, 190, "Et multum
referens
de Mæcenate supino.
Satires
, 26.
[1246] _Accius_ is here called Brisæus, an epithet of Bacchus, because
he wrote a tragedy on the same subject as the Bacchæ of Euripides.
[1247] _Venosus_ is probably applied to the hard knotted veins that
stand out on the faces and brows of old men. The allusion, therefore,
is to the taste of the Romans of Persius' days, for the rugged,
uncouth, and antiquated writing of their earlier poets. Nearly the
same idea is expressed by the word _verrucosa_, "full of warts, hard,
knotty, horny. " Cicero mentions this play: "Quis Ennii Medeam, et
Pacuvii Antiopam contemnat et rejiciat," de Fin. , i. , 2. The remainder
of the line is a quotation from Pacuvius. The word _ærumna_ was
obsolete when Quintilian wrote.
[1248] _Sartago. _ Juv. , x. , 64. Properly "a frying-pan," then used for
the miscellaneous ingredients put into it; or, as others think, for
the sputtering noise made in frying, to which Persius compared these
"sesquipedalia verba. " Casaubon quotes a fragment of the comic poet
Eubulus, speaking of the same thing, Λοπὰς παφλάζει βαρβάρῳ λαλήματι,
Πηδῶσι δ' ἰχθῦς ἐν μέσοισι τηγάνοις. "The dish splutters, with
barbarous prattle, and the fish leap in the middle of the frying-pan. "
The word is said to be of Syriac origin.
[1249] _Dedecus. _ The disgrace of corrupting the purity and simplicity
of the Latin language, by the mixture of this jargon of obsolete words
and phrases.
[1250] _Trossulus_ was a name applied to the Roman knights, from the
fact of their having taken the town of Trossulum in Etruria without the
assistance of the infantry. It was afterward used as a term of reproach
to effeminate and dissolute persons. The _Subsellia_ are the benches on
which these persons sit to hear the recitations. _Exultat_ expresses
the rapturous applause of the hearers. Hor. , A. P. , 430, "Tundet pede
terram. "
[1251] _Nilne pudet? _ He now attacks those who, even while pleading in
defense of a friend whose life is at stake, would aim at the applause
won by pretty conceits and nicely-balanced sentences. Niebuhr, Lect. ,
vol. iii. , p. 191, _seq. _
[1252] _Decenter_ is a more lukewarm expression of approbation than
euge or belle, pulchre or benè.
[1253] _Pedius_ Blæsus was accused of sacrilege and peculation by the
Cyrenians: he undertook his own defense, and the result was, he was
found guilty and expelled from the senate. Tac. , Ann. , xiv. , 18.
[1254] _Bellum hoc_ is the indignant repetition by Persius of the words
of applause.
[1255] _Ceves. _ "Does the descendant of the vigorous and warlike
Romulus stoop to winning favor by such fawning as this? " _Cevere_ is
said of a dog. Shakspeare, K. Henry VIII. , act v. , sc. 2, "You play the
spaniel, and think with wagging of your tongue to win me. "
[1256] _Pictum. _ Cf. ad Juv. , xiv. , 301, "Mersâ rate naufragus assem
dum rogat et pictâ se tempestate tuetur. "
[1257] _Verum. _ His tale must not smack of previous preparation, but
must bear evidence of being genuine, natural, and spontaneous. So Hor. ,
A. P. , 102, "Si vis me flere dolendum est primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me
infortunia lædent. "
[1258] _Atyn. _ These are probably quotations from Nero, as Dio says
(lxi. , 21), ἐκιθαρώδησεν Ἀττῖνα. The critics are divided as to the
defects in these lines; whether Persius intends to ridicule their
bombastic affectation, or the unartificial and unnecessary introduction
of the Dispondæus, and the rhyming of the terminations, like the
Leonine or monkish verses.
[1259] _Arma virum. _ The first words are put for the whole Æneid. The
critic objects, "Are not Virgil's lines inflated and frothy equally
with those you ridicule. " Persius answers in the objector's metaphor,
"They resemble a noble old tree with well-seasoned bark, not the crude
and sapless pith I have just quoted. "
[1260] _Laxa cervice. _ Alluding to the affected position of the head on
one side, of those who recited these effeminate strains.
[1261] _Mimalloneis. _ The four lines following are said to be Nero's,
taken from a poem called Bacchæ: the subject of which was the same as
the play of Euripides of that name, and many of the ideas evidently
borrowed from it. Its affected and turgid style is very clear from
this fragment. The epithets are all far-fetched, and the images
preposterous. The Bacchantes were called Mimallones from Mimas, a
mountain in Ionia. Bassareus was an epithet of Bacchus, from the
fox's skin in which he was represented: and the feminine form is here
applied to Agave: by the _vitulus_, Pentheus is intended: the Mænad
guides the car of Bacchus, drawn by spotted lynxes, not with reins, but
with clusters of ivy. "Could such verses be tolerated," Persius asks
indignantly, "did one spark of the homely, manly, vigorous spirit of
our sires still thrill in our veins? Verses which show no evidence of
anxious thought and careful labor, but flow as lightly from the lips as
the spittle that drivels from them. "
[1262] _Pluteum. _ Cf. Hor. , ii. , Sat. iii. , 7, "Culpantur frustra
calami, immeritusque laborat Iratis natus paries Diis atque poëtis. "
i. , Sat. x. , 70, "Et in versu faciendo sæpe caput scaberet vivos et
roderet ungues. "
[1263] _Majorum. _ Hor. , ii. , Sat. i. , 60, "O puer ut sis Vitalis metuo,
et majorum ne quis amicus frigore te feriat. "
[1264] _Canina litera. _ All the commentators are agreed that this
is the letter R, because the "burr" of the tongue in pronouncing it
resembles the snarl of a dog (cf. Lucil. , lib. i. , fr. 22, "Irritata
canis quod homo quam planius dicat"), but to _whom_ the growl refers is
a great question. It may be the surly answer of the great man's porter
who has orders not to admit you, or the growl of the dog chained at his
master's gate, who shares his master's antipathy to you; or again it
may be taken, as by Gifford,
"This currish humor you extend too far,
While every word growls with that hateful gnarr.
