ism.]

[Footnote 53: _Cleonae._--Ver. 417. This was a little town, situate
between Argos and Corinth. It is called 'humilis,' not from its
situation, but from the small number of its inhabitants. Patrae was
a city of Achaia.]

[Footnote 54: _Pittheus._--Ver. 418. He was the uncle of Theseus;
and was (after the time here mentioned) the king of Troezen, in
Peloponnesus.]

[Footnote 55: _Barbarous troops._--Ver. 423. Some suggest that it
is here meant that Attica was invaded by the Amazons at this time;
and they rely on a passage of Justin in support of the position.
The story is, however, very improbable.]

[Footnote 56: _The Graces._--Ver. 429. The Graces, who were the
attendants of Venus, were three in number, Aglaia, Thalia, and
Euphrosyne.]

[Footnote 57: _To be launched._--Ver. 445. The ships were launched
into the sea by means of rollers placed beneath them, from which
circumstance they were said 'deduci,' 'to be led down.']

[Footnote 58: _Shores of the Piraeus._--Ver. 446. The Piraeus was
the arsenal and the harbor of the Athenians, and owed its
magnificence to the vast conceptions of Themistocles.]

[Footnote 59: _The Odrysian king._--Ver. 490. Tereus is thus
called, from the Odrysae, a people of Thrace.]

[Footnote 60: _With difficulty._--Ver. 510. Clarke translates
'vix,' 'with much ado.']

[Footnote 61: _Barbarian design._--Ver. 576. Probably of a
Phrygian design.]

[Footnote 62: _The mournful tale._--Ver. 582. This line is
translated by Clarke, 'And reads the miserable ditty of her
sister.']

EXPLANATION.

The gravest authors among the ancients, such as Strabo and Pausanias,
speaking of this tragical story, agree that the narrative, divested of
its poetical ornaments, is strictly conformable to truth; though, of
course, the sequel bears evident marks of embellishment either by the
fancy of the Poet, or the superstition of the vulgar.

FABLE VI. [VI.587-676]

Progne delivers her sister Philomela from captivity, and brings her to
the court of Tereus, where she revolves in her mind her different
projects of revenge. Her son Itys, in the meantime, comes into her
apartment, and is murdered by his mother and aunt. Progne afterwards
serves him up at a feast, which she prepares for her husband; on
which, being obliged to fly from the fury of the enraged king,