CHAPTER EIGHT

THE REMAINING MEDIEVAL GREEK AND LATIN TRADITION

I. General Remarks

This last chapter will be devoted fundamentally to supplementing our previous studies on the Medieval Latin tradition, those carried out on the “Romulus” in a broad sense and on the Medieval Latin fable of Oriental origin. We have left for study, then, the fables of non-Oriental origin (Latin or Greek, with one or two exceptions) after “Romulus”, including those derived from this. The Medieval Greek fable has already been studied in its essen­ tial terms. I have in fact discussed the Medieval derivations of the AnF. (the Vindobonensis and the Accursiana), as well as the Syriac fables, those of the Codex Brancaccianus, the Paraphrases and Dodecasyllables, the fables of Ignatius the Deacon and his imitators. They are, in short, with few exceptions, continuations of the two fundamental ancient traditions, the “anonymous” and the “Babrian”, although they sometimes transmit very ancient phases of these, includ­ ing fables that disappeared from the collections of Antiquity that have reached us. The few exceptions refer to derived or new fables that we may consider as properly Byzantine and to Oriental fables. In any event, also in this field of the Greek fable I must add some points here; I must again draw attention to the original Byzantine elements, to the indirect tradition of the fable in Byzantium and to the existence in Byzantium of fables later transmitted to the West (we have already discussed this). Also, I must make reference to the contrary current, the one that, starting from the 13th century, takes derivations of the Western fable to Byzantium. Apart from the fact that it is appropriate at this point to make an evaluation of the Byzantine fable as a whole. As regards the Medieval Latin fable, the exposition of this chap­ ter is conditioned by what has been stated in the two mentioned, which will of course constitute the point of departure. They have already illustrated to us, in fact, the very core of the Medieval Latin THE REMAINING MEDIEVAL GREEK AND LATIN TRADITION 631 fable: “Romulus” (although we must add Avianus, studied in another chapter). And they have already stated important aspects of the major innovation of the Medieval Latin fable, that is, the animal epic poem, and on a second path which, in addition to the one coming from Latin Antiquity, had an effect on the Western European Middle Ages: the new influence of the Greek fable starting from the 9th century; this influence involved the transmission to Europe of fables of the ancient tradition and also, though less frequently, of Oriental fables. Stating things in these terms, it is clear that there still remain many problems to be resolved. Yet there are some firm points of departure. In the beginning there existed a strong isolation between the Western realms that were heirs to the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire, that is, Byzantium. The Medieval Latin fable flourished, of course, in the former (although, conclusively, the Latin fable is fundamentally of Greek origin). And I have already stated that the tradition of Phaedrus is very poor in the West and that of Avianus very rich; furthermore, we know that the latter author was customary reading matter in schools.1 As a result, from Avianus there came about an abundant Medieval literature of prosaic para­ phrases and new versified versions, although we must investigate to what extent (rather limited) they innovated or added other elements; whereas Phaedrus is known, in general terms, through “Romulus” and an abundant literature descending from him (which, in turn, must be investigated in parallel to that indicated for Avianus). Yet things are not resolved so quickly. Our “Romulus”, as Thiele has published it, is no more than an aggregate of more or less related elements. First the “Aesopus ad Rufum”, then “Romulus”, the ms. Ad (or, rather, its model) and even the W (the same observation) have added various ancient elements. Particularly different para­ phrases of Phaedrus (some already considerably altered), but also other Latin paraphrases derived from various Hellenistic fables (even ones lost outside of here) and some original fables, although on the basis of ancient fables, which entered Ad. We cannot fix the pre­ cise date of “Romulus” nor of the archetypes of Ad and W (the ter­ minus ante quem must be established in the 10th century AD). However,

1 Cf. Max Manitius, Geschichte der lateinischen Literalur des Mittelalters, I, Munich 1911, p. 574.