A Catullan/Apollonian “Window Reference” at Vergil Eclogue 4.31–36
A Catullan/Apollonian “Window Reference” at Vergil Eclogue 4.31–36
Abstract
Vergil’s unusual phrase temptare Thetin (Ecl. 4.32) has long been recognized as an allusion to Catullus’ equally striking imbuit Amphitriten (64.11). This note shows that Vergil’s allusion is more complex, however, evoking the descriptions of the Argo’s construction in both Catullus (64.8-11) and Apollonius (Argon. 1.111-14), and in particular the phrase ἐπειρήσαντο θαλάσσης that occurs in the latter. Vergil employs Catullus as a “window reference” that colors Apollonius’ Argo with darker notions of the sea’s violation that become dominant in the Roman tradition.
References
- 1. Arnold, B. 1994/5. “The Literary Experience of Vergil’s Fourth Eclogue.”
CJ 90, 143-60. - 2. Berg, W. 1974.
Early Vergil . London. - 3. Clausen, W. 1994.
A Commentary on Virgil: Eclogues . Oxford. - 4. Coleman, R. 1977.
Vergil: Eclogues . Cambridge. - 5. Cucchiarelli, A. 2012.
Publio Virgilio Marone: Le Bucoliche . Rome. - 6. Feeney, D. 1991.
The Gods in Epic: Poets and Critics of the Classical Tradition . Oxford. - 7. Feeney, D. 2007.
Caesar’s Calendar: Ancient Time and the Beginnings of History . Berkeley. - 8. Fitzgerald, W. 1995.
Catullan Provocations: Lyric Poetry and the Drama of Position . Berkeley. - 9. Fordyce, C. J. 1965.
Catullus: A Commentary (corr. ed.). Oxford. - 10. Gärtner, U. 2009. “νῆες ἀρχέκακοι: Schiffe als Unheilsbringer in der antiken Literatur.”
A&A 55, 23-44. - 11. Gatz, B. 1967.
Weltalter, goldene Zeit und sinnverwandte Vorstellungen . Hildesheim. - 12. Hardie, P. 2012. “Vergil’s Catullan Plots.” In I. M. le M. Du Quesnay and T. Woodman (edd.),
Catullus: Poems, Books, Readers , 212-38. Cambridge. - 13. Hermann, L. 1930.
Les Masques et les Visages dans les Bucoliques de Virgile . Brussels. - 14. Heydenreich, T. 1970.
Tadel und Lob der Seefahrt: Das Nachleben eines antiken Themas in den romanischen Literaturen . Heidelberg. - 15. Hubbard, T. K. 1998.
The Pipes of Pan: Intertextuality and Literary Filiation in the Pastoral Tradition from Theocritus to Milton . Ann Arbor. - 16. Hunter, R. 2006.
The Shadow of Callimachus: Studies in the reception of Hellenistic poetry at Rome . Cambridge. - 17. Jackson, S. 1997. “Argo: The First Ship?”
RhM 140, 249-57. - 18. Johnston, P. A. 1980.
Vergil’s Agricultural Golden Age: A Study of the Georgics . Leiden. - 19. Konstan, D. 1977.
Catullus’ Indictment of Rome: The Meaning of Catullus 64 . Amsterdam. - 20. Marinčič, M. 2001. “Der Weltaltermythos in Catulls Peleus-Epos (C. 64), der kleine Herakles (Theokr. ID. 24) und der römische ‘Messianismus’ Vergils.”
Hermes 120, 484-504. - 21. Nappa, C. 2007. “Catullus and Vergil.” In M. B. Skinner (ed.),
A Companion to Catullus , 377- 98. Malden, MA. - 22. O’Hara, J. 2007.
Inconsistency in Roman Epic: Studies in Catullus, Lucretius, Vergil, Ovid and Lucan . Cambridge. - 23. Ottaviano, S. / Conte, G. B. 2013.
P. Vergilius Maro: Bucolica Georgica . Berlin. - 24. Polt, C. B. 2013. “The Origin of the Idaean Dactyls (Apollonius
Argonautica 1.1129-31).” CP 108, 339-46. - 25. Putnam, M. C.J. 1970.
Virgil’s Pastoral Art: Studies in the Eclogues . Princeton. - 26. Race, W. H. 2008.
Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica . Cambridge, MA. - 27. Smith, K. F. 1913.
The Elegies of Albius Tibullus . New York - 28. Thomas, R. F. 1982. “Catullus and the Polemics of Poetic Reference (Poem 64.1-18).”
AJP 103, 144-64. - 29. Thomas, R. F. 1986. “Virgil’s
Georgics and the Art of Reference.” HSCP 90, 171-98. - 30. Thomson, D. F.S. 1998.
Catullus (corr. ed.). Toronto. - 31. Van Sickle, J. 1992.
A Reading of Virgil’s Messianic Eclogue . New York.