Virgil, 'the classic of all Europe' in T S Eliot's words, became a school author in his own lifetime and was the centre of the Western canon for the next i,800 years, exerting a major influence on European literature, art, and politics This Companion is designed as an indispensable guide for anyone, whether a classicist or not, who is seeking a fuller understanding of an author critical to so many disciplines It consists of specially commissioned essays by seventeen scholars from Britain, the USA, Ireland and Italy which offer a range of different perspectives both traditional and innovative on Virgil's works, and a renewed sense of why Virgil matters today The Companion is divided into four main sections, focusing on reception, genre, context, and form This ground-breaking book not only provides a wealth of material for an informed reading but also offers fresh and sophisticated insights which point to the shape of Virgilian scholarship and criticism to come Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 CAMBRIDGE COMPANIONS TO LITERATURE The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature edited by Malcolm Godden and Michael Lapidge The Cambridge Companion to Dante edited by Rachel Jacoff The Cambridge Chaucer Companion edited by Piero Boitani and Jill Mann The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre edited by Richard Beadle The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies edited by Stanley Wells The Cambridge Companion to English Renaissance Drama edited by A R Braunmuller and Michael Hattaway The Cambridge Companion to English Poetry, Donne to Marvell edited by Thomas N Corns The Cambridge Companion to Milton edited by Dennis Danielson The Cambridge Companion to British Romanticism edited by Stuart Curran The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce edited by Derek Attridge The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen edited by James McFarlane The Cambridge Companion to Brecht edited by Peter Thomson and Glendyr Sacks The Cambridge Companion to Beckett edited by John Pilling The Cambridge Companion to T S Eliot edited by A David Moody The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Humanism edited by Jill Kraye The Cambridge Companion to Conrad edited by J H Stape The Cambridge Companion to the Eighteenth-Century Novel edited by John Richetti The Cambridge Companion to Faulkner edited by Philip M Weinstein The Cambridge Companion to Thoreau edited by Joel Myerson The Cambridge Companion to Edith Wharton edited by Millicent Bell The Cambridge Companion to Realism and Naturalism edited by Donald Pizer The Cambridge Companion to Twain edited by Forrest G Robinson The Cambridge Companion to Whitman edited by Ezra Greenspan The Cambridge Companion to Hemingway edited by Scott Donaldson The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy edited by P E Easterling The Cambridge Companion to Virgil edited by Charles Martindale Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO VIRGIL Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 Simone Martini: frontispiece to Petrarch's Virgil manuscript, 1340 (Biblioteca Ambrosiana (Codex A.49«inf), Milan.) (A description of this picture can be found on p x.) Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO VIRGIL EDITED BY CHARLES MARTINDALE Professor of Latin, University of Bristol CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, United Kingdom 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia © Cambridge University Press 1997 This book is in copyright Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press First published 1997 Typeset in Sabon io/i3pt A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data applied for ISBN o 521 49539 hardback ISBN o 521 49885 paperback Transferred to digital printing 2003 Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 CONTENTS List of illustrations List of contributors Preface Introduction: 'The classic of all Europe' page x xiii xvii i CHARLES MARTINDALE Part i: Translation and reception Virgil in English translation 19 21 COLIN BURROW Modern receptions and their interpretative implications 38 DUNCAN F KENNEDY Aspects of Virgil's reception in antiquity 56 R J TARRANT The Virgil commentary of Servius 73 DON FOWLER Virgils, from Dante to Milton 79 COLIN BURROW Virgil in art M J H LIVERSIDGE 91 Part 2: Genre and poetic career 105 Green politics: the Eclogues 107 CHARLES MARTINDALE Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 