ODES.—BOOK III. (continued 2)

ODE XX.

There can be very little doubt that this Ode is imitated from the Greek. It represents in heroic language a contest between Pyrrhus and a girl not named, for the affections of the handsome Nearchus. The last two stanzas furnish a striking group for a picture. The passion of the jealous girl, as of a lioness robbed of her whelps, and the conscious pride of the beautiful boy are happily painted.

Argument.—As well rob the lioness of her whelps, Pyrrhus. That girl will rush to the rescue of her lover, and, like a coward and thief, thou shalt quit the field after a hard fought battle, in which he shall stand like Nireus or Ganymede, the umpire of the fight.

3. inaudax] This word, which is not found elsewhere, is a direct translation of ἄτολμος, ‘cowardly.’

5. per obstantes] i.e. ‘when, like the lioness bursting through a host of huntsmen, she shall rush to the rescue of Nearchus, more beautiful than all (insignem).’

8. Major an illi.] ‘A mighty struggle, whether the prize shall rather come to thee or to her.’ If this were expressed in Greek it might run πότερα ἡ λεῖα σοὶ μείζων ἥξει ἢ ἐκείνῃ, where μείζων would be equivalent, not to λείας μεῖζον μέρος, but to μᾶλλον. Probably Horace found μείζων, in the original he copied from, in some such combination as I have supposed. ‘Certamen’ has no regular government. The construction, however, is quite intelligible without supplying ‘est’ or ‘erit,’ as some propose.

11. Arbiter pugnae] Nearchus is represented as standing in doubt to which of the combatants he shall yield himself, with bare shoulder, his long perfumed hair floating in the wind, and his naked foot upon the palm of victory, looking like Nireus,

ὃς κάλλιστος ἀνὴρ ὑπὸ Ἴλιον ἦλθεν τῶν ἄλλων Δαναῶν μετ᾽ ἀμύμονα Πηλείωνα (Il. ii. 673),

or like Ganymede. The difference between the perfect ‘posuisse’ and the present ‘recreare,’ the one as representing a complete, and the other a continuing action, is here clearly marked. (See C. i. 1. 4, n.) Of ‘fertur’ it is difficult to fix the exact meaning. It looks like a literal copy, and indicates a composition not flowing from the mind of the writer, and therefore liable to some confusion, though to him it was plain enough.

15. aquosa Raptus ab Ida] Ganymede was said to have been the son of Tros, but the legends respecting him differ in every particular. Horace adopts that which supposes Jupiter to have sent his eagle to carry him away from Ida, which range was the source of most of the rivers of Troas, and is therefore called ‘aquosa.’

ODE XXI.

M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus was an acquaintance of Horace, probably as early as his residence at Athens, and they were together during the campaigns of Brutus and at the battle of Philippi, after which Messalla took part with M. Antonius, till, in consequence of his proceedings with Cleopatra, he left him and joined Augustus, for whom he fought at Actium, and who always held him in high esteem. After the peace, he took up literary pursuits and oratory, and having a large fortune, he patronized literary men, and Horace, it would seem, in particular. By Horace he is called indiscriminately Messalla (which means ‘of Messana’) and Corvinus, which name was given to a distinguished member of the Valeria gens three hundred years before Messalla was born.

This Ode is addressed to the ‘testa’ containing the wine intended to be drunk at a supper to which Messalla had invited himself.

Argument.—Thou amphora, who was filled at my birth, whether thy mission be one of sorrow or joy, of strife or love or sleep, come down, for Corvinus would have my better wine. Learned though he be, he will not despise thee, for neither did old Cato. Thou dost soften the inflexible, and open the heart, and bring back hope, and give strength and courage to the humble. Liber, Venus, and the Graces shall keep thee company till the dawn of day.

1. O nata mecum] Horace was born B. C. 65, when L. Manlius Torquatus and L. Aurelius Cotta were consuls, in which year the amphora addressed is here said to have been filled. (See above, C. iii. 8. 12, n.) ‘Testa,’ which signifies properly any earthen vessel, was used to express the ‘dolium’ as well as the ‘amphora.’ Here it means the latter. In Epod. xiii. 6, Horace had before referred to this wine. The force of the epithet ‘pia’ is more easily felt than rendered. ‘Gentle’ is Francis’s translation, and I know no better, for the meaning is to be derived from its connection with ‘facilem somnum.’

5. Quocunque — nomine] ‘on whatever account.’ ‘Nomen’ signifies an entry in an account (see Epp. ii. 1. 105, n.). The derived sense of the word as used here is better illustrated by Cic. de Am. c. 25: “Multis nominibus est hoc vitium notandum,” i.e. on many accounts, or in many particulars. ‘Lectum’ applies to the gathering of the grape from which the wine was made. The word ‘descende’ is used because the apotheca was in the upper part of the house. (See above, C. iii. 8. 11, n.) For the same cause ‘deripe’ is used (C. iii. 28. 7). ‘Dignus’ is used sometimes by the later prose-writers with an infinitive. In Horace’s day and by Cicero it was used only with the relative pronoun in construction with a verb. ‘Languidiora’ corresponds to ‘languescit mihi’ above (C. iii. 16. 35).

9. madet] ‘is steeped in.’ This word would hardly have been used for ‘imbuitur’ in this sense on any other occasion.

