TEACHERS’
HANDBOOK
By Paul Murgatroyd
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
INTRODUCTION ........................3-5
II.
BIBLIOGRAPHY .........................6-11
III.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
FOR APPRECIATION OF
AENEID 1 ................................12-25
IV.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
ON TROJAN WAR ...................26-47
V.
SUGGESTIONS FOR
TOPICS APPENDIX ................48-52
2
I. INTRODUCTION
T
his multimedia,
interactive CD-ROM is a
powerful teaching tool, whether
you employ it as a component of a
course taught by you or send
students off to use it themselves
as a self-study.
The Trojan War part utilized
in a taught course represents a
convenient and palatable way of
giving students in Classical
Civilization survey courses and
mythology courses a full grounding
in the absolutely central myths of
the Trojan War and the foundation
of Rome, without taking up much
class time. It will also allow you to
stimulate by covering a wide range
of areas and topics in this
connection (including many outside
your own area(s) of expertise), to
cater for the various interests of
your students and give them a
broad (interdisciplinary) view.
The basic (stripped down)
narrative is fast-moving, exciting
and variously moving and
appealing. It is based on the best
accounts by the best writers
(especially ancient, but also
mediaeval, renaissance and
modern). There are click-on
Expansions and Excursuses which
give more information about
incidents, details and variants of the
myths (including material hitherto
untranslated) and handle aspects
such as art, archaeology, history,
the Classical tradition etc. There
are also interactive features, images
and sound to engage further the
interest of users.
With this resource you can
now in classes omit some material
or summarize it briefly, referring
students to the CD-ROM instead.
At other points (because the
information is on the CD-ROM)
you can tell them that there is no
need to take notes, so that they can
concentrate fully on what you are
saying. There is also lots of source
material here for tutorials, essays,
assignments and projects (a list of
topics forms an appendix, and
there are suggestions to help with
them below). As you explore and
experiment, you will find that there
are many other uses for this very
versatile tool.
3
And don’t forget that the
Aeneid 1 part comes with a
translation (as well as an
Appreciation and Excursuses), so
that users can also study all or part
of a related book of poetry by one
of the greatest writers in antiquity.
The screen will contain at
the top a few lines of Latin text,
together with notes on grammar
and references below, and users
can also click on words to find out
their meaning in the vocabulary (at
the side). When they have
comprehended the basic meaning
of a section, they can then move
on to the Appreciation (a few
paragraphs of literary criticism to
facilitate interpretation and
enjoyment of the section). After
that they can move on to various
Excursuses (on art, archaeology,
history, myth, the Virgilian tradition
and so on, designed to broaden
understanding and deepen
perception),clicking on whatever
topics appeal to them. The different
processes of understanding and
interpreting have been separated
for ease of access.
In this way students will
save a lot of time over basic
comprehension and can prepare
more Latin! Then (to the extent
that you prescribe) they can look
at the work as poetry, and after
that go for the broader
(interdisciplinary) picture, pursuing
their own enthusiasms. A printout
of the text facilitates study in class,
and you can put the emphasis
where you like (on translation,
grammar, appreciation etc.), getting
the class to consult the relevant
material on the CD-ROM and
testing to see that they have done
so by getting them to translate,
starting class discussion etc.
For Latin students one of the biggest problems is the
time taken over preparation, as they flip from a text at
the front of the book to notes at the back (wading through
commentaries that mix up grammar, references, textual
criticism, literary criticism etc.) and perhaps have to use
a dictionary as well. All that is now done away with at
one stroke.
4
As a self-study the thereby acquire independently
Aeneid 1 (in Latin) part would as much information about the
be ideal for students who need to war and its context as you want
to.
Essays
and
extend their reading in Latin and them
who also need a lot of help with assignments based on the CDthe language, or for those who ROM would be a useful way of
would benefit from being exposed checking that it is being fully
to a full critical appreciation of the utilized. Classical Civilization
book (treating the poetry as students could also be directed
to
the
poetry), or for
those who would When it comes to translation of
Virgil Aeneid
be stimulated by
independent use, a CDwide ranging
1: for them to
ROM with attractive read on their
excursuses
(which fill in features such as sound, own a whole
m u c h colour and images is in itself book of poetry
background, and appealing and encourages related to the
also go off at browsing. You could also Trojan
War
u n e x p e c t e d take the time to explain the ( w i t h
angles).
resource and its potential to b a c k g r o u n d
T h e your class, pointing out its and literary
Trojan War part features and encouraging c r i t i c i s m )
for self-study
would be a very
exploration of it.
would be a useful
v a l u a b l e
and time-saving
addition.
adjunct to a myth course or
Classical Civilization survey In 1998 two graduate
course. You could prescribe all of students who needed more
this part or instead select relevant Latin used the CD-ROM to
elements of it for students to prepare 90 lines per week.
concentrate on, and they would I met with them once a
week for 20 minutes only to
check their translation and
appreciation. They achieved
5
grades
of B+ and A+.
II. BIBLIOGRAPHY
T
he CD-ROM can be supplemented by various books. In
the Appendix on the CD-ROM entitled Bibliography on the
Trojan War I list some general books on the myth and some books
on the Trojan War in art.
Of the former The Ages of Homer is a big and
beautifully illustrated book consisting of many chapters by experts
examining various aspects ( history, archaeology, literature, coinage
etc.). Scherer’s book takes readers through the myth from the start
to the end, discussing variants down the ages in literature and art; it
is copiously illustrated and is especially good on mediaeval versions.
Wood’s book also has fine images and it
provides a readable (if not too scholarly)
account of the historical and archaeological
background.
In the latter category The Distaff
Side has several interesting essays on
female characters from the Odyssey in
art, while Comstock consists mainly of
pictures of the many relevant holdings in
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Gantz has
a full and scholarly discussion of early
literary and artistic versions of the story (but
no plates). Woodford’s book is highly
recommended and should prove popular with students: it tells the
myth in detail and has many illustrations, which are furnished with
sensible and sensitive interpretation.
I will add here some more books which should prove of use
to teachers and lecturers.
6
Particularly helpful is K. Myrsiades Approaches to Teaching
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (New York, 1987). This work
has a wide range of essays on the best ways of putting across Homer
and his epics, and it also contains lists (with evaluation) of relevant
books, journals, films, software and so on.
Interest may be piqued by two attempts to
retrace Odysseus’ voyage and identify places mentioned in the
Odyssey. See E. Bradford Ulysses Found (London, 1963)
and T. Severin The Ulysses Voyage (London, 1987).
For the later history of the myth in literature see H. Clarke
Homer’s Readers (Newark, 1981), K.W. Gransden
Virgil’s Iliad (Cambridge, 1984), M. Mueller The Iliad
(London, 1984) chapter 7, K.C. King Homer (New York and
London, 1994) and A.M. Young Troy and her Legend
(Westport, Conn., 1971), which also covers opera and art.
There are three short but effective general introductions to
Homer - J. Griffin Homer (Oxford, 1980), W.A. Camps An
Introduction To Homer (Oxford, 1980) and R. Rutherford
7
Homer (Oxford, 1996). The latter is in the Greece and
Rome New Surveys in the Classics series and is
obviously right up to date. Also well worth consulting (on the social
and historical background of the epics) is M. I. Finley The World
of Odysseus (Penguin, 1979).
Solid introductions to theIliad are furnished by M. Mueller
The Iliad (London, 1984), M. Silk Homer The Iliad
(Cambridge, 1987) and S.L. Schein The Mortal Hero An
Introduction to Homer’s Iliad (Berkeley, 1984). For
notes on the poem (explaining references etc.) there is M.M.
Willcock’s A Companion to the Iliad (Chicago, 1976),
which is based on Richmond Lattimore’s verse translation of the
poem, and (on the original Greek) The Cambridge University Press’
The Iliad A Commentary (Cambridge, 1985-93) in 6
volumes, written by different scholars (vol. I books 1-4 by G.S.
Kirk; vol. II books 5-8 by the same; vol. III books 9-12 by B.
Hainsworth; vol. IV books 13-16 by R. Janko; vol. V books 17-20
by M.E. Edwards; vol. VI books 21-24 by N. Richardson).
J. Griffin Homer The Odyssey (Cambridge, 1987)
provides a helpful overview. S.V. Tracey The Story of the
Odyssey (Princeton, 1990) is a reading guide which takes you
through the poem and offers interpretation of sections. D.M. Gaunt
Surge and Thunder Critical Readings in
Homer’s Odyssey (Oxford, 1971) has perceptive and
stimulating analyses of individual passages. For notes on the poem
(explaining references etc.) see P.V. Jones Homer’s Odyssey
A Companion to the Translation of Richmond
Lattimore (Carbondale, Il., 1988) and (on the original Greek)
Oxford University Press’ A Commentary on Homer’s
Odyssey (Oxford, 1988-92) in 3 volumes, written by different
scholars (vol. I books 1-8 by A. Heubeck, S. West and J.B.
Hainsworth; vol. II books 9-16 by A. Heubeck and A. Hoekstra;
vol. III books 17-24 by J. Russo, M. Fernandez-Galiano and A.
