the cock and the hen of Conrad Gessner - Historiae animalium liber III

¶ Livia Augusta prima sua iuventa, Tiberio Caesare ex Nerone gravida, cum parere virilem sexum admodum cuperet, hoc usa est puellari augurio, ovum in sinu fovendo, atque cum deponendum [456] haberet, nutrici per sinum tradendo ne intermitteretur tepor. Nec falso augurata proditur, Plinius[1]. Gallinam cum lauri ramulo cecidisse ferunt in sinum Liviae Drusillae, etc. Niphus[2]. Ad {Gallinam} <Gallinas> villa Caesarum fuit ad Tyberim via Flaminia. quae ab eo dicta est, quod Augustae ex alto abiecit in gremium aquila conspicui candoris gallinam. lauri ramum suis baccis foetum rostro tenentem, quam servari iusserant aruspices, ramum vero inseri diligenter: quod ad villam factum est, quae hac de causa Ad {gallinam} <gallinas> dicta fuit. Vide etiam infra in Proverbio, Albae gallinae filius. Alia quaedam leges in Gallo h.	¶ Livia Drusilla - or Julia Augusta - when was rather young, pregnant of the future emperor Tiberius thanks to Tiberius Claudius Nero, since she absolutely desired to give birth to a male, used the following method of prediction, typical of the young women, heating an egg in her breast and, when had to put it down, she gave it to a nurse who had to put it among the breasts, so that the heat didn't break down. And it is handed down that this type of auspice didn't turn out to be fallacious, Pliny. They report that in lap of Livia Drusilla a hen fell with a sprig of laurel etc., Agostino Nifo. On the bank of the Tiber, on via Flaminia, there was a villa of the Caesars named At Hens. Which was so named since an eagle cast down from on high into Livia Drusilla’s - or Julia Augusta - lap a hen of unusual whiteness. That was holding in its beak a branch of laurel full of its own drupes, and the haruspices bade the former should be kept, while the branch to be carefully planted: this was done near the villa which, as I said, was called At Hens for this reason. See also more ahead in the proverb Son of a white hen. Some other things you can read in the paragraph h of the Cock.
Orpheus scripsit Ooscopica, Ὠοσκοπικά, Suidas[3]. hoc est de divinatione ex ovis. Ovorum quondam purgandis piaculis, lustrationibusque quotidianus erat usus: et in Bacchi Orgiis aliorumque deorum sacrificiis, ubi pro homine solvendum aliquid deo esset, adhibebantur. Omittimus quae in Orphicis et Bacchi Orgiis, in hac ipsa re observata ab antiquis traduntur. id solum ex eis repetemus, ideo religioni ova inservi<i>sse, et in tanto honore cunctis gentibus fuisse, quod capiente omni mundo tot animalium naturas et genera, nullum fere est in quo non ex ovo species aliqua nascatur. Volucres passim ovum gignunt. aquatilia in mari pene infinita. in terrestribus lacertae<,> in ambiguis et quibus in terra aeque quam in aqua victus est, crocodili. in bipedibus aves. in carentibus pedibus, angues. in multipedibus attelabi[4]: et ne longiores simus, in pluribus generibus aliis plura alia. Ob quae totam referre naturam credita fuerunt: et in religione ad placanda exorandaque numina gratiorem habere potestatem: Marcellus Vergilius, nimirum ex Saturnalibus Macrobii 7. 16.[5] cuius verba superius retuli. Καὶ εἴπου εὕροι ἐν τῇ τριόδῳ ἑκάτης δεῖπνον κείμενον, ἤ ὠόν ἐκ καθαρσίου, Lucianus in dialogis mortuorum. id est, Sicubi comperiat in triviis[6] Hecates coenam iacentem. aut ex catharsio ovum.	Orpheus wrote Øoskopiká, the lexicon Suidas. That is, on the divination from eggs. In past times to expiate the sins and for purifying rituals a daily employment of the eggs existed: the eggs were also employed in the orgies of Bacchus and during the sacrifices of other gods, when something on behalf of humans was to be paid to the god. I omit those things which on this same matter about Orphic and Bacchic orgies are handed down by ancients. I shall only quote from them what follows, that eggs helped the religion and have been held in so much honor by all peoples because, even if all the world contains so many types and kinds of animals, there is almost none in which a species does not grow out of the egg. Birds everywhere lay an egg. Aquatic animals in the sea lay almost an infinite number of them. Among land animals the lizards, among those of uncertain classification and having food both on land and in water, the crocodiles. The birds among bipeds. The snakes among those lacking legs. The locusts without wings among many-footed creatures: and, to extend the list no further, among many other genera many others. Because of these facts the eggs were believed to reproduce all living beings: and to have in religion a more favorable power for placation and arousing gods’ pity, Marcello Virgilio Adriani, certainly from Saturnalia VII,16 of Macrobius whose words I previously quoted. Kaì eípou heúroi en tëi triódøi hekátës deîpnon keímenon, ë øón ek katharsíou, Lucian in Dialogues of the dead, that is, If elsewhere he would find in the trivia the laying lunch of Hecate, or an egg coming from a sacrifice of purification.
