Atque iterum ad Trojam magnus mittetur Achilles, and a great Achilles fhall again be fent to Troy. and, "lus auro:" Molli mater quam neverat auro. of which fort are mollia juffa, in the " Accipit, et molli fubnectit circu→ third Georgick, and ninth Aeneid; and mollia fatu, in the twelfth. In the eleventh, we find the ftings, and irritations of the mind 'twice expreffed by ftimulis haud mollibus. Mollis is alfo frequently applied to any thing, that is bending and pliable, as Molle filer in the fecond Georgick; alfo for any fort of bafket-work; as in the third Eclogue; Thus the acanthus is called mollis in the third Eclogue, becaufe of it's In the third Georgick it fignifies the tender bending of the legs of a young colt; "Pecoris generofi pullus in "arvis "Altius ingreditur, et mollia crurd "reponit." Hence it is transferred to fignify bowed, or bent to obedience; as in the third Georgick; "Belgica vel melius molli feret effe "da collo :" eafy bending; and in the fourth and in the eleventh Aeneid; Georgick we find when he had faid but a few lines Thus alfo in the eighth Aeneid it is before, applied figuratively to the waters of a river, to exprefs the fubjection of the nations, that dwell on it's banks; 66 Euphrates ibat jam mollior "undis." Laftly it is ufed for the eafy defcent of a hill, in the ninth Eclogue; But when full age shall bave Hinc, ubi jam firmata virum te fecerit aetas, made thee a man, NOTES. Molli devertitur orbita "clivo." These, I think, are all the places, where Virgil has ufed the adjective mollis, and there does not feem to be one, where it can be interpreted either ripe or fertile. We must therefore feek for fome other interpretation of molli arifta. It has been obferved, in the note on ver. 219. of the firft Georgick, that the triticum or wheat of the Ancients was bearded, and a paffage from Cicero was there produced, wherein the beard of wheat is defcribed as a prickly fence, to defend the ear from the injuries of birds. Therefore we may understand the mean→ ing of the paffage under confideration to be, that the corn fhall no longer ftand in need of this fortification, this pallifade, this vallum ariftarum, as Cicero calls it, to defend it from injuries; but fhall fpring up fpontaneoufly, and grow ripe with foft, and tender beards. 29. Rubens.] This epithet is ufed to exprefs the ripening of the grapes, as flavefcens was for that of the corn. Pendebit.] La Cerda obferves, that this word properly describes the vineyards in Italy, where the vines run up on high trees, and fo the clufters hang down..? Sentibus.] I take fentes not to mean any particular species of plant; but to be a general word for all wild, 66 66 thorny plants. Thus Ifaiah, chap. lv. 13. " Inftead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree; and instead "of the brier fhall come up the "myrtle-tree." Uva.] It has been obferved, in the note on ver. 60. of the fecond Georgick, that uva does not fignify a fingle grape, but the whole cluster: 30. Et durae quercus, &c.] Ho ney is faid to have dropped from trees, in the golden age. See the note on ver. 131. of the firft Georgick. 31. Pauca tamen fuberunt, &c.] The reftoration of the golden age is not to be perfect, till this child is grown to full manhood. It has been faid already, at the latter end of the note on ver. 13. that this Eclogue was written at the time of the reconciliation between Auguftus and Anthony, and that it is to this reconciliation that the Poet afcribes all the bleffings of peace, which were expected at that time. But the fon of the great Pompey was ftill in fome measure mafter of the fea, and an enemy to both the Triumvirs. Therefore the great work of peace was not wholly perfected; though the Poet hoped to fee it foon established, by the authority and wisdom of the Conful; as he faid a few lines above; "Te duce fi qua manent fceleris "veftigia noftri, "Irrita perpetua folvent formidine Cedet et ipfe mari vector : nec nautica pinus the mariner bimself shall with draw from the fea: nor shall the naval pine NOTES. Prifcae fraudis.] I take thefe words to mean the fame with fceleris noftri, in one of the verfes juft quoted. 32. Tentare Thetin ratibus.] The tis was faid to be the daughter of Nereus and Doris. She was married to Peleus, the fon of Aeacus, by whom she had Achilles. Thetis is certainly used here for the fea itfelf. I have taken the liberty to make use of a scripture expreffion, in tranflating these words, which I thought might be warranted in a Poem, allowed to contain fo many allufions to facred prophecies. 33. Telluri infindere fulcos.] "In "the Roman manufcript, it is tel"lurem infindere fulco: in the Oblong Vatican, fulcis. The Lombard, Medicean, and fome others "follow the common reading." PIERIUS. 34. Alter erit tum Tiphys.] "When Pelias had received an an"fwer from Apollo, that he should "be deprived of his kingdom and "life, by one who came to facri"fice with one foot naked; it hap"pened foon after, that as Jafon "was coming to facrifice, he met "Juno, in the form of an old wo66 man, who pretended not to be "able to get over the ford of a ri66 ver, upon which he carried her, "and loft one of his fhoes in the "mud. Pelias therefore appre"hending him to be the dangerous perfon, fent him to Colchis, to fetch the golden fleece of the ram, that had tranfported Phrixus 66 66 and Helle. Jafon, in obedience to this command, built the thip "Argo, affembled the youth of "Greece, to accompany him in his expedition, and had Tiphys "for his pilot." SERVIUS. Argo.] The Argo was the firft long fhip, with fails, built by the Greeks. Before that time they had ufed only round veffels of burden, and always kept within fight of the fhore; but now they were to launch farther, and to guide their fhips by the ftars. The etymologifts are greatly divided about the derivation of the name of this fhip. The more general opinion, and perhaps the beft, is that it was fo called from the mafter-builder of it, Argus the fon of Danaus.. This Danaus was the brother of Aegyptus, who was probably the fame with Sefac or Sefoftris, king of Egypt, and fled from that country, in a long fhip, after the pattern of which the Argo was built. Others, among whom Cicero feems to have been, think it was fo called, because the Argives failed in it. A third opinion is, that it's name is derived from apyès fwift; but that word fignifies alfo, and perhaps more properly, flow; whence that joke of Martial on flow failors; "At vos tam placidas vagi per un"das, "Tuta luditis otium carina, "Non nautas puto vos, fed Argo "nautas. exchange merchandizes: euery Mutabit merces: omnis feret omnia tellus. land fhall bear every thing.. NOTES. A fourth opinion is, that it had it's name from Argus, the fon of Phryxus. Others again derive it from the Hebrew word as ereg, which fignifies weaving, or texture, to which purpose Catullus is quoted, who fpeaking of the building of this very fhip, uses the following expreffion; : fignifies fpeaking; but when a noun, a pip, which is governed. From this homonymy, fays he, the fable arofe, that the fhip itself, or fome timber in it was vocal, by which timber we are to understand the rudder, which does not speak, but governs the fhip. 35. Delectos heroas.] Thefe chofen heroes are the Argonauts, fo Pinea conjungens inflexae texta called because they failed in the fhip carinae. Argo. They accompanied Jafon, the golden fleece: they were the in his expedition to Colchis, to fetch flower of all Greece, and were fiftythe flower of failors, and Theocrigil calls them chofen heroes. Sir Ifaac tus the flower of heroes: hence VirNewton proves, by many good arabout forty-three years after the guments, that this expedition was death of Solomon, three hundred years later than the time fettled by the Greek Chronologers. two in number. Pindar calls them Several other authorities might eafily be produced, to prove that texo, and it's derivatives, are applied to the building of fhips, Laftly Bochart, having spoken of the gauli, a fort of round veffels, fays he is of opinion, that the Phoenicians oppofed, to thofe round fhips the TDP naves arca or arco, as the Syrians pronounce it, that is, fhips of length, or, which is the fame thing, long hips. Hence the firft long fhip built by the Greeks was called Argo, by changing into g: thus they change Caius to Falos, and Cnaeus to Faios. The reader will choofe which of thefe derivations, he likes beft, for my own part, I fhould" in Afia by Anthony. The conprefer either the firit or the laft. No Erunt etiam altera bella.] thing is more juft, than the pro"phecy of Virgil. A bloody war at laft reduced Sextus Pompey to quit Sicily, and to meet his death juncture of affairs, the prepara Bochart alfo gives a probable explations made by Octavian; and nation of the fiction, that the Argo above all, the difpofition of men's diction of the Poet." CATROU. 36. Atque iterum ad Trojam, &c.] The story of the fiege of Troy, and was endued with a power of fpeak-minds gave room for the pre ing, from fome of the timber of the Dodonean grove being put into the fhip by Pallas, He obferves, that the Hebrew word 7 fignifies both the valour of Achilles, are too well to speak and to govern. Hence known, to need any comment in dobera, when ufed as a participle, this place. But I cannot pass by in filence Non raftros patietur humus, non vinea falcem: 40 The ground fhall not endure the barrows, nor the vineyard the pruning-book: NOTES... filence an obfervation of the learned La Cerda, concerning a miftake of Cicero, and Euftathius. The former in one of his epiftles fays, that Homer did not beftow the epithet loximopos the taker of cities either Πολίπορθος on Ajax or Achilles, but on Ulyffes: the latter in his commentary on the fecond Iliad, fays, that Homer calls Ulyffes woopes, who took only the city Troy, because it was the head of the war: but he calls Achilles by that only once, though he had taken feveral cities. La Cerda accufes them both of forgetfulness. He allows indeed, that Ulyffes is often called loopos, and points out eight places, two in the Iliads and fix in the Odyffeys: but at the fame time he refers us to three places in the Iliads, where the fame epithet is given to Achilles. The first is in the eighth Iliad, where Minerva tells Juno, that Jupiter was prevailed upon by Thetis, to favour Achilles; Εννήμαρ δὴ νεῖκος ἐν ἀθανάτοισι ρωρεν "Εκτορος ἀμφὶ νέκυϊ και Αχιλλεί πλο λιπόρθω. To conclude the notes on this paragraph, it may be obferved, that Virgil cannot be fuppofed to mean, that the Argonauts, and heroes that warred at Troy will return again; but that other eminent mariners will arife, other famous veffels, other wars, and other great commanders. At the time of writing this Eclogue, notwithstanding the happy peace juft compofed between Auguftus and Anthony, great preparations were making against Sextus Pompey, who had acquired fuch fame in naval exploits, that the people did not fcruple to call him another Neptune. Befides he prefently after grew fo formidable, that the Triumvirs were compelled to make peace with him. 37. Hinc ubi jam firmata, &c.] The Poet having spoken of the defects that fhall remain during the childhood and youth of the expected Λισσομένη τιμῆσαι Αχιλλήα πολί- infant, now comes to fpeak of the πορθόν. The fame words are repeated near the beginning of the fifteenth Iliad, when Jupiter relates to Juno the interceffion of Thetis for her fon. The third place is in the twentyfourth Iliad, where Jupiter tells Thetis, that the gods had difputed nine days about Achilles and the body of Hector': fullness of bleffings, that fhall attend the completion of the golden age, when he shall have attained to the full ftate of manhood. Lucretius has an expreffion like this, in his third book; "Inde ubi robuftis adolevit viribus ❝ aetas." |