Heubeck).
8
In the appendix on the CD-ROM entitledVirgil Bibliography
there is a long list of relevant scholarship. Here I will simply mention
a few books which should prove to be especially useful for teachers
and lecturers. J. Griffin’s Virgil (Oxford, 1986) covers Virgil’s
life and subsequent influence and has chapters on the Eclogues
and Georgics as well as the Aeneid. The Cambridge
Companion to Virgil (Cambridge, 1997, ed. C. Martindale)
contains interesting chapters by various experts on different aspects
(such as Virgil in art; Virgil in English translation; his religious and
philosophical ideas; Virgilian narrative; and characterization in Virgil).
On the Aeneid in particular see W.A. Camps An
Introduction to Virgil’s Aeneid (Oxford, 1969), R.D.
Williams The Aeneid (London, 1987) and K.W. Gransden
Virgil The Aeneid (Cambridge, 1990). W.S. Anderson in
The Art of the Aeneid (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1967)
goes through the whole poem, offering critical appreciation of the
various books as he goes. For notes on the Latin of Aeneid 1
see R.D. Williams
The Aeneid
of Virgil Books
1-6 (London and
Basingstoke, 1972)
and (very full)
P.
Ve r g i l i
R.G. Austin
M a r o n i s
Aeneidos
Liber Primus
( O x f o r d ,
1971).You will find
m u c h t o
supplement my
Appreciation in
these
two
commentaries
(especially the latter).
If you would like your students to get a feel for the poetry of Homer
and Virgil, there are good verse translations available - R. Lattimore’s
The Iliad of Homer (Chicago, 1951) and The Odyssey
of Homer (New York, 1965) and R. Fitzgerald’s Virgil The
Aeneid (Penguin, 1981).
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The origins of Rome are covered in the first five books of
Livy. There is a translation of those books by A. de Selincourt
(Livy The Early History Of Rome, Penguin, 1971)
and detailed notes on the Latin by R.M. Ogilvie (A
Commentary on Livy Books 1-5, Oxford, 1970). Ogilvie
also offers a readable narrative account of the origins in his Early
Rome and the Etruscans (Trowbridge, 1976). T.J. Cornell
The Beginnings of Rome. Italy and Rome from
the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000264 BC) (London and New York, 1995) takes into consideration
archaeological as well as literary evidence. T.P. Wiseman Remus
A Roman Myth (Cambridge, 1995) examines the legend of
Romulus and Remus from a historical point of view and investigates
its origin and development. Michael Grant Roman Myths
(Penguin, 1973) provides a full and interesting analysis of the myths
of Aeneas, Romulus, the Roman kings and the early Roman republic.
If you need to find out more about a particular character,
detail, incident etc. there are various reference books. The most
extensive mythological dictionary is in German - W.H. Roscher
Ausfuhrliches Lexicon der griechischen und
romischen Mythologie (Leipzig, 1884-1924). There are
dictionaries in English too. The new Oxford Classical
10
Dictionary edited by S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth (Oxford,
1996) is very full on myth and all other aspects of antiquity. P.
Grimal The Dictionary of Classical Mythology
(trans. A.R. Maxwell-Hyslop, Oxford, 1985) has concise accounts
(and very useful lists of references in the back). R. Graves The
Greek Myths (Penguin,1960) is interesting but less reliable
than the others. If you are pursuing artistic representations the (as
yet incomplete)
Lexicon Iconographicum
Mythologiae Classicae (Zurich, 1981- ) is invaluable.
JUST OUT
M.J. Anderson's The Fall of Troy in Early Greek Poetry and Art (Oxford, 1997) concentrates on epic (correspondences between the fall of
Troy and incidents elsewhere in the Trojan War myth), tragedy (how
the tragedians adopted and adapted details for their own dramatic purposes) and vases (the artistic and emotional impact of combinations of
more than one scene from the fall of Troy).
11
III. ADDITIONAL MATERIAL FOR
APPRECIATION OF AENEID 1
1-11 For more on the connection with Homer see F. Cairns
Virgil’s Augustan Epic (Cambridge, 1989), 190ff. and
G.N. Knauer in Oxford Readings in Vergil’s Aeneid
(ed. S.J. Harrison, Oxford, 1990), 390ff.
For a fuller and broader discussion of this section see W.S.
Anderson The Art of the Aeneid (Englewood Cliffs, NJ,
1967), 1-23 and N. Horsfall A Companion to the Study
of Virgil (Leiden and New York, 1995), 101-5.
12-33 This would be a good place to fill in
the Carthaginian background. Hannibal in
particular should appeal to students. There is a
popular account of him in L. Cottrell’s Enemy
of Rome (London, 1960). Any standard
Roman history textbook (such as H.H.
Scullard’s A History of the Roman
World 753 to 146 BC) will give a brief
account of the three wars. For fuller treatment
see B. M. Caven The Punic Wars
(London, 1980) and J.F. Lazenby The First
Punic War (Stanford, 1996) and
Hannibal’s War (Warminster, 1978).
34-49 For useful additions to my remarks on this section see
R.D. Williams’ commentary (The Aeneid of Virgil Books
1-6) p.161f.
12
50-63 For more on sound effects here see Williams’ commentary
p. 164. For further contrasts with Odyssey 10.1ff. (and some
intriguing parallels between Aeolus and Aeneas) see S. Bertman
Vergilius 29 (1983), 48 -50.
64-80 More could be
made of the conduct and
characterization of Aeolus
here. His reply is humble,
awed and rather selfimportant, and he
apparently accepts the
bribe without demur. So in
76f. he is deferential (note
also the respectful ‘your majesty’ and the prominence given to
Juno here and below by the repetition of tu(us) ‘you(r)’ ). He is
proud of his position and privileges too (see the references in 78 to
his realm and sceptre and in 79 to the feasting with the gods, and
note also the sonorous and rather pompous 80). There is also a
realistic touch of mock-modesty in 78. Of course he does not really
owe to Juno what he mentions in 78-80 (compare 60ff.), but he is
overawed and being polite. This is an aptly shorter speech for a
lesser deity very much aware of his lesser status.
81-101 As sound is so very important in Virgil’s poetry it may be
a good idea to point out (for those working with the translation too)
the emphatic and violent sound effects (onomatopoeia, i.e. the sound
resembles what it depicts) in the Latin of 81-3 —repetition of c, i,
a, v and t in particular, to catch the forcefulness of the blow to the
mountain and then the noise and energy of the winds (note also the
word endings in 87, and on sound generally in Latin poetry see L.P.
Wilkinson Golden Latin Artistry Cambridge, 1970).
13
Diction is also very important in Virgil’s poetry. The powerful
words here are agmine, ruunt, turbine, incubuere, totumque, imis,
ruunt, creberque procellis, vastos, eripiunt, nox, poli and
crebris...ignibus (note the concentration), to which I have tried to
do justice with ‘an army in line, swirling and sweeping, swoop on,
squall after squall, heave all of it up from its lowest depths, enormous,
snatch away’ and so on.
102-123 Also noteworthy is the rhythm in 117 (mainly dactylic,
bringing out speed and commotion) and 118 (mainly spondaic, in
line with the sad tone, and highlighted by the contrast with the
previous line). See also Austin’s commentary (P. Vergili
Maronis Aeneidos Liber Primus) p. 58 and Williams’
commentary p. 170 on rhythm (and sound).
The reference to the rocks in 109f. is a learned little aside
(typical of the scholarly poetry that Virgil produced), but it also
makes for an effective momentary lessening of tension (which is
screwed up all over again at 110ff.). The mention of the Italians
underlines how close the
Trojans were to Italy, only
to be swept far away. The
name ‘Altars’ suggests
that the Trojans are a
sacrifice to Juno/ Aeolus/
his winds, a shocking idea
in the case of the godfearing and dutiful Aeneas.
124-141 Neptune is well characterized, and contrasts sharply
with Aeolus (the last male divinity we saw). He is businesslike: he
raises his head, sees what is going on, realizes at once Juno’s
involvement, calls the winds and with a brief speech calms the sea.
14
In his speech (long enough to cow the winds) we see in 132 divine
snobbery, in 133 the
great god jealous
of his privileges, cold
(‘winds’ instead of
names) and insulting
(‘dare’), in 135 a
realistic choking, in
136 naked threat,
in 137 a peremptory
start, followed by
the sneering ‘monarch’
a n d t h e n ,
reinforcing that, at
139ff. the sneering
‘appalling’, ‘lord it’,
‘palace’ and ‘reign’
(in a prison(!), and
Jupiter is the real
ruler
anyway).
Neptune is a
definite individual, and
a forceful one too.
142-156 The first simile in the Aeneid deserves some stress.
On it see further the commentaries of Williams (p. 172) and Austin
(p. 68f.) and also W.S. Anderson The Art of the Aeneid
p. 25. The firebrands or torches (faces) here recall the lightning
earlier, and the rocks here bring to mind the ‘Altars’.