Catharsium in Graecorum doctrina videtur purificatio quaedam dici. Morem quippe Athenis fuisse produnt, conciones expurgandi, atque theatra, et omnino quemlibet populi conventum. id vero minutis fiebat porcellis, quos nominabant catharsia. eiusmodi obibant munus, qui dicebantur a collustratione peristiarchi. Ova expiationibus apta monstrat Iuvenalis illud[7], Nisi se centum lustraverit ovis. Sed et in arte[8] Ovidius, ova haec lustralia indicat illis versibus: Et veniat quae lustret anus, lectumque locumque \| Praeferat, et tremula, sulphur et ova manu. Eius autem ab recentioribus ratio promitur, quod ex animalium generibus adeo multiformibus, plurima {a}edantur ovis, quae velut media sint inter animal et non animal. proinde pergrata diis censuere veteres, Caelius{,}<.> In purgationibus praeterea notamus ova adhiberi solita, et sulphura, taedas, lauros et similia, ut ex Plinio, Iuvenale, Ovidio, Apuleio poetis caeteris colligimus, Gyrald.[9] Ovi quod in Cereali pompa solitum fuerit esse primum, meminit Varro de re rust. 1. 2.[10] Gallinae luteo rostro pedibusque ad rem divinam purae non videntur: ad opertanea sacra, nigrae, Plin.[11]	According to the manner of thinking by Greeks it seems that it is said kathársion a certain type of purification. For they hand down that in Athens it was custom to purify the brokers and the theaters and absolutely any people's meeting. In truth this happened with small pigs they called sacrifices of purification. They took such a task those people said givers of lustral sacrifices because of the purification. That verse of Juvenal indicates us the eggs suited for purifications: Unless she will purify herself with a hundred eggs. But also Ovid in Ars amatoria indicates these expiatory eggs with these verses: And let the old woman come to purify both bed and room, bearing in her trembling hand both sulphur and eggs. Actually from by more recent authors his thought is advocated, since from so multiform animal species with the eggs are produced lots of things that would be almost an alternative between an animal and a not animal. Therefore the ancients believed that they were extremely pleasant to gods, Lodovico Ricchieri. Besides we notice that in the purifications the eggs are usually used, as also the sulphurs, the branches of pine, the branches of laurel and similar things, as we deduce from Pliny, Juvenal, Ovid, Apuleius and other poets, Giglio Gregorio Giraldi. Varro in Rerum rusticarum I,2 made mention of the egg which in the procession of Ceres was habitually in the front line. Hens with yellow beak and legs are not considered uncontaminated for divine services: the black ones are suitable for secret rites, Pliny.
De Termini sacrificio Prudentius contra Symmachum[12] ita canit: Et lapis illic \| Si stetit[13] antiquus, quem cingere sueverat error \| Fasceolis[14], vel gallinae pulmone[15] rogare, \| Frangitur, et nullis violatur Terminus extis. Aesculapio gallinae immolabantur, Festus. vide in Gallo h[16]. Libet expectare quis aegram \| Et claudentem oculos gallinam impendat amico \| Tam sterili, (pauperi,) Iuvenalis Sat. {2.} <12.>[17] immolabant enim nimirum diis, praesertim Aesculapio, pro salute et sanitate donanda gallinas. Magi Zoroastren secuti canes, gallinas (ὄρνιθας) et terrestres echinos bono deo attribuunt, aquaticos autem malo, Plutarchus in libro de Iside et Osiride[18]. Ex animatis olim sex sacrificia in usu erant, de ove, sue, bove, capra, gallina et ansere, Suidas. vide in Ove h. Orpheus scripsit Oothytica, Ὠοθυτικά, Suidas[19]. id est de sacrificiis ex ovis. Ovorum hecatombe, Ὠῶν ἑκατόμβη ab Ephippo nominatur. (per iocum,) Athenaeus[20].	Prudentius in Contra Symmachum sings thus about the sacrifice of Terminus - the god of boundaries: And if an ancient stone stood there, which the error was accustomed to surround with bands, or to supplicate with a hen’s lung, it is broken and Terminus is violated with no entrails of victims. To Aesculapius were immolated hens, Festus. See in the paragraph h of the Cock. It is pleasant to wait for someone who sacrifices a sick hen and which is closing its eyes for so an unproductive friend (poor), Juvenal Satira XII. In fact without doubt they immolated the hens to the gods, above all to Aesculapius, so that the health and the wellbeing was lavished. The Magi, the Persian priests who conformed themselves to Zoroaster, attribute the dogs to the good god, the hens (órnithas) and the terrestrial hedgehogs, but those of water - sea urchins - to the bad god, Plutarch in the treatise Isis and Osiris. Once it was custom to do six types of sacrifices using living beings: with sheep, pig, ox, goat, hen and goose, the lexicon Suidas. See in Sheep paragraph h. Orpheus wrote Øothytiká, the lexicon Suidas. That is, on the sacrifices done with eggs. By Ephippus (joking) is mentioned a hecatomb of eggs, Øôn hekatómbë, Athenaeus.