11. Narratur et prisci Catonis] This is the Cato mentioned on C. ii. 15. 11. His being fond of wine is most likely an invention of Horace’s.

13. Tu lene tormentum ingenio] ‘Thou appliest a gentle spur to the usually ungenial temper.’ ‘Duro ingenio’ means the reserved temper whose sympathies and purposes are not easily drawn out, as in Terence (Phorm. iii. 2. 12), “Adeon’ ingenio esse duro te atque inexorabili.”

14. sapientium] This applies to the philosophical and thoughtful (as ‘sapientia’ is put for philosophy, C. i. 34. 2), who have little to do with mirth till they are brought out of themselves by cheerful company. It is said that in his Odes Horace always uses the termination ‘ium’ for the genitive plural of nouns ending in ‘ens,’ and for participles the termination ‘tum.’ But the instances of either are not numerous enough to determine a rule, and the so-called nouns are usually participles, as ‘sapiens’ is.

18. cornua] That is, strength, and confidence, of which horns were the symbol. See C. ii. 19. 30, n.

19. Post te] “Quis post vina gravem militiam aut pauperiem crepat?” (C. i. 18. 5.) As to ‘apices,’ see C. i. 34. 14.

21. Te Liber] He says, ‘Thee, Liber, and Venus (if she will be cheerful and come), and the Graces slow to loose the bond that binds them, and the burning lamps, shall protract even until Phœbus on his return puts the stars to flight.’ The meaning is, the wine shall go round and the lamps shall burn, with jollity and love (women commonly were of the company on these occasions) and good humor for our companions, till sunrise.

22. Segnesque nodum solvere] ‘unwilling to be separated.’ As Horace represents the Graces, naked, or with loose robes (C. i. 30. 5, n.), ‘nodum’ cannot signify the zone, as some commentators say. It seems to mean the bond that unites them. They are usually grouped with their arms intertwined. Here they represent good humor, as opposed to brawling.

23. Vivaeque producent lucernae,] See C. iii. 8. 14.

ODE XXII.

Horace on some occasion thought fit to dedicate a pine in his garden to Diana, and wrote these two stanzas as an inscription perhaps. The dedication of trees to particular divinities was not uncommon.

Argument.—Diana, who protectest the mountains and woods, and deliverest women in childbirth, to thee I dedicate this pine, and will offer thee the sacrifice of a boar.

1. Montium — nemorumque,] See C. i. 21. 5, and C. S. 1. Diana shared with Juno the attributes of Lucina, the divinity that brings children to the birth, as explained on C. S. 13. Diana was ‘Diva triformis,’ as being Luna in Heaven, Diana on Earth, and Hecate in Hell; whence Virgil speaks of “Tergeminamque Hecaten tria virginis ora Dianae” (Aen. iv. 511), alluding (as Horace does) to the statues of the goddess, with three faces, set up where three roads met, so that she could look down all three at once, from which she was called Trivia.

2. laborantes utero] For ‘parturientes.’

5. tua — esto] ‘be sacred to thee.’

6. Quam per exactos ego laetus annos] The antecedent to ‘quam’ is implied in ‘tua.’ ‘Per exactos annos’ means ‘every year,’ as each year is finished.

7. obliquum meditantis ictum] This expresses the way in which a boar strikes at an object with one of its projecting tusks, with which a wild hog has not rarely been known, when incautiously pursued, to rip open a horse’s belly. See Ovid, Met. viii. 344: “obliquo latrantes dissipat ictu.”

ODE XXIII.

Horace, wishing to embody the principle that any offering to heaven is acceptable according to a man’s means (see note on v. 20), put it into the form of an address to the plain and pious Phidyle, a person of his own creation, bringing a humble offering to her Lares with doubts as to its acceptance, or lamenting that she could not, for her poverty, offer a worthier sacrifice.

Argument.—My humble Phidyle, lift thy hands to heaven, and bring the Lares but incense, fresh corn, and a sucking-pig, and they shall protect thy vines and fields and lambs. Herds and flocks, fed on Algidus or Alba, are for the pontifices: do thou but crown thy gods with rosemary and myrtle, for it is the clean hand and not the costly sacrifice that comes with acceptance to the altar.

1. supinas] The clasping of the hands in prayer does not seem to have been usual with the ancients. ‘Supinus’ and ὕπτιος contain the same element, and both signify ‘upturned.’ The ‘s’ in the Latin word corresponds to the aspirate of the Greek, as in ‘silva’ and ὕλη. As to ‘nascente Luna,’ see C. iii. 19. 9, n. Phidyle is derived from φείδεσθαι, and means ‘thrifty.’ The prose form of ‘hornus’ is ‘hornotinus.’

4. Lares] These were the Manes or spirits of deceased members of a family, who were worshipped as Penates or household gods (see below, v. 19, and Epp. ii. 2. 209, n.). Their altar was usually in the atrium or entrance-hall. They had libations and prayers offered to them daily at the principal meal, and had especial sacrifices on the Kalends, Nones, and Ides.

5. Africum] See C. i. 1. 15.

7. dulces alumni] ‘Alumnus,’ for a lamb, occurs above (C. iii. 18. 4).

8. Pomifero grave tempus] ‘The deadly time when the year brings round the fruit,’ i.e. Autumn (S. ii. 6. 18).

10. Devota] In the oak woods of Mount Algidus (in Latium) and the pastures of Alba were fed swine and cattle, especially for sacrifice.

