On two expressions for the new moon in latin

The poet is only rarely admitted to Cynthia's presence, he cannot even try to persuade his beloved through the closed doors. Manuscripts give the verb in v. 15 as licet, but whether this is the right modality for Propertius' con-text, has been called into question by some editors: thus, Guyet (Guyetus) suggested correcting the verb into libet, and Herzberg into iuvat. Heyworth in his recent edition (Heyworth 2007a, 63) follows Guyet, explain-ing his reasons in his companion to the text of Propertius: “There seems to be no point in the introduction `and it is not possible': what is stopping him? It cannot be the dangers of the crossroads at the new moon, as sicca luna is so placed that it qualifies only in triviis requiescere. Better would be nec libet (or iuvat): he no longer cares to play the part of the deserted lover <.. .> This is what I print; but to be franc I am puzzled” (Heyworth 2007b, 186-187). I believe that the manuscript reading should be retained, and that it suits with Propertius' wordplay in this passage, as explained below. The meaning of in triviis requiescere has been interpreted as referring either to former love encounters with Cynthia on crossroads, or, more convincingly, to Propertius' vigils by the doorstep of his beloved. The former interpretation has been prompted above all by the resemblance of Prop. 2, 17, 15 to 4, 7, 19-20 which does in fact speak explicitly to love-making in trivio (thus, Enk 1962, II, 249; Butler, Barber 1933, 220 on Prop. 2, 17, 15-16.13-14; shackleton Bailey 1947, 91). Lately, however, the explanation has shifted to understanding both verses of the distich 15-16 as play with the motif of exclusus amator (Cairns 1975; Thomas 1980; Fedeli 2005, 519-520 on Prop. 2, 17, 11-12.15-16). This interpretation does seem pref-erable, as it explains the choice of the verb requiescere, and brings out the continuity between verse 15 and 16 (for fuller argumentation, see Fedeli 2005, 520). Turning to sicca luna, most modern commentators, as was the case with Aen. 2, 255, insist on dissociating Propertius' choice of epithet from the term used by agricultural writers, arguing that the poet was simply referring to a clear, dry night. Butler, Barber 1933, 220 (ad Prop. 2, 17a, 15-16, 13-14): “The sense is uncertain. [...] Probably it means no more than that the air is dry, the moon is clear and bright”; this interpretation appears also in Camps 1967, 138 (ad loc.), Enk 1962, II, 249, ad loc. (“ego credo lunam siccam vel sitientem esse `lunam fulgentem in sicco aethere'”), as well as by Rotstein 1920, 326 (ad loc.), who adds: „Es ist keine Feuchtigkeit in der Luft, so dafi der Mond hell leuchtet”. Cf. Lunais 1979, 330: “Une telle precision (scil. la nuit passee a la nouvelle lune -- M. K.) apparait a la fois bien prosa'ique et bien inutile, pour ne pas dire encombrante, dans un poeme tout empreint de lyrisme melancholique”. On the rarer occasions, when the association of Propertius' sicca luna with the term for the new moon is recognized, the poet's meaning is reconstructed through popular beliefs. Thus, Shackleton Bailey tried to explain the expression sicca... luna in Prop 2, 17, 15 through the belief that the dew that falls during the night, and especially its quantity, depends on the moon and its phase:

“Since dew falls from the moon the deduction is obvious that when there is no dew it is because the moon is temporarily short of moisture, sicca; and sicca luna will be another way of saying rore non cadente. It is therefore an error to suppose that cold and clear conditions are implied; rather the reverse, for it is on cloudless nights that the dew comes thickest, an observation which no doubt led to the popular theory of its lunar origin” (Shackleton Bailey 1947, 90-91).

Similarly, Heyworth suggested that sleeping on the street on the night of the new moon would be particularly dangerous for an exclusus amator, as on that night Hecate and other infernal forces would be roaming the streets. Heyworth 2007b, 187 n. 51: “At the new moon Hecate and her followers would be at large, making the crossroads especially dangerous”. Finally, O'Neil, in line with his idea that Cynthia is associated with the moon throughout Propertius' wuvre, suggested that in Prop. 2, 17, 15 the epithet sicca was used as a synonym for frigida, with an erotic double-entendre: O'Neil 1958, 5; the idea however is evoked with approval by Fedeli 2005, 520 (ad Prop. 2, 17, 11-12, 15-16). however, his explanation of Propertius' meaning is very vague, and while he stresses that in triviis requiescere must refer to the poet's love encounters with Cynthia on crossroads, he does not explain exactly how the calembour reconstructed for sicca luna would relate to the situation.

