Virgil's Aeneid: Semantic Relations and Proper Names 0198146884, 9780198146889

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Virgil’s Aeneid Semantic Relations and Proper Names

MICHAEL PASCHALIS

C LA REN D O N PRESS 1997

OXFORD

Oxford U niversity Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0 x 2 6 DP O xford Nett) York Athens A uckland Bangkok Bogota Bombay Buenos Aires C alcutta Cape Town D ar es Salaam D elhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul K arachi K uala Lumpur M adras M adrid Melbourne M exico C ity N airobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a trade mark o f O xford University Press Published in the United States by O xford U niversity Press Inc., New York © M ichael Paschalis /997 The moral rights o f the author have been asserted A ll rights reserved. N o part o f this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford U niversity Press. W ithin the U K , exceptions are allowed in respect o f any fa ir dealing fo r the purpose o f research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents A ct, 1988, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms o f the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms and in other countries should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address drove British Library Cataloguing in Publication D ata D ata available Library o f Congress Cataloging in Publication D ata Data available IS B N 0-19-814688-4

1 3 5 7 9

10 8 6 4 2

Typeset by Hope Services (Abingdon) L td Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles L td ., Guildford Φ K ing’s Lynn

For Νίκη

Preface

When in 1984 I began the study of proper names in the Aeneid I could hardly imagine the difficulty of the task and the great length of time it would require. The book has gone through countless stages of revision, its subject and scope were widened until it turned into an overall interpretation of Virgil’s epic. In 1988 it was accepted for Publication by Oxford University Press and announced in Vergilius (25 (1989), 99) by A. G. McKay. I am deeply indebted to R. O. A. M. Lyne for his enthusiastic encouragement of my research in this area. I am also grateful to the British Council for a grant which permitted me to visit libraries in England. My colleagues Stavros Frangoulidis and Stamatis Philippidis have my thanks for reading through the typescript, my student Helen Manolaraki for checking references, and computer services officer George Motakis for technical assistance. It is finally a pleasure to thank OUP classics editor Hilary O ’Shea and assistant editor Liz Alsop for their assistance, as well as copy-editor Julian W ard who was most helpful in preparing the work for the press, M.P. Rethymnon A pril 1996

Contents

Abbreviations and Bibliographical Note Note on Structure and Conventions Introduction I. Names and issues u. Subject, method, and terminology in. The Laocoon-Horse sequence: introduction IV. The Laocoon-Horse sequence: the semantic components V. The Laocoon-Horse sequence: other components

xv xvii i i

3 8 11 26

Book i i . Overview 1. The storm (34-156) 2. The harbour at Carthage and Aeneas’ stag-shooting (157-222) 3. Iuppiter curas iactans and the arces of Carthage (223-304) 4. Changing garments in the forest (305-417) 5. T he horses of Carthage (418-49) 6. Gazes within Juno’s templum (450-62) 7. Insidious and inflaming gifts (643—97) 8. Gazes and wounds (709-22) 9. The gifts and the stimuli of Bacchus (723-56) ii. Saturnia, Saturnus, and Saturnia tellus ni. Shipwrecked Trojans (113—23) IV. Missing companions: An them, Capys, and Caicus (180-5) V. Jupiter’s prophecy (254-96) vi, Harpalyce (316-17) v ii. The temple pictures (450-93) vili. Belus and Bitias (728-39)

42 43 46 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 60 64 65 68

Book 2 I. Overview 1. Aeneas’ ‘wound’: Memory, dolor, and dolus {1-15) 2. Mycenae, Tenedos, and Trojan blindness (13-56) 3. The sight of Sinon: bonds and lies (57-198) 4. improuida pectora (199-249) 5. The return of the ships (250-67)

70 70 70 71 73 75

34 34 41

6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

II. in. IV, V.

vi. v ii.

vili.

The return of Hector {268-97) Aeneas’ blurred vision {298—317) The descent of Panthus (318-35) αϊπύς ολΐθρος (336—54) caua umbra and caeca nox (355-434) caecae fores and the dislodging of the 'all-seeing’ tower (453-68) 12. The light and the exuuiae of Pyrrhus(469-505) 13. The gaze of Priam and Hecuba (506-58) 14. The gaze of Aeneas (567-623) 15. The path to Ida (634-804) M yrm idonum Do/opum; Dorica castra; Danai Tenedos and Mycenae Thymoetes and Capys {32-9) Laocoon Sinon Deiphobus, Vcalegon, and Sigea . . .freta (309-13) The companions of Aeneas

77 79 80 8ι 82 86 87 88 91 94 99 100 102 to2 103 107 108

Book 3 I. Overview 1. Thrace: curuum litus and tumulus {13-71) 2. The circle of the Cyclades (72-98) 3. The shore of the Curetes (99-189) 4. The στροφαί of the Strophades ( 190-267) 5. Leucates, Actium, and the curved shield of Abas (268-89) 6. The Chaonian harbour of Buthrotum (290-505) 7. The bosom of the desired land (506-20) 8. The bow-shaped harbour {521-47) 9. The land of the blinded Cyclops (554-683) 10. The sickle-shaped harbour of Drepanum (706-15) ii. sinus Herculei; Lacinia >Caulon, and Scylaceum (548-53) n i. claustra Peiori (410-19, 684-8)

129 131 133 134 135 145 147 147

Book 4 i. Overview 1. Words and wounds (1-53) 2. Gifts, words, and an unhealing wound (54-89) 3. Deceitful words (90-172) 4. The flight of winged Fama (173-95) 5. Winged Fama and the son of Hammon ( 196-218) 6. The gaze of Jupiter and Dido's όρκος (219—37) 7. The descent of Mercury {238-78)

149 149 150 152 154 155 *55 156

X

h i

111 116 120 124

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

II. III.

16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. The Iris

The impact of the vision of Mercury (279-95) Futile words (296-392) Dido’s gaze and Aeneas’ ships (393-415) The ships and the oak (416-49) The rejection of Dido’s gifts and her distorted vision (450-73) Dido’s pyre (474-521) The stormy wakefulness of Phoenissa (522-53) The blindness of Aeneas and the return of Mercury (554-70) Aeneas’ flashing sword and Ceraunia (571-83) The gaze of Dido and the light of Aurora (584-629) Dido’s pyre and Barce (630-41) Dido on the pyre and Aeneas’ 8ώρα (642-71) Fateful words (672-87) The last gaze of wounded Dido (688-92) The descent of Iris (693-705) genealogy of Fama and Dido’s oath

*59 160 162 162 164 165 167 168 168 169 171 172 173 173 174 175 179

Book 5 181 I. Overview' 181 1. The gaze and memory of Palinurus (8-34) 2. Acestes 181 3. The ship-race (114-285) 185 188 4. The foot-race (286-361) 191 5. The boxing-match (362—484) 6. The archery contest (485-544) 193 196 7. The lusus Troiae (545-603) 8. The descent of Iris and the burning of the ships (604-99) *97 9. Venus, Saturnia, and Saturnius (779-826) 200 10. The descent of winged Somnus and the fall of Palinurus (827—71) 201 204 ii. Sergestus and Pholoe 205 III. T he participants in the foot-race 207 IV. T he burning of the ships Book 6 Overview’ I. Aeneas’ ship and Euboean Cumae (r-101) The prerequisites for the katabasis (102—263) 2. 3* The uestibulum of the palace of Dis (268-94) 4- The crossing of the Styx (295-425)

209 209 21 I

214 216

il. in. tv. V.

vi. v ii.

5. Tartarus (548-627) 6. Elysium (637-892) 7. The Ivory Gate (893—901) The descent of Daedalus and the fall of Icarus (14-41) Palinurus: the fatal distortion of a name (337—83) The wound of Dido (440-74) The wounds of Deiphobus (494-534) Tartarus: τίίνω and τισί? (548-627) The return of the Roman heroes (756-892)

Book 7 I. Overview 1. From Caieta to Latium (1-36) 2. T he invocation of Erato and Latinus' genealogy (37” 57) 3. Portents and the oracle of Faunus (58-106) 4. T he embassy to Latinus (148-285) 5. T he gaze and wound of returning Juno (286—322) 6. Saturnia, Saturnus, and Allecto (323-640) 7. T he missions of Allecto (341-539) 8. Latinus, Saturnia luno, and the breaking of the Gates of War (572-640) 9. The opening of the Gates of Song (641-6) il. The web of Circe in. The tables prophecy (107-47) IV. The pastoral world of Galaesus, Tyrrhus, and Almo (531-6) V. The Italian catalogue (647-817) Book 8 I. Overview 1. Turnus Hippotades and the embassy to Argyripa (1-17) 2. Laomedontius heros (18-25) 3. The vision of Tiberinus (26-34) 4. The speech of Tiberinus (35-65) 5. Pallas’ olive and young Pallas (90-125) 6. Hercules and the cave of Cacus (184-267) 7. The walk at the site of Rome (306-69) 8. Venus, Vulcan, and the cave of the Cyclopes (370-453) 9. Pallas and the arms of Cytherea (520-40) 10, The descent of Venus at Caere and the delivery of the Shield (608-731) xii

219 221 225 226 228 230 232 234 237 244 244 246 246 248 251 252 254 258 259 260 262 264 264 275 275 276 276 277 279 280 281 284 285 286

π. ill. IV. V.

Venulus, Venus, and aduentus dei The story of Cacus and the laudes Herculeae ( 184-305) Brontes, Steropes, and Pyracmon (425) The Shield ekphrasis (626-728)

Book 9 I. Overview 1. The descent of Iris (1-24) 2. Caicus and the dark cloud (25-46) 3. The attack on the naval station (47-158) 4. The siege (159-75) 5. Ntsus and Euryalus (176-502) 6. The collapse of the tower (530—70) 7. The aristeia of Ascanius (590-671) 8. Bitias and Pandarus (672-755) 9. The return of Mnestheus and the retreat of Turnus (778-818) ii. Nisus a n d Euryalus ni. somno uinoque soluti (320-50) IV . The Rutulian invaders of the camp (679-87) Book 10 I. Overview 1. The Gates of Olympus and Jupiter's gaze ( i - i 17) 2. The Trojans on the camp walls (118-45) 3. Aeneas on the ship’s stem (146-275) 4. The death of Pallas and Aeneas’ revenge (439-605) 5. The descent of Juno (633-88) 6. Mezentius (689-908) il. T he catalogue of the Trojans on the walls (123-45) h i . T he Etruscan catalogue (163-214) IV. Clausus and Dryops (344-9) V. Aeneas’ vengeance killings (510-605) Book 11 I . Overview 1. Mezentius ( 1-21 ) 2. Pallas (22-99) 3. The Latins (100-38, 182-531) 4. The $pear*cast of Metabus and the first descent of Opts (532-96) 5. Aconteus and Tyrrhenus (612-17) 6. Falconlike Camilla and eaglelike Tarchon (699-759) Xlll

288 288 293 295 302 302 304 305 309 310 313 315 317 320 321 325 329 330 330 33° 331 333 337 338 348 349 352 352 358 358 359 361 364 365 366

7. 8. 9.

Arruns and Camilla (759-83$) The second descent of Opts (836-67) The retreat of the cavalry and the horses of Phoebus (868-915) II. Two distorted names in. Camilla

367 369 370 371 372

Book 12 I. Overview 1. Wounded T um us and his horses (1 -1 12) 2. The breaking of the truce ( 113-310) 3. The wounding and healing of Aeneas; Turnus* aristeia from the chariot (311—440) 4. A dreadful return (441-99) 5. Juturna’s stratagem and T urnus’ blindness (S54-696) 6. The fight of the bulls (697-727) 7. The sword of Metiscus; the Umbrian hound (728-65) 8. The wild olive of Faunus (766-90) 9. Wounds healed and unhealing (791-886) 10. Turnus, Juturna, and the Dira (843-918) 11. The death of T um us (917-52) i i . Thracian horses in. Turnus* aristeia from the chariot (324-82)

396 397 399 400 402 406 407

Conclusion Salient semantic relations by book

409 409

References Index of Selected Names and WordsDiscussed

419 431

XIV

380 380 383 386 389 390 395

Abbreviations and Bibliographical Note

CGL Enc. Virg. Etym. Magn. F G rH Gramm. Gr. LSJ M -W

O LD PCG P -F Powell, Coll. Alex. RE RM L TLL TRF

G. Goetz, Corpus glossariorum latinorum (Leipzig, 1888-1923) Enciclopedia Virgiliana (Rome, 1984-91) T . Gainsford, Etymologicon Magnum (Oxford, 1848) F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (Leiden, 1954—69) Grammatici Graeci ( Leipzig, 1883-1901) H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, and H. Stuart Jones, Greek-English Lexicon*, with Supplement by E. A. Barber (Oxford, 1968) F. Solmsen, Hesiodi Theogonia, Opera et Dies, Scutum; R. Merkelbach and M. L. West, Hesiodi fragmenta selecta, 3rd edn. (Oxford, 1990) P. G. W. Glare (ed.), Oxford Latin Dictionary (Oxford, 1982) R. Kassell and C. Austin, Poetae comici Graeci (Berlin and New York, 1983- ) W, M. Lindsay, Sexti Pompei Festi de uerborum significatu quae supersunt cum Pauli epitome (Leipzig, 1913) J. U. Powell, Collectanea Alexandrina (Oxford, 1925) A. Pauly, G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll, RealEncyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissen­ schaft (Stuttgart and Munich, 1893-1974) W. H. Roscher, Ausführliches Lexicon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie (Leipzig, 1884-1937) Thesaurus linguae Latinae (Leipzig, 1900- ) O. Ribbeck, Tragicorum Romanorum fragmenta (Leipzig, 1897)

For the text of Virgil I have relied on R. A. B. Mynors’s O C T (1977), except where I indicate otherwise. For the translation of passages I am especially indebted to H. R. Fairclough (Loeb, 1934-52), to XV

C. Day Lewis (1952), and to the commentaries cited in the References. For the meanings of Latin words I have relied on T L L and O L D , and for Greek words on LSJ. For ancient Latin etymolo­ gies mentioned without their source the reader is referred to M altby’s Lexicon (1991). Lack of space has forced me to reduce bib­ liographical references drastically, in order to accommodate the abundant new material. Standard commentaries and other reference books as well as works not strictly relevant to the subject have been consulted, and are mentioned in the References, though not cited in the text. Needless to say, apart from the necessarily few items cited in the References, I am enormously indebted to the labour of num er­ ous other Virgilian scholars.

XVI

Note on Structure and Conventions

I have chosen a horizontal analysis of the Aeneid (by book) rather than a vertical one (by semantic component) for two main reasons. First, because semantic sequences within a book interrelate and can­ not be discussed in isolation from the immediate and broader con­ text. And secondly, because each book has certain dominant components and sequences which give it its own distinct identity. The first part of each chapter is an Overview of the book under consideration; this is indicated by the Roman numeral I and com­ prises the basic sequences of the narrative. Material that would have interrupted the continuity of the semantic analysis has been collected into separate sections, which follow the Overview and are indicated by the Roman numerals n, h i , iv, etc. Semantic components (Introd. 11.2) are indicated by initial capi­ tals (except for Greek and Latin words) and, where necessary, are placed within square brackets. Latin words and passages are placed within single quotes. Italic type is occasionally used within quotes in order to draw attention to the meaning of part of a name or other word.

INTRODUCTION

I. NAM ES AND ISSUES

Existing studies of proper names in Virgil's Aeneid are concerned with the sources of names, their etymological significance as well as with the issue of invention of characters and names.1 The close scrutiny of the literary, mythological, historical, geographical, ethnographical, and narrative issues associated with the poet's choice and employment of proper names has brought to light a considerable number of perplexing questions. Some of the problems commonly pointed out are the following: misplacement of heroes; exclusion of important toponyms for the sake of obscure and unknown ones; exclusion of prominent charac­ ters of the literary, historical, and antiquarian tradition for the sake of minor or unknown ones, and reduction of prominent characters to mere names; dissociation of heroes mentioned in catalogues and non­ fighting scenes from those mentioned in battle scenes (or vice versa); employment of Greek names for Latins and Latin ones for Greeks; attribution of the same name to a number of characters of different nationality; killing and ‘resurrection’ of characters in fighting scenes and ‘revival’ of characters who are killed in the Iliad; employment of the same patronymic for two different characters; introduction of genealogies unknown from other sources; and changes in the form and reference of names known from the literary and mythological tradition. Some scholars are baffled by what frequently appears to be an arbitrary practice in the selection and employment of names. Others advance complicated historical and mythological views or suggest random selection or detect a mere desire on Virgil’s part to 1 In addition to the standard commentaries listed in the References, cf. Rehm (1932); Holland (193s); Marouzeau (1940); Knight (1944); Hansen (1948); M ontenegro Duque (1949); Morland 973); Basson (1975); Boyd {1983); Willcock (1983); Egan (1983); Enc. Virg. ii. 402-4 s.v. 'Etimologia* and iii. 849-53 s.v. ‘Onomastica*; Deschamps (1986); Horsfall (1987); O 'H ara (:990a, 19906, 1991, 1992). Some of the problems listed below are already grouped together and discussed in Macr. S a l. 5. 15; others are individually pointed out by Servius and Servius auctus.

I

‘particularize’. Finally, others evade the issues involved by merely cataloguing Virgil’s real or assumed loans. In general these studies do not reveal particular concern for the epic as poetry. They are more concerned to establish Vergil’s dependence on, or divergence from, extant sources. Studies dedicated to Virgil’s etymologizing have occasionally pro­ duced satisfactory results but present four major and interrelated problems. First, they treat proper names as isolated instances, whether they focus on one or more than one case; in the latter case the result is lists of names arranged alphabetically or otherwise. This method of eliciting the etymology of names is strictly connected with the second problem: some findings are (or appear to be) unconvinc­ ing because they are not placed in a broader perspective or because they fail to adopt uniform criteria throughout. Thirdly, all existing studies of this kind treat the etymological meaning of proper names as ‘word-play’ motivated by the poet’s desire to display Alexandrian technique and/or Varronian erudition. Finally, the search for the ‘gloss’ is misguided because some words are ‘glossed’ in a learned manner while others are not, and because the ‘gloss’ may turn out to be not near the name but elsewhere in the Aeneid, Actually, the most exciting, substantial, and profound part of Virgil’s contribution in this area is to be sought outside the limits imposed by ‘glossing’ and ‘word-play’.12 Etymologizing has to do with the meaning of words, and meaning has to do with semantic relations in general. Virgil was certainly imbued with Alexandrian lore but display of learning is hardly his primary aim; not to mention that the apparent formal inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the selection and employment of names defeat the very method and goal of learned poetry. What in Virgil is some­ times abstruse and recondite—for instance names—ultimately orig­ inates from density of thought and profound conceptual patterns. The sustained, pervasive, and deep-going exploitation of the mean­ ing of names seems to go beyond Alexandrian practice. This feature is in complete harmony with the non-Alexandrian profoundness of the epic as a whole, its long-term historical perspective, and the ago­ nizing tension between alternative courses and aspects, such as pub­ lic and private, historical mission and ‘requies laborum’, present and 1 T he forthcoming book by J. j. O ’Hara, entitled True Names : Vergil and the Alexandrian Tradition o f Etymological Wordplay and dedicated to the study of etymological word-play in the works uf Virgil, seems to take this narrow approach, as far as one can judge from the title, from the notice in the Fall 1995 catalogue of the University of Michigan Press, and from O ’Hara’s earlier studies. His new study differs completely from mine in terms of structure, ter­ minology, and. principally, method. O 'H ara first announced that he was working on Virgilian proper names in 1990 (O’Hara {19906), 32). See further my Preface to the present work, above.

past (future), reality and appearances. The power of names to con­ dense concepts, descriptions, and short narratives can tell us a lot about the Aeneid as poetry. But names can only ‘suggest’ or ‘evoke’ meaning. Hence, their meaning can be elicited and/or understood properly by inserting them in a reading of the epic as a whole.

