In chapter 12 of 'A Pair of Blue Eyes, the novel by Thomas Hardy, the author says of Mrs Swancourt "She had held out to Elfride hands whose fingers were literally stiff with rings, signis auroque rigentes, like Helen's robe"
The Latin is from The Aeneid and, I think, should read "signis auroque rigentem". I have seen this translated as "stiff with rings and gold" and "stiff with golden wire." I am not quite sure how either of these two version was arrived at, but it seems most likely to me that Helen's robe or 'palla' would have been woven with gold filigree and thus somewhat rigid. Hardy's comparison therefore seems rather inappropriate, especially as he goes on to describe Mrs Swancourt's rings as heavy and grotesque and far from anything attributed by Virgil to Helen. I wonder if Hardy had translated the Latin himself and if he really thought his average 19th century reader would be well enough versed in the Aeneid to enjoy his quotation. Hardy goes on to describe the rings in great detail and I wondered if there was any Virgilian subtext in these descriptions, but I cannot see any. If others want to look, the chapter is on line at: http://www.classicbookshelf.com/library/thomas_hardy/a_pair_of_blue_eyes/11/ (Join the link if it breaks in sending) Patrick Roper ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
