David Wilson-Okamura wrote:
> Let's talk about Virgil! Here's a practical question: do most readers > consider book 3 of the Aeneid a success? (I say practical because I'm going > to be teaching it in class tomorrow afternoon.) Book 3 does have the great > encounter with Polydorus at the beginning, but the rest of the book has > kind of a "grab bag of episodes" feeling. Does anyone else feel this way? > If not, why not? Not at all! From beginning to end, the book continually emphasizes where Aeneas is to go. When he leaves Troy, he's only got some vague notion that it's out west somewhere. His lack of knowledge is borne out by the early landings where the first thing he does is try to build a city. But at each stop, more pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place, so that by the end of he book he SHOULD know exactly where he is to go and how he will know when he gets there. Buthrotum gives him the idea that what he initially wants (re-found Troy) is not possible (such an attempt would be pathetic); thus he knows that the future must be built without Troy. And the fact that Anchises dies by the end suggests that all links with the past have been broken by the end of book 3. The image at the end of book 2, with our hero carrying the weight of the past on his shoulders and leading the future by the hand is now modified--everything points in the direction of the future. Even the structure of the book suggests this. The 1st three stops show a desire to cling to the past, the 2nd three present the major prophecies (Calaeno, Helenus), while the last three begin to point forward. Troy is physically and mentally left behind. The book also shows his pietas, and his willingness to accept his fate even though he does not fully understand. We have pietas toward the dead (Polydorus), toward the gods (Apollo, Athene, Juno), toward enemies (Achoemonides) and finally toward father. I also think it's absolutely necessary to the action of the 1st four books that we have this story told the way it is by Aeneas to Dido (and not just once, but over and over). Both of them must know that Carthage is not where he is to be, as enticing a prospect as that may be. It must be shown that Dido should know that his first loyalty is to his fate, which lies elsewhere. Add in the allusions to Apollonios anbd the various Hellenistic flourishes (aetiologies, etc) and you've got yourself a neat little book. I think. jg ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