II.

SUBJECT, M E T H O D , AND T E R M IN O L O G Y

i . Etym ological m eaning T he present study deals with the etymological (and sometimes con­ notative) meaning of proper names in the context of semantic rela­ tions. It must be pointed out by way of introduction that etymological criteria seem to have been a primary reason for the poet’s selection and employment of names but not the only reason. Hence the thorough investigation of this aspect of the meaning of names is not intended to be exclusive of other interpretations. In the course of this examination no distinction is made between traditional names and names assumed to have been coined by Virgil. Furthermore, in the context of semantic analysis no distinction is made between the meaning of proper names and the meaning of other words. T he etymology or etymologies of a name are naturally not those found in modern dictionaries, the fruit of research in the field of historical linguistics, but those suggested by the text of the Aeneid, other literary texts, and ancient philologists. Maltby (1991) offers valuable aid in the area of ancient Latin etymologies. Because names ‘suggest’ or ‘evoke’ meaning, the process of elicit­ ing their etymological meaning from the narrative involves a number of interrelated problems. The reader cannot distinguish between sound-play and etymological meaning. Also he cannot decide between two (or even more) etymologies. These may be entirely new, or suggested by sources independent of Virgil; in the latter case they may be exactly the same or similar ones. The poet’s tendency to employ non-typical names (like ‘Metiscus’) leaves ample room for etymological speculation in Greek or Latin, or in both languages, as well as in other languages. Multiple etymologies of the same name are frequent in Latin and Greek from the time of Homer.3 This feature is common in Virgil, where names may either combine etymologies or suggest a different meaning of the same etymology in the course of the narrative. The change of the meaning of names into their opposite is a typical phenomenon, and reflects an overall 3 Cf. M cCartney ( 1937); Stanford (193g); Risch (1947); Rank (1951); Bartelink (1965).

3

cyclical conception of the course of things and of history in general. The issue of whether the meaning of names generates the meaning of the narrative or whether names encapsulate the meaning of the nar­ rative, cannot be resolved; the two approaches are used indifferently in this study. 2. N am es and sem antic relations The method I propose for dealing with the problems expounded above is the analysis of the semantic environment in which a proper name occurs as well as related semantic environments elsewhere in the narrative. Semantic relations are peculiar to each work of litera­ ture and in poetry they are especially complex. The difficulties increase when the meaning of names is involved, which is by nature partially or fully ‘opaque*. One way to cope with the problem is to examine the combination of names with other semantic units of ‘transparent’ meaning.4 The Aeneid presents recurrent patterns of associations, which show that proper names are substitutable seman­ tic units. The practice of providing linguistic evidence for the etymology of a name goes back to Homer. It can be a short narrative or description accompanying the name and explaining its origin and meaning.5 This practice is not unusual in the Aeneid.6 By far the most common form of etymological association from the time of Homer is the one in which a name is ‘glossed’ by a word or phrase of synonymous or opposite sense.7 Numerous instances of this type of etymologizing have been detected in Virgil.8 M odem studies of Homer have shown, however, that the meaning of names functions also within broader narrative or semantic pat­ terns.9 In Virgil this is the typical case. The present study examines names in the context of semantic relations. It specifically explores relations between units of meaning within a sentence or section of a sentence, or in a stretch of text longer than a sentence. These 4 On semantic environment cf. l i l t below. On semantic transparency and opacity' cf. Cruse (1986), 37 ff5 Cf. Horn. Od. 19. 406 ff. concerning the name OSuooeiis, or Hcs. Theog. 144—5 concern* ing the name Κ νκλω ττίς. For other examples of this type of etymology cf. Sulzberger (1926) and Rank (1951), esp. 136fr b Cf. the etymologies of 'L atium ' (8. 322-3, Ch- 7,1.1c). 'Argiletum' (8. 345-6, Ch. 8.1.7c), or ‘Argyripa’ {11.246, Ch. 8.l.i); cf. further Bartelink (1965), passim. 7 McCartney (1927) employs the term ’modifier', but in a restricted (grammatical) sense covering only adjectives and adverbs; for this kind of etymologizing in Homer cf. Rank (195t). 8 Cf. 7. 8 t-2 ‘Fauni, fatidici genitoris’ or i. 744 ‘pluuiasque Hyadas’, and further Bartelink (1965), passim. v Cf. e.g. the studies of Nagy (1979) and Peradotto (1990).

4

relations are treated independently of the sentence structure. T he text itself suggests that units of related meanings (cognates, syn­ onyms, antonyms, hyponyms, and units which the poet tends to associate) are constantly grouped together, forming semantic envi­ ronments which are not regulated or affected by syntax. These groups of semantic units will be called semantic clusters.10 T he semantic clusters of the Aeneid constitute one of the most original and most stimulating linguistic features of V irgili epic. Units of meaning consist of one or more words as well as of parts of words, whether these are found as separate words or not, A segment is an arbitrary semantic unit that is not recognized by morphol­ ogy. It acquires meaning only in a specific context and by virtue of its combination with words of ‘transparent' meaning. For instance, the epithet ‘Sidonius’ combines with words meaning ‘gift’ (‘giving’) or synonymous ones, or words belonging to the same semantic field; hence, -don- can be identified as a segment meaning ‘donum ’ (‘gift’).” Semantic units making up the meaning of a word or discourse unit will be called semantic components.12 For instance, Darkness is a semantic component of Night, but it is also a semantic component of a passage containing a night scene or description. As wilt be explained below, and hopefully will be shown by the semantic ana­ lysis of the text, Virgil favours a limited num ber of semantic compo­ nents which recur in various combinations throughout the Aeneid and, hence, are vitally linked with the ‘meaning’ of the epic. Each combination, which will hereafter be termed semantic sequence, con­ tains components arranged in a logical and ‘meaningful’ order within a stretch of narrative of varying length, which necessarily comprises actions or events. As will be shown in h i —v below, the detailed ana­ lysis of one such sequence, and specifically of the Laocoon-Horse sequence, provides a good basis for understanding the structure and function of most other sequences. Some points need to be clarified regarding the nature of semantic components and their function in semantic sequences. First, a compo­ nent of a semantic sequence can be an abstract (like Flight or ‘dolor’), or a physical entity (like Horse); it may be simple (like Darkness), or composite (like Missile-hurling). Horse and Missile-hurling admit of further analysis into components which make up their individual meanings. The isolation and identification of semantic components are 10 T h e tem i cluster is variously employed in Linguistics; for its use in semantics, but in a different sense, cf. Weinreich (1966). 11 Cf. 11.3 below. 12 T h e term semantic component has been borrowed and adapted to the needs of the pres­ ent study from componential analysis; cf. Lyons (1977). 317 ff.

5

imposed by the text itself. Secondly, one component may evoke another according to very specific patterns of relations visible through­ out the Aeneid, which are discussed below. For instance, Wound may evoke Pointed Weapon, Blood, and Pain; and Ship may evoke Tree (Timber). Finally, a component can link together meanings belonging to different semantic fields. For instance, Flight is a semantic compo­ nent shared by objects and beings which move at high speed through the air or along the ground, or by entities which ‘borrow’ features peculiar to flying (like words). This categorization of semantic compo­ nents makes no distinction between literal and metaphorical mean­ ing.13 3. Illu stratin g theory The following discussion of ‘Sidonius’ and ‘Sidon’ will illustrate the sense of segment, semantic cluster, and semantic component: hic templum lunoni ingens Sidonia Dido condebat, donis opulentum et numine diuae . . .

(i. 446-7)

In the first occurrence of the epithet the reader notes only the simil­ arity of sound between ‘Sidonia’ and ‘donis’. The examination of six other passages reveals the following combinations:1. 678-9 ‘Sidomam . . . dona’; 4. 137 ‘Sidoniam . . . circumdolo’; 4. 545—6 'Sidonia . . . dare’; 4. 683 ‘Sidonios . . , date’; 5· 57ΐ“ 2 ‘Sidonio . . . dederat’; and 9. 263-6 ‘dabo . . . dat Sidonia’. In a total of seven pas­ sages ‘Sidonius’ combines with ‘donum’, ‘do’, and compounds of ‘do’. It can thus be deduced that these combinations form semantic clusters, which evoke for the segment -don- (or -donius; cf. also ‘Sidono’ below) the sense ‘gift’ or ‘giving’ and the semantic compo­ nent of Gift (Giving). Aen. 11.74-5 and 4. 263-4 have two identical lines; ‘Sidonia Dido’ ( 11. 74) clearly picks up ‘munera Dido’ (4. 263), both occurring in the same metrical position. The segment -don-, which has been shown to evoke ‘donum’ or similar, is here replaced by its synonym ‘munera’ (‘gifts’). T he clusters ‘munera . . . auro’ (4. 263-4) and ‘auroque . .. Sidonia .. . auro’ (i i. 72-5) combine Gift and Gold; and ‘diues . . . munera’ combines Wealth and Gift, as in ‘Sidonia . . . donis opulentum’ (1.446-7). Gold (or any other precious material) is a semantic component of Wealth; Gold and Wealth form semantic clusters with Gift (Giving). In other words, the combinations of ‘Sidonius’ are not isolated 13 Cf. 11.4 below.

instances of word-play but have a solid semantic and conceptual basis behind them. In order to appreciate them it is necessary to keep in mind the importance in the Aeneid of the component of Gift (Giving),14 and the semantic field it belongs to as well as adjacent semantic fields. In 4.75 Dido displays to Aeneas her ‘Sidonian wealth and the city built’ (‘Sitfoniasque . . . opes urbemque paratam’): Wealth and City are here portrayed as a kind of 'gift' offered to the Trojan hero. Similarly in 1. 619-22 Teucer comes to Sidon (‘Sidone’) and is 'aided’ ('auxilio’) by Belus, Dido’s father, to settle in ‘rich’ (‘opimam’) Cyprus (cf. ‘opes’, ‘opulentum’ above).15 In all these passages and elsewhere the name ‘Dido’, with or without ‘Sidonia’, also suggests Gift (Giving). T he story of ‘Dido’ is actually encapsulated in the semantic development of this component.16 4. L iteral m eaning Semantic clusters cause not only etymological but also literal mean­ ing to surface. These are interrelated kinds of meaning and are fun­ damental for the reading of the Aeneid proposed in this study. Interaction between literal and metaphorical meaning is constant in the epic. T he following example concerning the employment of ‘robur’ will illustrate this point. ‘Robur’ means ‘oak’, ‘oak-wood’, or ‘object made of oak-wood’; it has also developed the metaphorical meanings of ‘strength’, ‘vigour’, ‘might’, etc. Sometimes ‘robur’ is a generic term for ‘wood’ but the sense ‘oak’ is suggested by the text. Whether employed literally or metaphorically, ‘robur’ is found in clusters with words indicating ‘strength’, ‘vigour’, or ‘might’ (‘ualeo’, ‘ualidus’) or with words which were etymologically associated with ‘uis’ (‘u ir\ ‘uires’, ‘uirtus’, ‘uiuo’, ‘uiuidus’). Aen. 4.441 ‘ualidam cum robore quercum’ recurs in 11. 326-7 as ‘robore (“oak-wood”) . . . ualent (“have power”)’, in 11. 552-3 as ‘manu ualida (“strong hand”) . . . robore (“oak-wood”)’, and in 12. 782-3 as ‘uiribus baud ualuit (“strength availed him not”) . . . roboris ("tree-stum p”)’. ‘Viris’ combines in 9. 764-5 with ‘Phegea’ {‘oakm an’), and in 5. 680-1 with ‘robore’ (‘oak-wood’) as %vell as with ‘uiuit’ (‘retains its force’). In 5. 753—4, ‘robora’ (‘oak-wOod’) com­ bines with ‘uiuida uirtus’ (‘vigorous valour’). In 11. 172-3 ‘truncus in armis’ stands for an oak-trunk decked with T urnus’ arms and 14 IV . 9.4 below, on δόρυ, δώροv, and SoAoj. ts Cf. 2- 341-4, where young Coroebus ‘Mygdonides' brings ‘aid’ (‘auxilium’) to the Trojans. Another notable instance of this segment is discussed in Ch. 2.ii ( ‘Myrmidonum’). 16 Ch. 1.1.6b.

7

arm our17 and ‘robur’ for oaklike strength. Finally, in Georg. 3. 233-5 ‘robur’ is employed synonymously with ‘uires’ (‘robur uiresque’), but the image of the bull butting a tree-trunk (‘arboris obnixus trunco’} evokes the literal meaning of ‘robur’ (‘oak-tree’).18 T he interaction between a man’s ‘uires’ and ‘robur’ (‘oak’) reflects an overall association of Man and Vegetation which is important in the epic.

III.

THE LA O CO O N -H O R SE SEQUENCE: IN TR O D U C TIO N

i . Sem antic en v ironm ent In 2.40-56 Laocoon descends in haste from the citadel of Troy to the shore, where the Greeks have built and left behind the Wooden Horse; he addresses a speech to the Trojans that are engaged in debate about the proper course of action concerning the Horse; and hurls his spear which lodges in the belly of the Horse causing a hol­ low sound to be heard from within. The passage comprises a num ­ ber of semantic components arranged in a sequence; from here on it will be referred to as the Laocoon-Horse sequence. This sequence comprises objects, entities, and actions arranged in a logical and ‘meaningful’ order; they are presented and analysed in iv and v below. The same components recur in numerous other sequences. T he order and the number of components may vary each time, but the semantic relations between them conform to recurring patterns and are always recognizable. One or more of these components may have to be extracted from proper names, metaphors, synecdoches, or metonymies. The whole of the Aeneid could be reduced to a succes­ sion of semantic sequences of varying length, comprising part or all of the semantic components of the present sequence. But since this would result in a very tedious reading of the text, I shall limit myself to pointing out the most memorable instances of semantic sequences and, for the rest, identify prominent components and their relations. It must be made clear that this study is not concerned with a the­ matic analysis of the Laocoon episode. The chronological order of events in the Aeneid takes us from the Fall of Troy to the death of Turnus. Echoes of, and parallels with, the Laocoon-Horse sequence are noted frequently, but principally in order to clarify semantic rela­ tions. T he ‘transformation’ of this sequence and its components may occasionally be important but, for the most part, the recurrence of 17 Bentley’s emendation of ’in armis’ to 'in aruis’, accepted by Mynors, is not a happy one. iH Cf. further Chs. 2.1.15c and vt,2, 11.1.1a, 12.lit.2 and passim.

various features has a linguistic value. In other words, the sequence in discussion is understood as a semantic environment made up of the components presented below in detail. This semantic environment appears repeatedly in the epic, but semantic relations within it vary and, most importantly, the value of the components differs each time. Rather than attempt to compose an abstract sequence, I have chosen to occasionally compare and contrast other sequences with the present one. Reconstructing an ‘archetypal sequence’ would be an effort that may have theoretical value but entails enormous diffi­ culties, given the complexity of semantic interaction between the components. The Juno-Aeolus sequences (Aen. i . 34 ff.) will also be employed in the course of this study as a model for comparison and contrast. Semantic analysis will, of course, take into consideration the plot and structure of the narrative as well as viewpoint, but it is again necessary to note in advance that this is not a narratological study. The Laocoon-Horse sequence has the enormous value of incorpo­ rating almost all semantic components in a short stretch of text that narrates a memorable scene in vivid and powerful language. Most components are represented in a literal and transparent fashion, not as metaphors or allusions that have to be extracted from the text. In addition, probably no other single entity in the Aeneid combines all the features noted in the complex semantic structure of the Wooden Horse. Finally, Laocoon is a unique character in the Aeneid, to be paralleled only by Palinurus. He represents an ideal which Aeneas does not match,19 though the latter possesses other virtues. I refer in particular to Laocoon’s clarity of vision and mind, his capacity to see beyond appearances, his deep-seated belief in the cyclical course of history, and, above all, his ability to sense danger behind peace. Laocoon has an advantage over Aeneas, in that he is introduced after the enemy has departed and before he returns, while Aeneas is intro­ duced after the enemy has invaded Troy. In a sense, the intervention of Laocoon is also addressed to Virgil’s contemporaries and, I may say, to Augustus himself.20 It is an admonition that in peacetime vig­ ilance should be the supreme virtue, since violence may again break loose in the future. 2. Spatial and tem poral features of the epic The discussion of the semantic components of the Laocoon-Horse sequence requires some background information concerning the 19 Cf. Ch. 8.1.10b on Aeneas and the Shield.

20 Cf. Ch.

8.V-.8.

spatial and temporal features of the Aeneid. Throughout the epic the focus is on limits and boundaries, spatial or temporal, which deter­ mine all other spatial and temporal features. Transitional points and moments are critical in the narrative (cf. e.g. 12,940 ‘cunctantem’, of Aeneas before killing Turnus). In Aeneid 2 all factors associated with the entry of the Horse into Troy are introduced before this happens, and the truth is almost made manifest at the moment the Horse passes through the gates (242-3). The dominant axis is the vertical one, and especially its upper extremity (a limit). Semantic interaction between upper extremities, both of living beings and of inanimate objects, is frequent and important (cf. the wide range of meanings of the terms ‘uertex’, ‘caput’, etc.). In the case of the horizontal axis the focus is again placed on extremities and boundaries: ‘limen’ is a typical boundary on land;21 and ‘litus’ (‘shore’) separates sea from land, is the centre of actions and events, and reflects all other features of the land (in Aeneid 3 the Trojans almost never proceed inland). T he extremities of the vertical and the horizontal axis interrelate: in Aeneid 2 all events concerning the Horse take place on the ‘litus’ and the Horse is eventually dragged to the ‘arx’, where the last act in the drama of Troy is played out. Important too is the component of Circle (Curve, Cavity). A cir­ cle is bounded by a closed curve, every point of which is equidistant from its middle. In the opening episode of Aeneid 2 the cavity of the Horse (‘cauae . . . cauernae’) concealing violent forces is set against the protected and protecting space of the ‘urbs’. The component of Circle (Cavity) is as vital for understanding this arrangement and the meaning of ‘urbs’ (etymologized from ‘orbis’, ‘circle’) as it is for understanding Virgil’s cyclical conception of history.22 ‘Caelum’, the upper extremity of the cosmic axis, is in Virgil (and frequently in pre-Virgilian poetry) conceived as a vault and the narrative suggests an etymology from ‘cauum’.23 Finally, Virgil’s attention focuses on the extremities and cavities of the human body.

