Spyridon Tzounakas, “Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica as a Supplement to the Aeneid”, Proceedings of the Virgil Society 31 (2023) 87-120 (original) (raw)
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Georgics 2.458–542: Virgil, Aratus and Empedocles1
Dictynna
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In a1 995 article entitled 'Figure dell'intertestualità nell'epica romana',A lessan-dro Barchiesi flagged, as sites in the epic genre likelytoadmit intertextual references ,certain modalities of discourse associated with ideas of transmission and interpretation, such as " il fato, la fama, la memoria elaprofezia " .¹ Such discur-sive strategies we find in one of the textsw hich is in the background of the Ar-gonautica of Valerius Flaccus:Catullus' carmen 64.Thisepyllion had considerable influenceo nR oman literature because of the wayi nw hich its author connected fama and fatum. He presents the crossing of the sea ventured by the sailors of the Argo as ad aring act performed by sons of gods, whose exceptional fama he salutes,² and he places their expedition at the centre of his reflections on fatum,n ot onlyt hat of the members of the crew,b ut of humanity as a whole. In his view,t he history of mankind had trulyb egun at the end of the GoldenA ge,the turning point at which he locates this first military venture between Europe and Asia,w hich would inaugurate the Ageo fH eroes. Without treatingi nd etail his rewritingo ft he Hesiodic myth of the Ages, Io nlyr ecall that Catullus highlights,b yu sing ekphrasis and prophecy, the dark underbelly of the exploits of other heroes,n amelyT heseus and Achilles (breach of faith, vengeance, death, grief, and familial ruin). At the end of his text,C atullus givesanegative description of the present state of humanityw hich alludes to the contemporary situation at Rome. Abandonedbythe gods because of their im-pietas,mortals are engaged on apath of self-destruction which Catullus depicts in the colours of the Iron Age.³ Ac enturyl ater,the influenceo fC atullus is perceptible in the work of Seneca: the chorus of the Medea puts forward an equally negative reading of the evolution of human history.⁴ It wasi mpossible for Vale-rius Flaccus,when he chose to write an epic on the Argonautica,n ot to situate Barchiesi 1995, 51. Catul. 64.22‒24: On imis optato saeclorum temporen ati / heroes,s alvete, deum genus, ob ona matrum / progenies, salvete iterum… ('Oy ou whow ereb orn at at ime in the ages so much desired , heroes, hail! Race of the gods,ogreat progenyo fy our mothers,h ail as econd time!').