Vergil's Aeneid and the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius 0905205979, 9780905205977

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ARCA Classica! and Medieval Texts, Papers and Monographs

General Editors Neil Adkin (University o f Nebraska - Lincoln) Francis Cairns (Florida State University, Tallahassee) Robin Scager (University o f Liverpool) Frederick Williams (Queen’s University, Belfast) Assistant Editor. Sandra Cairns ISSN 0309-5541

VERGIL’S AENEID AND THE ARGONAUTICA OF APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

DAMIEN NELIS

FRANCIS CAIRNS

Published by Francis Cairns (Publications) Ltd c/o The University. Leeds. LS2 9JT, Great Britain First published 2001 Copyright T; Damien Neiis 2001 The moral rights of the author have been asserted ΛΙΙ rights reserved. No part of'this publication may he reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publisher, or as expressly permitted by law.or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographies rights association. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Publisher at the address above.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 905205 97 9

Printed in Great Britain byAntony Rowe Limited. Chippenham. Wiltshire

CONTENTS

Preface

ί. VERGIL, APOLLONIUS RHODIUS AND HOMER 2. THE VOYAGE FROM TROY TO CARTHAGE i. ii. iii. IV. V.

Leaving Troy The Harpies The Prophecy of Helenus Scylla and Charybdis Sicily

vi. Aeneidi and the Argonautica

3. THE ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION IN CARTHAGE 1 i. ii. iii. iv. V.

vi. vii. viti. Π III IV

Carthage and Colchis The Landing in Libya Venus, Jupiter and Mercury Aeneas' Approach towards Carthage The Arrival at the Temple The Dtdo-Diana Simile The Reception Scene: Ilioneus. Dido and Aeneas Venus. Cupid and Dido Dido, Bitias and lopas Carthage and Lemnos Carthage and Phaeacia Carthage and Libya

4. DIDO I i. ii. iii. iv. V.

vi. vii. viti. ix. Π 111

Dido and Medea Hunting Imagery Anna Juno and Venus Coniugiiim Fama and Mercury Dido Abandoned Departure Suicide Narrative Structure and Chronology Dido and Hypsipyle Carthage, Phaeacia and the Brygcan Isle

5. SICILY i. The Flight from Carthage and the Games ii. The Departure from Sicily

ix 1 22

25 32 38 45 48 59

67 67 71 73 75 79 82 86

93 96 112

117 120

125 125 125 136 146 148 152 159 166 169 172 180 182

186 188 199

a) Anchises and Thetis 200; b) Sicily and Aeaea: the Departure Scenes 201; c) Venus ami Mera 203: d) The Burning of the Ships 204; e) Palinurus. Butes and the Sirens 205

iii. The Ship Race and the Voyage a) The Race. 210; b) The Voyage, 215

209

iv. Palinurus and Tiphys V . Marine Fantasy

6. CUMAE, GAIETTA, CIRCE AND THE TIBER I

Cumae i. The Argonautica and the Odyssean Nekuia ii. The Katabasis of Aeneas a) The Sibyl of Cumae 237; b) The Golden Bough 240; c) Misenus

221 223

227 227 228 235

242: d) A vermis 244; e) The «Sacrifices 246; }) The Sibyl. Charon and Cerberus 248; g) The .Souls of the Unhuried Dead 251

II III

Caieta Circe

IV

The Tiber

7. LATIUM I

Colchis i. Erato ii. latinos and Lavinia iii. The Landing of the Trojans iv. The Reception Scene; Latinus and Ilioneus V. «luno and Allecto vi. Allecto and Amata vii. Allecto and Turnus viii. Allecto and lulus ix. The Outbreak of Hostilities X. Allecto and Juno xi. Latinus Relinquishes Control xii. The Catalogue II Lemnos, Phacacian Drepane i. Latium and Phaeacian Drepane ii. latium and Lemnos

8. PALLANTEUM i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

Aeneas and Tiberinus The Voyage to Pallanteum Aeneas and Lvander Venus and Vulcan The Shield of Aeneas Pallanteum and the Argonautica

255 259 262

267 267 267 275 280 282 288 290 291 293 295 302 304 305 312 313 318

327 328 335 337 339 345 359

9. TURNUS 10. VERGIL AND THE APOLLONIAN EXPERIMENT

365 382

DIAGRAMS WORKS CITED TABLES OF CORRESPONDENCES 1. Vergil - Apollonius Rhodius 2. Apollonius Rhodius Vergil GENERAL INDEX "

405 411 453 454 481 509

DEDICATION Pour Jocelyne, Aline et Basil

Λ Rome, tout est alluvion, et tout est allusion. Julien Gracq, Aittour des sept collines Pour s'enrichir pieinernent par la lecture, il ne suffit pas de lire, ii laut savoir suntroduire das la société des iivres, qui nous font alors profiter de toutes leur relations, et nous presentem à elles de proche en proche à fintini. Julien Gracq, Carnets du grand ehern in ANTIQÜ ITE el tout ce c/iii s 'y rapporte. - Poncif, embètant. Gustave Flaubert, Dictionnaire des ideas reyues

PREFACE

Et iam finis erat .... This book has been a long time in the finishing and its author now considers himself an expert on the problem of classical closure. He is also aware, however, that in his attempt to chart the influence of Apollonius' Argonautica on Vergil and the Aeneicl he has done no more than delineate a few of the main roads, identify a couple of landmarks and provide a vague idea of the contours of the terrain. This book is to what it should be what the Tabula Peutingeriana is to a modern map of Europe. Still, its author docs think he has at least got the map facing the right way round and that he is going in the right direction. But that was perhaps the easiest bit of it all, because ail he had to do was follow in the footsteps of G.N. Knauer and the pathways set out in his monumental study of Homeric influence on Vergil, Die Aeneis und Homer (1964). On the one hand, therefore, this study demands to be compared with that of Knauer. On the other, its author agrees entirely with the following: \ . . let us be clear: Knauer has transformed our understanding of Virgil’s modus operandi and we play like dwarves on the shoulders of a giant (Bernard of Chartres, PL I99.900C).’ (N.Horsfall, /1 Companion to the Study o f Virgil, Leiden (1995) 183 n.33.) 1 am only too aware of my dwarfish status, and can only say that it has been a privilege to be able to play in the game at all. This book is a mere footnote to the work of Knauer. The good thing about taking years to bring this project to closure is that 1 have been able to enjoy and profit from the help of a great number of people; to all those (including my family, Hugh, Karen, the Peters (x4), Chris, Claire, Dominicjue, Olivier, Clair-Lyse, Lulu, Pépe, Anne, Jean, Cécile, Violaine, Fran90i.se, Alain, Mariko, Jean-Daniel), who put up with me, discussed problems, answered questions, found references and books and articles, read portions of the manuscript, revealed my incompetence, encouraged me, taught me, employed me, helped me move house (it has been a peripatetic period), fed, watered and wined me, 1 offer my most sincere thanks. The Swiss Government provided a two-year research grant and the British Academy with the Swiss Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique funded three visits to the Fondatimi Hardt. The departments of Classics in Belfast and XI

Durham provided comradeship, irUeiieclual stimulus and much else; to all friends and colleagues in these two places I am most grateful. The Séminaire de Philologie Classique in Friboug (Suisse) harboured me for a number of years and the Centre Pierre Paris (as it was then) welcomed me in 1988-89 and has continued to do so many times since; special thanks are due to Margarethe Biilerbeck (who welcomed me to Fribourg and contributed a very great deal to my efforts to come to grips with this project) Charles Beye, Alain Bresson, Patrick Counillon, Bruce Braswell, Sandra and Francis Cairns, Michael Dewar, Denis Feeney, Philip Hardie, Richard Hunter, David Levene, Michael McCann, Fr John McGlinchey, John Moles, Margaret Mullet, Robin Nisbet, Brian Scott, Donald Russell, and 'Pony Woodman. Nicholas Horsfall read large tracts of manuscript and offered precious and meticulous scholia, saving me from numerous errors, misjudgements, spelling mistakes, and bibliographical omissions, but not from my spelling of the poet's name; in one way or another they have ail contributed enormously to this book, and I only wish it were a more worthy testament to their learning and generousity. My greatest debt is to Anna Wilson (nee Crabbe); without her brilliant teaching, her profound learning and her untiring encouragement the thesis on which this book is based would never have been started, and without her faith in the project and the example set by the excellence of her scholarship it would never have been completed. She could have done this so much better. The dedication names those who have done the most. September 2000 Trinity College, Dublin

CHAPTER ONE

VERGIL, APOLLONIUS RHODIUS AND HOMER

In antiquity, pride of piace went to Homer in the scholarly discussion devoted to Vergil's exploitation of literary models, and it is with reference to Homer that the poet is said to have defended himself: cur non illi quoque eaclem furia temptarem? verum intellecturos facilius esse Herculi clavam quam Homero versum subripere. The collections oi'furta and loci similes put together by Perellius Faustus and Octavius Avitus were no doubt dominated by comparisons with the Iliad and the Odyssey. By the same token, Asconius Pedianus’ reply to the obtrectatores concentrated on the poet's exploitation of the Homeric epics.1 Propertius (2.34.66) foreshadows this debate when he declares the fundamentally Homeric, in fact specifically fliadic, background to the Ae.ne.id in the famous proclamation, nescio quid maius nascitur M ade: In Vergil Augustan Rome found a new Homer. Servius, in the prelace to his commentary on the epic, writes, intentio Vergilii haec est, Homerum imitari et Augustum laudare a parentibus, and Macro­ bius states (5.2.13), quid quod et omne opus Vergilianum velut de quodam Homerici operis speculo formatum est? The Aeneid was early seen as a fusion of both Iliad and Odyssey. Donatus ( Vita Verg. 2!) says that Vergil's poem is quasi amborum Homeri carminum instar, and both Servius (on 7.1) and Macrobius (5.2,6; cf. Donatus, Vita Verg.

The source tor iti! this information, including the anecdote about the club of Hercules, is Donatus, I ira l'erg. 44-46. for early interest in Vergilian imitano see, e g.. Seneca the Elder, (.'out/·. 7.E27. Seneca, hp. 108.34, Pliny. Nat. Praef. 22 and Regel (1907). Pardon (1956) 12. ilolford-Strevcns (1988) 5.3f; on the obtrectatores in general, Ribbeck (1866) 96 113. Gorier ( 1987). C f Quintilian. 10.1.85. 12.11.26. Juvenal. 6.436 and Courtney (1980). Even if Propertius is being ironic the essential point about the centrality of Homer in contemporars or near-contemporary reactions to the Aeueut is not affected.

chafthr

ON!'.'

750 state that the wanderings of Aeneas are taken from the Odyssey and the war in Latium from the Iliad: Only in more recent times, however, lias the full extent and complexity of Vergil’s debt to Homer been demonstrated, thus marking the culmination of a tradition of scholarship running back to the Augustan age itself. G.N. Knauer has shown how Vergil’s whole approach to writing an epic poem is based on detailed knowledge of Homer, and how in both large-scale narrative patterns and minutely detailed verbal references Vergil constantly has the Homeric epics in mind.1 By restricting the enquiry to direct comparison between Vergil and Homer a brilliantly clear picture of the relationship between these two pinnacles of the epic genre is achieved, it is well known, however, that many other writers also influenced Vergil.5 Macrobius already says (5.17.4), non de unius racemis vindemiam sibi fecit, sed bene in rem suam vertit quidquid ubicumque invenit imitandum. Since the publication of Die Aeneis und Homer. Vergil’s use of the Homeric poems has been studied, following paths laid down by Knauer, in increasingly sophisticated ways, it has been demonstrated at length that Vergil w'as influenced by Homeric scholarship, that lie made use of Hellenistic scholia on the Homeric texts and that these influenced his imitations/’ Similarly, it has been shown that Vergil had access to allegorical readings of the Homeric poems and that these too affected his treatment of certain passages of the model.7 Furthermore, the inadequacy of considering Homer as a monolithic source has been demonstrated. Under the influence of a tradition which saw the Odyssey as a later poem written in reaction to and imitation of the Iliad, Vergil distinguished between the specifically Iliache and Odyssean

!

Cf. Anderson (1957) ·■= (1990). Otis (1964) chs. 6 & 7, (iransden (1984): see also Haustiers (1983). Schmidt (1988). Cairns (1989) eh. 8. 1 Knauer (1964). (1979); cf. Knaucr (1964b). (1981) for useful summaries in English. The importance of Knaucr's work for the understanding of Vergil cannot be over­ estimated. For study of Versiiian imitation since 1964 see. from a vast bibliography. König (1970). Stabrvla (1970). Wigodskv (1972). Conte (1974). (1984). (1986). Harchiesi (1980). (1984). (1985). t.ausberg ( 1983), Williams (1983) 82 119. Thomas (1986b). (1988). Clausen (1987). i.yne (1987) ch. 3. (1989). (1994). Cairns (1989). Farrell (1991). (1997). Horsfall (1991). (1995). Conte and Barehicsi (1993À. Berres (1993), Schmidt (1994). O'Hara (1996). Kraggerud (1997). Hinds (1998) 104-22. Hardie (1998) 53-7. Hubbard (1998). Knauer ( 1964) 34.1 [arrisoli ( 1990) 13. Knauer (1964) Resister ,v v. Vergil-Homcrscholion, Sehlunk (1974). Haustiers (1983) 210. Horsfall (1995) ! 5 I, Farrell ( 1997) 222- 8. Knauer (1964) Register .v.v. liomererkhlrung: allegorisch. Munin (1980) 3-25. Whisok (1986). (1990) 392-402. Hardie (1986) index .v.v. Allegory. Farrell (1991) 257-72. Feeney (1991 ) index .v.v. allegory.

3

elements he adapted, reading the Iliad through an Odyssean diter, constantly comparing and contrasting the two poems.s The same is true of his approach to post-Homeric epic. Every Greek poet, especially in the epic genre, ’ confronted the problem of how to accommodate the Homeric achievement in the creation of a new work, and the Iliad and Odyssey both saw generations of imitators before the Augustan age.10 it was, therefore, a Homer who had been studied by poetic imitators as well as learned scholars, Hellenistic readers often tilling both roles at once,11 who was mediated to Vergil.12 "[’he tradition of Greek and Latin epic in its totality thus lies behind the Aeneid and is relevant to the question of Vergil's debt to Homer.1' Particularly interesting in this light, but also especially problematic, is the question of the importance of Naevius and Ennius for the Aeneid. The fragmentary remains of their works make it ail but impossible to judge the true extent of their influence on Vergil.i ! Similarly, Latin translations of Greek epics such as the Odissea of Livius Andronicus and the Argonautica of Varro Atacinus1’ were available to the Augustan poet but are now almost completely lost. The same is unfortunately true of Latin tragedies on epic themes.16 What is clear at least is that works such as these provided examples of imitations of the

* Cairns (1989) 177 -214. '' Goldhilì (1991) 284-6 ‘:I Rissman (1983). Adkins (1985) 21-9 and Cannata Pera (1989) on the Greek elegists. Nisetieh (1989). Nagy (1990) and Sotiriou (1998) on Pindar. Garner ( 1990) on the tragic poets. Herter (1929) - (1975) 371-416 on Callimachus. Skutsch (1985) index locorum λ*. V. Homer on Lnnius. Darchiesi (1962) indice dei luoghi .v.v. Homerus and indice delle cose notevoli .w. Omerico on Naevius; see also Tolkichn (1900). Ronconi (1973). Clarke (1981 ). Bonanno ( 1990). Lcenev ( 19 9 1) 99 · 128. Gokibei" ( 1995). " Pleitier (1968) 87-104. IJ On Vergil's imitation of sources other than epic see. from a large bibliography. Fenik (i960). Jackson Knight (1943) ch. 3. König (1970). Stabryla (1972). Moles (1984) ·-· (1990) , Cairns (1989) chs. 6 and 7. Horsfall (1989). Woodman (1989), Harrison (1991) 2851' 1' On the Ai-neui and the epic tradition since Knauer ( 1964) see 1iausslcr ( 1976). Hardie (1986). Conte (1986) 141-84. Newman (1986) eh. 4. Clausen (1987), Farrell (1991) 325 -332. Fecncv (1991) ch. 4. Garbarmo (1992). Beve (1993) eh 7, Bovie (1993). 1lunter ( i 993 ) ch. 7. 1lorsfall ( 1995) 184. “ Norden (1957') 170-3. Paratore (1961) 323F. Buchhcit (1963). WTgodsky (1972), Fuck (1983). Feeney ( 1991 ) 99 · 128. 138L 148; in general Goldberg (1995). On Vergil's use of this translation of Apollonius see Seneca the Lider Votiti· 7.1.27. Servius on 10.396. Conrardy (1904) 10, Regel (1907) 82-5, Rotten (1912) 12-15. Thomas (1988) 9, Botmcmi (1990). Horsfall (1995) 84. On Varro's imitation of Apollonius. Hofmann (1928) 160-2. Lunelh (1987). Areellaschi (1990) 199 212, Courtney (1993) 238-43. Braund (1994) 37. On the Argonauts see, e g , Oclage (1935), Jocelvn (1967) 342-82. Damici (1995) 347.52.

4

CHAPTER ΟΝΠ

Homeric epics and that Vergil will have been fully aware of their status as such. Vergil's ancient readers were wei! aware of the complicated, multi­ layered nature of the poet's relationship with Homer. Already in antiquity much scholarly activity was devoted to the collection of the parallels between Vergil, earlier Latin poetry and the Homeric epics, and argument raged over whether a particular line was indebted to a Greek or to a Roman model.17 A scholiast's note on Persius 5.161, however, shows that this either/or approach was not the only one available when it records the interrelated influence of Menander, Terence and Horace on the Neronian satirist.18 1'he scholiast’s remarks have important implications for interpreters of Vergil. They show the practical application of a conceptual framework enabling an ancient reader to interpret highly allusive Latin poetry which draws upon more than one source text. Obviously, the rhetorical training undergone by both the poets and their readers is important in this context.14 Quintilian (Inst. Or. 10.2.24-6) strongly recommends the student of rhetoric to follow·· several models so that the best qualities of each can be drawn upon: plurium bona ponamus ante oculos, ut aliud ex alio haereat, et quo quidque loco conveniat aptemus (10.2.26: cf. 10.2.14). A famous anecdote reflects the same approach: an artist who wanted to create a statue of Helen of Troy was said to have gathered many beautiful women and having selected from each her most attractive characteristic to have put all of these together to create the finished work of art.20 Once again, the lesson for the pupil is that he should have several models before his eyes. Such advice must be seen in the context of the canons of authors drawn up in the Hellenistic period which laid down the best writers in each genre,21 discussed by Quintilian at length in his tenth book, a section which he sums up as follows: ex his ceterisque

Seneca, lip. 108.34 and Thomas ( 1988> on 3.261, .Servius on 6 625 and Rege! (1607) 81 !'. Macrobius, Sat. 6 1.7. 6 3.1 : see also Carfani ! (1626) 41 f. Jocelyn (1964) 286-9. Wigodsky(1972) 50. Rieks(1981)1048-50. ;s The importance of this scholion is noted by Coffey (1976) 115, i)u Quesnay (1977) 55, n. 213 and 99, addendum to n 213. Cairns ( 1979) 62f, (1989) 194 who notes that the scholiast's direct acquaintance with Menander assures his early date. On the survival of Menander, Haster!ing(1995). Clarke (1957) 144 -76, DonncM 1977) 250 -327. Gelzer (1978) 34-7. In general on rhetoric and literary criticism sec Classen (1995): see also Vardi (1996). ;;1 Cicero, Inv. 2.1.1. Dionysius of I laliearnassus. De Imil. fr. 6a (with the comments of Uscncr-Radermachcr; cf. fr. 6.417). Pliny, Pat. 35.64: see Ciel/er (1978) 37. I would like to thank Professor T. Cicl/er for drawing my attention to this material and for discussing it with me. ;i Pfeiffer (Ϊ968) 203- 8.

lectione dignis auctoribus et sumenda copia est et varietas figurarum et componendi ratio, tum ad exemptum virtutum omnium mens dirigenda, neque enim dubitari potest quin artis pars magna contineatur imitatione, {hist. Or. 10.2.1 ). Thus Seneca advises Lucilius not to be put off by the fact that several authors have treated the subject of Mt Etna: praeterea condicio optima est ultimi: parata verba invenit, quae aliter instructa novam faciem habent, nec illis manus inicit tamquam alienis: sunt enim publica (Ep. 79.6).“' Latin poets then, and Vergil in particular, came under the influence not of an individual poetic model but of a literary tradition consisting of many works as well as the scholarship which accompanied them. This tradition runs back through both earlier Greek and Latin literature and (at least some) readers of ancient poetry were etjuipped to appreciate the adaptation of such a wide-ranging, complex heritage. The subtle interweaving of models in highly sophisticated patterns of imitation is pervasive in Latin poetry and the careful weighing and measuring of the significance of allusions has been and remains one of the central critical approaches for critics.“’ In recent years the precise techniques whereby ancient poets, both Greek and Roman, imitate two or more linked models have been discussed at great length.Μ in order to define the classic case in which a poet imitates both a model and that model’s model, the terms 'double allusion’, ‘window reference' and ‘two-tier allusion’2' have been coined, and the imitator has also been said to ‘look through'“” one model to the other. This approach provides an ideal framework for the understanding of Vergil’s debt to both Homer and his sucessors, and this study will adopt it to try to establish that by far the most influential of these, as far as Vergil was concerned, was Apollonius Rhodius. The study of the relationship between Vergil and Apollonius Rhodius has a long history. Aulus Gellius (9.9.3) provides the earliest

CT. Horace. Ars Poetica I28 35 on tradition and originality and the publica materies (131) which h;ts been handled by generations of poets. See now Wills (19%). Hinds and fowler (1997). Hinds (1998). Sec, from a large bibliography, Regel (1907! 76-85, Rotten (1912) 3f. Kroll (1924) 1711', flogt (1952) I9f. Remsch-Wcrncr (1976) 87-93, 359 -6,3. Hinds (1985) 15. Talicrcio (1986). McKeown (1987) 37 45, Cairns (1989) I94f, Garner (1990) 155-7. fiardie (1995) 208. Wheeler (1995b). Hunter (1996) passim. Barchiesi (1996b). Farrell (1997), Fowler ( 1997b) 16. McKeown (1987) 37-45. Thomas ( ! 986b) I88f. Hinds (1987) 182. ,v.v. allusion, 'two-tier'. Cairns (1979) 63, (1989) 195: sec also Kroll (1924) 17 1f. Fliigi (1952) 25 -34 and Ricks ( 198 !) 1044-8 on 'primary' and 'secondary’ sources in any given example of this kind of imitation, with the comments of Fowler ( 1997b) 16.

6

Cl ΙΛΡ'Π-R ONE

surviving statement of Apollonius' status as one of the poets imitateci by Vergib as well as underlining the wide-ranging nature of Vergiiian imitation. scile ergo et considerate Vergilius, cum am Homeri aut Hesiodi aut Apollonii aut Parthenii aut Callimachi aut Theocriti aut quorundam aliorum locos effingeret, partem reliquit, alia expressit. Servius’' cites the Argonaulica six times as the source of a passage in the Aeneie/ and Macrobius (5.17.4) writes: adeo ut de Argonauticorum cjuarto, quorum scriptor est Apollonius, librum Aeneidos sane quartum totum paene formavit. This statement can be compared with Servius' note on 4.1, Apollonius Argonautica scripsit et in tertio inducit amantem Medeam: inde lotus hic liber translatus est. Subsequent generations of readers have continued the tradition of comparing the two works. J.C. Scaliger devotes a chapter of the fifth book (5.6) of his Poetices Libri Septem (1561) to a comparison of Vergil and Apol­ lonius, and i, Hoelzlin, an editor of the Argonautica (1641), states, ‘neque enim Aeneis Vergiiiana esset quod est si nullus fuisset Apollonius/ A long series of commentaries,“8 monographs and articles has pursued the topic,’9 and further work is promised for the near future.'0 There is general agreement, therefore, that Apollonius' Argonautica is one of the more important models used by Vergil in the creation of his epic. What is more, the particularly close pattern of interrelations linking Vergil, Apollonius and Homer has received considerable attention, it has often been remarked that Homer is the mode! for both subsequent authors: ‘Vicies quanta studia Vergilius in Apollonium impenderit. ... Putes eum habuisse exemplar Apollonii Homericis locis instructum.'A It has even been possible to isolate nine different techniques of Vergiiian imitation in the handling of similes with both Apollonian and Homeric models, ’" and it has been eloquently argued that: when he had nearly finished the Georgies, sustained, as we may

·'"

!i’ ;i ‘J

On 2.490. 3.209. 4.1. 5.426. 8.19. 12.749 752: see Kegd ( 1907) 20-4. Knauer (1964) 13-17 for a convenient list. Snerbatiti! (1980) 2711' for bibliography. Since then see. e g., /.umbo (1984). Lombardi (1986). Feeney ( 1986). ( 1991 ) 158. 166f. 181-6. Clausen (1987). Salvatore (1987). Cairns (1989) index .v.v. Apollomus. Moorton (1989). i’avlock (1992). Hunter (1993) eh. 7. Williams (1993). (1997). O'Hara (1996) index .v.v. Apollonius of Rhodes. Feeney (1998). Kyriakidis (1998). Beve (1999). By C.R Beve. Rituen (1912) 4, ef. litigi (1952) 26. 106. it is most unlikely that sudi a collection ever existed: Frankel (1953) 383. Ricks (1981) 1044-8.

7 imagine, by that high success. Vergil decided with some misgiving. to write an e p i c ....an epic o f a kind largely unprecedented. Homeric in form, Caliimachcan it! style: a prolonged literary allusion to Homer in the manner o f Apollonius, whose A rgonautica. while attempting less, served as a model for the Aeneie/ in that it realized certain possibilities and indicated others."'

Yet Knauer's statement"'1 that, ‘übrigens ist trotz mancher Vor­ arbeiten [by which he probably means de La Ville cie Mirmont (1894, 1894b). Conrardy (1904). Rüden (1912), Leitich (1940), litigi (1952)] auch der Einfluss des Apollonius von Rhodos noch nicht sicher zu fassen' is almost as true today as it was in 1964. Attention has too often been restricted either to Vergil’s debt to Apollonius in creating his epic similes or to Aeneid 4 and its many obvious similarities between Dido and Medea. As a result, neither the full extent of Vergil’s debt to the Argonautica as a work of art in its own right nor the role of absolutely central importance played by Apollonius’ epic in mediating Homer to Vergil have yet been fully demonstrated. The Argonautica stands out as the most creative and original imitation of the Homeric poems before Vergil, and as such it provided an invaluable model for the Augustan poet in his attempt to write an epic.11’ The pattern of two-tier allusion linking Vergil, Apollonius and Homer is fundamental to the understanding of the Aeneid as a whole. What follows will attempt to demonstrate that Vergil’s epic is built out of a consistent, structured pattern of imitation based on awareness of Apollonius’ imitation of the Iliad and Odyssey, and that the direct influence of the Argonautica is present from the Aeneid·.s first line to its closing scene. The task of evaluating the role played by the Argonautica as a vital intermediary between the Aeneid and the Homeric epics has been facilitated by the resurgence of interest in Apollonius' epic in recent years. Too long judged either as a failed attempt to write a Homeric epic or as a weak and inferior precursor of the Aeneid, readable only because of the love story in the third book. Apollonius lias constantly been the victim of ill-judged comparison with Horner and Vergil.36 More recently, in the context of a renewed interest in and better

Clausen (1087) 14. Note the very different reactions ofCialinsky (1989) 172, 'that is the stuff for a book' and Traina (1990) 211. 'un clamoroso sfondamento di porte aperte', see also 1fatdie ( 1989) 254. ! Uni ter ( 1993) 170-2. u ( 1964) 56 n.2. Coningion and Nettleship (1883-4') 20, ileinze (1915') 362f. Wilamowit/ (1924) 165. Newman (1974) 359. Longinus. De. Subì. 33.4. Quintilian, Inst. 10.1.54; for sensible remarks. Phinney (1967) and Campbell (1983) 114 n. 16.

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chapthr

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understanding o f l Sellenistic poetry, several studies have led to a more just appreciation of the Argonautica as a brilliantly experimental attempt to renew the epic genre and as a sophisticated work perfectly in keeping with the criteria for poetic excellence commonly associated with Hellenistic poetry in general and Callimachus in particular.’' Detailed study has helped to elucidate the structure and unity of the poem as a whole, Apollonius' subtle handling of character, narrative and myth, and, most importantly, his pervasive, learned and subtle imitations of earlier poetry, especially Homer. Important work on the question of Apollonius' epic language and style has been put to good use iti the demonstration of the complex ways in which Apollonius imitates thematic patterns and narrative structures from both Iliad and Odyssey throughout the Argonautica;’8 The relevance of this research to the study of Vergil’s use of both Homer and Apollonius is obvious, and such important advances in the understanding of Apollonius’ epic suggest that a study of Vergil which systematically takes into account Apollonius’ imitation of Homer might lead to a better understanding of the Aeneid's debt not only to the Argonaulica in its own right but also to the Homeric epics themselves. A brief study of a passage of the Aeneid in which both Homeric and Apollonian influence has long been noted by commentators, the boxing match in the fifth book, will demonstrate the value of a reading which sees the Vergilian, Apollonian and Homeric texts as continually linked through a consistent, large-scale pattern o f ’multi-tier allusion’. Servius’ note on 5.426 reads as follows: est autem lotus hic locus de Apollonio translatus. Another influential commentary, however, has privileged a Homeric element: ’This boxing-match is generally from Iliad 23.6531T;’19 and important imitation of the Iliad has indeed been

Newman (1967) 48-52. Klein (1975). Vian and Deluge (1976) xix-xx. I.cfkowitz (1980}. Huüocfi (1985) 586-8. Hutchinson (1988) 85-96, Hopkins»» (1988) 182. Hunter (1989) 34 8. (1993) 190-5. Heath (1989) 65 7. Neiis (1992). Clauss his opponent

°

Irus and Odysseus are described in very similar terms, ές μεσσον 0' αναγον τώ δ' αμψο) χεϋρας άνέσχον (Oil. 18.89) and δή τότ' «νασχομένω ό μεν ηλασε δεξιόν ώμον (Od. Ì8.95). Finally, the διος Έπειός (//. 23.689) wins, whereas it is the δϊος Όδυσσεύς (Od. 18.90) who defeats irus. At the beginning of the light Inis resembles Epeius but by the end of it he is emphatically different. It looks very much here as though the Odyssean bout was created with the Iliadic passage in mind'18 and Apollonius' imitation suggests that he was aware of this fact. She way in which the presentation of Amycus links him to both Epeius and Irus while at the same time distancing him from Achilles and Odysseus shows Apollonius referring to both of the Homeric bouts and combining aspects of both in creating his own boxing match.' Argonautica 2.57 9 also imitate a third Homeric mode! in a manner which again demonstrates Apollonius' knowledge of the links between the Homeric poems. The Phaeaeian games of Odyssey 8 recall at many points the funeral games for Patroclus.'u Amycus' boastful words, δαε'ις δε κεν αλλω ένίσποις/ οσσον έγώ ...f/f/g. 2.57f), associating him with Epeius and Irus, also refer to Alcinous' claim concerning the Phaeacians’ skill in boxing and other sports at Odyssey 8. 100- 3, ... ως χ ό ςεΐνος ένίσπη .... The Apollonian boxing match thus recalls not only the two Homeric boxing matches but also the mention of boxing in the Phaeaeian games. Discussion of three other sections of the Argonautic bout will illustrate further the sophistication of Apollonius’ Homeric imitations. During the preliminaries to the light. Polydeuces rises to face Amycus (ϊστατο. .-T;g. 2.21) just as Euryalus rises to face the challenge of Epeius (άνίστατο, //. 23.677). Diomedes acts as second for Euryalus who is a grandson of Tahitis (//. 23.678). The seconds of the young Argonaut are Castor and Talaus himself (Arg. 2.63f). Apollonius thus creates a direct chronological link between his bout and its Iliadic model.M When the boxing begins there is a violent opening exchange.

1X The similarities between the Odyssey and the Iliad have attracted much attention. See. e.g. Heubeck (1954). (1988) 3-23. Edwards ( 1985) 5-9. Pucci (1987). Cairns (1989) 179-21-1. Usener (1990). Rutherford (1991-3). Fossati (1993). While it is difficult to decide exactly the origin of the resemblances between the two works, the view was current in antiquity that the Odyssey was composed after the Iliad and the two poems were constantly compared. This tradition in Homeric scholarship is as important for .Apollonius as Lausbcrg (1983) and Cairns (1989) have shown it to be for Vergil. Fu 11 discussion of Apollonian allusion in the boxine match mav be found in Cuvpers (1997). For further examples of this process. 1lunter ( 1989) on 883-4. Knieht (1995) eh. 2. Cairns (1989)233 5. Viari and Deiagc ( i 976) 179 n 1

α ί Λ Π Ή κ 0Νΐ·:

ως τοϊσι παρήιά τ’ αμφοτέρωθεν- και γέννες κτνπεον. βροχή δ' ύπετέλλετ' όδυντοιν/ ασπετυς (Arg. 2.82-4). Apollonius refers here to //. 23.688/” δεινός δέ χρόμαδος γενικόν γένετ. The words χρόμαδος γεννών gave rise to discussion among ancient commentators over whether Homer is referring to the noise made by the grinding teeth of a hard-fighting boxer (the generally accepted solution) or the noise made by teeth when the jaw receives a heavy blow.'” Apollonius' imitation reflects the difficulty by describing both kinds of noises, παρήια ... γέννες κτύπεον and βρυχή ... όδόντων. The fact that the word γέννες is applied to the noise understood by the second explanation of the Homeric phrase suggests that this was how Apollonius understood the words χρόμαδος γενύων.ν1 Finally, after a harsh struggle, Amycus tries to strike a winning blows misses, and Polydeuces seizes the opportunity to land a lethal punch (/frg. 2.90-7). Apollonius here refers to the endings of both Homeric bouts. In Iliad 23. Epeius steps straight in to throw the winning punch (ll. 23.689 91, ... έπ'ι δ' ώρνντο δΐος Έπειός./ κόψε δέ παπτήναντα παρήϊον ονδ' αρ' έτι δήν/ έστήκειν). ln Odyssey 18. Irus launches an ineffectual punch and Odysseus hits back hard to knock him out (Od. 18.95 -7, δή τότ ανασχομένω 6 μεν ήλασε δεξιόν ωμόν/ ~1ρος, ό δ' ανχέν' έλασσεν ύπ οιίατος. όστέα δ' εϊσω/ έθλασεν). Apollonius (Arg. 2.92 6) has:55 χ ε ι ρ ' έπ'ι οϊ π ε λ έ μ ι ς ε ν ό δ' ά ίσ σοντος ύπέστη. κράτα πορακλίνας. ώμω δ' ά νεδ έξατο πήχυν τυτϋόν. ό ’ ά γ χ α ύ τοίο π α ρ έ κ γό νυ γουνός άμείβων. κόψε μετα ΐγδ ην υπέρ ούατυς, όστέα δ' εϊσω ρ ή ς ε ν ό 8' άμφ’ οδύνη γνύ ς ήριπεν.

In the Iliad it is the challenger Fpeius who wins, but in both the Odyssey and the Argonaulica the tables are turned and it is the person challenged, Homer's Odysseus and Apollonius' Polydeuces, who defeats his arrogant opponent. Apollonius here employs the kind of sophisticated, allusive imitation of Homer often seen as one of the defining characteristics of 1lellenistic poetry.5" But this is also the kind of imitation usually associated with

'' Campbell (1981) 25: see also Sens (1997) on 126. •; lirbsc (1977) 474. On Apollonius and Homeric criticism. !iróse (1953), Giangramie (1967). (1976). Livrea (1972), Hunter (1989) 261 ,v.v. Homer. (1993) 202 .v.v. .scholarship. Nclis (1992). Rengakos (1993). (1994). Kyriakou (1995). " Campbell (1981 ) 25, Cuypers (1997) on 90-97. On Hellenistic imitatio, from a huge bibliography, see Giangrande (1967). (1970), (1976). Rcinsch-Wemcr (1976). Bing (1988) 83-90. Ilopkinson (1988) (>-!!, Hutchinson (1988) passim, Sens (1994). Van Lrp Taalman Kip (1994). On points of

Vergil’s use of Homere Indeed, the Vergilian boxing match o f A cue id 5 has itself been seen as a fusion of material drawn from the games of Iliad 23 and Odyssey 8 and the boxing match of Odyssey 18.'s The pattern of imitation in the Argonautica outlined above, which contains imitation of each of these three same models, thus takes on considerable importance for any attempt to understand Vergil’s use of Homer. At the same time, no reading of Vergil’s imitation of Apollonius can afford to ignore the Homeric background which is common to both the Argonautica and the Aeneid The inclusion of a boxing match in the anniversary games for Anchises is primarily due to imitation of the bout held during the games for Patroclus. Vergil’s opening scene describing Aeneas’ invitation to boxers to come forward, followed by the presentation of the prizes and Dares’ stepping up to claim victory (5.363- 86). is closely modelled on Iliad 23.653--75. There, Achilles shows the prizes to be won, asks the best boxers to come forward and Epeius steps out to proclaim his superiority. Dares is thus initially modelled on Epeius. But Apollonius has been shown to have imitated this same Homeric scene and to have modelled Amycus at least partly on Epeius. Vergil demonstrates his awareness of Apollonius’ Homeric imitation by going so far as to name Amycus during tiie description of Dares. This Trojan lighter is introduced as having defeated and killed in a boxing match held during the funeral games for Hector the giant Butes, qui se/ Bebrycia veniens Amyci de gente ferebat (5.372Γ; cf. Arg. 2, If). Dares has thus already achieved a victory over a Bebrycian boxer and so the Vergilian bout immediately evokes its Apollonian counterpart. This allusion to the Argonautica occurs in the context of a further imitation of the Iliad. When Homer’s Euryalus steps forward to accept Epeius’ challenge he is said to have defeated all the Cadmeans at the funeral

detail commentaries such as those bv Htihlcr (I960), Williams (1978). Hopkinson (1984). (1988), Bulloch (1985). Hollis (1990) and Sens (1997) provide many discussions of great value. f-'ceney (1986) 53 talks of 'the Vergilian densitv of Apollonius' allusions to Homer'; cf Gauss (1993 ) 6 n. IS. Knauer (1964) 391, Cairns (1989) 235 41. There may also have been a description of a boxing match in the first book of Ennius' Annales Skutsch (1985) 24If. On games in epic in general see Willis (1941). The most complete collection of the similarities between the Vergilian and Apollonian boxing matches is that by Rütte» (1912) 16-19. Mehmel (1934) 45 50, Bellardi (1962), Kraggerud (1968) 211-21. Briggs (1981) 976f, Poliakoff (1985), Feeney (1986) 67f. Cairns (1989) 239-41. Hunter (1989b) and Sens (1995) all make further contributions. For a full list o f the Homeric imitations in the Vergilian passage, Knauer (1964) 391.

CHAPTER ONE

games for Oedipus (//. 23.6791). Vergil substitutes Bebrycian Butes for the Cadmeans, drawing on Apollonius in making this variation on Homer, and Hector for Oedipus. Homeric and Apollonian imitations are thus almost inextricably intertwined. Dares recalls Epeius but he also resembles Euryalus, who has also previously won a victory in a boxing match held during funeral games, in addition, Dares' victory over a Bebrycian compatriot of Amycus suggests a resemblance with Polydeuces, victor over none other than Bebrycian Amycus himself, finally, in playing the role of the aggressive challenger, Dares corresponds simultaneously to the Apollonian Amycus, the Iliadic Epeius and the Odyssean Irus. It is Entellus, unwilling to fight but urged on by Acestes, who finally accepts Dares’ challenge, just as Euryalus. Odysseus and Polydeuces react to the menacing boasts of Epeius, Irus and Amycus respectively. Entellus throws down a pair of particularly brutal and dangerous boxing gloves (5.400-5). Aeneas marvels at them but Dares is frightened and backs away (5.406-8). Entellus explains that these are the gloves with which Eryx once fought Hercules in this same place and which he himself used to wear in his younger days. He agrees, however, to fight Dares with normal gloves (5.410—20). This speech of Entellus is modelled partly on Odyssey 8.166 85 where Odysseus, unwilling to take part in the Phaeacian games, talks of his sporting expertise in earlier years.60 But Entellus here also resembles the Apollonian Amycus as well as the Homeric Odysseus. At Argonautica 2.51 9 Lycoreus, servant of Amycus, lays down on the ground two pairs of hard and dangerous boxing gloves and Amycus asks Polydeuces to choose between them. This incident is the model for Entellus’ throwing down in front of Dares a pair of dangerous gloves.61 Vergil’s imitation is typically learned and dense. The scholiast on Argonautica 2.52 -3a says that the ιμάντες described by Apollonius are in fact μύρμηκες, a particularly nasty form of glove introduced during the fourth century B.C. The caestus, more violent again, were the closest Roman equivalent of the Greek μύρμηκες,62 so it comes as no surprise that Entellus throws down geminos immani pondere caestus (5.401).

M' Knauer (1964) 391. Scaliger (1561) 255. Rotten (1912) 17; Cairns (1989) 2401' notes that Entellus' eventual willingness to fight wearing lighter gloves demonstrates his good character and inverts Amycus' brutality. "2 Conington and Nettleship ! ! 883 -0 ) on 5.404. Gardiner ( 1930) 198f. Williams (1960) on 5.364. Viari and Deluse ( 1976) 267 on 59, Poliakoff (1987) 70-9. Cuypers (1997)

88 n. 110.

15

Vergil’s imitation betrays the influence of the scholia on the Argonautica just as Apollonius’ similarly learned allusions to the Iliad suggested that he had read Homeric scholia.6'1 The gloves laid on the ground by Lycoreus are described by Apollonius as follows, θήκε πάροιθε ποδών δοιυύς έκάτερθεν ιμάντας/ ώμούς. άζαλέους- πέρι δ' οϊ γ' έσαν έσκληώτες (Arg. 2.521). There is a reference here to the ιμάντας έϋτμήτυυς βούς άγραύλοιο mentioned at Iliad 23.684.'6,1 Vergil noticed this Apollonian allusion to the Iliad and imitates both Apollonius and his Homeric model. Entellus' caesius are laniorum ingentia septem/ terga boum (5.4041).05 But almost incredibly precise allusions such as this one must be seen in the context of the action as a whole. Vergil is here recounting the initial confrontation between the two combatants. Dares appears first and is a powerful figure. Entellus is old and unwilling to fight but gives stark proof of the power he once had by displaying the terrible caestus. Dares’ reaction is to back away in fear. This little incident shows Vergil’s awareness of the links between Odyssey 18 and Argonautica 2. When faced with the choice between Amycus' two pairs of intimidatingly brutal boxing gloves Polydeuces is undaunted and takes the pair nearest to him (/fi;g. 2.60-2). Dares’ frightened reaction is thus unlike that of the Argonaut. For this detail Vergil's model is Odyssey 18.75- 7 and 88 where Irus starts trembling when Odysseus, who is dis­ guised as an aged beggar, reveals an unexpectedly impressive physique just before the fight begins. In turn, the similarly frightened reactions of Dares and Irus when they realise the power of their opponent suggest the possibility of further links between those opponents, Entellus and Odysseus. Such is indeed the case, in Odyssey 18 the latter is disguised as an old man; Entellus actually is old (5.395, senecta). Both are unwilling to fight. Furthermore, the description of Odysseus’ powerful physique (Od. 18.66-9) is imitated in the description of Entellus at 5.421..3. haec fatus duplicem ex umeris reiecit amictum/ et magnos membrorum artus, magna ossa lacertosque/ exuit atque ingens media consistit barena. But these lines also contain reference to Apollonius Rhodius.6,1 irus, Poiydeuces and Dares are each confronted by an opponent (Odysseus, Amycus and Entellus respectively) who before

On Vergil ami the scholia to Apollonius, Campbell (1983) 4L Horsfall ( 19 9 id) 36; on his use of the I lomeric scholia see especially Schlunk (1974). 1.ausberg (1983). Vian ami Delage ( 1976) 267 on 59, Cuypers (1997) on 51-3. Commentators compare the shield of Ajax, made out of seven layers of bull-hide (//. 7.220-222). Vergil's septet» no doubt comes from Ihad 7 and bourn from Iliaci 23. Heyne and Wagner ( 1832-3!) on 5.421-3. Ratten (1912) 17.

