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 475 Decem-ber, I896. MODERN LANGUAGE
Elizabeth, the sister of the Emperor, while
the Prince Eugene had been made Vicaire
Gnteral of the Italian provinces. Prie had
been deposed and the Conmte de Dauln
was representing the Archduchess. While in
Vienna, Rousseau had been assured by the
Emperor that he would ratifythe commission
sent by EuLgene as soon as it had been approv-
ed by the Conseil d'Etat des Pays-Bas. So he
sought out the Comte de Daun, who proposed
the matter again to the inltendantsdes finan-
ces, and this time they were favorable to it.
At the sessioni of the Conseil d'Elaf, however,
although the majority of the members were
friendlyto Rotusseau, the few who were niotso
succeeded in prevailin-g uponl Daun to leave
the decision to the Emperor. (Consnule die
Conzseild'Etat die 21 avril, 1725, aunx Archives
du Royautne de Belg,iqiie.) Rousseau was now
very confident that the matter would be soon
finished, as is shown by the last letter cited.
BuLtat this time the Coniseil sueprenzedes
Pays-Bas sent a communication to the Em-
peror, in which his attention was called to the
fact that an historiographer already existed
(Kerckerdere), and expressed its astoniishment
that neither the intendants des finances nor
the members of the Conseil d'Etat had meni-
tioned this fact in their discussion of the ques-
tion. In addition, various objections were
raised to the fitness of Rousseau for such a
position:
Y quaindo dicho empleo fuesse vacante,
parece que nio seria conveiniente conferirle a
Rousseau, tanto por ser frances de inacion,
quanto, porque el empleo de historiographo le
diera adito A todos los archivos del pais, y a Ia
plena noticia de los papeles mas reservados,
circunstainciaque pudiera traercon sigo muchos
y muy notables inconvenientes que deja el
consego a la alta consideracion de V. Md.,
mayormente, quaindo dicho Rousseau ne tiene
el cr6dito assentado, tanto por su peligrosa
professioni, quanto por los motivos por los
quales fue hechado de su patria.
A todo lo qual se afnade el requisito neces-
sario de la leingua flamenca, que ignora Rous-
seau, y sin la qual el historiograplhode aqtuellos
paises seria de poco provecho respecto qule
una grande cantidad de papeles y noticias,
assi antigtuas como modernas se hiallain en
lengua flamenca.
(Consuehtedu 3 aozft,1725, conservee en ori-
ginSal atX Archives die Royautne de Be/gique.)
It is apparent that, afterthis commutnication,
238
NOTES. Vol. xi, No. 8. 476
sonmepowerful influence, such as that of the
iPrince Eugen-e, would hiave been necessary to
turn the tide in Rousseau's favor. But this
prinice, although still continuing his corres-
pondence with Rousseau, had lost much of his
earlier enthusiasm for the poet, and since the
Bonneval affair hiad ceased to show him
marked favor.
Consequently, the Emperor, not wishing to
take anly part in the matter,allowed it to go by
default, and so it came to pass that Jeai
Baptiste Rousseau was never, in due form,the
His/oriog-raphe des Pays-Bas Autrichiens.
JOHN R. EFFINGER, JR.
Paris.
CHAUCER'SLEGENDOF GOOD
WOMEN1! A ND BO CCA CC/O'S DE
GENEALOGIA DEORUM..
IN a formernote (x: 379) treating of the list of
hiapless lovers in the Hous of Fame, ani at-
tempt was made to show that Chaucer was niot
indebted to Ovid only. He tells us, for ex-
ample, in what way Phedra was conniected
with the desertion of Ariadne; Ovid does niot.
He says explicitly that Phyllis hanged her-
self; in the Heroides this mode of death
appears simply as one of three she ponders
her choice of while lamenting her departed
lover. The poet must evidenitly have uLsed
some other source, anid since lhe hias nmade
Phyllis the dauLghterof LycUrguLs of Tlhrace,
owin1g, as Lounsbury pointed out (ii, 232)
to a headinig " De Phyllida LycuLrgi filia "
in the De Genealog,ia Deorumz, fromthat work
also, it was suggested, he might have acquired
his precise information concerninig hier mode
of death. Such is the case. Boccaccio's
famous mythology (here quoted in the trans-
lation of Betussi, Venice, I564) not onlY con-
firms the suLggestioll, but calls attenitionias
well to a nuLmberof otlher points in ai Uin-
expected, and what seems to be a helpftilway.
The story of Phyllis as it appears in the
Hous of Famce (1. 388 f.) is referred by Skeat
to the IHeroides, ep. 2. In his comment ulpOnl
it as it appears in the Legenzd of Good WVomizen
(11.2934 f.) he adds that it is told by Hyginus
(capp. 59, 243) and in a few lines by Boccaccio.