Lubinus explains it, "Great men are always irritable; and therefore in
their houses this sound is often heard. "
[1265] _Per me. _ "I will take your advice then: but let me know whose
verses I am to spare: just as sacred places have inscriptions warning
us to avoid all defilement of them. "
[1266] _Secuit Lucilius. _ So Juv. , i. , 165, "Ense velut stricto quoties
Lucilius ardens infremuit. "
[1267] _Lupe. _ Lucilius in his first book introduces the gods sitting
in council and deliberating what punishment shall be inflicted on the
perjured and impious Lupus. This Lupus is generally considered to be P.
Rutilius Lupus, consul A. U. C. 664. But Orellius shows that it is more
probably L. Corn. Lentulus Lupus, consul in A. U. C. 597. The fragment is
to be found in Cic. , de Nat. Deor. , i. , 23, 65. Cf. Lucil. , Fr. , lib.
i. , 4. Hor. , ii. , Sat. i. , 68.
[1268] _Muti. _ T. Mucius Albutius, whom Lucilius ridicules for his
affected fondness for Greek customs. Cf. Lucil. , Fr. incert. 3. Juv. ,
Sat. i. , 154, "Quid refert dictis ignoscat Mucius an non? " Cic. , de
Fin. , i. , 3, 8. Varro, de R. R. , iii. , 2, 17.
[1269] _Genuinum. _ Hor. , ii. , Sat. i. , 77, "Et fragili quærens illidere
dentem, offendet solido? " "dens genuinus, qui a genis dependet: sic non
leo morsu illos pupugit. " Cas. , Juv. v. , 69, "Quæ genuinum agitent non
admittentia morsum. "
[1270] _Suspendere. _ Cf. ad i. , 40.
[1271] _Excusso_ may be also explained "without a wrinkle," or,
as D'Achaintre takes it, of the shaking of the head of a person,
ridiculing as he reads.
[1272] _Cum Scrobe. _ Alluding to the well-known story of the barber who
discovered the ass's ears of King Midas, which he had given him for
his bad taste in passing judgment on Apollo's skill in music; and who,
not daring to divulge the secret to any living soul, dug a hole in the
ground and whispered it, and then closed the aperture. But the wind
that shook the reeds made them murmur forth his secret. Cf. Ov. , Met. ,
xi. , 180-193.
[1273] _Auriculas. _ Persius is said to have written at first "Mida rex
habet," but was persuaded by Cornutus to change the line, as bearing
too evident an allusion to Nero.
[1274] _Iliade_, such as that of Accius, mentioned above.
[1275] _Afflate. _ Persius now describes the class of persons he would
wish to have for his readers. Men thoroughly imbued with the bold
spirit of the old comedians, Cratinus, Eupolis, and Aristophanes: not
those who have sufficient βαναυσία and bad taste to think that true
Satire would condescend to ridicule either national peculiarities, or
bodily defects; which should excite our pity rather than our scorn.
[1276] _Decoctius. _ A metaphor from the boiling down of fruits, wine,
or other liquids, and increasing the strength by diminishing the
quantity. As Virgil is said to have written fifty lines or more in the
morning, and to have cut them down by the evening to ten or twelve.
[1277] _Supinus_ implies either "indolence," "effeminacy," or "pride. "
Probably the last is intended here, as Casaubon says, "proud men walk
so erectly that they see the sky as well as if they lay on their
backs. " Quintilian couples together "otiosi et supini," x. , 2. Cf.
Juv. , i.
, 190, "Et multum referens de Mæcenate supino. " Mart. , ii. , Ep.
6, "Deliciæ supiniores. " Mart. , v. , Ep. 8, also uses it in the sense
of _proud_. "Hæc et talia cum refert supinus. " It also bears, together
with its cognate substantive, the sense of "stupidity. "
[1278] _Ædilis. _ Juv. , x. , 101, "Et de mensurâ jus dicere, vasa minora
Frangere pannosus vacuis Ædilis Ulubris. "
[1279] _Arreti_, a town of Etruria, now "Arezzo. " Cf. Mart. , xiv. , Ep.
98.
[1280] _Heminas_, from ἥμισο. Half the Sextarius, called also Cotyla.
[1281] _Abaco. _ The frame with movable counters or balls for the
purpose of calculation. _Pulvere_ is the sand-board used in the schools
of the geometers for drawing diagrams.
[1282] _Nonaria. _ Women of loose character were not permitted to show
themselves in the streets till after the ninth hour. Such at least is
the interpretation of the old Scholiast, adopted by Casaubon. The word
does not occur elsewhere.
