[Footnote 389: Swarthy Cypassis.--Ver. 22. From this expression, she
was probably a native of Egypt or Syria.]
[Footnote 390: With his spear.--Ver. 7. He alludes to the cure of
Telephus by the aid of the spear of Achilles, which had previously
wounded him.]
[Footnote 391: Cottages of thatch.--Ver. 18. In the First Book of the
Fasti, 1.199, he speaks of the time when 'a little cottage received
Quiriuus, the begotten of Mars, and the sedge of the stream afforded him
a scanty couch.' The straw-thatched cottage of Romulus was preserved at
Rome for many centuries. See the Fasti, Book iii. 1. 184, and the Note
to the passage.]
[Footnote 392: Off to the fields.--Ver. 19. The 'emeriti,' or veterans
of the Roman legions, who had served their full time, received a regular
discharge, which was called 'missio,' together with a bounty, either in
money, or an allotment of land. Virgil was deprived of his property near
Mantua, by the officers of Augustus; and in his first Eclogue, under
the name of Tityrus, he relates how he obtained restitution of it on
applying to the Emperor.]
[Footnote 393: Free from the race.--Ver. 20. Literally, 'the starting
place.']
[Footnote 394: Wand of repose--Ver. 22. For an account of the 'rudis,'
and the privilege it conferred, see the Tristia, Book, iv, El. 8. 1.
24.]
[Footnote 395: Græcinus.--Ver. 1. He addresses three of his Pontic
Epistles, namely, the Sixth of the First Book, the Sixth of the Second
Book, and the Ninth of the Fourth Book, to his friend Græcinus. In the
latter Epistle, he congratulates him upon his being Consul elect.]
[Footnote 396: Without my arms.--Ver. 3. 'Inermis,' may be rendered,
'off my guard.']
[Footnote 397: Like the skiff.--Ver. 10. 'Pliaselos' is perhaps here
used as a general name for a boat or skiff; but the vessel which was
particularly so called, was long and narrow, and probably received its
name from its resemblance to a kidney-bean, which was called 'ptaselus.'
The 'phaseli' were chiefly used by the Egyptians, and were of various
sizes, from that of a mere boat to a vessel suited for a long voyage.
Appian mentions them as being a medium between ships of war and merchant
vessels. Being built for speed, they were more noted for their swiftness
than for their strength. Juvenal, Sat. xv, 1. 127, speaks of them as
being made of clay; but, of course, that can only refer to 'pha-seli' of
the smallest kind.]
[Footnote 401: That are thin.--Ver 23. The Poet was of slender figure.]
[Footnote 402: Arm his breast --Ver. 31. He alludes to the 'lorica,' or
cuirass, which was worn by the soldiers.]
[Footnote 403: Of his battles.--Ver. 36. He probably was thinking at
this moment of the deaths of Cornelius Gallus, and T. Haterius, of the
Equcstriai order, whose singular end is mentioned by Valerius Maximus,
11. ix c. 12, s. 8, and by Pliny the Elder, B. vii., c. 53.]
[Footnote 404: The meeting rocks.--Ver 3. See the 121st line of the
Epistle of Medea to Jason, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 405: Tinted pebbles.--Ver. 13. The 'picti lapilli' are
probably camelians, which are found on the sea shore, and are of various
tints.]
[Footnote 406: The recreation.--Ver. 14. 'Mora,' 'delay,' is put here
for that which causes the delay. 'That is a pleasure which belongs to
the shore.']
[Footnote 407: In what Malea.--Ver. 20. Propertius and Virgil also
couple Malea, the dangerous promontory on the South of Laconia, with the
Syrtes or quicksands of the Libyan coast.]
[Footnote 409: Stars of the fruitful Leda.--Ver. 29. Commentators are
divided upon the exact meaning of this line. Some think that it refers
to the Constellations of Castor and Pollux, which were considered to be
favourable to mariners; and which Horace mentions in the first line
of his Third Ode, B. i., 'Sic fratres Helenae, lucida sidera,' 'The
brothers of Helen, those brilliant stars.' Others think that it refers
to the luminous appearances which were seen to settle on the masts
of ships, and were called by the name of Castor and Pollux; they were
thought to be of good omen when both appeared, but unlucky when seen
singly.]