15. marino Rore] ‘Rosmarinus’ is the name of a plant which grows wild in warmer climates than ours. We call it rosemary, after the Latin name, which the ancients supposed to be composed of ‘ros’ and ‘marinum,’ ‘sea-dew.’ It is rather sea-rose, ‘rosa marina.’

17. Immunis aram] ‘If the hand be innocent that touches the altar (not more welcome with sumptuous victim), it appeaseth the angry Penates with pious meal and crackling salt.’ ‘Immunis’ signifies ‘pure.’ It does not occur elsewhere in this sense without a genitive.

19. Penates] The Penates of a family included the Lares, to whom Phidyle is supposed to be sacrificing. But other gods who were supposed to protect households and to promote the peace of families were counted Penates, and among them Jupiter, Juno, and Vesta.

20. Farre pro et saliente mica] This means the salted meal offered in sacrifice. The Roman practice and the Greek were different. The οὐλαί and οὐλοχύται were the entire grain of barley mixed with salt. The grain was not pounded by the Greeks; by the Romans it was, and the salt mixed with it. So “Dant fruges manibus salsas” (Aen. xii. 173). Socrates was the first among the ancients, as far as is known, who took the view here given of the gods and their offerings. His opinions are related by Xenophon (Memor. i. 3. 3), and they are confirmed by the highest authority, which tells us, that “if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, not according to that he hath not” (2 Cor. viii. 12).

ODE XXIV.

This Ode is of the same class, and was probably written about the same time as the early ones of the third book, i.e. about A. U. C. 728. It deals with the licentious abuses of the times, and points indirectly to Augustus as the real reformer of them, as in the second Ode of the first book. The variety of images and illustrations in this Ode is very remarkable, and they are particularly well chosen and original. There is none that exhibits Horace’s peculiar style more completely than this does.

Argument.—Let a man be as rich and extravagant as he may, yet, when Fate overtakes him, fear and death will seize him. The wandering tribes of the North—with their free plains and toils equally shared, where step-mothers are kind and wives are obedient and chaste, and where crime meets with its reward—are happier than we are. He who would gain a name for future times (for merit is only recognized after death), let him put a check upon the licentiousness of the age. Of what use is it to complain, if crime goes unpunished? Of what use are laws without morals? We are running everywhere in quest of money, urged on by the shame of poverty. If we really repent, let us give our gold to the gods, or cast it into the sea, eradicate the seeds of avarice, and strengthen our minds with nobler pursuits. Our youth are idle: their fathers lay up wealth by fraud: for, let riches increase as they will, they always fall short of men’s desires.

1. Intactis] Cn. Pompeius, Marcellus, and others, had entered Arabia Petræa; but Arabia Felix, which is here referred to, had not yet been invaded. The disastrous expedition under Ælius Gallus did not take place till B. C. 25, which was probably after the composition of this Ode. See C. i. 29, Int. India and Arabia are again coupled, Epp. i. 6. 6.

3. Caementis licet occupes] This is explained by C. ii. 18. 20; iii. 1. 35.

4. mare Apulicum,] This would apply to the bay on which Tarentum is situated, and there the Romans had handsome villas. Horace, however, had the other sea more in mind, perhaps with reference to Baiæ in particular, that place being situated on the northern projection of the Sinus Cumanus.

6. Summis verticibus] This has been variously explained. It probably means, ‘when stern Fate has driven her adamantine nails into thy head’ (that is, to kill thee).

8. Non mortis laqueis] Death entangling men in his net is not an uncommon idea with the poets. The same occurs in the Psalms: “The snares of death compassed me round about” (cxvi. 3).

9. Campestres melius Scythae] See C. i. 19. 10, n.; 35. 9, n. Herod. iv. 46.

12. Immetata] This does not occur elsewhere. Virgil assigns to the golden age this freedom from enclosures (Georg. i. 125, 126). ‘Liberas’ means ‘common property.’

14. Nec cultura placet] The habits of the Suevi, as described by Cæsar (Bell. Gall. iv. 1), are here assigned to the Getæ, who are included with the Scythians. “They had 100 districts (‘pagi’),” says he, “each of which supplied annually 1,000 soldiers, who served a year and were then relieved by others, who in their turn served a year and were relieved. Those who stayed at home cultivated the fields. They had no enclosures, and occupied the same ground only for one year.”

15. Defunctumque laboribus] This phrase is applied to death above (C. ii. 18. 38); here it is, ‘and when one has finished his work, a substitute relieves him with an equal share of the toil.’

18. temperat] ‘holds her hands from,’ ‘parcit.’

19. Nec dotata] The wife who brought a large ‘dos’ with her might have a tendency to rule her husband. ‘Nec fidit’ means she does not trust her rich paramour (‘nitido,’ ‘sleek’) to shield her with his influence from her husband’s anger.

21. Dos est magna parentium] ‘An ample portion for wives is their virtue and that chastity which, living in unbroken bonds, shrinks from any other man (than the husband).’

27. Pater urbium] This is not a title found elsewhere, but is analogous to ‘Pater patriae’ (C. i. 2. 50, n.). With ‘refrenare licentiam’ compare C. iv. 15. 9, sqq. ‘Post-genitis’ does not occur elsewhere.

