217-8. General sense: when the Sun enters the sign of the Bull (24 April) and the Dog-star (Sirius) sets (apparent evening setting of Sirius May 1): i.e. at the end of April and beginning of May.

But the poet has further elaborated the picture: the bull is a 'white bull with gilded horns' like the sacred bull of the Roman triumphs (gilded naturally suggested by the 'aurea sidera'): the 'Dog as he sinks retires facing his foe', an imaginative rendering of the way the constellations are placed facing each other.

'Opens' the year: a reference to the name Aprilis.

219. farra, 'spelt', a coarser kind of wheat, said to have been the earliest grain cultivated in Italy.

220.

solis instabis aristis, work for grain alone' (lit. 'press on for, give yourself to, corn-ears only'). So instans operi, Aen. 1. 504.

221. Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, set in late autumn [the apparent morning setting being 9 Nov., true setting 28 Oct.]. Eoae means in the morning', from 'Eos' (nus) the Latin Aurora.

9

222. The Crown, Corona borealis, a beautiful circle of stars in the N. heavens, whose apparent evening setting was 9 Nov. Cnosia, 'Cretan' from Cnosus, old town of Crete.

The Crown

is called 'Cretan' because the Greek tale was that Bacchus set among the stars the crown of Ariadne, daughter of Minos king of Crete, whom he loved.

These two lines (221-2) therefore mean 'let 9 Nov. pass, before...' 225. Maia, a Pleiad. occasum Maiae is therefore 9 Nov.

226. vanis aristis, 'with empty ears'. (The old reading avenis, with less MS. authority, meant with barren wild oats' according to the popular belief that wild oats grew for corn under unfavourable circumstances: not in point here.)

227. phaselum, 'kidney-bean', Greek word.

228. The best lentil (lentis) grew in Egypt, hence Pelusiacae from Pelusium at E. mouth of the Nile.

229. cadens Bootes: Arcturus, the highest star in Bootes, had his apparent evening setting 4 Nov.

[231-259. The Zones: the Zodiac: the two poles and their stars: all signs useful to man.]

232. duodena astra are the twelve signs of the Zodiac.

The distributive duodena used by common poetic variation for cardinal duodecim: so Aen. VII. 538 quinque greges...quina armenta.

233. The description is of the division of the earth into five bands or zones, the middle one the torrid zone, the two adjacent the temperate, and the polar ones the frigid. See Plate.

Verg. is closely following a passage of a certain Eratosthenes, mathematician and librarian at Alexandria in 3rd cent. B. C.

234. ab igni, variation for ordinary abl. instr. So Ov. A. A. 1. 763 capiuntur ab hamis. Fast. 11. 764 factus ab arte.

236. imbribus atris, 'black storms'.

238. via secta...ordo, 'a path cut across them, where the sloping line of signs should revolve', the zodiac representing the sun's path slanting across the equator to the edge of the northern and southern temperate zones.

239. verteret, subj. final, with qua.

240-3. General sense: The world is lifted towards the north, depressed towards the south. It is a not very scientific but fairly intelligible way of saying, the North Pole is lifted up, the South Pole is below us. The fact which underlies V.'s description is of course that

in a Northern latitude the North Pole of the Heavens is within the visible sky (higher or lower acc. to latitude), the South Pole invisible, as it lies in the hemisphere cut off from view by the earth itself.

Scythiam, the extreme N. to the Greeks, from whom V. borrows so much of his phrasing.

Rhipaeae arces, 'the Rhipean hills', old name for the unknown and imaginary mountains in the North, afterwards identified with mountains near the source of the Tanais in central Russia.

241. Libyae, Africa.

austros, S. winds.

243. Styx, one of the rivers of Hades [orú, 'hateful' river]. Manes [old adj. manis, 'good': 'the Good people', propitiatory name], 'the spirits' of the dead.

244. For the 'Snake' see note on 204.

246. The stars near the pole never set in these latitudes. This fine line is a distant echo of the splendid Homeric line about the Bear:

οἴη δ ̓ ἄμμορός ἐστι λοετρῶν Ωκεάνοιο.

Inf. after fearing-verbs is natural, e. g. Plaut. Ps. 304 metuo credere; Ov. M. 1. 176 haud timeam dixisse; Hor. Od. II. 2. 7 penna metuente solvi.

247. intempesta, an oid phrase, used by Ennius and Lucretius. Probably an imaginative epithet, 'Timeless Night', suggesting the horror of that dead and blank period which has no hours or divisions or occupations. This seems to be the meaning of Macrobius' obscure note, 'quae non habet idoneum tempus rebus gerendis': and Servius points the same way, explaining it as 'inactuosa'.