[Footnote 410: In the couch.--Ver. 31. 'Torus' most probably means, in
this place a sofa, on which the ladies would recline while reading.]
[Footnote 411: Amusing books.--Ver. 31. By using the diminutive
'libellus' here, he probably means some light work, such as a bit of
court scandal, of a love poem.]
[Footnote 412: My Divinities.--Ver. 44. See the Second Epistle, 1. 126,
and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 413: As a table.--Ver. 48. This denotes his impatience to
entertain her once again, and to hear the narrative of her adventures.]
[Footnote 414: Though they be fictions.--Ver. 53. He gives a sly hit
here at the tales of travellers.]
[Footnote 415: Twice five years.--Ver. 9. Or the 'lustrum' of the
Romans, see the Fasti, Book iii. 1. 166, and the Tristia, Book iv. El.
10.]
[Footnote 416: And the cause.--Ver. 17. This passage is evidently
misunderstood in Nisard's translation, 'Je ne serai pas non plus la caus
d'une nouvelle guerre,' 'I will never more be the cause of a new war.']
[Footnote 417: A female again.--Ver. 22. He alludes to the war in
Latium, between Æneas and Turnus, for the hand of Lavinia, the daughter
of Latinus and Amata. See the narrative in the Fourteenth book of the
Metamorphoses.]
[Footnote 421: 'Twas the females--Ver. 23. The rape of the Sabines, by
the contrivance of Romulus, is here alluded to. The narrative will
be found in the Third Book of the Fasti, 1. 203, et seq. It has been
suggested, but apparently without any good grounds, that Tarpeia is here
alluded to.]
[Footnote 422: Thou who dost.--Ver. 7. Io was said to be worshipped
under the name of Isis.]
[Footnote 423: Parætonium.--Ver. 7. This city was situate at the
Canopic mouth of the Nile, at the Western extremity of Egypt, adjoining
to Libya. According to Strabo, its former name was Ammonia. It
still preserves its ancient name in a great degree, as it is called
al-Baretoun.]
[Footnote 424: Fields of Canopus.--Ver. 7. Canopus was a city at one
of the mouths of the Nile, now called Aboukir. The epithet
'genialis,' seems to have been well deserved, as it was famous for its
voluptuousness. Strabo tells us that there was a temple there dedicated
to Serapis, to which multitudes resorted by the canal from Alexandria.
He says that the canal was filled, night and day, with men and women
dancing and playing music on board the vessels, with the greatest
licentiousness. The place was situate on an island of the Nile, and
was about fifteen miles distant from Alexandria. Ovid gives a similar
description of Alexandria, in the Tristia, Book i. El. ii. 1. 79. See
the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 425: Memphis.--Ver. 8. Memphis was a city situate on the
North of Egypt, on the banks of the Nile. It was said to have been built
by Osirit.]
[Footnote 426: Pharos.--Ver. 8. See the Metamorphoses, Book ix. 1. 772,
and Book xv. 1. 287, with the Notes to the passages.]
[Footnote 428: By thy sistra. --Ver. 11. For an account of the mystic
'sistra' of Isis, see the Pontic Epistles, Book i. El. i. 1. 38, and the
Note.]
[Footnote 429: Anubis. --Ver. 11. For an account of Anuhis, the Deity
with the dog's head, see the Metamorphoses, Book ix. 1. 689, and the
Note.]
[Footnote 430: Osiris.--Ver. 12. See the Metamorphoses, Book ix. 1.
692, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 431: The sluggish serpent.--Ver. 13. Macrobius tells us, that
the Egyptians accompanied the statue of Serapis with that of an animal
with three heads, the middle one that of a lion, the one to the right,
of a dog, and that to the left, of a ravenous wolf; and that a serpent
was represented encircling it in its folds, with its head below the
right hand of the statue of the Deity. To this the Poet possibly
alludes, or else to the asp, which was common in the North of Egypt, and
perhaps, was looked upon as sacred. If so, it is probable that the word
'pigra,' 'sluggish,' refers to the drowsy effect produced by the sting
of the asp, which was generally mortal. This, indeed, seems the more
likely, from the fact of the asp being clearly referred to, in company
with these Deities, in the Ninth Book of the Metamorphoses, 1. 93; which
see, with the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 432: The horned Apis.--Ver. 14. See the Ninth Book of the
Metamorphoses, 1. 691, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 433: Thy features.--Ver. 15. Isis is here addressed, as
being supposed to be the same Deity as Diana Lucina, who was invoked by
pregnant and parturient women. Thus Isis appears to Telethusa, a Cretan
woman, in her pregnancy, in the Ninth Book of the Metamorphoses, 1. 665,
et seq.]
[Footnote 434: Thy appointed days.--Ver. 17. Votaries who were
worshipping in the temples of the Deities sat there for a considerable
time, especially when they attended for the purpose of sacrifice. In
the First Book of the Pontic Epistles, Ep. i. 1. 50, Ovid says, 'I have
beheld one who confessed that he had offended the Divinity of Isis,
clothed in linen, sitting before he altars of Isis.']
[Footnote 435: On which.--Ver. 18. 'Queis' seems a preferable reading
to 'qua.']
[Footnote 436: The Galli.--Ver. 18. Some suppose that Isis and Cybele
were the same Divinity, and that the Galli, or priests of Cybele,
attended the rites of their Goddess under the name of Isis. It seems
clear, from the present passage, that the priests of Cybele, who were
called Galli, did perform the rites of Isis, but there is abundant proof
that these were considered as distinct Deities. In imitation of the
Corybantes, the original priests of Cybele, they performed her rites
to the sound of pipes and tambourines, and ran to and fro in a frenzied
manner.]
[Footnote 437: With thy laurels.--Ver. 18. See the Note to the 692nd
line of the Ninth Book of the Metamorphoses. While celebrating the
search for the limbs of Osiris, the priests uttered lamentations,
accompanied with the sound of the 'sistra'; but when they had found the
body, they wore wreaths of laurel, and uttered cries, signifying their
joy.]
[Footnote 438: Ilithyia.--Ver. 21. As to the Goddess Ilithyia, see the
Ninth Book of the Metamorphoses, 1. 283, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 439: With their bucklers.--Ver. 2. Armed with 'peltæ,' or
bucklers, like the Amazons.]
[Footnote 440: The sand must.--Ver. 8. This figure is derived from the
gladiatorial fights of the amphitheatre, where the spot on which they
fought was strewed with sand, both for the purpose of giving a firm
footing to the gladiators, and of soaking up the blood that was shed.]
[Footnote 441: Again throw stones.--Ver. 12. He alludes to Deucalion
and Pyr-rha. See the First Book of the Metamorphoses.]
[Footnote 442: Ilia had destroyed.--Ver. 16. Romulus was her son. See
her story, related at the beginning of the Third Book of the Fasti.]
[Footnote 443: Why pierce.--Ver. 27. He alludes to the sharp
instruments which she had used for the purpose of procuring abortion:
a practice which Canace tells Macareus that her nurse had resorted to.
Epistle xi. 1. 40--43.]
[Footnote 444: Armenian dens.--Ver. 35. See the Metamorphoses, Book
viii. 1. 126, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 445: Many a time.--Ver. 38. He seems here to speak of this
practice as being frequently resorted to.]
[Footnote 446: She deserved it.--Ver. 40. From this, it would seem that
the practice was considered censurable; but, perhaps it was one of those
cases whose heinousness is never fully discovered till it has brought
about its own punishment.]
