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A COMMENTARY ON
VIRGIL
Eclogues
BY
WENDELL CLAUSEN
P
I
H
20. SEP. 1994
CLARENDON PRESS • OXFORD 1994
233
COMMENTARY
herboso concidit Apidano', where, however, the adjective makes a difference, Abbe 73 quotes William Turner (London, 1548): 'Whyte Poplar. Thys kynde is commune about the bankes of the floude Padus',
montibus altis: 1. 83 n.
67. at:.postponed as in 10. 31; see Norden 403.
Lycida formose: Thyrsis and Corydon share an affection for Phyllis (S9, 63), but Alexis—'formosus Alexis' (55)—is too closely associated with Corydon to be named as a lover by Thyrsis.
70. Corydon Corydon: on being repeated, not as in 2. 69 'a,
Corydon, Corydon' but as a predicate, the name becomes metaphorical: not simply Corydon, therefore, but Corydon the ideal singer. Thus a singer of comparable quality might be termed 'a Corydon'; cf. Catull. 22. 18-20 'nimirum idem omnes fallimur, neque est quisquam / quern non in ahqua re uidere Suffenum / possis', with Fordyce's note; Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, iv. i. 221 'A Daniel come to judgment: yea, a Daniel!'
ECLOGUE 8
Introduction
A reader of the Eighth Eclogue, while admiring individual lines and passages, may become aware of a certain incoherence or forced unity in the poem as a whole.
The first word of the first line is noticeably insistent, 'Pastorum Musam Damonis et Alphesiboei'—Pastorum, as if to assert the pastoral character of the poem as a whole in anticipation of the reader's response to the unpastoral Muse of Alphesiboeus (64—109). Similarly, certantis, the first word of the third line, invites the reader to regard Damon and Alphesiboeus as engaged in a singing-match, although none of the preliminary formalities has been observed or even suggested,1
His pastoral decor thus provisionally in place, Virgil announces, with a graceful rephrasing of his first line, his intention—that of telling of the Muse of Damon and Alphesiboeus, 'Damonis Musam dicemus et Alphesiboei' (5). Instead of proceeding to do so, however, he addresses an unnamed patron.
tu mihi, seu magni superas iam saxa Timaui
siue oram Illyrici legis aequoris,—en erit umquam
ille dies, mihi cum liceat tua dicere facta?
en erit ut liceat totum mihi ferre per orbem
sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna coturno?
a te priiytipium, tibi desinarn: accipe iussis
carmina coepta tuis, atque hanc sine tempora ctrcum
inter uictricis hederam tibi serpere lauros. (6-13)
These lines present the chief difficulty of the poem, and yet are, in a sense, extraneous to the poem; were they to be removed, their absence would not be felt,*
Who, then, is the patron so abruptly and cryptically addressed? There are, as there have been since antiquity, only two possible candidates: Octavian and Pollio;3 and modern commentators,
' See E. 3, Introduction. See also E. Bethe, RhM 47 (1892), 590-6. 2 P. Levi, Hermes, 94 (1966), 73-9, in fact argues that all or most of these tines should be removed.
1 Serv. on 1. 6: *ubi ubi es, o Auguste, siue . ..'; DServ. on 1. 10: 'alii ideo hoc de Poilione dictum uolunt, quod et ipse utriusque linguae tragoedtarurn scriptor fuit'. The name Augustus, conferred by the Senate in 27 BC, is no indication of date in an
commentary
eclogue 8: introduction
235
map i. The Roman Conquest of Dalmatia
without serious question, have preferred Pollio, largely because of his reputation as a tragic poet.4 But in 1971 the question was reopened by Bowersock,5 who argued (i) that the traditional dating of the Eclogues {c. 42-39 bc) is a scholiastic fabrication and, as such, worthless; and (ii) that the conqueror of the Parthini, a
ancient author. For convenience, modern scholars refer to Augustus as Octavian (Octavianus) before that date; but from the early 30s he called himself Imp. Caesar Diui f., Caesar being the potent name to which, Antony said, he owed everything. See R. Syme, Historia, 7 (1958), 172-88 = Roman Papers, i (Oxford, 1979), 361-77. 4 Nothing survives of Pollio's tragedies; see 3. 86 n.
s Bowersock had been anticipated by H.W. Garrod, CQ 10 (1916), 216-17. 'Nor is it obvious what the conqueror of the Parthini was doing among "the rocks of the Timavus", i.e. in N. Istria ... In fact, Virgil's language is less applicable to the circumstances of the year 39 than it would be to those of the years 35-33. In 35 bc Augustus first turned his attention to the subjugation of Dalmatia and Pannonia".
people in the hinterland of Dyrrhachium, had no reason to be sailing past 'the rocks of the Timavus' some 400 miles to the north along the perilous Dalmatian coast.6 No doubt Pollio returned to Italy the usual way in 39 bc, crossing over from Dyrrhachium to Brundisium, from which he had embarked in the previous year. After celebrating a triumph 'ex Parthineis'7 he ostentatiously retired from public life to devote himself to literature. Since Pollio appears to be excluded on geographical (and other) grounds, Virgil's addressee—unnamed here as he is in the First Eclogue— must be Octavian, who in 35 bc initiated a series of campaigns in northern Dalmatia in the general region of the Timavus.8
But can this identification be reconciled with Virgil's reference to Sophoclean tragedy? Suetonius reports, though without indicating a date, that Augustus began to compose a tragedy, an Ajax, with great energy, but, his style proving inadequate, deleted it, and when friends inquired after his Ajax, replied—no doubt a much-appreciated witticism—that Ajax had fallen on his sponge.9 Obviously, Virgil's enthusiasm is out of proportion to a single, abortive effort,50 as Octavian's Ajax must appear in retrospect. But
6 And in an extreme angle of the Adriatic; see map, p. 234. The Timavus flows into the Adriatic between Aquileia and Tergeste. Since the identity of V.'s patron depends on his association with the Timavus, the Timavus cannot be dismissed as a geographical imprecision of the sort occasionally found in poetry.
