<< message forwarded by listowner, David Wilson-Okamura >> From: "Tim Saunders" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2001 21:48:29 +0000
I have been re-reading Aeneid 8.306-341 and was struck by the 6 instances of 5-word hexameters contained within this passage alone. Seeing that I could not entirely pin down quite why these instances seemed significant to me, I wondered whether anyone on the list had any thoughts on the significance (or otherwise) of the number of words that appear in any one line of Virgil? I THINK my attention to the 5-word hexameters in this passage was probably spurred by a dim recollection of Eclogue 2.24: AMPHION DIRCAEUS IN ACTAEO ARACYNTHO Clausen declares this to be "a verse of the most precious Alexandrian sort." By this is he pointing solely to the learned allusions and the distintive rhythm of "Actaeo Aracyntho" - or do the number of words in the line have any part to play in this assessment? There is another notable line in the Eclogues (5.73): SALTANTIS SATYROS IMITABITUR ALPHESIBOEUS. Clausen remarks on this line that 4 word hexameters are rare in Virgil (he cites 7 other examples). So I suppose the more general question becomes: when does the number of words in a line become significant? Anyway, back to 5-word hexameters and the particular passage I had in mind, Aeneid 8.306-341. I can see that a line with 5 words in it can attain a certain symmetry (esp. in a "Golden Line"). As for instance in: 8.334: FORTUNA OMNIPOTENS ET INELUCTABILE FATUM and (esp if we read the variant "Romano" rather than "Romani") 8.338: ET CARMENTALEM ROMANO NOMINE PORTAM and 8.341: AENEADAS MAGNOS ET NOBILE PALLANTEUM But is there any greater significance than the patterning of words here? And how about the other examples that do not display so obvious an ordering: 8.309: INGREDIENS UARIOQUE UIAM SERMONE LEUABAT. 8.312: EXQUIRITQUE AUDITQUE UIRUM MONIMENTA PRIORUM. 8.322: COMPOSUIT LEGESQUE DEDIT, LATIUMQUE UOCARI. I have to admit that my access to the usual reference books is rather limited at the moment, so I must apologise if some of these questions could readily be answered elsewhere. However, if this query sets off a more general discussion about Virgil's use of metre then it would have been worth it for that alone. Many thanks Tim Saunders ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
