Some Themes from Gigantomachy in the 'Aeneid'
Author(s): P. R. Hardie
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Hermes, 111. Bd., H. 3 (1983), pp. 311-326
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4476324 .
Accessed: 10/12/2012 16:03
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
Franz Steiner Verlag is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Hermes.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
SOME THEMES FROM GIGANTOMACHY IN THE 'AENEID'*
I. The themeof the struggleof the gods for supremacyagainstmonstrous
divine or demonic opponents, as manifestedin the storiesof the Titans, the
Giants, and Typhoeus,is one of the most popularin Greekmythology,and a
recurrentsubject for writers or artists seeking a topic suitable for the
expression of grandeur or sublimity'. Its simple outline, the opposition
between forces of order and disorder, or of good and evil, also made it
eminently apt as an image for real or imagined struggles on a nonmythological plane, and it is found from early times with a transferred
function, either in the form of a simple comparison, or of a more fullydevelopedallegory.
In literatureand art the most persistent(as it was also the most accessible)
strandin the allegoricalapplicationof this groupof mythswas in the area of
political ideology and panegyric2.This type of interpretationis of some
antiquity,seen to splendideffect, for example,in Pindar'sfirst 'Pythian'.By
what may be an accidentof survivalGreekevidenceis more plentifulfor the
visual arts than for literature, with the result that in many cases our
conclusions as to possible allusions to historical events must remain
speculative.This imbalanceis particularlystrikingfor the Hellenisticperiod:
in the sculptureof the time there is a strong iconographictraditionwhich
suggeststhat the successorsof Alexandernaturallyturnedto Gigantomachy
as an image for their own victories(particularlythose over barbarianraces);
but the loss of almost all the contemporaryepic has removedan important
control on our interpretationof the artisticremains3.In what follows I wish
to examine a writerstrongly influencedby Hellenisticideas, Virgil, and to
arguethat themesfrom Gigantomachyare presentat importantpoints of the
'Aeneid', through an evaluation of both internal and external evidence. I
* I am verygratefulto ProfessorR. G. M. NISBETandMr. J. C. BRAMBLE
for comments and
suggestions made on an earlier draft of this paper. In what follows I sometimes use
'Gigantomachy'as a shorthandway of referringto 'the mythsof the battlesagainstthe gods of
the Titans,the Giants,andTyphoeus',in contextswhereancientindifferenceto the distinctionsis
plain.
1 On the myths:M. MAYER,Die GigantenundTitanenin derantikenSageundKunst(1887);
Waser,RE Suppl. iii. 655 ff.; F. VIAN,La Guerre des Geants (1952). On ancientallegorizations:
F. VIAN, La Guerredes G6antsdevantles Penseursde l'Antiquite,REG 65 (1952), 1 -39. On
representations
in art see id., Repertoiredes Gigantomachiesfigur&es
dans l'Art grecet romain
(1951).
2 See recentlyE. THOMAS,Mythosund Geschichte(1976).
3 Alexanderand Gigantomachy:see Plut. De Alex. fort. 341C, 'noiou; yip TuipCova;fl
nAx(oPiOuV4
yiyaVra4 Oy)X&vtCarioav[T6X11)dvtayovtcavr tnd6i6v; For Hellenistic Gigantomachicepic, attestedor hypothesized:F. KOEPP,De Gigantomachiae in poeseos artisque monumentisusu (1883),ch. 3; SUSEMIHL
i, 407; K. ZIEGLER,
Das hellenistischeEpos (1934),p. 49.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
312
P. R.
HARDIE
restrict myself chiefly to two key passages in the first and eighth books,
though the argumentcould be extended to include evidence from other
passages4.
II. The evidencefor Virgilshould be seen againstthe backgroundof the
use of Gigantomachyby his contemporaries.In literature allusions are
frequent, particularly in the recusatio5; the reasons for this frequency might
be moreapparentif moreHellenisticliteraturewerepreserved6.But, whatever
the immediate motivation for the selection of this particulartopic of
resounding epic in the earlier instances of recusatio, it is clear that in some of
the laterexamplesthe themebecomesassociatedallegoricallywiththe exploits
of Augustus,and that this associationhelpedto maintainits presencein the
predominantly political recusatio7. The allegorical use of Gigantomachy to
allude to Augustansupremacyis seen most clearlyand directlyin Horace's
fourth Roman Ode.
Ovid, trueto his intentionof floutingthe rulesof RomanAlexandrianism,
includesa directnarrativeof Gigantomachyin book one of the 'Metamorphoses'8. It has been arguedthat behindthe mythicalaccountof the creationof
the world and of the earlyOlympianvictoriesOvid intendsus to understand
the parallel creation of order and victory over evil by Augustus9. The
Augustan historicalepics are lost, but it is possible that they too may on
occasionhave used the image of the Gigantomachy?. A subsidiaryargument
bearingon whatis now lost may be drawnfrom the practiceof laterwritersof
4 Most notablythe Herculesand Cacusepisodein Aen. 8; see V. BUCHHEIT,Vergiltiberdie
Episodein Aeneid
SendungRoms(1963),esp. pp. 128ff.; G. K. GALINSKY,The Hercules-Cacus
VIII, AJP 87 (1966), 18-51.
s E.g. Prop. 2,1,19f., 39f.; 3,9,47f.; Hor. C. 2,12,7ff.; Ov. Am. 2,1,1Iff.; Tr. 2,69ff.
331f.; Manil.3,5 f.; Culex27f.; Ciris29ff. Cf. also Aetna41ff. On the rhetoricalstatusof the
theme:D. C. INNES, Gigantomachyand NaturalPhilosophy,CQ N. S. 29 (1979), 165 - 171.
6 NISBET-HUBBARD,ii. 189, considerthe attractiveidea that the Gigantomachy
motif in the
recusatio
may derive from a lost Hellenistic, possibly Callimachean, original; but note that
Callimachushimselfis not averseto drawingon Gigantomachy:e.g. Hy. 4,171ff.; 5,7f.
7 Cf. S. G. OWEN, Tristium Liber Secundus (1924), ch. 4; V. BUCHHEIT, Mythos und
Geschichtein OvidsMetamorphosen1, Hermes94 (1966), 80ff., esp. lOOf.