7 See T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, ii (New York, 1952)1 387-8. Horace's 'Delmatico ... triumpho' (Carm, 2, 1. 16) is not, nor was it intended to be, geographically exact; J.J. Wilkes, Dalmatia (Cambridge, Mass., 1969), 45: 'Horace was employing a well-known triumphal title, in preference to the technically correct but hardly flattering Partfanicus,.
8 Cf, Wilkes, ibid. 50: 'Octavianus probably began his advance in 3 5 BC against the lapodes from the Liburnian port Senia ...'. It was a difficult campaign, and Octavian himself was wounded in the assault on Metulum, the chief stronghold of the lapodes. Note that the Timavus is called Iapydian in G. 3. 475 'Iapydis arua Timaui'. For the spelling of their name—Iapodes, Iapudes, Iapydes—see RE ix. 724.
* Suet. Aug. 85. 2 'nam tragoediam magno impetu exorsus, non succedenti stilo, aboleuit quaerentibusque amicis quidnam Aiax ageret respondit Aiacem suum in spongiam incubuisse'; cf. Macrob. Sat. a. 4. z 'Aiacem tragoediam scripserat eandemque quod sibi displicuisset deleuerat. postea L, Varius tragoediarum scriptor interrogabat eum quid ageret Aiax suus. et ille, "in spongiam", inquit, "incubuit"'. For Varius see 9. 33 n.
K Hence the desperate expedient of Beroaldus, who interpreted 'tua carmina' as 'songs about you'; see Van Sickle zi. Three parallel phrases: 'tua .. . facta', 'tua carmina', 'iussis ... tuis'—why should the second phrase be different? And, if so,
236 COMMENTARY
suppose that Octavian, with an enthusiasm communicated to his friends, had only begun his Ajax when Virgil wrote these lines.11 And if Octavian was too little known as a tragic poet, Pollio was too well known, it might be argued, to be so praised: high hopes for the future are better suited to a poet as yet little known, of whom great things may be expected.
Virgil implies a relation between his patron's poetry (10 'tua carmina') and his own, begun at his patron's command (n-12 'iussis / carmina coepta tuis*). Octavian could, as a patron, give such an order and can, as a poet himself, judge the result (11 'accipe'). If Pollio ever was Virgil's patron,12 he has been superseded,13 since the First Eclogue effectively dedicates the Book of Eclogues to Octavian; and here the poet, by an understood fiction, ascribes to his patron's command the poetry he would have written anyhow.14
This argument is confirmed, finally, by Virgil's declaration that he will begin with his patron and end wjith his patron, 11 'a te principium, tibi desinam'-—a formula applied to Zeus,15 to Agamemnon,16 and, by inference, to Ptolemy Philadelphus, Theocr. 17. 1—4 Ek Atos apx<*>p.eo8a Kal is Ala Xrjyere, Moiaai, | ddavdrcav tov apiorov ... \ dvSpwv & aS /TroAefiafoy h>l{irpti>roiat Xeyeadeo \ Kal TTufiaros Kal p.eaaos • o yap Trpospepeararos avSpwv, 'From Zeus let us
why the reference to Sophocles? Epic deeds demand epic praise. Kohnken n. 43 asserts that 'Sophocleo ... coturno' stands by metonymy for the high style in general (genus grande); an arbitrary interpretation unsupported by evidence, for in Prop, a. 34. 41, which he cites, 'Aeschyleo ... coturno' refers to the high style of tragedy.
11 In any case, excessive praise of a ruler's poetic achievement (10 'sola ,.. tua carmina*) should occasion no surprise. Cf. e.g. Ben Jonson, Epigram 4, To King James 1-2 'How, best of kings, dost thou a sceptre bear! / How, best of poets, dost thou laurel wear!', with Samuel Johnson's opinion of poetic veracity: 'as much veracity as can properly be exacted from a poet professedly encomiastick' (Life of Prior). See below for Quintilian's praise of Dotnitian as 'the greatest of poets'.
I! Not a relationship easy to define. Nisbet and Hubbard, however, on Hor. Carm, 2. 1. 12, define Pollio as Virgil's 'old patron' and find it hard to believe that Virgil would offer him 'so unnecessary an insult*. See also Tarrant 197-8.
" Though not entirely: 3. 84-91, 4. 11-14. Perhaps Pollio may be regarded as a secondary dedicatee, as he is in Horace's Carmina (2.1), which are primarily dedicated to Maecenas (1. 1).
11 Cf. G. 3. 41 'tua, Maecenas, haud mollia iussa'.
" Notably by Aratus, Phaen. 1. "Ek Aios apx<Jif-f<rfla. See Gow on Theocr. 17. 1 f.; also M. Fantuzzi, MB 5 (1980), 163-72.
'* II. 9. 97, a passage Virgil had in mind; see ad loc.
ECLOGUE 8: INTRODUCTION
237
begin, and with Zeus in our poems, Muses, let us make end, for of immortals he is best; but of men let Ptolemy be named, first, last, and in the midst, for of men he is most excellent' (Gow). Such intimations of sublimity are unsuited, as Quintilian seems to have recognized, to a mere proconsul, for in congratulating Domitian on his accession to the throne, and extolling his literary genius, he quotes the last line of Virgil's dedication.
Germanicum Augustum ab institutis studiis deflexit cura terrarum, pa-rumque dis uisum est esse eum maximum poetarum. quid tamen his ipsis eius operibus in quae donato imperio iuuenis secesserat sublimius, doc-tius, omnibus denique numeris praestantius? quis enim caneret bella melius quam qui sic gerit? quern praesidentes studiis deae propius audirent? cui magis suas artis aperiret familiäre numen Minerua? dicent haec plenius futura saecula, nunc enim ceterarum fulgore uirtutum laus ista praestringitur. nos tamen sacra litterarurn colentis feres, Caesar, si non taciturn hoc praeterimus et Vergiliano certe uersu testamur inter uictrices hederam tibi serpere laurus.1'
T Apart from the opening lines (1-5), which introduce the singers
and set the scene, and the dedication (6—13), the Eighth Eclogue is composed almost entirely of two songs, or two performances: the first by Damon (17-61), of which the idea and several details are borrowed from Theocritus' Third Idyll; and the second by Alphesiboeus (64-109), which is modelled on the incantation of Simaetha in Theocritus' Second Idyll (17-63).
