Strategies of Moralising in the Pseudo-Vergilian Aetna
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Arthur Harris
Abstract
The pseudo-Vergilian Aetna, a Latin didactic poem of the first century CE that aims to explain the volcanic activity of Mount Etna, has received growing attention since Liba Taub’s Aetna and the Moon (2008). One notable feature of the poem is the length of its proem and central digression. I argue that in these passages, together with the epilogue legend of the pious brothers (pii fratres), the poet was concerned to establish the ethical value of his meteorological inquiry, particularly in comparison to the study of the heavens. I suggest the closing lines on the pii fratres respond to Vergil’s celebration of Nisus and Euryalus in Aeneid 9.
Abstract
The pseudo-Vergilian Aetna, a Latin didactic poem of the first century CE that aims to explain the volcanic activity of Mount Etna, has received growing attention since Liba Taub’s Aetna and the Moon (2008). One notable feature of the poem is the length of its proem and central digression. I argue that in these passages, together with the epilogue legend of the pious brothers (pii fratres), the poet was concerned to establish the ethical value of his meteorological inquiry, particularly in comparison to the study of the heavens. I suggest the closing lines on the pii fratres respond to Vergil’s celebration of Nisus and Euryalus in Aeneid 9.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter 1
- Acknowledgements
- Contents VII
- List of Figures and Tables IX
- Prologue: of Friendship and Fishponds 1
- Introduction 5
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Part I: Historiography, Disciplinary Categories, and Anachronism
- Greco-Roman Histories of Astronomy, Their Genres, and Their Afterlives 15
- When was Cosmology? The Curious History of a Disciplinary Category 33
- Surmise or Certainty: Women in Science in Antiquity 51
- Deep Reading of Kepler’s New Astronomy: An Exercise in Computational History of Science 65
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Part II: Scientific Writing: Genres, Authority, Authorship, and Audiences
- Narrative Elements in Aristotle’s Generation of Animals 83
- Style and Intended Readership of Theophrastus’ On Fire (De igne) 95
- Strategies of Moralising in the Pseudo-Vergilian Aetna 115
- Leonides of Alexandria’s Isopsephic Epigrams: An Astronomical Art? 131
- Faithful Marriages and Wild Unions: Palladius’ On Grafting 153
- Ancient Authority in Arabic-Islamic Scientific Writing and Practice 169
- “A Cabinet of Many Rare Secrets”: The Uses and Abuses of Aristotle’s Masterpiece 191
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Part III: Counting and Measuring: Tools, Diagrams, and Replicas
- The Various Uses of Numbers and Mathematics in Ancient Egypt 219
- Greek Sexagesimals and Zeros 231
- The Diagrams and Replicas of Richard of Wallingford’s Clock 253
- Measuring Magnetism: Retrospective on Theories and Instruments from Lucretius to Blackett and Bullard 279
- Ancients and Moderns in Tycho Brahe’s Astronomy 295
- List of Contributors 317
- Bibliography
- Index
- Index Locorum
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter 1
- Acknowledgements
- Contents VII
- List of Figures and Tables IX
- Prologue: of Friendship and Fishponds 1
- Introduction 5
-
Part I: Historiography, Disciplinary Categories, and Anachronism
- Greco-Roman Histories of Astronomy, Their Genres, and Their Afterlives 15
- When was Cosmology? The Curious History of a Disciplinary Category 33
- Surmise or Certainty: Women in Science in Antiquity 51
- Deep Reading of Kepler’s New Astronomy: An Exercise in Computational History of Science 65
-
Part II: Scientific Writing: Genres, Authority, Authorship, and Audiences
- Narrative Elements in Aristotle’s Generation of Animals 83
- Style and Intended Readership of Theophrastus’ On Fire (De igne) 95
- Strategies of Moralising in the Pseudo-Vergilian Aetna 115
- Leonides of Alexandria’s Isopsephic Epigrams: An Astronomical Art? 131
- Faithful Marriages and Wild Unions: Palladius’ On Grafting 153
- Ancient Authority in Arabic-Islamic Scientific Writing and Practice 169
- “A Cabinet of Many Rare Secrets”: The Uses and Abuses of Aristotle’s Masterpiece 191
-
Part III: Counting and Measuring: Tools, Diagrams, and Replicas
- The Various Uses of Numbers and Mathematics in Ancient Egypt 219
- Greek Sexagesimals and Zeros 231
- The Diagrams and Replicas of Richard of Wallingford’s Clock 253
- Measuring Magnetism: Retrospective on Theories and Instruments from Lucretius to Blackett and Bullard 279
- Ancients and Moderns in Tycho Brahe’s Astronomy 295
- List of Contributors 317
- Bibliography
- Index
- Index Locorum
