, not a mere imaginary feeling. We may almost fancy that Virg. is detending religion against Lucretius: at any rate we may comp. the latter's assertion of Epicurus' claims to deification at the beginning of Book 5, and in particular his depreciation of Hercules.
[189] Novamus is referred by Heyne to the annual repetition. Wagn. rightly explains it of the character of the rite, as newly introduced; as ‘meritos’ and the context show. Comp. 4. 260, “Aenean fundantem arces ac tecta novantem.” ‘Facimus’ has its sacrificial sense, as in E. 3. 77. It is perhaps better taken absolutely than constructed with ‘honores.’
[190] Iam primum: he begins his story by calling attention to the spot which attests it. ‘Saxis suspensam rupem.’ what is shown is the remains of a cavern, so that ‘suspensam’ must mean over hanging, ‘saxis’ being either a modal or material abl. See note on G. 4. 374, “pendentia pumice tecta,” and comp. 1. 166, “scopulis pendentibus antrum.”
[191, 192] It may be doubted whether ‘ut’ here means ‘where’ or ‘how.’ There is no clear instance of the former in Virg. (see on 5. 329): the latter would more naturally take the subj., as ‘aspice’ here is more than a rhetorical pleonasm (see on E. 4. 52). If we choose the former, we may say that there is also a notion of the cave appearing just as Hercules left it, ‘ut’ as in v. 236 below. “Hic ubi disiectas moles avolsaque saxis Saxa vides” 2. 608. Rom. has ‘deiectae.’ ‘Deserta:’ the remains of the cave suggest the notion of a ruined house without inhabitants. ‘Domus’ for a cavern: comp. Hor. 1 Od. 7. 12, “domus Albuneae resonantis.” ‘Traxere ruinam’ 2. 631.
[193] Submota i. e. from the light or from sight. We might have expected ‘semota,’ but no MS. appears to give it, and the word is not found elsewhere in Virg.
[194] This story of Cacus and the origin of the Ara Maxuma is given substantially in the same form by Dionys. 1. 39, Livy l. 7, Prop. 4. 9, Ov. F. 1. 543 foll., the last of whom has clearly copied Virg. There were two temples of Hercules at Rome, one of Hercules Victor or Triumphalis in the Forum Boarium, between the Circus Maxumus and the river, before which was the Ara Maxuma, and the other near the Porta Trigemina. See Dict. Biograph. Hercules, at the end. Dionys. (l. c.) mentions a temple of Jupiter Inventor near the Porta Trigemina, which he says was founded by Hercules. It is impossible not to see that the position of the Ara Maxuma in the Forum Boarium must have helped to suggest the story. The old pointing was after ‘Caci:’ Heyne, following the Delphin editor and others, placed it after ‘tenebat,’ connecting ‘Caci facies,’ like “Tyndaridis facies” 2. 601, though the periphrasis is there meant to indicate beauty, here the reverse. Pal., Rom., Gud., and the first reading of Med. have ‘tegebat,’ a reading of which it is difficult to see the propriety, though it may have been connected with the misunderstanding of the passage. ‘Semihominis’ i. q. “semiferi” v. 267. Lucr. 2.702 has “semiferas hominum species,” which Virg. may have thought of.
[196] For ‘foribus superbis’ Forb. quotes 2. 504, “Barbarico postes auro spoliisque superbi,” and v. 721 below, “Dona recognoscit populorum aptatque superbis Postibus.” ‘Superbis’ is thus an epithet both of the gate and of its owner: ‘fixed by him in triumph to his gate.’ Heyne takes ‘superbis’ as cruel. Comp. Manil. 4. 180, where the following lines afford a grotesque illustration of this whole passage, hunters who hang up skins and butchers who hang up meat being classed together as born under the sign of the Lion.
[197] Med. a m. p. (according to Heins., though not according to the edition of Foggini) has ‘squallida,’ which was also conjectured by Bentley on Lucan 2. 165. Wagn. contends that the orthography in itself is fatal to the reading, as Virg., according to Med. itself, always writes “squaleo,” “squalor.” We may connect ‘ora tristi tabo’ as in 3. 618, “domus sanie dapibusque cruentis,” but ‘pallida’ apparently is meant to help the construction by its juxtaposition, though it has no real connexion with the ablatives.
[198] Atros seems to combine the notions of mixed with smoke, and horrible, deadly. Comp. 10. 77, “face Troianos atra vim ferre Latinis,” 4. 384, “sequar atris ignibus absens.”
[199] Comp. 5. 372, 373 note, which will show that here ‘illius’ is emphatic: it was as Vulcan's son that he carried his giant bulk proudly. “Vasta se mole moventem” 3. 656.
[200] Et nobis: we too have our story of divine deliverance to tell, as well as others. But possibly it may be, as he was aided by Vulcan, we were helped by Hercules. ‘Optantibus,’ praying for it: comp. 9. 6, “quod optanti divom promittere nemo Auderet, volvenda dies, en, attulit ultro.” ‘Aliquando’ may either mean ‘in our time,’ like ‘et nobis,’ or it may have nearly the force of “tandem,” as in Cic. ad Quint. 13. 43, “Sero, verum aliquando tamen.” For this latter sense Mr. Long refers to Cic. De Sen. 26, Sall. C. 52.
