Patrick Roper
Fri, 09 Sep 2005 10:26:12 -0700
> Aeneas uses the deer hunt to steady his nerves and reassert some > feeling of being in control after the storm, which had brought > him near death both from the waves and from the depression or > despair that is never too far from him. Hunting is an > expression, rather therapeutic in effect, of human control over > nature. But hunting, because it is a display of power, is also a > possible occasion of discord, even an opportunity for > ruthlessness. I agree but what Aeneas did in the passage in question is more of a 'turkey shoot' than a hunt. No skill in tracking or stalking was involved: the deer simply presented themselves and allowed themselves to be shot. I suppose a subtext is that the deer were made available for Aeneas and his men by a divine hand. Is there possibly some allusion to the Venus and Adonis story here to where V dresses like Diana and chases deer and things in order to get closer to A? Patrick Roper ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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