30. quatenus] Forcellini gives other instances of this sense, ‘quandoquidem,’ ‘since.’ See S. i. 1. 64, 3. 76. The sentiment is repeated and illustrated in the first epistle of the second book, vv. 10, sqq.

33. Quid tristes querimoniae] ‘What is the use of complaining so sadly, if crime is to go unpunished?’ There were many perhaps who complained, as Horace did, of the state of society, but he says active measures are wanted for the suppression of crime, and these Augustus resorted to, by the enactment of laws regulating expense, marriage, etc. See Epp. ii. 1. 3, n.

35. Quid leges sine moribus] ‘But then,’ he goes on, ‘laws are of little use, unless the character of the age supports them, for there are vices which the law cannot reach, such as the spirit of avarice,’ which he goes on to speak of. Tacitus has echoed Horace’s words: “Bonae leges minus valent quam boni mores” (Germ. 19). See C. iv. 5. 22, n.

40. Mercatorem] On the ‘mercatores,’ see C. i. 31. 12, n. The enterprise of these men, and the effects their visits had on uncivilized people, are illustrated by the passing notice they get from Cæsar (B. G. i. 1). Speaking of the Belgæ, he says, “Of all these the bravest are the Belgæ, because they are farthest removed from the civilization and refinement of the Provincia (Gallia), and to them the ‘mercatores’ make less frequent visits than to others, importing those things which tend to make the mind effeminate.”

45. Vel nos in Capitolium] He recommends that the rich should take their wealth and offer it to the gods in the Capitol, or throw it into the sea.

46. Quo clamor vocat] Multitudes, he says, would applaud such a sacrifice, and accompany those who made it to the temple.

54. Formandae] ‘Formo’ occurs in the same sense, C. i. 10. 2. S. i. 4. 121. Epp. ii. 1. 128. A. P. 307.

Nescit equo rudis] The young are brought up in idle, dissipated habits, and instead of manly exercises they amuse themselves with the childish Greek sports and gambling (see S. ii. 2. 11, n.), while their fathers are employed in making money by fraud.

57. Seu Graeco jubeas trocho] The ‘trochus’ was a hoop of metal, and it was guided by a rod with a hook at the end, such as boys use now.

58. vetita legibus alea,] There were laws at Rome, as there are with us, against gaming, which practice was nevertheless very prevalent among all classes, in the degenerate times of the republic and the empire. Juvenal complains that young children learnt it from their fathers (xiv. 4).

60. Consortem socium] This means the partner whose capital (‘sors’) was embarked with his own. The Romans held it to be a very serious offence for a man to cheat his partner. Cicero (pro Rosc. Am. c. 40) says “in rebus minoribus fallere socium turpissimum est.” Horace couples the crimes of cheating a partner and a ward in Epp. ii. 1. 123.

62. improbae] This is one of the most difficult words to which to assign its proper meaning. Forcellini gives three or four separate heads with quotations illustrative of each, under any one of which most of the examples in the others might be classed. Orelli has quoted instances (on C. iii. 9. 22) in which it is applied to labor, a jackdaw, a man, a mountain, a tiger, winter, and the Hadriatic Sea. He might have added others, as self-love (S. i. 3. 24), an old woman (S. ii. 5. 84), an angry man (S. ii. 6. 29), etc. It implies ‘excess,’ and that excess must be expressed according to the subject described. ‘Of course, vile wealth increases; still the store falls short, and something’s lacking ever.’

ODE XXV.

This Ode reads at first like an introduction to one on a larger scale in honor of Augustus; but we need not suppose that such a sequel ever was composed. The occasion, to judge by the enthusiasm of the language, may have been the announcement of the taking of Alexandria, B. C. 30.

Argument.—Bacchus, whither dost thou hurry me? In what woods or caves shall I sing of Cæsar added to the gods, a new and noble strain unheard before?

As the sleepless Euiad looks out from the heights upon the sacred hills and rivers of Thrace, so do I love to wander by the river-side and in the silent grove. O thou lord of the Nymphs, no vulgar strain will I sing. I will follow thee, for the danger of thy company is sweet.

2. quae nemora] The preposition before ‘specus’ governs both nouns. ‘Spec-us’ seems to contain the same root as σπέ-ος, the original meaning of which is unknown. The derivation of ἄντρον is equally uncertain. If, therefore, there is any distinction between them, etymology does not help us to determine it.

5. meditans] ‘Inserere’ may be governed by ‘audiar,’ or ‘meditans,’ or both. ‘Meditari,’ which is akin to μελετᾶν, signifies ‘to revolve in the mind,’ and often expresses the giving utterance to that which the mind has conceived. Here it has the same meaning as Virgil’s “musam meditaris avena,” “meditaris arundine musam.”

7. Dicam insigne] ‘Aliquid’ or ‘carmen’ must be supplied.

9. Exsomnis stupet Euias] This name for the attendants on Bacchus, like Euius, his own name (C. i. 18. 9; ii. 11. 17), is derived from εὐοῖ (Euoe, C. ii. 19. 7), the bacchanal cry. The Euiad catches inspiration by looking out from the hill-tops upon the haunts of the god, and so the poet turns aside from his wonted path to the river-banks and groves where Bacchus is found. The picture of the Euiad looking out with silent awe, through a moonlight winter’s night, upon the quiet plains of Thrace, and drawing inspiration from contemplating the scenes that her deity frequents, is very beautiful.

