-
Kernos22 (2009)Varia
................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Jan Bremmer
The Golden Bough: Orphic, Eleusinian,and Hellenistic-Jewish
Sources ofVirgils Underworld in Aeneid
VI................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
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Rfrence lectroniqueJan Bremmer, The Golden Bough: Orphic,
Eleusinian, and Hellenistic-Jewish Sources of Virgils Underworld
inAeneid VI, Kernos [En ligne], 22|2009, mis en ligne le 26 octobre
2012, consult le 26 octobre 2012. URL:
http://kernos.revues.org/1785; DOI: 10.4000/kernos.1785
diteur : Centre International dEtude de la religion grecque
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Kernos22(2009),p.183-208.
The Golden Bough: Orphic, Eleusinian, and Hellenistic-Jewish
Sources of Virgils Underworld in Aeneid VI
Abstract:MorethanacenturyafterthefirstappearanceofNordensclassiccommentary
onAeneid
VIin1903thetimehascometoseetowhatextentthenewdiscoveriesofOrphicmaterialsandnewinsightsinthewaysVirgilworkedenrichand/orcorrectourunderstandingofthattext.WewillthereforetakeafreshlookatVirgilsunderworld,butlimitourcommentstothosepassageswhereperhapssomethingnewcanbecontributed.ThismeansthatwewillespeciallyconcentrateontheOrphic,theEleusinian,andthe,
ifusuallyneglected,Hellenistic-JewishbackgroundsofAeneassdescent.YetaRomanpoethardlycouldtotallyavoidhisownRomantraditionorthecontemporaryworld,and,inafewinstances,wewillcommentontheseaspectsaswell.AsNordenobserved,Virgilhaddividedhispictureoftheunderworldintosixparts,andwewillfollowtheseinourargument.
Rsum:Plusdun sicle aprs lapublication, en1903,ducommentaire
classiquedeNorden sur le livre six de lnide, il est temps de
considrer quel point les
nouvellesdcouvertesdematrielorphiqueetlesnouvellesidessurlamaniredetravaillerdeVirgileenrichissent
et/ou corrigent la comprhension de ce texte. Il sagit ds lors de
porter unregard neuf sur lau-del deVirgile,mais en limitant nos
commentaires aux passages
surlesquelsilestpossibledapporterquelquechosedenouveau.Cesontleslmentsorphiquesetleusiniens,toutautantquelarrire-planhellnistiquejuifsouventngligsurlesquelslanalyseseconcentre.Enoutre,unpoteromainpouvaitdifficilementngligertotalementsapropretraditionromaineoulemondecontemporain,et,quelquesreprises,cesaspectsserontgalementcomments.CommeNordenlaobserv,Virgilearpartilimagedelau-delensixparties,etcestsonparcoursquenotreanalysepouse.
Therecanbelittledoubtthatthebeliefinanunderworldisveryold.Infact,
most peoples imagine the dead as going somewhere.Yet they each
have
theirownelaborationofthesebeliefs,whichcanrunfromextremelydetailed,aswasthe
case in medieval Christianity, to a rather hazy idea, as was the
case, forexample, in theOldTestament.1The earlyRomans donot seem
tohave paidmuchattention to
theafterlife.ThusVirgil,whenworkingonhisAeneid,hadaproblem.HowshouldhedescribetheunderworldwhereAeneaswasgoing?Tosolve
thisproblem,Virgildrewon three important sources,
asEduardNordenarguedinhiscommentaryonAeneid:HomersNekuia,whichisbyfarthemost
1Ingeneral,seeJ.N.BREMMER,The Rise and Fall of the
Afterlife,London&NewYork,2002.
-
184 J.BREMMER
influential intertext inAeneidVI,2 and two lost poems about
descents into
theunderworldbyHeraclesandOrpheus(3).NordenhadclearlybeenfascinatedbythepublicationoftheChristianApocalypse
of Peterin1892,3buthewasnottheonly one: this intriguing text
appeared in, immediately, three (!) editions;4moreover, it also
inspired the still very useful study of the underworld byAlbrecht
Dieterich.5 A decade later Norden published the first edition of
hiscommentaryonAeneidVI,andhecontinuedworkingonituntilthethirdeditionof1927.6Hisbookstillimpressesbyitsstupendouserudition,impressivefeelingforstyle,ingeniousreconstructionsoflostsourcesandall-encompassingmasteryofGreekandLatinliterature,medievalapocalypsesincluded.It
is,arguably,thefinestcommentaryofthegoldenageofGermanClassics.7
Nordens reconstructions ofVirgilsGreek sources for the
underworld inAeneid
VIhavelargelygoneunchallengedinthepost-warperiod,8andthenextworthwhilecommentary,thatbythelateRolandAustin,9clearlydidnotfeelathomeinthisarea.NowthepastcenturyhasseenanumberofnewpapyriofGreek
literature as well as new Orphic texts,10 and, accordingly, a
renewed
2 For Homers influence see still G.N. KNAUER,Die Aeneis und
Homer, Gttingen, 1964,
p.107-147.3SeeNORDEN,Kleine Schriften zum klassischen
Altertum,Berlin,1966,p.218-233 (DiePetru-
sapokalypseundihreantikenVorbilder,18931).4U.BOURIANT,Fragmentsdutextegrecdulivrednochetdequelquescritsattribussaint
Pierre,Mmoires publies par les Membres de la Mission
Archologique Franaise au CaireIX.1,Paris,1892(editio
princeps);J.A.ROBINSONandM.R.JAMES,The Gospel according to Peter
and the Revelation of
Peter,London,1892;A.VONHARNACK,BruchstckedesEvangeliumsundderApokalypsedesPetrus,SB
Berlin 44 (1892), p. 895-903, 949-965, repr. in his Kleine
Schriften zur alten Kirche: Berliner Akademieschriften 1890-1907,
Leipzig,1980,p.83-108.For themost recentedition
seeT.J.KRAUSandT.NICKLAS,Das Petrusevangelium und die
Petrusapokalypse,Berlin&NewYork,2004.
5 A. DIETRICH,Nekyia, Leipzig & Berlin, 1893. The second
edition of 1913, edited byR.Wnsch,containscorrections,
suggestionsandadditions
fromDieterichsowncopyandthevariousreviews.ForDieterich(1866-1908)seethebiographybyWnschinA.DIETRICH,Kleine
Schriften, Leipzig & Berlin, 1911, p.ix-xlii; F. PFISTER,
Albrecht Dieterichs Wirken in derReligionswissenschaft,ARW 35
(1938),p.180-185;A.WESSELS,Ursprungszauber. Zur Rezeption von
Hermann Useners Lehre von der religisen
Begriffsbildung,NewYork&London,2003,p.96-128.
6E.NORDEN, P. Vergilius Maro Aeneis
VI,Leipzig,19031,19273,p.5(sources).7 ForNorden (1868-1941) seemost
recently J. RPKE,Rmische Religion bei Eduard Norden,
Marburg, 1993; B. KYTZLER et al. (eds.), Eduard Norden
(1868-1941), Stuttgart, 1994; W.M.CALDERIIIandB.HUSS,Sed serviendum
officio The Correspondence between Ulrich von
Wilamowitz-Moellendorff and Eduard Norden (1892-1931), Berlin,
1997; W.A. SCHRDER,Der Altertumswissen-schaftler Eduard Norden. Das
Schicksal eines deutschen Gelehrten jdischer Abkunft, Hildesheim,
1999;A.BAUMGARTEN, Eduard Norden andHis Students: a Contribution to
a Portrait. Based onThreeArchivalFinds,SCI25(2006),p.121-140.