157-179 Lines 170ff. could receive a little more comment. With
the mundane tasks there normality is re-established (after the
incredible storm and the extraordinary gods), especially thanks to
the quietly efficient lieutenant Achates. There are many realistic
touches in those lines (the Trojans’ longing for land under their
feet, their mental and physical state after the storm, their need for
fire and food to dry, comfort and strengthen them after their ordeal).
And we can identify with the Trojans (especially because of the
realism), as we go through all these actions with them and calm
down with them after the tempest. This kind of identification with
a character or characters is known as empathy.
15
180-207 On similarities and dissimilarities between Aeneas and
Homer’s Odysseus see further Austin’s commentary p. 81 and
R.O.A.M. Lyne Further Voices in Vergil’s Aeneid
(Oxford, 1987), 104ff.
208-222 Virgil’s style is worth commenting on here (even for
those working with the translation). Line 208 ends with three
important words placed next to each other for emphasis (a technique
known as juxtaposition) — literally ‘sick (aeger) from his great
(ingentibus) worries (curis)’, and the final word aeger gets stress
from its position at the close of the line (words at the very end or
start of a line or sentence in Latin poetry are often emphatic).
In 209 Virgil has a strikingly balanced arrangement of words
which draws attention to the show which Aeneas puts on and the
reality of his feelings. Spem (‘hope’) and dolorem (‘sorrow’) appear
at either end of the line; the next words in
are vultu (‘on his face’) and corde (‘in his
heart’); at the middle of the line are the
two verbs - simulat (he feigned’) and premit
(‘he suppressed’).
At 211ff. Virgil uses stylistic effects to
enliven his description of mundane
activities. So in 211 there is parallelism (and
rhyme) in the repeated order of noun
followed by verb (tergora diripiunt...
viscera nudant). In 213 there is
juxtaposition (litore aena places right next
to each other in the word order the shore and the cauldrons which
were set up on it). There is also alliteration in 213 (and below).
16
223-253 The commentary by Williams (p. 177) is helpful here
on Homeric parallels and Virgil’s view of the Roman mission and
the world order.
254-296 For more on patriotic themes in Roman poetry see G.
Williams Tradition and Originality in Roman
Poetry (Oxford, 1968), 426ff.
For the opposition in the Aeneid between furor ‘insanity’
(which involves loss of self-control and is responsible for sin) and
pietas ‘dutifulness’ (which leads to order) see B. Otis Virgil A
Study in Civilized Poetry (Oxford, 1963), 221ff.
297-304 The first mention of Dido occurs here, and it would be
as well to consider now the tradition in which Virgil was working.
The founding of Carthage took place three or four centuries after
the accepted date of the Trojan War, and so in
most accounts there had been no link between
Aeneas and Dido. The early Roman poet Naevius
may have first brought them together in an epic
poem of his, but, if so, he probably did not
produce as extensive and detailed a narrative as
Virgil did. In the standard version Dido was
pressurized into marrying a local chieftain but
was most reluctant (because of her loyalty to
her dead husband) and in fact committed suicide
by throwing herself on to a pyre rather than go
through with the marriage. Virgil follows the main
outline of this but (perhaps after Naevius) gives
the story a twist with the introduction of Aeneas.
For discussion of the tradition (and possible links with Greek Tragedy
in Virgil’s version) see E.L. Harrison ‘The Tragedy of Dido’ in
Classical Views 8,1 (1989), 1ff.
17
305-334 As a change from straight Virgil, students
might like to compare and contrast Venus as she
appears in Aeneid 1 and in the charming story of
Cupid and Psyche told by Apuleius. For accessible
translations see R. Graves Apuleius The
Golden Ass (Penguin, 1950), 114-157 and P.G.
Walsh Apuleius The Golden Ass (Oxford,
1995), 75-113, and for background to the story see
P.G. Walsh The Roman Novel (Cambridge,
1970), 190ff. In Apuleius’ tale too death figures and there is a
beautiful mortal female with whom a son of Venus has an affair,
but there the son is Cupid rather than Aeneas, and he is going
against the wishes of Venus (who is a shrew and mortified at the
idea of becoming a grandma), and there is a happy ending with a
proper marriage. The more that you look at the tale, the more you
will come to feel that Apuleius (who was well acquainted with Virgil’s
poetry) had an eye to the Dido-Aeneas episode and was ringing the
changes on it.
335-370 Here are answers to the questions in the Appreciation.
We feel sorry for Dido from the start because of 339 (danger for
her), 341 (fleeing her own brother, and crime is involved) and
especially 343ff. (the stress there on her great love for Sychaeus
makes us realize fully the awfulness of Pygmalion’s crime and the
deep hurt that it would cause Dido). Respect for her increases at
360ff., where she copes with the situation and acts boldly, achieving
so much.
I find 354f. vivid, and the tender concern for Dido at 357ff.
realistic.
Especially dramatic (pregnant) pauses occur in 348 and 350354. In the Latin at 348ff. note the frequency of i, a, c, s and m.
18
Three lines on Dido’s bond with
Sychaeus at 343ff. bring out her passionate
love and consequent agony (and also help us
better appreciate her guilt and remorse for
being unfaithful to Sychaeus in book 4). Five
lines on the murder and Dido’s deception at
348ff. by dwelling stress Pygmalion’s great
wickedness (which includes sacrilege), making
us hate him, and contrast his love (for gold)
with Dido’s much more admirable love (for
her husband), evoking pity for Dido (look at
the significant final words in the Latin at 349352). Seven lines on the appearance of
Sychaeus’ ghost at 353ff. allows this
marvellous and sad incident to come across
with full force, so that we can take in properly important aspects
such as the drama of the ghost’s appearance, the extra touch of
callousness in the fact that he was not even given burial, and the
dead man’s loving concern for his wife. At 360ff. the pace of the
narrative speeds up (thanks to short sentences and phrases, and the
absence of connecting links) to bring out Dido’s brisk vigour and
the speed of the actions there described. The contrast with the
earlier slow pace heightens the effect.
370-401 The omen of the swans at 393ff. is symbolic. On
symbolism in Virgil see J.A. Richmond’s chapter in Virgil ed. I.
McAuslan and P. Walcot (Oxford, 1990), 24ff.
Signs from the behaviour of birds are frequently mentioned
in antiquity. They might bode ill or confirm something that has
been said or symbolize what is happening or is going to happen.
See Homer Iliad 12. 200ff., 13.821ff., Horace Odes 3.27.1ff.,
Ovid Metamorphoses 10.453.
19
Students may well be intrigued by other omens and prodigies,
such as sneezing, comets, eclipses, thunder, weeping statues,
showers of stones or blood, deformed births, abnormalities in the
entrails of sacrificial animals, the sound of trumpets and arms clashing
in the sky, and talking cattle and groves. For lists of such bizarre
phenomena see Virgil Georgics 1.464ff., Tibullus 2.5.71ff.,
Ovid Metamorphoses 15.782ff., Lucan 1. 522ff., Suetonius
Nero 46.
402-417 The description of Venus at
402ff. could easily lead into a brief excursus
on depictions of divinity in Classical art (see
e.g. J. Boardman Greek Art, London,
1964 passim) and literature (e.g. Cupid and
Isis in Apuleius Golden Ass 5.22 and
11.3f., Tragedy and Elegy in Ovid
Amores 3.1, Apollo in Lygdamus
(Corpus Tibullianum) 3.4.23ff.
and Ovid Metamorphoses 11.165ff.,
Pan in Homeric Hymn 19). You could
also compare and contrast portrayal of
divinity in other cultures and religions
(Christian, Buddhist etc.) and the modern
western equivalents (sex-goddesses, supermodels etc.).
418-440 To extend and sharpen appreciation of the standard
and important epic feature of the simile, you could give students
other examples of Virgilian similes (with context). See the discussions
and examples in G. Williams Technique and Ideas in the
Aeneid (New Haven and London, 1983), 60ff. and D.A. West
in Oxford Readings in Vergil’s Aeneid (ed. S.J.
20
Harrison, Oxford, 1990), 429ff. You could also consider as well or
instead Virgilian metaphors (on which see W.F. Jackson Knight
Roman Vergil (Penguin, 1966), 311ff.).
441-493 One of the most famous lines in all of Virgil occurs in
this section — sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt
(462) — the despair of translators (myself included). The diction
of a poet like Virgil is very important, and it is as well every now
and then to move from broader issues to smaller points. Students
would benefit from a concentration here on Virgil’s power of
expression (especially the simplicity, density and melancholy). See
the discussions in Austin’s commentary p. 156f. and especially W.F.
Jackson Knight’s Roman Vergil (Penguin, 1966), 240f.
494-519 The actual implications of the simile at 498ff. concerning
Dido (=vigorous, lovely, queenly etc.) are already adequately covered
in the Appreciation. You could stress instead the simile’s sources
and criticism of it in the ancient world (for which see Austin’s
commentary p. 166f., Williams’ commentary p. 199f. and W.
Clausen Virgil’s Aeneid and the Tradition of
Hellenistic Poetry (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1987),
19ff.). Get the students to consider whether Virgil simply adopts or
really adapts as an imitator, and start a class discussion on how
justified the criticisms of Probus and his supporters are.