11. pede barbaro] This refers to the troops of Mænads (Μαινάδες from μαίνομαι, as Θυιάδες from θύειν, C. i. 17. 23, n.) celebrating the orgies of Bacchus.

12. Rhodopen,] This was a lofty chain which formed the western boundary of Thrace proper, and in which the Hebrus took its rise.

ut mihi] The word that usually follows ‘aeque’ is ‘ac.’ But Horace has ‘aeque ut’ (C. i. 16. 7-9), and other writers have ‘pariter ut,’ ‘non minus ut’ (Prop. i. 15. 7), ‘perinde ut,’ which are analogous to ‘non secus ut.’ Of this there seems to be no other instance, but perhaps ‘ut’ is used in preference to ‘ac,’ because that word occurs in the line before.

14. Naïadum potens Baccharumque] These are the Nymphs mentioned, C. ii. 19. 3. The Bacchæ, as distinguished from the Naïades, are the wood-nymphs (Dryades).

19. Lenaee,] This is a name of Bacchus derived from ληνός, a wine-press.

20. tempora pampino.] Compare C. iv. 8. 33: “Ornatus viridi tempora pampino Liber.”

ODE XXVI.

This Ode represents a successful gallant’s first refusal, and his mortification and wrath at his defeat. It is a purely fanciful composition.

Argument.—Till now I have fought and won. Now I hang up my arms to Venus. Here, here hang my torches, my bars, and my bow. O thou queen of Cyprus and of Memphis, do but once lay thy rod upon the proud Chloe.

1. idoneus] He means ‘till now the women liked me, and my conquests were great and glorious.’ The words would be suitable to a youthful lover under the chagrin of a first disappointment. Ovid says love is a warfare, “Militiae species amor est, discedite segnes” (A. A. ii. 233); “Militat omnis amans et habet sua castra Cupido” (Am. i. 9. 1). The arms this lover proposes to hang up in the temple of Venus on the left wall, as being most propitious (but see next Ode, v. 15, n.), are the torch that lighted him to his mistress, the crowbar that broke open her door, and the bow and arrows which he carried as emblems of his passion perhaps. For what other purpose he could use them it is not easy to see.

5. marinae] See C. i. 3. 1, n.

9. beatam — Cyprum] See C. 29. 60.

10. Memphin] Herodotus (ii. 112) speaks of a temple at Memphis to Ξείνη Ἀφροδίτη, built by Proteus on the occasion of Paris and Helen being driven upon the coast of Egypt, according to a local legend, which makes Herodotus think that Helen herself was the Ἀφροδίτη in question. As to Sithonia, see C. i. 18. 9.

11. sublimi] ‘lifted high,’ that the blow might be the sharper.

ODE XXVII.

The subject of this Ode appears to be a journey to Greece (v. 19), proposed by a lady of Horace’s acquaintance, whom he pretends to deter from her purpose, by reciting the dangers she will have to encounter, and the fate that waits upon female obstinacy, as illustrated by the story of Europa, which story occupies two thirds of the Ode, and puts aside Galatea and her journey. The length of the digression is a way with Horace (as in the story of Regulus, C. iii. 5, and of Hypermnestra, iii. 11), and Pindar took the same liberty with greater freedom.

Argument.—Let the wicked go on their way with evil omens. I do but pray for thee that the storm may be averted. Be happy, go where thou wilt, and remember me, Galatea. Fear not those idle omens: but see the rising storm: I know the dangers it portends. May they fall upon my enemy rather than on thee. It was thus Europa left her girlish task, and crossed the sea by night, but feared not, till she stood on the shore of Crete. Then she cried out in anguish: “Alas! my father, a daughter’s name I have abandoned; love is swallowed up in madness. What an exchange is here! Many deaths do I deserve to die. Am I awake, or is it a dream? Was it better to cross the sea than to gather young flowers at home? O that I might avenge myself on that monster, once too dearly loved! Shame on me that I left my home; shame that I delay to die. Let me go naked among lions and perish by tigers, rather than waste away in a lingering death. ‘Vile girl!’ my father cries, ‘why dost thou not die? Here thou mayest hang by thy girdle, or dash thee on the rocks, or into the stormy waves, unless thou wouldst yield thyself a barbarian’s slave.’” Then came Venus and her son, and laughed mischievously, and said: “Cease thy wrath, when the monster shall come back to give thee thy revenge. What, knowest thou not that thou art the spouse of Jove? Away with sighs. Bear thy noble destiny, for one half the world shall take its name from thee.”

1. parrae] What this bird was is not determined.

3. Rava decurrens] The meaning of ‘ravus’ is not certain. Horace applies it to a wolf or a lion (Epod. xvi. 33), in the latter case imitating perhaps Homer’s χαροποὶ λέοντες (Odyss. xi. 611), for ‘ravus’ is said to be akin to χαροπός. The wolf is represented as running down from the hills of Lanuvium, because that town was near the Appia Via leading to Brundisium, where Galatea would embark.

6. Si per obliquum] The image of the snake shooting across the road recalls Jacob’s prophecy in respect to his son Dan: “Dan shall be a serpent by the way; an adder in the path that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backwards” (Gen. xlix. 17).

