The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 2

by Baron George Gordon Byron Byron

14.

Fair is proud Seville; let her country boast
Her strength, her wealth, her site of ancient days.

[Stanza lxv.] lines 1 and 2.

Seville was the Hispalis of the Romans.

15.

Ask ye, Boeotian Shades! the reason why?

[Stanza lxx.] line 5.

This was written at Thebes, and consequently in the best situation for asking and answering such a question; not as the birthplace of Pindar, but as the capital of Boeotia, where the first riddle was propounded and solved.

[Byron reached Thebes December 22, 1809. By the first riddle he means, of course, the famous enigma of Oedipus—the prototype of Boeotian wit.]