scorpion. This, however, is disputed by Scartazzini and other modern commentators. On this see further my Time References in the Divina Commedia, pp. 80 seqq. (26) The interpretation of the variously explained phrase, 'fuor di tutto suo costume,' in Purg. xxviii. 66, seems to be determined (as Scartazzini has pointed out) by the word inscius in the passage from Ovid, Met. x. 525, 6: Namque pharetratus dum dat puer oscula matri, The unintentional wound is the unusual (fuor di costume) act attributed to Cupid. A few passages may now be added which do not fall under any of the above heads. Copre la notte già col piè Morrocco. The old commentator, Daniello da Lucca, here quotes in illustration, Ovid, Met. ii. 142, 3: Dum loquor, Hesperio positas in littore metas It is not at all improbable that this may have been in Dante's mind, for the story of Phaeton, in which these words occur, was very familiar to him, being referred to five times in the Divina Commedia (once in this Canto); also in the Convito (ii. 15); and in one of the Epistles (viii. 4). It is curious that the time of day-dawn in Ovid, noon in Danteis described by the position of the edge of night in both cases, and in somewhat similar language. In the passage of Dante there is first a difference of reading-e dalla riva, and ed alla riva. These readings would be indistinguishable in most MSS. Next the word riva is differently explained. (1) It is taken to mean 'the river's bank,' i.e. the Ganges, since when the sun is setting at Gades or Morocco, it would be (according to mediaeval geography) midnight at Jerusalem, and the point of sunrise at the Ganges: so that 'from the river's bank to Q ་ 6 Morocco' would delineate the hemisphere of night, and Morocco would be just touched by the advancing foot of night. The interpretation does not run quite smoothly, since 'dalla riva' scarcely applies to the precise fact described in 1. 139. (2) Riva' is explained as the brink of the ocean, or the boundary of the world on the West. In that case, it would correspond with 'Hesperio positas in littore metas' in the passage of Ovid. This, though perhaps better suiting the reading ed alla riva, is not inconsistent with e dalla riva, as it might be contended that Dante regarded the night as coming up out of the West, where lay 'the great sea of darkness,' just as day comes forth from the East. We might illustrate this idea by the expression 'πpòs (ópov' in Homer' to the West.' Also by Par. xii. 46-51, where Dante describes the West wind as coming forth from Spain, and the ocean wherein the sun sinks to rest, to renew the face of Europe. (See p. 227.) (28) There are two places where the various and changing colours of the dawn are described by Dante, which, if not copied from Ovid, are at least in very striking correspondence with him. Compare Purg. xxx. 22, 3: Io vidi già nel cominciar del giorno La parte oriental tutta rosata, with Met. ii. 112-4: Rutilo patefecit ab ortu Purpureas Aurora fores, et plena rosarum It should be noticed that in the previous Canto, Purg. xxix, Dante distinctly shows familiarity with the episode in the Metamorphoses in which these lines occur. Also the still more striking resemblance should be noticed between Purg. ii. 7–9 : Sì che le bianche e le vermiglie guance, Là dove io era, della bella Aurora, Per troppa etate divenivan rance; and Met. vi. 47-9: Ut solet aer Purpureus fieri, cum primum Aurora movetur, Thus Dante traces three stages: (1) white, i. e. a cold and colourless gleaming; (2) red or crimson; (3) orange. Ovid (1) red or crimson before sunrise, (2) and after sunrise a glowing whiteness, or rather brightness. In Dante they are all apparently before the actual rising of the sun, so that there is no inconsistency in the two descriptions. (29) I am inclined to think that the following is a case similar to the preceding. In Par. xii. 46 seqq. Dante thus describes the west coast of Spain, the birthplace of St. Dominic : In quella parte ove surge ad aprire Lo sol tal volta ad ogni uom si nasconde. Compare with this Met. i. 63, 4: Vesper et occiduo quae littora sole tepescunt, (30) Another probable imitation of the same kind is the following: Di quel color che per lo sole avverso Nube dipinge da sera e da mane (Par. xxvii. 28, 29), compared with: Qui color infectis adversi solis ab ictu Nubibus esse solet, aut purpureae Aurorae. (Met. iii. 183, 184.) These resemblances can scarcely be accidental, especially when we observe that this Book of the Metamorphoses was evidently familiar to Dante. (31) There is an interesting instance of an imperfectly remembered quotation pointed out by Mr. Butler in Par. ii. 18. Dante speaks of the wonder of the companions of Jason when they saw their leader turn ploughman : Quei gloriosi che passaro a Colco, Non s' ammiraron, come voi farete, But Ovid, Met. vii. 118-121, attributes this astonishment to the natives: Suppositoque iugo pondus grave cogit aratri LUCAN. Lucan was a poet widely known and very often quoted by mediaeval writers generally; Dante in particular not only refers to him frequently by name, but is indebted to him for many of his historical allusions, as well as for a considerable amount of poetic material of different kinds, as the references here collected will show. The historical allusions, being the most characteristic feature of Dante's debt to Lucan, may be conveniently taken first. (1) The allusion to Curio in Inf. xxviii. 97-102, and especially his dictum, 1. 98—— Affermando che il fornito Sempre con danno l' attender sofferse is borrowed from Lucan, Phars. i. 281, Semper nocuit differre paratis 2. In connexion with this we may quote the opinion of Lucan expressed by Boccaccio, Comento, i. p. 333, that his style was 'piuttosto storiografo metrico che poetico.' It is curious to find G. Villani in his Cronica, viii. 36, mentioning Lucan together with Virgil among his authorities for early Roman history: 'Leggendo le storie e' gran fatti de' Romani scritti per Virgilio, e per Sallustio, e Lucano, e Tito Livio, e Valerio, e Paolo Orosio, e altri maestri d'istorie.' After all, the early history is no more critical in the prose authors than the poets, so that Dante and his contemporaries'avaient raison' in thus using the poets. (See further Supplementary Notes, infra). 2 Prof. Manitius in an article in Philologus notes the specially frequent recurrence (probably due to their selection in Florilegia) of two passages from Lucan in mediaeval literature. One of them is the line quoted above. The other is i. 92: Nulla fides regni sociis, omnisque potestas I do not find that this is ever referred to by Dante. (This is further proved, if necessary, by Dante's direct citation of this passage in reference to Curio in his Epistle to Henry VII, Epist. vii. §4.) Among minor points of resemblance, compare scacciato in 1. 97 with Phars. i. 1. 278, Pellimur e patriis laribus, patimurque volentes and observe how Inf. xxviii. ll. 101, 2 Con la lingua tagliata nella strozza, is illustrated by line 269 in Lucan, Audax venali comitatur Curio lingua; this 'audacia' being emphasized by his boldness for good once Vox quondam populi, libertatemque tueri Ausus. (11. 270, 271.) (2) The incident of the interview of Caesar and Amyclas in Par. xi. 67–9, Nè valse udir che la trovò sicura Con Amiclate, al suon della sua voce, is clearly suggested by Phars. v. 504 seqq., a passage definitely cited and translated by Dante in Conv. IV. xiii. ll. 112 seqq. Compare especially with the above, O vitae tuta facultas . . . quibus hoc contingere templis (3) In Par. ix. 11. 82 seqq., Folco of Marseilles is made to give a curiously roundabout description of his place of habitation. The great valle of the Mediterranean is first described as extending (according to the mistaken geographical ideas of the time) for 90° of longitude from Jerusalem westwards. Then Folco says that he dwelt on its shore between (i. e. about midway between) the Ebro and the Macra (the latter being a small river forming the north-west boundary of Tuscany). Finally, |