8Foragoodsurveyofthestatus
quoseeA.SETAIOLI,Inferi,inEVII,p.953-963.9R.G.AUSTIN,P. Vergili
Maronis Aeneidos liber sextus,Oxford,1977.ForAustin(1901-1974)
see, inhis inimitableandhardly tobe imitatedmanner, J.HENDERSON,
Oxford Reds,London,2006,p.37-69.
10Thesenewdiscoveriesmakethatolderstudies,suchasthosebyF.SOLMSEN,Kleine
Schriften III,Hildesheim,1982,p.412-429,arenowlargelyoutofdate.
-
ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 185
interest in Orphic traditions.11 Moreover, our understanding of
Virgil as apoetic bricoleur or mosaicist, as Nicholas Horsfall
calls him,12 has much
in-creasedinrecentdecades.13ItmaythereforepaytotakeafreshlookatVirgilsunderworld
and try todetermine towhat extent thesenewdiscoveries
enrichand/orcorrectNordenspicture.Naturally,spaceforbidsustopresenthereadetailedcommentaryonall
aspects, andwewill limitour comments to
thosepassageswhereperhapssomethingnewcanbecontributed.Thismeansthatwewill
especially concentrate on the Orphic, Eleusinian, and
Hellenistic-JewishbackgroundsofAeneass descent.Yet aRomanpoethardly
can totally avoidhisownRomantraditionor thecontemporaryworld,and,
ina few instances,we will comment on these aspects as well. As
Norden observed, Virgil
haddividedhispictureoftheunderworldintosixparts,andwewillfollowtheseinourargument.14
". The area between the upper world and the Acheron
(268-4"6)
Beforewestartwiththeunderworldproper,wehavetonoteanimportantverse.AttheverymomentthatHecateisapproachingandtheSibylandAeneaswillleavehercavetostarttheirentryintotheunderworld,15atthisemotionallychargedmoment,theSibylcallsout:procul,
o procul este, profani(258).Austin(ad loc.)
justnotes:areligiousformula,whereasNorden(on46,noton258)onlycomments:DerBannrufderMysterien.However,suchacryisnotattestedfortheMysteriesinGreecebutoccursonlyinCallimachus(H.II,2).Infact,weknowthatinEleusisitwasnottheuninitiatedbutthosewhocouldnot
speak proper Greek or had blood on their hands that were
excluded.16Nordenwasontherighttrack,though.Theformulaalludesalmostcertainlytothebeginningofthe,probably,oldestOrphicTheogony,whichhasnowturnedupintheDervenipapyrus(Col.VII,9-10,ed.Kouremenoset
al.),butallusionstowhichcanalreadybefoundinPindar(O.II,83-85),Empedocles(B3,4D-
11This interesthas culminated in the
splendidnewedition,withdetailedbibliography and
commentary, of the Orphic fragments (=OF) by A.
BERNAB,Orphicorum et Orphicis similium testimonia et fragmenta.
Poetae Epici Graeci. Pars II. Fasc. 1-3,
Munich&Leipzig,2004-7.
12N.HORSFALL(ed.),A Companion to the Study of
Virgil,Leiden,20002,p.150.13SeeespeciallyN.HORSFALL,Virgilio:
lepopea in alambicco,Naples,1991.14NORDEN,o.c.
(n.6),p.208(sixparts).15FortheentryseeH.CANCIK,Verse und
Sachen,Wrzburg,2003,p.66-82(DerEingangin
dieUnterwelt.EinreligionswissenschaftlicherVersuchzuVergil,AeneisVI236-272,19801).16Ar.,Ra.,369withscholionad
loc.;Isoc.,4,157;Suet.,Nero,34,4;TheoSmyrn.,De utilitate
mathematicae,p.14,23-24HILLER;Celsus,apudOr.C.
CelsumIII,59;Pollux,VIII,90;Lib.,Decl.XIII, 19, 52. For the
prorrhesis of theMysteries seeC.RIEDWEG,Mysterienterminologie bei
Platon, Philon und Klemens von
Alexandrien,Berlin&NewYork,1987,p.74-85,whoalsocomparesourpassageatp.16.
-
186 J.BREMMER
K),whowasheavilyinfluencedbytheOrphics,17andPlato(Symp.,218b=OF19):Iwillspeaktowhomitisrighttodoso:closethedoors,youuninitiated(OF1and3).18AfurtherreferencetotheMysteriescanprobablybefoundinthepoetssubsequentwordssit
mihi fas audita
loqui(266),asitwasforbiddentospeakaboutthecontentoftheMysteriestothenon-initiated.19Theritualcry,then,
is an important signal forourunderstandingof the text,20 as it
suggeststhethemeoftheOrphicMysteriesandindicatesthattheSibylactsasakindofmystagogueforAeneas.
Afterasacrificetothechthonicpowersandaprayer,AeneasandtheSibylwalkinthelonelinessofthenight(268)totheverybeginningoftheentranceoftheunderworld,whichisdescribedasin
faucibus Orci, inthejawsofOrcus(273). The expression is
interesting, as these jaws as opening of the
under-worldrecurelsewhereinVirgilandotherLatinauthors.21FromsimilarpassagesithasbeenrightlyconcludedthattheRomansimaginedtheirunderworldasavasthollowspacewitha
comparativelynarrowopening.Orcuscanhardlybeseparated fromLatinorca,
pitcher, and it seems thatwe
findhereanancientideaoftheunderworldasanenormouspitcherwithanarrowopening.22Thisopeningmusthavebeenproverbial,asin[Senecas]Hercules
Oetaeus.Alcmenerefers to fauces (1772) only as the entry of the
underworld.23 All kinds
ofhauntingabstractions(Austin),suchasWar,IllnessandavengingEumenides,livehere.24Initsmiddlethereisadarkelmofenormoussize,whichhousesthe
17SeeBernabante
OF447Vwiththebibliography;addnowC.MEGINORODRGUEZ,Orfeo
y el Orfismo en la poesa de
Empdocles,Madrid,2005.18ForfurtherversionsofthehighlypopularopeningformulaseeO.WEINREICH,Ausgewhlte
SchriftenII,Amsterdam,1973,p.386-387;C.RIEDWEG,Jdisch-hellenistische
Imitation eines orphischen Hieros Logos, Munich, 1993, p. 47-48; A.
BERNAB, La frmula rfica Cerrad las
puertas,profanos.Delprofanoreligiosoalprofanoenlamaterial,Ilu1(1996),p.13-37andonOF1F;P.F.BEATRICE,OntheMeaningofProfaneinthePagan-ChristianConflictofLateAntiquity.TheFathers,FirmicusMaternusandPorphyrybeforetheOrphicProrrhesis(OF245.1Kern),Ill.
Class.
Stud.30(2005),p.137-165,whoatp.137alsonotestheconnectionwithAen.VI,258.
19InadditiontotheopeningformulaseealsoHom. H.
Dem.,476;Eur.,Ba.,471-472;Diod.Sic., V, 48, 4; Cat., 64, 260: orgia
quae frustra cupiunt audire profani; Philo, Somn. I, 191. For
thesecrecy of the Mysteries see HORSFALL, o.c. (n. 13), p. 130;
BREMMER, Religious Secrets
andSecrecyinClassicalGreece,inH.G.KIPPENBERGandG.G.STROUMSA(eds.),Secrecy
and Concealment,Leiden,1995,p.61-78 at71-78;W.BURKERT,Kleine
Schriften III:Mystica, Orphica, Pythagorica,
ed.F.GRAF,Gttingen,2006,p.1-20;HORSFALLonAen.III,112.
20ForsimilarsignsseeHORSFALL,o.c.,(n.13),p.103-116(Isegnaliperstrada).21Verg.,Aen.VII,570withHORSFALLad
loc.;Val.Flacc.,I,784;Apul.,Met.VII,7;Gellius,
XVI,5,11,6;Arnobius,II,53;Anth.Lat.,789,5RIESE.22H.WAGENVOORT,Studies
in Roman Literature, Culture and Religion,Leiden,1956,p.102-131
(Orcus);fora,possibly,similarideainancientGreeceseeM.L.WESTonHesiod,Theogony,727.23SeealsoTLLVI,1,397,49-68.