The second song must be considered first, along with Simaetha's incantation, if the structure of the Eclogue is to be understood. Her incantation consists of nine quatrains—an appropriate number as being a multiple of three, the magic number18—each of which is accompanied by a refrain 'Draw to my house that man of mine'.19
" Quintil. 10. i. 91-2, cited by Bowersock (1971), 79. Domitian assumed the title Germanicus after his campaign against the Chatti in ad 84. For his literary studies cf. Tac. Hist. 4. 86. 2 'Domitianus sperni a senioribus iuuentam suam cernens modica quoque et usurpata antea munia imperii omittebat, simplicitatis ac modes-tiae imagine in altitudinem conditus studiumque litterarurn et arnorem carminum simulans', Suet. Dom. 20 'numquam tamen aut historiae carminibusque noscendis operám uUam aut stilo uel necessario dedit. praeter commentaries et acta Tiberi Caesaris nihil lectitabat'.
18 See note on 11. 73-4.
" For the arrangement of the refrain see Gow on Theocr. 2. 17-63.
238
COMMENTARY
ECLOGUE 8: INTRODUCTION
239
Similarly, the song of Alphesiboeus consists of nine stanzas20— deliberately varied in length, however, but, like Simaetha's incantation, amounting to thirty-six lines—each of which is followed by a refrain 'Bring Daphnis home from town'. Virgil, it seems, conceived of his stanzas in groups of three, for the same numbers of lines recur in a triadic pattern, thus: 4, 3, 5; 4, 5, 3; 5, 3, 4.21 The number four is prominent and may recall Simaetha's quatrains.
Since Damon and Alphesiboeus are engaged, at least nominally, in a singing-match, the reader will assume that the second song conforms to the first, that Alphesiboeus is following the lead of Damon; and had Virgil chosen to elaborate his fiction, the incongruity of the last three stanzas in the second song with the last three in the first might have seemed a reason for adjudging the prize to Damon. In fact, the second song must be primary and the first song secondary, modelled, that is, on the second song, because the refrain, while necessary to Alphesiboeus' song, is unnecessary, indeed inappropriate, to Damon's;22 hence Virgil's concern to justify it (22-4). Let the reader try the experiment of reading first Theocritus' Third Idyll and then, omitting 11. 22-4, Damon's song without the refrain.
In a study of the frequency and character of elision in the Eclogues, N.-O. Nilsson23 found, somewhat to his dismay, that the metrical technique of Alphesiboeus differs from Damon's and resembles that of the Second and Third Eclogues, which are generally accepted as being Virgil's earliest. Nilsson rejected the obvious chronological explanation, however, and attributed the difference to a difference of tone in the two songs.24 But a subjective interpretation of metrical evidence will always be
20 On the assumption that II. 26-30 and 73-8 are single stanzas; otherwise Virgil's imitation of Simaetha's incantation would have a stanza too many. See note on 1. 28'.
21 In the song of Alphesiboeus; in Damon's song the arrangement of the last three stanzas differs (4, 5, 3)—a further indication that Virgil was not seriously committed to the fiction of a singing-match,
21 So Bethe (above, n. 1), 595-6. See note on 11. 18-20.
" 'Verschiedenheiten im Gebrauch der Elision in Vergils Eklogen', Eranos, 58 (i960), 80-91.
24 P. 90: 'Die Verschiedenheit der Elisionfrequenz innerhaib der achten Ekloge wird vielmehr mit der Verschiedenheit der Stimmung zusammenhangen: tragi-scher Ernst bei Damon, hoffnungsvoller Eifer nebst abgespanntem, malerischem Realismus bei Alphesiboeus'; an interpretation accepted by Schmidt 32 n. 5.
4
3
dubious, and here a much more plausible explanation presents itself: Pliny, NH 28. 19 'hinc Theocriti apud Graecos, Catulli apud nos proximeque Vergilii incantamentorum amatoria imitatio*. Catullus practiced the art of translation, and it is easy to see why Simaetha's incantation, so beautifully composed and pathetic, would have appealed to him.25 Prompted by the example of Catullus, apparently, and by his own deeper instinct, Virgil imitated Theocritus, or rather, Theocritus and Catullus;26 and some years later (Virgil likes to reuse his own poetry) reused his imitation—modified in certain particulars27 no doubt, but not so modified as to efface the impression of his earlier metrical technique—for the song of Alphesiboeus. If so, then Damon's song may be among the latest of Virgil's pastoral compositions,2* and the Eighth Eclogue, as a whole, contemporary with the First, which, like the Eighth, honours Octavian.
Bibliography
(U. 6-13)
G.W. Bowersock, 'A Date in the Eighth Eclogue', HSCP 75 6:071), 73-80.
W. Clausen, 'On the Date of the First Eclogue', HSCP 76 (1972),
E. A. Schmidt, Zur Chronologie der Eklogen Vergils (SB Heidelberg, 1974/6)-
25 See Wiiamowitz, Die Textgeschichte der griechiscken Bukoliker (Philol. Unter-such. 18, Berlin, 1906}, 112, R. Reitzenstein, RE vi (1907), no, G. Jachmann, Gnomon 1 (1925), 303, S. Timpanaro, Contributi difilologia e di storia della lingua latina (Rom», «978), 276-7. Catullus' imitation, like several of his poems, has been lost; see the OCT edition of Mynors, p. 106.
!t Cf. Clausen 20: 'Almost as a matter of principle, a Hellenistic poet—and by now it should be abundantly clear that Virgil is a Hellenistic poet, writing in that tradition—will choose, where conveniently possible, to imitate two, or even more, poets simultaneously, or to add to his imitation of one poet from another'. It may not be absurd to suggest that Virgil's interest in Theocritus began with Simaetha's incantation. Í
" Quite possibly the happy ending of Alphesiboeus' song (Simaetha's magic is ineffective), which contrasts with the sad ending of Damon's song.