8 151- 162; Gigantomachyalso occursat 5,319ff.
9 V. BUCHHEIT, art. cit. For the combinationof universal history with political themes
elsewhere in Ovid see the beginning of the 'Fasti', where Janus is shown presiding over the
beginning of the Roman year, and hence associated with the world-rule of Rome (1,65ff.);
immediatelyfollowingthisJanusdeliversa philosophicalaccountof creation,in whichhe himself
plays a key-role, and which in turn is followed by the statement that he, Janus, has custody of the
world (117ff.). See also P. 4,8,57ff, for a movement from the creation out of Chaos, through
Gigantomachy and the triumphs of Bacchus and Hercules, to the achievements of Augustus.
10 See S. G. OWEN, Op. cit., p. 76.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Some Themesfrom Gigantomachyin the 'Aeneid'
313
historicalepic, Lucan, Silius, Claudian, in whom motifs of Gigantomachy
becomecliched,a methodof emphasizingeitherthe impietyof the enemiesof
Rome or the vast scale of the strugglesinvolved.
The evidence for Gigantomachyin the Augustan visual arts is less
impressive'1.If this is a true reflection of the original density of visual
representations,it may point to an interestingdivision betweenthe stylistic
canons of Augustanliteratureand Augustanart (at least of the sort intended
for public edification); the baroque energy of Hellenistic ideology is
admissiblein verse, but has no place in the still solemnityof a work like the
Ara Pacis.
Speaking generally, it might be surprisingif Virgil did not make a
significant use of Gigantomachicthemes; at least, in that case, he would
appearto be somethingof an anomaly, to judge by the evidenceassembled
above. Thereare a few overtreferencesto Titansand Giantsin the 'Georgics'
and the 'Aeneid', but taken on their own they are hardly more than
incidental12. A moreproductivemethodis to look not for specificnamesand
incidentsfrom the myths, but ratherfor thematicpatternsand motifs. Virgil
does not, typically, presenthis allegoriesin a clear-cut,independentform;
insteadhe fuses togetherthe immediateeventsof the narrativewith the myths
or stories that thus constitute, as it were, an internalizedallegory of those
events.
ILL.The Storm in 'Aeneid'I. The descriptionof Aeolus and the Cave of
the Winds at 'Aeneid' 1,51ff. has as its original model the Homeric
descriptionof the island of Aeolus in 'Odyssey' 5,1 ff. Virgil's divergences
from Homerhave often been pointedout, in particularthe transformationof
the dwelling-placeof the winds, whichappearsto be largelya new creationin
the Virgilianaccount13.
11 NISBET-HUBBARDii. 190f.
12 Georg. 1,278ff. (incidental to an account of
lucky and unlucky days); Aen. 4,178ff. (Fama
a sister of Coeus and Enceladus); 6,580ff. (punishment of the Titans and Aloades); 8,298f.
(Hercules and Typhoeus); 10,565ff. (Aeneas compared to the Hundred-hander Aegaeon). Cf.
also the Britanni woven into the aulaea at Georg. 3,25, who would certainly be of gigantic
proportions, as the British themselves were reputed to be of abnormal stature (Strabo 4,200):
'Gigantic' enemies of Rome?
13 On Virgil's innovation and manipulation of earlier material in this passage see esp. V.
BUCHHEIT, Op. cit. pp. 59ff. W. H ROSCHER,
Hermesder Windgott(1878), p. 20, attemptsto
reduce Virgil's description to a combination of the Homeric island of Aeolus and the belief that
winds dwell on or inside mountains; but none of his references to caves approaches the
conception of Virgil. Virgil may also be remembering the theory that earthquakes are caused by
winds pent up inside the earth.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
314
P. R. HARDIE
As BUCHHEIT
observes,Virgil'spictureof the imprisonmentof the winds
bearsa resemblanceto the imprisonmentof the Titansin Hesiod's'Theogony'
(729ff.):
tvOa foi
Fp6?vrt
6pq
ent6 0
TITfiV& V
JiouxfjotAot6 vpeXiiqpErTao
xExp3pwaTal
?V
XCDPCP
E6PWcSVTt, nlX(Pb1pf
TI,rt; OV'X
tk,tc6v tort, oopag
XaIXsiar,
?axaTa
yatT14.
8,' FoxF?,1
TE7Qo4 8t i?POiSTal
nooCt8816@V
dtg(PO'tpOT 0sV'
T' it
?vOaF6yrTg
K6OrroS
vafouatv,
,p
Bpta'Ppg gFwYd00ugog
XaxF; rtotoi At65 cyt6Xoto.
The similaritiesare morethan casual:Virgiltoo stressesthe providenceof
Jupiterin arrangingthe imprisonmentof the winds (Aen. 1,60f.), although
the architecturalfeatures of the Hesiodic prison are replacedby the more
monumental mountain-masses,which were traditionallyplaced over the
defeated Giants. The Hesiodic Titans are guardedby gaolers appointedby
Zeus, as Aeolus is the warder of the winds (a far more authoritarian
functionary than the Homeric Aeolus, described as tai.dli; dvtg.ov
(Od. 10,21). In his descriptionof the winds fretting in their subterranean
confinement(Aen. 1,55f.) Virgil may also have had in mind the Hesiodic
descriptionof the discontentof the Hundred-handers
(Theog. 621-623):
eVO' ot Y' 61yE' tXOVTsg 6n6 XOOVi VcuFTadovT'c
Fx' taXartl,
DuaRn
Fyi
;v nF' paat yating,
68Oatpad' dtxvV?voI, xpai8ii pt*yait?vOog 9ovtr,.
