Last week I asked:
Commentators in the Renaissance routinely explain the proper name "Dis" as dis 'wealthy'. Cf. "Plouton" from "Ploutos" in Plato, Crat. 403a. I have two questions...
Leofranc Holford-Strevens (who else?) answered:
At least as old as Cicero (De natura deorum 2. 66), though Quintilian (1. 6. 34) took it to operate by contraries (quia minime dives).
Please accept my belated thanks. One thing I have learned over the last ten years of writing on this subject is not to underestimate the early commentators. Some of what they say is crackers. But much of it, I have learned, turns out to be based on very old -- and therefore very relevant -- sources. Here, another case in point.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. David Wilson-Okamura http://virgil.org david@virgil.org English Department Virgil reception, discussion, documents, &c East Carolina University Sparsa et neglecta coegi. -- Claude Fauchet ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub