Studies in Vergil, Aeneid Eleven

326 Pages·2014·11.82 MB·English

by  Maria Alessio

carissimis coniugi, filio, parentibus
Studies in Vergil, Aeneid Eleven
by
Maria Alessio, B.A.. M.A.
A Thesis
Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies
in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements
for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
McMaster University
© Copyright by Maria Alessio March 1991
Studies in Vergil, Aeneid Eleven.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY MCMASTER UNNERSITY
(Roman Studies)
TITLE: Studies in Vergil, Aeneid Eleven.
AUTHOR: Maria Alessio, B.A. (Wales)
M.A. (McMaster University)
SUPERVISOR: Professor A. G. McKay.
NUMBER OF PAGES: viii, 317
11
ABSTRACT
This dissertation is an attempt to study and comment upon the text
of Aeneid 11. In so doing it has been necessary to trace the literary origins
of the characters concerned in the hope that this would give some consistent
direction to their characterization.
Since the world's first historians had been Greeks who had associated
history with epic poetry,considering that "history owed its technique and its
very existence to Homer and other Greek poets" and that "Athenian tragic
drama in the fifth century B.C ... also influenced Greek historical writing"
(M.Grant. The Annals of Imperial Rome,10), history and poetry were
inextricably woven together as Virgil's Shield of Aeneas clearly indicates
(Aeneid 8.626 ff.). That this rapport would have some bearing upon Vergil's
work is an aspect noted by a number of scholars who see the Aeneid in
terms of allegory,a point of view which I have attempted to explore in
treating Aeneid 11.
In assessing Vergil's major heroes and his heroine Camilla,it was
necessary to evaluate both descriptions and behaviour patterns of other
major characters throughout Vergil's epic.As a result of this,my awareness
111
ofVergil's knowledge of ambiguous writing techniques grew and it seemed
to me that a subtle manipulation of mythology and Roman history would
provide an excellent vehicle for both characterization and narrative of
outstanding personages of Vergil's own era.
Vergil's deliberate yet sensitive treatment of his major characters,his
variatio in the use of typology,his highlighting of motivation and interests,of
the horrors of war in which the young and frequently the innocent suffer on
both sides,his recording of public debates between prominent politicians and
pen portraits of regal furiosae,all find their counterparts in the period of
civil strife which ensued after the assassination of Julius Caesar. The
sympathy and humanitas of Vergil for all concerned,mirrored in his
generally successful attempt to write aequo animo,might be summed up in
Aeneas'desperate groan as he views the battle-scenes and carnage depicted
on the walls of Juno's temple at Carthage: sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem
mortalia tangunt (Aen.1.462).
IV
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I should like to express my most sincere thanks to the supervisor of
my thesis, Dr. A. G. McKay, for his direction,his unflagging patience and his
enthusiastic encouragement of Vergilian study.
I should also like to thank the other members of my supervisory
committee, Dr. H. Jones for his patient reading and suggestions, and Dr. T.
F. Hoey whose teaching of Greek literature and religion has indeed been
invaluable.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

CHAPTER 1. BURIAL OF THE DEAD (1-224) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 9

Mezentius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Pal.las . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

The Twelve Day Truce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Evander's lament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Trojan and Latin burial rites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

CHAPTER 2. DEBATE IN THE CAPITAL OF LATINUS

(213-444) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 85

The report ofVenulus ....................... 106

The proposal of Latinus ...................... 109

The speech of Drances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

The reply of Turnus ......................... 114

CHAPTER 3. CAMILLA AND THE CAMILLIAD (498-867) •••. 131

Metabus .................................. 148

Diana .................................... 150

Opis ..................................... 151

Camilla .................................. 153

Camilla's wounding and death ................. 178

CHAPTER 4. ELEMENTS OF AMBIGUITY IN GREEK AND

LATIN" LITERA.TtJRE •••.•••••••••••...••..196

Ambiguous Elements in Vergil, Aeneid 11 ........ 213

The Contemporary Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

CONCLUSION ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•••• 272

NOTES ••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••.•.•••.......••..•. 275

BmLIOGRA.PHY •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••..•••.•.•••. 306

vi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
Octavian in chariot drawn by hippocamps .......................
VIn

The cista Pasinati showing Aeneas in armour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Glass cameo with Apollonian snake ............................ 212

Octavian associated with Tritons .............................. 213

Diomedes ................................................ 219

Mausoleum of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra ................. 263

VII
Fig. 82. Agate intaglio.
Octavian in a chariot
drawn by hippocamps. In
the waves, the head of an
enemy, either Sextus Pom­
pey or Antony.
-r~-,c-:o- -:-'o-··-.-'e-r ·-o--:"- -I- 1'"2::; i · '. 1-.e
-·-'-'----.-.- -,·-·--­
1 {. ,-. l t:r;.
'~-~
(\ )
viii