CONTENTS Virgilian didaxis: value and meaning in the Georgics 125 WILLIAM BATSTONE 10 Virgilian epic 145 DUNCAN F KENNEDY 11 Closure: the Book of Virgil 155 ELENA THEODORAKOPOULOS Part 3: Contexts of production 167 12 Poetry and power: Virgil's poetry in contemporary context R J TARRANT 169 13 Rome and its traditions 188 JAMES E G ZETZEL 14 Virgil and the cosmos: religious and philosophical ideas 204 SUSANNA MORTON BRAUND 15 The Virgilian intertext 222 JOSEPH FARRELL Part 4: Contents and forms 239 16 Virgil's style JAMES J O'HARA 241 17 Virgilian narrative (a) Story-telling 259 DON FOWLER (b) Ecphrasis 271 ALESSANDRO BARCHIESI 18 Approaching characterisation in Virgil 282 ANDREW LAIRD 19 Sons and lovers: sexuality and gender in Virgil's poetry ELLEN OLIENSIS Vlll Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 294 CONTENTS 20 Virgil and tragedy 312 PHILIP HARDIE 21 Envoi: the death of Virgil 327 FIONA COX Dateline compiled by Genevieve Liveley List of works cited Index IX Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 337 340 359 ILLUSTRATIONS FRONTISPIECE Simone Martini, Frontispiece to Petrarch's Virgil manuscript, 1340 Biblioteca Ambrosiana (Codex A.49.inf), Milan Photo by courtesy of the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana (This photograph is the property of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana All rights reserved No reproductions allowed.) The picture is an allegory showing Virgil seated beneath a tree composing one of his books The figure drawing aside the muslin curtain is the fourthcentury grammarian Servius, whose commentary on Virgil was an influential source for later writers and readers: he symbolically 'reveals' Virgil to posterity The other figures personify Virgil's books: Aeneas stands beside Servius, while below them a farmer pruning a vine represents the Georgics and a shepherd symbolises the Eclogues The two Latin inscriptions make the meaning of the image clear: 'Italy, benevolent country, nourishes famous poets Thus this one [Virgil] enables you to achieve Grecian genius', and 'This is Servius, who recovers the mysteries of eloquent Virgil so they are revealed to leaders, shepherds and farmers.' The miniature was painted for Petrarch when he recovered his prized manuscript copy of Virgil's work in 1340 after losing it twelve years earlier PLATES (Between pages no and 111) 1a \b za zb Mosaic from Hadrumetum in Africa, Virgil seated between the Muses of History and Tragedy Bardo Museum, Tunis Roman relief, Aeneas sacrificing', fragment of the frieze from the Ara Pacis, 13-9 BC Ara Pacis Museum, Rome Photo: Mansell Collection Dido and Aeneas Mosaic pavement from Low Ham Villa, Somerset, fourth century Somerset County Museum, Taunton Photo: Somerset County Council Museums Service Portrait of Virgil Miniature from the Roman Virgil, earlyfifthcentury Vatican Library, Rome (Cod Vat Lat 3867, fol 3V) Photo: Biblioteca Vaticana Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 LIST OF WORKS CITED (1990) 'Ideology, influence, and future studies in the Georgics\ Vergilius 36: 6473 (1993) 'Callimachus back in Rome', in Harder et al (1993) vol Thompson, L and Winnick, R H (1976) Robert Frost: The Later Years 1938-63 New York Thornton, A (1976) The Living Universe Gods and Men in Virgil's Aeneid Leiden Thrale, H (1942) Thraliana, ed K C Balderston, vols Oxford Timpanaro, S (1986) Per la storia della filologia Virgiliana antica, Quaderni di f Filologia e critica' Rome Traina, A (1974) Vortit Barbare Le traduzioni poetiche da Livio Andronico a Cicerone Rome Vernant, J.-P and Vidal-Naquet, P (1981) Tragedy and Myth in Ancient Greece Brighton Veyne, P (1988) Roman Erotic Elegy: Love, Poetry, and the West, tr D Pellauer Chicago and London Vidal-Naquet, P (1981) The Black Hunter and the origins of the Athenian ephebeia\ in Gordon, ed Myth, Religion and Society, 147-62 Cambridge Virgilio nelVarte e nella cultura europea (1981) exhibition catalogue, ed M Fagiolo, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Rome Voloshinov, V N (1926) 'Slovo v zhizni i slovo v poezii', Zvesda 6; forthcoming translation 'Discourse in life and discourse in poetry', in W Godzich, ed Writings of the Bakhtin Circle New Haven Waddell, H (1976) More Latin Lyrics from Virgil to Milton London Warde-Fowler, W (1918a) Virgil's Gathering of the Clans Oxford (1918b) Aeneas at the Site of Rome Oxford Warwick, H H (1975) A Vergil Concordance Minneapolis Watkins, J (1995) The Specter of Dido: Spenser and Virgilian Epic New Haven and London Watson, P (1985) 'Axelson revisited: the selection of vocabulary in Latin poetry', Classical Quarterly 35: 430-48 Weinstock, S (1971) Divus lulius Oxford Wellek, R (1965) The concept of classicism and classic in literary scholarship', International Comparative Literature Association, Proceedings of the 4th Congress Wells, F H (1970) Poems on Affairs of State Volume 6: 1697-1704 New Haven and London West, D A (1969) 'Multiple-correspondence similes in the Aeneid\ journal of Roman Studies 59: 40-9 (1975-6) 'Cernere eraP the shield of Aeneas', reprinted in Harrison (1990) 295-304 (1995) '"Cast out theory": Horace Odes 1.4 and 4.7', Classical Association Presidential Address West, D A and Woodman, T., eds (1979) Creative Imitation and Latin Literature Cambridge Whitby, M., Hardie, P., and Whitby, M., eds (1987) Homo Viator: Classical Essays for John Bramble Bristol White, P (1993) Promised Verse: Poets in the Society of Augustan Rome Cambridge, MA, and London 356 Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 LIST OF WORKS CITED Wigodsky, M (1972) Vergil and Early Latin Poetry Wiesbaden Wilkinson, L P (1950) 'The intention of Virgil's Georgics\ Greece and Rome 19: 19-28 (1959) 'The language of Virgil and Horace', Classical Quarterly 9: 181-92 (1963) Golden Latin Artistry Cambridge Reprinted Bristol and Norman, OK, 1985 (1969) The Georgics of Virgil: A Critical Survey Cambridge (1970) 'Pindar and the Proem to the Third Georgic', Festschrift K Biichner, 286-90 Wiesbaden Williams, C A (1995) 'Greek love at Rome', Classical Quarterly 45: 517-39 Williams, G (1968) Tradition and Originality in Roman Poetry Oxford (1983) Technique and Ideas in the Aeneid New Haven and London Williams, R (1973) The Country and the City London Williams, R D (1960a) P Vergili Maronis Aeneidos Liber Quintus Oxford Reprinted Bristol, 1981 (1960b) 'The pictures on Dido's Temple', Classical Quarterly 10: 145-51 (1961) P Vergili Maronis Aeneidos Liber Tertius Oxford Reprinted Bristol, 1981 (1964) 'The Sixth Book of the Aeneid\ Greece and Rome 11: 48-63 (1966-7) 'Servius, commentator and guide', Proceedings of the Virgil Society 6: 50-6 Wills, J (1987) 'Scyphus - a Homeric hapax in Virgil', American Journal of Philology 108: 455-7 (1996) Repetition in Latin Poetry: Figures of Allusion Oxford Wimmel, W (1973) 'Hirtenkrieg' und arkadisches Rom: Reduktionsmedien in Virgils Aeneis, Abh d Marburger Gelehrten Gesellschaft, Jahrg 1972: Munich Wine, H (1994) Claude: The Poetic Landscape London Wiseman, T P (1971) New Men in the Roman Senate 139 B.C - 14 A.D Oxford (1979) Clio's Cosmetics Leicester de Witt, N W (1925) 'The Second Aeneid as a drama', Classical Journal 20: 47985 Wlosok, A (1976) 'Virgils Didotragodie Ein Beitrag zum Problem des Tragischen in der Aeneis\ in Gorgemanns and Schmidt (1976) 228-50 Wofford, S L (1992) The Choice of Achilles: The Ideology of Figure in the Epic Stanford Woodbridge, K (1970) Landscape and Antiquity: Aspects of English Culture at Stourhead 1718-183 Oxford Wordsworth, W (1947) The Poetical Works, eds E de Selincourt and H Darbyshire Oxford Wright, D H (1993) The Vatican Vergil A Masterpiece of Late Antique Art Princeton Wyke, M (1987) 'Written women: Propertius' Scripta Puella\ Journal of Roman Studies 77: 47-61 Zanker, P (1988) The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus Ann Arbor Zetzel, J E G (1973) 'Emendavi ad Tironem: some notes on scholarship in the second century A.D.', Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 77: 225-43 (1981) Latin Textual Criticism in Antiquity Salem 357 Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 LIST OF WORKS CITED (1983a) 'Catullus, Ennius, and the poetics of allusion', Illinois Classical Studies 8: 251-66 (1983b) 'Recreating the canon: Augustan poetry and the Alexandrian past', Critical Inquiry 10: 83-105 (1989) 'Romane Memento: justice and judgement in Aeneid 6', Transactions of the American Philological Association 119: 263-84 (1996) 'Natural law and poetic justice: a Carneadean debate in Cicero and Virgil', Classical Philology 91: 297-319 Ziolkowski, T (1993) Virgil and the Moderns Princeton Zorzetti, N (1990) s.v Tragici Latini, Enciclopedia Virgiliana, vol 5, 245-7 Rome 358 Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006 Cambridge University Press 0521498856 - 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