17 May 2023, 18h57 Notes on the first prompt of Lovecraft's Commonplace Book
I have to start with a premise on language. For once I would like to write in English hoping that those of you who are here only for my Latin trifles won’t get too mad. First, I am at a strange moment of my life where I’ve written more things in Latin than English. Even my mother tongue, Italian, is a bit unused, if I consider only “poetry” (I’m more a versifier than a poet). Second, I want to prove to myself that I’m able to write something better and longer than the dry writing tasks I had to do for the IELTS test.
The idea for this post came to me after reading James Burton’s blog “Undead Author Society” where he presents his research concerning the fragments left by dead writers and poets and then reanimates the single stories. As far as I know his project halted in 2021 and I don’t know if he will keep writing these short stories in the future, but nevertheless I recommend you to give a look at his blog, because I enjoyed very much reading it. The project, as it currently stands, is entirely devoted to the exploration of Lovecraft’s Commonplace Book, which is, as the name suggests, a small book containing Lovecraft’s ideas for horror stories in the form of quotes and short phrases.
The first post in the series is about the first note of Lovecraft’s Commonplace Book.
Who is this Demophon who trembles under the sun as if it were cold?
James Burton thinks that the note is about Demophoon of Athens, son of Theseus and Phaedra, but unfortunately his «quick search on Wikipedia» led him astray. The myth of Demophoon is as follows according to Apollodorus (Epitomē XV.6.16). He was returning home from Troy, where he had fought with his brother Acamas to rescue their grandmother Aethra, and then he landed in Thrace and married Phyllis, the daughter of the King of Bisaltia. After a while he begged her to let him sail to Athens promising to return. Phyllis escorted him to Amphipolis (Ennea Hodoi) and gave him a chest containing something sacred to Rhea. She told him to open it when every hope to return to Thrace was lost. He never came back but settled in Cyprus instead. Phyllis after having waited for him in vain committed suicide. Then Demophoon opened the chest out of curiosity, went mad because of fear of what was inside and died falling from horse on his own sword. To be fair James Burton was fascinated by Demophoon’s madness and Rhea symbology, which fit the common Lovecraftian trope of going mad from experiencing something men are not meant to comprehend.
This myth inspired Ovid to compose the second letter of Hērōidēs. It’s very touching. For example here Phyllis asks herself if the tears of Demophoon were fake or real:
vv. 49-52
Crēdidimus blandīs, quōrum tibi cōpia, verbīs; Crēdidimus generī nōminibusque tuīs; Crēdidimus lacrimīs—an et hae simulāre docentur? Hae quoque habent artēs, quāque jubentur, eunt?
Coming back to the question of this post, I found a revealing passage from Thomas Moore’s prefatory letter on Irish music to the Marchioness Dowager of Donegal, which shows that the source of the quote about Demophon is Sextus Empiricus:
To those who identify nationality with treason, and who see, in every effort for Ireland, a system of hostility towards England, — to those too, who, nursed in the gloom of prejudice, are alarmed by the faintest gleam of liberality that threatens to disturb their darkness (like that Demophon of old, who, when the sun shone upon him, shivered!* [emphasis added]) — to such men I shall not deign to apologize for the warmth of any political sentiment which may occur in the course of these pages.
* This emblem of modern bigots was head-butler (τραπεζοποιός) to Alexander the Great. — Sext. Empir. Pyrrh. Hypoth. lib. I
Furthermore, we know that Lovecraft read Thomas Moore’s works and appreciated1 at least two poems: The Ring and Alciphron. Also from his note love of darkness means ignorance, therefore bigotry.
Sextus Empiricus was a Greek Pyrrhonist philosopher whose works are a major source of information about Pyrrhonism and other Hellenistic philosophies. In the fourteenth chapter of his Outlines of Pyrrhonism Sextus Empiricus says that there are ten “modes” that generate suspension of judgement. The second mode is based on the difference between human beings. As an example he talks about Demophon, the head-butler of Alexander, who used to shiver under the sun and in the bath, but felt warm in the shade.
Cum sermō latīnus in Discordiā omnīnō vigeat, jucunda in hīs colloquiīs atque salsa saepe ēveniunt. Legās enim quōmodo noster amīcus Andreās Lodfrēdus mortuus sit.
