1 first
face opening appearance; for Inigo Jones’s scene of rocks see
Illustration 46. The
account in the Trumbull MS (HMC
Downshire, 3, 1–2;
Masque Archive,
Oberon, 4), says that spectators first
saw a curtain ‘painted with the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and
Ireland, with the legend above
Separata locis concordi pace
figantur’ (‘May what is separated in place be joined by
harmonious peace’). See Bishop,
1998, 105 for discussion of the
motto’s significance and the suggestion that it is adapted from Ovid,
Met., 1.25. The curtain was drawn (or dropped)
after the entry of King James and Queen Anne to reveal the masque scene
described here.
1 obscure dark, indistinct.
1–2 dark . . . wildness Peacock (
1993), 206, notes that the setting
follows Vitruvius’s prescription for a satyr play, that it should
contain ‘trees, caves, mountains, and other rural features’. Vitruvius
is quoted in Isaac Casaubon’s
De satyricis (1605),
142.
3 the
moon . . . show The moon was probably illuminated by lights
gradually revealed by the opening of shutters. In the Trumbull MS the
moon appeared ‘through an aperture, so that its progress could be
observed throughout the night’, suggesting that it was gradually moved
across the back of the set.
3 and
rising The moon, not the satyr.
3 satyr In the early classical period they were represented as
half-animal (horse or goat), half-human, but by Roman times they had
become more human, with only a tail remaining. They were associated with
lechery and drunkenness (cf. the prodigious sexuality of the satyrs in
Spenser,
The Faerie Queene, 3.10.44–8) for Jones’s
costume design, see
Illustration 50.
5 first satyr] F1 (satyre. 1)
and thus with all the Satyrs’ speeches throughout
5 Chromis, Mnasyl1]
this edn; F1 has superscript ‘a’
before Chromis, ‘b’
before Mnasyl, but a
single marginalium. F1 uses letters to indicate
marginalia, and occasionally asterisks; this edition uses continuous
numbering. Marginalia generally appear in the right margins on
odd-numbered pages of F1, and in the left on
even-numbered pages, and occasionally continue with full-page-width
material between lines of text.
5 Chromis,
Mnasyl Two young satyrs in Virgil’s Eclogues. Footnote numbers refer to Jonson’s marginal notes,
printed, with commentary, below, pp. 739–43.
JONSON'S MARGINALIA 1. They are the names of two young satyrs I
find in
Virgil, Ecloga, 6.
[13–15
], that took Silenus sleeping; who is feigned to be
the pedagogue
of Bacchus, as the satyrs are his
collusores, or
playfellows. So doth Diodorus Siculus, Synesius, Julianus
in
Caesaribus report them.
1 ]
this edn; a b F1 and so
throughout
MARGINALIA As is customary in Jonson’s practice, the
citations in the marginalia are frequently derived from intermediate
authorities. In addition to Giraldi’s De deis gentium,
and Conti’s Mythologiae, his frequently used standbys,
he also consulted, as the Introduction indicates, Isaac Casaubon’s De satyrica Græcorum poesi, et Romanorum satira libri
duo (Paris, 1605). He mentions this source directly only once
(marginalium 3), but virtually all his citations of further authorities
derive from this work. He had clearly read the book extremely carefully,
for Casaubon characteristically returns to topics several times, and a
number of Jonson’s notes stitch together material from different,
sometimes widely scattered, portions of the text. It is more problematic
to assess the degree to which Jonson consulted Athenaeus’s Deipnosophistai directly. Though later, in 1612, he himself
possessed a copy of this encyclopaedic work, neither the first quotation
in 5 nor that in 14 are taken from it. Only for the second quotation in
5 might Jonson have referred back to the original.
1 They . . .
sleeping For Virgil quotation see below, .
pedagogue
teacher.
Diodorus
Siculus (fl. c. 56–30 bc) His Bibliotheke, a universal history
written about 30 bc, survives only in part.
Reference is to 4.4.3, 4.5.3.
Synesius
of Cyrene (c. ad 370–413).
Christian neoplatonist and bishop of Ptolemais. Reference is to Calvitii Encomium, 68.
Julianus
Julianus Flavius Claudius (‘the Apostate’), Roman emperor ad 361–3.
in
Caesaribus
The Caesars, 308C-D.
Silenus . . .
them This note combines two passage from Casaubon (
1605). On p. 40 he
writes:
Sileni Satyrorum erant epistatae propter grandem
aetatem, Bacchi ipsius paedagogi (‘The Silenes were the
overseers of the satyrs on account of their great age, and were the
teachers of Bacchus himself’). On p. 60 a similar statement is followed
by exactly the list of sources Jonson gives. Jonson almost certainly did
not check any of these references himself, and for this reason, though
citations are supplied below, quotations are not given. (See also
marginal note , below.)
6 who riseth
i.e. the moon.
7 saw . . .
late i.e. were up late drinking with Silenus.
7 Silenus
Both a general term for an older satyr, and, specifically, a single
woodland deity, old, fat, ugly, and drunken, but paradoxically also a
fount of wisdom (see also marginalia, notes
3,
7). He thus has the same double
significance as that attributed to his pupil Dionysus (Bacchus).
2. A
proverbial
speech, when they will tax one the other of drinking, or sleepiness;
alluding to that former place in Virgil:
Chromis et Mnasylus in antro
Silenum, pueri, somno videre iacentem, Inflatum hesterno venas, ut
semper, Iaccho.
2 proverbial
speech H&S say that it is not a classical proverb, and I
have found no parallel.
Chromis . . . Iaccho ‘The lads Chromis and Mnasylus saw
Silenus lying asleep in a cave, his veins swollen, as ever, with the
wine of yesterday’ (Eclogues 6, 13–15; Loeb).
8 prove try,
test.
9 wound blew (OED, Wind v.2 3a).
9 cornett Leather-covered, gently curved wooden instrument with
cup mouthpiece like a trumpet, and finger-holes like a recorder. The
Italianate spelling ‘cornett’ (for
cornetto) is
increasingly being adopted to prevent confusion with the modern brass
instrument, from which it is totally distinct. Satyrs more
conventionally played the pipe (see
Althorp, 4). The
cornett was often used to accompany voices, as well as in instrumental
consorts; it appears in both antimasques and main masques (see Walls,
1996,
154–6).
9 echo Another instrument sounding offstage. Echo effects both
instrumental and vocal are frequent in masques, and Walls, 315, suggests
that this is ‘an indoor variant of the device favoured in garden
pastoral entertainments of having cornetts reporting to each other from
different parts of a park’. (Payments are recorded for two cornettists
in Oberon.)
11 are that
are.
12 hum’rous
(1) damp (OED, Humorous, adj.1);
‘watery moon’ is a frequent poetic locution, (2) capricious, because of
its changeability (OED, 3).
14 his
tankard Silenus’s drinking cup. See
Jonson’s marginal note 3.