[1283] _Vellet. _ Hor. , i. , Sat. iii. , 133, "Vellunt tibi barbam Lascivi
pueri. " Dio Chrys. , Or. lxxii. , p. 382, φιλόσοφον ἀχίτωνα ἐρεθίζουσι
καὶ ἤτοι κατεγέλασαν ἢ ἐλοιδόρησαν ἢ ἐνίοτε ἕλκουσιν ἐπιλαβόμενοι.
[1284] _Cynico. _ There is probably an allusion to the story of Lais and
Diogenes, Athen. , lib. xiii.
[1285] _Do. _ So Hor. , i. , Epist. xix. , 8, "Forum putealque Libonis
mandabo siccis. "
[1286] _Edictum_, i. e. , Ludorum, or muneris gladiatorii; the programme
affixed to the walls of the forum, announcing the shows that were to
come. The reading of these would form a favorite amusement of idlers
and loungers. Callirhoe is probably some well-known nonaria of the
day. Persius advises hearers of this class to spend their mornings in
reading the prætor's edicts, and their evenings in sensual pleasures,
as the only occupations they were fit for. Marcilius says that it
refers to an edict of Nero's, who ordered the people to attend on
a certain day to hear him recite his poem of Callirhoe, which, as
D'Achaintre says, would be an admirable interpretation, were not the
whole story of the edict a mere fiction.
SATIRE II.
ARGUMENT.
This Satire, as well as the tenth Satire of Juvenal, is based upon
the Second Alcibiades of Plato, which it closely resembles in
arrangement as well as sentiment.
The object is the same in all three; to set before as the real
opinion which all good and worthy men entertained, even in the
days of Pagan blindness, of the manner and spirit in which the
deity is to be approached by prayer and sacrifice, and holds up
to reprobation and ridicule the groveling and low-minded notions
which the vulgar herd, besotted by ignorance and blinded by
self-interest, hold on the subject. While we admire the logical
subtlety with which Plato leads us to a necessary acknowledgment
of the justice of his view, and the thoroughly practical
philosophy by which Juvenal would divert men from indulging in
prayers dictated by mere self-interest, we must allow Persius
the high praise of having compressed the whole subject with a
masterly hand into a few vivid and comprehensive sentences.
The Satire consists of three parts. The first is merely an
introduction to the subject. Taking advantage of the custom
prevalent among the Romans of offering prayers and victims,
and receiving presents and congratulatory addresses from their
friends, on their birthday, Persius sends a poetical present to
his friend Plotius Macrinus, with some hints on the true nature
of prayer. He at the same time compliments him on his superiority
to the mass of mankind, and especially to those of his own rank,
in the view he took of the subject.
In the second part he exposes the vulgar errors and prejudices
respecting prayer and sacrifice, and shows that prayers usually
offered are wrong, 1st, as to their _matter_, and 2dly, as to
their _manner_: that they originate in low and sordid views of
self-interest and avarice, in ignorant superstition, or the
cravings of an inordinate vanity. At the same time he holds
up to scorn the folly of those who offer up costly prayers,
the fulfillment of which they themselves render impossible, by
indulging in vicious and depraved habits, utterly incompatible
with the requests they prefer. Lastly, he explains the origin of
these sordid and worse than useless prayers. They arise from the
impious and mistaken notions formed by men who, vainly imagining
that the Deity is even such a one as themselves, endeavor to
propitiate his favor in the same groveling spirit, and with the
same unworthy offerings with which they would bribe the goodwill
of one weak and depraved as themselves; as though, in Plato's
words, an ἐμπορικὴ τέχνη had been established between themselves
and heaven. The whole concludes with a sublime passage,
describing in language almost approaching the dignity of inspired
wisdom, the state of heart and moral feeling necessary to insure
a favorable answer to prayers preferred at the throne of heaven.
"Mark this day, Macrinus,[1287] with a whiter stone,[1288] which, with
auspicious omen, augments[1289] thy fleeting years. [1290] Pour out
the wine to thy Genius! [1291] Thou at least dost not with mercenary
prayer ask for what thou couldst not intrust to the gods unless taken
aside. But a great proportion of our nobles will make libations
with a silent censer. It is not easy for every one to remove from
the temples his murmur and low whispers, and live with undisguised
prayers. [1292] A sound mind,[1293] a good name, integrity"--for
these he prays aloud, and so that his neighbor may hear. But in his
inmost breast, and beneath his breath, he murmurs thus, "Oh that my
uncle would evaporate! [1294] what a splendid funeral! and oh that by
Hercules'[1295] good favor a jar[1296] of silver would ring beneath
my rake! or, would that I could wipe out[1297] my ward, whose heels
I tread on as next heir! For he is scrofulous, and swollen with
acrid bile. This is the third wife that Nerius is now taking[1298]
home! "--That you may pray for these things with due holiness, you
plunge your head twice or thrice of a morning[1299] in Tiber's
eddies,[1300] and purge away the defilements of night in the running
stream.
Come now! answer me! It is but a little trifle that I wish to know!
What think you of Jupiter? [1301] Would you care to prefer him to some
man! To whom? Well, say to Staius. [1302] Are you at a loss indeed?
