Early Modern Mythological Texts: Troia Britanica X, Notes

Thomas Heywood. Troia Britanica (1609)

Notes to CANTO X

Ed. Yves PEYRÉ


Arg. 1

Menelaus: F, Menalaus.

 

Arg. 2

Kappa: see note to canto I, argumentum 2.

 

Helen to Paris: At the beginning of canto X, Heywood places his translation of Ovid’s Heroides XVII, “Helen to Paris”, in reply to Paris’ epistle to Helen in canto IX. Ovid’s 268 lines are expanded to 442 lines in Heywood’s version. As with the preceding canto, only significant departures from the Latin are signalled in the following notes.

Heywood’s translation, entitled “Helen to Paris”, was included in Jaggard’s 1612 edition of The Passionate Pilgrim, sigs. F4r-G6r (STC 22343), hereafter referred to as PP; it was reprinted in the collection of poems John Benson gathered under the title of Poems written by Will Shakespeare, Gent. (London: Thomas Cotes, 1640), sigs. I5v-K4r, hereafter referred to as JB (STC 22344).

 

reach: distant land.

 

Taenarian port: F, Tenarian.

 

Nor blame me … fear: Heywood seems to misunderstand Heroides, XVII, 11-12, “Nec dubito, quin haec, cum sit tam justa, vocetur / rustica judicio nostra querela tuo” (“Nor do I doubt that, however just my plaint, it may be called prudish in your judgement”).

 

sad (When I seem sad … cloudy): what Helen says in Heroides, XVII, 15-17, is that although she does not look stern and forbidding, her reputation is spotless.

 

applaud (your suit I could applaud):  Heywood’s addition.

 

dispense: uncertainty.

 

Man’s words: Heroides, XVII, 40, “verbaque dicuntur vestra carere fide” (“your words are said to lack faith”): “vestra” (“your”) can be interpreted to refer to men in general or to Paris in particular.

 

child (that am her eldest child): Heywood’s addition.

 

happiness (Her error … happiness): In Ovid’s corresponding line (Heroides, XVII, 50), Helen asks “felix in culpa quo Jove dicar ego?” (“For my part, with what Jove would I be called happy in my fault?”)—implying that Paris is no Jove. The two transitional lines that follow (51-52), in which she moves from Paris’ lineage to her own, are omitted by Heywood.

 

scan (I could not scan … meaning): Heroides, XVII, 89, in Ovid, Helen was incredulous.

 

write (Myself … write): Ovid’s Helen says that she has learned one can talk in signs, Heroides, XVII, 90.

 

strange (Should I offend … strange): Heroides, XVII, 91, “si peccatura fuissem” (“if I had been prone to sin”).

 

Yet … fame: Heroides, XVII, 95, “altera vel potius felix sine crimine fiat” (“I had rather another one was made happy without crime”).

 

fair: F, fare. Ovid, Heroides, XVII, 97, “formosis”.

 

Therefore … come down: these two lines are inverted in F. The train of thought seems to require the order chosen in this edition—which is also closer to the Latin original.

 

rude: ignorant. Modelled on Ovid, Heroides, XVII, 141, “sum rudis”.

 

crown (Being employed about a crown imperial): Heywood’s addition. In his Epistle, Paris mentioned, in Heywood’s version, that Menelaus had gone to seize the “Chrisean royal sceptre”, which becomes “the Chritian sceptre” in 1 The Iron Age, in reference to the kingdom of Crete.

 

affies: trusts in

 

Hypsipyle: F, Hypsipile. See Heywood’s endnotes, below.

 

Minoan: F, Mynoyan. Ariadne was Minos’ daughter. See Heywood’s endnotes, below. In this line, Heywood reduces XVII, 194, “in non exhibitis utraque lusa toris” (“both deluded in their clandestine nuptial beds”) to “alike betrayed”.

 

I’ll grant thus far: F and PP, Ile grow thus farre, with “grow” a printer’s probable misreading of Heywood’s handwritten “grant”. Heywood does not translate Heroides, XVII, “ut cupias constans in amore manere / non potes” (“even though you desired to stay constant in love, you would not have the power”).

 

Phrygian: F, Phagian.

 

You will forsake … boards: Heywood’s addition.

 

she to whom I am in debt such thanks: Fame; Helen owes her thanks for widely proclaiming her beauty. Added by Heywood.

 

Chalciope: F, Calciope. Heywood omits both “soror” and “Idyia parens” (or “Ipsea” as she is named in some early modern editions) (Heroides, XVII, 232), thus giving the impression that Chalciope, Medea’s sister, substitutes herself to Idyia, her mother.

 

Thou tookest … complaints: Heywood’s addition.

 

pursue (The sword, alas, your conquest shall pursue): The Greeks will try to recover your conquest (Helen) with their swords. Translates Heroides, XVII, 246, “ibit per gladios, ei mihi! noster amor” (“Our love, alas, will go through swords”).

 

Hippodamia: F, Hypodamia.

 

Lapithes: F, Lapythes. Trisyllabic.

 

teen: injury.

 

My champion … o’erpressed: Heywood’s Helen is more forward than Ovid’s, Heroides, XVII, 259-60.

 

you: F and PP, you; JB, your. The line translates Heroides, XVII, 26; it can be paraphrased as “In that you solicit me for a private conference”. JB’s correction is inappropriate.

 

Clymene: F, Clymenea. In his endnotes, Heywood calls her “Clymenen”, copying the accusative form of Clymene he found in Ovid’s Heroides, XVII, 267.

 

1

fear:  frighten.

 

2

is: makes the line regular. F, at theyr stearne allarmes terrifide”.

 

3

Achaians: F, Acaians.

doubt: fear.

 

4

disembogue: come out into the open sea.

 

5

Poles: Heywood draws from several sources the story of the metamorphosis of Castor and Pollux in the course of their pursuit of Paris and Helen. In Caxton’s Recuyell (III, 4) he could read: “How it happened that the king Castor and the king Pollux that weren brethren of the queen Helayne, as soon as they heard say that her [their] sister was ravished, they entered into their ships and went after the Trojans with great company of men of arms, for to see if they might recover her. On the third day that they were on the sea, there rose so a great torment in the sea, and therewith came so great a rain and thunder that their ships were cast by the waves, one here, another there. The masts broken, their sails rent, and finally they were all perished and drowned, that never after was none seen of them. And the paynims say that these two brethren were translated with the gods into the heaven or zodiac and returned into the sign of two jumentis [Gemini], for as much as they were brethren germane. And thus endeth their lives by the occasion of the prise [capture] of her [their] sister. Some poets feign that these brethren ben translated into two stars, that is the North star and the South star, which ben named Castor and Pollux”.  Boccaccio (Genealogia, XI, vii) gave the additional explanation: “Quod alterna morte Pollux redimeret fratrem, videtur Alberico quum assumpti in caelo geminorum signum fecissent, et in eo ita se habeant stellae, ut dum oritur una, altera adhuc latitet”. (“Interpreting the story that Pollux redeemed his brother from death by alternating with him [in life and death], Albricus considered that they became the sign of Gemini in the sky, where the two stars move in such a way that while one rises, the other remains hidden”). This interpretation, which Boccaccio borrowed from Albricus (De Deorum Imaginibus libellus: Vatican Mythographer III, 15, 3), was quite widespread; it found its distant origin in Homer’s Odyssey, XI, 299-303 and more directly in Servius’ commentary on Virgil’s Aeneid, VI, 121; it could also be found in Charles Estienne’s Dictionarium Historicum, Geographicum, Poeticum, s. v. Castor and Pollux, and was repeated in Thomas Cooper’s Thesaurus: “Occasion of this fable was taken of the stars called Gemini, into the which it is feigned those two brothers were turned. For the nature of them is that when the one riseth, the other goeth down”.

