﻿THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 153 



same proverb is ascribed to Epidiarmiis: Sia Trai^ro? Be e9o<; ea-Tlv avrw cjxovelv to 'ETri^dp- 

 fieiov a he -xelp rav xet/ja vii^ei. Sen. Lud. do Morte Claud. 9. 5 : " Hercules enim, qui 

 videret ferrum suum in igne esse, modo hue modo illuc cursabat et aicbat : Noli mihi 

 invidere, mea res agitur : deinde si quid volueris, invicem faciam : ]\Ianus manum lavat." 

 It will at once be ajjparent that Seneca imitates, even to the proverb, the language of 

 the vulgar. This satire was probably written immediately after the death of Claudius, 

 in 54 A. D. — Hermeros says, c. 57. -3: " Larifuga ncscio quis nocturnus, qui non valet 

 lotium suum," and " in molli carne vermes nascuntur." C. 57. 7 : " in alio pediculum 

 vides, in te ricinum non videsT' (Cf. Herat. Sat. 1. 3. 73: "Qui ne tuberibus propriis 

 offendat araicum, Postulat, ignoscct vcrrucis illius." Matt. vii. 3-5: ri Se /SXeVet? ro 

 Kap<po<; TO ev Ta> o(j)6a\fj,a> rov aSe'\(f)ov aov, Trjv Be ev tw c^m o(f)6a\fia} Bokov ov Karavoel'i ; rj ttw? 

 epeK Tcp aBeX^u) aov A(pe<; e/f/3aX(u to Kap<^o<; eK tov ocf>0a\/j,ov <tov ; Kot iBov tj Boko<; ev t<o 

 o(f>6a\fia> aov • viroKpuTa, eKJiaXe irpwrov eic tov ocf>6aXfiov aov ttjv Bokov, koI to'te Sia/3\€'i/ret? e/e- 

 ^aXelv TO Kdp^o<s eK tov 6cf>da\ixov tov dBeX^ov aov.) C. 57. 8 : " lorus ill aqua." C. 58. 3 : 

 " qualis dominus, talis et servus." (Cf. the Greek proverbs alluded to by Cic. ad Attic. 



5. 11. 5: oia y ?; BeaTroiva, Tola Be koI i) kvcov,* OV oirola tj Be'aTroiva Totat koI 0€paTraiviBe<;.) 

 C. 58. 12: "volpis uda," Avhere even the old form "volpis" for "vulj)es" bears testi- 

 mony to the antiquity of the proverb. — Plocrinus says, c. 64. 3 : " quadi'igae meae 

 decucurrerunt." The Greeks express the idea conveyed in this proverb by another: 

 TJoKai TTOT rjaav oXki/jloi MiXriaiot. This provcrb, the origin of which is variously ex- 

 plained, occurs frequently in Greek writers, among others in Aristoph. Plut. 1002. — 

 Habinuas says, c. 67. 10: "nunc hoc est caldum meiere et frigidum potare," a provcrb 

 more remarkable for its vigor than its elegance, but perfectly in keeping with the char- 

 acter of the person who uses it. — Circe says, c. 129. 7 : "ad tubicines mittas." 



Encolpius himself, or rather Petronius, does not abstain from the use of proverbs. 

 He says, c. 47. 8: "in medio clivo laborare." A similar idea is expressed in a similar 

 manner in Ovid. Heroid. 20. 41 : " Mille doli restant ; clivo sudamus in imo." V. Lors, 

 in his edition of Ovid's Heroides (Cologne, 1830), rightly defends the proverbial char- 

 acter of tliis expression of Ovid's by referring to the above passage of Petronius. Jui- 

 othcr expression of a similar character occurs in Sen. Ep. 31.4: " Tanto melior, surge et 

 inspira, et clivum istum uno, si potes, spiritu exsupera." C. 83. 7: "cum ventis litigo." 

 The Greeks have several proverbs of the same import ; as, dve'fj,ov<: yecopyel^, which Suidas 



thus explains : cttI tcov ttovowtuiv koI firjBepo^ p.eTe'XpvTav • /cat yap 6 dve/xo^ irdvTa /lev (fyvei 

 KM av^ei, ovBev Be erepov rj fjLovrjv d-)(yrjv a-rrocpepeTai, • coaTe ovBevo^ fxeTaXafi/Sdvei. The Ncw 



* See Plato de R. P. 8. 13. 



