er.

VI. Ajax, son of Oileus, desecrated Minerva's temple at Troy. (Cf.
Book II. stanza liv.)

XIV. The 'son of Tydeus' is Diomedes, one of the foremost Greek
warriors in the war with Troy. Aeneas narrowly escaped being slain
by him.

For _Sarpedon_ see Book IX. stanza lxxxix. and for _Simois_ note on
Book VI. stanza xiv.

XXVI. Acestes was king of Eryx in Sicily, which was called
'Trinacria' from its three promontories. See Book V. stanzas iv. and
following.

XXVII. See note on Book III. stanzas lxxi. and following.

XXXII. The legend was that Antenor escaped from Troy and established
a colony of Trojans at the northern end of the Adriatic. The _Timavus_
was a small river near where Trieste now is.

XXXIII. _Patavium_. The modern Padua.

XXXV. Ascanius or Iulus is the son of Aeneas.

XXXVI. The legend was that Rhea Silvia, a priestess of Mars, bore
the twins Romulus and Remus. The two children were exposed and left
to die, but were found and nursed by a she-wolf.

XXXVIII. This prophecy refers not to C. Julius Caesar but to his
nephew Augustus, as is shown by the references to the east (the battle
of Actium) and to the closing of the 'gates of Janus.' For an account
of the latter, see Book VII. stanza xxiv.

XL. The 'son of Maia' is Mercury.

XLII. Harpalyce was the daughter of a Thracian king and a famous
huntress.

XLIX. _Byrsa_. This word, originally the Semitic word for 'citadel,'
was thought by the Greeks to be their own word _Byrsa_ meaning 'a
bull's hide.' This mistake was probably the cause of the legend given
by Virgil.

LV. _Paphos_ in Cyprus was one of the chief centres of the worship
of Venus.

LX. Priam was the king of Troy, and the Atridae were Agamemnon and
Menelaus. Achilles is described as fierce to both, because he
quarrelled with Agamemnon about a captive. It is with this quarrel
that the _Iliad_ opens.

LXII. _Rhesus_, king of Thrace, had come to help the Trojans. It had
been prophesied that if his horses ate Trojan grass or drank the water
of the river, Troy could never be taken. Diomedes (Tydides) prevented
this by capturing the horses.

LXIII. _Troilus:_ a son of Priam slain by Achilles.

LXIV. Memnon, son of Aurora, the dawn-goddess, and Penthesilea,
queen of the Amazons, came to Troy as allies. They were both slain
by Achilles.

LXV. The _Eurotas_ was a river in Laconia, and Cynthus was a mountain
of Delos. Both places were supposed to be favourite haunts of the
god