The Choice of Achilles: The Ideology of Figure in the Epic 9780804780803

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THE CHOIC E O F ACHILLE S THE IDEOLOG Y O F FIGUR E IN TH E EPI C

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THE CHOIC E O F ACHILLES THE IDEOLOG Y O F FIGUR E I N TH E EPI C

Susanne Lindgren Woffor d

1992 STANFORD UNIVERSIT Y PRES S STANFORD, C A L I F O R N I A

Stanford Universit y Press , Stanford , Californi a © 1992 by the Board o f Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior Universit y Printed i n the United States of America Published wit h the assistance of the Frederick W. Hilles Publication s Fun d at Yale University CIP data appear at the end o f the boo k

For Jacques

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book has been s o long i n the writing tha t it has often seeme d to m e to achiev e its own versio n o f th e unending iterativ e cyclicality that I describe a s characteristic of epi c figuration. Thanks ar e due , then , firs t t o Thomas M . Greene , Margare t K . Ferguson , Gordo n Williams , an d Lowry Nelson , Jr. , wh o rea d an d commente d o n th e dissertatio n fro m which my book eventually emerged. Thomas Green e has read several later parts of the book with his usual thoughtful care, and has given me valued advice and support throughout m y many rewritings. I' d like also to thank John Hollander fo r his crucial interventions a t several stages of revision , and for the encouragement h e gave me at the moments i n which m y epi c task seemed insurmountable. I owe a special debt to Harry Berger, Jr., an d to th e anonymou s Classic s reader s for Stanfor d University Pres s whos e judicious suggestion s abou t revision s gav e th e boo k a ne w life . The y pointed m e to several scholarly works that helped me over significant dif ficulties in my conceptualization . I also thank Helen Tartar , my edito r a t Stanford Press , fo r he r fait h i n th e book whe n i t mos t counted ; Elle n F. Smith, th e project editor, fo r her help and patience; and Nancy Atkinson , for he r insightful copyediting . My student s a t Yale—especially Bianca Calabresi, Rache l Eisler, an d Sarah Banks—will recognize their contribution to this work, especially in the Spense r chapters . My researc h assistants each deserve special thanks. Sarah Mace worke d lon g an d hard wit h th e Iliad chapter , helping m e t o tighten the argument and trying her best to dissuade me from my reading of the end of the poem. He r intelligen t criticis m an d assistance were in valuable. Nin a Revoy r performe d a simila r servic e fo r th e res t o f th e manuscript, strugglin g at times with my prose style, and questioning m e insistently about the place of women (an d the politics of misogyny) in my argument. Bil l Johnson-Gonzalez ver y kindl y helpe d m e verif y th e ac curacy o f th e Cervante s bibliograph y an d notes. Ambree n Ha i worke d long an d patiently to produce the index. My friend s i n th e stud y grou p o n ideology , resistance , an d cultura l form—Helen Siu , Jame s C . Scott , Willia m Kelly , Debora h Davis Friedmann, Jean-Christoph e Agnew , an d Keit h Luria—hav e all helped

viii Acknowledgment

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sharpen my understanding of how everyday, often hidden or unacknowledged act s of resistanc e to cultura l domination ca n make possible a cul tural o r politica l criticis m o f surprisin g range an d power. Thoug h the y may not recognize their contributions here, our concerns with what live d individual experienc e migh t tel l u s and with wha t th e individual migh t understand an d valu e in large r ideologica l an d politica l struggles resur faces in my treatment of the representation of action in the epic as an aspect of these poems tha t deserves to be listened to in its own right . I wish als o to thank several other friends an d colleagues who have con tributed t o thi s project : Mar k Ros e an d James Nohrnberg , wh o firs t taught me to read Spenser; Ellen Peel, whose postcard with a bibliographical suggestion sen t me in several good directions ; Michael Cadden, wh o provided essentia l assistanc e on a moment' s notice—ou r man y debate s over th e years have always kept m e rethinking question s that I believed I had answered ; Jonathan Freedman , wh o affectionatel y urge d m e t o b e more polemical; Alicia Fernandez, whose questioning of whether theorie s of ideology lea d to social change helped me see more clearly the challenge to heroic value s that the epic can provide; Eugenia DeLamotte an d Shir a Wolosky, whose friendship and example have taught me much about what it means to be an intellectual; and Sheila Murnaghan and Mihoko Suzuki, each of whom read drafts o f the most recen t version o f this book—their careful comments , an d the special comradeship they offered, hav e meant a great deal. Acknowledging hel p an d friendshi p has its ow n rhetorica l for m an d generic constraints, and it remains for me to reassure my readers that none of thes e peopl e i s responsible fo r th e error s i n thi s book . Whil e i n thi s genre th e nam e ma y serv e as a trope t o invok e th e ful l authorit y o f th e person cited , I must demystif y that trop e in th e momen t o f employin g it—to som e exten t a t least. Many o f my reader s and assistants tried har d to argue me out of what they viewed as interpretive errors that have nonetheless someho w foun d thei r wa y bac k int o th e text . Fo r th e retur n o f these suppressed or challenged readings, and for any other errors , I must take full responsibility . Finally, m y parent s and family have lived wit h thi s projec t for man y years with warmth an d encouragement an d only occasiona l moments o f bafflement. I ow e the m thank s fo r thei r support , emotiona l an d other wise—including th e providin g o f severa l lovely, coo l place s away from New Have n in which t o write. Finally , and most importantly, I thank my husband, Jacques Lezra, who rea d each of th e versions o f th e book, de bated the theoretical questions they raised, and encouraged me to believe that the project was worth doing. It is simply true to say that without hi m this book would not exist .

CONTENTS

Introduction: Ideology and Trope in Epic Argument

1

PART I: THE ANCIENT EPIC ONE. The Politics of the Simile in the Iliad

29

THE EPIC DISTANCE 30 THE TEARS OF ZEUS: POLITICS IN THE SIMILE 42 THE TEMPORAL STRUCTURE OF THE SIMILE 58 REPRESENTATION AND TROPE 67

t???? ?a??t???: A DOUBLE ENDING 80 TWO. The Aeneid: The Power of the Figure

97

HEROIC IGNORANCE 106 STORM-TOSSED AENEAS 120 SYMBOLIC DISTORTION 135

THREE. The Figurative Economy of the Aeneid

152

NARRATIVE DOUBLES AND THE POLITICS OF IDYLL

153

SACRIFICE AND PROSOPOPOEIA

176

CONQUEST AND THE DIVISION OF VALUE 203

PART II: VERSIONS OF THE RENAISSANCE EPIC On Second Parts

215

FOUR. The Epistemologies of Errantry in The Faerie Queene ALLEGORICAL HIERARCHY

222

219

THE EPISTEMOLOG I E S

OF ERRANTRY 234 "THE CAUSE WAS THIS" 262 IDEOLOGY AND FIGURATIVE ERRANTRY 281

FIVE. The Politics of Allegory in The Faerie Queene ''FIGURES HIDEOUS": ALLEGORICAL BONDAGE 298 THRALLDOM AND THE POLITICS OF EROTIC

COMPULSION 311 SPENSER'S GIANTS 334 RAPE, RAPTURE, AND SPENSERIAN TRANSGRESSION 353

295

Contents

x

SIX. The Compulsion of Trope: Two Paradigms MILTON: "O TOO LIKE" 373 CERVANTES: "EL DEMONIO, QUE NO DUERME" (THE DEVIL, WHO NEVER SLEEPS) 391 Notes Works Cited Index of Citations General Index

372

415 487 505 507

All efforts t o render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war . Walter Benjamin, Illuminations

Look t o your reputations, whic h ar e undermined wit h you r ow n Follies, an d do not becom e the idle Sisters of foolish Do n Quixote , to believe every vain Fable which yo u read or to think you may be attired like Bradamant, wh o wa s often take n for Ricardetto, her brother; tha t you ma y fight like Marfiza an d win husbands with conquest; or ride astride like Claridiana and make Giants fall a t your stirrups. The Morals wil l giv e you better meanings, whic h i f you shun and take the gross imitations, the first wil l deprive you o f all good society ; the second, o f noble affections ; an d the third, o f all beloved modesty . Yo u shall lose all the charms of women's natural Hic Mulier; or, The Man-Woman: Being a perfections. . . Medicine to cure the Coltish Disease of the Staggers i n th e Masculine-Feminines o f ou r Times (Anonymou s pamphlet, 1620 )

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INTRODUCTION: IDEOLOGY AN D TROPE IN EPI C ARGUMEN T

Similes, or Homer's similes at least, keep things apart; metaphors fus e them together. John Finley, Jr., Four Stages o f Greek Thought

T

HIS BOO K BEGA N wit h a n interes t i n th e way s tha t Classica l an d Renaissance epic poems ofte n wor k against their expresse d mora l and political values, generating a poetics of division an d disruptio n while articulating the constraints that limit any such alternative politics or local demystifying effect . I n the search for an appropriate critical language with whic h t o discus s suc h divisio n withi n a poem—division tha t call s into question traditiona l notions o f poetic unity and of the power o f nar rative closure t o resolv e an d explain—it became a study of th e work ac complished b y poeti c figur e i n these narratives, work, I argue, tha t is of both a n aestheti c an d a n ideologica l kind . I t offer s a n interpretatio n o f three epi c poems—Homer' s Iliad, Virgil' s Aeneid, Spenser' s Faerie Queene—that focuses on the way these texts make apparent the aesthetic, moral, an d politica l divisio n o r differenc e tha t constitute s them , an d sketches, i n conclusion , tw o alternativ e resolution s o f suc h divisio n i n Milton's Paradise Lost an d Cervantes' s Do n Quixote, a n "epic " i n prose . These division s ar e in large part wha t make s th e epic into a n institutio n

2 Introductio

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that ca n express and defin e a n entire cultural system while also revealing its contradiction s an d th e cost s of it s ethical paradigms and political so lutions. I attemp t here , then , t o outlin e a theory o f ho w an d wh y epi c narrative ma y b e sai d to subver t certai n of it s constitutiv e claim s while articulating and synthesizing a cultural argument of which it becomes th e contradictory paradigm . I hope t o indicate the significance of thes e divisions bot h fo r th e cultura l position an d meanin g o f epi c and fo r a n un derstanding o f the workings o f figure in narrative more generally. From a study of the epic simile in heroic narrative, the book expanded to includ e poeti c figur e mor e generally , taking th e simil e a s a prototype for figuratio n in the epic. My initial concern was to consider the extent to which th e representatio n o f a later peacefu l (an d often pastoral ) society presented i n man y epi c similes might challeng e or qualif y th e pictur e of heroic warfare that provided the principal focus in the earlier epic. I found, however, tha t although many similes appeared to bring an alternative system of values into the poem, the y more often worked t o the contrary, to aestheticize and to naturalize the story of war, thereb y rendering it poetically an d culturall y acceptable . The y thu s performe d th e ideologica l transformations an d suspensions necessary to shape the action into a cultural argumen t tha t gav e value to certai n deeds and meanin g t o events . Being trope s o f disjunctio n a s well a s relation, th e simile s als o could i n principle allow one to see the two parts of the epic distinctly: they opened a spac e for a reading tha t coul d begi n t o identify , an d eve n criticize , th e poem's ideologica l claim s by showin g ho w a n ethical syste m wa s con structed out o f a resistant material by the operation of various poetic figures. The differenc e thu s built into the poem requires that any reading incorporate a critique of epic ideology, but I found that it was also important not t o ignor e th e ideological task performed by and in the figurative di mension o f th e epic . Th e simile s separate , and in tha t momen t o f sepa ration mak e it possible to criticize the very operations they perform , bu t they nonetheles s d o perfor m ideologica l an d aestheti c work tha t i s pre cisely what help s to constitute the poem's cultura l value. I argue that this figurative dimension o f the epic should be understood in both formal and ideological terms. Ideolog y i s by definitio n a figurative, substitutiv e system—i t offer s on e meaning as a veil or cove r for an other—which resemble s an d uses the syste m o f tropes . A s such, it s de termining role in structurin g narratio n can also provide a model fo r th e relation between epic and the cultural and historical forms that it institutes: epic, by analogy, may be said to hide, displace, and naturalize the violence inherent in those cultural forms. This model, a second-order figuratio n or allegory o f th e relatio n betwee n th e two , i s availabl e alongside o f an d

Introduction 3

often i n contradiction t o the epic's explicit allegorization, an d is itself n o less ideological. I not onl y link figur e an d ideology, then , but attemp t to show tha t th e disjunctio n between the poem' s figurativ e schem e and its narrative is also analogous to the relation between the epic and the society it appears to represent o r celebrate . The book thus raises questions of history in part by considering wha t issues thes e poems mus t evad e or submerg e in orde r t o guarante e their cultural power and authority. I try to define the costs of the particular use of tropes that characterizes the epic—costs felt in the register of the poetic voice and in the ways in which th e poems not only accommodate an d allegorize th e specific ideological requirement s o f their societie s bu t mak e that accommodation visible through a series of displacements of their own poetic claims . Th e boo k challenge s the notio n tha t a complete analog y (like an epic simile) can be constructed between historical processes and a poetic text , an d argue s rathe r tha t th e historical pressure s o n a text ar e often best seen as a dialectic in which ideology shapes poetic process while poetry counters, resists , figures, or generates the tropes of ideology itself . The concern here with ideological division and contradiction within these epics—especially in th e cas e of Spenser—ha s bee n informed by th e his torical work of scholars such as Stephen Greenblatt and Louis Montrose, who, lik e social analysts of the Foucault school, articulat e the relation between ideology an d trope in terms of power. Although this book includes some historical analysis , my focu s is rather on the formal, poetic inscription of the discourse of poetic ideology tha n on the actual exercise of po litical power in the societies at issue.11 thus hope to add to the considerable theoretical debate on the relation between rhetorical and ideological studies by attempting to define, in the cases of these epic poems, bot h the ideological function of tropes in narrative and the often contradictor y wa y in which narrative s acknowledge an d see k t o effac e th e tropologica l func tions o f ideology. T o consider ideolog y a s trope is to argue that the con trasting figurativ e scheme s o f thes e epic s ar e representationa l withou t being strictly referential, "reference " itself bein g a category problemati cally poised betwee n action and figure in any narrative. I take the title The Choice of Achilles from a paradigmatic scene in Book IX of the Iliad in which Achilles tells the embassy from Agamemnon tha t he must choose between two fates ; I see these two "fates" as characterizing two projected narratives that between them define the division at the heart of the epic: 2 {ir\tr]Q yd g T E JA E $t\ai 9ea ©etig aQjvgonE^a 6ix8a6iag Kfjgag 4>£Q£jA£ v Oavatoi o TeXoaSe. ei [i£v K a50 i I^EVCD V Tocowv JtoXiv a^ifxaxoofiat ,

4 Introductio

n

U)^ETO H,E V IIO L voatog, aiag xXeog a9iTo v eataiel 6e KE Y oixad' itteojx i (j)Da] v e g jtaiQi5a yatav, O^ETO not Kkioc, £a9ta5v, EJ U 5T)g6 v S E jioi alow eaaetai, oi)6e H E jx ' (ima xeXog Gavdioto KIXEIT) . (IX, 410-16 )

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tell s me I carry two sort s of destiny toward the day of my death. Either if I stay here and fight besid e the city of the Trojans , my retur n home is gone, but m y glory shall be everlasting; but i f I return home to the beloved land of my fathers , the excellence of my glor y is gone, but ther e will be a long lif e left fo r me, an d my en d in death will not com e quickly to me . Achilles speak s here as if h e still has a choice befor e him , bu t th e event s of th e poe m an d hi s ow n response s to th e embass y sugges t tha t h e has already chosen the heroic way. Nonetheless, durin g his conversation wit h Odysseus, Phoinix , an d Ajax , h e implies tha t the contrasting possibility of a nostos, a return home to a long and peaceful life—opposite to the telos of deat h toward whic h he will mov e a t Troy—highlights in his mind th e Achaean failur e t o wag e wa r i n accordanc e with heroi c value s and cus toms.3 Achilles doe s not offe r a coherent critique of heroi c ideology, no r does h e relinquis h hi s claims on Agamemnon , bu t h e does questio n th e reason for fighting, expressing doubts through his consideration of an alternative fate. The choice marks one center of his thought: from the opening o f th e poe m h e had expresse d discontent abou t the expedition (se e I, 148-71), an d his anger and resentment a t Agamemnon finall y driv e hi m from th e Achaean army, but speculation about his choice of fate occasions the unusual reflective stanc e that he takes during this conversation. 4 Achilles i s not th e only warrio r o n the fields o f Tro y who mus t mak e this choice. Agamemnon' s "test " of the men in Book II shows that others have considered leaving Troy, and the king himself severa l times urges his men t o giv e up. Achilles ' fat e seems , eve n to himself, intensifie d and ex emplary rather than unique: he notes, fo r instance, that given the contrast between th e way th e war is being fought and the heroic ideal, all the men should thin k o f returning home : xctl 6' av Tolg aXXotaiv ey w JiaQapiu9r]oaijjir| v oixaS' ajiojiXEiEiv . (IX , 417-18 ) And this would be my counse l to others also, to sail back home again. What sets Achilles apart, however, ar e the specific conditions of his awareness. The promise of everlasting glory (kleos aphthiton, fame imperishable)

Introduction 5

and the certainty of a short life (th e loss of his homecoming) i f he stays at Troy not onl y represen t extrem e versions of the options ope n t o all war riors, but see m to pose the choice in explicitly transcendental terms. Th e divine perspectiv e tha t Thetis' s advic e introduces—a perspectiv e shared by poe t an d audience , wh o kno w th e fate s o f al l the characters—add s a universalizing qualit y t o Achilles ' speeches . Hi s half-immortal birt h an d his recourse t o his divine mothe r thu s serve as explanatory devices in th e story, aetiologica l myth s indicatin g an d justifyin g hi s uniqu e self consciousness abou t a choice tha t al l the Achaeans , and eve n thei r poet , must make. 5 The Achaeans have left the long and peaceful life behind, an d the poe m about the m devotes muc h tim e t o illustrating what thi s decisio n means . The Iliad's focu s o n th e stor y o f Achille s and Hector an d o n th e battle's many dea d and dying, an d in general its concern t o show tha t there ma y be no return from this scene of absolute violence,6 serve in part as generic markers: it is a heroic poem , which , b y definition, give s glory t o the he roes i t celebrate s by memorializin g thei r deed s i n battle . Th e choic e o f Achilles marks, then , no t onl y his choice of heroi c action , but th e choice of epic song itself, bot h by Achilles, who, b y remaining a t Troy, choose s to become th e hero of an epic tradition, an d by the poet. 7 The Iliad als o includes, however , a variety of scene s and image s tha t are set apart from the battle and appear to evoke the very nostos that Achilles will lose b y stayin g a t Troy: in th e epic similes, i n digressions o n th e warriors' pas t lives, an d in description s o f certai n artifacts, fo r example , the poem appear s to represent an alternative to the war. Thes e alternativ e scenes, whic h tur n th e attentio n o f th e audienc e or reader s briefly fro m the battle, are incorporated into the poem by means of poetic figures tha t assert a link betwee n th e two: similes , ecphrases , prolepses, digressions , invocations, apostrophes , symmetrical structuring, and allusive echoes of one section o f the poem b y another give a symbolic dimension t o the action, a dimension no t evident on the fields of Tro y but crucial to the story as th e epi c present s it. Th e poem' s figurativ e desig n keep s these supple mentary meaning s distinc t fro m th e represente d heroi c action , bu t th e similes an d other figure s nonetheless work to establish a relation betwee n them. Take n together , th e figures i n the story sugges t tha t heroic actio n gains its significance through a connection t o the larger civilization and its ongoing life, a connection define d a s political and moral , an d shape d b y ideological imperatives . Thes e figure s represen t th e peacefu l worl d lef t behind—the alternativ e Achilles doe s no t choose . The y claim , i n a n at tempt t o join the two alternative s that the poem ha s put asunder , a con tinuity an d moral correspondenc e betwee n heroi c and nonheroic life. 8

6 Introductio

n

Achilles' speec h about his two alternatives , then, can be seen as providing a paradigm for the way the Iliad itsel f works, an d indeed for the workings of epic more generally. It sets the fate of heroes in war against peaceful scene s illustrating a social, aesthetic, and seemingly natural order em bodied i n th e nostos, and , i n elidin g figurativel y the difference s betwee n these two , reveal s the social logic tha t ostensibly explain s the reason fo r heroic action. Th e wa r an d the meaning assigne d it in times of peace are thus show n t o b e a s compatible an d mutuall y reinforcin g a s the image s brought togethe r i n a figure. As the simile allow s both likeness an d dif ference to be seen, it makes visible the uncomfortable poetic and ideological work of connecting the unlike—of asserting a unity of action and figure—that allows the heroic code to function. The claim of the poetic imagery, an d implicitl y th e clai m o f heroi c societ y an d th e ora l traditio n itself, i s that this larger social order is made possible by heroic action, that the link between th e two i s intimate and based on a fundamental identity. But the nonidentity discovere d between the two in the very way the story is told serves , in contrast, to reveal a disjunction that crosses from formal to socia l categories . B y a structure o f compariso n an d opposition , th e poem present s the socia l justification for the war whil e at the sam e tim e exposing th e distortions—morta l fo r th e individual—tha t thi s justification brings wit h it. The Iliad, whic h serve s here a s a paradigm for th e epic , thu s ha s tw o dimensions tha t i n effec t ar e i n conflict . Th e naturalizin g figures wit h which Home r brings a visual precision to the representation of war pro vide an interpretation o f it distinct from the action, an d serve to indicate the kinds o f social meanings that this poem wil l assign to experience . I n the disjunction between socia l or aesthetic value thus posited and the rep resented action itself, th e epic poem makes it possible to discover the way in which th e figures ma y hide , alter , or suppres s essential features o f th e action as they work to explain or interpret it. The poem thus tells the costs of heroi c struggle—an d makes apparent the difficulty o f giving socia l or aesthetic meaning t o such action—in the very moment in which i t transforms tha t struggle into a work o f art that precisely does carry such sup plementary value. Ostensibly harmonized by the poet's creative work, th e structure of this conflict ma y be said to reflec t contradiction s in the social values that inform th e oral tradition an d the poem itself—contradiction s that i t is the projec t of heroi c ideology , workin g throug h th e figures i n the poem , t o hide o r deny . B y choosin g glor y i n battle for his principal theme, whil e keepin g th e representatio n o f th e wa r distinc t fro m th e "fame" it supposedly produces (including the story of that fame), Home r too make s the choice of Achilles, fo r his poem an d for the epic tradition,

Introduction 7 and dramatize s it in and as the very workings o f hi s poetry. H e choose s to "stay " at Troy—as Achilles does, howeve r unwillingly—an d thereb y reveals the extent to which th e determination o f poetic value in the Iliad depends on the representation o f death . In this sense, then, what is described as a choice for Achilles is not really one for Homer, fo r whom "remaining " at Troy is not a n individual de cision; i t i s rather the enactmen t of a n ideological imperative suggested not only in the "choice" of genre but more generally in the extent to which epic song becomes determinativ e for an entire society . Withi n thi s con text, th e nam e "Homer " ca n designat e anthropomorphicall y th e epi c singer o f th e Iliad, o r th e "monumental " composer , embodimen t o f an extended oral tradition, and also the cultural and ideological processes that remove fro m suc h a figure th e condition of individuality and the agency implied in the notion of choice. The choice of Achilles thus substitutes for and displaces this prior cultural choice—the choice of "poet" or poem t o "remain" at Troy—a choice that is not fre e (sinc e it arises from a social or even national necessity) and that leads to the repetition rather than the res olution of the contradictions that generate this necessity. From th e Iliad on , th e disjunctio n between th e represente d action o f characters in epic (in war, in love, and in moral struggle) and the figurative claims made abou t that action by the poet become s a defining feature o f epic poetry, bringing to the epic an ideological and moral ambivalence that comes from its simultaneous articulation of two contrasting claim s about the value of heroi c actio n (a s each poem define s it). This structure is evi dent in small in the epic simile, where action of one kind is given through the comparison a different aesthetic , moral, o r political significance. In the simile, an d b y extensio n i n th e poem , thes e figurativ e explanations o r interpretations alway s remai n a t a distance fro m th e event s themselves , ostensibly completin g an d giving the m meaning , bu t als o indicating (b y the paradoxical logic of figuration) th e extent to which they do not themselves contain or express that meaning. This structure of difference indi cates the workings o f an ideological proces s by which a value is given t o action that nonetheless remains , for the individual hero or protagonist an d in the representation o f the action, outsid e th e arena of such socially an d aesthetically posited significance. In this book I examine the formal implications of this structure of con flict and disjunctio n for a n interpretation of th e epic. How , fo r instance, is a simile linke d to narrative, and in what way s and with what politica l effects ca n it be used to resolv e narrativ e difficulties? Ca n th e relation o f rhetoric (in particular as felt in the working of poetic figure) t o narrativ e be understood i n the context of ideological moves motivated by a need to

8 Introductio

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resolve contradiction s tha t woul d otherwis e undermin e socia l an d aes thetic cohesion as well a s the hierarchies of value and meaning tha t mak e such cohesio n possible ? I attempt t o identif y th e trope s tha t gover n th e relation o f actio n t o figure , pointin g ou t thos e tha t function t o establis h analogy or identity betwee n the m an d those tha t mark thei r disjunction . Such a study ca n contribute, I believe, to the project of interpreting thes e difficult an d culturally central works—for epic poetry should not be ceded to interpretations tha t are univocal or idealizing. It can also contribute t o the task of understanding how narrativ e is marked both by ideology an d by its resistance to ideological definition. The Iliad, for instance, leaves this conflict betwee n actio n an d figur e visible , an d thu s ca n expose bot h th e self-destructiveness of heroic society and the strategies necessary to justify attributing social value to mortality itself. Though it represents scenes that implicitly challeng e the evasions of ideology, th e poem a t the sam e time relies o n ideologica l transformatio n and displacement , attemptin g i n its figurative dimension t o transform the simile's juxtaposition of difference s into a n assertio n of similitud e tha t ca n claim a n underlying unit y a s the ground of the aesthetic and political interpretation. By poetic figures, I mean both evident tropes and figures—such a s the epic simile , apostrophe , metalepsis , o r prosopopoeia—an d othe r meta narrative gesture s b y whic h th e poe t explains , provide s meaning , give s form t o events , o r focuses o n the poetic process itself. Suc h generic con ventions a s the epic catalogue, the invocation to the Muses, an d the use of divine intervention ar e thus included here in the analysis of the poetic figures. I n Th e Faerie Queene, and even to some extent in the Aeneid, poeti c figure als o include s th e allegorizatio n o f th e story , a s well a s the othe r symbolic claim s made less explicitly. There is, of course, no such thing as a story unshape d by ideology an d poetics, o r a narrative prior t o its rep resentation, an d indee d th e "action " discusse d her e i s necessaril y als o shaped in the very moment of being represented. The shaping that comes with this representation is of a different order, however, from that brought about b y th e poeti c figures , an d the tw o ca n be distinguishe d imagina tively an d epistemologically . Th e "action " doe s no t deviat e fro m wha t often i s termed th e "naturalism " of th e epic : these naturalistic limits d o not devalue the symbolism an d myth at work elsewhere in the poems, bu t they indicate the extent to which the plot of action operates as if such sym bolism an d myth did not exist . Both action an d figure participat e in or speak through discourse s that provide a prior shap e and cultural value to th e story. Fro m m y focu s o n the ideologica l wor k performe d by th e poeti c figures , i t ma y see m a s if the figurativ e dimensio n o f thes e poems i s concerned wit h th e juxtapo-

Introduction 9 sition and manipulation o f varying discourses, whil e th e category of th e "action" may appear more naive, the "true" representation, not distorte d by the shapin g contro l o f society . Suc h a reading woul d b e false t o thes e complicated texts , for what is represented as the epic action is always both highly traditional, shaped by specific conventions of genre, and rather rig idly located as a discourse that all of the poets after Homer are able to par ody an d exaggerat e at will. I n the cas e of th e Iliad, th e epi c action is the locus o f som e o f th e mos t ritualisti c narration, moment s whe n th e for mulaic styl e i s fel t mos t fully . I t i s nonetheless necessar y t o distinguis h imaginatively betwee n th e discourse of the action and that of the figure s if we are to register their critical interplay. If the epic as genre is constituted in larg e par t b y th e comple x wa y i n whic h i t treat s narration itsel f a s a discourse to be used, explored, an d exposed, the n distinguishing the kinds of discours e i t incorporate s remain s a crucial task. I will, then , b e con cerned to identify th e discourse of epic action, rathe r than to try to defin e (impossible task!) the extent of its own figurative transformation of som e prior narrative , imagined a s the "true" story. Hence th e interpretations propose d her e are two-sided, t o respon d t o the doubled functio n o f the poetic figures, an d the double positio n o f the poet. O n th e on e hand , m y reading s demonstrat e th e ideologica l func tioning of rhetorical figures in the epic, and argue that the relation of rhetoric t o narrativ e has an ideological purpose . I examine th e formal implications of this ideological link for a theory of epic narrative by considerin g the extent to which problem s o f narrative form—the function of a simile or a n ecphrasis in narrative , fo r instance—ca n be connecte d t o a n ideological project. O n th e other hand, thes e readings show ho w these works make use of the disjunction between action and figure to point to the ideological transformations and suppressions on which the y themselve s rely . This disjunction allows the epic to represent a version of events that is radically other , I found ; on e tha t undermine s man y o f th e cultura l claim s made b y th e poem, thoug h no t i n the way I had expecte d whe n I began this study. The represented action thus allows an implicit, if unarticulated, demystification o f th e heroic ideolog y tha t shapes the epics—a demysti fication o f the concept o f kleos and of Virgil' s imperial celebration, o f th e affirmations o f royal power i n Spenser's poem, an d of Milton's assertions and justifications o f "providence. " Th e separatio n o f actio n an d figur e permits th e representatio n o f a version o f experienc e tha t is denied, dis placed, o r suppresse d by the poem's figurativ e scheme : th e figures work to contai n th e mor e disruptiv e implication s o f thi s representation , bu t they ca n never b e entirely successful . Thu s th e division work s i n the op posite wa y fro m wha t on e migh t expect : th e poet s represen t th e actio n

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through a discourse mor e disruptiv e of th e poem's state d cultural values than are any of the discourses employed b y the figures. Th e actio n serves to reveal the limited succes s of the ideological shift s an d transformations that constitute th e poem's figurativ e argument . Thoug h i t might seem t o be diminished b y a focus on the displacements of ideology, th e space thus made fo r a n alternativ e politic s i s fundamenta l t o m y readin g o f thes e works. The topics of discourse and ideology pos e the question of agency: who or wha t i s performing th e transformations, suppressions, o r elision s de scribed here ? Do thes e epic poets understand or indeed inten d th e poeti c figures to serve the ideological functions that I identify? This problem can be addresse d i n two ways , th e firs t bein g t o conside r th e "discourse" of the epi c narrator . A s Harr y Berge r ha s recentl y noted , th e ter m "dis course," which h e links to Wittgenstein's notion o f the language game, is useful precisel y because of the way in which i t reverses prioritie s fro m menta l state s to th e outwar d criteri a of observabl e dis cursive behavior , t o the coherenc e o f communit y practice s observable a s "forms of life, " an d to describable kinds of language-games situate d primarily i n the cul ture o f th e communit y an d onl y secondaril y i n th e individual. . . . And suc h a view o f discours e a s language-game exhibit s a commitmen t t o th e notio n tha t states o f min d "belong " no t s o muc h t o particula r speakers o r agent s a s to th e discourses the y participat e in. ("Kidnappe d Romance," pp. 210-11)

This commitment, Berge r concludes, "allow s the reader the option o f escaping from the constraints of the disjunctive view tha t meaning is either intended o r unintended, consciou s or unconscious." I t allows on e to un derstand th e concep t o f motivatio n a s "whateve r i t i s tha t moves , o r moves through, a speaker, whether o r not she or he displays awareness o f it" (p . 211). It is important, then, to see that the epic narrator is constituted by and through a discourse that encompasses both allusions to and parodies of th e genr e a s previously practice d and specific set s o f cultura l obliga tions, differen t i n each case. The narrato r thus provide s the site of a mul tiple intersectio n betwee n poet , poeti c personae , an d transpersona l dis course, makin g it difficult a t best to identify a position that can be isolated as that of th e poet alone . This doe s no t mea n tha t th e epi c poets I discuss wer e necessaril y un aware of the evasions and suppressions accomplished i n their poetry, bu t it does mea n that it is not the project of this book to determine the extent of their participation either in the turning of figures to ideological ends or in th e critiqu e o f ideolog y tha t thei r divide d narrativ e form make s pos sible. I t is to a great exten t besid e the point whethe r o r not th e poets in -

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eluded here were awar e of the power o f figure to transform: their poem s all make evident th e extent of that power i n the way they dramatize their stories. These poets also tend to display a certain allegiance to the epic action, s o that the critiqu e of th e values presented in the poems, visibl e in the "discourse " of th e action , ofte n seem s t o receiv e thei r primar y em phasis. At the same time, t o the extent that they name themselves fiction ally in the persona of th e narrator, the y identify thei r ow n poeti c powe r with th e figurative metamorphose s o f the poems. Thu s it becomes diffi cult to determine whethe r th e name "Virgil" or "Spenser" should b e associated rather with figure or with the action. Because the discourse of the narrator i s deepl y implicate d in , a s wel l a s a primar y exampl e of , th e workings o f figur e i n the epic poem, i t is easy to attac h the name o f th e poet t o the figurative slide s that both hid e and constitute the poems' cul tural logic. Th e name "Spenser," for instance, seems to attach itself to the morals provided by the not-always-helpful narrato r of Th e Faerie Queene, though ther e clearl y is another "Spenser " at work throughout, a "Spenser" who at moments cagil y identifies that narrator with such evil geniuses as Busyran e an d Archimag o whil e laughin g a t th e poem' s ow n forma l need to round ou t its action in often moralizin g alexandrines. For this reason, too, at no place do I wish to suggest, through a modern condescension, tha t w e understan d thes e matter s s o muc h bette r tha n these poet s an d writer s did . Whe n writin g o f Homer , Virgil , Spenser , Milton, an d Cervantes, suc h an implication would be foolish. But we too are overdetermined, constrained , and facilitated by cultural possibilities in ways we onl y hal f understand. I attribute a similar half understanding t o my authors, but that does not mean I am engaged in measuring or defining its limits. 9 Neither "Virgil " nor "Spenser" nor "the text " is therefore in full con trol o f all of th e ideological displacements , suppressions , o r denial s tha t may b e a t work, no r i s the critica l counternarrative that I have found t o be a feature of the epic inscribed "within" each poem in the sense of bein g located onl y "within " its own self-consciou s critique of its processes of generating meaning . T o the extent tha t the poems I treat, an d the names that sign for them, demonstrat e the extraordinary power of the poetic figures, the y becom e instance s o f th e wa y a society's discursiv e strategies shape our conceptualizations . Yet the capacity to identify thi s ideologica l and metaphoric work cannot be located entirely "outside" the text either, as if it inhered, fo r instance, solely in the constructions made possible by the differin g discursiv e an d ideologica l positionin g o f th e twentieth century critic. Th e interplay of the text's self-conscious self-interrogatio n on the one hand and its unacknowledged an d partially submerged discur -

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sive self-positionin g o n th e othe r allow s u s t o recogniz e a critiqu e in scribed withi n its discursive mediations an d juxtapositions, an d to trace , to some extent, th e analogies between that inscribed critique and the kinds of criticisms generate d by our own ideological position . I t is understood, then, tha t the reader's act of "seeing" is never total or complete, an d may often b e as partial as that of th e epic narrator. The open-endedness o f the form—in the face of an asserted ideological closure—helps explai n wh y s o muc h epi c poetry ha s provoked contro versy abou t th e extent o f its programmatic or even propagandistic effect . It can be shown, fo r instance, t o generat e the terms o f the debates about the Aeneid, i n which one side argues for the centrality of th e poem's cel ebration o f Augustus and Augustan values (the extreme position labelin g the poem propaganda), while the other argue s that the poem criticizes the Augustan militar y etho s an d laments th e cost s of conques t (th e extrem e view transformin g th e poe m int o a n anti-Augustan work) . I argue tha t the poem celebrates and criticizes at once, but in different way s and in different fictiona l and poeti c registers. Wha t i s needed, then , i s a theory o f how thes e tw o dimension s o f th e poem ca n be related in interpretation, since thei r difference s ar e not necessaril y resolved b y poeti c structure or rhetorical transformatio n bu t ar e hidden, o r suppressed , an d thu s leav e their mar k in the poem i n indirect and subterranean ways. The reading s propose d her e thu s question th e affirmation o f a work's closure as its determining self-definition , and argue that epic poetry needs to be understood i n a double way that resists giving interpretive privileg e to the moments of reduction necessar y for the fulfillment o f literar y pat tern. I t interpret s suc h totalization—includin g figure s o f closur e i n th e text, a s well as the actual ending of a work—as itself ideological, a part of the very shapin g an d interpretive movement tha t these readings unveil. 10 It is the effect o f ideology tha t it does not appea r to pose limitations or t o be responsible fo r such containing or limiting gestures , yet closure is precisely its principal function: to organize, unify, an d make to appear natural and persuasiv e a range of experience s tha t do not necessaril y lead to thi s conclusion. A s Rosalind Cowar d an d John Ellis pu t i t in thei r surve y of recent theorie s o f ideology : 'Th e productio n o f a n ideological vraisemblable which is effective precisel y for the reason that it appears as 'natural,' 'the wa y thing s are, ' i s the resul t o f a practice of fixin g o r limitin g th e endless productivit y o f th e signifyin g chain . . . . [Ideology ] appear s as certain 'natural ' ideas , a certai n horizon , a n ordinar y wa y o f thinking , 'common sense.' It is not perceive d a s a limitation, a closure" (p. 67). To find th e mark s o f a text's ideologica l wor k is thus als o to fin d th e mark s of its resistance to closure, its resistance to precisely those gestures of sum -

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mation and explanation to which th e epic narrator must by definition be in part devoted. T o point out this inevitable lack of closure need not brin g us to interpretive chaos, however. I t suggests, rather, a different focu s fo r interpretation—a focu s o n th e transformations , substitutions , an d suppressions necessary to arrive at a given literary resolution. Epi c poetry in particular resists this tendency to sum up the narrative in one meanin g because of the ways in which th e narrator must negotiate its encyclopedic scope and give it a cultural coherence and naturalness, while representin g it a s somethin g distan t an d "other. " Th e notoriousl y unfinishe d o r broken-off ending s o f th e poem s treate d here provid e a fictional repre sentation o f thi s resistanc e t o closure . I n th e Aeneid, fo r instance , th e poem's ideological and metaphorical work has not been completed i n the moment o f Turnus' s death , wit h th e resul t tha t the endin g leave s mor e space for th e implied cultura l critique than a reader might hav e expecte d earlier in the poem . The categor y of aestheti c "meaning"—that which i s asserted and tra ditionally understood a s describing th e poem's centra l theme or vision— is thus associated with ideology an d with trope, both of which assig n this meaning t o the represented action. "Meaning " thus remains at a secondary level , neithe r fre e fro m socia l or ideological constraint , no r full y in tegrated with or immanent i n what is represented. In moments o f closure when a n interpretation is asserted, or whe n a trope substitutes figure fo r action, suppressing or displacing their differences, a supplemental energ y reenters th e poem , makin g wha t ha s bee n substituted , displaced , re pressed, o r denie d int o a felt absenc e and marking i t in th e poem' s ow n swerves an d justifications of its figurative practices. The categor y of po etic figure used here is thus to a certain extent congruent not only with the generally psychoanalyti c mode l o f th e tex t tha t som e o f thes e term s (suppression, displacement, repression , an d denial) suggest, but formall y with the concept of the narrative "supplement": the supplement is understood t o exten d an d explai n a primary narrativ e that is itself, then , fun damentally altere d b y thi s supplementa l reading. 11 This supplemen t ca n often generat e a second narrative, which the n needs a further interpreta tion tha t itsel f ha s a supplemental structure. I n Virgil an d eve n mor e in Spenser's allegorical epic, the poetic figures themselves form an alternative narrative that is paired with and against the action. The relations that ob tain between thes e two narratives , or between th e narrative of the action and its supplement, ca n be described by a series of tropes , th e working s of which I attempt to define in the course of this study. The narrative supplement ca n in thi s sens e be sai d to b e the forma l result o f th e wor k o f suppression, displacement, and naturalization undertaken in the figures. 12

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This supplementa l energ y mark s th e text no t onl y a t the leve l o f th e figure, however . I n some cases such suppressions also return to the poem in thematic form , a s I will argue is the case with th e poetics of sacrifice in the Aeneid an d with Spenser' s fictional displacement o f a cultural ambivalence about female power into fictions of rape and enthrallment—fictions with which, a t a different leve l of abstraction, he ultimately come s to in terrogate hi s own dominan t mod e o f allegory. Thes e themati c marking s of wha t i s denie d o r inadmissibl e d o no t acknowledg e th e ideologica l suppressions a t work, an d thus ofte n originat e in an apparently opposit e stance, a s when, fo r instance , a poet deplore s rap e yet multiplie s th e in stances of it until attempted rape becomes a primary figure in the text for the workings o f allegorica l representation. Unacknowledged , ye t struc turally overdetermined , suc h themati c return s o f th e suppresse d ca n themselves b e shown sometime s t o work agains t each other, fo r wha t is denied o r displace d need no t itsel f constitut e a unity o r a coherent se t of values. The distinctio n betwee n actio n an d figure remain s necessaril y a n un stable one, characterize d by this supplemental structure whereby th e "remainder" from the tropological wor k reenter s the narrative, often wit h a distorting o r obsessiv e effect. 13 Thi s instability arises partly from th e fac t that th e epi c actio n i s represented i n an d throug h discourse s tha t them selves have a shaping power , s o that the action is never fre e fro m figura tion. The supplementa l energ y in the text often crosses from figur e to action, fo r whatever canno t be resolved or explained by the figure—a simil e about a stor m a t sea , fo r instance—escape s it s origina l contex t an d be comes a source generatin g an d animatin g th e story . Sinc e al l the impli cations of a figure are only incompletely explaine d by any narrative, such a supplemental structur e could also be said to define the relation of figur e and narrative more generally. The claims a metaphor makes at the level of ideas and a t the level of its own working s a s figure are always in conflict, for instance, for the metaphor claims an identity, while as figure it reminds us that thi s identity canno t b e true or it would no t nee d t o be asserted in a figure. Th e differenc e betwee n thes e two effect s ca n be explained o r a t least covered over by a narrative—the story that would explai n how bot h things, thoug h opposite , ca n be true—but thi s narrative will onc e agai n return t o the unresolved contradiction , an d may in turn see k to resolve it in another figure . This circular or spiraling relation of narrative and figure generates an illusion of temporality, which also has a particular ideological function i n cases, like that of the epic, where th e effect o f eliding th e fig urative contradiction is to link two politicall y opposed versions of the action. The emergenc e of narrative from a moment o f interference between

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5

varying ethical, political, and poetic claims suggests again a psychological paradigm fo r narrative, according t o whic h a trauma, engendered b y a n unresolvable oppositio n tha t i s narrativize d i n a dream , come s t o b e understood retrospectively , if not quit e healed. It also suggests a political paradigm, i n which the engendering contradiction s can be seen to impe l a historical narrative and even to create the need for "history" in the firs t place. In this study, I emphasize the formal circle of supplementarity that underlies both these versions, an d attempt to show how the psychological, formal, an d political can become, i n a major poetic genre such as the epic, partial translations of each other, describin g similar suppressions and ne cessities each in a different language. 14 In a n attemp t t o fin d term s fo r thes e differin g aspect s of th e text s a t hand, I have often turne d t o th e metaphor o f "levels, " which suggest s a hidden archeologica l image appropriat e for th e kin d o f uncoverin g tha t this study urges as a method o f reading, bu t perhap s inappropriate in its suggestion tha t thes e levels are always distinct an d uncontaminate d on e by th e other . I n actua l stratigraphy , differen t strat a d o sometime s cu t through each other, bu t they remain nonetheless visually distinct and dis tinguishable. Suc h is never the case in a study of narrative. Moreover, th e archeological and spatial metaphor creates a model in which the differenc e between level s can , an d indeed must , alway s com e dow n to a n issue of their temporal arrangement—the y arise after a formal problem tha t the y seek to thematize and displace, but tha t they can only repeat in a differen t mode. Whicheve r leve l is imagined a s the lowest groun d o f th e poe m i s treated as prior in explanation. These metaphors must therefore be understood to remain just that : metaphors, a n alternative system of images fo r the formal questions that the poetry may pose with an equally satisfactory, and contradictory , se t of images. 15 As this introductory discussion has already suggested, the methods b y which the epic argument is articulated and asserted in these works canno t be discusse d withou t recours e t o th e concep t o f "ideology. " Alway s a troublesome term , i n the course of its history "ideology" has collected a number o f ofte n contradictor y meanings , al l of whic h ente r willy-nill y into play in current critical invocations of the term.16 By ideology I mean neither a set of specifi c ideas or beliefs—whic h migh t b e thought o f a s a philosophical syste m wit h a distinct content suc h as one might associate with an ideological program 17—nor the "false consciousness " that , fro m The German Ideology unti l the last two decades , and most notabl y including Sartre, has typified a certain Marxist use of the word.181 mean, rather , the entir e se t of unacknowledge d assumption s an d invisible interpretiv e solutions b y whic h peopl e understan d and represent t o themselve s thei r

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relation to the world, and , similarly, th e unexpressed presuppositions o r logical requirement s o f a n ethical o r a political system (presupposition s that ofte n contradic t th e state d value s of tha t system) . Ideolog y woul d then includ e the illusory self-representations o f these systems, which are made possible by submerging the difference between what is presupposed and what is stated—thus not onl y th e intellectual structure of a poetic or political syste m (whethe r recognize d o r unrecognized b y it s adherents), but als o th e distortions , suppressions , an d displacement s that allo w thi s system t o hide its own contradictor y nature. As this wording suggests , I do not believe we can entirely do without a concept of "illusion" or "false ness" in defining the work of ideology, bu t th e extent an d power o f this illusion mus t be carefully qualified . This definitio n draw s o n Althusser's much-cited argumen t tha t "ide ology represent s th e imaginar y relationshi p o f individual s t o thei r rea l conditions o f existence" (p. 162) with its concomitant clai m that therefore ideology is not exactl y "false": i t creates an illusion that also makes an allusion t o the "real conditions o f existence," a n allusion that can be interpreted, Althusser writes, "to discover the reality of the world behind thei r imaginary representatio n o f tha t world (ideolog y = illusion/allusion).'"19 I t also draws on the recent extension and reworking o f the Althusserian definition in British cultural materialist poetics, although I am less concerned here with the "construction" of the subject in and through ideolog y tha n I am , followin g Fredri c Jameson, wit h th e processe s o f substitution , suppression, an d displacement by which thi s imaginary representation is itself constructed. 20 Ideology , then , lik e "discourse, " describe s ho w so ciety inescapably shapes thoughts, an d thus is perhaps particularly at issue in th e epic , a literary for m whos e narrativ e is always in par t a story o f social and aestheti c foundation, but whic h als o provides a generic counterargument tha t to some extent demystifies those "illusory" tropings by revealing them at work.21 Two elements of the Althusserian definition of "ideology" need furthe r complication i f they ar e to provide an introduction t o the theory o f nar rative tha t I propose : th e definitio n o f th e "real " an d th e questio n o f "false" o r "illusory" consciousness. Fo r it will quickly be seen that wit h Althusser w e ma y no t hav e moved a s far from th e notio n o f fals e con sciousness a s often i s claimed. Althusser' s adaptation of th e Lacania n algorithm provides a point o f analysi s for both questions . Revisin g Saus sure's definition of the sign as the signifier over the signified, Laca n writes of th e bar between th e two a s corresponding to the work of repression , where the signifie d would com e clos e to what Althusse r means by "th e real." The unity of the two i n the sign, with the division o f signifier and

Introduction

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signified, bot h describes the extent t o which the "real" might b e though t to be present in the sign and marks its difference fro m th e sign. I n a rather epigrammatic fashion, Althusser appears to append parenthetically a ver sion of this Lacanian algorithm t o his definition of ideology :

9ideology

+

illusion allusion

0

We note a t first tha t the "real" does not appea r to be present in this equa tion at all, for it is rather the act of alluding to the "real" that appears below the bar. If the analog y to Lacan is correct, an d the bar ca n be understoo d both t o defin e ho w thes e two term s ar e linked an d to mar k th e way one is barre d (a s the wa y somethin g i s repressed ) fro m participatio n i n th e other, the n the complexity o f Althusser's efforts t o critique and transform the Marxist concept of "false consciousness" becomes more apparent. Ide ology i s the unity of illusion an d the act of alluding to the "real" (the set of dodge s an d displacements tha t allow th e two t o coexist) , bu t i t is also the process that bars this allusion from the illusion. The "illusory" remains central t o thi s definitio n o f ideology , an d is emphasized i n th e stres s o n the imaginary, bu t i t is not exactl y false. B y elidin g a Marxist definitio n of ideology wit h Lacan's theories about consciousness, Althusser suggests that ther e ma y be no "truer" consciousness that might oppos e th e "illusory" allusion s of ideology. Moreover , Althusser' s notion of the "real," so boldly invoke d i n th e passage s quoted, prove s t o b e equally evasive . Since th e "real" seems t o be for Althusser structure d b y or onl y know n through discours e and ideology, i t is not clea r that it provides somethin g "out there " quite as clearly as the quoted definition may suggest. What we have access to, Althusser seems to imply, is the act of alluding, the interest in interpretin g th e illusions o f ideology, rathe r than a reality externa l t o these processes . I f the concep t o f th e "real " in Althusse r als o derives i n part fro m Lacan' s definitions, the n th e "real " woul d exis t largel y negatively, i n the moment of differenc e betwee n th e illusion of ideology an d the ac t o f alludin g (a s for Laca n in th e differenc e betwee n th e symboli c and th e imaginary) . I t i s in thi s sense , then , tha t h e ca n clai m t o hav e superseded th e concept o f "fals e consciousness." 22 Or, perhap s it would be more accurate to say that Althusser's definition renders mor e subtl e th e notio n o f "falseness " o r "illusion " tha t mus t somehow remain a part of the definition of ideology, just as political criticism (m y own included) does not entirely abandon the notion o f the real even whe n it describe s human aspiration s toward knowledg e o f th e real with the word "allusion." 23 This point ca n be clarified b y comparing th e three definitions Raymond William s proposes for "ideology" in Marxism

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and Literature: "(i ) a system of belief s characteristi c of a particular class or group; (2 ) a system of illusory beliefs—false ideas or false consciousness— which ca n be contrasted with true or scientific knowledge ; (3 ) the general process of the production of meanings and ideas" (p . 55) . Althusser's definition clearl y falls somewher e betwee n definition s (2) and (3) , an d s o d o the interpretation s propose d i n thi s book . Th e concep t o f ideolog y re mains usefu l precisel y becaus e i t provide s a complicate d wa y t o spea k about a kind o f illusio n tha t doe s no t necessaril y presuppose a contrast with "true" knowledge. T o use the terms of my argument, the heroic action of my poem s is not th e "real," and the figures ar e not fals e (bot h are, in fact , discourse s with differin g ratio s of allusio n to differin g realities) , and ye t a n allusion to an d even a n analysis o f th e "real " ma y emerg e i n the disjunction between th e two . The stres s on th e imaginar y reconciliatio n o f contrarie s ca n be com pared to Levi-Strauss's well-known definition of myth as that which pro vides a n imaginary resolution o f definin g oppositions o r contradictions , with the difference tha t ideology is not expressed directly and remains hid den. Rathe r tha n bein g th e myt h itself , i n othe r words , ideolog y i s the hidden forc e o r metho d o f transformatio n an d veilin g tha t make s th e myth possible.24 As FredricJameson puts it in Th e Political Unconscious, th e individual momen t o f ideologica l transformatio n provide s "th e imagi nary resolution o f the objective contradictions to which it thus constitutes an activ e response" (p . 118) . Fo r thi s study , I distinguish th e conten t o f that imaginary representation from the processes that establish it and make it see m natural . Ideolog y i s both a specifi c representatio n and a kind o f relation, established by a particular series of interpretive practices and sub stitutive moves . Whil e a s a practice, or a series of tropin g gestures , ide ology work s to hide contradictio n and make it invisible, a s a representation wit h a specific content , ideolog y ca n and indeed mus t contai n con tradictions. A s Mary Poovey put s it: By it s very nature , ideology alway s contains contradictions, precisel y because it "explains" or "naturalizes" th e discrepancies that inevitably characterize lived experience. . . . Fo r contradiction s als o exist betwee n th e real (and often obscure ) configurations of power and the ways in which individuals subjectively experience and explain thei r own socia l position; or more generall y still, contradictions exist between th e ideal and eternal life the imagination projects and the diminished real ity tha t th e earth's limite d resource s and human mortalit y allow . Th e contradic tions that appear in literary texts both reproduce these tensions and represent their authors' attempt s t o solv e the m imaginatively . I n an y imaginativ e work, thes e contradictions ma y appear at the level of content or of form; they may emerge in the discrepancy between a n author's explicit aesthetic program an d the emotiona l

Introduction 1

9

affect th e text generates, or they may show up simply as significant inconsistencies within an individual character or convention. 25

Writing abou t th e workings o f ideology i n epi c poetry thu s has its ow n doubleness, fo r ideology a t once encompasses the constitutive contradic tions that the poem works to reconcile or to suppress, and defines the nec essary moves—i n this cas e also poetic moves—that mak e suc h suppres sion possible. The stress in Althusserian Marxism on the unacknowledged structuring o f one' s worl d i s thus applie d her e t o th e unacknowledge d structuring of a poem; ideology ca n then be described as the text's formal self-aestheticizing, tha t devic e o f epi c argumen t tha t conceal s assump tions, represse s o r submerge s th e cost s o f th e claime d resolutions , an d thereby make s their solutions see m natural. In following ou t thi s naturalization, I do not offe r mor e than a general account of the workings o f the specific ideologies of the societies in question, nor d o I provide (excep t in a few cases ) extensive historical evidence about ho w actua l people in thes e societie s ma y hav e described thei r ex periences o r values to themselves. Neithe r th e social or moral visio n ex pressed in these works nor their use of certain rhetorical devices and tropes to emphasize it is in itself my topic, then , but rather the unacknowledge d assumptions, poeti c substitutions , an d suppresse d ambivalence s tha t make the expression of such moral and poetic claims possible—and hence the poetic cos t o f th e politics o f eac h work, an d the political costs of its poetics, including those steps necessary to establish poetic authority. Sim ilarly, I wis h t o distinguis h wha t certai n critica l discourses woul d cal l moral ambiguit y fro m th e ideological division , an d subsequent "imagi nary" resolution, tha t I argue these texts provide: mora l ambiguit y sug gests, a t it s mos t radical , tha t tw o contradictor y values co-resident i n a poem are felt to weigh equall y even if no resolution is proposed for them. Such ambiguity is traditionally felt to be an important part of what makes us consider a poem subtle and engaging, and certainly the texts considered here ofte n demonstrat e suc h a capacity to acknowledg e i n a moment o f moral assertio n th e danger s an d limits t o tha t mora l scheme . Themati c topics o r assertion s of thi s order ofte n pla y a role in the interpretations I offer, bu t they do not constitute either a determining moment in the epic's self-understanding, o r thi s book' s centra l emphasis. Th e emphasi s fall s rather on the tropological and figurative move s necessary to establish the imaginary resolution s o f forma l an d politica l contradiction , an d o n th e ways in which the poems indicate , and are marked by, the inadequacy of such resolutions , whic h the y sho w t o hav e definit e poetic an d politica l dangers. Such a focus on the more general or abstracted functioning of ideolog y

2O Introductio

n

raises th e questio n o f ho w thes e share d figurativ e displacement s migh t take on more specifi c historical form. The problem of accurately defining the intersection o f th e historical with th e general, centra l in any account of ideology, ha s been th e major concer n in the anthropological writing s of Mauric e Bloch , especially in From Blessing to Violence, his study of th e circumcision ritua l of th e Merina o f Madagascar . Bloch foun d tha t thi s ritual change d relativel y littl e fro m 180 0 t o 197 0 althoug h th e practical economic an d political interests of those who practiced the ritual, and even the categorie s o f peopl e involved, varie d enormously. Sinc e ritual is one of th e mai n vehicle s fo r ideology i n a society suc h as that of the Merina , a clos e analysi s of it s symbolis m allowe d Bloc h t o demonstrat e tha t th e ideology th e ritual conveyed als o did not change greatly over this time. In fact, Bloch argues, the history of the Merina ritual helps to show that "ideology does not change when th e politico-economic circumstance s do" (p. 177). Ideology i s not th e product of specific circumstances though i t may nonetheless tak e on particular functions in a given cultural moment; thes e functions, however , stil l poin t t o a more genera l proces s b y whic h ideology serve s "a s a device fo r legitimatin g powe r b y makin g i t int o au thority" (ibid.). In the case of the circumcision ritual, Bloch suggest s that "the ideolog y o f circumcisio n legitimate s th e contro l b y th e elders , whoever the y might be" (p . 176); his historical account demonstrates "the adaptability of the ritual from one system of domination t o another" (p. 190), since, as he puts it, "it is not the ritual itself that determines who will be legitimated" (p . 191) . Bloch's work thus usefully define s precisely the intersection of the general functioning o f ideology wit h a particular cultural form an d politica l effect tha t I trace in this stud y of the epic. Moreover , th e two ideologica l propositions tha t Bloch found to be central in Merina ritual closely resemble the central figurative argument o f the epic as I describe it. Merin a ritual, he claims, make s two assertions : first tha t "creativity i s not th e product o f huma n actio n but i s due to a transcendental force tha t i s mediated by authority, " and second tha t "thi s fac t legitimates , eve n demands , th e violent conques t o f inferiors by superiors who ar e closer to the transcen dental ancestors " (p . 189) . B y "creativity " Bloc h mean s cultura l and ar tistic creativity , bu t especiall y human generatio n an d fertility , or , mor e precisely, tha t understanding o f huma n fertilit y tha t woul d transfor m it from natura l phenomenon t o cultura l value. A s described b y Bloch, rit ual's joining o f huma n generatio n an d an imagined transcendenta l order thus parallel s closel y th e epic' s figurativ e linkin g o f th e timelessnes s as sociated wit h a n apparentl y self-regeneratin g natura l world an d huma n action, mos t often violent actio n undertaken in a battle on which the poem

Introduction 2

1

claims precisely the capacity to confer both transcendental power (th e immortality o f fame ) an d a related ancestra l memory. Thi s connectio n o f immortality wit h violenc e is often mediate d in the epic similes of the Iliad by referenc e to craft s tha t transfor m natural substances into artifacts . I n his reading o f ideology a s in part a more generalized process of legitimization that elides the violence by whic h powe r i s asserted, Bloch focuses particularly on the transformation o f violence into "blessing" (a concept encompassing variou s kinds of empowerment, includin g th e passing on of ancestral power an d access to the transcendent). An enacted battle out side the ritua l house, fo r instance , become s a social symbol functionin g ideologically t o obscur e th e foundational violence i t represents . Th e eli sion o f violence in the epic and the ritual—the violence required but als o submerged o r displaced in each case—signals the work of ideology. 26 This work o f displacemen t an d disguise, on e of th e functions of ide ology in general, need not preclude the appropriation of the ritual for political uses, nor does it mean that participants are completely unable to rec ognize the ideological motivatio n behin d suc h a transformation of even t into symbol . Indeed , severa l of Bloch's comments o n the problem o f in tentionality also usefully illuminate the kinds of partial understandings of the workings of ideology tha t characterize the relation of these epic poets to their texts. Like poets within th e epic tradition, Bloch's actors often see the political functions of the ritual and sometimes attemp t to manipulat e it to specific political and ideological ends. It is never the case that the ideological shift s an d dodges ar e completely invisibl e to the participants, and many o f Bloch' s symboli c interpretation s depen d directl y o n th e com mentary o f thos e participants . And ye t i n mos t instance s the perceive d function o f a change in the ritual, however small , may be at odds with the ideological effect o f that change over time. Bloch thus found, for instance, that thos e participant s who sough t t o manipulat e the ritua l for political ends were unable to accept the fact that they might be creating a new ritual; they were unable to see the temporal inversion that characterizes moments of foundation when wha t come s afte r is made to seem the source of wha t came before. I have studied this kind of inversion in the epic as an example of th e wa y th e trop e o f metalepsi s ca n tak e o n ideologica l function . Bloch's participants were thus unable to recognize the functioning of ide ology in its more general form, and their allegiance to a specific ideological goal in their own historical moment seem s on occasion to have made them less abl e to recognize , o r less interested in recognizing , th e deepe r ideological strategies employed in the ritual. Bloch places this particular blindness i n a forward-lookin g an d historicizin g narrative : "th e actor s se e themselves a s merely manipulatin g a ritual that they do not have any idea

22 Introductio

n

of creating, but onl y of using; but they are in fact creating on a time-scale quite differen t fro m tha t governin g thei r intentions " (pp . 191-92) . Un derstanding thi s "quite different time-scale " illuminates a number o f dif ficulties i n estimatin g th e "intentions " o r self-understandin g o f thos e whose cultural performances provide the articulation of ideological work. Debating th e relative power of ideology from the point of view of sub ordinate group s (rathe r than fro m tha t o f a defining cultural institutio n such as the ritua l or th e epic) , James C. Scot t in Hidden Transcripts: Domination and the Arts o f Resistance goe s eve n farthe r i n arguin g tha t subordinates are rarely taken in by the rhetoric of the "official story" or "public transcript." Scot t criticize s th e theorie s o f "hegemony " an d "false consciousness" fo r being unabl e to explain why subordinat e groups ma y appear to accept the political formulations of a dominant elite. Bloch's fo cus on a ritual, a cultural institution or artifact, lead s to a notion of partial illusion o r incomplete consciousnes s in a way tha t Scott's focu s o n socia l discourse doe s not, however , fo r the ritual, like an epic poem, provide s a memorializing narrativ e that is defined i n part by its need t o mak e a believable fi t ou t o f a multiplicit y o f "transcripts"—i n particula r to con struct a narrative that ca n believably lin k huma n experience , o r it s rep resentation, an d a transcendent justification for violence , subordination , and loss. Th e hidde n differences , disjunc t opinions, and , ultimately , im plicit political challenges in Scott's account of the multiple transcripts that make u p sociopolitica l discours e ar e in Bloch' s ritua l th e symboli c an d ideological elision s tha t disguis e these very differences , an d i n doin g s o give form t o the ritual. My accoun t of the epic, like Bloch's o f the ritual, focuses on the ideological work of eliding, suppressing, or disguising con tradiction, thoug h I show how the functioning of the figures that perform this ideological wor k als o necessarily creates a space in whic h a "hidden transcript" can be found. By designating and beginning to read these tran scripts, I hope to defin e as precisely as possible the moves (bot h authorial and transauthorial ) tha t mak e possibl e th e productio n o f a n apparently unified an d self-consistent narrative out of such diverse materials. In addition t o metalepsis , then , I identify three other principa l tropes that do the work of suppression and displacement to construct the argu ment o f epi c narrative: the simile or analogy; catachresis, which "substi tutes" a figurative term fo r a n absent proper ter m i n the action , makin g the "substitution" itself "abusive" (in the terms of rhetoricians like Quintilian and Puttenham); and personification or prosopopoeia. Each of these tropes appear s to connec t figur e an d action , an d thus plays a central role in making i t seem that the text's interpretive claims arise from and are inherently connected t o the action.27 The simile, as I suggested above, work s

Introduction 2

3

by claimin g tha t a n analogy exist s between actio n an d figur e whil e als o indicating thei r disjunc t qualities . Th e epic' s narrativ e logic mime s th e double work of the simile in those cases when two alternative versions of an even t ar e se t i n analogy , whil e thei r differences—crucia l fro m bot h ideological an d poetic standpoints—ar e suspended, veiled , o r displaced , often int o ye t another narrative. Catachresis, th e secon d trope , attempt s t o establis h a metaphorica l transfer o f figure into the action in order t o make it appear that the figur e can "touch " the action ; i t is thus th e principa l trop e o n whic h th e poe t relies t o mak e hi s interpretive claim s abou t th e actio n appea r to hav e a place within i t rather than reveal themselves as external and secondary t o it. The trope has the difficulty, however , tha t it accomplishes this touching by using a figure to "replace" an event or actor that otherwise has no name or naturalistic existence withi n th e action and thus cannot be understood in its terms. (Thi s explain s the qualifie d "substitute " and "substitution " above: ther e ca n b e n o substitutio n whe n on e ter m i s missing. ) I n on e sense, then , thi s transferre d figur e alway s remain s alie n t o th e action , something th e characters cannot recognize or understand—-just as Amata cannot see the snake that Allecto throws into her breast in Book VI I of the Aeneid. This trope thu s canno t fully succee d at embedding th e figurative argument in the action or at making the figure and action "touch." Catachresis als o becomes th e trope o f narrative compulsion, fo r these unrecognizable, unacknowledged , an d invisible figurative transfers contro l th e action, compellin g an d dominating th e characters very much in the man ner o f th e obsessive daemon s o f allegorica l theory. Thi s narrative com pulsion is well exemplified by the structure of allegory, which determine s that th e characters can never kno w precisel y what the y nee d t o know t o succeed within the moral terms of their poem. Thus Redcrosse Knight can fight wit h Sans Joy, bu t h e can never know th e larger significance attrib uted t o thi s characte r by the allegor y (an d therefore in a sense ca n neve r know what fightin g hi m means) . Daemoni c obsession , a s we have bee n taught to recognize it by Angus Fletcher, is analyzed here, then , in part as an effec t o f catachresis. The thir d trop e o f epi c argument, personification , along with prosopopoeia, it s kin, operate s as part of the representation to hide the death s and other cost s of the political and aesthetic power achieve d in these texts of conquest and domination, an d functions to mark the formal dangers of the other two. I n Virgil in particular the personification of the land always follows directl y o n th e death s o f character s sacrifice d t o allo w thi s strengthening o f the poetic voice and the corresponding extensio n o f le gitimacy made possible by having the land speak in favor of Aeneas. I de-

24 Introductio

n

scribe thi s productio n o f a narrative economy o f sacrifice—wit h al l its ironic comment o n the moral costs of grounding poeti c power in political power—as a forma l acknowledgmen t o f th e ideologica l tensio n i n th e epic. Not al l these tropes function to the same degree or with the same effec t in each text, and , in the cas e of th e Iliad, a n epic that starkly resists qualifying th e darke r feature s o f it s representation of heroi c life , I have con centrated on the workings o f simile alone. Indeed, each of these texts calls for a somewha t differen t kin d o f readin g an d critica l vocabulary, an d I have tried—even at the risk of some unevenness in the degree of abstrac tion throughout—to be responsive to those calls. The oral epic of the Iliad, not a text i n the ordinar y sens e of the word, i s treated here with a mor e traditional vocabulary and with less of an emphasis on the functioning of rhetorical figure. Virgil's and Spenser's epics point to a high degree of selfconsciousness abou t the possibilities and dangers of figuration and abou t the political challenge s the poetry poses, and thus call for a more theoretical analysis of ho w meanin g i s read in a n already allegorized narrative. Spenser to o get s a somewha t distinctiv e treatmen t here , for , t o fin d some limits to this epic project, I have chosen to treat those features of Th e Faerie Queene tha t appea r o r ar e reflecte d upo n wit h som e consistenc y throughout th e poem an d that, I believe, have a structuring role throughout. M y reading s of Th e Faerie Queene do not trac e the changes in Spen ser's us e o f differin g narrativ e modes—the diminishmen t o r shif t o f al legorical method in Book VI , fo r instance, is not discussed, nor i s the in creasing rol e o f non-allegorica l fictio n in th e later books o f th e poem — but focus instead on his interrogation of allegory as a figurative mode, an d on th e politic s an d poetics of allegor y as they shap e the text. Thi s interrogation, structure d b y an d generatin g th e ideologica l functio n o f th e poem, ca n be shown, I would argue , to provide a model fo r considerin g the themati c o r forma l topics it appears to bypass . I address the way s in which Spenser interweaves allegory with other fictional modes, then , bu t I d o no t follo w th e developmen t o f thes e alternative modes throughou t the poem, do not discuss explicitly the thematic shifts from book to book, and d o no t tr y t o com e t o term s wit h th e particula r ways i n whic h th e concerns o f each book shape the allegory. As i s apparen t in th e chronolog y I follow, th e epic s chose n outlin e a tradition, an d are understood t o be producing i t at the same time. I have also selected them, however , t o indicate the range of narrative possibilities defined b y th e disjunctio n o f figur e an d action, an d to sugges t th e kind s of poeti c solutions tha t have been found for this formal division, charac teristic of all these texts regardless of the very different strategie s by whic h

Introduction 2

5

they work to reunite their parts. Milton's Paradise Lost and Cervantes's Don Quixote thu s serv e to demarcat e two paradigmati c responses to th e for mal, epistemological , an d political difficult y pose d b y the disjunction o f figure an d action . Paradise Lost differ s fro m th e epics that precede it in its claim to an inspiration that can unite action and figure; Don Quixote treats precisely thi s centra l assertion o f th e poeti c figures i n th e epi c as "madness." Milton' s assertion s o f unit y themselve s generat e a crisi s fo r th e poet, sinc e the poem attempts to represent within its action the power of the figur e t o direc t an d shape all things whil e nonetheless attemptin g t o protect its human protagonists from the absolutism that this would mean. Paradise Lost thu s work s t o displac e and suppres s the recognitio n o f th e contaminating effect s o f this formal epic structure on its truth claims and on the moral schem e o f its narrative. The acknowledgmen t o f thi s con taminating influenc e is partially displaced an d elide d i n th e gestur e tha t associates Ev e wit h th e beaut y an d th e danger s o f poeti c figuration . I n claiming thematically a unity that cannot obtain formally—indeed, in basing hi s entire justification of God' s way s on thi s claim—then , Milto n is led to a radical denial of the very techniques on which he depends, a denial that release s into th e poe m extraordinar y supplementa l energie s whic h paradoxically give it the affective characteristic s traditionally described as its sublimity. Thes e energies com e to dominate the action entirely so that it can no longer represen t the freedom that the poem exalts. Cervantes's tex t exemplifie s the opposite response : through th e ironic undoing o f so many o f the text's figures , i t suggests that figuration itself is firs t an d foremos t a kind o f disfigurement . I take Don Quixot e a s an exemplary epi c narrato r wh o perform s an d incorporate s th e figurativ e displacements an d transformation s o f experienc e tha t I hav e trace d through th e previous texts . Thi s final readin g thu s serve s t o summariz e and revie w th e technique s use d b y earlier writers i n a n attempt t o over come the defining formal disjunction of their genre. Do n Quixote's iron ization of thes e techniques forms part of an interpretation o f th e power s of textualit y that ultimately offer s onl y th e undoin g o f suc h figures a s a path to "truth." As such, it provides, I believe, a fitting end to this eventful history. In suggesting, finally , tha t throughout th e tradition the epic action can not embod y the meaning attribute d to it by the narrator through figura tion, o r tha t th e interpretation s o f a n epic narrator o r hi s Muse ar e no t immanent i n th e action but represente d as something "other, " I identif y a constitutive generic dilemma: from the Iliad on , the epic emphasizes that there can be no certain knowledge of the action that it narrates, no shared experience between characte r and reader (or audience). It thus necessarily

26 Introductio

n

relies o n th e substitutions by which ideolog y posit s som e connectio n o r analogy. I n showin g tha t suc h a historical, interpretive , an d forma l ga p necessarily makes room for ideological transformation, I hope to sugges t why al l epics seem to be partly about an unacknowledged violenc e in the history o f th e triumph o f "right." They no t onl y represen t celebration s and victorie s tha t subsum e storie s o f oppression , bu t the y expos e th e mechanisms b y which suc h formally and ethically divided narrative s can be made—transformed , displaced , disfigured—t o tel l a stor y i n whic h such divisivenes s appear s t o hav e n o place . Thi s disfigurin g allegor y haunts th e ethica l or institutin g powe r o f th e epics , eve n in case s when they d o no t trea t such compulsio n an d domination overtly . Readin g the epic tradition for its disjunctions and inner divisions as much as for its cel ebrations can show ho w an d why th e epic story of foundation must itsel f deny the operation of precisely those tropes—ideological and rhetorical— that constitute it, an d why tha t denial can never completely succeed .

Chapter One

THE POLITIC S O F TH E SIMIL E IN TH E ILIAD

T

?? ??????? ?????? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ???

cause th e dyin g heroe s ac t ou t th e contradiction s o f th e heroi c code. Thes e contradiction s ar e mad e apparen t throug h th e epi c structure that keeps the representation of heroic actions separate from the act of assigning value to them, a distance that reveals both the relative arbitrariness of cultural values and the costs to the individual of the process of constructing value. Imagined fro m th e point o f view o f the warriors , the contrast between the types of meaning posited in the similes and those available in th e characters' lives is complete. A n important shape r of th e poem's emotional effect , thi s strong contrast also contributes to its moral complexity. Throug h simpl y juxtaposing (lik e the parts of a metonym ) the argument of the poetic figures and the action, the Iliad reveal s that the poem's ideological resolution s an d compromises depen d o n a troping o f death. The figures thus necessarily work t o avert or displace the only cer tainty in the lives of those whose storie s make up the narrative—the absoluteness an d finalit y o f death—bu t th e poem, i n demonstratin g a t th e same time that there is no consolation for the individual in the significance given deat h i n ar t o r society , als o exposes a violence i n th e metaphori c construction o f ideology itself , and makes it possible to criticize the pro cesses of transformatio n and interpretation in which th e poem itsel f and its audience are engaged. These figurative transformations can be very powerful. My question s

3O Th

e Ancient Epic

about the relative success of a given figure are aimed not at suggesting that the figure is in some way aesthetically inadequate, but rather at finding in the tension between likeness and difference a place from which we can discover precisel y wha t metaphorica l wor k i s being don e an d uncove r t o some extent th e resistance s of th e poetic materia l to tha t work . Amon g the mos t importan t site s for beginning suc h a critique are precisely those moments—such a s in th e domesti c scene s in Troy , o r i n simile s tha t do seem t o establis h som e likenes s betwee n pastora l scenes an d th e war — where the similarity between the two serves within th e action to establish an allusio n t o th e kind s o f imager y typica l of th e figures . A t suc h mo ments, th e disjunction between the action and the figure is highlighted b y the very suggestion of similarity, and allows the poem to demonstrate the violence in the heroic code. This critique can take the form of an implicit counternarrative lodged i n the representation of heroic action . THE EPIC DISTANCE The distinctnes s of the poetic figures in the Iliad, du e in part to the structure of the epic simile itself and to the temporal distance of the poet fro m the event s h e describes , generate s and maintain s what i s often calle d the epic distance. The narrato r is set at such a remove fro m his story that his perspective more closely resembles that of the gods than that of the human actors.1 Although thi s divine perspective seems clearest in those moment s when th e poe t demonstrate s his foreknowledge o f th e plot, i t is also re vealed i n certai n of th e simile s in which th e ac t of compariso n itsel f re quires a near-divine poin t of view. The first of the threshing images in the Iliad suggest s that the act of simile-making itsel f leads Homer and his listeners t o adop t th e perspectiv e of th e gods , fo r the audienc e is asked t o think o f th e Achaeans as chaff: cbg 6' avEfio g axva g (j)og££i lega g xai' cdooag avSgcov kxfuovxwv, ot e ie 5av0f) Ar^rJTri g ttgivfl ejteiyojjiBvayv avE|ia) v ttagnov te Hal axvag, al 6' tijtoXeuHaivovtai a/uQiuai- tog TOT' 'Axaiol Xeiwol {megGe YEVOVTO Hoviaatap, 6v g a 61' OOJTCO V ougavov e g jto?aJxa^ov EJIEJI^TIYO V ito&eg LJtJtco v aip £Ji;i|iiaYOH£Vtov - i)ji o 6' earge^ov f|vioxii£g. (V, 499-505 )

As when alon g the hallowed threshing floors th e wind scatters chaff, amon g me n winnowing, an d fair-haired Demeter in the leaning wind discriminate s the chaff an d the true grain and the piling chaf f whiten s beneath it, so now th e Achaians

Politics of the Simile in the Iliad 3

1

turned white underneath the dust the feet o f the horses drove far into the brazen sky across their face s as they rapidly closed and the charioteers wheeled back again. While both rural and martial scenes bring t o min d hot , dry , dust y days, the peacefulness o f the threshing scene contrasts with the fury o f the fight that makes warriors resemble chaff . Th e lovel y Demeter bring s a special divinity t o th e hallowe d threshin g floor s (hieras . . . aloas), a divine ca pacity for sortin g grai n and chaff. 2 Thi s doubl e figuration—a divin e per sonification o f huma n deed s raise d at th e momen t o f compariso n itsel f and callin g attentio n t o th e figurative movement—points i n tur n t o th e goddess' activity , fo r onl y fro m suc h a point o f vie w coul d th e aesthetic value o f th e wa r scene—th e beauty in th e violence—b e perceived . De meter's sorting , he r heightene d capacit y t o tel l th e differenc e betwee n what is productive and what is not, becomes also a paradigm for the poetic virtue of perceiving differences , o f separating, while her presence in fig urative for m suggest s indirectl y tha t th e similaritie s betwee n me n an d chaff can only be imagined from a divine perspective. The simil e suggests both tha t th e bringing o f meanin g t o wa r throug h suc h poetic imager y puts the audience in the position of divine onlookers, an d that such poetic transformation o f violenc e int o art— a transformatio n that occurs a t th e moment o f seeing a connection betwee n these dissimilar scenes—is itself a divin e gesture , gainin g authorit y throug h it s connectio n t o th e divin e (which is in turn, itself, a part of the poetic figuration) and requiring first a paradigmaticall y divine capacit y to distinguis h th e productive an d th e nonproductive. Th e divin e perspective , i n short , allow s both th e poeti c imagery to work and the simile to cohere; it allows the poet to transform war int o song—an d thereb y separate s it out , winnow s it—fo r aestheti c contemplation a s a beautiful even t throug h whic h heroe s gai n immorta l fame. Such strikin g poeti c allegorie s o f th e separatio n and juxtaposition o f aesthetics an d actio n magnif y th e epi c distance by bein g themselve s al ready s o resolutely aestheticized , an d hence by puttin g th e audienc e at a protective double distance from the violence of heroic action. When Men elaos is wounded, fo r example , Homer' s comparison draws his listeners' attention away from the wound towar d th e separate space of civilizatio n and it s artifacts . Afte r Athen a kindl y brushe s th e arro w awa y fro m it s more fata l course , i t graze s Menelaos's ski n unde r th e corselet . Home r spends seven lines describin g the arrow a s it plunges through Menelaos' s war-belt, but as soon as the dark blood rushes forth, he shifts his attention: c

Qg 6' OT E tig T' eXe^avxa yuvfj (J>oivi m \iir\vr\ Mrjovlg f) 8 KdeiQa, JtaQrjio v eleven ijntcov -

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e Ancient Epic XEiTca 6' e v 9aXa[xq) , jto^EE g IE |iiv f|QT|oavT O btJifJEg (j)OQ££iv - paailfi i 6 e xeliai aya^a, a[i(|)6T£QOv *t6o[iog 0' ijutc p 8X.aifiQ L T E wSogTOLOL tot, MsvEXas, [uav6r| V aifian firjQo l Ei^UEEg xvfjjjux i I E i5e acjnjga xcd ' iJjtevegGe . (IV, 141-47 )

As when som e Maionian woman or Karian with purple colors ivory , t o make it a cheek piece for horses; it lies away in an inner room, an d many a rider longs to have it, but i t is laid up to be a king's treasure, two things , t o be the beauty of the horse, th e pride of the horseman: so, Menelaos, you r shapely thighs were stained with th e color of blood , an d your legs also and your ankles beneath them. The move from considering the blood rushing forth to picturing the beautiful ivor y chee k piec e occur s disconcertingl y quickly , wit h som e o f th e speed o f th e blood itself, an d the scene in all its details seems intended t o turn attention—like Athena turning asid e the arrow—from th e literal impact o f th e wound . Th e simile , fo r instance , transform s th e woun d b y treating i t also as an aesthetic object: th e emphasis on the beauty of Men elaos's thighs (the y are well shaped: meroi euphuees) an d the use of the ver b miaino (mianthen i s the epi c aoris t passiv e of miaino), whic h mean s bot h "to paint over, stain , dye, color" and "to stain, defile or soil" (a dual sens e that Lattimore ha s attempted t o catch in his translation "stained with the color of blood"), both giv e the wound an artistic quality, as does the more straightforward compariso n to the well-made artifact , staine d with dye of the colo r o f blood . Fo r listeners an d readers, th e compariso n subtl y re minds us, th e wound is an object of art to be contemplated i n part for its beauty.3 Neither Agamemno n no r Menelao s share s thi s poeti c perspectiv e o n the wound, however : Tr/rioEv 6' CXQ ' ETCEITO , ava^ avSQorv 'Aycxpiefivcav , cbg ElSs v ^le^a v aijia xataQQeo v e§ (btEiXfjg Qtynaev 6e xai ambc, aQr)LUTa)aij g xai aQovQTi g JTUQOC^OQOIO ; TCO vtiv XQ^ I Auxioiai \iiia JIQCOTOLOL V Eovta g EorafiEV f|6 £ pidx T15 xavareiQYis avTipoA/fjooa . (XII, 310-16 ) Glaukos, wh y i s it that you an d I are honored before other s with pride of place, th e choice meats and the filled win e cups in Lykia, an d all men look on us as if we were immortals,

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and we are appointed a great piece of lan d by the banks of Xanthos, good land, orchar d an d vineyard, an d ploughland fo r the plantin g of wheat? Therefore i t is our dut y in the forefront of the Lykians to take our stand, an d bear our part of the blazing battle.

A central tenet of the heroic code, accordin g to him, i s the link betwee n the socia l order an d the action s of th e heroes on the battlefield. Like the images describing the long life that Achilles has lost, the images Sarpedon uses t o describ e his beautiful land s resemble those that recur in similes . But wherea s Achilles comes t o se e an opposition betwee n th e two, Sar pedon here claims the same essential unity that is asserted by th e poem' s ideological transformations . In doin g s o he complete s th e metaphorical transfer, s o that the wa r appear s to mirro r an d eve n to justify (t o bear a causal relation to) th e socia l order while the socia l order is presented a s a totality that provides the context and sanction for the war. Only secondl y doe s Sarpedo n express hi s belie f tha t mortalit y itsel f leads the warrio r t o see k fame, th e statemen t for whic h hi s speech is especially revered: d) JTEJIOV , el JAE V yotQ Jt6X£|iov JCEQ L iov6£ ((WYOVT E ale! 6r) ^i£Moi|i£ v ayilQco t' aGavaxa) TE eaa£a9', OUT E XE V avtog EV! JIQCOTOIOI [iaxo'ifirj v OUTE H E 0£ OTEXXoifA l HaXT] V E g >U)&iaV£lQ(XV -

vvv 6 s E^utii g yotQ wJQE g E^Eoraatv Gavatoio [ivQiai, ag oiw EOT I (j>iryEl v PQOTO V ov6' vjtaM^ai , io[i£v, f|£ T(p Etfyo g OQE^OHEV , f|E tig fjfiiv . (XII, 322-28 ) Man, supposin g yo u an d I, escaping this battle, would be able to live on forever, ageless, immortal , so neither woul d I myself g o on fighting in the foremost nor would I urge you into the fighting where me n win glory . But now, seein g that the spirits of death stand close about us in their thousands, no man can turn aside nor escap e them, let us go on and win glor y for ourselves, o r yield it to others.

These line s articulat e a promise o f th e heroi c code , consequen t o n th e claim that deeds in battle can be integrated into a social totality that wil l attribute to them a significance matching that discovered by the warriors. Because we are mortal, Sarpedon says, we seek glory in battle, which will bring u s the only kin d o f immortality we ca n hope for. For his deeds to take on the meaning he hopes they will have, however, ther e must exist a connection between heroic action and the understanding of it with which

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others are left, a connection more substantial than that established by jux taposition o f oppose d image s i n a simile . Thi s connection , calle d into question by the separation in the poem between the representation of mor tality and the interpretation i t is given, i s affirmed b y Sarpedon in his assertion tha t heroic immortality als o guarantees the Tightness of the social order. Sarpedo n expresses here, in short, th e principal argument that the poetic figure s throughou t th e Iliad mak e i n claimin g a congruenc e be tween individual heroic value and its social interpretation and reward. In this speech, Sarpedon articulates an ideological connection necessary to make the heroic cod e work. Its central claim is that heroic actions will be understood an d remembered b y the poet an d by society, an d thus be immortalized—that is , tha t the actio n and its symbolic significanc e wil l form a single, seamles s whole, s o that the actio n will fin d it s full signifi cance in the poet's representations (and in society's memory). Th e promises of th e heroic cod e can only be met, then , i f a link ca n be establishe d between actio n an d interpretation, betwee n th e discourse o f heroi c rep resentation an d trope— a link tha t require s a shifting of th e analog y to ward a metaphorical claim. The epic marks out the contradiction in Sar pedon's claims about kleos, however, rigorously separating action and figure—and thu s implicitl y questionin g whethe r hi s word s accuratel y describe th e warrior's experience . I n consistently juxtaposing whil e no t identifying th e two, th e poem makes it possible to see why a warrior lik e Achilles would com e t o regard the consolation provided b y the promise of kleos a s a t bes t inadequate , a t wors t fraudulent . Thi s doubl e poeti c structure allows the Iliad t o express a heroic interpretation of the action at the same time that it reveals the ideological work necessar y to make such an interpretation see m valid. 22 The juxtaposition o f action and poetic interpretation makes ideologica l analysis possible since, being a potentially disjunctive structure, it allows the unspoken assumption s and the contradictor y implications o f heroi c life t o b e included withou t disruptin g the representation of heroi c exis tence itself . Wheneve r th e Iliad compare s th e warriors ' action s an d th e peacetime world from which the y are separated, and in all the figurative descriptions o f the war, i t implies tha t poets, audiences , and readers give meaning to heroic death, which will continue to be valued by the ongoing society. Th e exten t o f separatio n even i n th e momen t o f comparison , however, make s evident how far the warriors remain from this social process of interpretation an d valuation. The differenc e between actio n as it is represented an d action as it is interpreted by poetic figure marks the limit of the heroic system, an d allows the epic to express the controlling values of heroi c society while als o making their contradictions apparent. The poetic figures in the Iliad thu s together make a coherent and unified

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argument about the meaning of heroic life, about kleos, and about the kind of immortality tha t heroes achiev e through heroi c song. They use three principal strategie s t o mak e thes e claims, evoking , a s it were , thre e dif ferent world s o f discours e wit h thes e thre e moves. First , the y compar e heroic deat h to natural phenomena, an d represent heroic experienc e and death as part of a larger natural order with its seasonal and cyclical patterns of growth, death , and rebirth. Secondly , the y compare war to peacetime activities, especiall y those involving th e making o f aestheti c objects and the practicing of crafts , suggestin g that war shoul d be placed in the con text of a cultural totality. The elisio n of the difference betwee n these tw o totalities—the natura l an d th e cultural—i s itsel f a n ideologica l move . Thirdly, th e Iliad widen s th e poetic focus t o provid e a universalizing vi sion, presentin g the war from a distant perspective from which it may appear beautiful and from which it may be transformed into a series of events worthy o f aestheti c contemplation. I n making heroi c actio n see m beau tiful, th e epic transfers the timelessness of art to its heroes but make s their death the prerequisite for this transformation. These naturalizing, aestheticizing, an d unifying strategies mark th e ideological wor k accomplishe d in these passages. The aesthetic transformations they produce may be read as part of a larger pattern of substitution s made necessary by th e need t o suppress wha t coul d disrup t th e represente d unity , i n thi s case , the dis ruptive force of death itself. The principal effect o f these symbolic moves , then, is to elide figuratively the fact of death or to evade its consequences. These symbolic move s thu s suggest that the formal beauty and aesthetic coherence of epic poetry derive from death: the epic transforms death into something beautifu l b y mean s o f a series o f metaphorica l substitution s that assign it symbolic and collective or cultural value.23 This exacting focus o n mortality ca n be contrasted with the myths o f some o f th e Iliad's ow n characters , as Laura Slatkin has recently demonstrated wit h regar d to Thetis. Slatkin' s stud y shows th e extent t o whic h the epic process involves submerging a mythic tendency in the story ma terial that would giv e the heroes immortality . Th e Iliad, sh e argues, in vokes a constellation of traditional elements, including the mythology o f Thetis herself , wit h its stories o f th e power o f th e immortal mother t o protect a morta l so n (reveale d clearly in th e paralle l myth o f Eo s an d Memnon), "i n orde r t o violat e conventiona l expectation s o f thei r po tency, and it does so for the sake of the primacy of the theme of mortality" ("Wrath of Thetis, " p. 8) . Moreover, a political concern of the epic partly motivates the submerging o f certain mythological motifs . Slatkin shows , for instance , tha t in mytholog y Theti s ha s a power, quit e separate from Zeus's, tha t coul d prov e threatening wer e she allowed t o rescu e he r son and giv e hi m immortality . Slatki n thus concludes , speakin g metaphori -

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cally, tha t "the pric e of Zeus ' hegemony i s Achilles' death, " a "definitive instance of the potency o f themes in Homeric epi c which exer t their in ??????? ?? ??? ??????? ?????? ?? ??? ????? ??? ????? ?? ??? ???????? ???? 21-22, her emphasis). The Iliad thu s reminds us of the power of Theti s in myth "in orde r t o show tha t cosmic equilibrium is bought a t the cost of human mortality" (p . 22). Her language of submersion and surface points to the way in which the epic can at once articulate the reliance of the imagined cosmi c orde r o n mortalit y ye t vei l tha t realizatio n in it s narrative. The symbolic or metaphoric claims about heroic death made in the poetic figures also coincide to some extent with the characteristics of the cult of heroes , a s Nagy ha s described it. 24 A brief rehearsa l of th e key differ ences he finds between epic and cult will help to show the range of cultural meanings attache d to th e strategies of naturalization and aestheticization outlined above . Th e immortality offere d b y the poetic figures i n the Iliad depends, a s I shall argue, o n th e evocatio n o f image s o f cyclicalit y an d timelessness, represented as both "natural" by means of the "vegetal" imagery Nagy ha s found to be typically associated with heroes of cults, and "cultural" by means of allusion to the timeless quality of artifacts. 25 Thes e latter images, too , ar e consonant with th e hero cult in suggesting that the hero's immortalit y i s a cultural phenomenon. Nag y argue s first tha t epic heroes (notabl y Achilles ) ar e offere d a n immortality congruen t i n sym bolic and formulaic terms with the kind of immortality offere d heroe s in cult; he outlines the many overlaps in imagery, symbolic terms, an d tra ditional languag e tha t revea l a submerged bu t importan t similarit y be tween the two type s of heroes. Secondly , he argues that the work of epic, as i t were , i s th e suppressio n o f cult : th e epi c focuse s o n th e them e o f death, denyin g overtl y to its heroes the kind o f immortality the y woul d (and indeed, outsid e of epic, do) gain in cult, and substituting the peculiar immortality o f epic. Nagy locates the reason for the epic's suppression of overt cul t (o r ritual) elements in the "Panhellenic" quality of epic poetry: "The her o o f cult mus t b e local because it is a fundamental principle i n Greek religion that his power is local. On th e other hand, the Iliad an d the Odyssey ar e Panhellenic. What results is that the central heroes of this epic narrative canno t hav e a n overtl y religiou s dimensio n i n th e narrative " (Best o f the Achaeans, p. 116) . He conclude s that the kinds of immortalit y offered i n epic and cult are different, bu t analogous : "What is recurrent in ritual is timeless in the epic tradition, lik e the kleos aphthiton o f Achilles " (p. 117) . Nagy suggests the latent similarities between the time schemes adopted by cult and by epic by studying the references to future time in the epic— that is, the time of the audience—and examining what th e poet seems to

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mean i n promisin g immortality . H e take s a s a n exampl e VII , 84-91 , where Hecto r imagine s ho w peopl e of th e futur e wil l hono r hi m whe n they se e Achilles' tom b b y th e Hellespont an d remember Hector' s grea t deed in killing hi m (th e mention o f Achilles' tombstone render s his analogy to cult particularly precise): The insistent reference s . . . to a future time beyond the narrative—a time when men wil l stil l commemorat e the hero's tomb—revea l Achilles a s not s o much a hero of epic but rathe r a hero of cult . Th e future of the narrative i s the here-andnow o f th e Homeric audience, an d t o the m th e tom b o f Achille s i s a matter o f religion, reflecting this era's marked preoccupatio n wit h hero cults. W e recall Iliad XII, 2—33 , tha t othe r isolate d instanc e wher e th e perspectiv e o f th e narrativ e switches from the heroic past to the here-and-now of the Homeric audience. Ther e too the Achaean warrior s who fel l at Troy ar e suddenly perceive d no t a s heroes of epic, heroes, but a s heroes of cult , hemitheoi (XII , 23) . (Ibid. , p. 342)

Elsewhere, Nag y define s th e way in whic h ritua l underlies the epi c and informs th e vision of immortality that it offers: "O n th e surface," he explains, "the hero's death is motivated by the inherited conventions of epic narrative; underneath the surface, however, it is motivated by the require ments o f ritual ideology."26 This languag e of surface and depth points t o an ideologica l an d psychologica l model tha t is particularly helpful here , for Nagy provides a way to discuss the multiple cultural discourses working in contrary directions that help to constitute the poem as we know it . What he describes here as the submerge d subtext of ritua l I locate as the argument o f th e poeti c figures ; bot h argument s se e the actio n o f sub merging o r displacing as an ideological one. Nagy's argumen t helps t o identif y th e ideological complexit y o f th e figurative argument , whic h employ s imagery of the sort associated with cult within th e epic. His demonstration that the kleos of epic and the kind of immortalit y offere d i n cult are more simila r than has previously been recognized—for bot h kind s of hero , "th e key to immortality i s the per manence of the cultural institution into which they are incorporated"27— suggests some of the difficulties i n the epic project of providing simulta neously a representation o f herois m an d th e kleos awarde d it retrospec tively. Nagy outlines a fundamental if implicit tension within epic itself— the tension between the epic need to bury or efface th e outlines of cult on the one hand, an d the persistence of a deep analogy between th e immortality of cul t and that of epi c on the other. Thi s doubl e directionalit y o f the epic can be defined, I argue, through a study of the differences betwee n the epi c action , focusin g a s it doe s o n heroi c death , an d th e symboli c claims made in the poetic figures. A suppressed but ideologically essential connection betwee n cul t and epic, t o use his terms, i s allowed t o surfac e

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in th e poeti c figures . Th e epi c kleos i s implicitly mad e possibl e throug h this connectio n t o th e immortality o f cults , figure d i n the cycle s of sea sonal renewal— a connectio n tha t is also ideological since it is denied b y the primary epi c process of submerging culti c tendencies. This tension within epic is also signaled in the way in which the poetr y of th e Iliad make s deat h see m beautifu l a t the sam e time tha t it display s the horror of the battlefield. While any poem about battle necessarily gives violent deat h a n aesthetic quality, wha t occur s in th e Iliad i s more com plicated because the figuration of death as beautiful als o participates in an extended serie s o f ideologica l moves . Moreover , th e thre e ideologica l transformations performe d by poetic imagery—the use of figures t o nat uralize heroic death , t o aestheticiz e it, an d to plac e it in th e contex t o f a cultural totality—ca n b e show n t o depen d o n tw o principa l rhetorica l moves: the shifting of metonymic figure s toward the metaphoric; and the disguising o f a linear temporality a s an iterative one. Thes e moves allo w the poem t o provide reasons why warriors should engage in heroic actio n while displacin g withi n th e poetic structur e the consequences t o th e in dividual of tha t choice . The y all either claim an equivalence between ac tion an d figure o r disguis e the contradictions between them . In this wa y they protec t th e audienc e from recognizin g tha t th e violenc e implici t i n the heroic code is also directed toward those meant to benefit from it; they protect th e audienc e from seein g tha t th e violence i s located withi n th e society a s well a s directed at enemies understood t o be external. This vi olence i s emphasized , however , i n th e epic' s representatio n o f action . Matching an d opposite to this ideological function, then , i s the discourse of heroi c actio n itself. The description of the death of Gorgythion, on e of Priam's sons, strikingly illustrates the ideological function of the poem's symbolic claim that there i s a dee p connectio n betwee n huma n experienc e an d th e natura l world. The description's emphasis on the beauty of the youth come s onl y with his death, suggestin g tha t th e elision o f th e difference betwee n hu man nee d an d natural cycle makes possible the production o f beaut y ou t of violence. 28 As in similes evoking a different temporality , the poetic im agery here puts human mortality in the context of repeating natural events that d o not hav e a similar finality, an d thereby sets Gorgythion's deat h at a distance . Thi s process is again a metaphorical one , fo r th e poetr y suggests a n essential continuity betwee n Gorgythio n a s he fall s befor e Teu kros's arro w an d a beautiful, delicat e springtime scene: 6 5' a\i\)\iova ToQyvQi^va mbv eft v IlQi(X|ioi o Ttaia otfjGog pdXe v ico ,

Politics of the Simile in the Iliad 5

1

TOY Q ' E § AicrufiTiSev ojiino^Evr ] TEX E p-rjiri Q xa^f| KaotidvEiQcx 6e^iag Eixula GefjaL . prJKOov 6' (bg ETEQCOGF E xaQT] pd^EV , r\ t' EV L xrjjtcp , xaQJtco (3Qi6o[i£VT ] votiyiai T E ElaQivfjaiv , cog ETEQwa' f]|iua£ xagt] jtrjXrixi paQuv9£V . (VIII, 302-8 )

[He] struc k down instead a strong son of Priam, Gorgythion the blameless, hit in the chest by an arrow; Gorgythion whose mother was lovely Kastianeira, Priam's bride from Aisyme , with the form o f a goddess. He bent drooping his head to one side, a s a garden poppy bends beneath the weight of its yield and the rains of springtime; so his head bent slack to one side beneath the helm's weight. In the simile, heroic death is made to seem like a natural event, like a rainstorm, o r even like a fulfillment, an d death, a quiet, graceful bowing out . As Adam Parry put it, here landscape and natural description become "a direct metaphor for things human" ("Landscape," p. 29). Both the spring rains an d th e plant' s bringing fort h of frui t an d seeds are repeating mo ments in a natural cycle, and both speak of fertilit y an d ongoing life . Parry's interpretation states accurately what the simile attempts to accomplish, bringing out the way it tends here toward the limit case of met aphor, but his reading underemphasizes the simile's pathos, created by the implicit contras t between th e warrior an d the flower. The popp y i s not wilted o r dead , just top-heavy ; i n an y case , a poppy wil l retur n ever y spring to bow its head, but Gorgythion' s death is final: it is a unique event that does not participate in any natural cycles of renewal or return. 29 The gap betwee n th e heroic actio n and the imagery of th e simile reveal s the limits o f th e analogy between huma n experience and the natural world. Human societ y may need to assign value to death, but such juxtapositions fail to provide any genuine mediation between the human and the natural or betwee n th e individua l an d th e social . Th e likenesse s posited b y th e similes are important fictions; they show how meaning is constructed, but in doing so, they also reveal its arbitrary patterns, the way in which it responds to desires rather than actualities. Thus the similes also distort what they attempt t6 represent—particularly when, a s in this case, the distorting effec t i s also a part of an artistic shaping, for to make death seem beautiful is to transform it into something different. I n the description of Gor gythion's death , then, the comparison to the natural world and the effort s to render the dead body beautiful wor k hand in hand. Throughout th e Iliad thes e two strategie s create a poetic argument so continuous tha t at times one would almos t ascribe to it its own narrative

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extension. Suc h extended ideological and figurative transformation can be seen especially clearly in simile sequences and patterns of similes that startlingly alte r th e pictur e o f th e war. 30 Carrol l Moulto n ha s convincingl y argued tha t i n th e Homeri c epic s i t i s possibl e t o spea k o f "narrativ e through simile " without insistin g tha t the similes creat e an entirely sep arate world.31 The symboli c claim s made in the poetic figures o f the Iliad do not creat e a separate world—on the contrary, the y work to transform juxtaposition int o a deeper continuity o r likeness—but they d o cohere as a separate strand of argument within th e discussion of the value of heroi c life tha t i s set i n motio n b y Achilles ' quarre l with Agamemnon . Suc h a case is particularly marked in Homer's account of the death of Sarpedon , in whic h th e intensificatio n of thi s patter n brings eve n Zeus' s emotion s into play. 32 The deat h o f Sarpedo n is , fro m th e beginning, aestheticized . Home r describes th e nois e o f th e battl e around Sarpedon' s corps e by evokin g a rural scene that also represents the distance of the epic perspective on he roic action : TWV 6' wg IE 6QUt6p,cov OV&QW V oQviiaySog OQWQE V oijQEog e v |3rjooT]g , E>ta9£ v 6 £ T E Y'IYVET ' axovrj , wg TWV OQVDTO Soijjtog eur o %Qovbc, Ei)Quo6£ir|g. (XVI, 633-35 )

As the tumult goe s up from men who ar e cutting timber i n the mountain valleys , and the sound i s heard from fa r off, such was the dull crashing that rose from the earth of the wide ways. As in th e cas e of othe r "observer " similes, a n analogy is established be tween thos e who hear the sound from afar and the "divine" perspective of the singer, toward which he in turn draws his audience. This woodcuttin g simile, whic h occur s only moments afte r Sarpedon' s death, echoes the description o f his fall itself, which is likened to the fall of a great oak or pop lar hewn down by carpenters in the mountains (XVI, 482-84; see full quo tation below). Here again heroic death is pictured as being best understood as part o f th e ongoin g patter n of natura l and productive communa l life . Shortly thereafter , th e narrator, echoing the image of insects swarmin g around a pail of milk in the fourth and pivotal simile of the simile sequence in Book II, describes the men as crowding aroun d the corpse of Sarpedon. The hero could no t be made out, EJIE! pE^EEoai xal ai^otTi Kod ttovLTjaiv EX tt£(j>aX.fjg EiXuTo 6uxnjt£Q£ g £ g Jt66ag anQoug.

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3

OL 6' alei JTEQ I VEXQO V ojii^eov, co g OT E [n/iai araGjia) EV I Pgonecoa i JtEQi/ytaxyEa g xaxa JiEXXa g GOQfl £ V ElCXQlvf) , OT E T£ Y^«Y O5 &YY £a OE1JEL .

(XVI, 639-43 )

since he was piled from hea d to ends of fee t under a mass of weapons, th e blood an d the dust, while others about him kept forever swarming ove r his dead body, a s flies through a sheepfold thunder about the pails overspilling milk, i n the season of spring when th e milk splashes in the buckets. The use ofbromeo (bremo, "to roar," said of the wave or wind; "t o clash, " said of arms; "to roar," said of a crowd, a s listed by Liddell and Scott, an d rendered b y Lattimore a s "thunder") fo r th e flies provides an instance in which th e language of heroic action displaces the language of the pastoral simile, thu s accentuatin g th e ga p betwee n th e ostensibl e an d implici t meanings o f th e simile. 33 Th e imager y liken s Sarpedon' s deat h t o th e everyday lif e o f a farm, bu t th e juxtaposition o f th e wa r an d th e sprin g scene marks the difference betwee n th e poetic or social value placed on his death and his individual loss: he literally cannot be seen below th e mass of weapons, th e poem's monument , tha t hides him. The weapons hid e him in the battle scene, an d the simile concludes the process by hiding th e significance o f individual death—a n ideological mov e o f whic h th e martia l event i s rendered a literal version . Not onl y does Sarpedon's death fit into a narrative context in which th e symbolic an d formal patterning o f the epic is strongly felt , bu t th e simil e that describe s hi s deat h echoe s other s use d wit h sligh t variatio n fo r th e deaths of othe r warriors , makin g hi s death and its concealment b y a naturalizing simile a n intensified but typica l example of heroi c death. 34 Like Simoeisios Anthemides , fo r instance, who fall s like a poplar when he dies, Sarpedon fall s like a tree when i t has been cut: fJQiJtE 6' cb g OT E Tig Sgtig TIQUTE V r\ axEQCotg , f)£ juTv g pXcodgrj , TTJ V T' OTJQEG L TEXTOvE g avSgEg £§£T(X|jlOV JtEXEHEaa i V£T|X£a i VT|IO V ElVCXl -

cog 6 JtgooG ' ijtttco v xal 6u(>Qo u XELT O TavvoGEtg, P£p(yuxwg> xoviog 6E6Qay|jiEvog aluaTOEaorrig. (XVI, 482-86 )

He fell, a s when a n oak goes down o r a white poplar, or like a towering pin e tree which in the mountains the carpenters have hewn dow n wit h their whetted axes to make a ship-timber. So he lay there felled i n front o f hi s horses and chariots roaring, an d clawed with hi s hands at the bloody dust.

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Homer use d precisel y this simil e (XVI , 482-84 ) whe n the Troja n Asio s fell i n battl e in Boo k XIII. 35 These simile s compar e th e fal l o f a tree cu t down by a craftsman to the fall of a warrior cut down in battle, and in each case the violence i n the heroic scene contrasts with an d limits th e similes ' power t o place heroic death in a broader social and natural context. Whe n Sarpedon dies, th e audience or readers recognize the similar description s and repeate d formula e used fo r othe r death s in th e poem . Withou t thi s traditional connection , Sarpedon' s deat h migh t seem atypical , distinc t from th e deaths of other, less-importan t warriors . These simile s all claim a metaphorica l unit y betwee n th e tw o scene s compared , bu t th e heroi c action consistentl y undermine s thi s figurative assertio n of a relationship that crosses the boundary between lif e an d death: the action separate s the warriors fro m whateve r large r significanc e i s attributed t o thei r deaths . The ga p opene d u p in thi s way between th e symbolic claim s of th e epic and its representation of the war give s the poem a tragic structure.36 The violence of Sarpedon's death, felt in part in the intensity of the con trast between actio n and figure, i s symbolized in the poem b y the blood y tears of Zeu s she d a s a kind o f de w o n the ground (XVI , 459) . Zeus ha s pondered whethe r t o let his son Sarpedon be killed in the battle: his heart is divided (literall y "balanced between two ways" ) i n counsel, "6ix6 a 5e [K)i XQa5iTi fxe^iove " (XVI , 435) , but Her a convinces him tha t to preserv e order amon g th e god s h e must resis t changin g th e fat e o f Sarpedo n (cf. lines 434 and 441). The epic pictures the choice of Zeus as a choice between letting Sarpedo n live and letting him di e at the hands of Patroklo s (XVI , 43 6-3 8). If Nagy's argument in Best of the Achaeans is correct, this fictional representation i n fact show s th e epic at work displacing a latent tendenc y to becom e a poem devote d t o a single hero's cult , an d Zeus's decisio n t o protect the body o f Sarpedon and to return it to Lykia, his homeland, fo r burial (XVI, 453-57) is a vestige of this tendency. Zeus's choice about Sarpedon reimagine s th e choic e o f Achilles , bu t a t the leve l o f th e gods : i t reiterates bot h th e symboli c an d th e politica l significanc e o f Achilles ' choice, whil e implying tha t his choice als o was already made befor e th e poem or even the war began. 37 The connectio n wit h cult imager y provide s on e gloss o n the unusua l extent o f Homer' s relianc e o n natura l imagery t o represen t Sarpedon' s death an d th e struggl e ove r hi s body. H e i s consistently picture d i n th e terms of an ongoing natural world evoked even in the moment he is killed. Zeus's grief represents the political and religious sacrifice—thematic signs of a n ideologica l suppression—mad e by th e epi c in it s nee d t o becom e translocal, t o use Nagy's terms. Zeu s mus t not bow t o a poetic desir e to include a local cult within the epic story, but hi s decision i s presented as a

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5

loss. Hi s tear s of bloo d serve as figures, then , o f the political struggle in the epic between its two tendencies , wit h th e turn toward a universal (or national) political order bringing abou t its own losses and sacrifices . Zeus's tears represent figuratively the cost of the epic's loyalty to heroic death itself, and they provide an allegory for the natural imagery throughout th e poem. Obeying Hera' s suggestion that he let Sarpedon die as fate demanded, whil e savin g his body for burial in Lykia, Zeus grieves : aluaioeoaag 6e a|na6ac; XCXTEXEUEV SQCC^ E jtai&a (jnXo v xi^icav , TO Y oi ndigo^og E^E^E 4>6ia£iv E V Tooir] EQLpwXaxi, rr]X66i jtaTQT]c;. (XVI, 459-61 )

yet he wept tears of bloo d that fell to the ground, for the sake of his beloved son, whom now Patroklos was presently to kill, by generous Troy and far from th e land of hi s fathers . Zeus shed s or let s fal l drop s (psiadas, i n th e plura l meaning, drop s o r a small rain) to the earth; these drops are bloody, thoug h Zeu s himself has no blood . Th e closes t he can come to experiencing the mortal conditio n is his grief itself , grie f tha t bring s him clos e enough t o th e blood o f th e living (or dying) t o allow him to shed tears of blood. This symbolic rep resentative of the principle of order in the poem comes closest to the hu man o r th e morta l i n th e moment tha t it bows t o th e rule of death ; the tears serve as a representation of that gesture of allegiance, the admissio n that the order on which the poem and its society depend itself depends on death. On th e earth , th e tear s o f Zeu s appea r perhap s a s rain (o r a blood y dew), lik e th e man y sprin g rain s represente d in th e similes—a s fo r ex ample the spring rains of Gorgythion's simile, which ar e explicitly tied to the flowers , als o blooming fro m hi s blood, a s it were—or a s the bloo d that rains on the earth in battle, a bloody rain of death and grief matchin g the spring rains bringing life . In the tears of Zeus both figurative rains are glossed a s an allegory of the centrality of los s in the "natural" order an d hence in interpretations and representations that depend o n thei r link t o the natural . Th e tear s of Zeu s momentaril y poin t t o anothe r stor y tha t such "natural " phenomen a themselve s migh t tell , s o tha t th e Homeri c narrative reasserts the inevitability of deat h even as it posits the congruence of its formal shape with a natural and a political order. Th e tear s of Zeus thus provide a fanciful genealog y for the poetic figures in the poem , reminding th e audience that the figures tur n a deadly finality into a story about unending life, an d hinting at a suppressed violence in the represen tation of nature itself.

