Thomas Naogeorgus’s Infernal Satire: Text, Translation, and Commentary to Satyrarum libri quinque priores III.1 (1555)

Abstract

This study provides an analysis, text, and translation of satire III.1 from Thomas Naogeorgus’s Satyrarum libri quinque priores (1555), which offers a vivid neo-Latin poetic depiction of the fall of Satan and his followers. It situates Naogeorgus’s work within the tradition of early modern satire and epic, exploring its alignment with theological discourse and its engagement with classical and Biblical motifs. Through a close reading of the text, this article identifies significant thematic and stylistic parallels with John Milton’s Paradise Lost. While acknowledging the limitations of asserting direct literary influence, it highlights Naogeorgus’s unique contributions to the broader literary tradition of Christian epic poetry. The paper calls for greater scholarly attention to Naogeorgus’s oeuvre, emphasizing its value beyond mere comparative analyses, as a distinctive voice in Reformation humanist verse. By providing a translation and commentary, this work aims to promote further studies of neo-Latin literature and its complex interplay with theological and literary traditions.

1. Introduction

Infernal satire has a long literary history: Nearly two thousand years ago, Lucian of Samosata brought satire into the underworld in his Dialogi Mortuorum, Necyomantia, and Cataplus. In the last century, Flann O’Brien had to depart for the underworld himself before his masterly infernal satire (which it is, among other things) The Third Policeman would be published in 1967. During the Italian Renaissance, Dante’s Divine Comedy (Alighieri 2005) was sometimes regarded as satire. Bartolommeo della Fonte describes Dante as embodying the tradition of satire and Old Comedy: ‘Instar huiusce satyrae veterisque comoediae Dantes noster insigne suum poema mira arte composuit bonis laudandis, malis ad inferos aeternaque supplicia detrudendis’ [‘In the likeness of this satire and Old Comedy, our Dante composed his poem with remarkable skill, praising the good and banishing the wicked to hell and eternal punishment’] (Trinkaus 1966, p. 121. All translations are my own). While modern critics might discern satirical elements within Dante’s work, the connection with satire was stronger in the early modern period, where satire was often understood to be a poetic form of epideictic rhetoric, consisting of both praise (laudatio) of virtue and blame (vituperatio) of vices (on the early modern conception of satire, with special reference to neo-Latin poetics, see Porter 2014, pp. 18–67). If any literary work that recommends virtue and castigates crime or sin can be considered ‘satire’, then the genre can be supposed to encompass almost any work that does not explicitly commend or recommend immorality. Regardless of its critical utility, such a broad definition ensured that early modern satire is an immensely expansive and versatile genre and, for this reason, often rewards the intrepid literary explorer.

Thomas Naogeorgus (Kirchmeyer 1508–1563) was a noteworthy Latin poet and tragedian, and his satire on the fall of Satan is a remarkable poem both in its own right and as an interesting analogue to John Milton (2013)’s Paradise Lost, to which I will note a few comparable passages though the question of literary comparison is not my primary focus. In terms of the quality and quantity of publications, it is a good time for the study of neo-Latin literature, though the subject remains niche and specialized. Naogeorgus’s dramatic and poetic works are a remarkable achievement and deserve more than being footnotes to Milton or any other vernacular writer. It is also hoped that a critical text, commentary, and translation will aid the dissemination of this poem and promote further interest in Naogeorgus and early modern Latin poetry in general.

2. Thomas Naogeorgus’s Satires

Though many pedantic, tedious, and odious religious satires proliferated throughout the German-speaking world in the latter half of the sixteenth century, Reformation satire found an original voice in the works of Thomas Naogeorgus, who was born in Straubing and worked as a Lutheran pastor in various towns in Saxony and Bavaria before dying in Wiesloch from the plague (for summary of his life and work, see Sieveke 1993, pp. 477–93). He was known primarily as a Protestant theologian (as is the case with many early Reformers, his precise theological positions are challenging to discern) and neo-Latin playwright, though he also wrote Latin verse and translated works by Greek authors such as Dio Chrysostom and Plutarch into Latin. His most famous play is his 1538 anti-papal Tragoedia nova Pammachius (‘Warmonger, a new tragedy’), but his Latin verse satires have attracted some attention in recent decades. Leo, in his study of Reformation tragedy, notes that around the mid-sixteenth century, tragedy ‘is increasingly directed to polemical or catechistical ends’ (Leo 2019, p. 39), which is also the case with satire during this period. Like his satires, Naogeorgus’ dramatic works are all concerned with the theme of good vs. evil (Watanabe-O’Kelly 2015, pp. 317–31). So, there is often, as is the case with Naogeorgus, a common directive behind the composition of both genres. Almost every scholar who has commented on Naogeorgus’s satires has remarked on their high literary quality; Kühlmann, for example, commends them as ‘einem einsamen Gipfelpunkt der reformationshumanistischen Verssatire’ (‘a solitary pinnacle of Reformation humanist satire satire’ (Kühlmann 2016, p. 24; for summaries of Naogeorgus’s verse satire also see Roloff 2003a; Porter 2014, pp. 174–80; Kivistö 2022, pp. 171–84). His edition of five books of satires, with each book containing five satires, except the fourth book, which contains six satires, was printed in Basel in 1555 (also see Werner 1987, pp. 83–140; Theobald 1908, pp. 66–67). Appended to these satires is a Latin translation of Plutarch’s De tranquillitate animi and the treatise of Seneca, which bears the same title. The addition of these moral treatises is indicative of the moralistic and pedagogical aims of Naogeorgus’s satirical poetry.