PRAEFATIVNCVLA
Salvēte quirītēs! Hoc colloquium, quod vōbīs praebeō hodiē, ipse verbī faber mērus nōn scrīpsī, nam vērōs cōdicillōs ex grege Discordiae magnō linguae latīnae dicātō tantum collēgī et eōs suō locō disposuī.
Scaccōrum lūdus est proelium inter duōs lūsōrēs, quī prō sē sēdecim scaccīs in propriā regiōne locātīs ūtuntur. Latrunculī in tabulā lūsōriā quadrātā moventur, cujus lātera distinguuntur in octō ōrdinēs vel columnās…
AGONOPHILVS, PALAMEDES
Agonophilus: Salvē etiam atque etiam, amīcōrum optime.
Palamēdēs: Ohe, salvē tū quoque, Agonophile. Cūr tam trīstem faciem habēs?
Ag. Quia nimis stultus sum ut lūdere scaccīs valeam.
Em vōbīs trēs fābellae illīus generis quod Anglicē “copypasta” appellātur.
Hodiē, cum in prōjectiōne astrālī essem, Allah invocāvī ad eum sīc comminuendum ut nostra carmina melius operarentur. Is tam potēns est, ut sōla hōc facere nequiverim. Vix mortem effūgī et animō magnopere injūriam accēpī, sed sentiō mē in vītā mānsūram esse. Mente concipere nequeō quid is facere novae incautaeque magae possit. Vereor nē eī brevī obviam eam sī aliquandō prōjectiōnem astrālem pergere velim. Nunc salūtāre tūs incendō et animī vim ex meīs crystallīs trahō ut quam citatissimē cōnsānescam.
Phaedri Augusti liberti Fabulae Aesopiae con note italiane del prof. Francesco Cantarella, Milano-Roma-Napoli, società editrice Dante Alighieri, 1925
Salvē lēctor,
multum jam temporis copiā officiōrum obrutus nihil scrīpsī, haud tamen sine quādam maestitiā, quia spērābam fore ut nūlla diēs, ut Plīnius dīxit, esset sine līneā.
Prīmum particeps certāminis poēticī sum, nam tria carmina prō Certāmine Poēticō Sarbieviānō MMXXIII, quod in honōrem Mathiae Casimirī Sarbieviī S.J. Polōnī poētae Latīnī īnstitūtum est, pānxī. Cum poēmata victōrum praeteritōrum lēgerim, versibus meīs paucīs incultīsque nūlla spēs mihi reliqua est accipiendī palmam, sed gaudeō certāminī interfuisse.
Tibi nōn sōlum jucundum, sed etiam ūtile ad linguam latīnam discendam, inceptum, cui amīcus meus Roxānus opem maximī momentī attulit, commendō: Orīginēs Pictae! Est «prīma fābula nūbēculāta latīnē cōnscrīpta quae veterum Rōmānōrum adhūc integram vim narrāre studet».
Legendō Thōmae Hyde Mandragoriam sīve Historiam Shahilūdiī duās formulās Neograecās vituperandī aliquem invēnī: «ἄπελθε ῥακὰ ἐμπεπλεγμένε!» (abī stulte irrētīte!) et «ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ἀνόητος ἐμπεπλεγμένος ὅπου ἄλλως οὐ γίγνεται!» (ille est cornūtus irrētītus quālis futūrus nōn est alius!).
Hīs diēbus Astanae in Cazastaniā Jōhannēs Nepomniactius Russicus et Līrēnus Dīngus Sinēnsis inter sē dē nōmine lūsoris prīncipis scaccōrum certant, postquam Magnus Carlsenius Norvegicus sē dignitāte ipsā abdicāvit.
Chorus Anglicus Depeche Mode nūper forās dedit album nōmine Mementō morī, quod prīmum est post mortem Andreae Sagittāriī clāvichordistae. Nam mōs, quī imperātōribus Rōmānīs fuit, ut ā servīs dē brevitāte vītae admonērentur (Tertulliānī Apologēticus liber, XXXIII.4), vidētur animum Dāvīdis Gorae cantōris permōvisse.
Clārissimus P. L.1 versiōnem dē Carceribus Silviī Pellicī hodiernō numerō Praecōnis incohāvit aptissimē factam, quam prōsequendam sperāmus. Grātiās ei nūntiāmus, quaesītuī autem respondēmus eum nōbīs nihil dēbēre2.
