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8/10/2019 Emendations and Interpretations in Nonnus' Dionysiaca
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Emendations and Interpretations in Nonnus' DionysiacaAuthor(s): Giuseppe GiangrandeSource: The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 13, No. 1 (May, 1963), pp. 63-74Published by: Cambridge University Presson behalf of The Classical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/637937.
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8/10/2019 Emendations and Interpretations in Nonnus' Dionysiaca
2/13
EMENDATIONS
AND
INTERPRETATIONS
IN NONNUS' DIONYSIACA'
I.
72
ff. The
bull,
swimming
in the sea and
carrying
Europa,
is
compared
to
a
dolphin
proceeding
on the surface of the water
and
conveying
a
Nereid:
co
3'
057E
N)qpEt&WOV-S,
vr7TEpKv4aca
aA,"cracs,
EodV 7 8 Eht
L
xv-njv
aVEKo7TTE
yaA'wv'v,
Kat
otL
E
popzEvq'
AEtfg
E
otvaAE7
EEp,
vopX'vrjs-
dLpa,
mbE'pwv S,'
?Uv
dt/3pOXOv
~zqS
wbluav-q
7TE9%p7-S0
&'
ilsaros
typ~l 6ei-j-q,
KvprCoaras
~d
av-ra,
&Ep7Tv
ovaa
S
n~ovrov
t7TTrvXOS
cpa
KEAEVea aTEypcYc/0Ev
'OV'os
ol'pij*
cog
t-E
raipovt LdEypE,
c-awVo(Evoto
E'-ravpov
j9OVK0'AOS
l'xE'va
oi3Aov
"Epws
I7TELcLUrTtE
EOT7
Kal
volLb7yV
.r.A.
None
of the
emendations
proposed
so
far
(cf.
Ludwich's
apparatus)
is
satis-
factory.
As
Keydell (cf.
his
apparatus)
reminds
us,
Ap.
Rhod.
I.
1205
makes
Nonnus'
C4
,"yE
ntouchable,2
and
thereby
disposes
of all the
conjectures
which would alter
these
words;
consequently,
the
corruption
must be
hiding
in the
impossible
i-aopov.
The iteration
i-aopov
,
-raopos
would in itself, in an
author
like
Nonnus,
not be
impossible,3
but
-ravpov
s
clearly
excluded
by
the
O~~,
which consideration
also eliminates the
possibility
of an
Alternativfassung.4
I
Keydell's
edition of the
Dionysiaca (Ber-
lin,
Weidmann,
1959-60),
an
impressive
monument of
profound
and acute
scholar-
ship, enormously
facilitates the task of
the
textual
critic
studying
Nonnus.
Without
its
help,
the
present
conamina ould
hardly
have
been
Written.
2
It is
also
to
be
noted that (0
o"y
is the
formula used
by
Nonnus in his
similes,
in
correspondence
to
s
8'
0"E:
cf., e.g.,
I.
310-
19,
2.
11-18,
20.
333-41,
22.
171-8.
The
formal
aspects
of
Nonnus' similes are treated
by
G.
Wild,
Die
Vergleiche
ei
Nonnus
(Prgr.
Regensburg, 1886), pp.
8i
f.
3
We
should,
however,
rather
expect
,raipov
~
ravpoS
to
appear
in
two
subsequent
lines,
like,
e.g.,
3.
313-14:
cf.
Koechly's
own
suggestion,
in
his
Commentarius
riticus,
ad
loc.
On
Nonnus'
iterations
cf.
F.
Schiller,
De
Iteratione
Nonniana
(Diss.
Breslau,
I909),and now R.
Keydell,
'Wortwiederholung
bei
Nonnos',
Byz.
Zeitschr.
xlvi
(1953),
I
ff.
4 Thanks in
particular
to
Keydell's
labours,
it is now
clear
that Nonnus'
poem,
which
the
author
wrote
'rasch
und
leicht-
fertig'
(Keydell,
R.E. s.v.
Nonnos,
col.
910o),
which is
in
parts merely
a
'Konglomerat
von
Bruchstficken'
(Keydell,
Burs.
Jahresber.
ccxxx.
104)
and which
was
left without the
finishing
touches and
published
pos-
thumously
(as
every
peruser
of
Keydell's
apparatus
can now
easily
see:
cf., e.g.,
I
I.
431
or
29. 278
for the
posthumous
publication,
and
I1.
406
ff.
for a
specimen
of
'narratio
incohata et
incondita')
contains
numerous
Alternativfassungen:
f.,
for
example, Keydell's
apparatus
on 8.
61-77,
22.
320-53, 384 f.,
23.
139-41, 233
a,
25. 308,
26.
151, 36.
104-5.
What
seems to
have
remained un-
noticed
is
that
such
Alternativfassungen
re
not confined to
couples
of
lines
or
groups
of
lines,
but are also
present,
in
the
form of
hemistichs,
within
one
line,
which
is
entirely
natural,
if we
consider the
poet's
Arbeitsweise
and the
essentially
formulaic nature of his
language. Nothing
would
be easier
than
to
emend,
by drawing
from
Nonnus
himself
metrically
suitable
alternatives,
lines
such
as
5- 308,
8.
286,
or
12.
364:
such
duplicate
expressions
of
the
same idea
jotted
down
by
Nonnus,
which
the
author
would
have
eliminated
if
he had
been able to
give
a
final
revision
to
his
work,
should
be
left
alone
by
anybody
other
than the
poet.
In
such
lines,
the
first hemistich
represents
a
pentimento
replaced by
the
second
one,
but
not
yet
cor-
rected
by
the
author,
precisely
as,
in
the case
of
alternative
lines,
both
Alternativfassungen
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8/10/2019 Emendations and Interpretations in Nonnus' Dionysiaca
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64
GIUSEPPE
GIANGRANDE
Since
dElpw,
n
Nonnus'
usage,
can mean
lift
or
carry,
he critics
have assumed
one
or other of these
meanings
for their
emendations.
Hermann
thought
of
-rapoav
d
EpE (cf.
lines
93
and
105;
cf.
also
54,
ovve,
and
9g, -raXayovvov;
cf. also 4. 381), but this detail could hardly apply in the
comparison
with the
legless dolphin.
Better
is
Ludwich's
vw--rov
(cf.
line
56);
but
this
conjecture
is
palaeographically unconvincing,
and
dElpw
lift',
if
con-
venient to
a
leg,
would not be
appropriate
to the back of
an
animal
in
the
act
of
swimming,
unlike
KVUp0W
round',
which
is indeed used
by
Nonnus
in
line
77
(cf. e.g.
26.
254);
in
any
case,
the
counterpart,
in
the
simile,
of
KvprcLau
...
vara
is
already
expressed
by
-rtratvozdvov,'
whereby
vacrov
dELEpa
ould be an
idle
duplicate.
