Aetiology and genealogy in ancient epic
Year: 2019
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: Genealogy and aetiology are important elements of ancient epic storytelling. Not only does Hesiod in his Theogony present the genealogy of the gods, but he also defines the Homeric heroes by their genealogy. Famous ancestors and a long line of ancestry are part of a hero’s claims to fame and oblige him to live up to that heritage. Consequently, the recounting of genealogies pervades the narrative and the speeches of its protagonists in the Iliad and the Odyssey as well. Even if the image of the epic hero projected in Apollonius’ Argonautica substantially differs from the Homeric model, genealogies continue to remain important. The same is true for Latin epic, where - even in the context of a decidedly Roman way of thinking - the name of the ancestors plays a key role in characterising epic characters. Aetiology, the explanation of the origin of, for example, a city, a ritual, or a name - has a more varied history in epic. It is not a pervasive narrative mode in the Homeric epics, but it should be noted that at key points in the narrative, stories of origin are being told. The first ‘aetiological’ epic is Apollonius’ Argonautica, where the narrator frequently refers to cults, names, or landmarks which “even now” bear witness to the Argonauts’ voyage. Taking Apollonius (as well as Callimachus’ Aetia) as his model, Vergil introduces a further innovation in writing an epic that is aetiological in its overarching frame, telling of the foundation of Rome and the Roman gens, as well as containing a large number of individual - distinctly Roman - aetia. Ovid’s Metamorphoses, too, is heavily indebted to Hellenistic modes of aetiological storytelling. In the Flavian epoch, Valerius Flaccus in his Argonautica, following Apollonius, includes a number of aetia connected with the Argonautic voyage, yet notably fewer than his Greek predecessor. In Book 4 of Statius’ Thebaid, aetiology functions as a device that significantly delays the actual war narrative. In the Punica, Silius Italicus also includes a few aetiological narratives which are partly indebted to Ovid’s Fasti.
Source: De Gruyter eBooks
Author: Anke Walter
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3131075130