Iamque rogum, quassasque faces, feretrumque parabant : Nusquam corpus erat: croceum pro corpore florem Inveniunt, foliis medium cingentibus albis.' The flower in question is easily recognised as the common Narcissus poeticus' of our gardens. The story is told at great length by Ovid, Met. 3. 339, seqq. Pausanias gives two versions of the tale, 9. 31. 45. The loves of Crocus and the Nymph 'Smilax,' (Bindweed,) who were both turned into flowers, are alluded to in a cursory manner by Ovid, Met. 4. 283 'Et Crocon in parvos versum cum Smilace flores Praetereo: dulcique animos novitate tenebo.' Atys or Attis, the beloved of the Phrygian Cybele, was, as we read in Met. 10. 103, metamorphosed into a pine. 'Et succincta comas, hirsutaque vertice pinus, Exuit hac hominem, truncoque induruit illo.' In the passage before us, however, Ovid follows a different form of the legend, which has been preserved by Arnobius; according to which, the pomegranate tree and the violet sprung from his blood, shed on two different occasions. Cinyra creatum. Adonis (see above, p. 135), from whose blood the anemone was produced. Ov. Met. 10. 734 'nec plena longior hora Facta mora est, quum flos de sanguine concolor ortus; 47. Coronis 'posuit pro floribus' (G.). 51. Oleae 'flos non copiam tantum olei, sed omnino mitidissimum annum portendebat, ut et flos abundans amygdali.' (G.) who refers to Virg. G. 1. 187 6 Contemplator item, quum se nux plurima silvis 52. Pomaque. 'Sensus; pomorum proventus, copia, pendet a tempore quo florent' (G.). 54. Advena Nile, 'quia ex alia terra decurrit' (G.). Compare note, p. 250. Lentes...tuae. Egypt was peculiarly celebrated for the excellence of its pulse, to which frequent allusions are made by the poets, e. g. Virg. G. 1. 228 'Si vero viciamque seres, vilemque phaselum, and Martial. Ep. 13. 9 Accipe Niliacum, Pelusiaca munera, lentem.' 55, 56. Vina...florent. The 'flos vini' was a technical term for a sort of light scum which collected on the surface. Pliny H. N. 14. 21 'Flos vini candidus probatur: rubens triste signum est, si non is vini colos sit.' So Columell. 12. 30 'Si vinum florere incipiet, saepius curare oportebit.' 30. MINERVA. FAST. III. 809. MINERVA, who shared the triple temple of the Capitol with Jupiter and Juno 1, seems to have been an Etrurian deity 2, although Varro3 asserts that she was of Sabine origin. The name, derived from the same root with 'mens,' indicates that she was the Goddess of Reason. Hence the old verb 'promenervare' in the songs of the Salii, signifying' to advise,' 'to warn,' and the phrases 'facere aliquid pingui Minerva, invita Minerva, crassa Minerva,' in which Minerva denotes the intellectual powers bestowed by nature, as Cicero explains, De Off. 1.31 'Nihil decet invita, ut aiunt, Minerva, id est, adversante et repugnante natura.' Compare also Cic. Ep. Fam. 12. 25, where he puns on the expression, 'Quinquatribus, frequenti senatu, causam tuam egi 1 Val. Max. 2. 1, 2, August. De Civ. Dei. 4. 10. 2 For the proofs of this see Muller, Die Etrusker, 3. 3, 2. occurs upon Etruscan paterae,' under the forms Menerfa;' 'Mnfra.' 3 L. L. 5. 10. non invita Minerva. Etenim eo ipse die senatus decrevit ut Minerva nostra, custos urbis, quam turbo deiecerat, restitueretur.' and Hor. A. P. 385 'Tu nihil invita dices faciesve Minerva.' In Hor. S. 2. 2, 3 'Rusticus abnormis sapiens crassaque Minerva,' 'Crassa Minerva,' means good coarse common sense. Minerva was mistress of the Inventive Faculty also, and thus exercised control over literature and science in general. Mechanics and artists of every description, musicians, poets, schoolmasters, physicians, all paid homage to her as their patroness, and she was believed to take peculiar interest in spinning and weaving, the most ancient and honourable of female occupations. The first temple of Minerva was that upon the Capitol, there was another upon the Aventine 1, and a third near the Coelian, in which she was worshipped as 'Minerva Capta2, an epithet said to have been applied when her statue was transported from Falerii, after the capture of that city by Camillus. Her great festival was called the 'Quinquatrus,' or 'Quinquatria.' It commenced on XIV. Kal. Apr. (19th March), and ended XI. Kal. Apr. (23rd March). On all the days, except the first, there were gladiatorial exhibitions, and on the last a ceremony was performed, called the 'Tubilustrium,' or purification of trumpets, the invention of wind instruments being attributed to the goddess. Ov. Fast. 3. 