29 And perhaps produced in some haste; so Bethe (above, n. 1), 594. It contains the affecting lines admired by Voltaire, André Chénier, and Thackeray (37-41) as well as the frigid lines which have given so much offence (47-50).
254
COMMENTARY
ECLOGUE 8. 55-64
255
jays to contend with a nightingale, nor hoopoes with swans', Lucr. 3. 6-7 'quid enim contendat hirundo / cycnis?'
certent: 5. 8 n.
cycnis: 9. 29 n.
55-6. sit Tityrus Orpheus, / Orpheus in siluis, inter delphi-nas Arion: 'uilissimus rusticus Orpheus putetur in siluis, Arion uero inter delphinas' (Serv.)- Arion, here a sort of marine Orpheus, was thrown overboard by sailors but carried ashore on the back of a dolphin who had been charmed by his music; for the story see Herod. 1. 23-4, Ov. Fast. 2. 79-118. L. P. Wilkinson, CR 50 (1936), 120-1, conjectures that V.'s dolphins (there are none in Theocritus) come from Archilochus, fr. 122. 6-9 W., the first extant adynaton.
Nonnus has a line oddly similar to 1. 56 in shape, Dionys. 16. 135 "Aprtfus ev oK&ireXoiai xal kv BaMfiois 'A^tpoBlrnj, (that you may appear) 'Artemis among the rocks and in the bedroom Aphrodite'.
58. omnia uel medium fiat mare: for the singular verb cf. Dirae 46 'cinis omnia fiat', Ov. Met. 1. 292 'omnia pontus erat', and see Lofstedt ii. 119. It is unnecessary to assume, with Conington and T. E. Page, that V. misread the variant eVaAAa, 'changed', in Theocr. 1. 134 as ^vaAia, 'in the sea'; see Gow ad loc.
medium: adds a slight emphasis; cf. Plaut. True. 527-8 'si hercle me ex medio mari / sauium petere tuom iubeas', Lucr. 4. 1100 'in medioque sitit torrenti flumine potans', A. 10. 305 ipuppis) 'soluitur atque uiros mediis exponit in undis' (TLL s.v. 585- 44)-
uiuite siluae: 'farewell the woods', 'ualete' (Serv.); perhaps suggested by Theocr. 1. 115-18. Cf. Hor. Serm. 2. 5. no 'uiue ualeque', Epist. 1. 6. 67 'uiue, uale'.
59-60. praeceps aerii specula de montis in undas / deferar:
cf. Theocr. 3. 25—6 rav fiairav atroBvs h Kv^ara ttjvoj aXevfiai, } tLmp to)? Bvwws oKomdZercu "OX-ms 6 yprnevs, '1 will strip off my cloak and leap into the waves from the cliff whence Olpis, the fisherman, watches for the tunny' (Gow). And in Hermesianax, Leontion fr. 3 Powell, Menalcas, rejected by Euhippe, leaps to his death from a cliff.
59. aerii specula de montis: cf. Catull. 68. 57 'in aerii ... uertice montis' and see TLL s.v. aerius 1063. 18. For the anas-trophe of the preposition cf. Lucr. 3. 1088 'tempore de mortis' and
Ir m
It
see Mynors on G. 4. 333 'thalamo sub flumints'; see also Munro on Lucr. 3. 140, Housman on Manil. 1. 245, and, for the anastrophe of prepositions in general, Wackernagel ii. 196-200.
60. extremum ... morientis: echoing 1. 20, 'extrema moriens'. munus: probably not Damon's song (Heyne, Coleman) but his
death, which he imagines will give pleasure to Nysa; see above, 59-60 n., and cf. Theocr. 3. 27 icai ko. S17 Troddvo>, to ye ^.ev Tew aSu reVuKTai, 'And if I die, at least your pleasure will have been done', 54 (the singer, finally, will lie down and die and be eaten by wolves) <bs fte'Ai rot yXvxv tovto Kara fipoxQoio yevoiro, 'And sweet as honey in the throat may this be to you'. Cf. also A. 4. 429 'extremum hoc miserae det munus amanti'. '■■
61. The refrain is modelled on that in Theocr. 1. 127 Xrjyere flovKoXiKas, Moiocu, tre XrjyeT aotBds, 'Cease, Muses, come cease the pastoral song', which replaces the earlier refrain dpx^Te fiovxoXiKas, Molaai 4>i\ai, apx^r doiSa?, 'Begin, dear Muses, begin the pastoral song', as Thyrsis' song draws to a close; see above, 21 n. So here desine replaces incipe.
6a. respondent: maintains the fiction of a singing-match; see above, 3 n., and cf. 7. 5 'respondere parati'.
63. dicite, Pierides: cf. 6.13 'Pergite, Pierides'. The poet unexpectedly appeals to the Muses for help, as though recalling the second song were beyond his unaided powers; see 7. 19 n. In much the same way—'si parua licet componere magnis'—G. 3 breaks in the middle and the second half begins with an invocation, or rather, a digression (284-94), in which V. displays great art and artfulness while questioning his ability to render poetic the care of sheep and goats.
non omnia possumus omnes: cf. Lucil. 218 M. 'non omnia possumus omnes', a proverb 'in the typical form of the paroemiac' (Fraenkel on Aesch. Ag. 1527). Cf. e.g. Theocr. 15. 62 -neipa 6f)v ■navra reXetrai, 'everything's done by trying' (Gow), and see Gow on Theocr. 5. 38, McLennan on Calltm. Hymn 1. 9. For the sentiment, which is as old as Homer, see Otto, no. 1288. Cf. 7. 23.