520-578 Here are some of the additional implications and appeals
in Ilioneus’ subtle and diplomatic speech (but not all of this will
have been considered, and in some cases, I suspect, one should
assume that his feelings are just slipping out)
522f. flatteringly imply that Dido (deferentially referred to
21
as ‘your majesty’) has heaven on her side and is just (the lines also
indirectly encourage her to be just and god-fearing: Jupiter was the
god of hospitality). Note the vigorous alliteration to drive the point
home in 527. At 530ff. Ilioneus sensibly explains that they were in
fact on their way to a far distant land and were blown off course,
reinforcing his point by dwelling on Italy for a full four lines here
(and again below) and showing an eloquent longing for it (which
also constitutes an appeal in itself). Pity would be aroused at 529
and especially 535ff. (with the full and strongly worded description
of the terrible storm), which lead in to an effective contrast at 539ff.
(where they receive callous treatment instead of compassion). In
543 the allusion to the gods is well aimed (at Dido in her great
temple), and at 544ff. the mention of Aeneas and his qualities shows
that the Trojans are not destitute nobodies. And so on, and so
forth.
579-612 There is an interesting glimpse of Achates at 581ff. He
comes across as a respectful lieutenant, careful, rather puzzled and
a bit of a plodder (even more so than Aeneas). The prosaic tone of
his speech contrasts with what follows and adds to its impact.
As to whether or not Virgil overdoes it at 588ff., the picture
of Odysseus in Homer may be more realistic and
credible, but Virgil did have good reasons for his
additions. Here the beauty of (semi-divine)
Aeneas is improved on by the very
goddess of love herself, at a supremely
momentous and magical moment, to ensure that
he has a strong effect on Dido (counterbalancing
her husband Sychaeus), and Aeneas’ beauty
here only matches the (divine) beauty of Dido
at 496ff. (drawing the two of them together).
22
613-642 You would be doing your students a favour, if you used
this passage as a springboard to introduce them to Catullus’ poem
64. This epyllion (short epic), as well as being an exquisite and
affecting piece of writing, has links with the Trojan War (the marriage
of Peleus and Thetis) and with Dido (Ariadne). There is a good
translation in Guy Lee’s The Poems of Catullus (Oxford,
1990), and perceptive analyses are offered by R. Jenkyns Three
Classical Poets (London, 1982), 85ff. and J. Godwin
Catullus Poems 61-68 (Warminster, 1995), which also
contains a Latin text and translation. If time presses, at least look at
the deeply moving lines 50-75 (for a detailed interpretation of those
lines see my ‘Catullus 64.50-75’ in Akroterion 28, 1&2 (1983),
11-17).
643-656 The connotations of the gifts are: in 647 death, parting
and war; in 650ff. hatred, death, war, marriage broken off and an
illicit relationship that is doomed and leads to disaster and suffering;
at 653ff. hostility, savagery, death, suicide and marital disaster. The
concentration, extending over line after line, makes for a very
ominous aura and is reinforced by the (solemn and gloomy) slow
rhythm in the largely spondaic 648-650.
657-694 For thoughtful remarks on this section see the
commentaries of Austin (p. 199f.) and Williams (p. 207.), and for
more on the sympathy aroused for Dido in these lines see W.S.
Anderson The Art of the Aeneid p. 29.
695-722 The highly dramatic and significant 712-717 repay further
investigation, especially the forceful and dense expression there.
In 712 there is authorial intrusion, showing the poet’s
sympathy and underlining the doom-laden element, as Virgil calls
23
Dido infelix ‘ill-fated’, a word which
in view of her present happiness
(compare 685) really takes the
attention. That is immediately
succeeded by pesti ‘plague’ (with all
its suggestions of pain, disease,
destruction and death) and then by
devota ‘doomed’ (the Latin term
combines the sense ‘doomed’,
‘bewitched’ and ‘vowed to the
infernal gods’). The juxtaposition is
emphatic.
In the next line ardescit
‘catches fire’ intimates that Dido
grows eager and becomes inflamed
with love, and perhaps conjures up an actual (hurtful and deadly)
fire.
In 714 movetur ‘affected’ is again well chosen in view of its
various possible senses here (‘be upset mentally, thrown into turmoil,
changed (to love), thrilled’), and it is noticeable that in the word
order the boy’s effect on Dido is mentioned before that of the gifts.
Lines 715f. are very spondaic (and so are grave and slow
down the pace, with a lingering, deliberate action). Then comes the
ominous reginam petit ‘he goes for the queen’ (peto here means
both ‘makes for’ and ‘attacks’), given stress by the run over and
the position of reginam (first word in the line) and petit (last word
in the sentence).
723-756 In the melodious opening lines the music of the Latin
could be pointed out even to those working with the translation.
Note especially the alliteration of p and assonance of e and ae in
723; the assonance of e and a and alliteration of l in 725f.; and the
24
homoeoteleuton (similar word-endings) at 728f.
I have tried to bring out the orderly balance of Iopas’ song in
my translation but have not managed to catch all of Virgil’s points of
style. In the Latin particularly noteworthy is the chiasmus (ABBA
arrangement) in 742, which involves the antithetical juxtaposition of
lunam and solisque; the balance in 743 (unde plus a pair of nouns
repeated); the tricolon crescendo (group of three becoming
progressively longer) in 744; the contrast in 745f.; and the ring
structure (the song begins and ends with night and extinguished sun).
25
IV. ADDITIONAL MATERIAL ON
THE TROJAN WAR
SECTION 1
As an interesting and
amusing sidelight here you could
tell students something about
apples in the ancient world. For
when Strife rolled an apple among
the guests at the marriage of Peleus
and Thetis, she chose an object
which was richly
suggestive and had
many
apt
associations with
love, beauty and
weddings.
The apple
was a love-token.
As a gift, it was a
symbol
of
affection, and to
throw it at
somebody was to
make an amatory overture. In this
connection many believed that
apples symbolized female breasts.
The Greek poet Paulus Silentiarius
wrote: ‘a charming girl gave me a
pair of rosy apples. I reckon that
she secretly bewitched those red
apples with the fire of love,
because I am completely inflamed.
Oh what a shame! These poor,
useless hands of mine are clasping
apples instead of her breasts.’
‘Sweet-apple’
was
sometimes used as a term of
endearment for girlfriends. Apple
pips
were
supposed to be an
aphrodisiac, and
there was a
lovers’ game in
which people tried
to hit the ceiling
with apple pips as
a sign that they
would
be
successful in love.
According to the
Greek writer
Artemidorus, to look at and taste
sweet-apples in a dream meant that
you would get a very beautiful wife
or girlfriend, but to dream of sour
apples (the apple of Strife) meant
quarrels.
The fruit was particularly
connected with Aphrodite, the
26
goddess of love. So the Greek
poetess Sappho invoked her in a
hymn with the words: ‘Come
here...to me to this holy temple,
where your attractive grove of
apple-trees stands, and altars
smouldering with frankincense. In
there cool water babbles through
the apple boughs, the whole place
is shadowed by roses, and a trance
comes down from glancing
foliage.’
Apples were also associated
with weddings. They were
showered on people getting married
as a sort of ancient Greek confetti.
So the Greek poet Stesichorus
wrote of the procession at the
wedding of Helen and Menelaus:
‘hundreds of quince-apples were
thrown at the prince’s chariot,
hundreds of myrtle leaves and
garlands of roses and curled
crowns of violets’ (this explains
why Menelaus wore a helmet!). A
Greek geographer called Strabo
informs us that Persian girls on
their wedding day were allowed to
eat nothing but apples and camels’
marrow (YUK!). The Athenian
law-giver Solon is said to have
decreed that on the wedding night
the husband must give his wife a
quinceapple to
eat, so that
from then
on all her
words to
him would
be
as
sweet.
Sappho in
one of her wedding-songs
compared the bride to an apple:
‘just as the sweet-apple reddens on
the branch at the top, on top of
the topmost one; the apple-pickers
forgot - no, they didn’t forget
completely, but could not manage
to reach it.’ With this comparison
Sappho is suggesting the bride’s
sweetness, attractiveness, blushes,
fragrance etc. and implying that she
is someone apart, someone special
and superior.
Apples occur in amatory
myths as well. The heroine
Atalanta was very beautiful and a
very fast runner too. She decided
to remain a virgin, and when her
father tried to marry her off, she
said that she would only wed a man
who could beat her in a race, and
those who lost must be put to
death. For a long time no suitor
27
over to Cydippe, who out of
curiosity picked it up and read what
was written on it. Since the ancients
read aloud, in this way Cydippe
bound
herself
by an
oath to
marry
Acontius
in the
hearing
o
f
Artemis
(in her
temple).
When
the festivals were over the two had
to return to their separate cities.
Cydippe went back to an arranged
marriage. But when the betrothals
began, suddenly she fell seriously
ill - because she was breaking her
unwitting oath (an apple a day does
not always keep the doctor away).
