Virgil, Aeneid 11: A Commentary

536 Pages·2003·9.81 MB·English

by  Horsfall

VIRGIL, AENEID 11
MNEMOSYNE
BIBLIOTHECA CLASSICA BATAVA
COLLEGERUNT
H. Pll\KSTER H. S. VERSl\EL
o
D.lvl. SCHENKEVELD o P. H. SCHRIJVERS
S.R. SLINGS
BIBLIOTHECAE FASCICULOS EDENDOS CURAVIT
H. PINKSTER, KLASSIEK SEl\I!NAR!Ul\1, OUDE TURFl\L~RKT 129, AMSTERDAl'Vl
SUPPLEMENTUM DUCENTESIMUM QUADRAGESIMUM QUARTUM
NICHOLAS HORSFALL
VIRGIL, AENEID ll
VIRGIL, AENEID 11
A COMMENTARY
BY
NICHOLAS HORSFALL
BRILL
LEIDEN · BOSTON
2003
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Virgil.
[Aeneis. Liber II. English & Latin]
Virgil, Aeneid II : a commentary I by Nicholas Horsfall.
p. em. - (Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum,
ISSN 0169-8958; 244)
Text in Latin and English; commentary in English.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 90-04-12934-0 (alk. paper)
I. Epic poetry, Latin-Translations into English. 2. Epic poetry, Latin-History
and criticism. 3. Aeneas (Legendary character) in literature. 4. Virgil. Aeneis.
Liber II. 5. Rome-In literature. I. Title: Aeneid II. II. Horsfall, Nicholas.
III. Title. IV Series.
PA6807 .A5H5 76 2003
873'.01-dc21
2003051998
ISSN 0169-8958
ISBN 90 04 12934 0
© Copyright 2003 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication mqr be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
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PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
In memory of my parents
Thomas Mendelssohn Horsfall
Commander, Royal Navy, O.B.E. (Milit.)
6.xi.l900~29.vii.l964
and
Sofia Oskarovna (geb. Szapiro)
6.xi.l9Q6~ 19.xi.l993
and of
George Goold
15.v.l922~5.xii.200 1
paene patris alteri