E1T(I'
The actualwordsthat Virgilhereuses are of coursebasedverycloselyon a
passagein Lucretius(6,197ff.), and indeedthe whole descriptionof the Cave
of the Windsis largelyconstructedout of Lucretianmaterials.But the waysin
which Virgil diverges from his model are as significantas the similarities
betweenthe two poets. In the passagecitedLucretiusis presentinga scientific,
but highly-imaged,account of the winds enclosed in mountainouscloudformations.The windsarecomparedto snarlingbeastsshutup in cages.Virgil
is, deliberately,unspecificabout the precisephysicalforms of his winds, but
they are anthropomorphicrather than bestial (Neptune can use rational
speechto them)14
14 The impressionthat the Virgilian winds are creaturesinhabitinga moral world is
strengthenedby the clearechoesof theirimprisonmentand irritationin the descriptionof Furor
at Aen. 1,293- 296.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Some Themesfrom Gigantomachyin the 'Aeneid'
315
Lucretiusis concernedwith observedphysicalphenomena;Virgil with a
mythicalpictureof Providenceand the balanceof cosmic order.This orderis
expressedby the imageof Aeolus enthronedaboveand mollifyingthe chained
winds (Aen. 1,58f.):
ni faciat, mariaac terrascaelumqueprofundum
quippe ferant rapidisecumverrantqueper auras.
These lines also have a close Lucretianmodel (1,278f.): (venti corpora
caeca) quae mare, quae terras, quae denique nubila caeli/verruntac subito
vexantia turbine raptant. Again observe the differences between the two
poets: note in Virgil the hypothetical conditional construction; the
substitutionof caelumprofundum for nubila caeli; and the addition of the
words per auras, which changes the image of plunderingfrom the several
divisionsof the universeto that of bodily carryingoff the partsthemselvesof
the universe.Lucretiusdescribesactual violencein the physicalworld; Virgil
imaginespotentialcosmic catastrophe.
Intimationsof cosmicdisasterare foundalso at the end of the stormscene,
whereVirgilagaindrawson existinglinguisticresourcesbut gives them a new
force. Caeli ruinaat line 129 suggeststhe final disaster,and gains point if we
remember that caelum ruere was a proverbial expression for an
impossibility'5;here it threatensto become a literalpossibility.A proverbial
expressionis also used by Neptunein his rebuketo the winds (133f.) 16:
iam caelumterramquemeo sine numine, venti,
miscere ... audetis ...
Here again the effect of the unexpecteduse of proverbiallanguageis to
shock us into a realizationthat Virgilis not simply indulgingin hyperbole.
The identificationof the Titansand Giantsas elementalforces of nature,
whose uprisingthreatensnot only the hegemonyof the Olympiangods, but
also the structureof the physicalcosmos itself, is encouragedby the Hesiodic
Is Otto, Sprichwbrter
s. v. caelum 7. The similarphraseruit arduus aetherat Georg. 1,324
also occursin a stormtreatedwith studiedhyperbole;Lucan(2,290) borrowsthe phrasefor a
literalcollapseof the sky.Caelum ruere occursat Livy40,58 with a morethan figurativeforcein
the reactionof the Bastarnaeto a stormbelievedto be divinelyinstigated.On the primitivefearof
the collapseof the sky see A. B. COOK,
Zeus ii. (1925),pp. 54ff.
16 Otto, s. v. caelum 1. At Lucr.3,842 the proverbialexpressionis also used in a shockingly
literalway(see KENNEYad loc.). The stormof Aen. 1 is remembered
by Venusin hercomplaintto
Neptune,5,790: maria omnia caelo miscuit.Similarexpressionsare found in laterGreekepic:
e. g. Dionysius'Gigantias'fr. 71,16 (LIVREA), sioeyaro 8`' pt 16vro4, and see LIVREA, P. 15, for
laterparallels.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
P. R.
316
HARDIE
accountsof the wars of the gods with the Titans and with Typhoeus.All the
divisionsof the universeare disturbedby the clashof the opposingforces(see
especially'Theogony'693ff.; 842ff.). Butthe confrontationsareimagined,at
least partially, in anthropomorphicterms: the ranks of the Titans are
describedas (padayyag (676). Typhoeusis a more monstrouscreature,but
even his aim is lordship over men and gods (837), rather than cosmic
destruction.
The peculiarfeature of Virgil'saccount of the winds is the presenceof
allusion to scientific explanationof the physical facts within a dominating
mythical construction of vast forces controlled (or not controlled) by a
superior providence. This kind of mix is also found in the allegorizing
rationalizationsof myth by the ancient philosophersand grammarians;the
severalmythologicalaccountsof theomachywere particularlyvulnerableto
this cosmic reinterpretation,frequently in the direction of a physical
exegesis.Theevidenceis chiefly preservedin late sources, but much of it is
likelyto derivefrom an earlierperiod.The olderStoa, in particular,is a prime
candidate.
The Byzantinecommentatorson the 'Theogony' preservea traditionof
meteorologicalinterpretationin which the battles against the Titans and
Typhoeusare taken to symbolizeseasonallyrecurringstrugglesbetweencold
and warm exhalations,in the course of which all parts of the world suffer
disturbance.Thereis a strongsenseof the precariousnessof the balanceof the
cosmic order,an equilibriummaintainedonly by divineprovidence'7.
I present a few passages from the Hesiodic commentators, whose
relevance to the above discussion will be immediately obvious. Hesiod
ascribesa personalmotive to Uranos for the imprisonmentof the Hundredhanders (Theog. 617ff.); Tricliniusinterpretsthe Hundred-handersas the
The Byzantine commentatorsare collected in J. FLACH,Glossen und Scholien zur
hesiodeischenTheogonie(1876). The divine battlesare sometimescalled gtXi t&v cotoXi.ov
(FLACHpp. 268, 271);welcomeconfirmationthat this representsan old traditionis providedby a
papyrusof the second centuryA. D. (P. Heid. SIEGMANN 194), a fragmentof a treatiseor
commentarydiscussing(probablyStoic) allegorizationsof myths(althoughthe subjectis here
Gigantomachyratherthan Titanomachy):
17
gtot 8Olxo1ji TfCIV
OTOCXEiCOVOplo-
AI?vTfv gtXd1v,
ol; Toi)c g5o6u4
dvKa>a)XciTTsctv
900;, xOvrtydvTrcvTjv rtavd[otaotv(ex. gr. Myovtc;).
(Discussedby M. GRONEWALD,ZPE 40 (1980), p. 55, whose supplementsI reproduce.I am
gratefulto Mr. E. L. BOWIEfor this reference.)
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
317
Some Themes from Gigantomachy in the 'Aeneid'
storm-windsof winterand ascribestheirimprisonmentundergroundto a fear
of universaldestruction(FLACHp. 268): i TOUoptpavoi3
a'O0t;nFspio8ogxai
tCo
iaTa &irsBXcnvoUoa
Ta
TOVfkXioou
itP6 ta i5xnoX0TEpalpi tnavo0o4
UnO yfjv xaTaxpu'nttst, OauoaC,outa g?v T6 gyFSeo4odtr v xvi'
ntvstata
Pjv
ioaxv
xcai
r6 si6o;,
6s6otxula &', AH tntxpaTioavTa
dlcoXsia4,
ytvwovtactco navti cTltia. Diaconus similarly presents the potentially
catastrophiceffect of Typhoeus, identifiedwith the typhoon-winds(ibid. p.
352): txxuxbvtrs
ov yfjv go6vov,dzka gItxpoO &.iv xvi t6v dnccvta x6agov
cnapadoovt?;. Diaconus goes beyond mere (putolXoytcaas a record of
observed seasonal disturbances, to a theological justification of the
prostrationof the monsterby Zeus(ibid. p. 353): sOUkoXyw);
MyFv?a5ttalaoia5T
toO A;6;
toi3&Fto6
TOn6
co 6 Tu(pcoDS'O3cICXacu
TxOUuAi6
gt?,klv
navr6g
a'i f(pDvtcv zntxpaiiaoiav
vrvta T6v x6o
..x. Xa yp &v tvcx6xi o
T6 totoO.Tov rrv?VIrn, ?-i i' 8tFxptOI unt6 tfig nvatcva 8totxou6Goi sFO'6ycw
'PTotfpaS xai &vtgou,. The Hesiodic
irpovoicit 1i; XcpaivotS Tc xai
battles are interpretedas descriptionsof the storms which accompanythe
seasonaloppositionof elements,and stormson the grandestscale.
A later poet, Nonnus, can also be seen incorporatingthe allegoriesof the
commentatorsin his own reworkingof the Hesiodicmaterial.In the extended
accountof the rebellionof Typhoeusin book two of the 'Dionysiaca'we find
a combinationof the Hesiodicfigureof the monster,with the meteorological
interpretationsof the scholia,as also the conceitthat the strugglethreatensthe
cohesionof the universe18. Referencesto Titanomachyin Nonnuspresentthat
battle too in termsof a storm19
IV. The Shield of Aeneas. The passagedescribingthe Shield of Aeneas
(Aen. 8,625 -731) is at once the most detailedpresentationof episodesfrom
Roman historyin the poem and also one of the passagesmost highlycharged
with symbolicreferenceand allusion.Farmorethan simplya catalogueof 'res
Italas Romanorumquetriumphos'(626), it deliversa persuasiveaccount of
the rise of Romevirtuallyex nihilo to a positionof world-empire.One way of
18 See R. KEYDELL,
Mythendeutung
in den Dionysiakades Nonnos, GedenkschriftG. Rohde
(1961), pp. 105- 114.
19The above discussionhas concentratedon the contaminationof a Homericmodelfor the
stormwithelementsof a HesiodicGigantomachy.G. N. KNAUER,Die Aeneisund Homer(1964),
pp. 174f., pointsout thatVirgil'sstormalso includeselementsfromthe Laestrygonian
episodein
the 'Odyssey',in particularthe verbalecho at Aen. 1,87('insequiturclamorquevirumstridorque
rudentum') of Od. 10,122f. (&pap t xwax6c x6veoo
vr1xv 0'6g5a &yvug4Eva0)v).
xatc vrfct 6pwpei/ &v8pdv 6kXufvov
Immediatelyprecedingthis in the Homericpassageis the description
of the attack by the Laestrygonians, o6x dv8pccotv
otx6Ota4, diXt
]Fyaolv 10, 120). The
allusionis too indirectfor the readerto pickup a HomericGigantomachyhere,but maybe taken
as evidence of associationspresent in the mind of the author, Virgil. See furtherKnauer's
speculationson the significancefor Virgilof the phraseCyclopia saxa (Aen. 1,201),ibid. p. 176,
n. 2.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
318
P. R. HARDIE
elevatingRomanmilitaryhistorywas to associateits triumphswith mythical
or legendarybattles:in the two sectionsthat follow I examinefrom this point
of view two of the most importantsceneson the Shield.
a) The Gaulson the Capitol
aureacaesariesollis atque aureavestis,
virgatislucent sagulis, tum lactea colla
auro innectuntur,duo quisqueAlpina coruscant
gaesa manu, scutis protecticorporalongis (Aen. 8,659- 662).
The scene depictingthe attackof the Gaulson the Capitolin 390 B.C. is
the longest before the scene describingthe battle of Actium, and it is also
curiouslyelaborate.The effect of the profusionof colour-termsis to renderit
static, to lift it out of the continuousweb of historicalactuality;this in itself
suggeststhat the scene has especialsignificancein the overallstructureof the
Shield.
S. REINACHsuggested20 that Virgil was here inspired by a prominent and
recentartisticrepresentationof Gauls,thaton one of the doorsof the Palatine
temple of Apollo dedicatedin 28 B.C. (Prop. 2,31,12- 14):
. .. valvae, Libycinobile dentis opus;
alteradeiectosParnasiverticeGallos,
altera maerebatfuneraTantalidos.
REINACH'S
suggestioncan be developedfurther.We may presumethatthe
relief was very familiarto the contemporaryreader;we may also note that it
is, in a sense, presenton the Shield of Aeneas itself, to be visualizedin the
pictureof Augustussittingat the door of the temple(720): ipse sedens niveo
candentisliminePhoebi.
In the severalscenesof the ShieldVirgilalternatesbetweena naturalistic
use of colour-termsand a use whichmatchesthe colourof the objectdepicted
to that of the mediumin whichit is depicted;in the sceneof the Gaulsthereis
a strongimpressionthat he is visualizingeverythingin termsof a workof art,
an impressionproducedchieflyby the heaping-upof wordsfor gold. If this is
so, then we shouldlook for a materialappropriatefor lacteacolla (660). It is
true that the white skin of the Gauls is a feature remarkedupon in
ethnographicaldescriptions21; however, had Virgilwished to note this fact
while restrictinghimselfto the metalsof the Shield, silverwould have been a
20
21
Rev. Arch. 13 (1889), 351 f.
