Title
Author(s)
Citation
Issue Date
URL
ON THE SO-CALLED "ABRUPT ENDING" OF THE
AENEID
Yamasawa, Takayuki
西洋古典論集 (1991), 8: 71-81
1991-12-20
http://hdl.handle.net/2433/68591
Right
Type
Textversion
Departmental Bulletin Paper
publisher
Kyoto University
ON THE SO-CALLED "ABRUPT ENDING" OF THE AENEID
Takayuki Yamasawa
It
of
the
is
often
whole
suggested,
epic,
the
that
end
of
considering
the
length
Aeneid comes
Virgil's
to
the end in an unexpectedl y sudden way.
The final
Turnus,
thrown at
38
).
him,
scene is as follows:
his
thigh
pierced
him in their
Aenea s,
catches
duel,
hesit a t ing
sight
of
by the
spear
begs
for
a
moment
f or
Turnus's
Aeneas
has
mercy ( 12.919bef or e
sword-bel t,
killing
which
had
been taken from the body of Pallas, the young warrior on
Aeneas's
side
( 12.938-44).
In
a
fit
of
rage, he kills
Turnus, declaring that it is Pallas who slays
him ( 12.
945-52 ).
ill e, oculis postquam saeui monument a doloris
exuuiasque
terribil is:
hausit, furiis
'tune
eripiare mihi?
immolat
et
hinc
accensus et
spol iis
945
ira
indute
meorum
Panas te hoc uulnere, Pallas
poenam scelerato ex sanguine sumit.'
hoc dicens ferrum aduerso sub pectore condit
feruidus;
ast
illi sol uuntur
frigore
950
membra
uitaque cum gemitu fugit indignata sub umbras.
The
t ha t
other,
soon
memor ia 1
terribl e
in
his
of
as
his
cr uel
wrath:
eyes
drank
grief,
fired
"Ar t
-71-
thou,
in
the
with
thou
trophy,
fury
cl a d
in
and
my
beloved
one's
spoils,
hands?
'Tis
Pallas,
sacrifices
blood!"
thee,
So
saying,
with
fiery
slack
and
chill,
be
snatched
Pallas
and
sword
indignant
to
takes
full
and
to the Shadows
with
atonement
in
zeal.
who
hence
his
But
the
with
a
stroke
thy
guilty
he
buries
other's
I imbs
moan
my
this
of
breast
from
the
grew
life
passed
belowO).
One might say that this ending is very abrupt from
two
points
anything
of
of
view.
First,
Aeneas's
the
poet
reaction
to
where
imminent
Achilles,
death,
says
that
omits
to
is
also
tell
of
the
and
two
this
long
last
line does
one
of
(
response
Hector
ready
heroes,
Aeneas
lacks
'cum
not· end
with
the
Book
24 forming
a
detailed
at
his
the
during
and
antagonists
calm
war
atmosphere
the natural
of
fading
occurs.
Thus,
The
very
hero, but
and
dying
The
the
Hector's
out
he
fight
).
as
gasp,
the
epilogue.
defeated
his
between the
Turnus,
of
of
Second,
which
'indignata'
description
death.
last
death(2).)
sort
gemitu,'
in
gives
warning
focus on the triumphant
fiercest
does
any
enemy's
the
aftermath of
Rutulians,
not
to
for
the
epic
the
agonies
which
he
Trojans
between
in
his
mention
case in the Iliad Book
( This is contrary to the simil ar
22,
does· not
of a
on
in
Aeneid
Iliad does,
funeral
in
story full
of pathos.
Scholars have tried to explain in various ways why
the Aeneid has such an abrupt ending.
The simplest
of all
the theories is that
-72-
the Aeneid
is
left
This
incomplete
theory can be
epic;
for
passages
it
provide . it
with
the
poem(~
so-called
the
intention
Augustus
less
proper
by
the
prose
'Donatus
auctus.'
continue
his
Aeneas,
such
will
as
these
have
one
S. Farron
the
failed
time
draft
is
It
is
that
epic
up
to
books (.5).
Aeneid
Virgil's
simpler
to
accept
who
is
argument (S).
to
he
set
of
the
reported
in
Virgil
the
had
time
However,
words,
'the
end
proba bl y
'It
must
the
brutal
kill s
the
in
conscious
intention
of
the
of
this
have
it
is
image
of
suppliant
proponent
the 'abrupt' ending
to
of
express
his
the Augustan val ues.
