A further reference to perjury is found in the same play in v. 46: Datque arrabonem et iureiurando adligat (i.e. the purchaser binds the Leno by an oath to keep his bargain), but it goes on, v. 47: Is leno, ut se aequomst, flocci non fecit fidem neque quod iuratus adulescenti dixerat. As the villain has broken his oath, he naturally falls under the displeasure of the gods. Hence Arcturus raises a storm and wrecks the Leno's vessel (Prol. 57 ff.): Navis clanculum conducitur. Quidquid erat, noctu in navem conportat domo (id hic est fanum Veneris) et eo ad prandium In Andria 694 Pamphilus swears that he won't desert Glycerium. Whereupon Mysis, the maid, is at once reassured. per omnis tibi adiuro deos nunquam eam me deserturum. . This case, though less strong than the preceding, must, on account of its formality and the effect on the maid, have been a part of the original plot. In Andria 727 Davus gets Mysis to put the baby down before the young man's door, so that he himself can swear with a good conscience that he did n't put it there. My. Quam ob rem id tute non facis? DA. Quia si forte opus sit ad erum iurato mihi non adposisse ut liquido possim. It is true that this is a pretence of Davus, but it shows all the more the general feeling on the subject. The ironical and jocose oath of Philocrates in Captivi 426 assumes the same state of mind in reference to oaths: Id ut scias, Iovem supremum testem laudo, Hegio, me infidelem non futurum Philocrati. HE. Probus es homo. PH. Nec me secus umquam ei facturum quicquam quam memet mihi. 'That you may be assured of this I call Supreme Jove to witness that I will not be unfaithful to Philocrates.' (He is pretending to be Tyndarus.) Again, in Miles 1414, the soldier is forced to swear formally, and is let off on the strength of his oath : Iuro per Iovem et Mavortem me nociturum nemini. Without this the action would not be complete, and we may suppose that it was in the original. The same view of the sanctity of an oath is seen in the stock character of the Leno. The point of his offending is his perjury (cf. Rudens Prologue, above). In Rudens 651 he is called periuri plenisIn Rudens 1370, ff., his conduct to Gripus especially turns on perjury: sumus. GR. Propera. LA. Quid properabo? GR. Reddere argentum mihi. LA. Neque edepol tibi do neque quicquam debeo. . . . GR. Non debes? LA. Non hercle vero. GR. Non tu iuratus mihi es? LA. Iuratus sum, et nunc iurabo, siquid voluptatist mihi : ius iurandum rei servandae, non perdundae conditum est. GR. Cedo sis mihi talentum magnum argenti, periurissume. DÆ. Gripe, quod tu istum talentum poscis? GR. Iuratust mihi dare. LA. Lubet iurare: tun meo pontifex periurio's ? DE. Qua pro re argentum promisit hic tibi? GR. Si vidulum hunc redegissem in potestatem eius, iuratust dare mihi talentum magnum argenti. LA. Cedo quicum habeam iudicem, ni dolo malo instipulatus sis nive etiamdum hau siem quinque et viginti annos natus. The whole form of oath in this case is instructive (1331 ff.): La. Quid istic? necessumst, video : dabitur talentum. GR. Accededum huc: Venus haec volo adroget te. LA. Quod tibi lubet, id me impera. GR. Tange aram hanc Veneris. LA. Tango. GR. Per Venerem hanc iurandumst tibi. iubebo. LA. Quid iurem? GR. Quod LA. Praei verbis quidvis : quod domist, numquam ulli supplicabo. GR. Tene aram hanc. LA. Teneo. GR. Deiera te argentum mihi daturum eodem illo die ubi viduli sies potitus. LA. Fiat. GR. LA. Venus Cyrenensis, testem te testor mihi, si vidulum illum, quem ego in navi perdidi, cum auro atque argento salvom investigavero GR. Tum ego huice Gripo, inquito et me tangito. Venus eradicet caput atque aetatem tuam. LA. Illut ego advorsum siquid peccasso, Venus, GR. Tam fiet, etsi tu fidem servaveris. Tu hic opperire: iam ego faxo exibit senex : eum tu continuo vidulum reposcito. LA. Si maxume illum mihi reddiderit vidulum, non ego illic hodie debeo triobulum. Meus arbitratust, lingua quod iuret mea. Set conticiscam: eccum exit et ducit senem. In Adelphi 188 the Leno says: 'I am a pander, a perjurer, the plague of young men.' The same feeling is shown in Adelphi 265. One enquires: 'Where is that sacrilegious wretch? ' To which the Leno replies: 'He is looking for me.' Ubi est ille sacrilegus? — In Rudens 360 one says when the Leno is shipwrecked: periurum perdidisti, 'you've destroyed a perjurer.' In a fragment of Antiphanes (Fr. 241)1 a slave lays down the principle that if one trusts not a man not known to be guilty of perjury he is a scorner of the gods. Δέσποιν ̓ ὅταν τις ὀμνύοντος καταφρονῇ ᾧ μη σύνοιδε πρότερον ἐπιωρκηκότι καὶ πρότερον ομόσας αὐτὸς ἐπιωρκηκέναι. 'Mistress, when one scorns a man on oath not known before to have perjured himself, he seems to me to scorn the gods, and having sworn before to have committed perjury himself.' But as one should expect in a comedy representing various sorts of persons, there is also a fragment of Antiphanes (Fr. 233) conveying a different sentiment : Ὁ διδοὺς τὸν ὄρκον τῷ πονηρῷ μαίνεται ἐὰν ἐπιορκήσῃ τις αὐτὸς εὐθέως ὁ διδοὺς τὸν ὄρκον ἐγένετ ̓ ἐμβρόντητος ως οἴμαι δικαίως ὅτι πεπίστευκέν τινι. 'He who accepts an oath from a bad man is mad. For the gods now go by contraries. If one swears falsely the man himself is "thunderstruck" (i.e. driven mad) who accepts the oath, and it serves him right, I think, for trusting a man.' The godlessness of the Leno, especially on account of his perjury, as well as his disfavor with the gods, appears in a great part of the 1 The citations of the Greek Comedy are from Kock: Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta. Poenulus. For instance, v. 449 ff., this personage having attempted to get favorable sacrifices from Venus, but unsuccessfully, says: Di illum infelicent omnes, qui post hunc diem sex immolavi agnos, nec potui tamen iratus, votui exta prosicarier. 'May the gods destroy every pander who after this day sacrifices a victim to Venus, or offers a grain of incense. ... I have sacrificed six lambs and could n't make her propitious. Since I can't get favorable omens I came away angry and forbade the inwards to be offered (i.e. after the victims have been killed he won't offer any).' He says afterwards he will serve her so all the gods shall learn better hereafter. In Poenulus 847 the favor of the gods is denied to the Leno : S. Nunc domum haec ab aede Veneris refero vasa, ubi hostiis M. Lepidam Venerem. S. Nam meretrices nostrae primis hostiis 'Now I am taking home these utensils from the temple of Venus, now that master has n't been able to propitiate the goddess with victims on her own festal day. O charming Venus! - For our girls appeased Venus with the first victims. O charming Venus again !' Again, in Poenulus 823, the Leno is spoken of as accursed : Satis spectatum est, deos atque homines eius neglegere gratiam, agere aetatem praepeditus latere forti ferreo quam apud lenonem hunc servitutem colere. |