[53.] Cnidos.]—Ver. 531. This was a city of Caria, situate on a promontory. Strangers resorted thither, to behold a statue of Venus there, which was made by Praxiteles.
[54.] Carry lightning.]—Ver. 551. The lightning shock seems to be attributed to the wild boar, from the vehemence with which he strikes down every impediment in his way.
[55.] Purple hangings.]—Ver. 595. Curtains, or hangings, called ‘aulæa,’ were used by the ancients to ornament their halls, sitting rooms, and bed chambers. In private houses they were also sometimes hung as coverings over doors, and in the interior, as substitutes for them. In the palace of the Roman emperors, a slave, called ‘velarius,’ was posted at each of the principal doors, to raise the curtain when any one passed through. Window curtains were also used by the Romans, while they were employed in the temples, to veil the statue of the Divinity. Ovid here speaks of them as being of purple colour; while Lucretius mentions them as being of yellow, red, and rusty hue.
[56.] Last course is run.]—Ver. 597. Among the Romans, the race consisted of seven rounds of the Circus, or rather circuits of the ‘spina,’ or wall, in the midst of it, at each end of which was the ‘meta,’ or goal. Livy and Dio Cassius speak of seven conical balls, resembling eggs, which were called ‘ova,’ and were placed upon the ‘spina.’ Their use was to enable the spectators to count the number of rounds which had been run, for which reason they were seven in number; and as each round was run, one of the ‘ova’ was put up, or, according to Varro, taken down. The form of the egg was adopted in honour of Castor and Pollux, who were said to have been produced from eggs. The words ‘novissima meta’ here mean either ‘the last part of the course,’ or, possibly, ‘the last time round the course.’
[57.] Onchestius his.]—Ver. 605. But Hyginus says that Neptune was the father of Megareus, or Macareus, as the Scholiast of Sophocles calls him. Neptune being the father of Onchestius, Hippomenes was the fourth from Neptune, inclusively. Onchestius founded a city of that name in Bœotia, in honour of Neptune, who had a temple there; in the time of Pausanias the place was in ruins. That author tells us that Megareus aided Nisus against Minos, and was slain in that war.
[58.] A feminine look.]—Ver. 631. Clarke renders this line— ‘But what a lady-like countenance there is in his boyish face!’
[59.] Tamasenian field.]—Ver. 644. Tamasis, or Tamaseus, is mentioned by Pliny as a city of Cyprus.
[60.] The theatres ring.]—Ver. 668. ‘Spectacula’ may mean either the seats, or benches, on which the spectators sat, or an amphitheatre. The former is most probably the meaning in the present instance.
[61.] Crowned with turrets.]—Ver. 696. Cybele, the Goddess of the Earth, was usually represented as crowned with turrets, and drawn in a chariot by lions.
[62.] Are made fore-legs.]—Ver. 700. ‘Armus’ is generally the shoulder of a brute; while ‘humerus’ is that of a man. ‘Armus’ is sometimes used to signify the human shoulder.