64-109. Alphesiboeus impersonates an unnamed countrywoman—and, surprisingly, her assistant (105-6)—as she performs a magic ceremony in the hope of compelling her absent 'husband' to return home from town. Alphesiboeus' song is modelled more
256
COMMENTARY
ECLOGUE 8. 64-9
257
or less closely on Theocr. 2. 1-63: the preparations of Simaetha, seduced and abandoned, for a magic ceremony, and her incantation. There is nothing pastoral about Theocritus' Idyll, however; Simaetha lives in a town near the sea, and her faithless lover, Delphis, frequents the local wrestling-school. V. necessarily adapted his imitation to the pastoral mode: hence the rural setting, with a hint of the opposition between town and country; the names Amaryllis and Daphnis; the elaborate, pathetic simile of the weary heifer (V. is more self-consciously 'poetic' than Theocritus); and, finally, though perhaps more rustic than pastoral, mention of a werewolf and crops spirited away. For the structure of Alphe-siboeus* song and its relation to Damon's song and Simaetha's incantation see Introduction, pp. 237-8.
64-82. Cf. Apul. Apol. 30 'at si Vergilium legisses, profecto scisses alia quaeri ad hanc rem solere; ille enim, quantum scio, enumerat uittas mollis et uerbenas pinguis et tura mascula et beta discolora, praeterea laurum fragilem, limum durabilem, ceram liquabilem'.
64. effer aquam: the water, it seems, is to be brought out into the atrium, where the altar stands in the open not far from the outer door of the house (101, 107). The command is addressed to her assistant, whose name, the reader presently learns, is Amaryllis (77); see 2. ion. So Simaetha bids Thestylis bring her the bay-leaves and love-charms, Theocr. 2. 1 Tla juot rat Bcupvat; <pepe, ©ecTuAt. ir& Se tA <f>tXrpa; Two is the usual number—a woman and her assistant or accomplice—in such a scene; cf., besides Theocritus 2, the fragment of Sophron's mime (D. L. Page, Select Papyri (Loeb Classical Library, Hi. 328-31), Hor. Epod. 5, Serm. 1.8.
moll! cinge haec altaria uitta: cf. Theocr. 2. 2 vrtyov rav neXifiav 4>owiKi<i> <noy autr^, 'Wreathe the bowl with fine crimson wool' (Gow). Both wool and crimson, as Gow observes ad loc, have apotropaic power. Cf. e.g. Prop. 4. 6. 6 'terque focum circa laneus orbis eat', Tac. Hist. 4. 53. 2 'spatium omne, quod tempio dicabatur, euinctum uittis coronisque'.
molli; 'lanea scilicet' (DServ.).
65. uerbenas: boughs or plants used for decorating the altar; see Nisbet-Hubbard on Hor. Carm. 1. 19. 14. Boughs of olive, bay, and myrtle are mentioned in the magical papyri; see A. Abt, Die
■ Jill
m
if
mm
it
■111
Apologie des Apuleius von Madaura und die antike Zauberei (Giessen, 1908), 145-6.
adole: an old ritual word meaning 'to set on fire'; cf. Lucr. 4. 1236-7 'multo sanguine . .. / conspergunt aras adolentque altaria donis', A. 3. 546-7 'rite / Iunoni Argiuae iussos adolemus honores'. See A. Ernout, Philologica (Paris, 1946), 53-8, and Mynors on G. 4. 379.
pinguis: full of sap, good for burning; cf. 7.49.
mascula tura: the choicest frankincense, white globules greasy within when crushed and quick-burning (Dioscorides, De mat. med. 1. 68. 1 Xtflavos ... Trpwrevei St 6 apprrfv ...); Pliny, NH 12. 61 'masculum aliqui putant a specie testium dictum*, where Ernout remarks: 'L'expression est demeuree en francais: oliban ou encens male'.
66. coniugis: in her view, though hardly in a legal sense; see above, 18-20 n.
magicis ... sacris: the first extant occurrence of the adjective in Latin; cf. A. 4. 493 'magicas ... artis'.
66-7. sanos auertere .../... sensus: she wishes Daphnis again to be madly in love with her, not, as he now is, heart-whole and indifferent; cf. Catull. 83. 3-4 'si nostri oblita taceret, / sana esset'. So Simaetha wishes Delphis to return to her 'like a madman' (Theocr. 2. 51 puxwopxyat tkeAos) from the wrestling-school.
67. nihil bic nisi carmina desunt: for the attraction of the verb cf. Ov. Trist. 1. 2. 1 'quid enim nisi uota supersunt?' and see Lofstedt ii. 117.
68. ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnin:
see above, 21 n., and cf. the refrain of Simaetha's incantation, Theocr. 2. 17 ivy£, eXxe rii rrjvov ifidv irorl Sdjjxa tqv avSpa, 'My magic wheel, draw to my house that man of mine'.
69-71. carmina ... / carminibus .../... cantando: elegantly imitated by Tibullus, 1. 8. 19-21 'cantus uicinis fruges traducit ab agris, / cantus et iratae detinet anguis iter, / cantus et e curru lunam deducere temptat'. The omnipotence of charms, carmina, is a commonplace of later Latin poetry; see Pease on A. 4. 487.
25«
commentary
69. deducere Junam: drawing down the moon, 'the most famous and picturesque charm in all antiquity' (K. F. Smith on Tib. 1. 2. 43). It was always a love charm, as Smith notes, associated with Thessaly, a land of magic, and, in the later tradition, often attributed to Medea. See D. E. Hill, 'The Thessalian Trick', RhM 116 (1973), 221-38, Fedeli on Prop. 1. 1. 19.
70. Circe: Simaetha prays that her drugs may be no less potent than those of Circe or Medea (Theocr. 2. 15-16).
Vlixi: for the form of the genitive see M. Leumann, MH 2 (i945)» 245~7> z$i-z~Kleine Schriften (Zurich, 1959), 116-18, 122-4.
71. frigidus ... anguis: 3. 93 n.
cantando rumpitur anguis: by a charm or incantation that causes the snake to swell up until it bursts; cf. Lucil. 575-6 M. 'iam disrumpetur, medius iam, ut Marsus colubras / disrumpit cantu, uenas cum extenderit omnis', Pomponius 118 R.3 'mirum ni haec Marsa est, in colubras callet cantiunculam', Ov. Med.fac. 39 'nec mediae Marsis finduntur cantibus angues', and see K. F. Smith on Tib. 1.8. 20, Abt (above, 65 n.), 127-8. The Marsi, who still retain their ancient fame as snake-charmers, 'serpari' (see H. V. Morton, A Traveller in Southern Italy (London, 1969), 36-42), were believed to be descended, as V., with his interest in primitive Italy, would have known, from a son of Circe; so Pliny, NH 7. 15 'in Italia Marsorum genus durat, quos a Circae filio ortos ferunt', 25. 11, Gellius 16. 11. 1.