7. ego cui timebo] ‘For my part, on behalf of her for whom I am anxious, like a far-seeing augur, before that bird (the crow) which tells of the coming storm shall go back to his stagnant pool, the croaking raven with my prayers I will call up from the East,’ which would be an omen of good weather, and the crow flying to the marsh, of bad. ‘Oscines aves’ were birds whose omens were taken from their note, as ‘praepetes’ from their flight.

13. Sis licet felix] There is a tenderness apart from familiarity in these two stanzas, which gives much reality to the Ode.

15. laevus vetet ire picus] The woodpecker was a bird of ill-omen. There was some confusion among the Romans as to the right hand and left in augury, as to which was the propitious side. The confusion may have arisen from the different practice of the Greeks and Romans in taking note of birds, the former facing the north and the latter the south, as is commonly supposed. But what is confusion to us, was none to a Roman. (C. 26. 5.)

18. Pronus Orion.] Orion sets about the beginning of November. On ‘albus Iapyx,’ see C. 3. 4 and 7. 15 of the first book.

21. Hostium uxores] So in C. i. 21. 13, sqq., he prays Apollo to turn away war, famine, and pestilence from his country to her enemies, the Parthians and Britons. Such diversion is common with the poets, as Virgil (Georg. iii. 513), “Di meliora piis erroremque hostibus illum.” The Romans used ‘pueri’ for children of either sex. ‘Oriens’ is not usually applied to the rising of a wind, as Horace applies it here.

25. Sic et Europe] The story of Europa, the daughter of Agenor and sister of Cadmus, carried off from Phœnicia to Crete by Zeus, under the form of a bull, is told by Ovid, at the end of the second book of the Metamorphoses.

28. Palluit] So ‘expalluit’ (Epp. i. 3. 10) and ‘contremuit’ (C. ii. 12. 8) are used transitively.

33. centum — Oppidis] See Epod. ix. 29. The description is taken from Homer’s Κρήτην ἑκατόμπολιν (Il. ii. 649). Europa’s speech is that of one just awake to her real position, after the terror of her voyage and the departure of her companion; left alone in a strange land, with the consciousness of her folly first coming upon her. She begins distractedly, ‘Father,—alas! I have forfeited a daughter’s name, and love hath given place to madness.’

37. Unde quo veni?] This implies, not that she was so distracted that she had forgotten whence she had come, but ‘What an exchange have I made! So dear a home for this strange place!’ It is all very natural and beautiful. ‘Una mors’ is perhaps an imitation of Sophocles (Antig. 308): οὐχ ὗμιν Ἅιδης μοῦνος ἀρκέσει.

38. Vigilansne ploro] ‘Am I awake and weeping for my foul fault, or, free from guilt, doth some vain image mock me, which, taking flight from out the ivory gate, brings me a dream?’

41. porta fugiens eburna] Homer (Odyss. xix. 562) describes two gates in the house of Sleep, one of them horn and the other ivory, for the exit of dreams, of which those which came out of the ivory gate were false, those out of the other, true. Virgil has imitated Homer’s description, Aen. vi. 894, sqq.

44. Carpere flores?] Ovid makes her put flowers about the animal’s neck: “flores ad candida porrigit ora,” Met. ii. 861.

49. Impudens liqui] ‘For lack of shame I left my father’s house, for lack of shame I hesitate to die,’ either because she deserved to die, or because her chastity was in danger. ‘Orcum moror’ is equivalent to ‘dubito mori,’ like Ovid (Heroid. ix. 146): “Impia quid dubitas Deïanira mori”, but it is an unusual form. Seeing nothing but death before her, she prays to be killed at once, rather than die a lingering death by hunger, and go down to Hades robbed of her beauty. This notion is Greek, and from the Greek it is probably imitated. ‘Ere ugly leanness seize my lovely cheeks, and their young victim’s blood runs dry, thus in my beauty I would feed the tigers.’

60. Laedere collum] ‘Laedere’ corresponds to λωβᾶσθαι in Soph. Ant. 54, πλεκταῖσιν ἀρτάναισι λωβᾶται βίον. Several heroines ended their lives in this unromantic way,—Antigone, Jocasta, Phædra, Amata; and the tragedians have no stronger expression for suffering, than that it is enough to make one hang one’s self.

61. Sive te rupes] As to ‘sive,’ see i. 6. 19, n. ‘Acuta leto,’ ‘sharp to kill,’ whose sharp edges are fatal.

66. Aderat querenti] Venus and Cupid come to laugh her out of her fears, and to teach her the greatness of her destiny.

67. remisso] Cupid’s bow is unstrung, as the Scholiast says, because it has done its work with Europa.

69. Abstineto, — irarum] This is a Greek form, noticed before (C. ii. 9. 17).

71. invisus] They speak ironically.

73. esse nescis:] This may be ‘you know not how to be’ (that is, ‘to bear yourself as’), or ‘you know not that you are.’ ‘Scire’ in this last sense does not usually govern the infinitive mood.

76. Nomina] The plural is thus used for the singular in C. iv. 2. 4, and Ovid (Tr. i. 1. 90): “Icarus Icariis nomina fecit aquis.” Horace seems to give Europe half the world, and the other parts the rest. He is not speaking with exactness.

ODE XXVIII.

