EXPLANATORY NOTES. ODES. THE Word Ode (from the Greek 8) was not introduced into the Latin tongue until the third or fourth century of our era, and was then first used to denote any pieces of a lyric nature. The grammarians, perceiving that Horace had more than once used the word carmen to designate this kind of poetry, ventured to place it at the head of his odes, and their example has been followed by almost all succeeding editors. We have no very strong reason, however, to suppose that the poet himself ever intended this as a general title for his lyric productions. (Compare Les Poesies D'Horace, par Sanadon, vol. 1. p. 6.) ODE 1. Addressed to Mæcenas, and intended probably by Horace as a dedication to him of part of his odes. It is generally thought that the poet collected together and presented on this occasion the first three books of his lyric pieces. From the complexion, however, of the last ode of the second book, it would appear that the third book was separately given to the world, and at a later period. The subject of the present ode is briefly this: The objects of human desire and pursuit are various. One man delights in the victor's prize at the public games, another in attaining to high political preferment, a third in the pursuits of agriculture, &c. My chief aim is the successful cultivation of lyric verse, in which if I shall obtain your applause, O Mæcenas, my lot will be a happy one indeed. 1-2. 1. Maecenas atavis, &c. "Mecenas, descended from regal ancestors." Caius Cilnius Maecenas, who shared with Agrippa the favour and confidence of Augustus, and distinguished himself by his patronage of literary men, is said to have been descended from Elbius Volterrenus, one of the Lucumones of Etruria, who fell in the battle at the lake Vadimona, A. U. C. 445.-2. O et præsidium, &c. "O both my patron and sweet glory," The expression dulce decus meum refers to the feeling of gratification entertained by the poet in having so illustrious a patron and friend. The synaloepha is neglected in the commencement of this line, as it always is in the case of O, Heu, Ah, &c.; since the voice is sustained and the hiatus prevented by the strong feeling which these interjections are made to express. 3. Sunt quos curriculo, &c. "There are some, whom it delights to have collected the Olympic dust in the chariot-course." i. e. to have contended for the prize at the Olympic games. The Olympic are here put karox for any games. The Grecian games were as follows: 1. The Olympic, celebrated at Olympia in Elis, on the banks of the Alpheus, after an interval of four years, from the eleventh to the fifteenth of the month Hecatombeon which corresponds nearly to our July. It is uncertain whether Pelops or Hercules was their founder. After the invasion of the Heraclide, Iphitus renewed them, (884 B. C.) and Coroebus a second time, 776 B. C. They were celebrated in honour of Jupiter: the crown was of wild olive, KOTIVOS.-2. The Pythian, in honour of Apollo, celebrated on the Crissæan plain near Delphi, at first every nine, but subsequently every five, years. The season for holding them was the spring. The crown was of laurel.-3. The Nemean. These were originally funeral games, (aywv Tápios,) in memory of Archemorus. Hercules, however, after having killed the Nemean lion, consecrated them to Jupiter. They were celebrated in a grove near the city of Nemea, in the second and fourth years of every Olympiad. The crown was of fresh parsley. 4. The Isthmian. Originally established in honor of Palemon, but afterwards re-modelled by Theseus, and consecrated to Neptune. They were held on the isthmus of Corinth, twice during each Olympiad. The crown was originally of pine, and afterwards of withered parsley, but the pine subsequently came again into use. 4. Metaque fervidis, &c. "And whom the goal, skilfully avoided by the glowing wheels." The principal part of the charioteer's skill was dis played in avoiding the meta (vbora) or goals. In the Greek hippodrome, as well as in the Roman circus, a low wall was erected which divided the Spatium, or race-ground, into two unequal parts. Cassiodorus calls it the spina. At each of its extremities, and resting on hellow basements, were placed three pillars formed like cones; these cones were properly called meta, (vooral); but the whole was often collectively termed in the singular meta. The chariots, after starting from the carceres, or barriers, where their station had been determined by lot, ran seven times around the spina. The chief object, therefore, of the rival charioteers, was to get so near to the spina, as to graze (evitare) the meta in turning. This of course would give the shortest space to run, and, if effected each heat, would ensure the victory. Compare Burgess, Description of the Circus on the Via Appia, p. 65. 5-6. 5. Palmaque nobilis. "And the ennobling palm." Besides the crown, a palm-branch was presented to the conqueror at the Grecian games, as a general token of victory: this he carried in his hand.— 6. Terrarum dominos. "The rulers of the world," referring simply to the gods, and not, as some explain the phrase, to the Roman people. 7-10. 7. Hunc. Understand juvat. Hunc in this line; illum in the 9th; and gaudentem in the 11th, denote, respectively, the ambitious aspirant after popular favours, the covetous man, and the agriculturist.— 8. Certat tergeminis, &c. "Vie with each other in raising him to the highest offices in the state." Honoribus is here the dative, by a Græcism, for ad honores. The epithet tergeminis is equivalent merely to amplissimis. -9. Illum. Understand juvat.-10. Libycis. One of the principal granaries of Rome was the fertile region adjacent to the Syrtis Minor, and called Byzacium or Emporia. It formed part of Africa Propria. Horace uses the epithet Libycis for Africis, in imitation of the Greek writers, with whom Libya (Abbn) was a general appellation for the entire continent of Africa. 11-15. 11. Sarculo. "With the hoe." Sarculum is for sarriculum, from sarrio.-12. Attalicis conditionibus. "For all the wealth of Attalus." Alluding to Attalus 3d, the last king of Pergamus, famed for his riches, |