Hyginus may at once be set aside; his version
is a simple varianit of the filbert-treelegenid,
 477 December, I896. AMODERN
and says notlhingof Plyllis's having hanged
herself. Skeat does not seem to have ex-
amined Boccaccio; he does niot metntionhimn
againi. He says also (3, xi) that a comparison
withiGower (C. A. ii, 26) shows thlat both
Chlatucerand Gower " consulted some further
source which rcannot trace." This is possibly
true of Gower; it is not true of Chaucer,
every detail of whose story is contained eitlher
in Ovid or Boccaccio.
Referenicesto the Legend of Good Womnen
will suffice,as covering for the briefer version
in the Hous of Fame. At the beginninig we
read (II. 2404 f.):
Destroyed is of Troye the citee;
This Demnophoncom sailing in the see
Toward Athenes to his paleys large.
Of Troy, Ovid says nothlinlg. Gower says
Demophon was going to Troy. But Boc-
caccio says he camne to Thrace (x, 171 vo);
" RoLiniata poi Iroia ; ritornatdo uerso la
patria."
The description of the storm follows, which
we learn (11. 2420 f.):
posseth him now up now douin
Til Neptune hath of him compassiouin,
And Thetis, Chorus, Triton, and they alle,
And maden him tupona lond to falle
Wher-of that Phillis lady was and quiene,
Ligurgus dohliter.
Ovid's reference to a storm (if it is suich) is
remote and by implication. It is Phillis dis-
traught by love (furiosa) who speaks (Her. ep.
2, 456):
at laceras etiam ptuppesftiriosarefeci,
ut, qua desererer, firma carina foret.
Comparenow Boccaccio (x, T71 vo):
" Per fortuna di mare [da uenti & da fortuna
cacciato (xi: I85 ro)] fLiportato in Thracia douLe
da Philli figliLuola del Re LiguLrnio[Ligurgo
(xi, 185 ro)] fui raccolto & nel proprio letto
allogiato."
Chaucer, it will be seen tises in the above
passage the name Chorus. This is niot,Skeat
says, knownias the name of a sea-god. He
suggests accordingly (as also Bech) a borrow-
ing fromthe Jneid (v. 1. 823 f.);
et senior Glauci chorus, Inousque Palemon
Tritonesque citi, Phorcique exercitus omnis
Lanea tenent Thietiset Melite, Panopeaque uirgo.
"Here we find," he adds,
" The/is, chorus, Tri/o; whilst ' and they
alle' answers to everci/s olnzis . . . . Chorus
LANGUAGE NOTES. Vol. xi, No. 8. 478
is uised for Caturus, the niortlh-westwinid,in
Chaucer's Boethius, bk. iv, miiet.5,17; but this
is niotthe purpose."
The suLggestioniis certainily attractive-hut
wvhyslhould Clhaticer lhave misread Virgil's
word "chorus ? " Perhaps hiisuse of it in Boa-
thius is nmorein point than Skeat tlhinks. The
word isi not in fact niecessarily tlle iianae of a
sea-god; anid wheniwveturnito Boccaccio, we
finidthat he several times refers to " choro,"
who" fal'aere inuuoloso'' (iv, 78 o), anid that
he fuLrther says (iv, 76 ro):
"Dalla sinistra Choro, percioclhe chiiude il
circolo di uenti & fa quiasi uin cloro inonl-
dinmenlo prima dice esser detto C(Yauro; et da
alcuni Agreston."
Choruis then, would seem to stand, very ap-
propriately, for the circle or concourse of the
winds.
At 1. 2442, we are told of Demophloon
For at Athenes duikand lord was he,
As Theseus his fader hadde y-be.
Theseus, it is to be noted, is spoken of in the
past tense,-and yet, in the Heroides, Phyllis
speaks of himnas alive and in Athenis (Her.
ep. 2. 11. 13 f.):
Thesea devovi, qtlia te dimittere nolet:
nec tenuit cursus forsitan ille ttios.
The contradictioni is a point of evidence in
itself, but the testimony wlhich Chaucer's
lines afford in an-other connection, is, as will
be seetn,mulchmore importanlt.
In 11. 2483 f. the deathl of Phyllis is related.
Denmophoon does niotretuLrn,
And that hath she so harde and sore aboght,
Allas ! that, as the stories uis recorde,
She was her osvne deeth r-ightwith a corde,
Skeat refersto Her. sp. 2. 141 f. withouLt
callinig
attentionito the fact that haniginigis onily onie
of three ways which suggest themselves to
Phyllis, and that nothitngis said of her choice
of any one of tlhem. He might much better
have cited a more explicit passage in the
Remiiedia Amnoris (11.6oi f.) which does not
seem to have been quoted before in this con-
nection:
nona terebatur miserae uiia: uideris, inquit:
et spectat zonam pallida facta suam.
adspicit ad ramos: dubitat, refngitqtneqtsod audet
et timet et digitos ad sua colla refert.
