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English Pages [267] Year 1991
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE Medieval and Renaissance Themesand Variations
For Mike, sine quo non
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE THEMES AND VARIATIONS Including the text of the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri with an English translation
Elizabeth Archibald
D. 5. BREWER
© Elizabeth Archibald 1991 All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted undercurrentlegislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, withouttheprior permission of the copyright owner First published 1991 by D.S. Brewer, Cambridge DS. Breweris an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF and of Boydell & BrewerInc. PO Box 41026, Rochester, NY 14604, USA ISBN 0 85991 316 3 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Archibald, Elizabeth Apollonius of Tyre: medieval and Renaissance themes and variations. L Title 18.09 ISBN 0-85991-316-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Archibald, Elizabeth, 1951—
Apollonius of Tyre : medieval and Renaissance themes and variations : including the text of the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri with an English translation / Elizabeth Archibald p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-85991-316-3 (alk. paper) 1. Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri. 2. Apollonius of Tyre (Fictitious character) — Romances — History andcriticism.
3. Apollonius of Tyre (Fictitious character) — Romances. 4. Literature, Medieval - Roman influences.
5. European literature —
Romaninfluences. 6. Romances, Latin — Appreciation — Europe. I. Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri. English & Latin. 1991 II. Title. PA6206.A63A73 1991 873'01-dc20 91-9332
This publication is printed on acid-free paper Printed in Great Britain by St Edmundsbury Press Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
CONTENTS Preface Abbreviations and Conventions Contents of Appendices I andII PART ONE l.
Introduction to the Historia Apollonii
27 45
2.
Sources and Analogues
$.
The Circulation of the Apollonius Story in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
4.
TheInfluence of HA
52
5.
Problemsin the Plot
63
6.
Genre, Reception and Popularity
81
ART TWO
l'reface to the text and translation lext of the Historia Apollonii with facing translation Notes on Passages Marked with an Asterisk Appendix I: Latin and Vernacular Versions of HA to 1609
182
Appendix II: Medieval and Renaissance Allusions to the Story of Apollonius
217
Select Bibliography
235
Index of Manuscripts Cited
241
Cieneral Index
245
PREFACE Myquestfor Apollonius of Tyre has lasted almost as long as his own adventures, and like them has ranged over many counties.It began in Cambridge, where I first read the Historia Apollonii as an undergraduate.I forgot him for a few years after 1 went down, but when I entered the Medieval Studies Program atYale I becameinterested in him again, and decided to write my doctoral dissertation on the medieval and Renaissance Apolloniustradition. This book has grown out of my dissertation. Like Apollonius, I have had to solve some riddles, and many scholars have helped me generously during my quest. Mygreatest debts of gratitude at Yale are to Prof. Ingeborg Glier and Prof. Thomas M. Greene, mydissertation advisers; Prof. Marie Boroff, Prof. Warren Ginzburg and Prof. Lowry Nelson, Jr., the official readers of my dissertation; and Prof. John Boswell and Dr Alice Miskimin, who had no formal responsibility for my progress, but contributed enormously to the completion of the dissertation and the book through their teaching, advice and friendship. At Cambridge Prof. Michael Lapidge first introduced me to Apollonius, made many helpful comments on an earlier draft of chis book, and has been an invaluable friend and adviser for twenty years; and Prof. Pcrer Dronke generously read the text and translation, and suggested a numberof clegant improvements. All who work on Apollonius are indebted to Dr G. A. A. Kortekaasfor his magnificent edition of the Historia Apollonii (1984). His work is largely devoted to the Latin tradition, and to the early Middle Ages; like the proverbial dwarf on a giant's shoulders, I have found his book invaluable in looking farther afield in the later Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and I am grateful to him for his generous support and assistance. Many other colleagues and friends have contbuted ideas and references, lent me books, puzzled overtranslations, initiated inc into the mysteries of various greatlibraries, checked references, and provided intellectual and moral support. Special thanks are due to Christopher Baswell, A. S_ (i. Edwards, Abigail Freedman, Simon Gaunt, Ralph Hexter, Anne Higgins, Keith Hopkins, Sarah Kay, David Konstan, Michael Reeve, Anne Walters Robertson, Gareth Schmeling, Elizabeth Sears, Joanna Waley-Cohen, Nigel Wilson, and Robert Yeager, and to John Garnons Williams, who designed and thew the map. Apollonius hadall the books he needed to solve the riddle in his book-chests, ut Lam not so fortunate, and [am enormously indebted to the many American and European libraries where lH have worked. 1 should like to thank the staff in all the libraries whose resources (especially manuscripts) were made available to me
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PREFACE
for their courteous and efficient assistance. The reference librarians at the Sterling Memorial Library and the Beinecke Rare Book and ManuscriptLibrary, Yale University, and at the Cambridge University Library deserve special thanks for all the help they have given me over the years; and more recently the Bielefeld Universitatsbibliothek has proved an excellent source of Apollonius material. Parts of chapters 1 and 2 appeared in a different form as ‘Fathers and Kings in Apollonius of Tyre’, in Images of Authority: Papers presented to Joyce Reynolds on the occasion of her 70th birthday, ed. M. M. Mackenzie and Charlotte Roucché, Cambridge Philological Society Supplement 16 (Cambridge, 1989); parts of chapter 6 appeared in a different form as 'Apollonius of Tyre in Vernacular Literature: Romance or Exemplum", in Groningen Colloquia on the NovelIll, ed. H. Hofmann(Groningen, 1990). I am grateful to the publishers for permission to reproduce this material. Much of this book was written in King’s College, Cambridge. 1 am grateful to the Provost and Fellows for for enabling me to work in such beautiful surroundings, and for financing my word processor and several trips to conferences where I could talk to other Apollonius enthusiasts. Last but by no means least, I am infinitely indebted to my husband for his patience and support. He has given advice, read innumerable drafts, cooked nourishing meals, and generally joined in my quest for Apollonius. Like some medieval quests, it cannot be conclusively completed, but I could never have got even this far without him. Elizabeth Archibald Bielefeld, August 1990.
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS Abbreviations AA AASS BL BN Bodl. CCCM CCSL CFMA FETS ELH ES. HA JEGP Laurent. LCL MGH MLN MLR Hs.
NM OS. ONB PL.
MLA hw RA, Ra,
RB, RB, RC RES RE SATE SHAW
Auctores Antiquissimi (in MGH) Acta Sanctorum.ed. Johannes Bollandus, revised J. Carnandet(Paris, 1863-1948) British Library, London Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris Bodleian Library, Oxford Corpus Christianorum continuatio medievalis (Tumhout, 1953—) Corpus Christianorum series latina (Turnhout, 1966) Classiques francais du moyen áge Early English Text Society Joumal of English Literary History Extra Series
Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri
Journal of English and Germanic Philology Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence Loeb Classical Library Monumenta Germaniae historica (Hanover, 1826—) Modem Language Notes Modern Language Review new scries
Neuphilologische Mitteilungen Original Scries Osterrcichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna aola cursus completus, series latina, ed. J.-P. Migne (Paris, 184464 Publications of the Modem Language Association of America Pauly’s Realenzyclopddie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, ed. C. Wissowaetal. (Stuttgart, 1894-1980) recensions of HA (sce pp. 8-9) Review of English Studies Romanische Forschungen Société des anciens textes frangais Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse
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SS TLF Vat.
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS
Scriptores (in MGH) Textes littéraires frangaises Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
Conventions It would be impracticable to include in the notes full citations for all the versions of the Apolloniusstory, so editions and secondary literature are listed in Appendix I, where the versions are described in more detail. Where there arc several modem editions of a text, the one from which I quote is marked by an asterisk. Forsimilar reasons,allusions to the story are quoted in full, with translations, in Appendix II. The reference numbers for the two Appendices, which are listed on pp- xi-xiii and are also included in the General Index, will be given when a version is first mentioned in each chapter. A full list of manuscripts is given in the Index of Manuscripts Cited. The names of the characters vary a good deal among the versions (and sometimes within them). To avoid confusion, I use the standard forms of the names in HÀ throughout, except in discussing texts where they have been substantially altered. All citations from classical texts are from the Loeb Classical Library edition, unless otherwise stated.
CONTENTS OF APPENDICES I ANDII Appendix I: Latin and Vernacular Versions of HA to 1609 V1. Gesta Apollonii V2. Old English Apollonius V3. Lambert of St. Omer,Liber Floridus V4. Godfrey of Viterbo, Pantheon
V5.Bem Redacton
V6. Carmina Burana, (O Antioche, cur decipis me) V7. Kong Apollon af Tyre V8. Old French Fragment V9. Thidreks Saga af Bem V10. Libro de Apolonio
V11. Gesta Romanorum V12. John Gower, Confessio Amantis V13. Middle English Fragment V14. Brussels Redaction V15. Heinrich von Neustadt, Apollonius von Tyrland V16A,B. Italian Prose Versions (Tuscan) V17. Italian Prose Version (Tuscan-Venetian) V18. Antonio Pucci, Istoria di Apollonio di Tiro in ottava rima V19. Czech Version V20A,B. Dutch Printed Versions V21. London Redaction V22. Vienna Redaction V23. Le violier des histoires romaines V 24. Le romant de Appollin roy de Thir (Garbin’s version) V25. Heinrich Steinhéwel, Die hystory des Ktiniges Appollonii V26. German Prose Version V27. Diegesis polupathous Apolloniou tou Turou V 28. Hystoria de Apolonio V29. Confisyón del Amante V 30. Jacob Falckenburg, Britannia V3. Markward Welser, Narvatio eorum quae contigerunt Apollonio Tyrio V 32. Robert Copland, The Romance of Kynge Apollyn of Thyre V 33. Lawrence Twine, The Patteme of Painefull Adventures VM. Gilles Corrozet, Histoire du roy Apolonius prince de Thir V 35. Francois de Belleforest, 1H Histoires Tragiques
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CONTENTS OF APPENDICES I AND II
V36. Hans Sachs, Der kónig Apollonius im Bad V37. Greek Rhymed Version V38. Hungarian Version V39. Polish Version V40. Juan de Timoneda, El Patrartuelo V41. Eine schóne und kortwylige Historia vam Kóninge Apollonio (Moller's version) V42. George Wilkins, The Painefull Adventures of Pericles Prince of Tyre V43. William Shakespeare (and ?), Pericles Prince of Tyre
Appendix II: Medieval and Renaissance Allusions to the Story of Apollonius A1. Venantius Fortunatus, Opera Poetica A2. Theodosius pelegrinus, Desitu terrae sanctu A3. De dubiis nominibus A4. Bequest of Abbot Wando of St Wandrille A5. Will of Everard, Marquis of Friuli A6. Chronicon Novaliciense A7. Fulcher of Chartres, Historia Hierosolymitana A8. (?Fulcher of Chartres), Gesta Francorum expugnantium Hierusalem A9. Honorius Augustodunensis, Imago Mundi A10. Guerau de Cabrera, Cabra Juglar A11. Lamprecht, Alexanderlied A12. Chrétien de Troyes (?), Philoména A13. William of Tyre, Chronicon A14. Aye d'Avignon A15. Amaut Guilhem de Marsan, Ensenhamen A16. Geoffrey de Vigeois, Chronicon Lemovicense A17. Godfrey of Viterbo, Memoria Seculorum A18. Henricus Septimellensis, Elegia de diversitate fortunae et philosophiae consolatione A19. Poéme Moral A20. La Chanson de Doon de Nanteuil A21. Jean Renart, L'Escoufle A22. Jacques de Vitry, Historia Hierosolymitana A23. Oui de Cambrai, Barlaam et Josaphas A24. Wilbrandus de Oldenburg, Peregrinatio A25. Kyng Alisauruler A26. Flamenca
A21 A chantar mer un discortz
A28 Berrand de Paris en Rouergue, Guordo, ie us fas un sol sivventes l'un A2. Adam de Sucl, Distuhis of Cato
AO. Yuteniua Regis Franchorum et filie in qua adidteriaem comite volat
CONTENTS OF APPENDICES | AND II
A31. Pedro IV of Aragon, poemto his son A32. Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales A33. John Capgrave, Life of St. Katharine of Alexandria A34. Ballad attributed to Alfonso el Sabio A35. Robert Henryson, Orpheus and Eurydice A36. Pimlyco or Runne Red-cap A31. Ben Jonson, On the New Inn. Ode to Himself
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PART ONE
Introduction to
the Historia Apollonii
Strange, shapeless, improbable, as in its entirety is the ‘mouldy tale’, as Jonson called it, of Apollonius, there is need in anyfinal estimate to pay tribute to the vencrablenessofits history and to the enduring appeal made by what might well be called the first of our western ‘romansd’aventure’. LauraHibbard!
The Historia Apollonii is a unique example of a ‘novel’ from late antiquity which was knownand enjoyed throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, and maintained unbroken popularity and an almost unchanging plot from the fifth century to the seventeenth, and beyond. The crushing adjective ‘mouldy’ with which Ben Jonson dismissed Pericles Prince of Tyre [V43], the dramatization in which Shakespeare had at least a hand, is appropriate only in terms of the antiquity of the story? Public opinion throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance was against Jonson, judging from the numerous manuscripts and printed versions of the story which survive. At the latest count the HÀ text appears in one hundred and fourteen Latin manuscripts, written between the ninth and the seventeenth centuries; vernacular versions were produced all over medieval Europe,as far afield as Denmark and Greece, Spain and Bohemia. The first vernacular version was produced in England, and is the earliest known English ‘romance’ (it must be the only fictional narrative to survive in Old, Middle and Modern English). Numerous printed versions appeared in Latin and !
Laura Mibbard, Medieval Romance in England (London, 1924; rp. New York, 1960), p. 17 Ben Jonson’s disparaging comment on Pericles appears in his poem ‘On The New Inn: Odle to Himself’, and is quoted in Appendix I1, A37. The various adaptations of the Historia Apollonii (cited hereafter as HA) are listed chronologically in Appendix I, and the allusions to the story in Appendix lH. When à. version. or an. allusion. is first mentioned in cach chapter, the reference used in the appropriate Appendix: will fe given in square brackets: the Contents of both appendices, and the ceference numbers, are gaven on pp. xi xin
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APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
in various vernaculars before the end ofthefifteenth century, and were frequently reprinted thereafter. The story of Apollonius therefore offers an unusual and exciting opportunity for the study of literary transmission, reception and taste during a period crucial to the formation of Europeanliterary culture. In spite of the importance of HA as a late classical narrative which was extremely popular throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, relatively litle work has been done on it in this century. Until recently the standard text was that of Riese, revised in 1893; a number of new versions ofthe story, both in Latin and in vemaculars, have been discovered since then.? There has been a striking resurgence of interest in Apollonius in the 1980s. In 1981 Tsirsikli published an edition of the two main versions of HA; she offers no literary commentary, but concentrates entirely on editorial problems and textual apparatus.* The magisterial edition by Korrekaas appeared in 1984; as well as the two main versions of the text, it includes detailed discussion of the language and style of HA,and of its origins, and descriptions of almost all the known manuscripts. In 1985 Konstan and Roberts published a text and commentary designed for students, with a very brief introduction. A new Teubner edition by Schmeling containing three versions of the text appeared in 1988." Over the last decade Hunt has published a number of articles on textual problems in HA (sce the Sclect Bibliography). Those who wish to read the text in Latin, and to wrestle with the textual variants and attendantdifficulties, are therefore well served. For those who need help with the Latin text, or who do not read Latin at all, there are a number of English translations available, but some have considerable limitations (for translations into other languages see the Bibliography). Swann's rendering of the version in the Gesta Romanorum was published in 1876: the Latin text which he used differs somewhat from the standard HA text, and his translation of it is rather archaic.? Turner's translation of 1956 is much more readable (if rather free), but was produced only in an expensive Golden Cockcrel Press limited edition of four hundred copies. The version by Pavlovskis is closer to the Latin than Turner's but not so readable, and it is not easily accessible outside the United States.!° There is a more satisfactory new translation by Sandy, but it has only a very brief introduction,as it is part of a collection of
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A. Riese, ed., Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri, 2nd edn, Bibliotheca Teubneriana (Leipzig, 1893; rp. 1973). D. Tsitsikli, ed., Pod Apollonii Regis Tyri, Beitráge zur klassischen Philologie 134 (Kónigstein/Ts., O. A. A. amn Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri, Mediacevalia Oroningana 3 (Groningen, 1984). Page references arc to this study unless otherwisestated. David Konstan and Michael Roberts, ed., Historia Apollini Regis Tyri, Bryn Mawr Latin Commentaries (Bryn Mawr, Pa., 1985). Gareth Schimeling, edi; Eiistorta Apolloni Regis Tyri, Bibliotheca Teubneriana (Leipz,
| 9HH)
Rev Chatles Swann, tr, Gesta Bomanonam, 16v. Wynnaid Plooper (London, 1876; 1p.
But the incestuous marriage of the lovesick Tyrus’, SBAW 2 (1872), 3-28: he argued that, like the Alexander romance, 11A owed its wide circulation co its historical background and the inclusion of the names of importancerulers and kingdoms (pp. 3-4). 31 HAc. 16; Zink, ed., Le roman d’Apollonius, p. 34. 31 According to PW,s.v. 'Tarsos' 3, the adjective Tarsios is not connected philologically with the name of the city; the adjective meaning ‘of Tarsus’ was Tarsikos or Tarseus.
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Tarsia’s name may be derived from a patronymic (see n. 47 below). In Timoncda’s
sixteenth-century Spanish version [V40], Apollonius’ daughter is called Politania, presumably for her mother’s country, which Timoneda calls Pentapolitania. the complexities of the Seleucid dynasty see PW,s.v. ‘Anciochos’ and ‘Seleukos’; E. R. Bevan, The House of Seleucus, 2 vols (London, 1902); A. H. M. Jones, The Greek City (Oxford, 1949); E. M. Abel, Histoire de la Palestine depuis la conquéte d'Alexandre jusqu'à la conquéte arabe, 2 vols (Paris, 1952); Glanville Downey, A History of Antioch in Syria from Seleucus to the Arab Conquest (Princeton, 1961). The principal surviving sources are Valerius Maximus V.7; Plutarch, Life of Demetrius, c. 38; Appian, Syrian Wars, 59; Lucian, De dea Syria, cc. 17-18; and Julian, Misopogon, 147-8 (according tothis last account, Antiochus did not marry Stratonice until after his father's death). Sec lohde, pp. 5 fé, and p. 449, n. V; Perry, pp. 901. 2 and 321; A. B. Brebaart, 'King Seleucus 1, Antiochus and Scratonice’, Mnemosyne 20, series 4 (1967), 154 64; Attiho Mistrocinque, Manipolazione cella stoma in eta ellenwacda
1989),
HF, "Varianioni sul eema di Staten el, pp. 10
M8
1 Sel uli e Roma (Rome,
SOURCES AND ANALOGUES
39
Antiochus I, made possible by his father’s renunciation of Stratonice, seems very different from the clandestine rape of an unwilling daughter by the fictional Antiochus, and much less shocking. In all accounts it is made clear that the historical Antiochus would rather have died than admit his love, and that it was his father the king who willingly arranged the marriage.** Moreover Antiochus | does not seem an adequate model for the generally tyrannical behaviour of the villain of HA. Kortekaas, who believes that the earliest Creek version of HÀ was written in Syria, offers other arguments for Antiochus I as the model for the fictional Antiochus,such as the fact that the historical king advocated an alliance of Syria and Cyrene against Ptolemy II of Egypt, and that his daughter Apama married the king of Cyrene (p. 129). He acknowledges that 'it does not seem impossible that the original HA did indeed preserve some vague reminiscences of the early Seleucids, even though they were curiously jumbled’. There were many other kings called Antiochus in the Seleucid dynasty, however. Haight assumes without further discussion that Antiochus Ill, called the Great, is che modcl; she admits that his career offers no parallels with that of the fictional villain, but quotes Bellinger's argument that the story may reflect the marriage of his son Antiochus to his daughter Laodice (pp. 157-8). But the candidate who seems to me most promising is his son Antiochus IV Epiphanes,the villain of the Books of Maccabees, and apparently the most flamboyantofthe line.?? Incest seems to be about the only crime of which he was not accused, although he may well have been guilty of it. His elder brother Antiochus, who was never king, apparently married their sister Laodice, and Antiochus IV married his brother's widow.?? Such behaviour may well have been conventional in Syria, as it was in Egypt; or altematively the constant use of the same names in the Seleucid family (Antiochus, Seleucus, Laodice) may have confused later writers, and the scandal of AntiochusI and Stratonice may have beenre-attributed, in an altered form, to a later king of the same name whosegeneral reputation invited such charges. All versions of HA attribute Antiochus’ death to divine retribution in the form of a thunderbolt, the favourite weapon of Zeus. Antiochus IV encouraged the cult of Zeus at Antioch, sometimes himself played the role of the god, and had his image on the reverse of some of his coins. Zeus Keraunos (the Thunderbolt) or Keraunios (the Hurler of the Thunderbolt) was widely worshipped, not
I
6 Brebaare argues that Stratonice herself may well have been reluctant; her reactions are never mentioned in any of the sources. 1e even questions whether Antiochusreally wantedto marry her. According to Appian, both of them werereluctant, and Seleucus stressed the fact that they were obeying his order when he announced the marriage to the people: sec Gabriele Marasco, Appiano e la storia dei Seleucidi fino all’ ascesa al trono di Antiocho H1 (Florence, 1982), pp. 104-14. Sce the studies of the Seleucids cited above, and also Otto Merkholtm, Antiochia IV of Syria, Classica et Medievalia Dissertationes VII (Copenhagen, 1966). PW, s.v. "Lacdike! 19, and 'Antiochos! 29 and. 26. To add to the confusion, their mothers name was also Laodike. See Bevan, FL, pp. 52 ff and 279; Merkholm argues that the younger Laodlice married two brothers in succession bur was not their sister (pp. 49. 50)
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APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
least at Antioch, which was founded by Seleucus following the guidance of a thunderbolt, according to Appian.*? 'Keraunios' occurs as a nickname amongthe Seleucids and the Ptolemies.9 The legendary king Salmoneus was famous for aping the majesty of Zeus, and was killed by a thunderbolt from Olympus; Trenknerlists him as an incestuous father." Is it possible that all these threads were woven together with memories of the marriage of Antiochus I and Stratonice into a legend of Antiochus IV as an incestuousfather killed by a divine thunderbolt? His reputation in early Christian times was such that he was soon considered to be the embodimentof Antichrist.” The Seleucid dynasty came to power on the break-up of Alexander's empire. Thefirst Book of Maccabees begins with the death of Alexander and the appearance amonghis successors of ‘radix peccatrix, Antiochusillustris’ (I Macc. 1.10: ‘a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes’). This chronological connection between Alexander and Antiochus I'V may accountfor the fact that HAis so often found in manuscripts containing a history of Alexander (see chapter 6 below, p. 86). But Maccabees contains a more significant juxtaposition:little critical attention has been paid to the striking fact chat at least six characters called Apollonius appear in the Book of Maccabees and have dealings with Antiochus.” Yet this link caught the imagination of Falckenburg, who incorporated Antiochus IV and his general Apollonius son of Menestheusinto his Latin metrical version of HA
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9^ Appian, Syr., 58; and see A. B. Cook, Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion, 2 vols in 3 (New York, 1965), IL.2, p . 807-14 and 1188-9. Seleucus III Soter (PW Bp given the nickname Keraunos byhis soldiers, and Ptolemy Keraunios (PW 15). A Seleucus Ceraunius is mentioned by the rwelfth-century chronicler Honorius Augustodunensis in list of Seleucid kings where there appears to be an oblique reference to the story of Antiochus’ incest (A9]. Trenkner, p. 58; this detail is not mentioned in PW,s.v. ‘Salmoneus’. In Wilkins and Pericles, Antiochusis reported to have been destroyed by fire from heaven whileriding in a chariot with his daughter, a detail which may have been borrowed from the hubristic Salmoneus (it does not occur in any other Apollonius version). Pericles also seems to have borrowed from the Bible the detail of the stench caused by Antiochus'
disease (II Macc. 9). Nothing is said about thunderbolts in Maccabees.
St Jerome makes this identification over and over again in his commentary on the Book of Daniel (PL 25:491—583): see cols 530, 537, 566, 568. See also Rabanus Maurus, Commentaria in Libros Machabaeorum (PL 109: 1126-1256), BookI, col. 1134. K. Hofmannargued long ago that the name of Antiochus suggested itself to the author
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of HA for his villain because it was associated with a powerful, immoral and cruel
tyrant: see Uber Jourdain de Blaivies, Apollonius von Tyrus, Salomon und. Marcolf', SBAW 1 (1871), 415-48,esp. pp. 418~25 [this essay is reprinted in the introduction to the second edition of Hofmann’s Amis et Amiles und Jourdain de Blaivies. Zwei altfranzósische He edichte des kerlingischen Sagenkreises (Erlangen, 1882)]. lt is noted briefly by I lofmann, ‘Uber Jourdain de Blaivies’, p. 425, n. 2; and by Robert J. Kane, ‘A Passage in Pericles’, MI.N 78 (1953), 483-4, p. 484, n. 2. See also Zink, p. 37, and Ruiz-Montero, p. 334. Kortekaas mentions Antiochus Fpiphanes and his prefect Apollonius (p. 152, n. 8), but in reference to the chronology of the version of the story in Godfrey of Viterbo's Pantheon [V4] rather than to cheoriginal development of the plot. Godfrey's villain, Anti hus Junior Seleucus, the son of Antiochus HT, may be totemded to he Antiochus IV, the idennifi ation is clearer in Stemhiowel [V25], who
Vased lus veimton on the Pantheon
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[V30], printed in 1578, and even included references to the relevant verses of Maccabees in the marginsofhis text. Atleast six apparently distinct characters called Apollonius appear in the two Books of Maccabees: they include the general of the Mysiansactive in Jerusalem (I Macc. 1.30 and II. Macc. 5.24); the governor of Samaria killed by Judas Maccabaeus (1 Macc. 3.10); and the governor of Coele-Syria (I Macc. 10.69, and II Macc. 4.4 and 21).4 Two of these characters also appear in Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities (XII, 261-4 and 287, and XIII, 86). Two more are mentioned by Livy: the admiral of the fleet of Antiochus III (XXXVII, 23—4), and the ambassador to Romefrom Antiochus IV (XLII, 6.6). Yet another is mentioned by Polybius, a favourite of Seleucus IV whoretired to Miletus on the accession of Antiochus IV (XXXI, 13.2-3).5 The sons of this man, one also named Apollonius, were the foster-brothers of the young Syrian prince Demetrius, son of Seleucus IV, and helped him to escape from Rome and return to claim his throne (he slipped away by night, just as Apollonius fled from Tyre). He was co-regent with Antiochus IV until he was murdered, perhaps by his ambitious uncle (Polybius XXXI, 11.6 and 13.2-3).'5 These stories seem to offer just the sort of opportunity for 'plasmatic license’ that Perry had in mind. Thehistorical circumstances can be completely forgotten, so that only the linked names survive: thus Apollonius son of Menestheus, the governor of Coele-Syria under Antiochus, could also have contributed his nameto thefictional character. Polybius names one of the foster-brothers of Demetrius as Menestheus: the names Apollonius and Menestheus are linked sufficiently often to suggest that at least some of their owners may have belonged to a clan which had close connections with the Seleucid dynasty. Yet another candidate is Apollonius son of Tharsaeus or Thrasaeus, mentioned in I] Macc. 3.5. His patronymic suggests an alternative derivation for the name of Tarsia: perhapsherfather’s choice of a namefor her wasreally a reflection of the name ‘Tharsaeus’ or ‘Thrasaeus’, a recurring namein an historical clan in which the name Apollonius was also very common.*?
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4 See also J. C. Dancy, A Commentary on | Maccabees (Oxford, 1954); E. M. Abel, Les Livres des Maccabées, La Sainte Bible traduite en frangais (Paris, 1961); The First Book of Maccabees, translated with a commentary by Jonathan Goldstein, Anchor Bible (New York, 1976). For recent attempts to distinguish and identify the various royal officials called Apollonius, see E. Olshausen, Prosopographie der hellenistischen Kónigsgesandten, 3 vols (1974), I, pp. 209-10; J. G. Bunge, Theos Epiphanes: zu den ersten fünf Regierungsjahren Antiochos IV. Epiphanes’, Historia 23 (1974), 61, n. 20; G. Nachtergael, ‘Envoyés royaux d'époque hellénistique’, Chronique d’Egypte 99-100 (1975), 260-1. Merkholm suggests that the younger Apollonius was part of a loyalist faction (p. 48). Similarly in the fifteenth-century. French. Vienna Redaction [V22] Antiochus is presented as regent for Apollonius, whose power he plans to usurp. Schérz argues that Tharsaeus or Thrasaeus is not a patronymic, but means ‘of Tarsus’: see Lexicon fiir Theologie und Kirche (1957 edn), s.v. ‘Apollonios’. Is the name chen a reflection of a family link with Tarsus? See the comment of Theodosius [A2], which may refer to Apollonius of Tyre. Ruprecht Ziegler suggests hnks with the imperial cult in Tarsus: see "Die Historia Apollmu Regis lyri und der Kaisceikult in Tarscs', Cluron 14 (1984), 219. 434
42
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
It would be foolish to argue that HA stemsdirectly from the actions of any of the historical characters discussed above, but it is striking that the names Antiochus and Apollonius should be historically connected in a number of well-known texts. If Kortekaas is right in arguing that the original Apollonius story might have been written in Syria, it seems possible thatthefictional quarrel of Antiochus and Apollonius might be derived from memories of an historical quarrel, though of course it need not have involved incest and a marriage proposal. Apollonius was a common namein the classical world: over a hundred of them are listed in PW. Apart from the fictional hero (PW 89), the only one known as Apollonius of Tyre is no. 94, a philosopher of thefirst century B.C. mentioned by Strabo and DiogenesLaertius. It would be stretching the evidence very thin to arguefora link between the two,in spite of the notable learning of Apollonius in HA andhis collection of philosophical books. But a stronger argumentcan be made for a connection with the Apollonius perhaps best known today, Apollonius of Tyana (PW 98), a Neo-Pythagorean philosopher wholived in the first century A.D., and whose biography was written by Philostratus in the third century at the request of the Empress Julia Domna.* Critics have noticed parallels both with Hellenistic romances and with HA;I think that more can be madeofthe latter, though again the nature of the borrowing which may have occurred depends to some extent on the dating of HA. Some editors have assumed,incorrectly, that references to an Apollonius in certain medieval texts must refer to the philosopher rather than the fictional hero; it seems plausible that there might indeed have been some borrowing from traditional stories of Apollonius of Tyana, whotravelled widely, visiting Antioch, Tarsus and Ephesus as well as more distant lands." Apollonius of Tyana rakes a vow of silence and allows his hair to grow very long (Phil. 1, 8 and 15); Apollonius of Tyre vows notto cut his hair, beard ornails until his daughter is married (HA 28, 12-13), and later forbids his crew to speak *8 Philostratus" Life of Apollonius is cited hereafter as Phil. See C. Anderson, Philostratus:
Biography and Belles Lettres in the Third Century A.D. (London, 1986). Rohde mentions
Apollonius of Tyana several times, and even compares incidents in his life with incidents in Heliodorus’ Ethiopica (pp. 467 ff.), but he never suggests any connection with HA. Deyermond mentions briefly the parallels between the two stories, and comments that they are more extensive than had previously been noted (‘Motivos
*
folkléricos’, p. 138). Zink coo mentions the possible connection of Apollonius of Tyre
with Apollonius of Tyana and with a general Apollonius in the Book of Maccabees, bur then dismisses both parallels as coincidence (p. 37). A reference to thestory of ‘appollony of tyr’ in Capgrave’s fifteenth-centurylife of Sr Katharine [A33] was takentorefer to the philosopher by Llorstmann in his FETS edition (London, 1893). Similarly, before correctly identifying an allusion to Apollonius as king of Tyre in the crusade chronicle of Fuleher of Chartres [A7], Hlagenumneyer suggested the philosopher or the governor of Samaria. Marden cites part of à poem by Pedro IV of Aragon [A1] às an allusion to Apollonius of Tyre, hut D think it is more likely t0 tefec to Apollonius of Tyana. Kortekaas lists other instances of confision (pp 198,0.
20, mp 2M OQ an 592, pp 2OR Qo
749)
SOURCES AND ANALOGUES
43
to him in the hold (HA 39, 8-9). Apollonius of Tyana reveals an incestuous affair between a Cilician and his daughter (Phil. I, 10), and latercriticizes the emperor Domitian for incest with his niece (Phil. VII, 7 and VIII, 15); Apollo-
nius of Tyre discovers the secret of Antiochus’ incest with his daughter (HA c. 4). Apollonius of Tyana relieves a famine in Pamphylia (Phil. I, 15), and is regarded as a second founder in Tarsus because he pleaded successfully for the city with the emperorTitus (Phil. VI, 34); Apollonius ofTyre relieves a famine in Tarsus, and the grateful citizens erect a statue of him (HA c. 10). A thunderbolt just misses Nero after a prophecy of danger by Apollonius of Tyana (Phil. IV, 43); Antiochus and his daughterare killed by a thunderbolt (HA 24, 10-11). Apollonius of Tyana revives an apparently dead girl (Phil. IV, 45); the doctor's pupil revives the comatose princess (HA c. 26), and Apollonius of Tyre summons Tarsia from the dead to accuse Stranguillio and Dionysias (HA [RB] c. 50, n. 70). These parallels are of course by no means conclusive evidence of a connection betweenthestories: famine relief, vows to keep silent or notto shave, thunderbolts, miraculous cures, even incest, are the commonproperty ofstorytellers, and the similarities may simply point to popular themes of the time.® But if we accept Kortekaas’ theory of a third-century Greck original for HA,it is striking that stories with some common themeswere being composed at about the same time about two clever and much-travelled men named Apollonius. The accusation of imperial incest, the relief of a city's famine, and the status of bencfactor at Tarsus do seem significant parallels. Perhaps the grateful citizens of Tarsus erected a statue to the philosopher, which was later worked into the story of Apollonius of Tyre? Oneotherpossible ‘historical’ source should be mentioned. Josephus preserves a story aboutriddle contests between Solomon and Hiram,the king of Tyre and friend of David and Solomon, who supplied both materials and workmenfor the building of the Temple (I Kings 5-9, II Chronicles 2—5).5! Quoting the testimony of the historians Dius of Tyre and Menander of Ephesus, Josephus tells how Solomon and Hiram set each other riddles, on the understanding that a sum of money would be forfeited by the loser. Hiram lost heavily until he engaged the services of a clever young Tyrian named Abdemun or Abdemos, who solved Solomon's riddles with ease and sent back such hard questions to him that Hiram recouped muchofhis loss. It seems that Tyre, which was already famous for the invention of writing, enjoyed a certain fame for proficiency in riddles: perhaps this accountsfor the insertion of Symphosius' riddles into HA. When William of Tyre and Jacques de Vitry discuss the city in their crusade chronicles, they mention Hiram and include the story of Abdemonand the riddle contest with
^
*9. G. Anderson uses the motif of famine relief to draw a parallel between 1A and the story of Joseph (which also contains a riddle in the form of Pharaoh's dream): sec Ancient Fiction: The Novel m de Graeco-Roman World (London, 1984), pp. 169-70. Thunderbolts are still perceived by some as instruments of divine justice: in Internagonal Guenllas, che controversial fila about the Salman Rushdie affair seen from the Muslim point of view, the villain i eventually killed by o thonderbole. Josephus, Contra Apion 1, 1060.
121, and Jewish Antupatus VIII, 149 9
44
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
Solomon:in the following sentence both name Apollonius as another famous king of Tyre [A13 and 22]. They do not mention his solution of Antiochus’ riddle, but the connection must have been obvious both to them andto their readers.?? The story of Hiram and Solomon does not supply a specific source for HA,butit does offer a possible model for the opening episode, in which a Tyrian prince solves a riddle posed by a famous and powerful king.
Conclusion Many sources and analogues for the plot of HA can be found in classical literature,but the presence of names with stronghistorical and geographical associations should not be ignored. No single source for the plot can be isolated, and the story is probably the result of an accumulation of oral and literary motifs and garbled historical memories. Clearly it owes less to the historical background than to popular themes from epic, drama and Hellenistic romance, and no doubt also from folktale. But I suggest that echoes of the stories associated with the historical characters discussed in the last section influenced the original author of the story of Apollonius, if we can speak of such a person, and that he or she used Perry's 'plasmatic license' to transform diverse fragments of history, folklore and literature into a narrative which interweaves the ever-popular themes of incest, family separation, adventure and reunion.
52 A thirteenth-century text of HA in OND MS 480 includes a note on the story of
Solomon, Hiram and Abdemonin a late medieval hand (f. 66r); it consists of a passage
entitled 'De oppidis datis 1 liram' taken verbatim from Peter Comestor's Historia Scolastica, Book 1l, c. 24 (PL. 198:1054-1722, col. 1368). | am grateful to Prof. Traugott Lawler for help in transcribing and identifying this nore. Smyth discusses the Solomon tradition and quotes the Vienna note (pp. 89-91); but his transcriptionis inaccurate, and he does not identify the source or comment on the passage. Singer mentions it very briefly in Apollonius, pp. 219-20. In the Old Norse Thidreks Saga af Bern [V9], in which Earl Apollonius of Tira woos Solomon's daughter, Apollonius’ brother is named tron, but ina fifteenth-century Swedish translation he as Iram, perhaps a distortion of Furanm sec Sagan om. Dulik af. Bern, € 226, ed Gc CO. Elylén Cavalli, Samlingar utgifa at Svenska Fornsknft Sallskaper * (6 kholmn, 1850), P 171
3 The Circulation of the Apollonius Story in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Apollonius, gesta cuius celebrem habent et late vulgatam historiam. William of Tyre!