CHAPTER ONI·!

the actual bout begins gives proof of his tremendous physical power. The placing on the ground of boxing gloves has already invited comparison between Entellus and Amycus and Vergil here adds a further link between the two. At Argonautica 2.32-4 Amycus prepares for the tight by taking off his δίπτυχα λοιπήν (32). just as Entellus removes his duplicem ...amictum (5.421). It is this action which leads directly to the Odyssean detail of the sudden appearance of an old man’s unexpectedly powerful body. Entellus corresponds at this particular point to both Odysseus and Amycus as Vergil aware of the correspondence between the two models, takes a detail from each and combines them in describing Entellus. At this point the preliminaries to the Vergilian bout are complete. Vergil has already set in motion a multi-layered pattern of imitation based on Iliad 23. Odyssey 8, Odyssey 18 and Argonautica 2, and on his deep knowledge of the links between these four texts. Dares corresponds to Epeius. Irus and Amycus in his role as aggressive challenger while Entellus’ role as the man who accepts the challenge to fight is modelled on that of the Iliadic Euryalus, Odysseus (in Odyssey 8 and 18) and Poivdeuces. But Dares is linked also to Euryalus (both have been victorious at funeral games) and Polydeuces (both are victors over Bebrycian opponents and both see terrible boxing gloves offered to them) while Entellus resembles Amycus in some details (both take off cloaks in preparation for fighting). There is no complete identification between Vergil’s characters and any single model, whether Homeric or Apollonian.67 In general the setting of the boxing match during the games for Anchises clearly evokes Iliad 23 as a direct model but Vergil in fact owes just as much to the Odyssean and Argonautic bouts. At Iliad 23.685-95 Epeius steps straight in to knock out Euryalus. At Odyssey 18.89-99 the outcome is never in doubt, it being merely a question of how badly Odysseus will hurt irus. Apollonius significantly enriches the account of the boxing and his version (Arg. 2.67-96) is considerably longer than either of the Homeric models. Vergil follows his example in expanding on the Homeric narratives and takes much of the detail for the description of the fighting from the Argonautica68 The Vergilian bout opens with preliminary sparring, with much attention paid to the differing tactics employed by the two opponents (5.426 32, the passage about which Servius says that it is taken entirely

f'·' Poliakoff (1985) 229-31. Sens (1995) 51. f,s I leinze (1915’) 163. [kllardi (1962) 203. Kraggerud (1968)21 if.

17

from Apollonius). Iliad 23.685 7, where Epeius and Euryalus raise (heir hands and set to, have rightly been compared. But Apollonius imitates these same IMadie lines at Argonautica 2.67 76 where Polydeuces and Amycus raise their hands to fight, and the tactics of each are described, the latter attacking heavily, the former relying on his skill to avoid the onslaught. Vergil reacts to Apollonius’ imitation of Homer by making the same distinction between Entellus' weight and strength (5.431,4370 and Dares’ mobility and skill (5.430. 442), with the variation that it is Dares who carries the attack to the more defensive Entellus. Vergil also follows Apollonius’ example in illustrating their movements and tactics with a simile (cf. 5.439- 42 and /!/·#. 2.79 -82). Both comparisons evoke an attack or onslaught, of a siege against a city and a wave on a ship respectively, with the variation that in Apollonius the pilot skilfully (ιδρείη, /Eg. 2.72; cf. διά μητιν. /Eg. 2.75) avoids the wave’s onset whereas in Vergil the skill (arte, 5.442) is deployed by the attacker. There is also in this opening section of the Vergilian bout an example of verbal reference to both Homeric and Apollonian models. The phrase immiscentque manus manibus (5.429) which describes the first exchange of punches, recalls the [Madie βαρείαι χεΐρ ες έμιχθεν(//. 23.687), similarly placed at the start of the fight. But Vergil’s phrase is in fact closer to the Apollonian imitation of this same Homeric phrase in the words χερσιν εναντία χεΐρας εμειξεν [Arg. 2.78), used by Apollonius to describe a later stage in the boxing. Vergil’s placing of the phrase is Homeric but his precise choice of words is Apollonian. Argonautica 2.76 -87, the second stage of the Apollonian bout, provides the model for 5.433- 6, where the Vergilian fight continues with a fierce exchange of blows. The punches hit hard and duro crepitant sub vulnere malae (5.436). Vergil has here been interpreted as misunderstanding the lliadic phrase discussed above, χρόμαδος γενικόν (//. 23.688),09 generally understood to refer to the noise of grinding teeth during intense physical effort. But Apollonius’ imitation of this phrase has been shown to reflect a different meaning, suggested by his description of blows landing on a boxer’s cheeks, with the resulting clashing of teeth. Thus Vergil’s line reflects Apollonian influence and the malae which receive punches and resound recall the echoing παρήια .../ και γένυες of Argonautica 2.82f.'° Vergil’s description of the victory of Entellus imitates Apollonius so

1.c a t(1902! on 23.688. Williams (I960) on 5.436. Fabricius (1551) on 5.436. Cf. also it. 23.690 where Furyalus is struck on the check.

(/IlAi'TI-R ONE

18

closely that an example of the direct inversion of his model can be appreciated. The lliadic and Odyssean bouts end swiftly. Epeius and Odysseus winning easily. Apollonius complicates matters by ending his bout with a neat twist. The two men are compared to bulls lighting over a heifer {Arg. 2.881); then Amycus rises up (αερθείς, Arg. 2.90) to attempt to land a conclusive punch and is compared to a slayer of bulls (βουτύπος, /Irg. 2.91). Polydeuces appears to be in grave danger at this point and it scents that Amycus will win. like Epeius. But Amycus’ punch misses {Arg. 2.92- 4) and the young Argonaut steps in to deliver the winning, lethal blow {Arg. 2.94 -7). It is Polydeuces who is the bullslayer and Amycus who falls like a sacrificial victim as a shout goes up from the spectators (oi 5' ίάχησαν, Arg. 2.96).,l This is a victory for skill over sheer power, youth over maturity, good over evil, Greek over barbarian. Vergil goes one step further than Apollonius in bringing the match to a surprising conclusion. The reversal of fortune which has rightly been seen as a distinguishing feature of his boxing match '2 is in fact based on deliberate inversion of the Apollonian model. Entellus rises up (insurgens, 5.443), like Amycus, to throw a punch but Dares, like Polydeuces, avoids it (5.4440- Entellus, carried on by his great weight, falls heavily and a shout goes up from the crowd {it clamor caelo, 5.451). In Apollonian terms all seems set for Dares’ victory. Instead, Entellus gets up again and angrily batters Dares to defeat (5.446 59). Just when he seems to be cast in the role of Amycus and heading for defeat, Entellus suddenly ends up as victor, in the role of Polydeuces, in what is a surprising turnaround for the reader who knows the Apollonian model. In Aeneicl 5 age wins over youth, strength over skill, the honest if hot-headed Entellus over the boastful Dares, the Sicilian over the Trojan. Vergil’s description of the aftermath of the boxing match brings the lliadic model once again to the fore. Aeneas, Achilles-like, steps in to halt the uneven fight and end the punishment being inflicted on Dares (5.461-7; cf. //. 23.733-9). The closing image of the loser, still alive, unlike Amycus but like Euryalus and Irus, being led away spitting blood and teeth (5.468-71), the prize-giving (5.471-84) and the transition to the next contest are all modelled primarily on Iliad 23.695-700. At the end, as at the beginning, the lliadic model is dominant, re-affirming the broader context of the link between the games for Anchises and those for Patroclus. Even here, however,

7i

! Iunior (1989b) 559.

Ht’tn/c (19! 5Ί 163. Kaiggcrud (1968) 214.

19 Apollonian influence can be found. When Entellus sacrifices the bull which he receives as victory-prize by killing it with one violent punch. media inter cornua (5.479), Vergil has in mind Argonautica 1.425 31 where Heracles kills a sacrificial bull by hitting it on the forehead, μέσσον κόρη αμφι μέτωπα (Arg. 1.427), with his club.7’ The allusion to this scene from the first book of the Argonautica shows Vergil’s awareness of subtle thematic patterns connecting different sections of Apollonius’ epic. '1 When Amycus is likened to a βουτύπος at Argonautica 2.91'5 the comparison is pointed and highly ironic because it is Polydeuces who is in fact the Heraclean slayer. Amycus will fall like the bull (cf. πλήξεν. άθρόυς and ήριπε at Arg. [.·428-31 and ρήξεν, ήριπεν, άθρόος at Arg. 2.96f; γνύξ ήριπεν at Arg. 2.96 could be applied to a bull as easily as to a boxer).'6 Hercules is also an important figure in the boxing match of Aeneicl 5. In accepting the fight with Dares, Entellus recalls Eryx’s fight with Hercules hoc ipso in litore (5.411), a memory which creates a mythical backdrop to the contest and lends it an air of almost superhuman violence.77 Just as Eryx laced Hercules so now Eryx’s pupil Entellus faces a new stranger from abroad. Dares. Even here, however, Vergil has Apollonian precedent in the vivid Heraclean background to the Argonaut’s fight with Amycus. When he successfully confronts and kills the monstrous, Bebrycian evil-doer in the opening episode o f book 2 of the Argonautica, Polydeuces fights as a kind of surrogate Heracles, the hero whose recent disappearance from among the crew of the Argo has just been described at the end of the first book of the epic.78 Furthermore, Entellus’ anecdote concerning Hercules’ fight with Eryx (5.410-16) has its source in Argonautica 2.783 5, where Lycus tells of Heracles’ defeat of the Mysian Titias in a boxing match many years before Polydeuces’ comparable victory over the Bebrycian Amycus. Eryx corresponds to Titias'9 while Entellus and Polydeuces are connected by

;

Comngton and Ncttieship ( 1883-4'1) on 5.481. Kütten (1912) 19. 1lunter ( 1989) 559. Poliakoff! 1985) 227, 231. ! hinter { 1989b) 559; on sacrifice and substitution in epic. Hardie (1993) ch. 2. Otis (1964) 274. Williams (1960) on 5.3621'. Briggs (1981 ) 9761’. Arg. 2.145 -53 and Rose (1985) 33 f. Feeney (1986) 67f. The comparison of Amycus to Typhoeus and of Polydcuces to a shining star {Arg. 2.38 42) is relevant here also as it evokes the idea of a struggle between the forces of heaven and hell and fits into an important thematic pattern in the poem as a whole; Frlinkel (1952) 146 and (1968) on 2.37 42. Lawall (1966) 133 n.2i. Rose (1985) 123-6. Paduano and Pusillo (1986) on 2.35-45. I lunter ( 199! ). (1993) 28. 58. Lryx s role also aligns him with Amycus; lie is defeated by Hercules just as the Bebrycian is killed by Polydcuces: de La Ville de Mirmont ( 1894) 634.

20

CHAPTLR ONE

ilio fact that through victory in boxing they both emulate Hercules. Other apparently distinctive features of the Vergilian bout may also be traced to Apollonian influence. The way in which, for example, Vergil uses similes and such words as pugna, proelia, anna and agmen to depict the boxing match as a kind of duel in war80 betrays his close reading of Apollonius. The light between Amycus and Polydeuces recalls an liiadic battle duel, particularly in its use of similes. Similarly. Vergil’s fight, like so many details during the games for Anchises, has been shown to foreshadow' events later in the poem.*" Thus Dares and Entellus both recall Hercules and Eryx and prefigure Hercules and Cacus and Aeneas and Turnus.8'' In the Argonautica, the fight between Polydeuces and Amycus is related to the confrontation between Jason and the bulls of Aeetes and the Earthborn men and, as already stated, both recalls the bout between Heracles and Titias and acts as a replacement for what might have been a fight between Heracles and Amycus.8* More generally, by pitting Greek against barbarian and drawing on the imagery of giganfornachy the confrontation between Polydeuces and Amycus keys into central themes of the epic as a whole. Both epics are endlessly self-referential in this way. Many scenes seem to find analogues elsewhere in the text, as the narrative provides a kind of seif-commentary on itself by the way in which fragments of action recall earlier events and foreshadow later developments.85 At first sight Vergil’s boxing match looks like an example of straightforward imitation of a contest from the funeral games for Patroclus in the corresponding memorial games for Anchises. In reality, this episode also contains very significant reference to the Argonautica, and, as far as the description of the actual boxing is concerned, Servius is correct in his judgement that Apollonius is Vergil’s most important model. The vital point, however, is that both the Homeric and Apollonian epics are consistently present in Vergil’s

K" Kraggerud {1968)215. X! Knight (1995) 64; see also Reitz. (1996) 39- 43. On Aeneici 5 and the rest of the poem sec Wimmel ( I 9 6 0 , Putnam (1962), Galinsky (1968). Gla/ewski (1972), Pavloskis (1976), Holt (1979-80). Nethercut (1986), Kehoe (1989). Horsfall (1995) 135-7. *' Rüttcn (1912) 20, Kraggerud (1968) 216-21. *' Hawaii (1966) I34L Rose (1984). Hunter ( 1993) 28. Cuypers (1997) 72. The complex pattern of associations linking Aeneas, furnus. Jason. Aeetes and the bulls will be discussed in detail in ch. 9 below. The thematic unity of the Argonautica, unlike that of the Aeneici. has often been underestimated and misinterpreted; see now Pietsch (1999).

VHRCilL. APOLLONIUS RHODIUS ANI) IlOMLR

poem. The example of the boxing match in Aeneid 5 shows how not only isolated points of detail but even a whole section of narrative can be built out of models in the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Argonautica. Vergil’s careful and profound study of Apollonius’ epic provided him with a clear insight into the nature of Apollonius' debt to Homer. He saw how the boxing match between Amycus and Polydeuces is modelled on both the bouts in Iliad 23 and Odyssey 18, as well as referring to the games o f Odyssey 8 where the Phaeacians’ skill in boxing is mentioned, and so his own boxing match draws on exactly these same Homeric models as well as adapting Apollonius’ version as well. Throughout the Aeneid Vergil uses this approach to create a Roman and Augustan epic built on Homeric and Apollonian foundations.

T H E VOYAGE FROM TROY TO

CARTHAGE

In Aeneid 3, Aeneas’ account of his voyage from Troy to Carthage corresponds to Odysseus’ description of his wanderings between Troy and Phaeaeian Selleria in Odyssey 9 12 (more specifically, in books 9 and 12).1 Both Aeneas and Odysseus sai! westward after the fall of Troy and botti later recount at length their experiences on land and sea in the palace of a royal host (respectively Dido and Alcinous) who welcomes them after they have suffered shipwreck. This broad Odyssean narrative structure is backed up by many detailed similarities between Aeneas’ adventures and those of Odysseus. Both land in Thrace, both receive prophecies concerning the voyage which lies ahead, and both encounter Scylla and Charybdis and the Cyclopes. Vergil even has the Trojans sail close to the scopulos Ithacae, Laerila regna (3.272) and the aerias Phaeacum ... arces (3.291). Later, Aeneas rescues an unfortunate Greek, Achaemenides, left behind by Odysseus in the land of the Cyclopes, an incident which perhaps more clearly than any other forces comparison between the two voyages.: Finally, just as Odysseus arrives in Selleria, so Aeneas comes to Carthage; and it is the correspondence between these two places which dominates the structure of the first four books of the Aeneid:' Vergil adopts this Homeric framework in reaction to an almost intractable problem: by the Augustan period, the traditional legend about the Trojan voyage to Italy amounted to a large mass of material, including the names of the numerous places visited during the long journey and many events which occurred along the way. The best surviving source is the first book of the Roman Antiquities of Dionysius

' : ’·

Knauer(1964) 181-99. Note retegens at 3.690 and see Barehiesi ( 1996) 231 Knauer (196-1) 218Γ.2

22

•ΠΙ1-; VOYAGF FROM TROY TO CAR I ! (AGL

23

of Halicarnassus, which gives a reasonable idea of the legendary sources for Aeneas available to Vergil.I*4*6 Sifting this material and putting it into an epic narrative must have been a long and difficult process, and Vergib.s successful completion of his task has been well described as The conquest of chaos'.' He will have used Naevius' Bellum Punicum/ ’ but further models also suggested themselves, foundation legends, both prose and verse, contained .stories of sea voyages leading to the founding of cities and these clear!}' influenced Vergil's handling of his narrative: the Aeneid is from the very beginning a ktistic epic (dum fonderei urhem, 1.5).' The same is true of the accounts of the returns of the Greek heroes from Trov, the No.stoi of the lipic Cycle, the Aeneid being also an account of the return of the Troians to their true home.8 Aeneid 3 is simultaneously an Odyssey, a nostos, and a narrative of colonisation; it is in this context that the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius must figure prominently. Apollonius' epic recounts the archetypal Greek myth of voyaging, an early version of which almost certainly provided the model for at least some parts of the wanderings of Odysseus9 and of the returns of the other Greek heroes from Troy.10 Argo was after all the first ship to sail the sea, so subsequent travellers necessarily followed in her wake.11 But while the archaic version of the Argonautic saga predates both Homer and the scriptor cyclicus, the Hellenistic epic is itself profoundly influenced by the Odyssey and the Nostoi. in addition.

I

Lloyd (1957a) and on the Aeneas legend in generai see in recent times Horsfall (1985), (1986). (1987) 12-24, (Jaltnskv (1969). (1992). Poncet ( 1989), Wathelet (1988) voi. 1. 179-235. D'Anna (1989) 149-58. (1990). (ìrucn (1992). ünderskt (1992). Lacroix (1993). Snerbati!» (1993b) 160-79. V'anoüi (1995), Balìabriga (1996). ' liorsfaii (1981) (1990). On the traditional criticism of book 3 sec now Hübner (1995). Stubbs ( 1998). 6 Knauer (1964) 137. fammi (1987). Feenev (1991) 10913. 138-40. 148. Horsfall (1995) 105 n.28 i-ustel de Coulanges (1864) - (1984) 161-5, Heinze (1915') 82-6. Schmidt (1947) 189-98. Cairns (1979) 74f. Carney (1986). Hardic (1986) 393 s .v . A e n e i d as ktisispoem, Horsfall (1989), (1991) 81, (1995) 102. x On Vergil and the S o s t a i see Tracey ( 1968), KopfT( 1981 ). Horsfall ( 1995) 184. 187f; on the 'return' of Aeneas see Buchheit (1963) 151 72, Briquel (1984) i 62f, Gransden (1984) 44-63. Must! (1984). Suevbaum (1986). Horsfall (1987) 89-104. Cairns (1989) 115-28. 192f. Gabba (1991 ) 116f. I.inderski (1992). Dingel (1995). Meuli (1921) - (1975) voi. 2. 593 -676, Merkelbach (19692) 201-36; for a different view see Hölscher (1989) ch. 13. but note site remarks of tMiner (1993) 17 n. 14. i lerter (1973) 44. II Sec the scholia on Apollonius. A r g . 1.1. Catullus 64.11 and Fordyce (1961), Valerius Naccus, A r g . 1.1 and Langen (1896), Hunter (1989) on 340-6, Jackson (1997). On the Argonautic myth in general see most recently Driiger (1993). Braund (1994) ch. 1. Moreau (1994). Roux (1949) should be consulted more often than it is.

24

CHAPTER TWO

Apollonius· narration of Jason’s quest is part of a long tradition which understood the adventures of the Argonauts in the light of Greek colonisation all around the Mediterranean, and it draws on ktistic narratives and presents the Argonauts as members of a colonising expedition,1" The presence of all three elements and especially of pervasive Homeric imitatio makes the Argonautica a crucial model for Vergil’s description of the voyage of the Trojans in book 3. So. before Apollonian influence on the third book is traced, the relationship between the Argonautica and the Odyssey merits a brief sketch. The systematic exploitation by Apollonius Rhodius of the voyage of Odysseus has recently attracted much attention,1’ The Argonautica consists in fact of two voyages, one from Pagasae to Colchis and one from Colchis back to Pagasae. It is the second of these, during which Calypso, Circe, the Sirens. Scylla, Charybdis, the Planctae and the Phaeacians appear, which most obviously reworks Odysseus' journey.14 But from the beginning of the Argonautica Apollonius places heavy emphasis on the safe return of the crew and he describes the round trip (from Pagasae back to Pagasae) as a nostos, using this word at times to mean ’expedition', rather than just ‘return’, 13 The effect of this usage is to equate the complete voyage of Jason with the return of Odysseus.11’ So on one level Argonautica 4, the return of the Argonauts from Colchis, represents the Apollonian Odyssey. But on another level the Argonautic voyage in its entirety is an Odyssean nostos; and in fact Apollonius distributes Odyssean material throughout both legs of the Argonautic voyage.1' The most striking similarities between Argonautica ! 2 and the Odyssey may be summarised as follows. Jason encounters Hypsipyle, the woman who delays him, just as Odysseus meets Circe, Calypso and Nausicaa.18 The Argonauts are

u

Haussier (1976) 80 n, 182. Hunter (1993) 159f. Braund (1994) ch. 1, Moreau (1994) 157-62. On Apollonius as the author of foundatiomlegends, Powell (1925) 5-8. Pici tier (1968) 144, Haussier (1976) 80f. Braund (1994) 37. Jackson (1987) and (1995). Kievans (1997) and (2000); on the Argonautic voyage rationalised tvs a tale of coloni­ sation. 1lunter (1993) 159. Moreau (1994) 157-62. In general see now Malkin (1998). i; Dufner (1988). Hutchinson (1988) 101-4. Clare (1993) 112-200. Hunter (1993) p a s s i m . Knight (1995) ch. 4. u Dclaae (1930) 236 53. Mehmel (1940) 1 30. Handel (1954) 119-24. Hutchinson (1988) 101-4. Dufner (1988) eh. 2. Romm (1992) 194-6. Clauss (1993) 106, 130-7. 129-46. Knight (1995) 152 266. Vian (1973) 92f. On the importance of the n o s t o s motif in Apollonius, Franke! (1968) 65f, Vian (1973) 92f, Hutchinson (1988) 97 106. Clare (1993) 114-19. Nells (1993). Knight (1995) index s .v . n o s t o s . i: Dufner ( 1988) ch. 7. !S Dufner (1988) 157-9. Clauss ( 1993) 129-47, Knight (1995) 33. 163-69,

TI

11· VOYAGE fROM TROY ΓΟ CARTHAGE

25

threatened by rock-throwing giants near the fountain of Artakie (Arg. 1.957) in the land of Cyzicus, just as Odysseus and his companions are stoned by the Laestrygonians in exactly the same place (Άρτακίη, Od. 10.108).19 In a similar vein, the savage Bebrycians resemble the Homeric Cyclopes,2“ and Jason receives a prophecy from Phineus in imitation of the prophecies of'T'eiresias and Circe in Odyssey I! and 12.21 Finally, the Argonauts brave the passage between the Symplegades just as Odysseus sails between Scylla and Charybdis.22 'fliese and many other details continually invite the reader of the Argonautica to compare and contrast Jason’s adventures with those of Odysseus. So it is hardly surprising that Vergil, as a careful student and imitator of Apollonius’ reworkings of Homer, draws also for Aeneas’ wanderings between Troy and Libya23 in Aeneid 3 on Jason’s journeying at Argonautica i.519-2.1285 (Pagasae to Colchis)2'1 and 4.206 -1236 (Colchis to Libya via Phaeacian Drepane). Carthage, it will be argued, is modelled primarily on Colchis, while Apollonius' Phaeacian Drepane, along with Homer’s Phaeacian Scheria, also contributes significantly to Vergil’s Libyan narrative.

i. Leaving Troy Aeneas' departure from Troy and his subsequent crossing to Thrace correspond to Odysseus' journey from Troy to Thrace in Odyssey 9y' but Vergil also imitates the start of the voyage of the Argonauts and show-s how Aeneas resembles Jason. Both Aeneas and Jason leave home with tears in their eves, and someone else gives the orders for departure. As the Trojans leave behind their ruined city it is Anchises who commands while Aeneas is overcome by tears (3.9—11): et pater Anchises dare fatis vela iubebat. iitora cum patriae lacrimans portusque relinquo et campos ubi Troia fuit.

Viali and Dclage (1976) 29. Gauss (1993) i 59f.

.Xhdton (I984K :i y

Mcuh (1921 ) i 12 - (1975) 672. Knislit (1995) 169-76. Knight (1995) 41-8. Modern Tunisia of course. for Libya and Colchis as the extreme ends of the earth in west and east respectively see Λ/·#. 1.83 5; tiie Argonauts' rotimi voyage of course embraces both limits, on which sec Bramai (1994) 18f. Knauer (1964) 184Γ. Apollonius does not imitate this Homeric scene in describing the Argonauts' leaving Pagasae, so strictly speaking Vergil is here not employing twotier allusion. Yet the close similarities between Jason and Odysseus apparent both earlier and later in A r g o n a u t i c a 1 make it natural for Vergil to parallel Jason's departure with that of Odysseus.

26

CHAPTER TWO

When the Argo departs."0 Tiphys organises the launch (/irg. 1.5220, and a weeping Jason leaves behind his homeland, αύτάρ Ίήσον/ δακρυόεις γαίης από πατρίδος όμμαΕ ένεικεν. {Arg. 1.5340· Both heroes sail away unwillingly, driven by external forces. Aeneas in search of a new home. Jason in search of the Golden Fleece and wanting only to return home safely. Nor is this the last time during the long voyage that a hesitant, despondent Aeneas will resemble Apollonius' troubled heroA8 In contrast. Odysseus confidently leads his men away from Troy and iiis use of the first person singular in describing his actions at Odyssey 9.37-40 gives file impression that he is alone, so completely does he ignore his comrades.29 As well as linking Aeneas and Jason, this Apollonian reference invites comparison from the outset between the voyage of the Trojans and that of the Argonauts. Leaving the ruins of Troy behind, the Trojans travel to Thrace, on to Delos and from there to Crete in search of their new home. The first and second of these stopping places occur in the Aeneas legend,39 and Vergil adds many Homeric.·'1 Euripideam'" and Caliimachean" elements, in addition, the misunderstood oracle on Delos and the plague which afflicts the Trojans on Crete show Vergil working with traditional features of foundation legends to create a highly original and dramatic portion of the journey.3'1 But there are also important Apollonian elements in this opening section of the voyage and as the Trojan narrative unfolds Apollonian details increase in importance until Finally the Harpies episode brings Argonautica 2 to the centre of the stage.

;'· i ienry ( 1873-92) on 3.10. lion tanti (1988) 302. Jr Cf. Ö d . 10.481 and Gauss (1993)89 n.(> •s Henry (1873-92) on 3.10. Mooney (1912) 37, De Grummontl (1977), Lefkowitz ! 1980) 17. Beve (1982) 83. 159. Parrott (1993) 56 8. Humor (1993) 173. On Odysseus’ individualist?! and Jason’s v e r y ö i i i 'e r e n t approach see Hunter (1993) 24f Contrast also the confident Jason at Valerius Flaccus, A r g . 1,488f. Lloyd (1957a) 383t; on these episodes see also Jenz (1948). Hcvworlh (1993). Barchicsi (1994). Hardy (1996), Stahl ( 1998b) 43-8. M On the Thracian episode see Knauer (1964) 1841'. 382. Paschalis (1986b) 441'dis­ cusses imitation of the H o m e r i c h y m n t o A p h r o d i t e and Vergil’s handling of oracles. The scenes o n D e lo s and Crete o w e nothing to the I l i a d or O d v s s e v . see Knauer (1964)185. Fcnik (I960) eh. 1. " Hcvworlh (1993). Barchiesi (1994). -l Horsfall (1989) I Of. (1991) 81. There is no evidence that Crete was associated with the Aeneas legend before Vergil, see l.lovd (1957a) 395. Williams ( 1962) 10-12. On C r e t e i n t h e A m e h K ! M l ( S 9 H S ). Bov/J /J9S.3). C w u h ' U s /1984). JJcvwartb / .199.3). Stahl (1998b) 47f.

fill··; VOYAGF· 1 ROM TROY TO CART1lACT

27

After tfie departure, the next reminiscence of the Argonautica is the uruesorne incident of Polydorus' groaning corpse (3.39-47). Vergil here reworks Medea’s cutting of the root to get the Promethean drug at Argonautica 3.851 66;° 11c also has in mind Argonautica 2.476 483: Aeneas' slow reaction to Polydorus’ groans eventually inverts that of Paraebius’ father, who cut down an oak tree despite the complaints of the wood nymph who lived there, and who was punished for his impious deed.'"’ In both cases recollection of the model seems to suggest that the Trojan attempt to settle in Thrace is misguided and illfated and that it is a place best avoided. The Trojans, leaving Thrace behind (3.69 72), land on Delos, which is introduced in some detail (3.73 7). They arrive in a safe harbour (haec fessoti tuto placidissima p ortu/ accipit, 3.781) where they are welcomed bv Anius and seek guidance from Apollo (3.85· -9). Here a section of Argonautica 1 is again in Vergil’s mind. Sailing out of 'Thracian waters (/!/·,g. 1.923) Argo comes to an island in the Propontis, described in considerable detail (Arg. 1.936-46),’7 before arriving in a safe harbour (Καλός δέ Λιμρν ύπέδεκτο θέουσαν, Arg. 1.954) in the land of the Doliones (Arg. 1.947-65), where the Argonauts are welcomed by Cyzicus and seek information about the voyage ahead (Arg. 1.982-4). in both cases care is taken to explain the reason for the warmth of the welcome (3.82 and Arg. 1.969-71), and sacrifices to Apollo follow the landing (3.79, 84 and Arg. 1.9661). in both this friendly reception is followed by a near disastrous reversal in fortunes. 'The 'Trojans misread the oracle of Apollo on Delos as an instruction to sail to Crete; when they try to settle there a plague hits them (3.85146);'s then they consider returning to Delos (3.143 -6). When the Argonauts sail away from the land of the Doliones adverse winds blow them back and in the darkness of night Doliones and Greeks inadvertently engage in a violent battle in which Jason tragically kills Cyzicus. As a result, storm winds prevent the Argonauts from sailing on C-frg. 1.985- 1080). The crisis is resolved in each case by an omen; while others sleep Jason and Aeneas receive a sign which enables them

!! Norden (1957) 169. Hunter (1993) 173f On Polydorus. Reck lord (1973) 67f. Putnam (1980) - (19821 267-87 =*(1995) 50-72, Thomas (1988b) 265f. Horsfall ( 1991) 5 i , Quint ( 1993) 58, Stali! (1998b) 43 f: Hardic (1987) 167 is also relevant. Knauer (1964) 382 compares 3.73 and O d . 4.844; this is exactly the line Apollonius imitates at A r g . 1.936; see Gauss ( 1993) 155T. Tor -Sirius and a platine et. 2.5Ι5Γ. Cf. also the burniim heat of i.ihva at A n ; 4.1280 3 13

2«

CHAPTER TWO

to restart the voyage (3.147 91 and Arg. 1.1080-1 152)" This accumulation of detailed similarity of action provides the background to one highly pointed Vergilian allusion to Apollonius. At Aeneid 3.1 1 ! 13 Anchises states that the original home of the Trojan race was Crete: hinc mater cultrix Cybeli Corybantiaque aera Idacum que nemus, hinc fida silentia sacris, ct iunet i currum dom in ae subiere leones.

The issue of sources has already been signalled with veterum volvens monimenta virorum and si rite audita loquor at 3.102 and 107.'to Vergil then goes on to correct what Apollonius says about the cult of Rhea." Apollonius mentions the tradition of the Cretan origins of the Idaean Mother (.-[/■£. 1.11280, and, like Vergil, plays on the existence of the two Mt Idas"2 then he describes the Argonauts clashing their swords on their shields during sacrifices to Rhea to drown the noise of the Doliones mourning for Cyzicus (dry. 1.1134 8)," adding ένθεν έσαιε'ι/ ρόμβω και τυπάνφ ’Ρείην Φρύγες ίλάσκονται (Arg. 1.11380· Whereas Apollonius attributes the origin of tambourines and drums in the cult of Cybele to the Argonauts in Phrygia, Vergil (correcting Apollonius while Anchises misreads Apollo) locates the origin of the Corybantia aera in Crete.14 Both Argonauts and Trojans go to find the Mother, Rhea-Cybele; but whereas the Argonauts get a clear view of the seaways from the summit of Mount Dindymum (Arg. 1.1112-16), where they sacrifice to her, the Trojans lose their way. The two poets agree on one point, however: like the lions which submit to the yoke in Vergil (3.1 13: cf. Lucretius 2.598-605), wiki animals come tamely to

,v For the dream-vision invoiving the Penates Vergii also reworks the dream of Luphemus at A r g . 4 .1731-64 with its important ktistic associations and the visitation of the Libyan heroine-nymphs to Jason at /l/g. 4.1305-36; see 1lunter (1993) 174. 1(1 On this technique see Horsfall (19900 = (1991) 117-33. 11 On the identification of Rhea and Cybcle see Schwerin (1922) 2270. Bailey (1947) S99f. Arrigoni (1984) 771. 1! de La Ville de Mirmont (1894) 75fon the links between these two passages; see also Vian and Delage (1976) 264 on 1226. Arrigoni (1984) 770, Gauss (1993) 170. n Vian and Dclage (1976) 265 on 1139. " On the a e r a (cymbals or swords?). Arrigoni (1984) 772. At 3.1 11-13 Vergi! also refers to G e o r g i e s 4.1511' (cf. Lucretius 2.629-39) where the bees respond to the Cretan Curetes (identified with the Phrygian Corybantes), clashing their weapons to drown out the cries of Zeus, by giving honey to the baby. In both passages Vergil has Callimachus, H y m n 1.50-4 (baby Zeus and the Curetes in Cretan Ida) and A r g . 1.509 (baby Zeus in Dicte) in mind; see Thomas (1988) on 4.150-2 and on Callimachus here see also i loywortli (1993). Barchiesi (1994). At A r g . 1.1134 8 (reading ο'ιρχήσανΐο. p a c e Vian, at 1 135) Apollonius refers to Callimachus, H y m n 1.52Γ; sec Gauss (1993) 169-71. Hunter (1993) 82 n.35. Vergil is perfectly aware of the connections between his two I lollenistie models.

29

tlie scene of the sacrifice in Argonautica !.! I44f.‘t5 Both poets also are aware of the close connections between Cvbele-Rhea and Demeter,'16 Cybele is a significant goddess in the Aeneid, and this is not the only occasion on which Vergil refers to the exceptional importance which Apollonius attaches to her in this section of the Argonautica'*1 Yet further Apollonian influence can be traced in Anchises' mistaken interpretation (3.103..17) o f Apollo's oracle and the advice antiquam exquirite matrem (3.06). When Anchises urges the Trojans towards Crete instead of Italy his error reworks Argus' good advice about the Argonauts' return route at Argonautica 4.257-93 and the story of Euphemus and the ciod at 4.1731 64.18 The overall similarity between the two narratives is enhanced by a number of detailed points. In each case there is strong emphasis on racial origins, returning home, and the foundation of cities. Anchises' story of Teucer's migration from Crete to the T'road to found a city (3.1091) reworks Argus' story of the anonymous founder of cities who travelled from Egypt all round Europe and Asia.19 Whereas helpful 'maps' are available to Argus, Anchises recollects old sources o f information (veterum ... monimenta virorum, 3.102) and interprets (falsely) an obscure oracle. This link between Anchises and Argus picks up on a connection established in Aeneici 2: the shooting star which appears in answer to Anchises' prayer for guidance and shows the route from Troy to Mount Ida (2.692-8) recalls the shooting star at Argonautica 4.294-750 which appears immediately after Argus’ speech and shows the Argonauts the way. These details clearly equate the departure from Troy and the

"

Vergil may have noted that Apollonius here has in mind O ct. 10.2ί 4 f and the H o m e r i c 68-72 {see Vian ami Oelage ( 1976) 104 n.4). two passages which include mention oflions. Vian and Deiagc (1976) 36. Williams (1962) on 112. Richardson (1974) on 441-69. Harrison (1995) 1571'and below ch. 5 § i. it has been suggested by van Krevelen (1954) that Apollonius is here influenced by Ptolemaic promotion of the cult of Cybele (cf Jackson (1997) 51). If this is the ease -.. and it should be noted that doubts are expressed by Gauss (1993) 167 n.40 and Hunter (1993) 83 ... Vergil's handling of Augustan Cybele in the A e n e i d (see Arriaoni (1984). Wiseman (1984), Wilhelm ( 1987)) is closely comparable. In general. Williams (1997). ,x I lunter (1991)94 9.(1993) 173. Apoi Ionius of course has in m i n d .Sesostris and Herodotus 2.102-11 ( Hunter (1991) 941). Vergil too looks to Herodotus in presenting Aeneas as a colonist (Horsfall (1989)). Note that Herodotus (2.103-4) states the racial identity of Coichians and Egyptians; in A e n e i d 3 the racial identity of Trojans and Italians is crucial; a n ti c /u a m H y m n to A p h r o d ite

a x q u i n t e m a tr e m .

" Heyne and Wagner (1832-3) on 2.693-8. Conington and N'cttleship (1883-4') on 2.697. de l.a Ville de Mirmont (1894) 330. Conrardy (1904) 49f. Vergil hints at but rejects Varro's story (Servius on 1.382 and Cardauns (1976) voi. 2, 162) that a star led the Trojans all the way to Latium; see ί lorslall (1989) 12. Suerbaum (1993b) 392-402.

CHAPTliR 1WO -

subsequent Trojan voyage with the return of the Argonauts in Apollonius' fourth book, just as the earlier allusion to Jason's tearful departure from Pagasae sets up the parallel between /leuciti 3 and the Argonauts' outward journey towards Colchis. After the departure from Delos Vergil in his account of the journey to Crete adopts a manner of describing the voyage which is typical of the Argonautica. In the Odyssey little attention is paid to the actual route taken by Odysseus. Homer usually states the points of departure and arrivai, sometimes mentions in a highly formulaic manner the length of the journey, and gives technical accounts of certain aspects of sea-faring such as hoisting the mast and sails. Although Apollonius imitates these features at certain points, his method of describing the movement of the Argonauts is quite different.'1 To a certain extent Apollonius' variation on Homer reflects his sources' interest in the exact path followed by the Argonauts, as well as scholarly discussion of the route taken by Odysseus, a tradition of Homeric scholarship which he (and later Vergil52) could not ignore. But his desire to vary as much as possible the repetitive Homeric model must be a significant factor. Thus he describes in colourful detail many of the places along the way. the headlands, rivers and islands which the Argo sails past: he includes geographical features, with their associated stories, traditions and aetiologies; he recalls the traces left by the Argonauts such as altars, cults and burial mounds, and describes the sacrifices they offered at important moments of departure and arrival; lie details the local winds and weather and often precisely records the passage of time. Vergil sometimes adopts the Homeric style, for instance in the storm at 3. i 92 208 which clearly refers to Odyssean storm descriptions (cf. Od. 9.67-81, 12.40319, 14. 301-15) and in his use o f ‘Homeric’ formulae for different aspects of sailing (e.g. 3.208, 269, 2891).31 But he frequently also uses Apollonian mannerisms, and does so for the first time in the voyage at 3.124 -7:54 linquimus Ortygiae portus pclagoque volamus

M Mehrnel (1940) 1-30. Rocker(1971) 84 8. '·’ Rocker (1971)84-99. Horsfall (1991 ) 41. Melund (1940) 34-6. Moskalew ( 1982) 93f. H Sec also 3.291 -3. 551-3. 697-706. Apollonian influence on Vergil's descriptions of navigation has been discussed in some detail; see Areiul (1933) Ι36Γ. de Saint Denis (1935). 230-8. Mehmel (1940), esp 31-4. Rocker (1971) 88-99, Briggs ( 1981) 973 f. Boni anti (1988): see also I leyne and Wagner ( 1 832-3') excursus 7 on A n n . I. On the debt of both Apollonius and Vergil to the style of a p e r i p l o u s see Reeker (1971) 8299. Lacroix (1993). Moskalew (1982) 93f locates Vergil's technique between the extremes of'Homeric formulaic composition and Apollonian variation.

3 bacchatamque iugis N a \ o n viridcmcjuc Donusam. Olearon niveamque Paron sparsa sque per aequor Cycladas. cl crebris legimus freta concila lerris.

These lines, in which the Dardanidae (3.94) seek their matrem (3.96), may be compared with Argonautica 1.93 I··-35: Ααρδσνίην ob λι/τόντες έ/τι.τροσέβ«λλον ‘Λβόδω. Περκιότην δ' έπι τη και Ά βα ρ νίδο ς ήμαθόεσσαν ήιόνα ζαθέην τε. τταρήμειβον I Ιιτύειαν. και δη toi γ' έπι ν υ κ ά δ ια ν δ ιχα νηός ίοΰσης δίνη πορφϋροντα διήνυσαν Ελλήσποντον.

Just before this, Apollonius had named places mentioned in the Iliad5' as the Argonauts sail past the site of the Trojan War to the land of the Doliones: they first visit Electra (Samothrace), called after the mother of Dardanus, founder of the Trojan race (/Irg. 1.915 -21); then they sail past the Rhoetean shore ('Ροιτειάδος ένδοθεν ακτής, Arg. 1.929) and the town of Dardania, along the coast of Phrygia with its Mount Ida (/Irg. 1.929-3 I ), before founding a cult of Rhea on Mount Dindymum. By referring to this passage at this point in Aeneid 3 Vergil creates a deep sense of irony. The Trojans are sailing away from Phrygia in search of a new home, heading (because of Anchises’ misinterpretation of the Delian oracle) for Crete, where Teucer lived before migrating to the Rhoetean shore (Rhoeteas ... in oras, 3.108) and to the Troad, with its Mount Ida and cult of Cybele (3.104 13). The Trojans will find out only later from the Phrygian Penates (3.148) that they should be making for Italy, where Dardanus was born (3.163 -71). When the Argonauts sail from Electra along the coast of Phrygia they are following in Dardanus' footsteps;51’ Vergil’s Trojans must retrace Dardanus' journey in the opposite direction, from the Troad to Italy. Apollonius here lets his poem sail very close to the Iliad; Vergil’s Trojans are fleeing the lliadic or, more precisely, the post-Iliadic destruction of Troy (as described in Aeneid 2). And as it begins to become clear that Apollonius will be a key model in this voyage, striking confirmation of his central importance is at hand.

