iv. Axe sub Hesperio sunt pascua Solis equorum' Ov. Met. 4. 214. 'Iacet extra sidera tellus, Extra anni solisque vias, ubi caelifer Atlas Virg. Ae. 6. 796. 'Progenies magnum caeli ventura sub axem ' 'Aedibus in mediis nudoque sub aetheris axe Ingens ara fuit, iuxtaque veterrima laurus' Virg. Ae. 6. 791. Virg. Ae. 2. 512. Plin. H. N. 27. I. v. 'Aethiopidem (sc. herbam) ab exusto sideribus axe' So also 'polus' is used to denote 'the whole heavens,' 'Postera iamque dies primo surgebat Eoo, Humentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram' 'et polo Virg. Ae. 3. 588. Deripere Lunam vocibus possum meis' Hor. Epod. 17. 77. Parrhasis Arctos, 'the Arcadian Bear.' 'Parrhasis' is the feminine Graeco-poetic form of the adjective 'Parrhasius,' which, as we have already seen, is equivalent to 'Arcadian.' The brilliant constellation known to us as the Great Bear, which never sets in European latitudes, was named by the early Greeks 'The Wain' ("Auaga), or 'the Bear' ("Apkтos); by the Latins 'Plaustrum,' or 'Septem Triones' (i. e. Seven Oxen). Among the objects represented by the skill of Hephaestus on the shield of Achilles, we find the stars which had chiefly attracted observation at that early period, 6 Πλῆιάδας θ' Υάδας τε τό τε σθένος Ωρίωνος, Pleiads, and Hyads, and Orion's might, And the she Bear, whom they the Wain too call, 1 Note, p. 168. Who turning ever treads the self-same round Partakes not in the baths of Ocean's stream.' We may remark that the two characteristics of the Bear are here noted-it never sets, and appears to turn round a fixed point in the heavens. From the last circumstance the name of 'Helice' ('EXíkn) was bestowed on the group, in addition to the other appellations. In after times it was associated with the legend of Callisto, daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia. This damsel attached herself to the train of Artemis, but was deceived and betrayed by Zeus, upon which Hera in wrath transformed her into a bear. After wandering for many years in this shape, she was encountered and wellnigh slain by her son Arcas, but Zeus arrested the arrow as it was quitting the bow, and to recompense his mistress for her sufferings, planted her as a constellation in the heavens. Arcas became Arctophylax' or 'Bootes,' his dog 'The Lesser Bear.' Hera, still burning with jealousy, begged as a boon from Tethys that her rival might never be permitted to cool herself in the waters of the deep. Thus Ov. Fast. 2. 187 'Hanc puer ignarus iaculo fixisset acuto; Ni foret in superas raptus uterque domus. Signa propinqua micant. Prior est quam dicimus Arctophylax formam terga sequentis habet. and again Met. 2. 508 'Gurgite caeruleo septem prohibete triones.' The address of Ceres, when in search of her lost daughter, refers to the same phenomenon. 'Parrhasides stellae, namque omnia nosse potestis, 1 There were several different accounts of the parentage of Callisto, as may be seen from Apollod. 3. 8, 2. According to Apollodorus she was changed into a bear by Zeus, and shot by Artemis. The common version of the story is given by Ov. Met. 2. 401, seqq., Fast. 2. 155, seqq. Apollodorus says nothing about Arcas being turned into a constellation. Y The Lesser Bear' was also termed 'Cynosura' (Kuvòs ovpà), or 'Dog's tail.' The Grecian mariners steered their course by the Greater Bear, while the Phoenicians, as might have been expected from their superior skill in navigation, chose Cynosura as their guide, and probably the Pole-star itself. Thus Ovid, when expatiating on the ignorance of astronomy which prevailed in the age of Romulus, exclaims, Fast. 3. 105 'Quis tunc aut Hyadas, aut Pleiadas Atlanteas Senserat, aut geminos esse sub axe polos? and Hygin. Poet. Astron. 2. 2 'Omnes qui Peloponesum incolunt, priore utuntur Arcto: Phoenices autem, quam a suo inventore acceperunt, observant Cynosuram, et hanc studiosius perspiciendo diligentius navigare existimantur.' From what has been said above, the various epithets and periphrases employed to denote these personages will be readily understood, such are, 'Virgo Tegeaea,' 'Virgo Nonacrina,' 'Periura Lycaoni,' 'Maenalis Ursa,' 'Lycaoniam Arcton,' 'Custos Ursae,' 'Custos Erymanthidos Ursae,' 'Parrhasiae gelido virginis axe premor,' &c. 54. Horam... quae foret apta. It is well known that in many parts of the East to this day no one will set out upon a journey, nor commence any important undertaking, until a lucky hour' has been fixed upon by an astrologer. 55. Ter limen tetigi. See note on 2. 88. 