24ForapossibleechoofEmpedocles,B121D-KseeC.GALLAVOTTI,Empedocle,inEV
II,p.216f.
-
ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 187
dreams(282-284).25Theelmisakindofarbor
infelix,26asitdoesnotbearfruit(Theophr.,HPIII,5,2,alreadycomparedbyNorden),whichpartiallyexplainswhythepoetchosethistree,atypicalarborealEinzelgnger,fortheunderworld.Anotherreasonmustbeitssize,
ingens,astheenormoussizeoftheunderworldis frequentlymentioned
inRomanpoetry,27 unlike inGreece. In the tree theempty dreams
dwell. There is noGreek equivalent for this idea,
butHomer(Od.XXIV,12)alsosituatesthedreamsatthebeginningoftheunderworld.Inaddition,Virgillocateshereallkindsofhybridsandmonsters,ofwhomsomearealsofoundintheGreekunderworld,suchasBriareos(Il.I,403),
ifnotattheentry.Others, though, are just frightening figures
fromGreekmythology,suchastheoftencloselyassociatedHarpiesandGorgons,28orhybridsliketheCentaurs
and Scyllae. According to Norden (p. 216), alles ist
griechischgedacht, but that is perhaps not quite true. The presence
of Geryon (forma tricorporis umbrae: 289) with Persephone in a late
fourth-century BC
EtruscantombasCerunmaywellpointtoatleastoneEtruscan-Romantradition.29
Fromthisentry,AeneasandtheSibylproceedalongaroadtotheriverthatisclearlytherealborderoftheunderworld.Inpassing,wenotehereacertaintension
between the Roman idea of fauces and the Greek conception of
theunderworld separated from the upper world by rivers. Virgil
keeps thetraditional names of the rivers as known fromHomers
underworld, such asAcheron, Cocytus, Styx,30 and Pyriphlegethon,31
but, in his usual manner,changes their mutual relationship and
importance. Not surprisingly, we alsofind there the ferrymanof the
dead,Charon (298-304). Such a ferryman is
atraditionalfeatureofmanyunderworlds,32butinGreeceCharonismentionedfirst
in the late archaic or early classical Greek epicMinyas (fr.1
Davies Bernab).33 The growing monetization of Athens also affected
belief in the
25ForapossibleGreeksourceseeHORSFALL,o.c.(n.13),p.126f.26Mostimportantevidence:Macr.,Sat.III,20,3,cf.J.ANDR,Arborfelix,arborinfelix,in
Hommages Jean Bayet, Brussels, 1964, p. 35-46; J.
BAYET,Croyances et rites dans la Rome
antique,Paris,1971,p.9-43.
27Lucr.,I,115;Verg.,Aen.VIII,193,242,251(ingens
!);Sen.,Tro.,178.28HORSFALLonVerg.,Aen.VII,323-340;BERNABonOF717(=P.
Bonon.4),33.29 SeeNISBET andHUBBARDonHor.,C. 2, 14,8;P.BRIZE,
Geryoneus, inLIMC IV.1,
(1990),p.186-190atno.25.30A.HENRICHS,ZurPerhorreszierungdesWassersderStyxbeiAischylosundVergil,ZPE
78 (1989), p. 1-29; H. PELLICCIA, Aeschylean and Virgilian
inamabilis, ZPE 84(1990),p.187-194.
31NoteitsmentionalsoinOF717,42.32 L.V.GRINSELL, The Ferryman
andHis Fee: A Study in Ethnology, Archaeology, and
Tradition, Folklore 68 (1957), p. 257-269; B. LINCOLN, Death,
War, and Sacrifice, Chicago
&London,1991,p.62-75(TheFerrymanoftheDead,19801).
33Seemost recentlyF.DIEZDEVELASCO,Los caminos de la
muerte,Madrid,1995,p.42-57;E.MUGIONE et al., PP 50 (1995), p.
357-434 (a number of articles on Charon and his
fee);C.SOURVINOU-INWOOD, Reading Greek Death to the End of the
Classical Period, Oxford, 1995,
-
188 J.BREMMER
ferryman,andthecustomofburyingadeceasedwithanobol,asmallcoin,forCharonbecomesvisibleonAthenianvasesinthelatefifthcentury,justasitismentioned
first in literature inAristophanesFrogs (137-142, 269-270) of
405BC.34Austin(ad loc.) thinksofapicture
inthebackgroundofVirgilsdescrip-tion, as is perhaps possible. The
date of Charons emergence
probablyprecludeshisappearanceinthepoemonHeraclesdescent(3),35butinfluenceofthepoemonOrpheusdescent(3)doesnotseemimpossible.
Finally,onthebankoftheriver,AeneasseesanumberofsoulsandheaskstheSibylwhotheyare(318-320).TheSibyl,thus,ishistravelguide.Suchaguideis
not a fixed figure inOrphic descriptionsof the underworld, but a
recurringfeatureofJudeo-Christiantoursofhellandgoingbackto1
Enoch,whichcanbedatedtobefore200BCbutisprobablynotolderthanthethirdcentury.36Thiswas
already seen, and noted for Virgil, by Ludwig Radermacher, who
hadcollaborated on an edition with translation of 1 Enoch.37
Moreover, anotherformalmarker in Judeo-Christian tours of hell is
that the visionary often
asks:whoarethese?,andisansweredbytheguideofthevisionwiththesearethosewho,aphenomenonthatcanequallybetracedbacktoEnochscosmictourin1
Enoch.38NowthesedemonstrativepronounsalsoseemtooccurintheAeneid,asAeneasquestionsat318-320and560-561canbeseenasrhetoricalvariationson
the question who are these?, and the Sibyls replies, 322-30
contains haec (twice), ille,hi.39 Inotherwords,Virgil seems
tohaveused aHellenistic-Jewish
p.303-361; J.H. OAKLEY, Picturing death in classical Athens. The
evidence of the white lekythoi, Cambridge,2004,p.108-125.
34OAKLEY, o.c. (n. 33),p. 123-125,242note49withbibliography;
addR.SCHMITT, EinekleinepersischeMnze alsCharonsgeld,
inPalaeograeca et Mycenaea Antonino Bartonk quinque et sexagenario
oblate, Brno, 1991, p. 149-162; J. GORECKI, Die Mnzbeigabe, eine
mediterraneGrabsitte.NurFahrlohnfrCharon?,inM.WITTEGERandP.FASOLD(eds.),Des
Lichtes beraubt. Totenehrung in der rmischen Grberstrasse von
Mainz-Weisenau,
Wiesbaden,1995,p.93-103;G.THRY,CharonunddieFunktionenderMnzeninrmischenGrbernderKaiserzeit,inO.DUBUISandS.FREY-KUPPER(eds.),Fundmnzen
aus Grbern,Lausanne,1999,p.17-30.
35ContraNORDEN,o.c.
(n.6),p.237.36SeenowG.BOCCACCINIandJ.COLLINS(eds.),The Early Enoch
Literature,Leiden,2007.37L.RADERMACHER,Das Jenseits im Mythos der
Hellenen,Bonn, 1903,p.14-5,overlookedby
M.HIMMELFARB,Tours of
Hell,Philadelphia,1983,p.49-50andwronglydisputedbyH.LLOYD-JONES,Greek
Epic,Lyric and
Tragedy,Oxford,1990,p.183,cf.J.FLEMMINGandL.RADERMACHER,Das Buch
Henoch,Leipzig,1901.ForRadermacher(1867-1952)seeA.LESKY,Gesammelte
Schriften,Munich & Berne, 1966, p. 672-688; A. WESSELS,
Ursprungszauber. Zur Rezeption von Hermann Useners Lehre von der
religisen Begriffsbildung,Berlin&NewYork,2003,p.129-154.