Vian anil Dotage (1976) 94 n.2. Ciauss (1993) 15-if. Note that liso Argonauts row lor two whole days (Vian and Delage (1976) 94 n. I ) and that before the departure from Delos Anchises says t e n i a l u x c l a s s e » ! ( ' r e t a e i s s i s t e t in a n s (3.117). Ciauss (1993) 168. The Penates' information about Dardanus and Corythus at 3.167 71 is repeated by Ilioneus at 7.206-8, with the inclusion of Plectra, referred to as Samothrace. The Aeneas legend included a visit to Samothraco but Vergil omits it from hook 3; see Lloyd (1957b) 38-1. Cole (1984) 101. Dubourdieu (1989) 125 -51.

CHAPTER TWO

ii. The Harpies The Harpies episode explicitly sets the Trojans' voyage in the wake of the voyage of the Argonauts. Recognition of Vergil's imitation of Apollonius at this point appeal's in Servius (on 3.209). and no doubt goes back further.'' Nevertheless, many details have gone unnoticed; and the role ο ι Argonautica 2 as a model for Aeneid 3 in its entirety has been almost entirely neglected. Furthermore, the interaction between Homeric and Apollonian elements has not been fully explored. This section will look first at Vergil’s description of the Harpies and their activities in relation to the Apollonian account before going on to trace both the use of Homeric material and wider Apollonian influence. On leaving Crete Aeneas is storm-driven to the Strophades (3.21013):58 Strophadas Grato stant nom ine clictae insulae Ionio in magno, quas dira Celaeno 1larpyiaeque colunt aliae. Phineia postquam clausa dom us m ensasque metu liquere priores.

These lines summarise the story of Phineus and the Harpies, quod Apollonius plenissime, exequitur,'9 while at the same time alluding to Argonautica 2.295- 8:'’° οι δ- ορκω ειςα ντες υπόστρεψαν «ψ επί νήα σώεσθαε Στροφάδας δε μεταχλείουσ άνθρωποι νήσους ιο ίο εκ η π , πόρος Πλωτός καλέοντες. "Apranoli δ' ’ ίρις χε διέτμαγον.

Vergil places Strophadas. insulae and Harpyiae in the sanie positions as Στροφάδας, νήσους and "Αρπυιαι, but, in a striking variation, the

On Vergil’s imitation of the Apollonian Harpies see Ursinus (1568) on 3.21 If. I.a Cerda (1628) on 3.212. Conrardy (1904) 45-7. Rotten (1912) 5-8: see also O'Hara (1990c). On Vergil’s Harpies in general, f iumi (1972), Fasce (1984), fiabe! (1985) Khan (1996). Stubbs (1998); also Stahl (1998b). This storm corresponds to the total darkness which shrouds the Argonauts as they leave Crete at A r g 4 1689- 701. Doth draw on Odysseus' talc of his storm-hit departure from Crete at O d . 14.301 15. Servius on 3.209 Vergil will have known other versions of the story but Apollonius is clearly his main model here; on R e a lie n . Wellesley ( 1980) 147-50. On Apollonius' sources for the Harpies episode. Vian and Deiaue ( 1976) 142 6. Cuvpers (1997) 20?9. On G r a i a n o m i n i · as signalling the Apollonian reierenee see Horsfall (1990c) 51 (1991) 120; he accepts that s t a n t wittily alludes to the fact that the Strophades were once floating islands, see also Barchiest (1994) 439. O'Hara (1996) 138f. Vergil is consistently attracted by the possibilities created by elements in the tradition which are not ftrmiv localised in a single place: see Horsfall ( 1981 ) 14If. 146 ^ (1990) 467 470.472

■π ii.·: νοΥΛ(ίΐ·:

from t r o y to carti iauf

33

words which open his Harpies episode are those which ciose that of Apollonius. More strikingly, he locates the Harpies on the Strophades, Hally contradicting Apollonius’ version, which has them migrating from Phineus' home in Thynias to Crete (Arg. 2.2980, the very place the Trojans have just left behind.61 Having thus invited comparison between the voyages ofThe Trojans and the Argonauts. Vergil goes on to describe the Harpies in detail (3.214-18): tristius haud ullis monstrum, nec saevior ulla pestis ct ira deum Stygiis sese extulit undis, virginei voltimi») vultus, foedissima ventris proluvies uncaccjue manus et pallida semper ora fame.

Although Apollonius nowhere gives such a precise description, preferring deliberate vagueness and offering a rationalising interpretation of the Harpies as winds,"2 most of the features in Vergil’s description can in fact be traced to the Argonautica. The Apollonian Harpies leave a foul stench behind them (μυδαλέην όδμήν χόον. Arg. 2.191; cf. 229. 272, suggesting some kind of proluvies) and they too attack hungrily, μαιμώωσαι έδητύυς (.-irg. 2.269). Apollonius draws attention to their grasping beaks (Arg. 2.188) rather than to their claws (see 3.233 also). Neither poet states exactly how many Harpies there are; Apollonius seems to imagine two.6'' Vergil many more (turba, 3.233). in general, those aspects which Apollonius leaves to the imagination of readers already familiar with the Harpies are set out explicitly by Vergil in a concentrated, brilliantly repulsive description which, in comparison with the model, deepens the atmosphere of horror and fe ar....an atmosphere resembling that of the Polydorus episode in Thrace and the plague on Crete, one of death, mystery and corruption.6'1 A crucial difference between the two Harpy episodes deserves emphasis. The Argonauts are not themselves victims of a Harpy attack; it is Phineus who suffers before being rescued by Jason. Vergil, who will make much use of the Apollonian Phineus later in the third book, is therefore giving the Harpies a new role when he has them attack the

ilein/e (1915’) 1131; on Apollonius' Cretan geography and ids sources. Vian and Pelage (1976) 190 n.4. 233 on 511, Cuypcrs ( 1997) 209. For the locations associated with the I larpies. Sittig (1912! 24191’. Wellesley 11980) 147 50. Hunter (1993) Ki. Viari and Pelage ( 1976! 2681'on 189. There were traditional Iv either two or three; sec Sittig (1912) 2418, Hühner (1970) 63. Cuvpers ( 1997) 207 Otis (1964) 251-9. Quint (1993) 58.

Ο ίΛΡΊ FR T W O

Trojans directly. This striking variation exploits Homeric imitation, as scenes from the voyage of Odysseus as well as of Jason are in play.0' The motivation for the attacks of the Harpies comes from the Odyssey. When, after landing on the Strophades, the Trojans slaughter the herds they find there and prepare a feast (3.219- 224), Vergil is imitating Odyssey 12.324 where the comrades of Odysseus sacrifice the animals of Helios. In the Odyssey the result is the curse of Helios which causes all Odysseus' companions to be drowned in a storm. In Aeneicl 3 the result is the onset of the Harpies. Homeric and Apollonian elements thus dovetail neatly. In the subsecjuent narrative Vergil describes the Harpies as carrying out three successive attacks. First they foul the food (3,225 -8). When the Trojans retreat to a sheltered place they do the same thing again (3.229 34). Finally, Aeneas prepares a trap, and when the Harpies descend for the third time the Trojans attack and drive them away (3.234- 58). Fach of these incidents is modelled on a separate Apollonian model, there being also three descriptions of attacking Harpies in the Argonautica!*' The first comes in a digression from the account of the Argonauts' arrival in Bithynia, showing Phineus being tormented by the Harpies who swoop down to foul his food every time he tries to eat (/i/g. 2.184 93). This is the model for 3.225 8, the first attack on the Trojans (cf. at subitae, 225 and αλλά ... άφνο>, Arg. 2.187; Harpyiae, 3.226 and "Αρπυιαι, Arg. 2.188, both at the start of the line; diripiunt, 3.227 and ηρκαζον. Arg. 2.189;"s taetrum ... odorem, 3.228 and μυδαλέην όδμήν. Arg. 2.191). The second attack in Vergil corresponds to the second description of a Harpy attack in Argonautica 2, when Phineus himself is recounting his plight to Jason (Arg. 2.223 - 31 ). The monsters swoop έκποθεν άψράστυιο ... ολέθρου (Arg. 2.224); cf. Acneid 3.232 ex diverso caeli caecisc/ue latebris!Λ In both cases they snatch away and be fotti the food. Both in Apollonius and in Vergil the third attack is preceded by the setting of a trap. Aeneas orders his men to prepare a third meal and to be ready, swords

Hem/e (1915') ! 13. Cartault ( 1926) 77. Robinson ( 1988) 39 4!, 56 8. Knauer (1964) 198.383. ,,r Hübner (1970) 64 On [lie etymological play see O'Hara (1996) 139. Vergil seems to lim e read όλεθροι; al A r g o n a u t i c a 2 .2 2 -1 and un< ìersloo< l it t o r e f e r to the deathly place from which the 1iarpies swoop down, see N'elis (1990) 141 f, 1hinter (1993) 81 11.28; also Cuvpers (1997) on 223- 4. Cf. also Apollonius' description of them as Λιός κύνκς (.-f/y. 2.289) and Servius' comment on 3.209: u t a u t e m c a n e s l o v t s d i c e r e m u r , h a e c r a t i o e s t. ι μ α α t/>sae f u r i a e e s s e d i c u n t u r : see Fasce (1984) 3351'

35 near to hand, to retaliate against it (3.234 7): the Argonauts prepare a meal for Phineus in order to attract the Harpies and then Zetes and Calais stand by. swords at the ready (Arg. 2.263-5). In Apollonius the beasts attack, destroy all the food (πάντα. Arg. 2.27!) as usuai, leave behind a stench (όδμη δέ. δυσάνσχετος αύ(·)ι λόλειπτο, Arg. 2.212) and fly off pursued by the sons of Boreas (Arg. 2.266 -74). In Aeneid 3 the Harpies are slightly less successful on this occasion (semesam praedam et vestigia foeda relinquunt, 3.244), being driven off by the awaiting 'Trojans, although there is, of course, no winged pursuit, (n both poems the Harpies remain unharmed, although for different reasons. In the Argonautica, only the appearance of a goddess prevents the Harpies from destruction: Iris intervenes to order Zetes and Calais to break off their pursuit, promising that the Harpies will never again harrass Phineus (Arg. 2.284-300). In Vergil the Harpies are protected by their armour-like plumage (3.2421), something Apollonius' Harpies lacks0 Another divergence is that in Aeneid 3 one of the Harpies, Celaeno, speaks as she Hies off for the third and final time; in Apollonius the winged Iris, a sister of Celaeno,'1 speaks as the Harpies are being driven away.'3 Celaeno, one of the perpetually hungry Harpies who saw their food eaten by the Trojans, predicts that the Trojans will not fortify their new city until hunger has forced them to eat their tables (3.253 7). ’ Her frightening prophecy is a deliberate inversion, based on Helios' curse after the slaughter of his cattle (see below), of the helpful prophecy given by Phineus after the Harpies have been chased off by Zetes and Calais.7'1 Vergil's Apollonian Harpy episode thus begins and ends with significant Homeric influence. Vergil's imitation of the Harpy episode in Argonautica 2 is thus, typically, marked both by detailed similarities and by considerable variation. As noted, some of the differences are due to imitation of Homer; and this interplay between the Homeric and Apollonian elements now calls for further discussion. Aeneas' departure from Crete and the storm which hits him near Cape Malea and drives him to the Strophades is closely modelled on Homer's description of how Odysseus, after his departure from Thrace, is hit by a storm as he rounds Cape Malea and is driven to the land of

Conumton and Netileship ( i 883 -4‘.) on 5.242. Hesiod, T ir 265-7. Riitten (1912) 7. On the various traditions concerning the eating of the tables see Hors ['ail (1981) 146 (1990) 472. (1989) 12f. Suerbaum (Ì987). Primmer ( 1995). t fubner ( 1970) 71. Briggs ( 198! ) 974, 1lorsfall ( 1991) 99Γ.

36

Ci ΙΑΡΊΈR TWO

the Lotus-Eaters." Vergi! clearly noticed the similarity between this section of Odyssey 9 and Apollonius' narrative at Argonautica 2.164.. 177. There, the Argonauts leave the land of the Bebrycians and narrowly escape death from a great wave, an event which parallels the Odyssean storm at Cape Malea (cf. Arg. 2.1711' and Od. 9.72),'0;g. 1.301, 359- 62,4! 1 14), Idmon {Arg. 1.440-7) and Glaucus {Arg. 1.1315 25) before he meets Phineus, who gives him by far the most complete account of the future {Arg. 2.31 L 407, 420-25); for the return journey Argus picks up where Phineus left off (,T'g. 4.257-93). Odysseus is guided towards Ithaca. Jason to Colchis and from there back to Pagasae, Aeneas towards Latium. In describing Phineus’ prophecy Apollonius fuses aspects of Teiresias and Circe, as commentators on the Argonautica have long realised.‘Ji Like Circe, Phineus gives advice about the journey; like Teiresias, he is a blind seer,92 punished for having used his prophetic skill to reveal too many of the gods' secrets to men.9’ For Helenus Vergil imitates all three seers in a classic example of two-tier allusion.91 Like Circe. Helenus describes in detail

Lloyd (1957a) 38V, Paschalis { !9K6b). Horsfall (1989) Ì 0 - 15, \ 1995) i 19-21. On the importance of prophecy in Naevius' H e l i u m P w u c u m for Vergil in the A e n e u ! as a whole see Feeney ( 1901) 109 13, 138- 40. 148 with I lorsfali ( 1995) 105 n.28. Metili (1921) I 12 = (1975) 667. Vian and Deiage (1976) 12(1. Bulloch (1985) 588f. Hunter (1993) 91 f. Knight (1995) 169-176, Cuypers ( 1997) 197f. Apollonius' phrase Lt οόΟαλμών άλαύν νέφος. A r g . 2.259 is a fusion of O d . 10.493 12.267. μόνπ ος «λαού, and II. 15.668. οφθαλμών νέφος; see Cuvpers (1997) on 258-60 See Apollodorus 1.9.21 and 3.6.7 on the different reasons for the blinding of Phineus and Teiresias respectively. Apollonius adopts a less well-attested version of the I’hmcus legend (see de La Ville de Mumont (1894) 206. Vian and Dclage (1976) Ì42-6. Cuypers (1997) 203-6} to secure this .similarity with Teiresias. On die similarities between the two men see Brisson (1976) 101- 4. Bu.ston (1980) 28 -3!. See La Cerda ( 1628) on 3.374. ! leync and Wagner ( 1832--3l) on 3.37-1-6, 377-80. de

40

c iia pt lr tw o

the perils of Scylla and Charybdis (cf. 3.410-32 and Od. 12.55 -1 10, Π5---26). Like Teiresias. he foretells the omens which will signal arrival at the destination and explains the necessity of offering sacrifice to angry deities: Juno in the Aeneid, Poseidon in the Odyssey (cf. 3.388-409. 433-40 and Od. 1 1.1 18 134). Helenus mentions the island of Trinacria, just as both Teiresias and Circe tell Odysseus of Thrinakia (cf. 3.384, 439f and Od. 11,104 -17. 12.127-41). Throughout, of course, Aeneas is narrating his adventures to Dido, just as Odysseus tells his story to Alcinous. Beating in mind this Homeric background, and the fact that Phineus is modelled on both Teiresias and Circe, in what follows 1 shall concentrate on the detailed similarities between Helenus and Phineus. Helenus and Phineus, both exiles, the latter from Thrace (Arg. 2.238),Scheria »Ithaca and Apollonius’ Pagasae »Colchis »Pagasae; Aeneas’ voyage presented as a return to his true patria must be seen in the light of the nostoi of both Homer and Apollonius Rhodius.15 The interactions between the models are: Oi)YSSt:v Af-Nt-m A rgonautica Book I : arrival of Odysseus’ arriv al on J a s o n ’s reception in Scheria Aeneas in Libya and the palace of Aeetes in reception by Dido Colchis Books 2 and 3: Aeneas’s Odysseus' story (9-12) [Coichisj , i6 story Book 4: love between O d y s s e u s a n d N a u s ic a a Love between Jason Aeneas and Dido (C ir c e , C a ly p s o ) and M ed ea1, bokl - d o m i n a n t influences): italic background itilluencc(s); (j J:; absent

There is of course much more to Vergil’s imitation than his use of Scheria and Colchis. The Apollonian Lemnos and Phaeacia,,h and

15 Cairns (1989) 195. Much of tiie material in A n n . 2-3 comes from the I lia d and the Cyclic epics7 accounts of the fall of Troy [A eti. 2 ) and Apollonius' of the Argonauts' voyage to Colchis (/Icon 3. see above eh. 2). despite the dominant structural mode! being Qdyssean. '■ Already noted as the model for Vermi by Servius on 4.1 and Macrobius. S a t. 5.17.4: note I lorsfall (1991} 80. I!< Sec f jj J! and Hi of this chapter on use ofApoilonius' Lemnos and Phaeacia episodes

[ili·: ARRIVAI. ANI) RECEPTION IN CARTHAGE

71

Hypsipyle, Ariadne, Phaedra, Ajax and other places and characters are adapted by Vergil in his encyclopaedic approach to both the poetic and prose traditions available to him.19 But these many sources are all channelled into carefully built narrative structures: the foundation for the whole construction of the Dido episode is provided by the two places which occupy dominant positions in the voyages of Odysseus and Jason, Phaeacian Selleria and Colchian Aea.

i. The Landing in Libya The landing of the Trojans in Libya after their escape from the storm caused by Juno is one of the two the most detailed arrival scenes in the Aeneie/..- the other being the (closely related) arrival at the Tiber in book 7.20 The dominant model, in terms of the narrative structure linking the opening scenes o f the Aeneidi o Odyssey 5, is the arriva! of Odysseus on Selleria (Od. 5.438 63); but details from other Homeric arrival scenes are blended in. Apollonius at the corresponding point, the end of Argonautica 2, also imitates Odyssey 5. As Jason’s ship enters the cairn waters of the River Phasis, at the end of its long voyage from Pagasae, the river gives way to it as it enters the stream (poov, Arg. 2.1264 6) much as the Phaeacian river stops its flow (poov) and creates a calm which allows Odysseus to enter its waters safely (Od. 5.451-3). In both poems night falls soon after (Od. 5.466; Arg. 2.1284), and the new arrivals pass the night in a sheltered spot. Odysseus wonders whether he should enter the δάσκιον ύλην (Od. 5.470; the adjective occurs only here in the Odyssey, and only once in the Iliad, at 15.273) for shelter, and finally decides to do so. The Argonauts come to a halt in a δάσκιον ... έλος (Arg. 2.1283, the one occurrence of the adjective in the poem). Thus Odysseus arrives on Seheria and Jason lands in Colchis, the former naked, alone and barely able to swim to safety, the latter sailing with his ship into the calm waters of the river at the place which is the decisive turning point in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. In the Aeneid, the weary Trojans turn towards the nearest land after the calming of the storm and arrive on the coast of Libya. The scene, depicted in some detail at 1.159-69, recalls Apollonius’ description of the Argonauts sailing into the Phasis.21 Both Vergil and Apollonius

in A e n e i d 1.

Horsfall (1995) 133Γ On this typical scene in epic see Aremi (1933) 79-81. Moskaiew ( 1982) 93f. Ot also

A rg.

1.936-54 and the arrival o f Argo in the harbour o f the Doliones; see

CHAPTÈ-R ΊΊΙΚΡί;

describe the landscape on each side of the water (cf. hinc atque hinc, 1.162 and έχον 6' έπ αριστερά χειρών/ .../ ένθεν δ' ..., Arg. 2.12668), and in each case there are cliffs (1.162Γ and Arg. 2.1267) and a grove (1,165 and Arg. 2.1268). Other Homeric anchoring places (the harbour of Phorcys on Ithaca (Od. 13.96-1 12) and the harbour in the land of the Laestrygonians (Od. 10.87 -94)” ) have rightly been seen as models for Vergil here. They describe calm, sheltered harbours (but without VergiPs added detail of a kind of fjord cutting deep into the land);"'1 in Odyssey 13.97 and 10.87-90 the water is enclosed, as in Vergil, by two steep promontories, and Vergil follows Homer rather than Apollonius in having rocks on each side. But there is no Homeric counterpart for the mention of the nemus, which corresponds rather to the Apollonian groves (άλση). The Trojans come to a halt in a shady, sheltered spot (1.1651) just as the Argonauts anchor in a δάσκιον ... έλος (Arg. 2.1283). The mention of a cave by Vergil (1.166) refers in turn to the cave at Odyssey 13.102 4. Overall, Aeneas sailing in his ship into the fjord is more like Jason entering the Phasis than the ship-wrecked Odysseus swimming to safety, although many of the actual details are distinctly Homeric. The whole description is indeed a creation of the poetic imagination,2“' and its links to locations in Homer and Apollonius carry further implications. Unlike Odysseus in the harbour of Phorcys, Aeneas has not arrived at his true destination and the apparently peaceful calm of this refuge barely disguises the atmosphere of menace associated with memories of the harbours on the lands of the Cyclopes and Laestrygonians in Odyssey 9 and 10: in Odyssean terms, Aeneas on the Libyan shore may be about to encounter either the extreme civilization of the Phaeacians or the barbarism of the Cyclopes. A similar air of uncertainty and menace surrounds the Argonauts’ arrival at the Phasis which, taking his cue from Homer, Apollonius sets up as the beginning of a confrontation between barbarism and civilization.25 Like Jason, Aeneas has arrived in a piace where he will receive help from a woman, fall in love and yet face great danger. The Apollonian reference prepares for the correspondence between Dido and Medea,

"

RliUen (1912) 59-62, Knauer (1964) 244 n.2. Note that this episode loo culminates in the suicide o f a woman. Gleite { A r g . i .1063-5). Knauer (1964) 148-50. 3731'. 244, Williams (1968) 637-44. Austin (197!) on 159. Kecker (1971) i 2- 30. Clay ( 1988) ! 971'. Austin (1971) on 159; Knauer (1964) 373 cites no Homeric source for this feature. Cf. also A r g . 1.936-41. Servius on 1.159. Hunter (1991).

Till·: ARRIVAI, AND REt Li’TiON IN CARTHAGE

73

but it equally casts Dido as ruler of Carthage in a role parallel to that of the tyrant Aeetes,

ii. Venus, Jupiter and Mercury Turning attention away from the Trojans on the Libyan shore in the aftermath o f the storni (1.208 22), Vergil now moves the action to the divine level. Venus complains to Jupiter about the sad fate of Aeneas. Jupiter responds by assuring her of the future greatness of her son’s descendants. As part of this great plan Mercury is sent to ensure that the Carthaginians grant the Trojans a peaceful reception in their city. Here Dido is mentioned for the first time in the poem as fa ti nescia (1.299). She in particular is influenced by the divine messenger: in primis regina quietum/ accipit in Teucros animum mentemque benignam (1.303 i). Olympus scenes from both the Iliad and Odyssey lie behind this episode.20 Naevius, similarly imitating Homeric Olympus scenes, is another influence;27 Macrobius (Sat. 6.2.31) records that in the first book of the Bellum Punicum Venus complains to Jupiter when the 7‘rojans are hit by a storm and that he consoles her with hope for the future.2S This meeting between the deities took place, however, according to Macrobius, Trotanis tempestate laborantibus29 Vergil’s models for placing his Olympus scene after the storm and arrival are Odyssey 6.1 --47™ and Apollonius’ imitation of this Homeric passage at Argonautica 3.7-166: Homer’s Athena intervenes in aid of Odysseus by visiting Nausicaa in a dream; and in Apollonius Hera and Athena, wanting to protect Jason, meet and go together to seek the help of Aphrodite, a visit which results in Eros being sent down to Aea. In Vergil, Venus meets Jupiter and Jupiter sends Mercury to Carthage,’1 So Vergil and Apollonius, unlike Homer, describe a meeting of deities on Olympus which results in a messenger being sent to earth.32 Just as Eros flies «ν' αιθέρα κολλάν (Arg. 3.166) so Mercury flies per aera magnum (1.300).'' Eros inflicts Medea with love for Jason. Vergil here

Knauer (1964) 374, l.ansberg (1983) 2061', 215. ' ^ Feeney (1991 ) 109-13. See also Labate (1987) for Theoeritcan influence. See also Servius on !. 198. t o t u s h i c l o c u s d e S a e v i o B e l ì i P u n i c i U h m t r a n s l a t u s e s t. [ ' barchiesi (1962) 330f. Knauer (1964) 172. 1 de La Ville de Mìrniom (1894) 228 compares the concern o f Venus for Aeneas with that of Hera for Jason. On the relevance o f the Iliache Thetis and Achilles also see Lausbersi ( 1983) 206f. 215Γ. ;; Of. Williams (1983) 84-7. Melis (1990) 143 n. 13. This precise verbal reference shows that Vergil read αιθέρα ami not the αιθέρι defended by Vian and Delage ( 1995'4 152 on 166; in addition.

CHAPTER THREE

omits the amatory motif, but foreshadows and prepares for Dido's passion by having Mercury arrange that she be well-disposed towards Aeneas from the very beginning. The way in which Hera prepares the ground by retaining Medea at home (H/'g. 3.250) so as to facilitate the encounter with Jason is also comparable. The imitation of Apollonius here thus links Dido the first time her name is mentioned with Medea, This is the start of a gradual build-up o f pressure on Dido throughout the first book, a variation on the immediate impact of Eros on Medea in Apollonius’ account. To achieve this slow increase in tension, however, Vergil distributes the same Apollonian material in a unified and coherent pattern running through Aeneid I from this point onwards. The two-tier imitation of the divine interventions in Odyssey 6 and Argonautica 3 does not exhaust Vergil’s reference to Homer and Apollonius in this part of the narrative. Jupiter’s sending of Mercury draws on the visit of Hermes to Calypso at the order of Zeus (Od. 5.294 2 ) . 'Once again, however, Apollonius is an intermediary: the descent of Eros to Aeetes’ palace is modelled on that of Hermes to Calypso’s home at Odyssey 5.43-54. (Cf. Arg. 3 .156f and Od. 5.44-7).,5 Thus Vergil looks through the description of Eros back to Hermes.'“0 Paradoxically, despite the identifications Mercury Hermes, and Jupiter-Zeus, the broader narrative context shows Eros to be Vergil’s primary model. The characters named by Vergil may recall their Homeric counterparts, but their actions and motivations link them closely to Apollonian figures. Venus, Jupiter and Mercury in preparing Aeneas’ safe entry into Carthage correspond to Hera, Athena, Aphrodite and Eros who provide help for Jason in Colchian Aea. Looking beyond the immediate context, the help provided by both Hera and Venus sets in motion a series of events leading to great suffering located beyond the action of the poem. By getting Aeneas involved with Dido Venus is unwittingly responsible for Dido’s death, her curse and the Carthaginian wars. Hera’s desire to help Jason is similarly part of her larger plan to punish Pelias, in which she will succeed when he is killed by the Colchian witch. But Medea’s return to Greece also

Vian points out that Apollonius' usage demands κουλόν radier than κολλάν. But Vergil clearly seems to have understood the latter as an accusative and translated it with m a g n u m . Paduatio and Fusillo (1986). Hunter (1989) and Campbell (1994) read αιθέρα; Hunter translates "through the vast sky". “ Knauer (1964) 210 η. I. 374. l> For the link between Hermes' goal. Calypso's home, and Pros' destination. Aeetes' palace, sec Vian and Dclagc (I9952) 119 on 221. Hunter (1989) 215-41. Knight (1995) 222; also Campbell (Ì983) !7f. Otis (1964) 82.

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leads eventually to the murder o f Jason's children. Tragic consequences spring from an apparently reasonable wish to help the hero in danger. There is yet another strand to Vergil’s links with Apollonius here. At Argonautica 3.584-8 Aeetes explains that Zeus’ sending of Hermes influenced him to welcome Phrixus to Colchis, and states that without this divine intervention he would not have received the stranger. The roles played by Jupiter, Mercury, Aeneas and Dido in Vergil correspond exactly to those of Zeus, Hermes, Phrixus and Aeetes in this passage of Apollonius.17 In fact, Vergil is here fusing two closely linked Apollonian incidents: Aeetes’ words must recall the sending of Eros to engineer Jason’s safety by having Medea fall in love with him. Eros’ effect on Medea is comparable with that of Hermes on Aeetes. This link is strengthened by the fact that the descent o f Eros is itself modelled on the sending of none other than Hermes in Odyssey 5, as shown above. Recalling the earlier passage involving Eros in Argonautica 3 underlines Aeetes’ ignorance of the will of the gods when faced with the arrival of the Argonauts in his palace. Just as he tails to understand the oracle of his father warning him of possible treachery within his family (Arg. 3.595 605), being unaware that the real danger comes from Medea and not the sons of Phrixus, so he thinks back to the sending of Hermes, determined not to be influenced a second time into welcoming strangers, and not knowing that a highly comparable divine mission has already prepared the way for the success of the new strangers whom he wants to destroy. Vergil was clearly aware of these links between Eros and Hermes in Argonautica 3, and so the mission of Mercury recalls both of them.

iii. Aeneas’ Approach towards Carthage Following the description of the Trojans’ landing and their first day and night spent on the shores of Libya, Vergil continues his imitation of Odyssey 6 and 7 and the account of Odysseus’ movement from the shore towards the city o f Alcinous with the help of Nausicaa and the guidance of Athena. He also makes significant use of the corresponding scene in Argonautica 3, Jason’s passage from the Phasis to the city of Aea. After Mercury’s descent to Carthage the action returns to the human sphere and attention focuses once again on the Trojans. In the Odyssey, after the disappearance of Athena Homer continues to concentrate on

de La Ville do Mirmont (1894) 249. Kühn (1971) 28 n.2. Moortcm (1989).

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Nausicaa {Od. 6.48Π). Vergil instead imitates Apollonius who, after {'•ros' High! to Colchis, reverts to the Argonauts on the Phasis (cf. 1.297 309 and Arg. 3.154 -95). At dawn'8 they deliberate on how best to approach Aeetes {Arg. 3.167-95). Finally, Jason, carrying a herald’s sceptre, sets off for the city of Aea accompanied by Telamon, Augias and the sons of Phrixus, leaving the Argo hidden in a sheltered spot {Arg. 3 .167f; cf. Arg. 3.7 and 2.1283). In Aeneid 1, after the mention of Mercury’s visit to Carthage, Aeneas is described as plurima volvens (1.305), although he makes no speech to his comrades as Jason does. Having hidden the ships in a dark, sheltered place under a cliff ( 1.3 ΙΟ­ Ι 2), he sets out at dawn (1.306)"9 to explore the surrounding countryside. The Trojans, unlike the Argonauts, do not know where they have landed. Aeneas is accompanied by Achates (1.3121) carrying not a herald’s sceptre, sign of diplomatic intent, but two spears. They are unsure whether this unknown, uncultivated land in which they have arrived is inhabited by humans or by wild beasts (1.3081)· The atmosphere of menace surrounding the Trojans’ presence in Carthaginian territory would have been strong for the Roman reader of these lines.40 Awareness of the Apollonian model would deepen this impression of danger: Colchis is a wild and dangerous place for the Argonauts who will be threatened by Aeetes, so the possibility arises that the inhabitants of Libya will be similarly unwelcoming to the Trojans. The meeting between Aeneas and Venus in the forest (1.314 417) shows that divine protection is on hand; the goddess helps guide her son towards the city of Carthage where he will in fact be welcomed and received in friendly fashion, like Odysseus in Phaeacia. This meeting between the hero and his divine mother must be read in the overall context of book 1. Whereas it has been suggested that Venus’ words and actions in this scene do not cohere well with her role both earlier and later in Aeneid I,41 a full understanding of Vergil’s use of Apollonius Rhodius strongly supports those who argue for the essential unity ofthe book and of the conception of Venus’ role in it.42 When Venus appears to Aeneas in the wood, as he explores the Libyan countryside, she intends to help him in his trials and so prolongs her earlier activity on his behalf in her visit to Jupiter. Her

:s ! lunter (1989) on 167-274. Both poets have in mind the dawn at O d . 6.48 after the Athena -Nausicaa scene. i!’ Horsfall (1973-4) 4-6 - (1960b) 131-4. " Friedrich (1941) 164-74. ’’ Stahl (1969), Bcrres (1982) 282-303.

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main concern throughout is the safety of her son.43 From the goddess' speech (1.338 68) Aeneas learns that he has arrived in a country ruled by a woman of strong character, and the story of her adventures is calculated to present her as an attractive person, in many ways not unlike Aeneas himself. Venus advises her son to make his way to Carthage and points out by means of a bird omen that the colleagues he thought lost in the storm have in fact safely arrived in that city (1.387401). But strong undercurrents of danger running through the scene prevent the earlier sense of menace from being dispelled completely. Aeneas is, after all, about to enter Cartilage, and no Roman will have been able to read these lines without thinking of the Punic Wars: suspicions about the true nature of the Carthaginian people are certainly not to be allayed by the words of Venus.44 The persistence of the atmosphere of danger lends coherence to the narrative. The Trojans, shipwrecked by Juno, require assistance from favourable divine powers. First, Mercury is sent to Carthage by Jupiter, because of Venus' complaints, to arrange a friendly reception. Now Aeneas is sent to Carthage and indeed reginae ad limina by Venus (1.389; 401, the repetition of perge modo at the start of the line showing the insistence of the command). Venus' action here immediately identifies Dido as the person who will provide help and protection for Aeneas and so the setting for the love affair between the two is already being created.45 Dido's role thus corresponds exactly to that of Medea who from the very beginning, at Argonautica 3.1-3 (cf. 25-8) is identified as the source of help for Jason amidst the dangers surrounding him in Aea. This correspondence between Dido and Medea reveals one particularly interesting aspect of Vergil’s reworking of Apollonius in Aeneid 1. In Argonautica 3 Eros is sent to Medea to inflame her with love for Jason, so as to activate her role as his protectress. Venus herself will adopt a similar course of action later in Aeneid 1, when she sends Cupid to inflame Dido with love for Aeneas, and it is well known that in describing Venus and Cupid Vergil has in mind the Apollonian Aphrodite and Eros.46 But, as shown above, this same Apollonian mode! is already in Vergil’s mind when Mercury is sent to Carthage to render Dido more hospitable towards the hero. Thus both Mercury and Cupid are sent to Carthage on Venus' instigation to affect Dido’s

On Venus’ role here. Thome (1986). Horsfall (1973^1) O f- (1990b) 134f i5 Buchheil (1963) 51, Olis (1964) 65-7, 235-7. Harrison (1972-3); Wlosok (1967) 10! fand Thome (1986) 48 n.l I disagree. Sec also Williams (1994) 103-5, esp. ».11. ,f’ See § vii below. “

CliAi'TKK ί'ΗΚί'ί:.

feelings towards Aeneas,17 and in each case the model is the sending of Eros to Colchis. The goddess of Love now sends her son, Aeneas, to Dido's palace....an action quite simitar both to the earlier dispatching of Mercury and to the later sending of her other son, Cupid, to Carthage. And once again the model is Aphrodite’s sending Eros to Colchis to fire Medea with love. Thus, remarkably, Venus’ telling Aeneas to go to Carthage, reginae aci limina, which will eventually lead to the love affair with Dido, is modelled on Aphrodite’s sending Eros to Aea at Hera’s request in order to make Medea fall in love with Jason. Even though the dominant model for Venus and Aeneas here is the Homeric scene in which Athena guides Odysseus to the city of Alcinous at Odyssey 7.14- 132,48 this does not exclude the Apollonian reference. fo r Eros’ entry into Aeetes’ palace is in fact modelled on Odysseus’ entry into Alcinous’ palace. The invisible Eros moves πολιοΐο δ ι’ ήέρος (Arg. 3.275) and crosses the threshold of the palace on light feet, καρπαλίμοισι λαθών ποσιν ουδόν άμειψεν (Arg. 3.280), just as Odysseus crosses the threshold of Alcinous’ palace, καρπαλίμως ύπέρ ουδόν έβήσετο δώματος εϊσω (Od. 7.135), invisible because of the concealing mist (πολλην ήέρα)49 cast about him by Hera (Od. 7.14 17; 40 2; 1391). Both Odysseus and Eros thus lie behind Aeneas as he is sent to Carthage by Venus (at Venus obscuro gradientis aere saepsit,/ et multo nebulae circum dea fudit amictu, 1.411i). Vergil’s imitation at this stage in Aeneid 1 of the Olympus scene which opens Argonautica 3 and sets in motion the love episode means that Aeneas’ encounter with Venus must be seen as an integral part of the love affair between Dido and Aeneas. A further confirmatory imitation of Apollonius in Venus’ speech to Aeneas reinforces the link between Dido and Medea. When telling Aeneas to go to Carthage Venus gives him an omen (1.393--400). Pointing to some swans which have escaped the attack of an eagle she says that in a similar manner the ships of Aeneas which were thought lost in the storm have arrived safely in harbour. The overt purpose of the omen is to encourage the hero, but there is a deeper significance. The goddess, disguised as a huntress, prefaces her message with the caveat, ni frustra augurium vani docuere parentes (1.392); but in fact her augurium will prove to be true. The slyly humorous touch emphasises Aeneas’ ignorance of the situation while underlining the fact that he is under divine

17 On Mercury and Cupid, Stahl (1969) 346. Kuhn ( 1971 ) 35 n.2, Berres (1982) 3021'.

1S Knauer (1964) 158-63.375. On the meaning of πολιοίο δι' ήέρος (1994) on 275.

(A rg .

3.275) see Campbell (1983) 103 n. 13.

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protection....a point reinforced by the fact that the birds which escape from danger are swans and the swan was particularly associated with Venus.50 This omen thus dispels some of Aeneas’ fears, encourages him to go towards Carthage to seek his comrades, and makes clear to the reader the protective power of Venus over her son. Vergil is imitating Apollonius by including this incident at this point in the narrative. After the meeting between Aeetes and Jason and the latter’s acceptance of the challenge to yoke the fire-breathing bulls and light the earthborn men, the Argonauts must decide what course of action to follow. In the end they are guided by a bird-omen 3.540 -43): as they debate whether or not to resort to armed force a dove escapes from the attack of a hawk which impales itself on the stern of the Argo. Mopsus explains the sign to mean that the Argonauts must rely on the power of Aphrodite.51 with whom the dove is particularly associated, in order to win the Fleece (/frg. 3.545-54). The result of the omen is to confirm the prophetic words of Phineus, who had earlier advised the Argonauts to look to the help of the goddess of Love (Arg. 2.423f), and to convince Jason that he must rely on Medea’s help in overcoming the challenge set by Aeetes. Vergil’s bird omen is at an earlier stage in the narrative and in a quite different context, put in the mouth of Venus herself, but the overall situation is nevertheless very similar to that in the Argonautica. Both Jason and Aeneas are under the protection of the goddess of Love and both are guided at a moment of difficulty soon after arriving in a strange land by a birdomen involving the escape of a bird particularly associated with that goddess from a bird of prey. Aeneas is sent to Dido by Venus and Aphrodite signals to Jason that he must rely on Medea.

iv. The Arrival at the Temple After the departure of the goddess Aeneas and Achates make their way to the city of Carthage, which they first see as a place of bustling building activity (1.418-40). Thanks to the mist wrapped around them by Venus (1.411-14) they enter the city invisibly, and unseen they arrive in a great temple of Juno. Aeneas here resembles both Odysseus and Jason.5'' Athena shrouds Odysseus in a mist (Od. 7,14-17) so that

51 "

Austin (1971) on 394. See also I iardie ( 1987b) on this passage. In contrast, the narrator is vague as to the true identity oi' the deity responsible lor the omen; Feeney {1991) 88. Heyne and Wagner (1832-31) on 1.412. de La Ville de Mirmont (1894) 643. Conrardy (1904) 58.

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he can enter the city of the Phaeacians unseen. In the Argonautica, Hera casts a mist over the city of Aea (Arg. 3.210- I2)53 so that Jason may enter A cotes’ realm invisible; similarly, Eros enters the palace of Aeetes shrouded in a concealing mist (Arg. 3.275). The parallel movement of the three narratives is here particularly striking. In each case the need for such protection suggests possible danger in the strange city at which the hero has arrived. Jason (and later Eros) arrive at the entrance of the great palace of Aeetes (/i/-g. 3.215) just as Odysseus came to the threshold of the magnificent palace of Alcinous (Od. 7.83). Apollonius' detailed description of the palace corresponds closely to Homer's description of the home of Alcinous (cf. Od. 7.84 132 and Arg. 3.215 248). Vergil describes not a palace ... that will come later .... but a temple. The building itself is only briefly mentioned (1.446 9), but there follows a very detailed ecphrasis of a series of wall-paintings (1.456-93). This passage corresponds by its place in the narrative to the palace-descriptions of both Homer and Apollonius. As far as the subject-matter is concerned, depictions of scenes from the Trojan war, Vergil refers to the first and third songs of Demodocus in Odyssey 8.73-92 and 499- 520 where Odysseus hears of incidents from the battle at Troy.5'1 Closer analysis, however, will reveal deeper Apollonian influence. The narrative of Odysseus’ approach to the city of Alcinous unfolds in a leisurely manner. After entering the city (Od. 7.40). Odysseus sees the harbour and walls, and these are described before Athena makes a speech telling him about the Phaeacians (Od. 7.48-77). When he arrives at the palace it is described in detail as he admires it from outside; finally he enters (Od. 7.135) and approaches Arete. Apollonius considerably contracts this narrative sequence. Jason arrives in the city and at the palace simultaneously (πάλιν και δωμαθ' ϊκοντο, Arg. 3.213) and the description of the building from the outside5'’ follows at once. After four lines (Arg. 3.215-18) devoted to the broad doors, the columns, walls and bronze capitals supporting

?< Athena casts the mist around the man only, Hera covers the whole city in cloud. The variation probably depends on learned discussion concerning the text o f O d y s s e y 7.41 where Zenodotus understood Athena to cast a mist over all the Phaeacians. See Vian and Delage (1995’) on 214, Vergil has the mist cover Aeneas and Achates, not the whole citv. *4 Knauer (1964) 165-7, 376: also Clay (1988). Lowenstam (1993). H o r s fa l l (1995) 105-108. ■' Hunter (1989) on 215-41 on Apollonius' correction o f the less realistie Homeric passage, where Odysseus seems to sec both the outside and inside o f the palace while standing in front o f it.

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stone entablatures, Jason crosses the threshold (/Irg. 3.219) and tiie description of the inner parts of the palace follows. '6 The movement of the Vergiiian narrative is much closer to Apollonius than to Homer. Aeneas' arrival at the temple follows his entry into the city without interruption (1.439-446). Vergil concentrates on what the hero sees rather than on his movements, so that the reader is left to imagine Aeneas' approach to the grove where the temple is being built. Also in imitation of Apollonius, four lines (446 9) describe the temple seen from outside with its rising steps, bronze threshold, beams (doorposts or architrave?)57 and doors. Next, Aeneas is to be imagined moving under the portico as lie looks around sub ingenti ... templo (453), and his eyes fail on the paintings, which are described at length. As Aeneas is viewing the works of art Dido appears, making her way towards the temple (4.494-7). This is the moment at which Aeneas sees her for the first time. Sn Apollonius, the description of the palace of Aeetes ends when Medea appears, leaving her room and going to the room of her sister Chalciope (/b-g. 3.248-53). It is clear (despite the lacuna after Argonautica 3.248) that this is the moment at which Jason and Medea first set eyes on one another. Aeneas' entry into Dido’s temple and his first view' of Dido thus recall directly Jason's entry into the palace of Aeetes and the chance encounter of Jason and Medea. Aeneas' continuing invisibility, so that he is not seen by Dido as Jason is by Medea, strikingly varies the model·58 Overall, the link between Dido's Junonian temple and the palace of the cruel tyrant Aeetes bodes ill for the Trojans and deepens even further the air of menace surrounding Aeneas' presence in Carthage. A more optimistic prospect arises from the comparison with Odysseus' arrival among the friendly Phaeacians, but the menacing Apollonian background complicates this link and cannot be ignored. The variation by which palaces in Homer and Apollonius become a temple of Juno, enemy of the Trojan race, hints further at the danger of this place for the Trojans. It also underlines Juno's strong feelings of affection for Carthage (cf. 1.12..16) and her desire to prevent the founding of Rome.

