R. J. Cholmeley, M.A., The Idylls of Theocritus

ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα. The same words form the opening line of the Phaenomena of Aratus. That poem is probably to be dated 275 b. c., and as it at once became famous the phrase is frequently set down as Aratus' (A. Pal. xii. 1 ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα καθὰς εἴρηκεν ῎Αρατος); we can hardly refuse to believe that Theocritus intentionally used the other poet's words, although the phrase is little more than a formula; cf. Hesiod, Theog. 48 （Ζῆνα） ἀρχόμεναί θ᾽ ὑμνεῦσι θεαὶ λήγουσί τ᾽ ἀοιδῆς: Theognis 1: “ ὦ ἄνα Λητοῦς υἱέ, Διὸς τέκος, οὔποτε σεῖο
     λήσομαι ἀρχόμενος οὐδ᾽ ἀποπαυόμενος.
ἀλλ᾽ αἰεὶ πρῶτον σὲ καὶ ὕστατον ἔν τε μέσοισιν ἀείσω.

”

ἐς Δία λήγετε, 'cease with Zeus'; cf. xiii. 15; xiv. 28; but Iliad ix. 97 ἐν σοὶ μὲν λήξω σέο δ᾽ ἄρξομαι.

[2] αὐδῶμεν, 'sing of' (Pind. Ol. i. 12).

[3] 3, 4 ἐνὶ πρώτοιοι, κ.τ.λ. : cf. Theognis (quoted above). Aratus, 14 τῶ μιν ἀεὶ πρῶτόν τε καὶ ὕστατον ἱλάσκονται: Demosth. xxv. 8 τὰ τοιαῦτα θηρία ὧν μέσος καὶ τελευταῖος καὶ πρῶτός ἐστιν οὗτος: Milton, Paradise Lost, v. 165 'Him first, Him last, Him midst and without end.'

[4] προφερέστατος ἄλλων cf. Ap. Rhod. i. 180 ποδωκηέστατον ἄλλων: cf. l. 121 μοῦνος προτέρων: Thucyd. i. 1 πόλεμος ἀξιολογώτατος τῶν προγεγενημένων.

[8] ὑμνήσαιμ᾽, 'I am fain to sing'; cf. xvi. 67, note.

ὑμνήσαιμ᾽: ὕμνοι cf. Introd. p. 112 sqq. The whole of this introductory paragraph 1-12 affords a good example of Theocritean symmetry, the whole dividing into six couplets, each complete in itself, and forming an antithesis with the following.

[13] sqq. The encomium deals first with Ptolemy Lageides, the father of Ptolemy II, and with the divine rights paid to the house (13-26); then with Berenice, the mother of the king (27-52). On these persons and on their deification see Introd. p. 3 sqq.

[13] ἐκ πατέρων οἶος μὲν ἔην, 'how great was Ptolemy in virtue of his race in doing mighty deeds.'

ἐκ πατέρων see note on xvi. 33 (not 'ut a parentibus ordiar' as Wuestemann).

οἷος ἔην is exclamatory ('qualis erat ad opus perficiendum,' Ameis), and the infinitive is epexegetic as in xxii. 2 φοβερὸν πὺξ ἐρεθίζειν: cf. Odyss. ii. 272 οἷος κεῖνος ἔην τελέσαι ἔργον τε ἔπος τε. Beware of confounding this construction with the wholly different consecutive use of οἷος with infinitive, Xen. Anab. ii. 3. 13 “οὐ γὰρ ἦν ὥρα οἵα τὸ πεδίον ἄρδειν （ὥρα τοιαύτη ὥστε ἐν αὐτῇ ἄρδειν）,” cf. note on xxx. 6. In this use the οἷος must be joined immediately with the infinitive, and the copula, if expressed, must stand before the οἷος. The usages are quite wrongly given in Liddell and Scott, who apparently treat οἷος as a demonstrative, but Arist. Vespae 970 ὁ δ᾽ ἕτερος οἷός ἐστιν οἰκουρὸς μόνον = the other is more as a watch-dog is, i.e. ἐστὶν οἷος οἰκουρός ἐστιν. In Plato, Phaedr. 256 a οἷός ἐστιν μὴ ἂν ἀπαρνηθῆναι read ἐστὶν οἷος μὴ ἂν ἀπαρνηθῆναι. Harpocration's note (οἷος εἶ καὶ οἷός τε εἶ: τὸ μὲν χωρὶς τοῦ τε σημαίνει τὸ βούλει τὸ δὲ σὺν τῷ τε τὸ δύναται) has no support in fact.

