THE GRANDEUR OF JUPITER AND HIS MESSAGE IN LINES (219-237)

In his speech Jupiter instructs Mercury to remind Aeneas of his future and outlines a grand speech which Mercury should repeat. In this passage Jupiter asserts his authority as King of the Gods both through the power paragon created by his instructions and through the grand language and elaborate descriptions he uses.

            Jupiter’s power is clearly illustrated in the opening lines of his speech. He is portrayed by Virgil as officious in the imperatives vade, age, voca and labere (meaning ‘go’, ‘perform’, ‘call’ and ‘glide’) all of which fall in the first line. The effect of these imperatives demonstrates that Jupiter has supreme power over Mercury. The language used by Jupiter also makes the gods sound ethereal: the words labere pennis (glide on your wings!) make Mercury’s descent to Carthage seem more vivid. Similarly using the words defer mea dicta per auras (carry my words through the sky) Virgil uses a chiastic structure of assonance ‘-er’, ‘-a’, ‘-a’, ‘er’ to make the words seem light, especially with the iambs which fall on the middle ‘-a’s. Virgil also includes a large hyperbaton between the verb adloquere (speak/address) and its object Dardanium ducem (Dardanian leader) which alludes to the large journey Mercury is about to make but also symbolises the distance between men and the gods and adds a mysterious tone to the writing.

            Virgil’s descriptions of Aeneas in Jupiter’s speech depict Aeneas as the bearer of fate and therefore confer on him the responsibility for the founding of the Roman race. There is no mention in this passage of either Dido or Iarbas; it would seem that Virgil has used Iarbas’ speech as a wake-up-call for Jupiter of Aeneas’ marriage to Dido. When Jupiter muses on his actions in Carthage he says ‘non illum nobis genetrix pulcherrima talem promisit’; therefore Aeneas’ only purpose in the eyes of Jupiter is to act as a vessel for the enactment of fate. Virgil’s choice of ‘gravidam’ (pregnant) to describe Aeneas is particularly symbolic as it conveys Aeneas’ role: to father the Roman race. Virgil uses grand descriptions of the future glory of Rome to underpin his speech and persuade Aeneas that he should continue on his voyage. The description of what Jupiter expects of Aeneas uses a chiastic word structure of nouns and attributes to make his personal qualities stand out and appear more vivid. At the end of his description, the pinnacle is the revelation that the Romans will conquer the entire world: the word ‘orbem’ (world) is delayed to the very end of the line to create a tense build-up to this revelation.

            Following this Jupiter goes on to say that Aeneas should not deny Ascanius the future glory of the Roman race, even if he isn’t keen to win himself glory. Virgil’s writing continues to create vivid descriptions: Jupiter uses the word accendit to describe how Aeneas should be ‘inflamed’ by these prospects, which coupled with the homeoteleuton of tantarum… rerum (such [great] things) creates a passionate image of the gloria (glory) of Rome. Jupiter speaks of Latium and Italy at the end of his speech: the positioning of Latium at the end of the speech compared to Carthage at the beginning represents Aeneas’ impending journey.

            In conclusion, Virgil uses rich and vivid descriptions to emphasise Jupiter’s grandeur. Jupiter’s focus within the speech is clearly meant to be on the future of Rome and its significance, not on Aeneas personally. The absence of Dido and Iarbas in the speech shows their trivialness in comparison with Aeneas’ mission, the Carthaginians receive the description of inimica (alien) which reinforces their incompatibility with the future of Rome. The speech also confirms the hierarchy of classical mythology. Aeneas is leader of the Trojans and ‘married’ to the Queen of Carthage; the fact that the gods can exert such power over someone who by mortal standards represents the pinnacle of all power amongst the Trojans shows clearly how much stronger than mortals the gods are.

Antigone and Phaedra as the best and worst of women

                Two women in Euripides and Sophocles’ tragedies, Phaedra and Antigone both represent very different characters in their respective plays. Antigone is a woman who opposes the law of the king to obey the divine laws of Zeus; whereas Phaedra is forced to love Hippolytus by Aphrodite, but is spurned and having taken her own life seeks to destroy his.

            Antigone’s actions represent a true sense of divine duty and pietas to the gods. She has clearly prioritised the law of heaven over the law of man and hence when challenged by Creon she replies: ‘It was not Zeus who published this decree.’ She is adamant that the rules of Zeus always overrule the will of man further stating: ‘nor could I think of any decree of yours – a man – which could override the law of heaven’. Antigone’s standpoint is supported by the chorus who sing ‘not any mortal can oppose thee [Zeus]’. As the chorus are intended to represent the people of Athens it is clear that Antigone has the moral support of the rest of the city.

            Antigone behaves however in a way which although has a sense of duty, verges on religious zealotry. She is consistently defiant of male authority – something which would not have garnered her popularity with the male Athenian audience – and through use of stichomythia in her confrontation with Creon, she is made to sound obstinate and argumentative. Her religious zealotry also causes her to abuse her sister Ismene for whom she declares her ‘hatred’ when she refuses to assist her in burying Polyneices’ corpse. Although she is presented with an elevated sense of duty to her brother for whom she declares her commitment in the words ‘no one will say I failed him’, she appears not to share this for Ismene who she says will ‘die a coward’s death’. She accepts her punishment gracefully and is led away from Creon without fight – she is prepared to die for her brother, but redeems herself for her treatment of Ismene as when she posits the suggestion of dying with her, Antigone vehemently refuses to allow her to take the blame for what she did, insisting to Creon that her life should be spared.

