Footnotes (continued 2)

591.

‘Idle superstition, which knows not the ancient Gods.’

592.

Ann. iv. 33.

593.

It is true, as Gibbon remarks in his Dissertation on the Sixth Book of the Aeneid, that the expression ‘dare iura’ is only once applied to Aeneas—but it is the regular expression used of a ruler of a settled community, as for instance of Dido. It is applied at the end of the Georgics to Augustus, ‘per populos dat iura.’

594.

‘While the house of Aeneas shall dwell by the steadfast rock of the Capitol, and the fatherly sway of a Roman shall endure.’ Cp. the application of ‘pater’ as an epithet of Aeneas, and Horace’s line in reference to Augustus— Hic ames dici pater atque princeps.

595.

‘A palace, august, vast, propped on one hundred columns, stood in the highest place of the city, the royal abode of Laurentian Picus, inspiring awe from the gloom of woods and old ancestral reverence., Here it was held auspicious for kings to receive the sceptre and first to lift up the fasces: this temple was their senate-house, this the hall of their sacred banquets; here after sacrifice of a ram the fathers used to take their seats at the long unbroken tables.’ vii. 170–6.

596.

‘After the Powers on high determined to overthrow the empire of Asia and the nation of Priam that deserved no such fate, and proud Ilium fell, and Troy built by Neptune is reduced utterly to ashes.’ iii. 1–3.

597.

‘An ancient city, that held empire through many years, is falling in ruins.’ ii. 363.

598.

‘Such was the final doom of Priam; this the end allotted to him, while he saw Troy on fire and its citadel in ruins,—Troy that formerly held proud sway in Asia over so many peoples and lands.’ ii. 554–7.

599.

‘I have lived, and finished the course that fortune gave me; and now my shade shall pass in majesty beneath the earth; I have founded a famous city, I have seen my own walls arise.’ iv. 653–5.

600.

The Peloponnesian war, which united the Dorian and oligarchical States of Greece under the lead of Sparta against Athens and her allies, admits, as is indicated by Thucydides in his Introduction, of the best parallel to the Trojan war, as represented by Homer.

601.

‘In rough guise, armed with javelins and wearing the skin of a Libyan bear.’

602.

‘And seated him on a couch of leaves and the skin of a Libyan bear.’

603.

‘Here others lay the broad foundations for theatres, and hew out from the rocks huge columns, the high ornaments of a future stage.’ i. 427–9.

604.

‘Bronze was the threshold with its rising steps, bronze-bound the posts, of bronze the doors with their grating hinges.’ i. 448–9.

605.

‘And marvels at the skill of the artists working together and the toil with which their works are done, he sees the whole series of the battles fought at Troy and the war whose fame was already noised through all the world.’ i. 455–7.

606.

‘Burning lamps hang from the roof of fretted gold, and torches with their blaze banish the night.’

607.

‘Youth of surpassing spirit, the higher thou risest in thy towering courage, the more fit is it that I take earnest counsel and weigh anxiously every chance.’ xii. 19–21.

608.

‘The care thou hast for my sake, I pray thee, Sire, for my sake to lay aside, and allow me to hazard my life for the prize of honour. I too,’ etc.

609.

‘Thou too, O Turnus, would’st now be standing a huge trunk with thy arms upon thee, were but thy age equal to his and the strength derived from years the same.’ xi. 173–4.

610.

‘But why, in my misfortune, am I detaining the Trojans from deeds of arms—go, and mindful bear these commands to your king.’ i. 561, etc.

611.

‘Banish fear from your hearts, ye Trojans, lay aside your cares, our hard lot and my new rule force me to take such anxious measures, and to guard my realm on all its wide frontiers. Who cannot have heard of them who follow Aeneas and of the city Troy, its men and manful prowess, or the fires that raged in that mighty war? Not so dull are the hearts of us the people of Phoenicia, nor is it so far away from our Tyrian city that the Sun yokes his horses.’

612.

‘His woolly sheep follow him; this is his sole joy and solace of his suffering.’ iii. 660–1.

613.

‘We see standing by him, all of no avail, the stern-eyed brothers dwelling on Etna, bearing their heads high in air, a grim assembly.’ iii. 677–9.

