descendant of Amycla, as being his great grandson, and the son
of Oebalus. Again, in the 217th line of this Book, the Poet says
that he was born at Sparta; but, in the fifth Book of the Fasti,
line 223, he mentions Therapnae, a town of Laconia, as having been
his birthplace. Perizonius thinks that Ovid has here inadvertently
confounded the different versions of the story of Hyacinthus.]

[Footnote 27: _In the middle._--Ver. 168. Delphi, situated on a
ridge of Parnassus, was styled the navel of the world, as it was
supposed to be situate in the middle of the earth. The story was,
that Jupiter, having let go two eagles, or pigeons, at the
opposite extremities of the earth, with the view of ascertaining
the central spot of it, they met in their flight at this place.]

[Footnote 28: _Unfortified Sparta._--Ver. 169. Sparta was not
fortified, because Lycurgus considered that it ought to trust for
its defence to nothing but the valour and patriotism of its
citizens.]

[Footnote 29: _The broad quoit._--Ver. 177. The 'discus,' or
quoit, of the ancients, was made of brass, iron, stone, or wood,
and was about ten or twelve inches in diameter. Sometimes, a heavy
mass of iron, of spherical form, was thrown instead of the
'discus.' It was perforated in the middle, and a rope or thong
being passed through, was used in throwing it.]

[Footnote 30: _The Taenarian youth._--Ver. 183. Hyacinthus is so
called, not as having been born there, but because Taenarus was a
famous headland or promontory of Laconia, his native country.]

[Footnote 31: _Thou shalt imitate._--Ver. 206. The blood of
Hyacinthus, changing into a flower, according to the ideas of the
poets, the words +Ai, Ai+, expressive, in the Greek language, of
lamentation, were said to be impressed on its leaves.]

[Footnote 32: _Most valiant hero._--Ver. 207. He alludes to Ajax,
the son of Telamon, from whose blood, when he slew himself,
a similar flower was said to have arisen, with the letters +Ai,
Ai+, on its leaves, expressive either of grief, or denoting the
first two letters of his name, +Aias+. See Book xiii. line 397.
The hyacinth was the emblem of death, among the ancient Greeks.]

[Footnote 33: _Mournful characters._--Ver. 216. The letters are
called 'funesta,' because the words +ai, ai+ were the expressions
of lamentati