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Praeterea duo nec tuta mihi valle reperti

NOTES.

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40

Befides I have to kids, which I found in a dangerous valley;

νὰ τῶν ὀκτώ θεῶν λογιζονται εἶναι οἱ Μενδήσιοι· τοὺς δὲ ὀκτὼ θεοὺς τούτους προτέρους τῶν δυώδεκα θεῶν φασὶ γε νέσθαι· γράφουσι δὲ δὴ καὶ γλύφουσε οἱ ζωγράφοι καὶ δι αγαλματοποιοί, τοῦ Πανὸς, κατάπερ Ἕλληνες, της γαλμα αιγοπρόσωπον καὶ τραγοσα κελέα· ὄντι τοιοῦτον νομίζοντες εἶναι μιν, ἀλλ' ὅμοιον τοῖσι ἄλλοισι θεοίσι ὅτεν δὲ ἔινεκα τοιοῦτον γράφουσι αὐτὸν, οὔ μοι ἔδειον ἐστὶ λέγειν· σέβονται δὲ πάντας τοὺς ἄιγας οι Μενδήσιοι, καὶ μᾶλλον τοὺς ἔρσενας τῶν θηλεῶν καὶ τούτων οἱ ἀιπόλοι τιμὰς μέζονας ἔχου σι· ἐκ δὲ τούτων εἷς μάλιστα, ὅστις ἐπεὼν ἀποθάνη, πένθος μέγα παντὶ τῷ Μενδησίων νομῷ τίθεται καλέεται δὲ ὅ τε τράγος καὶ ὁ Παν Αἰγυπτιστι Μένδης· ἐγένετο δ' ἐν τῷ νομῷ τούτῳ ἐπ ̓ ἐμεῦ τοῦτο τό τερας γυναικὶ προ γος ἐμίσγετο ἀναφανδόν· ὅντο ἐς ἐπιι δείξιν ἀνθρώπων ἀπίκετο. In the fame book he tells us, that the Greeks thought Pan to be the son of Penelope by Mercury; Πανὶ δὲ τῷ ἐκ Πηνε λόπης, ἐκ ταύτης γὰρ καὶ Ἕρμεω λές γεται γενέσθαι ὑπὸ Ελλήνων ὁ Πανο This indeed is not greatly to the ho nour of that lady, fo famous for her chaftity: much lefs is that, which has been related by fome writers of a later date, that he was called Παν, becaufe he was the fon of Penelope by all her woers. Bochart will have his name to be derived from the Hebrew Drpan or 115 pun, which fig nifes a great aforifment, becaufe

fuch

their fkins are spotted with Capreoli, fparfis etiam nunc pellibus albo,

white a

NOTES:

puellae."

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fuch terrors are called panick. The " Inter fe junctis nomen tenuiffe fame learned writer obferves alfo that 11D is by fome pronounced phun ž whence Faunus is another name for the fame deity.

32. Pan primus calamos, &c.] Thus he is mentioned by Bion, as the inventor of the fhepherd's pipe ;

Ως ἔυρε πλαγίαυλον ὁ Παν.

The fable of Pan being in love with the nymph Syrinx, who fled from him till the came to a river that ftopt her flight, where he was turned into reeds, is related in the firft book of Ovid's Metamorphofes. This Poet tells us, that Pan grafping his arms full of reeds inftead of the nymph, ftood fighing by the river fide; where obferving the reeds, as they were moved by the wind to make an agreeable found, he cut fome of them, and joining them together with wax, formed a Thepherd's pipe:

* Panaque cum prenfam fibi jam σε Syringa putaret, « Corpore pro Nymphae calamos ...tenuiffe paluftres. "Dumque ibi fufpirat,

motos in

❝ arundine ventos "Effeciffe fonum tenuem, fimilem" que querenti: "Arte nova, vocifque Deum dul

"cedine captum, "Hoc mihi concilium tecum, dix

iffe, manebit.