Pausanias: Heywood borrows the reference to Pausanias from Natale Conti’s Mythologia, VIII, ix (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1581, p. 563: “Enimvero Castor et Pollux ob res praeclare gestas in deorum numerum, sicuti antiquorum plerique, relati fuerunt; cum mortales essent ut reliqui homines, ut ait Pausanias in Arcadicis” (“Indeed, Castor and Pollux, on account of their glorious exploits, were counted among the gods, like a great number of ancients; but they were mortal, like all other men, as Pausanias says in his chapter on Arcadia”). Conti refers to Pausanias, “Arcadia”, VIII, ii, 4, where Castor and Pollux are mentioned among other deified heroes. Though Heywood obviously consulted Conti’s chapter on Castor and Pollux, the story of their attempted rescue of Helen, their shipwreck and their metamorphosis, not to be found in Conti, comes from other sources: see preceding note.

 

6

Trojan: Thus F. “Spartan” would have been expected instead. A possible printer’s mistake, whose eye may have been attracted by “Trojan” in the following line.

Leda’s: F, Ladaes.

 

8

in’s: in his.

Antenor: F, Anthenor, Caxton’s spelling.

 

12

Polyxene: Polyxena. F’s spelling (modelled on Caxton’s) is kept for metrical reasons.

Cressid: F, Cressyde. Caxton has Creseyda.

 

14

14: stanzas 14 to 19, on the invention of navigation, are based on Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil’s De Rerum Inventoribus, III, xi, “Who ruled first on the sea, found ships, merchandise”.

Cretan: F, Creatan.

Minos … Neptune: Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil, “Strabo writeth that Minos, king of Crete, had the first rule of the sea, but Diodorus saith that Neptunus had the empire of it afore him, for he invented the feat of rowing in boats and made a navy and was made admiral of it by his father Saturnus” (fol. 79v).

enterprised: F, enterprise; enterprised is required both by grammar and rhyme.

Strabo, Diodorus: Heywood repeats Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil. See note on Minos … Neptune, above. In his Geography, Strabo describes Minos as the first man who gained mastery of the sea (X, iv, 8); in the Library of History, Diodorus Siculus also attributes the feat to Minos (V, liv, 4 and V, lxxviii, 3) but to Neptune in another passage (V, lxix, 4). In the 1521 edition (III, xv, fol. 34v), Polydore Vergil wrote “Neptunus secundum Cretenses primus navigandi arte inventa classem instituit, eiusque praefectus est à Saturno factus” (“According to the Cretans, Neptune, who first invented the art of navigation, set up a fleet, which Saturn put under his commandment”), a sentence borrowed word for word from Poggio’s Latin translation of Diodorus’ first five books, first published in Bologna in 1472.

 

15

Erythras: F, Ericthris. From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “And Pliny reporteth that king Erychtras devised boats first and towed in them in the Red Sea” (fol. 79v). Polydore Vergil’s source is Pliny, Natural History, VII, 57.

Meones: As Heywood explains in his own endnotes, “Meones are those who are now called Trojans”. They are also called Maeones, or Meonians. Langley wrote, “some say they [the first ships] were ordained by the Trojans in the narrow seas called Hellespontus” (Abridgement of Polydore Vergil, fol. 79r). See Pliny, Natural History, VII, 57.

never: Pliny and Polydore Vergil say exactly the opposite, as the Trojans necessarily sailed in the Hellespont. In Troia Britanica, “never” may be the result of some misunderstanding or misprint.

Danaus: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Danaus was the first that used any ship when he sailed out of Egypt into Greece, as Pliny recordeth” (fol. 79v). Polydore Vergil’s source is Pliny, Natural History, VII, 57.

Atlas: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “some suppose the Samothracians, and some Atlas that found it” (fol. 79v). Polydore Vergil’s 1521 Latin version (fol. 34v) is more detailed: “At alii, teste Euseb. In i de evan. praepar. à Samothracis inventam dicunt, aut, ut Clementi placet, ab Atlante” (“but others say that it [the art of navigation] was invented by the Samothracians, as Eusebius witnesses in the first book of his Evangelical Preparation, or, according to Clement, by Atlas”). See Eusebius, Evangelical Preparation, I, x and Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, I, xvi.

 

16

Noah: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “But to speak the truth, Noah was the first that made the ship wherein he preserved from danger of the water all the living creatures, that were saved to multiply the world; and that was the patron that all others made their ships after” (fols. 79v-80r). Reading Langley, Heywood may have remembered Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon: see following note.

Polychronicon: F, Polichron., placed opposite the last line of stanza 15. But neither Atlas nor the Samothracians are said to have been the first navigators in Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon. The marginal note, probably misplaced by the printer, seems to refer, more appropriately, to the antecedence of Noah’s ark over all other ships. Heywood may have remembered that Noah’s deluge is treated in Higden’s Polychronicon, or that Noah was described as the inventor of the ship and of the rainbow in Ranulf Higden’s Chronicles of England (London: Wynkyn de Worde, 1528), sig. Aa2r and in his Tabula a short and a brief table on these Chronicles (London: Wynkyn de Worde, 1502), sig. Aa2r.

Jason: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Jason first made the galley, which Sesostris, king of Egypt, used after him” (fol. 80r).

Eytheus: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Eytheus made the barge with two order of oars on a side” (fol. 80r). Eytheus is a corruption of “Erythraei” (the Eritreans), Polydore Vergil, 1521 edition, fol. 35r; Pliny, Natural History, VII, lvii.

 

17

Amocles: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Amocles of Corinth, that with three course of oars on a side; the Carthagens, that with four” (fol. 80r). In the same role, Pliny mentions “Aminocles the Corinthian” (Natural History, VII, lvii) and so does Philemon Holland in his translation (London: 1601), p. 190.

Nesichthon: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Nesichthon of Salamis, that with five oars on a side, which the Romans made in the first battle Punic”. Polydore Vergil’s 1521 edition gives “Quinqueremem instituit Helichthon Salaminus” (fol. 35r), but later editions (as from 1525) correct to “Nesichthon”, which seems to have been the accepted form. Philemon Holland mentions “Nesichthon the Salaminian” (1601, p. 190). Modern editions of Pliny (Natural History, VII, lvii) read that according to Mnesigiton (an unknown Greek historian), the Salaminians invented the five rows of oars.

Zenagoras: F, Zenagaras. From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Zenagoras Syracusan devised that, with six row of oars” (fol. 80r). Philemon Holland has “Zenagoras of Syracusa” (p. 190). Modern editions of Pliny (Natural History, VII, lvii) read that according to Xenagoras, the Syracusans invented the six rows of oars.

 

18

Hippus: F, Hyppias. From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Hippius, a Tyrian, conceived the making of the lighter, or merchant’s ship” (fol. 80r). Philemon Holland (1601, p. 190) has “Hippus Tyrius”, according to Pliny, Natural History, VII, lvii, “Onerariam Hippus Tyrius invenit”. In Troia Britanica, the transformation of Tyrian into Trojan (spelt “Troyan”) is the result of misreading at some stage.

lighter: F, Lyter.

