66. lentus, see on 1.

67. moenia Phoebi: i. e. the walls of Troy built by Apollo and Neptune for Laomedon; cf. 5, 139.

69-70. 'If my prayers had not been answered, and Troy had not fallen, I at least should have known where you were fighting, and should have had nothing worse than war to fear, and my complaint would have been uttered in common with many others.'

For the tenses cf. 7-10.

71. demens 'distraught with grief.'

72. in 'for.' Cf. 2, 44. 5, 58. area 'field,' a word which Ovid is fond of using both in simple and metaphorical sense; Tr. 4, 3, 84 et patet in laudes area lata tuas. Am. 3, 1, 26 Haec animo, dices, area facta meo est. It seems to be derived from the idea of an open space suited for a battle: Am. 3, 15 Corniger increpuit thyrso graviore Lyaeus: pulsanda est magnis area major equis. Cf. F. 5, 707 Liber ab arboribus locus est, apta area pugnae. It is properly any open space in a town. Vid. Rich.

75. quae vestra libido est' such is the incontinence of you men.' The plural vestra is used because she is speaking not only of Ulysses but of men generally, vid. 47.

quae est such is, &c.' Cf. ex P. 1, 7, 59 quaeque tua est pietas...jus aliquod tecum fratris amicus habet. Ex P. 2, 2, 21 quaeque tua est pietas...te laedi, cum quis laeditur inde, putas.

77-8. forsitan: generally with subjunctive. See index.

rustica 'homely,' with none of the accomplishments of a town-bred woman. It is opposed to procax in Am. 2, 4, 13. Ovid seems to use it elsewhere to mean 'prudish,' Rem. 329 Et poterit dici petulans quae rustica non est; et poterit dici rustica si qua proba est.

quae tantum,...sinat 'whose only accomplishment is to dress her rough wools.' Rudes lanae seems to mean wool in its rough state before it is spun. A. A. 2, 219 Inter Ioniacas calathum tenuisse puellas Creditur, et lanas excoluisse rudes. But there is also perhaps allusion to the meaning of rustica.

80. 'And may it not be the case that though free to return, you choose to remain away!' revertendi liber 'free in regard to returning.' Cf. 5, 147 utilis medendi, ib. 150 prudens artis. F. 3, 383 Mamurius morum fabraene exactior artis? Tr. 1, 3, 7 mens apta parandi. See my note on Ter. Haut. 727. Munro on Lucr. 1, 137. Roby § 1321.

81. Icarius, father of Andromache, is mentioned in Odyss. 1, 329 and elsewhere. Her mother Periboea is only mentioned in later writers; while according to other traditions she was not Periboea but Polycaste.

82. cogit 'tries to compel me.'

83. licet admits the infin. or subj. with or without ut. Cf. 3, 81. oportet admits the infinitive, or subjunctive without ut.

86. vires temperat ipse suas 'and refrains-even he— from putting all the pressure on me that he might,' i. e. if he used his parental authority. She is referring to cogit in 82, and ipse is emphatic and has almost the sense of ultro, 'not only I resist, but he too sees himself the necessity of refraining.'

87-9. Ovid follows the Odyssey in these names and in the substance of the complaint.

ὅσσοι γὰρ νήσοισιν ἐπικρατέουσιν ἄριστοι

Δουλιχίῳ τε Σάμῃ τε καὶ ὑλήεντι Ζακύνθῳ, τόσσοι μητέρ' ἐμὴν μνῶνται, τρύχουσι δὲ οἶκον.

τοὶ δὲ φθινύθουσιν ἔδοντες

οἶκον ἐμόν· τάχα δή με διαρραίσουσι καὶ αὐτόν.

Odyss. 16, 121.

