Leofranc Holford-Strevens
Sat, 17 Feb 2007 09:48:16 -0800
Not a hint that the expression may be figurative, but also (which is more significant) not a hint that the phrase is paralleled elsewhere. Plato they refer to a note on the epigrams ascribed to him (and declaring 'Plato the Younger', AP 9. 13, 748, 751 to be too late for the Garland); but by saying of the participial clause 'perhaps "bright with the author's excellence', but the phrase is flat' they eliminate any reference to Plato as a moral philosopher.
A search on the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae produced only one other golden bough, in 'political verses' [i.e. accentual iambics of 15 syllables to the line] by Theodore Prodromos on the birth of Alexios, son of the Sebastokrator Anronikos, grandson of the Emperor John II (1118-43), great-grandson of the Emperor Alexios I (Alexius Comnenus, 1081-1118). John, called 'flourishing, very broad, and great tree' is informed that he has
tw^n chruoklw'nwn aúxhsin ek tw^n paraphuádwn kaì tw^n blastw^n tw^n eugenw^n kaì tw^n apoblastídwn: (Carmina historica, 44: 39-40),which appears to mean 'increase of the golden boughs (the imperial house) from the offshoots (his brothers), the noble shoots (his sons), and the shoots of shoots (his grandsons)'; for the continuation runs 'Count with your children and your children's children this newborn Sebastokratorid too, the offspring of your sweetest child Andronikos. Add another new Komnenos to the Komnenoi, and attach another general to your generals.'
It seems impossible to relate this to any image that might have been used by, or derived from, either Meleager or Vergil; but in so literary a culture as the Byzantine that suggests that Theodore knew no more of a golden-bough tradition than poor Cornutus, who alas did not know about the clipping of the deceased's hair either.
Leofranc Holford-Strevens '
Meleager (whom Vergil can hardly not have known) is describing the poets whose works he has included in his collection as flowers or other delights for his garland. Some of the phrases seem more specific than others; they include 'Sappho's slight things, but roses' and 'the sweet myrtle of Callimachus, ever full of stinging honey'. The Plato intended is undoubtedly Plato the philosopher, but as the ascriptive author of epigrams whose authenticity we no longer believe in; there is no reason to read anything special into the phrase so far as Meleager is concerned, nor single out one couplet rather than set it against all the other impressionistic judgements in the poem. So far as Vergil is concerned, however, there is no reason why it should not have given him ideas; if he blended it with the Pythagorean Y and the Aureum Carmen, that would be entirely within his method, to draw on two or more sources and make something of his own.Leofranc Holford-StrevensIn message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Rosemary Grayston <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writesFinding a literary origin for the Golden Bough has been very difficult, as is generally acknowledged. Servius, as I remember, says that the image comes from Pythagoras' belief that the bough or Y-shape represents the sharp divergences of fate. This is interesting but fails to say anything about gold. The only clear verbal parallel comes as far as I know from Garland, a poem by Meleager of Gadara who died about when V was born and who was quite well known: the golden branch of the ever-divine Plato, shining all through with virtrue. Mackail, who worked on both Meleager and V, remarks that this is one of the best-ever few-word critical judgements, assuming that the great Plato not some lesser poet of the same name is meant, and that it might have contributed to V's conception of the Bough - David West makes this phrase the key to a Platonist interpretation of much of the Katabasis story. For my less qualified part I find it hard to think that V did not know of Meleager's phrase; moreover we are aware that V, from his treatment of Berenice's Lock of Hair, which left Berenice's head as unwillingly as Aeneas left Dido's realm, was well prepared to take Hellenistic phrases which had been merely charming and turn them into something much more stern and dramatic. Perhaps the word charming underestimates Meleager, but I would think in spite of Mackail's praise that M was not really trying to be profound. His theme is the association of a series of poets with a series of flowers and fruits making the Garland: quite common botanical things, like violets, spurge, cyclamen and pears. When he comes to Plato does his golden branch come from a mythical or supernatural context unlike all the other ones? Or is he again referring to something quite common? The obvious candidate seems to me to the plant we know as Golden Rod, solidago virgaurea, which does have a pleasantly bright appearance and also has inner goodness in form of medicinal properties (good for kidney stones, apparently). The point I was thinking of is that if V is exploiting an inherited, rather charming, comparison of Plato to a common garden flower he is also transforming the idea that he inherits, raising it to another plane, and one should not assume that he retains from the tone of his original an uncritically flattering view of political Platonism. How nice it would be to find another source that took us out of the garden and into a rather more sacred and mythological realm where V's Bough seems to belong. Unless Meleager is using his anthology to encode some deeper ideas. - Martin Hughes
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