¶ proverbia a gallina. Feliciter natum, Albae gallinae filium dicimus. Quia tu gallinae filius albae, Iuvenalis Sat. 13.[21] Vel quod laeta atque auspicata Latini alba vocant, vel quod proverbium alludit ad fatalem illam gallinam, de qua meminit Suetonius Tranquillus in Galba[22], his quidem verbis: Liviae olim statim post Augusti nuptias Veientanum suum revisenti, praetervolans aquila, gallinam albam, ramulum laureum in rostro tenentem demisit in gremium. Cumque nutriri alitem, ac pangi ramulum placuisset, tanta pullorum soboles provenit, ut hodie quoque ea villa Ad gallinas vocetur. Tale vero lauretum, ut triumphaturi Caesares inde laureas decerperent. Fuitque mos triumphantibus, alias confestim eodem loco pangere. Et observatum est, sub cuiusque obitum, arborem ab ipso institutam elanguisse. Ergo novissimo Neronis anno, et sylva omnis exaruit radicitus: et quicquid ibi gallinarum erat, interiit. Conveniet igitur adagium in eos, qui rara et fatali quaedam felicitate successuque rerum utuntur. Huic diversum est illud apud eundem Iuvenalem[23], Nati infelicibus ovis.	¶ Proverbs drawn from the hen. We call one who is happily born Son of a white hen. Because you are son of a white hen, Juvenal Satira XIII. Either because Latins call white the cheerful things and with favorable auspices, or because the proverb alludes to that hen wanted by the fate mentioned by Suetonius Tranquillus in Galba and with the following words: Once to Livia, who soon after the marriage with August went to see again her farm in the territory of Veius, an eagle passing in flight left to fall into her lap a white hen holding in its beak a branch of laurel. And since came her the desire to feed the bird and to plant the branch, so many chicks sprang that still today that country residence is said At hens. And the twig gave life to such a grove of laurels that the Caesars near the triumph picked the crowns of laurel from it. And it became custom for those people who had celebrated the triumph to immediately plant in the same place other laurels. And it was observed that, in proximity of the death of every one, the tree he planted had lost vigor. Insofar, during the last year of the life of Nero, both the whole wood dried up until the roots, and anything had a relationship with the hens died. Insofar the proverb is suitable for those people enjoying a rare happiness and wanted by the fate, as well as a success in the things. Different from this proverb is the following, that we still find in Juvenal: Born from unlucky eggs.
Non abhorret huic quod scribit M. Tullius libro Epistolarum familiarium septimo ad {Curionem} <Curium>[24]: Quum enim salutationi nos dedimus amicorum, quae fit {ex} hoc etiam frequentius quam solebat, quod quasi avem albam {videtur} <videntur> bene sentientem civem videre, abdo me in bibliothecam. Veteres enim quod inauspicatum haberi volebant, atrum aut nigrum vocabant: quod felix, album. Unde apud Senecam[25] Asinius Pollio, Albutii sententias, quod inaffectatae essent et apertae, solitus est {albos} <albas> appellare. Quin et Graecis λευκότερον εἰπεῖν dicitur, qui clarius rem explicat, Erasmus. Idem alibi in Proverbio Alba avis, λευκός ὄρνις, eadem quae nunc recitavimus Ciceronis verba repetit. interpretantur autem pro re nova atque auspicata. Quadrabit etiam (inquit) in rem admodum raram et inusitatam, quod aves perpaucae sint hoc colore. Ita Iuvenalis[26], Corvo quoque rarior albo.	It doesn't stray from this what Cicero writes to Curio in the 7^th book of letters to family members and friends: As soon as I received the visit of the friends which in this place occurs even more often than usual, because to them it almost seems to see a white bird in a citizen having good thoughts, I withdraw in the library. In fact the ancients, what they affirmed to be held inauspicious called it gloomy or black: white what was propitious. Thence Asinius Pollio in Controversiae of Seneca the Elder usually calls white the sentences of Titus Albucius since they were spontaneous and sincere. To say the truth also by Greeks is said leukóteron eipeîn - he who explains a thing in a rather clear way is saying something of rather white, Erasmus from Rotterdam. Still he in another point, about the proverb White Bird - leukós órnis - quotes the same words of Cicero we have just reported. In fact it is interpreted as an extremely rare and unusual thing, since very few birds are of this color. Juvenal writes this way: Also more rare than a white crow.


