Iam legere et quae sit poteris cognoscere virtus: corn, wine, and honey will come unbidden: there will also be the glory of adventure.' 26.] кλéα ávdoшv nowwv, Hom. Il. 9. 524. Parentis' is doubtless the true reading, as well as the best supported: 'parentum' would be a natural correction from such passages as A. 1. 645., 2. 448., 10. 282. The child will read of the glories of its father and the heroes of older time, the subjects of poetry and history, and thus learn to conceive of virtue. 28.] Flavescet arista,' that is, spontaneously, which seems to be expressed by 'paulatim :' there will be no process of sowing, from which the springing of the crop can date, but the field will gradually develop into corn. Comp. Hor. Epod. 16. 43 foll. (of the Islands of the Blest): "Reddit ubi Cererem tellus inarata quotannis, Et imputata floret usque vinea, Germinat et nunquam fallentis termes olivae." 'Molli' may perhaps mean 'waving :' comp. "mollia oscilla," G. 2. 389 (note). 29.] In G. 1. 132 Virg. goes one step further, intimating that in the golden age wine ran in the beds of the rivers. 30.] Roscida,' because it was imagined that the honey fell in the shape of dew, and was gathered by the bees from leaves"aerii mellis coelestia dona," G. 4. 1. On the return of the golden age it will appear in larger quantities, so that men will be able to gather it from leaves for themselves, as they will be able to obtain everything else without labour. Comp. G. 1. 131. There also may be a reference, as Heyne remarks, to the honey sometimes found in the hollows of trees (G. 2. 453), as there is in the parallel passage, Hor. Epod. 16. 47, "Mella cava manant ex ilice," as if this would happen everywhere under the new order of things, and this is supported by 30 35 Hesiod, Works, 232 foll. opeσ de douç "Ακρη μέν τε φέρει βαλάνους, μέσση δὲ ueλiooas, of the golden-age blessings which attend the good even now. 31.] Fraudis,' the wickedness of artificial society, opposed to the simplicity and innocence of the state of nature. The idea is kept in 'temptare' and in 'mentiri' (v. 42). 32.] 'Temptare' like "sollicitant freta," G. 2. 503. Comp. Hor. 1 Od. 3. 9 foll. 'Cingere,' imitated by Ov. M. 1. 97 (speaking of the golden age), "Nondum praecipites cingebant oppida fossae." 33.] The Roman MS. has 'tellurem infindere sulco;' but 'infindunt pariter sulcos occurs A. 5. 142. 34.] In the Sibylline cycle all history was to come over again. Virgil seems to be mixing this notion with that of a return to the age of gold, so as to give some scope to the national love of conquest. In Hesiod the heroes form a fourth age, between brazen and iron. Tiphys was the helmsman of the Argo. 35.] The Argonauts are called 'delecti viri' Enn. Med. 5, 'lecti juvenes' Catull. 62 (64). 4, perhaps a translation of åpɩorεiç. See Eur. Med. 5 (Elmsley's note), Theocr. 13. 16. Altera bella,' the old wars over again. 36.] Achilles is the emblem of the youthful warrior: otherwise a second conquest of Troy would hardly be mentioned as the typical achievement of the hero king of the descendants of Trojans. 37-47.] 'When he is grown to manhood, even commerce will cease, for everything will grow everywhere; nature will supply the place, not only of industry, but of artificial civilization: so the Fates ordain.' 38.] Vector,' the passenger,' which Mutabit merces: omnis feret omnia tellus. Ipse sed in pratis aries iam suave rubenti seems to be its sense where it is used of maritime carriage. Et ipse,' much more the sailor in a ship of war. 39.] Mutat merces of a merchant, Hor. 1 S. 4. 29. 'Omnis,' &c.: comp. G. 1. 63., 2. 109 notes. Virg. doubtless copies Hesiod, Works, 236 foll., who says of his upright nation, οὐδ ̓ ἐπὶ νηῶν Νίσα σονται, καρπὸν δὲ φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα. 40.] We seem to have gathered from vv. 31 foll. that even after nature has begun to return to the freedom and spontaneity of the golden age, man will still continue to deal with her by force. We are now told that in the full development of her gracious bounty such violence will, as it were, die a natural death, the same change which releases the sea and the seaman from traffic releasing the earth and the husbandman from tillage. 