But not even here is the fact of her death
plaitnly stated. Moreover, would the Dic-
239
 479 Decenmber, i896. MODERN LANGUAGE
tuLresque use of her girdle have escape(
Chaucer? Compare on the other hand the
De Genealogia (xi, I85 ro):
" [Demophonte] n6 ritornanidoal debito tempo
et ella non potendo sopportare piu la lonta
nanza (come uoglioilo alcuni) con laccio finik
sua uita."
Boccaccio, it will be seen, manifests a decide(
preference forthe story of her having hangec
herself. He goes on to say that others have
it that she thew herself into the sea, and by
the compassion of the gods was convertec
into an almond (or filbert tree; cf. Gower's
filliberd tre "), hence named after her in
Greek. But for this story he gives an ex-
planation. Zephyrus, a western wind, passing
into Thrace by way of Athens, stirs life in this
tree, "et di qul la fauola hebbe luogo, cio e
Phillide allegrarsi, & fiorireper lo ritornodello
innamorato da Athene."
From these various correspondences and
those pointed out by Lounsbury in other con-
nections (cf. references in his Index), there can
be no doubt that ChauLcerkqnewand used the
De Genealogia. It follows that in the plhrase
" as the stories us recorde," in the fifthline of
the passage above quoted, and compared with
Boccaccio, Chaucer refers directly to thlis
work. To the separate portion of the Heroides,
he always refers as the "epistle " or the
lettre " of Ovid. But here it is the "stories,"
and when the character of Boccaccio's work
is considered-that it consists of a series of
stories briefly told and connected by head-
lines which enable the reader to follow special
lines of ancestry or history-the appropriate-
ness of such a reference is apparent.
If now it is clear that Chaucer derived help
fromthe De Genealogia, a poiIntcan be taken
up of greater importance than those yet
spoken of. Ovid, it was seen, treated Theseus
as if still alive, while Chaucer refers to him
as in the past. In this Chaucer shows himself
familiar with Demophoon 's history (so, too, in
knowing that he was coming from Troy),
though Ovid, as we have seen, told him noth-
ing about it. This bears directly upon a pas-
sage in which Skeat seems to have preferred
a wrong reading. In 11.2472 f., the reasons
for Demophoon's departure are given and the
fact of his departure told:
240
NOTES. Vol. xi, No. S. 4SO
He seide, unto his contree moste he saile,
For ther he wolde her wedding apparaile
As fil to her honiourand his also.
And openilyhe took his leve tho,
Anid hath her sworn, he wolde not soiorne,
But in a montlhhe wolde again retorne.
And in that lond let make his ordinaunce
As verray lord, and took the obeisaunce
Wel and hoomly, and let his shippes dighte
Anid hoom he goth tlle nexte wey he mighte.
Two minor details are first to be conisidered.
The phrase "took the obeisaunlce " miglht
seem to meanl the obeisance of the land; that
is, of Thrace, but the word is niot used in this
sense of "homage," or "ssubjection." The
nearest approach to such a use is in the Coin-
p5leynteunio Pile, 1. 84,
Ye sleen hem that ben in your obeisaunce.
Moreover had it meant homage, or service,
Chaucer wotuldhave written "took his obei-
saunce." Skeat gives the right meaning in
his glossary, where he explains it as " obedient
farewell "-tlhat is, Demophooni took his fare-
well. This sense, though unuLsual, seems
correct; we may remind ourselves of our
fanmiliarphrase, "dutiful farewell." "Took
the obeisaunce " was perhaps coin-edby Chau-
cer forthe sake of the rime and the metre on
the model of the French "prenidre cong6."
In the next place, it will be seen that Skeat
understands the passage to mean that, after
promising to return, Demophoon declared hiis
lordship in that land Thrace, made his fare-
wells, and left. So understanding, Skeat has
placed a period after "retorne." This offers
the difficultythat Chaucer, without apparenit
reason, makes Demophoon declare his lordship
after takiing leave and just before goinig. It
offers the furtherand somewhat greater dif-
ficultythat the verb " let " is left withouita
subject. As a matter of fact, there should be
no period after " retorine" anid the proper
nmeaningof the passage as it stands is that
Demophoon " wolde retorne " and [then] in
that land " let nmakehis ordinaunice ": briefly,
that he would declare his lordship upon his
return.
With this preliminary,we may approach the
main point. In Ovid, a formal assLumptionof
lordship by Demophooni is nowhere referred
to. The onilyapproach to it is in the Her. ep.