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As Zeus' s grie f suggests , throughout th e Iliad th e god s len d thei r au thority t o the ideological claim s of the epic and provide a divine basis for the claims made at the figurative level of the poem.38 Indeed, Homer relies on the gods to help him tel l his story, by endowing the m wit h a particu larly complex , indee d overdetermined , se t of functions . On e o f thes e is to represent dramatically within th e poem severa l of its central symboli c claims and the principal interpretive strategies employed in the poetic figures, whic h depen d o n claimin g a timelessness tha t th e Olympian s per sonify. They also serve as figures for human motivation, an d through their actions they seem to make it possible for the poem to end. Th e Muses in particular seem to figure the central authority for the story since they guar antee the poet's accurac y and inspire him as he interprets and explains the action. Indeed , as their collaboration with the poet might suggest, the distortions an d dangers of heroi c ideology aris e precisely from it s inabilit y to take sufficient accoun t of the mortal condition . As these functions suggest, th e gods serve as figures fo r narrative and poetic gestures by which the poet, an d the tradition he drew on , reveale d the order underlyin g events . Thos e gods who ar e dramatic characters in the poem , fo r instance , provid e th e audienc e with a sweeping visio n o f past, present , an d future . The y kno w th e whol e stor y becaus e they see beyond tim e to all the actions, in their established sequence.39 This divine foreknowledge, i n whic h th e inspire d poe t shares , make s possibl e th e many aestheticizin g and distancing gestures of the epic bard. In thematic categories, thi s narrativ e foresigh t lend s a kin d o f determinis m t o th e poem. The gods , especiall y Zeus, ar e the guardians of fate, an d must no t change it. In the course of the poem, fat e comes to mean two things : firs t and always, it is the mortal condition itself , which canno t be transcended by huma n character s even if th e god s desire , i n certai n cases , t o gran t a special dispensation ; secondly , i t stand s fo r th e ordaine d event s o f th e story itself, the moment determined b y the narrative necessity at which a given characte r will die. In both senses , fate carries the weight o f the col lective tradition tha t created the poem, s o that the gods stand for the nar rator's ow n authorit y a s he derive s it from th e oral tradition, a traditio n which th e gods themselves , a s guardians of the story's own inevitability , also com e t o affirm. 40 Th e gods , i n short , stan d i n th e poe m a s anthropomorphized figure s (ironicall y enough ) fo r th e poeti c an d interpretiv e strategies employed b y th e oral tradition a s it determined an d gave form and meaning t o the story. They also represent an idealized audience, an abstracted version o f th e original audienc e without its mortality. B y presenting the gods as watchers, a s if i n a theater, t o us e Jasper Griffin' s terms , Home r suggest s tha t

Politics of the Simile in the Iliad 5

7

they may resemble thi s original audience. Like the imagined audienc e of the poem, the y vie w th e spectacl e of heroi c actio n as a fiction o r dram a from whic h the y are separated. They give fictional form to the shared social existence of an y individual member o f the audience since, not bein g mortal, the y lack an individual fate. The y lend thei r authority to the sys tem of values expressed in the poem, seein g most full y th e larger context of ongoin g lif e in which, an d only in which, heroi c death gains its everlasting fame , aphthiton kleos, tha t is, th e significanc e promise d i t b y th e heroic syste m o f values . The actio n o f th e poem, however , reveal s that this analogy between human and divine audiences is a false one that functions—to the extent tha t it succeeds as an analogy—to screen the morta l condition. To the extent , then , tha t they fictionall y justify thi s sort o f totalizing vision, th e gods of the Iliad directl y support and embody th e ideologica l claims made by the similes and other poetic figures. I n this way, their im mortality make s special sense: the interpretations and values expressed in the poem la y claims to an eternal validity, and appear to exist outside the course of narrative events. They also provide dramatic personifications of the rhetorica l figure s tha t perfor m th e wor k o f aestheti c ideolog y throughout th e poem; a s personifications, then, the y ar e doubly troped . When the y appear in battle, they function bot h a s personifications of th e plot and as a rhetorical means of intensification: they incarnate the figura l argument o f the poem, illustrat e it, pu t it into action , an d lend thei r au thority t o it. A s tropes, o f course, th e gods cannot take on the attributes of narrative, nor ca n they explain it. They can generate narrative and attempt t o figure a resolution o f its contradictions, but the y necessarily always remain outside and beyond its laws and necessities. The gap between the argument of the poetic figures and the representation of heroic action can thus be understood a t its most abstrac t as a gap between immortalit y and mortality , th e tw o conflictin g theme s an d forma l necessities o f th e epic. The glor y earne d by the heroes becomes part of the poem's symboli c meaning, associate d with the gods and with a n unperishing cultura l continuity, but not a part of its story. This unfailing glory, the kleos so sought after, mad e unfailing in the poem through the poetic figures, doe s not fin d a place in the heroic action , for the heroes on the plain of Tro y will never hear this song sung . The ga p between the eternity of a symbolic an d cul tural argumen t an d th e representatio n o f heroi c action , a ga p n o mor e bridged in the structure of the Homeric simile than it is in moments whe n a go d compel s a mortal int o action , reveal s the impossibilit y o f givin g mortality th e kin d o f extende d significanc e assigned t o i t b y th e heroi c

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code without als o in some fashion denying its violence and finality. In the Iliad th e significance given to heroic death exists in one dimension o f th e poem, an d the violence an d finality o f death in another, wit h little mediation possibl e betwee n th e two . Thi s doubleness , fundamenta l t o Ho meric poetry, point s towar d a more genera l model for the ways in which a given cultural discourse can impose value: by asserting identity betwee n incomparable realms of experience, a culture can construct and validate a (formal or political) order while making apparent both th e virtue and the violence o f that imposition . THE TEMPORA L STRUCTURE OF THE SIMIL E As this accoun t of the ways in which th e undying god s lend authorit y t o the figurativ e argument o f th e epic has implied, th e tim e schem e o f th e poetic figure s differ s markedl y fro m tha t o f th e heroi c action . Th e epi c itself ca n thus be said to evoke two different , contrastin g senses of time . Informed by Homer's knowledge o f past and future events, the poetic figures an d th e scene s the y describ e exis t outsid e th e linea r sequenc e tha t marks the heroic story. 41 By drawing analogie s to repeating cycles of na ture or to repeating patterns of daily life, the y displace the time o f battl e with an iterative temporality. Bot h the elegiac references to the warriors ' past lives—which are also given a timeless quality—an d the scenes set in similes ostensibl y t o explain the war actio n illustrate an idealized temporality that allow s individual deat h to appea r to be elided in the represen tation of a collective continuity . Unlike the contest s o n th e battlefield , th e events describe d in simile s are repeating or repeatable (a temporality expressed in the verb tense typ ical of the similes—the "gnomic" aorist). The double sens e of time thu s brought into the epic is perhaps best illustrated by a moment in which tim e as it passes in a simile is used to mark times on the battlefield. In Book IX, the time when Isos and Antiphos ar e killed is described by reference to a woodsman's habits: fjfiog 6 e 6Qui6[xog JTE Q OCVYJ Q cbjT)aaaaTo SEIJWO V ovQEog ev Prjaaflaiv , ETCE I T' exoQEaaaxo ^IQGLC, idiivcov 6ev6QEC x ^idxQa , a6og TE (iiv IUET O Gvjxov , aiTOU T E Y^UttEQOl O JtEQ L (|)Q£Vac ; LfXEQO g (XLQEl ,

Tfj^iog a(j)f j ciQETf j Aavao i Qrj^avT O (^d^ayYag , K£tttaS|A£voi EtaQoiO L xatd otixac;. (XI, 86-91 )

Politics of the Simile in the Iliad 5

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But a t that time when th e woodcutter makes ready his supper in the wooded glen s of the mountains, when his arms and hands have grown wear y from cuttin g down th e tall trees, and his heart has had enough of it, and longing fo r food an d for sweet wine takes hold o f hi s senses; at that time the Danaans by their manhood brok e the battalions calling across the ranks to each other.

Here th e woodsma n turn s fro m hi s wor k t o hi s rural refreshmen t in a woody mountain gle n resembling what will later be called a locus amoenus. He is described as doing something h e might do every day: the lunchtime scene is endlessly repeatable, its iterative quality being particularly striking becaus e it i s used t o mar k a specific momen t i n th e heroi c action. 42 The repeatabl e gestur e i n th e simil e mark s th e breakin g o f th e lin e o f battle, which , lik e the deat h of a hero, ha s a distinct meaning a s a single event. This simile juxtaposes two sorts of time, then: historic, causa l time and the repeating cycles of daily life. Cycle s of the seasons and the continuing patterns of lif e that are congruent with the m do not determin e the life o f a warrior: los t to the fighters in the war, this undifferentiated tim e of nat ural growth an d peaceful custo m seems idyllic.43 By using this alternative time schem e in one of the poem's discourses , Homer compare s war to a world in which mortalit y seems not to exist, and connects the temporality represented i n th e poeti c figure s wit h a world o f repeatin g cycle s tha t death does not distur b significantly, and in which deat h is not recognize d as a major or catastrophi c event. Mortalit y an d fam e (kleos) ar e thus once again tied together, as the choice of Achilles made clear, since in this world of repeatin g pattern s ther e is no sequenc e or agency , n o clea r causality, and, i n a sense, no way to make Achilles' choice. This timelessness is con veyed i n par t throug h th e gnomi c aorist : "f||io g o e dguiojio g ite g avf] Q (bjtXiaaato"may mea n 'jus t whe n th e man cuttin g timbe r prepares " o r "whenever the woodsman prepares " or "every da y when th e woodsma n prepares." The man cutting timber will eventually die, but his future death is not the point of the simile and is not mentioned. Th e poetic imagery in the simile turns its listeners' attention away from the mortal facts that the idyllic scene covers over . This differenc e i n tim e schemes is also mapped onto a historical line . Homer represent s th e bleaknes s of th e wa r partl y by treatin g thi s rura l scene as a time completel y inaccessibl e and cut off fro m the present. Th e past is evoked in digressions, narrative figures that contrast the present of the war wit h an idyllic but entirely lost world. A s Hector run s for his life

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beneath th e wall s o f Troy , fo r instance , th e poetr y set s hi s morta l rac e against the time of peace in the past: 01 & £ JICCQ a aXOJrLY] V tta ! 8QLV80 V f|V£|l6£VT a

TEtxsog ai£ V UJIEX , xat' dfia^iiov EOOEIJOVTO , ttgovvd) 6 ' Lxavo v ttaMaggoto - ev6 a S E jtr^Yotl 6oiai dvaioaouai Zxa|idv&gou 6ivrj£VTog . f| \LZV yd g 6' vScm Xuxgu ) QEEL , dfKJ n S E xcatvog YiyvETca E ^ ai)TT] g (b g E L jtvgog al6o|i£voiof| 6' ETEQT ] GEQE L JTQOQEE I eixwa xa^dtp, T] X LOVI ip'oXQ'!!' ' H £ § ij^atog xQvaraXXcp . Ev9a 6' EJt ' aiJTaca v jrX'uvo i EIIQEEC ; iyyvc, Eaa t nakoi XatvEOi , 691 Eifxata aiyaXoEVT a jtXiJV£a>tov TQCOCO V ako%oi xaXai IE G^yaiQE g TO JtQlv EJT ' £LQT|vr]g , jtglv £>i9£L V ulag 'Axaiwv. tf] g a jtagaSgajiEiriv, (j>£ir/oov , 6 6' ojrioG E 6idaxo3v . (XXII, 145-57 )

They raced along by the watching point and the windy fi g tre e always away from under the wall and along the wagon-wa y and came to the two sweet-runnin g wel l springs. There ther e are double springs of water that jet up , th e springs of whirling Skamandros . One o f these runs hot water and the steam on all sides of it rises as if from a fire that was burning inside it. But th e other in the summertime run s water that is like hail of chill snow o r ice that forms from water. Beside these in this place, and close to them, ar e the washing-hollow s of stone, an d magnificent, where the wives of the Trojans and their lovely daughters washed the clothes to shining, i n the old days when ther e was peace, before the coming o f the sons of th e Achaians. They ra n beside these, one escaping, the other afte r him . This scene makes it dramatically apparent that the peacetime world is no longer presen t t o Hecto r a s he race s by fo r his life. Th e forme r time s o f peace, "T O Jtglv EJT ' eiQT|vr|g, " ar e se t asid e in a digression, an d associate d with a scene whose particular temporality is reflected i n the two opposin g springs of Skamander. These springs, an image of foundation and source, transgress ordinary notions of time in evoking both winter and summer at once , providin g i n al l times fo r th e need s o f ever y season , an d com pressing this sequence into one instant. Like the former time s of peace at Troy, th e scenes from th e past of th e Trojan warrior s also function a s part of a figurative schem e emphasizing

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a circlin g temporality . Th e warriors , picture d a s having bee n conceive d and raise d in idylli c natura l scenes, ar e cut of f fro m tha t natura l world , which ha d served as a figure fo r their vitality. The twin s Aisepos and Pe dasos, for example, wer e conceived when their father, Boukolion , served as a shepherd and loved a nymph (VI , 21-26), and Homer tells us in passing o f othe r heroe s wh o wer e conceive d whil e thei r parent s wer e tem porarily actin g a s shepherds o r consortin g wit h nymph s an d who spen t their childhood s in rural settings. Se t aside as laments, digressions , o r aetiological ecphrases , these scenes evoke a fertility no w inaccessibl e to th e warriors. Th e loss of this rural childhood, an d of the cyclical or repeating time now show n t o be the time of conception, becom e a paradigm for the pattern of huma n life—or a t least for the pattern of heroi c life a s it is described in this poem . The death of Simoeisios, compared, as we have seen, to the fall of a poplar growing i n the rich low-lying land by a marsh, provides a striking example of thi s principle o f loss . Simoeisio s himsel f ha d a rural birth an d upbringing, a s we learn when h e is killed by Telamonian Ajax : "Ev6' 8(3aX ' 'AvGejiicovo g inov TeXa^icovtog Aiag, fjtGeov GaXeQo v Zifioetaiov, 6 v JTOT E MTJTTI Q 'ISr^ev xatioijaa Jtag ' o%Qr\oiv Zi|io£VTog ????????? ????? ?? ???????? ???? ??????? ?????? ???????? toajvExd [xi v xottaov ZIHOEIOIOV - ot>& £ TOXEUOI 0QEJTTQCX (j/lXoi g aJTE&COXE ,

6 6' E V xoviflai xa|ial JTEOE V aiyEiQog a>g , r] ga T' E V EiapiEvf j E^Eo g HEyaXoi o JTE^IJXE L ?????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ???? ????????? ????????? if)v \iiv 6' aQfiaiojiriYog avfi Q ai6cov t at6r|Q( p E^Eia^i', 6(j)ga ITU V xa^r] JtEQtxaXXEL &L((>Qq) f| \iiv i' d^ofiEvr) xEiia t jrotafiOLo icag ' o^Qac,. TOLOV CXQ ' 'Av9E[lL6T] V SlfiOELatO V E^EVaQl^E V

Aiag 6ioY£vr|g.

(IV, 473-78, 482-89)

There Telamonian Aias struck down th e son of Anthemion Simoeisios in his stripling's beauty, whom onc e his mother descending from Ida bore beside the banks of Simoei s when sh e had followed her father and mother to tend the sheepflocks. Therefore the y called him Simoeisios; but he could not render again the care of hi s dear parents. He dropped the n to the ground in the dust, like some black poplar, which in the land low-lying about a great marsh grow s

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e Ancient Epic smooth trimmed yet with branches growing at the uttermost tree top: one whom a man, a maker o f chariots , fell s with the shinin g iron, t o bend i t into a wheel fo r a fine wrought chariot , and the trees lies hardening b y the banks of a river. Such was Anthemion's son Simoeisios, who m illustrious Aias killed.

Simoeisios, lik e the poplar, has his origin by the banks of a river, but un like the poplar, in his death he is unique and irreplaceable. In the descrip tion o f Simoeisios' s birth , a s i n th e simil e describin g th e poplar , th e rhythms o f a calm, pastora l world momentaril y tak e the battle' s place. The morta l conclusio n implie d i n the construction of a chariot—an arti fact use d fo r war—hint s a t a greater disruption that th e simil e doe s no t see, coverin g it s threat to the natural world b y aestheticizing the chario t (perikallei diphro, lin e 486). The roun d (o r bent) edge of th e whee l t o b e made from the tree evokes the circularity of time in the figurative dimension of the poem, an d serves as a symbol for the aesthetic realm; the bend ing of the wood suggests the work of the poet or simile-maker, wh o bends the straight and mortal into a figure of beauty and fertile life. The descrip tion o f the past, now idealized , and the simile both plac e the warrior in a natural context that seems to belie his mortal end; in contrast with the flow of lif e i n this natural scene, the continuum in heroic time is sharply bro ken. Th e tim e schem e represented in the simile and in the digression o n Simoeisios's birt h and upbringing is that of natural cycles and the repeat ing patterns of artistic creation: iterative, endless, circular, without morta l conclusion. Such natural similes serve to elide just such mortal conclusions as that of Simoeisios ; a similar elisio n occur s also at th e mor e genera l level o f Troy. Name d fo r th e rive r Simoeis itself, Simoeisio s becomes a personi fication in small of the Trojan landscape. This link might suggest , by im plication, that even the land will fall, losin g its capacity to regenerate and its fertility, just a s the Troja n civilization, following Simoeisios , it s mo mentary representative, will die; but the simile turns away from such endings, submerging death in natural imagery. The passage places a figure for the Trojan landscape (if not fo r Troy itself) i n circling, idyllic time, wit h its evasion of individual mortality in a collective fertility, as if to represent in differen t term s a continuity tha t the treatmen t o f th e actio n wil l im plicitly deny. The double figuration—a myth of origins based on person ification of human ties to a natural landscape followed by a simile—marks an intensificatio n of th e turn s necessar y here t o complet e th e symboli c move from the fall of a man or city to the assertion of a continuity in which aesthetic transformation and extensio n i s figured a s something natural. 44

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What is lost, then , acquire s very soon the structure of mythology. B y the time Thetis describes Achilles' childhood , fo r instance, the paradigm of a rural childhood fo r heroes has already been well established, and th e goddess evokes it in a brief simile . Achilles , she tells the Nereids , 6 6' ave&ganev EQVE I laogtov fie v Eyc o 0QEi|Kxaa, (JWTO V to g Youvtp txXtofjg . (XVIII, 56-57 )

shot up like a young tree, and I nurtured him, like a tree grown i n the pride of an orchard. The idylli c pas t life o f th e warriors i s often associate d with stories about nymphs o r about goddesses consorting with huma n beings, storie s linking the moment and setting of "natural" conception ("shot up like a tree") with a genealogical narrative of explanatory purpose. The narrative of the heroic action , however , consistentl y reveal s tha t th e heroe s ar e cu t of f from thei r origins, withou t acces s to this alternative temporality, and thus dramatizes the extent to which mortality undoes the very ties to myth and to a mythic world that heroic life proposes as its end and origin. 45 The distinctiv e tim e schem e o f th e poeti c figure s i s fel t especiall y strongly i n th e catalogu e of similes—itsel f a rhetorical tou r d e force — with which Homer introduces the catalogue of ships.46 These similes con struct a rural counterpart o f th e heroi c catalogu e to come , representin g scenes o f repeatin g dail y events tha t contrast wit h th e momentou s indi viduality o f war , whic h i s memorialized in th e poetry' s inclusion o f th e names o f al l the heroes . Th e simile s togethe r mak e a n argumen t tha t is implicit i n al l the poetic figures: tha t this circling time i s the time within which peopl e live , tha t huma n experienc e ca n b e understoo d throug h comparison t o natura l cycles . Thi s connectio n i s conteste d b y th e dis junctive structur e of the poem bu t is simultaneously essential to its political and poetic argument . Contrasting wit h this implicit natura l argument is a brief reminder a t the beginning o f the sequence of similes that the war stand s always as the opposite of the return home. Athena stirs the hearts of men : TOLOI 6' a(j)a Q jtoXe^io g y^uxicov Y^ VET' ^veeaGai EV vrjval ytax(()VQfjo i fyihq v £ £ jtaTQi5a yatav. (II, 453-54 )

And now battle became sweeter t o them tha n to go back in their hollow ship s to the beloved land of their fathers .

(See als o the repetitio n of thi s phrase in XI, 13-14 , whic h suggest s that this is a typical moment of heroic inspiration). The simile-making energy of th e bard is thus engaged at the moment i n which the warriors them-

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selves put awa y thoughts o f returning t o precisely the natural world that has bee n figure d a s thei r home , an d s o th e figurativ e an d ideologica l work—of transformatio n an d suppression—necessar y t o mak e th e lin k becomes al l the more difficult an d essential. In th e thir d simil e o f th e sequenc e the distinctiv e temporalit y o f th e poetic figures is highlighted a s Homer describes the Achaeans massing for war: Ecrcav 6' E V XEI^IGJV I ZKa[Mxv6Qicp avOs^OEVi L IJIUQIOI, ooaa T E i)Ma x xal dv6ea ytyveTai COQT] . (II, 467-68 ) They took position in the blossoming meadow of Skamandros, thousands of them, a s leaves and flowers appea r in their season. The simil e implie s tha t th e warriors have their ow n timeliness , a s if wa r had it s springtim e an d wer e par t o f th e natura l round o f th e year . I n a famous example of this topos, Glaukos's answer to Diomedes in Book VI, the spoke n simil e inscribes a similar doubleness: oiT] JT8 Q c|)iJM.a) v yeveri, toil] SE xal dvSQaw. (^-uXtax xa iie v T' avEnog x aM**6ic; xeei, oXka 6 e 9' uXr] xti>iE06a)aa (jroei , sago g 6' EJUYtYVEta i WQT] cog dvSQtov YEVET ) f| [AE V ((ruE i f| 6' ajtoXriYei . (VI, 146-49 )

As is the generatio n of leaves , so is that of humanity . The win d scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies. Here Glaukos brings the cyclical temporality of the similes into the battle as a description of the temporal existence of warriors. While from the per spective of the undying god s his comparison may seem valid, in the war, when a younger generatio n is killed off before the older has died, al l such cycles have been broken. A s in the simile comparing the soldiers to leaves and flowers in the meadow besid e Skamander, here the figural clai m that human experience is analogous to natural cycles is undermined b y the con trast between thes e images and the more deadl y purpose of battle . The fourth and pivotal simile of the sequence, following the poet's ele giac referenc e to th e soldier s a s leaves and flowers , als o presents a rural scene: 'HiJtE iruidwv dftivato v sGvE a jroXXd, at T E ttax d ora9[K) v JtoL[xvr|io v fi^doxouaL v CGQfl £ V EUXQlVfl , OT E T E Y^Y°£ OT^a SsiJEl ,

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5

Toaoot em Tgweaai XCCQT ] xonocavieg 'Axaiol EV jte&LO ) Lotavto 6iaQQalaat [iefiacoteg . (II, 469-73) Like the multitudinous nations of swarming insects who driv e hither and thither about the stalls of the sheepfold in the season of spring when th e milk splashes in the milk pails: in such numbers the flowing haired Achaians stood up through th e plain against the Trojans, hearts burning to break them.

Like the previous similes , thi s one claims a link between th e moment of warlike splendor and the peaceful farm scene, suggesting that the rallying of the soldiers should find its place in the broader context of civilized life, with its calm daily patterns and seasonal renewal. Th e contras t betwee n the thought s o f th e Achaeans and the poetic imagery is equally marked, however: neither the patterns of the seasons nor the timelessness of poetic rhetoric, a s felt in epic catalogues, appropriately characterizes the time of battle. Moreover , a s a kindred Miltoni c compariso n wil l late r do , thi s comparison reduce s the warriors in scale: by eliding th e pain of death in their symboli c representations , th e poeti c figure s ten d t o diminis h th e warriors themselves, representing them as if telescopically from a distant, perhaps Olympian, poin t o f view . In th e fina l simile s i n th e sequence , th e progressive diminishmen t o f the Achaean s continues , an d th e allusio n t o rura l lif e i s extended . Th e Achaean leader s ar e compare d t o goatherd s dividin g thei r flocks ; eve n Agamemnon himsel f i s seen as a great ox, preeminen t bu t stil l a part o f the herd. The poetic figures lead further and further from a perspective the characters might have on the action, presenting instead a remote point of view from which the patterns of human life might seem to match the patterns of nature. T o make this comparison, however , a s the sequence im plies, i s to imagine human being s as less than human—smaller, o r mor e bestial. Suc h a doubl e movemen t i n eac h simile—idealizin g th e wa r through comparison to idyllic life; diminishing the grandeur of heroic exploits through compariso n t o animals and even insects—reveals the ideological elision of the difference between the natural and the human, an elision essentia l to th e poeti c justification of th e poem's clai m to offe r im mortality to its protagonists. Coming at the end of this sequenc e of similes , whic h itsel f has an iterative structure, the poet's invocation of the Muses becomes the final step in a narrative that associates the timelessness of poetic figure with the re peating patterns of daily life and with seasonal cyclicality. Like the similes, the moment of storytellin g i s made to seem repeatable and timeless, an d throughout simile s and invocation Homer recounts his own efforts t o tell

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the heroi c story , similarl y placin g thi s metanarrativ e outside th e heroi c time scheme. Th e formal qualities of catalogue and invocation, whic h intensify th e rhetorica l turn an d mark i t as such, thu s evok e a timelessness of artifice , connecte d thematicall y to the cyclical time o f the natural and the everyda y world , an d apparently contrasted radically with the heroi c content the y ostensibl y convey . Th e repeating time of the rural scenes in the similes is marked here as the time scheme in which the poet constructs and repeats his story—a timelessness derived fictionally from the immortality of the Muses wh o inspir e the poet, an d structurally from the repetition o f the story and the continuing possibilit y of such repetition. Thi s temporality is thus symbolically central to the poem, whic h relies on such future repetition s t o fulfil l it s promise o f unperishing fame , bu t i t is also unavailable to the warriors who see k these immortal rewards . By operating within and evoking a fictional timelessness figured a s the moment o f storytelling—th e moment, i n fact , o f assignin g meanin g t o action an d generatin g a narrative from tha t conjunction—an d b y repre senting scene s that tak e place in a cyclical or repeatin g time scheme , th e poetic figure s wor k t o displac e the poem' s centra l focu s o n mortality . They connect th e poet's (an d by extension, th e society's) acts of interpre tation, an d the creation of a specific cultural system of values based on this interpretation, wit h th e evasio n o f mortalit y the y mak e possible . Th e poem's figurativ e dimension thu s serve s both t o expres s and to displace the unspoken implication s o f its values and logical preconditions. Th e it erative time scheme , whic h i s the earthly version o f the beyond-time of the gods, i s the timelessness we have found to be characteristic of myth , of figuration , an d of ideology . Sinc e this tim e schem e ultimatel y denie s importance t o individual deeds and to individuals (a leaf falls from a tree, but anothe r leaf returns to take its place: what i s important i s the tree), it reveals the limits o f suc h a figurative shapin g of events, it s necessary inadequacy for th e individual, a s well as its role in supporting a dominant , if contradiction-ridden, ideology . I n revealing the linear direction o f he roic action , th e heroic stor y gives significance to individual warrior s bu t also makes them mortal; in denying causality and linearity while claimin g to offe r th e undying fam e sough t b y th e protagonists, th e poetic figure s attempt to bridge th e gap between eac h death and its figurative interpretation, but to do so must displace or subsume individual loss, denying the centrality of death to the construction o f value in poem or society .

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REPRESENTATION AND TROPE The claims made in the poetic figures—that heroic existence can be understood a s part of a natural cycle that, whil e destroyin g th e individual, af firms th e continuity o f the family o r the nation—consistently clash with the representation of heroic action in the Iliad. If in their moments o f selfconsciousness th e character s were t o interpret th e events a s the narrator does, th e ga p between actio n and the figurative argument migh t b e seen to narrow, whil e th e workings o f heroi c ideology woul d appea r less destructive. Th e characters ' moments o f self-consciousnes s d o not , how ever, lead them to see their experience as the poem does: though they may momentarily view the events from a distance, these brief glimpses provide neither consolation nor understanding. 47 Similarly, some of the ecphrases, especially those describing armor such as the shield of Achilles, might also seem t o provid e vehicle s by whic h th e argument of th e similes i s incorporated into the representation o f heroi c action . Here, too , however , a s we shall see, the characters are unable to understand as the poet or his listeners can, so that the objects described do not play the same symbolic role for the m a s they do for us. Whe n the characters do achieve a momentar y distance on the events or become self-consciou s in ways that might see m analogous to thos e o f th e poet, the y fin d th e solutions mandate d by th e heroic cod e wanting . Examinin g th e effect s o f thes e moments i n whic h the figurative discours e appears to be lodged withi n th e discourse of he roic representation can help to reveal the difficulty o f finding any mediatory path between the representation of heroic action and the unfurling of the operations of heroic ideology in the poem's figurative discourse. Bot h the representatio n o f actio n an d the figures are discourses, an d thu s ar e informed b y a motivation an d an imperative that is trans-individual, bu t they diffe r i n the kinds of representational strategies that they mak e pre eminent. Thi s difference ca n be defined mor e precisely by analyzing their articulations of two opposin g politica l philosophies and of two opposin g representational schemes. The clarification thus achieved will make it possible to outline what w e might cal l the poem's politic s of representation. Occasional farsighte d characters, especially some o f th e Trojans, ma y seem t o resemble th e poet in their proleptic mournin g sinc e one of Ho mer's most powerful rhetorical strategies is to mourn warriors in advance of their deaths. Though his warnings and apostrophes to the doomed ma y seem at first onl y to intensify the grief at each death, they also reestablish the distanced, near-divine view of the action taken by the heroic tradition because they predict the plot. The y remind th e audience, in the midst of violent battle , tha t the epic narrator is telling a story, th e shape of whic h

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has already been fashioned. Proleptic comments by the narrator form part of an d indee d mak e possibl e th e sweepin g visio n o f th e actio n withi n which each death, while lamentable, appears to find its meaning. Though analogous i n conten t an d form t o thos e o f th e poet , th e laments o f th e characters ar e no t uttere d i n th e contex t o f thi s shape d totality . Thei r glimpses o f the futur e produce , in contrast, a picture of utter loss. Nor d o peacefu l o r domesti c scene s amon g th e character s carry th e same symbolic valenc e as such scenes do in similes or ecphrases. Most of the topic s o f th e poeti c figure s ar e excluded fro m th e poeti c actio n ac cording t o the poem's characteristi c thematic economy, whic h make s the lives of the characters seem particularly bleak and reinforces the separateness o f th e epic' s symboli c claims . Th e domesti c scene s in Troy , fo r ex ample, migh t see m t o resembl e th e peacefu l imager y o f th e similes , bu t they conve y neithe r thei r ideologica l assurance s nor thei r idylli c mood , and, indeed , i n thes e scene s of domesti c life , th e violenc e o f th e wa r i s instead echoed, reasserted , or predicted. 48 The patho s o f th e famou s scene between Hecto r an d Andromache i n Book VI (th e homilia), fo r instance, stems in part from th e poet's an d his audience's knowledge tha t this is their last meeting—and from their ow n fear tha t thi s is the case . ( I speak poetically here, fo r logically they coul d have met agai n the night afte r th e duel with Ajax—but fo r them an d for us, the scene carries the strong emotions of their last meeting in the poem.) The precis e detail s of Astyanax' s fear , th e descriptio n o f th e frightenin g helmet fro m hi s childish poin t o f vie w (VI , 467-70), an d eve n Hector' s prayer to Zeus that his son will become a great warrior are all touched with grief, fo r the point o f view o f children and the wishes of parents have already been mad e obsolete b y this war. Thus when Hecto r return s to th e fighting, Andromach e smile s in her tears (VI, 484), "letting the live tears fall" (VI , 496). Her women, already lamenting, mourn Hector's deat h and the fal l o f Troy: at jie v ET I £a)6v yoov "EKTOQC X tb EV L OLHCO otj yoc Q M-i v e Y ECJXXVT O ujtotgojcov EX , jio^E|xoio t^EoGat, Jigo^DYovia [^Evo g xal x £^Qa£ 'Axcuwv. (VI, 500-502 )

So they mourned in his House over Hektor while he was living still, for they thought he would never again come back from th e fighting alive, escaping the Achaian hands and their violence.

They are still mourning the fall of Tro y as the poem ends, just as Homer proleptically represent s it (XVII , 736-39 ; XXI, 522-24; XXII, 410-11) . The scen e betwee n Hecto r an d Andromache itself begin s wit h Andro -

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mache's plea to her husband not to return to battle; she imagines her child an orphan an d herself a widow (VI , 431-32). Hector refuse s he r plea bu t admits that he too ha s foreseen the fall o f the city, findin g the thought o f Andromache dragged away as a captive so horrifying that he hopes to be dead when this fate is accomplished (VI, 447-48, 454-56) . Rather tha n bein g a scene of quie t domesticit y that , lik e som e o f th e similes, emphasize s ongoing pattern s of daily life, th e scene with the child is marked by grief and foreboding. Al l the scenes in Troy are touched with a similar pathos, for the characters feel that their world i s already lost. Be cause they predic t o r represen t loss , suc h scenes do not complemen t th e effects o f similar moments i n the similes. Th e exchange between Andromache and Hector doe s not represent a lighter momen t remove d tempo rarily from th e war; it pictures instead a world darkene d by the war an d the knowledge o f wha t wa r wil l bring . Thi s scen e and others lik e it are tainted with a tragic irony that the audience experiences as the disjunction between narrator and characters, the irony foregrounding th e aesthetic at the expense of the mimetic or representational. The characters experience this irony—quite differently—as th e threat of war, which correspond s t o the representation of battl e within th e poem. I n this way the distinctio n between figur e an d actio n a t such moments i s a distinction no t betwee n thematic topic s bu t betwee n level s of discours e and type s of figuration. The iron y tha t seem s t o dra w togethe r th e tw o realm s fo r the audience marks in contrast a tragic disjunction between the poem's symbolic trans formations an d the represented action. This disjunction helps to suggest why these Trojan domestic scenes can become central to any interpretive discourse that attempts to demonstrate how th e Iliad ca n articulate a critique of heroic ideology. 49 Nothing i n the action provide s a n escape from the terms o f th e battle, bu t th e domesti c scenes d o provid e a locu s i n whic h th e allusio n t o tha t los t worl d i s strongly fel t b y th e audience . Thu s Mihok o Suzuk i treats the women' s world in the Iliad a s "a domestic world o f peace which the warriors have left behind— a world evoke d in many of the epic similes," and interprets Helen a s the figure wh o move s betwee n th e worlds o f men an d wome n (Metamorphoses o f Helen, p . 19) . Fo r Suzuki , the possibilit y of locatin g a critique of the war in the poem is tied to its use of Helen a s a sign for th e warriors' ow n ambivalenc e abou t th e war , a symbolic rol e sh e can play precisely because she stands in this liminal position betwee n wa r an d the lost domestic world. I would change the terms of this formulation slightly to sugges t tha t these domestic scene s themselves never succee d in repre senting the lost world of peace but instead already unite the realms of war and domesticity. Thi s union promotes a critical response to the battle, for

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it leads the poet to tell the grief of the characters as they see their domesti c world reshape d b y war . I n thes e scene s thi s pathos—arisin g fro m th e poem's dramatizatio n of the characters' own ambivalence s about the he roic code—i s strongl y felt . Helen , lik e Achilles , i s thus exemplary , no t unique. Sh e provides an expressive focus for the widespread ambivalence toward th e heroic cod e articulated by the characters. Moments like these when th e action appears to echo th e argument o f the figure s (echoin g th e lost world o f the similes, fo r instance) often be come central to th e criticism o f heroi c ideology articulate d in the repre sentation o f th e action . Th e allusio n to th e discours e of th e figures , be cause it remains only a n allusion, doe s not perfor m the ideological work of veiling o r suppressing the pathos of the character's situation, or reconcile the audience to the heroic code. Instead, by simultaneously remindin g us of moments when the figures do perform in this way and dramatically rendering a very differen t pictur e o f th e characters ' world, suc h scene s present a n implicit criticis m of heroic values. Because they are associated with th e domesti c scene s that have this double valence, women , an d especially Helen , become , a s Suzuki has argued, a primary locatio n i n th e Iliad a t which th e authority o f the heroic code can be questioned . This questionin g i s evoke d b y th e represente d action , however , an d does not aris e from the apparent similarity of such domestic scene s to the ideological move s mad e in the figures. Similarly, our ability to recognize the poem' s critiqu e o f heroi c values does not aris e from th e presenc e of allusion in similes to peacetime or domestic activities but rathe r from the contrast betwee n suc h allusion, whic h serve s to disguise and aestheticize the violence o f war , an d the stark representation of th e war itself . Thu s while Suzuki and others have identified a location and an exemplary figure for criticism of the heroic code in the poem, I suggest that the figures work to transform and to qualify thi s criticism at the same time that the poem' s divided poetic structure makes possible a critique of this ideological func tion—a critique possible in part because the separation of action and figure permits doubts about the heroic code to emerge in the discourse of action. The mos t poten t criticis m o f th e heroi c tha t i s articulate d i n an d through the action occurs, perhaps, i n those descriptions o f how the wild anger o f battl e drives the hero beyon d th e human into a bestial violenc e that overtake s him . I n such moment s th e poem acknowledge s th e tragic extension o f war' s violence , an d suggests that th e "savager y whic h wa r and its passions release" will lead to "the destructio n of civilized values, " and indeed, "o f civilizatio n itself."50 The poem's treatment of Achilles' anger in Books XVIII-XXII, and especially the account of the brutal murder of Lykaon , serv e as moments within the action in which the destructive -

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ness of the heroic code is made directly visible. Her e as elsewhere the dis course of actio n provides th e location fo r such commentary. I t is important, however , t o se e that the action is never allowed t o stand alone apart from th e mediating effort s o f the figures t o disguis e or mitigat e the bru tality, o r a t least t o provid e reaso n an d apparen t cultural contex t fo r it . Thus while even suc h paradigmatic comments o n war a s that articulated by Achille s i n describin g hi s "choice " ca n clearl y show ho w littl e kleos really matter s t o th e dead , th e poem never allow s suc h unqualified criticism o f th e heroic cod e to stand alone as its articulation of value. The oppositio n betwee n th e discourse of heroi c action and the poem's figurative transformations of it, as well as the implicit criticis m of the he roic cod e tha t i t make s possible , ca n be fel t equall y strongl y i n th e ec phrastic description s o f armor . Th e descriptio n o f Zeus' s aegis , whic h Athena dons in Book V, represents the shield a s figuring forth the world of the war: a[K(>l 6' QQ ' oofioiaiv pdXex ' ar/ida Gvaaavoeaaav 6eivrjv, f\v JIEQ L (ie v jtdvtfl ^>6(3o g 8aT8(|)dvcotai, ev 6' "EQi£, e v 6' 5 AXxr), ev 6e xQvoeaaa leoxrj , ev 6e Te roQY£iT] xec|)aA,f| 6eivolo jteAxaQou, 6eivrj I E a[i8QSvrj Te , Aiog tegag alyioxoio. KQat! 6' ejt' a|ji(|>i(j)aXo v Huver] v 0eto letQa^dXriQov XQvaeirjv, exaxo v jroXtco v JiQU^eeaa' aQaQwav. (V, 738-44)

And acros s her shoulders she threw the betassled, terribl e aegis, al l about which Terror hangs like a garland and Hatred is there, an d Battle Strength, and heart-freezin g Onslaught and thereon is set the head of the grim gigantic Gorgon, a thing of fea r an d horror, porten t of Zeu s of the aegis. Upon her head she set the golden helm with its four sheet s and two horns , wrought with the fighting me n of a hundred cities. While th e Gorgo n i s a conventional emblem , typica l of th e typ e of apo tropaic images that were in fact inscribe d on armor in some periods, Ter ror an d Hatred ar e allegorical figure s representin g th e emotions tha t th e warrior—in part by means of the head of the Gorgon—was supposed to instill in his enemies. Th e representation of fighting men and the reference to daemoni c personification s that canno t b e picture d i n th e mind' s ey e make the aegis a symbol o f battl e for the audience, but no t a n object that can hav e realit y o n th e plai n o f Troy. 51 Th e scen e o f Athena' s arming , which take s plac e "jtciTQo g era ' oi}5ei, " "besid e th e threshol d o f he r fa ther" (V, 734), adds a divine aura to this symbol o f battl e by placing it in

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a divin e context , bu t does no t represen t th e war . Th e description , lik e other ecphrases of armor, concerns itself with conveying the terror of bat tle in an emblematic or summarizing poetic mode; it is allegorical and figural rather than part of the represented action. Such inscribed artifacts ex ist in Troy an d on the plain of battle , but the y ar e described so as to dis tance from the warriors the stories of origin or the symbolic imagery that they contain. Th e characters cannot see these inscribed artifacts in the way that Home r present s the m t o hi s audience: they illuminat e th e audienc e and explain or dramatize the action in another mode, but , in keeping wit h the thematic econom y o f the Iliad, th e characters show no signs of bein g able to see the scenes depicted on the armor the y wear. The aegi s itself, wit h it s personifications of aspect s o f battle , serves , then, a s a symbol o f representation rather than an example of it, both because it provides a n explicitly figurative evocation of the war tha t is sub stituted fo r represented actio n and because it incorporates into this sym bolic for m a representation o f th e fighting men o f a hundred cities . Th e divine in thi s instanc e appear s t o authoriz e all such representations , bu t the symboli c for m o f th e aegis helps to emphasiz e that such authorizin g gestures ca n be made onl y i n the poem's figurativ e discourses . Th e rep resentation i s thus alway s kept fictionall y an d formally separate from its divine authority . A s a symbol o f th e poem' s representatio n o f war , th e aegis—and other, simila r symbolic armor—indicates a moment in whic h the poem moves to link that representation to its figurative argument, and to authoriz e tha t conjunctio n a s the divin e versio n o f th e war . Sinc e its images can have no presence except an allegorical one on the plain of Troy , however, i t also simultaneousl y demonstrate s that suc h divin e symboli zation doe s no t an d cannot transfor m the represented action o f th e wa r nor authorize the transformative analogies between the discourse of action and the poem's symbolic matrix . Th e Gorgo n hea d may also symbolize , for th e poetic tradition and to the audience, the terrifying aspects of bat tle—those that canno t b e mad e t o fi t wit h th e ideological claim s o f th e heroic code—and so evoke a horror tha t threatens to disrupt any links between action and the symbolic form given it in the poem . The images on the aegis thus have a function simila r t o that of the im ages in the similes, whos e very clarit y is appropriated to work as part of the figurative veiling o r transformation of the action. In the simile, a s on the aegis, representatio n is turned into trope an d used to advanc e a figurative claim, s o that it appears to have a clarity and precision that as figure it is engaged in disguising. Thus in the simile, visua l specificity o r clarity itself work s to mystify : the understanding is transfixed b y thes e all-tooclear image s an d thus persuade d to ignor e wha t live d experienc e migh t

Politics of the Simile in the Iliad 7

3

assert agains t th e figurativ e interpretations o r claims . Representatio n is thus never a simple mode in the Iliad—as i n the example of the similes o r the scenes on the aegis—for wha t appears to be a mimetic representation of heroic life can be transported into the realm of the figures an d made to function a s figure. A scene similar to that of the arming of Athena takes place when Aga memnon arms himself i n Book XI , bu t here the armor is donned o n the plain o f action , an d thu s appear s to provid e a way t o mediat e betwee n representation an d symbol, an d to brin g divin e authority an d power t o the battle.52 The center of Agamemnon's shield has inscribed on it the same sort o f allegorical designs that the aegis is said to have: if) 6' EJt i ^IE V FOQY W P/.oouQa)jti g EOTECJXIVCOT O 6eiv6v &EQxonevr] , jreQ L 6e Aelfxoc ; TE 6|3og TE. (XI, 36-37 )

and circled in the midst of all was the blank-eyed face of Gorgon with her stare of horror, and Fear was inscribed upon it, and Terror. The describe d pictures of Fea r and Terror, Deimos te Phobos te, are abstract and allegorical, and, like those of Phobos and Eris on the aegis, they cannot be visualized . This crossin g o r interchangin g o f modes—o f representa tion an d allegory—create s n o correspondin g crossin g o f figur e an d ac tion, however , precisel y because the allegories by definition exist at a different leve l from th e armin g scen e here represented. A mai n purpos e o f this description, i t would seem , i s to conve y t o the audience a quality of Agamemnon an d an aspect of the war itself. At most, on e might imagin e that the shield represents Agamemnon's hopes—tha t he will instill terror and fea r in others—but he is not concerned , a s is the poet, wit h ho w thi s emotion migh t b e represente d t o a n audience . Th e descriptio n o f th e shield exist s a t a differen t leve l o f abstractio n fro m tha t a t whic h Aga memnon himsel f i s fictionally represented as living and fighting . The warriors' lack of awareness of the meaning of the designs on their armor i s particularly marked an d mor e clearl y illustrated in th e cas e of Achilles, whos e shiel d i s described i n th e mos t famou s ecphrasis in th e Iliad. Here , however , th e shield' s figure s see m a t firs t t o hav e thei r in tended, divin e effect . A s in th e briefer case of a simile, th e audience' s at tention is dramatically shifted t o a scene set among the gods. Here too th e audience "sees" the shield in a way Achilles cannot, for the description o f the shield include s several allegorical representations—Hate, Confusion , and Death or Fate (Ker, XVIII , 535)—whic h cannot be imagined a s a part of th e visua l representatio n tha t Achille s hold s befor e him. W e do no t

74 Th

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"see" what he sees—the designs that might instill or represent Hate, Con fusion, an d Death—and he does not se e what w e do. Achilles respond s t o th e shield as if it contained images differen t fro m those Homer describes. Unlike Agamemnon's shield , Achilles' shield con tains mostl y image s no t of thi s allegorica l kind, an d no t concerned wit h the horror, violence, o r terror of war. But Achilles' response to his shield does no t sugges t an y awarenes s of thi s difference . Indeed , a s Katharine King ha s argued , Achille s seems t o becom e himsel f "th e incarnatio n of the terrors tha t for m the entirety of Agamemnon's an d the war goddess' s shields."53 Like Agamemnon, then , bu t in a more dramati c form because of the unusual nature of his shield, Achilles does not apear to attribute any significance t o it s designs, i f h e can be said to se e them a t all, and no on e else appears to have the courage to look a t it: 'Qg aQtx ((xovrjoaaa 9e a mia TEIJXE ' eGrix e JIQ000EV 'AxiM/nog - xa 6' avEpgaxE 6at6aXa Jtavta. Mi)Q|u66vag 6' CXQC X Jidvtag eX e xgopiog, otiSe Tig EI\T\ avTT]v eiaiSeeiv, aM' ETQEOCXV . odjia g 'AxiAXEu g (bg £16', cog [iiv \ia\\ov £61 ) x°^°S > ^ v &z oi OOO E 5£Lv6v fijt o (3X£(j)cxQco v to g el a&ag £^£(t>aav9£v TEQjtEio 6' E V ^EiQEooiv Exco v 9£oi 3 cxyXao t 5coga. (XIX, 12-18 )

The goddes s spoke so, and set down the armor on the ground before Achilleus, an d all its elaboration clashed loudly. Trembling took hold of all the Myrmidons. None had the courage To look straight at it. They were afraid o f it. Onl y Achilleus looked, an d as he looked the anger came harder upon him and his eyes glittered terribly under his lids, like sunflare . He was glad holding in his hands the shining gifts o f Hephaistos. Achilles tells his mother onl y tha t he is glad to have the weapons an d that he is worried tha t th e flies will get in Patroklos's wound s (XIX , 23-27) . Otherwise h e seem s unintereste d i n an d unaffecte d b y whateve r scene s might be represented on his shield.54 His main emotion is anger: cholos, the blind fury that makes men forget their homecoming an d rush into battle.55 The fea r an d trembling o f the Myrmidons als o raise questions abou t th e kind of pictures represented on the shield: their reaction might see m mor e appropriate if thi s shiel d resemble d th e aegi s or th e armo r o f Agamem non. Achilles , o n the other hand , see s the shield and is immediately overcome by violent anger , perhaps because now he has the means with which to wrea k hi s revenge; he is immediately swep t awa y in the fur y tha t will overpower hi m i n the next books o f the poem. Th e design s on the shiel d thus represent neither his point of view nor that of his warriors, but rather

Politics of the Simil e in the Iliad 7

5

an understanding of the action unavailabl e to the characters, which i n no way change s the action of the war. Th e shiel d serves an ideological func tion: to shield (as it were) the poet and his audience from the point of view of Achilles. 56 Made b y a god, presente d b y Thetis , th e shiel d convey s th e promis e that Achilles' battle s will have a divine sanction. The sens e that the shield figures a divine suppor t fo r th e war i s furthered b y Hephaistos's clai m t o Thetis that those who se e the shield will admire it (XVIII, 466-67). Th e epic narrator uses the word thaumazein, a verb meaning "t o admire" and commonly used to describe the admiration or awe human being s fee l to ward th e gods, emphasizin g the shield's godlike qualities 57 and separating the admirer from the grief or suffering tha t may be represented in a work of art . Th e divin e origi n o f th e shield , whic h canno t b e known o n th e battlefield, wher e a n explanatio n o f th e shield' s powe r instea d i s give n fictional for m i n Achilles ' claim s o f powe r an d right , indicate s tha t th e picture o f lif e i t provide s depend s fo r it s coherenc e o n a near-divin e distance fro m th e event s o f th e poem . A n instanc e fro m Boo k X X i n which Achille s doubts the divine powe r o f hi s shield can suggest the un certainty tha t th e warrior s feel , a point o f vie w th e narrato r feel s called upon t o correct: 58 ITriX£t6rig 6e acwog [IE V ajto E O %£iQi JiaxEif l eaxEio TaQ|3r|a(xg- 4>6tT O JCLQ 6oXixoaxio v EYX° £ QEO, 6i£X.£i)a£a9ai |j,£YaA.rJTOQo g AIVEUXO , vrjjuog, oi)6 ' £vor]a£ xata (|)Q£va xai xaia 6u[i6v (bg oi) gr|t6i' EOT ! SECO V EQIXI^EC C Scaga av6Qaai y£ 0vr]ToIoi San,r||i£vai otjft' tijtoeixeiv . (XX, 261-66 )

The son of Peleu s with his heavy hand held the shield away from him, in fright, sinc e he thought the far-shadowing spea r of great-hearted Aineias would lightly be driven through it. Fool, an d the heart and spirit in him could not understan d how th e glorious gifts o f the gods are not easily broken by mortal men, how suc h gifts wil l not giv e way before them. The extent to which the shield seems to mirror th e events of the poem and even many simile s has suggested to critics that the shield of Achilles ma y represent the world of the Iliad i n small: on it, the sets of oppositions tha t constitute the poem reappear. 59 If so, however, th e shield does not reflec t the whole of the poem precisely because it excludes the kind of perspective that Achilles gives evidence of here. What is at issue here is rather the principle of selection tha t prevents the shield from presenting a n overarching, unifying visio n o f the war.

j6 The

Ancient Epic

On th e shield, Hephaisto s firs t picture s an image of the heavens, again suggesting tha t th e shield' s divin e authorit y derive s fro m th e universal izing distanc e of this cosmic perspective. The celestia l bodies a t its cente r give th e shiel d a visual symmetry, bot h alludin g to an d exemplifying a n ordering principle . Simpl y b y bein g itsel f a n ordered artifact , then , th e shield confer s a divine authorit y o n Achilles , an d appear s to recapitulate in brief th e symboli c an d ideological claim s of the epic, mad e elsewher e in the poetic imagery, b y suggesting that the war should be interpreted as part of an ordered whole . Such restatement s do indeed structur e the shield's representation . Th e two citie s o f th e secon d ring , on e a t peace and one a t war, allud e to th e two world s tha t th e poem consistentl y juxtaposes, an d reemphasize the thesis that the war ca n be successfully compare d to and understood i n the context o f a larger totality o f life , tha t a city at war ca n be se t in harmonious balance against one at peace. The scenes in each of these cities themselves allude to previous events in the poem. Outsid e the besieged city, for example, on e grou p o f besieger s wants to attack and sack the city, a plan that resemble s som e o f th e Achaea n plans , whil e th e othe r wonder s whether dv6txcx Jtdvta &aaaa9at, xifjaiv oar^ v JtioX,LE0Qo v EJiriQaio v evioc; EEQYEV . (XVIII, 511-12 )

to share between both sides the property and all the possessions the lovely citadel held hard within it. In Book XXII, Hector wil l debate whether h e should mak e this proposal to Achille s (XXII , 117-21) . Th e citade l on the shield eve n mor e closel y resembles Troy : a s Helen, Andromache , an d th e Troja n elder s stoo d o n the walls o f Tro y watching th e battle, s o on the shield: TEtxog H,E V Q ' CC^OXO L IE fy'ika i xo d vrjjtia TEKVC X QUOIT' E^EoraoiEg , [XEi a 5' dvEQE g oflg EX E Y^Q a5(XVIII, 514-15 )

Their beloved wives and their children stood on the rampart to hold it, and with them the men with age upon them. With a n illusory sens e of narrative—fo r th e images o n th e shield , bein g static, visua l representations , conve y a kind o f timelessness—shee p an d cattle come into view, oi S E tdxa JiQoyEvovto, 5ijc o 6' d[i' EJIOVT O vojifJE g TEQJtOfXEVOL OIJQLY^L * 66XO V 6 ' O1 J T L JTQOVOTjaCXV.

(XVIII, 525-26 )

Politics of the Simile in the Iliad 7

7

[And these ] came presently , an d two herdsme n along with them playing happily o n pipes, an d took no thought of the treachery. 60

The herdsme n i n this descriptio n recal l the many shepherd s who appea r throughout th e epic in similes, as if two such figures had accidentally wandered into on e of the battle scenes. The allusion s on the shield t o the other part s of the poem ca n become quite precise, a s in the scene in which herdsme n ar e unable to chase away an attacking pair of lions , th e description of which echoe s an image used earlier in Boo k X V t o describ e the progress o f Hecto r i n the battle (see XV, 630-36). 61 This echo point s ou t a n important parado x of the shield : although i t explicitly reflect s th e poem in which i t is set, the mode o f thi s reflection i s no t simpl y representational . Th e character s cannot se e th e shield in the symbolic light of its verbal echoes and allusions, for they can not kno w tha t Hecto r wa s earlie r compare d t o a lion. Th e allusion s t o other part s o f th e poe m indicat e an d defin e th e shield' s symboli c func tion—that o f representin g no t th e poem's totality , bu t it s figurative and ideological argumen t in summary form. 62 In this way, although the poet repeatedly stresses that the scenes on the shield resembl e life , th e allusions throughout th e ecphrasis to other part s of the epic suggest rather that these representations function not a s action in th e poe m bu t a s figure. Th e narrator' s comment s o n th e material s o f which th e shiel d i s made serv e equall y t o poin t ou t it s artificiality . Th e figures, h e tells his audience, clashed "like living men " ("cogx e £oooi PQOtoi" XVIII, 539) ; the earth looke d dar k behind th e ploughmen, "an d it resembled eart h that has been plowed, / though i t was gold" ("agr|QOpievr] Se ECpHEi, / XQuasir ] JIEQ eouoa-" lines 548—49). Homer says that the marve l or thauma o f the work la y in how muc h suc h scenes seemed like life (lin e 549)—this quality of similarity, then, is precisely what should cause future generations t o wonde r (thaumazeiri) , th e verb onc e again marking a mo ment i n which a shift t o the aesthetic becomes als o a shift towar d a divine or idealized order. The shield removes these scenes from the cycle of livin g and dying , makin g the m "unperishing, " like art , an d in thi s wa y trans forms the m fro m representation s of the action of the poem int o a figure of representation , a symboli c statemen t o f th e ascriptio n o f valu e in volved i n such a perfect reduplicatio n of the world i n an unperishing me dium. I n these passages about the likeness of his images, moreover , Ho mer is also describing the poetics of the poem, which , just as the descrip tion of the shield does in small, places its representations in the context o f a symboli c formalism , attemptin g b y th e variou s figurativ e moves de scribed her e t o giv e tha t symbolis m a primary explanator y power . Th e

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The Ancient Epic

circularity of this maneuver, whereby the poetic representation of the aesthetic become s th e representatio n of it s own poetics , itsel f become s in directly the subject o f the ecphrasis. 63 The descriptio n o f the shield concludes with a final simile drawin g at tention agai n to artifacts : 'Ev & E XOQO V jtobuMe JtEQixXmog a^uJHyuriEig, TO) LXEX.O V olO V JtOl ' EV l KVOXJO ) £l)Q£ir ] 5

AaiSaXog fioxriaEV ttaMajiXoxdfxa ) AQid6vT]. Ev6a HE Y f|t9EO L xal jtaQ0£voi dta|)£ai(3oiai

61 6' OT E [i£ v GQE^CXOKO V £JtiaT(X|i£vota i jio&Eaai ????? ????? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ????????? ?? ???????????

E^ojiEvog KEQajiEu g jtEigrjoETai , a t >t £ GETIOLV aMiOTE 6' av 6Q£^aaHO v E m arixag aKk^koiai. jtoXXog 6' i^iEQOEVT a XOQO V ^EQitoTaG ' o^iiXog T£QJt6|lEVOf 60LO ) 6 £ XD|3lOTTlTfiQ £ XQT ' ai)TOl) g

HO^Jtfjg E^aQxovTE g E6LV£uo v xaTot [lEoaoDg . (XVIII, 590-93 , 599-606 )

And the renowned smit h of the strong arms made elaborate on it a dancing floor, like that which once in the wide spaces of Knoso s Daidalos built for Ariadne of the lovely tresses. And ther e were young me n on it and young girls, sought for their beauty. At whiles on their understanding feet they would run very lightly, as when a potter crouching makes trial of hi s wheel, holdin g it close in his hands, to see if it will run smooth . A t another time they would for m rows, an d run, rows crossing each other. And aroun d the lovely chorus of dancers stood a great multitude happily watching, whil e among the dancers two acrobats led the measures of song and dance revolving among them . (XVIII, 590-93 , 599-605 ) In thi s doubl e image , th e circl e of th e dancer s and th e circlin g whee l o f the potter become one, s o that craftsmanship and beauty combine to form an idealized image of civilization. This strong restatement of the symbolic thesis of th e poe m agai n has a political function, suggestin g tha t ar t an d its circlin g form s ca n come t o stan d for an d explai n a general pattern o f social relations, th e circle becoming i n this idealization a figure fo r a social unity tha t ca n happily encompass the individual. The circling images, which reemphasize the circular form of the shield itself, als o evoke th e cyclical or iterative time o f poetic imagery, th e tim e in whic h a n artistic product i s contemplated, an d with whic h th e poe m

Politics of the Simil e in the Iliad 7

9

symbolizes its own resistance to mortality. In the images of the two fields, one plowed , anothe r bein g harvested , se t side by side , Hephaisto s pro vides an image of a divine order in which sowin g an d harvesting, and , by extension, al l times are simultaneously present. 64 This idealized represen tation, forge d i n th e starry , imperishabl e hous e o f Hephaisto s (XVIII , 370), evokes formally the timelessness of the gods, and through these figurative displacement s an d alliances , presents lif e a s an ordered , circula r whole. The five concentric rings of the shield echo the ring of stone chairs on whic h th e elder s si t in wis e judgment, th e dancin g figure s mov e i n rings, an d the circling potter's whee l completes th e pattern. The stress on order, art , and social institutions, combine d wit h the cyclical time implied in the scenes represented, suggest s that society, when ordere d an d artful , can contain mortality. Th e shield thus summarizes the claims of the poetic figures throughout th e Iliad t o a nonlinear temporality that will allow th e fame o f the warriors t o remain "unperishing. " Anything tha t would argue against this interpretation o f events—Achilles ' anger , fo r instance— is excluded from this summary, or, like the allegories of Hate, Confusion , Death, an d Fate, reinscribed into an ideological assertion of value and coherence b y mean s o f th e figurativ e strategie s tha t th e shiel d present s in summary form . The grac e made present in this scene (and in Hephaistos's house) is lost to the Trojans and Achaeans, however, fo r whom those elements excluded from o r marginalize d o n th e shiel d remai n primary . Whe n engrave d o n the shield, th e image of the circle expresses timelessness and the unity o f the heroic world and its surrounding universe. But when the action of the poem follow s literall y circula r patterns, as in th e chas e around th e wall s of Tro y o r Achilles' repeatedl y draggin g th e body o f Hecto r aroun d th e funeral pyre , thes e come t o suggest something ver y different, a model o f repetition tie d t o deat h rather than t o organic regeneration, a model tha t can only b e aestheticized by a shift o f emphasis, as it were, accomplishe d in th e tur n towar d th e shield. Whil e th e poet an d his audience see larger patterns in the story and in doing s o make of the characters' experience an artistic whole, thos e involved i n the action d o not, no r i s their sufferin g or the death of their comrades made meaningful to them by the possibility of an y large r patterning . Nor , fo r tha t matter , i s suc h patternin g eve r completely exemp t from the threat of mortality—indeed, the shield itself hides a story o f th e loss that threaten s to obstruc t an y shif t int o the aes thetic from the realm of action, especiall y the strategic action involved i n escaping a maze or a circle. Daedalus was a great craftsman, bu t h e came to regre t (perhap s some centurie s afte r th e Iliad) tha t his son acted on his schemes a s if the y coul d suppor t life ; Ariadn e o f th e lovel y tresse s also

8o Th

e Ancient Epic

found, thoug h perhap s in later versions of he r story, tha t experience did not offe r her the idealized civilization that she helps to evoke on the shield. In presenting the principal figurative claims of the epic, then, the shield turns the audience from Achilles' point of view and briefly shift s its atten tion fro m th e stormy character s and their battle. It represents the sweeping, omniscient vie w of the poet, inspired by the heroic tradition, and pro vides a figure fo r the divine perspective implied i n other, similarl y ideal ized representations . I t doe s not, however , represen t a point o f vie w o n the actio n a t Troy tha t th e participant s might share , and , lik e man y ex amples o f th e figurativ e transformation s and displacement s i t serve s t o summarize, i t provides a solution to the problem o f death by placing hu man los s i n a context o f order , continuance , an d form. Thi s order ma y represent th e vision o f th e artist, but offer s littl e consolation t o the individual, a circumstance th e poem acknowledge s implicitly b y comparin g the dance floor that Hephaistos inscribes on the shield to the one that Dae dalus made for Ariadne in Knossos. Thi s comparison suppresse s the un happy endin g o f bot h thei r stories , bu t th e grief an d mortal knowledg e suppressed b y thei r transformatio n into figure s tha t evok e a n idealized plenitude remain s inscribe d i n th e poem, reduplicatin g in th e differenc e between recognitio n an d denial the structure of divisio n betwee n actio n and figure. The imagery on the shield appears to fulfill huma n wishes fo r an escape from war and ultimately from death, but the escape it offers ex ists only for a community. Th e symbolic and political import of the shield, as of th e similes , i s that deat h can be evaded in this manner, bu t th e dis continuity betwee n th e representatio n o f th e wa r an d th e poem' s sym bolism draw s such evasion consistently into a haunted meditation o n th e limits o f the aesthetic. teXog eavdtoLo: A DOUBLE ENDING Such a n inscriptio n o f a counternarrativ e i n th e ver y momen t o f th e poem's figurativ e assertions of cohesion suggest s that there can be no end to thi s circle, an d no easy conclusion fo r the poem. Althoug h th e figure s attempt to reshape the action, it resists that metamorphosis, an d hence can provide onl y a partial ending to the epic, while the closure asserted in the figures similarl y canno t conclude the heroic story. Indeed , Book s XXII I and XXIV together provid e the Iliad wit h tw o distinc t conclusions, a social and ritual closure to the implicit symboli c narrative, and a more pri vate an d disruptiv e endin g t o th e narrativ e o f heroi c action. 65 Eve n t o speak of a divided o r doubl e ending, however , i s to sideste p a central in -

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sight provided by our tracing out of the circling relations of narrative and figure: that the ideological and related metaphorical work of the poem can never be satisfactorily accomplished. B y definition, such work canno t be concluded because the contradictions that ideology elides or suppresses are unresolvable, an d therefore the narrative of th e attempt to resolv e the m must b e unending. For the artist and the interpreter, th e concept of literary or poetic clo sure is constantly trouble d b y paradox , in par t because closure as theme or subject works differentl y fro m closure as a formal category. While clo sure in a poem migh t see m mos t appropriatel y to symboliz e mortality , and thus the interruption o f human cognitio n an d understanding, it also has the apparently contradictory functio n of makin g it possible to ascer tain retrospectivel y th e significanc e of a given tex t o r life. 66 I n contrast, grief ove r death , whic h a s I have suggested is a principle both of them e and of structure in the Iliad, neve r ends while one's story is being told, so that this kind of retrospective understanding remains inaccessible to those caught i n th e flu x o f action . Wha t i s grieve d for , w e migh t sa y meta phorically of the discourse of heroic action (as an anthropomorphic figur e for it s own possibilitie s an d limitations) an d of thos e whose storie s take form withi n that discourse (especially Achilles), is precisely the explana tory power tha t death or closure might have, but that can only come with the closing of the narrative it might have elucidated. The consequent ten dency for grief to be interminable for the living, in contrast to the closure on grie f brough t b y deat h an d insiste d upon i n th e epic , i s dramatized when th e shad e of Patroklo s remonstrate s with Achille s for not havin g given hi m hi s burial rites (XXIII , 69-92) . Allusion s in this scen e to th e projected death of Achilles (lines 80-81) allow the poet to begin to assign meaning t o Achilles ' life , thoug h th e poe m show s tha t Achille s himsel f cannot kno w o r shar e in thi s projecte d future . H e ha s bee n allowe d t o know tha t he will achiev e unperishable fame (XVIII , 121) , bu t thi s rec ognition come s by his accepting not only deat h but the truth that his experience of it will be neither represente d nor recapitulate d in this unper ishing fame. Both of these kinds of closure, then, mak e up what we call the poem' s ending. Th e argumen t o f th e poeti c figures i s the plo t o f symboli c an d retrospective closure . Th e heroi c action, i n contrast, has no rea l ending ; rather, it comes t o a good momen t fo r stopping. Man y closura l gestures fill the last book of the poem: the final scenes that balance the opening (this poetic symmetry being , o f course , a n effect o f figuration) ; the ritualized laments at the end of the book; the turn to funeral itself as conclusion; and the emphasi s o n huma n communio n (i f o f a rathe r abbreviate d kind) ,

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compassion, an d pity as values that can limit if not eradicat e Achilles' an ger and despair. 671 will argue that these efforts t o give the poem a coherent closure, effort s tha t ma y especiall y sho w th e han d o f th e monumenta l composer shapin g th e traditiona l Iliadi c material, nonetheles s leav e th e characters i n a positio n n o differen t fro m tha t i n whic h the y remai n throughout th e poem, facin g death without th e consolations promised b y the heroi c cod e (fo r it is the heroi c cod e in its multiplicitous form s tha t leads them t o this impasse). Though the poem (an d the representation of grief) come s t o a n end, ther e is no en d to grie f fo r those involved. Th e funeral o f Hector , muc h a s it ma y provid e a beautiful forma l conclusio n to th e story , i s itself presented in the action as merely creatin g a brief in terlude. It s brevity an d th e likelihood tha t the war wil l immediately re commence i s mad e eviden t i n th e fina l exchang e betwee n Achille s an d Priam: "xf j 6e 6vcoSexaTr] JtoXejxi^opiev, eiiceg avayxr]" ("and on the twelfth day fight again, if so we must do," XXIV , 667) , concludes Priam. Speak ing hi s last words in th e poem , Achille s agree s to endin g wit h a pause: "axr|CFa) y«Q JtoXe^ov TOQOOV XQOVO V ooaov avcoyag" ("I wil l hold of f ou r attack for as much time as you bid me," XXIV , 670) . My point is not tha t there are no sign s of a poetic effort t o giv e the narrative a satisfying con clusion, but rather that Book XXIV—in the tension between the discourse of heroic action and the kinds of resolution offere d i n the figures—shows the resistance of the heroic representation to the kinds of closure the poem provides, an d thu s reveal s why th e tas k o f findin g a n ending prove d s o difficult. The epi c narrativ e is linear, an d i t run s unremittingl y towar d death , toward a final closure, bu t fo r th e morta l character s that en d canno t b e experienced—except t o th e exten t tha t Achille s could b e sai d t o se e and experience hi s own deat h imaginatively. Th e poeti c figures , i n contrast, hide deat h and evade its necessities in their evocation o f a n ongoing life , but t o d o so , the y depen d o n closur e of anothe r sort , and , i n particular, on th e fullness , completeness , an d closed-of f qualit y o f a lif e tha t ha s ended. Thi s contrast operates in two overlappin g registers. O n th e plane of representation, th e heroic actio n points toward deat h while th e poeti c figures elid e it ; but o n th e plan e of consciousnes s o r interpretation , th e heroic action leads to no final understanding for those involved, whil e th e poetic figures consistently giv e meanin g t o death , providin g knowledg e of it and an interpretation o f it to those who ostensibl y are not involved . The representatio n o f heroi c actio n alway s points towar d a linear telos, but i s unfinished, looking ahea d to thi s ending withou t eve r reachin g it; while figuratio n an d interpretation are retrospective in structure. Death is the point an d purpose of the heroic action , yet the ending tha t it marks,

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which allow s th e transfer , fo r the audience, t o th e differen t tim e schem e of remembering—the time o f poet and audience—can never for m a part of the action. Thos e who ar e to die in the poem canno t themselve s gai n knowledge o f death , whil e thos e wh o interpre t wit h th e benefit of thi s retrospective understandin g ca n never full y understan d what i t means t o be in th e mids t o f things , eve n thoug h a n artistic need t o elucidat e and memorialize th e characters' experience may have generated the retrospec tive narrative in the first place. 68 This unremittin g linea r movemen t towar d deat h in th e heroi c actio n can be describe d a s a mimesis o f death , lodge d withi n th e heroi c repre sentation an d giving i t coherence; the iterative patterning o f th e figures , in contrast, mark s out a circularity that, while appearin g to deny death by evoking natura l cycles and forma l shapes, come s t o symboliz e deat h b y providing a n emblem o f absolut e closure . I n this doubl e actio n th e epi c figure indicate s surreptitiousl y th e dependenc e o f it s ideologica l move s and rhetorica l strategie s on the mortality tha t it works t o elide . Th e fol lowing diagra m may help to summarize the different function s of closur e in the heroic actio n of the Iliad an d in its symbolic structure :

Events lead pictured linea

Understanding n and interpretation n

Representation of Heroic Action Poetic Figures towar d death ; evad e death ; r narrativ e serve s symboli c escap e fro m as a mimesis o f death \ / deat h throug h forma l \ / nonlinea r patternin g chiasmus o closure of story; / \ closur e (circles) ; o meaning i n death; meanin g an d consolatio n no consolation provide d in figures that inscrib e deat h while eliding i t

The figur e tha t describe s the relation , o r disjunction , o f event s an d un derstanding in these two scheme s is the chiasmus. Identifying this chiastic structure helps to show tha t heroic death marks the moment a t which th e disjunction between knowledge an d action becomes the clearest, and sug gests that if there is any conjunction possible between action and the value drawn from it, whether aestheti c or ideological, that conjunction itself de pends on death. This double analysi s corresponds t o an oft-noted forma l ambiguity o f th e Iliad. A s Schei n puts it, "O n the one hand, th e Iliad i s characterized b y thi s forma l symmetry , bu t it s story—it s mythologica l content—moves in a certain direction an d is never completed o r rounde d off b y a balance of corresponding parts . The directio n o f this movemen t

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is toward death" (pp. 33-34). The dual structure of the Iliad, which Schei n calls "simultaneously harsh and harmonious, incomplete and fulfilled" (p . 36), has its roots, I argue, in the different imperatives of the representation of heroi c actio n on th e on e hand and its figurative an d ideological artic ulation on the other. The point, then, is not that Homer has nothing mean ingful t o say about mortality, but rather that the way the narrative unfolds reveals how unacceptabl e are the self-justifications o f the heroic code and how deepl y Home r find s hi s own narrative to be imbedded i n those justifications. The funera l game s constitut e one moment i n which th e heroic action and the poem's symboli c claim s seem almost to be reconciled—as indeed was t o b e expected , i f m y argumen t is correct, fo r th e Iliad itsel f ca n be considered a type of funeral game , a monument, a human institution that appears t o contro l an d en d grie f by givin g i t a social meaning. Lik e th e poem, th e game s presen t an analogue of war, a n imitation o f combat i n an arena in which on e can win hono r throug h struggl e and thereby per petuate one's name . Strif e is domesticated into a social occasion to b e re membered an d recounted, endlessly reenacted, and figured in the artifact s won a s prizes. These artifact s ar e placed at the center of attention, an d the world of crafts is evoked throughout; hence the impression that the games themselves ar e like a n artifac t i s strengthened (see , for example , XXIII , 710-13; XXIII, 760-63) . The temporalit y of this imitation o f war is the repeating tim e o f memor y o r the timelessness of an aesthetic object that turns th e mind from , an d thus elides, the very different temporalit y that the games celebrate and memorialize. The prize for the runners, the famous mixing bowl received as ransom for Lykaon , bes t exemplifies the figurative turn away from death accom plished i n the descriptions of the prizes; CIQYUQEOV ttQT]TfJQa , TETUYM^VOV ' £ ^ 6' OtQ a [XETQO ,

Xav6av£v, autaQ naXkei evfot a jraoav ejt' alav jtoMov, £jt£ i Zi86v£c; jtoX.vSai6ata)i e£ r\OKr]aav, OoLViKeg 6' ayov av6g£c; EJT' f)EQoei6Ea Jtovtov , orfjaav 6 ' E V XL^EVEOOI , 06avti SE SGOQO V EScoxav vice; &E riQid|jioio Auxaovoc; dbvov £6a)X £ IlaTQoxXq) TiQco'i 9 lT|aovi5T|s Eiivriog. (XXIII, 741-47)

a mixing-bowl of silver, a work of art , whic h held only six measures, but fo r its loveliness surpassed all others on earth by far , sinc e skilled Sidonian craftsmen ha d wrought it well, an d the Phoenicians carried it for a present to Thoas.

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Euneos, son of Jason, gav e it to the hero Patroklos to buy Lykaon, Priam's son, ou t of slavery .

As in the case of Achilles' shield , th e wider Homeric worl d i s drawn int o the description o f this one artifact; the cup renders past experience in aesthetic form an d places it in a broad context o f huma n continuity, a n ex pansive gesture also typical of th e funera l games , whic h transfor m grief over death by returning it to a larger social context. Eve n this cup, how ever, contain s hints of the violence that this social ritual hopes to assuage since the brief ecphrasis, in mentioning Lykaon, recalls also Achilles' failure t o liste n t o Lykao n th e second tim e h e capture d him, i n tha t brutal moment whe n al l strategies fo r controllin g o r directin g rag e ha d col lapsed. Moreover, an d perhaps most importantly for the poem's drama, Achilles is not purge d of his grief b y the games, powerful social ritual though they may be. The failur e of aesthetics to mediate individual emotion an d social nee d become s particularl y apparent in thi s case , a s Achilles' grie f takes the form of a lamentation in which th e differences betwee n himsel f and the dead Patroklos begin to collapse. When the funeral game s began, Achilles had identified Patroklos's funera l pyr e as his own, an d his frien d with himsel f (XXIII , 126 ; XXIII, 141-51). 69 In the beginning o f Boo k XXIV, hi s treatment of Hector's corps e makes it clear that his grief is still as violent a s ever, unmitigate d b y th e funera l (XXIV , 14-18) . A s he lies in the dust , h e weeps for his past life as well a s for Patroklos (XXIV , 3 9), an d finds n o solace. Here a s throughout th e poem, h e experiences th e mortal condition more full y tha n do any of the other warriors even as he stands beyon d thei r experienc e (beyon d life , i n a partl y daemoni c world).70 Once th e consolation s o f socia l ritua l and aestheti c symbolism hav e been show n t o mak e little difference t o thi s exemplary warrior, th e task of ending th e poem becomes mor e difficult . I n Book XXI V Homer calls upon th e gods to convince the unconsoled Achilles to give back the body of Hector and thus to let the story end. The conditions for the concluding section of th e Iliad ar e established in the brief description of Achilles following th e funeral game s (XXIV, 1-22) , a description that ends by stating the problem preventin g th e resolution o f th e action: ""Qg 6 jiev "ExtoQa 6Iov defou^e v ixeveaivcov " ("S o Achille s i n hi s standin g fur y outrage d great Hector," line 22). Serving in part as figures for the poem's narrative ends, th e gods agree that Thetis mus t go to Achilles and convince him to give u p th e body o f Hector . B y having the gods len d thei r authorit y t o this ending, Home r attributes to it a stability belied by the doubleness of

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the poem's closural strategies, and offers the audience a transcendental mediation i n a case where, accordin g to th e poet' s own fiction , poeti c craf t alone would not suffice . This mediating gesture—sending a message from th e gods to Achilles in order to make the symbolic claims of the epic appear to have a presence in the action—give s plot form to a structural necessity that opposes this narrative of fury, whic h is what the heroic action threatens to become. Th e poem provides a range of good moral support for this mediating decision, and the gods' objections to Achilles' behavior seem to reflect human values as much a s divine ones. Th e ground s o n which Zeu s object s to Achilles' extremism, fo r instance, point t o religious and moral opinions shared by the bard and his audience, and this extremism is what will be remedied in the scene between Achille s and Priam. Nonetheless , thi s mediating ges ture also obeys a formal imperative that there be an ending and that some compromise be found between the radically isolated representation of hu man lif e in the action and the poem's state d values. Given this need to assuage Achilles' emotions , hi s response resembles more a bowing t o fat e than an y emotiona l reconciliation—bowing , tha t is, t o th e forma l obligation that his story end, even if that ending must exclude him. Thi s mediating gestur e brings about the ending, then , bu t does not significantly alter the position o f Achilles, who continue s to place himself on the out skirts of the human community. 71 The exten t t o whic h Thetis' s messag e may not sui t the emotion s en gaged by the situation confronting Achilles is suggested indirectly by the simile use d t o describ e th e descen t of Iri s t o rous e Thetis, wh o i s pro leptically mournin g th e deat h o f he r so n (a s she ha s bee n sinc e boo k XVIII). This mourning remain s the mode o f any closural mediation, in cluding the moment that brings Iris to Thetis : fj S E [xo^upScdvT ] foceXr ] EC ; fVucrao v OQODOEV , r\ T E KCIT ' aYQonjXoi o P°o £ KEQCXC ; £[ip£(3aTjI a EQXEiat wpiriaTfjai v EJI ' l^Bvoi xfJQ a 4>£Qouaa . (XXIV, 80-82 )

she plummeted to the sea-floor like a lead weight which, mounte d along the horn of an ox which ranges the field, goe s downwar d and takes death with it to the raw-ravening fish .

The simil e implies that Iris's descent brings death to those below. Thetis , the sea-nymph, i s metaphorically caught in her own element, a bit of sea bait t o serv e the gods ' purposes . As the simil e suggests , i n forcing nar rative closure, the immortal god s become death-dealers to those who are not immortal (thos e who must therefore carry the burden of the closure).

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The gods ' mediatio n i n huma n affair s i s successfu l i n on e sense , fo r Achilles i s convinced t o giv e u p Hector' s body , bu t h e doe s s o withou t changing his marginal position. Fo r the symbolic claims of the epic to be persuasive, however , Achille s cannot remain so extreme, an d part of th e purpose of the exchange with Priam will be to modify Achilles' position , and thus to provide a convincing versio n of the ending to justify th e for mal closure required of Achilles rather uncompromisingly i n the opening of Boo k XXIV. A t th e moment o f bein g presente d b y Thetis wit h thi s obligation, however , Achille s simpl y bow s t o Zeus' s command . Hi s an swer to his mother i s quite brief: he will obey the gods. H e bows to a narrative necessity: tfj&' eiT) * 6 g ajtotv a 4>EQo i xal VEKQO V ayoiTO , el 6f| jtg6(j)QOvi Qv\iu> 'OXiifjiJtiog autoc ; avcbyei. (XXIV, 139-40 )

So be it. H e can bring th e ransom an d take off th e body , if the Olympian himself so urgently bid s it.

Homer does not otherwis e explain Achilles' reasons for changing his unpitying stance at this moment. I n the dramatic encounter between Pria m and Achilles , h e doe s explor e Achilles ' response s i n a more huma n setting—as i f t o vei l th e starknes s with whic h thi s narrativ e necessity has been put into play—but the story ends with an unreconciled Achilles who has agreed to compromise onl y in this one instance. Throughout hi s last scenes, he remains on the very edge of society, having done only enoug h to locate himself o n this boundary. But he is not reconciled, an d although his story values compassion in the scene between th e two grievin g men, it does not conclude by suggesting that compassion will in any way modify th e conditions of heroic life as it is represented. The value s of pity and compassion ar e important becaus e they ar e all there is, but th e narrative never suggests that they mak e a significant differenc e t o Achilles ' radical alienation, no r d o the y provid e an y qualificatio n o f th e unremitting de structiveness of heroi c life . The narrativ e necessity at work here is a "necessity" because its term s must be observed fo r the poem t o succeed as art.72 Without th e compromises thi s necessity requires, th e harshness of th e heroic cod e woul d b e exposed in fa r too direc t a fashion. It is therefore essential that there be a cultural logi c t o suppor t Achilles ' decisio n t o obe y th e god s here . Th e reading I propose o f th e endin g respect s this cultura l logic whil e high lighting th e extent to which it is treated as a fate and an obligation by th e poem. Th e Iliad make s it clear that Achilles would not have agreed to give up the body were he not required to do so by the gods, who thus guarantee

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the preservation o f these central values. I argue here against the view tha t Achilles resolve s his anger or his grief durin g his fragile an d moving in terchange with Priam, for the reconciliation of the two is of the most min imal kind. Achilles does eat again, the act marking his return to a human and less daemonic self, bu t he is not finall y reintegrated. The onl y societ y he can come t o accep t is one that, thoug h valuin g shared human feeling, recognizes tha t no suc h sharin g ca n take place outside the protective en closure of a divinely sanctione d meeting place. Throughout Achilles ' meetin g wit h Priam , th e peac e established be tween them is felt to be extremely fragile. 73 For all the compassion the tw o men ma y fee l for each other, the y are only barely able to contain their anger, a s the poet reminds his audience when Achilles tells the serving maids to anoin t th e body o f Hecto r ou t of sight of his father, we; pif ] riQianog 1601 mov, \\r\ 6 LIE V axvu|i8VT] ttQaSir] x°^ov °^x EQUCKXIT O jtalSa L&CDV , 'Ax^fji 6 ' oQivGetT ] (jnXov frcog , xai E xataKTEivEiE, Aio g S' a\ixr\iai E^Ei^dc; . (XXIV, 583-86)

since otherwise Priam might see his son and in his heart's sorrow not hold in his anger at the sight, and the deep heart in Achilleus be shaken in anger; that he might not kill Priam and be guilty before the god's orders. Achilles' referenc e to Niobe perhap s explains most precisely his actions at the ending o f the Iliad. This story may at first glanc e seem to concern th e human need to put aside sorrow afte r a confrontation with fate. O f Niobe , Achilles says , "f| 6' &QC X aiiou \ivv\oai\ ejte l xdji e Saxg v xeovaa" ("An d she after al l remembered t o ea t when she was worn out wit h weeping," XXIV, 613). In urging Priam to eat and in bringing himself t o eat, Achilles is often sai d to be rejoining humanity, sinc e the act of eating comes in the course of th e poem t o stan d for the affirmation o f community . Cer tainly Achille s here comes t o accep t his great enemy unde r hi s roof, an d finds himsel f n o longe r unde r th e swa y o f hi s anger . Nonetheless , h e chooses no t t o rejoi n society in these last scenes , but rathe r continue s t o live on its edges, a s he has done for much of the poem. Th e ending o f the story o f Niob e is thus particularly illuminating: VUV S £ JlO U £ V TCETQflaiV , £ V OUQEOI V OlOJtoXoLOLV ,

EV ZwruXep , 69 L x aXio v extoc ; eaaeToa. ei Se |ioi alaa Te6vd[AEvai Jiaga vr|ua!v 'Axaicov x a^oxita)va)v, po-fiX-opm. (XXIV , 223-26) But now , fo r I myself heard the god, an d looked straight upon her, I am going, an d this word shal l not b e in vain. If it is my destiny to die there by the ships of the bronze-armored Achaians, then I wish that.

Priam hopes that Zeus will do what Iris promises, but a s his words mak e clear, h e canno t be certai n that he is not bein g sent to hi s death . I n thi s scene Priam i s given hope that the meanings to which th e gods giv e au thority wil l b e upheld an d that his own actio n will b e supported, bu t h e has no guarantees. Achilles too, though he has been told that the gods have commanded th e retur n o f Hector' s body , fear s fo r th e safet y o f Pria m (XXIV, 650-55) . Neithe r man is sure of the outcome of his actions. The gods here articulate the conclusion necessary to uphold the collective values, bu t wha t this conclusion will mean in the lives of the individuals involved remains uncertain. In any case, given the many ways in which, as we have seen, the poem works t o mak e this reconciliation seem genuine, i t seems tha t thes e closural exchanges might finall y provid e a model fo r th e merging o f figur e and action. Throughout Priam' s journey in the night, th e tie between father and son serves as the primary metaphor for relationships of all kinds, including forma l ones. Herme s speak s to Priam kindly as pater ("m y fa ther," XXIV, 362) , and comments, "(jnXc p 6e ae JKXTQ L etaxco" ("you seem

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to me like a beloved father, " line 371). Priam calls himphilon tekos, "dear son" (lin e 373) an d speak s of hi s parents. I n disguise, Hermes speak s of an invente d huma n father , Polyktor , an d i n partin g identifie s himself , speaking of Zeu s a s his fathe r (lin e 461). I n a culmination of thi s motif, Achilles is reminded o f his father by Priam, and , though grieving for him (lines 507-8), is at last able to put hi s grief an d anger aside sufficiently t o respond t o Pria m gently . I n this sequence all relations, whether betwee n men or between human beings and the gods, reduce to a transcendent image of the tie between fathe r an d son. This tie becomes a sign for the possibility of connections of all sorts, a metaphor for any relation, an d hence by extension, fo r the integration of experience and knowledge. The metaphor suggests that the ties that bind the son to the father ar e like those that bind a n individual to society or an individual to the gods. Thi s metaphorical linking o f fathe r an d son sug gests tha t the endin g o f th e poem depend s on a transcendent patriarchal order t o unif y it s disparate parts. Th e poem thu s ends by asserting met aphorically that the representation of action and the value attributed to it in the epic can work to reinforce each other, tha t the experience of death and the gaining of knowledg e ca n be integrated. The meetin g betwee n Achille s an d Priam reveals , however , tha t th e claims of thi s symbolic discours e clash with what th e represented action shows us—insofar as we can imaginatively separate the discourse of action from th e extensive work of mediation that constitutes the formal ending. The metaphors of father and son create an ideological blurring that allows a temporar y allianc e between on e fathe r an d on e so n t o tak e on a larger significance, bu t th e scen e contradict s this unifyin g move. Muc h a s he wants t o honor his son, Pria m ha s expressed anger at the failure s o f hi s family: hi s grie f fo r hi s son seem s t o reflec t no t th e affirmatio n bu t th e breakdown o f th e analog y o f family , city , nation , an d society . Achille s may lamen t hi s father' s grief, bu t h e doe s no t rejoi n the Achaean s afte r making his peace with Priam. Fo r both, th e tie between fathe r an d son is deeply personal, an d seem s t o allo w fo r connection s t o a n enemy o r a n opposite rather than to friends and kin. Only on a figurative level do such metaphorical claim s provid e a meaning that brings coherence—throug h a series of displacements, transformations, and suppressions that, as I have argued, occur throughout the poem and are felt particularly strongly here. In the representatio n o f live d experience , these claims are revealed as inadequate and insubstantial before the power o f individual loss, grief, and anger. One detail helps to illuminate the extent to which the accord of Achilles and Priam form s a part of the symbolic conclusion to the story, bringin g

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them momentaril y int o a divine closure that nonetheless firml y exclude s them a s it does all mortals. After Achilles and Priam conclude their feast, 76 Homer comments tha t they admired each other: amb.Q End Jtooio g xai ESr)TiJog e % egov evto, f]Toi AagSaviSric ; Ilgiafioc; Gou^df 'AxiAfja , oaaog er]v oiog te- 6eoia i yag avia eawei odjtag 6 AagSavi6r]v ngiafxov BaufKx^e v 'AxiM-Eug , elaogocov oiptv t' ayaBfi v >ta i [nJ6ov axo-ucov . (XXIV, 628-32 )

But whe n they ha d put asid e their desir e for eating an d drinkin g Priam, son of Dardanos , gaze d upon Achilleus , wonderin g at his size and beauty, fo r he seemed lik e an outright visio n of gods. Achilleus i n turn gaze d on Dardanian Pria m and wondered, a s he saw his brave looks an d listened t o hi m talking.

The ver b use d her e fo r "t o wonder " o r "t o admire " i s thaumazein, th e same verb Hephaistos used to describe the mortals who would wonde r a t the shiel d h e makes , an d on e used , a s we hav e seen, especiall y for suc h expressions of human awe in the face of divinity and for comparable mo ments i n which th e poem turn s either toward th e aesthetic or toward th e divine in an attempt to resolve the tension between figure and action. (Lattimore's translation of the line "theoisi gar anta eokei" helps to bring ou t this sense of a divine vision.)77 The moment o f wonder provides a moment of divinit y i n the midst o f huma n suffering , bu t th e traditional language used to describe it also reminds the audience that in this scene Achilles and Priam catc h a glimpse of the divine in each other, a glimpse that momentarily transform s the m int o work s o f ar t in eac h other's eyes , allowin g them briefl y to see-each other as they appear to the audience. This fleeting communion betwee n the two enemies, displacing their violence, gives the scene sublimity , an d reader s (a s audiences befor e them ) respon d t o it s power. Bu t it also reveals that such endings depend on a divinity not present on the human plane, and on a transformation of violence possible only in art. Priam's journey acros s the dark plain similarly is often fel t t o generate a generic shift into romance, obeying in part the many assertions of a link between represented action and symbolic claims, rhetorical strategies that allow the poet to end the impasse in the story. Romance , suc h arguments might conclude , ma y b e define d as those moment s i n whic h th e poeti c tradition suppresses the distinction between the story and its figurative or allegorical (an d political) argument , o r again , thes e moment s i n whic h symbol take s on fictional body an d walks onto th e stage of the poem. I n

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3

this sens e any ending , t o th e exten t tha t endin g itsel f depend s o n som e attempt a t linking th e two , wil l bring a touch o f romanc e into the nar rative. In th e cas e o f Priam' s journey , however , muc h i n th e scen e work s against the moo d of romance . Althoug h h e is vouchsafed a glimpse of a god an d give n divin e protection , Pria m doe s not experienc e any broadening of hi s vision no r doe s he seem concerne d wit h th e nearly magical ties between ma n an d god that the scene suggests. Rather than creating a sense of connection t o a larger world of values and authority, the description becomes increasingl y concerned with on e detail, the darkness of the plain preventin g an y wider vision . Indeed , thi s unearthl y journey wit h Hermes psychopomp acros s the dark plain resembles rather a journey to the dead (nekuia): 78 i n spite of the divine intervention, th e scene focuses more and more closely on the fact of death itself, and narrows even further whe n they reac h Achilles ' encampment . Achilles ' rendin g sens e o f mortalit y provides, i n th e moment h e thinks o f hi s father, th e only bon d tha t can exist between himself and Priam. Th e human condition is presented here as one of privation , an d the poem enact s Achilles' an d Priam's discovery of limit s b y focusin g so narrowly tha t no othe r worl d appear s to exist . Death i s the only end, an d as the poem ends, death and grief are the onl y things tha t draw thes e men together ; i n the final reductio n o f scope , th e only rites or ceremonies that still carry significance for Achilles and Priam are those that honor death. The message of the gods to Achilles and Priam is somethin g quit e different , then , fro m th e meanin g mad e o f i t i n th e poem's figures . Th e ideologica l move s tha t would elid e thi s difference , and that serve to broaden, unify , an d demonstrate a connection t o the to tality (the cosmos), are counteracted by one aspect of the scene while being affirmed in another. Priam's journey thus inscribes the costs of its suppressions and transformations, making evident the violence in the order com manded by the gods and the formal violence that subtends it. The heroic action and the poetic figures of the epic thus lead to differen t types of ending, whic h togethe r mak e up the epic's conclusion. Th e fig urative argument of the Iliad end s in an elaborate assertion of formal unity with its carefully paralleled laments over Hector's body and a symmetrical echoing of the opening of the poem. I t asserts the primacy of such formal structures and affirms th e value of the societies and of the ethical and po litical code s tha t suc h formalizatio n of experienc e make s possible . Th e movement fro m individual perspective to social ritual that takes place in the last lines of the poem recapitulate s in the terms of the poem's centra l themes the assertion made symbolically that social and formal value takes precedence over individual experience, allowing the story to end satisfac-

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torily o n th e socia l level and generating a necessary, thematic version o f the closure of ideology . The heroi c action , however , end s withou t ending : i t leaves the char acters in the midst o f experience. Thi s ending tha t is no ending doe s no t allow for any transcendent or otherwise privileged interpretation to transform grie f o r suffering. Th e heroic action leaves the audience meditating on th e warriors' ow n still-abidin g sens e of loss. I n revealing tha t experi ence and knowledge ar e thus both sought after and irreconcilable, the Iliad points t o a fundamental contradiction in any system tha t proposes to re solve them, whethe r socia l or aesthetic , and thus offer s a vision o f experience that anticipate s that of the tragic dramatists. The representation of heroic action, which exposes the self-destructive quality of the society pictured in the poem, end s in a radical narrowing o f focus an d a narrative mimesis o f death . Heroic ideology , an d the poem' s figurative argument , o n th e othe r hand , disguis e sufferin g an d hide th e extraordinary resistanc e o f individua l experienc e t o interpretation—es pecially the inscribed interpretation that assigns social and political value, associated here with a move towar d allegory . The Iliad thu s make s it ap parent tha t th e individua l is always to som e exten t betraye d b y th e ide ology o n which h e or she depends to find meaning , whil e it also suggests that societ y (an d poetry) will continu e t o den y th e grievous sacrific e re quired to protect the values and social forms on which i t is founded. Th e action of th e poem show s tha t any recognition o f this contradictio n wil l force one to the margins. The Iliad thu s tells two stories at one and the same time: it tells the story of th e making o f a formal, patterned meaning o f mortal experience, an d it tells the story of the warriors, a story of violence and death, unmitigated by th e possibilit y o f futur e hono r o r fame . Eac h of thes e stories is artic ulated throug h a distinct set of discourses , and th e poem associate s each with a distinct poetic mode: it connects the story of the warriors with mimetic representation, and the story told in the figures with trope and a turn toward allegory . I n the disjunction between its two stories, th e poem also reveals how suc h interpretive or forma l shaping produces a structure of displacement and evasion, while i n narrating the mortal experience of its heroes it makes those evasions visible. Separating the action as represented from it s figurative interpretation allow s Homer to endow herois m wit h a meaning distinc t fro m tha t uphel d b y th e heroic societ y picture d i n th e poem: to be a hero in the Iliad i s to act according to heroic standards while recognizing th e absolute rupture between actio n and the value attributed to it . Thi s dramatizatio n o f th e ga p between experienc e an d knowledg e allows th e poem t o criticiz e implicitly th e belief tha t the fame o r glor y a

Politics of the Simile in the Iliad 9

5

warrior receive s justifies his action, and in the course of this questionin g to expose the instability of a society that depends on violence as its principal source of value. In promising kleos in return for heroic deeds in bat tle, th e society pictured in the Iliad relie s on violence, an d is shown to be destructive in tur n o f th e civilizatio n it ostensibly values . The disconti nuity between actio n and poetic figuration exposes in particular the dan gers and distortions o f the claims made in the poetic figures—claims that ultimately pla y an ideological rol e in justifying the need fo r heroic war fare. The gap between what is conveyed through representation and what is conveyed through trop e is as complete at the beginning o f the poem as at the end , bu t th e principa l characters ' understandin g o f thei r situatio n changes in the course of the action—and so our sens e of this gap is given differing themati c embodiments i n differen t part s of th e poem. Earl y in the story several characters express the belief that there must be a definite link between thei r individual loss and the rewards of society in the form of fame. 79 A s the story advances , the archetypal warriors o n eac h side— Achilles an d Hector—become mor e an d more uncertai n that thes e con nections ca n be maintaine d a t all . Thei r discover y o f th e limitation s o f heroic values renders dramatically clear within the poem an understanding that the audience comes to share at a different level: that because action and its symbolic refiguratio n ca n never be one, th e beauty that we enjoy and admire can also be a beauty that betrays. Two stories are told, then , but on e seems to me finally th e more pow erful. I n concentrating the war story more and more on the fact o f death, the epi c shows tha t deat h for the individual is the fina l reality , whateve r immortality may be claimed in the larger order of art or in the continuity of family or society. Suc h an exacting commitment t o the violence of the battlefield disrupt s the idealized picture of society, and so it is the job o f heroic ideology t o suppress, deny, or transform it into something else . To claim that the discourse of heroi c acton is generically determining i s also to make a dimension o f ideological criticism central to the epic tradition, and to resist the work of displacement performed by the figures, fo r it is particularly in th e representatio n o f actio n tha t th e possibilit y o f suc h a critique resides. Moreover, the poem's construction of meaning itself de pends on the heroic deaths of the central characters (or on the knowledge of thei r certai n death) . Th e poeti c figures , whic h provid e th e symboli c dimension o f th e stor y an d giv e it a meaning beyon d death , themselve s rely o n th e closur e provide d b y individua l mortalit y i n orde r t o brin g about this transformation. In this insistent return to the plot of death, the Iliad a s poetic narrativ e can also be said to mak e the choic e o f Achilles .

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The society represented here depends, the epic suggests, on seeing force as alien to itself at the same time that it is informed by it. The closin g line s of th e poe m thu s outlin e a poetic tragedy a s well a s a social one, fo r th e poem's reformulatio n o f the epic tradition may itself perpetuat e the ver y dependence o n violenc e tha t it exposes as inhumane. Th e critiqu e o f th e heroic cod e presented in the Iliad i s to some extent generalized: the poe m indicts heroic ideology fo r making dependence on heroic death seem rea sonable or even civilized, and, by extension, i t exposes the violence in the workings o f any ideology . Achilles' word s fro m Book I X remain true in the ending, thoug h i n a different sens e from the one he may originally have intended: IOY\ \JLOlQa JXEVOVTl , tto d 8 1 \iaka Tig JTOX-E^IL^OI -

ev 6e if] Tififj f)ne v xaxo g f)6e >ca l EaOXog xdiGav' ofiwg 6 T' aegyog avr]Q 6 T E jtoXXa Eogycbg . (IX, 318-20 )

Fate is the same for the man who hold s back, the same if he fight s hard. We are all held in a single honor, the brave with the weaklings. A man die s if he has done nothing, as one who ha s done much. By the end of the poem, thes e words come to express precisely the reason that Achilles must stay at Troy, tha t the poem mus t stay at Troy, an d that the audienc e finds it s own fat e wrappe d up in the story o f the war. Th e critique of heroi c societ y is both indirec t an d devastating: there is no re turn fo r th e poe m o r poe t t o th e idyllic world tha t fill s th e similes , th e world for which th e battle is ostensibly being fought. As the Iliad ends , it focuses o n deat h as the only certaint y and the only source of meanin g o r value in the heroic community. I t implies that any turning awa y from o r troping o f this truth would b e a delusion.

Chapter Two

THE AENEID: TH E POWE R OF TH E FIGUR E

I

N THE Aeneid Virgil inverts the relation between action and figure that typified th e Iliad, givin g hi s figurativ e schemes tempora l an d causal priority. This inversion presents the story as having been generated by the figurative scheme, and consequently the narrative appears to constrain the characters to act in accordance with the claims made by the poetic figures. More consistently than Homer did in the Iliad, Virgi l also gives his figurative schem e itsel f a narrative extension, especiall y in th e storie s o f the gods . Aenea s remain s unawar e o f thes e figurativ e moves, althoug h Virgil create s an imaginativ e structur e designed t o giv e hi s her o som e knowledge of the larger meaning of his deeds posited in the poetic figures. These efforts t o bring hi s hero in from the cold d o not significantl y alter the position o f radical ignorance in which the epic poet is forced to place Aeneas, however . Wha t i s elided i n particula r is causation itself, s o tha t Aeneas and the other characters , though the y ma y have intuitions o r vi sions of the divine purposes in events, nonetheless remain ignorant of the causes of emotions , o f events , an d indeed of th e shape of th e plo t itself, which is the shap e of histor y a s Virgil presents it. I n this chapter and th e next, I will consider th e formal effects o f thi s dilemma o n epic narrative, and seek to defin e th e mutual implication o f politics and form specific to the Aeneid—that is , to defin e how th e political aims of the poem may be said to necessitate a certain narrative structure, while that narrative structure may also require a certain kind of political statement, creating a circle of narrative and figure, of form and political aims. 1

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The separation of figure and action throughout th e poem presents both a formal and a political difficulty fo r the Aeneid. The coherenc e of its plot depends formall y an d ideologically on findin g a way t o fi t figure s to ac tion—or, t o us e a metaphor congruen t wit h th e terms o f th e poem , t o make them "touch " ("dextrae iungere dextram," I, 408). Virgil uses four principal strategies to create this "touching" or to hide the fact that it can not occur . Eac h generates a distinctive type of narrative, though an y sep aration of them remain s theoretical and heuristic, since in the flow of po etry, these different strand s of narrative are often entwined . Eac h can also be said to be based on a specific trope, and, since each figure marks specific formal move s an d associate s them wit h a specific content , eac h serve s a particular ideologica l function . Distinguishin g betwee n thes e strategie s can help to reveal their characteristic ideological moves and formal effects, and can also show ho w in each case the attempt to make figure and action touch i s itself allegorized. The firs t strateg y is based on th e structur e of analogy : the poe t con structs a double narrativ e telling tw o incompatibl e versions o f a n event, which th e poetry treats as analogies for each other.2 These narrativ e dou bles take the structure of a simile in which the two narratives are implicitly established i n a relationship o f resemblance , thoug h thi s claim points t o the ideological transformatio n necessary here, sinc e the two version s are incompatible, d o not "touch, " and have quite differen t politica l implica tions. "Narrativ e doubles" of this type thus hide the differences betwee n figure an d action by suspendin g causal judgments an d by evoking a the matics of suspension drawn from idyllic imagery. This suspension of th e crucial differenc e betwee n th e politica l values informing th e figure s an d the revelations of the plot hides the stormy discontinuities in the narrative of destiny under way—a "hiding" that generates an ostensible ideological coherence, however , onl y b y bringing deat h to the characters. "Suspension" itself is a trope, sinc e there is no middle ground o r other mediatio n between th e two version s thus generated; it is an ideological trope because it claim s a connection (o r a balance) between tw o thing s tha t need t o b e related fo r th e poem' s assertion s about th e legitimacy o f it s epi c task t o seem valid. I will treat these narrative doubles in the opening o f Chapte r 3 a s part o f a n extende d argumen t abou t th e politic s o f idylli c imagery . The second strategy depends upon the figure of catachresis, which con structs a collapsed analog y i n whic h on e o f th e fou r compare d term s i s missing. Virgil , wh o elsewher e ofte n overdetermine s hi s plot events , i n these cases represents a figurative event as actually occurring but doe s no t provide a matching literal event as any kind o f analogy for what i s going on. A catachresis differs from a metaphor in lacking any arena of similarity that migh t appea r to motivat e th e trope . Narrative s base d o n thi s cata -

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chrestic structure in the Aeneid therefor e tend to create "monstra" that are unreadable signs; they also make possible a counternarrative emphasizing that such a touching of figure and action appears within the action as madness, the very furor th e plot is designed to contain. Given their radical and violent effect , whic h i s often articulate d with image s of feminine power, such catachrestic narratives appear to have been a last resort, as it were, i n this epic. The technique of narrative doubling, whic h make s its ideological claim s more indirectl y and which allow s Virgi l to spea k with "tw o voices" (to use Adam Parry's term) , make s its costs less immediately ap parent withi n th e poem's economy . Th e strateg y of constructin g a narrative on a catachresis that elides the naturalistic explanation and thus ap parently resolves the conflict between figure and action is examined in the third section of this chapter, subtitled "Symbolic Distortion." The thir d an d fourth of Virgil' s strategie s both involv e th e narrator, and are treated together in Chapter 3 . The third strategy for making action and figur e appea r to touc h is the anthropomorphizing o f th e landscape, which depends on a kind of violent metonymy itself manifested in the text by the thematics of sacrifice . Th e personification of the Italian landscape in particular serves the text's ideologica l need s b y making th e land itsel f appear to recognize Aeneas's rightful claim, which clai m indirectly legitimizes th e poet' s correspondin g capacit y to giv e th e lan d a voice. Thi s strategy thus provides th e ideological tur n needed to make the figurative scheme appear to operate within the action, but in doing s o it also points to a death inscribed i n th e landscap e and a hidden violenc e i n th e ac t o f naming. The fourth strategy is based on the trope of apostrophe. Ostensibl y di rect addres s to character s and place s is a means of makin g th e event s o f the pas t seem present , bu t I will argu e that it serve s rather as a trope o f absence,3 marking th e deaths of the characters apostrophized an d indicating an unacknowledged connectio n between the poetry of lament and the willingness o f th e narrator to accep t violence as an inevitable cost of hi s hero's legitimacy. Anthropomorphism an d apostrophe are closely related, and indeed als o typify th e idyllic passages associated with Virgil' s us e of narrative doubling , a reminder tha t these strategies cannot b e separated except for theoretical purposes. The apostrophe allows the narrator to put himself in a position tha t appears to resemble that of the characters, mak ing i t seem a s if the events narrated are entirely beyond hi s control. Thi s troping o f th e narrator' s positio n extend s th e poem' s effort s t o demon strate the justice an d inevitability o f Aeneas's mission, but it also calls attention t o itself as a troping, thereb y beginning t o expose the ideological work it attempts to perform. These strategies do not allow the epic to have the kind of closure that,

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for instance , Jupiter's scrol l o f histor y migh t b e said to have, o r tha t th e poem's ideology call s for. Virgil hides the difference betwee n th e desire d formal closur e an d the uncontrollabl e spira l of narrativ e by claimin g a n analogy between narrative doubles that cannot be matched, by literalizing figures a s narrative events, b y personifyin g and giving voic e t o th e lan d so that i t ca n appear to spea k in favo r o f Aeneas , and by apostrophizin g the character s and the land t o emphasiz e the narrator's limite d powe r t o change th e events o f the plot. Eac h of these strategies has its costs, how ever, which disturb the narrative in one way or another. These indications of the ideological work done in each case can only be partial, but they open a ga p withi n th e poem , an d withi n an y interpretation o f it , tha t make s formal closur e impossible . In the opening o f the Third Georgic, Virgi l links his ambition t o writ e an epi c t o th e celebratio n o f empir e (se e Georgics III , 10-36 ) s o tha t th e writing of epic becomes a figure for the building of empire and vice versa.4 As national epi c poet Virgi l celebrate s those values he considers particu larly Roman, notabl y pietas, iustitia, and dementia, for which he argues particularly clearl y in moments o f dens e symbolic statemen t suc h as his de scription o f the Shield of Aeneas. 5 These value s are asserted clearly in the figurative scheme , an d are given a legitimizing power i n that, along with the Augustan Pax Romana, they explai n how th e Roman clai m to empir e might be see n a s just. Virgil' s epi c project, then , i s to demonstrat e thes e values in action in the shaping of Roma n history , a project rendered dif ficult from the beginning because they are articulated at the figurative level of the poem o f which th e characters have no understanding. 6 It is also rendered difficult , o f course, because of actual conflicts within Rome's system of values itself, especially the submerged contradiction be tween the city's imperial ambitions an d the civic ethos propounde d i n the Augustan program. Octavian' s shif t aroun d 40 B.C. t o a politics of reconstruction wo n hi m man y supporter s eager to leav e behind th e violence , chaos, an d civil war of the preceding decade. 7 His program stresse d mod eration, peace, the piety associated with the traditional Roman way of life , and also Roman dominatio n o f the Mediterranean world, whic h was seen as necessary to guarante e civilized life and to preserve peace.8 The forma l distinction betwee n figur e an d actio n i n th e Aeneid serve s in par t t o lay bare the contradiction betwee n thi s clai m to empire, centra l to Augustan glorification (o f Augustu s himsel f an d o f Rome), 9 an d th e othe r value s (moderation, piety , an d justice, fo r instance) that are treated as justifying it. Thi s is not, o f course , th e only contradictio n in Augustan values, bu t it seem s th e centra l one fo r thi s poem, an d is demonstrated i n particular in the contras t between th e call for moderation an d clemency an d the vi olent behavio r necessary to achieve conquest and to "pacify" the enemy.10

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1

In giving fictional body to this contradiction, the Aeneid als o generates a new kin d o f narrative aimed a t hiding suc h ideological breaks and lack of resolution. The idea that there is a division or even contradiction in Vir gilian value s i s hardl y a ne w one , th e principa l aren a o f disagreemen t among critics being the extent to which these contradictions are or are not resolved o r a t least balanced in a harmonious whole . Thu s whil e Ada m Parry stresse d the difference betwee n Virgil' s "publi c voice of triumph" and his "private voice of regret," Viktor Poschl argued that the poem re solves its "chiaroscurotic rhythm" of dark to light to dark in a poetics of balance: Virgil, h e suggests, "assume s a cosmic and historical continuit y in which neithe r darknes s nor light is dominant, bu t wher e th e contrasts are united i n a higher unity . Th e entit y is given a balance which, thoug h it ma y b e lost, i s time an d agai n regained." 11 Such analyses describe th e divisions within Virgil's poetry largely as an emotional conflict within the poet, perhaps expressive of a tension within Augustan values or in the philosophies of the time, but they tend to acknowledge neither the ideological moves necessary to bring these two "voices" into relation to one another, nor th e way in which th e poet use s his "voice of regret" or his sense of darkness and tragedy to strengthen the political plot. The rhetorica l an d ideologica l readin g I propose her e emphasizes , i n contrast to Parry or Poschl, th e juxtaposition o f differin g discourse s in voked i n the representation o f action on the one hand an d by the figure s on the other, t o try to describe the ways in which Virgi l "impersonates, " to use Harry Berger' s term, th e differing figure s o f the poet and the nar rator who tel l us the story of Aeneas. 12 This method suggest s that there is no necessar y identificatio n between Virgi l th e poet , o r wha t migh t b e called the voice of the text, wit h eithe r the represented action or the fig ures, an d it allows us instead to focus o n the ways in which th e text jux taposes them, set s them in opposition, o r works to elide their differences , displacing, enabling, o r legitimizing in these ways the celebration of Ro man power. I n the beginning o f the poem, th e narrator identifies himself directly with the epic task and with the unfurling of the ostensibly rational and male-identifie d historica l "fate " o f Aenea s an d Rome , bu t Virgil' s own identification is more dispersed , more ambivalent, mor e ironic, an d finally mor e fragmentary . Thus wha t Berge r ha s recently argued is true of Theocritu s is also the case in the Aeneid: he stresses "a peculiar property of the written text " to enable and encourage "the dissociatio n of Voices ' from th e text so that they may be objectified, impersonated , and parodied as embodiments o f ethical, social , political, an d cultural attitudes." Thi s property makes accessible to the writer "an interpretive standpoint giving the text power over what it displaces and impersonates" ("Origin s of Bu colic Representation, " p . 6) . This textua l power i s the othe r sid e of th e

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poem's ideological work : it is not all-encompassing , bu t i t doe s sugges t how th e poe m ma y begin t o pas s judgment o n the very ideological an d metaphorical processe s that engage it. Thus the poem's ideological move s may wor k t o vei l certai n of its constitutive contradictions , bu t t o som e extent a t least we see through the veil. What makes this situation complicated, however , i s that the narrator who speak s with the voice o f "I" in the poe m ma y no t b e permitte d precisel y thi s secondar y ac t of vision . Whether h e speak s with th e voice o f regre t o r celebration , th e narrator whom Virgi l "impersonates " i s dramatize d a s someon e unabl e o r un willing to read the critical counternarrative the text generates by allowin g this seeing through the veil of its ideological and metaphorical work. Thus the "voic e of regret, " for instance, play s an important rol e i n justifying the fiction of violence, thoug h the speaker whom the text "impersonates" cannot see that it has this figurative function. The reader's act of seeing is, of course , neve r total or complete: it may be, in different ways , a s partial as that of the narrator. The ideological wor k of making an analogy, of positing a congruence in the narrative between actio n and figure, thu s becomes one of the text' s two centra l poeti c projects , th e othe r bein g precisel y th e invocatio n o f those discourses of representation that displace or criticize these processes. This ideological effor t ( a peculiarly epic labor) lead s to a redefinition of th e central term pietas, which come s to link Aeneas to the plot of fate. Befor e Virgil, pietas had not constituted the outstanding characteristic of Aeneas, who appear s in legend rathe r as a great warrior,13 but in the Aeneid, pietas becomes th e term o f value used to indicate Aeneas's (not always willing ) submission t o the structure of events ordained by fate for reasons he can not understand. A s a Roman value imposed retrospectivel y on the heroic story, pietas also becomes th e thematic marker of the trope of metalepsis or.retrospection, the trope by which Virgil's circl e of legitimization i s allowed t o function . Wha t i s metalepsis fo r th e historica l ordering o f th e poem (the Roman epi c looks back at the time of Aeneas and finds Roma n values already in evidence) is prolepsis in its poetics and in its theme (pas t events are shown to prefigure future event s just a s the poetic figures pre figure the events in the narrative). These two create the circular movemen t by whic h ideolog y work s i n thi s poe m t o legitimize th e dua l project o f empire an d epic, but by definition Aeneas remains outside of this process and thus cannot act with the authority with which the poem invest s him . Aeneas's ignorance o f th e political claim s posited i n the poetic figure s thus i n itself define s a central dilemma Virgi l face d i n seeking t o creat e a national epic based on this double figurative system of legitimization. 14 It creates a division i n the poem tha t corresponds t o a division i n Augustan

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political values; this division, which remains unacknowledged at the level of plot, make s possible the kinds of indirect acknowledgmen t an d com ment o n th e poem' s ideologica l wor k tha t com e t o constitut e a secon d meta-story withi n th e poem . I n this chapte r I argue that the movemen t from a moment i n which a given value is seen as contradicting other cen tral cultural claims—a moment arisin g from conflicts between the repre sentation of action and the account given of it in the figures—to a moment of recuperatio n i n whic h cultura l coherenc e i s reasserte d matche s th e movement withi n th e story from figure to narrative and then to the sym bolic reinscription of the figural claims. This reinscription signals one occasion when the text both trie s to resolve temporarily the opposition be tween the two and , in another register, makes the inadequacy of these efforts apparent . These ideological and poetic forms imply an d depend o n one another, eac h reproducing th e other in a different register , with nei ther taking priority.15 In th e conclusio n t o th e Secon d Georgic , Virgi l define s happines s as deriving from the ability to know th e causes of things, thoug h he uses a rhetoric o f modesty , prevaricatin g about whether h e can claim this hap piness for himself : felix qu i potuit reru m cognoscere causas atque metus ornnis et inexorabile fatu m subiecit pedibu s strepitumque Acherontis auari: fortunatus e t ille deos qui nouit agrestis Panaque Siluanumque sene m Nymphasqu e sorores . ilium no n populi fasces , no n purpura regum flexit et infidos agitan s discordia fratres. (Georgics II , 49O-96) 16

Happy th e man who has been able to come to know the causes of things, an d cast beneath his feet al l fear an d inexorable (unswerving ) fate and the rumbling o f greedy Acheron. Fortunat e also is he wh o knows the woodland gods , Pa n and old Silvanus and the sister nymphs. N o suprem e office s o f the people nor the purple of king s can move him, no r discord urgin g o n treacherous brothers (i n violence agains t each other).