She was so ill that the engagement
had to be postponed. Three times
they tried, and three times the
mysterious illness came upon her.
When he heard of this, Acontius
came rushing to her home and
became the talk of the town by
anxiously inquiring about her
could beat Atalanta (who was
obviously on steroids). But finally
a man called Hippomenes
managed it by means of a trick.
During the
race
he
dropped a
golden apple,
w h i c h
Atalanta
stopped to
pick
up,
thereby losing
the race. In
s o m e
versions she
recovered so
quickly that he had to drop three
separate golden apples to beat her.
Then there is the story of
Acontius and Cydippe. Acontius
went one year to the religious
festivals on the Greek island of
Delos. There he saw and instantly
fell in love with a beautiful girl
called Cydippe. He followed her
to the temple of Artemis, where she
attended a sacrifice. Acontius was
the first boy scout (always
prepared). He scratched with a
knife on to an apple the words ‘I
swear by Artemis that I will marry
Acontius’. He then rolled the apple
28
health all the time. Finally her father
consulted an oracle, which told him
that she was bound to Acontius by
an oath, and her illness was a
punishment by Artemis when she
was on the point of breaking that
oath. The father bowed to the
inevitable (after satisfying himself
that Acontius came from a good
family) and the two young people
were happily married.
For full references, and
more
on
apples,
see
A.R.Littlewood ‘The Symbolism
of the Apple in Greek and Roman
Literature’ in Harvard
Studies in Classical
Philology 72 (1968), 147181.
SECTION 2
Students might enjoy
hearing another famous tale of
adultery in Homer, It concerns the
affair between Ares (god of war)
and Aphrodite (goddess of love,
and wife of Hephaestus, the god
of craftsmen) and is a comic story
of gods behaving badly, of scandal
in high places.
At Odyssey 8.266ff.
Homer tells how Ares and
Aphrodite had an affair and did
their love-making in the house of
Hephaestus. But the Sun (who sees
everything from his chariot as he
rides across the sky) saw what they
were up to and told Hephaestus.
The injured husband was
extremely angry. He went to his
smithy and forged some very fine
but unbreakable chains, which he
hung all around the bed. These
marvellous chains were like
spiders’ webs and nobody could
see them. Hephaestus then
pretended to go off on a journey,
the two lovers jumped into bed,
and down came the chains,
trapping them.
Hephaestus returned and
called all the immortals to witness
his wife’s unfaithfulness. The
goddesses out of modesty stayed
away, but the gods came to have a
look, and unquenchable laughter
seized them as they saw the naked
couple inextricably bound together.
Then the gods began to pass
remarks [8.328ff.]: ‘one of them,
looking at the god next to him, said,
"Bad deeds don’t prosper. The
slow catch up with the swift - just
as now Hephaestus, although slow29
moving, has caught Ares, the
swiftest of the gods who live on
Olympus. Lame Hephaestus used
cunning to catch Ares, who now
owes the adulterer’s fine.”
That was one comment, but
lord Apollo, the son of Zeus, said
to Hermes, “Hermes,...would you
be willing, even though loaded
down by those powerful chains, to
lie in bed beside golden Aphrodite?”
Hermes, the messenger god,
replied, “Lord
Apollo,...I wish
that I could!
Even if three
times as many
inextricable
chains held me
fast and all the
gods
and
goddesses
were looking
on,
I would gladly lie beside golden
Aphrodite.”
When he said that the
immortal gods burst out laughing.’
But the sea god Poseidon
did not see anything funny in the
situation. He pressed Hephaestus
to let the adulterous pair go free
and offered to pay the adulterer’s
fine himself, if Ares refused.
Hephaestus finally agreed, and as
soon as they were released, Ares
and Aphrodite fled.
Such in essence is Homer’s
version. A serviceable translation
is offered by E.V. Rieu (revised by
D.C.H.
Rieu,
Penguin
Books,1991). A briefer and even
more amusing account is offered
by the Latin Poet Ovid in his Art
of Love 2.561ff. (for translation
see P. Green Ovid The
Erotic Poems, Penguin,
1982). You will
find in Ovid
v a r i o u s
inventive and
malicious additions
to Homer (in
particular Ovid with
outrageous and highhanded cheek changes
completely the end of the
story, to make it support the piece
of advice he is using it to illustrate).
In connection with the
Expansion on Helen’s young
daughter you could give your
students a thought-provoking
surprise by referring them to
Euripides’ Andromache
(especially 147ff.). That Greek
tragedy illustrates well the flexibility
30
of myth. In it Hermione has grown
up, and she has grown up into a
very different kind of character - a
spoilt little rich girl, who is a spiteful
and cowardly racist, jealous and
suspicious of her husband’s captive
(Andromache, wife of Hector),
who she tries to murder.
SECTION 3
The story of the Trojan War
is one with many variants. Some
of these are unimportant (and
would only confuse or irritate
students), but others are of interest
(and it is as well for students to
realize that there is no standard
form of the myth).
According to a curious and
rather comic tradition it took the
Greek army two attempts to make
it to Troy. Without two brain cells
to rub together between the lot of
them, the Greeks (who had only a
vague idea of
where Troy
actually was)
did not bother
with anything
as sensible and
obvious as a
guide but
blundered off on their own. They
gaily sailed away from Aulis in the
right general direction, but landed
too far south, and promptly
attacked the first city that they
came across, under the mistaken
impression that it was Troy. The
city’s king (Telephus) and his
people fought back bravely. But the
mighty Achilles finally drove the
king off and wounded him in the
thigh with his spear. When they
discovered their mistake, the
Greeks were mortified and quickly
sailed away, only to be caught in a
storm and dispersed.
Telephus’ wound would not
get better and began to fester. He
went to an oracle for advice and
was told that only the agent of the
wound could heal it. So he made
his way to Greece, where the army
had by now reassembled and was
about to set sail again. He offered
to act as the guide to Troy that the
Greeks so badly
needed in return
for Achilles’
help with his
wound. Achilles
protested that
he
knew
nothing of
31
medicine and
could not think
how he could
help. The wily
Odysseus
solved the
problem by
pointing out
that the agent of
the wound was actually Achilles’
spear rather than Achilles himself.
On his advice some rust was
scraped from the head of the spear
and applied to the wound. In this
way Telephus was healed.
For more on this variant
tradition see S. Woodford The
Trojan War In Ancient
Art (London, 1993), 31ff. and
T. Gantz Early Greek
Myth (Baltimore and London,
1993) vol. 2 p. 576ff.
tends to be
rather vague
a b o u t
topography.
He mentions
Mount Ida
nearby and the
plain between
Troy and the
Greek camp (which is on the
southern shore of the Dardanelles,
not far from Troy). That plain is
bounded by two rivers, Simois and
Xanthus (also called Scamander),
and is the scene of most of the
battles. For more on Homer’s
depiction see W.A. Camps An
SECTION 4
Your class may well wonder
what Priam’s Troy actually looked
like. Well, of course, we don’t
know for sure. But writers and
artists have speculated.
Homer does not say much
more than what is listed in the
main text of this section, and he
Introduction To Homer
(Oxford, 1980)105ff.
Other ancient authors added
little to Homer. However, in the
fifth book of his History of
the Destruction of Troy
(1287 AD) Guido delle Colonne
32
provided a lengthy and diverting
description of Priam’s Troy, based
on that in the Roman de Troie
(approximately 1160 AD) by Benoit
de Sainte-Maure (a purely
imaginary portrayal made up to
entertain the audience). According
to Guido’s account it took three
days to walk the length or breadth
of Troy. The city walls were 200
cubits high, inlaid with marble
stones of many different colours,
crowned with lofty towers and
provided with six strong gateways.
Inside the city were countless
palaces and beautiful houses,
reinforced with carved marble.
Beside long avenues there were
numerous arches to protect
pedestrians from wind and rain.
The enormous population was
made up from the people of all the
neighbouring kingdoms, who were
ordered by Priam to inhabit
Troy. For entertainment the
Trojans invented chess, dice,
tragedy, comedy, circus
games and May festivals.
Most remarkable of
all was Priam’s palace
(named Ilium - normally a
name for Troy itself),
constructed on the city’s
heights out of the solid rock. Guido
says of this towering edifice:
‘because of their great height the
tops of its towers were continually
cloaked by streaming clouds, and
from their lofty summits people
could conveniently observe all the
neighbouring spots in the region
and even remote places. The
surface of this Ilium’s walls...was
totally covered by ornate marble
of many colours, carved with
various figures which gladdened
the eyes of those who saw
them...Inside king Priam
constructed a very long and broad
hall whose outer surface was clad
with marble slabs, whose vaulted
ceiling was panelled with cedar
wood and ebony, and whose floor
of mosaic work was diversified and
divided up into different colours.
At one end of this hall the
33
king’s throne had been set up, and
there the king’s table was located.
It was extremely long and was
entirely composed of ebony and
ivory, exquisitely combined...At the
other end of the hall an altar of
astonishing artistry, covered with
gold and jewels, had been built to
supreme Jupiter [= Zeus]. For ease
of access to it there were twenty
steps with glittering mosaic work.
