Most of this poem was written in 1830 while Tennyson was travelling in
the Pyrenees Mountains with his friend, Arthur Henry Hallam. The
descriptions of scenery belong, therefore, to that district, and not to
the vicinity of ancient Troy. _Oenone_ was first published in 1832,
but was afterward frequently revised; it appears here in the final form
approved by Tennyson himself.
[176] 1. =Ida= is a mountain in northwest Asia Minor near the site of
Troy.
[177] 2. =Ionian=; Grecian.
[178] 10. Gargarus is the highest peak of Mount Ida.
[179] 13. =Troas= is the district in northwest Asia Minor in which was
located the city of Troy.
[180] 13. =Ilion= was the Greek name for Troy.
[181] 16. =Paris= was the son of Priam, king of Troy, and his wife
Hecuba.
[182] 37. =River-God=; Cebren, the god of a small river near Troas.
[183] 40. =Rose slowly.= According to tradition, Neptune, the god of the
sea, was the founder of Troy, but was assisted by Apollo, who raised the
walls to the music of his lyre.
[184] 51. =Simois=; a river having its source in Mount Ida.
[185] 65. =Hesperian gold.= The apples of Hesperides were made of pure
gold. They were given to Herè as a wedding present, and thereafter
guarded night and day by a dragon. Hercules finally secured three of
them through a stratagem.
[186] 66. =Ambrosially.= Ambrosia was the food of the gods.
[187] 72. =Oread.= The Oreads were nymphs who were supposed to guide
travellers through dangerous places on the mountains.
[188] 79. =Peleus=; a king of Phitia who married Thetis, a sea-nymph. To
the wedding feast all the immortals were invited except Eris, goddess of
discord. In revenge, she cast a golden apple on the banquet table before
the gods and goddesses, with an inscription awarding it to the most
beautiful among them. The strife which followed resulted in the choosing
of Paris as judge in the matter.
[189] 81. =Iris= was the messenger and attendant of Juno. She frequently
appeared in the form of a rainbow.
[190] 83. =Herè= (Roman Juno) was the wife and sister of Zeus (Roman
Jupiter), and therefore Queen of Heaven.
[191] 84. =Pallas= (Roman Minerva) was the goddess of wisdom.
[192] 84. =Aphroditè= (Roman Venus) was the goddess of beauty and love.
[193] 95. =Amaracus=; a fragrant flower.
[194] 95. =Asphodel=; supposed to have been a variety of Narcissus.
[195] 102. The =peacock= was a bird sacred to Herè.
[196] 151. =Guerdon=; reward.
[197] 170. =Idalian=; so-called from Idalium, a town in Cyprus sacred to
Aphroditè.
[198] 171. =Paphian=; a reference to Paphos in Cyprus where Aphroditè
first set foot after her birth from sea foam.
[199] 195. =Pard=; leopard.
[200] 220. =The Abominable=; Eris, the goddess already referred to.
[201] 257. =The Greek woman=; Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta.
She was the wife promised to Paris by Aphroditè as his reward for his
decision. Paris stole her from her husband through the direction of
Aphroditè, and carried her back to Troy. As a result of this act, the
Greeks, under Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon, joined in an attack on
Troy which ended, after ten years, in the capture of that city. In the
course of the siege Paris was killed.
[202] 259. =Cassandra=; the daughter of Priam, and hence the sister of
Paris. She was condemned by Apollo to utter prophesies which, though
true, would never be believed.
The conclusion of the story of Oenone and Paris may be read in
Tennyson's own _Death of Oenone_ or in William Morris's _Death of
Paris_.