Collected Fragments of Ennius
Page 9
Apollodorus: Apollo spoke an oracle to him, and he slew his mother.... And Alcmaeon was pursued by the Fury of his mother’s murder, and seized with madness he came first to Oecleus in Arcadia, and thence to Phegeus in Psophis.
24
Scene: Psophis in Arcadia where Phegeus was king. Alcmaeon looks back on his deed:
Nonius: ‘lam diu’ for once upon a time.... Ennius in Alcmaeon —
Alcmaeon...’Tis long since it was done.
25–9
He is haunted by the horrors of his deed and fate:
Cicero: Let wrath claim one kind of voice... fear claim another, — lowered, broken, and downcast —
Beset am I in sundry ways — by sickness, banishment and want; yes, and dread disheartens me wholly out of my wits, even to death; mother threatens my life with butchery and torture terrible, horrors at which there is none so steadfast in spirit, none endowed with such firm trust that his blood would not flee him in his fright and himself not turn white with fear.
30–36
Madness comes upon him:
Cicero: Once more, your Alcmaeon himself, who denies that his brain sees alike with his eyes — (fr. 37) does he not shout at the very moment when his raving is quickened —
Alcmaeon
Whence rises this flame?
and in turn comes the famous outcry —
Come on, come on! Ah! They’re here.’Tis I they seek!
And again, when he implores a maiden’s protection —
Help me! Thrust away this plague from me, this flaming blast which racks me to death! They come on, girdled with snakes of colour blue, they stand around me with blazing brands.
Surely you do not doubt that he thinks he sees all this? Now for the rest —
Apollo never-shorn straining with his left hand bends his gilded bow; Diana shoots her brand from the moon.
37
His madness begins to abate:
Cicero: The same thing happens to people who are mad, so that... when the madness in them slackens, they feel and say, in the famous words of Alcmaeon —
but in no wise sees my brain alike with the sight of my eyes.
His marriage with Arsinoe?:
Apollodorus: Purified by him (Phegeus) he married that same king’s daughter.
Alexander
We can be certain that the ‘fabula’ with the title ‘Alexander Paris’ in Hyginus is an outline made directly from Ennius’ play (see notes on lines 39, 52), which, as Varro, L.L., VII, 82 shows, was based on Euripides’ Ἀλέξανδρος. Thus we can give not only fragments, but also the plot of Ennius’ tragedy. Cf. F. Schneidweiler, Philol, XCVII, 1948, 321.
Prologue spoken by Cassandra:
Hyginus: Priam, son of Laomedon, had several children in wedlock with Hecuba, daughter of Cisseus or Dymas; she, his queen, being with child, saw herself in sleep giving birth to a burning firebrand, out of which came many snakes. When this vision was told to all the interpreters, they enjoined that, whatever she gave birth to, she should slaughter it, so that it should not mean mischief to the country.
38–49
Cicero: Even if all this is fiction on the poet’s part, still it is not different from the usual manner of dreams. I grant you by all means that the following also was some make-believe, by which Priamus was harassed, because
Cassandra
My mother Hecuba, heavy with child, in a dream thought she gave birth to a burning brand ; on this my father king Priam himself, daunted with fear of mind at the dream, gripped by sighing cares, made atoning sacrifice with bleating victims. Then in search of peace he begged from Apollo an interpretation, beseeching him to teach him truly whither dreams of such mighty omen would turn. Then from his oracle Apollo with foretelling voice gave forth that Priam should forbear to take up the first boy who should be born to him after that; that the boy would be a ruin to Troy, a plague to Pergamum.
Hyginus: After Hecuba had given birth to Alexander, he was given up to be killed; but the servants in pity exposed him. Some shepherds found him exposed and brought him up as a son of their own, and named him Paris. When he reached the years of manhood, he had a bull as a pet.
50–51
Meanwhile Priam had established yearly games in honour of Alexander, whom he thought to be dead. He awaits news of the games?:
Varro: ‘Aures’ is a term derived from ‘aveo,’ for with these we are on all occasions ‘avid’ to learn. Ennius, it seems, wishes to show in this a true root of speech in Alexander... —
Priamus
For long now my mind and my ears have been waiting eager with eagerness to hear the news from the games.
52
The messenger tells his strange story:
Hyginus: When servants, sent by Priam in order that one of them might bring along a bull to be put up as a prize in the graveside sports which were held according to custom in his honour, came to his haunts, they began to lead away Paris’ bull. He followed them up, and inquired whither they were leading it. They made known to him that they were leading it to Priam for the man who might be the winner at the graveside sports in honour of Alexander.
Paris protests against the seizure of his bull:
Festus: ‘Stolidus’ silly... —
Messenger
He calls to the fellow, ‘What’s this frolic of yours, blockhead?’
He understands not.
53
The messenger tells Priam about the spectators at the games:
Macrobius, on ‘Many besides whose obscure fame hides away’ in Virgil: Ennius in Alexander —
Messenger
And many others came, whose poverty Rendered their names unknown.
