The Vertical Axis in Classical and Post- Classical Epic
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Philip Hardie
Abstract
In epic the actions of men and gods unfold in an extended spatial canvas on both the horizontal and vertical axis. This paper explores the movement of epic characters on the vertical axis, both downwards and upwards, between the heavens and earth, and between earth and the underworld. In Homer gods and the hero’s fame are capable of moving between earth and heaven, and privileged heroes undertake a descent to the underworld. In Vergilian and post-Vergilian Latin epic there are more far-reaching interchanges: through apotheosis the human hero may make the journey to the skies, and demonic powers of the underworld break surface to wreak havoc on earth. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses tales of successful ascent are balanced against tales of unsuccessful attempts to take flight. In Christian epic the spatial coordinates of the vertical axis are radically revalorized through a theology of the fall of man and angels, and of the subsequent re-ascent to heaven of the Son of Man, and of redeemed mankind. The major part of this paper explores the reception of pre-Christian vertical epic space in a series of post-classical epics: Jacopo Sannazaro’s De Partu Virginis, Girolamo Vida’s Christiad, and the first book of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Milton’s Paradise Lost, in this as in other respects, recapitulates and overgoes the earlier pre-Christian and Christian epic tradition, in its dramatic and sublime narratives of fall and ascent. As poet Milton imaginatively, and with trepidation, seeks to follow the descents and re-ascents of his characters. Among other texts, Milton engages with the biblical poetics of Josuah Sylvester’s Du Bartas His Divine Weekes and Works, and also with the slightly earlier, and now largely neglected, seventeenth-century biblical epic, the Davideis, by Abraham Cowley.
Abstract
In epic the actions of men and gods unfold in an extended spatial canvas on both the horizontal and vertical axis. This paper explores the movement of epic characters on the vertical axis, both downwards and upwards, between the heavens and earth, and between earth and the underworld. In Homer gods and the hero’s fame are capable of moving between earth and heaven, and privileged heroes undertake a descent to the underworld. In Vergilian and post-Vergilian Latin epic there are more far-reaching interchanges: through apotheosis the human hero may make the journey to the skies, and demonic powers of the underworld break surface to wreak havoc on earth. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses tales of successful ascent are balanced against tales of unsuccessful attempts to take flight. In Christian epic the spatial coordinates of the vertical axis are radically revalorized through a theology of the fall of man and angels, and of the subsequent re-ascent to heaven of the Son of Man, and of redeemed mankind. The major part of this paper explores the reception of pre-Christian vertical epic space in a series of post-classical epics: Jacopo Sannazaro’s De Partu Virginis, Girolamo Vida’s Christiad, and the first book of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Milton’s Paradise Lost, in this as in other respects, recapitulates and overgoes the earlier pre-Christian and Christian epic tradition, in its dramatic and sublime narratives of fall and ascent. As poet Milton imaginatively, and with trepidation, seeks to follow the descents and re-ascents of his characters. Among other texts, Milton engages with the biblical poetics of Josuah Sylvester’s Du Bartas His Divine Weekes and Works, and also with the slightly earlier, and now largely neglected, seventeenth-century biblical epic, the Davideis, by Abraham Cowley.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Inhalt VII
- Vorwort XI
- Laudatio XIII
- Kurzvita XVII
- Schriftenverzeichnis von Christiane Reitz XIX
- Tabula gratulatoria XXVII
- Autorenverzeichnis XXXIII
-
Teil I: Die Tradition der epischen Dichtung von Homer bis Milton: Ambivalentes Heldentum und der epische Raum
- Einleitung 3
- Phoinix über die Verblendung des Helden 7
- Aeneas and Octavian: The Sharing of Epic Identity 37
- Resonantia saxa – Scylla und die Mauern von Megara (Ov. Met. 8.6–154) 71
- Iterum Philippi. La ‘doppiezza di Filippi’ da Virgilio a Lucano 91
- „Zweimal Emathien“: Das Proöm zu Lucans Bellum Ciuile und die Georgica Vergils 121
- Killed by Friendly Fire. Divine Scheming and Fatal Miscommunication in Valerius Flaccus’ Cyzicus Episode 145