For the construction cantando rumpitur, with the gerund implying a subject other than that of the verb to which it is attached, cf. G. 2. 239 'mansuescit arando', 250 'lentescit habendo', 3. 215 'uritque uidendo*, 454 'uiuitque tegendo', A. 12. 46 'aegrescitque medendo', and see Ivlunro on Lucr. 1. 312 'anulus in digito subter tenuatur habendo'.
73-4. terna tibi haec primum triplici diuersa colore / licia circumdo: 'First with these triple threads in separate colours three / I bind you' (Lee)—'id est tria alba, tria rosea, et tria nigra' (DServ.), the colours of Hecate; see Abt (above, 65 n.), 148-50, 156, S. Eitrem, Gnomon, 2 (1926), 97. 'Fairies red, black, white' were believed to exist in Ireland; see Samuel Johnson on Shakespeare, Macbeth, iv. i. 1. The number three and its multiples play a
eclogue 8. 69-77 259
large part in Roman and Greek ritual and magic; see Pease on A. 4. 510, Gow on Theocr. 2. 43.
73. tibi: explained by effigiem (75). 'In all enchantments that which is done to the image of a person is supposed to affect the person himself: the threads which bind the image will also bind Daphnis' (T. E. Page). Such images were often made of wax, e.g. Hor. Epod. 17. 76 'cereas imagines'. For the use of images or puppets in witchcraft see Pease on A. 4. 508, Gow on Theor. 2, 28.
74. licia: an old word used in legal formulae (TLL s.v. 1373. 64); here first in a magic ritual (TLL s.v. 1374. 12), but probably in common use.
altaria circum: A. z. 515. 4- *45> where see Pease, 8. 285. V. likes to place this preposition at the end of the line with a neuter plural preceding—a pattern found twice in Lucretius, 1. 937 ( = 4. 12) 'pocula circum', 4. 220 'litora circum'. And here 'circum / . . . duco' echoes 'circumdo'.
75. deus: 'aut quicumque superorum, aut Hecaten dicit' (Serv.). Cf. Theocr. 2. 28 ws rovrav rov Ktjpov eytb am b~a.iyt.ovi rdicw, 'As, with the goddess's aid, I melt this wax' (Gow). The goddess is Hecate.
impare: 'impare autem propter metrum ait' (Serv.); see TLL s.v. 516. 73.
76. See above, 28* n. In Catull. 64 the refrain was interpolated after 1. 377, causing the Oxford MS to omit 11. 379-81.
77—8. Cf. Theocr. 2. 18—21 aA^n-a toi npdrov nvpi ranerai. dAA' eTrliraaae, \ OearvXt. BeiXala, ira ras ^/oevaf eKirenoTaaai; \ fj pa yi drjv, livaapa, kcu rlv eniyappA. rervypM; \ iraac ap.a xai Xeye ravra- "to. AetyiSos ooTia it&ooui", 'First barley groats smoulder on the fire. Nay, strew them on, Thestylis. Poor fool, whither have thy wits taken wing? Am I become a mock, then, even to thee, wretch? '* Strew them on, and say the while, "I strew the bones of Delphis"' (Gow).
77. necte tribus nodis ternos, Amarylli, colores: 'It seems clear from the use of the distributive ternos and necte "twine" that each knot is to be twined with three colours .. . the use of terna, triplici line 73 and ternos necte here certainly suggests that Virgil was not thinking of single threads but of threads each twined with
3Ô0
commentary
ECLOGUE 8. 77-85
26 i
three differently-coloured strands' (T. E. Page). Cf. Petron. 131. 4 'ilia de sinu lictum protulit uarii coloris fills intortum ceruicemque uinxit meam*.
necte ... nodis: for the connection of these words, which may in fact be connected (Ernout-Meillet, Diet. étym. s.v.), cf. Cic. Arat. fr. 32. 4 Soubiran 'conectere nodum', A. 12. 603 'nodum . ., nectiť, and see T. E. V. Pearce, CQ, ns 20 (1970), 154-5.
78. modo: with 'a colouring of impatience' (Mynors on G. 3. 73).
80-1, limus ut hie durescit, et haec ut cera liquescit / uno eodemque igni, sic nostro Daphnis amore: cf, Theocr. 2. 28-9 ths TovTov tov xr/pov eyw aw ha.ip.ovi tÚkoj, \ cos TaKoiO' vtt' tpwros ô MvvStos avrUa Aé\<j>is, 'As I melt this wax by the goddess's aid, so may Delphis the Myndian at once melt with love', where Gow comments: 'It is however possible that the wax is, in Simaetha's rite, not an image at all but a symbol, like the bay and the barley-groats'. True, Krjpós is unqualified, as is cera, but Abt (above, 65 n.), 156-7, remarks, with reference to Theocritus and V., that the wax used in such a ceremony was traditionally in the shape of a human being ('Aber die gesamte sonstige Überlieferung spricht von geformtem Wachs, von einem Wachsbilde'). La Cerda, observing that Canidia uses two images in Hor. Serm. r. 8. 30-3, one of wool representing herself, and the other of wax representing the faithless lover whom she means to torture to death, supposes that Daphnis* 'wife' also uses two images, but both representing Daphnis, one of wax, which she first binds and carries around the altar (75 effigiem) and then melts, and the other of clay. As fire hardens clay and melts wax, such, she prays, 'let the soul of cruel Daphnis be— / Hard to the rest of women, soft to me' (Dryden). This, the generally accepted interpretation, is as old as the tenth century (and no doubt much older), for it is found in the Vaticanus Reginensis 1495 (R) of Servius; see Thilo's app. erit. ad loc.