Silvius Pellicus fuit italus scrīptor et poēta, patriae amāns. Carcerēs meōs (italicē “Le mie prigioni”), commentāriōs dē suā captīvitāte, scrīpsit postquam ē carcere exierat. Liber fuit celeberrimus in Eurōpā saeculō decimō nōnō. Quīdam dīxit, quem nōnnūllī perperam putant Clēmentem Metternichium fuisse, hoc librum magis Austriae obfuisse quam clādem. Silentium tandem ac tenebrās, quibus versiō latīna libellī Silviī Pellicī, obrūta sepultaque jacēbat, laetus frangō.
Haec symbola est pūblica, itaque tibi licet eam cum aliīs lēctōribus commūnicāre.
Diē Veneris XIII Octōbris MDCCCXX Mediōlānī sum comprehēnsus dēductusque ad Sānctam Margarītam. Erat hōra tertia pōmerīdiāna. Facta est mihi diūturna disquīsitiō illā diē et aliīs quoque. Sed dē hōc nōn dīcam quidquam. Cōnsimilis amantī ā suā amātā neglēctō, quique cum dignitāte statuit aliēnum ab eā animum prae sē ferre, ego mittō rēs polīticās in suō statū et loquar dē aliīs rēbus.
Hōrā nōnā vesperae illius lūgubris diēī actuārius mē tradidit custōdī, isque, postquam mē dūxit in cubiculum mihi destinātum, hūmānīs cum verbīs ā mē dēpoposcit, suō tempore reddenda, hōrologium, pecūniam et quidquid aliud habērem in sacculō. Quō factō verēcundē mihi apprecātus est bonam noctem.
«Cōnsiste, amābō;» dīxī ei «hodiē nōn prandī; affer mihi aliquid.»
«Īlicō, taberna prope est, et experiēris, Domine, quam bonum vīnum!»
«Vīnum? Id genus nōn bibō.»
Ad hujus modī rēspōnsum Angelīnus3 mē aspexit obstupefactus et spē correptus mē jocāre. Custōdēs carcerālēs, quibus caupōna est, perhorrescunt captīvum abstēmium.
Cum vērō vidēret mē prōpositō stāre, exiit, et antequam semihōrula est praeterlapsa obtinuī meum prandium. Comēdī aliquot bolōs, bibī poculum aquae, tum fuī commissus mihi sōlī.
Cubiculum erat in pedeplānō situm, et prospiciēbat ad āream. Carcerēs hāc carcerēs illāc, carcerēs suprā, carcerēs ē regiōne. Accessī ad fenestram, attendīque per aliquod tempus ad custōdēs carceris abeuntēs remeantēsque et ad cantum phrenēticum incarcerātōrum quorundam.
Cogitābam: “Ante saeculum hōc erat monastērium. Num unquam virginēs sacrae ac paenitentēs, quae in eō habitābant, animō comprehendissent fore ut suae cellae hodiē nōn gemitibus fēmineīs hymnīsque piīs, sed maledictīs cantiōnibusque inverēcundīs resonent; ut contineant hominēs cujuslibet notae, eōsque, ut plurimum, dēstinātōs ad ergastula vel ad patibula? Atque intrā saeculum, quid ultrō rēspīrābit in hīs cellīs? Ō fugācitātem temporis! Ō mōbilitātem continuam rērum! Potestne, qui vōs cōnsīderat, afflīgī, sī fortūna dēsierit in eum arrīdere, sī tumulātur carcere, sī ei imminet patibulum? Herī eram ūnus ex fēlicissimīs mortālibus mundī, hodiē nōn mihi est amplius ūlla ex illīs jūcunditātibus, quae comitābantur vītam meam; nōn amplius lībertās, nōn amplius cōnsuētūdō amīcōrum, nōn amplius opēs! Nōn, hercle; sēsē dēcipere stultī esset. Inde nōn ēgrediar, nisi ut conjiciar in speluncās horridissimās velut carnificī trādar! Agedum, bene estō, diē post mortem meam rēs sē habēbit velutī sī exspīrassem in palātiō atque sī cum maximīs honōribus efferrer”.
Hōc modō reflexiō suprā fugācitātem temporis mihi animum roborāvit. Sed vēnit mihi in mentem patris, mātris duōrum frātrum, duārum sorōrum, memoria, item alius familiae, quam amābam tamquam sī esset mea, at ratiōcinātiōnēs philosophicae jam nōn valuērunt. Solūtus plorāvī puerī īnstar.