3. Silenus is everywhere made a lover of wine, as
in Cyclope Euripides
[139ff.
], and known by that notable ensign, his tankard: out
of the same
place of Virgil:
Et gravis attrita pendebat cantharus ansa.
As also out
of that famous piece of sculpture, in a little gem or piece of jasper, observed by
Monsieur
Casaubon, in his tract
De satyrica poesi, from
Rascasius
Bagarrius; wherein is described the whole manner of the scene and
chori of Bacchus, with Silenus, and the satyrs. An
elegant and curious antiquity, both for the subtlety and labour; where,
in so small a compass (to use his words) there is
rerum,
personarum, actionum plane stupenda varietas.
3 in
cyclope Euripides In the Cyclops, by the
Greek dramatist, Euripides. It is the only surviving satyr play. A Latin
translation is printed as an appendix to Casaubon.
same . . .
Virgil
Eclogues, 6.17.
Et . . . ansa ‘And his heavy tankard was hanging by its
well-worn handle’ (Loeb).
As . . .
varietas Summarized from
Casaubon, 67–8.
piece . . .
sculpture Reproduced in Casaubon, 67, and H&S, 10.526.
3 Casaubon]
G; Causabon F1
Rascasius
Bagarrius The person who showed the sculpture to Casaubon;
described by him as a man ‘most skilled in these things, and a most
fortunate tracker down of them’, and as a lawyer and keeper of
antiquities at the royal palace.
rerum . . . varietas ‘An altogether astonishing variety of
things, persons, and actions.’
16 doubt
suspect.
17 Echo Here
personified; the nymph Echo in one legend was loved by Pan, but herself
loved a satyr who shunned her. The more familiar legend is of Echo’s
unreturned love for the self-absorbed Narcissus, to which Jonson refers
in his marginal note
4
(and cf. the echo song in
Pan’s Ann. 165–86).
18 found
it i.e. the echo sounded again.
19 idle nymph
i.e. Echo.
21 nor . . .
nor neither . . . nor. The satyr neither loves himself, as
Narcissus did on seeing his reflection, nor Echo.
4. Respecting that known fable of Echo’s following
Narcissus, and his self-love.
4 known
fable Told in Ovid, Met., 3.359–510.
25 mo’
more.
26 severally separately.
27 antic] F1 (antique)
27 antic grotesque, comic.
27 admiring gazing in (silent) wonder.
28 silene Here the general term for an older satyr, rather than
the particular Silenus of 7 above.
28 prefect overseer, commander.
29 chori
rites.
5. In the pomps of
Dionysus, or Bacchus, to every company of
satyrs there was still given a Silene, for their overseer or governor.
And in that which is described by Athenaeus, in his fifth book:
Bini
Sileni non semel commemorantur, qui totidem plurium Satyrorum
gregibus
praesunt. Erant enim eorum epistatae, praesules, et coryphaei,
propter grandem aetatem. He was also
purpureo pallio vestitus, cum albis soleis, et petasatus, aureum
caduceum parvum ferens.
Vide Athenaeus,
Deipnosophistai, 5:
de pompa
Ptolomaeea .
5 This note begins as an exact translation of
Casaubon, 77, and the first sentence of the Latin quotation is taken
directly from him. Though Casaubon mentions Athenaeus he is not quoting
from him, and Jonson seems to have assembled the sentence Erant . . . aetatem by combining the sentence from 40 quoted
above, with the statement on 77: Orpheus totius Bacchici
chori praesulem et coryphaeum facit Silenum.
pomps
magnificent celebrations.
5 Dionysus]
H&S; Dyonysius F1
Dionysus, or
Bacchus The Greek and Latin names, respectively, for the god
of wine.
Athenaeus
fl. c. ad 200. His only
surviving work is the Deipnosophistai, ‘The Learned
Banquet’. Jonson later (1612) possessed a copy of this assemblage of a
wide range of diverse material. He is frequently cited by Casaubon, but
Jonson may himself on occasion have gone back to the source.
Bini . . . aetatem ‘A pair of Silenes is often mentioned, who
are in charge of a like number of groups of Satyrs. They were their
overseers, superintendents and chiefs, on account of their great
age.’
praesunt]
H&S; praesint F1
purpureo . . .
Athenaeus ‘dressed in a purple
cloak, with white shoes, wearing a traveller’s hat, and carrying a small
gold messenger’s staff. See Athenaeus’ [Deipnosophistai, 5.198]. This quotation, not
given in Casaubon, abbreviates Athenaeus, who has one satyr carrying the
staff, the other a trumpet.
Deipnosophistai]
this edn; Deignos F1; Dipnos F2
de . . . Ptolomaeea ‘on the splendour of the Ptolemies’.
Ptolomaeea]
H&S; Ptolomaeiea F1; Ptolomaeeia
F2
32 Cercops
The Cercopes were two huge, ruffianly brothers who robbed passers-by and
killed them. When they attempted to rob the sleeping Hercules he trussed
them up, but finally released them because their jokes amused him. In
the end Zeus turned them into monkeys. Jonson adopts the form ‘Cercops’
for the metre.
6. The nature of the satyrs the wise Horace
expressed well, in the word, when he called them
risores et dicaces, as the Greek poets, Nonnus etc. style
them
φιλοκ∊ρτόμους.
Nec solum dicaces, sed et
proni in venerem, et saltatores assidui et credebantur, et
fingebantur. Unde satyrica saltatio, quae
σίκιννις
dicebatur, et a qua Satyri ipsi
σικιννισταὶ. Vel a Sicino inuentore, vel
ἀπὸ
τῆς κινήσ∊ως, id est, a motu saltationis Satyrorum, qui est
concitatissimus.
6 This note is assembled from passages in Casaubon
(
1605), who
cites both Horace and Nonnus. From the beginning to ‘
saltatio’ is abbreviated from a passage on 91, the remainder
is put together from scattered phrases on 145–6. Jonson in effect
constructs his own sentences, paraphrasing his source.
risores
et dicaces ‘laughers and mockers’, Horace, Ars
Poetica, 225.
Nonnus
(fl. ad 450–70). The reference is to Dionysiaca, 37.415–17, but is taken directly from
Casaubon.
φιλοκ∊ρτόμους ‘fond of jeering’.
6 φιλοκ∊ρτόμους] F2;
φιλοκ∊ρτόμοις F1
Nec . . . concitatissimus ‘They were believed and thought of
not only as mockers, but also as prone to lecherousness, and as
assiduous dancers. Whence “satiric” dancing was called sikinnis, and the satyrs themselves sikinnistai; either from Sicinus, its inventor, or from the
movement, that is, from the jumping movement of the satyrs, which is
very violent.’
σικιννισταὶ]
H&S;
σικιννισται F1
ἀπὸ]
H&S;
από F1
36 Chaster
language! Silenus rebukes the satyrs for their preoccupation
with wooing, and particularly chides the promiscuous ambition of the
Fourth Satyr. Jonson’s marginal note
7 explains Silenus’s difference from
the satyrs.
