on the contrary. Where (166, 1. 21), whereas, where on the contrary, although. Whiffler, an officer who headed a procession to clear the way. While, time.
While, God help the (219), God help us meanwhile.
Whilom, formerly.
Withal, (1) with this, (2) also. Wit's regard (50), what the mind knows to be right. Wooden O (63), the wooden theatre, circular inside.
Would thee do (64), wishes you to do.
Wrest, to twist aside, pervert.
Yearn (78), to vex. Yellow-tressed, with yellow hair. Yeoman, a freeholder, next in rank to a gentleman. Yerk out, to jerk out, lash out. Yoke (109), to join, couple. Yoke-devils (68), two devils that pull together.
Aeneas, a mythic warrior who survived the fall of Troy, es- caping from the ruined and burning city, and carrying his aged father Anchises out of it on his shoulders. For seven years he sailed the Mediterranean, then landed in Italy, founded a city, and became the ancestor of Romulus, the founder of Rome. Alexander the Great, king of Macedon (born 356 B.C., died 323 B.C.), conquered the Persian empire and pushed on as far as India.
Amurath IV, Sultan of Turkey, succeeded his father Amurath III in 1596, invited all his brothers to a feast in honour of his acces- sion, and had them all strangled at it.
Aristotle, a famous Greek philo- sopher.
Ate, the goddess in old Greek mythology who punishes men for rash and wild deeds. Spenser in The Faëry Queen places her dwelling hard by the gates of hell', and describes her as 'born of hellish brood', and being her- self the mother of debate'.
Bacchanals: see Thracian singer. Barbary, the Saracen countries along the North coast of Africa. Barrabas, Barabbas. This form is used by Shakespeare and Mar- lowe.
Brutus (121, 1. 134; 123, 1. 58). The royal family of the Tarquins were driven from Rome, and Rome itself was made a republic, because Sextus Tarquinius dis- honoured a noble Roman lady named Lucretia. The man who headed the rising against the Tar-
quins was Lucius Junius Brutus, an ancestor of the Brutus in Shakespeare's play. See Macau- lay's Lays of Ancient Rome.
Caesar's brag (35, 1. 20). In the summer of 47 B.C. Julius Caesar by rapid movements mastered Asia Minor. After striking down King Pharnaces of Pontus and storming his camp at Zela, he summed up the success in three words Veni, vidi, vici, 'I came, I saw, I conquered.' Caperdochie, a high-sounding name for the stocks.
Cassibelan, British chieftain whose tribe lived in Middlesex. He was entrusted with the chief command against Julius Caesar in 54 B.C., the second Roman invasion of Britain, and he was conquered.
Cato, a famous Roman who fought on the republican side against Julius Caesar. He is often spo- ken of as a type of 'the ancient Roman honour'. He killed him- self at Utica in North Africa, 46 B.C., to avoid falling into Caesar's hands after the repub- lican defeat. His daughter Portia married Brutus, the murderer of Caesar.
Endymion, a beautiful shepherd loved by Diana, the Goddess of the Moon. He lived in a grotto on Mount Latmos, and received the gift of eternal youth and eternal slumber; every night the Moon came down from heaven and kissed him as he lay asleep. *Ercles. B. means 'Hercules'.
Fates. The three goddesses of Fate are mentioned rather ab- surdly in this book (199, 211), though Brutus has a serious reference to them (127). In the old myths they are three sisters, the daughters of Night, who watched over man's life; they were Clotho ('the Spinner') who spun the thread of life, Lachesis ('the Disposer of Lots') who decided how long the thread should be, and Atropos ('the Un- avoidable') who cut it off. Ferryman (89). To pass from this world to the next, according to the old Greek and Roman idea, your spirit had to cross the river Styx (Loathing'), over which it was ferried by Charon, and grim old man dressed in a black sailor's cloak. A small coin to pay the fare was put in the mouth of the dead.
Furies, the goddesses of vengeance in the old mythology. They punished any great sin in home life, such as the murder of a mother. They were pictured as maidens with snakes twined in their hair and with torches in their hands. One of them was named Tisiphone ('the Avenger of Blood').
Hymen, the Greek god of Marriage. Hyperion, an old Greek name for the Sungod.
Muse, one of the nine goddesses of poetry in the old mythology. Nazarite (153), Nazarene, or na- tive of Nazareth. This form of the name is found in all transla- tions of the Bible before 1611. Neptune, the Roman god of the
Nero, emperor of Rome, 54-68 A. D. His most brutal crime was the murder of his mother Agrip- pina.
Nervii, a Gallic tribe living in modern Belgium, conquered by Caesar in 57 B. C. after a stubborn battle in which Caesar himself showed great bravery. Sir Tho- mas North (whom Shakespeare used) describes the Nervii as 'the stoutest warriors of all the Belgae'.
Nicholas, Saint, popularly looked upon as the patron saint of thieves (his 'clerks as they are called, 215). It is supposed that his name got mixed up with that of 'old Nick'.
Olympus, the famous mountain of Thessaly which the Greeks be- lieved to be the home of their gods. Pannonians, a tribe who lived in modern Hungary.
*Phibbus (199). B. means 'Phoe- bus'.
Phoebus, Apollo, the Sungod, and the god of song.
Plato, a famous Greek philo- sopher.
Pluto, the Greek god of the under- world, or region of the dead; and so lord of the gold and mineral treasure lying underground. Pompey, a Roman general and statesman, born 106 B. C. became the rival of Julius Caesar,
born about 580 B. C. He is sald to have believed that when any creature died, its soul passed into another living body, human or animal, and so went on from life to life, being itself immortal. Rialto, the money-market or Ex- change of Venice. Rome, and Room (121). A pun: 'Rome' in Shakespeare's day was pronounced 'Room'.
Shafalus and Procrus (209). Pro- perly, Cephalus and Procris, two lovers in the old mythology. Procris, jealous of Cephalus, fol- lowed him in his hunting; and he mistook her for an animal as he heard her move through the covert, and killed her.
Sisters, Three (212). See Fates. Tarquin (123). See Brutus. Tartar (68), Tartarus, a name for hell in the Greek and Roman mythology.
Thisne (199). A silly pronuncia- tion of Thisbe'. Thracian singer (205), Orpheus, who, when his wife Eurydice was killed by a snake, won his way into the other world by his divine skill as a harper, and was allowed to take her back to life if he did not look back at her until she reached the earth; on the very brink of the light he looked back and saw her fade away. In his grief he wandered harping through the wild places of the earth, and was torn in pieces by a band of Bacchanals, or women worship- pers of Bacchus, upon whose secret rites he had intruded. Tisiphon, Tisiphone. See Furies. Trojan (215), a slang name for a thief.
Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press by HORACE HART, M.A.
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