38AswasfirstpointedoutbyHIMMELFARB,o.c. (n.37),p.41-67.39
HIMMELFARB, o.c. (n. 37), p. 49-50; J. LIGHTFOOT, The Sibylline
Oracles, Oxford, 2007,
p.502-503,whoalsonotesthat562-627containsthreeinstanceseachofhicasadverb(580,582,608)
and demonstrative pronoun (587, 621, 623), a rhetorical question
answered by the
Sibylherself(574-577),andseveralrelativeclauses(583,608,610,612)identifyingindividualsinnersorgroups.AddAeneasquestionsintheHeldenschau
in710ffand,especially,863(quis, pater,
ille),andfurtherdemonstrativepronounsin773-774,776and788-791.
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ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 189
apocalyptic tradition
toshapehisnarrative,40andhemayevenhaveusedsomeHellenistic-Jewishmotifs,aswewillseeshortly.
2. Between the Acheron and Tartarus/Elysium (4"7-547)
Leaving aside Aeneas encounter with different souls (333-383)
and
withCharon(384-416),wecontinueourjourneyontheothersideoftheStyx.HereAeneasandtheSibylare
immediately
welcomedbyCerberus(417-425),whofirstoccursinHesiodsTheogony(769-773),butmustbeaveryoldfeatureoftheunderworld,
as a dog already guards the road to the underworld in
ancientIndian, Persian andNordicmythology.41 After he has been
drugged,
Aeneasproceedsandhearsthesoundsofanumberofsouls(426-429).Babiesarethefirst
categorymentioned.Theexpressionab ubere raptos (428) suggests
infanti-cide,whereasabortioniscondemnedintheBolognapapyrus(OF717,1-4),akatabasisinathird-orfourth-centurypapyrusfromBologna,thetextofwhichseemstodatefromearlyimperialtimesandisgenerallyacceptedtobeOrphicin
character.42 This papyrus, as has often been seen, contains several
closeparallels to Virgil, and both must have used the same
identifiably Orphicsource.43 Now blanket condemnation of abortion
and infanticide reflects aJewish or Christian moral perspective. As
we have already noted
Jewishinfluence(1),wemayperhapsassumeitheretoo,asabortion/infanticideinfactoccursalmostexclusively
inChristian toursofhell.44And
indeed,SetaiolihaspersuasivelyarguedthattheoriginoftheBolognapapyrushastobelookedforinAlexandriainamilieuthatunderwentJewishinfluences,evenifmuchofthe
text is of course not Egyptian-Jewish.45 We may add that the
so-calledTestament of Orpheus
isaJewish-EgyptianrevisionofanOrphicpoemandthus
40SeealsoBREMMER,Orphic,Roman,JewishandChristianToursofHell:Observationson
theApocalypseofPeter,inE.EYNIKEL,F.GARCAMARTNEZ,T.NICKLAS&J.VERHEYDEN(eds.),OtherWorldsandtheirRelationtothisWorld,Leiden,2009,forthcoming.
41LINCOLN,o.c.(n.32),96-106;M.L.WEST,Indo-European Poetry and
Myth,Oxford,2007,p.392.42Forthetextseenow,withextensivebibliographyandcommentary,BERNAB,Orphicorum
et
Orphicis similium testimonia et fragmenta. II,
2,271-87(=OF717),whonotesonp.271:omniaquaeinpapyrolegunturcumOrphicadoctrinarecentiorisaetatiscongruunt.
43ThishasnowbeenestablishedbyN.HORSFALL,P.Bonon.4andVirgil,Aen.6,yetagain,ZPE96(1993),p.17-18;notealsoHORSFALLonVerg.,Aen.VII,182.
44LIGHTFOOT, o.c. (n. 39), p. 513 (quotes),whocompares1 Enoch
99.5; see alsoHIMMEL-FARB, o.c. (n. 37), p. 71-72, 74-75;D.
SCHWARTZ, Did the JewsPractice InfantExposure andInfanticide in
Antiquity?, Studia Philonica Annual 16 (2004), p. 61-95; L.T.
STUCKENBRUCK, 1 Enoch 91-108, Berlin &New York, 2007, p.
390-391; D. SHANZER, Voices and Bodies:
TheAfterlifeoftheUnborn,Numen56(2009),p.326-365,withanewdiscussionofthebeginningoftheBolognapapyrusatp.355-359,
inwhichshepersuasivelyarguesthatthepapyrusmentionsabortion,notinfanticide.
45 A. SETAIOLI, Nuove osservazioni sulla descrizione
delloltretomba nel papiro
diBologna,SIFC42(1970),p.179-224at205-220.
-
190 J.BREMMER
clearproofoftheinfluenceofOrphismonEgyptian(Alexandrian?)Judaism.46Yet
someof theOrphicmaterialofVirgils and thepapyrus
sourcemustbeolderthantheHellenisticperiod,aswewillseeshortly.
After thebabieswehearof thosewhowerecondemned innocently
(430),suicides (434-436),47 famousmythologicalwomen such asEuadne,
Laodamia(447),48 and,hardly surprisingly,Dido,Aeneas
abandonedbeloved (450-476).In this way Virgil follows the
traditional Greek combination of ahroi andbiaiothanatoi.49The
lastcategorythatAeneasandtheSibylmeetat
thefurthestpointofthisregionbetweentheAcheronandtheTartarus/Elysiumarefamouswarheroes(477-547).WhenwecomparethesecategorieswithVirgilsintertext,Odysseusmeetingwithghosts
intheOdyssey (XI,37-41),wenotethatbeforecrossingAcheronAeneas
firstmeets thesoulsof those recentlydepartedandthoseunburied, just
as inHomerOdysseus firstmeets the unburiedElpenor(51).The last
category enumerated inHomer are thewarriors,whohere tooappear last.
Thus, Homeric inspiration is clear, even though Virgil
greatlyelaborateshismodel,notleastwithmaterialtakenfromOrphickatabaseis.50
3. Tartarus (548-627)
Whiletalking,theSibylandAeneasreachaforkintheroad,wheretheright-handwayleadstoElysium,buttheleftonetoTartarus(541-543).Theforkandthe
preference for the right are standard elements in Platos
eschatologicalmyths, which suggests a traditional motif.51 Once
again, we are led to
theOrphicmilieu,astheOrphicGoldLeavesregularlyinstructthesoulgototheright
or bear to the right after its arrival in the underworld,52 thus
varyingPythagorean usage for the upper world.53 Virgils description
of Tartarus is
46RIEDWEG,o.c. (n.18).47Y.GRIS,Le suicide dans la Rome
antique,Montral&Paris,1982,p.158-164.48Note thepopularityof
these twoheroines in funeralpoetry inHellenistic-Roman times:
SEG52,942,1672. 49See,passim,S.I.JOHNSTON,Restless Dead,
Berkeleyet al.,1999.50NORDEN, o.c.
(n.6),p.238-239.51Pl.,Grg.,524a,Phd.,108a;Resp.X,614cd;Porph.,fr.382SMITH;Corn.Labeo,fr.7MASTAN-
DREA. 52F.GRAFandS.I.JOHNSTON,Ritual Texts for the Afterlife:
Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets,
London&NewYork, 2007, no. 3, 2 (Thurii)=OF 487, 2; 8, 4
(Entella)=OF 475, 4; 25, 1(Pharsalos) = OF 477, 1; A. BERNAB &
A.I. JIMNEZ SAN CRISTBAL, Instructions for the Netherworld, Leiden,
2008, p.22-24 (who also connect VI, 540-543 with Orphism). For
theexceptions, preference for the left in the Leaves from Petelia
(no. 2, 1 = OF 476, 1)
andRhethymnon(no.18,2=OF484a,2),seethediscussionbyGRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c.