The
comparisonz
s
between two
swimming
animals,
each of
which
is
carrying
a
girl
on
its
back: therefore there
is
no doubt
that
aEtpE,
n
its
context under
discussion,must mean carried3nd refer to Europa.
dELpE,
n the simile, clearly
corresponds
to
ol de pozdvqs-
n
line
74:
cf.
also
dELpojLEv
yvvat-Ka
n
line
63.4
This
value
of
dELpE
s
also
confirmed
by
16.
52
ff. and 88 ff.
Such
a
con-
sideration,
correct
in
itself,
has
guided
the
attempts
made
by
most
editors.
Grife
proposed
CS
'jyE
aopos
dELpE,
which would alter the inviolable
y5E;
Cunaeus'6
gyE
7
rjv p~v
LEk'
would,
amongst
other
things,
introduce
an
un-
wanted
&dv
nto the
text,
whilst
his
second
attempt
J
yE7
77v
dvELpE,
ccepted
by
Koechly,
would force into the line an
dv~EpE
which,
if
appropriate
n
I.
53,
would
be
out
of
place
here.
Keydell's
c~s
O'y
qdprov
aELEp
s
much
better
(cf.
line
90o;
cf. also
8.
359, 9.
20,
i6. 396,
25.
418, 41. 239),
but
raises insur-
mountable
palaeographical
difficulties,
so
much
so that
the critic
relegates
it
to his
apparatus.
were left
coexisting
by
the writer. For
in-
stance,
Nonnus started
8.
286
with
Kal
. ..
papdOvoo,
but elected to
end
the line
with
the
same
formula
as
in
19.
I,
which
procedure
implies
the
removal of
flap5Ovposq
(by
PapVpqLvis,
cf. 8.
69? flapi58Eapos
?
Papv'coposo?:
cf.
Koechly
and
Ludwich,
ad
loc.:
any
of
these
perfectly
Nonnian
alternatives would do, but only Nonnus
should be
allowed
the
choice,
not
the
modern
textual
critics ).
Methodologically
funda-
mental
Pasquali,
St.
Tradiz.2,
pp.
4o0f1f.
I
Rouse
translates 'while the bull
stretched',
but the
stretching metaphor
is
taken
by
Nonnus
from Homer's
rd7a
TrTralvov,
i.e.
implies
the
idea
of
bending:
cf. line
52,
KcXaAaatILAa
w-a
aTralwvov
'bending
his
back,
which
was
previously
unbent'
(like
a
loosened
bow,
cf.
Homer's
fltdv, -rda
XaAdow).
Very
clear
is,
in this
respect,
5.
150f.
2
Nonnus' simile was, in all probability,
inspired
by
Moschus,
Eur.
1i9
(+
11
7
S e g i s ~ ~
I 2 5
3
For
this
reason
yaipov
'ELpE,
which
I
wanted
to
restore,
referring
yaipov
to
the
bull's
lifted
tail,
is
impossible.
It
is
true
that,
when
bulls
swim,
their
tails,
normally hang-
ing
downwards,
vertically,
move
upwards
and
remain
horizontal,
stretched
out
in
their
erected
position
on
the surface of the
water;
it
is
true
that
Nonnus
was
fond of
describing
outstretched
tails
(cf.
42.
190
ff.,
where a
TraOpos
lifts
the
tail
straight
over
his
back'
[Rouse], 23.
206
f.,
where a
Satyr
lKpLaAqv
LE
AE v3a70oStS
pOtov
03pqv;
cf.
also
5.
I85,
1o.
168,
270 [where
JpOtos
pro-
bably
means,
as
an
epitheton
ornans,
'(previously)
erected',
cf.
De
Marcellus'
rendering 'au lieu de se dresser'], 14. 178,
28.
226);
it is
true that Nonnus
was
fond
of
the
formula
yai-pov
LaEpe
cf. 7.
353,
8.
376,
9.
207, 13.
126,
256,
19. 318):
but,
apart
from
the fact
that,
as
has
just
been
observed,
aEpe
in the line which we
are
examining
must
mean
'carried',
it is to be
noted
that,
in
the
formula
yai-pov
de~pe,
the
adjective
yaipov
is
always
accompanied
by
a substan-
tive
(axE'va
;
cf.
for
variant
formulae,
17.
II
I,
19,
274,
20.
401,
22.
73,
24.
299,
where the
adjective
is
accompanied by
a
noun;
cf. also
I. 384,
11-
57, 20. 51), whereas in I. 79 one
would have
to
supply
oz3p'-v
rom
the
pre-
ceding
line,
which
proceeding
would
be
unusual and
strained,
as
has
been
pointed
out to
me.
4
Cf. also
53,
E3pcrroqv
ava~rpe
(where
Nonnus,
to
avoid
any ambiguity,
uses the
compound
doaicLp
to
express
the notion
of
lifting).
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8/10/2019 Emendations and Interpretations in Nonnus' Dionysiaca
4/13
EMENDATIONS
IN NONNUS'
DIONTSIACA
65
Keydell's
conjecture,
however,
shows
us
the
way
to the
restoration
of
the
line.
The
bull
is
compared
by
Nonnus
to a
ship:
the
poet
insists,
as is his
habit,
on this
metaphor:
from
vav-rAAEro
n
line
56
down
to
IropOLLE&ETo
n
line 137 the nautical terms are used in abundance. What interests us now
is to
note
that
the bull himself
is called
cAKd83a'
line 66)
and
X(E'Opova
'-a
(line
91).
Now,
we know
that Nonnus
was
exceedingly
fond of
repeating
the
same idea
by
means of
synonyms
cumulated
in
the same
passage:
since
he has
used
JAKas
nd
vaos,
considering
that the
bull-barge
came from the
Phoenician
shore,
as Nonnus
himself
reminds us
(i.
46
Z'Sowv1ls
..
rr)'
jdvos;
cf.
also
3-
323-4),
we shall
read
co9
oEy
yaiAoso
aacEp.
K.T.A.Z
In
the formula
S
3ye ya0Aos,
the
0ye
is
accompanied
by
a
substantive,
ya0Aos,
as, for example, in 5. 150 (7s 4E4...pt'ds) or in 29.
174
(J~s
~ye
KO/O2S).
There are
no
palaeographical
difficulties
impeding
our emendation:
con-
fusion between
y
and
-,
A
and
p
is
very
frequent;
in
lavAv,
the
suprascript
sign
for
-os
was misread as the
one
for
-ov,
i.e.
'
or
".3
Nonnus knew Callimachus
particularly
well
and
very
often
echoed
him,
not
seldom
reviving
Callimachean words:
there is
little doubt
that he drew
the
word
ya3Aos
rom
Callim.,
fr.
