The Anatomy of Melancholy

Name: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Author: Robert Burton

1651 English with a close modern English rendering

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The Anatomy of MelancholyThe Prognosis of Love Melancholy

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1651 English Page · Branch 829 of 1495

The Prognosis of Love Melancholy

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1651 English

544

Laodice the sister of Mithridates, poisoned her husband, to give content to a base fellow whom she loved. Alexander to please Thais a concubine of his, set Persipolis on fire. Nereus wife, a widow and Lady of Athens, for the love of a Venetian Gentleman, betrayed the City, and he for her sake, murthered his wife, the daughter of a Noble man in Venice.

Constantine Despota, made away Catharine his wife, turned his son Michael and his other children out of doors, for the love of a base Scriveners daughter in Thessalonica, with whose beauty he was enamored.

Leucophria betrayed the City where she dwelt, for her sweet-hearts sake, that was in the enemies Camp. Pithidice the Governours daughter of Methinia for the love of Achilles, betrayed the whole Iland to him, her fathers enemy. Diognetus did as much in the City where he dwelt, for the love of Policrita, Medea for the love of Jason, she taught him how to tame the fire-breathing brass-feeted Bulls, and kill the mighty dragon that kept the golden fleece, and toar her little brother Absyrtus in pieces, that her father Æthes might have something to detain him, while she ran away with her beloved Jason, &c. Such Acts and Scenes hath this Tragecomœdy of love.

10476.BurtonPrinted page 544, *: “Sabel. lib. 3. En. 6.”

10477.BurtonPrinted page 544, †: “Curtius lib. 5.”

10478.BurtonPrinted page 544, a: “Chalcocondilas de reb. Turcicis lib. 9. Nerei uxor Athenarum domina, &c.” “Chalcocondylas, On Turkish Affairs, book 9. Nereus’s wife, ruler of Athens,” etc.

10480.BurtonPrinted page 544, b: “Nicephorus Greg hist. lib. 8. Uxorem occidit liberos & Michaelem filium videre abhorruit. Thessalonicæ amore captus pronotarii filiæ, &c.” “Nicephorus Gregoras, History, book 8. He killed his wife and loathed the sight of his children and his son Michael. At Thessalonica, captivated by love for a protonotary’s daughter,” etc.

10482.BurtonPrinted page 544, c: “Parthenius Erot. lib. cap. 5.”

10483.BurtonPrinted page 544, d: “Idem, ca. 21. Gubernatoris filia Achillis amore capta civitatem prodidit.” “The same author, chapter 21. The governor’s daughter, captivated by love for Achilles, betrayed the city.”

10484.BurtonPrinted page 544, e: “Idem. cap. 9.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy: The Prognosis of Love Melancholy

p. 829

Laodice, Mithridates’s sister, poisoned her husband to please a low-born fellow whom she loved. Alexander set Persepolis on fire to please Thais, a concubine of his. Nereus’s wife, a widow and ruler of Athens, betrayed the city for love of a Venetian gentleman; and for her sake he murdered his wife, the daughter of a Venetian nobleman.

Constantine the despot killed his wife Catharine and turned his son Michael and his other children out of doors, for love of the daughter of a lowly scrivener in Thessalonica, whose beauty had captivated him.

Leucophrye betrayed the city where she lived for the sake of her sweetheart in the enemy camp. Pithidice, the governor of Methinia’s daughter, betrayed the whole island to Achilles, her father’s enemy, for love of him. Diognetus did as much in the city where he lived for love of Polycrite. For love of Jason, Medea taught him to tame the fire-breathing bulls with brazen feet and kill the mighty dragon guarding the Golden Fleece; she tore her little brother Absyrtus to pieces so that her father Aeetes would have something to delay him while she fled with her beloved Jason. Such are the acts and scenes of this tragicomedy of love.

10479.“Base” can indicate low social rank, as here. Burton cites Sabellicus, Curtius and Chalcocondylas for these compressed anecdotes. The Laodice claim, Thais’s relationship to Alexander, and Nereus’s identity require checking against those sources; the modernization does not silently replace them with a different account.

10481.Despot is a title, not simply a judgement of tyranny. A scrivener is a professional writer or clerk; the margin instead names a protonotary, a senior notarial office. That difference and the claimed killings must be checked in Nicephorus Gregoras, History 8; Burton’s body and margin are both preserved.

10485.Parthenius 5 gives Leucophrye’s betrayal; 21 calls the girl Pisidice and the city Methymna, where Burton prints Pithidice and Methinia and enlarges the betrayal to an island. In Parthenius 9, Diognetus betrays the besieging forces to save Polycrite’s city, rather than betraying his own city. Burton’s compressed versions remain in the text. His Medea narrative combines familiar episodes; its precise source is unlocated.

About This Reading Edition

Robert Burton’s Anatomy ranges across medicine, philosophy, poetry, religion, and everyday life in its inquiry into melancholy. This complete parallel edition pairs the 1651 English text with a close modern English rendering, preserving the three Partitions, Democritus Junior’s address to the reader, verse, and the historical index.

Historical Text and Translation

The historical text follows the sixth edition, printed at Oxford for Henry Cripps in 1651, using the McGill University Library copy. The supplied edition documents missing printed pages 98–99 supplied from another 1651 copy at the Bavarian State Library. Historical folio labels and their irregularities remain visible; web reader numbers identify reflowed passages and do not claim to reproduce PDF pagination.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared the close modern English rendering and editorial matter. All 8,755 original and modern passage pairs remain aligned, with verse breaks, italics, continuations, and linked annotations preserved. Burton’s 6,781 historical notes retain their attribution; 6,895 editorial notes remain distinct. The introduction, Note on the Text, contextual lexicon, indexes, source documentation, and bibliography are included. The engraved frontispiece remains available in the original downloads.

Rights

Burton’s historical text is in the public domain. The modern English rendering, introduction, notes, and editorial matter are © 2026 Diotimos Editions and appear with the site owner’s permission. The complete supplied PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown files remain available unchanged. The PDF and Word edition preserve the original parallel page layout.