7. But in the Silenes was nothing of this
petulance and lightness; but on the contrary all gravity, and profound
knowledge of most secret mysteries. Insomuch as the most learned of
poets, Virgil, when he would write a poem of the beginnings and hidden
nature of things, with other great antiquities, attributed the parts of
disputing them to Silenus, rather than any other. Which whosoever thinks
to be easily, or by chance, done by the most prudent writer, will easily
betray his own ignorance or folly. To this see the testimonies of
Plato,
Synesius, Herodotus, Strabo, Philostratus, Tertullian, etc.
7 The bulk of this note, from ‘Insomuch’ onwards,
is translated closely from Casaubon, 61–2. The passage is prefaced by
references to Strabo, Tertullian, and Philostratus, and followed by
references to Herodotus, Plato, and Synesius, all of which Jonson
gathers together. The first sentence reflects the way Casaubon adverts
to the wisdom of the Silenes on a number of occasions, and often uses
the adjective petulantes to characterize the satyrs:
cf. commentary note to line 168 of main text.
Plato
Symposium, 215.A-C. The famous description of the
Silenus-mask of Socrates.
Synesius
Epistolae, 154.
Herodotus
History, 7.26, 8.138. H&S censoriously point out
that these references are inappropriately to Silenus as a type of folly
– but this only confirms that Jonson did not check Casaubon’s
citations.
Strabo
Geography, 10.3.7.
Philostratus
Imagines, 1.20 (where Silenus is also a drinker,
rather than philosopher).
Tertullian
Adversus Hermogenem, 26, De Pallio,
2.
39 orgies
rituals, celebrations (without the negative modern meaning, see
Hym.,
118).
41 Oberon The
king of the fairies, as, most famously, in
MND.
The name derives ultimately from the German Elberich, and comes into
English via Lord Berner’s translation of the medieval French romance,
Huon of Bordeaux (
c. 1534). In
choosing the name, Prince Henry is associating himself specifically with
an Elizabethan and Spenserian iconology, and one connected with the
Arthurian legends also deployed in
Barriers.
43 spake] F1 (speake)
46 but
only.
47 He’s] F1 (H’is)
47 race
kind.
8. Among the ancients the kind, both of the
centaurs and satyrs, is confounded and common with either. As sometimes
the satyrs are said to come of the centaurs, and again the centaurs of
them. Either of them are
διφυ∊ῖς but after a diverse manner. And
Galen
observes out of Hippocrates, Comment 3. in 6.
Epidemicor: that both
the Athenians and Ionians called the Satyrs φῆρας, or φηρέας;
which name the centaurs have with Homer: from whence, it were no unlikely
conjecture to think our word
‘faeries’ to come.
Viderint
critici.
8 Among . . .
Homer This note is extracted and paraphrased from passages in
Casaubon, 45–6, 52–4, part of a long discussion of the etymology of the
names of the mythical creatures. Casaubon, 54, cites Galen’s commentary
on Hippocrates, but does not give the reference which Jonson supplies,
and he attributes the identification of φῆρασ to poetarum principi, where Jonson
specifies Homer. This suggests either that Jonson himself returned to
Galen’s commentaries (which perhaps seems unlikely), or that there is
some other as yet unlocated intermediary source.
διφυ∊ῖς
‘of double form’ (i.e. they combine human and animal).
8 διφυ∊ῖς]
H&S; διφό∊ς F1
Galen
ad 129-?199/216. His medical works dominated
thinking about anatomy and medical treatment until the early modern
period.
Hippocrates 469–399 bc. Regarded as
the founder of medical science, though he may well not have been
responsible for the works attributed to him.
Epidemicor]
H&S; Epidemior F1
φῆρασ, or
φηρςας Greek for the budding horns of satyrs.
from . . .
come This appears to be Jonson’s own fanciful extension of
Casaubon’s extended etymological speculations. The Greek words have no
connection with English ‘fairies’ (or ‘faeries’, in Jonson’s spelling).
Viderint critici
‘Let critics consider it.’
‘faeries’]
this edn; Faëries F1
48 Mercury, god of rhetoric, was the father of Pan,
either by the nymphs Callisto or Penelope. Pan, god of shepherds and
flocks is depicted as like the satyrs in appearance and is here
represented as their tutelary deity.
9. Mercury,
who for the love of Penelope, while she was keeping her father Icarius’s
herds on the mountain Taygetan, turned himself into a fair buck-goat;
with whose sports and flatteries the nymph being taken, he begat on her
Pan, who was born,
capite cornuto, barbaque, ac
pedibus
hircinis. As Homer hath it,
in
Hymnis, and Lucian
in dialogo Panis et
Mercurii. He was called the Giver of Grace, χαριδοτὴς; φαιδρὸς, καὶ
λ∊υκὸς.
Hilaris, et albus,
nitens Cyllenius alis.
As Bacchus was called
ἄνθινος,
floridus: and
Hebo, a lanugine et molli
aetate, semper virens.
9 Mercury . . .
Mercurii The account of
the birth of Pan is closely translated from Conti (1616), 242, from
whence the Latin is directly quoted. Conti cites Homer’s Hymns at this point, and Lucian on 244.
capite . . . hircinis ‘with horned head, and beard, and with
goats’ hooves’.
9 hircinis]
F2; hircints F1
Homer
Hymns, 19.35–6.
in . . . Mercurii ‘in the dialogue of Pan and Mercury’ (Dialogues of the Gods, 2). Orgel incorrectly asserts
that the reference is wrong, citing instead The Double
Indictment, 9. While there is a reference to Pan in the latter,
the dialogue is fuller in its description of the appearance of Pan. The
citation is in Conti, though Jonson certainly knew Lucian well.
called . . .
alis The names of
Mercury appear close together in Giraldi (
1548), 424–5. Of the second pair of
names he says only
Id est, hilaris et albus. Jonson
himself, perhaps, added the phrase from Virgil.
χαριδοτὴς
‘giver of grace’.
φαιδρὸς . . .
λ∊υκὸς ‘bright and white’.
λ∊υκὸς] F2;
λονκὸς F1
Hilaris . . . alis ‘Cheerful and white’.
nitens . . . alis ‘the Cyllenian one, shining with his wings’
(Virgil, Aeneid, 4.252). Mercury was born in a cave on
Mount Cyllene in Arcadia.
called
ἄνθινος from Giraldi, 397, where
the incorrect form ἄνθιος,
printed in F, is found.
ἄνθινος]
H&S; ἄνθιος F1
floridus blooming, beautiful. This is Giraldi’s word,
translating the Greek.
Hebo . . . virens ‘Hebe, from her downy and tender age,
always flourishing’ (trans. Orgel).
49 Bacchus
God of wine.
50 Phoebus
God of the sun, but also of music and poetry, presiding over the muses
on Mount Parnassus. In a number of legends he took the form of a
shepherd.
