equis is for horses and chariot, then, for chariot alone. Cf. ex Pont. 2, 8, 49 Sic tibi fraterni mature funeris ultor Purpureus niveis filius instet equis. i.e. in a triumph.

106. 'Unhappy as I am I have then the luxury of more freedom in my trouble.' She refers to the absence of Pyrrhus in the daytime; liberiore is more than Loers will allow, who explains it by minus urgenti.

107. ululantem: vid. on 7, 95.

109. lacrimis oculi funguntur obortis: 'instead of sleeping as they should, all the duty that my eyes perform is to weep.' fungi: so an altar is said fungi igne, F. 4, 824. A man is said fungi dapibus, F. 2, 791. obortis 'that rise and cover them.' Cf. F. 4, 845 lacrimas introrsus obortas devorat. Cf. 13, 23.

110. quaque licet 'and as well as I can,' cf. 5, 55.

112. Scyria membra 'the limbs of Pyrrhus,' who was born and brought up at Scyros, of which his grandfather Lycomedes was king.

117. generisque parentem, i. e. Jupiter, who was father of Tantalus, great-great-grandfather of Hermione. See on 45.

119-120. By the bones of Agamemnon, which owe it to you that they lie well-avenged as they do.' i.e. by your killing of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.

The distinction between ultus as a passive or a middle in such a sentence is not wide. A person may be ultus 'in a state of having had his vengeance satisfied' whether that be by his own means or another's. This consideration may make us hesitate to accept Palmer's decisive remark in favour of se for sic. Moreover the passive use of the past participle of a deponent verb is very common, and Facciolati quotes an undoubtedly passive use of ultus, though in a somewhat different sense, Liv. 2, 17 ob iras graviter ultas.

sub tumulo 'under their funeral mound,' Bwμós.

121. praemoriar 'die beforehand,' i.e. before you can

IX.

DEIANIRA HERCULL.

THE last expedition of Hercules was against Eurytus of Oechalia in Euboea. He took Oechalia, killed Eurytus and his sons, and carried off his daughter Iole. He stopped on his way home at Cenaeum, a promontory of Euboea, and having there built an altar to Jupiter, he sent Lichas to Trachis in Thessaly, where his wife Deianira was, to fetch a white robe wherein to sacrifice. Deianira had heard that Hercules had become enamoured of Iole, and she sent as a love-charm the white robe dipped in the poisonous blood of the Centaur Nessus. This letter is supposed to be written by her after sending the robe, to reproach Hercules with his infidelity to her, and the shame which he is bringing upon himself. At verse 143 she is supposed to hear of the fatal effects of the robe, and of the approaching death of Hercules. She thereupon resolves to die, and ends with a passionate farewell to all that belong to her.

[In some respects this Epistle appears to me to be less effective and artistic than the others. It is laden with learning and allusion, and the long digression about Omphale (55-118) seems a clumsy contrivance to bring in an enumeration of the 'Labours.' In this passage, too, there are many minor irregularities, e. g. no less than four cases of hiatus; a doubtful use of Nympha (103); a confusion of metaphors in legal matters in which Ovid was well informed (107-8); very probably the unparalleled licence of tegendo (126); and many other minute matters which might be alleged to make us suspicious of the genuineness at any rate of the greater part of the passage from 55 to 118.]

[The Trachiniae of Sophocles supplied Ovid with much of his material, though he would know the story from many sources. We have also the advantage of being able to compare his treatment of the same subject in Met. 9; as well as that of Seneca in his Hercules Oeteus, who as in the case of the 'Phaedra Hippolyto' not only used the same materials as Ovid, but imitated his treatment of them.]

1. titulis 'our honours,' from the practice of inscribing a man's achievements on his statue, see on 6, 100, cf. 10, 130 and index. By nostris she associates herself with her husband's actions.

Oechaliam. There are several towns of this name mentioned, in Thessaly, in Messenia, and Euboea. The last is probably meant by Ovid, following Sophocles Tr. 74 Eußoîda xúpav paoív, Ευρύτου πόλιν, ἐπιστρατεύειν αὐτόν.

3. Pelasgiadas Grecian.' The Pelasgi were the most ancient inhabitants of Greece, see 14, 23. The fem. adjective Pelasgias is formed from Pelasgus as Lemnias from Lemnos (6, 139).

4. decolor disgraceful.' Ovid nowhere else uses the word in any but a physical sense. Virgil (Aen. 8, 326) has Deterior donec paulatim ac decolor aetas, but that has reference to the change from the gold to the bronze age.

factis infitianda tuis 'a report which your great achievements should disown,' i.e. one that is unworthy of a hero of your mighty achievements. The facta are, as it were, personified and stand for the man who accomplished them. Loers quotes M. 2, 34 progenies Phaethon haud infitianda parenti: but his explanation (quam negari debeat esse factorum tuorum) is neither good Latin nor good sense.

6. fregerit the subj., 1st because it is oratio obliq. dependent on fama, and 2nd because quem='the sort of man whom.'

numquam fregerit 'has ever failed to crush.'

7-8. Eurystheus, king of Argos, at whose bidding Hercules performed his twelve labours. He was from birth the rival of Hercules, being ordained by the fraud of Juno to reign over the descendants of Perseus (see Class. Dict.' Hercules'), and therefore may be supposed to rejoice at any disgrace that befell him.

germana Tonantis...noverca, i.e. Juno. For noverca see 6, 126 and M. 9, 181 decet haec dare dona novercam. For the form of expression Loers quotes Aen. 2, 104 hoc Ithacus velit et magno mercentur Atridae, and Il. 1, 255 ǹ kev ynonσal Πρίαμος Πριάμοιό τε παῖδες.

