[506] Pelago on or along the sea, as in 2. 179. ‘Ceraunia’ G. 1. 332. ‘Vicina:’ near to Buthrotum, though it might be referred to ‘iuxta,’ near to us.
[507] Wund. rightly removes the comma after ‘Italiam,’ so as to make the whole line a single proposition. ‘Undis’ by or along the water, qualifying ‘iter’ and ‘cursus,’ one of those constructions which are more usually found with verbs than with substantives. With the former part of the verse Forb. comp. 6. 542, “Hac iter Elysium nobis.”
[508] Imitated from Od. 3. 487, Δύσετό τ᾽ ἠέλιος, σκιόωντό τε πᾶσαι ἀγυιαί. ‘Opaci,’ as Forb. remarks, belongs closely to ‘umbrantur.’
[509] Ἦμος δ᾽ ἠέλιος κατέδυ, καὶ ἐπὶ κνέφας ἦλθεν, Δὴ τότε κοιμήθημεν ἐπὶ ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης, Od. 9. 168. ‘Optatae’ may be put down as one of Virg.'s pieces of indirect narrative, suggesting the notion of hard labour during the day. But it may conceivably refer to the choice of ground for a bivouac.
[510] Sortiti remos presents a difficulty. The custom of dividing the rowingbenches among the crews by lot is mentioned by Apoll. R. 1. 395 foll. (comp. Prop. 4. 21. 12. “Remorumque pares ducite sorte vices,” and Paley's note); but it is not easy to see why Virg. should make this take place on their disembarking at night, not on their starting upon their voyage. On the other hand, the various ways of avoiding the difficulty that have been proposed fail to commend themselves. ‘Sortiti remos’ would be a harsh expression for ‘casting lots who was to remain on board,’ even if it were established that such was the custom, while Henry's notion that they cast lots for the oars, to be used as tent-poles, introduces a detail for which no authority is quoted but a passage in Rutilius Numatianus (Itin. 1. 345 foll.), and which consequently we should have expected to be mentioned in full, if Virg. really intended it, not briefly indicated. Still more violence would be done to language by accepting Heyne's view, that ‘sortiti remos’ can mean ‘having cast lots for the oars at starting (and rowed hard all day),’ an impropriety of expression as far as possible removed from the real art with which Virg., as was remarked in the last note, frequently implies rather than declares his meaning. ‘Passim’ 2. 364 note.
[511] Corpora curamus G. 4. 187 note. ‘Inrigat:’ A. 1. 692 note.
[512] Night is said to be driven along by the hours, as the parts of time make up the whole. It matters little whether we take the metaphor as it stands or turn it into a regular personification, supposing the Homeric Ὧραι to act as propelling agents (charioteers or horses) of Night's car.
[513] Palinurus rises before midnight, that being the time when the wind was likely to change.
[514] ‘Catches the air with his ears’ is only a poetical way of saying ‘listens for a gale.’
[515] Notat, watches and distinguishes. The notion of distinction is kept np by the enumeration in the following lines. Virg. imitates Od. 5. 272 foll., where Ulysses on his raft sees the Pleiades, Bootes, and the Wain.
[516] Repeated from 1. 744. We need scarcely inquire whether these accusatives belong to ‘notat’ or to ‘circumspicit.’
[517] Armatum auro, χρυσάορα, ‘auro’ referring to the belt and sword. The quantity of ‘Oriona’ is singularly accommodating, the first and third syllables being indifferently long or short, while the second is shortened in the form “Oarion.” Virg. here follows Homer's Ὠρίωνα.
[518] ‘When he sees everything uniform in the clear sky,’ ‘When he sees the clearness of the sky unbroken.’ For this use of ‘constare’ Forb. comp. Livy 39. 34, “Adeo perturbavit ea vox regem, ut non color, non voltus constaret.” In Lucr. 4. 460, which as Heyne remarks, Virg. probably had in his mind, “Et sonitus audire, severa silentia noctis Undique cum constent,” the meaning of the word is not so strongly brought out.
[519] Clarum signum, a blast of the trumpet, not, as Serv. thinks, a lighted torch. So v. 239, “dat signum specula Misenus ab alta Aere cavo.” The passage is imitated by Lucan 10. 399, which Forb. comp., “haud clara movendis, Ut mos, signa dedit castris, nec prodidit arma Ullius clangore tubae.” ‘Castra movemus’ is probably to be understood metaphorically, with Henry, the military image being suggested by the trumpet.
[520] Henry seems right in supposing that the whole verse contains a metaphor from flying, as against Heyne, who understands ‘velorum alas’ of the ends or corners of the sails. ‘Temptare’ of an unknown sea E. 4. 32.
[521-547] ‘As the day dawned, we caught our first view of Italy, and raised a shout of welcome, while my father made a prayer to heaven. We put to shore in a harbour overlooked by a temple of Minerva. Four white horses are seen grazing, an omen which Anchises interprets as significant of both war and peace. We pay our devotions to Pallas and Juno with our heads covered, as Helenus enjoined us.’