Which were the better judge, or better suited to the charge of orphan
children! Come then, say to Staius that wherewith you would attempt to
influence the ear of Jupiter. "O Jupiter! "[1303] he would exclaim, "O
good Jupiter! " But would not Jove himself call out, "O Jove! "
Thinkest thou he has forgiven thee,[1304] because, when he thunders,
the holm-oak[1305] is rather riven with his sacred bolt than thou
and all thy house? [1306] Or because thou dost not, at the bidding of
the entrails of the sheep,[1307] and Ergenna, lie in the sacred grove
a dread bidental to be shunned of all, that therefore he gives thee
his insensate beard to pluck? [1308] Or what is the bribe by which
thou wouldst win over the ears of the gods? With lungs, and greasy
chitterlings? See[1309] some grandam or superstitious[1310] aunt
takes the infant from his cradle, and skilled in warding off the evil
eye,[1311] effascinates his brow and driveling lips with middle[1312]
finger and with lustral spittle, first. Then dandles[1313] him in her
arms, and with suppliant prayer transports him either to the broad
lands of Licinus[1314] or the palaces of Crassus. [1315] "Him may some
king and queen covet as a son-in-law! May maidens long to ravish him!
Whatever he treads on may it turn to roses! " But I do not trust prayers
to a nurse. [1316] Refuse her these requests, great Jove, even though
she make them clothed in white! [1317]
You ask vigor for your sinews,[1318] and a frame that will insure old
age. Well, so be it. But rich dishes and fat sausages prevent the gods
from assenting to these prayers, and baffle Jove himself.
You are eager to amass a fortune, by sacrificing a bull; and court
Mercury's favor by his entrails. "Grant that my household gods may make
me lucky! Grant me cattle, and increase to my flocks! " How can that be,
poor wretch, while so many cauls of thy heifers melt in the flames?
Yet still he strives to gain his point by means of entrails and rich
cakes. [1319] "Now my land, and now my sheepfold teems. Now, surely
now, it will be granted! " Until, baffled and hopeless, his sestertius
at the very bottom of his money-chest sighs in vain.
Were I to offer you[1320] goblets of silver and presents embossed with
rich gold,[1321] you would perspire with delight, and your heart,
palpitating with joy in your left breast,[1322] would force even the
tear-drops from your eyes. And hence it is the idea enters[1323]
your mind of covering the sacred faces of the gods with triumphal
gold. [1324] For among the Brazen brothers,[1325] let those be chief,
and let their beards be of gold, who send dreams purged from gross
humors. Gold hath expelled the vases of Numa[1326] and Saturnian[1327]
brass, and the vestal urns and the pottery of Tuscany.
Oh! souls bowed down to earth! and void of aught celestial! Of what
avail is it to introduce into the temples of the gods these our modes
of feeling, and estimate what is acceptable to them by referring to our
own accursed flesh. [1328] This it is that has dissolved Cassia[1329]
in the oil it pollutes. This has dyed the fleece of Calabria[1330]
with the vitiated purple. To scrape the pearl from its shell, and from
the crude ore to smelt out the veins of the glowing mass; this carnal
nature bids. She sins in truth. She sins. Still from her vice gains
some emolument.
* * * * *
Say ye, ye priests! of what avail is gold in sacrifice? As much,
forsooth, as the dolls which the maiden bestows on Venus! Why do we not
offer that to the gods which the blear-eyed progeny of great Messala
can not give even from his high-heaped charger. Justice to god and man
enshrined[1331] within the heart; the inner chambers[1332] of the soul
free from pollution; the breast imbued[1333] with generous honor. Give
me these to present at the temples, and I will make my successful
offering[1334] with a little meal. [1335]
FOOTNOTES:
[1287] _Macrine. _ Nothing is known of this friend of Persius, but from
the old Scholiast, who tells us that his name was Plotius Macrinus;
that he was a man of great learning, and of a fatherly regard for
Persius, and that he had studied in the house of Servilius. Britannicus
calls him Minutius Macrinus, and says he was of equestrian rank, and a
native of Brixia, now "Brescia. "
[1288] _Meliore lapillo. _ The Thracians were said to put a _white_
stone into a box to mark every happy day they spent, and a _black_
stone for every unhappy day, and to reckon up at the end of their
lives how many happy days they had passed. Plin. , H. N. , vii. , 40.
So Mart. , ix. , Ep. 53, "Natales, Ovidi, tuos Apriles Ut nostras amo
Martias Kalendas; Felix utraque lux diesque nobis Signandi melioribus
lapillis. " Hor. , i. , Od. xxxvi. , 10, "Cressâ ne careat pulchra dies
notâ. " Plin. , Ep. vi. , 11, "O Diem lætum notandum mihi candidissimo
calculo. " Cat. , lxviii. , 148, "Quem lapide illa diem candidiore notet. "
[1289] _Apponit. _ A technical word in calculating; as in Greek,
τιθέναι, and προστιθέναι. So "Appone lucro. " Hor. , i. , Od. ix. , 14.
[1290] _Annos. _ For the respect paid by the Romans to their birthdays,
see Juv. , xi. , 83; xii. , 1; Pers. , vi. , 19; and Censorinus, de Die
Natali, pass.
[1291] _Genio. _ Genius, "a genendo. " The deity who presides over each
man from his birth, as some held, being coeval with the man himself.
The birthday was sacred to him; the offerings consisted of wine,
flowers, and incense. "Manum a sanguine abstinebant: ne die quâ ipsi
lucem accepissent, aliis demerent. " Censor, a Varrone. Cf. Serv. ad
Virg. , Geor. , i. , 302. Hor. , ii. , Ep. ii. , 187, "Scit Genius natale
comes qui temperat astrum, naturæ deus humanæ, mortalis in unumquodque
caput;" and ii. , Ep. i. , 143, "Sylvanum lacte piabant, Floribus et vino
Genium memorem brevis ævi.