614.

‘But not even thus though hard-bestead did he forget the raft, but springing after it laid hold of it among the waves, and sat down in the middle, thus escaping the issue of death.’

615.

‘We leave the harbours of Ortygia and scud over the open sea, and skirt the coasts of Naxos, on whose ridges the companies of Bacchus revel, and green Donysa, Olearos, and snow-white Paros, and the Cyclades spread over the sea, and the narrow waters studded with frequent isles. The mariner’s cheer arises with varying rivalry.’ iii. 124–8.

616.

‘On the fourth day for the first time the land at length appeared to rise up, to open up the view of its distant mountains, and to send its rolling smoke on high.’ iii. 205–6.

617.

‘And now the stars had disappeared, and in the first blush of dawn we see far off the dim outline of the hills and the low land of Italy.’ iii. 521–3.

618.

‘The longed-for breezes blow stronger, and the harbour now nearer opens up, and the temple of Minerva comes into sight on the cliff.’ iii. 530–1.

619.

‘Soon we leave out of sight the airy heights of the Phaeacians, and skirt the shores of Epirus and draw near the Chaonian harbour, and approach the lofty city of Buthrotum.’ iii. 291–3.

620.

‘Camarina comes into sight far away, and the plains of the Gela, and vast Gela called from the name of the river—after that high Acragas shows its mighty walls afar—in old days the breeder of high-mettled steeds.’ iii. 701–4.

621.

‘To these he adds Amaster son of Hippotas, and follows plying them with his hurled spear Tereus and Harpalycus and Demophoon and Chromis.’ Aen. xi. 673–5.

622.

‘To whom Zeus gave from youth even to old age the grievous task of war, till we each should die.’ Il. xiv. 85–7. The fascination which the poem has even for modern readers is due, in no slight degree, to the spell which some aspects of war exercise over the imagination in all times.

623.

‘They ply their spears with redoubled force, both the Trojans and Mnestheus himself with the flash of lightning.’

624.

‘There is here, here a spirit that recks not of life.’

625.

Cf. viii. 510:— ni, mixtus matre Sabella, Hinc partem patriae traheret.

626.

‘Us the fates summon hence to other scenes of woe, to the same grim wars.’ xi. 96–7. Cf. the epithet ‘lacrimabile,’ which he applies to war.

627.

‘Press not further in thy hate.’

628.

‘The short-lived and ill-starred loves of the Roman people.’

629.

‘If in any way thou canst break the cruel bonds of fate, thou too shalt be a Marcellus.’

630.

‘And the sword-point pierced through the shield, slight defence in his menacing onset, and the tunic which his mother had interlaced with threads of gold.’ x. 817–8.

631.

‘But then, when he beheld the look and face of the dying youth, he, the son of Anchises, that face so wondrous pale, he uttered a deep groan in his pity, and held out his hand, and the thought of all his love for his father came over his mind.’ x. 821–4.

632.

‘Ye too fell in the Rutulian fields, Larides and Thymber, twin sons of Daucis, most like to one another, indistinguishable to your own family, and a most pleasing cause of confusion to your parents.’ x. 390–2.

633.

‘Immediately the whiz of the arrow and the sound of the air were heard by Arruns at the same moment as the iron fixed in his body. Expiring and uttering his last groan, forgotten by his comrades, he is left on the unheeded dust of the plain; while Opis flies aloft to high Olympus.’ xi. 863–7.

634.

‘Between it Tiberinus with his fair stream, in rapid eddies and yellow with much sand bursts forth into the sea.’

635.

‘There was a custom in Hesperian Latium which from that time onward the Alban cities observed, and now Rome, mistress of the world, observes.... With his own hand, arrayed in the robe of state of Quirinus, his toga girt with the Gabian girding, the Consul unbars the creaking gates: with his own voice he calls for battle; the rest of the warlike youth echo him, and the brazen horns combine with their hoarse accompaniment.’ vii. 601–15.

636.

‘Rhaebus, we have lived long, if aught is long to mortals,’ etc. Aen. x. 861, etc.

637.

Trist. ii. 533–4.

638.

‘Whate’er it be, every fortune must be conquered by endurance.’

639.

‘Then he cheers his comrades and soothes the fears of sad Iulus, telling them of their destinies.’

640.

‘And now higher rises the fierce rage of the Trojan leader.’

641.

‘A great deed has been done, my warriors,—let all fear be banished.’ This contrast was suggested by Mr. Nettleship’s interpretation of the character of Turnus (‘Suggestions,’ etc., pp. 15 et seq.). As will appear later, I am inclined to think that he insists too exclusively on the ‘violentia,’ which is undoubtedly a strong element in the character of the Italian hero. The antagonism of Turnus to Aeneas, as of the Italians to the Trojans, he justly regards as an instance of the strife of passion with law. If the Greek drama suggested the ethical aspect of this strife, a comparison with Horace, Ode iii. 4, of which Ode the leading idea is the superiority of the ‘vis temperata’ over the ‘vis consili expers,’ as illustrated in the wars of the Olympian Gods with the Titans, and in the triumph of Augustus over the elements of disorder opposing him, suggests that the political inspiration of the idea came from ‘the stately mansion on the Esquiline’— ‘Molem propinquam nubibus arduis.’

642.

‘Nor shall it irk me to remember Elissa, while I can remember my own self, while breath animates my frame.’

643.

‘But my longing for thee, the thought of all thy cares, noble Odysseus, and of all thy gentleness bereft me of sweet life.’

644.

La Cité Antique.

645.

‘And now that I am a man, and know it from the lips of others, and feel my spirit wax strong within me.’

646.

‘And his spirit was wroth that the stranger tarried long at the door.’

647.

‘Where the white lilies blush with the mingling of many roses.’

648.

‘For my rest is assured, my haven is close at hand—it is of happy funeral rites that I am bereft.’

649.

‘Now be each mindful of wife and home: recall now the mighty deeds, your fathers’ renown.’

650.

‘I give back Pallas even as was due to him; whatever respect there is to a tomb, whatever comfort in burial, I freely bestow.’ Cp. the contrast:— ἦ ῥα καὶ Ἕκτορα δῖον ἀεικέα μήδετο ἔργα.

651.

‘The Aetolian and Arpi will not aid us, but Messapus will and fortunate Tolumnius.’

652.

‘For you and my father-in-law Latinus, I, Turnus, second to none of the men of old in valour, have devoted this my life: “me only Aeneas challenges”—ay, let him challenge me; nor let Drances rather, if this is the anger of Heaven, pay the penalty by his death, or if it is a call to valour and glory, let the valour and glory be his.’ Aen. xi. 440, etc.

653.

Napier’s Peninsular War, Death of Sir John Moore.

654.

‘Is death then so sad a doom? Be ye merciful to me, spirits of the dead, since the favour of the Powers above is turned from me; a spirit, pure and untainted by that shame, I shall pass to you, never dishonouring my mighty ancestors.’ Aen. xii. 644–8.

655.

‘It is the Gods that terrify me, and the enmity of Jove.’

656.

‘He who first won my love has taken it with him: let him keep it and treasure it in his tomb.’

657.

‘Often his own heroic spirit, often the glory of his race, recur to her mind: his looks remain deep-printed in her heart, and his words, nor does her passion allow her to rest.’

658.

‘That forsooth is the task of the Powers above; this trouble vexes their tranquil state.’

659.

‘I trust indeed, if the pitiful Gods avail aught, that among the rocks in mid sea thou shalt drink deep of the cup of retribution, and often call on Dido by name; I, from far away, will follow thee with baleful fires, and when chill death has separated my spirit from my frame, my shade will haunt thee everywhere; heartless, thou shalt suffer for thy crime: I shall hear of it, and this tale will reach me among the spirits below.’

660.

‘Arise thou, some avenger, out of my bones, who with brand and sword mayest chase the settlers from Troy, now, hereafter, whensoever there shall be strength to bring thee forth.’

661.

‘I have built a famous city: I have seen my own walls arise: avenging my husband, I exacted retribution from an unkind brother; fortunate, alas! too fortunate, had not the Trojan keels ever touched our shore.’

662.