10. Apollo is said, after Jupiter had put
Saturn to flight, to have sung his father’s victory to the harp,
Purpurea toga decorus, et lauro coronatus, mirificeque deos omnes
qui accubuerant in convivio delectavisse. Which Tibullus,
Elegiae, 2.
[5.7–10
] points to:
Sed nitidus
pulcherque veni. Nunc indue vestem Purpuream, longas nunc bene
necte comas. Qualem te memorant Saturno rege fugato Victoris laudes
tunc cecinisse Iovis.
10 Conti, 190, alludes to the episode in general
terms, and gives the quotation from Tibullus in the form Jonson cites,
including the readings Purpuream and cecinisse, which differ both from modern texts and from the
Renaissance editions I have examined. The first Latin quotation,
however, is not from Conti, and its source is, as yet, unidentified.
Jupiter . . .
flight Jupiter, the king of the gods, deposed his father
Saturn.
Purpurea . . . delectavisse ‘handsome in a purple toga and
crowned with laurel, and marvellously to have delighted all the gods who
reclined at the banquet’ (trans. Orgel).
Sed . . . Iovis ‘But also come, bright and beautiful. Now put
on your shining robe, now comb well your long hair. Be as they say you
were when, after Saturn had been driven from his throne, you sang songs
of praise for victorious Jove’ (trans. Orgel (subst.)).
10 pulcherque]
this edn; pulcerque F
51 Mars God
of war.
11. He was then lovely, as being not yet stained with
blood, and called
χρυσοπήληξ ἌἌρης
quasi aureum flagellum (vel rectius)
auream galeam habens.
11 χρυσοπήληξ]
H&S; χρυσοπήλ∊ξ F1
11 χρυσοπήληξ . . . habens ‘Ares chrysopelex,
as having a golden whip, or more properly, a helmet of gold’.
Paraphrased from Giraldi, 443.
52 be named
i.e. as an equal.
54–5 can . . .
decay i.e. he continually improves and cannot deteriorate
(Orgel).
56 chorus of satyrs]
this edn; CHORVS. F1
12. In Julius Pollux, 4.19, in that part which
he entitles
de Satyricis personis, we read that
Silenus is called
πάππος, that is,
avus, to note his great age: as
amongst the comic persons, the reverenced for their years were called
πάπποι and
with Julian,
in Caesaris, Bacchus, when he speaks him
fair, calls him παππίδιον.
12 The note is from Casaubon. The precise reference
to Pollux is on 135, the remainder, including the reference to Julian,
is closely translated, though compressed, from 136. Jonson, however,
carelessly misrepresents his source at the end of the note. In the
citation by Casaubon the phrase ‘when . . . παππίδιον’ applies to
Silenus, and the reference to Julian prefaces another quotation, in
which, as Orgel points out, Bacchus is actually addressing Tiberius.
παππίδιον
‘little grandfather’.
avus ‘grandfather’.
Julius
Pollux Second century ad. A scholar
and rhetorician; his Onomasticon is ‘predominantly a
thesaurus of terms, not of information’ (OCD).
12 πάπποι] F2;
παπποι F1
παππίδιον]
H&S; παππιδιον F1
58 Lyaeus
Bacchus, as Jonson explains in marginal note
13.
13. A name of
Bacchus, Lyaeus, of freeing men’s minds from cares:
παρὰ τὸ λύω,
solvo.
13 A . . .
solvo Translated, and
the etymology quoted, from Giraldi, 381.
παρὰ . . .
solvo ‘from the word
“luo”, I loose’.
13 παρὰ τὸ] F1; παρὰ του H&S
conj.
59 Ob’ron!]
this edn; Ob’ron? F1
59 Ob’ron!
F’s question mark could be retained, but the Satyr’s reaction suggests a
positive exclamation. (Exclamation marks and question marks are often
interchangeable in early modern texts.)
60 can are
capable of.
67 ivory
staves The white staff was a badge of office; the lord
chamberlain’s servants carried such staffs as they marshalled the
spectators at masques. (Cf.
Love Rest., 57.)
69 master . . .
vine Bacchus.
73 powders] F1 (poulders)
79 stubbèd
blunted at the point (OED, 4a, citing this as the
first instance).
80 posies] F1 (poesies)
81 discloses
opens up.
83 Tethys Sea
goddess, wife of Oceanus.
84 answer
correspond with, match.
85 bells
Then, as now, Morris dancers wore bells on their legs. The festivities
the satyrs imagine are of a popular rather than a courtly kind.
88 rattling
This is an odd term for the sound of pipes, and appears to be unique to
this text.
89 stripes
beating.
90 tabor A
small drum, usually associated with the three-hole pipe; the instruments
could be played simultaneously by a single musician.
91 pomp
ritual celebration.
91 to vary to
express in different, varied ways. Presumably the idea is that the music
adds an extra dimension to the celebration.
14. Erat solenne Baccho in
pompa tenerorum more
puerorum
gestari a Sileno, et Satyris, Bacchis praecedentibus, quarum una
semper erat
tympanistria, altera tibicina, etc. vide Athenaeus.
14 Erat . . . Athenaeus ‘It was the ritual for Bacchus to be
carried in a procession of young boys by Silenus and satyrs, with
bacchants going before, one of whom was a drummer, one a flute player.
See Athenaeus’ (trans. Orgel). The quotation is not from the relevant
portion of Deipnosophistai (5.200D)
pompa] F1 state 2 (pomp.); pomo. F1 state
1
puerorum] F1
state 2; purorum F1 state 1
gestari]
F2; gestaui F1
tympanistria]
F1 state 1; tympanistra F1 state
2
93 Chapman, in
The Memorable
Masque (1613), mocked the use of this device: ‘Rocks? Nothing
but rocks in these masquing devices? Is invention so poor she must needs
ever dwell amongst rocks?’ (
Lindley, Court Masques,
81).
96–7 There . . . transparent The flats on which the rocks were
painted slid apart, to reveal a domed palace of three stories (see
Illustration 49). The
‘transparent’ walls – perhaps of paper – were lit from behind with
lights of various colours, and enabled spectators to see outlined the
Prince and his fellow-masquers. The Trumbull MS describes the appearance
of ‘a great throne, with countless lights and colours, all shifting’
(Masque Archive,
Oberon, 3). It reminded the Trumbull
spectator of the appearance of the masquers the previous year in
Queens.
96 the
frontispiece The front of a building, a term ‘especially
applied to the decorated entrance’ (OED, 1).
97 sylvans
Deities or spirits of the woods. Their leafy
costumes and clubs link them with the traditional depiction of the ‘wild
man’.
98 At
this The grammar is ambiguous here; it might be taken as ‘the
satyrs wondering at this sight’, but F1’s comma suggests rather that the
satyrs’ wonder and Silenus’s continuing speech are appositional, two
responses to the moment.