21 Cf, Bullock-Davies (1970); Quiter (1984); Edgeworth (1986). 22 Cf. ν, ι. 2 below. Cf. the interaction between ‘caeli’ and ‘latebris’ (3. 232), ‘caelum’ and 'curuato' (3. 564); also 4. 451 ’caeli convexa’ and 6. 24t ‘supera ad con%'cxa\ For pre-Virgilian poetry cf. Jocelyn {1967) on Επη. 96; for the etymology of ‘caelum’ cf. Var. L L 5. 18—20. IO

IV.

THE LA O COON-HORSE SEQUENCE: TH E SEM ANTIC CO M PO N EN TS

1. H eight Laocoon descends from the top of the citadel (‘summa . . . ab arce'). A high post serves as a place on which one stands or sits, from where one watches or speaks, to which one climbs, and from which one comes down. The upper extremity of the vertical axis can be the peak, top, or raised part of natural elevations, man-made structures (like buildings and towers), and trees. In the case of the cosmic axis it is the sky and heavenly bodies, and in the case of the human body the (top of the) head and its parts and organs. Upper extremities interact semantically with one another, as for instance, in Anchises’ catalogue of Roman heroes.24 The importance attached to the head in relation to the rest of the body is clear, for instance, in the mention of Priam’s headless body (‘truncus . . . auulsumque umeris caput’) lying on the shore of Troy (2. 557-8), a reference which interacts with the collapse of T roy’s citadel, the topmost point of the city. Pivotal extremities are the ‘arx’, and mountain-tops, as well as the ship’s stern, which is ‘celsa’ (3. 527). One reason why these extremi­ ties are typically selected is because they provide a literal, or metaphorical, ‘view’ from above. For instance, a term like ‘scopulus’ combines Height with Sight.25 The ‘arx’ and the ‘puppis’ provide both a ‘view’ of things as well as ‘control’ over things. ‘Puppis’ is the back part of the ship from where the helmsman steers it by watching the course of heavenly bodies. ‘Arx’ is a vital component of City (cf. V.2.1 below). It was etymologized ‘ab arcendo’,26 as a fortified place the function of which is to ‘keep the enemy away’; Laocoon’s descent from the ‘arx’ has precisely this sense, as indicated clearly in 2. 56. The etymological meaning of ‘arx’ is variously exploited throughout the Aeneid. In the present sequence T roy’s ‘arx’ is threatened by the mountain-size Wooden Horse. Elsewhere ‘arx’ and Mountain may merge, as for instance in 1. 56 where ‘arce’ suggests both ‘citadel* and ‘m ountain-top’. 2. S ight and L ight Sight in this sequence is encapsulated in the component -coon (< Koitv) of the name ‘Laocoon’.27 The cluster ‘Laocoon . . . ab arce’ 24 Ch, 6.VU. 25 IV.2 below. 2ti Cf. Var. L L 5. 151 ; Bartelmk {1965), 95. 27 Ch. z.1 .2 ,1.4, and v; cf. further v.i .1 below.I I I

typically combines Sight and Height. As noted in i v . i above, high posts have the advantage of offering a literal or metaphorical ‘view’ of things from above. T he eyes themselves are located in the upper extremity of the human body (cf. 'ora1, ‘face’ and/or ‘eyes’) and in addition they are frequently set in relation to the high extremity of the cosmic axis where light has its source.28 Sight and Light interre­ late inherently; and it is no surprise that the toponym ‘Leucates’ evokes both of them.29 In the case of divinities looking down from the sky Sight relates to the upper extremity of the cosmic axis. In the Aeneid the origin of actions and events is normally placed in Sight or Absence of Sight (Blindness). Sight is a component which relates semantically to all other components, individually or in com­ bination. T he only other components of a comparable semantic range are Circle and Fire. Sight and reaction to Sight relate inti­ mately to the course of action taken each time.30 Sight arouses uncontrolled passions and emotions, or it can be subjected to rational control. There is a constant interplay between Sight and Absence of Sight (Blindness, mostly metaphorical); this is a condition which affects practically all major characters, including Aeneas. A basic challenge put to the heroes of the epic is to distinguish between appearances and reality, and to react rationally to what they perceive through their eyes.31 Finally, the progress of history after the destruction of Troy is marked by a series of ‘bright’ signposts. Aeneas is guided by the ghost of Creusa towards ‘Hesperia’ and seeks the summit of ‘Ida’ (< i6etV) at the moment ‘light-bringing’ ‘Lucifer’ rises above it; he receives guidance from Apollo at ‘Delos’ (< 0 ήλος) and his ship bears a figurehead of ‘Ida’; he leaves the Underworld by the shining Ivory Gate. His son 'Ascanius' will found ‘bright’ 'Alba*32 and the course of Roman history will culminate in the dedication of spoils by Octavian-Augustus at the snow-white marble temple of ‘radiant’ ‘Phoebus’. scopulus, opoy, and Ida; Palinwras and Orontes As noted in i v . i above, the high posts of the epic are frequently selected because they encapsulate the component of Sight (or Light). T he ‘scopulus’ (‘rock’), from the top of which Aeneas casts his gaze around in i. i8off., is literally a ‘lookout-post’ (The Horse is by synecdoche ‘robur’ (‘oak’, 2. 230 and 260). T he literal association of Mountain and Tree is important for the course of the narrative in Aeneid 2 (305 ff., 024ff.) and culminates in Aeneas’ ascent to M t. ‘Ida’ () is sacred space ‘not to be entered’ (cf. ‘penetralia’); but δύω(δύομαι can also mean ‘get into’ clothes, and thus ‘adytis’ relates to the etymology of ‘Vesta’ from ‘uestio’. T he ‘Penates’ are from a semantic viewpoint an embodi­ ment of the innermost, sacred City-space, which is ‘enveloped’ by the protective ‘garment’ of ‘Vesta’ (< ‘uestio’) and merges with Eternal Fire, T he ‘cloak’ of ‘Vesta’ ensures the regeneration of Troy; by contrast, the new serpent-skin of ‘Pyrrhus’ will later mark its destruction.27 The ‘Penates’ are first mentioned just after the Greeks come out of the ‘cauo . . . robore’ (260); they pick up and reverse features of the cavity of the Horse (15-20). T he cluster ‘penatis . . . penetralibus’ relates to ‘penitusque’ (μνχώ)\ ‘Vesta’ relates to ‘intexunt’ (lit. ‘weave together’); and ‘ignem’ contrasts with ‘caeco*. T he semantic relations oppose innermost sacred Space to innermost Recess con­ cealing armed forces, sacred Garment to Weaving as a metaphor for δόλος, and Sacred Fire to Darkness. Also Sacred Fire contrasts with Destructive Fire (289).28 In 748 Aeneas hides the ‘Penates’ in a hol­ low valley (‘curua ualle’) that offers protection while he returns to Cf. i. 477 ‘lora tenens’; everywhere else in the Aeneid ‘lora’ means 'reins', Cf. also Horn. II. 16. 7 3 7 -9 β ά λ( S ’ Έ κτορος ήνιοχηα , . , ίππων ηνία ίχ ο ν τα . 14 Cf. Horn. II. 17· 472·"3 r e litta S ' Έ κτω ρ \ αότόϊ cymr ώμαισιν ayaAAerat Αίακί&αο. 2S Cf. H o r n . //, 16- Ί ΐ 2 Έ κ τ ω ρ . . . eye. 2,1 Var. apud August. CD 7. 24; Cic, Leg. 2, 29 and N D 2. 67; cf. 1.14b and 14c below in greater detail. 27 On the 'Penates’ cf. Introd. v.2.1: on 'adytum ', M od and 1$d below, 2" Cf. 3. 148-9 ‘Phrygiique penates . . . ex ignibus', with Ch. 9.1.3c.

78

Troy. T he goal of his wanderings is to earn,' the ‘Penates’ in his ‘hol­ low’ ship to the ‘safe shelter’ of ‘Latium’, the etymology of which (< ‘lateo’) is a reversal of the threatening ‘latebrae’ of the Wooden Horse. Hector’s trium ph is condensed into his seizing and wearing of Achilles’ spoils (‘exuuias indutus’) and hurling ‘Phrygian’ firebrands against the Greek ships. ‘Exuuiae’ (a cognate of ‘uestis’ and ‘indu­ tus’) is armour stripped from an enemy, but can also refer to a gar­ ment or animal skin; all of its meanings share the component of Cavity and interact semantically in the Aeneid. Wearing the ‘exuuiae’ of a slain enemy invariably leads to the death of the new possessor; from Virgil’s viewpoint Achilles avenges Patroclus for the same reason that Aeneas avenges Pallas. In Aeneid 2 armour interacts semantically with serpent-skin. Here ‘exuuias indutus’ contrasts with ‘tumentis’, which suggests that Hector’s own swollen skin, as it were, is about to ‘come o ff (cf, 472 ‘tum idum ’; cf. ‘serpit* above); the dramatic change is emphasized by ‘quantum m utatus’. Finally, the narrative invites an association of ‘exuuias’ with ‘Vestamque’ (< ‘uestio’) and of ‘ignis’ (276) with ‘ignem’ (297). It involves a con­ trast between Death and Regeneration and between Destructive and Sacred Fire.29 7. A eneas’ b lu rred vision (298-317) The name ‘Anchises’ suggests α γχί (‘near’), but his house is secluded from the events of the destruction and screened by trees. Aeneas appears as if within a ‘forested cavity’ which obstructs his vision (cf. the wooden cavity of the Horse); he perceives the invasion through the gradually growing sound of battle, which eventually causes him to wake up and climb to the topmost height of the roof [Ascent]. A high post is normally associated with Sight. But unlike ‘Laocoon\ Aeneas lacks ‘vision’ and has no ‘memory’ of the dream; it is sound that ‘sharpens* his senses. He is likened to a shepherd taking in the sound of destruction from the peak of a rock. Aeneas does not under­ stand (‘inscius’) and is stunned (‘stupet’) by the sound, just as earlier the Trojans (3iff,), among them ‘Thymoetes’ (θνμοιτη$)> were ‘stunned’ at the sight of the Horse. When eventually the truth of the matter and the guile of the Greeks become clear (‘manifesta . . . patescunt’), it is the glow of burning fires which provides light. Daylight does not guarantee clear vision, and this is the more so when the source of light is the fire On ‘Phrygios’ cf. 9.1.3c; on ‘exuuiae’, Inlrod. iv.9.3 and 1.12b and 14c below.

destroying Aeneas’ homeland.30 Frantic (‘amens’) Aeneas seizes his arms ready to muster a force and rush to the ‘arx’ (and ‘avert’ [‘arceo’] the capture), though he recognizes that his reaction is devoid of λόγος (‘nec sat rationis in armis’). ‘Furor’ and ‘ira’ drive Aeneas’ ‘mind’ to a headlong course (‘furor iraque mentem praeci­ pitat1). The cluster ‘mentem praecipitat’ combines ‘mens* (voi?) and ‘caput’, as the seat of intellect and reason; but while ‘Capys’ ( < ‘caput’) earlier opposed ‘Thym oetes’ (< θυμός) and advised the Trojans to hurl the Horse headlong (‘praecipitare’) into the sea, now Aeneas’ θυμός (‘furor’ and ‘ira’) metaphorically drives his voti? head­ long (‘mentem praecipitat’). No descent from the roof is mentioned; ‘praecipitat’ is a metaphor for the downward course, which in its turn picks up the violent downward flow of torrential water (‘montano flumine . . . praecipttisque trahit siluas’). Mountain and Headlong Course are next encapsulated in the names of the Trojans whom Aeneas musters and takes to battle. Especially significant is the destruction of cultivated land, unparalleled in the Homeric models of the simile (304 and 306). The destruction or perversion of fertility is caused by the forces that came out of wooden structures (ships and the Horse), just as the mountain torrent relates to the mountain-size Horse. T he last ves­ tige of vegetation in Troy will be the chthonic cypress-tree; but the ghost of Creusa will in the end promise settlement in the fertile plain of the T iber.31 8. T h e descent of P anthus (318-35) Hector had earlier told Aeneas in a dream that Troy was falling from its lofty heights and instructed him to ‘flee’, taking along the gods of Troy (‘sacra . . . penatis’); now ‘Panthus Othryades’, who has seen the destruction from the heights of the citadel (cf. Laocoon), descends at frantic speed (‘cursuque amens’) bearing in his hand ‘sacra . . . uictosque deos’. The name ‘Panthus’ combines πας (‘every’, ‘all’) with Sight, Speed, and God; θοός(θ 4ω) is suggested by ‘cursu*, and θ€0 ς by ‘Phoebique . . . sacra . . . deos’; and the two words interact etymologically.32 T he cluster ‘Panthus. . . Phoebique’ Jl> T he language of destruction is projected into Aeneas' reaction; compare 'furentibus' and ‘furor’, 'praecipitisque* and 'praecipitat', ‘ardet' and ‘ardent’. 31 Cf. Introd. IV.9.3; also l. is d and VI.2 below. 31 Cf. Introd. iv.5 on the segment -them or -thus. ‘Panf/jur’ and ’cursu’ have already been associated by Morland {1968), 6 0 ff. deos ('god) was etymologized from Beat (’run’), and the play on Θ4ω Ιθοός and θ*ός has been noted in Homer (Haywood (1984)). Π άνθους properly means 'swift in all things’; cf. Wathelet {1988: 813) with literature, and note Horn, II. 16. 808-13.

80

combines Sight (θίαίθΐάομαι) with Light (cf. φοιβος, ‘bright').33 T he patronymic O thryades’ suggests Mountain (οθρνς), Steepness (òflpuóets), and Sight {άθρέω). Thus, the cluster ‘Panthus Othryades’ encapsulates basic components of Laocoon’s descent but adapted to the present context: ‘amens’ associates Panthus with Aeneas: O thryades’ picks up ‘montano’ and ‘praecipitisque’/'praecipitat’.34 The merging of ‘arx’ and Mountain, two basic components of the Laocoon-Horse sequence, suggests a radical change in the situation. The abandonment of the temple of Apollo, god of colonization, marks the end of Troy, but simultaneously the end looks forward to a new beginning. ‘Panthus’ has ‘seen it ail’ from the ‘arx’, and the sight has driven him ‘headlong’ to desperation and to Aeneas’ house. Aeneas is already determined to make for the ‘arx’, from which he sees Panthus coming. Height and Sight merge in Aeneas’ anguished question to Panthus (‘quo res summa loco, Panthu? quam prendimus arcem?’). But the source of light is for ‘Panthus’, as earlier for Aeneas, the fire destroying Troy and the flash of swords;35 and his speech is con­ cluded with ‘caeco Marte resistunt’ (note the contrast with ‘uigiles’), where Blindness encapsulates the hopelessness of things. Laocoon’s descent from the ‘arx’ was intended to ‘avert’ (‘arceo’) the capture; Panthus’ descent implies that this is impossible. 9. αιττύς ολ€θρος (336-54) T he hopeless situation described by O thryades’ drives Aeneas ‘headlong’ into battle; the hero’s reaction picks up 316-17 ‘furor iraque mentem | praecipitat’. This ‘precipitate’ and uncontrolled charge is encapsulated in the names of the Trojans ‘Rhipeus’ and ‘Aepytus’: ‘Aepytus’ suggests αίπνς, which means ‘high and steep’; ‘Rhipeus’ suggests ρίπτω (‘throw’) and ριπ-η (‘swing or force with which anything is thrown’). The two names combine Downward Movement and Hurling, components of the Laocoon-Horse sequence; but here it is Aeneas and his companions who ‘throw themselves headlong’ into battle and death. Illuminating parallels are ‘Atax' and ‘iacio’, and ‘excussus Aconteus’.36 The underlying idea of throwing oneself down a precipice37 may 33 Cf. Hesych. θοός· λαμπρός. 34 On ‘Othryades’ cf. viii.t below; on ‘praecipitat’, 1.7 above. 35 Cf. 327—33 ‘incensa . . . incendia . . . corusco’; on 'arduus' and ‘ardeo’ cf. vi-3 below; on ‘Argos’ and άργός (‘shining’) cf. Ch. to.i.bf. 30 On 'Aepytus* and ‘Rhipeus’ cf. vm .2 below; on 'A ia x \ Ch. i.i.ib ; on 'Aconteus’, Ch.

n.i.s.

