In reply to Caroline Butler: Where are Euryalus and Nisus? We have just read 'excedunt castris et tuta capessunt'; then comes the Latin mission, which M. Valerius Probus in the first century, followed by C. Sulpicius Apollinaris in the second, found to contradict 7. 600. So we needn't feel too badly if we don't make sense of it all; but are we meant to? Did Vergil intend to describe a realistic war and fail, or simply to give a poetic impression of war? Even in Homer, it is easier to appreciate the portrayal of the martial spirit (brutality and all) than the technical exactness of the fighting; the only bit that convinces me is the Doloneia, notoriously an addition to the story and composed by one who was not quite master of the formulaic language, but who (I think) knew whereof he spoke.
Leofranc Holford-Strevens *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* Leofranc Holford-Strevens 67 St Bernard's Road usque adeone Oxford scire MEVM nihil est, nisi ME scire hoc sciat alter? OX2 6EJ tel. +44 (0)1865 552808(home)/267865(work) fax +44 (0)1865 512237 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (home) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (work) *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