104 Quickened
Brought to life. F1’s spelling, ‘Quick’ned’, might suggest that it be
modernized as ‘quick’nèd’.
104 second
birth See Barriers, 67–86, for an analogous
conceit of Henry reborn as Arthur.
111 Proper
Excellent, admirable. Silenus speaks ironically of the slothful sylvans’
watch.
112–13 They . . .
withal An elliptical sentence. To ‘have an eye to’ means ‘to
look to, pay attention to’ (OED, Eye n.1 6b), so that the implication is that the sylvans have no
care for their watch. But the literal sense of ‘eye’ also seems to be
implied, with the suggestion that ‘their eyes are not even close to
opening’.
112 They ha’
F1’s ‘They’ha’ indicates that the words must, somehow, be elided for the
metre.
114 in . . .
ear soundly. A Latin idiom. H&S cite Terence, in aurem utramvis dormire and Menander, and the occurrence of
the same idiom in Massinger, The Guardian, 2.2.48–8
‘Sleep you secure on either ear.’
115, 116 they’re] F1 (they’ar’)
115–16 caves / Of
sleep Ovid, Met., 11.592–612 is the most
famous description of the god of sleep inhabiting a subterranean cave,
and has frequently been imitated.
117 keeps the
keepers Juvenal, Satires, 6.346–7: quis custodiet ipsos custodes (‘who will guard the
guards themselves’), one of the most widely quoted of Latin tags.
118 The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus were Christians
walled up in the persecution of Decius in ad
250 and found miraculously alive two centuries later in the reign of
Theodosius.
118 They’re] F1 (They’are)
118 sleepers!]
G; sleepers? F1
119 cramp
fetter in irons.
120 Would we’d
Boreas Would that we had the north wind. F1’s ‘we’had’ here
and ‘w’had’ at
124
imply necessary elision, which, however, could be achieved by
pronunciation as ‘w’had’.
120 we’d] F1 (we’had)
121 leavy
leafy (of which, according to OED, it is the ‘earlier
and more normal form’).
123 we’d] F1 (w’had)
126–7 nail . . .
temples The sleeping Sisera is murdered in this fashion by
Jael (Judges, 4.21). Cf.
Temp., 3.2.54–5, where Caliban threatens the
same to Prospero.
127 ele]
this edn; eele F1; eel G
127 ele
bodkin. OED lists ‘ele’ as a variant spelling of the
word ‘awl’, which is adopted here. F1’s spelling, ‘eele’, is perhaps an
unusual variant or a compositorial error. All other editors have
modernized it to ‘eel’, which makes no sense here.
131 whether
which.
132 the
other’s This is printed as ‘the’others’ in F1, but elision
would be unmetrical.
132 the other’s] F1 (the’others)
133 Wags
Mischievous boys.
136–7 ridge-Bones spines.
138 Plump
Plunge (them).
141 suddenly immediately.
141 catch A musical composition in the form of a round, where
each singer successively takes up the same music (as in ‘Three blind
mice’). The form is generally associated with the popular and with the
tavern.
142–3 Buzz . . . Hum The same words are used for a comic invocation
in
Alch.,
1.2.169–70.
142–4 ‘Buzz’ . . . ‘Hum’]
this edn; no quotation marks in F1
148–9 He . . .
he Pointing first to one sylvan, then the other.
148 ate] F1 (eat)
148 dormouse A
very sleepy animal.
150 betaking . . . arms seizing their clubs.
154 guise
characteristic habit.
161 With . . .
Cyclops Alluding to Ulysses’ escape from the Cyclops,
Polyphemus, enabled by piercing his only eye with a heated stake.
15. Vide Cyclopes Euripides, ubi Satyri
Ulyssi auxilio
sunt ad amburendum oculum Cyclopis.
15 sunt]
H&S; sint F1
15 Vide . . . Cyclopis ‘See Euripides, Cyclops
[661ff.], where satyrs are a help to
Ulysses in burning out the eye of the Cyclops.’
163 cleave
stick fast.
166 yonder, up
F1 places the comma after ‘up’, which is possible, though somewhat
strained.
166 aloof at a
distance.
167 yet
still.
167 moon-proof
unable to see by the light of the moon.
168 SH]
G; SYLVANE F1
168 petulance
insolence, rudeness.
Petulantes is the Latin adjective
frequently associated with satyrs in the secondary sources Jonson
consulted (see commentary to marginal note
7).
177 a brawl a
lively dance (the French form is bransle).
179 expectation time of waiting.
183 As we use
According to our custom.
187 boy
Endymion, a shepherd beloved by the moon, who kept him asleep forever to
be able to enjoy his beauty. (Hence the First Satyr’s characterization
of the moon as a ‘seeming’ maid (183), belying her conventional
association with virginity.)
188 Midwife
Juno Juno was goddess of marriage and childbirth.
190–4 The paleness of the moon is attributed to ‘green
sickness’, an anaemic condition of virgins, and the Satyrs suggest that
Juno would prescribe sexual activity as the ‘proper’ way to be rid of
the condition, but that the moon prefers to keep her whiteness to
maintain the fiction of her chastity.
195–6 The inconstancy and changeableness of the moon
undermines the way she wishes to appear.
202–3 acts . . .
virtue The satyrs boast of their virility.
205 antic F’s ‘antique’ is a variant spelling
for ‘antic’, and the continuation of the SD implies that this was a
grotesque or comic dance. Nonetheless it is possible that its use here
is coloured by the sense ‘ancient, of olden times’.
205 antic] F1 (antique)
206 crowing . . . cock According to the Trumbull MS, the cock
crowed ten times.
207 Chanticleer Conventional poetic name for the cock.
209 The entrance to the palace is already opening.
211 whole
palace opened It is not clear from the drawing of the set
exactly how much of the palace parted to reveal the masquers. Orgel and
Strong suggest that the Prince’s chariot emerged through the rusticated
opening on the palace’s lowest level, but the SD suggests that the upper
level also parted to reveal the fays and masquers.
211 fays fairies.
212 in
perspective Alludes to the perspective of the setting,
receding towards a vanishing point, against which the masquers
themselves seem magnified in size.
213 several
sieges separate seats.
213–14 chariot . . . bears The chariot drawn by animals is a
standard feature of Renaissance iconography. Grant (
2001) and
Ravelhofer (
2002)
argue that the bears were real polar bears, caught in 1609 and kept by
the theatre-manager, Henslowe. Though the bears were probably young, and
therefore more amenable than adult animals, it may still be doubted
whether they would have been permitted on stage in close proximity to
the heir to the throne. They might, of course, have been represented by
actors in bear skins. But yet the otherwise attentive account in the
Trumbull MS makes no mention either of the chariot, or of bears – which
one might surely have expected if they had actually been used in the
performance. Perhaps they, like Henry’s own earlier wish for an
equestrian entrance, were countermanded.
