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Criticism On A Passage In Virgil's Georgics.
Et circum pictis vehitur sun rura phasehs ; Qinque pharef rata :-vicinia Persidis urget , Et Viridem Egyptian ; nigra fbecuiidat arena , Et ( iiversa mens septem discurrit in ora Usque coloratis arnnis devexus ab Iiulis ; Omiiis in litec certain regio jacit arte salutem . * Georg . Lib . 4 ., m . 28 ; .
The two descriptions , in these passages , ' Qua Pellxa gens fortunata Canopi , ' & c . And
' Quaque pliaretratK vicinia Persidis urget , ' & c . are generally supposed to denote one and the same region , namely , that part of Egypt formed by the Nile , and called Delta . In opposition to this opinion , Father Hardouin objects , 1 st . That this double description of one and the same region is such tautology as Virgil is never guilty of ' -, idly . That the epithet viridisapplied
, to Egypt as part of Africa , is cold and lifeless ; and therefore we must look for some country with which the second description will agree . Accordingly , he observes , that there was an island , called Prasiane , formed ' by the mouths of the Indus , in like manner as the Delta was by the Nik . ¦
Now Ti ^ oeai ' - in Greek signifies viridis ; whence he thinks it probable that Virgil meant the island Prasiane by Viridem iEgyptum , making Viridis not an epithet but a proper name ; and comparing it with the Delta TEgyptus , upon these two accounts ; first , because the Indus manures Prasiane , in like manner as the Nile does Egypt ; and secondlybecause the Indus had formerly seven mouths as well as the
, Nile ; to which nra } ' be added , that Virgil ' s description agrees perfectly with this interpretation ; for the Indus is , * Usque colorat ' rs amnis devexus ab Indis : ' It flows from the farthest part of the east ; and not only so , but
' Vicinia Persidis urget ;' Not' Vicin ' amPersidem , ' Persia itself ; but' regionemPersidi vicinam , ' a country border ing on Persia , agreeable to Pliny ' s account , ' Plerique ab Occidente Indiam non Indo Amne determinant , sed adjiciunt quatuor Satrapias . ' This is Father Hardouin ' s hypothesis .
M . Hint , in ansvyer to it , and in vindication of the genera ! interpretation , observes , that it was the universal opinion of antiquity that the Nile had its S ' . uiice in the Indies ; which he confirms , among other testimonies , by the authority of Alexander the Great , who , arriving at the Indus , fancied himself at the source of the Nile ; and boasted of it in ' a letter to his mother Olympias .
In the next p lace , if Viridis be the proper name of an island , how comes it to pass , says M . Pluet , that neither Pliny , Solinus , Mela , nor any author , geographer , or historian , Greek or Latin , ancient ay hioderh , have taken notice of any such island ?
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Criticism On A Passage In Virgil's Georgics.
Et circum pictis vehitur sun rura phasehs ; Qinque pharef rata :-vicinia Persidis urget , Et Viridem Egyptian ; nigra fbecuiidat arena , Et ( iiversa mens septem discurrit in ora Usque coloratis arnnis devexus ab Iiulis ; Omiiis in litec certain regio jacit arte salutem . * Georg . Lib . 4 ., m . 28 ; .
The two descriptions , in these passages , ' Qua Pellxa gens fortunata Canopi , ' & c . And
' Quaque pliaretratK vicinia Persidis urget , ' & c . are generally supposed to denote one and the same region , namely , that part of Egypt formed by the Nile , and called Delta . In opposition to this opinion , Father Hardouin objects , 1 st . That this double description of one and the same region is such tautology as Virgil is never guilty of ' -, idly . That the epithet viridisapplied
, to Egypt as part of Africa , is cold and lifeless ; and therefore we must look for some country with which the second description will agree . Accordingly , he observes , that there was an island , called Prasiane , formed ' by the mouths of the Indus , in like manner as the Delta was by the Nik . ¦
Now Ti ^ oeai ' - in Greek signifies viridis ; whence he thinks it probable that Virgil meant the island Prasiane by Viridem iEgyptum , making Viridis not an epithet but a proper name ; and comparing it with the Delta TEgyptus , upon these two accounts ; first , because the Indus manures Prasiane , in like manner as the Nile does Egypt ; and secondlybecause the Indus had formerly seven mouths as well as the
, Nile ; to which nra } ' be added , that Virgil ' s description agrees perfectly with this interpretation ; for the Indus is , * Usque colorat ' rs amnis devexus ab Indis : ' It flows from the farthest part of the east ; and not only so , but
' Vicinia Persidis urget ;' Not' Vicin ' amPersidem , ' Persia itself ; but' regionemPersidi vicinam , ' a country border ing on Persia , agreeable to Pliny ' s account , ' Plerique ab Occidente Indiam non Indo Amne determinant , sed adjiciunt quatuor Satrapias . ' This is Father Hardouin ' s hypothesis .
M . Hint , in ansvyer to it , and in vindication of the genera ! interpretation , observes , that it was the universal opinion of antiquity that the Nile had its S ' . uiice in the Indies ; which he confirms , among other testimonies , by the authority of Alexander the Great , who , arriving at the Indus , fancied himself at the source of the Nile ; and boasted of it in ' a letter to his mother Olympias .
In the next p lace , if Viridis be the proper name of an island , how comes it to pass , says M . Pluet , that neither Pliny , Solinus , Mela , nor any author , geographer , or historian , Greek or Latin , ancient ay hioderh , have taken notice of any such island ?