A crown of olive was
presented to the victors in the athletic exercises at the Olympic
games.
presented to the victors in the athletic exercises at the Olympic
games.
Ovid - Art of Love
The reading here seems
to be non didicisse juvat. ' 4 It is not to your advantage that you have
learned (to write). ' The other reading, 'ne didicisse juvet,' may be
rendered, '(perhaps) it may be no advantage that you have learned (to
write). ']
[Footnote 775: Birth day cake. --Ver. 429. See the Amores, Book i. El.
viii. 1. 94. ]
[Footnote 776: The jewel. --Ver. 432. For an account of the earrings of
the ancients, see the Notes to the Metamorphoses, Book x. 1. 116. ]
[Footnote 777: Should you give her. --Ver. 447. The meaning of this and
the following line is very obscure; so much so that Burmann is in doubt
on the subject. It, however, seems to be, that it is not discreet, on
first acquaintance, to give presents, as the damsel may then have a
reason for peremptoily giving you up; she carries off your gift, and
gives no favour in return. ]
[Footnote 778: Upon an apple. --Ver. 457: See the twentieth and
twenty-first Epistles in the present volume. ]
[Footnote 779: Extend their hands. --Ver. 462. This figure is taken from
the gladiatorial games, where the conquered extended their hands in
token of submission. ]
[Footnote 780: Ring of iron. --Ver. 473. The rings worn by the lower
classes were of iron. ]
[Footnote 781: Under some of the columns. 1--Ver. 490. The learned
Heinsius absolutely thinks that 'columnas' here means 'mile-stones'! It
is pretty clear that Ovid alludes to the columns of the Portico; and he
seems to say, that the attentive lover, when he sees the damsel at some
distance before him, is not to hesitate to escape the crowd by going
into the open space outside of the columns, and then running on, for the
purpose of overtaking her. See the Tristia, Book iii. El. iii, where he
makes mention of the columns in the Portico of the Danaides. ]
[Footnote 782: Actor is dancing. --Ver. 501. See the Tristia, Book ii. i.
497. ]
[Footnote 783: With the irons. '--Ver. 505. See the Amores, Book i. El.
xiv 1 25, and the Note. The effeminate among the Romans were very fond
of having their hair in curls. ]
[Footnote 784: With the rough pumice. --Ver. 506. Pliny the Elder
mentions pumice stone as 'a substance used by women in washing their
bodies, and now by men as well. ' Persius, in his Fourth Satire, inveighs
against this effeminate practice. ]
[Footnote 785: Bid those do this. --Ver. 507'. He alludes to the Galli,
the eunuch priests of Cybele. ]
[Footnote 786: Hippolytus. --Ver. 511. Phaedra, in her Epistle, alludes to
his neglect of dress, as one of the merits of Hippolytus. ]
[Footnote 787: Plain of Mars. --Ver. 513. The Roman youth practised
wrestling, and other athletic exercises, on the Campus Martius Being
often stripped naked, or nearly so, the oil, combined with t he heat,
would tend to bronze the skin. ]
[Footnote 788: Not be clammy. --Ver. 515. Probably this is the meaning
of 'lingua ne rigeat,' although Nisard's French translation has it, 'let
your tongue have no roughness. ' Dryden's translation is, of course, of
no assistance, as it carefully avoids all the difficult passages. ]
[Footnote 789: The father of the flock. --Ver. 522. He alludes to
the rank smell to the arm-pits, which the Romans called by the name
'hircus,' 'a goat,' from a supposed similarity to the strong smell of
that animal. ]
[Footnote 790: Awaking from her sleep. --Ver. 529. See the Epistle of
Ariadne to Theseus. ]
[Footnote 791: Mimallonian females. --Ver. 541. It is a matter of doubt
why the Bacchanalian women were called Mimallonides. According to some,
they are so called from Mimas, a mountain of Asia Minor, where the rites
of Bacchus were celebrated. Suidas says that they are so called, from
'imitation,' because they imitated the actions of men. Bochart thinks
that the word is of Hebrew origin, and that they receive their name
from 'memelleran,' 'garrulous' or 'noisy'; or else from mamal,' a 'wine-
press. ']
[Footnote 792: Drunken old man. --Ver. 543. See the adventure of Silenus,
in the beginning of Book xi. of the Metamorphoses; and in the Fasti,
Book iii. 1. 742. He seems to have been always getting into trouble. ]
[Footnote 793: Cretan Diadem. --Ver. 558. See the Fasti. Book iii. 1.