All three heroes stand in admiration before the constructions they see on arriving at the city. With i.42lf,494fef. O d . 7.43-5, i33f. A r g 3.215. ■7 See Austin (1971) on 448, on whether n e x a e or n i x a e is to be preferred. Apollonius describes a θριγκός resting on bronze capitals at A r g . 3.2171', on which see Hunter (1989). Campbell (1994). Vian and Deluge (1995') 1I8Ì This may suggest that Vergil wrote n i x a e q u e U i e r e t r a b e s at 1.448f in describing an architrave on its bronze capitals. '* Vergil will return to this Apollonian scene when Dido first sees Aeneas. See p.89 below.

CHAPTLR ΊΉΚΗΗ

The scene which follows wii! suggest that this temple, in which Aeneas and Dido are soon to meet, corresponds also to a particularly grim temple in the Argonautica., in which Jason and Medea meet for the first time, that of Hecate.

V. The Dido-Diana Simile At 1.494 the ecphrasis of the paintings in the temple is interrupted by Dido's brilliant appearance. Aeneas sees her now for the first time. The reader of the Aencid has first heard Dido's name when Jupiter sends Mercury to visit her city to ensure a peaceful reception for the newlyarrived Trojans (1.297.304). Fuller information about this remarkable woman, her character and history, is provided soon after in Venus' speech to Aeneas ( 1.335-68), before she in turn sends her son to Dido's city (1.389; 401). Finally, the Queen makes her spectacular entry into the action of the poem: Haec dum Dardanio Aeneae miranda videmur, dum stupet obtutuque haeret defixus in uno, regina ad templum, forma pulcherrima Dido, incessit magna iuvcmim stiparne caterva, qualis in Hurotae ripis aut per iuga Cynthi exercet Diana choros, quam mille secutae hinc atque hinc glomerantur Orcades: illa pharetram fert umero gradiensque deas supereminet omnis (Latonae tacitum pertemptant gaudia pectus): talis erat Dido, talem sc lacta ferebat per medios instans operi regnisque futuris, tum foribus divae, media testudine templi, saepta armis soliocjue alte subnixa resedit.

Vergil illustrates this important moment with a simile59 which has both Homeric and Apollonian antecedents. Once again, events in Carthage recall both Selleria and Colchis. Nausicaa, playing with her companions on the shore where she will meet Odysseus for the first time, is compared to Artemis (Od. 6.102-8). Apollonius imitates this comparison, as the ancient scholia on Argonautica 3,876 note:60 Medea, on her way to the temple of Hecate to meet Jason, accompanied by her servants, is compared to Artemis accompanied by her nymphs. Apollonius' imitation of Homer is clear and precise, his variations on the model carefully wrought and highly significant. The Odyssean

v; On the history o f the discussion of this famous passage. (.ìlei (1990); sec also l.onsdalc (1990). Polk (1996). More recently. Campbell (1983a) 56-9. Hunter (1989) 192 6, Knight (1995) 2361’.

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simile presents the outstanding beauty of Nausicaa as she plays with her companions. The comparison with Artemis also hints at her youthful purity61 and introduces a discreetly erotic touch by introducing the virgin huntress at the point when Nausicaa, with marriage on her mind thanks to Athena’s intervention {Od. 6.25-40), is about to meet Odysseus. Medea too is a young virgin, on her way to meet a stranger who has just arrived in her country. Unlike Nausicaa, however, she has already seen the man and is deeply in love with him. The discreet evocation of the feelings of the Phaeacian princess in Odyssey 6 and 8 gives way to a full-scale description o f Medea’s tormented passion. In this light the Artemis comparison becomes deeply problematic. The point is no longer the beauty of the girl. Apollonius instead uses the simile to illustrate Medea’s movement through the city towards the temple of Hecate, a procession which has a fearful effect on the passers-by (4rg. 3.8851). The rural joy of the Odyssean model has been replaced by a totally different atmosphere of urban seriousness in the Argonautica. In his Dido-Diana simile Vergil refers to both models. Although the imitation of the Homeric simile has received most attention, in fact the dominant model is the Apollonian Medea-Artemis simile.62 The criticisms formulated by Probus,6'’ and followed by many, of Vergil’s feeble handling of the Nausicaa-Artemis simile highlight the dangers of failing to take into account Apollonius as both imitator of Homer and mode! of Vergil. Probus pointed out the incongruity of comparing Dido in urbe media to Diana, while praising the comparison, recte atque commode, of Nausicaa playing in locis solis to Artemis who is in iugis montium. Vergil, however, is fully aware of the Apollonian variation on Homer: the urban setting of the Dido Diana simile corresponds to Medea’s procession through the streets of the city of Aea. Queen Dido, instans operi regnisque futuris (1.504), going through her city with her followers, like Diana surrounded by her nymphs, is far closer to Medea, an imposing royal princess moving through the city of Aea followed by her retinue, than to Nausicaa playing with her companions on the shore. Both Dido and Medea make their way through a city toward a temple (1.496; Arg. 3.888), of Juno and Hecate respectively. It is in the temple of Hecate that Jason and Medea meet and talk together for the first time Qlrg, 3.956ff), just as

"J i liiinswortfi (1988) on 6.109. f’! Conrardy (1904) 29-31. Brings (1981) 964-5. Clausen (1987) 18- 21 Glei (1990) 337-9. Aulus Gellius, Λ'.,Ί. 9.9.14: sec Glei ( 1990) 323-30.

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CHAP TER THREE

Aeneas and Dido first meet in the tempie of Juno ( i .586 630). Certainly Homeric detail is present: pharetra (1.500) refers to ίοχέαιρα {Od. 6.102) and the mention of Latona (1.502) clearly recalls Leto at Odyssey 6.106. Vergil also follows Homer in using the simile to illustrate female beauty (j)ulcherrima, 1.496) and happiness (laeta, 1.503). For some further details he draws on both sources. The nymphs accompanying Artemis-Diana are common to all three poets, as is the comparison with the goddess to illustrate the imposing figure of the woman.6'1 Artemis and her nymphs are located in Homer near two mountains, Taygetus and Erymanthus {Od. 6.103), in Apollonius by two rivers, Parthenius and Amnisus (/irg. 3.8761). Vergil places Diana and her nymphs near one river, Eurotas, and one mountain, Cynthus (1.498). Overall, however, Apollonian detail predominates. Like Parthenius and Amnisus, the Eurotas and Mt. Cynthus suggest cult centres of the goddess.65 This choice of place-names at once links the Vergiiian simile to its narrative setting: Diana is associated with her places of cult while Dido is on her way to the temple of Juno. Apolionius is VergiTs model for this correspondence between simile and narrative. Just as Medea is on her way to the temple of Hecate, so Artemis is moving towards a smoking hecatomb {Arg. 3.880), The opening of Vergil's simile refers in a different way to Apoilonius. The word order of lines 497f, qualis + two place-names +· Diana, corresponds to ο'ίη δέ + two place-names Λητωίς at Argonautica 3.876-8.'’° Vergips nymphs gather from different places (hinc atque hinc, 1.500) to follow the goddess {secutae, 1.499), as do those of Apollonius (αι μέν ... ai δέ and έπονται, Arg. 3.88!ί), and the word Oreades (1.500) by sound and metrical position refers to νύμφαι ... άμορβάδες (/Dg- 3.881).67 Beyond the verbal detail Medea, caught tragically between Aphrodite and Artemis, prefigures Dido, compared to Diana but soon to be set upon by Venus.68 In this case Homeric colouring is added to a fundamentally Apollonian imitation.66 At her first spectacular entrance into the action of the Aeneid, therefore, Dido is described in terms which encourage comparison with

Each poet refers to the height of the goddess, cf. O ct. 6. 107, πασάων 5' υπέρ η γε κύρη έχει ήδέ μέτωπα. A r g . 3.878, εστευϊα. on her chariot, and 1.501 s u p e r e m i n e t . When applied to Nausicaa and Dido height means beauty: Hams word! (1988) on 6.107. Caim s{!989)41. Λί Clausen (1987) 20f, Hunter (1989) 194f ,v’ Campbell ( ) 983a) 56f 1,7 Riittcn (1912) 33, Clausen (1987) 21. !ls Wilhelm (1987). Conrardy (1904) 31. Otis (1964) 74, Brigss (1980) 965.

85

both Nausicaa and Medea. Although the two-tier allusive process at work in this simile denies the possibility of assimilating Dido exclusively to any single character,70 and while Nausicaa remains an important model,71 Vergil puts greater emphasis on the similarity between Dido and Medea. As always, of course, differences are just as important as similarities. Apollonius uses the Artemis-simile when Medea is already in love with Jason and has decided to help him. Vergil places it earlier in the narrative sequence, after Aeneas’ arrival at Carthage but before Dido is even aware of his presence in her land. This is a departure from the Homeric model also, where the simile is applied right at the start of the Phaeacian episode, even before Odysseus makes his way to the city of Alcinous. Vergil thus gives the simile a quite original function. It emphasizes Dido’s beauty and royal stature just at the point when A eneas....who has already heard enough about her from Venus to begin to admire her for her success in managing a situation not unlike his own sees her enter the temple of Juno. The scene can only reinforce the good impression given by Venus of this exceptional woman. The Diana simile thus plays a role in the early stages of the incipient love affair which is so strong a motif in the first book, in preparation for the passion of the fourth. The reference to the figure of Medea is clearly highly relevant to this theme, at least hinting that Dido may be a lover in similar mould, in another sense, however, the two woman are quite different. Dido, when she is compared to Diana, is a queen intent on the building and organisation of a city, and her public functions are her main concern. In this she differs radically from Medea, who is compared to Artemis when she is acting against the wishes of the king Aeetes by going to help Jason. The difference underlines Dido’s queenly status.72 Nevertheless, the way in which the Diana simile also fits into the pattern of erotic themes in Aem id I hints at the incompatibility between affairs of state and passionate love. The consequences of the tension between these two spheres in Dido’s character will be disastrous, just as Medea’s decision to choose a course of action motivated by love for Jason rather than by obedience to her father ultimately has tragic consequences. Even at this early stage in the encounter between Aeneas and Dido, therefore, the similarities which link them to Jason and Medea clearly foreshadow the love-affair to come. Aeneas has entered Carthage as

Cairns (1989) 134, Horstall (1995) I33f. Cairns (1989) 130-4. On Dido's role as ruler o th er people, Monti (1981), Cairns (1989) 29-57, esp. 401'on the Diana simile and its relevance to the portrayal o f Dido as a good 'king'.

CHAPTER TliRHÌ-:

Jason entered Aea and the moment at which the Trojan first catches sight of Dido is modelled on the scene leading up to the first meeting between Jason and Medea. So the Apollonian model is operative from the very beginning of the Dido episode and is in no way confined to the fourth book of the Aeneicl. Appreciation of this heightens awareness of the coherent pattern of images and motifs linking books 1 and 4 and of the .strong undercurrents of eroticism which lend unity to events in the opening book of the poem. It is consistently to Apollonius that Vergil turns in handling the erotic themes which are so important in his epic. '·’

vi. The Reception Scene: Ilioneus, Dido and Aeneas The scene which follows the Diana simile describes the arrival at Carthage of those other Trojans saved from the storm, exactly as predicted by Venus. Aeneas, safe and invisible in the protective cloud provided by Venus, watches as Ilioneus speaks to Dido and the Trojans are received in a friendly and generous manner. Ilioneus' .speech is modelled on that of Odysseus to Arete and Alcinous at Od. 7.241-7974 and on Apollonius’ imitation of it at Arg. 3.320 66, Argus’ speech to Aeetes. Once Jason and his companions have arrived in the palace of Aeetes (Arg. 3.213t'O a meal is served, after which Aeetes addresses the sons o f Phrixus, asking them to explain why they have returned to Colchis and to identify the strangers who accompany them (,4/g. 3.304-16). It is Argus who replies. Like Odysseus before Alcinous, he describes the storm which hit him and how he escaped by clinging to a beam from the broken craft on which he had been sailing (cf. Od. 7.252 and Arg. 3.32 If). He tells of how he was met and clothed (Arg. 3.329) by the Argonauts, just as Odysseus relates how he was met and clothed (Od. 7.296) by Nausicaa. This imitation belongs to the large-scale pattern of links between Colchis and Homer’s Selleria. In each case the hero presents himself before the ruler of the country in which he has just landed; Odysseus speaks lor himself, but Argus speaks on Jason’s behalf at first, Aeetes' opening question having been directed at the sons of Phrixus and not at the Argonauts. In the Aeneid, Aeneas, still hidden and invisible in the cloud sent by Venus, looks on while Ilioneus speaks on behalf of the Trojans.

The importance ol'iove in the A e n e t d has been often noted; see Foschi {1977’) 15. ('M an hat die Anei.s das Epos des Schmcrzcns genannt Man konnte sie auch den Ileldcngcsang der Liebe nennen.'). Arkins (1986) 35-9. Khan (1986). Cairns (1989) 105, (·... of all aspects oi'human life, it {the A e n e i d ] is centred most clearly on love and marriage’). See further chh. 7 and 9 below. Knauer(1964)376.

87

The line which introduces Ilioneus' speech, maximus Ilioneus placido sic pedore coepit (1.521), refers to Arp. 3.319, introducing Argus' reply to Aeetes: μειλιχίω ς προσέειπεν, έπε'ι προγενέστερος ηεν. The allusion, as well as linking Ilioneus and Argus, automatically places Dido in the role of Aeetes,'·' and in turn that of Alcinous, as ruler of the city in which the voyaging hero has just arrived. Since the cruel, angry Aeetes presented by Apollonius is an inversion of the generous, polite Alcinous of Odyssey 7 8 the Vergilian reader may well hesitate to draw any conclusion about Dido's character. But recollection of the violent reaction of Aeetes to the Argonauts may suggest the worst concerning the treatment the Trojans can expect in Carthage. The words of Ilioneus near the staid of his speech would seem to confirm such apprehensions. He is forced to ask for protection, prohibe infandos a navibus ignis (1.525), and later he complains that the Trojans have been prevented from landing safely and physically threatened ( 1.5401)/° Following on from the initial link with Argus' speech, Ilioneus' words continue to recall the Apollonian model. The Trojan says that he and his comrades have travelled great distances and that they have no violent intent, and he asks for a peaceful reception ( i .524-8). Argus likewise explains that the Argonauts have travelled a very long way in search of the Golden Fleece, but come with no hostile intent (Arg. 3.348-51). At 1.530 -3 Ilioneus states the goal of his journey, Italy. Argus describes the Golden Fleece as the goal of the Argonauts' voyage (Arg. 3.336-9), Ilioneus mentions the storm which drove the Trojans to Libya; Argus describes the storm winch drove him and his brothers onto the Island of Ares and led to their return to Aea (Arg. 3.320 -3). At 1.544 -9 Ilioneus names the absent Aeneas as the leader of the Trojan fleet.''' Argus introduces Jason as the leader of the Argonauts (Arg. 3.356 9). The content of Ilioneus' speech thus owes more to Argus before Aeetes than to Odysseus before Alcinous and Arete. Nevertheless, the Homeric model remains important. Odysseus too describes (Od. 7.270 6) the storm which drove him to Selleria and so Ilioneus' mention of the storm which hit the Trojans must evoke this passage, given the strong links established earlier between the storms in

Sec Moorton ( 1989) for a discussion o f Apollonian influence on this reception scone. Vergil hero develops the hint of menace in Nausicaa’s description o f possible Phaeacian reactions to Odysseus at Oct. 6.259-90. On this passage, Cairns (1989) 291; the presentation o f Aeneas as a good king marks a variation on Apollonius where Jason is not so portrayed, and the only βασιλεύς mentioned is the wicked Pelias (Arg. 3.334).

CHAPTER ΓΗΚΙΤ Aeneicl i and Odyssey 5. Ilioneus' words also resemble (he speech in which Odysseus explains his fate to the Cyclops,'8 another model which evokes a .sense of the possible danger awaiting the Trojans in Carthage. Even here, however, Apollonius is relevant, as this section of the Odyssey is also in his mind in describing Argus and Aeetes. the Colchian king being presented as a monstrous barbarian, comparable to P o ly p h e m u s.It is thus through Apollonius that Vergil evokes this passage of the Odyssey, as Carthage continues to resemble in many ways Colchian Aea. Dido's reply to Ilioneus (1.562 -78) begins, salvile corde melum, Teucri, secludite curas (1.562). Mer encouraging tone is in strong contrast to that of Aeetes, who reacts to Argus’ speech with angry threats (,-irg. 3.372-81).80 In graciously welcoming the strangers Dido thus immediately resembles Alcinous rather than Aeetes. Nevertheless, her reply corresponds to that of Aeetes in terms of narrative structure, as subsequent events make clear.81 Jason responds to Aeetes’ angry, threatening outburst with typically calm words (drg. 3.386 95). Aeneas, arter a short exchange with Achates in which he points out that Venus’ predictions have proved true and that the situation is now safe (1.583 -5), is made visible by the disappearance of the cloud and appears before Dido. When he speaks to her, the order of the exchange of speeches during this Vergilian reception scene, first Ilioneus, then Dido, then Aeneas, corresponds exactly to that in Apollonius, where Argus, Aeetes and Jason speak in turn. Furthermore, one detail in Aeneas’ speech to Dido refers directly to Jason’s reply to Aeetes. In trying to allay the Colchian’s anger Jason promises him, in return for the Fleece, θεσπεσίην ... κληηδόνα (Λ/'g. 3.392). Aeneas assures Dido that, in return for her kindness, semper honos nomem/ue tuum laudesque manebunt (1.609).82 In terms of Homeric reference, the splendid beauty of Aeneas when he appears to Dido (1.586 -93) corresponds to Odysseus when he appears out of the mist provided by Hera and addresses Arete {Od.7

7

Knauer (Ί9ά4) .376: c f Clay (1988.) 197-200. Campbell (1981) on Arg. 3.3200", (1983a) 105 n.5. (1994) 1761'. Hunter (1989) on 316. *" Moorton (1989) 51. : 52);^’ this too has its counterpart in Apollonius when Jason, with his companions, appears in the palace of Aeetes and is seen by Medea (.-(rtf. 3.213 53). Vergil has both models in mind. He describes the resplendent beauty bestowed on Aeneas by his mother thus ( 1.588 -91 ): restitit Aeneas eUtvaque in luce refulsit os umerosque eleo similis: namque ipsa decoram caesariem nato genetrix iumenque inventae purpureum et laetos oculis adliarct honores. in the Moinerie model Odysseus is granted special beauty by Athena during his encounter with Nausicaa on the shore {Od. 6.229 31), and Homer and Vergil both employ a simile to suggest the effect of the hero's appearance {Od. 6.232-4; 1.5920- Apollonius imitates this description of Odysseus when Medea watches the beautiful Jason leaving the palace of Aeetes, at the end of the reception scene (/feg. 3.439-47).s‘! Thus while the detail of the Vergilian passage is distinctly Homeric, the context is closer to the Apollonian model. It should not be forgotten that Aeneas and Jason are here being watched by Dido and Medea respectively. When Dido sees Aeneas suddenly appear in the temple in a flash of beauty she is deeply shocked, obstipuit primo aspectu Sidonia Dido (1.613). The model for this is the effect on Medea of her first sight of Jason: as she sees him enter the palace (Dido's temple again corresponds to Aeetes' palace) she immediately gives a sudden cry (άνίαχεν, Arg. 3.253) which foreshadows her love.85 Vergil suggests the same effect on Dido with obstupesco.^ Servius rightly says, animo perculsa est, quod iam futuri amoris est signum. Both women are rendered incapable of coherent speech for an instant. Once again, Dido closely recalls Medea right from her very first contact with Aeneas. But Vergil also has another Apollonian model: the meeting between Jason and Medea in the temple of Hecate later in Argonautica 3, a scene closely related to the instant at which Medea sees Jason in the palace.87 Medea arrives in the temple of Hecate first and waits for Jason to arrive. He finally does so in a flash of beauty and is compared to the

Knauer(1964)377. v' Hunter (1989) on 443-5. ^ Vian and Dclagc (199?-) 39. Hunter (1989) on 253. Campbell (1994) on 253-6 strongly disagrees. Herter (1944 -55) 368, Knox (1984). Horsfall (1995) 129; on the verb's associations with the lovc-at-iirst-sigiit topos see McKcown (1989) on Ov. Am. 9.37-8. Cairns (1989) 30 also shows the beauty o f the hero to be a royal trait; Dido is. o f course, struck bv more than jus! the physical beatiti' o f the man; see 4 J f v; Hunter (1989) on 962-3.

9ί>

CHAPTER THRF.F·:

star Sirius (Arg. 3.956-61). Soon after, the narrator again stresses his flame-like beauty (Arg. 3.1017-19). In Vergil it is Aeneas who at first waits in the temple until Dido makes her splendid appearance, the moment at which she is compared to Diana. The roles are soon reversed, however, when Aeneas appears out of the cloud and stands before Dido in all his beauty. Like Jason he shines in god-given splendour (refulsit, lumen, the girt of Venus (1.590), while Eros had bestowed beauty on Jason, /Irg. 3.10!8).ss Both Dido and Medea are stunned at the sight (cf. 1.613 and Arg. 3.962 -5). In each case a temple is the setting; and the first conversation will be held at this point between hero and heroine. In each poem also a bird omen closely associated with Venus-Aphrodite has guided the hero towards the place and the meeting with the woman.89 In addition, both Dido and Medea, on their way to the temple, have been compared to Diana Artemis. The scene in the temple of Juno thus fuses aspects of the two initial encounters of Jason and Medea, the first when the girl sees the hero enter the palace of Aeetes, and the second when she sees him appear in the temple of Hecate. The fusion of these two incidents forms part of a broader imitation involving two whole sections of Apollonian narrative in this part of Aeneid I. The section of Argonautica 3 which includes: (i) the Argonauts’ arrival, (ii) Jason’s entry into Aea and into the palace of Aeetes followed by (iii) a meal and the reception scene, provides the models for (i) the Trojans’ arrival, (ii) Aeneas’ entry into Carthage and arrival at the temple of Juno, followed by (iii) the reception scene. Woven into this Vergilian imitative pattern is also (a) the swan omen given by Venus, (b) the Dido-Diana simile and both (c) Aeneas’ first sight of beautiful Dido and (d) the queen’s first look at the splendid hero. These details are modelled on (a) Aphrodite's dove omen, (b) the Medea-Artemis simile and both (c) Medea’s first view of Jason in the palace and (d) the meeting between Jason and Medea in the temple. Those events, which Apollonius spreads over a considerable length of narrative and two locations, the palace of Aeetes and the temple of Hecate, Vergil contracts into a shorter space and a single place, the temple of Juno. There soon follows in Aeneid 1, however, Aeneas' entry into the palace of Dido. The reception scene ends with Aeneas greeting the comrades he had

“

See Hunter (1989) on !()!8 for reasons why "Τρως should be printed here and not έρως. See $ 1.iii above.

thought lost during the storm and a closing speech by Dido in which she compares her fate with that of the Trojans and invites them to stay in her city (1.610 -30). Vergil here refers once again to Circe (Od. i0.397-9; 325 35), as well as to scenes from the Lemnian episode in jygomiutica 1 modelled on Odysseus' encounter with Circe. Soon after, when Aeneas enters Dido's palace, provisions are sent to the Troians on the shore and a banquet is prepared in the queen's luxurious halls ( ! .63 1- 42); these events also recall the reception of the Argonauts on Lemnos.90 Nevertheless, Argonautica 3 remains influential as the dominant model for the broader narrative structure. When Jason arrives in the palace of Aeetes Apollonius briefly mentions the meal which takes place (Arg. 3.271 4) before Argus. Jason and Aeetes begin their exchange of speeches. This reception scene is distributed by Vergil when he describes the two stages of Aeneas’ reception in Carthage, first the meeting in the temple and then the banquet in the palace: Aeetes' palace becomes both Juno’s temple and Dido’s palace. Typically Vergift as if to draw attention to the distribution, creates close links between the temple and palace. The brief description of the splendour of Dido's palace and its decorations (1.637- 42) corresponds to the earlier description of the temple of Juno (1.446-9), so that Aeneas' entry into the temple is recalled as he enters the palace. The narrative moves on fluently and almost imperceptibly from one location to the other, as is quite fitting given that they both correspond to a single place in the Argonautica. Once the distribution of the Apollonian model is appreciated, it becomes clear that the banquet offered Aeneas by Dido corresponds exactly to that commanded by Aeetes for Jason.91 Behind both, of course, are the meals enjoyed by Odysseus in the palace of Alcinous in Odyssey 7 and 8. Some further details of these scenes will reveal the complex interplay between Homeric and Apollonian elements at the end of Aeneid 1. When Jason and his companions arrive in front of the palace of Aeetes Hera disperses the protective mist surrounding them. They enter the magnificent building and are seen, and hurried preparations for a meal begin ft-irg. 3.213 74). At this point the narrative is interrupted by the description of Eros' arrival at the palace and his

See § I! below. Campbell (1983) 24 correctly points out the difference in scale between the Apollonian feast and its counterparts in both Vergilian and later Latin epics. Vergil takes much of his detail from llomer but the meal in Apollonius still corresponds to the banquet in Dido’s halls in tiie context of the pattern linking Carthage and Colchis.

CHAPTER THRi-i·;

92

arrow-shot at Medea {Arg. 3.275--98);',': it resumes with the meat when, very briefly, Jason and his companions are said to have bathed and enjoyed food and drink (/frg. 3.299 301). This whole section of book 3 imitates Odyssey 7.81 177: Odysseus arrives in the palace of Alcinous, the enshrouding mist disappears, he is received, bathes and eats. In the succeeding scenes he spends the night in the palace, and the following day (Od. 8 .Iff) is again entertained to a great banquet by the Phaeacians; all this is contracted by Apollonius into the very brief three-iine account of the meal offered to Jason. Vergil has been shown to be imitating these Odyssean meals and entertainments at the end of Aeneid I,9'1 but he is also drawing on the corresponding Apollonian passages. When Aeneas enteis Dido's palace the preparations for a banquet are set in motion (mediisc/ue panini convivia tectis, 1.638). At this point the account of the meal is interrupted by Aeneas sending Achates back to the ships to fetch Ascanius and bring gifts for Dido (1.643- 56). Next, Venus intervenes to substitute Cupid for the son of Aeneas (1.657- 94). The substitute is then dispatched to Carthage and when he arrives in the palace the meal is just beginning (1.695-711). In the description of busy movement among the slaves and the gathering of the guests filling the hall (699-· 708) Vergil refers to Argonautica 3.270-74, where a crowd of people fills the court in Aeetes’ palace as the slaves busily prepare the meal. In addition, the way in which the scene between Venus and Cupid interrupts the account of the preparations of the banquet is modelled on Eros’ intrusion on the scene at Argonautica 3.275. In each case Eros/Cupid arrives in the midst of the activity associated with the organisation of the feast. The Apollonian origin of the Venus Cupid scene in Aeneid i has of course long been appreciated and the similarity between Venus sending Cupid to inflame Dido with love for Aeneas and Hera asking Aphrodite to send Eros to inflict love for Jason upon Medea is obvious. It is generally thought, however, that this is a single Apollonian episode set by Vergil in a completely Odyssean context. Such is not the case. Throughout the opening scenes in Carthage Vergil has both Homer’s Scheda and Apollonius’ Colchis in mind, and owes at least as much to Apollonius as to Homer (who of course: is still of fundamental importance). More detailed study of Venus’ intervention will shed further light on the extent to which the

t-ecney ( 1991) 8Ì. Knauer (1964) Ι64Γ. 172. 377f on Dido's banquet and the Phacacian entertainments ottered by Alcinous.

rm·: a r r i v a i , a n o r e c e p t i o n in c a r t u a g e

n

third book of the Argonautica influenced Vergil's Dido episode in Aeneie/ I.

vH. Venus, Cupid and Dido The many similarities and differences between Hera, Athena. Aphrodite. Bros and Medea in Apollonius, and Venus, Cupid and Dido in Vergil have been much discussed.94 The connections between the two narratives are obvious and the main similarities may be briefly listed. Hera, in order to aid Jason, seeks a δόλος (Arg. 3.12) with the assistance of Athena and Aphrodite and arranges for Medea to fall in love with him. Venus hopes to protect Aeneas through Dido's love, a manoeuvre which she calls a dolus (1.673, 682, 684; cf. 4.95, 8.393).‘b But Venus’ role also corresponds to that of Apollonius’ Aphrodite. As Aphrodite says to Eros, σύ δε παρθένον Αίήταο/ θέλξον όιστεύσας έπ' Ίήσονι (Arg. .3.142f; cf. 25- 8; 85f; 151-3), so Venus says to Cupid, sed magno Aeneae mecum teneatur amore (1,675)" As Aphrodite is a suppliant before Eros (Arg. 3.128), so is Venus before Amor (supplex tua numina posco, 1.666)/' Eros finally obeys: he makes his way to Aea, enters the palace, passes close to Jason and, crouched at his feet, fires an arrow into Medea (Arg. 3.28If);98 Cupid enters Dido’s palace, goes first to Aeneas and then sits on Dido's lap (1.715 -9)." Medea,01

01 See. e.g.. ifevne ami Wagner C1832—3D on !.657ίΐ. de La Ville de Mirmont (1894) 644-7. Bertrand (1898) 193-6, l.esky (1933). Kühn (1971) 35-40. 'λ' The use of trickery and deception is a recurrent motif in Apollonius, especially in hook 3 (Nelis 1992), and is present also in the Dido episode (for the doli o f Juno see 1.130. 4.128; for the elegiae background, Pichon (1902) 133. Cairns (1989) 1491'; also Putnam (1987) 185-91. Moskalew (1990)). When Dido deceives Anna about the reason for building a funeral pyre and carrying out magic rituals Vergil has in mind Medea's and Cbaleiope's attempts to deceive each other by hiding (heir true motivations. Twice in Aeneid 4 mention o f the motif recalls Venus' words to Cupid with terrible irony. Dido, getting wind o f Aeneas' decision to depart, suspects treachery (dolos praesensi!, 4,2960. although Aeneas had no intention o f leaving without explaining to D id o ....the only doli are those of the gods. Later, Mercury, urging Aeneas to depart quickly says of Dido, illa dolos dirumque nefas in pecione v e r sa ic e rta nion (4.5630 Dido at this point has no plans to harm Aeneas and it is she who is the victim of the doti of Juno and Venus. •See Austin (1971) for the correct meaning ol'this line. Z Hunter (1989) on 128. Via» (1961) (hi 281 remarks that it is almost as though the arrow comes from Jason himself; also Lennox (19.80) 68 and Feeney (1991) 8T 4. On one level Pros must he read as the personification o f Jason's powers o f erotic attraction. ' it should not be forgotten that the sending o f Cupid to the palace here recalls the scene in which Venus ushered Aeneas reginae ad limino (1.389). This parallel necessitates reading Cupid, on one level, as a personification o f the erotic interaction between Dido and Aeneas.

94

CHAPTER TI fiUTi

struck by Luos' arrow, is described thus: ουδέ τιν' άλλην/ μνήστιν έχεν (-1/%', 3.2890; Cupid works to drive ail memory of Sychaeus out of Dido's mind (1.7! 9-21). in each case the woman's thoughts begin to become completely centred on the hero. In each case also, the effect of the power of love is illustrated by fire imagery (/Dg. 3.287; 291 8 and 1.660; 673 f; 710; 713).f!j0 The most powerful and important of Vergil’s images for Dido’s passion is thus thoroughly Apollonian in origin.

Such detailed similarities are accompanied by significant variations.101 Vergil’s Cupid is no petulant child like Eros, who cheats Ganymede and is known to be a troublesome character (/Irg. 3.919; 114-27). tie is instead immediately and almost chillingly obedient when approached by Venus. 7'he manner in which lie then fakes off his wings and copies Ascanius’ gait ( 1.6891) pointedly inverts the action of Eros, who leaves Olympus to embark on a great flight towards Colchis (drg. 3.160 6). Eros fires his burning arrow into Medea before the meal actually takes place. Cupid’s attack on Dido is altogether different. He fires no arrow but, pretending to be the son of Aeneas while being caressed by Dido during the couj'se of the meal, gradually sets to work inflicting love on her. Whereas Medea falls in love for the first time, Cupid concentrates on Dido’s resides animos and desuetaque corda (1.722), as he drives out her memories of Sychaeus. This approach is more sinister, psychologically rather than physically painful, and as such more disconcerting than Eros’ action. It would be wrong, however, to write off Apollonius’ description of Eros as merely a light-hearted Hellenistic fantasy. Apollonius presents Eros both as the traditional winged, arrow-bearing child and as a powerful, indeed frightening, cosmic force whose actions will have profound and tragic consequences for both Jason and Medea.103 The love which he inflicts on the young girl will continue to dominate the rest of the poem and events beyond it. It was from Apollonius that Vergil took the idea of presenting Cupid as a cosmic force, whose power is underlined in Venus’ first address to him: naie, meae vires, mea magna potentia, solus/ patris summi qui tela Typhoea temnis,/ ad te confugio e! supplex tua numina posco ( 1.664-6), and in the description of Dido ignoram of

!!!l On the traditional nature of lire imaaerv in erotic contexts see Pease (1935) on Aen. 4.2. 11,1 Could the way Vergi! introduces Venus' intervention (At Cytherea novas artis, nova pectore versai constila . i.657!) draw attention to the novelties? Cf. arte nova o f Alleeto’s activities at 7.477 and see below ell. 7 §§ l.vi- viii for the Apollonian background there. ;ι,': Campbell (1983a) 18-22. ( 1994) on 135-41. I lunter {1989) on 164-6. Fecncv (1991) 82

πιι·: a k r ìv a l a n d R i-.crm os

in cartuaoi ·

95

insiditi c/uantus miserae deus (1.719; ci'. 4.94 where Juno describes Cupid to Venus as magnum et memorabile numen).™'' His aelion will help to destroy Dido just as Bros' activity ultimately has disastrous consquenccs for Medea. The dark tone of the Vergiiian imitation thus does not differ markedly from that of the model. The unsettling complexities of Apollonius' creation must not be overlooked. The close similarity of action linking Venus’ intervention at the end of Aertetd 1 to the Olympus scene at the beginning ο ΐ Argonm/iica 3 marks the culmination of a complex pattern of distribution of this model throughout Vergil's opening book. Earlier, in imitation of Hera's asking Aphrodite to send Eros to Medea, Venus’ complaints to Jupiter resulted in the sending of Mercury to Carthage to ensure that Dido would give Aeneas a friendly welcome. Soon after, Venus sent Aeneas himself towards Dido. The parallel between the missions of Mercury and Cupid is often remarked upon, but the recollection of Aphrodite’s sending her son Eros to Aea in Venus’ sending her son Aeneas to Carthage has gone unnoticed. The Vcmis-Cupid scene thus marks a threefold distribution in Aeneid 1 of a single Apollonian model. This technique allows Vergil to express the gradual intensification of the relationship between Dido and Aeneas in a unified pattern as Mercury, Aeneas and Cupid are in turn sent towards Carthage.HMAt first, Vergil omits the erotic motivation and Mercury is sent by Jupiter merely to make Dido well disposed towards tiie Trojans. Later, Venus intervenes again to usher her son into Carthage. As she does so she recounts Dido’s life story, presenting her as a natural counterpart to her son, in a scene already replete with erotic undertones. Finally, Venus sends Cupid to infiict love of Aeneas on Dido and the erotic element becomes explicit. There is no inconsistency in seeing Cupid’s mission as a duplication of Mercury’s. Mercury was sent on Jupiter’s decision. Later, Venus, for her own reasons and because of her own fear of Carthaginian treachery and Juno’s intentions (1.6611)/03 decides, having prepared the ground well during the meeting with Aeneas in the

l.csky ( 1953), Kuhn ( 197! ) 39, Venus' words to Cupid recall those of fiera to Zeus at //. 14.1981'. an allusion which emphasises Cupid's power; Lausberg (1983) 236. I.ausberg also notes (2351) the two-tier allusion involved in this imitation; this lliadic divine scene is one ol the models for Apollonius' Olympus scene. Vergil's main moilei here. On cosmogonic Eros in general. Waser (1907) 485 -7. West (1966) on 120. Rudhardt (1986), Calame (199!). (1996) 202-6. Campbell (1994) on Π 5-41. ! 59-63. for use of the same technique in hook 4. Otis (1964) 68 and below ch. 4. Kühn (1971) 36.

96

α ΐΛ Ρ Ί Ί -RTHlU-n

forest,11*’ (o go further and to plunge Dido fully into love with Aeneas. Comparison with Apollonius brings out the highly personal motivation behind this act. Hera wishes to protect Jason and to enable him to win the Fleece. She exploits Medea to this end, and also so that eventually Pelias may be punished for slighting her (Arg. 3.56-75).w' Venus is .similarly selfish and narrow-minded.1118 Fearing Juno and. unjustly,109 Dido (1.670-2), she uses the queen as a way of protecting her son from harm, caring little i'or the effect of this manoeuvre upon her. Venus' plan will in fact, like Hera's, have disastrous results for the human characters involved.

viii. Dido, Bitias and lopas The banquet organised by Dido in honour of the Trojans, the closing scene o f Aeneid 1, is described so as to recall the feasting scenes in the palace of Alcinous in Odyssey 7 8 and in the palace of Aeetes in Argonautica 3. This is a clear example of two-tier allusion, since the reception of Jason by Aeetes in his palace imitates the reception of Odysseus by Alcinous and Arete in Odyssey 7. The banqueting scene of Odyssey 8 is also imitated by Apollonius, in Argonautica 1: during the supper on the evening before the Argonauts' departure from Pagasae, Jason is insulted by Idas and Orpheus’' song restores cairn (Arg. 1.450 518), recalling Euryalus insulting Odysseus and Demodocus singing three songs to entertain the audience at the banquet in the hero’s honour (Od. 8.62-520).110 Vergil picks up both Apollonian imitations, and uses both in reworking Odyssey 7-8 at the end o f Aeneid 1 11 In what follows I will concentrate first on the importance o f Apollonius for the song of Iopas and its immediate narrative setting, taking some account of other sources exploited in this passage. Then it will be argued that his central models are Apollonius Rhodius and Empedocles. It should in the end become clear that realisation of the true importance of Empedocles for both Apollonius and Vergil provides a useful framework for reading the epic action of both the

l1 On archery in the Argonautica. iVschties ( i (>!2) 8f.

CllAPTLR FOUR

When Jason finally arrives in Colchis it is an arrow fired by Eros (Arg. 3.275-98) which leads to Medea's love and ensures success in winning the Fleece. This arrow, which burns deep into Medea's heart and lights a fiery passion,9 is shot from right beside Jason (/l/'.g. 3.2810 as Eros crouches at the hero's feet. This detail suggests that the scene may be read in two ways. On one level the god descends to inflict love on the maiden; on another the arrow comes in some sense from Jason himself,10 that is, Jason is the arrow and the figure of the hero inspires these reactions in the young giri. This suggestion takes on added significance from the earlier comparison o f Jason to Apollo, the archergod. Jason is portrayed at the start of the poem as a traditional hero, warlike 1.349) and armed for the trials ahead (Arg. i.266f). During the voyage victory often comes through an arrow-shot, whether by the god Apollo on the cloak or by Heracles killing the Giants (Arg. 1.989·· 1002). Jason's victory, however, will be thanks to Eros' arrow. Just as Heracles was unable to defeat (he Stymphalian birds with his arrows and had to rely on an alternative μητις (Arg. 2.1050; 1058). so Jason relies on μήτις, the δολόεσσαν αρωγήν/ Κύπριδος (Arg. 2.4230 and Eros' dart to win the Fleece." The figure of Eros the archer, therefore, is closely related to the nature of Jason’s heroism and fits into a pattern of references to archery in the work as a whole. Further echoes of the archery theme occur later in the poem. At Arg. 3.773f the virgin Medea in her agony over her love for Jason says that she would have preferred to have been killed by the arrows of Artemis before ever setting eyes on him ." She has, of course, been hit by a very different kind of arrow."' Soon after, at Arg. 3.876 84, as she makes her way to the temple of Hecate to meet Jason, Medea is compared to Artemis in a companion simile to the Jason- Apollo simile of the first book.1,1 Medea, struck by the arrow of Eros rather than by that of Artemis, is compared, just before her climactic meeting with Jason, to the goddess of the hunt. On one level, this brings out the tension between the contrasting powers of Aphrodite and Artemis in Medea's

On Apollonius' fire: imagery here. Nyberg (1992) 37-43. Campbell (1994) on 286bf. 287. 291. Vian ( 19b I ) on 281, Lennox (1980) 68: on the handling of Lros in general, Feeney (1991) 81-4. Albis (.1996) eli. 4. Feeney(1986)60. The arrows of Artemis were [bought to bring sudden death to women, often, but not exclusively, in child-birth; see Wernicke (1895) 1348. Hunter (1989) on 774. Nel is (1991) 102f.

1) 11)0

character.15*The opposition thus created is a potentially tragic one. as Euripides’ Hippolytus demonstrates. On another level, the comparison proposes Medea Artemis as a counterpart to Jason-Apollo. Later, another simile illustrates the result of this encounter between Jason the would-be archer and Medea the huntress. At the beginning of the fourth book a frightened Medea flees home, τρέσσεν10 δ' ήύτε τις κούφη κεμά.ς ην τε βο.θείης/ τάρφεσιν εν ξυλόχοιο κυνών έφόβησεν όμοκλη (/p-g. 4.12t). Medea as a fleeing κεμάς canttot but recall her earlier comparison to Artemis ranging over the hills followed by κεμάδεσσι (/p-g. 3.879).1, The huntress has become the hunted. A final reference to hunting unites Jason and Medea at a crucial moment. They set out to take the Golden Fleece, the narrator says, at the time before dawn when hunters get up to follow the fresh tracks of their prey (,~pg. 4.109 13).18 Here they are acting in unison and the moment of success for Jason, the actual winning of the Fleece, recalls the activity of a hunter. Once lifted, the Fleece is likened in size to the hide of a heifer or a stag {Arg. 4.174 -7), and with this comparison Apollonius rounds off the series of passages in which the relationship between Jason and Medea and the love which makes this success possible have been illustrated by hunting motifs. The passages in which Vergil uses hunting motifs in Aeneie/ 1 and 4 are well known. At 1.180 -94, after the landing in Libya, Aeneas hunts stags with bow and arrow (187) to feed his comrades. Soon after, as he explores the country, his mother Venus appears to him disguised as a bow-carrying huntress (1.314 -24), looking, in fact, much like Diana.19 At her first appearance (1.498..502) Dido is compared to Diana carrying a pharetram (500). Thus both Aeneas and Dido are presented as hunters, although of different kinds. Aeneas hunts for food and survival, as a leader who looks after his men.20 The comparison of Dido to Diana is more problematic. The simile closely imitates Apollonius' comparison of Medea to Artemis,21 and, exactly as in the model, Vergil

15 Hunter (1980) on 8831' l:' On the meaning o f this word (-- lied). Nel is (1991b). Reitz (1996) 10.3; note, however, Green (199?) 293. * Rose (1985) 37, Hunter (1987) 136, Reitz (1996) 104. Relevant here also is the simile describing Pros tit Arg. 3.2761'as a gadfly attacking heifers, with Medea as the heifer; see Hunter (19,89) ad loc. " On the further associations of this reference to hunting. Hunter (1988) 451 f. (1993) 16f. For the whole question o f epic narrative and initiation. Graf ( 1990) 358-60. in trying to identify iier Aeneas asks, an Phoebt soror'1 (1.329). On similarities between the disguised Venus and Diana, Austin (1971 ) on 320. ·’ Cairns (1989) 3 I. See above eh. 3 $ i.v for a full discussion o f the links between these two similes.

