ODE XXVIII. Apparently the dramatic monologue of the ghost of one who has been shipwrecked near the tomb of the philosopher Archytas on the shore near Venusia. In lines 1-6 the shade of Archytas is directly apostrophized in the manner of the Greek sepulchral epigram. Lines 6-20 moralize on the universality of death. In lines 20-36 very loosely, if at all, connected with the preceding, a ghost that met shipwreck in the Illyrian waves implores with mingled entreaties and imprecations a passing sailor to give it the formal rites of burial-three handfuls of earth. Attempts have been made to interpret the poem as a dialogue with change of speaker at 17 or 21. Cf. Sellar, p. 182. Archytas of Tarentum, the Pythagorean philosopher and mathematician, was a contemporary of Plato. Cf. Cic. Cato M. 12-41. 6 1. arenae: cf. Catull. 7. 3; Otto, p. 159; Pind. O. 2. 108; the comic word aμμаkóσia; Milton, unnumbered as the sands | Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil.' Archimedes wrote a treatise entitled ψαμμίτης. 2. mensorem (terrae): yewμéтρns. — cohibent: cf. 2. 20. 8; 3. 4. 80; 4. 6. 34. 3. pulveris exigui: Verg. G. 4. 87, in exquisite symbolism. So Lucan of Pompey, Pharsal. 8. 867, pulveris exigui sparget non longa vetustas | congeriem. It is the familiar contrast between the full-blown pride of living man and the two handfuls of white dust shut in an urn of brass.' Those who make Archytas himself the unburied speaker (22-23; 35-36) render the boon of a little dust (withheld).- Matinum: cf. 4. 2. 27; Epode 16. 27, Matina cacumina; glossed variously by Porphyrio as mons Apuliae and mons Calabriae. Whether or how the tomb of Archytas was there does not appear. 4. munera: Lex. II. B. 2. 4-5. nec... prodest... temptasse: cf. Milton's 'nor aught availed him now | To have built in heaven high towers.' Temptasse suggests the audacity of the attempt. Cf. 3. 4. 31; 1. 11. 3; Verg. Eclog. 4. 32, temptare Thetim ratibus; cf. also Lucretius of Epicurus, 1.73, atque omnem immensum peragravit mente animoque. Whence Swinburne, 'Past the wall unsurmounted that bars out our vision with iron and fire | He has sent forth his soul for the stars to comply with and suns to conspire.' Cf. Plato, Theætet. 173. e. 6. morituro: with tibi, since thou wast doomed to die, despite thy immortal thoughts. Cf. on 2. 3. 4. 7. Pelopis genitor, cf. 2. 13. 37. In Ov. Met. 6. 172, Pelops says, mihi Tantalus auctor | cui licuit soli superorum tangere mensas. Cf. Pind. O. 1. 55; Od. 11. 587; Goethe, Iph. 4. 5. 8. Tithonus: was translated to the skies, removed to the airs, by Aurora who loved him. Cf. on 2. 16. 30; Eurip. Tro. 855. 9. Minos Alòs μeɣárov dapioтns; Odyss. 19. 179. Cf. Plato's Minos. 10-14. The son of Panthous (Euphorbus, Il. 16. 808) had to die a second time, although in his reincarnation as Pythagoras he, to prove his metempsychosis, entered the temple of Hera in Argos and took down the shield which he wore in his first sojourn on earth as Euphorbus. Cf. Ov. Met. 15. 160. ff; Max. Tyr. 16. 2. 10. Orco cf. Verg. Aen. 2. 398, multos Danaum dimittimus Orco. 13. concesserat: i.e. he had yielded only the body, not the soul, to death. — atrae: cf. on 2. 3. 16. 14. iudice te: Pythagoras would be no mean authority (litotes) to a Pythagorean. Cf. Verg. Aen. 11. 339, non futilis auctor; Livy, 30. 45, haud . . . spernendus auctor. 