[Footnote 447: O ring.--Ver. 1. On the rings in use among the ancients,
see the note to the First Book of the Aruores, El. iv., 1. 26. See also
the subject of the seventh Elegy of the First Book of the Tristia.]
[Footnote 448: Carpathian old man.--Ver. 10. For some account of
Proteus, who is here referred to, see the First Book of the Fasti, 1.
363, and the Note.]
[Footnote 449: Be able to seal--Ver. 15. From this, it appears to have
been a signet ring.]
[Footnote 450: Touch the lips.--Ver. 17. See the Tristia, Book v., El.
iv. 1 5, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 459: In her desk.--Ver. 19. 'Loculi' used in the plural,
as in the present instance, signified a receptacle with compartments,
similar, perhaps, to our writing desks; a small box, coffer, casket, or
cabinet of wood or ivory, for keeping money or jewels.]
[Footnote 460: Sulmo.--Ver. 1. See the Note to the first line of the
First Elegy of this Book.]
[Footnote 461: Pelignian land.--Ver. 1. From Pliny the Elder, we learn
that the Peligni were divided into three tribes, the Corfinienses, the
Superequani, and the Sulmonenses.]
[Footnote 462: Constellation.--Ver. 4. He alludes to the heat attending
the Dog star, see the Fasti, Book iv., 1. 939, and the Note to the
passage.]
[Footnote 463: The thin soil.--Ver. 8. 'Rarus ager' means, a 'thin' or
'loose' soil, which was well suited for the cultivation of the grape.]
[Footnote 464: That bears its berries.--Ver. 8. In Nisard's
translation, the words 'bacciferam Pallada,' which mean the olive, are
rendered 'L'amande Caere Pallas,' 'the almond dear to Pallas.']
[Footnote 465: Lengthened tracks.--Ver. 16. To the Delphin Editor this
seems a silly expression.]
[Footnote 466: The stormy Alps.--Ver. 19. See the Metamorphoses, Book
ii. 1. 226, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 467: The obedient stream.--Ver. 35. This was a method of
irrigation in agriculture, much resorted to by the ancients.]
[Footnote 468: Fierce Cilicians --Ver. 39. The people of the interior
of Cilicia, in Asia Minor, were of rude and savage manners while those
on the coast had been engaged in piracy, until it had been effectually
suppressed by Pompey.]
[Footnote 469: Britons painted green.--Ver. 39. The Britons may be
called 'virides,' from their island being surrounded by the sea; or,
more probably, from the colour with which they were in the habit of
staining their bodies. Cæsar says, in the Fifth Book of the Gallic war,
'The Britons stain themselves with woad, 'vitrum,' or 'glastum,'
which produces a blue colour: and thus they become of a more dreadful
appearance in battle.' The conquest of Britain, by Cæsar, is alluded to
in the Fifteenth Book of the Metamorphoses, 1. 752.]
[Footnote 471: Loves the vine.--Ver. 41. The custom of training vines
by the side of the elm, has been alluded to in a previous Note. See also
the Metamorphoses, Book xiv. 1. 663, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 472: As the nags.--Ver. 49. The 'manni' were used by the
Romans for much the same purpose as our coach-horses; and were probably
more noted for their fleetness than their strength; They were a small
breed, originally imported from Gaul, and the possession of them was
supposed to indicate the possession of considerable wealth. As the
'esseda' was a small vehicle, and probably of light structure, we must
not be surprised at Corinna being in the habit of driving for herself.
The distance from Rome to Sulmo was about ninety miles: and the journey,
from his expressions in the fifty-first and fifty-second lines, must
have been over hill and dale.]
[Footnote 473: Your little chaise.--Ver. 49. For an account of the
'essedum,' or 'esseda,' see the Pontic Epistles, Book ii. Ep. 10, 1. 34,
and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 474: King of Pkthia.--Ver. 17.] He alludes to the marriage of
Thetis, the sea Goddess, to Peleus, the king of Phthia, in Thessaly.]
[Footnote 475: His anvil.--Ver. 19. It is a somewhat curious fact,
that the anvils of the ancients exactly resembled in form and every
particular those used at the present day.]