(n.52),p.108,111.ThetworoadsalsooccurintheBolognapapyrus,cf.OF717,77withSETAIOLI,l.c.
(n.45),p.186f.
53R.U.SMITH,ThePythagoreanletterandVirgilsgoldenbough,DionysiusNS18,(2000),p.7-24.
-
ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 191
mostly taken from Odyssey Book XI, but the picture is
complemented
byreferencestootherdescriptionsofTartarusandtocontemporaryRomanvillas.Whatdoourvisitorssee?Underarocktherearebuildings(moenia),54encircledbya
threefoldwall (548-549).The ideaof themansion isperhaps
inspiredbytheHomeric expression house ofHades, whichmust be very
old as it
hasHittite,IndianandIrishparallels,55butintheoldestOrphicGoldLeaf,theonefromHipponion,thesoulalsohastotraveltothewell-builthouseofHades.56Ontheotherhand,HesiodsdescriptionoftheentryofTartarusassurroundedthree
times by night (Th., 726-727) seems to be the source of the
threefoldwall.57AroundTartarus there flows the river Phlegethon
(551),which
comesstraightfromtheOdyssey(X,513),where,however,despitethenamePyriphle-gethon,thefierycharacterisnotthematized.Infact,fireonlygraduallybecameimportant
in ancient underworlds through the influence of Jewish
apoca-lypses.58Thesizeof theTartarus
isagainstressedbythementionofan ingensgate that
isstrengthenedbycolumnsofadamant (552), the legendary,hardestmetal
of antiquity,59 and the use of special metal in the architecture of
theTartarus is also mentioned in the Iliad (VIII, 15: iron gates
and bronzethreshold)andHesiod(Th.,726:bronzefence).
Finally, there is a tall iron tower (554), which according to
Norden andAustin (ad loc.) is inspired by the Pindaric tower of
Kronos (O. II, 70).However, although Kronos was traditionally
locked up in Tartarus,60 Pindarsituateshis towerononeoftheIslesof
theBlessed.Asthetower isalsonotassociatedwithKronoshere,
Pindar,whose influenceonVirgilwas not veryprofound,61will hardly be
its source.Given that theTartarus is depicted
likesomekindofbuildingwithagate,vestibulumandthreshold(575), it
isperhapsbetter to think of the towers that sometimes formed part
of Roman villas.62
54Cf.A.FO,Moenia,inEVIII,p.557-558.55Il.VII,131;XI,263;XIV,457;XX,366;Empedocles,B142D-K,cf.A.MARTIN,Em-
pdocle,Fr. 142D.-K.Nouveau regard sur
unpapyrusdHerculaneum,Cronache Ercolanesi 33(2003),p.43-52;M.JANDA,
Eleusis. Das indogermanische Erbe der
Mysterien,Innsbruck,2000,p.69-71;WEST,o.c.
(n.41),388.NotealsoAen.VI,269:domos Ditis.
56GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),no.1,2=OF474,2.57ForHesiods
influenceonVirgilseeA.LAPENNA,Esiodo,EVII,p.386-388;HORS-
FALLonVerg.,Aen.VII,808.58LIGHTFOOT,o.c. (n.39),p.514.59 Lexikon
des frhgriechischen Epos I, Gttingen, 1955, s.v.; WEST on Hesiod,
Th., 161;
LIGHTFOOT,o.c.
(n.39),p.494f.60OnKronosandhisTitansseenowJ.N.BREMMER,Greek
Religion and Culture, the Bible, and
the Ancient Near East,Leiden,2008,p.73-99.61 For rather
different positions see R. THOMAS,Reading Virgil and His Texts,
AnnArbor,
1999,p.267-287andHORSFALLonVerg.,Aen.III,570-587. 62NORDEN, o.c.
(n. 6), p. 274 rightly comparesAen. II, 460 (nowwithHORSFALL ad
loc.),
although3pages
laterhecomparesPindar;E.WISTRAND,Omgrekernasochromarnashus,
-
192 J.BREMMER
Theturris
aeneainwhichDanaeislockedupaccordingtoHorace(C.III,1,1)maybeanotherexample,asbeforeVirgilshe
isalways lockedup inabronzechamber(NisbetandRuddad loc.).
Traditionally,TartaruswasthedeepestpartoftheGreekunderworld,63andthisisalsothecaseinVirgil.Here,accordingtotheSibyl,wefindthefamoussinners
of Greek mythology, especially those that revolted against the
gods,such as theTitans (580), the sons ofAloeus (582), Salmoneus
(585-594)
andTityos(595-600).64However,Virgilconcentratesnotonthemostfamouscasesbutonsomeofthelesser-knownones,suchasthemythofSalmoneus,thekingof
Elis, who pretended to be Zeus. His description is closely inspired
byHesiod,whointurnisfollowedbylaterauthors,althoughtheseseemtohavesome
additional details.65 Salmoneus drove around on a chariot with
fourhorses, while brandishing a torch and rattling bronze cauldrons
on driedhides,66pretendingtobeZeuswithhis thunderand
lightning,andwantingtobeworshippedlikeZeus.However,ZeusflunghimheadlongintoTartarusanddestroyedhiswholetown.67With9linesSalmoneusclearlyisthefocusofthiscatalogue,as
thepenaltyofTityos,analumnus, foster son,68ofTerra, Earth(595), is
related in 6 lines, and other famous sinners, such as the
Lapiths,Ixion,69andPeirithous(601),arementionedonlyinpassing.Itisratherstriking,then,thatVirgilspendssuchgreatlengthonSalmoneus,butthereasonforthisattentionremainsobscure.
Eranos 37 (1939), p. 1-63 at 31-32; idem, Opera selecta,
Stockholm, 1972, p. 218-220.
ForanachronismsintheAeneidseeHORSFALL,o.c.(n.13),p.135-144.
63 Il. VIII, 13, 478; Hes., Th., 119 withWest ad loc.; G. CERRI,
Cosmologia dellAde
inOmero,EsiodoeParmenide,PP50(1995),p.437-467;D.M.JOHNSON,HesiodsDescriptionsofTartarus(Theogony721-819),Phoenix53(1999),p.8-28.
64 Note their presence also, except for Salmoneus, in Horaces
underworld: NISBET andRUDDonHor.,O.III,4.
65CompareSoph.,fr.10c6RADT(makingnoisewithhides,cf.Apollod.,I,9,7,cf.R.SMITHand
S. TRZASKOMA, Apollodorus 1.9.7: Salmoneus Thunder-Machine,
Philologus 139
[2005],p.351-354andR.D.GRIFFITH,SalmoneusThunder-Machineagain,ibidem152[2008],p.143-145;Greg.Naz.,Or.V,8);Man.,5,91-94(bronzebridge)andServiusonAen.VI,585(bridge).
66 In line 591, aere, which is left unexplained byNorden, hardly
refers to a bronze
bridge(previousnote:soAustin)buttothebronzecauldronsofHes.,fr.30,5;7M-W.
67ForthemythseeHes.,fr.15,30M-W;Soph.,fr.537-541aRADT;Diod.Sic.,IV,68,2,6fr.7;Hyg.,Fab.,61,250;Plut.,Mor.,780f;
Anth. Pal.XVI,30; EustathiusonOd.I,235;XI,236; P.HARDIE,Virgils
Aeneid: cosmos and imperium,Oxford, 1986,p. 183-186;D. CURIAZI,
Note aVirgilio,MCr 23/4 (1988/9), p. 307-309;A.MESTUZINI, Salmoneo,
inEV IV, p.
663-666;E.SIMON,Salmoneus,inLIMCVII.1(1994),p.653-655.
