Nil desperandum …. cras ingens iterabimus aequor (Hor. Carm. 1.7): The Foundation of Salamis by a Bastard Archer as an Exemplum in Latin Literature
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Theodore Antoniadis
Abstract
Teucer, the legendary founder of Salamis in Cyprus, is not registered among the prominent figures in classical literature, though he has his moments not only in the epic tradition, but also in tragedy. Τhe son of king Telamon of Salamis and Hesione took part in the Trojan War fighting as a great archer alongside his half-brother Ajax. Having allegedly failed to stand by him after the award of Achilles’ arms to Odysseus, however, Teucer stood trial as soon as he got back home and eventually was disowned by his father and banished from his homeland. Such is the basic version of his myth as we know it from Greek authors, but to the Romans it seems that Teucer was more familiar, or even cherished, as a refugee, a man who was forced to abandon his native land and set out to find a new home for himself and his companions. Ηis toils and wanderings already make him a counterpart of Aeneas in the eyes of Vergil’s Dido. However, it is rather Horace’s Carm. 1.7 that associates Teucer’s myth with the themes of war, voyage, adventure, and rehabilitation that are also inherent in Rome’s foundation myth.
Abstract
Teucer, the legendary founder of Salamis in Cyprus, is not registered among the prominent figures in classical literature, though he has his moments not only in the epic tradition, but also in tragedy. Τhe son of king Telamon of Salamis and Hesione took part in the Trojan War fighting as a great archer alongside his half-brother Ajax. Having allegedly failed to stand by him after the award of Achilles’ arms to Odysseus, however, Teucer stood trial as soon as he got back home and eventually was disowned by his father and banished from his homeland. Such is the basic version of his myth as we know it from Greek authors, but to the Romans it seems that Teucer was more familiar, or even cherished, as a refugee, a man who was forced to abandon his native land and set out to find a new home for himself and his companions. Ηis toils and wanderings already make him a counterpart of Aeneas in the eyes of Vergil’s Dido. However, it is rather Horace’s Carm. 1.7 that associates Teucer’s myth with the themes of war, voyage, adventure, and rehabilitation that are also inherent in Rome’s foundation myth.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface and Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
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Part I: Cyprus in Latin Literature
- Cyprus and its Myths on the Roman Stage 13
- Venus on Cyprus: Interlinked Lists of Aphrodite’s Cypriot Sanctuaries in Latin Poetry 33
- Idalion, Satrachus and the Annales of Volusius: The Reception of Cyprus in the Carmina Catulli 51
- Nil desperandum …. cras ingens iterabimus aequor (Hor. Carm. 1.7): The Foundation of Salamis by a Bastard Archer as an Exemplum in Latin Literature 65
- Balance and Excess in Ovid’s Pygmalion Story 87
- Was Cyprus Special? The Case of Two Latin Poets 103
- Infamem nimio calore Cypron: Ancient Epigrams on Flacci in Cyprus 111
- The Digression on Cyprus in Claudian’s Epithalamium de nuptiis Honorii et Mariae 131
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Part II: Cyprus after Antiquity
- Venus and Adonis from Enheduanna to Shakespeare: The Significance of Ovid’s Cypriot Metamorphoses 153
- Pilgrims, Merchants and Lovers: The Island of Cyprus in Boccaccio’s Decameron (via Ovid’s Metamorphoses) 175
- Venus of Paphos in the Latin Poetry of the Quattrocento 201
- Ovid’s ‘Good’ Women: The Cypriot Exemplum Against the Background of the Statue (R)evolution 221
- Osmosis between High Genres: Ovid’s Tragic Formation of Myrrha’s Tale (Met. 10.298–502) and its Reception in Alfieri’s Homonymous Tragedy 249
- Travel, Classical Traditions and Empire: Western Travellers to Cyprus in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries 265
- List of Contributors 289
- General Index 293
- Index Locorum 299
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface and Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Cyprus in Latin Literature
- Cyprus and its Myths on the Roman Stage 13
- Venus on Cyprus: Interlinked Lists of Aphrodite’s Cypriot Sanctuaries in Latin Poetry 33
- Idalion, Satrachus and the Annales of Volusius: The Reception of Cyprus in the Carmina Catulli 51
- Nil desperandum …. cras ingens iterabimus aequor (Hor. Carm. 1.7): The Foundation of Salamis by a Bastard Archer as an Exemplum in Latin Literature 65
- Balance and Excess in Ovid’s Pygmalion Story 87
- Was Cyprus Special? The Case of Two Latin Poets 103
- Infamem nimio calore Cypron: Ancient Epigrams on Flacci in Cyprus 111
- The Digression on Cyprus in Claudian’s Epithalamium de nuptiis Honorii et Mariae 131
-
Part II: Cyprus after Antiquity
- Venus and Adonis from Enheduanna to Shakespeare: The Significance of Ovid’s Cypriot Metamorphoses 153
- Pilgrims, Merchants and Lovers: The Island of Cyprus in Boccaccio’s Decameron (via Ovid’s Metamorphoses) 175
- Venus of Paphos in the Latin Poetry of the Quattrocento 201
- Ovid’s ‘Good’ Women: The Cypriot Exemplum Against the Background of the Statue (R)evolution 221
- Osmosis between High Genres: Ovid’s Tragic Formation of Myrrha’s Tale (Met. 10.298–502) and its Reception in Alfieri’s Homonymous Tragedy 249
- Travel, Classical Traditions and Empire: Western Travellers to Cyprus in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries 265
- List of Contributors 289
- General Index 293
- Index Locorum 299