2. 11. 47 f.,
 48I December, i896. AODERN2 LANG UAGCE NVOTES. Vol. xi, No. 8. 482

quae tibi subjeci latissima regna Lycurgi, as a moment ago, Chaucer's acquainitance witlh
nomine femineo tlix satis apta regi.
the details of Demophooni's history. Thle-
This does not necessarily imply that Demo- setis had long been clead. He had been exiled
phoon had fornally declared himself master of and had died at Athens. The kingdom had
Thrace, and, mnoreover, we have just seen that not been in the hanids of Demoplhoon, the
the passage in Chaucer as it stands means that riglhtfulduLke and lord. Tlhough king by
Demophoon was to become lord upon his re- right,as Chaucer calls himii(1. 2442), hlis kinig-
turni and marriage with Phyllis. The only dom was in the hanids of others,-another
possible explanation for Chaucer's versionias version of this part of his history is used, it
it stands would be that he had given this turn will be remembered by Gower, where in hlis
to the storyto hieightenthe baseness of Denmo- tlhirdbook he tells how the lieges of Den-mo-
plhoon's ingratituLdeand perfidy. There is phoon and Acamas hadc disobeyed and for-
however a better explanation. The readinig saken their lords while they were at Troy.
is an incorrect one. In the words "And in Now, Boccaccio tells us, MnestheuLs,the reign-
that lonid," Skeat has taken the reading of C. ing king, had died, and Demophoon is anxious
and A. against the readinigof F. Tn. Trh.and to recover his throne and does so " doppo il
B. Of the comparative rating of these texts, uentesimo terzo annio del paterno essiglio."
only this nieed be said. The C. Ms., can at Here, too, the reason forChaucer's choice of
least err to the extenitof saying (1. 2484) " the phrase becomes apparent that Demophoon
story us recordeth " instead of "the stories us " wolde make his ordinaunce as verray lord."
recorde," in spite of the rime "corde " in the Compare in the Knightes Tale (A. 1550 f.):
next line; the scribe saw nioreason why the Of his linage am 1, and his of-spring
word shlould be plulral. Moreover, the F. By verray ligne, as of the stok royal.
Ms., whose reading Skeat here rejects, is one If this reading is taken, it is seen that the
of the most valuable we possess, and is in fact plhrases " Tlher lhe wolde her wedding ap-
the very Ms. on wlhichSkeat bases his texts. paraile " and " ageyn he wolde make his or-
To its excellence he has himself borne wit- dinaunce " are appositive. So also the phrase
ness. " took fhe obeisatince " is in apposition with,
For the words " and in that lond " the read- and findscorroboratory explanation (as mean-
ing of the four texts is " ageyn he wolde." ing " took his farewell ") in " he took his leve
The differeniceis a niotable one. The phrase tlho." The two initerveniinglinies in whiclh
"and in that londe" disappears, and with it Demophoon declares his promise to return
Demophoon's apparent suLggestion that he belong naturally to the first mention of his
would declare his sovereignity in Thrace. It leavetaking. Plainily these lines caused the
is not in Thrace that he would do this, but at incorrect reading in C. and A.,the itntroduction
home. According to the new reading, there, of a second reasoni nlot beinigiunderstood after
in his country, he would prepare for her wed- one growinig so naturally out of the story.
dinig, and again there he would declare his Yet as the passage statnds in these texts (and
lordship. This gives a good reason for his in Skeat except forhis period after" retornie"),
going-and here again we may turn to the it presents the awkwardness of conitaininigtwo
testimony of Boccaccio. The desire to as- separate statements of Demophoon's leave-
sume the sovereignty is in fact, he tells us, the taking without apparent reason, with a state-
cause of Demophoon's departure. He says nmentbetween them of his initentionto assume
(x, 171 vo): the sovereignityof Thrace for which Chaucer
"Doue essendo alquanto seco dimorato, in- had no warrant. Finally-the reading here
tenidendo, clhe Mnesteo Re di Athene da suipported in any case demands explanation;
fortunia,& trauagli del mare coniturbato era
arriuato all' isola Melos, et iui morto, Ira/to it fitsa history which Chaucer knew, related
dal disio di regnare, impe/rb per qual che in an authorityhe elsewhere used; it is more-
giorno licenza da Philli. Cosi racconciate le over the reading of fouirtexts, one of them the
nauii, ritorn6ad Athene." best, as against two.