E.g. Diod. Sic. 5,28,1. Cf. Petron. 102.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Some Themes from Gigantomachy in the 'Aeneid'
319
possibility for the assimilation of medium to object. Lacteus is quite
inappropriateto any metal, but is frequentlyassociated with ivory, as at
'Aeneid' 10,137f.: (quale) ...
lucet ebur; fusos cervix cui lactea crinis /
accipit et molli subnectenscirculusauro22.This last passagealso appealsto
the visual effect of the juxtapositionof ivory and gold.
Thereis no directevidencefor a closer reconstructionof the ivory reliefs
of the Palatinetemple but in respectto materialsit is quite probablethat so
importanta work would have been furtheradornedwith gold, ratherin the
manner of chryselephantinestatues in the round23: the distribution of
materialsin this techniquewas ivory for the skin and gold for the hair and
clothingof the figures,just the distributionthat we find in Virgil'sdescription
of the Gauls. Finally, it is preciselythis combinationthat Virgilhad himself
projectedfor the doors of his templeof poetry at the beginningof the third
'Georgic'(26f.)24:
in foribus pugnamex auro solidoqueelephanto
Gangaridumfaciam victorisquearmaQuirini.
If the allusionto the ivory relief on the doors of the templeof Apollo was
presentin Virgil'smind, then we may take a step furtherand suggestthat the
significanceof the scene of the Gauls on the Capitol is enhancedby the
associationof the repulseof the Galatiansat Delphi with Gigantomachy,so
that the implicationsof the preservationof Rome in 390 B.C. are widened
beyond the assuranceof the continuityof the city itself to a suggestionof a
more far-reachingvictory of the gods over their enemies. Little survives
directly of the iconographywhich was developed around the miraculous
preservationof Delphi in 279 B.C., but the evidence of Callimachusis
sufficient to prove the currency of the Gigantomachic image (h.
4,172- 175)25:
22 These two passages appear to be the first uses of lacteus of flesh (T. L. L. s. v. lacteus,
VII, 852,53).
23 On the use of gold and ivory see S. REINACH, art. cit., p. 351. For the ancients the contrast
of the colours of gold and ivory, as of lilies and roses, is a common one: see Nisbet-Hubbard on
Hor. C. 1,31,6; and, e. g., Lucr. 2,28; (Tib.) 3,4,37 ff. For an example of the combination of gold
and ivory on temple doors: Cic. Verr. 4,124.
24 The proem to Georg. 3 in all probability alludes to the Palatine temple of Apollo which
must have been nearly complete at the time of writing. See D. L. DREW, Virgil's Marble Temple:
Georgics 111. 10 - 39, CQ 18 (1924), 195 - 201; L. P. WILKINSON, The Georgics of Virgil (1969),
pp. 169f.
25 See also PFEIFFER on fr. 592. Possible sculptural groups celebrating the event: S. REINACH,
art. cit., pp. 317 ff. A related image is found on a dedicatory relief from Cyzicus, dated to 277/6
B. C., which depicts Heracles standing victorious over a figure identified by its oval shield as a
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
320
P. R. HARDIE
6it6r6av oi gv t(p' 'EXXijvEooi
jidxatpav
Piaplctptxrv xai KsXTOvavaaTijaavtc; 'Apila
6xiFyovotTirIivE; a'(p'krrpot) t?aXaT6ovTo0
iX6oc.vTrt . . .
The visual evidencefor such a mythologizationof the Galatiansis more
plentiful for the Attalid victories of the later third century B.C., most
magnificentlyin the remains of the Great Altar at Pergamum, like the
Palatinetempleof Apollo a grandiosecelebrationof the victoryof a dynasty
over the enemy outside. More explicit in its theme was the dedicationof
Attalus I on the Athenian acropolis. This took up and expanded earlier
Atheniansymbolism,with its representationsof the legendarybattlesof the
gods against the Giants and the Athenians against the Amazons, and the
historicalvictories of the Atheniansover the Persiansand the Pergamenes
over the Galatians26
Given the close links of Rome with Pergamum,first as allies and then as
rulers,it is likely that this conglomerationof symbolismwas well-knownto
the Romans from an early date27; it would be an easy step to see the
miraculouspreservationof the Capitol from the Gaulsas an analogueto the
miraculousoverthrowof the Galatianswho tried to scale Parnassus.The
comparisonmight be encouragedby, if it was not originallyresponsiblefor,
the identityof the name, Brennus,traditionallyborneby the Gallicchieftain
in commandon both occasions28.
b) Actium. The final scene on the Shield expands on the immediate
occasion of the tripletriumphof Octavianin 29 B.C. to give a grandiose(if
unhistorical) picture of Roman empire under the Pax Augusta, its
continuanceguaranteedby the divine patronageof the city. It is therefore
Galatian. In view of future developments it is relevant that we have evidence from precisely this
time for Pergamene aid to the Cyzicenes in their defence against the Galatians: C. PICARD, Le
Guerrier blesse de l'Agora des Italiens a Delos, BCH 56 (1932), 513ff.
26 Paus. 1,25,2.
27 A. TRENDELENBURG, BPW 18 (1898), 891 ff., 999, argues, with the help of an emendation,
that Horace had seen the Great Altar, and that he describes one of its scenes at C. 2,19,21 ff. An
early example of borrowing of Pergamene-type symbolism might be seen in a denarius of Cn.
Cornelius L. f. Sisenna, of 102- 100 B. C., depicting Jupiter hurling a thunderbolt against
Typhon (F. VIAN, Repertoire, no. 13); V. BUCHHEIT,art. cit. pp. 98 f., argues that this
commemorates the victory of L. Cornelius Scipio over Antiochus, a war in which the Romans
were allied with Eumenes II, the builder of the Great Altar at Pergamum. C. PICARD,art. cit.,
argues that the statue of a wounded warrior found in the agora of the Italians on Delos was part
of a group showing the defeat of a barbarian by a goddess, erected in honour of Marius' victory
over the Cimbri, and drawing on the Hellenistic iconography of theomachy as used to celebrate
victories over barbarians.