37 Cf. Thuc. 7. 44. 8 κατά r< τώμ κρημνών . . . ρίπτοντ€ς (αντονς.

8l

have been inspired by Homer’s formula αίττυς όλεθρός, which means ‘steep (headlong) destruction’.38 In the present context the down­ ward course of the Trojans to battle and death is also a projection of the ‘collapse* of Troy (290). Homer applies αΐπύς and αιπεινός to mountains and cities on rocky heights, and principally to Troy. ‘Aepytus’ is appropriately introduced after the speech of O thryades’ which broadly echoes Horn, //. 13. 772—3 νυν ώλετο πάσα κατ* άκρης I Ίλιος αίιτεινη’ νυν rot σώς αίπνς όλεθρός.39 io .

ca u a u m bra

and

caeca nox

(355—434)

a. Trojan and Greek blindness T he Trojans rush into battle, like ravening wolves who prowl blindly in the black mist while their cubs await them with throats athirst; dark night hovers around the Trojans with its enveloping shadow (‘caua . . . um bra’). ‘Caua’, ‘faucibus’, and ‘caecos’ combine Cavity and Blindness, features of the interior of the Wooden Horse. T he new components are Hunger and Rapacity. The ‘caua . . . um bra’ hovers around the Trojans [Circle] like a rapacious bird: the dark­ ness of night merges with the darkness of death, leading Trojans and Greeks to the Underworld (‘sub um bras’). Most importantly, ‘um bra’ and ‘nebula’ are ‘veils’ cast over the eyes and minds of Aeneas’ companions, and of Androgeos and his party, which obstruct or blur vision. T he enveloping shadows and mist interact semantically with other manifestations of Cavity (Enclosed Space) and Circle (‘exuuiae’, bonds, ‘adyta’). b. Androgeos: the fatal distortion of a name (370-85) The Greek Androgeos encounters the party of Aeneas in the dark­ ness and mistakes them for Greeks; he shows himself confident of Greek victory and trusting of those he has met, but being ignorant of the ground, he is immediately surrounded and killed together with his men. ‘Androgeos’ is ‘the man who has landed’ at Troy (άνήρ+γή) and represents the forces who have returned to the city in ships.40 But after ‘landing’ he, as it were, steps on a snake lying ‘on the ground' (‘humi . . . Androgeos’); his death suggests γη as a compo­ nent of Death and Burial. ■ 1K Koch (1976). M Cf. vili, i below. Downward Course is also suggested by the cluster ‘Hvpanisque Dymasque', which evokes νπο&ύομαι (‘go under or down into'; cf. Horn. Od. 4. 435). 40 Cf. 11.3 below on 'prim us se Danaum , . . nauihus' in relation to the appearance of Laocoon, and v below on ‘Laocoon' and ‘Androgeos’. On ‘Androgeos’ cf. further Ch. 6.11.1. 82

Androgeos’ lack of prudence and foresight makes him a reverse image of ‘Laocoon’. In realizing his error he is likened to a man who has inadvertently (‘improuisum’) trodden with all the weight of his body upon a snake and retreats in terror at the sight (‘uisu tremefac­ tu s’). T he accumulation of terms for ‘fear’ (‘trepidusque’, ‘tremefac­ tus’, ‘formidine’) suggests a contrast with ‘uirtus’ and a distortion of the component ‘uir’ (avrjp). 'Androgeos’ is the first and only named victim of the Trojans but he is unlike ‘Thessamfruy’ and 'Sthenelus’, the first Greeks to come out of the Horse; his ‘fear’ anticipates the retreat of those Greeks who return in base terror (‘formidine turpi’) to the belly of the Horse (400-1 ). 'Androgeos’ may be the victim of Trojans concealed in the darkness [‘uirtus’ and ‘dolus’], but it is himself who has aroused the ‘tumens ira’ of the serpent by stepping on it with the whole weight of his body (‘nitens’). The reaction of the Trojans to the words of Androgeos (373-5) is that of a hurt or injured animal. T heir ‘tumens ira’ does not ‘subside’: they kill Androgeos and his party and disguise themselves with their ‘exuuiae’.41 c. Changing ‘skin’ (386-401) Trojan Coroebus, encouraged by the success, suggests that they should take the road to safety which Fortune points out to them (‘m onstrat’) and where she shows herself (‘ostendit se’) auspicious. T h e Trojans change their armour for that of their victims [Concealment and δόλο?],42 and have temporary success. But the course through the ‘caecam . , . noctem’ is a ‘blind’ course which leads to death; soon the Greeks will return from the belly (‘aluo’) of the Horse, where they sought temporary shelter. Young ‘Coroebus’ hopes to acquire the ‘uires’ of 'Androgeos’ by putting on his arms; but the component γή points to death. The pre­ ceding scene suggests semantic interaction between serpent-slough and armour, which is here evoked by the name of the youth (κόρος and $817). T he stratagem of the Trojans is disastrous because this is not a ‘new skin’ (ηβη), like that of Pyrrhus, but the ‘old skin’ (yijpas),43 which was stripped from the bodies of slain enemies. ‘Induitur’ contrasts with its cognate ‘exuuiae’, while the name ‘Dymas* suggests όνω-ομαι, ‘get into* clothes or armour (as in 41 Compare ‘iras . . . tumentem’ with 6.407 'tumida ex ira’ and 8. 40 ‘tumor . . . et trae’; and cf. Ch. 1.1.1 a on Juno’s ‘ira’. On ‘tumeo’ and ’exuuiae’ cf. Introd. IV.9.3 and 1.12b below, 41 For ‘laterique’ (393) cf. 1.13c below. 41 Both terms occur in Nie. 77». 137-8, which was one of the models for Virgil's Pyrrhus—snake simile. As early as Horn. II. g. 446 they are associated with rejuvenation: γήρας θήθ4ΐν νόον ήβιόοντα.. In another version of this rejuvenation metaphor, this time in connection with M edea’s magical arts, we encounter the expression κόρον ήβώοντα (Noslot fr. 7 Bernabé), which is condensed in the name ‘Coroebus’.

83

[ev]5u/u.a, ‘garment’); Virgil seems to treat ‘Dymas’ as a cognate of ‘induo’. Finally, 'Rhipeus' suggests ρίπτω (‘throw o ff armour or clothes), and thus the hero is appropriately mentioned before Dymas. d. C h a n d ra : vain gaze and web of bonds (402-9) The Trojans see fecce’) Cassandra being dragged out of the ‘adyta’ of the temple of Minerva; she vainly uplifts {‘tendens’) her blazing eyes (‘ardentia lumina’) towards the sky because her hands are con­ fined by bonds (‘arcebant uincula’). Coroebus is unable to tolerate the sight and in a state of frenzy thrown himself amid the Greeks and seizes the maiden from their hands. Cassandra’s ‘ardentia lumina’ suggest a disturbed or ecstatic state of mind; they arouse the frenzied and fiery love of Coroebus (343) but the ‘light’ they emit can only lead to disaster.44 The cluster 'Cassandra . . . frustra’ evokes ‘cassus’ and ‘incassum’, ‘(in) vain’.45 Elsewhere, ‘Cassandra’ is typically associated with ‘vainly uttered’ prophecies resulting from a confused mind (‘furor’);46 Coroebus’ erotic desire for ‘Cassandra’ is also ‘vain’ and ‘frenzied’. Other meanings of ‘cassus’, like ‘hollow’ and ‘empty’, relate to the άδυτοί of the temple (‘Cassandra adytisque’), a sacred space which her enemies were not permitted to enter. The detail of the ‘bonds* of ‘Cassandra’ is not found anywhere else and no Greek hero is directly mentioned as the perpetrator of the act. In the Aeneid ‘uincula’ are sometimes treated as ‘garment’47 and are thus allusively associated with Weaving. The cluster ‘Minerua . . , Cassandra’ is found only in Georg. 4. 246-7, where it refers to a spider’s web (‘casses’) with an allusion to the Lydian weaver Arachne: ‘inuisa Mineruae | laxos in foribus suspendit aranea cas­ sis’. The cluster ‘Cassandra . . . frustra . . . uincula’ echoes the ancient etymological association of ‘cassus’ and ‘cassis* (‘casses’). Circle (Bonds) and Weaving relate to each other as Cavity and Weaving in the case of the Wooden Horse, where the Greeks ‘weave together’ (‘intexunt’) the sides of the Horse with the aid of Pallas; the ‘web’ of planks has been turned into a ‘web’ of bonds. Actually, the dragging of Cassandra from the temple of ‘Minerua’ ( < ‘m unus’) reverses semantically the dedication of the Horse to the goddess [Giving and Taking]. In addition, the ‘web’ of the bonds of ‘Cassandra’ relates to the ‘exuuiae’ (a cognate of ‘uestis’) worn by Coroebus. In Virgil’s 44 Introd. iv.3; 1.5b above. 45 Cf. 12. 780 'opemque dei non cassa in uota uocautt’. 4 with one exception, are found in Book 2. ‘Sinus’ in the sense of ‘serpent-coil’ occurs only in the snake excursus of the Third Geòrgie (424), from where ‘delitui’ is also borrowed as well as most of the linguistic material for the description of serpents in Aeneid 2. The only occurrence of ‘sinus' in Aeneid 2 is in 23: the 106 Cf. the testimonia in Call. fr. 232. 1 Pfeiffer. In names like Δημοκόων and Λαοκόων the sense of -κόων may have developed to 'lord’ or ‘ruler’, but this meaning, perhaps suggested by 'magna comitante caterua’ (2. 40}, is not discussed in connection with Laocoon. Ch. 4.11.1. "Λ Knox {1950), 390. He also compares ‘uersare dolos’ of Sinon (62) with 11.753 ‘serpens sinuosa uolumina uersat'. Georg. I. 244 and 3. 424; Aen. 2. 208 and 229; 11.753; on 'insinuo’ cf. 1.4b above. Knox {1950: 390) detects a ‘resemblance’ between 'Sinon' and ’sinus’/'sinuo".

103

sense is ‘bay’, but ‘male fida’ and especially ‘Tenedos' suggest the sense 'serpent-coil’. 2.

l a x a t c la u s t r a S i n o n

and

l a x a n t a r u a s in u s

(256-64)

The language employed for the opening of the Horse by Sinon and the exit of the Greeks is modelled on Georg. 2. 317,330-1, and 362-4, where Virgil treats of the planting and pruning of vines. In winter the North wind and the frost make the earth impenetrable (‘claudit’; cf. ‘claustra’), but in springtime Mother Earth is impregnated by rain and ‘the fields loosen their bosoms’ (‘laxant arua sinus’; cf. ‘laxat claustra Sinon’). Later, the poet advises the farmer to prune the vines when the vine-shoot ‘is pushing its way joyously into the air’ (‘dum se laetus ad auras | palmes agit’; cf. ‘ad auras . . . laetique’) and when it is ‘launched into the void with loosened reins' (‘laxis . . . immissus habenis’). T he tradition that the Wooden Horse was female and pregnant dates back to Aeschylus. Virgil echoes this tradition through the employment of terms for ‘womb' (‘uterus', ‘aluus’) for the cavity of the Horse, and allusions to pregnancy and birth. Similarly, in Georg. 2. 324 ff. the poet uses language borrowed from physical generation (conception, pregnancy, and childbirth). T he linguistic echoes from the Georgies suggest first an association between the ‘sinus' of the earth on the one hand, and ‘Sinon' and the womb (‘uterus’) of the hollow' oak (‘cauo . . . robore') on the other;110 but the forces released by Sinon from the womb of the Horse represent a destructive and perverted aspect of fertility. Strictly relevant is the fact that the praises of spring in the Georgies are followed by the beginning of the earth and the birth of the first men, also in springlike conditions (340-1 ‘uirumque | terrea progenies duris caput extulit aruis’). Furthermore, the ‘rebirth’ of the Greeks out of the ‘cauo . . . robore’ echoes the myth of men born from oak (8. 315 ‘gensque utrum trun­ cis et duro robore nata’).115 A further association is that between the Greeks coming out of the Horse and the sprouting of young vine-shoots; the horse-riding (driving) metaphor employed in the Georgies reinforces the associ­ ation between Vine and Horse. The vine is an attribute of ‘Bacchus’, who in the Aeneid frequently stands also for War and Violence. The pruning of the vine is a means of controlling its horselike ‘impetus’; but in Aeneid 2 the vinelike sprouting of the Greeks from the Wooden ΜK I. 196—7 ’Trinacria , . . diuidit’; 3. 383—4 ‘diuidit . . . Trinacria’, 429—31 'Trinacrii . . . semel informem . . . uidissc’ (Scylla is ‘triformis’), 435-40 ’unum . , . omnibus unum . . . iterumque iterumque . . , Trinacria', 581-2 ‘omnem . . , Trinacriam ’; 5. 300 ‘duo T rinacrii’, 392-3 ’omnem Trinacriam ’, 555-7 ‘Trinacriae , . . bina’. ^ Kraggerud (1968), i6off, 100 Cf, Frame (1978: 6 6 ff.) on the Cyclopes and the wheel of the sun.137

137

‘blindly’ are indications that the place is inhabited by the blinded Cyclops. It is worthy of note that the Etna ekphrasis, occurring immediately next, is closely modelled on Georg, i . 471 ff. where it is found after an eclipse of the sun {463 ff.). Later on in the narrative, the term ‘lumen’ is employed for the eye (sight) of the Cyclopes (635, 658, 663, 677) as well as for the light of the moon (645) and the sun (600 ‘caeli spirabile lumen’). c. The Etna ekphrasis (570-87) Hollow Etna and Jupiter’s thunderbolt. Etna is a hollow mountain sending dark and flaming volcanic material into the sky with a th u n ­ dering sound. T he thundering sound (‘tonat’) and the anthropomor­ phic elements (‘uiscera’, ‘eructans’, ‘cum gemitu’) relate to the story of Enceladus, who was struck down by Jupiter’s thunderbolt and whose half-burnt body was buried under Etna (578—82). Throughout the night the Trojans can hear the horrifying sound but cannot identify its source because the smoke has utterly darkened the sky. In the Etna ekphrasis Mountain and Cavity combine with Sound, Darkness, and Fire, components of Volcanic Eruption; Etna merges with Enceladus, and Eruption is ultimately the result of a thunderbolt-strike,101 from which Αίτνα received its name (cf. below). The darkening of the sky and perception through sound relate to the condition of the blinded Cyclops, just as ‘uiscera’ and ‘eructans’ anticipate Cannibalism and Vomiting (622 ff.). Enceladus and Aetna. Under ‘Aetna’ (Αίτνα) Virgil has placed 'Enceladus' ( ’Εγκέλαδος), instead of Typhoeus, because the two names combine Fire and Sound: the former was etymologised from afflai (‘burn’), and the latter was associated w'ith κέλαδος (κελάδω) and Artemis’ epithet KtAaScivij, terms signifying ‘sound’ and ‘noise’ (cf. ‘cum gemitu’; ‘intremere . . . m urm ure’).102 The ‘curuae . . . cauernae’ of ‘burning’ Etna (674) relate to ‘Enceladus' as the blazing eye of the ‘Cyclops’ (637) relates to 'Polyphemus' [Cavity/Curve, Fire, and Sound]; Dark Fire relates to the blinded Cyclops. The story of Enceladus, who was struck by Jupiter’s thunderbolt, is encapsulated in the clusters ‘tonat Aetna’ and 'Enceladi semustum fulmine corpus’, combining respectively Thunderbolt-sound and Fire, Sound and Thunderbolt-fire. 101 Cf. Introd. iv.io.j. ,], who thus rejects the idea of revenge [τισυ] for wrongdoing (‘sceleris . . . iniuria’).105 e. T he story of Achaemenides {613-54) Achaemenides, son of Adamastus: the distortion of a name (613-18). Encouraged by the attitude of the Trojans, Achaemenides reveals his name and identity: he is from Ithaca, a companion of Ulysses; he went to Troy because his father ‘Adamastus1 was too poor to keep him; he was abandoned in the Cyclops1 cave when the Greeks thoughtlessly fled the place in terror. Critics have regarded the character of Achaemenides as Virgil's invention and have linked his apparently fic­ titious name with Άχαιός+ μένω (‘the Greek who was left behind1) or with a^oy (‘distress’, ‘suffering’) or with ‘Achaemenes’, the mythical founder of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty.106 ‘Achaemenides’ is an ‘Achaean’ who wishes that his poverty had remained (‘mansisset1; cf. μένω) his lot (‘fortuna’) in life; instead, he was sent to war and his companions ‘left him behind1(cf. μένω) in the Cyclops1 cave; he was reduced to a state of starvation and has been forced to feed on berries and roots.107 The poor Arcadian youth by the name of ‘Menoetes’ (12. 517-20) hated war in vain and was con­ tent with his humble home and life by the waters of Lerna; his name suggests μένω+οΐτος (‘fate’, ‘lot’),108 and his wish at the moment of death must surely have been ‘mansisset utinam fortuna1. The cluster ‘linquunt immemores . . . deseruere’ (3. 616—18) is varied in the pair of names ‘Mnestheus’ (< μνημη) and ‘Serestus’ {< ‘resto’). Finally, the fact that the name ‘Achaemenides’ combines in both its occur­ rences with ‘infelicis Vlixi’ (613-4, 691) supports the proposed ety­ mological association with αχός: he ‘shares’ Ulysses’ αχο?, just as ‘Achates’ (;i Introd. iv.8. 106 Mori and {1957), 88, expanding a casual remark by Heinze (1915), t t z n. 3; Römisch (1976), 219; McKay {1966); Enc. Virg. i. 23. 107 In the Aeneidμένω may interact semantically with μένο ς(‘force’, ‘m ight’); cf. Ch. 5.1.3b on ‘Menoetes’. T he participation of ‘Achaemenides’ in the destructive war against Troy (603) may also suggest ’the μένος of the “Achacans'” . In this case we are dealing with a distortion of μένος into μένω. ,fM Saunders (1940: 553) identities the components, but translates ‘the man who awaits his fate’; cf. Von Kamptz (1982: 63) on Meeomoy. I1W On ‘M nestheus’ and ‘Serestus’ cf. Ch. 4.1.8b, On the etymological association of Αχαιός, άχος, and the segment Μ χαι- o f Achaemenes cf. Nicolaus of Damascus, FG tH 90 F 6; Eust. on Dion. Per teg. 1053 that may go back to Hellanicus; Nagy (1979), 83 ff.140

140

The name ‘Adamastus’ (αδάμαστο? - ‘indomitus’) of Achaemenides’ father indicates his ‘hardiness’ (‘duritia’), probably in farming poor land.110 Now Achaemenides himself has become αδάμαστο?, in the sense applied to wild animals: he has been living ‘inter deserta ferarum’ (646), feeding on berries and roots, and wear­ ing an animal-skin. Sinon and Achaemenides are both ‘Achaeans who are left behind’, but in an opposed sense: Sinon is left behind as ‘keeper’ of the Horse, deceives the Trojans into dragging it inside Troy, and opens its ‘cav­ ernous’ belly for the Greeks to come out; Achaemenides is aban­ doned by his companions inside the Cyclops’ cave. Achaemenides* encounter with the Trojans suggests a subtle semantic parallelism: he is ‘the Achaean left behind by the Achaeans’, while the wandering Trojans are the ‘remnant of the Danaans’ (‘reliquiae Danaum’). nec uisu facilis nec dictu adfabilis ulli (618-33). According to Achaemenides, the giant is so tall that his head strikes the stars (‘altaque pulsat | sidera*; contrast Horn. Od. 9. i87f.), and he is also ‘nec uisu facilis nec dictu adfabilis ulli’. The cluster ‘uisu . . . dictu adfabilis’ combines the component -ωφ of Κύκλωφ and the compo­ nent -φημος of Πολύφημος- The organs of sight and speech are located in the head, but the giant’s head reaches the stars; this makes ‘communication’ between Polyphemus and Achaemenides impossi­ ble (cf. 648 ‘uocemque tremesco’); Achaemenides ‘sees’ his horrible cannibalism (‘uidi’ 623, 626), but this happens as the giant is lying on his back (624 ‘resupinus’). Achaemenides has not yet mentioned the giant’s name. In his account ‘Polyphemus* (Πολύφημος) neither speaks nor is spoken to, as in the Odyssey (9. 252 ff.); he is only ‘much spoken o f by Achaemenides. 'Polyphemus* uses his mouth only to satisfy his ‘fames’, to drink, and, finally, to vomit what he has eaten and drunk. His only eye is huge, but does not ‘see’ the Greeks (contrast Od. 9. 251): it emits torch-fire and is huge like a shield (635-7). The blinding of the Cyclops; reivta and τισι? (628-38). After pray­ ing to the gods all the (imprisoned) Greeks ‘encircle’ the ‘Cyclops’ and, using a pointed weapon (‘telo . . , acuto’), they pierce his eye with a ‘twisting’ motion; ‘terebramus’ literally means ‘bore a hole’ in a wooden object111 and recurs from 2. 38 in relation to the hollow of 1.0 Cf. 7. 521 'indomiti agricolae’ and 7. 504 ‘duros agrestis’, and esp. 9. 603 fr. In 6. 436-7 the suicides of the Underworld wish they were alive and would gladly bear poverty and harsh distress (‘pauperiem et duros perferre labores’). 1.1 Cf. Hom. Od. 9. 332f. and 383 fr. Odysseus twists the stake round in the Cyclops’ eye as a ship's carpenter bores a hole in a plank.14