"Atque ita difparibus calamis com"pagine cerae

35. Quid non faciebat Amyntas.] Here again Catrou will have Amyntas to be one of Virgil's fuppofed fcholars, Cebes, and that he here ftirs up Alexander, or Alexis, to emulate the ardour of Cebes in his poetical ftudies.

36. Eft mihi difparibus, &c.] Having reprefented the excellence of mufick, the fhepherd now endeavours to allure Alexis, by fetting forth the great value of the pipe which he poffeffed, and by a prefent of two beautiful kids.

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The fhepherd's pipe was compofed of feven reeds, unequal in length, and of different tones, joined together with wax. The figure of it is to be feen in feveral monuments of antiquity. Theocritus indeed mentions a pipe of nine reeds;

Σύριγγ ̓ ἂν ἐποίησα καλὰν ἐγὼ ἐν

νεάφωνον, Λευκὸν καρὸν ἔχουσαν, ἴσον κάτω, ἴσον ἄνωθεν :

but feven was the ufual number.

Cicutis. Cicuta is commonly thought to be hemlock. It is not to be fuppofed, that they ever made their pipes of hemlock, which is very offenfive. It is probably used for any hollow ftalk in general. Servius fays it means the space between two joints of a reed; "Cicuta aud

Bina die ficcant ovis ubera: quos tibi fervo."

NOTES.

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they drain the tivo dugs of a fkeep every day.

" tem eft fpatium, quod eft inter" which he fings. Thus Cebes encannarum nodos."

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37. Damoetas.] Catrou is of opinion, that Virgil, under the name of Damoetas, means the Poet Lucretius, who was the reformer of the hexameter verfe. This flute, fays he, is a legacy, which Virgil had left him by Lucretius, who died the very day that Virgil put on his manly gown; that is, about the time when our author began his moft early poems. But Lucretius was not a writer of Bucolicks; and it cannot be supposed, that Virgil, at the age of fixteen or feventeen years, could be thought of confequence enough to be a fucceffor to a Poet of fo eftablished a reputation as Lucretius.

39. Invidit ftultus Amyntas.] Ser vius, as he is quoted by Mafvicius, fays, that one Cornificius, who pretended to write against Virgil, is meant here: " Amyntam Corni❝ficium vult intelligere, quia co"natus eft contra Virgilium fcri"bere, vel, ideo ftultus, quia in"vidit." But Burman obferves, that this note is not to be found in any of the manufcripts or printed editions of that Commentator.

"Virgil intends hereby, Says "Catrou, to make Alexander un"derstand the progrefs that Cebes "had made in poetry. He was come to fuch a height, as even, to envy his mafter the first glory "in verfification. The works of "a Poet are represented under the "fymbol of the inftrument, to

"vies Virgil the flute which he had "received from Lucretius; that is, "the glory of hexameter verse." Thus, according to this learned Critick, Virgil, who had taken. Cebes to inftruct, and had fucceeded fo well therein, as to make him a good Poet, calls him a fool for emulating his mafter; notwithstanding that four or five lines before he had propofed him to Alexander, as worthy of his imitation. Befides, it is plain, that Damoetas. bequeathed his pipe to Corydon with his dying breath, and that Amyntas envied him the legacy at that very time;

I

"Et dixit moriens: te nunc habet ... ifta fecundum : "Dixit Damoetas: invidit ftultus ! "Amyntas."

Therefore Cebes must have been prefent, when Lucretius bequeathed his poëtical genius to Virgil, and have envied him for it. Now is it poffible for any one to suppose, that Virgil, at the age of feventeen, could be thought fecond to Lucretius, or that he had then inftructed a youth fo well in poetry, that he fhould think of being his rival?

40. Praeterea duo, &c.] Thus the Cyclops, in the thirteenth book of Ovid's Metamorphofis ;

"Inveni geminos, qui tecum lus "dere poffint, "Inter fe fimiles, vix ut dignofcere poffis, E • Villofae

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their skins are spotted with Capreoli, fparfis etiam nunc pellibus albo,

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NOTES.

fuch terrors are called panick. The fame learned writer obferves also that 115 is by fome pronounced phun ž whence Faunus is another name for the fame deity.