3. Satirical Language and Genre

Satirical language is notorious for its licence, both in terms of freedom of subject matter and vulgarity (both in its use of vernacular diction and explicitness), but Naogeorgus explicitly rejects the use of obscenity and sexuality in line with the authority of St. Paul’s admonitions against not only immoral deeds but also immoral language (spurci obscoenique sermones, Naogeorgus 1555, p. 5). Naogeorgus must have been aware of the abundance of vernacular satire, proliferating throughout Germany after the advent of the Reformation, and he likely knew that much of it was quite indecorous and lewd. Pious scruples against the frank discussion of immorality in satire themselves are not new to Naogeorgus, but he is amongst the first to programmatically excise such language from a significant corpus of satirical poems. And it is a strategy that suits his purpose to Christianise the genre and render it into a fresh form that will serve his reformist purposes: ‘[…] Christi Iesu hostes ac desertores, pravaeque doctrinae sectatores, defensoresque derideo, insector, improbo, atque reprehendo’. ‘I mock, deride, condemn, and rebuke the enemies and deserters of Christ Jesus, and the followers and defenders of corrupted doctrine’ (Naogeorgus 1555, p. 6). The verbs deridere, insectari, and reprehendere are commonplace in satirical programmatic statements, though Naogeorgus here reduces their focus from general vices to purely religious and doctrinal preoccupations. Naogeorgus also mentions St. Jerome, St. Cyprian, and St. John Chrysostom, along with ‘alii ecclesiastici scriptores’ (‘other ecclesiatical writers’), and ‘omnes prophetae et apostoli’ (‘all the prophets and apostles’), and even Christ Himself in so far as He spoke out against scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, as his satirical predecessors (Naogeorgus 1555, p. 6). In keeping with his other writings, Naogeorgus vituperates against what he perceives as the ‘impietates’ (‘impieties’) and ‘perversa dogmata’ (‘corrupted dogmas’) of his turbulent age (Naogeorgus 1555, p. 13). His satires often attach themselves to the theme of Christian salvation history, rooted in Protestant moral instruction (though Naogeorgus satirizes Luther and other reformers too), and in a theological framework (Roloff 2003a, p. 386), where the satirist’s power to extinguish vice is replaced with the saving power of God.

Naogeorgus does not recognize any German precedent for the writing of satire, and only Italian humanist and translator Francesco Filelfo, among the modern poets, receives any mention alongside the Roman satirists Horace, Juvenal, and Persius. (Naogeorgus 1555, p. 4). Naogeorgus dedicated this book of satires to the youthful Lutheran prince, George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (Naogeorgus 1555, p. 4; on Naogeorgus’s Widmungsbrief, see Simons 2013, pp. 135–36; Kivistö 2022, pp. 30–33 summarizes and contextualizes this dedication) and he takes care to note the Italian humanist Filelfo’s dedication of his satires to king Alfonso of Aragon to establish a precedent for his dedication to the Margrave (Naogeorgus 1555, p. 5).

4. Book 3—Satire 1

Naogeorgus’s 1555 book of satires, like many collections of neo-Latin verse satires, is eclectic: it is satire in the sense of the Roman word satura, ‘a plate holding a variety of offerings’ (see Porter 2014, pp. 217–28). More than one of Naogeorgus’s satires offers accounts of Biblical or extra-Biblical narratives, such as satire I.3, where Adam recovers his faith after the Fall; II.2, which provides an account of the death of Abel; VI.1, which is on the on Garden of Eden and the Fall (Kirkconnell 1952, pp. 561–63); and satire III.1, which narrates the war between Satan and Heaven and the subsequent fall of Satan and his demons. Satire III.1 can also be seen as part of the humanist tradition of Biblical narrative poetry represented in Latin by such poems as Giovanni Gioviano Pontano’s De mundi creatione, Johannes Major’s Hortus Adami, and Girolamo Vida’s epic Christiad (Kirkconnell 1952, pp. xvii–xviii). As far as I can discern, Naogeorgus’s poem owes little debt to ancient Biblical narrative poetry, such as the works of Juvencus, Sedulius, Proba, Arator, and Avitus. Nor is it much indebted directly to the diction of the Roman satirists Juvenal, Horace, or Persius, though throughout the poem, various phrases have been borrowed from Virgil’s Aeneid (which is ubiquitously pillaged from in every genre of neo-Latin poetry) and other classical epic poems. Understandably, Virgil is a major resource for Milton’s epic as well (Haan 2012, pp. 166–98).

Satire III.1 begins with a short account of the creation of the angels, their beauty, and their closeness to God (lines 1–8). Almost immediately (in spite of a couple of references to the passing of ages, temporality is ambiguous throughout the poem), Satan’s immense pride provides a source of discontent. Lines 19–77 present Satan’s first speech to an angelic audience, wherein he rallies his followers into direct and open rebellion against God, complaining about servitude and the duty of providing constant song in praise of the Divine and promising freedom from the divine and natural constraints wherein lesser beings are bound to follow the greater. His speech is compassionate but sophistical: He promises his followers they will share the authority (imperium) and the throne of God (47) while in fact putting himself forward as a new paramount leader (59–62). Satan’s rousing speech successfully spurs his followers to arms and what follows is a short account of celestial warfare, reminiscent of Revelation 12: 7–10. Inevitably, the rebel angels fail to storm the strongholds of heaven and Naogeorgus provides a detailed account of their bestial transformation (135–75). Having been transformed from angelic beauties to grotesque chimeras, seething with various noxious fluids, the transformed demons are cast into hell:

• Ignibus inuictis coelum, solidoque adamante
• In gyro cingens, reditum illis obstruit omnem,
• Ipse quoad coelo vitales carperet auras.
• Decernit quoque, transierint quum tempora mundi,
• Conatus huius praui bellique nefandi
• Aeternas soluant flammis et carcere poenas.
• After having expelled them all, the Creator of heaven and earth,
• Circled the heaven with unconquerable fires, and with solid adamantine
• Ring, obstructs all return for them,
• For as long as He Himself takes vital breathes from heaven.
• He also decrees, that when all the ages of the world have passed,
• The endeavours of this vicious and impious war
• Is to be paid back with eternal punishments in flames and in prison.
(176–182)

The passage is reminiscent of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, such as

• Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky
• With hideous ruin and combustion down
• To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
• In adamantine chains and penal fire,
• Who durst defy the omnipotent to arms.
(I.45–49)

and

• O progeny of heaven, empyreal thrones,
• With reason hath deep silence and demur
• Seized us, though undismayed: long is the way
• And hard, that out of hell leads up to light;
• Our prison strong, this huge convex of fire,
• Outrageous to devour, immures us round
• Ninefold, and gates of burning adamant
• Barred over us prohibit all egress.
(II.430–37)