141

the Wooden Horse ('terebrare cauas uteri’); the verb relates sem an­ tically to ‘tom a’, which was etymologized from 'torqueo’. T he only eye of the 'Cyclops’ lies hidden (‘latebat’) beneath his brow in the cavity of the eye-socket. ‘Telo . , , acuto’ relates to Cavity (cf. Laocoon's spear) which in its turn combines with Concealment; ‘latebat’ suggests that the eye ‘lurks’ threateningly within the eyesocket (cf. 2. 38 ‘latebras’, 2. 47 ‘latet’ of the Wooden Horse). The Cyclops’ eye is likened to an Argive shield (‘Argolici clipei , . . instar’; cf. 2. 55), which is round and concave (3. 286), and to the ‘torch of Phoebus’ (‘Phoebeae lampadis instar’),1,2 Torch relates semantically to ‘telo . . . acuto’, Burning Extremity to Sharp Point.113 The comparison with weapons recalls the armed Greeks hiding in the hollow of the Horse. The cluster ‘latebat . . . clipei’ evokes the ancient etymology of ‘clipeus’ από τον κλέπτΐΐν (‘celare’); ‘Argolicus’ suggests àpyós (‘shining’, ‘bright’). T he blinding of the Cyclops is presented as revenge (‘haud impune’; ‘ulciscimur’) on the part of Ulysses and the Greeks; blind­ ing is the appropriate revenge for the ‘shades’ (‘umbras’) of their companions. ‘Nec talia passus Vlixes oblitusue sui’ constitutes a reinterpretation of Odysseus’ epithet πολντλας: ‘passus’ marks a change in the sense of -τΛα?, from ‘suffering’ (‘enduring’) to ‘brook­ ing’ (‘tolerating’). Ulysses’ τισι? is a ‘reply’ to the giant’s gesture of stretching [-retVoj] his hand and seizing the Greeks in order to devour them; and the τίσις takes place as the giant is lying ‘outstretched’ on the ground (‘iacuitque per antrum j immensus’; cf. ra$€is, τίτα τα ι).514 Πολύφημος (641-54). Achaemenides mentions the name 'Polyphemus* only towards the end of his speech (641), which begins with ‘fatur’ (612) and is concluded with ‘fatus erat’ (655); the recur­ rence of 'Polyphemum* in 657 links the appearance of the giant before the eyes of the Trojans with Achaemenides’ speech (‘fatus erat') in which Πολύφημος has been ‘much spoken o f. In 621 Achaemenides described the giant as ‘nec uisu facilis nec dictu adfabilis ulli’. Now he broadens the semantic content of the name by relating it to com­ pounds of ‘fari’;115 the Cyclopes are ‘infandi’ (‘too horrible to speak o f) and ‘gentem . . , nefandam’.116 11i Fiery eyes are normally a supernatural and threatening feature (Introd. iv.2.). llJ Introd. 1V.7; Ch. 4.1.1a, , u Introd. iv.8; Ch. 6.VÌ.5 on 'T ityos’. 11s Introd. tv.6; cf. 608-12 'fari . . . fateri . . . fatur*. 1lft Cf. bid. Orlg. to. 188 ’infandus . . . nec nominandus quidem'. T he component Π ολυof the name Π ολύφημος is also freely {and negatively) picked up by ‘qualis quantusque’ and ‘centum alii’ (cf. ττολΑοι).142

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T he Cyclopes and Achaemenides (641-54). The name ‘Cyclopes’ (κύκλος* ώφ) interacts semantically with the giants’ environment: ‘cauo . . . in antro’ varies ‘Cyclopis in antro’ (617) and ‘Cyclopia saxa’ (1. 201); ‘cauo* evokes the ‘roundness’ of the ewes’ ‘ubera’;117 ‘Cyclopes . . . errant’ varies ‘circum errant’. Achaemenides counts the time that has elapsed since the blinding of the ‘Cyclops’ by the ‘filling of the horns of the moon with light’ (‘tertia iam lunae se cor­ nua lumine complent’); in Parmenid. 10.12 the moon (σελήνη) is called κνκλωφ (‘round-eyed’). Achaemenides* nourishment consists of round berries: the round ‘corna’ relate to the curved ‘horns’ (‘cor­ nua’) of the moon.118 His ‘watchfulness’ relates to the terror inspired by the ‘Cyclopes* and contrasts with the preceding and following image of the blinded Cyclops (the Greek’s eyesight is ‘sharpened’ after the ‘blinding’ of Polyphemus). He watches the Cyclopes (‘Cyclopas prospicio’)119 from an elevated position (‘ab rupe’); ‘omnia conlustrans’ suggests a circular motion of the eyes, f. The descent of the blinded Cyclops (655—74) T he Trojans ‘see’ the blinded giant descent with his flocks from the top of the mountain and move towards the shore that is well known to him (‘litora nota’). Although descending from a ‘high post’, the Cyclops lacks sight. The giant does not see but has become himself a ‘sight’ (‘m onstrum ’); he descends from his mountain-cave [Mountain and Cavity] leaning on a pine-trunk (Mountain and Tree], in order to wash his still bleeding eye-socket [Wound and Cavity]. This is yet another case in which the effect of a wound per­ sists long after the wound has been inflicted.120 T he shore is ‘known’ (‘nota’) to the giant in the sense that he can find his way to it even though he is blind. The passage suggests an association of Return and Blindness. The ‘lopped’ pine-trunk [δόρυ] on which he leans is emblematic of his blindness: it serves to support and guide the hand with which he had earlier seized the Greeks (624), and the steps which no longer tramp on the ground (648). Blindness and ‘trunca . . . pinu’ comple­ ment each other and contrast with the sheep accompanying the giant which retain their fleece (‘lanigerae’) and, hence, are a ‘consolation’ to his misfortune: the ‘fleece’ of the sheep is first mentioned after the blinding and serves no practical purpose as in the Odyssey (9. 425 ff., Odysseus’ stratagem). A similar contrast emerges between the 1,7 Ch. 8.V.I. ” * Ch. 3.1.1a; cf. Paschalis (19940), 123. m Cf. 6. 630-1 'Cyclopum . . . conspicio’ and Georg, 1.471-2 Cyclu/>um . . . utdimus’. In tro d . IV. to .? . 43

I43

mutilation of the giant and the udders of the ewes that are full of milk (642).121 Polyphemus groans and gnashes his teeth because of the pain (‘dentibus infrendens gemitu’); he walks deeper and deeper into the sea, because he needs abundant water to wash his huge eye; he does not perceive the Trojans with his eye but by the sound of the (cap­ tain’s) ‘voice’ bidding them to row away hastily (‘uocis* relates to ‘certantibus’; cf. 3. 138-9), and turns his steps towards them; he can­ not use his right hand, because he is holding the pine-trunk with it122 and, on account of the fact that he has to walk with its support, he is unable to keep up with (the speed of) the waves of the Ionian sea, in spite of his huge strides. All he can do is raise a mighty shout (‘cla­ morem immensum tollit’), an expression of utter helplessness. Blindness has ‘erased’ the name ‘Cyclops’ (‘cui lumen ademp­ tum ’), and the effect of the wound has distorted the semantic content of ‘Polyphemus’ (Πολύφημος). The giant does not ‘speak’ to the other Cyclopes or to his sheep (ram), like the Homeric giant (Od. 9. 407, 446 προσέφη κρατςρος Πολύφημος)', Groaning and Shouting substi­ tute for Speech, Hearing substitutes for Sight, The wounded giant spreads the sound of his impotence throughout Italy and Sicily, just as ‘Enceladus’ spreads the sound of his suffering; in contrast with ‘Fama’ (who sees, hears, and speaks), Πολύφημος is seen, heard, and spoken of. The descent of Polyphemus is concluded with the resounding of hollow Etna (‘curuisque immugiit Aetna cauernis’), just as Laocoon’s spear causes the hollow Horse to emit a moaning sound. T he cluster ‘Italiae . . . immugiit’ (lit. ‘bellowed’) evokes the ancient etymology of ‘Italia’ (‘Land of Oxen’) and recalls the comparison of Laocoon to a wounded bull. The cluster ‘curuisque immugiit Aetna cauernis’ suggests Etna’s sympathy with the wounded giant and alludes to the suffering of 'Enceladus'.123 g. The descent of the Cyclopes (675-81) The giant’s roar rouses the other Cyclopes who rush down from the top of the mountains and throng the shore. The Trojans ‘see’ the Etnaean brothers standing impotent, each with a single glaring eye, their heads reaching the sky, a grim assembly. Unlike the blinded giant, the other Cyclopes possess ‘sight’ but are equally impotent 121 Cf. Ch. 10.1.61. In the Odyssey the Cyclops milks the ewes before he is blinded, but he does not do so after he is blinded (9. 439-40). 122 Note that ‘uestigia torsit’ (669) picks up ‘uestigia firmat’ (659), and hence ’dextra’ relates to ‘m anum ’. I2i Compare 11. 38, the only other occurrence of 'immugio’; cf. 3. 577 ‘cum gem itu’ in rela­ tion to 'Enceladus’. On ‘Italia’, cf. Introd. v.3.

144

(‘nequiquam’): they only ‘glare’ at the departing Trojans or probably ‘turn their gaze about’ in search of the Trojans, like true Κύκλωπας. T he component κύκλος of their name relates to ‘litora complent’ (the ‘litora’ of their land are ‘curua’, 643), and probably to the coneshaped fruit (‘coniferae’) of the cypress. The cluster ‘lumine tomo Aetnaeos fratres’ links the ‘fire’ of ‘Aetna’ ((>65), 57f.; note the contrast with the preceding ‘uiuo*. On ‘Achaemenides’ cf. 19c above.

*45

the occasion of Anchises’ death.127 The place-name ‘D repanum ’ (Δρίπανον) or ‘Drepana’ (Δρέπανά) means ‘sickle’ (‘reaping-hook’ or ‘pruning-hook’). According to Servius, it received its name from the sickle-shaped coastline (‘propter curuaturam litoris’). According to other sources, it is one of various places believed to have received their names from the fact that there was hidden (or was dropped or lay) the sickle (Βρεπανον, αρττη) with which Cronos castrated Uranos; a variant tradition, probably reflecting Hesiod’s portrayal of Uranos’ castration as ‘mowing’, derived the names Drepanum in Sicily and Drepane (Corcyra) also from Demeter’s sickle, which she received from Hephaestus and with which she taught the Titans how to reap.128 In 5. 801 Virgil hints at the castration myth with reference to Venus’ birth from the sea. T he myth of Saturn (Cronos) is extremely important in the Aeneid. Saturn’s exile gives ‘Latium’ its name and Italy is named ‘Saturnia tellus’ (‘fertile land’) after him; his children, among whom is ‘Saturnia luno’, play a prominent role in the epic; and Jupiter’s presence in Crete is mythologically linked with the threat of Cronos.129 In Virgil’s works the ‘falx’ (‘sickle’) appears as an emblem of Saturn the farmer,130 but it is also occasionally trans­ formed into an instrument of violence typifying war as a perversion of agriculture.131 Following the outbreak of hostilities in Latium (Aeneid 7) agricultural and pastoral implements are converted into, or employed as, weapons of war; in anticipation of this Saturn is stripped of his emblem; ‘Saturnus’ is forgotten after 7. 203 and ‘Satum ia’ takes over.132 Drepanum is an ‘inlaetabilis ora’. T he sense ‘joyless’ marks Aeneas* grief at the loss of his father. The phrase echoes the Homeric arepnea χώρον, the region of the Dead where Odysseus arrives λιπών φάος ηελίοιο (Od. 11.93; cf. Virgil’s ‘caecis’);133 the Virgüian seman­ tic counterpart is the region of ‘Acheron’ (privative d+χαρά). The cluster ‘Drepani . . . inlaetabilis’ suggests interaction of ‘inlaetabilis’ (‘joyless’) with ‘laetus* (‘fertile’). The ‘Drepani . . . portus’ is yet another of the ominous ‘litora curua’ of Aeneid 3, which are predom­ inantly associated with the perversion of land fertility and of nour­ ishment patterns, Aeneid 3 opens with the transformation of the 127 !t does not recur in Aeneid 5, where a harbour (‘portus’) is repeatedly mentioned, or in Aeneid t, where several references to this part of Sicily are found. 12K Lycoph. Alex. 869 with the scholia; Servius and Servius auctm on Aen. 3. 707; cf. Hes. Theog. 181, with Burkert (1983), 290f. 120 Chs. i .Π and 8.1.7b. 130 Georg. 2. 406 ‘curuo Saturni dente’. 131 Georg, i. 508 'curuae rigidum falces conflantur in ensem ’. 132 Ch. 7.i.2 , 1.4c, and i.7d. 133 T he interpretations of ‘inlaetabilis’ are discussed by Nenci (1978). 1 4 6

spears that pierced the body of Polydorus into a ‘ferrea . . . seges’, and ends with the ‘mowing* of Anchises; both deaths reflect the broader literary motif of killing likened to harvesting. Anchises dies before he is able to reach fertile Italy, and his only experience of the land in life was a delusion; but in the Underworld he will inhabit the ‘laeta arua’ of Elysium and will invite Aeneas to rejoice (‘iaetere’) with him at having ‘found’ Italy.134

II.

SIN U S H ERCU LEI; LACINIA, CAULON, AND SCYLACEUM

(548-53)

From Castrum Minervae the Trojans sail southward past the gulf of Tarentum . The cluster ‘sinus Herculei’ suggests an etymology of ‘Hercules’ from ep/co?;135 the reference to the ‘suspectaque . . . arua’ in the preceding line suggests that the component of Circle is here negatively marked. The perils of seafaring merge with the danger coming from hostile Greeks. The same is true of the three placenames mentioned next. The Trojans sail past the promontory of Lacinian Hera (‘diva Lacinia’), the heights of Caulonia (‘Caulonisque arces’), and the ‘shipwrecking’ Scylaceum with its dangerous reefs (‘nauifragum Scylaceum’).136 The epithet ‘nauifragum’, applied to ‘Scylaceum’, looks forward to the imminent threat of ‘Scylla’ (where the name is not mentioned) and suggests the ancient etymology of Σκύλλα from σκύλλω (‘tear’, ‘rend’); the clus­ ter ‘nauifragum Scylaceum* echoes ‘Scyllam . . . nauis in saxa tra­ hentem’ (3. 424—5). The cluster ‘Lacìnia . . . nauifragum Scylaceum* varies Eel, 6. 74-7 ‘Scyllam . . . nautas . . . lacerasse*. It is worthy of note that P—F 64. 21 f. and 105. 5f. etymologizes the common noun ‘lacinia’ from ‘lacero’ (‘tear’, ‘rend’). Finally, ‘Caulonisque’, in rela­ tion to ‘Lacinia’ and ‘nauifragum Scylaceum’, suggests καυλό?, ‘spear-shaft’ [Spear and Wound].

III.

CLAUSTRA PE L O R 1 (4 1 0 -1 9 , 6 8 4 -8 )

After the terrifying sight of the Cyclopes the Trojans depart from Etna in headlong flight; they are running the risk of being carried towards Scylla and Charybdis when a strong North wind ‘is sent’ (‘missus’) from the straits of Pelorus and pushes them southward. In ,JW 1.8 above; Ch. 6.1.6a. 1,5 O i. 8.tu.6, ,J(I T he reason for the choice of these places is not self-evident and Virgil’s account differs from Dionysius'.

Η?

411 Helenus refers to the straits as ‘claustra Peiori’ (‘the barriers/enclosure of Peiorus’). According to his account of the formation of the straits, where Scylla and Charybdis had been local­ ized at least since Thuc. 4. 24. 5, the sea that poured through after the separation of Sicily from Italy became ‘entrapped’ there. The term ‘claustra’ is applied to imprisoned or concealed violent forces;137 and ‘missus’ suggests that Boreas is ‘released’ from an enclosure to aid the Trojans, probably by some god (cf. 339—40, 715). The clusters ‘angusti . . . Peiori' (411) and ‘angusta ab sede Peiori’ (687; cf. 419) form pairs of contrasts (compare 8. 366-7 ‘angusti . . . ingentem’), suggesting the etymology of ‘Pelorus’ from πυλωρός)πελώριος (‘m onstrous’, ‘huge’).138 157 Georg. 2. 161; Aen. i. 56, of Aeolus and the winds; 2. 259, of the Horse and the Greeks. UM Cf. the mythological account in Hes. fr. 149 M-W with Horn. Od. 11, 572. in Od J2. 87 Scylla is called a πίλω ρ κακόν.148

148

BOOK 4

I.

i.

