a short one, chiefly in the first foot; of which four are of a monosyllable. Once this elision occurs in the latter half of a pentameter, 111. 6 (5). 18. As L. Müller points out, this elision chiefly occurs in phrases like uidi ego, &c.; or else where the vowel which precedes is ō (afterwards ŏ) as in nemo adeo. For the elisions at the end of the first half of a pentameter see the footnote'. Propertius has two non-elisions of m, O me felicem, o nox mihi candida et o tu Hiatus. III. 7 (6). 1. haec eadem ante illam impune et Lesbia fecit III. 30 (24). 45. one unelided long vowel, in imitation of Virgil, sed thyio thalamō aut Oricia terebintho and one with shortening, IV. 6 (7). 49. IV. 10 (11). 17. Omphale in tantum formae processit honorem He does not object to keeping a short vowel before 8 and a following consonant. lengthens it as Tibullus does. He never Thus quoscumque smaragdos III. 8 (7). Short vowel be fore s and consonant. 43, bracchiă spectaui iv. 10 (11). 53, iam beně spondebant v. 1. 41, tu cauě spinosi v. 4. 48, nunc ubi Scipiadae classes IV. 10 (11). 67, Minoa uenumdată Scylla figura IV. 18 (19). 21; even consuluitque striges v. 5. 17, and probably Iouis cum prole Sca mandro IV. 1. 27 n. 1 He has two instances of the end of the first half of the pentameter being elided before the last; 1. 5. 32 non impune illa rogata uenit, iv. 22. 10 Herculis Antaeique Hesperidumque choros, compare 111. 6 (5). 10 immortalis ero si altera talis erit. The close connexion between the two halves which this produces is a Greek liberty which Tibullus and Ovid abandoned. It is found in Catullus. In the hexameter he affects an elision at the end of the second foot. Some exx. have been quoted above. The following seem to be all the cer- Lengthenings in tain instances: uinceris aut uincis: haec in amore rotast arsis. II. 8. 8. v. 1. 17. The coalescence of two syllables into one occurs chiefly in Greek words, such as Promethei II. 1. 69, Enipeo 1. 13. 21, &c. Besides these we find eodem II. 8. 26 Quantity of separate words. (eadem IV. 5 (6). 36, eosdem v. 7. 7), dehinc 11. 4. 60: i for ii in plur. in Gabi v. 1. 34, probably Deci (adj.) v. 1. 45 and socīs l. c. and i for Synizesis. the pronoun, III. 19 (16). 35, III. 32 (26). 64 Lauinīs litoribus. In ābiegnus v. 1. 42, the vowel becomes a semivowel (abyegnus). So in Suebus IV. 2 (3). 45. The resolution of one syllable into two is not found in Propertius. The sole exception Diaeresis. is the gen. in -ii. Up to his time this gen. -i and ii. from words in -ius and -ium is only found in a few isolated cases; e. g. Catullus 9. 5 o mihi nuntii beati, Virg. Aen. 3. 702 immanisque Gela fluuii cognomine dicta, and in Ennius in the proper name Tarquinius: and the - form is the only one in use in the best classical prose. Propertius however found the - form so convenient for his verse that he used it freely in conjunction with the -i form; and Ovid followed him and extended the use still further. On the one hand we have Mercurii, imperii, gymnasii and on the other Pelusi, Antoni, Mari, Tati. Shortening of -0. It only remains to remark that, besides the usual ego1, nescio, uolo, we find an isolated example of ŏ in verbs, i. e. findŏ IV. 8 (9). 35. As is well known, the shortening spread fast after the Augustan period; and in the age of Juvenal final o is indifferently short or long. 1 egō, v. 2. 3, is remarkable. CHAPTER V. LITERARY HISTORY. THE relation of a poet to his predecessors, contemporaries and successors is always a question of literary interest. In the case of Propertius it is also one of critical importance. The happy comparison of some passage of his models or of his imitators may often suggest the right explanation or emendation of a passage classed up till then as corrupt. Much has been done in this way and much remains to be done. But of this upon a future occasion. Propertius. Propertius tells us more than once who are his masters in poetry. These are of course the Alexandrine writers of elegy Calli- The models of machus and Philetas1. His ambition is to be the Roman Callimachus' (v. 1. 