(Pharia,) i. e. Egyptian, from Pharos, the island off Alexandria, where the celebrated light-house was erected, marking the entrance of the harbour. Compare Ov. E. ex P. I. i. 38, Iactantem Pharia tinnula sistra manu. Martial calls Cleopatra, Pharia uxor; Lucan, the murder of Pompey, Pharium scelus, &c. 33. (Celebrare,) i. e. colere. It was the custom for the master of a house, on his return home, after a long journey, to address a solemn salutation to the Lares and Penates. Thus in Terent. Phorm. II. i. 81. Demipho, on his arrival from abroad, Ovid uses celebrare in the same sense, Fast. II. 639, Nox ubi transierit solito celebretur honore Menstrua tura. Offered on the Calends, the day of the new moon. See dissertation on the Lares, p. 135-141. 35. (Saturno rege,) i. e. in the golden age. See note on Tibull. II. v. 9. 36. (Patefacta, &c.) h. e. ad longinqua itinera. Viæ in terris factæ sunt. Nam quæ pervia fiunt, et frequentari incipiunt, patefieri dicuntur. Contra claudi dicuntur quæ adiri nequeunt. Cic. Leg. Man. VIII. "Dico...patefactum nostris legionibus esse Pontum, qui ante Populo Romano ex omni aditu, clausus esset." H. As to the construction in vias, compare Ov. Am. II. xvi. 16, In longas orbem qui secuere vias. We have seen above, I. i. 26, that vias is used in a general sense for itinera. 39. (Conpendia,) i. e. lucra. Properly gain by saving opposed to dispendium, and hence a saving in general. Compare Cic. Verr. IV. "Quos provincia mercibus suppeditandis cum quæstu conpendioque dimittit," and in the secondary sense, Plaut. Capt. V. ii. 12. 3, Satis facundus: sed iam fieri dictis conpendium volo. 44. Compare extract from Ovid on the god Terminus, and Virg. Æ. xii. 897, where Turnus espies Saxum antiquum, ingens, campo quod forte iacebat, 45. (Mella dabant quercus.) Understand this of honey dropping spontaneously from the leaves and branches of the oak, as in Virg. E. IV. 30. Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella, not, with Heyne, who would rationalize the wonder, of bees swarming in the hollow trunks of trees-which they did and do so still in an iron age. 48. (Duxerat.) The Greek λauve, to forge, hammer out ;-So Virg. Æ. VII. 633, 49. (Nunc.) The poet, it will be observed, describes two ages only, the golden and the iron. See note on Tibuli. II. v. 9. 50. (Mare,) pericula in mari, ex navigatione. H. 51. 52. Hæc ex vulgari veterum, iam inde ab heroica vita, opinione, illustranda sunt, qua mortes præmaturas aut celeres et ex morbis acutis pro magnorum scelerum pœnis, ab ipsis diis præsentibus inflictis habebant. Tibullus igitur se nullius sceleris conscium esse ait, quo in medio iuventæ cursu abripiatur. H. 51. (Pater,) i. e. Jupiter, not, as some would have it, Pluto, who would be out of place here. 53. (Fatales,) "assigned by destiny." 56. On the position of que, see note on Tibull. I. i. 51. p. 144. 56-82. It is very interesting to examine into the ideas entertained by the earlier Greeks of the lower world and a future state, as expressed by Homer, and to mark the various modifications gradually introduced. According to Homeric Geography, the earth was a flat circular plain or disk, completely encompassed and bounded by the great stream of Ocean. The abode of departed spirits, the kingdom of Hades, was called Erebus, and lay under the world inhabited by men; the entrance was placed on the western bank of the Ocean stream, at a spot where the rivers Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus, the latter of which is a branch of Styx, unite at a rock and pour their waters into (the marsh of?) Acheron.1 The natural objects in this nether-world are shadowy representations of those in the world above. There is a sky, and clouds, and storms, meadows, hills, trees, and fruits. The only thing wanting is a Sun. The bright light of day never penetrates into those dismal regions which are overspread by a gloomy twilight. As upon earth, good and bad men are mingled together without distinction; the former enjoy no reward, the latter suffer no punishment. A few only who have broken their oaths,2 or openly outraged the majesty of heaven, are tortured as the enemies of the gods. Such are Tityus, Tantalus, and Sisyphus. The ghosts of the dead wear the same external aspect as at the moment when they departed from life, follow the same pursuits, and cherish the same feelings and passions. Thus Odysseus recognises, at once, all his former friends, as they throng the edge of the pit, eager to drink the blood of the victims. He beholds Minos grasping a sceptre, laying down laws, and deciding the controversies of the dead, and Orion, club in hand, pursuing and slaying the beasts of chase, while Ajax, still cherishing vindictive wrath, turns away and refuses to hold communion with his former foe. On the whole, the inmates of Erebus are discontented and unhappy, comparing their actual nothingness with their former vigour and power. Achilles, in reply to the compliments