The Epic Distilled: Studies in the Composition of the Aeneid

177 Pages·2016·0.85 MB·English

by  Nicholas Horsfall

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THE EPIC DISTILLED
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi
The Epic Distilled
Studies in the Composition of the Aeneid
NICHOLAS HORSFALL
1
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi
3
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OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi
For Robert Lister
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OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi
Preface
Thisbookisnot,isNOTatranslationofmyLʼepopeainalambicco,1
though the title recalls, distantly but deliberately, that of the earlier
book.Letmetrytoexplainwhycapitalsarerequired:
Nearly twenty years ago, I wrote a pamphlet entitled La cultura
dellaplebsromana,2inItalian,andpublishedinCatalonia;Iknowof
no-onewhopurchasedacopythroughnormalcommercialchannels.
Several years passed, and I re-wrote it entirely, conserving odd sen-
tences, perhaps even occasionally an entire paragraph, from the
original. The new book, The Culture of the Roman plebs (London
),was notindeed atranslation of theoldandwas not socalled.
The facts were very easily checked, but swiftly three Princeton pro-
fessorsreferredtoitinprint,3intwonumbersofaprominentjournal,
asatranslation.4NowalotwentintoLʼepopeainalambicco:actually,
it sketched the outlines of what was to follow, not so much of
Companion, as of the five ponderous commentaries that came after,
outliningcertainthemes,presuppositions,methods,intentionswhich
would be followed through in the commentaries, if it looked as
though they would work: the commentaries tested Alambicco in
practice, and bits of it did work, while unsurprisingly other bits did
not. After five commentaries, then, the time had come to re-think,
re-work, re-issue Alambicco in a different language, to show how
1 Liguori,Napoli,;withtheoldmethodstheyworkedhonestlyatproducinga
reasonablycleantext,andIrememberourpleasant,traditionallabourstogetherwith
gratitude.
2 Barcelona.
3 D.Feeney,J.Katz,JRS(),,H.Flower,ib.,(),.
4 Not,alas,quitetheendofthematter,forwhentheirhastyerrorwaspointedout,
no-one actuallythought it worthwhile toapologize—asmight rather haveseemed
due—inprint.Isaysimplyʻerrorʼandonlyhopethatbehindtheuseofʻtranslationʼ
therelurkednoconcealedintenttobelittletheoriginalityofmybook.
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi
viii Preface
slightly modernized source-criticism had really quite often stood up
touseasacritical(orperhapsrather,analytical)tool.5This,therefore,
onceagain,isnot,isindeedNOT,atranslation.Itwillbeinteresting
toseeifanewergenerationofprofessors,notnecessarilyatPrinceton,
will once more be confounded by my (entirely conventional) use of
NOT.Actually,gentlereader,thisbookreallyisnotatranslation,and,
please,letusallgetitright.
Iamdelightedtohavethechancetothankanumberoffriendsand
colleagues: Marco Fernandelliʼs hospitality and encouragement
remain steadfast, and his recent books on Catullus and Virgil have
beenagreathelpinupdatingmybibliographies,largelyoutsideAen..
SandroBarchiesisentmeabook,tempestivamente.RobertListerhas
cheered me on through the composition of several books, and I am
delightedtobeabletomakehimapresentofthisone;thankyou,dear
Robert, for a lot of laughter and many books, some excellent cigars
(and port), a wonderful espresso machine, and a great deal of
informed, varied, consoling talk over a happy decade and more.
Prof. Cynthia Kahn White (University of Arizona, Phoenix) offered
generous and timely encouragement, but then she has been a good,
kind,intelligentfriendforalongtime,sohersupportwasnosurprise,
butitwasexpressedsoveryacutelyandthoughtfully.Ishouldliketo
thank Urszula Szulakowska for producing a reference for the cover;
herexpertiseintherepresentationofalchemywasverytimely.
Iamperplexedbyauthorswhothankpublishersforpermissionto
use some printed translation; it can hardly mean (at least, I hope it
canhardlymean)thattheauthorscannottranslatetheLatinorGreek
properly themselves. Here, when I cite some Virgil or a bit of an
ancient Virgil-scholar in both languages, I translate it myself. No
morehaveIclearlyunderstoodtheever-longerlistsofpeoplethanked
intheprefacesofscholarlybooks.Ingratitudedoesnotcomeintoit;
5 ReaderswillfindfewreferencestothenewVirgilEncyclopedia(ed.R.F.Thomas,
J.M.Ziolkowski;vols.,Chichester);itisnotagreathelpforthesortofprecise
anddetailedenquirywithwhichthisbookisengaged.
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi
Preface ix
this time, I have bothered my friends less than usual: much of the
detailwasstudiedbyothereyeswhenwrittenupinthecommentar-
ies,andIcheckmyownreferences,unaided,soreadersandreviewers
will, when frustrated and misled (not all that often, I hope), know
exactly whom to revile. This book was once misguidedly sent to a
publisheroverseas;their(anonymous,naturally)readerswereagood
dealmorehelpfulthantheircopy-editors.Iamdelightedtohavebeen
rescued, vigorously, by Charlotte Loveridge. And not for a moment
have I forgotten Ted Kenney, who shrewdly sent me off long ago to
readJohnLivingstonLowesʼwonderfulTheroadtoXanadu(paper-
back reprint, London ); very nearly fifty years later I am still
following that inspiration, to study the prose roots (rather more
complex than mere sources) of great poetry. Donʼt blame me;
blame, at least in the first instance, EJKʼs (very) good idea,6 or
reproachmefornotrejectingit,ifyoumust.
NicholasHorsfall
Dalnacroich,WesterRoss
6 IsaymoreaboutTedKenneyandaboutXanaduinmyAen.commentary:vd.
prefaceandAppendix.