On Sun, 7 Mar 1999, James M. Pfundstein wrote: > > I gave a paper the other day on the "Third Eclogue" where I mentioned > Horace's description of Vergil's early work as "molle atque facetum" > (Satires 1.10.44), and discussed how some scholars have resisted > translating "facetum" as "witty" (its obvious meaning in this context). > > So my question for the list is: can any of you guys think of instances of > humor (or potential humor) from the "Aeneid"?
There is somebody who thought about the Aeneid as funny around 1460 -- and in an context which today can seem somewhat strange. The author's name is Nicolaus from Modrus (Nicolaus Modrussiensis); he left an unpublished rhetorical treatise _De consolatione_ -- which was my MA thesis, that is why I can be so well informed. What follows is the whole chapter with N.'s advices how to be witty when consoling. (The Seneca quotes stem from almost spurious, but in the Renaissance influential, _De remediis fortuitorum_.) <IV 12> Secundus locus a facete dicto uel facto Amplius diuerti animus plerumque a luctu potest aliquo faceto dicto aut facto seu alia uel grata uel iocunda confabulatione. Qualia sunt apud Senecam complura. Nam dicenti _Peregre morieris,_ respondit: _Vndecumque ad inferos una uia est._ Item: _Nulla aliena terra mortuo est._ Et illi qui querebatur amicum perdidisse: _Alium,_ inquit, _quaere._ Atque uerum lamentanti, quod non esset potens, respondit: _Gaude quia impotens non eris._ Aeneam quoque fessum ac multis aegrum curis illud Ascanii facetum consolatum fuisse scribit Mantuanus: _Heus! etiam mensas consumitis,_ inquit Iulus. <A. 7,116> Plurima sunt ex hoc genere ac uaria a scriptoribus memoriae prodita, quae repetere hic non oportet. ----- Neven ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