Cyrenians: F, Cyrenens, from Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “the Cyrenens invented the hoy, or gallion” (fol. 80r). Philemon Holland (1601, p. 190) has “the Cyrenians made fregates”, according to Pliny, Natural History, VII, lvii, “lembum Cyrenenses”.

Cyprians: Heywood expands on Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Cyprians the bark” (fol. 80r). Philemon Holland (1601, p. 190) has “the Cyprians made the hulk and great carrack”, interpreting Pliny, Natural History, VII, lvii, “cercuron Cyprii”.

Illyrians: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Illyrians the cock boat or lighters” (fol. 80r). Polydore Vergil’s text includes “Scaphas Illyrii, quae naviculae majores sequuntur naves” (“The Illyrians [invented] light boats, which followed the bigger boats”) as from the 1525 edition (Basel: Johann Froben, p. 99). This interpretation is not to be found in Pliny’s Natural History, VII, lvii, from which Polydore draws most of his information on the invention of navigation. He may have inferred it from Niccolò Perotti’s Cornucopia, in which could be read “Scaphas: Illyrii naviculae sunt, quae majores naves consequuntur” (“Scaphas are small boats, which follow the bigger ships”), Niccolò Perotti, Cornucopia (Venice: Paganino de’ Paganini, 1489), fol. 198v.  

crayer: F, craer. Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Phoenicians the keel, or demi-bark” (fol. 80r); in Polydore’s Latin, “cimbam Phoenices”, from Pliny, Natural History, VII, lvii. Philemon Holland has “the Phoenicians, the bark” (1601, p. 190).

brigantine: F, brigandine, after Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “the Rhodians the brigandine” (fol. 80r). Polydore Vergil, from Pliny, Natural History, VII, lvii, “celetem Rhodii”. Philemon Holland (1601, p. 190) translates “the Rhodians, the pinnace and brigantine”.

canoes: F, canoas. Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Germans the boats in one piece” (fol. 80r). Langley does not give any location, but Polydore Vergil’s Latin version—as from the 1525 edition (Basel: Johann Froben, p. 99) was more detailed: “Lintres Germani circa Danubium habitantes”. This information is not to be found in Pliny’s Natural History, VII, lvii, from which Polydore draws most of his information on the invention of navigation. He probably borrowed it from Niccolò Perotti’s Cornucopia, in which could be read “Lintres Germani circa Danubium habitantes [invenerunt]. Sunt autem naviculae e cavatis arboribus factae” (“Germans living towards the Danube [invented] lintres. They are small boats hollowed out in a tree”), Niccolò Perotti, Cornucopia (Venice: Paganino de’ Paganini, 1489), fol. 198v. Perotti’s definition found its way into Ambrogio Calepino’s dictionary in Valentinus Curio’s 1530 Basel edition (“Lintres: sunt naviculae cavatis arboribus factae, quibus utuntur Germani circa Danubium habitantes”); it was repeated in successive editions until 1540 (Basel: Walder). Later on, the Germanic people in the region of the Danube disappeared: in all editions following 1558 (Basel: Petrus) and 1559 (Venice: Paolo Manuzio) until 1564 (Basel: Petrus), the lintres were said to be used by “accolae fluviorum” (“people living on a riverside”). While Heywood kept Polydore Vergil’s and Langley’s Germans, he remembered that canoes were commonly associated with American Indians in early modern travelling reports. 

 

19

Copians: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Rudders were found by the Copians” (fol. 80r), mistranslated from Polydore Vergil’s “Remum autem Copae invenerunt” (1521, fol. 35r), following Pliny, Natural History, VII, lvii, according to whom the oar was invented in the Boeotian city of Copae.

Plateans: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “the broad oars the Plateans divised” (fol. 80r). Polydore Vergil’s “latitudinem eius Plataeae” (1521, fol. 35r), from Pliny, Natural History, VII, lvii, where the breadth of the oars are said to have been invented in the Boeotian city of Plataeae.

Icarus: From Langley’s Abridgement: “Sails Icarus found, albeit Diodorus saith it was Aeolus” (fol. 80r-v). According to Pliny, Natural History, VII, lvii, Icarus invented the use of sails; according to Diodorus, the inventor was Aeolus (The Library of History, V, vii, 7).

Dedalus: From Langley’s Abridgement: “Daedalus found the mast and the cross-piece whereunto the sail is fastened” (fol. 80v). Pliny had written “malum and antennam Daedalus” (Natural History, VII, lvii), which Polydore Vergil explained: “Malum, id est arborem navis et antennam Daedalus” (1521, fol. 35v). This definition he drew from Niccolò Perotti’s Cornucopia: “Malum: hoc est arborem navis” (Venice: Paganino de’ Paganini, 1489), fol. 199r.

Tiphys: F, Typhis. Heywood tersely sums up Langley’s Abridgement: “Tiphys found the stern after the example of the kite, which in her flying turneth all her body with the turning of her tail” (fol. 80v). Langley mistranslates Polydore Vergil (1521, fol. 35r), “Adminicula gubernandi Tiphys, sumpto (ut arbitror) à miluo ave exemplo. Haec enim avis teste Pli. li. x, videtur artem gubernandi docuisse caudae flexibus, in coelo monstrante natura quot esset opus in profundo” (“Tiphis [invented] the use of the rudder, taken, as I think, from the example of the kite. Indeed, this bird, according to Pliny, X [xii], seems to have taught the art of steering with the movements of it tail, Nature showing in the sky what should be done on the sea”). Polydore Virgil inserted Pliny’s remark on the kite (Natural History, X, xii) into the section on inventions (Natural History, VII, lvii), which merely has “adminicula gubernandi Tiphys”.

Piseus: F, Pyseus. From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “The stem of the ship Piseus imagined” (fol. 80v). Polydore Vergil followed Pliny, Natural History, VII, lvii, “Rostra addidit Piseus Tyrrhenus”.

Anacharsis: From Langley’s Abridgement: “the Tyrrhenes divised the anchors and Eupalamius made it with two points or teeth, but some refer it to Anacharsis, which also invented the grapple or tackle of a ship” (fol. 80v), translating Polydore Vergil’s “Tyrrheni anchoram. Eupalamius eandem fecit bidentem. Quod inventum quidam autore Strab. lib. vii, Anacharsidi ascribunt, qui invenit harpagonas” (1521, fol. 35r). Polydore’s text derives from a misreading of Pliny’s Natural History, VII, lvii, “Rostra addidit Pisaeus Tyrrhenus; ancoram Eupalamus; eamdem bidentem Anacharsis; harpagonas et manus Pericles Atheniensis” (“Pisaeus the Tyrrhenian added the “beak”; Eupalamus the anchor; Anacharsis the same, with two flukes; Pericles of Athens the grapple and hooks”).  

Tyrrhens: F, Tyrhens. See preceding note.