OVERVIEW

W ords and w ounds {1-53)

a. Dido's wound, and fiery tela (1-8) beneid 4 opens with a description of Dido’s love wound and her con­ versation with Anna, who persuades the queen to yield to her love for Aeneas. Dido’s wound has been caused by Aeneas' looks and words, wduch have lodged fast in Dido’s ‘pectus’ [Cavity]. Sight and Speech function as pointed weapons; and ‘haerent infixi’ suggests that the ‘point’ has remained in the wound, which cannot heal (cf. 69 ff.). Main features of Dido’s wround are Fire (‘igni’) and Blood (‘uenis’) which share the component of the Colour Red; Fire and Wound combine in 'saucia cura’, considering that ‘cura’ was etymologized from ‘quod cor urat’ (Var. L L 6. 46).1 The epithet ‘caeco’ (‘unseen’) is a component of Cavity (in this case Wound-cavity) and contrasts with ‘uuitus’ [Sight]. When the torch of ‘Phoebus’ (‘Phoebea . . . lampade’) lights the earth, scattering the darkness of night, Dido confesses her love to her sister Anna. The flaming extremity of the torch of ‘Phoebus* inter­ acts with Aeneas’ wounding words and fans Dido’s erotic fire;2 wounded characters vent their feeling in words and so does the queen. Her speech is bracketed by ‘adloquitur’ and ‘effata’, and links the ‘fata’ (‘fate’) of Aeneas with the ‘fata’ (‘death’) of Sychaeus (note also the cluster ‘fatebor . . . fata’). The revival of Love-fire (‘adgnosco ueteris uestigia flammae’) causes her to take a solemn oath (ορκος) that Jupiter may hurl her into the Underworld with his thunderbolt if she does not prove loyal to the memory of her dead husband. A thunderbolt is a ‘telum’, it ‘burns’ like the torch of ‘Phoebus’ and is * T he semantic component of Fire pervades A erteid 4; in the end it is turned into Pyre-fire arid in the concluding line of the book it appears as Life-warmth, which leaves Dido’s body as the queen dies. On the interaction of Sight, Speech, and Sharp Point cf. lntrod. iv.6 and 7; on the components of W ound, lntrod. iv.10.2, 2 Cf. lntrod. IV.7 on Torch and Spear. T he recurrence of torches and brands in Aerteid 4 {'taedae1, ‘faces*, 'flammae*) encapsulates salient moments of Dido’s relationship to Aeneas; cf. *8, 3 3 9 , 472, 505, 567, 6 04-5, 626. Aeneid 4 has the second highest concentration of words for 'torch' after Aeneid 7.149

149

invoked as punishment for the violation of a solemn promise. D ido’s death-wish [Speech] interacts with the 'fata’ of Sychaeus, a deriva­ tive of ‘fari’, and the cause [Forgetfulness] and means of punishment [Fire] interact w ith the etymology of ‘Sychaeus’3 and with the revival of Love-fire. Her ορκος casts Jupiter in the role of a punishing deity (Όρκο?).4 b. The bonds of marriage and the bonds of pudor In Dido’s speech the issue of marriage and of the queen’s relation­ ship to Sychaeus and Aeneas is rendered through language of Binding (Joining) and Loosening (Releasing, Breaking), which evoke the ancient etymology' of ‘coniunx’ and ‘coniugium’ from ‘iugum ’ (‘iungo’).5 In her reply Anna emphasizes the advantages of marriage between Dido and Aeneas by using private and political arguments. In the latter case she contrasts the dangers which ‘encir­ cle* (‘cingunt’)6 Dido with the advantages of a war-alliance with the Trojans, and succeeds in making her ‘loose* the bonds of ‘pudor’ (‘soluitque pudorem’). In her view the Trojans arrived at Carthage by the favour of the gods and the aid of Juno. The cluster ‘Iunone secunda . . . coniugio* suggests an etymological association of ‘luno* with both ‘iuuo’7 and ‘iungo’, the latter with reference to her capac­ ity as the goddess of marriage (cf. 59 ‘cui uincla iugalia curae’). 2. G ifts, w ords, and an unhealing w ound (54—89) a. Dido's 5ώρα; Iuno and Lyaeus After Anna's words have fanned into flame (‘incensum . . . inflammauit’) the queen’s love, ‘Dido’ (‘Giver’) makes blood offerings (‘donis’) to the gods and seeks the advice of seers (‘uatum’) in a vain effort to find ‘aid*. Private is now made public, Love-fire is turned into Altar-fire. The contrast between Releasing and Binding recurs in the cluster ‘Lyaeo, Iunoni . . . cui uincla iugalia curae’ (58-9): the 3 Ch. 1.1,8b, *π .2 below, 5 Cf. 16 'ne cui me uincio uetlem sociare iugali'; also the contrast between ‘coniugis* and ‘sparsos . . . penatis’ (at) and between ‘resoluo’ and ‘iunxit’ (27-8), These include both the tribes and the features of the area (40-3). T he characteristic of the tribes is that they are not ‘bound’ by the laws that govern settled and civilized life (which also applies to Syrtis, called ‘inhospita1). T heir life is opposed to the idea of ‘union* between Dido and Aeneas, proposed by Anna with specific reference to ‘coniugium'. T he Gaetulians, the Numidians, and the Barcaei are all nomads. T he ‘Numidae’ are the Greek Νομάόΐ, ‘people roaming about for pasture’; they are called ‘infreni’, properly 'those who ride unbridled horses’ (Ch. 8.V.8). Uncontrolled ‘impetus’ {Horse] combines with Syrtis, which in the Aeneid is an area that encircles and entraps (Ch. l.i.id ). 7 Ch. i i i .

15°

former name was derived από του λύΐΐν and picks up the preceding ‘soluitque’ (55);8 the latter suggests ‘iungo* (cf. above). The seman­ tic contrast undercuts the successful outcome of the sacrifices. b. Dido’s unhealing wound Dido’s vows avail her not and deep in her heart burns the silent wound (‘tacitum . . . uulnus’). Inflamed (‘uritur’) she wanders in a frenzy through the city, and thus allusively ‘spreads’ her love-fire throughout it. She is likened to a deer that has been wounded by a shepherd: the deadly point remains lodged (‘haeret’) in her side and the deer wanders in the Dictaean forest (‘saltosque . . . Dictaeos’). As noted already by Servius, ‘Dictaeos’ alludes to the healing properties of ‘dictamnus*, which was said to have received its name from the mountain of Dicte.9 But the arrow-point remains in the w-ound, which does not heal. c. Sidonias . . . opes In order to win the favour of Aeneas Dido leads him through the city and displays to him her ‘Sidonian’ wealth and city (‘Sidoniasque ostentat opes urbemque paratam’). ‘Dido’ (‘Giver’) offers her rich city as a ‘gift’ [5cupov] to Aeneas, in an attempt to lure him into set­ tling at Carthage.10 The significance of her gifts increases as fiery love-passion takes full possession of her. d. infandum . . . fallere Dido’s wound remains silent (‘tacitum . . . uulnus’) with respect to Aeneas, to whom she cannot reveal her love (‘incipit effari mediaque in uoce resistit’). She seeks to hear his story again and again; but his words feed further the fire of her wound, and she seeks ways to deceive a love beyond all utterance (‘infandum si fallere possit amorem’). Deception and Speech interact semantically, since ‘fallo’ was etymologized from ‘fari’ (Var. L L 6. 55). e. pendet and pendent This section of the narrative is concluded with a description of the queen’s neglect of the city’s fortifications: all building stops (‘pen­ dent’) and the mighty, threatening wralls and structures that tower sky-high are idle (86-9). ‘Machina’ is used elsewhere in the Aeneid only of the Wooden Horse (2. 46, 151, 237); the cluster ‘minaeque . . . machina’ parallels ‘machina . . . minans’ (2. 237-40), used of the threatening bulk of the Horse gliding upward towards the ‘arx’. 8 Ch. 1.1.9; Paschalis 0 995), 182ft. Introd. 11.3; Ch. 1.1.6b.

IS*

** Connors (1992), 15.

Dido’s love makes the city defenceless; ‘pendent’ (of interrupted construction) picks up ‘pendet* (of Dido ‘hanging’ on the lips of Aeneas). Horse becomes a metaphor for Love that threatens to destroy the city and eventually succeeds in doing so.n 3. D eceitful w ords (90-172) a. Juno’s δόλο? and the smile of Cytherea Having become conscious that Dido is no longer mindful of her good name (‘famam’), Juno (‘Saturnia’) attempts to deceive Venus (‘si­ mulata mente’) by proposing to join in marriage the hero and D ido.1112 Her stratagem, which receives support from Venus, is to send a storm during the next morning’s hunting expedition and cause Aeneas and Dido to take shelter in a cave. At the end of the conver­ sation ‘Cytherea’ smiles (or laughs) as Juno’s cunning trick is revealed (‘dolis risit Cytherea repertis’). The contrast of Concealment and Revelation evokes the ancient etymology of ‘Cytherea’ from κ^νθω (‘hide’, ‘conceal’).13 The union is accomplished through a divine stratagem [δόλο?]. It consists in a storm which ‘veils’ the party in the gloom of night [Cavity and Darkness]; the storm breaks out as horsemen encircle the forest with a hunting-cordon [Horse, Circle, Tree] and causes the separation of the lovers from the hunting party and their ‘entrap­ m ent’ in a cave placed in a mountain landscape [Cavity and Mountain]. The effect of the encounter in the cave is Sound14 in the form of Revelation: Dido no longer thinks of a secret (‘furtiuum ’) love but calls (‘uocat’) her relationship to Aeneas a ‘coniugium’; and winged ‘Fama’ (cf. 91 ‘famam’) spreads the news throughout Libya. b. Distorted images of coniugium and conubium (120 ff., 160ff.) Dominant semantic components throughout are Joining (Mingling) and Covering. Juno sends a rain-cloud (*nimbus’< ‘nubes’) mingled (‘commixta’) with hail that veils the party (‘tegentur’) in the gloom of night and causes a roaring turmoil (‘misceri’) in the sky. The ‘mix­ ing’ of the elements leads to the ‘separation’ of Aeneas and Dido from the rest of the hunters and then to their ‘union’; they reach the 11 Ch. J .1,5b on Horse as an inherent feature of Carthage. 12 'Saturnia' normally reveals an insatiate and dissatisfied character (Ch. t.u ), but in the present context she pretends that she has had ‘enough’ of Venus' trickery and suspicious atti­ tude towards Carthage, and is ready to forgive and forget (‘sed quis erit modus, aut quo nunc certamine tanto?'). ,J Ch. 1,1.7b. T he context is ambiguous, suggesting that at the same time 'Cytherea' keeps ‘secret’ her own reasons for consenting to Juno’s plan. 14 Introd, iv .io .i.

‘same’ cave and Juno ‘unites’ them in marriage. The storm compo­ nents function as negative reflections of ‘coniugium’ (172) and ‘conubium ’ (126, 168; cf. 166 ‘pronuba’), which were etymologized from ‘iungo* {‘iugum’) and ‘obnubo’; of alliance language;15 and of Juno’s capacity as ‘pronuba’ and goddess of marriage (‘cui uincla iugalia curae’). ‘Nim bus’, ‘nubes’, and ‘obnubo’ were associated ety­ mologically. c. Apolline order and Bacchic frenzy (141-50) The presentation of Dido and Aeneas isolates them from the rest of the hunting party. Restraint and Control in the case of Dido, and especially of Aeneas, reflect a futile attempt to prevent the outbreak of the ‘Bacchic’ forces that are bound to result from the erotic encounter in the cave and will lead to conflict and death—and in the remote future to war (169--70).16 Dido’s lingering (‘cunctantem’) contrasts with the impatience of the Carthaginian princes and the eagerness of her high-spirited horse (‘sonipes’, alluding to gallop­ ing), which champs the foaming bit (‘frena’); notable in her presen­ tation are ‘circumdata’ of her cloak, ‘nodantur’ of her knotted tresses, and ‘submectit fibula’ of the buckle clasping her cloak. By contrast, Looseness as a component of Hair and Garment normally suggests uncontrolled passion.17 T he Trojan hero is compared to Apollo who renews a solemn dance of worshippers mingling (‘mixtique’) about the altar; he walks on the ridges of Cynthus, binding and restraining (shaping) his long flowing locks with pliant foliage and a circlet of gold. Immediately afterwards, the violence of hunting breaks loose on the mountains; Dido and Aeneas have no part in it but end up in the cave, and their union becomes the cause of ‘death’ and ‘misfortunes’. T he organization of the circular dance of worshippers, whose fea­ tures are manifestly Bacchic,18 suggests the imposition of Apolline order. But Apolline order is not permanent; behind the ‘explosive mixture’ of worshippers, which anticipates the ‘union’ of Dido and Aeneas, lurks disorder and violence which is bound to break loose. 15 102 ‘communem . . . populum 1; 112 ‘misceriue . . . populos aut foedera iungi'. ' 6 Ch. 1.1.9. ,7 Ch. 8.V.8. 18 T he Bacchic features emerge in comparison with 7. 389ff.: the cluster 'Ory opesque fre­ m unt’ (cf. οφ~ ‘uox’, ‘voice1) suggests the frenzied cries of Bacchic worshippers (7. 389 ‘euhoe Bacche fremens’); the cluster ‘choros . . . AgaiAyrri. . . molli que . . . crinem’ recurs in 7. 390-1 as ‘mollis . , , thyrsos . , . choro . . . crinem’; and the restraining of Apollo’s hair contrasts with the free-flowing hair of Amata’s followers (7, 394)· T he portrayal of the thyrsus as a vinebound spear (or wand: 7. 396 ‘pampineas , . . hastas’; cf. Eel. 5, 30-2) relates to the language of vine-dressing allusively woven into the restraining of Apollo’s locks. T he confused cries (’fre­ munt’) of the worshippers contrast with the etymology of ‘Delos’, which was associated with the ‘clarity’ of oracular responses delivered there (Ch. 6,1.ia).

*53

The violent engagement at Actium comprises the ‘tearing up’ of the ‘Cyclades’, which formed a ‘circle’ (κύκλο?) around Delos, and sug­ gests an attack on Apolline order.19 The cluster ‘fronde premit . . . fingens’ associates the binding and restraining of hair with the pruning of the vine (Georg. 2. 368—70, 407) and parallels the control Apollo himself exercises on the Sibyl {6. 80 ‘fingitque premendo’), who is possessed by the spirit of ‘Bacchus’ (78 ‘bacchatur’), so that she may utter articulate and intel­ ligible wounds. The pruning of the vine, an attribute of Bacchus, is a means of controlling its growth; its uncontrolled growth is echoed in the scene of the exit of the Greeks from the Horse in Aeneid 2, where it functions as a metaphor for the eruption of violence. In Aeneid 3 the immobilization of Delos alludes to the propping of vines.20 d. Weaving, δόλο? and Dido The hunting expedition will take place as the sun-god ‘unveils the world with his rays’. The cluster ‘radiisque retexerit orbem’ is an adaptation of Lucr. 5. 267 ‘radiisque retexens aetherius sol’;21 it sug­ gests interaction between ‘tego’ (‘cover’) and ‘texo’ (‘weave’), and between ‘radius’ (‘ray’) and ‘radius’ (‘weaver’s shuttle’). T he latent weaving metaphor alludes to divine scheming (cf. υφαίνω δόλον) and relates semantically to the hunting-nets (a meshed arrangement of threads and cords), which encircle and entrap the game (in Greek δόλο? is employed by metonymy for ‘net’22). ‘Dido’ (‘Giver’) and Aeneas will become entangled in the meshes of divine δόλο?. But after the encounter ‘Dido* cloaks (‘praetexit’) her ‘culpa* under the name of marriage [δώρον and δόλο?]: her claim has no basis, it is empty sound and (self-)deception. Later on, the queen will entrap in her ‘web* first Aeneas and next Anna.23 4. T h e flight o f winged

F am a

(173-95)

When Dido ceases to be mindful of appearances (‘specie’) and of her reputation (‘fama’), winged ‘Fama’ spreads the news of the union throughout Libya. Her features constitute a hyperbolic increase and multiplication of Speed, Flight, Height, Sight (Vigilance, Sleeplessness), Hearing, and Speech; her role is to ‘mark’ and ‘spread* the news, and she is thus appropriately made the sister of ‘Coeus’ and ‘Ence/arfws’.24 ,g 31 23 24

Ch. 8.v.8and v\7e. 2 Chs. 2.VI.2 and 3.1,2d. Knight (1944), 99 f. 22 Cf. Horn. Od. 8. 276. On Weaving and SoAos cf. Ch. 7.11.1; on Dido’s ‘web' 1.7a and 1.13c below. Ir. 1 below.