~
Although the earliest surviving manuscripts of HÀ date from the ninth century, it is clear that the story was known and circulating in written form as well as orally some centuries earlier. The earliest reference occurs in a Latin poem by Venantius Fortunatus [A1] written in Caul between 566 and 568, in which the poet describes himself as an exiled wanderer even sadder than Apollonius; the brevity of the allusion clearly indicates that the poet expects his audience to know the story of Apollonius and recognize the parallel. Another important reference is found in a late sixth-century grammatical treatise which may also have been written in Gaul, De dubiis nominibus [A3]. The explanatory example for gymnasium is ‘in Apollonio: “gymnasium patet" ' (in Apollonius 'the gymnasium is open’). This must refer to the scene in which Apollonius hears the gymnasium advertised by a street-cryer and then meets King Archistrates there (c. 13). This citation indicates that by thelate sixth century written texts of HA were circulating in which this phrase could reliably be found.” Allusions from the cighth and ninth centuries testify to the remarkable esteem in which HA was held. In 747 Abbot Wando of St Wandrille donated a number of booksto his abbey: the chronicler names only some of them, but does mention HA among well-known theological and historical works [A4]. Another copy was in the possession of the Abbey of Reichenau in 821 (see Kortckaas, p. 421); and at the William of Tyre, Chronicon [A13]: ‘Apollonius, whose adventures are told in the well-known and widely circulated story.” The numbers in square brackets refer to Appendices | and IL. Most. of the examples in this treatise. come. from classical and. Christian. Gaulish authors, Kortekaias supgests that the writer added the HA ciation) from his own reading, as an up to date example (p. 97
46
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
end of the same century Everard, Marquis of Friuli, bequeathed a copy to his eldest daughter [A5]. HÀ appears in numerouslibrary catalogues dating back as far as the ninth century from what are now France, England, Germany, Italy and Belgium? Of the manuscripts which survive from the ninth century on, Kortekaas and Bischoff have dated six as pre-twelfth century. One writtenin the tenth or eleventh century and now preserved in Budapest (unfortunately a fragment consisting of only three and a half leaves) contains a remarkableseries of 35 pen and inkillustrations, sometimes six or seven pictures to a page.‘ Illustrations in worksoffiction, or indeed in anyliterary texts, are very unusual at this date; the Budapest manuscript is another indication of the extraordinary status of HA in the early Middle Ages. In the following pages | give a brief survey of the versions of HA produced between the tenth century and 1609, the year in which the quarto of Pericles was published. I do notdiscuss all the Latin texts of HA; there are too many (over a hundred), and the variations are too small to be of much significance for this study. It would be pleasant to linger over the idiosyncracies of some versions, both Latin and vernacular, but the survey would then becometediously long and distinctly indigestible. My descriptions here are very brief; somewhat fuller accounts, together with references to editions and critical studies, are given in Appendix I. This skeleton survey will at least serve to introduce the reader to the texts which will be mentioned in the discussion of plot, reception and genre, and to demonstrate the extraordinary and lasting popularity of the story. Previous studies of HA have usually dealt with the vernacular versions in groups determined by language; this approach seems to meto dilute the evidence for the powerful appeal of the story, and to inhibit consideration of the reasons for certain innovations. So I consider the development (or non-development) of the story in both Latin and vernacular versions chronologically, by century, in the hope of giving a more accurate picture of the ways in which HA wentforth and multiplied. As will become obvious,it is not possible to analyse the history of HA neatly in termsof chivalric versions in one century or language and exemplary versions in another: whatis striking is the way in which different acounts of the story of Apollonius seem to have coexisted over such a long period of time. Notonly was the complete text of HA being copied in the tenth and eleventh centuries, but a brief abstract was made, the Compendium Libri Apollonii (eleventh century), preserved in Laurent. MS plut. LXV 35 (this text is also foundin a fifteenth-century manuscript, ONB 3126). The tenth century also saw two distinct adaptations: the Gesta Apollonii [V1], an elaborate Latin rendering of the first eight chapters of HA in leonine hexameters which includes many obscure Grecisms, and the Old English text [V2], the earliest known vernacular version, which survives in an eleventh-century manuscript but was probably ) 5
See Max Manitius, I Handschriften antiker Autoren in mittelalievlichen Biblouwkskatalogen, Zentralblatt fur Bibliothekwesen 67 (Leipz, 1935; rp Nendeln & Wiesbaden, 1968), p. M8 5 and Kortekaas, Appendix HI istof Lost Farm Manos npis', pp 419. 3M. dadapest, Országos SA héenyis Koónyvrár, MS lat 4; sce Kortekaas, p. 34, and pp 94 5 le low
THE CIRCULATION OF THE APOLLONIUS STORY
47
composeda little earlier. The familiarity of the story is suggested by a reference in the cleventh-century Chronicon Novaliciense [A6]: the Italian chroniclertells of a king who seduced his son's bride, and draws a comparison with the story of Apollonius, which he clearly expects his audience to know. One would expect to find more versions surviving from the twelfth century, a time when relative peace and prosperity across western Europe favoured the production (and preservation) of books in both Latin and the vernaculars, and when there was a rapidly increasing demand for stories of love, war and adventure. HÀ mayalso have acquired a new interest in the age of the Crusades, when biblical cities like Tyre became familiar names in European politics. At least twenty HA texts copied in the twelfth century survive: some follow RA, some RB,some are shortened (some Ra versions), some expanded (the Bern Redaction [V5]), some mix elements from both major versions (RC). An important indication of the circulation and popularity of the story is its inclusion in two encyclopaedic works of the ewelfth century: the shorter version of Ra is included in the Liber Floridus of Lambert of St Omer [V3], composed nolater than 1120, and anidiosyncratic version is included in the popular andinfluential Pantheon of Godfrey of Viterbo [V4], a verse chronicle of world history written between 1186 and 1191. Godfrey also mentions the story of Apollonius approvingly forits educational value in his Memoria Seculorum [A17]. Allusions to Apollonius appear in a wide variety of 'serious' writings, both Latin and vernacular: crusade chronicles [A7 and 8], Lamprechr's Alexanderlied [A11], the Chronicon Lemovicense [A16], where it is described as an unpleasant but improving story, the Latin elegy on Fortune by the Florentine Henricus Septimellensis [A18], and the French Poéme Moral [A19], whose author considers it deplorably frivolous (thereby attesting its popularity). There may well have been French vernacular versions of the story in the twelfth century — there are allusions to Apollonius in the context of romance heroes in Occitan and Old French texts from this period [A10, 12, 14, 15] — but nothing has survived. One short fragment from a thirteenth-century French version exists, preserved in the binding of an Aldine classical text [V8]; as far as can be judged, it seems to expand the love interest which was so popular in chivalric romance. Other thirteenth-century texts include some variations on the standard HA plot; the numberof vernacular versions suggests an increasingly wide audience. Kong Apollon af Tyre [V7], a Danish ballad which probably dates back to the thirteenth century, mixes the first part of the story with folktale themes. In the Old Norse Thidreks Saga af Bern [V9], the story of Dietrich of Bern, Apollonius appears as the son of King Arthur, and the first part of the traditional HA plot appears in a somewhat garbled form. The Spanish Libro de Apolonio [V10] tells the story in full, and is notable for its heavy Christian moralizing. Allusions to Apollonius as a lover and warrior whose story was widely told are again found in a number of romances and Occitan lyrics [A20, 21, 23, 26, 28]. Love is also stressed in a short Latin lyric about Apollonius’ vicissitudes preserved in the Carmina Burana [V6], an early thirteenth-century German colle uon of Latin and vernacular xx mes, 1t 08 80 tcese and Allusivc ibat tt would
48
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
have made no sense to anyone whodid not already know thestory.It is clear from the wide variety of tone and context of these versions andallusions that by the thirteenth century the story was well enough known for the hero andelementsof the plot to be borrowed and adapted tofit new contexts,in particular to cater for the growing taste for tales of chivalric prowess in love and war. Vemacular versions from the fourteenth century survive in Middle English, Old French, Middle High German,andItalian. Some remain fairly close to HA, but a numberinsert new details or episodes relating to both love and war.In the fourteenth-century French prose version knownas the Brussels Redaction [V14], Apollonius distinguishes himself in various sieges and battles, and discusses the niceties of ‘courtly love’ with his amorous pupil. One of the most striking innovators is Heinrich von Neustadt, whose Middle High German poem runs to more than twenty thousand lines [V15]; Heinrich adds a series of fantastic chivalric adventures to account for Apollonius’ long absence, and even credits him with the invention of the Round Table! The three Italian prose versions [V16 and 17] contain many courtly details; burt Pucci’s metrical version [V18], which may have been performed in the piazzas of his native Florence, is clearly aimed at a more bourgeois audience. In the fourteenth century the Apollonius story was often expanded to include chivalric motifs, but it also began to be used more orless explicitly as a moral exemplum. It appears in at least one Latin manuscript of the widely popular Gesta Romanorum [V11], a collection of exemplary tales drawn from a variety of sources, classical and medieval, and was later included in many of the printed editions, both Latin and vernacular. It is by far the longest exemplum in this collection, yet unlike the others it does not end with a moralizing allegorical interpretation: this suggests that its value was already well known and accepted, or at least was thought to be so obvious as to need no further emphasis. In Gower's Confessio Amantis the story of Apollonius is used as the mainillustration of Lechery in Book VIII [V12], and is the last of the exemplary stories which form the bulk of the poem; again it is told in full, and again it is the longest narrative in the whole work. Gowerspecifically describes it as an exemplum, both in the Latin marginal note at the beginning, and at the end of the narrative. It may have been Gower's version which provoked thecriticisms of Chaucer’s Man of Law in the Canterbury Tales [|A32]; he remarks very unfavourably on the sordid nature of incest stories generally and the Apollonius story in particular while describing some of the most unpleasantscenes. A fragmentof another apparently didactic Middle English poem about Apollonius of approximately the same date hasalso survived [V13]. By the fifteenth century the story of Apollonius was being retold in a great number of vernaculars; its wide appeal is demonstrated by texts from hitherto silent areas. These include a Czech version with biblical and folklore colouring {V19]; three Germanprose versions [V25 and 26], not particularly innovative,
but in the case of Steinhowel’s Volksbuch very popular a heavily Christianized Ciccek. version, the Diegeus. Apollanuou [V27], and two exemplary Spanish versions, bused respectovely on the Gesta Bomanorum and the Confessio Amanis
THE CIRCULATION OF THE APOLLONIUS STORY
49
[V28 and 29]. There is no Scots version of the story, but Robert Henryson mentions the incestuous Antiochusin his description of Orpheus in the underworld [A35]. John Capgrave also refers to Antiochus’ incest in his Life of St. Katharine of Alexandria [A33]. The various fifteenth-century French prose versions vary considerably in tone. There is a moralizing version in the Violier des histoires romaines [V23], a fairly close translation of the Gesta Romanorum. The london Redaction [V21] is medievalized in many details, but it is the Vienna Redaction [V22] which makes some striking additions to the traditional story, tilling in gaps and adding battles. Zink considers the Vienna Redaction 'particulurly representative of the history of the romance,its success, and its evolution in the course of the Middle Ages’ (p. 14). It may be representative of the development of romance as a genre, butit is far from characteristic of the treatmentof 11A in the Middle Ages. The innovative Vienna Redaction, like Heinrich von Neustade’s fourteenth-century German poem,seems to have had nolater imitaiors, whereas HA itself continued to be copied and translated withoutsignificant alteration: Kortekaaslists overthirty texts in fifteenth-century manuscripts. ^s far as the development of romance and every other literary genre was « oncerned, the greatest innovation of the fifteenth century was printing. A Latin text of HA was printed in about 1470 (it is undated), closely followed in 1471 by the first vemacular printed edition, Steinhówel's German prose version, which was frequently reprinted over the next fifty years; and many more printed texts tollowed, in both Latin and the vernaculars.? Not only was the story printed alone, but also as part of Godfrey's Pantheon, Gower’s Confessio Amantis, and the Cesta. Romanorum; so for instance the earliest Dutch version appeared in a translation of the Gesta. Romanorum, Die Gesten of geschienissen van Romen iV "CA, printed in 1481 and reissued in 1483 and 1484 (a Volksbuch reworking of the Apollonius story was published separately soon afterwards [V20B]). A Spanih version tantalisingly entitled Historia de los Siete Sabios e del rey Apolonio was “parently printed in 1495, but is no longer extant. These printed editions offer tuther testimony (if more were needed) to the continuing popularity of the Apollonius story, both in the simple HA text and in otherversions. Apart from the versions included in larger collections, a number of other pointed editions were produced in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, espocially in France. In about 1482 there appeared a French prose version printed Ia Tous Garbin, Le romant de Appollin roy de Thir (V24: this text will be cited as Coulbun's version); it was translated into English by Robert Copland (with extra
ee che useful (though incomplete) chronology of early printed editions of the Apollomous story and the Eetlenistic romances in Carol Gesner's Shakespeare and the Greek Finances (Lexington, 1970), pp. 145 62. She calculates that the story of Apollonius was prunted 64 mes in various languages becween 1470 and 1642 (in fact the count is probably higher, since she does not include any Latin texts of the Gesta Romanonam). Hone ob the Greek romances was printed so cally: a fragment of Xenophon Ephesaca yppeared in a printed text of £489, bot che works of Achilles Tatius, Hl8elidorus and 1 ongus appeared füst in the mid sixteenth century
50
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
emphasis on chivalric themes), and printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1510 [V32]. AnotherFrench prose version by Corrozet was published about 1530 [V34], and
the story was included in Belleforest's Histoires Tragiques [V35], first published in 1582, in a version which stressed the classical elements and greatly expanded the psychological aspects, especially in the love scenes. The Greek rhymed version based on an Italian prose text and first printed in Venice about 1524 was very popular and frequently reprinted [V37]. In 1553 Hans Sachs, the Meistersinger of Nuremberg, reduced the story to a brief lyric about Apollonius’ meeting with Archistrates in the baths and his subsequent marriage [V36]. In 1576 Lawrence Twine published his Patteme of Painefull Adventures [V33], one of the main sources for the Shakespearean Pericles; Twinestays fairly close to the traditional plot (his source was a French version of the Gesta Romanorum), thoughhis style is discursive. A Polish version appeared in a printed text of the Gesta Romanorum in 1543 [V39], and a Hungarian version loosely based on the Gesta Romanorum towards the end of the century [V38]. Oneof the most innovative sixteenth-century versions is that of the Spaniard Juan de Timoneda in his Patrariuelo [V40], also published first in 1576, in which Tarsia’s adventures are considerably expanded, perhaps under the influence of the newly rediscovered Greek romances. The long poem in Latin hexameters published by Jacob Falckenburg in 1578 under the grandiosetitle Britannia, sive de Apollonica Humilitatis Virtutis et Honoris Porta [V30] is also innovative, but ina quite different way: the story of Apollonius is ingeniously interwoven with that of a character of the same name whoappears in the Book of Maccabees, Apollonius son of Menesthcus; references to the relevant biblical passages are printed in the margins. In 1595 Welser published in Augsburg a text from a manuscript (now lost) which he found in a local monastery, with introductory comments (V31]: this is the first critical edition of HA. Versions of the story of Apollonius continued to be produced during the seventeenth century, and Kortekaaslists one manuscript text of RB produced in this period. In 1601 a Low German prose version, Eine schóne unde kortwwylige Historia vam Kénige Appollonio [V41], was printed by Hermann Moller at Hamburg; it is closely related to Steinhówel's text. Wilkins’ novel The Painefull Adventures of Pericles Prince of Tyre [V42] was published in 1608; there is much critical debate about its relationship to the Shakespearean play Pericles [V43], published in quarto a yearlater, with which this study ends. On the whole the Shakespearean Pericles, the first dramatization of what might be thought very intractable material, is remarkably faithful to the HA plot: with the help of dumbshowsand summaries by Gower, the Chorus, all the traditional episodes are included in some form except the final scenes, which are briefly summarized. There are considerable changes in tone, however: the play includes more moralizing (especially about kingship) than HA or any other version, and also much more broad humour (especially in the brothel scene). Although Pericles was condemned by Ben Jonson as ‘a mouldy tale’ (and by Lytton Strachey as ‘a miserable am hai dragiment'), and. was not included in dhe Frost Folio, it was nevertheless very popula, AS Contemper ry allisions and the frequent TUprinitunj?
THE CIRCULATION OF THE APOLLONIUS STORY
51
of the quarto attest (see A36).5 Whether or not Shakespeare was responsible for all of it, the very existence of the play is eloquent testimony to the lasting appeal of the story. It would be convenient to be able to sum up the Apollonius tradition in simple terms, noting the predominanceof the simple HA text in one century, the Christian version in another, the chivalric in a third, or arguing that French versions are characteristically different from Latin versions. But as this bricf survey has suggested, there is no straightforward pattern: from the thirteenth century on every century offers both traditional and innovative versions, in an increasing number of vernaculars as well as Latin, in prose and in verse, and allusions indicate that from an early date the story was read by some as exemplary, by others as courtly and entertaining. Chivalric and moralizing versions hoth seem to have appeared first in the thirteenth century; they may have onpinated in the twelfth century, as somecritics argue, butif so it is curious that no trace of them remains, while traditional HA texts written in the twelfth century survive in abundance. By thefifteenth and sixteenth centuries a great variety of versions existed: some stressed chivalric values, others Christian morality; some medievalized heavily, others reintroduced classical details. Yet none of the more elaborately innovative versions seems to have inspired direct imitanion or translation, whereas faithful copies of HA were still being produced, both ly hand and on the printingpresses, in thefifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Ciower, the Chorus in Pericles, introduces the play by commenting on the antiqity of ‘the song that old was sung’, and suggests that this antiquity increases its value and popularity (I.Chorus.10): 'et bonum quo antiquius eo melius’ (‘a good thing: is all the better for age’).
Fynren Suachey, 'Shakespeares Final Period, Independent Review
(1904), 405. 18, p.
FL, eeprnted in Books and Clhuanacters: French and Flnglish. (10ndon. and. New York, Va), pp 49 09 (p 65)
4 TheInfluence of HA
... il offrait d’ailleurs un récit d’aventures dontle schémeet le mouvement, mais aussi les thémes narratifs, descriptifs et psychologiques, allaient fournir son cadre, sa structure, son rythme et sa substance,sinon sonesprit et son ‘sens’, au romanfrancais naissant.
M.Delbouille!
Not everyone would agree with Delbouille’s argument. There is a striking lack of interest in the psychology of love and in martial prowess in the story of Apollonius; and although it certainly is a rare example of a narrative of love and adventure which circulated very widely at the time when romances in the vernacular were first appearing, it is hardly the only source of such themes. Twelfth-century romances also drew heavily on Celtic material and, no doubt, on folktales — and, of course, on Ovid and otherclassical sources. Scenes in HA which might have been adapted to suit romance tastes were often copied or translated without any change; the popularity of che Apollonius story did not depend onits similarity to a chivalric romance. Delbouille argues that it contains all the characteristics of the roman d'aventure et d'amour, including the typical dramatis personae: he sees Antiochus’ daugher as the captive princess, Archistrates as the providential host, his daughter as the ingénue whofalls in love with a stranger, Tarsia as the royal foundling in dire straits, Athenagoras as the noble and generouslord, Dionysias as the wicked stepmother(this last character seems to me moretypical of folktale than romance). But this argument scems to put the cart before the horse by analysing twelfth-century French romances, detecting |
M. Delbouille, 'Apollonius de Tyr et les débuts du romanfranqais', in Mélanges offerts à Ríta Lejeune, 2 vols (Oembloux, 1969), Il, pp. 1171-1204 (p. 1186): '. . . it offered besides a story of adventures whose scheme and movement, as well as its narrative, descriptive and. psychological themes, were to furnish the emerging French romance with ots frame, outs structure, outs chythm and its substance, i£ not ats. spurir and "meaning" ! CDi article willbe cued as Dhue!) See my comments on the romance eaten chapter 6, pp Ae tt
THE INFLUENCE OF HA
53
the same themes in HA, and concluding that it was therefore a direct influence on the vernaculartexts. There certainly are a number of medieval and Renaissance texts (notall romances) which do show the influence of HA in certain scenes. They also provide further testimony to the stability of the HA plot: that is, they show directions in which HA might have developed but did not, and ways of dealing with some of the problemsand inconsistencies which were not used by redactors ol HA. In this chapter I discuss some clear cases of HA's influence, and some dubious claims, (1) The writer of the twelfth-century romance Floire et Blancheflor may have borrowed one motif from a version of HA: Delbouille comments on theparallels between the false tomb erected for the supposedly dead Tarsia by Dionysias (c. 3), and the similar tomb in the French romancewhichis erected by the hero's mother to try to persuade her besotted son that his love is dead.” Just as the effect of the shocking news of the heroine's death is described twice in HA, when Apollonius first hears it from Stranguillio and Dionysias and then again at the imb where he is shown the inscription (cc. 37-8), so Floire faints when he hears the awful news of Blancheflor's death, and then again whenheseestheinscription on her tomb (Il. 664 ff.). Though Pelan does not mention the possible inlluence of HA, Delbouille is clear that it is the source of this scene; for him it only remains to be established whether the source was HA itself, or an carly icnch version. But there is no compelling evidence, especially since no twelfth| entury French version of the Apollonius story has survived. Dclbouille does not mention the possible influence of HA on an episode preserved in another version of Floire et Blancheflor, where Floire’s parents send «tvants to kill Blancheflor; the servants grant her time to pray, and while sheis yr ayings Floire arrives incognito and rescues her. If the false tomb episode is a i Hection of HÀ cc. 37-8, the assassination attempt and rescue could be borwed from cc. 31-2. But neither of these scenes strikes me as so unusual that it most have been derived from a specific source. d Ht has also been suggested that the cwelfth-century Occitan chanson de geste Laurel et Beton is bascd at least in part on the story of Apollonius.* Kimmelsees puallels with Jourdain de Blaye (see below), and thus with the Apollonius story, lt angues for the latter as the specific source for a scene in which Beton's nobility is secretly tested: he is to play and sing before a princess, and if he Lielboulle, 'IDbuts', p. 1197; Floire et Blancheflor, édition du ms 1447 du fonds frangais, d. Margaret M. Pelan, 2nd edn (Paris, 1956), 11. 516-715. "Hone et Blancheflor, seconde version &ditée du ms 19152 du fonds francais, ed. Margaret M. ^ dan (Paris, 1975), U1 452 (6, this version is dated to the late twelfth century. 5. Kimmel makes this sappestion in the introduction to his Crigeal b‘dition,of the Old NA Fpte Daurel ct Beton, University of North Carolina Suidies in Romance Vangie and Literature 108 (Chapel Ell, 1971); sec esp. pp 1025 7. Lam grateful to E Sarah Kay and Dr Sunon Gaunt for biingang this text to my attention.
54
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
accepts money, his low birth will be proved. Of course he refuses the money, and thus his nobility is established (Il. 1487 ff.). Kimmel draws a parallel with Apollonius’ music-making at the banquet in Pentapolis (cc. 16-17), but heis mistaken in thinking that Apollonius then gives the presents he receives to his servants, andis praised for this noble gesture. It is true thatearlier in the story he gives back the moneypaid for his grain at Tarsus (c. 10), but there seems to be no groundfor asserting that the music scene in the Occitan poem is directly derived from HA. Theeditor seems so keen to establish a link, however, that he sets up HA asthe source of a much more basic and widespread narrative tradition, that of the youthful hero banished through treachery and reclaiming his rightful inheritance (p. 112): ‘The motif is a venerable one, drawn moreorless freely from the popular and well-known Apollonius legend: good, in the person of a handsomeand noble youth, conquers evil, represented by the villainous usurper.’ Although I am sure that HA did have some influence on the development of romanceliterature, and that someofits motifs were echoed in vernacular romances, as is argued in this chapter, I would not make such a grandiose claim forit as the archetype of the struggle of good andevil. (c) lt is, however, indisputable that a version of HA, whether Latin or French, strongly influenced the composer of the French chanson de geste Jourdain de Blaye (or Blaivies)5 This poem was probably composed in the twelfth century, but is preserved in a single thirteenth-century manuscript(there is also a fifteenth-century prose version). It is linked to the exemplary romance Ami et Amile (Jourdain is the grandson of Ami), and to the Charlemagnecycle (Jourdain kills the emperor's son); but it is clear that the second half of the poem is deeply indebted to HA, as Dembowski stresses.® In the course of a long feud Jourdain’s father (the son of Ami) is killed; Jourdain is brought up as the son of a faithful retainer. He kills the son of his father’s murderer, and also Charlemagne’s son, and so is exiled from the royal court. He is caprured by Saracens, but jumps from the ship and floats ashore on a tree trunk. A fisherman gives him half his cloak. He becomesa squire to the local king, and the princess Oriabel falls in love with him. With her help he defeats a Saracen attack. He marries Oriabel and inherits half the kingdom. On their voyage home, she gives birth to a daughter during a storm. The sailors insist that
>
5 See Jourdain de Blaye, ed. Peter Dembowski (Chicago, 1969). Hofmann discuses the sources of the poem andits use of HA in his article ‘Uber Jourdain de Blaivies’ (reprinted in the introduction to the second edition of his Amis et Amiles und Jourdains de Blaivies). See also Singer, Apollonius, pp. 15-31; Delbouille, ‘Déburs’, pp. 1190-6; and B. HL. Rasmussen, ‘Vorigine des chansons de geste Ami et Amile and Jourdain de Blaye’, Revue Romane, Numéro spécial 1 (1967), 232-9. Sce Dembowski, p. 7: For a better understanding of the mixed character of Jotadain de Blaye, only two facts need to be emphasised: (1) Jotedam à the legend of Apollonius transposed into a new and fundamentally Freich seii, (2) Jonaciun os drawn only from the second part of Apollonia *
THE INFLUENCE OF HA
55
Oriabel be set adrift in a coffin, though still alive. She is found by a bishop at Palerme; he wants to marry her, but she insists on becoming a recluse. Jourdain leaves their daughter Gaudissette with a foster-father; her jealous foster-sister gets her sent off to Constantinople. There both the emperor and his son wish to marry her. When sherejects the emperor, he sends her to a brothel as punishment. Jourdain arrives just as she is beinginstalled in the brothel. Once her royal parentageis established, she marries the emperor's son. Finally Jourdain and his wife are reunited. Thetraditional HA opening, Antiochus’ incest, is replaced by a more chivalric motivation for the hero's flight, a family feud linked to a famous historical European court and the popular story of Ami et Amile. Classical elements of HA such as the emphasis on leaming, the gyranasium, and the funeral rituals and monuments are completely absent: the slave market too is omitted, and the brothel is a threatened punishmentrather than a serious ordeal. The chivalric themes of love and war are both much more evident than in HA. Jourdain wins his bride after defeating a Saracen attack. The bishop whofinds Oriabel wants to marry her. Both the emperor of Constantinople and his son fall in love with ( saudissette. It is possible that Jourdain may be derived from a lost twelfth-century French version of Apollonius, as Delbouille argues. But it seems to me just as plausible to argue that it represents the deliberate adapration of the story of Apollonius to fulfil the expectations of medieval romance. (4) There are also obvious borrowings from HA in the late twelfth-century Mtiddle High German poem Orendel, a hagiographic romance which mixes ( hristian and chivalric elements.’ Orendel, king of Trier, sails to Jerusalem to fetch his fiancée, Queen Bride, but is delayed by various adventures and then shipwrecked. The fisherman whorescues him also finds in a fish a grey tunic which makes its wearer invulnerable: it is Christ's tunic, stained with His blood. Orendel buys it from che fisherman. He goes to Jerusalem, and in a joust wins the hand of Bride. On the journey back to Trier shefalls into a coma, andis thrown into the sea in a chest. She arrives in the country af a heathen king who wants to marry her. Eventually Orendel rescues her. They enter a monastery: an angel tells them that they will soon die, and so it tums out. there are numerous parallels with HA: the shipwreck, the fisherman, therival antors, the false death andburial at sea, the threats to the heroine's chastity. The I has heen edited by AE. Berger (Bonn, 1888), and by Eling Steiner, Altdeutsche Voxtbibliothek 36 (Nieineyer, 1935), Singer discusses it in Apollonia, pp. ff; sec also "anyth, pp. 85 8, and M. Curs himann, Spieliannsepik (Stuttgart, 1968), pp. 14. 19 and WO
|
56
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
plot is simplified: there is only one heroine, for Bride plays the roles of both mother and daughter in HA.As in Jourdain,theinitial incest episode has been omitted, in favour this time of a ‘Brautfahrt’.’ Again all classical elements have been omitted: each episode borrowed from HA is presented in a form characteristic of medieval romance (rather than being sold to a pimp, for instance, Bride falls into the hands of a heathen king, like Blancheflor). But here the ending is happy in an explicitly Christian way, and the tunic shared with the fisherman in earlier stories has become a holy relic. It seems that Orendel was composed to accountfor the presence at Trier of the Holy Tunic; perhaps the similarity of the names Tyre and Trier suggested HA asa suitable narrative for adaptation? (e) The HA mayalso have influenced the episode of the ‘false death’ in childbirth in the popular legendary Life of Mary Magdalene, which is found in a variety of texts including two important thirtcenth-century story collections, the Speculum Historiale of Vincent of Beauvais and the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine,and is dramatizedin a fifteenth-century English miracle play.’ Thesaint converts the king of Marseilles and his barren wife, who then conceives a much-desired child. In the course of their voyage to Rome on pilgrimage,there is a storm, and the queen apparently dies in childbirth. Thesailors insist that her body be removed from the ship, so the dead mother and the live child are placed on a nearby rock, and the sorrowing king gocs on to Romeandthe Holy Land. Onhis return two years later, he finds the baby miraculously preserved, and a prayer to Mary Magdalenerevives the queen from a deepsleep. In an inversion of the themeof recognition through confession orstory-telling, the queen tells her husband that she has been with him in spirit throughout his travels, and recounts accurately all that he has seen.
hd
Although this play has an explicitly Christian message — its central sceneis the conversion of the royal couple — it borrowspartofits plot from the secular world of romance.'? [t is of course possible that this episode was derived from folk Steinger notes that the story begins as a journey in search of a bride and ends in a monastery; he finds the combination of Apollonius and the Holy Tunic preposterous (p. XXVIII).
Vincent of Beauvais, Speculum Historiale, IX, 96-8, in vol. IV of che Speculum (Quadru-
plex seu Speculum Maius (Douai, 1624; reprinted Oraz, 1965); Legenda Aurea, ed. Graesse, pp. 407-17; Mary Magdalene in The Late Medieval Religious Plays of Bodleian Digby 133 and E Museo 160, cd. Donald C. Baker, John L. Murphy and Louis B.[all Jr., EETS O.S. 283 (London, 1982), pp. 24-95. On the development of the legend see Hans ITansel, Die Maria-Magdalena Legende: Eme Quellenuntersuchung, Diss. Greifswald, 1937, pp. 100 and 128-9; I lelen M. Garth, Sc. Mary Magdalene in. Medieval Literature, Vohns 1 lopkins University Studies in EIistorical and Political Science, series 57, no. 3 (1950); and V. Saxer, Le culie de Mane Malle en occulent des origines àla fim du nuryen Age (Paris, 1959). "opavid Bevingten, who includes the play i his Medical Dama (Boston, 1975), com: mens (p.
687).
'Although the bibli al scenes n this play ate treated: with) some
THE INFLUENCE OFHA
57
tradition, but the parallel with HAis striking. Huet and Delbouille accept that there is a direct connection, and Huet comments thatthis is the nearest that Apollonius got to hagiography.'' Just as Jourdain de Blaye seems to be a metamorphosis of HA into a chivalric romance, so this episode in the legend of Mary Magdalene seems to be a metamorphosis of the ‘false death’ section of HA into an exemplum of the powerof Christian faith, something whichis strikingly absent from mostof the versions of the Apollonius story described above. (f) Thidreks Saga af Bern [V9], the thirteenth-century Old Norse version of the popularstory of Dietrich of Bern, contains an episode not found in the German legend, the adventures of Apollonius and Iron, the sons of King Artus of Bertangaland (Britain).'2 On the death of their father they cake refuge with Attila, who makes Iron earl of Brandenburg and Apollonius earl of Tira. Apollonius courts Herborg, daughter of King Solomon of Frankland; his suit is rejected, but with the aid of a magic ring obtained from hissister-in-law Isolde he finally manages to win Herborg’s love. She writes him a letter, and he carries heroff to Tira. She soon dies, however, and in the ensuing feud with King Solomon both Apollonius and Ironare killed. Although many names and circumstances are altered, this story is clearly indebted to HA (forthe significance of the link with Solomon see chapter 2, pp. 43-4). The fact that Apollonius is presented as the son of King Arthur (other circumspection, the subsequent narrative of Mary's saintly travels gives free rein to the imagination. The long episode of the king and queen of Marseilles serves to demonstrate the miraculous power of Mary Magdalene's grace, andalso to satisfy a romantic craving for perilous adventures involving children and women abandoned in midocean, andthelike.’ G. Huet, ‘Un miracle de Marie Madeleine et le roman d’Apollonius de Tyr’, Revue des Religions 74 (1916), 249-55 (see p. 250). Delbouille calls the play ‘an audacious transposition of HA’ (‘Débuts’, p. 1183). See also Hoeniger’s comments on thereligvous. aspects of Pericles in his edition, pp. xc-xcii. Howard Felperin compares the
revival of Thaise to the raising of Lazarus in ‘Shakespeare’s Miracle Play’, Shakespeare {duarterly 18 (1967), 363-M (sec p. 369); sec also his discussion in Shakespearian Romance (Princeton, 1974), pp.
143-76.
*o Dhidreks Saga af Bern, cc. 245[3 ed. Gudni Jónsson, 2 vols (Reykjavik, 1954), III, pp. 331 ff; The Saga of Thidrek of Bern, c. 245 ff., u. Edward R. Haymes, Garland Library of Medieval Literature 56 Series D) (New York, 1988), pp. 150 ff. | am indebted to the late Kevin Echart for his assistance in reading the Old Norse text.It is mentioned briefly by Haupt, "Über die Erzihlung von Apollonius von Tyrus", in Opusaula III (Leipzig, 1876), pp. 4-29 (see p. 21); and by Singer, whodismisses it as having no literary interest (Apollonius von Tyna, p. 220). See also Dietrich von Kralik, Die Uberlieferung und E ntstehimg der Thulrekksaga, Rheinische Beitriige und Hilfsbiicher zur germanischen Philolopie und Volkskunde 19 (Elalle, 1931), pp. 26 31; William J. Paff, The Geographical and. Ethnic Names in the Thuliiks. Saga, Varvard Germanic Studies 2 (The Hague, 1959), «v. *Fura', pp. 192 4; and Flaymes, 'Kinj Arthur in ihe Thülrekssaga', C^hoondam ei Futuna VIE 9 (1988), 6. 10. This episode is also found in a fiftcenith century Swedish version see above p din 5 ?
58
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
names from the Arthurian cycle also appear elsewhere in the saga) and yet preserves his traditional link with Tyre is further testimony to the widespread popularity of his story by the thirteenth century. A number of versions show a chivalricizing tendency, but very few attempt to link the Apollonius story to better-known romances.