[Footnote 476: Becomingly united.--Ver. 22. He says, that in the
Elegiac measure the Pentameter, or line of five feet, is not unhappily
matched with the Hexameter, or heroic line of six feet.]
[Footnote 477: Disavowed by you.--Ver. 26. 'Voids' seems more agreable
to the sense of the passage, than 'nobis.' 'to be denied by us;' as,
from the context, there was no fear of his declining her affection.]
[Footnote 478: That she is Corinna.--Ver. 29. This clearly proves that
Corinna was not a real name; it probably was not given by the Poet to
any one of his female acquaintances in particular.]
[Footnote 479: Thy poem onwards.--Ver. 1. Macer translated the Iliad of
Homer into Latin verse, and composed an additional poem, commencing
at the beginning of the Trojan war, and coming down to the wrath of
Achilles, with which Homer begins.]
[Footnote 480: I, Macer.--Ver. 3. Æmilius Macer is often mentioned
by Ovid in his works. In the Tristia, Book iv. Ep. 10,1.41, he says,
'Macer, when stricken in years, many a time repeated to me his poem on
birds, and each serpent that is deadly, each herb that is curative.' The
Tenth Epistle of the Second Book of Pontic Epistles is also addressed to
him, in which Ovid alludes to his work on the Trojan war, and the time
when they visited Asia Minor and Sicily together. He speaks of him in
the Sixteenth Epistle of the Fourth Book, as being then dead. Macer was
a native of Verona, and was the intimate friend of Virgil, Ovid, and
Tibullus. Some suppose that the poet who wrote on natural history, was
not the same with him who wrote on the Trojan war; and, indeed, it does
not seem likely, that he who was an old man in the youth of Ovid, should
be the same person to whom he writes from Pontus, when about fifty-six
years of age. The bard of Ilium died in Asia.]
[Footnote 481: Tragedy grew apace.--Ver. 13. He alludes to his tragedy
of Medea, which no longer exists. Quintilian thus speaks of it: 'The
Medea of Ovid seems to me to prove how much he was capable of, if he had
only preferred to curb his genius, rather than indulge it.']
[Footnote 482: Sabinus return.--Ver. 27. He represents his friend,
Sabinus, here in the character of a 'tabellarius,' or 'letter carrier,'
going with extreme speed (celer) to the various parts of the earth, and
bringing back the answers of Ulysses to Penelope, Hippolytus to Phaedra,
Æneas to Dido, Demophoôn to Phyllis, Jason to Hypsipyle, and Phaon to
Sappho. All these works of Sabinus have perished, except the Epistle of
Ulysses to Penelope, and Demophoôn to Phyllis. His Epistle from Paris
to Oenonc, is not here mentioned. See the Pontic Epistles, Book iv. Ep.
xvi. 1. 13, and the Note to the passage.]
[Footnote 483: Bring back letters.--Ver. 28. As the ancients had
no establishment corresponding to our posts, they employed special
messengers called 'tabellarii,' for the conveyance of their letters.]
[Footnote 484: Vowed to Phobus.--Ver. 34. Sappho says in her Epistle,
that if Phaon should refuse to return, she will dedicate her lyre to
Phobus, and throw herself from the Leucadian rock. This, he tells her,
she may now-do, as by his answer Phaon declines to return.]
[Footnote 485: Pain in her head.--Ver. 11. She pretended a head-ache,
when nothing wras the matter with her; in order that too much
familiarity, in the end, might not breed contempt.]
[Footnote 486: A surfeit of love.--Ver. 25. 'l'inguis amor' seems here
to mear a satisfied 'ora 'pampered passion;' one that meets with no
repulse.]
[Footnote 487: Enclosed Danaë.--Ver. 27. See the Metamorphoses, Book
iv., 1.]
[Footnote 488: The dogs bark.--Ver. 40. The women of loose character,
among the Romans, were much in the habit of keeping dogs, for the
protection of their houses.]