[49]
‘Rabie’ with ‘tument.’ As the
forms of the gods and of the dead were
supposed to be larger than those of ordinary
humanity (see on 2. 773), so the Sibyl
seems to increase in stature under the
divine afflatus. In less poetical language
we should say that she rises to her full
height, and every limb is stretched with
excitement. The picture is virtually the
same as that of Wordsworth's Laodamis,
expecting an answer to her prayer:
“Her countenance brightens, and her eye
expands:
Her bosom heaves and swells, her stature
grows.
”
Videri might be regarded as a historical infinitive, with Serv. and some of the early editors: but Heyne rightly constructs it with ‘maior,’ as if it were a translation of μείζων εἰσιδεῖν. Wagn. comp. “nivens videri” Hor. 4. Od. 2. 59, “lubricus adspici” Id. 1 Od. 19. 7. Some notion equivalent to ‘facta est’ must of course be supplied from the context.
