[22.] Branching holm oak.]—Ver. 237. Ovid here forgot that partridges do not perch in trees; a fact, which, however, he himself remarks in line 257.
[23.] Cocalus.]—Ver. 261. He was the king of Sicily, who received Dædalus with hospitality.
[24.] And censers.]—Ver. 265. Acerris. The ‘acerra’ was properly a box used for holding incense for the purposes of sacrifice, which was taken from it, and placed on the burning altar. According to Festus, the word meant a small altar, which was placed before the dead, and on which perfumes were burnt. The Law of the Twelve Tables restricted the use of ‘acerræ’ at funerals.
[25.] Meleager.]—Ver. 270. He was the son of Œneus, king of Calydon, a city of Ætolia, who had offended Diana by neglecting her rites.
[26.] Palladian juice.]—Ver. 275. Oil, the extraction of which, from the olive, Minerva had taught to mortals.
[27.] Epirus.]—Ver. 283. This country, sometimes also called Chaonia, was on the north of Greece, between Macedonia, Thessaly, and the Ionian sea, comprising the greater part of what is now called Albania. It was famous for its oxen. According to Pliny the Elder, Pyrrhus, its king, paid particular attention to improving the breed.
[28.] Bristles too.]—Ver. 285. This line, or the following one, is clearly an interpolation, and ought to be omitted.
[29.] Palisades.]—Ver. 286. The word ‘vallum’ is found applied either to the whole, or a portion only, of the fortifications of a Roman camp. It is derived from ‘vallus,’ ‘a stake;’ and properly means the palisade which ran along the outer edge of the ‘agger,’ or ‘mound:’ but it frequently includes the ‘agger’ also. The ‘vallum,’ in the latter sense, together with the ‘fossa,’ or ‘ditch,’ which surrounded the camp outside of the ‘vallum,’ formed a complete fortification.
[30.] Sons of Tyndarus.]—Ver. 301. These were Castor and Pollux, the putative sons of Tyndarus, but really the sons of Jupiter, who seduced Leda under the form of a swan. According to some, however, Pollux only was the son of Jupiter. Castor was skilled in horsemanship, while Pollux excelled in the use of the cestus.
[31.] Pirithoüs.]—Ver. 303. He was the son of Ixion of Larissa, and the bosom friend of Theseus.