[1246] _Accius_ is here called Brisæus, an epithet of Bacchus, because
he wrote a tragedy on the same subject as the Bacchæ of Euripides.
[1247] _Venosus_ is probably applied to the hard knotted veins that
stand out on the faces and brows of old men. The allusion, therefore,
is to the taste of the Romans of Persius' days, for the rugged,
uncouth, and antiquated writing of their earlier poets. Nearly the
same idea is expressed by the word _verrucosa_, "full of warts, hard,
knotty, horny. " Cicero mentions this play: "Quis Ennii Medeam, et
Pacuvii Antiopam contemnat et rejiciat," de Fin. , i. , 2. The remainder
of the line is a quotation from Pacuvius. The word _ærumna_ was
obsolete when Quintilian wrote.
[1248] _Sartago. _ Juv. , x. , 64. Properly "a frying-pan," then used for
the miscellaneous ingredients put into it; or, as others think, for
the sputtering noise made in frying, to which Persius compared these
"sesquipedalia verba. " Casaubon quotes a fragment of the comic poet
Eubulus, speaking of the same thing, Λοπὰς παφλάζει βαρβάρῳ λαλήματι,
Πηδῶσι δ' ἰχθῦς ἐν μέσοισι τηγάνοις. "The dish splutters, with
barbarous prattle, and the fish leap in the middle of the frying-pan. "
The word is said to be of Syriac origin.
[1249] _Dedecus. _ The disgrace of corrupting the purity and simplicity
of the Latin language, by the mixture of this jargon of obsolete words
and phrases.
[1250] _Trossulus_ was a name applied to the Roman knights, from the
fact of their having taken the town of Trossulum in Etruria without the
assistance of the infantry. It was afterward used as a term of reproach
to effeminate and dissolute persons. The _Subsellia_ are the benches on
which these persons sit to hear the recitations. _Exultat_ expresses
the rapturous applause of the hearers. Hor. , A. P. , 430, "Tundet pede
terram. "
[1251] _Nilne pudet? _ He now attacks those who, even while pleading in
defense of a friend whose life is at stake, would aim at the applause
won by pretty conceits and nicely-balanced sentences. Niebuhr, Lect. ,
vol. iii. , p. 191, _seq. _
[1252] _Decenter_ is a more lukewarm expression of approbation than
euge or belle, pulchre or benè.
[1253] _Pedius_ Blæsus was accused of sacrilege and peculation by the
Cyrenians: he undertook his own defense, and the result was, he was
found guilty and expelled from the senate. Tac. , Ann. , xiv. , 18.
[1254] _Bellum hoc_ is the indignant repetition by Persius of the words
of applause.
[1255] _Ceves. _ "Does the descendant of the vigorous and warlike
Romulus stoop to winning favor by such fawning as this? " _Cevere_ is
said of a dog. Shakspeare, K. Henry VIII. , act v. , sc. 2, "You play the
spaniel, and think with wagging of your tongue to win me. "
[1256] _Pictum. _ Cf. ad Juv. , xiv. , 301, "Mersâ rate naufragus assem
dum rogat et pictâ se tempestate tuetur. "
[1257] _Verum. _ His tale must not smack of previous preparation, but
must bear evidence of being genuine, natural, and spontaneous. So Hor. ,
A. P. , 102, "Si vis me flere dolendum est primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me
infortunia lædent. "
[1258] _Atyn. _ These are probably quotations from Nero, as Dio says
(lxi. , 21), ἐκιθαρώδησεν Ἀττῖνα. The critics are divided as to the
defects in these lines; whether Persius intends to ridicule their
bombastic affectation, or the unartificial and unnecessary introduction
of the Dispondæus, and the rhyming of the terminations, like the
Leonine or monkish verses.
[1259] _Arma virum. _ The first words are put for the whole Æneid. The
critic objects, "Are not Virgil's lines inflated and frothy equally
with those you ridicule. " Persius answers in the objector's metaphor,
"They resemble a noble old tree with well-seasoned bark, not the crude
and sapless pith I have just quoted. "
[1260] _Laxa cervice. _ Alluding to the affected position of the head on
one side, of those who recited these effeminate strains.
[1261] _Mimalloneis. _ The four lines following are said to be Nero's,
taken from a poem called Bacchæ: the subject of which was the same as
the play of Euripides of that name, and many of the ideas evidently
borrowed from it. Its affected and turgid style is very clear from
this fragment. The epithets are all far-fetched, and the images
preposterous. The Bacchantes were called Mimallones from Mimas, a
mountain in Ionia. Bassareus was an epithet of Bacchus, from the
fox's skin in which he was represented: and the feminine form is here
applied to Agave: by the _vitulus_, Pentheus is intended: the Mænad
guides the car of Bacchus, drawn by spotted lynxes, not with reins, but
with clusters of ivy. "Could such verses be tolerated," Persius asks
indignantly, "did one spark of the homely, manly, vigorous spirit of
our sires still thrill in our veins? Verses which show no evidence of
anxious thought and careful labor, but flow as lightly from the lips as
the spittle that drivels from them. "
[1262] _Pluteum. _ Cf. Hor. , ii. , Sat. iii. , 7, "Culpantur frustra
calami, immeritusque laborat Iratis natus paries Diis atque poëtis. "
i. , Sat. x. , 70, "Et in versu faciendo sæpe caput scaberet vivos et
roderet ungues. "
[1263] _Majorum. _ Hor. , ii. , Sat. i. , 60, "O puer ut sis Vitalis metuo,
et majorum ne quis amicus frigore te feriat. "
[1264] _Canina litera. _ All the commentators are agreed that this
is the letter R, because the "burr" of the tongue in pronouncing it
resembles the snarl of a dog (cf. Lucil. , lib. i. , fr. 22, "Irritata
canis quod homo quam planius dicat"), but to _whom_ the growl refers is
a great question. It may be the surly answer of the great man's porter
who has orders not to admit you, or the growl of the dog chained at his
master's gate, who shares his master's antipathy to you; or again it
may be taken, as by Gifford,
"This currish humor you extend too far,
While every word growls with that hateful gnarr.
