Part 62 (1/2)

[7] These ladies seem to have been rather undomestic in character, as Agave makes this very fact a boast, vs. 1236.

[8] Cf. Apollodor. l. i., -- 3, interpp. ad Virg. G. iv. 152. Compare Porphyr. de Nymph. Antr. p. 262, ad. Holst. sp??a?a t????? ?a? a?t?a t??

pa?a??tat?? p??? ?a? ?a??? ep????sa? ?e??? af?s????t??. ?a? e? ???t?? e?

?????t??, ??? e? ???ad?a? de, se????? ?a? ?a?? ???e???: ?a? e? ?a???

?????s??. pa?ta??? d' ??p?? t?? ????a? e???sa?, d?a sp??a??? t?? ?e??

???e??e???. Cf. Moll. ad Longi Past. i. 2. p. 22 sq. ed. Boden.

[9] Cf. Virg. aen. iv. 301, and Ritterh. on Oppian, Cyn. i, 24.

[10] Compare the epithet of Bacchus Oad???, Orph. Hymn. x.x.x. 5; l. 7, which has been wrongly explained by Gesner and Hermann. The true interpretation is given by Porphyr. de Abst. ii. 55, who states that human sacrifices were offered ?ad??? ?????s?? the man being torn to pieces (d?aap??te?).

[11] Persius i. 92. ”et lynceus Maenas flexura corymbis Evion ingeminat, reparabilis a.s.sonat Echo.” Euseb. Pr. Ev. ii. 3, derives the cry from Eve!

[12] I should read this line interrogatively, with Elmsley.

[13] Quoted by Gellius, xiii. 18.

[14] Elmsley would read a???? t? e????. Perhaps the true reading is e??e?? a?a???? = _it is no season for delay_.

[15] The construction is so completely akward, that I almost feel inclined to consider this verse as an interpolation, with Dindorf.

[16] Compare Nonnus, 45. p. 765 4. ?e??es?a? ?a? ?ad?? atas?a??? ?a?e ?e??e??. ?ade, t? a??a??e??, t??? da???? ???? e?e??e??; ?ade, ?a???e??? ap??at?e? ??ss?? e?e????, ?at?e? ?a? ?a??e?a ???p?a?e??

?????s??.... ??p?e ?e??es?a stefa??f??e ?????? a?ta?? S?? p???a?? tade f???a ????? stef??, ?.t.?.

[17] Compare the opinion of Perseus in Cicero de N.D. i. 15, with Minutius Felix, xxi.

[18] Pseud-Orpheus Hymn. l. 6. pa?s?p???? ???t??s? fa?e?? a???.

[19] Dindorf truly says that this pa.s.sage smacks rather of Proclus, than of Euripides, and I agree with him that its spuriousness is more than probable. Had Euripides designed an etymological quibble, he would probably have made some allusion to Merus, a mountain of India, where Bacchus is said to have been brought up. See Curtius, viii. 10. ”Sita est sub radicibus montis, quem Meron incolae appellant. Inde Graeci mentiendi traxere licentiam, Jovis femine liberum patrem esse celatum.” Cf. Eustath. on Dionys. Perieg. 1159. Lucian. Dial. Deor. ix. and Hermann on Orph. Hymn.

lii. 3.

[20] The gift of a?t??? was supposed to follow initiation, and is often joined with the rites of this deity. Philostratus, Heroic. p. 22, ed.

Boiss. ??te d? ?a? a?t???? s?f?a? ef?????ta?, ?a? t? ???s?de? a?ta??

p??sa??e?e?.

[21] Cf. Hippol. 443. ??p??? ?a? ?? f???t?? ?? p???? ?????.

[22] I have followed Matthiae's interpretation of this pa.s.sage.

[23] See Hermann's note.

[24] The fate of Actaeon is often joined with that of Pentheus.

[25] i.e. over-cunning in regard to religious matters. Cf. 200. ??de?

s?f???es?a t??s? da??s??.

[26] Probably a mere hyperbole to denote great fruitfulness. See Elmsley.