'Chance' in the Latin Vocabulary (Evenire, Cadere, Accidere, Contingere)

Author(s): G. P. Shipp
Source: The Classical Review , Dec., 1937, Vol. 51, No. 6 (Dec., 1937), pp. 209-212
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association

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 The Classical Review
DECEMBER, 1937

NOTES AND NEWS

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'CHANCE' IN THE LATIN VOCABULARY (EVENIRE, CADERE,

ACCIDERE, CONTINGERE).
THE purpose of the followingvelopment
notes of the meanings of words
is to suggest the precise origin ofcan be understood in the majority of
certain
Latin expressions for 'to happen' by by reference to the spheres
cases only
examining their literal senses and dis- activity in which the words
of human
covering the particular spheres in have had technical applications was
which
these literal senses could be used. enunciated first by Brdal in his Essai
Note.-The principle that the de- de Semantique (1897). Since then it
NO. CCCLXXI. VOL. LI. O

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 210 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW

has been restated Cic.by

Verr. 2, 127; Lig. 21 (cf. Sperber
Meillet, Meillet
and Ernout's Dictionary s.v.). A tragic
and others (see the literature cited in
Stolz-Schmalz, ? 24). fragment in Cic. de Div. I, 42 uses
I. EVENIRE.-This word is easily coniectura and sortes together of dreams:
explained from its use in reference to tum coniecturam postulat pacem petens,
lots coming out of a sitella. The best ut se edoceret obsecrans Apollinem,
illustration, amounting almost to proof, quo sese vertant tantae sortes somnium.
is to be found in the Casina of Plautus,
where we have the word used at once av,0l3XXco is used in the same way of
interpreting omens, among them dreams,
in its literal and metaphorical senses.
and may have the same history as coni-
At line 341 Lysidamus announces that
cere.

he will cast lots to decide whether The use of lots to discover the future
Olympio or Chalinus is to marry thus proves to be what Sperber calls an
Casina:
at ego sic agam : 'Energiezentrum', that is an activity
coniciam sortes in sitellam et sortiar attended by so much emotion that it is
tibi (sc. Olympioni) et Chalino. a 'point of departure' (Ausgangspunkt)
In 345 Olympio asks him for a group of changes.
quid si sors aliter quam voles evenerit? 2. CADERE (and CAsus).-Thurney-
sen in the Thesaurus (s.v. cado) suggests
Then in 376 that this use of cado and casus is derived
LY. postremo <si> illuc quod volumus from the throwing of dice, quoting Ter.
eveniet, gaudebimus,
Ad. 740
and in 382 f. si illud quod maxime opus est iactu non cadit,
illud quod cecidit forte, id arte ut corrigas.
OL. quod bonum atque fortunatum sit mihi-
CHA. magnum malum- This origin is made more precise and
OL. tibi quidem edepol, credo, eveniet;
more likely if we connect it with the
and in 389 f. throwing of dice to discover the future,
OL. taceo; deos quaeso-CHA. ut quidem a form of divination common in Greece
tu hodie canem et furcam feras.
(Ehrenberg in Pauly - Wissowa, s.v.
OL. mihi ut sortito eveniat-CHA. ut . .
Losung) and also found in England
Elsewhere the word in connexion (see e.g. New Eng. Dict. s.vv. die, lot),
with sors is used especially of the al-
less frequent in Italy, but existing there.
Suetonius Tib. 14: (Tiberius) cum II-
lotting of provinciae etc. to magistrates,
lyricum petens iuxta Patavium adisset
e.g. sors ut dictatorem diceret Quinctio
evenit, Liv. 4, 26, II; ut comitiisGeryonis
prae- oraculum, sorte tracta, qua mone-
esset M. Duilio sorte evenit, id. 3, 64,
batur ut de consultationibus in Aponi fon-
4; cf. (with sorte) 2, 8, 6; and temthetalos iaceret, evenit ut summum nume-
rum iacti ab eo ostenderent; hodieque
provincia is often subject, e.g. provincia
ea Bruto, Samnium Camillo evenit,visuntur
id. 8, hi tali.
The
29, 6; cf. 26, 22, I; 30, I, 3; 28, 45, 9; same belief in the prophetic
32, 8, 2. powers of dice must be at the back of
the custom of expressing a wish when
The history of evenire is illustrated by,
casting them, as in Plaut, As. 904-5:
and runs parallel to, that of two other
words which have occurred in my quo- ARG. iace pater, talos, ut porro nos iaciamus.
tations above, viz. DE. maxime ;
(a) sors itself, which from meaning te, Philaenium, m
'lot' comes to mean 'fate', from the (sc. opto, as Gray says); Demaenetus
same use of lots in prophecy; hopes for the best when the throw
(b) conicio, which derives its sense ofis a iactus Venerius. Further Ehrenberg
'conjecturing', 'guessing', from thatsuggests that 'Astragalmantik' was
of 'foretelling the future', in phrases common in prehistoric times (col. 1458).
like conicere somnium, conicere signa etc.,Indeed it is probable that it was com-
and in coniector = 3veLponplr&.. This moner even in historic times than our
sense is common especially in old Latin, records show, for the derivation of the
Romance words d6, dado etc. from
but also later (materials in the Thesaurus),
and is derived from conicere sortes, datum makes it plain that itmust have
Plautus Cas. 342 (quoted above), 386; been common again in late Latin times.

