Perhaps the audience's reaction, rather than focusing on the mythological attributes of Tartarus, would be turned to the memorable simile in Georgics 2.291-2 of which this is an excerpt. They would thus associate with this oak all the attributes of the earlier description which was the very image of inherent Roman strength, including the idea of long duration and immovability, and, of course, foundation in the countryside. That is certainly the first reaction - to assume that 'Tartarus' is just there because he's copying his earlier lines. But of course Virgil would love to play on that idea and present us with the wholly unprovable possibility, probablility even, that its inclusion is a bit more problematical, as you have pointed out - unprovable of course because one could just say 'But he's just quoting himself' and so all the more subtle for it.
---------- > From: Brian Gallagher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: VIRGIL: The Oak Simile in Book IV > Date: Sunday, November 15, 1998 8:02 PM > > Hello! > i'm responding to the questions about Virgil's oak simile. I don't > know any more than you do, but I find it interesting that when Aeneas > finally reaches Italy and obtains the divine armour, Venus hugs him. He's > never been able to touch his mother or the ghost of his father or the > ghost of Creusa, so this is significant. Also, Venus lays his new armour > under an oak tree, as if saying _this is what you're supposed to > protect_, the grandeur of Rome. Also I was wondering why, in the new > Fitzgerald translation, does he translate "the oak simile" as the oak's > roots reaching down into the underworld -- not Tartarus (as it is in the > original Latin), not Hades, not Elysium. What would be a more fitting > place for the roots of Aeneas's/Rome's oak tree and why? I know Tartarus > was deep, twice as deep as the heights of the heavens. It was also held > by pillars which even the gods couldn't break. It held the Titans and > other monsters. Every river was rejuvenated in Tartarus. Yet the essence > of this place seems to be of gloom and primal power. > Perhaps Aeneas's denial of lust (the essence of civilization) needs > to be upheld by such primal power, just as Zeus (the ultimate pious > father) needs his furious dirae. Please help me out! > thanks > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
