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Virgil's Aristaeus Epyllion: Georgics 4.315-558

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Virgil's Aristaeus Epyllion: Georgics 4.315-558 VIRGIL'S ARISTAEUS EPYLLlON: GEORGICS 4.315-558 MEIS PARENTIBUS CARISSIMIS VIRGIL'S ARISTAEUS EPYLLlON: GEORGICS 4.315-558 by KENNETH L. BELCHER, B.A., M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Kenneth L. Belcher, September 1993. DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY McMASTER UNIVERSITY (Classics) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: Virgil's Aristaeus Epyllion: Georgics 4.315-558. AUTHOR: Kenneth L. Belcher, B.A. (University of Western OntariO) M.A. (University of Western Ontario) SUPERVISOR: Professor P. Murgatroyd NUMBER OF PAGES: viii, 326 ii ABSTRACT Virgil's Georgics has been the subject of a daunting number of articles, studies and commentaries. Of the many problems associated with the work perhaps the greatest difficulty has arisen in assessing the Aristaeus epyllion, G. 4.315-558. Numerous attempts have been made to interpret the passage and to explain its connection with the rest of Book 4 and with the whole of the Georgics. Many opinions have been expressed (quot homines, tot sententiae); however, none has been deemed completely satisfactory and none has been universally accepted. I have chosen not to add to the already vast body of scholarship dealing with these issues but to approach the epyllion from a different perspective. Despite its importance - it is, after all, the only existing extended narrative by Virgil other than the Aeneid, which it predates - the Aristaeus epyllion has not been the subject of a single exhaustive study. I have attempted, therefore, to treat the passage in isolation, tacitly accepting that it is connected with the rest of the work. My study includes a reappraisal (with, I trust, fresh insights) of the relevant mythological background and structure of the piece. Its literary form, the epyllion, is also discussed and a more detailed examination of setting and character than has been undertaken previously is presented. Finally, I offer a detailed critical appreciation in which Virgil's iii narrative technique, his use of literary models (especially, but not exclusively, Homer) and features of sound, rhythm and diction receive comment. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Dr. P. Murgatroyd, for his patience and encouragement. In addition, his suggestions and support have been invaluable. I would also like to express my appreciation to the members of my supervisory committee, Dr. A.G. McKay and Dr. P. Kingston, for their comments , and advice. Finally, I must acknowledge Noreen Humble for proof-reading this thesis and for providing aid and advice to a computer neophyte. Hamilton, Ontario. September, 1993. v CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................... v PREFATORY NOTE ON TEXTS ............................... viii CHAPTER 1: THE MYTHOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ................ 1 PART A: ARISTAEUS AND CYRENE ................... 2 PART B: PROTEUS ................................ 8 PART C: ORPHEUS ............................... 13 i) ORPHEUS AS PROPHET, MUSICIAN, ARGONAUT . 13 ii) CATABASIS OF ORPHEUS .................. 18 iii) DEATH OF ORPHEUS ...................... 37 CHAPTER 2: LITERARY BACKGROUND ....................... 43 PART A: SCHOLARLY OPINION ABOUT THE EPYLLION ... 43 PART B: CALLIMACHUS AND THE HECALE ............. 51 PART C: THE LATIN EPYLLION ...................... 61 PART D: CONCLUSION ............................ 65 PART E: THE ARISTAEUS EPYLLION ................. 66 CHAPTER 3: STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS ........................ 70 CHAPTER 4: SETTING ..................................... 81 CHAPTER 5: CHARACTERIZATION ........................... 92 PART A: ARISTAEUS .............................. 94 PART B: ORPHEUS ............................... 109 PART C: MINOR CHARACTERS: CYRENE, PROTEUS, AND EURYDICE ............................... 115 vi CHAPTER 6: DETAILED CRITICAL APPRECIATION ............... 125 SECTION 1: 315-332 .............................. 125 SECTION 2: 333-360 .............................. 145 SECTION 3: 360-386 .............................. 165 SECTION 4: 387-414 .............................. 180 SECTION 5: 415-424 .............................. 196 SECTION 6: 425-452 .............................. 206 SECTION 7: 453-527 ............................... 222 PART A: 453-456 ................................ 222 PART B: 457-459 ................................ 228 PART C: 460-466 ................................ 232 PART D: 467-470 ................................ 241 PART E: 471-484 ................................ 248 PART F: 485-491 ................................ 262 PART G: 491-506 ................................ 