154

5. W inged

F am a

and the son of H am m on (196-218)

a. The fire of Fama and the gaze of Jupiter Wakeful ‘Fama* bears the news to King Jarbas, the son of Jupiter Hammon and a Garmantian nymph. She ‘fires’ Jarbas with bitter­ ness and indignation which is vented in a prayer to Jupiter; the wake­ ful fire consecrated to Jupiter and other gods interacts with Jarbas’ inner fire and the wakefulness of ‘Fama’. In his prayer Jarbas asks the god if he ‘sees’ the disgrace and will hurl his punishing thunder­ bolt against Dido and Aeneas, or whether sacrifices are made in vain and what is said about him (and his power) are idle words (‘famamque . . . inanem’; cf. also ‘inania m urm ura’). Jarbas’ state­ ment is a projection of the effect of the news brought to him by winged ‘Fama’; Jupiter’s thunderbolt is fiery (‘ignes’) and winged (cf. 5. 319). b. Ham mone . . . Gara mantide Jarbas’ genealogy, mentioned only at this point of the narrative, alludes to the famous African oracle of Jupiter-Hammon: the cluster ‘H am mone . . . Gammantide' suggests ‘moneo’25 and μάντις (‘seer’). Oracular Revelation and ‘Fama’ share the semantic component of Speech. In 7. 8 iff. Latinus’ concern about Lavinia’s marriage induces him to consult the oracle of ‘Faunus’ (< ‘fari’); the king reveals the oracular response and ‘Fama’ spreads it throughout Italy at the same time as Aeneas arrives in Latium. Here the relation is reversed, since it is ‘Fama’ who bears the news to the son of JupiterHammon; and the latter ‘mediates’ between ‘Fama’ and Jupiter and ‘advises’ the god of the situation in Carthage.26 6. T h e gaze of Ju p iter and D id o ’s

ορκος

(219-37)

In response to Jarbas’ prayer Jupiter turns his gaze (‘oculosque . . . torsit’) on Carthage and the lovers who have forgotten their reputa­ tion, and then sends winged Mercury' to earth with a message to Aeneas. ‘Oculosque . . . torsit’ picks up 208 ‘aspicis . . . fulmina torques’: Sight allusively' merges with Thunderbolt-hurling (cf. 1. 226 ‘defixit lumina’), emphasizing the seriousness of Jupiter’s pur­ pose; and later on, Aeneas is ‘thunderstruck’ (282 ‘attonitus’) at M ercury’s words.27 Jupiter’s thunderboltlike gaze allusively casts Cf. 3.4 3 6 ,4 6 1 ,6 8 4 .7 1 2 . 7r‘ On 'Faunus' cf. Ch. 7-1-3; for "Garamantide' cf. further Ch, 6,vii-3b. 27 Cf. Georg. 4. 451 'ardentis oculos intorsit’; A eη. i 2 . 670 'ardentis oculorum orbis ad moe­ nia torsit'. T h e torch that Allecto hurts at T urnus is a projection of her 'flammea . . . lumina'

ISS

him in the role of a punishing deity (Όρκο?): Dido has violated her oath (δρκο?), in which she invited Jupiter to strike her with his th u n ­ derbolt in the event that she did not remain loyal to the memory of Sychaeus; and Aeneas has forgotten, and revolted against, the ‘fata* and neglects his obligation to his son.28 7. T h e descent of M ercury (238-78) a. The words of winged Cyllenius and the ‘web* of Dido Jupiter orders Mercury to call the winds and speed on his wings to Carthage, carrying his words to Aeneas through the swift breezes. Mercury puts on his winged and wind-swift sandals, takes his staff, and flies swiftly down to earth; he makes a stop on man-mountain Atlas, from where he plunges downward like a sea-bird and reaches Carthage. Aeneas, whom Mercury sees when he reaches Carthage, is caught in the ‘web’ (‘telas’) of a cloak (‘laena’), a gift of rich ‘Dido’ [δώρον, Weaving, and δόλο?].29 Wealth is intimately associated with ‘Dido’ and Carthage, and has how entrapped Aeneas in the city of Carthage.30 By settling at Carthage and wasting his time on the African shore31 Aeneas shows himself forgetful (267 'oblite’) of his duties. The send­ ing of winged Mercury to earth aims at reminding Aeneas of these duties [Memory], The mission of Mercury is a projection of Jupiter’s thunderboltlike gaze and is picked up by the metaphorical ‘attonitus’ (282), Aeneas’ reaction to the words of the divine messen­ ger. Thunderbolt, Wing, Wind, and Bird share the semantic compo­ nents of Flight and Speed. Flight is also a component of Speech: as earlier winged ‘Fama’ had spread the story throughout Libya, now winged Mercury carries Jupiter’s message to Aeneas (compare 237 ‘nuntius’ with 188 ‘nuntia’). T he cluster ‘cum flamine . . . animas* evokes the ancient etymology of ‘anima’ from avejuos (‘w ind’):32 M ercury’s staff has power not only over the souls (‘animas’) but also over the winds (‘uentos’). The streams rushing down (‘praecipitant’) Atlas’ chin and Mercury’s downward plunge (‘praeceps se . . . misit’) share the components of Speed and Downward Motion and anticip(7. 448-9); Be roe’s ‘ardent isque oculos' (5. 648) relate to the torch she hurls at the Trojan ships. On the implied ’fire’ of Jupiter's gaze cf. also Ch. to.i, 1, 3* ii-2d below, J,> Introd. 11.3 and iv.9.3; 1.3d above. It should be noted that 'laena' was etymologized from 'lana' ('wool'; Var. L L 5. 133). Jl> Ch. t i.ftd. T he cluster ‘teris . . , terris’ (271) evokes the ancient etymology of ‘terra’ from ‘tero’. 13 Cf. further 1.222 below. On the image of Mercury driving the winds with his staff cf. Paschalis ( 19860), 113 ff.

I5b

ate Aeneas' ‘precipitate’ departure from Carthage (565, 573). Jupiter’s message is a command for a speedy departure from Carthage (‘nauiget’); Ship-sailing and the descent of Mercury share the component of Flight. Laocoon descends from the ‘arx’ holding a spear; Mercury descends to earth from the sky holding his staff (‘uirga’). A staff is a wooden rod without an iron head, but a number of elements in the description of M ercury’s flight suggest that his mission is also a mis­ sion of death.33 First and foremost, this is the staff of Hermes φυχοπομπός; and ‘sub Tartara . . . m ittit’ attributes to the staff the function of a weapon (spear or sword).34 In addition, ‘uentosque secabat' suggests missile language.35 Mercury, staff in hand, descends first on Mt. Atlas (cf. Laocoon’s spear and the mountainsize Horse); the stop comprises the components of Mountain, Tree (‘piniferum’), Cavity and Darkness (the peak of Atlas is forever veiled in dark clouds), and Sky-reaching Height. M ercury’s descents from the sky and from Mt. Atlas reveal inter­ related semantic features. In this episode Mercury is called ‘Cyllenius* and ‘Cyllenia proles’, an appellation etymologized from Mt. Cyllene in Arcadia, on which Maia, the daughter of Atlas, bore him (258, 8. 138 f.). T he passages in which ‘Cyllenius’ and ‘Cyllene’ are mentioned suggest an association with ‘caelum’.36 ‘Cyllenius’ is sent to earth from the sky (‘caelum’) by the god who sways sky and earth with his power (‘caelum et terras qui numine torquet’); he stops on man-mountain Atlas who bears the sky on his head (‘caelum qui uertice fulcit’).37 ‘Caelum’ was etymologized from ‘cauum’ (‘hol­ low’), and Κυλλήνη was punningly associated with srotAos (‘hol­ low’).38 T hus ‘caelum* and ‘Cyllenius’ share the component of Cavity and relate to Mountain (cf, above).39 13 Cf. in general Paschalis This is (he only other occurrence of ‘Orcus’ in the Georgies.

176

by the reference to the Styx, by the waters of which the gods took an inviolable oath.110 Most of the creatures placed at the entrance to Virgil’s underworld (6. 273 ff. ‘primisque in faucibus Orci’) are drawn from Hesiod’s list of the children of Night and Eris (Theog. 211 ff.); Eris herself appears among them as ‘Discordia’; and "Όρκος, the child of Eris in Hesiod, is turned into ‘Orcus’ in the Aeneid. The cluster ‘Stygioque . . . Orco’ (4. 699) is linguistically an adaptation of the ‘oath’ (ορκος) by the Styx. Finally, Jupiter’s oath by the waters of his Stygian brother (9. 104 and to. 113 ‘Stygii per flumina fratris’) allusively combines ορκος (‘oath’) with O rcu s’, the god of the Underworld. The two Georgies passages widen the sense of ορκος (‘oath’) to include any form of solemn and binding pledge or pact, such as one between Jupiter and his subjects or between Orpheus and the god of the Underworld. Most importantly, Jupiter and ‘Orcus’ are allu­ sively cast in the role of Ό ρκος; the former punishes those who take an oath (‘coniuratos’) to rebel against him (Coeus, Iapetus, and Typhoeus are also rebels); the latter punishes (through Charon) Orpheus, who does not keep the solemn pact he made with him. A similar role is reserved for Hercules when he punishes Cacus, Troy, and Oechalia.111 c. Etymologies of ορκος and Orcus Virgil’s association of O rcu s’ with ορκος[Όρκος has an etymological basis as well. Όρκος (‘oath’) was etymologized from έρκος (‘fence’, ‘barrier’) or etpyot (efpyω, bar the way by ‘shutting in’ or ‘shutting out’), with reference to the binding aspect of the oath.112 ‘Orcus’ was etymologized from ‘urgeo* (P -F 222. 4ff.), which is probably a cog­ nate of €ίργω. In addition, Isid. Orig. 8. 11.42 etymologizes ‘orca’ (a pitcher with a narrow neck; cf. Pers. 3. 50) from ‘Orcus’.113 Virgil’s treatment of ‘Orcus’ also suggests an etymological association with ‘arceo’ (‘keep off). Ό ρκος, ορκος, and O rcus’ have to do with bonds, boundaries, and barriers: oath (opteos) ‘binds’; Όρκος punishes those who transgress the boundaries; ‘Orcus’ keeps off the living, and receives and keeps the dead within his ‘enclosure’. When Orpheus Mt> Cf. 6. 324 ‘di cuius turare timent et fallere num en’. It is significant that the Sibyl tells Aeneas of the oath by the Styx before they cross the infernal river and simultaneously points out to him Charon (‘portitor’). T h e oath by the Styx was for the gods the most binding of all possible oaths (μ ίγα ς όρκος), the cluster ’Stygiamque . . . iurare tim ent’ evokes the ancient ety­ mology of ‘Stygius’ from σ τυ γίω (‘hate’ or ‘fear’ to do a thing). >" Ch. 8.111.6b. 1,1 Cf. Eustathius on Horn. //. 2. 339 (p. 355. 5 f. Van der Vatk) καθ(ίργνυτα.ι γά ρ πω ς ο όμνύων οΐς ομολογεί. 1,3 Cf. Wagenvoort (195&Κ 104 ff.

Ι77

‘breaks the binding pact’ with the god of the Underworld (Georg. 4. 492-3), the ‘portitor Orci’ does not again allow him to cross the ‘bar­ rier’ of the Styx.114 Analogous associations underlie Dido’s death agony. d. D ido’s ορκος\ Aeneas and the fata In 24 ff. Dido binds herself to Sychaeus’ memory through a solemn and awful oath (ορκος): she swears that if she looses the laws of ‘pudor’ (‘tua iura resoluo’; ‘iura’ evokes ‘iuro*, ‘take an oath’), she would wish the earth to ‘gape open’ (‘tellus . . . ima dehiscat’) or Jupiter to hurl her with his thunderbolt into the dark depths of Hades. The narrative combines ορκος, Punishment, Thunderbolt, and Underworld (= O rcu s’). On his part Aeneas is bound by the ‘fata’ to settle in Italy (225); ‘fata’ is properly a ‘solemn utterance’, the guarantor of which is Jupiter himself (223ff.).115 The intimate encounter in the cave signifies for Dido the breaking of her oath and for Aeneas settlement in Carthage, i.e. a revolt against the ‘fata’. ‘Fama’, a child of Earth and sister of ‘Coeus’ (note Georg, i. 278-9 *nefando Coeumque’), and probably also of ‘Orcus’, brings the news to Jarbas, who implicitly asks Jupiter to hurl his thunderbolts against the lovers; Jupiter turns his thunderboltlike gaze against the lovers who have forgotten their ‘melior fama’ (220-1); and he sends to earth winged Mercury who, on his way to Carthage, encounters Atlas, the punished rebel of the Theogony. Aeneas is thunderstruck (‘attonitus’) by M ercury’s appearing to him .116 By spreading the report (‘fama’) about the lovers ‘Fama’ sets in motion a mechanism that leads to the fulfilment of Aeneas’ ‘fata’ and Dido’s death (‘fata’). Dido’s implied persecution by the Erinyes (469 ff.) may not be unrelated to their role as punishers of the per­ jured. e. S ty gius Orcus and the death of Dido (693-705) The repetition of ‘resolueret’ from Dido’s oath (27 ‘aut tua iura resoluo’; ‘iura’ evokes ‘iuro’, ‘swear’) links Dido’s inability to die with her oath not to break the binding laws of ‘pudor’ that tie her to Sychaeus. The cluster ‘Stygioque . . . Oreo’ contains a reminiscence of the oath by the Styx (e.g. Horn. It. 2. 755 ορκος . . . Στνγός)\ the cluster ‘Stygioque caput . . . Oreo’ evokes passages in which ‘caput’ recurs in connection with the oath by the Styx.117 114 Georg. 4. 503 ‘obiettarci . . . paludem', in combination with 480 ‘Styx interfusa coercet’; cf. Aen. 6. 316 ‘alios . . . arcet barena', of Charon. ,,s For ‘fata' and όρκος cf. 7. 234 ‘fata per Aeneae iuro‘. 11(1 1.4-7 above. 11’ 12. 816 ‘adiuro Stygii caput implacabile fontis’; for 'caput' and ‘oath’ cf. g. 300 ‘per caput hoc iuro’.

178

O rc u s’, the god of the Underworld, merges here with personified "Ορκος: Dido is guilty of perjury and O rcu s’ is cast in the role of the god who punishes the forsworn (επίορκοι)) just as Jupiter earlier was.118 ‘Orcus’ is appropriately called ‘Stygius’ because, as the god of the Styx by whose waters the gods swear an inviolate oath, he ‘hates’ (στνγεει) to allow to die one who has violated her most solemn oath. The ‘binding’ of Dido’s spirit is a punishment imposed by *Ορκος for breaking her όρκος to the memory of Sychaeus; "Ορκος merges with O rcu s’, who exercises his power of keeping her outside the boundary of the Underworld, because she is still living.119 in . I.

ir is

I r is

In 4. 693 ff. Iris is sent by Juno to loose (‘resolueret’) Dido’s spirit from the bonds of her imprisoning limbs; she liberates the body (‘soluo’) by cutting {‘secat’) and dedicating a lock of her hair to the god of the Underworld. The cluster ‘luctantem . . . nexosque resolueret artus’ opposes Binding/Restraining to Releasing/Opening (cf. 12. 387-8, 781-2). Servius on Aen. 5. 606 etymologizes ‘Iris’ from epts, explaining that she is sent ‘ad discordiam’ (cf. Etym. Magn. 475, 37); this ety­ mology has some base in cases in which Iris excites to strife (Aeneid 5 and 9), like the personified Έρις in Homer (II. 11.3 ff.). Relevant to the etymology from ερις is also the association of Dido’s agony with opKosfΟρκος. As noted in n.2e above, Dido’s spirit is ‘restrained’ on account of her binding oath (opKos) to Sychaeus: in Hes. Theog. 231 Eris is the mother of "Ορκος and in Theog. 780 ff. Zeus sends ‘Iris’ to fetch the θεών μεγαν όρκον (the water of the Styx), when ερις arises among the gods (cf. the ‘strife’ suggested by ‘luctantem’). T he basic semantic components of ‘Iris’ are Separation and Division, of which conflict and strife may be the outcome. In 5. 605 Iris is sent to earth w-hile the Trojan men are celebrating various games ('uariis . . . ludis’ = ‘certamina’, ‘contests’) in honour of Anchises; she displays the thousand colours of the rainbow (609) and goads the women, who are gathered fa r apart on the lonely shore {613 ‘procul in sola secretae . . . acta’), into conflict with the males, by inciting them to burn the ships; Iris’ intervention is in addition l,e 1.1a, 1.6, and 1.16above. ii.zc above; cf. Hirzel (1902: 137ff.) on the oath as a curse which a man lays upon him self, to take effect if what he declares is false.

179

foreshadowed by the rainbow colours of a serpent (88-9), In 9. 1 ff. Iris rouses Turnus to war with Aeneas (note 13 ‘rumpe moras’); this happens while other events are taking place in fa r distant countries (‘diuersa penitus . . . parte’) and as T um us sits alone in a sacred val­ ley. The opening lines of her two major inventions in the Aeneid reveal an association with ‘uarius’ (5. 605-6 ‘uariis . . . Irim ’) and ‘diuersus’ (9. 1-2 ‘diuersa penitus . . . Irim ’); ‘uarius’ is also the epi­ thet employed in 4. 701 to indicate the several different colours of the rainbow (= 5 . 89; cf. 5. 609).120 Virgil’s employment of ‘uarius’ emphasizes division, divergence, multiformity, heterogeneity, and m utability.121 T he ‘arrow-like’ path that Iris ‘cuts’ (‘secuit’) in the sky in 5. 658 and 9. 15 (‘arcus’, ‘rainbow’, merges with ‘arcus’, ‘bow’) narrativizes the component of Division and points the way to con­ flict. 2. crinis and κρίσις Dido’s death is linked with the cutting of a lock (‘crinem’) from her head (‘uertice’). According to P -F 46. 54, ‘crines’ is etymologized ‘a discretione . , . quam Graeci κρίαιν appellant’; the etymology is sug­ gested κ α τ’ αντίφρασιν at 2. 277 ‘concretos sanguine crinis’, where ‘crinis’ evokes ‘discretos’, κρίσις properly means ‘separation’ (< κρίνω), a sense which here relates to the ‘separation’ of Dido’s soul from her body; in fact, Iris utters the ritual words that ‘liberate’ Dido from her body (‘teque isto corpore soluo’) at the same time as she cuts the lock from her head (‘sic ait et dextra crinem secat’). A com­ mon meaning of κρίσις is ‘judgement’ (of a court): this sense is evoked by the cluster ‘crinem . . . damnauerat’, where ‘crinem’ (< κρίσις) is followed by ‘damnauerat’ (‘damno’ here means ‘deliver by judicial vote’). 120 The rainbow is dispersion of sunlight into the several colours of the spectrum by means of refraction and reflection. 121 i. 204 ‘uarios . . . discrimina'; 4. 569 ‘uarium et mutabile’; 6. 160 'multa . . . uario ser­ mone serebant', 285 ‘uariarum monstra ferarum ’; 8. 20—1 ‘diuidit . . . uarias’, 95-6 'uariisque . , . secant’; 722-3; 9. i64'uariam que uiees'; 10. 97 ‘adsensu uario’, »59-60 'u o lu ta t. . . uarios'; 1 1 .425 ‘uariique . . . mutabilis’, 4S5 ‘dissensu uario’.

t8o

I.

OV ERV IEW

1. T h e gaze and m em ory of

P a lin u r u s

(8-34)

When the Trojans depart from Carthage a black rain-cloud appears above their heads darkening the sky and the seas. Palinurus, stand­ ing on the lofty stern, blames ‘Neptunus’ for it;1 he tells Aeneas that it is impossible to reach Italy against the wind and suggests that they should make for Sicily, which should not be far away, if he remem­ bers correctly as he retraces the stars which he had watched before (‘si modo rite memor seruata remetio astra’). Components of the name ‘Palinurus’ are Sight (οΰρος), Memory, and Return (ττάλιν); in addition, οΰρος (‘watchman’) interacts semantically with οΰρος (‘favourable wind’ of return). ‘Palinurus’ guides the ships back to Sicily, a familiar shore, by watching the stars, relying on his recol­ lection of the earlier voyage, and running before a favourable wind (32-3). The present deviation from the voyage of return to Italy is a welcome one (30-1) for the purpose of honouring Anchises. The semantic component of Blindness, characteristic of other deviations, is not present here; none the less, Darkness, in the form of the ‘caeruleus imber’, manifests itself in this deviation as well.2 Darkness may be here a component of Death; to Aeneas it is the land that ‘holds the ashes’ of Anchises (31 ) and the greatest part of Aeneid 5 is dedicated to the commemoration of the anniversary of his death. 2.

A c e s te s

a. T he gaze and javelins of Acestes (35-41) Acestes catches sight of the Trojan fleet from a high hilltop; he mar­ vels at the return of the Trojans and descends in haste to the shore to meet them. He is holding javelins (‘iaculis’) and wearing the skin of a Libyan she-bear, which together give him a bristling appearance 1 T h e god’s name was etymologized from ‘obnubo’ or ‘nubes’; note 'caeruleus . . . imber’. ‘nim bi’, and 'in nubem cogitur aer’, and contrast S a :, where the god scatters the clouds from the sky. 2 O n ‘Palinurus’ cf. Ch. 3.1.4a.