There is another interpretation, however, that of DServ.: 'se de limo facit, Daphnidem de cera', which was adopted by H, J. Rose, The Eclogues of Vergil (Berkeley, 1942), 157, and has recently been defended by C. A. Faraone, CP 84 (1989), 294-300. Faraone 'can find no parallels ... for a spell that attempts simultaneously to change a victim into diametrically opposed states, such as hard and soft' (295); even so, it is easier to imagine V. manipulating the practice of magic for his own purpose—hence perhaps the
■If
emphasis 'uno eodemque igni'—than it is to intrude Daphnis' abandoned 'wife' into a passage that has no room for her.
80. limus ut hie durescit, et haec ut cera liquescit: this artful line, with its parallel clauses and rhyming words, in which ictus and accent coincide (see 1. 70 n,), has been designed to suggest the assonantal, accentual character of primitive spells or charms (cor-mitta), e.g. 'terra pestem teneto, salus hie maneto' (Varro, RR 1. 2. 27), 'nouum uetus uinum bibo, nouo ueteri morbo medeor' (Varro, LL 6. 21). For a collection of examples from Latin, Greek, and German see Norden, Die antike Kunstprosa (Leipzig, 1898), ii. 819-24. V. may also be indebted here to Lucr. 1. 305-6 'suspensae in litore uestes / uuescunt, eaedem dispansae in sole serescunt'.
81. uno eodemque igni: cf. A. 10.487 'una eademque uia', 12. 847 'uno eodemque .. . partu'.
8a. molam: salt mixed with spelt, mola salsa; see Pease on A. 4. 517.
fragilis ... lauros: 'brittle', as in Lucr. 6. 112 'fragilis <soni-tus> chartarum', Prop. 4. 7. 12 (Cynthia's ghost) 'pollicibus fragiles increpuere manus'. Cf. Theocr. 2. 24 ^cis avra XaKet pAya Kamrvpioaoa, 'And as this (the bay leaf) crackles catching fire'. 'The extent to which laurel crackles when it burns is proverbial', K. F. Smith on Tib. 2. 5. 81 'et succensa sacris crepitet bene laurea flammis', quoting Lucr. 6. 154—5 <nec res una magis quam Phoebi Delphica laurus / terribili sonitu flamma crepitants crematur'. Cf. also Ov. Fast. 1. 344 'et non exiguo laurus adusta sono' (La Cerda).
bitumine: cf. Hor. Epod. 5. 81-2 'quam non amore sic meo flagres uti / bitumen atris ignibus' and see G. Tabarroni, Enc. Virg. s.v. bitumen.
83. Daphnis me malus urit, ego hanc in Daphnide laurum: a
line modelled on Theocr. 2. 23 Aekjns ep! aviaaev • iyat 8' «rt d4\<jn&i Sd<j>vav \ afflw, 'Delphis brought trouble on me, and I for Delphis burn this bay' (Gow). Gow on Theocr. 2. 1. 'Bay however is not otherwise associated with love charms except at Virg. E. 8. 82, Prop. 2. 28. 36, and both passages seem dependent on T.'; cf. Serv.: 'aut intellegamus supra Daphnidis effigiem earn laurum incendere propter nominis simtlitudinem'.
85-8. No doubt, as La Cerda notices, V. was thinking of Lucretius' pathetic description of a cow looking for her lost calf
2Ö2
COMMENTARY
ECLOGUE 8. 8S-IOI
263
(2. 352-66), and incorporates, as if to alert his reader, a Lucretian phrase, 87 'propter aquae riuum' (2. 30, 5. 1393).
85. qualis cum fessa ...: the construction is qualis amor buculam tenet cum ....
86. bucula: first attested here and again in G. 1. 375, where Mynors remarks that words for domesticated animals tend to be diminutive in form. See also Axelson 40.
87-8. uiridi procumbit in ulua / perdita, nec serae meminit decedere nocti: cf. G. 3. 466-7 (a sheep) 'medio procumbere campo / pascentem et serae solam decedere nocti'.
88. perdita, nec serae meminit decedere nocti: a line borrowed, but not the pathos, which is V.'s own, from Varius' De morte (written in 44 or the first part of 43 Be; see A. S. Hollis, CQ, NS27 (1977), 187-8) describing the pursuit of an aged doe by a Cretan hound, FPL fr. 4. 5-6 Büchner 'non amnes illam medii, non ardua tardant, / perdita nec serae meminit decedere nocti'. Varius' hound has become a heifer enamoured of a young bull whom she pursues through the groves and clearings until finally, late at night, she sinks down exhausted, 'amore consurnpta' (Serv,). For Varius see 9. 35 n.; for lovesick animals, 3. 100 n.
nec meminit: for 'not remembering' to perform a habitual action where no question of memory is involved see Mynors on G. 1. 399-400 'non ore solutos / immundi meminere sues iactare maniplos'.
89. talis amor: see above, 5 n. mederi: cf. 10, 60.
91. exuuias: pieces of clothing left behind by Daphnis; cf. A. 4. 496, with Pease's note. In Theocr. 2. 53-4, Simaetha shreds the fringe of Delphis' cloak and throws it into the fire.
perfidus; cf. A. 4. 305, with Pease's note, and see Clausen 47.
92. pignora cara sui: 'dear pledges of himself (she loves him still, despite his treachery) which she buries under the threshold. In Theocr. 2. 59-60, Simaetha orders Thestylis to knead magic herbs over the threshold of Delphis. The door or any part of it was efficacious in ancient magic; see M. B. Ogle, 'The House-Door in Greek and Roman Religion and Folk-Lore', AJP 32 (1911), 251-71.
93. debent: cf. A. 12. 317 'Turnum debent haec iam mini sacra'.
95. has herbas atque haec ... uenena: 'these poisonous plants'; described by Mynors on G. 2. 192 as 'a hendiadyoin of closer definition (epexegesis)'. So 2. 8, G. 1.106,4. 56, 388-9, A. 1. 6r. Cf. Hor. Epod. 5. 21—2 'herbasque, quas Iolcos atque Hiberia / mittit uenenorum ferax', A. 4. 514 'pubentes herbae nigri cum lacte ueneni', Tib. 2. 4. 55-6 'quidquid habet Circe, quidquid Medea ueneni, / quidquid et herbarum Thessala terra gerit', where K. F. Smith remarks: 'The distinction between a drug, a poison, and a magic philtre tends to disappear as we approach the primitive stage of popular belief.
