"
Where, by the way, you may observe, my lord, that Ovid in those
words, non legitimo faedere junctus amor, will by no means allow it
to be a lawful marriage betwixt Dido and AEneas. He was in
banishment when he wrote those verses, which I cite from his letter
to Augustus. "You, sir," saith he, "have sent me into exile for
writing my 'Art of Love' and my wanton elegies; yet your own poet
was happy in your good graces, though he brought Dido and AEneas
into a cave, and left them there not over-honestly together: may I
be so bold to ask your majesty is it a greater fault to teach the
art of unlawful love than to show it in the action?" But was Ovid
the court-poet so bad a courtier as to find no other plea to excuse
himself than by a plain accusation of his master? Virgil confessed
it was a lawful marriage betwixt the lovers; that Juno, the goddess
of matrimony, had ratified it by her presence (for it was her
business to bring matters to that issue): that the ceremonies were
short we may believe, for Dido was not only amorous, but a widow.
Pages:
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247