VIRGIL'S CARTHAGINIANS ATAEN. 1.430–6: CYCLOPES IN BEES’ CLOTHING

Abstract

Virgil's poetry has long been recognised as delving into a poetics of comparison which employs sudden shifts from the miniature to the gigantic. So too have Virgilian similes long been singled out as a privileged locus where complex inter- and intra-textual allusions serve to highlight the primary role that these similes play in the narrative and poetic context of Virgil's work. Along these lines, this paper addresses one such simile atAene.d1.430–6, where the Tyrians building Carthage are compared to busy bees working at their hive. The paper explores the impact that the recognition of the simile's inter- and intra-textual connections may have on the interpretation of the scene of Aeneas’ arrival at Carthage, and on certain long-debated aspects of the poem as a whole.

Soft Hands, Hard Power: Sponging Off the Empire of Leisure (Virgil,Georgics4)

“… 108 A similar situation pairing wonder/admiration and labor (in my scheme, wonder as the hedonic pay-off of others’ labor ) passes into the bee simile of Aeneid 1.430–6 (see Giusti 2014: 42).…”

“… 67 The Cyclopes import military baggage too (see Giusti 2014: 48–52); but I am most interested in their subservient status here (cf. Giusti 2014: 56).…”

“… 68 On the two mythological strands of the Cyclopes (Homeric and Hesiodic), see Giusti 2014: 51. The Hesiodic ( Theog.…”

“…For other Romanising bee readings, see Briggs 1980; Nadeau 1984; Morley 2007; and cf. Giusti 2014: 44.…”