Lubinus explains it, "Great men are always irritable; and therefore in
their houses this sound is often heard. "
[1265] _Per me. _ "I will take your advice then: but let me know whose
verses I am to spare: just as sacred places have inscriptions warning
us to avoid all defilement of them. "
[1266] _Secuit Lucilius. _ So Juv. , i. , 165, "Ense velut stricto quoties
Lucilius ardens infremuit. "
[1267] _Lupe. _ Lucilius in his first book introduces the gods sitting
in council and deliberating what punishment shall be inflicted on the
perjured and impious Lupus. This Lupus is generally considered to be P.
Rutilius Lupus, consul A. U. C. 664. But Orellius shows that it is more
probably L. Corn. Lentulus Lupus, consul in A. U. C. 597. The fragment is
to be found in Cic. , de Nat. Deor. , i. , 23, 65. Cf. Lucil. , Fr. , lib.
i. , 4. Hor. , ii. , Sat. i. , 68.
[1268] _Muti. _ T. Mucius Albutius, whom Lucilius ridicules for his
affected fondness for Greek customs. Cf. Lucil. , Fr. incert. 3. Juv. ,
Sat. i. , 154, "Quid refert dictis ignoscat Mucius an non? " Cic. , de
Fin. , i. , 3, 8. Varro, de R. R. , iii. , 2, 17.
[1269] _Genuinum. _ Hor. , ii. , Sat. i. , 77, "Et fragili quærens illidere
dentem, offendet solido? " "dens genuinus, qui a genis dependet: sic non
leo morsu illos pupugit. " Cas. , Juv. v. , 69, "Quæ genuinum agitent non
admittentia morsum. "
[1270] _Suspendere. _ Cf. ad i. , 40.
[1271] _Excusso_ may be also explained "without a wrinkle," or,
as D'Achaintre takes it, of the shaking of the head of a person,
ridiculing as he reads.
[1272] _Cum Scrobe. _ Alluding to the well-known story of the barber who
discovered the ass's ears of King Midas, which he had given him for
his bad taste in passing judgment on Apollo's skill in music; and who,
not daring to divulge the secret to any living soul, dug a hole in the
ground and whispered it, and then closed the aperture. But the wind
that shook the reeds made them murmur forth his secret. Cf. Ov. , Met. ,
xi. , 180-193.
[1273] _Auriculas. _ Persius is said to have written at first "Mida rex
habet," but was persuaded by Cornutus to change the line, as bearing
too evident an allusion to Nero.
[1274] _Iliade_, such as that of Accius, mentioned above.
[1275] _Afflate. _ Persius now describes the class of persons he would
wish to have for his readers. Men thoroughly imbued with the bold
spirit of the old comedians, Cratinus, Eupolis, and Aristophanes: not
those who have sufficient βαναυσία and bad taste to think that true
Satire would condescend to ridicule either national peculiarities, or
bodily defects; which should excite our pity rather than our scorn.
[1276] _Decoctius. _ A metaphor from the boiling down of fruits, wine,
or other liquids, and increasing the strength by diminishing the
quantity. As Virgil is said to have written fifty lines or more in the
morning, and to have cut them down by the evening to ten or twelve.
[1277] _Supinus_ implies either "indolence," "effeminacy," or "pride. "
Probably the last is intended here, as Casaubon says, "proud men walk
so erectly that they see the sky as well as if they lay on their
backs. " Quintilian couples together "otiosi et supini," x. , 2. Cf.
Juv. , i.
, 190, "Et multum referens de Mæcenate supino. " Mart. , ii. , Ep.
6, "Deliciæ supiniores. " Mart. , v. , Ep. 8, also uses it in the sense
of _proud_. "Hæc et talia cum refert supinus. " It also bears, together
with its cognate substantive, the sense of "stupidity. "
[1278] _Ædilis. _ Juv. , x. , 101, "Et de mensurâ jus dicere, vasa minora
Frangere pannosus vacuis Ædilis Ulubris. "
[1279] _Arreti_, a town of Etruria, now "Arezzo. " Cf. Mart. , xiv. , Ep.
98.
[1280] _Heminas_, from ἥμισο. Half the Sextarius, called also Cotyla.
[1281] _Abaco. _ The frame with movable counters or balls for the
purpose of calculation. _Pulvere_ is the sand-board used in the schools
of the geometers for drawing diagrams.
[1282] _Nonaria. _ Women of loose character were not permitted to show
themselves in the streets till after the ninth hour. Such at least is
the interpretation of the old Scholiast, adopted by Casaubon. The word
does not occur elsewhere.