248. obtenta, 'drawn over', common use of ob in comp.: obtego, occulo, obeo, obduco, oborior.

250. Oriens, 'the sunrise'. The 'panting steeds' of the dawn, a fine imagination, may be perhaps suggested by some painting.

251. Vesper, properly 'the Evening star', often for the evening. 252. Hinc, hence', is used generally: from all this knowledge of astronomy you can foretell storms.

255. armatas, not 'armed' (as Servius), which is too remote from the Georgic spirit: but 'fitted cut', the 'trim' fleet.

258.

And the year parted evenly into four diverse seasons', rather a strained use of parem: like 'medium luci atque umbris dividit orbem', 209.

These two lines come in a little awkwardly: but if rightly placed here, the sense of 252-258 is 'from this knowledge of the heavens we learn to foretell weather, right times of harvest, and sowing, and sailing, and wood-cutting: not useless is the knowledge of stars and seasons'. Ribbeck rather temptingly proposes to place them before 252, which both makes them more easy, and gives a more natural meaning to hinc.

[259-275. Plenty to do in wet weather: to mend tools, scoop troughs, mark cattle and bins, make stakes and props and baskets, parch and bruise corn. Even on holidays we may attend to streams, fences, nets, sheep washing, and marketing.]

260. forent properanda, 'must have been hurried', the past conditional is used, according to regular rule with present time datur. 261. maturare, 'to do in time', 'to forestall'.

262. vomeris obtusi, this is the iron share: the plough given above, 169, was the wooden plough.

arbore, local 'in the tree'.

263. acervis, ‘bins' he means probably: Servius' notion of a ticket placed on the heaps does not suit impressit.

264. The forked stake is most likely for the climbing vine.

265. Amerina, the withies for tying the vine are of willow twigs from Ameria, town in Umbria:

266. facilis, 'easy', here by slight and natural variation 'pliant '. rubea, the bramble or raspberry (rubus) seems to have been used for rustic basket work.

269. fas et iura sinunt : it is both ‘right' and ‘lawful': divine and human rules permit it.

The things permitted are all works of necessity: to keep the crops alive by watering: to protect them by fences and snaring birds: to wash the sheep suffering from ailments (salubri).

275. incusum, lit. 'chipped in', i.e. 'dented', 'roughened' by chipping: what was wanted in a mill-stone being an infinite number of little cutting surfaces, such as the volcanic stone used naturally had; and this was further improved by chipping.

[276-286. Good and bad days: 5th unlucky, as birthday of Death, Furies and Giants: 17th lucky for various things: 9th good for runaways, bad for thieves.]

277. operum, gen. of respect, particularly common in V. after adjectives, in imitation of Greek, and here used by slight variation for the more natural dat. So we have maturus aevi, fessus rerum, trepidus salutis, securus pelagi, fida tui, &c.

Orcus. Hesiod says (Op. 803), 'On the fifth they say the Erinyes [Furies] attended on the birth of Horkos, whom Eris [Strife] bare, a woe to the perjured'.

There can be little doubt that V. is imitating this passage: and if so he has made two strange alterations: he has said it was the birth of the Furies, when Hesiod only says they attended on the birth of Horkos: and he has confounded Horkos (Greek god of Oath) with Orcus (Roman god of Death or Hades). The first may be an intentional change: the second is evidently a blunder.

279. Coeus and Iapetus were Titans, sons of Oupavós and Taîa (Heaven and Earth) who helped Kronos to defeat his father Ouranos. Vergil mentions the Titans in Tartarus, Aen. VI. 580.

Typhoeus (note Greek accus., three syllables Ty-pho-ea, last two vowels making one syllable), a monster, son of Earth and Tartarus with 100 heads and breathing fire, who rebelled against Zeus (Jove) and was slain by a bolt and buried under a mountain. Aen. IX. 716, VIII. 298.

280. The two sons of Aloeus I saw, vast monsters, who strove to break down the great heaven and thrust Jove from his high kingdom', Aen. VI. 582. They were Otus and Ephialtes, two gigantic youths who piled Ossa on Olympus and Pelion on Ossa and tried thus to assail the gods. The story is from Homer (Od. XI. 305), but V. reverses the mountains.

rescindere, inf. after coniuratos, 'sworn to break', 'conspiring to break'. V. uses inf. after any word of bidding or attempting.

281. Notice hiatus conati-imponere, and hiatus with shortening Pelio-Ossam. The latter is less unusual, as V. often uses Greek rhythms and licenses with Greek words: so Insulae Ionio, Aen. III. 211: G. IV. 461 Rhodopeiae arces: so below 332, 437.

282. scilicet, verily', 'to wit', giving the details of their plot.

