The works of Horace : with English notes, critical and ... - Cristo Raul

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264 EXPLANATOEY NOTES. BOOK I., ODE III.
41-51. 41. Sive mufatot &c. " Or if, winged son of the benign Maia,
having changed thy form, thou assumest that of a youthful hero on tha'
earth." Mercury, the offspring of Jupiter and Maia, is here addressed.
The epithet " winged" haa reference to the pecuUar mode in which Mercury
or Hermes was represented in ancient works of art, namely, with
wings attached to his petaaus, or travelling hat, and tdso to his staff and
sandals. Juvenem. Referring to Augustus. He was now, indeed, thirtysix
years of age; but the tQYra. jui^nis applies to all in the bloom and
.likewise prime of life ; in other words, it coitiprehended the whole period
from eighteen to forty or forty-iive.—43. Patiens vocari, &c. "Suffering
thyself to be called the avenger erf Caesar." An imitation of the Greek
idiom, for te vocari Casaris ultorem.—46. Ltstus. "Propitious."—47. 7ntquum.
"Offended at."—48. Odor aura. "Too early a blast." Supply
rectO'. More freely, "an untimely blast." The poet prays that the de-
parture of Augustus for the skies may not be accelerated by the crimes
and vices of his people.—49. Magnos triumphos. Augustus, in the month
of August, A.U.C. 725, triumphed for three days in succession : on the iirat
day over the Pannonians, Dalmatians, lapyda, and their neighbors, together
with some Gallic and Germanic tribes ; on the second day, for the
victory at Aotium ; on the third, for the reduction ofEgypt.^ The successea
over the Gauls and Germans had been obtained for him by his lieutenant,
0. Carinas.—50, Pater atque Pi-inceps. Augustus is frequently styled on
medals, Pater Pairi(B, a title which the succeeding emperors adopted from
him.—51. Medos. "The eastern nations." Alluding particularly to the
Parthiana. Compare note online 22 of this Ode. EquitcvreinuUos. "To
transgress their limits with impunity." To make unpunished inroads into
the Roman territory. The main strength of the Farthians lay in their
cavalry. Hence the peculiar propriety of equitare.
Ode III. Addressed to the ship which was about to convey Virgil to
the shores of Greece. The poet prays that the voyage may be a safe and
propitious one : alarmed, however, at the same time, by the idea of the
dangers which threaten his friend, he declaims against the inventor of
navigation, and the daring boldness of mankind in general.—^Accordingto
Heyne [Virgilii vita per annos digesta), this ode would appear to have
been written A.U.C. 735, when, as Douatus states, the l^ard of Mantua
had determined to retire to Greece and Asia, and employ there the space
of three years in correcting and completing the .^neid. {Donat., Virg.
vit. § 51.) " Anno ifero quinquagesimo secundo" observes Donatua, "ut
ultimam manum ^Tteidi imponeret^ statuit in Grceciam et Asiam sees-
dere, triennioque continito omnem operant limationi dare^ ut reliqiia vzta
tantvm pMlosophice vacai-et. Sed cum ingressus iter Athenisoccurrissd
Augusto, ah Oriente Romam reverienti, una cum Ceesare redire statuU.
Ac cum Megara, vicinum Atkenis oppidum, visendi gratia pet&ret, languorem
nactus est .• quern non intermissa navigatio auadt, ita ut gravior in
dies, tandem Brundisium adventarit, ubi diebuspaucis obiit, X. Kal. Oe-
tobr. C. SentiOf Q. Lucretio Coss.
1-4. 1. Sic te Dwa,pqtens Cypri^ &c. "O Ship, that owest to the
Bhovos of Attica, Virgil intrusted by us to thy care, give him up in safety
I'to liis destined haven), and preserve the one half Of my soul, so may the
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