It is probable, though not certain, says Orellius, that Murena, the augur referred to in this Ode, was Horace's friend, Lucius Licinius Varro Muraena, the brother of Terentia, wife of Maecenas. This Muraena, whoever he may have been, appears to have celebrated his admission into the College of Angurs by entertaining his friends, of whom Horace was one, at a banquet; and the poet here rallies Telephus, the symposiarch, or one of the principal guests, on certain ill-timed discussions he had introduced in regard to subjects connected with Grecian antiquity; and urges him to direct or assist in the necessary preparations for the festivities of the evening. This Ode was written probably about A. U. C. 729 or 730, two years before the conspiracy of Muraena and Fannius Caepio against Augustus. QUANTUM distet ab Inacho Codrus, pro patria non timidus mori, 12. pardus, some Codd. (in allusion to Isaiah 11. 6: Habitabit lupus cum agno, et pardus cum haedo accubabit). CARM. 19.-1. distat, some Codd. Narras, et genus Aeaci Et pugnata sacro bella sub Ilio; Quo Chium pretio cadum 5 Mercemur, quis aquam temperet ignibus, Da lunae propere novae, Pelignis caream frigoribus, taces. Da noctis mediae, da, puer, auguris 10 Parcentes ego dexteras Odi: sparge rosas; audiat invidus Et vicina seni non habilis Lyco. Spissâ te nitidum comâ, Puro te similem, Telephe, vespero Tempestiva petit Rhode; Me lentus Glycerae torret amor meae. 12. miscentor, Bentl.-15. tris, Bentl.-27. Chloe, some Codd. 14. attonitus, i. e. 'enraptured.' 25 15. sq. construe: Gratia juncta nudis sororibus (tres nudae Gratiae junctae) metuens rixarum, prohibet tangere supra tres. 18. insanire = bacchari, 'to rave'-(comp. above C. 2, 7, 27: Non ego sanius Bacchabor Edonis, and below C. 4, 12, 28: Dulce est desipere in loco). 21. parcentes dexteras, poetic. servos res ad convivium necessarias, vinum, flores, unguenta. parcius administrantes. 22. rosas, sc. hibernas. 24. non habilis non apta, 'ill-suited' (as much younger than he). 27. tempestiva, i. e. 'well-suited' (to thy youth). CARMEN XXI. AD AMPHORAM. The composition of this Ode is dated variously from A. U. C. 723 to 732. The poem is addressed to a wine-jar, which Horace had brought from the apotheca to drain its contents in the company of his friend Marcus Valerius Messala Corvinus. Corvinus was born A. U. c. 685, and in the civil war joined the republican party under Brutus and Cassius. After the battle of Philippi, the remnant of the republican party offered him the supreme command, which he refused. For some years subsequent to this period, he was an adherent of Antony; after the peace of Brundisium, he espoused the cause of Augustus; in the year 723, he was consul; in 727, after the conquest of the Aquitani, and the subjugation of the East, he celebrated his Aquitanian triumph. During the remainder of his life he applied himself to literary pursuits; and in the year of the city 757, he died. O NATA mecum consule Manlio, Seu facilem, pia testa, somnum, Quocumque lectum nomine Massicum Promere languidiora vina. Non ille, quamquam Socraticis madet 5 10 CARM. 21.-5. fetum numine (inst. of lectum nomine), Bentl. conj.-10. negligit, some Codd., Bentl. Carm. 21.-1. nata, &c., i. e. pia testa (from v. 4= vinum) 'brought into existence with me in the year when Manlius was consul' (i. e. B.C. 65, see Life). 2. querelas, 'complaint, lamentations' (on account of unhappy love)geris, 'containest' (in thyself the different affections, as it were, of sorrow or mirth). 3. rixam, i. e. the quarrels, brawls of the drinking companions. 4. pia, this epithet referring only to the last mentioned quality (of procuring gentle sleep). 5. quocumque nomine (= quodcumque ad officium) lectum (= pressum atque conditum), 'stored for whatever purpose.' 6. (testa) digna, poetic. with the infin. moveri (= promi) 'worthy of being moved,' brought forth (from the cellar). 7. Corvino, i. e. the presence of Corvinus. 8. languidiora, i. e. mellower, older, (comp. C. 3, 16, 34: Bacchus in amphora languescit mihi). 9 madet, poetic. = imbutus est, 'he is steeped in.' Tu spem reducis mentibus anxiis Regum apices neque militum arma. Te Liber et, si laeta aderit, Venus 15 20 The poet enumerates some of the attributes of Diana, consecrates to her a pine tree which overhung his Sabine villa, and vows to her the sacrifice of a boar at the close of each year. 12. incaluisse, Bentl.-19. nec, Cod. Turic, Bentl. 11. prisci Catonis, i. e. the Censor (comp. below Ep. 2, 2, 117: quae priscis memorata Catonibus atque Cethegis). 13. lene tormentum, an Oxymoron: 'a gentle torture' (which forces, i. e. exhilarates the otherwise rugged, inflexible temper, as the rack forces the stubborn slave). 16. retegis Lyaeo (dative), 'revealest to the merry Bacchus; for the sense comp. Aeschyl. fragm. 274 ed. Dindorf.: Κάτοπτρον είδους χαλκός ἐστ', οἶνος δὲ νοῦ. MONTIUM custos nemorumque, Virgo, Dated by some A. U. c. 730, by others 732. This Ode is inscribed to Phidyle, a yeoman's wife, probably of Sabinum, who seems to have feared that her propitiatory sacrifices to the rural deities were too humble to secure their favourable interposition in behalf of her vineyards, corn-fields, and flocks. The poet consoles her with the assurance that the merit of such a rite as that in which she was engaged consisted not in the material value of the oblation, but in the purity of heart and piety of intention with which it was presented. 5. villae, sc. meae, 'of my (Sabine) pliant hands,' (comp. Virg. A. 3, 176 sq.: villa.' 6. per exactos annos, i. e. quotiescumque annus exactus fuerit, quotannis, at the completion of every year' laetus, poetic. for libens, the term used tendoque supinas Ad coelum cum voce manus, and ib. 4, 205: Multa Jovem manibus supplex orasse supinis) 2. nascente Lunâ, poetic. = nova Lunâ, at the new moon.' |