Notes and Queries, Number 36, July 6, 1850 by Various
page 19 of 66 (28%)
page 19 of 66 (28%)
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"INCIDIS IN SCYLLAM, CUPIENS VITARE CHARYBDIM." I should be sorry to see this fine old _proverb in metaphor_ passed over with no better notice than that which seems to have been assigned to it in Boswell's _Johnson_. Erasmophilos, a correspondent of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ in 1774, quotes a passage from Dr. Jortin's _Life of Erasmus_, vol. ii. p. 151., which supplies the following particulars, viz.:-- 1. That the line was first discovered by Galeottus Martius of Narni, A.D. 1476. 2. That it is in lib. v. 301. of the "Alexandreis," a poem in _ten_ books, by Philippe Gualtier (commonly called "de Chatillon," though in reality a native of Lille, in Flanders). 3. That the context of the passage in which it occurs is as follows:-- "-- Quo tendis inertem Rex periture, fugam? Nescis, heu perdite, nescis Quem fugias: hostes incurris dum fugis hostem. Incidis in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim." where the poet apostrophises Darius, who, while {86} flying from Alexander, fell into the lands of Bessus. (See _Selections from Gent. Mag_. vol. ii. p. 199. London, 1814.) C. FORBES. |
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