4.357–373

Cyrene summons Aristaeus to her cave. 

Concerned, Cyrene bids Arethusa to lead Aristaeus to them. She also orders the waters to depart, so that there is a pathway for him. Aristaeus makes his way to her, and the waters wash over him. He is amazed at his mother’s home and kingdom, the lakes and groves. He proceeds, stunned by the movements of the waters and the rivers flowing under the earth, as each goes in a different direction (including the Phasis, Lycus, Enipeus, Tiber, Anio, Hypanis, Mysus, and Eridanus).

357  huic: refers to Arethusa. huic is the indirect object of ait in line 359. 

357  novā mentem formīdine: novā formīdine is an ablative of means to be taken with percussa (AG 409); mentem is an accusative of respect with a body part (AG 397b).

358  dūc, age, dūc: supply eum; the repetition of dūc is an example of anaphora, an emphatic repetition, here perhaps signaling Cyrene’s urgent concern for her son (AG 598f). age (the imperative < agō, agree, ēgī, actus) is not really a synonym of dūc (though it could be), but instead a colloquial usage that means “come on.” 

358  fās illī: supply est; illī refers to Aristaeus. 

358  dīvum: “of the gods,” genitive plural masculine, a syncopated form. 

359  alta: modifies flūmina in line 360. Cyrene commands Arethusa to lead Aristaeus to her, and at the same time bids the waters to part, so that Aristaeus can make his way to the underwater kingdom.

360  quā…īnferret: relative clause of purpose in secondary sequence. quā = ut eā viā; gressūs > gressus, -ūs (m), accusative plural masculine (AG 531.2). 

360  illum: refers to Aristaeus and is the direct object of circumstetit (361), accēpit, and mīsit (362).

361  curvāta in montis faciem: take the prepositional phrase in montis faciem closely with curvāta.

362  sinū vastō: ablative of place where without a preposition, as is common in poetry (AG 429.4). A sinus is any concave space (so, a harbor, a pocket, or a lap). Here it refers to the indentation in the water created by the waves that rise around Aristaeus, creating a passage for him into the deep before they cover him over.

363  mīrāns: this participle indicates that we have shifted into a fantastical and magical realm.

364  spēluncīsque…sonantēs: we are offered a view of the underwater world where Cyrene lives, with pools enclosed in caves and resounding groves. Many commentators observe that Vergil suggests these pools are the sources of rivers to be named later, which bear their distinctive characteristics both below and above the earth, following what seems to have been a theory at the time.

365-367  et ingentī…locīs = <Aristaeus>, stupefactus ingentī mōtū aquārum, spectābat omnia flūmina lābentia sub magnā terrā, <flūmina> dīversa locīs. The placement of ingentī mōtū is emphatic.

366  omnia…terrā: scanning the line helps you understand what is happening. 

366  dīversa locīs: “different in their locations,” that is, in different places. These are the sources of the various rivers, though lābentia suggests Aristaeus sees them flowing underground. 

367  Phāsimque Lycumque: Phasis is the modern-day Rioni River in western Georgia, which flows into the Black Sea. Many rivers in antiquity were called “Lycus.” This may be the Kelkit in modern-day Turkey. 

368  caput: refers to the source of the rivers that follow, which all appear to spring from (unde) this source. 

368  prīmum: adverb. 

368  Enīpeus: a river in Thessaly, a tributary of the Peneus. The final two vowels scan as a single long syllable. 

369  Tiberīnus: the Tiber, the river that runs through Rome. 

369  Aniēna fluenta: “the streams of the Anio,” a tributary of the Tiber. 

370  saxōsus sonāns: the roar of the river is louder because of the sounds echoing off of the rocks, though Vergil’s language is more allusive. 

370  Hypanis:Hypanis is Southern Bug River in modern-day Ukraine, which runs into the Black Sea basin. 

370  Cäīcus:Caisus is the modern-day Bakirçay, which runs through Turkey (ancient Lydia and Mysia) into the Aegean. 

371-372  et gemina…Ēridanus = et Ēridanus, taurīnō vultū, aurātus gemina cornua. taurīnō vultū is an ablative of quality, gemina cornua is an accusative of respect with a body part (AG 415, 397b). River gods are often represented as bulls, and actual sacrificial bulls often had their horns gilded. Eridanus was a great river of the West with mythical connotations, often equated with the Po.

372  quō: “than which,” relative pronoun, ablative of comparison (AG 406).

372  alius: nominative singular masculine; modifies amnis in line 373.

373  purpureum: while this may refer to the color (as with Homer’s wine-dark sea), purpureus often refers to the brightness of the sea in Latin literature. The dactyls in this line give it a sense of buoyancy.