-
(g) HA may also have influenced the Incestuous Father narratives, which arc connectedto the so-called Constance theme. In Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale, thc heroine Constance leaves home reluctantly to marry a heathen king, and then has to endure much suffering and slander; but in manysimilar stories of calumniated wives, from the twelfth century on, the heroine runs away from home to avoid the advancesof an incestuous father, or is banished for rejecting them, and then suffers the same vicissitudes.? Such stories are found all over western Europe from the twelfth century on, in Latin and the vernaculars. Although Schlauch denied any link between them and HA,Suchier considered it possible, and Goepplisted six significant common motifs.'* They are: (a) the separation and eventual reunion of a family; (b) initial incest, threatened or consummated; (c) the unreasonably long absence of the husband; (d)‘a floating chest figures in both tales as the way in which the married pair become separated’; (ec) the persecution of the wife in the Constance stories may be compared with the persecution of the daughter in HA; (f) in some versions of the Constance plot the wife appears dazzlingly beautiful at the end in a rich (magic) robe, as Apollonius’ wife dazzles those whosce herin the temple. Goepp himself admits that some of these parallels are dubious (especially the last two). I find (c) unconvincing too; and notall Incestuous Father stories have the wife exposed at sea, as required by (d). But there are other parallels which Goepp has not noted. Not only do both plots begin with incest (not always consummated), but in both cases the protagonist is horrified and runs away: in HA of course Apollonius is not directly involved in the incest, but the flight from an incest situation is common to both plots. In both aninitially happy marriage is disrupted by the birth of a child, which leads in HA and in many versions of the Incestuous Fatherplot to the exposure of the new mother (though for very different reasons, of course); in both she is then taken in by a protector who respects her chastity. The jealous mother-in-law in the Incestuous Father plot might be seen as comparable to the jealous foster-mother in HA: both seck to destroy the heroine (though in HÀ it is a second heroine — the roleof suffering victim is divided between mother and daughter). HA ends with an unusual Margaret Schlauch describes many of these romances in. Chaucer's Constance. and Accused Queens (New York, 1927; rp. 1969), andgives a uscful (if slightly outdated) list of editions on p. 69, n. 12; she also discusses many folktale variants of the same theme. Hermann Suchier also discusses the medieval versions briefly in the introduction to his edition of La Manckme m Oeuvres Poduques de Philippe de Rémi, Sieur de Beaumanoir, 2 vols, SATE (Pars, E884), J, pp. oot ff See also Archibald, The Flight from Incese; and my forthcoming study ofthe acest theme in medieval lrerature *uc Puer, r IPIE ».£Cpp. pp
004 4
THE INFLUENCE OF FIA
59
reunion of three generations: first Apollonius and Tarsia, then Apollonius and his wife, and lastly all three (plus Athenagoras) with old Archistrates. Although in some Incestuous Fathertexts the villain dies or disappears early on, in many the happy ending also involves three recognitions and reunions: between the heroine and her husband, between her husband andtheir son, and berween the heroine and her repentantfather. Goepp argued that in Incestuous Father texts as in HA,the initial incest cpisode was irrelevant to the main plot, and acted merely as a catalyst for the subsequent adventures (p. 164). In my reading of HA, however,incestis a crucial theme from beginning to end, and I think that thisis also true of the Incestuous Fatherstories. In both plots the initial incest represents a disruption of domestic and social order (and perhapsa trace of an ancient matrilineal system); in the ending, the reunion of the spouses with representatives of both the older and the younger generation, and the presence of the protagonist’s son (born at the very end of the story in HA), mark the end of the disruption associated with incest and matriliny, and a retum to the accepted (patriarchal) social norms. These parallels may seem trivial in view of the major differences between HA and the Incestuous Father texts: the gender of the protagonist, the consummation or evasion of the incest, the number of heroines may seem substantial obstacles to my argument. 1 can call two witnesses in my defence. Oneis the anonymous author of the fourteenth-century prose Ystoria Regis Franchorum et jilie in qua adulterium comitere voluit [A30]: in the opening episode the daughter threatens her father with the fate of Antiochus, death by divine thunderbolt, if he carries out his plan to marry her. Theotheris Chaucer, whoin the Canterbury lales allows his Man of Law to discuss the story of Apollonius at some length in the Prologue to his tale [A32], claiming that Chaucer would never have told such a sordid and unpleasant story. The Man of Law's prudish rejection of HA is surely intended to draw attention to the fact that the story of Constance which le is aboutto tell is closely related to Incestuous Fatherstories: only the opening incest scene is missing (it is also omitted in the versions by Trivet and Gower). It also suggests a link between the Apollonius story and the Incestuous Father
plor
Of course it would be rash to claim HA as the only source for these stories: Another possible model would be the Clementine Recognitions, which does include the flight of a woman from threatened incest (though the villain is her brotherin law, not her father: see chapter 2 above, pp. 34-5). Goepp suggests, very reasonably, that HA and the Incestuous Father texts may be derived from a C8 hlauch suggests that the Incestuous Father motif may be linked to ancient marrilineal systems (p. 40). "Por more detatled discussion of this connection see Archibald, “The Flight from Incest’; on tlie suiifiance of the incest theme in the Man of FasTale sec Carolyn Dinshaw, ‘The Law of Man and its "Abhlomynacions" ', Fxemplima 1 (1989), 107. 48 (this essay reproduced, with minor changes, as €
dion, Wis, 1989|)
3 0f Dinslaw s Cuna eis Sexual l'octus [Ma
60
APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
commonancestor (p. 166): this seems very likely." The earliest of the medieval Incestuous Father narratives is the twelfth-century Vita Offae Primi; by the twelfth century manuscripts of HA had probably been circulating for more than four centuries. Even if HA was not the source of the Incestuous Fatherplot,its popularity may have stimulated the developmentof incest stories focussing on a heroineratherthan a hero:the story of what might have happened to Antiochus' daughter hadsheresisted herfather’s advances by running away from home.'® (h) Barnabe Riche’s Apollonius and Silla, one of Shakespeare’s sources for Twelfth Night, is indebted to HA,albeit on a small scale.? The plot of Riche's tale is largely derived from the Italian play L'Ingannati, but the name of the hero must surely reflect the influence of HA. Cranfil comments that the hero must be named after either Apollonius of Tyre or Apollonius of Tyana; the fictional hero seems a much morelikely candidate than the pagan philosopher, in view of the other parallels with HA.” Frye sums up the plot of Apollonius and Silla in a way which makes these parallels apparent, though he docs not commenton them:?!
E
Thus in Barnabe Riche's story Apollonius and Silla, a source of Twelfth Night, the heroine,finding that the lover she has determinedon hasleft the country without paying any attention to her, gets into a ship in pursuit of him. The captain goes into his rape-or-else routine almost before he has pulled up his anchor; the heroine prays to whatever god looks after heroines in these situations; a storm smashes the ship, and she floats ashore on the captain's chest, which is full of money and clothes, thereby enabling her both to dress up as a boy and to support herself while running her chosen manto ground.
As I suggested above (p. 35), the insertion of a flight-from-incest and family-reunionthrough-recognition story in the Clementine Recognitions strongly suggests that chese
were populartraditional themes.It is striking chat flight from an incestuousfatheris a
very rare themein classical literature. In mythology most incest stories involve consummated incest: the only flight story I know is that of Caunus from his infatuated sister Byblis, but it is the fate of Byblis which forms the main narrative, not that of her
horrified brother.
3
There may also have been somecross-fertilization from the Incestuous Father narratives to HA texts, both Latin and vernacular. In some medieval versions the opening scene is expanded to include details about Antiochus’ wife and his grief at her death, none of which are mentioned in HA; this is the standard opening of Incestuous father narratives, providing the context and motivation for the father’s perverse desire to marry the daughter whoso resembles her mother. Apollonius and Silla appears in Riche his farewell to Militarie Profession, first published in 1581, ed. Thomas M. Cranfil (Austin, 1959). G. Bullough prints Riche’s text and discusses it briefly in his section on Twelfth Nadi in vol. [of his Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare (london, 1958), pp. 269. 372, but does not suggest a link with HA; nor do J. Mo Lothian and TW. Crakk in thei Arden edition of Twelfth Night (London, 1975) T Cranil; p 207, Wiche docs quote the plilsopher im another work, OpmiomnDowd 7oprye, BFÉhe Seculan SNnpioe p 27, d quete only the eelevani sectión of lis sumtuy
THE INFLUENCE OF HA
61
The resemblance to HAis limited to this one episode, but the coming ashore of the heroine on a chestafter a storm seems to combine the adventures of Apollonius and his wife, and the hero's name is of course very suggestive. Gesneris convinced that Riche was using HÀ asa source for this episode, though he then abandoned it.7 But the lecherous captain, a familiar figure in Hellenistic romance, does not usually appear in HA orlater versions (though in Godfrey of Viterbo's Pantheon [V4] Tarsia appeals to the pirates to respect her); and Silla is much more active and determined in pursuit of her man than the heroines of HA, in which of course there is no cross-dressing. Shakespeare changed the names of Apollonius and Silla in Twelfth Night, and no trace of HA remains there. (i) But he seems to have drawn on HÀ more substantially in the final act of his first comedy, The Comedy of Errors.” A separated family — Aegeus, Aemilia and the Antipholus twins — arc reunited in the 'priory' at Ephesus where Aemilia has been abbess during the years since she was parted from her husband and infant sons. lt is Aemilia who recognizes her husband, just as Apollonius is recognized by his wife, though in the play Acgeus does not recounthis history. Shakespeare’s main source was Plautus’ Menaechmi, a farce involving identical twins. It might be argued that he is more likely to have based the recognition scene on the Clementine Recognitions, since twins appear there but not in HA. Butthe setting of the recognition scene in the ‘priory’ at Ephesus and the role of the abbess/mother surely indicate the influence of HA, which Shakespeare knew in several versions (including Gower, the Gesta Romanorum [V11] and Twine |V33]), and to which he would return in Pericles. The ending of The Comedy of Errors is more sombre than HA, however, because of the death penalty hanging over Áegeus, and more comic because of the doubling of the sons and their servants.
Conclusion 1 remain unconvinced by Delbouille’s arguments. There is no doubt that French romance writers in the ewelfth century would have known HA, in Latin or perhaps in a French. version which has not survived. Some may have borrowed motifs from it, as did later writers of romance, hagiography and drama; others may have produced ‘chivalricized’ versions, though none survive today. But did Apollonius really have much to contribute to the development of stories of chivalric quests and rites de passage, and to theaffairs of Trisran or Lancelot? The galt between them seems to me unbridgeable. Shared motifs alone do not conU Gesner, Shakespeare and the Greek Romances, p. 61. See the comments of RB. A. Foakes in the Anden ediion (1 ondon, 1962), pp. xxxi. i Bullough aArgtics that the source was. Gower* version see. Nanatee: and. Drama
Nonaes of Shakespeare | (London, 1964), pp 10 101
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APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
stitute proof of anything other than the commonstock of story tellers, and perhaps contemporary taste and topical subjects. The narratives which offer the closest parallels with HA, in my view, are the Incestuous Fatherstories, with their focus on the family as the microcosm of social order and disorder, and in particular on fathers and daughters. These elementsare entirely absent from the Tristan story, in which Delbouille, following Bédier, finds a number of motifs shared with the Apollonius story (pp. 1198-9). Like HA, the Incestuous Father stories concentrate on the main plot, the vicissitudes of an innocent protagonist who can do nothing to fend off the blows of Fortune. These stories are not concerned with the psychology of love, with courtly life and manners and ethics, what C. S. Lewis so memorablycalled 'the civilization of the heart'* Apollonius was no role model for writers interested in lovers or jousters, though some versions did invent battles for him to fight. He is characterized aboveall as a husband and a father, and it is in this role, I believe, that he appealed to Shakespeare.
5 € S Lewn, The Foglish Prose Morte’) in Fsays on Maliny, ed. ]. A. W. Bennett (Oxford, 1963), pp. 7. 28 (ee p: 9) Foi further comments on the pence and reception ot HA seca haptet 6
5 Problems in the Plot
Multa in ipsa fabula absurde excogitata, multa in sermone barbaro posita . . . et antiqui moris ritusque vestigiis nonnullis interspersa.
Markward Welser!
HA is what Kortekaas calls a ‘living text’ (p. 8): medieval and Renaissance writers tinkered with it as they copied or translated it, adding and omitting details, and sometimes conflating different texts. There were few highly innovative versions; those who expanded the plot considerably, such as Heinrich von Neustadt [V15] and the author of the Vienna Redaction [V22], seem to have had no imitators, and in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries HA wasstill being copied andtranslated almost word for word. There are many gaps and inconsistencies in the plot of HA (although one or twoare corrected in the RB version), but in the course of a thousand years of popularity, very few attempts at improvement were made. Medieval and Renaissance writers and readers were far less sensitive to illogicalities which strike modem critics so forcibly: consistency was not considered literary virtue, and this view was compounded by the principle of ‘bonum quo antiquius eo melius’ (‘a good thingis all the better for age"). It might be argued that the failings of the plot should not take up much spacein critical discussion: we may speculate about the form which certain episodes might have taken in a hypothetical Ur-text, but we cannot get beyond speculation. But in relation to the Nachleben of HA, the ways in which medieval readers accepted or altered problematic passages are crucial to our understanding of the reception of the text, and to any attempt to assess its genre. Perry and Deyermond have discussed the points which they find problematic: | summarize their remarks here, and commenton the absenceorpresence ofvariations or solutionsin later
UC
Welser, 1595 edhion o£ HA [V V0]: "Much in thus story is absurd invention, much is put in barbarous language . atl t is ers persed with some traces of ancient custom and Usage
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versions of the story (I include some points which apparently Perry and Deyermonddid notfind problematic, but which seem to me worth discussing)? (a) Antiochus’ riddle draws unwantedattention to his incest: why did the author use it? Perry argues that the opening incest episode reminded the authorof an incest riddle he knew (probably from a different context), which he incorporated without thinking oftlie particular requirements of his own story? A number of versions stress Antiochus’ fear of discovery, yet the riddle is present in almost every account. Antiochus doesnotrecite it in Godfrey of Viterbo's Pantheon [V4] (though it does appear in one manuscript, perhaps interpolated), the Carmina Burana lyric [V6], Pucci’s poem [V18], the French Vienna Redaction, or the Greek rhymed version [V37]. But in all these texts except the Carmina Burana lyric Apollonius gives the conventional answer. In the Vienna Redaction Apollonius is handed the riddle written in Greek, and translates it into Latin before solving it (further proof of his great learning). Elsewhere, as Klebs points out(p. 448,n. 1), the omission of the riddle is due to misunderstanding of the passage in HAc. 4 when Antiochus asks if Apollonius knows the conditions sct for suitors: Apollonius replies that he has seen whatis over the gate (the heads of those who have failed), but this was sometimes understood to mean that the riddle was written overthe palacegatefor all to read. It is mysterious that in c. 8 Hellenicus knows of the incest only a few days after Apollonius’ flight from Tyre, though no newsof it seems to have reached the other inhabitants of Tarsus (or the court of Pentapolis).4 Deyermond argues that the news gets out once Apollonius has publicly solved the riddle (p. 142): this seems sensible, though it is seldom explicitly stated (one example is the Vienna Redaction, where Antiochuslater assures his lords that the answer was wrong). Only Falckenburg [V30] makes the affair common knowledge. (b) The thirty-day period of grace granted to Apollonius seems curious in view of the immediate execution ofall previous suitors, and Antiochus’ obvious fear of exposure. Perry remarks that in folktales participants in such contests are very rarely given a second chance, and concludes that ‘the Latin author introduced this self-defeating action on the part of Antiochus for no other purpose than to
-
-
2
I follow Perry and Deyermond ('Motivos folklóricos") in discussing the problems in the order in which they occurin the plot. Deyermond concentrates on the thirteenth-century Spanish Libro de Apolonio [V10]in relation to HIA; he also includes references to relevant entries in the Aarne-Thompsonfolktale index. Given the numberof versions of the story, my examplesare inevitably selective; | give page references only for direct quotations. To avoid confusion I cite proper names only in the form found in HA, except where they are substantially altered. Perry, pp. 297-8; Deyermond, p. 142. Since Perry believes that HA is the original work of à Latin. author, he. compares. its. distegard for Consistency and sequence with Apuletus. On the form of the niddle, sec « hapter |, p. 24. But then Hlellens us! movements are altogether mysterious: how does he manage to be m Tarsus at the rdi ioment to inform Apollonius of bus fate, amd in Cyrene fifteen yeats hater tore bese bis sew?
PROBLEMS IN THE PLOT
65
motivate the travels and adventures of Apollonius in exile . . .' (p. 298). Most versions ignore this problem, though Antiochus' leniency is attributed by Heinrich von Neustadt to his admiration for Apollonius’ chivalric qualities, and by Belleforest [V35] to Antiochus’ fondness for Apollonius’ late father (a figure not mentioned in mostversions). In the Vienna Redaction Antiochussays thatheis giving Apollonius a second chance because he is such a good friend: in fact Antiochus is regent for the young prince and plans to usurp the throne, and he only gives him till the next morning to think again. Falckenburg's Antiochus alone does not give Apollonius a thirty-day reprieve, but sends him off on a dangerous mission to Jerusalem in the hope of getting rid of him. (c) After the opening scene at Antioch, Antiochus' daughter is not mentioned again until news of her death reaches Apollonius in Cyrene. Perry (p. 301) and Deyermond (p. 142) both notethat in popularincest stories the victim is usually the protagonist; Perry comments that ‘the fate of Antiochus’ daughter was necessarily, but conspicuously, ignored’, and that the author changedhis source, whateverit was, in order to motivate and then concentrate on the adventures of Apollonius. It is not necessarily the case that the victim is also the protagonist, either in classical or medieval incest stories.5 But it is true that in most versions of HÀ the princess remains anonymous, and very seldom shows any character development, or makes any speech otherthan the few lines in which she tells her nurse of the rape in a monologue (in sometexts, for instance the Italian prose versions [V 16A and B], she is allowed to express her horroratgreater length than in HA). The Old French fragment [V8] is an exception in extending herrole: there she is present as Apollonius prepares to answer the riddle, and we hear her praying that he will answer it correctly. In the Danish ballad [V7] she is the only heroine, and does eventually marry Apollonius. Timoneda [V40] gives her a name, Safirea, and makes her outlive her father by six days, during which time she bequeaths Antioch to Apollonius.
>
E
(d) Why does Apollonius leave Tarsus? Perry does not commenton this, but l'eyermond follows Marden in questioning HÁ's explanation (11, 1-2: the urging of Fortune [RA] and the advice of his hosts).5 It is of course essential that Apollonius should meet and marry the princess in Cyrene. Schmeling has suggested that Antiochus’ spies see the statue of Apollonius with the inscription from the grateful citizens, tell-tale signs which Apollonius allowed out of vanity; Often the plot focuses on the fate of the initiator of the incest (c.g. Myrrha and the anonymous mothers in medieval exempla), or on the unknowing sinner such as Judas or Gregorius. The popularity of Incestuous Father stories which focus on the vicissitudes of the daughter who flees her father seems to have bepun only in che cwelfth century, at least in Western European literature, See Archibald, “The Flight from Incest, and also ty forthcoming study of the incest theme in medieval literature. Deyertnond, p. 849; € C. Marden, ed, Fabro de Apolemio, 2 vols, Eliot Monographs in the Romance Langages and D ueratures 6 and 10:12 (Baltimore, 1917 and 1922; rp. 1965), IT, pp 47.3
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he is presumably referring to a lost Ur-text, since there is no support for this argumentin HA as wehaveit today.’ But perhaps weare to assumethat Tarsusis within too easy reach of Antiochus’ long arm. In the Libro de Apolonio Stranguillio urges Apollonius to winter in Pentapolis and come back when Antiochus has dispersed his army, in order to spare Tarsus. In the Brussels Redaction [V14], on the other hand,the king comes in person to besiege thecity. In Gower [V12] it is only after Apollonius has been in Tarsus for some time that he hears that Antiochusis trying to kill him, and this news persuades him tosail on, without any particular goal; a similar explanationis given in the Czech version [V19]. In Pericles [V43] Helicane (Hellenicus) is regent at Tyre in the king’s absence; he sends word to Tarsus that Antiochus has sent an assassin to Tyre, and that Pericles should move on. Belleforest's explanation is typical of his time and his classicizing sympathies: Apollonius’ move is prompted by the information that Pentapolis is a flourishing centre of study and learning.
*
~
(e) Two problemsare raised in relation to the scenes between Archistrates, the three suitors and Apollonius (cc. 19-21). Perry asks first why the king interviews the suitors in the street, writes a letter to his daughter whois a few yards awayin the palace, and sends it, indecorously, by Apollonius.’ Second, why is Apollonius so passive about his betrothal? Perry argues that theseries of events described here must have been originally planned for stage performance: in comedyall events take place outside houses, in streets or squares. He also explains the unemotional response of Apollonius as typical of comedy rather than romance (pp. 306-7). He does not remark on the king's ridiculous obtusencss about the identity of the shipwrecked man, which certainly seems to be a comic touch(it is of course a sort of riddle — see p. 12 above); only a few versions, including Gower, the Czech text, Timoneda, Wilkins [V42] and Pericles, allow the king to understand the message at once. As for Apollonius’ emotions, many versions retain the curious passage in HA c. 20 where Apollonius takes the suitors’ sealed offers to the princess. She reacts coquettishly, asking him first why he has come to her room so early, and then trying to get him to admic thathe will be sorry when she marries. His answers are entirely proper: he tells her not to be so suspicious, and rejoices that she has had a good education and will marry the man of her choice. There is no hint here that he is keen to be that man. When he recognizes himself in the princess’ tiddle about the shipwrecked man, he seems surprised; when Archistrates urges him to marry her, he merely says ‘Quod a deo est, sit, et si tua est voluntas, impleatur! (22, 18-19: ‘Let God's will be done; if ir is your wish, let it be See Schmeling, ‘Manners and Morality’, p. 202. Deyermond thinks the last point. trivial (p. 143). Both critics comment on. Archi strates! curious remark. as he. asks. Apollonius to deliver the letter to. the. princess praeter turcontumcham! (19, 12.13). Konstan/Roberts eanslate this "with no offense to you's and comment: ‘Archetrates apologies for paving Apollonia sacha mental tak Psee no difficulty here, aid oransbue equally itormally if you deat mand
PROBLEMS IN THE PLOT
67
fulfilled.) In some of the more chivalric vernacular versions, predictably, he is notso reticentor lukewarm. In the Brussels Redaction Apollonius thinks himself too humble for the princess, which suggests that he is interested in her. In Belleforest and in Falckenburg too, he and the princessfall in love long before the betrothal scene, and are shown as much more excited. But love and the psychology of love do not seem to have constituted the main interest or appeal of the story (though Apollonius’ grief for his apparently dead wife is certainly emphasised)? (f) HA makes Apollonius’ wife six months pregnant when the news of Antiochus' death arrives (c. 24); they set out for Antioch at once, but whenshe gives birth it is the ninth month, according to RA (the seventh in RB). Perry again compares HA with Apuleiusin its disregard for consistency (p. 309); Deyermond notes that in the Libro de Apolonio the princess is at least seven months pregnant whenshe sets out, and that the journey is said to be very long (p. 144). In fact it was very widely accepted in classical antiquity and in the Middle Ages that babies born at seven months could live (but eight-month babies were thoughtto have no chanceof survival, curiously).'?
*
(g) Why does Apollonius inherit the throne of Antioch? Is it assumed that the citizens know that he has answered the riddle correctly and should therefore have married the princess, and so in a spirit of justice they send for him after Antiochus' death? Perry does not attempt to answerthis question, butfalls back on the idea of borrowing from an altered or omitted source (p. 309). Deyermond notes the problem, but makes no comment(p. 144). Only a few versions offer explanations: in the Pantheon the elders of Antioch choose Apollonius as their new king; in the Vienna Redaction Antiochus is introduced as regent for the young Apollonius, who therefore should inherit as of right (there is a gap in the manuscript at the point where the Tyrian messenger arrives); the Czech version makes Antiochus himself send messengersto tell Apollonius of his inheritance; in Corrozet [V34] the lords of Antioch decide to make Apollonius their new king, and send envoys to look for him; in Timoneda Antiochus’ daughterlives Onemightargue that the writer(s) of HÀ were more interested in grief than in joy —
see Lana's comments on the frequency of tears (pp. 71—4). Prof. David Konstan has suggested to me (in a letter of November 15th 1989) that in HA ‘the ideal modelis that of a cool and collected older man and a young woman in love with him’, similar to Odysseus and Nausicaa (though Apolloniusis not in fact an older man), and points out that this is typical of epic rather than comedy (e.g. Apollonius Rhodius’ Medea, Catullus" Ariadne, Virgil's Dido). This would seem to support I leiserman’s argument (sce above p. 17) - but it is true only of the princess and Apollonius, not of the other young womenin the story, and | doubt whether Apollonius is meant to be so much older chan the princess. Ursula Weisser, ‘Die hippokratische Lehre von den Siebenmonatskindern bei Galen und Tabu ibn Qurra', Sulhoffs Arclue 65 (1979), 209. 38. The viability of à seventh month baby i5 à crucial issue in Ferences Hlecvra: see W. SC badewalde "Bemerkungen zur Flecyra des TVecenz', Hennes 66 (19 30), 1:29, ep pp 2 4 (0 am indebted for his reference to Prof Dawid Konstan)
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long enough to name Apollonius as herheir, thus righting herfather’s wrong. In Gowerand Pericles, the throne of Antioch is notin fact offered to the hero. In Gower the news of Antiochus’ death encourages thecitizens of Tyre to invite their king home; in Pericles it coincides with unrest in Tyre, where thecitizens wish to make the regent Helicanustheir king, andit is to Tyre that the hero must sail to claim his throne. (h) Why does Apollonius leave his infant daughter with foster-parents for fourteen years, and what does he do during this time? Perry explains the fostering of Tarsia as the prelude to her own adventures, but cannot explain Apollonius’ wanderings (p. 310). Deyermond notes the problemsbriefly (p. 144). Schmeling argues that ‘the desire of Apollonius to engage in businessaffairs and to do such in Egypt probably showshis truc interests’: he is really a merchant, though he does not wish this to be known, and so he gets rid of the child, who is a distraction.!! Ruiz-Montero, analysing HA according to Propp's system, sces the abandoning of Tarsia as the mistake which launches the second part of the narrative (p. 318). There are several possible objections to Schmeling's argument, which does not seem to fit the presentation of Apollonius as ruler of Tyre. Admittedly there is some inconsistency in HÀ as to his title: he is princeps of Tyre whenfirst introduced in c. 4, but later in the story heis repeatedly described as king (8, 4-5; 9, 14; see p. 18 above n. 37). To a medieval audience it would have seemed quite natural for a father to take little interest in a daughter until she was of martiageable age; sending children to be brought up at another court was a common medieval practice. As for Apollonius’ stated intention of travelling to Egypt,this could perhaps have had a metaphorical Christian meaning of exile from righteous society, or of a guilty retreat to a life of penance, as Deyermondsuggests(p. 144, n. 58). Most later versions drop the role of merchant, which Apollonius himself had considered beneath his dignity when he donated corn torelieve the famine at Tarsus(c. 10). In HA Apollonius apparently spends fourteen years in Egypt without bothering to return to Tyre or to claim his new kingdom, Antioch (so he tells his wife in c. 48). Godfrey of Viterbo, Gower, Wilkins and Pericles send Apollonius straight back to Tyre; the Vienna Redaction sends him to Antioch, which he besiegesfor ten years. In the fourteenth-century Latin HÀ text in BN MSlat. 8503, and a French translation of it in Laurent. MS Ashburnham 123, he joins a good king, Cebus,in fighting a bad king, Benjamin, who has usurped Antioch (this episode is not found in any otherversions, as far as | know). In Heinrich von Neustadt's version Apolloniussets off for Egypt, but almost immediately envoys from Baldwin of Barcelona bring news of an imminent atrack by Gog and Magog, and Apollonius takes command of the troops from Tarsus. This leads into a series of "oSchmeling, Manner and Morality’, po 204. He comments disapprovingly, and in my view appropriately ‘More sensitive fathers would have kept then daughters m close
proximity to themselves as a cetinder ot heu wives '
PROBLEMS IN THE PLOT
69
fabulous adventures, some borrowed from otherfictional heroes: he marries several wives, one black (and has a parti-coloured son by her, just as Gahmuret does in Wolfram's Parzival), fights giants, and anticipates Arthur by inventing the Round Table. In the Czech version Apollonius swears to voyage endlessly because of his grief; in Belleforest he searches che Mediterranean for his wife's tomb. In Corrozet he returns in triumph first to Tyre and then to Antioch, and performsgreat deeds which it would take too long to relate, according to the writer, though healso searchesfor his wife's tomb. The more chivalric texts in which he has to fight to regain Antioch (and sometimes Tyre too) were, for once, realistic: surely medieval audiences would not have been suprised by the account ofresistance to a king who returned to claim a kingdom after some years' absence, particularly if he was not related to the previous ruler. Buc Apollonius’ adventures during this time are not of great importance, for the focusof the story is transferred to the childhood andvicissitudesof Tarsia. (i) In RA texts Dionysias confesses twice to Stranguillio, first immediately after the apparently successful assassination of Tarsia (c. 32) and again when Apollonius returns (c. 37). This repetition does not occur in RB. Perry and Deyermond attribute the confusion not to the author of HA,butto early redactors (Perry, pp. 316-7, Deyermond,p. 145); both confessions are omitted in the Libro de Apolonio. Perry follows Klebs in arguing that the insertion of the confession in c. 32 is intended to increase Stranguillio's guilt: if he learns of the murder attempt only in c. 37, it seems unjust that Tarsia should allow him to be stoned with Dionysias for a crime in which he wasnotinvolved. Later versions vary in their handling of this unimportantdetail: some omit one or other confession. Whenit is repeated at Apollonius’ retum to Tarsus, it scemslikely that it was intended as reiteration of the events, rather than asa fresh confession. (j) Why does Athenagoras leave Tarsia in the brothel (Perry, pp. 314-15, Deyermond, p. 145)? His profound respect and sympathy for her seem inconsistent with his position and behaviour. Obviously the plot is more exciting if Tarsia remains in a desperate situation until the chance arrival of Apollonius which brings about the reunion of father and daughter, but Mirylene's princeps seems singularly powerless. Whenhe sends for her to entertain Apollonius, he promises to give her money and redeem her from the pimp for thirty days if she is successful (40, 31-3): why does he not purchase her freedom outright? Perry argues that the situation is derived from Roman comedy, where the heroine's noble birth must be proved before she can Ieave the brothel and marry her lover (p. 315); the brothel is necessary as a setting for the comic scenes of the auction, and later for Athenagoras’ encounters with Tarsia’s would-be clients.
This explanation does not satisfactorily account for the striking passivity and powerlessness of Athenagoras; and Tarsia's enterprise in arrangingr an alternative source of money through her learning and musical skills ts Certainly nota characteristic theme ob classical comedy Schimeling accepis Callus atgument: "Athena
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gora(s] will not purchase Tarsia until after a thirty-day waiting period to ensure that she has not become pregnant in the lupanar. The calculating nature of Athenagora’s mind reveals a vicious personality.''? Achenagoras is certainly a dubious character,at least on his first appearance,but there is no evidence in the text for this interpretation:in fact, it is contradicted by thefinal lines of c. 36, where we are told that Tarsia became famous in Mitylene for her virginity and that Athenagoras watched overher like a daughter. Further evidenceis available in c. 45, where Athenagoras tells Apollonius that he deserves Tarsia’s hand because he helped her to keep her virginity (this might be considered a good example of being ‘economical with the truth’). Thebrothel episode, and Athenagoras’part in it, certainly pose a problem in telation to his subsequent role as Tarsia’s husband, yet this episode is found in some form in almost every version up to and including Pericles (Timonedais an exception), thoughit is by no means a commonthemein medieval romance(see p. 77 below). Goweris alone in introducing Athenagoras for the first time only when Apollonius’ ship arrives, thus omitting the auction and his shameful visit to the brothel. Belleforest also omits the auction; Falckenburg makes Tarsia's stay in the brothel very brief, and has herfreed to live in the palace. Timoneda keeps the auction but omits the scenes in the brothel, and makes his Politania a joglaresa from thefirst. Some texts emphasise Athenagoras’ problematic role by combining new andtraditional details. In Pucci he falls in love with Tarsia on sight and takes her to the palace, where the pimplater buys her. In the Vienna Redaction the pimpis the prince’s servant, and buys Tarsia for him. Heis to have first go, followed by his lords; but then she seems to become the pimp's property. In Pericles there is no auction, but Lysimachus is introduced as a hardened debauchee, and has to be converted with unconvincing speed after hcaring Marinatalk;it is hard to believe his claim that he cameto the brothelwith ‘noill intent’ (IV.vi.109), since his first words to the bawds are ‘How now! How a dozen of virginities!’ (IV.vi.19).¥ (k) Neither Perry nor Deyermond comments on the very sudden marriage of Tarsia and Athenagoras(c. 45 [missing in RA]). Earlier Athenagorasis said to love her like a father (c. 36); no mention is made of of growing attraction or passion on eitherside. But as soon assheis revealed to be the daughterof a king, he asks for her hand, declaring how much he has done to protect her. Tarsia’s reaction is neither asked nor given; Apollonius’ feelings for his princess are considerably developed by some writers, but Tarsia's feelings for Athenagoras are ignored by all. It has been argued that Apollonius narrowly missed committing 17 See Schmeling, p. 207, and Callu, p. 191. D Wilkins and Pericles are most unusual in allowing Marinatocriticize Lysimachus for frequenting brothels, and thus drawing attention to the problemof his role as ruler and as husband of the heroine (in Wilkins the debate between them is much longer thanin the. play, amd i8 one of the most. problematnic episodes in terins of the. relationship between the twotexts). See my comments in! "Deep cleiks she dams" *; pp. 2908. 300,
PROBLEMS IN THE PLOT
71
incest with his unrecognized daughter, and that the hasty marriage to Athenagoras is a way of insuring that he is not further tempted;his willingness to allow her to marry can also be contrasted with Antiochus’ selfishness."4 It is instructive to compare the parallel episode in Jourdain de Blaye (see pp. 54—5 above). The hero's daughter, long separated from her parents, arrives in Constantinople; the emperor and his son both fall in love with her, and the jealousfather has her consignedto a brothel. Jourdain arrives in the nick of time, and once her noble parentage is established she is allowed to marry the emperor's son. The fact that most adaptors of HA failed to develop the potential love interest between Tarsia and Athenagorasis yet anotherindication that it was not perceived primarily as a love story.
The Oral Greek Version Clearly the problemsraised by Perry and Deyermond, whichare largely related to plot mechanism and structure, did not much disturb medieval writers. Many similar problems occur in folktales, which are notoriously lacking in logic and consistency. Propp cites lack of motivation as a characteristic of folktales, and also comments: ‘One mayobserve in general that the feelings and intentions of the dramatis personae do not have an effect on the course of the action in any instance atall."5 In this respect HÀ is much more like folktale than either a Hellenistic or a medieval romance. Paradoxically, the most substantial changes in the plot, and the most sensible, from the point of view of logic and consistency, are found in a version of the Apollonius story collected as an oral tale on the island of Cos about 1900.'5 It is impossible to say how old it is; it seems to be based on the sixteenth-century rhymed Greek version, butvery loosely. The names of the main characters areall changed, but more significantare the alterations to the traditional plot. Theincestuousfather is desperate to marry off his daughter; the riddle is omitted, and the hero Yannaki marries herin total ignorance. When he discoversthe truth, he runs away;later he hears that she is dead, and so heis free to marty again. The adventures of his daughter (by his second wife Angelika) are considerably expanded, and the recognition sceneis ingeniously altered for greater effect; there is only one, for all the main characters find themselves in the same place at the end. Only the daughter's identity is known to the audience; the other characters are anonymousat first. The long-lost wife, now a queen, recognizes her husband first, and then the daughter guesses that they must be her 15. Sec above, pp. 15 ff, and Archibald, “Fathers and Kings in Apollonaes of Tyre’, p. 32. ' Propp, Morphol gy of dw Follaale, p. 78 (sce chapter 2, n. 28). ^ My account is based on that of OOM) Dawkins in Moder Greek Oral Versions of Apollonius of Tyre', MER 37 (1942), 169. 84 (see pp 176. 84)
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parents. Yannaki is convinced only when he is shown the chest in which he had buried his wife at sea. The man who eventually marries the daughter is introduced early on as an important character; he is a friend of Yannaki, and is shipwrecked with him. This bold reworking of the traditional HA plot is yet another witness toits lasting narrative appeal. All the main episodes are retained: the opening incest scene, the flight of the hero, the famine which heaverts, the shipwreck and the mecting with the hospitable king, the hero's marriage and theloss of his wife, the adventures of their daughter and her ordeal in the brothel, and the eventual recognition scene. But manyof the lacunae andlogicalfailings of HA are boldly rectified, and the setting is more or less contemporary (after the shipwreck Yannaki finds work in a café, and becomes coffee-maker to the king). It is in many ways the mostsatisfying version of the story, as Dawkins argues (p. 177): The whole story has been brought, one might say, from the castle to the village, but what it has lost in romantic character, it has gained a thousand timesin liveliness and vigour. Nevertheless the traditional plot maintained its popularity for over a thousand years.
Classical customs Since the story of Apollonius was not perceived to belong to any particular historical context, and since in any case medieval writers were not particularly concerned about historical 'realism', anachronism was not a problem in the retelling of this story. If anything, the difficulty might have been the opposite: how to deal with classical customs which were no longerfamiliar in the Middle Ages. The invocation of pagan gods and references to pagan burial customs were familiar from many otherclassical texts, though it would be interesting to compare the treatments in versions of HA. But in this section | shall discuss three episodes which must have been muchless familiar and which do seem to have caused somedifficulties: the gymnasium (c. 13), Apollonius’ performance at the banquet(cc. 16 ff.), and Tarsia’s reception in the brothel (cc. 33 ff.)."7 (I) The gymnasium scene was retained in many versions of the story, even though somedetails of the classical routine of bathing and exercise were notfully "7 Perry and Deyermonddo not discuss these episodes. Klebs devotes pp. 187. 227 of his study to a discussionof classical details, but he concentrates on coins and inscriptions, and hardly mentions these chree scenes. There is à useful but very brief analysis in Nils A. Nilsson, Due Apollonia Erzahlung tden slaaschen Literanaen (Uppsala, 1949), pp. 96. |[O03Y. Sunilar issues are discussed by lan Michael in Phe Deamwn of the Classical Mutenal m the Lilo de Albevasbe (Nanchestern 1970)
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instance in the fifteenth-century Creek Diegesis Apolloniou) and also heavy classicization (for instance in Belleforest, writing in the second half of the sixteenth century). The traditional HA text with its classical elements, the gymnasium, the tragic and comic recitations, the brothel underthe protection of Priapus, and thestartling learning of its younger heroine, continued to be copied throughout the later Middle Ages and during the Renaissance.
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implied by later medieval and Renaissance versions, discussing rubrics and comments in manuscripts and early printed editions,illustrations, and allusions to Apollonius in other medieval texts. Finally I shall consider the significance of the incest theme, and therole of Fortune.