	456

[1] Naturalis historia X,154: Quin et ab homine perficiuntur. Iulia Augusta prima sua iuventa Tib. Caesare ex Nerone gravida, cum parere virilem sexum admodum cuperet, hoc usa est puellari augurio, ovum in sinu fovendo atque, cum deponendum haberet, nutrici per sinum tradendo, ne intermitteretur tepor; nec falso augurata proditur. Nuper inde fortassis inventum, ut ova calido in loco inposita paleis igne modico foverentur homine versante, pariterque et stato die illinc erumperet fetus.

[2] Ammesso - ma non concesso vista la difficoltà della ricerca - che l'episodio venga tramandato da Agostino Nifo, le sue fonti furono senz'altro Svetonio e Plinio. § Svetonio De vita Caesarum - Galba 1: Progenies Caesarum in Nerone defecit; quod futurum, compluribus quidem signis, sed vel evidentissimis duobus apparuit. Liviae, olim post Augusti statim nuptias Veientanum suum revisenti, praetervolans aquila gallinam albam ramulum lauri rostro tenentem, ita ut rapuerat, demisit in gremium; cumque nutriri alitem, pangi ramulum placuisset, tanta pullorum suboles provenit, ut hodieque ea villa ad Gallinas vocetur, tale vero lauretum, ut triumphaturi Caesares inde laureas decerperent; fuitque mox triumphantibus, illas confestim eodem loco pangere; et observatum est, sub cuiusque obitum arborem ab ipso institutam elanguisse. Ergo novissimo Neronis anno et silva omnis exaruit radicitus, et quidquid ibi gallinarum erat interiit; ac subinde tacta de caelo Caesarum aede, capita omnibus simul statuis deciderunt, Augusti etiam sceptrum e manibus excussum est. § Plinio Naturalis historia XV, 136-137: Sunt et circa Divum Augustum eventa eius digna memoratu. Namque Liviae Drusillae, quae postea Augusta matrimonii nomen accepit, cum pacta esset illa Caesari, gallinam conspicui candoris sedenti aquila ex alto abiecit in gremium inlaesam, intrepideque miranti accessit miraculum. Quoniam teneret in rostro laureum ramum onustum suis bacis, conservari alitem et subolem iussere haruspices ramumque eum seri ac rite custodiri: [137] quod factum est in villa Caesarum fluvio Tiberi inposita iuxta nonum lapidem Flaminiae viae, quae ob id vocatur Ad Gallinas, mireque silva provenit. Ex ea triumphans postea Caesar laurum in manu tenuit coronamque capite gessit, ac deinde imperatores Caesares cuncti. Traditusque mos est ramos quos tenuerunt serendi, et durant silvae nominibus suis discretae, fortassis ideo mutatis triumphalibus.