In apparent simplicity thi s passag e argues that knowledge o f cause s and (or) knowledg e o f th e woodlan d god s an d way s ca n protect th e min d against desir e for fam e an d agains t the strai n and anguis h inevitable in a public life. Knowledge of causes is accorded in particular the power to fre e the mind fro m the terror of death and from fear of all kinds, o f whatever fate ma y bring. 17 Knowledge o f religiou s rituals and rural ways also can free the spirit, though Virgil evokes the woodland gods in part to establish

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a generic opposition . Suc h knowledge ca n protect one from being draw n into civil wars and, as the passage goes on to state, from being tempted t o act as an epic hero (or to write an epic) or as the hero of a national historical narrative: "sollicitan t ali i remis fret a caeca , ruuntque/i n ferrum , pene trant aulas et limina regum; / hie petit excidiis urbem miserosque penatis," "Others distur b th e blind—o r unseen , obscure—sea s wit h oars , rus h headlong ont o the sword, an d press into the courts and across the thresh olds of kings ; one brings ruin to a city and its pitiful homes" (Georgics II , 503-5). The distinction between the happiness of the simple rural woodsman an d that of the sophisticated city dweller and public leader is aligned by implicatio n wit h th e distinctio n betwee n th e peac e enjoye d b y th e writer o f a poem abou t causes (a philosophical poem) or about woodlan d gods an d the struggle undertaken by a writer o f epic. This passage is not a s straightforward as it seems , however , fo r i t re mains somewhat uncertain whether the happiness of the felix knower of causes is the same as the good fortune of the person (fortunatus) who knows the woodland gods. 18 Virgil leaves it unclear whether the latter provides an intensification of or an alternative to the former. On on e possible interpretation, th e knowing o f causes is proper specifically to th e frame work o f thos e part s of th e Georgics concerne d wit h natura l philosophy, parts that apparently exclude the farmers and certainly exclude the political genr e o f epic ; the more genera l evocation o f "woodlan d gods" thus includes the Eclogues. This reading is borne out by the allusion to an idyllic relation to nature in the description of the fields and trees bearing fruit "o f their ow n fre e will," "ipsa . . . sponte" (Georgics II , 500-501) , a pastoral trope and a generic marker;19 the allusion is echoed in the preceding apostrophe t o th e happy farmers (II, 458), where, wit h a similar abundance, the earth was said to pour forth its fruits unbidde n and by itself" ("ipsa," II, 459) . Here Virgil blurs the line between his affirmations i n the Georgics and in the Eclogues, just a s he links the two i n the concluding lines of th e Georgics (IV , 559-66) . Th e kin d o f happines s in thi s secon d cas e is dis tinct, however, fro m that made possible by philosophical knowledge: hav ing the good fortun e to know th e rural gods and to hear the voices of the landscape can protect one from the pains of heroic enterprise, but this happiness doe s no t provid e th e mor e powerfu l protectio n agains t fat e an d Acheron itsel f tha t knowing cause s can do. Th e farmer s would b e even happier, Virgil says, should they come to know an d recognize their bless ings (II , 458-59), bu t the rural happiness he describes does not in fact in volve or even allow for such knowledge. Th e rural happiness that comes with a life in harmony wit h loca l religious tradition and with the woodland god s appear s here to necessitat e a certain limitation, o r suspension, of precisely the kind of knowledg e that Virgil sees as desirable.

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The poet hesitate s about wher e t o locate himself, makin g th e distinction between th e two al l the more clear : he asks first that the Muses ma y show him th e pathways of the sky and the stars, and make clear all astronomical and geological phenomena, suc h as eclipses, earthquakes, and the changing lengths of the day and night. I f fear or inability keeps him fro m achieving suc h heights, however , h e urges himself the n t o deligh t i n the countryside. Th e passag e ends wit h th e paradigmaticall y pastora l wis h that h e migh t b e se t in th e cool protectin g glad e of Haemus , unde r th e branches' hug e shad e ("o qui me gelidis convallibu s Haemi / sis tat e t in genti ramorum protega t umbra!" Georgics II, 488-89). If I cannot achieve knowledge, th e poe t says , let me enjo y th e beautie s of a poetry tha t can make audible the voices of the woodlands, a relation to the landscape established at the expense of the attainment of knowledge . It is precisely this knowledge o f cause s that Aeneas is persistently de nied throughout his epic. Comparing Aeneas' s own estimation of himsel f at th e en d o f th e poem—"disce , puer , virtute m e x m e verumqu e la borem, /fortuna m e x aliis" ("learn , son , valo r fro m m e an d tru e labor , good fortun e from others, " Aeneid XII , 435-36) 20—with thes e passages from th e Georgics, on e note s tha t Aenea s consider s himsel f t o hav e achieved neithe r th e goo d fortun e Virgil attribute d t o thos e tha t live i n harmony wit h the woodland god s nor the happiness of the felix knowe r of causes . Neithe r felix no r fortunatus, Aenea s find s himsel f exclude d from both kinds of happiness. 21 At times in the epic he does appear to have precisely the kind of close relationship to the landscape and the woodlan d gods that Virgil cites in the Georgics as being necessary for such happiness, but in his case, too, th e shift into explicitly pastoral or woodland imager y measures a loss, an d heralds a suspension of notion s o f causality. Two separate distinctions, then , ar e offered b y this dense passage in the Georgics: on e between narrative poetry associated with politic s (epic ) and the largel y nonnarrativ e Georgics an d Eclogues, an d on e betwee n poetr y that brings knowledge o f causes (some parts of the Georgics perhaps ) and poetry that suspends the search for causes (other parts of the Georgics an d the Eclogues). 22 I n Virgil's epic , th e searc h for cause s will b e paramount, but his narrative design consistently makes such knowledge unattainable. The kind of knowledge sough t in the Georgics and the more genera l good fortune attribute d to hi s happy and reverent landscap e dwellers ar e per haps possible in part because these nonnarrative poems do not attemp t to treat the imaginative problem of how much an individual actor can know of the larger design or plot of the action in which he participates. The text's representation of Aeneas's ignorance of causes and the traces it includes of the ethica l an d politica l effect s o f thi s ignoranc e allo w u s t o identif y an ironizing, self-critica l counternarrative within th e text of the Aeneid.

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HEROIC IGNORANCE In the first sentenc e of the Aeneid, Virgi l moves through history from th e arms of Aeneas to the walls of high Rome, displayin g the wide historica l scope o f th e poem whil e disguisin g th e more limite d scop e of hi s hero' s understanding. I n hi s invocation , however , h e appear s t o tur n bac k against this first, apparentl y clear assertion of order to question the reasons for Aeneas' s suffering : "Musa , mih i causa s memora . . . tantaene animis caelestibus irae? " (" O Muse , tel l m e th e causes . . . . Ca n ther e b e such anger i n heavenl y hearts? " ) Hi s invocatio n mark s his project a s a search for causes , but in the moment h e begins to explain the reasons or motive s for hi s plot h e interrupts himself i n order to question them. Throughou t the poem, an d especially again in the last book (e.g. , XII, 500-504) , Virgi l explicitly interrogate s the entire figurative structure he has created to explain the action of hi s poem, thereb y reminding hi s readers that, thoug h the poem's assertion s of authority may imply otherwise , thei r position— and thei r poet' s position—doe s no t diffe r greatl y fro m tha t o f Aeneas . Fate, whic h woul d see m t o guarante e any aetiology, remain s finall y in explicable, th e outlin e o f a plot tha t the poe t present s both himsel f an d Jupiter, th e principal assistant to the narrator within the text, as being con strained to follow. Whethe r understood a s an apotheosis, or divinized figure, of the plot or of the author's need to tell a story at all, or, alternatively, as a way t o make poetic sense of a political obligation for the story to end up i n a specific place, fate—in bot h its explanatory and mystifying func tions—remains articulated as an aspect of the poem's figuration. 23 In keeping the division absolut e between these two part s of its story, an d in call ing attention to the artifice of his narrator's subjection to "fate," the Aeneid both define s and establishes some distance on its own aesthetic and political categories . Following th e invocation , th e narrato r mention s severa l possibl e causes, al l at the level of mytholog y an d poetic figure: he explains Juno's general oppositio n t o Aenea s an d describe s th e origi n o f th e storm . Aeneas and his men hardly appear in the midst o f all this causation (they earn only a brief mentio n a s the poem begins) until they are firmly caught in the snare of Juno's storm. Th e story o f how and why th e storm aros e comes firs t fo r Virgil, an d is followed b y the picture of the human actors struggling to survive its onslaught. The temporal ordering of this opening scene clearl y present s a radical gap in perspectiv e between wha t w e un derstand through the poem's figuration and what the characters experience or understand . The explanation Virgil provides at the opening of the poem begins with

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the conflicting imperial ambitions o f Rom e an d Carthage. Thi s explana tion suggest s a retrospective structure of significanc e by which late r his torical events are represented a s causes contemporary wit h the actio n o f the poem. Thi s implicit acknowledgment of the poem's retrospective politics i s immediately displaced , however , b y a mythical explanatio n tha t turns us back to the Trojan War and the events that provoked it. The causae irarum ("causes of anger," I , 25) that are the most distant in history are the three eroti c insult s t o Juno associate d with the Trojan royal family—th e descent of their ancestor Dardanus from the union of Jupiter an d Electra, Juno's rival; the judgment o f Paris ; and the "privileges given t o ravished Ganymede" ("rapt i Ganymedi s honores," I, 28) . The doubl e tur n fro m future t o past and from politics to erotic explanations serves as a figure in small of the ideological turn of the whole poem, whic h disguise s the pol itics of the story in the tale of sexual and erotic involvement an d rivalry. Sexuality provide s a figurative vei l fo r imperia l politic s throughou t th e poem, an d almost always signals just such a turn to figuration. The allu sions to femal e sexualit y thus participate in a politics o f scapegoatin g by which female eroticism becomes both the figure that hides the poem's im perialism and the source blamed for most of the obstacles to Aeneas's "success" a s founder of Rome . Thus , eve n within th e figurative scheme , th e poem moves from one causal explanation to another, so that each becomes an allegor y fo r th e nex t rathe r tha n a clea r explanatio n o f events . Th e poet's opening question continue s to resound, for all the figurative effort s to answer it, and , in any case, all of the causes the poet adumbrates in the opening provid e explanations of which th e characters remain ignorant . Aeneas, fo r instance , begin s th e poe m (i n his second speech ) longin g for a n end to the action: "o socii. . . / o passi graviora, dabit deus his quoque finem " (I , 198-99 ; " O comrade s . . . O yo u who hav e borne eve n worse sufferings , Go d will gran t an end to this too"). As was the case in the Iliad, t o reach his ending is to achieve the stance of distance, a position like that of poet or readers who ar e not, excep t metaphorically, involve d in th e action ; reaching this en d is also, of course , precisel y what Aenea s and his men will never be able to do, as the final scenes of the poem mak e clear. I t i s from th e positio n o f ending—fro m th e positio n o f a fate ac complished—that th e actio n ma y al l make sense ; without th e abilit y t o look bac k a t th e warfar e fro m th e wall s o f Rome , n o clea r patter n o r meaning o f the story emerges. Virgil' s hero long s for that distanc e but is never abl e to achiev e it, an d it may well be , a s Helen Baco n ha s argued, that this disjunctio n allows for an extension o f "Rome " into a transcen dental future that, by definition, no human being can achieve within a lifetime.24

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In speaking o f a hoped-for end , Aenea s points t o th e distinctive tem porality of his story, whic h itself refers proleptically to the Roman epoc h in which the struggles and costs of the effort o f foundation can be valued at a distance. Echoing Odysseu s and the Homeric epi c construct by whic h distanced listener s ar e imagined t o enjo y songs abou t anguishin g event s in the past, Aeneas says, "forsan e t haec olim meminisse iuvabit" (I, 203; "Some day , perhaps , rememberin g eve n this/Wil l b e a pleasure," F I, 277—78). His words emphasiz e the temporal gap between thos e involve d who suffe r an d those distant and uninvolved spectators who ca n enjoy the beauty of the epic story. Similarly, the involved Aeneas who sees in Dido's temple representation s o f th e war—themselve s figure s fo r th e epi c tra dition—weeps, an d feels pai n in telling his story to the queen. Th e plea sure that comes fro m distance is not availabl e to Aeneas within th e scope of the poem, nor the understanding or knowledge that distant observers— such as the Roman readers—ma y have. Understanding , knowledge , an d the pleasur e that come s wit h the m ar e figured here , then , a s the future , while suffering an d feigned hope constitute the characters' present. Virgi l tells his readers explicitly that the words Aeneas speaks to his companion s do no t expres s his feelings (I, 208-9), thereb y emphasizin g tha t the cer tainty an d reassuranc e o f th e retrospectiv e vie w ar e no t availabl e t o Aeneas.25 Virgil thu s uses and radicalizes the epic distinction between heroi c action an d poeti c figure—whic h I have argue d i s at work i n th e Iliad —to produce the picture of a hero who must act in ignorance of both the causes of hi s troubles and the motives fo r or consequence s of hi s actions. 26 Th e opening line s of the poem link the poet's figuration—including his use of the narrator himself an d of poetic imagery, mythology, an d the gods—to the plot o f Roma n history , th e destiny o r fate tha t shapes the story, sug gesting tha t "history" itself, being a narrative that can trope event s to fi t its outline , i s a figure, perhap s the principa l figure i n thi s poem . Thes e lines revea l tha t causatio n and understandin g o f cause s exist onl y a t th e level o f figure . Aeneas knows nothin g o f the causes of the storm, o r in deed o f th e cause s of an y o f th e struggle s i n whic h h e i s engaged . Al though h e i s given variou s hints abou t his destiny, th e ga p betwee n hi s point o f vie w an d that o f the reader who hear s the history o f Rom e re hearsed (i n speeches suc h as Jupiter's catalogu e in Book I) remains abso lute. The inscription of the Roman reader in the poem has the effect, then , of reinforcin g th e separation of historica l allegory from the action, sinc e history, cause , and result all enter the poem only through the poetic figures aimed a t futur e reader s wh o ca n understan d them . Virgil' s concep t o f heroism represents an interpretation o f what thi s absolute gap means for

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the characters: Aeneas as hero is asked to find a way to act in ignorance, a situation i n which , th e poe m suggests , huma n being s i n genera l fin d themselves. Causae mus t be understood both a s the motives o r grounds of huma n action an d a s political causes , thos e tha t fictionall y giv e motio n t o th e events and those that constitute the determining limits of the political discourses Virgil invokes. I n the Georgics and in the epic by implication, Vir gil suggest s tha t t o ac t ethically, an d t o attai n a desired freedo m o f th e mind, th e individual must lear n the rerum causae, but th e epic distinctio n between actio n and figure serves consistently to keep the characters from this knowledge. Virgil' s belief in the moral importance of such knowledge in part explains his interest in aetiology and in myths o f foundation, and the consistency with which th e narrator is treated as desiring to represent causes. This desire is constantly frustrated by the poem's own division be tween action and figure, whic h itself is made necessary in part by the turn toward origins: in order to include stories of causation and origin of which the character s are necessarily not awar e (suc h as decisions mad e b y th e gods), th e narrator is forced t o maintain a radical gap between th e action and his poetic figuration. Thus Aeneas, who is engaged in founding a city, knows nothing , remain s ignarus, o f the origins o f hi s actions. Hi s ignorance creates a complicated division in the poem: plot s of origin functio n generally, a s indeed thi s on e does , a s plots o f legitimization , bu t whil e pressing home the claims to legitimacy with which the story endows Au gustus an d Rome, th e Aeneid simultaneousl y provides it s readers with a picture of what it means to act without acces s to this kind o f legitimiza tion.27 A list of those figurative devices in the poem tha t convey essentia l information of which Aeneas remains ignorant is surprisingly large, in spite of the many visions and omens given him in his journey. First , of course, Aeneas remains ignorant of the plot of Rome tha t Jupiter propose s in his catalogue of Roman history in I, 257-96, and of all the glimpses of futur e Roman custom s an d lineages given the narrator and reader. As he suffer s through the storm tha t opens the poem, he does not know that Venus and Jupiter ar e discussing th e future benefits to Rome o f hi s struggles. Furor Impius ca n be bound i n chains at the end of Jupiter's narrativ e and mad e to functio n as a static image of the ideal end of Roma n politics, bu t suc h furor whe n it appears in the narrative has no shape, and can be recognized only as a destructive, apparently uncontainable narrative force. (Virgil, of course, give s it a number o f temporar y shape s throughout th e story bu t none o f the m i s the shape of furor, whic h i s felt i n th e stor y rathe r a s a deforming o r misshaping forc e than as any kind o f shape at all.) Jupiter's

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scroll provides a picture of one aspect of the Aeneid itself , expressing an d at the sam e time representin g th e figurative and temporal schem e o f th e poem throug h whic h th e narrator attempts to dra w togethe r al l his epi sodes to make the "furor" o f war and conquest into a meaningful pattern carefully assemble d fo r th e retrospectiv e reader . Withi n th e represente d action, however , fat e doe s no t functio n as it doe s on Jupiter's scroll , no r does it appear as such to Aeneas. Aeneas also remains ignorant of the poem's explicit poetic figures—fo r instance, the epic similes, which Virgil links in the first simile of the poem to th e poem' s mytholog y (I , 148-56) , an d the narrator's forma l laments for th e dyin g characters , as well as his many apostrophes to them. Whil e the apostrophe i s a trope that has the ostensible effect o f making the char acters seem a s if they were present to the narrator, it most ofte n work s i n the opposite way. Lik e the scroll of Jupiter, whic h seem s able to establis h a formal as well a s a historical continuity tha t cannot exist within th e ac tion, apostroph e make s th e poet' s utterance s see m al l the mor e distan t from th e characters, who ca n know nothin g o f his many attempts to address them (an d whose fate s explicitl y canno t be affected b y apostrophe s or lamentation) . Thi s ritua l level o f th e poem, whic h provide s a consolation i n th e collectiv e evocatio n an d expressio n o f grief , remain s inac cessible to the characters. Aeneas remains ignorant, in short, o f the poetic economy o f th e text—o f th e narrator's comments t o his readers and his many invocation s t o heavenl y a s well a s darker powers—and o f th e im plicit narrativ e economy tha t establishe s a sacrificial orde r o f whic h th e characters are necessarily unaware. Aeneas's ignorance o f the motive s o f hi s actions is well demonstrate d in hi s firs t encounte r wit h hi s mother , who m h e recognizes onl y a s she disappears. He chases her with hi s words, asking : quid natum totiens, crudeli s tu quoque, falsi s ludis imaginibus? cur dextrae iungere dextram non datu r ac veras audire et reddere voces? (I, 407-9) You, als o so cruel, why d o you trick your son so often wit h empt y images (phantoms) ? Why am I not allowe d t o join han d to hand and hear and speak true words?

After wha t appear s to hav e been actua l contact with hi s mother, Aenea s complains that he has been given only false images—empty or vain phan toms tha t carr y no certai n reality and tell no truth . And , indeed , Venu s has told him all he needs to know abou t Dido herself—enough t o suggest metaphorically som e o f the qualities that may attract Aeneas—but nothing abou t th e scheme s i n whic h she , Venus , i s currently involved . Di -

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rected by a figure of love and therefore producing among other things an allegory of how Aeneas comes to love Dido, thes e schemes also admit of a different interpretation , fo r they indicate the way in which eroti c ener gies may become implicated in historical destiny. In either case, Aeneas is not give n an y informatio n abou t th e actua l cause of wha t happen s be tween him and Dido, o r about its significance; he is told rather only thos e things tha t woul d lea d him to desire to stay with her. Th e hand-to-han d contact (dextrae iungere dextram) h e desire s with hi s mother—th e joining of mortal and immortal—occurs only rarel y in this poem, an d then ofte n with a damaging or disfigurin g effect o n the character. 28 A brief look at moments when the "causa" of events is mentioned spe cifically in the narrative can suggest the extent to which th e characters are severally cast in Aeneas's position—unable to recognize or understand (or join hands with, "dextra e iungere dextram") th e motive o f the action in which the y ar e involved, whethe r tha t motive i s private and personal or political. Th e firs t referenc e to "causa " comes , a s I have noted , i n th e opening invocation , i n which th e narrator states that he too finds the true causes of the events he plans to describe impenetrable. Her e th e "causae" are said to emanate from the gods, an d in particular from Juno an d from Jupiter himself . Sinc e Jupiter serve s as a figure fo r the narrator's own au thority, thi s transference simply redirects the question without providin g any greate r certainty, and it locates the caus e of th e actio n clearly in th e figurative scheme , no t o n th e plan e of th e action . Th e cause s of Juno' s wrath ar e also, a s we have seen, located in th e mythology o f th e Trojan War and of Jupiter's earlier , originary sexual exploits. The causes of events become no clearer when Virgil gets into the matter of hi s story. The earlies t glimpse of the Trojans in the poem show s the m being tricke d b y Sino n precisel y because , a s Aeneas puts it, "tur n ver o ardemus scitar i et quaerere causas" (II , 105 ) ("the n indee d burnin g wit h curiosity w e seek to know an d ask the causes"). The Trojans prove as ignorant of causes and motives as Aeneas claims they are of wickedness and deceit (II , 106), an d their curiosit y about the motives o f the Greeks loses them thei r city. Shortl y thereafter, they agai n demonstrate their inability to interpret event s correctly or to learn the causes of events in the "por tent" of the twin serpent s that attack Laocoon. Thi s even t is given no explanation in the narrative (since Aeneas is narrator, an d he does no t un derstand it): it is clear only that the Trojans misread the "portent" (if it is one), but it remains uncertain how the y might hav e understood i t better. Dido's first words t o Aeneas, once she has overcome her wonder, sim ilarly concer n hi s fat e an d its causes , though sh e does no t us e th e wor d explicitly:

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quis te , nat e dea, pe r tanta pericula casus insequitur? qua e vis immanibus applica t oris ? (I, 615-16 ) Born of an immorta l Mother though you are, what adverse destin y Dogs you through these many kind s o f danger? What roug h power brings yo u from se a to land In savage places? (F I, 840-44 )

These questions are displaced by Dido's welcome and by Venus's scheming until the end of Book I, whereupon the only answer Aeneas can give, since he himself doe s not understan d wh y h e is driven b y fate , i s his narrative of the Fall of Troy , whic h itsel f illustrates the Trojans' inability to under stand the causes of events. The displacemen t of "causas" onto a narrative already suggest s tha t suc h a n understanding remain s inaccessibl e t o th e participants i n th e events—o r a t least tha t th e onl y understandin g the y have o f th e event s is a narrative one, whil e th e narrator seeks to groun d the action in "causas" tha t precede narrative and exist outside of it. Thus in Book II , when Venu s reveals to Aeneas the "true" action sur rounding him , tha t revelation places the blame on the gods: non tib i Tyndaridis fade s invis a Lacaenae culpatusve Paris, divu m inclementia , divum , has evertit ope s sternitqu e a culmine Troiam . (II, 601-3) You must no t hold that woman of Laconia , That hated face , th e cause of this, no r Paris . The harsh wil l of the gods it is, the gods, That overthrows the splendor o f this plac e And brings Tro y fro m he r height int o the dust . (F II, 790-94)

The Latin speaks here of "blame" rather than of "cause": in fact, the vision does not explain the "harsh will" of the gods, but instead simply indicates that it exists . Sinc e th e god s serv e as a figurative representatio n here fo r the narrative processes themselves—they make it possible to represent the events in a different mode—an d as figures for the greater forces of history, the revelation of their presence serves only to tell Aeneas (or to express his realization) that forces greater than he are impelling the action in which h e must tak e part. The motive s o r cause s o f these forces remai n obscur e in spite of the vision . Moreover, eve n th e natur e of th e revelatio n itsel f remain s obscured .

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Venus appear s to Aenea s much a s a dream vision—a figur e o f illumina tion, rathe r tha n illuminatio n itself—an d sh e tells him tha t sh e will tea r away the dark cloud of mortal vision that blinds him; she provides a clear allegorical reading of the scene before them that claims a one-to-one cor respondence between events and their causes. According to her, the events serve a s signifiers pointin g t o divin e actors—pile s o f stone s tor n fro m stones, fo r instance, represent Neptune a t work (II , 608-12). But Aeneas is mor e circumspec t abou t wha t h e actuall y sees in thi s ostensibl y un fogged momen t o f vision : apparent dira e facies inimicaque Troia e numina magna deum. (II , 622-23) There appear befor e m e terrible shapes, an d the mighty powers of divinities hostile to Troy. 29

The difficult y wit h thi s statement lies in the unusual degree of ambiguity of severa l of Aeneas' s key words : eve n "facies, " whic h seem s to tak e its most literal meaning here of "shape" or "form," can also mean both "ap pearance" o r "externa l form " an d "aspect, " "nature, " o r "character. " More complicated, however, i s "numina," which carries the sense of bot h "the divin e will" and "divine power," or "majesty" o r even "divinity itself." Aeneas thus may be saying not that he sees the gods, but that he sees the power o f the gods—the force of their divinity—in the scenes around him a t Troy. H e ma y be saying that he suddenly sa w these scenes of de struction in a new way , a s indications of the horrible powe r o f the gods , but h e is cagey about his vision and never claims to have seen the allegor ical transfer Venu s describes.30 Whatever Aeneas may hav e seen as Venus took th e fog from his eyes, he certainl y di d no t lear n th e cause s of th e event s revealed . Similarly , throughout Boo k II I (an d elsewhere in the poem), Aenea s is directed by omens an d oracle s tha t consistentl y la y ou t th e narrativ e schem e bu t never it s causes or justifications. The omen s serv e to legitimize his journey—although even the myth of a return to family origins is represented as sufficientl y ambivalen t t o admi t t o a doubl e interpretation , a s An chises' recognitio n o f thei r "doubl e ancestr y an d twofol d parentage " ("agnovit prolem ambigua m geminosque parentis," III, 180) indicates— but the y d o not explai n th e reasons for it, i n terms eithe r o f caus e or o f historical purpose. Lik e Venus, they remai n ambiguou s sign s that poin t out a direction, indicatin g tha t the poem mus t tak e a particular narrative route o r even that it must remai n a narrative, without providin g knowledge abou t motivatio n o r cause . Aeneas' s visio n thu s exemplifie s ho w heroic ignoranc e an d allegorica l reading become correlativ e in th e text ,

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the one making th e other inevitable , an d vice versa. Through thi s ironi c correlation, th e proble m o f cause—an d o f th e circularit y suggeste d i n the doubl e functio n o f figure s a s "causes" of th e actio n an d expression s of it—serve s not onl y a s an important themati c index t o the complexit y of th e epic' s narratio n bu t a s an emblem fo r th e circularit y of epi c nar rative, a s it move s fro m allegor y t o even t t o reallegorizatio n o r reinter pretation. The characters are often partly unaware of the causes of even their ow n actions. Did o remains a central example, telling Aeneas in Book I that she will befriend him because she too has experience of misfortune: "non ignara mali miseris succerrere disco" (I, 630; "Not being unacquainted with suffering, I am learning to help the unhappy"). Her famous line points t o the kind o f knowledg e th e epic protagonists may have: experience o r acquaintance with sufferin g o f al l kinds. Sh e remains, nonetheless , t o th e poet, "insci a Dido" (I, 718), not understanding the causes or the reasons— with which th e narrator acquaints his readers—of he r emotions o r reac tions. Sufferin g i s not a form of knowledge in the narrative of the Aeneid, at leas t not a form tha t bring s understandin g o f cause s and henc e no t a form that gives any glimpse into the sorts of meanings the narrator claims for hi s story. Throughou t hi s visit in Carthage, Aenea s too remain s un aware of the divine machinations that serve to motivate the action. Virgil asserts th e ignoranc e o f th e participant s over an d ove r i n th e narrative, pointing t o the blindness even o f the priests in Carthage's temple s whe n they perfor m th e rites by which Did o assuage s her conscience: "heu, va tum ignara e mentes! " (IV , 65 ; "Alas , wha t unknowin g mind s hav e seers"). This line also hints at a possible blindness in his own poetic vision, and thus direct s the reader toward th e implicit criticis m of the narrator's assertions about histor y tha t such self-reflexive commentar y make s pos sible. Th e hin t ca n be extended t o th e whol e poem , fo r it embodie s th e poem's realizatio n that the kinds o f discursiv e textualization that it prac tices in criticizin g th e claim s of th e "epi c narrator" ca n be applied t o its "vision" as a whole, includin g it s giving of textual form to the competition, opposition , mutua l parodying, an d mutual displacement among it s competing cultura l and generic discourses. Virgil expresse s Aeneas's ignorance of the larger forces a t work i n his story in the simile tha t presents Dido as a wounded deer : uritur infelix Dido totaqu e vagatur urbe furens, quali s coniecta cerva sagitta, quam procul incautam nemora inter Cresia fixi t pastor agens telis liquitque volatile ferrum

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nescius: ilia fuga silva s saltusque peragrat Dictaeos; haeret later! letalis harundo. (IV, 68-73)

Unlucky Dido , burning, i n her madness Roamed through al l the city, like a doe Hit b y an arrow shot from far away By a shepherd hunting in the Cretan woods— Hit by surprise, nor could the hunter see His flying steel had fixed itsel f in her; But thoug h sh e runs for life through copse and glade The fata l shaf t cling s to her side. (F IV, 95-102)

The shepher d her e is said to be "nescius," "unknowing," an image tha t seems to refer t o Aeneas, who i s often said to be unaware of his effect o n Dido.31 The emphasis on the shepherd's lack of knowledge, however , sug gests that "nescius" points not simply to Aeneas's blindness to such effect s but to his more general ignorance of the causes and greater forces involve d in his affection for Dido and in hers for him. The simile brilliantly portrays Dido's state of mind whil e also suggesting how completel y oblivious are both protagonists t o th e causes of their emotions . I t represents precisely that aspec t of thei r stor y o f whic h the y remai n necessaril y ignorant, a s they remain ignorant of the fated nature of their encounter, o n which th e simile insists in its mention o f the "letalis," "fatal," arrow. 32 Even as Aeneas sails away Virgil stresses his ignorance: Aeneas and his men look back at the flames in Carthage from out at sea, and they are con cerned bu t unawar e of wha t ha s caused them: "quae tantu m accenderi t ignem/causa latet " (V , 4-5;/"What cause d tha t blaze / Remained un known," F V, 5-6). Virgil uses the line break after the interrogative clause to emphasize "causa latet," "the caus e remained unknown" or "hidden," a phrase that suggests a more genera l lack of knowledge . No t onl y doe s Aeneas not know wha t caused the flames he sees from the sea; he does not know the cause of any of the flames that have burned throughout hi s engagement with Dido. Lack of knowledg e abou t the power an d origins o f erotic feelings also limits Aeneas' s response to th e Sibyl' s prophecy , whic h ostensibl y com municates the "caus a mali " tha t will troubl e his endeavors in Italy . Th e Sibyl, possesse d by the god, tell s him: causa mali tanti coniunx iterum hospita Teucris externique iterum thalami. (VI, 93-94)

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The caus e of sufferin g her e agai n will be A bride foreig n t o Teucrians , a marriag e Made with a stranger . (FVI, 140-42 )

As a description of th e cause s of the war in Italian soil, th e Sibyl' s expla nation leave s somethin g t o b e desired , thoug h he r implicatio n tha t th e Trojans will fin d themselve s repeating their history is important. He r de scription o f th e causa mali her e suggest s that erotic engagemen t pose s a central dilemma, thoug h th e comment als o obscures the function of po litical conflic t in th e las t six books. Ero s i s a major cause, of course , i n Amata's ravings , an d even in Turnus' s responses, 33 but th e cause s of thi s erotic compulsion remai n hidden from Aeneas as they do from Amata and Turnus. Rather than being enlightened by the Sibyl's prophecy, which in deed does not figur e importantly in Aeneas's later calculations, Aeneas is left with little choice but to accept her advice that he face his troubles mor e bravely than his fate will allow (a Stoic maxim). Afte r th e Sibyl' s prophecy, th e narrator' s comment s o n he r word s cas t furthe r doub t o n thei r meaning: Talibus ex adyto dicti s Cumae a Sibyll a horrendas canit ambage s antroqu e remugit , obscuris ver a involvens : e a frena furenti concutit et stimulos sub pectore vertit Apollo. (VI, 98-101)

These were the sentence s In which the Sibyl o f Cumae from he r shrin e Sang ou t he r riddles, echoin g in the cave, Dark sayings mufflin g truths , th e way Apollo Pulled her up raging, o r else whipped he r on, Digging the spurs beneat h he r breast. (FVI, 148-53 )

The Sibyl' s words wra p the truth in obscurity. Rather than providing access to true knowledge o f causes, she offers ambages —the word means lit erally a winding o r roundabou t way , an d als o can mean "evasion " an d even "equivocation. " He r evasion s ar e horrendas, "terrible " o r "awe some," bu t no t illuminating . Th e metapho r tha t pictures the Siby l a s a horse bein g tame d b y th e god wh o use s force to constrai n he r (VI , 79 8o)34 runs throughout th e passage, revealing that contact with th e divin e provides a moment no t of illumination but of compulsion, no t of knowledge but o f rage. 35 Whether returnin g fro m th e underworl d throug h th e gate s o f ivor y

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(from whic h com e fals e dreams ) o r contemplatin g th e picture s o n hi s shield—Virgil say s only tha t Aeneas admires the images but remain s ig norant of what they represent, "rerumque ignarus imagine gaudet" (VIII, 730; "Knowing nothing o f the events themselves / He felt joy i n the pic tures," F VIII, 989-90)—Aenea s i s consistently represente d a s not un derstanding the meaning of any visions or omens concernin g hi s future. 36 Ignarus i s a stron g wor d i n thi s context : i t mean s "ignorant, " "unac quainted," "inexperienced, " o r "unaware. " Nor, a s we have seen, i s he unique in this: Aeneas's case is merely mor e painfu l tha n that of more or dinary characters , for although he understands no more tha n they about the cause s or motive s o r purpose s of th e events in which h e is engaged, he nonetheless can see more clearly the extent of the compulsion exercised by "fate." Hi s heroism i s rooted i n this capacity to respond to visions revealing that he does not and cannot know the whole stor y and that larger, unknowable forces control his actions. Such a vision of compulsion causes him suffering, bu t gives him no more authority or autonomy tha n others have who d o not recogniz e these forces a t work. Thu s th e authority that the poetic figures invest in Aeneas is felt by the character himself a s pow erlessness; Aeneas's herois m reside s in hi s capacit y to se e his own pow erlessness in the face of this "fate" and still continue t o act. Part o f Virgil' s imaginativ e and formal project, then , consist s in rep resenting and exploring thi s fate and its compulsion—both with regard to narrator and characters and with regar d to the larger imaginative project of th e poem , whic h i s engaged i n testin g an d contestin g th e discursiv e constraints withi n whic h i t operates . Throughou t th e poem , an d espe cially i n th e las t fou r books , h e compare s his poetic limits t o thi s mor e general human condition, remindin g his readers that much as his narrator may claim to know th e truth, his understanding may be as limited a s that of an y o f hi s characters. Thus i n Book X , i n a n aside on Turnus' s inap propriate exultanc e afte r a momentary victory , th e narrato r comments : nescia mens hominu m fati sortisque futura e et servare modum rebus sublat a secundis! (X, 501-2 )

How ignoran t ar e human heart s of fate or destiny t o come, an d of how to keep within bounds whe n uplifte d by success. 37

This generalized ignorance is the central human trait that Virgil's epic rep resents and enacts—represents in Aeneas's and in all the protagonists' in capacity to understand their own emotional compulsion, an d enacts in the implicit application of the narrator's words to his own project, casting ret-

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respective doubt on the validity of his explanations of fate no less than on his claims to knowledge. Thu s to the extent that the characters remain ig norant o f the causes of events as they are described on the figurative level of th e poem , thi s dimensio n o f the story itself remain s just that , a figurative representation of the same ignorance, a sign of what it means to see human action s a s controlled b y force s tha t themselve s canno t b e deter mined or even understood . Virgil's treatmen t of emotional compulsion works in two ways at once. On th e one hand, th e figurative agents, he tells us, cause the emotions felt ; on the other hand, thes e figures often see m rather to express in a different register th e onslaught of emotion. I f we consider the machinations of the gods, fo r instance, not a s the explanation of what happens on the morta l plane, bu t rathe r as its figurative expression—as a mode, i n other words , that seeks to represent not the causa rerum but, to some extent, the emotion itself—then th e questio n o f compulsio n take s o n ye t anothe r twist . I f emotion in the Aeneid i s consistently represented as compelling th e char acters who ar e not abl e to understand or recognize thei r ow n emotiona l states, an d hence canno t resist this compulsion, the n an y notion of independent ethica l action , o r o f th e choice o f Roma n virtues , mus t b e dis carded. A difficulty implici t in this method o f representing emotions thu s con cerns the role of the imagery itself in creating a system of compulsion that the poet the n mus t justify an d explain in the narrative. The structur e of the narrative implies tha t once it is represented or expressed textually, an emotion exercises an almost irresistible compulsion. I n the Aeneid, the figurative o r symboli c representatio n o f th e emotio n tend s t o preced e th e narrative accoun t o f i t in action , an d what w e se e when w e loo k a t th e representation o f actio n suggest s that givin g priorit y t o suc h allegoriza tion (an d they are technically allegories, since they involve an externalized figurative representation of inner events) establishes a system of compulsion in which the characters then become entangled. Sinc e Virgil's figure s tend als o t o hav e politica l significance , this structur e reveals the wa y i n which an y previousl y impose d figure—whethe r a n allegory o f emotio n or of a political value—can compel certain kinds of action and limit free dom o n the narrative plane. Applie d a t its most genera l level, thi s poeti c analysis of the process of textualization within the frame of the story gives us a glimpse of the kinds of discursive constraint that shape the poem. The poem is thus capabl e of articulatin g a critique of the operatio n o f its fig ures, bu t a t the sam e time i t inscribes it s own representationa l strategie s within the compass o f that critique . Virgil dramatizes the effect s o f this imaginative difficulty o n his char-

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acters in a more explicit way tha n he does either th e formal problems t o which it gives rise or the questioning o f the claims to authority that such a division within the poem allows. His narrative concentrates on explain ing an d justifying Aeneas's actions, which , withou t som e legitimizatio n beyond wha t h e o r hi s follower s coul d provide , woul d ris k appearin g much mor e like the version o f the story that Juno tells in Book X (line s 63—95) tha n does the stor y Virgil tells. 38 To keep him fro m appearin g to be an unjust conqueror , th e text need s to giv e Aeneas some acces s to its figurative claims . Whethe r throug h oracles , visions , dreams , o r othe r hints o f th e presence of large r forces actin g invisibly behin d th e scenes, the poem consistently marks out Aeneas's trajectory as the fated and hence legitimate one, but , in these scenes, Aeneas nonetheless remains ignorant of th e cause s and motive s o f hi s actions, an d is as often manipulate d by false or misleading prophecies as he is helped on by true ones. Virgil thus uses a variety of figurativ e device s to vei l the ga p between hi s narrator's claims abou t Aeneas' s deed s an d th e deed s themselves , bu t thi s veilin g never fully succeeds : these poetic assertions that divine and human can be united work to disguise the impossibility of joining action and figure hand to hand, a s it were, an d to dislodge the memory o f Aeneas's complaint at not bein g able to touch his mother's hand . The incomplete elisio n of this gap does allow us, however, t o measure the costs to the narrative—in formal an d in political o r ideological terms—o f th e effor t t o displace , sub merge, o r deny the differenc e betwee n actio n and what is figured her e as knowledge. The plo t o f legitimizatio n itsel f thu s ha s a circularity similar t o tha t which we have seen animating the interchanges of action and figure. Th e story of Aeneas claims to confer on Rome the special legitimacy provided by a divine o r fate d origin , bu t poeticall y what authorize s the story an d grounds it s claim s t o a basi s i n histor y ar e precisel y th e Roma n plac e names retrospectively scattered throughout th e poem (an d the other pro leptic references to Rome and Roman customs, which the place names can exemplify). Virgi l uses such names themselves as tropes, fo r the y represent something in the figurative scheme of the story that does not exist in the action, something, moreover , o f which Aeneas with all his visions remains ignorant. The poetry legitimizes Rome, while it gains its own legitimization from th e power invoked throug h the Roman names, a version of the double temporal scheme that pervades the epic: what is prolepsis— the anticipation o f toponymies, fo r example—from th e point o f view of Aeneas is retrospection fro m th e point o f view of the reader. Rather than giving Aeneas authority as a character, however, thi s strategy determines al l his movements, leavin g him onl y th e room occasion-

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ally to mak e a mistake. Becaus e Virgil shows his narrative as originating in figures—as becoming th e narrative representation of certain figurative claims—his plo t o f legitimizatio n become s als o a plo t o f compulsion . Aeneas, th e embodimen t o f authorit y an d legitimacy , i s thus lef t i n hi s own narrativ e with neither legitimac y nor authority , excep t insofar a s he follows th e oracles, remains "pius," and follows th e prescribed narrative line. In attempting t o mak e his figurative claim s posit meanin g withi n th e action o f hi s epic, Virgi l face s a n imaginative dilemma tha t i s central t o epic narrative. His attempts to solve the problem themselves engender difficulties, both withi n th e intellectual structure of the poem, a s was briefly suggested above , an d withi n th e stor y itself—difficulties , fo r example , concerning th e leve l o f realis m at which th e narrative understands itsel f to b e operating. Hi s poetic strategies also give rise, however , t o a range of new narrative possibilities, and to new methods o f conceiving an d expressing character. It is only the most explicit of Virgilia n ironies that this compensatory strateg y and this plot of compulsion provide a rich and psychologically comple x mod e o f representin g the emotional live s o f char acters who themselve s ar e left t o act according to an imperative of whic h they mus t remai n unaware. STORM-TOSSED AENEA S The openin g stor m scene s of the poem ca n help to suggest both th e nar rative costs of the characters' aetiological ignorance and the formal com plexities brought t o the story when an image that derives in part from Ho mer's epi c similes—for example , th e storm simile s in Iliad XI , 305-9 , o r IV, 275-80—is transformed into a narrative event (a s occurs also in Od yssey V , 291-96, whe n Odysseu s i s prevented fro m reachin g th e lan d o f the Phaeacian s by th e stor m rouse d b y Poseidon). Indeed , muc h o f th e Aeneid ca n be said to be a narrative extension or explanation of the meaning of the static emblem "storm-tosse d Aeneas" (se e Fig. i). 39 The images of the troubled Juno and of the serene Neptune ar e narrativized to reveal the alternatio n betwee n differen t level s o f figurativ e explanation . Th e story begins with Juno's brooding , a heavy darkness within that leads her, as if in an allegory, to Aeolia, the land of the storm clouds. 40 Her discours e there with Aeolus is similarly internalized as a figure for her own charge d brooding, an d the escape of the winds from their underground cell , whic h sets the storm in motion, seem s to provide a plot event that also is an image for her emotion. Onc e th e winds ar e released into the plot, however , an d

FIGURE i . Woodcu t representin g storm-tosse d Aeneas, fro m a Renaissance edition o f Virgil' s Aeneid: Virgil, Vniversvm Poema: Cvm Absolvta Servii Honorati Mavri, Gratnmatid, & Badij Ascensij Interpretation . . . (Venice: loannes Maria s Bonellus, 1562) , p. 21 9 verso. The Beineck e Rar e Book and Manuscript Library , Yale University, Earl y Books an d Manuscripts.

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become par t of th e narrative (if not th e narrative force itself) , the y gen erate new narrative events and issues to be resolved independently o f Ju no's actions . This independence is threatening not only t o Aeneas and his men: although the narrator reclaims the winds for the figurative realm by bringing fort h Neptune t o cal m the storm, analysi s of th e action show s that they nonetheless continue to blow throughou t the poem . Of al l these events the suffering her o an d his companions remai n un aware, as becomes clear not only in Aeneas's speeches during and after th e storm bu t in the words o f Ilioneus describing the storm t o Dido : hie cursus fuit , cum subito adsurgens fluctu nimbosus Orion in vada caec a tulit penitusque procacibu s Austri s perque undas superant e sal o perque invi a sax a dispulit. (I, 534-38 ) We laid ou r cours e fo r this. But storm y Orion and a high sea rising Deflected u s on shoals an d drove us far, With winds against us, into whelming waters , Unchanneled reefs. (F I, 726-30 )

The stor m lead s them onl y t o pathles s rocks and near destruction i n the sea, not to any knowledge of divine causation for good or ill. The splendid calm that Neptune brings, a calm represented by a single image that draws the narrative back into itself, brings a repose that the heroes cannot enjoy. The wind s o f th e stor y hav e temporaril y been gathere d in agai n by th e force of the "genitor" (I, 155 ) ("father , "creator") whos e words , lik e the words o f the poet, bu t s o unlike Aeneas's agonized utterances during th e storm, ca n restore order and beauty to the face of the sea. The sexual pol itics o f thi s scen e ar e particularl y striking: a femal e forc e unleashe s th e chaos, whil e th e male restores the figurative calm . These gende r associa tions mark an ideological shift by which the more disruptive effects o f figuration are associated with female passion, while the idealizing images are linked t o a n ordering capacit y identified as male.41 The pattern described here has an apparent circularity: the poet begins with a figure tha t generate s a narrative movement; thi s narrative movement i s then reinscribe d a s figure. T o use Virgil's terms , a divine figur e sets in motion event s that another divine figure with an equal but opposed action halts , drawin g th e narrativ e energies back into a figurative calm. Although abstractl y circular, it is not s o in its politics, fo r the poetry re turns in this second moment t o a figure with a different content , a different

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gender identification , and consequentl y a differen t ideologica l functio n from th e first. Th e firs t figur e represents a storm; the second, a calm that ostensibly settles the storm an d the disruption it caused. The movemen t is spiral: one figur e i s narrativized and then recuperated by a subsequent figure tha t binds o r limits th e threat posed by the first . I n this way, nar rative works as the vehicle of ideological transformation, allowing a space and tim e i n whic h a n unacceptable figure—the disruptiv e picture of fe male passion—can be metamorphosed into a more idealized political picture. The first simile performs this transformation by representing the power of art—in particular rhetoric, the art of political suasion, the central art of the city and state—to contain the threat of explosive unrest. It implies that the art of the poet—and the poetic polity—can contain those energies that threaten to divide it: ac veluti magno i n populo cu m saepe coorta est seditio saevitqu e animis ignobile vulgus , iamque faces e t saxa volant, furo r arm a ministrat; turn, pietate gravem a c mentis si forte virum quer n conspexere, silen t arrectisque auribus astant; ille regit dicti s animos e t pectora mulcet : sic cunctus pelagi cecidit fragor, aequora postqua m prospiciens genito r caeloque invectus apert o flectit equos curruqu e volans da t lora secundo . (I, 148-56 ) When riotin g break s out in a great city, And th e rampaging rabbl e goes so far That stones fly, and incendiary brands— For anger can supply tha t kind of weapon— If it so happens the y look round an d see Some dedicated public man, a veteran Whose recor d give s him weight, the y quiet down, Willing t o stop an d listen. Then he prevails in speech over thei r fur y By his authority, an d placates them. Just so, the whole uproar o f the great sea Fell silent, a s the Fathe r of it all, Scanning horizons unde r th e open sky , Swung hi s team around an d gave free rei n In flight to his eager chariot . (FI, 201-15)

The distinguishe d citize n becomes associate d with Neptune , th e super natural calmer of the storm: the suasion of words calms the "ignobile vul-

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gus" (I, 149; "rampaging rabble, " F I, 202), whose rebellion, calle d "seditio" ("civil discord" or "mutiny"), was spurred by "furor." Bu t the com parison t o Neptun e make s tha t ac t o f healin g suspect . Th e simil e implicitly compare s the absoluteness of the calm imposed o n the water s by supernatura l power t o the brevity and fragility o f the calm the distinguished citizen is able to create among the "vulgus." The simile claims that the calming or suppression that occurs on the supernatural plane can occur through art , o r a t least throug h language , bu t th e implie d contras t be tween divin e and human control of "furor" call s that claim into question . The treatmen t of the "seditio" as a kind of "furor" i s itself an ideological statement, suggestin g that any attempt to rebel against the established order o f th e stat e is a kind o f madness—o r a kind o f natural wildness o r a natura l disaster , a stor m tha t ha s n o reaso n o r purpose , associated , through Juno, with a female disruption of the desired reign of rationality. The picture of political order is a picture of control over unreason, of sua sion an d suppression o f this wildness: the simile performs a double ideological work because it presents the efforts o f the state's distinguished cit izens a s being comparabl e to th e act s o f a god bringin g cal m an d peace, and it blames the ignobile vulgus for the disorder. Although th e ignobile vulgus occasionally appea r outside the similes in the Aeneid—as fo r instanc e the simple Italia n foresters wh o ge t caught up in the fury o f Allecto's call to war—mostl y the y ar e notable fo r thei r absenc e from th e poem . Th e principal difficulties tha t Aeneas faces are explained by reference not to the rebellion o f the "ignobile vulgus" bu t instea d to natural disasters such as storms an d emotional outburst s an d jealousies. I n contrast, th e kinds o f political difficultie s tha t pertain to the founding of a state and a new civ ilization are not give n primary place in Virgil's story. Th e poem thu s im plicitly pair s the tw o set s of explanations—th e political, an d the natural and emotional—makin g th e latte r a figur e fo r th e former : i t tell s o f storms, no t rebellions , creatin g a proto-allegorical structure in which th e many natural and erotic troubles that besiege Aeneas allegorize hidden po litical difficulties . T o call nature politics i s to hin t tha t th e whol e poem , filled a s it is with storms and stormy scene s of passion, may in part wor k as an allegory of politica l suasion and its costs. The firs t simil e o f th e Aeneid thu s suggest s that th e stor m shoul d b e understood a s somethin g els e ye t again , addin g a differen t figurativ e scheme t o th e "causes " give n i n the openin g o f th e poem an d a new al legorical sense for Juno's brooding. Th e linking o f an outburst of passion among th e gods to an outburst of stormy weather (where "passion" must be understood mor e in the terms of the Hellenistic allegorizers of Homer ) and to rebellion among a base crowd of people suggests that all three serve

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as figurations that attempt to locate the true danger to Aeneas's quest. Al though withi n the narrative the political explanation is kept the most dis tant, i t underlies th e actio n an d return s implicitly a s often a s the storm . The slid e from one explanation t o another generate s yet another circle , a circle of explanation s tha t turns at the level of simile to the political allegory while it turns away from the politics of the plot. In poetry as powerfully overdetermined a s are these lines of the Aeneid's first simile it is particularly difficult t o determine wit h what voice the text speaks. S o complete i s the identification of the poet with the public ma n and so fervent the wish tha t this poem migh t also contain th e violence i t releases, that the poem seems unable to establish any distance on the ideological work it performs here. Whe n th e simile is read in the larger figu rative context, however , i t becomes possible to see how the displacements it accomplishes allude to the ideological work done elsewhere to submerge the politics of Aeneas's story. Thi s is to say not tha t the identification and the wish ar e not powerful , bu t rathe r that the poem i s able to place those emotions i n a critical context that allows it to acknowledge t o some extent the cost s o f tha t ver y identification . Th e narrator , then , i s vouchsafed a simpler identificatio n with the public man, an d the poet a more trouble d and ambivalent one . The difference between the circularity of cause in Virgil's use of figures (in which wha t appear s to caus e an event ma y als o be a n expression o r representation of the event) and the apparent circularity in the way figur e is narrativized and then reinscribed as figure is the measure of the workin g of ideolog y i n the narrative. Th e difficult y i n achieving suc h ideologica l transformation, however , i s that narrative cannot be summed u p in a figure an y mor e tha n a storm ca n be s o easil y calmed b y a single gesture . Storms ar e from th e star t given a n allegorical possibilit y tha t canno t b e recuperated simply by calming the waters, for the potential allegories the storm generated hav e not bee n equally explained away. When th e stor m is reinscribed a s a figure o f calm , then , a n energy o r a disruptive force is left i n the poem, release d as it were by the path of the figure throug h th e plot. Thi s remainder i s partly political, a marker of the ideological wor k that mad e the reinscription possible : storm energie s still loose within th e text provide a model o f continual political disruption that makes any plot of legitimizatio n o f doubtful conclusion . The difficulty ca n be easily seen in plot terms: the storm may be calmed but Aenea s and his followers ar e still off course, aliv e perhaps, but i n th e wrong place . Such narrative disruptio n canno t b e solved b y positin g a n image of calm since the effects o f the storm ar e still left t o be worked ou t in the story. Th e metaphoric folding in of the gale reimprisons th e winds,

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but leaves something storm y behind. The political and moral message can be presented o n the figurative level, but th e amount o f ideological trans formation necessary to make such a message work is felt at the level of th e story i n th e continuin g storm s tha t strik e like lightning apparentl y ran domly throughou t th e narrative. If the storm canno t be contained a s figure, the n Virgil' s stor y wil l no t en d a s a story o f legitimization ; i f th e storm cannot be contained, the claim that fate has directed Aeneas's course becomes suspect . The stor m energ y remaining thu s has a political significance: it no t onl y indicate s the failur e o f th e figurative claim s to matc h the action, but also marks the path of ideology throug h the text, the work of reinscribin g a figure tha t is contradicted at the level of th e story. 42 The allegorica l charg e of thi s firs t simil e thu s raise s an additional in terpretive problem concernin g th e significance of storm imager y not ex plicitly give n eithe r a political o r a divine explanation . I n Boo k III , fo r instance, Aeneas tells of a storm tha t disturbs the clear order o f voyagin g laid out in Apollo's prophecy . Immediatel y after the y leave Delos, where they hear this reassuring prophecy, a storm arises at sea (III, 192-200), and the Trojan s are driven of f course: "excutimu r curs u e t caecis erramus i n undis" (III, 200; "We were hurled off course, an d wandered los t over th e blind waves") . Thes e wandering s las t for over thre e day s and take the m to the Strophades, where the y encounter the Harpies. Nothin g in the episode suggest s tha t thi s i s anything bu t a storm a t sea, for th e episod e is presented entirely from the perspective of Aeneas. The readers cannot forget, however , tha t any storm—no matter how unforeseen in divine plo t recapitulations—may well be the manifestation of some larger force, Juno perhaps, or the figuration of some passionate disturbance set loose in the poem. The straight narrative course that Apollo recommends i s not avail able to Aeneas , whose directio n is determined rathe r by figures let loos e in th e narrative , no r t o th e reader , fo r who m plo t incident s canno t b e understood excep t insofa r a s they ar e susceptible to differen t aetiologies . The journe y fro m storm—fro m passionat e outburs t o r brooding—t o Harpies takes on an allegorical tinge for the reader, though it suggests only blind wanderings to Aeneas: at the level of figure, allegor y operates in any reading of the Aeneid i n the way that heroic ignorance operates in the action t o turn aside Aeneas, and the reader, from a straight cursus. This articulatio n o f allegor y an d ignorance i s itself no t withou t the matic consequences. I n Book IV , for instance, Virgi l presents a character who ma y be said to interpret a storm correctly, and for this act is doomed. Not thinkin g tha t the storm tha t sends her and Aeneas into the cave may be simply a storm, Did o understandably interprets it as being directed by or revealing the presence of Juno.43 As lightning flashes and the rain rushes down, th e narrator comments tha t

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prima e t Tellus e t pronuba lun o dant signum; fulsere ignes e t conscius aethe r conubiis, summoqu e ulularunt vertic e Nymphae . (IV, 166-68 ) Primal Earth hersel f an d Nuptial Juno Opened the ritual, torche s o f lightning blazed , High Heaven became witnes s to the marriage , And nymphs cried ou t wild hymns from a mountain top . (F IV, 229-32)

While nothing in these lines suggests any doubt about the participation of Juno an d th e Nymph s i n th e "marriage " o r bring s int o questio n th e storm's supernatural significance, th e lines themselves most accurately reflect (i n style indirect libre a s i t were ) Dido' s ow n understandin g of th e storm, sinc e in the next line the narrator sharply comments, a s if to em phasize the contrast, ille dies primus let i primusque maloru m causa fuit . (IV, 169-70 ) That day was the first caus e of death , an d firs t of sorrow. (F IV, 233-34 )

Several lines later he explicitly states that Dido consider s her liaison wit h Aeneas to b e a marriage, an d he blames her fo r this . Readers , however , have been forewarned by Juno hersel f tha t she plans—precisely a s Did o believed—to direct this storm , bu t th e narrator's harsh words ("ill e dies . . ." ) remind the readers that the power to read the figurative meaning of the storm exists for the human actors only in the mode of error. In Dido' s case the error takes the form of projection, an active appropriation of th e pathetic fallacy in which she finds in the natural world her own wishes writ large. The narrator describes this misreading—an interpretive projection that resemble s Virgil' s ow n strategie s for givin g voice an d name t o th e landscape—as th e "firs t cause " o f Dido' s woe , althoug h i n fac t hi s de scription ha s proleptically mad e it clea r that her action s were predeter mined al l along, predetermined i n fact by the figurative scheme in whic h she is caught. When, i n addition, th e stor m i s understood a s a figure for passion itself—their share d passion, Dido's alone , or the passion set loose in th e poem—th e issu e o f causatio n become s eve n mor e roiled . Th e storm, whic h ca n be interpreted a s an allegory of emotion , drive s Did o and Aeneas into the cave, where they respond with more stormy passion, itself engenderin g metaphoricall y th e storm tha t continue s t o rag e out side. Once Virgi l has identified storms with a kind o f broodin g passion,

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they see m t o sprin g u p almos t mechanicall y whenever an y such passion exists on the human plane , or, indeed, t o anticipate and generate passion (by drivin g peopl e int o caves , for instance) . The figurativ e mechanism Virgil has developed allows him to convey the power of emotion an d the complexity o f it s sources , bu t th e mean s o f thi s expressiv e representa tional powe r i s a forma l circularit y tha t trap s th e character s in poeti c schemes tha t ma y hav e been generate d in th e firs t plac e to conve y thei r emotions. This trap is seldom benign . Afte r havin g been able to invok e a thunderstorm t o put ou t the fires in Book V—o r having enjoyed good luck — Aeneas is about to suffe r ye t another storm whe n Venus , angered, intervenes, an d convinces Neptune to calm the waters and guarantee the Tro jans' arriva l in Italy. Though h e has calmed the brooding passions , again identified a s female , tha t stirre d th e wome n t o bur n th e ships , othe r stormy difficultie s apparentl y are stil l blowin g abou t th e worl d o f th e poem. I n this case, Virgil announces the storm only as it is being dispersed: subsidunt unda e tumidumque su b axe tonanti sternitur aequo r aquis , fugiunt vasto aether e nimbi. (V, 820-21 )

Waves calmed an d quieted, th e long sea-swel l Smoothed out under hi s thundering axle-tre e And storm-cloud s thinned awa y in heaven's vas t air. (F V, 1072-74 )

While thes e lines migh t simpl y describ e the comin g o f fai r weather , th e poem attribute s more to this calm by means of its figuration, suggesting that the storm identifie s the cost of bringin g th e figurative calm into th e action. Neptune promises Venus that she shall have her wish, thoug h on e of the Trojans will be lost: "unum pro multis dabitur caput" (V, 815; "one head will be given for many"). The spectacular, almost baroque image of the go d bringin g cal m to th e waters is given a poetic justification in th e evocation o f a metaphorical sacrifice. On e Troja n must pa y for thi s mo ment o f divin e intervention; thi s death—of Palinurus—i s the cost to the narrative of shifting beyond th e naturalism within whic h th e action gen erally take s place. The deat h points to th e fac t tha t this cal m is not real , but rathe r a figurativ e insistence tha t th e condition s existe d t o enabl e Aeneas to reach his goal. Virgil's imaginative struggle here to remain true to his vision o f the constant storms that overwhelm huma n journeys and yet to make sure that Aeneas in fact reaches Italy creates a moment o f nar rative disturbance, for which Palinuru s pays with hi s life. 44 As has often been noted, Virgi l provides his readers with two version s of Palinurus' s death. One , whic h i s given a divine figuration suggesting

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that i t i s the momen t o f sacrific e t o whic h Neptun e referred , describe s Palinurus a s falling asleep at the stern , lulle d by th e supernaturall y calm waters, an d bein g cas t overboard b y th e allegorical figure of "Somnus " ("Sleep"). Virgi l lament s his death, callin g him "insonti" ("guiltless" or "innocent"). Her e th e poet allude s to th e sacrific e calle d for by his figurative scheme , emphasizin g th e cost s to th e narrative of th e momen t o f arrival, an d o f an y calmin g o f th e storm . Bu t Palinuru s himself give s a different versio n whe n Aenea s meets him in the underworld. H e saw no sign of cal m water, an d denies that any god wa s present when h e fell off the ship . H e provide s a n entirel y naturalisti c explanation fo r hi s ow n death, saying that he fell by chance ("forte," VI , 349), having felt the helm torn violently from him, presumably by stormy seas. He specifically com ments o n th e roughness o f th e waters, statin g that he worried mor e fo r the boat than for himself, and stressing the violence of the seas for the next three night s (VI , 347-56) . On e ma y interpret thes e inconsistencies var iously, for instance as signs of an incomplete revision. Even if understood in this sense, however, th e episode gives signs of Virgil' s uneasiness about having provided his hero with a way out of the storm. On e may also read the tw o version s themselve s differently , th e firs t a s describing th e figu rative requirements an d significance of Aeneas' s final arriva l in Italy, th e second as recounting from the human perspective the events as they wer e experienced. Th e deat h of Palinuru s signifie s and enact s the cos t o f th e crossing of these two versions , an d of the conflict between th e figurative claims—that Aeneas is given special guidance and his voyage therefore legitimacy—and the represented action; the conflict is registered within th e values that inform the poem an d within th e narrative itself. A similar disruption reappear s in the speech Ilioneus makes to Latinus to introduce the Trojan mission: rex, genu s egregium Fauni , nee fluctibus actos atra subegit hiems vestri s succedere terris , nee sidus regione via e litusve fefellit : consilio han c omnes animisqu e volentibu s urbe m adferimur puls i regnis . . . quanta per Idaeos saevi s effusa Myceni s tempestas ieri t campos . (VII, 213-17, 222-23)

Your majesty , Most noble so n of Faunus , no rough sea s Or blac k gal e swept u s to your coast , no star Or cloude d sea-mar k pu t us off ou r course . We journey to your city by desig n

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And genera l consent , drive n a s we are From realms . . . What a storm From cruel Mycena e swep t across the plai n Of Ida . (F VII, 283-89, 295-97)

Ilioneus's assertion that the Trojans have come intentionally rather than by chance fits with th e events the characters have experienced, and makes no supernatural claims . Th e storm s tha t trouble d the m throughou t thei r journey ar e left ou t o f hi s account , however , a s if the y represente d no t natural phenomena but debates among the Trojans about where to go, differences no w settle d wit h th e agreemen t tha t Latinus' s kingdom i s their rightful home . Th e stor m ha s passe d from th e leve l o f actio n int o Ili oneus's figures of speech, which sugges t that he interprets the Trojan War itself a s a storm endure d but no t cause d by the Trojans or by any human deeds. Throughout th e Italian books of the Aeneid th e storm metapho r is frequent, bot h i n Virgil's simile s and in figures o f speech used by the char acters, appearing as a figure that is then narrativized as an event, and gath ered at last back into the figurative realm. When, for instance, Allecto stirs the Italians to fight afte r lulus wounds Sylvia's stag, the Italian fighters are compared i n a simil e t o wave s mountin g highe r an d highe r unti l the y reach th e heaven s from th e lowest depths . Similarly , a storm return s in metaphor a t the opening o f Boo k VIII , to describ e Aeneas, tossing o n a great surging sea of troubles, "magn o curarum fluctuat aestu" (VIII, 19; see also X, 803-9 , an d XII, 365-69) . Th e wild fur y tha t Allecto stirs up seems like a tempest t o Latinus , in a passage that implies tha t the imag e of the storm has taken over the narrative with dangerou s result. The pas sage is double, beginnin g with a simile to describe Latinus, and conclud ing with his own applicatio n of the same image: ille velut pelagi rupes immota resistit, ut pelag i rupe s magn o veniente fragore , quae ses e multis circum latrantibu s undis , mole tenet; scopul i nequiqua m e t spumea circu m saxa fremunt lateriqu e inlis a refunditu r alga . "frangimur he u fatis," inquit, "ferimurqu e procella!" (VII, 586-90 , 594 )

Latinus, though , like a seacliff stood fas t Like a seaclifF that whe n the grea t se a comes

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To shatter on it, an d the waves like hounds Give tongue on every side, holds grandly on, Though reefs an d foaming rock s thunder offshor e And seaweed flung against it streams away. "I am breached by fate , Wrecked, swep t away by storm." (FVII, 805-10, 816-17)

The way Latinus appears to carry on the simile in his speech suggests that this image o f th e stor m represent s his deep sense of bein g overcom e b y the events. 45 His words impl y that the storm aroun d nim is a natural phenomenon, a force beyond his control. Thi s may , of course, be true in one sense, i n tha t Allecto an d Juno ar e such a force, whic h th e human char acters can understand only through th e metaphor o f a natural storm. O n the other hand, the image allows Latinus to withdraw, droppin g th e reins of offic e an d abdicating his position a s leader. Latinus misreads and mis represents himself a s having fought the storm an d been finally broken b y it, where in fact he gives way very fast. He may again be reading accurately the poetic signs of the limits withi n whic h h e must act , but—as was the case with Dido—th e poet judges him severel y for this interpretation (see VII, 599-600) . The poetic economy here suggests that when Neptune re presses th e stor m an d guarantee s Aeneas' s arriva l i n Italy , tha t stor m merely reappears in the figurative dimension of the story, a s a permanent alternative explanation for events. The superhuman and the subhuman are thus allied in an image that allows the war to seem something beyon d th e control o f all the characters. The double power o f the simile, representin g both a "misreading" on the par t of Latinu s and, withi n Virgil' s allegorica l scheme, th e presenc e of Juno, agai n points t o the characters' ignorance of the actual causes of the events that start the war. The simile, an d the movement o f the image from simil e to speech, suggest that Latinus views the war as a kind of nat ural disaster more powerful than himself, while Virgil's figurativ e schem e reminds the readers of yet another source of power indicated by the storm image. I n thi s context , then , th e stor m become s a figure fo r figuration itself, a function that helps explain how fa r the storm become s involve d in a causal circularity. The textua l economy, b y which th e repressed gale must reappea r and do damage somewhere i n the narrative, suggests that this image, itsel f a figure for the idea that the natural world contains signs that point t o a destructive divine presence, also comes to mark moment s in which th e power o f the figure determines th e narrative direction.46 Such storms thus seem to have a kind of voracious extension. I t is par-

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ticularly problemati c tha t win d an d win d imagery , almos t inseparabl e from tempests , s o often serv e as a figure o f fat e itself. Not unexpectedly , this imager y i s also often draw n from Homeric simile s (e.g. , Iliad XVI , 765-70), and given a narrative function in the Aeneid. Sometimes it occurs as a brief trope , a s when th e narrator comments proleptically in the mo ment that Nisus and Euryalus are optimistically dispatched with vows and wishes fo r success : "sed aurae/omni a discerpun t et nubibu s inrit a do nant" (IX , 312-13 ; "but the breezes scatter all and give them, useless , to the clouds"). 47 While these winds may not seem to have much to do with storms—indeed Fitzgerald translates them as "the winds of heaven"—the same trope recurs shortly thereafter t o describe Turnus's vain belief in his success: talia vociferans sequitur strictumque coruscat mucronem, nee ferre videt sua gaudia ventos. (X, 651-52)

Crying out these things , h e follows an d swings hi s narrow blade , nor doe s h e see that the winds carry away his triumph .

Turnus does not se e the winds because they are only a figure for the events that ar e occurrin g an d wil l occur , a figure fo r th e fate d narrativ e direc tion.48 The wind s indicat e and sometime s figur e a compelling prolepsis ; at othe r time s the y ma y figur e th e poet' s omniscien t visio n an d contro l over th e narrative. Like any prolepsis, Virgil's winds remin d th e readers of th e characters' ignorance, but the y also veil the determining structure of the work, makin g it seem more like a random natural event. The wind s that threate n to disrup t the Sibyl' s leaves (III, 445-52), fo r example , ar e described by Helenus a s if they were natural, leaving the readers in doubt about which kind s of disruption the winds migh t signify . Through the imagery of winds, which are consistently associated with storm imagery in the last four books of the poem, Virgil connects his own narrative control wit h th e operations of Juno, wh o i s thereby show n t o play an important rol e in the scheme of destiny against which she appears to be working.49 Such a symbolic linking remains unacknowledged by the narrator, bu t represent s the larger capacity of th e poem t o measur e the costs of the very convention s on which it also depends—in this case, the convention tha t the narrator speaks with th e voice of destiny. Winds that might be associated with Juno include the urgings of Dido, likene d by the poet to winds that might nearly uproot a tree (IV, 441-49), so that Aeneas's farewell t o Did o become s ye t anothe r stor m t o b e endured , an d Opis' s appearance as a black whirlwind (XI , 595-96 ) whe n sh e comes to avenge the deat h o f Camill a (bot h of these images are also proleptic). Virgi l ex -

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plicitly glosses the winds as figures for divine intentions in the simile following Juno's speech in the council scene in Book X: Talibus orabat luno, cunctiqu e fremebant caelicolae adsensu vario, ce u flamina prima cum deprens a fremun t silvis et caeca volutant murmura ventures nautis prodentia ventos . (X, 96-99) So ran the plea of Juno, and the lords Of sky , eac h to his mind, murmure d assent , As when th e early gusts caught in a forest Murmur, an d the rustling unsee n wind Rolls on , th e harbinger o f gales to com e For men a t sea. (FX, 132-37 )

Here th e differen t breeze s point t o th e differen t opinion s o f th e gods , which is to sa y to differen t figurativ e scheme s that could divide the nar rative o r preven t its resolution. Th e balanc e of th e gods ' opinio n i n re sponse to Juno, wh o expresses the position the poem most needs to sup press in order to demonstrate the legitimacy of Aeneas's presence in Italy, causes Jupiter to order the gods temporarily to withdraw from th e fight . Their discord without end (as Jupiter puts it) nonetheless serves as a warning for sailors of a gale to come, as if discord of such power could not b e contained in the figures alon e but mus t vent itself soon thereafter i n th e narrative.50 The comple x function o f win d an d cloud imagery also structures the episode by whic h Juno trick s Turnus with th e phantom of Aeneas . The goddess leave s the heavens , drivin g a storm an d girde d i n clouds , an d makes a false image of Aeneas: turn dea nube cav a tenuem sin e viribus umbra m in faciem Aeneae (visu mirabile monstrum ) Dardaniis orna t telis , clipeumqu e iubasqu e divini adsimula t capitis, dat inania verba, dat sine mente sonu m gressusqu e effmgit euntis . (X, 636-40) Then [she] made a bodiless shad e of spectral mis t In likeness of Aeneas, weir d an d strange, Adorned th e image with Dardanian arm s And matche d th e godlike hero' s shiel d an d plume , Gave unreal words, a voice without a mind , A way o f walking , modele d afte r his . (F X, 894-99 )

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This Aeneas is a "shadow" ("umbram") of "unsubstantial cloud" ("nube cava") and , afte r trickin g Turnus , i t appropriatel y vanishes into a black cloud tha t forms part of a gale: sed sublime volan s nub i se immiscuit atrae , cum Turnu m medi o interea fer t aequor e turbo . (X, 664-65 )

but flying aloft he blends himsel f with a black cloud , whil e all the time a whirlwind drives Turnu s out to sea.

Nothing in Turnus's responses suggests that to him th e episode is in any way unusual: he remains "ignarus rerum" (X, 666), as Virgil puts it (echoing th e lin e describin g Aenea s before his shield), unaware of th e super natural intervention o r of any unusual significance in the events. Th e ep isode thus allows a more naturalistic interpretation whereby Turnu s mis takenly allows himself t o think that he is chasing Aeneas, when i n fact h e has found a way to escape, the clouds betokening his own inner confusion and willful blindness. The two versions of the events stand in conflict with each another , on e claimin g a shaping forc e is at work, th e othe r repre senting human error and limitation. Given the density of cloud and storm imagery i n this section of the poem, thi s episode also indicates the results of its transformation into a figure: the figure is narrativized, released into the story ; performs its illusory job; an d is withdrawn int o th e figurative arena of the poem, leaving behind its trace, a gale or whirlwind tha t drives Turnus out t o the middle of the sea. As in the case of Dido , th e scene reveals the danger to the human actors of encountering narrativized figures. Moreover, i n the picture of Juno creatin g her shadowy Aeneas, Virgil alludes to the process of the artist in shaping character, for the description of he r material s an d th e way s i n whic h sh e makes he r imag e resembl e Aeneas d o no t diffe r greatl y from th e conventiona l figure s fo r th e poet . This identification only intensifie s the hint o f connectio n betwee n Jun o and th e poe t implici t i n the use of th e winds a s a figure of prolepsi s an d poetic control. I n this case, the winds that take Turnus's victory from him are clearl y directe d b y Juno, bu t als o by th e poe t himself . The y ar e the winds o f figuration , by which Turnus , unaware of what is happening, is swept ou t t o sea, and they implicitly link Virgil's own narrative turnings with the machinations of Juno. Thi s movemen t fro m imagery o r figure to narrative and back to allow a withdrawal of the figure typifies much o f the poem; clouds and whirlwinds ar e the traces in the action of this movement, th e figur e of th e withdrawal o f figure . The whirlwin d turnin g is what i s left afte r th e passage from figure t o narrative to figure , th e mar k or trace of that passage.

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The storms and stormwinds continue to fill the similes in the last book of the poem, but actua l storms do not recur. The anger of Aeneas, which brings about the stormy ending of the poem, suggests , however, tha t the whirlwind lef t by the passage of Juno is still operating in the action of the poem, eve n if it has ostensibly been calmed at the level of th e gods. Th e cost, one might say, of the figurative calm, is disturbance in the action of the poem , disturbanc e felt especiall y in th e fina l episodes , where i t pre vents an y singl e resolutio n o f events . Aenea s is compare d explictl y t o storm an d tempes t himself i n XII, 451-58 , a simile in whic h th e wind s again warn o f th e destruction t o come , thi s tim e brough t o n by Aeneas and his men.51 In a later simile, the fight between Aeneas and Turnus itself is compared to a storm, wit h winds that roll Turnus to his destruction like a roc k rollin g headlon g dow n a mountai n (XII , 684-90) . Her e th e storm—"turbidus imber" (XII, 685), a "turbid shower of rain"—is linked to the winds, an d the rock is said to be "avolsum vento" (X , 685 ) "torn away by the wind," and thus destroy s all below. Th e win d tha t rips the rock off the mountain marks the presence in the action of a figural stor m still unresolved, and it predicts the violent ending of the poem. The storm in the text is finally neve r calmed: tempests may recede into similes, an d the conflict among the gods may be resolved by compromise, bu t the passage of these storms from figure to narration to figure is felt in the human action, the disturbance in the narrative marking the poetic work necessary to reach that divine compromise. Tha t storm , whic h in formal terms explains Aeneas's final gestur e (the gesture is explained in th e term s o f th e story by his anger at seeing Pallas's belt aroun d Turnus's waist), rages on in th e narrative even as the poe m ends , leavin g the actio n as it began, i n medias res.

SYMBOLIC DISTORTION The figurative power w e have been tracing through the storms that blow through th e narrative also manifests itself in a very different wa y in those moments whe n the text literalizes metaphors to import them into its representation of heroi c action. In these cases, especiall y those involving fe male figures whethe r beneficen t or threatening, the text posits a more di rect tie between its figurative scheme and the events it describes, while also demonstrating that such a close relation between the two will disfigure the characters or events, making them into monstra (monstrum, fro m moneo, to warn, take s a s it s primar y sens e "warning, " bu t ca n mea n als o eithe r "sign," "wonder," "portent," "miracle," or "misshapen, unnatura l per-

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son o r thing , a monster o r monstrosity") . Thes e instance s o f symboli c distortion must either be understood as more explicitly supernatural (since there i s no wa y t o account for them withi n a naturalistic narrative) or as entirely allegorical . Th e differenc e betwee n actio n an d figure , an d be tween th e naturalism of the story and its supernatural explanations, is not veiled a s it is in othe r o f th e text' s narrative modes. Rather , th e ga p be tween the m is, if anything, exaggerated by the tension between the literal claims made by the narrator and the rhetorical strategies such claims de pend on . The scene s in which Allect o drives Amata and Turnus mad are central examples o f th e effect s o f th e poeti c figure s whe n the y ar e mad e t o "touch" the action, and dramatize the way in which rhetorica l distortio n becomes formall y a mode o f compulsio n tha t can generate plots o f (po litical and poetic) authorization. The text thus confronts a central political difficulty throug h it s crossing of representational modes, thoug h th e narrator does not acknowledg e this conflict. Allect o is clearly represented as a Fury in Virgil's firs t descriptio n of he r (VII, 324-29)—a being dreadfu l even to Pluto, her father, and to her Tartarean sisters, the Furies. This characterization links her to th e emblem o f Furor Impius i n Book I and to th e personifications (includin g her sister Furies, VI, 273-81) at the mouth o f the underworld. 52 The severa l types of representation used in these three cases—personification, emblemati c symbolism, an d myth—all reempha size Allecto's explici t connectio n wit h th e text' s ow n figurativ e devices . Allecto function s moreover a s a character in a n allegory wh o illustrate s the workings o f the emotional stat e she represents; and, as would b e the case in an extended allegory, the narrator treats her straightforwardly as a character. Her allegorica l force can be seen in her first gesture , the throwing of one of the snakes from her Gorgonian head into the chest of Amata: huic dea caeruleis unum d e crinibus angue m conicit, inque sinu m praecordi a ad intima subdit , quo furibunda domum monstro permisceat omnem. ille inter vesti s et levia pectora lapsus volvitur attactu nullo, fallitqu e furentem vipeream inspiran s animam ; fi t tortil e coll o aurum ingen s coluber , fi t longa e taenia vittae, innectitque coma s e t membris lubricus errat . (VII, 346-53 ) Now th e goddess Plucked on e of the snakes, her gloomy tresses, And tosse d i t at the woman, sen t it down Her bosom to her midriff and her heart,

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So that by this black reptile driven wild She might disrup t her whole house . An d the serpent Slipping between her gown an d her smooth breasts Went writhing on , though imperceptibl e To the fevered woman's touc h or sight, an d breathed Viper's breath into her. Th e sinuous mass Became her collar of twisted gold , becam e The riband of her head-dress. I n her hair It twined itself, and slid around her body . (F VII, 475-8?)

The figurative density of this much-cited passag e continues in the follow ing line s a s Virgil shift s t o metaphor s o f disease , poison , an d contami nation, an d returns finall y t o th e image on e might hav e expected i n th e beginning, tha t of flames within th e breast (line 356). The powe r o f Allecto over Amata is felt i n the way the passage winds aroun d onl y t o end its entanglement s i n th e wor d "errat, " indicatin g tha t th e snak e rove s freely over her, wandering with a sliding, slippery motion ove r her limbs. Perhaps this distorting effect is allowed to surface most evidently here, and in the other disturbance s Allecto wreaks, becaus e it is associated with female figures, wh o ca n be blamed for the violence the figures provoke; bu t the poem also makes thi s displacemen t o f the blame onto female figures visible. Th e snak e is a monstrum that drives Amata mad, make s her mon strous herself, and her madness becomes an image for the distorting powe r of th e figurative field whe n i t comes int o contac t with th e human char acters. On th e other hand, however, th e snake's reality is asserted straightforwardly—there is no qualification in the passage—yet the terror in the description, th e daemoni c powe r tha t overtake s Amata , an d th e snake' s many transformation s all require that readers interpret it as occurring o n a different leve l of th e fiction. Virgil is specific here about how th e mad ness i s caused . Th e snak e describe s somethin g tha t i s happenin g t o Amata—it is a figure treated as if it were an actuality, though sh e remains entirely unaware of it. Whe n sh e begins t o talk , the narrative appears to begin ove r again , retracing its steps and representing her a s she is slowl y overcome b y he r rage . Her frustratio n a t Latinus gives Virgil a momen t of doubl e motivatio n (VII , 373-77)—is it her frustration or th e snake' s maddening poiso n tha t distort s her? —bu t thi s retrospectiv e doublenes s does no t transfor m th e episod e entirely . Thi s scen e differ s fro m other , more indirec t o r suspensiv e narrative modes (a s I will argu e is the case with th e poem' s narrativ e doubles ) becaus e ther e i s n o actio n under standable within the human contex t fo r which th e snake may be substi -

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tuted symbolically . Rathe r tha n a n extende d analog y worke d ou t i n narrative, moment s o f symboli c distortio n involv e instea d a collapsed analogy o r literalize d metaphor , an d thu s hav e th e structur e o f cata chresis. This representational mod e an d the trope that describes it are marked from th e first by the very violence and monstrosity that they serve to gen erate. Quintilian , fo r who m suc h marking i s a necessary part of figura tion, use s the term "catachresis" t o refer to the trope that transfers a word from it s prope r context—fro m it s "natural " function—t o anothe r i n which the proper ter m i s lacking: Eo magis necessaria catachresis, quam recte dicimus abusionem, qua e non haben tibus nomen suum accommodat quo d i n proximo est . (VIII, vi, 34) Even mor e necessary is catachresis, which w e rightly call abusio, which consist s in adapting a word that is nearest to those cases in which th e precise (or proper) ter m is lacking . Discernendumque es t hoc totum a translatione genus, quod abusi o est, ubi nome n defuit, translati o ubi aliud fuit. Na m poeta e solent abusive etiam in his rebus, qui bus nomin a su a sunt, vicini s potius uti . (VIII, vi, 345 It is important to distinguis h i n this complet e list (o f tropes) thi s kin d (th e catachresis) from the metaphor, fo r catachresis (or abusio) is employed whe n th e (spe cific, proper ) ter m is lacking, metapho r whe n ther e i s an other (term) . Fo r eve n for thos e thing s fo r which th e proper ter m exists , the poets are accustomed—and prefer—to us e a neighboring term. 53

Catachresis, then , serve s to fill in an absence with a term wrenched fro m its context, and hence is also called abusio or abuse. It is not a trope of sim ilarity or resemblance,54 but a trope of violence, and is described by Cicer o (De oratore III, 169) and th e anonymous author of the Rhetorica ad Herrenium (IV , 45), who d o no t mak e the sam e distinction Quintilia n does , as making a figurative transfer tha t is shameful or agains t the natural sense (and henc e involves pudor an d verecundia). These two definitions, which operate in tandem throughout the Aeneid, combine explicitl y later in the work o f Georg e Puttenham, wh o i n Th e Arte o f English Poesie (1589 ) wa s engage d in th e projec t of "Englishing " the Lati n an d Gree k name s for rhetorica l figure s an d tropes . H e defines catachresis as "the Figure of abuse" : But i f fo r lack e of natural l and proper term e or word e w e tak e another, neithe r naturall nor prope r an d do vntruly appli e it to the thing whic h w e would seem e to expresse, an d without an y iust inconuenience, it is not then spoken by this figure Metaphore o r o f inuersion a s before, bu t b y plain e abuse , a s he tha t ba d hi s ma n go into his library an d fet him his bowe an d arrowes, fo r in deede there was neuer

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a book e ther e t o b e found , o r a s on e shoul d i n reproc h sa y t o a poor e man , thou raskal l knaue, wher e raskal l is properly th e hunters term e giue n t o youn g deere, leane and out of season, and not to people: or as one said very pretily in this verse. I lent my loue to losse, and gaged my life in vaine. Whereas this worde lent is properly of mony or some such other thing, a s men do commonly borrow , fo r vse to be repayed againe, and being applied to loue is utterly abused, and yet very commendably spoken by vertue of this figure. Fo r he that loueth an d is not beloue d againe , hath no lesse wrong, tha n he that lendeth and i s neuer repayde. (Ill , 17 ; pp. 190-91)

Puttenham's definitio n puts in the foreground his sense that this trope in volves a denaturalizing or improper transfer—no t imprope r i n the sense of ineffective (o n the contrary, it is "very commendably spoken" ) bu t i n the sens e of not bein g "true " ("d o vntruly appli e it"). Hi s examples all stress a kind o f want , absence , o r loss, a s though th e trop e had b y con tamination, a s it were , transferre d the absenc e of th e prope r ter m ont o other kind s of lackin g tha t invade the examples as content—the want a t issue when one lacks not only the proper term but a whole library, or when a man is poor, o r when on e has lost money. Thes e example s are not pre sented a s essential or connecte d t o th e trope in any way, bu t the y nonetheless suggest at least a range of association that it evoked. Th e exampl e of the poor ma n perhaps most clearl y indicates the socially abusive pos sibilities of a trope that operates precisely by bringing a word from a com pletely differen t registe r into a position wher e a proper term—in this ex ample, a human term—is lacking, a word that becomes demeaning or dis figuring i n thi s ne w context . Similarly , th e analog y o f los s i n moneylending t o loss in love hints at an unacknowledged allegor y of th e trope's ow n workings , th e "lending " o f a term fro m on e contex t t o a n "unnatural" or "improper" one, whic h causes both a loss (the transfer is "untrue") and , presumably , a corresponding gai n ("ver y commendabl y spoken"). The trope , i n short, ha s its "vertue," and this "vertue" seems in part to be connected, a s in Puttenham's mos t extende d example , t o its capacity to express or lend a name to states of mind or emotion tha t have no othe r prope r name . Th e correspondin g impropriet y o f catachresis , however, i s that it also names, a t the very same time, a n act of rhetorica l violence tha t contaminate s o r threaten s to contaminat e the social, intel lectual, an d emotional register s it appears to complete . In moments i n the Aeneid whe n th e narrative represents the figures as appearing to "touch" the characters directly, the poem turns to catachresis and transforms it into a trope of narrative in which on e of the compared terms of an implied metaphorica l structure is absent. The place of the ab-

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sent term is filled i n the narrative by the figure, s o that the poem's meta phoric claims are made into literal event and the action is given an apparent origin i n thi s figure . Missin g i n thes e instances is the naturalisti c explanation for an event. Instead , examples of symbolic distortion wor k by literalizing the metaphors and, as we have seen with Allecto and Amata, by gendering them—givin g the m a gendered bod y t o b e "touched. " Th e trope tha t constitute s th e relatio n o f figur e t o narrativ e in th e Aeneid i s prolepsis, sinc e Virgil consistentl y give s his figurative accounts priority over the represented action. These episodes provide within th e text an allegory of the way in which the figures and the narrative may "touch," but they simultaneousl y sho w tha t th e danger of accordin g the figure s suc h dominance i s that the narrative generates allegories of compulsion . Thi s danger is allowed t o surface in the poem principall y through th e association o f thi s figurativ e violence wit h femal e figure s suc h as Juno an d Al lecto. The "dominance " of the figures doe s not g o unqualified, however, i n the narrative as a whole. Becaus e the figurative scheme can become present within th e represented action only in the mode of catachresis—Virgil represents events like the wriggling of the snake in Amata's breast as literal plot event s withou t an y explanation of ho w the y ar e understood o r ex perienced b y th e characters—the y at the same time illustrate the absence of th e term tha t the y are intended t o name. Thi s absenc e takes the for m of an epistemological paradox, or of a discontinuity in the epic's narration. The character s remain ignoran t o f the cause s and motives o f th e action s concerned i n these episodes, an d do not se e the events as the reader s do: in th e tex t th e missin g ter m i s precisely what th e character s might rec ognize, som e aspec t of the textual representation of events that could b e made congruent wit h thei r experience . The cause s of emotion ar e thus explicitly located within th e figurative scheme, a s are many of its effects; henc e the characters cannot understand the power or the significance of many of their own actions. This metho d of narrating therefore does not and cannot provide a means by which char acters com e t o self-knowledge . B y connectin g emotion s t o figure s an d figures to ideology, th e Aeneid provides a model that illustrates how emo tion itsel f ca n be determine d b y force s figure d as outside th e sel f an d as unknowable. Virgi l uses this scheme politically to legitimize Aeneas's venture because it suggest s tha t the force s o f histor y ar e beyond individua l control, an d that the y shap e and direct eve n th e most privat e emotiona l involvements. Thi s vision of the historical shape of emotion poses a moral dilemma, however , a s it denies to the individual the possibility of makin g ethical decisions . I t provides Aenea s and Rome wit h the legitimacy tha t

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the poem want s t o celebrat e but show s a t the same time tha t thi s bring s with i t th e disempowermen t o f th e individual. Thi s narrative structure thus posits an ethical vision of character and a narrative of legitimacy fo r the state as two mutuall y exclusiv e alternatives. What this means in the represented action is itself as maddening a s Allecto, when she throws a burning torch into the breast of the sleeping Turnus: sic effata face m iuveni conieci t e t atro lumine fumanti s fixi t su b pectore taedas . olli somnum ingens rumpi t pavor . (VII, 456-58 )

With this she hurled a torch and planted i t Below the man's chest , smokin g wit h hellish light . Enormous terror wok e him . (F VII, 629-31)

Though thi s description is more carefull y qualified—Turnu s see s a vision of Allecto, but only in his sleep, and the transfer of firebrand from goddess to huma n als o take s place while h e sleeps—i t nonetheles s ha s th e sam e structure as the description of the snake writhing i n Amata's breast. Bot h are literalized or collapsed metaphors in which the exclusion of the fourth term o f the implied analog y not onl y create s the symbolic powe r o f th e two scene s and expresses a sense of terror in the face of the daemonic bu t also allows for the elision of causality within th e human story . Th e met aphor tha t compares anger or emotion t o a burning bran d in the chest is given narrative motion as Allecto throws th e torch, a gesture marking th e shift from figure into narrative. These two scenes tell how the madness of Turnus and Amata was caused, and yet the touches of double motivatio n suggest that they also symbolically express the power o f those emotions . What actually causes those emotions withi n th e human plane of action— the elided fourth term of the analogy—remains a mystery, explained only as the workings o f Allecto (and Juno). Allecto, th e motor o f the transfer , is hidden fro m the characters, though her existence as a figure suggests to the reader that this elided cause is in part figure itself. Scenes such as these illustrate what happens when Virgi l tries to mak e the figurativ e claims o f hi s poem wor k i n th e huma n actio n a s a legitimizing an d explanatory force—legitimizing i n that in these cases all op position t o Aenea s is made to see m mad . The y allegoriz e for th e reade r both th e interrelation o f the two level s of the poem and , not coinciden tally, th e working s o f metaphor , i n it s classica l and broades t sens e of a "transfer" o r a carrying over o f a sense from on e aren a or positio n int o

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another. Thu s Allecto stand s against Amata or Turnus, an d the snake or the firebrand transfers he r meaning an d motivation into their characters. The momen t of literalizatio n occurs as the snake or firebrand shifts fro m the figurative realm into the realm o f huma n action. Th e doublenes s o f the snake as figure an d as literal presence asserted by th e narrator but ig nored b y th e characters helps explain the uncanniness of the moments i n which Amata and Turnus are transformed by anger. The disproportion betwee n the figurative claims of the poem and what the action demonstrates is marked by the poet in the deforming power o f this particula r figure—Allecto—over he r victims. Whil e thes e deforma tions ar e read by th e narrato r as monstra, ambivalen t sign s o f divin e au thority, th e text uses them to acknowledge the power o f the figure and to reveal the contortions of the text in trying to embody a vision of historical destiny. In scenes such as that of the maddening of Amata and Turnus, the text does not abando n its epic project, but it does represent ambivalentl y the political and poetic violence of its task, implicitly expressing distrust of the very discourse s of power o n which i t nonetheless relies. Both these scenes treat these figures unfurle d int o narrative as describing a kind o f compulsio n i n that what goe s on is completely beyon d th e knowledge of the characters and out of their control. The relation between the two aspect s of th e poem establishe d by thes e scenes of divin e inter vention migh t see m to legitimize the action in just the sense that the narrator claim s i t does , bu t sinc e the human actor s remain unawar e of th e figurative motor , th e legitimizing is of a sort tha t may b e valued by th e readers but no t b y the participants. In order t o bring th e figures int o the story at all, in short, th e poet makes them dominant , wit h the result that his characters are left with no options and no knowledge of this restriction. The reader s se e these as scenes of compulsion , bu t th e narrato r derive s from them authorization for all of Aeneas's future action to win the Italian soil. Th e tw o Allect o episodes help to show ho w a plot o f authorization or legitimization arise s from allegorie s of compulsion that the text is able to illuminate but not entirely do without . This sens e of distortio n o r compulsio n i s complete d b y th e strikin g simile comparing Amata to a top, which follows immediately after a double account o f Amata' s motivatio n tha t leaves the reader uncertain ho w much Allecto actually caused the madness. Amata is described as "ingentibus excit a monstris" (VII , 376), "roused by monstrou s (o r huge) por tents (or horrors o r monstrosities)," but what she actually understands or experiences is left in doubt, 55 and in this state she wanders raging throug h the city. Th e simil e o f the top, whic h follows, present s her as controlled

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and drive n into motio n b y others . I t is a violent representatio n of ho w a character ca n be driven : th e to p give n lif e b y th e stroke s tha t prope l i t ("dant animo s plagae," VII, 383 ) suggests how a character can be give n movement in a poem by the propulsion offerees outsid e itself. The simile thus pictures a moment o f dehumanization, domesticated by the delicacy of the characterizatio n of the boys, wh o ar e fascinated a t their game and marveling at the top's motion. Th e power of the figure to dominate, dis tort, an d contro l th e human actio n is to som e exten t hidden behin d th e childish wonder a t the top's speed, as though the poet wished to make the power o f th e figur e see m a force tha t should deligh t an d fascinat e us , as the top doe s the children. Althoug h this simile describes Amata, it could be applied more generally to all the principal characters insofar as they are propelled by somethin g beyon d them—excep t tha t th e course ordained for Aeneas, for example, does not acknowledge the figurative control with any imag e tha t foreground s its ow n distortin g power , a s does Amata' s mad, whirling frenzy . The top simile thus takes an extreme position within the implicit debate that thi s sectio n o f th e poe m define s an d addresses , th e questio n o f whether th e characters' motivation is internal and merely described as external (that is, by symbol and allegory) or whether it is genuinely external, and compelled b y ideological need.56 As Amata becomes more and mor e furious, i n bot h sense s of th e word , th e narration shifts bac k an d fort h between a double narrative in which she is described as responsible for her emotions an d a symbolic narrative representing her as distorted and con torted b y force s outsid e her aren a o f actio n or consciousness . First , sh e seems to be poisoned by Allecto's snake , the touch of which i s contami nating, turnin g Amat a herself int o a Fury. Then Virgi l tell s us tha t th e motivation is double, a comment followed by the top simile. Immediately after th e assertio n in the simile that she is spun by forces beyon d herself, Virgil states that she herself feigns Bacchic possession ("simulate numine Bacchi," VII , 385 ) an d thereb y commit s a greate r crim e ("nefa s maiorem," VII, 386) . Here sh e would see m to be acting of he r own ac cord, but the passage ends with th e narrator's summary comment , talem inter silvas, inte r deserta feraru m reginam Allect o stimuli s agi t undique Bacchi . (VII, 404-5) To this extreme she went In the wild wood, th e wilderness o f beasts , Driven by Allecto with a Bacchic goad . (F VII, 558-60)

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Since th e to p wa s als o a sacred emble m o f Bacchus , thi s fina l sentenc e returns u s again retrospectively t o the apparently domestic imag e o f th e top a s the mos t promisin g explanatio n o f Amata' s actions . Th e episod e thus itsel f whirl s around , turnin g fro m Virgil' s doubl e narration t o mo ments o f symbolic distortion i n which th e costs of bringing th e symboli c scheme int o motio n in the action of the poem ar e clearly detailed an d lamented. In the episode s involvin g Allecto , then , Virgi l seek s a means o f illus trating th e power o f emotion an d suggesting that it may have horrifying origins—horrifying i n part because they ar e controlled an d manipulate d by forces beyond th e self. In spite of the narrator's claims, these scenes do not len d themselve s t o a literal reading, so that without acknowledgin g i t the narrative turns to a form of allegory. A doubleness typical of allegor y is conveyed i n lines like those describing th e women maddene d b y Bac chus and by Amata, as they come to urge Latinus to war. He says that they are "perverse numine" (VII, 584), which ca n be translated either as "under a malign powe r o r influence" or as "under (their own) misdirecte d o r perverse impulse or will."57 The differences between the two are clear, and in many moment s Virgi l leaves this double possibility in place. But in the moments whe n h e makes his figures touch the action—when he generates narrative from his figurative scheme—the two are collapsed into one. Th e compulsion o f emotio n i s then reveale d to b e the compulsion o f figure , and emotion itsel f is firmly locate d in an arena that the human characters can never hope to know, recognize , or understand. More disturbingly, the very fac t o f attemptin g t o provide figure s fo r th e emotions itsel f gener ates, a t least within this narrative economy, th e inevitability o f compul sion. Lik e th e whirlwind tha t spin s the narrative on, th e top figure s th e spinning circularit y of this dilemma, which generates symbolic distortio n as its narrative form. Th e presence of such distortion o r symbolic disfig urement i n the Aeneid thu s suggests the extent t o which , i n case s wher e the relation betwee n figur e an d narrative is itself defined b y th e trope o f prolepsis, plot s of legitimization and plots of compulsion become two aspects of the same history. A number o f these cases of symbolic distortion produce dual or divided images tha t serve as emblems fo r the figurative strategy being employe d and for its dangers. These emblems occur in inset tales narrated by Aeneas or b y othe r character s not priv y t o th e narrator's vision . Th e symboli c qualities tha t th e narrato r migh t attac h to th e episode s a t issue are thu s registered a s disfigurement and horror, wit h no accompanying figuratio n to mitigate o r explain it. In Aeneas's description of Polydorus o r the Har pies in Book III , Virgil work s t o make the tale fit the teller; this restricts

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the reader's access to the figurative explanations of these events, and con sequently the stories take on an allegorical quality. In the case of the Har pies, fo r instance, the episode contains allusions that suggest it might b e read as an allegory of hunge r (III , 217-18)—a danger one would indee d expect Aeneas and his company to face on their journey—but this hint is never given more extensive treatment. The allegory of hunger is displaced by a n ostensibl y straightforwar d accoun t o f a supernatura l adventure: "tristius haud illis monstrum" (III, 214; "No monster—or marvel—more dismal than these"), says Aeneas of the Harpies, using the same word for supernatural marvel that will be used for Lavinia as her hair burns.58 Figures, suc h as the Harpies, wh o hav e two nature s reveal the horrifying result of the attempt to ground the poem's figurative strategy on the plane o f action. 59 The y represen t tha t threa t a s specificall y female , a s though women in particular could be expected to become pron e t o thi s kind o f contamination : "virgine i volucru m voltus , foedissim a ventri s / proluvies" (III , 216-17; "Face s o f youn g wome n have these birds, an d disgusting discharge from the belly"). The unmistakable allusions here to female sexualit y suggest that females—viewed a s contaminated by thei r sexuality an d therefor e as closer already to th e nonhuman—serv e espe cially wel l a s vehicles fo r th e horro r o f thos e moment s i n whic h figur e touches the human plane of action. Scylla, a female whose threat also lies below the waist (III, 426-28), functions similarly, to identify the space of contamination as female. The story of Scylla implies that the root of duality and horror is female sexuality itself, and the narrative works to protect Aeneas from its contaminating touch. 60 The scapegoatin g of femal e sex uality, apparent also in the use of Juno, signal s an ideologically motivated displacement of responsibility throughout the poem. The Harpies episode might seem minor in the Aeneid as it now stands were it not for the prophecy of Celaeno, who predict s a minor and a major aspect of the Italian part of the poem (III , 253-57). Her words—which may be read as another example of incomplete revision—link the accomplishment of Aeneas's his torical mission to the contaminating powers of creatures like the Harpies. This episode's lapsus —if indee d i t is such—reaffirms th e important con nection betwee n suc h moments o f "touching, " horrific as they ma y be , and the successful completio n o f the epic task. Not al l emblems or representations of the poem's need to make the figures touch th e narrative are female, however, no r indee d coul d the y be, given tha t figure s i n isolatio n hav e no gende r (thoug h the y ca n be gen dered, as we have seen in the case of Allecto). A similar dynamic of sym bolic distortion i s at work in the description of Polydorus , fo r instance, in whic h th e pastora l trope o f responsiv e nature, th e patheti c fallacy , i s

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literalized, again with the structure of a catachresis. Both Polydorus—the man a s tree—and the bird-women Harpies emblematize a particular type of figuration, and picture in their doubleness the catastrophic effect o f in scribing o r literalizing figure in narrative. Nonetheless, th e poem give s a special prominence t o thos e gendere d figure s tha t displace the represen tational violence ont o females . Suc h gendering o f figur e seem s to have a double function : it elides the narrative's own responsibilit y fo r th e figu rative violence , givin g th e tex t a n overtly misogynisti c structure , ye t it also calls attention to this elision by rendering the displacement so evident and by linking, a t a different leve l of the narrative, these female figures so resolutely with the narrative's own energies. This second move allows the text to inscribe its own critique of the misogyny that it also invokes in the voice of the narrator. Another brie f bu t important mention o f a double nature occurs in the story of Cacus, whose defea t by Hercules is a frankly mythologica l story , which at one level of the text provides, as R. D. Williams puts it, "a mythological parallel to the task of Aeneas (and Augustus) of ridding the worl d of barbaric and archaic violence" (2: 240). The tale's semiallegorical status is extended by the description of Cacus, who lived in a cave, vomited forth flames, an d a s the child of Vulca n was only half-human at best. Evander tells Aenea s o f Cacus' s horrifyin g shape : "semihominis Cac i facie s . . . dira" (VIII, 194; "the fearfu l semihuma n shape of Cacus"). Th e monster' s shape reflects hi s allegorical role in th e story : not onl y doe s he stand fo r something mor e tha n human— a mixtur e o f bestia l and divine—whose threat has an archaic power,61 but his form points to the moment whe n his figurative valu e transformed his physical being, creatin g an image o f de formity an d horror. Cacus does not exist within th e action of the Aeneid, since his stor y i s set in a mythological past , but h e serves nonetheless a s an emble m fo r th e distortin g power , of th e symboli c dimensio n o f th e poem. The myth o f Hercules and Cacus tells of a primal evil to be defeated in order t o mak e the land livable, an d the poem's narrato r leaves no doub t about the importance of its defeat. Nonetheless , th e story hints at a different history telling how the original inhabitants of the land were destroyed. The legitimacy of Evander and his kingdom trace s back to the victory o f Hercules. Presented , therefore , as a victory over barbarism, thi s struggl e is set in the past and given a powerful moral coloring to make it legitimate. By treatin g Cacu s as a monster, thi s foundational myth claims that there never was any contest over who had the right to the land, and thus extends the same authority to Aeneas's enterprise. The cost of the political moral, however, i s the distortion no t onl y o f the very shape of Cacus, wh o ha s

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to be dehumanized in order to be rightfully destroyed, but also of the earth itself, providing a political aetiology for the overhanging cliff s and toppled crags (VIII, 190-92 ) that become the violent mar k of figure on the landscape. The political allegory thus humanizes the landscape in order to dehumanize it, in order in turn to legitimize the history o f foundation. Such markin g i s not alway s retrospective or even historicizing, how ever, nor does it occur only in cases of madness or violence. Th e prophecy concerning th e marriage of Lavinia , for instance, is motivated by a series of portents, beginnin g wit h a swarm of bees that clusters on Latinus's sacred laurel: huius apes surnmum densae (mirabile dictu) stridore ingenti liquidum trans aethera vectae obsedere apicem, e t pedibus per mutua nexis examen subitum rarno frondente pependit. (VII, 64-67) Here, fo r a wonder, bee s In a thick swarm, born e through the limpid air With humming thunder , clustere d high on top And, locking al l their feet together , hun g In a sudden mass that weighted leaves and bough . (F VII, 85-89 )

These bees elicit from the local soothsayer a relatively obscure pronouncement tha t appears to predict th e success of a foreign invasion. Indeed , i n Roman religion bee portents seem most often to have been understood as unfavorable.62 As I shall argue in the next chapter , bees in the imagery o f the Aeneid ofte n introduc e a turn t o th e idyllic , an d here, movin g fro m simile (suc h as that in Book I ) to action , they illustrate the way in whic h the Aeneid narrativize s the trope s tha t frequen t its figurativ e scheme (as they di d the Homeric epics). 63 When the bees leave the figurative dimension of the story and enter the action, as they do here, they do not function as idyllic markers veiling th e threat of conflict an d bringing a n ostensibl e calm t o th e story . Instead , th e movemen t fro m figur e t o even t evoke s prophecy, create s both fear an d wonder, an d remains finally uninterpret able.64 The bee portent is thus an effort t o make the figurative claims work in the action itself, but it distresses the human actor s who attemp t to un derstand it. Th e vision o f the swarm o n the tree implies no temporal di rection, bu t i n trying t o interpret it, the characters transform this imag e into a story that can describe the direction that fate ordains. Omens , lik e ominous calm s an d monsters , thu s typif y moment s i n which Virgi l at tempts t o mak e hi s figurativ e claims apparen t within th e actio n o f th e

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poem—a mov e tha t is necessary if hi s story i s to have the legitimacy h e asserts, bu t tha t als o presents the character s with a situation o f uninter pretable ambiguity that has again to be given an apparent narrative resolution. The sequence of portents is continued with the sign (monstrum) o f Lav inia's burnin g hai r (VII , 81) . Lik e Scylla or th e Harpies , Lavini a is said momentarily t o becom e a doubl e being , bot h huma n an d divine , bot h woman an d figure . Sh e differ s fro m thos e emblem s o f doublenes s de scribed in tales by Aeneas or Evander because she participates in the principal action of the poem an d hence can only briefly see m to take a double form. I n her case , Virgil renders literal a figurative statement—that Lavinia burn s wit h a divine significance , that she like lulus is touched wit h divine fire—and represents this symbolic quality as an actuality within th e action. Althoug h the characters see the portent, the narrator gives no hint of how th e event could be fit into a naturalistic tale. No commen t i s made about Lavinia' s or anyon e else's reaction to th e actual flames, so that th e fourth ter m o f the implied analogy—wha t the characters actually said or experienced—is absent: praeterea, casti s adolet du m altari a taedis, et iuxta genitorem astat Lavinia virgo , visa (nefas ) longi s comprender e crinibu s ignem atque omnem ornatum flamma crepitante cremari , regalisque accensa comas, accens a corona m insignem gemmis; turn fumida lumine fulv o involvi ac totis Volcanu m sparger e tectis. (VII, 71-77)

Then came another sign : While th e old king lit fires a t the altars With a pure torch , th e girl Lavinia with him , It seemed he r long hair caught, he r head-dress caugh t In crackling flame, her queenl y tresse s blazed, Her jewelled crown blazed. Mantled the n in smok e And russe t light, sh e scattered divine fir e Through all the house . (F VII, 93-100)

Virgil notes tha t the sight of he r burning hair was a "nefas" o r "crime," "abomination," "somethin g contrar y t o divin e law," 65 suggestin g tha t something no t quit e litera l ma y b e occurring , an d afte r describin g th e omen he add s a characterisic qualification. Nonetheless, th e literal event is asserted as actual, its ambiguity reflected, a s so often-in th e case of por tents, in the double meaning attributed to it by those who interpret it:

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id vero horrendum ac visu mirabile ferri: namque fore inlustrem fama fatisqu e canebant ipsam, se d populo magnum portendere bellum. (VII, 78-80) No one could hold tha t sight Anything but hair-raising, marvelous, And it was read by seers to mean the girl Would have renown an d glorious days to come , But tha t she brought a great war on her people. (F VII, IOO-I04)66

Lavinia with her burning hair takes on for an instant the doubleness characteristic of such moments. Sh e is monstrous, terrible; touched by the di vine—that is , th e figurativ e significanc e give n th e action—sh e changes shape, becoming a monstrum, a word used, as we have seen, to refer to her burning hai r in VII , 81 , and implicitl y in VII , 270 , but als o to Allect o (VII, 328 ) and to Polydorus, th e Harpies, Scylla , Cacus, and others. Lav inia's burning hair is a "nefas" in the same sense that it is a "monstrum": that is, within th e context o f the action, it breaks divine laws concerning what things should happen to human beings, while within th e context o f the poem, it breaks the implicit canon s of naturalis m withi n which the epic enterpris e is defined , includin g a theory o f th e sig n a s pointing t o (monstrare) a term tha t it can then render again (re-present), o r of a n alle gory wit h a natural or realistic component. I t is a monstrum that does no t point, o r points only to absence. The momentary los s of Lavinia's human shape is the price the text pays for th e importation o f figure s int o th e narrative. In taking on symboli c value, she is distorted. Her burning hair thus points to the role she has been assigned by the epic fiction—that o f an economic and political entity, no t a human one . He r los s o f huma n shape—whic h exemplifies the process by whic h th e tex t turn s wome n into symbols—manifest s th e power o f such symbolic work t o distort and deform, and suggests how muc h such moments o f figurative power ar e experienced by the characters not a s illuminating but as restricting and compelling. The omen itself remains importantly ambivalent, perhaps providing a symbolic means of character izing Lavinia (though th e characters cannot an d do not regar d it as such), and initiatin g a process o f ungendering , i n whic h th e representatio n o f woman i s metamorphosed int o symbol . Disruptiv e figure s thu s ca n be gendered a s female i n orde r t o displac e their more genera l identification with the text's own articulations, but the female characters themselves are dehumanized, losin g their gendered, human identity as they begin to con vey the text's figurative message. This crossing of categories—figures,an -

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thropomorphized, character s becoming figures—mark s th e violence an d transformative power o f the figurative scheme in moments like this one , and agai n show s how misogyn y govern s man y o f th e text' s ideologica l and metaphorical strategies . As he does throughout, Virgi l here renders literal a symbolic quality of a person o r event, an d calls this literalization an omen. Th e omens tha t fill the poem and give it its narrative direction are thus devices that allow fig ure an d even t t o "touch. " In the actio n itself, however , a s in actual religious practice—for , lik e bee portents, fir e portent s wer e als o invoked i n Roman religion—thes e omen s presen t a n interpretiv e dilemm a rathe r than any certainty or authorization for action. Lavinia's portent, i n whic h the seers at first fin d n o sign s or tokens abou t marriage, indeed offer s n o clear expectation tha t a foreign husband will resolv e the double directio n in whic h he r fat e take s her . He r monstrosit y canno t b e give n a singl e meaning: sh e bodes bot h goo d an d ill, a doubleness pointing t o th e un interpretable mystery that is presented to the characters in moments whe n figures tak e on literal power.67 To the extent that Virgilian figures remain uninterpretable by the characters, the y serv e to generate narratives, including historical ones, an d to inscribe the violent trace s of their course upon th e text's landscape. Faced with a daughter wh o ha s suddenly become a monstrum, Latinus seeks out the oracl e o f hi s propheti c progenitor , "fatidic i genitoris " (VII , 82) , Faunus. Here the poetry stresse s that he turns specifically t o a divine rep resentative of his line, the founder of his race and symbol of his patrilineal legitimacy. Virgi l transfer s th e traditional account o f Latinus' s drea m t o the oracle of Faunus, and refers to the type of oracular consultation called incubatio, in which th e response comes in a dream to a person sleepin g in the precincts of the oracle. 68 This shift allow s him to refer proleptically t o Roman religiou s customs , whil e als o characteristicall y castin g som e doubt o n Latinus's "solution" to the riddle. Doubt remain s within the action about the meaning of any of the oracular responses given to Lavinia's burning hair , while on the figurative level the narrator affirms th e patriar chal value of Latinus' s actions because they reflec t th e religiou s practice s of Roman s centurie s later . Th e difficulty o f interpreting th e portent sug gests why th e poet cannot easily make his figurative scheme work within the action as a source of significance. When figure is inscribed in the story, it produces distortions o n the human level but no compensating certaint y or understanding . Latinus's consultation o f th e oracl e of Faunu s is also a consultation o f the Italian landscape. The voic e interpreting th e portent come s fro m th e grove itself ("ex alt o . . . luco," VII, 95; "out o f the deep grove"), and the

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setting—with place names acting as tropes and specific geographical identifications to allow Roman readers to locate the spot—suggests that Virgil represents here a consultation o f a genius loci, a figurativ e forc e give n th e landscape poetically an d rendere d a s religion. Th e oracl e i s replete wit h markers of the figurative scheme of the poem: the proleptic, historica l allusions; the pastoral setting that so often appear s in similes and poetic im agery; the animate d landscap e itself. Latinus' s consultation o f th e oracl e thus ca n be understood a s a representation o f ho w a character might at tempt to discover the figurative structure of the poem—or at least, in this case, to recover that part of the figurative scheme that might b e expressed in a patriarchal form. Thi s second interpretatio n of th e portent elide s all mention o f th e grea t wa r tha t Lavini a will brin g t o he r people , fo r th e oracle stresse s only tha t sh e must marr y a foreigner wh o wil l brin g re nown to th e family name . Th e oracl e thus seems in agreemen t wit h th e narrator about Aeneas's peaceful intentions. Patriarch y therefore provides a solution, erasin g the ill omen an d with it the political difficulties o f th e marriage. The text presents this figurative suppression of the multiplicity of reactions to Lavinia's burning hair with uneasiness, since in suppressing them it leaves the more disruptive implications of the portent unacknowl edged and unresolved. 69

Chapter Three

THE FIGURATIV E ECONOM Y OF TH E AENEID

foliis lenta s intexere mollibus hasta s (to entwine in soft leaves th e tough spears ) Virgil, Eclogue V, 3 1

I

N TH E Aeneid, th e poeti c figures creat e a complex econom y i n whic h a serie s of exchange s and symboli c reordering s is set in motion with each figurativ e claim . Th e figure s giv e ris e to a range o f connecte d meanings tha t g o beyon d th e initia l analogie s posited, for , i n orde r t o demonstrate th e legitimac y o f Aeneas' s heroi c enterprise , th e poetr y evades, hides, o r suppresses the full implications of the Roman scheme of empire. Th e poem' s strateg y involves no t onl y articulatin g its principal political and poetic claims in and as figures, but also veiling the difference s between thes e figurative claims and the evidence of their limitations pro vided i n th e represente d action . A constan t proces s o f displacemen t o f cause and suppression of agency or result is thus set under way so that the contradictions in the poem's argument may not become so disruptive that the narrative is stopped in its tracks. The crossing of discourses in the text, each of which criticizes and parodies the others, allow s us to see through this veil to some extent, an d thus to expose and to construct a critique of its political and metaphorical strategies. I see this critique as made possibl e by the text an d hence in some sens e as located within it, bu t no t a s articulated o r acknowledge d b y it. Thu s th e represented actio n is marked b y

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the traces of the whirlwind and by the frequent sacrific e of anonymous o r unimportant characters , while the poetic figure s attemp t t o contai n an d confine—or a t least explain—tha t whirlwind . Th e figure s therefor e at tempt to suppress the uncertainties of human action, and either to explain the sacrifice s a s necessary o r t o mak e the m invisible . Th e resultin g ex changes an d suppressions , whic h wor k t o reconcil e thes e discrepancies, constitute th e poem's figurativ e economy . NARRATIVE DOUBLE S AND TH E POLITICS OF IDYL L Virgil's separat e figurative descriptions o f th e actio n ca n create a double narrative that tells two opposed stories at once. As one solution to the gap between th e narrator's symbolic figuration of events and the action itself, the poem chart s an uneasy compromise, seekin g to demonstrate some resemblance between them . Thes e narrative doubles take the form of an extended narrativ e simile, i n which tw o version s of an event ar e compared to eac h other. Th e wor k of ideology ca n be seen in the effor t t o link th e two term s o f thi s simile , sinc e its claim of resemblanc e is not supporte d within the action. Thi s doubling o f the narrative imbues th e text with a tonal ambivalence that points to the great poetic labor involved i n asserting a n analogy where one does not exist . The cos t of this attempted rec onciliation is aesthetic in the first instance—as, for example, when the expected standard s of naturalism in an epic are disrupted—and it is anthro pomorphized an d pai d o n th e huma n level , usuall y by th e deat h i n a n implicit sacrific e o f on e of the characters. Virgil's narrativ e doubles thu s present two version s of events while suppressing or displacing the differ ence between them . Th e onse t of suc h a moment o f suppression or veiling, recognizabl e to the reader but not evident within th e represented action, i s often symbolize d b y a suspension of the apparent causality of th e events, o r b y th e adven t o f a n unusual calm, a t odds wit h th e emotion s evoked b y the episode. Suc h moments mar k within th e action the formal suppression o f tha t difference , an d th e relate d suppressio n i n th e stor y both of the grief tha t recognizing it might cause and of any understanding of the implicit sacrificia l basi s of the events described. Th e narrative sacrifices thu s serv e t o displac e th e mora l cos t o f thes e maneuver s fro m Aeneas an d from th e narrator—both o f whom mour n th e progress tha t the narrative makes necessary. 1 The questio n o f whethe r th e norms o f epi c should b e understood t o include naturalis m o r realism, a question important fo r narrative doubles

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which ofte n matc h a surrealistic or supernatural narrative with a realistic one, ha s been reviewed by W. R. Johnson i n Darkness Visible. Johnson ha s taken the lead in contesting the more traditional view, articulated by Erich Auerbach in Mimesis: Th e Representation of Reality i n Western Literature an d based on the conventions of the Homeric epics , that epic writing provide s a representatio n o f "thing s a s they are. " Johnso n demonstrate s Virgil' s systematic exclusion o f the Homeric mode l of realism, as well as what he calls the "lighter, delicately comic, somewhat sentimental realism" of Apollonius.2 Clearl y muc h o f poetr y o f th e Aeneid i s incomprehensibl e within a naturalistic framework. Th e epi c norm o f naturalis m doe s de termine wha t th e characters are allowed to see and understand, however . The event s in which they are involved ar e given supernatural, subjective, impressionistic, o r lyricall y evocativ e coloring s onl y i n th e figures . I n contrast, th e assumptions concerning the actions of characters—their un derstanding, thei r possibilities—ar e shaped by th e convention s o f natu ralism, thoug h Virgi l adds to this narrative others very different i n mod e of which the characters remain unaware. Thus the final effect o f Virgilia n narration clearl y cannot b e described by the term "naturalism, " but i t is brought about by a juxtaposition of at least two quit e different discursiv e strategies, one of which adhere s closely to the expectations of naturalism established in the Homeric epics . In a general sense, all of the Aeneid ca n be said to be a doubled narrative since the character s are always ignorant of the figurative explanation s o f the poet. 3 In some cases, however, Virgi l seeks more activel y to establis h a resemblance between these two part s of hi s poem—to make figure an d action "touch," for example, by treating the figure as cause of the action— and these episodes are especially marked by the signs of that work of rec onciliation. A s I suggested in my account of "Storm-tossed Aeneas," suc h doubles ofte n pai r an essentially nonnarrative image with a narrative, the difference between their temporal structures creating a part of their formal ambivalence. The y al l contain uncanny moments i n which th e poet an d readers hover betwee n varyin g irreconcilable explanations of the action , moments tha t attemp t t o suspend , i f no t resolve , som e o f th e conflict s within the poetic and political values of the poem. I will consider here two such narrative doubles—the Ascanius/Cupid exchange at the end of Book I an d th e doubl e deat h scen e of Nisu s an d Euryalus—a s well a s several similes that operate in an analogous double way by claiming a resemblance between a situation of violenc e or potentia l conflict an d idyllic scenes of natural harmony. Thes e narrativ e doubles an d the idyllic similes have in common not onl y a n implicit sacrificia l structure , bu t th e us e of idylli c imagery t o suspen d momentaril y o r vei l th e implications o f th e action .