41.] One or two MSS. have 'robustis,' which Forb. adopts; but 'robustus' is supported by Lucr. 5. 933., 6. 1253, "robustus curvi moderator aratri." In either case the epithet is sufficiently natural, and cannot be called merely ornamental, as the force employed indicates the difficulty of the labour. Comp. G. 1. 63., 2. 38, 238, 260 foll., 355 foll. notes. It signifies little whether 'tauris' be taken as dat. or abl. Both are sufficiently supported; and the difference in sense between the two cases in such a connection seems scarcely ascertainable. 44.] We may either take mutabit' for 'fucabit,' or in its common sense-'will change (the colour of) his fleece for (or' into') purple and yellow.' 'In pratis' is the same as 'pascentis,' v. 45-the live sheep in the field, opposed to the fleece in the hands of the dyer. The country will enjoy the advantages of luxury without its artificial concomitants, from which it rightly shrinks. G. 2. 465. 45.] 'Sandyx,'' scarlet.' The' sandyx' is described by Pliny (35. 6) as a mineral 40 45 46.] Talia saecla,' 'O blessed ages,' which perhaps might be expressed in prose, 'Cum talia sitis, currite.' This use of 'talia' in the vocative may be compared to the vocative use of ouros, e. g. Soph. Oed. Col. 1627, ὦ οὗτος, οὗτος, Οἰδίπους, τί μέλλoμev Xwpɛiv; Virgil clearly had in his mind Catull. (62) 64. 326, "Sed vos, quae fata sequuntur Currite ducentes subtemina, currite, fusi," though he has as usual varied the expression, making the Fates address the ages, though they talk to the spindles. The process in each case seems to be merely that of ordaining the particular destiny, as a thing to come. Το ἐπικλώθειν is used in Hom. for ordaining. The attempt of the later editors, after Cerda, to bring Virg. more into conformity with Catullus by making talia saecla' the acc. after 'currere' is exceedingly harsh. 47.] The Parcae that utter in concert the fixed will of fate.' For a similar use of 'numine' comp. A. 2. 123, "Quae sint ea numina divom Flagitat." Numen fatorum' is so far a pleonasm that either word might have been used without the other in nearly the same sense. For the line generally Serv. comp. Hor. Carm. Saec. 25 foll. In the Ciris, v. 125, there is a line "Concordes stabili firmarunt numine Parcae." 48-59.] 'Let him assume his thronethe whole world waits for him with expectant longing. O may I live long enough to tell of his glories! The theme would at once exalt me above all poets, human or divine.' 48.] So Augustus is addressed G. 1. 42. Magnos honores' is explained by Voss of Cara deum suboles, magnum Iovis incrementum ! Pan etiam, Arcadia mecum si iudice certet, the successive magistracies at Rome, which our taste. 49.] Deum' is used generally, as Aeneas is called 'deum certissima proles,' A. 6. 322. Iovis incrementum' appears to be a singular expression. The word is seldom applied to a person, and it is elsewhere used with a gen. of that of which it is the beginning or rudiment, as in Ov. M. 3. 103. 50.] Mundum,' 'the starry heaven, with its massy dome (convexo pondere).' Heyne well remarks that the world is moved at the coming of this divine boy as a sanctuary is moved at the coming of its god. See A. 3. 90., 6. 256, "Sub pedibus mugire solum et iuga coepta moveri Silvarum visaeque canes ululare per umbram Adventante dea." Forb. rightly rejects the explanation of Heyne and others, Aspice mundum &c. ut laetantur,' observing that nutantem' is equivalent tout nutat.' 51.] Caelum profundum,' "the azure deep of air," Gray; but this is scarcely classical. 'Profundus,' like altus' and Balus, means 'high' as well as 'deep.' "Silvae profundae," Lucr. 5. 41, A. 7. 515. The line occurs again G. 4. 222. 52] The common reading is 'laetentur.' 'Laetantur' was restored as more poetical by Heyne. Both are admissible: Bent. on Hor. Ep. 1. 1. 91. 