Ars Amatoria; or, The Art Of Love: Literally Translated into English Prose, with Copious NotesOvid
General
Ars Amatoria; or, The Art Of Love: Literally Translated into English Prose, with Copious Notes
Ovid
Latin poetry -- Adaptations; Latin poetry -- Translations into English
[Footnote 1050: With purple stripes.'--Ver. 269. Commentators are at
a loss to know what 'tingere virgis' means; some suggest, 'to wear
garments with red 'virgæ,' or 'stripes,'while others think that it means
'to tint the skin with fine lines of a purple colour.' It is thought by
some that vermilion is here alluded to, while others suppose that the
juice of the red flowers, or berries of the 'vaccinium,' is meant.]
[Footnote 1051: The Pharian fish.--Ver. 270. The intestines and dung of
the crocodile, 'the Pharian' or 'Egyptian fish,' are here referred to.
We learn from Pliny that these substances were used by the females at
Rome as a cosmetic, to add to the fairness of the complexion, and to
take away freckles from the skin.]
[Footnote 1052: Small pads are suitable.--Ver. 273 'Analectides,'
or 'Analectrides,' (the correct reading is doubtful) were pads, or
stuffings, of flock, used in cases of high shoulders or prominent
shoulder-blades.]
[Footnote 1053: And let the girth.--Ver. 274. He alludes to the
'strophium,' which distantly resembled the stays of the present day,
and was a girdle, or belt, worn by women round the breast and over the
interior tunic or chemise. From an Epigram of Martial, it seems to have
been usually made of leather. Becker thinks that there was a difference
between the 'fascia' and the 'strophium.']
[Footnote 1054: At a distance.--Ver. 278. One of the very wisest of his
suggestions.]
[Footnote 1055: Umbrian.--Ver. 303. The Umbrians were a people of the
Marsi, in the north of Italy. They were noted for their courage, and the
rusticity of their manners.]
[Footnote 1056: The son of Sisyphus.--Ver. 313. He here alludes to
a scandalous story among the ancients, that Ulysses was the son of
Anticlea, by Sisyphus the robber, who had carried her off, and not by
Laertes, her husband.]
[Footnote 1057: The wax.--Ver. 314. By the advice of Circe, Ulysses
filled the ears of his companions with melted wax, that they might not
hear the songs of the Sirens.]
[Footnote 1058: The measures of the Nile.--Ver. 318. These airs were
sung by Egyptian girls, with voluptuous attitudes, and were much
esteemed by the dissolute Romans. These Egyptian singers were, no doubt,
the forerunners of the 'Alme' of Egypt at the present day. The Nautch
girls and Bayaderes of the East Indies are a kindred race.]
[Footnote 1059: Plectrum.--Ver. 319. See the Metamorphoses, Book ii. 1.
601, and the Note; also the Epistle of Briseïs, 1. 118, and the Note.]
[Footnote 1060: Thy mother.--Ver. 323. Amphion and Zethuswere the sons
of Jupiter and Antiope. Being carried off by her uncle Lycus, Antiope
was entrusted to his wife Dirce. When her sons grew up, they fastened
Dirce to wild oxen, by which she was tom to pieces. Amphion was said to
have built the walls of Thebes by the sound of his lyre.]
[Footnote 1061: Arion.--Ver. 326. See the Fasti, Book ii. 1. 79.]
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