Both poems draw from the same Biblical and classical sources, such as Hesiod’s account of the fall of the Titans, and share common themes of power, freedom, free will, and divine punishment, but comparison illuminates Milton’s indebtedness to a rich and shared early modern poetic tradition. Satan’s second speech (190–210) is shorter than the first and seeks to justify his own leadership in the face of his defeat. The theme of this speech is the nature of fate (‘fortuna’ 200), a longstanding force in the epic poetry of Homer, Virgil, and others. Satan attributes his defeat to bad luck and the superior numbers of God’s followers. Bound in hell, Satan and his followers are determined to continue their rebellion and eternally commit themselves to vengeance. Revard’s monograph The War in Heaven provides extended thematic comparisons between Milton and Naogeogus, alongside other early modern hexaemeral poets and how they have developed and expanded the story of Lucifer’s rebellion. Revard notes that the ‘War in Heaven’ narrative was commonly taken up as a moral exemplum on the progress of evil (Revard 1980, p. 45) and that Naogeorgus and Milton both share the less common portrayal of the rebel angels ‘as full partners in the conspiracy and willing participants in the war that follows’ (Revard 1980, p. 164 et passim). Forsyth summarizes Milton’s depiction of Satan as an epic hero: ‘He is a variant of Achilles, who equates honor with his own status (the complex Greek notion of arete) and feels slighted by his commander-in-chief, refuses his orders and believes himself superior’ (Forsyth 2003, p. 30); these are characteristics of Naogeorgus’s Satan as well. Currell describes Paradise Lost as the ‘richest example of the modal hybrid ‘epic satire’’ (Currell 2022, p. 140) as a genre; Naogeorgus offers another excellent example of how early modern poets blended these two genres. Affinities between Milton and Naogeorgus are best understood as their sharing parts in extra-Biblical and classical literary traditions. Part of the epic tradition is the extensive use of speeches as a persuasive art and a device for narrative progression and to convey dramatic tension, which is well represented in the works of both poets.

5. Pride and Epic Similes

Thematically, Roloff has noted the Christological commitment (christologische Engagement) that runs through Naogeorgus’ satire (Roloff 2003a, p. 327) and the centrality of the theme of superbia or pride (Roloff 2003b, p. 390) within this poem. Kivistö interprets it ‘as an allegory of the Catholic church, which had forgotten its original task and turned against the supreme master’ (Kivistö 2022, p. 174), though I would prefer to emphasize the universality of its message other than its applicability to this theme, which is fitting and more evident when one reads through Naogeorgus’s satires altogether. Naogeogus, like most neo-Latin poets, utilizes the style and diction of classical poets, but he is also a highly imaginative poet and, in particular, has a great knack for employing inventive epic similes. Satan inflames his followers, like someone pouring oil into a fire (78–80). The rebel angels descending into hell are first like the falling snow (124–27) and then swarming flies at a banquet (128–38): the transformation of the simile foreshadows the fallen angels’ physical translation. And finally, the rebel angels swear their final oaths against God are compared to a rolling ball and then wild horses (224–26), suggesting their final loss of control in eternal damnation and thus their complete and ultimate loss of power, which they had rebelled to maintain.

The poem warns against pride and the false freedom of rebellion against proper authority. Satan frequently appeals to the principles of liberty and equality in instigating his fellow angels toward rebellion. But his Satan is no Republican nor true proponent of spiritual egalitarianism as he swiftly asserts himself as a rival leader. It is also poignant that in the final simile, he is compared with a ‘free stead’ (‘sonipes liber’ 225): a horse that has achieved its liberty and is on a race to perdition. Naogeorgus is taking up an epic simile with a long literary history. Virgil used a similar simile to describe his chief antagonist, Turnus, in battle:

• qualis ubi abruptis fugit praesepia uinclis
• tandem liber equus, campoque potitus aperto
• aut ille in pastus armentaque tendit equarum
• aut adsuetus aquae perfundi flumine noto
• emicat, arrectisque fremit cervicibus alte
• luxurians luduntque iubae per colla, per armos.
• As when a horse free at last, having broken its tethers flees the stalls, having gained the open field either makes for the pastures and herds of mares, or accustomed to bathing in a familiar river, leaps forth, and neighs with his head held high, and gamboling, his manes frolic over his neck and shoulders.
(Aeneid, XI.492–97)

Virgil was closely following epic similes in both Homer (Iliad VI, 506–11) and Ennius (Annales 514–18). And other similar similes of warriors compared with free horses occur in Iliad (XV.264–70), and Apollonius Rhodius’s Argonautica (III.1259–62). Naogeorgus draws on this epic tradition, but he adds an ironic take as the fallen angels are already defeated and subdued: they are free like the horse only in the sense that they are unrestrained in madness. Naogeorgus participates in ancient and modern Latin’s long tradition of allusiveness, where diction is both a reminiscence of earlier texts and a means for embellishments and added resonance.1 This final simile is ironic on two levels: first, it mocks Satan’s pretensions to freedom by comparing him with an unrestrained beast; secondly, Satan is diminished by comparison, as although Virgil’s Turnus ultimately dies a pathetic death defeated in battle begging for his life, during the scene from Aeneid, he is a formidable fighter whereas Satan has already been defeated.

Finally, the rebel angels’ placement in hell is a consequence of Satan’s act of open rebellion against God. The fallen angels’ distorted bodies match their distorted pride, and the horrors of their abode stem from their violence and malicious purpose. Though not a theological dissertation, the poem grapples with important themes of free will, a desire for freedom, and the divine order of the world and heaven. As a satire, it condemns pride, but it is also a poem of existential import. The speeches of Satan are comparable to those in Milton’s Paradise Lost in rhetorical depth and nuance and it is hoped that an edited text and translation will invite further and deeper comparisons and encourage interest in Naogeorgus and other neo-Latin poets.

6. Editorial Notes

There are two published versions of this poem: the first is Satyrarum libri quinque priores (Naogeorgus 1555, pp. 96–105) and the second is in Janus Gruterus’ Delitiae poetarum Germanorum (Gruterus 1612, vol. II, pp. 1056–64). Gruterus also published multi-volume delitiae anthologies, organized by nationality, for Italian, Belgian, and French poets, and similar collections appeared in the seventeenth century for Scotland, Denmark, and Hungary, forming major international repositories for neo-Latin poetry. The latter anthologized text is an improvement on the first, correcting various and obvious misprints, and I followed it throughout except for line 204 where the original ‘nos’ is more sensible than Gruterus’ ‘non’. Except for the transcription of the diphthongs œ æ as oe ae and ij as ii, I have preserved the original spelling even where the text departs from the stricter Latin orthography of classical (or the twenty-first century understanding of classical) Latin; the occasional y for i or quum for cum should present no serious difficulty. Punctuation has been changed sparingly but freely as an aid to better understanding the poem.