None of the previously mentioned explanations is satisfactory either. The interpretation that sees in the expression sicca luna a reference to a clear, dry night would imply that Propertius was ready to pass his vigils by Cynthia's door only in comfortable meteorological conditions; Shackleton Bailey's suggestion that the phrase referred to a cloudy night without dew is open to similar criticism, while it seems to rely to an even greater degree on a conjectural reconstruction of the situation without substantial support from the text; Cf. in particular, his evocation of the dangers of malaria of which there is no hint in Propertius' text (Shackleton Bailey 1947, 91). neither is there anything to support Heyworth's suggestion that Propertius was referring to popular superstitions about Hecate and her followers roaming the crossroads on the night of the new moon.

However, there seems to be one interpretation that could explain Propertius' meaning, while avoiding the weaker points of earlier explanations. Unless one is willing to discard the expression luna sicca as attested only in Pliny the Elder, it is unlikely that Propertius' readers would have failed to associate the expression sicca luna in Prop. 2, 17, 15 with the agricultural term, and it is, in fact, precisely this association that seems to offer the key to understanding the passage: if the entire distich Prop. 2, 17, 15-16 is taken as an enumeration of the (slightly exaggerated) woes of the exclusus amator, who, besides being banished from Cynthia's presence, is also forbidden to enjoy the usual activities of exclusi amantes (i.e. sleeping by his beloved's house or trying to convince her to let him in), the sicca luna of v. 15 would be a tongue-in-cheek allusion not only to (moonless) nights that he would wish but is forbidden to spend in the street by Cynthia's house, but also to Cynthia's refusal to show herself to her lover. For the designation of the moon by the epiclesis Cynthia, cf. Lucan. 1, 218; 4, 60; 8, 721; Petron. Sat. 122, line 130; Sil. Ital. Pun. 4, 480; Stat. Theb. 1, 577; Val. Flacc. 2, 56; etc. Propertius' wording thus evokes the strict terminological usage of luna sicca, exploiting in the meanwhile the poetic potential that the expression, if taken literally, carried.

Conclusion

We hope to have shown that the expressions of the new moon in Latin, luna sicca and luna silenti, were originally created by opposition to other visible and thus easily identifiable phases of the lunar cycle, i.e. to the waxing moon and to the full moon, respectively. There was thus no poetic impulse behind the creation of these expressions, which accounts for their unremarkable usage in agricultural writers. However, there are traces of a certain recognition in Roman literature of the poetic potential of these expressions, if taken literally. Thus, in Prop. 2, 17, 15 the expression sicca luna is used not only to evoke the astronomical term, but also as part of wordplay, likening his current banishment from Cynthia's presence to the changeability of the moon. In Verg. Aen. 2, 255 the expression tacitae per amica silentia lunae hinted at the scholarly debate regarding the day of the lunar cycle, endowing the moon at the same time with personal traits, so that it appears as a silent, benevolent witness to the Achaeans' ruse. Vergil's wording is close enough to the term luna silenti to create the association with the particular phase of the lunar cycle; however, it is adapted to the context, as the poet brings out the metaphor present in luna silenti, if the participle silens is taken in its literal sense, combining both visual and auditive associations in one expression. Cf. Barigazzi 1990, 232: “Ma la corrispondenza con la frase catoniana (scil. luna silenti -- M. K.) sarebbe da vedere piuttosto in tacitae lunae per la non rara trasposizione dal piano visivo a quello uditivo, come nei noti passi danteschi mi rispindeva la dove il sol tace (Inf. 1.60), io venni in loco dogni luce muto (Inf. 5.28)” Indeed, it has been argued that these two passages in Dante had been inspired by Vergil (Brightman 1919, 327-329).

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