516. ]
[Footnote 794: Evie, Evoe! --Ver. 563. In the combat with the Giants,
Jupiter is said, when one of them was slain by Bacchus, to have
exclaimed 'Well done, son:' whence the exclamation 'Evie! ' was said to
have originated. See the Metamorchoses, Book iv. 1. 11 and 15, and the
Note. ]
[Footnote 795: On the table. '--Ver. 572. See the Epistle of Paris to
Helen; and the Amores, Book i. El. iv. 1. 20, and Book ii. El. v. 1. 17,
and the Notes. ]
[Footnote 796: From the side. --Ver. 576. See the Amores, Book i. EL iv.
1. 32. ]
[Footnote 797: Touched with her fingers. --Ver. 577. The ancients are
supposed not to have used at meals any implement such as a knife or
fork, but merely to have used the fingers only, except in eating soups
or other liquids, or jellies, when they employed spoons, which were
denoted by the names 'cochlear' and 'ligula. ' At meals the Greeks wiped
their fingers on pieces of bread; the Romans washed them with water, and
dried them on napkins handed round by the slaves. ]
[Footnote 798: Are drinking by lot. --Ver. 581. The 'modimperator,' or
'master of the banquet,' was often chosen by lot by the guests, and it
was his province to prescribe how much each person should drink. Lots
were also thrown, by means of the dice, to show in what order each
person was to drink. This passage will show the falsity of his plea in
the Second Book of the Tristia, addressed to Augustus, where he says
that it was not his intention to address the married women of Rome, but
only those who did not wear the 'vittae' and the 'instita,' the badges of
chastity. ]
[Footnote 799: Agent attends even too much. --Ver. 587. His meaning seems
to be, that in the same way as the agent does more than attend to the
injunctions of his principal, and puts himself in a position to profit
by his office, so is the inamorato, through the confidence of
the husband reposed in him, to make a profit that has never been
anticipated. ]
[Footnote 801: Eurytion. --Ver. 593. At the nuptials of Pirithous and
Hippoda-mia. See the Metamorphoses, Book xii. 1. 220, where he is called
Eurytus. ]
[Footnote 802: Stealing up. --Ver. 605. This piece of impudence he
professes to practise in the Amores, Book i. El iv. l. 56. ]
[Footnote 803: Bird of Juno. --Ver. 627. This fact, in natural history,
was probably known only to Ovid, or the peacocks of the present day
may be less vain than the Roman ones. See the Metamorphoses, Book i. 1.
723. ]
[Footnote 804: That there should be Gods. --Ver. 637. This was the avowed
opinion of some of the philosophers and atheists of antiquity. We learn
from Tertullian that Diogenes, being asked if the Gods exist, answered
that he did not know anything about it, but that they ought to exist.
The doctrine of the Epicureans was, that the Gods lived a happy and
easy life, were not susceptible of anger, and did not trouble themselves
about men. ]
[Footnote 805: Went to Busiris. --Ver. 649. See the Tristia, Book iii.
El. xi. 1. 39, where the story of Phalaris is also referred to. Thrasius
was the brother of Pygmalion, and was justly punished by Busiris for his
cruel suggestion. ]
[Footnote 806: Phoebe suffered--Ver. 679. See the story of the rape of
Phoebe, by Castor and Pollux, in the Fasti, Book v. 1. 699. ]
[Footnote 807: Work-baskets. --Ver. 693. See the Note to the
seventy-third line of the Ninth Epistle. ]
[Footnote 808: Heroines of olden times. --Ver. 713. Such as Danae, Europa
Seraele, Alcmena, Io, Calisto, Antiope, Maia, Electra, and others. ]
[Footnote 809: Chaplet of Pallas. --Ver. 727.