15. una: Simon. fr. 38 (52), πάντα γὰρ μίαν ἱκνεῖται δασπλῆτα Xápußdiv. All that we are or know is darkly driven | Towards one gulf' (Shelley, Revolt of Is. 9. 35). 16. calcanda . . . via: 2. 17. 12, iter, 'the way to dusty death.' Cf. Propert. 4. 17. 22, est mala sed cunctis ista terenda via est. semel: 1. 24. 16. n. 17. spectacula: cf. on 1. 2. 37.- torvo: 'he smiles a smile more dreadful | Than his own dreadful frown,' etc. 18. exitiost: G. L. 356; A. and G. 233. a. — avidum: cf. 3. 29. 61, but here for lives, not wealth; cf. 2. 18. 30. 19. mixta: as in Verg. Aen. 6. 306-308. 20. saeva: imperiosa (Sat. 2. 5. 110), cf. on Verg. Aen. 4. 698; Eurip. Alcest. 74. aιvý. Proserpina: For quant. 2. 13. 21. n. — fugit: aoristic (cf. 3. 2. 32), shuns, neglects. But it is probably a reversal of the normal mode of expression (Proserpinam fugit), such as Jebb, J. H. S. 3. 168, notes in Pindar, O. 1. 53, etc. 21. Orion was a proverbially stormy sign. Cf. 3. 27. 18; Epode 10. 10; 15. 7; Milton, When with fierce winds Orion armed | Hath vexed the red seacoast'; Apoll. Rhod. 1. 1202, eûte μáλiota | Χειμερίη ολοοῖο δύσις πέλει Ωρίωνος; Anth. Pal. 7. 273; Hes. Op. 619; Verg. Aen. 4. 52. —comes: 4. 12. 1. 23. vagae: wind-blown. — malignus: cf. on benignius, 1. 9. 6. 24. Note the rare and harsh hiatus. 25. sic: i.e. if you grant my prayer. Cf. on 1. 3. 1. 25-27. May the threats of the east wind spend themselves on the forests of Venusia while thou remainest safe. - plēctantur : be lashed, mulcted. 28. unde potest: sc. defluere, parenthetic. For unde, cf. on 1. 12. 17. 29. custode: Toλouxos. Taras, son of Neptune, was the eponymous founder of Tarentum. 30. neglegis: dost thou count it a light thing? Cf. Catull. 30. 5. The sailor seems to be about to refuse. 31. te acc. with committere rather than abl. with natis. neglegis committere would probably mean neglect to commit.· fraudem: wrong. Cf. Odyss. 11. 72 sqq.-fors et: seems to be a phraseological equivalent of fortasse with a tone of confidence. 'It may be too.' Editors cite Verg. Aen. 2. 139; 11. 50. 32. due punishment and stern requital. - debita iura has also been interpreted 'rites and justments of the dead' (sc. withheld). 33. precibus: i.e. the denial of my prayers. — inultis: cf. 1. 2. 51. —linquar: left (in the lurch); cf. Sat. 1. 9. 74. 36. ter: the consecrated number. Soph. Antig. 431. Verg. Aen. 6. 229. 506; ODE XXIX. Iccius the scholar s'en va-t-en guerre to spoil the treasures of Araby the blest, and win a fair barbarian for his bride. Streams may run uphill when Iccius sells his library for a coat of mail. Cf. Epp. 1. 12, a complimentary letter written about five years later to Iccius as steward of Agrippa's Sicilian estates. The expe dition referred to is the unsuccessful campaign of Aelius Gallus in the year 25 B.C. Cf. Strabo. 16. 22; Augustus, Mon. Ancyr. 5. 13, In Arabiam usque in fines Sabaeorum processit exercitus ad Oppidum Mariba; Plin. N. H. 6. 160. For bantering tone, cf. Cicero's playful letters to his friend Trebatius, who went to seek his fortune in the camp of Caesar. 1. beatis for transferred epithet, cf. 'perfumes of price | Robb'd from the happy shrubs of Araby' (William Browne, Book 2. Song 3). nunc: i.e. after a life of study. The position italicizes in Latin. Cf. Arnold, Obermann Once More: And from the world, with heart opprest, | Choosest thou now to turn?'-Arabum Arabia is alluded to as a sort of California by the Augustan poets. Cf. 2. 