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Mit Alexander dem Großen und Albinovanus Pedo am Ende der Welt

  • Nicola Hömke
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Antike Erzähl- und Deutungsmuster
This chapter is in the book Antike Erzähl- und Deutungsmuster

Abstract

In Suasoria 1.15, Seneca the Elder discusses (and thus preserves) an interesting fragment by the epicist Albinovanus Pedo, who presumably witnessed Germanicus’ expedition to the North Sea in 16 AD. In this passage, he has a desperate sailor complain about his horrendous experience at the end of the world, which is entirely covered in darkness and where horrible sea monsters and sea storms rage freely and mankind commits sacrilege against the gods by their very presence. What at first glance sounds like a typical description of the distant north, just like the ones we know from other sources, upon closer inspection raises several questions: Why does the epic fragment appear in the context of a suasoria with the following subject matter: “Deliberat Alexander an Oceanum nauiget - Alexander wonders whether he should cross the ocean”? Alexander of course did not cross the North Sea but, if anything, the Indian Ocean. So why does Seneca introduce Albinovanus Pedo’s description of the North Sea as a point of comparison at this stage? Because all oceans, whether north, east, south or west, are just the same? I believe, there is more to this question, and so I will briefly discuss the historical background of this suasoria in my paper before focusing on the declamatory arrangement of the material: in particular, I will show that the Alexander topic, which became canonized in the rhetoric schools, has evolved in (at least) two completely different ways, which nevertheless have both influenced Seneca’s concept of the first suasoria and made the North Sea-expedition of Albinovanus Pedo appear in a new light. Seneca here provides a fascinating example of how the timeless multifunctionality of rhetorical topoi can be successfully combined with the contemporary adjustment of their potential.

Abstract

In Suasoria 1.15, Seneca the Elder discusses (and thus preserves) an interesting fragment by the epicist Albinovanus Pedo, who presumably witnessed Germanicus’ expedition to the North Sea in 16 AD. In this passage, he has a desperate sailor complain about his horrendous experience at the end of the world, which is entirely covered in darkness and where horrible sea monsters and sea storms rage freely and mankind commits sacrilege against the gods by their very presence. What at first glance sounds like a typical description of the distant north, just like the ones we know from other sources, upon closer inspection raises several questions: Why does the epic fragment appear in the context of a suasoria with the following subject matter: “Deliberat Alexander an Oceanum nauiget - Alexander wonders whether he should cross the ocean”? Alexander of course did not cross the North Sea but, if anything, the Indian Ocean. So why does Seneca introduce Albinovanus Pedo’s description of the North Sea as a point of comparison at this stage? Because all oceans, whether north, east, south or west, are just the same? I believe, there is more to this question, and so I will briefly discuss the historical background of this suasoria in my paper before focusing on the declamatory arrangement of the material: in particular, I will show that the Alexander topic, which became canonized in the rhetoric schools, has evolved in (at least) two completely different ways, which nevertheless have both influenced Seneca’s concept of the first suasoria and made the North Sea-expedition of Albinovanus Pedo appear in a new light. Seneca here provides a fascinating example of how the timeless multifunctionality of rhetorical topoi can be successfully combined with the contemporary adjustment of their potential.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Inhalt VII
  3. Vorwort XI
  4. Laudatio XIII
  5. Kurzvita XVII
  6. Schriftenverzeichnis von Christiane Reitz XIX
  7. Tabula gratulatoria XXVII
  8. Autorenverzeichnis XXXIII
  9. Teil I: Die Tradition der epischen Dichtung von Homer bis Milton: Ambivalentes Heldentum und der epische Raum
  10. Einleitung 3
  11. Phoinix über die Verblendung des Helden 7
  12. Aeneas and Octavian: The Sharing of Epic Identity 37
  13. Resonantia saxa – Scylla und die Mauern von Megara (Ov. Met. 8.6–154) 71
  14. Iterum Philippi. La ‘doppiezza di Filippi’ da Virgilio a Lucano 91
  15. „Zweimal Emathien“: Das Proöm zu Lucans Bellum Ciuile und die Georgica Vergils 121
  16. Killed by Friendly Fire. Divine Scheming and Fatal Miscommunication in Valerius Flaccus’ Cyzicus Episode 145
  17. La mort de Tydée dans la Thébaïde de Stace 181
  18. Regulus and the Inconsistencies of Fame in Silius Italicus’ Punica 201
  19. The Vertical Axis in Classical and Post- Classical Epic 219
  20. Teil II: Literarische Autorität: Dichter, Gattungskonventionen und Erneuerung
  21. Einleitung 241
  22. Numerosus Horatius. Metren und inhaltliche Bezüge im ersten Odenbuch des Horaz 245
  23. The Po(e)ts and Pens of Persius’ Third Satire (The Waters of Roman Satire, Part 2) 267
  24. Schlaflos mit Kallimachos. Eine Interpretation von Stat. Silv. 5.4 285
  25. Enthüllte Göttinnen. Der Blick des Dichters (Ovid und Kallimachos) 311
  26. Macht und Übermacht der Tradition. Dichterkataloge in der lateinischen Literatur von Ovid bis Sidonius 335
  27. Der Mythos von Orpheus und Eurydice bei Ovid und Boethius 359
  28. Apuleius in France: La Fontaine’s Psyché and its Apuleian Model 385
  29. Rote Schafe, Goldene Zeit. Ein märchenhaftes Motiv bei Homer, Vergil und Voltaire 401
  30. Eduard Mörikes Roman von Cerinthus und Sulpicia 419
  31. Teil III: Wissensvermittlung in Text und Bild: Rhetorische Exemplarität und didaktische exempla
  32. Einleitung 449
  33. nempe exemplis discimus. Tradition und Beispiel bei Phaedrus (3.9) 455
  34. The Poetry of Animals in Love. A Reading of Oppian’s Halieutica and Cynegetica 473
  35. Beyond the Fence. Columella’s Garden 501
  36. Zur Vereinbarkeit von ratio und reuerentia in Columellas Umgang mit Vergil 515
  37. A Lesson from the East: A New Pattern of Virility in Ovid’s Fasti 547
  38. Mit Alexander dem Großen und Albinovanus Pedo am Ende der Welt 575
  39. The ‘Controversial’ Continence of Scipio in Literature and Art: Gellius’ Noctes Atticae and Nicolò dell’Abate 595
  40. Titi summa clementia. Unbeachtete Zeugen für ein sprichwörtliches Herrscherbild 617
  41. Disertus vel desertus (Aug. Conf. 2.3.5) 637
  42. The Endeavours and exempla of the German Refugee Classicists Eva Lehmann Fiesel and Ruth Fiesel 655
  43. Bibliography 689
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110612516-027

