The Aeneid of Virgil, page 320 by Virgil

<< Return to Title Details & Download

 < previous  next > 

321

some sulphur springs at Altieri, near Laurentum.

'Oenotria': originally the southern part of Lucania and Bruttium, but Virgil uses it poetically for the whole of Italy.

XIII. See note on Book VI. stanzas xvi. and xviii.

XVI. It was not Anchises, but a Harpy who delivered this prophecy. See Book VIII. stanza xxix. This, and other slight inconsistencies in the _Aeneid_ are undoubtedly due to the fact that Virgil died before he had revised the poem.

XVIII. 'Phrygia's Mother' was Cybele, the Phrygian goddess.

XXIV. 'Two-faced Janus.' Janus was an old Latin deity, god of the morning and of gateways. He was represented as 'two-faced,' looking before and behind. There was a double archway in the forum, called _Janus_, which was closed in times of peace, but opened in time of war. See stanzas lxxxi., lxxxii.

XXVIII. The Auruncans were a tribe living in Campania.

XLI. The _Syrtes_ were two great gulfs on the north coast of Africa. For Scylla and Charybdis, see note on Book III stanza lv. The Lapithae were a Thessalian tribe, ruled by Perithous. The Centaurs came to his marriage feast, and at the instigation of Mars, fought with the Lapithae until the latter were defeated. 'Diana's ire' was caused by neglect on the part of king Oeneus of Calydon to sacrifice to her. She sent a wild boar to ravage the country.

LXIX. 'Trivia's lake' refers to the little lake of Nemi. A famous temple of Diana stood here, tended by a priest who was a runaway slave. He gained his office by slaying his predecessor and held it only so long as he could escape a similar fate. Cf. stanza ciii.

'Velia's fountains,' a lake in the Umbrian hills beyond Reate.

LXXXVII. Agylla was the original name of Caere.

XC. Homole and Othrys were mountains in Thessaly.

XCI. The Anio flows through the hills near Tibur, and joins the Tiber close to 'Antemnae's tower-girt height.' Cf. stanza lxxxiv.

Anagnia was the largest town of the Hernici, and Amasenus was a river of Latium.<

 < previous  next >