[15] To put on Pluto's helmet was a proverb for becoming invisible. See Hom. Il. v. 844. In Crabbe's "Parish Register" the coat is made to serve the same purpose:—-
"His shoes of swiftness on his feet he placed,
His coat of darkness on his loins he brac'd,
His sword of sharpness in his hand he took."
"... rostroque immanis vultur obunco
Immortale jecur tandens, fœcundaque pœnis
Viscera, rimaturque epulis, habitaque sub alto
Pectore."—Æn. vi. 697.
[17] εἰs τους δακτύλους ἀποξύνεται.
"Then seizing fast the reed, he drew the barb
Home to his bow, the bowstring to his breast,
And when the horn was rounded to an arch
He twang'd it."—Homer, Il. iv. 123.
[19] By comparing the description of the piratical haunt called the Pasturage (in the 1st Bk. of the Ethiopics) with that here given us of the personal appearance of the pirates, together with the account of their stronghold at the end of the 4th Book, we are enabled to form a good idea of the Egyptian βουκόλοι or buccaneers, and of their way of life.
[20] τὸν θρῆνον ὀρχἠσομαι.
[21] νυμφαγωγός. Tatius probably used the term with reference to Leucippe being taken to the pirate-chief. The strict sense of the word will be found at p. 599 of Greek and Roman Antiquities.