[14] 14, 15 Λαγείδας = Ptolemy I (Soter), who was either the son of Lagos and Arsinoe, or son of Philip and Arsinoe, and stepson to Lagos, who afterwards had Arsinoe to wife. We should expect Λαγι^δας, but this form is attested by inscriptions, C. I. G. 2613.

φρεσὶν ἐγκατάθοιτο Simon. lxxxv. 5 στέρνοις ἐγκατέθεντο. For the whole passage cf. Callim. i. 87 ἑσπέριος κεῖνός γε τελεῖ τά κεν ἦρι νοήσῃ.

[16] πατήρ, sc. θεῶν: “'pater superum iam signat honore,'” Verg. Aen. vi. 780

[17] δόμος…οἴκῳ 'hoc nomine totum significat illo partem,' Lobeck (Ajax 65); Pind. N. i. 112. Teiresias prophesies of Heracles that δεξάμενον θαλερὰν ῞Ηβαν (l. 32) ἄκοιτιν καὶ γάμον δαίσαντα πὰρ Διὶ Κρονίδᾳ σεμνὸν αἰνήσειν δόμον.

[19] αἰολομίτρας vid. Callim. iv. 168 (quoted below, l. 58).

[20] ῾Ηρακλῆος vid. note on 14. Whichever genealogy is adopted the Ptolemies were connected with the house of Macedon, and therefore claimed descent from Heracles.

[21] τετυγμένα ἐξ ἀδάμαντος cf. xv. 123; xxviii. 8.

[22] θαλίας ἔχει sc. Heracles, who “      μετ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι
τέρπεται ἐν θαλίῃς καὶ ἔχει καλλίσφυρον ῞Ηβην,

” Odyss. xi. 603.

[23] υἱωνῶν…υἱωνοῖσιν cf. Tyrtaeus, xii. 30 καὶ παίδων παῖδες καὶ γένος ἐξοπίσω: Eurip. H. F. 7 οἳ Κάδμου πόλιν τεκνοῦσι παίδων παισί, by which 'significatur ex una eademque generis propagatione paullatim prolem prognatam esse' (Klotz). Here the phrase expresses all the line of the house of Heracles, not only Ptolemy and Alexander (the ἀμφώ of l. 26); Scholiast χαίρων ἐπὶ τοῖς τῶν ἐκγόνων υἱοῖς καὶ ἀπογόνοις ἀπαθανατισθεῖσιν.

[24] ἐξείλετο γῆρας Soph. O. C. 607: “      μόνοις οὐ γίγνεται
θεοῖσι γῆρας οὐδὲ κατθανεῖν ποτε.

”

μελέων cf. Odyss. vi. 140 ἐκ δέος εἵλετο γυίων: Quint. Smyrn. viii. 494 οὕνεκά οἱ στονόεντα Θέτις μελεδήματα γυίων ἐξέλετο.

[25] νέποδες see Liddell and Scott, s. v.; Eustath. at Odyss. iv. 404 νέπους κατὰ γλῶσσάν τινα ὁ ἀπόγονος. This is doubtless the meaning in Homer and the Alexandrian writers, the word being connected with ἀνεψιός, 'nepos,' Sansk. 'nápāt' (Vanietcbreve;ek, p. 428). In late writers it is used as = ἰχθύς (Oppian, passim), whether from a false derivation or by specialization of the Homeric use.

[26] ἄμφω = Ptolemy and Alexander (note the form ἄμφω for ἀμφοῖν). Cf. δύο for δυοῖν.

πρόγονος could hardly be applied to Philip, so we must understand the founder of the Macedonian dynasty, either Ceranos, brother of Pheidon of Argos, or Perdiccas an exile from Argos (Herod. viii. 137. The native Macedonian legend accepted the latter. Through this Perdiccas the Macedonian kings traced their line through the Temenidae of Argos up to Heracles (see Grote, Hist. of Greece, vol. iii. p. 432).

[27] ἐς ἔσχατον ῾Ηρακλῆα, 'count back their time to Heracles at last.' This descent was claimed officially by the Ptolemies, C. I. G. 5127 (a document of Ptolemy III Euergetes) βασιλεὺς μέγας Πτολεμαῖος υἱὸς βασιλέως Πτολεμαίου καὶ βασιλίσσης ᾿Αρσινόης, θεῶν ἀδελφῶν, τῶν βασιλέων Πτολεμαίου καὶ βασιλίσσης Βερενίκης θεῶν Σωτήρων ἀπόγονος τὰ μὲν ἀπὸ πατρὸς ῾Ηρακλέους τοῦ Διὸς τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ μητρὸς Διονύσου τοῦ Διός.