68 Austin translates son, asHomer (Od. VII, 324; XI, 576) calls
him a son ofGaia, butTityosbeingafostersonishardly nachder
jungenSagenform(Norden),cf.Hes.,fr.78M-W;Pherec.,fr.55FOWLER;Apoll.Rhod.,I,761-762;Apollod.,I,4,1.ForalumnusseeC.MOUSSY,Alo,
alesco, adolesco, intrennes de septantaine. Travaux offerts Michel
Lejeune, Paris, 1978,p.167-178.
69IxionappearsintheunderworldasearlyasAp.Rhod.,III,62,cf.LIGHTFOOT,o.c.
(n.39),p.517.
-
ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 193
Moreover,thelattersinnersareconnectedwithpenalties,anoverhangingrockandafeastthatcannotbetasted(602-6),whichinGreekmythologyarenormallyconnectedwithTantalus.70WefindthesamedissociationoftraditionalsinnersandpenaltiesintheChristianApocalypse
of
Peter:71Evidently,inthecourseofthetime,specificpunishmentsstoppedbeinglinkedtospecificsinners.72Finally,itisnoteworthythatthefurnitureofthefeastwithitsgoldenbeds(604)pointstotheluxury-lovingrulersoftheEastratherthantocontemporaryRomanmagnates.73
Afterthesemythologicalexemplatherefollowaseriesofmortalsinnersagainstthefamilyandfamilia(608-613),thenabrieflistoftheirpunishments(614-617),and
thenmore sinners,mythological andhistorical (618-624).74 In
theBolognapapyrus,wefindalistofsinners(OF717,1-24),thentheErinyesandHarpiesasagentsoftheirpunishments(25-46),andsubsequentlyagainsinners(47ff.).BothVirgil
and thepapyrusmust thereforegobackhere to theirolder source
(2),whichseemstohavecontainedseparatecataloguesofnamelesssinnersandtheirpunishments.Butwhatisthissourceandwhenwasitcomposed?
Herewe run intohighlycontested territory.Aswenoted inour
introduc-tion,NordenidentifiedthreekatabaseisasimportantsourcesforVirgil,theonesby
Odysseus in the Homeric Nekuia, by Heracles,75 and by
Orpheus.76Unfortunately,hedidnotdatethelasttwokatabaseis,butthankstosubsequentfindingsofpapyriwecanmakesomeprogresshere.Onthebasisofaprobable
70 J.ZETZEL,RomaneMemento: JusticeandJudgment inAeneid6,TAPhA119
(1989),
p.263-284at269-270.71BREMMER,l.c. (n.40).72 Differently,
HORSFALL, o.c. (n. 13), p. 48: le punizioni dei grandi peccatori
non siano
arrivateadunadistribuzionefissaancoraallafinedelprimosecoloa.C.73NotealsoDidosaurea
sponda(I,698);Sen.Thy.909:purpurae atque auro
incubat.Originally,
golden couches were a Persian feature, cf. Hdt., IX, 80, 82;
Esther 1.6; Plut., Luc., 37, 5;Athenaeus,V,197a.
74P.SALAT,PhlgyasetTantaleauxEnfers.proposdesvers601-627dusiximelivredelnide,intudes
de littrature ancienne, II : Questions de sens,
Paris,1982,p.13-29;F.DELLACORTE,Ilcatalogodeigrandidannati,Vichiana
11(1982),p.95-99=idem,Opuscula IX,Genua,1985,p. 223-227; A. POWELL,
The Peopling of theUnderworld:Aeneid 6.608-27, inH.-P.
STAHL(ed.),Vergils Aeneid: Augustan Epic and Political Context,
London,1998,p.85-100.
75NORDEN, o.c. (n. 6), p. 5 note 2 notes influence
ofHeracleskatabasis on the
followinglines:131-132,260(cf.290-294,withLLOYD-JONES,o.c.
(n.37),p.181onBacch.,V,71-84,andF.GRAF,Eleusis und die orphische
Dichtung Athens in vorhellenistischer
Zeit,Berlin,1974,p.145note18onAr.,Ra.,291,whereDionysuswantstoattackEmpusa),309-312(seealsoNORDEN,o.c.(n.3),p.508
note 77), 384-416, 477-493, 548-627, 666-678. For Empusa see now A.
ANDRISANO,Empusa, nome parlante (Ar.Ran. 288 ss.)?, in A. ERCOLANI
(ed.), Spoudaiogeloion. Form und Funktion der Verspottung in der
aristophanischen Komdie,Stuttgart&Weimar,2002,p.273-297.
76NORDEN,o.c.
(n.6),p.5note2notesinfluenceofOrpheuskatabasisonlines120(seealsoNORDEN,o.c.
(n.3),p.506-507),264ff(?),384-416,548-627.Unfortunately,R.G.EDMONDSIII,Myths
of the Underworld Journey, Cambridge, 2004, p.17, rejects Nordens
findings without anyseriousdiscussionofthepassagesinvolved.
-
194 J.BREMMER
fragmentofPindar (fr. dub.
346Maehler),Bacchylides,AristophanesFrogs,77and the second-century
mythological handbook of Apollodorus (II, 5,
12),HughLloyd-JoneshasreconstructedanepickatabasisofHeracles,inwhichhewas
initiated byEumolpus inEleusis before starting his descent at
LaconianTaenarum.78Lloyd-Jonesdated this poem to themiddleof the
sixth century,and thedate isnowsupportedbyashard in
themannerofExekiasofabout540 BC that shows Heracles amidst
Eleusinian gods and heroes.79 TheEleusinian
initiationmakesEleusinian orAthenian influence not
implausible,butasRobertParkercomments:Oncethe(Eleusinian)culthadachievedfame,a
hero could be sent toEleusis by a non-Eleusinian poet, as toDelphi
by
anon-Delphian.80However,aswewillseeinamoment,Athenianinfluenceontheepiciscertainlylikely.81Giventhedateofthisepicwewouldstillexpectitsmainemphasistobeonthemoreheroicinhabitantsoftheunderworld,ratherthanthenamelesscategorieswefindinOrphicpoetry.Andinfact,innoneofourliterarysourcesforHeraclesdescentdowefindanyreferencetonamelesshumansorinitiatesseenbyhimintheunderworld,butwehearofhismeetingwithMeleager
and his liberation of Theseus (see below).82Given the
promi-nenceofnameless,human sinners in thispartofVirgils text,
then,
themaininfluenceseemstobethekatabasisofOrpheusratherthantheoneofHeracles.
There is another argument aswell to supposehereuseof
thekatabasis ofOrpheus. Norden noted that both Rhadamanthys (566)
and Tisiphone (571)recur in Lucians Cataplus (22-23) in an
Eleusinian context;83 similarly, heobserved that thequestionof
theSibyl toMusaeusaboutAnchises (669-670)can be paralleled by the
question of the Aristophanic Dionysos to
theEleusinianinitiatedwherePlutolives(Frogs161ff,431ff).NordenascribedthefirstcasetothekatabasisofOrpheusandthesecondonetothatofHeracles.84His
first case seems unassailable, as the passage about Tisiphone has
strong
77 Note that the commentary of W.B. STANFORD on the Frogs,
London, 19632, is more
helpfulindetectingOrphicinfluenceintheplaythanthatbyK.J.DOVER,Oxford,1993.78H.
LLOYD-JONES, Heracles atEleusis: P.Oxy. 2622 andP.S.I. 1391,Maia 19
(1967),
p.206-229=o.c.(n.37),167-187;seealsoR.PARKER,Athenian
Religion,Oxford,1996,p.98-100.79J.BOARDMANet
al.,Herakles,inLIMCIV.1(1988),p.728-838at805-808.80PARKER,o.c.
(n.78),p.100.81GRAF,o.c.