CHAPTER FOUR

hints at a similarity with Venus.'2 Both poets are playing with the tension between different aspects of the woman's character. In some ways the comparison between the queen and the chaste goddess of the hunt is inapt. Dido is a widow, not a virgin and, like Medea, is falling under the power of Venus. The Dido- Diana simile thus calls to mind the thematic ramifications of the Medea Artemis simile within the overall presentation of her relationship with Jason.“' Near the end of the first book Venus intervenes again, sending Cupid to inflame Dido with love for Aeneas {incendat, ignem, 1.660). Here begins the combined use of hunting and fire imagery to describe Dido's love. Venus says, capere ante dolis et cingere flamma / reginam meditor (1.673),24 and tells Cupid, occultum inspires ignem (1.688); this is exactly what he sets about doing (710, 713). Unlike the Apollonian Bros he does not fire an arrow such as that which burned like a flame in Medea's breast (/Irg. 3.2860 and set off, in secret (λάθρη, 296), a raging fire of passion (Arg. 3.291- 8). But the effect is the same. In the opening lines of book 4 Dido is, metaphorically, wounded (saucia, vulnus) and, secretly,"5 on fire (caeco ... igni) (4.1 ί). Instead of a flaming arrow fixed in her breast (Eros’ arrow burns ύπύ κ'ραδίη, /l/'g. 3.287, 296) there are the image and words of Aeneas, haerent infixi pectore vultus/ verhaqtie (4.4f), recalling how site herself earlier clung to Cupid, haec oculis, haec pectore toto/ haeret (1.7170Thus the image of the wound and the flame at the start of book 4 inevitably recall the flaming arrow of Eros fired into Medea, itself a figure for the physical effect of Jason on the young girt.26

Cairns (1989) 131. Otis (1964) 72 6 discusses Vergil's use of the similes which Apollonius applies to Medea and Jason but he consistently underestimates the complexity o f tile Argonautica The phrases capere dolis and cingere fiamma are generally taken to refer to the image of an attack or siege against a city (Newton (1957). Fenik (1959), Estevez (1978 -9). l.yne (1987) 18-20) but they also suggest the related image o f the hunt. Sec 77./. s.v. capere. 335.70 and Pease (1935) on angunt at 4.121, adding Apuleius. Met 4.20 and Claudian, Oe Belìo (itldonico 5%. pace Hall (1985) who prints lieinsius’ conjecture stringere instead of angere. -J l.vnc (1989) 172. * Heyne ami Wagner (1832 3'1) on 4.1-5. Henry ( 1873-92) on 4 .1f, Negri (1984) 313 16. Clausen (1987) 41. Here the wound and (lame are mingled in the recollection of Eros’ fiery arrow, pace Servius on saucia: e! bene ad Cupidinis leta, ul paulo posi ad faculum. ut ‘et caeco carpitur igni': nam sagittarum vulnus est. facis incendium. However Servius' distinction is interesting, as the torch motif will be important for Allecto’s action on Turnus in book 7. The opening lines of Aeneid 4 also apply to Dido other erotic motifs used by Apollonius o f Medea and this increases the force of the Apollonian reference here. The way in which memories of Aeneas haunt Dido as she sees his face and hears his voice (3-5, cf. 4. ! 1-14, 83) recalls Arg. 3.453-8 where

DIDO

Hunting imagery makes a more obvious reappearance when Dido's feelings intensify after her meeting with Anna and sacrificing (4.6-66). In a passage highly reminiscent of the opening of the booky/shc is compared to a wounded deer (66··-73): est mollis fiamma medullas interca ct tacitum vivit sub pectore vulnus, uritur infelix Dido totaque vagatur urbe furens, qualis conicela cerva sagitta, quam procul incautam nemora inter Cresia fixit pastor agens telis liquitquo volatile ferrum nescius: illa fuga silvas saltusquc peragrat Dictaeos; haeret lateri letalis harundo. Once again the motifs of the secret wound and flame illustrate Dido's passion, and reference is again made to Eros' arrow-shot, sub pectore (67) alluding to ύπό κραδίρ (Arg. 3.278)/'* And Apollonius is imitated in another way: the arrow which was so strikingly absent earlier, both at the end of book I when Cupid was sent to Dido and at 4 .1 5, finally makes its appearance, transposed from narrative to simile,2'1 as the arrow stuck in the flank of the wounded deer. The consistent linking of the motifs of fire and wound in books I and 4 allows the reader to appreciate the Apollonian origin of Vergil's imagery. The developing passion is repeatedly described in terms which recall a single passage of Apollonius, Eros' arrow shot. This technique of distribution is fundamental to the imitation of the Argonautica throughout Aeneicl 1 and 4. The Dido-deer simile must also be placed in the broader context of the whole series of hunting and archery motifs in Apollonius and

Jason has the same effect on Medea; Scaligcr (1561) 251. Conrardy (1904) 15. Pease (1935) on 3. Interestingly, Vergil adds Dido's awareness o f Aeneas' virtus and die honos ofhis ancestry to the qualities of Jason which attracted Medea. Dido is, unlike the voting girl, a queen and leader of her people; Bertrand (1898) 202, 2061'. Kosthorst (1933) 45-8. Hiigi (1952) 90 n.I. Monti (1981) 32. Cairns (1989) 43 η.54. Cf. also Dido and Medea unable to speak of their feelings. 4.76 and Arg. 3.683 -6 and Pease (1935) on 76; both weep bitterly on beds or couches, 4.82 fand Arg. 3.654-64 and Pease (1935) on 82. For imitation of Ennius. Lucretius and Catullus also, Clausen (1987)40f ’ flamma, uritur - ignis, vulnus vulnus, caeco ■■■taatum. pectore -- pectore, fixit tnfixt. haeret - haerent. See Newton (1957) 37f, Moskalew (1982) 166. :s Pease (1935) on 67, Campbell (1994) on 287. On the motif of the secret fire in each poet. Rutten (1912) 66. I Itisi {1952) 9 1. Campbell (1994) on 296. Lyne (1987) 194-6. (1989) 77-9; O'Hara (I990d) 336f, (1996) 129 notes that Acidalia (of Venus, 1.720) i.s an etymological allusion to cocte - dart, thus highlighting the absence of Cupid's arrow in book I. On Vergil's habit of turning narrative into simile. Briggs (1980).

i 32

OHAPTKR FOUR

Vergil. On one level it corresponds to the Medea-deer simile at Argonautica 4.121'.'’" Just as Medea was first likened to the huntress Artemis and then, in a dramatic transformation, to a hunted deer, so Dido first appears like the huntress Diana but is soon hunted by Venus and Cupid and ends up like a hunted, wounded cerva. Vergil follows closely the linked similes of Apollonius. But the connections go considerably further than this and involve the roles of Jason and Aeneas as well. Jason is a potential archer, as the Apollo simile suggests, but in the end it is Eros who fires the all-important missile. Aeneas hunts cervos (1.184) on the shore and kills them with his arrows (1.187), agens telis (1.191), and is sent towards Carthage and Dido by a Venus who is described as a quiver-bearing huntress. Later, however, Venus sends Cupid to Carthage and, although he ostentatiously fires no arrow. Dido is like a cerva wounded by a pastor described as agens telis but unaware (nescius, 4.72) of the effect of his action, it is surely impossible not to link Aeneas to the pastor of the simile.’1 As Aeneas resembled Apollonius’ Eros when Venus sent him towards Carthage and Dido’s threshold in book I, so, in this simile, he is linked indirectly, via the figure of the arrow-shooting shepherd, to Eros the archer. As shown above, the hero’s effect on Dido is the same as that of the god on Medea. Both Jason and Aeneas are thus clearly presented as at least potential archers in terms of the motif of the amatory hunt, symbolised above ail by the arrow shot by Eros in Argonautica 3 and the arrow in the deer simile in Aeneicl 4. Neither Apollonius nor Vergil presents the love as inflicted solely by the god of love, but Jason and Aeneas are both subtly depicted as having an erotic attraction which helps to explain the feelings of Medea and Dido on the purely human level, without, of course, relegating the god to the status of a mere symbol for human psychology.’’ This highly elusive handling of the male role is quite in keeping with that sense of epic decorum which balks at presenting the hero as a lover.’·’ In both Apollonius and Vergil it is the woman’s feelings which are made explicit while those of the man must be pieced together from hints and allusions scattered throughout the text. Both men react to emotional situations rather than taking the lead.

Otis (1964) 73f, Briggs (198!) 964 -6. Lyne (!987) 195. On the whole debate concerning the gods and human motivations Feeney (1991) is fundamental. liein/c (19157 123 n. 12, Cairns (1989) 49f. Horsfall (1995) 125.

133

d id o

Apollonius in no way suggests, at least in the early part of book 3, vi that Jason sets out to attract Medea. Vergil's pastor is explicitly and prominently, thanks to careful word placing, nescias/' When Aeneas hunts stags after his arrival in Libya he is modelled on Odysseus hunting on Circe's island. This activity, as already noted, is the act of a good king caring for his people.’6 The amatory hunt follows. A very different kind of hunt takes place on the fourth day of the Trojans’ stay in Africa....the hunt as royal sport. But in this episode Vergil recalls in many ways the earlier hunting motifs and here again the three central characters in this thematic network reappear, Dido, Aeneas and Ascanius/Cupid. Dido comes first (4.136 9) in a manner reminiscent of her first appearance, when she was compared to Diana; then Aeneas makes his entrance, looking like Apollo (4.143 -50), in a simile which is a close counterpart to the Dido -Diana simile:37 qualis ubi hibernam Lyciam Xanthique fluenta deserit ac Delum maternam invisit Apollo instauratque choros, mixtique altaria circum Cretesque Dryopesque fremunt pictique Agathyrsi: ipse iugis Cynthi graditur mollique fluentem fronde premit crinem fingens atque implicat auro, tela sonant umeris: haud illo segnior ibat Aeneas, tantum egregio decus enitet ore. Vergil is imitating Apollonius’ linkage of Jason and Medea through parallel Apollo and Artemis similes, although in reverse order.’8 The Apollo of the Vergiiian simile is, however, explicitly an archer, and an ominous one as his weapons ring on his shoulder, tela sonant umeris (4.149) in an echo of the pestilential arrows of Apollo at Iliad 1.46;’9 (Dido’s love is a pestis too (1.712; 4.90).JO) These arrows, absent in the

·’' ilis words later in the temple of Hecate are more problematic. See Hunter (1989) on 997-1004, (1993) 14 f. Goldhil! (1991) 301-5. Comparison with Jason here tends to cast Aeneas in a good light; see below § vi. " von Duhn (1952) 29f. Horsfall (1995) 130: l.yne (1987) 196, (1989) 78f uses the hunting imagery to arene that Aeneas actively ‘hunts’ ( - courts) Dido; on which see Horsfall (1995)1241'. ' :ί· Cairns (1989)31. " Püschl (1977s) 91 f. Austin (1955) on 142. ’* Otis (1964) 73f. On Apollonius' reworking of this 1iindie passage sec Feeney (1991) 75f. Hunter (1993) 76. The setting o f the Dido-deer simile of 4.69-73 in the woods of Crete {Crexia. 70) hints at the tradition that the Cretans used poisoned arrows; Horsfall (1995) 124 n.!3. The detail must pick up Venus' fallasque veneno at 1.688. For the cure, Morgan (1994). l.yne (1987) 123-5 Note also the use of νοΰσος o f Medea's symptoms at Arg. 3.676 with the comment οΠ lunter (19X9).

ClIAPTUR I OUR

Apollonian model simile, relate to the arrow of the deer simile applied to Dido and so indirectly to Eros' arrow. Again, Vergil follows remarkably closely Apollonius' play on the theme of archery and the roles of Eros, Jason and Apollo. Ascanius rejoices in the hunt (4.156 -9); meanwhile {interea, 4.160) the Junonian storm is gathering which will drive Dido and Aeneas together into the cave. Ascanius here cannot of course be his substitute, Cupid, since Venus intended Cupid's disguise to last only one night (1.683). Nevertheless, since Vergil has not actually described the boy's return and Cupid's departure for Olympus, a certain blurring of the distinction between the child arid the god may occur, if only for the second it takes to read 4.156, ai puer Ascanius mediis in vallibus .... Or perhaps for slightly more than a second, since Ascanius is here joyfullyhunting and hoping to come across a boar {spumantemente ... aprum, 4.1580- a detail which recalls the disguised Venus whose companion is spumantis apri cursum clamore prementem at 1.324. The real hunting of Ascanius tints recalls the motif of the erotic hunt involving Venus and Cupid in book 1 (esp. 1.673-5). Vergil has arranged a chilling juxtaposition: the boy's delight in his sport, and Aeneas and Dido making their way towards the cave on what is the dies primus led primusque malorum (4.169). The meeting in the cave marks the culmination not only of the process which has drawn the queen and the hero ever closer together but also of the nexus of hunting motifs which has illustrated that process. But this episode does not end the exploitation of the imagery of wound and flame. As has been well discussed elsewhere, the fire that illustrates Dido's love represents also her blazing hate when she sees her love spurned,41 and on the pyre the Haines and her wound {infixum stridit sub pectore vulnus, 4.689) will be tragically real.42 The primaryreference of vulnus and its position sub pectore a motif whose Apollonian origin, the arrow of Eros burning in Medea's breast, has been illustrated above....is now to earlier passages in Aencid 4 (4.1, 4, 67). Once borrowed from the Argonautica, the image takes on a life of its own within the thematic patterns of the Aeneid. When Aeneas later meets Dido in the Underworld the same idea is used to describe her; she is still recens a vulnere Dido (6.450). The above discussion traces the Apollonian model underlying the progression in the Aeneid from hunting for survival, the motif of the12

11 Newton (1957). Ferguson ( 1970-1 ). 12 Otis (1964) 7 If. Ferguson (1970--I). Lync (1989) 179-81.

erotic hunt and the metaphorical wound, to the hunt as royal sport, and finally to Dido's very real wound. Throughout, Dido is modelled on Medea. This is most obvious in the Diana and deer similes, but the whole complex of related motifs woven throughout the story into a coherent structure supplements such individual instances of close similarity and constantly relates the experiences of the queen of Carthage to those of the Colchian princess. The last word here, however, will go to Aeneas. The Aeneas Apollo simile refers to the Jason-Apollo simile at Argonautica 1.307..9, and also to related passages of the Argonautica which mention the god.'1'’ When the Argonauts leave Pagasae they beat the waves with their oars as youths dancing in honour of Apollo at Pytho beat the ground with their feet (Arg. 1.536-41); Pytho and Apollo recall the simile applied to Jason as he left home, another moment of departure. Vergil notices this link and alludes to it by including dancing: cf. instauratque choros and χορόν ... στησάμενοι (4.145 and Arg. 1.536 -8); altaria circum and περί βωμόν (4.145 and Arg. 1.538). Vergil also refers to the epiphany of the god at Thynias (related to the Jason Apollo simile through mention of Lycia, as noted above), taking from it the physical description of the god — his clothes, his hair, his beauty and his leaving Lycia (4.143, Arg. 2.674) rather than going there as in the Jason-Apollo simile. As he passes over Thynias Apollo is en route from Lycia to the land of the Hyperboreans (/(/■£. 2.674f). Vergil’s Apollo leaves Lycia and Xanthus (Xanthique fluenta: cf. Ξάνθοιο ροησι. Arg. 1.309, in each case at the end of the line) for Delos (4 ,143f, Arg. ! .3080· Vergil subtly alludes to the god’s Apollonian destination, however, when he describes the Agathyrsi (4.146) dancing in his honour. Servius, on 146, says of this tribe, populi sunt Scythiae, colentes Apollinem Hyperboreum 44 Vergil adds the detail that Apollo leaves hibernam Lyciam, making his spring return to Delos. The variation is significant and must be related to the fact that both the Apollo similes imitated here are placed at moments of departure. The point is obvious. Aeneas’ stay in Carthage will be temporary and he too will depart. Aeneas’ clanging weapons reinforce this hint, alluding as they do (see above) to an Iliache description of Apollo the plague-bringer, a passage which Apollonius had inverted when he described the glorious apparition of Apollo on Thynias.'*5

“ Conrardy (1904) 3 If. Pease (1935) on 143.145 and 147, Paschalis (1986) 59f. (.'lausen (1987) 221'demonstrating Calliniachean influence. Formicola (1989) 272 - 84. Onte (1994) 226-9. il Clausen (1987) 133 n.31. Humer Π 993) 76.

CHAPTER FOUR

ii. Anna Much attention has been given both to the relationship between Dido and Anna,'16 and to Vergil’s indebtedness for it to Apollonius.'1’ Nevertheless, much has been missed. Dido and Anna meet four times in Aeneie/ 4 and in each case Vergil reworks the single meeting between Medea and her sister Chaiciope in Argonautica 3. A detailed reading of the distribution of this influential Apollonian scene reveals important aspects of the structure of the Vergilian narrative and the development of Dido's relationship with Aeneas, After listening to Aeneas' narration of his adventures Dido’s sleep is troubled by dreams. At dawn, she goes to see her sister, Anna (4.6f). Mer first words, Anna soror, quae me suspensam insomnia terrent (4.9), refer directly to Argonautica 3.636 where Medea, waking from a dream-filled sleep a few hours after seeing Jason for the first time, exclaims, Δειλή έγο’>ν. οιόν με βαρείς έφόβησαν ονειροι iylrg. 3.636).1S Medea decides to go to see her sister Chaiciope (/I/·#. 3.646t) because of her frightening dream,'19 but she hesitates, and finally it is her sister who comes to visit her. The meeting between the two women (Arg. 3.669-743) leads eventually to Medea’s decision to help Jason win the Fleece. The struggle between her love for Jason and her devotion to her family, so vividly illustrated in the dream, is at least temporarily (/fig. 3.741-3) settled by the conversation with her sister. Soon, however, anguished indecision reappears and leads to a second passionate soliloquy (/fig. 3.771 801). Vergil makes Dido the victim of a similar struggle and allots the same function to the meeting between the two sisters. The queen is torn between her growing love for Aeneas and her vow of fidelity to her dead husband Sychaeus (4.15-29), just as

10 Snerbami) (1980) 220f. D'Arma (1984). Castellani (1987). 1 On the similarities between Anna and Chaiciope, Heyne and Warner ( 1832-3') on 9f, Conington and Nettleship (I883-41) on 4.8. Bertrand (1989) 203-6, Rotten (1912) 67, Kosthorst (1933) 79-82. Williams (1972) on 4.1f ,|S Scaligcr ( 156 ! ) 25 I. Conington and Nettleship (1883-4') on 4.9. Conrardy (1904) 15. Unlike Apollonius. Vergil does not reveal the exact content of the dream, only that it involves Aeneas; Perutelii (1994) 37-40. For comparable scenes involving dreams in epic and tragedy. Bongi (1946). Buhler (I960) 60f. Skutsch (1985) 193f. Kievans (1993), Perutelii (1994), Goldberg (1995) 96-101. Ennius' ilia is a particularly important model here; on Ennius and Apollonius, Bongi (1946). Krevans (1993). Permeili (1994) 361'. For another example o f imitation linking Apollonius. Ennius and Vergil, see von Albrecht (1969). Skutsch (1985) 6841'. Ehe fragmentary state o f the evidence makes it impossible even to guess the influence o f Apollonius on early Roman epic. Note, however. Delasie (1935). Nelis (2000). On which see Kessels (1982) 158-61.

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i 37

Medea is torn between love of Jason and loyalty to Aeetes.50 Each feels shame (cf. piuiot\ 4.27, 55 and αϊδοΐ. Λ/·#. 3.649 and also 652f, 659, 681, 742) because of her feelings for the stranger,'1 and each contemplates suicide (cf. 4.24-9 and Arg. 3.798--801, both at the end of a speech).5“ Medea conceals her love from Chaiciope and lies about her dream, cunningly pretending (δόλω, Arg. 3.687) that it foretold dangers for the sons of Chaiciope (Arg. 3.688- 92).5' Chaiciope has already been asked by Argus to persuade Medea to help the Argonauts (Arg. 3.475-88; 6671). and sees that something is seriously troubling Medea, although she does not know that it is love for Jason (.Trg. 3.674-7); but she pretends in turn that concern for her sons is the real reason for her visit (Arg. 3.701-3), and asks Medea to find ή δόλον ή u v a μητιν (Λ/'g. 3.720) to help Jason. Both women are guilty of deception, and Chalciope’s actions, encouraging Medea to get involved on the side of the Argonauts and Jason,5i will have terrible consequences. The situation with Dido and Anna is in important ways similar and the outcome of the meeting with the sister will be equally tragic. Dido, unlike Medea,55 does not conceal her emotions from her sister, but frankly declares her feelings and misgivings. Anna, more aware than was Chaiciope of her sister’s state of mind, replies with a speech which recommends Dido to give way to her love, and offers good reasons, practical and political, for doing so (4.31-53), even (like Chaiciope) proposing deceit, causas innecte morandi (4.51). Anna is here guilty of a tragic lack of judgement.56 Like Chaiciope, who cannot know the turn events will take as she urges Medea to help the Greeks, Anna underestimates the strength of Dido’s feelings and of her moral

w Bertrand ( 1898) 202f. Conrardy ( 1904) 16. Otis ( 1964) 77. Phmney ( 1965). >! Dido's pudor may be deeper, more complex, and profoundly moral (iieinze (1915'i 125Γ, Pease (1935) on 27. Moles (1987) 155. Otis (1964) 77ft on αιδώς in general, Cairns (1993)) but its motivating role in her emotional turmoil corresponds exactly to that played by Medea's maidenly sitarne. Naevius' Dido and Anna are surely relevant to this context but the influence o f Apollonius is obvious nonetheless, litigi (1952) 92 wrongly argues that Naevius alone is the model. If Naevius did use Apollonius as a model (see Mariotti (1955) 1.3-16, Barchicsi (1962) 274-7. Haussier 8 In fact, Chalciope in Argonautica 3 is modelled on the same figure.59 So here, as elsewhere, Vergil's debt to tragic sources in the Dido episode is closely related to his use of Apollonius, who in turn is much indebted to Greek tragedy for the action of the third book.60 But in the passage under consideration, Vergil has yet another Apollonian mode! for Anna, also with origins in drama: Polyxo in the Lemnos episode in Argonautica 1. The Lemnos episode itself borrows many motifs from tragedy,61 and Polyxo mayhave played a role in Sophocles The Lemmon Women/’2 She is the aged counsellor who encourages Hypsipyle to ask the Argonauts to stay on the island after the queen has tried to persuade her companions to keep them away from the city. Polyxo (Λ/'g. 1,675- % ) concentrates on the political and practical reasons for inviting Jason into the city, and begins her speech by reminding the Lernnians of the danger of violent attack from the Thracians or some other enemy (Arg. 1.677-80). Anna's speech opens with the sexual and personal aspects of Dido's feelings for Aeneas (4.31-8), but goes on to stress the dangers which surround her kingdom, unconquered Gaetulians, violent Numidians and wild Barcaeans (4.39-42), and adds, cinici bella Tyro surgentia dicam/ germanic/ne minas? (4.43f). As shown earlier when the similarities between Carthage and Lemnos in Aeneid 1 were discussed,6’ Dido and Hypsipyle are in the same situation, both reigning queens facing possible revenge attacks as well as danger from other sources. Polyxo and Anna play on this fear of attack when they recommend the

Meinzc ( 1915h 126. D'Anna (1984) 180, i:< Cf. especially Phaedra in Euripides' Hippolytus, a play both Vergil and Apollonius have in mind; Cairns ( 1080) 135. 57 Herter ( !944-55) 3741', Campbell ( 1983) 41 f. Hunter 11989) on 674-80. 734. Herter (1944 -55) 309, 344-8, Campbell (1983) 39-48. Vian and Delagc (I995:)· (1980) 3-5. Hunter (1989) 181'. Sophocles’ Colchum Women must have beer, particularly influential; Hunter (1989) on 616-824. On tragedy in Apollonius and his mediating role between Vergil and Euripides in particular see Cairns (1989) 135. 1491'. ül Vian and l.)elage( 1976)251'. Vum and Dditgc (1976) 21. Radi (1977) on ir. 387. Campbell (1983) HI n.26. Lloyd-Jones ( 1996) 205. Por a list o f the plays on this subject, Radi (1985) 233. 61 See above eh. 3 § Π.

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advantages οΓ a ensuring the presence of a male protector.*’4 Both end their argument with the idea o f politic al unionZ0 Poiyxo advises that the Lemnians should confide their homes, their belongings and their whole city to the care of the Argonauts as a solution to their problems (Arg. 1.6950· Anna goes further (4.47 9): quatti tu urbem, soror, hanc cornos, quae .surgere regna coniugio tali! Teucrum comitantibus armis Punica se quantis attollet gloria rebus!

To the idea of security Vergil adds the increase in Punic power if the armed strangers are recruited a variation with special force for Roman readers. Anna is therefore a fusion of Poiyxo and Chalciope, perhaps suggested to Vergil by the similar function the two women have in the model, as the advisers who encourage Hypsipyle and Medea to become involved with Jason, Poiyxo showing how the hero can help Hypsipyle, Chalciope urging Medea to help the hero. Anna’s words take effect and fan the Harnes of Dido’s love (4.54): spemque dedit dubiae menti solvitque pudorem (4.55). After speaking with Chalciope Medea says, έρρέτω αιδώς (Arg. 3.785), as she decides to help Jason, in each case the meeting with the sister has played an important role in overcoming pudor/αιδώς and in deciding the course of action to be followed. Although Medea’s terrible fears persist after the conversation with her sister, Chalciope’s words help tilt the balance. After her meeting with Anna, Dido receives apparently favourable omens from her sacrifices, and her love finally rims riot, totaque vagatur/ urbe furens (4.68f)· When night falls Medea is unable to sleep while all around her enjoy peaceful rest, and her torment enters a new stage (Arg. 3.744 824). Dido is unable to sleep during the quiet calm of night (4.81 f) as her love deepens. It is at this point that Juno and Venus intervene to plot the wedding in the cave (4.90 128), when Dido will yield to the force of her passion. The conversation between Medea and Chalciope similarly prepares the way for the meeting in the temple of Hecate, when Medea

"l Kosthorst (1933) 79-82 underestimates the importance o f the similarities between Poiyxo and Anna. Anna's words recall Dido’s at 1.572. vultis et his mecuni panier considere regnisΤ’ On this see Horsfall (1989) 19 22. many o f whose comments about the situation in Carthage and stones o f colonisation are applicable to Lemnos and a number of other episodes o f the Argonautica, cf. Dougherty ( 1903) 38. Palombi (1993) 164. Bramici (1994) 32-9; on Apollonius as an author o f χτίσεις and on the Argonautic voyage rationalised as a title of colonisation see above ch. 2 p. 24 and n.12 and below eh. 10.

CHAiHTK FOUR

will give in to her feelings for Jason and offer to help him carry out the task set by Aeetes. Both meetings are replete with wedding imagery:66 Jason offers Medea marriage if she goes to Greece (Arg, 3.1128- 30) and Dido (mis)cails her encounter with Aeneas a ccmiugium. Apollonius precedes the meeting with a little scene in which a crow (a mouthpiece of Hera) mockingly addresses the seer Mopsus, telling him that he is ignorant in matters of love, and that Jason should go alone to his rendezvous with Medea in the temple (Arg. 3.932 -7). Vergil likewise introduces the concept of the useless seer at a corresponding stage in the narrative, between the meeting with Anna and the union in the cave, when Dido sacrifices (principally to Juno) in a temple, and the narrator exclaims hen valum ignarae mentes! quid vota furentem,/quid delubra invanì? (4.65 f, cf. άκλειής οδε μάνας. Arg. 3.932); and again ignorance of love is the crucial point.67 The scene of Dido and Anna's meeting at the start of Aeneid 4 and its Apollonian models are reworked later in the book when Aeneas has decided to depart and love begins to give way to despair and hatred in Dido's heart.1,8 Dido now speaks to Anna for the second time and sends her to persuade Aeneas to stay in Carthage, at least for a while longer. The attempt fails: Aeneas maintains his decision to obey the command of the gods and sail for Italy (4.413 -49). Dido returns to the altars (cf. 4.453, recalling 4.56-63 and Medea's visit to the temple),69 but this time ghastly ill-omens result (4.452 65, recalling 4.63f).711 She now fearfully remembers the valum praedicta priorum (4.464, valum recalling 4.65 and Arg. 3.932), and suffers another frightening dream (in somnis. 4.466, recalling insomnia, 4.9 and Medea’s dream) in which she is pursued by Aeneas (4.4651); and she is compared to Pentheus and Orestes on the tragic stage (4.469..73). Vergil recalls here, through the reappearance of the flight-motif, the Diclo- deer simile (and so indirectly its model in the Medea deer simile of Argonautica 4.12f). There, the pastor (to be linked with Aeneas and Cupid) chased the deer (agens, 4.71); here, Dido dreams that Aeneas pursues (agil, 4.465) her.

Irj For wedding ritual in the Medea Artemis simile and .surrounding narrative, Campbell (1983) 58f. Humer (1989) on 869-86. Bcyc (1993) 2101' sees Apollonius hinting at sexual intercourse between Jason and Medea in his description o f (heir passionate encounter in the temple: Vergil may have read it in the same way since he imitates it with tltc encounter in the cave; on which see further § iv below. Conrardy (1904) 18; see also O'Hara (1993) on this passage. (’s On the reworking o f motifs from the opening scenes o f Aeneid 4 in the later parts of the book, Otis (1964) 68, 84f. 95. Moorton (1990), von Duhn( 1952) 48f. Otis (1964) 68, 84, Moorton (19901 158.

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Orestes ilees the Furies {scaenis agitatus ...fugit, 4.471 -3)just as the deer takes flight {fuga, 4.72; cf. τρέσσεν at Arg. 4.12). Once again too, as at 4.5-8 (c f Arg. 3.616-80), the dream leads on to a meeting with her sister. Dido approaches Anna, now for the third time (4.476)/1 seeking help of a very different kind. She has decided to kill herself (4.475). This time (in contrast to the first meeting with Anna) she hides her true motives (4.474-7), just as Medea, driven by frightening dreams, deceived Chalciope (Arg. 3.686 92, see above). Dido deceives her sister by concealing her suidice plans, saying that she has found a way either to bring Aeneas back to her or to cure her of love (4.4781). Dido's plans for suicide involve magic and provide one of the best known examples of imitation of the Argonautica in Aeneid 4, that of Apollonius’ description of the magical powers of Medea, the priestess of Hecate/2 Vergil’s debt to Apollonius here, however, has not yet been explored fully. When Dido decides to use the powers of magic, she enlists the aid of a Massylae gentis ... sacerdos (4.483) whose description (4.478 -91) shows her to be closely modelled on the figure of Medea, the Colchian priestess of H ecate/' She comes from the western edge of the world near Atlas (4.480-82) just as Medea comes from the far eastern edge of the world,7'1 and her charms (carminibus, 4.487) correspond to Medea’s magic chants (Arg. 4.147, 157). Both can stop the flow of rivers and turn back the courses of the stars (cf. 4.48975 and Arg. 3.5321). Vergil’s priestess has control over the powers of the Underworld (nocturnosc/ue movet Manes: mugire videbis/ sub pedibus terram, 4.4901), emphasising the menacing atmosphere surrounding Dido’s involvement in the world of magic; Dido is of course already planning her death. Medea invokes Βριμώ νυκτιπόλον ... (Arg. 3.862) before cutting the Titan’s root, and as she does so Prometheus groans and the earth roars, μυκηθμω δ' ύπένερθεν έρεμνη σείετο γαΐα ... έστενε 5' αυτός/ Ίαπετοΐο πάις (Arg. 3,864-6).

;| In each case Dido's speech to her sister is 21 lines long. 4 9-29, 416-36. 478-98. ’2 Hevne and Wagner (1832-3') on 4.478IT, I lemze (1915’) 141-3, Conrardy ( 1904) 21. Richon (1909). Ratten (1912) 72 f. Cariarti (1926)327. Ungi (1952) 95, Tnpet (1970). (1976) 232-66. On other sources, especially Theocritus, Id. 2 and Vergil. E d. 8 see Pease (1935) on 478-521 passim. See also Macrobius, Sat 5,19.8- i f citing Sophocles’ Rhizotomoi. a play almost certainly imitated by Apollonius also in describing Medea's magic rituais: i lunter (1989) index ,v.v. Sophocles. 75 Conington and Nettleship (1 8 8 3 -4 ) on 485f. Conrardy (1904) 2 1f. Rotten (1912) 72f, Cairns (1989) 145. 1 Por l.ibva and Colchis as the ends of the earth see Arg. 1.83-5, Hunter (1989) on 161f. Nel is (1990) 143. For much information on these traditional magic powers. Pease (1935) on 489,

αίΛ ΡΊΐ·:« i-o u r

One last detail in Vergil’s description o f the Massylian priestess should be mentioned, since it involves imitation of another section of the Argonautica. Before coming to Carthage she had been (4.484-6): I lespcridum templi custos, epulasque draconi quae dabat et sacros servabat in arbore ramos, spargens umida mella sporiferumque papaver. This alludes to the well-known story of the Golden Apples guarded by the Hesperides and a dragon in the garden of Atlas.76 Understanding of these lines depends on knowledge of a scene in Argonautica 4. In his Libyan episode Apollonius tells how Heracles killed the dragon and carried off the apples of the Hesperides (4/;g. 4.1395 449. Heracles’ actions have of course made the priestess redundant, which is why Vergil uses the past tense {dabat, servabat)?' Now, in the Argonautica the taking of these Golden Apples by Heracles is a doublet for Jason’s taking of the Golden Fleece. Typically, therefore, Vergil fuses aspects of the two scenes here.78 The description of the priestess sprinkling honey and sleep-bringing poppies cannot but recall Medea drugging the serpent at Argonautica 4.156 9.79 It is generally and correctly remarked that by turning to magic Dido resembles Medea. But it is actually the Massylian priestess who is most closely linked to Medea here. Dido does exploit the power of magic, but reluctantly (as she claims, invitam, 4.493; note, however, 5171), and through the intermediacy of a practised helper rather than alone. Site is thus not quite like Medea and never herself becomes a witch figure.80 In fact, the priestess advises Dido much as Medea informs Jason about the magic rituals he must perform in order to survive his encounter with the fire-breathing bulls of Aeetes. Both Jason and Dido resort to a Hecatean priestess and her magic when ail other options seem hopeless. Further perusal of Argonautica 3 reveals additional Apollonian influence on this section of Aeneid 4. After her meeting with Chaiciope, Medea’s anguished indecision drives her to contemplate suicide and she opens a box of drugs to find a poison, but Hera

7,1 Pease (1435) on 484 " CT sacros servabat arbore ramos and παγχρύσεα ρύετο μήλα {,·(/·£. 4.1397); cf. Hesiod. Ih. 335. Rütte» (1912) 72. l-lügi (1952) 66 n.4. Tx Pease (1935) on 486. Williams (1972) on 4.484t'. The fusion of the two sources is marked by the line spargens umida mella soporiferumque papaver (4.486) which coheres badly with the priestess' role as protector o f the Golden Apples but sits well with the list o f Iter Medca-like magical powers. The problem has caused much discussion from Servius onwards; Pease (1935) on 486, Newman (1990) 413F. 7>' R im e tti! 912}

72f.

Tupet (1970) 234f

143

intervenes and rekindles her desire for life. Medea is now af last determined to help Jason and the drugs will be used to that effect {Arg. 3.798 -824). At dawn she takes the Prometheion, the drug which wili enable Jason to defeat the bulls and the earthborn men. Both it and the magic ritual Medea performed while gathering it {Arg. 3.851-66) are described in great detail, thereby emphasizing Medea's magic powers which will ensure Jason's success. At least for an instant, however, when Medea thought o f poisoning herself, Apollonius had linked magic and suicide. What is in Apollonius a momentary possibility averted by divine intervention is central to the action of the Aeneid. In other ways Vergil closely follows this section of the Apollonian narrative. Ritual preparation of the pyre is undertaken by the priestess accompanied by Dido (4.504 -21). Among the gods invoked by the sacerdos is tergeminamque Hecaten, (ria virginis ora Dianae (4.511), also invoked by Medea as ßrimo {Arg. 3.86(f)·81 The Massylian priestess sprinkles herbs gathered by the light of the moon, cut by bronze sickles (4.513) and containing a milky black poison {pubentes herbae nigri cum lacte veneni; 4.5 14). The juice which Medea gathers82 on a moonless night {Arg. 3.863)8' is said to be like the black liquid of a mountain oak (Arg. 3.858).8'1 Medea chooses a drug capable of rendering Jason invincible for a short period. Dido uses magic rites, so she tells Anna, for a very different purpose: either to possess Aeneas, or to free herself from love of him {inveni, germana, viam (gratare sorori)/ quae mihi reddat eum vel eo me solvat amantem, 4.4781)· The inclusion of magic ritual at this point in the narrative imitates Apollonius, although its ostensive purpose is closer to that of the rituals employed by Simaetha in Theocritus' second Idyll, already imitated by Vergil in the eighth Eclogue,85 But Dido’s use of magic may go further than pulling the wool over Anna’s eyes. Her suicide, the culmination of the whole process of magic rituals performed by the priestess, may be intended to be a revenge-suicide, a means of inflicting punishment on

On Brimo as 1locate. Vian and Delage (1995') 1361'cm 862. *·’ Hunter (1989) cm 8581'. Hunter (1989) on 863. On these similarities, Kütten (1912) 72f. Pease (1935) on 514. Prcshous (1964-5) 12, Briggs (1981)960. ^ On Theocritean influence, de i.a Ville de Mirmont (1894) 154. Tupet (1970) 234-9. (1976) 257. Tupet notes also the imitation o t' Eclogue 8; Vergil's reference to both this poem and Id. 2 is a good example of two-tier allusion involving self-reference. Cairns (1989) 144-6 compares the role o f erotic magic in elegiac love poetry. For similar magic in later epic. Gordon (1987).

i 44

CHAPTER FOUR

Aeneas, as detailed in her curse on the pyre.s0

ì 67

to kill herself immediately (Arg. 3.798-801), but when she goes to find a poison among Iter drugs Mera intervenes to make Medea fear death and recall the pleasures of life. At last, her struggle resolved, Medea decides to provide Jason with the help he needs {Arg. 3.802 19). Dido will receive no such decisive divine counsel; Juno will merely ease her death agonies at the very end of book 4. While Dido suffers her lonely night of anguish, Aeneas sleeps. His rest is interrupted by a dream-vision of Mercury, making his third and final intervention to frighten the hero into leaving immediately (4.55370).1H'· At dawn, after a speech to his comrades, Aeneas cuts the mooring ropes and the Trojan fleet sails away from Carthage (4.57185). Vergil here imitates the departure of the Argonauts from Colchis.18,1 After taking the Golden Fleece, Jason returns to the Argo at dawn, Ήώς μέν ρ' έπΐ γαιαν έκίδνατο {Arg. 4.183). Vergil’s description of dawn adapts a Homeric formula,18'1 et ioni prima novo spargebat lumine terras/ 'fithoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile (4.584t). Aurora’s departure from Tithonus5 bed is perfectly apt in the circumstances, but spargebat has no Homeric equivalent. It means the sante as Apollonius’ έκίδνατο, although Vergil uses it transitively.185 At the moment of his departure from Colchis Jason encourages his men {Arg. 4.190-205) before cutting the mooring rope, ό δέ ξίφος έκ κολεοιο/ σπασσάμενος, πρυμναΧα νεώς άπο πείσματ' έκοψεν (Arg. 4.2071). Aeneas makes a brief speech (4.573-9; with considite 4.573, ef. έζόμενος, dry. 4.200). and then: dixit vaginaque eripit ensem/ fulmineum strictoque ferit retinacula ferro (4.5791).186 In both of these cases the incident has strong symbolic significance; Jason cuts Medea off from Colchis.18' and Aeneas withdraws from Carthage and cuts all links with Dido.188 Both men depart in haste. The Trojan crews and the Argonauts are both keen to be away and row swiftly (cf. 4.582f and Arg. 4.2101). As dawn breaks to end Dido’s night of torment, she sees the Trojan

ix:

m "" ,s’ !S"’ _ ls m

Harrison (1982). f'eeney For the most satisfying chronology see Pease (1935) on 6.

DIDO

Colchis at night (/Irg. 2. i 260)"16 and spend this first night on board ship in the River Phasis. Second day The following day (cf. the dawn at 1.306, Od. 6.48 and Arg. 2.1285) Aeneas enters Carthage and goes first to the temple of Juno and, later, to the palace of Dido, just as Odysseus enters the city and palace of Alcinous,217 and Jason enters Aea and the palace of Aeetes. This is the Trojans’ second day in Libya, at this point corresponding to Odysseus’ first in Selleria and Jason’s first in Colchian Aea. Dido and Aeneas meet on this first day in the city, her first sight of the hero having a considerable effect on the queen (1.613). In Aea, Jason and Medea see each other as the Argonauts enter the palace, Medea being deeply affected by her first glimpse of the hero (Arg. 3.247-53), but they do not actually speak. The banquet offered by Aeetes and the reception scene follow, still in the palace. Jason and Medea first meet during the Argonauts’ second day in Colchis, in the temple of Hecate. Whereas Apollonius puts the first sighting of Jason by Medea and the banquet and reception scene in the palace on day I, and their first meeting in the temple on day 2, Vergil describes a reception scene during which Aeneas and Dido first set eyes on each other and then meet in the temple of Juno, followed by the banquet in the palace, ail on day 2. While the banquet is being organised, Eros and Cupid enter the palace and soon the fires of love begin to blaze in Medea and Dido. Medea watches Jason during the meal and the following reception, and her fiery love grows in the process (Arg. 3.443—71, esp. 446f)·2'8 Aeneas watches Dido during the reception scene with Ilioneus, but later it is Dido who watches Aeneas during the banquet as he recounts the story of the fall ofTroy and his wanderings at sea in A eneidi and 3. As she does so her love grows and at the start of the fourth hook she is consumed by passion. When the hero has departed at the end of the banquet both women continue to see his image and hear his voice (cf. 4.4f and Arg. 3.453-6). Aeneas’ narrative during the banquet thus corresponds in its placing to the banquet and reception scene in Aeetes’ palace. The original model for both is Odysseus’ account of his

The day-time landing in Vergil, a variation on Apollonius, is due to imitation of ! iomcr (Knauer (1964) 173-7, 3731) and Naevius (see Servius on 198) in the ensuing scenes...- the hunting, the meal and Aeneas' speech o f encouragement — which are important for the characterisation of Aeneas and the initiation of the hunting motif. 1,7 Knauer (1964) 153f •m Humer (1989) on 446-7.

