[1] Lactant. i. 10. "Quid Apollo? Nonne ... turpissime gregem pavit
alienum?" B.
[2] Hygin. Fab. li. "Apollo ab eo in servitutem liberaliter acceptus." B.
[3] Cf. Hippol. 1437. B.
[4] No one will, I believe, object to this translation of ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ; it seems
rather a matter of surprise that Potter has kept the Latin ORCUS, a name
clearly substituted as the nearest to ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ of the masculine gender.
[5] Cf. Æsch. Eum. 723 sqq. B.
[6] It was customary to bury those, who died advanced in years, with
greater magnificence than young persons.
[7] The horses of Diomed, king of Thrace. The construction is, Ευρυσθεως
πεμψαντος [αυτον meta hippeion ochêma [axonta] ek topôn dyschei merôn
Thrêikês]. MONK.
[8] On this custom, see Monk, and Lomeier de Lustrationibus § xxviii. B.
[9] Perhaps, "as though all were over," B.
[10] Casaubon on Theophr. § 16, observes that it was customary to place a
large vessel filled with lustral water before the doors of a house during
the time the corpse was lying out, with which every one who came out
sprinkled himself. See also Monk's note, Kirchmann de Funeribus, iii. 9.
The same custom was observed on returning from the funeral. See Pollux,
viii. 7. p. 391, ed. Seber. B.
[11] See Dindorf. B.
[12] Potterus, Arch. Gr. _mortuos_ a _Græcis_ προνωπεις vocari tradit, quod
solebant ex penitiore ædium parte produci, ac in _vestibulo_, i.e.
προνωπιωι collocari: atque hunc locum adducit, sed frustra, ut opinor. Non
enim _mortua_ jam erat, nec _producta_, sed, ut recte hanc vocem
interpretatur schol. εις θανατον προνενευκυια, i.e. _morti propinqua_.
Proprie προνωπης is dicitur, qui _corpore prono ad terram fertur_, ut
Æschyl. Agam. 242. Inde, quia moribundi virium defectu terram petere
solent, ad hos designandos translatum est. KUINOEL.
[13] The old word "dizening" is perhaps the most literal translation of
κοσμος, which, however, here means the whole preparations for the funeral.
Something like it is implied in Hamlet, v. 1.
... her virgin rites,
Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home
Of bell and burial. B.
[14] Aristophanes is almost too bad in his burlesque, Equit. 1251. σε δ'
αλλος τις λαβων κεκτησεται, κλεπτης μεν ουκ αν μαλλον, ευτυχης δ' ‛ισως. B.
[15] Some would translate προνωπης in the same manner as in verse 144.
[16] Conf. Ter.: Phorm. iv. 4, 5. Opera tua ad _restim_ mihi quidem res
rediit planissume.
[17] Perhaps it is unnecessary to remark, that αβιωτον agrees with βιον
implied in βιοτευσει.
[18] ‛οραι scilicet ‛ηλιος. MONK.
[19] Cf. Hippol. 1372. B.
[20] It must be remembered that to survive one's children was considered
the greatest of misfortunes. Cf. Plaut. Mil. Glor. l. 1. "Ita ut tuum vis
unicum gnatum tuæ Superesse vitæ, sospitem et superstitem." B.
[21] Kuinoel carries on the interrogation to γαμους, and Buchanan has
translated it according to this punctuation. Monk compares Iliad, p. 95;
μηπως με περιστελωσ' ‛ενα πολλοι.
[22] Compare my note on Æsch. Ag. 414 sqq. B.
[23] _These_, my children.
[24] Reiske proposes to read τεθριππα δε ζευγη τε και--_And both from your
chariot teams, and from your single horses cut the manes_.
[25] This festival was celebrated in honor of Apollo at Sparta, from the
seventh to the sixteenth day of the month Carneus. See Monk. B.
[26] On λιπαραις Αθαναις, see Monk. B.
[27] Literally, _the duplicate_ of such a wife.
[28] αναξ πελτης, so αναξ κωπης in Æsch. Pers. 384, _of a rower_. Wakefield
compares Ovid's _Clypei dominus septemplicis Ajax_. MONK.
[29] Heath and Markland take τωι for τινι.
[30] Cf. Theocrit. Id. i. 71 sqq. of Daphnis, τηνον μεν θωες, τηνον λυκοι
ωρυσαντο, Τηνον χοι 'κ δρυμοιο λεων ανεκλαυσε θανοντα ... πολλαι μεν παρ
ποσσι βοες, πολλοι δε τε ταυροι, πολλαι δ' αυ δαμαλαι και πορτιες ωδυραντο.