[34] οἵα δὲ…Βερενίκα = the wife of Ptolemy Soter, mother of the ruling Ptolemy, who now like Soter was deified (Introd. p. 4).

οἵα δέ takes up the οἷος μὲν ἔην of 13.

[35] θηλυτέραις substantive here and often in Alexandrian poets. In Homer only adjective, θηλυτέρῃσι γυναιξίν: vid. Index, subject Adjective.

[37] ῥαδινάς, 'delicately slender'; Hom. hymn Demet. 183 ῥαδινοῖσι θεᾶς ποσσί.

[38] 38, 39 τῷ, 'therefore.' With the whole passage cf. Hesiod, Scutum 7 sqq.: “ τῆς καὶ ἀπὸ κρῆθεν βλεφάρων τ᾽ ἀπὸ κυανεάων
τοῖον ἄηθ᾽ οἷόν τε πολυχρύσου ᾿Αφροδίτης:
ἡ δὲ καὶ ὣς κατὰ θυμὸν ἑὸν τίεσκεν ἀκοίτην
ὡς οὔπω τις ἔτισε γυναικῶν θηλυτεράων.

”

[40] ὧδέ κε παισί, 'thus might one entrust, secure in mind, all his house to his children when love is truly given and returned' ('hoc poeta dicit qui ex tali coniugio castae et amantis uxoris liberos suscipiat tuto iis domum totam committere posse utpote veris et genuinis,' Madvig). The words are to be taken as a general reflection, though hinting at Ptolemy Soter. τις is omitted as often; vid. Liddell and Scott, τις sub finem. ἐπιτρέπειν οἶκον παισί may be taken in two senses:

(1) 'Leave during absence'; cf. Odyss. ii. 226: “ καί οἱ ἰὼν ἐν νηυσὶν ἐπέτρεπεν οἶκον ἅπαντα,
πείθεσθαί τε γέροντι καὶ ἔμπεδα πάντα φυλάσσειν.

” Xen. Hiero, i. 12 “οὐ τὰ οἴκοι κέκτηνται ἐχυρὰ ὥστε ἄλλοις παρακαταθεμένους ἀποδημεῖν.”

(2) 'Leave at death'; Odyss. vii. 150: “      τοῖσιν θεοὶ ὄλβια δοῖεν
ζωέμεναι, καὶ παισὶν ἐπιτρέψειεν ἕκαστος
κτήματ᾽ ἐνὶ μεγάροισι γέρας θ᾽ ὅ τι δῆμος ἔδωκεν.

” The Scholiast and many of the editors see a reference to Soter's abdication in favour of his son (285 B.C.). παισίν is then awkward. It seems better to take ἐπιτρέπειν in the second sense (leave at death), and regard the plural παισίν as referring to the two children of Soter, Ptolemy II and his queen, Arsinoe Philadelphus, son and daughter of Soter and Berenice. It is no objection to this that this marriage did not take place till after Soter's death.

[43] ἀστόργου δὲ γυναικός again a general sentiment, though some covert reference may be intended. If so it must remain covert. The words have been referred to almost every unfaithful woman known in the years 320-270 (and they were many). No one critic has convinced another as to who is meant. All that is certain is that Arsinoe I cannot be intended. On other claimants see Hiller.

[44] ποτεοικότα Hesiod, ῎Εργ. 235 τίκτουσιν δὲ γυναῖκες ἐοικότα τέκνα γονεῦσι: Catullus, lxi. 226.

[46] μεμέλητο a late Epic form used instead of μέμβλητο; cf. xxvi. 36 and note on i. 50. For deification of Berenike see Introd. p. 4.

[48] πάροιθ᾽ ἐπὶ νῆα κατελθεῖν. This use of πάροιθε = πρίν does not occur elsewhere (? πάρος as in xxii. 189; Iliad xi. 573); Quint. Smyrn. has even μεχρὶς ἱκέσθαι, i. 830. Neither of these are given in Liddell and Scott.