12. 24; 3. 24. 1; Ep. 1. 7. 36; Propert. 1. 14. 19; 3. 1. 15, India quin Auguste, tuo dat colla triumpho | et domus intactae te tremit Arabiae. Cf. also, the gold of Arabia' (Ps. 72. 15); Otto, p. 33, 34. 2. gazis: oriental coloring. — acrem militiam: 3. 2. 2. 3. non ante: 4. 14. 41.- Sabaeae: Sheba. Cf. 1 Kings 10. 1, and Milton's 'Sabaean odors from the spicy shore | Of Araby the blest.' 4. Medo: Iccius will subdue the entire Orient. Cf. 1.9, Sericas. — horribili: cf. Cat. 11. 11, horribiles Britannos. The tone is that of Falstaff to Prince Hal, Hen. IV. 1. 1. 2. 4, Could the world pick thee out three such enemies again Art thou not horribly afraid? doth not thy blood thrill at it?' 5. catenas: cf. the anecdotes of armies so confident of victory that they took more chains than arms into battle (Flor. 3. 7). 6. Avoid the ambiguity of a recent English version, 'What savage maiden having slain her lover?' 7. ex aula: Aulicus, regius, page. Cf. Livy, 45. 6.- capillis : cf. Fitzgerald cited at 1. 38. 6, and Tenn. 'long-hair'd page.' 8. ad cyathum: as cup-bearer to dip the wine from the cratera. Cf. Sueton. Caes. 49; Juv. Sat. 5. 56, Alos Asiae ante ipsum; 13. 43, nec puer Iliacus, formosa nec Herculis uxor | ad cyathos; Jebb on Soph. Philoct. 197; Daniel, 1. 3. 9. doctus: Persian youth were taught rρía μoûva, inπEÚELV, τοξεύειν καὶ ἀληθίζεσθαι (Hdt. 1. 136). Cf. Strabo. 15. 3. 18. tendere strictly applicable to the bow. Cf. Verg. Aen. 9. 606, spicula tendere cornu; 5. 507.- Sericas: cf. 1. 12. 56. n. 10-12. Proverbial expression for reversal of order of nature. Cf. Eurip. Med. 410, ǎvw Tотaμŵv iepŵv Xwрoûσi wayaí; Suppl. 520; Cic. ad Att. 15. 4. 1; Propert. 3. 7. 33; 4. 18. 6; Verg. Aen. 11. 405; Ov. Trist. 1. 8. 1; Her. 5. 27, cum Paris Oenone poterit spirare relicta, | Ad fontem Xanthi versa recurret aqua; ex Pont. 4. 5. 43; 4. 6. 45; Claudian. Eutrop. 1. 353; in Rufin. 1.159; infra. Ep. 16. 28; Otto, p. 139; Scott, Lay of Last Minstrel, 1. 18, ‘Your mountains shall bend and your streams ascend | Ere Margaret be our foeman's bride'; Tenn., 'Against its fountain upward runs | The current of my days.' 11. pronos: by nature. Cf. 3. 27. 18; 4. 6. 39; Shelley, Witch of Atlas, 41, and ever down the prone vale . . . the pinnace went'; Manil. 4. 415, et pronis fugientia Alumina ripis; Verg. G. 1. 203. 12. montibus: dat. whither, or possibly abl. abs. 13. coemptos: 2. 3. 17. - nobilis preferably with Panaeti. 14. Panaetius, a Stoic philosopher of Rhodes, friend of the younger Scipio, and author of a treatise Tepì TOû Kałńkovтos, followed by Cicero in his De Officiis. — Socraticam domum: the writings of Plato, Xenophon, and the other Socratics. Cf. Peripateticorum familia (Cic. de Divin. 2. 1); Hor. Epist. 1. 1. 13, quo • me duce quo lare tuter; Sen. Ep. 29; Julian. p. 259 B, кal To Zwкράтоνs dwμáriov; cf. Milt. P. R. 4, Socrates . . . from whose mouth issued forth | Mellifluous streams that water'd all the schools,' etc. ... 15. mutare: cf. 1. 16. 26. n.- Hiberis: cf. Shak. Othello, 5. 2, 'It is a sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper.' 16. pollicitus: cf. 1. 15. 32. —tendis: cf. Epp. 1. 19. 16, tenditque disertus haberi. ODE XXX. Come, Queen of Love, with thy joyous train, abandon Cyprus and betake thee to the dainty shrine whither Glycera woos thee. A so-called KλNTIKÒS VμVOS. Cf. Alcm. fr. 21. |