addressed to the frater Megyllae, who at first hesitates to answer the

query.

14. quae

in this word.

cumque: the tmesis, as in i. 6. 3, and frequently domat: masters. Venus: passion, attachment;

cf. Virg. Buc. 3. 68, parta meae Veneri sunt munera.

15. non erubescendis: note the emphasis resting upon these words, as shown by their position at the beginning of the clause; non is to be closely joined in thought with erubescendis, — litotes. rit: sc. te.

16. ingenuo: worthy.

adu

17. quicquid habes: whatever wound you have; habere is here figuratively used in the technical gladiatorial sense of habere volnus. age: come!

:

18. A the interjection; the words A miser follow the confidential communication of the sweetheart's name. tutis trusty.

21. saga, magus, deus: note the climax. solvere: viz. from thy infatuation. Thessalis venenis: potions brewed from certain Thessalian herbs were thought by the superstitious to be possessed of magic properties. The phrase applies only to saga and magus, not, of course, to deus.

23. triformi Chimaera : to be taken both with inligatum (as ablative of association) and with expediet; an instance of the construction known as ἀπὸ κοινοῦ. The Chimaera (from Greek xiμaipa, 'goat') was a fabulous monster with the body of a goat, the head of a lion, and the tail of a serpent; inligatum, therefore, applies to the coils of the chimaera's tail.

24. Pegasus: the winged horse, Pegasus, destroyed the Chimaera by its hoofs.

...

ODE XXVIII., 1.

1. maris mensorem, Archyta: Archytas of Tarentum, a friend and contemporary of Plato, was a famous Pythagorean philosopher who flourished about 400 B.C. He was eminent as a geometer and astronomer, also in the fields of war and statesmanship. numero carentis harenae: the countless sand; Archytas was apparently reputed to have made some attempt to estimate the grains of sand in the universe.

2. cohibent: confines. Notice the spondaic ending of the verse. 3. pulveris exigui parva munera : a slight tribute of scanty earth; pulveris is epexegetical (appositional) genitive, and seems to be

used in the sense of tumulus; munera is the poetic plural. The point of the observation is that Archytas, once so renowned, is now confined within the narrow limits of the grave. litus Matinum: the exact locality is not known; it was probably near Tarentum, Archytas's home.

5. temptasse: to have explored. gods.

domos: i.e. abodes of the

6. polum: polus (properly the pole of the axis of the heavens) is often used figuratively for the heaven itself. morituro: causal, and made emphatic by position, since thou wast destined to die; it agrees with tibi.

7. et also. Pelopis genitor: Tantalus. conviva deorum: with adversative force (like the following remotus in auras, arcanis admissus), though admitted to the table of the gods.

8. Tithonus: son of Laomedon. The legend concerning him takes two forms. According to the account here followed, Tithonus, in answer to the prayers of Aurora, who loved him, was translated to the skies (remotus in auras), but was not made immortal. According to the more usual account, he was made immortal, but as Aurora failed to ask the gods to confer upon him the boon of perpetual youth, he shrivelled away and finally changed into a grasshopper. Horace follows this latter form of the story in ii. 16. 30, longa Tithonum minuit senectus.

9. Minos: king of Crete. The laws which he gave his countrymen are said to have been suggested by Jove.

10. Tartara: here in the general sense of the entire lower world, not in the narrower sense of the place of torment of the wicked. Panthoiden: son of Panthous, viz. Euphorbus, a Trojan hero, who slew Patroclus. He himself fell by the hand of Menelaus, who hung up his shield on the temple wall at Argos. Pythagoras (flourished 540 B.C.), the great apostle of the doctrine of metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls, maintained that he himself, in a previous state of existence, had been this same Euphorbus, and in proof of his assertion, he is said to have entered the Argive temple and to have identified Euphorbus's shield. iterum Orco demissum: the first time had been when Euphorbus died; the second time was when Pythagoras himself died; he is said to have been slain at Crotona, as the result of some political uprising. Orco here ad Orcum; cf. i. 24. 18, nigro gregi.

=

11. quamvis concesserat: quamvis with the indicative first

appears (with certainty) in the Augustan poets, Horace and Virgil; later it became common in prose. clipeo refixo: by taking down the shield.

12. ultra = = praeter.

14. iudice te: as a Pythagorean, Archytas naturally reverenced the founder of the school. non sordidus: i.e. an eminent.

auctor authority.

15. naturae: in the sense of the universe.' una nox: euphemistic for mors.

16. semel: i.e. once for all.

17. alios: some; the correlative aliis is supplanted by nautis; cf. i. 7. 1 f., Laudabunt alii . . . ; sunt quibus unum opus est. spectacula: predicatively, as a spectacle; their death is a welcome sight to the war-god.

19. mixta: without distinction; the emphasis of the clause rests upon this word. densentur: lit. are crowded together, i.e. follow each other swiftly; denseo is poetic; denso, -are, is the commoner form. 20. saeva fugit: we expect rather saevam caput Proserpinam fugit; the idea is essentially the same; fugit is the so-called gnomic' perfect, used to express general truths. The allusion is to the traditional lock of hair said to be taken by Proserpina from the head of each person who died; cf. Virg. Aen. iv. 698, nondum illi (Dido) flavom Proserpina vertice crinem abstulerat Stygioque caput damnaverat Orco.