6.1. Latin Text

Liber Tertius—Satyra Prima

Quum Dominus coelum quondam terramque crearet,
Spiritibus coelum angelicis extemplo repleuit,
Qui sibi praesto essent, fidique ad iussa ministri,
In2 coelis si quid foret aut tellure gerendum.
Illis splendorem dederat, summumque decorem,
Cuncta creata, inter praestantis gloria formae3
Uni cedebat Domino, superabat caetera longe,
Non tantum propter naturae munera, quantum
Iugem ob conuictum Domini, intuitumque propinquum.
Hinc autem, multis prima immutata uoluntas	10
Continuo, inque tumorem animi creuere superbi.
Quamlibet ingenti nolebant sorte teneri.
Excelsam Domini sedem, regnumque polorum,
Atque affectabant mundi totius habenas.
Quos inter praestans, summoque ex ordine quidam
(Cui post ob facinus nomen, motumque superbum,
Aut Satanae fuit, aut colubro toruoue draconi)
Collecto coetu sic dicitur esse locutus:
“Vix equidem tenui tam longa silentia, fratres,
Et uestrum nulli patefeci abscondita cordis	20
Hactenus, aut graue seruitium, quod nocte dieque
Vobiscum excubiis et iugi suffero cantu,
Abieci, aut maius quicquam, vobisque mihique
Dignius, et cultu nostro ac splendore superbo,
Prospexi quod4 uestra haud dum mihi nota uoluntas,
Nec sat erat perspecta fides, animosaque uirtus,
At nunc, quum uideam uobis sublimia cordi,
Vosque huiusce pigere status, sortisque malignae,
Audiam et assiduo uestrum per compita murmur,
Seruitium propter durum, multosque labores,	30
Audacter dicam mecum quae corde uoluto.
Nostra haec maiestas, hic cultus, summaque uirtus,
Quis nos aequales Domino uel cernitis ipsi,
Coelestes potius tractare merentur habenas,
Supremumque habitare thronum, dulcique potenter
Libertate frui, quam ferre iugum, atque subesse
Cuiusquam imperio, tolerareque herilia iussa.
Nobiliori haud est indignum nobilis ut se
Sternat, maiorique minor concedat ubique:
At qui cuncta queunt, cur subsint cuncta potenti?	40
Cur illi, qui re similes cernuntur in omni?
Quid Dominus nouit, quod non noscamus et ipsi?
Quid sapit, aut quid habet, quod non luculentius ipsi?
Denique re prorsus nulla praestare uidetur.
Hinc penitus mihi res illo deducere certum,
Si modo non desunt uestrae suffragia dextrae,
Ut nobiscum aeque Deus imperiumque thronumque
Diuidat, atque parem nobis concedat honorem.
At non facturum nostro, puto, talia suasu,
Vis adhibenda erit, atque armis pugnaque parandum	50
Imperium, res tanta ingenti digna periclo est.
Vincemus, socii, quid uobis caetera dicam?
Omnia uictorum nostro sub iure uehentur,
Cogeturque Deus nostras perferre catenas.
Haec ego; vos eadem plane sentitis opinor,
Si me non uestrae mentes et lumina fallunt.
Libertatem igitur stabilem, et subducere duro
Colla iugo, atque a perpetuo requiescere cantu,
Rerumque excelsa condigne sede locari
Si cupitis, fortes mecum coniungite dextras.	60
Tenditis huc sensu certe, totisque medullis:
Dux tantum uobis deest, et moliminis autor.
Illum ego praestabo, mihi si paretis, abunde.
Sunt uires mihi; sunt artes ter mille nocendi,
Insidias noui, sunt arma animique feroces,
Ut nihil addubitem quin sit uictoria nostra,
Nostrumque imperium. Securus, cernitis, ille
Armorum bellique sedet, circum atria uero
Imbelles turbae, quas nec procul arma tueri
Posse reor, ne dum uires sufferre ruentis	70
Agminis adversi, gladiisque occurrere strictis.
Si modo tardatis prohibente pudore, metuue,
An uobis unquam contingat deinde facultas
Ponendi obsequii, libertatisque parandae,
Consimilisque mei ductoris copia detur,
Haud scio saepe solet fieri, ut quae oblata recuses,
Post lacrymis frustra multis cupiasque, rogesque”.
Addidit his dictis, promptae calcaria turbae,
Incenditque animos, ut si quis forte camino
Ingentes cupiens flammas infundat oliuum.	80
Confestim ergo ducem statuunt, regemque salutant.
Coniurant raptim, inque nouum dant nomina bellum.
Arma parant, spirantque minas, rebusque, Deoque
Exitium intentant extremum, et magna loquuntur:
Omnibus infensi laturis fida Tonanti
Auxilia, atque suo posituris claustra furori,
Aut remoras, quasi et ad certos transiret honores
Quisque, foretque adeo in manibus uictoria clausis:
Sic odere moras cupidi, sic praelia poscunt.
Senserat extemplo motum hunc rerum pater et rex,	90
Quem res nulla latere potest, abscondita quamuis,
Multumque ingratis animis et corde superbo,
Spirituumque illo furioso excanduit ausu.
Mox ergo spaciosi armamentaria coeli
Recludi, sanas et adhuc capere arma cohortes,
Viribus et totis contra pugnare rebelles
Imperat, et cunctis Michaelem praefecit5 armis.
Nec mora, quassatur magno coelum omne tumultu,
Armataeque ruunt acies decernere ferro.
Hos mandata urgent, spes contra accenderat illos	100
Feruens imperii, libertatisque cupido.
Fortibus hinc animis concurritur, atque furentis
Ambiguo Mauortis opus certamine feruet,
Neutra acie meditante fugam, coelestia donec
Omnipotens multo concussit regna tonitru,
Ignesque intorsit crebros, flammasque uorantes,
Impiaque irato perterruit agmina uultu,
Arreptumque ducem coelo deiecit ab alto.
Non ita praecipiti rumpit globus aëra cursu,
Bombardae horrisonae, quem uis Vulcania torquet;	110
Non ita nunc etiam iactat sua tela Creator,
Excelsas plectens turres, aedesque superbas.
Amisso duce, mox reliquorum frigidus ossa
Inuadit tremor, et spaciosa per aequora coeli