64); the sacred shades of Callimachus and Philetas to admit him to their sacred grove (Iv. 1. 1). he prays A. Greck. Of Philetas we have only some inconsiderable fragments. We have more of Callimachus ; and Philetas. but not sufficient of his elegiac poems to Callimachus estimate the amount of our poet's debt to 1 The reader will find a long and somewhat barren discussion of Propertius' relations to the Alexandrines in Hertzb. 1. pp. 186 sqq. him. It is however not improbable that it was not so great as it might seem from his expressions. Enthusiasm for the writer whom they took as their model of harmonious verse might easily have led both him and Catullus to exaggerate his merits. When the glamour of those feelings had faded away, it was possible, as Ovid, a good judge in the matter, does, to take a cooler view; Am. 1. 15. 13 Battiades toto semper cantabitur orbe. quamuis ingenio non ualet, arte ualet. It was this consummate ars that aroused the hearty admiration of poets who were struggling with the difficulties of a yet unharmonized language, and threw a halo round the somewhat slender ability of its possessor. Still there are a good number of passages in Propertius where he has had Callimachus before him. I will quote one. In the MSS. v. 9. 57 is read magnam Tiresias aspexit Pallada uates. It is corrected to magno from Callim. Lauacr. Pall. 101, 102, ὅς κέ τιν ̓ ἀθανάτων ὅκα μὴ θεὸς αὐτὸς ἕληται ἀθρήσῃ μισθῷ τοῦτον ἰδεῖν μεγάλῳ. And more are given in the notes1. There is another writer of the Alexandrine period to whom and to those whom he included in his collection Propertius apparently Meleager and owes much more in comparison than to his 'Garland.' Callimachus. This is Meleager of Gadara who lived about B. C. 60. He compiled the first Greek Anthology. A list but not a complete one of the authors whom he drew is given in his prefatory poem, upon Anthol. 3. 1. To use his own expression, they are 1 Further illustrations of the statements in this and following pages may be obtained from the Index, where the chief coincidences in the poems included in this selection between Propertius and his predecessors and successors have been collected, and to which the reader is referred. the flowers in the garland of Meleager.' Meleager was a man of refined taste and feeling as the collector of an Anthology should be. His poetry is endowed to a wonderful degree with the gift of tears; and this no doubt was largely instrumental in drawing Propertius to him. I will quote one exquisite passage. οὗ σοι ταῦτ ̓ ἐβόων, ψυχή; “ Ναὶ Κύπριν ἁλώσει, οὐκ ἐβύων; εἷλέν σε πάγη. Τί μάτην ἐνὶ δεσμοῖς ὦ ψυχὴ βαρύμοχθε, σὺ δ ̓ ἄρτι μὲν ἐκ πυρὸς αἴθῃ τί κλαίεις; τὸν ἄτεγκτον ὅτ ̓ ἐν κόλποισιν Ερωτα αὐτὴ ταῦθ ̓ εἷλου· φέρε τὸν πόνον, ἄξια πάσχεις The delicate cruelty and gilded mockery of Love are touched in a way that reminds us of Blake's most exquisite poem. A bath of ointment to the scorched sufferer, a potion of scalding tears for his thirst. Yes, and rightly so; for he has taken to himself one who is as burning snow, and fiery honey is his reward.' Taking the number of Meleager's poems into account, Propertius' obligations to him are considerable. Several of them are quoted in the notes; see Index s. v. Meleager. I add two more. Prop. v. 1. 143 illius arbitrio noctem lucemque uidebis, Meleag. Anth. 12. 159 ἦν μοι συννεφὲς ὄμμα βάλῃς ποτέ, χεῖμα δέδορκα ἦν δ ̓ ἱλαρὸν βλέψῃς, ἡδὺ τέθηλεν ἔαρ: Prop. III. 17 (14). 20 inuitis ipse redit pedibus, Meleager Anth. 12. 85 αὐτομάτοις δ' ἄκων ποσσὶ ταχὺς φέρομαι. Propertius seems also to have caught some of Meleager's tricks of speech: e. g. ecce, aspice = Meleag. ἰδοῦ, ἠνίδε. Anth 5. 178, 12. 101, &c. |