[3] Alla voce Orfeo.

[4] Il greco attélabos, con la variante ionica attélebos, indica una locusta senza ali. Si tratta di un termine derivato dal semitico oppure dall'egiziano. In Plinio Naturalis historia XXIX,92 troviamo attelebus: Noctua apibus contraria et vespis crabronibusque et sanguisugis; pici quoque Martii rostrum secum habentes non feriuntur ab iis. Adversantur et locustarum minimae sine pinnis, quas attelebos vocant. § Nessun'altra ricorrenza di attelebus è segnalata nei lessici di latino classico, tantomeno di attelabus. che venne impiegato da Marcello Virgilio Adriani in una rielaborazione dei Saturnalia di Macrobio VII,16 dove costui disquisisce se sia nato prima l'uovo o la gallina. Tale rielaborazione appartiene al commento all'uovo di Dioscoride, libro II capitolo 43 De ovo, ma attelabus è presente anche nel commento al libro II capitolo 45 De locustis (Pedacii Dioscoridae Anazarbei de Medica materia libri sex a Marcello Virgilio Secretario Florentino latinitate donati cum eiusdem commentationibus, 1523)

[5] Saturnalia VII,16: Nec inportune elementis, de quibus sunt omnia, ovum conparaverim: in omni enim genere animantium quae ex coitione nascuntur invenies ovum aliquorum esse principium instar elementi. Aut enim gradiuntur animantia aut serpunt aut nando volandove vivunt. In gradientibus lacertae et similia ex ovis creantur: quae serpunt ovis nascuntur exordio: volantia universa de ovis prodeunt excepto uno quod incertae naturae est: nam vespertilio volat quidem pellitis alis, sed inter volantia non habendus est qui quattuor pedibus graditur formatosque pullos parit et nutrit lacte quos generat: nantia paene omnia de ovis oriuntur generis sui, crocodilus vero etiam de testeis, qualia sunt volantium. Et, ne videar plus nimio extulisse ovum elementi vocabulo, consule initiatos sacris Liberi patris: in quibus hac veneratione ovum colitur, ut ex forma tereti ac paene sphaerali atque undique versum clausa et includente intra se vitam mundi simulacrum vocetur: mundum autem consensu omnium constat universitatits esse principium.

[6] Nell'incrocio di tre strade, luogo di culto di Ecate (spesso luogo di ritrovo di indovini e fannulloni,), da cui l'epiteto latino Trivia riservato alla dea e l'aggettivo italiano triviale del XVII secolo col significato di proprio del trivio, e quindi volgare, scurrile, sguaiato. Nel trivio il trenta del mese veniva messo il pranzo di Ecate per i poveri.

[7] Satira VI, 518.

[8] Ars amatoria II,329-330.

[9] Historiae Deorum Gentilium Syntagma XVII De sacrificiis (Basileae, Oporinus 1548).

[10] L'edizione Aldina del 1533, forse quella usata da Gessner, contiene cereali. Anche una citazione a piè di pagina in Description of the circus in Via Appia near Rome (Rev. Richard Burgess, London, 1828) riporta Cereali con c maiuscola come Gessner. § La mia fonte elettronica - Rerum rusticarum I,2 www.thelatinlibrary.com - recita qualcosa che è alquanto discordante da Gessner: Illi interea ad nos, et Stolo, Num cena comessa, inquit, venimus? Nam non L. videmus Fundilium, qui nos advocavit. Bono animo este, inquit Agrius. Nam non modo ovom illut sublatum est, quod ludis circensibus novissimi curriculi finem facit quadrigis, sed ne illud quidem ovom vidimus, quod in cenali pompa solet esse primum.

[11] Naturalis historia X,156: Gallinarum generositas spectatur crista erecta, interim et gemina, pinnis nigris, ore rubicundo, digitis imparibus, aliquando et super IIII digitos traverso uno. Ad rem divinam luteo rostro pedibusque purae non videntur, ad opertanea sacra nigrae. Est et pumilionum genus non sterile in his, quod non in alio genere alitum, sed quibus centra, fecunditas rara et incubatio ovis noxia.

[12] Contra Symmachum II, 1005-1008 - a pagina 664 di Aurelii Prudentii Clementis opera interpretate e annotate da Stephanus Chamillard SJ, Parisiis, apud Viduam Claudii Thiboust et Petrum Esclassan, 1687.

[13] Stephanus Chamillard, pag. 664 - Lapis illic si stetit: Terminorum Deus, de quo hic loquitur, colebatur sub figura rudis ac informis lapidis, vel stipitis. Ovid, Fast. lib. 2: Termine, sive lapis sive es defossus in agro/stipes, ab antiquis tu quoque numen habes. Et Tibull. lib. 1 eleg. 1: Nam veneror, sed stipes habet desertus in agris, seu vetus in trivio florida serta lapis. In nummis tamen gentis Calpurniae, quae originem a Numa ducebat, modo caput Termini expressum est, modo integrum simulachrum.

[14] Stephanus Chamillard, pag. 664 - Cingere fasciolis: Terminales lapides floribus, fasciisque donavit antiquitas, tanquam judices et arbitros finium, ac proinde pacis et amicitiae custodes. Siculus Flaccus de conditionib. agror.: Cum Terminos disponerent, ipsos quidem lapides in solidam terram collocabant, proxime ea loca, quibus fossis factis defixuri eaos erant, et unguento, velaminibusqe, et coronis eos ornabant.

[15] Stephanus Chamillard, pag. 664 - Gallinae pulmone: Neminem repperi, qui Prudentio astipularetur. Nam Ovidius lib. 2 Fast. ubi loquitur de Terminalibus, quae fiebant 23 Februarii, quo nempe ita annum quoque terminare viderentur, immolari agnum Termino, seu suillam asserit: Spargitur et caeso communis Terminus agno,/nec queritur lactans cum sibi porca datur. Quod si Plutarcho credimus: Termino apud Romanos frugibus ignem jactis, et favis, et vino litabatur.

[16] Parlando del gallo, e specificamente nel paragrafo h a pagina 408, Gessner non riporta questa citazione di Festo, riferita invece da Giraldi in Historiae Deorum Gentilium (1548) Syntagma XVII: Aesculapio de capra res divina in primis fiebat, quoniam capra nunquam sine febre esse dicitur: salutis vero deus Aesculapius. Sed et gallus illi immolabatur, ut est alibi a me dictum. Sunt qui gallinas scribant, et has quidem rostro nigro, nigrisque pedibus, et digitis imparibus. Si enim luteo essent rostro, vel pedibus, impurae putabantur ab aruspicibus. § Festo parla di galline immolate a Esculapio alla voce In Insula del suo De verborum significatione: In Insula – Aesculapio facta aedes fuit, quod aegroti a medicis aqua maxime sustententur. Eiusdem esse tutelae draconem, quod vigilantissimum sit animal: quae res ad tuendam valetudinem aegroti maxime apta est. Canes adhibentur eius templo, quod is uberibus canis sit nutritus. Bacillum habet nodosum, quod difficultatem significat artis. Laurea coronatur, quod ea arbor plurimorum remediorum. Huic gallinae immolabantur.

[17] Satira XII, 95-97: Libet expectare quis aegram | et claudentem oculos gallinam inpendat amico | tam sterili;.