Romance Let us start by considering HA as a romance,for it is often mentioned in studies of romance, both classical and medieval (though sometimes only in footnotes or appendices, because of its problematic status). Frye begins his study of the structure of romance by dividing texts into two categories, naive (‘the kind of story that is found in collections of folk tales and marchen, like Grimms’ Fairy Tales’), and sentimental (‘more extended and literary development of the formulas of naive romance’): he puts the story of Apollonius into the sentimental category (though somewhattentatively). Hibbard places the story of Apollonius at the beginning of her section on ‘Romances of Love and Adventure’, and describesit as ‘what might well be called the first of our western romans d’aventure’.4 Delbouille sees HA as ‘prefiguring’ and influencing the early French romance texts of the later twelfth century: he believes that the authors of the romans antiques may have been influenced by HA as well as by Ovid when they inserted love scenes into the legends of Thebes and Troy and into the Aeneid (for him loveis the essential characteristic of medieval romance)? But what is a romance? Gillian Beer recognizes that many qualities confidently ascribed to romance can be found elsewhere in literature and folklore, and argues that it is not single characteristics but a cluster of themes which mark romanceas a distinct genre: Wecan think rather of a cluster of properties: the themes of love and adventure,a certain withdrawal from their own societies on the part of both reader and romance hero, profuse sensuous detail, simplified characters (often with a suggestion of allegorical significance), a serene intermingling of the unexpected and the everyday, a complex and prolonged succession of incidents usually without a single climax, a happy
a
Colloquia on the Novel, II], ed. H. Hofmann (Groningen, 1990) pp. 123-37. G. A. A. Kortekaas makes a numberofpertinent comments in his essay‘I let adaptie- proces van deHistoria Apollonii Regis Tyri in de Middeleeuwen en vroege Renaissance’, in Dwergen op de schouders van Reuzen: Studies over de receptie van de Oudhwid in de Middelccuwen, ed. 1H. van Dijk and F. R. Smits (Groningen, 1990), pp. 57 74; unfortunately it came t0 my attention just as this study was goingto press, too latefor detailed discussion. Frye, The Secudar Scripture, p. Hlibbard, Medieval Ronunce m P nglanal, p. 171. Delboule, 'Debuns!,; p. 1199; sec my comments in « hapter 4 Cullian Beer, Phe Romance, The Critical bom 10 (4 don 1270), 10
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ending, amplitude of proportions, a strongly enforced code of conduct to whichall the characters must comply. Beeris writing here about romance in general: medieval romance hasparticular characteristics of its own, though it is hard to analyse them succinctly. The plots can vary greatly, for instance. Some romancesfocus onthe struggle of an unjustly exiled prince to regain his kingdom, some recount the hero's quest to provehis prowess, discoverhis identity, rescue his lady-love, or find the Grail; some put more emphasis on emotion,others on behaviour, others again on battle. Finlayson suggests that medieval romance should be defined by attitudes and values and by thestyle of presentation rather than by subject matter; similarly, Pamela Gradon argues thatit is better to speak of a romance mode rather than a genre.’ Payen and Diekstra define the French romanceas ‘a message serving courtly and Christian values’, and the English romanceas‘a story of adventuretold in terms of chivalry’® HA may pass muster as a romance of adventure on the basis of content, though of course various combinationsof its main motifs are commonly found in literature, folklore and mythology: the testing of suitors, the unjustly exiled king, the shipwrecked hero, the princess in love with a destitute stranger, the separationof the spouses, the virgin under siege, the family reunion, the restoration of the king to his rightful throne. But it is extremely short on chivalry, on the courtly attitudes and values and presentation which are generally taken to be « haracteristic of medieval romance, though many of them are characteristic of IIcllenistic romance too. There are no digressions to describe persons, clothes, teasts, or buildings, and very few of the monologues and dialogues in which romance protagonists habitually review their emotional situations.? Pace Dellouille, love does not seem to be a central preoccupation of the writer or of the : haracters: both. Apollonius and his daughter accept marriage proposals without apparent. enthusiasm, and only the princess of Cyrene is so overwhelmed by passion that she falls ill. There is no trace of the theme of martial prowess, very unportant in medieval romance (though not in Hellenistic romance): Apollo(iuis is not presented as a distinguished warrior and neverfights a battle, nor do any of the other characters. Finally, there is no sense of Beer's 'strongly enforced code of conduct’ or of consistent patterns of noble behaviour such as one might (aad in both epic and romance. See John Finlayson, ‘Definitions of Medieval Romance’, Chaucer Review 15 (1980), 44 62 and 168-81, especially p. 168; Pamela Gradon, Form and Style in Early English Huerature (London, 1971), p. 270. Ch. Payen and J. C. L. Diekstra, Le roman, Typologie des sources du moyen áge occidental 12 (Turnhout, 1975), pp. 25 and 77. ec Fri Auerbachdescription of romancestyle in Literary Language and Its Public in Haie Lam Autupaty and m dv Mullle Ages, o. Ralph Mannheim, Bollingen Series 74 (Hew York, 1965), p. 208. For example, there 1s no physical description of the main Character in EEA (or indeed in imose later versions), the protagonists ofboth Elellentsteoand medieval romance are usually. presented Gand described) as outstandingly Ienfal On the emotions of the characters in LA, see bana pp 7b 4
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Although Frye has argued for the ‘and then’ narrative structure of the Apollonius story as characteristic of one popular type of romance, both in plot and in tone HA seems to have more in common with the typical folktale, which is characterized, according to Propp, by lack of motivation and by the irrelevance of feelings and intentions to the course of the action.'? HA seems to me to be a potential romance, though its structure and style are naive and the plot shows little interest in the primary characteristics of romance as discussed above: this potential was recognized by those later writers who added martial and amorous episodes to their versions of the story. But as 1 have already emphasised, such writers were by no meansin the majority: their texts were produced at the same time as exemplary versions, and so were copies or closc translations of HA. Many of the writers who produced vernacular versions of the story clearly did not consider that they were writing what we would call a romance, and many of the allusions discussed below offer similar testimony.
History But Delbouille also argues that in the twelfth century HA was taken to be ‘a very authentically historical account’ (‘Débuts’, p. 1184). His argumentis based on the references to Apollonius in crusade chronicles [A7, 8, 13, 22] and the numberof manuscripts in which HÀ was copied with other indubirably historical texts. But the line between fact and fiction, history and romance,is particularly hard to draw in relation to medieval texts. From the point of view of the historian, Partner comments: 'During the whole of the Middle Ages, history enjoyed many of the freedoms of fiction, and fiction, in turn, conventionally masqueraded as fact — no serious deception was intended by either." ! Writers of romance were equally indifferent to what we perccive as a crucial distinction, as Stevens makesclear:!? It is a ticklish business to decide when and to whatdegree any particular romance-writer thought he was writing history. Perhaps only the most sophisticated minds of the age were able to distinguish between fact and fiction in past events — or, rather, wished to be aware of criteria by means of which fact and fiction could be distinguished . . . ‘Story’ and ‘history’, which for us have come to denote opposites, for them seem often to have merged into one. 10 Frye, The Secular Scripture, pp. 47 ff. For Propp, see chapter 2 above, n. 28. "Nancy F. Partner, Serious Entertainments: The Writing of History in 12 C.entury England (Chicago, 1977), p. *. See also the useful. introductory. chapters on. classical and medieval writers in William Nelson, Fact or Fiction: The Dilemma of the Renaissance Storyteller (Cambridge, Ma., 1973); on p. 27 he points out that since history was largely regarded as exemplary, "histor al fact! was not an important consideration (except in the case of the Bible) HO
John Sever, Medieeal Romance (London 1923, pp
29
?
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Geoffrey of Monmouth's influential Historia Regum Britanniae wascriticized as an invention within a few ycarsofits first appearance in 1136, as Stevens notes (p. 232). But such criticism did not deter its many readers, copyists and translators, or the kings who madeuse ofit for political purposes; nor did it halt the flow of tales about King Arthur derived from Geoffrey's account, or prevent him from being included in numerous chronicles. Although Arthur may not haveexisted, Alexandercertainly did: but the interest of the legends based on hislife lay in their chivalric glamour or their moral value, not in their historical accuracy." There can be few, if any, instances where it matters to us as literary critics whether medieval readers accepted the legends about Alexander and Arthur, or the story of Apollonius, as ‘authentic history’. It seems particularly unlikely that the question would have suggested itself in the case of Apollonius, since no dynastic or national claim to territory or independence depended on the answer. Asfor the references in crusade chronicles, there were already numeroustexts of HA in circulation in the eleventh century: Delbouille himself remarks that the crusades may have increased interest in HA, and that because of the crusades Antioch and Tyre were household namesin the twelfth century (p. 1185). The fact that the locations of Apollonius’ adventures had become less foreign to western European readers does not mean that they were convinced of the historical accuracy of the story, however, or that they ever stopped to consider the question. Apart from the crusade chronicles, only one widely-read 'history' includes the story of Apollonius, as far as I know: this is the Pantheon or world history of Godfrey of Viterbo [V4], who sets the story at the time of the Punic Wars, in the reign of ‘Antiochus Junior Seleucus’.'* This composite name may be intended to conceal confusion over the names and sequenceof the Seleucids. Ihe king at the time of Hannibal was Antiochus III, father of two sons both called Antiochus, the younger of whom became Antiochus IV Epiphanes(in the index to the Pantheon Godfrey mentions Antiochus Epiphanesonly after the synopsis of the story of Apollonius, as if he were distinct from Antiochus Seleucus). Medieval writers were keen on the educational value of history, among them Godfrey of Viterbo: in the introduction to his Memoria Seculorum, dedi«ited to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, he condemnsthe fables of Coridon and Melibeus, and recommends the improving histories of Alexander, Apollonius and Gog and Magog [A17]. Does Godfrey's comment, and the fact that he inserted his version of HA into a chronological history of the world, prove that he (or anybody else) accepted it as ‘authentically historical’? Or is it rather that iidy- minded writers like Godfrey liked to fit every narrative which might qualify !
The bibliography for these two Worthies is enormous, but two books will suffice to show the range of treatments produced in the Middle Ages: Ardurian Literature in Muldle Ages, ed. R. S. Loomis (Oxford, 1959); and G. Cary, The Medieval Alexander, ed. 1). J. A. Ross (Cambridge, 1956; rp. New York, 1988). There may be a reference to HA in the Imago Mundi of Honorius Augustodunensis 1A9], à world chronicle also written in the twelfth century. There isa short version of HA n the Fabey Flinulas of | ambert of St Omer [V3], though this enc yclopaedice work was not conceived as a Systematik history
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as an improving history into a chronological framework, regardless of the available evidence? Some manuscripts of the influential Speculum Historiale of Vincent of Beauvais (written in the first half of the thirteenth century) list HA in the index as the final item in Book IV, following an account of Alexander; but the story does notactually appear in the main text in any surviving manuscripts.'> As Kortckaas notes, however, a very abbreviated version of HA (cc. 1-39 only) has been added on a single page at the end of the Speculum Historiale in Bodl. MS Bodley 287, an early fourteenth-century manuscript; in the same way longer versions have been added to two manuscripts of the Speculum Historiale in Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek clm 17129 (early fourteenth century) and clm 18060(fifteenth century). A strong association seems to have linked the stories of Alexander and Apollonius, which are found together in many manuscripts; one reason may be that the Seleucid empire was founded on the break-up of Alexander's empire,as the writer of I Maccabees explains at the beginning of his book (Steinhówel prefaces his version of the Apollonius story [V25] with an accountof Alexander's empire and therise of the Seleucids). In the fifteenth century the English priest Capgrave mentionsthe incest of Seleucus Philopator and his daughterin list of Alexandrian kings in his life of St Katharine of Alexandria [A33]; he refers the teader to ‘appolony of tyr for the full story, as if he knows no otherhistorical source.!ó Delbouille's first argument for the acceptance of HA ashistory in the twelfth century on the basis of crusade chronicle references does not seem very substantial. If ic was indeed read in this way, it seems curious that so few twelfth- and thirteenth-century versions of the story include any introductory historical context, and that Apollonius is mentioned in so few historical texts. Delbouille offers a second form of evidence (p. 1185): the fact that HA is found in manuscripts which also contain indubitably historical texts such as thc life of Alexander, Gregory of Tours! Gesta Francorum Regum, the chronicle of Orosius, or the Trojan reminiscences fabricated by Dares Phrygius(this last may be ‘historical’ in a different sense: Stevens’ comment about medieval lack of interest in the distinction between fact andfictionis particularly relevant here). It is certainly true, and striking, that in many twelfth- and thirteenth-century manuscripts HA
*
15 See Smyth, p. 24; Klebs, p. 349; Kortekaas, pp. 154—5, n. 12. The final chapter of Book IV contains a reference to incest (in Alexander's last letter to Dindymus) which might have suggested the connection. HA is similarly advertised but not included in the Grande e General Estoria of. Alfonso el Sabio, which was begun in M sce Marden, ed., Libro de Apolonio, I, pp. xxxii-xxxiii, and Kortckaas, pp. 152-3, n According to Capgrave, his version is based on an unfinished English —-ation of a Latin version of the Greek life by. Athanasius, but che Alexandrian king list was probably inserted by Capprave himself, see A. Kurvinen, “The Sources of Capprave's Life of St. Katharine of Alexandria’, NM 61 (1960), 268. 324, esp. p. 3017. No other version that [know calls the incestuous. father Seleucus. Philopator. There was an historical figure of this name, the son of Antix hus H1 (ce P, «v. 'Seleukos! 6);
pethaps the ni kname QCalsosed by the kuof Fgypr at the time) was liter misunder. Stool and suggested che Link wath ihe is est tony?
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was copied togetherwith historical texts, and particularly often with texts about Alexander: this does indeed suggest that it was considered to have serious value (as does its presencein wills and library catalogues amonglists of theological and historical texts).! But does it prove that the story was considered ‘historical’, whatever this problematic word meansfor the Middle Ages? Medieval manuscripts are notoriously eclectic in their contents. An equally good case could be made for the reception of the Apollonius story in the later Middle Ages as an indubitably exemplary text, for it is very often found in the companyof didactic or explicitly religious works (see below, p. 96); yet it is clear from the existence of many versions of the story with chivalric expansions that many authors and readers enjoyed it as entertainment, not exemplum. On the basis of manuscript contents it could be argued that HA wasread as‘history’ in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and as either exemplum or romanceafter that, but 1 think that such an argument would be dangerously generalizing and indeed inaccurate (the thirreenth-century Carmina Burana lyric [V6], for instance, suggests a very different reading). The evidence of manuscript context points to the variety of reception of the story, and perhapsto particular tendencies in certain periods, rather than toits established historicity (for further discussion see below, pp. 92 ff.).
Exemplum l'ickford has argued that the translation of HA from Greek and its survival through the Middle Ages, while the Greek romances wereall forgotten till the Renaissance, can be explained by the face that it was easily interpretable as a Christian romance.'® His analysis of parallels between HA and various Greck myths and biblical stories is too far-fetched to be useful or convincing, but the issue that he raises is an important one. Was HAeverregarded as an exemplum? It certainly appears from an early date in monastic library catalogues, and in both secular and ecclesiastical bequests of theological and historical volumes: in relaton to the Old English version [V2], Raith argues that no monk would have Jared to. translate HA had it not been for its exemplary aspects, and the same presumably goes for copying it.? ^s an exemplum, HA would be unusually long: a recent definition is ‘a brief “tory presented as truthful and destined to be inserted in a speech (usually a sermon) to convince the audience through a salutary lesson’.” The number of U See the library catalogue entries listed by Manitius, Handschriften antiker Autoren, pp. $24 5, and Klels, p . 419. 24. OTE Pickford, "Apollonius of Fyre as Oreck Myth and Christian Mystery', Neoplulologus 9 (1975), 599. 69; and see Merkelbach, Roman und Mysterium, pp. 1610 71. o] qRnth, Die ali und mttelenglischen. Apollisas Bna hia he mu dem Tew der Historia Apollimu na h der englis len Hands hujtengmuappe (Munich, 19560), pp. 49. 50 C
Biemond; ]:
Legot aed FO hine FL'exemphan, Dypolone des soutces du moyen
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QN
protagonists and the complexity of their adventures might suggest that it is an early example of that hybrid and much debated genre, exemplary romance. Dannenbaum is sceptical aboutits existence or value: she points outthatit is hard to accept exemplary romanceas a genre whencritics cannot agree about the texts which it would include, and argues that most so-called exemplary romances are in fact much more characteristic of secular romance than of hagiography.?! Schelp accepts it, however, and sugests a number of importantcriteria in his study of Middle English exemplary romances.? He argues that these texts focus either on a virtue to be imitated (imitabile) or on a vice to be avoided (evitandum), and that the structure of the two types differs significantly: in imitabile romances there is a brief introduction, a long series of adventures, and a bricfly described happy ending, whereas evitandum romances are organized like tragedies, building up to a peripeteia which is immediately followed by a dramatic fall. God plays a very important part, either as protector or antagonist (though in evitandum texts like the Alliterative Morte Arthur Fortune may be the controlling principle). These romances are either about the development of self-knowledge and contrition and the divine gift of grace (for instance Sir Isumbras), or about the patient enduranceofvarious vicissitudes under the protection of God (for instance Emaré). Notall critics would accept these criteria, but it seems to be generally agreed that the ending of a text is a crucial test. Romance, exemplary romance and hagiography mayall be intended as educational, but the lessons which they offer (usually stressed at the end) are very different. [n romancethefinal reward for the hero is worldly success, power, and domestic happiness in marriage. Exemplary romance may also end with the restoration of the protagonist to worldly prosperity, but it will be clear that this is due to his/her moral integrity and trust in God. Hagiographies end with a return or conversion to virtuousliving, and either the promise or the achievementof paradise. How do these criteria apply to HA,if at all? Structurally it seems to resemble the imitabile type with its long series of adventures; it does include a peripeteia, Apollonius' encounter with his unrecognized daughter, but one which leads to triumph rather than disaster. But the ending is strictly secular: the hero and heroines are reunited as a family and restored to royal rank, and live happily everafter. In the final chapters Apollonius is presented at last as a powerful king, and his reward is both personal and political: the thrones of various kingdoms, and the birth of a son and heir. There is no commentonthelessons learned by any of the protagonists, or the value of suffering. The mostserious omission in terms of Schelp's argument is that God could Age occidencal (Turnhour, 1982), pp. 37-8. See also the classic study of J.-Th. Welter, L'exemplum dans la littérature religieuse et didactique du moyen dge (Paris, 1927). Susan Crane Dannenbaum, ‘Guy of Warwick and theQuestion of Exemplary Romance’, Genre 17 (1984), 351-74, esp. pp. 356 7; see the useful bibliography in her
~ .
notes.
Hanspeter Schelp, Byemplarische Romanzen im Mutelenglichen, l'alacstia 246 (CGioin-
pen, 1907), pp. 26 f
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notbe said to play a very important part. There are references to deus scattered through HA,but no explicitly Christian references. The only characters who pray (to an unspecified deus) are Theophilus (31, 21-2; 32, 11), Seranguillio (32, 37-8), and Tarsia (32, 1; 44 [RB] n. 63). No one ever goes to church, and no priests appear. Apollonius blames Neptunefor his shipwreck (12, 4). Tarsia’s false tomb bears an inscription to ‘DII MANES’ (32, 46-7).2 Apollonius arrives at Micylene duringthefestival of Neptune (39, 3). Someone dressed like an angel appears to Apollonius in a dream, but directs him, surprisingly, to the temple of Diana in Ephesus (48, 2—6); it is there that Diana's favourite priestess is reunited with her longlost husband and unknown daughter(cc. 48-9). It seems that God and the gods are used interchangeably; certainly religion is not a majorissue in the earliest versions of the story, though some vernacular versions gave it a much more explicit Christian colouring.” Mehl defines what he calls ‘homiletic romances’ as naratives in which ‘the plot is completely subordinated to the moral and religious theme’.4 Dannenbaum suggests as a possible definition of exemplary romance‘the subordination of all other concerns to moral ones, whether Christian or broadly ethical’ (p. 356). Clearly Christian concerns are not dominant in HA;is there a strong cthical impulse throughout the narrative? Goepp comments that ‘the didactic, aphoristic manneris discernible throughout’: he cites Apollonius’ conversations with Hellenicus and with the fisherman whobefriends him, his generosity to the starving citizens of Tarsus, and the role of his learning in his marriage with the princess of Cyrene (p. 169-70). But these passages do notconstitute a specific ethical or didactic concern, nor are they central to the plot. What should the reader of HA learn to imitate, or to avoid?It is striking that in the Gesta Romanorum [V11], where every story is followed by an allegorical moralization, the story of Apollonius is not only the longest by far, but the only one without a moral appended at the end (there is merely a standard prayer). Clearly Antiochus’ incest and subsequent death ‘dei fulmine’ (24, 11: ‘by god’s thunderbolt’) constitute a cautionary tale; this is sometimes emphasised in an *' This phrase is omitted in the parallel passage in RB, but included in both versions at 38, 8 (RB gives the usual form 'DIIS MANIBUS); see Kortekaas, pp. 65-7. In RB c. 50, Apollonius urges the shade of his supposedly dead daughter to leave "Tartaream domum! (‘your infernal home’) and testify against Stranguillio and Dionysias. This may
be an archaizing insertion: see Kortekaas, pp. 67 and 123 (though he does not mention
-
this phrase). Kortekaas discusses the many Christian linguistic elements in HA (especially RA), but notes that it is not always casy todistinguish between Christian Latin and Late Latin, and emphasises that there are no 'overtly Christian motivations or essential narrative cletnents! (pp. 101 and 106). There is a particularly strong Christian emphasis in the Spanish Libro de Apolonio (thirteenth century) and the Greek Diegesis Apolloniou (fifteenth century); see the excellent discussion in Marina S. Brownlees, "Writing and Sonpture in the. Libro de Apolo: the Conflation of Tlagiography and Romance’, Hispanic Ressew51 (1983), 159. 74. 5 Dieter Melil, The Mellle English Romances of che Photeenth and Foateenth. Centuries (London, L968) p. 121
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introductory rubric (see below, p. 93), but very rarely at the end ofthe narrative. Gower is one of the few exceptions who prove this rule [V12]. In a Latin marginal note at the beginning of his version, he describesit as ‘mirabile exemplum de magnorege Antiocho’ (‘the amazing exemplum of the great King Antiochus').75 This note ends with the remark that Apollonius endured many dangers for love, and at the end of the story Gower emphasises in the English text chat the reunion of Apollonius with his family and the punishment of Antiochus provide an ‘ensample’ for lovers (Il. 1999 ff.; there is no accompanying Latin note, however). The cautionary tale is therefore presented in strictly secular light, as is perhaps appropriate for a collection of stories intended to cure a lover of lust and selfishness, but not to tum him into a religious recluse. A number of versions end with comments on Apollonius’ sufferings and prayers that the reader should achieve paradise, as he did; but they do not offer any advice or reiterate important moral principles, apart from the importance of trusting in Whatthen is the moralof the vicissitudes of Apollonius and Tarsia? Clearly Tarsia is in no way responsible for what happensto her; but is Apollonius guilty of any sin, apart from innocently revealing Antiochus’ incest by solving the tiddle? Lynda Boose (writing about Pericles) has argued that he should not have thrown his apparently dead wife overboard: but there is absolutely no textual support for this interpretation, either in HA or in Pericles (or indeed any other version).?” The superstition of sailors about dead or sinful bodies on ships is an ancient and well-known tradition.” Perhaps Apollonius should not haveleft his infant daughter at Tarsus for fifteen years: Ruiz-Montero argues thatthis is the fault which launches the second phase of the story (p. 310). In HA Theophilus suggests that it was a mistake to leave jewels and moncy with her, at any rate (31, 28—30). Butthis can hardly explain all Apollonius' misfortunes: it comestoo late in the story, as does the burial of the queen. In any case, the rearing of children away from home was quite commonin the Middle Ages. Was Apollonius perhaps guilty of accidie? His passivity and despair are particularly obvious in the wake of his second disaster, the reported death of his daughter, when he retreats to the hold and longs for death. Childress stresses passivity as a characteristic of the heroes of secular hagiography, who must wait for God to change their lives, as
&
tQ
2% The phrasingof this note, which is quire long, is very similar to the introductory rubric of che text in the Colmar manuscript of the Gesta Romanorum (sce below, p. 9: 7 Lynda E. Boose, ‘The Father and the Bride in Shakespeare’, PMLA 97 (1982), 325-47, esp. p. 339. Ruiz-Montero, writing about HA, also argues that Apollonius wrongs his wife by throwing her overboard (pp. 304-5). Ir is, however, surprisingly hard to document: see D. J. A. Ross, ‘Blood in the Sea: an Episode in Jourdain de Blaivies’, MLR 66 (1971), 532 41. After being shipwrecked Jourdain deliberately bites his own arm and draws blood, so that the sea will cast hin ashore on his spar. See. also the Faglish ballad ‘Brown Robyn's Confession’, ed. E |. Child an The Fnglish and Scottish Popular Nallad, 9 vols (Boston, 1884 98; ip. New York, 1965), Te pp 1s lo
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opposed to romanceheroes whoplay an active part in society.” But in HAitis not God but his daughter Tarsia who revives the despairing Apollonius and changes his life. In any case, both these episodes come too late in the story to explain all his previoustrials. For Tompkins the innocence of Pericles is one of the unique aspects of the play:° Moreover,Pericles lacks the strongest note of the plays that succeededit, the error that must be atoned, the revengeful hatred that must be disclaimed and dissolved. Pericles has no guilt to be washed away; even his intended punishment of Cleon, stressed in the sources, slips from view in the play, andthe epilogue tells us that che gods took it into their own hands. This assessmentof Pericles’ innocence applies to Apollonius too, though he has attracted less critical attention. Apart from Falckenburg [V30], whose interpretation is complicated by the insertion of the Maccabees material which gives Apollonius a wicked past, 1 have not found any medieval or Renaissance version which suggests that Apollonius’ suffering was a punishment because he had transgressed against divine or human law, by burying his wife at sea or indeed in any other way. Alternatively, if the moral of the story was supposed to be patient endurance, it is nowhere stated in HA. So it is hard to see how it can be described as an exemplary romance,at least in explicit intention, though it was certainly read in this way by some somescribes and later adaptors. HAseems to be a chameleon, lacking a generic colour of its own. It can be read as a proto-romance, though it lacks the emphasis on love, war and courtly manners which are characteristic of most medieval romances. It can be read as ‘history’ in the sense of an educational story set in the past, though ‘authentic history’ is not really a valid category for consideration; but the abrupt beginning and lack of historical context in most texts argue against a strictly historical reading. Finally, the lack of any explicit religious or moral theme makes it hard to read it as an exemplum. 1 think that one important reason for its continued success was this very lack of colour, which allowed it to be read and retold in a number of different styles, as were the stories of Arthur and Alexander. I hroughout the later Middle Ages there were writers who associated Apollonius with heroes of classical and medieval love stories, as did the troubadours [A10, 15, 28], or wanted to put his story more in line with the fashion for romancesof lave and chivalry, for instance Heinrich von Neustadt [V15] and the French Vienna Redaction [V22]; but there were also writers who esteemed the Apollo7 [hana Childress, 'Between Romance and Legend: Secular Hagiography in Middle Vrydish Literature’, Philological Quarterly 57 (1978), 3101-22 (sec pp. 307-18). "EM.S. Tompkins, Why Pericles" RES NS 3 (1952), 4105 24 (sce p. 316). Reviewing a tecent production of Pericles at the Swan Theatre, Stratford, Lois Potter describes the performance of Nigel Terry(Pericles) às "the most obvious example of the negation of personality in the service of myih! (11S, Sepe 22 8, 1989, po TOUT). She continues: "she seems to offer hs gosodness as a blank canvas dor experience to write on!
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nius story forits didactic value, such as Godfrey of Viterbo, the compilers of the various versions of the Gesta Romanorum [V11, 20, 23, 28, 39], and the authorof the Poérne Moral [A 19]. Sometimes it was given a strong Christian colouring, as for instance in the Spanish Libro de Apolonio and the Greek Diegesis Apolloniou, thoughir is striking that in both these texts there is no explicit moral for the reader to absorb and apply to his/her own life. Some versions combine elements of both romance and exemplum in surprising ways: in the Brussels Redaction [V14], for example, Apollonius lectures the princess about the need to love Cod before answering her questions about correct courtly behaviour. But there were also copyists, translators and readers who required no colouring, but accepted the plot as they found it in the traditional HA version, which continued to be copied into the seventeenth century.
The evidence of the manuscripts and early printed editions Apart from thetext itself, manuscripts and early printed editions can offer other useful forms of evidence about the reception of the story. Introductory rubrics, incipits and explicits may throw light on the scribe's understanding of the text, and marginal notes or drawings can indicate the reactions of later readers; illustrations may represent the views of the scribe or illustrator, or perhaps the patron who commissioned the manuscript. The comments whichfollow are based on an examination of about fifty manuscripts and early printed editions, both Latin and vernacular, ranging from the tenth to the sixteenth centurics. There is considerable variety in the rubrics and incipits which introduce the story of Apollonius. The traditional HA is variously described ashistoria, gesta (deeds), vita (life), liber (book), narratio vitae (narrative ofthe life), or even in an abbreviated version compendium; sometimes the terms used at beginning and end are inconsistent. The title liber may reflect the reference to Apollonius autobiography at the end of RB and many later versions of the story, though this connection is seldom made explicit! The story is rarely described as a romance; apparently this term (which of course could be used of history as well as fiction) was never applied to it before the fourteenth century. In Latin versions, adjectives which hint at the exemplary status of the story sometimes qualify the generic descriptions: ‘perpulchra et mirabilis historia’ (‘the beautiful and amazing history’ — Oxford, Magdalen College MS 50, eleventh century); 'inclita gestapii regis Apollonii’ (‘the famous deeds of the pious king Apollonius’ — Lambert of St Omer,Liber Floridus, twelfth century). 3} BN MS nowy. acg. lat. 1423 (thirteenth century) begins: ‘incipic vita vel pesca Apollonit quae ipse dictavit! (f. 156r: "here begins the life or deeds of Apollonius which he himself dictated). "wine IV] Claims that hes SOUTCC IN merely an abbreviated text of
this autobiography, and vows to publish the whole thing should be ever come across tt. Valckenburg (Lus to have based his version on Greck and Latini fpagnents of it
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Some authors, rubricators and cataloguers seem to have found the initial incest episode the most significant feature of HA. The Old English version [V2] begins ‘her onginned seo gerecednes be antiéche bam unsaligan cincge & be apolonige’ (‘here beginsthe story of the wicked King Antiochus and of Apollonius’). In the mid-twelfth century the library at Cluny contained a version of the story (now lost) which was catalogued as ‘quaedam narratio de turpi concupiscentia Antiochi et exilio Apollonii' ('a certain story about the vile lust of Antiochus and the exile of Apollonius’). The text in Vat. MS Ortobon 1387 (thirteenth century) begins ‘incipit ystoria Apollonii et Antiochi' ('here begins the story of Apollonius and Antiochus’). Antiochus and Apollonius appear together in references to lost texts kept in Paris and Avignon during the fourteenth century, and a fifteenth-century catalogue entry for St Augustine’s, Canterbury, records a copy of ‘relacio de Appolonioet filia Antiochi’ (‘the story of Apollonius and the daughter of Antiochus').7 Some rubrics do not mention Apollonius at all, even though the whole story follows, as for instance the fourteenth-century Colmar text of the Gesta Romanorum:‘de Antiocho quifiliam propriam cognovit et tantum eam dilexit quod nullus eam in uxorem habere potuit nisi problema ab eo propositum solveret’ (‘of Antiochus whoslept with his own daughter and loved her so much that no one could marry her unless he solved the riddle set by Antiochus').? Var. MS lat. 2947, a fourteenth-century text of HÀ, has no rubric or incipit, but is listed in a seventeenth-century catalogue as 'historia de Antiocho rege qui filiam stupravit" (‘the story of King Antiochus who debauched his daughter')?* The introductory rubric of the fifteenth-century Spanish translation of Gower's Confessio Amantis version [V29] describes the story as a moral tale about those who take their pleasure ‘contra rrasón natural’ (‘against natural reason’), and does not mention either Antiochus or Apollonius. Somescribes clearly saw Apollonius as a model of patient endurance, and later medieval versions in particular seem to stress the exemplary value of this story of ‘temporal tribulation’. Kortekaas quotes the long introductionto the text in Vat. MSlat. 1961 (fourteenth century), which emphasises the patience of the hero, his taleiats, his misadventures, and the consolation which follows adversity; he also quotes several explicit comparisons of Apollonius and Job in HA manuscripts, a parallel which occurred to the writer of the fifteenth-century Greek Diegesis Apolloniou.5 The catalogue of the church library of Lanthony in Glou-
-
-
2
For the catalogue entries see Kortckaas, Appendix II, p. 421, items 10, 12 and 13, and p. 423, items 4 and 7. Printed by Singer in Apollonius, p. 71. A very similar marginal rubric accompanies the opening lines of Gower's version (sce n. 26 above). Index Inventarii Codicorum et ManuscriptorumDibliothecae Vaticanae la, Indice Martinelli (1636), f. Mv. Kortekaas, p. 9 and n. 33. At the end of the HA text in Zutich, Zentralbibliothek MS C135 (1468) i added the remark that miracles have occurred in the pase, for instance ini the case of Job (£: 2698), i a similar addition in Var MS Ortobon 1455 (thirteenth century) Apollonium 6 compaed $0 Job, and also to Sau Fusce (i Lov) tn the
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w E]
a
cestershire, written after 1380, describes its copy of HA (now lost) as ‘passio Apollonii regis Tyri’ (‘the sufferings or passion of Apollonius king of Tyre’).?6 The fourteenth-century French Brussels Redaction ends ‘explicit les devises du roy Apollonius et de Tharsesa fille, commentils eulrent moult de tribulations et de paines’ (‘the end of the adventures of King Apollonius and Tarsia his daughter, how they endured much tribulation and pain’). In the main version of the Gesta Romanorum the introductory rubric is ‘De tribulacione temporali, quae in gaudium sempiternum postremo commutabitur' ('Of temporal tribulation whichwill be changed in the end into eternal joy'). It is presumably in conformance with this tradition that Twine entitled his 1576 version The Patterne of Painefull Adventures, and Wilkins imitated him with The Painefull Adventures of Pericles Prince of Tyre [V42], published in 1608. Although a number of manuscripts contain marginalia added by readers in the form of comments, drawings, and numbers, they are not particularly revealing. The most commonly marked passages are the riddles; Tarsia's song is also frequently marked. In some manuscripts attention is also drawn to the passagein c. 8 where Hellenicus rebukes Apollonius for his rudeness in not returning a poor man’s greeting, as for instance in the twelfth-century Vat. Reg.lat. 718 (f. 207r). Gnomic wisdom such as that of Hellenicus was obviously popular — butthereis no other comparable passage in HA, so this cannot be a main reason forits success. As I commented above, surprisingly little interest is shownin the incest scene. I have found no expression of moral outrage over Antiochus’ behaviour, and no comments on the despatch ofthe ‘dead’ queen,thefostering of Tarsia, or Apollonius’ despair. A rare moral comments occurs in the thirteenth century Vat. MS Ottobon. 1855 (f. 9v): 'nota decepcio mulierum’ (‘the well-known deceitfulness of women’) is written in the margin at the point where Dionysias denies the promised reward to Theophilus (HAc. 32). There are not manyillustrated Apollonius manuscripts, and very few can match the number and charm of theillustrations in the tenth- or eleventhcentury fragment of Latin text preserved in Budapest, Országos Széchényi Kónyvtár MSlat. 4! The three and a half surviving folios contain forty pen and ink sketches, often arranged four to a column.If this is typical of the wholetext, fifteenth-century Creek Diegesis Apolloniou, Athenagoras' envoys are reminded of Job whenthey can get no answer from Apollonius as he lies in the hold of his ship.
