[4.] The three necks.]—Ver. 65. There was a story among the ancients, that when Cerberus was dragged by Hercules from the Infernal Regions, a certain man, through fear of Hercules, hid himself in a cave; and that on peeping out, and beholding Cerberus, he was changed into a stone by his fright. Suidas says, that in his time the stone was still to be seen, and that the story gave rise to a proverb.
[5.] Olenus.]—Ver. 69. Olenus, who was supposed to be the son of Vulcan, had a beautiful wife, whose name was Lethæa. When about to be punished for comparing her own beauty to that of the Goddesses, Olenus offered to submit to the penalty in her stead, on which they were both changed into stones.
[6.] In squalid guise.]—Ver. 74. ‘Squallidus in ripa—sedit,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘He sat in a sorry pickle on the bank.’
[7.] Erebus.]—Ver. 76. Erebus was the son of Chaos and Darkness; but his name is often used to signify the Infernal Regions.
[8.] Hæmus.]—Ver. 77. This was a mountain of Thrace, which was much exposed to the North winds.
[9.] Fishes of the ocean.]—Ver. 78. ‘Pisces,’ ‘the Fishes,’ being the last sign of the Zodiac, when the sun has passed through it, the year is completed.
[10.] Tree of Chaonia.]—Ver. 90. This was the oak, for the growth of which Chaonia, a province of Epirus, was famous.
[11.] Grove of the Heliades.]—Ver. 91. He alludes to the poplars, into which tree, as we have already seen, the Heliades, or daughters of the sun, were changed after the death of Phaëton.
[12.] Virgin laurel.]—Ver. 92. The laurel is so styled from the Virgin Daphne, who refused to listen to the solicitations of Apollo.
[13.] Genial plane-tree.]—Ver. 95. The plane tree was much valued by the ancients, as affording, by its extending branches, a pleasant shade to festive parties. Virgil says, in the Fourth Book of the Georgics, line 146, ‘Atque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbram,’ ‘And the plane-tree that gives its shade for those that carouse.’