Part 63 (1/2)

[49] Compare Havercamp on Lucret. ii. sub init.

[50] Compare Virgil, aen. iv. 469. ”Et solem geminum, et duplices se ostendere Thebas.” In the second pa.s.sage of Clemens Alexandrinus quoted by Elmsley, ?e??? is probably a mistaken reference to Tiresias.

[51] An obscure hint at the impending fate of Pentheus. Nonnus has led the way to the catastrophe by a graphic description of Agave's dream. Dionys.

45. p. 751.

[52] fe??e??? may mean either ”carried in a litter,” or ”carried to burial.” There is a somewhat similar play in the epigram of Ausonius, xxiii. ”Mater Lacaena clypeo obarmans filium, c.u.m hoc, inquit, aut in hoc, redi.”

[53] Burges more rightly reads at??? te Ga?. See Elmsley's note.

[54] As one must make some translation, I have done my best with this pa.s.sage, which is, however, utterly unintelligible in Dindorf's text. A reference to his selection of notes will furnish some new readings, but, as a whole, quite unsatisfactory.

[55] Compare the parallel account in Nonnus, 46. p. 784.

[56] Alluded to by Oppian, Cyn. iv. 300. apte se?a? f???e??? pat?????, a?

d' e?e????? ?a?a?, ata?t???? d' ?pas?? t?s?? ??a t??a????. He then relates that Pentheus was transformed into a bull, the Maenads into panthers, who tore him to pieces.

[57] st???? is either the aim itself, or the mark aimed at, as in this pa.s.sage, and Xenoph. Ages. 1. 25.

[58] I have done my best with this extraordinary expression, of which Elmsley quotes another example from Archilochus Fragm. 36. Perhaps the notion of excessive rapidity is intended to be expressed.

[59] ??? seems metaphorically said, as in aesch. Eum. 47. Nonnus, 45. p.

784, 23. above, 922.

[60] Compare Nonnus, 46. p. 784.

?a? t?te ?? ??pe ??ssa ???sfa?e?? ?????s??, ?a? p??te?a? f?e?a? es?e t? de?te???: af? de ?a???

?e?t??a p?t?? e??? ?e????? ef?e??at? f????.

?te? e? d?s?te? ap??e?? ???e? ??ss??, ???a p??e? ?a?ee?? e t?? ???ea.

The whole pa.s.sage is very elegant, and even pathetic.

[61] Alluding to the horns of Bacchus. Cf. Sidon. Apoll. Burg. Pontii Leontii, vs. 26, ”Caput ardua rumpunt Cornua, et indigenam jaculantur fulminis ignem.” See some whimsical reasons for this in Isidor. Origg viii.

2. Albricus de Deor. Nu. xix. But compare above, vs. 920. ?a? ta???? ????

p??s?e? ???e?s?a? d??e??, ?a? s?? ?e?ate ??at? p??spef??e?a?.

[62] Elmsley has rightly shown that ?e???a could not of itself mean ”a bull” or ”heifer,” although Homer has e???p?da? ?e???a? ???. I have therefore followed Hermann, who remarks, ”?e??? seems properly to be meant for the cl.u.s.ters of ivy with which the thyrsus was entwined. Hence Agave says that she adorns the thyrsus with a new-fas.h.i.+oned wreath, viz. the head of her son.” Such language is, however, more like the proverbial boldness of aeschylus, than the even style of our poet.

[63] ”?????a, ornamentum capitis, vix potest dubitari quin pro ipso capite posuerit.” HERMANN. There is considerable variation in the manner in which the following lines are disposed.

[64] Or, ”Bacchus-mad.”

[65] I have marked a lacuna with Dindorf.

[66] See the commentators on Virg. aen. i. 11. ”Tantaene animis clestibus irae?”

[67] After t????e? f??a? supply e???s??. ELMSLEY.