384-
50
Pf:4
KvTrpo'OE
8VtO's5
LE
Ka~-7yayev EGvcdSe aAoso.
I
The
dJAKcas
eing afreight-ship,
one
would
be
tempted
to emend
-raGpov
nto
vav^Aov
=
cargo:
but
this
meaning
is
only
attested
in
Dem.
32.
2
(cf. L.S.J.,
s.v.
vav^Aos,
I)
and
it is
unlikely
that
Nonnus
might
have
re-
vived
it:
in his own
times,
as we can
see
from
Preisigke,
Worterb.
ii,
Abschn.
II,
s.v.
vaAoso,
the word
only
meant
fare,
passage-
money.
There
are
no
certain
attestations
of
vaAos
in
Epic:
Hermann
conjectured
aIveaLS
vavAoLo
in
Orph.
Arg.I
139
=
1'44,
but
his
emendation, accepted by Abel, is rejected
by
Dottin,
who
maintains
the
manuscript
reading
A',s
vavs
t'a.
2
The
motif
yaiAos
g
-ravpov
n
line
79
is
a
direct echo
of
JKcd5a
afpov
in line
66.
In
the
formula
JSO
TYE,
the
Y,
'orationem
continuat'
(cf.
Ebeling,
Lex.
Homer.,
s.v.
yed,
p.
248):
in
other
words,
"y~ yaAv^os
means
'that,
the
above-mentionedSidonian
dAKds'
(men-
tioned in line
66),
and
resumes the narration
interrupted by
s
5''Te
in line
72;
the
object
to
cLEpe,
i.e.
'her',
is
easily
understood
in so
far as made obvious by the context to which
the
O~E
refers
(cf.,
e.g., KOVP77 5,
y9vvaLa
63,
vVt'114'
66).
The omission
of
the
pro-
nominal
accusative of
the
3rd
person
(in
this
case
a-r'4v)
is
meant
to
be
a
Homerism,
cf.
in
particular
Kriiger,
Griech.
Sprachl.
ii.
2
(Berlin,
187),
?
61.
7,
Anm.
I
(=
p.
134):
'sehr
ausgedehnt
ist
...
bei
Homer
die
Ergainzung
eines
obliquen
Casus des
person-
lichen
Pronomens,
besonders der dritten
Person.'
The
best
treatment
of this
point
is
in
Naegelsbach,
Anmerkungen
ur
Ilias,
nebst
Excursen ..
(Niirnberg, 18341),
PP 311
ff.
(=
Excurs
xviii).
The
object
of
aELEtp
s
as clear
as,
for
example,
the
object
of
Aov^aav
and
,aAvbQav
n
II.
18.
350
ff.
3
On
the
suprascript
semicircle
=
os cf.
Allen,
Notes
on
Abbrev.,
pp. 20of.,
with
Plate
VI.
An
even
better
palaeographical
explanation
is
suggested
to
me
by
Prof.
Dover: the suprascript circle, usually em-
ployed
to denote
os,
was sometimes used to
denote
ov,
cf.
Bast,
Comm.
Pal.,
pp. 770
ff.
4
The
Phoenician
yav^ios
is a merchant-
vessel,
an
dJAKs:
Europa's
brother, Cadmos,
evidently
used such a
type
of
JAKd,
cf. 4.
226
ff.,
esp.
242,
dAKcdaZ'ov'
v).
s
Cf.
also
Epich.,
fr.
54
Kaib.
yavAotatv
iv
0otVt
o
a
v.
Nonnus'
epithet
ZLov477.
(I.
46)
is,
in
all
probability,
directly
inspired
by
Callimachus'
Zt6vtos.
In conclusion:
having already
said
that
the
bull came
from
Sidon (r. 46) and that he was an JAKcs
(I.
66),
and the
reader
having
been
thus
pre-
pared,
Nonnus calls
the bull
yavAos,
which
was a
Z'tov-q7
dAKcds
4.
242).
Noteworthy
are
the
corresponding descriptive
features
of
the
two
JAKa'c5E
7
TEALov
oXe I.
68
=
7reaA.lp
rrapE/I'LLvEv
.
233;
a'pq pogs...
KdArrTwoa
.
69
f.
(the sail)
=
4.
228
KdA7rrTWa
htaLor ogryr7.
F
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66
GIUSEPPE
GIANGRANDE
8.
196
ff. Semele
tries
to
hide
her
pregnancy,
but her
pallor
makes
her
state obvious to suspecting Hera:
EVoa
GOEXEwv 7o0To8oAo7TAdK"OS'EP
&
KOVpy7V
flpdo0pEVv
3
V~w rToevoITVO
LEv
70KETOCO0
Kat
IdOKOV,
OaOVT7a
TEAEUOrcyOVOLO
7EX'V77S,
yacarpdoa7p7a
v-rov
XAoEp'7
'pV~VE
TapEt'
Kal
XAdo'ts
t?'Vo
TW4V LLEAEWVTcpOS'O~dvlS
E
K.r.A.
What
does
yaarps
da7ryL7dvrov
ean? Rouse misunderstands
he
adjective
(on
whose
meaning
n Nonnuscf.
L.S.J.,
s.v.,
as
quoted
below)
by
rendering
'a
pale
cheekand the
pallor
of limbs
..
told
of a
womb
no
onger
ealed
italics
mine).
De
Marcellus's
nterpretation
f
do4qdvrov
s correct
iterally
'bien
que
sa
taille
n'en
presente
aucun
indice',
sc.
of
her
state),
but not
factually:
Semele's
yaa'r'p
must,in itself,have presented lear indications f the girl's
pregnancy
cf.,
e.g.,
lines
7, 13,
31;
she
is
called
flpt~Goe6rqv
n
line
197),
although
the
time for
the birth
had not arrived
yet.
How,
then,
could
the
yaoar'p
be
c
ravoros?
This
logical difficulty
is
coupled
with a textual
one:
on
the
difficulty
of
supplying
EA'CJ
with
an
appropriate
epithet
cf.
Ludwich's
apparatus.
The word
which eliminates
both obstacles when restored into the text is
daKE7rrwV
(cf.
22.
214,
34. 336, 46. 279, 48.
116, 118,
655).
Whether
peAE'd
means
here 'limbs'
or,
as
I think
more
probable, 'body' (cf., e.g.,
22.
48
XAoE-
pots
p(.EE'Eaac
'green
bodies' of
birds,
or
23.
Io6
otlaAoLs
LpEAE'Ea
'swollen
bodies'),
the sense is clear: Semele hid her
pregnancy by covering
with clothes
her
previously
uncovered
body,
but
the
pallor
of
those
parts
of
her
body
which
remained unclad
(face,
neck,
arms) gave
her
away.