Hyginus: He (Paris) inflamed with fondness for his bull, went down into the lists and won all the bouts; among those whom he worsted were his brothers. Deiphobus in high dudgeon unsheathed his sword against him; but he leapt to the altar of Jupiter of the Courtyard.
54
The messenger tells of Paris’ victories:
Festus: Verrius interprets the Greek word ‘taenia’ by saying that it is a woollen ornament for the head of a person of rank... —
Messenger?
With garlands and with ribbons wreathed, from heaven As she flew down,
55
he reports comments of the losers, possibly of Deiphobus, a brother of Paris:
Paulus: ‘Vitulans,’ rejoicing in gladness, like a ‘vitulus,’ (calf) at pasture. Ennius —
Messenger?
‘He has the garland, trippling there in triumph.’
56
He tells how the strange victor is called Alexander:
Varro: In a passage of Ennius we have... —
Messenger
Wherefore the shepherds now call this Paris ‘Alexander.’
While wishing to copy Euripides and give an example of true roots of speech, Ennius made a slip, for, because Euripides wrote Greek true roots of speech, his are obvious.
Hyginus: But when Cassandra prophesied that he was her brother, Priam recognised him and gave him a place in his palace.
57–72
Cassandra, filled with prophetic frenzy, foresees the evil that Alexander will bring upon Troy:
Cicero: There is therefore in souls a power of boding put in from outside and shut in by divine communication. If it burns up very strongly, it is called raving, when the mind withdrawn from the body is stirred up by divine inspiration —
Hecuba
But what did she seem on a sudden to catch sight of with burning eyes? Yes, and where is she who not long back was in her right mind, she of maidenly modesty?
Cassandra
Mother, woman wiser far than the best of women, driven was I by superstitious soothsayings, and Apollo by foretellings told stirs me to madness — not against my wish. Yet I shrink from maidens of my own age; before my father, best of men, I am ashamed of what I have done. Mother mine, I pity you, I grieve for me; to Priam you have born blessed bairns — apart from me. Th
at’s painful. Ah! That I should be a hindrance, those brothers a help! That I should stand against you, they stand with you!... Hecuba, That’s painful, pitiful, sorrowful!
What gentle soft poetry, fitting the characters! yet this is but little to the point... —
’Tis here, the brand wreathed in blood and fire. Many a year hath it lain hidden. Citizens! Bring ye help and quench it!
By now not Cassandra, but a god, shut up in a human body, is speaking. —
And now upon the mighty main a fast fleet is built; it carries a swarm of deaths; a wild horde will come and cover the shores with sail-fluttering ships.
It seems my talk is all tragedies and tales.
73–5
Cicero: The raving mind sees long beforehand things that are to come; to this kind belongs the famous passage —
Cassandra
Ha! See ye! Someone hath judged a judgment widely known between three goddesses; and out of this judgment will come to us a woman of Lacedaemon, one of the Furies.
76–9
Macrobius, on ‘Ο light of Dardania, O surest hope of the Trojans’ in Virgil: and so on. Ennius in Alexander —
my own brother, Hector, you light of Troy, how is it you are thus made pitiful with your torn body? And who are they who have thus dragged you before our very eyes?
80–81
Macrobius, on ‘when the fatal horse’ etc.... in Virgil: Ennius in Alexander —
For with mighty leap the horse pregnant with armed men has passed over, that he may by his brood bring bane to high-builded Pergama.
82
Unplaced fragment:
Festus says: ‘Putus’ for ‘purus’:... Ennius in Alexander —
pure and clean from the middle
Andromache or Andromache Captive
One thing certain about the plot of this play is, that although its origin was Euripides (Varro, L.L., VII, 82), it was not taken from that poet’s Ἀνδρομάχη, since the action falls sooner after the capture of Troy. Some of the material is to be found in his Ἑκάβη and in his Τρῳάδες. The model may have been a play unknown to us (V., CCIII title: — Ἀνδρ. αἰχμάλωτος or αἰχμαλωτίς); or Ennius may have ‘contaminated’ several plays. Quotations are given under two titles, but come from the same play.
83–4
The Greeks prepare to return from Troy:
Nonius: ‘Summum,’ glorious, praiseworthy.... Ennius in Andromache Captive —
Neptune? Fighting for many a year and far from home With glorious labour in a glorious war. 85
A storm keeps them back:
Macrobius, on ‘looking down on the sail-fluttering sea’ in Virgil: Ennius... in Andromache —
Chorus?
From the high sea it sweeps sail-fluttering ships
86–7
Grief of Hecuba (?) when baby Astyanax is washed for burial:
Nonius: ‘Rarenter’... —
Messenger? But like unto stiff strength of iron or stone She strained to draw sobs fitfully, 88–9
Nonius: ‘Lavere’ is another form derived from this verb... —
Messenger? for when she was led in, and they put the boy into the shield that they might wash him, 90
Andromache begins to tell of her grief and loneliness:
Nonius: ‘Exanclare’ means also to bear to the end... —
Andromache In what dread hardships did I on that day Serve a full term! 91–2
Cicero: Achilles avenges himself, as seems good to him at least. But she grieves as it were over a most bitter woe —
I saw what I could hardly bear to see — Hector by four-horsed chariot dragged along. Hector Indeed! Or how long will he be Hector? Accius is better....
