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

—
—
EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK II., SATIRE III. 503
practice of the Roman bar.—'145. Gaudeat ut populus Priami, &c. Com-
—
pare Homer, JR., i., S55 : ]} xev yridiiaai TlpCa/io;, Upta/ioio re Troidef.
197. Mille avium insanus, tec. In this and the following line we have
the reply ofAgamemnon, but almost the very first word he otters [ijisanus)
excuses, in fact, Ajax, and condemns himself. A man, as Banadon remarks,
who revenges himself npon the corpse of an insane person, mast
be more insane himself than the individaal was who injured him.
199. Natam. Iphigenia. Aulide. Anlis, on the coast of Bosotia, and almost
opposite Chalcis in Enbcea, is celebrated in history as the rendezvous
of the Grecian fleet, when about to sail for Troy.—200. Improte.
" 'Wicked man."—201. Sectum anirm. " Thy right mind." Qttorsum 7
"What art thoa aiming at?" Supply tendis. The common text has
guorsum insanus? "Whyisthehero styled by thee insane 7"—203. Uxore
et gnato. Tecme^sa and Burysaces. Mala multa precafus Atridds.
" Though he uttered many imprecations against the AtridES."— ^204. Ipsum
Ulixen. " Ulysses himself," Who was the cause of his madness.—205. Verum,
ego, ui lusrentesr^tcc. Agamemnon speaks, and refers to the wellknown
story respecting the. sacrifice of his daughter. Ad/verso litore.
" On an adverse shore."—206. Pntdens. " Being fully aware of what I
was doing." Opposed to insanus oifuriosus.—Dioos. The common account
assigns the adverse winds, which detained the Grecian fleet, to the
instrumentality of Diana alone ; here, however, the allusion is not only to
Diana, but to the other deities, who are supposed to have been requested
by Diana, and to have aided her in the accomplishment of her wishes.
—207. Nempe, "Yes." Ironically.
208-222. 208. Qui species alias, &c. "He who shall form in mind
ideas other than true ones, and confounded together in the tumult of crime,
will be regarded as a man of disordered intellect." By sceleris tumuUu
is meant, in fact, that disordered state of mind which leads to crime. The
general meaning of the passage is, that whoever holds wrong and confused
opinions is mad. Veris. The ablative of comparison after alias. Most
of the MSS. and editions have veri. The present reading, however, is followed
by Orelli, Dillenburger, and some of the best continental editors.
—210. StuUitiane an ira. Compare the remark of the scholiast. "Stultitiane
vt tu ; an ira, vt Ajax."—212. Ob titulos inanes. Alluding to the
ambitious feelings of Agamemnon, and to his desire of distinction both
with the present age and vrith posterity.—213. Quum tumidum est.
"When it is swollen with ambition."—214. Si guis leetica, &c. The
plebeian gives hia royal antagonist no quarter. He has already shown
that his folly was criminal, he now proves that it was ridiculous.
215. Aurum. "Golden ornaments."— 217. Interdieto huic omne, &o.
" let the praetor, by a decree, deprive this madman of all control over his
property, and the care of it devolve on his relations of sound mind." He
uses adimat and aheat in the subjunctive, says Keightley, as if he were
issuing the decree himself. It may be observed that we have here an
amusing instance of the licence taken by the pogt with the "mos Romanus,"
at Roman custom of applying to other nations, and to other
times, expressions and epithets which suit only the B.oman state.
221. Qui sceleratus, et furiosus erit. " He who is wicked will also be
mad," i. e., every wicked man is at the same time a madman.—222. Quern
tepit vitrea/ama. Ice. " Around the head of him whom glassy fame has
—
—
—