96. ipse .,. Moeris: 'a noted country wizard' (Conington); non-Theocritean, the name of the dispossessed farmer in E. 9.
Ponto: Pontus was known for its poisons because of Mithri-dates, and aconite, the deadliest of poisons, grew there (Pliny, NH 27. 4), but V. probably means Colchis, the country of Medea; cf. Cic. De imp. Pomp. 22 'ex suo regno sic Mithridates profugit ut ex eodem Ponto Medea ilia quondam fugisse dicitur', Juv. 14. 114 'Hesperidum serpens aut Ponticus' (Forbiger).
97. his: Moeris changed himself into a wolf with drugs (95 'uenena'), but the ghosts of the dead were raised and crops conveyed elsewhere by incantation; cf. Tib. 1.2. 45-6 'haec cantu finditque solum manesque sepulcris / elicit' and 8. 19 'cantus uicinis fruges traducit ab agris', with K. F. Smith's notes. Cf. also the Twelve Tables 8. 8a 'Qui fruges excantassit' (C. G. Bruns, Fontes luris Rotnani Antiqui (Leipzig, 1893), 30).
Belief in werewolves is ancient and universal; see J. A. MacCul-loch, Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, s.v. lycan-thropy. For classical antiquity see W. Kroll, RE Suppl. vii. 423-6, TLL s.v. lupus 1853. 25.
97-9. ego saepe.../... saepe.../,,. uidi: very emphatic, as if anticipating disbelief. Cf. 9. 51 'saepe ego', G. 1. 316-18 'saepe ego ... uidi'.
98. excire: first attested here in this sense (TLL s.v. 1246. 83); the usual verb is elicio (TLL s.v. 366. 56). See Pease on Cic. De diu 1. 133 (psychomantia).
101-2. In Theocr. 24. 93-6, one of the serving-women is to gather up the ashes of the fire at dawn, carry them across the river to the
264
COMMENTARY
rocks and throw them beyond the boundary, then return without looking back. Sinister things, the remains of witchcraft, and to be disposed of as expeditiously as possible; here Amaryllis is ordered to throw the ashes into the river, which will bear them away to the sea; cf. Ov. Fast. 6. 227-8 'donee ab Iliaca placidus purgamina Vesta / detulerit flauis in mare Thybris aquis' (La Cerda).
101. cineres: the poetic plural is first attested here; see Maas 519=560. Cf. 106 cinis.
101-2, riuoque fluenti / transque caput iace, nec respexeris:
her instructions are exact and particular (and supported by the rhythm? Note the diaereses in the second and fourth feet of 1. 102). For the dative cf. A. 12. 256 'proiecit fiuuio' and see 6. 85 n.
10a. nec respexeris: looking back could be dangerous and was commonly forbidden in Greek and Roman ritual; cf. Plaut. Most. 523 'caue respexis', Ov. Fast. 6. 163-4 's^c u°i libauit, prosecta sub aethere ponit, / quique adsint sacris, respicere ilia uetat', and see Gow on Theocr. 24. 96, Börner on Ov. Fast. 5. 439.
his ego: repeating 'his ego* (97) with a certain emphasis and the same reference (so Klingner and Coleman); not the ashes (so T. E. Page), which would have no magical potency. Cf. Vahlen (above, 47-50n.), i. 397 (with regard to 101-2 'fer—respexeris'): 'quod medium interiectum est inter duas partes unius sententiae ... nec obfuit perspicuitati et hanc moratam orationem decuit'. She now intends to employ more drastic means—the drugs given her by Moeris, the potency of which she has often observed (97-8)—and is only prevented by the sudden and unexpected arrival of Daphnis.
105 aspice; 'hoc ab alia dici debet' (DServ.). The vocative Ama-rylli (101) prepares for her speech. Direct speech, surprising in a song, would be appropriate in a mime, and Alphesiboeus' song may originally have been conceived as a mime; see Introduction, p. 239, E. Bethe, RhM 47 (1892), 591, and Gow's Preface to the Second Idyll, pp. 33-5.
tremulis ... flammis: cf. Cic. Aral. it. zz. 3 Soubiran 'tremu-lam ... flammam', Lucr. 4. 404 'tremulis ... ignibus'.
106. bonum sit!: she hopes that the sudden blaze may be a good omen.
t
Jit
ECLOGUE 8- IOI-9
265
107. nescio quid certe est: colloquial; cf. Catull. 80. 5, Pers. 5.
Hylax: the correction appears to have been made by A. Manci-nellus (1490); see J. Van Sickle, RIFC 102 (1974), 3II_I3- A very suitable name; cf. Ov. Met. 3. 224 'acutae uocis Hylactor' and see 3. 18 n.
108. credimus? an, qui amant, ipsi sibi somnia fingunt?:
modelled on Lucr, 1. 104-5 '^UlPPe etenim quam multa tibi iam fingere possunt / somnia'; but Lucretius is speaking of seers who invent terrifying fantasies for others, V. of lovers who invent their own fantasies of happiness. La Cerda compares Publ. Syr. A 16 Meyer 'amans, quod suspicatur, uigilans somniat*.
qui amant: prosodic hiatus, that is, the shortening of a long syllable in hiatus; cf. e.g. Plaut. Merc. 744 'nam qui amat', Amph. 597 'ita me di ament', Catull. 97. 1 'ita me di ament', Hor. Serm. 1. 9. 38 'si me amas', and see Munro on Lucr. z. 404, Leumann, Lot. Laut- und Formenlehre1, 105.
109. parcite, ab urbe uenit, iam parcite carmina, Daphnis:
an ingenious reworking of the refrain 'ducite ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnin'; see above, 61 n. Like the concluding line of E. 10, 'ite domum saturae, uenit Hesperus, ite capellae', the concluding line of E. 8 contains an 'explanation' of its imperatives, 'parcite, ab urbe uenit, iam parcite carmina, Daphnis'.