'Aspice ut' in this passage is merely a rhetorical way of making a direct statement, the proper mood for which is the indicative: there is no real appeal to the mind of a second person as in A. 8. 384, "Aspice qui coeant populi, quae moenia clausis Ferrum acuant portis in me excidiumque meorum." 53.] There is here a confusion of expression, owing to the number of predicates crowded into the sentence. 'Quantum ' refers to tam longae,' but it is also con nected in sense with 'maneat.' He might either have said 'O si vita tam longa sit quantum,' or 'O si vitae pars ultima maneat, quantum,' but he has chosen to say both. So 'spiritus' would be more naturally coupled with 'vita' than with 'pars ultima vitae.' 54.] Spiritus' expresses both 'breath' and poetical inspiration,' the latter as in Hor. 4 Od. 6. 29. Tua dicere facta' for 'ad dicenda tua facta.' The poets and later writers, following the Greeks, often use the infinitive where good prose writers would employ a different form of words. See 5. 1 note, and Key's Lat. Gram. 1255. 55.] 'Non-nec:' the main clause being divided, a second negative is introduced with each of the clauses into which it is divided. Key, 1412. 'Orpheus:' he naturally chooses mythic poets to contrast with himself as the bard of the new golden age. ་ 57.] Orphei' ('Oppéï, 'Oppεì) occurs again G. 4. 545, 553. Calliopea, ΚαλλιόTEα, another form of Calliope, occurring also Prop. 1. 2. 58, Ov. F. 5. 80. Formosus,' a perpetual epithet like 'pulcher Apollo,' A. 3. 119. 58.] The Arcadians would be competent judges (10. 31), as well as partial to their god Pan. 59.] As might be expected, some MSS. have dicet.' 60-63.] 'Let him smile on his mother: she deserves it: and without her smile he can never come to honour.' 60.] These last four lines are very obscure, particularly 63 and 64. No doubt they contain the poet's prayer for the speedy appearance of the young deliverer. Heyne, Wund., and Voss, after Julius Sabinus, understand 'risu' of the mother's smile, by which the boy is bidden to recognize her, appealing to Matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia menses; v. 62. So far however from necessitating such an interpretation, v. 62 will scarcely agree with it, as the words there imply that the parents have not yet smiled. Besides, the command to recognize the mother by her smile is very flat, especially when repeated in the second Incipe,' as Wagn. remarks, and the construction risu cognoscere' harsh. 'Risu,' then, is the smile of the child opening its eyes on its mother, who is supposed (v. 62) not to smile on it till it has smiled on her-a natural enough argumentum ad infantem.' A remarkable various reading of v. 62 is preserved by Quinctilian (9. 3), 'qui non risere parentes,' the point of his quotation being the change of number as exemplified in 'qui' followed by 'hunc.' But though the sense would agree well with 'risu cognoscere,' as just explained, the transition from 'qui' to hunc would be inexcusably harsh in a simple passage, and the construction ridere aliquem,'' to smile on a person,' is not MENALCAS invites Mopsus, a somewhat younger shepherd, to play and sing. Mopsus complies with a funeral song on Daphnis, the ideal shepherd. Menalcas matches it by a corresponding song on Daphnis' apotheosis. They praise each other, and exchange gifts. In the introduction, which contrasts with that to Ecl. 3, being an interchange of courtesies, not of scurrilities, Virgil follows the first Idyl of Theocritus: in the form of the singing match, the sixth and ninth, as also to a certain extent in the conclusion. The subject of the songs too bears a relation to the first Idyl, where Thyrsis sings of the dying hours of Daphnis, a hero of pastoral mythology, the beloved of the nymphs, and the victim of the wrath of Aphrodite. The story, which is very variously related, seems to have been taken up by Virgil where the other narrators dropped it. This of itself favours the notion that Daphnis is intended to represent some other person, as otherwise there would seem to be no object in imagining an apotheosis for him. If we are to seek for any such person there can be