28 See R. M. OGILVIE
on Livy 5,38,3.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Some Themesfrom Gigantomachyin the 'Aeneid'
321
fitting that the decisivestrugglewhichprecedesthis new creationof universal
ordershoulditself be describedin gneaterthanlocal or humanterms,and that
the forceswhichattemptto preventAugustanruleshouldbe morethansimply
the mortal foes of historicalcontingency.
The supernaturalaspect of the battle is most obvious in the central
descriptionof the gods at war(Aen. 8,698- 705). It is truethat for this thereis
a Homericmodel, the Theomachyin 'Iliad'20, but the parallelis moreremote
than in many Virgilianadaptationsof Homer. In the 'Iliad' the Olympian
gods arrangethemselveson two opposing sides, but their direct conflict is
soon broken off, and they retireto watch the human battle. The Virgilian
battleis betweentwo quite separateracesof gods, the RomanOlympiansand
the alien Egyptian divinities, monstrous and non-anthropomorphic(698):
omnigenumquedeum monstraet latratorAnubis. Further,it is reasonableto
assumethat the celestialstruggleconcernsnot merelythe futuredominanceof
Romanor barbarian,but also the balanceof powerin heavenitself; the defeat
of the Egyptians relegates the Egyptian pantheon to obscurity. In these
respects an alternativemodel to Homeric Theomachy may be sought in
HesiodicTitanomachyor Typhonomachy,wherethe struggleis also between
two differenttypesof opponent,and wherethe prizeis also governmentof the
universe. In the later versions of Gigantomachythe opponents of the gods
take on an increasinglybestial aspect (notably, for example, in some of the
scenes of the Great Altar at Pergamum).Comparisonof our passage with
the explicit Gigantomachyof Horace's fourth Roman Ode is revealing
(C. 3,4,49 - 64). There too the emphasisis not on the actual progressof the
battle, but on the contrast between the two armies, the monstrous and
undisciplinedGiants and the Olympianrepresentativesof controlledpower,
likewisewith a specialplace for Apollo29.If we bear these considerationsin
mind, the resolutionof the battle of Actium by Apollo, so far from being a
frigid detraction from the achievementof Octavian, is seen as the almost
inevitable conclusion; it is appropriate that this battle of universal
proportionsshould be decided by a shot from one of the greatestof divine
weapons,the bow of Apollo, whichhereassumesa functionanalogousto the
thunderboltof Jupiterin the defeat of the Giantsor Typhoeus.
Thoughtsof moralizedGigantomachymay also be relevantto the presence
of Minervaamong the gods fightingat Actium. Minervaand Apollo are the
two gods common to the Virgiliannaumachyand the Horatian Gigantomachy. It is tempting,in both places, to see in Minervaa representativeof
29 H. P. SYNDIKUS,
Die Lyrik des Horaz ii., p. 67, stresses the ease with which the forces of
unreason are defeated; one can compare the ease with which Apollo routs the enemy in Virgil: it
is their own unreasoning terror which defeats the barbarians.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
322
P. R. HARDIE
reasonor wisdom, fightingon the side of the legitimatechampionof Rome30.
There is also a particularaptness in the presence of the goddess in a
theomachydepictedon a shield.Perhapsthe most famousshieldin ancientart
was that of the Pheidian statue of Athene Parthenosin the Parthenon.Its
exteriorcarrieda relief of Amazonomachy,while its interiorwas adorned
with a paintingof Gigantomachy,visibleabove the coils of the sculptedsnake
whichnestledwithinthe shield. This paintingwas frequentlycopied, both on
representationsof shieldsand on other objects, and was doubtlessknownto
Virgil. Is it possiblethat in the broad planningof the themesof his Roman
shield Virgil was influenced by the great sacred monument in which the
Athenianshad expressedtheir ideal of rationalempire3'?
The superhumanquality of the Virgiliandescriptionof Actium is also
suggestedin the image used of the two naviesas they move into battle(Aen.
8,691f.):
alta petunt; pelago credasinnarerevulsas
Cycladasaut montis concurreremontibusaltos.
As a parallelfor this strikinghyperbolecommentatorsnormallyadduce
the descriptionof the battle in Dio: (50,33,8)32:cMxaov dv t'C,i6V Tta
ytyv6gteva,
?S
uXPa
noxIotig xai nxvalc
?aXoI;
ntO
O6gIotboaL, TsiXE,IV
tx eaX,aoyng
7ttoIfVvai T? tOWVCWXWp6V 6301tp
i'irsipou
v
ij xai
v11aot;
oi
v
ro0topxo0p)cVat oi3t
0
xa'i tpujiat6g TtVO;AnMp5VTO. It
is truethat one of the factorsdeterminingDio's comparisionwas the greatsize
of Antony's ships (thougheven this is playeddown);but the real point he is
making concernsthe tactics of the battle, which approximatedto those of
30 On this aspect of Athene-Minerva, and for an attempt to apply it to the fourth Roman
Ode: W. THEILER,
Das Musengedicht des Horaz, Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur (1970),
pp. 415ff. The presence of Athene in the Homeric theomachy was similarly interpreted by the
ancient commentators: schol. bT ad. 11. 20,33, 'A09vd 8? ToTS 8lxaico xai
xppovigto
saxoptvot; [ioon(tJ.
31 Reconstruction of the Pheidian shield: A. VON SALIS,Jhrb. d. Inst. 55 (1940), 90- 169.
Later copies: F. VIAN, Repertoire, nos. 417-419; 477-478 (Roman examples of the second
century A. D.). E. PETERSEN, Die Kunst des Phidias (1873), p. 338, suggests an allusion to the
Parthenos statue at Aen. 2,227: (gemini dracones) sub pedibusque deae clipeique sub orbe
teguntur. The Gigantomachic shield had possibly naturalized itself in Roman literature at an early
date: E. FRAENKEL, JRS 44 (1954), 14ff., suggests that Naevius Bell. Poen. fr. 19 (MOREL), a
description of images of Titans and Giants, refers to a Gigantomachy, and one possibly depicted
on a shield of Aeneas.