- La mort de Tydée dans la Thébaïde de Stace 181
- Regulus and the Inconsistencies of Fame in Silius Italicus’ Punica 201
- The Vertical Axis in Classical and Post- Classical Epic 219
-
Teil II: Literarische Autorität: Dichter, Gattungskonventionen und Erneuerung
- Einleitung 241
- Numerosus Horatius. Metren und inhaltliche Bezüge im ersten Odenbuch des Horaz 245
- The Po(e)ts and Pens of Persius’ Third Satire (The Waters of Roman Satire, Part 2) 267
- Schlaflos mit Kallimachos. Eine Interpretation von Stat. Silv. 5.4 285
- Enthüllte Göttinnen. Der Blick des Dichters (Ovid und Kallimachos) 311
- Macht und Übermacht der Tradition. Dichterkataloge in der lateinischen Literatur von Ovid bis Sidonius 335
- Der Mythos von Orpheus und Eurydice bei Ovid und Boethius 359
- Apuleius in France: La Fontaine’s Psyché and its Apuleian Model 385
- Rote Schafe, Goldene Zeit. Ein märchenhaftes Motiv bei Homer, Vergil und Voltaire 401
- Eduard Mörikes Roman von Cerinthus und Sulpicia 419
-
Teil III: Wissensvermittlung in Text und Bild: Rhetorische Exemplarität und didaktische exempla
- Einleitung 449
- nempe exemplis discimus. Tradition und Beispiel bei Phaedrus (3.9) 455
- The Poetry of Animals in Love. A Reading of Oppian’s Halieutica and Cynegetica 473
- Beyond the Fence. Columella’s Garden 501
- Zur Vereinbarkeit von ratio und reuerentia in Columellas Umgang mit Vergil 515
- A Lesson from the East: A New Pattern of Virility in Ovid’s Fasti 547
- Mit Alexander dem Großen und Albinovanus Pedo am Ende der Welt 575
- The ‘Controversial’ Continence of Scipio in Literature and Art: Gellius’ Noctes Atticae and Nicolò dell’Abate 595
- Titi summa clementia. Unbeachtete Zeugen für ein sprichwörtliches Herrscherbild 617
- Disertus vel desertus (Aug. Conf. 2.3.5) 637
- The Endeavours and exempla of the German Refugee Classicists Eva Lehmann Fiesel and Ruth Fiesel 655
- Bibliography 689
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Inhalt VII
- Vorwort XI
- Laudatio XIII
- Kurzvita XVII
- Schriftenverzeichnis von Christiane Reitz XIX
- Tabula gratulatoria XXVII
- Autorenverzeichnis XXXIII
-
Teil I: Die Tradition der epischen Dichtung von Homer bis Milton: Ambivalentes Heldentum und der epische Raum
- Einleitung 3
- Phoinix über die Verblendung des Helden 7
- Aeneas and Octavian: The Sharing of Epic Identity 37
- Resonantia saxa – Scylla und die Mauern von Megara (Ov. Met. 8.6–154) 71
- Iterum Philippi. La ‘doppiezza di Filippi’ da Virgilio a Lucano 91
- „Zweimal Emathien“: Das Proöm zu Lucans Bellum Ciuile und die Georgica Vergils 121
- Killed by Friendly Fire. Divine Scheming and Fatal Miscommunication in Valerius Flaccus’ Cyzicus Episode 145
- La mort de Tydée dans la Thébaïde de Stace 181
- Regulus and the Inconsistencies of Fame in Silius Italicus’ Punica 201
- The Vertical Axis in Classical and Post- Classical Epic 219
-
Teil II: Literarische Autorität: Dichter, Gattungskonventionen und Erneuerung
- Einleitung 241
- Numerosus Horatius. Metren und inhaltliche Bezüge im ersten Odenbuch des Horaz 245
- The Po(e)ts and Pens of Persius’ Third Satire (The Waters of Roman Satire, Part 2) 267
- Schlaflos mit Kallimachos. Eine Interpretation von Stat. Silv. 5.4 285
- Enthüllte Göttinnen. Der Blick des Dichters (Ovid und Kallimachos) 311
- Macht und Übermacht der Tradition. Dichterkataloge in der lateinischen Literatur von Ovid bis Sidonius 335
- Der Mythos von Orpheus und Eurydice bei Ovid und Boethius 359
- Apuleius in France: La Fontaine’s Psyché and its Apuleian Model 385
- Rote Schafe, Goldene Zeit. Ein märchenhaftes Motiv bei Homer, Vergil und Voltaire 401
- Eduard Mörikes Roman von Cerinthus und Sulpicia 419
-
Teil III: Wissensvermittlung in Text und Bild: Rhetorische Exemplarität und didaktische exempla
- Einleitung 449
- nempe exemplis discimus. Tradition und Beispiel bei Phaedrus (3.9) 455
- The Poetry of Animals in Love. A Reading of Oppian’s Halieutica and Cynegetica 473
- Beyond the Fence. Columella’s Garden 501
- Zur Vereinbarkeit von ratio und reuerentia in Columellas Umgang mit Vergil 515
- A Lesson from the East: A New Pattern of Virility in Ovid’s Fasti 547
- Mit Alexander dem Großen und Albinovanus Pedo am Ende der Welt 575
- The ‘Controversial’ Continence of Scipio in Literature and Art: Gellius’ Noctes Atticae and Nicolò dell’Abate 595
- Titi summa clementia. Unbeachtete Zeugen für ein sprichwörtliches Herrscherbild 617
- Disertus vel desertus (Aug. Conf. 2.3.5) 637
- The Endeavours and exempla of the German Refugee Classicists Eva Lehmann Fiesel and Ruth Fiesel 655
- Bibliography 689