JUKETrrwEv
s
a direct allusion
to
7.
215
ff.,
where
Nonnus dilates on how beautiful
the
yvzyvv
...
.S'ag
KOvprls
was:
cf.
in
particular
262
drKE7EO~s
...
KoVprlT.'
In
conclusion:
Semele's
yaorrp
was
durav-ros,
i.e.
'giving
no
sign',
because covered with clothes
and therefore 'unseen':
on
this
Nonnian
meaning
of
the
adjective
cf.
L.S.J.,
s.v.
domIL/avros,
II.
2.
On
the
pallor,
cf.
especially
48.
766.
I
I.
63
ff.
Ampelos
tries to imitate
and
outdo
Dionysus: amongst
other
things,
opEo'o'av
'
~V&p
TropaAlcwvIO6JaKXov
.
.
.Tevcwv
Aar-pa
tyAaVKaor
tcAOKOrT(PE'rWV
hIEt'Tvve
rrlTapyVXa
pwV.
rf lEaV
pEardoS
o,,S
Efl/7(.LEvoS pKTOv
qp
7
eyoLyoV7LlAoavpqv
dVE'aeLpacc
arYv
8'
Ac
EOvIE-r77V
Aauii'V TTEb aaTtEE-tpcjV,
&A"-oTE,
art&AE'awvo
r77kE'V0os'
50,b
VcA'M-wV,
~T7E(L9?7)S
cLXcLtVOV
~ETEpITETO 7vypw
EAcWW.
For
the
corrupt
yAavKd
Gratfe
suggested,
hesitatingly,
yacpa;
with
greater
enthusiasm all the subsequenteditors have admitted this conjecture into the
text.
ya-pa,
if
accepted,
would
clearly
be used
in
enallage,
a
procedure
in
itself
very
dear
to
Nonnus: the
ralyva,
that
is,
were
aPa pa
because
Ampelos
was
proud
of
having
outdone
Dionysus by
riding
on the
backs of various
beasts,
which is more difficult than to ride
sitting
in a
chariot: the
situationswould
be similar to
57,
where
Ampelos
is
described
...
a~dXvaacpov
EXWV
rrocal/7L
licv7K.
The
motif is the
same
as,
e.g.,
at
5. 609
f.:
daKELrrCTo
.
.
Aov
eSo&..
.
HIpae9overs.
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EMENDATIONS IN NONNUS'
DIONYSIACA
67
Yet,
if
we
look
more
closely
into
the
matter,
yaipa
makes
us not
quite happy
because
it would be
here
in
contrast
with
the usus
auctoris: he
adjective
yaopos
is
employed by
Nonnus,
as a
rule,
with
reference
to a
part
of
the
body.'
The context, as very often happens with Nonnus, helps us to understand
the
passage
and to correct the
line
accordingly:
the
poet
wrote,
in
all
prob-
ability,
5ava
,otAo'Ko7TE'AWov
E&L'KEVVE
ralyvLa
07]pWV.
The
enallage
is
clarified,
with
typically
Nonnian
insistence,
ad abundantiam:
the
ralywva
were
savAd,
hairy,z
because
Ampelos
rode
e
poil,
which is much
more difficult
than if
using
reins
and
saddle:
this is
emphasized by
Ao
nbtg
('craggy
back',
Rouse),
dveaEtpaLE Xat'lrqv
(i.e. using
it as
reins;
cf.,
on
avauEtpdatw
of
riders, Thes.,
s.v.),
8aLSaAE'ov
60't0 vcrcowv
i.e. directly
on the
dappled coat of the animal), xdAwtvov.
The
corruption
yAavKd
is
possibly
a
Verschlimmbesserung
risen when
AavAa
was
disfigured
into
AavKa.
12.
19
f.
The Hours are
the servants
of Helios:
tovyewt yap,
avxEva8oOAovKaJLbav&
ov
vo?W'O7ptKO~lUOU.
Canter
proposed
'Dyvylp,
which is
rightly rejected
by
Keydell.
In
order
to restore
the
mot
uste
we
must
remember
that
Nonnus,
like other
Alexandrian
and post-Alexandrian epic poets, was fond of using adjectivally adjectives
which
had
crystallized
as
proper
names: for
instance,
the
personal
name
"Poc7naS
appears
as the
adjective
o~oThrvts
t
Io.
176,
33-.
9,
etc.
To remain
within
the
semantic
sphere
pertaining
to
Helios, cf.,
e.g.,
Eba~qj,
(5.
I74,
8. I
I,
etc.;
on
the
name
Ec~rqjds-
f.
Pape-Benseler, s.v.)
or
darpatos
(I.
191,
8.
388,
etc.:
on
the name
'A4rpatoS
f.
Pape-Benseler, s.v.).
It
must
in
particular
be
noted that this
process
is not
limited
to
personal
names,
but
is
also
extended
to
place-names:
for
instance,
the
place-name
Ho70aETLov
(on
which
cf.
Pape-
Benseler,
s.v.)
appears
as an
adjective
Tro3EL&7F'o7,
.g.
at
I
1.
144, 14- 40,
43-
289, etc.;
the same
treatment
was
given
to names of
instruments,
etc.:
for
instance,
Tr
AaywofldAov
as
become
an
adjective
at
15.
171,
16.
14, 33.
126,
etc.
In
the line under
discussion,
Nonnus used
adjectivally
the Homeric
place-
name
A'yEtal;3
he
wrote,
therefore,
avyEtc
yap
avlyEva
8oDAov
Ka'Ka?uav
.T.
The
diaeresis
still
preserved
in
the
manuscripts
was
necessary
to
avoid the
spondaic
hexameter,
which
Nonnus
abhors:4
cf.,
for
cases of
E~,
e.g.
12.
125,
17.
370, 30.
299,
303;
for
the
exitus
of
our
hexameter,
cf.
7.
207,
dyAuat'
ydp.
We have already noted the formula
a3xdva
yavpov;
cf. 6.
189
(the
tooth
is,
of
course,
a
metaphorical one).
Nonnus'
formula
adxva
yaipov daLpe
was
obviously
inspired
by Ap.
Rh.
Arg.
4.
i6o6.
2
The
adjective
3avAo's,
hairy,
occurs in
Nonnus,
e.g.
6.
I6o.
3
The
opposite process
was
perhaps
fol-
lowed
by
Nonnus when
coining
the name
Av4y'"
(from
the
adjective a4'yqs).
I
had
at
first thought of the adjectival form atydet
as
being
derived from the Homeric
per-
sonal
name
A;ydE177,
ao,
but the
deriva-
tion would be
made more
complicated by
the difference in
declension,
as
Prof. Dover
rightly objected
to me.
4
Cf.
Keydell's
Praefatio
to his
edition,
p.
37:
'Versus
spondiaci
qui
dicuntur,
apud
N.
non
reperiuntur.'
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68
GIUSEPPE
GIANGRANDE
I7. 335
ff.
Dionysus' army fights
with
vegetable weapons (a
motif
frequently
repeated
by
Nonnus):
cf.
320
dKOvT71OV
KopV1Opt
L,
323
8pvdEV7tL
pp,I
324
Xeyi
florpvodEVL
cf.
25.
96
EyXE"
LET7jEvrL;
28.
241
EyXE8SEvP7)EvrL)
and-a line particularlyimportant for our purposes-265
dlvOEifl
rpvd6Evr.
Against
the
volleys
of these
weapons,
the Indians have no defence:
..
tav8oKdooL2
8
SVEJLEVE'ES AoETrotTLL
KcTEKTELVOVTOV
7TT7OLS.
For the
victims of such
vegetable
missiles no
fitting
epithet
has been
found
so
far to
replace
the
corrupt
reading.
I
submit
that Nonnus
wrote
...
dvOOKOLOL
e
K.T.A.
avOOKd/OS,
'decked
with
flowers',
is not unknown to the
poet
:3
the
flowers in
question
are,
in
our
context,
the lethal
idvEa
florpvdvra
mentioned
in
line
265
(cf.
also
30.
14
VE6dEO7VTLEAE/LVp).
21.
49
f. Ambrosia
has
changed
herself
into
a
vine-shoot
(30-31),
oTap'rV
'
av'roeCLKrov
7rL7rAE6aua
vKo'pyp
dyXoco'
go'77KOwEEV oIJwo?vyov V'Eva
&LEt/cW.
She
tells her
victim:
8,EO
/E
XEPeaI7V
vXEv
ltqa,
8E1o
7rT
Acwv
thAvro7Trdvt
dcl'&8pov
ptura/nAoto
KUVOLLOV_.
What lurks
in
the
impossible
AvrorEwdv
4
Falkenburg proposed
yvorVd&Tv,
which would seem, at first sight, to be supported by
36.
365
f.:
yvMowrdSv
8'
da''s&lpov
TE'ITAEKE
S
vyt
7rapr&
Ka
'
7ro'as
Eppl.wrEV
K.T.A.
(cf.
also
383:
yvtord7Tv
E?V/orpVV
K.T.A.)
and
also
by
13.
488:
yvLord&rv
lrnpov
XV
7TrowogropL
t/OI
.
Wakefield,s
or
palaeographical
reasons,
proposed
azrord&Wv,
hich has
been
accepted by
all
the
editors.
Falkenburg's
emendation,
yvtord&Sv,
s
not
appro-
priate,
because,
whereas
in
36. 365 (cf.
rapao3)
and
in
13.
488
ff.
(cf. 496
rapEdv)
the
yvtords7
is
clearly
visualized as a fetter
(a metaphorical
one
in
Changed
o
PEAElW
y Koechly,
but
unnecessarily:
for such
metaphors,
not
limitedto
weapons,
f.,
e.g.,
atSrpea
Aq4ta
28.
298, SaEvp7)EV'0O
KVUOLqLO
1.
149,
roMALp pvUOEVTL
21.
90,
UvraATcLSpaX'4ova
21.
41.
2
Or
alSOKdLOL;
on
the
reading
in the
archetypus
cf.
Keydell's
apparatus.
3
Cf.,
e.g.,
5. 27.
At
7.
194
(avOoKdL5..
.
flE'Alvw)
the
epithet
dvOOKdLO'I
refers
to the
arrow
decked,
covered with
ivy
(cf.
7.
132).
For other
attestations of the
adjective
in
Nonnus
cf.,
e.g.,
8.
9, 17.
20,
38. 174.
4
For
one
moment
we are
tempted
to
save
Avrro-
n our
emendation,
because of
the
possibility
of an
etymological
allusion made
by
Nonnus to
dAVKTO7TrE'.
But the
expected
etymology
(Nonnus
is
exceedingly
fond
of
them)
is
already given
in
line
38
(hAv'roTS
TreroIg
=
dAVUKTOr7T-,f8l
7rrrjAV
line
56);
besides,
the
sense would not
justify
the
absence of
a-
('dissoluble'
is
clearly
not re-
quired
by
the
context),
and
A6
would not
scan. Cf.
Ludwich's
apparatus.
s
Silva
Critica,
Pars
Quarta
(Cambridge,
1793),
PP-
47
ff.
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EMENDATIONS IN NONNUS'
DIONYSIACA
69
13.
488) chaining
the feet
of
its
victims,'
in
our
passage,
as
Nonnus
em-
phasizes,
the vine-shoot
is
specifically
choking
Lykourgos:
this
point
is
insisted
upon
by
the
poet,
who,
after
making
the
situation clear in
the
above-mentioned
lines
31-32,
harps on the theme: cf. line 38:
d?..
rot orE
Eptao
t
ocpJt
7TE-IrA
and
line
62:
va rpova
t-rpOE'vTa
pe`oV
7TVLKTr7p
oplCJP
p.2
avrowrrr,
as
a
conjecture,
is
unconvincing:
not so
much
because
the word
is not
attested,3
as
rather because
it
would
be
in
disagreement
with its
own
context.
In
-rrESrl-formations
he first
component normally
denotes the
limb,
or
part
of
the
body,
immobilized
by
the instrument
(cf. dp0poriSdr, vtorrd`Sq,Epatorrid&,
UKEAo7re8rl,XELpovre`8r).
ess
frequently,
the
first
component
denotes the
material out
of which
the
rTe`&q
s
made
(evAolre`8l, acSrlpo7rrerl).
Wakefield
tried to
defend
his
conjecture by
quoting
various
formations con-
taining ai7ro-
+
a
nominal
second
component
(aTroaKaiTavEvls
airo'po
os,
a17drvAog),
but
it
is
evident
that,
if
a'
rordE
existed,
or had
been
coined
by
Nonnus,
the
compound
could
only
belong4
to
the same
type
as
a7roarKa7ravEdg,
in
other
words,
mean
'perfect,
ideal,
very
rrdl8-'.s
But
Ambrosia,
disguised
as a
vine-shoot,
is
simply
not
acting
as a
'perfect
fetter',
'ideal shackle':
Lykourgos'
feet
and arms
are left
undisturbed,
only
his
neckbeing enveloped.
All our considerations
lead
us to
restore
Aat~0od7rY6
l?
&rpov
K.7.A.
The
epithet
daalupos
could
perhaps
be
explained by
the fact that
the
simplest
(and cheapest,
therefore
most
frequent
even
today,
in
poor
and not
dog-loving
countries)
Aat/oire`&8
or
dogs
is an iron chain
(cf.
line
30
aep'v)
;7
Nonnus
may
have been
thinking
of
the
type
of
AaqpLored'&
escribed
in
Thes.,
s.v.,
which
was,
on
its
external,
visible
side,
covered
with iron
nails
all
round;
the most
prob-
able
explanation
is
that
Lykourgos
s
threatened
with
enslavement8and
there-
fore equipped with an iron collar (cf. R.E. and Dar.-Saglio, s.v. Collare): or
the
moment,
however,
the
vegetable
one
will
do.
In
36. 360
if.
the
yvtovreSr-metaphor
s,
of
course,
limited
to
line
365:
the
plant
is
elsewhere
described
as
enveloping
gAov
davpa
363;
cf. line
360,
atL7repL7rAey'yqv),
including, obviously,
his
throat
(line 375).
2
Cf.
also
lines
59
(dvOEpetOva)
nd
60o
(&arapdyoco).
3
This is an
almost
nvariably
atal
objec-
tion to
a
conjecture.
4
In
the
type
a'rdo'@vAos
cf.
azvroca77]poS,
ardAToOos)
the
component
azro-
has the
value indicated n
L.S.J.,
s.v.
aro'ds,
.
7,
and
the
second
component
denotes the material
out
of which
something
s
made
(this
could
hardly
apply
to
-485q);
these
compounds
are,
in
any
case,
adjectival,
as
are those of
the
type
a''dpocog
(cf.
azrd'a-r7yo.,aro-
Ot'eOAos).
s
This
type (cf.
ao70aKa7ravev'T
very
digger'
L.S.J.;
excellently
translated
by
Benner
and
Forbes 'a
regular
trench-digger')
seems
to
have
become
fairly
popular
in
later
prose
(e.g.
a'TroKEprK&s)
robably
owing
to
the in-
fluence of
philosophical
language
(cf., e.g.,
avTorpyiwvov,
ardorwTos,ar07dEoS).
6
The
component
Aaqzo-
was
introduced
into
epic by
an
author well known to Nonnus,
Apollonius
Rhodius
(on
AaL1Cotro=dw
cf.
Boesch,
De
Ap.
Rh.
Elocut.
[Diss.
Berlin,
90o8],
pp.
6
f.).
7
This
explanation,
however,
would
be
con-
tradicted
by
lines
37-38
(aLtp-7
XaAKKECr
)
;
cf.,
on the
other
hand,
15.
133
ff-
8
Cf.,
e.g.,
for
such threats or
wishes
(it
all
depends
on
who
is
uttering
them), 33.
252
f.,
36. 466
ff.
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8/10/2019 Emendations and Interpretations in Nonnus' Dionysiaca
10/13
EMENDATIONS
IN
NONNUS'
DIONTSIACA
71
Iliad
and
the
Dionysiaca,
he
stepping
person,
it will
be
noted,
is a
god,
and
the
substantive
tXvov governs
a
genitive
(dardcvroS,
7raAtvvaydov).
Nonnus'
style
is
so
full of
metaphors
and recherch6
expressions
that not
the
least important task of a critic is the properunderstandingof the text, in other
words,
the
defence
of
readings
which at
first
sight might
seem
corrupt.
From
this
point
of view also
Keydell
has deserved
particularly
well of
the
poet;
several
apparently
corrupt (but
in
reality perfectly
sound) readings
I
have
defended
in
my forthcoming
monograph
Studies
n the
Language
f
Nonnus.
I
should
like now to contribute
a few more
cases.
At 8.
136
f.:
o3
1Javd
raplavE
r
Eu5EpOv
E'"tLOS
ZEV,
aAAa
Ut&7poodpoLo
pe-rafp?7yLFa
tpEdAOpov
K.T.A.
Keydell
has
changed
aUL~tpo0dpoLo
o
at%7qpopdooto,
following
in
Grife's
foot-
steps:
the
latter,
at
47. 543
f.,
...
XaAKoOdpoU
U
tvLY
O
TrapOEvE-voS,
OT17
aYcJS.0.T.
changed
XaAKocdpov
into
XaAKopd
ov.
Yet
the
two
readings
aL&qrpo
p
o to
and
XaAKo
dpo
v
support
each other
and invite us to
pause
before
jumping
to the emendation
of not one isolated
instance, but two.
The
adjective
aut5po0dpos,
in
Nonnus,
means
literally
'carrying
iron';
but
the notion
of
'carrying
on
top, having
on
top
>
be
covered
with' does
prevail
and
is
always
made
clear
and more
specific
by
the
context,
or the
substantive
to
which the
adjective
refers.
At
17.
278
ar qpoqdpwv
a
rparv
'Iv(3rv
means
'iron-clad',
i.e. 'covered
with
an iron
armour',
s
is
clear
from
the
context
;Z
at
5.
97
a&l7po
dpov
. .
.
Kap
vov
means 'with
iron on
top',
i.e.
'topped
with
an iron
helmet',
as is evident from
Kap-vov;
at
46.
2
cLrs
pobdp'wv
. .
.
XELip
the
meaning
is 'covered with
iron
chains',
as is obvious
from
the
adjacent
8
o~EbLoo;3
the
adjective
XaAKoOdpog,
s
is
appropriately
noted
in
L.S.J.,
means, in 14. 343, 'tipped with copper'. From the above considerations it
follows
that
ac~tpodo'poLo
and
XaAKoqdpov
certainly
mean
what Grafe and
Key-
dell
want
them
to,
but
must
be left
untouched:
'with
iron
(copper)
on
top',
'topped
with iron
(copper)'
means
here
'with a
roof
of
iron,
copper',
as is
made obvious
by
the
context,
and
in
particular by
the
substantives,
p~EAOdpov
and
7rap6EvEihvos,
which make
the
meaning
of the
adjectives
more
specific,
precisely
as
oapa-dv,
Kapljvov,
etc.,
do in the
examples
just
quoted.
At
11. 209
ff.
Ampelos,
who
has
lost
control of the bull he
is
riding,
says
to
the animal
Et
EY
c'voxpla
KEpao"
opov
79vLOXEVELS
ELKEOV ELEOS
.oT(
q
T,
-ravpwTT
tLOpqo
K.7.A.
Sitzungsber.
d.
Bayer.
Akad. d.
Wiss.,
Philos.-
philol.
KI.,
Jahrg.
I919,
Abh.
7, p. 35.
For
Lxvo-
=
step
in
Nonnus
cf.,
e.g.,
2.
693, 3.
54.-
L~LV
=
step
in Metab. 8.
36.
1
The
sedes of
Edcatovaa,
n
21.
286,
is
the
same as
in
42. 227.
2
Cf.
aS-&qpox&rwv
and
xaAKoxtrwv,
both
often used
by
Nonnus.
3
In
Metab.
I9.
