621 ([return])
[ What lying apart.—Ver. 34. During the festival of Isis, all intercourse with men was forbidden to the female devotees.]
622 ([return])
[ The yawning tomb.—Ver. 38. The place where a person was burnt was called 'bustum,' if he was afterwards buried on the same spot, and 'ustrina,' or 'ustrinum,' if he was buried at a different place. See the Notes to the Fasti, B. ii. 1. 531.]
623 ([return])
[ The towers of Eryx—Ver. 45. He alludes to Venus, who had a splendid temple on Mount Eryx, in Sicily.]
624 ([return])
[ The Phæacian land.—Ver. 47. The Phæacians were the ancient people of Corcyra, now the isle of Corfu. Tibullus had attended Messala thither, and falling ill, was unable to accompany his patron on his return to Rome, on which he addressed to him the First Elegy of his Third Book, in which he expressed a hope that he might not die among the Phæacians. To this Elegy Ovid here refers. Tibullus afterwards recovered, and died at Rome. When he penned this line, Ovid little thought that his own bones would one day rest in a much more ignoble spot than Corcyra, and one much more repulsive to the habits of civilization.]