A crown of olive was
presented to the victors in the athletic exercises at the Olympic
games. ]
[Footnote 810: Love for Lyrice. --Ver. 731. If Lyrice here is a female
name, it is not known who she was. ]
[Footnote 811: Daphnis. --Ver. 732. He was a Sicilian, the son of
Mercury; and the inventor of Bucolic poetry. ]
[Footnote 812: Pylades. --Ver. 745: Hermione was the wife of Orestes,
the friend of Pylades. ]
[Footnote 813: With a dart. --Ver. 763. It appears by this, that it
was the custom to take fish by striking them with a javelin Salmon ere
foretimes caught in a similar manner at the present day. ]
FOOTNOTES BOOK TWO
[Footnote 901: Sing, 'Io Pean. '--Ver. 1. This was the usual cry of the
hunters, who thus addressed Apollo, the God of the chase, when the prey
had been captured iu the toils. See the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 513. ]
[Footnote 902: Amyclae. --Ver. 5. A town of Laconia. See the
Metamorphoses, Book x. 1. 219, and the Note. ]
[Footnote 903: Erato. --Ver. 16. He addresses himself to this Muse, as
her name was derived from the Greek 'love. ' It has been suggested that
he had another reason for addressing her, as she was thought to take
pleasure in warfare, a state which sometimes, by way of variety, exists
between lovers. ]
[Footnote 904: A bold path. --Ver. 22. This story is again related in the
Eighth Book of the Metamorphoses. ]
[Footnote 905: Like oars. --Ver. 45. He aptly compares the arrangement of
the main feathers of a wing to a row of oars. ]
[Footnote 906: Orion. '--Ver. 56. So in the Metamorphoses, Book v.
1. 206, he says to his son Icarus, 'Fly between both: and I bid thee
neither to look at Bootes, nor Helice, nor the drawn sword of Orion. ']
[Footnote 907: Is angling. --Ver. 77. There is a similar passage in the
Metamorphoses, 1. 216. ]
[Footnote 908: The Clarian God. --Ver. 80. See the Fasti, Book i. 1. 20,
and the Note. ]
[Footnote 909: And Calymne. --Ver. 81. These peaces are mentioned in the
corresponding passages in the Metamorphoses, Book viii. 1. 222. ]
[Footnote 910: Astypalaea. . --Ver. 82. This was an isle in the group of
the Sporades, between Crete and the Cyclades. It contained but one city,
and was long and narrow, and of rugged appearance. ]
[Footnote 911: The young horse. --Ver. 100. See the Amoves. Book i. El.
viii 1. 8, and the Note. ]
[Footnote 912: The Marsian spells. --Ver. 102. The 'naenia' was a
mournful dirge or chaunt uttered by the sorcerer in his incantations. On
the Marsi, see the Sixth Book of the Fasti, 1. 142, and the Note to the
passage. ]
[Footnote 913: Causing paleness. --Ver. 105. Philtres were noxious
potions, made of venomous or stimulating ingredients, prescribed as
a means of gaining the affections of the person to whom they were
administered. ]
[Footnote 914: Nireus. --Ver. 109. See the Pontic Epistles, Book iv. Ep.
