Glossary of Terms
"a carbuncle on Phoebus' wheel": "a rich jewel on the sun god's chariot"
"a hilding for a livery": "a worthless person only fit to wear servant's clothes"
"Fidele's sickness did make my way long forth": "thinking about Fidele's sickness made my walk from the cave long and tedious"
"He overbuys me almost the sum he pays": "he is worth almost as much more than me as the punishment he pays"
"He takes his part to draw upon an exile": "he takes my father's part by drawing his sword upon an exile [in this case, Posthumus]"
"I do extend him, sir, within himself": "I praise him within his merit"
"liegers for her sweet": "ambassadors for her lover"
"lolling the tongue": "licking the chops"
"Mingle their spurs together": "mingle their roots together"
"Ods pittikins": "God's little pity"
"Proud Cleopatra, when she met her Roman": a reference to Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, and Antony, the Roman general who adored her
"self exhibition": "same money"
"shift a shirt": "change your shirt"
"short my word": "fail in my promise"
"targes of proof": "tested shields"
"The shes of Italy": Italian women
"to mart as in a Romish stew": "to try to buy sex [as in a brothel in Rome]"
"We have been too slight in sufferance": "we have been too mild in our tolerance"
"words him": "gives him a reputation"
"worms of Nile": Asps
Aeneas: the legendary founder of Rome who betrayed Dido at Carthage, causing her to commit suicide in grief
Afric: the poeticization of Africa; refers to any such place Jacobeans would have found desolate
Ajax: a champion soldier of Greece
andirons: fire irons
Arabian Bird: the Phoenix, a mythic bird said to regenerate from its own ashes. Shakespeare explored the phoenix image throughout his career, especially in the poem "The Phoenix and the Turtle"
arras: wall-hanging
Augustus Caesar: Julius Caesar's protege and the first Roman Emperor
basilisk: a mythic reptile similar to a dragon
bugs: monsters
carl: churl
Cassibelan: Cymbeline's predecessor as King of England
charming: capable of protecting someone from evil
cinque-spotted: having five spots
citizen: urban
clotpoll: wooden head
clouted brogues: rough, heavy, hobnailed shoes
colted: bedded
confections: drug compounds
corse: corpse
country base: a popular boys' game
crescent note: a growing reputation
Cydnus: a river in modern-day Turkey
Cytherea: another name for Aphrodite or Venus, the goddess of love and beauty
demesnes: regions
derogation: a derogatory term or phrase
Dian: a poeticization of Diana, goddess of the hunt and of virginity
Diana: the chaste goddess of the hunt and of virginity
emperious: imperious
empery: empire
enforced: raped
enjoys: possesses
fangled: characterized by superficiality
feodary: accomplice
fitment: fit device
franklin: a landholder who ranks below the gentry
fraught: burdened
friend: an ally or loved one; someone who has known another in a sexual context
full-acorn'd: full of acorns; possessing of large testicles
Gallian: French
gaoler: jailer
geck: dupe
giglot: prostitute, usu. male (e.g. "gigolo")
gins: begins
good-conceited: full of good thoughts
Gordian knot: a legendary knot that none could untie, said to have been cut by Alexander the Great
gyves: fetters
haviour: demeanor
Hecuba: Priam's wife, the Queen of Troy, who was famously furious at the Greeks in the Iliad
Hercules: the heroic god who possessed terrific strength
imperseverant: incapable of perceiving
inter'gatories: questionings
jay: prostitute
journal: daily
Jovial: like Jove (i.e. Jupiter); god-like
Julius Caesar: the legendary Roman general who was killed by Roman senators just before he could transform Rome into an empire and become Emperor
Juno: "Hera" in Greek mythology; Zeus' powerful and jealous wife
Jupiter: the Roman name for the Greek god, Zeus, who ruled Mount Olympus and the heavens
kitchen-trulls: kitchen maids
lay: wager
limb-meal: limb from limb
Lud's town: London; according to legend, Cymbeline's grandfather, Lud, founded the town
madding: angering
mainport: a small offering or tribute
martial: war-like
mercurial: swift; like Mercury, the god of speed
mere: absolute
minion: contemptuous term for an underling
moiety: half
mows: grimaces
Mulmutius: the legendary first King of England
Neptune: the god of the sea
nonpareil: paragon; unparalleled
occident: west
ope: open
ordinance: that which Fate has ordained
orisons: prayers
pandar: a panderer; an allusion to Pandar, the go-between for Troilus and Cressida
Pannonians and Dalmatians: inhabitants of the modern-day Balkans
pantler: servant in charge of the pantry
Parthian: a soldier of Parthia, a nation known for its archers on horseback, who would fire volleys of arrows as they retreated
Philomel: a mythic beauty who was raped by Tereus
Phoebus: the god of the sun
proconsul: head counselor
prone: eager
pudency: modesty
puppy: a contemptuous term meaning "doll" or "toy"
puttock: contemptuous term for a kite
quire: choir; settlement of birds
ramps: lascivious women
raps: possesses; grips
reck: reckon
Richard du Champ: "Richard of the Field": a reference to Shakespeare's friend, Richard Field, who was a printer at Stratford-upon-Avon; most likely a compliment
Saturn: Jupiter's father, thought to be slow, cold and gloomy.
seconds: supporters
Severn: a river separating England from Wales
Siena: the leader of Siena (an error on Shakespeare's part, as Siena was a republic)
Sinon: a Trojan who betrayed his cause to the Greeks
sirrah: a contemptuous term directed toward someone of lower class
slip: let someone go
snuff: put out a candle wick
south-fog: south wind, thought in Shakespeare's time to be a bad portent
spur: goad on
statist: statesman
stomach-qualm'd: queasy
stomachers: breast coverings
straight-pight: standing full upright with dignified comportment
synod: an assembly of gods
taper: slender candle
tent: probe; wound
Tereus: an infamous rapist who ravished Philomel and cut out her tongue so that she couldn't report the crime; a character in Ovid's Metamorphoses
Thersites: the low-status soldier immortalized by Homer in the Iliad and by Shakespeare in Troilus and Cressida
thunder-master: an epithet for Jupiter
Titan: the sun
tomboys: prostitutes
troth: fidelity
vantage: opportunity
verier: truer
wanton: young, spoiled child
winking: with eyes closed
winnow: whittle; carve
wrying: erring
ClassicNote on Cymbeline
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