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Chapter 7
The Doctor's Garden

Plebeian
From Latin plebeius, pertaining to the plebs, the commoners of Rome.  Taken out of classical usage it comes to mean "lacking noble birth or status, common" often with a disparaging connotation.  Trollope here speaks of a couple forming their engagement, and states that they are of a higher social class (and hence not plebeian).  [JM]

By Jove
A interjection used commonly in Victorian England.  Jove is another name for Jupiter, the greatest of the Roman gods; his name was used as an interjection or part of one in classical Latin as well.
OED
OCD  [JM]

Chapter 8
Matrimonial Prospects

Dr. Century
Dr. Century is one of the other doctors who work in the same region as Doctor Thorne, but who lives close to the town of Silverbridge.  Dr. Century's name is probably a reference to his age and antiquated medical knowledge. The word "century" comes from the Latin word centuria, which referred to 100 soldiers, objects, or a group of voters in ancient Rome. The word century began being used to refer to the years of a person's life as early as 1626, according to the OED.  [MD]

Argus-eyed
Augusta is said to be "Argus-eyed" in this classical allusion. Argus was a giant in Greek mythology which was said to have at least a hundred eyes, and was ordered to be a sentinel for Hera, the wife of Zeus. Argus' duty was to watch over Io, whom Zeus had turned into a cow, and with whom he was committing adultery.  This allusion is fitting because Augusta has recently been warned by her aunt, Lady De Courcy, to keep her eyes open for the dangerous flirtations of young men and women who come from different classes. Therefore, Augusta is the guard, Argus, for her aunt, Lady De Courcy, who is Hera in this allusion. When Augusta intrudes upon Mary and her brother Frank, she is searching for clues to see what they are doing, and finds that this situation is exactly what her aunt was previously warning her about. This reference could also be seen to be humorous, by the fact that Argus was a monster, not human, and therefore Augusta could not possibly be as watchful as he was supposed to be. http://www.bartleby.com/59/2/argus.html  [MD]

St. Anthony
This is a reference to the Christian saint, Anthony, who is assumed to be the founder of the Christian monastic movement. Anthony spent the majority of his life in either complete solitude or near-total isolation among a loosely-knit group of Christian hermits. He lived during the 3^rd and 4^th centuries CE in North Africa, primarily Egypt, in what was at the time a part of the Roman Empire. In this allusion, Mary Thorne presents Frank Gresham with her hand in a gesture of friendship as they are conversing on the Greshamsbury estate. However, Frank holds on to her hand rather longer than is socially acceptable for two young people in their situation, suggesting that he has more affectionate feelings for her than merely those of a friend. He is described as being "not a Saint Anthony," and thus unable to constrain himself from a temptation such as holding Mary Thorne's hand. Presumably, if he were like St. Anthony, Frank would have no problem separating himself from human contact and would certainly be able to abstain from holding Mary's hand. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 (Aachen-Assize). New York:  Robert Appleton Company, 1907.  [MD]

Chapter 9
Sir Roger Scatcherd

Rosy god
This phrase refers to Bacchus (or Dionysus in the Greek), the god of wine and merriment.  He is probably so denoted because of the rosiness of the face that can come from drinking wine.  [JC]

Divine frenzies
The worship of Bacchus was often presented as involving ecstatic fits or frenzies.  Here, of course, Trollope simply refers to Scatcherd's periods of drunkenness.  [JC]

His Eleusinian mysteries
A sacred and secret celebration in honor of the goddess Demeter, held at her temple at Eleusis.  The details of the rites are largely unknown today because of the great degree of secrecy that was associated with them.  Participants were forbidden from describing the rites to the uninitiated.  [JC]

Symposiums and posiums (p. 106):
Greek symposiums were get-togethers in which a group of men would talk, drink, and engage in other forms of fraternization.  Because Scatcherd has taken to drinking alone, Trollope describes Scatcherd's "parties of one" by taking off the prefix "syn-" which means "together, with."  [JC]

Votaries of Bacchus
Trollope is reiterating Scatcherd's devotion to drinking, by referring to him as a devotee of Bacchus.  [JC]

Son of Galen
See commentary on Galen in Doctor Thorne Chapter 2. See commentary on sons of Aesculpaius in Doctor Thorne Chapter 3.

Winterbones' libations
A libation was a sacrifice of wine given to honor a god or goddess.  Winterbones has been giving "libations" of gin to Scatcherd when he is supposed to be sobering up in bed.  This metaphor interestingly turns the former devotee of Bacchus into a god in his own right, with Winterbones as his most devoted (and only) follower.  [JC]

Mentor
This word comes from the name of Telemachus' advisor in the Odyssey.  In Book 2 of the Odyssey, Athena disguises herself as Mentor and advises Telemachus to go off in search of news of his father.  By capitalizing the word "Mentor" Trollope seems to be making a stronger parallel between that character and Dr. Thorne than if he had simply used the word as a common noun.  Interestingly Telemachus, who is only a boy, is much more willing to listen to the advice of his Mentor than is Sir Roger, though he is a grown man (though perhaps he is unwilling to listen because he feels that he is old enough to do without a Mentor).  [JC]

Hector
"You think you can hector me...."  Sir Roger says this to Dr. Thorne when Sir Roger is ill, and the doctor tells him that he must either give up drinking or face death.  The word hector here is used in the sense of bullying, but is actually derived from the name of character in Homer's Iliad:  Hector, the Trojan hero killed by Achilles.  It is interesting that the word should have a meaning of bullying since no one who has read the Iliad would think of Hector as a bully.  He is presented as a virtuous man who defends his people with courage and dies honorably.  The earliest meaning of the word (in the 14^th century), in fact, reflected these characteristics and was used to refer to "a gallant warrior."  The meaning shifted when, in the late 17^th century, a gang of misfit youths calling themselves "the Hectors" after the mythical hero, caused a rampage in London. Eric Partridge. 
Name into Word: Proper Names That Have Become Common Property.  Secker and Warburg, London:  1949.  [JC]

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