On the summit of this altar was
placed a gleaming statue of the
god. It was 15 cubits high, made
entirely of finest gold, beautifully
set with various jewels, and
enhanced by pearls attached here
and there in diverse designs. King
Priam put his greatest trust, his
unshakable trust, in this god Jupiter,
thinking that by this means his
royal throne would flourish and
prosper for a long time and the
might of his sceptre would endure
for ever and ever.’
For artistic depictions see
M.R. Scherer The Legends
of Troy in Art and
Literature (London, 1963) p.
25, 27, 35, 109, 118 and 127.
Some background in the
form of the early history of Troy
may also be useful. For this see
Homer
Iliad 20.215ff.,
Apollodorus Library 3.12,
Gantz op. cit. vol. 2 p. 557ff., R.
Graves The Greek Myths
(Penguin, 1960) chap. 158.
SECTION 5
The story of Protesilaus
and his wife Laodamia is also
handled by the passionate Latin
poet Catullus in his poem 68 (for a
good translation see Guy Lee’s
The Poems of Catullus
(Oxford, 1990) and for discussion
of the poem (and translation) see
J. Godwin Catullus Poems
34
61-68 (Warminster, 1995),
203ff.). At 73ff. and 105ff.
Catullus likens his famously
troubled affair (see especially
poems 8, 11, 58 and 76) with his
girlfriend Lesbia to the doomed
marriage of Protesilaus and
Laodamia.
By likening Lesbia to the
heroine he is suggesting that she is
as extraordinary, beautiful,
passionate etc. and attaching to her
an aura of romance and mystique.
At several points Catullus stresses
Laodamia’s great love, but Lesbia
does not seem deeply in love with
him (135f.), so Catullus is being
pathetically unrealistic and
optimistic over this point of
correspondence.
Catullus is also putting his
relationship on a par with that of
the mythical couple. The latter
relationship was a loving one and
a marriage. Here again we see
Catullus being pathetically hopeful:
he is loving and treats their affair
as a marriage, but she does not,
although he hopes that she might.
Darker parallels are hinted at too:
both relationships have their illicit
aspects (at 79f. sacrifice is omitted
by the mythical pair, and at 145f.
Lesbia is unfaithful to her
husband); and both are troubled
(the loss of Protesilaus, and
Lesbia’s infidelities). There are
more
implications
and
connotations in this very suggestive
comparison. Certainly the unhappy
aspect of the marriage is prominent
and unavoidably casts a shadow
over Catullus’ affair. In addition to
the four poems cited above,
students will also get useful
background to Catullus’ liaison
from the appealing poems 2, 3, 5
and 7.
SECTION 6
The narrative in this section
is based on Homer Iliad 1-17.
Other parts are also worth bringing
to the attention of your class - e.g.
the Thersites episode at 2.212ff.,
the duel between Ajax and Hector
at 7. 66ff. and Hera’s seduction of
Zeus at 14. 153ff.
In connection with the
exploits of Diomedes you could get
students to compare and contrast
(for drama, excitement, realism
etc.) another account of an exploit
of this hero (one which draws on
the mythical Centaur).
35
In the eighteenth book of his
History
of
the
Destruction of Troy
(1287 AD) Guido delle Colonne,
tiring of the more normal foes
found in epic, describes a truly
remarkable adversary, who was
killed by Diomedes: ‘King
Epistropus bravely
marched out of Troy
with three thousand
warriors who all
manfully joined in the
fray,
savagely
attacking the Greeks
and breaking up their
formation, all the
more so because the
king had a certain
archer with him. This
archer was human
from the navel up,
but a horse beneath
the waist, and all over
his body above and
below he was covered with horse
hair. Although his face resembled
a man’s, it was red all over, with
the colour of fire, like a glowing
coal, and from his mouth came the
neighs of a horse. His fiery, blazing
eyes were even brighter than his
face and displayed two blazing
flames which really terrified and
horrified those who saw them.
He entered the battle
wearing no armour but with a bow
in his hand and a quiver full of
arrows. Upon his entrance the
fighters’ horses were absolutely
terrified, and although their riders
urged them on with
many pricks of their
spurs, they were
forced backwards and
carried off as though
in sudden flight. But
the fighters kept the
horses in the battle,
even though they
themselves were no
less worried about the
attack of the archer,
because
he
slaughtered many,
many Greeks...
As the archer was
rushing about among
the Greek formations, killing men,
and the Trojans were pressing the
Greeks savagely, they were forced
to flee and ran to their tents,
pursued all the way by the Trojans.
There something extraordinary
happened...Unwilling and doubtful
though he was, Diomedes just had
36
to attack the archer (if he decided
to retreat, being seriously
wounded, he would fall into the
hands of the enemy, who would
certainly kill him). So, while the
archer struck Diomedes with his
arrows, Diomedes manfully struck
with his sword this enemy without
armour, bringing him down dead.’
SECTION 7
This section’s narrative is
based on Homer Iliad 17-24.
Again there are other parts which
you could read out to the class e.g. the mourning for Hector at
22.405ff. and 24.723ff. (which
really brings home the tragedy of
war and its impact on women) and
the marvellous arms made for
Achilles by Hephaestus at
18.468ff. (and the shield there
received a bleak and dispiriting
updating this century by the
English poet Auden in his
‘The Shield Of Achilles’,
reprinted in G. Steiner and R.
Fagles Homer (Englewood
Cliffs, NJ, 1963), 79f.).
SECTION 8
The death of Achilles is, of
course, a major event in the myth
and so would repay further study.
I based the version in my narrative
on Quintus Smyrnaeus 3.60ff.
(cutting out some waffle).
An alternative tradition in the
ancient world linked Achilles’ death
with his love for a beautiful
daughter of Priam called Polyxena.
This story was popular in
mediaeval accounts. So the
anonymous author of the
Excidium Troiae (Fall of
Troy) says that when Hector had
been killed by Achilles and his body
was being ransomed, a pair of
scales was set up outside the walls
of Troy. Hector’s corpse was
placed in one pan, and the Trojans
had to place an equal weight of gold
37
whenever anyone entered a temple
for a sacrifice, to enter it unarmed
and barefoot, so Achilles did just
that. When he came to the temple,
he laid aside his armour, took off
his iron shoes and entered the
temple unarmed and barefoot.
When he was offering incense to
Apollo...the great archer Paris from
behind a statue of Apollo shot
Achilles in the ankle. He had
smeared poison on the arrow, and
the poison slowly spread through
Achilles’ body. He began to feel
ill, picked up torches from the altar,
killed all those he found in the
temple and then died.’
According to the same
author, after the fall of Troy
Achilles’ son Neoptolemus
punished Polyxena. He took her to
his father’s tomb, placed her in the
coffin where his father lay, then
in the other pan. They did not have
quite enough gold, until Polyxena
added her gold jewellery.
As she did that, Achilles
caught sight of her and fell instantly
and deeply in love with her. He told
Priam that he would give him
Hector’s body and all the gold
back, if he could have Polyxena
as his wife. Priam agreed to do this
and after the marriage instructed
Polyxena to find out where
Achilles’ vulnerable spot was, so
that Hector’s death could be
avenged. She wheedled this out of
him and then told her parents, who
pretended that they were going to
offer sacrifice in Apollo’s temple
and wanted Achilles and their
daughter present. Achilles agreed
to go.
Then [p. 12.26ff. of E. B.
Atwood’s text] ‘it was customary,
38
closed it and covered it with lead,
burying her alive.
On the various accounts of
Achilles’ death see further Gantz
op. cit. vol. 2 p. 625ff., Scherer
op. cit. 98ff. and J.G. Frazer
Apollodorus (Loeb, 1921)
vol. 2 p. 214f.
SECTION 9
There is an excursus by me
on the Trojan Horse, but it certainly
does not say the last word about
this appealing and mysterious
element of the myth. If you want
to find out more about it there
are some books and articles well
worth consulting. See R.G.
Austin ‘Virgil and the Wooden
Horse’ in Journal of
Roman Studies 49 (1959),
16ff., M.F. Scherer The
Legends of Troy in
Art and Literature
(New York and London, 1963),
110ff., B.A. Sparkes ‘The
Trojan Horse in Classical Art’
in Greece and Rome 18
(1971), 54ff. and C.A. Faraone
Talismans and Trojan
Horses (Oxford and New
York, 1992), 94ff.
For artistic depictions of the
Trojan Horse see Woodford op.
cit. 107f. and Scherer op. cit. 110ff.
Students may be intrigued
to learn that there was also a
tradition that it was the Trojan hero
Aeneas who actually betrayed
Troy. On this see R.M. Frazer
The Trojan War The
Chronicles of Dictys of
Crete and Dares the
Phrygian (Bloomington and
London, 1966), 101ff., 163ff. and
G.K. Galinsky Aeneas,
Sicily, and Rome (Princeton,
1969), 47ff.