90. viscera nostra &c. 'your goods, our very vitals, are torn to pieces and devoured as by beasts of prey.' The word dilacerantur is used as suiting viscera in apposition to opes. Cf. Tr. 1, 7, 20 libellos Imposui rapidis viscera nostra rogis. The fact that Ovid never elsewhere uses viscera for 'heart,' is a strong if not conclusive argument against Palmer's translation, 'My heart is rent, your wealth is squandered.' I do not think that any instance is to be found in other writers either of viscera used for heart; whereas there is an exactly parallel use of it, for 'means,' 'substance,' in Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 3, 7 de visceribus tuis.

91-2. Pisander and Polybus are named in Odyss. 22, 243. Medonta is a mistake for 'Aupiμédovтa, Od. 22, 242.

The name Médwv occurs elsewhere in the Odyssey, but not as one of the suitors: another instance of the laxity with which Ovid uses his authority.

Eurymachus, one of the suitors slain by Ulysses, Odyss. 22, 81.

Antinous, the first of the suitors slain, Od. 22, 15, sq.

93. turpiter 'to your dishonour,' to be joined with absens. It does not imply anything criminal on the part of Ulysses, but indicates the result of his absence, whether voluntary or not, as

bringing shame to him. It may be compared with such uses of male as that in 7, 54 quam male credis 'with what ill results do you trust.'

94. partis tuo s. 'obtained by your blood,' i. e. in war and danger. Cf. Tr. 4, 4, 59 sunt circa gentes quae praedam sanguine quaerunt. (Loers.)

95. Irus egens, Ipos dλýτns Od. 18, 25. The description of him at the beginning of the 18th Odyss. will best illustrate what Ovid is thinking of.

ἦλθε δ ̓ ἐπὶ πτωχὸς πανδήμιος, ὃς κατὰ ἄστυ

πτωχεύεσκ ̓ Ἰθάκης, μετὰ δ ̓ ἔπρεπε γαστέρι μάργο
ἀζηχὲς φαγέμεν καὶ πιέμεν.

Melanthius, the goatherd of Ulysses. Od. 17, 247.

96. ultimus pudor 'add the finishing stroke of dishonour to your losses.' Pudor is in apposition to Irus and Melanthius.

accedere in occurs in Fast. 3, 164 in lustrum accedere debet una dies. But in tua damna also indicates the end arrived at, cf. 4, 16. 5, 58. For the sense of ultimus cf. 12, 50 ultimus labor.

99-100. The plot of the suitors to kill Telemachus is described in Odyss. 15 and 16. It takes place on his return, when he has already been recognised by his father, who has also returned. This, if Ovid cared to be consistent, dates the letter on the very eve of Ulysses' restoration; in which case Telemachus ought certainly not to be called puer. But the poet is not much concerned as to consistency.

per insidias 'by treachery,' cf. per facinus 12, 6; per jurgia Tr. 5, 11, 1; places raras dotata per artes Am. 2, 4, 17.

invitis omnibus seems to refer to the dislike of the suitors to Telemachus' expedition, Odyss. 2, 303 sq.

101. ordine 'in their due order,' i. e. the elder dying before the younger. Loers aptly quotes Tacitus Ann. 16, 11 servavitque ordinem fortuna, ac seniores prius, tum cui prima aetas exstinguuntur.

103-4. hinc faciunt the neatherd (Philaetius) and the old nurse (Euryclea) and thirdly the faithful keeper of the stye (Emmaeus) all act on this side,' i.e. they all faithfully protect your son and preserve your estate against the suitors. For faciunt cf. 2, 39. I think this is a more natural meaning to give faciunt than Palmer's 'offer up the same prayer.'

и

cura for curator; cf. mora=id quod moratur Am. 2, 11, 15; consilium adviser F. 3, 274; Cui deus, 'en adsum tibi cura fidelior,' inquit, A. A. 1, 555, though cura may there mean 'lover.'

tertius is only equivalent to another conjunction, cf. Tr. 2, 1, 53 Per mare per terras per tertia numina juro, and is masculine because cura stands for Emmaeus.