217–18 In Ptolemaic cosmology the earth is surrounded by
the spheres of water, air, and fire, each of which is imagined as
merging with its neighbour. (See
Hym., 562–3n.) Cf.
Virgil, Eclogues, 6, 31–3, where Silenus ‘sang how,
through the great void, were brought together the seeds of earth and
air, and sea, and streaming fire withal’ (Loeb).
219 Arthur’s
chair i.e. the British throne. For James as the returned King
Arthur see 245 below, and
Barriers, 75–8.
223–4 ]stanza
division
G; there is no separation in F1
223 he i.e.
Henry.
224 seen] F1 (state
1); beene F1 (state 2)
228 Fame Not
capitalized in F, but the context suggests the semi-deity.
229 comprise
sum up.
231 face front, facade.
232 unused unusual.
232, 235 state splendour, magnificence (OED, State
n. 17a).
234 SH]
this edn; SYLVANE F1
234 Give place
Make room. (Addressed to the Satyrs.)
234 rude too
late unmannerly just now
243 annual
vows It was the custom at court to exchange gifts at New Year,
and ‘vow’ could imply a gift or offering, though this is a rare usage
(OED, Vow n. 6).
244 At feet At
his feet. H&S follow 1716 in printing ‘At’s’, but the idiom was
acceptable usage in the seventeenth century.
244 At feet] F1;
At’s feet 1716, H&S
246 magic
Figurative: ‘inspired accomplishment’ (OED, Magic n. 2).
249 rage
violence.
250 he As
would have been clear in performance, the ensuing speech is a praise of
James, rather than Henry.
253 tooth
taste, liking (
OED, tooth
n. 2).
Butler (
1998),
32, suggests a pun on satyr/satire, so that James is above the ‘bite’ of
satirical writing.
255 matter
essence, theme.
256 James’s thoughts are as lofty as his status. The
religious connotations, continued in the next line, are particularly
appropriate to the theologically minded monarch.
257 all their
issue everything that flows from them.
258–63 Cf. ‘
A
Panegyre’, especially 78–81, 115–28, where Jonson develops a
similar view of the good king as opposed to the tyrant.
258 god o’er
kings James had developed the biblical image of kings as gods
in his 1610 speech to Parliament (
Political Writings,
ed. Sommerville,
1994, 181); Jonson goes even further by giving him
pre-eminence over other monarchs. The distinction between kings and
tyrants is an important theme in James’s treatise,
Basilikon Doron.
258–61 stoops . . .
force The sentiments are paralleled in
Basilikon
Doron, in
Political Writings, ed.
Sommerville, 33–4: ‘it is not enough to a good king, by the sceptre of
good laws well execute to govern, and by force of arms to protect his
people; if he join not therewith his virtuous life in his own person,
and in the person of his court and company; by good example alluring his
subjects to the love of virtue, and hatred of vice.’ Cf. ‘
Panegyre’, 125–6.
261 He’s] F1 (H’is)
262 WHO are] F1 (WHO’are)
262 peace The
familiar praise of James’s love of peace is implied.
263 Would imagine as the ideal monarch to answer
their wish for release from tyranny or war.
264 stays
prevents.
265 Alluding to the image of James as having restored
the Age of Gold which is amplified in Gold. Age.
266 circle (1)
sphere; (2) area of influence.
268–9 The conceit that the monarch affects nature is a
commonplace of royal entertainment from Elizabethan times onwards. Cf.
Vision,
189–90: ‘Behold a king / Whose presence maketh this perpetual
spring.’
269 quickens
gives life to.
271 all The
name of Pan, the pastoral god, was, by a false etymology, associated
with the word πᾶν which means ‘all’ in Greek (see
Pan’s Ann., 152 and
n.).
272 SH]
this edn; SYLVANE F1
274–5 Then . . .
circles See Trumbull MS: ‘ten little pages dressed in green
and silver with flat bonnets à l’antique danced
another ballet with much grace’.
276 In . . .
him Presumably at the end of each strain the dancers paused
facing the monarch.
276–7 figures . . .
emperess Exactly how the patterns traced by the dancers were
to symbolize the King and Queen is not indicated. In some masques (e.g.
Hym.,
278–80) names were spelt out as dancers briefly paused in the
shapes of the successive letters, and that is the device adopted in the
Case Western Reserve performance.
277 emperess
Queen Anne. F1 prints ‘empresse’, but an extra syllable is needed for
the metre, and I have adopted the F2 spelling, an accepted alternative
in the period.
277 emperess] F2;
empresse F1
281 Designed
Designated.
281 Designed so
long Alluding to the way Merlin’s prophecies were said to be
fulfilled in the accession of King James. (See
Barriers, 75–8.)
281 crowns
England (including Wales and Ireland) and Scotland, making up the united
Great Britain.
283, 285 SHs] F1(1.,
2.)
283 strike The
sense here is unclear; it might mean: (1) to strike dumb, paralleling
286; or, possibly, (2) ‘strike the image of’ as in the making of a
coin.
286 stand at
gaze be fixed in wonder.
287 SH]
Orgel;
1
2:} F1
288 Take the fire of inspiration from no other
source.
290 suspect
suspicion.
303 greater
light i.e. that of the sun-king James.
305 Go on
Henry and his attendants, having presumably earlier dismounted from the
chariot, now descend to the dancing place. The masquers were identically
costumed, except that Henry himself wore a scarlet band ‘to distinguish
himself from the rest’, as the Trumbull MS records.
306 Parallels
King’s Ent., 251,
‘Now is not every tide.’
311 stay
pause.
313 This’s] F1;
this is JnB 688
314 fays so to] F1 (Faies so to); Fayeries to JnB 688
316 plants
feet (from Latin planta). The phrase does not carry
the negative moral overtones of the idiom ‘feet of clay’, which
originated in the nineteenth century.
319 of . . . are] F1; as with the ayer JnB 688
320 excited incited (to dance again).
327 these
beauties i.e. the ladies in the audience.
329 call them
forth summon them to dance.
331–2 coarse . . .
dairy spirits such as Robin Goodfellow, or Puck (see
Love Rest.,
31 and n., and
Althorp).
333 measures the statelier dances, which preceded the livelier
corantos and galliards. The sequence is noted in Trumbull MS: ‘The
Prince then took the Queen to dance, the Earl of Southampton the
Princess, and each of the rest his lady. They danced an English dance
resembling a pavane. When the Queen returned to her place the Prince
took her for a coranta . . . and then the gallarda began, which was
something to see and admire. The Prince took the Queen a third time for
los branles de Poitou . . .’
345 phosphorus The planetary Venus when it appears in the morning
(the evening star is called ‘Hesperus’).
349 her blushing
wars Aurora (Greek Eos), goddess of the
dawn, was famed primarily for her many lovers. As punishment for her
affair with Mars Aphrodite turned her into a nymphomaniac. Jonson fuses
the pink colour of the dawn sky with the image of amatory activity as a
‘war’.
