[19] Henry quotes Aristoph. Birds 810 to show that the giving of a name to a new city came first, and the sacrifice to the gods afterwards. ‘Dionaeae’ E. 9. 47. ‘Divisque’ is rightly explained by Wagn. of the rest of the gods, as in the common Greek ejaculation ὦ Ζεῦ καὶ θεοί. For the custom of adding a general to a special invocation see on G. 1. 21.
[20] Auspicibus coeptorum operum is said proleptically, as Gossrau has seen. The gods are sacrificed to that they may be propitious to the work begun. This passage will illustrate the use of “auspicari” of commencing an undertaking. ‘Nitens’ here and in 6. 654 seems, like “nitidus,” to denote sleekness rather than colour, though it might possibly include both.
[21] “It appears from one of the Emperor Julian's Epistles to Libanius (Epist. Mut. Graecan.) that the offering of a ‘nitens taurus’ to Jupiter was regal: ἔθυσα τῷ Διῒ βασιλικῶς ταῦρον λευκόν: with which comp. αὐτὰρ ὁ βοῦν ἱέρευσεν ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγαμέμνων Πίονα, πενταέτηρον, ὑπερμενέϊ Κρονίωνι (Il. 2. 402).” Henry. On the other hand, Macrobius (Sat. 3. 10) says that it was not allowed by the Roman ritual to sacrifice a bull to Jupiter, and that Virg. doubtless intended the informality to mark the inauspiciousness of the undertaking,—a conceivable but searcely likely notion.
[22] The mound is apparently of sand, which had accumulated over the unburied body of Polydorus, if we suppose Virg. to follow the same story as Euripides, who makes Polymestor throw his victim's corpse into the sea. ‘Quo summo’ = “in cuius culmine.”
[23] Cornel and myrtle are both mentioned G. 2. 447 as good for spear-shafts, while there is a further appropriateness in the introduction of myrtle, which “amat litora,” and was besides sacred to Venus. ‘Hastilia’ are merely spear-like wands (G. 2. 358): but the choice of the word prepares us for the portent that follows.
[24] Silva of thick leafy growth, G. 2. 17.
[25] Conatus is better constructed with ‘video’ than taken as a finite verb. The boughs are to wreath or shadow the altars (2. 249 &c.), not for firewood.
[26] The order of the words in this line is varied in some of the inferior MSS.
[27] Burm. and Heyne read ‘arbor’ from some MSS. for the sake of euphony: but see on E. 3. 56.
[28] Atro sanguine liquuntur, drops flow in black blood, a variety for black blood flows in drops. It would be possible, but scarcely worth while to construct ‘atro sanguine’ with ‘guttae.’
[32] Temptare of exploring, 2. 38.
[33] Many MSS., including fragm. Vat., give ‘alter,’ a plausible reading. ‘Ater’ is however more poetical, and has the force of a repetition, “idem ater sanguis” having been already used v. 28. ‘Cortex’ seems to be the skin of the root.
[34] Multa movens animo 10. 890. “‘Nymphas agrestis:’ the Hamadryads, who had the trees under their special protection: see Ov. M. 8. 741 foll., where we have an account of a prodigy similar to that in the text.” Henry.
[35] The first syllable of Gradivus is common in the classical authors: see on 1. 343. For ‘pater’ see on G. 2. 4, and for the confusion of the Getae and the Thracians, G. 4. 463.
[36] Visus is not, as Ladewig thinks, ‘my sight,’ but, as it is usually taken, ‘the portent,’ which Aeneas asks to have made propitious, “secundus.” ‘Omen levarent’ is a parallel expression: the omen was apparently “gravis:” Aeneas asks to have it made “levis.” “Visa secundent” occurs Sil. 8. 124. ‘Rite,’ as Forb. remarks, is used not of formal applications to the gods, but of the regular and, as it were, due blessings which the gods confer. Comp. 10. 254, “tu rite propinques Augurium.”
[37] Charisius (P. 196 P.) quotes the line with ‘tertio,’ which Pierius takes some pains to reconcile to the heroic measure.
[39] Eloquar, an sileam? note on E. 3. 21. “Parenthesis ad miraculum posita, quae magnitudinem monstri ostendit, et bene auditorem attentum vult facere.” Serv. Forc. gives no instance of the active use of ‘lacrimabilis:’ but the analogy of “penetrabilis,” and other verbal adjectives, will warrant our assuming it here, though we might render ‘a piteous moan.’
[40] Some MSS. have ‘ad auras,’ which Peerlkamp prefers.
[41] Iam, at last, after this third effort.
[42] Parce with inf. E. 3. 94. ‘Pias scelerare manus’ is paraphrased by Henry, “Let not your tender and compassionate hands do an act fit only for brutal hands, viz. disturb the grave of a fellow-countryman and relative.” ‘Non me tibi Troia externum tulit’ is explained by Donatus as containing two assertions, ‘I am a Trojan, and allied to you by affinity.’ Others take it as containing only one, ‘I am a Trojan, not an alien,’ which is perhaps to be preferred, as agreeing better with the use of ‘externus’ in Virg., e. g. 7. 68, 98, &c.
[43] Aut is used for “neque,” ‘non’ being taken with both clauses, as in 10. 529, “Non hic victoria Teucrum Cernitur, aut anima una dabit discrimina tanta.” Jahn's interpretation, supplying “externus” to ‘cruor,’ seems better than Heyne's, “this blood flows not from the wood, but from my body.” For ‘aut’ many of the MSS., as usual, read ‘haud,’ which is found in the old editions.
[44] Crudelis terras, like “crudelis aras” 1. 355. ‘Litus avarum’ is an expression of the same kind.
[45] In Hom. Polydorus, Priam's youngest son, is killed by Achilles when he returns to the battle after the death of Patroclus (Il. 20. 407 foll.). Other traditions represented him as entrusted to Polymestor, king of Thrace, who broke the ties of hospitality and practised on his life; but the details of the story differed considerably, Euripides in the Hecuba agreeing in the main with Virg. (see on v. 22), Hyginus (fab. 109, 240) making Polymestor instead kill his own son by mistake, while Dictys (2. 18, 22, 27) speaks of Polymestor giving up Polydorus to the Greeks, who, after in vain endeavouring to exchange him with Helen, stone him to death under the walls of Troy. ‘Ferrea seges’ occurs again 12. 663. Here the image is particularly appropriate, as the spears had taken root, and were growing. Comp. G. 2. 142.
[46] Iaculis increvit acutis: ‘has shot up with (or, as we should say, into) sharp javelins.’ Here as in the former clause Virg. expresses himself as if the spears were the result of the vegetation instead of being that out of which the vegetation grew, an inversion not unnatural in the mouth of Polydorus, who may be supposed to have felt the spear points more keenly as the shafts grew into a wood, and the whole became incorporated with his body. Euripides makes no mention of this portent in his version of the story of Polydorus. We cannot tell whether it is Virg.'s own invention or no. Serv. thinks he had in his mind the story of Romulus' spear, which, when fixed in the Aventine, took root and vegetated.
[47-72] ‘I was horror-struck. Yes, Polydorus had been given in charge to the king of Thrace, who on the overthrow of Troy had murdered him for the sake of the treasure that had been sent with him. I refer the matter to my father and the chief of my comrades, who unanimously pronounce for leaving the country. We pay solemn funeral rites to the murdered youth, and set sail with the next fair wind.’
[47] Ancipiti expresses the doubt of Aeneas whether he ought to remain in the country or leave it, as it is rightly explained by Henry, who remarks also that ‘tum vero’ denotes a further stage of horror than that described in 29, 30.
[48] Repeated from 2. 774.