In
Aeneid
as
a
fiercest
She sees
contemporaries
. disturbing.'
explanations,
mercil essl y
own negative sentiments against
Vergil's
coul d
in writing the
view
twelve
the
several
how
have
ending
of
and
But
should
of
death.
features
another.
radical
reject
we
her
sudden
credible.
argued,
the
its
another
we
this
one
more
to
in
warrior.
poet's
half-lines
Aeneid(3),
the
Another,
If
of
with
versification
the
seems
the
the poet, who was so careful
of
about
dozens
inconsistent
be that
of
supported by other
example,
prooemium
of
because
must
extremel y
been
have
struck
jarring
very
shocking
and
to
a
Roman reader and seemed much more brutal to him than it
does
speak
to
us.'
of
the
victims during
But
the
end
Many
poet's
other
compassion
the rise of
of
astonishing
than
First,
the
the
is
scholars,
Rome.
Aeneid can
generall y
death
of
for
less
those
This is
be
poignantly,
who
fell
as
probably true.
interpreted
as
less
accepted.
Turnus
-73-
is
foreshadowed
repeatedly
so
as
real ization
in
advance(7).
Latinus's
Italians
grief
and
to
make
over
the
reader
Already
the
newl y
the
at
imminent
arrived
convinced
7.596f.,
war
Trojans,
of
in
its
King
between
the
hint
the
a
at
fate of Turnus can be heard:
te, Turne,
suppl icium,
nefas, te triste manebit
uot isque
deos
uener a ber e
Thee Turnus, thee the guil t
shall
ser is.
and its bitter punishment
await, and too late with vows shal t
thou adore
the gods.
The second prediction of
who,
observing
heaven--a
a
flash
his death is spoken by Aeneas,
sign that
with
his
thunder
mother
and
a
Venus sends from
vision
has promised to give him--is convinced of
of
arms
she
the victory of
the Trojans ( 8.537-40 ) :
heu quantae miseris caedes La urentibus instant!
quas poenas mihi, Turne, da bis!
quam mul ta sub undas
scuta uirum gal easque et fortia corpora uol ues,
Thybri pater!
Alas,
What
what
a
shiel ds
carnage
price,
and
awaits
Turnus, shal t
hel ms
and
the
hapless
Laurentines!
thou pay me!
bodies
of
the
How many
brave,
shal t
thou, 0 father Tiber, sweep beneath thy waves!
It
is noteworthy that in the above passages both Latinus
-74-
and Aeneas think Turnus guil ty of starting the war.
In Book
9, there is
the
of
aid
against
he
the
fall s
narrow
Juno,
no such prediction.
Turnus
Trojans
and,
into
great
escape.
The
gives
al though
danger,
final
Thus
)(8).
the
contrast
with
expressly
inserts
brief
mention
sends Iris
end
of
that
of
into
the
play to
pushed
of
the
across
this
of
Book
the
closing
he
12.
section
divine supervision
in
Turnus and Pallas.
steals
the
interrupts
famous word (
Book
9.802ff.).
famous
9
a
Jupiter
Here,
for
himself.
duel
between
When the former slays the latter and
sword-belt
and
the
Virgil
Turnus should
time, Turnus is rejected by Jupiter
contains
his
( 9.816-
which
the first
book
(
a
remarkable
of
from
tenth
camp
a
withdraw
The
Trojan
depict
However,
to Juno with the command that
the
by them,
river
forms
valour
manages
book
the
book
his
back
neverthel ess
lines
safe return to the comrades
8
full
Rather, through
foretells
10.501~5
from
the
his
doom
corpse,
of
the
Turnus,
poet
also
a
) :
nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futurae
et seruare modum rebus sublata secundis!
Turno tempus erit magno cum optauerit emptum"
intactum Pallanta, et cum spolia ista diemque
oderit.
o mind of man, knowing not fate or coming doom or how
to keep bounds
when uplifted with favouring
-75-
fortune!
To Turnus shall come the hour when for a great price
will
he long to have bought an unscathed Pallas, and
when
This,
he will abhor those spoils and that day.
and
the loss
Jupiter's
of
consolating
words
Pallas before the duel
to
Hercules
for
( 10.471-2 ), combine
to make a decisive pointer toward the death of Turnus:
etiam sua Turnum
fat a uocant metasque dati peruenit ad aeui.
For Turnus too his own fate calls, and he has reached
the goal
So it
has
of his allotted years.
become unmistakably clear
be saved from
tone
the
accompanies
intensity:
seeks
viol ent
Turnus,
Aeneas,
Turnus
alone,
that
poor
victims
this
at
firml y
the
Turnus cannot
Hereafter, an ominous
growing
raged
He slays whomever
the
death.
that
more
and
news
resolved
of
to
more
in
Pallas'
take
its
death,
vengeance.
he encounters, and shows no mercy on
who
violence,
entreat
It
it.
unbecoming
to
is
the
easil y
hero,
foreseen
prefigures
the outcome of the last fight between Aeneas and Turnus.