See Kortekaas, p. 423, n. 4. Several vernacular texts end by describing the hero's
vicissitudes as martyrdom: for instance the fifteenth-century Violier des histoires romaines [V23], a French version of the Gesta Romanorum, and the sixteenth-century French version of Corrozet [V34]. Kortekaas, p. 34; K. Weitzmann, Ancient Book Illumination, Martin Classical Lectures XVI (Cambridge, Ma., 1959), pp. 102-4 and figs 110a and b; and LHÀpy, pp. 150-1. The onlyartistic representation of the story in any other mediumis of about the same date, a remarkable hom draughts counter now in the Fürslich Hohenzoller«hes Museum in. Sygnaringenz it shows two sailors throwing the coffin overboard while Apollonius and another man watch (oc so one might interpret it). Kortekaas Avsuties hat t was one of a set ob counter all illasiiacing FEA (see p 1059, n. 29). Ic regrosdhaced as the frontiesquece in Peres! translation and Kontekaas! eduion
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almost every incident in the story must have been represented — Weitzmann estimates that there could have been two hundredillustrations to the complete text. Laterillustrators were not so prolific, on the whole, andsuch illustrationsas do exist do not suggest any consistent approach to thestory. It seems that the initial incest scene and Apollonius’ harping at the banquet at Pentapolis were particularly popular subjects, though notall illustrated manuscripts include them both. BN MSlat. 8503 (early fourteenth century) has only oneillustration, on the first page of the text (f. 1r): it shows Antiochus enthroned andreceiving suitors. The Old French text in Laurent. MS Ashburmham 123 (fourteenth century) has only three illustrations. On f. 14v the princess is shown harping, while the king and courtiers listen; lower on the page Apollonius is shown playing to the same audience. Onf. 22v, the last page of the text, three kings and two queens look at one another: presumably they are Archistrates, Apollonius and his wife, and Tarsia and Athenagoras, reunited in Pentapolis. The fifteenthcentury French text in BL MS Royal 20 C ii, the London Redaction [V21], contains one very impressive half-page miniature and two smaller ones. Thefirst page of the text, f. 210r, is half filled by a picture of Antiochus in bed with his daughter, while courtiers walk in the street outside the palace (the part showing Antiochus and his daughter is reproduced on the cover of Zink's edition of the Vienna Redaction). On f. 217v the lovesick princess gives Apollonius the fateful letter for her father, and on f. 223r the doctor of Ephesus watches his servants lift the coffin in which the comatose queen can be seen. An early fourteenthcentury manuscript, BN lat. 8502, has forty-three blank spaces for illustrations (generally one to each side of every folio), an unusually large number; judging from the arrangementof the spaces, they would probably have included the incest and harping scenes. Thefifteenth-century text of Heinrich von Neustadt in ONB MS 2886is missing thefirst folio, but no doubt the incest scene was once included there, for numerous vigorous pen and ink sketches illustrate every later phase of the action-packed story, including the many monsters whom Apollonius encounters duringhis fifteen-year absence. The early printed editions tend to have many moreillustrations than the manuscripts, perhaps because it was easy to produce them from existing woodblocks; but for this very reason they are not reliable indicators of reception. Indeed, the same block is often used, sometimes inappropriately, for different scenes (for instance journeys and court scenes). Sometimes the expressionsof the protagonists belie the rubric attached: so in one early edition of Steinhówel's German Volksbuch [V25], the picture of a smiling couple making love out of doors does not seem well suited to the rubric, which identifies che scene as Antiochus seducing his daughter against her will 4 Sometimesillustrations point to the potential but unrealized clash between pagan and Christian elements in 8 This illustration from: the edition printed in Augsburg in 1516 as reproduced in the f simile edition. Apolloni von Tyna Croseldis Ducularnas, cd d adwi Fo Schenite and Renate Noll Wireman, Deutsche Volksbuher in Eaksimnulediucken, Reilie A, Band 2 GO lildesheun & New York, 1975)
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the story. Another illustration from the Augsburg edition of Steinhówel's text underthe rubric ‘How Cleopatra (sic) recognizes her husband Apollonius’ shows him kneeling before a statue of the Madonna andchild, although according to the text they are reunited in the temple of Diana. In Garbin’s edition of a French version [V24], on the other hand,the text describes Apollonius’ wife as abbess in ‘a convent where Diana was worshipped’; the illustration of Apollonius’ arrival in Ephesus includes a nun standing in front of a naked female statuc in an open-sided church or temple. Although I argued above that manuscript context cannotbe taken as reliable evidence for the acceptance of a text as historically accurate, it should not of course be ignored entirely; it is certainly significant that HA was often copied withhistorical texts, as Delbouille notes, and it is equally striking that both Latin and vernacular versions were often copied with exemplary texts. The list which follows is not comprchensive, butis intended to indicate the range of date and language of the texts concerned. The Old English version in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 201 was copied together with Wulfstan's Homilies and Judgement Day II. Escorial, Biblioteca Reale MS III K 4 (copied about 1390) contains the Libro de Apolonio,a life of St Mary of Egypt and a treatise on the Three Kings. In Vat. MSS Urb.lat 456 (fourteenth century) and lat. 7666 (fifteenth century), HA either precedes or follows the Vita Sancti Albani, a hagiographic romance notable for including both father-daughter and mother-son incest. In Chartres, Bibliothéque Municipale MS 419 (late fourteenth or early fifteenth century) a French version of HA follows the story of Melibee (the earnest moral allegory told with such success by Chaucerthe pilgrim in the Canterbury Tales), and is followed in tum by the story of patient Griselda (the tale told by Chaucer's Clerk). The samethree texts are found in reverse order in BN MSnouv.acq.fr. 20042 (fifteenth century). The story of Apollonius follows that of Griselda in twofifteenth-century Germanprose versions, Leipzig, Universitatsbibliothek MS 1279 and Donaueschingen,Fiirstlich Fiirsteenbergische Hofbibliothek MS 150.39 These examples suggest that manyscribes, or perhaps patrons, may have thought of the Apollonius story as exemplary; but of course a list of manuscripts in which versions of HA appear with chivalric romances could be similarly used to argue for its status as entertaining fiction, solaas rather than sentence. Allusions to HA in other texts The evidence of the manuscripts, then, is as varied as the texts themselves: and the lack of consensus aboutthe significance of the story of Apolloniusis reflected in the allusions to it in other literary works. In general, as one might expect, Latin texts tend to contain allusions to the exemplary value of the story. Geoffrey de Vigeois, writing the prologue to his "o
[emnoneda tells the stones of Griselda and of CGreporus, the Eloly Sinner who was born ob am est and Later married Bis iother in hus Paranuelo, as well as that ot Apollonias
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Chronicon Lemovicense [A16] in about 1170, refers to HA with distaste (presumably because of the incest), but concedes that there is gold to be found in every dungheap, and that the story of Apollonius is valuable in conveying Christian doctrine.” He goes on to explain that the value of thestory lies in the death of Antiochusat the handofa vengeful divine power, which should make Christians imitate the good and avoid the wicked. Four hundred years later Welser summed up the story in almost the same words in thefirst sentence of the introduction to his pioneering edition [V31]: 'Si quis aurum paratus et gemmasex stercore legere, is demum aptus huic libello continget lector ("if anyone is prepared to extract gold and jewels from a dungheap,heis certainly a suitable reader for this book’). The dungheap presumablyrefers to the opening incest episode; the gold is harder to identify. A similar spirit informs other less explicit allusions: the Chronicon Novaliciense [A6], where the shocking story of a king who seduced his new daughter-in-law and waslater killed by a thunderbolt reminds the writer of the story of Apollonius; Godfrey of Viterbo's Memoria Seculorum [A17], where the story of Apollonius is cited approvingly as an educational tale; the Ystoria Regis Franchorum et filie in qua adulterium comitere voluit [A30], where the daughter threatens her father that if he marries her he will suffer the fate of Antiochus. There are of course some exceptions to this rule. In wills and catalogues thereis seldom any comment on the content of HA. Venantius Fortunatus thinks of Apollonius simply as an exile who suffered shipwreck [A1]; Henricus Septimellensis mentions him as a victim of Fortune [A18]; crusade chroniclers mention him as a famous inhabitant of Tyre. The incest episode is condemned in some later vernacular allusions too: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales [A32], where the Man of Law rejects HA and other incest stories as ‘unkynde abhominacions’ (unnatural and disgusting practices); Capgrave's accountof the Scleucid kings in his life of Sc Katharine [A33]; and Robert Henryson's Orpheus and Eurydice [A35], where Orpheus sces the incestuous Antiochus among the damned in Hades. But on the whole vernacularallusions tend to celebrate Apollonius as a lover and a warrior. Occitan poets name Apollonius as one of the heroes whose story should be part of a jongleur's repertoire, along with those of such classical and medieval warriors and lovers as Alexander, Paris, Aeneas, Tristan and Arthur [A10, 15, 28]. In Doon de Nanteuil {A20] and in the Occitan romance Flamenca [A26] the story of Apollonius is recited as part of an entertainment. In both of these texts the Alexanderstory is also mentioned, and Apollonius is linked with Alexander in other vernacular allusions too: in Lamprecht’s Alexanderlied [A11] we learn that Alexander destroyed Tyre just after Apollonius had rebuilt it, and in Kyng Alisaunder Apollonius is mentioned briefly when the royal messengers pass by Tyre [A25]. 1 have not come across any other allusions which could be described as historical, and only two texts that I know build íamily relationships between. Apollonius and other romance characters. One is the Old Norse Thidreks Saga [V9], where * [he sysifi ance of the incest theme for the popularity ofthe story is discussed in the fie xt section
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Apollonius appears as the son of King Artus of Bertangaland (sce chapter 4 above, pp. 57-8); the other is Gui de Cambrai’s Barlaam and Josaphas [A23], where a princess set to temptthe ascetic hero is described as the exiled daughter of a king of Sidon related to Apollonius (a number of versions of HA call Apollonius king of Sidon as well as Tyre, among them Godfrey of Viterbo's influential Pantheon). Notall vernacular allusions arc positive, describing the story as entertaining or improving, however. The writer of the late twelfth-century Poéme Moral [A19] claims that his sermonis far more valuable than such frivolous romances as the story of Apollonius and Aye d'Avignon, and one version of the popular Distichs of Cato [A29] makesa similar claim, linking Apollonius disparagingly with Alexander, Oliver and Roland. Chaucer's Man of Law cited the story of Apollonius as too horrible to tell (though there is much irony in this comment- sec above,p. 59). Ic seemsunlikely thatall these writers were referring to the HA version of the story: they may well have known vernacular versions in which the amorous and martial aspects of the story were expanded. Theearliest surviving version of this kind is the thirteenth-century Old French fragment [V8], but the Latin lyric in the Carmina Burana [V6] showssimilar interest in the sentimental aspects of the story, and sugests that freer versions of HA were already in circulation, whether orally or in writing. It is striking that neither of the heroines is mentioned in anyofthe allusions. Oneor two rubrics name orrefer to Tarsia, but never her mother (who remains
anonymous in most versions). The fame of the story is always associated with Apollonius — and its notoriety with Antiochus.
Theincest theme As | arguedin the first chapter, 1 belicve that the opening scene of Antiochus’ incest is not a late addition to the story of Apollonius, but absolutely integral to ic, as is the themeof father-daughterrelations (sce pp. 15 ff.). The rubrics and allusions cited above show that many medieval readers thought theincest significant.It is striking that every extended narrative version of the story includes the opening episode of Antiochus and his daughter, howeverbriefly. It would have been quite easy to think of an alternative motive for Apollonius’ flight, as did the author of Jourdain de Blaye (sce above, pp. 54-5). The author of the Vienna Redaction gave himself an excellent opening when he described Antiochus as regent for Apollonius, but did not take the opportunity to develop this and make Antiochus usurp the throne of his ward. Whether or not they traced in detail the pattern by which the theme of father-dauphter relationships is repeated again and again, medieval adaptors Clearly thought the incest opening very important im has family romance. Iis also sting thar the story of Antiochus is never found
without
the
subsequent
adventures
al
Apollonius
and
Tarsia,
though
ut
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~
P
would have been very easy to extract as an exemplum in its own right. Antiochus, Archistrates, Apollonius, and their respective daughters are all necessary, contrasting and complementing each other's roles. We should not assumethat the openingincest scene is there by mistake. Yet the incest themeis seldom stressed at the end of accounts of the story of Apollonius, and Antiochus is rarely mentioned again after his death, except in Apollonius' autobiographical speech at Ephesus (he does not figure in the brief family history given to Tarsia by her nurse). As I pointed out above, Goweris unusual in giving a moral summary, reminding us of Antiochus’ punishmentfor unnatural love, and describing the story as an example for lovers. Most versions end with an accountof Apollonius’ restoration to prosperity, and sometimes with a prayer or reminder that we too must persevere amidst the vicissitudes of this world. But the plot itself draws attention to the powerful bond between fathers and daughters in other ways. Tarsia is seldom mentioned in rubrics, and neverin allusions: yet it is her reunion with her father, rather than her mother's, which is always the climax of the story. The riddle of appropriate father-daughterrelations is solved by her, not verbally, but by her very existence, and the solution turns out to be entirely positive. In the fifteenth-century Greek Diegesis Apolloniou the significance of the loss and recovery of Tarsia is marked by the use of motifs associated with the Crucifixion and Resurrection to evoke Apollonius’ grief and subsequent joy. In the recognition scene in Pericles [V43], the hero hails his longlost daughter as ‘thou that beget'st him that did thee beget’ (V.i.195), a riddling description which soundssinister but suits the circumstances perfectly. Stories of incest were very popularin the later Middle Ages, both in extended narrative form and as exempla. Payen argues that the Gregorius story (eleventhtwelfth century) is an early and extremely influential example of the increasingly popular choice of incest as the 'monstrous sin' in illustrations of the value of confession and contrition.*! Sometimes incest was taken as the epitomeof original sin, as can be seen in the moralizations of the legends of Gregorius and Albanusin the Gesta Romanorum,for instance, and in the insertion ofincest into the Arthurian legend to account for Arthur's downfall.? The flight from incest became a popular theme as the catalyst for the adventures of the heroine in the Incestuous Father narratives, whether or notasa result of the influence of HA See ].-Ch. Payen, Le motif du repentir dans la liuérature francaise médiévale (Geneva,
1967), pp. 54 ff. and 519 ff.; and Archibald, ‘Incest in Medieval Literature and Society’, Forum for Modern Language Studies 25 (1989), 1-15, esp. pp. 5-6. The story of Charlemagne’s reluctance to confess his incest with his sister may date back to the tenth century: see Rita Lejeune, ‘Le péché de Charlemagneet la Chanson de Roland’, in Studia Philologica: Homenaje ofrecido a Damaso Alonso, 3 vols (Madrid, 1961), II, pp. 339-71. See the Gesta Ronumorum, ed. Oesterley, cc. 13, 181, 244; Helen Adolf, The Concept of Onginal Sin. as. Reflected in. Atthurian. Romance, in. Studies. in. Language. ax Luerature in Honour of Masgaret Schlai h (Warsaw, 1966), Frank J. Tobin, ‘Fallen Man and. Ciregorms', Germanic Reeiww 50 (1975), 85 98) Archibald, ‘Incest ins Medieval Literature and Socrety’, 5 6, and "Arthur and Mordied: Variations on. an Incest I heme', i Aehunan Luesuuec 8 (1982), |]. 27
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(sce above, pp. 58 ff.). It seems likely that the intense debates in the eleventh and twelfth centuries among canon lawyers and theologians about the nature and definition of marriage played a part in making incest a significant theme at about the time that HA was beginning to be widely copied, circulated and translated. But there is no reason to suppose that incest was not as prevalentin medieval society as it is in our own. At the beginning of Book VIII of the Confessio Amantis, Gower's Confessor gives a brief synopsis of the history of marriage, in which he makes it clear that many people ignore the consanguinity tules; he shocks young Amansbyinviting him to confess any such sins of his own. Parish priests were expected to ask the same question of their confessants: have you slept with a relation lately, and if so, how close a relation? Medieval writers would have agreed with Shelley that ‘incest is like many other incorrect things a very poetical circumstance’.4 There can be no doubtthat the incest themein the story of Apollonius addedto its attraction and longevity, whetherit was read as a cautionary tale or a family romance. Frye remarks in The Secular Scripture (p. 23): ‘Any serious discussion of romance has to take into account its curiously proletarian status as a form generally disapproved of, in most ages, by the guardians of taste and leaming, except when they use it for their own purposes.’ Very few allusions express disapproval of the Apollonius story; as a tale which provided both sentence and solaas, it found favour in monasteries as well as at wedding celebrations, in spite of its shocking incest opening, and indeed because ofir.
The role of Fortune Pericles begins with an important discussion of the reception of HA. The poet Gower, whoacts as the Chorus, acknowledges the antiquity and popularity of the story in the very first lines of the play: To sing a song that old was sung
From ashes ancient Goweris come, Assuming man’s infirmities,
To glad your ear and please youreyes. It hath been sungatfestivals, On ember-eves and holy-ales; Andlords andladies in their lives Havereadit for restoratives. Thepurchase is to make men glorious; Et bonum quo antiquius eo melius.
(L.Prol.1-10).
45 See for instance John Mark, Insinections for Parish Priests, Vl. 1235 42, ed. O. Kristensson, Lund Studies in English 49 (Lund, 1974), pp. 138. 9. 55 Letter to Marta Cisbome, Nov L6th, PHI: see | ctters of Perey Bysshe Shelley, ed FT. Jones, 7 vols (Oxford; 1964), HH, p 054
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These lines confirm the impression of varicty of audience and interpretation made by the versions, rubrics, incipits and explicits, marginalia, manuscript context, illustrations and allusions discussed above. There is a contrast between the story sung at popular gatherings and read in private by lords and ladies. There maybe a further contrast betweenfestivals, where the story was presumably sung for entertainment, as at the marriage feast in Flamenca, andreligious occasions such as ‘ember-eves and holy-ales’, where it was presumably chosenforits exemplary aspect and perhaps even its penitential flavour.*5 The use of 'restoratives'is interesting: the word occurs only once elsewhere in Shakespeare, when Romeo kisses the lips of the poisoned Juliet ‘to make me die with a restorative’ (V.iii.166). In Pericles the word seems to suggest healing power, as Edwardsnotes in his commentary; the following line, ‘The purchase is to make men glorious’, sounds spiritual rather than secular, more reminiscentofsaints’ lives than romances.6 It might seem atfirst glance that this spiritual emphasis is repeated in the epilogue (an unusual addition to the traditional plot). In the final lines Gower summarizes the complex events of the play in moral terms (and reveals the fate of Cleon and Dionyza, whose trial and punishmentis omitted). In Antiochusand his daughter you have heard Of monstrouslust the due and just reward. In Pericles, his queen and daughter, seen, Althoughassail'd with fortune fierce and keen, Virtue preserv'd from fell destruction's blast, Led on by heaven, and crown'd with joyatlast. In Helicanus may you well descry A figure of truth, of faith, of loyalty. In reverend Cerimon there well appears The worth that learned charity aye wears. For wicked Cleon and his wife, when fame Hadspreadhis cursed deed to th’ honour’d name OfPericles, to rage thecity tum, That him andhis theyin his palace burn. Thegods for murder seemed so content To punish; although not done, but meant.
(Epilogue, 1-16)
This summary is withoutparallel in any earlier version of the story: Gower had commented on the wickedness of Antiochus and the uprightness of Apollonius
= >
> -€
Ember days are three-day periods offasting and prayer which occur four times during the liturgical year. Neither ‘ember-eves’ nor ‘holy-ales’ occurs elsewhere in Shakespeare; in face ‘holy-ales’ is not recorded anywhere else at all, but is an emendation of Q's reading ‘holydayes’ to restore the rhyme with ‘festivals’ (see the note on |. 6 in Hoeniger's edition). * See the New Penguin edition of Pericles by Philip Edwards (Elarmondsworth, 1976). Hoentger, commenting on E. 9, notes that there isa: strong: resemblance between Perales and the miracle plays (pp boo xen), see above, pp 56. |
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at the end of his account in the Confessio Amantis, but in Pericles each section of the plot, each major character is evaluated in moral terms.*’ Is there a single moral lesson which stands out in this epilogue? At first reading the reference to ‘virtue preserv'd . . . led on by heaven, and crown'd with joyat last’ soundslike a description of martyrdom in a hagiography. Butin the final lines divine justice is attributed to the gods, rather than to God; throughout the play the pagan elements are preserved, and indeed expanded. Diana herself makes an appearance: it is she rather than an angelic vision who orders Pericles to go to Ephesus andtell his story there. Asfor the final coronation of joy, it can be interpreted quite literally in terms of the plot: Pericles and his family regain their royal status, and Marina (Tarsia) marries a prince.If there is a morallesson, it seems so simple as to be almost bathetic: avoid monstrouslust andstick to virtue. The‘restorative’ quality of the story of Apollonius may have less to do with spiritual need than with the requirements of reader or audience. Although the hero is persecuted, exiled, shipwrecked, separated from wife and child, although his wife spends fourteen years incarcerated in a temple and his daughter only narrowly escapes murder and then rape,it all comes right in the end: with the help of loyalty and leamed charity, virtue is preserved to be crowned by joy, and all the villains are punished. The key phrase in this epilogue seems to meto be ‘assail’d with fortune fierce and keen’ (I. 4). As I argued above, there seems to be no reason forthe suffering of Apollonius and his family; the real manipulator of events is not a jealous goddess or a God who wishes to test their faith, but Fortune, that powerful overseer of medieval destinies.” Fortuna is certainly present in HA, though not particularly often invoked. Apollonius departs for Cyrene ‘premente fortuna’ (11, 2: ‘urged on by fortune’). When Athenagoras hears Tarsia’s sad story, he is very moved and comments: ‘Erige te. Scimus fortunae casus: homines sumus.’ (34, 7-8: ‘Get up. We all know the mishaps of fortune; we are all human.') Klebs noted that ‘fato et fortuna favente’ (‘aided by destiny and fortune’) is a favourite phrase in manuscripts of the RB Bem Redaction [V5].9? Henricus Septimellensis in the late twelfth century thought of Apollonius as one of Fortune's victims [A18]. Fortune is much invoked throughout Godfrey of Viterbo's version in the Pantheon, and the poet 47 |n Wilkins the end is telescoped, so that the punishmentof the pimp and of Cleon and Dyonysa, the (re)acquisition of the thrones of Pentapolis, Tyre and Antioch, and the
death ofPericles, are all related in the last two pages; there is no moral summary. 48 This emphasis on pagan gods seems to be typical of the late plays. Northrop Frye has
noted that Diana is the presiding divinity ofthis pay. as Jupiter is of Cymbeline, Apollo of The Winter's Tale and Venus of Two Noble Kinsmen: see his essay ‘Romance as Masque’in Shakespeare’s Romances oen “ Carol McGinnis Kay and Henry E. Jacobs (Lincoln, Neb., 1978), pp. 11-39, es 49 See the classic study by Howard Patch, TheCoie'ss Fortuna in. Medieval Literature (Cambridge, Ma., 1927; rp. New York, 1967). 59 See p. 122. Kortekaas notes that on three o casions "fatum or "fortuna! occurs in RA but is omitted in RB, in his view because the RB redactor tied to avoid improper! (here pagan) details: see p about astrology see pp
65
Tle believes that the Uh text contained much more
027 8 (he extends the dis ussion ina forthe oning article)
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credits her. with responsibility for the happy ending. Gower, who names the Pantheon as his source, stresses the role of Fortune in the various disasters which overwhelm Apollonius, but also presents her as benevolent to good lovers. At the end of the story Confessor assures Amans: Fortune, thogh sche be noghtstable, Yit at som timeis favorable To hem thatben oflove trewe.
(2013-15)
Goodall argues that Goweris unusual in stressing the link between Fortune and the morality of an individual's actions, and sees the Apollonius story as a particularly good example of this link.*! Several digressions on Fortune and mutability are included in the thirteenthcentury Spanish Libro de Apolonio. TheLatin lyric in the Carmina Burana devotes onc whole stanza to the cyclical progress oflife by ups and downs, joy after sorrow and sorrow after joy, though Fortuneis not specifically mentioned. In the fourteenth-century Brussels Redaction, and in Garbin's fifteenth-century French edition, it is Fortune rather than Neptune against whom Apollonius inveighs after his shipwreck. In the Brussels Redaction he also appeals to Fortune when he joins in the king’s game. When he andtheprincess are discussing proper behaviour in relation to love at the banquet, he complains that he would notbe able to respond to a declaration of love because he has been so humiliated by Fortune; the princesstries to cheer him up by reminding him of the principle of Fortune's wheel. In the Vienna Redaction Apollonius sings at the banquet a song entitled 'fortune a tost mis homme a honneurettost l'a abaisssié' ('Fortune has given man total honour and total humiliation'). The lyric on Apollonius's meeting with the king in the baths by Hans Sachs [V36] ends with the moral that when Fortune (‘gliick’) is fickle, rather than despair, one should wait for better times. Belleforest [V35] remarks that great men suffer more from Fortune than the obscure. Timoneda [V40] makes the princess sing a song about love and Fortune. In Corrozet, when Apollonius enters Antioch to be crownedafter his wife’s ‘death’, two men carry images of Fortune representing the adversities he has endured. Pucci [V18] ends the second section of his poem (Apollonius’ wedding) with a prayer to God that we may not be thrownoff the wheel of Fortuneinto the abyss; later it is Fortune who brings Apollonius to Metellina, where his daughteris. Fortune is mentioned, implicitly or explicitly, in the titles, subtitles or introductions of some versions. The subtitle of Corrozet's text is [Apolonius] lequel apres avoir souffert plusieurs et diverses calamites et adversites retourna en plus gros honneuret joie que devant (‘Apollonius who after having suffered manydifferent disasters returned in greater honour and joy than before’); in the prologue he declares his intention of describing Apollonius tristes fortunes, calamites cet louable patience’ (unhappy fortunes, calamities and admirable patience’). Belle9 Peter Goodall, John Gowers Apallonnas of Lyre’, Sorathem Reaew 15 (1982), 243 53 (ce p
249)
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APOLLONIUS OF TYRE
forest in his introduction speaks of‘les jeux de la fortune sur un Prince genercux ct sur toute sa maison’ (‘Fortune's games with a noble prince and his whole household’), and describes his story as ‘a tragic comedy’. Falckenburg’s long subtitle includes the phrase praeter innumeros FORTUNAE labyrinthos ('in spite of the innumerable labyrinths of Fortune’). Twine stresses the ups and downsof the sublunary world in his subtitle: The strange accidents that befell unto Prince Apollonius . . . wherein the uncertaintie of this world, and the fickle state of man's life are lively described. In Pericles, as in Gower's Confessio Amantis, Fortune can be both friend and foe. Pericles’ escape from the shipwreck is attributed to ‘fortune, tir’d of doing bad’ (11.Chorus.37), but in the epilogue she is presented as entirely hostile, a force to be outmanoeuvred: In Pericles, his queen and daughter,seen, Althoughassail'd with fortune fierce and keen, Virtue preserv'd from fell destruction's blast, Led on by heaven, and crown'd with joy at last.
(Epilogue 2-5)
Muir argues that Pericles shows ‘the converting of the wheel of Fortune into the wheel of Providence’; Bullough agrees, and adds: ‘The Christian promise of patient virtue ultimately blessed by God is set forth in terms of a medievalized pagan romance.’*I do not agree that a strong Christian emphasis is added to the story in Pericles: some medieval versions were much more explicitly Christian and didactic (for instance the Libro de Apolonio and the Diegesis Apolloniou). The play scems to me to preservethe traditional absence of rationale for the disasters which afflict Apollonius/Pericles and his family, as well as che pagan setting. Wilson Knight thinks that the pagan deities in the play, Neptune and Diana, ‘counter the chance-like concept of Fortune’.*? Neptune would seem to be more on theside of Fortune thanagainst her, at least in the first half of the play; butit is certainly Diana who brings aboutthe final reunion, thereby helping to defeat ‘fortune fierce and keen’. The theme of the innocent hero who has to struggle against some form of destiny or divine hostility until at last he can return homeandlive happily with his family is at least as old as the Odyssey (and the Bible too). Unlike the chivalric quest, the experience does not teach him anything, or prove anything about his character; it is merely a moral and physical endurance test, and an example of the fickleness of the gods or the instability of the wheel of Fortune, whatever the metaphor of the time happens to be. In discussing the story of Eustace, which also belongs to this category, Braswell uscs the generic title ‘The ManTried byFate’, a title which seems to fit Apollonius very well, and perhaps 91 K. Muir, Shakespeare as Collaborator (London, 1960), p. 83, G. Bullough, Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare VIC ondon, 1966), p. 372.
WG. Wilson Kaihe, The Crown of Life bvays inthe Iterpretason of Shakespeare's Final Plays (Landon, L947), p 71
GENRE, RECEPTION AND POPULARITY
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also helps to explain the appeal of his story.4 He was seen not as a knight or as a saint, but rather as a sort of Everyman.*
Conclusion
I
n F4
There can be no simple answerto the question whythe story of Apollonius was so popular, noris it easy to say to whatgenreit belongs. Its appeal seems to have derived in part from the incest theme, in part from the motif of undeserved suffering imposed by capricious Fortune, andalso from the flexibility of the story, the opportunity to mix sentence and solaas to taste. The building blocks available were archetypal motifs, as Frye points out, and therefore interesting however naively they were combined. He sees the Apolloniusstory as a classic example of a romance which involves the isolation of the protagonist from the familiar world, descent into some sort of underworld (real or psychological), and then ascent to security and happiness when he or she recovers identity, home and family; he considers this theme of descent (in both senses of the word) an essential characteristic of romance." Heis far from sharing Jonson’s low opinion of the Apollonius plot (though he does suggest that the reader, like the hero, needs the virtue of patience: herefers to the dream which sends Apollonius to Ephesusas the work of 'a god whois getting tired of the story').9 HA offers an abundance of archetypal themes — good and bad fathers, a wicked foster-mother, loss and recovery of identity, separation and reunion of a family, sea journeys and storms, chastity threatened, incest consummated and averted, tribulation and prosperity, despair and happiness. This narrative skeleBraswell, ‘Sir Isumbras’, p. 133. It is interesting that Braswell considers The Man Tried by Fate as the male counterpart of The Calumniated Wife, and links Eustace, Constance, Florence and Griselda as prototypes of these closely connected themes. The story of Griselda sometimes appears in the same manuscripts as a version of Apollonius, as | noted above (p. 96); Apollonius is compared by at least one redactor to Eustace (see above, n. 35); the Prologue to the Man of Law's Tale links his story to that of Constance (see above, pp. 58
See Wilson Knight's comments on the passivity of Pericles (p. 73): ‘Heis, indeed,less a
X *
ws sD
realized person than man, almost “everyman”, in the morality sources, as the epilogue suggests.’ Gesner compares him to Everyman,and alsoto Job; she thinks the story has
an intrinsically Christian meaning (Shakespeare and the Greek Romances, pp. 53 and 88-9). The Secular Scripture, pp. 50-1. See The Secular Scripture, p. 54, and also cc. 4 and 5, pp. 97-157. These themes of descent andascentfit very well with the motif of the wheel of Fortune. See The Secular Scripture, p. 49. Frye is rather inconsistent in his assessment of the story of Apollonius: on p. 49 he argues that it is not just a sequence of Sind thens’, but builds up to a conclusion whichrestates the theme of the opening’, so that "the beginning is a demonic parody of the end) Bat then he admits that ‘Pericles... seems to be a deliberate experiment in presenting a tradiional arc hetypal sequence as nakedly and haldly as possible’ (p. 51
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ton was clearly much appreciated in its originalstate, since HA wasso frequently copied without changes, but flesh could be added to transform it in several different ways: it could easily become a fashionable chivalric romance or a powerful Christian exemplum. In this it resembles the stories of Alexander and Arthur, which were frequently retold with very different slants, as pure romance or as chronicle or as cautionary tale. But the popularity of Apollonius is even more impressive than that of the two Worthies when one considers that he lacked their advantages,theclassical associations and undisputed historical kernel of Alexander, and the Celtic glamour and exemplary chivalry of Arthur? The secret of the success of the story of Apollonius seems to have lain in its indeterminate genre and lack of explicit motivation or moralization, the variable ratio of dungheapto gold in the adventures of a Tyrian Everyman.
38 Piye does not refer tothe many romances about Alexander or Archur an Uhe Secular Sonpttare, bat he (requendy mentions Apollonias
PART TWO
PREFACE TO THE TEXT AND TRANSLATION
This is not a full critical edition of HA. The text printed here is basically that of the RA version in Kortekaas (1984). 1 have also consulted the editions of Tsitsikli (1981) and Schmeling (1988), the commentary of Konstan and Roberts (1985), and articles by Hunt (see Select Bibliography). Tsitsikli, Schmeling and Huntoffer some ingenious emendations, and omit or transpose various phrases or sentencesin order to make better sense. On the whole I have preferred to follow Kortckaas in sticking as closely as possible to the two main variants of RA (A and P: for descriptions of che manuscripts see chapter 1, pp. 8-9, and Kortekaas, pp. 23 ff.). Poor grammarand repetition are features of this text, and I see no reason to tidy them up beyond what is needed to make the text comprehensible, though in the interests of intelligibility I have sometimes preferred a variant reading.Italics in the Latin text indicate either that I have differed significantly from Kortekaas’ RA text, or that a word or phrase is badly corrupt. In c. 45 I have included in the main text a lengthy description of the recognition scene found only in RB(it is italicized in both Latin and English). I have made a number of emendations, for instance where a nominative obviously ought to be accusative, and have also expanded abbreviations. In the interests of readers not used to the vagaries of medieval Latin, I have normalized spelling (for instance, I print 'formositas' at 1, 4 rather than the 'formonsitas' of the manuscript, retained by Kortekaas), and I have also standardized the proper names. I have substituted v for u throughout, and have altered Kortekaas' punctuation and paragraphdivision. Asterisks refer to bricf notes at the end of the text and translation on particularly problematic passages, quotations from classical texts, etc. There is no critical apparatus or detailed commentary. In the footnotes | print variants or additions in RB which offer interesting alternatives or expansions. My selection may seem arbitrary, and indecdirrelevant; butif Kortckaasis right in arguing that RB is based on RA (whether or not the writer had a Greek text to hand), RB could be said to represent the earliest ‘reader response’ to HA. Although the discrepancies berween the two texts are seldom substantial, they are significant, whether they take the form of proper names, practical details, or additional dialogue. | have tried to place the foornote numbers soas to indicate how the RB variantfits into the RA text. In preparing the translation 1 have consulted the English versions by Turner (1956), Pavloskis (1978), and Sandy (1989), the German version of Waiblinger
(1978), and the Konstan/Roberts commentary (01985). HE have aimed at accuracy
rather than elegance Gand have taken refuge in lireral translinon when the sense
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is not clear). So I have usually used the simple ‘said’ for the very frequent‘ait’, rather than varying it as ‘asked’, ‘replied’, etc. Similarly, both princesses are usually referred to as 'puella', and so I have translated 'girl'. | do occasionally substitute a namefor a Latin pronoun whenthe sense might otherwise be hard to follow. ! also translate in the past tense many verbs which appear in the present in the Latin: the text is very inconsistent in this respect. Prof. Michael Lapidge and Prof. Peter Dronke kindly read both text and translation in draft, and suggested a numberof valuable corrections and improvements; such errors as remain are of course my own.
Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri
1. In civitate Antiochia rex fuit quidam nomine Antiochus, a quo ipsa civitas nomen accepit Antiochia. Is habuit! unam filiam, virginem speciosissimam, in qua nihil rerum natura exerraverat, nisi quod mortalem statuerat. (Quac dum ad nubilem pervenisset aetatem et species ct formositas cresceret, multi eam in matrimonium petebant et cum magna dotis pollicitatione currebant. Et cum pater deliberaret, cui potissimum filiam suam in matrimonium daret, cogente iniqua cupiditate flamma concupiscentiae incidit in amorem filiae suae et coepit eam aliter diligere quam patrem oportebat. (Qui cum luctatur cum furore, pugnat cum dolore, vincitur amore; excidit illi pictas, oblitus est se esse patrem ct induit coniugem.
Sed cum sui pectoris vulnus ferre non posset, quadam die primaluce vigilans inrumpit cubiculum filiae suae. Famulos longe excedere iussit, quasi cum filia secretum conloquium habiturus, et stimulante furore libidinis diu repugnanti filiae suae nodum virginitatis eripuit. Perfectoque scelere evasit cubiculum. Puclla vero stans dum miratur scelestis patris impietatem, fluentem sanguinem coepit cclare: sed guttae sanguinis in pavimento ceciderunt.
2. Subito nutix eius introivit cubiculum. Utvidit puellam flebili vultu, asperso pavimento sanguine, roseo rubore perfusam, ait: 'Quid sibi vult iste turbatus animus? Puella ait: 'Cara nutrix, modo hoc in cubiculo duo nobilia pericrunt nomina." Nutrix ignoransait: 'Domina, quare hoc dicis? Puclla ait: ‘Ante legit imam mearum nuptiarum diem saevo scelere violatam vides. Nutrix ut hacc audivit atque vidisset, exhorruit atque ait: 'Quis tanta fretus audacia virginis reginae maculavit torum?Puella ait: 'Impictas fecit scelus! Nutrix ait: ‘Cur ergo non indicas patri? Puella ait: 'Et ubi est pater? Et ait: 'Cara nutrix, si intellegis quod factum est: periit in me nomenpatris. Itaque ne hoc scelus genitoris mci
|ORI ex amma conie ORD Chee nint regem"
The Story of Apollonius King of Tyre
1. In the city of Antioch there was a king called Antiochus, from whomthecity itself took the name Antioch. He had one daughter', a most beautiful girl; nature's only mistake was to have made her mortal. When she became old enough to marry and was becoming increasingly beautiful and attractive, many men sought her in marriage, and came hurrying with promises of large marriage gifts. While her father was considering to whom best to give his daughter in marriage, driven by immoral passion and inflamed by lust he fell in love with his own daughter, and he began to love her in a way unsuitable for a father. He struggled with madness, he fought against passion, but he was defeated by love; he lost his sense of moral responsibility, forgot that he was a father, and took on the role of husband. Since he could not endure the woundin his breast, one day when he was awake at dawn he rushed into his daughter's room and ordered the servants to withdraw, as if he intended to have a private conversation with her. Spurred on by the frenzy of his lust, he took his daughter's virginity by force, in spite of her lengthy resistance. When the wicked deed was done he left the bedroom. But the pirl stood astonished at the immorality of her wicked father. She tried to hide the flow of blood: but drops of blood fell onto thefloor. 2. Suddenly her nurse came into the bedroom. Whenshe saw the girl blushing scarlet, her face wet with tears and the floor spattered with blood, she asked: ‘What is the meaningof this distress?’ The girl said: ‘Dear nurse, just now in this bedroom two noble reputations have perished.’ Not understanding, the nurse said: ‘Lady, why do you say this” The girl said: 'You see a girl who has been brutally and wickedly raped before her lawful wedding day.’ The nurse was horrified by what she heard and saw,and shesaid: ‘Whowasso bold as to violate the bed of the virgin princess?” The girl said: ‘Disregard for morality caused this crune. The nurse said: "Then why do you not tell your father?" The girl said: ‘And where is my father? Dear nurse,” she went on, ‘if you understand what has happened: for me the name of father has ceased to exist. So rather than reveal
"ORB. by bus wife, who was dead, ROB Sand didnot fev the bane
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
patefaciam, mortis remedium mihi placet. Horreo, ne haec macula gentibus inno-
tescat.' Nutrix ut vidit puellam mortis remedium quacrcere, vix eam blando scr-
monis conloquio revocat ut a propositae mortis immanitate excederet, et invitam
patris sui voluntati satisfacere cohortatur.
3. Qui cum simulata mente ostendebat se civibus suis pium genitorem, intra domesticos vero parietes maritum se filiae gloriabatur. Et ut semper impio toro frueretur, ad expellendos nuptiarum petitores quaestiones proponebat dicens: ‘Quicumque vestrum quaestionis meae propositae solutionem invenerit, accipiet
filiam meam in matrimonium; qui autem non invenerit, decollabitur.' Et si quis forte prudentia litterarum quaestionis solutionem invenisset, quasi nihil dixissct, decollabatur et caput cius super portae fastigium suspendebatur!. Atqui plurimi undique reges, undique patriae principes propter incredibilem pucllae speciem contempta morte properabant.
4. Etcum has crudelitates rex Antiochus exerceret, quidam adulescens locuples valde, genere Tyrius, nomine Apollonius,5 navigans attingit Antiochiam. Ingressusque ad regem ita eum salutavit: 'Ave, domine rex Antioche'5 ct 'quod pater pius es, ad vota tua festinus veni: gener regio genere ortus peto filiam tuam in matrimonium.' Rex ut audivit quod audire nolebat, irato vultu respiciens iuvenemsic ait ad eum: "Iuvenis, nosti nuptiarum condicionem?At ille ait: "Novi et ad portae fastigium vidi.’ ‘Audi ergo quaestionem: Scelere vehor, maternam carnem vescor, quaero fratrem meum, meae matris virum, uxoris meae filium: non invenio.' luvenis accepta quaestione paululum discessit a rege; quam cum sapienter scrutaretur, favente deo invenit quaestionis solutionem. Ingressusque
ad regem sic ait: 'Domine rex, proposuisti mihi quaestionem; audiergo solutionem. Quod dixisti: scelere vchor, non es mentitus: te respice. Et quod dixisti: maternam carnem vescor, nec et hoc mentituscs: filiam tuam intucre.'
5. Rexutvidit iuvenem quaestionis solutionem invenisse," sic ait ad cum: 'Erras, iuvenis, nihil verum dicis. Decollari quidem mereberis, sed habes triginta dicrum
-»--
5.
