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APPENDIX B the Nisus and Euryalus Episode in the Aeneid (9.176F])

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APPENDIX B the Nisus and Euryalus Episode in the Aeneid (9.176F]) APPENDIX B The Nisus and Euryalus Episode in the Aeneid (9.176f]) The interpretation of this episode is extremely problematic. It has been called 'a dramatic episode of friendship' by Pease.1 and Cartault says that 'the episode of Nisus and Euryalus is not only the glorification of heroism, but also of friendship.'2 More recently. it is usually taken to be an instance of furor which runs into deserved punishment. The praise which Virgil accords to the two fighters (446ff), if noticed, is then taken to be ironical.3 This is inevitable if the episode is interpreted as an instance of evil furor and of the disastrous consequences which must follow on such furor. But to take Virgil's words of praise for Nisus and Euryalus as ironical, that is, as not really and seriously intended. seems to me quite impossible. Virgil says: 'Ah, fortunate pair! If my poetry has any influence, Time in its passing shall never obliterate your memory, As long as the house of Aeneas dwell by the Capitol's moveless Rock. and the head of the Roman family keeps his power.' (446ff) The very ancient and indeed Homeric idea which underlies this passage is that a poet by his song can give fame and even im­ mortality to a dead man. What Virgil prophesies here is that through describing the deeds of the two young men in his epic he will preserve their memory for as long as the Julian house or even Rome herself and the Roman patria potestas remain. The refer­ ences to the power of poetry. to Augustus, the Capitol, and to the pater Romanus are so weighty and so serious that irony is out of the question. Virgil's praise cannot but be genuine. The unavoid­ able consequence is that whatever Nisus and Euryalus did must. in Virgil's eyes, be honourable and great so as to deserve his praise. A comparison of the episode of Nisus and Euryalus with the Doloneia (Book 10) of the Iliad which is its Homeric model immediately reveals the difference in values and Virgil's primarily moral perspective. Appendix B 165 Diomedes and Odysseus set out in order to find out whether the Trojans are going to stay near the ships or whether they will return to the city (209f). They are promised fame by Nestor and an ample gift of sheep. In setting out, both heroes pray to Athene for pro­ tection, and Odysseus also prays that they may 'achieve a great work, which will bring care upon the Trojans' (282). When Dolon, who is sent out by Hector for information about the Achaeans, is chased and caught by them, they force him to tell them what is happening in the Trojan camp and the positions of the various tribes. Then Diomedes kills him. The task which they had under­ taken on behalf of the Acheans is completed. Apart from one man Dolon, there has been no killing of enemies. But Diomedes and Odysseus move forward against the sleeping Thracians, because they want to seize the wonderful horses of the Thracian king Rhesus. Diomedes kills twelve men and the king himself, and Odysseus drags the bodies away in order to make a path for the horses (49lff). While Odysseus seizes the horses ready to drive away, Diomedes still wonders whether to take also the chariot or to slay more Thracians. But Athene warns him that it is time to leave. On the way they pick up the helmet and other weapons taken from Dolon and return safely to the Achaean camp. Let us note here that when the killing of the Thracians for the purpose of seizing the horses is done, and even though Odysseus has whistled to Diomedes to move off, an extension of the looting and of killing is still envisaged by Diomedes, but he is stopped by Athene warning him of danger. The Homeric episode of the Doloneia is shaped in three parts : 1. Preparations for the expedition. 2. The encounter with Dolon who is chased, caught, and killed. 3. Slaughter of sleeping Thracians and the capture of Rhesus' horses. The episode in Aeneid 9 is correspondingly shaped, but with different sequence of the parts and different connections : 1. Preparations for the expedition. 2. Slaughter of the sleeping enemy to make a path for travelling to Aeneas. 3. Being chased, caught, and killed by the Rutulians. In the Homeric episode, the slaughter of the Thracians and capture of the horses is not part of the mission of the two Greek heroes, which is accomplished by the end of the second part. It is an addition, though carefully prepared for in the preceding part. The connection is based on the high value placed by Homeric heroes .
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