of Odysseus, exclaims, Extol not death to me, illustrious chief, a brazen anvil, says nine days and nine Tartarus is perfectly distinct from Erebus, it is a dark abyss as far below earth as earth is below heaven;3 Hesiod, dropped from heaven, would fall for nights, and on the tenth day would reach the earth; a brazen anvil dropped from earth would fall for nine days and nine nights, and on the tenth day would reach Tartarus. In this gloomy dungeon, closed in with gates of iron,5 sit Kronus and Iapetus,6 on whom the sun never shines, and the breeze never blows, and who, along with the other Titans, rebels against Jove, are guarded by Cottus and Gyges, and high-souled Briareus.7 Elysium, again, is a happy plain on the western confines of the earth, cooled by Ocean breezes, where certain favoured men live a life of bliss. The description in Homers forms part of the prophecy delivered 1 Odyss. X. 513. 2 11. III. 276. 3 11. VIII. 17. 4 Theog. 720. 5 II. VIII. 15. 6 11. Vill. 479. 7 II. XIV. 274. 279. Hes. Theog. 720. 8 Odyss. IV, 562. by Proteus to Menelaus, and is well known on account of its ex quisite beauty. Let us now briefly compare these statements with the picture drawn by Virgil, who, although following in the steps of the great master, has embellished his descriptions with many particulars derived, in part, perhaps, from his own imagination, but chiefly from the later Greek poets and philosophers. 1. The rivers Acheron, Styx, Cocytus, Phlegethon, are all in the nether world. It is not easy to seize the conception formed by Virgil, of their position and connection, but it is clear that they formed a boundary, and that it is necessary that one of them should be crossed by the spirits of the dead before they can gain access to their destined abode. 2. They are transported across by the grim ferryman Charon, a personage unknown to Homer, and those only are allowed to pass who have received the rites of sepulture. Those whose bodies remain unburied are compelled to wander disconsolate for the term of a hundred years, a condition unknown to Homer. On the farther side of the stream is the cave of Cerberus, (Homer speaks of the dog of Hades, and he is named by Hesiod,) and beyond is a region tenanted by those who have died a violent death before the hour appointed by fate. 3. Tartarus, at the entrance of which sits the fury Tisiphone, is a deep gulph which opens out of the realms of Pluto, and is the general place of punishment for the Titans, the Hundred-handed, Tantalus, Sisyphus, the Danaids, and all impious men. 4. Elysium is in the lower-world, and is the blissful abode of all the virtuous. 5. Minos and Rhadamanthus act as judges, and decide the lot of the spirits whether for weal or woe. 6. The Pythagorean doctrine of the transmigration of souls is introduced. The inhabitants of Elysium, after a certain period, drink of the river Lethe, which induces perfect oblivion of the past, and then ascend to upper air to animate new bodies. These are a few of the most striking points, which will, it is hoped, stimulate the student to pursue the investigation. The first part of the subject has been fully discussed by Voss in a paper entitled "Homer's Unterwelt," to be found in his "Kritische Blätter," vol. II. Consult also Heyne on Virg. Æ. VI. 61. (Casiam.) This is a perfume or spice, the same as that spoken of by Virgil, G. II. 466, Nec casia liquidi corrumpitur usus olivi, it is the Casia of Pliny, (H. N. XVI. 32,) the xaoía of the Greeks, which Theophrastus describes as coming from Arabia, and which must from his words, have resembled our cinnamon. It was, in all probability, the bark of the Laurus Cassia (Linn.) the substance well known in commerce as Cassia Lignea. We must carefully distinguish this from a sweet smelling herb growing commonly in Italy, and frequently spoken of by Virgil, e. g. E. II. 49, Tum casia, atque aliis intexens suavibus herbis, and G. II. 213, Vix humiles apibus casias roremque ministrat. οι θυμελαία and again, G. IV. 30. 184. 304. Ciris, 370. This last is believed to be the same with the xvwgov of the Greeks, and the Daphne Gnidium of Linnæus.1 61. (Seges, &c.) Terra nullo cultu fert herbas odoratas. H. Seges signifies either a growing crop, or, as here, the land upon which a crop grows. Thus Virg. G. I. 77, Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenæ, and on the other hand, G. I. 47, Illa seges demum votis respondet avari Compare with the line before us, Tibull. IV. ii. 18. Cultor odoratæ dives Arabs segetis. and Claud. de nupt. Hon. et Mar 94, Hic casiæ matura seges, Panchaia turgent 63. Series from sero, signifies a succession of objects united or linked together. Iuvenum series, a band of youths dancing hand in hand. 64. (Prælia.) Sunt dulces amantium rixe, H., who quotes Hor. C. I. vi. 17, Nos convivia, nos prælia virginum=... Cantamus vacui. 67, (Scelerata,) i. e. "hateful," "accursed." So Ov. Met. IV. 1 See "Flore de Virgile par A. L. Feé." |