CHAPTl-R FOUR

adventures in Alcinous' palace during the banquet arranged by Alcinous, and Vergil's most direct imitation is Odyssean (books 2-3 corresponding to Od. 9-12), but the Apollonian model remains active.219 Both women look on in growing amorous wonder at the hero. Following directly in the wake of Aeneas’ story the description of Dido’s love in the first five lines of Aeneid 4 corresponds to the description of Medea’s feelings at Argonautica 3.444-70, immediately after the reception scene. Events during the Trojans’ first two days in Libya are thus taken from the account of the Argonauts’ first two days in Coichian Aea, as well as Odysseus’ first and second days in Scheria, Second night At the end of Aeneid t Vergil makes an important variation on Apollonius’ time-scheme. Dido’s banquet is at night (1.727), the Apollonian feast and reception scene during the day. Vergil here follows the Pheaacian model, where the banquet at which Odysseus tells his story takes place at night (Od. 11.334 (■■== 13.2), 372 -6). The end of Odysseus’ narrative brings to a close the .second day on Phaeacia and this is the model for Aeneas’ story ending on the second day in Libya. It is during the latter part of the first day in Colchis that Medea lias her frightening dream and after waking meets with her sister Chalciope. Vergil’s chronology is closer to Homer’s, but events in Carthage closely resemble those in Aea. Dido, like Medea, is afflicted by frightening dreams at this stage in her passion and she too is prompted by them to see her sister. But they occur at night and she meets Anna the following morning. Vergil’s has used night-time settings for scenes which Apollonius places during the day.220 it is nevertheless clear that Vergil is following closely the development of the Apollonian narrative. In each poem the banquet and reception scene is succeeded by dreams which represent the anguished indecision of the woman (Medea and Jason/Aeetes, Dido and Aeneas/Sychaeus) and the dreams are in turn followed by a meeting with the sister (Chalciope and Anna) whose advice influences the heroine in coming to a decision. Third day The events of the third day in Libya (4.6-76) include the meeting with

"lv Knauer (1964) 155. In Apollonius the narrator describes at length the dream and the meeting with the sister (Λ/·#. 3.616-743); Dido’s dreams are mentioned briefly, and in direct speech (to Anna. 4.9). The form of narration is thus quite different.

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Anna and Dido’s visit to the teinpies. By now her love is rampant (as illustrated by the wounded deer simile, 4.69-73) as she shows Aeneas around her city. There is no Homeric model for these scenes and: "Mit 4.6f ... beginnt in der Aeneis eine andere 'Chronologie’ ".221 The growth of Dido’s passion corresponds to that of Medea’s, but Vergil expands the chronology and prolongs into the third day the events of one day and night in Aea. Third night 'filis period (4.77-89: cf. Od. 13.26-8) replays almost exactly the previous night. At a second banquet Dido again asks to hear of Aeneas’ adventures and again his departure at the end of the evening leaves her alone, his voice and appearance stuck in her mind. While others sleep Dido suffers in solitude, luna premit suadentcpie cadentia sidera somnos, / sola domo maeret ... (4.81t). The development of Dido’s passion here thus recalls earlier scenes and is built on a consistent, unified and repeated pattern of motifs, a technique iniluenced by Apollonius’ handling of Medea. After her meeting with Chatciope Medea returns to her room but is unable to sleep; her torment during the quiet calm of night is described at Argonautica 3.744-827. As time wears on, from nightfall (Arg. 3.744) to the very middle of the night (i.e. the second night of the Coichian narrative), Medea is once more caught up in anguished indecision as her love for Jason is set against her loyalty to her parents and her suffering is again described in terms which closely recall and intensify the preceding descriptions of her love (esp, Arg. 3.761-5), Eros’ arrow and the flames of passion.22" Apollonius, therefore, concentrates on two stages of Medea’s suffering before she meets with Jason in the temple of Hecate: her terrifying dreams during the afternoon and her sleepless night. Similar struggles in Dido’s heart are spread over two nights and the intervening day.222 Vergil, having already used Argonautica 3 in Aeneid I for the arrival, the reception scene and the banquet, has also put into the first eightvnine lines o f Aeneid 4 the famous Apollonian treatment of Medea’s

So Knauer (1964) 154. noting, however, that this dawn corresponds to that of Odysseus' last day on Selleria ( O d . 13.18). 222 Otis (1964) 62-96 correctly contrasts Vergil's continuous narrative concentrating on Dido with Apollonius' split narrative technique, turning from Medea, to the Argonauts, on to Aeetes and tinaiiy hack to Medea ( A r g . 3.439--617). He underestimates, however, the consistency with which Apollonius traces the development o f Medea's feelings in a coherent set o f images; Hunter (1989) on 446f. 762f.962f On the frequent association between Dido and the night. Pease (1935) on 80.

i 76

CHAPTER FOUR

growing passion. Fourth day Dido's fate is now to be decided. Dawn breaks (4.129) and the queen hesitates one last time (thalamo cunctantem, 4.133) before setting out to join the fateful hunt and Aeneas. In Argonautica 3 Medea impatiently awaits the dawn (Arg. 3.819-24) of the day on which she will meet Jason and give him the drugs which will help him win the Fleece. During this period she too hesitates to leave her bedroom (/fog. 3.645..55, to see her sister),221 but she too finally gives in to her love. At dawn (Arg. 3.828, the start of the second day in Colchis) she ties up her hair (/fog. 3.8291), dresses in beautiful clothes, including a πέπλον/ καλόν, έυγνάμπτυισιν άρηρέμενυν περόνησιν (Arg. 3.832t) and sets out for the temple, Artemis-like (Arg. 3.869- 88). At dawn Dido sets out for her meeting with Aeneas. Her hair is tied up (4.138), she is beautifully dressed in a splendid cloak (chlamydem, 4.137) which is held by a fibula (4.139, translating περόνη). Furthermore, her description here clearly recalls her earlier appearance in book 1 when she was compared to Diana.225 Vergil has thus modelled Dido entering the temple of Juno in Aeneid 1 and setting out for the hunt in Aeneid 4 on Medea setting out for the temple of Hecate and being compared to Artemis. Further connections follow. When Aeneas arrives for the hunt he is immediately compared to Apollo (4.143-9). When Jason appears in the temple of Hecate he is compared to Sirius (Arg. 3.956-9). The placing of the two similes is identical, as both Jason and Aeneas appear before a woman who has reached the point of rendezvous first.226 The point of comparison is also the same; Jason is καλός (Arg. 3.960), Aeneas pulcherrimus (4.141; cf. 150). The similes share a note of foreboding; Aeneas’ arms ring ominously on his shoulder, while Jason

Ditto's typically Vergiti«» and deeply resonant moment of hesitation (see Segal 1990) is thus Apollonian in origin. Cf. incessit magna iuneman stipante caterva and progreditur magna stipante caterva ( 1.497 and 4.136), pharetram and pharetra (1.500 and 4.138); von Duini (1952) 19f. ■ >M Compare the earlier imitation o f this same Apollonian narrative at i.494-506 where it is Dido who appears before Aeneas in the temple o f Juno, see above ch. 3 § l.v. Vergil's choice of Apollo for the comparison displays his profound knowledge o f the unity o f Apollonius' poem. The Medea -Artemis simile and the meeting in the temple of Hecate, with its Jason- Sirius simile, form a doublet with the Jason-Apollo simile and the encounter with lphias, priestess of Artemis, in Arg. I; Nel is {1991 ). In Aen. 1 Dido-Diana - Medea-Arternis as Dido goes to the temple of Juno where she will meet Aeneas; in the doublet in book 4, another meeting between Dido and Aeneas, Aeneas-Apollo Jason-,Apollo, the simile having the same narrative position as Jason Sirius; see diagram 5.

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177

is like Sirius who brings .suffering to flocks. This meeting of Aeneas and Dido is followed by the hunt which leads to the encounter in the cave, corresponding to the meeting of Jason and Medea in the temple of Hecate. The differences are of course great (it is difficult to imagine Dido and Aeneas engaged in the kind of conversation which occurs between Jason and Medea in the temple), but the structure of the two narratives is parallel. Dido and Aeneas undergo a kind of wedding, while Jason promises to marry Medea if she comes to Greece (/f/'g. 3.1128- 30). In each poem a decisive meeting brings to an end the first stage o f struggle and indecision caused by the onset of love. Hiems Vergil now apparently interrupts his carefully built chronological framework. The 'wedding' in the cave leads, according to Fuma, into the winter of love shared by Dido and Aeneas (4.1931). Time passes with no chronological markers other than Fama' s mention of winter, quam longa (4 .193). The next definite indication of time is at line 522, the start of another sleepless night for Dido. Rumour, it is to be supposed, takes some time to spread its story until finally iarbas reacts, and his prayer to Jupiter thus initiates the events of the fifth day of the narrative. The essential unity o f the fourth book is obvious and the action runs on smoothly without a break, even if the reader must imagine that a considerable period of time has elapsed between the fourth and fifth days of narrative. Fifth day By now Dido is claiming to be married to Aeneas, a resolution (as far as she is concerned) brought about by their ‘wedding’ in the cave, which has thus rounded off the first stage of her love, For Medea, the corresponding moment is her decision to provide Jason with the magic help needed to defeat the fire-breathing bulls and the earthborn men. Simply put, Dido betrays Sychaeus just as Medea betrays Aeetes. Medea’s choice means a resolution, of sorts, to her troubles: Jason’s successful completion of his task, with her aid, brings some kind of closure to the first great stage o f her love, underlined by the fact that it also closes the third book (ήμαρ έδυ, και τω τετελεσμένος ήεν άεθλος, Arg. 3.1407), It is of course true to say that their troubles are only just beginning for Dido and for Medea, but the narrative function of the two decisive events... the ‘wedding’ and Jason’s victory thanks to Medea’s m agic....is the same: both mark the end o f a night or nights

c h a pt e r fou r

of anguished indecision brought on by love and secure the temporary fulfilment of the woman’s wishes. Dido says she is married to Aeneas; Medea has received a promise of marriage and helped ensure the hero's success in his quest. After this point, it will be a matter of coming to terms with irrevocable choices and decisions, and their consequences. Iarbas’ prayer, Jupiter’s reaction, the sending of Mercury, the confrontation between Dido and Aeneas, the sending of Anna to plead with Aeneas. Dido’s decision to die and the preparations for suicide -... all must be attributed to this single, pivotal fifth day, which may be said to start at 4.196 and end at 521. Here again the narrative of Argonautica 3 continues to provide a model. The meeting in the temple of Hecate on day 2 ends with Jason returning to the ship and Medea to her room. There is a formal parallel with Aeneas’ return to his ships after the confrontation with Dido (4.393 6; cf. Arg. 3.1147f) and Dido’s fainting and return to her chamber (4.39If; cf. Arg. 3.1 149-62 where Medea is in a kind of speechless trance). The dominant model for the speeches of Dido and Aeneas lies elsewhere, of course, in the exchange between Jason and Medea on the Brygean Isle in Argonautica 4, but that scene closely recalls their first meeting in the temple, so the two are easily fused. The third day in Colchis, passed over very briefly (Arg. 3.1172 90), is taken up with preparations for Jason’s fight with the bulls and the Earthborn men. Jason performs the necessary magic rituals during the third night, and successfully carries out his task on the fourth day, book 3 ending with nightfall (Arg. 3.1407, quoted above). There is thus a formal parallel between Jason’s magic ritual and Dido’s use of magic on day 5, although once more the main model lies elsewhere, this time earlier in Argonautica 3, Medea's preparation of the drug. These similarities between day 5 in Carthage and day 4 in Colchis are strengthened by the parallel narrative functions, noted above, of the ‘wedding’ in the cave and Jason’s completion of his task, both closing an important stage in the story. As a result of this parallel, Iarbas’ angry reaction to news of Dido’s love for Aeneas (4.198-218) corresponds with Aeetes’ fury on getting wind of the help given Jason by Medea (/(/·£. 4.212-40), and Dido’s suicide-plans recall Medea’s suicide-wish (quickly stopped by Hera) at the start of Argonautica 4. Once Aeneas has decided to depart. Dido's experiences begin to recall earlier events in Aeneie/ 4: many of the same motifs are reworked, but to entirely different effect. For example, the earlier apparently good omens which seemed to Dido to legitimise her love give way to disastrous signs which foretell death when Dido next visits the temples (cf. 4.56-66 and 453 65). Correspondingly, the earlier

Dil'X)

[79

struggle between love and pudor is succeeded by a battle between love and hate in Dido's heart. Finally, the death on the pyre tragically recalls the wedding in the cave. This reduplication of motifs is achieved in the main by distribution of Apollonian models. In book 1 Eros was the model for both Mercury and Cupid creating Dido’s love, and Eros is used again in the description of Mercury ordering Aeneas’ departure in book 4. Earlier also, the meeting of Dido and Anna was modelled on that between Medea and Chalciope. Different aspects of the same Apollonian scenes are used now for those in which Dido deceives Anna concerning the pyre and enlists the help of a priestess expert in magic to prepare her suicide. The frightening dreams which beset Dido at 4.465 -8 recall the dreams about which Dido told Anna at the start of the book. On both occasions the model is Medea’s frightening dream at Argonautica 3.616-35. The hectic events of the fifth day in Carthage thus draw on material taken front both the first day and second night and the fourth day in Colchis.

Fifth night The fifth night in Carthage clearly corresponds in terms of the structure of the narrative to the fourth night in Colchis, that of Medea’s flight, which starts in the last line of book 3 and is described at the beginning of Argonautica 4. Dido’s vacillation in her sleepless torment between hate and resurgens amor (4.5311) recalls Medea torn between love of Jason and fear of Aeetes (Arg. 4.1-25). At the moment of dawn which ends this night the Trojans sail away (4.584f)> as the Argonauts also depart at dawn (/b'g. 4.183). But precise verbal reference is also made to the second night of the Colchian narrative (nox crai, 4.522 - νύξ μέν. Arg. 3.744). Earlier, the sleepless second (4.4) and third (4.80-83) nights of the Carthage episode (repeated in the fifth night, 4.5220 corresponded structurally to the first afternoon and second night in Colchis but were not directly linked by clear verbal reference. Vergil is able to fuse the two Apollonian passages and combine imitation of them in differing ways because of their preexisting connections within the structure of the narrative in Argonautica 3 and 4. Medea’s first afternoon and night of torment (the second night of the whole episode) and her leaving home to journey to meet Jason in the temple are reworked in her second night of suffering (the fourth night of the Colchian narrative as a whole) and her flight from home to flee to

CHAPTER SOUR

Greece with Jason."’7 Apollonius describes the first of these experiences in great detail in Argonautica 3 but treats the second much more briefly at the start of the fourth book. Vergil does the opposite. He devotes little space to the actual description of Dido’s night-time torments during the second and third nights of the Carthaginian narrative but gives a detailed account of her pain during the fifth night. Sixth day The departure of the Trojans from Carthage on the sixth day is modelled on the Argonauts’ fifth-day228 departure from Colchis. Dido’s realisation of Aeneas’ plans to depart and her resultant fury correspond to Acetes’ furious realisation that Medea has betrayed him and helped Jason to take the Fleece, and that the Argonauts have escaped his grasp. Dido’s suicide is modelled on Medea’s departure from her home and flight with Jason. Thus comes to an end the fourth book of the Aeneicl, Vergil has followed most carefully the Apollonian narrative, not only in points of detail, but in its whole chronology, structure and intricately-patterned unity.

II

Dido and Hypsipyle

The opening stages of the Dido episode in Aeneicl 1 were shown in chapter 3 to be modelled in part on Apollonius' Lemnian episode. So far in this chapter the discussion of Dido’s role in the fourth book has uncovered further similarities between Dido and Hypsipyle. It will be useful here first to review the whole series of links between Carthage and Lemnos and then to evaluate how much Vergil owes to the Apollonian Hypsipyle in the character of Dido. The reception scene involving Ilioneus and Dido corresponds to that between Aethalides and Hypsipyle, as well as referring to the first meeting of Jason and Hypsipyle. In an example of distribution of this latter model, the first encounter of Aeneas and Dido in the temple of Juno is modelled in part on Jason’s reception in Hypsipyle’s palace. Later, Aeneas’ entry into Dido’s palace and the banquet held there correspond to Jason’s second entry into Hypsipyle’s palace and the feasting which takes place thereafter. Anna corresponds to Poiyxo as the adviser who encourages the queen to invite the stranger to stay in

-2’

Rose (1985) 361. Hunter (1987) I35f, (1993) 65 ” s The dawn o f this day is described at A r g . 4. i 83.

i)iDO

18!

jjer city, and Dido corresponds to Hypsipyle in hei' role as a female ruler who welcomes a stranger into her city and asks him to rule it with her. Both Aeneas and Jason politely refuse this offer but do in fact prolong their stay, and love-making takes place. Finally, however, following angry complaints (larbas, Jupiter and Mercury in Vergil, Heracles in Apollonius) the hero is provoked into continuing his temporarily interrupted journey and prepares to depart. Hypsipyleas reaction (modelled on that of Calypso when Odysseus departs, as well as recalling farewell speeches by Circe and Nausicaa2'’·'1) is calm and dignified. Dido's is altogether different, more like that of Medea in a similar situation, containing a mixture of love, anger and hate. But like Hypsipyle Dido talks of the birth of a child as a resuit of her liaison. Aeneas’ reply underlines the fact that he, like Jason, must obey orders and continue a journey which he makes unwillingly, leaving behind the homeland to which he would return if it were possible. Finally, the hero departs, leaving the queen behind. Hypsipyle in effect gains from her relationship with Jason, having succeeded in ensuring the repopulation of Lemnos. Dido suffers only failure, both in terms of her personal feelings for Aeneas and as ruler of her city, with ail the accompanying responsibilities. This fundamentally different outcome does not invalidate, however, the many similarities linking the two women, which are indeed so striking as to suggest that the whole idea for Aeneas’ temporary stay in Carthage and love affair with the female ruler of the place originated with a reading of the First book of the Argonautica. There is no difficulty about reconciling this view of Dido with her obvious resemblance at many points to Apollonius' Medea. Hypsipyle and Medea fill complementary roles as the two women with whom Jason becomes involved. It is thus easy for Vergil to fuse different features of this Apollonian doublet and to create Dido, who can be presented as both queen and lover, from both Medea and Hypsipyle, it is harder, however, to arrive at a coherent picture of the relationship between Dido as a Hypsipyle figure and the figure of Dido in the pre-Vergiiian sources dealing with her legend. There is evidence to suggest that already in Naevius’ version of the story Dido and Aeneas fell in love in Carthage.2’0 Hypsipyle cannot thus automatically be assumed to be a primary model for Dido, since Vergil may have been working directly with a Roman source which presented Dido as a ruler who comes into contact with a voyaging hero.

On the latter, Pavlock ( 1990) 50. Fanoni (1987) 714-16. l-'eeney (1991 ) 109 disagrees.

CHΑΙ’ΊΊ-Κ FOUR

But a full-scale love affair in the Bellum Punicum, comparable to the kind of episode created by Apollonius in Argonautica 3 and Vergil in Aeneid 4. is unlikely. A more restrained treatment of Dido’s involve­ ment with Aeneas may reasonably be supposed, and epic paradigms for such a treatment are readily to hand. Homer’s Calypso and Circe (the young Nausicaa seems less attractive as a model when compared to the two goddesses) and Apollonius’ Hypsipyle could easily have provided precedents for the kind of scene required by Naevius in creating the ligure of a Dido who loves Aeneas and who significantly threatens the successful completion of his journey.2’1 In this case Naevius may have found Apollonius' Lemnos episode a particularly suitable model; and if Hypsipyle seemed too attractive a character as the basis for characterisation of the queen of Carthage, ruler of the city which was to become the greatest enemy of Rome, he could have blended in some of the more dark and dangerous aspects of Apollonius’ Medea. Speculation along such lines comes easily, but the nature of the available evidence means that it cannot be substantiated. It is nevertheless worth considering the role of Dido in the Bellum Punicum and the kind of material that went into her making. If Naevius did draw on both Homeric and Apollonian precedent it is possible to imagine a perfectly natural process of Vergilian exploitation of the complete interrelating epic tradition available to him. The Dido of the Aeneid would be the sum of the many parts: Homer's Calypso and Circe, Apollonius’ Hypsipyle and Medea and Naevius’ Dido, would be among the relevant analogues. There would then be no inconsistency in Vergil’s imitation of Apollonius’ Lemnos episode and his handling of the Dido legend from Naevius and other Latin sources, since the links between the Bellum Punicum and the Argonautica would already have connected them inextricablv.

Ill

Carthage, Phaeacia and the Brygean Isle

Events on Colchis and Lemnos do not account for all of Vergil’s imitations of Apollonius in Aeneid 1 and 4. Two other places are also important models for Carthage. First, the Brygean Isle. This is where Medea and Jason exchange speeches at the moment when Medea believes she is about to be abandoned, an encounter reworking in many

Mariotti (1955) 38. Horsfall (1973-4) 121'- (1990b) 142f. l.a Penna (1985) 53, Parrom (1987) 715.

[)!f)0

|M

particulars their meeting in the temple of Hecate, and providing the first staae of the development of the love affair after the departure from Colchis. '1'his direct prolongation of the Colchian narrative is, along with the Lemnos episode, economically fused by Vergil in his modelling of Carthage on Colchis and is referred to when Dido reacts jo Aeneas' impending departure. Second is Phaeacia, where in many ways the culmination of the Apollonian love affair takes place."3“ Medea is here again faced with the possibility of separation from Jason as the situation on the Brygean isle repeats itself, thanks to the determined pursuit of the Colchian fleet sent to bring her back to Colchis. This further section of the MedeaJason story also contributes significantly to the action of Aeneid 4. In chapter 2 it was argued that the voyage from Troy to Carthage corresponds on one level to the Argonauts' return journey between Colchis and Phaeacian Drepane. Furthermore, in chapter 3 the Trojans' arrival in Carthage is shown to be modelled on the Argonauts' arrival on the island of the Phaeacians. In addition, as this chapter demonstrates. Vergil imitates Apollonius' Phaeacian episode yet again in the plotting of Juno and Venus, the wedding in the cave and the whole chain of events leading to the departure of the Trojans from Carthage. In a complex series of inversions ofthe model, in which Hera and Iris arranged the departure from Circe's island, the safe voyage to Phaeacia and the wedding in the cave there, Juno, with the help of a storm, attempts to organise a permanent union between Dido and Aeneas. But Jupiter and Mercury intervene to order Aeneas' departure from Carthage and the end of the affair. The links between Carthage and Phaeacia established in Aeneid ! thus run over into the fourth book in a coherent pattern of imitation, exactly as in the case of the Lemnos episode. Study of the similarities between Dido and Medea has been so longstanding that the subject might seem to have been exhausted. On the contrary, this and the previous chapter have demonstrated that many aspects of Vergil's imitation of Apollonius' handling of Medea in Argonautica 3 and 4 have escaped notice, and that from the First mention of Dido in the poem to her final suicide Vergil constantly has the Apollonian narrative in mind. The sheer weight ofthe evidence set out in the two preceding chapters suggests that the Medea of

Perhaps the other two most important episodes in the developing relationship between Jason and Medea in A r g . 4 take place on Circe's island and on Crete. The latter. Medea's killing of Talos, contribules to the image of Medea as witch as exploited in A i'/i. 4. The former will he used in A e n . 5.

CIIAPTPR FOUR

Apollonius is the central model for the creation of Vergil's Dido, within the wider context of a structural pattern which models Carthage on Colchis. All this might seem obvious and scarcely worth repeating; after all. Servius and Macrobius, and most readers since, have seen Medea as Dido’s closest analogue. But in the latter part of the twentieth century there has been a tendency to underestimate the influence of Apollonius' Medea on Vergil23'’ and even those convinced of her importance have failed to demonstrate it fully.2>'1 Of course the many differences between the Carthaginian queen and the young Colchian witch cannot be denied, and it is clear that Greek and Roman tragedy, Hellenistic and Latin elegy, the Dido legend and Roman history all contribute heavily to the creation of Vergil's heroine. Dido is not exclusively to be compared with Medea, but Medea is nevertheless the starting point for the character and actions of Dido, consistently on the first tier, as it were, of the multi-layered allusive process running throughout books ! and 4; and the distance between the two women must always be measured in terms of Vergil’s deliberate variations on Apollonius, as he taps the sources which already went into the creation of Medea and draws them out into greater prominence. Vergil found in Medea a uniquely original and fascinating creation. Apollonius’ heroine is a subtle fusion of several Homeric characters, Helen, Circe, Calypso. Nausicaa and Penelope, combined with the more selfassertive and passionate Euripidean women such as Medea and Phaedra, and her love is depicted in such a way as to recall the lovers of lyric and elegiac poetry.235 This complexity makes her capable of bearing the weight of a considerable portion of the action of an epic poem. Hellenistic scholars saw Homer as an erotic poet, given the fundamental roles played by Helen and Briseis in the Iliad and Penelope in the Odyssey}'* so that there is a motivating erotic core at the inception of the epic genre. But in what is his greatest original contribution to the development of the genre, Apollonius expands on these hints. By reacting to the example of Euripidean tragedy in particular.2'1' he writes an epic in which the action is dominated by the

21

! itigi (1952) 98f, Abel (1957-8). Collard (1975). Otis (1964) 62-96 {of. Briggs (198!) 959f) is probably more aware than anyone of the true extent of Vergil's debt to Apollonius in A e n e id I and 4 but his relentless criticism of the A r g o n a u tic a and iiis desire to demonstrate Vergil's superiority vitiates his discussion of the links between the two poems 1lilgi (1952) 80 with the remarks of Feeney ( 1991) 322. I.atisbers (1983) 235 -7. Cairns (1989) 106 u 57, 150, Farron (1993) 16-18. Knox (1985) 329f. de Romilly ( 1986) 43-51, March (1990).

]0ve of Jason and Medea.·"’* The importance of Medea’s love is already clear in Pindar’s handling of the Argonautic myth in his fourth Pythian, and it will have been great also in Antimachus’ Lyde and in other poems on the voyage of the Argonauts,"'y but there will surely have been nothing similar to Apollonius’ use of the love theme in an epic poem."'0 The role played by the Dido episode in Vergil’s epic must be seen as a direct reaction to Apollonius' experiment.

2v< On Apollonius’ originality. Heiter (1944-55) 295, HUsi (1952) 81 n.2. Beve (1969). Hunter (1989) 26- 8. Paviock (1990) 19-68, Herter (Ί973) 39. Cairns (I9S9) I34f, Margoiies (1994) cits. 7-8. Aibis (1996) ch. 4. Braswell (1988) on 213-23, Hunter ( 1989) 12-18. 26 8. I he view that tire Hellenistic period saw the production of an enormous quantity of historical and panegyrical epic (see Ziegler (1966) 15 -23. Lloyd-Joncs (1984) 58 (1990) 236, and Haussier (1976-8) 92 -210 on Naevius and Ennius) has been strongly challenged by Cameron (1995) ch. 10. On either view. Apollonius stands out as a unique figure.

CHAPTER FIVE

The three previous chapters have traced Vergil’s imitation of Apollonius’ Argonautic voyage in the first four books of the Aeneid. It has been demonstrated that the numerous verbal and situational similarities between the two epics reflect the existence of a large-scale pattern of imitation linking the experiences of the Trojans to the adventures of the Argonauts. The narrative structures discussed thus far may be summarised as follows. A. The voyage from Troy to Carthage is modelled on the Argonauts’ journey from Pagasae to Colchis. B. Events in Carthage are modelled on events in Colchis, but draw also on happenings on Lemnos and the Brygean Isle, at Phaeacian Drepane and in Libya. C. The love of Dido and Aeneas reworks the story of Medea and Jason and also that of Hypsipyle and Jason. D. 1'he voyage from Troy to Sicilian Drepanum corresponds to the Argonauts’ journey from Colchis to Phaeacian Drepane. E. The voyage from Troy via Sicilian Drepanum to Libya corresponds to the Argonauts’ journey from Colchis via Phaeacian Drepane to Libya. F. The voyage from Troy to Libya corresponds to the whole journey ofthe Argonauts, from Pagasae to Colchis and back.1 In the dominant imitative structure (A, B and C) Troy corresponds to Pagasae, Carthage to Colchis, Medea to Dido. Further patterns operate simultaneously. The journey from Troy to Carthage described in Aeneid 3 draws also on Argonautica 4 (D and E). This is due in great

Compare the way in which A e n e id 3 corresponds to the whole Odyssean journey from Troy to Ithaca, while being primarily modelled on the wanderings of O d . 9-12; Knauer (1964) 181-99.

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part to H om eric influence. A poiionius distributes different aspects o f O dysseus’ w anderings betw een T roy and Ithaca in both Argonautica I·

2 and 4. In doing so he identifies Thrinakia as Sicily, locates Scylla and Charybdis in the Straits of Messina and brings the Argonauts to Libya. Vergil naturally refers to both Homer (Odyssey 12) and Apollonius (Argonautica 4) when his Trojans come to both Sicily and Libya. The overall effect of this pattern of two-tier allusion is to equate the νόστοι of Odysseus, Jason and Aeneas (F). Aeneid 3 corresponds to the Argo­ nauts’ journey in its entirety, from Pagasae back to Pagasae, because Vergil presents it as the book of epic voyaging par excellence. With its arrivals and departures, storms and errors, landmarks passed and strange monsters encountered or narrowly avoided the Trojan voyage is both an Odyssey and an Argonautica. Despite the undeniable importance of Argonautica 4, the privileged position of the links between Carthage and Colchian Aea means that the voyage between Troy and Carthage in Aeneid 3 must correspond primarily to that recounted in Argonautica \ and 2, the voyage from Pagasae out to Colchis. This view is strongly supported not only by the many similarities between Aeneid 3 and the voyage out to Colchis and between events in Carthage and in Aea, but also by Vergil’s use of the opening scenes of Argonautica 4 in the second half of Aeneid 4, where the Trojans’ departure from Carthage is clearly modelled on the Argonauts’ departure from Colchis.2 Jason’s hasty departure from Aea marks the beginning of his long return voyage to Pagasae, the narration of which fills the rest of the final book of Apollonius’ epic. Given that Vergii has so cleariy linked Aeneas’ flight from Carthage to the escape of Jason from Aea it is worth while asking whether the succeeding stages of Aeneas’ journey — the crossing back to Sicily and the passage from there to the Tiber correspond in any way to the return journey of Jason. It is the thesis of this chapter that they most certainly do: the Trojans’ voyage from Carthage to Latium in Aeneid 5-7 is carefully and consistently modelled on the Argonauts’ voyage from Colchis back towards Pagasae in Argonautica 4. As the argument develops it will become clear that the Trojan voyage from Troy to Latium via Carthage is modelled on the Argonautic voyage from Pagasae back to Pagasae via Colchis.

See above ch. 4 § I.vii.

CHAPTER FIVE

i. The Flight from Carthage and the Games Aeneid 5 is usually thought of as narrating the anniversary funeral games for Anchises. But excessive concentration on the games gives rise to a one-sided appreciation of the book’s internal structure and its role both in the first half of the poem and in the poem as a whole. The voyage away from Carthage and the storm which forces the Trojans back to Sicily, the rites at the tomb of Anchises, the ship-burning, Aeneas’ dream-vision of his father and the account of the voyage from Sicily on to Cumae, with its description of the death of Palinurus and the skirting of the Sirens’ shore, all merit detailed examination. O f the 871 lines in book 5 only 441 are devoted to the four contests, which immediately suggests that Vergil did not intend it as merely the book of the games. Book 5 encompasses the journey between Carthage and Cumae, a considerable movement in terms of the Trojan voyage as a whole, and one which brings Aeneas close to his promised destination. This aspect should not be lightly dismissed. The start of the book sees the Trojan Beet fleeing Carthage but once again storm-driven away from the Italian shore, at the end of a tragic and inglorious interlude which for a time had seriously imperilled Aeneas’ mission. But by the end of the book Aeneas is safely past the Sirens’ shore and on his way to Cumae where lie arrives in the opening lines of Aeneid 6: sic fallir lacrimam, classique immittit habenas/ et tandem Euboicis Cumarum adlabitur oris/ From Cumae the Trojans sail on to Caieta (6.900f) and from there, after passing Circe’s home (7.5-24), they finally enter the Tiber (7.25-36). The fifth book thus plays a pivotal role in the Trojans’ movement from near-disaster in Carthage to their safe arrival in Latium, and Vergil’s models for handling this section o f the journey require careful consideration. As far as the traditional Aeneas legend is concerned, Vergil’s originality in this section of the Aeneid stands out. The highly signi­ ficant role given to Sicily and the inclusion of such mythological figures as the Sirens, and, at the start of book 7, Circe, mark striking divergences from the version of the story as preserved, for example, by Dionysius of Halicarnassus.4 At this point also, Vergil’s imitation of the Homeric model for Aeneid 1-4, that is Odyssey 5-12, breaks down. F'rom Phaeacian Selleria, the main Homeric analogue of Carthage,

Servius, on 5.871, stales that 6. i f originally ended book 5, but the story of the transposition of the two lines to their current position by Iucca and Varius is unlikely to be true; Austin (1977) on I, Timpanaro (1986) 117f, Horsfall (1995) 23. Sc c A .R . Ι.53.2Γ

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Odysseus is carried directly back to Ithaca. Aeneas does not move directly from Carthage to his final destination,5 and in book 5 the Trojans are once again voyagers, just as in book 3,6 resuming their long search for a new home. Thus Aeneid 5 does not correspond to Odyssey 13, as might have been expected given the momentum built up by the series of links between Carthage and Scheria in the first four books. Vergil has other Homeric models in mind. The games for Anchises are modelled on the Phaeacian games of Odyssey 8 and the games for Patroclus in Iliad 23,7 while at the end of the book the departure from Sicily and the journey towards Cumae, where Aeneas will descend to the Underworld in book 6, are modelled on Odyssey 10 11 where Odysseus leaves Circe’s island and sails to Hades.8 Aeneid 5 thus involves a fusion of a number of Homeric models and a new departure in terms of the structural imitation of the Odyssean model established earlier in the work. Furthermore, in modelling the transition from Aeneid 5 to 6 on that of Odyssey 10 to 11 Vergil is distributing Odyssean material, Odysseus’ account of his wanderings in Odyssey 9-12 having already been imitated in Aeneid 3. Why should these particular sections of the Homeric models, the departure from Circe and the voyage to Hades, and the games for Patroclus and the Phaeacian sports, occur at this particular point in the voyage of Aeneas? Vergil’s handling of Apollonian material must be properly understood before questions of this type can be addressed. Here Vergil is also imitating Argonautica 4, and the Trojans’ voyage from Carthage to Latium is modelled on a large section of the Argonauts’ return voyage, which also contains imitation of Iliad 23 and Odyssey 10-12. Even the most rapid comparison between Aeneid 5 and Argonautica 4 reveals important similarities based on the geography of the Trojans’ and the Argonauts’ journeys. During their return voyage from Colchis the Argonauts, moving southwards along the western coast of Italy, visit Circe’s peninsula and sail past the Sirens’ shore and Thrinakia {Arg. 4.659-981). The Trojans, sailing in the opposite direction, from south to north, encounter the same places in the reverse order, visiting Sicily (= Thrinakia) and sailing past both the Sirens and Circe. Both Jason and Aeneas here follow Homer’s Odysseus who also lands on

On the fifth book and Vergil's original plan of his epic see Kehoc ( 19,89). See von Dobn (1952) SI-3. Lloyd (1957) Ì 4 6 - 5 1 , H o rs fa il (1995) 136 connections between these two books. 7 Knauer (1964) I56f, 389 92, Cairns (1989) 215 -48. * Knauer (1964) 130f 204-9. 392f. f'

on

the

CHAPTER FIVE

IPO

Circe’s island and sails past the Sirens before landing on Thrinakia in Odyssey 12. Close reading will show Vergil to have both the Odyssean original and Apollonius’ imitation of Odysseus’ wanderings in mind throughout Aeneicl 5-7. There is, however, much more to Vergil’s use of Argonautica 4 here than a reworking of Apollonius’ exploitation of Homeric geography. As noted,9 the prophecy of Helenus (3.374-462) already invites comparison between Aeneas’ voyage around Sicily to Italy and the Argonauts’ return voyage. The Trojan seer warns Aeneas that his destination in Italy is still a long way off (3.384-7): ante et Trinacria lentandus remus in unda et salis Ausonii lustranduni navibus aequor infernique lacus Aeaeaeque insula Circae, quam tuta possis urbem componere terra.

These lines refer to Argonautica 4.559 61 where the narrator explains Zeus’ anger at the murder of Apysrtus and the god’s decree that the Argonauts must visit Circe to be purified of the stain of their crime, and must undergo much suffering before reaching home. The narrator’s statement of Zeus’ angry decision is repeated soon after to the Argonauts by the Argo, the ship being capable of human speech (Arg. 4.580-91). in the ship’s version, the Argonauts must make their way to the Ausonian sea10 to find Circe. Helenus’ words thus suggest a parallel between the final leg of the Trojans’ voyage from Troy to the Tiber and a large, central section (Arg. 4.557 -884) o f the Argonauts’ return journey from Colchis to Pagasae. When Aeneas finally begins the last stage of his journey many similarities between his experiences and those of Jason in Argonautica 4 confirm the connection. The following discussion will establish these points: 1. By making the anniversary games for Anchises follow almost immediately after the death of Dido Vergil invites his reader to interpret the games as part of a process of expiation, purifying the Trojans from the pollution caused by Dido’s suicide. 2. in his handling of ritual pollution and purification Vergil has in mind the scenes in Argonautica 4 in which Jason and Medea are polluted after murdering Apsyrtus and are later purified by Circe. He also has in mind the pollution which affects the Argonauts after the

’’

Above, eh. 2 p. 44.

10 TLL II. 1537.78-1539.28 and Livrea (1973) on 660. On the allusion to Apollonius' άπονιψαμένους at A r g . 4.560 in Vergil’s choice of the verb 2 p.44 (1.113.

lu s tr a n d u m

see above ch.

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deaths of Cyzicus and Cleite in Argonaulica 1. 3. As the piace in which purification takes place Sicily corresponds to Circean Aeaea. 4, The Trojans’ voyage from Sicily to the Tiber is modelled on the Argonauts’ voyage from Aeaea to Phaeacian Drepane. As the Trojans sail away from Libya at the start of Aeneid 5 they see flames tight up the sky and although they are not sure of their source (Dido’s funeral pyre)i! they immediately fear the worst (5.1-4). They are well aware, says the narrator, what can result from the pollution of a great love: magno sed amore .../ polluto (5.51). This is a most arresting and extremely complex phrase, and the strong word polluto is placed prominently.12 Vergil seems to say that the Trojans in general, presumably including Aeneas,1'’ realise that their departure may have had terrible consequences for Dido. They have good grounds for pessimism. At 4.308 Dido describes herself to Aeneas as moritura ... crudeli funere and at 323 as moribundam, and mentions her death again to him at 4.384-7. All this is before her final decision to kill herself (4.4501), and could not have been taken by Aeneas as a serious suicidethreat. Later, however, Mercury tells him that Dido is certa mori (4.564). This, combined with her madly distraught state when Aeneas saw her for the last time (4.388-96), and the ominous sight of flames on the horizon, could easily lead the Trojans to gloomy speculations concerning her fate and their own immediate future.14 The Trojans also seem to reflect that Dido will have considered Aeneas’ departure as an act desecrating their love, so that the phrase amore polluto indirectly presents her feelings. That is, the narrator introduces the motif of pollution indirectly by presenting Dido’s point of view as it is dimly grasped by the departing Trojans.15 The manoeuvre is typical of Vergil’s elusive, indirect handling of Aeneas throughout the Dido episode; the reader is invited for an instant to see Aeneas through the

l! Dido did not set tire to the pyre herself so the flames represent her hastily prepared funeral; Harrison (1980) 366-9. 12 Williams (1960) on 5. Horsfall (1995) 132. For the word elsewhere in the poem see 3.61, p o l l u t u m h o s p i t i u m , 234. p o l l u i t o r e d a p e s and 7.467. p o l l u t a p a c e , where it is strongly focalised through Turnus. 11 Cartault (1926) 363, Horsfall (1995) 132. μ At some stage subsequently Aeneas does get wind of her death, as he tells her in Hades: v e n t s m i h i n u n t i u s e r g o / v e n e r a t e x s t i n c t a m f e r r o q u e e x t r e m a s e c u t a m ? (6.4560. Lyne (1987) 233 goes further: I t is impossible to prove that p o l l u t o reflects more than, ultimately, Dido’s own attitude. Hut it is also impossible to prove that the epic voice which utters it does not endorse its utterance’; see also Ward Jones (1987) 35. Williams (1997) 17f

CHAPTER FIVE

eyes of the queen, as responsible for the pollution or desecration of a great love.16 Sailing on northward the Trojans are driven by a storm back to Drepanum in Sicily (5.8-41). The whole Carthaginian adventure is thus neatly rounded off, as it was from Drepanum that the Trojans set out before being hit by the storm which drove them towards Libya (3.TOT­ IS, 1.34). Returning to Sicily one year after Anchises1 death, Aeneas decides to organise games in honour of his father (5.45-71). These games are closely modelled on the funeral games for Patroclus in Iliad 23. Primarily related to the anniversary celebration of Anchises’ death, their proximity in the text to Dido’s death and the description of the flames rising from her funeral pyre is noteworthy.17 Indeed, death, funeral and games follow each other in such close succession that it is difficult not to associate these games in some way with the death of the Carthaginian queen,18 and the connection is strongly implied by one striking detail. During the sacrifices to Anchises which precede the games a snake appears, ceu nubibus arcus/ mille iacit varios adverso sole colores (5.88t), recalling iris at the close of the fourth book, mille trahens varios adverso sole colores/ devolat (4. TO If)· The rites in honour of Aeneas’ father are thus interrupted by an incident described in such a way as to bring to mind the death of Dido, less than a hundred lines earlier.19 The Dido episode in fact casts a heavy shadow over most of book 5, and indeed the rest of the poem. Her funeral pyre burns in the opening lines. At 5.3T Acestes is dressed pelle Libystidis ursae, and soon after, Aeneas says that he would have honoured tiie anniversary of his father’s death no matter where he happened to be, ego Gaetulis agerem si Syrtibus exul (5.51). Later, lulus rides a horse given him by Dido (5.5T0-T2) and the burning o f the fleet by the Trojan women recalls Dido’s wish to do exactly that (4.593f, 604-6). Later still, Venus recalls the storm raised by Aeolus for Juno Libycis ... in undis

lfl Moles (1987) lóOi'for a different view. '' This order of events has given rise to the opinion, most recently argued by Williams (1983) 278-81, that Vergil's original intention was to describe the funeral games for Anchises immediately after the mention of his death: see. however. Kehoe (1989) for refutation. IS von Duhn (1952) 90f, Wimmcl (1961) 50, Hübner (1970) 70f, Pavlovskis (1976) 193f, Rabe! (1985) 324. Williams (1997) 17fal! suggest that the games are to be associated with Dido’s death and funeral as well as with the celebration of the anniversary of Anchises’ death. Williams (1960) 48 notes that the games are reminiscent of the lu d i fu n e b r e s held after the funeral of important citizens. On funeral games in general. Malten (1923-4), Willis (1941), Metili (1968). Roller (1977). On this link, Putnam (1962) 233 n i l , Moskalew (1982) 131 f. Harrison (1986) !04f.