32 The idea that the battle bore a greater resemblance to a land-engagement than to naumachy
is found also in Plutarch, Antony 66,2: i1v ou'v n7,0opiaiq npoop(Jp?pS 6 dy&v r6
&X0vrlo pov Ei7retv, -retxoaxia. Cf. Florus 2,21,5. On the wider theme of the elements
unnaturally interchanged: Mayor on Juv. 10,173- 184.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Some Themes from Gigantomachy in the 'Aeneid'
323
siege-warfare.Virgil, in the lines which follow, keeps to the duties of a warcorrespondentin the description of the turreted ships and the flaming
projectiles, but the image of the uprooted Cyclades and the clashing
mountainshas nothing to do with siege-warfare,and is indeed far removed
from any ancientpracticein battle, whetheron land or sea. This is a conflict
not of human forces, but of raw chunksof nature.
It is in Gigantomachythat we find the closestparallelsfor the deployment
of weaponsof this character.One thinksof the piling-upof mountainsby the
Aloades, an incident which in later accounts becomes merged into a
generalizednarrativeof Gigantomachy,or of the mountainsimposedon the
defeatedGiants by the victoriousgods. More immediatelyrelevantare those
Gigantomachicencountersin which, in the courseof the battle,a Giantor god
tears up an island or mountainto hurl at his or her opponent33;for example
the incidentin which Poseidon tore off and hurledat the Giant Polybotes a
portionof Cos (whichbecamethe islandNisyros),a favouritesubjectin early
Greek vase-painting34. Apollodorus provides a typical selection of examples
of mountainsand islandsused as projectiles,as in the descriptionof the battle
of Typhon against Zeus [Bibl. 1,431:xaotgaX6[trvo; tl?pi r6v A'ijov 61a
ICapXsv 6prl. Later examples are to be found in Claudian, whose
fragmentaryGreek and Latin Gigantomachiesare the only survivorsof a
poetic genre which enjoyed popularitythroughout antiquity. In the Latin
poem thereis a catalogueof the mountainstorn up by the Giantsas weapons
(66 f.). Later on the islands fall victim: Mimas tears up Lemnos, and
Porphyrionattemptsto breakoff Delos (114ff.):
ecce autem mediumspirisdelapsusin aequor
PorphyriontrepidamconaturrumpereDelon,
scilicetad superosut torqueatimprobusaxes.
I dwell on this last passagebecauseits implicationsprovidea commentary
on one of the details in the Virgilian comparison. Claudian proceeds to
describethe horrifiedreactionof the placesand divinitiesmost nearlyaffected
by this threatto Delos; the fragmentbreaksoff at the point at whichthe island
Delos herself appeals to Apollo to save the island which once receivedhis
pregnant mother. Part of her prayer is an implied appeal to a previous
33 Virgil also remembers Lucr. 4,138ff: nam saepe Gigantum/ ora volare videnturet
umbramducere late, / interdummagni montes avulsaquesaxa / montibusanteireet solem
succedere praeter. The juxtaposition of Giants and flying mountains may be coincidence: or is
Lucretius suggesting that it is cloud-simulacra such as these that are responsible for the details of
the myth of Gigantomachy?
34 F. VIAN, Repertoire, e.g. nos. 96, 105, 111, 309, 331, 366. In general see M. MAYER, Op.
cit., pp. 207 f.
22
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
324
P. R. HARDIE
occasion on which Apollo gave her security (128): en iterum convulsaferor.
This is a referenceto the legendthat Delos was a floatingislandpriorto her
receptionof Latona35.Delos was the centre of the Cyclades,and the circle
which they formed around this centre might be seen as a reflection of a
harmonious,and more specificallyApolline, order. The disarrangementof
Aegeangeographydescribedin revulsasCycladasis thus an attackon Apollo
himself, and in Virgilit is Apollo who later intervenesto turnthe battleand
restoreorderon the humanand divinelevels36.
In Virgil the Gigantomachicimage has a function greaterthan that of
simple hyperbole,and hints at the idea that the securityof natureitself is
threatenedby the scaleof the conflict at Actium, with the furtherimplication
that the naturalorderrequiresthe combinedvictoryof Octavianand Apollo
for its maintenance.The tendencyto universalizethe importof Actiumis an
extensionof the exaggerationseen previouslyin the suggestionthat the forces
opposed to Octavianby Antony are those of the entire easternhalf of the
oikumene,an extensionfrom the humanto the physicallevel37.
V. Thus far I have consideredin isolationpassagesin whichthemesfrom
Gigantomachyare to be detected. It is time to considerthe implicationof
these themesfor the widerstructureand significanceof the 'Aeneid'.The use
of such themesin the Stormof the first book may be seen as complementary
to otherstrandsof symbolismwhichhave beendetectedin this scene(chiefly,
the oppositionof the divineand the demonic,and the politicalovertones,as
highlightedin the statesmansimileof lines 148ff.). We havealreadyseen how
the Gigantomachicallegorymay operateat a numberof levels:the political,
the moral, the religious.Virgilhereadds the cosmologicallevel, for whichhe
had good precedentsin the Stoic traditionof allegorization.It is impossibleto
judge whetherthis level of allusionwas presentin Hellenisticusesof Giganto35 For other accounts of the legend see Aen. 3,75 ff., and R. D. WILLIAMSad loc.
36 For this geographical orderliness see Callim. Hy. 4,300f.: 'Aotepiil Ou6cooa, ot ptv ntepi
l'dg(pi rt viViot / xtxkv inotIjoavTo xai i;) Xop6v dtgpsoXdovTo. Further support for this
interpretation is provided by Prop. 4,6,27 f. (a poem heavily indebted to Aen. 8): cum Phoebus
linquens stantem se vindice Delon / (nam tulit iratas mobilis una Notos), where the incident is
linked to a series of Apolline victories over evil. Propertius also uses the image of wild rockthrowers(v. 49): Centauricasaxa minantis;see NISBET-HUBBARDii. 188. It is perhapssignificant
that Statius in his adaptation of the Virgilian passage replaces the Cyclades with Delos itself
(Theb. 5,338 f.): abruptam credas radicibus ire / Ortygiam autfractum pelago decurreremontem.