Here appears the importanice of recognizinig, The story of Ariadne (Hous of Fame, 11,

24I
 483 December, i896. MODERN LANGUAGE
405 f. Legend of Good Women,11. i866 f.)
shows in a similarway the influenceof the De
Genealogia. In the formernote in these col-
umns cited above, verbal correspondences
were pointedout between the versionin the
Hous of Fame and in Boccaccio's Amorosa
Visione. Chaucer's use of this poem suf-
ficiently explainsthe introductionof Phedra,
whomOvid does notmentionin directrelation
with the story; his complete knowledge of
thedetails ofher connectionwithitis ofcourse
notto be explained byherpassingallusionsto
Theseus in her epistleto Hippolytus(Her. ep,
iv). But the version in the Legend of Good
Womencontains a number of points which
await explanation. Skeat, inhis note upon its
to Ovid (Met. vii,
sources, besides referring
456-8; Viii,6-I82: Her. ep. x. chieflyI-74; also
compareFasti, iii, 461-5I6) suggests (3, xxxix)
"But Chaucer consulted other sources also,
probablya Latintranslationof Plutarch'sLife
of Theseus; Boccaccio, De Genealogia Deo-
rum, lib. x. capp. 27, 29, 30; also Vergil,Aen.
Vi, 20-30; and perhapsHyginus,Fabulae capp.
4I-43."
It is to be regrettedthat Skeat did not use
the passages from Boccaccio to which he
refers. Plutarchis oftenquoted, thoughhis
storyresemblesChaucer's only in barest out-
line, and thoughthere is no directevidence
whatsoever that Chaucer made use of it.
Boccaccio elsewhere is quoted in full,as for
example in connectionwith Hypermnestra.
Here, however, after this single reference,
Skeat does not speak of him again, not even
in the memoranduim of the sources whichpre-
cedes the notes to the tale. Had Skeat ex-
aminedthe passages he cites,he would have
foundthatBoccaccio supplies a gap of which
he says that" Chaucer here leaves Ovid " and
"seems to have filled in details fromsome
source unknowni to me." He wouldalso have
been saved makingnotes,whichtheDe Gene-
alogia shows to be unnecessary,and would
not have failed to seek and consult other
parts of the work, to which he would have
been led by the helpfulnessof these to which
he does, at least, make reference.
One of the instancesin which the De Gene-
alogia would have proved helpfulto Skeat is
found in the firstline of the tale (1. i886).
Chauceraddresses Minos,
2A2
NOTES. Vol. xi, Xo. 8. 484
luge infernal, Minos, of Crete king.
Skeat says,
" In 1. I894, we again have mentionof Minos,
kingof Crete; whichlooks as if Chaucer has
confusedthe two kinigsof this name. The
'inifernaljudge' was, however,the grandfather
of the second Minos; at least, such is the
usual account."
To suggestthatChaucer is in error in regard
to a pointof thissortis not withoutitsperils-
witnessthe famous case of the town of Via
Appia in the Second Nonnes Tale. In the
presentcase the mistakewas not Chaucer's-
he had authority;for plainly with regardto
the Minos of the story, Boccaccio says (xii,
I85 vo)
"Et poi chiamato giudice nell'inferno,per-
cioche noi mortali,rispettoa i corpi soprace-
lesti, siamo infernali,onde nel dar leggi, si
come fece,si puo dire, che fugiudice dell'in-
ferno."
At 1. I895, Boccaccio again proves helpfuil.
Minos,we are told,
To scolehathsenthissonAndrogeus,
To Athenes;ofthewhichhithappedthus,
That he was slayn, lerning philosophye,
Rightinthatcitte,natbutforenvye.
Skeat refersto Ovid, Met. vii, 456-8; Virgil,
Aen. 6, 20, and to Plutarch(Shakspeare, p.
420). Ovid merely savs that Minos went to
war to avenge Androgeus; noneof these says
anythingof the cause of the youth's death.
It is to be fouind,however
intheDe Genealogia
(xi I86 ro):
" Fu Androgeofigliuolodi Minos& di Pasiphe,
& giouane di molta uirtu,ilquale in Athene,
nella palestra superandotutti,fuda Atheniesi
& Megaresimortoper inuidia."
Passing by the story of Scylla, whichis of
coursetaken fromMet. viii, 6-176,at 1. 1922,
thatpartof the storyis reached where,Skeat
says, " Chaucerseems to have filledin details
fromsome source unknownto me." One of
these details is the conditionimposed upon
the Atheniansby Minos(11.1924 f.):
thatMinoshathso driven
Andthistheffect,
HemofAthenes, thattheymotehimyiven
Froyeretoyereherownechildrendere
Fortobeslayn,as yeshulafter
here.
Skeat here quotes Plutarch,presumablynot
as Chaucer's source, for Plutarch says the
children were sent yearly,Chaucer (1. 1932)
everythirdyear,but forpurposes of compari-
 485 December, i896. MlODERN LANG UAGE NO TES. Vol. xi, No. 8. 186

soni. There is really no sin-milaritybetween thlathiefotindhiis" every tlhriddyear " in Boc-

them-while in B3occaccio there seenmsto be caccio (x, I70`no) whio says they wvereobliged
reseml-blaince
to Chaucer (x, 170 ro) to senid ' i quiali per sorte tre aniii gli fiironlo
" Finalmente essenclo Uilti pattegiarono con nmanidati."