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The cal m tha t accompanie s suc h moments o f suspensio n thematize s th e poetry's forma l effort t o reconcil e its figurative argumen t an d the narra tive, bu t i n both narrativ e doubles and the similes this calm also disturbs that reconciliation becaus e it becomes associated with death or with har m to th e characters , the violence o f which th e imagery of cal m is designed to hide or minimize . Venus's exchange o f Ascaniu s and Cupid t o mak e Dido fal l i n love pro vides an early and definitive example of narrative doubling in the Aeneid. The episode has long disturbe d readers of Virgil , since the reasons for Venus's plotting remain obscure; Jupiter, for instance, had already dispatched Mercury t o Carthag e to ensur e Aeneas's safety (I , 297-304), an d Venus's actions—which caus e Dido's love—ultimatel y dela y Aeneas. 4 Thi s plo t confusion point s bot h t o th e ambivalence s introduced b y doubl e moti vation an d t o th e wa y th e poeti c figure s generat e plot s o f compulsion , which, a s we hav e seen , kee p th e character s and th e narrato r fro m th e knowledge o f cause s th e figure s promise . Such plot s o f compulsion , clearly fata l t o thei r principa l victim s (Dido , i n thi s case) , ofte n dra w i n and threate n Aenea s an d othe r character s who ar e meant t o benefi t bu t who ar e lef t throug h thi s narrativ e mechanism withou t th e freedo m t o choose thei r ow n course . The scen e of Did o falling i n love is drawn as a picture of eroti c com pulsion, a compulsion tha t is connected to the figures with which her pas sion is described. Th e pictur e is complex an d psychologically subtle, bu t it represent s nonetheles s a scen e o f manipulation , i n whic h metaphor s from wa r conve y th e sense that the queen is invaded. Whe n Cupi d seek s her (petit, wit h th e secondary sense of "attack") 5 after embracin g and deluding Aeneas , Dido clings to him : haec oculis , hae c pectore toto haeret e t interdum gremio fovet insci a Dido insidat quantu s misera e deus . (I, 717-19 ) she with all her eye s an d heart embrace d him , Fondling him a t times upon her breast , Oblivious of ho w grea t a god sa t ther e To her undoing. (F I, 978-81)

The languag e here makes the sexual energy an d the compulsion evident : she clings t o him , "haeret, " the word carryin g the implication o f bein g fixed or riveted . Thi s rivetin g o f he r attentio n o n th e boy fits with th e

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sexual implication s o f holdin g an d caressin g hi m i n he r la p ("gremi o fovet"). Th e ver b insidat carrie s on th e militar y metapho r (insidere ca n mean both "settle in or on" an d "to occupy " wit h a specifically militar y sense), while the associations ofinsido wit h insideo an d insidiae suggest the secondary meaning (supported by the dative "miserae") of "unaware ho w great the god that lays siege to unhappy Dido."6 The rivetin g o f Did o is thus concluded when the great god settles in, with insido having yet a third connotation o f "becomin g fixe d o r rooted. " Venu s describes this com pulsion b y analog y to th e effect s o f fire and poison (I , 688), but th e nar ration pictures the attack as immobilizing Dido . In orde r t o mak e this scen e of passion and riveting eroti c power pos sible Venus puts Cupid i n the place of Ascanius and transports the boy t o one of her sacred groves. The exchange of the two, a crossing that signals the momen t i n which thi s narrative simile is constructed, take s place on the figurativ e leve l of th e poem an d without Ascanius' s knowledge, a s a means o f explainin g what happen s to Dido. Th e implied simil e read s as follows: caressing a beautiful boy sitting on one's lap is like caressing Cu pid, a great god infusin g ever y limb wit h eroti c power. Th e exchang e is set up i n exact parallel, though th e time devote d t o eac h in the narrative is different (th e four lines devoted to Ascanius are a narrative summary or near ellipse, but th e temporal equation of the two—Ascanius is away for just as long a s Cupid is present—is nonetheless clear). Thus whil e Cupid , his double, i s being fondled on Dido's lap , Ascanius is fondled in a differ ent way. Venu s tells Cupid : hunc eg o sopitum somn o super alta Cyther a aut super Idalium sacrata sede recondam , ne qua scire dolos mediusve occurrer e possit . tu faciem illius noctem no n ampliu s unam falle dolo et notes pueri puer indu e vultus . (I, 680-84) I'll dru g him in his sleep, the n hide him wel l High up in Cythera, o r on Cyprus, ove r Idalium i n my shrine . Ther e is no way For him t o learn this tric k or interfere. You counterfeit his figure for one night , No more , an d make the boy's know n face your mask . (F I, 930-35)

Venus's language of trickery and deceit ("dolos") emphasizes that the characters ar e being manipulated : this figurative description turn s the actio n so completely from its apparent direction that it brings not onl y a troping

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7

(which makes a face itself into a mask) but a trick, a deceit, of whic h th e characters remain ignorant to their destruction. Venus takes Ascanius off to her high precincts, while Amor walk s joyously (gaudens) wit h th e step of lulus . The narrator' s descriptio n o f thi s even t i s somewhat different , how ever, for he not only locates Ascanius in the Idalian groves but pictures the site in an idyllic imagery out of tone with Venus's remarks: at Venus Ascanio placida m pe r membra quiete m inrigat, e t fotum gremi o dea tollit i n alto s Idaliae lucos, ub i mollis amaracu s ilium floribus et dulci aspirans complectitu r umbra . (I, 691-94 ) Venus in turn sent throug h Ascanius' body Rills of slumber , caugh t hi m t o her breast , And bore him t o Idalia's aerial grove s Where bed s o f marjora m Embraced hi m in soft bloo m and breathing shade . (F I, 944-48 )

The doublin g o f th e tw o episode s i s emphasized by th e phras e "fotu m gremio" (lin e 692): Ascanius is "fotum gremio, " warme d o r fondle d in Venus's lap , a s Cupi d wa s warme d o r fondle d i n Dido' s la p ("gremi o fovet," lin e 718). Her e to o th e strict sense of gremio is extended, an d Venus's lap or bosom become s the bower itself. The parallelis m continue s wit h th e sof t marjoram , whic h commen tators glos s b y referenc e to Catullu s LXI , 6 , wher e marjora m is associ ated wit h weddings . Austi n comment s als o tha t Lucretiu s (IV , 1179 ) names th e juice o f th e marjora m plan t a s the substanc e used b y th e exclusus amator "t o anoin t the doorposts of his love" (Austin I, p. 208). The herbs thu s offe r a counterpar t t o th e lov e potio n o r poiso n wit h whic h Cupid betray s Dido i n th e earthl y story an d als o shift s th e eroti c com ponent o f th e story ont o th e landscape. This displacemen t allows an un usual cal m t o flo w ("inrigat" ) throug h Ascaniu s and th e whol e scene , quieting ("quietem" ) bot h th e uncomfortabl e eroti c an d manipulativ e overtones i n th e relatio n betwee n th e young bo y an d the olde r goddes s of love , an d th e over t thoug h unacknowledge d paralle l t o th e event s overtaking Dido . These tw o scene s thus provide a good example of what is convention ally called Virgilian parallel or suspended narration, though traditional explanations of these techniques do not acknowledg e the irreconcilable differences betwee n th e two versions . Th e logic of the events suggests that

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Cupid's arrival in disguise as Ascanius and his carrying of the gifts to Dido should be understood a s happening simultaneously with Ascanius's trip to the bower , whil e Ascanius' s falling aslee p might b e said to occu r imagi natively a t the same time tha t Cupid begin s t o poison Dido. 7 Virgil the n elides the conclusion o f Ascanius's story, neve r mentioning th e sleight o f hand by which th e two characters become one again. In this narrative dou ble, th e poetr y establishe s a n analog y betwee n a narrativ e sequenc e o f events—the stor y o f ho w Did o fall s i n love , o f he r poisoning—an d a n essentially nonnarrative scen e that might b e said t o explai n it or provid e its figurativ e interpretation, th e imag e o f Ascaniu s in th e Idalia n grove . The double d narrativ e provides two versions of a single event, tw o irreconcilable version s wit h differen t ideological , moral , an d aesthetic significances. The analog y between thes e two create s a narrative simile that explains the events figuratively; this explanation in turn makes room for the ideological shif t o f emphasi s tha t lend s idylli c colo r t o th e scen e o f th e queen's poisoning . The poetry avoid s acknowledging th e difficulty o f reconciling th e tw o by describin g th e tw o version s a s separate events of th e sam e status and only positin g thei r congruenc e indirectly . Th e resultin g ambivalenc e gives both scenes a quality that can properly be called uncanny. If the un canny signals the moment i n which a n unacknowledged aspec t of the narrative is allowed t o surfac e sufficientl y t o chang e the tone o f a n episode, such moment s ar e als o characterize d b y th e text' s inabilit y t o decid e whether a n episode shoul d b e interpreted a s supernatural.8 This inability also has, of course, a n ideological component. Th e irresolvable tonal am bivalence conveyed b y the uncanny in the Aeneid signal s the extent of the ideological wor k necessar y t o fi t narrativ e doubles int o on e story , an d serves a s a measure o f th e unacknowledge d purpose s tha t underlie thes e efforts a t displacement an d metamorphosis . Evidence tha t thi s uncomfortabl e doublin g does occu r a s I have sug gested ca n be found in Aeneas's reaction to Cupi d a s he masks himself i n Ascanius's face . Aenea s is not onl y deceive d by Cupid bu t satisfie d b y th e disguised god : ille ubi complexu Aeneae colloqu e pependi t et magnum falsi implevit genitoris amorem, reginam petit. (I , 715-17) After huggin g Aeneas roun d the neck And clinging to him, answerin g the love Of th e deluded father , h e sought the queen. (F I, 975-77)

Figurative Econom y of the Aeneid 15

9

Here "falsi genitoris" can have the meaning of "the fathe r that was not his own," thoug h "falsi " ca n also mean "deceived. " Similarly , th e primary meaning of "implevit" is physical ("to fil l in, fil l up; to fill or satiate, hence satisfy; impregnate") , bu t i t is used here metaphoricall y t o conve y ho w fully Aenea s was delude d abou t his son's identity. Just a s he will occupy ("insidere") Dido, settlin g into her bosom, th e false Ascaniu s convinces the father, eithe r because he actually is Ascanius, here masked to shield the founder of the Roman line, or because there is something in Amor himself that deeply satisfies Aeneas , or both . Such doubl e misapprehensio n i s not , however , withou t dangers . Aeneas's mistake here mirrors the confusion of the parents of twins whom Virgil mentions in Book X . Th e twins are simillima proles, indiscreta sui s gratusque parentibu s error . (X, 391-92 )

so alik e Their parents, happil y bemused , coul d neve r Tell th e tw o apart . ( F X, 538-40)

Only deat h distinguishes between thes e two twin s (on e has his head cut off, th e othe r hi s hand), and the narrator, giving a sense of wha t may b e at issu e i n othe r suspension s wher e thi s morta l distinctio n i s yet t o b e made, call s th e discriminatin g mark s o f deat h a gri m differentiation , "dura discrimina " (X , 393) . The suspensio n in the double Ascanius epi sode allow s suc h a fatal endin g t o b e temporarily averted , but th e simi larity of situation suggests that the kind of differentiation tha t only death can give hovers threateningly over the head of Ascanius. If my analysis of doubling i s correct, Cupid become s an allegorical or figurative represen tation of a n aspect of Ascanius, momentarily identical formally but sep arated from him i n order t o ward of f from the boy an y association with Amor's trick s an d deceits . Th e nee d t o protec t Aeneas' s heir fro m suc h disruptive association partly explains the extent o f th e figurativ e veilin g and displacement in the double scene. Ascanius and Cupid are two twins , as it were, thoug h wit h opposit e symbolic qualities: as the guarantor that Aeneas's famil y will continue , Ascaniu s is a figure o f life , whil e Cupi d brings death to Dido, an d the poisonous eroti c passion he stirs up causes destruction throughout th e poem. A sens e of th e difficult y o f resolvin g suc h divergence can be heard in W. R.Johnson's account of the episode. Johnson describe s the effect o f the double Ascaniu s passage as "fantastic, abstract , impressionistic , an d re -

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alistic" (Darkness Visible, p. 44). His interpretation of the passage remains double: In a sense the rendering o f Dido' s infatuation is naturalistic because it is Ascanius' resemblance t o his father, combine d wit h hi s display of physical affection t o her, that causes the infatuation. But this naturalism is weakened not onl y becaus e Ascanius is in fac t Amo r bu t als o because, in a way tha t we ar e not shown, in a way that remains mysteriou s and is sinister and almost macabre, Amor does poison and wound Dido. Th e myster y (an d its horror) exist s in the exac t proportion a s the infection o f Did o is not o r canno t be rendered by plausible images. (Ibid.)

A singl e even t occur s i n th e action—Did o fondle s a young bo y o n he r lap—but thi s even t is given tw o account s that d o not allo w fo r a resolution. Th e episode thus suspends causality, never permitting an y answer t o the question o f what finall y cause d her to fall in love. Johnson's commen t on the ambiguity an d mystery o f the episode points to a feature of all the narrative double s i n th e poem , wher e th e interpretive difficult y ma y b e not, a s he claims, that there is no "plausible" imagery to describe the event but tha t ther e is too muc h o f it, an d that the imagery itself, with its sup plemental structure , always requires yet another explanation . The tw o versions , indeed , ar e quite distinct . I n th e scen e involvin g Dido, mischievous Cupi d play s a sinister role: he is to kindle the queen t o madness and to send the flame into her very marrow, "furente m / incendat reginam atqu e ossibu s implice t ignem " (I , 659-60) . H e bring s Helen' s veil, an ominous gif t alludin g to the unlawful marriage ("inconcessos hy menaeos") that started the Trojan War and hinting a t the unlawful "marriage" t o whic h Did o wil l convinc e hersel f tha t sh e an d Aenea s hav e agreed.9 Th e pictur e o f Cupi d wit h Did o an d Aeneas, i n short , figure s sexuality, eroticis m an d its violences, betraya l and manipulation (b y Venus and by the forces of eroticism); Cupid makes Dido furens and infelix though sh e does not know it. The version of events associated with Ascanius presents a different pic ture: it suggests that to sit on Dido's la p is to be enwrapped in the flowery fragrance o f Venus' s sacred groves. I n this setting, th e shades of lov e ar e sweet, th e smell s flowery , an d th e over t eroticis m o f th e Dido-Aenea s story ha s been purged , displace d onto th e landscape. This displacemen t provides th e first turn in the figurative version o f the story, whic h give s a les s threatening—because less sexual—quality t o th e scene . Th e scen e itself ha s its dangers (ther e is no reason to think tha t Ascanius will wak e from hi s charme d sleep , fo r instance , nor , indeed , tha t his passivity i s a comforting mode l fo r characte r in general) , bu t the y ar e more indirect , and they remain unacknowledged. Virgi l thus splits his "mimesis of erotic

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compulsion"10 into two parts: the idyllic version presents the desirable and pleasurable in a sensual setting tha t excludes over t huma n eroticis m an d sexuality (neither of which would beplacidam, I , 691, soothing ) an d thus also seems to exclude all real activity. The bower incorporates and disembodies the sweetness of the erotic moment, excludin g eroticism itself and the furor tha t always accompanies it in Virgil's poetry : in the Idalian ver sion o f th e stor y th e boy i s out o f hi s own control , bu t her e thi s loss of control is made to appear pleasant, soothing, an d even reassuring. In both versions, then , a degree o f compulsio n i s evident, bu t th e Idalia n story hides its violence an d devastation in the enflowerin g charm s o f a n idyll, colored b y the action it seeks to disguise or reinterpret . The idyllic scene, an extension of Dido's lap, is directly linked to female sexuality, s o tha t th e precinct s o f Venu s come t o see m lik e a n encompassing womb. This association hints at the submerged threat to the epic mission represented by the experience of being fondled on a woman's lap, but it also shows how the poem can transform such potentially threatening sexual imagery into an enticing diaphanous veil to hide both th e violence and the misogyny o f his plot. The processes of veiling and seeing throug h the vei l ar e multiple here , conditione d b y th e multipl e discourse s bein g employed and used against each other. Thus the idyllic version has its danger, a s Virgil makes apparent, yet it also can serve to elide the threat rep resented in the action. Th e mutual criticism between th e two part s of the narrative double—an argumen t betwee n genr e an d countergenre—thus has its own political complications. 11 The term "idyll" is appropriate here in the strictest sense.12 The picture of Ascanius in the sacred precincts of Venu s can be glossed with reference to Virgil's Eclogues, for each of the key words describing the Idalian groves is a generic marker . Th e las t lines o f thi s complex passag e bear a reexamination for pastoral tropes: et fotum gremi o de a tollit in altos Idaliae lucos, ub i mollis amaracu s ilium floribus et dulci aspirans complectitur umbra . (I, 692-94 )

R. D. William s translate s these lines: "wher e sof t marjora m breathes its fragrance ove r hi m an d wrap s hi m roun d wit h it s blossom s an d swee t shade" (i: 210). But as Austin notes, floribus andumbra ar e both dependent on both aspirans an d complectitur, "a n ingenious arrangemen t which hint s at the entwining embrace of the mesh of blossoms" (Austin I, p. 208). The entwining o f th e boy an d the breathing, slightl y personifie d flowers, in which shade and blossoms canno t be distinguished from fragrance, has a

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pastoral tone and emphasizes the conventional continuit y in this genre between poet and nature. Words like mollis, dulcis, umbra, and even lucos char acterize the pastora l landscape of th e Eclogues, and dulcis acquire s its pas toral contex t i n th e Firs t Eclogue , wher e Meliboeu s call s the field s h e is leaving "dulci a arua, " "swee t fields " (I , 3). 13 "Lentu s in umbra, " Meli boeus's descriptio n o f Tityru s i n Eclogue I (line 5) has been describe d as the basic pastoral situation14 and in the course of the Eclogues, umbra come s to resonat e with a variety of symbolic meanings. 15 Individual eclogue s similarl y contai n many analogue s to the scene described in the Aeneid. In Eclogue II, for example, the eroticism associated with th e beaut y o f th e yout h Alexi s recall s tha t evoke d b y Ascanius , though th e objec t i s different . I n particular , the flowe r catalogu e in Ec logue I I als o almos t overwhelm s it s subject , and the blende d fragrance s that conclud e th e catalogu e (those "suauis misceti s odores," II, 55 ) have the same luxurious sensualit y as the entwined flowers and shade do in the much mor e compressed passag e in the Aeneid. "Blending" and "entwining," however, ar e in this case more than con venient figure s for pastoral synaesthesia. At th e end of Eclogu e II , Cor ydon turns away from love and sets about weaving something tha t migh t be usefu l ou t o f twig s an d pliant rushes : "uiminibus molliqu e para s detexere iunco " (II , 72) , h e says . Corydon' s commen t her e allude s to th e conclusion o f th e Eclogues, in which Virgi l describes his own weavin g o f a basket of slender hibiscus: "gracili fiscellam texit hibisco" (X, 71) . Her e and elsewher e weavin g come s t o characteriz e and represent pastora l po etry in the Eclogues: the lines of poetry themselves are interwoven (a s they are in Aeneid I, 693-94), and the characters in the poems often seem wove n into the setting , just a s Ascanius cannot easil y be distinguished fro m th e landscape in whic h h e is sleeping. 16 In Eclogue V , 31 , th e descriptio n o f Daphnis's contributio n t o pastora l society—"foliis lenta s intexere molli bus hastas " ("t o entwin e i n sof t leave s the toug h spears")—i s perfectl y iconic sinc e th e lin e weave s th e word s int o a n ABXA B pattern. Thi s line , my epigrap h for this study of bucolic and pastoral allusions in the Aeneid, also summarizes th e ideological transformation s made possible by the invocation o f idyllic imagery in the epic. Since references to weaving and woven shade are generic markers, complectitur in the epic description of Venus' s shady bower take s on a pastoral resonance. Complector, whic h carrie s the primary meanin g o f "t o fol d i n or abou t oneself " o r just "t o embrace, " als o embraces the etymologica l sense of co n plecto (wher e plecto, from Gree k pleko, mean s t o interweav e or plait) , weaving th e figur e o f the sleeping Ascaniu s into a paradigmatically pastora l landscape. Th e wor d umbra, whic h close s th e Idalia n de-

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3

scription, similarl y label s th e settin g a s pastoral, an d indee d serve s th e same generic function within the Eclogues themselves (se e I, 4; V, 40-41; IX, 19-20 ; and X, 75-77)—thoug h this marking i s not withou t it s own equivocation. Th e concludin g line s o f th e Eclogues brin g ou t a tensio n within th e word: umbrae are lovely and comfortable, yet they may imperil singers: "solet esse grauis cantantibus umbra" (X, 75). This line closes the Eclogues o n a note a s ambiguous a s the verses in which Ascaniu s is transported t o Venus' s grove . Finally , th e sweetnes s o f th e shade s in Venus's grove can also be contextualized with reference to the Eclogues (see I, 3 and IV, 30 , for example) , fo r sweetness , honey , an d th e bee s that produce i t are among Virgil's inheritances from the Theocritean bucolic scene. 17 The sweet shade s in whic h Ascaniu s is wrapped, then , ca n be read as specifically pastoral images, bot h pleasin g and yet subtly threatening. Virgil's descriptio n o f the Idalian groves thu s exemplifies a turn to th e figurative, an d especiall y to th e trope s an d images characteristi c of pas toral poetry.18 The scen e represents a timelessness associated with the figurative through repeatin g natural imagery an d through th e gods , an d it offers a soothing cal m tha t seem s particularl y "sweet" whe n contraste d with the action for which i t is a double, th e poisoning o f Dido . The mo ment's generi c association with th e poetics of the Eclogues only intensifies this figurativ e turn. A s recent studie s of th e bucolic an d pastoral poetry have begun t o show, th e argument associated with the imagery in similes and in set ecphrases of landscape in the Homeric epics—those noncanon ical, mino r o r "small " images an d incidents tha t fascinate d th e Alexan drian poets—comes t o formulate the central figurative claim s and henc e the poetic s of bucoli c and pastoral poetry.19 Virgil's allusion s to pastoral thus functio n within th e epic as an intensified version o f on e of th e Ho meric epic's figurative claims: that is, it comes to stand for and to enact the turn towar d th e veilings an d suspensions of th e idyll. It s pastoral myth, which claim s that human beings can find reciprocity in a natural world b y being entwined i n it evades the more disturbing parts of the picture—the fact that this entwining seem s only to happen once characters are dead, for instance, a threat hinted a t in th e sleepin g Ascanius , drugged b y Venus's potions.20 But wha t is a poetics in the Eclogues becomes a more explicitly ideological structure in the context of the Aeneid, where idyllic images are condensed into an alternative moment an d mapped onto an extended nar rative as the idyllic double t o tha t more violen t an d inharmonious tale. 21 The pastora l descriptio n o f Venus' s Idalian grove s itsel f i s distinctl y suspensive: it puts human being and god, human being and natural setting together, withou t explainin g th e cost of such a move. It suggests the co existence o f fertilit y an d lifelessness, and, whe n paire d with its narrative

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double, o f fertilit y and destruction. Suc h a strategy cannot work withi n the narrativ e context : th e suspension , characteristi c of pastora l poetics , stops the action momentarily t o allow such doubled imagery to flourish, eventually to be sorted out by the narrative. In the text's elaboration of the doubled image , th e image of the boy who poisons the woman o n whose lap he sit s is labeled as an event, and the idylli c version as an evasion or disguise, th e trick that makes this darker version acceptable . They for m extended versions of the opposition of idyll and horror, on e of the central antitheses o f th e poem , th e oppositio n o f th e soothin g cal m associated with nature as set against a violent destructivenes s in human life . Virgil' s poetry attempts to separate the idyllic from the horrific, arguing in its figures that th e idyllic can exist alone and ca n adequately describe these as pects of the story. The narrative collapse of this suspension suggests, how ever, tha t suc h a separation is impossible, an d that , sinc e the idylli c an d the horrific are co-present an d mutually implicating, the y cannot serve as two antithese s tha t provid e a moral orderin g fo r th e story . Thi s simul taneity of the idyllic and the horrific occurs throughout the poem in places where idyllic imager y does the figurative wor k o f veilin g o r hidin g th e implications o f the action. The displacemen t from an imagistic suspension to a narrative that un folds th e implications o f th e imagery typifie s th e movement o f muc h o f the poem. Suc h a narrative will itsel f provok e yet anothe r suspension — another tur n t o th e figurative an d the ideological to dissolv e the contradictions between the action as represented and the claims made by the narrator, an d allow the two t o come once more into some relationship. Thi s moment o f suspension , agai n necessarily a temporary one , wil l i n tur n give rise to another shift back into narrative. The doubleness of this poetic structure prefigures its own collapse, making evident also the impossibility o f harmonizin g th e contradictor y or antithetica l sets of imagery that the poem momentarily hold s in suspension. The figurativ e argument mad e in th e idyllic version treat s the Venus who transport s the boy a s if she were purge d o f he r eroti c associations, which in turn are displaced onto the landscape, so that to be enshroude d in an idyllic setting is pictured as being warmed in Venus's lap. Althoug h the stor y o f Did o is a story of eroti c compulsion, th e figurative version displaces an y over t eroti c references . Eroticism, s o consistentl y repre sented in Virgil's poetry as a cause of misery and even death, is ostensibly evaded here, reveale d as an instrument o f th e plot, bu t purge d fro m th e structure of value articulated in the figurative argument . Afte r th e Dido episode, whic h consistentl y elide s Aeneas' s ow n feeling s in th e matter , Virgil moves to purge Aeneas of erotic passion altogether in a way resem-

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5

bling the move made in this first narrative double. Suc h purging is never fully possible, however; throughout the poem the idyllic veils its erotic or violent narrativ e doubles , which , wer e the y no t displace d in thi s way , would threate n to contaminate Aeneas with precisely the irrational qualities that, in the terms o f th e poem, woul d undermin e hi s claims to be come a legitimate ruler of Italy. A second clai m made in the double Ascanius episode concerns the nature of compulsion itself. The scene represents not only erotic compulsion in particular, but the more ubiquitous compulsion exercised by the poetic figures (and by the gods who ar e the agents of certain figurative strategies and claims) on the human characters. One important implication that the double episode leaves hovering i s that such figural compulsio n i s sweet, that there is delight and release inherent in such a moment of compulsion , pictured in its more violent and disruptive form in the story of Dido. This difference, eve n more than the related distinction between idyllic calm and erotic violence, create s an ideological tension that brings energy to muc h of th e story , fo r it s political and moral claim s depend upo n th e readers' accepting the "heroic" compulsion o f Aeneas as legitimate and as the essential point of origin fo r benevolent historical change. The episode thus pictures on e for m o f compulsio n itsel f a s an experience o f idylli c calm, while isolating the frightening aspects of such compulsion in the picture of Dido, who ca n be sacrificed. 22 If th e narrativ e doubles d o represen t tw o version s o f a single event , then neither version can be entirely disentwined from the other. The idyllic arises with the poisonous eroticism represented by Cupid, eac h becoming an alternative set of terms for the same erotic scene. In such narrative doubles, th e idyllic and th e horrific or passionate , represented as simultaneous, become allegories for each other. As will prove true of other nar rative doubles, this episode suggests that the movement tha t displaces the suspended allegorical opposites onto a narrative arises from a lack of ideological or moral resolution in the very terms of the poem. Narrative dou bles can be said to represent moments in which a contradiction in the in forming values has become so strong that the poet can tell the story onl y by representin g it in tw o irreconcilabl e versions. Virgil' s descriptio n o f the Idalia n grove thu s exemplifies a particular move t o fin d a similitude between th e poem' s figurativ e argumen t an d th e represente d actio n i n those moment s whe n th e oppositio n betwee n th e two seem s mos t evi dent. Th e veilin g of differenc e tha t occurs here is once again, however, a veiling that the poem lets us see through, s o that the elisions and displacements o f suc h disruptive qualities as sexual passion and anger permit u s to read against as well as with the poem's ideologica l movement .

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Virgil doe s allo w fo r an idealized version o f sexuality, but onl y i n th e figures. Th e onl y eroti c imagery that conveys a sense of true calm occurs in personifications of the landscape and such mythological tropes for nat ural phenomena a s the conventional description of the dawn, which Virgil takes from Homer: Et iam prima novo spargeba t lumine terras Tithoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile. (IV, 584-85 )

Soon earl y Dawn, quittin g the saffron be d Of ol d Tithonus, cas t new light on the earth. (FIV, 810-11 )

While Aurora emerges fro m her bed serene and beautiful, an d brings he r beauty to th e earth, Dido discovers the departure of Aeneas and demonstrates the tragic derangement that an erotic attachment has brought in the human story . Thi s sam e description o f Daw n recur s in Book I X intro ducing anothe r scene of huma n grief , a s Euryalus's mother learn s of hi s death. Her grie f seems particularly intense because it follows Virgil's ow n contained prais e for Euryalu s and Nisus , whos e stor y agai n tells of th e destructive power o f ero s in huma n life , albei t in a more positiv e sense. Virgil call s them bot h "fortunati, " "fortunate, " fo r dying together , bu t their stor y to o reveal s that the calm and beauty of mythical sexuality as it is pictured in the moment s whe n Auror a rises from Tithonus's be d doe s not exis t amon g th e huma n characters—o r doe s s o only whe n the y ar e dead. Even i n th e cas e of Aurora , th e idealized picture of sexualit y may b e seriously qualifie d since Tithonus, th e morta l husband o f Auror a in th e Iliad an d in the Homeric "Hymn to Aphrodite," has passed beyond sexual potency t o babblin g ol d ag e (at least as he is represented in th e Hymn) . The serenit y o f th e dawn invoked i n these lovely conventiona l images is perhaps serenity again at the expense of a vision that can incorporate sex uality, wher e th e color s o f th e dawn , lik e the flowers that surround As canius, actuall y serve to hide the absence of sexual power. Th e old age of Tithonus may allude to the antiquity of the trope of the dawn, suggestin g that idealize d sexuality is to b e found , i f at all, only i n ancien t texts an d among th e gods. I n any case, whe n th e poem present s a human character blushing i n th e wa y Auror a doe s t o creat e a lovely dawn , tha t blus h is destructive and a source of misinterpretation, a s is, for instance, the blush of Lavini a tha t Turnu s misunderstand s i n XII , 64-70 . I n thi s example , too, th e figurative representation of the blush makes it a source of beauty and connects it with the renewal of spring, bu t the blush itself represents Lavinia's distres s an d it disturb s ("turbat" ) Turnus . The danger s of sex -

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uality—presented as another furor tha t needs to be bound up—can be controlled onl y b y displacin g them int o th e figurative arena . Sexuality is allowed t o exis t in th e figurativ e and mythological imagery , wher e i t ap pears as a source of beauty, fertility, an d continuance, associate d with the daily risin g o f th e su n an d othe r natura l cycles. Th e wil d disruptio n i t causes i n it s human appearance s evokes fro m th e poe t i n contras t a re pressive and pessimistic strategy of containment and control. Sexualit y on the human level is something w e cannot hope to be rid of, the poem sug gests; we ca n only hop e t o contai n its most destructiv e effects. Such de structiveness is associated through Juno with the erotic realm throughou t the poem, o f course; only i n this conventional epi c trope o f the personi fication o f the dawn does Virgil allow a different vie w of sexuality to fin d a place in the poem, an d its calm and beauty may reflec t no t th e potency of sexuality , but th e idealize d calm and beauty of th e figurativ e schem e itself. The dualit y o f idyll/horro r reassert s itself i n Dido' s fina l moments , which ar e colored b y a sudden change of poeti c register, a s Iris descends to cli p her lock an d free he r from her imprisoning limb s (IV , 695). In the midst o f th e violenc e o f Dido' s suicide , Iri s appear s trailin g a thousand shifting tints , "mill e trahens varios . . . colores" (IV, 701). With her rainbow entrance she begins the process of aestheticizing death, another word for th e "freedom" sh e offers th e dying queen. Thi s fina l scene—th e mo ment i n whic h Dido' s sacrific e i s complete—reveals how th e idyllic can function a s a sinister veil , onl y partl y hiding o r colorin g th e violenc e i t tries to displace. 23 Dido's deat h provides a further glos s on the meaning of idyllic calm, here shown to be the calm that follows release from the struggling morta l body. 24 Virgil sacrifice s Did o here to preserv e Aeneas's historical destiny, th e sacrifice serving to reconcile the two version s of her story and to pay the cost of the figurative and ideological work. The need for sacrifice to bring this reconciliatio n abou t point s t o th e difficult y o f imposin g th e idylli c version upon the tale of violence, of claiming that there is a larger context in which Aeneas's rejection and Dido's deat h will not only make sense but will contribute to his historic legitimacy. The idyllic and the horrific have throughout thi s episode functioned as two side s of the same coin, bu t th e poem shows here that the horrific is itself idyllic, which is a different mat ter. Th e conclusio n t o Dido' s life thu s reveals the sacrificia l basi s of th e ideological transformatio n unde r wa y throughout , transformatio n re quiring tha t a tale of violence be retold as an idyllic story. Th e episod e is imbued wit h a n ambivalenc e tha t arise s becaus e thes e tw o opposites , which need t o be rendered distinc t for the moral scheme of the poem t o operate, ca n never b e completel y separated , one never purge d fro m th e

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other. Th e contamination of the idyllic by the horrific suggests, then, tha t it will be impossible fo r the poem eve r to complete the ideological shift s and elisions needed to render its violence invisible, and it thus signals one way in which the poem's ambivalent politics generates a matching poetics of disfiguremen t and suspension. The turn toward suspension of opposites to create an apparent political reconciliation occur s als o in th e poeti c figures—fo r instance , i n idylli c similes—although here the contradiction between the figure an d the narrative is less evident and hence less disruptive, for the figures d o not con struct alternative versions of the event themselves. Nonetheless, th e fig urative move s i n epi c simile s recreat e the ideologica l for m o f narrativ e doubles: the movement withi n th e figurative economy is from statement of destin y t o a momentary suspensio n of causatio n that elides the com pulsion tha t w e hav e seen is implicit in a plot o f destiny . Th e politic s o f idyll i s define d b y thi s movemen t i n whic h idyl l stand s a s th e secon d moment, th e momen t o f suspension , necessar y to hid e th e connectio n between destin y an d compulsion . Th e figure s themselve s begi n wit h temporal assertions—prolepsis , th e telos o f Rome—an d mov e t o a sus pension o f temporalit y tha t hide s th e destructivenes s of tha t tempora l scheme. The analogy between the workings of this figurative economy and Virgil's technique of narrative doubling ca n be seen in the many pastoral or idyllic similes, notabl y in the simile in which th e Carthaginians building their city are compared to bees (I, 423-36): qualis apes aestate nova pe r florea rura exercet su b sole labor, cu m genti s adultos educunt fetus , au t cum liquentia mella stipant et dulci distendunt nectare cellas, aut onera accipiun t venientum, au t agmine fact o ignavum fuco s pecu s a praesepibus arcent; fervet opu s redolentqu e thym o fragrantia mella . (I, 430-36) —as bees in early summe r In sunlight i n the flowerin g field s Hum a t their work, an d bring alon g th e young Full-grown to beehood; as they cra m thei r comb s With honey, brimming all the cells with nectar, Or tak e newcomers' plunder, o r like troop s Alerted, driv e away the lazy drones, And labor thrive s an d sweet thyme scents the honey. (F I, 587-94 )

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The imagery here, which makes the project of city building see m idyllic, evokes seasonal cycles, suggesting that this scene of sweet industriousness will be unending. Th e link between thi s repeating image and the timeless figurative structure is felt in the simile's creation of a pause in the narrative momentum. Th e summer da y described thus provides a figural veiling— a temporary interruption—o f Aeneas's historical mission, an d of the nar rative causalit y that wil l pit Roma n agains t Carthaginian . Th e cal m de scribed here, the result of a shift from narrative to figure, is what indicates that causes are being hidden and narrative conflicts suspended. The simil e thus makes the figurative claim that epic labor ha s a kind o f natural har mony, tha t epi c tasks—the founding o f a city, fo r example—ca n be ac complished withou t violence . Th e movemen t fro m narrativ e t o simil e covers the gap between th e two, an d avoids acknowledging an y contra diction between them. 25 The powe r o f thi s simil e i n part comes fro m it s several ironies—that these city builders will soon become Rome's eternal enemies, that the very presence of Aenea s will disrupt th e happy contructio n o f a new society , that suc h buildin g i s precisely wha t Aenea s himself shoul d b e doing . I t implies instead that heroic activity can be painless, that cities spring forth with onl y th e kin d o f labor appropriat e to sunli t flowerin g fields— labor perhaps, bu t withou t pai n o r tribulation—an d convey s Aeneas' s feelin g that to be able to build his city now would brin g true delight. It s imagery masks and suspends the full political complications of city building, com plications that surround Dido in her work and will encumber Aeneas. The simile thu s function s as part o f a n idyllic matri x o r nexu s o f meaning s within th e figurative econom y o f the Aeneid, whic h respond s t o the im plicit difficulties an d contradictions in its scheme of destiny by displacing, masking, o r suppressing them. Th e principal function of idyllic imagery, here as in th e narrative doubles, then , i s this suspension—suspensio n o f causality and explanation, suspensio n of time and agency, and the arrest ing o f th e narrative line. Th e idylli c imagery claim s tha t historica l pro cesses involving serious conflict s o f interest ma y be resolved withou t vi olence or loss. Like the bees in Book I , it may express the wish o f certain characters, and it may even express the wish of the author; but it also per forms ideological work necessary to demonstrate that the action is shaped by a legitimizing destiny, which is made to appear either natural or in har mony with natural processes. Idyll appears particularly in moments o f violence, i n which a conflict o r disruption migh t otherwis e undermin e th e figures o f destiny , an d shift s attentio n fro m politic s t o nature , thereb y masking momentarily th e political implications of the action, and leaving as residue, lik e th e trac e of a storm o r a whirlwind, a pattern o f natura l imagery imbue d wit h political implications.26

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The ambivalenc e thus inscribed in idyllic imagery whe n i t appears in the Aeneid create s a political and poetic uneasiness. A second bee simile in Book VI , fo r instance, points more clearly to the cost of hiding violence , and, i n thi s case , mortality . A s occurre d in th e momen t o f Dido' s "re lease" fro m life , thi s simile make s the idyllic solution to contradiction— suspension and coexistence of opposites—seem less acceptable by linkin g it mor e evidentl y t o death . Havin g trie d i n vai n t o embrac e hi s father , Aeneas turns to see the souls by the river of Lethe : Interea vide t Aeneas i n valle reduct a seclusum nemu s et virgulta sonanti a silvae , Lethaeumque domos placidas qui praenatat amnem . hunc circum innumera e gente s populiqu e volabant : ac velut in pratis ub i ape s aestate seren a floribus insidun t varii s e t Candida circum lilia funduntur, strepi t omni s murmure campus . (VI, 703-9) Aeneas no w sa w at the valley's en d A grove standing apart , wit h stems an d boughs Of woodlan d rustling, an d the stream o f Leth e Running past those peaceful glades. Aroun d it Souls o f a thousand nation s fille d the air, As bees i n meadows at the height of summer Hover and home on flowers and thickly swar m On snow-whit e lilies, an d the countrysid e Is loud with humming. (F VI, 943-51)

The unease in this simile is most full y brough t out several lines later when Aeneas, havin g bee n tol d tha t thes e buzzin g soul s hav e drun k o f th e waters o f Leth e an d now ar e ready to retur n t o eart h in secon d bodies , expresses hi s shock: "qua e lucis miseris tar n dir a cupido? " (VI , 721) , h e asks ("The poor souls, why such an ill-boding desir e for the light?"). Thi s dira cupido remind s us of what the image keeps us from seeing: the worl d of activit y and suffering , fro m which th e only escap e is in Elysium . That Elysium i s characterized entirely as a figurative place may help t o explain som e o f th e oddities o f Aeneas' s visit t o the underworld, a n epi sode in which i t would seem that he meets the poetic figures fac e to face . One of the uncanny qualities of this "descent," however, seem s to be the doubt th e poem posit s about whether i t occurred at all. As Gordon Wil liams has argued, there is no nonfigurative version of the descent. Rather, much o f the journey throug h th e underworld i s presented retrospectively as being simila r to sleep or dreaming, o r alternatively, to initiation into a mystery. William s demonstrates that Virgil "represents th e experience of

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Aeneas by three concepts (necromancy, initiation into a mystery cult, the traditional concept of a physical descent to Hades) which ar e synecdoch ically relate d t o it , an d thereb y h e disclaim s a factua l accoun t o f 'wha t really happened,' sinc e each synecdoche is in tur n substitute d for it." 271 find Williams's account convincing in part because the underworld is a location in which th e poem's figurativ e move s see m to be intensified to an unusual extent, an d in part because it suggests why Aenea s understands so little and returns through th e ivory gat e of fals e dreams . Th e visi t to the underworld coul d be described, then, a s a narrative double that lacks its secon d half—i t lack s an y accoun t o f "wha t reall y happene d here " against which t o measure the figurative version we are given. The be e simile extends the portrayal of Elysium as a locus amoenus taken from a pastoral or bucolic poem, a n identification that itself is a troubling reminder of the dangers to the living implicit in the kind of absolute calm achieved i n thi s par t o f th e underworl d an d i n simila r idylli c imager y throughout th e poem. 28 Only from a position outsid e of time can human activity trul y com e t o resembl e th e natura l scenes use d i n compariso n here, an d only in death can such contradiction be resolved. Th e compar ison of the souls to bees tropes again the "eternity" of Elysium, allyin g it figuratively wit h th e seasona l cycle s that mak e natura l life see m endles s and that fit imagisticall y with the myth o f reincarnation . The simil e and indeed Elysium itself thus evoke the same temporal scheme as do the natural similes in the Iliad, i n which the repeating cycles of natural life com e to symboliz e a kind o f eternity, mad e to seem analogous, because of th e poet's omniscience , t o th e eternit y o f th e gods . Suc h timelessnes s i s painted, her e as there, a s the timelessnes s of th e poetic figures, whic h i s represented thematicall y as the cyclica l eternity o f natura l life unbroke n by consciousnes s of individual mortality, a timelessness in which neithe r the measurements of huma n life nor th e valuation of epic activity can be taken. Suc h imagery i s able to suspen d an d veil the story's implicit vio lence precisely because it moves th e story from epic time to timelessnes s in whic h consequenc e ca n be evaded, fro m narrativ e to figure . Clearly , then, th e turn toward idyllic imagery leads away from any explicit theory of actio n or responsibility sinc e the idyll hides the political implications, causes, and bloody consequences o f the action while making it appear inevitable and beautiful . The story of Nisus and Euryalus exemplifies a second kind of narrative double, whic h doe s not depen d overtly on divine causation. Like the account of the poisoning of Dido, this story, in an allegory expressed in the figures, posit s desir e a s a causal force that is larger tha n human, an d uses a turn to the idyllic to mask the violence of its oppositions and of its action. It moves from actual horror to a figurative idyllic calm, and "resolves" the

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narrative doubles i n a simile that recapitulates the moves describe d abov e as characteristic of th e idyllic similes . Thi s movemen t fro m narrativ e to image, creatin g a different kin d o f doubling , seem s to provid e a way o f matching a story o f violenc e an d deat h with it s ideologically motivate d antithetical version. A s such, the passage suddenly acquires an unexpected formal importance , and , indeed , throughou t th e episod e th e narrativ e conveys the sense that it is about more than simply the Homeric nighttim e exploit tha t appears to be its central concern. Nisu s himself hint s at some larger significanc e in his opening words : "din e hunc ardore m mentibu s addunt, / Euryale, an sua cuique deus fit dira cupido?" (IX, 184-85 ; "Is it the gods who put this passion in men's minds, Euryalus, or does each person's fierc e desire become his god?").29 This much-discusse d questio n re orients assumption s about the significance of divine motivation through out the poem, bu t in the episode itself is never answered. The episode con tains hints of a different motivation , bu t these hints are neither develope d nor represente d in or as divine figures, a s they are in the case of the unio n in th e cav e and Dido' s deat h scene . Th e hint s remai n a t the leve l o f th e figurative treatment of the events, an allegory not embodied i n the action but responsibl e fo r th e narrative' s closure. A narrative double tha t does not rel y o n the gods to help generate its second narrative turns instead to allegory. In th e mids t o f hi s Homeri c splendor , Euryalu s load s himsel f wit h plunder fro m th e dea d enemy, includin g th e beautiful helme t o f Messa pus, whic h h e wears. I n the retreat through th e forest, however , th e hel met betray s him: no t onl y doe s it glimmer, revealin g the location o f th e two warrior s t o th e enemy, bu t i t shines with a quasi-allegorical power , signaling th e momen t i n whic h th e Homeri c narrativ e becomes some thing quit e different. 30 Suddenl y Euryalus begins to resembl e a character in an allegory illustrating the danger of desire for wealth. No t unexpect edly, the trees become denser and denser, and finally trap Euryalus so that he cannot escape . The fores t take s on a triple identity in the course of th e story. I n the apparently naturalistic opening, th e forest is treated at first as landscape through whic h the two proceed on their way to the Latin camp, hardly importan t enoug h t o meri t mentioning ; i t is simply a wood tha t can be surrounde d b y th e Italian horsemen. I t takes on a n increasing al legorical power , however , a s Euryalus loses his way, an d it come s t o b e described a s dense an d fille d wit h hidde n darknesses , wit h a n ominou s echo an d intensification of idyllic imagery: silva fuit lat e dumis atque ilice nigr a horrida, qua m densi complerant undique sentes ; rara pe r occultos lucebat semita callis .

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Euryalum tenebrae ramorum onerosaque praeda impediunt, fallitqu e timor regione viarum. (IX, 381-85 )

The wood itsel f Covered muc h ground, al l bristling underbrush, Dark ilex, an d dense briars everywhere, The pat h a rare trace amid tracks grown over . Deep night under the boughs, an d weight o f booty , Slowed Euryalus , and fear confuse d hi m As to the pathway. (FIX, 539-45)

This dense forest i s given adde d symbolic power b y Nisus's word s a s he discovers that he has left Euryalu s behind: "Euryale infelix, qua te regione reliqui? quave sequar," rursus perplexum iter omne revolvens fallacis silva e simul et vestigia retro observata legit dumisque silentibus errat. (IX, 390-93 ) "Euryalus, Poor fellow , wher e did I lose you? Where shall I Hunt for you? back all that winding way , That maz e of woodland? " Backward in his tracks, As he recalled them, no w he went, an d strayed Through th e silent undergrowth . (FIX, 551-57 )

The choice of where the quotation begins and ends in this passage is clearly of interpretative importance. In contrast to Fitzgerald, for instance, R. D. Williams gives Nisus only a little to say, putting the description of the path (or going) a s "perplexum" ("entangled," "intricate" or "confused") an d the wood s a s "fallacis" ("deceitful, " "treacherous, " "deceptive" ) i n th e narrator's mouth . Th e wood s ar e nearly personifie d here, an d a s Nisus turns bac k into the m h e begins t o wande r ("errat") , n o longe r movin g with the energy prope r t o a n epic poem bu t rathe r los t i n the woods of romance. Th e uncanny silence of the woods onl y furthers th e impression that the y hol d som e hidde n secret , som e differen t understandin g o f th e events occurring withi n them . Thi s forest, treated simultaneously a s the realistic woods o f an actual historical story and as a figurative woods with a quasi-allegorica l power , resemble s th e wood s i n the allegorie s and ro mances of late r Italian and European literature.31 Their figurativ e dimension furthers the impression that "some god" an d not "chance" is at work

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in thi s story , thoug h thi s "god" is rather the forc e o f a n allegory tha n a fictionalized representatio n of a god. Euryalu s is trapped by the ominou s forest especiall y in its figurative dimension : h e wanders into a n allegor y and is unable to escape, uncannily coming to represent a trapping of char acter by figure , a symbol o f th e principal effect o f th e figuration in thi s poem. Meanwhile, Nisus , wh o i s not trapped , appear s to b e wanderin g i n quite a different landscap e until he turns back to find hi s companion; or , to pu t i t differently, th e forest i s given yet another characterization in his adventures, for there it is proleptically seen by the poet as a Roman wood : Nisus abit ; iamque imprudens evasera t hostis atque locos qu i post Alba e de nomine died Albani (tur n rex stabula alta Latinus habebat). (IX, 386-88 )

And now withou t thinkin g h e had got away from the enemy, an d the are a later calle d Alban (fro m Alba)—at that time King Latinu s had his great cattl e enclosures there. 32

The contras t betwee n th e past and Roman present , an d the referenc e to Roman plac e names, are somewhat surprising in the midst of this adven ture. Th e wood s her e ar e given thei r thir d connotation , allowin g Virgi l to lin k th e adventure s of Nisus an d Euryalus to Rome. Th e allegor y o f desire (o f desire for wealth no less than of desire between Nisu s an d Eu ryalus) is thus revealed to be an intrinsic part of the trope of destiny; th e Roman allusion s present the characters as engaged in events that perhaps justify thei r sufferin g thoug h the y themselves know nothin g o f them. Through a comparison t o a flower, the poet focuse s o n th e beauty o f Euryalus i n hi s death , and , hidin g th e moment' s horror , remind s th e reader that this is also a story of love: volvitur Euryalu s leto, pulchrosque pe r artus it cruor inqu e umero s cervi x conlaps a recumbit : purpureus velut i cu m flos succisus aratro languescit moriens , lassov e papavera collo demisere capu t pluvia cum fort e gravantur. (IX, 433-37)

Euryalus

In death went reeling down , And blood streamed o n his handsome length , hi s neck Collapsing le t his head fal l on his shoulder— As a bright flowe r cu t by a passing plow Will droop and wither slowly , o r a poppy

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Bow it s head upon its tired stal k When overborne by a passing rain. (FIX, 613-20)

Like Homer's simile on the death of Gorgythion (Iliad VIII , 306-8) , thi s image shifts the readers' attention from the absoluteness of heroic death to the circular temporality of the flower.33 Euryalus, once dead, is drawn into this timelessness, his bowing hea d compared t o the flower bowing before a passing rainstorm as if he, Euryalus, lived on in a different schem e of the poem. Th e extraordinary calm of this final image, with its effect o f transforming th e corps e into a n object of aesthetic contemplation, echoe s the suspended calm of other examples of idyllic imagery in the Aeneid. 34 Th e personification o f the flower—"lasso . . . collo," "tired neck or stalk"— furthers the identification, implying that human beings can live according to th e tim e o f flowers. The scen e suggests, however , thoug h th e simil e does not acknowledge it, that death is the price to be paid for this merging of the human and the natural, even in poetry. Then follows Nisus's heroi c and loyal death, an d Virgil's problemati c apostrophe to the two dead warriors. Virgil's promise to try to keep them alive in his verse provides a different mod e in which the two dead warriors may enjoy the timelessness of the poetic figures. Virgi l explicitly links the capacity of his verse to immortalize them t o the duration of Rome a s he knew it: Fortunati ambo! si quid mea carmina possunt, nulla dies umquam memori vos eximet aevo, dum domu s Aeneae Capitoli immobile saxum accolet imperiumque pater Romanus habebit. (IX, 446-49) Fortunate, both! If in the least m y songs Avail, n o futur e da y will ever take yo u Out o f the record of remembering Time, While children of Aeneas make their home Around the Capitol's unshaken rock, And stil l th e Roman Father govern s all . (FIX, 633-38)

These lines link the figurative metamorphosis of man to flower with a historical prolepsis that reinterprets the woods a s a Roman forest. 35 To gain the timelessness of the natural world for his heroes, Virgil invokes a vision of Rome of which they have no knowledge. Th e gap between human experience and the timelessness of the poetic figures—whether apostrophe , proplepsis, o r simile—is also felt strongl y when , afte r devotin g suc h po -

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etic energy to beautifying the deaths of the two lovers, Virgil shifts to con veying the bitter lament of Euryalus's mother (IX , 475-97) and the image of thei r tw o head s o n uplifte d spears (IX, 465-67). 36 For th e characters who fac e this death, the beauty of the flower and the immortality of future memory is absent.37 In eliding th e stor y o f violence with a shift int o a dense figuration (in cluding simile , apostrophe , personification , and historical prolepsis), the poem indicates that such stories can be "resolved" only by resort to a set of complementar y poeti c strategies : th e us e o f apostroph e an d th e ani mation of the landscape is as important a s the simile itsel f in establishin g the tur n t o figur e and t o allegory . Althoug h i n one cas e the ti e betwee n human bein g an d landscap e is shown t o b e threatening—a s i n th e ani mation o f the forest a s deceitful an d tricky—and in the other it is a sign of beauty that provide s consolation—a s in the personification of the flower to reveal a sympathetic ti e between th e two—the allegorical narrative and the simil e bot h wor k b y claimin g tha t thi s connection , invisibl e t o th e characters, provides some essential understanding and justification for the scene, an d th e allegor y can thus be said to provid e a narrative version o f the moves mappe d out in the simile. Thes e various turns to the figurative illustrate ho w th e sections o f the narrative that are built o n analogy mus t continue t o restat e th e claim s o f resemblanc e o n whic h th e ideologica l transformation of the story depends. The analogy remains a claim posited, still to b e demonstrated, wit h it s two version s always in need o f yet an other reconciliation , s o that, i n thi s example as in th e cas e of Dido, th e episode can conclude onl y at the level of figure, b y simply turnin g awa y from th e versio n tha t cannot be made to fit . Th e lac k of closure implici t in suc h a model o f narrative presents its ow n difficulties , however , an d leaves the narrative still in search of the final mov e t o fi t togethe r it s tw o irreconcilable stories .

SACRIFICE AND PROSOPOPOEIA The suppression s accomplishe d by th e poem's metaphorica l labor ofte n take quite a literal form in the action, a s when the poetry marks and elides the disproportio n betwee n figur e an d actio n through th e thematic s an d economics o f sacrifice. A sacrifice is understood to have occurred when , as Neptune put s it, on e head is given for many, the many including mos t prominently Aenea s an d th e narrator , wh o doe s no t acknowledg e th e symbolic economy of his poem in these cases. In the instances of symbolic distortion, a s I argued in Chapte r 2 , the "sacrifice " i s overt—a character

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is explicitly contaminated an d thus given over entirely to the poem's fig urative needs—though it is not acknowledge d a s such within th e actio n because th e stor y justifies th e "sacrifice " thematicall y b y makin g eac h character appea r to have deserved (o r at least to have brought on ) his or her end . I n the instance s of narrative doubling, i n contrast , a hidden o r unacknowledged sacrific e signal s the moment whe n a n analogy between the double s i s asserted, eliding th e disruptiv e evidence that this analog y does no t hold . Such hidde n sacrifice s thematicall y provid e aetiologica l myths explainin g how the land received its voice, anothe r poetic strategy to legitimate the power o f both Aeneas and the narrator. The Aeneid thu s invokes sacrific e a s an explicit plo t even t in som e cases—fo r instance , in the account of the death of Palinurus—where the sacrifice is more or less directly acknowledged , an d als o establishe s a correspondin g sacrificia l economy i n which death s or disfigurements function a s unacknowledged sacrifices t o displac e from Aenea s an y distortio n o r contaminatio n tha t might arise from the disproportion of figure and action, and from the narrator th e narrativ e cost o f hiding thi s disproportio n o r disruption . Th e poem negotiates between thes e two figurative exchanges, the one involving hidden sacrifices , an d the other admitte d victims, wh o pay with thei r lives and bodies the cost of the narrative scheme. In Violence and the Sacred, Ren e Girard has argued that the socia l order originates in a "sacrificial" or "mimetic crisis," when a sacrifice of one for many succeed s an d thu s displace s the "mimeti c violence" (th e violence that arises, according to Girard, because human desire is imitative and intensified b y th e recognitio n o f the same desire in another) tha t threatens to overwhelm al l order. Whil e Girard's emphasis on the centrality of sacrifice resemble s my own , m y argumen t differ s fro m his in several ways. His theor y articulate s what migh t b e called a tragic theory o f culture, in which this sacrificial solution is seen as an inevitable if unfortunate cost of social order. Althoug h Girard' s work argues for the value of sacrifice as a mechanism tha t resolves mimetic violence, th e sacrificial structure he describes does not allo w for such clean resolution, precisely because it serves ideological needs and is based (in social terms) on victimizing only certain people and not others . Th e exces s of violence in the moment o f sacrific e always leaves something t o be explained, somethin g lef t t o be accounted for, an d the victims—as well as any narrative about their victimization— reanimate that unexplained remainder . The difficultie s wit h the Girardian theory ca n be seen in Cesareo Ban dera's "Sacrificial Levels in Virgil's Aeneid," whic h remains nonetheless a major treatmen t of the subject. Providing a n excellent thematic interpretation of a variety of sacrificial moments in the Aeneid, Bandera argues that

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the poem should be read as enacting a "sacrificial process of victimization " (p. 234), in which th e victim is both "scapegoa t and founder." H e argues that the victim is both "a remedy and a poison . .. a remedy if successfully expelled an d a poison if kept" (p. 235), and thus concludes that "without such a process of victimization, the poem itself, like the violent circularity it portrays , woul d fin d n o issue , i t woul d remai n literall y meaningless, inanis" (p . 234). Therefore, h e says, "no t onl y history demands a victim, but th e poem itself that reveals history as something meaningful , as a process o f signification " (p . 236) , since "th e socia l order emerge s fro m th e victim, an d not th e victim from the social order" (p. 237). Virgil does not present the poem's sacrifice s as resolving or concludin g or founding a stable social order, however. Rather , the poem suggest s the reverse i n showin g (t o us e Bandera' s terms ) tha t th e victi m i s simulta neously a remedy and a poison; one comes with the other, hence no act of "expulsion" can resolve the genuine contradictions of value or right tha t gave rise to the sacrifice in the first place. Virgil's poem reveals such a sacrificial economy t o be ideological in origin and supplemental in structure, designed a posteriori t o hid e o r displac e the contradiction s o n whic h th e social or narrative order has based its structure of differences; indeed , th e poem shows the victim to emerge from the social (or in this case narrative) order, an d not th e other wa y around . By that selection of a victim, a n act that render s visibl e an d symbolize s th e politica l "compromises " mad e necessary by a given social or narrative order, the poem provides an opening between th e lines, as it were, in which an implicit critique of that very sacrificial econom y ca n be traced . I t i s not simpl y th e criti c wh o i s in volved i n this critique, then , bu t the poem itself , whic h doe s not provid e the closure or "issue" that Bandera claims. In spite of our overla p of ter minology, m y argumen t concerning sacrific e i s not a Girardian one, an d my politica l direction is different. 38 Two strategies—the naming and personifying of the landscape, and the poet's apostrophes—operat e in the Aeneid t o finess e th e formal dilemm a that sacrific e thematizes . The firs t o f these, prosopopoeia , th e trope that takes its name from the Greekprosopon, meanin g a "face, visage, or mask" and originally "deat h mask," allows the poet to animate things by givin g them voice. Suc h animation is tied in Virgil's poetics explicitly t o the eco nomics o f sacrifice, fo r it is in th e storie s of sacrifice tha t Virgil provide s aetiologies fo r th e land' s voice s an d fo r th e trop e itself. Suc h a practice, drawing o n geographica l and politica l mythologies, i s echoed i n th e at tempts o f philosophers t o defin e th e trope. Quintilia n woul d trea t pro sopopoeia a s a figure o f thought (se e Institutio Oratoria IX, ii , 29-37), ar ~

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guing tha t it allow s th e orator t o giv e voice and "person" to thing s tha t do not hav e them, suc h as cities, an d to those who ar e dead: Quin deducere deos in hoc genere dicendi et inferos excitar e concessu m est; urbe s etiam populiqu e vocem accipiunt. (IX , ii, 31) With the help of this form o f language, i t is permitted to bring the gods down fro m the skies, an d to evoke (or bring forth) th e dead. Cities even, an d peoples, receiv e the gift o f voice.

Virgil uses this trope for both thes e purposes, and indeed the structure of his narrative reveals invoking th e dead and bringing th e gods down fro m the skies to be related activities. Quintilian goe s on to note that this trop e takes special skill because it often goe s against what is (representationally) true: Falsa eni m e t incredibili a natur a necess e es t au t magi s moveant , qui a supr a ver a sunt, au t pr o vani s accipiantur , qui a ver a non sunt . (IX , ii, 33 ) Things tha t ar e false an d by natur e incredibl e eithe r strik e th e mind muc h mor e forcefully becaus e the y go beyond the truth or are taken a s vain (empty ) becaus e they are not true .

Cicero i n Orator LXXXV had similarly warned against the use of personification, statin g tha t i t i s not a good strateg y for a n orator t o mak e th e Republic spea k or to brin g th e dead up fro m th e underworld. Bu t wha t was perhap s a risky maneuver fo r an orator i n court proved a most valu able trope fo r the epic poet, wh o neede d th e voices o f the dead to mak e his landscape speak. The death of Palinurus is a paradigm of this suppressed sacrificial economy an d the way suc h sacrific e animate s the landscape. As we have seen in Chapter 2 , the story contain s a doubled narrativ e that ca n be summa rized in these terms: Venus's intervention at the end of Book V brings calm to the waters, but at the price of one life given for many, linking such calm with a death required by the figures. Th e exuberan t descriptio n o f Nep tune calmin g th e water s i n Boo k V , an emblem fo r th e poet' s transfor mative power , locate s this cal m in a figurative capacit y to dominat e (o r animate, in the poet's case ) the physical universe (through trope, throug h a command o f mythology). Bu t in Book V I the reader is made to reconsider whether thi s calm existed at all, since Palinurus says that the weather was stormy (VI , 347-54) . Th e cos t of reconciling thes e two version s o f the story is acknowledged in Neptune's statemen t that someone mus t die; Palinurus i s the on e nominated , perhap s s o that th e poe t ca n silence his disruptive testimony. A sacrifice thus makes possible both the continuin g of the narrative in a coherent for m an d the arrival of Aeneas in Italy; it is

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a sacrific e tha t onc e agai n reveals a system of displacement whereb y th e "guiltless" ("insonti, " V , 841) , a s Virgil call s Palinurus, die s t o provid e legitimacy t o the quest of Aeneas and his poet. The death of Palinurus glosses the unusual calm of the waters, in which the ship sails itself (V, 862-63), a s a figure for death, while the fleet's ability to sai l itself becomes a nautical version of the idyllic trope by which th e natural worl d appear s to offe r it s abundance freely. 39 Thi s overla y o f an idyllic suspensio n o f epic verisimilitude, whic h include s a suspension of epic responsibilities as well as of the constant difficulties that define human existence in Virgil's moral scheme, and a story of sacrifice illustrates again how th e aestheticizing idyll and the narrative of violence prove to be two irreconcilable version s o f the epic story. Th e exchang e between th e tw o shapes th e poetic economy o f the text, an d reveals the ideological wor k necessary to construct th e poem's coherence. Th e sacrifice is necessary in aesthetic terms, then , t o pay the price of giving th e figurative realm thi s kind of precedence over plot events; it is necessary in political terms to veil the political complication as Aeneas reaches Italy. This complication arises in part from th e double portrayal of Aeneas as exile returning t o his true home and as invader, claiming sovereignty over someone else's territory.40 In claiming territory—giving it his name or the name of his line—however, Aenea s come s clos e to Virgil' s ow n strategy . He is not allowe d t o bury Palinurus , fo r the sacrific e canno t be undone, bu t i n reward fo r his suffering Palinurus is to be commemorated in the name for a promontory, which i s still called the Punt a d i Palinuro (o r Cape o f Palinurus). Virgi l thereby provide s a n aetiology fo r thi s cape , linking th e heroic narrative with th e landscape and using Roman plac e names as tropes to legitimiz e Aeneas's claim s t o th e Italia n land restrospectively . Bu t th e cos t o f thi s linking i s Palinurus's death: Palinurus is transformed into a trope of legitimization, a trope that also figures Virgil's own poetic relation to the landscape. The stor y o f how th e Punta d i Palinuro got its name thus also tells of the laten t violenc e an d hidde n circularit y of the ac t of naming, a synec doche her e for al l poetic naming. I n naming, th e poet give s voice t o th e landscape; he fills it with a numinous presenc e and gives it an emotional stake in his story; and he then appears to draw his own emotions, hi s own responses, fro m the Italian land, which ca n give them an authenticity and a power tha t appear to g o beyond individua l expressio n o f feeling. This numinous landscap e can then speak to Aeneas, reassuring him of the justice of his enterprise by figuring it as a close relation to the genii loci of the Italian soil and providing visions of a plenitude beyond the epic quest. This tropological circl e create s authorit y an d expressiv e powe r fo r th e poe t

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even as it gives political legitimacy to the hero. Th e sacrific e of Palinurus indicates the cost not only of creating such an aetiology for the land, then, but als o of a certain type of poetic figuration itself—th e cos t to poet an d hero of possessing the land as a poetic or a political conquest. 41 Virgil's capacit y to expos e th e violenc e o f thi s proces s indicate s th e strength o f th e epic' s ironi c counternarrative . In th e episode s involvin g Palinurus, h e creates a trope, anthropomorphize s it , an d provides a nar rative explanation and aetiology for it, suggestin g that behind or implied in an y figur e i s one or mor e explanator y narratives: behind th e trope lie the sacrifice an d the death of the character, which ar e both represente d as narrative acts. The complexity of Virgil's text arises in part from his ability to lay bare the violence of his figurative scheme while insisting nonetheless on it s value. He transpose s the violence ont o th e narrative of his poem , leaving the figurative scheme of the poem fre e to serve its ideological end of representin g a congruence o f human though t an d landscape ; but th e representation of this violence a s it become s actio n and th e relate d mel ancholy in the voice of the poet implicitly acknowledg e the potential destructiveness of this poetic and political act. 42 The passag e from narrativ e to trope , especiall y to landscap e trope, i s well represente d in Virgil's famou s imitatio n o f Homer in the simile de scribing the group of souls to which Palinuru s belongs. Th e souls rush to the bank s of Acheron, pleadin g t o b e ferried across; their rushin g ha s a narrative momentum, hintin g a t their continue d links to their past lives. Virgil describe s this movemen t wit h a simile tha t transform s them int o figures for a natural world, whos e movement, i f it can be said to have one, is, a s in the case of Homer's simile , tha t of the circular revolutions of the seasons: hue omnis turba a d ripas effus a ruebat , matres atqu e viri defunctaque corpora vit a rnagnanimum heroum, pueri innuptaeque puellae , impositique rogi s iuvenes ant e ora parentum : quam mult a in silvis autumn i frigor e prim o lapsa cadunt folia , au t ad terram gurgit e a b alto quam multa e glomerantu r aves, ub i frigidus annu s trans pontum fugat et terris immitti t apricis . stabant orante s prim i transmittere cursum , tendebantque manu s ripa e ulterioris amore. (VI, 305-14 )

Here a whole crowd came streamin g t o the banks , Mothers and men, th e forms wit h all life spen t Of heroes great i n valor, boy s and girl s

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e Ancient Epic Unmarried, an d young son s laid on the pyre Before thei r parents ' eyes—a s many soul s As leaves tha t yield thei r hol d o n boughs an d fal l Through forests in the early frosts o f autumn , Or a s migrating bird s fro m th e open sea That darken heave n whe n the cold seaso n come s And drive s the m overseas to sunlit lands . There all stood beggin g t o be first acros s And reache d ou t longin g hand s to the far shore . (F VI, 414-25 )

The passag e moves fro m the rush of the souls to the seasonal imagery of the similes, suggestin g that the poet desires to move from the contempla tion of death to the reassuring cyclically of the natural world. Virgil' s im age contains a pathos that Homer's doe s not, becaus e he omits an y reference to the leaves that will return; in the underworld also , then, th e mel ancholy ton e acknowledge s implicitl y th e limitation s o f th e idylli c transformation. The simile itself pictures some unknown sacrific e that has taken place, a sacrifice that remains unexplained and all the more powerful for it s consequen t generalization : these young sons an d unmarrie d girl s who die d prematurely create an image sufficiently strikin g that Virgil re peated it here from Georgics IV, 475-77. They ar e almost a figure fo r pa thos itself , an d impl y a mute sacrific e require d o f human lif e bu t unex plained. Thi s muteness , whic h mirror s Palinurus' s failur e t o mak e hi s comrades hea r hi s voice a s h e dies, i s transforme d int o th e beaut y o f the simile that hides the violence and promises a different structur e of reality. Similar violence stands behind the geographical place name in the case of Misenus, wh o is also sacrificed to enable Aeneas to succeed; the violence is revealed in the apparent arbitrariness ("forte," VI, 171 ) and untimeliness of his death. 43 Virgil write s tha t Misenus die s a death he did not deserv e ("indigna morte, " VI, 163) ; but, departin g fro m his treatment o f Palin urus's case, the poet does explain Misenus's death, though the cause he cites lacks relation t o the Trojan situation and thus seems more th e emblem o f a figura l threa t tha n a n actual cause of death. Virgi l say s that Misenus is killed b y "aemulus Triton " ("Triton who stands as rival" or "who strives to equal") fo r having challenge d the gods to a contest: sed turn, fort e cava dum persona t aequor a concha , demens, e t cantu vocat i n certamina divos , aemulus exceptu m Triton, s i credere dignum est , inter saxa virum spumosa immersera t unda . (VI, 171-74 )

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That day, By chance , as he blew notes on a hollow shell , Making th e sea sing back, in his wild foll y He dared the gods to rival him. The n Triton, Envious, i f this can be believed, Caught hi m and put him under in the surf Amid th e rocks offshore . (F VI, 245-51)

Misenus make s the surface o f the sea resound with the songs he plays on the conch shell, the emblem o f Triton's own power; he thus does much the same as Virgil, wh o i n the Aeneid no less than in the Georgics seeks to fil l the Italian waters with voices and makes the landscape resound—for in stance, wit h th e nam e o f Palinurus. Th e analog y seem s quit e strict : although Virgi l pictures himself a s humble while Misenus is hubristic, as a poet Virgi l puts himself in th e position o f the god s a s much a s Misenus does. Misenus , i n making the sea itself sing forth wit h the god's ow n in strument, represent s a n artist who ha s gone beyon d bounds . H e i s pic tured explicitly a s giving th e sea a voice—as using the trope of prosopopoeia—for which and literally in which th e wave's death mask (prosopon) is transferred to him wit h deadly results. The spo t o n which thi s doubl e troping occurre d receive s his name: his death, lik e Palinurus's, serve s t o name the landscape—the Punta d i Miseno—and to give it a history. Hi s death announces agai n the cost of anthropomorphizing poetr y tha t casts a voice upon the landscape, personifying the land to allow it to mourn th e same death that provided the voice in the first place. Palinurus too ca n be understoo d a s a figure o f the artist , for h e i s th e helmsman wh o choose s th e direction and thus create s the narrative line. Once he is overboard, the gods take over his role; but even then, as always, it is Virgil th e poet wh o sail s his boat home. Palinuru s was perhaps to o sure a sailor an d navigato r t o hav e found th e figurativ e pat h to Italy . In sacrificing him , Virgi l sacrifice s temporaril y hi s ow n commitmen t t o a naturalistic consistency at the narrative level. Palinurus thus embodies o n the plane of human action an aesthetic sacrifice as well as a political one— his death personifies the aesthetic cost to the narrative of bringing Aeneas to Italy under supernatural guidance. Both Palinurus and Misenus, then, figure a danger in the artistic enterprise Virgil has undertaken, their deaths measuring the peril of imposing the tropes tha t animate the landscape. The movemen t fro m narrativ e to trope tha t allow s th e poet t o appea r to link huma n an d natural things is accomplished, her e as elsewhere, throug h death , and especially violent o r premature death. Each death gives voice to the land, but als o reveals a la-

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tent yet inevitable violence in the act of possessing the landscape, whethe r by conquest o r by poetic naming an d personification. Misenus, sai d to be the so n o f Aeolus, no w become s a part of the landscape , an d hi s name , now a trope pointin g no t onl y t o the displaced narrative behind th e place name bu t forwar d t o Rome , take s on th e timelessnes s o f th e figurative realm ("aeternumqu e tene t pe r saecul a nomen, " VI , 235 ; "i t keep s through th e centuries a n eternal name").44 In th e Aeneid, i t i s this forward-turnin g o r prolepti c componen t tha t most troublingly complicate s the aesthetic project of making deat h or absence speak . Throughou t Boo k VI , th e cos t o f prophetic utterance—a n act i n whic h Virgil himsel f i s partly engaged—is particularl y high, a s it was in the supernatural intervention tha t brought Aeneas to Italian shores. Considering th e death s o f Misenu s an d Palinuru s a s displaced sacrifice s that giv e legitimac y t o bot h th e politica l an d the aestheti c wor k o f thi s section of the poem may thus offer another way to understand the presence of Daedalus's labyrint h an d the representation o f human sacrific e o n th e doors o f the temple a t the beginning o f the sixth book. Thi s representa tion, w e remember , suggest s no t onl y tha t th e underworl d itsel f ma y prove somethin g o f a labyrinth , fo r th e reade r an d poe t a s wel l a s fo r Aeneas, bu t als o tha t propheti c utteranc e has its risks—risk s measure d both in the loss of Icarus, a figure resembling Misenus , an d in the loss of artistic control i n Daedalus's grief. Lik e the simile of the crowd i n Hades , the story o f the sacrifice of the seven Athenian youths and maidens to the Minotaur an d the image of the labyrinth bring t o the surface of the poe m the underlying sacrificia l economy o f the narrative that the deaths of Pal inurus an d Misenus mos t immediatel y represent . Th e dange r figure d i n Daedalus's picture s is that th e poem , whic h depend s formall y o n a sup pressed sacrifice , ma y b e propitiatin g no t a benign divinity , a figure fo r the final resolution o f ambiguity, but a horrific doubleness not so differen t from th e Minotaur itself . The threat glimpsed in moments whe n th e text reflects upon its own proleptic project is that the poem—and especially its historical vision , summarize d b y th e propheti c vision s o f th e under world—may prov e labyrinthine , a hug e labo r o f inextricabl e delusio n ("inextricabilis error," VI, 27; "an inextricable wandering") . The deat h o f Anchises had already evoked th e threat of the labyrinth , which appeared in a simile describing the riding o f the Trojan youths dur ing th e funera l game s for Aeneas's father, celebrate d a year after hi s death (and a year after Aeneas' s mysterious suppressio n of grief at the loss of his father): ut quonda m Gret a fertur Labyrinthus i n alta parietibus textu m caeci s iter ancipitemqu e

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mille viis habuisse dolum , qu a signa sequend i frangeret indeprensu s e t inremeabilis error : haud ali o Teucrum nat i vestigi a curs u impediunt texuntqu e fuga s et proelia ludo , delphinum similes qui per maria humida nand o Carpathium Libycumque secan t [luduntqu e pe r undas]. (V, 588-95 ) So intricate In ancient time s o n mountainous Crete they say The Labyrinth, betwee n walls i n the dark, Ran criss-cross a bewildering thousand way s Devised by guile , a maze insoluble , Breaking dow n every clu e to the way out . So intricate th e drill o f Trojan boy s Who wove the patterns o f their pacin g horses , Figured, i n sport, retreat s an d skirmishes— Like dolphins in the drenching sea, Carpathia n Or Libyan , tha t shea r throug h the waves i n play . (F V, 759-69 )

The referenc e to th e labyrinth here is stripped of its horrific aspects, an d thus ostensibly describes only the complexity of the patterns in which th e boys ride. The implicit claim of the figure is that the boys' games—a kind of idylli c spor t base d on mimicr y o f battle and interweaving o f lines— create a beneficent maze, an image of beauty, not horror, whic h is echoed in the second simile, tha t of the dolphins. I n neither case, however, i s the image entirely innocent. Misenu s illustrates the less-than-peaceful poten tial of sea waves (VI, 174), just as the figure of the Minotaur forever hides at the center of any labyrinth. This figure is hidden in and structures Book V, in which th e unasked question of who or what will be sacrificed t o en able the calm celebration of death to occur is answered both in the outburst of the women—who become signs for the horror that must be exorcised— and i n th e deat h o f Anchises , neve r full y brough t t o th e surfac e o f th e poem. Th e poet' s descriptio n of the first lusus troiae thus once again juxtaposes imagery o f calm and aesthetic pleasure with th e labyrinth. Bot h the calm and the aesthetic pleasure are made possible by the way th e im ages displace the death or th e sacrific e necessar y in the poem's econom y to suspend such contradiction or to contain the threat of violence. Sacrifice is thus the enabling condition of idyll, as it is shown to be here of foundation myths, fo r th e scen e of the funera l game s provides a n aetiology fo r th e lusus troiae, a Roman custo m revived by Julius Caesar and established by Augustu s as a regular institution. Th e allusio n to sacrific e in the simile, alon g wit h th e suppressed death of Anchises, suggest s that

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a price must be paid for the knowledge o f origins, eve n of a fictional kind , and for th e natural abundance evoked i n the Dolphin simile . Behin d th e idyllic displa y of the funeral games , and implicit in the possibility o f eliding the conflict at the origin, lie s a socially or narratively condoned los s of human life . This los s i s ofte n conceive d i n sexua l terms . Th e myt h o f Juturna , which Virgi l invokes i n Book XI I in part to convey how Turnu s is aided by a n intimate connectio n t o th e landscape, most thoroughl y articulate s the discourse s o f violence , denomination , property , an d prolepti c self legitimization that cross in this section. Juturna, Virgil writes, was the sister o f Turnus ; she was raped by Jupiter an d in return transformed into a water nymph an d given immortality. 45 Juturna presides over "stagnis . . . fluminibus" (XII , 139 ; "pools" or "lagoons" and "streams"): hunc illi rex aetheris altu s honorem luppiter erepta pr o virginitat e sacravit . (XII, 140-41 ) Heaven's king Jupiter For the maidenhead tha t he had ravished, gav e This divine dignity. (FXII, 188-90 )

This parenthetical myth tell s how on e part of th e Italian landscape came to b e animated : i t describe s the proces s o f prosopopoei a an d anthropo morphism b y which the stream Juturna, and by extension the land near it, is given a voice and human emotions. Th e myth represents the rape as the cost o f thi s transformation ; such violence underlies any shif t fro m a hu man state to a timeless one, here associated not only with the immortalit y of the gods but with the timelessness of the rivers of Italy and river poetry. Juturna's nam e (whic h echoe s th e names Jupiter, Juno, an d Turnus) and her stor y sugges t tha t thi s suppresse d violenc e ca n often b e sexua l (and specifically male ) in origin . The rap e of Juturna can be described as another sacrifice story, an d in deed th e nymp h i s sacrificed metaphoricall y a second tim e a t the en d o f Book XII. A s her powe r eve n t o delay Turnus's death is taken from her , she laments, claimin g that immortality without power was hardly the recompense fo r he r los t virginit y tha t sh e had bee n promised . I n this case, though, i t is the narrative that takes from her violently (eripio) th e powe r she had had invested i n her. Sinc e she embodies the Italian landscape and its limited authority , th e sacrific e o f he r hopes of saving Turnus creates a double representatio n of the sacrifice of Italy . She leaves the poem wrap ping hersel f i n a blue-gray vei l (XII , 885 ) that symbolizes th e water int o

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which she plunges, moaning ("mult a gemens," line 886), to provide a new story t o explain the traditional lamenting sounds of waters in idyllic po etry. The cul t o f Juturn a forme d par t of th e civi c religion i n Rome, 46 and indeed her sacrifice allows Virgil to end the poem with a compromise tha t guarantees th e Roman future , fo r Juturna stands in fo r Juno, who m th e narrative would otherwise have needed to weaken or undermine in orde r to finish off her favored hero. Juturna's actions in the poem, an d the my thology tha t stand s behind them , agai n expose the sacrifice necessar y to the attainment of the poem's political goals. Her story summarizes the situation also of all those characters who giv e their names to the landscape: they al l reveal the destructivenes s of Aeneas's political project and of th e epic narrator's imaginative one, so that the aetiology of the landscape constitutes a record of the epic endeavor and the losses it entails. 47 Juturna's story is linked, through myth, idyllic figuration, an d imagery, with a hidden violence. Suc h imagery causes a calm forgetting of the rape that transformed woma n int o trop e in th e firs t place , a violation show n doubly t o underlie the act of naming—and possessing—the landscape. It can stand as a summary example of the violation in those moments whe n the divine "touches" the human: that touching, here a rape, is aestheticized and compensated for by the haunting of the landscape—a giving of voice to stream s and pools. I n the Aeneid, t o spea k of th e divine , o r o f myth , touching th e human is, a s we have seen, to speak of a moment i n whic h Virgil give s hi s figurative schem e priorit y ove r th e action . Th e Juturna story unfolds some of the implications of that priority and it suggests that there is a suppressed or, as in the case of Turnus' s death, not-so-suppresse d violence i n those moment s whe n th e double motives o f the action mus t be reconciled. The account of Juturna's manipulatio n of Turnus , one of Virgil' s nar rative doubles , generate s a radica l ambiguit y a t th e conclusio n o f th e poem. On e version represents a divine manipulation of human events, not recognized on the plane of human action; but when Turnus tells his sister that he has recognized her all along (XII, 632-34), the narrative turns, im plying muc h greate r efforts b y Turnus to flee—and a subsequent admission by him that , finally, thes e efforts ar e in vain. The episode thus causes an uncertaint y i n interpretation tha t matches th e uncertainty in th e plo t about whether o r not Turnus deserved his death. The question is posed in terms of manipulation, an d the reader is left t o reconcile the two differen t accounts, eac h wit h quit e opposit e implication s fo r th e endin g o f th e poem. On e version suggests that the events are fated to end as they do; the other, tha t th e story represent s random an d uncertain human struggles ,

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the full meanin g o f which canno t be measured. These two touc h uncomfortably i n the actions of Juturna. The layin g ou t o f Pallas' s body a t the boy' s funera l i s an apt fina l ex ample o f th e veilin g o f sacrificia l moment s b y idylli c imagery , fo r hi s body i s laid on a rustic bier interwoven wit h wicke r and wild strawberr y stalks, as if the landscape—and pastoral landscape poetry, by extension— were already reclaiming it. This scene demonstrates once again the struc ture of such imagery: the beauty and the repose associated with idyllic settings deriv e fro m th e death , an d at the sam e time hid e tha t connection . Pallas is transformed from body to figure, a passage that occurs in the sim ile of th e flowe r followin g th e descriptio n of hi s body o n it s rustic bed (XI, 67-71). The echoes of Catullus, LXII, 43, and XI, 22-24, in the sim ile also allude to the departure from narrative norms that it embodies. Th e lyric aestheticism of the flower simile attributes the special beauty of those that die young to the sacrificed boy. It denies the marks of violence on the body an d figuratively suspends the violence implicit i n the whole scene. The exten t an d implications of this suspension are most glarin g not i n what th e funera l scen e elaborates—at the level either of actio n o r o f fig ure—but i n what i t appear s to leav e unsaid. Th e shif t fro m narrativ e to figure thu s help s t o explai n th e scan t attentio n give n i n th e stor y t o Aeneas's surprising decision to offe r huma n sacrific e at the funeral o f Pal las. The shocking natur e of his decision, which underscores the symboli c function o f Pallas as a sacrificial victim, is felt in the moment when Aeneas first announce s i t (X , 517-20) , bu t i t is glossed over i n th e actua l event with only a brief and rather indirect phrase ("vinxerat et post terga manus, quos mitteret umbri s /inferias," XI, 81-82 ; "he had the hands bound be hind thei r back s of thos e who m he intended t o sen d a s offerings t o th e world below"). The actua l human sacrific e is the result of the more met aphorical sacrific e o f Pallas—th e kind o f sacrific e demande d b y the nar rative economy; i t indicates a moment i n which th e sacrificial economy is allowed t o surfac e an d become visibl e in th e action . I f it i s true, a s Sue tonius claims, that Augustus offered huma n sacrifice to the shade of Julius Caesar—"Scribunt quida m trecentos ex dediticiis electos utriusque ordinis ad aram Diuo lulio extructam Idibus Martiis hostiarum mor e macta tos," writes Suetoniu s ("Certain authors write that from among th e con quered [afte r Perusi a had been taken] he [Augustus] chose three hundre d belonging t o the two order s and sacrificed the m as victims for the Ides of March befor e a n alta r raise d i n hono r o f th e Divin e Julius")—the n Aeneas's act may allude to something mor e than Achilles' similar sacrific e of twelv e youn g me n a t the pyre of Patroklos. 48 It indicates rather wha t one might call an Augustan understanding of the basis of power i n a rit -

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ualized ac t of violence , an d suggest s that whe n th e Aeneid similarl y in vokes such rituals it also acknowledges thei r submerged barbarity. Transposed into epistemological and political categories, the circularity in th e storie s o f Juturna an d Palla s threatens to becom e a general aspect of Virgilia n poetics . Simila r imager y o f sacrific e an d tale s of evade d o r failed sacrific e fil l Aeneas' s narration of th e fal l o f Troy . Sinon' s fals e tale that so enraptures the Trojans is the story of a victim who succeed s in escaping the altar (II, 128-36). Moreover , Laocoon , inten t upon an animal sacrifice, i s himself mad e into the offering . Thi s transposition is marked clearly in the simile describing Laocoon by the echo of hi s own ritua l act several lines before: Virgil says that Laocoon "sollemnis taurum ingentem mactabat a d aras" (II , 202), "he was slaying an immense bul l at the cus tomary altars." As the serpents twine about his body, he himself become s the sacrificial victim : clamores simul horrendos a d sidera tollit: qualis mugitus, fugi t cu m sauciu s aram taurus et incertam excussit cervice securim. (II, 222-24) [He sent] to heaven his appalling cries Like a slashed bull escaping from an altar The fumble d axe shrugged off. (FII, 300-302)

Laocoon is like the escaping bull only in his horrible cries, for he does no t escape becoming the victim. The figure seems to operate by a type of con taminating metonymy, i n which th e simile springs the narrative into action, takin g o n a horrifying reality . Sinon' s narrativ e of sacrific e i s thus completed i n th e stor y o f Laocoon , fo r th e deat h of Laocoo n help s th e Greeks, just a s the pretende d sacrific e o f Sino n wa s intended t o do . La ocoon appears to stand for Troy itself, though this too is a failed o r insufficient sacrific e tha t serves onl y t o poin t prolepticall y to th e city' s fall. 49 The Tro y narrativ e thus indicate s the contaminatin g qualit y of sacrific e rather than its capacity to resolve a crisis. The Trojan s appear to misunderstan d both sacrificia l references . They misinterpret Sinon , an d invert th e significance of th e death of Laocoon , reading it as a portent of the holiness of the great artificial horse. Nothing in Aeneas's tale acknowledges th e death of Laocoo n as a sacrifice: th e ep isode indicates instead the completeness of the Trojans' ignorance and mis understanding, an d places the faile d an d unacknowledged sacrific e a t th e beginning o f th e narrativ e chain. Sacrific e i n th e narrative of Troy' s fal l thus signals the dangers of those moments i n which the figurative claims

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of the poem ar e used as the spring for the action, suggesting tha t the his torical narrative—the line of destiny—has its origin in sacrificial violenc e (here the sacrifice of a human being to divine intention) that the story can repeat but not explain . This type of narrative construction, quit e different fro m the construc tion o f th e narrativ e doubles, lay s bare the econom y o f bot h forms . I n narrative doubles, th e two conflictin g versions of the story are left unreconciled, an d the unease of this doubleness is marked by the metaphorical, and unacknowledged , sacrific e o f a human character , a sacrific e usuall y displaced from the protagonist onto an apparently minor figure who ofte n appears to have been invented only for the purpose of being destroyed. I n the cas e of Laocoon , a s in the elided account of the funeral o f Pallas , this uneasy suspension of idyll and horror has become a frightening union that imports into the narrative, which elsewhere locates itself outside such pos sibility, a representation of actua l human sacrifice . As th e tur n fro m unacknowledge d sacrific e t o personifie d landscape intimates, th e poem's animatio n o f the land also has an ideological func tion, linkin g th e poetry' s ow n expressiv e power s t o it s politics. 50 Th e trope o f prosopopoei a ca n be use d t o illuminat e th e narrator' s positio n within thi s comple x evocatio n o f th e cost s o f poeti c power . Harr y Berger has suggested that prosopopoeia is the trope that defines th e rela tion o f th e narrato r to a text's man y voices . Th e narrato r i s an "impersonator" resemblin g th e orato r Quintilia n invoke s whe n definin g pro sopopoeia: His e t adversarioru m cogitatione s velu t secu m loquentiu m protrahimu s . . . et nostros cu m alii s sermone s e t alioru m inte r s e credibiliter introducimus , e t sua dendo, obiurgando , querendo , laudando , miserand o persona s idonea s damus. (IX, ii , 30)

By its means w e display th e inner thoughts of our adversaries a s though they were talking wit h themselves. . . . Or without sacrifice of credibility w e may introduce conversations between ourselves an d others, o r of others among themselves, and put word s of advice , reproach , complaint , prais e or pity into the mouths of ap propriate persons. 51

Berger suggest s that this rhetorical account of impersonation, transporte d into literature , give s a complicated sens e of th e voic e o f th e tex t an d o f the narrator's "tona l relation t o th e figures h e ventriloquates, an d of his presence to us as an impersonator" ("Origin s of Bucolic Representation, " p. 14) . This identification of th e trope of prosopopoei a a s the trop e that names any of a variety of literary impersonations in a text can be extended

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to an account of the Virgilian narrator, who positions himself by reference to multiple discursive strategies and makes sure that we can recognize that troping. Thu s the text coul d be said to impersonate an epic narrator sin cere in his devotion t o the epic labor of telling ho w hard it was to found Rome, bu t i t also lets us see that this act is only on e among severa l "im personations." Throughou t m y readin g o f th e Aeneid I have suggeste d that the narrator's position is troped as one particular stance on the action, and not give n th e capacity to spea k with the voice o f the text. Th e nar rator's lac k o f a n all-inclusiv e perspectiv e is eviden t i n thos e moment s when he remains unaware of the textual processes that generate a secondary critiqu e of the scheme of values he endorses. Bu t thi s troping o f th e narrator's position become s mor e radica l in the sections of the poem de voted t o th e personification and animation of th e Italian landscape, per haps because the narrator's own position is also a result of the trope whos e actions are being uncovered here, and perhaps because the multiplicity o f textual voices is most strongl y fel t whe n th e land also begins to speak. In any case , my accoun t of th e poem's animatio n of the land will als o nec essarily be an account o f th e troping o f th e narrator's position tha t goes along with th e text's employmen t o f the trope of prosopopoeia. The rol e of landscape description in the figurative economy i s central, for lan d is the centra l issue of contentio n i n the story—who will possess it, what kinds of rights over it and connections to it will pertain to citizen, ruler, and poet.52 The politics and poetics of land in the Aeneid indicate the degree to which the poetry itself is implicated in the plot of conquest. Vir gil gives the land a voice that speaks in favor o f Aeneas's epic project, and characterizes th e landscape of Ital y in idealizin g pastoral tropes, bu t th e tie of idyllic landscape description and personification to poetic voice hints that some act of violence necessarily lies behind such characterization. The sacrifices that are tied to the land have already suggested one kind of hid den violence in the textual animation of the landscape—moaning Juturna, doubly violated , givin g voic e t o stream s and fountains , for instance . A not-so-hidden instance of violence wreaked on the land of Italy by the text is the war itself. The "voice " thus given to Italy speaks with a n ambiva lence born o f its double origins in idealization and violation. The figurativ e rendering o f the Italian landscape as idyllic begins with such scenes as the first vision of the Tiber (VII, 30-36) an d the splendidly pastoral dream vision of Tiberinu s (VIII , 31-67) , an d includes the many scenes set in Pallanteum, th e futur e sit e of Rome. 53 The poem' s us e here of th e trop e o f anthropomorphism , i n which th e land is personified and given voice , i s a principal strateg y t o matc h actio n an d figure . Thoug h they may describe places that Aeneas sees, and though they in part express

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metaphorically his own emotion s upon seeing this land (for example, hi s happiness upon reaching Italy in VII, 36), thes e landscape descriptions re main figurative evocations of which he has no knowledge. I t is Virgil wh o tags them a s pastoral, and who make s an argument of these description s that help s t o suppor t bot h hi s politica l them e an d hi s hope s o f poeti c power. The dream vision of Tiberinus , fo r instance, creates a moment of narrative doubling, bu t th e identification of the vision as idyllic is part of a figurative scheme beyond Aeneas' s knowledge. Aenea s dreams that th e river call s him forth ; the poet , however , make s a more complicate d ar gument by hinting that, at some cost, the Italian landscape itself can speak, and that its voice can animate his poetry. 54 The trop e o f prosopopoeia (an d the accompanying moves t o animat e the landscape) allows th e text t o mak e two politica l moves. O n th e one hand, i n the case of Aeneas, the idyllic imagery makes it appear that natural forces—the Italian divinities and the landscape they figure—approv e of his claims to the land. Not onl y is the "pleasant Tiber" personified, but the woods along its bank develop personality as Aeneas and his men glide upstream: "mirantu r et undae, /miratur nemus" (VIII , 91-92; "in won der the wave s look on , i n wonder th e woods watch") . Onc e they ente r Pallanteum, idylli c trope s ar e frequent . Thus whe n th e Arcadian s sin g hymns celebratin g Hercules ' victor y ove r Cacus , fo r instance , al l th e woods resound wit h th e noise, an d the hills reecho, "consona t omne nemus strepit u collesqu e resultant" (VIII , 305) ; and throughout Evander' s guided tour of Pallanteum, he refers to the spirits in the land. On the other hand, i n the cas e of the Italian warriors—as for instance in the catalogue of Boo k VII—th e idylli c imagery , whic h expresse s th e Italians ' near mythical tie to the land, shifts from simile to lament to allow the losses of the Italians to see m the necessary cost of Aeneas's success. Whether cele bratory or lamenting, the idyllic imagery hides the conflict engendered by Aeneas's clai m t o th e land , thoug h th e sens e o f uneas e in thes e idylli c scenes nonetheless betrays their ideological labor.55 To underscore the political value of idyllic imagery such as characterizes Tiberinus, throughou t Boo k VII I th e poe t associate s it wit h historica l prolepsis. Whethe r throug h prophec y i n th e word s o f Tiberinu s o r through the many Roman places identified proleptically at Pallanteum, the text consistentl y connect s its treatment of th e landscape with its predictions o f Roma n greatness . The ga p betwee n figur e an d actio n i s here a central source of poetic wit and readerly delight. Thus in the walk through Pallanteum, Aenea s is shown a grotto bearing the name of Lycaea n Pan, while the reader recognizes the Lupercal, the grotto o f Faunus-Lupercus at the foot of the Palantine. Augustus restored it, and the Lupercalia i n Feb-

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ruary was one of Rome' s chie f festivals . Th e prolepsi s continue s a s they reach the Capitol : hinc ad Tarpeiam sede m et Capitolia duck , aurea nunc, olim silvestribus horrid a dumis . (VIII, 347-48 )

From ther e He led to our Tarpeia n sit e an d Capitol, All golden now, i n those days tangled , wil d With underbrush. (F VIII, 458-61)

The link o f the pastoral scene to Augustan Rome is accomplished almos t playfully as Aeneas and Evander reach what was, in Virgil's time, the fashionable quarter of Carinae and the Forum: "passimque armenta videbant / Romanoque foro et lautis mugire Carinis" (VIII, 360-61; "And they saw cattle in all directions, lowin g i n the Roman Foru m an d in elegant Carinae"). O f thes e Augustan significances Aeneas has no knowledge, bu t by the near-constant aetiologie s th e poet is able to turn attention toward th e Roman future , no w becom e th e present tense of the poem ("nunc, " line 348).56 This move and the inscription o f the Roman reader as the sole adequate interpreter o f th e poem disguis e the fac t tha t Aeneas's mission t o Pallanteum will disrupt its pastoral peace, and instead make the argument that Roman virtues originate in these primitive virtues of simplicity, aus terity, an d piety . Ther e ma y als o b e implie d a warnin g tha t "golden " Rome shoul d tak e care to resembl e i n virtue s its primitive counterpart . The voice of the land, as we see in the case of Tiberinus, seem s to speak only in favorable terms of the voyage of Aeneas. In contrast to such idyllic language, two dens e figurative associations of Italy with an image of hor ror—the descriptions of the Cyclopes and the location of Allecto's descent into th e earth at the Vale of Ampsanctus—make the voice of the land less easy to trust . Ther e th e personified landscape speaks of the violence that brought i t voic e a s wel l a s o f th e peacefu l Augusta n futur e t o whic h Aeneas's mission points . In bot h description s o f th e Cyclope s (i n Books II I an d VIII ) horro r proves to be the underside of an apparently idyllic landscape scene. Wit h the kind of wit and odd pathos typical of Theocritus' s transformation s of the epic tradition, Virgil' s Cyclop s ha s been transformed into a shepherd whose onl y remainin g consolation , no w tha t h e has lost on e eye , i s his sheep (III , 660-61).57 Living under and around Aetna, the community o f the Cyclopes figure s a violence in the land that becomes significan t when they reappea r in Book VII I as the forgers of Aeneas's armor. I n Book III ,

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as Aeneas an d his men flee the shores of Aetna, Virgil compare s the Cy clopes to beautifu l tree s waving their high top s alon g the shoreline , a s if the episode represented an encounter with th e landscape itself rather than a Homeric adventure. When Vulcan returns to the vaults of Aetna and the forges o f th e Cyclopes, th e poetry once again links an image of violenc e within the land to the symbolization of Aeneas's legitimacy in the creation of the armor forge d by these chthonic figures . This mutua l implicatio n o f allegorie s of idyl l an d horror i n th e lan d becomes especiall y clear in the story of Allecto, wh o i s linked to the land both whe n sh e descends to th e underworld vi a the Val e o f Ampsanctu s (VII, 565 ) and throughout he r arousing of the Italians. The narrator com ments tha t the Italian countrymen respond with unexpected speed to Syl via's call , becaus e "pestis eni m taciti s latet asper a silvis " (VII , 505 ; "th e pitiless fiend/I n th e silen t woo d la y hidden," F VII , 694-95) . Allect o blows the shepherd's horn t o rouse them to war, and the whole landscape hears her Tartarean voice: pastorale cani t signum cornuque recurv e Tartarean! intendit vocem , qu a protinus omn e contremuit nemus e t silvae insonuere profundae ; audiit e t Triviae longe lacus. (VII , 513-16 ) [She] sounde d th e herdsmen's call : on her curved horn She sent into the air a blast from hel l At which all groves wer e set at once a-tremble And th e deep forest rang an d rang again. The lak e of Trivi a heard it, fa r away. (F VII, 705-9)

The trope s use d here—of th e landscape echoing and so taking on voice , of personificatio n an d th e so-calle d "patheti c fallacy"—resembl e thos e used in idyllic passages throughout th e poem, bu t here they tell the story of th e lan d speakin g th e languag e of violence . Th e voice s o f th e land , speaking as much in the fumes risin g from Ampsanctus or Aetna as in the rustling noise s o f Italy' s waters, pronounce word s tha t the poem canno t always afford t o hear. The Aeneid's idylli c figuration of the Italian landscape turns our atten tion to the image of an Italy that welcomes Aeneas . The movement fro m narrated action to landscape makes an ideological as well as a poetic turn, to hid e on e se t of implication s whil e redirectin g th e story . Th e tur n t o nature canno t remai n unaffecte d b y its hidden politics , however ; threat s such a s that represente d b y Allecto , whic h ma y b e deflecte d b y tropes , nonetheless return , investin g th e idyllic calm of these very setting s wit h

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the political and poetic ambivalenc e of th e poem. Ironically , idylli c im agery throughout the poem thus delays the return of the political and ideological tensio n i n th e poe m b y a device tha t itsel f ma y brin g tha t sup pressed violence eve n closer to the surface, sinc e the idyllic seems always to bring with it its negative twin. The work of matching action and figure thus becomes particularly complex in the *'Italian" books of the poem, as the sacrific e o f Italy—bot h o f it s lan d an d o f it s people—t o th e epi c scheme o f conques t become s increasingl y clear , an d th e poet' s positio n correspondingly mor e strained—h e mus t simultaneousl y assert the in evitability of the action he narrates and lament its ravages. The personified Italian landscap e functions i n par t to mak e this doubl e positio n tenable , for th e lamenting voice of the land also expresses an ostensibly divine (or at least "natural") recognition o f the necessity of epic progress. The suspensio n and ideological turns made possible through th e evo cation of an idyllic landscape become all the more charged when th e nar rator laments proleptically the deaths of warriors such as Oebalus, Ufens , and Umbro. The poem turns to apostrophe in those moments when a (future) sacrifice of a given character is inscribed into the plot as a fated death, for thi s trope—especiall y i n conjunctio n with a n animated landscape— works to make the expression of lament and the assertion of necessity simultaneous. Apostroph e in the Italian books, whil e having the ostensible function o f makin g character s see m present , operate s i n th e narrativ e rather a s a trope o f absence , used to emphasiz e the inevitabilit y of thei r sacrifice and the necessity of their loss. As such, the trope operates as part of a syste m o f prolepti c lament s b y whic h th e narrator , appearin g t o mourn the (future) death s of the characters, actually conveys the certainty that they will be lost, sacrifice d t o the forward march of Rome. Th e sys tem b y which Virgi l implies the connection betwee n th e Italian warriors and th e landscap e is particularl y complex , involvin g prolepsis , apos trophe, personification of the landscape, the identification of "pathetic fallacy," an d th e derivatio n o f poeti c authorit y fro m them . Th e apostro phized warriors are invoked onl y to be proleptically mourned: in serving as sacrifices, the y become poeti c figures, a transformation into trope ac complished b y their (proleptic ) deaths. The complex proleptic lament of the countryside for Umbro, along with Virgil's apostrophe to him, iden tifies th e economy o f this scheme, in which deat h is again revealed as the cost of the evocative figuration of voices in the landscape. Not unexpectedly , th e case of Umbr o is one of the most complicated because, a s a priest an d heale r with powe r ove r nature , h e ma y als o b e understood a s an artist figure. Virgi l writes that Umbro's arts and charms

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did not aid him in healing the wounds mad e by the stroke of Troja n spear, and proleptically Umbr o dies in the moment h e is first mentioned , t o b e lamented b y his native landscape: te nemus Angitiae, vitre a t e Fucinus unda , te liquidi flever e lacus . (VII , 759-6o) The grov e of Angitia mourne d you (Umbro) , and the glassy wav e of Fucinus , th e clear pool s mourned you .

The apostrophe that adumbrates the priest's death coincides here with the personification of the land, represented in the past as having wept for Um bro. Th e calm , almos t froze n scene s (lik e glass) becom e marker s o f th e death of Umbro, connecting idyllic imagery with the suspension of action in trop e an d hidin g th e caus e of thi s death , namely , th e plo t itself . Th e quiet waters—which mourn by reflecting, eve n in the triple anaphora and triple zeugma—cal l attentio n t o thi s shif t fro m actio n to trope s tha t ex press feeling while conveying the impotence of that expression to alter the action. Her e as in the underworld, th e temporality of nature seems to supply an aesthetic endlessness, but in mourning th e priest, it coincides wit h a perpetual lament associate d with th e timelessness of poetic figure. Th e impotence o f Umbro—whos e name itself alludes to pastoral shadows— hints a t the impotence o f the poet, wh o present s himself a s powerless t o alter the poetic scheme that makes this death necessary. 58 The failur e of this artist figure reveals the cost to the poem o f its use of personification: Virgil here "impersonates" a poet who transfer s his voice onto the landscape but wh o i n that transfer lose s the power t o chang e or alter events, fo r landscap e cannot be a heroic agent. It is through thi s ac t of "impersonation " o r personificatio n tha t th e tex t make s apparen t a wider discursiv e contex t i n whic h th e tropin g o f th e poet' s stance—ac complished i n the instant when it becomes clear that an act of "presenting oneself" is at issue here—can be recognized. Through thi s poetic personification, th e poem ca n acknowledge the deep implication of its power i n the schemes it unfolds at several levels. This cost—tha t the poet thus pre sents himself a s lamenting but unable to change the story—also covers or hides his responsibility for these very deaths; he presents himself a s gaining poetic power b y submitting himsel f t o the poetic scheme, b y figuratively givin g u p his power t o change the story. The lament—along with the idylli c imager y an d pastora l trope s o f personificatio n an d apos trophe—thus serves, in a context that will never change, to express a wish that things migh t b e different. Th e calm waters and the woods tha t speak figure death itself: the reflecting waters are too calm; they present the end of human life and aspiration in a picture that can never be human, a picture

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of figuration . Th e lament s suspen d caus e and causatio n alon g wit h th e possibility o f change , s o that the calm, echoin g voice s o f wood or wate r can com e t o spea k als o o f th e compulsio n tha t suc h figurativ e scheme s bring to bear on the characters. Combine d wit h th e poet's tropin g o f his own power with th e apostrophe, th e idyllic calm serves to hide the com pulsion exercise d b y the text' s figures , makin g i t seem natural , or beau tiful, o r both . In order, then , t o disguis e the violence implici t i n the poem's politica l and poetic claims to the land, its dense figurative structure makes two as sertions that counterbalance each other: first , tha t the narrator laments the deaths of th e Italia n warriors, an d secondly , tha t these death s ar e nonetheless inevitable. Th e narrator' s complicit y i n th e sacrifice s require d o f the warriors—these deaths are only inevitable because Virgil, a t a different level, treat s the m a s such—i s itsel f hidde n b y thi s "voic e o f lament, " which displace s responsibilit y ont o a n idealized notio n o f destiny . Th e narrator thu s doubl y sidestep s hi s own responsibilit y fo r th e death s re quired by the scheme of values he has adopted for his poem when he transfers hi s lament s ont o th e landscape , whic h i s personified sufficientl y t o have a voice but not imagined a s an agent that could change the course of events. Th e reade r ca n see through thi s ideologica l veiling , however , i n large part because the multiple personifications of differing discursiv e positions le t the poe m implicitl y criticiz e the fictiona l positio n adopte d b y the narrator. Thi s kind of implicit critiqu e is clearer in the case of the nar rator than it is in the case of many of the tropes that do not take on "body" in this way . That this mechanism of exculpation relies entirely on the narrator's fictional renunciatio n o f responsibl e an d responsiv e agenc y become s clea r when th e object s o f th e narrator' s transferenc e are human , themselve s metamorphosed int o the landscape. Thus, i n these later books apostroph e becomes on e of th e narrator's principa l tropes fo r expressing hi s grief a t the story he must tell. Examples of apostrophe abound (see , for example, X, 324-30 ; X, 390-96 ; X, 507-9 ; X, 791-93 ) in battle scenes and in epic catalogues. In all these cases it becomes the trope of absence, invoking fo r the character s a presence i n th e poe m onl y t o announc e their deaths . A characteristic example of apostrophe as prolepsis of death occurs in Boo k XII: dextera ne e tua te, Graium fortissime Cretheu , eripuit Turno , nee di texere Cupencum Aenea venient e sui: dedit obvia ferr o pectora, nee misero clipei mor a profuit aeris .

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te quoque Laurente s viderunt, Aeole , camp i oppetere e t late terrain consterner e tergo : occidis, Argiva e que m non potuere phalange s sternere nee Priami regnoru m everso r Achilles ; hie tibi mortis eran t metae. (XII , 538-46 ) Bravest of Greeks , Cretheus, neithe r coul d you, b y your swor d arm , Be saved from Turnus . Nor whe n Aeneas came Did god s protec t thei r minister , Cupencus . Facing th e blade thrust at his breast, he could no t Fend i t with his brazen shield, poo r soldier . Then the Laurentine fields witnesse d you r death , Aeolus, your s too , sprawle d o n the earth, Whom once th e Argive columns an d Achilles, Bane o f Priam' s realm , coul t not bring down . Here was you r finish . ( F XII, 731-41)

The themati c and functional exchange s made possible by the apostrophe are complicate d becaus e the conten t an d state d intention o f th e trope — grief and a desire to make the characters present to the imagination—work against it s actua l effect—an aestheticizin g that distance s the lamen t an d marks not th e presence but th e future absenc e of the fighters. The trop e thus turns away from grief even as it ostensibly expresses it, a doubleness fundamental t o Virgil' s fictio n tha t th e grievin g narrato r ha s no contro l over his story. This turnin g away is equally at work i n the apostrophe to Cupavo an d Cunarus (X, 185-88) , which, whil e not overtly concerning the imminent death of the two warrior s evoked, still serves to express the poet's grief at the onset of war. Here, a s in the catalogue of Italian warriors in Book VII, the apostroph e slips into myt h tha t distances and aestheticizes stories of grief an d death: the narrator moves fro m apostrophe—"no n eg o te . . . transierim, Cunare " (X , 185-86 ; "No r woul d I pas s you over , Cuna rus")—to th e swan cres t of Cupavo , whic h allude s to hi s father's transformation into a swan through grie f for the death of his beloved Phaeton . The passag e shifts int o a n idyllic scene that gives one version of ho w na ture came to be responsive, with Phaeton's sisters as weeping poplars providing the appropriate idyllic backdrop for Cycnus's transformation from singer of grie f (X , 191 ) into swan . Thi s brie f myt h turn s attention from the war catalogue , and shows how the idyllic disguises grief just as metamorphosis provide s a cover for death. By addressin g th e character , the narrato r fictionally sets himself i n a position resemblin g tha t of the characters, for he presents himself a s im-

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potent in the face of crushing events of which h e claims to be simply th e narrator. Thes e assertion s o f th e narrator' s limitation s ar e belied, how ever, by the formal tie between apostroph e and prolepsis: in the momen t that the narrator presents himself a s compelled b y a story he regrets, th e figure in which this compulsion is told illustrates the poetic control of fat e through prolepsis . To apostrophize—as in the narrator's laments—is thus to make absent, precisely the causal link that his laments aim to deflect. In these moments, th e figures attempt to dramatize a divergence between the epic's poeti c power—expresse d i n th e movin g lament s an d elegie s tha t deeply mark the last books of the Aeneid—and it s political or ideologica l strategy. Apostrophe suggests, in other words, a fundamental congruence between the sacrifical basis of Virgil' s poetic power and the politics of the foundation an d conquest tha t the poem narrates. Virgil presents himself a s having the power t o give voice to the landscape only b y killing of f those characters whom he associates with it ; he eradicates their tie to the land and replaces it with a figurative tie that gives him the poetic voice of the land. Blending his own voice into the landscape also allows him to represent himself a s impotent i n the face of politics, t o shift himsel f fro m the political to the natural, and to veil his own responsibility for thei r violence in his story—and, b y extension, t o displac e responsibility fo r th e cultura l system h e is expounding an d praising . Th e many evocation s of an idyllic landscape that seems in harmony with hu man feelings thus work to hide the sacrifice required by the poetic scheme, to hide, that is, the compulsion exercise d by the poetic figures. The idyllic imagery an d the tropes by which thes e laments are expressed thus com e to have a double value: they express the poet's recognition o f the sufferin g his plot entails, but they also present those deaths as inevitable, like natural events over which human beings have no control. Thi s double function is implicitly acknowledge d i n th e impotenc e o f th e lament, whic h make s death beautiful whil e emphasizin g its inevitability. Lament , the common element in Virgil's use of apostrophe, personification, and prosopopoeia , thus functions neithe r to relieve grief no r to inspire action to remedy th e losses, but rathe r to reemphasize the necessity of los s and the impotenc e of the poet in the face o f the requirements of his story. Virgi l laments in these passages th e sacrificia l structur e of hi s poem, lament s tha t t o giv e Aeneas legitimac y h e wil l hav e t o kil l of f s o man y o f hi s Italian s (fo r Aeneas must win in battle and not simply by compromise); these laments reveal that hi s poetic power—aligne d wit h Aeneas' s political powe r an d revealed by the voice of the landscape—depends precisely on the sacrifice of Italy , a loss tha t h e mourns . Thi s complicate d acknowledgmen t an d

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displacement o f responsibilit y results from th e multipl e fictiona l stances that the poet and text adopt on the sources of poetic power. Th e counternarrative generate d by Virgil' s fictionalizin g of hi s narrator's position — the disruptive, unofficia l versio n of the epic made possible by our ability to see the text revealing its own ideological strategies—thus locates a very different sourc e for a poetic power i n this capacity for self-reflectio n and self-criticism. In the way it predicts the character's death while lamenting it, the apostrophe participates in the larger ideological strategy by which the narrator stresses his powerlessness to alter the story he is telling. He often similarl y expresses his ignorance of the meaning of events or the larger motivatio n of them , dramatizin g a limited huma n understandin g of ho w an d wh y things happen . Hi s claim s of ignoranc e help to remind u s that his is not an all-inclusive vision, but only one of the differing interpretive discourses that the text adopts. The poet does not lose omniscience o r fail to contro l the story, though he may withdraw from a full endorsement of the values that inform th e story and may express that withdrawal through th e trope of th e narrator's ignorance. The narrator's ignorance thus has as its ideological function to prove that the forces tha t control th e poem ar e larger than any individual, including the narrator—a specular legitimizing trop e in which the narrator employs o n himself th e same kind o f figuration as he employed on his characters, as if to act out the position of the characters on yet another plane of the story. To the extent , then , tha t expressions of uncertainty on the part of th e narrator have the same structure as his apostrophes to doome d o r absent characters, the y become , ironically , a trope designed t o demonstrat e th e inevitability of the story. Compulsion exercise d at the formal level of the poem, whic h appeared earlier in the poem as a representation of how th e characters can be compelled (and, indeed, erased) by figures of which they remain unaware, now is applied to the narrator himself, once again linking fictions o f compulsio n wit h figure s o f legitimizatio n t o whic h eve n th e narrator can appear to be sacrificed . The trop e of the narrator's ignorance thus recurs frequently in the last books, fro m th e use of "dicitur, " "it is said" (e.g. , IX , 591) , i n the nar ration o f several battle scenes, to comments o n chance ("Forte," X, 653) and expressions of outright ignoranc e ("casusne deusne," XII, 321 ; here the ignorance of who sho t the arrow that wounds Aenea s is attributed to the characters, but th e narrator implies that he too is ignorant b y leaving it undetermined whethe r i t was "chance" or a "god"). Virgil sometime s uses the figure to cast doubt on mythological aspects of the narrative, such

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as the boat-nymph episod e (see IX, 77-79) , but he also uses it more gen erally to refer t o his entire tale: Quis mihi nunc to t acerb a deus , qui s carmin e caede s diversas obitumqu e ducum, quo s aequor e tot o inque vicem nunc Turnu s agit , nun c Troiu s heros , expediat? tanto n placuit concurrer e motu , luppiter, aetern a genti s in pace futuras ? (XII, 500-504 )

What go d ca n help m e tell so dread a story? Who coul d describ e tha t carnag e in a song— The captain s drive n over the plain an d kille d By Turnus o r in turn by Troy's great hero ? Was it thy pleasure , Jupiter, tha t people s Afterward t o live in lasting peac e Should ren d eac h othe r in so black a storm ? (F XII, 680-86 )

This statement appears to echo earlier invocations and to heighten the poetic effects introduce d by the new invocations in Book IX (525-28) and in X (163) . A t firs t th e narrato r seem s concerne d wit h th e issue of poeti c power, bu t i n the secon d questio n a very differen t proble m i s posed: th e narrator casts doubt o n his earlier assertions that the entire story was ap proved o f by the gods and motivated by divine decision, an d retreats to a position o f doub t o r ignoranc e from whic h h e ca n invoke th e gods bu t never know whether th e actions described occur at random or are divinely directed. Such doubt s abou t th e narrator' s omniscienc e rais e question s abou t how the action should be interpreted and about the figurative explanations so far provided. Throughou t th e poem, especiall y through the determin ing trope of prolepsis, the narrator has asserted that the outcome of events was inevitable , tha t h e ha s no choic e ove r th e shap e of th e stor y bu t i s constrained b y historica l positio n an d obligatio n t o tel l th e stor y a s he does. I t is not th e poem, suc h prolepses argue, or poetic need that causes so many Italian s to b e killed off; rather, it is the predetermined shap e of history itself , figure d in th e poe m a s the wil l o f Jupiter. I f th e narrator takes th e human positio n o f doub t an d retreats from th e fictio n of om niscience, however , h e is in no better position tha n any of th e characters to interpret the events of the story. The trope of the narrator's ignorance can be two-edged, then , fo r it ca n be taken seriously (a s a part of th e ac tion), i n which cas e it raises the possibility that the epic, rathe r than rep resenting divin e teleology a t work i n human history, ma y instead tell an

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arbitrary story of human violence, delusio n and victory, a story it figures as inevitable an d unchangeable for political reasons. At thi s leve l o f irony, th e ideological scheme generates a striking fig urative and narrative pattern in which th e use of a given figur e itself can become predictive . Thu s t o lamen t i s to evok e circumstance s that wil l need to be lamented; t o use metaphor is to create a situation in which th e characters are compelled to become that to which they are compared, even if suc h a resemblance is inhuman o r unlivable; and to personif y the land is to take the voice literally from the person and transfer i t to the place or thing animate d by th e trope. But , a s the narrator withdraws fro m a po sition of responsibility and cedes causal control to his tropes, he also raises the question o f ho w t o interpret the action, which he now claim s not t o understand. Th e figure s o f th e poe m preten d t o offe r a n explanation o f causes, but i n fact the y can only provide a figure of cause—prolepsis, th e trope tha t describe s thi s predictiv e actio n o f th e fictionalize d narrative acts. This interpretive dilemma returns us to the problematics of a sacrificial narrative economy, fo r the allegory granted primacy of explanation—the story of Juno—also represents a location of blame. Given the multiplicity of explanatory paradigms posited in the poem's figures an d the system of metaphors whereby each explanation points to the next, the one given pre cedence is simply th e firs t amon g equals , a representative scapegoated to allow interpretiv e closur e an d coherenc e t o prevail . Th e choic e t o giv e Juno (and thus implicitly the domain of female eroticism and irrationality) this interpretive primac y locates the most substantia l threat to Aeneas in women and in sexuality, and thereby diverts attention from other equally powerful "causes" within the politics of the poem. Erotic and political disruption becom e figure s fo r eac h other, s o that the poem canno t identify an ultimate cause even at the figurative level. Juno, in whom the erotic and the political merge, serves , like prolepsis, as a figure for cause rather than a source of narrative explanation. Whether th e figurative schem e or the action should prov e determina tive i n ou r interpretatio n remain s a n open question , bu t wha t i s clear is that th e tw o canno t b e merge d no r th e distanc e between the m bridge d either by a figure (prolepsis) or by an allegory (the scapegoating of Juno). Virgil not surprisingly maintains a divided and ambiguous loyalty to each aspect of his poem: on the one hand, he presents to the reader the evidence that the figures become all-controlling, an d appears to affirm th e ideological defense of Aeneas's epic mission tha t they make possible; while on the other, h e keeps the characters from recognizing that they are manipulated

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in this way and thus impels the m towar d a heroism al l the more movin g in its dedication to the impossible task of making ethical choices within a limited morta l frame. Thu s th e traditional epic device for indicating how a her o ma y stan d abov e his peers—giving hi m a tie to th e supernatural that allow s hi m t o kno w hi s destiny—become s i n th e cas e o f Aenea s a glimpse of the limits and controls exercised throughout b y the poetic figuration itself. Aeneas's frequent imposing sens e of misery, stron g even in the last books, ma y derive , then , no t onl y fro m a painful experienc e of a "new" kind o f heroism , a s is often argued , bu t als o from his realization of what it means to have read one's destiny . CONQUEST AND THE DIVISIO N O F VALUE In the last books of the Aeneid, an d especially in the final scenes, the text's need t o reconcil e th e figurative scheme with th e poem's actio n become s more acute, for the ending of the poem puts a stop to the oscillation from figure t o action , an d call s fo r som e resolutio n o f th e questio n o f cause . Virgil ends the action, however, ver y much in the middle of things, at the moment tha t Turnus falls, Aeneas' s sword stil l in his breast, and his indignant spiri t passe s t o th e shades. This conclusion ha s proved notoriousl y difficult t o interpret. Through th e gods, the text finds the closure that the heroic actio n lacks, though th e divine compromis e i s placed well before the last scene and hardly answers all the question s that it raises. Like the trope of the narrator's ignorance, the lack of resolution between the divine compromise an d th e huma n stor y split s th e poe m deeply : Virgil's diffi culty in creatin g even an analogy between thes e two aspect s of hi s story produces in this conclusion wha t w e might cal l an aesthetic of civil war, in which the multiple divisions within the poem reenact the poem's central event and theme . The problem poses itself initially as the question of how to resolve con traries, and arises first at the gods' council in Book X. Here Jupiter, having finally notice d tha t things are not goin g a s they should (h e had outlawed war betwee n Italian s and Trojans, X, 8) , and having heard out Juno and Venus, conclude s that there is no way to settle their differences : Ausonios coniungi foedere Teucri s baud licitum, ne e vestra capit discordia finem . (X, 105-6 ) It is not a t all allowed that Ausonians and Teucrians should be allies, nor doe s your discord admit an end .

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Therefore, Jupiter concludes, he and all the gods will step aside and let the action unroll a s it may. The fate s wil l fin d a way, he assures his listeners. The divisio n betwee n Juno an d Venus figures severa l other equall y irreconcilable differences within the poem, so Jupiter's withdrawal raises the question o f closur e in an especially acute way. The failur e t o men d thei r differences point s to one kind of story line, in which th e poem alternates between th e temporary victory of on e and the temporary victory o f th e other. I f the two ar e truly evenly matched, this sort of story can have no end; it would establish , instead, an endless oscillation. A s I have argued, Virgil similarl y alternate s between representin g the figurativ e event s as temporally primary—therefore as causes of the action—and representing the poem's actio n as temporally primary, thoug h describe d or expressed in th e figures . Havin g tw o ending s wit h tw o meaning s migh t serv e t o express the division of value within th e poem, bu t i t poses problems fo r anyone concerne d t o fin d i n th e stor y a moral coherenc e o r (eve n mor e difficult) a political demonstratio n tha t certai n Roman value s gave Au gustan power a just claim to legitimacy. Jupiter, on e of the poem's artists in narrative, thus returns to the ques tion in Book XII , askin g his wife: "quae iam finis erit, coniunx ? quid denique restat?" (XII, 793; "what now will be the end, O wife? what remains for you at the last?"). The compromise at which they arrive neatly resolves the events at the divine level, even if deep contradictions remain, as is indicated by the need for someone as unlikely as the "dea dira" ("dire god dess") t o serve as the conveyor o f Jupiter's decision. The working ou t of this divin e solution , notoriousl y mess y an d violen t a t the huma n level , reveals a discordant clash of value s in the vision o f orde r tha t ostensibly animates the concluding page s of the poem . The politic s o f thei r compromis e ar e more obscur e tha n the y migh t first seem . Venu s and Jupiter accep t a compromise tha t certainl y woul d not hav e please d the Romans themselve s ha d such condition s eve r bee n imposed o n them . Juno' s reques t tha t th e nativ e "Latins" shoul d neve r change their language or their custom s and dress (XII, 823-28) amount s to a kind o f defea t fo r Aeneas , whose goa l has from the beginning bee n to transpor t hi s cultur e an d civilizatio n t o foreig n soil . O n th e huma n level, th e compromis e i s o n eve n mor e unsur e footing . Aenea s begins Book XI I assertin g that if he does win the battle he will not as k the Ital ians to becom e hi s subjects but wil l rather ask them t o join with him as equals: paribus s e legibus amba e invictae gentes aetern a i n foedera mittant . (XII, 190-91 )

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Let both nations, bot h unconquered, bot h Subject t o equal laws , commi t themselve s To an eternal union . (F XII, 257-59 )

These ar e the terms set up for the proposed comba t between Aenea s and Turnus, but onc e that ordered duel is disrupted—by chanc e or fate? —th e poet neve r agai n describes th e terms unde r which Aenea s plans to "take" Italy. In the last pages of the poem, Aenea s certainly appears more a s the conqueror an d les s as the equa l among equals , and , o f course , onc e th e duel between th e two leader s is abrogated, it is no longer possibl e to cal l one of the two people s "unconquered." By line 567 Aeneas is speaking as a conqueror : urbem hodie, causa m belli , regn a ips a Latini , ni frenum acciper e e t victi parer e fatentur , eruam e t aequa solo fumantia culmin a ponam . (XII, 567-69 ) Unless our enemies accept ou r yoke And promise to obey us, on this day I shall destro y thei r town , root of this war , Soul o f Latinus ' kingdom . I shall bring Their smoking rooftops leve l with the ground. (F XII, 771-75 )

After a speech like this one, it is difficult t o imagine in practical terms ho w the compromise worke d ou t by the gods might mak e sense. Some futur e and untol d inciden t woul d hav e to explain Aeneas's willingness t o com promise wit h hi s foes; certainl y the poem a s it ends does not provid e any insight int o how this agreement might com e about. The divine resolution thus only makes all the more evident the human incompleteness of the story: it is not surprising, therefore, that the closure ostensibly achieved in the figurative scheme is never even claimed to have occurred a t the level of action . Indeed, a disturbing sense of repetitio n is inscribed i n th e fina l lin e o f th e poem , whic h repeat s verbatim th e de scription of Camilla's death : vitaque cu m gemitu fugit indignat a su b umbras . (XI, 831 ; XII, 952) And wit h a groan fo r that indignit y His/Her spirit fled into the gloom below. (FXI, 1131-32 ; XII, 1297-98)

This exac t ech o represent s a disruptive repetitio n i n huma n affairs , an d suggests a cycle of resolutions , neve r in themselve s sufficien t t o en d th e

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story, rathe r tha n a satisfactory ending . Thi s supplementa l structure, i n which eac h death appears to resolv e the stor y but als o calls for a continuation of it to explain and perhaps to avenge it, also characterizes the case of Turnus , whos e deat h is marked a s a repetition o f Camilla' s death , a s though he r story needed retelling . As the analogy between Turnu s and Camilla implies, i n the last scenes Turnus becomes th e final sacrifice , th e character to whom all the ambiv alence of the ending ca n theoretically be assigned so that it can be purged from th e poem. 59 His death , wel l motivate d accordin g t o th e traditional mores of heroic warfare, reveal s that an economy of sacrifice will produce narratives that have difficulty comin g t o a clear ending. Fa r from providing purgation, th e violent act against the individual so completely exceeds any possibl e explanatio n o f tha t person's guil t (indee d mos t suc h expla nations o f th e "guilt " ar e suspect from th e beginning ) tha t th e sacrific e itself necessaril y generates a new story , designe d to explain the action or vindicate it in some way. I t is precisely this secondary or continuing nar rative that Virgil does not provide , leaving his poem cu t off at a dramatic moment without an y inscribed interpretative gesture toward incorporat ing Aeneas' s fina l deed . Th e supplementa l structur e o f thi s narrative , which I have argue d also characterizes the relationshi p of figur e an d ac tion—in whic h on e generate s the other, bu t alway s with somethin g lef t over, somethin g tha t does not fi t the mold sufficientl y an d so requires yet another story to explain it—undermines any closure, whether ideologica l or narrative, that might otherwis e be attached to such a story of sacrifice . A hidden sacrificia l strategy becomes apparent in the final scenes of th e poem not onl y in Aeneas's final wrathful gestur e but also in the descent of the dread goddess, th e dea dira who m Jupiter sends down t o keep Juturna from aiding her brother any further. This dread goddess remains unnamed but i s a Fury like Allecto—although actin g this time a s agent of Jupite r (who doe s not leav e Juno t o d o the work o f retirin g Juturna). Sh e is described a s having a place by th e throne o f Jupiter: dicuntur gemina e peste s cognomine Dirae, quas et Tartarean! Nox intempest a Megaera m uno eodemqu e tuli t partu, paribusqu e revinxi t serpentum spiri s ventosasque addidi t alas , hae lovis ad solium saevique in limine regi s apparent. (XII , 845-50 ) Stories ar e told o f twin fiends, calle d the Dirae , Whom, with Hell's Megaera, dee p Night bor e In one birth. She entwined their head s with coils Of snake s and gave them wings to race the wind.

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Before Jove's throne, a step fro m th e cruel king, These twins attend him . (F XII, 1147-52)

This dea dira function s as Jupiter's closur e machine—his dea e x machina— and as such both imports the eerie quality of a closure imposed in this mechanical way—by a raw demonstration of imperial power—and indicates the divide d natur e o f Jupiter's authority . Th e gestur e suggest s tha t thi s authority depends precisely on the forces tha t throughout th e poem have appeared t o be aligned against it.60 Moreover, thi s dire goddess seem s t o possess the only power tha t can stop Juturna from aiding her brother. Juturna is here a figure for the sustenance and support offered b y th e Italian landscape, t o whic h Turnus' s root s prov e importan t throughou t Boo k XII. Th e legitimizing he receives from this figure of the landscape can be reversed only by these figures of death and closure, who limi t such ties to family an d to the earth. 61 The effec t o f the dira o n Turnus and the extent to which h e is placed in the position o f sacrifice in the final scenes can be measured in the striking dream simile , imitate d fro m Iliad XXI I bu t servin g a very different pur pose her e wher e i t is applied only t o Turnu s and not equall y to th e tw o warriors. Th e oft-noted switc h t o the first-person plural thus has the unusual effect o f putting the reader's sympathies directly in line with Turnus, who is assimilated into the "we" o f the comparison: ac velut in somnis, oculo s ub i languida pressi t nocte quies, nequiqua m avido s extender e cursu s velle videmur et in mediis conatibus aegr i succidimus—non lingua valet , no n corpore nota e sufficiunt vire s nee vox aut verba sequuntur : sic Turno, quacumqu e via m virtute petivit , successum de a dir a negat. (XII , 908-14) Just a s in dreams whe n the night-swoon of slee p Weighs o n our eyes , i t seems w e try i n vai n To keep o n running, tr y with all our might , But i n the midst of effor t fain t an d fail ; Our tongu e is powerless, familia r strengt h Will not hol d up our body, not a sound Or wor d will come: just so with Turnus now : However bravely h e made shif t to figh t The immorta l fiend blocked and frustrated him . (FXII, 1232-40 )

The simil e bring s a momentary similarit y between "us " an d Turnus — who i s about t o b e killed—pointing t o a n underlying sacrificia l strategy

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that directs the action and, as it implicates "us," als o implicates the whole narrative. Turnus' s efforts t o fight agains t the slowly increasing daemoni c control mak e hi m see m heroi c i n a special way, i n spit e of whateve r h e may hav e don e t o deserv e the positio n h e find s himsel f in . Th e simile , then, lik e the simile of Did o as a top, create s a moment i n which th e fig ures in the poem become dominant, sappin g the strength of the characters and forcin g the m t o ac t in accordanc e with th e poem's figurativ e asser tions. Th e simil e does not tell about the experience of fighting per se, but rather i s concerned explicitl y wit h representin g th e effec t o f th e dea di m on Turnus. All Turnus knows o f this is his strange dreamlike state and the flapping owl . The last line of this comparison, "successu m de a dira negat," suggests further tha t this "dea" i s "dira" because she is a goddess of negation. He r action is to frighten away Juturna, to weaken Turnus, and finally t o den y him "successum"—bot h the fulfillment o f hi s immediate efforts , th e re sults he might hope for , an d more broadl y an y continuation a t all. 62 She negates, becaus e closure as this poem define s i t is an act of negatin g th e possible storie s tha t migh t unfold , o f cuttin g off , rather than of comin g to any conclusion. Closur e become s possibl e only in that moment whe n the figure s themselve s tak e ove r th e character s and impe l the m towar d death. Even o n th e divin e level, however, th e resolution reveal s a disturbing division i n Virgil's treatmen t o f Jupiter, whos e powe r i s used fictionally to guarante e Aeneas's legitimacy as ruler and husband, an d to extend thi s legitimacy t o Rom e itself . I n order t o giv e Jupiter th e power t o en d th e battle, Virgi l turn s to the dira, who embodie s (i f she can be said to have a body) the aspect of Jupiter's power that until this moment had been trans ferred ont o Juno (and thence onto Allecto). Virgil's relocation of the hor rific a t the thron e o f Jupiter an d his emphasis that this is the power tha t allows th e ending t o be fashioned thus ironically undermines th e poem' s attempt a t idealizin g Jupiter an d hint s a t a violence an d arbitrarines s in whatever ideologica l and narrative closure may be achieved. The dira als o represents another deflection of the darkness of Jupiter's power ont o a female figure, although the text resists the completion of this deflection (and thus makes it visible) by placing the dira b y the throne of Jupiter. The dea dira, wh o travel s fro m Jupiter throug h variou s transformation s (whirl wind, owl ) t o arriv e as the death-bringe r o n earth , brings als o the con cluding statemen t of divergence between the Aeneid's figure s an d its rep resented action. Even with th e dira ther e to aid Aeneas, the final scene implies that there can be no "resolution" or "explanation" of this inevitable difference.

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The tw o explanator y paradigm s fo r event s supplie d throughou t th e poem cannot, because of this irresolution, b e reconciled. N o fina l gesture materializes to decid e between th e action presented in itself an d the var ious figurativ e explanations o r interpretation s given o f it ; neither on e is given a clear privilege ove r th e other . Thu s th e ideological—an d meta phorical—work o f th e poe m i s not complete d i n th e fina l scene ; a fina l reconciliation is not wrought, thoug h Turnus is killed off to provide a plot ending tha t matche s to some exten t th e compromise reache d among th e gods. Thi s lack of ending suggest s more generall y (as is theoretically the case at the level of form ) that in a poem wit h a historical and ideological telos, narrative closure will be impossible to achieve, for the text can neither abando n its figurative scheme nor alte r the constraints under whic h the actio n mus t unroll . Thi s problematic is , in effect , circular : a plot o f legitimization would no t be convincing if the characters were not show n to be subject to the usual constraints of huma n action , but onc e the con straints have been invoked, th e gap between figurative claim s and action becomes inevitabl e and unresolvable. The lack of narrative closure gives form, then , t o politica l contradiction s tha t have, unti l th e ending , bee n recuperated in figurative gestures and explanations. The explanator y paradigms Virgil ha s used throughou t th e poem ar e allied to two kinds of time and two types of compulsion or necessity; these necessities are worked ou t in two aspect s of the epic narrative that in this poem contest each other t o the very end. Th e shift fro m the linear, teleological epic time scheme to the figure s i s a shift int o a timeless, repeatin g world where suc h epic actions no longer see m to have the consequences that the plot illustrates and where instead a different causa l explanation is provided. Th e poeti c and ideological tas k of creatin g coherence call s fo r an attempt to reconcile these two kinds of time, but the text can do so only by killing off its characters, thereby revealing the mortal consequences of such fated coherence . Inscribed in each of thes e different tim e schemes is a kind o f compul sion or necessity, toward which each part of the poem tends as a limit. Th e first is the "necessity" of human mortality, which constitutes the defining condition of the heroic action. It bestows absolute closure upon the action in a literal way. A second kind of necessity, shown t o be as rigorous as the first, thoug h in a different way , arise s from th e compulsio n o f figures , a compulsion al l the more powerful for the fact tha t the characters are rep resented as remaining in ignorance of it. While the mortal necessity marks out a linear time scheme, the figural necessity charts a temporal circularity, and depend s o n a structure of repetitio n i n whic h th e figurativ e claims, representing in themselve s a contradiction tha t can only b e explained b y

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an extended narrative , constantl y start that narrative over again , makin g the plot repea t itself. The figure s themselve s compe l a certain action tha t repeats them in a temporal dimension, wit h the result that the shape of the action i s fated an d obligator y whil e it s ending i s impossible t o imagine , uncertain at the best. Throughout th e epic, the poetry achieves only tem porary reconciliations betwee n thes e two quit e distinct paradigms. In general, the epic as genre gives a privileged place to the first of these necessities, th e necessity of death , findin g in it the principal explanation for why th e characters act as they do and for what might give these actions meaning. I n consequence , epi c poetr y tend s t o mak e ideologica l claims but to sacrifice the kind of ideological closure that could give those claims a satisfyin g coherenc e o r demonstration . Th e generi c choice t o privileg e the necessit y o f deat h over th e compulsio n exercise d by the figure s thu s distinguishes epi c poetry genericall y from allegor y on th e on e hand an d from explici t propaganda on the other. Th e division of action and figure , and the assigning of a privileged place to mortality, are clearest in the Iliad and much more problematic for the Aeneid, where a more equal and therefore more disruptive position is given to each of these opposed structures of necessity . The poe m ends , then , i n two ways , whic h coul d b e embodied i n the characters o f Turnu s and Aeneas: Aeneas becomes th e deat h dealer , rec ognizing th e powe r o f th e traditiona l desir e fo r revenge , whic h place s mortality i n the forefront o f attention and in which th e grief o f the individual takes first position . Thi s role may, even within a traditional interpretation, und o Aeneas' s man y effort s t o fulfil l hi s historica l mission. 63 This primacy of the heroic death scene manifests Virgil's allegiance to epic conventions, an d give s th e fina l scen e an ambivalent powe r tha t readers continue t o respond t o and to try t o explain. Turnus , on the other hand , comes to see that he is compelled by forces beyond himself, and recognizes that his doom is not conditioned simpl y by the necessity of death that faces him existentiall y as a warrior wh o ha s lost the fight, bu t rathe r by something else , somethin g tha t appears to hi m a s a mysterious contro l o f hi s limbs, an d a s a horrifying bird . Th e emotiona l powe r o f Turnus' s las t speech derive s precisel y from hi s choosing nonetheles s to return to a heroic vocabular y an d t o a heroic stance—o f ignoranc e o f th e fina l cause , and the facing o f death . By cutting his poem off without a resolution to the political and poetic issues it raises, Virgil uses an epic convention we might call ex mediis rebus. He give s priorit y t o th e plo t o f death , whic h i s not recuperate d o r ex plained. Death , finally , distinguishe s between hi s two heroes , wh o oth erwise i n th e battle scenes seem mor e an d more similar . I t finally makes

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the grim distinction ("dur a discrimina," X, 393 ) between Aeneas and Turnus: only deat h makes the distinctions on which politica l value depends. This death— Turnus's death—thu s reveal s that th e divergenc e o f actio n and ideolog y ca n be reconciled onl y throug h a violence tha t the poem' s values eschew. The final scene and the problematics of closure that it dem onstrates thus show why it is impossible to make an ethical argument con vincing withi n a n ideological visio n o f histor y o r withi n a narrative of legitimization. Th e poem suggests that heroic devotion to a mission is inconceivable without a degree of compulsion that renders the ethical claims of the epic suspect, and that what we call "civilization" is so named in part to concea l a still-present barbarism. 64 If ideolog y i s the busines s o f hidin g contradiction s an d makin g tha t resolution appear natural and eternal, then by definition all ideology, lik e metaphorical structure, is volatile, unable to achieve a closure that it must always clai m to hav e already reached (a s Virgil throug h Jupiter an d th e double temporal structure of the poem attempt s to do). Narratives of legitimization, founde d o n an d sustaine d by a n ideological claim , will al ways b e unending. Closure—aestheti c an d ideological—can occu r onl y in a n emblem , suc h as the exemplar y emble m o f Furor Impius boun d i n chains that concluded Jupiter's catalogue of Roman history. But, once narrativized, such emblems, lik e the rhetorical and thematic figures w e have discussed, cannot be easily interpreted, just as furor, unboun d and without shape, leads Aeneas to act in a way that leaves the epic's political need and formal inclination fo r closure forever unsatisfied .

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ON SECON D PART S

The second part of this study treats the Renaissance epic, a genre that identifies itself a s "secondary"—corning after th e classica l literary tradition— and that imitates, criticizes , and transforms the formal models i t found in the classical past. To capture the changed perspective brought by such critical reinterpretations o f the classical hero, I reproduce here an image from Alciati's Emblemata tha t illustrate s one versio n o f thi s Renaissanc e technique of transformative imitation o r allusion (see Fig. 2). 1 In the emblem , the figur e of Agamemno n holdin g swor d an d shiel d stand s in th e fore ground, whil e Tro y burn s i n th e background . Agamemnon' s martia l wrath is used to allegorize the dangers of "Furor and Rage," and the prose gloss t o the emblem comments : Ducum cert e ac militum immanitas ac saevitia signis militaribus non raro arguitur. Quid enim significant in eiusmodi bellicis stemmatis vultures, gryphes, dracones , aquilae, leones, qua m rapacitatem, depraedationem, internecionem , terrorem , & alia longe multa, qu e perpetuo sanguinarios belli duces comitantur? Surely the savagery and cruelty of commanders an d soldiers often is made clear in their militar y standard s an d insignia. Fo r wha t indee d d o th e vultures , grifons , dragons, eagles , lion s o n thei r warlik e device s signif y bu t rapacity , a desire fo r plundering, massacre , terror, an d other similar things that always accompany th e bloodthirsty leader s of war?

No doub t thi s commentar y woul d no t hav e please d Agamemnon , fo r surely this is not the kind of memorial tha t Homer had promised him. Th e emblem's criticis m o f the leaders of war a s examples not o f herois m bu t of rage alludes not only to the unnamed Achilles, whose wrath constitute d the story o f the Iliad, bu t t o the furor boun d an d unbound tha t generate d the epi c narrative in th e Aeneid. A poet o f Renaissanc e epic like Spense r drew o n the emblematic a s well as on the epic tradition (includin g the by then-conventional allegorie s of the epics). Thus even before his own im itative transformations of their models had been begun, Spense r inherite d at least a doubled critica l position o n his epic precursors. 2 The tur n t o the Renaissance epic seems a propitious moment , then , t o comment o n a n aspect of all the poems afte r th e Iliad tha t are included i n

FIGURE 2 . Emble m of "Furor , & Rabies," from Alciati' s Emblemata (1551) , P 64. The Beineck e Rare Book an d Manuscript Library, Yale University, Early Books and Manuscripts.

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this book: they al l have a two-part structure , folding their second halves reflectively bac k upon thei r beginnings. Bot h Virgil and Milton speak in their invocation s t o th e sevent h book s o f thei r poem s abou t beginnin g anew—though with characteristicall y different purposes . For Virgil, thi s means starting an even greater project: maior rerum mihi nascitur ordo maius opus moveo. (VII , 44-45) A greater history opens before my eyes, A greater task awaits me. (F VII, 58-59 )

For Milton, the second beginning i s associated with a return to the mortal sphere, t o a more austere , renunciatory humility, an d a more specificall y Protestant notion of heroism : Half ye t remains unsung, but narrower boun d Within the visible Diurnal Sphere ; Standing on Earth, not Rap t above the Pole, More safe I Sing with morta l voice (VII, 21-24)

Milton here leaves behind hi s expansive, cosmic narration, with it s soaring, eve n hubristic vision, fo r the challenge of a new herois m tha t nonetheless fo r him als o may prove th e greater artistic project, "Not less but more Heroic" (IX, u). 3 With Spense r and Cervantes, th e secondness of the second hal f is his torically literalized. Six years separate the 159 0 and the 159 6 Faerie Queene, years that seem t o have ushered in a shift i n Spenser's political views an d degree o f optimism. Te n years separate the two part s of the Quixote, th e second o f whic h wa s in some measur e prompted b y the publication of a spurious Par t I I tha t ha d alread y pretended t o usur p it s rightful role o f rethinking an d speculatin g o n it s ow n figuration s over time . Fo r Cer vantes, too, Par t II seems to embody a different, mor e conservativ e ideological position—which the reader notes particularly in its very differen t treatment of literary closure and in the way that the "humoring" of Do n Quixote by other character s "conciliates difference." 4 The figuratio n of the first halve s as in some wa y more archaic, mythical, open-ended , o r "primary " belies thei r ow n sens e of secondariness , however, fo r in each of thes e works a process of meditatio n o n previous example (includin g prio r work s b y th e author s themselves ) an d con sciousness o f "comin g after " somethin g t o b e imitated define s th e wa y these texts offer themselve s to their readers. This historical consciousness

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is parodied i n Cervantes' s narrator' s pretense of havin g foun d an d translated a n ancien t manuscript , s o that by chapter s 8 and 9 of Do n Quixote Part I , wher e the firs t manuscrip t fictionall y breaks off, we alread y have the beginning o f a second part, and a bemused meditation b y the narrator about wh y th e characte r of Sanch o Panza seems t o hav e change d name s (to Sanch o Zancas ) an d bee n treate d differentl y i n thi s ne w manuscript . Sancho shoul d presumabl y b e "like" himself a s this secon d par t begins , but his inevitable distance from the previous Sancho, generated by his having bee n "written " in a first half , i s emphasized b y th e narrator' s ironi c reference t o a different Sanch o with big belly but lon g lean legs ("tenia, a lo que mostraba la pintura, la barriga grande . . . y las zancas largas," Pt. I, chap. 9). For Spenser, too, secondarines s already shapes the very beginning o f th e 159 0 Faerie Queene, when, i n th e secon d par t o f cant o i , th e story seem s t o begi n al l over again , as if the figh t agains t error ca n onl y proliferate int o mor e and more retellings, an d as if the narrator needs t o turn t o a new level of discourse to try to reconceptualize the rather literal battle of th e first hal f of the canto. Of course , i n each of thes e cases there are also poetic an d imaginativ e structures tha t wor k agains t this division , bu t wha t i s important her e is the way in which the epic tradition itself seems to be enfolded upon itself (to use Spenseria n terminology ) i n suc h a way a s to requir e distanc e o n poetic practice, awarenes s of the doubling effect s o f imitation (bot h imi tation o f prior example s and self-imitation, whic h generate s some o f th e more disturbing o f the poet's "impersonations") , an d critical consciousness of th e working of figur e in its broadest sens e (for even th e traditio n itself i s in thi s sens e a trope that the poet employs) . I n presenting Par t I I of m y study , I fin d m y ow n criticis m duplicatin g th e structur e o f th e works it describes. M y secon d part also looks back to the first, just a s the works I treat looked bac k a t th e ancien t model s o f th e genr e an d a t th e writer's own previous practice. Like other second parts, this one produces necessarily a doubled an d enfolded commentary , especiall y since its very terms—action and figure—become themselves allusive in the Renaissance epics I treat , eac h o f the m pointin g t o classica l and contemporar y dis courses, ofte n throug h a generic shorthand . Thu s not onl y d o th e char acters in Spenser' s poem operate under th e same terms o f "heroi c ignorance" a s did thos e i n th e Aeneid, bu t th e text' s ver y presentatio n o f it s "action" itself allude s to th e heroi c actio n o f th e classica l epic. Th e Re naissance works ' self-consciousnes s abou t thei r ow n proliferatin g allu sions add s a similar exfoliation to the work o f criticism , makin g i t as incapable of resolute closur e as are the texts to be treated here .

Chapter Four

THE EPISTEMOLOGIE S O F ERRANTRY I N THE FAERIE QUEENE

L

IKE VIRGIL' S Aeneid, Spenser' s Faerie Queene ca n be described as an epic poem in which th e poetic figures are given a causal and shaping power ove r th e heroic narrative . This shaping forc e can be associ ated wit h th e powe r o f allegory, bu t also , I will argue , wit h a political power th e poem adumbrates in the image of Elizabeth/Gloriana but never can directly name. Lik e Virgil, i n spite of the exfoliating multiplicities o f meaning invoked by the allegorical scheme, Spense r also presents his principal heroes an d heroines a s mortal, largel y unaided by and separate from the mythologica l an d figurativ e resolutions o f th e poem, an d restricte d from understandin g th e full meanin g o f the action in which the y partici pate. Chivalri c an d heroic idio m becom e metaphoric , an d this conditio n of separatenes s a figure for the human conditio n itself—w e ar e all "wanderers in the wide deepe," to use his terms (see I, ii, i)—but the characters read and experience these metaphors literally, and in doing s o provide th e formal groun d fo r th e poem' s definitio n o f heroism . Als o lik e Virgil , though wit h a different nation' s politic s at stake, Spense r adds to th e de fining heroi c limitatio n o f mortalit y a n explicitly politica l restraint : th e "fate" (see , for example, III , iii, 19 ) that directs the action offers a specific social and cultura l role t o th e character s (as saint of England , a s founder of a dynastic line, a s guarantor of the Queen's socia l or political order) a t

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the cost o f bindin g the m t o a larger necessity that they know or imagin e only in the disfigurative mediations in which power takes form in the rep resented action . Th e thre e relate d term s o f mortality , epistemologica l limit, an d political constraint constitute the boundaries within which th e heroic characters strive to act ethically and to achieve whatever fulfillmen t may be possible. 1 The premis e fro m whic h I begin—one of th e fundamental "rules" of The Faerie Queene —is tha t the character s do no t kno w the y ar e in a n allegory, an d cannot and do not "read" the signs of their world a s figurative pointers t o another aren a of understanding. 2 They d o not know, i n other words, th e one fact that they would need to know in order to act ethically in thei r fictiona l world. The y d o have a consistent understanding o f th e action according to the chivalric idiom, an d it is this understanding, I will argue, an d th e nee d t o ac t morall y withi n it s constraints , tha t Spense r names "heroism. " Thes e limitation s defin e th e conditio n o f thos e o f us "wandering in the wide deepe," without access to the moral, spiritual, and political certainties that provide the allegorical structure for the poem. Th e "heroic ignorance" o f the characters is absolute, unmitigated by visionary experience or other mediatin g tropes. The structure of Spenser's allegory thus ca n be said to radicaliz e the conventio n o f th e epic distance, an d t o intensify th e differenc e betwee n th e action and the meaning mad e out o f it by the narrator/allegorist for the readers. The poe m thu s call s for a double reading: distinguishing between ac tion an d figur e allow s Th e Faerie Queene bot h t o propos e a n allegorical meaning an d at the same time t o expose the dangers of allegor y b y jux taposing the claims of the moralist with the fictional narration. It thus appears to imbed withi n th e text a self-consciousness about its own proces s of makin g meaning s suc h that each episode carries on a debate, th e rep resentation o f actio n contestin g th e allegorica l claims while th e allegor y works to domesticate the more unruly implications of the action. The political advantage s of thi s readin g ar e significant, for thi s doubl e schem a allows us to talk about the ways in which th e poem may challenge at one level the ver y authorit y i t celebrate s on another . Th e poe m thu s a t once remains a poem o f "praise, " as Thomas Cai n ha s argued, an d yet i s able to cas t doub t i n various ways on the system of representation it invoke s in order to "speak" that praise.3 It is, in Louis Montrose's words , "b y call ing attention to its own processes of representation that Spenser's art calls into questio n th e status of the authority it represents" ("Elizabetha n Sub ject," p. 331) . The poem thereb y both submit s to and metaphorically ap propriates the authority it invokes—and in the latter case implicitly chal lenges it. Thi s partly occurs through a conflict o f genres : the epic fiction

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serves thematically as a central indicator of individual dignity and herois m in th e fac e o f overwhelmin g power , an d a s such provide s a primary lo cation for the poem's contestatory moves . An illuminating though slightl y later analogue, which I have used as an epigraph for this book , present s this mor e subversive potentiality i n th e represented action when understood as fiction. I n Hie Mulier; or, Th e ManWoman: Being a Medicine to cure the Coltish Disease of the Staggers in the Masculine-Feminines o f our Times (1620) , a misogynistic pamphle t attack ing upstar t women who dresse d in men's clothin g an d behaved a s men, the writer comment s tha t it is important fo r women to see the figurativ e meanings i n suc h text s a s Ariosto's Orlando Furioso an d no t t o tak e th e fiction literally: Look t o your reputations , whic h ar e undermined wit h you r ow n Follies , an d do not becom e th e idle Sister s of foolis h Do n Quixote , t o believ e ever y vai n Fable which yo u rea d o r t o thin k yo u ma y b e attired like Bradamant , wh o wa s ofte n taken fo r Ricardetto , he r brother ; tha t you ma y figh t lik e Marfiz a an d wi n hus bands with conquest ; o r rid e astride like Claridiana and make Giants fal l a t you r stirrups. Th e Moral s wil l giv e you bette r meanings , whic h i f you shu n an d take the gross imitations, th e first wil l depriv e you o f all good society ; the second, o f noble affections; and the third, of all beloved modesty. You shall lose all the charms of women's natural perfections. 4

Here the danger that female reader s may actually imitate literature—and do so by readin g the plot a s fiction an d not lookin g fo r the "Moral"—is viewed a s a disruptive and a subversive act. Ignorance an d knowledge thu s constitut e on e key opposition aroun d which th e discrimination of the epic fiction an d the allegory is articulated within the text. On one hand, "knowledge " becomes associate d with the hierarchical impulse of allegory, an d with the text's claim to provide a relation between the differing, otherwis e disjunct levels of meaning. O n th e other hand, the principal mortal characters' ignorance of the poem's larger figurative scheme s is as complete a s that of th e characters in the Iliad an d the Aeneid. Spenser represents them as having to follow their heroic quests and make moral, political , and spiritual choices in the absence of this cer tainty, an d thu s endow s the m wit h a dignity an d moral seriousnes s that the allegorist does not alway s grant them . As with Virgil, her e the "heroic ignorance" o f the protagonists para doxically allow s fo r a complication o f th e relatio n o f inne r an d oute r i n the poem, fo r in episode s wher e comba t take s the form o f a psychomachia, a protagonist cannot be permitted to recognize that he or she is fighting an aspect of himself o r herself. Thus two interpretations of any battle can alway s b e offered , on e readin g i t a s a psychomachia , an d on e not .

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Through th e devic e o f psychomachia , inne r struggl e ca n be ver y pow erfully represented , bu t onl y o n the condition tha t the representation no t be recognized o r acknowledged a s internal by the character at issue. Wit h this emphasis o n an inner life comes therefor e a lack of self-consciousnes s or fictional awareness of subjectivity on the part of the characters. Matters become more complex, moreover , whe n we reflect that with Spenser rep resentations rarel y figur e simpl y interna l o r simpl y externa l qualities , struggles, o r threats: Spenser continually uses psychomachian allegory t o suggest tha t these aspects of the inner life of characters are also larger, so cial forces with political significance and power i n that outer world . This second-order understanding of how one's inner life may be shaped by social forces nonetheless remain s similarly unavailable to the characters. If th e character s are not give n thi s privilege d information , i t woul d seem tha t th e reader s are—an d indee d wit h regar d t o thei r stories , th e readers do know more than they (we know, fo r instance, tha t their text is structured a s an allegory). Th e morta l characters ' ignorance nonetheles s represents th e position o f the readers with regard to the kinds o f nonfic tional spiritual , moral , an d political struggles adumbrated in the text, al though, a s I shall argue in this chapter's second section, the position o f the reader, like that of the narrator, is doubled an d complicated b y the struc ture o f allegory . B y contrastin g th e moral claim s posited i n the allegor y and our experienc e o f wanderin g i n the "wide deepe," the poem tell s its readers that the y mus t mak e moral choice s in the absence of th e kind o f certainty o r understandin g tha t suc h decision s seem t o require , an d tha t to struggl e t o d o s o is to be , a s Milton would later pu t it , "no t les s bu t more heroic."5 ALLEGORICAL HIERARCH Y While th e poe m textualize s it s meaning s b y directin g attentio n t o th e openness, instability , an d generativit y o f sign s a s signs, an d t o th e tro pological exchanges within and among signs, the allegory works in an opposed way , puttin g int o actio n wha t w e migh t cal l the narrator' s hege monic desire t o enforc e assent to dominan t traditiona l discourse s an d t o the political and social power the y affirm . I n discussing the structure and function o f Spenser's allegory, it is therefore of utmost importanc e t o dis tinguish th e multiplicitou s possibilitie s fo r figurativ e readin g tha t th e poem open s u p fro m th e allegorical readings asserted in the voice o f th e narrator, whos e comments s o often see m to reveal a limited understand ing o f th e implication s o f th e event s represente d o r t o impos e quit e in -

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appropriate moralizing. 6 The comment s o f thi s allegoris t com e t o stand for on e aspect of Th e Faerie Queene's figurativ e strategy, which wil l identify thi s kind o f meaning makin g with a hierarchical impulse both formal and political . I t is in this sense , then , tha t "allegory" can be discusse d as the "courtly figure" pa r excellence, fo r the hierarchizing tendency withi n interpretation i s identified with the centralizing and hierarchizing politics of Elizabeth' s court . Readers of Renaissance cosmological and physical allegories know that there i s nothing intrinsicall y hierarchica l about allegory: allegorists such as Natalis Comes will list a variety of figurative readings of a myth without necessaril y ranking the m i n an y way. 7 But Spense r presents his allegorical narrator as a hierarchizer, someone who will sort out the meanings for us , perhaps after hintin g a t a wider range of meanings that will not b e pursued i n hi s interpretation. Furthermore , eve n i n moment s whe n th e allegorical processes in which th e text is involved ar e not explicitly linked to the narrator, they are presented as constructing a mode tha t serves this hierarchizing function . Spense r thu s "impersonates, " t o us e Berger' s term, a n allegorical narrator and a range of allegorizing discourses in such a wa y a s t o interrogat e them. 8 I t shoul d b e clear , then , tha t th e nam e "Spenser" can no more be associated with th e ordering an d hierarchizing function o f th e allegorical figures alon e than it can be identified wit h th e voice o f a contestatory discours e invoked i n th e action. 9 The allegorica l narrator is thus only one of the text's several "impersonations." The com plexity of the poem's ow n allegorizing of its varying modes o f represen tation help s t o explai n th e subtlety , evasiveness , and inconsistency wit h which the epic's contestatory counternarrativ e is written i n this text. The epistemologica l argumen t articulate d b y th e poem' s allegorica l narrator is that it is possible t o know and to interpret rightly one' s expe rience in the world. For the allegorical narrator, this means explaining the action to his readers, hoping thereb y to "fashion" the m "i n vertuou s and gentle discipline"—an explanatory and pedagogic function that, as he says in the first stanza of the first Proem, take s as its basis the imposition o f a moral code by an allegory: "Fierce warres and faithfull loues shall moralize my song." Fro m th e beginnin g th e poe m subtl y qualifie s thi s project , however, s o that th e allegorist' s claim s to contro l ove r th e "moral " are never allowed to stand as absolutes in the text. While this first alexandrine thus appears to trumpet fort h th e narrator's assurance in the meanings he will find in the action, its doubtful grammar calls attention also to the difficulty of precisely such "moralizing." The amphibological10 line suggests a division between "my song " and the action represented, and implies that this "moralizing" gesture can work eithe r way: it alludes to a possible dif-

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ference betwee n th e narrator's "moralizing," his establishing o f a mora l significance fo r th e fictio n throug h th e allegorica l method , an d th e "moral" tha t migh t aris e from th e actio n itself . I n its firs t grammatica l sense, the line implies, perhap s in contrast to the narrator's purposes, tha t the important o r mos t difficul t mora l ma y well b e the one arisin g fro m the wars and loves of the story, and not fro m its allegorical interpretation at all. 11 Spense r has , i n othe r words , divide d th e Virgilian narrato r int o two personae , on e associated with th e claims of allegory, th e other wit h the fiction s of epic , thi s latter an embedded narrato r subject to th e con ditions o f hi s text , an d th e former , th e Roma n explicato r o f historica l meaning.12 The allegor y claim s to offe r th e reade r a more secur e position i n thi s hierarchy than the reader's engagement with the represented action woul d seem t o mak e possible , an d thus the reader too i s divided b y th e poem' s employment of a hierarchical principle. Th e image o f the "stedfast star " can suggest how th e poem's hierarchie s place the reader in this contradic tory doubl e position . I n a stanza-long figurative marking of the time, fo r instance, th e narrator tells us—but not th e characters—of the steadfast starre , That was in Ocean waues ye t neuer wet , But firm e is fixt, an d sendeth light fro m farr e To all, tha t in the wide deepe wandring arre . (I, ii, i )

Readers an d protagonists alik e may well be wanderers i n the wide deep , but th e forme r ar e given symboli c encouragemen t tha t is part of a com plicated allegorical scheme precisely not available "to all." This star is conventionally glosse d first as the Pole Star, and in this sense the passage conveys that our epic journey, figured consistently as a sea voyage in Spenser's mariner similes , i s undertaken with a guide. Th e Pol e Sta r is apparently steadfast, alway s present, while the evocation of it marks a specific passing moment i n the fiction (just before or at dawn, a s Redcrosse awakes from his disturbin g dreams) . A s wit h th e tempora l marker s i n classica l epic, here th e figurativ e explanation i s associated with a different temporalit y from tha t of the action, an d the image tries to function as a link betwee n the two temporalities . Thi s tempora l difference i s here veiled by a spatial trope ("sendet h ligh t fro m farre"), but nonetheless defines the figure, es pecially in that the reference contains an allusion to a permanent Christia n presence i n th e world . Chris t i s implicitly compare d her e t o a celestial body: h e "was i n Ocean waues"—the divine principle took human form , or was immersed i n the fluidity that characterizes sublunary life through-

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out the poem—yet was "neuer wet"—he remained divine, an d never be came changeable or unreliable as temporal beings can be. This still tradi tional reading provides a second leve l at which th e figure claim s that th e eternal can be said to have some guidin g presence in the world, visibl e at least t o th e inwar d eye . Thi s assertio n function s the n o n th e symboli c plane to giv e the readers a location tha t the characters cannot have. The difficult y wit h the procedure comes precisely in its need to remain figurative, however. Withi n the fiction, th e Pole Star egregiously does not serve as a secure guide through th e poem's man y storms—storms that in fact see m t o represent th e inevitable cloudines s o f mora l o r spiritua l life , as th e reade r recognize s it . Fo r th e imag e t o succee d a s a n allegorica l marker of certainty, it must connect its several allusive levels in an orderly way, an d simultaneously, a s part of the same movement, elid e the differ ence between thes e tw o temporalities . I t mus t asser t a clear hierarchy, a principle of meaning tha t governs both th e image itself and our interpre tation, an d tha t thematicall y justifies th e primac y o f Christia n figura tion—and, with it, a n eternal dimension imagine d a s coexisting wit h th e temporal lin e of the narrative—which is nonetheless precisel y what can not b e spoke n directly . Th e reade r i s left wit h a figure tha t give s only a metaphorical account of what should be the truth. This example indicates the double positio n o f th e reader in this poem whil e pointin g t o the necessity of som e principl e b y which th e figurative meanings ca n be organized: at one level, th e reade r is placed outside the constraints of th e fic tion, bu t a t another thos e constraint s are understood t o be more broadly applicable. Eve n mor e radically, th e example als o helps t o explai n wh y what I have referred to as an imbedded self-consciousnes s about the pro duction o f meanings in the text may itself b e only partial. The steadfas t sta r designates a tendency withi n allegorica l imagery, a tendency identifie d wit h th e allegorica l narrato r an d associate d wit h Christian revelation , wit h the timelessness of divine certainty and its impulse to closure , wit h the structure of typology, an d with Christian, es pecially Protestant , apocalypti c thought . Thi s aspec t o f allegorica l im agery depend s upo n a n organizin g hierarchy—wha t i s figure d stand s "above" in a hierarchical order or is temporally prior, an d given therefore a causa l or originary force . I n line with this tendency, the allegorical im ages present themselve s a s having a metaphorical power tha t can create a continuity betwee n th e tw o ver y differen t thing s bein g linke d throug h this mod e of "other " speaking. Thi s resemblanc e between allegor y and metaphor depend s on the kinds of claims organized and supported b y the allegorical hierarchy , whic h establishe s a relation o r "conveniencie " be tween th e things compared. 13 Thus Puttenham, i n Th e Arte of English Poe-

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sie (1589) , a s we have seen, describes "Metaphora or the Figure of Trans porte" as "a kinde of wrestin g o f a single word fro m his owne righ t sig nification, t o anothe r no t s o naturall , bu t ye t o f som e affmiti e o r conveniencie wit h it" (III , 18; p. 189) , an d calls "Allegoria" "a long an d perpetuall Metaphore" (p. 197) : "Allegoria i s when w e do speake in sense translative and wrested fro m the owne signification , nevertheless applied to another not altogether contrary, but having much conveniencie with it as before we sai d of the metaphore" (ibid.) . But allegory , eve n in Puttenham's theory , rarel y seems abl e to satisf y the need for hierarchical ordering, and indeed much of Puttenham's theo rizing abou t th e figure points rather to its lack of "conveniencie " and t o the othernes s o f th e mode: "th e Courtly figur e Allegoria" h e says in his introduction t o the figure, occur s "when we speake one thing an d thinke another, an d tha t ou r worde s an d our meaning s meet e not " (III , 18 ; p . 196). He does not explain how this "not meeting " coul d result in a coming together ("conveniencie") . O f thi s figure, he goes on to say , "which for his dupliciti e w e cal l the figur e of [false semblant o r dissimulation} w e wil l speake firs t a s o f th e chie f ringleade r an d captain e of al l othe r figures , either i n th e Poetical l o r oratori e science " (III , 18; p . 197) . Whe n a poet gives significant hints about how to translate his allegory, Puttenham dis qualifies it as "full Allegoric" "bicause he discovers withall what the cloud, storme, wave, and th e res t are, which i n a full allegori e should no t b e dis covered, bu t lef t a t large to th e readers iudgement an d coniecture " (III, 18; p. 198) . With the exception, then, of his brief statement about the met aphorical qualitie s of allegory , th e emphasi s of hi s study o f th e figur e is on its dissimulation, o n the distance between th e things it relates, and on the importance o f th e allegory' s not providin g a n internal key to ho w i t should b e read. Under "Allegoria " Puttenham groups together a number of thes e dissimulatin g figures , includin g th e us e of Enigma , Proverbs , Irony, Sarcasm , Hyperbole, an d Synecdoche, wit h a telling militar y im age: "all these, " he says, "be souldier s to the figure allegoria an d figh t un der the banne r o f dissimulation" (III , 18; p. 201). 14 Allegory, bot h in Puttenham's theory and in Th e Faerie Queene, potentially has a double function . On th e one hand, it is a mode tha t both con trols an d organize s heterogeneou s meanings , attemptin g t o posi t on e interpretation a s primary and as governor o f all the others. O n th e other, it introduces b y definitio n an otherness that can never be full y containe d in its efforts t o establish a hegemony o r hierarchy by which th e meanings can be ordered an d classed into ranks . Both dimension s o f allegor y have a figurative role—the figure that claims to posit a hierarchy, and the figur e that necessarily introduces a competing and (again necessarily) alternative

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meaning. It s introduction o f irreducible otherness or difference , an d th e competing meaning s thereb y generated , are rarely acknowledged b y th e allegorical narrator , however , i n th e moment s whe n h e i s engage d i n "moralizing" the text. Spenser interrogates this fundamental allegorical "otherness" with th e images of the mirror, th e veil, and the shadow: And thou, O faires t Princesse vnde r sky , In this fair e mirrhour maist behol d thy face. (Proem II , 4)

The which O pardon me thus t o enfol d In couert vele , and wrap in shadowes ligh t That feeble eyes you r glory may behold, Which els e coul d no t endur e thos e beames bright , But would be dazled wit h exceeding light . (Proem II , 5 )

Ne le t his fairest Cynthia refuse , In mirrours more than on e her selfe t o see . (Proem III , 5)

All thre e ar e spatial tropes tha t ca n be give n a temporal dimension : th e thing reflecte d i n the mirro r exist s prior t o its reflection—similarly wit h a shadow; and a veil is placed over something tha t must already have existed.15 To this degree , al l three o f thes e images represent a prior origi n from whic h allegorica l meaning ca n be said to derive , an d thus define as originary th e authorit y tha t guarantee s the allegorica l hierarchy. None theless, al l three are tropes of ontologica l differenc e an d not similarity : a mirror may reflect, but the image is at least inverted if not subtly distorted, while th e shadow an d the veil are even more distan t from th e original. 16 None of them , moreover , i s explicitly a trope of hierarchy : they simpl y state the difference rather than affirming a particular system for organizing that difference. Thu s while one prominent function of allegory is to assert through a n imagisti c hierarch y th e possibilit y o f knowledg e tha t tran scends the constraints of the text, a second function, in asserting that this knowledge i s "other" and not-present i n any dimension o f th e poem, i s to represent the lack of knowledge o f these prior principles and causes, a lack of knowledge that finally the poet and readers must share. 17 The mir rors, veils , an d shadows o f the poem ar e figures for the relation between these two functions , and suggest, especially in Spenser's paradoxical evocations, a n ultimate and unresolvable difference betwee n them . As wit h th e simil e in th e Iliad, then , s o with Spenseria n allegory on e can distinguish tw o differin g tendencie s of the figure, on e toward meta -

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phor an d a "conveniencie " tha t i s discernibl e o r a t leas t ca n provok e a "conjecture" (as Puttenham calls it), the other toward metonymy tha t em phasizes the contingency of the relation between the two things the figure ostensibly connects . Just a s the Iliad's ideologica l gesture s presented th e simile a s tending towar d th e metaphor , whil e th e actio n mad e th e dis junction i n th e figur e mor e apparent , so Th e Faerie Queene's ideologica l need t o proclai m meanin g an d affirm it s relation to an authorizing origi n interprets the figure as an extended metaphor, while the action dramatizes its disjunctio n an d lac k o f connection . T o say that ideolog y claim s tha t allegory i s based o n metapho r i s to sa y that political aims an d urgencie s dictate a reading of the poem that would submerg e whatever resistance to the allegorica l "moralizing " ma y be encountered i n th e action . I t is im portant t o rea d tha t narrative of resistanc e not onl y becaus e it figures i n the poe m a s Spenser's ow n self-interrogation , bu t als o because to d o s o shows ho w th e disjunctions in literary texts make space for a challenge to the narrative celebration o f power. Thi s challenge, articulate d in the dis course o f th e heroi c action , constitute s th e "hidde n transcript, " t o us e Scott's term , o f Th e Faerie Queene. Thus whe n on e speak s o f a doubl e figur e o f th e narrato r o r o f th e reader, on e is making th e point tha t Spenser elaborates a distinction tru e of hi s figures in general , an d grants each of these a certain autonomy an d a consistent set of symbolic functions denominated "readership " or "nar ration." Mirror, veil , and shadow are thus figures for the entire poem, bu t the two aspect s of difference o r otherness to which the y point—first, dis tance from sourc e or goal, that is, the unknowability o f the transcendent; and second, formally , their own internal doubleness—are embodied i n the action a s the endles s deferral o f closure , with its concomitant deferra l o f knowledge, a deferral congruent, a s we have seen, with the constraints of epic action. 18 Thi s distanc e fro m sourc e an d goal , th e deferra l o f th e knowledge tha t come s wit h closure , i s a situation with which the morta l protagonists ar e intimately familiar, an d thus can be read as and throug h the actio n o f th e poem . I n the reading s of Spense r proposed here , I will use "allegory" to name that aspect of the mode that turns toward closur e (moral, epistemological , an d political) and the assertion of meaning , an d I interpret it as a more explicit continuation of the figurative scheme of the classical epic. I will us e "epic" and "fiction" t o designate the represented action, which itself shares with the second aspect of the mode allegor y its stress on doubleness , uninterpretability , and human limitation. I will in terpret it as a self-conscious representation of the mortal action characteristic of the classical epic. Th e Faerie Queene consistently opposes the apoc alyptic an d hierarchica l structur e o f allegorica l imager y wit h a n anti -

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apocalyptic, metonymical narrative , that serves to remind th e reader that no reading s can , i n fact , b e closural. 19 Thi s anti-apocalypti c tendenc y works against the closural moves o f allegory . Like the classica l epics, then , Th e Faerie Queene opposes tw o differin g teleological and closural movements, an d contrasts them with two denials or deferrals of closure . A s in the Iliad, th e linear movement o f the action is toward th e telos thanatoio, the telos of death, but thi s absolute ending fo r the characters prevents any interpretive closure : the full meanin g o f thei r story ca n become know n onl y fro m a perspective beyond death . I n con trast, th e plo t o f interpretation tha t develop s th e allegorical argument is teleological in structure, but its closure depends on hiding or deferring the mortal conclusio n o f events o n the level of the action. Th e poe m set s its various hierarchica l principles i n parallel , establishing betwee n the m a n extended analog y tha t incorporate s the m al l into wha t purport s t o b e a unified allegorica l argument. Thes e varying principles include th e Neo platonic as well as the more overtly political and courtly envisioning o f an ordered cosmos and society, the temporal ordering of apocalyptic thought with its teleology, th e kind o f metaphorica l unit y tha t attempts t o guar antee a discoverable relation between thing s or ideas connected by the figure, and the kind of closure that characterized the figurative scheme of the classical epic . I n oppositio n t o thi s analogica l structure stand s th e anti apocalyptic resistance to closure in the epic or fictional narrative. The forma l unit y evoke d b y allegor y ha s bee n describe d b y Angu s Fletcher a s the allegorical "cosmos," the organizing an d founding imag e or idea that can make sense of all the parts of an allegory. Th e qualit y of disjunction tha t characterizes the action is evidenced mos t clearly , he ar gues, in the constant fragmentation and division of characters, ideas, and narrative itself into a n always increasing number o f parts, and in the dae monic aspect of allegorical character.20 Fletcher suggests that in an allegory the parts point towar d the whole, but in the poem's action such unity can not be adumbrated. Spenser' s allegorical narrator and the moments of allegorical figuration in the poem invoke thi s larger cosmic unity, an d thus the "allegory " in Th e Faerie Queene becomes specificall y associate d with such totalizing gestures—with gestures that move from part to whole and thus complete th e trope of synecdoche . The tendency of the allegorical narrator to invoke this "cosmic" unity as a source of authorit y clearl y has a political aspect. David L . Miller ha s proposed a historical account of the defining role of synecdoche, claimin g that th e poem, lik e the queen, ha s "two bodies, " one the idealized bod y politic, whic h he compares t o th e governin g cosmo s o r syste m o f hierarchy that organizes and gives authority to the allegorical parts, the other

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the body "natural, " private, separate, incomplete, i f always pointing to ward a connection t o the body public. 21 Perhaps because its "cosmos" cannot b e discerne d b y th e protagonist s an d its cosmic principl e canno t b e embodied i n th e fiction , the allegory would see m t o nee d a n organizin g principle—whether a synecdochal, part-for-whole tendenc y or a historical, ideological correlativ e in the representation of the monarchy—to ensure that its figurative meanings are readable. Although th e structure is a transcendent one, Spense r turns also to a more present source, that of Elizabeth and her court, fo r such a founding authority. Allegory is , as we have seen, preeminently the "courtly figure" i n the period, a s Puttenham makes especially clear in his descriptions of its value to courtier s and politicians: The us e of this figure is so large, and his vertue of so great efficacie as it is supposed no ma n ca n pleasantly utter an d perswade withou t it, but in effect i s sure never or very seldom e to thrive an d prosper i n the world, tha t cannot skilfull y put in vre , in somuch as not onely every common Courtier, but also the gravest Counsellour, yea and the most noble and wisest Princ e of them all are many time s enforce d t o use it , b y exampl e (sa y they ) o f th e Grea t Emperou r wh o ha d i t usuall y i n hi s mouth to say , Qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnare. (Ill , 18 ; pp. 196-97 )

For reason of its great value to rulers, then, Puttenham call s Allegory th e "chief ringleade r an d captain e of al l the othe r figures, " and , a s we hav e seen, use s the martia l image of Allegor y as the wartime leader of a band of soldiers . Puttenha m emphasize s that allegory is a figure necessar y for rule precisely becaus e it make s possibl e the dissimulatio n neede d t o ex ercise power , a description tha t helps t o sugges t the kin d o f ideologica l work tha t h e expecte d a n Allegory t o mak e possible . A s Daniel Javitch writes in his analysis of Puttenham' s emphasi s o n the behavior o f courtiers, "Th e appea l of allegor y to th e courtl y milie u la y in th e traditional justification fo r its obscurity: to concea l certain truths from th e base and profane multitude."22 Puttenham's two personifications of allegory as captain of a large troop o f figurativ e soldier s al l presumably fighting in th e service of thi s sam e ruler or "wises t Prince" (thoug h "unde r the banner of dissimulation, " fightin g his or her ideological battles) indicate the im plicitly violen t operatio n o f th e figur e a s it attempt s to discriminat e be tween desirabl e meanings an d thos e dangerou s or treacherou s one s tha t must b e eradicated or contained . The allegorica l figuration of Th e Faerie Queene thus may be said to aestheticize and naturalize the violence o f absolutis t power, apparentl y rec onciling politica l conflict s i n artisti c harmony; bu t thi s violenc e return s and contaminates Spenser' s poetics, providin g anothe r level at which th e

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poem interrogate s its allegorical assertions. I n a first step , th e poem's allegorical argument presents the Elizabethan social and political settlement as "natural" and therefore worthy o f celebration; in a second, relate d dis placement o f a disruptive opposition , th e poeti c figure s hid e th e fissur e between the "natural" political authority and the different mora l authority that th e poem als o invokes. O n thi s secon d level of mora l claims , a s on the political, Spenser' s figurative scheme functions as did Virgil's to mask the constitutive contradictions that define political and poetic power, an d to lin k thes e two naturalizin g moves t o eac h other i n orde r t o presen t a picture of moral and political harmony. This final harmonizing step, how ever, i s often les s successful : whethe r becaus e of th e nee d t o b e indirec t about certain of hi s political views (suppor t for Leicester and then Essex, and for the Protestant cause abroad, for example), because of the demands imposed by the relation of patronage, because of a need to obscure a male discomfort wit h femal e rule , becaus e of a hegemonic politica l ideolog y that made questioning the political system more difficul t fro m within, o r for all these reasons, Spenser's vision tends to more radical moral and spiritual solution s (thoug h thi s wor d suggest s that th e dilemma s pose d ar e "solved" or "resolved," never fully th e case in this poem) than to political resolutions.23 The analog y between th e "politics" of th e individual sou l and the politics of the nation and world is often disrupted , then , by a tension in the allegorical scheme between it s moral and political claims. Thus although the allegory is engaged in part in idealizing royal power and the social vision i t required, Spense r is not simpl y a propagandist for the monarchy.24 Evidence for this is not, of course, only formal, although, as w e wil l see , a consistent subversio n o f themati c judgments base d o n power or on vision is a constitutive element of Th e Faerie Queene's poetics. From Th e Shepheardes Calendar throug h hi s late poetry, Spense r actively participated in Protestant social criticism and questioning o f the Queen's policies (criticis m often enacte d in Th e Faerie Queene through th e vehicl e of praise for the Queen's wisdom),25 using the medium o f poetry to urge specific, politica l decisions, and invoking a Protestant poetics with a specifically apocalypti c tradition. Such a poetics woul d the n ten d t o brea k down an y absolut e distinctio n betwee n sacre d an d secula r understand ings,26 because those "sacred " understanding s ca n provid e a significan t challenge to the social arrangements the poem describes . There may, fo r this reason, be more of a tension than has been recognized between Spenser's "laureate enterprise"—his desire to affirm an d exemplify his society's highest ideals—and his more visionary and prophetic aims. 27 Louis Mon trose has argued, for instance, that Spenser's mode of contestation is "appropriative": he adopts or "appropriates" Elizabeth's rhetorical and polit-

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ical strategies as a source of his own poetic power in order to make claims for th e authorit y o f poetr y in its own right. 28 There is thus alway s a po tential conflict fo r Spenser between three kinds of authority on which his poem relies—spiritual authority, the authority o f the Queen and her po litical order, an d the authority of the poetic imagination, o f poetic fiction itself, whic h allow s hi m t o speak of pathways and "footing" tha t "non e can find, bu t wh o wa s taught them by the Muse" in Proem VI, 2). 29 The figurative scheme of the poem resolves or at least suspends this tension in order t o empowe r an d authoriz e the poeti c projec t o f interpreting , ex plaining, and "moralizing," but, in the unending interpretive possibilities generated b y thes e ostensibl y hierarchizin g figures, indirectl y acknowl edges their differing poeti c consequences. In it s complicate d gesturin g towar d Elizabet h an d towar d a political power imagined a s "outside" the poetic fiction, th e text thus invokes, en gages, and criticizes the analogy between poetic form and social structure. Reading Th e Faerie Queene i s a process that invokes an d interrogate s th e troubled relatio n between its formal and its political claims, a relation that cannot b e resolved into a manageable analogy: the text's resistanc e to establishing eithe r a s the single , privilege d interpretive scheme generate s a multivalence an d a disjunction i n it s assertion s that themselve s becom e primary mode s o f "representing" the effects o f Elizabethan politics. Th e text poses and embodies th e instability of this analogy partly in terms o f forces an d powers, an d thus does not expres s its relation to "history " or to "politics " onl y i n representationa l terms . Rather , th e stor y o f thes e "forces" is traced in the poem by the action of tropes and figures that transform, transport , o r disguise one meaning an d assert another, leavin g th e marks o f powe r in the fiction without necessaril y giving i t a represented presence. Spenser use s th e divisio n betwee n actio n an d figur e t o articulat e th e central tensions in the poem's allegorical scheme, tensions that the allegory struggles t o resolve . Eve n i n case s where th e contradictio n arise s first a t the level of figure—for instance , a conflict between a political and a moral reading o f a give n episode—th e reader s discove r tha t contradictio n through th e actions of the characters, who ar e unable to resolve or finall y to "read" their own experience . A s we have seen in the shift fro m figure to allegory , "action " here becomes a n allusive term i n its own right : th e action—which the characters recognize and in which they participate—is associated wit h th e genre s o f epi c and romance , sinc e the condition s o f action for the protagonists (mortality, heroic limitation) are epic and even often strictly classical (according to the poetic fiction that Christianity can not b e directly mentioned , an d can enter the poem onl y a s trope), whil e

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the chivalric idiom define s the kinds of deeds possible. By this scheme the poet must "translate" any event, whethe r interna l or external, into something tha t ca n be represente d a s knightly combat . Bu t sinc e the leadin g characters can be said to "know" about the existence of both classica l epic and romance heroes (Britomar t most notably sees herself as imitating and continuing th e Trojan story), ther e is little figurative tension between th e "action" as the characters understand it and the "action" as trope for epic or fo r th e fictio n of romance—th e action seen , i n othe r words , a s a dis course in its own right . I t is useful t o remember, however , tha t insofar as the character s "know" o f epi c an d romanc e heroes , th e fictio n require s that they treat them a s actual people rather than literary characters, people as "real" to them a s they are to themselves . The tensions between literary , spiritual, and political authority are thus intensified by the disjunction between the poem's allegorical "moralizing" and its represented action. In "impersonating" a narrator whose assertions of value are identified with th e text's desire to harmonize these competin g values, Spense r allows a specific characterizatio n of th e "allegory" of hi s poem. Allowin g thi s kind of characterization is consonant with the muchnoted Spenseria n tendenc y t o personif y aspect s of hi s ow n representa tional modes in fictional characters—such as Busyrane or Archimago.30 As I suggested above in the Introduction, thi s is not to say that "Spenser" or "the text " is in full control of all of the ideological displacements, suppres sions, o r denials that may be at work here , or that the critical counternarrative that I have identified as a feature of the epic is located within th e text in th e sens e of bein g full y a part of it s own self-consciou s critiqu e of it s processes o f generatin g meaning. 31 Indeed th e poem' s demonstratio n o f the extent o f figurative power clearl y also applies to "Spenser " and "th e text" more widel y in suggesting the power o f a culture's discursive strat egies t o shap e every aspec t of ho w w e conceptualiz e experience. Ye t the capacity t o identif y thi s ideologica l an d metaphori c wor k canno t b e lo cated entirel y outsid e th e tex t either . Th e interpla y o f th e text' s self conscious self-interrogatio n on the one hand and its unacknowledged an d partially submerged discursiv e self-positioning o n the other allow s u s to recognize a critique inscribed withi n it s discursive mediations an d juxtapositions, an d to trace, to some extent, the analogies between that critique and the kinds of criticisms generated by our own ideological position. A n important determinant of the analogy that the critic thus constructs is precisely the text's characterization of the workings o f "allegory," since this is the mod e i t identifies with th e court an d wit h it s political necessity t o harmonize any more disruptiv e picture of literary power wit h its celebrations o f Elizabeth .

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In this particula r characterization, allegory is deeply implicated i n po litical schemes not onl y by Th e Arte of English Poesie but als o by Th e Faerie Queene, and not simpl y because it is thematically concerned wit h system s of government , bu t becaus e it proposes to provid e a government fo r th e country o f meanings. Allegory—t o elaborate the personification—promises to sor t ou t al l the competing meaning s an d to provide a hierarchy by which on e ca n distinguish whic h i s the mos t important , an d whic h th e least. It s system o f governmen t i s a monarchy rathe r than, fo r instance, a commonwealth, becaus e it guarantee s and tend s t o naturaliz e this hier archy and because it assigns the specific power o f legislating it to one ruler, the narrator (wh o claim s to stand for other authoritie s as a part stands for a whole) . Th e narrato r i s given a kind o f divin e righ t t o explai n whic h meanings shoul d b e give n plac e of hono r an d which shoul d b e marginalized, suppressed , or even repressed. But, sinc e allegory works b y evoking a system o f opposition , it s monarchy i s always threatened b y rebel lious underlings , wh o cal l attention t o themselves , suggestin g a differen t sense for a given episode . I argue that allegory finall y canno t sor t ou t th e competing meaning s withou t resortin g t o arbitrar y violence o r t o kind s of imprisonmen t o f meanin g tha t resemble in an uncomfortable way th e activities o f Spenser' s mos t disreputabl e allegorica l figures—tyrants , giants, an d other consumin g daemons . No t onl y d o these figures enac t a psychological allegor y (i n the tradition of Prudentius's Psychomachia), bu t in their powe r an d force—the absolutenes s of their control ove r the char acters involved—they also represent an aspect of allegory itself. Especially in cases in which th e historical and the moral allegory might b e shown t o be potentially in conflict , thi s rebellion become s s o severe that allegory is driven t o revea l its closeness t o tyranny , o r it s dependence o n absolutis t power. Th e civilizing process and the process of moral education in whic h the allegory specificall y seek s to participate can thus be shown to involv e a violence tha t the text cannot avoid treating as destructive on the fictional plain, muc h a s it may be recuperated by the figurative move s use d t o es tablish th e allegorical hierarchy. THE EPISTEMOLOGIE S OF ERRANTR Y The epistemologica l dilemma s tha t inform Spenser' s poetry ar e the focu s of the poem's discussio n of the duplicity of appearances, its critique of the faculty o f sight , an d it s projectio n o f certaint y beyon d th e fictiona l arena—but these dilemmas have generally not been considered a s a central and inevitable result of allegorical representation itself, an d thus have been

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understood t o be resolved by a poetics of faith and vision. Sinc e Spenser's narrative tells (a t least) tw o stone s at once, an d cannot reconcile or unit e them, i t constitutes an exemplary case of the technique I have called "narrative doubling, " a strateg y tha t narrativize s th e unacknowledge d dis junction betwee n actio n and figure, an d thus forms an epistemological di vide that inescapably conditions actio n and understanding as they are figured i n thi s text . Th e namin g o f thes e double s a s allegory , moreover , makes explici t thei r relianc e on th e trop e o f catachresis— a relianc e that provides a conditio n o f narrative . Th e Faerie Queene's epistemologica l scheme, then , ca n be said to consis t in the various textual attempts either to obscur e o r t o collaps e the differenc e betwee n it s tw o narratives , be tween th e positio n o f knowledg e associate d with th e allegorica l double and th e position o f ignoranc e i n which th e character s are always locked. An apparentl y straightforwar d example—Redcross e Knight' s dealing s with the hermit Archimago—can indicate the range of difference betwee n these doubles, an d the effect o f this indirect method o f linkin g them. One ca n begin b y noticing exactl y what Redcross e knows or "learns " in this encounter an d what h e does not: he does not discove r that there is anything suspec t abou t th e hermit, who m h e trusts from th e beginnin g to th e en d o f th e episode , no r doe s h e discover tha t th e fals e Una , wh o tries to make love to him and whom he then discovers in bed with a young squire joying "in vain e delight" (I, ii, 3), is not Un a a t all but he r image . Archimago succeed s in dividing Redcross e Knight and Una "int o doubl e parts" (I , ii, 9), but thi s self division—division both o f the self and of th e self fro m it s ow n ideal , it s best understanding, figure , o r representatio n of itself—i s no t somethin g tha t Redcross e recognize s o r discovers . I n some important way , h e is "not himself " afte r thi s episode until he is reunited wit h Una . Fo r him, th e episode is one of betraya l and despair , in which he canno t se e his own participation . Although hi s "ey e o f reaso n was with rage yblent" (I , ii, 5) , it is the Dwarf wh o bring s hi m hi s steed "so bot h away do fly" (I, ii, 6), a detail suggesting that this interpretation is a "reasonable" representation o f Redcross e Knight's understandin g o f what has occurred. Even mor e important, perhaps , Redcross e does no t kno w o f th e fig ured relationship between his own desires and those sights that Archimago places before him. The episode represents the way in which desire can generate images, figure d i n a n external event enacted as an epic catabasis, in which th e underworld become s th e sleeper's own min d universalized . In this sense, Archimag o is indeed a double of th e knight, representin g that image-making powe r in the mind that can cause one to misread the world; this identity is confirmed in the moment when Archimago disguise s him -

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self as Redcrosse and causes even Una to mistake him for her knight: "Be fore he r stand s her knight , fo r whom sh e toyld s o sore" (I , iii, 30) . Th e poet ha s already told us , in an alexandrine much commente d o n for pro viding the reader with the name of the book's hero just at the moment tha t his "false" doubl e ha s been constituted, tha t we, a s readers, would mak e the same mistake: "Saint George himself ye would haue deemed him to be " (I, ii , n). This fictional doublin g emphasize s the extent to which th e episode gives form t o Redcrosse's internal experience rather than represent ing onl y manipulatio n b y an external evil (though these two possibilitie s are not opposed). This interpretation is further confirme d in the poet's explanation that , onc e Archimag o ha d don e hi s damage, th e "true " Sain t George "wa s wandre d fa r away, / Still flying from his thoughts an d gealous feare " (I , ii, 12) . Archimago serves , then, a s a figure fo r an aspect of th e internal life o f the book's hero, bu t he also incarnates a force apart , not existin g only in ternally bu t representin g a kind o f constrain t o r powe r ove r th e mind , even ove r th e imaginatio n an d th e fantasy . Tha t forc e i s associated wit h aesthetic power, an d especially the power of books, but can be generalized to includ e th e wide r cultura l shaping o f th e imaginatio n and desire s for which books ar e a figure throughout th e poem. Th e Faerie Queene is thus able to creat e a complicated picture of the forces tha t shape desire, an d of the ways in which th e imagination, le d by desire, can direct an individual into continua l error ; bu t th e subjec t o f thi s representatio n is prevente d from seein g it . Hi s actions can be judged o n the basis of the knightly fic tion—his horror o f what he perceives as Una's wrongdoin g lead s him t o abandon her, hardl y the action of a good knight—bu t not o n the basis of the allegorical understanding that directs the readers' responses. This dou bled stor y thu s allows the poet to represent what ma y be the central "les son" o f the episode, that is, not only that the misdirections of imagination and desire cannot b e recognized, bu t furthe r tha t the power o f culture to direct such apparently private experiences as desires and fantasies does no t enter into conscious moral deliberations. It is clear, however, tha t this lesson too i s for th e readers rather than the hero, wh o i s left t o struggl e o n his own, entangle d in his own mistakes. Archimago, then , represent s internal and external forces tha t have no specific name or "body" proper to themselves: as psychological allegory, he stand s fo r somethin g absen t tha t ha s n o bein g comparabl e t o Red crosse's own ; a s figure fo r cultura l and ideologica l power , h e represent s something tha t canno t be embodied. Th e fictio n thu s presents its readers with a narrative double—two separat e plots wit h differen t implication s

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that the poem claim s can be set in analogy to one another—but the privilege given t o the asserted allegorical meaning o f the story indicates that, in an allegorical poem, suc h narrative doubles have the structure of a catachresis, th e trop e tha t replace s a missing o r nonexisten t "proper " ter m with on e (i n Spenser, ofte n a character name) transferre d from figur e t o action.32 The character s see and respond to a fictional character , whose al legorical name bears no relation to what they can perceive; given its "un natural" o r "improper" relation to the missing fictiona l name , thi s trans ferred ter m indicate s that the characters cannot com e t o recogniz e whatever o r whomeve r i t i s tha t the y hav e met . Th e allegorica l "version " provides a conceptual understanding, whil e th e fictional "version " give s name to an absence and body to something tha t cannot be present, thoug h the character s are prevented fro m recognizin g it s insubstantiality by th e consistency with whic h th e separatio n of th e narrative doubles i s maintained. The doubled plot thus allows its characters to operate within a coherent fictional universe, based on the rules of chivalric romance; but con ceptually, wha t ha s reality in the fiction doe s not exis t as an embodied o r externalizable event. The contingency of the relation between the concept and it s embodiment (i t is assigned by th e narrato r and announce d t o us , but i s by definitio n not immanent ) extend s outward t o the reader so that a simila r mismatc h ma y b e assume d betwee n th e representation s i n th e text and what it adumbrates—"that Sabaoths sight," but perhaps also the history tha t constitutes the "outside" of the text. As was th e case for Virgil, catachresi s conveys a serious moral predic ament fo r the characters: it presents a narrative situation in which appear ances ca n onl y b e illusory , servin g a s markers o f a figurative control o f which th e character s can never hav e any knowledge . I f what appear s to them a s the actual events, actors, and constraints of their world in fact are figures directed by a different signifyin g system than the one they can perceive, thei r moral choices are significantly limited, and , perhaps most im portant for a Protestant poetics, the y cannot come to recognize or understand thei r ow n inne r struggle . Lik e Virgil, then , Spense r is able to offe r a psychologica l analysi s that represents th e complexit y o f inne r life , bu t at the cost o f a narrative that cannot represent it fictionally, an d that thus denies characters precisely the knowledge that they would need to act ethically within th e constraints of their world. Spenser' s narrative, however , takes thi s devic e on e ste p furthe r tha n Virgil's , fo r th e Aeneid ofte n sus pends o r veil s th e difference s betwee n th e double d versions , leavin g a n interpretive spac e within whic h th e characters can act. Spenser' s allegorical narrative , i n contrast , alway s collapse s thos e double s conceptually ,

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creating a catachretic analogy in which on e term is missing from the point of view o f the fiction, but is also essential, in the poem's terms , fo r mora l victory.33 The Faerie Queene's doublin g strategie s are well know n an d have bee n rightly treate d as one of the defining features of Spenser's poetics, but the y have not been connected to the structure of collapsed analogy fundamental to the poem's allegorica l technique.34 Although th e allegory assert s a con stant analogy between it s interpretive and narrative action, when analogy itself become s a focus o f narrative interest, i t is treated as a more disturb ing structure. The text figures th e interpretive problem i t poses in a com plex meditation o n the question o f what constitutes "likeness" and differ ence, embodie d i n a series of matchin g character s who represen t th e al ternatives fictionally : Una an d Archimago' s fals e Una , wh o i s said to b e "most lik e tha t virgi n true " (I , i, 49) , fo r th e tw o appea r "so lik e i n all mens sight " that "Th e make r self e fo r al l his wondrous witt , / Was nigh beguiled" (I, i, 45); Fraelissa and Duessa, whom Fradubio compared t o his beloved a s "a like faire Lady" (I , ii, 35) ; and the true Florimell and Snow y Florimell, fo r whom Spenser uses the same trope, assertin g that all "wh o so then he r saw, would surel y say, / It was her selfe, who m it did imitate" (III, viii, 9) . These doubles are described consistently in the terms of analogy o r simile—"mos t like, " "s o like, " "lik e faire"—ye t the y exis t pre cisely t o demonstrat e th e danger s o f mistakin g suc h "likeness " for gen uine identity . Fictionally , the y ar e treate d a s bearing n o relatio n t o th e character they imitate , bu t th e disruptive possibility that they may in fac t be versions of each other (as the language of likeness suggests) hovers ove r the narrative , becomin g almos t a fictional event i n th e stor y o f th e tw o Florimells (se e V, hi, 24) . Counte r t o th e unity tha t allegor y mus t asser t between th e doubled version s of its plot, then, her e such unity would dis turb the principles of distinction on which the moral order depends. Thes e fictionalized double s thu s present an analysis of the effects an d dangers of a narrative form base d on a n extended analogy : the danger, the y sugges t in contrast t o th e assertions of the allegory, is not tha t the two migh t fal l short of unity but rather that they might approac h it too nearly, for a met aphorical assertio n of unity betwee n th e two part s of the analogy woul d mean that all experience i s always something othe r (somethin g tha t migh t indeed b e opposite i n mora l value) , an alternative in which th e doubled , figurative "other " coul d compe l th e character s and dominate th e actio n without its character being recognized . In both the scene in which Archimag o "fashions " th e false Un a an d in the story o f Fradubio, then , th e text makes it clear that at issue is precisely the power an d danger of analogy itself. Archimago is represented as a ver-

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bal artist , shapin g a characte r tha t woul d imitat e th e origina l largel y through th e powe r o f word s (I , i, 36-37) , whil e Fradubi o is lost t o hi s doubt the moment h e first constructs an analogy between the two women : So doubly lou'd of Ladie s vnlik e faire , Th'one seeming such, th e other such indeede , One da y in doubt I cast for to compare, Whether in beauties glori e did exceede ; A Rosy girlond was the victors meede : Both seemde to win, an d both seemde won t o bee , So hard th e discord was to be agreede . Fraelissa wa s a s faire, as faire mote bee , And eue r fals e Duessa seemd e as faire as she. (I, ii , 37 )

For his interpretive schem e t o work , th e narrator needs to creat e a functioning analogy , bu t i n th e text' s fictiona l treatment o f th e proble m o f analogy, th e reade r i s consistentl y warne d agains t acceptin g an y suc h "likeness" at face value. This analysi s of the structure of imitation has disruptive epistemological implication s fo r reader s and character s alike, es pecially in the context o f the ideological move s i n the allegory to assert a likeness between th e events and the "otherness" of figure. The threat un spoken i n th e allegor y bu t represente d i n th e fictio n is that thi s "other speech" ma y b e a s different fro m wha t i t ostensibl y describe s a s Snow y Florimell ma y be from the "real" one . The wor d "seems, " whic h recur s throughou t Th e Faerie Queene's analysis o f analogy , add s a new tropin g o f th e proble m o f likenes s an d difference tha t has characterized the epic simile from its origins. "Seems " marks a trope tha t posits a possible but unconfirme d an d unconfirmabl e resemblance. Sometime s "seems " establishes a disjunction between a minor are a of similarity (usually one that is visible) and an unmentioned ma jor are a of dissimilarity; sometimes i t functions in an entirely counterfac tual sense (what "seems" so is simply not the case); and sometimes i t posits a genuin e likeness , thoug h alway s on e tha t nonetheles s remain s poten tially deceiving. The word functions, then, t o mark a disjunction of som e sort betwee n level s of understanding , usuall y between th e visible or fic tional for m an d its allegorical meaning. I t marks th e likelihood tha t th e sign may not poin t t o what is signified, and indicates why th e inability to perceive this difference ca n be a major impediment t o th e knights . "Seems" thus provides the reader with a paradigm illustrating how t o read Spenser' s man y use s of "like " and "as," whic h als o have a counter factual effec t a s often as a purpose of conveyin g truth . Th e lin k betwee n "seems" and "as" i s made in the first stanza : "Full iolly knight h e seemd,

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and faire did sitt, / As one for knightly giust s and fierce encounters fit " (I, i, i) . Thoug h the y succee d i n castin g doub t o n Redcrosse' s prowes s a s knight, her e th e "seemd " and the "as" ar e comfortably neithe r counter factual no r factual . B y th e en d o f th e secon d canto , th e discomfor t ha s spread to the word "like," which i s charged with doub t an d uninterpret ability, makin g i t also , a s Puttenham migh t say , a soldier fightin g unde r the banne r o f dissimulation , o r a t least under th e banner o f "seeming. " The centra l epistemological proble m o f the poem, then , i s that all modes of "likeness " depen d o n establishin g a similarit y withi n th e fictiona l world, which is by definition not what it appears to be (both because Spen ser understand s th e rea l world t o b e deceivin g an d becaus e his fiction is allegorical and hence precisely not what it claims to be). To the extent tha t "establishing" takes on a force that cannot b e restricted t o purel y forma l or purel y epistemologica l arguments , thi s problem wil l also pose Th e Faerie Queene's principa l political dilemma . Th e trop e o f "seems, " with its lieutenants "as " an d "like," dramatizes throughout th e poem precisel y the fact tha t non e o f th e resemblance s o r analogie s on whic h th e poe m de pends ca n ever be confirmed, excep t insofa r as they ar e posited o r main tained violentl y o r coercively . As the classica l epic simile was addressed to the listeners or readers, so Spenser's use of "seems" is addressed to the reader but establishe s an analogy betwee n th e readers ' potentia l misinterpretatio n an d th e character' s misperception. Afte r thi s firs t stanza , th e narrator' s descriptio n o f ho w characters "seemed" often expresse s their visual response whil e warnin g the reader not to connect fictional appearance and allegorical meaning un critically or weigh the visible appearance as central in interpreting. Fo r the allegory to work some analogy between the two must obtain, but "seems" dramatizes the impossibility o f glidin g smoothl y betwee n th e two com ponent part s of the allegorical narrative doubles. The function of the trope of "seems, " then , i s twofold : i t appear s t o giv e th e reader s a kin d o f knowledge tha t the characters cannot share, and in doing s o sets the read ers at a distance from th e characters ; but, becaus e it tell s only o f th e un certainty o f th e resemblance , i t als o describe s a share d limitation . Thi s move places th e reade r o f Th e Faerie Queene i n a position differen t fro m that o f th e audienc e o r reader s of th e classica l epic , and , a s we shal l see, allows th e poet t o make a double us e of the epic distance. Like Redcross e and Una , then , th e figure of th e reader is "divided into doubl e parts" (I , ii, 9 ) at their firs t encounte r wit h thi s epic artist-magician. The reade r is thus imagined throughou t a s occupying two distinc t po sitions i n the text, position s tha t connect th e reader with the action in one case, an d wit h the figure s i n the other . This double stanc e is emphasized

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by suc h devices a s the repeated applications of marine r analogie s to poe t and reade r (fo r example , a t I , xii , i an d I , xii , 42 ) and th e poet' s direc t addresses to th e reader (I, xii, 42 , "Now strike your saile s ye iolly Man ners," combine s th e two) . A s we hav e already seen in th e moment tha t Archimago disguise s himsel f a s Redcross e ("Saint George himsel f y e would haue deemed hi m t o be," I , ii, n), suc h direc t addresse s function first t o giv e th e reade r a special knowledge tha t th e character s lack: w e know tha t Archimag o i s in disguise ; moreover , w e know somethin g o f his powers an d who he is. Allegory assumes and depends upon this special knowledge o f the reader, which is parallel to but more extensive than that of Homer' s audience . Thi s firs t positio n i s one o f authorit y an d knowledge, then; it is the position of an ideal reader, posited by the allegory, wh o can read, interpret, an d learn the intended moral lessons. But these tropes simultaneously establish a parallel between th e reader's interpretive activ ity—and in the case of the mariner examples, the reader's heroic voyage— and the struggles of the characters. Were we not given special knowledge, we too , w e ar e told, woul d hav e mad e th e sam e mistak e abou t Archi mago; w e to o ar e on a voyage that can reach only a temporary end . Th e story of the readers thus becomes anothe r o f Spenser's narrative doubles. In thi s secon d position , th e reade r is, i n contrast , imagine d a s deeply imbedded i n the conditions of the fiction. This construal of the condition s of knowledg e constitute s what w e might cal l the radical Protestant epis temology o f th e poem : it s thoroughgoin g insistenc e tha t n o on e i s ex empted fro m th e blindness an d limits o f huma n vision , tha t n o on e can interpret surely . Perhap s th e repeatin g pu n o n ''t o read " mos t clearl y marks ou t thi s paralle l between reader s and character s (see, for instance, I, i , 13 ; III, v, 6 ; and throughou t III , xi an d xii) , a parallel that implies a comparative lac k of closur e at the level of interpretation , suc h a s haunts the epic fiction. This reader remains as unknowing a s the characters, un able t o se e the cause s or th e fina l knowledg e tha t th e allegor y claim s t o make available. 35 The Quee n is the limit cas e of th e ways in whic h th e poem position s its readers, for she is represented in four ways simultaneously: as an actual character in the poem (Belphoebe , Mercilla , Britomar t herself , an d oth ers),36 who, lik e the other characters, has no special understanding or privileged viewpoint ; a s an all-knowin g Muse; a s Gloriana, th e unreachable center of the fictional action; and as ideal reader from whom all power and knowledge come s an d to whom it is ultimately returned. He r positio n as ideal reader is explicitly tied to that of the gods, wh o figur e precisely that unity of events and their meaning, ficto n and allegory, that the poem rep resents a s unavailable to mortals . Th e authoritativ e reader implied i n th e

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text, lik e th e audienc e or reader s of classica l epic, onl y implicitl y take s a divine poin t o f vie w o n the action , whil e Elizabet h is explicitly invoke d as "Goddesse heauenly bright" at the start of the poem (Proe m I , 4), and is figure d wit h trope s o f divin e revelatio n (Proe m II , 5 ) that ar e linke d from th e beginnin g t o th e reade r o r audience : "Th e whic h t o heare , vouchsafe, O deares t dred a-while" (Proem I, 4); "vouchsafe with patien t eare / The braue aduentures of this Faery knight / The good Si r Guyon gra tiously t o heare" (Proe m II , 5) . In the later Proems, he r position a s reader is more explicit , an d in the Proem t o Book IV , as Maureen Quilliga n ha s noted, Spense r requests aid from th e gods not fo r his own projec t but s o that the Quee n ma y continu e a s the ideal reader he has named her: 37 Which tha t she may the better deigne to heare, Do tho u dre d infant , Venus dearlin g doue, From he r high spiri t chase imperious feare , And vs e of awful l Maiesti e remoue: In sted thereof wit h drop s of melting loue, Deawd wit h ambrosial l kisses, by thee gotten From th y sweete smyling mothe r fro m aboue, Sprinckle her heart, and haughtie courage soften, That she may hearke to loue, an d reade this lesson often. (Proem IV , 5 )

Spenser here appropriates Elizabeth's own rhetorica l strategies, especially her use of the idiom o f erotic love as a courtly tool, 38 to extend his poetic power b y associatin g i t wit h hers . Hi s explici t positionin g o f th e idea l reader at a divine distance from the action suggests that this reader not onl y understands the full ("perfet" ) meanin g of the text but give s it its author ity. Thus an aspect of the text's poetics is opened to view: the poem states directly wha t onl y remain s implici t i n Virgil' s addresse s to th e Roma n reader, namely, tha t for full understanding the reader must occupy the po sition of absolute power, her e figured conventionally as that of the gods. 39 The figuratio n of the Queen a s ideal reader and Muse also requires that the position o f the narrator be double. O n th e one hand, th e rhetoric o f the Proems present s him as the inspired epic narrator who share s in divine knowledge throug h hi s Muse an d through th e power o f Elizabeth . Thi s self-empowering associatio n has a circularity to it that indicates the extent of Spenser's self-consciousness about his own appropriative moves. I n the analogy o f Elizabet h an d th e Ocea n invoke d t o conclud e th e Proe m t o Book VI, fo r instance, th e narrator asks pardon for uttering wha t migh t seem t o be a compliment : That fro m your self e I doe this vertue bring, And t o your self e doe it returne againe:

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So from th e Ocean all riuers spring , And tribut e back e repa y a s to their King . (Proem VI, 7 )

While the movement o f grace that he describes starts here with Elizabet h as source, it clearly draws an image of a circle, which i s repeated throughout Boo k VI, 40 a circle in which ther e is neither sourc e nor end , bu t that , in the poem's impossible geometry , als o has two center s tha t canno t co incide. Th e imag e suggest s tha t by figuratively empowering hi s Queen , the poet als o empowers himself . A similar circularity characterizes Spenser's figuratio n of Elizabeth' s genealog y i n th e "Aprill " Eclogue, wher e Elizabeth is called the child of Pan and Syrinx. Thi s rewriting o f the myt h submerges th e violence o f th e original: Pa n and Syrinx ha d no chil d ex cept, metaphorically , pastoral poetry itself, whic h originate d in Pan's dis covery o f musi c i n th e drie d reed s int o whic h Syrin x wa s transforme d after she failed to escape from him. Th e discovery of pastoral for the male prototype o f the poet thu s occurs mythically at the moment o f complet e loss of selfhood for the nymph. Whil e displacing this original female loss, Spenser returns a version o f female form t o poetry by finding a feminine principle in and a female authority for his own pastoral . Elizabeth is thus figured a s both th e source of Spenser' s pastoral encomium and , paradox ically, it s result: she is the produc t o f Spenser' s own writing , guarantee d in her power b y her poet's celebration. 41 On th e other hand , i n Th e Faerie Queene the narrator also invokes th e greatness of the Queen t o position himself belo w her in a realm of political vulnerability: th e tex t "impersonates " no t onl y a n epi c narrato r wit h power t o "moralize" the action and to explain with certaint y the power s of "fate" an d the meaning o f his poem, sharin g the position o f the gods, but als o a narrato r wh o present s himsel f a s Elizabeth's "bases t thrall " (Proem V , n), whos e thought s ar e "too humbl e an d too vile /To think e of tha t true glorious typ e of thine" (Proe m I , 4). With thi s conventiona l figure of self-debasement, 42 the narrator of Th e Faerie Queene follows Vir gil in presentin g himsel f a s disempowered, constraine d b y th e politica l conditions of his narrative, and not, therefore , responsible for its excesses or violences . The sam e doubl e treatmen t characterize s the narrator' s Muse , th e source o f hi s capacity to empowe r hi s Queen an d thus to ente r int o th e poem's circl e of authority . Th e narrato r figure s hi s Mus e a s "sacred," a divine powe r tha t command s hi m t o "blazo n broad " he r truths. Befor e her power, a s before Elizabeth's, he remains "all too meane" (Proem I, i): the inexpressibilit y topos , invoke d i n all of th e Proem s an d ofte n i n th e course of the narrative, not only conveys a fundamental tenet of the text' s

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allegorical method, bu t also positions the narrator as if he were within the fictional constraint s o f th e poem . Th e pretens e tha t th e narrator canno t control the events of the plot gives Spenser, as it did Virgil, a poetic voice that ca n lament th e violenc e o f hi s stor y eve n a s he employ s it . Episte mologically, then , thi s secon d positio n o f th e narrator places him unde r the same constraints as the characters find themselve s under, withou t th e "certaine signs" (Proem II) of the presence of a transcendent authority: it is in this analysi s of th e limitations on human knowledg e tha t Th e Faerie Queene is at its most radical. 43 Politically, this figuration of the narrator as controlled an d contained by his fiction picture s the power o f the monarchy and the political constraints felt by those who sought to advance themselves through th e Queen , muc h a s they ma y have tried i n thei r tur n t o "fashion" her. Spense r thus uses a major Virgilian trope—that of the nar rator's ignoranc e o f an d lac k o f contro l ove r plo t events—bot h t o dra matize a radical epistemology an d to adumbrate the kinds of political and ideological constraint s under which an d through whic h th e text was con structed. In this instance, the analogy between the poem's epistemologica l and politica l concern s is a close one . The uncertaintie s of the imbedded narrator' s position a s an interpreter denied fina l knowledg e ar e well indicate d b y th e tw o simile s involvin g soothsayers. Bot h cas t doubt s o n th e suppose d wisdo m o f thes e inter preter figures: So th'one for wrong, th e other striues for right: As when a Gryfon seized of hi s pray, A Dragon fier s encountret h in his flight, Through widest ayre making his ydle way, That would hi s rightful rauin e rend away: With hideous horrour bot h togethe r smight, And souc e so sore, tha t they the heauens affray : The wis e Southsayer seeing so sad sight, Th'amazed vulga r tels of warres and mortall fight . (I, v, 8) Still as she fled, her eye she backward threw, As fearing euill, tha t pursewd her fast ; And he r faire yellow locks behind he r flew, Loosely dispers t with puff e o f euery blast: All as a blazing starre doth farr e outcast His hearie beames, an d flaming lockes dispred, At sight whereo f th e people stand aghast: But th e sage wisard telles, a s he has red, That it importunes deat h and dolefull drerihed . (Ill, i, 16 )

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The dragon/griffi n simil e is notoriously obscur e in its final implications , with multiple readings of the griffin suggestin g very different interpretiv e possibilities; moreover, a s we have seen, its import i s further complicate d by th e narrativ e difficult y o f distinguishin g Redcross e Knigh t an d hi s competitor, San s Joy, tha t characterize s the psychomachia . Th e alexan drine implicitl y compare s th e readers o f thi s poe m t o "Th'amaze d vul gar," an d indeed we are often, like the characters, "all in amaze" (I , ii, 5), but th e "wise Southsayer" does not see m t o provid e ver y helpfu l expla nations o f thi s mythica l event , whic h w e watc h fro m afar . Th e sam e is true of the "sage wisard" interpreting comets; the simile suggests that the narrator's explanations of FlorimeU' s fearful rac e through th e fores t ma y be as inaccurate as the wizard's comment s t o th e people standing aghast. Like the sage wizard, the narrator must in part interpret his plot "as he has red," o n th e basis of th e authority o f othe r texts ; an d while thes e othe r texts, which we have seen in the "antique rolles" of Proem I, 2, are figured as a principa l sourc e o f interpretiv e authorit y fo r wizar d an d narrato r alike, th e simile cast s doubt o n thei r utility . Turnin g t o anothe r text that itself need s interpretatio n onl y repeat s th e narrator' s interpretiv e di lemma. Bot h comment s ar e accurate at their most general : most conflict s suggest "warre s an d mortal l fight " t o th e specificall y nonmythologica l and mortal "amaze d vulgar" ; mos t astrological phenomena can be read as reemphasizing mortalit y t o th e peopl e standin g aghast , an d "deat h an d dolefull drerihed " are the major "morals" of the mortal action. As more specific interpretive aids, however, thes e soothsayers, like the narrator, or so the similes suggest, ma y b e at a loss. If bot h th e reade r an d th e narrato r ar e place d i n a doubl e position , constrained b y th e condition s o f th e tex t ye t figure d a s external t o it , then som e connectio n betwee n th e tw o stance s of eac h woul d b e nec essary t o mak e th e poem' s mora l educatio n persuasive . Th e ideologi cal and moral imperative of the poem, then , i s to find some wa y to erad icate or bridge this disjunction. As was the case in the Iliad, this ideological need woul d creat e a metaphorical link betwee n th e two, o r a t least hide the disjunctio n b y figurativ e assertion, a mov e i n whic h metapho r be comes th e figure for the temporalizing of the difference betwee n th e tw o positions. Th e figurativ e representatio n o f th e reade r an d narrato r a s themselves undertakin g a quest thu s provide s on e majo r image throug h which th e tex t attempt s t o creat e a movement fro m on e position t o th e other—a ques t fro m ignoranc e t o knowledg e tha t make s o f thes e tw o positions th e endpoint s o f a n implie d narrative . Bu t thi s quest , lik e others throughout Th e Faerie Queene, is fundamentally unending an d unendable:

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Here she a while may mak e he r saf e abode , . . . And then again e abroa d On th e long voyage wheret o she is bent: Well may she speede and fairely finis h her intent. (I, xii , 42 )

Spenser ca n only us e the optativ e o r praye r itself t o cal l for tha t conclu sion t o his and our quests: "graunt me that Sabaoths sight" (VII, viii, 2). The tex t leave s the reade r alway s unable to reac h any knowledge tha t is anything bu t fleeting and contingent, th e knowledge o f appearance s but not o f th e desire d "realities " tha t th e "knowing " reader s an d th e alle gorical narrato r ar e seemingly privilege d t o see . I t provide s n o wa y t o imagine ho w th e two position s o f the reader or narrator could b e joined. Remaining separat e and unintegrated , the y reflec t th e structur e o f th e narrative double s an d produce two distinc t version s o f the action an d its implications, o f which on e set is given explicit form and expression in the text a s th e interpretatio n posite d b y th e allegorica l narrator , whil e th e other remain s implicit , submerged , an d a t time s subversiv e o f th e alle gory. Or, rather , Th e Faerie Queene seems to suggest several ways to reconcile, internalize, or avoid the duplicity its form enacts, but they repeat, on the matic or figural levels, the split they are intended t o heal. One attemp t t o unify thes e tw o position s i s articulated through a series of theatrica l references that become especiall y problematic in Books I I and III, but occu r throughout th e poem. Th e disturbin g powe r o f such reference s to spec tatorship—already indicated in Spenser' s critiqu e of visio n a s a sense b y which t o judg e appearances—occur s a s earl y a s th e Lette r t o Raleigh , where Spense r writes tha t he chose "to colour" his moral fashioning as a historical fictio n so that it would b e more "plausible " an d "pleasing" t o his readers, wh o fo r the most part "delight to read, rathe r fo r variety o f matter, the n fo r profite o f the ensample." When one considers the "mat ter" o f th e poem , thi s wordin g suggest s tha t th e reader s ar e spectators who tak e "delight " in wha t ar e later calle d "sad pageant s of men s mis eries" (II, i, 36). The distance that would allo w this "delight" to function pedagogically presumabl y woul d als o permit correc t interpretation , bu t the text prevent s the reader from ever remaining comfortably in this po sition. Th e aesthetic s apparentl y prompting Spenser' s comment s i n th e Letter ar e those o f the Horatian duke et utile, the notion tha t we learn because w e "delight, " ye t th e mora l fashionin g tha t depend s o n learnin g from exampl e an d on the distance that allows "delight " seems i n Th e Faerie Queene to be at odds with the analogy to the tragic experience that the poem consistentl y poses. 44 Indeed, th e theatrical analogy repeatedly sug -

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gests tha t th e "unknowing " reader , wh o i s implicated i n th e actio n an d limited b y simila r constraints , alway s stand s behin d an d agains t th e "knowing," secure and closural reader, who i s invoked b y the narrator' s pedagogical thematics. These (double) readers of Th e Faerie Queene, then, like those o f th e classica l epics, see m place d in the position o f spectator s at a tragedy, bu t wit h the difference tha t they are denied th e cathartic experience offere d b y th e representation accordin g t o neo-Aristotelian Re naissance theorists.45 The consistent theatrical imagery provides a different vocabulary for exploring th e formal problem pose d by the epic distance: the reader is both set too close to the action, with his or her emotions bein g described in terms that evoke Aristotle's descriptio n of the emotions o f an audience, an d also placed at a greater distance from the actio n than is any audience in a theater. The theatrica l allusions point ou t a difficulty i n the poem's attempt s to create a metaphorica l lin k betwee n tragi c actio n an d recuperative , dis tanced interpretatio n b y employin g th e fictio n o f th e reader' s (an d nar rator's) quest , an d thu s b y temporalizin g th e structura l opposition, fig uring it as a movement from one to the other. Spectator s in this poem see k to mov e from th e position o f distanc e to tha t o f involvement—they al most all desire to step forward an d cross the boundary of the "stage," to do precisely what a n audience cannot do in a real theater and what a n in terpreter o f a poem cannot do , tha t is, change the action to mitigate loss , or, a s Britomart does, "reverse " events. Th e theatrica l analogy thu s de mystifies t o som e extent th e poem's invocation o f th e ques t patter n fo r reader and narrator, fo r when confronted wit h the choice, th e characters consistently choos e to direct their quest from distanc e to involvement, an d not th e other wa y around . I n these allusions we therefore see one way in which the poem give s special privilege to the heroic action. The sole character who learn s to retreat from such involvement i s Guyon, an d even he, distanced as he is from "pittie," finds tha t he cannot avoid destructive in volvement. I n no cas e does th e theatrica l analogy allo w fo r a consisten t representation o f distanc e a s a possible huma n stance , an d thu s i t chal lenges th e allegorical narrator's effort s t o position th e reader at a distance. Indeed, reader s too com e to resist the allegory an d to tak e steps forwar d across the boundary of the stage by identifying a dignity in the heroic action that the allegory canno t always acknowledge . The positions o f the distanced, "knowing " reader and of the involve d reader "inscribed " in the action becom e especiall y problematic i n Book II, wher e th e ga p betwee n th e representatio n o f a falle n natur e an d th e various moral structures that encompass or explain it is particularly wide , perhaps becaus e th e boo k seem s s o resolutel y secula r an d classica l i n tone.46 From th e beginning, Boo k II troubles th e situation of the pityin g