This Ode professes to be written on the day of the Neptunalia. The time is the afternoon, and the poet calls upon Lyde (an imaginary person) to come and drink with him, and sing an amebean address to the divinity of the day and the other gods usually honored on such occasions.

Argument.—Lyde, bring out the best Cæcuban, and take wisdom by storm, for what can I do better on Neptune’s holiday? The noon is past, make haste. Let us sing; I of Neptune and the Nereids, you of Latona and Diana; both of us together of Venus;—and we will not forget a song for Night.

2. reconditum] This is explained by (C. ii. 3. 8) “Interiore nota Falerni” (see note). ‘Strenua’ is put instead of the adverb.

4. Munitaeque adhibe vim sapientiae.] This has something of the heroic in it: ‘lay siege to wisdom in her strong-hold.’

7. horreo] The ‘apotheca’ at the top of the house, where the ‘amphorae’ were kept (C. i. 37. 6; iii. 8. 11, n.).

8. Bibuli consulis] M. Calpurnius Bibulus was consul with Julius Cæsar, B. C. 59. See C. iii. 8. 12, n.

9. Nos cantabimus invicem] See Argument.

12. Cynthiae;] Diana, the Latin form of Artemis, was born, like her brother Apollo, on Mount Cynthus, in the island of Delos. Latona (the Latin name of Λητώ) was their mother, by Zeus.

13. Cnidon] See C. i. 30. 1. ‘Summo carmine’ is the conclusion of their duet, not their last song.

14. Fulgentes] See C. i. 14. 19. We do not hear elsewhere of Venus frequenting the Cyclades. As to Paphon, see C. i. 30. 1.

15. oloribus;] Compare Ovid (Met. x. 717):

“Vecta levi curru medias Cytheraea per auras Cypron olorinis nondum pervenerat alis.”

16. Dicetur merita Nox] See C. iii. 19. 10. ‘Nenia’ is here a sort of lullaby. See Epod. xvii. 29, n.

ODE XXIX.

This is an invitation from the poet to his patron, pressing him to pay him a visit at his farm. He bids him throw off the cares of the state, and live for the enjoyment of the hour. The time is the dog-days. The year is uncertain.

Argument.—Come, Mæcenas, the wine and oil and the flowers are ready. Stay not for ever gazing from a distance at the pleasant fields of Tibur, buried in the magnificence and the uproar, the wealth and the smoke, of the city. The rich man often likes to sup at the poor man’s table. The days of drought are come back; the shepherd seeks the shade, the flock seeks the stream, not a breath is on the river-banks: but thou art distracting thyself with imaginary dangers. Heaven has wisely hidden the future from man, and does but smile at his fears. Live for the present; all else is like the stream, that now flows in peace, now is swollen to a flood, and sweeps all with it to the sea. He lives happy who lives to-day, and leaves to-morrow to Heaven, seeing that Jove himself cannot undo what is done.

As to Fortune, she is fickle, and changes from day to day. If she stays with me, I am glad; if she flies, I am resigned. If the storm rages, I have no merchandise to fear for, and can put out into any sea with safety in my little bark.

1. Tyrrhena regum progenies,] Compare C. i. 1. 1. ‘Verso’ is equivalent to ‘moveri’ in “moveri digna bono die” (C. iii. 21. 6). The ‘balanus’ was an oleaginous nut of some kind, and is here put for the oil expressed from it.

5. Eripe te morae;] ‘Morae’ is the dative.

6. Ne semper udum] ‘Udum’ is an epithet commonly applied to Tibur, which stood on the banks of the Anio. The town itself was built on the side of a hill (C. iii. 4. 23), but the fields below seem to have been damp (see C. i. 7. 14) from a number of small streams which watered them. It appears that Mæcenas was sighing for the country all the time he was detained at Rome. Telegonus, son of Ulysses and Circe, was the reputed founder of Tusculum and Præneste. One of the legends of the death of Ulysses attributes it to this son. Æsula was probably a town between Præneste and Tibur, but no traces of its site remain, and Pliny says that it no longer existed in his time (iii. 5).

10. Molem] This signifies Mæcenas’s palace on the Esquiline Hill at Rome. It is mentioned in Epod. ix. 3.

11. Omitte] This is the only instance in this book of an iambus at the beginning of the third verse. It occurs four times in the first book, and twice in the second. It does not occur in the fourth.

15. aulaeis et ostro] The meaning of ‘aulaeis’ is explained in Sat. ii. 8. 54. It was usual to spread tapestry to catch any dust that might fall from the ceiling. ‘Aulaeis et ostro’ may form one subject, or ‘ostro’ may mean the coverings of the couches. See S. ii. 3. 118, n.

16. Sollicitam explicuere frontem.] This expression is repeated in Sat. ii. 2. 125: “Explicuit vino contractae seriae frontis.” The perfect has the force of the Greek aorist.

17. Andromedae pater] Cepheus, a northern star below Ursa Minor, rises at the beginning of July. Procyon, a star of the first magnitude, in the constellation Canis Minor, and called ‘Ante Canem’ by a literal version of the Greek name, rises about the same time, and the sun enters Leo: see above, C. iii. 13. 8, n. ‘Stella’ is not commonly put for ‘sidus,’ the constellation, as it is here.