'
Mlitnos in tal m03odo Cio chie ognii a1111o Si Th1e castingo of the lots Ivelnt on (11. 1944 ff.)
obligatiano manllcarsette gioueni di pinLnobili lil thatof AtheneskiiigE-gets
Atheniiesi in Creta al Mlinotauro." Mot seindehis ownesoineT'lhesenis,
Again Chaucer's descriptioni of the Miniotaur Sith that the lot is fallen him tipoII,
'o be deronred,forgrace is thernoni.
(1. 1928 f.) as
a monstre, a wikked beste, Here a poitit arises as to where Chaucer
T hat was so cruel .... learined of Aeg-eus. Skeat refersto Ovid, Ailet.
explained by the poet's in-
thouglh sufficienitly vii, 405 f:
variably careftilart as a story-teller may per- excipithanicAegetis,factodamniiianiduis
in tinio:
haps have been suggested by Boccaccio's niecsatis hospititinsi
est, thalamiquioqtiefoe(lerejunigit.
descriptioni of hiim (iv, 6i vo) as "fortissimo, jamquie aderat TheseuLs, proles igniara pareiiti .....

ferocissimiio,& furioso aniimale." Furtlher at but neither this passage, nior ilel. viii, 174,
1. 1932 we read, whiich might eqtially well liave beeni added,
And every thridde year, with-otLIten dotUte, possess vital relationiwithithe story. All sulchi
They casteis lot, and, as hiimcom aboute references suppose a piecilig-otIt of the story
On riclhe,onipore, he moste his soin take,
And of his childl he moste presenitmake
on Chiaucer's part, that catninotrecomniend
Unito IMinos, to save hiimor to spille. itself as a satisfactory explanation wvhencom-
pare(l withi 13occaccio's dir-ectiness (x, 170 vo)
"This,'" Skeat says
" is due to Ovid's expressioni-' tertia sors ''Ma il terzo [sorte] essenido tra gli altri toccato
anniis domiiniit a Theseo,egli con grandissimiodolore (lel )adre
repetita notieniis (A/fe. viii, 17I),
which Golclinigtr-anislatesby-' The third timie Egeo, per andarsene noiito sopl-raunia nae.ue
at the ninitlh
yeares end the lot clid clhaulnice to The casting of Thesetis initocaptivity whiich
light oniTheseLs ' &c. BtutHygintus(Fab. xli) follows, anid the discour-se of the sisters, is
says . . anniiounoquoque. "
evidently Chaticer's own. The descriptioni of
Hygintis certainly does 1notsuLit,-and Golding the labyrinithmlight hiave beeni takeen either
may so have translated the line fromiiOvid, fromlOvid, AMel. viii, 173, or frotimthe fDe
btit it does not follow that Clhatcer in Usinlg Geealo,gia, iv, 6i vo. For 11.2146 f.
this line would be eitlherso freeor so faultyin
Anld hy the teclinig of this Adriane
his translation. This translation of Goldiing's, He overcom this beste, and was his bane.
which seems to stipport Skeat, is in fact qtiite
erroneous. TIhe entire passage reads (liet. Skeat mighlt have addluced iJrel. viii, 174, "ope
viii, i68): virginiea," btit here also Boccaccio imiaybe
qtLo postqtiam geminam tauri jtuveinisquiefiguiram profitably conisulted (x, 170V0): "Thleseo pot'
per conisiglio d'Ariannia restato uittoriioso."
clausit, et Actaeo bis paStuLm saniguiniemonstrtim
tertia sors annis dotnuLitrepetita iiouieiuis....
Onie detail of Chaticer's story is bafflinig-the
There is nothing here abotit the third lot's visit of the fug-itivesto " Enniopie." W\Nhy did
"liglhtinig on Theseus." Moreover are we Chaucer introduce such a nmeredetail at all?
bound to suppose that Chaucer imiistranslated He says particularly that TI'heseus weentto visit
" novenis " because Golding did-that is, as ifit a frienid,and Skeat suggests very helpftully
were an ordinal ? Plainly it was the third lot that Ovid makes so much in aniother connec-
wlhich subdued the monster-henice, as onily tion (earlier in the story when Minos was
three had been cast, and the third xv'asfatal, it makiingwar) of thie friendslhipof Aeactus, king
follows that Ovid in saying " cast every nine of Oenopia, (that is Aegin a), forthe Atheniians
years " refers to eaclh single lot, not each three and the house of AegeuLs, that this may have
lots. This is in fact one accepted version of inifluenicedChaucer. But whiy introduce so
the story, as the yearly lot of Hygilnus and useless a detail at all ? The question is worth
Plutarch is another. It is better to believe considering. Probably it is only the beginning
that Chaucer did not mistranslate hiisOvid, but of ani uinfiniislhed episode.

