The Complete Plays (77 page)

112   
taint his tresses
: Dirty his hair, i.e. Phoebus refuses to shine upon.

115   
Whereas
: Where.

wind-god… fate
: Aeolus (singular subject of a plural verb) is defying the will of fate in attacking Aeneas.

116   
offspring… kingly loins
: Aeneas, a descendant of Dardanus, son of Jupiter and Electra.

125   
conceived with
: Heavy, pregnant, with.

128–9  
issued from… froth
: Venus was born of the foam of the sea.

130   
Triton… with Troy
: The merman Triton commanded the waves and winds by blowing through a conch; the line seems to associate Triton's trumpet with that of Fame, and to mean that he has made the Trojans' suffering well known.

132   
Thetis… Cymodoce
: See (N). ‘Cymodoce' is emended from Q's
Cimodoae.

146–7  
barking Scylla… Ceraunia's seat
: The locations of famous dangers for epic voyagers. See (N).

Cyclops' shelves
: The shores of Sicily, home of the Cyclopes.

151   
Pergama did vaunt
: Troy boasted of.

153   
virtues… annoy
: Powers… suffering, injury.

154   
coming
: For Q's
cunning
.

158   
rest the map
: Are still the very picture.

159   
hair
: For Q's
aire
. Cf. lines 10, 111–12.

169   
See… finds out
: Proverbial (Tilley N61, P527).

170   
How near… art thou driven
: Into what straits, what extremities, you are forced.

179   
society's supports
: The necessities of a community.

193   
the sun's bright sister
: The moon-goddess Diana (or Phoebe, sister of Phoebus).

196   
lighten our extremes
: Alleviate the extremity we are suffering.

202   
milk-white
: The colour of the most highly prized sacrificial animals.

203   
affect
: (i) Aspire to, (ii) delight in.

204   
Tyrian
: (For Q's
Turen
) the Carthaginians came from Tyre in Phoenicia.

206   
suit… in purple
: Tyre was famed for the production of red-purple dye.

for the nonce
: Specifically for the purpose.

210   
Punic kingdom
: Carthage.

213   
Sidonian
: Of Sidon, another city in Phoenicia.

220   
Phrygian
: Trojan (from Phrygia in Asia Minor).

224   
tilts
: Pitches, slops; moves unsteadily up and down.

233   
A' God's name on
: Carry on, in the name of God.

244   
in these shades
: In such deceptive shapes as this (of the huntress).

248   
discoursive
: (i) Articulated in words, (ii) protracted.

Scene
2

4       
envièd
: (Accented on second syllable) hated, loathed.

11     
household lares
: The Lares were the Roman (and hence Trojan) hearth-gods, tutelary spirits of the household.

15     
weal, of victory forsook
: State, having no hope of victory.

22     
fertile… wealth
: Rich in corn; for Ceres, see (N).

23     
of his name
: Italia supposedly derived its name from the Arcadian Italus whose tribe, the Oenotrians, once lived there.

25     
Thither made we
: An imitation of a Virgilian half-line.

26     
Orion
: The winter constellation associated with storms.

28     
brackish
: (i) Partly fresh, partly salt (usually of water), (ii) wet.

33     
knows
: Knows how.

34     
barbarous sort
: The multitude, commoners.

37     
first earth interdict our feet
: Forbid us to land on the shore.

41     
Baucis' house
: Despite being disguised, Jupiter and Mercury were kindly entertained in the humble (‘silly') house of Baucis and Philemon, who therefore became bywords for hospitality. Q's
Vausis
is nonsense.

47     
As shall surpass… speech
: ‘As it will be beyond our power to describe in words' (Oliver 1968).

ACT 2

Scene
1

1–9  
Where am I… I die
: Aeneas is ‘amazed' (line 2) at a statue (in Virgil, a painting) of Priam. Niobe (N) is perhaps remembered because, like the king, she lost many children, or because, in her grief, she was turned to stone.

7–8  
Ida's hill… Xanthus' stream
: Mount Ida near Troy, from which the river Xanthus flowed down to the Hellespont.

10    
humour
: Mood, disposition.

13–14  
saving air, / Is nothing here
: There is nothing here but air.

38.1 SD
Enter
CLOANTHUS
… others
: The Trojans do not recognize each other because Ilioneus' party is dressed in rich Carthaginian clothes, and Aeneas' in rags. (In Virgil, Aeneas is invisible.)

40     
vouchsafe of ruth
: Grant out of pity.

51     
names
: For Q's
meanes.

79–85  
base robes… Irus ware
: The emphasis on clothes is Marlowe's. It is probably ironic that Aeneas, as badly dressed as the beggarly suitor of faithful Penelope, is offered the garment of Dido's former husband. See (N).

87     
wait
: Stand in attendance.

99–100  
your grace… thou
: Aeneas uses the deferential plural form (‘your grace'); Dido insists on the more intimate ‘thou'.

110–11  
Antenor… Sinon
: See (N). Virgil's version, repeated later in this scene, held Sinon responsible; medieval tradition blamed the treachery of Antenor (and sometimes of Aeneas).

114–288  
A woeful tale… sacrificed
: Adapted from Aeneas' narrative in
Aeneid
II.

115   
stony mace
: Cf. John Milton,
Paradise Lost
(X.294): ‘Death with his mace petrific'.