Defugiunt cursim, latebras tempusque pusillum,
Quo reuocare ducem possint, et praelia tentent
Altera, quaerentes. At lux clarissima prodit
Omnia, nec locus ullus adest per plana latebris,
Insuper et legio uictrix instatque premitque.
Ergo quum fugerent hi, persequerentur et illi,	120
Circuituque nouem pariter traherentur in orbes,
Nec pauidae auderet turbae consistere quisquam,
Omnibus e coelo portis per inane feruntur
Aëra in impurum, terrasque et triste barathrum
Praecipites, triduo ceu nix largissima Phoebi
Auferat aspectum, tectisque et frondibus altis
Pendeat, et late terras hominesque ferasque
Opprimat, atque metu sua cedere cogat in antra.
Aut ueluti complent importunae omnia muscae,
Igneus in proprio uehitur cum sidere Titan,	130
Quum mensas super atque dapes et pocula Bacchi
Inuolitant, gustantque saporum dulcia primae,
Nec raro patinis auidae merguntur in ipsis,
Et saturae optato saepe immoriuntur Iaccho.
Quin etiam coenantum infestant ora manusque,
Cunctaque perturbant grauibus coenacula bombis,
Nec pulsae discunt ullis parere flabellis,
Nec turbam possis ulla exhaurire medela.
Protinus in casu flagranti numinis ira
Pristina cunctorum facies et forma recessit.	140
Sordidus Aethiopum deturpat corpora nigror,
Et spurcis horrent squamis, uillisue ferinis.
Terribile ignitumque caput, cui parte ab utraque
Cornua bina insunt toruae minitantia fronti,
Unde ater mistis scintillis fumus in auras
Surgit. Gorgonei uoluuntur cornua circum
Exertis angues linguis, ac ore patenti
Iugiter ad morsus et eisdem texta superne
Crista minas spirat, rutilantia lumina flammis
In Cyclopaeos orbes uindicta redegit.	150
Non ita serpentem dicas, Martemue tueri,
Non ita Titanas, Lybicis nec Gorgonas oris.
Aures dependent longe lateque per armos,
Quales esse canum dicas, qui nare sagaci
Vestigare solent silvis6 spelaea ferarum:
Has tamen7 arbitrio tolluntque premuntque vicissim.
Falcatus nasus, longeque proboscidis instar
Nigrantis barri. latis e naribus atra
Promanat pix, sulpureasque proboscide stillas
Spargunt, infecta quibus aut tellure, mariue.	160
Pisces ac laetis pecudes moriuntur in herbis.
Subter diducto uaste amplo ad tempora rictu,
Horrendum frendent incuruis dentibus apri:
Inde ignes ac immedicabile uirus echidnae,
Pestiferasque uomunt tumidis pulmonibus auras.
Pannosae pendent setoso pectore mammae,
Quales esse solent partus post octo lupinae.
His rabiem immulgent gnatis, odiumque superni
Principis, et spurcam stipant in corda saliuam.
Occiput et turpes clunes tergumque draconum	170
Ora tenent medio prodit longissima cauda
Podice, nulla tulit qualem alti belua Nili.
Forma pedum manuumque palustri proxima rarae,
Unguibus exceptis, quos credas esse leonum.
Talem traxerunt illi post praelia formam.
Omnibus expulsis, coeli terraeque Creator,
Ignibus inuictis coelum, solidoque adamante
In gyro cingens, reditum illis obstruit omnem,
Ipse quoad coelo vitales carperet auras.
Decernit quoque, transierint quum tempora mundi,	180
Conatus huius praui bellique nefandi
Aeternas soluant flammis et carcere poenas.
Haec firmans nutu, totum concussit Olympum.
Hoc tanto casu, poenisque in fine luendis
Haud meriti tantum Satanas, iustique doloris,
Immensae quantum rabidus conceperat irae.
Dispersos ergo socios contraxit in unum,
Et postquam in mediis sedem conscenderat altam,
Alloquitur moesto ducens suspiria corde.
“Heu socii, quam nos infausta pugna fefellit,	190
Euentusque rei, quam nacti infausta duelli
Tempora, rem nostram sorti permisimus omnem,
Magnaque perdidimus, digni maioribus, ast hoc
Soletur, quod non nostra uictoria culpa
Hostibus accessit, res omnis gesta profecto,
Quantum consilio potuit, uel uiribus ullis,
Praesentiue geri corde. Adversaeque cohortes
Non nos praestanti uicerunt robore belli,
Sed numero tantum, dignosque premente bonosque
Fortuna, indignos uero tollente uicissim.	200
Nostras haec etiam modo res confregit inique,
Abstulit et formam, clarique habitacula coeli.
Sexaginta etiam dirae post saecula poenae
Nos8 omnis diuina manent decreta secundum,
Tanta forent animis multumque diuque pusillis
Deploranda quidem. at nos nec maioribus unquam
Frangi animo decet, aut suspendia saeua pacisci:
Verum agite o socii, simul haec quos damna lacessunt,
Aeterno nobis hoc esto foedere sanctum,
Donec terra subest coelis, et sidera cursum	210
Seruant, oceanusque uagus circumfluit orbem,
Nullus ut esse Dei iuratus desinat hostis,
Ne quis amet metuatue, aut ulla obtemperet in re,
Neu gratum quicquam faciat, contrarius ito
Quisque, ut perpetuos merito trudatur in ignes.
Este uiri, atque Deum uultu contemnite toruo.
Non adamas nec stans rabiosa per aequora cautes
Vestrum duricie caput aut praecordia uincat,
Nullum poeniteat cassi moliminis unquam.
Huc nos ira furorque uocat, uindictaque dulcis,	220
Quam praetermittet sapiens (me iudice) nemo”.
Sic ait: assensuque omnes, simul ore fremebant,
Irarum pleni, coeloque Deoque minantes.
Ut globus in deuexo leui propellitur ictu,
Et sonipes liber nullis calcaribus actus,
Iactans colla iubasque, aequor metitur apertum.
Per terrenum igitur coniurant aera cuncti,
Per terras, Stygiumque lacum, Lethesque fluenta,
Ire Deum contra uerbis fastisque scelestis,
Nullius et noxae ueniam scelerumque precari,	230
Ut ne Cocyti frustra mergantur in undis.