37 See P. JAL, La Guerre civile A Rome (1963), for a collection and discusssion of material on
the civil wars as a conflict involving most or all of the inhabited world (pp. 275ff.), and as
threatening disruption of the physical cosmos (pp. 282ff.). An idea of a sympathy between
human and natural orders is strongly present in the list of omens at Georg. 1,466ff.; it reaches an
extreme development in Lucan's application of images of cosmic order and disorder to themes of
civil war.
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
325
Some Themesfrom Gigantomachyin the 'Aeneid'
machy,but a generalconsiderationperhapsinclinesus to the view that Virgil
is here original, namelythe emphasisin Augustanideology on the universal
supremacyof Romanempire,so that the cosmologicaland the politicalorders
become interchangeable.Alexanderwas the only Hellenisticmonarchin a
position to make such claims; it is less easy to imagine such in, say, a
Pergamenecontext.
How does this interactionof the cosmologicaland the politicalworkin the
case of the Storm? At this early stage in the poem chiefly in a negativeway.
Virgilhereintroducesan idea of cosmicorderand of the forceswhichthreaten
it. Aeneas (and by implicationthe destinyof Rome) is shown as exposed to
these mighty forces, but as yet powerlessto act towardsthe preservationof
order.The chaos of the stormis checkedby the interventionof Neptune,and
his concernis only for the etiquetteof the divinedivisionof powers, not for
the safeguardingof Rome's chances in the future developmentof history
(Aen. 1,132ff.). It is a Gigantomachyin which Rome can take no decisive
action, althoughthe elementalequilibriumof the universeis seen to affect her
most closely. This is all in contrastto the events depictedon the Shield of
Aeneas, where the Roman hero is very much in control of the monstrous
forces that threaten to disrupt the order of the world, and where the
interventionof the gods is intendedpreciselyto guaranteethe politicalorder
for whichRomestands:it is herepossibleto talk of a 'RomanGigantomachy'
as that phrasemight be used of Horace's fourth Roman Ode.
It is no accidentthat Gigantomachicthemesare concentratedin books one
and eight, markingas they do the two limits of the historicaldevelopmentof
Rome: on the one hand the near extinctionof the individualAeneas in the
Storm, and on the other the expansion of Augustan power to fill the
oikumene.This polaroppositionis markedalso in the two descriptionsof the
caves of Aeolus and of the Cyclopes, which are both presentedas centresof
immenseelementalpower, with the essentialdifferencethat in the first that
power is combined with irresponsibility,whereas in the second it is the
instrumentof a divine providence.The similaritiesbetweenthe two passages
on a closer level are striking.Both Aeolus and Vulcanare lords of mountain
islands, beneathwhich their chargesare active in caves (antrum:Aen. 1,52;
8,419,424). The monstrous wind-demons create unholy uproar in their
mountainprison;the Cyclopesfill the spacesunderVulcan'sislandand Etna
with the din of the forges as they go about their (divinely-sanctioned)
business. The two islands are even adjacentin space, a point which Virgil
emphasizes (8,416f: insula...
38
iuxta ... Aeoliam ... /...
Liparen)38. Virgil
On Virgil'schoice of Vulcanofor the forge of the Cyclopessee EDEN on Aen. 8,416f.;
ROSCHER
i, 2073. ValeriusFlaccusalso stressesthe fact that the two islandsand theirinhabitants
are neighbours (1,579ff.): aequore Trinacrio refugique a parte Pelori / stat rupes horrendafretis,
22*
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
326
MARGARETHEBILLERBECK
also connectsthe productionsof the Cyclopeswith the forces of the storm;
note the meteorologicaldescriptionof the parts of the thunderbolt:(Aen.
8,429f.) 39:
tris imbristorti radios, tris nubis aquosae
addiderant,rutulitris ignis et alitis Austri.
In book one the storm-forcesconspireto destroyAeneas;in book eightthe
elementalforces, operatingproperlyunderdivinecontrol, are directedto the
protectionof Aeneas and to the creationof a symbol of Rome's greatness.
This adds another dimension to the more obvious fact that the Shield of
Aeneas (and of Rome) is createdin the same workshopas the weaponsby
which the Olympians maintain control over the universe (and whose
manufactureis temporarilyput aside for the Shield of Aeneas).
Oxford,CorpusChristiCollege
P. R. HARDIE
quot in aetherasurgit / molibus, infernastoties demissasub undas. / nec scopulos aut antra
minor iuxta altera tellus / cernitur:illam Acamas habitatnudusquePyracmon./ has nimbi
ventiquedomos, et naufragaservat / tempestas.Cf. Juv. 1,8f. In Silius the wind Vulturnus,
releasedby Aeolus at the requestof Juno, pauseson his way to gatherfreshstrengthfrom the
firesof Etna(9,497ff.): qui, se postquamAetnaemersitcandentebarathro/ concepitqueigneset
flammeaprotulitora, / evolat.
39 This meteorological detail is not found in Apoll. Rhod. 1,730ff., which commentators
adduce as a parallel. Servius' physical allegorization of Vulcan's forge is to the point (ad Aen.
8,416): physiologiaest, cur Vulcanusin his locis officinam haberefingatur inter Aetnam et
Liparen: scilicet propter ignem et ventos, quae apta suntfabris. Note also the presence of winds at
Aen. 8,449 f.: alii ventosis follibus auras / accipiuntque redduntque. The corresponding passage
at Georg. 4,171 has taurinis..
DIE UNTERWELTSBESCHREIBUNG IN DEN 'PUNICA'
DES SILIUS ITALICUS
WennSiliusim 13. Buchder 'Punica'Scipioin die WeltderTotenvordringen laBt,so nimmter damitein Motiv auf, das seit Vergilzu einemfestenBestandteil rOmischerEpik geworden ist. Vorbild fur Vergils Katabasisim
6. Buchder 'Aeneis'war nattirlichdie grof3angelegteNekyiaim 11. Buchder
'Odyssee'1 Alle wichtigenElementeeiner Begegnungmit den Toten sind bei
1 Ausfuhrliche Untersuchungen zur Homernachfolge Vergils und nachklassischer Epiker
sind unternommen worden von G. N. KNAUER, Die Aeneis und Homer. Hypomnemata 7, GOttingen 19792 (filr unseren Zusammenhang vgl. besonders 107 - 147) und H. JUHNKE, Homerisches
This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.52.65 on Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:03:48 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions