'For love of hir, Polixena-- ... She was as good, so have I reste, As ever Penelope of Greece, Or as the noble wyf Lucrece, That was the beste--he telleth thus, The Romain, Tytus Livius.' Id. 1071, 1080. 'She passed hath Penelope and Lucresse.' Anelida; 82. 'Biblis, Dido, Tisbe and Piramus, Tristram, Isoude, Paris, and Achilles, Eleyne, Cleopatre, and Troilus.' Parlement of Foules; 289. 'But al the maner how she [Dido] deyde, And al the wordes that she seyde, Who-so to knowe hit hath purpos, Reed Virgile in Eneidos Or the Epistle of Ovyde, What that she wroot or that she dyde; And, nere hit to long to endyte, By god, I wolde hit here wryte.' House of Fame; 375. The last quotation proves clearly, that Chaucer was already meditating a new version of the Legend of Dido, to be made up from the Æneid and the Heroides, whilst still engaged upon the House of Fame (which actually gives this story at considerable length, viz. in ll. 140-382); and consequently, that the Legend of Good Women succeeded the House of Fame by a very short interval. But this is not all; for only a few lines further on we find the following passage:-- 'Lo, Demophon, duk of Athenis, How he forswor him ful falsly, And trayed Phillis wikkedly, That kinges doghter was of Trace, And falsly gan his terme pace; And when she wiste that he was fals, She heng hir-self right by the hals, For he had do hir swich untrouthe; Lo! was not this a wo and routhe? Eek lo! how fals and reccheles Was to Briseida Achilles, And Paris to Oënone; And Iason to Isiphile; And eft Iason to Medea; And Ercules to Dyanira; For he lefte hir for Iöle, That made him cacche his deeth, parde! How fals eek was he, Theseus; That, as the story telleth us, How he betrayed Adriane; The devel be his soules bane[31]! For had he laughed, had he loured, He mostë have be al devoured, If Adriane ne had y-be[32]!' &c. Id. 387. Here we already have an outline of the Legend of Phyllis; a reference to Briseis; to Jason, Hypsipyle, Medea, and to Deianira; a sufficient sketch of the Legend of Ariadne; and another version of the Legend of Dido. We trace a lingering influence upon Chaucer of the Roman de la Rose; see notes to ll. 125, 128, 171. Dante is both quoted and mentioned by name; ll. 357-360. Various other allusions are pointed out in the Notes. In ll. 280, 281, 284, 305-308 of the A-text of the Prologue (pp. 89, 90), Chaucer refers us to several authors, but not necessarily in connexion with the present work. Yet he actually makes use (at second-hand) of Titus (i.e. Livy, l. 1683), and also further of the 'epistles of Ovyde.' He takes occasion to refer to his own translation of the Roman de la Rose (B. ll. 329, 441, 470), and to his Troilus (ll. 332, 441, 469); besides enumerating many of his poems (417-428).