xiii. 1. 16, and the Note to the passage. ]
[Footnote 915: Charming Hylas. --Ver. 110. See the Tristia, Book ii. 1. ]
[Footnote 916: Ocean Goddesses. --Ver. 124. Calypso was really the only
sea Goddess that was enamoured of Ulysses. Circe was not a sea Goddess. ]
[Footnote 917: Blood of Dolon. '--Ver. 135. See the Metamorphoses, Book
xiii. line 244. ]
[Footnote 918: Hjemontan horses--Ver. 136. The steeds of Achilles. ]
[Footnote 919: The Chaonian bird. --Ver. 150. Chaonia was a district of
Epirus, said to have been so called from Chaon, a Trojan. Dodona was in
Epirus, and in its forests were said to be doves that had the gift of
prophecy. See the Translation of the Metamorphoses pp. 467-8. ]
[Footnote 920: Resort to law. --Ver. 151. He means to say 'let man and
wife be always thinking about resorting to law to procure a divorce. ']
[Footnote 921: 1 gave verses. --Ver. 166. He intends a pun here. 'Verba
dare' is 'to deceive,' but literally it means 'to give words. ' See the
Amores, book i. El. viii. 1. 57. ]
[Footnote 922: Atalanta of Nonacris. --Ver. 185. See the Amores, Book
iii. El. ii. 29, and the Note. ]
[Footnote 923: Bow of Hylceus. --Ver. 191. Hylaeus and Rhaecus were
Centaurs, who were pierced by Atalanta with her arrows, for making an
attempt on her chastity. He alludes to the bow of Cupid in the next
line. ]
[Footnote 924: The ivory cubes. '--Ver. 203. He alludes to throws of the
'tali' and 'tessera,' which were different kinds of dice. See the Note
to 1. Footnote 471: of the Second Book of the Tristia. In this line he
seems to mean the 'tessera,' which were similar to our dice, while the
'tali,' which he next mentions, had only four flat surfaces, being
made in imitation of the knuckle-bones of animals, and having two
sides uneven and rounded. The dice were thrown on a table, made for
the purpose, with an elevated rim. Some throws, like our doublets, are
supposed to have counted for more than the number turned up. The most
fortunate throw was called 'Venus. ' or 'Venereus jactus'; it is thought
to have consisted of a combination, making fourteen, the dice presenting
different numbers. Games with dice were only sanctioned by law as a
pastime during meals. ]
[Footnote 925: Make bad moves. --Ver. 204. 'Dare jacta' means 'to move
the throws,' in allusion to the game of 'duodecim scripta,' or 'twelve
points,' which was played with counters moved according to the throws
of the dice, probably in a manner not unlike our game of backgammon. The
hoard was marked with twelve lines, on which the pieces moved. ]
[Footnote 926: Or if you are throwing. --Ver. 205. By the use of the word
'seu, or,' we must suppose that he has, under the word 'numeri,' alluded
to the game with the 'tesserae,' or six-sided dice. ]
[Footnote 927: The game that imitates. --Ver. 207. He here alludes to the
'ludus latrunculorum,' literally 'the game of theft,' which is supposed
to have been somewhat similar to our chess. He refers to its name in the
words, 'latrocinii sub imagine. ' The game was supposed to imitate the
furtive stratagems of warfare: hence the men, which were usually styled
'calculi,' were also called by the name of 'latrones,' 'latrunculi,'
'milites,' 'bella-tores,' 'thieves,' 'little thieves,' 'soldiers,'
'warriors. ' As we see by the next line, they were usually made of glass,
though sometimes more costly materials were employed. The skill of
this game consisted either in taking the pieces of the adversary, or
rendering them unable to move. The first was done when the adversary's
piece was brought by the other between two of his own. See the Tristia,
Book ii. 1. 477. The second took place when the pieces were 'ligati,'
or 'ad incitas redacti,' brought upon the last line and unable to move.
White and red are supposed to have been the colour of the men. This game
was much played by the Roman ladies and nobles. ]
[Footnote 928: Hold the screen. --Ver. 209. The ancients used
'umbracula,' or screens against the weather (resembling our umbrellas),
which the Greeks called --------. They were used generally for the
same purposes as our parasols, a protection against the heat of the sun.