[18] Il testo greco di Plutarco (Iside e Osiride 46,267-268), cui fa riferimento la citazione di Gessner, si presenta in due versioni diverse. In una versione troviamo quanto proposto da Gessner, nell'altra quanto proposto dalla traduzione inglese del testo di Plutarco pubblicata dalla Loeb Classical Library. Si tratta di accettare τοὺς ἐνύδρους (quelli d'acqua) oppure μῦς ἐνύδρους (topi d'acqua). È un problema che Gessner già si era posto in Historia animalium I (1551) pagina 830 disquisendo De mure aquatico e che troveremo dopo le citazioni inerenti il brano in discussione. Vedremo che quasi per ironia della sorte Gessner salva dalle grinfie degli Zoroastriani il ratto delle chiaviche (che forse collaborò nel farlo morire di peste il 13 dicembre 1565) per sostituirlo, da un esatto punto di vista linguistico, con la tartaruga d'acqua. L'analisi di questi dati è presente nel lessico alla voce ratto. § Andiamo con ordine e vediamo i vari testi in sequenza, nei quali compariranno ricci di mare oppure topi d'acqua. Non stiamo a discutere se ὄρνιθας va tradotto con polli/galline oppure più genericamente con uccelli. § Fredericus Dübner: Καὶ γὰρ τῶν φυτῶν νομίζουσι τὰ μὲν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θεοῦ, τὰ δὲ τοῦ κακοῦ δαίμονος εἶναι· καὶ τῶν ζῴων, ὥσπερ κύνας καὶ ὄρνιθας καὶ χερσαίους ἐχίνους, τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ· τοῦ δὲ φαύλου, τοὺς ἐνύδρους εἶναι· διὸ καὶ τὸν κτείναντα πλείστους εὐδαιμονίζουσιν. - Nam et de stirpibus ita judicant, quasdam boni dei esse, mali quasdam genii: et animalium alia, ut canes, aves, et echinos terrestres, bono, aquaticos malo adjudicant; itaque et beatum eum praedicant, qui plurimos interfecerit. (Plutarchi Scripta moralia Graece et Latine – Fredericus Dübner – Parisiis - Firmin Didot – 1868) § W. Sieveking: Καὶ γὰρ τῶν φυτῶν νομίζουσι τὰ μὲν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θεοῦ, τὰ δὲ τοῦ κακοῦ δαίμονος εἶναι, καὶ τῶν [369.F] ζῴων ὥσπερ κύνας καὶ ὄρνιθας καὶ χερσαίους ἐχίνους τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, τοῦ [δὲ] φαύλου μῦς ἐνύδρους εἶναι· διὸ καὶ τὸν κτείναντα πλείστους εὐδαιμονίζουσιν. (ed. W. Sieveking, Plutarchi moralia, vol. 2.3, Leipzig 1935) § Loeb Classical Library: In fact, they believe that some of the plants belong to the good god and others to the evil daemon; so also of the animals they think that dogs, fowls, and hedgehogs, for example, belong to the good god, but that water-rats belong to the evil one. (published in the Loeb Classical Library, 1936) § Conrad Gessner Historia animalium I (1551) pagina 830 De mure aquatico. Magos qui Zoroastren sectantur, imprimis colere aiunt herinaceum terrestrem, maxime vero odisse mures aquaticos (μῦς ἐνύδρους,) & quo quisque plures occiderit, eo chariorem deo felicioremque existimare, Plutarchus Symposiacorum quarto quaestione ultima. Et mox, Quare Judaei etiamsi execrarentur suem, occidere deberent, ut magi mures. Caeterum in Commentario de Iside, magos scribit animalia quaedam boni daemonis esse putare, ut canes & gallinas, & terrestres echinos: mali autem aquaticos esse, τοὺς ἐνύδρους εἶναι: lego τοὺς ἐνύδρους μῦς, ex superioribus locis. An vero aquaticos mures intelligat illos de quibus hic scribimus, incertum est; ego testudines aquaticas potius, (nam has quoque mures appellant,) intellexerim. § Plutarco Convivialium disputationum Liber IV Quaestio V Utrum suem venerantes Iudaei, an potius aversantes, carne eius abstineant. Magos autem, qui a Zoroastre descendunt, terrestrem echinum quam maxime venerari, mures aquatiles [τοὺς ἐνύδρους μῦς] odisse, diisque carum et beatum judicare eum qui plurimos interfecerit. Existimo autem Judaeos, si abominarentur porcum, interfecturos eum fuisse, sicut mures [τοὺς μῦς] necant magi: nunc tam interficere, quam edere suem iis est religio. (Plutarchi Scripta moralia Graece et Latine – Fredericus Dübner – Parisiis - Firmin Didot – 1868)

[19] Alla voce Orfeo.

[20] Deipnosophistaí II,50,58a. § And Ephippus says: Cakes made of sesame and honey, sweetmeats, | Cheese-cakes, and creamcakes, and a hecatomb | Of new-laid eggs, were all devoured by us. (translated by C. D. Yonge in Deipnosophists or Banquet of the learned, London, Henry G. Bohn, 1854 – traduzione basata sull'edizione del testo greco di Schweighäuser, Strasburg, 1801-1807)

[21] Satira XIII,141.