[49] κυανέαν Leonidas 94 (A. Pal. vii. 67) τοῦτ᾽ ᾿Αχέροντος ὕδωρ ὃς πλώεις πορθμίδι κυανέῃ: Verg. Aen. vi. 303 “'ferruginea ... cumba.'” So Theognis, 709 κυανέας τε πύλας παραμείψεται.

στυγνὸν πορθμῆα Propert. iii. 18. 24 “'Scandenda est torvi publica cumba senis.'”

[50] ἑᾶς = σῆς. For genit. cf. Callim. iv. 9 Δήλῳ νῦν οἴμης ἀποδάσσομαι.

[51] ἥδε = Berenike, who receiving her divinity from Aphrodite receives the special cares and powers of that goddess.

[52] διδοῖ cf. Odyss. iv. 237; Monro, Hom. Gram. § 18.

[53] sqq. The panegyric turns now to the reigning Ptolemy; his birth in Cos (53-70), the power and extent of his kingdom (76-105), his bounty (106-120), his institution of divine honours to his parents.

[53] ᾿Αργεία = Deipyle, daughter of Adrastus, king of Argos, wife of Tydeus. The cruel Diomede is contrasted with the perfect knight Achilles; Achilles in turn is contrasted with Ptolemy, warrior son of warrior father, who is greater and better than either. Such is the simplest explanation of the three adversative clauses, σύ, ἀλλά, σὲ δέ. Others interpret 'as Achilles is above Diomede, so is Ptolemy above X; and X = Antigonos, son of Demetrius (so Droysen); cf. Legrand, Étude, p. 60.

[57] ἀρίζηλος Callim. Ep. 51: “ εὐαίων ἐν πᾶσιν ἀρίζαλος Βερενίκα
ἇς ἄτερ οὐδ᾽ αὐταὶ ταὶ Χάριτες Χάριτες.

”

[58] Κόως Ptolemy was born in Cos in 308 (Mahaffy, Empire of the Ptolemies, p. 54). This is made occasion for a piece of laboured flattery by Callimachus, iv. 160 (Leto in her wandering): “ ᾿Ωγυγίην δήπειτα Κόων Μεροπηίδα νῆσον
ἵκετο, Χαλκιόπης ἱερὸν μυχὸν ἡρωίνης:
ἀλλά ἑ παιδὸς ῾τηε υνβορν απολλὀ ἔρυκεν ἔπος τόδε μὴ σύ
γε, μῆτερ,
τῇ με τέκοις: οὐ τὴν ἐπιμέμφομαι οὐδὲ μεγαίρω
νῆσον ἐπεὶ λιπαρή τε καὶ εὔβοτος, εἴ νύ τις ἄλλη:
ἀλλά οἱ ἐκ μοιρέων τις ὀφειλόμενος θεὸς ἄλλος
ἐστί, Σαωτήρων ὕπατον γένος: ᾧ ὑπὸ μίτρην ῾τηεοξρ.
χϝιι. 19᾿
ἵξεται, οὐκ ἀέκουσα Μακηδόνι κοιρανέεσθαι,
ἀμφοτέρη μεσόγαια καὶ αἳ πελάγεσσι κάθηνται,
μέχρις ὅπου περάτη τε καὶ ὁππόθεν ὠκέες ἵπποι
᾿Ηέλιον φορέουσιν: ὁ δ᾽ εἴσεται ἤθεα πατρός.

” It is instructive to compare the methods of Callimachus and Theocritus in dealing with the event.

[61] ᾿Αντιγόνας Schol. k ἡ γὰρ Βερενίκη ἐστὶν ἡ θυγάτηρ ᾿Αντιγόνης τῆς Κασανδρου τοῦ ᾿Αντιπάτρου.

βεβαρημένα a form substituted by the later Epic for the old βεβαρηώς.

[64] sqq. Κόως δ᾽ ὀλόλυξεν cf. Callimachus' description of Delos at the birth of Apollo (h. Delos 264): “ αὐτὴ δὲ ῾δελος᾿ χρυσέοιο ἀπ᾽ οὔδεος εἵλεο παῖδα,
ἐν δ᾽ ἐβάλευ κόλποισιν, ἔπος δ᾽ ἐφθέγξαο τοῖον:
ὦ μῆτερ πολύβωμε, πολύπτολι, πολλὰ φέρουσα,
αὐτὴ ἐγὼ τοιήδε: δυσήρατος ἀλλ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ἐμεῖο
Δήλιος ᾿Απόλλων κεκλήσεται: οὐδέ τις ἄλλη
γαιάων τοσσόνδε θεῷ πεφιλήσεται ἄλλῳ
…ὡς ἐγὼ ᾿Απόλλωνι.

