Trojan Glory: kleos and the survival of Troy in Lycophron's Alexandra
-
Charles McNelis
Abstract
Cassandra's prophecy in Lycophron's Alexandra consists of two main sections: an account of the Trojan War and its aftermath, and a broader explanation of the conflict between East and West. Both sections conclude by celebrating Roman power. These “Roman” passages have been considered intrusive, but we argue that they form part of the broader strategy of Cassandra's prophecy. The first belongs to a series of thematically connected narratives in which Cassandra awards glory, kleos, to Trojans or their descendants in the West while systematically denying it to the Greeks, a phenomenon evident in her treatment of the events covered in the Iliad and Odyssey. The prediction that Cassandra's descendants will restore Trojan glory evokes Iliad 20.302–308, and may serve as a lens through which Vergil's Aeneid reconsiders that Iliadic prophecy.
© Walter de Gruyter 2011
Articles in the same Issue
- The Iliad's big swoon: a case of innovation within the epic tradition?
- Apollo and the Ion of Euripides: nothing to do with Nietzsche?
- The Dream of the Charioteer in the Rhesus ascribed to Euripides (728–803)
- Trojan Glory: kleos and the survival of Troy in Lycophron's Alexandra
- A Passage to Egypt: Aesop, the Priests of Heliopolis and the Riddle of the Year (Vita Aesopi 119–120)
- From impulsiveness to self-restraint: Lucius' stance in Apuleius' Metamorphoses
- Back to the backstage: the papyrus P.Berol. 13927
- Revivals of an Ancient Myth in Modern Art: Oedipus and the Episode of the Sphinx. From Jean Auguste-Domenique Ingres to Michael Merck
- List of Contributors
Articles in the same Issue
- The Iliad's big swoon: a case of innovation within the epic tradition?
- Apollo and the Ion of Euripides: nothing to do with Nietzsche?
- The Dream of the Charioteer in the Rhesus ascribed to Euripides (728–803)
- Trojan Glory: kleos and the survival of Troy in Lycophron's Alexandra
- A Passage to Egypt: Aesop, the Priests of Heliopolis and the Riddle of the Year (Vita Aesopi 119–120)
- From impulsiveness to self-restraint: Lucius' stance in Apuleius' Metamorphoses
- Back to the backstage: the papyrus P.Berol. 13927
- Revivals of an Ancient Myth in Modern Art: Oedipus and the Episode of the Sphinx. From Jean Auguste-Domenique Ingres to Michael Merck
- List of Contributors
