{373}
Note 1 (p. 141).
"Old earth, primeval prophetess, I first
With these my prayers invoke; and Themis next."
Earth, or GAEA, as the Greeks name her, is described here, and in
Pausanias (X. 5), as the most ancient prophetess of Delphi, for two
reasons; _first_, because out of the earth came those intoxicating fumes
or vapours, by the inspiration of which the oracles were given forth
(see Diodorus XVI. 26); _second_, because, as SCHOEMANN well observes,
GAEA, as the aboriginal divine mother, out of whose womb all the
future celestial genealogies were developed, necessarily contained in
herself the law of their development, and is accordingly represented by
Hesiod as exercising a prophetic power with regard to the fates of the
other gods.--(Theog. 463, 494, 625). The same writer remarks with equal
ingenuity and truth, that Themis, her successor in the prophetic office,
is only a personification of that law of development which, by necessity
of her divine nature, originally lay in Gaea; and I would remark,
further, how admirable the instinct was of those old mythologists, who
placed LOVE and RIGHT, and other ineradicable feelings or notions of
the human mind, among the very oldest of the gods. It is notable also,
that previous to Apollo, all the presidents of prophecy at
Delphi--including the famous Phemonoe, not mentioned here but by
Pausanias l. c., were women, and even Loxias himself could not give forth
oracles without the help of a Pythoness. There is a great fitness in
this, as women are naturally both more pious and more emotional than
men. Hence their peculiar fitness for exercising prophetic functions, of
which ancient Germany was witness--(see Cæsar B.C. I. 50).
Note 2 (p. 141).
". . . rocky Delos' lake."
There can be no question that SCHÜTZ was right in translating λίμνη,
in this passage, _lake_ (and not _sea_, as ABRESCH did), it being
impossible that a well-informed Athenian, on hearing this passage in
the theatre, should not understand the poet to refer to the circular
lake in Delos, described by Herodotus in II. 170.
Note 3 (p. 141).
"The Sons of Vulcan pioneer his path."
_i.e._ "The Athenians"--Scholiast--"who," adds STAN., "were called
the sons of Vulcan, because they were skilled in all the arts of which
Vulcan and Pallas were patrons; or, because Erichthonius, from whom the
Athenians were descended, was the son of Vulcan;" with which latter view
Müller and Schoemann concur; and it appears to me sufficiently
reasonable. There is no reason, however, for not receiving, along with
this explanation, another which has been given, that the sons of the
fire-god mean "smiths." Artificers of this kind were necessary to
pioneer the path for the procession of the god in the manner here
described, and would naturally form, at least, a part of the convoy.
{374}
Note 4 (p. 141).
". . . Loxias, prophet of his father Jove."
'Tis plain from the whole language of Homer, both in the Iliad and
Odyssey, that the fountain of the whole moral government of the world
is Jove, and, of course, that all divination and inspiration comes
originally from him. Even Phœbus Apollo acts only as his instrument
(Nägelsbach Homerische Theologie, p. 105). STAN. compares Virgil
Æneid III. 250.
Note 5 (p. 141).
". . . thee, likewise, who 'fore this temple dwellest."
The reading προνάια (or προνᾴα), which I translate, is that of WELL.
and all the MSS.; but LIN. has put πρόνοια, _providential_ or
_foreseeing_, into the text, following out a criticism of Lennep on
Phalaris, which has been stoutly defended by Hermann, in his remarks on
Müller's Eumenides (Opusc. VI. v. 2, p. 17). This, however, in the face
of an express passage of Herodotus (I. 92), as PAL. well observes, has
been done rashly; and now FR. and SCHOE. bring forward inscriptions
which prove that there is not the slightest cause for tampering with the
text. I have not been able to learn the substance of Lennep's remarks
otherwise than from the account of them by Müller in the Anhang, p. 14;
but, taken at their highest value, they seem only to prove that a
vagueness had taken hold of the ancients themselves in respect to the
designation of this temple, not certainly that Æschylus and Herodotus
both made a mistake in calling it προνᾴα, or that all the transcribers
of their texts made a blunder.
Note 6 (p. 141).
". . . ye Nymphs that love
The hollow Corycian rock."
"From Delphi, which lies pretty high, the traveller ascended about
60 stadia, or two hours' travel, till he arrived at the Corycian cave,
dedicated to Pan and the Nymphs, in which there were many stalactites
and live fountains."--SICKLER. _alte geog_. II. 134.
Note 7 (p. 141).
"Thee, Bromius, too, I worship."
Bacchus, so called from βρέμω, _fremo_--the roaring or boisterous god.
His connection with Apollo (though drinking songs are not so common now
as they were last century) is obvious enough; and some places of the
ancient poets where the close connection of these two gods is described,
may be seen in STAN. The Scholiast to Euripides Phœnissai (v. 227,
Matthiae) says expressly that Apollo and Artemis were worshipped on the
one peak of Parnassus, and Bacchus on the other.
Note 8 (p. 141).
". . . the godless Pentheus."
"A son of Echion and Agave, the daughter of Cadmus. He was the
successor of Cadmus as king of Thebes, and being opposed to the
introduction of the worship of Dionysus in his kingdom, was torn to
pieces by his own mother and two other Mænads, Ino and Autonoe, who in
their Bacchic frenzy believed him to be a wild beast. The place where
Pentheus suffered death is said to have been Mount Cithæron; but,
according to some, it was Mount Parnassus."--_Myth. Dict._
Note 9 (p. 141).