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spectator by defining its moral questions in terms of spectacle and theater. The openin g decei t of Archimago , whos e plot s have been defined as the source of the narrative energy (II, i, i), puts Guyon in the position of pitying Duessa, a n actress who knows how to play her part well whenever th e audience begins to seem sympathetic ("Which when sh e heard, as in des pightfull wise , / She wilfull y he r sorro w di d augment, " II , i , 15) . Re sponding to grief that he assumes to be entirely external to himself, Guyon tells her, "Grea t pittie is to see you thus dismaid" (II, i, 14) . "Pittie," here understood a s one of two emotion s Aristotle assigns to tragedy, becomes a wrong o r a dangerous response, however , an d by th e en d o f th e book the text' s politica l an d mora l necessitie s converge t o ensur e that Guyo n will not pit y the inhabitants of the Garden he is about to destroy . In he r fina l speech , Amavi a relies agai n on theatrica l imagery t o de scribe her state, in classical fashion comparin g the gods to the audience of a tragedy: But i f that carelesse heauens (quot h she ) despis e The doom e of iust reuenge, an d take deligh t To see sad pageants of men s miseries , As bound by them to Hue in Hues despight , Yet can they not warn e deat h from wretche d wight . (II, i , 36 )

Her words suggest that the readers who take "delight" in seeing these pageants of misery are taking the position of the gods, a position that neither Guyon no r the reader finds acceptable, though it is essential to the kind of moralizing conclusions that the Palmer wants to draw from the action (II, i, 58 ) and to Guyon' s abilit y to disengage himself fro m the scene. Medina seem s to propose the obvious an d traditional solution: t o pity and to learn from that emotion. Havin g heard the beginning o f the story of Acrasia, she urges Guyon t o continue the story: Tell on, fair e Sir , sai d she, tha t dolefull tale, From which sad ruth doe s seem e you to restraine, That we may pitty suc h vnhappy bale , And learne fro m pleasure s poyson t o abstaine. (II, ii , 45 )

This happy solution is undermined, however, b y the fact that the learning she proposes i s of suc h a limited kind . I t resembles th e simplisti c mora l that Guyon and the Palmer drew from the deaths of Mortdant and Amavia (II, i, 58) , which response, in its inadequacy to the tragedy presented, has been though t t o indicat e a dimension o f Guyon' s stor y o f whic h h e re mains unaware. 47 In order to learn from the story, the tragic audience must

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interpret it correctly, yet the density of interpretive dilemmas in the opening cantos of Book II tells that it may be impossible to complete an interpretation wit h the certainty necessary to justify th e moralistic statements of Medin a an d the Palmer. Th e associatio n of thi s distanc e with closur e and wit h totalizin g allegorica l interpretatio n i s implied i n th e narrator' s descriptions of the funeral rite s given Amavia, rites by which Guyo n and the Palmer thin k t o have concluded th e episode : Sir Guyon wit h his faithfull guid e Had with due rites an d dolorous lamen t The en d of their sad Tragedie vptyde . (II, ii , i )

Distance thus seems to produce a certain kind of interpretation, associated here explicitly with the allegory but shown t o be inadequate to the action presented. Thi s distance matches the distance between th e two narrative doubles: fro m a viewpoin t withi n th e action , th e allegorica l version , which claim s a privileged explanator y power, i s unrecognizable, and can not be found to coincide with th e experience represented. The distance of the spectato r thu s serve s as a figure fo r th e distanc e between a n asserted interpretation and the action that ostensibly generated it. The theatrical imagery becomes so dense throughout th e opening can tos of Boo k I I that in itself it define s tw o centra l concerns o f th e Book: the prope r respons e to tragi c spectacle, and the proper relatio n betwee n overtly allegorical texts and theatrical performance. The Redcrosse Knight calls Guyon's quest his "pageant" (II, i, 33) , an d Guyon tell s Amavia that she is "the image . . . of ruefull pitie " (II, i, 44). Later the narrator refers to her story as a "sad Tragedie " (II , ii, i) . Guyon glosses the sc.ene for th e Palmer a s an allegory o f death : "Behol d th e image o f mortalitie " (II , i, 57), h e explains somewhat pompousl y a s Amavia dies. The narrato r also stresses that the dying Amavia presents "that sad pourtraict / Of death and dolour" (II , i, 39 ) and call s the scen e "a pittiful l spectacle, " a commen t reemphasized when i t is repeated in the alexandrine (II, i, 40). The us e of terms suc h as "spectacle" and "pageant" that in the late sixteenth century served als o to designate the effect o f allegory is not fortuitous. 48 The for mal problems posed by the consistent analogy between the readers and the audience at a tragedy sugges t tha t th e ac t of interpretatio n calle d for b y the allegory, whic h require s that the interpretive distance be maintained, can itsel f becom e a tragic act, a cutting o f th e imaginativ e ties betwee n readers an d characters. These problem s ar e defined particularly in term s of closure: Guyon think s he can easily "tie up " th e end of the tragedy of Mortdant an d Amavia; however, th e action of Book II proves him wrong,

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and the poem similarl y suggest s that thos e wh o com e t o a completed o r "perfected" conclusio n abou t how t o interpret a scene come t o a bad en d themselves, a s Book I I might b e said to do. Th e closure of interpretatio n consistently contrast s with th e lack of closure on the narrative plain; tragedy's ends—at least as they become a part of epic narrative—cannot be so easily "vptied." The significanc e of Boo k II' s allusions to spectators and tragic spectacles is clearer in the story o f Phedon , wh o internalize s the notion o f dis tance and becomes, a s he puts it, "The sa d spectatour of my Tragedie" (II, iv, 27). The stor y o f Phedon i s based on that of Ariodante and Ginevra in Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (V , 5-74) , an d als o form s a basi s o f Shake speare's Much Ad o About Nothing. I n Spenser' s version, though , i t ha s a tragic ending; henc e this retelling resembles Othello more tha n it does th e comedy. Phedo n i s doubly th e sa d spectator o f hi s own tragedy : h e sit s "in a secret corner" and watches his lady (or so he thinks) while she makes love to his friend, an d he looks back over his whole experienc e and judges his tragic mistakes retrospectively. He "sees" that being the gullible spec tator wa s his tragic role: th e viewer wh o become s to o involved joins the actors, and the safe boundary between stage and audience disappears. Th e allegory hint s tha t th e prope r positio n i s one o f stil l greate r distance , a temporal distanc e that allow s one to look bac k on one's experience . Phe don is able to reestablish this distance only a s he tells his own tal e and be comes hi s own narrator , a t which poin t h e also recovers a sufficient hu manity t o regain his name (II , iv, 36). This anteriority , i t ca n be argued, i s constitutive o f th e mod e o f nar rating that Spenser calls allegory, and indeed, Phedon's stor y concerns the way i n whic h a human bein g ca n be transformed into a n allegorical em blem, i n thi s cas e the emble m o f jealousy an d "hellish fury" (II , iv, 30). On th e basi s of a n incorrect interpretation , Phedo n allow s himsel f t o be overcome wit h fury, murder s hi s beloved, an d then appear s on the stage of the poem a s part of the allegorical tableau presented by Furor and Oc casion. To o much involvement i s here glossed as threatening to transform the viewer into something les s than human ; i t allows th e spectator to be ruled, as Phedon is , by allegorical figures. For the reader, such compulsio n takes the form o f being pushe d by the allegory itself into a limited inter pretation, a s one-dimensional o r daemonic (and partial) as Phedon himsel f becomes unde r th e torment o f Furo r an d Occasion. Phedon' s stor y sug gests tha t successfu l interpretatio n ma y well b e impossible fo r th e "un knowing" reader that Th e Faerie Queene posits as implicated i n the actio n and limited b y its conditions, whil e it suggests that there can be no secure distance a t whic h a "knowing" reade r migh t b e placed . Th e stor y dis -

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qualifies an y internalizing o f dramatic distance as a model for the relation between th e formal , narrativ e doubles , an d s o threaten s t o undermin e both interpretiv e positions . But Phedo n i s not, o f course, th e only witness . Throughou t Boo k II , Guyon is either overtly or implicitly a spectator, as the consistent emphasis on his eyes makes clear. In the Cave of Mammon, fo r instance, he "feed s his eyes" (II, vii, 24), and other examples of voyeurism and spectatorship fill th e book. 49 The imager y o f spectacl e and pagean t reaches its culmi nation i n cant o xii , whe n "pittie " turn s t o "pitiless[ness] " t o creat e the destructive endin g o f Guyon' s quest . O n th e epi c journey i n cant o xii , Guyon experience s both pity and fear, bu t in each case the Palmer teaches him t o overcom e thes e emotions . A s he passes the deformed monsters , for instance , h e is appalled, but th e Palmer tell s him t o "Fear e nought" since these same Monster s are not thes e in deed , But ar e into these fearefull shape s disguiz' d By that sam e wicke d witch, t o worke vs dreed. (II, xii, 26)

Leaving the "true" shape of these disguised monsters in doubt, the Palmer domesticates them b y providing a moral gloss: the tragic emotion o f fea r is calme d an d controlle d b y th e "vertuou s staffe " o f allegor y (st . 26) , which her e a s elsewhere seem s t o defin e th e kind o f interpretatio n prac ticed by the Palmer as a specifically male skill. Their interpretive boat next passes a "seemely maiden" weeping o n an island (st. 27); she "with great sorrow an d sa d agony, /Seemed som e grea t misfortun e to deplore " (st . 27), and Guyon pities her. Nor surprisingly , th e Palmer knows tha t this is "foolish pitty " (st. 29), which wil l lead Guyon to his "ruine." Leaving the maiden, th e two approac h the bay in which live the Sirens (or Mermaids, as Spenser names them). The port, shadowe d by hill and cliff, "di d lik e an halfe Theatre fulfill " (st . 30), suggesting that the temptation o f the Sirens may i n part be the involvement an d sympathy tha t the theater seems t o figure throughout thi s episode. I n all of these instances, the Palmer's rol e is to lea d Guyon awa y from th e tragic actors, so that he can get on wit h his allegorical mission. Th e identification of the allegory with the Palmer's moralizing is particularly clear in these examples from canto xii; they also clearly identif y allegorica l interpretatio n wit h th e positio n o f epi c dis tance. Guyon's mission , o f course , turn s ou t t o hav e unpleasan t conse quences. Acrasia' s bower constitute s a spectacle that tempt s Guyo n an d pleases his eyes. Theatrica l imager y an d the language of pity ar e used at

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several points explicitly : th e story o f Jason, Medea , an d Creusa (appro priately both an epic and a tragic story) is carved as "a piteous spectacle " in the Ivory Gate; one of the two wanton maidens in the fountain provides in contras t a "faire spectacle " (II , xii, 67) . Guyon destroy s this temptin g theatrical space with "rigour pitilesse" (st. 83), and the allegory once again implies tha t the readers should tur n their eyes from the scene of destruc tion and feel n o pity. Th e narrator's determined suppressio n of the emo tion is made clea r through th e compariso n o f thi s version wit h Tasso's, which leave s Armid a (o n whom Acrasi a is modeled) wit h recognizabl e motivations an d allows th e audience to fee l pit y for her. I n contrast, Gu yon's rejectio n o f pit y a t the en d o f Boo k I I suggest s the difficult y o f a distanced stance : the "knowing" and distanced reader at whom the alle gory i s aimed learns to interpret his destructiveness as acceptable and, in deed, politically necessary, but the reader inscribed in the action condemn s it, an d the absoluteness of interpretation that seems to allow, an d indee d require, suc h violence . Th e allegorica l zeal and interpretiv e skil l o f th e Palmer thu s associate s the kin d o f distanc e he claim s is appropriate no t only with allegorical power but with political power: the political allegory must, i n other words , suppres s interpretation from the perspective of the "unknowing," "inscribed" reader, that is, from the point o f view o f the action. Becaus e it cannot be successfully internalized , the distance neces sary for the final iconoclastic violence to which Guyo n succumbs, like the distance always at work between the doubled figures of the reader, needs to be reimposed externally—often , a s here, this occurs with violence, an d thus come s t o figur e th e constitutiv e distanc e necessary within Elizabe than ideology fo r the workings o f political power.50 Spenser is less clear in givin g Britomar t o r Belphoeb e contro l o f thi s "vertuous staffe " o f allegory—o r i n givin g i t t o Elizabeth , whe n sh e is figured i n these characters and not a s the Muse or ideal reader. Britomar t begins Boo k II I in a position not unlike Guyon's: it is specifically pit y for Malecasta that leads her into trouble in canto i. Pity seems a more accept able emotion by canto xi, however, wher e it leads her to intercede on Scu damour's behalf : Still as she stood, sh e heard with grieuou s throb Him grone , a s if his hart were peeces made, And with most paineful l pang s to sigh and sob, That pitty did the Virgins hart of patience rob. (HI, xi , 8 )

Unlike Book II, then, where the mean between distance and involvement , between pitilessness and pity, seems nonexistent until pitilessness attempts in canto xii to erase all pity, Book III concludes with Britomart choosin g

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sympathy. I n the House of Busyrane , wh o i s a stage manager as well as a magician, Britomar t takes the position o f a n audience that cannot interpret securely but is involved wit h th e suffering portrayed . Britomart thu s comes to figure in her actions the link between the heroic ignorance of the characters and the involved, "pitying " stance represented as characteristic of the "unknowing" reader. All of the hidden spots associated with wome n i n Book II I seem to be described in theatrical imagery. Thi s imager y is appropriate for the topi c of the book—love's pageants—and it also reflects the Queen/Muse o f the poem, wh o instituted and maintained her power through public spectacle. In canto xii, however, thes e pageants seem to be all of the tragic kind: Ease comes fort h to begin th e pageant "as on the ready flore / Of som e Theatre" dresse d i n garment s "fi t fo r tragick e Stage" (III , xii, 3) . Britomar t watches the play once through, bu t on the second showing, sh e decides to walk backstage. She steps forward to stop the play as tragic audiences long to do: this gesture of the involved an d pitying spectato r "unties" or "re verses" th e allegorical scene altogether.51 To do so, though, Britomart , a s epic heroine , figure s a reader wh o ha s abandone d th e certaint y o f alle gorical interpretation. He r transgressive act suggests that in this Book th e poem define s herois m a s the capacit y of th e character s to resis t th e im position o f allegorica l function s an d th e daemoni c fragmentatio n tha t makes the m s o vulnerable to it, an d to affir m th e integrity o f sel f (wha t Amoret ha s lost). 52 Whil e th e allegor y set s itsel f agains t th e emotion s evoked b y tragedy , then , th e epi c fictio n invoke s the m t o defin e a ne w kind o f heroism . Not onl y i n Boo k II I i s this transgressiv e step forwar d show n t o b e necessary, thoug h perhap s it i s only her e tha t i t is given suc h a positiv e valence. Th e impossibility o f joining experienc e and knowledge, o r the atrical sho w an d it s interpretation , i s mad e especiall y clear i n Boo k V I when Calidor e step s forward, again in a transgressive act (this time an un intentional one) that destroys an illusion. The epistemological dilemma is conveyed her e succinctly in the rhyme of "know" and "show": Whether i t were the traine of beautie s Queene, Or Nymphes , or Faeries, or enchaunted show , With whic h his eyes mot e haue deluded beene . Therefore resoluing , wha t i t was, t o know , Out o f the wood he rose, an d toward the m did go. (VI, x , 17 )

What Calidor e ca n "know" her e i s only "show" : th e movemen t fro m "show" to "know" and to the determination t o understand, whic h gen erates the quest pattern, and the consequent breaking of the vision figure s

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the difficulty o f joining th e two position s of the reader. Lik e Britomart' s step through the stage door, Calidore' s ste p forward causes the enchanted show to disappear and the artist to destroy his tools: this disruption figures the tempora l separatio n o f experienc e an d understanding . Knowledge , following th e myth of the Fall but indicating an epistemological dilemma , comes onl y afte r loss . Th e momen t in whic h th e circl e is broken mark s the impossibilit y tha t the two position s o f the reader will converge : th e circle suggests the repeatable displacements of figuration, while the char acters' an d th e readers ' movement s towar d th e cente r figure s th e linea r path of th e quest , a path leading toward a n understanding tha t is always receding. Britomart, i n contrast, never "understands" he r vision: she is given no gloss or explanation, an d merely undoes or "reverses" it (III, xii, 36) . As character, she is located securely outside the allegorical framework, whil e Colin's explanation to Calidore provides a representation in the plot of the allegorical readin g t o whic h th e reader s are led a t a differen t level . Th e coincidence o f th e disappearanc e of visio n an d the moment of interpretation represents the logical extreme of the poem's use of epic distance: the spectator is represented a s learning onl y i n the moment when hi s or he r distance fro m wha t i s being interprete d i s so grea t tha t th e tw o ca n n o longer b e said to b e co-present. Thi s distance , o f course , whil e puttin g things in a certain perspective, again raises doubts about exactly what can be learned unde r suc h circumstances , about, tha t is, th e epistemologica l dilemma expresse d poeticall y i n th e noncoincidenc e o f experienc e an d interpretation, o r action and figure . As the analogy between th e epic action and a "sad Tragedie " suggests, one might expect that the catharsis so emphasized by Renaissance theorists would provide a closural moment i n which involvement an d understand ing would coincide. Guyon' s wrat h a t the end of Book II hardly seems a desirable model, however , althoug h it does resemble a purgative reaction on th e part of a spectator, and, a s we have seen, is tied to the closural allegory o f th e Palmer. Spense r builds the tragic emotion without an y cathartic release for the readers, or any movement betwee n the two position s that they ar e asked simultaneously to maintain : they resembl e spectator s who become too involved with the tragedy, and those content to take "de light." The stabilit y of an y interpretations reached by such a doubly sit uated audience is thus left i n doubt a s its reading shifts fro m on e positio n to the other. Th e poe m associate s the position o f interpretation wit h the reader who remain s at a distance, as if interpretation put a curtain between reader and action, a curtain that proves essential to the narrator a s he explains th e allegorica l significance of th e action . Lik e Spenser' s theatrica l

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allusions more generally , then, traged y becomes a figure for the disjunc tion of experience and knowledge. Allegorica l interpretation seems to allow the readers to escape from tragedy, while a deep immersion in tragic emotion i s labeled (a s in th e stor y o f Phedon ) a s an opposite bu t corre sponding submissio n to an allegorical figure that compels and confines. 53 The difficult y o f unitin g th e unknowin g reade r limited b y th e con straints o f th e tex t wit h th e all-knowin g viewe r se t at a distance can be further clarified when we compare the position of Elizabeth as ideal reader and Muse to the situation of one of her "mirrors" in the text, Belphoebe . Belphoebe's variou s allegorical significances are unknown t o her: though other characters consistently react to her as if she were a goddess—Trompart in a parodic and Timias in a serious version of Aeneas's "O dea certe" (compare II, iii, 33, and III, v, 35)—and though the narrator compares her woodland hom e t o a n earthl y paradis e ("A s i t a n earthl y Paradiz e had beene," III, v, 40), she herself constantly denies any such special dispensation: Thereat she blushing said, A h gentle Squire , Nor Goddess e I, nor Angell, but the Mayd, And daughte r o f a woody Nymphe, desir e No seruice , bu t th y safet y and ayd; Which i f thou gaine, I shalbe well apayd . We mortall wights, whose Hues and fortunes bee To commun accidents stil l open layd, Are bound with commun bond of frailtee, To succour wretche d wights, whom we captiued see . (Ill, v, 36)

Belphoebe registers no knowledge her e of her unusual (and, in the terms of the poet, prelapsarian) birth or of her upbringing by Diana; readers are left t o conjectur e whethe r Spenser' s accoun t o f he r origin s shoul d b e understood a s metaphorical. Alon g with he r twin , Belphoeb e is figure d as a natural principle of female purity, but thi s figuration is set aside from her self-understanding . Instea d she expresses the difficulty o f heroi c life : "Who seekes with painfull toile, shall honor soonest find" (II, iii, 40). Like Achilles, anothe r mortal child of a nymph, Belphoeb e defines her heroi c existence completely throug h he r mortality , articulatin g in doin g s o th e poem's heroic code. Belphoebe's "commu n bon d of frailtee" defines what links the characters on the fictional plain; how a character responds to this "frailtee" define s his or her moral strengt h or value within th e terms o f the fiction. Belphoebe figure s on e aspect of Elizabeth' s power , then , bu t no t an other. O n the one hand, she provides an image of independent female sov-

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ereignty over self, authorize d in large part by the Queen's mythologizin g of he r choic e of virginity; this image provides one of two picture s of fe male heroic life in the poem, an d the only one not linked to marriage. O n the othe r hand , Belphoeb e als o distinctly shares in the suffering an d un certainty of th e fictional world , an d does not hav e the kind o f power o f the ideal Sovereign of the Proems. I n this difference, th e poet oddly cur tails Elizabeth's authority, since his pedagogical project implies that to exercise power, on e must know an d be able to interpret correctly , but Bel phoebe by definition cannot occupy this knowing position . He r vision of the heroi c lif e explicitl y exclude s th e sor t o f powe r an d authorit y tha t Spenser has figuratively attributed to the Queen and from which, t o some extent, h e derives the authority of his allegorizing. Arthur, who plays a role in both the political and the religious allegory, can serv e t o indicat e th e exten t o f thi s "commu n bon d o f frailtee." 54 Throughout the poem in unexpected moments he displays this "frailtee" : the narrator explicitly comment s o n it in the battle with Maleger (II , xi, 30), where he appears to distinguish the mortal Arthur from the working s of grace, and dramatizes it in Book VI when Arthur, "wearie of trauell in his former fight" (VI , vii, 19) , lies down o n the ground and goes to sleep, to be rescued just in time by his "saluage" squire. The allegory treats Arthur a s a figure (i n Book I and to some exten t throughout th e poem) fo r the operation o f heavenl y grace, coming t o the aid of Redcross e Knigh t in the "redemptive" eighth canto of the book, as he will come to the rescue in al l the books excep t the third; yet this figure, transcenden t within th e allegory, i s fully mortal , articulate s a bleak vision o f life , an d i s a partic ularly glaring example of incomplete self-knowledge. Arthur' s ignorance of himself exceed s that of the Redcrosse Knight, for Redcrosse can at least learn something o f his origins fro m climbing th e Mount o f Contempla tion, whil e Arthur's discovery of his identity is projected into some futur e time beyond th e poem.55 Una wants to know wh o her rescuer is for stan dard heroi c reasons : "Leas t s o grea t good, a s he for he r ha d wrought , / Should die vnknown, an d buried be in thanklesse thought" (I, ix, 2). But he responds: Faire virgin . .. ye me require A thing without th e compas of my wit : For both th e lignage and the certaine Sire, From whic h I sprong, fro m me are hidden yit. (I, ix , 3 )

Arthur's "yit " mark s another proleptic promise that, since "yit" doe s not come withi n th e poem, place s knowledge o f origins outside of the text' s

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powers. B y analogy, then, th e poem itself admits fictionally that any dis covery of its origin mus t lie beyond the text, while allegorically it claims access, in contrast, to a founding authority or source. After rescuing Redcrosse from the dungeon of Orgoglio and reuniting him wit h Una , Arthu r draw s a conclusion tha t is correspondingly quit e different fro m what the allegory might require : This dayes ensampl e hat h thi s lesson dear e Deepe written in my heart with yron pen , That blisse ma y not abid e in state of mortall men . (I, viii , 44)

The writing o f this "iron pen," a figure from Job, ca n be contrasted wit h the allegorical writing that testifies to bliss in another realm—writing, we might say , with th e Palmer's allegorical "staffe"—since, fo r Arthur, that bliss can only be sought and enjoyed in promise, not within th e "state of mortall men." Arthur' s word s ech o throughou t th e poem (a s Hamilton notes: see III, i, 10.7 ; V, iii, 9. i; VI, xi, 1.7) , and surprisingly repeat Una's lament upo n hearin g o f Redcrosse' s plight, whe n sufferin g ha s "almos t rent her tender heart in tway" (I, vii, 27) . Una wishe s for death—"Now let the stony dar t of senselesse cold / Perce to my hart" (I, vii, 22)—and , given the pain of earthly sight, restate s Arthur's point : For earthly sigh t can nought but sorrow breed, And late repentance, whic h shall long abyde . Mine eyes no more on vanitie shal l feed, But seele d v p with death, shal l haue their deadl y meed . (I, vii , 23 )

This may not see m th e right judgment fo r "truth" to be making, bu t it appears to reflect the kind of "truth" the characters are able to express. In Orgoglio's dungeo n Redcross e himself ha d made similar moan , thoug h there it was represented as the counsel of despair: "O who i s that, whic h brings me happy choyce / Of death" (I, viii, 38), the enjambment marking the differenc e betwee n th e allegorica l understanding (t o b e rescue d b y grace is indeed a "happy choyce") an d Redcrosse's despair. Arthur's words do not counsel giving up and dying: what characterizes his heroism is precisely his consistent choice of the quest, a choice made in the knowledg e of the iron pen writing frailt y i n his heart.56 Arthur woul d surel y seem th e characte r most likel y t o b e able to see beyond thi s iro n writing , fo r h e i s th e onl y characte r to se e the Faer y Queen i n th e poem, albei t under the disguise of a dream vision. Bu t h e begins hi s accoun t o f hi s drea m b y statin g tha t "Nothin g i s sure, tha t

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growes o n earthly ground" (I, ix, 11) , and stressing that he does not know whether th e dream was true or only a delusion: But whether dreame s delude, or true it were, Was neuer hart so rauisht with delight , Ne liuin g man like words di d euer heare, As she to me deliuered all that night; And a t her parting said, She Queene o f Faerie s hight. (I, ix , 14 )

A visionary cente r o f th e poem an d a romance version o f its origin, Ar thur's dream of the Faery Queen remain s just that to him: when he awakes from it , h e grieves (" I sorrowed al l so much, a s earst I ioyd, /And wash t all her plac e with watry eyen, " st . 15) , an d undertakes the heroic quest . His vision give s him direction ordained by a promise—"She . . . bad me loue her deare, / For dearely sure her loue was to me bent, / As when iust time expire d shoul d appeare " (st . 14)—bu t h e remains unabl e t o judg e whether thi s promise i s delusion. Withi n th e poem "ius t time" does no t expire; Arthu r i s as far from hi s drea m a t the en d o f th e poe m a s at th e beginning. Spense r ends the stanza that describes Arthur's heroic response to hi s drea m wit h a referenc e t o th e nin e month s o f gestation—"Nin e monethes I seeke in vaine yet ni'll that vow vnbind" (st. 15)—as if Arthur were abou t t o giv e birth t o the completion o f his quest; but th e promis e of thi s imag e i s never fulfilled . Th e prolepti e visionar y structur e o f hi s dream provide s th e only hope tha t the poem hold s out , bu t th e prolepsis is invoked withou t bein g completed; it is designed not to be textually fulfilled. Arthu r i s left wit h th e heroic task of seekin g ou t hi s dream "wit h labour, an d long tyne " ("tyne" means "trouble" or "suffering," bu t also the shar p poin t o n a weapon o r tool, like—fo r instance—th e point o f a pen), which, he acknowledges, canno t be expected to disappear as long as the iron pe n of mortal experience seems to write in his heart. Arthur's decisio n to turn his dream vision into a quest defines one nar rative structure of the poem, an d represents a mediating compromise tha t Spenser make s i n a n attemp t t o mov e pas t the epistemologica l impass e that I have described. The quest has the structure of an unclosed prolepsi s or an unclosed, temporalize d synecdoche, in which part promises one day to become th e whole, a tropological descriptio n that also applies to faith . Necessarily, though , a s Spenser portray s it , th e ques t remain s radicall y open-ended—any vision tha t can be grasped is either deluding b y defini tion o r defame d an d destroye d b y morta l "touch. " Spenser' s us e of th e quest, an d his linking o f vision t o quest, is often see n as the central moral emphasis o f th e poem . Bu t combine d wit h th e absolute distinctio n be -

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tween heroi c action, marke d by the common bon d o f human frailty , an d the varying figurative and allegorical moves of the poem, thi s "vnperfet " and inconcludabl e ques t patter n manifest s a radical Protestant emphasi s on faith (sola fides), an d indeed figures almost a via negativa, for what mus t be believed is placed absolutely beyond representation and beyond knowledge. Th e more absolut e the epistemological impass e becomes, th e mor e essential and unavoidable becomes th e obligatory gesture of faith that can overcome it . To put thi s dilemm a thematically , Th e Faerie Queene affirm s tha t th e quest endow s th e live s o f it s principa l protagonist s wit h meaning , ye t consistently shows , a s we have begun t o see with Arthur , tha t this ques t does not chang e the defining conditions o f action or lift th e mortal limitations that prevent the fuller understandin g essential for the moral lif e as the poem define s it. A s a result, th e characters experience their quests as a compulsion tha t brings mor e pai n than fulfillment. Th e fac t o f the quest does not bestow eithe r knowledge o r meaning, doe s not make events any more interpretable , an d certainly does not give the character access to the allegory. Rather , quest s are pictured as painful, unending , an d essentially formal machine s fo r generating events whose interpretation s fal l entirel y outside the form. The situation can seem to become intolerable—thus Arthur, immediatel y afte r tellin g Un a o f his dream, show s sign s of the suffering hi s journey entails : Thus as he spake, hi s visage wexe d pale , And chaung e o f he w grea t passio n di d bewray; Yet still he stroue to cloke his inward bale , And hide the smoke, tha t di d his fire display . (I, ix , 16 )

The heroi c lif e a s Spenser picture s it require s th e strengt h t o undertak e one's ques t without an y certainty of wha t it means or where i t will lead; the hero hides his or her suffering under a cloak, as Odysseus wept behin d his cloak at the banquet of Alcinous . For the poet, th e formal difficulty i n this pattern of vision an d quest is twofold. First , a s Arthur's drea m shows, visio n exert s a kind o f compulsion over the viewer, wh o is "rauisht"; it poses a moral danger to the spectator, who is moved b y a compulsion tha t cannot be known or judged an d whose cause s cannot b e understood. I t is in the moment o f vision, then , that th e issu e of authorit y become s crucial—th e authorit y o f a code o r paradigm fo r distinguishin g fals e union s fro m true , fo r instance—bu t within the fiction Spenser is careful t o indicate that there is no authorit y that ca n be relied o n absolutely t o distinguish tru e from false . Secondly ,

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because the poem's visionary poetics are distinguished from its allegorical apocalyptics, it remains essential that the vision not be represented, not be given a content tha t ca n be grasped. Suc h visions depend, therefore , o n the veil woven by the fiction; the fiction must serve as a trope for the inexpressible. Thu s Arthur's visio n i s given the colorin g o f a romance and a love story , an d th e fac t tha t Arthu r canno t fin d hi s belove d withi n th e frame o f the story becomes the thematic version o f the more radical implications o f th e poem—tha t hi s vision wa s o f somethin g "other " tha t cannot be named. Th e structur e of allegory , is, however, no t a proleptic mode, but, a s we have seen, a mode based on the constitutive anteriority of a n unnamed other . Th e allegor y thus needs the veiling fictio n to help "reverse" o r "untie " its temporal mode; bu t tha t veil the n reestablishes the limits o f visio n an d understanding and, b y allowing th e poem t o be read in two ofte n opposin g ways , allows a critique of allegorical method itself t o become part of the story. The disjunction of allegory and fiction is thus necessar y for an y visionar y poetics , bu t als o necessarily severely qualifies th e visionary claims of the poem. Spense r takes, I believe, a n extreme positio n i n suggesting that the structure of vision—unclosed, un ended, "vnperfet"—mus t shap e the heroic life, whil e the vision can have no knowabl e conten t whatsoever , excep t a s trope . Th e Faerie Queene's analysis o f th e dilemma s o f allegorica l compulsion, whic h wil l b e dis cussed i n th e nex t chapter , constitute s a continuing interrogatio n o f th e dangers of visionary power . But ther e is, surely, one shining example in Th e Faerie Queene o f a visionary powe r no t dangerou s bu t protective ; no t contradictor y bu t en tirely, an d by definition , univocal and unambiguous: Arthur's shield . I n line wit h romanc e topoi, Arthu r i s given tw o piece s of chivalri c equipment. One is a helmet that seems to embody the apotropaic power of rep resentation to control evil—the helmet is "enfolded" by a golden Dragon , whose "scal y tayl e wa s stretch t adown e hi s back e ful l low, " I , vii , 31 , marking fo r the reader Arthur's descent from Uther Pendragon an d fig uring his apotropaic power to invert and control the imagery of evil. Th e second is a magic shield "of Diamon d perfec t pure and cleene" (I, vii, 33), which he keeps covered because of its powers. This shield can discriminate the "reality " fro m th e appearance , and thu s woul d appea r to solv e th e poem's dilemmas o f ignorance and uncertainty and to reverse its poetics of "seems." Nevertheless, th e poet describes it in such a way as to link its power t o turn "seems" into "is" ( a form of turning simile into metaphor) with death, and with th e threat of petrification : No magick e arts hereof ha d any might, Nor bloudi e wordes of bold Enchaunters call,

Epistemologies o f Errantry in Th e Faerie Queene 261 But al l that was not such , a s seemd in sight, Before that shield di d fade, an d suddeine fall : And when him list the raskall routes appall, Men into stones therewith h e could transmew , And stones to dust, an d dust to nought a t all; And when him list the prouder lookes subdew , He would them gazin g blind, o r turne to other hew . Ne let it seeme, tha t credence this exceedes, For he that made the same, was knowne righ t wel l To haue done muc h more admirable deedes. It Merlin was, which whylome did excell All liuing wights i n might o f magicke spell: Both shield, an d sword, and armour all he wrought For this young Prince , whe n firs t t o armes he fell ; But when he dyde, th e Faerie Queene i t brough t To Faerie lond, where ye t it may be seen, if sought . (I, vii , 35-36 )

After hinting that the powers of this shield might have something in com mon wit h witchcraft (I, vii, 34), Spenser immediately denies this disturbing analogy, only to return to it in another form in the magic of Merlin . Although here he denies the magician's "bloudie wordes," when Merli n appears in Book III there will be no doubt about his willingness to use the darker powers of hi s art, a willingness that leaves the status of the shield somewhat mor e i n doubt . Stanz a 3 5 reveals a similar ambivalence about the shield, for it returns the text explicitly to the political registe r it found when identifying the power of Guyon's iconoclastic violence to eradicate pity. The first quatrain seems to offer th e needed solution to the deceiving appearances of this world, bu t the second reveals the costs of that power: the shield is Medusa-like in its power to petrify gazers , a capacity Spenser associates particularly with the need to subdue the "raskall routes." If the shield can discriminate between what truly is and what merely appears to be, the n perhap s th e "raskal l routes " ar e trul y stone s o r perhap s even "nought a t all. " Th e "proud " apparentl y can only b e transformed "t o other hew " o r blinded, bu t not unveiled . The stanz a thus makes it clear that this power to strip away appearances is inhuman, or at least involves being able to take a perspective on human beings in which they seem t o be stones. Further, in the difference between the shield's power over "ras kall routes" an d its power over the proud, it appears to be associated with a politica l asymmetry that the poem' s mora l analysi s cannot allow . Th e shield is "perfect," Spense r tells us, perhap s the only mark of perfection within th e poem: thi s perfection figures precisel y the kind of closure de-

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nied t o th e character s (an d to th e plot s o f th e poem) . Suc h closur e de stroys, petrifies , o r transforms the human gazer , reducing wha t "seems " to wha t "is, " and in doing so , suggestin g tha t what "seems " is life itsel f and what "is, " bot h in the sense of an ontological absolute and in the sense of a metaphor no t founde d upon a contingent, metonymi c displacement , can be found only in eternity. 57 Such "perfection" certainl y is not achieved in Arthur's story as it is told in the poem. No t onl y is Arthur reunited with Timias withou t eve r learning o f Timias' s fores t lif e wit h Belphoebe, bu t h e rides ou t o f the poe m without eve n the glimmer o f an explanatory lesson. Th e poem itsel f is— in both a trivial and this more comple x sense—unfinishe d ("vnperfite") , perhaps in par t because some o f these interpretive an d formal dilemma s could not be resolved within Spenser' s poetics, and in part because he was obliged b y his analysis of the problem o f vision to delay or defer the end ing o f an y quests , includin g hi s own . Nonetheless , Arthur' s departur e from th e poem is particularly abrupt, and points to the lack of closure we have seen figured in the experience of earlier epic heroes. His shield, how ever, seems to have the perfection denied both the poem and its characters: being shinin g diamond , i t is like a mirror, and , like Spenser's other mir rors, i s a figure for allegory. As such, "yet i t may be seen," continuing i n the tex t t o provid e a way t o se e beyond "seems " t o a "perfection" an d closure beyond th e mortal—a "perfection" th e allegory claims to offer its readers, but a t a greater cost than it cares to admit: the divine perspective necessary for its totalizing gestures is specifically inhuman , whil e th e pe trification that the shield causes is shown t o be the destructive componen t of the compulsion implici t in Spenser's visionary paradigm. 58 "THE CAUS E WAS THIS" The protagonist s o f th e poe m coul d b e sai d t o b e literalists : the y ar e "atropic" in the double sense of not being able to read the tropes and figures of their world, an d of being specifically limited by a mortal fate that, at the level of figure, th e poem trie s to transcend. This doubl e limitatio n connects the m t o Atropos , th e Moir a tha t cut s th e threa d o f life , pre venting an y furthe r spinnin g ou t o f fictions , solutions , o r alternativ e meanings.59 The lin k o f mortalit y an d the nonfigurative, nontrope d un derstanding of events traces back to the Iliad, a s I have argued, and define s the epic distance, th e distance that appears to giv e us a point fro m whic h to vie w th e characters ' ignorance , thei r literalizin g an d it s fata l conse quences. W e see them a s participating in a metonymic dispersal , unable to

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find an y relation between part s that, figuratively, should point t o a larger symbolic or "cosmic" union. Bu t this way of describing the epic distance obscures the extent to which the text places the reader in a related position, if at a different leve l of figuration. An analysis of the structure of allegor ical causation can more clearly indicate both the conditions o f the text and the ways in which thes e conditions implicitly must constrain not only the figure of the "unknowing" reader but also the knowledge and interpretive power grante d the knowing reader , apparently set at a privileged distanc e from th e text. The terminolog y o f "tropic" and "atropic" can come t o seem deceptively arbitrary , however, fo r reason s tha t ar e themselves o f theoretica l interest. I t migh t b e argued , fo r instance , tha t th e assignment s o f thes e terms shoul d b e reversed: in that the characters see only th e fictionalized or trope d version s o f th e trut h bein g represente d o n a differing leve l o f the text, they might be thought of as "tropic," while the final, unmediate d vision of the source, authority, or end might be called "atropic." The pre dicament of the characters, and of the readers, is viewed in this description from a n eschatological poin t o f view, fro m outside or afte r time , an d its informing subtext , lik e that of much Christia n allegorizing , ca n be identified a s St. Paul's "glass" through whic h w e see "darkly": from this per spective, all that comes before can only be seen as the reflection of the ab solute; what come s before would thu s be the trope that turns, darkens, or deflects th e truth. Bu t neithe r th e characters nor, mor e importantly, th e poet or readers can occupy this position: we see only the impenetrable barrier of the dark glass, and can only guess at further reflection s beyond ou r vision.60 The structur e of suc h guessing , lik e tha t o f Arthur' s promise d union wit h the Faery Queen, is that of an open prolepsis or a detotalized synecdoche. Within the text, the fictional world therefore must constitute the only definitio n of the untroped—that which indicates the constraints and limit s tha t canno t b e transcended—whil e th e poet' s supplementar y comments, alway s figurative in the technical sense of depending o n spe cific tropes or figures (suc h as anthropomorphism an d prosopopoeia, th e defining figure s of allegory), mus t be interpreted as the troped. Th e pos sibility of inverting this scheme of tropic and atropic, however, articulates Spenser's dilemm a a s visionary poet : i t indicates how th e reade r is con strained b y a n interpretiv e limitatio n resemblin g tha t impose d o n th e characters, an d hint s a t an ultimate circularit y i n allegorica l representa tion, a circularit y tha t make s th e representatio n o f suc h "fina l things " (things outside the text o r beyond time ) impossible . This circularity is especially apparent at times whe n th e text attempt s to indicat e th e caus e o f th e events—usuall y whe n th e character s hav e

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stumbled into difficulties and the fiction demands that the question o f their responsibility fo r a given error or turn of plot be answered. It is answered, by definition, in the negative: the characters cannot have caused the events themselves, s o thos e event s ar e define d a s caused by magic—b y meta morphosis, b y th e doing s o f a witch, b y th e wor d powe r o f a n Archmagus. Magi c become s th e name within th e fiction that cover s th e rhe torical strateg y here; it names allegory's wa y of replacing the character' s own causa l responsibility wit h anothe r character , place, force , o r event . At this level, then, magic, too, becomes the fictional veil for the systematic catachresis o f allegory. 61 This tur n t o magi c i n n o wa y simplifie s our description . A s Angu s Fletcher, th e mos t rigorou s explicato r o f thi s fictiona l veiling, ha s ex plained, "magic " i n allegor y ca n be eithe r "imitative " o r "contagious " (Allegory, pp . 188-99) , th e imitative serving a s "the basi s of causalit y in allegories wher e symmetr y predominates, " fo r "i t trie s t o brin g rea l events whic h th e magicia n wants t o contro l int o paralle l with symboli c ones" (p . 188) . Fletche r associates the "imitative" magic with th e correspondence betwee n microcosmo s an d macrocosmo s (p . 192) , bu t thi s "language o f cosmic correspondence" (p . 193 ) has its contagious versio n in ritua l form , whic h control s an d explains th e workings of contagiou s magic, and which determine s the final effec t o f each partial agent or event (thus giving ritual too a "cosmic" or unifying function, p. 198). These tw o types of magic cannot be kept formally distinct, then, sinc e both depen d on a final unifyin g move.62 This settin g "int o parallel " suggest s th e dange r i n suc h explanation s and describe s th e specula r circularity of Spenser' s narrative doubles: th e "explanation" o r "cause" can only be another narrative repeating at a secondary leve l wha t i t i s invoked t o explain . Thi s difficult y become s im mediately apparen t i n a prominen t centra l instanc e i n whic h th e tex t claims to explain a "cause"—the moment whe n the Redcrosse Knight sit s down i n the middle o f hi s quest and drinks from a fountain: 63 The caus e was this: one day when Phoebe fa y re With al l her band was following the chace, This Nymph, quit e tyr'd wit h heat of scorching ayre Sat downe t o rest in middest of the race: The goddess e wroth ga n fowly her disgrace, And bad the waters, which from her did flow, Be such as she her self e was then in place. Thenceforth he r waters waxed dull and slow, And al l that drunke thereof, did faint an d feeble grow . (I, vii , 5)

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As John Guillor y ha s argued, "The representation of th e source is given in the narrative the power o f causation as well," but "the reader is not sure . . . that the story of the Nymph, i n repeating Redcrosse' s action, helps to explain it." 64 Th e "source " o f explanation— a providentia l sourc e tha t gives authority to the explanation—can only be the allegory itself, he con cludes. Th e figur e her e controls th e action, requirin g certai n results that it pretend s t o hav e "explained. " Redcrosse himself , o f course , doe s no t know thi s repeatin g tale : th e incident figure s bot h th e characters ' ignorance of cause s and the poem' s inabilit y t o represen t causes , incapacities that have frustrate d th e epi c attempt t o "explain"—"Musa , mih i causas memora," or, as Milton put s it, "Sa y firs t wha t cause"—from th e Aeneid on. Ther e is at the level of plot no cause that can be represented or know n for th e mora l lassitud e wit h whic h Redcross e an d correspondingl y th e nymph wh o sit s down i n the middle o f the chase are infected at this mo ment. The aetiological digression i n the simile might, however , sugges t tw o alternative explanations to the reader, both o f which g o beyond th e nar rative of simply sitting dow n "i n middest of the race." The first involve s the turn to an Ovidian metamorphosis to describe the landscape. This evocation o f anothe r kin d o f source— a poeti c predecessor—al l th e mor e clearly locates any knowledge o f cause within th e domains o f textuality, and, in Spenser' s terms, i n a secular fiction. This mod e o f explanatio n is reinforced elsewher e i n Th e Faerie Queene: throughou t th e poem , mos t cases in which th e poet promise s t o explai n th e cause ("The caus e some say is this," III, iii, 10 ; "That is the cause," III, ix, 6; "Now mot e ye know (that which t o Britomart I Vnknowen was ) whence al l this did proceede," V, vi , 31 ) involv e secondar y narratives , either allude d to b y th e poet o r even made a part of the fiction, as is the case in the examples from Book s III an d V. Markers such as "That is the cause" mos t ofte n indicate a turn to a different kind of narrative—to Ovidian metamorphosis , t o Celtic leg end and its literary forms (III , iii, 10—th e legends of Merlin) , t o the no vella (Malbecc o and Hellenore). The identifyin g of a previous narrative, genre o r discours e a s "cause " emphasize s th e circularit y o f allegorica l causation both because it simply replaces one narrative with another, an d because it suggests a circularity to literary history itself: the poem fulfill s its aim of identifying the causes of action by locating a source in preceding exemplars o f th e genr e tha t ar e constituted a s authoritative onl y b y th e poem's ow n action in so naming them . The secon d "explanation " implie d i n th e Ovidia n transformatio n o f the lazy nymph int o a sluggish and poisonous strea m arises from the per sonification o f "he r waters, " whos e sexua l connotations becom e partic -

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ularly eviden t i n ligh t o f th e event s o f th e followin g stanzas . In what i s more a casting of blam e than an explanation of cause, female sexuality is suddenly an d inexplicably linke d t o lassitude, the implication bein g tha t a woman's "waters" should be avoided. Diana is here made a figure for an unacknowledged rejectio n of femal e sexuality , b y servin g fictionall y t o suggest—in part through he r traditional role as goddess of chastity—that drinking such "waters" may permanently en d one's abilit y to pursue the quest, o r ru n "th e race." In this secon d implie d "cause " is exemplified a strategy of scapegoating, which, a s we have seen in the Aeneid, never helps to locat e a n original caus e but ca n displace the urgency o f th e searc h by claiming t o have located one . The structure of such allegorical events is indeed circular—the text sub stitutes wha t come s afte r fo r wha t come s before , an d designate s wha t comes afte r a s "cause." The knigh t fall s pre y t o lassitude and to pride, 65 and the n drink s fro m th e fountai n (i n eithe r sense) , a n ac t name d th e "cause" of his moral failure. Redcrosse Knight's encounter with San s Foy gives anothe r clea r example o f thi s tempora l inversio n i n a case of psy chomachia: Redcross e succumbs to faithlessness , and then h e meets San s Foy. Thi s meetin g represent s and repeats in a different registe r what ha s already occurred accordin g to the poem's mora l scheme. The result of the two knights ' meetin g is , not unexpectedly, tha t they fight , bu t thi s battle was, a t th e mora l level , precisel y wha t "caused " th e event s i n th e firs t place. Th e sam e inverting o f caus e and effec t occur s with the landscape: Redcrosse and Una ente r th e wood presumably because they ar e already in error, alread y wandering i n worldiness (o r even simply in materiality, the "woo d o f thi s world") ; in contrast , however , enterin g th e woo d is treated in the fiction as the cause of their difficulties . Th e externa l is rep resented fictionall y as the caus e of a situation that morally i s treated a s a prior, interna l event . Two related tropes can be used to describe the operation o f allegory at such moments. The first is the trope of metalepsis, or transumption, ofte n defined a s the substitutin g o f th e consequen t fo r th e preceden t o r vic e versa. A s John Hollander explains , "I t ca n be the effect fo r the cause, the subsequent for the antecedent, the late for the early . . . but there is a general sense that it is a kind of meta-trope, o r figure of linkage between fig ures, an d that there will be one or more unstated middle term s whic h ar e leapt over , o r allude d to , b y th e figure " (Figure o f Echo, p . 114) . "Onl y transumption," moreover , "seem s t o involv e a tempora l sequence " (p. 134). Thu s Puttenham give s u s metalepsi s a s "the farfet , a s when w e had rathe r fetc h a word a great way of f than to vse one nerer t o han d t o expresse aswe l and plainer " (Arte of English Poesie, p. 193) , and his ex-

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amples tend to establish sequences moving fro m effec t bac k to cause, th e trope servin g t o lea p over th e sequence , replacing a nearer caus e with a more distan t one, a s if th e trop e itself allegorize d the ques t for sources . The trope relies on ellipsis, as Hollander suggests, so that its interpretation entails "the recovery o f the transumed material" (p . 115)—wha t is overleapt in the troping action. Thus Hollander propose s that transumption is the maste r trop e fo r allusion—th e somethin g tha t is leapt over an d also antecedent to the poem at hand precisely because it belongs to a prior text. Both senses of metalepsis—as ellipsis and as temporal inversion—are pertinent t o th e structur e of th e allegorica l event sinc e suc h events usually locate their "causes" in a secondary, explanatory narrative, which repeats the origina l stor y an d is itself treate d as a prior text , th e events of whic h are alluded to indirectly an d figured a s "explanation" for the fictional ac tion. The difficultie s wit h thi s "leaping over " that becomes not onl y a "farfet" bu t a n "after-taker" (Hollander , Figure o f Echo, pp. 142-43 ) concer n precisely the need t o recove r wha t ha s been elided. Whil e suc h recovery may indee d b e possible in give n instances of th e verbal trope, i n the in tellectual figure it becomes more doubtful. For this reason, perhaps, Erasmus likened metalepsis to catachresis (or abusio). 66 The catachresti c structure o f allegory' s narrativ e doubles thu s become s metaleptic—elliptica l with regar d to tempora l sequence and questions of causality—whil e th e difficulty o f recovering th e troped material is brought to the fore because the text focuses thematically on the moral necessity of precisely this act of recovery. The secon d trop e tha t describes the process of tempora l inversio n b y which allegorica l narrative proceeds is hysteron proteron, place d by Put tenham i n his section on "Auricula r Figures " tha t work b y disorder and involve th e repositioning o f word s o r clause s so that wha t conceptuall y comes afte r i s placed first. Allegorica l causation relies on the larger figure of though t o f whic h thi s verbal trope migh t provid e a model, wit h th e result that inversions o r displacements that might b e more easily discovered in the verbal trope become harder to interpret in the figure.67 Putten ham's definitio n of hystero n protero n begin s proverbially: "Y e haue another manne r o f disordere d speach , whe n y e misplac e you r word s o r clauses and set that before which shoul d be behind, e t e conuerso, we cal l it in Englis h prouerbe , th e car t before the horse , th e Greek s cal l it histeron proteron, we name it th e Preposterous , an d if it be not to o muc h vse d is tollerable inough " (p . 181) . Thi s "preposterous " trop e define s th e con ceptual structure of Spenserian allegorical events, a structure elegantly expressed a s putting th e cart before the horse. When , however , th e poem' s

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concerns become less strictly formal and begin to express a particular ideological perspective , hystero n proteron' s apparentl y tolerable disorder ha s rather les s comfortin g implication s fo r th e poem' s claim s t o legitimac y and authority. Give n its biblical resonance of social and familial inversio n (the first becomes last and the last first in the final apocalyptic reordering; Jacob outwits Esau), 68 hysteron proteron can, for instance, become a social trope. A s Patricia Parke r has observed, Puttenha m list s this trop e unde r the genera l figur e o f disorder—"Hyperbaton , o r th e Trespasser"— a placement tha t indirectly acknowledge s it s more dangerous possibilities . Parker comment s o n the verbal connections betwee n th e "preposterous" trope an d th e Italia n preposto, "whic h Florio's Worlde o f Wordes inform s u s means 'preferred , pu t before , mad e chiefe' or 'advance d befor e others' " (Fat Ladies, p . 68) , all of whic h describ e wel l bot h th e narrator' s goa l i n using thi s trop e t o establis h Elizabeth's line an d Elizabeth's ow n interes t in genealogy. Sinc e it can constitute authority, on the other hand, the trope can also demystify the process by which authorit y is instituted if its ow n operations ca n b e mad e visible . Lik e Virgil's , Spenser' s tropologica l scheme—by extension , th e scheme by which th e aesthetico-political au thorities o f th e allegor y an d of th e monarc h ar e mutually established — therefore displace s attention fro m thos e textual gestures that tend t o ex pose the way the trope works, fo r they would revea l in the first place that legitimacy mor e generall y may be established by this same turn, an d further that the turn is performed by a trope that functions a s much to figure social disorder ( a kind of chaos is generated, indeed, whe n one proclaim s a new family royal, as Shakespeare's history plays amply attest) as to reinforce authority . Thi s though t i s not encouragin g t o th e clai m o f divin e sanction fo r roya l authority , bu t i t i s precisely par t o f th e rational e tha t allows the poet himself t o appropriate this same strategy. The structure of the allegory—metaleptic and inverting of cause and effect—thus veil s any direct acknowledgment b y the poet that his own self-empowering move s depend o n a circularit y tha t implicitl y challenge s th e uniqu e claim s o f royal power . Th e poe m veil s thi s potentia l demystificatio n o f roya l au thority both for the Queen's sake and because to reveal it would be to in dicate the allegory's complicity in such moves, th e dependence of the nar rator o n just suc h a n inversion an d transumption . Th e tendenc y o f th e action t o literalize these tropes and expose their structure , however, pro vides a different perspectiv e from which it is, at least occasionally, possibl e to see through this veil . The ideologica l suppressio n o f th e poem' s method s o f institutin g al legorical authority—itsel f also a part of the allegory—helps to naturalize Elizabeth's powe r an d political order, althoug h thi s suppression tend s t o recast the formal discussion of those methods i n strictly representational

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and political terms. Puttenha m had begun his discussion of metalepsis by saying tha t th e "deviser " o f th e figur e "ha d a desir e t o pleas e women rather than men: for we vse to say by manner of Prouerbe: things farrefe t and dear e bought ar e good fo r Ladies" (p . 193) . Spenser' s farfetching o f ancestors and authority certainl y seems aimed at Elizabeth, thoug h ho w much i t please d her remain s somewha t i n doubt . Th e lin k betwee n th e trope and "pleasing" women serve s in Puttenham's schem e implicitly t o demote th e trope, fo r as Patricia Parker has argued, a sexual politics is encoded i n Puttenham's syste m o f tropes along with other message s about the need to maintain social and political order.69 She points to Puttenham's example of metalepsis, taken from a curse flung by Medea at the very trees that produced the wood for the ships that brought Jason to her shores. In this cas e several horses ar e set before the cart , transforming i n sequenc e each effec t int o a new cause , and creatin g a potentially endles s sequence that point s t o a n unreachable origin beyon d Medea' s anger . Parke r cites this exampl e to note ho w Puttenha m inserts into a n apparently "neutra l discussion o f rhetorica l tropes " a "stereotypica l associatio n betwee n women and something 'fetche d fro m afar ' " (Fat Ladies, p. 108) , o r wan dering, fantastical , extreme . Th e exampl e illustrates Medea's powerless ness as well as the extremity of her anger. While Puttenham's explanation s of tropes can only offer a general analogy to Spenser's rhetorical treatment of Elizabeth, his examples do point out a tendency in the trope, and sho w why i t migh t b e difficul t t o us e it to institut e a political or eve n a poetic legitimacy. There is something wandering, fantastical , an d extreme about the metalepti c positin g o f Elizabeth' s origins : lik e al l representation o f what appears to be an origin, thi s one surreptitiously undermines her authority, b y demonstrating that such origins mus t be farfetched. 70 The episode of Furor and Occasion, which helpfully illustrates how allegory formall y puts th e car t before the hors e an d provides a model fo r the transumption of its poetic predecessors in causal inversions, similarl y draws on a language in which th e exercise of power is seen as inseparable from th e use of the trope. Guyo n first sees "or seeme d for to see" " A mad man, o r that feigned mad to bee," drawin g "b y th e haire along vpon th e ground/A handsom e stripling " (II , iv, 3) ; "him behind , a wicked Ha g did stalke " (st . 4) . The initia l positioning o f thes e figures, with "Occa sion" comin g behin d th e "Furor " i t caused , i s repeated in th e episod e when Guyo n first tries to overcome "Furor" in what is treated by the poet as a moment o f psychomachia , an d only the n is told b y th e Palmer tha t "Furor" cannot be overthrown unles s "Occasion" is first conquered : With her, wh o s o will raging Furor tame , Must first begin, an d well her amenage :

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First her restraine from he r reprochfull blame, And euill meanes, with which sh e doth enrage Her frantick e sonne, an d kindles his courage, Then when she is withdrawen, o r strong withstood , It's eath his idle furie t o asswage, And calm e the tempest of hi s passion wood; The banke s are ouerflowen, whe n stoppe d is the flood. (II, iv, ii)

Nonetheless, whe n Phedon explains how he came to be prisoner of Furor, Occasion remain s consequent . Th e order is explicit in Phedon's explana tion: "I, breathin g yre, / . . . with my heat kindled his cruell fyre; / Which kindled once , hi s mother di d more rage inspyre" (II, iv, 32). While Pyrochles gets the logical order straight (II, v, 17-18)—for he urges Guyon first to fre e Occasion—Phedon' s stor y describe s th e order i n whic h th e nar rative presents thes e figures. The initial figuration of the two, then , ca n be read as an allegorization of th e use of hystero n proteron i n allegorical narrative, allegorizing , in other words, th e temporal structure of allegory itself. Given the chivalric, specifically male Furor that overtakes Phedon, Gu yon, an d Pyrochles, on e should also pause over Spenser's choice of an old woman to personify the "occasion" for this fury. A s "mother" of Furor , an old woman may make metaphorical sense, yet the strain involved her e in making the fiction fit the allegory calls attention to the problem o f gen der. Th e "occasion " behind th e allegory is personified as female perhaps to suppl y a grounding "cause " onto which blam e ca n be transferred (as blame wa s implicitly attache d to femal e sexualit y in th e digression "ex plaining" the powers o f the fountain from which Redcross e drinks). Th e text acknowledges , however , th e extent t o which thi s demonizing o f the female represent s a secondary narrativ e that displaces rather tha n locates a cause by identifying Occasion's powe r a s coming fro m "her vngratiou s tong," on whic h Guyo n "a n yro n loc k di d fasten firm e an d strong" (II, iv, 12). Although th e allegory of the occasion for fury, sh e can only repeat in word s afte r th e fac t whateve r ha d bee n th e initia l unrepresentabl e "cause." Eac h narrativ e or "fit " o f languag e that attempt s t o represen t that cause—like Phedon's ow n novella—evoke s a greater need for expla nation, implyin g anothe r prior narrative that itself would similarl y poin t to ye t another. 71 Occasio n allegorize s th e positio n o f secondarines s oc cupied b y al l explanatory o r causa l figures within th e allegor y an d links that secondariness to the female gender , specificall y th e mother. This secondariness i s also a figure for the narrative of literar y history. Having locke d u p Occasion' s tongue , Guyo n does bin d Furor , thoug h

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with mor e difficult y tha n the Palmer's word s indicate . Lik e Furor Impius in th e visionar y catalogu e o f Jupite r (Aeneid I) , Furo r her e i s bound i n chains: "both his hands fas t boun d behin d hi s backe, /And both hi s fee t in fetters to an yron racke" (II, iv, 14). But what in the Aeneid was pictured as the result of imperial history an d interpreted, by the figures at least, as having brough t peac e is in Spenser , becaus e of th e adde d figur e o f Oc casion, the cause of another outburst of chivalric fury. Occasio n seem s to provide the occasion for Furor whether or not she is bound and her tongue locked (se e II, v, 17-19 where Pyrochles untie s Occasion, wh o rekindle s Furor both literally and figuratively). The material that is "transumed" (or "leapt over") in this allusion, then, is in part the Virgilian vision of a Furor that can be bound forever—albei t a vision appropriat e to Jupiter an d no t corroborated i n th e actio n of th e Aeneid, where , a s we have seen, Furo r rages fro m beginnin g t o end . Fo r Spenser , Furo r canno t remai n boun d even in thi s visionary , figurativ e version; ther e is always Occasion, tha t female figure of the secondariness of origins that provokes and stings one on. A s this accoun t implies, on e of th e strategie s for displacin g a secondariness tha t ca n seem t o afflic t th e poe m itsel f i s to gende r it , bu t thi s solution als o has its own concomitant political difficulties, s o that the text reduplicates on the political level the problematic marked in the rhetoric . The connectio n o f Guyo n an d Furor remain s clos e throughout Boo k II, a s i s evidence d b y "th e tempes t o f hi s wrathfulnesse " (II , xii , 83) , which i s directed, wit h his narrator's (though not necessaril y his poem's) support, agains t Acrasia and the inhabitants of the Bower o f Bliss . Her e a formal aspect of allegorica l method itself—th e requiremen t tha t Furor be periodically unleashed—doubles as a representation of iconoclastic vi olence.72 Indeed, throughou t th e episode, allegorical representation takes one of its most violen t forms—incarnating , a s in the story o f Furor , fig ures of imprisonment and what Spenser calls "thralldom"—when it is required to impose hierarchical order (that is, when it acts as head of a mon archy o f meanings) . Thi s violenc e i s connecte d t o wha t migh t b e de scribed as an apocalyptic matrix within which all sense is to be determined according to a predicted "fatall end," an d can in part be assimilated to the extremity o f certai n Protestant orthodoxie s tha t dre w o n a n apocalyptic interpretation of history. 73 The politica l scheme and the allegorical mod e thus conspire in the story of Guyon t o render any permanent binding o f Furor impossible , fo r a version o f tha t Furor , purifie d o f Occasion , i s needed to conclude the book. Th e ambivalence of this final episode—has Guyon faile d in his quest for moderation, tha t classical ideal of mediocritas that should exclude all tempests of wrathfulness? o r is his destructive re sponse to Acrasia and her bower viewed sympathetically within the poem

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as an appropriate hol y wrath? —come s in part , then , fro m th e clas h be tween the text's allegorical assertion of sympathy with a politics of repression an d its ongoing fictiona l interrogation o f the mode of allegory. Th e metaleptic transumptio n o f the Virgilian figure o f Furor Impius boun d i n chains thus extends a critique of the overt politics of Guyon's destructio n of th e Bowe r o f Blis s b y revealin g throug h suppresse d contras t exactl y the calm no t achieved in this version o f Elizabetha n policy. Of th e limitation s o r danger s thu s exposed , a major one i s made ap parent b y th e fictional representation of the poem's relianc e on hystero n proteron i n its efforts t o represent causes, an aspect of what Guillory aptly calls Spenser' s "critiqu e o f origins. " Spenser' s poem , Guillor y argues , makes th e ineffability o f origins—especially sacred origins—the starting point fo r a n affirmation o f the authority of fictio n itself , and for the def inition of a new visionary or "prophetic" power tha t begins b y admittin g that it cannot cross the boundary of the sacred. The trope of hysteron pro teron i s involved i n this "critiqu e o f origins" both becaus e it defines one move by which th e poet appears to offer a causal explanation and because it indicate s th e kin d o f powe r possesse d by figures . A s Phedon' s stor y makes clear , Furo r ha s the powe r t o mak e him a "thral" (II , iv, 16) , ye t the characters cannot permanently "enthrall" Furor. The binding an d unbinding o f Occasio n an d Furo r identifie s a fundamental connection be tween th e inversion o f allegorical narrative order and the structures of allegorical compulsion . Th e episode thus not onl y provides a n allegory for such causal inversions but indicates their cost: while the heroic action may call upon th e protagonist s t o bin d thes e personifications, to contro l an d contain them, th e figures themselves are shown finall y to be the ones that have the power t o bind o r to possess. Allegorical narrative, then, is both transumptive—metaleptic, in leap ing over something tha t must be recovered, usually a past text or unrepre sentable previous even t tha t is fictionally elided a s cause—and inverted , using hysteron protero n t o place the effect a s cause and the cause as effect. In its reliance on these two related tropes, it establishes an analogy between its epistemological an d its political dilemmas: what cannot be known, th e missing term that cannot be represented, i s akin to the missing source , th e lack of authoritative origin, itself veiled by the inversion that places a consequent presence—political, but als o textual—in the position o f cause. In the scheme of characters, too, th e representational and the political dilemmas converge, fo r the inversion o f cause and effect create s on the fictional plane a compulsion tha t drives the characters to act although the y canno t recognize it s source . Thi s compulsio n b y figure s i s less explicitly—bu t

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perhaps mor e significantly—identifie d wit h th e compellin g politica l power fro m which the poem i n part takes its inspiration. The double troping that typifies both metalepsis and hysteron protero n hides two centra l difficulties fo r the allegorical narrator and the text that he imagines. First , it veils the fac t tha t the caus e cannot be recovered b y his narrativ e method , howeve r indispensabl e understandin g tha t caus e may be for moral and political analysis. This veiling migh t rightl y be interpreted a s a n illuminatin g representatio n o f th e fictionalit y o f mos t causes—their status as stories invented b y a culture or a previous author itative text to explain otherwise arbitrary assertions of power. Bu t it poses a particularly stark moral dilemm a fo r th e poe t an d o f cours e leaves the characters—including the inscribed figur e of the "unknowing" reader— in the dark, somewhere between the horse and the cart. For, secondly, this troping hides the extent to which the text gives the figurative a compelling power tha t ca n deprive th e character s of ethica l choice, an d i t hide s th e text's participation in the violence it represents. I f the allegorical narrator were completely persuasive in his figurative interpretations of events, this veiling would b e complete and the poem would b e as ideologically close d ("perfet") a s Greenblatt ha s suggested. Bu t th e power o f Spenser' s nar rative doubling i s precisely that it can make visible the displacements and suppressions performe d i n th e figures , an d thu s mak e apparen t the de structiveness o f man y o f th e politica l solutions urge d b y th e allegorical narrator. That suc h tropologica l disguis e has a n ideologica l functio n become s more apparent when this allegorical technique is associated with Spenser's other imag e for cause or source, Elizabet h herself. The car t and horse o f allegory correspond , I have argued, no t onl y t o event s an d their figura tion, circlin g endlessly in the search for temporal and logical priority, bu t also to the source of authority and the poem itself, and, at a more remove d level, th e Quee n and her own self-authorizin g mythologies . W e have already seen how the poet exalts the monarch in order then to derive his own authority fro m her , legitimizin g himsel f b y empowering he r an d by re minding he r indirectly of their mutual dependence. Suc h circularity needs to be hidden o r a t least endlessly displaced—by , amon g othe r strategies , attempts to attach a different themati c valence to the figure of the circle— for it defines a dependence of the sovereign on the poet that the poem does not wish to acknowledge openly, an d limits the Queen's authority by suggesting that it is cultural and fictional, and not originary. 74 Metalepsis and hysteron protero n no t only perform the operations of inversion an d ellipsis, then , bu t als o veil these functions as they do so.

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The inversion s o f causalit y b y whic h Elizabet h become s bot h th e source o f th e poem an d the person to whom it is finally directe d mirror the play of prolepsis and retrospection through which Virgil similarly established th e legitimacy of Aeneas's mission: Virgi l referred to what wa s to come (the Pax Romana and the glory of Rome) while legitimizing Rome by tracin g its origins bac k to Aeneas . For Spense r too, wha t i s prolepsis and historical prophecy in the fictio n i s retrospection for its ideal reader, Elizabeth. In his treatment of Britomart as the founder of Elizabeth's line, Spenser appears to follow Virgil in deriving a source of authority for th e present fro m a fictionalized past, treated as history, whic h itsel f depend s on the present for its validation. The story of Britomart , simila r in tem poral position to the explanation of why the water from the well benumbs Redcrosse Knight, i s an aetiological digression explainin g an d justifying the celebratio n o f Elizabeth' s presen t glory . I t repeat s fictionally Eliza beth's own choices but treats that repetition as causal explanation and even justification. The descen t of Britomart into the cave of Merlin ca n provide a central example o f th e difficultie s pose d b y th e tempora l circl e o f politica l an d allegorical authority in the poem. Caus e and effect are inverted here at several levels. Merlin's own mythology, playfull y alluded to in one of the few places where Spense r actually claims (with ironic qualification) t o specif y a cause ("The cause some say was this," III, iii, 10) , is perhaps the arche typal exampl e o f th e derivatio n of a visionary and political power fro m the trope o f hystero n proteron . Secondly , Britomar t is fictionally Elizabeth's ancesto r whil e als o being on e of he r mirror s i n the poem, fo r th e poet draw s th e power an d authority of Britomar t a s knight an d warrio r in part from the mythologies o f hi s Queen. 75 Finally, Merlin's ver y "explanation" of events depends on a similar inversion: he tells Britomart that she loves Artegall because with him she will produce a fine lineage—thus he authorizes her love by identifying a future even t as its cause. This au thorization thu s take s the form o f compulsion—Merli n say s tha t Britomart "b y fatal l lore" has "learn'd to loue" (III , iii, 21) . The wor d "fate " is suddenly foregrounded: in coming t o him, Britomar t has "fate obayd" (st. 19) ; indeed, "th e fate s are firme" (st. 25) that she shall marry Artegall, and moreover th e "powres" have ordained that she shall have her fate re vealed to her (st . 19) . Binding a woman (o r directing her fate ) b y the tree of genealogy (st. 22) constitutes a specific royal version of what migh t b e described mor e generall y as a noblewoman's "fate " i n Elizabetha n cul ture—with th e notabl e exceptio n o f th e Quee n herself—s o tha t "fate " here can be read as a metaphor not onl y for the constraints of plot but fo r both familial and cultural constraints imposed on women. Thi s "fate" de-

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termines the plot line of Britomart's story , which , unlik e Elizabeth's, has a predicte d closur e tha t function s narratively a s a constraint, an d finall y writes her out of the action altogether. 76 Such a fate is precisely the reason that Elizabet h remained skeptica l of marriage , an d her resistanc e to i t is partly responsibl e fo r Spenser' s inability finall y t o conclud e hi s heroine' s quest. Britomart respond s t o he r visio n b y "concernin g hop e o f comfor t glad" (III, iii, 51)—no t comfort itself, bu t "hop e of comfort," a s always, the mos t tha t character s can manage in the fac e o f thei r "commu n bon d of frailtee. " W e can measure the fragilit y o f thi s hope b y th e fac t tha t i n the beginning o f the next cant o Britomart turn s from her quest and loses herself in a lament: here as often throughou t he r adventures, sh e finds, a s she later put s i t t o Scudamour , tha t withou t som e hel p fro m "prouid ence," "lif e i s wretchednesse" (III , xi, 14) . But , sinc e this "providence " also has its compulsory features , i t is useful t o not e tha t before reaching her "fate, " Britomar t i s freed t o writ e he r ow n story : conceivin g hope , she and Glauce return home , Where they in secret counsel l close conspird , How t o effec t s o hard a n enterprize , And to possesse th e purpose they desird: Now this , no w tha t twix t them they did deuise , And diuers e plot s did frame, t o maske in strange disguise . (Ill, iii, 5i )

Here Spense r represents his own plot line as created by two women (muc h as the plo t o f th e secon d hal f o f th e Odyssey i s worked ou t b y Odysseu s and Athena); specifically, the y generate the plot of knightly disguise , an d hence find a role for Britomart i n the chivalric fiction. Throughout Book III sh e is associated particularly with thi s chivalric fiction, whic h i s ofte n explicitly se t at odds with a competing allegorica l narrative of which sh e remains unaware and of which sh e eventually becomes, a s we have seen, not the creator but the undoer who "reverses" the figures. Thus the "fate" that Merlin is privileged to see is set as the closure of the chivalric fiction— he makes it clear that Britomart wil l be able to continu e as a knight unti l she must bear children (III , iii, 28)—which otherwise is characterized not by closur e but b y wanderin g an d by man y turn s away from th e course . "Fate," then , i s one nam e fo r th e full y authorize d explanatio n tha t be comes associate d with the allegorical (and, at the level of allegory, polit ical) claims to assign meaning t o the chivalric fiction. The gap between this revealed "fate" an d Britomart's wanderin g search can thus be interpreted a s a representation of the value of "hope" and of

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the closural function o f vision. Neithe r hop e nor vision , however , i s exempted her e from th e qualificatio n an d ironizing tha t Spenser elsewher e directs at them. Most disturbing, perhaps, Merlin is himself (lik e the Sibyl in Aeneid VI ) possessed by the "spirite " (III, iii, 21 ) o r "powres" (st . 19 ) that comman d him , whic h i n the conclusion o f hi s "fit" com e t o be labeled, in an analogue to Phedon's enthrallment , a "fury." Her e is the final stanza of Merlin' s prophecy : But ye t the end is not. Ther e Merlin stayd , As ouercomen o f the spirites powe r Or othe r ghastl y spectacle dismayd, That secretly he saw, ye t note discoure : Which suddei n fit , an d halfe extatick stour e When th e two feareful l wome n saw, the y gre w Greatly confuse d in behauioure ; At last the fury past , t o former he w Hee turn d againe , an d chearfull look s (a s earst) did shew . (Ill, iii, 50)

The picture of Merlin "ouercome n o f the spirites power" exemplifies the compulsion wit h whic h the characters are "ouercomen" when the y com e face to face with "fate. " Th e "sudden fit " tha t concludes his vision, alon g with the vision's incompletion, undermine s its certainty while leaving behind a representation o f compulsio n tha t is disturbing an d confusin g to the onlookers. Th e term "extatick " suggest s the analogy of Neoplatoni c ecstasy, bu t Merlin' s visio n i s only "half e extatick, " perhap s because he does not completel y lose himself, but perhaps because the vision can only half claim the eidetic truth of revelation—and does so, being unfinished, without indicatin g which half is which. Th e scene thus poses a central dilemma fo r the poem: in order to guarantee the "truth" of vision, th e text must represen t th e viewer a s possessed, "ouercomen" by the spirits, bu t precisely because the viewer is "ouercomen," he (or she) cannot know th e power tha t possesses him or her. With Merlin—in part because of historical legend—one can "hope" that it is a providential spirit; all that the lines make clear , however, i s the fac t o f possessio n and its representatio n as a kind o f compulsion . Th e scen e thereby provides an allegorization of th e dangers of possessio n by a daimon/daemon, whic h is to say, an allegory of possessio n b y figures . Vision , too , lik e other function s o f figuration , carries this potential threat: that the cost of its prophetic power i s the risk of bein g compelle d b y th e image . Moment s i n whic h th e figurativ e scheme of the poem must be made to have effect within the action become fictionally moment s o f compulsio n o r possession, a s we have seen in the Aeneid, wit h th e resulting moral and aesthetic difficulty tha t no means for

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distinguishing a divinity from a daemon can be proposed within th e text. In Th e Faerie Queene, however , thi s compulsio n i s more specificall y attached t o th e momen t o f visio n itself , an d i s thus mor e disruptiv e t o a poetics founded on vision a s its only mediating fiction. The uncertain meaning o f the vision is further emphasize d by the po etry's employmen t o f th e privilege d devic e o f incomplet e closure , her e enacted whe n Merlin' s word s brea k off in mid-line a t the caesura : "But yet the end is not" i s a necessary conclusion to the vision, both because it allows Spense r to avoi d predictin g anythin g Elizabeth might no t choos e to do and because his poetics require that "ends"—whether understood as the other of the allegorical signs, as Arthur's promised prolepsis, or as narrative closur e mor e broadly—no t b e mad e accessibl e within th e text. 77 Glauce and Britomart's reaction to this incompletion i s one of confusion, as is brought ou t b y the text's speculatio n that Merlin ma y have stopped because he was "dismayd" by a "ghastly spectacle, " which h e could no t or would no t revea l to them. Glauc e had told Merlin tha t she and Britomart cam e wit h authorit y t o consul t hi m sinc e "eithe r fatal l end , / O r other mighti e caus e vs tw o di d hithe r send " (III , iii, 15) : fata l end s an d mighty cause s cannot b e "discovered" to th e characters, however, wh o are simultaneousl y promise d a desired conclusio n an d mad e t o wonde r whether a "ghastly spectacle " await s them. The connectio n betwee n visio n an d compulsio n i s also made, more over, in a surprising and more covert form, fo r the text provides an alternative genealogy for Merlin's power s that associates them with his ability to bind "th e crue l Feends": his visionary cave is represented as an under world wher e "thousan d spright s wit h lon g endurin g paines / Doe tosse" (III, iii , 9) . Lik e Britomart's, Merlin' s powe r ha s an overtly politica l di mension—he binds these "workemen" to him forever, or at least until his wall (which will keep them "i n compas" ) is completed: A brasen wal l in compas to compil e About Cairmardin, and did it commend Vnto these Sprights , t o bring to perfect end . (Ill, iii, 10)

In th e contex t o f a deliberately "vnperfite " poem , o f course , suc h line s become particularly ironic, wit h desperate consequences for the "feends," who continu e laboring an d groaning i n their "yron chaines" to this day. The stor y of Merlin's seductio n by the Lady of the Lake is then offered as the "cause" ("The caus e some say is this," st. 10 ) of their continuing labor, although when Britomar t an d Glauce arrive—presumably before this seductive origin—they find Merli n already

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Deepe busie d bout worke of wondrous end , And writing strang e characters in the ground, With whic h th e stubborn feends he too his seruice bound. (HI, iii, 14 )

Merlin's bindin g o f th e "feends " wit h "strang e characters " predate s the "cause" of the event, an d takes on an originary power, especiall y since it functions als o as a figure fo r th e action of a writer. Binding , encompass ing, wallin g in : all these closural activities are attached here to the visionary power of the magus, and implicitly also to that of the poet. The bindin g o f these "workmen" can be seen to have two relate d figurative connotations, a poetic (specificall y Virgilian ) and a political one . To associat e th e bindin g o f "feends " wit h th e releasin g o f a civilizin g power i s to allude , somewha t mor e indirectl y tha n i n th e cas e of Furo r and Occasion , t o Virgil's visionar y conclusion to Jupiter's epi c catalogue of Roma n histor y wit h the image of Furor Impius boun d i n chains . Thi s vision, I argued, foun d n o plac e on th e heroic plane, where , a s we hav e also seen in the Spenseria n text, "furor " i s always being unbound. Wha t was presented as historical result in Virgil is now treate d as a cause, how ever, and as a source of power, it becomes even more problematic. For the episode also can be read as a political allegory that indicates the source of a ruler' s power i n his or her ability to "bind" those who serv e the ruler' s will: thes e spirits are "workemen" bound by command an d fear t o build Merlin's secur e fastness . Whil e "furor " ca n neve r b e permanentl y bound—as is evidenced by the fact that a "fury" possesse s Merlin himself at the end of the vision—these "workemen" apparently can be. The lines highlight th e disjunction between the text's moral and political allegories, and plac e the figur e o f th e writer uncomfortabl y between th e two. Th e political allegory thus adumbrates one way to understand the power tha t informs suc h visions, and , by associating them wit h the fictional genealogy o f Elizabet h provide d i n Merlin' s catalogue , give s i t a positive va lence, whil e th e mora l o r poeti c allegor y paint s a darker pictur e o f th e workings o f the prophetic mind, force d first to bind its "feends." Spenser seems more able to acknowledge this darker aspect when th e power a t issue is poetic or even prophetic and not explicitl y Elizabeth's. The politica l and formal undecidability of Merlin' s vision—wil l it end with "eternal l vnion" (st . 49) or a "ghastly spectacle " (st . 50)? —i s char acteristic of visions and prophecies throughout th e poem, a s is made ev ident immediatel y i n th e nex t cant o whe n Cymoen t misinterpret s th e prophecy abou t he r son . Th e narrato r comments, i n much-cite d verses : So tickle be the termes of mortall state, And ful l o f subtil e sophismes, which d o play

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With doubl e senses , and with false debate , T'approue the vnknowen purpos e of eternall fate . (Ill, iv , 28)

Such ambiguit y o r grammatica l indecision, calle d "amphibologia " b y Puttenham, i s hardly the trop e on whic h to en d a royal genealogy. Th e lines emphasize the uncertainty of any providential vision ("tickle" means uncertain), and evoke in the word ''termes " both the constraints and limitations o f huma n life, a s well as its ending (its measure or "term") . A s the lines suggest, amphibology "plays" with th e human characters; it is not a n affirming bu t a disruptive trope, proper to traitors and treachery, as Steven Mullaney has noted, and it is certainly not a trope that institutes authority.78 Moreover, a s Patricia Parker has pointed out, i t is explicitly associated with rebellion by Puttenham: 79 Then haue ye one other vicious speach with which we will finish this Chapter, an d is when w e speake or write doubtfully and that the sence may be taken two wayes , such ambiguous terme s the y cal l Amphibologia, w e cal l it the ambiguous, or figure of sence incertaine. . . . These doubtfull speaches were vsed much in the old times by thei r fals e Prophet s a s appeareth by th e Oracle s o f Delphos an d o f th e Sybilles prophecies deuise d b y th e religious person s o f thos e daye s to abus e the supersti tious people, an d to encomber thei r busie braynes with vain e hope or vaine feare . Lucianus the merry Greek e reciteth a great number o f them, deuise d by a coosening companio n on e Alexander, t o ge t himselfe th e name an d reputation o f th e God Aesculapius, and in effec t al l our ol d Brittish an d Saxo n prophecies b e of th e same sort, tha t turne them o n which sid e ye will, th e matter of them ma y be ver ified, neuertheles s carryeth generally such force in the heades of fonde people, tha t by the comfort o f thos e blind prophecie s man y insurrection s an d rebellions hau e been stirre d v p i n thi s Realme , a s that of lacke Strawe, and lacke Cade i n Richard the seconds time , and in our tim e by a seditious fello w i n Norffolke callin g him selfe Captaine Ket and others in other places of the Realme lead altogether by cer taine propheticall rymes, whic h migh t b e constred tw o o r thre e wayes as well as to that one whereunto th e rebelles applied it, our make r shall therefore auoyde all such ambiguous speaches vnlesse it be when he doth i t for the nonce an d for some purpose. (Ill , 22; p. 267)

Ambiguity is here placed among the "vices in speaches and writing" that are occasionally tolerated "by licens e of approued authors and custome," and the poet ("our maker") is urged to avoid it. While Spenser's evil "mak ers" (Archimago , the Witch, Busyrane) seem to specializ e in ambiguity, creating doubl e image s an d double d character s an d dividin g "whole " characters in two, so does Merlin—not surprisingly. Puttenham links ambiguity no t onl y t o rebellion—indeed , "b y th e comfor t of thos e blind prophecies many insurrections and rebellions haue been stirred vp"—but to prophecies , understood to b e false an d misleading whether proffere d

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by th e fals e prophet s o f th e classica l pagan s o r i n Britis h an d Saxo n myth—the ver y sor t o f prophecy tha t Merli n make s t o Britomart . Hi s gloss o n "ambiguity " help s t o indicat e the exten t an d nature o f th e in terpretive difficulties tha t face the characters, readers, and poet. The figur e is treate d a s one o f "abuse, " th e fals e prophet s bein g imagine d a s pur posefully tryin g "t o abus e th e superstitiou s people " an d "encomber " them wit h "vain e hop e o r vain e feare." Th e harshnes s o f Puttenham' s judgment of the trope must be connected to its social implications—to its power to rebel and begin insurrections, and to show that even seemingl y ordered word s may hide a latent disorder, ready to burst forth—but i t is surprising, give n th e stress throughout th e volume o n the importance t o the courtie r o f th e trope s of indirectio n an d dissimulation . On e ha s the feeling here as in much of Puttenham that the distinction risks disappearing, wit h amphibolog y shadin g into a figure tha t Puttenham treat s very differently—allegory. Th e difference between allegory, which Puttenha m values, and "amphibology" seems to be that allegory uses its indirections and dissimulation to maintain order (of meanings, of political intentions), while amphibology threaten s order. Tha t Spenser' s allegory relies on the uncertainties o f propheti c visio n t o solv e the poetic problem create d by the separation of actio n and figure show s tha t the distance from allegory to ambiguity , fro m certaint y an d authoritative direction o r politica l de cision t o uncertaint y and illegitimacy , i s not s o great a s the tex t trie s t o make out . As did Virgil , Spense r turns to a visionary prophecy in a n attempt t o bring th e certaint y proclaimed in the poem's figure s int o th e action, bu t this attempt brings with it its own difficulties , an d finally canno t mediat e between th e two . A t leas t in th e cas e of historica l vision, th e visionar y moment degenerates into another version of the control of figures, figure s that th e character s cannot know , bu t tha t ar e represented a s dominatin g them and a s directing thei r narratives. Spenser defines submissio n t o th e right kin d o f visio n a s a sign of mora l virtue, but simultaneousl y make s it clear that determining whethe r a vision is "extatick" or delusory is impossible. Th e many references in Merlin's cav e to a "fatall end," linke d t o a "mighti e cause, " impl y tha t the prophecy , lik e a n allegorical daemon , would impos e a n absolut e closur e o n th e stor y o f Britomart . Indeed , throughout th e poem vision is accompanied by the corresponding dange r that it may impose, an d therefore make evident, a structure of compulsio n that would und o it s claims to moral legitimacy. Spenser counters this tendency by making his visions radically incomplete: the more closed, realized, or achieved they become, th e more problematic fo r th e fiction . Spenseria n vision thu s ca n never hav e a fulfille d

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content: it must take the form of open-ended prolepsis . Somethin g is predicted and foreseen, something i s promised, bu t that something is not and cannot b e named. Thi s ideal vision woul d indicat e direction bu t no t th e "fatall end," an d thus would motivat e the quest without transformin g the questers into characters "bound" by the writing pen . Thi s visionary so lution, however , als o leaves the poem wit h no vehicle for transporting its "truth" into the action: it produces a visionary poem wit h n o authorized truth t o convey . Thi s may indeed b e what happen s in the non-vision of Nature tha t end s th e poem , where , Joh n Guillor y ha s argued , th e tex t steps back firmly to this side of the threshold o f the divine, an d locates its "truth" clearly in its own self-validating fictions. 80 The difference betwee n the political and the imaginative or moral realms of analysis in the poe m becomes clea r when the kinds o f visionary experienc e each produces are compared. Th e political , endin g i n a n idealized vision o f Elizabeth , b y definition canno t remai n open-ended: th e historical prophecy must antic ipate the comin g o f Elizabet h an d her glory , a s indeed it does. Th e onl y way to preserve that open-ended prolepsi s of vision fo r Britomart, then , is to keep her plot from reaching its "fatall end," he r marriage. In this way, however, th e moments tha t offer vision s of England's greatnes s or of his torical event s remai n mor e difficul t fo r th e tex t t o includ e withou t cor respondingly increasin g th e representatio n o f figura l compulsion . Thi s compulsion, an d th e relate d challenge s t o it s paradigm s o f legitimacy , thus tend t o weake n th e text's claim s to a political authority equal to th e indefinable an d unrepresentabl e highe r authorit y fro m whic h th e poe t hopes t o draw inspiration . IDEOLOGY AND FIGURATIV E ERRANTR Y The disjunction , an d occasional contradiction, betwee n th e differen t au thorities Spense r invokes in his poetry generates a series of figurative and thematic displacements and suspensions that complicate any summary of the poem's politic s or ethics. The kinds of "figurative errantry" tha t these displacements set in motion constitute a challenge to the allegory's organizing and hierarchizing power, eve n in those cases where the challenge is simply th e very proliferatio n o f meaning s itself . Thi s "figurativ e erran try" ha s a variety of differing ideological motives, an d is "errantry" rather than assertio n precisely to mee t th e ideological nee d t o veil or submerg e such difference. Th e figurations of the Queen, the multiple symbolic pos sibilities enable d by the metaphor o f chivalry, th e displacement o f undesirable emotion s onto the feminin e gender a s a metaphorical scapegoat ,

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and the figurative ambivalence attached to sexual fertility all provide cen tral examples of the kinds of slippage that characterize this errantry. I have taken a n example from eac h of thes e arenas of ideological investment t o try t o sho w how th e poem reveal s through figurativ e proliferation some of it s ow n ideologica l mystification s while reinvestin g itself , a t anothe r level, i n thes e sam e powerfu l i f obscure d processe s o f suspensio n an d suppression. A s this account should make clear, the text is not fully in con trol o f its own figurativ e errantry, even though i t sets it in motion. The latent contradiction between a secular and a transcendent authority is registered through such "errantry" in the narrator's inability to maintain the figuration of Elizabet h as a kind of blazin g sun or shining light , sim ilar, t o retur n t o our earlie r example, t o the steadfast sta r that sends ligh t to thos e ocea n wanderers afar. I n spite of hi s efforts t o extol Elizabet h in this way—as a "Goddesse heauenl y bright" (Proem I , 4), a shining pres ence sendin g fort h "beame s bright " tha t dazzl e merel y morta l eye s (Proem II , 5) , or a "Dread Souerayne Goddesse, tha t doest highest sit / In seate of iudgement, i n th'Almighties stead" (Proe m V , u)—the narrator ends u p picturin g hi s "deares t dred " (Proe m I , 4 ) as very muc h o f thi s world. In his final idealizing image of her as the source of all courtesy, he compares her to the ocean itself: Then pardon me, mos t dreade d Soueraine, That fro m your self e I doe this vertue bring, And t o your self e doe it returne againe: So from the Ocea n al l riuers spring, And tribut e backe repay as to their King. Right s o from you al l goodly vertue s well Into the rest, which roun d about you ring, Faire Lords and Ladies, whic h about you dwell , And do e adorne your Court, wher e courtesies excell. (Proem VI, 7 )

From thi s w e gathe r tha t if Elizabet h may functio n a s a bright star , sh e certainly has been wet i n Ocean waves , whethe r thos e waves represent a mutability tha t th e othe r figure s attemp t t o deny , a fertility that i s asso ciated in particular with sexuality (and that the poet is constrained by Elizabeth's choic e t o deny) , o r th e wealt h tha t th e sea deposits o n th e shor e whenever i t appear s in thi s poem . Indeed , th e treatmen t o f th e se a as a figure fo r the imperial distributio n of wealt h is already evident i n Britomart's encounte r wit h Marinell o n the Rich Strond , wher e w e learn that the riches thrown up on the beach, "The spoyl e of all the world" (III, iv, 23), com e fro m the "wreckes of many wretches, whic h di d weepe, / And often wail e their wealth " (III, iv, 22), and exceed the wealth o f th e East.

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The associatio n becomes especiall y clear in Book V , canto iv, when Ar tegall has to adjudicate between the claims of Bracidas and Amidas, whos e island ha s bee n enlarge d b y san d th e se a has shifte d fro m hi s brother's . Artegall's decisio n rest s upon a n imperial principle: For equall right i n equall things doth stand, For what the mighty Se a hath once possest, And plucke d quit e from al l possessors hand , Whether by rage of waues, tha t neuer rest, Or els e by wracke, tha t wretches hat h distrest, He may dispose by his imperiall might, As thing a t random left , t o whom he list. (V, iv , 19 )

A. C. Hamilton note s in his edition that this stanza "may allud e to English law accordin g t o whic h al l wreck i s the propert y o f th e sovereign, " bu t beyond thi s specifi c legal connection, th e lines figure th e se a as a type of imperial changing house or fluid exchequer of Elizabeth's empire.81 Moreover, th e figures defin e a kind o f Spenseria n sea change by which th e violence o r forc e behind Elizabetha n power i s made t o see m a natural, if occasionally violent, transmissio n of property, whic h is given mythological sanctio n an d even , especiall y in th e cas e o f Marinell , mythologica l beauty.82 If the ocean is a figure for Elizabeth and for her imperial power , then, th e position she occupies is figuratively opposed to that of the "stedfast starre / That was in Ocean waue s yet neuer wet," sinc e "wetness" and "fluidity" seem , in this sense, to be the material conditions o f her power . This dense figuration indicates how Spenseria n allegory is both a courtly figure and yet one that points beyond the court to a spiritual authority that transcends th e material i n which the image of the monarch—the sea, th e economic statu s o f empire , th e "surface " o f Th e Faerie Queene —is re flected.83 In Th e Faerie Queene wha t i s posited a s a symmetrical syste m gener ating themati c resolutio n o f forma l disjunction , an d generatin g forma l identity where a thematic opposition seem s to trouble the tale, is in fact a constant machine for displacing conflict an d hiding the asymmetry of th e arrangement. A primary exampl e of th e ideological an d figurative division tha t arises from th e diversity of th e poem's image s o f authorit y can be see n in its treatment o f chivalri c warfare—the generi c materia l from which th e chivalric side of the poem is drawn. This material is, of course, problematically transformed as it appears in a fiction of internal events, so that chivalric warfare becomes, paradoxically , an especially weighted ex ample of how th e poem displace s conflict o f all kinds. Reader s have ofte n noted th e latent comedy behin d certai n battle scenes (such as Redcrosse's

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battle wit h San s Fo y o r wit h San s Joy) i n whic h th e figure s constantl y point ou t tha t the two combatants , if not identical, are certainly indistinguishable (e.g. , I , ii, 16) . Accordin g t o the logic o f allegorica l narrative, as we have seen, the two coul d not meet in battle if they were not already in some sense versions of each other, for that similarity is what the combat expresses. I n short, th e chivalric idiom an d the allegory conflict i n implication. The figurativ e treatment o f thes e combats establishes a pattern oddl y congruent wit h th e chivalri c combats an d courtly struggl e fo r advance ment durin g Elizabeth' s reign . I n thi s period , a s Fran k Whigha m ha s shown, competitio n amon g th e nobilit y fo r plac e an d honor s a t cour t brought "resemblanc e rather than distinction" (Ambition an d Privilege, p . 78), a n outcom e givin g evidenc e of "th e assimilativ e force o f competi tion" (p. 81). Although comba t or competition for honors woul d see m to have provided a way to move upward in the socially fluid world o f the late sixteenth century , Whigha m argue s that th e very notion tha t on e might win distinctio n throug h meri t threatene d th e elite . Instead , suc h socia l practices a s th e aristocrati c til t an d othe r courtl y competition s trans formed combat and conflict into rituals that affirmed clas s unity, allowin g the elite to hold th e line against upstart aspirants to aristocratic privilege. About th e actual Elizabethan passion for chivalric tournament, Whigha m comments: "Thi s practice [of rewardin g th e lose r a s well a s the gainer ] implies that although the tilts did offer a means for expressing (and perhaps catharting) combativ e energie s b y aggressiv e members o f th e elite , a n equally central function was the display of parity through emulation , re affirming unit y in submission to the queen and consolidating clas s codes" (p. 80) . The import o f his argument for an analysis of Spenser's use of this romance conventio n come s fro m its stress on the power o f suc h comba t to generat e a likenes s betwee n competitors . Kennet h Burk e argues , a s Whigham notes (p. 78), that "the so-called ways of competition hav e been . . . zealous ways of conformity. . . . What we cal l 'competition' is better described a s men's attemp t to out-imitate on e another" (Burke, Rhetoric of Motives, p . 131) . Th e implici t socia l difficulty her e concerns th e danger s to th e elit e of usin g suc h competitio n t o selec t some fo r specia l honors , thereby depreciatin g others, or, even worse, o f allowing thos e who wer e not even of the right rank to rise above their station. Similarl y in Spenser, the psychomachian battles between knights ostensibly so different tha t the poet ca n write (wit h irony) , "S o th'on e for wrong, th e other striue s for right" (I, v, 8 and 9), consistently fai l to distinguish between them , t o th e point tha t winning o r losing the battle comes to mean allegorically almost the sam e thin g (henc e Redcrosse, in the classi c and firs t example , i s vie-

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torious over Sans Foy, only to pick up his armor, take up with his consort, Duessa, an d in all ways show himself t o be well within th e grip of Faith lessness). Th e poem's psychomachia n battle s confir m th e identit y be tween the two knights rather than distinguish them. It s scheme for deciding between goo d and evil, based on an assertion of ontological differenc e that paralleled the assumptions supporting the Elizabethan social system, comes t o see m arbitrar y in th e sens e that it i s neither derive d fro m th e action nor , i n the cas e of psychomachian struggle , abl e to use the actio n to sustain it.84 The suggestion here is not that Spenser's battles "reflect" o r "express" an aspect of Elizabethan life, but rather that the formal structure of moral or social hierarchy ostensibly establishe d by chivalric battle suffers fro m simila r inconsistencies i n each case. These inconsistencie s indicate a shared ideological function : to affir m a moral or political hierarchy by making a n arbitrary distinction see m ontological an d inevitable. Because "conflict" thu s itself become s the site of a constitutive formal and ideologica l conflic t i n Th e Faerie Queene, th e text' s effort s t o qualif y or change the nature of such battles themselves provide a paradigm for the way in which th e allegory figures but also evades its own interpretive difficulty. This figuration tends to take the form of a defensive thematization or displacement , a retreat fro m the threat of disorde r i n the nature of al legory, an d it s privilege d categorie s ar e clas s and gender . T o keep fro m consistently implyin g a n identity betwee n knightl y combatant s wh o ar e ostensibly mora l opposites , fo r instance, the allegorical narrator depends more and more on distinguishing them by social rank, or, more precisely, on characterizing the enemy as of a lower order. 85 This demonizing o f the lower clas s is associated wit h a demonizing o f women , especiall y olde r women, called hags, who sometime s manag e to represent a greater threat than chivalric opponents.86 Though the description of Sclaunder as a backbiter with a sting in her tongu e (IV , viii, 36 ) is persuasive as allegory, th e fictional character thereby generated has additional traits that begin to tell a differen t kin d o f story : althoug h sh e presumably allegorize s one of th e great dangers of courtly life , Sclaunde r is a character who live s in "A litle cotage" and is described a s "one ol d woman sittin g ther e beside, / Vpo n the ground in ragged rude attyre" (IV, viii, 23). Though these details may work in the allegory to provide a method of criticizing courtiers for giving Sclaunder such a prominent plac e in noble society , the y nonetheless pre sent considerable fictional difficulties. Followin g a romance topos that forest dwellers shoul d b e generous t o passin g strangers, especiall y knights , the poe t blame s Sclaunde r fo r complainin g tha t th e knight s insis t o n spending th e night in her cottage, and marks this as the first o f her bitin g words: "th e Ha g di d scold/And rayl e a t them wit h grudgeful l discon -

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tent, / For lodging ther e without her owne consent" (IV, viii, 28) . One can imagine a very differen t socia l representation of this same story. 87 In spit e o f he r povert y an d isolation , Sclaunde r appears rather unac countably t o direc t he r scandal-producin g slande r particularl y agains t knights an d ladies , an d become s a bizarr e figur e o f a doublenes s tha t should contras t with bu t i n fac t mirror s th e supposedly controlle d dou bleness of allegory : Her word s wer e not, a s common word s are ment, T'expresse th e meaning of the inward mind , But noysom e breath, and poysonous spirit sent From inward parts , with cancre d malice lind, And breathe d forth blast of bitte r wind. (IV, viii , 26 )

Moreover, Spense r wittily implies that Sclaunder may serve as a figure of the bad reader who misinterpret s the actions of his characters, though th e misreading he hints at is not the sort of counterreading proposed here but instead a reading that succumbs to the temptation to slander the characters' good name s b y suspectin g them o f ignobl e deed s (the y spen d th e nigh t together withou t appropriat e chaperon). The narrator warns: Here well I weene, whe n a s these rimes be red Whose misregard, that some rash witted wight , With looser though t will lightly be misled, These gentl e Ladies will misdeeme too light, For thus conuersing wit h thi s noble Knight . (IV, viii , 29 )

The episod e connects this warning wit h Sclaunder' s own bitter attac k on the gentle persons in question, "Him callin g theefe, them whores" (st. 35). The effec t o f these symbolic moves is to associate those of the poem's ow n discursive strategie s that might appea r slanderous or inviting t o scandal ous interpretation—including the very division between a fiction that exposes these defensive processes and an allegory that employs them to con tain suc h disruptiv e representation—wit h a n insidious "other " entirel y outside th e contro l o f th e author. Wit h th e same stroke, allegor y i s pre served a s separat e from thi s evi l doppelganger. 88 This mov e allow s th e text, i f rea d as a political allegory, t o presen t a figure o f th e cour t a s the only sourc e of purity, beauty , and primal innocence left i n these decayed times (st . 33) , besiege d b y lower-clas s scoundrel s inten t o n undoin g courtly virtu e with thei r evi l tongues; an d if read as a moral allegory , t o characterize the lowness of slander, by treating all the markers of material

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poverty as symbols fo r povert y o f spiri t and graciousness. Thu s th e po litical and the moral allegorie s tell very different stones . The hint that the poem to o may have certain generic slanderous or duplicitous qualities is consistent with Spenser's representations of evil artist figures who, th e allegorical narrator asserts defensively, work thei r magic in opposition t o his own and depend on the devil or evil "sprites." Ther e is, nevertheless, a significant difference betwee n treating an evil double as a powerful male magician, like Archimago or Busyrane, and representing it in a weaker, impoverished female , suc h as the "witch" who construct s Snowy Florimell (III, vii-viii). As a literalization of sonnet tropes, Snowy Florimell migh t mos t logicall y be allegorized as a figure o f a courtly tra dition.89 Once again, however, th e text displaces the blame for this courtly double from its own poeti c method, suggestin g that the fraudulent chal lenge to the social order that Snowy Florimell represents comes not from the Queen's allegorizer but from the lower orders—from "witches" in the forest. Nonetheless , afte r Archimago' s fashionin g o f a characte r "most like" (I, i, 49) Una, th e witch's fashioning of Snowy Florimell is the mos t detailed representation in the poem of the poet's method o f shaping character (see III, viii, 5-9) . Sh e does such a fine job o f "emulating" Spenser's own creatio n (know n a s Nature within th e text) that "euen Nature self e enuied the same, / And grudg' d t o see the counterfet should sham e / The thing i t selfe" (III , viii, 5) . The poem' s language here redoubles its com mentary o n th e proble m o f imitation , stressin g that Snow y Florimel l is "Another Florimell, i n shape and looke / So liuely and so like, tha t man y it mistooke" (st. 5), so close, indeed, "Tha t who s o then her saw, woul d surely say , /It wa s he r selfe , who m i t di d imitate " (st . 9) . An d indeed , many critic s have argued that Snow y Florimel l is a version of Florimel l herself: she is a "counterfet," mad e counter to th e purpose of Florimell , but otherwis e indistinguishable . Th e demonizatio n i s always explicit i n The Faerie Queene: the witch animates her "wondrous worke" (st. 5) with a wicke d Sprigh t "whic h wit h th e Prince o f Darkness e fell somewhile " (st. 8) , just as Archimago shaped his false Un a o f a spirit from the under world. Th e witch, however , i s almost as powerful an artist as Archimago: her creation remains in the poem an d animates many more of its episodes than does the false Una . The poe t her e project s thi s dangerous , doublin g featur e o f hi s ow n "imitations" onto a very particular female figur e o f th e lower order . A s Keith Thoma s ha s demonstrated , th e Elizabetha n fascinatio n with th e "witch"—and the consequent "discovery " of so many witches—was it self a result of changing social conditions, in particular the rejection by the

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more successful , "hard-working " o r wealth y peopl e o f traditiona l gen erosity t o the poor. 90 The poor woma n wh o curse d the wealthy fo r their increasing withdrawa l fro m charitie s traditionall y supporte d b y th e Church, or who complaine d against such restriction of rights as occurred with the Elizabethan enclosures, was labeled "witch"—and, as Belsey explains, thi s label gave an unaccustomed power t o words spoke n publicly by a woman. 91 The cursin g o r inveighin g o f suc h figure s a s Sclaunder, Envie, an d Detraction exemplifie s the use of language for which witche s were tried . Thes e figures serv e as a strange daemonic cove r fo r th e alle gorical narrator's own strategies, allowing an interrogation of some of the most dangerou s aspect s of thi s mode—includin g hi s appropriation s o f power an d authority , a s transgressive in thei r ow n wa y a s those o f th e witch—under the cover o f a symbolic syste m that shifts mora l responsi bility ont o a n "other " tha t th e allegor y ca n the n criticiz e a t a differen t level. Whil e Homer or Virgil might transfe r the blame for such figurative manipulation onto the gods, Spenser's allegorical narrator displaces it onto lower-class figures , implicitl y equatin g this dangerous magic with social disruption o r disorder fostered by lower-class discontent . Thi s quality of social transgression remains with Snow y Florimell throughout he r story, and pairs her appropriately with Braggadochio, another upstart who pre tends to belong to the higher orders (thereby creating a certain social com edy). Even the poem's focu s on Snowy Florimell' s attire—attire to whic h she has no right, no t "being" the lady she pretends to be—echoes the increasing Elizabethan concern wit h sumptuar y control, wit h th e need o f the social hierarchy to reinforc e its boundaries through clearl y recognizable difference s o f costume. 92 Here th e needs of th e socia l hierarchy an d those o f th e allegorical hierarchy once again coincide: to be able to mak e clear-cut distinction s base d o n apparentl y essentia l an d unchangeabl e moral an d ontological difference . The connectio n o f such figures to courtliness is again emphasized wit h the appearanc e of th e tw o hag s Envie an d Detraction, wh o besieg e Ar tegall at the end of Boo k V, and produce the Blatant Beast ("vnto themselues the y gotte n ha d / A monster, whic h th e Blatant beast me n call , / A dreadfull feend, " V, xii, 37) . These two hags , though describe d in similar terms as poor, ragged , and unwashed (V , xii, 28 ; st. 30 : "Her hand s wer e foule an d durtie , neue r washt / In all her life"), allegoriz e the criticis m a t court o f Lor d Gray 93 and appear narratively just a s Artegall is recalled t o Faerie Court (st. 27). The criticism they bring to bear against Artegall reflects the accusations made against Gray of excessive brutality in his Irish campaigns, an d especially at the battle of Smerwick (whic h Spense r wit nessed), where 200 English soldiers killed 600 unarmed men (Spanis h and

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Italian mercenaries and Irish rebels) and hanged a few pregnant women.94 Thus th e Blatant Beast—which is linked allegoricall y to the court and to a "might y Pere s displeasure " (presumably , Lord Burghley) , late r rise s from hel l (VI, i, 7-8), an d eventually bites even the poem—is given a fictional origin in the creative powers of the two hags. 95 Similarly Ate, "mother of debate, /And all dissention" (IV, i, 19 ) wit h her "lying tongue . .. in two parts diuided" (st. 27), is explicitly associ ated wit h th e hig h epi c traditio n throug h th e ecphrasi s describin g he r house (IV, i, 21-23), but is described fictionally as a "fowle and filthy" (st. 27) "hag" (st . 31). Morally she figures dissension—"For all her studie was and all her thought, / How sh e might ouerthro w the things that Concor d wrought" (st . 29)—bu t th e exampl e given o f i t i s the undoin g o f grea t riches (possibly a figure for the gathering and loss of wealth through war) and the sedition of popular assemblies: Als as she double spake, s o heard sh e double With matchless e eare s deforme d an d distort , Fild with false rumors and seditious trouble , Bred in assemblies o f the vulgar sort , That still are led with euery light report. (IV, i , 28 )

Likewise vnequal l wer e her handes twaine , That one did reach, th e other pusht away , That one did make, th e other mard againe , And sought to bring all things vnt o decay ; Whereby grea t riche s gathere d mani e a day, She in short space did often bring to nought, And thei r possessour s ofte n di d dismay . (IV, i, 29 )

Ate figure s th e utmost malic e against "Concord," to the extent tha t she tries "that grea t golden chain e quite to diuide" (st . 30), the great golde n chain that should bind all things in their proper relation, assuring that vul-t gar assemblie s hav e littl e powe r an d tha t "possessors " remai n undis mayed. If my application of the historical discourses of power, class , and witchcraft t o thes e figures seems comic, i t is precisely because these de fensive displacement s have been s o thoroughly subsume d i n th e poem' s allegory that the fictional surface no longer seems a significant ground fo r interpretation. The processes of demonization described here nonetheless come t o constitut e a major unacknowledged aspec t of th e poem' s treat ment o f th e feminine , i n whic h th e chivalri c fiction provides a t leas t a glimpse of the allegory's efforts t o evade or even erase its own misogyn istic reliance on female scapegoats.