849 'Summa dies e quinque tubas lustrare canoras Admonet, et forti sacrificare deae.' Another 'Tubilustrium' was held on IX. Kal. Jun. (24th May,) in honour of Vulcan, the fabricator of the instrument. Fast. 5, 725 1 Ov. Fast. 6. 727, Fest. in verb 'Scribas.' 2 Ov. Fast. 3. 835, where several explanations of the epithet Capta' are proposed. 'Proxima Vulcani lux est: Tubilustria dicunt, A second festival of Minerva, the 'Quinquatrus Minusculae,' or Quinquatria Minora,' fell upon the Ides of June, and was observed with great pomp by the Tibicines or flute players. Ov. Fast. 6. 651 'Et iam Quinquatrus iubeor narrare minores, Nunc ades O! coeptis, flava Minerva, meis. Quid sibi personae, quid stola longa, volunt?' Compare Varro L. L. 6. 3 'Quinquatrus Minusculae dictae Iuniae Idus ab similitudine Maiorum, quod tibicines tum feriati vagantur per urbem et conveniunt ab aedem Minervae,' and Festus, 'Minusculae Quinquatrus appellabantur Idus Iuniae, quod is dies festus erat tibicinum, qui Minervam colebant. Quinquatrus proprie dies festus erat Minervae, Martio Mense.' With regard to the Tibicines, see note, p. 142. Observe that the later Romans identified Minerva with Pallas Athene, both being Goddesses of Wisdom, and invested the former with all the attributes of her Grecian sister. 1. Vna dies media est, &c. The 'Quinquatria' began on XIV. Kal. Apr. (19th March), the Liberalia,' which immediately preceded it in the Calendar, on XVI. Kal. Apr. (17th March.) 2. Nomina, &c. The Quinquatria continued for five days; but Ovid was mistaken in supposing that the festival received its name from this circumstance, because, properly speaking, the first day only was sacred to the goddess, and was called 'Quinquatrus,' because it fell on the fifth day after the Ides,' such being the real meaning of the word. In like manner, the inhabitants of Tusculum used the forms 1 Compare Varro L. L. 6. 3 'Dies Tubilustrium appellatur, quod eo die in atro sutorio sacrorum tubae lustrantur,' and Festus Tubicines etiam ii appellantur, qui sacerdotes, viri speciosi, publice sacra faciunt tubarum lustrandarum gratia,' and Paulus Tubilustria dies appellabant, in quibus agna tubas lustrabant.' T 'triatrus,' 'sexatrus,' 'septimatrus,' and the Falisci 'decimatrus,' to denote the third, sixth, seventh, and tenth days respectively, after the Ides of any month. Thus Varro L. L. 6 'Quinquatrus: hic dies unus ab nominis errore observatur proinde ut sint quinque. Dictus, ut ab Tusculanis post diem sextum Idus similiter vocatur Sexatrus, et post diem septimum Septimatrus, sic hic quod erat post diem quintum Idus Quinquatrus1. 3. Sanguine. The blood of gladiators. 5. Altera. On the second, third, fourth, and fifth days, gladiatorial contests were exhibited in the amphitheatre, the centre of which, the place occupied by the combatants, was strewed with sand. Ovid himself was born on the second day of the Quinquatria, a fact which he records in Trist. 4. 10, 13 'Haec est armiferae festis de quinque Minervae, Quae fieri pugna prima cruenta solet.' Compare the expression 'strata arena' with Trist. 2. 282 'Martia cum durum sternit arena solum.' 6. Bellica...dea. Minerva might, in her proper capacity, be supposed to take an interest in war, in so far as it was considered an art or science, but the epithets 'armifera,' 'armipotens,' 'bellica,' and the like, could scarcely have been bestowed on her until she was confounded with the Grecian Pallas. 7. Ornate. It was the custom to deck the statues of the gods with garlands on a festal day. 7-11. Minerva, as we have seen in the introduction, was the special patroness of spinning and weaving, and hence the name of the goddess is used by metonomy for the art itself. Thus Virg. Ae. 8. 407 'Inde, ubi prima quies medio iam noctis abactae Impositum, cinerem et sopitos suscitat ignes, and Hor. Od. 3. 12, 3 1 See also Festus in verb. 'Quinquatrus.' Aul. Gell. 2. 21, Müller, die Etrusker, 2. 3, 2. |