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Problems in Statius "Thebaid" II-V

Author(s): P. T. EdenReviewed work(s):Source: Mnemosyne, Fourth Series, Vol. 47, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1994), pp. 231-233Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4432351.

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MISCELLANEA 231

PROBLEMS IN STATIUS THEBAID II-V*(2.525; 3.231; 3.710; 4.318; 4.585; 4.665; 5.497)

2.525hostemque superbumadnixi iaculis et humi posita arma tenentes 525

expectant densaque nemus statione coronant.The Theban ambush lies in wait for Tydeus. Their arma include scuta andgaleae (530). At line 535 in armis may imply that they have put all theirequipment on again. But when they are in an 'easy' position, leaning ontheir spears, what can it mean to say that they are 'holding weaponsplaced on the ground'? When they have temporarily placed equipment onthe ground, good soldiers may be seen not grasping it, tenentes, but keepingan eye on it, tuentes. The consequences of not doing so are described atTh. 7.135-7 where the Argives, in confusion, snatch up each other's arms.3.231

exturbent resides frenos et cuneta perosi 231te cupiant, tibi praecipites animasque manusquedeuoueant, rape cunctantis et foedera turba;231 uincla Bentley, tuta Garrod (cf. G?. 11.260 tuta odisse)Jupiter orders Mars to drive the people of Argos to war. The reading ofthe MSS, cuneta, makes no sense and could well be a corruption of cauta,'a policy of prudence'; cf. Sil.4.804 haec dubios...ad cauta illexere patres.3.710

et nunc maest? quidem graue et inlaetabile munus,ut timeam doleamque, rogo; sed cum oscula rumpetmaest? dies, cum rauca dabunt abeuntibus armissigna tubae saeuoque genas fulgebitis auro,ei mihi care pater, iterum fortasse rogabo. 710710 pater ?: parens ? iterum ??: pacem Garrod

Argia, having asked her father Adrastus to make war and recover Thebesfor her husband Polynices, falters at the thought of actual separation fromthem. Garrod thought that iterum was a stop-gap inserted by a copyist torestore the metre after the original word had dropped out {iterum seemsto fulfil this function in one or more MSS at Th. 11.21 and Ach.1.97).At Th. 10.51, when the outlook is very black for the Argives, theirwomenfolk implore Juno's help reditumque suorum. So here, when theArgive forces depart to war, what more natural for the repentant Argiato request than their (instant) return?ei mihi care pater, reditum fortasse rogabo. 710It may be quite irrelevant that iterum and reditum have all letters but onein common.

4.318ut stetit aduersisque impegit pectora frenisille ad humum pallens: 'Vnde haec furibunda cupido, 318nate, tibi? teneroque unde improba pectore uirtus?

Mnemosyne, Vol. XLVII, Fase. 2 (1994), ? E. J. Brill, Leiden

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232 MISCELLANEA318 illa ad eum pallens PeyraredusAtalanta hastens to try and stop her son Parthenopaeus from joining the

expedition against Thebes.Peyrar?de's emendation is open to the objection that Statius had no

greater liking for the oblique cases of is than Virgil. But he does noteschew forms of pallere (e.g. at G?.5.413, Th. 12.676, Th. 12.695), and thismay perhaps explain why at 7^.5.399, where pellentem is certainly right,two MSS {P and Sl) offer the nonsensical pallentem. So here, noting alsothat at G?.8.263 other MSS correctly offer ilium where ogives ille, I sug-gest ilium ad humum pellens or impellens, 'pushing him to the ground' andforcing him to dismount. Distraught mothers do not stand on ceremony.4.585

'Desiste canendo,nata,' ait, 'externae satis est mihi lucis, inertesdiscedunt nebulae et uultum niger exuit aer. 585585 ex(s)erit Lachmann: exsilit AltonAfter Manto 's account of activity in the Underworld, Tiresias' innervision clears. Inertes nebulae and niger aer both refer to the mental fog whichhas obscured Tiresias' sightless vision?examples of Virgil's favourite'theme and variation' technique, as here and at Th.6.69-70, are uncom-

mon in Statius?and the verb of which exuit is a corruption, must have thegeneral sense of'leave, quit'. Exire, 'to pass beyond, escape from' is wellattested as a transitive verb in Statius (G?.2.731, ThA 1.138-9, Ach. 1.265,SiluA.2.58~9) and elsewhere (cf. especially Apuleius Met.9.19 necauri...splendor...oculos ipsiusexirepotuit). Here read exiit. It is almost a man-nerism of Statius to mix present and past verb-forms freely: disce-dunt. .. exiit.

