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

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EXPLANATORY NOTES.— HOOK I., ODE IX. 275
erder to avoid going to the Trojan war.—14. Sub lacrymoaa Trojmfunera.
" On the eve of the moumfal carnage of Troy," i. e., in the midst of the
preparations for the Trojan war.—15. Virilis eidtus. "Manly attire."
16. In cadem et Lycias catenas. A hendiadys. " To the slaughter of the
Trojan bands." Lycias is here equivalent to Trojanas, and refers te the
collected forces of the Trojans and their allies.
Ode IX. Addressed to Thallarchas, whom some event had robbed ot
his peace of mind. The poet exhorts his friend to banish care from his
breast, and, notwithstanding the pressure of misfortune, and the gloomy
severity of the winter season, which then prevailed, to enjoy the present
hour and leave the rest to the gods.
The commencement of this ode would appear to have been imitated
from Alcaeus.
2-3. 2. Soracte. Mount Soracte lay to the southeast of Falerii, in the
territory of the Falisci, a part of ancient Etruria. It is now called Monte
S. Sihestro, or, as it is by modem corruption sometiiaes termed, Sunt'
Oreste.—3. Laborantes. This epithet beautifully describes the forests as
struggling and bending beneath the weight of the superincumbent ice and
snow. The difference between the temperature of summer and winter in
ancient Italy may be safely assumed, from this as well as other passages,
to have been much greater than it now is. Compare note on Ode i., 3, 1
3-10. 3. Gelu aevio. *' By reason of the keen frost."—5. Dissolvefngus.
"Dispel the cold."—6. Senignius. *'More plentifully," i. e., than
usual. We may supply solito. gome regard hemgnius here as an adjective,
agreeing with merum, " rendered more mellow by age ;" but the
Horatian term in such cases is mitis.—7. Sabina diota. " From the Sabine
jar." The vessel is here called Sabine, from its containing wine
made in the country of the Sabines. The diota received its name from
its having two handles or ears (dff and ov(). It contained generally fortyeight
sextarii, about twenty-seven quarts English measure.—9. Qui simul
ttravere, &a. " For, as soon as they have lulled," Ico. The relative ij
here elegantly used to introduce a sentence, instead of a personal pronoun
with aparticle. ^quorefervido, " Over the boiling surface of the deep."
13-24. 13. Fuge qiiorere. " Avoid inquiring." Seek not to know.—
14. Quod Fors dienim cunque dabit. A tmesis for quodcunque dieruvi
fors dabit, i. e., quemcungue diem, &c. Lucro appone. " Set down as
gain."—16. Puer. " While still young." Neque tu choreas. The use, or
rather repetition, of the pronoun before choreas is extremely elegant, as
denoting earnestness of injunction, and in imitation of the Greek.—17. Do-
nee virenti, &.C. " As long as morose old age is absent from thee, still
blooming with youth."—18. Campus et arece. " Rambles both in the Campus
MartiuB and along the public walks." By area are here meant those
parts of the city that were free from buildings, the same, probably, as the
squares and parks of modem days, where young lovers were fond of stroll-
ing. Svib noctem. " At the approaeh of evening."—21. Nunc et latentis,
*e. The order of the construction is, et nunc grains risus (repetatur) ab
tntimo angulo, proiitor latentis pueUa. The verb repetatur is under
.