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Inhalt VII
  3. Vorwort XI
  4. Laudatio XIII
  5. Kurzvita XVII
  6. Schriftenverzeichnis von Christiane Reitz XIX
  7. Tabula gratulatoria XXVII
  8. Autorenverzeichnis XXXIII
  9. Teil I: Die Tradition der epischen Dichtung von Homer bis Milton: Ambivalentes Heldentum und der epische Raum
  10. Einleitung 3
  11. Phoinix über die Verblendung des Helden 7
  12. Aeneas and Octavian: The Sharing of Epic Identity 37
  13. Resonantia saxa – Scylla und die Mauern von Megara (Ov. Met. 8.6–154) 71
  14. Iterum Philippi. La ‘doppiezza di Filippi’ da Virgilio a Lucano 91
  15. „Zweimal Emathien“: Das Proöm zu Lucans Bellum Ciuile und die Georgica Vergils 121
  16. Killed by Friendly Fire. Divine Scheming and Fatal Miscommunication in Valerius Flaccus’ Cyzicus Episode 145
  17. La mort de Tydée dans la Thébaïde de Stace 181
  18. Regulus and the Inconsistencies of Fame in Silius Italicus’ Punica 201
  19. The Vertical Axis in Classical and Post- Classical Epic 219
  20. Teil II: Literarische Autorität: Dichter, Gattungskonventionen und Erneuerung
  21. Einleitung 241
  22. Numerosus Horatius. Metren und inhaltliche Bezüge im ersten Odenbuch des Horaz 245
  23. The Po(e)ts and Pens of Persius’ Third Satire (The Waters of Roman Satire, Part 2) 267
  24. Schlaflos mit Kallimachos. Eine Interpretation von Stat. Silv. 5.4 285
  25. Enthüllte Göttinnen. Der Blick des Dichters (Ovid und Kallimachos) 311
  26. Macht und Übermacht der Tradition. Dichterkataloge in der lateinischen Literatur von Ovid bis Sidonius 335
  27. Der Mythos von Orpheus und Eurydice bei Ovid und Boethius 359
  28. Apuleius in France: La Fontaine’s Psyché and its Apuleian Model 385
  29. Rote Schafe, Goldene Zeit. Ein märchenhaftes Motiv bei Homer, Vergil und Voltaire 401
  30. Eduard Mörikes Roman von Cerinthus und Sulpicia 419
  31. Teil III: Wissensvermittlung in Text und Bild: Rhetorische Exemplarität und didaktische exempla
  32. Einleitung 449
  33. nempe exemplis discimus. Tradition und Beispiel bei Phaedrus (3.9) 455
  34. The Poetry of Animals in Love. A Reading of Oppian’s Halieutica and Cynegetica 473
  35. Beyond the Fence. Columella’s Garden 501
  36. Zur Vereinbarkeit von ratio und reuerentia in Columellas Umgang mit Vergil 515
  37. A Lesson from the East: A New Pattern of Virility in Ovid’s Fasti 547
  38. Mit Alexander dem Großen und Albinovanus Pedo am Ende der Welt 575
  39. The ‘Controversial’ Continence of Scipio in Literature and Art: Gellius’ Noctes Atticae and Nicolò dell’Abate 595
  40. Titi summa clementia. Unbeachtete Zeugen für ein sprichwörtliches Herrscherbild 617
  41. Disertus vel desertus (Aug. Conf. 2.3.5) 637
  42. The Endeavours and exempla of the German Refugee Classicists Eva Lehmann Fiesel and Ruth Fiesel 655
  43. Bibliography 689
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