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(5.789).20 The reader is thus not allowed to forget Dido during hook 5 despite the generally light tone which prevails after the departure from Carthage. Why? According to Roman religious custom the nine-day period following a death and burial were considered as a period of pollution requiring to be ended by rites of purification.21 In the case of important people, funeral games, the ludi novemdiales, were celebrated nine days after a burial.22 Closely related23 is the novemdiale sacrum, a period of nine days which was frequently organised after the occurrence of frightening prodigies in order to assure expiation.2'1 The dark storm at 5.8 -34 which drives the Trojans off course and leads them to head for Sicily could easily have been interpreted as a prodigium revealing divine anger and demanding expiation. Therefore, when Aeneas states that the games organised for Anchises will take place on the ninth day (5.64t) after the arrival in Sicily Vergil is evoking Roman cult and funerary practice, the novemdiale sacrum and the ludi novemdialesA5 Roman readers would have immediately appreciated the connection between the games and the death of Dido.26 Further considerations will

See also 5. i92.351, 595. 21 Darcmbcrg-Saglio 2.2 (1896) 1397ft Mau (1899) 344f, 358. Plessis-Lejay (1913) on 5.64. In general on death and pollution, Parker (1983) 33-48. 2! Daremberg-Sagiio 2.2 (1896) 1400ft Man ( 1899) 359. 25 Wissowa(i9!22) 392 n.2. 24 Monaco (1972’) 29. Por the n o v e m d i a l e see, e . g . . Livy, 26.23.6: e a p r o d i g i a h o s t i i s m a io r ib u s s u n t p r o c u r a ta , e t o b s e c r a tio in u n u m d ie m p o p u lo in d ic ta e t n o v e m d ia le

Wissowa (19122) 39 i ft 440f. Levene (1993) 138ft Note also the nine-day period ol' mourning which took place between the P a r e n t a l i a and the F e r a l i a (February 13-21; Wissowa (19122) 232); the rites at Anchises’ tomb (5.72-103) clearly function as an aetion for the P a r e n t a l i a ; Bayet (1939) 41. 48f~ (1971) 368, 375ft 25 Servius on 5.64, Marquardt (1886) voi. 1.379ft For a different view see Bayet (1939) 42 - (1971) 369. 2fi And no doubt also the resultant storm. On this reading, the opening scenes of A e n e i d 5 might be interpreted as follows: the storm at the start of the book is divinely inspired { h a u d e q u i d e m s i n e m e n t e , r e o r , s i n e n u m i n e d i v u m / a d s u m u s (5.560 says Aeneas after arriving in Sicily; Williams (I960) on 320· hi organising the sacrifices and games for Anchises Aeneas then says p o s c a m u s v e n t o s (5.59 on which see Henry (1873-92) and Williams (I960)) because he hopes that when the gods have been appeased more favourable winds will guide him to his destination. Hence when Aeneas says at 5.64ft p r a e t e r e a , s i n o n a d i e m m o r t a l i b u s a l m u m / A u r o r a e x t u l e r i t r a d i i s q u e r e t e x e r i t o r b e m , the translation should be ‘if the ninth day is fine’ rather than ‘when the ninth day brings its light' (see Williams (1960) on 64f for discussion of this problem), because he cannot be certain that the n o v e m d i a l e s a c r u m will actually secure expiation. However, if it does, then the games will conclude the religious ceremonies and ensure that the Trojans are indeed expiated and once again enjoy divine favour. Cf. A r g . 1.1057-152 (and Viari and Delage (1976) 263 on 1069) for exactly the same pattern involving the s a c r u m ·,

CHAPTER FIVE

have brought them to the same conclusion. In both Greek and Roman religious thought there is a close connection between pollution, the need for purification or atonement and the celebration of games.27 Certain literary sources make the point explicitly. Herodotus (1.166f), for example, relates how after a sea battle between the Phocaeans and the Tyrrhenians and Carthaginians, some prisoners taken by the latter were stoned to death. As a result, a plague arose. The response of the Delphic oracle was to recommend the celebration of funeral ceremonies followed by games in order to atone for the act. In a famous passage, Thucydides (3.104) describes the purification of the island of Delos by the Athenians, almost certainly during a plague/'8 the puri­ ficatory rites being followed by the re-establishment of the Delian games. Again, Pausanias (5.4.6) tells that the Delphic oracle advised the restoration of the Olympic games as a form of atonement in order to end a plague which was ravaging Greece.2t>At Rome, Livy (27.23.5..7) describes the re-establishment of the Ludi Apollinares in 208 Ö.C. as the result of attempts to counteract a pestilentia:^ Servius explicitly states (on 3.279), sciendam sane moris fuisse, ut piaculo commisso ludi celebrarentur. The death of Dido, the allusion to the motif of pollution in amore polluto, and the celebration of games in book 5 must therefore be seen against this religious background.31 Such considerations are in no way foreign to the understanding of the Aeneid: it is stated explicitly that the Trojans come into contact with ritual pollution during the encounters

killing of Cyzicus by Jason, followed by funeral games and the suicide of Clcite. adverse winds as an expression of divine displeasure and the need for expiation so that the winds may cease. 27 Piganiol (1923) 140. 148, Metili (1941) 192 = (1975) 885. Moulinier ( 1950) 110-12, Latte (1960) 246-8. Hornblower ( 1991 ) 519. v> See also Delphic oracle 487 Parke and Wormell (1956) - Fontenrose (1978) Q3 F r G f l 257 ir. I advising the celebration of games as an act of purification. ,l> See also Livy 25.12.9 where the l u d i A p o l l i n a r e s arc said to have been originally established in 212 B.C. to help drive out the Carthaginians, described explicitly as a v o m i c a . At 7.2.1-3 Livy tells how l u d i s c a e n i c i were first performed during 364 B.C. at a time of plague, i n t e r a l i a c a e l e s t i s i r a e p l a c a m i n a . See also the F a s t i P r a e n e s t i n i (April 28), I n s c r i p t i o n e s I t a l i a e I3.2.I32L for the foundation of the l u d i F l o r a l e s , p r o p t e r s t e r i l i t a t e m f r u g u m (Ovid. F. 5.312-30. Bömer (1958) 311 and Morgan (1990)21). 11 Rabei (1985) 324. On games as a fundamentally religious activity. Piganiol (1923) 137-49, Cairns (1989) 218f: at 222 he describes the games of book 5 as ‘a major religious act reconfirming the right relations of the Trojans with the gods'; also Morgan (1990). Recent events in Roman history would have facilitated the connection, in 28 B.C. Augustus organised a censorial lustration at Rome followed by the celebration of the Actian games'. Lloyd (1954) 297 f.

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with Polydorus (3.61, pollutum hospitium) and the Harpies (3.234, polluit ore dopes), where purificatory rites and games also follow (3.279Γ), and that they are later polluted by the death of Misenus (6.150, totamque incestat funere classem) and perhaps also by that of Palinurus.32 Furthermore, at 4.384 Dido threatens Aeneas: sequar atris ignibus absens. These black fires hint at the Furies but also prefigure the flames from Dido's funeral pyre which do in fact follow Aeneas as he sails away from Carthage/’'’ Later (4.465-73) Dido, haunted by terrifying dreams in which she is pursued by Aeneas, is compared to Orestes hounded by the Furies on the tragic stage (4.471.3): aut Agamemnonius scaenis agitatus Orestes, armatam facibus matrem et serpentibus atris eum fugit ultricesque sedeat in limine Dirae.

Vergilian similes often involve irrational correspondences between the comparison and the surrounding narrative.J,i On this occasion it is difficult not to notice that it is Aeneas who will be most like Orestes, fleeing a woman who imagines herself armed with torches (cf. the black fires at 384 and the faces mentioned at 4.567, 604, 626; cf. 66 It) and presents herself as an avenging Fury (4.610)/’5 To take it one step further, Orestes fleeing Clytemnestra — already dead of course but still a frightening, Fury-like figure in her son’s imagination — is in need of purification,'6 and so therefore may be the Aeneas who flees Dido’s vengeful flames. if Aeneas as Orestes seems strange,'7 it is noteworthy that in Argonautica 4 Jason, polluted after the murder of Apsyrtus, clearly recalls Orestes when he is purified by Circe/’8 And -..returning now to the Argonautica as a model — this is exactly the Apollonian narrative Vergil has in mind in Aeneid 5. There are two closely related Apollonian scenes in which pollution affects the Argonauts. During their visit to the land of the Doliones in Argonautica 1 they are polluted by their involvement in the deaths o f a

0 51 “ 15 6

'λ

Servius on 6.8. Williams (1972) on 3841', Pöschi (19770 113f. Harrison ( 1980) 366-9. West (1969) 42f. Hardie Horsfall (1991) 101. Rotten (1912) 54-6 offers a good, unjustly neglected, treatment of the similarities between Palinurus and Butes. Note also Griffiths (1990) 39 n .ll. On Palinurus and the Apollonian Tiphys see below § iv.

L06

CHAPTER FIVE

heip to set this topic in context. As already stated, both Trojans and Argonauts sail through the same waters past the Sirens’ shore, the former heading northwards away from Sicily towards Italy and eventually passing Circe’s headland, the latter moving southwards away from Circe through the Straits of Messina. Both poets have in mind Odyssey 10-12 and Odysseus’ two departures from Circe’s island, with his subsequent journeys from there to Hades and towards the Sirens. The geographical proximity of the two routes followed by Trojans and Argonauts (although they go in opposite directions) is striking. After the drowning of Palinurus Vergil’s narrative continues with the passing of the Sirens’ shore (5.864-8), situated somewhere along the west coast of southern Italy, although no exact location is given.85 The mysterious death of the pilot and Vergil’s Sirens episode are thus contiguous. In Argonautica 4 the Sirens are located on an island named Anthemoessa (Arg. 4.892), just off the western coast of southern Italy,80 and it is there that Butes leaps overboard, overcome by the power of the magical song emanating from the shore (Arg. 4. 91219). That the two men fall into the water in roughly the same area, more or less close to the shore occupied by Sirens, creates a suggestive parallel, certainly one worth investigating. Palinurus is charmed by Somnus, not like Butes by the Sirens, but the result is the same: a crewman is lost, (potentially) drowned. Indeed, in many ways, Somnus filis the Sirens’ role perfectly.87 He attracts a passing sailor to his death, using an attractive voice (j'unditque has ore loquelas, 5.842)88 and appearing in the figure of a bird (ales, 5.861), each of these details corresponding to the traditional image and role of the Sirens.89 Further similarities of action confirm that Vergil has the Apollonian Sirens in mind. After the helmsman’s fail, the Trojan fleet sails on, driven by the wind secured by Venus from Neptune (currit iter tutum non setius aequore classis/ promissisque patris Neptuni interrita

s’ On the different locations of the Sirens, Zwicker (1929) 296, Saliusto (1988) 89If, Horsfall (1991)70. Delagc (1930) 236-47, Vian and Deìage (19962) 178f on 892. McKay (1984) 125f suggests that Palinurus' fate at the hands of .Somnus might easily be associated with the Sirens’ attractions. Perotti (1987) 87-90 argues that the scene involving Palinurus and Somnus is a variation on Homer’s Sirens episode. Neither mentions Apollonius. Note also Gresseth (1970) 207, ‘The central motif of the Siren episode (Magic Song) implies bewitchment, perhaps some kind of sleep ...', and 208, ‘This is enough to explain the danger Odysseus is in. He may be cast into a sleep ... '. M On which see Williams (i960). M Note that Vergil’s description of Somnus imitates a further Apollonian model; cf. A r g . 4.145-7, 156-9 and the drugging of the serpent by Medea, and see below ch. 6 § I.ii.f.

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fertur, 5.862 f). Aeneas is saddened by the loss (5.869 6.1). When Butes leaps into the waves the Argo is being helped along by the calm Zephyr ordered by Hera, (νήα δ' όμοΰ Ζέφυρος τε και ήχηεν φέρε κϋμα/ πρυμνόθεν όρνύμενον, Arg. 4.91 Of; cf. 768, 821, 837, 886). The Argonauts grieve the loss of their companion (Arg. 4.920). Butes does not die — Aphrodite saves him from certain death on the Sirens’ shore and places him on Cape Lilybaeum (Arg. 4.916-19). Nevertheless, it is possible to see the loss of Butes as the price the Argonauts have to pay for their safe passage past the Sirens.90 Palinurus, not so fortunate (itnutn pro multis dabitur caput), is murdered on the shore (6.358-61), but he is finally buried on a headland, at Cape Palinuro (6.378-81). The goddess who saves Butes is named by Apollonius as Aphrodite Erycina, a detail picked up by Vergil: before the departure from Sicily he mentions that Aeneas founded a tempie of Venus Erycino in vertice (5.759). This event recalls the beginning of book 5 where Palinurus says to Aeneas, as the winds blow the fleet towards Sicily, nec litora longe/ fida reor fraterna Erycis portusc/ue Sicanos (5.23f)- Similarly, Iris, hoping to persuade the Trojan women to burn the ships and stay in Sicily, says hic Erycis fines fraterni... (5.630, cf. 5.412). And at 5.772 sacrifices are made to Eryx at the moment of departure. The Trojans’ close relationship with Eryx is explained by his being the son of Venus and Butes,91 and so a half-brother to Aeneas. By alluding to this legend Vergil would seem to be correcting the story, probably invented by Apollonius,92 in which Butes was saved by an Aphrodite already named Erycina, and for reasons of his own he credits Aeneas with the foundation of this particularly important Sicilian cult.93 After the loss of Pafinurus the fleet drifts towards the Sirens’ shore until Aeneas takes control to guide it away from danger (5.864-9): iamque adeo scopulos Sirenum advecta subibat, difficilis quondam multorumque ossibus albos (tum rauca adsiduo longe sale saxa sonabant), cum pater amisso fluitantem errare magistro sensit, et ipse ratem nocturnis rexit in undis multa gemens ...

Vergil here imitates Argonautica 4.903-9, where the Argonauts sail

Vian and Deiage (1976) 16 n. 1. ^ Wernicke (1899) 1082. 1,2 de La Ville de Mirmont (1894) 626. Wilamowitz (19622) Ι80Γ. Vian and Deiage (I9962) 40f. 1,5 Galinsky (1969) 220f, on Venus Frycina see Schilling (1954) 233-67. Kienast (1965), Galinsky ( 1969) index s .v . Venus Frycina. Sauron (1994) 705 s.v. Venus Frucina.

CHAPTER FIVE

towards the Sirens and prepare to land until Orpheus intervenes with the music of his lyre, drowns the sound of their beautiful song and averts the landing. In Vergil’s version, however, the Sirens no longer sing. At the time of the Trojans’ arrival, there is only the sound of waves beating on the rocky (,scopulos, saxa) shore. As Servius notes (on 5.864),94 Vergil hints at the legend of the Sirens’ suicide after Odysseus’ successful passage, but there is more to 5.865f than this, in both Odyssey 12 and Argonautica 4 the journey past the Sirens leads on towards the Planctae and Scylla and Charybdis. Vergil has both models in mind but omits these particular dangers from his narrative. Close reading, however, reveals that the Trojans’ departure from Sicily forms a doublet with their departure from Castrum Minervae in book 3. The Trojans leave Sicily at 5.772ff, after sacrifice to the storm-gods (:Tempestatibus, 772). Aeneas pours libations {stans procul in prora, 775) and the feet sails north along the coast of Italy, the yard-arms turning (cornua, 832) and Palinurus’ ship leading {princeps, 833). After the loss of Palinurus the fleet drifts towards the Sirens’ shore where waves beat against rocks in the distance {longe, saxa, 866), and is led to safety away from these scopulos (864) by pater Aeneas (867). Finally a landing is made at Cumae {Cumarum adlabitur oris, 6.2). In book 3 the Trojans are sailing towards Italy (52Iff), with Anchises (stans celsa in puppi 527) preparing libations (525f) and praying to the gods tempestatumque potentes (528). At 548 ff they leave southern Italy and sail on towards Sicily, turning the cornua (549). Soon, near Scylla and Charybdis, they hear the sound of waves beating on a distant shore {saxa, longe, 555f). But Palinurus, encouraged and advised by pater Anchises (558), leads (primus, 561) them to safety away from these scopulos (559). Finally, they arrive in the land of the Cyclopes (... Cyclopum acllabimur oris, 569).1)3 The Sirens’ rocks in book 5 thus correspond to the rocky passage near'Scylla and Charybdis in book 3. Furthermore, without explicitly mentioning the Planctae, Vergil refers to the Apollonian and Homeric descriptions o f this other dangerous set of rocks iocated very close to Scylla and Charybdis. Circe describes the Planctae where κύμα μέγα ροχθεί κυανώπιδος 'Αμφιτρίτης {Od. 12.60), a Une which Apollonius imitates at Argonautica 4.924f,% άλλοθι δέ. Πλαγκταί μεγάλω ΰκό κύματι πέτραι/ ρόχθεον .... The

',J See also Viari (1987) 193Fon 1264-90 of the O r p h i c A r g o n a u tic a where the Sirens are silenced when Orpheus passes them by. For further discussion see Nelis (1995) and § iii.b below. Vergil here also refers back to the rocky Arae off Sicily at 1.108-10. on which see Bleisch (1998). w On which see Campbell (1981) 78.

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Latin rauca (5.866) refers to both ροχθει and ρόχθεον, but in Homer the sea roars, whereas in Apollonius and Vergil it is the rocks, saxa and ftetpca.97 This very precise two-tier allusion helps to demonstrate that the narratives involving the departure from Circe and the voyage towards the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis and the Planctae in Odyssey 12 and Argonautica 4 lie behind the closing scenes of Aeneid 5 as well as the more familiar scenes in book 3. More precisely, the allusion in jjne 866 to the Apollonian Planctae at Argonautica 4.924f, just five lines after the end of Apollonius' Sirens' episode, offers further support to the argument that the similarities between the death of Palinurus and the voyage past the Sirens and Apollonius’ story of Butes and the Sirens are deliberate; in creating his account of the Trojans’ journey from Sicily to Italy Vergil is indeed imitating the Argonauts’ voyage from Aeaea to the land of the Phaeacians. To summarise, it has been argued that Aeneas’ voyages both to and from Sicily, in the opening and closing scenes of Aeneid 5, are modelled on Jason’s journeys to and from Aeaea. On a broader canvas, these connections mean that the Trojans' journey from Carthage back towards their destination in Latium is modelled on a large section of the Argonauts’ voyage from Colchis back to Pagasae. Furthermore, Sicily can thus be seen to correspond to the Apollonian Aeaea and the Trojan games to the sports enjoyed by the Argonauts on the Circean shore. Finally, the fact that the reason for Jason’s visit to Aeaea is to receive purification from the pollution resulting from the murder of Apsyttus lends support to the contention that Aeneas is indeed to be considered as polluted by the death of Dido and that the Sicilian games are to be associated with rites of purification.

iii. The Ship Race and the Voyage So far in this chapter little has been said about the individual contests in the games for Anchises. Instead it has concentrated on the way in which the games as a whole function within the thematic and structural patterns established by the first four books of the epic. The boxing match, of course, was discussed in some detail in the chapter I, and, given the extent of Apollonius’ influence revealed there, it would be surprising not to find the other competitions similarly influenced. A careful reading will indeed show significant imitation of the Argonautica in Vergil’s ship race, the first of the four contests. When

Cofiington a n d Netfieship (18X3-4') on 5.866 compares A r g . 2.553, a description of the sea-beaten rocks of the Symplegades.

CHAPTER RVE·

the reworking of Apollonian material in this episode is fully appreciated, and interpreted in the light of the the extensive links between Aeneid 5 and Argonautica 4 demonstrated in the preceding discussion, the importance of Apollonius for the Aeneid will begin to become clear. In what follows I shall first discuss Apollonian influence on the ship race and then argue that the naval contest functions as a microcosm of both the entire Argonautica and the first half of the Aeneid, the race around the meta or turning-point corresponding both to the Argonauts’ voyage out to Colchis and back to Greece and to the Trojans’ journey from Troy to Latium via Sicily and Carthage The account of the ship race is the most detailed of all the contests in the Vergilian games. It also constitutes a striking variation on the Homeric model by replacing the chariot race which opened the games for Patroclus (II. 23.262-650), signalled by the comparison of the ships to chariots at the start of the race (5.142-7). One reason for the variation is to make it easier to link the race with the voyage as a whole.98 On a number of occasions the contest either recalls or anticipates events which take place during the more serious business of the journey described in the first half of the epic." Indeed, book 5 itself has been seen as a microcosm of the entire poem.’00 And just as Apollonius is central to the composition of the Aeneid, so his influence is felt throughout the race.101 The departure from Pagasae, the passage through the Symplegades and the escape from the Tritonian lake provide the key Argonautic models. a) The Race After introducing the competitors and their ships (5.114-23), Vergil describes the rock out at sea which will be the turning-point in the race (5.124-8): est procul in pelago saxum spumantia contra litora, quod tumidis summersu tunditur olim fluctibus, hiberni condunt ubi sidera Cauri;

'w On the use of imagery from chariot racing in the description of the voyage. Kraggerud (1968) 160-64. For other explanations of the change from chariots to ships. Kraggerud (1968) 127-30, Cairns (1989) 236. For Finnian precedent see A m a i e s 4 6 3 f with the comments ofSkutsch (1985). and in general Feldherr (1995). w Wimmel (1961), Putnam (1962). (1965) 64-104. Kraggerud (1968) 157-66. Giazewski (1972) 85. Holt ( 1979-80). Moskalew (1982) 124. Hardie (1987), Feldherr (1995), Miller (1995). ilHI Wimmcil (1961) 50f. 54. Galinskv (1968) 183. Holt (1979-80) NOf; also Horsfall (1995) 136f. 1,11 Röttcn (1912) 21-3.

tranquillo silet immotaque attollitur unda campus et apricis statio gratissima mergis.

He here refers, as has long been noted,102 to Argonautica 1.364 -6, the description of the rock on which the Argonauts leave their clothes before setting about the launch of their ship: άπò δ' rii ματ' έκήτρ ιμα νηήσαντο λείω έπ'ι πλαταμώνι. τον ούκ επέβαλλε θάλασσα κύμασι, χειμερίη δέ πάλαι άποέκλυσεν άλμη. Both rocks were once beaten by wintry gales but are now dry and calm. In particular, fluctibus, hiberni ... recalls κύμασι, χειμερίη, in both sense and position. Vergil also has in mind Iliad 23.327-33 where Nestor describes the turning-point in the chariot race. But Apollonian detail fills out the Homeric parallel and links the preparations for the ship race to the launching of the Argo. The connection between the start of the race and the start of the voyage continues in the following lines. The Trojan oarsmen take their places just as the Argonauts do (cf. 5.136, Arg. 1.530). Next, both race and voyage begin in a hectic dash of speed and Hashing light, oars lashing the sea to foam, noise echoing all around (cf. 5.135, 139-43, 148-50, Arg. 1.524f, 540-43, 544t).io:i The race once started, Vergil quickly moves attention to the turningpoint of the course. Apollonian influence is felt most strongly in the description of Mnestheus’ manoeuvre (5.188..90; cf. II. 23.403-16): at media socios incedens nave per ipsos hortatui' Mnestheus: hiunc, nunc insurgite remis. Hectorei socii.

At Argonautica 2.588-90 Euphemus urges on the Argonauts as they approach the Clashing Rocks:104 Εύφημος δ' άνά πάντας ιών βοάασκεν εταίρους έμβαλέειν κώπησιν οσον σθένος, οι δ' άλαλητω κόπτον ύδωρ.

Vergil has previously imitated these lines at 3.558-60 where Anchises urges the Trojans to row hard away from Scylla and Charybdis.’05 In each case a Trojan ship or ships avoids dangerous rocks just as Argo

11,2 Hcync and Wagner ( 1832-31) on these verses. Vergil likes Apollonius' use of light and colour effects; Hiigi (1952) 34-41, Briggs (1981)971-3. I(,J On connections between the Homeric chariot race and the Argonauts’ passage of the Symplegades, Rousseau (i992). Two-tier allusion is at work here, unlikely as it seems. Il1’ See above cb. 2 § iv; cf. csp. 5.l89f and 3.560. Putnam (1962) 234 n. 14 notes the similarities between the turning-point and Scylla and Charybdis.

CHAPTER Five-

escapes from the Symplegades. Such distribution is one of the key techniques by which Vergil links the race to the voyage and so allows the contest to become a microcosm of the first half of the epic. The same technique informs Gyas’ rounding of the turning-point. He orders his pilot to steer as close as possible to the rock (5.162-6; cf. //. 23.426-8, 336-43): ‘quo tantum mihi dexter abis? hue derigc cursum; litus ama et laeva stringat sine palmula cautes; altum alii teneant.' dixit; sed caeca Menoetes saxa timens proram pelagi detorquet ad undas. 'quo diversus abis?' iterum ‘pete saxa, Menoete!'

His words recall Helenus' advice about Scylla and Charybdis at 3.410-43; ast ui digressum Siculae te admoverit orae ventus, et angusti rarescent claustra Peiori. laeva tibi tellus et longo laeva petantur aequora circuitu; dextrum fuge litus et undas

and Palinurus' carrying out of the manoeuvre (3.561-3): baud minus ac iussi faciunt, primusque rudentem contorsit laevas proram Palinurus ad undas; laevam cuncta cohors remis ventisque petivit/ 0"

Behind these passages lies Argonautica 2.345-8 where Phineus tells Jason what route to take after the passage through the Symplegades:107 ήν δέ φύγητε σύνδρομα πετράων άσκηθέες ενδοθι Πόντου, αύτίκα Βιθυνων έπι δεξιά γα ϊα ν έχοντες πλώετε ρηγμΐνας πεφυλαγμένοι.

Apollonius’ ship moves to the right after the Symplegades; Vergil typically has the Trojans avoiding the right at all costs and turning hard left before they get too close to Scylla and Charybdis. The common ground between the Clashing Rocks, Scylla and Charybdis, and the turning-point in the race is that they are all places where ships are in danger because of rocks. The Clashing Rocks need no further comment in this regard. But in the cases of Scylla and Charybdis and of the turning-point, Vergil puts remarkable emphasis on their rocky nature, and significantly varies Homeric models. In the

ll"’’ Note the inversion: Palinurus sails to the left to avoid the danger. Menoetes should risk sailing to the left, close to the rocks, but instead veers to the right. !l)' On Phineus and Helenus see above cb. 2 § iii.

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Homeric chariot race the turning-point is a tree stump (//. 23.327 -33). Vergil turns this into a rock with a branch of an oak on it (5.1290, and he mentions it repeatedly, using the words scopulus, saxum, rupes and cautes (5.124, 159, 163, 165f, 169, 180, 185, 202, 2040 220, 270; cf. also 5.213t', 275 in similes).108 Often, the plural saxa suggests something far bigger than its initial description. Similarly, in the descriptions of Scylla and Charybdis in book 3 the concentration on rocks is quite absent from the Homeric model.I0,) Later, at the end of book 5 when the Trojans pass the Sirens, there is nothing there but bones on a rocky shore (864 6), and again Vergil emphasises that the danger now comes from the scopuli and the saxa. The Apollonian models for these three places, the Symplegades and (to a lesser extent) the Planctae, suggest why rocks are so important and help the rounding of the rock during the race to be seen as comparable to important moments in the overall journey. After describing events at the turning-point, Vergil concentrates on the end of the race. Cioanthus is the victor, with the help of Portunus. In the closing stretch, when the issue was in doubt, Cioanthus prayed to the gods of the sea and was rewarded for his piety (5.239-43): dixit, eumque imis sub fluctibus audiit omnis Ncreidum Phoreique chorus Panopeaque virgo, ct pater ipse manu magna Portunus euntem impulit: illa Noto citius volucrique sagitta ad terram fugit et portu se condidit alto.

This refers to Argonautica 2.598-600 where Athena pushes Argo through the Symplegades.110 But Cioanthus is here pushed by the minor sea deity Portunus, not by a major goddess. Argo is twice helped by similar figures. At Argonautica 1.13 10-28 Glaucus rises out of the sea and grips the ship by its rudder before speaking to the crew. In a parallel incident during the return journey (Argonautica 4.1602-19), Triton, reacting to Jason’s prayer (/i/'g. 4.1597 -600; c f 5.235-8, Portunus’ prayer, and also 239f), rises from the waters to push the Argo out of the Tritonian Lake, thus facilitating her return to the harbour of Pagasae.111 Portunus, who pushes Cioanthus into the harbour, recalls

!ns Hardie (1987) 166 n. 17. in'’ See above eli. 2 § iv. Eichhoff (1825) 322f, Conington and Nettieship (1883-44)· Heyne and Wagner (I832--34) compare also A r g . 4,930-67 where Thetis and the Nereids push Argo through the Planctae, noting the influence of the Apollonian p h a n ta s m a on Vergil’s imagination. But Vergil's ship docs not fly through the air. as Argo docs. 111 Hardie(1987) 166.

CHAPTER R VE

both figures, as well as Athena.11213* Further imitation underlines the importance of events in the Tritonian Lake for the closing scenes of the race. At Aeneid 5.213..17 Menestheus’ ship is compared to a dove in flight: qualis spelunca subito commota columba, cui domus et dulces latebroso in pumice nidi, fertur in arva volans plausumque exterrita pennis dat tecto ingentem, mox aere lapso quieto radit iter liquidum celeris neque comm ovet alas.

Commentators have long noted113 that Vergil’s model here is the comparison of Argo to a hawk at Argonautica 2.932-5: ή δ' ές π έλαγο ς πεψόρητο έντενές. ήύτε τίς τε δι" ήέρος ύψ όθι κ ίρκος ταρσόν έψ εις πνοιή φέρεται ταχύς, ουδέ τινά σσει ριπήν εύ κ ή λο ισ ιν ένευδιόω ν πτερύγεσσ ιν.

Several details are added by Vergil. The dove flies out of a cave (spelunca), just as the ship moves away from the rocky turning-point. Furthermore, this dove replaces the Apollonian hawk. Why? Above, it was shown that Mnestheus’ approach to the rock is modelled on the Argonauts’ approach to the Symplegades. In its actual passage through the Rocks the Argo follows in the wake of a dove sent ahead to test the passage (Arg. 2.561-73). The analogy between ship and dove is so complete in this passage that it no doubt suggested replacing the hawk of the Apollonian simile with a dove as Mnestheus safely puts the rock behind him ."4 It has already been argued that the safe arrival of Cloanthus in the harbour at the end of the race is modelled in part on Argo’s escape from the Tritonian Lake into the open sea and the resumption of her journey towards Pagasae. Vergil imitates the same section of the Argonautica in his description of Sergestus’ finish. Having run aground at the turning-point Sergestus succeeds in bringing his damaged ship limping home (5.273-9): qualis saepe viae deprensus in aggere serpens, aerea quem obliquum rota transiit aut gravis ictu seminecem liquit saxo lacerumque viator;

112 Such Apollonian marine fantasy is distributed over both race and voyage: see further below § V. Heyne and Wagner (1832-3'*). 111 Hardie ( 1987) 166 n. 17; see Kraggenul (1968) 5551' for a different explanation.

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SICILY nequiquam longos fugiens dat corpore tortus parte ferox ardensque oculis et sibila colla arduus attollens; pars vulnere clauda retenta nexantem nodis seque in sua membra plicantem.

Vergil’s model is the simile at Argonautica 4.I54I-5 in which the movement of the Argo searching for a way out of the Tritonian Lake is compared to a snake writhing in fierce heat;“ 5 ok δ έ δράκων σ κ ολιή ν ε ίλ ιγ μ έ ν ο ς έρ χ ετ α ι σ ιμ όν, εύ τ έ μ ιν όςύ τα τον θ ά λ π ει σ έλ α ς ή ελίυ ιο, ροιζω δ ’ ένθ α κα ι ένθ α κάρη στρέφει, έ ν δέ οι δ σ σ ε σ π ινθ α ρ ύ γ εσ σ ι πυράς έ ν α λ ίγ κ ια μαιμώοντι λάμπεται. οφρα μ υ χό ν δέ διά; ρω χμοίο δύηται.

Again variation is obvious,1 116 51 but the basic comparison o f a ship to a snake safely links the two passages, as do the writhing motion, the ferocity o f the animal and the flashing eyes.

Apollonian material has thus been used to describe each of the four contestants in the race on at least one occasion each. At the start of the race, involving all four ships, Vergil recalls the launching of the Argo at the departure from Pagasae. The rounding o f the turning-point for Mnestheus and Gyas corresponds to the passage through the Symplegades in the outward journey. The end of the race for Cloanthus and Sergestus corresponds to the exit from the Tritonian Lake on the return voyage. This parallelism — the start of the race linked to the departure from Pagasae, and then two further Apollonian scenes, one from the voyage to Colchis and one from the return journey, linked to events in the middle and at the end of the race ... suggests that the contest may be seen as an Argonautica in miniature. If awareness of the central importance of Apollonius for the Trojan journey in Aeneicl i -4 is allied to this idea, a reading of the ship race as a ludic enactment of scenes from both Argonautic and Trojan voyages becomes possible. With this in mind, it is now time to return to the question of the structure of the Trojan journey as a whole. b) The Voyage From the first line of his epic Vergil invites comparison between Aeneas’ voyage from Troy to Italy and the return of Odysseus to Ithaca.i! ' O f course it is correct to see Aeneas’ journey in the first half

115 Conrariiy {i 904) 37. Iif’ Cf. G eo . 3.414-39 with the comments of Briggs ( 1980) 6 i —8 and Thomas (1988). ‘l’ On p r im u s and Odysseus. Galinsky (1969b). (1974). Horsfall (1981) 145 - (1990)

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CHAPTER FIVE·

of the Aeneie/ as the equivalent of Odysseus’ wanderings, but the fact that the parallel is so obvious and so obviously important tends to obscure striking differences. In the Odyssey, apart from the stormy passage between Ogygia and Phaeacia in book 5 and the calm, swift crossing from Phaeacia to Ithaca in book 13, Odysseus’ voyage is described by the hero himself during the long account of his adventures which he delivers in the palace of Alcinous {Odyssey 9-12). Aeneas’ own recital in Dido’s palace of his adventures covers a much smaller proportion of the total journey, merely the voyage between Troy and Carthage.118 From Carthage to the Tiber via Sicily, the Sirens’ shore, Cumae and Circe’s headland is described by the narrator in Aeneid 5 A 7.36, so that Aeneid 3, admittedly the book of voyaging par excellence, contains only part of the Trojans’ long journey between Troy and Latium.119 Furthermore, the structure of the first four books, culminating in the death of Dido, tends to create a strong impression of closure at the end of book 4. By the end of that book Vergil has structured his narrative so that the voyage from Troy to North Africa is encapsulated in book 3, and events in Carthage are set up as the single most important episode of the journey —· indeed almost bringing the whole expedition to a premature end. When the Trojans sail away from Carthage there is a strong sense that they are starting all over again, heading out to sea, as so often in book 3, in search of Latium, leaving their errors and misjudgements behind. The start of book 5 narrates a new beginning, but it also says ‘here we go again’. And this is exactly the point where full appreciation of Apollonian influence becomes crucial. If Sicily corresponds to Aeaea arid the voyage in Aeneid 5 reworks a central section in Argonautica 4, then it becomes clear that in the first half of the Aeneid Vergil has adopted an Apollonian narrative structure, that of the quest as a bipartite voyage, a journey out to and then back from a far-away and dangerous place. Within this imitative pattern Troy corresponds to Pagasae, Carthage to Colchis and Latium (the original home of the Trojan race) to Pagasae again. Broadly speaking, therefore, it is true to sav that:

471; on fato. Bliss (1964). 1X Knauer (1964) 181. ''' On the links between the voyaging in book 3 anti the remainder o f the journey, von Duhn (1952) 81-3, Lloyd (1957) 146-51, Moskaiew ( 1981) 93f. On Aeneid 3 and die poem as a whole, Saunders (1925) ^ (1930) 194-209. Saylor (1970), Putnam (1980) “ (1982) 267-87 - (1995) 50-72. Quint (1982), Rabcl (1985), Hershkowitz (1991). See also on hook 3 Cova (1994), Hübner (1995), Stahl (1998b).

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217

j)

Aeneid 3 (Troy to Libya): Argonautica I and 2 (Pagasae to Colchis) 2) Aeneid I and 4 (Carthage and Dido) - Argonautica 3 (Colchis and Medea) 3) Aeneid 5-7 (Carthage to Latium) Argonautica 4 (the return home to Greece). This is not to deny that the journey from Troy to Latium corresponds to Odysseus' return from Troy to Ithaca. Aeneas’ voyage, like those of Odysseus and Jason, is a nostos. In large-scale structures as well as in detail Vergil takes into account Apollonius’ revvorkings of Homer. The two Argonautic voyages on either side of Colchis, both modelled on the Odyssean wanderings, provide a fundamental structural model for Vergil’s organisation of the Trojan voyage in search of Latium.120 It is the aim of this section to show that Aeneas’ voyage is as much an Argonautica as it is an Odyssey. Vergil’s description of the turning-point in the race (5.129-31): hie viridem Aeneas frondenti ex ilice metam constituit signum nautis pater, unde reverti scirent et longos ubi circumflectere cursus links it to the island of Sicily itself, as described by Helenus (3.4290: praestat Trinacrii metas lustrare Pachyni cessantem, longos et circumflectere cursus. His prophecy makes it clear that there will be no short cut through Scylla and Charybdis in the Straits of Messina, and that the Trojans will have to take the long route round Sicily (3.384- 7, 410-32). The contestants must round the meta, located just off the Sicilian coast, just as the Trojans must round Sicily, the island thus constituting a kind of meta on their journey to Latium.121 But the Trojans’ dangers are not over when they have safely skirted the Sicilian coast as far as Drepanum at the end of book 3. When they

1211 tesueur (1975) 68-88, csp. 69 on the importance of Apollonius. 121 Kraggcrud (1968) 159-66, Monaco (1982) 32, Moskaiew (1982) 124. The connection established earlier between the m e t a o f the race and Scylla and Charybdis dovetails nicely with the parallel between the m e t a and Sicily. Helenus at 3 .4 1Of introduces his description o f Scylla and Charybdis with a Sicilian association: a s t u b i d i g r e s s u m S i c u l a e te a d m o v e r i t o r a e / v e n t u s . The Trojans must round the m e l a - Sicily to avoid the Straits of Messina, blocked by Scylla and Charybdis, furthermore, the Sicily of A e n e i d i . 570-691 is a frightful, dangerous place, quite unlike the welcoming haven at the beginning o f book 5; on this antithesis, Gaiinsky (1968) 159-61. With the attempt to bum the ships Sicily again becomes a place o f menace (Kraggcrud (1968) 159f) and a treacherous turning-point for the Trojans. See also Sansone (1996) for an important discussion o f Palinurus, the m e t a and the crossing from Sicily to Italy at the end of book 5.

CHAPTER PIVI-

leave there and head for Italy the fleet is scattered by a storm and the surviving ships are driven to Libya. Trying to negotiate this meta is thus a very dangerous business indeed since it lands the Trojans in Carthage, which represents the single greatest obstacle to the successful completion of the Trojan mission. Aeneas' involvement with Dido threatens to bring the journey to a premature end and prevent Aeneas arriving in Latium, and the building work in Carthage in Aeneid 1 and 4 threatens the rise of the altae moenia Romae. And even after the escape from Carthage, the attempt of the Trojan women to burn the ships once again endangers the whole mission; Juno’s intervention in book 5 strongly resembles the storms in books i and 4, her earlier efforts to stop the Trojans reaching Latium and founding their city there. Thanks to Juno, Carthage and Sicily dominate the first half of the epic.122 It could then be argued that the dangerous meta for the Trojan fleet on its way to Latium is not Sicily alone, but Sicily and Carthage taken together; this argument can be supported in various ways. Apollonian influence is, of course, vital. At Argonautica 3.1269Ì the Argonauts row their ship, in the last short section of their long journey, to the plain of Ares where Jason’s fight with the bulls and the Earthborn will decide the issue of the Golden Fleece. At this climactic moment Apollonius compares the whole voyage to a race (Arg. 3 .1268-74): κα ί τότ έ π ε ιτ ού δηρόν έτι σ χή σ εσ θ α ι άέθλω ν μ έ λ λ ο ν άτάρ κ λτμ σ ιν έπ ισ χ ερ ώ ίδ ρ υ θ έντες ρίμφα μά λ’. έ ς κ εδ ίον το Ά ρ ή ιυ ν ή πείγοντο. τόσ σον δ έ προτέρω ιτέλεν α σ τεος ά ντιπ έρη θεν. ο σ σ ο ν τ' έκ β α λβ ίδ ος έπήβολος αρματι νύσσα γ ίνετ α ι, όπκότ’ α εθ λ α κα τα φ θιμένοιο α νακτος κηδεμόνες π ε ζ ο ΐσ ι καί ίππή εσ σι τίθενται.

The Colchian plain of Ares on which the outcome will be decided is the Argonauts’ νύσσα, their meta. Once in possession of the Fleece they can turn for home. The voyage out to Colchis and back is thus represented here as a race out around a turning-point and back to the starting line, Pagasae.123 In these few lines Apollonius has in mind the νύσσα of the chariot race at Iliad 23.332 and 338, thereby drawing attention to the lack in his epic of a full-scale description of funeral games, and hinting that the race in the Iliadic games has been replaced by the Argonautic voyage itself.124

m It must be remembered that by framing his Carthage episode with two visits to Sicily Vergil modifies the traditional Aeneas legend in an original manner. I3' Note also the rowing competition at Arg. 1.115.3-71; Hunter (1993) 36f. 121 Hunter (1989) on 1272. Knight (1995) 109. for another perspective on meta and

219

Vergil similarly uses the image of the meta effectively and at a key moment. Aeneas ends the narration of his adventures with Anchises’ death. His long speech closes with (3.714f): hie labor extremus longarum haec meta viarum, hinc me digressum vestris deus appulit oris.

These are deeply ambiguous words. Extremus may mean either ‘last’ or ‘worst’. Meta must mean, on one level, ‘goal’, suggesting that Aeneas’ toils are over,125 and it seems to cover both Sicily and Carthage, since after suffering his greatest loss in the former he has now received a welcome in the latter. But just as readers know (as Aeneas does not) that the deus was Juno,120 so they realise from Helenus’ prophecy that Sicily is a meta in the sense of a turning-point. The journey to Latium must continue and so Carthage cannot represent a real end to Aeneas’ toils.12' it is truly a meta, the treacherous turning-point of the whole Trojan adventure. Just when they think they are safe they are in fact amidst the greatest of all dangers. The meta of Aeneas, then, is Sicily and Carthage, just as Aea with its plain of Ares is the νύσσα for Jason. Aeneas must escape Africa and complete his journey to Latium just as Jason must flee Colchis with the Fleece and return to Pagasae. The Trojan voyage is structured around Carthage in imitation of the pivotal role of Colchis in Apollonius’ narrative. The continuation of the imitative structure which links the voyage from Carthage to the Tiber to Argonautica 4 will be discussed in the following chapter. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to some further aspects of Apollonian influence on the Trojan voyage as a whole. One of Apollonius’ key structural devices for unifying the Argonauts’ series of adventures on land and sea is a network of correspondences between the outward and return journeys.128 T wo obvious examples are the Planctae recalling the Symplegades,129 and

’’’

!2i’ 127

2*

νύσσα, Sansone (1996); here again {he ship-race, charioteering, the voyage, and the safe passage around a turning-point are linked in a close thematic nexus. Williams (1960) on 714 notes how the use o f the term meta relates flatteringly to Dido. Moles (1987) 154 says that 'Aeneas' last words may seem to imply that after all the Trojans' trials their god-given goal is Carthage', adding that 114f are lines of multiple irony'. O'Hara (1990) 24-31 on 3.709-13. Worstbrock (1963) 49 notes that wer« here is both ‘Endpunkt und Wende’; on closure in the Aeneid see Mitchell-Bovask (1996). fowler (1997b), Hardic (1997b) 142-51, West (1998). See Hurst (1967) diagram 31 for a convenient summary. Hurst (1967) 141, Vian and Dclage(l9962) 14; Hera parallels the two at.Arg. 4.786-90.

