At 12:05 AM 10/6/99 +0200, Neven Jovanovic wrote: >Finally, Book 3 is put between two dramatically and emotionally >charged (and homogeneous) books. Fragmented and episodic structure of 3, >(which does not, as we have read, lack a central idea, or >motivation) therefore, plays an almost musical role -- like a scherzo in >a symphony.
Neven makes some good points (in addition to the one I cite here). As I reread the book last night, however, I couldn't help but feel that there are (to pick up on Neven's musical comparison) "simply too many notes" in this passage. We want a break between books 2 and 4, as we want a break between books 4 and 6 -- and I don't think we get one. On the contrary, the pace of the narrative speeds up and tension builds in a way that does not (I think) make for lightness. A possible defense of this effect: Virgil wants us to feel tired by the end of book 3, in order to render the temptation to stay with Dido in Carthage more compelling. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- David Wilson-Okamura http://virgil.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] Macalester College Virgil Tradition: discussion, bibliography, &c. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