On
the
other
hand,
mercy is famil iar
five
21.74
of
such
In
)(9).
interesting
ca pt ur ed
among
by
in
the
rejection
Homer.
cases
(
relation
these
Menel a us,
In
the
6.46,
to
are
pI ea ds
of
the
Iliad
10.378,
the
that
f or
entreaty
for
there
16.330,
Aeneid,
the
are
20.463,
most
in
Book
6.
Adrastus,
his
lif e.
Menel a us
is
incl ined to spare him, when Agamemnon hastens there and
-76-
dissuades him ( 6.55-60 )
is
1r£1rOV, wM€v£ka€, T {'Y/ Of (TV "TjO€aL OVTCtl<;
avop(Jv;
f1UOL apLuTa 1r€1ro{'Y/Tal "aTa oT"ov
,.....
,
I!
,
'J,
'J/
1rPOc; TpCtlCtlV; TCtlV 1l'Y/ TLC; V1r€"epVYOL aL1rVV o"A.€(}pov
,.... ,
'J I!
,
'J I!/
" "
X€Lpa<; (} 'Y/1l€T€pac;, ll'Y/O ov TLva ya(TT€pL Il'Y/T'Y/P
,....
'J ,
,
'J e,
,
'J
'J I!/
,
"ovpov €OVTa ep€POL, ll'Y/O oc; epVYOL, a"A."A. alla 1raVT€<;
,
,
'JI"A.{ov E~a1ro"A.O{aT'J ci"TjO€(TTOL "at aepaVTOL.
Dear
brother,
tenderly /
Menelaus,
0
are
with these people?
get the best of
you
concerned
Did you in your house
treatment /
from
the
Trojans?
let not one of them go free of sudden /
hands;
not
carries /
of
the
still
11 ion's /
unmourned
young
in her
peopl e
for.
man
Surely this episode must
is
brother
mind
into
adviser
has
lets
his
mercilessness.
in
been
of
his
epic,
destined
Aeneas
to
hesitate
blotted
add
a ccept a bl e,
this
for
that
Virgil
death.
changes
the
did
not
need
t her e
t he
loser,
After
Turnus's
question.
what
out
and
In Homer
that,
plea,
that
Turnus's
If
should
his
so bitterl y ( 12.872-884 ) ?
-77-
sister,
it
victor's
such
an
Tur nus,
the
should
us rather than that Aeneas kills Turnus in the
may
mother
translation)
the Aeneid.
beca use
at
the
have been in Virgil's mind when
scene of
speech
death and our
that
utterl y
Lattimore's
he composed the final
the
child
No,
body, not even he, but I et all
perish,
(R.
so
poet
astonish
end.
pleading
Juturna,
We
were
lament
Second,
the
and simpler
Aeneas
fa tal.
Onl y
deals
Turnus
wounds
at
agony fills
those
ore'
the
In
similarity
end
in
two
lasts
Iris,
pain,
cuts
from
the
actions,
sent
off
her
lock
imprisoning
not
Aeneas
that,
no
death
gruesome
streams
in
and
who
cru-
(
her
her
limbs' ( 4.695).
arma
sic'
in
note
the
) and
her
I ines
pities
release
blood
Dido's
fourty
as
of
'sic,
strok es o.1>,"
than
'to
so
however,
Aeneas's
Juno
After
not
in
Dido,
more
by
Pall as'
diffundit
suicidal
is
the epic, this verse--
Mezentius's
"two
agony
4.704f.,
line of
of
this
Al though Turnus's
one--is
case
..
strokeso. O )."
death
shorter
figures in the
12.926, but
preceding
the
marks
death
at
: 'undantique animam
).
death is
principal
lines are left.
depicting
4.660
Turnus'
'Pall as
the very last
as
( 10.908
Turnus
12.948
"two
more than four
well
of
than those of other
poem.
as
description
until,
in
Ionglasting
struggl ing
soul
And then at
last
( 4.704-5 ) :
omnis et una
dilapsus
calor
therewith
all
atque
the
in uentos
warmth
uita
ebbed
recessit.
away,
and
the
life
passed away into the winds.
Or, compare those of
the
same
road
blood-stained
his
breast'
Turnus
foIl ow
mouth'
),
rather
and
),
so
Pall as ( 10.487 : 'by one and
blood
and
Lausus
on.
-78-
;
(10.819
Virgil
indifferentl y.
life,'
depicts
10.489:
'blood
the
'with
filled
end
of
Thus,
nor
the
of
end
'astonishing.'
pression
and
detect
That
might
we
Virgil's
the
Aeneid
is
neither
onl y
a
superficial
is
call
anti- Roman
it
misdirected
sentiments
'violent'
to
try
these
in
imto
aspects
of the poem.
NOTES
Translations
(1)
from
Aeneid
the
are
Rushton Fairclough in the Loeb Classical
(2)
used
of
twice
Hector
the
in
following
lines
depict ing
the
of
H.