” Both the Alexandrian poets extend the metaphorical expression of the island's joy as it appears in (e. g.) Theognis 8: “      πᾶσα μὲν ἐπλήσθη Δῆλος ἀπειρεσίη
ὀδμῆς ἀμβροσίης, ἐγέλασσε δὲ γαῖα πελώρη
     γήθησεν δὲ βαθὺς πόντος ἁλὸς πολιῆς.

”

[66] ὄλβιε κοῦρε. The vocative stands by attraction as in xviii. 10; Eurip. Troad. 1221: “ σύ τ᾽ ὦ ποτ᾽ οὖσα καλλίνικε μυρίων
μῆτερ τροπαίων.

” Livy, xxii. 50 “'Tu quidem Cn. Corneli macte virtute esto,'” etc.

[68] ἐν δὲ μιᾷ τιμᾷ Τρίοπον καταθεῖο, 'and set apart the hill of Triopon in one and the same united honour, giving equal right to the Dorian states hard by.' The promontory Triopon or Triopion in Caria was the centre of cults of Demeter, Poseidon, the Nymphs, and especially Apollo, celebrated by the Dorian pentapolis of Lindus, Ialysus, Camirus, Cnidus, and Cos to the exclusion of other Dorian cities (Herod. i. 44; Stein, ad loc.). Great respect was paid to this religious union by Ptolemy II.

μιᾷ = a single united honour; not 'in one cult' with Cos, since Triopon was not a sovereign city participating in the league, but only a central point of meeting for the league.

[69] Δωριέεσσι…ἐγγὺς ἐοῦσιν = the five Dorian cities above mentioned, united in one festival.

[70] ἶσον καὶ ῾Ρήναιαν. Rhenea is a small rocky island close to Delos, enumerated among the places which acknowledged the divine rule of Apollo (h. hymn Apoll. 44). The point of this line is not very clear; but by the position of ἶσον at the head of ll. 69 and 70, the two lines are made parallel in expression and thought, as if it were written ἶσον νέμων γέρας Δωριέεσσι ὡς καὶ ῾Ρήναιαν ἐφίλασεν ᾿Απόλλων (Valck. conjectures ὅσσον unnecessarily for the second ἶσον, cf. viii. 19). The sense seems therefore to be, 'Exalt Triopon to honour and include the neighbouring Dorians in one celebration, as Apollo exalted Delos and included even Rhenea in equal honour.' [Buecheler, followed by Ziegler, ejects the line; Reitzenstein reads Δᾶλον for ἶσον: but the explanation above given seems sufficient justification, though the thought is not very happily expressed.

[72] ἐς τρίς cf. ii. 45. The cry of the eagle is the sign of the approval of Zeus thy well beloved king.

[74] ὁ δ᾽ ἔξοχος cf. h. hymn 30 (ἐς Γῆν): “      ὁ δ᾽ ὄλβιος, ὅν κε σὺ θυμῷ
πρόφρων τιμήσῃς: τῷ δ᾽ ἄφθονα πάντα πάρεστι.
βρίθει μέν σφιυ ἄρουρα φερέσβιος……
…ὄλβος δὲ πολὺς καὶ πλοῦτος ὀπηδεῖ.

”

[77] μυρίαι ἄπειροί τε καὶ ἔθνεα. As the conjunctions τε καί show, this phrase is to be taken as expressing a single notion, 'a thousand lands with their thousand tribes of men.' As ἄπειροι is the leading idea the feminine ὀφελλόμεναι stands rightly in l. 78, uninfluenced by ἔθνεα μυρία. Meineke's remark (Praef. vii) 'Continentibus non gentes opponendae erant sed insulae,' and his conjecture, εἰν ἁλὶ νᾶσοι, are therefore pointless. Cf. h. hymn. Apoll. 142 ἄλλοτε δ᾽ ἂν νήσους τε καὶ ἀνέρας ἠλάσκαζες.

[78] Διὸς ὄμβρῳ cf. Aesch. Agam. 1391. This is opposed to Νεῖλος ἀναβλύζων of l. 80; 'illae terrae laudantur propter fertilitatem pluvia auctam, Aegyptus magis fecundata esse dicitur Nilo exundante' (Ameis).