6.2. English Translation

Book 3—Satire 1

When the Lord created heaven and earth,
At the same time he filled heaven with angelic souls,
Who were at his disposal, to be faithful and administer to his commands,
If anything needed to be done in heaven or on earth.
He had given them splendour and the highest beauty,
Amidst all things made, the glory of surpassing form
Yielded to the one Lord, surpassing the rest by far,
Not only on account of the gifts of nature, but on account of
The constant companionship and the close presence of the Lord.
Henceforth, however, the original will of many was changed	10
And at once the swelling of a proud spirit was born inside them.
However remarkable was their lot, they did not wish to be bound.
They desired the exalted seat of the Lord, and the kingdom
Of the poles of the earth, and the reins of the entire world.
One was preeminent among them, and of the highest order
(Whose name after, on account of his crime and proud impulse,
Was Satan, or the serpent or the pitiless dragon).
When they were gathered together he is said to have spoken thus:
“For my part I have seldom held such long silences, brothers,
And have revealed to no one the secrets of your heart	20
Up till now: either the weighty servitude, which night and day
I suffer in vigil with you and in constant song,
I have cast away, rather something greater, more worthy for both you
And myself, and with our devotion and proud splendour,
I have anticipated your will before it was known to me.
Nor was your faith and courageous virtue sufficiently evident.
But now, when I see the sublime thoughts in your hearts,
And that you chafe at this condition, and malignant fate,
And I hear constantly your murmuring by the cross-roads,
Because of your hard servitude and many labours,	30
I will boldly state what it is that my heart desires.
This majesty of ours, this devotion, and highest virtue,
Who among you discerns that we ourselves are equals to the Lord,
Celestial beings better deserve to wield the reins,
And to inhabit the supreme throne, and to enjoy sweet and potent
Freedom, rather than to bear the yoke, and to be subject
To the rule of anyone, and endure lordly commands.
It is not unworthy that the noble prostrate to
One more noble than himself, everywhere the lesser yields to the greater:
But why should all, who are capable of everything, be subject to the powerful?
Why those, who seem alike in everything?	41
What does the Lord know that we ourselves do not also know?
What does he understand or what does he grasp, that we don’t understand more clearly ourselves?
Ultimately he seems in no way superior at all.
Henceforth, I am firmly resolved to get to the heart of the matter,
If only the assent of your right hand is not lacking,
That God share with us equally his authority and throne,
And concede equal honour to us.
But I do not think he will do such things through our persuasion:
Force will have to be used, and power obtained through arms	50
And battle, for so great a thing is worth great risk.
We shall prevail, comrades, what more can I say to you?
All the victors’ spoiled shall be borne under our command,
And God will be forced to bear our chains.
This I say, and I think that you feel the same way,
If your minds and eyes do not deceive me.
Therefore, if you desire steadfast freedom,
And to withdraw the hard yoke from your neck, and rest from perpetual song,
And to be placed in a worthy seat elevated over all things,
Unite your strong right hands to mine.	60
You surely incline to this with your senses and in your very marrow:
You merely lack a leader, and a sponsor of the endeavour.
I myself will be that leader, if you submit to me, completely.
I have the strength; I have the arts to inflict three thousand injuries,
I know the snares; there are arms and warlike spirits,
So I will not allow anything to prevent our victory
And our command. He sits, you see, unconcerned with
Arms and wars, while around his halls are gathered
Unwarlike throngs, whom I doubt could even defend themselves from distant
Arms, much less possess the strength to endure the onslaught	70
Of an opposing army and resist against drawn swords.
If you delay now, held back by shame, or fear,
Whether ever again you will have the opportunity
To cast off servility, and obtain freedom,
And be given the opportunity of a leader like me,
I know not what is wont to happen when you refuse what is offered,
that you desire and implore for, in vain after many tears”.
With these words he spurred on the eager crowd,
And inflamed their minds, as if someone desiring a great blaze
Were to pour olive-oil into the furnace.	80
Then at once they decide upon a leader and salute the king.
Hastily they conspire, and enlist themselves to a new war.
They prepare arms, and breathe threats, and against God.
They threaten extreme destruction, and speak boldly:
Hostile to all who would bring loyal aid
To the Thunderer, and would lay barricades against their fury,
Or delays, as if each one would go to certain
Honours, and victory would truly be in their clenched fists:
They are so keen they hate delays, so they demand battles.
The father and king of all things had at once perceived this disturbance,
For nothing can elude from him, however well hidden,	91
And with a sense of great ingratitude and a proud heart,
And he blazed with rage at the furious audacity of the spirits.
Then soon after he commanded the arsenals of spacious heaven
Opened, and sober cohorts seized their weapons,
To fight against the rebels with all their might,
And Michael was in command of all their arms.
Without delay, the entire sky was shaken by a great tumult,
Armed lines rush to settle the score with iron.
Orders press one side onward, hope stirs up the other side against them	100
Seething with longing for power, for liberty.
With brave souls they fight, and the work of
Raging Mars seethes in uncertain combat,
Neither army contemplated retreat, until the Almighty
Shook the heavenly realms with thunder,
And hurled dense fires, and devouring flames,
And terrified the impious throngs with his wrathful visage,
And cast down their leader snatched out of high heaven.
And so the mass of ear-splitting bombardment, hurled with Vulcanic force,
Does not break the skies in its swift course;	110
Thus now the Creator hurls his own projectiles,
Striking tall towers, and proud buildings.
With their leader lost, soon frigid tremors invade
The bones of those remaining, and through the specious surfaces of the heaven
They flee in haste, seeking hiding places and brief respite,
Where they can call back their leader and attempt new
Battles. But the brightest light uncovers
All, and there is no hiding place throughout the plains,
And what is more, the victorious legion presses hard and presses on.
Then while one side fled, the other pursued,	120
And they were drawn together into nine circles,
And none of the fearful crowd dared to linger,
From all the gates they were carried through the empty air from heaven
Into the filth and the downcast lands and the sad
Abyss, just as the heaviest snow of Phoebus steals
Away sight for three days, hanging on roofs and high
Leaves, and overwhelming the lands and men and beasts
Far and wide, and forces them to retreat into caves in fear.
Or just as troublesome flies fill every space,
When the fiery Titan passes with his star,	130
When they hover over the tables and feasts and cups
Of Bacchus, and they taste the sweetness of flavours first,
And not infrequently are they drowned in greedy dishes,
And often, sated by what they desire, they die of Iacchus.
Why they even molest the mouths and hands of diners,
And disturb all the dining halls with their oppressive buzzing,
Nor when struck do they learn to heed any flyflaps,
Nor can you exhaust their commotion by any remedy.
At once in the blazing fall
The faces and forms of all withdrew from God’s wrath.	140
The filthy blackness of the Ethiopians disfigures their bodies,
And they bristle with foul scales and bestial hairs.
A terrible and fiery head, on either side of which
Are twin threatening horns on a savage brow,
From which black smoke mixed with sparks rises
Into the air. The Gorgons whirl around their horns,
With their tongues thrust out like snakes, and with an open mouth
Constantly ready to bite and with a plaited crest above
Breathes threats; eyes glowing with flames
He reduced to Cyclopean orbs as punishment.	150
So you would not say you are looking at a serpent, or Mars,
Nor Titans or Gorgons by the Libyan shore.
Their ears hang far and wide over their shoulders,
You might say they are like dogs, who with wise noses
Are accustomed to search the wood for the dens of beasts:
Yet these they raise and press down again in turn at will.
A falcate nose, long and like the black proboscis
Of an elephant. Black pitch pours from
Wide nostrils, and with his proboscis sprinkles
Sulphurous drops, with which he infects either the earth or the sea.	160
Fish and happy cattle die in the grass.
Beneath a gaping-wide jaw spread out to the temples,
The crooked teeth of a boar gnash terribly:
From there come the fires and the incurable venom of a viper,
And they vomit pestilence-filled airs from swollen lungs.
Ragged udders hang from bristly breasts,
Like the offspring of a wolf after eight weeks.
They milk madness into their offspring and hatred of the eternal
Prince, and they press polluted saliva into their hearts.
The back of the head, nasty buttocks and the back of the dragons	170
Hold mouths, from the middle of the anus protrudes a very long
Tail, unlike any other beast of the long Nile.
The shape of their feet and hands is akin to a rare marsh creature,
Except for the claws which you might consider those of a lion.
They took such a form after the battles.
After having expelled them all, the Creator of heaven and earth,
Circled the heaven with unconquerable fires, and with solid adamantine
Ring, obstructs all return for them,
For as long as He Himself takes vital breathes from heaven.
He also decrees, that when all the ages of the world have passed,	180
The endeavours of this vicious and impious war
Is to be paid back with eternal punishments in flames and in prison.
Affirming this with a nod, he shook all Olympus.
In this great downfall, and in the end Satan suffered punishment,
Not so much of deserved and just pain,
As for the immense rage he had adopted in his madness.
Then he gathered his comrades together,
And after he ascended a high seat in their midst,
Taking a deep breath from a sorrowful heart, he spoke to them.
“Alas, comrades, for how the unlucky battle has befallen,	190
And the outcome of events, how ill-fated are the times of war
We faced, after we entrusted our whole affair to chance,
And we, worthy of greater, have lost a great deal, but this
Is a comfort, that victory did not come to our enemies
Though our fault. Indeed all deeds were done,
As much as could be done through strategy, or any strength,
Or a resolute heart. And the opposing cohorts
Did not defeat us through superior strength in combat,
But only by sheer numbers, after fortune overwhelmed the worthy
And the good, and in turn raised up the unworthy.	200
This fate shattered our late cause unjustly,
And has snatched away our form, and the abodes of bright heaven.
Even after sixty ages of terrible punishments
Divine judgments endure for us all,
Such would be much and long lamented indeed
For faint-hearted spirits. It behooves us greater ones not
To be broken in spirit, or to come to terms through cruel suicides:
Come now, comrades, whoever is roused by these injuries,
Let this be our holy and everlasting covenant,
That as long as the earth is under the heavens, and the stars	210
Maintain their course, and the straying ocean flows around the world,
Let no one relinquish being the sworn enemy of God,
Let no one love or stand in fear, or show obedience in any matter,
Or do anything pleasing, but be adversaries,
In all things, that he may be deservedly thrust into the perpetual fires.
Be men, and despise God with your pitiless countenance.
Let neither adamant nor steadfast crag by the raging seas
Conquer your head or heart through adversity,
Let no one ever regret our fruitless effort.
Here anger and fury beckon us, and sweet vengeance,	220
Which no wise fellow (in my estimation) will let pass”.
So he spoke, and all in assent roared with one voice,
Full of wrath, threatening both heaven and God.
Just like a ball is propelled down a slippery slope by a stroke,
And like a free steed driven by no spurs,
Tossing neck and mane, races across the open plain,
So they all took oaths together through the land and the air,
Through the earth, and Stygian lagoon, and streams of Lethe,
To go against God in words and wicked deeds,
And never to plead for pardon for any crime or calamity	230
So that they are not plunged in the waters of Cocytus in vain.

