The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius
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!"