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 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW zI2
This derivation is also an excellent This sense of 'success' rather than
illustration of the plausibility ofthecon-
vaguer one of 'chance' will give a
necting cadere etc. with this special
pointer to the origin of the use. If we
use of dice, for 'it is inferred that
now inexamine the physical senses of
late pop. L., datum was taken incontingere
the we shall find only one which
could give
sense " that which is given or decreed " rise to the idea of' success'.
(sc. by lot or fortune) and was so This is one which in many languages
applied
to the dice by which this was deter-
has been used in the same way, namely
mined' (New Eng. Dict. s.v. die).
thatThe
of 'hitting a mark'. This use
Latin use is illustrated by theappears
well- in (quotations from the The-
known use of irLTrTrw, if indeed itsaurus)
is not-
influenced by it. Virg. Aen. 5,509
3. ACCIDERE.--Accidere cannot be avem contingere ferro
taken to have the same origin as cadere,
Ov. Met. 8,351
for (I) it is not used of dice, (2)da the
mihi quod petitur certo contingere telo
prefix would cause a difficulty,Val.
(3)Fl.it3,587
quem (sc. leonem) contigit' improba Mauri I
is used almost always of misfortune,
lancea
whereas cadere is used equally of good
Dict. 3, I8
and bad fortune. Physically it is regu-
eius columbae contingendae certamen
larly used of objects falling from above,
maximum.
falling down upon something, and this
If the genitive in the example from
literal meaning explains the nuances of
Val. Fl. were replaced by a dative, a
unexpectedness and unpleasantness in
case simple enough to imagine, we
the figurative sense. A furthershould
sug-have a construction and sense
gestion will be made after consideration
approximating very closely to those of
of contingere.
(e.g.) istuc vobis contigit, which is the
4. CONTINGERE.-The origin of con-
basic type of the examples quoted from
tingit =' it happens' cannot be a comedy.
matter
of certainty because the use was Different
fully stages in the development
developed in times older than our re-
of the meaning of contingo are illustrated
cords. However I think a reasonable
by the history of similar words in three
conjecture may be hazarded. other languages:
As the school-books tell us, contingere
is regularly used of good fortune. (i) TvXrCivo, which, beginning from
It is
the common meaning of 'hitting a
used more particularly of the realization
mark', is used by Homer of success in
of one's wishes or prayers, or success in
one's endeavours, the difference between
& 230-1 eldKLK dV~8pd&6tV p~a Kai bKTvr6potaLo vtrov
which is one of method, not result. vpar is,Xxosarok, Kal oc udXa 7T6 yXave
roXXci,
This applies especially to Plautus and
Terence. Thus, in Plautus, and A 684 -yevy8e L5 6p"phva N;qXes,
o0veKd /.o T6Xe 7roXXA vYo d oXe6bv5 KL6VTL.
Asin. 720 After Homer it is used in a neutral or
opta id quod ut contingat tibi vis ;
Cist. 497 bad sense; see L. and S.
di me perdant: quodcumque optes, tibi (2) English 'hit', which gives a very
velim contingere; good parallel in examples quoted by
Poen. 1271 New Eng. Dict. under II 2, 'intr. To
tandem huic cupitum contigit (when attain the object aimed at; to succeed;
Hanno has found his daughter) ; to come off as intended. obs. or dial.
Rud. 1176
volup est quom istuc ex pietate vostra vobisME.', e.g. from Shakespeare,
contigit (again in a recognition scene); M. of V. 3 2 270
Have all his ventures failed ?
and in Terence
What, not one hit ?
Andr. 696 All's Well 2 I 146
hanc mihi expetivi; contigit; Oft expectation fails, . . .
Haut. 324 And oft it hits where hope is coldest.
velle te id quod non potest contingere;
Phorm. 845 (3) In German similar metaphors are
ut haec quae contigerint sciat. very common; see for example those

