The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 19.0054 Wednesday, 30 January 2008
[1] From: Martine Van Elk <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Tuesday, 29 Jan 2008 10:32:03 -0800
Subt: Re: littered under Mercury
[2] From: Stephanie Kydd <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Tuesday, 29 Jan 2008 13:10:58 -0800 (PST)
Subt: SHK 19.0049 Littered Under Mercury
[3] From: John W. Kennedy <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Tuesday, 29 Jan 2008 23:13:17 -0500
Subt: Re: SHK 19.0049 Littered Under Mercury
[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Martine Van Elk <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Tuesday, 29 Jan 2008 10:32:03 -0800
Subject: Re: littered under Mercury
Hi Steve,
Autolycus says: "My father named me Autolycus, who being, as I am,
littered under Mercury, was likewise a snapper-up of unconsidered
trifles" (4.3.24-26). The pronoun "who" refers to Autolycus, the
mythological figure. Autolycus, the character in the play, is a regular
human being, but also "littered under" Mercury. Where the mythological
Autolycus was actually fathered by Mercury, the figure Autolycus in the
play was born under the star of Mercury--both described as "littered
under." The character in the play is not literally saying his father is
Mercury, but talking astrology. The Norton Shakespeare says in a
footnote for littered under: "Fathered by Mercury; born when the planet
Mercury was in the ascendant."
Hope this helps,
Martine van Elk
[2]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Stephanie Kydd <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Tuesday, 29 Jan 2008 13:10:58 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Littered Under Mercury
Comment: SHK 19.0049 Littered Under Mercury
In F1, these lines from WT run as follows:
My Trafficke is sheetes: when the Kite builds, looke to
lesser Linnen. My Father nam'd me Autolicus, who be-
ing (as I am) lytter'd vnder Mercurie, was likewise a
snapper-vp of vnconsidered trifles:
In the F1 text, "as I am" is clearly parenthetical; "was likewise"
refers to Autolicus' father. The line seems pretty straigtforward: both
Autolicus and his father were "lytter'd vnder Mercurie." The suggestive
sexual context (Trafficke, sheetes, Kite, Linnen, snapper-vp, trifles)
suggests that "Mercurie" has nothing to do with the god or the
astrological sign and everything to do with "Mercurie" as a treatment
for venereal disease.
- Stephanie Kydd
[3]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: John W. Kennedy <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Tuesday, 29 Jan 2008 23:13:17 -0500
Subject: 19.0049 Littered Under Mercury
Comment: Re: SHK 19.0049 Littered Under Mercury
Stephen Merriam Foley <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
>I am wondering about the lines in A Winter's Tale 4.2 when
>Autolycus reproduces his naming. "My father called me Autolycus"
>This seems clear enough, if suspiciously indirect, and parallel
>to the naming of the false Autolycus (Some call him Autolycus).
>But then the next pronoun is "someone who was" which should
>be Autolycus himself (nearest noun) but who is clearly (tense of
>verb "was") the father and not the son. So "littered under Mercury"
>presents a puzzle. Since the father IS Mercury. Autolycus and his
>half-brother twin were the result of two inseminations, one by
>Hermes and one by Apollo. So what I am wondering is how
>Mercury is littered under Mercury. Where have I gone wrong?
It is not generally taken that Autolycus of Bohemia is the classical
figure, literally engendered by Mercury. The connection is more
symbolic: Mercury is, among other things, the god of thieves.
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