25. Tu civitatem] See Introduction. As to ‘regnata,’ see C. ii. 6. 11. The Seres represent indefinitely the farthest Eastern nations known to the Romans (see C. i. 12. 56). The Bactrians were formerly part of the Persian empire, and were at this time partly subject to the Parthians and partly to a Scythian race, the Tochari. Bactra was their capital. The meaning of Horace is, that Mæcenas should not trouble himself about improbable dangers.

34. aequore] ‘Aequore’ is equivalent to ‘alveo,’ the channel of the river. Virgil has “viridesque secant placido aequore silvas” (Aen. viii. 96). The next line describes well the quiet flow of a river.

43. cras vel atra] Compare C. ii. 10. 15. On ‘diffinget,’ see C. i. 35. 39. ‘Vexit’ is employed unusually for ‘avexit.’

49. Fortuna saevo] The caprice of Fortune, represented as a coquette transferring her favors from one favorite to another, and delighting to trifle with the happiness of men, is the lowest Epicurean view of life and the world’s government. But Horace writes conventionally. He has just assigned to the Father of all the ordering of men’s lives.

51. Transmutat incertos honores,] Compare C. i. 34. 12, sqq.

53. si celeres quatit] Horace uses ‘si’ where other writers would use ‘sin.’

54. resigno] This is equivalent to ‘rescribo’ in a money sense, ‘to pay back.’ ‘Mea virtute me involvo’ is a picture of self-satisfaction. The man wraps his cloak of virtue complacently around him, and sits down in contented indifference to the proceedings of Fortune, as if she had nothing to do with him, and unites himself to poverty, as to a bride without a portion.

60. Cypriae Tyriaeque merces] Cyprus abounded in copper and other metals, including gold and silver, together with precious stones. It exported wines also and oil. The trade of Phœnicia, which at this time formed part of the Roman province of Syria, was carried on through Sidon more largely than Tyre, which, however, was a port of some consequence under the emperors. Horace is speaking generally, and ‘Tyriae merces’ answered his purpose as well as any other expression.

62. biremis — scaphae] A two-oared boat, ἐλάτης δικώπου. ‘Biremis’ is not so used elsewhere, but for two banks of oars.

64. feret] See above, C. iii. 9. 12, n. ‘Geminusque Pollux’ is an elliptical way of expressing ‘Pollux cum gemino fratre.’ See C. i. 3. 2.

ODE XXX.

This Ode appears to have been written as an epilogue to the first three books, as C. i. 1 was the prologue. It expresses the conviction, which time has justified, that, through his Odes, Horace had achieved an immortal name. The same just pride had been shown by poets before him; as by Sappho in a poem of which the first line only has been preserved, μνάσασθαί τινά φαμι καὶ ὕστερον ἀμμέων (16 Bergk); and by Ennius, in the lines (see C. ii. 20. 21, n.),—

“Nemo me lacrimis decoret nec funera fletu Faxit. Cur? volito vivu’ per ora virum,”

which words Virgil has made his own (Georg. iii. 9). Propertius (iii. 1), Ovid (Met. xv. 871, sqq.), and Martial (x. 2. 7, sqq.) have all imitated Horace very closely.

Argument.—I have built myself a monument which storms shall not destroy, nor Time himself. I shall not die, but live in freshness of fame so long as the world endures.

It will be said, on the banks of my native river, that I, a humble man made great, was the first to fit the Grecian strain to the lyre of Italy.

Put on the bay that thou hast earned, my Muse.

2. situ] This word is nowhere else used in this sense. It here signifies the building, and not the site.

3. impotens] This word is equivalent to ‘impotens sui,’ ‘violent,’ ‘intemperate.’ See Epod. xvi. 62.

7. Libitinam:] See S. ii. 6. 19, n.

usque] In this sense of ‘continually,’ ‘usque’ only occurs in poetry and is always joined to a verb. What follows means ‘while the Pontifex Maximus shall, on the Ides of every month, go up to the Capitol to offer sacrifice, the Vestal virgins walking silently in the procession,’ as they did, and the boys at the same time sang hymns. With a Roman this was equivalent to saying ‘for ever.’

10. Dicar qua violens obstrepit Aufidus] See Introduction and C. iv. 9. 2, n. ‘Violens’ is not a common form of ‘violentus.’ It occurs again Epp. i. 10. 37, and in Persius (Sat. v. 171), “nunc ferus et violens.” ‘Obstrepere’ is used absolutely again, Epod. ii. 27.

11. Et qua pauper aquae] ‘Pauper’ takes a genitive in S. i. 1. 79; ii. 3. 142. As to Daunus, see C. i. 22. 14, n. Apulia was badly watered. Horace calls it elsewhere ‘Siticulosa’ (Epod. iii. 16, n.).

12. Regnavit] This word, though it is used in the passive voice (see last Ode, v. 27), here only has a noun after it. Horace gives it the genitive, in imitation of ἄρχειν. He wrote with his mind full of Greek constructions and words, and took the liberty of using them very freely.

ex humili potens,] Horace uses the expression ‘potentium vatum’ in the eighth Ode of the next book (v. 26). He considered Alcæus and Sappho as his chief models in lyric poetry, which he sums up in the formula ‘Aeolium carmen’ here and in C. iv. 3. 12. ‘Delphica lauro’ is the same as ‘laurea Apollinari’ in the next book (C. iv. 2. 9).