They seem not to have been in general carried by the ladies themselves,
but by female slaves, who held them over their mistresses. See the
Fasti, Book ii. 1. 209. These screens, or umbrellas, were much used by
the Roman ladies in the amphitheatre, to protect them from sun and rain,
when the 'velarium,' or awning, was not extended. ]
[Footnote 929: Tasteful couch. '--Ver. 211. This was probably the
'triclinium' on which they reposed at meals. The shoes were taken off
before reclining on it. Female slaves did this office for the ladies,
and males for the men.
to be non didicisse juvat. ' 4 It is not to your advantage that you have
learned (to write). ' The other reading, 'ne didicisse juvet,' may be
rendered, '(perhaps) it may be no advantage that you have learned (to
write). ']
[Footnote 775: Birth day cake. --Ver. 429. See the Amores, Book i. El.
viii. 1. 94. ]
[Footnote 776: The jewel. --Ver. 432. For an account of the earrings of
the ancients, see the Notes to the Metamorphoses, Book x. 1. 116. ]
[Footnote 777: Should you give her. --Ver. 447. The meaning of this and
the following line is very obscure; so much so that Burmann is in doubt
on the subject. It, however, seems to be, that it is not discreet, on
first acquaintance, to give presents, as the damsel may then have a
reason for peremptoily giving you up; she carries off your gift, and
gives no favour in return. ]
[Footnote 778: Upon an apple. --Ver. 457: See the twentieth and
twenty-first Epistles in the present volume. ]
[Footnote 779: Extend their hands. --Ver. 462. This figure is taken from
the gladiatorial games, where the conquered extended their hands in
token of submission. ]
[Footnote 780: Ring of iron. --Ver. 473. The rings worn by the lower
classes were of iron. ]
[Footnote 781: Under some of the columns. 1--Ver. 490. The learned
Heinsius absolutely thinks that 'columnas' here means 'mile-stones'! It
is pretty clear that Ovid alludes to the columns of the Portico; and he
seems to say, that the attentive lover, when he sees the damsel at some
distance before him, is not to hesitate to escape the crowd by going
into the open space outside of the columns, and then running on, for the
purpose of overtaking her. See the Tristia, Book iii. El. iii, where he
makes mention of the columns in the Portico of the Danaides. ]
[Footnote 782: Actor is dancing. --Ver. 501. See the Tristia, Book ii. i.
497. ]
[Footnote 783: With the irons. '--Ver. 505. See the Amores, Book i. El.
xiv 1 25, and the Note. The effeminate among the Romans were very fond
of having their hair in curls. ]
[Footnote 784: With the rough pumice. --Ver. 506. Pliny the Elder
mentions pumice stone as 'a substance used by women in washing their
bodies, and now by men as well. ' Persius, in his Fourth Satire, inveighs
against this effeminate practice. ]
[Footnote 785: Bid those do this. --Ver. 507'. He alludes to the Galli,
the eunuch priests of Cybele. ]
[Footnote 786: Hippolytus. --Ver. 511. Phaedra, in her Epistle, alludes to
his neglect of dress, as one of the merits of Hippolytus. ]
[Footnote 787: Plain of Mars. --Ver. 513. The Roman youth practised
wrestling, and other athletic exercises, on the Campus Martius Being
often stripped naked, or nearly so, the oil, combined with t he heat,
would tend to bronze the skin. ]
[Footnote 788: Not be clammy. --Ver. 515. Probably this is the meaning
of 'lingua ne rigeat,' although Nisard's French translation has it, 'let
your tongue have no roughness. ' Dryden's translation is, of course, of
no assistance, as it carefully avoids all the difficult passages. ]
[Footnote 789: The father of the flock. --Ver. 522. He alludes to
the rank smell to the arm-pits, which the Romans called by the name
'hircus,' 'a goat,' from a supposed similarity to the strong smell of
that animal. ]
[Footnote 790: Awaking from her sleep. --Ver. 529. See the Epistle of
Ariadne to Theseus. ]
[Footnote 791: Mimallonian females. --Ver. 541. It is a matter of doubt
why the Bacchanalian women were called Mimallonides. According to some,
they are so called from Mimas, a mountain of Asia Minor, where the rites
of Bacchus were celebrated. Suidas says that they are so called, from
'imitation,' because they imitated the actions of men. Bochart thinks
that the word is of Hebrew origin, and that they receive their name
from 'memelleran,' 'garrulous' or 'noisy'; or else from mamal,' a 'wine-
press. ']
[Footnote 792: Drunken old man. --Ver. 543. See the adventure of Silenus,
in the beginning of Book xi. of the Metamorphoses; and in the Fasti,
Book iii. 1. 742. He seems to have been always getting into trouble. ]
[Footnote 793: Cretan Diadem. --Ver. 558. See the Fasti. Book iii. 1.