(n.75),p.146note22,whocomparesApollod.,II,5,12,cf.I,5,3(seealsoOv.,
Met. V, 538-550; P. Mich. Inv. 1447, 42-43, re-edited by M. VAN
ROSSUM-STEENBEEK,Greek Readers
Digests?,Leiden,1997,p.336;ServiusonAen.IV,462-463),notesthatthepresenceoftheEleusinianAskalaphosinApollodorusalsosuggestsalargerEleusinianinfluence.Thismaywellbetrue,buthisearliestEleusinianmentionisEuphorion,9,13POWELL,andheisabsentfromVirgil.
Did Apollodorus perhaps add him to his account of Heracles
katabasis from anothersource?
82ContraGRAF,o.c.
(n.75),p.145-6.NotealsothedoubtsofR.PARKER,Polytheism and Society
at Athens,Oxford,2005,p.363note159.
83NORDEN, o.c. (n.6),p.274f.84NORDEN, o.c. (n.6),p.275.
-
ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 195
connectionswiththatoftheBolognapapyrus(OF717,28),asdothesoundsofgroans
and floggingsheardbyAeneasand theSibyl (557-558, cf.OF
717,25;Luc.,VH., 2, 29). Musaeus, however, is mentioned first in
connection withOnomacritus forgery of his oracles in the late sixth
century and
remainedassociatedwithoraclesbyHerodotus,SophoclesandevenAristophanesintheFrogs.85HisconnectionwithEleusisdoesnotappearonvasesbeforetheendofthefifthcenturyandintextsbeforePlato.86Inotherwords,itseemslikelythatboth
thesepassagesultimatelyderive from thekatabasisofOrpheus, and
thatAristophanes,
likeVirgil,hadmadeuseofboththekatabaseisofHeraclesandOrpheus.Tomakethingsevenmorecomplicated,thefactthatbothHeraclesandOrpheusdescendedatLaconianTaenarum(aboveandbelow)showsthattheauthorhimselfofOrpheuskatabasisalso(occasionally?often?)hasusedtheepicofHeracleskatabasis.87
Now inGreek andLatinpoetry,Orpheusdescent into theunderworld
isalwaysconnectedtohisloveforEurydice.88Infact,OrpheushimselftellsusinthebeginningoftheOrphicArgonauticainthefirstpersonsingular:ItoldyouwhatIsawandperceivedwhenIwentdownthedarkroadofTaenarumintoHades,trustinginourlyre,89outofloveformywife.90Nordenalreadynotedtheclosecorrespondencewiththe
linethatopensthekatabasisofOrpheus inVirgilsGeorgica,Taenarias
etiam fauces, alta ostia Ditis, /
ingressus(IV,467-469),andpersuasivelyconcluded thatboth linesgoback
to theDescent of Orpheus.91Wemayperhapsaddthat
thenameofEurydiceappearspretty late
inVirgilsversion(486,490).Thislatementionmaywellhavebeeninfluencedbythefactthat
the original poem does not seem to have contained the actual name
ofOrpheuswife,whichdoesnotappear inour sourcesbeforeHermesianax;
infact, thenameEurydicebecamepopularonly after the rise
toprominenceofMacedonianqueensandprincessesofthatname.92Asreferencestothemythof
85Hdt.,VII,6,3(forgery:OF1109=Musaeus,fr.68BERNAB),VIII,96,2(=OF69),IX,
43,2(=OF70);Soph.,fr.1116RADT(=OF30);Ar.,Ra.,1033(=OF63).86Pl.,Prot.,316d=Musaeus,fr.52BERNAB;GRAF,o.c.
(n.75),p.9-21;LLOYD-JONES,o.c.
(n.37),p.182-3;A.KAUFMANN-SAMARAS,Mousaios,inLIMCVI.1(1992),p.685-687,no.3.87AsisalsonotedbyNORDEN,o.c.
(n.6),p.237(onthebasisofServiusonVI,392)ando.c.
(n.3),p.508-509notes77and79.88GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c.
(n.52),p.172-174.89Norden rightlycomparesVI,120:Threicia fretus
cithara; seealsohiso.c. (n.3),p.506-507
withfurtherreflections.90Orph. Arg., 40-42: ,
,,.91SeealsoNORDEN,o.c.
(n.3),p.508f.ForOrpheusaccountinthefirstpersonsingular,U.
VONWILAMOWITZ-MOELLENDORFF,Der Glaube der
Hellenen,2vols,Darmstadt,19593,II,p.194-195alsopersuasivelycomparesPlut.,Mor.,566c(=OF412).
92 BREMMER, Orpheus: FromGuru toGay, in Ph. BORGEAUD
(ed.),Orphisme et Orphe,Geneva, 1991, p. 13-30 at 13-17 (also on
the nameEurydice); see now alsoD. FONTANNAZ,
-
196 J.BREMMER
OrpheusandEurydicedonotstartbeforeEuripidesAlcestis(357-362)of438BC,ared-figureloutrophorosfrom440-430BC,93andthedecoratedreliefsof,probably,
the altar of the TwelveGods in the Athenian Agora, dating fromabout
410 BC,94 the poem about Orpheus katabasis that was used by
VirgilprobablydatesfromthemiddleofthefifthcenturyBC.
But by whom was the katabasis of Orpheus written? In fact, there
wereseveralDescents
incirculation,asweknow.Thethird-centuryBCpoetSotadeswrote aDescent
into Hades (Suda s.v. ), as did the unknown
ProdikosfromSamos(Clem.Alex.,Strom.I,21,131,3=OF707,1124)andHerodikosfrom
Perinthos (Suda, s.v. = OF 709, 1123).95 More
interestingly,Epigenes,whomaywellhavebeenapupilofSocrates,96mentionsaDescent
into Hades by a Pythagorean Cercops in hisOn the Poetry of Orpheus
(Clem. Alex.,Strom. I, 21, 131, 3=OF 707, 1101, 1128),but themost
interesting examplesurely is theDescent into Hades ascribed to
Orpheus from Sicilian
Camarina(Suda,s.v.=OF708,870,1103).Heseemstobeafictitiousperson,asMartinWesthasnoted,97butthementionisremarkable.Surely,theauthorofthisDescentowedhisnametothefactthathetoldhisdescentinthefirstpersonsingular
(above). Was he perhaps the ingenious mythologist, presumably
aSicilian or Italian, to whom Platos Socrates described punishments
for
thesoulsofthenon-initiatedafterdeath(Grg.,493a)?AsCamarinawasatownwithclosetiestoAthens,98itisnotwhollyimpossiblethatoneofitsinhabitantswastheauthorofthekatabasisofOrpheus.Yetatthepresentstateofourknowl-edgewesimplycannottell.
We have onemore indication left for the place of origin of
theHeraclesepic.After
thenamelesssinnerswenowseemorefamousmythologicalones.Theseus,
asVirgil stresses, sedet aeternumque sedebit
(617).Thepassagedeservesmoreattentionthanithasreceivedinthecommentaries.IntheOdyssey,TheseusandPirithousarethelastheroesseenbyOdysseusintheunderworld,justasinVirgilAeneasandtheSibylseeTheseuslastinTartarus,eventhoughPirithoushas
been replaced by Phlegyas. Now originally Theseus and Pirithous
werecondemnedtoaneternalstayintheunderworld,eitherfetteredorgrowntoa
Lentre-deux-mondes. Orphe et Eurydice sur une hydrie
proto-italiote du sanctuaire de lasourceSaturo,Antike
Kunst51(2008),p.41-72.
93 E. SIMON, DieHochzeit desOrpheus und der Eurydike, in
J.GEBAUER et al. (eds.),Bildergeschichte. Festschrift fr Klaus
Sthler,Mhnesee,2004,p.451-456.