350 rosy hand
Imitating the Homeric epithet ‘rosy-fingered dawn’.
351 harbinger
herald, forerunner.
354 night . . .
day In fact ‘as it was about midnight and the king somewhat
tired he sent word that they should make an end’ (Trumbull MS).
355 they
danced The Trumbull MS suggests that satyrs and ‘fauns’ joined
in the final ‘ballet of the sortie’.
355 the star]
G; starre F1; straight F2
355 work scenery.
356 the
whole . . . closed i.e. the front flats were brought
across.
A Note on the Masquers The only masquers identified by name in the
records were Prince Henry and the Earl of Southampton (Masque Archive,
Oberon, 4).
1 ]
this edn; a b F1 and so
throughout
MARGINALIA As is customary in Jonson’s practice, the
citations in the marginalia are frequently derived from intermediate
authorities. In addition to Giraldi’s De deis gentium,
and Conti’s Mythologiae, his frequently used standbys,
he also consulted, as the Introduction indicates, Isaac Casaubon’s De satyrica Græcorum poesi, et Romanorum satira libri
duo (Paris, 1605). He mentions this source directly only once
(marginalium 3), but virtually all his citations of further authorities
derive from this work. He had clearly read the book extremely carefully,
for Casaubon characteristically returns to topics several times, and a
number of Jonson’s notes stitch together material from different,
sometimes widely scattered, portions of the text. It is more problematic
to assess the degree to which Jonson consulted Athenaeus’s Deipnosophistai directly. Though later, in 1612, he himself
possessed a copy of this encyclopaedic work, neither the first quotation
in 5 nor that in 14 are taken from it. Only for the second quotation in
5 might Jonson have referred back to the original.
1 They . . .
sleeping For Virgil quotation see below, .
pedagogue
teacher.
Diodorus
Siculus (fl. c. 56–30 bc) His Bibliotheke, a universal history
written about 30 bc, survives only in part.
Reference is to 4.4.3, 4.5.3.
Synesius
of Cyrene (c. ad 370–413).
Christian neoplatonist and bishop of Ptolemais. Reference is to Calvitii Encomium, 68.
Julianus
Julianus Flavius Claudius (‘the Apostate’), Roman emperor ad 361–3.
in
Caesaribus
The Caesars, 308C-D.
Silenus . . .
them This note combines two passage from Casaubon (
1605). On p. 40 he
writes:
Sileni Satyrorum erant epistatae propter grandem
aetatem, Bacchi ipsius paedagogi (‘The Silenes were the
overseers of the satyrs on account of their great age, and were the
teachers of Bacchus himself’). On p. 60 a similar statement is followed
by exactly the list of sources Jonson gives. Jonson almost certainly did
not check any of these references himself, and for this reason, though
citations are supplied below, quotations are not given. (See also
marginal note , below.)
2 proverbial
speech H&S say that it is not a classical proverb, and I
have found no parallel.
Chromis . . . Iaccho ‘The lads Chromis and Mnasylus saw
Silenus lying asleep in a cave, his veins swollen, as ever, with the
wine of yesterday’ (Eclogues 6, 13–15; Loeb).
3 in
cyclope Euripides In the Cyclops, by the
Greek dramatist, Euripides. It is the only surviving satyr play. A Latin
translation is printed as an appendix to Casaubon.
same . . .
Virgil
Eclogues, 6.17.
Et . . . ansa ‘And his heavy tankard was hanging by its
well-worn handle’ (Loeb).
As . . .
varietas Summarized from
Casaubon, 67–8.
piece . . .
sculpture Reproduced in Casaubon, 67, and H&S, 10.526.
3 Casaubon]
G; Causabon F1
Rascasius
Bagarrius The person who showed the sculpture to Casaubon;
described by him as a man ‘most skilled in these things, and a most
fortunate tracker down of them’, and as a lawyer and keeper of
antiquities at the royal palace.
rerum . . . varietas ‘An altogether astonishing variety of
things, persons, and actions.’
4 known
fable Told in Ovid, Met., 3.359–510.
5 This note begins as an exact translation of
Casaubon, 77, and the first sentence of the Latin quotation is taken
directly from him. Though Casaubon mentions Athenaeus he is not quoting
from him, and Jonson seems to have assembled the sentence Erant . . . aetatem by combining the sentence from 40 quoted
above, with the statement on 77: Orpheus totius Bacchici
chori praesulem et coryphaeum facit Silenum.
pomps
magnificent celebrations.
5 Dionysus]
H&S; Dyonysius F1
Dionysus, or
Bacchus The Greek and Latin names, respectively, for the god
of wine.
Athenaeus
fl. c. ad 200. His only
surviving work is the Deipnosophistai, ‘The Learned
Banquet’. Jonson later (1612) possessed a copy of this assemblage of a
wide range of diverse material. He is frequently cited by Casaubon, but
Jonson may himself on occasion have gone back to the source.
Bini . . . aetatem ‘A pair of Silenes is often mentioned, who
are in charge of a like number of groups of Satyrs. They were their
overseers, superintendents and chiefs, on account of their great
age.’
praesunt]
H&S; praesint F1
purpureo . . .
Athenaeus ‘dressed in a purple
cloak, with white shoes, wearing a traveller’s hat, and carrying a small
gold messenger’s staff. See Athenaeus’ [Deipnosophistai, 5.198]. This quotation, not
given in Casaubon, abbreviates Athenaeus, who has one satyr carrying the
staff, the other a trumpet.
Deipnosophistai]
this edn; Deignos F1; Dipnos F2
de . . . Ptolomaeea ‘on the splendour of the Ptolemies’.
Ptolomaeea]
H&S; Ptolomaeiea F1; Ptolomaeeia
F2
6 This note is assembled from passages in Casaubon
(
1605), who
cites both Horace and Nonnus. From the beginning to ‘
saltatio’ is abbreviated from a passage on 91, the remainder
is put together from scattered phrases on 145–6. Jonson in effect
constructs his own sentences, paraphrasing his source.
risores
et dicaces ‘laughers and mockers’, Horace, Ars
Poetica, 225.
Nonnus
(fl. ad 450–70). The reference is to Dionysiaca, 37.415–17, but is taken directly from
Casaubon.
φιλοκ∊ρτόμους ‘fond of jeering’.
6 φιλοκ∊ρτόμους] F2;
φιλοκ∊ρτόμοις F1
Nec . . . concitatissimus ‘They were believed and thought of
not only as mockers, but also as prone to lecherousness, and as
assiduous dancers. Whence “satiric” dancing was called sikinnis, and the satyrs themselves sikinnistai; either from Sicinus, its inventor, or from the
movement, that is, from the jumping movement of the satyrs, which is
very violent.’