108. erat for esset. Cf. 112. 11, 56. 'His is now just the age that should have had a father's protection,' Liv. 37, 36 Ad Hellespontum obsistendum erat...si pacem petituri eratis, and other examples in Roby § 1533. It is more particularly frequent with the gerundive [16, 152 tam bona constanter preda tenenda fuit] and the future participle, Tr. 1, 6, 14 in mea venturus, si paterere, fuit, 1, 7, 40 emendaturus, si licuisset, eram.

109. vires pellere 'strength to repel.' Pellere is equivalent to pellendi or ad pellendum. Cf. vires currendi, Am. 4, 6, 70; vires dictandi, Tr. 3, 3, 86.

110. ara 'an altar of refuge;' Tr. 4, 5, 2 Unica fortunis ara · reperta meis, an intelligible metaphor, which aura, the reading of many MSS., is not; although rather naturally suggested by the close neighbourhood of portus.

112. 'Who ought to have been trained when young to imitate his father's character.' Elsewhere Ovid uses erudio differently. M. 8, 215 damnosas erudit artes. F. 3, 294 Atque ita qua possint erudit arte capi. Ib. 820 erudit percurrere. artes are qualities acquired, hence, taken together, they represent what we call 'character.' F. 2, 508 et patrias artes militiamque colant. Virg. G. 3, 101 speaks of the artes of a horse.

114. extremum fati sustinet diem 'prolongs his last hours and will not end them,' cf. 3, 142. One of those pregnant expressions in which Ovid delights. The notion seems to be that Laertes has reached his destined day of death, and yet prolongs it in order to live long enough to let Ulysses close his eyes. The various passages quoted in illustration seem not parallel; for in each sustinet governs some word such as animam, spiritus, &c., which does not require any pregnant sense to be attached to sustinere. The nearest is Livy 2, 65, rem sustinendo 'by keeping the business going.'

116. ut 'even though,' cf. 2, 137. 3, 134. 6, 108. 7, 15, 21, 55, 147. 10, 65. From which instances it will be seen that this use of ut, not uncommon in other writers, is a peculiarly favourite one with Ovid.

II.

PHYLLIS DEMOPHOONTI.

PHYLLIS queen of Thrace, daughter of Sithon, received Demophoon son of Theseus on his way home from the Trojan war. They became enamoured and Demophoon promised her marriage. After some time Demophoon set sail to Athens, promising to return in a month; but three months had passed and the fourth was drawing to a close, and yet he had not returned. Phyllis writes this letter, reproaching him with his ingratitude and his perfidy, reminding him of his vows of affection, her own services and favours, and expressing her despair and determination to die.

[The story is completed by Servius. Phyllis hanged herself, and over her tomb a tree grew which at a particular season of the year grew wet as with tears. Another tradition was that Phyllis was changed by the Gods into an almond tree, and that Demophoon landing in Thrace soon afterwards, and embracing the tree then bare of leaves, it suddenly shot forth its blossoms. A pretty fable founded on the fact of the almond tree blossoming before its leaves come on.]

'Phyllida Demophoon praesens moderatius ussit:
Exarsit velis acrius illa datis.'

1. Rhodopeia: i.e. Thracian, see on 1, 45.

A. A. 2, 352.

3. cornua...coissent 'had met to form the full moon,' cf. M. 2, 344 Luna quater junctis implerat cornibus orbem, ib. 7, 79 Tres aberant noctes ut cornua tota coirent efficerentque orbem, ib. 529 junctis implevit cornibus orbem Luna.

4. Your anchor was due by promise to my shores.' pacta is from pango, vid. index. According to one account which Ovid follows in Rem. 591-607 Phyllis hangs herself on the day appointed for Demophoon's return after waiting in vain for him. But he has chosen to vary the story here, to give more vraisemblance to the Epistle.

6. Actaeas: i.e. Athenian. Attica is called Actaea from aκTý a shore. M. 1, 313 Separat Aonios Actaeis Phocis ab arvis, and often elsewhere in Ovid.

Sithonis 'Thracian.' From Sithon father of Phyllis. So in Ep. 11, 13 Sithonius Aquilo. Sithonia is properly a district in Thrace, the middle one of the three Chalcidian peninsulas.