RB: ut advenientes imaginem mortis videntes conturbarentur ne ad talem condirionem accederent. RB: patriae suae princeps, RI fidus abundantia litterarum RI Ft ut vidi rex quod vulere nolebat, ad iuvenem ai
"Salvi sunt cuncti parentes tui?
luvetis ait. "Ultimum signaverunt diem '! Kex ait "Ulum nomen reliquerunt ' RES tinens e elus suum patefiret
THE STORY OF APOLLONIUS KING OF TYRE
115
my parent's crime, I prefer the solution of death. 1 shudder at the thoughtthat this disgrace may become knownto the people.’ When the nurse saw that the girl sought a solution in death, she managed with difficulty to persuade her through cajoling words and argumentsto give up the horrible idea of killing herself; and she encouraged the reluctantgirl to satisfy her father's desire. 3. He presented himself deceitfully to his citizens as a devoted parent, but inside his own walls he delighted in being his daughter's husband. And so that he could enjoy this immoralrelationship for ever, he posed riddles to get rid of her suitors. Hesaid: 'Whicheverof you finds the solution to the riddle I have set, he shall have my daughter in marriage. But whoever does notfind it shall lose his head.’ And if anyone happened to find the solution to the riddle through intelligence and learning, he was beheaded as if he had not answeredatall, and his head was hung onthe top of the gate). And yet kings and princesfrom far and wide hurried there in great numbers, scorning death because of the girl's incredible beauty. 4. While King Antiochus was engaged in these cruel practices, a very rich young man, a Tyrian by birth,* named Apollonius,5 arrived by ship at Antioch. He entered the presence of the king and greeted him: 'Hail, my lord King Antiochus’® and ‘As you are a devoted father, ] have comein hasteto carry out your wishes. As a son-in-law of royal birth, I ask for your daughter's hand in marriage.’ When the king heard whathe did not wantto hear, he looked angrily at the young man andsaid to him: ‘Young man, do you know the termsfor the marriage” Apollonius replied: ‘I do, and I saw them onthetop ofthegate.’ ‘Then listen to the riddle: “I am borne on crime; I eat my mother’s flesh; I seek my brother, my mother's husband, my wife's son; | do not find him." ' When he had heard the riddle the young man withdrew a little from the king. He thought about it intelligently, and with God's help he found the answerto the riddle. Going in to the king again, he said: ‘Lord King, you have set me a riddle: so listen to the answer. When yousaid “I am bome on crime”, you did not lie: look at yourself. Nor did you lie when you said "I eat my mother's flesh": look at your daughter.’
^
--
5. When the king saw that the young man had found the answerto the riddle,’ he spoke to him asfollows: ‘You are wrong, young man,thereis no truth in what you say. Indeed you deserve to be beheaded, but you have thirty days’ grace:
RB: so that the sight of che image of death would upset those arriving, and dissuade them from apreeing to such terms. RB: prince of his country, RB: relying on his considerable learning, RB: When the king saw what he did not want to see, he said to the young man: ‘Are all your kinsmen alive?” The young man said: Thear bise day has been sealed’ The king sand: Fhey have left à List des endanc' WI deanng that his cime would become known
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
spatium: recogita tecum. Et dum reversus fueris et quaestionis mcae propositac
solutionem inveneris, accipies filiam meam in matrimonium.' Iuvenis conturbatum habebat animum. Paratamque habens navem ascendit ad patriam suam Tyrum.* 6. Et post discessum adulescentis vocat ad se Antiochus rex dispensatorem suum fidelissimum nomine Taliarchum etdicit ei: "Taliarche, secretorum meorum fidclissime minister, scias quia Tyrius Apollonius invenit quaestionis mcae solutionem. Ascende ergo navem confestim ad persequendum iuvenem, et dum veneris Tyrum in patriam eius, inquires inimicum eius qui eum aut ferro aut vencno
interimat. Postquam reversus fueris, libertatem accipies.' Taliarchus vero hoc audito adsumens pecuniam simulque venenum navem ascendens petiit patriam innocentis. Pervenit innocens tamen Apollonius prior ad patriam suam ct introivit
domum.Et aperto scrinio codicum suorum inquisivit omnes quaestiones auctorum
omniumque pacne philosphorum disputationes omniumque ctiam Chaldacorum. Et dum aliud non invenisset nisi quod cogitaverat, ad semetipsum locutus cest dicens: 'Quid agis, Apolloni? Quaestionem rcgis solvisti. Filiam eius non accepisti. Ideo dilatus es, ut neceris.' Atque ita oncrari praecepit naves frumento. Ipse quoque Apollonius cum paucis comitantibus fidelissimis servis navem occulte ascendit deferens secum multum pondusauri atque argenti sed et vestem copiosissimam. Et hora noctis silentissimatertia tradidit se alto pelago. 7. Alia vero die in civitate sua quaeritur a civibus suis ad saluctandum et non inventusest. Fit tremor, sonat planctus ingens per totam civitatem. Tantus namque amor civium suorum erga eurn erat, ut per multa tempora tonsores privarcn-
tur a publico, spectacula tollerentur, balnca clauderentur?. Et ut cum haec Tyro aguntur, supervenit ille Taliarchus, qui a rege Antiocho fucrat missus ad necandum iuvenem. Qui ut vidit omnia clausa, ait cuidam pucro: ‘Indica mihi, si valeas: quae est haec causa, quod civitas ista in luctu moratur? Cui puerait: 'O hominem improbum! Scit et interrogat! Quis est enim qui nesciat ideo hanc civitatem in luctum esse quia princeps huius patriae nomine Apollonius reversus ab Antiochia subito nusquam comparuit Tunc Taliarchus dispensator regis hoc audito gaudio plenus rediit ad navem. Ettertia navigationis die attigit Antiochiam. Ingressusque ad regem ait: ‘Domine rex, laetare et gaude, quia iuvenis ille Tyrius Apollonius timens regni vircs tui subito nusquam comparuit.' Rex ait: ‘Fugere quidem potest, sed effugere non potest.’ Continuo huiusmodi edictum proposuit: Quicumque mihi Tyrium Apol-
"o
RI Po ipitur cum magna iude a civibus suis, sicut solent principes qui bene merentur. Duciur in domum suam cum laude et vox ibus laetitiae, intetiorem petit cubiculum OR non templa neque tabernas quisquam ingeederetus * Note ion pe
EMO
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think it over again. And when you have come back and have found the answer to my riddle, you shall have my daughter in marriage.’ The young man was disturbed. He had his ship ready, and embarked for Tyre, his home.* 6. When the young manhad departed, King Antiochus summonedhis steward, a most loyal man named Taliarchus, and said to him: ‘Taliarchus, most loyal accomplice in my secrets, you must know that Apollonius of Tyre has found the answerto myriddle. So take ship at once and pursue the young man, and when you come to Tyre, his home, seek out some enemyof his, who would kill him with a sword or with poison. When you return you shall have your freedom.’ WhenTaliarchus heard this, he provided himself with money andalso poison, boarded a ship, and made for the country of the innocent man. The innocent Apollonius arrived in his homeland first, however, and went into his palace. He opened his bookchest, and examinedall the riddles of the authors and the debates of almostall the philosophers and also ofall the Chaldacans. Since he found nothing except what he had already thoughtout,he said to himself: "What are you doing, Apollonius? You have solved the king’s riddle. You have not obtained his daughter. You have been putoff onlyto be killed.’ So he ordered his ships to be loaded with grain. He himself, accompanied by a few very loyal servants, boardedhis ship in secret, raking with him a large amountof gold and silver and a great deal of clothing. And at the third hour of the night, whenit was very quiet, he entrusted himself to the opensea. 7. Next day in the city his people looked for him in orderto pay their respects, but did not find him. They were alarmed, and the sound of great lamentation was heard throughout the entire city. So great was his people's love for him thatfor a long time the barbers were deprived of clients, the shows were cancelled and the baths were closed?. While this was happening at Tyre there arrived Taliarchus, the man who had been sent by King Antiochus to kill the young man. When he saw everything closed, he asked a boy: 'If you can, tell me why this city is in mourning.’ The boy replied: "What a shameless man! He knows perfectly well and yet he asks! Who does not know thar this city is in mourning for this reason, because the prince of this country, Apollonius, came back from Antioch and then suddenly disappeared.’ WhenTaliarchus the king’s steward heard this, he was delighted and returned to his ship, and after sailing for two days arrived at Antioch. He entered the presence of the king and said: ‘Lord king, rejoice and be glad, for that young Apollonius of Tyre has suddenly disappeared, fearing your royal power.’ The king sal: "He can run away, but he cannot escape.' Immediately he announced the
*
ORB: He was received with great acclaim by his people, às is usual for princes who deserve well. Ele was es orted into his palace with praise and shouts of joy, and went to his private bedroom. ^R and no one went ino the temples or caves * Note non p IR
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
lonium, contemptorem regni mei, vivum exhibuerit, accipiet auri talenta centum; qui vero caputeius attulerit, accipiet ducenta!9."* Hoc edicto proposito non tantum eius inimici sed etiam et amici cupiditate ducebantur et ad indagandum properabant. Quaeritur Apollonius per terras, per montes,persilvas, per universas indagines, et non inveniebatur.
8. Tunc iussit rex classes navium praeparari ad persequendum iuvenem. Sed moras facientibus his qui classes navium praeparabant," devenit Apollonius civitatem Tarsiam. Et deambulansiuxta litus visus est a quodam Hellenico,cive suo, qui supervenerat ipsa hora. Et accedens ad eum Hellenicusait: ‘Ave, rex Apolloni" At ille salutatus fecit quod potentes facere consueverunt: sprcvit hominem plebeium. Tunc senex indignatus iterato salutavit eum et ait: 'Ave, inquam, Apolloni, resaluta et noli despicere paupertatem nostram, honestis moribus decoratam. Si enim scis, cavendumtibi est; si autem nescis, admonendus es. Audi, forsitan quod nescis, quia proscriptus es.' Cui Apolloniusait: 'Et quis patriae meae principem potuit proscribere? Hellenicus ait: 'Rex Antiochus.' Ait Apollonius: 'Qua ex causa? Hellenicus ait: 'Quia filiam eius in matrimonium petisti." Apollonius ait: ‘Et quantum meproscripsit?" Hellenicus respondit: 'Ut quicumque te vivum exhibuerit, centum auri talenta accipiat; qui vero caput tuum absciderit, accipiet ducenta". Ideoque moneo te: fugae praesidium manda." Haec cum dixisset Hellenicus, discessit. Tunc iussit Apollonius revocari ad se senem et ait ad eum: 'Rem fecisti optimam ut me instrueres. Pro qua re reputa tc mihi caput a cervicibus amputasse et gaudium regi pertulisse.' Et iussit ei proferri centum talenta auri et ait: 'Áccipe,gratissimi exempli pauperrime, quia mereris. Et puta te, sicut paulo ante dixi, caput a cervicibus amputasse et gaudium regi pertulisse. Er ecce, habes centum talenta auri ct puras manus a sanguinc
10 RB: 'L talenta auri . . . cencum*. ! RB: iuvenis ille Tyrius Apollonius iam ut medium umbilicum pelagi tencbat, respiciens
ad eum gubernatorsic ait: ‘Domine Apolloni, numquid de arte mca aliquid quereris?" ‘Ego quidem de arte tua nihil queror, sed a rege illo Antiocho quaeror: interiorem itaque partem pelagi teneamus. Rex enim longam habet manum: quod voluerit facere, perficiet. Sed. verendumest ne nos persequatur! Oubernator ait: "Ergo, domine, armatnenta. paranda. sunt. et aqua. dulcis quaerenda. est. Subiacet nobis litus Tarsiae.' luvenis aut: "Petamus Tarsum et erit nobis eventus Et veniens. Apollonius Taisum
€VASIE
Fate.
PRIV uia quod parer est esse volui? Run * Note i on r
HO
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following edict: ‘Whoeverdelivers to me alive Apollonius of Tyre, whois guilty of treason against my crown,shall receive one hundredtalents of gold; whoever brings me his head shall receive two hundred!9.* Whenthis edict was proclaimed, not only Apollonius' enemies but also his friends were influenced by greed and hurried to track him down. They looked for him on land, in the mountains, in the forests, in every possible hiding-place; but they did not find him. 8. Then the king ordered the ships for his fleet to be made ready in order to pursue the young man; but the menresponsible for preparing the ships for the fleet were dilatory.! Apollonius arrived at the city of Tarsus. Ás he was walking on the beach, he was seen by Hellenicus,a fellow-citizen of his, who had arrived at that very moment. Hellenicus approached him andsaid, ‘Greetings, King Apollonius!’ Apollonius reacted to this greeting as great menare inclined to do: he ignored the lowborn man. Thenthe indignant old man greeted him again and said: ‘Greetings, 1 say, Apollonius. Return my greeting, and do not despise my poverty, for it is distinguished by an honest character. If you know, you must be careful; if you do not know, you must be warned. Listen to what perhaps you do not know,that you have been proscribed.’ Apollonius said to him: ‘And who had the power to proscribe me, the ruler of my country” Hellenicus said: ‘King Antiochus.’ Apollonius said: “What was the reason” Hellenicus said: ‘Because you wanted to marry his daughter'?.’ Apollonius asked: ‘For what price has he proscribed me?’ Hellenicus answered: ‘Whoeverbrings you in alive will get one hundred talents of gold; but whoever cuts off your head will get two hundred". SoI give you warning: take refuge in flight.’ When Hellenicus had said this, he went away. Then Apollonius had the old man called back, and said to him: ‘You have done very well to inform me. In return, imagine that you have cut my head off my shoulders and brought joy to the king.’ And he ordered one hundred talents of gold to be given to him, and said: ‘Very poor as you are, you set a most excellent example. Take it, for you deserve it. And imagine, as I said just now, that you have cut off my head from my shoulders and brought joy to the king. You see, you have one hundredtalents of gold, and your hands are not stained by the blood of an innocent man.’
* RB: ‘fifty calents of gold... one hundred.’ " [RU As young Apollonius‘of Tyre was keeping well out to sea, the helmsman looked at him and said: ‘Lord Apollonius, do you have any complaint about myskill” Apollonius said: "Indeed 1 do not have any complaint about yourskill, but 1 am being sought by King Antiochus, so let us keep well out to sea. For the king has a long arm: he will carry out what he has determined to do. It is to be feared that he may pursue us.’ The helmsman said: ‘Well, lord, we need to prepare the tackle and look for fresh water. We are lying off the coast of Tarsus” The young man said: ‘Lec us make for Tarsus and we shall have the opportunity! And Apollonius arrived at Tyre and diseinbarked. U OP RBS CDBecause you wanted to be what the father is ORB. hlty one hundred ' * Note i on E
| AG
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
innocentis.' Cui Hellenicus ait: 'Absit, domine, ut huius rei causa praemium
accipiam. Apud bonos enim homines amicitia praemio non comparatur." Et vale dicensdiscessit. 9. Posthaec Apollonius dum deambularet in eodem loco supra litore, occurrit ci alius homo nomine Stranguillio'*. Cui ait Apollonius: ‘Ave, mi carissime Stranguillio.’ Er ille dixit: ‘Ave, domine Apolloni. Quid itaque in his locis turbata mente versaris?’ Apollonius ait: ‘Proscriprum vides.’ Stranguillio ait: ‘Et quis te proscripsit?” Apollonius ait: ‘Rex Antiochus.’ Stranguillio ait: ‘Qua ex causa? Apolloniusait: ‘Quia filiam eius, sed ut verius dicam coniugem, in matrimonium petivi. Sed,si fieri potest, in civirate vestra vololatere.’ Stranguillio ait: ‘Domine Apolloni, civitas nostra paupera est ct nobiliratem tuam ferre non potest. Praeterea duram famem sacvamauesterilitatem patimur annonae, nec est ulla spes civibus nostris salutis, sed crudelissima mors potius ante oculos nostros versatur.' Apollonius autem ad Stranguillionem ait: ‘Age crgo deo gratias, quod me profugum finibus vestris applicuit. Dabo itaque civirati vestrae centum milia frumenti modiorum si fugam meam celaveritis.’ Stranguillio ut audivit, prostravit se pedibus Apollonii dicens: ‘Domine rex Apolloni, si civitati esurienti subveneris, non solum fugam tuam celabunt sed etiam,si necesse fuerit, pro salute tua dimicabunt.’ 10. Cumque haec dixisset, perrexerunt in civiratem. Et ascendens Apollonius tribunal in foro cunctis civibus et maioribus eiusdem civitatis dixit: 'Cives Tarsis, quos annonae penuria turbat et opprimit, ego Tyrius Apollonius relevabo. Credo enim vos huius beneficii memores fugam meam celaturos. Scitote enim me legibus Antiochi regis esse fugatum; sed vestra felicitate faciente hucusque ad vos sum delatus. Dabo itaque vobis centum milia frumenti modiorum co pretio quo sum in patriam meam eos mercatus, id est octo acreis singulos modios.' Cives
vero Tarmis, qui singulos modios singulos aureos mercabantur, exhilarati facti adclamationibus gratias agebant, certatim accipientes frumentum. Apollonius autem, ne deposita regia dignitate mercatoris videretur adsumere nomen magis quam donatoris, pretium quod acciperat utilitati ciusdem civitatis redonavit. Cives vero his tantis beneficiis cumulati optant statuam statuere ex acre. Et eam conlocaveruntin biga in foro stantem, in dextra manu fruges tenentem,sinistro pede modium calcantem, et in base haec scripserunt: TARSIA CIVITAS APOLLO. NIO TYRIO DONUM DEDIT EO QUOD STERILITATEM SUAM ET FAMEM SEDAVERIT!5.
(^ RI Fc respiciens Apollonius vidit contra se venientem noni sibi hominem imnaesto vultu dolentem, nomine Sctrangiillionem P RR poreepp—W RATETATE SUA FAMEM SEDANVIETULT
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Hellenicus replied: ‘Far be it from me, lord, to accept a reward for this affair. Among good men,friendship is not acquired for a price.’ He said goodbye and went away. 9. After this, as Apollonius was walking on the beach in the sameplace he met another mancalled Stranguillio'*. Apollonius said to him: ‘Greetings, my dearest Stranguillio.’ He replied: ‘Greetings, lord Apollonius. Why are you pacing up and down herein agitation?’ Apollonius said: ‘You are looking at a man whohas been proscribed.’ Stranguillio asked: ‘Who has proscribed you?’ Apolloniusreplied: ‘King Antiochus.’ Stranguillio asked: ‘On what grounds? Apolloniussaid: ‘Because I wanted to marry his daughter, or, to put it more accurately, his wife. So if possible, 1 should like to hide in your city.’ Stranguillio said: ‘Lord Apollonius, our city is poor and cannot support a man of your standing. Besides, we are suffering a severe famine and desperate lack of grain, and there is no hope of survival for our people; instead we face the prospect of a most agonising death.’ But Apollonius said to Scranguillio: “Well, give thanks to God, that He has brought meto your land as a fugitive. 1 will give your city a hundred thousand measures of grain if you will conceal myflight.’ WhenStranguillio heard this, he threw himself at Apollonius’ fect, saying: ‘My lord King Apollonius, if you help the starving city, not only will the people conceal yourflight but if necessary they will also fight for yoursafety.’ 10. When he had said this they proceeded into the city. Apollonius mounted the platform in the forum and addressed all the citizens and leaders of the city: ‘Citizens of Tarsus, distressed and oppressed by lack of grain, I, Apollonius of Tyre, will bring you relief. For 1 believe that in yourgratitude forthis favour you will conceal my flight. For you must know that I am banished by the decree of King Antiochus. But it is your good fortune that has brought me here to you. Sol will supply you with one hundred thousand measures of grain at the same price that I paid for it in my ownland,that is eight bronze pieces a measure.’ Then the citizens of Tarsus, who had been paying one gold piece a measure, weredelighted; they thanked him with cheers, and eagerly received the grain. Butin order not to appear to have abandoned his royal dignity and to have taken on the role of a merchant rather than a benefactor, Apollonius gave back the price which he had received for the benefit of the city. Bur the citizens, loaded with so many kindnesses, decided to erect a bronze statue to him, and they placed it in the forum. Apollonius was standing in a chariot: in his right hand he held cars of grain, and his left foot rested on a bushel. On the base they pur the following inscription: HUE CITY OF TARSUS GAVE THIS GIFT TO APOLLONIUS BECAUSE HE RELIEVED
VEIR FAMINE AND HUNGER,
ORB: Apollonius looked round and saw coming towards him à man he knew, called Sirangiillio, lamenting and looking sad "7 RB oue AUSE. THROUGH HIS ERE ROSTEY LE ULL TEVE DP: TE TAMIS
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
11. Interpositis mensibus sive diebus paucis hortante Stranguillione et Dionysiade coniuge eius et premente fortuna ad Pentapolitanas Cyrenacorum terras adfirmabatur navigare, ut ibi latere posset. Deducitur itaque Apollonius cum ingenti honore ad navem et vale dicens hominibus ascendit ratem. Qui dum navigaret, intra duas horas diei mutata est pelagi fides.*
20
Certa non certis cecidere . . . Concita tempestas rutilans inluminat orbem. Aeolus imbrifero flatu turbata procellis Corripit arva. Notus picea caliginetectus Scinditque omne latus pelagi . . . ... revolumine murmurat Auster. Volvitur hinc Boreas nec iam maresufficit Euro, Et freta disturbata sibi involvit harena ... et cum revocato a cardine ponto Omnia miscentur. Pulsat mare sidera, caelum. In sese glomeratur hiems; pariterque morantur Nubila, grando, nives, zephyri, freta, fulgida, nimbi. Flamma volat vento, mugit mare conturbatum. Hinc Notus, hinc Boreas, hinc Africus horridusinstat. Ipse tridente suo Neptunusspargit harenas. Triton terribili cornu cantabat in undis.
12. Tunc unusquisque sibi rapuit tabulas, morsque nuntiatur. In illa vero caligine tempestatis omnes perierunt. Apollonius vero unius tabulac beneficio in Pentapolitarum est litore pulsus!5. Interim stans Apollonius in litore nudus, intuens tranquillum mare ait: 'O Neptune, rector pelagi, hominum deceptor innocentium, propter hoc me reservasti egenum et pauperum quofacilius rex crudelissimus Antiochus persequatur? (Quo itaque ibo? Quam partem petam? Vel quis ignoto vitae dabit auxilium? Et cum sibimet ipsi increparet, subito animadvertens vidit quendam grandaevum, sago sordido circumdatum. Et!" prosternens sc illius ad pedes effusis lacrimis ait: 'Miserere mei, quicumque cs, succurre naufrago ct egeno, non humilibus natalibus genito. Et ut scias cui miscercaris: ego sum Tyrius Apollonius, patriae meae princeps. Audi nunc tragoediam calamitatis meae, qui modogeni-
5 RB gubernatore pereuntes fortuna proiitur fangatus in lirore Cyrenes. Ft dum evonmit undas quas potaverat, VOU cogente necessitate
* Note son PHO
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11. After a few months or days, at the encouragement of Stranguillio and Dionysias his wife, and urged on by Fortune, Apollonius decided to sail to Pentapolis in Cyrene in order to hide there. So he was escorted with great honourto his ship, said farewell to the people, and went on board. Within two hours of sailing the sea, which had seemed trustworthy, changed.* Stability turned into instability . . . A storm arose andilluminated the sky with a red glow. Aeoluswith rainy blast attacks [Neptune's]fields, Which are agitated by storms. The South Windis enveloped in pitch-black darkness, Andslashesevery side of the ocean... The South Wind roars. The North Wind blows from oneside, and now There is not enough ocean for the East Wind, Andthe sand engulfs the wild sea. ... everything is mixed up with the ocean which is Summoned back from the heavens. The sea strikes the stars, the sky. Thestorm gathers itself together, and at the same time There are clouds, hail, snow showers, winds, waves, lightning flashes, rain. Flameflies on the wind, and the sea bellows in its turmoil. On oneside the South Windthreatens, on another the North Wind, on anotherthe fierce South-West Wind. Neptunehimself scatters the sands with his trident. Tritonplays his dreadful horn in the waves. 12. Then each sailor grabbed a plank for himself, and death was imminent. In the darkness of that storm all perished, except Apollonius, who was cast up on the shore of Pentapolis, thanks to a single plank!é. As he stood naked on the shore and looked at the peaceful sea, he said: ‘O Neptune, ruler of the ocean, deceiver of innocent men, have you preserved me,destitute and impoverished, just so that the most cruel King Antiochus can persecute me with greater ease? So where shall I go? Which direction shall I take? Who will provide the necessities of life for a stranger” While he was complaining to himself, he suddenly noticed an elderly man wearing a dirty cloak. "Apollonius threw himself at his fect and said, weeping: ‘Have pity on me, whoever you are! Help a destitute, shipwrecked man, whois not of lowly birth. So that you know on whom youare taking pity, | am Apollonius ofTyre, prince of my country. Listen to the tragedy of the misfortunes of the
"^ RI when the helmstnan died: Fortune cast him up exhausted on the shore of Cyrene And as he spewed out the water that he had swallowed, VOR Constramed by nece * Note is on n
In
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
bus tuis provolutus deprecorvitae auxilium. Praesta mihi ut vivam.' [taque piscator ut vidit primam speciem iuvenis, misericordia motus erigit eum et tenens
20
manum eius duxit eum intra tecta parietum domus suae et posuit epulas quas potuit. Et ut plenius misericordiae suae satisfaceret, exuens se tribunarium suum scindit eum in duas partes aequaliter et dedit unam iuveni dicens: "Tolle hoc quod habeo, et vade in civitatem: forsitan invenies, qui tibi misereatur. Et si non inveneris, huc revertere et mecum laborabis et piscabis: paupertas quaecumque est sufficiet nobis. Illud tamen admoneo te, ut si quando deo favente redditus fueris natalibus tuis, et tu respicias tribulationem paupertatis meae.' Cui Apollonius ait: 'Nisi meminero tui, iterum naufragium patiar nectui similem inveniam"
13. Et haec dicens per demonstratam sibi viam iter carpens ingreditur portam civitatis. Et dum secum cogitaret unde auxilium vitae peteret, vidit pucrum per plateam currentem oleo unctum, sabano praecinctum,ferentem iuvenilem lusum ad gymnasium pertinentem, maxima voce clamantem et dicentem: *Audite cives, audite peregrini, ingenui et servi: gymnasium patet!! Hoc audito Apollonius exuensse tribunarium ingrediturlavacrum,utitur liquore Palladio. Et dum singulos exercentes videret, quaerit sibi parem nec invenit. Tunc rex Archistrates eiusdem civitatis subito cum magna turba famulorum ingressus est gymnasium. (Qui dum cum suis ad ludum luderet, deo favente approximavit se Apollonius in regis turba et ludente rege sustulit pilam et subtili velocitate remisit remissamque rursum velocius repercussit nec cadere passus est.
Tunc rex Archistrates cum sibi notasset iuvenis velocitatem et quis esset nesciret et ad pilae lusum nullum haberet parem, intuens famulos suos ait: 'Recedite, famuli: hic enim iuvenis, ut suspicor, mihi comparandusest.' Et cum recessissent famuli, Apollonius subtili velocitate manu docta remisit pilam, ut et regi et omnibus, vel pueris qui aderant, miraculum magnum videretur. Videns autem sc Apollonius a civibus laudari, constanter appropinquavit ad regem. Deinde docta manuceromatefricavit regem tanta lenitate ut de sene iuvenem redderet. [terato in solio gratissime fovit, exeunti officiose manum dedit. Post haccdiscessit.
14. Rex autem, ut vidit iuvenem discessisse, conversus ad amicos suosait: "luro vobis, amici, per communem salutem, me melius numquamlavisse nisi hodic, beneficio unius adulescentis quem nescio. Et intuens unum «de famulis suis ait: "Juvenis ille, qui rnihi servitium. pratissime fecit, vide quis sit^ Famulus. vero sccutus est iuvenemet ut vidit cum sordido tribunario coopertum, reversus ad repem ait: “Bone rex optime, iuvenis naubragus esci! Rex ai "Et te unde «is?
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manwhohasfallen at your knees and is beggingfor help to stay alive. Help me to survive.’ When he saw the handsome appearance of the young man,thefisherman was touchedbypity. He raised him up, led him by the handinto theshelter of the walls of his own house, and served him thebest food that he could. And to satisfy his sense of compassion morefully he took off his cloak, cut it into equal halves, and gave one to the young man,saying: ‘Take what I have, and go into the city. Perhaps you will find someone who will take pity on you. Andif you do not find anyone, come back here, and you shall work and fish with me: however poor I may be, there will be enough for us. But I give you this warning: if ever through God's favour youare restored to your birthright, be sure to remember my suffering and my poverty.' Apollonius said to him: 'If I do not remember you, may I be shipwrecked again, and notfind anyonelike you!’ 13. With these words heset out on the road which had been pointed out to him, and entered the city gate. While he was pondering whereto find the means to survive, he saw running along the street a boy smeared with oil, with a towel wrapped round his waist, carrying equipment for a young man's gymnasium exercise. He was shouting in a very loud voice: 'Listen,citizens, listen, forcigners, freemen and slaves: the gymnasium is open!’ When Apollonius heard this he took off his cloak and wentinto the bath, and made use of the liquid of Pallas [oil]. As he watched each man exercising he looked for somcone of his own standard, but found no one. Then Archistrates, the king of that city, suddenly came into the gymnasium with a great crowd of attendants. When he was playing a game with his men, by God's favour Apollonius got close to the king's crowd. He caughtthe ball as the king was playing and returned it with accuracy and speed; when it came back he hit it back again even faster, and neverlet it fall. Then since King Archistrates had noticed the young man's speed and did not know who he was, and since he had no equal at the ballgame, he looked at his servants and said: 'Draw back, servants. For I believe that this young manis a match for me.’ Whenthe servants had drawn back, Apollonius returned the ball with well-judged speed and a skilful hand so thatit seemed quite miraculous to the king and everyoneelse, and even the boys who were present. When Apollonius saw that the citizens were applauding him, he boldly approached the king. Then he rubbed him with wax ointment so expertly and gently that the old man was rejuvenated. Again in the barh he massaged him very agreeably, and helped him out courteously. Then he went away.
14. Whenthe king saw that the young man had gone, he tumedto his friends and said: 'l swear to you, my friends, by our general welfare, | have never had a better bath than today, thanks to one young man whom | do not know.’ He looked at one of his servants and said: ‘See who that young man is who gave me such excellent service.’ So the servant followed the young man, and when he saw
that he was wrapped in a dirty old cloak, he came back to the king and) said:
"Cool bang best ob kings, the young man has been shipwirecked' Hie bung said
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Famulus respondit: ‘Quia illo tacente habitus indicat.’ Rex ait: 'Vade celerius et dic illi: rogat te rex ut ad cenam venias.' Et cum dixisset ei, acquievit Apollonius et eum ad domum regis secutus est. Famulus prior ingressus dicit regi: 'Adest naufragus, sed abiecto habitu introire confunditur.' Statim rex iussit eum dignis vestibus indui et ad cenam ingredi. Et ingressus Apollonius triclinium ait ad eum rex: ‘Discumbe, iuvenis, et epulare. Dabit enim tibi dominus, per quod damna naufragii obliviscaris.' Statimque assignato illi loco Apollonius contra regem discubuit. Adfertur gustatio, deinde cena regalis. Omnibus epulantibus ipse solus non epulabatur, sed respiciens aurum, argentum, mensam et ministeria, flens cum dolore omnia intuetur. Sed quidam de senioribus iuxta regem discumbens, ut vidit iuvenem singula quaequecuriose conspicere, respexit ad regem et ait: 'Bonc rex, vides: ecce, cui tu
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benignitatem animi tui ostendis bonis tuis invidet et fortunae.' Cui ait rex: 'Amice, suspicaris male, nam iuvenis iste non bonis meis aut fortunae meae invidet sed, ut arbitror, plura se perdidisse testatur. Etc hilari vultu respiciens iuvenem ait: 'luvenis, epulare nobiscum. Laetare et gaude et meliora de dco spera!
15. Et dum hortaretur iuvenem,subito introivit filia regis speciosa atque auro fulgens, iam adulta virgo. Dedit osculum patri, post haec discumbentibus omnibus amicis. Quae dum oscularetur, pervenit ad naufragum. Retrorsum rediit ad patrem etait: 'Bone rex et pater optime, quis est hic iuvenis, qui contra te in
honorato loco discumbit et nescio quid flebili vultu dolet? Cui rex ait: 'Hic iuvenis naufragus est ct in gymnasio mihi servitium gratissime fecit; propter quod ad cenam illum invitavi. Quis autem sit aut unde, nescio. Sed si vis, interroga illum; decet enim te,filia sapientissima, omnia nosse. Et forsitan dum cognoveris, misereberisilli." Hortante igitur patre verecundissimo sermone interrogatur a puella Apollonius et accedens ad eum ait: ‘Licet taciturnitas tuasit tristior, gencrositas autcm tuam nobilitatem ostendit. Sed si tibi molestum non est, indica mihi nomen ct casus tuos.' Apollonius ait: 'Si nomen quacris, Apollonius sum vocatus; si de thesauro quaeris, in mare perdidi.' Puella ait: 'Apertius indica mihi, ut intelligam.'
16. Apollonius vero universos casus suos exposuit et finito sermone lacrimas effundere coepit. Quem ur vidit rex flentem, respiciens filiam suam ait: "Nata dulcis, peccasti, quae, dum vis nomen et casus adulescentis agnoscere, veteres ci renovasti dolores.* Ero, dulcis et sapiens filia, ex quo ajmovisti veritatem, qus
* Note ion e
[HO
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‘And how do you know” Theservant replied: ‘Because his clothes makeit clear, although hesaid nothing.’ The king said: ‘Go quickly and say to him “The king invites you to dinner"When the servant told him, Apollonius accepted and followed him to the king's palace. The servant wentin first and said to the king: "The shipwrecked man is here, but he is embarrassed to come in because of his shabby clothes.' At once the king ordered that he should be dressed in suitable clothes, and should comein to dinner. When Apollonius entered the dining room, the king said to him: 'Recline, young man, and feast. For the lord will give you what will make you forget the losses of the shipwreck.' At once Apollonius was given a place, and he reclined opposite the king. The hors d'oeuvre was served, and then the royal banquet. Everyone wasfeasting; Apollonius alone did not eat, but looking at the gold, the silver, the table and the servants, he weptfor grief as he observedit all. One of the elders reclining next to the king saw how the young man looked at every single thing carefully. Turning to the king he said: ‘Do you see, noble king? Look, the man to whom youare showing the kindness of your heart is envious of your possessions and your good fortune.’ But the king said to him: ‘Friend, you are wrongto be suspicious. This young man does not envy my possessions or my good fortune, but in my opinion he is showing that he has lost much more.’ And turning cheerfully to the young man hesaid: ‘Young man, join in ourfeast; be happy, enjoy yourself, and hope for better things from God!’ 15. While the king was encouraging the young man, suddenly in came his daughter, already a grown-up girl, beautiful and glittering with gold. She kissed her father, and thenall his friends as they reclined. As she was kissing them she cameto the shipwrecked man. She wentback to herfather and said: ‘Good king andbest of fathers, whois the young stranger whois reclining opposite you in the place of honour, and whois grieving and looking unhappy for some unknown rcason? The king said to her: ‘This young man has been shipwrecked; he gave me excellent service in the gymnasium, and so | invited him to dinner. I do not know who he maybe or where he comesfrom. But ask him,if you like; forit is fitting that you should know everything, my most wise daughter. Perhaps when you have found outyou will feel sorry for him.’ So with her father's encouragement the girl asked Apollonius questions, speaking very modestly. She approached him andsaid: ‘Although yoursilence is rather melancholy, yet your manners reveal your noble birth. If it is not too painful, tell me your name and your misfortunes.’ Apolloniusreplied: ‘If you want to know my name,I am called Apollonius; if you ask about my fortune, I lost it in the sea.’ The girl said: ‘Explain to me more clearly, so that | can understand.’ 16. Then Apollonius recounted all his misfortunes, and when he hadfinished talking he began to weep. When the king saw him weeping, he looked at his daughter and said: ‘Sweet child, you have done wrong, when you wanted to
know the name and misfortunes of this young man, you renewed his old sor
rows * Pherefore ut is only Just, my sweet and clever daughter that, libe à queen, * Note ion o
IW
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tum est ut ei liberalitatem tuam quasi regina ostendas.' Puella vero respiciens Apollonium ait: 'lam noster es, iuvenis, depone macrorem; et quia permittit
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indulgentia patris mei, locupletabo te.' Apollonius vero cum gemitu egit gratias. Rex vero videns tantam bonitatem filiae suae valde gavisus est et ait ad cam: *Nata dulcis, salvum habeas. Iube tibi afferre lyram et aufer iuveni lacrimas ct exhilara ad convivium. Puella vero iussit sibi afferri lyram. At ubi accepit, cum nimia dulcedine vocis chordarum sonos, melos cum voce miscebat. Omnes convivae coeperunt mirari dicentes: 'Non potest esse melius, non potest dulcius plus isto, quod audivimus"! Inter quos solus tacebat Apollonius. Ad quem rex ait: *Apolloni, foedam rem facis. Omnes filiam meam in arte musica laudant. Quare tu solus tacendo vituperas" Apollonius ait: 'Domine rex, si permittis, dicam, quod sentio: filia enim tua in arte musica incidit, sed non didicit. Denique iube mihi dari lyram et statim scias quod ante nescicbas.' Rex Archistrates dixit: 'Apolloni, ut intelligo, in omnibuses locuples.' UEt induit statum* et corona caput coronavit, et accipiens lyram introivit triclinium. Et ita stetit ut discumbentes non Apollonium sed Apollinem existimarent. Atqueita factosilentio arripuit plectrum animumque accomodatarti'.* Miscetur vox cantu modulata chordis. Discumbentes una cum rege in laude clamare coeperunt et dicere: 'Non potest melius, non potest dulcius! Post haec deponens lyram ingreditur in comico habitu et mirabili manu et saltu et inauditas actiones expressit." Post haec induit tragicum et nihilominus admirabiliter complacuit ita, ut omnes amici regis et hoc sc numquam audisse testantur nec vidisse.