            Phaedra however is portrayed very negatively in the later part of Hippolytus. Whereas Antigone had nothing but devotion to her brothers, Phaedra is deceitful and manipulative. In her vengeance for Hippolytus’ refusal to accept her love she leaves a letter in which she levels the accusations of rape against Hippolytus, her own stepson. In doing so, Phaedra is knowingly lying and deceiving her husband, who has Hippolytus put to death despite his chaste vows to Artemis and his protests of innocence. However it is arguable to what extent any of the events were in fact Phaedra’s fault; although she is culpable for leaving the letter, her actual love was instigated by Aphrodite as a punishment for Hippolytus not showing her the respect which was due to her. In terms of her conduct before her death, with one notable exception, she behaves with complete dignity – she would prefer to die that to lose her dignity by having her love exposed. Phaedra is clearly well aware of the shamefulness of her love for Hippolytus as she continually refuses to tell the nurse any details about why she is so gravely afflicted by love-sickness. Her sense of shame however does come to be her downfall in terms of the nurse: after the nurse manages to prise out of Phaedra the confession that she loves Hippolytus, she tells not only the people of Athens (the chorus) but also Hippolytus himself, as she thinks she is doing the virtuous thing. However Phaedra’s shame at being in love with Hippolytus is so strong that she abuses and dismisses the nurses.

            In conclusion, despite her actions at the end of Hippolytus, Phaedra extols the virtues of a person devoted to their partner. The fact that she is prepared to and later does die than admit her love for her stepson reveals that she had a clear understanding of shame. She was even prepared to dismiss her nurse (who we assume is one of her oldest companions and friend) to protect her secret from being aired. Antigone extols the virtues of a religious devotee and despite what her zealotry would have made us think, the revelation from the chorus that none of the people of the city consider her a traitor or indeed a criminal shows that her religious devotion was in fact normal across Athens. The fact that she redeems herself with Ismene also shows that although she becomes angry in defence of her religious beliefs, she is committed to her family and extols the best qualities of a religious, pious woman. Phaedra represents some negative qualities, but on the whole, behaves with good conduct despite her feelings being out of her control.

Fama: Horror and Revulsion in Aeneid IV

           In Aeneid IV, Fama is the personification of the vilest aspects of rumour: slander and gossip. Virgil aims not only to create revulsion at Fama’s actions, the slandering of Dido and Aeneas, but also at the concept of Fama herself.

            Virgil uses negative language with words such as ‘malus’ and ‘metu’ meaning ‘evil’ and ‘fear’ to set the tone within the first few lines. Virgil places the words ‘luce’ (light) and ‘nocte’ (night) at the start of lines to highlight that she is active all the time; the comparative ‘velocius’ (swifter) is used to emphasise Fama’s invasiveness, the comparative elevates Fama’s qualities above anyone else. More words to this effect are added with Virgil describing Fama as growing in ‘viris’ (strength) and thriving (‘viget’) on movement; these words connote power and reinforce how rumour makes her stronger. By placing the words ‘parva’ (small) and ‘in auras’ (in the clouds) at opposing ends of the line Virgil emphasises the increase in size and power and the haste with which Fama obtains this malicious power. A massive hyperbaton on line 189 demonstrates that Fama is everywhere: Virgil sandwiches the adjective and noun ‘multiplici’ and ‘sermone’ (various scandal) amongst the other words of the sentence to show how Fama’s rumours prevail ubiquitously.

            Virgil uses rich and vivid descriptions to convey Fama’s sinister qualities. The anaphora of the repeated ‘tot’ and variants such as ‘totidem’ (as many) emphasise the seemly endless methods by which Fama can observe and spread her rumours. The structure of these descriptions is very sensory; Virgil moves around various sensory organs including the: ‘oculi’ (eyes), ‘linguae’ (tongue), ‘ora’ (mouth) and ‘auris’ (ears) using asyndeton to speed up the rhythm and make the imagery seem more vivid. This description forms part of a longer 6 line description in which Virgil links asyndetically many clauses which describe the origins of Fama which are equally sinister. Virgil describes Fama as a primordial goddess (‘Terra’) which creates an atmosphere of intrigue and mystery. Virgil writes that Fama was born to a mother ‘ira inritata’ (enraged to anger): the pleonasm used in this phrase enables the audience to understand the origins of Fama’s conception – she was born out of anger and hatred. In explaining Fama’s personality the poet uses the verb ‘canebat’ (sang) and the participle ‘gaudens’ (rejoiced) to show Fama’s sadistic personality: the words convey the glee with which Fama spreads her rumours. Virgil places the words ‘et’ and ‘atque’ before the words ‘facta’ and ‘infecta’ (fact/fiction), an example of polysyndeton which gives an endless feeling to rumours which Fama spreads, especially when one translates the word ‘pariter’ (equally) as ‘indiscriminately’.

            However it is not only the description of Fama’s actions that are designed to evoke horror amongst the readership but also the way in which she phrases her scandal. Fama exalts neither Dido nor Aeneas in her description: she scathingly criticises Dido for ‘dignetur’ (deigning) to join herself to Aeneas and in speaking in such a way treats Aeneas with contempt. Furthermore her speech consecrates what was merely alluded to in the cave scene: ‘luxu’ (indulgence) most definitely has sexual connotations when one considers the word ‘turpique’ (shameless).

            Overall Virgil’s portrayal is of a brazen character who rejoices in spreading misery and ruin to as many people as possible. In creating a character that propagates such vicious rumour Virgil encourages the audience to feel nothing but revulsion. Amongst his use of vivid imagery to emphasise the invasive nature of Fama’s activities Virgil uses the most forceful words: ‘monstrum horrendum’ (a horrible monster) and ‘foeda’ (vile). His departure from the rich description to these blunt adjectives possibly represents the fact that Fama is so vile these are the only words that will do her justice. She has no apparent bias and indiscriminately spreads rumours about both Dido and Aeneas adding to her character as someone who revels in causing as much damage as possible.

AJFB