284. felix, 'lucky', ponere, 'to plant'. (Greek use of inf. with adj.) Hesiod (Works and Days, 765-825) gives a long list of days lucky and unlucky. V. has rather arbitrarily chosen three only, 5th, 17th, and 9th. In the last two he differs from Hesiod, and follows his own invention or some unknown authority.

285. licia, 'leashes', the loops at the top of the loom to which the ends of the standing threads (warp) were separately tied to keep them in their places evenly.

286. fugae, i.e. for runaway slaves.

[287-310. Night good for stubble-reaping, torch-cutting, weaving, boiling and skimming must. The hot day for reaping and threshing. Winter for festivities: also for gathering acorns, berries, olives, snaring and hunting birds and beasts.]

288. Eous, the morning star.

290. lentus, 'soft': the word properly means 'supple' and is here used in a strained sense, 'that which makes supple'.

291. luminis, the Roman farmer needed no fire in his house usually, except the focus or brazier in the atrium, containing a small charcoal or wood fire for cooking. lumen is therefore probably a lamp.

292. inspicat, 'splits': they split the end into sharp points like a spica or a corn ear.

293. solata, cheering', past part. used in present sense. See 206. 294. argutus. The verb arguo (from arg- bright, argentum, argilla, ápyós, &c.) means 'to make clear': the part. means 'clear', so 'shrill', 'keen', 'quick', &c., used of sounds, movement, even smells; here it refers to the sound, 'the shrill comb'.

The comb was used to drive the cross threads (woof) close together to make the texture firm.

295. Volcano, god of fire, used for fire itself (so Bacchus, Ceres, &c.). Notice extra syllable of umorem elided before Et. So tecta Latinorum Ardua, Aen. VII. 160, and -que frequently elided. also II. 69.

See

Observe the commonplace things dignified by stately words, umorem, trepidus, undam, aheni. So Aen. VII. III-115 bread is 'Cereale solum', cakes are 'patulae quadrae', to break bread is 'violare', &c.

296. trepidus, 'restless': describing the boiling.

297. medio aestu, 'hot noon': he has been describing what should be done in 'cool night' or 'fresh dawn', and now we come to the mid-day.

299. nudus, stripped', i.e. with only tunic on. The connexion is 'plough and sow in the hot months: the winter is the farmer's rest'. The poet here passes from the times of day (287–298) to the times of the year (299-310).

302. genialis. The Romans believed that every living person (and even things and places) had a genius or 'life-spirit' who was worshipped on birthdays and holidays. Horace says the genius is god of man's nature' and 'tempers his natal star' (Ep. II. 2. 187). So the bride-bed was lectus genialis, and 'to enjoy oneself' was indulgere genio. Hence this adjective genialis, 'festal'.

303. pressae, 'laden'.

304. This line occurs again Aen. IV. 418 to describe the crowning of the stern at departure, as here of return.

306. Laurel and myrtle berries were used for flavouring.

307. pedicas, 'snares': the cranes were one of the farmer's enemies, 120.

309. Balearis, the little islands of Majorca and Minorca off the E. coast of Spain were called Balearic Isles, and were famous for slingers.

Whirling the hempen blows' is a rather bold poetic inversion quite in Vergil's manner. We must say 'whirling the bolt of the hempen sling'. So volnus is used of a sword Aen. IV. 689 infixum stridit volnus; and of an arrow Aen. VII. 533 haesit sub gutture volnus.

310. trudunt describes the force: the streams pack the ice.

[311-350. Storms and signs of storms: how averted, by careful worship of Ceres.]

313. quae vigilanda viris, what needs men's care', i.e. [quid dicam], quae vig. viris [sint]?

vigilo, prop. intr. 'to be wakeful', used trans. by Augustans. So Ovid has vigilati labores, vigilatum carmen.

ruit, 'falls', i.e. 'is far spent'. So Aen. VI. 539 nox ruit Aenea: where, just before, the dawn had begun. [Others, W. Con. &c., take it with imbr., 'falls in showers': but it is clearly late spring, froin the next line.]

316. arvis, dat. poetic variation for in with acc., common in V. 317. fragili culmo, abl. of description, with its little stalk'. 320. sublimem expulsam eruerent, 'tore up and drove aloft', the heavy spondees and unusual rhythm suggesting force. sublimem adj. for adv. as often with adj. of position, medius, imus, altus, primus, &c.

Observe the accumulation expulsam eruerent: see above line 200. ita...ferret hiemps, then with black squall the tempest bore away...'. [Others take it 'so would winter &c.', i.e. the storm in summer carries off the ripe corn as the winter wind would the straw and stubble', a very flat comparison: whereas with the rendering given above we have the wind first tearing up and whirling aloft the ripe corn, then the storm carrying far the lighter bits.]