73
casL7podO'pcOV
ydtcwv,
the
adjective
describes those
yo'#dom
which
have a
very large
iron
head.
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72
GIUSEPPE GIANGRANDE
The
vLOXEVELS
has been
unjustly suspected:
the
etymological
bisticcio
(of
the
type quis
custodiet
ustodes) ives
a
perfectly
good meaning,
i.e. 'if
you
drive
your
driver',
in the sense that the bull is
taking
whichever course he
likes,
and
therefore eading (not being led by) the would-be driverAmpelos.The bisticcio,
in
the
rhetorically
elaborate
speech
given
by
the
boy,
is
prepared by
i1.
142,
149,
170o,
and
203;
cf.,
for a
totally analogous
etymological game,
8.
257
(cf.
also
5. 325
017Pp--P
rpocdwyv
O-qp
'?opas
and 28.
16o
'Aaqp
. ..
.AaTr7pa
KLX'-aas).
In
the
particular
case
under
discussion,
the
bisticcio
s
especially
felicitous be-
cause,
as Nonnus
emphasizes
with
KEpaordopov
and
with the
whole
line
210,
Ampelos
is
horned
like the
bull
he
is
vainly
trying
to drive.
Cf.
also i1.
187.
At
17. 232
ff. Orontes
strikes
Dionysus
on the
head,
but without
any
effect:
ou
ydp
dvae
idLvvuors
c48
70t0O
Kap-1VOU
Tavpo9%1
v7rTOY
VCXE
2EXp'aL
Eo pmfxTOV
dAAa ualos
ovpavtov
)LtLqtqLa
lOWlTL&gS
ELXE
EA?)Vr/S
oatLovt'l
drrpCrov
'xwv
ltaa TXyaK~palrjs
dvrtlots
ir&VaKTOV
K.T.A.
The
adjective
E2cEAvatoto
as
been
tormented to no avail: the fact
is
that the
word
is sound. For the
moon-image,
cf.,
e.g., 5.
72
or
23.
309.
Koechly (op.
cit.,
ad
loc.)
took
exception
to
2EAcivatotobecause
he
thought
that this
adjective
'adversiscornubuspugnatcum
240
sqq.'.
In
reality,Nonnus is not contradicting
himself
in
the least:
he
means
that
Dionysus'
horns
were not of the nature
of
(mortal,
earthly)
bulls
(-ravpobv'7 hrTov),
which
type
of
horns
can
be cut
by
the
slaughterer's
xe,
but
divine
(o3pdvvtov,tzovl~s),
and therefore ndestruc-
tible
(cf.,
e.g.,
10.
136,
for
the
motif).
The
adjectives avpo v^,
o0pdvCov,
nd
aqwlov'5s,
hose function
s cardinal
n
the
comparison,
re all
placed
em-
phatically,
at
the
beginning
of
their
respective
ines.
At
25.
457
ff. the
pdKocwv
ttacks
Tylos:
SE
TT7Aarv'
alxva
'vas',
50cV
as'
5
KcafYIJVOV'bEt5Et
VaqiLof
av-rtov
&vopo
opovoe,
Kat h7rJa
lwnosr
I)4acruWv
hCAKat'iv
AEAtE
OUEXv4
ouaav
a
JdXvv.
The
reading
dt'LXhA-v
as
been
variously
altered
by
the
editors
(cf.
Ludwich's
and
Keydell's
apparatuses).
Why?
The word
(for
its
sedes
n
the
line
cf.,
e.g.,
31.
164
and
33. 267)
is
perfectly
fit and
needs no
healing. Spitting serpents
are,
of
course,
found in
Nonnus
(e.g.
36.
170
=
25.
507-12).
Here,
the
8pd4Kwv
cts
as
a
spitfire,
and
sends
out of
its mouth
smoke
(it
repeats
its
performance
at
477):
to
express
this,
Nonnus
says
'it
whirled
a
tempestuous vapour'.
The
smoke,
puffed
out
(OvEAA'Euaav),
ent
up
in
a
revolving
cloud:
Nonnus
often uses
hAEAZw
or such pieces of imagery (e.g.
36.
322, of flames
'moving
in
coils'):
a
parallel
passage
which confirms
our
interpretation
is
32.
76:
(0,9
Y
pvupVaar vC EAas'rrvpyr7j3v
~A1
asg.
x
The
image
AE'At
.
.
dtlXtqv
(paral-
leled
by
vE'4as
.
...
.AI'ag)
is
completed
by
the
epithet
dAKal-7V,
hich
means here
trailing,
evolving,
s
in
Nic.
Ther.
I6o
(the
metaphor
is
of course taken from the snake's
0AKala,
tail: cf. Ital.
serpeggiante,
German
schldngeind,
f a
path).
Cf.,
for this
meaning
of the
adjective,
44. I
Io.
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EMENDATIONS
IN NONNUS' DIONTSIACA
73
At
35- 328
ff.
Hera
contemplates
Lyaios'
body:
...
TavvrrAoKdcovv
SE
Ava
ov
p~pLaL
L7KE3avocLu77av3EILEv&
EEEvl'/3v.
The
text
is
unjustly
uspected
y Keydell,
who writes:
'/UV-KE&aVOtat
orruptum
ex
ravv7TAoKl'pov'.
n
reality,
he
bigeyes
of Hera
contemplating
yaios' arge
body
are
a
concettino
ypical
of
Nonnus:
f
a
confirmation
f this were
needed,
we
could find
it
at
7.
216
ff.,
where
Zeus
contemplates,
with
his
'b aApLv
rTEpL/iLErpov
220),
the
body
of
Semele:
yvPvov
'vrAoKac4oLo
t/sL
5&E[pLEdpEE'
OVp-qg.
Rouse's
interpretation
of the
passage
is
fundamentally
correct
('with
her
great
eyes
she
measured...'):
Nonnus'
opiaa~
~
ItKESaVOca-
is, essentially,
one
of
the several variations
produced
in
epic
literature
on Homer's
flo-rr~s
(cf.
EplyXAvos,
VlyAYvoS),
which
was
interpreted
as
iLEyaAhd60aApos
y
the
ancients
(cf.
Thes.,
s.v.
foorns).
Why,
however,
the
disconcerting
pL7KE&aVOacut,
hose
proper
meaning
is
'long'?
It
is
true that
/LgKOS
ould
be used
improperly,
with
reference to a
big
size in
general,
not
specifically
to
length
(cf. L.S.J.,
s.v.,
3),
but,
as
far as
we
can
see,
Nonnus'
employment
of the
adjective
is
always
the 'correct'
one:
cf.,
for
//KOS,
28.
225;
for
/~'7voW,
2.
52;
for
P1qKE8avos,
.
260,
13.
423,
14.