Grātiās tibi agō! Subscrībe grātiīs ut novās epistulās accipiās et opus meum sustineās.
Mē Lovecraftishorrificīs fābulīs valdē dēlectārī jam tibi nōtum et compertum est. Egomet Mārte meō nīsus sum laudibus eum ōrnāre et epigramma pangendō et vertendō fābulam ejus dē historiā Necronomicōn in sermōnem latīnum. Necronomica sunt nōtissimum pseudobiblion, id est liber quī numquam scrīptus est, cujus tamen titulus et aliquandō excerpta in fābulīs fictīs et commenticiīs referuntur1.
Postquam Babylōnis parietinās et Memphis arcāna subterrānea vīsit…
Cum illam fābulam vertī, nōndum Metamorphōseōn librōs lēgeram. In secundō est narrātiō dē prece senis patris ad sacerdōtem Aegyptium Zatchlān2, quae mē monuit dē historiā Abdullae Alhazred: “Miserēre,” ait “sacerdōs, miserēre per caelestia sīdera per īnferna nūmina per nātūrālia elementa per nocturna silentia et adyta Coptica et per incrēmenta Nīlōtica et arcāna Memphītica et sistra Phariaca.” Sacerdōtis nōmen dīcitur esse simile illius daemonis Saclae, quem Ambrosiaster et Prīscilliānus memorāvērunt3.
Nudius tertius Vītus Corvīnus sodālis, quī gregem Agoram ad Athenaze legendum condidit, dīxit sē in rētī mundānō librōs fictīciōs Necronomicōn latīnē scrīptōs invēnisse. Quis est tam āmēns ut ex novō librum hujus generis latīnē scrībere cōnētur? Quantam expectātiōnem mihi dedit! Vērī reperiendī studiōsus nexum aperui, sed statim spē dēcidī. Nam in prīmā pāginā menda multissima invēnī.
“Antīquissimōs sapientēs, quōs graecō sermōne philosophōs appellāmus, sī quae vel nātūrae, vel artis reperissent arcāna, nē in prāvōrum hominum nōtitiam dēvenīrent, variīs occultasse modīs atque figūrīs, ērudītissimōrum opīniō est.”
Posteā alter sodālis, Remus, nōs monuit ignōtum auctōrem vix Jōhannis Trithemiī Steganographiam immūtāvisse. Trithemius fuit abbās Ōrdinis Sānctī Benedictī, suīs librīs dē historiā, dē theologiā, dē scientiā clārus, necnōn magīae suspectus. Inter ejus discipulōs Henrīcus Cornēlius Agrippa et Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus Paracelsus numerantur. Ejus nōtissimum opus, Steganographia, quod annō MDCIX in Indice Librōrum Prohibitōrum inclūsum est, dīviditur in librōs trēs et tractāre magīam vidētur, sed rē vērā est dissertātiō dē cryptographiā. Alchemistae enim ūtī ambiguīs signīs solēbant nē profānī scientiae arcāna discerent4.
Ōlim Trithemius quasi obviam factus est Geōrgiō Sabellicō, cujus vīta partim fābulam doctōris Faustī peperit. Hōc modō eum dēscrīpsit5: Homō ille, dē quō mihi scrīpsistī, Geōrgius Sabellicus, quī sē prīncipem necromanticōrum ausus est nōmināre, gyrovagus, battologus, et circumcelliō est, dignus quī verberibus castīgētur, nē temerē deinceps tam nefanda et Ecclēsiae sānctae contrāria pūblicē audeat profitērī. Quid enim sunt aliud titulī, quōs sibi assūmit, nisi stultissima ac vēsānae mentis indicia, quī sē fatuum nōn philosophum ostendit? Sīc enim titulum sibi convenientem fōrmāvit: Magister Geōrgius Sabellicus, Faustus jūnior, fōns necromanticōrum, astrologus, magus secundus, chīromanticus, necromanticus, pyromanticus, in hydrā arte secundus.
Haec habēbam quae dīcerem.
Grātiās tibī agō! Subscrībe grātiīs ut novās epistulās accipiās et opus meum sustineās.
Scrīpsī Mediōlānī ante diem tertium Īdūs Jānuāriās annō ab urbe conditā MMDCCLXXVI.