32. Pan primus calamos, &c.] Thus he is mentioned by Bion, as the inventor of the fhepherd's pipe; Ως έυρε πλαγίαυλον ὁ Παν.

The fable of Pan being in love with the nymph Syrinx, who fled from him till the came to a river that ftopt her flight, where he was turned into reeds, is related in the firft book of Ovid's Metamorphofes. This Poet tells us, that Pan grafping his arms full of reeds inftead of the nymph, food fighing by the river fide; where obferving the reeds, as they were moved by the wind to make an agreeable found, he cut fome of them, and joining them together with wax, formed a Thepherd's pipe:

* Panaque cum prenfam fibi jam Syringa putaret,

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• Corpore pro Nymphae calamos

"tenuiffe paluftres. "Dumque ibi fufpirat, motos in arundine ventos "Effeciffe fonum tenuem, fimilemque querenti: "Arte nova, vocifque Deum dul

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"cedine captum, "Hoc mihi concilium tecum, dix

"iffe, manebit.

"Atque ita difparibus calamis com"pagine cerae

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35. Quid non faciebat Amyntas.] Here again Catrou will have Amyntas to be one of Virgil's fuppofed fcholars, Cebes, and that he here ftirs up Alexander, or Alexis, to emulate the ardour of Cebes in his poetical studies.

36. Eft mihi difparibus, &c. Having reprefented the excellence of mufick, the fhepherd now endeavours to allure Alexis, by fetting forth the great value of the pipe which he poffeffed, and by a prefent of two beautiful kids.

The fhepherd's pipe was compofed of feven reeds, unequal in length, and of different tones, joined together with wax. The figure of it is to be seen in feveral monuments of antiquity. Theocritus indeed mentions a pipe of nine reeds;

Σύριγγ ̓ ἂν ἐποίησα, καλὰν ἐγὼ ἐν

νεάφωνον, Λευκὸν καρὸν ἔχουσαν, ἴσον κάτω, ἴσον ἄνωθεν :

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Bina die ficcant ovis ubera: quos tibi fervo.

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NOTES.

* tem eft fpatium, quod eft inter cannarum nodos.' 37. Damoetas.] Catrou is of opinion, that Virgil, under the name of Damoetas, means the Poet Lucretius, who was the reformer of the hexameter verfe. This flute, fays he, is a legacy, which Virgil had left him by Lucretius, who died the very day that Virgil put on his manly gown; that is, about the time when our author began his moft early poems. But Lucretius was not a writer of Bucolicks; and it cannot be fuppofed, that Virgil, at the age of fixteen or feventeen years, could be thought of confequence enough to be a fucceffor to a Poet of fo established a reputation as Lucretius.

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they drain the tivo dug's of a Sheep every day.

"which he fings. Thus Cebes en"vies Virgil the flute which he had " received from Lucretius; that is, "the glory of hexameter verfe." Thus, according to this learned Critick, Virgil, who had taken Cebes to inftruct, and had fucceeded fo well therein, as to make him a good Poet, calls him a fool for emulating his master; notwithstanding that four or five lines before he had propofed him to Alexander, as worthy of his imitation. Befides, it is plain, that Damoetas. bequeathed his pipe to Corydon with his dying breath, and that Amyntas envied him the legacy at that very time;

"Et dixit moriens: te nunc habet Nifta fecundum : "Dixit Damoetas: invidit ftultus " Amyntas.".

Therefore Cebes must have been prefent, when Lucretius bequeathed his poetical genius to Virgil, and have envied him for it. Now is it poffible for any one to suppose, that Virgil, at the age of feventeen, could be thought fecond to Lucretius, or that he had then inftructed a youth fo well in poetry, that he should think of being his rival?

40. Praeterea duo, &c.] Thus the Cyclops, in the thirteenth book of Ovid's Metamorphofis ;

"Inveni geminos, qui tecum lu "dere poffint, "Inter fe fimiles, vix ut dignofcere

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