243
 487 Decemitber,I896. MODERN LANGUA GE NO TES. Vol. xi, No. 8. 488

For Phedra's connection with Ariadne's de- at simulI iniduLctluntobscura creptiscula nioctem,
pars Hyadum toto de grege nutillalatet.
sertion, we have as source, as in the Hozes of ora micanitTauri septein radianitia flarnmis,
Fame, the Amorosa Visione, or the D)e Gene- naLlita qtias Hyadas graiLls ab inibre Llocat.
alogia, xi, i86 ro. The lament of Ariadnie is pars Bacchum nutrisse putat; pars credidit esse
of course from the Heroides. One final de- Tethyos has neptes, Oceanique senis.
tail, however, Chaulcer did not obtain from Note here Ovid's reference to their splendor,
Ovid. When TheseuLs reached home we are and to their positioin in the constellation of
told (1. 2178 f.) that he Taurtis. Boccaccio similarly in his chapter
(iv, 69 vo) in " Le Hiadi sette figliuole d'At-
fond his fader drenched in the see.
lante, " quoting Ovid to the effectthat they are
This it will be remembered was because " nel fronte del Tatiro locate," goes on after
Theseus forgot his father's fond device re- citing " lTheodontio " and Aniselnmto explaini:
garding the color of the sails. Of this device, " Et prima io istimo essere in questo modo ac-
Chaucer says nothing, although in the line cadtito la loro assuLntioniein cielo, percioche di
quoted he refersto the tragic consequences of ntumerosi coniueniuano con le stelle poste nella
Theseus's forgetfulness. In Ovid, there is fronitedel Tauro: onde cio e stato pigliato da
nothing of this, but Boccaccio describes it (x, quelli, che sapeuaino ii niumero delle figliuole
d'Atlante fauolosamente quelle stelle da
I70 vo): nomi delle douizelle essere noniati: & con
" Di che il padre Egeo da uin'alta torreriguiar- tintiando, di maniera s'e congiunto con le
danido, & ueggendo le insegne nere dubito non0 stelle; che finioal di d'oggi dura."
il figliuolo fosse morto, & per dolore si git/bin And later he explainis, with refereniceto the
mare.'" position of the sun in Virgo,significance of the
One or two notes up)on miniorpoints may be legend of their coninectionwvithBacchus:
added. Skeat gives references to Ovid forthe "che con1 l'umidita sua, onero del segnio,
birds, fishes, and beasts, that the gods have nel quale sonio, stanldo il Sole in Virgo, niella
"istellified," spoken of in the Ilous of Famne, notte diano molto uigore alle niigne il giornio
arse dal Sole."
11. I004-o8. He does not do this for the two
Bears, for which see Fasli, I, 54 f., or for Cas- With this evidenice, it would seem possible
that it was Ovidl anid Boccaccio who iniformed
tor and Pollux, for which see Fasti, I, 705, v,
700. "Atlantes doughtres sevene," Skeat says
Chaucer "of this matere," and that the refer-
are the Pleiades, and refers to Fasti, v, 83. ence is to the Hyades, not the Pleiades.
There is certainly a possibilityof mistake here, At 1. I584 of the HIouis of Famie, Eolus is
for Ovid expressly states (Fasti, iv, I69) that mentionied as beinigfound
in a cave of stoon
but six of the Pleiades were stellified. Is it In a contree that highte Trace.
not, on the whole, more likely that Chaucer's
"The conniection of YEolus with Thrace,"
reference was to the Hyades, who were also
Skeat says in his note, is not obviouLs. Per-
daughters of Atlas, and were also stellified,-
haps Chatucer found his warranitin Boethius,
and all seven of them, not six ? The sugges-
forboth iv, Met. iii:
tion is not an idle one, Ovid and Boc-
caccio have much to say about them. More " Yif thanne the wind that highte Borias,
Chaucer y-sent out of the caves of the contree of
over, we find that when is asked T.1race,beteth this night (that is to seyn, chaseth
wlhetherhe can place these "doughtres sevenie" it a-wey)."
in the heavetns,lhe replies (L. ioI1 ff.)that "it Finally, the temptation is not to be resisted,
is no need," to call attention to certain points of resem-
I leve as wel, so god me spede, blanice betweeni a passage in Boccaccio and
Hem that wryte of this matere, Chaucer's exquisite description ofthe " mighty
As tllough I knew hir places here;
And eek they shynen here so bright, god of love " in the Legend of Good Women,
Hit shulde shenden al my sighte, Prol. B. 11.226 f.
To loke on hem. Y- clothed was this mighty god of love
In silke, enbrouded ful of grene greves,
Now who were they that wrote of this matter? In-with a fretof rede rose-leves,
Compare Ovid, Fasti, v, i65 f. The fresshest sinithe world was firsthigonne.