39
SECTION 10
first, but
when
they got
far from
land and
the dark
waves
began
to wash
o v e r
him, he
groaned
and wept in fear and tore his fur in
grief. More practically, he put his
tail in the water and used it to steer
with, and (being a learned little
rodent) compared unfavourably his
ride with that given to the heroine
Europa by her lover Zeus in the
form of a bull. Then suddenly a
water-snake appeared, and the
Frog dived to avoid him, leaving
Crumb-Snatcher in the water. 'He
wrung his paws and in his death
agony he squeaked. Many times
he sank down beneath the water,
and many times he rose up again,
kicking. But he could not escape
his doom, as his wet fur greatly
weighed him down.' As he
breathed his last, he called for
vengeance on the Frog.
A Mouse on the bank
There is a parody of
Homeric epic’s language, themes,
characters etc. which students are
now in a position to appreciate.It
is
called
the
Batrachomyomachia,
which is a longer word than fudge
and means The Battle of
Frogs and Mice.
It opens with the appeal to
the Muses for inspiration which is
standard in epic poetry: 'Here I
begin, and first I pray to the choir
of Muses to come down from
Helicon into my heart to help my
poem . . . I long to bring to all
mortals' ears that monumental
military engagement, that battle
filled with the din of war, and tell
how the Mice clashed with the
Frogs and surpassed them in
valour, rivalling the deeds of the
Giants.'
The narrative then begins.
One day a thirsty Mouse called
Crumb-Snatcher went down to a
lake to drink, and a Frog invited
him to ride on his back to visit his
watery kingdom. The Mouse
accepted and enjoyed his ride at
40
witnessed this and spread the
word. Their heralds summoned
the Mice to an assembly in which
Crumb-Snatcher's father (rather
like Priam) bewailed the loss of his
various sons - one to a ferret, one
to a mouse-trap, and now this one
to a Frog. He called on the Mice
to array themselves in their finely
crafted armour, and this they did,
putting on breastplates of ferret skin
and the shells of chick-peas for
helmets. War was formally
declared on the Frogs by a mouseherald, and they too duly armed
themselves for war, with rushes for
spears and finely wrought cabbageleaves for shields.
The gods in heaven looked
down on the two throngs of
warriors but decided not to support
either side (since the Mice ate
offerings in shrines and the Frogs
kept them awake with their
croaking). Then gnats began to
trumpet the signal for battle and
Zeus thundered for the epic war
to commence. 'First Lickman in
the front ranks was wounded in the
belly, right through the liver, by the
spear of Loud-Croaker. Down he
fell headlong, soiling his delicate fur
in the dust. He fell with a crash
and his armour clashed about him
. . . Then Pot-Visiter slew Charmer,
smiting his head with a pebble. His
brains flowed out from his nostrils,
and the ground was splattered with
gore.'
The fighting raged on and
on, with many warriors falling on
both sides, until the greatest of the
Mice (a sort of mouse-Achilles)
drove the Frogs in headlong flight,
slaughtering them ruthlessly.
Watching in dismay, Hera
persuaded Zeus to end the strife
by throwing a thunderbolt among
the fighters (as at the end of the
Odyssey). Zeus thundered,
making great Olympus shake, and
hurled his awful weapon at the
combatants. But still the Mice did
not desist, hoping even more to
destroy the Frogs.
Then Zeus took pity on the
Frogs and sent them allies.
'Suddenly there came warriors
with mailed backs and crooked
claws, marching sideways . . . and
looking backwards, with gleaming
shoulders and bandy legs . . .' crabs! The Mice were terrified by
them, turned tail and fled. So
ended the one-day war.
For full text and
41
because of his feebleness). Homer
presents in a neutral way a
situation which must affect
readers, and allows it to do so
without interfering too much or
overdoing the pathos.
[Odyssey 17.291 ff.] 'A
dog lying there raised his head and
pricked up his ears. He was called
Argus, and stout-hearted Odysseus
had reared him personally, but had
gone off to holy Troy before he
could get the best out of him. In
years gone by young men had
often taken him to hunt wild goats,
deer and hares. But now, in the
absence of his master, he lay
neglected in all the dung from the
mules and cattle which was spread
around in heaps in front of the gates
until Odysseus' slaves could take
it away as manure for his large
estate. There lay the
dog Argus, full of
ticks.
As soon as he
realized
that
Odysseus was nearby, he wagged
his tail and dropped both his ears,
but he no longer had the strength
to get closer to his master.
Odysseus looked away and
wiped a tear away, easily escaping
translation
of
the
Batrachomyomachia see
H.G. Evelyn-White Hesiod
The Homeric Hymns and
Homerica (Cambridge, Mass.,
and London, 1974), 542 ff.
You might like to add to the
Trojan survivors the story of
Antenor, who reached Italy and
founded the city of Patavium
(modern Padua). There is allusion
to him at Virgil Aeneid 1. 242ff.
For full discussion see R.G. Austin
P. Vergili Maronis
Aeneidos Liber Primus
(Oxford, 1971), 91ff.
SECTION 11
In the latter part of the
Odyssey Homer includes a brief
incident which illustrates well how
important feeling is in the poem
and also how controlled it is.
Odysseus arrives at his palace with
Eumaeus, the loyal swineherd.
Odysseus is disguised as a beggar
and has not yet revealed his true
identity to Eumaeus. This means
that he cannot show his affection
openly when he catches sight of
his old dog Argus (who recognizes
his master but cannot greet him
42
the notice of Eumaeus, then
immediately questioned him,
"Eumaeus, it's very strange that
this dog is lying in the dung. He's
a handsome animal, but I can't tell
whether he had speed to match his
looks, or was just one of those dogs
kept for show and fed from the
table by their masters."
Then in reply, Eumaeus,
you said, "It's all too clear that this
is the dog of a man who has died
far away from home. If he was as
handsome and active now as he
was when Odysseus left him when
he set off to Troy, his speed and
strength would soon amaze you.
No animal that he chased ever
escaped him in the depths of the
thick wood, as he was very good
at picking up a scent. But now
he's in a bad way. His master has
been killed far away from his
fatherland, and the women ignore
him and don't look after him.
When their masters are no longer
around to keep them in line, slaves
aren't willing to perform their duties
properly. Far-seeing Zeus takes
away half the good in a man the
day he becomes a slave."
With that he entered the
stately palace and went straight to
the hall, where the noble suitors
were. As for Argus, it was his fate
to be seized by dark death directly
after seeing Odysseus twenty years
after he had departed.'
There is a perceptive
analysis of that passage in D.M.
Gaunt Surge and Thunder
Critical Readings in
Homer’s Odyssey (Oxford,
1971) 78ff. That book has
stimulating analyses of nineteen
other passages from the
Odyssey and could be used as
a very helpful supplement to this
section.
SECTION 12
There is an alternative version of
the Aeneas story.
43
The Roman historian Livy
has a rather different account in
his History of Rome from
its Foundation 1.1. ‘It is
generally agreed that when Troy
was captured the Greeks took
savage reprisals against all the
Trojans except for Aeneas and
Antenor. They did not exercise
their rights as victors in the case of
these men because of their longstanding ties of hospitality and
because these two had always
spoken in favour of peace and the
restoration of Helen...
Aeneas was driven into exile
by trouble at home but was fated
to lay the foundations for something
of major consequence. He went to
Macedonia first, then in his search
for a new home he voyaged to
Sicily, and from there his fleet sailed
to the territory of Laurentum. This
place is also known as Troy. In the
course of their almost endless
wanderings the Trojans had lost
everything except for their ships
and weapons. So when they landed
there, they drove off animals from
the fields as booty. While they were
44
doing that, the local people (the
Latins) with their king (Latinus)
armed themselves and came
rushing up from their city and fields
to repel the invaders.
There are two versions of
what happened after that. Some
say that Latinus was defeated in a
battle and then made peace with
Aeneas and gave him his daughter
in marriage. Others maintain that
when the two forces were drawn
up for battle, before the trumpets
sounded the attack, Latinus went
forward with his captains and
invited the leader of the strangers
to a parley. He then asked Aeneas
who his men were, where they had
come from, why they had left their
home, and what they were after in
the territory of Laurentum. He was
told that the men were Trojans,
their leader was Aeneas (the son
of Anchises and Venus), they had
been exiled after their city had been
burnt down, and they were looking
for a place to build a new city to
settle in. Latinus was filled with
admiration for the Trojans’ nobility
and Aeneas’ spirit, equally ready
for war or peace. He gave Aeneas
his hand, pledging friendship from
then on.
The two leaders made a
treaty, and the two armies hailed
each other respectfully. Aeneas
became a guest in the home of
Latinus, and there in the presence
of his household gods Latinus
compounded the public treaty with
a personal one by giving his
daughter in marriage to Aeneas.
Because of that the Trojans could
be sure that at last their wanderings
were over and they had got
themselves an assured and
permanent home. They founded a
town, which Aeneas called
Lavinium after his wife. The
newly-weds soon produced a son,
who they named Ascanius.
Then the Trojans and Latins
were jointly attacked. Before
Aeneas’ arrival Lavinia had been
betrothed to Turnus, the king of
the Rutulians. He was indignant
that a stranger had been preferred
to him and made war on Aeneas
and Latinus together. Neither side
found cause for rejoicing in that
battle. The Latins and Trojans were
victorious but lost their leader
Latinus.