516. ]
[Footnote 794: Evie, Evoe! --Ver. 563. In the combat with the Giants,
Jupiter is said, when one of them was slain by Bacchus, to have
exclaimed 'Well done, son:' whence the exclamation 'Evie! ' was said to
have originated. See the Metamorchoses, Book iv. 1. 11 and 15, and the
Note. ]
[Footnote 795: On the table. '--Ver. 572. See the Epistle of Paris to
Helen; and the Amores, Book i. El. iv. 1. 20, and Book ii. El. v. 1. 17,
and the Notes. ]
[Footnote 796: From the side. --Ver. 576. See the Amores, Book i. EL iv.
1. 32. ]
[Footnote 797: Touched with her fingers. --Ver. 577. The ancients are
supposed not to have used at meals any implement such as a knife or
fork, but merely to have used the fingers only, except in eating soups
or other liquids, or jellies, when they employed spoons, which were
denoted by the names 'cochlear' and 'ligula. ' At meals the Greeks wiped
their fingers on pieces of bread; the Romans washed them with water, and
dried them on napkins handed round by the slaves. ]
[Footnote 798: Are drinking by lot. --Ver. 581. The 'modimperator,' or
'master of the banquet,' was often chosen by lot by the guests, and it
was his province to prescribe how much each person should drink. Lots
were also thrown, by means of the dice, to show in what order each
person was to drink. This passage will show the falsity of his plea in
the Second Book of the Tristia, addressed to Augustus, where he says
that it was not his intention to address the married women of Rome, but
only those who did not wear the 'vittae' and the 'instita,' the badges of
chastity. ]
[Footnote 799: Agent attends even too much. --Ver. 587. His meaning seems
to be, that in the same way as the agent does more than attend to the
injunctions of his principal, and puts himself in a position to profit
by his office, so is the inamorato, through the confidence of
the husband reposed in him, to make a profit that has never been
anticipated. ]
[Footnote 801: Eurytion. --Ver. 593. At the nuptials of Pirithous and
Hippoda-mia. See the Metamorphoses, Book xii. 1. 220, where he is called
Eurytus. ]
[Footnote 802: Stealing up. --Ver. 605. This piece of impudence he
professes to practise in the Amores, Book i. El iv. l. 56. ]
[Footnote 803: Bird of Juno. --Ver. 627. This fact, in natural history,
was probably known only to Ovid, or the peacocks of the present day
may be less vain than the Roman ones. See the Metamorphoses, Book i. 1.
723. ]
[Footnote 804: That there should be Gods. --Ver. 637. This was the avowed
opinion of some of the philosophers and atheists of antiquity. We learn
from Tertullian that Diogenes, being asked if the Gods exist, answered
that he did not know anything about it, but that they ought to exist.
The doctrine of the Epicureans was, that the Gods lived a happy and
easy life, were not susceptible of anger, and did not trouble themselves
about men. ]
[Footnote 805: Went to Busiris. --Ver. 649. See the Tristia, Book iii.
El. xi. 1. 39, where the story of Phalaris is also referred to. Thrasius
was the brother of Pygmalion, and was justly punished by Busiris for his
cruel suggestion. ]
[Footnote 806: Phoebe suffered--Ver. 679. See the story of the rape of
Phoebe, by Castor and Pollux, in the Fasti, Book v. 1. 699. ]
[Footnote 807: Work-baskets. --Ver. 693. See the Note to the
seventy-third line of the Ninth Epistle. ]
[Footnote 808: Heroines of olden times. --Ver. 713. Such as Danae, Europa
Seraele, Alcmena, Io, Calisto, Antiope, Maia, Electra, and others. ]
[Footnote 809: Chaplet of Pallas. --Ver. 727.
A crown of olive was
presented to the victors in the athletic exercises at the Olympic
games. ]
[Footnote 810: Love for Lyrice. --Ver. 731. If Lyrice here is a female
name, it is not known who she was. ]
[Footnote 811: Daphnis. --Ver. 732. He was a Sicilian, the son of
Mercury; and the inventor of Bucolic poetry. ]
[Footnote 812: Pylades. --Ver. 745: Hermione was the wife of Orestes,
the friend of Pylades. ]
[Footnote 813: With a dart. --Ver. 763. It appears by this, that it
was the custom to take fish by striking them with a javelin Salmon ere
foretimes caught in a similar manner at the present day. ]
FOOTNOTES BOOK TWO
[Footnote 901: Sing, 'Io Pean. '--Ver. 1. This was the usual cry of the
hunters, who thus addressed Apollo, the God of the chase, when the prey
had been captured iu the toils. See the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 513. ]
[Footnote 902: Amyclae. --Ver. 5. A town of Laconia. See the
Metamorphoses, Book x. 1. 219, and the Note. ]
[Footnote 903: Erato. --Ver. 16. He addresses himself to this Muse, as
her name was derived from the Greek 'love. ' It has been suggested that
he had another reason for addressing her, as she was thought to take
pleasure in warfare, a state which sometimes, by way of variety, exists
between lovers. ]
[Footnote 904: A bold path. --Ver. 22. This story is again related in the
Eighth Book of the Metamorphoses. ]
[Footnote 905: Like oars. --Ver. 45. He aptly compares the arrangement of
the main feathers of a wing to a row of oars. ]
[Footnote 906: Orion. '--Ver. 56. So in the Metamorphoses, Book v.
1. 206, he says to his son Icarus, 'Fly between both: and I bid thee
neither to look at Bootes, nor Helice, nor the drawn sword of Orion. ']
[Footnote 907: Is angling. --Ver. 77. There is a similar passage in the
Metamorphoses, 1. 216. ]
[Footnote 908: The Clarian God. --Ver. 80. See the Fasti, Book i. 1. 20,
and the Note. ]
[Footnote 909: And Calymne. --Ver. 81. These peaces are mentioned in the
corresponding passages in the Metamorphoses, Book viii. 1. 222. ]
[Footnote 910: Astypalaea. . --Ver. 82. This was an isle in the group of
the Sporades, between Crete and the Cyclades. It contained but one city,
and was long and narrow, and of rugged appearance. ]
[Footnote 911: The young horse. --Ver. 100. See the Amoves. Book i. El.
viii 1. 8, and the Note. ]
[Footnote 912: The Marsian spells. --Ver. 102. The 'naenia' was a
mournful dirge or chaunt uttered by the sorcerer in his incantations. On
the Marsi, see the Sixth Book of the Fasti, 1. 142, and the Note to the
passage. ]
[Footnote 913: Causing paleness. --Ver. 105. Philtres were noxious
potions, made of venomous or stimulating ingredients, prescribed as
a means of gaining the affections of the person to whom they were
administered. ]
[Footnote 914: Nireus. --Ver. 109. See the Pontic Epistles, Book iv. Ep.