"Poseidon's mighty power."
Next to Jove, Poseidon is the strongest of the gods, as the element
which he rules demands; and this strength, in works of art, is generally
{375} indicated by the breadth of chest given to this god. So Homer,
also, wishing to magnify Agamemnon, says--
"Like to Jove that rules the thunder were his kingly head and eyes;
Belted round the loins like Ares; like Poseidon was his breast."
IL. II. 478.
The connection of the god of the waters with Delphi is given by
Pausanias x. 5, where it is said, that originally Poseidon possessed the
oracle in common with Gaea; a legend easily explained by the fact, that
all high mountains necessarily produce copious streams of water of
which, no less than of the waves of ocean, Poseidon is lord.
Note 10 (p. 142).
"A gray-haired woman, weaker than a child."
STAN. refers here to the account given by Diodorus of the origin of
the Delphic oracle, c. xvi. 26, where he relates, that in the most
ancient times the prophetess was a young woman; but that, afterwards,
one Echecrates, a Spartan, being smitten with the beauty of a
prophetess, had offered violence to her, in consequence of which an
edict was published by the Delphians, forbidding any female to assume
the office of Pythoness till she was fifty years old.
Note 11 (p. 142).
". . . the ravenous crew
That filched the feast of Phineus."
The Harpies; who, from the names given to them in Homer and Hesiod (and
specially from Odyssey xx. 66 and 77 compared) seem to have been
impersonations of sudden and tempestuous gusts of wind; though, again,
it is not impossible that these winds may be symbolical of the
rapacious power of swift and sudden death--
"Venit Mors velociter
Rapit nos atrociter,"
as suggested by BRAUN. See the article by Dr. SCHMITZ in the
Biographical Dictionary.
Note 12 (p. 142).
"Such uncouth sisterhood, apparel'd so."
With regard to the dress of the Furies, STAN. quotes a curious
passage from Diogenes Laertius, which I shall translate:--"Menedemus,
the Cynic," says he, "went to such fantastic excess as to go about in
the dress of the Furies, saying, that he was sent as a visitant of
human iniquity from Hades, that he might descend again, and report to
the Infernal powers. His garb was as follows--a dun-coloured tunic
(χιτων) reaching down to the feet, girt with a crimson sash; on his
head an Arcadian cap, with the twelve signs of the Zodiac inwoven;
tragic buskins, a very long beard, and an ashen rod in his hand."--VI.
9. 2. The Romans were once put to flight by the Gauls, dressed in the
terrible garb of the Furies, with burning torches in their
hands.--LIVY VII. 17.
Note 13 (p. 143).
". . . A bitter pasture truly
Was thine from Fate."
So I have thought it best to translate somewhat freely τὸνδε
βουκολούμενος πόνον in order to express the original meaning of the
verb βουκολουμαι. In this I have followed MÜLLER--_diese
Schmerzentrift zu weiden._ This is surely more pregnant and poetical
than to say with FR. "_Diese Lebensbahn durcheilend._" The idea of
_soothing_ and _beguiling_, the only one given by {376} Hesychius,
cannot apply to this place. PAL., who agrees with me in this,
translates the word in both places of our author where it occurs (here
and in Agam. 655) by "_brooding over_" which differs little from my
idea of _feeding on_.
Note 14 (p. 143).
"Her ancient image."
"The image of Athena Pallas, on the citadel, which existed in the days
of Pausanias, and had maintained for ages its place here by a sort of
inviolable holiness. In the narrow area of the temple, on the
north-east slope of the Acropolis, Erechtheus had placed a carved
image, either first made by himself, or, perhaps, fallen from Heaven;
and round this, as a centre, the most ancient groups of Attic religion
and legend assembled themselves."--GERHARD, "_über die Minerven
Idole Athen's,_" quoted by SCHOE.
Note 15 (p. 144).
"Behold these wounds."
I am not able to see what objection lies against the literal rendering
of
ὁρά δε πληγὰς τάσδε καρδίᾴ σέθεν,
as I read with FR. and LINW. PAL. and SCHOE. take πληγὰς
metaphorically to signify the contumelious language used by
Clytemnestra to the Furies; but this is surely rather going out of the
way. If there were any necessity for deserting the literal meaning, I
would rather take Hermann's way of turning it (Opusc. VI. v. 2, p. 28),
and read--
ὁρά δε πληγὰς τάσδε καρδιάς ὃθεν.
_Siehe diese Wunden meines Herzens woher sie kommen!_
Note 16 (p. 144).
"Read with thy heart; some things the soul may scan
More clearly, when the sensuous lid hath dropt,
Nor garish day confounds."
This method of speaking is quite in keeping with ancient ideas on the
nature of the connection 'twixt mind and body, as SCHOE. has proved
from Galen (Kühn. Med. gr. V. 301). As to the sentiment which follows,
STAN. has quoted--"_Quum ergo est somno sevocatus animus a societate
et a contagione corporis, tum meminit praeteritorum, praesentia cernit,
futura providet_"--Cic. Divinat. I. 30. According to Aelian (var. hist.
III. 11). the Peripatetics held the same opinion.
Note 17 (p. 144).
"Once Clytemnestra famous, now a dream."