ODE XXVIII., 2.

1. Me quoque i.e. me as well as many another. This opening of the ode is somewhat abrupt, but is thoroughly consistent with what follows. devexi: according to the Elder Pliny, the setting of Orion occurred in November, the beginning of the stormy season. comes Orionis: in apposition with Notus. On a wind as the companion of winter, cf. i. 25. 19, Hiemis sodali Euro. Note the spondaic ending of the verse.

2. Illyricis: i.e. of the Illyrian Sea, that part of the Adriatic which borders on southern Italy.

3. nauta: some passing mariner. vagae malignus harenae : vaga harena is the shifting sand'; harenae is governed by malignus, which means grudging, withholding; cf. the use of benignus with the genitive in Sat. ii. 3. 3, somni vinique benignus; ne, though belonging properly to parce, goes also with malignus. Translate: do not with

hold the shifting sand and refuse to scatter a little upon my unburied bones and head. parce dare: parco with the infinitive occurs first

in Livy and the Augustan poets.

4. capiti inhumato: notice the striking hiatus. No other instance occurs in the Odes; but in Epodes, 13. 3, we find Threicio Aquilone; inhumato qualifies ossibus, as well as capiti.

5. particulam dare: three handfuls (see line 36) were regarded as sufficient to meet the requirements of formal interment, and to secure rest for the waiting spirit. sic: viz. if you grant my prayer (ne parce, etc.). This use of sic to resume the substance of a previous imperative or jussive subjunctive is common in poetry. quodcumque, fluctibus: quodcumque designates the content of minabitur; fluctibus is indirect object.

6. Venusinae evidently the home of the nauta is Venusia, or its neighborhood.

7. plectantur silvae te sospite: the perspective of the sentence is distorted by Horace's form of expression. Logically the emphasis rests upon te sospite, mayst thou be safe when the Venusian woods are lashed by the gale; i.e. may the storm be confined to the land and not visit the sea. multa: i.e. rich, abundant.

8. unde potest: unde = a quibus, and is explained by ab Iove Neptunoque. aequo propitious; with both Iove and Neptuno.

9. Neptuno, custode: Tarentum, according to the tradition, was founded by Taras, the son of Neptune; hence the god's guardianship. sacri Tarenti: the famous cities of antiquity are often spoken of as sacred; cf. Homer's "Icos iph, and Hor. Odes, iii. 19. 4, sacro sub Ilio.

10. neclegis . . . committere, etc.; thou think'st it a light matter to do a wrong which shall later harm thy guiltless offspring? The shade implies that failure to comply with its petition will entail ruin upon the house of the nauta. Neclegis represents the original spelling of the word, which appears occasionally in the poets, e.g. also in i. 2. 35 ; te is the subject of committere; postmodo modifies nocituram.

11. fors et = fortasse.

12. debita iura: iura is here used of funeral rites (cf. the similar use of justa); hence, literally, due rites, i.e. the necessity of having similar rites of interment paid to you; i.e. you may die and lie unburied like me. vices superbae: vices means retribution; superbae adds the notion of a retribution consisting in the exercise of disdain (superbia) toward the nauta on the part of the one to whom he appeals; hence, a retribution of (like) disdain.

13. maneant: may await; an instance of the extremely rare maypotential; ordinarily this use of the subjunctive is confined to expressions of the type aliquis dicat, quispiam dixerit. non linquar:

Sc. a te.

15. non est mora longa: i.e. for scattering the three handfuls of earth. licebit curras: may continue on your voyage; by the poets

curro is often used of the mariner's course.

ODE XXIX.

1. Icci: evidently an intimate friend of the poet, though very little is known of him. He is also addressed by Horace in a letter (Epist. i. 12). nunc: i.e. in striking contrast with the recent past. beatis Arabum gazis: by hypallage for gazis beatorum Arabum; beatus dives, as in i. 4. 14. The wealth of the Arabians was proverbial; cf. also iii. 24. 1, intactis thesauris Arabum. Note the poetic plural in gazis.

=

3. Sabaeae: Sabaea was a district in southern Arabia ('Arabia Felix') famous for the production of incense and spices. A prosperous trade in these articles for centuries had greatly enriched its inhabitants; cf. Milton, Paradise Lost, iv. 162,

Sabaean odours from the spicy shore

Of Araby the bless'd.

4. Medo: i.e. the Parthian; see note on i. 2. 51. The expedition as planned was to be conducted only against the Arabians. In case this should be successful, possibly an attack upon the Parthians was also meditated.

5. quae virginum barbara: what barbarian maiden ? 6. sponso necato: her lover slain, i.e. by thee.

7. puer ex aula: lit. boy from the palace, and so page; aula = aula regia.

8. cyathum: the cyathus was a ladle used in mixing wine with water and also in transferring the mixture to drinking cups; hence ad cyathum statuetur shall be thy cup-bearer? unctis = perfumed.

9. sagittas tendere: a bold expression, since tendere, 'stretch,' applies properly only to the bow; cf. Virg. Aen. v. 508, telumque tetendit. Sericas: Seres, Sericus, are applied loosely to the peoples of the far East; cf. i. 12. 56.