Library series.
line of the Aeneid is an
On the contrary, the last
imitation
those
in
the
dea t hs
of
Iliad which
are
Pa t r ocl us
and
( 16.856-7 ; 22.362-3 )
""~.,
tpVXT/ 0
e,
,
.,/
f./G pf.6f.wV TrTalJ.f.VT/
eo"
,
"'"'
OV TrOTIJ.0V yoowacx, AlTrOVa
and
the soul
into
Death's
.,
••
,
.,
,.......
"
e/
aVopoTT/Ta /GCXl T/{3T/V.
the 1imbs went
fl uttering
free
house
mourning
/
,
AlOOaOf. {3f.{3l1"a,
of
her
dstiny,
down
leaving
yout hand rna nhood behind her. ( R. La t timor e's t r a nslation )
(3)
See
Michio
Oka,
On
the
Prooemium
of
the
Aeneid,
JCS 26, 1978, 1- 22.
(4)
Roman
There
potry,
exist
two
Lucan's
Fl accus' Argonautica,
obviously
De
ending
bello
on a
-79-
unfinished
civili
sudden
and
at
epics
in
Valerius
10.546
and
8.467
respectivel y.
composed
method
their
was
XII
prosa
libros
gil ius
works
one
different.
23: Aeneida
is
It
that
after
Suetonii
those
another.
( Vita
poets
Virgil's
Donatiana
)
prius oratione formatam digestamque in
componere
1iberet
prout
book
Vita
particulatim
],
clear
instituit
quidque,
et
[
nihil
sc.
in
Ver-
ordinem
arripiens.
(5)
'Dona t us
Alii
eius
a uct us'
sententiae
Vergil ius
]
tempora
scripturum
Augusti
(6)
quatuor
Farron,
Aeneid,
Acta
rejected
by:
K.
Ba yer),
ut
XX
libros
usque
al ia
quidem
atque
menti
lines
59- 63:
habuerit
<ad>
[
sc.
Augusti
percursurum,
dil igentissime exequuturum.
The
Abruptness
Classica
C.
by
sunt,
et
vero gesta
S.
(ed.
P.
E.
25,
of
1982,
Springer,
the
End
136-141.
The
Last
(
of
the
Recentl y
Line
of
the
Aeneid, CJ 82, 1986/ 87, 310- 33.)
(7)
Just
in
the
similar
way,
the
war
in
Latium which
is to begin in Book 7 is r epea t edl y for et 01 d in Books 16,
see
W.
H.
Sempl e,
War
Bulletin of the John
and
Peace
in
Aeneid,
Virgil's
Rylands Library 36, 1953/ 54,
211-
227.
(8)
'ille
a ccepit
sociis
[
sc.
fl uuius
uenient em a c
a bl uta
]
suo
cum
moll ibus
ext ulit
remisit.'
(
caede
gurgite
undis /
9.816- 8
).
flauo
et
Cf.
/
1a et um
12.952:
'indigna ta'.
(9)
See
Studies
B.
in
Description,
Fenik,
the
Typical
Narrative
Wiesbaden
Battle Scenes in
Techniques
1968,
of begging to be spared utter
in
Iliad
11.131-35,
this
time
-80-
83-4.
of
the Iliad:
Homeric
The
same
Battle
word
Pisandrus and Hippolochus
to
Agamemnon
himself,
to
no
pur pose,
(10)
M.
of
cour see
Lee, Fathers and Sons in
Owen
Virgil's Aeneid:
Tum genitor natum, Al bany 1979, 103.
(11)
Id.,
ibid.
Literature ( not
E.
Burck,
cited in this paper
Vergils
>Aeneis<
mische Epos, Darmstadt
in:
E.
):
Burck(ed.), Das
rlJ-
1979, 51-119.
K. W. Gransden, Virgil's Iliad: An Essay
on Epic
Nar-
rative, Cambridge 1984.
G. N. Knauer, Die Aeneis und Homer: Studien
zur
poeti-
schen Technik Vergils mit Listen d£r Homerzitaten in der
Aeneis, Got t ingen 1979.
B.
Otis,
Originality of
Virgil,
(ed.),
H.
The
Raabe:
London
Plunma
1969,
the Aeneid, in: D. R. Dudley
27-66.
mortis
imago:
Vergleichende
Inter-
pretationen zur Bildersprache Vergils, Miinchen 1974.
B.
Schneider (ed.),
Das Aeneissupplement d£s Maffeo
Vegio,
Weinheim 1985.
C. Segal, The
the
w.
Iliad,
Theme of the Mutilation of the Corpse in
Leiden
1971.
S. Anderson, The Art of the Aeneid, Englewood Cliffs
1969.
-81-