4.149–157

Jupiter gave the bees a special nature, and thus they live in a divinely ordered community. 

Because they cared for him when he was an infant, Jupiter has rewarded the race of honeybees. Unlike other creatures, they live in communities that share labor and property, are governed by laws, and revere their native land.

149  nunc age: “now, come.” This is an idiomatic expression and indicates a departure from the world of the Corycian farmer and a return to the world of bees. 

149-150  nātūrās apibus…expediam = expediam nātūrās quās Iuppiter ipse addidit apibus. 

149: nātūrās: “distinctive characteristics,” OLD natura 10.a.

150  prō quā mercēde: “for which reward.” That is, Jupiter gave the honeybees their nātūra as a mercēs for their help.

150-152  canōrōs Cūrētum…antrō = <apēs>, secūtae canōrōs sonitūs Curētum crepitantiaque aera, pāvēre rēgem caelī sub antrō Dictaeō. Thomas observes that you can hear the buzzing of the bees and the clanging of the bronze in the “s” and “c” sounds of these lines. 

150  Cūrētum: genitive plural masculine; the Curetes were armed youths who protected infant gods. This passage refers to a myth about the birth of Zeus: Gaia, his grandmother, hid him in a cave on Crete, and the Curetes made so much noise, they drowned out the infant Jupiter’s cries. The Curetes’s cymbals filled the air with noise, which attracted the bees, who fed the infant with honey. 

151  aera “bronze” < aes, aeris (n), accusative plural.

152  Dictaeō: “Dictaean.” Dicte is part of a mountain range in Crete, near which Jupiter was sheltered as an infant. 

152  pāvēre: “they fed,” 3rd person plural perfect active indicative < pāsco, pāscere, pāvī, pāstus (AG 163a).

153–155  sōlae…penates: <apēs> sōlae habent commūnēs nātōs, cōnsortia tecta urbis <et> agitant aevum sub magnīs lēgibus et sōlae nōvēre patriam et certōs penātēs. 

154  A verse in dactylic hexameter normally has a caesura (slight pause) in the middle of the third metrical foot. If not, when missing a 3rd foot caesura, will typically have caesurae in the 2nd and 4th feet, as they do here (AG 615.c). 

155: nōvēre: “they know,” 3rd person plural perfect active indicative < nōscō, nōscerem nōvī, nōtus (AG 163a). The perfect of nōscō (“come to know”) is often translated as a present tense (“I have come to know, so now I know”).

155  penātēs: household gods who were invoked in domestic ritual. They serve as a metonym for the whole home (hive); the bees are sure of their established homes. 

156  ventūrae: genitive singular of a future active participle, modifying hiemis.

156  aestāte: ablative of time when (AG 423).

156–157: labōrem / experiuntur: = laborant.

157  in medium: “into the middle,” that is, “for the use of all.” 

157  quaesīta: substantive, “the foraged resources.”

157: reponunt: “store away,” OLD repono 9.