Virg. Ecl. v. 27 sqq. Calpurnius, Ecl. ii. 18. Nemesianus, Ecl. i. 74 sqq.;
ii. 32. B.
[31] αρδην γινεται απο του αιρειν. δηλοι δε το φοραδην. Schol.
[32] Cf. Suppl. 773. Αιδου τε μολπας εκχεω δακρυρροους, φιλους προσαυδων,
‛ων λελειμμενος ταλας ερημα κλαιω. See Gorius Monum. sive Columbar. Libert.
Florent. mdccxxvii. p.186, who observes, "χαιρε was the accustomed
salutation addressed to the dead. Catullus, Carm. xcvii. _Accipe fraterno
multum manantia fletu, atque in perpetuum frater HAVE, atque VALE_." The
same scholar compares a monument, apud Fabretti, cap. v. p. 392, n. 265,
D. M
AVE SALVINIA
OMNIUM. AMAN
TISSIMA. ET.
VALE,
which is very apposite to the present occasion. B.
[33] Wakefield reads χαιρε καιν Αιδου δομοις; having in his mind probably
Hom. Il. Ψ. 19. Χαιρε μοι ‛ω Πατροκλε, και ειν Αϊδαο δομοισι.
[34] I should scarcely have observed that this is the proper sense of the
imperfect, had not the former translator mistaken it. B.
[35] Cf. Iph. Taur. 244. χερνιβας δε και καταργματα ουκ αν φθανοις αν
ευτρεπη ποιουμενη. B.
[36] An apparent allusion to the fable of Death and the Old Man. B
[37] Aristophanes' version of this line is, ω παι, τιν αυχεις, ποτερα Λυδον
η Φρυγα Μορμολυττεσθαι δοκεις. B.
[38] Turned by Aristophanes into an apology for beating one's father, Nub.
1415. κλαουσι παιδες, πατερα δ' ου κλαειν δοκεις. See Thesmoph. 194. B.
[39] Cf. Æsch. Choeph. sub init. and Gorius, Monum. Libert. p. 24. ad Tab.
x. lit. A.
[40] Theocrit. i. 27. Και βαθυ κισσυβιον κεκλυσμενον ‛αδει καρωι, Τω περι
μεν χειλη μαρευεται ‛υψοθι κισσος. B.
[41] Hamlet, v. 1.
--Hold off the earth awhile,
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms:
[_ leaps into the grave_.]
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead. B.
[42] Cf. vs. 195. ‛ον ου προσειπε και προσερρηθη παλιν. B.
[43] Ορφεια γαρυς, a paraphrasis for Ορφευς.
[44] αντιτεμων, μεταφορικως απο των τας ‛ριζας τεμνοντων και ‛ευρισκοντων.
SCHOL. TR. Cf. on Æsch. Agam. 17. B.
[45] In Phavorinus, among the senses of κλισια is κλινη και κλινητηριον.
[46] It will be remembered that the tombs were built near the highways,
with great magnificence, and sometimes very lofty, especially when near the
sea-coast (cf. Æsch. Choeph. 351. D'Orville on Charit. lib. i. sub fin.
Eurip. Hecub. 1273). They are often used as landmarks or milestones, as in
Theocr. vi. 10, and as oratories or chapels, Apul. Florid, i. p.340, ed.
Elm. B.
[47] This appears the most obvious sense, as connected with what follows.
All the interpreters, however, translate it, _I thought myself worthy,
standing, as I did, near thy calamities_,(i.e. near thee in thy
calamities,) _to be proved thy friend._
[48] In the same manner ‛ηβαι is used in Orestes, 687, ‛οταν γαρ ‛ηβαι
δημος εις οργην πεσων.
[49] i.e. _the severed head of the Gorgon_. Valckenaer observes, that this
is an expression meaning _facie aversa_, and compares l. 465 of the
Phœnissæ.
[50] Winter's Tale, v. 3.
Start not: her actions shall be holy, as,
You hear, my spell is lawful: do not shun her,
Until you see her die again; for then
You kill her double: Nay, present your hand:
When she was young you woo'd her; now, in age,
Is she become the suitor?
Compare also Much Ado about Nothing, v. 4. B.
[51] ‛αφαγνιζειν h. l. non _purificare_ sed _desecrare_. Orcus enim, quando
gladio totondisset Alcestidis capillos, eam diis manibus sacram dicaverat,
quod diserte ‛ηγνισαι appellat noster, vide 75--77. Contraria igitur aliqua
ceremonia desecranda erat, antequam Admeto ejus consuetudine et colloquio
frui liceret. HEATH.
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