7. Commentary

1–4 The Bible provides no definitive information on when God created the angels. Naogeorgus places it on the first day of creation. Cf. Genesis 1:1.

1 caelum terramque: Virgil, Aeneid, I.133.

3 ad iussa ministri: Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica, I.689.

5 summumque decorem: Giovanni Battista Mantovano, Parthenice prima sive Mariana, (Mantovano 1957, p. 155).

6 cuncta creata: A common phrase in hymns and theological writings. gloria formae. Appendix Vergiliana, Culex, 405, where it is used to describe the mythic Narcissus.

10 uoluntas […] prima: Different theologians have offered different interpretations of the Divine Will. The ‘primary will’ or sometimes ‘antecedent will’ refers to God’s will that all be saved and that all actions of His creations be good. In contrast, ‘consequent will’ refers to God’s will in response to the circumstances of a situation or action. Naogeorgus emphasizes that the first will of the angels was in accordance with God’s, but in the case of Satan and his followers, it was corrupted by pride.

11 tumorem animi: cf. Deuteronomy 18: 22 (Vulgate): sed per tumorem animi sui propheta confinxit (’but the prophet has devised it by pride of his mind’). Tumor can refer to the excitement of the mind by any emotion, often pride as is emphasized here. This verse provides a test for discerning those who speak true prophecies from false ones.

13 polorum: ‘of the poles’. In traditional cosmology, this refers to the axes of the celestial sphere.

14 mundi totius habenas: Apollo or Helios held the reins of a chariot when pulling the sun across the sky. One of many classical images repurposed for the Christian narrative.

15–17 Christians traditionally interpreted the serpent from the Garden of Eden as Satan. Both Catholics and Protestants in the early modern period emphasized the devil’s power and conscious will directed against God.

15 ex ordine quidam: The Seraphim: the highest choir of angels.

18 Speeches before an assembly are common in epic poetry.

19 longa silentia: Ovid, Fasti, I.183.

20 abscondita cordis: Psalm 43: 22 (Vulgate).

22 The Seraphim, the preeminent order of angels, lead the endless praises to God in heaven. This duty is one of Satan’s complaints in the poem, mentioned again in Satan’s first speech (line 58). Naogeorgus contrasts the long silence of Satan’s discontent with the constant singing of the angelic choirs.

26 animosaque uirtus: Appendix Vergiliana, Aetna, 416; Silius Italicus, Punica, XVI.109.

30 multosque labores: ‘and many labours’. Virgil, Georgica, IV.8: ‘multosque per annos’ [‘and through many years’].

38ff. Satan inveighs against his subordination to God. In Milton’s Paradise Lost, Lucifer is driven by envy of being subordinate to the Son of God (V.662ff).

38 ut se: Ending a hexameter with two monosyllabic words is common in Roman satirical poetry, especially when used to start a clause in the following verse as is the case here (Raven 1965, p. 102).

40–43 A string of rhetorical questions spoken by the satirist is a common feature of Roman and neo-Latin satire, though Satan is hardly acting in the role of the traditional moralist of satire.

50 armis pugnaque: Virgil, Aeneid, X.259: armis pugnaeque [’for arms and battles’].

