SIMILARITY OF IDEA IN ST. LUKE AND JUVENAL.
(Vol. viii., p. 195.)
I send, as a pendant to Mr. Weir's lines from Juvenal, the following extract from Cicero:
"Sed in eâ es urbe, in quâ hæc, vel plura, et ornatiora, parietes ipsi loqui posse videantur."—Cic. Epist., 1. vi. 3.: Torquato, Pearce's 12mo. edition.
Most, if not all, of the readers of "N. & Q." are I believe, pleased by having their attention drawn to parallel passages in which a similarity of idea or thought is found. Let us adopt for conciseness the term "parallel passages" (frequently used in "N. & Q."), as embracing every kind of similarity. Contributions of such passages to "N. & Q." would form a very interesting collection. I should be particularly pleased by a full collection of parallel passages from the Scriptures and ancient and modern literature, and especially Shakspeare. (See Mr. Buckton's "Shakspearian Parallels," antè, p. 240.)
To prevent sending passages that have been inserted in "N. & Q.," every note should refer to the note immediately preceding. I send the following parallel passages with some hesitation, because I have not my volumes of "N. & Q." at hand, to ascertain whether they have already appeared, and because they are probably familiar to your readers. I do not, however, send them as novelties, but as a contribution to the collection which I wish to see made:
"Ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ μὴ ἔχοντος καὶ ὃ ἔχει ἀρθήσεται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ."—Matt. xxv. 29., Luke xix. 26.
"Nil habuit Codrus. Quis enim hoc negat? et tamen illud
Perdidit infelix totum nihil."—Juvenal, I. iii. 208.
The rich man says:
"Ψυχὴ, ἔχεις πολλὰ ἀγαθὰ κείμενα εἰς ἔτη πολλά· ἀναπαύου, φάγε, πίε, εὐφραίνου."—Luke xii. 19.
"Lo, this is the man that took not God for his strength but trusted unto the multitude of his riches."—Ps. lii. 8.
"For he hath said in his heart, Tush, I shall never be cast down there shall no harm happen unto me."—Ps. x. 6., &c. (See Obadiah v. 3.: "Who shall bring me down to the ground?")
So Niobe boasts:
"Felix sum, quis enim hoc neget? felixque manebo.
Hoc quoque quis dubitet? tutam me copia fecit.
Major sum quam cui possit Fortuna nocere."—Ovid, Met. VI. 194.
"Τί δὲ βλέπεις τὸ κάρφος τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σοῦ, τὴν δὲ ἐν τῷ σῷ ὀφθαλμῳ δοκὸν οὐ κατανοεῖς."—Matt. vii. 3.
"Cum tua pervideas oculis mala lippus inunctis,
Cur in amicorum vitiis tam cernis acutum,
Quam aut aquila, aut serpens Epidaurius?"—Hor. Serm. I. iii. 25.
"Ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν."—Rom. xiii. 12.
"Ἀλλ' ἴομεν· μάλα γὰρ νὺξ ἄνεται, ἐγγύθι δ' ἠώς."—Hom. Iliad, x. 251.
F. W. J.
Brighton.