244
 489 December, I896. MODERN
His gilte heer was corouned with a sonne,
In-stede of gold, forhevinesse and wighte;
Therwith me thoughte his face shoon so brighte
T'hat wet unnethes mighte I him belholde;
And in his hande me thotughteI satughhim holde
Two fyrydartes, as the gledes rede;
And auingellykehis winges saugh I sprede.
And al be that men seyn that blind is he,
Al- gate me thoughte that he mighte wel y-see;
For sternely on me he gaii biholde.
In the firstplace we note that Boccaccio opens
his descriptioni(ix, 148 ro) with an exposition
of the might of the god, " il quale i pazzi (!)
antichi, & moderniiuoglionio, che sia Iddio di
gran potere "-in proof of which he adduces
Seneca's Hippolytus. " Ne quali uersi," he
adds "si diniostra quanto grande sia di lui
potenza," whereupon he adduces other au-
thorities.
The description of the dress the god wore is
undoubtedly, as Skeat points out, taken from
the Romnaunt of the Rose (see the English
version, 1. 89o). It is in the other details of
his appearance that Boccaccio's influenicepos-
sibly appears-anid Apulleius of all people is
the ultimate source. Boccaccio quotes the
famous description in the Golden Ass, where
Psyche looks upon Cupid asleep
" con la clhioma della testa d'oro con la tempie
latee, con le gote purpuree, coii gl' occhi
certulei,con i capelli tuttiintricatiin u11 globo,
& crespi, che qua, & la pendeuanio, & uentil-
laLtaiio .... per gl' homeri d'esso Iddio niol-
atile le piume biancheggiauano di una luce
diuina . . .. "
and so on. Is it not possible that in this un-
blinded god, with his golden hair woven into
the semblance of an aureole, and witlh his
wingsshininig whitewitha divinesplendor,we
can see an adumbrationof the god of Chau-
cer's vision? Chaucerplaces also in hishands
Two fyrydartes, as the gledes rede.
For this, Boccaccio affordsno direct equiva-
lent,but whatat least may have suggestedit.
He qutotesSeneca's Octavia (ix, 148 ro).
Finge 1terrormortal, ch'amor fia uccello
Che * cosi fiero, & dispictato Dio,
Indi le mane di faette gli orna
Con l'arco sacro, & con la cruda face.
and he comments (ix, 149 ro);
"Viene finto portar l'arco; & le faette ....
Si li aggiunge la face, che dimostra gl' incendi
che con fiammacontinuada noia
de gl' animni,
a i prigioneri."
LANGUAGE NOTES. Vol. xi, No. 8. 490
The god who led Alcestis could certainly not
carry bow, arrow, anid torch as well, but
Chaucer caii at least syimbolize the flame with
which he consuimes men's souls by making
his darts themselves of fire.
Here our comparison may end, for though
a number of other passages both in Gower
and Cliaucer exhibit Boccaccio's influence,
the corresponideinceshere nioted are all that
may be readily discovered in the Legend of
Good Women and the Nlous of Famiie. The
mention of this latter poem suiggests a ques-
tion-when will the sources of its third book
be discovered ? That they will be found,
there can be but little doubt. It is trLue there
are those who mainitain somewhat eagerly
that this poem is essenitially Chaticer's own,
that it is his only 'original' work. This view or
method of statemiientis one to be regretted; it
implies that Chaucer lacks originality else-
where. T hat view would seem to be the pref-
erablh one wlhichiEmerson maintained-and
with regard to Chaucer himself-that that man
is trulyoriginal who recreates.
CLARENCE G. CHILD.
Vniversify of Pennsylvania.
SOMIE NEW BOOKS ABOUT SHAKE-
SPEARE.
Die Hainlet Trag?5dieShakespeares VOIiRICH-
ARD LOENING. Stuttgart: Verlag der J.G.
Cotta'sclieni Buchlianidlung, 1893. 8vo, pp.
X, 418.
Shakspere: Fiinf Vorlesungenaus dernNach-
lass von Bernard ten Brink, hrsg. von ED-
UARD SCHRODER. Strassburg: Karl J
Triibner, I893. 8vo, pp. vi, 159.
Shakespeareand His Time: UJnder Elizabeth,
[English Writers,
vol. x.] By HENRY MOR-
LEY. London: Cassell & Co., I893. 8vo,
PP. XV,507.
FiThrendeGeister: Shakspere. Von ALOIS
BRANDL. Dresden: L. Ehlermann, 1894.
8vo, pp. Viii, 232.
Shakespereand His Times: UnderjJanesI.
[English Writers,vol. xi.] By HENRY
MORLEY and W. HALL GRIFFIN. London:
1895. 8vo, PP. xv, 468.
245