 

20

Athens: From Langley’s Abridgement of Polydore Vergil: “Ferry boats the Athenians or the Salaminians found” (fol. 80v), which interprets Polydore (1521, fol. 35r), “Hippagines, hoc est, ut Festo placet, naves quibus equi vehuntur, Salamin vel Athenienses” (“The Salaminians or the Athenians [invented] the hippagines, that is, according to Festus, boats in which horses are transported”). Polydore Vergil’s text derives from a corrupted version of Pliny’s Natural History, VII, lvii, “hippagum Samii, aut Pericles Atheniensis” (“the Samians, or Pericles of Athens, [invented] the hippagum”). The definition in Niccolò Perotti’s Cornucopia (Venice: Paganino de’ Paganini, 1489), fol. 199r, is very similar: “Hippagium hoc est vectionem equorum, a quo et naves ipsae quibus equi vehuntur Hippagines dictae. Secundum aliquos Salamanii, secundum alios Athenienses” (“Hippagium: that is to say the transport of horses, from which the boats themselves in which horses were transported were called ‘hippagines’. According to some by the Salaminians, according to others by the Athenians.”); Festus Pompeius, mentioned by Polydore, did define “hippagines” as “naves, quibus equi vehuntur”. The fragments of his De Verborum Significatione were accessible, together with Nonius Marcellus and Varro in De Proprietate Sermonum, printed by Ottaviano Scoto (Venice, 1483) and Filippo Pinzi (Venice, 1496).

whither: F, whether.

Calais: F, Callice. Heywood refers to the naval battle of Sluys, which took place on June 24, 1340, in the Zwin Estuary, opposite the harbour of Sluys, in Zeeland; most chronicles agreed on the number of French casualties being 30 000; but not on the number of boats taken: the Chronycles of the londe of Englond (Antwerp: Gerard Leeuw, [1493]) gives the number of 230, the nearest to Heywood’s 200.

The Black Prince: Before attacking the French fleet in 1340, Edward III himself, not the Black Prince, had quartered the Royal Arms of England with those of France, adding the French fleurs-de-lys to Richard I’s three lions, thereby expressing his claim to the throne of France. The Black Prince was only 10 at the time.

 

21

armade: armada, made to rhyme with “swayed” and “invade”. In the battle of Lepanto (1571), the Holy League, with 109 galleys from the Republic of Venice in a larger Christian force, defeated the Ottoman fleet.

th’invincible huge navy: Heywood already alluded to the 1588 Spanish Armada in Troia Britanica, III, 5-8.

 

22

22: Stanzas 22-29 are based on Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5: “How the kings, dukes, earls and barons of Greece assembled all with their navy tofore the city of Athenes for to come to Troye. And how many ships each man brought unto the help of the king Menelaus.”

Agamemnon: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “First Agamenon that was chief and prince of all the host of the Greeks, brought from his royaume of Michames [Mycenes] a hundred ships full of armed knights”, ultimately deriving from Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Agamemnon ex Mycenis cum navibus numero C”.

Menelaus: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “The king Menelaus, his brother, brought from his royaume of Sparte .lx. ships”, ultimately deriving from Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Menelaus ex Sparta cum navibus numero LX”.

road: harbour (where the ships lie at anchor or ride).

 

23

Archelaus: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “Archelaus and Prothenor from the royaume of Boecye fifty ships”, ultimately deriving from Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Arcesilaus et Prothoenor ex Boeotia cum navibus numero L”.

Orconomie: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “The duc Ascalapus and the earl Helmius from the province of Orconomye, thirty ships”; Guido delle Colonne: Ascalafus vero dux et comes Helimus de provincia Cythomenie naves duxere xxx (Historia destructionis Troiae, ed. Griffin, p. 88), from Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Ascalaphus et Ialmenus ex Orchomeno cum navibus numero xxx”.

Epistrophus: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “The king Epistrophus and the king Sedius from the royaume of Focyden, thirty ships”. Guido delle Colonne: “Rex vero Epistrophus et rex Cedius, de regno Focidis”, from Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Epistrophus et Schedius ex Phocide cum navibus numero XL”. Homer mentions Epistrophus and Schedius (Iliad, II, 517).

 

24

Telamon: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “The king Thelamon of Salamyne, fifty ships. And in his company were the duc Thenter, duc Amphymachus, the earl Polixeme and the earl Thephus [Thebus in 1553 edition]”. Guido delle Colonne: “Thelamonius autem Ayax de regno suo et de sua civitate nobili Salemina l naves adduxit. In cujus comitiva fuerunt multi duces et comites et sunt hii: dux Teucer, dux Amphiacus, comes Dorion et comes Theseus”, from Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Aiax Telamonius ex Salamina adduxit secum Teucrum fratrem, ex Buprasione Amphimacum, Diorem, Thalpium, Polyxenum cum navibus numero xl”.

three-aged: according to Homer, Iliad, I, 250-52, Nestor had already lived through two generations and was in the third, as Nestor himself confirms in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, XII, 187-88, “vixi / annos bis centum; nunc tertia vivitur aetas”. Apart from Troia Britanica X, 24 and X, 39, the adjective “three-aged”, which might be modelled on Horace’s “ter aevo functus … senex” (Odes, II, ix, 13-14), is also used to describe Nestor in Chapman’s Odysses, III, 612 (London: Richard Field, 1614), p. 44. See also stanza 39 and canto XII, stanza 54.

Nestor: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “The ancient duc Nestor from his province of Pillon, fifty ships”. Heywood’s Pylon, like Caxton’s Pillon, is Pylos. Guido delle Colonne: “senex autem dux Nestor cum l navibus ex Pilon advenit”. Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Nestor ex Pylo cum navibus numero lxxx”.

Thoas: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “The king Thoas of Tholye, fifty ships”. Guido delle Colonne: “Rex vero Thoas de regno suo Tholie l naves adduxit”. Benoît de Sainte-Maure mentions Thoas, from the city of Tolias (5629-30), corrupted from Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Thoas ex Aetolia cum navibus numero xl”.

Doxunois: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: The king Doxunois, fifty ships”. Guido delle Colonne: “Rex autem Deximais de regno suo naves secum detulit l”. He corresponds to Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Hunerius, “De la terre d’Essimiëis” (5631-32). Some manuscripts of Le Roman de Troie had “deximiois” for “d’Essimieis”, a corruption of Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Nireus ex Syme”.

 

25

Telamon Chyleus: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “The king Thelamon Chyleus, six and thirty ships”. In various versions of Guido delle Colonne, “Thelamonius Cyeleus (or Oyleus or Cileus)”; Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s “Oielius Aiaus” (5634), i. e. Ajax Oileus (Dares, De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14).

Amphimachus: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “Polibetes and Amphymachus from his province of Calydone, two and thirty ships”. Guido delle Colonne: “Polibetes vero et Amphymacus de provincia Calcidonie”. They are Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Amphimaus (5671) and Polibetès (5675), a corruption of Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Antiphus et Phidippus ex Calydna cum navibus numero xxx”.

Idumeus: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “The king Ydumeus and the king Mereon of Crete, four score and two ships”. Guido delle Colonne: “Rex autem Ydumeneus et rex Merion de Creta naves lxxx duxerunt”. Benoît de Sainte-Maure “Idomeneus e Merion / De Crete” (5643-44), from Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Idomeneus et Meriones ex Creta cum navibus numero lxxx”.

Ulysses: F, Vlisses. Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “The king Ulixes of Trace two and fifty ships”. Guido delle Colonne: “de regno Tracie”. Manuscripts of Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Le Roman de Troie read “Dequaie”, i. e. d’Achaie” (from Achaia), or, more frequently, “De trace” (from Thracia); both were corruptions of Dares’s “ex Ithaca” in De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14.

 

26

Tynelus: Caxton, Recuyell, III, 5: “The duc Tynelus from his city of Frygis, twelve ships”. Guido delle Colonne: “Dux vero Melius [or Emelius, Emeleus, Eumelus, according to different manuscripts] de civitate sua dicta Pigris detulit naves x” (Historia destructionis Troiae, ed. Griffin, p. 89). He corresponds to Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Emelius, “De la contree de Pigris” (5650), deriving from Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14, “Eumelus ex Pheris cum navibus numero x”.

