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Chapter 4
The Bishop's Chaplain

The power to assume the tyrant
Here Trollope seems to be using the word "tyrant" in its more classical sense of a usurper of power rather than the more modern sense of an oppressive ruler.  Trollope never implies that Mr. Slope would be an unjust or cruel ruler, but is very clear that his aim is to take control of the bishop and use him as a puppet while Slope himself maneuvers the strings.  [JC]

Fresh authority of the New Testament
This is a slight reference to the Greek adjective kainos which means "fresh" or "new" and which is the source of our translation of "new" in the name of the New Testament.  Trollope would have known this word and may probably have been thinking of it when he described the "fresh" authority that Slope could not draw from the "Fresh" Testament.  [JC]

Chapter 5
A Morning Visit

That little god upon earth
The idea of gods going in disguise among humans, or of humans becoming gods, is a common one in classical thought.  Of course, Trollope is not actually implying that the women view baby Johnny as an actual deity; this is an example of using ancient language or ideas to playfully poke fun at how seriously a character is taking something.  This baby is the center of Eleanor's life, to the point that describing him as a god is almost appropriate, and we can't fault her for making him such.  We can, however, laugh good-naturedly at the baby's aggrandizement by his mother.  [JM]

Venus to his Juno
Trollope is setting up Grantly and Proudie's rivalry as equaling that between Venus and Juno after Paris' judgment of a beauty contest between the goddesses Juno, Venus, and Minerva; the youth judged in favor of Venus, who was offering as a bribe the greatest beauty, Helen.  Paris' decision enraged the ever-jealous Juno.  Comparing the feelings of two staid men to those of angered female deities shows both the virulence and pettiness of their wrath towards each other.  [JM]

Wished-for Apple
Continuing the Venus/Juno motif, the "apple" in this case is basically control of religious life in Barchester, which Grantly has and Proudie wants.  In the myth of the Paris' judgment, the apple was the prize he awarded to the most beautiful goddess.  [JM]

Had I the pen of a mighty poet, would I sing in epic verse the noble wrath of the archdeacon
Clearly and humorously borrowing a technique called recusatio (Latin, "refusal") in which an author makes an elaborate refusal to speak on a subject, or otherwise expresses anxiety regarding his own ability to write about a particular thing.  Trollope may be echoing the opening book of the Aeneid, which mentions the wrath of Juno, or he may be echoing the beginning of Homer's Iliad, which opens with mention of Achilles' wrath.  Achilles may be a more appropriate parallel, since Grantly's pride has been offended as Achilles was by Agamemnon.  Keep in mind, however, that Grantly has been compared to Juno once already in this chapter.  [JM]

Chapter 6
War

Te Deum
These two Latin words mean, "You God," and refer to a Latin hymn of praise often sung in morning church services.  The OED cites the use of this term as early as 961 CE.  [MD & TH]

No slight tact
This is an example of Trollope's use of litotes, a classical construction often seen in his writing; with litotes an author asserts something by negating its opposite. "No slight tact" means that in this case Mr. Slope actually has a lot of tact.  [MD]

The penalties of Hades
Hades was the land of the dead or the underworld in Greek mythology, and is often referred to as the idea of Hell by Christian writers. It is recorded as having occurred as early as 1599 in English writing.
OED  [MD]

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