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Virgil, Aeneid 5.835–6
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2009
Extract
This has all the appearance of being a straightforward, even conventional, transition. Indeed, the conceit of Night′s chariot is common and has a history stretching back at least as far as the beginning of the fifth century B.C. Night is elsewhere described by Virgil as umida, the epithet reflecting the traditional view that Night, like Dawn (cf. Theocr. 2.148), arises from and sinks back into the stream of Ocean. In fact, the chariot of Night had been referred to as recently as lines 721 and 738 of this book, in the latter instance with the epithet umida applied to Night. What is new and interesting in our passage is the ‘meta caeli’ round which Night′s chariot turns. The effect of this novelty is to make of Night′s vehicle a racing chariot, as it is the chariots in the Circus that must negotiate a meta. The programmatic reasons for Virgil′s having done this in Book 5 are obvious. Earlier in the book Virgil had described the games held in honour of the anniversary of Anchises′ death. The first and most elaborately portrayed event in these games had been the boat-race, which is plainly modelled on the chariot-race in Iliad 23, the first and most elaborately portrayed event in the funeral games for Patroclus. Just as Achilles had required the competing chariots to race once around a distant turning-post, so Aeneas requires the competing ships to race once around a rock out at sea, which rock is three times called a meta (5.129, 159, 171). A simile comparing the sailors and their ships to charioteers and their teams (5.144–7) makes the connection explicit.
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References
1 See S. Karusu, s.v. ‘Astra’, LIMC ii.l (1984), pp. 905–6; C. Robert, ‘Der Wagen der Nacht’, Hermes 19 (1884), 467–9; A. Pasquazi Bagnolini, s.v. ‘nox’, Enciclopedia Virgiliana iii (1987), p. 772.
2 Aen. 2.8, 3.198, 5.738, 11.201; cf. Ov. Met. 2.143, 11.607, Fast. 2.635
3 Aen. 2.250 ‘ruit Oceano nox’, Ov. Met. 4.92 ‘aquis nox exit ab isdem’; see S. P. Karouzou, ‘Vases from Odos Pandrosou’, JHS 65 (1945), 38–44, at p. 44, and P. E. Knox, ’Ruit Oceano Nox’, CQ 39 (1989), 265.
4 See Cairns, .F, VirgWs Augustan Epic (Cambridge, 1989), p. 236, with note 76.It has recently been suggested that Virgil′s choice offour entrants, in contrast to the five in his Homeric model, was prompted by the number of the Circus factions:? Lindsay, P. L., ‘The Funeral Games of Virgil′s Aeneid’, Canadian Journal ofHistory ofSport 22.2 (1991), 1–22, atp. 8. That there were in fact four factions in Virgil′s day is argued by A. Cameron, Circus Factions: Blues and Greens at Rome and Byzantium (Oxford, 1976), pp. 56–61. See also J. H. Humphrey, Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing (London, 1986), pp. 137–8.Google Scholar
5 We find the same etymology also in the Etymologicum Gudianum, s.v. 412.56–7, in schol. Oppian, Hal. 1.205 (= 273B.35 Bussemaker), in Orion, s.v. avaaaa 26.1–2 and s.v. vvooa 107.23–4 and in Choeroboscus, in Theod. 151.14–17 Hilgard. The material in Choeroboscus, however, may derive from the second–century grammarian Herodian; so A. Lentz (ed.), Herodiani Technici Reliquiae ii (Leipzig, 1870), p. 805.3
6 According to Scheer′s apparatus, Volcker C. H. G., De Lycophronis Cassandra vs. 13–15 (Giessen, 1820), p. 26, emended to Trapagas. I have been unable to locate a copy of Volcker′s pamphlet, so I do not know what arguments he brought to bear. In any event, irapaoow is not the appropriate verb to use in connection with the point of origin of motion.
7 See Reitzenstein R., Geschichte der griechischen Etymologika (Leipzig, 1897), p. 176.114–15. Mauropous lived in the eleventh century
8 Again, however, it is possible that the derivation can be traced back to Herodian in the second century; cf. Lentz (above, note 5), 744.3. This etymology was apparently naturalized by the Latin grammarians (see R. Maltby, A Lexicon of Ancient Latin Etymologies [1991], s.v. ‘nox’): Servius on Aen. 1.89 ‘nox dicta quod oculis noceat’, Cassiod. Exp. Psalm. 1.2 ( = CCSL xcvii.33.232–3) ‘nox autem dicta est, eo quod noceat aspectibus sive actionibus nostris’, Isid. Nat. 2.1 (= Orig. 5.31.1 = Suet. Rel. 159.5 Reifferscheid) ‘nox a nocendo dicta, eo quod oculis noceat’. It is not clear whether Varro has eyes in mind when he says (Ling. 6.6) ‘nox...quod nocet’. The fact that he continues, ‘nisi quod Graece vvg nox’, indicates that he regards the derivation of nox from vvt; and that from nocet as alternatives. Neither, however, is incompatible with a derivation of vu from vvoow.
9 CP 82 (1987), 248–9. Renehan further argues in favour of retaining the reading of the manuscripts (epaXev), on the grounds that it is more appropriate to Callimachus’ etymologizing. But compare the Homeric
10 See G. J. M. Bartelink, Etymologisering bij Vergilius (Amsterdam, 1965) and now J. J. O′Hara, True Names: Vergil and the Alexandrian Tradition of Etymological Wordplay (Ann Arbor, 1996). There is, it is true, no explicit ‘signpost’ in the text that Virgil is here engaging in etymologizing, nor do the Greek words appear which are the objects of this learned exercise, but the same can be said, for instance, of the etymologies (all taken from Bartelink 85–8) of lepa (Aen. 11.721), KuifiwoCa (G. 2.382), Ala (G. 4.220), XafSvpivOos (Aen. 6.27) and (G. 1.337)
11 Of the 26 occurrences of the verb in the Iliad and Odyssey, 18 are in the form vvi;e(y) or vu (13 in line-initial position).
12 It is interesting to note that the Stephanus-Dindorf Thesaurus translates Homer′s
13 See in particular J. J. O‘Hara, Death and the Optimistic Prophecy in Vergits Aeneid (Princeton, 1990), pp. 19–24, with earlier bibliography. It is perhaps relevant that Neptune was identified with the deity Consus, whose altar was located in the vicinity of the far turning-post of the Circus Maximus at Rome, and that both turning-posts were adorned with sacrificial scenes; see Humphrey (above, note 4) 258–9.
14 See most recently, and with full bibliography, W. Speyer, ‘Mittag und Mitternacht als heilige Zeiten in Antike und Christentum’, Jb.fiir Antike und Christentum, Erganzungsband 11 (1984), 314–26.
15 For the frequency of shipwrecks in the vicinity of Capo Palinuro from the third century to Virgil′s day, see A. G. McKay, ‘Aeneas’ Landfalls in Hesperia’, G.R 14 (1967), 3–11, at p. 5
16 Merkelbachs R. proposal (ZPE 9 ]1972[, 83), ‘Er war der Aufpasser (ovpos) am hinteren (iraAir) SchiffsteiF, is clearly impossible; see A. Dihle, ’Zur nautischen Fachsprache der Griechen. 1 IJaXivovpos, Glotta 51 (1973), 268–74. It is unfortunate that Merkelbach′s suggestion is approved by M. Lossau (WS 14 [1980], 113) and enshrined by him in the Enciclopedia Virgiliana iii (1987), 937
17 I should like to thank James O‘Hara, Stephen Heyworth and the anonymous referee for CQ for their valuable criticisms and suggestions.