[81] ἔργα δαέντων a civilized community acquainted with the arts; h. hymn. xx (εἰς ῞Ηφαιστον) 3: “      πάρος περ
ἄντροις ναιετάασκον ἐν οὔρεσιν ἠΰτε θῆρες.
νῦν δὲ δι᾽ ῞Ηφαιστον κλυτοτέχνην ἔργα δαέντες, κ.τ.λ.

”

[82] sqq. The total number is 33333. A number which can be expressed in multiples of 3 or 9 has something sacred about it to a Greek. Cf. xxx. 27; Plato, Rep. 587 d.

[84] μετὰ δέ σφισιν cf. i. 39.

[85] ἐμβασιλεύει should be kept against the proposed alterations ἀγηνορίῃ βασιλεύει, etc., as we want a contrast between Ptolemy's home dominion in which he rules, and his foreign acquisitions. ἐμβασιλεύει here takes the genit. like the simple verb.

[86] ἀποτέμνεται does not necessarily imply that the process of absorption is going on in active military operations at the time, though with Συρίας it could have this sense as referring to the Syrian war (Introd.). Tr. 'holds a slice of Phoenicia ...' Koepp holds that Palestine and Coele-Syria had been Egyptian provinces since the battle of Ipsos, and that Ptolemy II held these lands as inheritance from his father: Libya, Syria, Phoenicia, Cyprus, Lycia, Caria and the Cyclades passed by inheritance to Ptolemy III (Euergetes), who says also of himself that he made expeditions into Asia and ἐκυρίευσε τῆς τε ἐντὸς Εὐφράτου χώρας πάσης καὶ Κιλικίας καὶ Παμφυλίας καὶ ᾿Ιωνίας καὶ τοῦ ῾Ελλησπόντου καὶ Θρᾴκης. This does not however imply a first conquest but only a consolidation of dominion (vid. C. I. G. 5127).

[87] Αἰθιοπήων. Ptolemy's control of Aethiopia was rather in the nature of a 'sphere of influence' than that of actual possession. There is no monumental record of Ptolemy higher than Philae, above the first cataract, but this temple was nominally on Nubian territory (Mahaffy). Much objection has been made to the omission of Cyprus in this list, and it has therefore been held that the poem must have been written at the time when the island was in revolt (? date). This would be as bad a blunder on Theocritus' part, as for an Egyptian court poet in 1888 to speak of the Soudan as loot to the Khedive. Cyprus is doubtless included loosely in νάσοις Κυκλάδεσσι.

[90] νᾶες ἄρισται. On Ptolemy's fleet see Mahaffy, Empire of the Ptolemies, p. 126

[91] θάλασσα…αἶα…ποταμοί. For this division of the globe into land, sea, and rivers, cf. Hesiod, Theog. 108 θεοὶ καὶ γαῖα γένοντο καὶ ποταμοὶ καὶ πόντος ἀπείριτος: Eurip. H. F. 1295: “ φωνὴν γὰρ ἥσει χθὼν ἀπεννέπουσά με
μὴ θιγγάνειν γῆς καὶ θάλασσα μὴ περᾶν
πηγαί τε ποταμῶν.

” Wilam.-Moellend. ad loc.

[92] ἀνάσσονται Πτολεμαίῳ not simply 'by Ptolemy,' as if it were ὑπὸ Πτολεμαίου. The dative is the 'dativus commodi'; 'Are Ptolemy's dominion.' Cf. Odyss. iv. 177 （πόλεις） αἳ περιναιετάουσιν ἀνάσσονται δ᾽ ἐμοὶ αὐτῷ.

[96] ἀφνεὸν…οἶκον see Mahaffy, p. 130. S. Jerome puts the income of Ptolemy at 14,800 silver talents.

τόσσον cf. ii. 161; xxiv. 77, 118; where an explanatory clause is similarly introduced. Callim. Delos, 216: “      σὺ δ᾽ οὐκ ἄρ᾽ ἔμελλες ἄπυστος
δὴν ἔμεναι: τοίη σε παρέδραμεν ἀγγελιῶτις.

” Early writers usually add γάρ: Iliad xxi. 288; Solon, iv. 3. This is dropped when γάρ becomes distinctly = 'for.' So even Odyss. xiv. 326.

