1323. The paragraph is made to begin here in the MSS. with what is, strictly speaking, its second line, because it is marked by a proper name which indicates its subject, the first line being a mere formal introduction. So also below, 1453: cp. ii. 2451.
1337. The name ‘Dorus’ seems to have been suggested by that of Doris, mother of the Nereids.
1389. alle danger, that is, all reluctance or coyness.
1397. Armene, i.e. Harmonia.
1398. Andragene Androgynus or Hermaphroditus.
1428. noght forsake To ben, i.e. ‘not refuse to be.’
1449. ‘whether it was of weal or wo’; ‘wher’ for ‘whether.’
1453. See note on 1323.
As for the letters said to have been exchanged between Alexander and the king of the Bragmans (or Brahmins), we find them at length in the Historia Alexandri Magni de Preliis, which was the source of most of the current stories about Alexander. The passage referred to is as follows: ‘Tot deos colis quot in tuo corpore membra portas. Nam hominem dicis paruum mundum, et sicut corpus hominis habet multa membra, ita et in celo dicis multos deos existere. Iunonem credis esse deum cordis, eo quod iracundia nimia mouebatur. Martem vero deum pectoris esse dicis, eo quod princeps extitit preliorum. Mercurium deum lingue vocas, ex eo quod plurimum loquebatur. Herculem deum credis brachiorum, eo quod duodecim virtutes exercuit preliando. Bachum deum gutturis esse putas, eo quod ebrietatem primus inuenit. Cupidinem esse deam dicis, eo quod fornicatrix extitit; tenere dicis facem ardentem, cum qua libidinem excitat et accendit, et ipsam deam iecoris etiam existimas. Cererem deam ventris esse dicis, et Venerem, eo quod fuit mater luxurie, deam genitalium membrorum esse profers’ (e 2, ed. Argent. 1489).
Cp. the English alliterative Wars of Alexander, E.E.T.S., 1886, ll. 4494 ff. There is no mention of Minerva in either of these.