Prothocathus: borrowed from Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5. He derives from Dares’s Podarces (De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14), variously corrupted in the course of transmission. Among many versions, Guido delle Colonne has Prothotacus and Prothocatus.

Laodamia: F, Laodomeia. Protesilaus’ wife is not mentioned by Caxton; Homer alludes to her: “his tear-torn faced spouse / He woeful left in Philace” in Chapman’s translation (Seaven Bookes, p. 40). Heywood would have known her story well from Ovid, Heroides XIII, “Laodamia to Protesilaus”.

Protesilaus: F, Prothesilaus. “Prothesalus”, according to Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5. MSS of Guido delle Colonne’s Historia destructionis Troiae have Prothosolaus and Prestesilaus. He is Dares’s Protesilaus (De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14), who was the first Greek captain killed in the Trojan war (Homer, Iliad, II, 695-702) and Laodamia’s husband.

Collesis: from Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5. Guido delle Colonne mentions Machaon and Polidus, “filii quondam Regis Colephis [or, according to various MSS, Coliphis, Colisis], from Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Machaon and Polidri, “Qui furent fil Escolapi” (5656), i.e. Dares’s “Podalirius et Machaon Aesculapii filii” (De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14).

 

27

Pollydris: from Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5: “And brought king Machaon and the king Pollydrys his son three and thirty ships”. In Guido delle Colonne’s Historia destructionis Troiae (ed. Griffin, p. 89), Polidus, also called, according to different MSS, Poldix and Polidix, is Machaon’s brother, not his son. See also preceding note.

Achilles: from Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5: “Achilles brought from his noble city of Phaces two and twenty ships”. For Guido delle Colonne, “De nobili vero civitate sua que dicebatur Phites l naves adduxit Achilles”, Historia destructionis Troiae (ed. Griffin, p. 89), from Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Le Roman de Troie, 5659-60, shortening Dares, “Achilles cum Patroclo et Myrmidonibus ex Phthia cum navibus numero l” (De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14).

Thelaphus: from Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5: “The king Thelaphus brought from Rodes two and twenty ships”. Guido delle Colonne, “Rex autem Thelephalus de insula regni sui que dicta est Rodon xxii naves adduxit”, Historia destructionis Troiae (ed. Griffin, p. 89). Benoît de Sainte-Maure mentions “Telepolus” from “Rode” in Le Roman de Troie, 5661-63). Dares: “Tlepolemus ex Rhodo” (De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14).

Eruphilus: from Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5: “Eruphylus from Orchomene, two and fifty ships”. Guido delle Colonne, “Euripilus vero rex de regno suo quod dicitur Orcomenie l naves adduxit”, Historia destructionis Troiae (ed. Griffin, p. 89). Benoît de Sainte-Maure has “Euripilus d’Orcomenie” (5665), from Dares’s De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14: “Eurypylus ex Ormenio”.

Anthipus: from Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5: “The duc Anthypus and the duc Amphymacus of Rusticane, thirteen ships”. Guido delle Colonne: “Dux autem Anthipus et dux Amphimacus domini cujusdam rusticane provincie que dicta est Hesida naves xi adduxerunt”, Historia destructionis Troiae (ed. Griffin, p. 89), from Benoît de Sainte-Maure, Le Roman de Troie, 5669-71, “D’Elide, une terre sauvage, /…/ Danz Antipus e Amphimaus”. Dares, De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14: “Antiphus et Amphimacus ex Elide”.

Rustican: in the course of transmission, Dares’s “ex Elide” became Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s “d’Elide, une terre sauvage”, which Guido delle Colonne rendered as “rusticane provincie que dicta est Hesida”. Raoul Le Fèvre overlooked “Hesida” and misunderstood “rusticane”, which he took for the region’s name. Hence Caxton’s Rusticane and Heywood’s Rustican. See preceding note.

 

28

28: F, 27.

Polybetes: from Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5: “The king Polibetes of Rythee and the duc Lopins his brother-in-law, that had wedded his sister, lxii ships”. Guido delle Colonne: “Rex vero Polipetes [also, Polibetès] de regno suo quod dicebatur Richa [also Rita, or Larisa] et dux Losius [also Lophus, or Leontius], sobrinus eius, adduci fecerunt navigia lx”, Historia destructionis Troiae (ed. Griffin, p. 89); from Benoît de Sainte-Maure, Le Roman de Troie, 5674-76, “de Larise / Polibetès e Leontius, / Qui esreient germains cosins”. Dares had “Polypoetes et Leonteus ex Argisa [or Larisa] navibus numero xl”, De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14.

Argos: F, Arges.

Eurialus and Thelanus: from Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5: “The king Dyomedes of Arges, four score and two ships, and had in his company Thelamus and Euryalus”. Guido delle Colonne: “Strennuus vero Dyomedes et in eius comitiva Thelenus et Eurialus de terra sua Argis naves detulit lxxx”, Historia destructionis Troiae (ed. Griffin, pp. 89-90). Benoît de Sainte-Maure, Le Roman de Troie, 5677-78, “Diomedès e Sthelenus / E li beaus Eurialus”. Dares: “Diomedes, Euryalus, Sthenelus ex Argis navibus numero lxxx”, De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14.

 

29

Fureus: all the Greek captains’ names are borrowed from Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 5, where they are listed as Poliphebus, Fureus, Prothoylus, Carpenor, Theorius of Breysse. In Guido delle Colonne’s Historia destructionis Troiae (ed. Griffin, p. 90), they are Poliphebus (otherwise Philotetès), Fineus (also Cuneus), Prothoylus, Capenor and Treorius, from Beisa (also Pise, or Pile). Benoît de Sainte-Maure has Philotetès, Cuneus, Prothoilus, Agapenor and Crenos from Pise (or Pile), Le Roman de Troie, 5683-94. They correspond to Dares’s Philoctetes, Guneus, Prothous, Agapenor, to whom “Cernus ex Pilo” is added in some versions (De Excidio Troiae Historia, 14).

port: F, part.

 

30

30: F, 38. In stanzas 30-44, Heywood elaborates the portraits of the Greeks from suggestions found in Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 4. In Raoul Le Fèvre’s Recueil, which Caxton translated, the series of portraits is inspired by Guido delle Colonne’s Historia destructionis Troiae.

Coos: dissyllabic. A common early modern spelling of Cos. Apelles of Cos had painted a celebrated Venus: Pliny, Natural History, XXXV, xxxvi. See Heywood’s endnotes below.

 

31

foggy fat: bloated, flabby.

 

33

than: F, them.

 

34

Agamemnon: Heywood borrows from Caxton that Agamemnon was “long and white of body”, “hardy and passing well bespoken”, Recuyell, III, 4.

Menelaus: In Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 4, Menelaus “was of mean stature, hardy in arms and courageous”.

 

35

mure: wall. Heywood already used the phrase “brazen mure” in the description of Danae’s tower (Troia Britanica, IV, 73).

expensive: prodigal. From Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 4: “outrageous in dispense”, which ultimately derives from Benoît de Sainte-Maure: “Larges esteit e despensiers”, Le Roman de Troie, 5165. Caxton also noted that Achilles had a large breast, “broad shoulders”, “great arms” and that there was “ne pareil ne like to him among all the Greeks”.

 

36

Tantalus: Heywood read in Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 4, that Tantalus avoided “noises [i.e. quarrels] if they were not just”, but he could not recognize Patroclus in Caxton’s Tantalus; in the line of transmission, Dares’s Patroclus (De Excidio Troiae Historia, 13), still Patroclus in Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Le Roman de Troie (5171), becomes Tantalus in Guido delle Colonne’s Historia destructionis Troiae (ed. Griffin, p. 83).

 

37

Ajax Oileus: F, Aiax Oeleus. In their galleries of portraits, Dares, Benoît de Sainte-Maure and Guido delle Colonne all describe in succession first Ajax Oileus (son of Oileus), then Ajax Telamonius (son of Telamon). In the same order, Caxton first describes “Ayax”, but without specifying which, then “Thelamon Ayax”. In Caxton’s wake, Heywood first described “Ajax” — whom he assumed to be Ajax Telamonius. Then, encountering  Caxton’s “Thelamon Ajax” a few lines below, was aware of a contradiction and changed him to Ajax Oileus. The result is that his Ajax (stanza 36) corresponds to Dares’s, Sainte-Maure’s, delle Colonne’s and Caxton’s Ajax Oileus, while his Ajax Oileus corresponds to their Ajax Telamonius. As he rewrites Caxton, Heywood introduces some kind of poetic consistence in making his Ajax Oileus less impressive than Ajax Telamonius. This he may have found in Chapman’s Seaven Bookes: “Ajax the less, Oileus’ son, the Locrians led to war, / Not like to Ajax Telamon, but lesser man by far, / Little he was…” (p. 35).

of fair emprise:  enterprising, daring. Caxton describes Ajax Oileus as “of no great emprise”, Recuyell, III, 4. Dares did not mention that feature, but Benoît de Sainte-Maure noted: “Mais n’esteit mie mout seurs” (Le Roman de Troie, 5184), which Guido delle Colonne rendered as “Multum vero fuit pusillanimis” (Historia destructionis Troiae (ed. Griffin, p. 84).

mercutialist: coined on “mercurial”, being, like Mercury, quick-witted and crafty.

 

38

Diomed’: Heywood erases the negative aspects of Diomedes’ character which are to be found in Caxton, who described him as “false in his promises”, “greatly injurious to his servants” and “luxurious”, Recuyell, III, 4.

 

39

three-aged: see note to stanza 24 above.

Pylon’s: F, Pylous. Of Pylos.

Protesilaus: F, Prothesilaus. The poet Heywood is referring to, who sang Protesilaus’ praise, might be Homer in Iliad, II, 698-710, available in English as from 1598 in Chapman’s Seaven Bookes: in this passage, Homer insists not only on Protesilaus’ great courage, but also on his capacity as a leader, and on his untimely death. Heywood’s addition that his look was “effeminate” may have been inspired by Laodamia’s wish that Protesilaus would not fight because, as she thinks, “fortius ille potest multo, quam pugnat, amare” (“He achieves much more in love than in fight”), Ovid, Heroides, XIII, 83.

 

40

Neptolynus: Caxton’s Neptolonyus, deriving from Dares’s Neoptolemus through Guido delle Colonne’s Neoptholonius.

winbrows: eyebrows. Borrowed from Caxton, Recuyell, III, 4: “his winbrows joined”. Heywood also found in Caxton that he was “great, [with] black hair and great eyen” and “stammering in his words”.

Palamedes: F, Palumides. Heywood hesitates between Palimed, Palumides and Palamides, from Caxton’s Palamydes: “Palamydes, son of king Naulus, was of right fair shape and lean, hardy and amiable, a good man and large.” Caxton, Recuyell, III, 4. Harmonised to Palamedes, the usual form of the name, from Homer, throughout Troia Britanica.

 

41

41: in stanzas 41-43, lists names of Greek captains, most of them drawn from Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, “The catalogue of the ships”.

Nireus: F, Nereus. Not mentioned by Caxton. The notion that Homer loved Nireus is drawn from Ovid’s Ars Amatoria, II, 109, “Nireus adamatus Homero”, which Heywood translated as “And Homer dotes on Nireus, the fair Greek” (Thomas Heywood’s Art of Love, ed. Stapleton, II, 148). Nireus’ beauty had become proverbial; see Homer, Iliad, II, 671-74. In Chapman’s translation, “Nireus was the fairest man that to fair Ilion came / Of all the Greeks save Peleus’ son” (Seaven Bookes, p. 40).

Penelaus, Leitus, Eurialus: The first two come top in Homer’s list: “The strong Boeotians, Leitus and Penelaus”, Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, p. 34. The third is mentioned later, ibid., p. 36. They are Homer’s Peneleus and Leitus (Iliad, II, 494) and Euryalus (Iliad, II, 565).

Clonius, Arcesilaus: F, Clovius, Arcecilaus. From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, p. 34, translating Homer, Iliad, II, 495.

Ialmen, Ascalaphus: From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, “God Mars his sons did lead, Ascalaphus and Ialmen” (p. 35). They are Homer’s Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Mars (Iliad, II, 512).

Idomen: From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, “warlike Idomen” (p. 39), that is Homer’s Cretan leader, Idomeneus (Iliad, II, 645 and 650).

Schedius: From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, p. 35, translating Homer’s Iliad, II, 517.

Amphimacus: Chapman’s Seaven Bookes erroneously mention “Alphimacus” (p. 38), a misprint that remains in Twelve Bookes (1609), p. 32, and in Chapman’s complete Illiades (1611), p. 28. In this particular case, the appropriate name may have been suggested to Heywood by Caxton’s Amphymachus (Recuyell, III, 5)—his own Amphimacus in stanza 24, above.

Prothous: From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, p. 42, translating Homer’s Iliad, II, 756.

Ieconteus: A possible misprint for Leonteus, Chapman, Seaven Bookes, p. 42; Homer, Iliad, II, 745.

Polybetes: Heywood could find Chapman’s more correct form “Polypete” (Seaven Bookes, p. 41) for Homer’s Polypoetes, Pirithous’ son (Iliad, II, 740) but he retained Caxton’s spelling, Polybetes, which he already used stanza 28, above.

Guneus: From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, p. 42, translating Homer’s Gouneus, Iliad, II, 748.

Aemilius: Possibly the result of a misprint, Troia Britanica’s version of Chapman’s Eumelius (Seaven Bookes, p. 42), Homer’s Eumelus (Iliad, II, 764).

Philoctetes: In Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, p. 41, Philoctetes, on the way to Troy, is left in Lemnos “By torment of an ulcer grown with Hydra’s poisoned blood”, translating Homer, Iliad, II, 721-23. In Homer, Philoctetes is stung by an ordinary snake. Chapman’s translation might lead the reader to associate Philoctetes’ wound with Hercules’ poisoned arrows, which he had inherited. Heywood ignores the Lemnian episode and brings Philoctetes—with Hercules’ arrows—to Troy.

 

42

Prothenor, Podarces, Merion: From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, respectively p. 34, p. 40 and p. 39, corresponding to Homer’s Iliad, II, 495, 704, 651.

Tlepolemus, Cteatus, and Alphenor: From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, respectively p. 39, p. 38, and p. 36, translating Homer’s Iliad, II, 653, 621, 540.

Phidippus, Antiphus: F, Phidippes, Anthipus. From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, p. 40, “Phydippus and bold Antiphus”, translating Homer’s Iliad, II, 678.

Alceus’ son: F, Alceus soone. Chapman, Seaven Bookes, p. 38, “All these Alcaeus’ son to field, king Agapenor calls ”, translating Homer, Iliad, II, 609: “These were led by the son of Ancaeus, lord Agapenor” [translation Murray, revised by Wyatt].

Talphius: F, Talpheus. From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, “valiant Talphius” (p. 38), Homer’s Thalpius, Iliad, II, 620.

Phetides: Chapman’s Pheretiedes (Seaven Bookes, p. 42), i. e. Homer’s son of Pheres (Iliad, II, 763).

Polyxemon: Probably Chapman’s Polixenus (Seaven Bookes, p. 38 corresponding to Homer’s Iliad, II, 623), slightly arranged for the sake of the rhyme.

Mnestheus: F, Muestheus. Chapman’s Menestheus (Seaven Bookes, p. 36), translating Homer’s Iliad, II, 552.

Sthenelus: F, Stenetus. From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, p. 36, translating Homer’s Iliad, II, 564.

Thoas: From Chapman’s Seaven Bookes, “Thoas, Andremon’s well-spoke son” (p. 39), translating Homer, Iliad, II, 638.

 

43

Polidarius: Homer’s Podalirius. Chapman, translating Homer, Iliad, II, 731-32, does mention “Esculapius’ sons, physicians highly praised, / Machaon, Podalirius” (Seaven Bookes, p. 41). At this point in his list, however, Heywood leaves Chapman to revert to Caxton, who noted that “Polydaryus was passing great fat and swollen, hardy, orguillous and proud, without truth. Mathaon was of mean stature, proud and hardy, and that little slept by night” (Recuyell, III, 4).

Mathaon: Homer’s Machaon. Heywood’s Mathaon is modelled on Caxton, Recuyell, III, 4. See preceding note.

Cressida: F, Creseida. Heywood modernizes Caxton’s “Brisayda”.

 

44

Troilus: F, Troylus.

Sophy: From Caxton’s remark that “For the love of her came the king of Perse [Persia] into the aid of the Greeks unto the siege tofore Troy”, Recuyell, III, 4.

 

45

Delos: Heywood follows Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 6, “How the Greeks sent Achilles unto Delphos to the god Appollo”, where Delphos and Delos are conflated: “This isle [Delphos] was first called Delos”.

Cyclades: F, Ciclades. From Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 6, “the said isle is, as it were, in the mids[t] of the isles of Ciclades”.

 

46

Ortygia: F, Ortigia. From Caxton’s Recuyell, III, 6, “In their language, some call this isle Ortygye, for as much as the birds that men call “ortyges”—in English they ben quails—were first seen there”. See Heywood’s endnote, below.

Latona: Heywood adapts Caxton, Recuyell, III, 6. Caxton’s “Locana” (to whom Heywood restores her correct name, Latona) gave birth to “Appolyn and Dyane” in Delos “for as much as in this isle the paynims saw first the sun and the moon after the deluvie [deluge], and therefore they supposed that they had ben born there of their mother, for Appollo is the sun and Diane is the moon”.

 

47

Thistram’s: F, Thystranes. All editions of Caxton’s Recuyell in print before Troia Britanica call Calchas’ father Thistram. He is Thestor in Homer’s Iliad, I, 69. Here, Heywood ignores Chapman’s “Calchas, Thestor’s son” (Seaven Bookes, p. 3).

Calchas: In Caxton, Recuyell, III, 6, it is the oracle who orders Calchas to help the Greeks. Heywood makes his treason more flagrant.

 

48

revolted: having changed allegiance.

 

50

Iphigenia: F, Iphegenia. Heywood modernises Caxton’s spelling (Effygenye), but the whole story of her being sacrificed to appease the storm is modelled on Caxton’s narrative in Recuyell, III, 7.

 

[Heywood’s endnotes to canto X]

Clymene: F, Clymenen, copying the accusative form of Clymene which Heywood found in Ovid’s Heroides, XVII, 267.

some: Heywood alludes to the tradition started by Dares’ De Excidio Troiae Historia, circulated by Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Le Roman de Troie and Guido delle Colonne’s Historia Destructionis Troiae, which reached Troia Britanica through Caxton’s translation of Raoul Le Fèvre’s Le Recueil des Histoires de Troye.

De Arte Amandi: Heywood gives here a translation of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria, II, 359-71.

In the following notes, Ovid’s Ars Amatoria is referred to as AA, while Heywood’s complete translation, The Art of Love, quoted from M. L. Stapleton’s edition (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000) is referred to as AL. Only the more significant variants between AL and the Troia Britanica excerpt are given below.

In her warm bosom: Ars Amatoria, II, 360: “Hospitis est tepido nocte recepta sinu” (“She is received at night on her guest’s warm bosom”).

What madness was this, Menelaus?: F,  “What madnesse was this? Menelaus, say”. AL, II, 479, “What madnesse was it? Menelaus say”. AA, II, 361, “Quis stupor hic, Menelae, fuit?”.

love: thy love, Helen. AA, II, 362, “uxor” (“your wife”).

thou trusts: AL, II, 482, “to turne”. AA, II, 363, “credis” (“you trust”).

I myself: AA, II, 366, “quod faceret quilibet” (“what anybody would have done”).

limiting: dealing out.

From thee … grown: Heywood’s addition.

Whose counsels have they followed but thine own?: AL, II, 490, “Whose counsel hath she followed but thy owne?”. AA, II, 368, “Quid nisi consilio est usa puella tuo” (“What counsel but yours did the woman follow?”).

they: AL, II, 491, “she”, closer to AA, II, 369 “Quid faciat?”.

queen: AL, II, 493, “wench”.

stayed: F, staid. AL, II, 494, “laid”.

Paris: not so Ovid, “Helenen ego crimine solvo”, AA, II, 371 (“Myself acquit Helen of the fault”).

the: AL, II, 496, “thy”.

De Remedio Amoris: In the following lines, Heywood gives an English version of Ovid’s Remedia Amoris, 771-81, henceforth referred to as RA.

Thou knewest … sweet: Heywood’s addition.

blithe and merry: Heywood’s text of Remedia Amoris (774) read “laetus” (“merry”) and not “lentus” (“indifferent”).

want: miss, lack. RA, “uxore carere / Non potes” (RA, 775-76).

great Atride: Agamemnon, son of Atreus.

than he of force must do: than what he must necessarily do”. RA, 779-80: “fecit Atrides / Quod si non faceret, turpiter esset iners” (“The son of Atreus did that which, if he had not done it, would have showed him shamefully inert”).

to set her free: Heywood’s addition.

Hypsipyle: F, Hipsipile.

Minoan: F, Mynoxan, a probable misprint for Mynoyan, from the Latin “Minoia”.

Meones: see above, note to stanza 15.

Coos: Cos. See note to stanza 30, above. Some elements of Heywood’s endnote seem to be borrowed from Charles Estienne’s entries on Coos and Cos in his Dictionarium Historicum, Geographicum, Poeticum, where the island is described as “insula in mari Aegeo, seu ut quidam aiunt, Icario, Rhodo proxima”, while “Apelles pictor egregius” is mentioned as one of the celebrated inhabitants. In the entry on Apelles, Estienne reported, from Pliny, that “Is moriens Venerem imperfectam reliquit, quam nullus repertus est qui vellet absolvere”. The city, Estienne reports, “Alii Lango appellant”. Lango is the medieval name of Cos.

the haven of Athens, or Aulis gulf: Heywood refers to two traditions. In classical literature, the Greeks gather their fleet at Aulis, in Boeotia—Dictys still makes them meet “ad Aulidam Boeotiae” (Ephemeridos Belli Trojani, XVII). But Dares started a new version when he wrote “Graeci Athenas convenerunt” (De Excidio Troiae Historia, XIV). Benoît de Sainte-Maure and Guido delle Colonne followed suit, and therefore Raoul Le Fèvre and Caxton too. Heywood has an eye on Caxton and another on the classics.