[1283] _Vellet. _ Hor. , i. , Sat. iii. , 133, "Vellunt tibi barbam Lascivi
pueri. " Dio Chrys. , Or. lxxii. , p. 382, φιλόσοφον ἀχίτωνα ἐρεθίζουσι
καὶ ἤτοι κατεγέλασαν ἢ ἐλοιδόρησαν ἢ ἐνίοτε ἕλκουσιν ἐπιλαβόμενοι.
[1284] _Cynico. _ There is probably an allusion to the story of Lais and
Diogenes, Athen. , lib. xiii.
[1285] _Do. _ So Hor. , i. , Epist. xix. , 8, "Forum putealque Libonis
mandabo siccis. "
[1286] _Edictum_, i. e. , Ludorum, or muneris gladiatorii; the programme
affixed to the walls of the forum, announcing the shows that were to
come. The reading of these would form a favorite amusement of idlers
and loungers. Callirhoe is probably some well-known nonaria of the
day. Persius advises hearers of this class to spend their mornings in
reading the prætor's edicts, and their evenings in sensual pleasures,
as the only occupations they were fit for. Marcilius says that it
refers to an edict of Nero's, who ordered the people to attend on
a certain day to hear him recite his poem of Callirhoe, which, as
D'Achaintre says, would be an admirable interpretation, were not the
whole story of the edict a mere fiction.
SATIRE II.
ARGUMENT.
This Satire, as well as the tenth Satire of Juvenal, is based upon
the Second Alcibiades of Plato, which it closely resembles in
arrangement as well as sentiment.
The object is the same in all three; to set before as the real
opinion which all good and worthy men entertained, even in the
days of Pagan blindness, of the manner and spirit in which the
deity is to be approached by prayer and sacrifice, and holds up
to reprobation and ridicule the groveling and low-minded notions
which the vulgar herd, besotted by ignorance and blinded by
self-interest, hold on the subject. While we admire the logical
subtlety with which Plato leads us to a necessary acknowledgment
of the justice of his view, and the thoroughly practical
philosophy by which Juvenal would divert men from indulging in
prayers dictated by mere self-interest, we must allow Persius
the high praise of having compressed the whole subject with a
masterly hand into a few vivid and comprehensive sentences.
The Satire consists of three parts. The first is merely an
introduction to the subject. Taking advantage of the custom
prevalent among the Romans of offering prayers and victims,
and receiving presents and congratulatory addresses from their
friends, on their birthday, Persius sends a poetical present to
his friend Plotius Macrinus, with some hints on the true nature
of prayer. He at the same time compliments him on his superiority
to the mass of mankind, and especially to those of his own rank,
in the view he took of the subject.
In the second part he exposes the vulgar errors and prejudices
respecting prayer and sacrifice, and shows that prayers usually
offered are wrong, 1st, as to their _matter_, and 2dly, as to
their _manner_: that they originate in low and sordid views of
self-interest and avarice, in ignorant superstition, or the
cravings of an inordinate vanity. At the same time he holds
up to scorn the folly of those who offer up costly prayers,
the fulfillment of which they themselves render impossible, by
indulging in vicious and depraved habits, utterly incompatible
with the requests they prefer. Lastly, he explains the origin of
these sordid and worse than useless prayers. They arise from the
impious and mistaken notions formed by men who, vainly imagining
that the Deity is even such a one as themselves, endeavor to
propitiate his favor in the same groveling spirit, and with the
same unworthy offerings with which they would bribe the goodwill
of one weak and depraved as themselves; as though, in Plato's
words, an ἐμπορικὴ τέχνη had been established between themselves
and heaven. The whole concludes with a sublime passage,
describing in language almost approaching the dignity of inspired
wisdom, the state of heart and moral feeling necessary to insure
a favorable answer to prayers preferred at the throne of heaven.
"Mark this day, Macrinus,[1287] with a whiter stone,[1288] which, with
auspicious omen, augments[1289] thy fleeting years. [1290] Pour out
the wine to thy Genius! [1291] Thou at least dost not with mercenary
prayer ask for what thou couldst not intrust to the gods unless taken
aside. But a great proportion of our nobles will make libations
with a silent censer. It is not easy for every one to remove from
the temples his murmur and low whispers, and live with undisguised
prayers. [1292] A sound mind,[1293] a good name, integrity"--for
these he prays aloud, and so that his neighbor may hear. But in his
inmost breast, and beneath his breath, he murmurs thus, "Oh that my
uncle would evaporate! [1294] what a splendid funeral! and oh that by
Hercules'[1295] good favor a jar[1296] of silver would ring beneath
my rake! or, would that I could wipe out[1297] my ward, whose heels
I tread on as next heir! For he is scrofulous, and swollen with
acrid bile. This is the third wife that Nerius is now taking[1298]
home! "--That you may pray for these things with due holiness, you
plunge your head twice or thrice of a morning[1299] in Tiber's
eddies,[1300] and purge away the defilements of night in the running
stream.
Come now! answer me! It is but a little trifle that I wish to know!
What think you of Jupiter? [1301] Would you care to prefer him to some
man! To whom? Well, say to Staius. [1302] Are you at a loss indeed?
