Stefano Vitrano
Tue, 23 Mar 2004 05:41:56 -0800
I think that Aeneas uses the name ?Elissa? in order to refer to Dido in the most formal way. All the monologue, in fact, is full of formal and rhetorical words and sentences (?Pro re pauca loquatur? v.337, and many others examples). The way Aeneas speaks is clearly different from Dido?s one in her precedent monologue, he seems to be a mere ?hospes? of the queen and not her real lover. Therefore I don?t think Virgil uses this word because of grammatical problems (It?s absurde!). The name ?EL-IS-SA? comes from Phoenician, it means ?Uterus (SA) of Sun (EL) and Moon (IS)?. The name Elissa is also attested in a Greek legend of Timeus and Iustinus in which is narrated the story of Carthaginian queen Theiosso (Elissa in Phoenician). >-- Messaggio originale -- >Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 23:42:41 +0000 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Leofranc Holford-Strevens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: VIRGIL: teaching Aeneid in translation >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Denise Davis-Henry > ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >>Sorry this is so off the topic but I was wondering about the significance >>of the name Elissa, versus Dido. My AP students were intrigued that >>Aeneas used Elissa in referring to the queen at line 335 of Bk IV. We >>don't think that this name was applied to her before this line and >>therefore, we are wondering if there is any significance that to its use >at >>this particular juncture? > >Since no-one else has suggested anything, let me, belatedly, answer. > >The only form of _Dido_ that Vergil uses is _Dido_. He does not use the >Latin genitive _Didonis_, which would have sounded too archaic for his >age, nor does he use the Greek genitive _Didus_, which would have been >too precious for a Roman epic. Therefore he needed another name; and >what better choice, if Aeneas is trying to mollify the angry queen, than > >her own name for herself? According to the late Hellenistic treatise on >women warriors, _Gunaikes en polemikois sunetai kai andreiai_, recently >edited by Deborah Gera (_The Anonymous_ Tractatus de Mulieribus, Leiden: > >Brill, 1997), Timaeus had said it was her Phoenician name; and that is >the name she will apply to herself in line 610. So, 'I shall be very >happy [nec pigebit = et magnopere iuvabit] to remember "Elissa".' Of >course it doesn't work, since nothing would have soothed her; but at >least he tried (or he stopped at nothing, if you prefer). > >Leofranc Holford-Strevens >-- >*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* > >Leofranc Holford-Strevens >67 St Bernard's Road usque adeone >Oxford scire MEVM nihil est, nisi ME scire hoc sciat alter? >OX2 6EJ > >tel. +44 (0)1865 552808(home)/353865(work) fax +44 (0)1865 512237 >email: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (home)/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (work) > >*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* > >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. >Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message >"unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You >can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub Stefano Vitrano C.E.I. school, Palermo, Italy [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub