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THE HERCULES-CACUS MYTH As Buchheit Notes, It Would Be a Mistake to Take So Carefully Elaborated an Episode As the Hercules-Cacu

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THE HERCULES-CACUS MYTH As Buchheit Notes, It Would Be a Mistake to Take So Carefully Elaborated an Episode As the Hercules-Cacu CHAPTER THREE THE HERCULES-CACUS MYTH As Buchheit notes, it would be a mistake to take so carefully elaborated an episode as the Hercules-Cacus battle as simply an aetiology. That author goes on to make an appealing case for consideration of the episode as symbolic of the coming struggle between Aeneas and Turnus,l and doing so he shares the approach of Schnepf, whose main conclusion is that Hercules is a symbol, but of Augustus. 2 I t is not our principal purpose here to consider whether or not the symbolic interpretations of Buchheit and others are valid. We are basically investigating the likenesses and contrasts of form between Vergil and Callimachus, and hoping to demonstrate that such an investigation, differing widely as it does from those of Schnepf and Buchheit, still yields significant information concerning the art of Vergil. Before beginning we should note that the aitia of Aen. 8, bearing clearly as they do upon institutions, etc., of Vergil's day, betray a contemporary urgency undiscovered in the A itia of Callimachus. In this respect they justify the effort expended to elucidate the Augustan significance of the Hercules-Cacus myth. Attempts to find symbolic or allegorical dimensions of the myth which relate it to Augustus, even if carried too far at times,3 are neverthe­ less reasonable in principle. At any rate, this study shares with others a search for contemporary Augustan meaning in the Her­ cules-aition, as this chapter will show. Earlier literature on the passage disclosed much a bout the material at Vergil's disposal and its use by various writers; 4 1 Virgil uber die Sendung Roms, Gymnasium Beiheft 3 (Heidelberg, 1963) pp. II6ff. 2 "Das Herculesabenteuer in Virgils Aeneis", Gymnasium, 66 (1959), pp. 25off. 3 D. L. Drew, for example, in The Allegory of the Aeneid (Oxford, 1927), p. 18, offers the unwarranted theory that 8.107-174 is meant to represent the transition from August 12 to August 13, 29 B.C. 4 The best collections of pertinent data are J. G. Winter, The Myth of Hercules at Rome (N.Y., 1910), and J. Bayet, Les origines de l'Hercule Romain, Bibl. des Ec. Fr. d'Ath. et de Rome, Vol. 132 (Paris, 1926). 44 THE HERCULES-CACUS MYTH and one study, that of Munzer, contained some perspective comments on the development of the Cacus-myth,l in which matters both of subject-matter and of style were treated. Schnepf and Buchheit, of course, built up their interpretations upon the information supplied by Bayet, Winter, Munzer and others. Buchheit's above-mentioned remark is our starting point. The reason why it was necessary was precisely because the Hercules­ Cacus story is, for all its profounder dimensions, in form an aition; and Callimachus was still the acknowledged master of the form in Augustus' day.2 We shall first present a summary of Vergil's treatment, which will be compared with others available.3 In this way we may see more clearly the choice of material Vergil made and the emphases with which he told his tale. We shall conclude with an attempt to specify the manipulations of the theme that are creditable to Vergil himself. Then, we may compare his treatment with Calli­ machus' artistry in the A itia to see how much of Vergilian manipula­ tion is a reflection of Callimachean approach. Aen. 8.I84-I89 Livy, who begins his version of the Hercules-Cacus story by mentioning the resulting rite, does so out of aetiological interest. 4 Of those who do not start their accounts of the tale this way, some are merely preoccupied with other matters; 5 while others are truly enough telling an aition, but save the rite as aition-result for the conclusion. 6 Vergil, like Livy, begins with a reference to the rite. A comparison with Livy's account, though, indicates the dramatic 1 Fr. Miinzer, Cacus der Rinderdieb (Basel, 1911). 2 Cf. Propertius' calling himself the "Roman Callimachus" as he embarks on aetiological poetry, 4.1.64, and remarks supra, Intro., pp. 6f. 3 Other principal carriers of the tradition are Livy (1.7), Propertius (4.9), Ovid (F. 1.543ff.), Dion. Hal. (1.39ff.), Strabo (5.3), Diodorus (4.21), Or. Gent. Rom. (6-8), and Servius in various comments on Vergil's version. Scraps of information are found in numerous other authors, many (but not all) of whom are listed on the stemma accompanying Winter, op. cit. Since all the sources do not include all major parts of the story as told by Vergil (e.g. Cacus is unmentioned in Strabo's account of Hercules' visit), not all of them will be referred to at every point in our comments. 4 1.7.3. 5 E.g. Diod., whose topic is the westward journey of Herakles. 6 E.g. Prop., Ov. .
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