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The tensio n betwee n th e chivalric idiom an d the allegorical, whic h i n these cases alerts readers to a disjunction between moral and political sym bologies, ca n also be seen in the episode in which Guyo n binds Furo r and Occasion, a further example of a displacement onto a demonized woma n of precisel y the principle tha t generates the narrative: in this case , the occasion fo r comba t itself , characterized by a n outbreak of Fur y (treate d as heroic fury in other books o f the poem). Book II, canto iv, opens with the poet describin g th e Palmer' s effort s t o instruc t Guyo n i n temperance , teaching him , i n a chivalri c versio n o f mediocritas, "th e weak e t o strengthen, an d th e stron g suppresse " (II , iv , 2) . Decidin g wh o i s th e "weake," however , ofte n turn s ou t t o b e mor e complicate d tha n on e would expect. In Book II, canto iv, Guyon effectively rescues a young ma n from a n old ragged woman o f the same family as Sclaunder and her sisters in detractio n (se e II, iv , 4-6) . I t is precisely this crime , o f breakin g th e chivalric code, o f which Pyrochle s accuse s him in the next canto : It was complaind, that thou hadst done great tort Vnto an aged woman, poore and bare, And thralle d her in chaines with strong effort , Voide of al l succour and needful comfort : That ill beseemes thee, such as I thee see, To worke such shame. Therefore I thee exhort, To chaunge they will, and se t Occasion free , And t o her captiu e sonne yield his first libertee . (II, v , 17 )

Within th e fictio n Pyrochles a t least has a case , bu t "Therea t Si r Guyon smilde": And i s that all (Said he) that thee so sore displeased hath? Great mercy sure, fo r to enlarge a thrall, Whose freedome shal l thee turn to greatest scath. (II, v , 18 )

Guyon's line s suggest that allegory depends on "enthralling" or contain ing an d imprisonin g certai n force s and meaning s i n orde r fo r th e privi leged on e t o remai n dominant . Lik e Sclaunder , Occasio n i s implicitly a demonized figur e for th e allegory ; the conflict of chivalric fiction and al legory point s t o the dangers of allegorical "enthrallment" (th e subject of my nex t chapter ) while als o displacing responsibilit y fo r the m fro m th e narrator. Unruly, alternativ e meaning s seem t o surfac e almos t irrepressibl y a t the moment of any allusion to sexuality. 96 A single, well-know n exampl e

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of this figurative errantry will indicate the extremity of the misfit betwee n the simile s an d th e narrator' s expresse d allegorica l needs, an d thu s wil l suggest an alternative method o f reading that makes space for the unruliness that the allegor y woul d limi t o r expel . I n contrast t o the allegory' s tendencies as an extended metapho r to makes its divergent materia l seem to have a deeper "affmitie," th e similes often insinuate a suppressed interpretation tha t the allegory doe s not easil y countenance. Som e traditional readings stres s th e importanc e o f findin g th e congruenc e betwee n th e scene pictured i n the simile and the allegorical events it is "meant" to il luminate, and thus minimize the capacity of the similes to articulate a different understanding. A clear example of this contrastive effect ca n be seen in th e firs t epi c simile o f th e poem , th e much-discusse d compariso n o f Errour's vomi t t o the flooding of the Nile: As when old father Nilus gin s to swel l With timel y pride aboue th e Aegyptian vale , His fattie waues d o fertile slime outwell, And ouerflo w eac h plain e an d lowly dale : But when his later sprin g gins to auale , Huge heapes of mudd he leaues, wherei n there breed Ten thousand kinde s o f creatures , partl y mal e And partl y femal e o f hi s fruitfull seed ; Such vgl y monstrous shapes elsewher e may no man reed. (I, i , 21 )

Part of Hamilton' s not e on this stanz a exemplifies the kind of explainin g that ca n make this simil e see m congruen t wit h th e allegor y o f th e Red crosse Knight's figh t against Errour: "The comparison [o f Errour and the Nile] is suggested b y the association o f the Nile with the captivity o f the Israelites in Egypt and hence with the fallen world, th e flesh, and bondage to sin . I t wa s a commonplac e o f natura l histor y tha t th e Nil e breed s strange monsters." While thi s glos s ma y illuminate th e spiritua l connotations of the Nile imagery, it misses what strikes most readers as the main import o f th e simile: th e representation of a n extraordinary, amora l fer tility, associate d indirectl y wit h spring , a fertilit y generatin g no t onl y multiplicities of kind, but even odd hermaphroditic "monsters," who fig ure wha t ma y be one of th e poem's organizin g creativ e principles. Th e image certainly exudes the extraordinary generative energy of Errour, es pecially th e intellectua l error indicate d b y th e "booke s an d papers" tha t she spews forth (though it is not only books and papers), but it also seems to figure the poem's own necessary connection to such fertility.97 This now fairly conventiona l readin g find s suppor t i n the "Infinit e shape s of crea tures" bre d i n th e Garde n o f Adoni s (III , vi, 35) . The Garde n i s itsel f

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linked t o the poem's ow n origin s in the "Antiquitie o f Faerie lond" (II, ix, 60): Elfe, th e "first authou r of all Elfin kind," is said to have met Fay , "of whom all Faeryes spring, " i n the Garde n of Adoni s (II , x, 71) . Thu s th e Garden i s specified as the originary landscape of the fiction. The contras t between th e "moralizing " alexandrin e o f th e simil e i n Boo k I , cant o i, which determine s tha t th e shapes are "vgly" and "monstrous," an d the body of the simile itself indicates a suppressed lament about the difficult y of the straight an d narrow pat h of holiness, an d about th e discipline that the allegorical reading requires. 98 This metaphorical strayin g from th e path marked ou t b y the allegor y surfaces agai n onl y tw o stanza s later, whe n th e poe t turn s t o a classical simile, thi s tim e t o compar e Redcrosse' s effort s t o disencumbe r himsel f from th e breed of Errour t o a shepherd's attempt to protect himself fro m gnats: As gentle Shepheard in sweete euen-tide , When rudd y Phoebus gin s to welke in west, High on an hill, hi s flocke to vewen wide , Markes which d o byte their hasty supper best; A cloud o f cumbrous gnattes do him molest , All striuing to infixe thei r feeble stings, That from thei r noyance he no where ca n rest, But with his clownish hands their tender wing s He brusheth oft, and oft doth ma r their murmurings . (I, i , 23 )

Hamilton comments i n his note to this passage that "the simil e anticipates the knight's victory. " While th e extent o f tha t victor y remain s rathe r i n doubt, he is right to suggest tha t one effect o f the simile is to remind the reader tha t suc h apparentl y fearsome enemies ar e in fac t harmles s whe n viewed fro m the "right" perspective, and can be defeated easily as long as one adds faith to force, as Una put s it (I, i, 19) . But the simile again seems to pictur e a world tha t i s amoral i n compariso n t o tha t o f Redcrosse , a world that remains, perhap s because of its classical atmosphere, fa r from the battle against Errour. Redcross e has abandoned the "clownish" life to become a knight, allegoricall y turning no t onl y awa y fro m pastora l bu t toward a specific spiritual quest. Th e allusio n t o th e classica l epic, mad e both in the form of the extended simile itself and in the echo of such typ ical scenes i n the Iliad, figure s a different kin d o f authorit y fro m tha t an imating Redcrosse' s quest . Unlik e suc h images in the Iliad, however , th e images here do not serve ideologically to veil the costs of the heroic choice Redcrosse ha s made; rathe r the y represen t a n alternative temptation, fo r poet an d implicitly fo r knight, t o suppose that there might indeed remai n

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an entirely differen t understandin g by which t o direc t one's life . Thi s al ternative becomes associated in the course of the poem with fiction itself, for whic h classica l literature provides a founding authority. Thes e read ings warn against assimilating the differing figurativ e claims of the poem too closel y to th e allegory . Suc h a method allow s fo r a n interpretive co herence, but ignores the multiplicity of the text's methods o f marking the disjunctions betwee n th e authorities whose unio n it posits." While ofte n such figuration works with the allegory, then, it also can serve to articulate an alternative , erran t reading , invokin g th e authorit y o f fictio n itself , which i s importantly differen t fro m that governing th e text's asserte d allegory.100 That thes e alternative readings are inscribed in the text, alon g with a n allegory that claims dominance, suggests , as I have argued, that the poe m can neither b e divided fro m it s royal patron no r entirel y identifie d wit h her. The text' s figurative multiplicit y has its roots in the epic tradition it self, an d perhap s also in the incomplet e absolutis m o f Elizabeth' s reign . As Alan Sinfield recentl y stated in an account of Sidney' s Arcadia: The insistenc e i n representations upo n unit y i n a simple hierarch y doe s not mea n that tha t is how th e state actually worked, onl y that thi s is the way majo r part s o f the rulin g factio n represente d i t a s working. W e should investigat e th e ga p be tween the rhetoric o f absolutism an d the power structure, uncoverin g what scop e there was for negotiation an d contest . Any direct associatio n betwee n the imagery o f monarchy and the actual structure of the state is open to three objections: (i ) it mistakenly suppose s that England was a fully absolutist state; (2) it overestimates th e centralization an d concentratio n of power in an absolute state ; (3 ) it oversimplifies th e relationship betwee n power and ideology . ("Powe r and Ideology," p. 261)

In reading a poem, then , on e must conside r both ho w i t attempts to ob scure or harmonize those contradictions most central to its notions of authority, an d ho w suc h ideological moves ar e necessarily demystified, as they must be to some extent in any poem that is not straight propaganda. Because the epic form Spenser imitates is finally open-ended, wit h no ab solute paradig m governin g th e relatio n betwee n actio n an d figure , hi s poem present s not only a structure of imagery in which mora l and political conflicts are apparently reconciled in artistic harmony, but action that, in clashing with such claims, provides an arena for moral, an d sometime s political, criticism. This structure of difference and disjunction enables the text t o expos e it s ow n socia l an d poeti c assumption s an d thei r conse quences. On bot h levels, Spenser could be described as appropriating power fo r himself a s a poet. Throug h th e epic or fictiona l dimensio n o f th e poem ,

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the poe t create s an image o f herois m an d huma n dignit y i n th e fac e o f power; th e epic characters, who mus t struggl e to fulfil l thei r ow n quest s and destinies without the benefit of any special strength except that inner, "sovereign" control of self, becom e models for a poet who woul d find an authority in his own visionary power. In contrast, however, a s allegorizer, Spenser appropriates power not from the "Muse" but from Elizabeth herself, imitatin g an d drawing on her own self-mythologizatio n t o establish a courtl y cente r fo r hi s poetic wanderings. Hi s fictio n shows that such a center ca n never b e reached, an d that those who woul d dra w o n it mus t nonetheless, fa r o n th e periphery , rel y o n spiritua l an d imaginativ e strength tha t may never be rewarded in the political world.

Chapter Five

THE POLITIC S O F ALLEGORY IN TH E FAERIE QUEENE

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HAT HA S EMERGED i n th e previou s chapte r is a theory o f ho w to read Th e Faerie Queene that gives interpretive priority to th e difference obtainin g betwee n th e discourses of heroi c action — which includes Spenser's complex meditation on and imitation of epic and romance precursors—an d the figural argumen t of hi s allegory. Th e dis placements that occur as the narrative accommodates these irreconcilable versions of itself can then be read in several ways, each of which not only underlines the ideological work performed by trope but has a political valence itself. The firs t of these ways of reading this difference i s to identif y it as an abiding ambivalence that the poem never completely escapes. The ambivalence ma y expres s politica l doubts , an d it ma y disclos e Spenser' s uncomfortable awarenes s tha t hi s poe m participate s in ideologica l ma neuvers that disguise or suppress truths it seeks to articulate. It is located in part in a culturally shared discursive anxiety about origins, originality , and authority. To name the poem's unresolved contradictions as tonal or moral or po litical ambivalence, however, i s to imply that all these opposed values and arguments ar e left t o coexis t a s it were in suspension, i n a witches' brew with the violent fragment s o f discours e and society floating in it as they are i n th e witches ' caldro n i n Macbeth, a sea of alternative s from whic h there is no narrative exit. Such a naming thus also has no political direction of its own, fo r it provides no vocabulary to describe what the poem does

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about it . T o move beyon d thi s ambivalence , whic h I might distinguis h from th e value d "ambiguity " of a n earlier critical discourse b y pointin g to th e degre e o f discursive , political , an d mora l discomfor t generate d when opposed categorie s meet, I urge as a second critical step that we ex amine th e mutua l disruption o f th e political and moral allegorie s a s they emerge i n readings tha t seem to direct one either to an externalized or to an internalized understandin g of events, but not to both. The sliding and denying tha t goes on between th e political and moral readings when the y are forced t o mee t exposes , I shall argue, th e ideologica l wor k tha t thi s particular narrative combination performs . Beyond thi s discussion, I argue as a third critical step that in Th e Faerie Queene a counternarrative does a t times emerg e in th e space marked ou t by thes e differences . Thi s counternarrative , a n exampl e o f wha t Loui s Montrose has called "textual disclosure" (thoug h different i n its narrative dimension), ha s several directions and topics. It can serve to affir m imag inative an d poetic powe r i n oppositio n t o the politics t o whic h th e poe t and narrator apparently bear allegiance—in opposition as well to Spenser's appropriations of Elizabeth's strategies for asserting power an d authority, though, a s Montrose ha s argued, such appropriations themselves implicitly alway s pose a challenge. 1 The counternarrativ e sometimes tell s ho w the poem' s emergin g mora l understandin g expose s compromise s i n th e political story also adumbrated, and it sometimes shows the reverse—that a focu s o n a moral o r psychologica l readin g o f event s obscure s a mor e disturbing politica l analysis . I n thi s chapte r I giv e example s o f eac h o f these two directions . The fact that both occur indicates why summarizin g the content o f the counternarrative is never fully possible. I t is not alway s the case , for instance, tha t the poem's mora l analysi s is deeper an d mor e radical than its political analysis, thoug h I argue that this is true of Spen ser's treatmen t o f th e Egalitaria n Giant . Sinc e th e opposit e occur s i n many o f th e example s o f rape , o r eroti c transgressio n an d tyranny , w e must as k how th e epic structure at issue in this book allow s a testing an d a complicating o f the principal discourse invoked in each case, rather than asking wha t th e politica l o r mora l conclusio n o f th e counternarrativ e might be. The question of whether "Spenser" participates in the testing and com plicating o f th e discourses his poem employ s return s to haunt me here. I will make only two comments : o n the one hand, his text does not disclos e a full y satisfactor y answer t o thi s question ; but o n th e other hand , sinc e "Spenser" is a metonym fo r the discursive practices employed b y his text, it (rathe r than , say , th e allegorica l narrator) does revea l at almos t ever y level a high degre e of self-consciousnes s about discursive strategy. I take

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it that this self-consciousness is cultural and not merely individual, but th e degree o f complicatio n i n th e analysi s of representationa l strateg y suggests an individual preoccupation wit h the larger cultural concern. Doe s the counternarrative perhaps emerge not in and from the poem bu t fro m my ow n critica l discourse as it seeks to uncover a method o f reading th e epic that can accommodate my own critique of hierarchy? Certainly, bu t my account of allegorical bondage will argue that it is also crucial to Spenser's ow n method . I thus tak e courage from th e poem's over t interroga tions o f discursive modes (mos t notably, allegory ) to argue that such in terrogation and criticism constitute a defining interest o f th e text. Whil e Spenser's narrator might respon d t o this assertio n by jotting in my mar gins "Be Not S o Bold," it was also Spenser who taugh t us both ho w t o read such signs and how to "reverse" them . To summarize, ther e ar e four aspect s to m y argumen t abou t Spenser, and the y ar e neither simultaneou s nor analogou s t o eac h other no r gen erally homologous—n o on e i s a version o r a translation o f th e others . First, th e poem exposes , an d works t o narrate its way ou t of , a n episte mological impasse. Second, it also exposes a wide-ranging poeti c ambivalence deriving i n part from the epic structure of disjunction and in part from the ideological work necessary to sustain the poem's own ambiguous harmonies—this ambivalence attaches itself to such diverse topics as sexuality and poetic inspiration. Third , it calls attention to the crossing an d mutual criticism of the poem's politic s and morality, whic h I locate in the tension between a political and a psychological method o f interpreting allegory. Fourth, the poem is structured in such a way that a political, moral , or discursiv e counternarrative can at times emerge . M y argumen t gen erally works fro m the first towar d the fourth of these assertions, but, re flecting Th e Faerie Queene's ow n unwillingnes s t o allo w th e counternar rative to rise to the surface, i t does not always move through each of these steps without disruption . The benevolence of Spenser's plan "to fashion a gentleman or noble per son in vertuous and gentle discipline" i s never doubted at the level of alle gory, althoug h such fashioning in the fiction is often disturbing , an d in cludes moments o f violence and compulsion unfitting for the ideal education invoked i n the Letter to Raleigh. 2 While the "vertuous discipline " o f the poem may indeed be "gentle" in the sense of "properly pertaining to a noble person, " it is rarely "gentle" in th e sens e that stil l pertains t o th e word today . O n th e contrary , th e disciplining o f others , self-discipline , and that moral "fashioning" tha t teaches one to impose such self-restraint are consistently associate d with differen t form s of violence, whethe r tha t

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of retributiv e justice in Book V , or the self-inflicted violenc e involved i n containing th e emotion s o r "conquering " the m i n the represented psy chomachian struggles . Those figure s who most explicitl y "fashion" oth ers—Archimago and the witch in Book III, for instance—only become exemplary cases of the general problem: they use their shaping power to manipulate and deceive. Each such allegory of violent "fashioning" signal s a moment i n which th e power o f the figurative scheme over the characters and action is intensified. This poses the dilemma for Spenser that "fashion ing" ma y necessarily involve—at least within an allegorical scheme of representation—a similarly forcible control of the individual, so that the text's difficulty in representing its intended moral education figures a greater difficulty in the concept of "discipline" that directs the moral scheme of the poem. Although Spenser in his role as allegorical narrator attempts to place the reader in a different positio n fro m that of hi s characters to enable this "fashioning" t o tak e place without th e compulsions an d violences o f his story, th e double d positio n o f th e reader that I identified in the previous chapter make s th e text' s "gentleness " i n "fashioning " a t thi s secondar y level a more doubtfu l proposal. This chapte r explores the poem's analysis of ho w figure s of compulsio n com e t o dominat e th e action , an d o f th e moral, political , an d poetic dilemmas that arise from this figurative control. Thes e controllin g figures , I argue, develop into a systematic poetics of compulsion , embracin g landscape, emblems, an d figure s suc h as personification an d prosopopoeia—a poetics which, fo r various formal and ideological reasons, the figures also work to hide or obscure. "FIGURES HIDEOUS" : ALLEGORICAL BONDAG E In the much-quote d endin g o f Boo k III , canto x, Spense r provides a genealogy fo r th e figur e o f Gealosie, the man Malbecc o being transformed before our eye s into th e figure : Yet can he neuer dye , bu t dyin g Hues , And doth himselfe with sorrow new sustaine, That death and life attonc e vnto him giues . And paineful l pleasure turnes t o pleasing paine. There dwels he euer, miserabl e swaine , Hatefull bot h to him self e and euery wight ; Where h e through priu y griefe , and horrour vaine , Is woxen so deform'd, tha t he has quight Forgot h e was a man, an d Gealousie is hight. (Ill, x, 60)

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In this metamorphosis Malbecc o ceases to be mortal and becomes undy ing, like other concepts, the chiasmus of line 4 evoking the endless circling of hi s own inward-turne d "self-murdrin g thought " (III , x, 57) . The in stant of forgettin g mark s the moment i n which th e figure take s control ; the character's submission t o it is now glosse d as having a story behind i t (in thi s cas e a novella/fabliau), suppressed bu t implie d i n th e personifi cation—and by extension in all such personifications. The stanza intimates that behind th e allegorical text lies the possibility of an infinite expansion in which ever y personification would receive its due prior narrative. Th e forgetting als o designate s th e momen t o f ignoranc e o n th e par t o f th e character, the moment o f transfer from one figurative level to another that the character Malbecco canno t know. The text thus explicitly marks here the loss involved i n th e creatio n o f allegorica l figure, an d make s o f tha t loss a moral statement, s o that the figure of Gealousie clearly is to be taken as a figure for th e operation s of allegorica l representation itself. 3 The stanza also exemplifies Spenser's analysis of the functioning of per sonification, th e trope on which the allegory of Th e Faerie Queene is based. Personification, an d mor e specificall y prosopopoeia , a proces s repre sented i n reverse order i n the reduction of Malbecc o an d his novella t o a single figure , i s understood no t onl y i n Th e Faerie Queene but i n Renais sance rhetoric in general as a defining operation o f allegory. Puttenham' s succinct explanation emphasize s this connection b y defining the trope by the allegorica l personifications in Th e Romance o f the Rose alone : But if ye wil faine any person with such features, qualitie s and conditions, o r if ye will attribute any humane quality, as reason or speech to dornbe creatures or othe r insensible things, an d do study (a s one may say) to giue them a humane person, i t is not Prosopographia, bu t Prosopopeia, because it is by way of fiction, and no prettier examples ca n be giuen t o you thereof , tha n in the Romant o f th e rose translated out o f th e Frenc h b y Chaucer, describin g th e person s of auarice , enuie , ol d age , and man y others , whereb y suc h moralitie is taught. (Ill , 29; p. 246)

In spite of the common etymology o f the two terms—fro m theprosdpon, or death mask—Puttenham distinguishes the more general prosopographia, which h e define s a s describin g suc h thing s a s "th e visage , speac h an d countenance of any person absent or dead . . . this kinde of representation is called the Counterfait countenance " (p . 246). Spenser's use of personi fication suggests , however, tha t Puttenham's distinction between the two tropes canno t b e easil y maintained : th e stor y o f Malbecco , lik e tha t o f other allegorical figures, shows that the presence of the figure requires the absence of th e person, a n absence often marke d a t the level of th e fiction by a suppressed death.

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To figure such loss as the cost of the personifications or of the animated landscape that authorize s the poetic voice is, a s we have seen in Chapte r 3, i n par t Spenser' s inheritanc e fro m Virgil . Man y o f th e specifi c trans formations tha t provide thes e figures com e fro m Ovid—indeed , th e de scription o f th e physica l metamorphosi s o f Malbecc o i s Ovidia n i n it s concern fo r the details of ho w hi s "substance wa s consum'd t o nought" until "crooked clawes" (III, x, 57 ) grew to allow him to crawl into a cave. But Spenser gives these Ovidian change s a darker and more Virgilian tex ture and tonality, establishin g a dialogue between thes e two subtext s that itself participate s in the enacted anatomizing of the powers an d method s of allegory. 4 Whil e man y o f Ovid' s metamorphose s see m t o provid e a genuine releas e or escape into a consoling natura l world, Spenser' s mor e often ar e punishments o r markers, symboli c milestones commemoratin g losses that have occurred at different point s along the way, a s I illustrated in the previous chapter with the story of the lazy nymph transformed into a fountain (I , vii, 5) . The secon d cas e of the transformation of a nymph , this tim e int o a fountain, ca n indicate how thi s poe m establishe s a figurative economy simila r to that in the Aeneid, animatin g the landscape and endowing the poet with a resonant poetic voice but also signaling the costs of that figurative move. Explaining t o Gu y on how a fountain might hav e special powers, th e Palmer claim s that many fountain s receive their power ("vertue" ) "fro m their sourse" or "by gif t o f later grace, / Or b y good prayers , or by othe r hap" (II , ii, 6) . But th e cas e he describe s presents a n image o f purit y i n loss, o f a "grace" that make s sufferin g permanen t rather tha n assuaging it: Such is this well, wrough t b y occasion straunge , Which to her Nymph befell . Vpo n a day As she the woods wit h bow an d shafts di d raunge, The hartlesse Hind an d Robucke to dismay, Dan Faunus chauns t to meet her by the way, And kindlin g fire at her faire burning eye, Inflamed wa s to follow beauties chace, And chace d her, tha t fas t fro m him di d fly; As Hind from her, s o she fled from her enimy . At last when faylin g breath began to faint , And sa w no meane s to scape, of shame affrayd , She set her downe t o weepe for sore constraint, And t o Diana calling lowd for ayde, Her dear e besought, t o let her dye a mayd. The goddess e heard, an d suddeine where she sate,

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Welling out streames of teares, and quite dismayd With stony fear e of that rude rustick mate, Transformd her to a stone from stedfas t virgin s state. Lo now sh e is that stone, fro m whose tw o heads, As from two weepin g eyes , fres h streame s do flow, Yet cold through feare , an d old concerned dreads; And yet the stone her semblance seemes to show , Shapt like a maid, tha t such ye may her know ; And yet her vertues in her water byde: For it is chast and pure, a s purest snow , Ne lets her waues with an y filth b e dyde, But eue r like her selfe vnstained hath beene tryed. (II, ii, 7-9 )

Here t o b e "saved" is to be petrified, in an Ovidian transformatio n tha t renders eternal the nymph's grievin g state : her fear is "stony," so she becomes a stone; she wells out "streames of teares," whic h becom e th e part of he r tha t is eternalized. Th e nymp h get s what sh e wants i n one sense, yet the figure she makes in the landscape seems more a likeness of Niobe, petrified in grief, than a sign of a divine favor that has protected her fro m rape. On e suspects , moreover , no t onl y Elizabetha n echoe s here—th e goddess Diana a s a figure fo r Elizabeth , workin g t o sav e any "nymph " from losing her chastity 5—but an implicit portrait of chastity itself as cold rock, a portrait no t o f th e virtu e of chastity , i n other words , bu t o f th e dangers of its "vertue." Such a reading is supported b y the odd positio n of this "pure" fountain in the allegory of Boo k II , cantos i-ii, wher e th e issue is not whethe r th e water itsel f i s "pure" but whethe r i t ca n purif y anything else . Perhap s becaus e chastity is an extreme virtu e tha t ca n by definition never be moderate, o r perhaps because the belated "vertue" of chastity cannot finally help to cleanse the marks of original sin, this foun tain i s singularly unhelpfu l to Guyo n i n hi s desir e t o cleans e the baby' s hands—except t o th e extent tha t it leads the Palmer t o propos e tha t th e hands should sta y unwashed t o provide a "sacred Symbole " in the boy' s flesh of hi s mother's innocenc e an d a motive fo r the "reuengement " (st. 10) th e bab y wil l tak e on th e evildoer s whe n h e grows up . Ther e is co herence t o th e spiritua l allegory—origina l si n canno t b e washe d away ; Ovidian fountain s canno t becom e baptisma l fonts—bu t th e fountai n nonetheless doe s not see m to fit th e scheme, whic h itsel f is rendered eve n more problematic by the completely classica l and non-Christian character of Guyon an d of the action of his book.6 The Ovidia n tal e establishe s one origin o f th e "vertues " of th e landscape, then , i n the nymph's los s of lif e an d in the threatened rape . Fore -

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stalled at enormous cos t to the female, attempted rap e provides on e ver sion of source or origin. Th e subsequent moment o f petrification, lik e the moment of Malbecco's forgetting , signals the action of prosopopoeia, th e instant when th e issue is no longer a nymph with an Ovidian tal e attached to her, but a personified landscape given powers by the veiling or suppres sion o f suc h tales. Onl y slightly hidden b y the ostensible redemption o f the nymph , th e petrificatio n becomes ye t anothe r representatio n o f th e power of th e figure as it transforms the living for m into a n absent pres ence. Throughou t th e poem petrificatio n indicates not onl y th e peculiar economy o f the figure—the representatio n of huma n loss (or the loss of living form , a s in the case of the nymph) balanced or at least displaced by figurative gain—bu t also the more general costs of poetic power tha t de rive from the imposition o f such an economy. Becaus e the poem i s partly about the nature of allegory, about what it can and cannot teach its readers, and abou t th e danger s o f thi s metho d o f instruction , i t inevitabl y als o makes th e cost s o f these figurative moves apparent , usually by signalin g them i n the fiction. The prominence o f the form "astond" or "astonied" for "astonished" gives a sense of th e frequenc y of thi s forma l and representationa l threat of petrification . The petrifyin g capacity of Arthur' s shiel d is, a s was ar gued above, a sign of the danger to mortals of this figurative power. Thu s when Redcrosse Knight rip s a bough of f a tree that then groans , th e nar rator tell s us tha t "Aston d h e stood " (I , ii, 31) : his response to thi s ani mated tre e i s momentarily t o b e overcome himsel f b y th e figure , t o b e rendered les s even than a tree, t o lose, i n other words, th e very language the poem ha s transferred onto th e tree . Th e stor y o f Fradubio , "onc e a man . . . now a tree" (I, ii, 33), Spenser's reworking o f the Virgilian Po lydorus, thu s exemplifies the human loss and moral failure necessarily incurred by personification of the landscape. In Spenser, the trope does no t require actua l death, a s it did in Virgil (an d in Dante's woo d o f th e sui cides), but i t does require a moral or spiritual death, allegorically perhaps understood a s the experienc e o f dwellin g i n th e natural world s o com pletely tha t one has no further clai m on the human. Her e too th e impris onment i n figurative form is primarily a punishment and a mark of sin or failure: thoug h th e poem claim s that "Tim e and suffised fate s t o forme r kynd / Shall vs restore" (I, ii, 43) and mentions a living well, i t is precisely this kin d o f transformatio n that the poe t ha s the greates t difficulty rep resenting. Suc h "suffised fates" can only poin t t o the end of the world— or at least of the fictional world, a fictional apocalypse—when such landscape will cease to be. However coheren t the moral or Christian allegory, a primar y functio n of th e episod e i s to indicat e an apparently inevitable

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link betwee n prosopopoei a an d imprisonment , bondage , enclosure , o r death, al l signs of a figurative compulsion associate d with the poetics of allegory, and particularly threatening if we—the readers figured as outside the constraint s o f th e text—now conside r tha t th e "unknowing" reader faced wit h a n allegor y base d o n prosopopoei a canno t b e ver y differen t from Redcross e "astond" before a speaking tree. The treatment of such personifications as marking a loss or failure from which th e poe t a s allegorist has gained figurativ e powe r seem s les s surprising a t first becaus e it is attached in th e moral allegory to instances of sin, t o the extent tha t sin itself comes t o be defined a s the moment whe n a human bein g allow s a daemon t o overtak e him o r her , becomin g a s it were completel y "obsessed " by th e on e devourin g trait. 7 No r i s it sur prising, perhaps , that a technique figured as a sign of allegor y in the tex t should be associated with sin, for Spenser specifically tells us that allegory is a fallen mode , appropriat e for conveyin g knowledg e i n a fallen world . The pageant of the deadly sins thus provides seven excellent examples of this daemonic mode of characterization, showing how a given sin has the power t o transform an individual completely until he or she becomes, lik e Malbecco, nothing but a sign of the possessing daemon. An example with an equally traditional form, showin g a character being boun d b y evil , i s of cours e th e momen t i n whic h Redcross e Knight i s bound i n Errour' s "endlesse traine" (I, i, 18) . The association of compulsion with evil is similarly give n originar y for m in the story o f th e dragon wh o ha s besieged Una's parent s "to mak e them thrall " (I , vii, 44) . Such binding an d com pelling become s a seductively symmetrica l inversio n o f th e "binding " represented as necessary for the moral life—the binding o f Furor , fo r in stance, o r th e self-restraint urged upon Timia s an d Serena by the hermi t in Book VI, himself figurativel y boun d "lik e carelesse bird in cage" (VI, vi, 4). This symmetry indicates not only that both uses of constraint signal moments o f allegorica l compulsio n (albei t ostensibly benevolen t com pulsion in the case of the binding of Furor), but that, finally, the y cannot be distinguished formally. The type and reliability of knowledge tha t this fallen mode can convey are themselves in question as soon a s we pass from relatively simple em blematic examples to the more complex elaboration we expect from Spen ser. A similar metamorphosis o f huma n form, agai n identified with sin, occurs in Acrasia's bower, where the Palmer explains that These seeming beast s are men indeed , Whom this Enchauntresse hath transformed thus , Whylome her louers, whic h her lusts did feed , Now turne d int o figures hideous ,

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According t o their mindes like monstruous, Sad end (quot h he) of lif e intemperate . (II, xii, 85 )

These "figures hideous" have become possesse d by their figurative function; associate d here as elsewhere wit h a "sad end," suc h transformation marks a closure of the human an d mortal. Th e Palmer's magic rod is able to bring most of these men back to their "forme r kynd"—"the y comel y men became"—althoug h one confirmed barbarian resists reinstatement , preferring to keep his hoggish form: "The donghil l kind / Delights i n filth and foul e incontinence : /Let Grill be Grill, an d haue his hoggish mind " (II, xii, 87) . Grill's refusal becomes, as has often been noted, a n unresolved ambivalence i n th e episode: Stephe n Greenblat t has argued tha t the pas sage implicitl y allegorize s an d condemn s th e appea l of th e exoti c Ne w World (wit h it s uncivilized, "free " societies) , an appeal that is shown t o be both sexual and economic i n the historical example of a Spaniard wh o survived shipwrec k i n the Yucatan and, eight years later, refused t o return to his European life. 8 Th e text , suc h readings aver, needs t o convinc e it s readers of the rightness of Guyon's transformatio n of beasts into men because their approval would help to authorize the destruction of the bower: the "figure s hideous " thus would be convincingly identifie d a s Acrasia's victims, an d would testif y t o the evil of her sexuality, and, implicitly, o f sexual license more broadly. I t is therefore important tha t the narrator be able t o represen t thei r transformatio n as a liberation rathe r tha n anothe r imposition, an d t o blam e thi s figurativ e compulsio n o n th e witch enchantress. Nonetheless, thi s figurative project presents certain difficulties. I n their beastly forms , fo r instance , whic h w e woul d expec t t o bring utte r self alienation, th e me n represen t allegoricall y thei r "monstruou s mindes" ; hence one suspects these shapes were somehow close r to their "kynd" than the stor y admits . Moreover , th e inside-outsid e conceptua l correspon dence indicates that these are also figures o f allegory , an d as such fit wit h the unusually transparent allegorization of the voyage of Guyon. Indeed , the episode centrall y concerns allegory's facult y o f makin g moral , polit ical, an d more broadly representationa l judgments. I f Greenblatt's inter pretation is correct, th e episode also reveals a significant linkage between , on the one hand, the political powers of repression and control typifie d in the European treatmen t of the inhabitants of the New World , an d on the other, th e imprisonment an d containment of human difference tha t Spen ser represents as a central feature of allegorical imagery.9 The disturbance that Grill comes to embody (it is, precisely, no t an issue of his representing anything—"Let Grill be Grill") certainl y disrupts the politica l and mora l

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possibilities of the allegory: Grill's being allowed to remain behind to enjoy hi s lusts hints that the "liberation" from beastly form here is rather an enforced adherence to a moral code—the colonial conqueror can only treat with disgus t th e idea that th e uncivilized "other" ca n hold ou t an y per manent appeal . But th e disturbanc e also affects th e claims of allegor y t o clarify an d discover rather than impose meaning. Letting "Grill b e Grill" rather tha n anythin g else— a figur e o f "sloth, " say, o r a "kynd" of an y other sort—in this context is a radically anti-allegorical step. These "figure s hideous" are, in the moral allegory, marks of the com pulsions of sin. Their connection with th e mode of allegory suggests that allegory "represents " in par t by deforming , a method tha t become s es pecially disturbing in cases where the emotion bein g represented either is not depicte d as sinful i n itself or is, in fact, necessar y for th e fiction, as in the case of chivalric fury. A n emotion related to the Furor that Guy on tries to quell, chivalri c anger is particularly significant, o f course , because it is apparently a trait common to all knights (though perhaps differently sym bolic in each case). "Fury " is connected etymologicall y t o th e Furies, so that moments o f chivalric inspiration and aggression become figurations of daemoni c possession . Medin a put s i t clearl y whe n sh e ask s Guyon , Sans Loy, an d Sir Huddibras, al l madly attacking one another, Ah puissant Lords, what cursed euill Sprigh t Or fel l Erinnys, in your noble harts Her hellish bron d hath kindle d wit h despight , And stird you vp to worke your wilful l smarts? (II, ii , 29 )

The compulsio n exercise d a t suc h moment s b y th e figurativ e schem e threatens to extend to the poetic design itself insofar as it relies on chivalric combat t o mak e it s allegorica l points. 10 Allegory' s forma l lin k t o th e poem's mora l schem e become s eve n mor e problemati c i n Spenser' s de tailed analysis of the workings o f desire, an emotion mor e formally com pulsive stil l tha n fury ; th e analysi s fills th e middl e o f th e poem , whic h treats the deforming power s of erotic desire and of allegory as one. As a result o f thi s extensio n o f a compulsive structur e to non-sinfu l states or activities, however, th e whole tex t also becomes somethin g lik e Medina's question—"A h puissant Lords . . . "—displacing the responsibility for such figurative control from the narrator to other forces or agents by posin g question s o f responsibilit y an d authorship within th e fiction . Such displacement is, of course , traditiona l in one sense. In classical epic the gods are given the job of compelling obedience to the symbolic design, with the result that symbolic distortions appea r in the epic fiction. Spen -

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ser, i n contrast , generall y transfer s this responsibilit y ont o demoni c fig ures of th e artist , thereb y bot h evadin g a full acknowledgmen t o f hi s allegory's complicit y an d hinting a t a darker recognitio n o f th e disfigure ment wrough t by certai n kind s o f representation . Centra l t o the poetic s of the Bower of Bliss, for instance, is the text's identification of the power that transforms men into animals as female sexuality rather than as its own artistic necessity. The shif t o f responsibility fo r figurative compulsio n fro m th e gods t o figures of the artist occurs, a s we have seen in the previous chapter , wit h exemplary clarit y i n th e creatio n o f Snow y Florimell . Thi s characte r is disruptive precisel y because , whil e appearin g t o maintai n huma n for m (unlike Fradubio , Malbecco , o r th e me n in Acrasia's bower), sh e is only an allegorical figure , completel y possesse d and impelled b y a set of figu rative conventions . Th e similaritie s betwee n Snow y Florimel l an d th e phantom o r image of Aeneas in Iliad V were noted by John Upton as early as 1758." This wraithlike creature is described with the Greek word eidolon (Iliad V , 449), from which, Upto n argued, Spenser took th e word "Idole" (III, viii , n) . I n the Iliad, Apoll o i s the divine artifice r tha t fashion s this image, whic h replaces Aeneas in battle while th e man himself i s far away being healed of his wounds. I n that text, the term eidolon helped to connect divine fashioning with the poet's representation of characters through im ages. Indee d whe n a similar phantom, designe d t o trick Turnus , no t sur prisingly appear s in the Aeneid (X , 636-37 ) Virgi l verbally connect s thi s shadowy imag e with his own art. Both cases exemplified the manipulation of character s by figures in the classical epics, a s does Snow y Florimel l fo r Spenser, wit h th e differenc e tha t Spense r displace s the manipulatio n fic tionally fro m th e epic narrator and uses the episode t o giv e suc h contro l of figures the thematic name of Idolatry. 12 Idolatry i s the name i n the mora l an d political allegorie s fo r th e figu rative domination o r compulsion a t issue here.13 This connection, impor tant both for Spenser's poetics and for his moral analysis, has, like the dis placing o f narrativ e responsibilit y fo r thes e "figure s hideous, " a n ideological function , fo r i t allow s Spense r t o ti e an aspect of hi s ow n artisti c method to Protestant polemic s agains t what wa s considered th e Catholi c worship o f images . A t th e sam e time , th e poe m expresse s th e impossibility o f renouncin g images , especiall y th e powerful , centra l accumula tions o f figures—such as the Idol of Cupid and , indeed, th e entire House of Busyrane—associate d wit h th e dens e allegorica l core s i n eac h book . This doubl e gesture—anothe r exampl e o f demonizing—allow s th e nar rator t o characteriz e hi s ow n representationa l strategie s a s "evil " an d

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"other," and thu s t o appea r to den y thei r rol e i n the establishing o f th e hierarchies necessary for generatin g allegorica l meaning. Th e tex t i s in formed, then , b y tw o competin g structure s of powe r an d compulsion , one marke d a s such an d fictionall y demonize d a s "Idolatry," on e unac knowledged bu t equall y pervasive . Th e firs t mod e o f compulsion , dis cussed as such in the text, i s associated with the dangerous power o f th e image t o dominat e th e viewe r an d thus subdu e him o r her ; th e second , matching bu t opposit e an d unmarked in the text, enact s within th e text the violence of Protestant zeal. Both the threat the allegory identifies and the solution it proposes are thus figured as modes of compulsion. Th e nar rator's willingness to understand education and reform as a civilizing pro cess that can and should be imposed by force on others—on the "other," whether Iris h o r nativ e o f th e Ne w World , bu t als o o n th e recalcitrant within (whic h i n th e mora l allegor y include s th e recalcitrant withi n th e self, an d i n th e forma l allegory th e exfoliatin g possibilities o f polysem y within it s ranks)—i s eviden t throughou t th e poem , especiall y i n suc h clearly iconoclastic scenes as the destruction of the Bower o f Bliss. 14 Th e governance of the Queen is similarly figured in Th e Faerie Queene as having t o impose its will by violence, a strategy echoed, a s I have argued, in the moment s o f figurativ e violence involve d i n imposing a n allegorical scheme. A distinc t ambivalenc e thu s color s th e representatio n o f socia l and political control, a n ambivalence that the narrator seems more able to suppress in cases where the issue is specifically a matter of religious reform or iconoclastic zeal (though th e suspicion generally aroused in readers by the end of Boo k II shows tha t even here the poem includes implicit crit icism of the narrator's unpitying stance). The "ambivalence " reaches the order of tru e impasse when formal as well as thematic categories are taken into account, since as we have seen in the example of the "figures hideous" in the Bower, it is morally essential but representationall y impossible fo r th e poem t o b e able to distinguis h these two source s or motives of compulsion. Bot h structures of compulsion ar e given fictiona l as well a s figura l form, an d indeed , i t i s the dis junction o f figure and action that allows the text to make visible the very similarity betwee n th e two tha t the allegory is engaged in denying. On e of the text's deeper anxieties, then, appear s to be that these two kind s o f compulsion ma y prove to be one and the same—the tyranny of the image being matched by a kind o f moral obligation that also denies all freedom. The complexit y o f th e text' s mora l an d aesthetic analysis in par t come s from it s insistent search for a way to distinguish the two . The narrative of this search does not, however, squar e in Spenser's text

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with th e displacement of responsibility for the poem's compulsion s fro m the figure o f the author to various agents within th e fiction. The episod e of the House of Busyrane constitutes an unusual, if exemplary, case in this consistent displacement . Here too a magician is fictionally present to take the blame , an d the evi l of th e House i s analyzed as a version of idolatry , but the poet nonetheless is far more explicit in identifying Busyrane's sig nifying method s an d powers—the tortures, deformations , an d kinds o f bondage exemplified in the House—with an aspect of allegory itself. Bu syrane, for all that he seems closest to a demented love poet or sonneteer , shows himsel f a traditional allegorist by making literalizations of sonne t topoi themselves into signs. 15 His connection to allegory is made not onl y through these literalizations but also through the insistent puns on "read," which mak e Britomart a figure o f the unknowing reader , and most spe cifically throug h hi s daemonic "penning" of Amoret. 16 The gap between figure and the fictional representation of compulsio n or bondage is especially evident in the scenes in which Britomart, walkin g mystified throug h th e House , trie d t o rea d the allegory, "ye t coul d no t find wha t senc e it figured" (III , xi, 50) : Spenser places her mor e specifi cally here as a fictional and epic character, emphasizing her distanc e from the conventions bein g displayed around her. Hi s point i s partly moral— such distortions of love remain alien and unreadable to his heroine of chastity, wh o ha s been promised a fulfillment i n love denied by the represen tations of th e House—but it is also aesthetic. She belongs in and to a different kin d o f story : before her puzzled gaze, Spenser displays the pyrotechnics o f hi s craf t an d judges them . Britomar t intuit s th e disjunctio n between hersel f an d Busyran e a t th e beginnin g o f th e episod e when , trying to pass through the wall of fire, sh e comments t o Scudamour with horror that "we a God inuade" (III, xi, 22) . Allegorica l figuration is lik ened to a divinity, whos e eternity explains the power o f such figures ove r the action. Britomart' s heroic existence is given a special validation here, for onl y th e epic heroine can accomplish the rescue necessary to conclude the episode. Th e 159 0 version of Th e Faerie Queene ended with this rescue, as thoug h th e poet coul d onl y conclud e his poem b y "untying " or "re versing" allegory itself. The poem represent s the action of Busyrane as an imprisoning o r "en thralling" o f Amoret , wh o i s describe d wit h th e resonan t pu n o n "t o pen." Scudamou r opens the episode by lamenting her situation: If good fin d grac e and righteousnesse reward, Why the n is Amoret in caytiue band, Sith that more bounteous creature neuer far'd

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On foot , vpon the face of liuin g land? Or i f that heauenly iustice may withstand The wrongfull outrage of vnrighteous men , Why the n is Busirane with wicke d hand Suffred, thes e seuen monethes da y in secret den My lady and my loue so cruelly to pen? My Lad y and my loue is cruelly pend In dolefull darkenesse from the vew of day Whilest deadly torments d o her chast brest rend, And the sharp steele doth riue her hart in tway, All for she Scudamore wil l not denay . (Ill, xi, lo-ii)

When we see Amoret her hands are "bounden fast. . . her small wast girt round wit h yro n bands , / Vnto a brasen pillour" (III , xii, 30) , while th e enchanter himself sit s before her Figuring straunge characters of hi s art, With liuing bloud he those characters wrate, Dreadfully droppin g fro m he r dying hart. (Ill, xii, 31 )

Amoret i s indee d "penned " i n bot h senses . Th e episod e i s generall y understood a s illustrating some sort of demonic alter ego of the poet that must be discarded; this interpretation rightly indicates the poet's intentio n without full y acknowledgin g th e ideological functio n o f th e demoniza tion, o r its connection t o allegory itself. Like the "yron pen" writin g i n Arthur's heart, Amoret's "penning" is also a figure of limitation . I n Arthur's case, however, suc h writing mark s the epic limitation o f mortality, whil e in Amoret's it designates in fictional terms th e functioning of allegorical imagery, which relie s on a daemonic dividing o f characteristic s and experience s an d the n render s a character prisoner o f a particular trait, emotion, o r experience. Here the male artist is imagine d a s pennin g a femal e characte r and forcin g he r t o functio n within hi s artistic system, the violence of the imposition o f this "evil" art being made apparent in the torturing literalism of literary topoi (her heart is cut out of her chest) and in the explicit statement that he writes with her blood. Wha t allows this to go beyond a thematic critique of, say, courtly love, o r of taking Petrarchan sonnet conceits too literally is that this "pen ning" is ontologically both a form of writing and an imprisonment, a kind of bondage . Th e movemen t fro m th e limiting inscriptio n o f morta l experience in Arthur's heart to the literalization of allegory upon Amoret' s can serve as an index of a self-transuming narrative movement withi n Th e

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Faerie Queene wher e th e tru e agents are not characters , but differen t ap proaches to the problematic of allegory. The similarit y betwee n Busyran e and th e allegorica l narrator o f Th e Faerie Queene —which become s apparen t in th e analog y establishe d be tween th e imprisonment o f Florimel l i n Proteus's ston y de n and the im prisonment o f Amore t i n th e Hous e o f Busyrane , bot h fo r seve n months17—can in its turn b e understood a s a displacement o f thi s other , formal narrative . Spense r invokes th e trope o f the narrator's inability t o change th e plot , whil e implicitl y acknowledgin g responsibilit y fo r th e plight o f Florimel l with Ariostan wit : My hart doth mel t wit h meer e compassion, To thinke, how causeless e of her own accord This gentle Damzell, whom I write vpon, Should plonge d b e in such affliction . (Ill, viii, i )

Like Busyrane , th e Spenseria n narrato r "write s on " thi s lady . Simila r Ariostan laments and comments throughout th e Florimell story implicate the narrator as the cause of her suffering, s o that he too is treated as a writer who imprison s an d "pens" or "write s vpon" his characters, the two actions being joined . The shif t i n gender fro m Arthur to Amoret is , in this context, equall y significant. Britomart ca n rescue Amoret in part because she is a woman— who els e could release another woman boun d t o a "brasen pillour"?—for the abuse s of Busyrane' s ar t ar e explicitly figure d a s male, whil e Brito mart's feminine gender come s also to be momentarily identifie d with the epic actio n itself , withi n whic h sh e consistentl y struggle s agains t thos e who imprison others . Britomart stands as a fictional heroine, then , against the constraints o f the allegory. Sh e is "too bold " (III, xi, 54 ) for the allegorist, an d insist s o n unveilin g an d "reuersing " hi s "charmes" : a t th e threat o f death , Busyran e looks throug h hi s "cursed leaues , his charme s backe t o reuerse ; / Full dreadful l thing s ou t o f tha t baleful l book e / He red" (III , xii, 36 ) until the "mighti e chaine" falls of f Amoret's wais t an d the "brasen pillour " cracks into small pieces. The episode presents an action so different fro m the meanings given it through th e figurative mechanisms of the allegory that one is even said to "reverse" the other. 18 A female powe r her e devastate s m^l e power ; i n generi c terms , a non allegorical heroine o f epic-romanc e reveal s this kind o f courtl y allegor y to be a torturing, deforming , an d potentially misogynist mode. 19

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THRALLDOM AND THE POLITICS OF EROTIC COMPULSIO N As we will see with Amoret in the House of Busyrane and in the extended episode beginning wit h her "rape" by "Lust," the psychological allegory invoked b y the narrator often domesticate s or contains the more disrup tive picture of the social engendering and construction o f desire. I n these episodes and in other account s of bondag e and enthrallment, w e can observe a near-constant process of displacement and evasion as a psycholog ical allegory suppresses a political or socia l one. A s we shal l see, ther e is also an asymmetry between mal e and female characters in this process of displacing o r submergin g th e mor e threatenin g image : fo r femal e char acters, scene s of bondag e or enthrallment almos t always seem to be pre sented primarily in the mode of a psychological allegory, while with male characters the reverse tends to be the case—the "external" reading is privileged, a s it is in the case of Artegall in submission t o Radigund. I n both instances, th e text allude s to the alternative reading, unacknowledged b y the narrator , an d put s th e reade r in th e positio n o f havin g t o negotiat e between them . Th e fictional representation of events, it should be added, by definition tends to add support to any reading that would se e the scene of compulsio n a s external, since that is how th e characters perceive what is going on . I t is my premis e that it is worth taking thei r understandin g seriously a s one guid e to th e meaning o f thes e episodes. I n the case s involving femal e characters, such a method o f reading helps to bring to the surface a political accoun t of desir e disruptive to man y o f th e narrator' s moral lessons. The imager y of bondag e an d thralldom is used throughout th e poe m as in the House o f Busyran e to represent the figurative strategies of alle gory itself , an d perhap s for this reason seems to releas e a greater variety of interpretations tha n the narrator appears able to control. Th e associa tion i s elaborated in episodes in which a character is represented as being overtaken by a powerful emotion (a form of sexual desire is almost alway s an aspect of these scenes, even though th e emotion a t issue may have another name, such as Pride). The moment whe n Redcrosse, "Pourd out in loosnesse o n th e grass y grownd" (I , vii, 7) , is attacked and capture d b y Orgoglio proves exemplary for the rest of the poem: Redcrosse Knight is made an "eternall bondslaue" (I, vii, 14 ) and "a caytiue thrall" (st. 19 ) by this puffed-u p figur e o f a n aspec t of himself . Th e poe m allude s t o th e knight's psychologica l and moral failure in its repeated use of imagery o f prisons, bondage , an d thralldom : sinc e Redcross e b y definitio n canno t read hi s los s a s internal, h e is necessarily enslaved not onl y b y hi s ow n

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emotional stat e but b y th e metho d th e poe t ha s chosen t o represen t hi s submission. I n becomin g a "caytiu e thrall " o f Orgoglio , h e become s more of a daemonic character, resembling his many enemies (such as the Sans Brothers) an d losing hi s capacity to be a character in a knightly fic tion: he is possessed, imprisoned, penne d in by this one emotion, which , in Spenser's moral analysis, sets out to destroy all else within him.20 The congruenc e between th e methods o f Orgogli o and those o f alle gory i s marke d fictionall y by th e thematic s of bondag e an d thralldom . Thralldom, on e might say more generally, is thus associated with allegory through the psychomachia that typifies the allegory of desire, and through the dependenc e o f allegor y o n "daemonic " an d "obsessive " characters "penned" into thei r on e trait. Thi s association , however, i s not merel y contingent, a s i f thralldo m an d bondag e simpl y represented th e forma l strategy. Th e event s arising from the appearance of Furo r an d Occasio n further illuminat e the degree of allegory's dependence on thralldom : th e tension betwee n th e chivalric and the allegorical readings of Guyon's de cision to lock the tongue of Occasio n and to chain her (II , v, 17-18) sug gests that the allegory indeed requires a gesture of binding and containing. Furor and Occasion, a s we have seen, are already characters "possessed," daemons who have only one set of gestures and narrative possibilities; the moral act , a s the episod e define s it , i s therefore to bin d the m furthe r i n order t o contain and control this one gesture—to bind their binding—so as to keep it from enlarging and contaminating the narrative. As Guyo n ironically exclaims , "Grea t merc y sure , fo r t o enlarg e a thrall, /Whose freedome shall thee turne to greatest scath" (II, v, 18). Although the moral life invoked b y the narrator seems to depend on such gestures of imprisoning an d enchaining , fictionall y thi s gestur e canno t b e distinguishe d from its opposite: Furor and Occasion first made Phedon their thrall, now Guyon enchain s them, an d each attempts to enthral l the other i n battles that are difficult t o distinguish. To bind an allegory of thralldom, far from containing it , tend s to disperse or enlarge the compulsion it figures—by , among othe r mechanisms , accentuatin g the epistemologica l impasse s it generates.21 The frustratio n of character s in the face o f th e uninterpretable but ir resistible figurative power at issue in these cases of bondage and compulsion is clearly articulated by Scudamour in his lament about Amoret's im prisonment: powre of hand , no r skil l of learned brest , Ne worldly price cannot redeem e my deare , Out o f he r thraldome and continuall feare . (Ill, xi, 16 )

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These word s hav e led readers to interpret th e House o f Busyrane as representing Amoret's fear s about love, especiall y the consummation o f mar riage, thoug h th e episode ca n equally be read as representing a n external threat.22 Character s consistentl y rea d a s external wha t th e allegor y sug gests may be read as internal, a divergence typical of the entire poem, bu t rendered especiall y problematic in these erotic stories by the different po litical implication s o f eac h reading . I n th e cas e of Amoret , th e politica l implications o f th e actio n ar e more radica l than thos e generate d b y th e psychological interpretatio n tha t mos t readil y present s itsel f (tha t th e House represent s externall y Amoret' s fears) . Her e th e psychologica l al legory work s t o domesticat e an d contain th e more threatenin g implica tions o f th e action : tha t mal e misogyn y torture s an d deforms, tha t alle gory itself—understoo d t o function, amon g othe r ways , a s a set of con ceptual inside-outsid e correspondences—participate s i n th e violence . This tensio n betwee n externa l an d internal reading s i s generated b y th e reliance of allegorica l representation o n narrative doubles, an d remains a particularly animating feature throughout th e tales of bondage, rape , and imprisonment fro m Book III to the end of the poem . Sexual desir e is, a t least ostensibly, th e centra l topic o f mos t o f thes e episodes, thoug h th e narrative doubling insistentl y raise s the question o f whose o r wha t desir e i s at issue. Whe n th e "Giauntesse " Argant e "fas t flying" move s along the plain with a "dolefull Squire " o n her lap, her vic tim i s pictured a s "Fast bounde n han d an d foote with cord s o f wire" so that she could mak e him "th e thrall of he r desire" (III , vii, 37) . The lan guage of "eternal l bondage" an d of "vassall " (III, vii, 50 ) fills th e expla nation of the Squire of Dames onc e he is allowed to tell his story. Nothing in the fiction tells that the Squire has any responsibility for his sudden im prisonment: Argant e seems rather a horrible exampl e of femal e lust, lik e the "witch" (Acrasia) who had enthralled Mortdant ("hi m tha t witch had thralled to her will, / In chaines of lust and lewd desires ybound" II, i, 54). Whether th e episode should be read generally as an allegorical descriptio n of ho w someon e ca n become possesse d by his own desir e or a s an illustration o f th e danger s o f specificall y femal e desire and ultimately o f th e threat o f femal e powe r remain s undecidable . I n case s where a woman' s desire is explicitly represented as part of the action, the poem tends to sup press th e psychologica l allegor y (i n which th e femal e woul d figur e th e male character' s own desire ) and to bring a political interpretation t o th e fore. This move displaces blame onto female sexuality and thereby evades the dilemma s tha t th e moral allegor y presents . Th e frequen t episode s i n which suc h overwhelmin g femal e presence s impriso n me n who m the y desire23 conclude in the story o f Artegall's submission t o Radigund ("Ye t

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was he iustly damne d b y the doome / Of hi s owne mout h . . . To be her thrall," V, v, 17 ; she "as her vassal l him t o thraldom e tooke, " V, v, 18) , where fictionally Artegall must be rescued from bondage, and the evil Radigund destroyed . The psychomachian possibility in this passage tends to be displaced , whil e th e notio n tha t thi s mus t b e rea d a s a n allegor y of somethin g externa l to Artegall becomes dominant , fo r Radigund fig ures no t onl y femal e desir e but als o femal e rul e and power . Thi s externalizing allegor y criticize s femal e rule , demonize s femal e desire , an d ostensibly free s Artegal l fro m an y contaminatio n b y th e threatenin g image of the "woman on top." Thi s implicit power struggl e is present in all of these episodes—if elliptically—in the language of vassalage, slavery, and tyranny used to describe all of the oppressing figures, suggestin g that in much of the poem the allegory of desire doubles as an allegory of politics. The displacemen t a t issue is more ofte n o f th e politica l or socia l alle gory, a s I argued above, especially in accounts of female characters whose imprisonments ar e treated according to psychological allegory as figuring mental o r emotional experience . The sequence of stories of rape, posses sion, and imprisonment se t in motion when Amoret is seized by the sexual figure o f Lus t (metaphorically , a rape—see IV, vii, 5-7) , whic h includes the "novella " o f Aemyli a an d Amyas , illustrate s the comple x displace ments an d evasion s mad e possibl e b y a n emphasis o n th e psychologica l allegory. Th e centra l issue in thes e episodes as I interpret the m concern s the extent to which th e text can allow the "external" reading of the events to stand against the psychological. In being captured by Lust, Amoret her self has been made "vassall to the vilest wretch aliue" (IV, vii, 12) , and the language o f thralldo m an d bondage becomes oppressiv e ove r th e canto s in which th e novella involving Aemylia , her Squire, Placidas, and Poena, daughter o f th e tyran t Gian t Corflambo , take s place . Firs t Aemylia , "Daughter vnt o a Lor d o f hig h degree, " plan s t o mee t secretl y wit h Amyas, a Squire of Low Degree (IV, vii, 15) , "in a priuy place . . . Within a groue" (st. 17); like Hermia an d Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Aemylia take s this action to resist the will of her father, who, sh e explains, "Vnto my choise by no meanes would assent " (st . 16). In the grove, how ever, Aemyli a does not find her Squire, but rather "this accursed Carle of hellish kind " who carrie s her off to his cave and makes her "his wretche d thrall" (st . 18) . Meanwhile , whe n he r Squir e arrives , h e meet s no t Ae mylia but Corflambo, a "Gyants sonne" who seizes him and brings "Hi m wretched thral l vnto hi s dongeon" (IV , viii, 51) . Thi s sam e Corflambo , whose name evoke s (i n the psychological allegory ) th e burning hear t i n

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flames and who i s described as a tyrant (IV, viii, 62), has a universal power that is treated as both psychological and political: by his strength rule to himselfe did gaine Of man y Nations into thraldome led, And mighti e kingdomes of his force adred; Whom yet he conquer'd not by bloudie fight, Ne hostes of men with banners brode dispred But by the powre of hi s infectious sight , With which he killed all, that came within his might. (IV, viii , 47)

Corflambo, wh o seem s to be another figure fo r lust or passionate desire, is described in political terms a s a tyrant who ha s taken over many kingdoms. Late r he is said to have been a tyrant who ha d used "wrong /And tortious powre " to hoard treasur e (IV, ix, 12) . I f the incident i s though t to impl y a psychological symmetr y betwee n Aemyli a an d Amyas, the n each may be said to be overtaken by a figure of hi s or her own desir e and thus made an allegorical thrall to an emotion s o overpowering tha t he or she becomes unrecognizabl e t o th e other . Thi s interpretation seem s ap propriate for Amyas, whose captor is of the same gender and whose eye s are sai d to cas t "secret flakes of lustful l fire " into his victims' "hart s an d parts entire" (IV, viii, 48) ; it presents a number of interpretive difficultie s for Aemylia , however, whos e captor is the same Lust that seizes Amoret, a figure wh o resemble s a giant version of the male genitals. The psycho logical reading o f Aemylia's captur e by Lust leaves unexplained the con sistent politica l emphasi s i n th e languag e used t o describ e thes e captor s ("vassall," "thrall," "tyrant"). Nor doe s it seem likely that this figure rep resents Aemylia's ow n lust: though Corflamb o is specifically sai d to have power ove r me n an d women , Lus t himsel f seem s necessaril y t o figur e male sexual desire, and his attack on Aemylia, like that on Amoret, seem s to represen t a rape, o r a t least the threat male desire presents to women , rather than any internal state of Aemylia. 24 Read in this sense, Aemylia's adventures might fit with certain class stereotypes: she unwisely agrees to meet her Squire of Low Degree in private in the woods, and instead of acting nobly, he is overcome by lust and tries to rape her. Suc h a reading would requir e that Corflambo and Lust be the same figure, thoug h the allegory is specific in describing their differences . The Squir e is overcome b y a burning love , bu t no t on e given the specifically sexua l and grotesque attribute s of Lust . Moreover , bot h th e dun geons of these horrifying characters are social places: other people are captives there, an d those of the same gender are grouped in the same prison.

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The episod e seem s principally t o be about how desir e is socially defined , its violences socially generated and condoned, rathe r than about the power of desire alone . Both me n an d women , a s the symmetr y o f thi s episod e reveals , ar e constantly findin g themselve s chained , boun d i n prisons, an d otherwis e constrained b y th e desires of daemoni c figure s wh o fictionall y appear to be characters quite distinct from themselves. I n this reading of their ow n capture, the y ar e ignorant o f the workings o f allegorical method bu t ex perience it s results. Withou t bein g interprete d figuratively , thei r storie s present a series of events that are clearly external, caused by forces that are perhaps larger than human (many of these oppressors are giants), enemies over who m th e character s have absolutely no control . Th e character s in this versio n o f event s seem ofte n t o be victims, thoug h th e heroic stor y shows that struggl e agains t suc h enemie s i s possible an d necessary. Th e consistency wit h which th e major characters resist the tyrannical oppression o f thei r captor s and find way s to figh t back , o r at least to run awa y (as in th e cas e of Amore t fro m Lust), provides a picture o f heroi c lif e a t odds with the interpretations made available in the allegory . First, thes e tales of oppression suggest , th e characters may with som e justice view thes e enemies a s external. If not rea d as a psychological alle gory, th e man y scene s of eroti c oppressio n lin k th e experience o f desir e with othe r kind s o f compulsio n visite d o n the individual b y socia l con dition and political obligation. Fo r the female characters this interpretation is not so far from one verson of the allegory, for many of the tales of erotic desire seem t o adumbrat e forms of sexua l aggression agains t women (as in the House of Busyrane ) committed no t onl y by men but b y the social and cultura l codes the y produce—fo r instance , th e "poetry" that Busy rane writes. Th e mal e characters, on the other hand , seem almost alway s to be engaged i n some sor t o f psychological allegory , s o that when the y are imprisoned o r enthralled, the text allows a greater disjunction between the fictiona l treatment o f thei r captor s as external enemies an d th e psy chological interpretatio n of them as external representations of the ascen dancy of an aspect of the inner self. The allegorist asserts the prominenc e of th e psychomachian understandin g i n these cases , perhap s because th e notion that desire is socially and discursively constructed would see m t o disempower hi s male characters. Any treatmen t o f mal e desire in such passages of Th e Faerie Queene — whether overwhelmin g o r contained—mus t tak e into account , i n addi tion, th e politica l valence of eroti c language at the cour t o f Elizabeth. 25 The political use of the language of love certainly did not prevent courtiers from fallin g in love with someone beside s Elizabeth, bu t it meant tha t the

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erotic object's place in the language was always mediated by the structure of power, an d consequently that any erotic utterance could be used to express ambitio n a s well a s desire itself. 26 Or , perhap s to b e more precise , erotic "desire" was so closely connected to "desire" for advancement that the tw o wer e ofte n fel t t o b e versions o f eac h other. Suc h a situation is hardly unique t o the Elizabethan court, a s the conventional romance sit uation o f a male suitor lowe r i n socia l station courtin g a "lady o f hig h degree" testifies. Th e stor y of Amyas and Aemylia finds its place within this romanc e tradition , echoin g suc h unequa l socia l matche s a s are de scribed in the Breton La y of Chaucer' s "Th e Franklin' s Tale." Nonetheless, suc h strivin g wa s give n a particular political significanc e by Eliza beth's use of the metaphor of love to define her relationships with court iers and with her people. In a distinct sense, a courtier would fee l obligated to "love " her, an d might constru e that "love" a s compulsory behavior , imposed b y socia l circumstance. Moreover , i f frustrated socia l ambitio n could be expressed largely through th e language of unrequited love, suc h fictional experience s a s being capture d by a huge giant who ca n conquer many nations may well express the impossibility o f separating the desire for powe r fro m th e mor e overtl y represente d eroti c desir e (Corflamb o scatters flakes of lustful fire, not ambition). Such a political understanding of wha t happen s to th e Squir e of Lo w Degree whe n h e is finally abl e to meet hi s high-born lad y at night alon e helps t o mak e sens e both o f th e insistent use of political language throughout th e episode (as throughout many similar scenes of erotic compulsion) and of the representation of the cave of Lus t and th e dungeo n o f Corflamb o as social spaces where on e shares one' s pligh t wit h other s similarl y oppressed . Th e mora l allegor y can, to a certain extent, explain this detail as well: everyone, such a reading goes, is afflicted by lust and desire, and perhaps all experience that afflictio n in similar ways. The congruence or overdetermination of internal and external readings in this case deflects attentio n from the more disruptive results of reading the episode as the external events the fiction presents—of seeing, i n othe r words , ho w muc h one' s inmos t desire s ma y be discur sively generated and socially controlled . The readin g o f event s a s "external" an d tnu s trans-individua l estab lishes a n uneas y analog y wit h th e discursiv e an d politica l control s tha t Elizabethan subjects experienced. Th e representation s of erotic compulsion her e and throughout th e poem connec t not onl y with the working s of allegorica l representatio n bu t wit h th e working s o f socia l constrain t and politica l obligatio n tha t characterize d the Elizabetha n court society . Because the narrator sets the erotics and politics in opposition, however , the connectio n betwee n the m i s not a one-to-one correspondence o r re -

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flection: instead, a n asymmetrical pattern of suppression or displacemen t occurs so that the political interpretation of events (which depends on accepting thei r fictiona l value ) is submerged whil e th e language of politic s dominates th e action—a linguistic reminder o f this suppression. The pic ture of characters constantly imprisoned by tyrants or dominated by other external agent s thu s adumbrate s a shared experience o f socia l constrain t that the allegorist, i n turning ou r attention to the moral, psychomachia n struggle, displace s or at least veils. One differenc e betwee n the psychological allegory and the submerge d political allegory made apparent by the analogy of the former to the action is that in the former allegory the psychological compulsion an d constraint can be named a s such—"Lust," for example—and judged, wherea s in the political allegory th e social compulsion canno t be acknowledged, thoug h it may be represented through th e same figures. I n the story o f Aemylia , the fictional representation , in treating these figures o f social compulsio n as external, make s the picture of such compulsion a part of the story without th e narrator's having to acknowledge th e figuration overtly in the allegory. T o do s o would b e dangerous because it treats the constraint s o f class and political obligation a s a kind o f tyranny. The characters ' consistent resistanc e to suc h tyrann y i s valorized a s showing a moral strengt h that Spenser admires . A sens e of compulsio n an d constrain t in fulfillin g one' s socia l role o r destiny mus t frequentl y have possessed such "ladie s o f hig h degree " as Aemylia, whose parents attempted to direct their choice of spouse for eco nomic or even dynastic purposes. Evidence suggests that the closer to the top o f the social pinnacle, th e more absolut e became the parental contro l over marriage. 27 Such social constraints were, o f course, al l the more op pressive at court, where Elizabeth herself often took over the parental role, insisting tha t sh e alon e shoul d decid e whether , whom , an d whe n he r ladies-in-waiting shoul d marry . Aemylia' s fathe r rathe r traditionall y re sists her unacceptabl e match wit h the Squire , bu t s o do her friends : evi dently a broad social consensus created constraints and barriers. The stor y of Aemyli a an d her lowly squir e participates indirectly, then , i n th e de bates that ran throughout the period about the right of parents to maintain this contro l an d t o trea t marriag e largel y a s a matter o f economi c ex change—indirectly because the romanc e genr e allow s a certain finessing of th e ending whe n Aemylia is allowed t o rebel without, finally , an y serious consequences. 28 The difficultie s o f readin g th e figurativ e implications o f th e Amyas Aemylia romance increase with the appearance of Placidas, who serves to illustrate friendship by being so like his friend that few can tell them apart:

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"neuer two so like did liuing creatur e see" (IV , viii, 55) . The "likeness " of Amy as and Placidas resembles th e "likeness" of th e false an d the tru e Una (I , i), of Duessa and Fraelissa (I, ii), and of Snowy Florimell and Florimell, ye t in none of these cases was the "likeness" seen as benevolent i n the way it appears to be here. In contrast to these disturbing doubles , Pla cidas, with the help of Arthur, who conquers Corflambo, an d Belphoebe, who kill s Lust , solve s th e proble m o f unfulfille d desir e b y marryin g Poena, Corflambo' s daughter , an d allowin g a genericall y necessar y matching u p o f couples . Thi s matching u p someho w elide s the origina l opposition to Aemylia' s lov e for her lowly Squire , fo r he, b y "likeness" to his friend, seem s to gain wealth along with his freedom. 29 Placidas and Amyas, so alike that few can tell them apart, but remainin g crucially different fo r the necessities of the plot, coul d serve as figures for the narrative doubling tha t occurs in these episodes: the allegory and the fiction should be so "alike" that each fits the other, whil e in fact their cru cial difference s leav e room fo r necessar y figurativ e shift s tha t cove r th e violence o f th e picture of socia l imposition an d control tha t seems to be at the heart of these passages. When Placidas accepts Poena as his "wedded wife" (IV , ix, 15) , th e typically ambiguous Spenseria n pronouns an d references (h e is called "th e Squire" ) leav e th e reade r a t least momentaril y unsure which Squir e has ended up with which lady . Placidas and Amyas are two halve s of the same figure, each illustrating a version of social advancement throug h marriage , thoug h Placida s does so at the level of al legory—he marrie s a n allegorical figure , havin g submitte d t o an d out witted another—while Amyas is returned t o the human plane from which he was so suddenly snatched away. Since Placidas's success seems to pro vide Amyas with the cover he needs to marr y his lady, the allegory here disguises the disturbanc e of socia l hierarchy implicit i n Amyas an d Ae mylia's story, and the happy ending seem s to be guaranteed not by a necessary moral lesson bu t by a displacing of the social implications—or the social fantasy—of th e story. What is important here for Spenser's poetics is the link between the figures of compulsion generate d by allegorical representation and the kinds of social compulsion and obligation tha t these figures shadow forth. Th e poem's tropes of enclosure an d imprisonment can be treated as a dark fig uration o f the nature and the effects o f the monarch's power—dark from the poin t o f vie w o f th e narrator because it suggest s that th e allegor y is implicated in such a system of social and political control, and equally dark from a political perspective because compulsion canno t be acknowledge d within the moral economy of the Elizabethan state (where it must be figured a s patronage an d inspiration) . Th e issue s raised by th e allegor y o f

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desire cannot therefor e be sorted ou t accordin g to a moral schem e alone , for th e compulsio n i s directl y associate d wit h socia l coercio n an d con straints over whic h th e characters have little power, whil e the violence o f the allegorica l figure s seem s t o ow e a s much t o thei r functio n i n adum brating socia l compulsio n a s to thei r characterizatio n of desire . On e ar rives a t the happy ending o f this tale largely by reading it not a s allegory but a s a fiction o f release, a story the allegorical narrator cannot tell . The stor y o f Belphoeb e an d Timias, though t t o allegoriz e aspects of the relationshi p o f Elizabet h and Si r Walter Raleigh, perhap s provides a clearer instance of the ways in which th e allegory of desire displaces (but also adumbrates ) a n allegory o f political and cultura l compulsion. Fro m the beginning, Timias' s lov e for Belphoebe, acceptabl e and heroic within the moral term s o f the poem bu t inexpressibl e because of th e social dis tance between th e two, i s felt as constraint by Timias: Belphoeb e heals his physical wound, bu t wound s hi s heart and "himselfe destroye d quight " (III, v , 41). Articulating precisely how th e political use of the language of love can express, throug h th e imagery of captivity, the constraints of so cial limitation, th e narrator comment s sympatheticall y in goo d Elizabe than idiom: What bootes it him fro m deat h to be vnbound, To be captiued in endlesse duraunc e Of sorro w an d despaire without aleggeaunce? (Ill, v, 42)

The sense of constraint—being bound an d captived—is consistently em phasized, a s are the limitations o f social rank: Still when he r excellencies he did vew, Her soueraign e bounty, an d celestiall hew, The same to loue he strongly was constraind: But whe n hi s meane estate he did reuew, He from suc h hardy boldnesse was restraind. (IH, v , 44)

Here the suito r is of "mean e estate" whil e the monarc h is of "celestial l hew"—"celestiall" an d "heavenly " becoming throughou t th e episod e a translation o f hig h socia l position a t court. Th e narrator explicitl y sym pathizes with Timias's plight : But foolish boy, wha t bootes th y seruice bace To her, t o whom the heauens do serue and sew?

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Thou a meane Squire, o f meeke and lowly place , She heauenly borne , an d of celestial l hew . How then ? o f all loue taketh equal l vew : And doth not highest God vouchsafe t o tak e The loue and seruice of the basest crew ? If she will not, dy e meekly for her sake ; Dye rather , dye , tha n eue r s o faire loue forsake . (HI, v , 47)

These line s so clearly articulate the politica l erotics typical of Elizabeth' s relations with he r courtiers that they implicitly delineat e not only the absolute impasse at which a courtier like Raleigh might arriv e but th e con straint such "love" would impose , in part because the Queen mad e erotic discourse a principa l vehicl e o f he r power . Thi s no w familia r analysi s highlights th e social grounding fo r the poem's fictiona l representation o f erotic compulsion. Doubl e readin g Spenser's psychological allegory here produces a critique no t o f Elizabet h hersel f bu t o f th e ver y ideologica l processes, encode d i n the use of Petrarcha n idiom a s the language of po litical advancement, tha t would den y or displace the degree of this com pulsion. That th e story of Timias , th e "meane Squire," support s the more po litical interpretation o f the story o f Aemylia an d her Squire o f Lo w De gree is emphasized by the Ariostan interlacing of the two tales. The place ment o f the scenes of Timias' s erro r and banishment as a centerpiece separating the two halve s of th e Aemylia romanc e serve s partly to contrast the two stones, o f course, since Timias does not benefit from such a happy ending, bu t i t als o emphasize s th e interpenetratio n o f th e politica l an d erotic idiom s i n eac h case . Together th e two episode s indicate that "en thrallment" is more tha n a private condition, thoug h th e poet can neither separate th e allegor y o f desir e from th e allegor y o f powe r no r full y ac knowledge thei r connection . The poem figure s thi s question of external control largely through it s multiplication o f discursive strategies, each of which i s shown t o encod e its own necessitie s and limits o n what ca n be said, done, o r thought . T o extend thi s to an implicit interes t in the wider socia l construction o f dis cursive constrain t i s thus onl y t o advanc e the argumen t a little beyon d where the poem leaves it. The analogy between the "external" allegorical reading an d wha t i s "external " t o th e tex t remain s troubled , however , partly becaus e the tex t i s self-consciou s abou t th e problematic s o f an y "mirroring" o r "reflecting " o r eve n ideologica l resolvin g tha t ma y b e going on , but also because it is in part this analogy (between the construe -

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tions of literary discourse and the imposition of cultural constraints in dis course) tha t th e tex t submerge s an d displace s in thes e episode s b y em ploying th e conventions an d mode of romance to prevent the action from appearing to represent society. The overdeterminatio n o f th e narrative' s erotic s an d politic s woul d seem to suggest that there is no escape possible within the allegory—either for th e poet or for Th e Faerie Queene's characters—from the constraints of power, whethe r allegorica l or political , ye t th e romanc e o f Timia s be comes a fiction of release, though in a very different sens e from the fiction of escape from social limitation that we traced in the Aemylia-Amyas novella. Both Timias's stor y and the novella, however, expres s through th e fictive action a desire that remains unimaginable within th e constrainin g discourses o f powe r an d unacknowledged i n th e poem's expresse d alle gory. In the lines addressed to Timias by the narrator, this desire for release is displaced in carefully ambiguous terms: the narrator's passionately sympathetic suggestion that death may provide the only escape harbors a suppressed pla y on th e eroti c sense of "death " ("dy e meekly fo r her sake ; / Dye rather, dye" ) tha t expresses while denying the illegitimate desire. Throughout th e poem, Arthu r is consistently the liberator, ye t in th e case of Timias , hi s Squire , hi s liberating works t o od d effect . Arthu r is parted from Timias , wh o devote d himself t o Belphoebe for most o f th e poem. Afte r hi s time o f exile , th e Squire is able to reestablish himself i n her favor, bu t i s soon besieged by his courtly enemies, Defetto , Decetto , and Despetto. Whil e in the midst of his battle with these three, and already bitten by the Blatant Beast, Timias hear s "in the f o r r e s t . .. A trampling steede, that with his neighing fast / Did warne his rider be vppon his gard" (VI, v, 21). This noise alone revives Timias, who now stands to be rescued not only from his three enemies but apparently from allegory itself, as the powerful chivalri c evocatio n o f Arthur' s hors e send s his daemonic ene mies flying . The recognitio n scen e betwee n Arthu r an d Timia s i s cas t entirel y within the chivalric idiom : Then turning to that swaine, him well he knew To be his Timias, his owne true Squire, Whereof exceedin g glad, he to him drew , And him embracing twixt his armes entire, Him thu s bespake; My liefe , m y life s desire, Why haue ye me alone thus long yleft ? Tell me what worlds despight, or heauens yre Hath yo u thus long away from m e bereft ? Where haue ye all this while bin wandring, wher e bene weft ?

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With that he sighed deepe for inward tyne: To whom the Squire nought aunswered againe, But sheddin g few soft teare s from tende r eyne, His deare affect wit h silence did restraine, And shut vp all his plaint in priuy paine. There they awhile some gracious speaches spent, As to them seemed fit tim e to entertaine. After al l which vp to their steedes they went, And fort h togethe r rode a comely couplement. (VI, v, 23-24 )

If Timia s i s the "honor" Arthur seeks (as some readings of th e allegory propose, drawin g o n th e etymolog y o f hi s name), the n thi s "honor " is soon los t again . After th e squire , havin g been lef t wit h th e Hermit, ha s healed hi s wound, h e is almost immediatel y mad e prisoner o f Disdain e and Scorne , onl y to b e rescued agai n by Arthur . Wha t coul d hav e hap pened to make Arthur lose his "honor" in this way remains allegorically unclear. The action, in contrast, presents Timias as redeemed and released, if in a n unexpected fashion, fro m hi s "enthrallment" to Belphoebe . Ti mias can say nothing t o Arthur about this period of self-loss, but Arthur speaks t o hi s Squir e wit h a language comparabl e t o th e passionate out bursts of the poem's love stories, and their reunion is treated almost as an erotic reunion, th e squire welcomed back as it were to the realm of men. 30 This retur n t o th e chivalri c quest release s Timias fro m "service " t o th e powerful lad y of chastity, and implies that Arthur represents a force akin to Belphoebe's , onl y mal e (he r powe r ha s been matche d wit h Arthur' s through their symmetrical feats of liberation in Book IV). The emotiona l intensity of Arthur's welcome to Timias points to the poem's unacknowl edged difficult y wit h th e valorizatio n of Belphoebe' s powe r an d a deep poetic desire to overcome or evade her authority. Indeed it is evaded here through a return t o th e chivalri c fictio n fro m th e highly allegorica l on slaught o f th e courtl y attackers , Decetto , Defetto , an d Despetto . Th e poem thu s includes a fiction o f release from th e all-encompassing powe r that Elizabeth enjoyed, while itself nonetheless continuing to draw on that power fo r its allegorical structure.31 Timias is not alone, however, i n finding love to be a constraint. Fe w of the characters' plots end in release, and indeed Arthur's departure from the poem t o continu e hi s quest—" A grea t aduenture , which di d hi m fro m them deuide" (VI, viii, 30)—suggest s that this formal "division," like the narrator's deadly advice to Timias, ma y be the only release possible within the poem . Th e virtuou s character s als o respon d t o love—no t onl y t o "lust"—as a potentially imprisoning force , describe d in the now-familiar

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imagery of constraint and bondage. Thus Florimell, "woeful l thrall" (IV, xii, 9) to Proteus, pray s to the gods to imprison Marinell with her, shoul d he continue t o refuse he r love: But if that life ye vnto m e decree, Then let me Hue, as louers ought to do , And o f my life s dear e loue beloued be: And if he shall through pride your doome vndo, Do you by duresse him compell thereto, And in this prison put him here with me: One priso n fittes t i s to hold vs two: So had I rather to be thrall, then free ; Such thraldome or such freedome let it surely be. (IV, xii, 10)

While Florimell here rebuilds her prison in her mind, Marinel l is touched by her words an d begins to feel love, but thi s experience is figured by th e poet not a s liberation but a s another version of constraint: although Marinell's "stony heart" (st. 13 ) begins to soften, h e leaves his obdurate stance for anothe r form of constraint. His new posture is compelled b y a figure: Thus whilst his stony heart with tende r ruth Was toucht, and mighty courage mollifide, Dame Venus sonne that tameth stubborne youth With iron bit, an d maketh him abide, Till like a victor on his backe he ride, Into his mouth hi s maystring bridle threw, That made him stoupe, til l he did him bestride. (IV, xii , 13 )

Although thi s imag e o f Cupi d ridin g th e love r i s conventiona l i n Pe trarchan poetry (see Rime CLXI, 9-11), its appearance here is unexpected: the image of the "iron bit" an d the bridle that masters, making the human character int o a n anima l t o b e ridden , "compelled " (t o us e FlorimelP s word), or mastered is disturbing, given the beauty and fertility associated with this love match. Love is here represented with the same kinds of imagery associate d throughou t wit h th e "evil " compulsio n fro m whic h characters must be rescued. 32 Similar image s linkin g lov e t o bondag e recu r in th e narrator' s com ments. For instance, in telling of the binding of Mirabella by Disdaine and Scorne, th e narrator comments t o his female readers: Ye gentle Ladies, i n whose soueraine powre Loue hath the glory of hi s kingdome left , And th ' heart s of men, a s your eternall dowre,

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In yron chaines , of libert y bereft , Deliuered hat h into your hands by gift ; Be well aware , how y e the same do vse, That pride do not to tyranny you lift ; Least if men you o f cruelty accuse, He from you tak e that chiefedome, which ye doe abuse. (VI, viii, i )

The politica l power o f lov e in this description i s evoked wit h the imag e of "yron chaines"; ladie s are asked willingly t o forgo tyranny over men , just as the absolute monarch was implored t o restrain her power an d willingly t o allo w he r subject s some form s of "liberty. " Willingly—though in the threat uttered here in the alexandrine, the narrator reminds his readers of the power o f men, whic h t o this point wa s hidden by the imagery of love's domination . A s in the fiction of release from Elizabeth's power , the line s expres s a n unacknowledged bu t unmistakabl e wish tha t such a threat could also be held over the "Lady" who was truly "soueraine" over all, an d to whom the poem is dedicated. My argumen t her e as throughout thi s accoun t of fictiona l and figura l bondage i s that th e allusiv e context establishe d in th e poe m fo r case s of thralldom urges a reading of tha t imagery a s a figuration of political ab solutism. Thi s readin g locate s a politica l critiqu e o f Elizabet h i n th e poem's fiction , a critique tha t i n th e example s o f Timia s an d Mirabell a seems congruen t wit h the submerged challeng e to femal e authorit y tha t Montrose identifie d i n Shakespeare' s A Midsummer Night's Dream. Hi s now-classic essa y " * Shaping Fantasies' " recount s th e wa y th e pla y sur rounds it s representation s of femal e authority wit h scene s of successfu l male dominatio n of , an d eve n humiliatio n of , femal e characters. I n th e case of Spenser , however, th e critique of th e dominan t Elizabetha n dis course of power doe s not tak e only this defensive and misogynistic turn . It also emerges in the poem's fictiona l defense of resistance to all kinds of compulsion. Thi s resistance is valued by both gender s and finds its mos t prominent fictiona l embodiment i n Britomart . Similar imager y structure s the representation o f on e of th e mor e in terpretively dens e symbolic object s in the poem: Florimell' s "girdle." In theory, i t "gaue the vertue of chast loue, / And wiuehood true , to all that it di d beare " (IV , v, 3) , and als o ostensibly ha s the powe r t o distinguis h the chaste from the unchaste. These qualities have a notable exception, o f course: afte r indicatin g tha t Amoret i s the only chast e woman presen t at the beauty pageant (IV, v, 19), the girdle is awarded nonetheless to Snow y Florimell, her e helpfull y calle d "Florimell. " This girdle , w e learn , wa s made fo r Venu s by Vulca n "When firs t h e loued he r wit h hear t entire" :

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[He] afterwards did for her loues first hire, Giue it to her, fo r euer to remaine, Therewith t o bind lasciuious desire, And loose affections streightl y to restraine; Which vertue it for euer after di d retaine. (IV, v , 4)

Even i n its origins th e girdle seem s to have been o f uncertain power , since Venus wears it to a rendezvous with Mars, her "Paramoure" (st. 5), and onl y the n take s it of f her wais t an d leaves it o n Moun t Acidale , th e home of the Graces, where Florimel l eventuall y receives it. Fa r from en suring that one is "entire" of heart , then, it s heritage is already double— or at least duplicitous—but what is especially significant here is the image of how thi s chaste affection i s to be maintained: desires must be "bound" and "restrained"; the "girdle" that should bring a unique principle of dis tinction int o the social world o f Boo k I V is a chastity belt, give n by hus band to wife in hopes of restraining the wife within th e bounds of proper behavior, thoug h i t is not, o f course , an y more successfu l i n the cas e of Venus than of Snow y Florimell . The narrator's allusion to "yron chaines" of love, lik e the poem's im ages of chast e love as a binding o r restraint, suggests the overdetermina tion o f the imagery of emotional compulsion in these tales of erotic con quest. Th e Faerie Queene no t onl y picture s emotional lif e a s constrained and controlled, bu t often show s the constraints to be socially determined, and even explicitly political in import. Th e violence of Elizabethan power is figured in th e represente d violence o f th e emotiona l life , then , wher e the achievement of the good itself can be pictured only in the imagery of containment an d bondage, and implicitly through submission to the con trol of the powerful. Spenser' s appropriation of the motif o f the "goodly golden chaine" (I, ix, i), which links together virtues in an image of social concord, instance s this kind o f textua l disclosure. Here too a n image o f hierarchy double s as an image of constraint , thoug h thi s function of th e chain is suppressed in its more benevolent appearances, as in the openin g to Boo k III , where Spense r speaks of Britomart , Guyon , an d Arthur as coming int o accord, until they were "with that golden chaine of concor d tyde" (III , i, I2). 33 The sens e that cosmic order is maintained by bindin g and settin g limit s t o b e enforce d by divin e powe r trace s back throug h philosophical treatment s of this image (such as we find in Boethius's Consolation o f Philosophy, fo r instance) , an d i s emphasize d i n Spenser' s im mediate English subtext , Chaucer' s "Th e Knight' s Tale, " wher e Theseu s similarly emphasize s the necessity of imposing limits . Spense r describes

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the "Almightie maker" a s having "bound" all the elements and the world "with inuiolable bands" (IV , x, 35) ; here the word "maker " suggests the analogy to the poet—who also binds each thing in its rightful order—and links the poet's art to an authoritarian control exercised by forces beyon d the human. This compulsion i s best seen from it s underside: from the perspective of Night , th e aspect of powe r figure d b y the "goodly golde n chain " o f the "Almighti e maker " i s most apparent . Night call s i t "th e chayn e o f strong necessitee, / Which fast is tyde to loues eternall seat" (I , v, 25). But this quality of "necessitee " informs the image even in its benevolent ap pearances, always recalling the force that guarantees the order represented and idealized by the chain. It is not surprising , then, t o learn that Spenser drew also on an alternative reading of the image, articulated by Chapman: "The golde n chaine of Homers hig h deuice / Ambition is , or cursed auarice."34 Spenser uses precisely this interpretation in his representation of Philotime's court : There, a s in glistring glor y sh e did sit, She held a great gol d chain e ylincked well , Whose vppe r en d to highest heaue n was knit, And lower par t did reach to lowest Hell ; And al l that preace did round abou t her swell , To catchen hold o f that long chaine, thereb y To clime aloft , an d others t o excell : This was Ambition, rash desire to sty, And euer y lincke thereo f a step of dignity . Some though t t o raise themselues t o high degree , By riches and vnrighteous reward, Some b y close shouldring, som e by flatteree; Others through friends , other s fo r base regard; And all by wrong wayes fo r themselues prepard . Those that were v p themselues kep t other s low , Those that were low themselues, hel d other s hard , Ne suffre d the m to rise or greater grow, But euery one did striue his fellow down e to throwe . (II, vii, 46-47)

As i n Night' s descriptio n o f Jove' s chain , her e the image return s muc h more closel y t o it s origina l epi c function a s a figure fo r a n ordering en forced from above. Like the chain itself, this ordering power cannot easily be to only on e allegorical figure. Philotime , o f course , is a demonic par ody of Elizabeth, and the image of the chain hints—cautiously—at an as-

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pect of he r rule shared by Spenser's allegory (which is also figured as im posing it s meanings a s a compulsory fate) . I n this satirical representation of courtly ambition, the chain both tempts the lowly to rise and represents the closed ranks of the social order it helps to guarantee. The force behind the monarchy's rul e is explicitly linked with the desire of the ambitious to rise in social standing: the stanzas make a moral point (such ambition turns each against all others), but also indicate that maintaining the social order was conceived in terms of bondage and compulsion, no t freedom . Such innuendos haunt the text of Th e Faerie Queene, although the traces of their displacements and qualifications never quite form a chain of their own. Thi s incompleteness canno t be wholly attribute d to a political self censorship sinc e it is also consistent with th e poem's figura l an d themati c turn awa y from completed, constrained , or "perfet" forms . Britomart stands , o f course , a s the grea t contrary example o f a lover who, thoug h she experiences love as subjection (she notes that the image of Artegall in her father's mirror "Hat h me subiected to loues cruell law, " III, ii , 38) , nonetheless struggle s to maintain her liberty. Sh e attained her freedom in part, as we have seen, by remaining one of Spenser's most fictionalized characters, imagined as quite distinct from the allegory of chas tity tha t is also told i n her book. 35 Britomart characteristicall y frowns at the "streigh t conditions " Radigund offers he r i n their battle , and avoid s thus being "bound," "For her no other termes should euer tie / Then what prescribed wer e b y lawe s o f cheualrie " (V , vii , 28) . He r refusa l t o b e "bound," "tied, " o r "streightened " belie s th e actua l conditions o f he r "term," that is, th e prescribed endin g o f he r tale , but, a s we hav e seen, Spenser maintains this illusion of "liberty" by permanently deferring the arrival of tha t end. I n the middle spac e before the end, Britomar t stand s apart in her ability to avoid the bondage imposed through "love " on most of the other characters; she remains "compelled" only in the narrative direction tha t is mapped in part by "the lawe s of chivalrie." It is given to Britomart, then , to express, in the context of the fictional battle outside th e House o f Malecasta , what migh t b e called the poem's central ideological claims about love. Britomart's statement is belied in the representations of erotic life of Books III to V, but she fights for it stoutly (though sh e see s herself a s fighting for somethin g different , a particular chivalrie liberty): Ne ma y loue be compeld b y maisterie; For soone as maisterie comes, swee t loue anone Taketh his nimble wings, an d soone away is gone. (HI, i , 25 )

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Articulated in terms of the chivalric fiction, these lines echo both the Elizabethan debates about whether "love " should be controlled by parents or, ultimately, b y th e monarc h an d (give n the stron g Chauceria n overtone s of "maisterie") the literary debates in such texts as "the marriage group" of Th e Canterbury Tales about the role of "maisterie" in love and marriage. The line s also , a s we hav e anticipated, express a desire for love withou t compulsion an d constraint that cannot be fulfilled withi n th e structure of allegory any more than within the boundaries of court erotics. While such a freedom may be deeply desired and even fought for by the characters in the action, the constraints and "bonds" are consistently reimposed—even in Britomart's case—by the allegorical mode o f the text. In al l this , th e searc h fo r discriminatio n betwee n forma l an d mora l compulsion has not progressed—if anything, th e poem suggests with increasing force that the discrimination canno t be made. Allegory, whic h in Spenser seems to need to be able to narrate the possibility of escaping from this impasse, constantly proves unable to do so because it itself is the problem. Sexua l and political desire , whic h ar e the ostensibl e conten t o f th e allegory in such moments o f disclosure, are themselves allegories at a second level of the form's inability to represent sexuality and politics without a detour throug h th e "representation" of its own mechanisms (as occurs, for instance , i n the example of Placida s and Amyas). This detour, lik e so many chivalri c departures from the straight path, constantly threatens to become permanent . The poe m devise s three principal thematic mean s of escap e from thi s "bondage," though eac h is imagined as offering onl y limited hope . First , as becomes evident in certain episodes in which the conflict between action and figure is especially marked (Britomart' s encounter with Busyrane, or Arthur's rescu e of Timia s fro m his allegorical enemies), a shift o f representational mod e ofte n appear s to bring a n unexpected escap e or libera tion. Sinc e th e character s already operate i n ignoranc e o f th e allegory , however, suc h shifts hav e only a limited significanc e for them; in spite of the action's representation of considerable possibilities for resistance or escape, th e containment o f these narrative directions on the level of the allegory is powerful, resultin g in fictions of "unbinding" or "untying" that only temporarily shift the underlying picture of individual and social constraint. Withou t actuall y riding ou t of the poem, a s Arthur does—without, i n short , leavin g behin d th e condition s o f lif e a s the poe m define s them—the characters can find onl y a very temporary escape, usually figured as an outburst of emotion tha t must be immediately contained. Suc h outbursts ofte n involv e th e chivalric fury tha t motivates muc h o f the ac-

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tion, eve n th e actio n o f th e idealize d protagonists: fo r th e knights , on e possible means of escape, then, is to fight one' s captors, to undertake one of th e man y knightl y battle s tha t constitut e muc h o f th e actio n o f th e poem, whil e remaining nonetheles s within the mechanical confines of a genre tha t appear s endlessly repetitive . Second , mutabilit y an d chang e stand in oppositio n t o a n "eternal bondage" of the sort that threatens so many characters. Mutability, however, i s also felt as threatening, and thus represents a n "unbinding" of uncertain value. Nonetheless , throughou t the poem, an d especially in "The Mutabilitie Cantos," the text seem s to construct a cover t argumen t i n Mutabilitie' s favor. 36 Third , unfulfille d prolepsis, o r in the terms of the fiction, visionar y moments tha t point t o some future alternativ e potentiality, is designed to provide a n escape, al though to succee d in this task, a s we have seen, th e prolepsis cannot be come defined or closed. Rather, it must point ahead with the direction but not the specific content tha t would see m to be implied in the trope. Once the prolepsis is closed, a s for instance in the cas e of apocalyptic imagery, then th e orde r o f allegor y reestablishe s itself, an d the structure of com pulsion b y figure s i s once again reasserted. In order t o displac e the con sequences of its own implication in this use of power, th e poem mus t remain proleptic without pointin g to anything specific. Eac h of these three kinds of escape, each a way of "untying" the closural "ends" of allegory, is severely limited, then , in the extent to which it can change, even briefly, the conditions o f the fiction or the text's allegorical poetics. This doubl e bin d thu s make s any escap e difficult, thoug h thi s fac t i s disguised b y Spenser' s us e o f th e epi c fiction to challeng e precisel y th e text's thoroughgoing coercio n of its characters. The unacknowledged bu t inescapable "binding" of characters is signaled, with only the appearance of paradox, in Spenser's descriptions of those moments when constraints are cast aside and the powerful emotion of chivalric fury break s through . Such episodes ar e often cas t in similes that present a picture of th e sel f as a containe r bein g burst , an d tha t functio n ideologically t o "naturalize " chivalric competition: the y suggest that a furious outburst is as natural as, in the cas e of Britomar t (wh o is as prone to thes e outbursts as any othe r character) a s rainstorm o r cloudburst ; i n th e cas e o f Paridell , a n earth quake;37 or , i n Arthur' s case , a volcano. Th e difference s betwee n thes e characters and the moral value attributed to their fights helps to emphasize the similarity o f function whenever these outbursts occur. The simile s at issue are imitated loosely from Virgil's simile of the winds escaping from Aeolus's cave , in which the self is pictured as a restraining or even repres sive agen t tha t coul d b e likened t o th e policin g agent s of civi c order , i n this case the orator who ca n calm a crowd in riot. Three examples should

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suffice t o indicat e the similarit y o f treatmen t an d the energy devote d t o these brief moments: Like as a fire, th e which in hollow caue Hath long bene vnderkept, and downe supprest, With murmurous disdaine doth inly raue, And grudge , in so streight prison to be prest, At last breakes forth with furious vnrest , And striues to mount vnto his natiue seat; All that did earst it hinder and molest, It now deuoure s with flames and scorching heat, And carries into smoake with rage and horror great. So mightily the Briton Prince him rouz d Out o f his hold, and broke his caitiue bands. (II, xi , 32-33 )

This revival of Arthur's heroic energy during his battle with Maleger follows one of Arthur's most vulnerable moments (se e II, xi, 30) . The image of the volcanic eruption is then valorized here since it explains the powe r that ensures Arthur's victory. It is nonetheless unexpected: it represents a moment o f escap e from "bands" (chains, bonds), an d what would see m to represen t thematically a victory over figure (a s Maleger functions as a daemonic allegorica l character). It pictures Arthur' s temporar y submis sion t o thi s enemy a s a suppression ("downe supprest") o r a n imprisonment in a "hollow caue" where Arthur's glory (or his energy or his pride) has been "vnderkept," and it suggests that bursting out of these bonds will lead to victory. As a liberator himself (o r in Christian terms, a bringer o f redemption), Arthur is allowed a more complete release than are the other characters. Th e difficult y i n th e passag e lies, however , i n th e exten t t o which the poet turns Arthur himself into a figure to accomplish his release: he becomes a volcano, an d enacts precisely the "furor " tha t has been associated wit h thi s kin d o f burnin g outburs t throughou t Boo k II . H e moves, then , figuratively from one imprisonment t o another, the second apparently a morally superior one, though earlier it was treated as a source of moral failure. Thu s although the allegory may be read as implying tha t there are moments when chivalric fury is appropriate, or that "Grace" operates in an d through th e materia l world, a s a part of Natur e an d not i n opposition t o it, the degree to which such an outburst makes Arthur con form to the figure of Furor indicates how far such moments are from rep resenting an y real escape—even in the best case, a s here where Arthur is actually overcoming th e originary diseases of bodiliness . Here is Paridell fightin g a battle on the wrong side , having displayed a

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notable lack of chivalri c courtesy to a newcomer knight , no w hi s antag onist, wh o turn s out to be Britomart: Tho hastil y remounting to his steed, He fort h issew'd; like as a boistrous wind, Which in th' earthes hollow caue s hath long bin hid, And shu t vp fas t within her prisons blind, Makes the huge element against her kind To moue, an d tremble as it were agast, Vntill that it an issew forth ma y find ; Then forth it breakes, and with hi s furious blast Confounds both land and seas, an d skies doth ouercast. Their steel-hed speares they strongly coucht, and met Together with impetuou s rage and forse . (Ill, ix, 15-16 )

Though in this case not a volcano but an earthquake—earthquakes having already picked up negative moral associations from the description of Or goglio (and giving now the added hint that Paridell may be little more than a bag of wind)—the imagery is nonetheless strikingly similar to that describing Arthur' s outburst , an d th e clos e connectio n o f Britomar t wit h this same "impetuous rage" tends to restrict an interpretation of the lines as condemning Paridell . Here too we find underground prisons (with the addition of very Virgilian hollow cave s for the wind), and the imagery of enclosure, binding, an d concealment. Here too Paridell, in succumbing to an outburst, enact s a figure and thereby demonstrates, while fulfilling th e obligations o f th e chivalri c story, it s unseen power ove r th e action . Hi s outburst is blind, then, because it is directed against the wrong antagonis t (and perhaps because , in some larger sense, Paridel l is blind to the heroi c code and historical specificity Britomart adumbrates) . But i t is also blind because it appears to provide a release while in fact revealin g the shaping control o f the figure of chivalric fury. Th e movement fro m repression to release is stopped, waylaid , or detoured at the level of figure. The block age is easier to see in Paridell's case because it is associated with moral (or at least social) error. Britomart's outbursts tend to be figured a s cloudbursts or violent rainstorms (se e III, iv, 13 , and IV, iv, 47), as was Guyon's "tempest of wrathfulness" a t the Bower o f Bliss, and as is Talus's violent and mechanical explosion o f ange r at Radigund's followers once Britomart ha s killed thei r leader: There then a piteous slaughter did begin: For all that euer came within hi s reach,

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He with his yron flale did thresh s o thin, That he no worke at all left fo r the leach: Like t o an hideous storme, which nothing may impeach. (V.vii, 35)

Other examples of storm imagery used to describe chivalric furor occur at the openin g o f Boo k I V as part of what become s a satirical treatment o f the topo s of chivalri c competition (se e IV, i, 42 and 45). All these similes naturalize the violence of chivalric competition, or, in Talus's case, of the mechanical application of "Justice." They no t only express the emotional power of the conflicts but make it seem acceptable—indeed, something t o be assumed—that these battles should be undertaken. The notion o f nat uralization is somewhat complicated , however , whe n th e combatants or the phenomena i n the similes are "natural" only in mythographic terms, as is most egregiously the case with Spenser's giants. What these images all insinuate is that the only release from bondage and constraint available to the characters is through battle , bu t battl e inevitably reimposes th e ver y figural and generic constraints that may have been the motive for the fight in the firs t place . The circularit y of this problem i s usefully illustrate d in the poem' s firs t descriptio n o f emotiona l outburst , thoug h i t involves a sexual explosion rathe r than one of rage and aggression: Thus as they past, The da y with cloudes wa s suddeine ouercast , And angr y lone an hideous storme of rain e Did pour e unto his Lemans la p so fast , That euery wigh t to shrowd it did constrain , And thi s fair e couple eke to shroud themselues wer e fain. (I, i , 6 )

This cloudburs t start s the actio n an d drive s Redcross e Knight an d Un a into th e Wanderin g Woods , an d finall y int o th e allegorical landscape of the poem. Specifically , i t "constrains" them, and , with th e ambiguity o f "shrowd," the stanz a reminds th e reade r tha t constraint s ar e ultimately associated with th e mortal conditio n itself . The sexual imagery provide s a hint o f fertility behind thi s storm, bu t it too seems limited b y the figur e of constrain t that exercises the characters. For them ther e is no complet e release; they ar e driven b y th e storm—itself colore d b y th e allusion t o a sexual aggression that hovers somewhere behin d the opening tablea u and Redcrosse Knight' s heroi c ques t ("prickin g o n th e plaine")—which fig ures in Jove's pouring forth of rain a desired release while nonetheless only entrapping them further in the figure until the knight finds himself "wrapt in Errours endless e traine" (I, i, 18) .

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SPENSER'S GIANTS We hear much o f Knights-erran t encounterin g Giants, and quellin g Savages in books o f Chivalry. . . . These Giant s were oppressiv e feudal Lords , an d every Lord was to be met with, lik e the Giant, i n his strong hold , o r castle. Their dependents o f a lower form , wh o imitated th e violence o f their superiors, an d had not thei r castles, but thei r lurking-places, wer e the Savages of Romance . Th e greater Lord wa s calle d a Giant, fo r his power; th e less, a savage, for hi s brutality. (Hurd , Letter 4, Letters on Chivalry an d Romance) But generall y the high stil e is disgraced and made foolish an d ridiculous b y all wordes affected , counterfait , and puffed vp , a s it were a windball carryin g mor e countenanc e then matter, an d can not b e better resemble d the n to these midsommer pageant s in London, wher e t o make the people wonder ar e set forth great and vglie Gyants marching a s if they wer e aliue , an d armed a t all points, bu t withi n the y ar e stuffed ful l o f brown e pape r and tow , which th e shrewd boye s vnderpeering, d o guilefully discouer and turn e t o a great derision: als o all darke and vnaccustome d wordes, o r rusticall and homely, an d sentences that hold to o muc h of the mery an d the light, o r infamous and vnshamefast are to be accounted o f the same sort, fo r such speaches become no t Princes , nor grea t estates, nor them tha t write o f their doings t o vtter o r report an d intermingle wit h the graue and weightie matters . (Puttenham, Arte o f English Poesie III, 6, pp . 165-66 )

The connection s and displacements between Spenser's allegory of de sire—that is, his psychomachia of the self—and hi s political allegory can also be explored by means of an analysis of the giants in Th e Faerie Queene. The troubled link between these two allegorie s becomes especially problematic in this case because the giants, who ar e engaged, as we have seen, in th e text' s representatio n of th e compulsio n exercise d by figures , ar e themselves central to Spenser's reflection on the powers and limitations of allegory. In contrast to the examples that we traced in the previous section, here th e privilegin g o f psychologica l over politica l allegory makes pos sible not onl y the characteristic swerve away from politica l critique but a more radica l moral analysis . Considering bot h th e classica l tradition o f giants a s figures o f rebellio n agains t "lawful" authority , an d th e mor e popular tradition—appropriate d fo r civi c an d roya l purpose s by Tudo r monarchs, especiall y by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I—in which giants can represent the body politi c and the legitimacy of th e social order, I argue that Spenser' s giants expose an ambivalence about the political system—

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in the self or in the society—that they either threaten or protect, and signal a concern abou t th e legitimacy o f the order allegor y is able to represent . The us e of th e defea t o f giant s as one of th e poem's principa l figures fo r the imposition o f political, generic , an d sexual stability suggests, furthermore, that Spenser's text exposes the foundations of order a s the political suppression of a violent other that nonetheless is necessarily figured as another version of the self. Thus while the submerged politics of these giant allegories hint a t the arbitrarines s of the power ostensibl y authorize d b y these figures, th e psychomachian reading of the giants takes a step further by more openl y locating violence and the grotesque within th e self. In Th e Faerie Queene many of the chief threats to personal and political stability ar e represented a s giants, an d the y ar e numerous. A list o f th e more important one s points to the centrality of great size and of the clas sical myt h o f th e giants ' rebellio n agains t th e god s i n th e allegorica l scheme: on e thinks o f Orgogli o in Boo k I ; Disdaine, th e gatekeepe r of Philotime's cour t i n the Cav e o f Mammo n i n Book II ; Maleger, wh o i s not calle d a giant but i s described as unusually large in II, xi, 20 , and as a son of th e Earth in II, xi, 45 ; Argante and Ollyphaunt i n Book III ; Cor flambo in Book IV; Lust, though he is only "in stature higher b y a span," IV, vii, 5 ; the Egalitarian Giant in Book V , canto ii; Geryoneo i n Book V ; Grantorto, wh o i s described as "Like to a Giant for his monstrous hight " in V , xii, 15 ; Disdaine i n VI , vii , 41 ; and Mutabiliti e herself , wh o i s de scribed a s a giantesse in VII , vi , I3. 38 In Book s I , IV , V, an d V I Arthu r defeats a major giant , an d the same pattern occurs in Book II if we con sider Maleger a giant. Indeed , a s James Nohrnberg ha s remarked, whil e the other heroes may fac e other sort s of battles , Arthur is preeminently a giant-killer.39 Looking a t this giant list, a reader of Spenser would b e justified i n thinkin g tha t Th e Faerie Queene use s greatness of siz e only a s a figure for destructive or rebellious forces within the self or within society . The Hous e o f Alma (Boo k II), however, i s also clearly a giant human body, an d Spenser' s narrato r seem s particularl y to enjo y th e allegorica l play by which h e makes this symbolism evident. 40 In doing so , however , another traditio n i s invoked—quite differen t fro m th e classica l myth o f the giants, who, followin g the Titans in rebellion, fough t against the gods and ha d t o b e suppressed—tha t th e body politic , th e body o f a society, may b e represented as a giant figure. W e are familiar wit h thi s concept i n the doctrine of the King's or Queen's two bodies, whic h too k on new vitality in the dynastic debates of the Tudor period. 41 It appears throughou t the sixteenth century in popular festivities, an d is represented in such im ages of Quee n Elizabeth as the Ditchle y portrai t (circ a 1590) , an d in th e

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image of her body made into a giant map (as occurs in a Dutch engravin g of 1598 , in which Elizabeth' s body becomes a map of Europe, itself a parody of Sebastian Munster's engravin g "Hispania"). 42 Evidence for the existence and importance of this opposed, popular tra dition tha t als o informs Spenser' s use of giant s can be found in a variety of sixteenth-centur y Englis h document s i n whic h giant s figur e promi nently i n civi c pageants, where the y appea r to stand for the strength and greatness of the bod y politic . Sto w (in his Survey of 1618 ) describe s the giants involve d wit h th e celebrations o f the Midsummer Watc h in Lon don: "O n th e Vigill o f S t John th e Baptist. . . . There were als o diuer s Pageants, Morri s dancers . . . . The Sheriffe s watche s cam e one after th e other i n like order , bu t no t s o large in number a s the Maiors: fo r wher e the Maior ha d besides his Giant thre e Pageants, each of th e Sheriffe s ha s besides thei r Giant s bu t tw o Pageants." 43 The chie f burde n o f th e mid summer celebration s was borne, o f course, by the guilds, who undertoo k also the "refresshinge" of the giants—an indication of the pervasive identification of giants with the popular body corporate. 44 Throughout the sixteenth centur y th e giant s participate d in midsumme r pageants : in 1522 , the year of Charles V' s entry into London , fo r instance, plans were mad e to skip the midsummer pageant s since so much had already been prepared for his reception, bu t in the end the tradition was followed. I t was decided by the Drapers Guild to "renew all the old pageants for the house; includ ing ou r new e pagean t of the Goldyn Flees for the mayr against midsomr ; also th e gyant, Lor d Moryspyks, an d a mory s daunc e a s wa s use d las t year."45 Under Edward the midsummer celebration s were suppressed, but Elizabeth revived them , an d there is evidence that the giants continued t o play a role throughout th e isSo' s and ispo's. 46 These "popular" festivities wer e als o turned t o public civic and roya l purposes, a s we se e in Charle s V' s entry, i n th e pageantr y of whic h th e city's giant s had a major role to play. As Charles crosse d the drawbridge , he was met with the following representations : at th e enteryn g of f th e gat e of f th e cyte e dy d stand e i j great Gyaunty s on e pre senting the parson of Sampson and the other Hercules standyng in ryche apparell holdyng betwen a grete cheyn of yron an d a table hangyng in the myddys of f the chayne wheryn wa s wrytyn in goldyn lettyrs sett in byce the namys of all the landys an d domynyon s wher e th e emperour i s Kyng and Lorde in tokennin g that t the emperou r i s able to hold e al l those domynyon s b y pou r an d strengt h a s the seyd gyauntys holde th e same cheyne by pouer and strengyth.47

Here the figures of the giants stand for the power of the King a s he draws on the strength o f the body politic, an d the theme of giant size is also car-

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ried ove r to the dominions o f the "empire." 48 The identification of Her cules a s a giant ha s its mor e scholarl y equivalen t in th e emble m books , where Hercule s i s represented as a man o f enormous height , a s he was in the "Hercule s Gallicus " traditio n illustrate d i n Alciati' s emble m "Elo quentia Fortitudine Praestantior."49 This emblem, which I reproduce from a Parisian French and Lati n edition o f th e Emblemata (se e Fig. 3) , alludes to a version of the Hercules story in which h e conquers many nations and overthrows tyrann y not by force of arms but by eloquence. Through this capacity to persuade, Hercules established good laws and brought the Gallic people to a more civilize d life, an d thus the emblem i s interpreted as a figure o f goo d government . It s valuatio n o f eloquenc e ove r militar y might als o made it a favorite of poets and artists for whom it provided a myth of foundation that gave privileged place to verbal power.50 The little chains ("leuibus . . . cathenis") passing from Hercules' mout h to the ears of his Gallic audience, ironically for my argument, are said in the verse to illustrate the lack of constrain t in the moment o f verbal persuasion. Th e popularity o f the story of Hercules' victor y over the Pygmies, a s well as Alciati's emblem o f Hercules as a huge figure in the center of twelve min iature representations o f hi s labors, extends this association. The English traditio n of pageant and entry probably goes back farther than does our evidence. There is a record, for instance, of a similar pageant welcoming Henr y V home from Agincourt in 1415. On that occasion the King had been met on London Bridg e by a "gret geaunt." 51 On th e con tinent, in contrast, Charles more frequently met with representations that alluded to the classical tradition of giants.52 In spite of humanist influences, however, th e English "popular " tradition continue d throug h Elizabeth' s reign, and indeed in her entry into London upon her coronation the Queen was met by a similar pageant of giants, this time placed at the Temple Bar and name d "Gotmagot " an d "Corineus," and again holding tablet s in scribed with Latin verses.53 The names Corineus an d Gogmagog, firs t at tached to the London giant s in 155 4 as far as the evidence tells us,54 have a historical and biblical echo, suggestin g that the giants served as reminders of foundatio n myth s tha t guarantee d and even extende d th e powe r an d influence o f th e city. Accordin g t o the myth o f the founding of Britain , Brutus, the great-grandson of Aeneas, fled from Troy, eventually to arrive in England. On e o f hi s band was Corineus, a n able warrior; h e received the land that woul d bea r his name—Cornwall. Ther e h e fought th e last of th e giant s who ha d inhabited th e land, Gogmago g (Spense r calls him Goemot), whom Corineus sle w in single combat, throwing him headlong into the sea from a high rock, whic h was then named after him. Corineu s and Gogmagog represent , therefore, the ambivalent origins o f the coun-

FIGURE 3 . Emble m CLXXX, "Eloquenti a Fortitudine Praestantior," fro m Akiati's Emblemata (1584) , p. 24 6 verso. The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, Early Books and Manuscripts.

