420 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 109. 



the capital "V" has a curved stroke across the 

 first line of the " V," followed by " bo." Gene- 

 rally the Duhium, in alphabetic works of the kind 

 referred to, ranks under some alphabetic word, one 

 or more, as it may happen ; but in Em. Sa s work 

 the word Dubiuin. comes under the letter D., and 

 this is meant to be expressed. At p. 49. the foot- 

 note should be omitted, as the Vulgate, which is 

 followed, calls the Isioi Samuel the 1st of Kings. 

 The first line of p. 56. should have " autem " in- 

 stead of " caiiea." I have inspected the MS. care- 

 fully, and therefore speak with confidence. 



EUPATOE. 



NOTES ON VIRGII,. 



(^Continued from p. 308.) 



IV. " Ilium expirantem transfixo pectore flammas 

 Turbine corripiiit scopuloque infixit acuto." 

 Virg. JEn. 1. 48. 

 "Turbine; volubllitate ventorum. Scopulo; saxo 

 eminenti." — Servhts. 



" Hub sie im Wirbel empor, und s])iesst' an ein 

 scharfes Geslein ihn." — Voss. 



" Ipsum vero I'allas fiilmine percussum procella vi 

 scopulo etiam allisit." — Heyne. 



" Impegit rupi acuta." — liuieus. 



" Infixit. IiiJJixlt, lectionem r|uorundam MSS. 

 facile pia^tulissem, et quod statim praecesserit transjixo, 

 unde evadit incoiicinna cognata; dictionis reputitio, et 

 quod etiam iEn. x. 303. : 



' Nanique inflicta vadis, dorso dum pondc-t iniquo,' 

 si Sidon. Apoll. v. 197. baud tueretur vulgatam scrip- 

 turam : 



' Fixusque Capharei 



Cautibus, inter aquas flammam vuctabat Oileus. '" 

 — Wakefield. 



To which criticism of Wakefield's, Forbiger adds: 

 " PraBterea etiam acuto scopulo infigeiidi voc. ac- 

 commodatius videtur quam injiigendi." And 

 Wagner : " acuto scopulo injigi melius." 



This interj)retation and these criticisms are 

 founded altogether on a false conception of the 

 meaning of the word infigere, which is never to fix 

 071, but always either to fix in, or to fix with, i. e. 

 pierce ivith. Scopulo infixit acuto, fixed or pinned 

 down or to the ground icith a sharp rock ; i. e. 

 hurled a sharp-pointed rock on him, so as to nail 

 him to the ground. So (yEjj. xii. 721.) " Cornua 

 obnixi infigunt," fix tlieir horns, not on, but in; 

 infix their horns ; stick their horns into each other; 

 stick each other with their horns : q. d. Corni'nis 

 se mutuo infigunt : and, exactly parallel to our text : 

 " Saturnius me sic infixit Jupiter, 



Jovisque numen Mulcibri adscivit manus. 



Hos ille cuiieos fabrica crudeli inserens, 



Perrupit artus ; qua miser soUertia 



Transverberatus, castruni boc Furiarum incolo." 



Cicero (translating from jEschyUis), Tttscul. 

 Qucest. II. 10. 



In confirmation of this view of the passage, I 

 may observe: 1st, that it is easier to imagine a 

 man staked to the ground by a sharp-pointed 

 rock, than tlung on a sharp-pointed rock, so as to 

 remain permanently impaled on it; and 2dly, that 

 the account given of the transaction, both by 

 Quintus Calaber and Seneca, agree as perfectly 

 with this view as they disagree with the opposite : 



" Kai uv Kev €^7)\v^e KaKhv fidpov, d fir] ap' aincf, 

 (>ri^as alav ivipSiV, iwiirpoifiKi ko\uvt)v 

 fvT€ irdpos /j.iya.\oio Kar' 'EyiceAaSoto Sai:(ppoiv 

 ria^Aos diipafj.ii'ii 2i/f«A^i' 67riKa;8/3aA€ vrj<TOv 

 ij ^' iTi Kaierai alev vk' aKalxdroiu riyavTOi, 

 al8a\6ev ■ni'duvTos eua; p^floi'dy oij S.pa AoKpwv 

 durptKciKv^iV auaKTo. Suadnnopou otipeos &Kprj, 

 itpudtv i^fpLirovaa, fidpvve 5e Kaprepuv &v5pa' 

 aix<pl Se fj-iy Bavdroio /xeAos tKix'h'^o.T' u\€0pns, 

 yair; 6/xios 5/jT)0ecTa, Kai aKafudicp iyl wovrqi. 



Quintus Calab. xiv. 579. 



And so Seneca; who, having presented us with 

 Ajax clinging to the rock to which he had swum 

 for safety, after his ship had been sunk, and him- 

 self struck with lightning, and there uttering 

 violent imprecations against the Deity, adds : 

 " Plura cum auderet furens, 

 Tridente rupem subruit pulsam pater 

 Neptunus, iinis cxerens undis caput, 

 Solvllque montem ; queni cadens secuni tulit : 

 Terraque et igne victus et pelago jacet." 



Agam. 552. 



And so also, beyond doubt, we are to understand 

 Sidonius Apollinaris's — 



" Fixusque Capbarei 

 Cautibus, inter aquas flammam ructabat Oileus." 



Not, with AVakefield and the other commentators, 

 fixed on the rocks of Capharcus, but, pierced with 

 the rocks of Cajjhareus, and lying under them. 

 Compare (^2En. ix. 701.) " fixo pulmone," the 

 pierced lung ; " fixo cerebro" (/SJ7«. xii. 537.) ; 

 " verubus trementia figunt " {yEn.i. 216.), not, fix 

 on the spits, but, stick or pierce ivith the spits ; 

 and especially (Ovid. Ibis. 341.), 



" Viscera sic aliquis scopulus tua figat, ut olini 

 Fixa sub Euboico Graia fuere sinu," 

 pierced and pinned down with a rock, at the bot- 

 tom of the Eubcean gulf 



TcEBiNE. Scopulo. — Not two instruments, a 

 whirlwind and a rock, but one single instrument, a 

 whi7-ling rock; scopulo turbineo; in modo turbinis 

 se circumagente ; as if Virgil had said. Solo aflixit 

 ilium correptum et transverberatuiu scopulo acuto 

 in eum maxima vi rotato : or, more briefly. Tur- 

 bine scopuli acuti corripuit et infixit. Compare : 

 " Pra?cipitem scopulo atque ingentis turbine saxi 

 Excutit efifunditque solo." — JEn. xii. 531. 

 " Stiipet obvia kto 

 Turba super stantem, atque emissi turbine mentis 

 Obruitur."_Stat. Theh. ii. 564. 



" Idem altas turrcs saxis et turbine crebro 

 Laxat." — Stat. Theb. x. 742. 