little doubt that it must be the dictator Caesar, an opinion which seems to have prevailed in the time of Servius, though he mentions that others fixed on Virgil's brother Flaccus, or on Quinctilius Varus, while others again thought merely of the mythical Daphnis. The apotheosis would be extravagant in the case of a private individual, but it answers sufficiently well to the honours recently decreed to Caesar, the placing of his statue in the temple of Venus Genetrix, the change of the name of the month Quintilis to Julius, and the commemoration of his birthday in the calendar. In the preceding Eclogue Virgil has shown himself disposed to celebrate political and social regeneration under pastoral images (a parallel which lends a faint plausibility to a notion mentioned by Philargyrius, that Daphnis stands for the ill-fated infant Saloninus): in Ecl. 9. 46, which the mention of Daphnis, though only as a shepherd, slightly connects with the present poem, he displays his sympathy with Caesar in particular as the shepherd's supposed patron. This symbolizing is merely a result of the identification of the poet with the shepherd, discussed in the Introduction to the Eclogues, persons and things affecting the former being described as affecting the latter, just as Gallus in Ecl. 10, being the shepherd poet's friend, is made a shepherd himself, so that in maintaining it we are not, as Keightley thinks, committed to the position “that Virgil, who was perhaps the least original poet of antiquity, was the inventor of a new species of poetry." At the same time we need not be anxious with Servius to find a meaning in every detail, as if the lions and tigers stood for the nations subdued by Caesar, or the lovely flock which Daphnis fed for the Roman people. The date of the Eclogue can only be fixed with reference to Ecl. 2 and 3 (see v. 86), but it may be conjectured that it was written soon after the order by the triumvirs for the commemoration of Caesar's birthday, in 712. Virgil seems to identify himself with Menalcas, as in Ecl. 9, though there is no dramatic distinction between the two shepherds. Servius, however, finds a historical counterpart for Mopsus in Aemilius Macer, a poet of Verona. The scenery is again from Theocritus. For the structure of the poem see Introduction to Ecl. 8. Me. CUR non, Mopse, boni quoniam convenimus ambo, Hic corylis mixtas inter considimus ulmos? Mo. Tu maior; tibi me est aequum parere, Menalca, 1-18.] 'Me. Suppose we play and sing in the shade here? Mo. Or the cave perhaps. Me. You have but one rival. Mo. And he would rival Apollo. Me. Begin one of your favourite subjects. Mo. I have a new poem, which I would match against any of my rival's. Me. Do not think of him. I should never compare him with you.' 1.] 'Menalcas' is Virgil, both here (vv. 86, 87) and in Ecl. 9, as Tityrus was in Ecl. 1. Theocr. 8. 3, ̓́Αμφω συρίσδεν δεδαημένω, ἄμφω ἀείδεν. With boni in the sense of skilled,' Forb, comp. A. 9. 572, Hic jaculo bonus.' Boni... inflare,' like 'praestantior . . . ciere,' A. 6. 164: but similar Grecisms abound in Virgil. They may be explained by regarding the infinitive as a noun: see note on G. 1. 213. 2.] So in Theocr. 1. 1, Thyrsis is skilled in singing, the goatherd in piping. Aspice, ut antrum 5 3.] Consedimus' was the old reading. 'Considimus' was restored by Heinsius. The perfect would not be absurd, as Voss thinks, since it might answer to the Greek aorist, which is used idiomatically in questions of the kind: e. g. Aesch. Prom. 747, Soph. Oed. T. 1002: the present however appears to be usual in Latin, as Plaut. Amph. 1. 1. 253, "Cur non introeo in nostram domum ?" Cic. 2 Fam. Ep. 7, "Cur ego non adsum?" So the use of 'quin.' 5.] Motantibus' is the reading of the better MSS. and Serv., and is itself more poetical. Heyne has 'mutantibus.' We find 'succedere sub' Caes. B. G. 1. 24 (where it means to go up a hill), like 'ascendere ad,' but probably Virgil in writing v. 5 meant some other word to follow sub umbras.' 6.] Mopsus modestly suggests that the cave would be preferable. |