181

(‘horridus’). Acestes is the son of the river-god ‘Crinisus’ and a Trojan woman, and preserves the memory (‘non immemor’) of his ancestors; he shows his delight in the return of the Trojans, and wel­ comes and comforts the tired men (‘fessos . . . solatur’) with rustic wealth and friendly aid [δώρορ]. Height, Sight, Memory, and Return associate Acestes with Palinurus. The segment A c- of ‘Acestes’ interacts here semantically with Sight, High Post (cf. ακρος, ‘top­ most’), Sharp Point (cf. άκων, άκόντιον), and the bristling bear­ skin.3 ‘Acestes* is moreover a ‘Trinacrian’ king { and retVeo]. T he archery contest is con­ cluded with a name meaning ‘stretch wide’, just as the Wooden Horse section of Aeneid 2 is concluded with the breaching of walls and the opening of gates.62

s On ‘M nestheus’ cf. Ch. 4.1.8b. and 1.3h above. w> Cf. Ch. io.l.6h on the death of Lausus, Virgil applies ‘innecto' metaphorically to the ‘weaving’ of plots and schemes (4. 51.6. 6og). T he binding of the dove involves Weaving and δόλο? (Introd. iv.9.3; Ch. 7.11.1); its liberation ironically leads to death (cf. Ch. 2.1.tod on ‘CV/iiandra’). w Ch. g.t.Sd. w W ith ‘Eurytion’ compare ‘Eurypylus’ as a ’mask’ for Sinon (Ch. 2ΛΊ.4),

*95

7. T h e lusus Troiae (545—603) Vital components of the ‘lusus’ are Sight and Memory. T he display brings together memories of ancestors, and of Troy and Carthage,63 before the eyes of the spectators ('ante ora parentum’), who delight in the sight (note that the stadium is a ‘theatrum’ Ch, 5.1,10a. 27 Cf, I.2C above: on 'ueste* and 'tum idum '

πι . ι below. cf,

Introd.

iv .9 .3 .

4σ τ € μ η σ θ α ι

(‘sine guadio’), or from ά χος+ ρέω or from ‘Styx’, ‘Acheron’ and ‘Charon’< χαίρω, χ α ρ ά ; cf. below) interact semantically in Virgil’s narrative on various levels. For instance, in 6. 434 ff. those who 'hated the light of life’ ('lucemque perosi’= the suicides) are ‘maesti’ and enchained and encircled nine times by the infernal river. T he river-name given is ‘Styx’, which belongs to the same semantic field as ‘perosi’ and ‘inamabilis’ (‘that cannot be loved’); ‘interfusa’ (‘fundo’) suggests the etymology of ‘Acheron’ from χ«ω, and ‘maesti’ suggests the etymology ου χ α ίρ ο ν τ ε ς (‘sine gaudio’). In 305 ff. a dense throng of souls ‘stream’ (‘effusa’= €χ€οντο; cf. ‘Acheron’ and χ έ ω )29 to the shore of the infernal river; they pray to be ferried across and stretch out their hands ‘longing for the farther shore’ (‘ripae ulterioris amore’). Charon (‘nauita . . . tristis’; cf. σ τ υ γ ν ό ς , ‘gloomy’, ‘sullen’), the warden of ‘Styx—Acheron’, takes some aboard but thrusts others away from the river bank. The narrative reveals a series of overlapping contrasts between Love and Hate, Desire and Rejection, Joy and Sorrow,30 T he goal of Aeneas’ Descent is the reunion with his beloved father (108); he enters the Underworld from Lake Avemus, which is cre­ ated by an overflow of the Acheron (107 ‘Acheronte refuso’). T h e cluster ‘Acheronte refuso’ suggests the etymology from χ έ ω (or ρ έ ω ) , and at the same time it evokes Aeneas’ ‘sorrow’ and άχο? caused by the separation from his father (note the deeply emotional tone of his speech and the precedents he cites). In 133-5 the Sibyl emphasizes the enormity of Aeneas’ ‘amor’, ‘cupido’, and desire (‘iuuat’) to cross twice the Styx (‘Stygios lacus’) in order to see his father.31 T he encounter with Anchises will take place in the ‘Fields of Joy’ (638 ‘locos laetos’, 744 ‘laeta ama*), where the sense ‘joyful’ interacts semantically with ‘fertile’ (the literal sense of ‘laetus’), as opposed to the murky and stagnant waters of the Styx and the barren landscape χαράς

τούς

έκ € Ϊ κ α τ ιό ν τ α ς ά χ ο ς + χ έ ω , 2Η

28 Etyni. Magn. 180.46; cf. further MühmeU (1965), 43 ft. 29 Contrast αγίροντο in Horn. Od. 11. 36. 10 T he third inferm i river is Cocytus, mentioned either alone (132) o r in connection with Acheron (297) and the Styx (323). ‘Cocytus’ (Κω κοτός) is the ’River of Wailing’ (< kwkwu , ’shriek*, ‘wail’; schol. Lycoph. 706, etc.). T h e souls who stream to the infernal river do not ’wail’ but are only ‘sorrowful’ (‘maesti’). T he segment -cytus seems to suggest κύτος (‘hollow’); the association is pertinent, since Cavity is a component of River; cf. 132 ‘Coryfarque sinu’, 297 ‘omnem Cocyto eructat harenam ’ (of Acheron belching its sand ’into Cocytus’), 323 ‘Coryti stagna alta’, and 7. 562 ‘Coryftque petit sedem supera ardua linquens*. Cf. further Ch. 7.1.7c on ‘Cocytus’ and κιJvcs. In the discovery o f the Golden Bough Aeneas is assisted by Venus, whose maternal love causes Aeneas to rejoice (193 ‘laetusque’). T he birds settle on the longed-for site (203 ‘sedibus optatis’), and Aeneas plucks the Bough with ardent desire (*to ‘auidusque’). T he ’crossing’ of ’hateful’ ‘Styx* may be anticipated by the ‘burial’ of ‘M isenus’ (Afurqvó?), a name probably selected because it suggests μίσος (‘hate’).

218

of T artarus.32 In order to reach the ‘laeta arua’ Aeneas must be fer­ ried across the infernal river by ‘Charon’, who ‘does not rejoice’ in taking living people upon his boat: ‘nec . . . sum laetatus' (392) simul­ taneously evokes the etymologies of ‘Acheron’ (α+χαρά) and ‘Charon’ ( < χ α ρ ά or χ α ί ρ ω , κ α τ ’ ά ν τ ίφ ρ α σ ιν )33 and, as a figure of litotes, the etymological association of Σ τ ύ ξ with σ τ ν γ ε ω (‘hate to do a thing’). The language employed in Aeneas’ encounter with his unburied companions evokes the names ‘Acheron’ and ‘Styx’. Leucaspis, Orontes, and Palinurus are ‘maesti’ (‘sorrowing’, 333 and 340; cf. Άχέρων2 Cf. 7. 469 ‘detrudere tinibus hostem ’.

235

a bridge of bronze (taken separately ‘aere’ may also evoke the sound of bronze vessels being dragged along). Jupiter hurled his thunder­ bolt at him and drove him headlong to Tartarus with a furious blast (‘immani turbine’). The epithet ‘immani’ relates to the implied ‘manus’ with reference to torch-brandishing (587 and esp. 592 ff.) and thunderbolt-hurling (‘telum contorsit’). Salmoneus’ futile trick is intended to ‘eliminate the distance’ between earth and sky. T he cluster ‘crudelis dantem Salmonea poenas’ evokes ‘moneo’ and sug­ gests that his punishment by Jupiter is a ‘warning’ to all mortals. Later ‘Phlegyas’, who was punished for setting fire (Xeyw) to Apollo’s temple at Delphi, gives warning to all (‘admonet . . . moniti’) to refrain from offending the gods (618-20). 5.

T ity o s ( 5 9 5 - 6 0 0 )

Tityos’ ‘outstretched’ body (‘porrigitur’) covers nine ‘iugera’, while a monstrous vulture (‘immanis uultur’) is feeding on his liver and the innermost parts of his body (‘uiscera’), which are described as ‘fer­ tile for punishing’ (‘fecunda poenis’). Tityos appears entirely defenceless and unable to protect himself with his hands (cf. Horn. Od. 11. S79 ο δ ’ ovK άπαμννίΕτο χ*ρσί, of Prometheus). The epithet ‘immanis’ interacts with the (implied) ‘manibus* and ‘porrigitur’. The name ‘Tityos’, like that of the ‘Titanes’, seems to evoke τζίνομαι (‘lie outstretched’) as well as τισι? (‘poenis’; cf. rtra s, ‘avenging’; tltvs—τίσις, ‘penalty’). 6 . L a p ith a e ( 6 0 1 - 7 )

A rock hangs over (‘imminet’) Ixion and Pirithous, who are also pre­ vented by the Fury from touching with their hands (‘manibus . . . contingere’) the rich meal on the table. The projecting rock relates to the outstretched hands of Ixion and Pirithous. The Erinyes are avenging deities (cf. ri'aicj in Hdt. 3. 126 and 128) and riots relates here to the implied retW> (‘tendo’, of outstretched hands). A further latent association is that between ‘pendeo’ (‘hang’) and ‘pendo poe­ nas’ (‘pay the penalty for a crime’).103 It has been observed that the torment of the rock, traditionally associated with Tantalus, is appro­ priate for the ‘Lapithae’ whose name evokes ‘lapis’ (‘stone’).104 Also, ,w Ch. 8.V.6. As noted by Morland (1964: 10), the punishment of ‘Theseus’ in 617 evokes the ancient etymology of his name from θίσις (cf. Georg. 2. 383 'Thesida« posuere’); ‘sedet . , . sed eb it. . . Theseus’ contrasts with the punishment of those who ‘hang outstretched’ {‘dis­ tricti pendent’) on wheels. 104 Morland (1964). toff.; Putnam (1990); cf. Ch, 8.v,6.

‘silex’ evokes ‘sileo’ in relation to the figure of paralipsis/aposiopesis (‘quid memorem . . . ?’).105

VII.

T H E RE TU R N OF TH E R O M A N H E R O E S

(756-892)

i . T h e ‘r i s e ’ o f t h e k in g s o f A l b a ( 7 6 0 - 7 6 )

Virgil’s unusual selection of the Alban kings ss based on semantic links between human and vegetation features, between (re) birth and growing trees.106 Notable too is the focus on upper extremities and Height which pervades this catalogue. The list is bracketed by Silvius (Postumus) and Silvius Aeneas; between the two, Virgil places Procas, Capys, and Numitor; the kings are all distinguished for their ‘uiris’ and are wreathed with the civic oak (‘umbrata gerunt ciuili tempora quercu'). The bracketing of the Hst by Silvius (Postumus) and Silvius Aeneas suggests that ‘Siluius’ was the cog­ nomen of all the kings of Alba (763); ‘educet siluis’ evokes the ancient etymology of ‘Siluius’ from ‘silua*. Silvius’ attribute relates to this etymology and combines δ ό ρ υ with δ ώ ρ ο υ . Silvius is leaning on a ‘headless spear’ (‘pura hasta’). According to Servius (who quotes Varro), the ‘pura hasta’ was a spear without its metal tip and hence a ‘spear-shaft’ [ δ ό ρ υ ] . It was a prize (‘praemium’, ‘donum’; cf. δ ώ ρ ο ν ) awarded to a young warrior for his first victory (actually for any spe­ cial act of valour). Tree language is vitally associated with all the Alban kings. T he cluster ‘uiris . . . quercu’ suggests semantic interaction between ‘strength’ and ‘oak’.107 Illuminating are the semantic parallels with the Bitias and Pandarus passage (9. 672 ff.): the wood-nymph Iaera bore them in the grove of Jupiter (‘eduxit luco siluestris Iaera’) to ‘Alcanor’ ( i.6a, 6c. and 6d above. 107 Introd. 11.4. 108 Note the etymology of ‘N um a1 from ‘num en’ (schol. Pers. 2. 59); ‘num en’ literally refers to the ‘downward motion of the head’ {‘nod’). For ‘Procas’, compare Eel. 6.63 ‘proceras erigit alnos’, and cf. Basson (1975), 60. On ‘Capys’ cf. Chs. i.iv a n d 2.IV.2.

«37

The kings of ‘Alba* (< ‘albus’, ‘bright’)109 are the first to ‘rise’ to the world above: the narrative suggests the typical association between Height and Light, the latter as a component of Life. Silvius of ‘Alban name’ (‘Albanum nomen’) has been allotted the place near* est the light (‘proxima . . . lucis’) and will be the first to rise (‘surget’) into the upper air (‘ad auras aetherias’ Ch. ft.it.2. 27 Introd. IV.9 .i.

5. T he gaze and wound of returning Juno (286-322) As Juno is returning from Inachian Argos (‘Inachiis . . . ab Argis’) and has reached the promontory of Pachynus, she sees (‘prospexit’) from the sky above Aeneas rejoicing (‘laetum’), his fleet safely anchored at the mouth of the Tiber, and the Trojans engaged in set­ tlement activities. Consequently, her heart is pierced with sharp pain (‘acri fixa dolore’); she bursts into a soliloquy in which she recalls her past failures; the speech culminates in her decision to arouse the Powers of the Underworld (‘Acheronta’) on her side and bury the fated marriage alliance in bloodshed. Having spoken thus, Juno descends to earth and summons Allecto from the Underworld [Descent and Ascent]. Juno’s return from Argos allusively relates to Aeneas’ return to Italy. T he components of the present sequence recapture 1. 39 ff.28 T he sight of Aeneas’ ‘laetitia’ provokes a piercing ‘dolor’ in Juno’s heart, which is fuelled by the memory of her past failures and is vented in an angry speech. Memory typically interacts with Return. Juno’s ‘dolor’ leads to ‘dolus’, since Juno’s agent Allecto will deceit­ fully drive the Latins and the Trojans into a bloody conflict. Juno’s ‘dolor’ is anticipated by the segment -ach- of the epithet ‘Inachiis’, and is placed in sharp contrast to Aeneas' ‘laetitia’ (χαρά). ‘Acheron’ was derived either from άχος or from privative ά + χα ρά .29 T he arousing of the Powers of ‘Acheron’ is intended to erase Aeneas’ χαρά and provoke άχος in his soul.30 Ά χος, like ‘dolor’, relates semantically to Sharp Point. In Georg. 3. 152ff. Juno causes lo-heifer to be ‘stung’ by a gadfly (‘asilus’, ‘oestrus’):31 the cluster ‘InacAiae . . . acrior’ (lit. ‘sharp’) is picked up by ‘InocAiis . .. acri fixa dolore’; and TmrcAHs . . . saeua’ varies Juno’s ‘saeuique dolores* (1.25). Here Juno feels the piercing sting of άχος, while in the Georgies she provokes it. T he cluster TnacAiae . .. acrior’ recure in T urnus’ genealogy: 'Inachus Acririusque patres’ (7. 372) suggests άχος and ‘acer’ (cf. 406-10 ‘acuisse . . . Acrisioneis’). On the human level, the conflict is linked with T urnus’ ‘dolor’ as a rejected husband for Amata, which is literally provoked by the torch-wound later inflicted on him by Allecto (4 5 7 ). 32 The segment -ach- of ‘Inachiis’ probably combines ac(h)~ (‘sharp point’) with αχο?, as the ** Ch. I.M *. » Ch. 6.1.4b. *’ Cf. Ch. 8.1.2-3. Cf. further Ch. 12.t.jsa on ‘Asilas’- ‘Tanagri’ in Georg. 3. 151 suggests άγριος (‘savage1); cf. 149 ‘asper, acerba sonans' and 154 1acrior’, 12 Cf. also V. 12 below. In 11.284-7 Diomedes extols the force of Aeneas’ spear-hurling and adds that, if T roy had produced two other heroes like him, the city would have stormed the ’Inachian cities’ (‘InorAias . . . ad urbes’) and would have caused Greece to ‘m ourn’ (’lugeret’). T h e cluster ‘InerAias . . . lugeret’ suggests ajfos, here allusively associated with Aeneas’ spear.

25*

name ‘Achates’ does; the same is probably true of ‘PacAynus’, from where Juno ‘sees’ the Trojans.33 6. iSaturnia, S a tu rn u s, and Allecto (323-640) As noted in Chapter 1.11, ‘Saturnus’ and ‘Saturnia tellus’ suggest contentedness (‘saturo7‘satis’) and fertility (‘sero’). By contrast, ‘Saturnia* normally suggests an insatiate and dissatisfied character and (profession of) powerlessness, and is in addition linked with the perversion of fertility. In Aeneid 7 ‘Saturnia’ takes over after ‘Saturnus’, Latinus’ great-grandfather, has been forgotten, and her interv ention leads to the disruption of ‘Saturnia tellus’. Lines 323-622 comprise a series of interacting descents and ascents performed by Juno and Allecto. The features of Allecto and her environment suggest that she is a semantic reflection of Juno. The name ‘Allecto* means the ‘Unceasing One’ (αλληκτος). She per­ forms four tasks in succession without ceasing (άλληκτον), flies to the sky and then to the Underworld. Her ‘unceasing’ activity runs par­ allel with Juno’s ‘unhealing’ wound and reflects the features of ‘Saturnia’. a. The descent of Juno and the ascent of Allecto (323-40) In her monologue Juno wonders whether her ‘numina’ have col­ lapsed and lie outworn (‘fessa iacent’) or whether her hatred has been sated (‘odiis . . . exsaturata*); she has attempted in vain everything she was capable of (‘quae potui’) and, since her ‘numina’ are not powerful enough (‘non sunt magna satis’) and she cannot (‘nequeo’) bend the gods of the Uppenvorld, she will arouse the Powers of the Underworld. ‘Exsaturata’ evokes the ‘insatiate’ nature of ‘Saturnia’; ‘non . . . satis’, ‘nequeo’ (also ‘potui’; cf. 305 ‘ualuit’, of Mars) evoke the ‘powerlessness’ of ‘Saturnia’ (< ‘satis*). ‘Saturnia* needs to ‘sate’ her ‘dolor* (291), ‘odium’ (298), and ‘irae’ (cf. 305) by exacting ‘sat­ isfaction’ from her Trojan enemies.34 Allecto’s ascent from the Underworld is an upward movement on the vertical axis; it seems to relate to Juno’s ‘numina’, a term which literally refers to a downward movement. Juno orders her to shake her fertile (‘fecundum’) bosom, sow the seeds of criminal wrar (‘sere crimina belli’), and disrupt peace. As a result of Allecto’s ‘sowing’, a crop of swords appears in 525~6;35 and later she announces to Juno Cf. 3, 429 'TriruiiTit (άκ-p o s)... P