[201] Attulit auxilium adventumque dei, a Virgilian expression for “attulit auxilium dei adventu.”
[202] Geryonae was restored by Heins. for ‘Geryonis,’ which is found in inferior copies, such as MS. Ball., and is the second reading of Med. Rom. has ‘Geryoni.’ “Tripectora tergemini vis Geryonai” Lucr. 5.28. See on 6. 287 above. Geryon has already been mentioned 6. 289., 7. 662.
[204] The Forum Boarium, in which the Ara Maxuma stood, is on the level ground close to the Tiber.
[205] Serv. and many MSS., including Gud. corrected and another of Ribbeck's cursives, have ‘furis,’ an epithet which, as Heyne says, would scarcely be epic. Rom., Med., and Pal. concur in ‘furiis,’ which means the madness that impels to crime, ἄτη: comp. 1. 41, “furias Aiacis Oilei.” ‘Mens’ is a Homeric periphrasis, so that we need not wonder that Virg. should lose sight of it before the end of the sentence.
[206] Med. (second reading) with some other MSS. and the editions before Heins. have ‘intemptatum.’ Rom., Pal., and Med. (first reading) concur in ‘intractatum.’ It seems equally vain to attempt to decide between them on internal grounds and to distinguish either from ‘inausum.’ ‘Fuisset’ is to “fuerit” as “esset” is to “sit;” and as we might have “ne quid intractatum fuerit” for “ne quid intractatum sit,” so we have ‘ne quid intractatum fuisset’ for “ne quid intractatum esset.” ‘Sceleris’ relates to the robbery of the oxen, ‘doli’ to the mode of concealing them. The point of the sentence is that the madness of crime led him to complete his guilt by robbing Hercules.
[207] This and the next line are repeated more or less from G. 4. 550, 551. ‘Stabulis’ here and v. 213 (see note there) seems to be used, as Heyne remarks, in a wide sense, i. q. “pascuis,” the cattle being supposed to pass the night where they were grazing. In Ov. l. c. this theft seems to have been committed in the night, as Hercules discovered it on waking.
[208] Avertit, carries off, 10. 78: comp. 1. 528. So Catull. 62 (64). 5, “Auratam optantes Colchis avertere pellem.” ‘Superante:’ this use of “superans” as i. q. “praestans” seems rare. The word is found in Lucr. 5.394 as an adj. in a slightly different sense, “Cum semel interea fuerit superantior ignis.”
[209] This device is taken from Hom. Hymn to Hermes, 75 foll., where Hermes steals the oxen of the Gods. ‘Pedibus rectis’ may be dat., as Serv. thinks, but it is perhaps better taken as abl., of circumstance or attribute, the feet being regarded as an attribute of the footsteps instead of vice versa. ‘Rectis,’ straight forward.
[210] Viarum indiciis is a periphrasis for “vestigiis.” Hom. l. c. has ἴχνἰ ἀποστρέψας.
[211] Peerlkamp is probably right in separating ‘raptos’ from ‘versis viarum indiciis,’ so as to make ‘raptos occultabat’ i. q. “rapiebat et occultabat.” Ribbeck adopts Wakef.'s plausible conj. ‘raptor.’ There is force in the imperf. ‘occultabat,’ which fixes our attention on the act while going on, and so makes us enter into Cacus' feelings, thus pointing the irony.
[212] Quaerenti (Med., Pal., Gud. originally) was restored by Heins. The old reading was “quaerentem.” Rom., Gud. corrected, and two other of Ribbeck's cursives, have ‘quaerentis’ or ‘quaerentes.’ ‘Ferebant’ is used elliptically, as in 6. 295 &c., and ‘quaerenti’ is added as a sort of dat. eth. like “intranti,” “descendenti.” See Madv. § 241 obs. 6.
[213] The meaning apparently is that Hercules was shifting the quarters of his cattle and leaving that part of the country, as they had eaten down the pasturage, ‘stabulis moveret’ being constructed like “portis moveri” 7. 429. Virg. probably thought of “stabula movere,” constructing the phrase on the analogy of “castra movere.” This accords with the use of ‘stabulis’ v. 208. Otherwise it would be possible to make ‘stabulis’ dat., regarding ‘moveret’ as i. q. “admoveret,” and supposing the sense to be that Cacus committed the theft during the day, and that Hercules discovered it as he was driving the cattle home to their stalls at night. Comp. E. 7. 44, and the description G. 3. 322 foll.
[215] Discessu like “abscessu” 10. 445 ‘Querelis’ G. 1. 378 note. Virg. thought of Lucr. 2.358 “conpletque querelis Frondiferum nemus,” quoted by Germ. Here, as Serv. remarks, if there is any notion of complaint, it is for leaving their pasture, not for the loss of their mates.
[216] Relinqui sc. “a bubus.” ‘Clamore’ for “cum clamore” 1. 519, “templum clamore petebant” quoted by Serv. There would have been no difficulty if Virg. had written “inplere—relinquere:” but for the sake of variety he has chosen to throw the expression into the passive.
[218] Rom. reads ‘mugit’ and in v. 227 ‘emunit,’ a fact which may tend to lessen its authority in such passages as 5. 274. See Excursus on G. 2. 81 (2nd edition). ‘Spem custodita fefellit’=“spem custodientis fefellit.” Comp. 6. 538.