209,
345,
I5. I77,
22.
29,
25-
525,
26.
240, 301, 32.
139, 213, 36.
407,
459,
41. 37,
43- 339, 44. 87, 273,45.
37-2
In
the
passage
which we are
analysing
Nonnus,
who
tended
to be
very
accurate
n
descriptive
etails,
wants to
clarify
what kind of
bigness
Homer
meant with
reference
o
Hera's
eyes,
when
calling
her
flo,"nS:
Hera's
eyes,
he
maintains,
were
big
in
the sense hat
they
were not
vaguely,generically
ize-
able
(we
have
already
mentioned Zeus'
dq0aALduv
EpiTpqlrpov)
but
specifically
long,
i.e.
almond-shaped:
such a
shape
has
always
been
regarded,
in
women,
as a
feature
contributing
to
beauty.3
That
Homer's
flo6Ymrs
ust
refer
to
this
I
As
epqLE'TpEEv
mplies
cf.
also
1TdVAEvKOV
jAov
36asg)
the
girl
is
visualized
not
only
as
white-skinned,
but also
tall.
'Eine hohe
Gestalt
hat ihnen
(sc.
the
Greeks)
immer als
Vorzug
gegolten,
und war
namentlich
ein
wesentlicher Teil ihres
weiblichen
Sch6n-
heitsideals'
(Beloch,
Griech.Gesch.
2.
I, p. 94).
Cf.,
e.g.,
Hor. Sat. I.
2.
123
f.,
Max.
Tyr.
24.
18.
7
KalToL
uLKpaV
OaaV
Kt
p a
/LAvav
(sc.
Sappho),
Schol.
Luc. Im.
18.
ILKpc
7
Ka
AaLva
(sc. Sappho);
cf.
in
particular
A.P.
5.
121.
1;
also
5.
76.
2
(t3/K~).
At
28.
59
rKEGKav-
doet?)
efers
to
the
kind
of shield
which
was
'oblongum' (cf.
Ebeling,
Lex.
Homer.,
s.v.
adKoos).
3
On
ancient
cosmetic methods cf.
in
particular
B6ttiger,
Sabina
(Leipzig,
18062),
and
Blumner,
Die rdm.
Privataltert.,
(Mtin-
chen,
1911), pp.
435
ff. In
Tert. Cult.
em.
I.
2.
illum
ipsum
nigrum pulverem,
quo
oculorum
exordia
producuntur,
he
author refers to the
practice
of
lengthening
the
eyes
at
their
corners
(very
much as
ladies do
today)
and
not
to
the
lengthening
of the
eyebrows,
as
Bliimner (op. cit., p. 437,
note
12) thinks
(cf.
also
the
T.L.L.,
s.v.
exordium,
566.
II
ff.).
On 'das Umziehen der Lider
ldngs
der
Wim-
pern
mit
einer
Schwiirze,
wodurch die
Augen
grB3er
erscheinen
sollen'
(a practice
which stresses the
almond-shaped
orm of the
human
eye)
cf.
in
particular
Friedlinder
on
Juvenal
2.
94,
with his
usual
impeccable
accuracy.
B6ttiger,
op.
cit.
i.
28,
very appro-
priately
notes
that the
ar7ue
has
transformed
Sabina into
'eine
farrendugige uno,
um
mit
Vater Homer zu
sprechen'
(italics mine).
The
epic poet Nonnus has precisely Vater
Homer
in
mind,
together
with
contemporary
toiletry.
On the
t7rroypa0?
ra6
dv6aApWtLv
cf.
in
particular
Thes.,
s.v.
57roypd0b(w
09
B,
with
still
useful
bibliography.
57rroypdoiw
may
be taken
to mean
either
'underline,
stress,
emphasize',
or
'delineate'
(cf.
Passow5,
s.v.,
3
b
'eine
Contour
machen')
:
whichever
meaning
we
prefer,
however,
the
result of
the
r7Toypar4?
is the
same,
i.e.
the
eyes
are made
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74
GIUSEPPE
GIANGRANDE
particular
kind
of
bigness
Nonnus indicates
not
only
by
using
oppaac 1KE vo
L
with reference to
Hera,
but also
by coining
ravu'yA'-vos
rafpos
at
43.
42
(in
compounds
with
-yAhvos,
his
component
means,
by synecdoche, eye,
cf.,
e.g.,
fot2rs
,*
floyA-voS),' which epithet, as its substantive
-raipos
hints, is a fur-
ther
explanationz
of Homer's
/o6jorr.
King's
College,
Cambridge
GIUSEPPE
GIANGRANDE
not
more
round,
but more
almond-shaped.
Cf.
Triller(us),
D.
W.,
Observ.Crit.
(Frank-
furt,
I742),
p.
400:
for cosmetic
purposes,
the
stibium
was used
by
ladies
'ad
palpebras
denigrandas [that
is,
to delineate
their
con-
tour] earumque
fines
[i.e.
ends]
latius
pro-
ferendos'. Fr.
Junius,
in his
commentary
on
Tertullian,
loc.
cit.
(Franeker,
1598,
p.
I
12),
proposed
exodia or
exordia,
but his
conjecture
is
unnecessary:
exordia
here
means 'le
d6but',
i.e. 'le
bord,
le contour
des
yeux' (cf.
Blaise,
Dict.
Aut.
Chrit.,
s.v.
exordium):
t is obvious
that such
almond-shaped
contours
producun-
tur,
can be
lengthened,
t the sides
(i.e.
at
the
corners of the
eyes) just
as
the
effeminate
producit, engthens
his
supercilium
bviously
at
its ends in
Juvenal
2.
93
f.
x
The
same
love for
descriptive
preci-
sion
appears
in Metab.
21.
63 f.,
where
the
original
IxOv'wv
eydtoAwv
n
the
Gospel
is
ren-
dered
by
vE1TrdOwv
tpKEGavCv:
ig
fish are
generally
long-shaped.
2
A
critic
who knew well
what
meaning
,ravv-
has
in
Greek
compounds (including
those used
or coined
by Nonnus),
Koechly,
wanted
to emend
ravvyA'4voto
nto
ravv-
Kpatpoto;
other
critics,
who
rightly
leave the
reading
-ravvyA'~voto
nchanged,
translate
the
word,
however,
inaccurately
('weitiiugig,
grossiugig',
Passow5;
'large-eyed,
full-eyed',
L.S.J.;
'a
glaring
bull'
is
Rouse's
rendering
of
Nonnus'
passage).
Nonnus'
Tavv'y`qvos
was
perhaps
inspired
by
r
A
aT~"
v
dOaAops,
in
which
compound
rrAarv-
expresses
the idea
of
the
eyes
being
broadened
at their
corners,
i.e.
their
almond-shaped
contour
being
lengthened.