The Comedies of Terence: Literally Translated into English Prose, with NotesTerence
General
The Comedies of Terence: Literally Translated into English Prose, with Notes
Terence
Latin drama (Comedy) -- Translations into English; Terence -- Translations into English
[Footnote 41: _Those in their dotage, not those who dote in
love_)--Ver. 218. There is a jingle intended in this line, in the
resemblance between “amentium,” “mad persons,” and “amantium,”
“lovers.”]
[Footnote 42: _They have resolved to rear_)--Ver. 219. This
passage alludes to the custom among the Greeks of laying new-born
children on the ground, upon which the father, or other person who
undertook the care of the child, lifted it from the ground,
“tollebat.” In case no one took charge of the child, it was
exposed, which was very frequently done in the case of female
children. Plato was the first to inveigh against this barbarous
practice. It is frequently alluded to in the Plays of Plautus.]
[Footnote 43: _Hence to the Forum_)--Ver. 226. Colman has the
following remark: “The Forum is frequently spoken of in the Comic
Authors; and from various passages in which Terence mentions it,
it may be collected that it was a public place, serving the
several purposes of a market, the seat of the courts of justice,
a public walk, and an exchange.”]
[Footnote 44: _Wine-bibbing_)--Ver. 229. The nurses and midwives
of antiquity seem to have been famed for their tippling
propensities. In some of the Plays of Plautus we do not find them
spared.]
[Footnote 45: _Rearing some monster_)--Ver. 250. “Aliquid monstri
alunt.” Madame Dacier and some other Commentators give these words
the rather far-fetched meaning of “They are hatching some plot.”
Donatus, with much more probability, supposes him to refer to the
daughter of Chremes, whom, as the young women among the Greeks
were brought up in great seclusion, we may suppose Pamphilus never
to have seen.]
[Footnote 46: _She is oppressed with grief_)--Ver. 268. “Laborat a
dolore.” Colman has the following remark upon this passage:
“Though the word ‘laborat’ has tempted Donatus and the rest of the
Commentators to suppose that this sentence signifies Glycerium
being in labor, I can not help concurring with Cooke, that it
means simply that she is weighed down with grief. The words
immediately subsequent corroborate this interpretation; and at the
conclusion of the Scene, when Mysis tells him that she is going
for a midwife, Pamphilus hurries her away, as he would naturally
have done here had he understood by these words that her mistress
was in labor.”]
[Footnote 47: _By your good Genius_)--Ver. 289. “Per Genium tuum.”
This was a common expression with the Romans, and is used by
Horace, Epistles, B. i., Ep. 7:--
“Quod te per Genium dextramque Deosque Penates,
Obsecro, et obtestor--”
The word “Genius” signified the tutelary God who was supposed to
attend every person from the period of his birth. The
signification of the word will be found further referred to in the
Notes to the Translation of Plautus.]
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