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

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346 EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK III,, ODE V.
island of Delos.—64. Delius et Patareus Apollo. "Apollo, god of Delos
and of Patara." LiteraJy, "the Delian and Patarean Apollo." The city
of Patara, in Lycia, was sitaate on the Bouthern coast, below the mouth
of the Xanthus. It was celebrated for an oracle of Apollo, and that deity
was said to reside here daring six months of the year, and daring the remaining
six at Delos. [Virg., .^ra., iv., 143. Sero., ad loc.)
65-79. 65. Vis consili expers, dec. "Force devoid of jadgment sinks
ander its own weight,'' t. e., the efiR>rki of brate force, without wisdom,
are of no avail.—66. Tett^eratam. " When under its control," i. e., when
regulated by judgment. Understand consilio.—Provehunt in maju&. " Increase."
Ammo moveTEtes.' "Meditating in anind."—69. Gyas. Gyas,
Cottua, and Briareus, sons of CobIus and Terra, were hurled by their father
to Tartarus. Jupiter, however, brought them back to the light of day, and
was aided by them in overthrowing the Titans. Bach is the mythological
narrative of Hesiod. (Theog:, 617, seqq.) Horace evidently confounds
this cosmogonical fable with one of later date* The Centimani {'Eko-
Toyxeipe^) are of a much earlier creation than the rebellious giants, and
fight on the side of the gods ; whereas, in the present passage, Horace
seems to identify one of their number with these very giants.—71. Orion.
The well-known hunter and giant of early fable.— ^73. Jnjecta monstris,
A Grrsecism for se injectam esse dolet, &c. "Barth grieve.s at being cast
upon the monsters ofher own production." An allusion to the overthrow
and punishment of the giants. (Fi^yevclf'} Bnceladas was baried under
SicUy, Folybotes under Nisyrus, torn off by Ifeptune from the isle of Cos,
Otos under Crete, &c. (Apollod., i., 6, 2.)
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Partus. The Titans are now
meant, who were also the sons of Terra, and whom Jupiter hurled to Tar
tarns.—75. Nee peredii impositam, &c. " Nor has the rapid fire ever eaten
through Mttxa. placed upon (Enoeladus)," i. e., eaten through the mass of
the mountain so as to reduce this to ashes, and free him from the superincumbent
load. More freely, "nor is Enceladus lightened cf his load."
Pindar [Pyth., i., 31) and ^schylus [Prom. V., 373) place Typhoeus uudej
this mountain.— ^77. Tityi. Tityos was slain by Apollo and Diana for attempting
violence to Latona.— ^78. Ales. The vulture. Neqmtiee addi-
ius custos. "Added as the constant punisber of his gailt/' Literally,
'* added as a keeper to his guilt," TiequituB being properly the dative.
—79. Am^torem Pirithoum. "The amorous Pirithous," i. e., who sought
to gain Proserpina to his love. Firithous, accompanied by Theseus, descended
to Hades for the purpose of carrying off Proserpina. He was
seized by Plato, and bound to a rock with "countless fetters" [trecentis
caienis). His punishment, however, is given differently by other writers.
Ode V. According to Dio Cassius (liv., 8), when Phraates, the Parthian
monarch, sent ambassadors to treat for the recovery of his son, then a
hostage in the hands of the Romans, Augustas demanded the restoration
of the standards taken from Grassus and Antony. Phraates at first re-
fused, but the fear of a war with the Homan emperor compelled him at
length to acquiesce. The odo therefore opens with a complimentary al-
lusion to the power of Augustus, and the glory he has acquired by thus
wresting the Boman standards from the hands of the Parthians. The
bard then dwells for a time upon the disgraceful defeat of Grassus, after
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