[22] Svetonio De vita Caesarum - Galba 1: Progenies Caesarum in Nerone defecit; quod futurum, compluribus quidem signis, sed vel evidentissimis duobus apparuit. Liviae, olim post Augusti statim nuptias Veientanum suum revisenti, praetervolans aquila gallinam albam ramulum lauri rostro tenentem, ita ut rapuerat, demisit in gremium; cumque nutriri alitem, pangi ramulum placuisset, tanta pullorum suboles provenit, ut hodieque ea villa ad Gallinas vocetur, tale vero lauretum, ut triumphaturi Caesares inde laureas decerperent; fuitque mox triumphantibus, illas confestim eodem loco pangere; et observatum est, sub cuiusque obitum arborem ab ipso institutam elanguisse. Ergo novissimo Neronis anno et silva omnis exaruit radicitus, et quidquid ibi gallinarum erat interiit; ac subinde tacta de caelo Caesarum aede, capita omnibus simul statuis deciderunt, Augusti etiam sceptrum e manibus excussum est.

[23] Satira XIII,141-142: quia tu gallinae filius albae, | nos viles pulli nati infelicibus ovis?

[24] Si emendano sia il destinatario che il testo della missiva in base a quanto reperibile in www.thelatinlibrary.com e nell'edizione di Lione del 1561. § Ad familiares VII, XXVIII. Scr. Romae (post vii. K. Sextil.) a.u.c. 708. [m.] cicero s. d. curio. Memini, cum mihi desipere videbare, quod cum istis potius viveres quam nobiscum; erat enim multo domicilium huius urbis, cum quidem haec urbs fuit, aptius humanitati et suavitati tuae quam tota Peloponnesus, nedum Patrae: nunc contra et vidisse mihi multum videris, cum prope desperatis his rebus te in Graeciam contulisti, et hoc tempore non solum sapiens, qui hinc absis, sed etiam beatus; quamquam quis, qui aliquid sapiat, nunc esse beatus potest? Sed, quod tu, cui licebat, pedibus es consecutus, ut ibi esses, "ubi nec Pelopidarum" - nostri cetera -, nos idem propemodum consequimur alia ratione; cum enim salutationi nos dedimus amicorum, quae fit hoc etiam frequentius, quam solebat, quod quasi avem albam videntur bene sentientem civem videre, abdo me in bibliothecam. § Tralasciando la numerazione dell'epistolario che non corrisponde a quella odierna, ecco le preziose notizie relative a Curio, intimo amico di Cicerone al quale è indirizzata questa lettera: manius curius, one of the most intimate friends of Cicero, who had known him from his childhood, and describes him as one of the kindest of men, always ready to serve his friends, and as a very pattern of politeness (urbanitas). He lived for several years as a negotiator at Patrae in Peloponnesus. At the time when Tiro, Cicero's freedman, was ill at Patrae, b. c. 50 and subsequently, Curius took great care of him. In b. c. 46, Cicero recommended Curius to Serv. Sulpicius, who was then governor of Achaia, and also to Auctus, his successor. The intimacy between Curius and Atticus was still greater than that between Cicero and Curius; and the latter is said to have made a will in which Atticus and Cicero were to be the heirs of his property, Cicero receiving one-fourth, and Atticus the rest. Among Cicero's letters to his friends there are three addressed to Curius (vii. 23-26), and one (vii. 29) is addressed by Curius to Cicero. (www.ancientlibrary.com - William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1867)

[25] Controversiae VII,1: Instatis mihi cotidie de Albucio. [...] [2] [...] Splendor orationis quantus nescio an in ullo alio fuerit. Non hexis magna sed phrasis. Dicebat enim citato et effuso cursu sed praeparatus; extemporalis illi facultas, ut adfirmabant qui propius norant, non derat, sed putabat ipse sibi deesse. Sententiae, quas optime Pollio Asinius albas vocabat, simplices, apertae, nihil occultum, nihil insperatum adferentes sed vocales et splendidae. [3] Adfectus efficaciter movit, figurabat egregie, praeparabat suspiciose. Nihil est autem tam inimicum quam manifesta praeparatio; apparet enim subesse nescioquid mali. Itaque moderatio est adhibenda, ut sit illa praeparatio, non confessio. (www.thelatinlibrary.com)

[26] Satira VII,201-202: Servis regna dabunt, captivis fata triumphum. | Felix ille tamen corvo quoque rarior albo.