Delos: F, Legos, an obvious misprint. Heywood still conflates Delos and Delphi: see note to stanza 46, above. In classical literature, Delphi is often mentioned as being the navel of the world (“omphalos or umbilicus mundi”): Euripides, Ion, 225-26; Ovid, Metamorphoses, X, 168; XV, 630-33. Pindar (Pythian Odes, IV, 6) and Strabo (Geography, “Phocis”, IX, iii, 6) alluded to the story of Jupiter sending two eagles, one from the far east, the other from the far west to determine the place where they would meet as the centre of the world—which proved to be Delphi, where Apollo’s oracle was situated. Natale Conti, Mythologia, IV, x, “De Apolline” (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1581, p. 228) writes that Apollo’s son Delphus “nomen dedit Delphis umbilico totius orbii terrae, nam fabulati sunt antiqui Iovem cum vellet medium atque umbilicum terrae invenire, alteram aquilam ab oriente, alteram ab occasu pari velocitate emisisse jussisseque illas recta et è regione convolare, quae cum in Delphos denique convenissent, ibi ad sempiternam facti memoriam aurea aquila dicata est” (Delphus “gave the name of Delphi to the navel of the whole terrestrial globe, for the ancients told the fable that when Jupiter wanted to find out the middle and the navel of the earth he sent one eagle from the east and one from the west, ordering them to fly in a straight line one towards the other, and when they finally met at Delphi, to ensure the perpetual memory of the event, a golden eagle was consecrated there”). In the “Delphi” entry of the Dictionarium Historicum, Geographicum, Poeticum, Charles Estienne noted: “Umbilicus terrae haec civitas à Graecis existimata est, referente Plutarcho, cuius causam vel potius fabulam poeticam Strabo narrat, lib. 4 et Claudia. in praefatione de consulatu Mallii Theodori” (“The Greeks hold this city to be the navel of the earth as Plutarch reports, the reason why or rather the poetic fable of which Strabo tells in book 4, and Claudian in the preface of Mallius Theodorus”). Estienne’s references are to Plutarch’s De Defectu Oraculorum, 1; Strabo, “Phocis”, IX, iii, 6 (not IV); Claudian, Panegyric for Mallius Theodorus, “Praefatio”, 11-16.

Ortygia: F, Ortigia. Heywood follows Caxton: see note to stanza 46, above.

The daughter of Iphigenia: the text seems garbled. F, “Ovid avers is to be the daughter of Iphegenia” should read “Ovid avers it to be his [Agamemnon’s] daughter, Iphigenia”. The confusion is not only typographic, as according to Ovid (Metamorphoses, XII, 24-38), Agamemnon agreed to sacrifice Iphigenia to placate Diana, but out of pity for the girl, at the last minute, the goddess substituted a hind.

before: in canto X, Castor and Pollux were mentioned twice: in Heywood’s translation of Helen’s letter to Paris, as Helen’s brothers, sure to avenge her ravishment; then in stanzas 3-5, when they try to rescue their sister, perish at sea and are changed into stars.

Theocritus: borrowed from Natale Conti, Mythologia, VIII, ix, “De Castore et Polluce” (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1581), pp. 560-61: “Theocritus in Dioscuris Castorem et Pollucem Jovis filios, at non Tyndari, appellavit” (“In “Dioscuri”, Theocritus calls Castor and Pollux Jupiter’s sons, not Tyndarus’”). See Theocritus, Idylls, XXII, “Dioscuri”, 1-2.

Apollonius: borrowed from Natale Conti, Mythologia, VIII, ix, “De Castore et Polluce” (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1581), p. 561: “Deinde cum Jason ad aureum vellus esset navigaturus et ad eum confluerent undique delecti juvenes, inter caeteros accessit Castor et Pollux, ut ait in libro I Apollonius” (“Then when Jason prepared to sail in search of the Golden Fleece and choice youths joined him from everywhere, among others came Castor and Pollux, as Apollonius says in book 1”). See Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, I, 146-50.

Amycus: F, Amicus. Borrowed from Natale Conti, Mythologia, VIII, ix, “De Castore et Polluce” (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1581), p. 561: “cum ad Bebryciorum Amycique, Neptuni filii, litus appulissent, Pollux adversus Amycum, qui omnes Argonautas provocaverat, in pugnam prodivit eumque interfecit (“as they landed on the shore of the Bebrycians and of Amycus, Neptune’s son, Pollux engaged a fight against Amycus, who had challenged all the Argonauts, and killed him”). According to Apollonius Rhodius, it is Polynices who fought against Amycus (Argonautica, II, 1-97), but Heywood, following Conti, attributes the exploit to Castor.

Talayra: F, Falaira. Phoebe: F, Phebe. The whole paragraph is borrowed from Natale Conti, Mythologia, VIII, ix, “De Castore et Polluce” (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1581), pp. 561-62.

Tzetzes: Heywood borrows this reference from Natale Conti, Mythologia, VIII, ix, “De Castore et Polluce” (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1581), p. 561: “Zez. vero non Phoeben, sed Ilaeram vocat alteram Leucippi filiarum, hist. 48. chil. 2, quam alii Naeiram alii Elairam vocarunt” (“But Tzetzes does not call Leucippus’ other daughter Phoebe but Ilaera, II, 48, whom others call Naeira, and others still, Elaira”. See Tzetzes, Historiarum Variarum Chiliades, II, 48, “On Castor and Pollux”, ed. Gottlieb Kiessling (Leipzig: Vogel, 1826), pp. 67-68.

Anogon: F, Amagon.

Taygetus: F, Taigetes.

Lynceus: F, Linceus.

Stasinus: Fragment from Stasinus’ Cypria provided by the scholiast on Pindar, Nemean Odes, X, 114. With minor variations (Linceus for Lynceus, quicquid for quidquid), Heywood reproduces Natale Conti’s translation into Latin of Stasinus’ fragment from Mythologia, VIII, ix, “De Castore et Polluce” (Venice: Comin da Trino, 1581), p. 562: literally, “at that time, swift Lynceus climbed up the heights of mount Taygetus and gazed around at whatever was big on the island of great Pelops, Tantalus’ son.  With his sharp sight, he saw them both who had taken refuge inside the belly of a hollow oak, powerful Pollux, and Castor, the tamer of horses”. See Martin L. West’s translation, straight from Stasinus’ Greek: “At once Lynceus climbed Taygetus, relying on his swift legs, and going up to the summit he surveyed the whole island of Pelops the Tantalid. And with his formidable eyes the glorious hero soon spotted them both inside a hollow oak, Castor the horse-tamer and prize-winner Polydeuces”, Greek Epic Fragments from the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC, ed. and translated by Martin L. West (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003), pp. 96-97.

 

Back to Canto X



How to cite

Yves Peyré, ed., 2015.  Troia Britanica Canto X (1609), Notes.  In A Dictionary of Shakespeare's Classical Mythology: A Textual Companion, ed. Yves Peyré (2009-).

http://www.shakmyth.org/page/Early+Modern+Mythological+Texts%3A+Troia+Britanica+X%2C+Notes

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