[99] -101. βοὰν…ἐπὶ βουσίν. There is neither formal invasion, nor raid of freebooters. Cf. Bacchyl. xviii. 5: “ ἦ τις ἁμετέρας χθονὸς
δυσμενὴς ὅρι᾽ ἀμφιβάλλει
στραταγέτας ἀνήρ;
ἦ λῃσταὶ κακυμάχανοι
ποιμένων ἀέκατι μήλων
σεύοντ᾽ ἀγέλας βίᾳ;

”

ἐπί of the object aimed at; cf. i. 49; xxii. 145.

[104] ἐπὶ πάγχυ. Another instance of the fondness of later Greek for joining a preposition with an adverb. Cf. Ap. Rhod. iii. 511 “ἑῇ ἐπὶ πάγχυ πέποιθεν ἠνορέῃ” (ἐπὶ μᾶλλον, Herod. i. 94).

[106] οὐ μὰν ἀχρεῖός γε, 'Yet his wealth is not piled idle in his rich treasure house like the wealth of toiling ants.' Cf. xvi. 22.

[107] ἀεί belongs to κέχυται as well as to μογεόντων.

μυρμάκων cf. Crates (Bergk, xlviii): “ χρήματα δ᾽ οὐκ ἐθέλω συνάγειν κλυτά, κανθάρου ὄλβον
     μύρμηκός τ᾽ ἄφενος χρήματα μαιόμενος.

”

[108] θεῶν…οἶκοι, κ.τ.λ. : with the whole passage compare the parallel lines 16, 22 sqq., and the references there given. Ptolemy's munificence towards the state religion is attested by the monuments. Professor Mahaffy (loc. cit. p. 184 sqq.) mentions as founded or restored by Ptolemy the temple of Philae (Upper Egypt), a common temple of the Greek gods near Naukratis (West Delta), a temple of Isis near Sebennytos (Central Delta), a temple at Pithom (East Delta).

[109] ἀπαρχομένοιο gen. abs. with subject unexpressed. Cf. Xen. Anab. v. 4. 16 “οἱ δὲ πολέμιοι, προσιόντων, τέως ἡσύχαζον.”

[112] κατ᾽ ἀγῶνας either 'through the contests,' or better, 'for the contests,' as κατὰ θέαν ἥκειν, Thucyd. vi. 31; cf. iii. 6, note. There was a guild of Dionysiac artists settled at Ptolemais (Mahaffy, p. 79). In 275 B.C. was celebrated a great πομπή in which Dionysus and Semele were the recipients of especial honour. Athenaeus, pp. 198 sqq., 118 sqq.; cf. xvi., 40 sqq.

[120] ἀέρι πᾳ κέκρυπται. 'But that uncounted wealth which they won by capture of the halls of Priam is buried somewhere in the gloom from whence there is no returning.' ἀέρι πᾳ = 'the gloom of the dead world.' The phrase is freed from ambiguity by the clause ὅθεν πάλιν οὐκέτι νόστος (cf. xii. 19, note). ἀήρ passes from the meaning of air to that of mist (which is only thickened air, for “in nubem cogitur aer,” Verg. Aen. v. 20; cf. Odyss. xi. 15 ἠέρι καὶ νεφέλῃ κεκαλυμμένοι), thence to that of darkness; Ap. Rhod. i. 777 ἀστὴρ κυανέοιο δι᾽ ἠέρος…καλὸν ἐρευθόμενος: iv. 1285: “ ὅταν ἠέλιος μέσῳ ἤματι νύκτ᾽ ἐπάγῃσιν
οὐρανόθεν τὰ δὲ λαμπρὰ δι᾽ ἠέρος ἄστρα φαείνῃ.

” So ἠέριος = dark; Aratus, 349 ἠερίη καὶ ἀνάστερος, and ἠεροφοῖτις ᾿Ερινύς is the vengeance that walketh in darkness (vid. Buttmann, Lexilogus, pp. 37 sqq.). Add a quaint derivation in Et. Mag. 437 ἠρία τοὺς τάφους…παρὰ τὸν ἀέρα ἤγουν τὸν ἐπικείμενον σκότον τοῖς τεθνεῶσι.

ἀέρι here is therefore = ζόφον ἠερόεντα (Iliad xv. 191) or ἠερόεντι βερέθρῳ (Quint. Smyrn. vi. 264). Cf. A. Pal. vii 283 (Leonidas) ᾿Αίδαο κακὸν ἐπιειμένος ἀχλύν: Ap. Rhod. ii. 923 καί ῥ᾽ ὁ μὲν αὖτις ἔδυνε μέγαν ζόφον.