268 PART H: 507-520 ................................ 279 PART I: 520-527 ......................... ....... 289 SECTION 8: 528-547 .............................. 296 SECTION 9: 548-558 .............................. 307 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................... 311 vii PREFATORY NOTE ON TEXTS The text used for the Georgics is that of R.A.B. Mynors (Oxford, 1990). For the Iliad, I have followed the text of the third edition by D.B. Monro and T.W. Allen (Oxford, 1920) and for the Odyssey, T.W. Allen's second edition (Oxford, 1917-1919). All statements concerning rarity of diction have been confirmed by consulting OLD, TLL, Concordances (cited in the Bibliography) and Ibycus. viii CHAPTER 1 THE MYTHOLOGICAL BACKGROUND The purpose of the following analysis is to establish (to the extent that the evidence provided by art and literature allows) the mythological background relevant to the Aristaeus epyllion 1 at Georgics 4.315ff. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, which is central to Virgil's narrative; Aristaeus and Proteus will be addressed first and will receive more cursory treatment. It is hoped that this examination will define the main components (and major variants) of the respective traditions and thereby allow an assessment of the way in which Virgil exploits certain elements while playing down others or even omitting some details altogether. In addition, it will be possible to evaluate the features of Virgil's narrative which appear to be novel or unusual. Such features are numerous, which means that the reader of Virgil'S epyllion must have been constantly surprised and startled and have found his account unpredictable and engaging. 1 "Epyllion" is used for convenience. The appropriateness of the term is discussed in Chapter 2. 1 2 PART A: ARISTAEUS AND CYRENE Aristaeus was the son of Apollo and Cyrene. So Pindar (EY!!1. 9.59ff.) relates, and there is remarkable unanimity about this in other ancient sources. 2 In Pindar's account Cyrene is the daughter of Hypseus, a Lapith 3 king , who shuns the more traditional feminine pursuits, preferring instead to hunt wild beasts upon the slopes of Mt. Pelion in Thessaly. Apollo sees her wrestling with a lion, falls in love with her and carries her off to Libya in his golden car, having first consulted Cheiron, who foretells that there Cyrene will bear to Apollo a son (EY!!1. 9.59ff.): t681 1tai8a tt~Etat, ~v KAUt()C; • EPllclC; e68p6vOtC; .. Qpatm Kat rat~ UvEArov <1>tAc:I<; U1t() Ilattpoc; otO"Et. tat 8' E1ttyouvt8tov 8al1O"aJlEVat ~pt<1>oc; auyalC;, vtKtap tv XUAEO"m Kat tlll~poQ"(av o"ta~Otm,etto"ov- tat tt vtV a8watov, Zf\va Kat tl"(V()v • A1t6AAWV', av8pam xaplla <1>tAOtC;,t'iy­ X10"tOV 61taova ll'fJArov, • Aypta Kat N6lltov, tOtC; 8' • AptO"tatov KaAtiV." <ix; iip' U1t<l>V ~tUEV tEP1tVW JUIlOU KpmvEtv tEAEUtW. Apollonius Rhodius at 2.500ff, where he gives an aetion for the Etesian winds, also names Thessaly as the birthplace of Cyrene and agrees 2 E.g. Ap. Rhod. 2.500ff; Schol. Ap. Rhod. 2.498-527a (the scholiast, though he mentions that Pherecydes, Ariaethus, Agroetas et al. also handled the story, does not report any variants of Aristaeus' parentage); Diod. Sic. 4.81.1; Hyginus Fab. 161; Justinus 13.7; Nonnus Dionysiaca 5.216. It may be that Hesiod also named Cyrene and Apollo as Aristaeus' parents (see Servius on G. 1.14). 3 On the tradition that Cyrene was a daughter of Peneus see Schol. Ap. Rhod. 2.498/527a: nv~c; 8t <1>am t1'\v KuP'fJV1lv lll1VEtoi> 8u')'(Xttpa -yEVt0"8at, KaKOl<;. 3 with Pindar that she was carried off by Apollo to Libya where she bore him a son ~v KaAtoumv/ . Aypta Kat N61ltov 1tOAUA:fJtol Aillovl1ie~ (2.506-7). However, Apollonius describes her not as a huntress but as a shepherdess tending her flocks by the river Peneus (2.500-1 ).4 After the birth of Aristaeus, Apollo makes Cyrene a nymph and a huntress and brings Aristaeus to the cave of Cheiron to be raised. Upon reaching manhood, Aristaeus is schooled by nymphs in the arts of prophecy and healing. Hesiod (Theog. 977) tells the story that Aristaeus married Autonoe, one of the daughters of Cadmus. Others (e.g. Palaephatus De Incredib. 6 (3); Diod. Sic. 4.3-5; Ov. Met. 3.138ff.; Hyginus Fab. 181; Apollodorus 3.4.4; Nonnus Dionysiaca 5.287ff.) relate that their union produced a son, Actaeon, who was torn apart by his own hounds because of an affront to Artemis. According to Apollonius (4.1134-38) Macris, the daughter of Aristaeus, nursed Dionysus in Euboia: KnV11 81'\ 1ta.Il1tpOYta .11()~ Nu011tov uIa Eu~otTtc:; ~'toa6ev . A~avnoo~ ell M K6A1tQl Otsa'to Kat JJtAl't1 STtP()v xept xeiAO~ f&uuev, e{)'t~ IllV 'Epll£tTt~ <j>tpev EK 1tup6c:;' fopaKE 0' -HpT\, Kat t xoA.rocraJJtV111taOT\~ EsflAacre vf\O"ou· Diodorus Siculus (4.82.6) writes of the disappearance and
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