17. Inter haec filia regis, ut vidit iuvenem omnium artium studiorumque esse cumulatum,vulneris saevo carpitur igne.* Incidit in amorem infinitum.Et finito convivio sic ait puella ad patrem suum: 'Permiseras mihi paulo ante, ut si quid voluissem, de tuo tamen, Apollonio darem, rex et pater optime.' Cui dixit: 'Et permisi et permitto et opto.' Permisso sibi a patre, quod ipsa ultro praestare volebat, intuens Apollonium ait: 'Ápolloni magister, accipe indulgentia patris mei ducenta talenta auri, argenti pondera XL, servos XX et vestem copiossissimam.' Et intuens famulos quos donaverat, dixit: 'Afferte quaeque promisi, ct praesentibus omnibus exponite in triclinio." Laudant omncesliberalitatem pucllae. Peractoque convivio levaverunt sce universi; vale dicentes regi et reginae discesserunt.
P" gU Petr ectneehidyraimn Fjgressus foras * Notes uc on pb 180
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you should show generosity to the man from whom you have learned the truth.’ Thegirl looked at Apollonius and said: ‘Now you are one of us, young man; put aside your grief, and since my kind father has given me permission, | will make yourich.’ Apollonius sighed and thanked her. The king was delighted to see his daughter being so kind, and said to her: ‘Dear child, bless you. Send for your lyre, take away the young man’s tears, and cheer him up for the feast.’ The girl sent for her lyre. When she receivedit, she mingled the sound of the strings with her very sweet voice, tune with song. All the feasters began to marvel, andsaid: ‘Nothing could be better, nothing could be sweeter than this which we have heard.’ Apollonius alone among them said nothing. The king said to him: ‘Apollonius, your behaviour is disgraceful. Everyoneis praising my daughter’s musicalskill: why do you alone criticize her by your silence?’ Apollonius replied: ‘My lord king, with your permission I will say whatI think: your daughter has stumbled on the art of music, but she has not learned it. Now havethelyre given to me, and you will find our at once what you did not know before.’ The king exclaimed: ‘Apollonius, I realize that you are tichly gifted in every way.’ 18Apollonius put on the costume* and crowned his head with a garland; he took the lyre and entered the banquet hall. He stood in such a way that that the feasters thought hin not Apollonius but Apollo. When there wassilence, ‘he took the plectrum and devoted his mind to his art’.* In the song his voice blended harmoniously with the strings. The banqueters and the king began to call out in praise and said: ‘Nothing could be better, nothing could be sweeter!’ After this Apollonius put down thelyre, came in dressed in comic costume, and acted out a mime show with remarkable hand movements and leaps.* Then he put on tragic costume,and delighted them noless admirably,so thatall the king's friends declared that they had never heard or seen anything like this eirher. 17. Meanwhile, when the princess saw that the young man wasfull of every kind of ralent and learning, she was wounded by fiercely burning passion,* and fell very deeply in love. When the feast was over the girl said to her father: ‘A little earlier you gave me permission, best of kings and fathers, to give Apollonius whatever I wanted — of yours, thatis.’ He replied:‘I did give permission;I do give permission;I wish it.’ With her father’s permission for what she herself wanted to give, she looked at Apollonius and said: ‘Master Apollonius, through the generosity of my father receive two hundred talents, forty pounds of silver, twenty servants and most lavish clothing.’ Then looking at the servants whom she had given to him, she said: ‘Bring everything that | have promised, and displayit in the dining room in front of all who are present.’ Everyone praised the gencrosity ofthe girl. And when the banquet was over they all got up, said goodbye to the king andthe princess, and left.
ORD: And he ondered the lyre to be given to hun Apolloniwent outside and * Notes ate on 60. PHO
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Ipse quoque Apollonius ait: ‘Bone rex, miserorum misericors, et tu, regina, amatrix studiorum, valete.’ Et haec dicens respiciens famulos quos illi puclla donaverat,ait: "Tollite, famuli, haec quae mihi regina donavit: aurum, argentum et vestem; et eamus hospitalia quaerentes.' Puella vero timens ne amatum non videns torqueretur, respexit patrem suum etait: "Bone rex, pater optime, placet
tibi ut hodie Apollonius a nobis locupletatus abscedat, et quod illi dedisti a malis hominibus ei rapiatur?" Cui rex ait: 'Bene dicis, domina; iube ergo ei dari unam zactam, ubi digne quiescat.' Accepta igitur mansione Apollonius bene acceptus requievit, agens deo gratias qui ei non denegavit regem consolationem.
18. Sed 'regina iamdudum saucia cura' Apollonii 'figit in pectore vultus, verba' cantusque memorcredit ‘genus esse deorum', nec somnum oculis nec 'membris dat cura quietem'.?* Vigilans primo mane irrumpit cubiculum patris. Pater vidensfiliam ait: 'Filia dulcis, quid est quod tam mane praeter consuetudinem vigilasti? Puella ait: 'Hesterna studia me excitaverunt. Peto itaque, pater, ut me tradas hospiti nostro Apollonio studiorum percipiendorum gratia.' Rex vero gaudio plenus iussit ad se iuvenem vocari. Cui sic ait: 'Apolloni, studiorum tuorum felicitatem filia mea a te discere concupivit. Peto itaque et iuro tibi per regni mei vires, ut si desiderio natae meae parucris, quidquid tibi iratum abstulit mare, ego in terris restituam.' Apollonius hoc audito docet pucllam, sicuti et ipse didicerat. Interposito brevi temporis spatio, cum non possct puella ulla ratione vulnus amoris tolerare, in multa infirmitate membra prostravit fluxa, ct coepit iacere imbecillis in toro”. Rex ut vidit filiam suam subitaneam valitudinem incurrisse, sollicitus adhibet medicos. Qui venientes medici temptantes venas, tanguntsingulas corporis partes, nec omnino inveniuntaegritudinis causas.
19. Rex autem post paucos dies tenens Apollonium manu forum pctit et cum co deambulavit. luvenesscolastici III nobilissimi, qui per longum tempusfiliam cius petebant in matrimonium, pariter omnes una voce salutaverunt cum. (Quos videns rex subridensait illis: "Quid est hoc quod una voce meparitersalutastis? Unusex ipsis ait: 'Petentibus nobis filiam vestram in matrimonium tu sacpius nos differendo fatigas: propter quod hodie una simul venimus. Elige ex nobis quem vis habere generum.' Rexait: ‘Non apto tempore meinterpellastis; filia enim mea studiis vacat ct prae amore studiorum imbecillis iacet. Sed ne videar vos diutius
9 quis Quaent Apollonium er non sustinet amerem 7 IV simulata infirmitate coepit nere * Note son p
ERO
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Apollonius too said: ‘Noble king who takes pity on the wretched, and you, princess who loves learning, goodbye.’ After this speech he looked at the servants whom thegirl had given to him andsaid: ‘Servants, pick up these things which the princess has given me,thegold, the silver and the clothes, and let us go and look for lodgings.’ But the girl, fearing that ir would be torture not to see her beloved, looked at her father and said: ‘Good king, best of fathers, is it your wish that Apollonius, who has been maderich by us today, should leave, and that your gifts may be stolen from him by wicked men?The king replied: 'You are tight, lady; so order that he be given a suitable room to rest in.’ Apollonius was given lodgings for the night; he was well received and lay downto rest, thanking God Who had not denied him a king to be his consolation. 18. But ‘the princess, who had long since been wounded by love's care, fixed in her heart the appearance and conversation’ of Apollonius; the memory of his singing madeherbelieve ‘that he was descended from the gods’. Her eyes got no sleep, ‘her limbs got no rest because of her love’.!™ She lay awake, and at the crack of dawn rushed into her father's bedroom. When he saw his daughter he said: ‘Sweet daughter, why are you awake so unusually early” The girl said: "Yesterday's display of learning kept me awake. 1 beg you,father, send me to our guest Apollonius to have lessons.' The king was delighted; he sent for the young manand said to him: 'Apollonius, my daughter has formed a desire to be taught the happiness of your learning by you. This is my request, and I swear to you by myroyal powerthat if you will comply with my child's wish, I will restore to you on land whatever the hostile sea took away from you.' After this conversation Apollonius beganto teachthegirl, just as he himself had been taught. Aftera little time, when the girl could not bear the wound of love in any way, she becamevery ill: her feeble limbs gave way and she lay helpless in bed”. When the king saw that a sudden illness had attacked his daughter, he was worried and sent for doctors. When the doctors came, they took her pulse and cxamined each part of her body, but they did not discover any reason at all for theillness. 19. A few dayslater, the king took Apollonius by the hand, went to the forum and walked there with him. Three scholarly and very aristocratic young men who had long been seeking his daughter's hand in marriage all greeted him in unison. Onseeing them the king smiled and said to them: ‘Why have youall greeted me in unison” Oneof themsaid: ‘We seek your daughter's hand in marriage, and you keep tormenting us by putting us off so often; that is why we have all come together today. Choose which of us you want as a son-in-law.’ The king said: ‘This is not a good time to disturb me. For my daughter is devoting herself to study, and because of her love of leaming she is lying ill. But so that Ido not seem
"ORB: She wanted Apollonits and she could not restrain her love H7
RB: she pretended to be ill and began to he in ds
* Nloal.ae.a.
du
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
differre, scribite in codicellos nomina vestra et dotis quantitatem; et dirigo ipsos codicellos filiae meae,et illa sibi eligat quem voluerit habere maritum." Illi tres itaque iuvenes scripserunt nomina sua et dotis quantitatem. Rex accepit codicel-
los anuloque suo signavit datque Apollonio dicens: "Tolle, magister, practer tui contumceliam hoscodicellos et perfer discipulae tuae: hic enim locus te desiderat." 20. Apollonius acceptis codicellis pergit domum regiam etintroivit cubiculum tradiditque codicellos. Puella patris agnovit signaculum. (Quae ad amoressuossic ait: 'Quid est, magister, quod sic singularis cubiculum introisti?" Cui Apollonius respondit: 'Domina, es nondum mulier et male habes! Sed potius accipe codiccllos patris tui ct lege trium nomina pcetitorum.' Puella vcro rescrato codicello lcgir, perlectoque nomen ibidem non legit, quem volebat et amabat. Et respiciens Apollonium ait: 'Magister Apolloni, ita tibi non dolet, quod ego nubam? Apollonius dixit: 'Imro gratulor, quod abundantia horum studiorum docta et a me patefacta deo volente et cui animus tuus desiderat nubas.' Cui puclla ait: ‘Magister, si amares, utique doleres tuam doctrinam." "Et scripsit codicellos et signatos suo anulo iuveni tradidit. Pertulit Apollonius in forum tradiditque regi. Accepto codicello rex resignavit et aperuit illum. In quibus rescripserat filia sua: ‘Bone rex et pater optime, quoniam clementiae tuae indulgentia permittis mihi, dicam: illum volo coniugem naufragio patrimonio deceptum. Et si miraris, pater, quod tam pudica virgo ram impudenter scripserim: per ceram mandavi, quae pudorem?! non habet.'
21. Et perlectos codicellos rex ignorans, quem naufragum diceret, respiciens illos tres iuvenes, qui nomina sua scripserant vel qui dotem in illos codicellos designaverunt,ait illis: 'Quis vestrum naufragium fecit?" Unus vero ex iis Ardalio nominedixit: 'Ego.' Alius ait: "Tace, morbus te consumat nccsalvus sis, cum scio te coetaneum meum et mecum litteris eruditum et portam civitatis numquam
existi: ubi ergo naufragium fecisti? Et cum rex non inveniret quis corum naufragium fecisset, respiciens Apollonium ait: "Tolle, magister Apolloni, hoc codiccllos et lege. Potest enim fieri, ut quod ego noninveni, tu intelligas, quia praesens fuisti." Apollonius accepto codicello legit et ut sensit sc a regina amari, crubuit. Et rex tenens ei manum paululum secessit ab eis iuvenibus ct ait: 'Quid cst, magister Apolloni, invenisti naufragum? Apollonius ait: 'Bonc rex, si permittis,
nop dae diens instante amotis audacia
"ORB 'uboreut
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to be putting you off further, write your names on a tablet, and the amount of your marriagegifts. I will send the tablet to my daughter, and she may choose for herself whom she wantsas a husband.’ So the three young men wrote downtheir names and the amountof their marriage gifts. The king took thetablet, scaled it with his ring, and gave it to Apollonius, saying: ‘Take this note, master, if you do not mind, anddeliver it to your pupil. You are needed in this situation.’ 20. Apollonius took the tablet, went to the palace, entered the bedroom, and delivered it. The girl recognized her father's seal. She said to her beloved: ‘What is the matter, master, that you enter my bedroom alonelike this?’ Apollonius replied: ‘Lady, you are not yet a grown woman, and you are offended! Take this note from your father instead, and read the names of your three suitors.’ She unsealed the rablet and read it, but when she hadreadit through she did nor see the namethat she wanted and loved. She looked at Apollonius andsaid: ‘Master Apollonius, are you not sorry that 1 am going to be married? Apollonius said: *No, I am delighted that now that I have taught you and revealed a wealth of learning, by God's favour you will also marry your heart's desire.’ The girl said: ‘Master, if you loved me, you would certainly be sorry for your teaching.’ #!She wrote a note, and when she hadsealed the tablet with her ring she handedit to the young man. Apollonius carried it to the forum and delivered it to the king. The king took the tablet, broke the seal and opened it. His daughter had written as follows: ‘Good king and best of fathers, since you graciously and indulgently give me permission,| will speak out: 1 want to marry the man whowascheated of his inheritance through shipwreck. And if you are surprised,father, that such a modestgirl has written so immodestly, I have sent my message by wax, which has no sense of shame.’ 21.
When he had read the note, the king did not know whom she meant by the
shipwrecked man. Looking at the three youths who had written their names and specified their marriagegifts in the note, he said to them: ‘Which of you has been shipwrecked?’ One of them whose name was Ardalio said: ‘I have.’ One of the others said: ‘Be quiet, may a plague take you, and may you notbe saved! I know you, you are the same age as | am, you were educated with me, and you have never been outside the city gate. So where were you shipwrecked” Since the king could not discover which of them had been shipwrecked, he looked at Apollonius and said: ‘Master Apollonius, take the tablet and read it. Perhaps you who were on the spot will understand what | have not discovered.’ Apollonius took the tablet and read it, and when herealized that the princess loved him, he blushed. The king took him by the hand, drew him a little away from the young men andsaid: ‘Whar is it, Master Apollonius? Have you found the shipwrecked man” Apollonius replied: ‘Good king, with your permission, | have.’ When he
4 RB: When she said chis love made her bold: Wo yu 'wlhah does not blish*
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
inveni.’ Ec his dictis videns rex faciem eius roseo colore perfusam,intellexit dictum et ait gaudens: ‘Quod filia mea cupit, hoc est et meum votum.Nihil enim in huiusmodi negotio sine deo agi potest.’ Er respiciens illos tres iuvenes ait: 'Certe dixi vobis, quia non apto tempore interpellastis. Ite, et dum tempusfuerit, mittam ad vos.' Et dimisit eos a se. 22. Et tenens manum iam genero, non hospiti, ingreditur domum regiam. Ipso autem Apollonio relicto rex solus intrat ad filiam suam dicens: 'Dulcis nata, quem tibi eligisti coniugem? Puella vero prostravit se ad pedes patris sui etait: 'Pater carissime, quia cupis audire natae tuae desiderium: illum volo coniugem et amo, patrimonio deceptum et naufragum, magistrum meum Apollonium; cuisi non me tradideris, a praesenti perdes filiam!' Et cum rex filiae non posset ferre lacrimas, erexit eam et alloquitur dicens: "Nata dulcis, noli de aliqua re cogitare, quia talem concupisti, quem ego, ex quo eum vidi, tibi coniungere adoptavi. Sed
ego tibi vere consentio, quia et ego amandofactus sum pater!' Et exiens foras respiciens Apollonium ait: 'Magister Apolloni, quia scrutavi filiam meam, quid ei in animo resideret nuptiarum causa, lacrimis fusis multa inter alia mihi narravit dicens et adiurans me ait: "luraveras magistro meo Apollonio ut, si desideriis meis in doctrinis paruisset, dares illi quidquid iratum abstulit mare. Modovero, quia paruit tuis praeceptis obsequiis ab ipso tibi factis et meac voluntati in doctrinis, aurum, argentum, vestes, mancipias aut possessiones non
quaerit, nisi solum regnum, quod putaverat perdidisse: tuo sacramento per mcam iunctionem hoc ei tradas!" Unde, magister Apolloni, peto, ne nuptias filiae meae fastidio habeas!’ Apollonius ait: ‘Quod a deo est, sit, et si tua est voluntas, impleatur!’ Rex ait: ‘Diem nuptiarum sine mora statuam.’
23. Postera vero die vocantur amici, invocantur vicinarum urbium potestates, viri magni atque nobiles. Quibus convocatis in unum pariter rex ait: ‘Amici, scitis quare vos in unum congregaverim? Qui respondentes dixerunt: "Nescimus.' Rexait: 'Scitote filiam meam velle nubere Tyrio Apollonio. Peto ut omnibussit laetitia, quia filia mea sapientissima sociatur viro prudentissimo.' Inter haec diem nuptiarum sine mora indicit et quando in unum se coniungerent, praccepit.
Quid multa? Dies supervenit nuptiarum, omneslacti atque alacres in unum conveniunt. Gaudet rex cum filia, gaudet ct Tyrius Apollonius, qui talem meruit habere coniugem. Celebrantur nuptiae regio more, decora. dignitate. Gaudet
1 quU Amo naufírajgiim a fortuna deceptum Sed ne teneam pietatem ciam ambiguitate seitionim. Apollonium. Dyriom, praeceptorem meum '
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said this, the king saw his face blushing scarlet, and understood the remark. He said with delight: ‘What my daughter wants is my wish too. For in a matter of this kind, nothing can be done without God.’ Looking at the three young men, he said: ‘I have already told you that it was not a good time to disturb me. Go away, and when the time comes I will send for you.’ So he dismissed them from his presence. 22. So the king took the hand of the man who was now his son-in-law, not his guest, and wentinto the palace. But he left Apollonius and wentin alone to his daughter, and said: ‘Sweet child, whom have you chosen as your husband? The girl threw herself at her father’s feet and said: ‘Dearest father, since you want to hear yourchild's desire: the man I want for my husband, the manI love, is the man who was cheated of his inheritance and shipwrecked, my teacher Apollonius®. If you will not give me to him, you will immediately lose your daughter!’ The king could not bear his daughter's tears; he lifted her up and said: ‘Sweet child, do not worry about anything. The man you wantis the very man I have wanted you to marry from the moment | saw him. I certainly give you my permission, for I too becamea father as a result of being in love!' He went out, looked at Apollonius, and said: 'Master Apollonius, when I questioned my daughter closely about her inclinations concerning marriage, she burst into tears and among manyother things which she told me, she madethis appeal to me: "You swore to my teacher Apollonius that if he complied with my wishes in his teaching, you would give him whatever the raging sca had taken away. Now that he has dutifully obeyed, and has carried out your orders and my wish in his teaching, he does not seek silver, gold, clothes, servants or possessions, but only the kingdom which he thought he had lost. So according to youroath, give it to him through marriage to me!" So, Master Apollonius, I beg you, do not be scornful of marriage with my daughter!’ Apollonius replied: ‘Let God's will be done;if it is your wish, let it be fulfilled.’ The king said: ‘I will fix the wedding day withoutdelay.' 23. The next day he summmonedhis friends and sentfor the rulers of neighbouring cities, great men and nobles. When they had gathered together the king said to them:‘Friends, do you know why I have assembled you together?" They answered: ‘We do not.’ The king said: ‘Let metell you that my daughter wishes to marry Apollonius of Tyre. I urge you all to rejoice that my very wise daughteris marrying a very clever man.’ In this speech he announced the wedding day without delay and told them when they should assemble. In short, the day of the wedding arrived, and they all assembled joyfully and cagerly. The king and his daughter were delighted, and so was Apollonius of Tyre, who deserved to get such a wife. The wedding was celebrated in the royal
BORE ove the shipwrecked man cheated by Fortune 1 will not hinder your poodness by riddling speech: Apollonius of Lyte, my teacher’
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universa civitas, exultant cives, peregrini et hospites. Fit magnum gaudium in citharis, lyris et canticis et organis modulatis cum vocibus. Peracta lactitia ingens amorfit inter coniuges, mirus affectus, incomparabilis dilectio, inaudita laetitia, quae perpetuacaritate complectitur.
24. Interpositis autem diebus atque mensibus, cum haberet puclla mense iam sexto ventriculum deformatum, advenit eius sponsus, rex Apollonius. Cum spatiatur in litore iuncta sibi puellula, vidit navem speciosissimam, et dum utrique eam laudarentpariter, recognovit eam Apollonius de sua esse patria. Conversus ait ad gubernatorem: ‘Dic mihi, si valeas, unde venisti" Gubernatorait: 'De Tyro.' Apolloniusait: 'Patriam meam nominasti.' Ad quem gubernatorait: ‘Ergo tu Tyrius es?" Apollonius ait: "Ut dicis: sic sum.' Gubernator ait: 'Vere mihi dignare dicere: noveras aliquem patriae illius principem, Apollonium nomine? Apollonius ait: 'Ut me ipsum, sic illum novi.' Gubernator non intellexit dictum et ait: 'Sic ego rogo, ut ubicumque eum videris, dic illi: Laetare et gaude, quia rex saevissimus Antiochus cum filia sua concumbens, dei fulmine percussus est. Opes autem et regnum eius servantur regi Apollonio.' Apollonius autem ut audivit, gaudio plenus conversus dixit ad coniugem: 'Domina, quod aliquando mihi naufrago credideras, modo comprobasti. Peto itaque, coniunx carissima, ut me permittas proficere et regnum devotum percipere.' Coniunx vero eius ut audivit eum velle proficere, profusis lacrimis ait: *Care coniunx, si alicubi in longinquo esses itinere constitutus, certe ad partum meum festinare debueras. Nunc vero, cum sis praesens, disponis me derelinquere? 20
25
Pariter navigemus: ubicumque fueris, scu in terris seu in mari, vita vel mors
ambos nos capiat Et haec dicens puella venit ad patrem suum, cuisic ait: 'Care genitor, lactare et gaude, quia saevissimus rex Antiochus cum filia sua concumbens a dco percussus est. Opes autem eius cum diademate coniugi meo servatae sunt. Propter quod rogo te,satis animo libenti permittas mihi navigare cum viro mco.Et ut libentius mihi permittas: unam remittis, en duas recipies!'
25. Rex vero, ut audivit omnia, gaudens atque exhilaratus est. Et continuo iubet naves adduci in litore et omnibus bonis impleri. Praeterea nutricem eius nominc Lycoridem et obstetricem peritissimam propter partum cius simul navigare iussit. Et data profectoria deduxit cos ad litus, osculatur filiam et generum et ventum eis optat prosperum. Reversus est rex ad palatium. Apollonius vero ascendit naves cum multa familia multoque apparatu atque copia, et flante vento certumiter navigant.
Qui dumper aliquantos dies totidemque mo tes eartis ventorum flatibus impio
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manner with appropriate grandeur. There was great rejoicing throughout the city; citizens, foreigners and guests revelled. Great joy was expressed with lutes and lyres and songs and organs melodiously accompanying voices. When the joyful feasting came to an end,great passion grew between the husband andwife, remarkable affection, unparalleled fondness, unheard-of happiness, encompassed by an unendinglove. 24. Somedays and monthslater, when it was already the sixth month and the girl's stomach was swelling, her husband king Apollonius came to her. When he was walking beside his dear girl on the sea shore, he saw a most beautiful ship; as they were both admiring it together, Apollonius recognized that it was from his owncountry. He turned to the helmsman and said: "Tell me, please, where do you come from” The helmsmansaid: ‘From Tyre.’ Apollonius said: ‘You have named my own country.’ The helmsmansaid: ‘So you are a Tyrian?’ Apolloniussaid: ‘As you say, so 1 am.’ The helmsmansaid: ‘Be kind enough to tell me the truth: did you know a prince of that country called Apollonius?’ Apollonius said: ‘I know him as well as | know myself. The helmsman did not understand this remark, and said: "Then I have a request: if you see him anywhere,tell him to rejoice and be glad, because the most cruel King Antiochus has been struck by God's thunderbolt as he was lying in bed with his own daughter. But his wealth and his kingdom are being kept for King Apollonius.' When Apollonius heard this, he turned to his wife, full of delight, and said: ‘Lady, now you have had confirmation of what you took on trust when I was shipwrecked.I ask your permission, dearest wife, to go and take possession of the kingdom being kept for me.' But when his wife heard that he wanted ro set off, she burst into tears and said: 'Dear husband, if you had been on a long joumey somewhere, you would certainly have had to hurry back to my confinement. But now, when you are here, are you planning to abandon me? Letussail together: whereveryou are, on land orsea,Ict us live or die together.’ After this speech the girl went to her father and said to him: ‘Dear father, rejoice and be glad, for the most cruel King Antiochus has been struck down by God as he was lying in bed with his own daughter; his wealth and crown are being kept for my husband. So please give me your willing permission to sctsail with my husband. To encourage you to let me go morewillingly, you are sending away one daughter,but think, youwill get two back!’ 25. When the king heard all this, he was delighted and rejoiced. At once he ordered ships to be drawn up on shore andfilled with all Apollonius's property. Because of his daughter's confinement he also ordered Lycoris, her nurse, and a very experienced midwife to sail with them. After a farewell banquet he escorted them to the shore, kissed his daughter and son-in-law, and wished them a fair wind. Then the king returned to the palace. But Apollonius embarked with many servants, and with a great quantity of equipment and money, and they set sail on a steady course with a following wind. lor several days and ITITREIIS they wee detuned on the Wie ked sea hy Various
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pelago detineretur, nono mense cogente Lucina* enixa est puella puellam. Sed secundis rursum redeuntibus coagulato sanguine conclusoque spiritu subito defuncta est". Non fuit mortua, sed quasi mortua. Quod cum videret familia cum clamore et ululatu magno, cucurrit Apollonius et vidit coniugem suam iacentem exanimem,scidit a pectore vestes unguibus et primas suae adulescentiae discerpit barbulas et lacrimis profusis iactavit se super corpusculum et coepit amarissime flere atque dicere: 'Cara coniunx,cara et unica regis filia, quid fuit de te? Quid respondebo pro te patri tuo aut quid de te proloquar, qui me naufragum suscepit pauperem et egenum? Et cum haec et his similia defleret atque ploraretfortiter, introivit gubernius, qui sic ait: 'Domine, tu quidem pie facis, sed navis mortuum sufferre non potest. Iube ergo corpus in pelagus mitti, ut possimus undarum fluctus evadere." Apollonius vero dictum aegre ferens ait ad eum: 'Quid narras, pessime hominum? Placet tibi ut eius corpus in pelagus mittam, quae me naufragum suscepit et egenum? Erantex servis eius fabri, quibus convocatis secari et compaginari tabulas, rimas et foramina picari praecepit, et facere loculum amplissimum et charta plumbea obturari iubet eum inter iuncturas tabularum. Quo perfecto loculo regalibus ornamentis ornat puellam, in loculo composuit et XX sestertia auri ad caput posuit. Dedit postremo osculum funeri, effudit super eam lacrimas ct iussit infantem tolli et diligenter nutriri, ut haberet in malis suis aliquod solatium etprofilia sua neptem regi ostenderet. Et iussit loculum mitti in mare cum amarissimofletu.
26. Tertia die eiciunt undae loculum: venit ad litus Ephesiorum, non longe a praedio cuiusdam medici. Qui in illa die cum discipulis suis deambulans iuxta litus vidit loculum effusis fluctibus iacentem ct ait famulis suis: "Tollite hunc loculum cum omnidiligentia et ad villam afferte.' Quod cum fecissent famuli, medicus libenter aperuit et vidit puellam regalibus ornamentis ornatam, speciosam valde et in falsa morte iacentem et ait: 'Quantas putamus lacrimas hanc puellam suis parentibus reliquisse!! Et videns subito ad caput eius pecuniam positam et subtus codicellos scriptos ait: "Perquiramus, quid desiderat aut mandat dolor Qui cum resignasset, invenit sic scriptum: Quicumque hunc loculum invenerit habentem in eo XX sestertia auri, peto ut X sestertia habeat, X uero funeri impendat. Hoc enim corpus multas dereliquit lacrimas et dolores amarissimos. Quodsi aliud fecerit quam dolor exposcit, ultimus suorum decidat, nec sit qui corpus suum sepulturae commendcer.' Perlectis codicellis ad famulos ait: "Praestetur corpori, quod imperat. dolor.
17 M defunctae tepraesentavitr effigiem DORB Ceremonts * Nas as cos aas
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strong winds. In the ninth month, at Lucina’s urging*, the girl gave birth to a girl. But the afterbirth went back again, her blood congealed, her breathing was blocked, and suddenly she died?*. She was not dead, but she seemed to be. When the servants saw this, and shouted and wailed loudly, Apollonius came running and saw his wife lying lifeless; he ripped the clothes from his breast with his nails, tore out the first growth of his youthful beard, and in a flood of tears threw himself on her slight body. He began to cry mostbitterly, and said: ‘Dear wife, beloved only daughter of a king, what has happened to you? How shall 1 answer for you to your father? Whar shall 1 say about you to the man who took mein, poor and needy, when I was shipwrecked?’ As he lamented in these and similar terms and wept profusely, the helmsman camein andsaid:‘Lord, your behaviour is quite proper, but the ship cannot bear a corpse. So give orders for the body to be thrown into the sea, so that we can escape the turbulent waves.’ Apollonius was upset by this speech, and said to him: ‘Whatare you saying, worst of men? Do you want meto throw into the sea the body of the woman whotook mein, poor and needy, after my shipwreck” There were some carpenters amongtheservants; he sent for them and ordered them to cut and join planks, and to stop up the cracks and holes with pitch; he told them to make a very spacious coffin, and to seal the joints with lead leaf. Whenthecoffin was ready he adorned thegirl in royal finery, laid herin it, and put twenty thousand gold sesterces at her head. He kissed the corpsefor the last time, and showered it with tears. Then he ordered the baby to be taken and nursed with great care, so that he might have some consolation among his troubles, and might show the king his granddaughter instead of his daughter. Weepingvery bitterly, he ordered the coffin to be throwninto the sea. 26. After two days the waves cast the coffin ashore: it arrived on the coast of Ephesus, notfar from the estate of a doctor. This man was walking on the shore that day with his pupils and saw the coffin lying where the waves had flowed away. Hesaid to his servants: ‘Pick up that box with the greatest care and carry it to my house.’ Whentheservants had donethis, the doctor eagerly opened it, and saw a very beautiful girl lying there adorned with royal jewels, apparently dead. ‘Think how manytears this girl bequeathed to herrelations!’ he said. Suddenly he saw the money which had been put at her head, and the rablet underneathit; he said: ‘Let usfind out the desires or instructions of Grief.’ When he broke the scal he found the following message: “Whoeverfinds this coffin, which contains twenty thousand gold sesterces, | beg him to keep ten thousand, but to spend ten thousand on afuneral. For this corpse hasleft behind many tears and mostbitter pricf. But if he does nor act accordingto this grief-stricken request, may he die as the last of his line, and may there be no onero give him burial.’ Whenhehadread the tablet, the doctor said to his servants: ‘Let us treat the
44 RB she pave the impression of berg dead AS RB Cetemon * Niue ia sens i
THOT
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luravi itaque per spem vitae meae in hoc funere amplius me erogaturum quam
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dolor exposcit.' Et haec dicens iubet continuo instrui rogum. Sed dumsollicite atque studiose rogus aedificatur atque componitur, supervenit discipulus medici, aspectu adulescens, sed quantum ingenio senex. Hic cum vidisset speciosum corpus super rogum velle poni, intuens magistrum ait: 'Unde hoc novum nescio quod funus?" Magister ait: 'Bene venisti: haec enim hora te expectat. Tolle ampullam unguenti et, quod est supremum, defunctae corpori puellae superfunde.' At vero adulescens tulit ampullam unguenti et ad lectum devenit puellae ct detraxit a pectore vestes, unguentem fudit et per omnesartus suspiciosa manu
retractat, sentitque a praecordiis pectoris torporis quietem?6. Obstupuit iuvenis, quia cognovit puellam in falsa morte iacere. Palpat venarum indicia, rimatur auras narium; labia labiis probat; sentit gracile spirantis vitam prope luctare cum morte adultera, et ait: ‘Supponite faculas per III] partes.’ Quod cum fecissent, lentas lectoque suppositas retrahere manus,* et sanguis ille, qui coagulatus fuerat, per unctionem liquefactusest.
27. Quod utvidit iuvenis, ad magistrum suum cucurrit etait: 'Magister, puella, quam credis esse defuncram,vivit! Et ut facilius mihi credas, spiritum praeclusum patefaciam! Adhibitis secum viribus tulit puellam in cubiculo suo et posuit super lectulum, velum divisit, calefacit oleum, madefacit lanam et effudit super pectus puellae. Sanguis vero ille, qui intus a perfrictione coagulatus fuerat, accepto tepore liquefactus est coepitque spiritus pracclusus per medullas descendere. Venis itaque patefactis aperuit puella oculos et recipiens spiritum, quem iam perdiderat, leni et balbutienti sermone ait: 'Deprecor itaque, medice, ne me contingasaliter, quam oportet contingere: uxor enim regis sum etregisfilia.' Iuvenis ut vidit quod in arte viderat quod magistro fallebat, gaudio plenus vadit ad magistrum suum etait: 'Veni magister, en discipuli tui apodixin!' Magister introivit cubiculum et ut vidit puellam iam vivam quam mortuam putabat,ait discipulo suo: 'Probo artem, peritiam laudo, miror diligentiam. Sed audi, discipule, nolo te artis beneficium perdidisse: accipe mercedem. Haec enim puella secum attulit pecuniam." Et dedit ei decem sestertia auri et iussit puellam salubribus cibis et fomentis recreari. Post paucos dies, ut cognovit eam regio gencre esse ortam,adhibitis amicis in filiam suam sibi adoptavit. Et rogavit cum lacrimis, nc
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corpse as the moumerasks. Indeed, as | hope to live, I have sworn that I will spend more onthis funeral than Grief demands. After this speech he ordered a pyre to be prepared at once. But while they were carefully and diligently building the pyre, there arrived a student of the doctor, a young manin appearance, but an old man in wisdom. Whenhe saw that the corpse of a beautiful girl was going to be put on the pyre, he looked at his master and said: ‘Where hasthis strange, unknown corpse come from?” The masterreplied: ‘I am glad that you have come; this is a time when you are needed. Take a flask of ointment and pourit over the body of the dead girl, in the lastrite.’ The young man took the flask of ointment, went to thegirl's couch, and drew her clothes back from her breast. He poured on ointmentand suspiciously examined all her limbs again with his hand, andfelt the stillness and numbness deep in her bosom. The young man was amazed, for he realized that thegirl was lying in a coma”. He checked herveinsfor signs of a pulse, and examined hernostrils for breathing, and tried her lips with his own. Hefelt the delicate breath oflife on the point of struggling with false death, and he said: ‘Puc little torches underneath atall four sides.’ When they had donethis, the girl began to draw back her hands which were dangling immobile under the bed;* as a result of the rubbing with ointmenther blood, which had coagulated, becameliquid. 27. When the young man saw this, he ran to his master and said: ‘Master, the girl whom you believe dead is alive! And so that you may believe me more readily, 1 will unblock her obstructed breathing.’ Taking equipmentwith him, he brought the girl into his own room and put her on the bed. He opened her coverings, warmed the oil, moistened some wool, and applied it to the girl's breast. Her blood, which had congealed because of the extreme cold, liquefied when it was warmed, and the force oflife which had been blocked began to penctrate her marrow. Whenherveins were cleared the girl opened her eyes and recovered the powerto breathe, which she had lost; in a soft and quavering voice shesaid : ‘I implore you, doctor, not to touch me exceptas is proper; for | am the wife of a king and the daughterof a king.’ When the young man saw that through his skill he had noticed what his teacher had missed, he was overjoyed. He went to his teacher and said: ‘Come, master, look at your pupil's demonstration.’ The teacher cameinto the bedroom, and when he saw that the girl whom he had believed to be dead was nowalive, he said to his pupil: ‘I commendyourskill, I praise your knowledge, I admire your attentiveness. But listen, my pupil, | do not want you to lose the benefit of your skill. Take the reward; for this girl brought moncy with her.’ So he gave him the ten thousand gold sesterces. Then he ordered that the girl be restored to health with nourishing foods and warm compresses. After a few days, when he learned that she was of royal birth, he summoned his friends and adopted her as his daughter. She made a tearful plea thar no man should touch her. He took heed,
46
RUIN DEL be teli the slighye wattith uni her Ix xly, and was amazed
* Note i on e
TKI
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ab aliquo contingeretur. Exaudivit eam etinter sacerdotes Dianae feminasfulsit et collocavit, ubi omnesvirgines inviolabiliter servabant castitatem. 28. Inter haec Apollonius cum navigat ingenti luctu, gubernante deo applicuit Tarsum, descendit ratem et petivit domum Stranguillionis et Dionysiadis. Qui cum eos salutavisset, omnes casus suos eis dolenter exposuit et ait: 'Quantum in amissam coniugem flebam, tantum in servatam mihifiliam consolabor. Itaque, sanctissimi hospites, quoniam ex amissa coniuge regnum, quod mihi servabatur, nolo accipere, sed neque reverti ad socerum, cuius in mari perdidi filiam, sed fungar potius opera mercatus, commendo vobis filiam meam: cum filia vestra? nutriatur et eam cum bonoet simplici animo suscipiatis atque patriae nominc
eam cognominetis Tarsiam. Praeterea et nutricem uxoris meae nomine Lycoridem vobis commendopariter et volo,utfiliam meam nutriat atque custodiar.' His dictis tradidit infantem, dedit aurum, argentum et pecunias nec non et vestes pretiosissimas, et iuravit fortiter ncc barbam nec capillos nec ungucs dempturum, nisi prius filiam suam nuptui traderet. At illi stupentes quod tam graviter iurasset, cum magnafide se puellam educaturos promittunt. Apollonius vero commendata filia navem ascendit altumque pelagus petens ignotas et longinquas ZEgypti regiones devenit.
