[402] “Roseum os” is attributed to Venus 2. 593. Comp. Hor. 1 Od. 13. 2, “Telephi cervicem roseam.” Comp. also Anacreon, 53, Ῥοδοδάκτυλος μὲν Ἠώς, Ῥοδοπήχεες δὲ Νύμφαι, Ῥοδόχρους δ᾽ Ἀφροδίτη. Ῥοδοδάκτυλος ἠώς in Homer is not a parallel, as the colour there does not stand simply for beauty. In Il. 3. 396 the first of several marks by which Helen recognizes Aphrodite is the beauty of her neck. ‘Avertens’ v. 104 above. ‘Refulsit’ probably expresses the sudden burst of splendour. Comp. v. 588 below, 2. 590, Hor. 1 Od. 12. 27, and Pers. Prol. 12.
[403] Divinum odorem. Comp. θεῖον ὀδμῆς πνεῦμα Eur. Hipp. 1391, and Ov. F. 5. 375, “tenuis secessit (dea) in auras; Mansit odor; posses scire fuisse deam.” ‘Fragrance such as the gods diffuse.’ Otherwise we might have expected ‘divino vertice,’ as the passage is evidently imitated from Il. 1. 529, Ἀμβρόσιαι δ᾽ ἄρα χαῖται ἐπερρώσαντο ἄνακτος Κρατὸς ἀπ᾽ ἀθανάτοιο.
[404] Her short hunting tunic (“nuda genu” v. 320) changed into the flowing robe (“palla”) characteristic of a god or goddess. Comp. Tibull. 3. 4. 35 (of Apollo), “Ima videbatur talis illudere palla,” Prop. 4. 17. 32 (of Bacchus), “Et feries nudos veste fluente pedes,” &c.
[405] Incessu. Comp. v. 46, “quae divom incedo regina,” and 5. 647.
[407] Quoque, as Forb. says, is to be taken with ‘crudelis,’ not with ‘ludis.’ Comp. E. 8. 50. ‘Totiens:’ Venus has only appeared once before to Aeneas, and then in her proper person, 2. 589. The expression must therefore refer to the feeling that he has been generally mocked and baffled. ‘Falsis imaginibus’ may be equivalent to “fallendo imagines,” by assuming shapes not your own, by counterfeiting shapes, as in v. 683, though the contrast would still be intended with ‘verae voces.’
[408] Ulysses (Od. 11. 211, which Virg. evidently had in his mind) wishes to embrace his mother, φίλας περὶ χεῖρε βαλόντε. But Andromache (Il. 6. 206) presses Hector's hand.
[409] Veras, without disguise on the one part or mistake on the other. The line is imitated from Catull. 62 (64). 166, “Nec missas audire queunt nec reddere voces.”
[411] Aer is here used in the sense of the Homeric ἀὴρ, ‘mist,’ which sense however Virg. could only determine by the addition of the epithet ‘obscuro.’ See on 5. 20, “in nubem cogitur aer.” This and the three following lines are an imitation of Od. 7. 14—17. See also Apoll. R. 3. 210 foll.
[412] Nebulae amictu: from Il. 15. 308, εἱμένος ὤμοιιν νεφέλην, imitated by Hor. 1 Od. 2. 31, “Nube candentis humeros amictus.” There is a tmesis in ‘circum fudit,’ as ‘fudit’ alone would have required “multum amictum.” ‘Dea’ is added rhetorically, expressing the divine power exerted in the action of the line. So exactly vv. 691, 692 below. Comp. also vv. 195, 196 above. The use of the word here may very possibly have been suggested to Virg. by Il. 3. 380 foll., τὸν δ᾽ ἐξήρπαξ᾽ Ἀφροδίτη Ῥεῖα μάλ᾽, ὥστε θεός: ἐκάλυψε δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἠέρι πολλῇ.
[414] The sense of ‘moliri moram’ may be either to plan or compass delay (“Insidias avibus moliri” G. 1. 270) or to create an obstacle (“moles”). Comp. generally 6. 488, from which the Longobardic and a few other MSS. read ‘discere’ here.
[415] Sublimis, through the air. “Sublimis abit” occurs Livy 1. 16, of the ascent of Romulus, Id. ib. 34, of the eagle that took off Tarquin's cap. Virg. was thinking of Od. 6. 41, as well as of the passage quoted on the next line.
[416] Laeta probably to be contrasted with “tristior” v. 228. Heyne and Wagn. take it as having reference to her love for Paphos. Serv. suggests that ‘laeta’ is the fixed epithet of Venus; and φιλομμειδὴς actually occurs in the passage quoted immediately below, from which this is verbally imitated. Virg. however cannot have meant ‘laeta’ for a fixed epithet, though it is possible that he may have mistaken the character of the fixed epithet, and supposed that it was meant to have a special reference to the context, like some of the critics on Homer. Henry (Class. Mus.) once thought it more poetical to make ‘calent’ the verb to ‘templum’ as well as ‘arae’ than to understand ‘est’ with ‘templum.’ But the words are clearly imitated from Od. 8. 362, Ἡ δ᾽ ἄρα Κύπρον ἵκανε φιλομμειδὴς Ἀφροδίτη Ἐς ΙΙάφον: ἔνθα δέ οἱ τέμενος, βωμός τε θυήεις, where θυήεις answers to ‘calent’ and ‘halant’ here. How Virg. came to develope the single altar of Hom. into a hundred does not appear: probably it arose from his turn for amplifying, as in G. 3. 18, A. 4. 199. The commentators observe that sacrifices of blood were not offered to Venus, citing Tac. H. 2. 3 (in Catull. 64 (66). 90 foll. the reading and interpretation are doubtful). Horace however, 1 Od. 19. 16, and 4 Od. 11. 7, refers to a different practice. ‘Sertis,’ festoons.
[418-440] ‘As they enter the city, they see the Carthaginians building, as busy as bees in spring.’