51–52 Though the diction and circumstances differ, in Paradise Lost, Moloch speaks in favour of war a renewed against Heaven: ‘I should be much for open war, O peers […]’ (I.119). In both works, the fallen angels share a deluded belief in the potential for defeating God through open warfare. In Milton’s work, the conflict is more directly between Michael and Lucifer and their respective forces and occurs over three days before Michael’s final victory, while the conflict itself is more abrupt and God directly intervenes (Revard 1980, p. 182).

54 perferre catenas: Silius Italicus, Punica, XVII.367.

57 Libertatem […] stabilem: cf. Livy, Ab urbe condita, VI.10: ‘Si eo perventum sit, tum populum Romanum vere exactos ex urbe reges et stabilem libertatem suam existimaturum’ (‘If this were achieved, then the Roman people would believe that the kings had truly been driven from the city and that their freedom was secure’).

61 totisque medullis: Prosper Aquitanus, Epigrammata, 69.11.

75 copia detur: Ovid, Metamorphoses, VI.545.

79 Incenditque animos. Virgil, Aeneid, VI.889: ‘incenditque animum’ [’he inflamed [his] mind’].

85 Tonanti: this epithet of Jupiter is frequently applied to the Christian god in early modern Latin poetry.

90 rerum pater: Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae, 3.6.2.

97 Michael the archangel, chief of the angels, is often depicted in art and poetry as a warrior fighting Satan or a dragon.

98 magno […] tumultu: Virgil, Aeneid, VI.857: ‘magno turbante tumultu’ [’with great turmoil disturbing’].

103 Mavors: An archaic name for Mars, god of war.

108–10 Loosely based on Luke 10:18 (Douay-Rheims) ‘And he said to them: I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven.’

110 Bombardae: A neo-Latin word. As in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, gunpowder is a Satanic invention. Revard notes early modern texts represent Satan as the ‘fabled inventor of gunpowder’ a topos taken up in Milton and many others in their poetry on the Gunpowder plot (Revard 1980, p. 88).

116 praelia tentent: Virgil, Aeneid, XI.912. Naogeorgus’s spelling is consistent with early modern editions of Virgil but modern editions are likely to read ‘proelia temptent’.

123 per inane feruntur: Lucretius, II.217; 2.226.

130 Titan: Refers to Helios, the Titan god who, crowned with the aureole of the sun, drives a chariot drawn by four winged horses across the sky.

131 mensas super atque dapes et pocula: cf. Virgil, Aeneid, XI.738: ‘dapes et plenae pocula mensae’ [feasts and cups on a full table’].

140 facies et forma recessit: cf. Lucretius, V.1175, ‘facies et forma’ and Virgil, Aeneid, XI.70, ‘sua forma recessit’.

141 Some early modern writers refer to anyone with black skin as ‘Ethiopian’. Representations of the devil as being Ethiopian or having black skin go as far back as the Patristic period (Hood 1994, p. 85).

145 fumus in auras: Virgil, Georgics, V.499; Aeneid, V.740. This tag of Virgil was also adapted by Dante his Inferno, 24.49–51:

sanza la qual chi sua vita consuma,

cotal vestigio in terra di sé lascia,

qual fummo in aere e in acqua la schiuma.

[’without which he who consumes his life/leaves such a vestige of himself on earth/as smoke in the air and foam in the water’.]

152 Ovid’s Metamorphoses (IV.617–620) describes the blood from the gorgon’s head turning into snakes on the sandy Libyan shore. An allusion to this myth also occurs in Milton’s Paradise Lost 10, 526–27: ‘Not so thick swarmed once the Soil/Bedropped with blood of Gorgon’.

154 nare sagaci: Ennius, Annales, 340, describing a hunting dog.

165 Pannosae pendent setoso pectore mammae: cf. Martial, Epigrammata, 3.72.3: ‘pannosae dependent pectore mamma’ [’ragged udders hang from the breast’]. Naogeorgus’s source here is a sexually explicit epigram, though he abstains from repeating obscene vocabulary, such as the verb futuo (‘fuck’ 3.72.1) or cunnus (‘cunt’ 3.72.6) from Martial; this is a clear indication of his opting for more prudent diction.

170 clunes: A mild term for a posterior; Naogeorgus avoids obscenity, even in his grotesque descriptions. As noted in the Introduction, Naogeorgus avoids Juvenalian obscenity in his satires.

177 solidoque adamante: cf. Vergil describes the gates of Tartarus as gated with adamant pillars: ‘porta adversa ingens solidoque adamante columnae’, [’in front a great gate and columns of solid adamant’] Aeneid, VI.552. Also Aeschylus, Prometheus 6; Statius, Thebaid, IV.534–35: ‘solidoque intorta adamante Gigantum/vincula’ [the chains of Giants twisted in solid adamant’] describing monsters bound in Hades. For a useful discussion of the imagery of adamantine chains, see (Butler 1996, pp. 167–70).

182 The model for this is from Homer’s Iliad (I.524–530), where Zeus nods his head as a promise to support Thesis’s request on behalf of her son Achilles and Mount Olympian shakes. Homer’s Zeus’s nod is a sign of his irrevocable decision but here God compares favourably in his decisiveness with the Homeric Zeus, who is anxious to avoid his wife Hera’s jealousy and in fact, acts slower on his final decision.

189 suspiria corde: Silius Italicus, Punica, VIII.209.

190–221 Satan’s second speech ascribes their defeat to chance and Heaven’s superior numbers and swears for vengeance. The theme is vaguely similar to the one where Milton’s Satan urges his followers to seek vengeance through guile and covert war (I.622–662). Naogeorgus’s Satan repeatedly refers to fate as if is a force separate from God’s will, as does Milton’s counterpart, when he states:

Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds

Fearless, endangered heaven’s perpetual king;

And put to proof his high supremacy,

Whether upheld by strength, or chance, or fate (I.130–133).

Though Milton has God affirm a corrective ‘what I will is fate’ (VII.173), Naogeorgus leaves this implicit.

198 robore belli: Ennius, Annales, 373.

205 animis […] pusillis: ‘pusillanimous’.

207 suspendia saeua: Martial, Epigrammata, I.115.6.

209: Aeterno […] foedere. Virgil, Aeneid, XI.356.

210 sidera cursum: Ausonius, Eclogues, 5.16.

211 oceanusque uagus circumfluit: cf. ‘Oceanus circumvagus’, Horace, Epodes, 16.41. The ocean is depicted as fully surrounding the lands on earth.

216 uultu […] toruo: cf. ‘voltu torvo ferus’ [‘fierce with a grim visage’], Horace, Epistles, 1.19.12.

220 ira furorque: Statius, Thebaid, IV.661.

226 colla iubasque: Silius Italicus, Punica, XVI.237.