4.665isque ubi puluerea Nemeen efferuere nubeconspicit et solem radiis ignescere ferri, 665necdum compositas belli in certamina Thebas,...

Bacchus, seeing the dust raised by the advancing Argive army and theunprepared state of his native Thebes, orders his retinue to speed to heraid.Solem radiis ignescereferri is on the very borderline of credibility. Notsurprisingly, the flash of arms (TA.5.557, T'A.8.124) and the clouds of dust{Th.5.9-10, 7^.7.795-6) figure more than once in Statius' epic. AtTh. 12.658-60 he goes out of his way to inform us that the latter do notdim the former, et mediis ardent in nubibus hastae. At Th.6.665-7 the sun isterrified by the evil gleam of Mars' shield, and his rays are blunted whenthey strike Mars' iron temple at 7?.7.45-6. These passages may persuadeone that Statius did actually write what the MSS offer (apparentlyunanimously). However, there is a lingering uncertainty, and if solem iscorrupt, in preference to Slater's frondem or Koestlin's siluam, I suggestmolem, 'the mass' of the dust-shrouded troop-movement: cf. Ach. 1.265sparsa ac dissona moles of the heterogeneous Greek forces at Aulis.

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MISCELLANEA 233

5.497nam me praedonum manus hue appulsa tacentem 497abri pit et uestras famulam transmittit in oras.497 latentem Baehrens et Phillimore: licentum dub. Garrod

Hypsipyle explains to the Argives how she comes to be in their territory.Tacentem has justly aroused suspicion because there seems to have been nospecial reason for Hypsipyle to have remained silent while beingabducted. Latentem suites the situation much better. But the verb whichthe MSS usually confuse with tacere is tacere (in one or more MSS at77i.10.97, G?.10.321, G?.10.428, G?.12.67, 77i.12.729), and iacentem,'prostrate, cowering' (cf. especially 7?.11.18-19 templisque iacentiasurguntlagmina) would be very apt for a woman who has just describedherself as exanimis (493): it deserves adoption.Oxford, Forest Hill P.T. Eden

* I am grateful to Dr. J.B. Hall for his comments on an earlier draft of theseThebaid papers.

PROBLEMS IN STATIUS THEBAID VII-X(7.423; 8.268; 9.19; 9.769; 9.807; 10.216)

7.423haec audit Pelopea phalanx, sed bellicus ardorconsiliis obstat diuum prohibetque timeri. 423The Argive troops advance, too belligerent to heed the fearsome omens.With this (apparently unanimous) paradosis we have to understand Con-silia from consiliis as subject o? timeri, which is awkward and questionable.At Th. 12.352 timeri, which is undoubtedly wrong, is offered by all the

major MSS, and teneri, which is undoubtedly right, is offered only by codd.dett. Here too teneri would be preferable: 'and forbids it (the Pelopeanphalanx) to be restrained by them (the divine counsels)'.8.268sic ubi per fluctus uno ratis obruta somnoconticuit pacique maris secura iuuentus 268mandauere animas, solus stat puppe magisterperuigil inscriptaque deus qui nauigat alno.268 pacique Postgate: tantique ??: fideique ImhofAdrastus keeps solitary vigil while his men sleep, like a helmsman on a

ship at night. Mandauere animas badly needs a dative to complete its sense.Klotz suggested that somno 267 (ablative) might be made to do doubleduty. Garrod promoted Postgate's pacique to the text. But the originalreading may have disappeared through the dittography of a single letter,

Mnemosyne, Vol. XLVII, Fase. 2 (1994), ? E. J. Brill, Leiden