‘I shall die unavenged,’ she says, ‘still let me die—it is thus, thus, I fain would pass to the shades: may the cruel Trojan drink in with his eyes the sight of this fire from the deep, and carry along with him the omen of my death.’

663.

‘Still fly, plunge deeper in the bowering wood, Averse, as Dido did with gesture stern From her false friend’s approach in Hades, turn, Wave us away, and keep thy solitude.’ The Scholar Gipsy, by Matthew Arnold.

664.

‘At length she started away and fled unforgiving into the shades of the forest, where her former husband, Sychaeus, feels with all her sorrows and loves her with a love equal to her own.’

665.

Landor’s Pentameron.

666.

‘It was when their first sleep begins to weary mortals.’

667.

‘The broad waters of Sigaeum reflect the fire.’

668.

‘There is dread on every side, while the very silence awes the mind.’

669.

‘But some way off in a lonely bay the Trojan women apart were weeping for their lost Anchises, and as they wept were gazing on the deep—“Ah, to think that so many dangerous waters, so vast an expanse of sea remained still for them, the weary ones!” was the cry of all.’

670.

‘In her dreams Aeneas himself fiercely drives her before him in her frenzy; and she seems ever to be left all alone, ever to be going uncompanioned on a long road, and to be searching for her Tyrians on a desert land.’

671.

‘Powers whose empire is over the spirits of the dead, and ye silent shades.’

672.

‘Behind his war-horse Aethon, with all his trappings laid aside, goes weeping, wetting his face with great drops. Others bear his spear and shield—the rest of his armour Turnus keeps—then follow in mournful array the Trojans, and all the Tyrrhenian host, and the Arcadians with arms reversed.’

673.

iv. 143, etc. Referred to in the ‘Parallel Passages’ in Dr. Kennedy’s notes.

674.

Referred to by M. Benoist.

675.

‘Or with the grandeur of father Appenninus himself, when he makes his waving ilexes heard aloud, and is glad as he towers with snowy summit to the sky.’

676.

‘Either on the banks of the Po, or by the fair Adige.’

677.

‘As Ganges swelling high in silence with its seven calm streams, or the Nile when with its fertilising flood it ebbs from the plains, and has already subsided within its channel.’ ix. 30–2.

678.

‘As many as the leaves that fall in the woods at the first cold touch of autumn, or as many as the birds which are gathered to the land from the deep, when the chill of the year banishes them beyond the sea, and wafts them into sunny lands.’ vi. 309–312.

679.

‘Like the moon when one sees it early in the month, or fancies he has seen it rise through mists.’‘So to see, as when one sees or fancies he has seen the dim moon in the early dawn.’

680.

‘As when a purple flower cut down by the plough pines and dies, or as poppies droop their head wearily, when weighed down by the rain.’

681.

‘Like a delicate violet, or a drooping hyacinth, when plucked by a maiden, from which the bloom and the beauty have not yet departed—but the earth does not now nourish it and supply its forces.’

682.

‘Ac ne quid impetum moraretur quaedam imperfecta transmisit, alia levissimis versibus veluti fulsit, quos per iocum pro tibicinibus interponi aiebat ad sustinendum opus, donec solidae columnae advenirent.’ Donatus, quoted by Ribbeck in the Life prefixed to his smaller edition of Virgil.

683.

‘But I the stately Queen of the Gods.’

684.

‘And first Achates struck a spark from a flint, and caught the light in some leaves, and cast dry sticks about them to feed them, and blew the spark within the fuel into a flame.’

685.

‘Worthy to be happier in a father’s command and to have another father than Mezentius.’

686.

‘Yield not thou to thy hardships, but advance more boldly against them.’‘Learn from me, my child, to bear thee like a man and to strive strenuously, from others learn to be fortunate.’‘Have the courage, stranger, to despise riches, and mould thyself too to be a fit companion of the God.’

687.

‘Ah! fly that cruel land, fly that covetous coast.’ Mentioned by Mr. Symonds in his History of the Renaissance in Italy.

688.

Grammar of Assent, by J. H. Newman, D.D.

689.

To attempt to translate these ‘pathetic half-lines’ etc., apart from their context, would only be to spoil them, without conveying any sense of the feeling latent in them.

690.

Aut videt, aut vidisse putat.