CONTENTS
Preface .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. VIn
Introduction Xl
Ad lectorem XXI
Bibliography XXlll
rr
ext and translation ................................................................. .
Commentary ... .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. ... .. .. ... . .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . 49
Appendices
Appendix 1: Camilla and the Epic C)cle .. .. .................. ...... .. 465
Appendix II: Dormitatne lvfaro quoque? .................................... 4 73
Indices
English index .. . .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. ... .. ... .. .. ... . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. ... .. . 4 79
Latin index . .. .. .. .. .. .. . . .. . . .. .. .. . . .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. . .. . .. . 488
Proper names .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. 503
PREFACE
"E il libro meno studiato e meno amato del poema" F. Della Corte, EV
2, 258.
"A commentary should not be duller than the text on which it is based"
R.G.M. Nisbet, cited by Adrian Hollis, Ovid, Ars am.l (Oxford 1977), vi.
It should be supposed that I disagree quite violently with at lea~t one of
these statements; the first was sent me, sped upon quiet gales of mirth, by
Woldemar Gorier quite soon after he began reading my commentary in
draft and the second came recently to my attention through the kindness
of Christina Kraus and the curious learning of John Henderson, in 77ze
classical C(ff)1Jn£fZfilry ••. ed. R.K. Gibson, C.S. Kraus (Leiden 2002), 205, n. 3.
Mter my commentary on Aeneid 7, it seemed no bad idea to write another
such (or even two); the slow gestation of Aen.7 (Mnem.Suppl.l98, Leiden
1999) meant I had acquired some familiarity with the problems and with
the relevant scholarly literature. Bk. 8 might have seemed an obvious choice,
but I felt (and feel) out of sympathy with a good deal of the relevant lit-
erature and had in fact written a good deal (much of it unpublished) on
the peculiar problems of 11. Della Corte was perhaps right to draw atten-
tion to how very little has been written on 11; that means that the com-
mentator does not have much (comparatively) to read or cite and is usually
a good deal on his/her own. On consideration, I preferred not to consult
the unpublished BPhil. thesis by Rachel Woodrow (1978), on the Camilla
episode, available in the Bodleian.
Unlike R.G. Austin and RD. Williams, I have decided not to repeat
discussions, slightly altered, from volume to volume; readers wanting to
know where I stand on (e.g.) the genituus inlwerentiae will have to go back to
the earlier volume. Cross-references I have tried to make as clear as might
be and while I must apologise for any inconvenience resulting from this
decision, I do hope that the resulting reduction in bulk and expense will
not pass unappreciated.
To several reviewers of my Aeneid 7 I am most grateful. The general
annoyance caused by the unusual system of bibliographical cross-references
has been registered. The fact that three reviewers actually cited 'precise
instances' which did not (really and truly did not!) correspond to the text
of the book in the end brought home to me that things could perhaps be
clarified. This time I began at v. 1 and finished at v. 915; the earlier book
had advanced like Theseus without his bit of string. My selective enthusiasm
for certain new critical approaches has been received -vvith toleration, even
amusement. In the Book of Camilla, I have read all the feminist criticism
I could reach (my thanks to Christine Perkell and Sallie Spence) and have
PREFACE IX
certainly not gone back on my willingness to experiment with intertextuality,
though in practice, as I shall try to explain, much of xi seems sadly bar-
ren terrain for trying to understand Virgil's richest compositional techniques.
This commentary has been read by two extraordinarily kind friends,
Margaret Hubbard and W oldemar Gorier: their attention has not been
limited to the identification of typographical errors and with WG in par-
ticular the argument often continues unresolved. Their encouragement
and good humour have been altogether indispensable and this book's
merits are in large measure theirs.
In the middle of writing I moved from the centre of Rome to the
Oxfordshire countryside; that delayed progress at one point but prob-
ably made not very much difference to the commentary. The relocation
of the beloved Haverfield/ Ashmolean library in new quarters next door
(the Sackler library) was almost a more severe shock to the system. In
Rome I might have had access to a 'A-1der range of recent books and
journals. Or not. I really do not know, but have tried to be hospitable
to the most recent arrivals on various New Books shelves.
There are fewer vast entangled problems in bk. l 1 than there were
in bk. 7 and as a result I have had to persecute my friends rather less,
but Antonie Wlosok and Christine Walde have procured me books, Jan
Bremmer has sent xeroxes and sage counsel with imperturbable good-
will and when I was able to tum to both Brian Shcfton and Thomas
Mannack in the space of two days to try to find out how to understand
ancient ways of drawing the bow, I realised more than ever that quod
petis hie est, I est Ulubris, tibi si quaerenti est doctus amicus: Licinia Ricottilli, Jim
O'Hara, Barbara Kowalsig, Eleanor Dickey, Ettore Cingano, Denis Feeney
and Brian Gilmour have all borne a hand when asked; I can only apol-
ogise for omissions (and other kind friends indeed are named ad loc.; for
this inconsistency, no apologies!). Not to mention Stephen Harrison, who
let me teach Latin verse composition, an arcane activity still genuinely
useful to the Virgil scholar, while Giuliano Bonfante did all he could and
more to accelerate my consultation of the Accadcmia dei Lincei's copy
of La Cerda. Many friends, moreover, have most kindly and generously
continued to send me their books (special thanks to Paola Ceccarelli!)
while substantial packets sent long ago by Danielle Porte andJean-Claude
Richard have proved remarkably usefUl. In Oxford, the friendship of
Prof. ].N. Adams and Dr. C.S. Kraus is a strong, but pleasant, induce-
ment to try to keep up standards.
I would hope, dis bene uolentibus, and if reaction to the present com-
mentary does not rule the plan out of court, to be able to pass in the
near future to Aeneid 3, a difficult book and one which I hope by now
to be nearly qualified to tackle.
X PREFACE
My mother took her Abitur in Polish-administered Vilna, reading
Livy 21 with a Russian commentary (habeo!), and taught me a little
Latin, when I jumped a class ca. 1954; more important, she was a
remarkable linguist, who viewed with amused disapproval my con-
centration (until ca. 1986) on languages which did not have to be
spoken. My father, in a small emergency ca. 1958, stunned his fam-
ily with a flood of eloquent German, remembered in modest silence
from governess days and spoke decorously both French and Italian.
Six languages were sometimes heard at home, at least in my grand-
mother's time, and to thank both my parents here for passing on
some of their linguistic capacity is the very least I could do.
These have been sad months for Latinists: after the deaths of
Scevola Mariotti and Sebastiana Timpanaro comes that of George
Goold; we were friends (close, even, at times) for just under thirty
years. Towards him there abides a deep indebtedness both scholarly
and human; he had everything to do with my eventual turning aside
from articles and reviews to books, as I have explained (Alambicco,
12) and Aeneid 7 he had in hand in his last months. That closing of
the circle was extremely important to me, so much so that he shares
the dedication of 11.
Nicholas Horsfall
Stanton St. John, Oxon.
26.11.02