CHAPTER FIVE

the purifications on Circe’s island balancing those on Mount Dindymum. This technique influenced Vergil, and study of Apollonius’ narrative patterns reveals subtle correspondences between the sections of the Trojan voyage before and after the visit to Carthage. It has been demonstrated above that the Trojans’ detour past Scylla and Charybdis in Aeneid 3 reworks the Argonauts’ passage through the Symplegades,1’0 and that in Aeneid 5 the voyage past the Sirens draws on the Argonauts’ passage between the Planctae.1'’1 These two Vergilian incidents are in their turn linked to form a pair similar to Apollonius’ doublet of the Symplegades and the Planctae. At 5.866 Vergil describes the sea-beaten rocks on the Sirens’ shore: turn rauca adsiduo longe sale saxa sonabant recalling the approach to Scylla and Charybdis (3.5551): ct gemitu ingentem pelagi puisataque saxa audimus longo fractasque ad iitora voces. The Trojans avoid the Sirens thanks to pater Aeneas (5.867), Scylla and Charybdis thanks to pater Anchises (3.558).132 Similarity of action is thus backed up by verbal allusion to create, in the Apollonian manner, connections between different sections of the voyage. A second example is Vergil’s handling o f the theme of pollution. As shown above, the purification from the pollution arising from involvement in Dido’s death achieved by the celebration of games in Sicily corresponds to the rites performed by Circe to cleanse Jason and Medea after the murder of Apsyrtus. Within the Aeneid, the events of books 4 and 5 look back to the purification of the Trojans at Actium from the pollution incurred after the interruption of sacrifices to Jupiter by the Harpies.|j3 There too games are celebrated (3.280-82). A verbal reminiscence of these games at the start o f the ship race is therefore no coincidence: cetera populea velatur fronde inventus/ nudatosque umeros oleo perfusa nitescit (5.134Ì); exercent atrias oleo lahente palaestras/ nudati socii (3.2810· As with the Sirens and Scylla and Charybdis, the pairing of games links the two legs of the voyage, before and after Carthage. Other interesting examples of this sort of linkage can be mentioned briefly. The storms after the departure from

i HI 1.1 1.2 1,5

See above eli. 2 § iv. See p.208 above. For Further connections between these two scenes see p. 208Fabove. Rabe! (1985) 324.

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Carthage (5.8 11 ) and after the departure from Crete (3.192 204) resemble each other, and both recall the storm which opens book I. There are strong resemblances between Anius, who greets the Trojans on Delos — which the Trojans would have visited twice but for the intervention of the Penates (3.143 -71) -— and Acestes, who twice welcomes the Trojans to Sicily (1.195, 558, 570; 5.35-41). Links have been noted between Buthrotum and Cumae.1'14 On a broader scale, the section of the voyage involving Carthage, Sicily and Cumae has been seen as corresponding to the three tripartite groups of episodes of the third book -— Thrace, Delos, Crete; the Strophades, Actium, Buthrotum; Acroceraunia, Castrum Minervae, Sicily1'5 ... and in particular to the Strophades, Actium and Buthrotum.1’6 These repeating patterns merit detailed analysis,|j7 but enough has been said here to show that Vergil’s structuring of his long narrative of voyaging owes much to the example of Apollonius Rhodius.

iv. Palinurus and Tiphys Running through the voyage in Aeneid 1-5 is a consistent pattern of imitation linking Palinurus to Tiphys, the pilot of the Argo who dies on the vvay to Colchis. The parallel has been often noted but never studied in detail.138 Palinurus makes his first appearance at 3.202; he has lost his way in the total darkness which shrouds the fleet after the departure from Crete. The Trojans drift for three days and nights before finally coming to the Strophades, horne o f the Harpies. Palinurus’ helplessness apparently inverts Tiphys’ skill, which enables the Argo to escape a huge freak wave just before the Argonauts’ encounter with the Harpies (Arg. 2.169-77).b9 But a further model is operative here. In the first book of the Aetia (SH fr.250) Callimachus describes Tiphys caught in complete darkness without a single star which which to guide the course of the Argo; the fragmentary state of the text makes it impossible to know where this happened. Apollonius refers to this passage, omitting Tiphys, long since dead in his version of the story, at

'·“ Bright (1981). ,!i Lloyd (1957). Rabe! (1985). Moskalew (1982) 93L ps Rlitten (1912) 55, Wüst (1939) 1429, litigi (1952) 63 n.5), Hunter (1993) 183. Valerius Maccus models his Tiphys on Palinurus (VP Arg. 3.32-42), suggesting his awareness o f connections between the two. In C!l. VÌ.23730 (post-Vergiiian) a Tiphys raises a memorial to his brother Palinurus: Ambrose (1980) 452. |ϊ,; Rütten (1912) 4.

CHAPTER PIVE

Argonautica 4 .1694 -705, when darkness enshrouds the Argonauts off Crete.1'10 Vergil imitates both models, placing the storm and darkness after the Trojans’ departure from Crete, like Apollonius, and describing the pilot’s helplessness in the total darkness, like Callimachus. If more of Callimachus’ version of the Argonautic saga survived further examples of such two-tier allusion would certainly be discovered. Palinurus is next named at 3.513 when he wakes his comrades, notes that the sky is clear and organises the departure from Acroceraunia (3.512-20). Vergil here has in mind Argonautica 1.519-23, where Tiphys is the first to awake at dawn, notes the favourable breezes and rouses his comrades to set sail from Pagasae. But he refers also to Argonautica 1.1273-83, a doublet of the departure from Pagasae,1' 1 where Tiphys gives the order to set sail and the Argonauts, like the Trojans at Acroceraunia, depart while it is still dark. Dawn follows soon after (3.521-4, Arg. 1.1280-82). The movement of the narrative ----- pilot, departure in darkness, daybreak...is exactly the same in both texts.142 It is noteworthy that Vergil here imitates the scenes which occur immediately after the loss of Hylas. The loss of Palinurus at the end of Aeneid 5, as will become clear, recalls Apollonius’ Hyias narrative. Vergil thus distributes different aspects of this section of Argonautica I in creating the Palinurus story. The next appearance of Palinurus is at 3.562 where he helps the Trojan fleet to avoid Scylla and Charybdis. The model here is Tiphys in the passage through the Symplegades.i4j At the beginning of book 5 Palinurus is again handicapped by complete darkness (5.12), as he was after the departure from Crete.144 This is echoed at the end of the book when he is once more out on the dark sea (5.833-61) just before his death.145 It has been shown that in describing the death of Palinurus Vergil has in mind Apollonius’ story of Butes and the Sirens.146 But there is yet deeper Apollonian influence. Palinurus dies just before the arrival at Cumae, with its entrance to Hades. Vergil obviously has in mind the death of Eipenor immediately before Odysseus’ voyage to

l i!’ Lloyd-Jones &. Parsons (1983) 95; on further Cailinvachean influence here, Livrea ( i 992) Ι50Γ. IJ' Cf. Arg. I 522Land 1274Γ Mooney (1912) on 1.1274 compares 3.513. u; Mehmel (1940)37-9. U1 See above ch. 2 p. 47. n ‘ This suggests Vergil is distributing the Caiiimachean material discussed above. For Cailimachean influence on the opening o f Aeneid 5, Johnston (1987) 652—4. 114 On Palinurus and night. Brenk (1984) 782. 791-3, Sansone (1996). w See above § ii.e.

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Hades,111' blit he is also thinking of Tiphys, who dies while the Argo is anchored on the Acherusian headland, beside the entrance to Hades located there (Arg. 2.727 863).1,18 Furthermore, just as Palinurus is the sacrificial victim offered in return for the safe crossing from Sicily to Italy (unum pro multis dabitur caput, 5.815), so Tiphys may be seen as the victim who pays the price for the safe passage through the Symplegades.1,19 Palinurus will reappear in the discussion of the death of Misenus in Aeneid 6. For the moment, it should by now be clear that Tiphys provides the frame on which Vergil creates his mysterious pilot. Homer’s Phrontis, Odysseus, Patroclus and Elpenor all contribute,150 as cio Apollonius’ Butes and Hyias,i:>1 but Tiphys is clearly the centra! poetic model.15’

V.

Marine Fantasy

Several occasions in the Aeneid attest to Vergil’s interest in the very nature of ships as man-made monstra and to his liking for corteges of sea deities, ship-pushings and other marine fantasies.153 Cymothoe and Triton push ships off the Altars in the aftermath of the storm (!.144f), while in the ship race Portunus pushes Cioanthus’ ship to victory (5.2410· Neptune in book 1 is accompanied by Triton and Cymothoe and later, in book 5, he is surrounded by a retinue of minor sea deities

IJ7 Knauer (1964) 137-9, also Lossau (1980), Rohdich (1985). Laudizi (1988). Feeney (1986) 60. The death of the pilot near the entrance to the underworld seems to refer to the motif whereby the ship which takes the hero to Hades travels with divine guidance and needs neither helm nor helmsman. Cf. the loss o f Argo’s rudder as she passes through the Symplegades (on this as an entry' into Hell see below eh. 6 § Fi) at Arg. 2.601 fand Palinurus’ tearing away the rudder as he falls to his death at 5.858Γ; on this material, Clarke (1978) i 59-62. 1,,J Vian and Delage (1976) 16, 126, Moreau (1994) 131 f. On Palinurus and the theme of sacrifice see O'Hara (1990) 19-24, Augello (1987).. and on the importance o f the theme in general, Hardic ( 1993) eh. 2. See also Sansone ( 1996) 432f, Bleisch ( 1998). 1W Break(1984)776-81. hl Hunter (1993) 183. The way in which Somnus pushes Palinurus into the sea (5.859) is very similar to the Nymph's pulling Hylas into the water (Arg. 1.1239). Both victims cry out (5.860. Arg. 1.1240) and both incidents take place at night (5.835-7, Arg. 1.1231t) i» an atmosphere of calm and mystery. For discussion concerning the question of book 5 in Vergil’s planning o f the structure of the epic see Berres (1982) 250-81, Friedrich (1982). Kehoe (1989) 257-9. The arguments presented in this chapter for the journey from Libya to the Tiber as the second leg o f a bipartite voyage around the turning-point represented by Carthage may facilitate taking Libyco ... cursu at 6.338 to mean ‘on the journey from Libya’. On Palinurus and the Aeneas legend see D.H. A.R. 1.53.2 and Lossau (1987) 937. On Palinurus and Achates see Lossau (1987b). IM Ilardici 1987), Fantham ( 1990), Harrison (1995).

CHAPTER P !vi­

and nymphs (5.816..26). In ail these scenes it has been shown that Vergil imitates Apollonius in precise detail. The Argo itself, built with divine aid (Arg. I.18f), presented as mother of the Argonauts (Arg. 4.1327) and capable of human speech (Arg. 1.524-7, 4.580-92), provides ample precedent for Vergil’s handling of such themes. Further examples of similar scenes in the second half of the epic recall the long years of sailing on the way to Italy and lend the narrative a quite un-lliadic atmosphere. !5‘l In book 9 the Trojan ships meta­ morphose into nymphs. This miraculous incident is introduced by an invocation of the Muses (77-9): cjuis cieus. o Musae, tam saeva incendia Teucris avertit? tantos ratibus quis deus depulit ignis? dicite: prisca fides facto, sed fama perennis.

Commentators have noted the similarity here with Argonautica 4.1381 f:151*53* Μουσαίον οδε μϋθος. εγώ δ' υπάκουος άείδω/ Πιερίδων, και τήνδε πανατρεκές εκλυον όμφήν, which also introduce an unlikely story, that the Argonauts carried their ship for twelve days and nights through the Libyan desert. Earlier, at Argonautica 4.1325-9, the advice of the Libyan nymphs had established a connection between this miraculous feat and the completion of a safe return journey to Pagasae. In Aeneid 9 the metamorphosis of the ships signals the end of the Trojan voyage.156 The Apollonian reference underlines the sense of completion: the Trojan nostos and at the same time the Trojan Argo­ nautica are over. Both poets introduce bizarre tales by drawing attention to the existence of traditional authority for the event. In fact, Vergil is almost certainly inventing this story157 and using the reference to the Apollonian model to indicate a precedent for the inclusion of such a strange tale in an epic narrative. At 10.215-59 as Aeneas returns to the battle at the head of his newly-acquired Arcadian and Etruscan allies, his ship is surrounded by the nymphs who had once been the ships of his fleet, an image which recalls Argonautica 4.930-67, where the Nereids surround the Argo at

151 On sudi scenes as particular!',’ Hellenistic in tone, de Saint Denis (1935) 230. Horsfall (1995) 142 n.47. 155 Heync and Wagner (1832 -3*) on 77f, de La Ville de Mirmont (1894) 522. Norden (I957J) 208. On Homeric influence. I'antham (1990) I05f. Hardie (1994) on 79 well notes the difficulty o f the line, See also Kraggerud (1996) 112f. Vergil replaces μϋθος and όμφήν with fides and fama, creating a very different effect. 1?(' Knauer (1964) 271. Hardie (1994) on 99-100. 1,7 Horsfall (1990c) 60-- (1991) 132.

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the Planctae.158 Cymodocea,159 the leader of the nymphs, guides the ship (10.225-7): quarum quae fandi doctissim a Cym odocea pone sequens dextra puppim tenet ipsaque dorso eminet ac laeva tacitis subremigat undis.

Compare Thetis guiding the Argo, ή δ' απιθεν πτέρυγας θίγε πηδαλίοιυ/ δία Θέτις, Πλαγκτησιν évi σπιλάδεσσιν έρυσθαι 4.931t) and Θέτις δ’ 'ίθυνε κέλευθον (Arg. 4.938);1'1" pone sequens refers to οπιθεν, puppim tenet to πτέρυγος θίγε, πηδαλίοιο.161 Cymodocea raises her back out o f the water in imitation of Triton rising out of the water when he too takes hold of a ship at Argonautica 4.1602t'. When she goes on to speak to Aeneas she recalls Glaucus who advises the Argonauts after rising out of the water and taking hold of the keel of the ship at Argonautica 1.1310-25 (cf. esp. 10.225 and Arg. 1.1311).162 Finally, the episode holds two reminders of Athena’s ship­ pushing at the Symplegades (/(/·£. 2.598 -600): κα ί τότ’ Ά θ η να ιη στιβαρής ά ντέσ π α σ ε πέτρης σ κα ιρ. δ εξιτερ π δ ε δ ια μ π ε ρ έ ς ώ σ ε φ έ ρ ε σ θ α ι · ή δ' ίκ έλ η τττερόεντι μετήορος έσ σ υ τ’ όιστφ.

Initially Cymodocea uses both hands (dextra ... laeva, 10.226f) to manoeuvre the ship; when she has finished her speech she pushes it with her right hand (10.246 -8): dixerat et dextra discedens impulit altam haud ignara modi puppim; fugit illa per undas ocior et iaculo ct ventos aequante sagitta.163

Vergil thus fuses four Apollonian scenes in which gods push Argo to help and guide her along her way,164 the same technique used for

‘5S At Arg. 4.933-6 the nymphs are compared to dolphins; at 9.119 the siiips plunge like dolphins to resurface as nymphs; see further Hardie (1994) on 119-22. Harrison (1995) 162 n.47. ^ Cymodoce is the name of a Nereid at il. 18.39, Th. 252, 5.826. 1011 Cf. also Triton holding the Argo's keel as he guides her along at Arg. 4 .1609f. This passage is also the model for Triton as figure-head o f the ship o f Aulestes at 10.20912; Pantham (1990) 114-16, Harrison (1991) on 209—11. Il,! 5.825, lac va iene! Thais, refers to this same Apollonian phrase, tenet varying the sense of θίγε (see p. 203 above); here it means the same as θίγε. O'Hara (1990) 40f, Harrison (1991) on 226-7. Harrison (1995) 163 n.63. Arg. 2.599f. was also used for Portunus at 5.241 3. !m de Saint Denis (1935) 232. litigi (1952) 67-9. Pantham (1990) 116. On the im­ portance o f Catullus 64 as an intermediary in the transmission o f such motifs to Latin poetry, Thomas (1982). Hardie (1987). (1994) on 85-7, Fantham (1990) 107. But note aiso Deiagc (1935).

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Cymothoe and Triton in book 1 and Portunus in book 5. His liking for such marine fantasies can be traced to precise Apollonian models rather than to Hellenistic literature and art in generai.

CHAPTER SIX

CUMAE, CAIETA, CIRCE AND THE TIBER

I

Cumae

The sixth hook of the Aeneid is devoted to the stop at Cumae and Aeneas' katabasis. its central position in the poem and its climactic roie in the first haif, the atmosphere of mystery which surrounds it and the pervasive imitation throughout of a single Homeric book, Odyssey I !, are ali aspects which encourage a reading of Aeneid 6 in isolation. But Cumae must aiso be seen as an integral part of the narrative of the journey from Carthage to Latium in books 5 7 and as one of the many stops along the way from Troy to the Tiber. As in the third book, the narration of the journey from Troy to Carthage, Vergil in book 6 treats the Aeneas legend as preserved in his prose sources with considerable freedom. In particular, he omits many landfalls associated with the Trojans when he describes the voyage from Sicily northward along the Italian coast.1 Here, poetic models predominate, particularly Homel­ and Apollonius. A review of the places named in the relevant portions of the model texts and their Vergilian equivalents will be useful as a summary of part of the preceding chapter and to set the scene for what follows:

Horsfall (1981) 143 = (lW 0)4f.8r

CilAP'ITR SIX

O d y ss e y

10-12

A r g o n a u tic a

4

A e n e id

Circe

Circe

Sicily

Hades

Sirens

Sirens

Circe

Planctae (and Scylla & Charybdis)

Cinnae

Sirens

Thrinakia C:: Sicily)

Calcia

Scylla & Charybdis (and Planctae)

5-7

Circe

Thrinakia

The obvious model for the Trojans’ journey from Sicily, via Hades, past Circe is in Odyssey 10 12 where Odysseus visits Circe, the land of the dead and Thrinakia. But Vergil has also been shown to be exploiting Apollonius’ imitation of this whole section of Odysseus’ voyage. He follows Apollonius in accepting the localisation of certain Homeric episodes in southern Italy and Sicily, models part of the action in Sicily on events in Aeaea and brings Aeneas from Sicily past Circe just as Apollonius brings Jason from Circe past Sicily. The problem with this pattern of imitation, as the table makes clear, is that it invites a comparison between Cumae and the Planctae. At first sight a connection seems impossible. Apollonius should surely be ignored at this point, and Vergil’s narrative read purely in Homeric terms, given the obvious correspondence between Aeneid 6 and Odyssey ! 1. But this is a solution of despair, and before resorting to it a closer look at Apollonius’ imitation of Odysseus’ visit to Hades is in order.

i. Th t A r g o n a u tic a and the Odyssean Nekuia Apollonius reworks the narrative ο ϊ Odyssey 10-12 twice, in book 2 and in book 4. He models both Phineus and Thetis on the Homeric Circe and establishes clear parallels between Jason’s passages through the Symplegades and the Planctae and Odysseus’ voyage to Ocean and Hades. The discussion which follows will deal first with Phineus’ prophecy and the subsequent voyage to Colchis, before turning to Thetis and the fourth book. It was noted earlier" that Phineus gives prophetic advice to Jason about the voyage to Colchis, just as Circe attempted to guide Odysseus

’

Above eh. 2 § iii

CUMA!-:, i ΛίΙΠ'Λ. URCi: AND ΙΉΗ TIBFR

229

-ilong his way to Ithaca. The Apollonian Circe in book 4 does not act as a prophet (highlighting Phineus' earlier adoption of that role), instead Thetis, on Hera's initiative, teils Peleus where to go after leaving Aeaea. Detailed comparison of Phineus' long speech at Argonautica o 3 11-425 with the words of Circe at Odyssey i 0.488-95 and 504-40 will prove highly instructive. The beginning of Phineus' prophecy is hardly calculated to delight the Argonauts: after leaving Bithynia they must follow the narrow, dangerous passage between the Symplegades, something never before achieved, τάων οϋ τινά φημι διαμπερές έξαλέασθαι (Arg. 2.319). When Circe teils Odysseus that he must sail to Hades the hero, dismayed, asks who will be his guide, since εις 'Άϊδος ò ου πώ τις άφίκετο νηΐ μελαίνη (Od. 10.502). Apollonius also has in mind a related line in Circe's later speech to Odysseus warning of the dangers associated with the Planctae, τη δ' οϋ πιό τις νηύς φύγεν άνδρών, ή τις ικηται (Od. 12.66)/ The passage through the Symplegades, it would seem, is just as inaccessible as the path through the Planctae and the way to Hell itself. Nevertheless, Jason must attempt to sail through the Clashing Rocks, and Phineus teils him how to go about it. He must send a dove through first and follow in its wake only if it succeeds in getting safely past. If the bird dies, however, caught between the rocks, the hero must not attempt the passage, μη τλητ ouovoìo πάρεξ έτι νηί περησαι (/frg. 2.344). Apollonius here refers to Odyssey 10.508 where Circe says, άλλ' όπότ αν δή νηί δ ι’ Ώ κεανοΐο περήσης.'1 Homer uses this verb with this noun in the singular only here,5 and he does so in the context of Odysseus being sent to Hades, beyond Ocean. Further similarities with Circe's prophecy confirm the connection. Phineus goes on to say (Arg. 2.345-56) that if the Argo gets safely through the Clashing Rocks Jason will next arrive on the Isle of Thynias where there is an entrance into Hades, where the lofty Acherusian headland juts out and where the River Acheron bursts out into the sea (Afg. 2.353-6). This point of entry into the Underworld is

There is tremendous irony in Apollonius’ allusion to a speech in which Circe goes on to say (O d 12.69-72) that only the Argonauts have passed the Wandering Rocks unscathed. Liven as Phineus describes the terrible dangers o f the Symplegades the reader who picks up the Homeric allusion to the Planctae realises that for Jason such a passage is not impossible. Livrea (Ì973) on 283, Campbell (1981)29, Knight (1995) 44 n. 142. For the verb περάω with the plural νηυσίν sec Od. 15.387. For the use o f the verb in the context o f a journey to Hades see l i 5.646, 23.71. Od. i 1.158. Theognis 427, 906 (West); Stesichorus, fr. 8.2 (Page) has it o f crossing Ocean; Alcaeus, fr. 38A.8 (Lobe! and Page) employs it of crossing Acheron.

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modelled on Homer’s descriptior! of the place beyond Ocean towards which Circe sends Odysseus at Odyssey 10.508 -15.6 The goddess says, ένθ' ακτή τε λαχεία. Od. 10.509 {cf. ένθα .../α κ τή ' .... Arg. 2.3531) and orders Odysseus, αυτός δ' ε ις Άίδεω ίέναι δόμον εύρώεντα./ ένθα μέν εις Αχέροντα ... (Od. 10.5 I2f, c f ένθα μέν εις Άίδαο ..., Arg. 2.353 and δινήεις τ' Άχερων .... Arg. 2.355). Homer describes Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus flowing into the Acheron (Od. 10.5131), whereas Apollonius mentions the place where the Acheron cuts through the Acherusian headland and breaks out into the sea (/leg. 2.3551). There were many rivers named Acheron,8 but Apollonius is the first to mention this particular one on the southern coast of the Black Sea, and does so to allude to the Odyssean Acheron of the Underworld. As if to alert the reader' who may have missed these links between Phineus’ prophecy and Circe's instructions for Odysseus’ voyage to the Underworld, Apollonius in this episode explicitly compares the journey to a voyage to Hades.10 When the ship succeeds in getting past the rocks the narrator remarks, δή γάρ φάσαν έξ Ά ίδαο/ σωεσθαι (/Irg. 2.609f c f Od. ί 1.69, 625 and Valerius Flaccus, Arg. 4.699-7Ö2). Soon after, Jason, heartened by the courage of the crew, says, τούνεκα νυν ούδ' ε'ί κε διέξ Άίδαο βερέθρων/ στελλοίμην, έτι τάρβος άνάψομαι, εύτε πέλεσθε/ έμπεδοι άργαλέοις ένί δείμασιν (/!/'#. 2.642-4). Hera, later, expresses herseif in similar terms when explaining to Aphrodite her protective feelings for Jason, τον μέν έγών. εί καί περ ές "Αιδα ναυτίλληται/ λυσόμενος χαλκέων Ίξίονα νειόθι δεσμών,/ ρύσομαι άσσον έμοΐσιν ένί σθένος έπλετο γυίοις (/leg. 3.613). Both the passage through the Symplegades and the Argonautic voyage as a whole are likened to a visit to the Underworld. In terms of Apollonius’ imitation of Homer, therefore, when Jason leaves Bithynia and sails through the Symplegades he in some sense enters Hades, just as Odysseus sails from Circe’s island to the Underworld. This argument is not invalidated by the fact that Phineus is also presented in pre-Apollonian sources as the seer who advises Jason

Knight (1995) 175. On this reading, Campbell (1973) 72f. * Wentze! (1894) 217-19. '' Similarly, the Acherusian headland in this context cannot fail to evoke the Acherusian lake commonly associated with the entrance into Hades, whether in Thesprotia, associated with the Homeric nekuia, or at Avernus in Italy, scene o f the Vergilian katabasis; Austin (1977) 279 -86, Baliabriga (1986) 43-5. Apollonius names the underworld Acheron at Arg. 1.644. |,! Vian and Dclage (1976) 125f. (1982) 280. Campbell (1994) on 61-3.

c-{;ΜΛΐ:. CAIHTA, CIRC'l·: ANI) il IH TIBER

231

about the passage through the rocks.11 The parallels between Apollonius' story and both its Argonautic and Odyssean sources are best explained by a narrative pattern involving a meeting with a seer followed by the entrance into Hades which goes back to the early Argonautic saga to which Homer is indebted in Odyssey 10-12.12 It is clear from both Odyssey 11 and 24 that Homer had access to a highly varied set of traditional motifs with which to create the episode of Odysseus' journey to meet Teiresias. Odysseus' otherworld experience is a strange mixture of voyage, nekuiomcmteion and katabasis.13 He must sail to Ocean; once there either the souls rise up to meet him or he himself enters Hades and can see, for example, the heroes suffering their punishments. Apollonius draws on each of these aspects of Odvssey 11 to present the voyage of the Argonauts as a kind of mock katabasis. The series of events immediately following Phineus' prophecy repeatedly gives the impression that the Argonauts are sailing through very strange waters. In geographical terms the Argo is now moving out of the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea,1'1 but there are numerous associations with death and Hades. The second landfall after the Symplegades is at the Acherusian headland, where, as already mentioned, there is an entrance to Hades. At this point a reader familiar with epic might expect Jason to follow in the footsteps of such heroes as Heracles, Theseus and Odysseus, and make a descent into the Underworld.13 Apollonius, however, has other plans. At the entrance to Hades Jason suffers the loss of two of his crew, Idmon and Tiphys.16 The death of the pilot Tiphys may be seen as a sacrificial offering to the powers of Hell in return for the safe passage through the Symplegades,|; but once more a Homeric reference sharpens up the chthonic associations of this episode. The similarity between these two

!l Ziegler (1941) 222. Vian and Del age (1976) 144Γ. Melili (1921) ! 12-14 - (1975) 672f. IJ lleubeck (1989) 75—7 ; see also the discussions o f Clark (1978) ch. 2 and Sourvinouiinvood(1995)ch. 2. 11 On the increasingly strange nature o f the journey after the departure from Phineus, Beve (1982) ! 12-14. 133, 1lunter ( 1993) 93, Knight (1995) 175. Feeney (1986) 59. Hunter (1993) 184. For Ovidia» play on the generic expectation created by the traditional nature o f the katabasis in epic, Crabbe (1981) 2280 n.3l. On the possible existence o f descents to Hades in early versions of the Argonautic saga, West (1966) on 523f. Huxley (1969) 67. On Odysseus’ nosios as modelled on an originally katabatic voyage. Frame (1978), Crane (1987) ■ —( 19S8) eh. 6. '' On the poet’s sources at this point, Vian and Belage ( 1976) i 62. 1 Vian and Delage ( 1976) 16. 126, Moreau (1994) 131 f. On the evident similarity with Palinurus see above eh. 5 p. 222Γ.

232

CHAPTER Six

deaths and that of Elpenor at the end of Odyssey 10 has long been noted.18 Λ1! three crewmen die unexpectedly in close connection with an entry into Hades. Elpenor falls to his death just before Odysseus' departure for the Underworld, Idmon and Tiphys perish (Idmon is killed by a boar,19 Tiphys succumbs to a mysterious disease) while the Argo is anchored beside an entrance to Hades. Apollonius links Idmon in particular to Elpenor.20 Before it attacks the boar is described as cooling itself, ψυχόμενος (Arg. 2.819); the word alludes to a Homeric hapctx used of Elpenor who went onto the roof of Circe’s palace to cool himself, ψύχεος ιμείρων (Od. 10.555).21 In a typical inversion, Apollonius applies the term to the attacker rather than to the victim, kimon’s funeral also is modelled on that o f Elpenor (cf. Arg. 2.835-44 and Od. 12.11-15), each man being buried on a headland22 and having a marker set on his tomb.“’ Once more, therefore, it is clear that in this particular section of Argonautica 2 Apollonius has Odyssey 11 in mind. Soon after leaving the Acherusian headland the Argonauts make a brief stop at the tomb of Sthenelus (Arg. 2.91 1-29). Thus a third burial place is mentioned immediately after tombs are set up for Idmon and Tiphys (d/'g·. 2.842 and 852), and tombs of the dead begin to charac­ terise this section of the voyage. Sthenelus, an ex-companion of Heracles, rises out of his grave to watch the heroes as they sail past. His soul is sent forth by Persephone (d/'g. 2.9151), the same goddess who in Odyssey 11 sends the souls forth to meet Odysseus (Od. 11.225f; cf. 2i3f, 634f).24 Similarly, the return of Sthenelus into the ζόφον (/Eg. 2.921; cf. the ζόφον o f the Underworld at Od. 11.57, I55)2' parallels that of the Homeric shades who also go back into gloomy Hades after

!* Mculi (192!) 91 n.i - (1975) 656 n.2. Mcrkeibaeb (19690 204. Lord (1965) 168. Melili bere goes on to suggest that the Homeric Elpenor may already have been fashioned after an Argoimitic model or models: lleubeck I ! 989) on 551-60 for discussion. r' On this animal's strong ehthonic associations. Aymard (195 i) 51 Sf. Hunter (1993) 44. 21 Apollonius uses the verb once again at Arg. 4.1527 in a parallel episode, the account o f the death o f Canthus in Libya. άκρης τυτθόν ένερΟ'... at Arg. 2.844 looks like a variation on 06' ακράτητος ... ακτή at Od. 12.11 (on which see Stanford (1959) suggesting that Apollonius took ακρότοτος as ’highest rather than ’furthest'). 2' Vian and Dclage ( 1976) 278 on 844. This link is noted by Campbell ( 1981 ) 36. On Achilles' comparable appearance out of his tomb in the Λ'o.stoi. Vian and Oeiage (1976) 163 it.6. Ilio scholia at ,-!rg. 2.91114 cite Promathidas as a source for the Sthenelus incident but also say that Apollonius τά όέ κερί Tin5 ειδώλου αυτός έ/τλασεν. Nothing in Promathidas, therefore, will have resembled Od. 11. 2' Heubeck (1989) on 11.57-8.

CUMAK, CAIE i'A. CIRCE AND Ti iE TIBER

meeting Odysseus (Od. i 1.150, 627). The sacrifices offered by the Argonauts at Sthenelus' tomb (χύτλα té οί χεύοντο καί ήγνισαν έντομα μήλων. Arg. 2.926) are the same as those made by Odysseus to the dead (χοήν χεόμην, Od. 11.26; μήλα, 35).26 The Argonauts’ encounter with Sthenelus is thus modelled on Odysseus’ meetings with the souls of the dead during his nekuia?' Sailing further on along the southern coast of the Black Sea the Argonauts skirt the land of the Chalybes who work the iron surrounded by lire and black smoke, ουδέ ποτέ σφιν/ ήώς άντέλλει καμάτων άτερ ... (Arg. 2 ,1006f; cf. Od. 8.562 and [Hesiodj, Sc. 310f). Apollonius refers here to Homer's description of the dark land of the Cimmerians, ούδέ ποτ' αυτούς/ Ή έλιος ψαέθων καταδέρκεται άκτίνεσσιν (Od. i 1.150. Shortly after, just before the arrival in Colchis, the Argonauts, sailing past the mountains of the Caucasus, hear the screams of Prometheus suffering punishment and see the eagle which tortures him (/Irg. 2.1246-59). The punishment of Tityos at Odyssey 1 1.576-81 is very similar: both are stretched out and bound and have their livers pecked by monstrous birds. Although there is no explicit verbal allusion linking Apollonius’ Prometheus to the Odyssean Tityos, both belong to the same class of punished sinners. It is even possible that for the sinners in Hades in Odyssey 1 1 Homer was drawing directly on an Argonautic model which included such descriptions in the context of Jason’s voyage to the land of the Sun.28 During the return journey, in a doublet of the Prometheus episode,29 the Argonauts sail past the burning body of Phaethon, buried in a lake near the Eridanus which gives off poisonous fumes. The infernal atmosphere is here particularly strong, ’0 and Vergil will use Apollonius’ description of the bird-killing fumes emanating from the lake31 for the cave at Avernus, where Aeneas enters Hades.’" Finally, the Argonauts reach their destination at night and enter the River Phasis ... ϊκοντο/ Φασίν τ' εύρύ ρέοντα και έσχατα πείρατα Πόντου (Arg. 2.1260f). At Odyssey

)

On the typical nature of these offerings. Burkert (1985) 194. de La Ville de Mirmont (1894) 200. West (1966) on 523 -33. Phaethon resembles Typhoeus at A rg 2.1210-•••15. both blasted by thunderbolts and buried in lakes; cf. A rg 2.1211 f ami Arg. 4.579, Arg. 2.1215 and A rg 4.599; Byre (1996) and also Higgle (1970) 20f. On Vergil's sinners and their punishments. Austin (1977) on 601, Putnam (1990), Horsfall (1991) 47f; also Sourvinou-Inwood (1995) 67-70. Beve (1982) ! 65. Dufner ( 1988) 179-81. On lakes as places o f entry into the Underworld. Ciansehinietz ( 1919) 2379-84. See below § ii. d.

234

CflAPTHR SiX

I M 3 Odysseus' ship, at night (Od. 11.12), reaches the edge of Ocean, ή δ' ές πείραθ' ϊκανε βαθυρρόυυ ΏκεανοΧο. The edges of the world (κείρατα γαίης or πείρατα γαιης καί πόντοιο) are often associated with the land of the dead in Greek thought,'’3 and so Jason comes to the end of the voyage to Colchis at the world’s end as prescribed by Phineus, just as Odysseus obeys Circe’s instructions in sailing to 1lades, also located by Ocean at the world’s edge (Od. 1 1.9-22). The voyage to Aea in search of the Golden Fleece has often been read as a Jenseitsfahrt, a voyage to the land of the dead.34 According to this interpretation, generally based on comparison with other myths rather than on study of Apollonius’ Homeric allusions, both the Symplegades and the Planctae represent the gates to the Underworld through which the hero must pass to reach the other world.35 The pattern of imitation linking the second book of the Argonautica to the Homeric nekuia lends strong support to this interpretation of the myth. And it should not be forgotten that Apollonius imitates this same Homeric material a second time in his fourth book. 'fhe Argonauts’ visit to Circe in Argonautica 4 recalls at several points Odyssey 10-12,30 and for the departure from Aeaea Apollonius draws on both of Odysseus’ departures from Circe, neatly fusing a Homeric doublet (Od. 11.6 10 and 12.148-52). The obvious allusion is to the second departure: after Odysseus’ return from Hades, Circe tells him (Od. 12.37 110, 116-41) about the next stage of his journey, past the Sirens, the Planctae and Scylla and Charybdis on to Thrinakia. Thetis, much more briefly (Arg. 4.856-64), telis Peleus that the Argo­ nauts must leave, and will have to go through the Planctae (Arg. 4.860, cf. Od. 12.61). But the Argonauts’ departure from Aeaea is linked with a precise verbal allusion to Odysseus’ first departure from Circe’s island at the end of the tenth and the start of the eleventh book of the Odyssey.*7 When Hera decides that it is time for the Argonauts to leave Circe’s home Thetis says to Peleus, μηκέτι νΰν άκταΧς Τυρσηνίσιν

’’ West (1966) on 335 am! 622, lleubeck (1989) 78; in general Ballabmin (Ί986). Romm (1992) ì4 Metili (1921) 151'·" (1975) 6041'. Leskv (1948). Clark (1978) 34-6, Beve (1982) 43-5. 103. 112-14. 165. Vian (1982) 28ÜL Ballabriga ( 1986) 95f. Segal (1986) 89f. Crane (1987) - (1988) ch. 6, Davies (1988) 280, n.20. 282 n.29 and the references cited there. Clare (1993) 122-7. Hunter (1993) 184, Campbell (1994) on 61-3. 216. Moreau (1994) 128-42. Knight ( 1995) 44. 175-7. " Radermachcr (1938) 219. Cook (1914) 975f. Mcrkclbach (1969’) 204f. Lindsay (1965), Clav (1972), Vian and Delaue (1976) 125f. Clark (1978) 34f. Crane (1987) 27 - (1988) 147, Davies (1988) 282 n.29. Hunter (1993) 184. Knight (1995) 184-200. ’’ Cf. also Ari’. 4.750 and Od. 10.566 -8; Knight (1995) 194.

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235

ησθε μένοντες 4.856); this picks up Odyssey i 0.489 where Circe says to Odysseus, μηκέτι νΰν άέκοντες έμω έν'ι μίμνετε οϊκω.38 Circe (Od. 10.488 95 and 504-40) sends Odysseus to Hades, whereas Thetis sends Jason towards the Planctae {Arg. 4.856-64). But the allusion faces the reader for an instant with the possibility that on leaving Circe Jason, like Odysseus, will visit the Underworld. As in Argonautica 2, iiis dangerous passage through mobile rocks corresponds to Odysseus' voyage to Ocean, but Apollonius' account of the Argonauts' voyage through the Planctae differs greatly from his description of the Symplegades. On the outward journey the Argo is in grave danger of being crushed and is saved at the last minute only by the intervention of Athena (/!/·£. 2.598-606). On the return journey, the Wandering Rocks pose no real threat, and Argo is playfully pushed around like a beachbal! by Thetis and the Nereids until she finally reaches calm waters (/(/·£. 4.930- 65). In keeping with this lighter tone, Apollonius avoids surrounding the Planctae with the chthonic associations he had attributed to the Symplegades. Nevertheless, the two scenes in which the Argonauts pass through narrow, potentially lethal straits obviously make up a doublet linking the return voyage to the outward journey. This is underlined by the fact that the Odyssean narrative involving Circe, Hades, Circe, Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis and the Planctae is the model both for Phineus and the Symplegades in Argonautica 2 and for Circe, Thetis and the Planctae in Argonautica 4.‘K1

ii. The Katahasis of Aeneas Vergil was fully aware of the Apollonian patterns of imitation dealt with in the previous section, and of the chthonic aspects of the Argonauts' voyage to and from Colehian Aea. His reading of Apol­ lonius’ acccount of Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece as a form of katabasis is of obvious importance for the understanding ot'Aeneid 6 .11 Odyssey 11 is undoubtedly Vergil’s dominant model in Aeneici ó,'1" but imitation of Homer alone does not explain the placing of Aeneas’ descent to Hades in the larger context of the hero's voyage from Troy

,s Livrea (1973) on 856. v Che Symplegades and (he Planetae are scrupulously differentiated by Apollonius but they were in fact often confused; Page (1938) on 2. Börner (1976) on 7.63. Crane (1987) 33-5 - (1988) 152-5. l" See above ch. 2 § iv. ‘I Hunter (1993) 182-8. ‘‘ As correctly stated by Norden (19571) 3 in the opening sentence o f his commentary and conclusively proved by Knauer (1964) 107-47.

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CÌ ΙΛΡΤίίΚ SIX

to Latium. True, Aeneid 6 occupies a central position in the epic, as does Odyssey 11 but whereas Homer includes the visit to Hades in the hero's own narrative of his adventures and gives it a centra! position in the description of the voyage as a whole, Aeneas’ katabasis is outside his account of his adventures in books 2 and 3, and occurs very near the end of the voyage, just before the arrivai in the Tiber, This difference may be at least partly explained by recapitulating, very briefly, Apollonius’ use of the Odyssey in Argonaulica 4. The Odyssean narrative involving Circe, Hades, the Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis and the Planctae provides the basis for Apollonius’ Circe, Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis, and Planctae; in addition, since the passage through the Planctae may be interpreted as an entry into Hades, the departure from Circe and the voyage to Ocean in Odyssey 11 are also relevant. Thus informed, the reader of Vergil’s account of the Trojans' departure from Sicily, the death of Palinurus, the journey past the Sirens, the landing at Cumae and Aeneas’ katabasis will appreciate that Vergil is imitating, as well as the Homeric nekuia, Apollonius’ narrative of the departure from Circean Aeaea, the story of Butes and the Sirens and the passage through the Planctae. Aeneas’ katabasis is placed at this point in the Aeneid, therefore, because Vergil is modelling the voyage back from Carthage on the return from Colchis, and so Cumae can indeed be understood to correspond to the Planctae, Apollonius’ apparently bizarre substitute for Odyssey 11. That said, it must be stressed that in devoting a whole book of his epic to a descent to Hades Vergil primarily invites comparison with Homer, it must also be admitted that reference to Apollonius cannot completely explain the climactic placing of the Vergilian katabasis just before the arrival in the Tiber. The journey to see Anchises is in a sense Aeneas’ greatest trial and the father’s revelations concerning Rome and her history represent the climax of the first half of the epic and prepare for the war which is soon to begin in Latium.1'4 Naturally there is more to Cumae and the katabasis than simply a learned poet’s allusion to Apollonius’ Planctae. But the fact remains that in terms of the structure of the narrative of the Trojan voyage Aeneas enters Hades at a point which corresponds to Jason’s crossing of the boundary between life and death, even though that boundary is disguised as the Wandering Rocks. A reading of the, for the most part well known,4' imitations of

Knauer (1964) 146; also Sourvmou-lnwood (1995) 70 76 on Oil. 11 and the structure of the whole work. ■" Williams (1964) (1990) 191-207. '■ Norden (I9571) Register la .v.v, Vorbilder, Apollonios, Ratten (1912) 57-62. Austin

CUMAi·:. CAiHTA,