xiii. 1. 16, and the Note to the passage. ]
[Footnote 915: Charming Hylas. --Ver. 110. See the Tristia, Book ii. 1. ]
[Footnote 916: Ocean Goddesses. --Ver. 124. Calypso was really the only
sea Goddess that was enamoured of Ulysses. Circe was not a sea Goddess. ]
[Footnote 917: Blood of Dolon. '--Ver. 135. See the Metamorphoses, Book
xiii. line 244. ]
[Footnote 918: Hjemontan horses--Ver. 136. The steeds of Achilles. ]
[Footnote 919: The Chaonian bird. --Ver. 150. Chaonia was a district of
Epirus, said to have been so called from Chaon, a Trojan. Dodona was in
Epirus, and in its forests were said to be doves that had the gift of
prophecy. See the Translation of the Metamorphoses pp. 467-8. ]
[Footnote 920: Resort to law. --Ver. 151. He means to say 'let man and
wife be always thinking about resorting to law to procure a divorce. ']
[Footnote 921: 1 gave verses. --Ver. 166. He intends a pun here. 'Verba
dare' is 'to deceive,' but literally it means 'to give words. ' See the
Amores, book i. El. viii. 1. 57. ]
[Footnote 922: Atalanta of Nonacris. --Ver. 185. See the Amores, Book
iii. El. ii. 29, and the Note. ]
[Footnote 923: Bow of Hylceus. --Ver. 191. Hylaeus and Rhaecus were
Centaurs, who were pierced by Atalanta with her arrows, for making an
attempt on her chastity. He alludes to the bow of Cupid in the next
line. ]
[Footnote 924: The ivory cubes. '--Ver. 203. He alludes to throws of the
'tali' and 'tessera,' which were different kinds of dice. See the Note
to 1. Footnote 471: of the Second Book of the Tristia. In this line he
seems to mean the 'tessera,' which were similar to our dice, while the
'tali,' which he next mentions, had only four flat surfaces, being
made in imitation of the knuckle-bones of animals, and having two
sides uneven and rounded. The dice were thrown on a table, made for
the purpose, with an elevated rim. Some throws, like our doublets, are
supposed to have counted for more than the number turned up. The most
fortunate throw was called 'Venus. ' or 'Venereus jactus'; it is thought
to have consisted of a combination, making fourteen, the dice presenting
different numbers. Games with dice were only sanctioned by law as a
pastime during meals. ]
[Footnote 925: Make bad moves. --Ver. 204. 'Dare jacta' means 'to move
the throws,' in allusion to the game of 'duodecim scripta,' or 'twelve
points,' which was played with counters moved according to the throws
of the dice, probably in a manner not unlike our game of backgammon. The
hoard was marked with twelve lines, on which the pieces moved. ]
[Footnote 926: Or if you are throwing. --Ver. 205. By the use of the word
'seu, or,' we must suppose that he has, under the word 'numeri,' alluded
to the game with the 'tesserae,' or six-sided dice. ]
[Footnote 927: The game that imitates. --Ver. 207. He here alludes to the
'ludus latrunculorum,' literally 'the game of theft,' which is supposed
to have been somewhat similar to our chess. He refers to its name in the
words, 'latrocinii sub imagine. ' The game was supposed to imitate the
furtive stratagems of warfare: hence the men, which were usually styled
'calculi,' were also called by the name of 'latrones,' 'latrunculi,'
'milites,' 'bella-tores,' 'thieves,' 'little thieves,' 'soldiers,'
'warriors. ' As we see by the next line, they were usually made of glass,
though sometimes more costly materials were employed. The skill of
this game consisted either in taking the pieces of the adversary, or
rendering them unable to move. The first was done when the adversary's
piece was brought by the other between two of his own. See the Tristia,
Book ii. 1. 477. The second took place when the pieces were 'ligati,'
or 'ad incitas redacti,' brought upon the last line and unable to move.
White and red are supposed to have been the colour of the men. This game
was much played by the Roman ladies and nobles. ]
[Footnote 928: Hold the screen. --Ver. 209. The ancients used
'umbracula,' or screens against the weather (resembling our umbrellas),
which the Greeks called --------. They were used generally for the
same purposes as our parasols, a protection against the heat of the sun.
They seem not to have been in general carried by the ladies themselves,
but by female slaves, who held them over their mistresses. See the
Fasti, Book ii. 1. 209. These screens, or umbrellas, were much used by
the Roman ladies in the amphitheatre, to protect them from sun and rain,
when the 'velarium,' or awning, was not extended. ]
[Footnote 929: Tasteful couch. '--Ver. 211. This was probably the
'triclinium' on which they reposed at meals. The shoes were taken off
before reclining on it. Female slaves did this office for the ladies,
and males for the men.