σικιννισταὶ]
H&S;
σικιννισται F1
ἀπὸ]
H&S;
από F1
7 The bulk of this note, from ‘Insomuch’ onwards,
is translated closely from Casaubon, 61–2. The passage is prefaced by
references to Strabo, Tertullian, and Philostratus, and followed by
references to Herodotus, Plato, and Synesius, all of which Jonson
gathers together. The first sentence reflects the way Casaubon adverts
to the wisdom of the Silenes on a number of occasions, and often uses
the adjective petulantes to characterize the satyrs:
cf. commentary note to line 168 of main text.
Plato
Symposium, 215.A-C. The famous description of the
Silenus-mask of Socrates.
Synesius
Epistolae, 154.
Herodotus
History, 7.26, 8.138. H&S censoriously point out
that these references are inappropriately to Silenus as a type of folly
– but this only confirms that Jonson did not check Casaubon’s
citations.
Strabo
Geography, 10.3.7.
Philostratus
Imagines, 1.20 (where Silenus is also a drinker,
rather than philosopher).
Tertullian
Adversus Hermogenem, 26, De Pallio,
2.
8 Among . . .
Homer This note is extracted and paraphrased from passages in
Casaubon, 45–6, 52–4, part of a long discussion of the etymology of the
names of the mythical creatures. Casaubon, 54, cites Galen’s commentary
on Hippocrates, but does not give the reference which Jonson supplies,
and he attributes the identification of φῆρασ to poetarum principi, where Jonson
specifies Homer. This suggests either that Jonson himself returned to
Galen’s commentaries (which perhaps seems unlikely), or that there is
some other as yet unlocated intermediary source.
διφυ∊ῖς
‘of double form’ (i.e. they combine human and animal).
8 διφυ∊ῖς]
H&S; διφό∊ς F1
Galen
ad 129-?199/216. His medical works dominated
thinking about anatomy and medical treatment until the early modern
period.
Hippocrates 469–399 bc. Regarded as
the founder of medical science, though he may well not have been
responsible for the works attributed to him.
Epidemicor]
H&S; Epidemior F1
φῆρασ, or
φηρςας Greek for the budding horns of satyrs.
from . . .
come This appears to be Jonson’s own fanciful extension of
Casaubon’s extended etymological speculations. The Greek words have no
connection with English ‘fairies’ (or ‘faeries’, in Jonson’s spelling).
Viderint critici
‘Let critics consider it.’
‘faeries’]
this edn; Faëries F1
9 Mercury . . .
Mercurii The account of
the birth of Pan is closely translated from Conti (1616), 242, from
whence the Latin is directly quoted. Conti cites Homer’s Hymns at this point, and Lucian on 244.
capite . . . hircinis ‘with horned head, and beard, and with
goats’ hooves’.
9 hircinis]
F2; hircints F1
Homer
Hymns, 19.35–6.
in . . . Mercurii ‘in the dialogue of Pan and Mercury’ (Dialogues of the Gods, 2). Orgel incorrectly asserts
that the reference is wrong, citing instead The Double
Indictment, 9. While there is a reference to Pan in the latter,
the dialogue is fuller in its description of the appearance of Pan. The
citation is in Conti, though Jonson certainly knew Lucian well.
called . . .
alis The names of
Mercury appear close together in Giraldi (
1548), 424–5. Of the second pair of
names he says only
Id est, hilaris et albus. Jonson
himself, perhaps, added the phrase from Virgil.
χαριδοτὴς
‘giver of grace’.
φαιδρὸς . . .
λ∊υκὸς ‘bright and white’.
λ∊υκὸς] F2;
λονκὸς F1
Hilaris . . . alis ‘Cheerful and white’.
nitens . . . alis ‘the Cyllenian one, shining with his wings’
(Virgil, Aeneid, 4.252). Mercury was born in a cave on
Mount Cyllene in Arcadia.
called
ἄνθινος from Giraldi, 397, where
the incorrect form ἄνθιος,
printed in F, is found.
ἄνθινος]
H&S; ἄνθιος F1
floridus blooming, beautiful. This is Giraldi’s word,
translating the Greek.
Hebo . . . virens ‘Hebe, from her downy and tender age,
always flourishing’ (trans. Orgel).
10 Conti, 190, alludes to the episode in general
terms, and gives the quotation from Tibullus in the form Jonson cites,
including the readings Purpuream and cecinisse, which differ both from modern texts and from the
Renaissance editions I have examined. The first Latin quotation,
however, is not from Conti, and its source is, as yet, unidentified.
Jupiter . . .
flight Jupiter, the king of the gods, deposed his father
Saturn.
Purpurea . . . delectavisse ‘handsome in a purple toga and
crowned with laurel, and marvellously to have delighted all the gods who
reclined at the banquet’ (trans. Orgel).
Sed . . . Iovis ‘But also come, bright and beautiful. Now put
on your shining robe, now comb well your long hair. Be as they say you
were when, after Saturn had been driven from his throne, you sang songs
of praise for victorious Jove’ (trans. Orgel (subst.)).
10 pulcherque]
this edn; pulcerque F
11 χρυσοπήληξ]
H&S; χρυσοπήλ∊ξ F1
11 χρυσοπήληξ . . . habens ‘Ares chrysopelex,
as having a golden whip, or more properly, a helmet of gold’.
Paraphrased from Giraldi, 443.
12 The note is from Casaubon. The precise reference
to Pollux is on 135, the remainder, including the reference to Julian,
is closely translated, though compressed, from 136. Jonson, however,
carelessly misrepresents his source at the end of the note. In the
citation by Casaubon the phrase ‘when . . . παππίδιον’ applies to
Silenus, and the reference to Julian prefaces another quotation, in
which, as Orgel points out, Bacchus is actually addressing Tiberius.
παππίδιον
‘little grandfather’.
avus ‘grandfather’.
Julius
Pollux Second century ad. A scholar
and rhetorician; his Onomasticon is ‘predominantly a
thesaurus of terms, not of information’ (OCD).
12 πάπποι] F2;
παπποι F1
παππίδιον]
H&S; παππιδιον F1
13 A . . .
solvo Translated, and
the etymology quoted, from Giraldi, 381.
παρὰ . . .
solvo ‘from the word
“luo”, I loose’.
13 παρὰ τὸ] F1; παρὰ του H&S
conj.
14 Erat . . . Athenaeus ‘It was the ritual for Bacchus to be
carried in a procession of young boys by Silenus and satyrs, with
bacchants going before, one of whom was a drummer, one a flute player.
See Athenaeus’ (trans. Orgel). The quotation is not from the relevant
portion of Deipnosophistai (5.200D)
pompa] F1 state 2 (pomp.); pomo. F1 state
1
puerorum] F1
state 2; purorum F1 state 1
gestari]
F2; gestaui F1
tympanistria]
F1 state 1; tympanistra F1 state
2
15 sunt]
H&S; sint F1
15 Vide . . . Cyclopis ‘See Euripides, Cyclops
[661ff.], where satyrs are a help to
Ulysses in burning out the eye of the Cyclops.’