I, who note
The deed, leap lightly up and cut his throat.
Stanza xli. lines 7 and 8.
This piece of ferocity, which might seem inconsistent with such a character as that of Olympia, in any age, convinces me that this incident of the story, which seems to have been made up of many parts, had a foundation in truth. Credo quia impossibile est. I am, however, unable to discover any traces of it anterior to Ariosto’s poem. At any rate, the reader will regret that such a trait of brutality was either invented or copied by Ariosto. It is, however, a mere act of justice to observe that he seems to have repented making a Judith of Olympia: for among the alterations of the Furioso, vouched by Galasso, as the intended emendations of his brother Ludovico, the original line
‘Io saltai presto e gli segai la gola,’
is changed to
‘Poi saltò presto e gli segò la gola,’
the poet thus transferring the consummation of the murder to the servant who had struck down the bridegroom. But even admitting this correction, there is a daring spirit in the woman which is repugnant to our notions of feminine softness, and I cannot help thinking that the interest which she excites, is, in a great degree, owing to the beautiful picture which we have of her when stripped for sacrifice, and fastened to the rock. She is like the Athenian courtezan who, when her cause was going ill, dropped her clothes, and stood naked before her judges.
This isle, and that of Zealand, they descried,
One seen before, and one shut in behind.
Stanza lix. lines 3 and 4.
Ariosto is here accurate in his geography, in which he almost always observes that of his age. His precision on such points