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try—both th e hero an d the gian t he slew ar e represented as giants in th e pageant that confirms Elizabeth's rule, both o f them servin g to assert her legitimacy by linking he r with the founding of the nation.55 Spenser himself invoke s this aetiological myth in his description of the historical origins o f Britain in Book II , canto x, where Arthur learns that Britain wa s firs t inhabite d b y giants : "farr e i n lan d a saluag e natio n dwelt, /Of hideou s Giants , an d halfe beastly men" (II , x, 7) . The giants "Polluted this same gentle soyle long time" (II, x, 9), until various eponymous heroes , notabl y Corineus, defea t them. Th e giants remain important in Spenser's foundation myth, bot h a s forces to be overcome an d pacified, an d as bearers of a hovering sens e of th e greatness of th e land it self—its "statur e huge and . . . courage bold" (II, x, 7). Corineus, who m Spenser honors a s a hero, has , as we have seen, another role to play in the popular processions an d festivities where, followin g thi s ambivalent tra dition, h e i s himsel f transforme d int o on e o f London' s mos t popula r giants.56 In these foundation myths, which usually involve some primal violence perpetrated by the giants, the giants must often be purged or destroyed in order t o allo w th e new civilizatio n to flourish . I n the popular tradition , however, foundatio n mythologie s als o tend t o includ e storie s i n whic h giant siz e characterizes both th e attackin g ogre an d the defendin g hero. Sometimes thi s originary giant even takes the form of a threatening mon ster wh o i s baptized or someho w transformed into a protector, a s is th e case with the giant Le Reuze, protector of Dunkirk (L e Reuze first appears as a giant in a town procession in the 155o's, although the legends are much older).57 In these myths, giant s incarnate the power an d importance of the city itself, and also represent the domestication o r containment o f the violence that occurred at its founding. The antithetica l function of giant s in foundatio n myths suc h as these suggests that stories of giants allude to the violent founding of society and therefore can also undermine claims of legitimacy such as those the Tudors consistently strov e t o reinforce . Th e gian t "Gogmagog " an d the heroturned-giant Corineu s represent this antithetical quality: like Dunkirk's Le Reuze, in the pageant they illustrate the aestheticizing of the violence b y which "legitimate " order impose s itself , an d demonstrate how tha t vio lence ma y b e elide d an d transforme d into a myth o f legitimacy . Whil e such pageant s in Elizabeth's honor ma y have minimized thi s antithetical quality, Spenser' s allegory cannot d o s o as easily since his giants inscribe both the myths of legitimacy on which his politics are based and the structure of domination and suppression that permits his allegory to work. This political function is captured well by Bishop Hurd in the passage from his

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Letters o n Chivalry an d Romance wit h whic h I began thi s section . Ther e Hurd reads giants directly as allegories for "oppressiv e feudal lords." 58 Just as Hercules was a giant among men, so , metaphorically, are those of Spenser' s heroe s wh o tak e afte r him . Suc h metaphori c association , then, alon g with the double tradition of interpreting giants, suggests that The Faerie Queene's giant-killer s ma y themselves be more like giants than the fiction ostensibly allows , an d that they may thus defend a political or moral orde r base d on a repressiveness similar to tha t which th e giants in the allegory o f desir e come t o incarnate. Hence a s figures fo r th e aspects of th e self , the y ma y als o represent the direction or control o f a violence essential to the creation of an ordered self . Spenser's many benign giants strengthen the association of heroes with giant siz e by remindin g th e reade r that not al l of Spenser' s gian t figure s are valorized negatively. In addition to the two giants who help defend the House of Alma, othe r "good " giants include Awe, th e porter a t the gate of Mercilia's court, who sit s "with gyantlike resemblance" (V , ix, 22), and Valgo, on e of Britomart' s descendants: How lik e a Gyaunt i n each manly par t Beares he himselfe with portly maiestee , That one of th'old Heroes seeme s t o bee. (HI, iii , 32)

Both ar e images o f goo d rule , whil e th e descriptio n o f Valg o expresses the link, implicitly ignored in many of the classical allusions to the giants, between th e giant s and the heroes o f old . Neithe r "good " nor "bad " i s Daunger, "A n hideous Giant" (IV, x, 16 ) serving as porter or guard on the Porch o f th e Temple of Venus , a figure take n from courtly romanc e and allegories suc h as Th e Romance o f the Rose. Spense r is quite consistent i n providing a giant to guar d many of th e text's center s of orde r an d value (the Hous e o f Alma , th e Coun t o f Mercilla , th e Templ e o f Venus) . A more complicated instance in Book III, finally, allies the giants in rebellion with Britomart. A s we saw in the preceding section of this chapter, whe n dismayed by th e fir e surroundin g th e House o f Busyrane , sh e compares herself and Scudamour to the giants attacking Jove: "What monstrou s en mity prouoke w e heare," she asks, "Foolhardy a s th'Earthes children, th e which made / Battell against the Gods? so we a God inuade" (III, xi, 22). This reference is all the more striking since earlier, as she took of f her hel met afte r fighting with Paridell and thereby revealed her hair and her gen der, Britomart had been compared to Minerva, removing her helmet afte r defeating th e giant s (III, ix, 22) . I n canto xi Britomart fear s tha t she and Scudamour ar e invoking a "monstrous enmity, " and indeed it is the go d

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they invade who prove s to be monstrous, no t Britomart in her assault on this figure of abusiv e authority. A rebellion echoin g tha t of th e giant s is permitted, i t seems, in the allegory of desire, because in that case Spenser can supply deforme d o r aberrant rulers whose authorit y "rightly " needs to be overthrown.59 Both the formal need fo r both benevolen t an d threatening giant s and the presence of these specifically "good" ones argue, then, tha t the giant is a less simple figure than a first glanc e at Spenser's poem woul d tell , o r that hi s displacin g o f th e "popular " traditio n i s not a s complete a s on e might suspect . I t further complicates matters , moreover , tha t thi s over determination itself forms a part of the (relatively independent) exegetical tradition, reflectin g in part confusion about the reference to the giants in Genesis 6, which holds that a giant can be a symbol of Christ (a s in Psalms 19:5, fo r instance). Willia m Langlan d refers t o Chris t a s a giant, an d thi s tradition, with its venerable patristic background, is even found in Luther, who refer s t o Christ i n the moment o f crucifixion as "crying with a loud voice like the bravest giant."60 The Christian reading of the giants conflicts with th e classica l myth, comin g fro m Hesiod , Virgil , an d Ovid , o f th e rebellion o f th e giant s agains t th e gods , thoug h th e biblical giant s wer e also separatel y connecte d wit h th e Towe r o f Babel , wit h Nimrod , an d therefore wit h th e Genesi s versio n o f huma n arrogance . An d becaus e giants in the mythographic traditio n can also be seen to represent the body, as oppose d t o th e soul , o f a human being—a s Spense r consistentl y re minds u s wit h hi s spellin g o f Geants, fro m Gea, th e earth , echoin g th e creation in Genesis of the body fro m earth—their story can always evok e either huma n greatnes s o r th e greates t huma n failings. 61 Thei r stor y al ways narrates, then, t o put it in slightly differen t terms , th e impossibilit y of discriminatin g betwee n antithetica l traditions tha t coincid e i n and in form originary figures . Matters are not made easier, either, when we con sider that these figures themselves function in the poem to embody, mark , enforce, o r guard clearly defined boundaries—cells, bowers, houses , prisons—and thus figur e a power o f spatia l and political discrimination tha t their ow n figurative bodies d o not share. This discrepancy proves harder than one might expec t to contain or displace. 62 Like Rabelais's Pantagruel, wh o i s discovered t o hav e an entire worl d within him, 63 Spenser's Hous e o f Alma, whic h represent s "man' s body" (II, ix, i) , contains a whole society, wit h its nobility (th e emotions aroun d the heart) , its intellectuals, an d its working people , an d thu s figure s the body politic. Details like the twice sixteen warders dressed in shining steel in the entry porch, a description o f the teeth in the mouth (II , ix, 2 6 ), or the references to the two door s o f the House (sts . 23-24), a beautiful on e

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in front , a not-so-beautiful on e behind, mak e this evocation of th e bod y politic literal and comic. Thi s giant body is itself defended by two giants : "those two brether n Giants did defend / The walle s so stoutly with thei r sturdie maine " (II , xi, 15) , a pun o n hands ("maine") suggestin g whic h parts of the body migh t b e doing th e defending. Enclosed in its walls, with its virgin ruler Alma, the castle of the body might see m t o incarnate the "classic" image of the body a s described by Mikhail Bakhtin and elaborated by Peter Stallybrass.64 It seeks to resist infirmity, contamination , an d the results of sin by closing them out , whil e Maleger, evokin g th e image of a grotesque body, disease d and out o f or der, become s als o the gian t representative of th e "raskall rout " who la y siege to the castle. Maleger and the House h e besieges might seem , then , to be two gian t figures se t in a simple opposition, on e giant symbolizin g good governmen t o f th e sel f and by extensio n o f society , an d th e othe r lack of government , chaos , or governmen t b y the raskall rout. I n his allegorical introduction , however , th e narrator proposes that th e seemin g opposition hide s a different typ e of relationship: Of al l Gods workes, whic h do this world adorne , There i s no on e more faire and excellent, Then is man's body both for powre and forme, Whiles it is kept in sober gouernment; But none then it, mor e fowle and indecent, Distempred throug h misrule and passions bace: It growes a Monster, an d incontinent Doth loose his dignitie and natiue grace. Behold, wh o list , both one and other in this place. (II, ix , i )

Spenser's language suggests that the one body can turn into the other: Mal eger and his rebellious rout are the distorted or monstrous versio n of the human bod y itself , not somethin g entirel y "other"—though that distortion appears quite alien in the poem's fiction. The battle between Maleger and th e inhabitant s of th e Hous e o f Alm a ca n be read in thes e lines as a struggle between th e classic and the grotesque body, a struggle in whic h contamination b y th e grotesqu e occurs in spit e of Arthur' s victory . Al though th e House has been set in order, the gigantic mouth an d anus, the enormous stomac h wit h it s feastin g an d it s furnace s an d caldrons , th e elaborate plumbing to help evacuate the waste, all evoke not the perfection of enclosur e bu t th e comic , Rabelaisia n emphasis o n wha t goe s i n and what come s ou t o f the body an d on the processes of transformation and growth within it. 65 The Hous e o f Alma is thus pictured as a classic body that cannot quit e escape being parodied or literalized, and thus contami -

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nated, b y th e grotesque—o r again , it i s pictured a s a figure tha t canno t help embodying contradictor y traditions. 66 By treating this figure o f th e well-governed bod y politic so literally, then, Spense r implies that the notion of the body politic is inevitably grotesque, although royal power may depend for its claim to authority on relentless aestheticization, enclosing, and classicizing of the giant that excludes this possibility. The inevitabl e joining o f thes e tw o opposites—"bot h on e an d th e other" (II, ix, i)—arise s in part from Spenser' s moral analysis: that falle n human life cannot evade sickness, death, or the results of sin, that a perfect image of governmen t withi n th e self is an ideal to be sought bu t no t at tained. The two apparentl y opposed giant figures prove to be versions of each other, exemplifyin g a moral ambivalence characteristic of Spenser' s figurative use of his giants: they can be both "good" and "bad," with th e plot energ y alway s working t o distinguis h them whil e th e images con tinue to reconnect them . Thu s Maleger, lik e other giants , is a son of th e earth, Gea , but s o is the House o f Alma: Not buil t o f bricke , n e yet of stone and lime, But o f thing lik e to that Aegyptian slime , Whereof kin g Nine whilom e built Babell towre . (II, ix , 21 )

The distinction s betwee n th e authorized and the subversive versions ar e thus made, a s Stephen Greenblatt has argued, by a violent proces s of de monization in which th e grotesque or distorted is momentarily excluded : the "bad " giant s are killed of f or toppled down , whil e the "good" ones either help in this process or are purified b y it. It is not surprising, given the homology betwee n such analysis and the construction o f the self, t o find that the excluded grotesque returns in the antithetical imagery tha t connect s th e her o an d his or he r enemy. 67 Th e description o f the House o f Alma thus emphasizes the different implica tions o f thes e ambivalent giant s for Spenser' s moral an d political allego ries. I n the mora l allegor y th e double image of th e giant body serve s t o remind reader s that, in this internal struggle, the demonized othe r nonetheless remains a part of th e self , a part to b e controlled o r cleansed , bu t not somethin g tha t can be completely purged . Bu t if the duplicity of the image seems to produce instances of complexity in the moral allegory, i n the politica l allegor y thing s wor k differently . I n the idea l society o f th e House of Alma , ther e is no plac e for th e "thousan d villeins " (II , ix, 13 ) who pu t th e Hous e unde r siege , an d wh o appea r as trivial t o Spenser' s scheme a s "scattere d Sheepe " (II , ix , 14 ) o r "idl e shades " (st . 15 ) o r "Gnats" (st. 16). They are "vile caytiue wretches, ragged, rude, deformd "

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(st. 13) , their poverty and class indicated physically as a kind of deformity , and the y disappea r as their leade r is conquered. Whil e the over t politica l allegory describe s just rul e putting dow n a rebellion, utterl y destroyin g or routing th e rebellious subjects , the moral allegory posits a more com plex relatio n betwee n th e demonized rebel s on the one hand an d the hu man bod y o n th e other . Th e mora l complexit y typifie s Spenser' s use of giants i n a psychomachia, bu t i s reduced whe n i t come s t o th e politica l meanings asserte d by the narrator. The ambivalent role giants play in the moral scheme stems from their use as figures of alternative versions of the self, an d bring s th e "popular " traditio n o f th e gian t a s an authoritativ e image o f the body politi c into pla y against the classical mythology.68 The shif t fro m the political version of the story as an account of rebellion t o a mora l o r ethica l interpretatio n largel y occur s i n postclassica l interpretations o f the myth, suc h as those proposed by Comes and othe r Renaissance mythographers who describe the giants either as representing principles of physical science such as earthquakes, or as providing a moral, psychological, o r religious allegory. The giants in particular are explained by Come s as representing inne r mora l struggle s of th e individual, espe cially the struggle against the appetites, concupiscence, and lust.69 Clearly Spenser's Orgoglio , Maleger , an d the various giants of desir e all belong in this tradition, a s has been long noted , an d the tendency to view giant s as psychologica l figure s occur s als o in suc h place s a s Donne's Devotions upon Emergent Occasions: "O what a Giant is Man, whe n h e fights agains t himselfe, an d wha t a Dwarfe when he e needs, o r exercises hi s owne assistance for himselfe!" 70 Transformin g the political story, a s these mythographers did, int o a moral tale, Spenser's text also makes the battle against the giant s a n inner struggle . Thi s internalization of a political story stil l conveys somethin g o f that politics symbolically since in Spenser's fictio n the giant is treated as an external agent. In linking th e submerged politic s with a radical moral reading, then, thi s turn inward conveys the large influence of societ y i n shapin g the individual emotiona l o r bodil y sphere , and suggests that this sphere has a political significance. This internaliza tion also obfuscates th e more disruptive political story being told— a nar rative that linked political authority to its demonic opposite—though that story i s heard nonetheles s i n th e man y incident s in whic h giant s ar e the cause of enslavement or tyranny. The recurrence of the theme of thralldom reemphasize s what we found to be the case in Spenser's text more generally: in Arthur's subduing of the rebellion agains t the House of Alma, the allegory of desire and of the body hides both an allegory of politics (centered on the body politic ) and a politics of allegory . A s a particularly forceful instanc e of the workings of al-

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legorical compulsion , th e behavio r o f Spenser' s giant s of desir e figure s forth a n issue for th e write r a s well a s the moralist . Thei r action , a s w e have seen, is predictable, though not less onerous for that: psychomachian giants almost mechanicall y imprison thei r victims in dungeons o r caves, bind the m i n chains , an d in particula r make the m thei r "eternal l bondslaue" (I, vii, 14 ) or the "thrall of [their] desire" (III , vii, 37), placing them in eternal bondage (III , vii, 50 ) or slavery (V, x, 27). 71 The tw o clea r rep resentations of rebellion o r revolution i n Th e Faerie Queene are the battles fought b y "the thousand villeins" and Maleger in Book II , canto s ix-xi, and the reaction of the followers of the Egalitarian Giant in Book V, canto ii, to Talus after h e has toppled th e giant. I n the case of Boo k II , th e po litical image is tied to a moral one , whic h i s shown t o refe r t o an internal struggle partly because the figures outside who attack the House resembl e those described as inhabiting the first chamber of the mind (II, x, 50) . This connection betwee n th e political theme and the figuration of desir e sug gests tha t th e poe m represent s th e difficult y o f givin g fictiona l for m t o emotions suc h as pride an d desir e by implying , a s we sa w elaborated in the previou s tw o sections , tha t allegorica l characterizatio n ca n b e en thralling or enslaving. The poetr y establishe s more link s betwee n th e heroe s an d th e giant s than the political allegory would lea d one to suspect. As if to distinguis h Artegall from other giant-fighters, Book V begins with ArtegalPs receiving fro m Astrae a the sword tha t Jove use d "i n tha t great fight / Against the Titans, tha t whylome rebelled / Gainst highest heauen" (V, i, 9) : this opening seems to affirm tha t the classical myth of the giants will be given special privilege throughout thi s quest. The divine sword urge s that a violent dividin g lin e be drawn betwee n th e hero an d those h e defeats, ye t more similaritie s exis t betwee n gian t an d her o tha n thi s clea r divisio n would suggest. 72 The Egalitaria n Giant of Boo k V , canto ii, can serve as a case in point . As Angus Fletcher observed in Th e Prophetic Moment (p . 157) , i n this ep isode Artegall seems to be in dialogue with himself; and as Stephen Greenblatt has gone on to argue in "Murdering Peasants, " ther e is not onl y an "uncanny resemblanc e between th e Giant's iconographic sign (the scales) and Arthegall's, bu t . .. [a ] still more uncanny resemblance between the Giant's rhetoric and Spenser's own" (p . 20). Spenser intensifies this resemblance—which is called to min d partl y by the proximity o f the cant o to the Proem to Book V—by comparing the giant in his fall to a ship, "whom cruell tempest driues / Vpon a rocke with horrible dismay" (V , ii, 50), so that the shattering and fragmenting of the giant seems the breaking apart of one of the boats that perhaps formerly belonged to the fleet of the poem

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(as in I , xii , i an d 42). The Egalitaria n Giant i s clearly a Bakhtinian col lective giant, representin g the wishes an d thoughts o f the "lawlesse mul titude" (V , ii, 52 ) who burs t ou t i n ope n rebellio n followin g hi s fal l (st . 51). Th e tensio n tha t result s in th e narrative from thi s ambivalen t treat ment of the giant and his followers is generated in part by the tension be tween th e moral and the historical (or political) allegories, and is resolved in part by allowing Talu s to do the dirty work. What Artegall in fact does, however, i s try to teach the giant to becom e a figure in a psychomachia, tha t is, to internalize the issue of justice: But Artegall hi m fairel y ga n asswage And said; Be not vpon th y balance wroken: For they doe nought bu t right or wrong betoken ; But in the mind th e doome of right must bee; And s o likewise of words, th e which be spoken, The ear e must be the ballance, to decree And iudge, whether wit h trut h or falshood they agree. (V, ii, 47 )

This statement reiterates the typically Spenserian psychic geography tha t locates the "sacred noursery of vertue" deep within the mind, bu t it misses the giant's point i n large measure. While Artegall can win o n the issue of weighing words, mos t o f what the giant wants to weigh an d redistribute is quit e physical , an d mos t o f i t ha s t o do , no t wit h judging righ t an d wrong, bu t wit h rendering portion s equal . What Artegall does is to de politicize the giant's message, claiming tha t such thoughts abou t levelin g and other weighing o f the inequalities of life may be perfectly appropriate, as long as they take place within th e mind. A s mental acts, they may eve n provide a basis for justice, as long as they do not lea d to politica l conse quences. Th e episod e gives , then , a slightly differen t slan t o n Spenser' s valuation of internal or imaginative life, fo r in the context o f political action, suc h a n inward tur n ca n become a n evasio n o f politica l meaning . Emphasizing th e episode' s relevanc e to Spense r rathe r tha n t o Artegall , Greenblatt come s t o simila r conclusions : "Talus ' violence, i n destroyin g the Giant , exorcise s th e potentiall y dangerou s socia l consequences—the praxis—that might follo w fro m Spenser' s own eloquent socia l criticism" ("Murdering Peasants, " p . 22) . M y point , though , i s that thi s exorcis m fits also wit h anothe r move—th e inward turn—tha t seek s t o transfor m the giant from political to moral allegory. 73 This inward tur n occur s wit h man y o f Spenser' s giants, al l of who m are associated with the issue of government (a s tyrants or through th e to pos of giants as representatives of a body politic), for in all the cases except

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those in Boo k V th e allegor y transform s wha t coul d b e a political topi c into a moral one. Hi s consistent shift from the political to the moral, fro m the world of conquest and history to an inner world, reveal s that the kinds of opposition s Spenser' s allegor y represent s ca n be successfully resolve d within hi s moral framewor k bu t no t withi n th e political framewor k h e necessarily give s to his poem, an d that the model o f the self that Spenser proposes, thoug h submerged , i s political. Thes e episode s furthe r impl y that themati c o r representationa l allusion s t o th e politica l withi n thes e stories ca n be displace d an d suppresse d by a depoliticizing tur n inward . Within th e contex t o f th e poem' s interrogatio n o f poeti c modes , th e "inward turn" ceases to be a contingent strateg y for evasion and displace ment sinc e these versions o f th e sel f provid e a complicated an d a t time s disturbing analysi s of psychologica l lif e tha t becomes linke d throug h it s giant form with the processes of allegory. Conceive d a s a mode tha t dic tates a particular relation of inside and out, allegor y would appea r to pro vide a formal resolution o f the psychological and the political, though, a s we have seen , th e resolution depend s o n givin g on e privilege whil e dis placing the other an d thereby limitin g it s more disruptiv e potentiality. I t is striking evidence of the hierarchical tendency within allegor y that in the many instances of opposition o r tension between the political and the psychological, th e allegory work s consistentl y t o submerg e an d render sec ondary th e more disruptiv e interpretation . A simila r ambivalenc e color s th e treatmen t o f gende r i n thes e repre sentations of giant bodies politic. Alma , fo r instance, is a lady and a "vir gin bright" (II , ix, 18) , an d nothing i n the allegor y o f th e body hint s at anything femal e about it. This nongendered o r asexual giant may thus be meant t o represen t both sexes , bu t it s lack of gende r als o allows th e tex t to sidestep the difficulties tha t would b e encountered wer e the giant body female. Th e situatio n is very different, then , in the case of the giant bod y that constitute s th e landscape of the Garden of Adonis (III , vi). Here th e moral an d aestheti c doubleness o f giant s is highlighted b y a deeper am bivalence abou t representin g femal e power . A s wit h th e literalis m tha t typified th e poem's accoun t of the House o f Alma, Spense r is highly spe cific abou t the bodily part s to be found in this landscape, though her e he focuses particularly on those details unmentioned i n the case of Alma, o n the mons veneris that stands "right in the middest" (III, vi, 43) of the Gar den.74 This giant, then , i s not onl y femal e but sexua l and fertile . Like Spenser's other giants , the body o f the Garden of Adonis als o has its political resonance, fo r it draws surreptitiously o n the identification of the sovereign' s bod y wit h th e landscape and thereby figure s th e queen' s

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body politic—th e land o f England—a s the body natural. 75 In spite o f its fertility—or perhaps as a related cause of it—this landscape too is marked by hidden o r submerged losses that imbue the setting with beauty and animation. I n this garden, however, the flowers are not only Ovidian—"And all about grew euery sort of flowre, / To which sad louers were transformd of yore" (III, vi, 45)—but Elizabethan. The landscape is filled with flowers that stan d fo r th e permanent frustratio n or los s o f those wh o loved , while th e stanza-lon g epi c catalogue ends on the fate of Amintas, wh o is associated with the flower Amaranthus and "made a flowre but late " (st. 45); this line is often take n to be a reference to Sidney, whom Spenser had called Adoni s i n hi s elegy, bu t wh o no w ha s become anothe r flowe r t o adorn Venus' s bower. Th e shif t t o th e allusio n to Sidne y introduce s an other disturbin g sens e in which thi s garden may be identified metaphor ically as the body politic: frustrated suitors and courtiers, whose ambition s and desire s wer e no t met , ar e now scattere d "all about " thi s inner land scape, debris of the power tha t makes such generativity possible. The fig uration o f th e costs of poetic and of political power marke d b y the con trols, frustrations, and limitations Elizabeth placed on her courtier-suitor s come togethe r i n the image of the landscape as a body animate d by sup pressed and aestheticized loss. The poetics of personification in the Garden of Adonis accordingl y correspond s to—or displaces—the erotic/political domination b y which Elizabet h maintained her power.76 This image of hidden death and the frustration o f desire contrasts with the partly Neoplatoni c mytholog y o f th e Garden tha t surround s th e in nermost bowe r an d mons veneris, for in the Garden, although Time threatens an d i s mentione d specificall y a s mowin g "th e flowrin g herbe s an d goodly things, " life form s constantl y di e and ar e reborn a s part of a cy clical myth—"So like a wheele around they runne from old to new" (III , vi> 33)—tha t allow s a kind o f chang e apparently not appropriat e for th e flowers in the innermost bower . Thos e wh o "grow afresh" in the Garden are eventually "sent into th e chaungefull world againe " (st. 33)—old Genius "lettet h ou t t o wend/Al l tha t t o com e int o th e worl d desire " (st . 32)—whereas th e flowers that dec k the innermost sanctum , an d Adoni s himself, see m t o be there for good. Moreover , i n the Garden, ther e is no frustration o f eroti c satisfaction: For here all plentie, and all pleasure flowes, And swee t loue gentle fits emongs t the m throwes , Without fel l rancor , o r fond gealosie; Franckly each paramour his leman knowes . (Ill, vi, 41 )

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But this special exemption fro m the constraints felt by lovers throughout the poem someho w fail s t o appl y to the innermost sanctum , where past "sad louers" now seem permanently to have become landscape, and where Adonis must be "hid from the world" and enjoyed not "franckly" but "in secret." Thes e tw o version s of the Garden embody tw o competin g fan tasies: a vision of erotic—and political—satisfaction an d creativity on th e one hand , an d o n th e othe r a vision o f secret , materna l but als o sexual power, protectiv e and able to guarantee safety, bu t only at the cost of personal freedom and the possibility of acting in "the world"—onl y by forfeiting, i n other words, precisel y the heroic power of the constrained and frustrated lover s struggling to fulfil l thei r heroic destinies in the epic action. This gian t too, then , seem s to overpower those mortals with whom i t comes i n contact , for here th e language of possessio n returns, although with a benevolent coloring : There wont faire Venus ofte n to enio y Her dear e Adonis ioyou s company , And reap e sweet pleasur e of the wanton boy ; There yet, som e say, in secret doe s h e ly, Lapped i n flowres and pretious spycery , By her hid from th e world, and from th e skil l Of Stygian Gods , which doe her loue enuy ; But sh e her selfe, whe n euer tha t she will, Possesseth him, an d of hi s sweetnesse take s her fill . (Ill, vi, 46)

Venus and Adonis are at once part of th e landscape and separate from it; the "secret" place in which Adonis hides is Venus's innermost bower, ye t somehow i t i s also connected t o th e flowere d spicer y of th e mons veneris (see III, vi, 43), complete with hidden arbor and underground cave, where Adonis's grea t enemy, th e boar, is imprisoned: Ne fearet h he henceforth tha t fo e of his , Which wit h his cruell tuske him deadl y cloyd : For that wilde Bore, th e which him once annoyd , She firmely hat h emprisone d fo r ay, That her sweet lou e his malice mote auoyd , In a strong rocky Caue , which is they say , Hewen vnderneath tha t Mount, tha t none him losen may . (Ill, vi , 48)

Mythologically, o f course, the boar destroys Adonis, so that imprisoning him spare s the youth. Allegorically , the animal is often interpreted as lust

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or as a bodily desir e that ultimately kills the mortal Adonis (an d that link s Adonis t o Timias, anothe r frustrated courtier) ; the boar is also connecte d to th e hunt, a n erotic image that can figure th e active life. Th e tex t thu s seems t o provide a n image of permanent jouissance—the phallic boar im prisoned "fo r ay " i n a cave underneath th e mons veneris —that perfectly combines eroti c satisfaction and utter constraint. The ambivalent force of the image is in part conveyed b y the qualification "rocky": we have seen rocky cave s before, and know tha t they appear in the text in scenes of im prisonment tha t signa l moment s o f figurativ e control. Her e th e threat ening imag e o f th e all-powerful woma n wh o wil l "possess " her lover is displaced by or overlaid with th e contrasting image of endless satisfaction with its promise of a form of eternal life. This image of erotic satisfaction, with its political connotations, ca n be shaped only with the darker outlin e of "possession " behind it , i n part because having one' s "desire " fulfille d by the Queen also meant complete submissio n t o her. Sh e embodied an d practiced th e tw o extreme s o f powe r adumbrate d i n th e Garden : th e power t o satisf y an d the power t o destroy. A s image o f the beloved, sh e was indeed a courtier's "deares t dred." 77 The lov e affai r o f Venu s and Adonis can also be read as a story of lov e between a mortal an d an immortal, an d thus Adonis migh t understand ably be pictured as overwhelmed b y this more powerful presence. The text consistently implie s tha t for a mortal to love an immortal—often a figuration for love of or commitment t o an ideal—can be devastating, even if such a love i s of th e nobles t sort . Althoug h Belphoeb e exclude s hersel f from thi s categor y ("Nor Goddess e I ... W e mortall wights" III, v, 36), Spenser allows her to adumbrate an ideal, and Timias's experienc e in serv ing her is as ambivalent as that imagined for Adonis. While presenting th e immortal a s overwhelming an d "possessing " ma y see m a n appropriate evocation of power beyond the human, then, it nonetheless confers a genuine doublenes s upo n th e ac t o f submissio n t o suc h powers . Spenser' s Muse i s another femal e figur e wh o wield s ove r hi m a power tha t ca n be threatening as well as productive, as is indicated by the analogy of the poet and Merli n whe n possesse d b y a visionary "spirite. " When th e unio n i s with one's Muse, th e subjection it seems to deman d ca n serve as a figure for devotio n t o one' s visio n o r inspiration , bu t th e subjectio n become s more disturbing—bot h formall y an d thematically—i n th e politica l lan guage from which suc h visions prove inseparable in the fiction. To assert that a political mythology o f Elizabeth's union with her land, as well as a political fantasy that links the fulfillment o f desire with a deeper subjection, ma y underlie the myth o f fertility and generation in the Gar den o f Adoni s i s not t o sugges t tha t th e latte r focu s is unimportant o r somehow secondary. On the contrary, in this enfolded and protected space

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Spenser establishe s hi s fiction' s authority , claimin g fo r i t a generativ e power tha t appear s t o excee d tha t o f th e politica l world . I t i s striking , however, tha t even this poetic landscape, which draw s on such diverse lit erary an d philosophical sources , als o appropriates the Queen's authorit y and he r image o f the "body politic," thus riskin g th e danger o f comin g too clos e t o thi s body . Whil e imager y throughou t th e poem communi cates an underlying distrust of female power, an d while the representation of Venu s and Adonis ma y exten d th e submerged anxiet y in other treat ments o f femal e sexuality , th e politica l allusio n in th e landscap e focuses this ambivalenc e into a n ambivalence abou t Elizabet h herself an d a cri tique of the way she wielded power . Thi s connection i s further strength ened b y th e political connotation s i n the imagery o f eroti c "possession" and "enthrallment" characteristic of th e poem a s a whole. I n the Garden of Adonis , th e poe t a t onc e provide s a central myt h o f fertilit y derive d from a poetic an d mythologica l power , an d qualifie s i t by makin g i t de pendent o n a principle o f femal e authorit y figured as satisfying th e mal e only b y imprisonin g o r "possessing " him. Th e tex t need s a link t o thi s female, sexua l world i n orde r t o produc e its myth o f textua l and poeti c generativity, fo r th e sam e reason s tha t i t need s t o dra w o n Elizabeth' s power t o hel p establis h a social authority , bu t i t nonetheles s represent s these need s a s threatening t o the very poeti c power tha t this doubl e my thology shoul d reinforce . Th e poeti c an d th e politica l work a s partners here t o disguis e thes e anxietie s abou t th e sourc e o f power . Th e poeti c myth promotes a generative interpretation of the female power at the cen ter of the Garden, displacing the darker concerns about submission t o the female (i n the sexual or political realm) so that the political myth may appear to promote a n equally generative understanding of political power . Perhaps becaus e such a n explicitly sexua l vision o f th e femal e body i s at stake here, an d perhaps because he attempts to represent here the fictional origins o f hi s ow n poeti c forms , Spenser' s discomfor t wit h figurin g power as female—let alone with relying on a female ruler—seems to com e much close r t o the surface tha n it did in his treatment of the ungendere d body of Alma. The poetics and politics are not simply mutually reinforcing, then , no r i s the poeti c myt h o f th e poem' s bod y merge d wit h thi s image o f the body politic withou t th e disclosure of a degree o f discom fort—a disclosur e tha t occur s her e i n th e allusion s t o deat h an d imprisonment, image s seemingly ou t of place in the poet's ow n myth o f imaginative fertility. Ambivalence abou t a giant's siz e seems t o b e written int o th e myth s themselves: doe s the creature's greatness lead him or her to great exploit s or t o a great fall? 78 Sinc e giants can also stand for hyperbole an d the hig h

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style i n epi c poetry , thi s ambivalenc e als o expresses a n anxiet y tha t th e tropes, styles, and conventions o f epic distance, especially those associated with poetic ambition, ma y endanger rather than advance the poem's mora l analysis, o r a t least render th e tex t "to o solemn e sad. " W e have already seen somethin g o f thi s concer n i n th e wa y th e poem use s hyperbole t o express chivalri c fur y whil e signalin g th e momen t whe n a characte r is overtaken by the figure. Suc h textual disclosures expose unresolvable di lemmas abou t figurativ e powe r an d animat e a counternarrative that un dermines th e hyperbolic assertions of the allegorist as it challenges political hyperbole . I t is precisely thi s dange r o f exposur e an d criticis m tha t causes Puttenham t o urge extra care in the use of the high style : But generall y th e hig h stil e is disgraced and mad e foolis h an d ridiculou s b y al l wordes affected , counterfait , an d puffe d vp , a s it were a windball carryin g more countenance then matter, and can not be better resembled then to these midsommer pageants in London, wher e to make the people wonder are set forth great and vglie Gyants marching a s if they wer e aliue , an d arme d at all points, bu t withi n they ar e stuffe d ful l o f brown e pape r and tow , whic h th e shrew d boye s vnder peering, d o guilefull y discoue r an d turn e t o a great derision : als o al l darke an d vnaccustomed wordes, o r rusticall and homely, an d sentences that hold too muc h of the mery and the light, or infamous and vnshamefast are to be accounted of the same sort, fo r such speaches become not Princes, no r great estates, nor them that write of their doings to vtter or report and intermingle with the graue and weightie matters. (Ill , 6; pp. 165-66 )

A concern abou t the abuse of high style gives way in these lines to a gen eral concern about decorum. Puttenham' s example is odd because it leaves us uncertain whether the giants—the high style in its more inflated form — are always "Puft v p wit h empti e wind" (I, vii, 9) , as Spenser would pu t it, o r whethe r i t is rather the "underpeering" of the boys tha t makes th e giants ridiculous . Considerin g th e spee d wit h whic h Orgogli o deflates , the reade r o f Spense r migh t se e in th e underpeerin g o f thes e boys a reminder o f the figure of the dwarf, or even a Redcrosse, peering out fro m the depths of Orgoglio's dungeon, or of the children gathering around the dragon i n Book I , canto xii. Puttenham' s wor d "underpeering" convey s again much of the ambivalence of these midsummer image s of authority : the boys under-peer, loo k under , and thus subvert, the pretensions of the peers, o f th e real m perhaps , thereb y exposin g th e weaknes s o f th e lin k between popula r festivity an d governmental legitimacy. In and through th e myths o f giants , then, allegor y represent s its con cern wit h system s o f government , an d allegory , a s we hav e seen , i s associated bot h wit h th e giant s themselves—fo r th e gian t overtakin g th e mortal become s on e figure o f th e workings o f the mode—and wit h the

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monarchical body, whic h these creatures often figur e eithe r in its tyrannical or in its benevolent and generative aspect. The persistent connectio n to th e stor y o f Babe l is thus not coincidental : giant s are associated with the dispersion o f languages, having helped to produce the fragmentation that leads allegory to take its drastic steps to recapture meaning. Allegory, the largest of Spenser's giants, large enough to claim to represent the body politic o f th e poem , ca n neither contai n no r full y contro l it s man y an titheses an d contradictions . Sinc e i t work s b y positin g a system o f op positions an d arrogates to itself the hyperbolic power t o legislate and to move fro m on e to th e other , i t finds it s monarchy alway s threatened by rebellious underlings, wh o cal l attention to themselves by exposing a different significance to events. In cases such as that of the Egalitarian Giant, and, I would argue , wheneve r th e historica l and th e mora l allegor y are potentially i n conflict , th e rebellio n become s s o sever e tha t allegor y i s driven to reveal its closeness to tyranny, and to the absolutist power tha t sustains its monarchy. Critica l underpeerers may find th e serpent of tyr anny under the allegorical throne. In the moment of allegorical tyranny, the reader can always turn back toward th e moral allegory, in which mor e various meanings seem able to coexist, bu t t o tur n inward i s also to ignore an aspect of Spenser' s interrogation o f hi s major poetic mode. Whe n the text finds allegory to have potentially tyrannica l powers, then , i t i s also forced t o disclos e tha t th e good government i t reveres resembles allegory more closely than its pol itic plots wil l allow . Spenser' s allegorical narrator may fee l tha t thi s is a price worth paying for order, in the macrocosm or in the microcosm. Bu t his poem is less comfortable with this choice, and leaves its readers unable to decid e whether thi s gian t striding alon g the narrative (allegory itself, the body politic , the body natural) has beneficent or tyrannical intentions and consequences, or whether in fact it is as easy to distinguish orde r from tyranny as the plot of Th e Faerie Queene would require. RAPE, RAPTURE , AN D SPENSERIA N TRANSGRESSION The Queen' s identification with the land in representations ranging from Saxton's map s of th e English counties ; the Ditchley portrait , whic h vis ualizes the mutual empowering o f the Queen's two bodies ; an d her own evocation o f thi s doctrin e i n speeche s and othe r roya l acts 79 extends th e political dimension o f Spenser' s doubly figurative landscape: it is always both Englan d an d Faer y Land , a poetic an d imaginativ e place. 80 I n he r

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progresses throug h th e countryside , moreover , th e assimilatio n o f he r power t o th e landscap e is made quit e concrete , i n par t throug h th e ex traordinary landscaping efforts tha t her presence produced and required.81 In such entertainments a s the one prepared for her a t Sudeley during he r progress o f 1591 , fo r instance, the Queen wa s also figuratively given th e power t o undo the sorts of transformation that constitute the landscape of Spenser's poem. In a scene taken from Ovid, an Elizabethan Daphne wa s transformed into a tree, which then broke open to allow the nymph to run to th e Queen for protection fro m the lust of Apollo. A s Louis Montros e has described this scene, Elizabeth here is presented as "queen of this pas toral and sylvan domain; sh e incarnates Diana, to whom Ovid's Daphn e is votary. Whe n Ovid's Daphne cries to her father Peneus to help her, she is changed into the laurel. At Sudeley , Daphne's metamorphosis i s less an escape than a demonic imprisonmen t fro m which sh e must b e liberated " ("Eliza," p. 54). As we have seen, Spenser tends to represent such Ovidian transformations a s imprisonmen t o r petrification , no t release , an d hi s landscape bears the marks of the resulting personifications. In the example from th e Sudele y entertainment , Elizabet h is figured a s the on e powe r who ca n undo suc h loss, bu t a power n o less deeply tied to th e spirits of the landscape. Montrose ha s shown how , i n this entertainment, th e cre ation o f a literar y an d mythologica l spac e i n whic h t o celebrat e th e Queen's arrival was achieved by means of a "distortion, a selective seclusion, o f th e materia l pastora l world" ("Eliza, " p . 53) . Elizabeth's self extension into the landscape depended upon excluding the material world of that landscape: in Spenser's landscaping, too, a similar dialectic between display an d enclosure, animatin g presence and exclusion, mar k th e pro tected spots of th e poem a s Elizabethan as well as poetic places. 82 In Book III , the principle o f exclusio n protecting th e space of myth ological woods and gardens is made explicit. Followin g Timia s fro m th e allegorical woods to Belphoebe's "statel y Theatre" (III, v, 39), the reader moves fro m the firs t groun d o f the action to a different terrai n associated by Spense r mor e explicitly wit h Elizabeth . Th e imager y o f th e "statel y Theatre" itself embodies, a s I have argued with regar d to the position o f the reader, a similar dialectic of display and distance; it reminds one of th e monarch fo r who m display , includin g displa y of th e roya l body , wa s a strategy of power. Th e fac t that Timias is out of place is discussed in social hyperbole (itsel f a trope tha t invite s it s underpeerers, a s Puttenham ha s shown us) : "Tho u a mean e Squire , o f meek e an d lowl y plac e / She heauenly borne, an d of celestiall hew" (III , v, 47) asserts the narrator, im plicitly evokin g no t Belphoeb e (wh o ha s denied such divinity ) bu t Eliz abeth herself . Th e wood s o f Belphoebe , distinc t fro m ye t clos e b y th e

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mythological realm , ar e a sanctum to whic h almos t al l are denied entry . The representation o f space in this part of the poem i s thus distinguishe d by a principle of hierarchy analogous to those that governed access to Elizabeth herself: squire s of lo w degre e and "ruder clownes" ca n be presen t only b y special dispensation. Thi s analog y forms a part not onl y o f Eliz abethan aesthetics , bu t o f domai n an d o f categorie s considere d entirel y private. A s Patricia Fumerton ha s argued abou t Elizabetha n miniatures , architecture, and sonnets, th e innermost sanctu m in the Elizabethan court or nobl e hous e ofte n becam e the mos t politica l space, a place of privac y for "secret " thoughts, wher e the language of love carried its full politica l weight.83 Spenser' s representatio n o f thi s "secret " place , i n whic h a ro mance is in part the vehicle for a political allegory, is no exception . Here , as throughout th e text , th e poem's protected , fictiona l space s ar e autho rized by structural similarity to those protected appearances of the Queen, which define d on e source of her power in the combination o f royal presence and social exclusion, an d identified it with th e English landscap e itself. Within thi s protectiv e boundar y i s set the Garde n o f Adonis , whos e giant female body, a s we have seen, forms the landscape itself, an d whic h thus provide s a representation no t onl y o f poeti c mytholog y bu t o f th e queen's bod y politic . Th e protecte d secon d hal f o f cant o vi , lik e th e Queen's inmos t bedchamber , present s he r bod y t o vie w wher e fe w o r none can see it. Breaking into this secret place would constitute , then , no t only a formal disruption bu t a political threat: thi s architectura l tromp e 1'oeil provides a poetic solutio n t o th e desir e for vision , bu t a t a cost in directly acknowledged i n the ambivalent treatment o f Adonis. H e is said to be both livin g an d not living : h e is her "lost loue" (III, vi, 29) , but i n the Garden he "liues in euerlasting ioy" (III, vi, 49). The mod e i n whic h Adonis "lives " i s itself bot h paradoxica l and disturbing , a s I have sug gested above, but what is important her e is that a landscape of power, an d specifically o f a female power o f fertilit y an d control, i s predicated upo n the submerged deat h of a male figure who becomes the most extreme rep resentative of what woul d happe n to the mortal character s were the y t o dwell in these mythological places . The position of Adonis therefore pro vides evidence of how essentia l the division between action and figure re mains, i n spite of the poem's driv e to unite them in these protected figu rative oases; it also marks th e similarity between thi s poetic strategy and Elizabeth's own methods o f instituting and retaining power. Whil e an occasional Daphne ma y be saved by Elizabeth from becoming a part of th e landscape, Adoni s ha s been either transforme d into th e landscape or im prisoned an d possessed by it. The hierarchy that characterizes this myth-

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ological plac e thus serves to elide the mortality of those who mak e up the landscape—Venus's forme r lovers , an d even Adonis—coverin g ove r th e methods b y which th e narrator has established this mythological power , and displacin g especiall y th e analog y betwee n thos e method s an d th e Queen's. This narrativ e design depends , a s we have seen, o n a principle o f hi erarchy tha t protects thes e places and thereby makes it possible for the m to exist on earth without bein g destroyed. When that principle is broken, as on Moun t Acidal e and more radicall y by Faunu s in a n analogous epi sode i n "Th e Mutabiliti e Cantos, " th e lan d itsel f i s scarred , become s "fallen," an d loses its mythological potency. Th e kind o f order necessary for th e distinguishin g o f allegorica l meanings als o not unexpectedl y re mains essentia l i n th e poet' s mythopoei c marriage s o f visio n an d land scape. Thes e "marriages" are fundamental t o th e poem's syntheti c aims , and appea r to allo w i t to avoi d th e danger of Manichaeanis m implicit i n its applicatio n o f allegory ; the y mak e possibl e th e embodie d visio n fo r which Spense r longs. 84 But t o do so they reestablish a moral/political hi erarchy—contrary t o th e mora l an d visionar y thrus t o f th e poem — through whic h some , th e aristoi of the poem, ar e designated worthy t o be vouchsafed a vision, whil e th e lowly an d "al l noysom e things " are kept away. Spenser describes the importance of such essentially social distinctions in telling of the stream that forms the lower boundary of Mount Acidale : And a t the foote thereof, a gentle flud His siluer waues did softly tumbl e downe , Vnmard wit h ragge d mosse or filthy mud , Ne mot e wylde beastes, ne mote the ruder clown e Thereto approch, ne filth mot e therei n drowne : But Nymphe s an d Faeries by the bancks did sit, In the woods shade , which di d the waters crowne, Keeping all noysome thing s away from it , And t o their waters fall tunin g their accents fit. (VI, x , 7 )

The "rude r clowne" is hardly differentiated her e from wild beasts , filth y mud, an d other "noysom e things." The conventional pastora l evocatio n of a song or sound "tuned" to the falling waters is given a specifically aris tocratic coloring , providin g a picture of a n idealized aestheti c explicitly dependent o n exclusion. Sinc e both the poet himself ("m e al l too meane") and hi s firs t hero , th e Redcross e Knigh t ("hi m self e a tal l clownish e younge man") , hav e a t time s bee n associate d wit h jus t suc h "rude r clownes," the principle of exclusion here threatens to be nearly universal.

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The stanz a can be rea d either a s establishing a metaphor fo r a social dis tinction i n whic h th e aristocrati c "Nymphes an d Faeries " ar e protected from brushin g shoulder s wit h th e "rude r clownes, " o r a s establishing a poetic distinction between the mythological characters , unconstrained by the "filthy mud " o f the world of human action, an d the more lowly hu man characters . Either reading poses difficulties fo r the poem's projec t of embodying vision : i f w e rea d th e stanz a an d simila r description s o f boundaries and exclusion as the figuration of a social hierarchy, then Spenser has carefully located his protagonists at a point too low in this hierarchy to hav e th e condition s o f thei r live s altere d b y acces s to suc h visionar y affirmations. If , o n th e othe r hand , th e principl e o f exclusio n i s understood t o distinguis h onl y betwee n morta l an d mythological , the n th e poem onc e mor e splits in two, formin g a n absolute division betwee n its gestures toward a visionary union o f figure and action, an d its consistent representation of their differenc e o n the plane of action. The dependenc e of the visionary on an (often Neoplatonic ) concept of hierarchy, in short, generates a politica l readin g tha t disrupt s th e poetic : suc h landscaping either suggest s tha t poeti c visio n canno t b e embodie d a t al l excep t i n realms inaccessible to the mortal characters, an interpretation that uses the narrative design to reemphasize the poem's radical epistemological analy sis, or , i f read as part of a social allegory, exempts a small elite from this critique, onc e agai n qualifyin g th e poem' s mor e radica l mora l claims . Analysis o f Spenser' s mythologica l landscapin g thus indicate s the diffi culty the poem face s i n reconciling its political and moral visions . The connectio n o f the land to Elizabeth thus helps to reveal the text' s construction of a poetics of exclusion in order to establish its mythological power. Th e fre e pastora l landscapes are shown to be neither natura l nor open but specificall y roya l places, or at least to depend on a system of ex clusion and hierarchical selection that allocates and discriminates between the place of royalty and that of its subjects. The morta l characters are located outside this freedom and excluded from the allegorical affirmation s of a transcendent huma n potency . The y ar e lef t t o see k a very differen t kind o f powe r unde r condition s tha t come t o defin e th e "heroic" in this poem. Th e allegor y o f politica l distanc e articulate d in thes e protecte d places thus signals a disempowerment fo r the characters, just as the poem's analysis o f epistemologica l incompletenes s indicate d th e condition s o f fallen human consciousness an d human limitation . To suggest that allusions to Elizabeth are found throughout th e poem , even in th e least expected places, is hardly a new argument . Critic s suc h as Thoma s Cai n an d Robi n Headla m Well s see Una, Belphoebe , Flori mell, Britomart, an d Mercilla as well as Gloriana as explicit types of Eliz-

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abeth, whil e any appearanc e of Venu s or Diana can also be considered as shadowing fort h a possible political interpretation. The purpose of the argument proposed her e is not to add to the already compendious evidenc e that the poem turns toward Elizabeth with great frequency, bu t rather to suggest the dilemmas that this allusive pattern might pose for the poet. To interpret Spenser' s narrative design a s political in implication i s to fin d a politics i n the Neoplatonic notio n of "infolded " images , an d to locate in the epi c fictio n a challenge to th e implici t authoritarianis m o f suc h im agery. This reading poses two principa l difficulties fo r the allegory. First, it indicate s ho w fa r th e poetic s o f Th e Faerie Queene ar e informed b y a principle tha t necessarily excludes the protagonists from its visionary af firmations. Second , i t gives a political valence to moment s presented b y the tex t a s explicitly poeti c and concerne d wit h establishing an independent imaginative authority. The poem's figures argue that the political and poetic ca n be matched an d made t o fi t withou t difficulty , whil e the rep resented action—or , in the case of the Garden, the traces of an action in scribed in the landscape as death—repeatedly dramatizes the kinds of loss (figured a s death, petrification , o r los s o f sel f a s one i s possessed by an other) t o bot h character s and poet entaile d in such a determined congru ence. Spenser at times seeks to defend against this invasion of the political; one can see his defense at work in the blason presenting Belphoebe's body in Book II, canto iii. As Montrose ha s argued, "Spenser's descriptive dis memberment of Belphoeb e conspicuousl y avoids the danger inhering i n the royal body" ("Elizabethan Subject," p. 328). This dismemberment o f the female body, presente d under th e guise of praise, allowed hi m t o in voke femal e powe r whil e defendin g agains t th e helplessnes s tha t suc h power seems to produce in the Garden of Adonis. The ambivalence about the positio n o f Adoni s i n th e Garde n suggests , however , tha t thes e de fenses are only partially successful: here the male is also dismembered, an d the female generative form is once again identified as inevitably both Elizabethan and imaginative. One resul t of identifying the poem's politica l landscaping is a model of fictional organization that is in part social: according to such a model, for mal disorde r als o threaten s political disorder , an d a crossin g o f forma l boundaries bespeak s a political challenge or disruption . Forma l disrup tions suc h a s the crossin g of narrative boundaries between on e apparent "level" of th e fiction or genr e and another—from epi c into pastoral, for instance, o r fro m th e actio n into th e poet' s figurativ e vision—therefore can mark a threat of conflic t o r disorder , a s becomes apparen t in th e cas e of Calidore , an d eve n cleare r in th e cas e o f Faunus' s forbidden vie w o f Diana. Wha t i s no t usuall y see n i s tha t suc h moment s als o signa l a

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transgression necessary t o Spenser' s poetic scheme : character s must see k the grounding an d unifying vision and try to understand it even when that act necessarily becomes transgressive; the narrator must seek a way to rep resent that vision even when to do so is to represent a forbidden sight, and the interpreter to o must learn to recognize what the allegory might forbid us to see . We must inquire, then , whethe r Spenser' s text in fact provides a model for transgressiv e vision—provides, a t it were, underpeerer' s eyes—that is not in itself disrupted by its own contradictory forma l necessity by being at once both forbidden and required. Th e Faerie Queene furnishes tw o fic tional paradigms of transgressive acts, each of which is gendered, an d pre sents them a s diametrically opposed : i n one, a female characte r is threatened wit h rape , an d i n th e othe r a male characte r is "ravished " b y th e beauty of a vision, an d step s over th e bounds o f wha t h e is permitted i n order to see a forbidden sight. The allegory needs to distinguish these tw o acts, but th e poem i s finally unable to do so with sufficien t clarity , so that the threatene d rape s becom e disruptiv e analogie s tha t undermin e th e poet's effort s t o represent or embody vision . Th e "ravishment" that leads to rap e an d th e "ravishment " tha t lead s t o rap t contemplatio n o f tran scendent beaut y an d powe r constantl y cros s categorie s an d contaminat e each other . This constant, transgressiv e crossing over make s the dilemma o f ho w to represent such vision all the more complicated. A s with the allegory of desire, s o wit h th e poem' s representatio n o f visionar y experience : th e poem's ow n mod e o f representatio n i s marked a s potentially transgres sive. Perhaps the reason why viewer s mus t be kept always at a respectful distance from the visions they are granted is that the text would otherwis e need to acknowledge, a s it does indirectly in its representation of Calidor e on Mount Acidale, the disruptive nature of visionary experience itself. If allegorical meanings—and allegorical closure—are imposed o n the action with a violence that is consequently reenacte d at the level of plot, the n th e heroic action , i n contras t an d (fictionall y and formally) in response , be comes disruptive . Th e resultin g antithetica l definition o f herois m i s the fictional and formal counterpart to the text's need to articulate a hierarchy that can control an d order th e disparate meanings tha t such a dense figu rative system will evoke . In a poem that gives female form to many of its figures for transcendent power, whethe r spiritual , aesthetic , or political , rap e becomes th e mos t violent consequenc e of vision. Almos t every female character in the poem is attacked by lustful male s or threatened with rape, including Un a (I , vi, 5-6), Belphoeb e (II , iii, 42) , Florimell (twice—III , viii , 26-2 7 an 306 , 470/19 Action an d figure : distinction defined, 6 — n, 14-15 , 30 , 33-34 , 4187113 ; in PL, 25, 372 , 378, 409; in Iliad, 34 , 41, 50 , 92, 210; and time scheme, 54-61 , 66, 78; and representation an d trope, 67-80 ; in endin g o f Iliad, 80-82 , 84 , 93; in Aeneid, 97, 98-103, 108-9 , II2 , : 34> 146, 152-53 , 210 ; as allegory, 144 ; an d narrative doubles, 164—65 ; and prolepsis in Aeneid, 192 ; in Renaissanc e epic, 218; inFQ, 220 , 232-33, 293 , 295, 307, 355, 368f , 457771 ; in DQ , 372 , 399, 409; and valence inverted, 373—76 ; and figu ration an d fable , 378 , 389; and disfig urement in DQ, 399-403 . Se e also Tim e scheme; "Touching " Adam: and Eve, 373f , 385 , 387 , 391 ; and Raphael, 379-8 0 Adonis, Garde n of, 291-92, 347-51 , 355 56, 358, 471^23, 475«74 , 477«8 2 Aemylia: and Amyas , 314—2 1 passim Aeneas: ignorance of, 97 , 102 , 105-20 , 193, 4387721 , 4397124 , 4407126 ,

441777132,36; shield of, 100 , 435775 ; an d Venus, 110-13 , 4387721 ; and Dido, no 12, 114—15 , 127 ; storm-tossed, 120—35 ; perspective or distanc e of, 126 , 144 , 4397125; phanto m of , 133-35 , 306 ; and Turnus, 133-35 , 2O4ff , 210 , 4557163 ; an d female sexuality, 145 ; legitimacy of , 152, 177 , 179-81 , 208 ; deceived b y Cu pid, 158—59 ; visit of t o underworld , 170-76, 4507727 , 4527743 ; and huma n sacrifice, 188 , 4537748 ; relation of t o land, 191 , 194 ; heroism o r Stoicis m of , 203, 4367114 , 4387720 . Se e also Epi c dis tance; Ignorance Aeolus, see Winds Aetiological myths, se e under Myt h Agamemnon, 4 , 31 , 32-33 , 65 , 215 ; shield of, 7 3 Ajax, 38-3 9 Alciati, Andrea , 215-16, 337-38 , 361-6 2 Allecto, 130-31 , 140 , 194 ; madness o f Amata and Turnus , 23 , 136—43 passim Allegorical causation, 262-81. Se e also Cause and causation Allegory, 225-32 , 280 , 300, 4597713; in FQ, 24 , 219 , 285 , 301—3, 358 ; in Iliad, 71-73; in Aeneid, 126 , 140 , 144-45 , 172—74, 202 , 4407730; of compulsion , 140, 142-44 , 3H-34 , 345 , 394; tensions between moral , political , and psycho logical, 147 , 295-96, 311 , 313-21 , 334, 341, 343-47 , 364 , 457«i; characters' ignorance of figur e of , 22of , 241 ; and hi erarchy, 222-34 , 304 , 4617120; political, 223, 229 , 252, 278, 286-87; and closure, 228-29, 4607119 ; violence of , 230 , 313 ,

508

General Index

320, 364 , 371 ; and narrative doubling, 233-41, 246 , 286 ; as male, 252 ; and vi sion, 260 ; and magic as strategy, 264 65; in House of Busyrane , 308—10 ; and gender, 310 ; and thralldom, 311-13 ; of desire, 312-13 , 316-17 , 320, 341; and giants, 352-53 ; in PL, 379 , 4827116; in DQ, 392f , 409 ; and spectacle , 464/148. See also Compulsion ; Psychomachi a Allen, JohnJ., 483/125 , 484/13 5 Allen, T.W. , 415/1 2 Alma, Hous e of, 335 , 340, 34i~45, 347 , 351, 473/140 . Se e also Giant s Alonso Quixano , 39 1 f, 395 ; death of, 409 , 41 if. Se e also Do n Quixot e Alpers, Paul , 449/121 , 458/16 , 461/12 9 Althusser, Louis , i6f , 19 , 419/1/119,2 0 Amaranthus: a s Sidney, 34 8 Amata: madness of , 23 , 115 , 136-38 , 141 — 43, 443"5< 5 Amavia, 248 f Ambivalence: defined , 295-96, 297 Amoret, 325 ; in House o f Busyrane , 308 — 13 passim, 471/119; and Lust , 360, 457/11, 471/124 Amphibologia (kin d of ambiguity), 279 80, 467/178 Amyas, se e Aemylia Anagnorisis epic , 406 , 41 3 Analogy: i n Iliad, 43-44 ; in Aeneid, 98, 102, 153-54 , i76;inFQ , 238-39 , 462/134. Se e also Epi c simil e Anchises: death of, i84 f Anderson, William , 440/13 2 Andromache, 68-69 , 76 Apollo, 306 , 354 , 396 Apollonius, 445/12 , 448/11 8 Apostrophe, 8 , 99; as mark of absenc e or death, no , 178 , 195 , I97~99 , 434«3 See also Absenc e and death ; Prolepsis ; Prosopopoeia Apotropaic images , 71 , 260 Aptekar, Jane, 475/17 2 Archimago: an d Redcrosse, 235-37 , 241 . 462/133; as artist, 238-39 , 248 , 462/130. See also Artis t figure s Argante, Giantess , 313 , 335 . See also Giants Ariadne, 79-8 0 Ariosto, 250 , 310 , 32 1 Armor, se e Artifacts Art: aestheticize d death as, 35; of Gorgy thion, 50-51 , 175 ; of Dido , 167-68 ; of Euryalus, 174 ; of Pallas , 188-90 . See also Violence : aestheticizatio n of

Art: transformative power of, 77f , 92, 123—24. Se e also Artist ; Artist figure ; Busyrane: House of Artegall, 283 , 288-89, 345~46 ; and Radi gund, 311 , 313-1 4 Arthur: his vision o f Faeri e Queene, 256 60 passim, 366—69passim', melanchol y of, 256—57 , 465/154 ; and "yro n pen" i n heart, 257f , 309 ; shield of , 260-62, 302, 465/157; as liberator, 322-23 ; heroic en ergy of , 330-31 ; as giant-killer, 335 , 473«39; in Alma's House, 344-4 5 Artifacts, 72f , 84-85. Se e also Busyrane , tapestry of; Ecphrasis; Florimell, girdl e of; Lykaon's mixing bowl ; Mambrino' s helmet; Zeus , aegi s of Artist: representations of, 13 4 Artist figures: Palinurus, 183—84 ; Umbro, 195-96; Jupiter, 204 ; Archimago, 238 39; witch i n FQ, 287-88 ; Busyrane, 363 Ascanius and Cupid, 154 , 155-65 , 446/17 , 448/120 Ascesis: in Milton, 378—79 , 38 4 Atchity, Kenneth John, 430/147 , 431/156 , 432/164 Ate (FQ) , 28 9 Atropic: defined , 262-63; and Atropos , 262, 465/15 9 Audience: perspective of, 31 , 34 , 38f , 75 , 95; gods as, 56-57 Auerbach, Erich, 15 4 Augustus, 100 , 188-89 , !9 2-93> 451^36 , 435/18, 436/11 0 Aurora, 166-67 , 397 , 4°7, 484/13 1 Austin, R. G., 162 , 442/143 , 446/15, 449/12 0 Authority: invoke d by FQ, 220 , 230-33, 243, 256 , 268, 463/139; as crucial to vi sion, 259 ; and origin, 295 ; voice of , i n PL, 376f ; and closure , 408 . Se e also Eliz abeth; Legitimacy Axton, Marie , 473/14 1 Bacon, Helen , 107 , 435/16 , 439/1/124,2 6 Bacon, J. R., 454/15 3 Bailey, Cyril , 438/12 3 Bakhtin, Mikhail , 342 , 346, 474/165 Bandera, Cesareo , 177-78 , 442/144 ; on sacrifice, 452/1/140,43 , 453/14 9 Barb, A . A., 444/15 6 Barkan, Leonard , 477/18 6 Barthes, Roland , 485/14 5 Bees: imagery of, 147 , 163 , 168-71 , 447/117, 449/125 ; in Homeric epic, 444/1/163,64 Bellamy, Elizabet h J., 459/112 , 463/14 3

General Index Belpheobe, 320-23 , 350 , 354-59^055/777, 364—66, 367 , 4727731; as Elizabeth's mir ror, 252 , 255-5 6 Belsey, Catherine , 288 , 4197120 Berger, Harry , 10 , 190 , 457771 ; on impersonation, 101 , 4627731 ; on bucolic po etry, 4467711 , 448/119 ; on th e narrator, 456713, 457716 , 481718 ; on Spenser , 4627730, 4637146 , 46977773,6 , 470779 , 4717722, 473«3 7 Beye, C . R., 4327759 Blatant Beast, 288-89, 4687795 Bloch, Maurice, 2of , 4207726 Bloom, Harold , 376 , 4187714, 4607715 , 481779, 483772 4 Boas, G. , 4537752 , 4727733 Body politic , 336-37 , 34i~44 , 351 , 353 1 dismemberment of , 358 . Se e also Adonis, Garde n of; Alma, House o f Boehrer, Bruce Thomas, 467777 5 Boethius, 32 6 Bondage: allegorical , 298, 303, 308-10, 344; an d thralldom, 311-20 ; erotic, 321 28; escape from, 329~333 , 363 , 475«?iSee also Compulsion ; Rap e Bower o f Bliss, see Acrasia Bowman, Mary , 467777775,76 Bowra, C . M., 423771 5 Braggadochio, 364-66 , 367 Bray, Alan, 472713 0 Brisman, Leslie, 482771 4 Britomart: i n House o f Busyrane, 252—53 , 254, 308-9 , 310 , 340-41 , 47i«i9 ; and Elizabeth, 274 , 4667775; in Merlin's cave , 274-78, 280 ; and heroic resistanc e to compulsion, 325-33^55/777 , 4657752 ; an d Radigund, 467777 6 Broaddus, James W., 458776 , 4617719, 4717722

Brooks, Peter , 417771 1 Brunt, P . A., 43577777,1 0 Bucolic, 4297743 , 4467711,12, 448771 9 Burke, Kenneth , 284 Busyrane: as allegorist, 308-10, 363, 4627730, 4707716 ; House of , 311 , 313 , 4707715, 471777718,22 ; tapestry of, 360 63, 4777786 . Se e also Artis t figures Cacus: as double being, 146—47 , 192 , 4547756 Cain, Thomas , 220 , 357-58, 4617725 , 4667770, 473774 9 Calidore: an d vision on Mount Acidale , 253-54, 358f , 367-68 , 478^89 , 479«9 4 Camilla: death of, 205-6

509

Cascardi, Anthony J., 484772 7 Catachresis: defined, 22-23, 138-39 , 4627732, 4717718 ; m Aeneid, 98-99, 138 39, 146 , 4207727 ; i n Quintilian , 138 , 443777753,54; in Puttenham, 138-39 ; in FQ, 235, 237; and allegory or metalep sis, 264 , 267; transfer o f names , 375, 377; i n PL, 381 , 4827712 ; in DQ, 392 , 412. Se e also Allegory ; Metalepsis; Names and naming; Poetic figures ; "Touching" Catharsis, 254 Catullus, 18 8 Cause and causation : in Aeneid, 97 , 10 3 — 19, 125 , 203 , 4417735, 4427742 ; o f emo tion, 116 , 140 ; suspension or inversion s of, I53f , 160 , 274 , 386; inFQ, 262-78 passim, 4657764; in PL, 386-87 . See also Hysteron proteron ; Prolepsi s Cavell, Stanley , 465775 1 Chain o f Concord , 326-27 , 472777733,3 4 Chambers, Leland , 4837725 Chapman, George , 327 , 4727734 Characters: perspective or ignorance of, in Iliad, 5 , 29, 31 , 34 , 67 , 82 , 85 , 95; as dis tant observers, 36-41 passim, 52 , 65; in Aeneid, io$f, I3if , 140 , 147 , 154 ; heroic ignorance of, 106—20 , 126 ; read literally, inFQ, 219-22, 232-33 , 273 , 280, 311 , 313; vision and epistemolog y of , 234 — 62, 329 ; artistic shaping of , 287 ; in PL , 373-74, 376 ; freedom of, 375 , 380-87 passim, 411, 48177777,12 ; in DQ , 391 . See also Bondage ; Epic distance; Ignorance; Vision Charles V , 336 Chastity, 255 , 301. Se e also Femal e sexuality Chaucer, Geoffrey , 329 ; "The Franklin' s Tale," 317 ; "The Knight' s Tale," 326 Cheney, Donald , 478779 2 Chiasmus, 83-8 4 Chivalric fury, 271 , 305 , 329-31, 333 Chivalric warfare, 283-85, 29 0 Choice: o f Fall , 385 . Se e also Achilles : choice of Cicero, 17 9 CideHamete, 391 , 397 , 409, 4847726 Circle: a s figure, 78-79 , 243 , 368, 4667774 Class, displacemen t of, 285 , 288 Claus, David , 41577 3 Clay, Jenny Strauss , 438777718,19,22 Clemencm, Diego, 484773 0 Close, Anthony , 407 , 4807/2, 483777725,26, 4857744

5io

General Index

Closure: ideology o f / resistance to, i , 12 13, 218 ; in Iliad, 80-84 , 95 5 narrative necessity leading to, 87 , 209; father-son relations as figures for, 90-91; in Aeneid, 99-100 , 107 , 187-88 , 203-11; in FQ, 228-29 , 250, 261-62, 460/119; of Britomart's story , 275 , 277, 278, 280; in figure o f circle , 368 ; in DQ, 391 , 404, 406-9, 412, 4837125 , 484/126 ; of literary tradition, 398 . See also Deat h Coleman, Robert , 447/11 3 Combet, Louis , 480/1 2 Comedy: In FQ, 283-84 , 342 , 363^ 463/144; in DQ, 480/1 2 Comes, Natalis , 223 , 344, 475/169, 477/18 6 Commager, Steele , 439/123 , 454/15 5 Compulsion: o f trop e or poetic figure, 23 , 136, 155 , 161 , 199 , 272 , 281, 297-98, 305-7, 334 , 372-413, 470«i2 ; of the gods, 116-17 ; emotional, 118-20 , 144 , 164-65; allegory of , 140 , 142-44 , 345, 394; of narrator , 200 ; of closure , 209, 210—11; of quest , 259 ; of inversio n o f cause and effect , 272 , 274; of Fat e and vision, 2761! ; in House o f Busyrane , 308—10; erotic and political , 311—34 . Se e also Bondage ; Fate ; Rape; Violence Conte, Gia n Baggio, 436/115 , 454/1/154,5 5 "Conveniencie" (Quality of metaphor ) 226, 459«I3 ; in PL, 37 7 Coolidge, John S. , 447/11 5 Corflambo, 314-15 , 317 , 335 . See also Giants Corineus, 337-3 9 Counternarrative, 43 , 80 , 99, 102 , 296 97, 352 ; as alternative politics or cultural critique, 2 , 9-10, 12 , 44 , 70 , 150 , 152 , 165, 229 ; as "hidden transcript," 22, 228; as disruption o f plo t o f legitimacy , 125, 131 ; as "narrative o f resistance, " 228; as "underpeering," 352, 354, 359; as counterplot i n Milton, 384—85 . Se e also Narrativ e double s Covarrubias, Sebastia n de, 405, 485/1/139,40 Coward, Rosalind, 12 , 419/119 Culler, Jonathan, 434/1 3 Cupid, 154 , 155-65 , 324 , 446/17, 448/12 0 Curtius, Ernes t Robert , 450/12 8 Cyclopes, I93~94 , 454"5 7 Cymoent, 278 Daedalus, 79 , 18 4 Dante: Purgatorio, 36 1

Daphne: in Elizabethan pageant, 354 Dawn, se e Aurora Dea dira (dir e goddess), 204-9 passim, 455/1/160,61 Death: epic or heroic, 29 , 41, 46-47, 48, 54, 58 , 255, 421/14, 433/168 ; aestheti cized, 35 , 47, 50-52 , 55 , 66f, 79-80, 174-76, 426/123 , 427/128 ; and idyll , 59, 170, 196 , 198 ; and closure , 81 , 82-83 , 93, 94-96, 210, 229 ; prosopopoeia an d landscape, 99 , 183 , 299 , 302 , 348, 358, 411; as "grim differentiation," 159 , 211 ; as only escape , 322; in PL, 388 . See also Sacrifice and individual characters: Achil les; Amavia; Anchises; Camilla; Dido ; Don Quixote; Gorgythion ; Misenus ; Nisus an d Euryalus; Oebalus, Ufens , and Umbro; Palinurus; Pallas; Patroklos; Sarpedon; Sidney, Si r Philip; Sim oeisios Dees, Jerome S. , 458/1 6 De Man , Paul , 418/112, 425/121 , 460/11 6 Demeter, 3 1 Demonization o f women , se e under Women DeNeef, A . Leigh , 458/1 6 Derrida, Jacques, 443/153 Desire: a s generator of images , 2 3 5f; and allegory, 305 , 31 if, 334 , 341, 457/11 ; so cially defined, 315-16; erotic and politi cal, 317 ; deferral of, 364 ; and compul sion, 394 , 472/132 Destiny, epic , see Fate Detraction, 288 , 468/194 Devils: in FQ, 287 ; in PL, 377 ; narrator as in DQ, 405— 9 passim Diana, 266 , 301, 35 8 Di Cesare , Mario , 443/152 , 449/124 , 455/1/160,62,64 Dick, Bernard , 454/15 4 Dido: an d Aeneas, 110—15^551/11 , 127 ; de ceived by Cupid, 155-65 ; death of, 163 , 167—68, 449/1/122,24 ; and Venus , 446/14; fury of , 455^3 Digressions: i n Iliad, 59—6 0 Disdaine, 335 . See also Giant s Distance, epic, see Epic distance Dodds, E7R. , 428/13 8 Dolphin simile , 185-8 6 Donne, John, 344 , 475/170 Don Quixote : a s narrator, 25 , 401—2 ; madness of, 372 , 392-99 passim,^408, 480/11, 483/126 ; death of , 391 , 409 ; an d windmills, 392—93 ; first sall y of, 395 —

General Index 97, 410 ; romances of, 406 . Se e also Alonso Quixano ; Cide Hamet e Dorotea, 407 Double beings , i n Aeneid, 148-50 Double narrative , see Narrative doubles. See also Psychomachi a Dragon/Griffin similes , 245. See also Er rour Dudley, Edward , 4847128 , 485714 1 Duessa: and Guyon, 248 Dulcinea, 402-3 Eagleton, Terry , 419/12 0 Eating: as affirmation o f communit y i n Iliad, 88-9 0 Economy, se e Figurative econom y Ecphrasis: i n Iliad, 67 , 71-80, 84-85. See also Shiel d Education: offere d i n PL, 373 , 480/15. See also "Fashioning " Egalitarian Giant, 296 , 335 , 345~46, 467/181 Elizabeth: political power an d allegory of, 219, 223 , 230, 233, 268-69, 273-75 , 370; political/erotic power of , in rela tion t o poetics , 231—32 , 294 , 296, 316 — 27passim, 350 , 355, 471/125, 472/1/126,31 ; various representations of, in FQ, 24144, 252, 268-69, 281 , 282-83 , 357-58 , 463/1/136,39, 467/183 ; and Belphoeb e as female sovereign, 255-56 , 301 , 320-21 , 354—55; reign of , 284 , 293, 307 ; critiqu e of, 325 , 327; power o f an d giant body politic or landscape, 334~36, 339~40 , 347-57passim, 473«48 , 475«74 , 476/177 5 Britomart as , 467/175 Elizabethan: witches, 287-88 ; clothing , 288; control ove r marriage , 318, 329 Elledge, Scott , 483/12 1 Ellis, John, 12 , 419/11 9 El Saffar , Ruth , 483/126 , 484/12 6 Elysium: an d idyll, I7of . Se e also Idyl l and idyllic Emotion: cause s of, I4of . Se e also Com pulsion Empire: politic s and poetics of, in Aeneid, 100, 102—3 , 152 . Se e also Aeneas : legiti mization of Ending, se e Closure Enigma: a s "dissimulating" figure , 22 6 Envie: an d Detraction, 288 , 468/194 Epic: DQ as , I, 25 , 391-93; discourse of, 7—8; argument of, 22-24 ; versus cult, 48, 54 ; and empire , fo r Virgil, 100 ;

5ii

norms of , 153-54 ; two-part structur e of, 215—18 ; as action not allegor y in Spenser, 228 ; and romance, 232, 445/11 Epic catalogue: as poetic figure, 8; of sim iles, 63f f Epic distance: defined, in Iliad, 29 , 30-42, 421/1/11,4, 423/115 , 4247116 ; in Aeneid, 107-8; inFQ, 242 , 246-54, 262-63, 352; in DQ, 372 , 391, 400-401, 409, 483/126; in PL, 373f , 376 , 4827113. Se e also Characters ; Spectacle and theatrical imagery Epic ideology, se e Ideology Epic narrative, see Action and figur e Epic narrator, see Narrator Epic simile: an d actio n versus figure, 2, 6 — 8, 22-23, I2 °; in Iliad, 21 , 24 , 39, 42 44, 50 , 227; and epic/aestheti c distance, 30-37 passim, 62; in Aeneid, 120 , 154 55, 440/132 ; in FQ, 227-28 , 239-41, 291-93; in PL, 379 , 381-83, 384 ; critics on, 42277/18-13 , 424/11 5 Epistemology: problem s of , 234-62; and politics, 272 . See also Character s Eros, se e Cupid; Desir e Eroticism, se e Female sexuality Error: o f imagination and desire, 236. See also Si n Errour (allegorica l figure), 218 , 291-92, 303, 469/1/198 , 10 0 Euryalus, see Nisus and Euryalus Eve, 25 , 376 , 380, 388-89. Se e also Adam : and Eve Fajardo, Salvadore , 485714 2 "Fashioning": violenc e of, in Spenser, 297-98, 469/1 2 Fate: in Iliad, 33 , 56 , 86ff ; god s as, 86-88, 107, 204-5, 274-75, 428/140, 438/123 ; in Aeneid, 101 , 104 , io6ff , n6f ; as plot, 102, 106 , 108 ; wind imager y as, 132 ; as narrative necessity, 209; in FQ, 219 , 243, 274-75; as social "necessitee," 327; in PL, 373—74 , 386 ; as masculine, 442/141 Faunus: patrilineal ancestry of, 150 ; and Diana, 356 , 358, 367^ 478/18 9 Feeney, D. C., 439/12 4 Female authority, 231, 255-56, 314 , 351 . See also Elizabeth Female figures: a s monstra, 135—49 . Se e also Allecto ; Amata; Harpies; Lavinia; Scylla

512

General Inde x

Female heroism, 253 , 256, 308, 310. See also Belphoebe ; Britomar t Female power, see Female authority; Female sexualit y Female reader, 221 , 269 , 324-25 , 462/135 ; Elizabeth a s ideal, 241-44, 255 . See also Reader Female sexuality: and politics/ideology , 107, 122 , 371 ; passions of a s chaotic, 122, 128 ; displacement on/scapegoat , 145, 208 , 270 , 289 , 306, 313-14; and idyll, 161 ; idealized, 166-67 ; male fea r of powe r of, 202 , 265-66, 314 , 351 , 355-56, 366-67 , 369 ; and spectacle, 253; and gian t body, 347-51 . Se e also Compulsion; Dido; Eve; Misogyny ; Rape; Venus; Wome n Fenik, Bernard , 422/1 7 Ferry, Anne , 468/189 , 481/110 , 482/11 6 Fiction: versu s allegory, 228 , 310, 322-2 3 Figurative economy: of Aeneid, defined , 152-53, 300 Figurative errantr y in FQ: defined , 281 83; in sexuality , 290-91, 293 Figure and action , se e Action an d figure Fire: of Trojans , 36-37 ; in Amata's breast, 137; in Lavinia' s hair, 148—51 ; portents of, 150-51 ; of Did o in love, 15 6 Fish, Stanley , 382 , 480/14, 482/12 0 Fletcher, Angus , 23 , 229, 264, 345, 461/120; on daemons , 469/1 7 Flores, Ralph , 484/13 2 Florimell: rap e of, 245 , 359; in Proteus' s den, 310 , 324 , 470/112; girdle of, 325 27. Se e also Snow y Florimel l Flower imagery, 50-51 , 174-76 , 188 , 348, 45i"34 Foreknowledge: o f poet s and gods , 30 , 33, 56, 67 , 106 , 108 ; in PL , 377f , 383 . See also Fat e Foundational myth , se e under Myt h Fowler, Alastair , 448/119 Fradubio, 238-39 , 302 Fraenkel, E., 423/11 2 Frankel, H. , 422/1 8 Freedom: i n PL, 375 , 380-87^551/11, 411 , 481/1/17,12. Se e also Characters: freedom of; Compulsion Freud, Sigmund , 474/16 2 Fried, Debra , 467/17 7 Frye, Northrop , 421/1 3 Fumerton, Patricia , 355 , 466/174 , 476/177 , 477/183 Funeral games, 84 , 184—8 5

Furies, the : Allect o as, 136 ; Amata as, 143; dea dira as , 206; and Fur y in FQ , 305 Furor and Occasion (FQ) , 250 , 269—72, 290, 31 2 Furor Impius: boun d an d unbound , 109 , 136, 272 , 278; Renaissance painting of , 474/152 Fury and furor : o f Achilles , 86 , 88; in Aeneid, i n first simile , 123-24 ; sexuality as, 166-67 ; in Renaissance allegories, 215, 474/152 ; chivalric, i n FQ, 271 , 305, 329-31, 333 ; as Juno, 441/140 ; o f Aeneas, 455/16 3 Galinsky, G . Karl , 444/16 1 Ganymede, rap e of, 360-63 , 477/18 6 Garber, Marjorie , 465/15 9 Garden: of Eden , 387 . See also Acrasia; Adonis, Garde n of Gea (Earth) , 341, 34 3 Gealousie (allegorical figure), 298-99 , 470/110 Gendering, se e Female sexuality; Reader; Women Genette, Gerard , 418/113, 425/12 1 Geography, se e Land and landscape Geryoneo, 335 , 475/172. Se e also Giant s Giamatti, A . Bartlett , 464/148, 468/188 , 478/190 Giant, Egalitarian , 296, 335 , 345-46 , 467/181 Giants: in FQ, 334~53 , 473«38 , 474«55 ~ 61; catalogue of, i n PL, 383 ; in DQ , 393. Se e also Argante ; Corflambo; Or goglio Girard, Rene , 177 , 451/13 8 Glaukos, 64 Gless, Daryll , 459/1 7 Gloriana, see Elizabeth God: in PL, 374 , 378, 384, 386 Gods: a s figures i n epic narrative, 8 , 56 57, 112 , 173-74 , 428/138 , 438/123 ; an d divine perspective, 3of , 52 , 80 , 421/11 ; time scheme of, 66 , 79 , 428/139 ; distance of fro m humans, 75 ; authorizing endin g or closure , 85—86 , 87 , 203—11 ; relatio n of t o plot , 93 , 106 , 1091! , 133 , 439/124 ; compulsion of , 116-17 , 305 , 428/140; and divine motivation, 172 ; as ideal readers, 241—42 ; as audience, 421/11 . Se e also Hera ; Juno; Jupiter; Neptune ; The tis; Venus; Zeus Gohlke, Madelon , 465/15 3

General Index Goldberg, Jonathan, 457/11 , 459/111 , 4687188, 470/114 , 471/125 , 472^32 Gorgon (apotropai c image), j i f . Se e also Allecto Gorgythion: deat h of, 50-51 , 175 , 427/12 9 Gow, A . S . F., 448/11 9 Graces, the , 368 f Grantorto, 335 . See also Giant s Greenblatt, Stephen , 3 , 343, 461/124; on Acrasia's bower, 3041" , 307 , 470/18; "Murdering Peasants," 3451" , 475/167 ; o n fashioning, 466/172 , 469/1 2 Greene, Thoma s M. , 421/1/11,5 , 439/124 , 452^42, 456/12 , 460/1/117,1 8 Griffin, Jasper, 56 , 416/1/14-6, 421/1 1 Grill (FQ) , 304 f Gross, Kenneth , 460/119 , 465/1/155,58 , 482/113; on idolatry , 470/113, 484/13 3 Guillory, John, 265 , 272, 461/129, 465/160 , 466^65, 482/1/115,19 ; on end of FQ, 28 ; on Milton's tropes, 38o f Guyon: and involvement o r pity, 247-49; wrath o f an d Acrasia's bower, 251 , 254, 271, 304-5 ; meets Furor and Occasion , 269-71, 290 , 312 ; and fountain, 300 302; and ignorance , 464/14 7 Halperin, Davi d M., 429/143 , 432/160 , 435/17, 446/111 , 447/112 , 448/11 9 Hamilton, A . C., 283 , 29if, 458/16 , 477^82 Hankins, John Erskine, 473/139 , 476/17 4 Harpies: an d Aeneas, 126 , 144-45 , 146 ; double nature of, 444/15 9 Harrison, F . E., 428/13 6 Hartman, Geoffrey , 383 ^ 482/11 5 Hector: speech of, 36 ; death of, 59-60 , 79, 87; with Andromach e and Astyanax, 68-69, 43 J «48; and heroism, 95 Helen: domesticity an d war, 69—70 , 76, 430/147

Helgerson, Richard , 461/126, 476/1/175,7 9 Henry V , 337 Hephaistos, 75 , 79 Hera, 54f . See also Juno Hercules: as giant, 337, 340; and defea t o f Cacus, 454/15 6 Hermes: an d Priam, 90-91 Hero: classical, in the Renaissance, 215. See also under names of individual characters Heroic death , see under Deat h Heroic ideology, se e under Ideolog y Heroism: in epic, 2—6 , 33 , 63 ; in Iliad, 42 46passim, 84-96 passim, 255 , 424/119,

513

426/122; Sarpedon on, 44—45 ; in Aeneid, 108-9, I J 7> I( 59, 203 , 209, 436/114, 438/120; in FQ, 220 , 316, 368f ; defined by Britomart, 253 , 308; female, 256, 308, 310 ; of Arthur , 257-58; of Red crosse, 292; and giants, 345 ; of Do n Quixote, 392 ; in PL, 457/15 . Se e also Action and figure Hie Mulier, 221 Hierarchy: and allegory, 223-28 passim, 461/120; sexual, 311, 315-16, 39of Hinton, Stan , 458/16 History, 3 ; as plot of Aeneid, 97, 140 ; Ro man, 100 , 108 ; and th e gods , 112 , 201 ; elision of, in DQ, 40 0 Hollander, John, 266-67, 454^54 Homer, 6 Hornsby, Roger , 441^3 2 Hunger: allegor y of, i n Aeneid, 145 . See also Eatin g Hunt, J. William , 446/19 Hunter, Georg e K. , 480/1 3 Hyperbole: a s "dissimulating" figure, 226 ; and giants, 351-52 Hysteron proteron : defined , i n FQ, 267 73 passim, 466/167; in PL, 387 ; in DQ , 397. Se e also Metalepsis ; Prolepsis Icarus, 18 4 Ideology: an d epi c narration, 2—3 , 7—8 , 9 , 26-27; defined, 12-13, 15-22 , 419/1/117 20, 420/121 ; in tension of actio n and fig ure, 14 , 46 , 126 ; and violence , 29 , 197 , 417/18; and heroic code, 40-4 6 passim, 56, 69-71, 84 , 87 , 96, 255 , 424/119, 426/122, 436/115 ; of figurativ e strategies, 48-50, 66, 79, 295, 436/115; and closure , 81, 94 , 96 , 211, 417/110 ; of empire , 107 , 445/11; in narrative doubles, 153 , 273 ; of allegory, 228 , 316. Se e also Actio n an d figure; Elizabeth; Violence Idolatry, 306 , 470/113 Idyll and idyllic: and imagery of nature, bees, 59 , 104 , 147 , 157 , 447/117 ; i n Georgics an d Eclogues, 104 ; and violence , horror, o r sacrifice, 154 , 164-67 , 171 76, 185 , 190-95 , 198 ; defined, 161-62, 429/143, 446/1/111,12 ; politics of, 168-71 ; and bucolic , 429/143 , 446/1/111,12 , 448/119. Se e also Pastora l Ignorance, heroic, 106-20 . Se e also under Characters; Narrator; Reader Ilioneus, 129-3 0 Imagery, see Bees; Circle; Dolphi n simile ;

514

General Index

Dragon/Griffin similes ; Fire; Insect images; Land and landscape; Mariner anal ogies; Natur e an d natural imagery; Soothsayers; Star ; Storm images ; Threshing imagery; Volcano and earthquake imagery; Windmills; Wood s Imperialism: of Aeneid, 10 7 Impersonation o f differen t voices , 101-2 , 190-91, 195-96 , 223, 233, 243, 399, 4467111 Insect images, 52—53 , 64—65 , 292 . See also Bees Invocation: a s poetic figure, 8 ; and ignorance, 41 , 106 ; of secon d halves of ep ics, 21 7 Iris: descent of , 86 , 449*123; with Priam , 90 Irony: a s "dissimulating" figure, 226 ; of Cervantes, 404 ; of narrator in FQ, 458716 Jacquot, Jean, 473715 2 Jakobson, Roman , 425712 1 Jameson, Fredric , 16 , 18 , 4177110 , 418717114,15, 420717121,22 , 436711 5 Javitch, Daniel , 230 , 4607114 Jealousy, see Gealousie Johnson, Carrol l B. , 48071 2 Johnson, Samuel , 432716 0 Johnson, W . R., 154 , 4407130 ; o n the gods , 159-60, 4387123 , 443«52 , 449«23 ; o n Nisus an d Euryalus , 421713 , 4507130 , 4517134; on Virgi l an d Augustus, 4357110, 4407127 ; o n Turnus , 4417133 , 4557160 Juno: as cause of wrath and storm, 106-7 , i l l , 120-24 , 132 , 361 , 4417140 , 4427149 ; and femal e sexuality, 145 , 202 ; at end o f Aeneid, 187 , 203-4; and chthonic forces , 4437152. Se e also Her a Jupiter: relatio n of, to Fate, plot, an d his tory, 106 , iO9ff , 201 ; rapes by, 186 , 360-63; and ending o f Aeneid, 203- 9 Juturna: aetiologica l myth/rape of, 186 87; and Turnus, 206—8 ; in other sources , 452717145-47 Kane, Sean , 471711 7 Kaske, Carol , 463714 7 Kavanagh, James, 419712 0 Kendrick, Christopher , 48171 6 Kennedy, Willia m J., 458716 , 48171 8 Kermode, Frank , 4337166 , 461712 1

Kerrigan, William, 4827114 King, Katharine , 74, 415713 , 4307145 , 431717150,53, 433717173,74 , 4347175 Kirk, G . S., 424711 5 Kleos (fame) : and heroes and death, 4-5 , 33, 40-41 , 46 , 57 , 71, 95 , 415713 ; versus immortality o f cult , 49—50 , 424711 8 Knapp, Jeffrey, 46971100 , 476718 0 Knowledge: a s disjunction between actio n and understanding, 83-84 ; and allegory, 221—22 , 303 ; and mora l choice , 237; a s quest, 245—46 ; and theatrical show, 253-55 ; and "truth" or vision , 407, 4607118 . Se e also Ignorance ; Vision ; and see under Characters ; Narrator; Reader Kofman, Sarah , 4517138 Krier, Teresa , 4777186, 4787189 , 479719 4 Labyrinth: in Aeneid, 184-8 5 Lacan, Jacques, 16-17, 425712 1 Lament: ideological function of , 199 . See also Death ; Violence: aestheticizatio n of Land and landscape: and nature, death, and violence, 51 , 62 , 175-76 , 188 ; and sacrifice an d prosopopoeia , 99 , 176—9 0 passim; and pastoral, 105 , 162-63 , 4387118, 4547153 ; and foundationa l or ae tiological myths, apostrophe , an d voice, 146-45, 175-77 , 182-84 , I9I-99 , 265, 4417138, 4527147 , 4547154 ; an d Faunus , 150-51; and eroticism an d the femal e body, 160-62 , 166 , 347-50 , 355 ; and Ovidian metamorphosis , 265 , 300-302, 360; an d Elizabeth and the body politic , 347-58 passim, 4767179; and Eve, 388 89, 390; transformations of, i n DQ , 392-93, 395 ; critics on Virgilian geography, 4537152 . See also Acrasia ; Adonis, Garden of; Apostrophe; Prolepsis ; Pro sopopoeia; Woods Langland, William, 34 1 Lanham, Richar d A., 4617119 , 472713 5 Laocoon: and serpents, in; as sacrifice, 189-90 Latinus, 129-30 , 131 , 4417138 , 4427145 ; an d Lavinia's portent, 150-5 1 Lavinia: and Harpies, 145 ; as double being, 147-51 ; blush of, 166 , 4417133 ; relation of, t o Amata , 4437156 , 444716 7 Leach, Eleanor Winsor, 437717117,1 8 Lee, D.J . N. , 422718 , 424711 5 Legitimacy: of Aeneas ' enterprise, 109 ,

General Index 119, 140-42 , 152 , 80-81 , 184 , 194 ; of Latinus, 150 ; of poet in FQ, 268f , 273 ; undermined by compulsion, 28 1 Le Reuze (giant), 339, 474«57 Lesky, A., 423*11 5 Levels: metaphor of , i n text, 1 5 Levi-Strauss, Claude , 18 , 420*12 4 Lewis, C . S., 460*11 7 Lezra, Jacques, 485*14 3 Liberty, see Freedom Lintott, A . W., 435*17, 9 Literary history: secondariness of, 270 ; in DQ, 398 , 484^32 Love: as constraint, in FQ, 323-26 , 329. See also Compulsion ; Femal e sexuality Lovejoy, A . O., 453"5 2> 4? 2«3 3 Lucretius, 4 3 jnn17,18 Lukacs, Georg , 480*1 1 Luscinda (DQ) , 40 7 Lust, 314— 18 passim, 335, 360, 471*124. Se e also Giant s Lykaon's mixing bow l (Iliad), 84-85 . See also Artifact s MacCaffrey, Isabel , 477*182, 478*19 0 Mace, Sarah , 421*12, 423*112 , 427*133 , 432*158, 434«7 5 Macherey, Pierre , 419*120 , 420*12 1 Maclntyre, Alasdair, 415*11 McKeon, Michael , 456*14 , 485*13 7 Macleod, C . W., 433*168 Madariaga, Salvador e de, 483*12 5 Madness: of Amat a and Turnus , 115 , 136 — 38, 141-44 ; in DQ, 372 , 392-99pdssiw, 408, 410 , 483*126 . Se e also Fur y and fu ror Madsen, Willia m G., 482*11 5 Magic: as allegorical strategy, 264-65, 465*161; in DQ , 40 3 Malbecco, 298-300 , 469*1 3 Malecasta, House of , 328 Maleger, 256 , 335, 342, 344. See also Giants Mambrino's helmet , 404. Se e also Artifact s Mammon, Cav e of, 25 1 Manley, Lawrence , 459*11 3 Marg, Walter , 431*154 Mann, Francisco Rodriguez, 484*13 1 Marinell, 278-89, 282 , 324 Mariner analogies : in FQ, 241 , 224 ; pilot in PL, 38 2 Mariscal, George , 485*13 7 Marotti, Arthu r F., 463*138 , 471*12 5

515

Marquez Villanueva, Francisco, 485*144 Marx, Karl : on Spenser , 461*124 Medina: an d pity, 248f , 305 Menelaos, 31—3 2 Mercilla, cour t of , 340 Merlin: magi c of, 261; and Britomart , 274-78, 280 ; overcome b y vision, 276 , 279, 350 , 366, 381 Metalepsis: defined, 8, 102 ; ideological function of , 21 ; as transumption, 266 67, 3? 6 ; double troping of, 273 ; as hysteron proteron , 397 ; and prolepsis, 411 . See also Prolepsi s Metamorphosis, 198 , 265 , 291, 300-302 , 349, 360 . See also Land and landscape; Ovid Metaphor: ideologica l functio n of , 42, 46 47; as pole in epic simile, 42-44; ideological displacement from metonym to , 50-51; defined i n Puttenham, 226 ; as one of two tendencie s in allegory, 226 28. Se e also Metonym y Metonymy: a s one pole in simile, 99, 189 , 227—78; 425*121. Se e also Metapho r Michel Agnes , 441*13 6 Miller, David , L. , 229-30, 462*132 , 465*1*154,56, 468*196 ; o n giants , 474*156 ; on Alma's house, 475*16 6 Miller, Lewi s H., 458*16 Mirror: imagery of, 227-28, 262, 321; and spectacle, 464*14 8 Misenus: death as sacrifice, 182 — 8$ passim, 452*1*143,44, 453«5 0 Misogyny; i n Aeneid, 146 , 150 ; in FQ , 281, 285 , 287-89. Se e also Femal e sex uality; Women Monro, D . B., 415*12 , 431*15 1 Montesinos, Cav e of, 402 . See also Do n Quixote Montrose, Louis , 3 ; "Elizabethan Sub ject," 220, 231, 358 , 469*13; '"Shaping Fantasies,'" 296, 325, 472*126; o n Eliza beth, 354 , 365; "Of Gentleme n an d Shepherds," 420*120 , 456*11 ; on Harr y Berger, Jr., 462*13 1 Moral education: and FQ, 245 , 298; and PL, 373 , 480*15. Se e also "Fashioning " Mortality, see Death Mortdant, 248 Moulton, Carroll , 52 , 422*18 , 427*1*131,3 5 Mount Acidale , 326, 356, 359, 367, 478*189, 479*191 , Se e also Calidor e Mulciber: fall of , 379 , 383

5 i6

General Index

Mullaney, Steven , 279 , 467717 8 Murley, Clyde , 432716 0 Murnaghan, Sheila , 4247116, 4337168 Murrin, Michael , 4397123 , 440717130,32, 4417140, 4607119 , 476718 0 Muse o r Muses : in Iliad, 41 , 56 , 65; in Aeneid, 105 ; Elizabeth as, in FQ, 241 43, 294 , 350 , 4637139; in PL , 381 ; in DQ, 399 . Se e also Gods ; Invocation Mutabilitie: as Giant, 335 . Se e also Giants "Mutabilitie Cantos " (FQ), 330 , 333, 356 , 367, 4657160 , 478718 9 Myres, J. L., 427713 1 Myth: defined by Levi-Strauss, 18 ; foun dational or aetiological, 146-47 , 177 , 180, 182-84 . See also Lan d and land scape Nagy, Gregory , 40 , 48-49, 416717 , 4247117, 428717137,38 , 4297140 ; o n epi c ideology, 4247119 , 4267127 ; o n cul t o f hero, 4267126 , 4307145 ; on Patroklos , 433"69 Names an d naming: i n Aeneid, 157 , 180 , 4527147; i n PL, 375 , 377, 381-84, 4827119; in DQ , 399—400 . Se e also Apos trophe; Lan d and landscape; Myth: foundational; Prosopopoei a Narrative, se e Action and figur e Narrative doubles: in Aeneid, 98-99, 155 76, 177 , 192 , 445«3 i in FQ, 235-36 , 241, 246 , 273, 313, 4627133 ; in DQ , 392 , 406, 41 2 Narrative supplement : defined , 13 , 4177111, 466717 1 Narrator: of Iliad, 6—7 ; of epic , defined , lo-n, 13 , 25 ; in DQ, 25 , 372, 391-92, 398-410 passim, 4837126, 4857136 ; an d trope o f ignorance , 41 , 114 , 117-18 , 199-200, 222 , 244, 4597112; of Aeneid, 99-102, 112 , 125 , I76f , 190-91 , 197 ; control of , 144 , 4287140 , 4397124 ; in FQ , 218, 296-97, 370-71 , 457716 ; power of , 222-24, 233-34 ; doubl e position of in allegory, 228-29 , 243-46, 290 ; distance or perspectiv e of, 244 , 247, 254, 320, 359, 364 ; in PL, 373 , 375-77, 3«9 , 456713, 481718 . Se e also Characters ; Im personation; Poet; Reader; Voice Naturalism: o f epic, 149 , 153-54 . Se e also Realism Nature an d natural imagery: in Iliad, 50 53, 61-63 , 4317148 ; in Aeneid, 124 , 131 ,

163, 171 , 175 , 182-83 ; in FQ, 281 , 287, 369, 4657160 ; i n PL , 375 , 377f. Se e also Idyll and idyllic; Land and landscape; Pastoral; Pathetic fallac y Nelson, Lowry , Jr., 450712 8 Neptune, 122-23 , !7 9 Night, 327 ; evening as Eve, 38 0 Nilsson, M . P., 423711 5 Niobe, 301 , 4337174 , 4347175 ; compared t o Achilles, 88-9 0 Nisus and Euryalus, 132 , 154 , 166 , 171 76, 450713 0 Nohrnberg, James, 456713 , 4627134 , 4707117, 476tt74 ; on giants , 335 , 4737140 , 4747160, 476717 8 Norbrook, David : on politics and religion inFQ, 4607119 , 461717123,24,26 , 4667173 , 4757173; on Spense r and Ireland , 4677181, 4687193, 4767180 , 4787187 ; o n Blatant Beast, 4687195 ; on Faunu s episode, 4787189 Norway (PL) , 382-83 , 38 4 Nostos, 4ff . Se e also Achilles : choice o f Occasion (demonize d mother), 290 . See also Furo r and Occasio n O'Connell, Michael , 457711 , 478718 8 Ocean: imagery of, 282f , 467718 2 Octavian, Se e Augustus Odysseus, 4 0 Oebalus, Ufens , an d Umbro, 19 5 Ollyphaunt, 335 . See also Giant s Omens: i n Aeneid, 147 , 15 0 Orgoglio, 311-12 , 335 , 344, 352, 4717120. See also Giant s Origin: and heroic action, 63 ; in FQ, 272 , 295; i n rape or violence , 302 , 360; unity of spiri t and nature in, 375 , 378, 388. See also Myth : foundational ; and see under Lan d and landscape. Otherness: of allegory, 226-27 ; of figure , 239; o f woman , 442714 1 Otis, Brooks , 442717142,44 , 450712 7 Ott, U. , 4327160 , 449712 1 Ovid, 300 , 4657164, 4787186 ; an d metamor phosis, 265 , 300-302, 354 , 360 Palinurus: death as sacrifice, 128—29 , : 77» 179-81, 442«44 > 45i"40 , 452H4I , 4537150; as artist figure, 18 3 Pallas: as sacrifice, 188-89 , 19 0 Palmer (FQ), 248f , 25if , 290 , 300-304 passim

General Index Panofsky, Erwin , 450/12 8 Paridell, 331-32 , 472/*37 Parker, Patricia , 268f, 469/198 , 481/111 , 482/120; on George Puttenham, 279; on Eve, 380 , 382f, 38 9 Parry, Adam, 51 , 101 , 415/13 , 454«5 8 Pastoral: an d epic , 53 , 163 , 188 , 367 ; in Georgics, 104—5 ; as prototype fo r mal e poet, 243 ; in FQ, 367 , 469/1100, 478*191 ; and bucolic , defined , 429/143 , 446/1/111,12; in Aeneid, 448/118 , 449/121 . See also Idyl l and idyllic; Lan d and land scape; Nature and natural imagery Pastorella: rape of, 35 9 Pathetic fallacy, 145 , 194 , 454/15 4 Patroklos: death of, 34 , 81 , 85 , 424711 7 Patterson, Annabel , 417/19, 419/11 7 Pavlock, Barbara , 4517137 Perret, Jacques, 436/11 1 Personification: defined , 22-23 ; in Aeneid, 178, 196 ; in FQ, 298-30 2 passim, 354; in PL, 375 , 387-88; i n DQ, 409 . Se e also Apostrophe; Prosopopoei a Perspective, se e under Characters ; Narra tor; Poet Phedon, 250 , 255, 27off, 31 2 Philotime, 32 7 Pietas: defined, 10 2 Placidas: and Amyas, 318-19 Plot: a s history, 97 ; as fate, 106 , 108 ; o f Milton, 385 ; as "maquina," 405. Se e also Fate; Foreknowledg e Poet: i n Iliad, 6—7 , 9 , 86 ; perspective of, 32-335 56 , 67, 69, 75 , 80, 105 , 171 ; in Aeneid, 101-2 , 179 , 183 , 196 , 423/115 ; power of, 180 , 195 , 200-201; relation of, t o Elizabeth, 219, 230-32 , 242-43 , 273, 294 , 358; in FQ, 296-97 , 310 ; dis placement of responsibility from , 305 6, 308 ; in PL, 374-76 , 386 , 390. See also Artist; Narrator ; Voic e Poetic figures: defined, i , 2 , 5 , 8; and nar rative supplement, 13 , 417/111 ; in Iliad, 33; time scheme of, 58—61 , 66 , 78 ; in Aeneid, 98-99; in FQ, 220 , 227-28 , 235-37, 266-67; in PL, 375 , 381, 392. See also Actio n an d figure ; Apostrophe ; Catachresis; Epic simile; Hyperbole ; Hysteron proteron ; Metalepsis ; Meta phor; Metonymy; Prosopopoeia ; Syn ecdoche Poggioli, Renato , 418/115 Pole Star , 224-26

517

Political allegory, see under Allegor y Politics, se e Augustus; Elizabeth; and see under Femal e sexuality; Idyll and idyllic Polydorus, 144 , 145—4 6 Poovey, Mary , 1 8 Porter, David , 422/1/18,10 , 427/13 3 Poschl, Victor , 101 , 440/1/130,32 , 443/^5 1 Poulantzas, Nicos , 419/120 , 420/12 3 Power, se e Authority; Elizabeth; Female sexuality; Poet Predestination, 373-74 , 376 . See also Fate ; Foreknowledge Priam: and Achilles, 82, 86-93 passim Prolepsis: in Aeneid, 102 , 119 , 132 , 140 , 144, 202 ; and landscape , 175—76 , 192 — 93, 195 ; in FQ, 258 , 330; in PL, 375 , 376-78, 381 , 388 , 411, 481/111 . See also Apostrophe; Metalepsi s Prophecy, 184 , 278-79, 280 , 374 Prosopopoeia: defined , 8 , 22-23, 178-79 ; in Aeneid, 99, 176 , 178-79 , 183 , 186 , 190-91, 192 , 454/154 ; inFQ, 298f , 302; in DQ, 409 , 41 if. Se e also Apostrophe ; Land and landscape; Sacrifice Protestant: apocalyptics as tendency in allegory, 225 ; social criticism, 231; in FQ , 241, 306- 7 Psychoanalytic model of text , 13 , 1 5 Psychomachia: defined, 221—22 , 316 , 462/133; and Redcrosse, 245, 266, 284 85, 312 ; and Guyon, 269 ; and Radi gund, 314 , 467/176 ; and giants , 334, 344, 475/168. Se e also Desir e Putnam, Michael C.J., 4387118 , 442/144 , 444/164, 454/1/153,54 , 455/1/159,63,64; o n sacrifice, 453/15 0 Puttenham, George : on catachresis, 13839, 471/118 ; on allegory , 225-26 , 230 ; on metalepsis, 266-67, 269 ; on hysteron proteron, 267-68 ; on amphibologia, 279f; on prosopopoeia, 299 ; on hig h style and hyperbole, 352 Queen Elizabeth , see Elizabeth Quilligan, Maureen : on FQ, 463/144 , 468/1/194,97, 469/199 , 471/122 ; on readin g FQ, 242 , 457«2, 463^35 Quinn, Kenneth , 445/13, 446/1 4 Quint, David , 417/110 , 434/14 , 445/11 , 461/129; on bee similes, 449/125 ; on ori gin, 477/184 ; on literary history in Cer vantes, 484/13 2

5i8

General Index

Quintilian: o n catachresis , 138 ; on prosopopoeia, 178-79 , 190-91 ; on metaphor , 443«53 Rabelais: on giants , 341 , 474/16 3 Radigund, 231 , 311 , 328 Raleigh, Si r Walter, 320 Rape: in Iliad, 69 ; in Aeneid, 186-87 ; in FQ, 300-302 , 353 , 359-71, 478/187; in PL, 388-89 . Se e also Amoret ; Bel phoebe; Female sexuality; Florimell; Lust; Violence; Wome n Raphael: in PL, 373 , 378, 379~8o Rauber, D . F. , 422/1/18 , 423711 1 Reader: limitations o f knowledg e of , 12 ; in Aeneid, 102 , 108 ; gendering of , 221 , 269, 324—25 , 364—65 , 462/135 ; and alle gory, i n FQ, 222-25 , 263 , 273, 303; in FQ, 228 , 232, 240-41, 245-47, 254, 298; Elizabet h as ideal of, 241—44 , 255; Sclaunder a s figure for, 286; in PL , 372fF, 400 ; in DQ , 372 , 394~95 Realism: in epic, 16-18 , 153-54 ; in DQ , 410, 4857145 . Se e also Naturalis m Redcrosse, 224 , 256, 264—65; ignoranc e and vision of, 23 , 469/199 ; and Errour , 218, 291-92, 303 , 333; and Archimago , 235— 36; and psychomachia , 245 , 266, 284-85, 311-12 , 4627133 ; as clown , 356 Redfield, James, 40 , 416/14 , 421/11 , 428/136, 432/16 2 Resolution, se e Closure Riley, Edward , 485/13 6 Ritual: in Madagascar , 20—21; in ancient Greece, 49; dimension of Aeneid, no . See also Funera l games; Lamen t Robinson, Lillia n S., 442/14 1 Roche, Thoma s P., 468/189 , 470/117 , 471/122 Romance, 173 , 285 , 405, 467/185; and epic , 23, 92 , 421/13 , 445« i Rome, 100 , io6f , 109 , 119 , 174-75 , l 8 5> 188, 192-93 , 45i«"35,36 , 452/156 ; readers in, 108 ; place names of , 180 , 183, 452/147 ; Lusus troiae, 185 ; and cul t of Juturna, 187 , 452/146 ; religion of , 455/160 Rose, Mark , 470/11 5 Rosenberg, D . M., 454/15 3 Rosenmeyer, Thomas , 454/15 4 Rossi, L. E., 449/11 9 Ruskin, John, 454/15 4 Russell, Pete r E., 480/11 , 483/1 2

Sacrifice: Aeneid, defined, in, 99 , 153 , 176-78, 202 ; and landscape and idyll, 167, 178-90 , 197 , 199 ; in Iliad, 184 ; o f Turnus, 206-8; critics on, 451/1/135,38 , 40, 453/1/148-50 . Se e also Death ; Vio lence Saldivar, Ramon , 484/13 3 Sancho Panza, 218, 392—93 , 410 Sans Foy: and Redcrosse , 266 , 284—8 5 Sans Joy: an d Redcrosse, 245 Sarpedon: speech on heroic code , 44-46 , 426/122; death of, 52—55 , 428/13 7 Satan, 375 , 381-82, 385 , 481/17 Scarry, Elaine , 416/1 8 Schadewaldt, Wolfgang , 427/130 Schein, Set h L.: on structure of Iliad, 83 84, 422/17 , 429/141 ; on Achilles , 415/13 , 416/1/15,6, 432/1/162,65 , 433/172 ; on fir e simile, 423/113 ; on deat h of heroes , 424/119, 427/132 , 429/144 ; on gods , 428/138 Schleiner, Winifred, 466/17 5 Schmidt, E . A., 448/11 7 Sclaunder: as witch, 285-87 , 468/18 7 Scott, James C. , 22 , 421/123 , 422/18 , 423/110 Scudamour, 252, 312 Scylla, 145 , 444/16 0 Seeming/seems: i n FQ, 239-4 1 Segal, Charles , 439/1/124,25 , 440/128 , 444/160, 448/119 , 449/12 1 Serena, 303 ; rape of, 360 , 363-64 , 478/18 7 Sexual hierarchy, 311 , 315—16 , 390 , 462/135 Sexuality, female , see Female sexuality Seznec, Jean, 474/16 1 Shadow, 227f ; and allegory, 37 9 Shakespeare: Much Ad o About Nothing, 250; Othello, 250; Macbeth, 295 ; A Midsummer Night's Dream, 314, 325 , 365, 472/129; As Yo u Like it , 472/12 8 Shepherd: classica l similes of , 36ff , 77 , 292, 423/11 1 Shield: of Achilles, 67 , 71-80, 92, 431/1/153,56, 432/1/159,60 ; representations of battl e on, 72 , 76; of Agamemnon , 73; of Aeneas , 100 , 435/15 ; of Arthur , 260-62, 302 , 465/157 Shipp, G . P., 422/18 , 423/11 5 Sibyl: prophecy t o Aeneas, 115—16 , 13 2 Sidney, Si r Phillip, 34 8 Sight, se e Vision Silberman, Lauren , 465/164, 466/165 , 471/1/120,22

General Index Silk, M . S. , 425712 1 Simile, see Epic simil e Simoeisios: death of, 61-62 , 4291144. Sin: and allegory , 303 ; compulsions of , 305 Sinfield, Alan , 293 Sinon: an d sacrifice , 189 Sirens: in FQ, 25 1 Slatkin, Laura, 47, 421716 , 4307145 , 4327158, 433»7i Sleep: in DQ, 485^3 8 Smith, B . R., 476718 1 Snake: on Amata, 137-44 passim; and Laocoon, i n Snowy Florimell , 238 , 287-88, 306, 4687189, 47071 1 Soothsayers: similes of, in FQ, 244—4 5 Spectacle and theatrical imagery: in Iliad, 30, 38 ; in FQ, 246-50 , 251-54, 4647148 ; in Elizabethan pageantry, 336—40 . See also Epi c distance; Vision Spenser, Edmund : an d Milton, 385—86 ; and Virgil , 457711 ; View o f the Present State of Ireland, 4687194 ; Shepheardes Calendar, 472-3 0 Spitzer, Leo, 400 , 4837125 Squire of Dames , 31 3 Squire of Lo w Degree , se e Aemylia: and Amyas Stahl, Hans-Peter, 436711 4 Stallybrass, Peter, 342 , 4687186, 4747164 , 4757165 Star: pole star as guide, 224-26 ; Elizabeth as, 28 2 Starr, Cheste r G., 43571718, 9 Stevens, John, 4687185 Storm images , 38-39 , 120-35 , 225, 330, 332-33 Suetonius, 188 , 451713 6 Supplement, narrative , see Narrative sup plement Suspended narration: defined, 157-58, 445713. Se e also Narrativ e doubles Suspension: defined in Aeneid a s trope, 98 , 168—69, 449"2i; examples of, 153 , 155 , 164; inFQ, 282 , 295 Suzuki, Mihoko, 4337174 , 4417141; o n Helen, 69-70 , 4307147 ; on Amata, 4437156, 4447167 ; o n sacrifice , 4497122 , 451717135,38; onFQ, 4677176 , 46971 3 Symbolic distortion: in Aeneid, 135-51, 176-77; in FQ, 298-310 ; disfigurement in DQ, 399-40 3 Synecdoche, 171 , 226 , 229-30

519

Talus, 332f , 345 f Tanner, John, 48171 7 Taylor, John S. , 4537152 Temporality, see Time scheme / temporal ity Teskey, Gordon , 482711 3 Thalmann, Willia m Gregory, 427713 4 Theater, se e Spectacle Theocritus, 4467112 , 4477117 , 4487119 , 4497121 Thetis: an d Achilles , 5 , 63, 86 , 416715; di vine power of , 47-48 Thomas, Keith, 287-88 , 468718 7 Thralldom, se e Bondage Threshing imagery : in Iliad, 30 , 34-35 Tilly, Catherine , 474715 7 Time scheme / temporality: of narrative and figure , 14 ; in Iliad, 50 , 58—66 , 78f, 84; in Aeneid, 108 , 209, 4297143; an d timelessness o f idyll , 171 , 175 . Se e also Metalepsis; Prolepsi s Timias: an d Mirabella, 235 , 4717121; an d restraint, 303 ; and Belphoebe, 320-22 , 354—55; and reunion with Arthur, 322 23

Tithonus, 166 . Se e also Auror a Todorov, Tzvetan , 4177111, 446718 , 4487119 , 4667171 Tonkin, Humphrey , 477718 2 Top: Amata as, 142-44 "Touching" (of action and figure): defined, 98-100 ; examples of, 136-38 , 140, 144—45 , 150 , 404 ; in narrative dou bles, 154 ; divine, o f human , 187 . See also Actio n an d figure ; Rape Truth: representations of, in PL, 390 ; in DQ, 400 , 405-7, 409 Turnus: death or sacrific e of , 13 , 187-88 , 206-8, 210 , 4557159 ; ignorance of, 117 , 132; and Aeneas , 133—35 , 205 ; and Amata, 136 , 141-42 ; and Lavinia, 44i«33 Umbro: as artist figure, 195—96 , 4547158 Una: and Redcrosse, 235 , 256f, 292 ; in wood, 266 ; rape of, 359 , 363—64 "Underpeering," 354 , 359 ; in Puttenham , 352 Upton, John, 306 Vance, Eugene, 4417135 , 4537152 Van Sickle , John, 4467112 , 4487119 , 4547154 Veil: as figure fo r allegory , 227f Venus: and female/divine power ove r plot

520

General Index

in Aeneid, 109 , 128 , 179 , 203-4, 44