93
Varro: People used to say ‘Hectorem’ and ‘Nestorem’ like ‘quaestorem’ and ‘praetorem.’ Thus Ennius writes —
... Hector’s child hurled down from the wall
94–100
Cicero: We must inquire therefore in what manner we are to free from his distress him who thus speaks (see Thyest., 363–5).... Here you have something on the other side from the same poet —
Once mighty in resources, now resource Needing from you, my Hector
Her we ought to go and help, for she seeks our aid —
What succour should I seek and follow? What help in retreat or what escape could I rely on now? Bereft am I of citadel and city; where can I kneel, where can I appeal — I for whom at home no country’s altars stand — they lie broken, torn apart; the holy places are burnt down by fire, the high walls stand scorched and misshapen, and with fir-wood crinkled up...
101–8
Cicero continues: You all know what follows, and especially these famous lines —
father, O fatherland, O house of Priam, you temple close-fixed by high-creaking hinge, I have seen you, with barbaric throng at hand, furnished in kingly fashion with gold and ivory, with ceilings chiselled and fretted.
Truly an excellent poet, in spite of the fact that he is despised by your warblers of Euphorion’s melodies. He feels that all that is sudden and unlooked for comes the heavier. Well then, following on that heightened account of royal riches which seemed to be everlasting, what does he say? —
All this I saw with flame devoured, Priam’s living force by force unlifed, Jupiter’s altar with blood befouled.
A glorious monody indeed; mournful it is in subject, words, and rhythms.
109
Someone refers to Andromache’s refusal to think of marrying again after the death of Hector:
Varro: In a passage of Ennius we have — He who ‘Man-fighter’ named her, named her well.
... Euripides says that Andromache was given this name because ἀνδρὶ μάχεται (she fights against man). Who can be aware that this is what is meant by Ennius’ line...?
110
Discord caused by the demand made by the shade of Achilles for Polyxena’s blood?:
Nonius: ‘Augificat,’ increases... —
What’s happening? Wanes riot, or swells its numbers?
111
Festus: ‘Summussi,’ a term once used for murmurers... — the mumblers... say...
112
Ulysses addresses Andromache?:
Nonius: ‘Sonunt’ is another form derived from this word... —
for neither the angry nor the courteous utter anything without guile.
113–16
Polyxena is about to die:
Cicero: What old crone is there so crazy as to fear what you, I would have you know, would fear if you had not learnt nature’s laws? —
Hail, you tall temples of Orcus and Acheron below, you wan places of death, clouded in everlasting ebon darkness!
Andromeda
Model: Euripides’ play of the same name. The following summary is based on Hygin., Fab., 64, with Apollodor., Bibl., ΙΙ, 4, 3.
Because Cassiope (Cassiepeia), wife of King Cepheus of Ethiopia, claimed that her beauty (or that of her daughter Andromeda?) was greater than the beauty of Nereus’ daughters, Neptune sent floods and a sea-monster to plague the land. Relief could come only if Andromeda were given to the beast to be devoured. So she was chained to a seaside rock.
117–18
Opening of the play. At the mercy of the monster, Andromeda longs for daybreak:
Varro: I am altogether more of the belief that from ‘chaos’ comes ‘chous’ and from this comes ‘caelum’... and thus Andromeda says to the night —
Andromeda hallowed night, you who pass over all the hollow of the heaven with your star-spangled chariot and team of two,
119
Perseus fights the beast; it turns its head:
Festus: ‘Urvat.’ By this, Ennius in Andromeda means draws round; it is derived from that furrow which is made with the ‘urvum’ (ploughtail) when a city is being founded... —
Messenger Ploughs the head around itself A line well nigh four hundred feet from earth, 120
The mon
ster’s skin:
Nonius: ‘Scabres’ for ‘scabra es.’... —
Enwrapped with scraggy stones; its scales were scurfed With shellfish.
121
Perseus seeks a vital spot:
Nonius: ‘Corporare’ means to kill, and as it were to leave the body only, without life... —
He scanned the body seeking whence he might Make it a dead body with a wound.
122
The beast is harassed by wounds and waves:
Nonius: ‘Reciproca’... —
Backwards and forwards did waves drive the beast
123–4
Nonius: ‘Visceratim’... —
A wave shattered and scattered other limbs Piecemeal; the salt seas spewed a bloody spray. 125
Andromeda will go with Perseus to Argos: she addresses her mother:
Priscianus: Dat. and abl.: ‘natabus filiabus’:... But in the same gender the form ‘filiis’ was also used... —
Andromeda For your sake was I, who had done no hurt, Cast out, for Nereus’ daughters. 126
Andromeda declares to Perseus her willingness to be the mother of children by him:
Festus: ‘Quaesere’ is used by archaic writers for ‘quaerere’... —
Andromeda Mother of thy household, for the sake Of getting children. 127
Perseus assures her that she shall have her wish:
Varro: Ennius has —