60. Pignora, pledges, pledges of love, hence children, and hence relations and friends in general. Thus Pliny Ep. 1. 12 'Corellium... habentem... filiam, uxorem, nepotem, sorores, interque tot pignora, veros amicos.' 61. Scythia. The name of Scythians is quite as vague in ancient geography, as those of Tartars and Monguls are at present. We sometimes find the name applied to a particular people, and sometimes to all the nomad tribes who were settled throughout that immense tract of country extending from the north of the Black and Caspian seas into the heart of Asia. The same uncertainty prevails in the use of a name for the country, the term Scythia being sometimes applied to the region inhabited by Scythians properly so called, and sometimes employed as an indefinite appellation for the modern Mongolia and Tartary. The settlements assigned to the Scythians proper by Herodotus, extend from the Danube to the Tanais, or Don, around which several other tribes had their residence. The boundaries are-on the south, the coast of the Black Sea, from the mouth of the Danube to the Palus Maeotis; on the east, the Persian Gulf and the Don or Tanais, to its rise out of the lake Ivan; on the north, a line drawn from this lake to that out of which the Tyrus (or Danaster) flows; lastly, the western boundary was a line from thence to the Danube. Thus the figure of Scythia is that of an irregular oblong, which Herodotus ascribes to it. 66. Thesea... fide. The friendship of Theseus and Pirithous, like that of Orestes and Pylades (see p. 130), was proverbial. Compare Hor. Od. 4. 7, 27 'Nec Lethaea valet Theseus abrumpere caro Vincula Pirithoo.' With regard to Pirithous and his punishment in the infernal regions see Hor. Od. 3. 4, 80, Virgil Ae. 6. 601 and 617; also Hom, Odyss. 11. 650, Apollod. 2. 5, 12, and note of Heyne. 75, 76. It will be seen from the various readings that the best MSS. agree in presenting this couplet under the form given in the text. As it stands it is perfectly unintelligible. Three MSS. have 'Mettius' instead of Priamus, seven others have 'equos;' taking these for his guides, Heinsius thus remodelled the lines, 'Sic doluit Mettus, tunc cum in contraria versos according to which emendation Ovid will here allude to the punishment inflicted by Tullus Hostilius on Mettius Fufetius, dictator of Alba, on account of his treachery towards the Romans in a battle with the Fidenates, as recorded by Livy 1. 27 and 28. 6 86. Pietas, dutiful affection.' This word signifies properly reverence and affection entertained towards a superior. Hence the epithet 'pius' so frequently bestowed upon Aeneas in consequence of his devotion to his father. Here it denotes the love and duty of a wife to her husband. 88. Dedit...manus, 'submitted,' a figurative expression taken from captives, who in token of submission, held out their hands to be fettered. 89. Ferri. 'Ferre' and 'efferre' are the technical words employed in reference to bearing forth bodies on the bier for interment. 1 Heeren's Historical Remarks, Vol. 2, p. 253, English Transl. 39. QVA DOCET OVIDIVS MANET ORBIS PARTE FVGATVS. TR. III. IO. THE subject of this elegy is sufficiently explained by the title. The town to which Ovid was banished, called by himself! and Strabo 'Tomis' (Tóμis)2, by Pliny, Ptolemy, and most other writers, 'Tomi' (Topoì), was a Milesian colony, situated on the western shores of the Pontus Euxinus, about ninety miles3 south of the Sacrum Ostium, the most southern mouth of the Ister (Danube). The name 4 gave rise to the legend that this was the spot where Medea, in her flight with Jason, tore to pieces her brother Absyrtus, or, according to others, where her father Aetes collected and buried the mangled limbs of his son 5. Thus Ov. Trist. 3. 9, I 'Hic quoque sunt igitur Graiae, quis crederet? urbes, Inter inhumanae nomina barbariae.. Huc quoque Mileto missi venere coloni Inque Getis Graias constituere domos. Sed vetus huic nomen, positaque antiquius urbe, Inde Tomis dictus locus hic: quia fertur in illo The student may compare the description of a Scythian winter in Virgil G. 3, especially the lines 349, seqq. which are almost identical in thought, and even in expression, with many passages in the poem before us. 1. Istic, 'there,' i. e. at Rome. 1 E. ex. P. 4. 14, 59; 3.9, 35. 2 But the more recent editors of Strabo, following Stephan. Byzant., read Toμeùs and Toμéa in 7. 6, § 1, and 7. 5, § 13. 3 Strabo makes the distance 750 stadia. 4 Τομεὺς a cutter ;" Τομὴ the act of cutting ; Τόμος ' a cur; Τόμις 'a surgical instrument,' &c. 5 Apollod. I. 9, 24. |