29. Itaque puella Taria facta quinquennis traditur studiis artium liberalibus? et filia eorum cum ea docebatur: et ingenio et in auditu et in sermone et in morum honestate docentur. Cumque Taria ad XIIll annorum actatem venisset, reversa de auditorio invenit nutricem suam subitaneam valitudinem incurrisse, et sedens iuxta eam casus infirmitatis eius explorat. Nutrix vero eius elevans se dixit ei: 'Audi aniculae morientis verba suprema, domina Tarsia; audi et pectori tuo manda. Interrogo namque te, quem tibi patrem aut matrem aut patriam esse existimas? Puella ait: 'Patriam Tarsum, patrem Stranguillionem, matrem Dionysiadem.' Nutrix vero eius ingemuit et ait: 'Audi, domina mea Tarsia, stemmata originis tuorum natalium,ut scias quid post mortem meam facere debeas. Est tibi pater nomine Apollonius, mater vero Archistratis regis filia, patria Tyrus?. Dum mater tua enixa est, statim redeuntibus secundis praeclusoque spiritu ultimum fati signavit diem. *Quam pater tuus facto loculo cum ornamentis regalibus et XX sestertiis auri in mare permisit ut, ubi fuisset delata? ipsa testis sibi esset. Naves quoque luctantibus ventis cum patre tuo lugente et tc in cunabulis posita pervenerunt ad
HOMRBPhiliocamiade. 8 RI Nanniur ain scola, demde studiis liberalibus ORB Esc tili Cuenes solum patria ' RB "haberet in supremis exequias funeris sui,
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and supported her andestablished her amongthepriestesses of Diana, where all the virgins preserved their chastity inviolate. 28. Meanwhile Apollonius had sailed on, in deep mouming. Steered by God, he arrived at Tarsus, where he disembarked and made for the house of Stranguillio and Dionysias. After greeting them he sadly recounted all his misfortunes, and said: ‘However manytears | have shed for the the loss of my wife, I shall receive equal consolation from the survival of my daughter. Because of my wife's death, | do not want to accept the kingdom being held for me; nor to return to my father-in-law, whose daughter 1 have lost at sea; instead I shall become a merchant. So, most worthy hosts, I entrust my daughterto you, to be raised with your daughter’. Bring her up honestly and simply, and name her Tarsia after your country. Together with her, I also hand over to you my wife's nurse Lycoris: | wanther to rear my daughter and lookafter her.’ After this speech he handed over the baby, and gave them gold,silver and money, as well as very valuable clothes. He swore a great oath notto cut his beard or hair or nails until he had given away his daughter in marriage. They were amazed that he had swom such a solemnoath, and promised mostfaithfully to bring up thegirl. When Apollonius had handed over his daughter he boarded his ship, made for the open sea, and arrived in the unknownandfar-off parts of Egypt. 29. When Tarsia was five, she was put to study the liberal arts¥, and their daughter was taughtwith her. They were taught to use their intelligence, and the arts of listening, discussion and decent behaviour. When Tarsia was fourteen, she cameback from school to find that her nurse had suddenly been takenill. She sat down nextto her and asked aboutthe nature of herillness. But her nurse raised herself up and said to her: ‘Listen to the last words of an old woman who is dying, Lady Tarsia. Listen, and remember them in your heart. I have a questionfor you: whodo you think your father and mother are, and whatis your country” Thegirl said: 'My country is Tarsus, my father is Stranguillio, my mother is Dionysias.’ But the nurse sighed and said: 'Lady Tarsia,listen to your ancestry and family origins, so that you know what you must do after my death. Your father's name is Apollonius; your mother was the daughter of King Archistrates; Tyre is your native land?. When your mother gave birth, the afterbirth went back straightaway and her breathing was obstructed; she came to the end of her allotted span. ' Your father had a coffin made; he committed her to the sea with royalfinery and twenty thousand goldsesterces, so that wherevershe was carried,” she would be her own witness. Your father was in mourning, you were putin a cradle, and
28 58 4 10
ORB: RB: ORB: RB:
Plhulotimias. She was sent to school, and [started on] the liberal arts. The land of Cyrene is your country. she would have the list rites for her corpse in the end,
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hanc civitatem. His ergo hospitibus, Stranguillioni et Dionysiadi, te commendavit pariter cum vestimentis regalibus et sic votum faciens neque ?'capillos dempturum neque ungulas, donec te nuptui traderet? Nunc ergo post mortem meam, si quando tibi hospites tui, quos tu parentes appellas, forte aliquam iniuriam fecerint, ascende in forum et invenies statuam patris tui Apollonii: apprcehendestatuam et proclama: "Ipsius sum filia, cuius est haec statua!" Cives vero memores beneficiorum patris tui Apollonii liberabunt te necesse est?" 30. Cui Tarsia ait: 'Cara nutrix, testor deum, quod si fortasse aliqui casus mihi evenissent, antequam haec mihi referres, penitus ego nescissem stirpem nativitatis meae!’ Et cum haec adinvicem confabularentur, nutrix in gremio pucllac emisit spiritum. Puella vero corpus nutricis suae sepulturae mandavit?* lugens eam anno.Et deposito luctu induit priorem dignitatem et petiit scolam suam et ad studia liberalia reversa non prius sumebat cibum, nisi primo monumento intraret ferens ampullam vini et coronas. Et ibi manes parentum suorum invoca-
31. Et dum haec aguntur, quodam dic feriato Dionysias cum filia sua nomine Philomusia et Tarsia puella transibat per publicum. Videntes omnces cives speciem Tarsiae ornatam, omnibuscivibus et honoratis miraculum apparebat atque omnesdicebant: ‘Felix pater, cuius filia est Tarsia; illa vero quae adhaeret lateri eius multum turpis est atque dedecus.' Dionysias vero, ut audivit laudare Tarsiam et suam vituperare filiam, in insaniae furorem conversaest. Et sedenssola coepit cogitare taliter: 'Pater eius Apollonius, ex quo hinc profectus est, habet annos XIIII et nunquam venit ad suam recipiendam filiam, nec nobis misit litteras. Puto quia mortuuscst aut in pelago periit. Nutrix vero eius decessit. Neminem habeo aemulum. Nonpotestfieri hoc, quod excogitavi, nisi ferro aut venenotollam illam de medio, et ornamentiseius filiam meam ornabo.' Et dum haec secum cogitat, nuntiatur ei villicum venisse nomine Theophilum. Quem ad se convocansait: 'Si cupis habere libertatem cum praemio,tolle Tarsiam de medio.' Villicus ait: 'Quid enim peccavit virgo innocens? Scelesta mulierait: 'lam mihi non pares? Tantum fac quod iubeo. Sin alias, sentias esse contra te iratos dominum et dominam." Villicus ait: 'Et qualiter hoc potestficri?
A
[*]
9 RD:'barbam, .. .' RB: ‘Et cumsuis ascendit ratem et ad nubiles tuos annos ad vota persolvenda non remeavit. Sed nec pater tuus, qui tanto tempore moras in redeundo facit, nec scripsi nec salutis suae nuntium tisit: forsitan peri? RI "iniuriam tuam vindi abuni' RI aubente Taria i litore dli monumentum (abri arutn es -
wn
bat.
ITE
€ CasSUOS Olbics exponeret et
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because of the turbulent winds the ships arrived at this city. So your father entrusted you to these friends, Stranguillio and Dionysias, together with some splendid clothes. He also took a vow notto cut *"his nails or his hair until he gave you in marriage.? Now after my death, if your hosts, whom you call parents, should happen to do you any harm, go up to the forum and you will find the statue of your father Apollonius. Cling to the statue and cry out: “I am the daughter of the man whose statue this is!” Then the citizens, remembering the benefactions of your father Apollonius, will certainly rescue you®®.’ 30. Tarsia said to her: ‘Dear nurse, God is my witness that if by chance any such thing had happened to me before you revealed this to me, 1 should have been absolutely ignorant of my ancestry and birth.' As they were having this conversation together, the nurse breathed herlast in the girl's lap. Tarsia organised thc burial of her nurse, and mourned herfor a year'*. When she took off her mourning, she dressed in suitably splendid clothes again, and went to school, an returned to herstudy of the liberal arts. But she never touched food until she had goneinto the tomb with a flask of wine and garlands, and shecalled on the spirits of her parentsthere®>. 31. While this was happening, Dionysias was walking about in the streets on i holiday with her daughter, whose name was Philomusia, and with young Tarsia. Whenthey saw Tarsia’s beauty and finery, all the citizens and officials thought her a marvel, and keptsaying: "Tarsia's father is a lucky man; but that girl at her side is very ugly and a disgrace.' When Dionysias heard Tarsia praiscd and her own daughtercriticized, she became furiously angry. She sat down alone and began thinking as follows:‘It is fourteen years since her father Apolloniusset out from here, and he has never come back to collect his daughter, or sent us a letter. I think it is because he has died, or perished at sea. Her nurse is dead. No one stands in my way. My plan cannot be accomplished unless I do away with her, by the sword or by poison; and I shall adorn my daughterin herfinery.’ While she was pondering this, she was told that an overseercalled Theophilus had arrived. She summoned him and said: ‘If you want your freedom and a reward, do away with Tarsia.’ The overseer said: ‘Whar has the innocent pirl done wrong” 'Are you disobeying me already” said the wicked woman. ‘Just do what I tell you. If you do not, you mayfeel the wrath of your master and mistress."
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"ORB: his beard, i. "RB: Then he embarked with his men, and now chat you are old enough to marry he has not returned to fulfil his vow. But your father has put off hus retain for such a long: time, and has not written or sent news of his wellbeing perhaps he is dead ' RB: fwall avenge your wrongs’ RB On Faris orders a tomb was etected for her by the shore 15 RB and recounted all her imistortunes, and wept
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
Scelesta mulier ait: ‘Consuetudo sibi est, ut mox de scola venerit, non prius cibum sumat antequam monumentum suaenutricis intraverit. Oportet te ibi cum
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30
pugione abscondere, et eam venientem interfice et proice corpus eius in mare. Et cum adveneriset de hoc facto nuntiaveris, cum praemiolibertatem accipics.’* Villicus tulit pugionem et latere suo celat et intuens caelum ait: ‘Deus, ego non merui libertatem acciperenisi per effusionem sanguinis virginis innocentis? Et haec dicens suspirans et flens ibat ad monumentum nutricis Tarsiac et ibi latuit. Puella autem rediens de scola solito more fudit ampullam vini et ingressa monumentum posuit coronas supra; et dum invocat manes parentum suorum, villicus impetum fecit et aversae puellae capillos apprehendit et cam iactavit in terram??. Et cum eam vellet percutere, ait ad eum puclla: "Theophile, quid peccavi, ut manu tua innocens virgo moriar? Cuivillicus ait: "Tu nihil peccasti, scd pater tuus peccavit Apollonius, qui te cum magna pecunia et vestimentis rcgalibus reliquit Stranguillioni et Dionysiadi.' Quod puella audiens eum cum lacrimis deprecata est: 'Si iam nulla est vitae mcac spes aut solatium, permitte metestari dominum.' Cui villicus ait: "Testare. Et deus ipse scit voluntate me hoc scelus non facere.'
32. Itaque puella cum dominum deprecatur, subito adveneruntpiratae ct videntes hominem armata manu velle percutcere??, exclamaverunt dicentes: "Parce, barbare, parce et noli occidere! Haec enim nostra praeda est et non tua victima.' Sed ut audivit villicus vocem, eam dimittit et fugit ct coepit latere. post monumentum.Piratae applicantes ad litus tulerunt virginem et collantes altum petierunt pelagus. Villicus post moram rediit, et ut vidit puellam raptam a morte, deo gratias egit quod nonfecit scelus. Et reversus ad dominam suam ait: 'Quod praecepisti, factum est; comple quod mihi promiscras.' Scelesta mulier ait: 'Homicidium fecisti, insuper et libertatem petis? Revertere ad villam et opus tuum facito, ne iratos dominum et dominam sentias!" Villicus itaquc ut audivit elevans ad caelum oculos dixit: "Tu scis, deus, quod nonfeci scelus. Esto iudex internos.' Et ad villam suam abiit. *Tunc Dionysias apud semet ipsam consiliata pro scelere quod excogitaverat, quomodo possit facinus illud celare, ingressa ad maritum suum Stranguillionem sic ait: 'Care coniunx, salva coniugem,salva filiam nostram. Vituperia in grandem mefuriam concitaveruntet insaniam. Subitoque apud me excoritavi dicens: "Ecce, iam sunt anni plus XIIII ex quo nobis suus pater commendavit Tarsiam, et numquam salutarias nobis misit litteras: forsitan aut afflictione luctus est mortuus
5 quU Villicus licet spe libertatis seductus, timen cum dolore discessit. VOR ectraxe ad litus. " [RU ec videntes puellam sub igo mortis stare °
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Theoverseer said: ‘How can it be done?” The wicked womansaid:‘It is her habit, as soon as she comes from school and before she eats anything, to go to her nurse's tomb. You must hide there with a dagger: whenshearrives, kill her and throw her body into the sea. When you comeandtell me that the deed is done, you will receive your freedom and a reward. The overseer took a dagger and hid it at his side. Looking up to heaven he said: ‘God, have I not earned my freedom withoutspilling the blood of an innocentgirl? With these words he went, sighing and weeping, to the tomb of Tarsia's nurse, and hid there. When Tarsia came back from school, in the usual way she poureda flask of wine, went into the tomb, and hungup wreaths. As she was calling on the shades of her parents, the overseer attacked her, seized her from behind by the hair, and threw her to the ground?’. As he was goingto strike her, thegirl said to him: ‘Theophilus, what have I done wrong, that an innocent girl should die at your hand” Hesaid to her: ‘You have done nothing wrong, but your father Apollonius was at fault to leave you in the care of Stranguillio and Dionysias with lots of money and royal robes.’ On hearingthis the girl burst into rears and entreated him:‘If there is no hope oflife or solace for me, let me pray to God.’ The overseer replied: ‘Do pray. For God Himself knows that 1 do not commit this crime willingly.’ 32. While thegirl was praying to the Lord, somepirates suddenly arrived. Seeing a man with a weaponin his hand, aboutto strike?5, they called out: ‘Spare her, you thug, spare her, don’t kil! her! This girl is booty for us, not your victim.’ When the overseer heard this shout he let Tarsia go, and ran away and hid behind the tomb. The pirates put in to the shore, took the girl, and sailed off, making for the open sea. After waiting a while, the overseer came back: when he saw that the girl had been snatched from death, he thanked God that he had not committed a crime. He went back to his mistress and said: "What you ordered has been done. Fulfil your promise to me.’ The wicked woman replied: ‘You have committed a murder: do you expect freedom on top of that? Go back to the farm and get on with your work, or youwill feel the wrath of your master and mistress.’ Whenthe overseer heard that he raised his eyes to heaven andsaid: ‘You know, God, that I have not committed a crime. Be the judge between us.’ And he went off to his farm. *Then Dionysias turned over in her mind how she could conceal the crime which she had planned. She went in to her husband Stranguillio and said: ‘Dear husband, save your wife, and save our daughter. Insults drove me into a madrage, and [suddenly thought to myself: “Indeed, more than fourteen years have passed ince Tarsia was left in our care by herfather, and he has never sent us any letter of greeting. Perhaps be has died of grief, or he must have perished in the stormy
fe RB Seduced by the hope of freedom, but feeling sad, the overseer left. "ORI and dragged her to the shore " [UI seemagoil on the pou ol death * None ion e
PA
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
aut certe inter fluctus maris et procellas periit. Nutrix vero cius defuncta cst. Nullum habeo aemulum. Tollam Tarsiam de medio et eius ornamentis nostram ornabo filiam." Quod et factum esse scias! Nunc vero propter civium curiositatem ad praesens indue vestes lugubres, sicut facio ego, etfalsis lacrimis dicamus eam subito dolore stomachi fuisse defunctam. Hic prope in suburbio faciamus rogum maximum ubi dicamus eam essc positam." Stranguillio ut audivit, tremor et stupor in cum irruit ct ita respondit: 'Equidem da mihi vestes lugubres, ut lugeam me, qui talem sum sortitus sceleratam coniugem. Heu mihi! Pro dolor'', inquit, 'Quid faciam, quid agam de patre cius, quem primo cum suscepissem, cum civitatem istam a morte et periculo famis liberavit, meo suasu egressus est civitatem: propter hanc civitatem naufragium incidit, mortem vidit, sua perdidit, exitum penuriac perpessus est; a deo vero in mclius restitutus malum pro bono, quasi pius, non excogitavit neque ante oculos illud habuit, sed omnia oblivioni ducens, insuper adhuc memor nostri in bono, fidem cligens, remunerans nos et pios acestimans, filiam suam nutriendam tradidit, tantam simplicitatem et amorem circa nos gerens, ut civitatis nostrac filiae suae nomen imponeret. Heu mihi, cacecatus sum! Lugeam me et innocentem virginem, qui iunctus sum ad pessimam venenosamqueserpentem et
VIRGINI BENEFICIIS TYRII APOLLONII EX AERE COLLATO FECERUNT.
€
33. Igitur qui Tarsiam rapuerunt adveneruntin civitatem Mytilenen. Deponiturque inter cetera mancipia ct venalis foro proponitur. Audiens autem hoc
*
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iniquam coniugem!" Et in caelum levans oculosait: 'Deus, tu scis quia purus sum a sanguine Tarsiae, et requiras et vindices illam in Dionysiade.' Et intuens uxorem suam ait: 'Quomodo, inimica dei, celare poteris hoc nefandum facinus? Dionysias vero induit se et filiam suam vestes lugubres falsasque infundit lacrimas et cives ad se convocans, quibusait??: 'Carissime cives, idco vos clamavimus, quia spem luminum etlabores et exitus annorum nostrorum perdidimus: id est, Tarsia, quam bene nostis, nobis cruciatuset fletus reliquit amarissimos; quam digne sepelire fecimus.'9 Tunc perguntcives, ubi figuratum fuerat sepulcrum a Dionysiade, et pro meritis ac beneficiis Apollonii, patris Tarsiae, fabricantes rogum ex aere collato et scripserunt taliter: DII MANES CIVES TARSI TARSIAE
RB: Postera die prima luce scelerata, ut. admissum | facinus. insidiosa. fraude. celaret, famulos misit ad convocandos amicos et patriae principes; Qui convenientes consederunt Tunc scelerata lugubres vestes induta, linians Canibus, nudo et livido pectore adfumans dolorem exit de cubiculo. Fu ts fingens Licrumas aut RB Pateae prins ipes: adf£iriiationem sermonis ex habia: Japgubit, fallacibus Tiris sedu ti, crediderunt
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scas. Tarsia’s nurse has died. No one stands in my way.I will get rid of Tarsia and adorn our daughter with herfinery.” Let me tell you that this has actually happened. But now, because of the curiosity of the citizens, put on mourning clothes for the time being, as I am doing, and let us announce with feigned tears that Tarsia has died from a sudden stomachpain. Let us build an enormous tomb on the outskirts of the town, where we cansay that she is buried.’ When Stranguillio heard this he was amazed and began to tremble, and he answered thus: ‘Yes, give me moumingclothes, so that I can mourn for myself, whoselot it is to have such a wicked wife. Alas! Oh, the grief!’ he said. ‘What shall I do, how shall I deal with her father? WhenI first took him in, when he
delivered this city from death and from the threat of famine, it was at my encouragementthat heleft the city. Because of this city he was shipwrecked, faced death, lost all his possessions, endured the fate of poverty. But when God restored him to better fortune, as he was a moral man,he did not think of doing evil for good, nor kept the idea in mind, butletit all be forgotten; furthermore, he rememberedus kindly in his prosperity, singling out our loyalty, rewardingus, thinking us responsible people. He handed over his daughter to us to rear, and treated us with such honesty andaffection that he named his daughterafter our city. Alas, | have been blind. Let me mourn for myself and for the innocentgirl, for I am yoked to a most evil and poisonous snake, a wicked wife!’ Raising his eyes to heaven he said: ‘God, you know that I am innocent of Tarsia’s blood. Seek her out, and take vengeance for her on Dionysias.’ Looking at his wife he said: ‘Enemy of God, how will you be able to hide this abominable crime” But Dionysias dressed herself and her daughter in mourning and weptfeigned tears. ?She summoned the citizens and addressed them: 'Dearest citizens, we have summoned you because we havelost the hope ofoureyes, the object of our labours, the goal of ourlives: | mean that Tarsia, whom you know well, hasdied, lcaving us tormentandbitter tears. We have had hersuitably buried.’ Then the citizens went to the tomb which Dionysias had had made. Because of the kindness and benefactions of Apollonius, Tarsia’s father, they had a monumentraised by public subscription, and put the following inscription on it: TO THE SPIRITS OF HE DEAD: THE CITIZENS OF TARSUS ERECTED THIS MONUMENT BY SUBSCRIPTION TO THE MAIDEN TARSIA BECAUSE OF THE BENEFACTIONS OF APOLLONIUS OF TYRE.
43. So Tarsia’s abductors arrived in the city of Mytilene. She was landed among the other slaves and put up for sale in the market-place. The news reached a
=
8 ORB: The next day at dawn in order to conceal her crime by cunning deceit, the wicked woman sent servants to summon her friends and the rulers of the land. They arrived anc sat down together, Then the wicked woman put on mourning clothes, tore her hou, and demonstrating sorrow by her bare and bruised bieast, she came out of the bedroom. Feapning tears, she scan RB: The rulers of dhe lind behe ved ‘the declaration she made because of her mourming chess, persuaded hy ber leaned tears
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leno*!, vir infaustissimus, nec virum nec mulierem voluit emere nisi Tarsiam puellam, et coepit contendere ut eam emeret. Sed Athenagoras nomine, princeps eiusdem civitatis, intelligens nobilem et sapientem et pulcherrimam virginem ad venalia positam, obtulit decem sestertia auri. Sed leno XX dare voluit. Athenagoras obtulit XXX, leno XL, Athenagoras L, leno LX, Athenagoras LXX, leno LXXX, Athenagoras LXXXX, leno in praesenti dat C sestertia auri ct dicit: 'Si
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quis amplius dederit, X dabo supra.’ Athenagorasait: ‘Ego si cum hoc lenone contendere voluero, ut unam emam, plurium venditor sum. Sed permittam eum emere, et cum ille eam in prostibulo posuerit, intrabo prior ad cam et cripiam nodum virginitatis eius vili pretio, et erit mihi ac si eam emerim.’ Quid plura? Addicitur virgo lenoni, a quo introducitur in salutatorio ubi habebat Priapum aureum, gemmis et auro reconditum. Et ait ad eam: 'Adora numenpraesentissimum meum.' Puella ait: 'Numquid Lampsacenus es?*?* Leno ait: 'Ignoras, misera, quia in domumavari lenonis incurristi? Puclla vero ut haec audivit, toto corpore contremuit et prosternens se pedibus eius dixit: 'Miscrere mei, domine, succurre virginitati meae! Et rogo te, ne velis hoc corpusculum sub tam turpi titulo prostituere.' Cui leno ait: 'Alleva te, misera: tu autem nescis quia apud lenonem et tortorem nec preces nec lacrimae valent. Et vocavit ad se villicum puellarum et ait ad eum: 'Cella ornetur diligenter in qua scribatur titulus: Qui Tarsiam virginem violare voluerit, dimidiam auri libram dabit; postea vero singulos aureos populo patcbit.' Fecit villicus, quod iusserat ei dominus suus leno.
34. Tertia die antecedente turba cum symphoniacis ducitur ad lupanar. Sed Athenagorasprincepsaffuit prior et velato capite ingreditur ad lupanar. Sed dum fuisset ingressus, sedit; et advenit Tarsia ct procidit ad pedes eius et ait: ‘Miscrere mei! Per iuventutem tuam^ te deprecor ne velis me violare sub tam turpi titulo. Contine impudicam libidinem et audi casus infirmitatis meae vel originem stemmatum considera.' Cui cum universos casus suos exposuisset, princeps confusus
est et pietate ductus vehementer obstupuit et ait ad cam: 'Erige te. Scimus fortunae casus: homines sumus. Habeoet ego filiam virginem, ex qua similem possum casum metuere.' Haec dicens protulit XL aureos et dedit in manuvirginis et dicit ei: 'Domina Tarsia, ecce habes plus quam virginitas tua expostulat.
^! 4 8 44 S8
RB: leno Leoninus nomine cupidissimus et locupletissimus, nec vir ncc femina, . . RB: Leno ait: ‘Quare” Puella ait: Quia cives Fampsacem Priapum colunt." RI 'Aesante, cella ubi Briseis stat, exornetur dilipenter .. ' RD "et per deum' WR ex amissa conie filiam bun! * Nose issus n
EMT
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pimp*', an extremely disreputable man. He was not interested in buying anyone, malc or female, except Tarsia, and he beganto bid for her. But when the prince of the city, Athenagoras, realized that the girl up for sale was of noble birth, intelligent and very beautiful, he bid ten thousand gold sesterces for her. But the pimp bid twenty thousand. Athenagoras bid thirty thousand, the pimp forty thousand, Athenagoras fifty thousand, the pimp sixty thousand, Athenagoras seventy thousand, the pimp eighty thousand, Athenagoras ninety thousand. At once the pimp put down one hundred thousand gold sesterces and said: ‘If anyoneoffers more, I will go ten thousand higher.’ Athenagorassaid:‘If I want to compete with this pimp, I shall have to sell several slaves to buy one girl. So 1 will let him buy her, and when he puts herin the brothel I will be herfirst client,
and will deflower her for a low price, and I shall feel just as if I had boughther.’ What more need be said? The pimp bought the girl and led her into a reception room where he had a statue of Priapus made of gold, covered with precious stones and gold. He said to her: ‘Worship my god, whois very powerful.’ Thegirl asked: ‘Do you come from Lampsacus??* The pimpsaid: ‘Wretched girl, don't you know that you have entered the house of a greedy pimp? When Tarsia heard this, she trembled all over; throwing herself at his fect she begged: 'Have pity on me, master, protect my virginity! [ implore you not to prostitute my
tender body undersucha vile sign.’ The pimpreplied: ‘Get up, you wretch. You do not realize that neither prayers nor tears have any effect on pimpsor torturers.’ He summonedthe overseer in charge of the girls and said to him: ‘Have a room carefully decoratedand put this sign on it: “Whoever wants to deflower Tarsia will pay half a pound of gold; but after that she will be open to the public for one gold piece.” ' The overseer did as his master the pimp hadtold him. 34. Two days later Tarsia was taken to the brothel, preceded by a crowd and musicians. Prince Athenagoras arrived first; he covered his head and wentinto the brothel. When he camein, he sat down. Tarsia went overto him,fell at his feet, and said: ‘Have pity on me! I implore you by your youth*, do not dishonour me under such a vile sign. Restrain your shameless lust, and listen to the wretched misfortunes of a helpless woman, think of my ancestry.’ When she had told him all her misfortunes, the prince was disconcerted and moved bypity. In his great astonishment he said to her: ‘Get up. We all know the mishaps of fortune; we are all human.1 too have a daughter whois a virgin: I can be afraid of a similar disaster in her case.’ With these words he produced forty pieces of gold and put them in Tarsia’s hand. ‘Lady Tarsia,’ he said, ‘here is more than the
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RB: who was called Leoninus, and was very greedy andvery rich; he was neither man nor woman; ... * OUThe punp sau; Why? The girl said: ‘Because the people of Lampsacus worship Priapus. WORD: Aman, have the room where Briseis was carefully decorated .. 8 RI "and by God $8 RIIV a two year ollbldaughter by my wife; who i dead * Note on o
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
Advenientibus age similiter, quousque liberaberis.' Puella vero profusis lacrimis ait: 'Ago pietati tuae maximasgratias.*^ Quoexeunte collega suusaffuit et ait: 'Athenagora, quomodo tecum novitia? Athenagoras ait: 'Non potest melius: usque ad lacrimas!! Et haec dicens eum subsecutus est. Quo introeunte insidiabatur, exitus rerum videre. Ingresso itaquc illo Athenagorasforis stabat. Solito more puella claudit hostium. Cui iuvenis ait: 'Si salva sis, indica mihi, quantum dedit ad te iuvenis qui ad te modointroivit? Puella ait: 'Quater denos mihi aureos dedit.’ luvenis ait: 'Malum illi sit! Quid magnum illi fuisset, homini tam diviti, si libram auri tibi daret integram? Ut ergo scias me esse meliorem, tolle libram auri integram." Athenagoras vero deforis stans dicebat: 'Quantum plus dabis, plus plorabis!’ Puella autem prostravit se ad eius pedes et similiter casus suos exposuit: confudit hominem etavertit a libidine. Et ait iuvenis ad eam: 'Alleva te, domina! Et nos homines sumus, casibus subiacentes." Puella aic: 'Ago pietati tuae maximasgratias*!.'
35. Et exiens foris invenit Áthenagoram ridentem et ait: ‘Magnus homocs! Non habuisti cui lacrimas tuas propinares?'* Et adiurantes se invicem nealicui proderent, aliorum coeperunt expectare exitum. Quid plura? Illis expectantibus per occultum aspectum, omnes quicumqueinibant dantes singulos aureos ploran-
tes abscedebant. Facta autem huius rei fine obtulit puella pecuniam lenonidicens: 'Ecce pretium virginitatis meae.' Et ait ad eam leno: 'Quantum melius est hilarem te esse et non lugentem! Sic ergo age, ut cotidie mihi latiores pecunias adferas.' Item ait ad eum altera die: 'Ecce pretium virginitatis meae, quod similiter precibus et lacrimis collegi, et custodio virginitatem meam.' Hoc audito iratus est leno eo, quod virginitatem suam servaret, et vocat ad se villicum puellarum et ait ad eum: 'Sic te tam neglegentem esse video, ut nescias Tarsiam virginem esse. Si enim virgo tantum adfert, quantum mulicr? Duc cam ad te et tu eripe nodum virginitatis eius.' Statim eam villicus duxit in suum cubiculum et ait ad eam: 'Verum mihidic, Tarsia, adhuc virgo es?' Tarsia puella ait: "Quamdiu vult deus, virgo sum." Villicus ait: 'Unde ergo his duobus diebus tantam pecuniam obtulisti?" Puclla dixit: 'Lacrimis meis, exponens ad omnes universos casus meos; etilli dolentes miscrentur
virginitati meae.' Et prostravit se ad pedes cius et ait: 'Miserere mei, domine,
46. RI: "Rogo ne aliaa narres quae a ee audisti Arhenagoras ait: "8i narravero, filia mea, cum ad tuam venerit aetatem, patiatur similem poenam ' Ftcum lk rimis discessit 8 OU Ier peto ne ouquamnares, quae a ie audisti" Note js on n.
PHI
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price demanded for your virginity. Behave in the same way with all comers, until you are freed.’ Tarsia wept and said: ‘I am extremely grateful for your compassion.” When Athenagoras went out he met a companion whoasked him: ‘Athenagoras, how did you get on with the newgirl” Athenagorassaid: ‘It couldn’t have been better: even tears!’ After this conversation Athenagorasfollowed him when he went inside, and lay in wait to see how things would turn our. So he wentin and Athenagoras stayed outside. The girl closed the door in the usual way. The young mansaid to her: ‘Please tell me, how much did you get from the young man who camcin to you just now?’ Thegirl said: ‘He gave meforty gold pieces.’ ‘Damn him!’ said the young man.‘For such a rich man it would not have been much to give you a whole pound of gold! To show you that | am a better man, here is a whole pound of gold.' But Athenagoras, who was standing outside, said: ‘The more you give, the more you will cry!’ The girl threw herself at his feet and told him her misfortunes in the same way as before. He was disconcerted and distracted from his lust. He said to her: ‘Get up, lady! We are human too, and subject to misfortunes.’ Thegirl replied: ‘I am extremely grateful for your compassion‘?.’ 35. When he wentoutside he found Athenagoras laughing, and said to him: "You're a great man! Did you have no one over whom to shed your tears?* They both swore not to betray her to anyone, and began to watch the others coming out. What more is there to tell? They watched from a hidden place: whoever went in handed over some gold pieces and came out crying. When this came to an end Tarsia gave the money to the pimp, and said: ‘Here is the price of my virginity.’ The pimp said: ‘How much betterit is when you are cheerful, not sad! Carry on like this, so that you bring me more moneyevery day.’ The next day she said to him again: ‘Here is the price of my virginity: I collected it as before with icars and prayers, and I preserve myvirginity.’ When he heard this the pimp was furious that she wasstill a virgin. He called the overscerin charge of the girls and said to him: ‘I see you are so careless that you do not know that Tarsia is a virgin. If she brings in so much as a virgin, what will she bring as a woman? Take her to your room and deflowerher.’ The overseer rook her to his room at once andsaid to her: ‘Tell me the truth, ‘Tarsia, are you still a virgin?’ The girl Tarsia said: ‘For as long as God wishes, I am a virgin.’ The overseer said: ‘Then where did you get so much moncyin these two days?” The girl said: ‘With my tears: I told all the men the whole story of my misfortunes, and they were upset and took pity on my virginity.” She threw herself at his feet and said: "Have pity on me, master, help the captive daughter of
*5 quis Please do noc tell anyone what you have heard from imc! Athenaporas sad: "If d do, may my daughter suffer sumar hardslup when she teaches your ape” Tle left in tears 8 UV Sand Phep you not to tell anyone what you have heard from me! * Note ion 6
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36. Puella respondit: 'Habeo auxilium studiorum liberalium, perfecte erudita sum; similiter et lyrae pulsu modulanter inludo. Iube crastina in frequenti loco poni scamna, et facundia sermonis mei spectaculum praebeo**; deinde plectro modulabor et hac arte ampliabo pecunias cotidie.' Quod cumfecisset villicus,?? tanta populi adclamatio rantusque amorcivitatis circa cam excrebruit, ut etviri et feminae cotidie ei multa conferrent. Athenagoras autem princeps memoratam Tarsiam integrae virginitatis et generositatis ita eam custodiebat ac si unicam suam filiam,ita ut villico multa donaret ct commendaret eam.
37. Et cum haec Mytilena aguntur, venit Apollonius post quattuordecim annos ad civitatem Tarsiam?' ad domum Stranguillionis et Dionysiadis. Quem videns Stranguillio de longe perrexit curso rapidissimo ad uxorem suam dicensei: 'Certe dixeras Apollonium perisse naufragio; et ecce, vcnit ad repetandam filiam suam. Quid dicturi sumus patri de filia, cuius nos fuimus parentes?Scelerata mulicr hoc audito toto corpore contremuit etait: 'Miserere! Ut dixi, coniunx, tibi confiteor: dum nostram diligo, alienam perdidifiliam. Nunc ergo ad praesens indue vestes lugubres et fictas fundamus lacrimas et dicamus eam subito dolore stomachi interisse. Qui cum nostali habitu viderit, credet." Et dum haec aguntur, intrat Apollonius domum Stranguillionis, a frontc comamaperit, hispidam ab ore removit barbam. Utvidit eos in lugubre veste,ait: ‘Hospites fidelissimi — si tamen in vobis hoc nomen permanet — ut quid in adventu meo largas effunditis lacrimas? Ne forte istae lacrimae non sint vestrae sed meae propriae? Scelerata mulier ait cum lacrimis: "Utinam quidem istud nuntium alius ad aures vestras referret, et non ego aut coniunx meus. Nam scito Tarsiam filiam tuam a nobis subitaneo dolore stomachifuisse defunctam.' Apollonius ut audivit, tremebundus toto corpore palluit diuque maestus constitit. Sed postquam recepit spiritum, intuens mulierem sic ait: "Tarsia filia mca ante paucos dies decessit. Numquid pecunia aut ornamenta aut vestes perierunt?
48 RB: 'ne mevelis violare.'
*9 RD: 'et casus meos omnes exponam. Quoscumque nodos quaestionum proposuerint, exsolvam, et hac arte . . . 50. RB: omnis actas populi ad videndam Tarsiam virginem cucurrit. Puella ut. vidit ingentem. populum, introiit in. facundiam ons studtorumaque abundantiam; ingcnio quaes tones sibi promcebat et solvebat RI er operto capite ne à quoquam civit deformis npn eretur,
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HISTORIA APOLLONII REGIS TYRI
subveni captivae regis filiae**!’ Cumque ci universos casus suos exposuissct, motus misericordia ait ad eam: "Nimis avarus est iste leno. Nescio si tu possis virgo permanere."
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a king.” When she had told him all her misfortunes, he was moved by pity, and said to her: ‘That pimpis too greedy. | do not know if you will be able to stay a virgin.’
36. Tarsia replied: ‘I have the benefit of the study of the liberal arts: 1 am fully educated. 1 can also play the lyre with a rhythmic beat. Have benches put up tomorrow in some crowdedplace, and I shall offer entertainment with my eloquenttalk*. Then I shall make music with a plectrum, and through this skill I shall make more money every day.’ The servant did this;? so great was the people's applause, so great was the citizens! love for her, that both men and womengave hera lot of money every day. Tarsia became famous for her pure virginity and her noble nature, and prince Athenagoras watched overherasif she were his own only daughter, to the extentthat he gave a lot of moncy to the overseer and entrusted herto him. 37. While this was happening at Mytilene, Apollonius arrived at Tarsus after fourteen years and?! came to the house of Stranguillio and Dionysias. When Stranguillio saw him a long way off, he ran very fast to his wife, saying to her: "You said it was certain that Apollonius had died in a shipwreck. Look, heis comingto fetch his daughter. Whatshall we tell the father about his daughter, to whom we were parents?’ The wicked woman trembled all over when she heard this, and said: ‘Be merciful! I confess it is as 1 said, husband. Because | love our own daughter, I killed the daughter who was not ours. Now put on mouming clothes for the time being, and let us weep false tears, and say that she died suddenly from a stomach pain. Whenhescesus in these clothes, he will believe it.’
Meanwhile, Apollonius came into Stranguillio’s house; he pushed away the
hair from his forehead, and removed the shaggy beard from his face. When he
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