39. _This minion._ This favorite. Bessarion (1395-1472), a learned Greek
cardinal, discovered a poem, "The Rape of Helen," written by a Greek
epic poet, Coluthus, in the sixth century, and Bessarion's scribe copied
it out on parchment with blue, red, and dark-brown lettering.
43. _Odyssey._ Homer's account of the adventures of Ulysses. The quoted
passage is in the _Odyssey_, Bk. XXII, 10. When Ulysses reached home he
wreaked vengeance on the suitors of his wife. Antinous was the first to
fall. The story of the "bitter shaft" blotted out by a flower is
symbolic of the story of the hatred of Lutwyche, which was robbed of its
bitterness by Phene's love.
50. _Almaign Kaiser._ The German Emperor. _Swart-green_ is really
"black-green"; here it means the "dark-green" of bronze. The Emperor's
truncheon is a short staff, the emblem of his office.