121–3  
Achilles' tongue… Myrmidons' harsh ears
: Aeneas needs the strength of Achilles to tell his story; his hearers will need the legendary hardheartedness of Achilles' companions, the Myrmidons, to listen to it.

129   
Atrides
: The Greek commander, Agamemnon, son of Atreus.

134   
Gave up their voices
: Shouted their decision.

135   
Tenedos
: An island off the Trojan coast, but here apparently treated as part of the mainland.

145–6  
Hermes' pipe… sleep
: To reach Io, Hermes lulled asleep the hundred-eyed guard, Argus, who had been set to watch over her, and killed him.

162  
him
: Priam.

165   
his
: The wooden horse's.

187   
pride of Asia
: I.e. Troy.

188   
camp
: I.e. army.

193–9  
Young infants… brains
: The atrocities are not in Virgil.

198   
a Greekish lad
: I.e. Pyrrhus (but ‘dashed' [199] seems to need a plural subject).

215   
Priam's youngest son
: The death of Polites is mentioned in Virgil, but not the mutilation of his body.

217   
balls of wildfire
: Handheld fire-bombs.

221   
jealous of
: Protective of, anxious for.

222   
crooked
: (i) Shaped, curved, (ii) underhand, crafty.

230   
Megaera
: One of the Furies (N), she is a personification of violence and revenge (Pyrrhus was avenging the death of his father).

235   
turned
: Altered.

244–54  
the frantic queen… fell down
: Not in Virgil. Hecuba's ‘howling' (248) may be an anticipation of her eventual transformation into a dog.

254   
wind
: The received emendation of Q's
wound
emphasizes Priam's frailty.

264   
Ilion
: The Greek form of Ilium (N).

274–5  
Cassandra… Ajax
: See (N); Virgil mentions the attempted rescue, but not the rape, of Priam's daughter.

275   
Diana's fane
: Diana's temple (Q's
Fawne
may be merely a variant spelling).

281–8  
Polyxena… sacrificed
: Marlowe took Pyrrhus' murder of Polyxena, another of Priam and Hecuba's children, from Ovid (
Metamorphoses
XIII, 441–80) rather than Virgil.

289   
leave
: Cease.

298   
Alexander
: An alternative name for Paris.

322   
Cytherea's
: For Q's
Citheidas.

334   
nephew
: Grandson.

ACT 3

Scene
1

2      
thy brother's
: Aeneas' (like Cupid, Venus' son).

50    
feed… my love
: Indulge my beloved's whim
or
indulge in my own passion.

57    
love
: Q's
love
(Jove) may be correct, especially in the light of ‘shrined', but is probably only an example of ‘foul case', an ‘I' having been mistakenly dropped into the case of ‘I' type.

73    
gross eye-beams
: Since the eye was believed to emit a beam, it was conceivable that one could be tainted by being looked at by common eyes.

81     
dull-conceited
: Unimaginative, slow-witted.

96     
Achates… your lord
: Dido pretends not to have noticed Aeneas.

106   
oars
: Apparently disyllabic, as also at line 117.

108   
stern
: (Here) rudder.

116   
odoriferous trees
: The scent of the spice-trees would be communicated to the tackle.

122   
pyramides
: (Four syllables) obelisks.

123   
wrought
: (Here) embroidered.

127   
manly
: Q's
meanly
could be correct if used ironically, but the sense is strained.

131   
Thetis… Apollo's neck
: See (N). ‘The comparison is with the glories of the sun (Apollo) setting in the sea' (Oliver 1968).

132   
So that
: Provided that.

146   
disputed
: Took part in an academic disputation.

154–64  
This was an orator… The rest
: Dido's suitors are free inventions on figures of classical myth.

Scene
2

1–20  
Here lies… Rhamnus town
: Juno's opening speech (a Marlovian invention) is notable for a number of textual cruces, see notes to lines 3, 11 and 16 below.

3     
Fame… Fates
: Q reads
furie… the face.

4     
imp
: Child (sometimes used pejoratively: an imp could be the offspring of the devil).

7     
raze
: Erase. Juno intends to alter the book of fate which has decreed Ascanius' future glory.

11   
let-out life
: The life-blood she will let out (for Q's
left-out
).

12–13  
Paris… Ascanius die
: Juno intends the murder of Ascanius as revenge for Venus' triumph over her in the Judgement of Paris. The prize (an apple) was inscribed ‘for the most beautiful'.

14–15  O
no… down told
: Spoken ironically: ‘I am so helpless that I can neither wait for the proper time for action nor immediately do two good deeds in return for one' (Oliver 1968).
double fee
: Twice the stake.

16   
mind
: For Q's
made.

18   
adulterous child
: Venus, famously unfaithful to Vulcan.

20   
Juno… Rhamnus town
: Juno identifies herself with Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance, who was worshipped in her temple at Rhamnus in Greece.

21    
doves
: See 2.1.320.

22    
prest at hand
: (i) Close at hand (of the danger), (ii) readily (of the doves).

57    
to a sceptre
: As an emblem of his new association with Juno, the queen of the gods.

58    
Fancy and modesty
: I.e. the eroticism of Venus and the matronly decorum of Juno.

60    
desire is thine
: Whatever you desire is yours (because Venus
is
desire).

68    
motion
: (Here) proposal.

76    
casualty of sea
: An accident at sea (Juno disavows her part in raising the storm).