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 212 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW

quoted 'by Sperber, Einfiihrung

accidit in die
= ' it happens ' comes particularly
Bedeutungslehre, fromp. 86, especially
the application of accidere toins
mis-
Schwarze treffen, and Zweck.
siles striking their mark; cf. Caes. b.g.
Contingere is occasionally used
III 14 ut neque ex inferiore locoof
satis
misfortune. The only commode early example
tela adici possent, et missa is
ab
the line quoted from GallisEnnius by Nonius,
gravius acciderent; III 21 telaque
(hostium)
Contingere evenire. ex loco superiore
. . . Ennius Tyeste, missa non
quam mihi maximum frustra
hodie acciderent.
hic Acontigerit
ccidit is thus used
malum (Trag. 308 R.),
of ill luck, from the point of view of the
where the rare use is just
victim, probably due
as contingit is used to
of good
Ennius' original, the Attic
luck, from tragedians
the point of view of the
thrower. Some support
especially using rvyXadvow in a for this inter-
similar
way. There is a close parallel
pretation is provided byinPlaut.
Eur. Pseud.
Hec. 628, 681-2
(KE^'Os 3?qLuaL ros,)
bene ubi quod scimus consilium accidisse,
hominemKCaKOV,
5I7, Kar' tap rvyXdveL -L775V catum

where the emphatic eumKcaKcv

esse declaramus, at the end
of the line is curiously likeisthe
where accidisse used asmalum
contigisse
of the Latin.
normally is, and the Thesaurus explains
The possibility that this sense of
consilium accidisse by' i. quasi telum ad
contingere is drawn from the military scopum ervenisse '.
sphere suggests a similar particulariza- G. P. SHIPP.
tion in the case of accidere, i.e. that University of Sydney.

CRETAE OAXEM.

pars Scythiam et rapidum Cretae

A ueniemus
good example of integration is the
Oaxem.-VIRG. Ecd. I. 66.
mysterious name Oaxes in the first
THERE are encouraging signs1 that old
Eclogue.
orthodoxies are ceasing to prevent The difficulties are fully explained by
modern literary theory from being ap- the commentators.5 For Oaxem are
plied to classical poetry. also read Oaxen, Oaxim, Eaxim. But
Virgil is an 'integrating' poet, like no such river is sufficiently attested.6
Coleridge.2 He fuses literary and other
reminiscences; and he is evocative at L'originaliti de Virgile, Paris, 1931, that Virgil's
the deeper levels of the reader's un-method was misunderstood in antiquity; cf. the
conscious mind, awaking memories, complaint of M. Agrippa (Donatus, Vit. Verg.
p. Io Brummer) that Virgil was 'nouae caco-
individual or collective, which belong
zeliae repertorem non tumidae nec exilis sed ex
rather to 'the obscure situation behind communibus uerbis atque ideo latentis'; cf.
the poem'3 than to rational thought.4
Quintilian's explanation (VIII. 3. 56) 'KaKdSCXov,
id est mala adfectatio, per omne dicendi genus
1 The latest are in a note of Mr. L. P. peccat : nam et tumida et pusilla et praedulcia
Wilkinson, C.R. L, 1936, 120-121, on Virg. et abundantia et arcessita et exsultantia sub
Ecl. VII. 53-59; on the end of that passage cf. idem nomen cadunt. denique cacozelon uocatur
W. F. J. Knight, Vergil's Troy, Oxford, 1932, quidquid est ultra uirtutem, quotiens ingenium
71-74, citing H. R. Fairclough, C.P. XXV, iudicio caret et specie boni fallitur, omnium in
1930, 37-46. See now also K. Biichner, Beoback- eloquentia uitiorum pessimum'. Misunder-
tungen iiber Vers und Gedankengangbei Lukrez, standings of Mr. Ezra Pound and Mr. T. S.
Berlin, 1936, especially ch. I. Eliot, also integrating poets, have been in some
2 Cf. E. K. Rand, The Magical Art of Virgil, ways similar; I have a comparison in prepara-
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1930, passim;tion.
Knight, C.Q. XXVI, 1932, 178-179; C. W. 5 For the statement of the difficulties I
XXVI, 1933, 201-203; ibid. XXVIII, 1935, follow C. G. Heyne, P. Vergilius Maro ...,
145-148; ibid. XXIX, 1936, 121-122; C.R. London, 1821, vol. I, 29 (the second page so
XLVIII, 1934, 124-125. numbered), on Virg. Ecld. I. 66.
3 I owe the phrase to Mr. C. Day Lewis. 6 Vibius Sequester mentions such a river in
4 Virgil is not a typical Augustan poet. TheCrete, but he may depend on Virgil. Heyne
others were on the whole more conscious and thinks it anyhow strange that a shepherd
rational, though, with enough space, it could shouldbe mention so obscure a river, especially
shown that they were sometimes like him. in It
Crete, after references to much more remote
is clear from Mlle. A.-M. Guillemin's able work places. Cf. Conington ad loc.

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