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The Formulaic Dynamics of Character Behavior in Lucan Howard Chen Breakthrough and Concealment: The Formulaic Dynamics of Character Behavior in Lucan Howard Chen Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2012 © 2012 Howard Chen All rights reserved ABSTRACT Breakthrough and Concealment: The Formulaic Dynamics of Character Behavior in Lucan Howard Chen This dissertation analyzes the three main protagonists of Lucan’s Bellum Civile through their attempts to utilize, resist, or match a pattern of action which I call the “formula.” Most evident in Caesar, the formula is a cycle of alternating states of energy that allows him to gain a decisive edge over his opponents by granting him the ability of perpetual regeneration. However, a similar dynamic is also found in rivers, which thus prove to be formidable adversaries of Caesar in their own right. Although neither Pompey nor Cato is able to draw on the Caesarian formula successfully, Lucan eventually associates them with the river-derived variant, thus granting them a measure of resistance (if only in the non-physical realm). By tracing the development of the formula throughout the epic, the dissertation provides a deeper understanding of the importance of natural forces in Lucan’s poem as well as the presence of an underlying drive that unites its fractured world. Table of Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ vi Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1. Current Perspectives on Lucan .................................................................................... 1 2. Summary of Chapters .................................................................................................. 3 Chapter 1. The Caesarian Formula ............................................................................. 10 1. The Introduction of the Formula ............................................................................... 10 The Basic Formula: Its Cyclical Nature .................................................................... 10 Breaking the Formula? Weaknesses in the Cycle ..................................................... 16 The Formula in Context: Influences and Parallels .................................................... 18 2. Caesarian Figures ...................................................................................................... 26 Marius ........................................................................................................................ 26 Antaeus ...................................................................................................................... 30 Formulaic Moments in the Curio Narrative .............................................................. 39 Curio’s Formulaic Failure ......................................................................................... 43 Scaeva as Nexus ........................................................................................................ 52 Chapter 2. Caesar and the Formula Part 1: Books 1-5 .............................................. 66 1. Caesar at the Rubicon ................................................................................................ 67 2. Caesar at Ariminum .................................................................................................. 69 3. Caesar’s Formulaic Regeneration ............................................................................. 70 4. Caesar’s Formulaic Flooding: A New Paradigm ...................................................... 79 5. Caesar’s Dissembling and the Destruction of Rome’s Core ..................................... 87 6. Caesar and Massilia’s Attempt to Break the Formula ............................................... 93 i 7. Caesar and the Mutiny: The Low Point of the Formulaic Arc .................................. 98 Chapter 3. Caesar and the Formula Part 2: Books 6-10 .......................................... 109 1. Interlude at Dyrrhachium ........................................................................................ 110 2. Caesar at Pharsalus: The Climactic Flood ............................................................... 113 3. Caesar at Troy: New Paradigms .............................................................................. 125 4. Caesar in Egypt ....................................................................................................... 132 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 132 The Alexander Digression ....................................................................................... 135 Caesar and Cleopatra ............................................................................................... 138 The Banquet............................................................................................................. 141 The Plot against Caesar: Pothinus’ Viewpoint ........................................................ 145 The Plot against Caesar: The Progress of the Plot .................................................. 149 Caesar on the Mole: The Final Lines of the Epic .................................................... 155 Chapter 4. Aquatic Resistance to Caesar .................................................................. 161 1. Rivers as a Model of Resistance ............................................................................. 162 Caesar at the Rubicon: Redux ................................................................................. 162 Caesar and the River at Corfinium .......................................................................... 166 Phaethon and the Po ................................................................................................ 170 2. Blood Interlude ........................................................................................................ 173 The Polluted Tiber ................................................................................................... 173 A Detour on Compression ....................................................................................... 177 3. The Flood at Ilerda .................................................................................................. 181 4. The Storm ................................................................................................................ 189 ii 5. The Nile ................................................................................................................... 205 Caesar’s Attitude toward Acoreus: The Indirect Approach .................................... 207 Acoreus’ Character Sketch ...................................................................................... 213 Acoreus’ Speech Part 1: Nile as Counterbalance .................................................... 214 Acoreus’ Speech Part 2: Peroration and Overflow .................................................. 225 Chapter 5. Pompey....................................................................................................... 235 1. Pompey’s Character Sketch as Template ................................................................ 237 2. Pompey According to Caesar: A Composite Picture .............................................. 240 3. The Hiding Motif of the Vanquished ...................................................................... 242 Ariminum as Exemplar of Hiddenness.................................................................... 242 Rome’s Reaction to Caesar ..................................................................................... 245 The Remaining Romans: Concealment and Hope................................................... 246 Domitius’ Dormant Hiding...................................................................................... 249 4. Pompey’s First Speech ............................................................................................ 251 5. Pompey’s Bull Simile as Formulaic Fantasy .......................................................... 257 6. Pompey and Rivers: An Introduction ...................................................................... 261 7. Pompey at Brundisium ............................................................................................ 263 8. Pompey’s Troop Catalogue ..................................................................................... 266 Pompey and Rivers Redux ...................................................................................... 268 9. Pompey’s Continuing Marginalization ................................................................... 272 10. Cornelia as Pompey’s Refuge ............................................................................... 275 11. Pompey at Dyrrhachium: A Brief Glimpse of the Formula .................................. 279 12. Pompey at Pharsalus: Severance from the Formula .............................................. 288 iii The Dormant Brutus ................................................................................................ 295 Pompey’s Decisive Break........................................................................................ 296 13. Pompey in Book 8: New Beginnings? .................................................................. 299 Pompey and Cornelia Redux ..................................................................................
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