Notes and Queries, Number 31, June 1, 1850 — John Shaqi
Notes and Queries, Number 31, June 1, 1850Various
History
Notes and Queries, Number 31, June 1, 1850
Various
Questions and answers -- Periodicals
[1] To obviate the difficulties arising from capricious spelling,
I assumed that which I thought to be the correct one, and entered
all of the name under that one, placing, however, in parenthesis,
the actual mode of spelling adopted in the instance in question,
and also entering the name, as actually spelt, in its proper place,
with reference to the place where the searcher would find it; e.g.
In my register, the name of "Caiser" appears under more than twenty
varieties of form. I enter them all under "Cayser". In the _margin_,
opposite the first of these entries, I write consecutively the
different modes of spelling the name--"Caisar", "Caiser", "Casiar",
"Kayser", &c. &c. &c. In the table itself, I write,
Cayser, John.
[Casiar] John.
[Kaysar] John, &c. &c. &c.
Then, "Casiar", "Kaysar", &c., appear in their respective places
_sic_, "Casiar", _v_. "Cayser", "Kaysar", _v_. "Cayser", &c., nearly
on the plan adopted by Mr. Duffus Hardy in his admirable indices to
the _Close Rolls_.
* * * * *
THE HUDIBRASTIC VERSE.
_"He that fights and runs away," &c._--Your correspondent MELANION may be
assured that the orations of Demosthenes do not afford any trace of the
proverbial senarius, [Greek: anaer d pheugon kai palin machaesetai]; and it
does not appear quite clear how the apophthegm containing it (which has
been so generally attributed to Plutarch) has been concocted. Heeren, in
doing full justice to the biographical talent of the Chæronean, has yet
observed, "We may easily see that in his Lives he only occasionally
indicates his authorities, because his own head was so often the source."
It is in the life of Demosthenes that the story of his flight is told, but
briefly; and for that part which relates to the inscription on the shield
of Demosthenes, he says, [Greek: hos elege Putheas]. The other life among
those of the Ten Orators, the best critics think not to be Plutarch's; and
the relation in it is too ridiculous for credit; yet it is repeated by
Photius.
The first writer in which the story takes something of the form in which
Erasmus gives it is Aulus Gellius (_Noct. Att._ l. xvii. c. 21.):--
"Post inde aliquanto tempore Philippus apud Chaeroneam
proelio magno Athenienses vicit. Tum Demosthenes orator ex eo
proelio salutem fuga quaesivit: quumque id ei, quod fugerat,
probrose objiceretur; _versu illo notissimo_ elusit, [Greek:
anaer d pheugon], inquit, [Greek: kai palin machaesetai]."
We here see that the senarius is designated as _a well-known verse_,
so that it must have been in the mouths of the people long before it was
applied to this piece of gossip. I have hitherto not been able to trace it
to an earlier writer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account