Which were the better judge, or better suited to the charge of orphan
children! Come then, say to Staius that wherewith you would attempt to
influence the ear of Jupiter. "O Jupiter! "[1303] he would exclaim, "O
good Jupiter! " But would not Jove himself call out, "O Jove! "
Thinkest thou he has forgiven thee,[1304] because, when he thunders,
the holm-oak[1305] is rather riven with his sacred bolt than thou
and all thy house? [1306] Or because thou dost not, at the bidding of
the entrails of the sheep,[1307] and Ergenna, lie in the sacred grove
a dread bidental to be shunned of all, that therefore he gives thee
his insensate beard to pluck? [1308] Or what is the bribe by which
thou wouldst win over the ears of the gods? With lungs, and greasy
chitterlings? See[1309] some grandam or superstitious[1310] aunt
takes the infant from his cradle, and skilled in warding off the evil
eye,[1311] effascinates his brow and driveling lips with middle[1312]
finger and with lustral spittle, first. Then dandles[1313] him in her
arms, and with suppliant prayer transports him either to the broad
lands of Licinus[1314] or the palaces of Crassus. [1315] "Him may some
king and queen covet as a son-in-law! May maidens long to ravish him!
Whatever he treads on may it turn to roses! " But I do not trust prayers
to a nurse. [1316] Refuse her these requests, great Jove, even though
she make them clothed in white! [1317]
You ask vigor for your sinews,[1318] and a frame that will insure old
age. Well, so be it. But rich dishes and fat sausages prevent the gods
from assenting to these prayers, and baffle Jove himself.
You are eager to amass a fortune, by sacrificing a bull; and court
Mercury's favor by his entrails. "Grant that my household gods may make
me lucky! Grant me cattle, and increase to my flocks! " How can that be,
poor wretch, while so many cauls of thy heifers melt in the flames?
Yet still he strives to gain his point by means of entrails and rich
cakes. [1319] "Now my land, and now my sheepfold teems. Now, surely
now, it will be granted! " Until, baffled and hopeless, his sestertius
at the very bottom of his money-chest sighs in vain.
Were I to offer you[1320] goblets of silver and presents embossed with
rich gold,[1321] you would perspire with delight, and your heart,
palpitating with joy in your left breast,[1322] would force even the
tear-drops from your eyes. And hence it is the idea enters[1323]
your mind of covering the sacred faces of the gods with triumphal
gold. [1324] For among the Brazen brothers,[1325] let those be chief,
and let their beards be of gold, who send dreams purged from gross
humors. Gold hath expelled the vases of Numa[1326] and Saturnian[1327]
brass, and the vestal urns and the pottery of Tuscany.
Oh! souls bowed down to earth! and void of aught celestial! Of what
avail is it to introduce into the temples of the gods these our modes
of feeling, and estimate what is acceptable to them by referring to our
own accursed flesh. [1328] This it is that has dissolved Cassia[1329]
in the oil it pollutes. This has dyed the fleece of Calabria[1330]
with the vitiated purple. To scrape the pearl from its shell, and from
the crude ore to smelt out the veins of the glowing mass; this carnal
nature bids. She sins in truth. She sins. Still from her vice gains
some emolument.
* * * * *
Say ye, ye priests! of what avail is gold in sacrifice? As much,
forsooth, as the dolls which the maiden bestows on Venus! Why do we not
offer that to the gods which the blear-eyed progeny of great Messala
can not give even from his high-heaped charger. Justice to god and man
enshrined[1331] within the heart; the inner chambers[1332] of the soul
free from pollution; the breast imbued[1333] with generous honor. Give
me these to present at the temples, and I will make my successful
offering[1334] with a little meal. [1335]
FOOTNOTES:
[1287] _Macrine. _ Nothing is known of this friend of Persius, but from
the old Scholiast, who tells us that his name was Plotius Macrinus;
that he was a man of great learning, and of a fatherly regard for
Persius, and that he had studied in the house of Servilius. Britannicus
calls him Minutius Macrinus, and says he was of equestrian rank, and a
native of Brixia, now "Brescia. "
[1288] _Meliore lapillo. _ The Thracians were said to put a _white_
stone into a box to mark every happy day they spent, and a _black_
stone for every unhappy day, and to reckon up at the end of their
lives how many happy days they had passed. Plin. , H. N. , vii. , 40.
So Mart. , ix. , Ep. 53, "Natales, Ovidi, tuos Apriles Ut nostras amo
Martias Kalendas; Felix utraque lux diesque nobis Signandi melioribus
lapillis. " Hor. , i. , Od. xxxvi. , 10, "Cressâ ne careat pulchra dies
notâ. " Plin. , Ep. vi. , 11, "O Diem lætum notandum mihi candidissimo
calculo. " Cat. , lxviii. , 148, "Quem lapide illa diem candidiore notet. "
[1289] _Apponit. _ A technical word in calculating; as in Greek,
τιθέναι, and προστιθέναι. So "Appone lucro. " Hor. , i. , Od. ix. , 14.
[1290] _Annos. _ For the respect paid by the Romans to their birthdays,
see Juv. , xi. , 83; xii. , 1; Pers. , vi. , 19; and Censorinus, de Die
Natali, pass.
[1291] _Genio. _ Genius, "a genendo. " The deity who presides over each
man from his birth, as some held, being coeval with the man himself.
The birthday was sacred to him; the offerings consisted of wine,
flowers, and incense. "Manum a sanguine abstinebant: ne die quâ ipsi
lucem accepissent, aliis demerent. " Censor, a Varrone. Cf. Serv. ad
Virg. , Geor. , i. , 302. Hor. , ii. , Ep. ii. , 187, "Scit Genius natale
comes qui temperat astrum, naturæ deus humanæ, mortalis in unumquodque
caput;" and ii. , Ep. i. , 143, "Sylvanum lacte piabant, Floribus et vino
Genium memorem brevis ævi.