Turnus and the Rutulians,
lacking confidence in their own
strength, turned for help to the rich
45
and powerful Etruscans and their
king Mezentius, who ruled in Caere
(at that time a prosperous town).
From the very beginning he had
been far from pleased at the birth
of the new settlement, and he now
felt that the Trojan state was
growing much more than was safe
for its neighbours. So he readily
allied himself with the Rutulians.
To win the hearts of the
Latins in the face of such a
formidable threat, Aeneas gave the
name of ‘Latins’ to the
combined force of Trojans
and Latins, so they would
share the same name as well
as the same rights. From then
on Latinus’ people were as
devoted and as loyal to king
Aeneas as the Trojans were.
The two peoples were
growing more and more
united day by day, and their
spirit gave Aeneas
confidence. So, although the
Etruscans were so powerful
that their renowned name
had spread on land and sea
throughout the whole length
of Italy from the Alps to the
Sicilian strait, Aeneas refused
to defend himself behind his
city walls and marched out to meet
the enemy in battle. The Latins
were victorious, and this was the
last of Aeneas’ labours on earth.
He lies buried on the banks of the
river Numicus. Whether it is right
and proper to term him man or god,
people call him Jupiter Indiges.’
Students could be made to
compare and contrast this account
(using A. de Selincourt’s Penguin
translation Livy The Early
History Of Rome) with
46
Virgil’s version (summarized in
chapter 12, and more fully in the
Introduction to the Aeneid 1 part
of the CD-ROM). They could
consider which of the two is more
dramatic, exciting and moving, and
which is more sober, judicious and
scholarly. They could go on to
consider the differences generally
between poetry and history (and
also whether this story really
qualifies as history). In case of any
queries in connection with Livy’s
narrative consult R.M. Ogilvie A
Commentary on Livy
Books 1-5 (Oxford, 1970). For
more on variants of the Aeneas
legend see Galinsky op. cit.
47
V. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE
TOPICS APPENDIX
I
n that Appendix I suggest ten topics for users to consider with
the intention of stimulating them into going deeper and using their
minds in various ways. You could set any of them as an essay or
project. I list below some ideas that may help you with directions and
marking in connection with each of the ten topics.
1. For this they could most easily take just one book or even part of one
book of the Aeneid ( 2 or 12) or the Iliad (5, 21 or 22) and compare
it with an outstanding modern work on war, such as a poem or poems
by Wilfred Owen (World War I) or Norman Mailer’s The Naked
and the Dead (World War II) or B. Ninh’s The Sorrow of
War (Vietnam). For the similarities between modern and ancient combat
(mental trauma etc.) see J. Shay Achilles in Vietnam (New
York, 1994).
2. For discussion of Tennyson’s ‘Ulysses’ see W.B. Stanford The
Ulysses Theme (Oxford, 1954), 202ff.
3. For more on Oenone see Ovid Heroides 5
and the discussions of that poem (and
predecessors) in H. Jacobson Ovid’s
Heroides (Princeton, 1974), 176ff. and P.E.
Knox Ovid Heroides Select Epistles
(Cambridge, 1995), 140ff. You might encourage
students to give the old story a new twist by turning
it into something humorous (e.g. Oenone wanted
to make sure that Paris was actually burning on
48
the pyre but got so close that she tripped and fell on to it after him, or
she never loved Paris at all but just kept him as a toy boy).
4. Imagine Aeneid 1 with no Juno, Aeolus, Neptune, Jupiter, Mercury,
Venus or Cupid, and with no prophecy of Rome’s glorious destiny! This
topic is intended to show what an important role in the poem is played
by the gods (alien to much modern poetry), and how thin, limp, undramatic
and lacking in momentousness the book would be without them. The
gods may seem strange and purposeless interlopers to modern sensibilities
without this kind of focus.
5. On Nausicaa see P.V. Jones Homer’s Odyssey A Companion
to the Translation of Richmond Lattimore
(Carbondale, Il., 1988), 55f., S.V. Tracy The Story of the
Odyssey (Princeton, 1990), 36ff., W.J. Woodhouse The
Composition of Homer’s Odyssey (Oxford, 1930), 54ff.
and J. Griffin Homer on Life and Death (Oxford, 1980), 61ff.
You could get your class to sharpen the picture by including a paragraph
49
or two on Nausicaa as the counterpart
of Telemachus (both are young, royal,
decorous and courteous helpers of
Odysseus) and the contrast between
Odysseus’ relationships with
Nausicaa and (just before in book 5)
Calypso.
6. This is allowing them full rein to
rewrite almost the whole story and
include all kinds of new twists,
inversions and so on. If Paris was
made invincible in war by Athena this
would leave Hector as sick as a
parrot, with no brother to look down
on and criticize. Maybe Paris would
get to hear of Helen anyway and invade Greece to win her, killing
Menelaus, Agamemnon, Achilles etc. in the process and making Greece
into part of the Trojan empire. Presumably there would have been no
Rome with this scenario (and no Virgil and no Aeneid)!
7. This topic is intended to sharpen their Appreciation of Aeneas’
pietas (on which see the Excursus entitled PIETAS: DUTIFULNESS in
the Aeneid 1 part) and to get them to use it as a springboard for
criticism of modern society with all its selfishness, isolation, dysfunctional
families, divided loyalties etc.
8. On the Polyphemus episode see especially D.M. Gaunt Surge
and Thunder Critical Readings in Homer’s Odyssey
(Oxford, 1971), 42ff., D.L. Page The Homeric Odyssey (Oxford,
1955), chapter 1 and S.V. Tracy The Story of the Odyssey
(Princeton, 1990), 57ff.
50
9. This is also a topic which encourages examination of modern society
in the light of ancient beliefs, attitudes and conventions. There are no
absolutes, no indisputably right answers, and ideas of what constitutes
bravery or honour or morality vary and change from period to period
and from culture to culture. On Homeric heroes see M. Mueller The
Iliad (London, 1984), 77ff., M. Silk Homer The Iliad
(Cambridge, 1987), 69ff. and S.L. Schein The Mortal Hero
An Introduction to Homer’s Iliad (Berkeley and Los
Angeles, 1984), 67ff. Who would be the modern equivalent of a Homeric
hero? Is there a proper modern equivalent?
10. Ideally this should really enhance the students’ appreciation of the
literary side of Virgil, his use of his sources and the impact of his poetry.
Virgil takes over the Homeric material and transforms it into
something far more powerful, moving, meaningful and profound, and
into something distinctly Roman.
For the main similarities and
dissimilarities see W.S. Anderson
The Art of the Aeneid
(Englewood Cliffs NJ, 1967), 57,
K.W. Gransden Virgil The
Aeneid (Cambridge, 1990),
79f. and W.A. Camps An
Introduction
to
Virgil’s Aeneid (Oxford,
1969), 87f., 90. As for the
transformation, note for example
that locating Hades under the
earth and making Aeneas
actually go down there right
among the dead and providing a
fairly precise topography make
for more vividness, eeriness,
51
atmosphere and impact; there is some depth in the religious (system of
rewards and punishments) and philosophical elements; the climactic
pageant of heroes gives the heavily Roman flavour; in Virgil the descent
performs an important function as a pivot in the poem as a whole (Aeneas
here moves from the often despairing wanderer whose thoughts tend to
turn to the Trojan past to the man with a clear mission whose eyes are
fixed firmly on the Roman future), and this is a momentous turningpoint rather than (as in the Odyssey) just another exotic adventure.
You could get your class to concentrate on two episodes in
particular - those involving Ajax (Odyssey 11.541ff.) and Dido
(Aeneid 6.450ff.). There are definite similarities in length (both
episodes are 27 lines long), background (both heroes meet the soul of an
admired friend from whom each hero had been estranged and for whose
death by suicide each had to some extent been responsible) and incidents
(both heroes show regret and blame divine will for what had happened,
yet both are greeted only with silence by one who flees). Again Virgil
transforms Homer. Dido is a (female) lover as opposed to a (male)
comrade, so there is much more passion in Virgil. Dido was also a major
character early in the Aeneid, whereas Ajax was a non-entity in the
Odyssey, so there is much more force in Virgil. The whole incident is
far more important in Virgil: thus Homer remarks on Ajax’s silence in
just a few words, whereas Virgil takes a full 3 lines over Dido’s silence;
Odysseus is not so bothered over Ajax’s departure, unlike Aeneas; and
in Homer this is just one meeting with a soul among many such meetings
and it is not especially distinguished from the other meetings, but in
Virgil this is a highly significant and dramatic encounter of remarkable
pathos and intensity. Generally Aeneas is far more upset and impassioned
than Odysseus, and is gentle, pitying and pleading, where Odysseus is
remonstrative and forthright (if remorseful). Divine blame looks like a
glib diplomatic excuse in Odysseus’ case, but Aeneas is agonized and
helpless (so too the commands of fate and the gods are a major theme in
the Aeneid).
P.M.
52