matre: perhaps his stepmother only; cf. Intr. 72.
[5] ultima: i. e. to her farthest bounds.
[5] Tethys: cf. Catul. 64.29n.; 66.70.
[6] nec abluit: cf. Lucr. 6.1077 “non, mare si totum velit eluere omnibus undis” ; Sen. Phaedr. 723ff. “quis eluet me Tanais? aut quae barbaris Maeotis undis Pontico incumbens mari? non ipse toto magnus oceano pater tantum expiarit sceleris” .
[6] Oceanus: with this conjunction of Oceanus with Tethys cf. Hom. Il.14.201 “Ὠκεανόν τε, θεῶν γένεσιν, καὶ μητέρα Τηθύν.”
[7] nihil quicquam: a not infrequent expression in the comedians; cf. Pl. Bacch. 1036 “nihil ego tibi hodie consili quicquam dabo” ; Ter. Andr. 90 “comperiebam nil ad Pamphilum quicquam attinere” .
[8] non si: see Catul. 48.5n.