10. Was not enough for the begetting of so mighty a one as you.' tanti should mean of so great value' or ' price,' and is not easy to reconcile with the sense required. Most of the old editors read tanta.

12. humili 'humiliating.' So pingue serum, pingue flumen (Virg. G. 3, 406. Aen. 9, 31) mean fattening,' 'fertilizing.' Exsangue cuminum (Hor. Ep. 1, 19, 18), ‘cumin that makes pale.'

13. vindicibus viribus 'your strength that had been its protection,' so in Met. 9, 241 timuere dei pro vindice terrae. And Sen. Herc. Oet. 321 vindicem tellus suum defendet omnis. (Loers.)

14. qua 'wherever.' caerulus Nereus, i. e. the ocean. M. 1, 187 Nunc mihi qua totum Nereus circumtonat orbem Perdendum est mortale genus: for caerulus cf. 7, 50, for Nereus cf. 3, 74. For this and following line cf. Seneca Oet. 3-4 protuli pacem tibi quacunque Nereus porrigi terras vetat.

15. To you are owing the security to be found on land and the (safe) state of the whole sea.' This is well enough implied in tota aequora without changing to tuta, see on 7, 21. The real difficulty in the line is that it seems to attribute to Hercules some feats against sea-monsters or pirates, which are not elsewhere recorded.

16. i.e. east and west,' Loers quotes Seneca Herc. F. 1061 novit tuas utrasque domos. Herc. Oet. 2 Sator deorum cujus excussum manu Ūtraeque Phoebi sentiunt fulmen domus.

17-18. Cf. F. 1, 565 nititur hic humeris, coelum quoque sederat illis. Hercules held up the heavens while Atlas went to fetch the golden apples from the gardens of the Hesperides for him. For one of the legends of Atlas see M. 4, 630-662. The correct form is doubtless Atlans, "Arλavs hardened in oblique cases into "Arλavт-os, though probably the n was omitted in pronunciation of the nominative.

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19-20. 'What good are all your achievements except to add greater notoriety to your shame, if you put a finishing stroke to them by the stigma of seduction?' It is true, as Palmer says, that there was no stuprum in the case of Iole; but Deianira believed that there was. See Met. 9, 141 credit amans venerisque novae perterrita fama Indulsit primo lacrimis flendoque dolorem Diffudit. For cumulas see 2, 57. It conveys the idea of something excessive or superfluous, cf. Rem. 541 dum bene te cumules et copia tollat amorem.

21-2. tene ferunt can it be you that they say gripped the snakes?' Cf. A. A. 1, 107 Parvus erat manibusque duos Tirynthius angues Pressit et in cunis jam Jove dignus erat.

25. Stheneleius hostis, sc. Eurystheus, son of Sthenelus, who was son of Perseus and Andromeda, see on 7.

27. quia nominer because, as they say, I am called the wife of Hercules.' Nominer the subj. is evidently right here because it is not her reason, but the reason of feror, i.e. of those who say that she is bene nupta.

28. sitque socer qui, i.e. Jupiter.

30-2. magno...minor, i.e. in regard to rank. The passage of Callimachus (Epig. 1, 16) which Palmer quotes refers to the man, whom it warns to wed within his own degree.

31. species 'mere show.' onus ferentis 'those who have to bear it as a burden.' She means herself, but uses the plural to make the statement general, vid. on 3, 43. There is some slight play on the sound of the words honor and onus, as in verba and verbera 10, 38.

35. operata 'busying myself with chaste prayers.' operatus is peculiarly used of religious exercises. Cf. Liv. 1, 31 operatum iis sacris se abdidisse. Fast. 2, 261 Nympha mone, nemori stagnoque operata Dianae. Ib. 6, 249 Vesta fave! tibi nunc operata resolvimus ora.

38-9. iactor 'I am tossed in imagination.'

terna per ora: referring to Hercules carrying off Cerberus. Verse 38 refers to three of the labours of Hercules-his destruction of the Hydra, the Erymanthian boar, the Nemeaean lion.

39-40. 'In my terror I try various methods of divination, by the entrails of sheep, dreams, magic.'

fibrae the entrails,' especially the liver, used in divination by the haruspex. For a description of such a proceeding see Met. 15, 573-582.

simulacra somni: see 13, 111.

40. ominaque arcana nocte: witches chose midnight when the moon was full for their operations, see a full description of the doings of Medea in this way Met. 7, 180-192. She begins her prayer to Hecate thus, 'Nox,' ait, arcanis fidissima,' &c.

41. aucupor 'I catch at,' cf. 13, 107. Cicero has inanem aucupari rumorem; it properly means 'to go fowling' (avis).

43-4. mater abest 'your mother Alcmena is away,' i.e. at Tiryns; Deianira is writing from Trachis. Amphitryon according to most accounts was dead. Hyllus had been sent by Deianira in search of his father, in accordance with a suggestion of her maid. Soph. Trach. 58 sq.

45-6. arbiter 'minister' or 'agent.' It is a bold use of the word drawn from the meaning 'manager,' 'chief administrator,' cf. Tr. 5. 2, 47 arbiter imperii.

nobis sentitur 'is felt by me,' i.e. in imagination, as much as though I were actually the object of it, cf. jactor in 38. For sentitur cf. 6, 154. Nobis is dative, see 2, 115 and index.

47. parum: cf. on 3, 25.

49-54. The loves of Hercules. A similar enumeration is made by the nurse in Sen. Herc. Oet. 365 sq., doubtless taken from this.