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

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EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK II., ODE XIII. 381
Ode Xni. The poet, having narrowly escaped destractlon from the falling
of a tree, indulges in strong and angry i^nvectives against both the
tree anJ the individual who planted and rearedit. The subject naturally
leads to serious reflections, and the bard sings of the world of spirits to
which he had been almost a visitant. The poet alludes to this same acci.
dent in the 17th ode of the present book (v. 28), and also in the 4th ode of
the third book (v. 27), where he speaks of his celebrating the anniversary
of his deliverance on the Calends of March, the date of the accident.
1-11. 1. nie et 'aefasto, &o. " O tree, whoever first planted thee,
planted thee on an unlucky day, and with a sacrilegious baud reared thee
for the ruin of posterity and the disgrace of the district." Pagus alludes
to the village district of Mandela, to which Horace's Sabine farm belonged.
With guicunque primum understand posuit te. Bentley reads Ilium 6
for Ille el, and places a semicolon after pagi in the fourth line. The pas-
sage, as altered by him, will then be translated as follows : " For my part,
I believe that he whoever first planted thee," &c., and then in the fifth
line, "1 say, I believe thathe.boih made away with the life of his parent,"
&c. Nefasto die. Compare note on Orfe ii., 3, 6. 5. Crediderim. "For
my part, I believe." The perfect subjunctive is here used with the force
of a present, to express a Boftei.ed assertion.— 6. Fregisse cervicem.
" Strangled." Supply Inqueo.—Et penetralia, &c. " And sprinkled the
inmost parts of his dwelling with the blood of a guest slain in the nightseason."
To violate the ties of hospitality was ever deemed one of the
greatest of crimes.—8. Ille venena Colcha, &c. " He was wont to handle
Colchian poisons, and to perpetrate whatever wickedness is any where
conceived," &c., i. e., all imaginable wickedness. The zeugma in tracta-
vit is worthy of notice. Obsejrve the force of the aorist in tractavit, as indicating
custom or habit. Venena Colcha. The name and skill of Medea
gave celebrity, among the poets, to the poisons of Colchis. Colcha for
Colckiea. — 11. Triste lignum. "Unlucky ti*ee." Lignum marks contempt.
Caducum. Equivalent here to "quodprope casurum erat."
13-18. 13. Quid quisque vitet, &c. " Man is never sufficiently aware
of the danger that he has every moment to avoid."—14. Bosporum. Alluding
to the Thracian Bosporus, which was considered peculiarly dangerous
by the early mariners on account of the Cyanean rocks at the entrance
of the Euxine.—17. Sagiitas et celeremfugam Parthi. Compare
note on Ode i., 19, 11.—18. Italum robtir. "An Italian prison." The
term robur appears to allude particularly to the well-known prison at
B/ome called Tullianum. It was originally built by Ancus Marcius, and
afterward enlarged by Servius TuUius, whence that part of it which was
under ground, and built by him, received the name of Tullianum. Thus
" In hoc, pars quce sub terra Tullianum, ideo
Varro (jL. L., 4) observes :
quod additum a Tullio rege." The full expression is " Tullianum robur,"
from its walls having been originally of oak. In this prison, captive
monarcfas, after having been led through the streets of Rome in triumph,
were confined, and either finally beheaded or starved to death,
20-26. 20. Improvisa leti vis, &.C. " The unforeseen attack of death
tas hurried ofij and will continue to hunyofi'the nations of the world."
I. Quam panefurvue, &c. " How near were we to beholding the realms
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