94TheyhavesurvivedonlyinRomancopies,cf.G.SCHWARTZ,EurydikeI,inLIMCIV.1(1988),p.98-100atno.5.
95M.L.WEST,The Orphic Poems,Oxford, 1983, p. 10 note 17
unpersuasively identifies
thetwo,likealreadyWILAMOWITZ-MOELLENDORFF,o.c.
(n.91),II,p.195note2.
96Pl.,Ap., 33e;Phd.,59b;Xen.,Mem.III,12,1.97WEST,o.c.
(n.95),p.10note17.98F.CORDANO,Camarinacittdemocratica?,PP59(2004),p.283-292;S.HORNBLOWER,
Thucydides and Pindar,Oxford,2004,p.190-192.
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ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 197
rock.ThisisnotonlythepictureintheOdyssey,butseeminglyalsointhelate-archaicMinyas(Paus.,X,28,2,cf.fr.dub.7Bernab=Hes.,fr.280M-W),andcertainlysoonPolygnotospaintingintheCnidianlesche(Paus.,X,29,9)andinPanyassis(fr.9Davies=fr.14Bernab).Thisclearlyistheoldersituation,which
is still referred to in the hypothesis of CritiasPirithous (cf. fr.
6
Snell-Kannicht).ThesituationmusthavechangedthroughthekatabasisofHeracles,inwhichHeraclesliberatedTheseusbut,atleastinsomesources,leftPirithouswherehewas.99ThisliberationismostlikelyanothertestimonyforanAthenianconnectionofthekatabasisofHeracles,asTheseuswasAthensnationalhero.The
connection of Heracles, Eleusis and Theseus points to the time of
thePisistratids, althoughwe cannot bemuchmore precise thanwe have
alreadybeen(above).Inanycase,thestressbyVirgilonTheseuseternalimprisonmentintheunderworldshowsthathesometimesalsooptedforaversiondifferentfromthekatabaseisheingeneralfollowed.100
RatherstrikingisthecombinationofthefamousTheseuswiththeobscurePhlegyas(618),101whowarnseverybodytobejustandnottoscornthegods.102Norden
unconvincingly tries to reconstructDelphic influence here, but
also,andperhaps rightly, positsOrphic origins.103His oldest
testimony is PindarsSecond Pythian Ode (21-4) where Ixion warns
people in the underworld.
NowStrabo(IX,5,21)callsPhlegyasthebrotherofIxion,104whereasServius(ad
loc.)calls him Ixions father. Can it be that this relationship
plays a role in this wonderful confusion of sources, relationships,
crimes and punishments?
Wewillprobablyneverknow,asVirgiloftenselectsandaltersatrandom!
4. The Palace and the Bough (628-636)
However this may be, after another series of nameless human
sinners,105amongwhomthesinofincest(623)isclearlysharedwiththeBolognapapyrus(OF717,5-10),106theSibylurgesAeneasonandpointstothemansionofthe
99HypothesisCritiasPirithous(cf.fr.6SNELL-KANNICHT);Philochoros,FGrH328F18;Diod.
Sic.,IV,26,1;63,4;Hor.,C.III,4,80;Hyg.,Fab.,79;Apollod.,II,5,12,Ep.I,23f.100ForthiscaseseealsoHORSFALL,o.c.
(n.13),p.49.101D.KUIJPER,Phlegyasadmonitor,Mnemosynen.s.416(1963),p.162-70;G.GARBUGINO,
Flegias,EVII,p.539-540noteshislateappearanceinourtexts.102EventhoughitisadifferentPhlegyas,onemaywonderwhetherStatius,Thebais6.706et
casus Phlegyae monetdoesnotalludetohiswordshere:admonet discite
iustitiam moniti ?ThepassageisnotdiscussedbyR.GANIBAN,Statius and
Virgil,Cambridge,2007.
103NORDEN, o.c. (n.6),p.275-276,compares,
inadditiontoPindar(seethemaintext),Pl.,Grg.,525c;Phaedo,114a;Resp.X,616a.
104TobeaddedtoAUSTINad
loc.105D.BERRY,CriminalsinVirgilsTartarus:ContemporaryAllusionsinAeneid
6.621-4,CQ
42(1992),p.416-420.106Cf.HORSFALL,o.c.(n.43).
-
198 J.BREMMER
rulers of the underworld, which is built by the Cyclopes
(630-631:Cyclopum educta caminis moenia). Norden calls the idea of
an iron building singulr(p.294),but it fitsotherdescriptionsof
theunderworldascontaining ironorbronzeelements(3).Austin(ad
loc.)comparesCallimachus,H.III,60-61fortheCyclopesassmithsusingbronzeoriron,butithasescapedhimthatVirgilcombinesheretwotraditionalactivitiesoftheCyclopes.Ontheonehand,theyaresmithsandassuchforgedZeusthunder,flashandlightning-bolt,ahelmetofinvisibilityforHades,thetridentforPoseidonandashieldforAeneas(Aen.VIII,447).107Consequently,
theywereknownas the inventorsofweapons
inbronzeandthefirsttomakeweaponsintheEuboeancaveTeuchion.108Ontheother
hand, early traditions also ascribed imposing constructions to the
Cy-clopes,suchasthewallsofMyceneandTiryns,andasbuilderstheyremainedfamousallthroughantiquity.109IronbuildingsthusperfectlyfittheCyclopes.
In front of the threshold of the building, Aeneas sprinkles
himself withfresh water and fixes the Golden Bough to the lintel
above the entrance.Norden(p.164)andAustin(ad
loc.)understandtheexpressionramumque adverso in limine figit
(635-636) as the laying of the bough on the threshold, but
figitseemstofitthelintelbetter.110OnemaywonderfromwhereAeneassuddenlygothiswater.Hadhe
carried itwithhimall along?Macrobius (Sat. III, 1, 6)tells us that
washing was necessary when performing religious rites for
theheavenlygods,but thatasprinklingwasenoughfor thoseof
theunderworld.There certainly is some truth in this
observation.However, as the chthoniangods were especially important
during magical rites, it is not surprising
thatpeopledidnotgotoapublicbathfirst.Itisthusamatterofconvenienceratherthanprinciple.111Buttoproperlyunderstanditsfunctionhere,weshouldlookattheGoldenBoughfirst.112
The Sibyl had told Aeneas to find the Golden Bough and to give
it toProserpinaasherduetribute(142-143,tr.Austinad
loc.).ThemeaningoftheGoldenBoughhasgraduallybecomeclearer.WhereasNordenrightlyrejected
107Hes.,Theog.,504-505;Apollod.,I,1,2andII,1;III,10,4(whichmaywellgobacktoan
ancientTitanomachy);seealsoPindar,fr.266MAEHLER.108IstrosFGrH334F71(inventors);POxy.10.1241,re-editedbyVANROSSUM-STEENBEEK,o.c.
(n.81),68.92-98(Teuchion).109Pind.,fr.169a.7MAEHLER;Bacch.,XI,77;Soph.,fr.227RADT;Hellanicus,FGrH4F87
=fr.88FOWLER;Eur.,HF,15;IA,1499;Eratosth.,
Cat.,39(altar);Strabo,VIII,6,8;Apollod.,II,2,1;Paus.,II,25,8;Anth.
Pal.VII,748;schol.onEur., Or.,965;Et. Magnum,213.29.
110AsisarguedbyH.WAGENVOORT,Pietas,Leiden,1980,p.93-113(TheGoldenBough,19591)at93.
111SeealsoS.EITREM,Opferritus und Voropfer der Griechen und
Rmer,Kristiania,1915,p.126-131;A.S.PEASEonVerg.,Aen.IV,635.
112ForAeneaspickingtheBoughonamid-fourth-centuryBritishmosaicseeD.PERRING,Gnosticism
in Fourth-Century Britain: The Frampton Mosaics Reconsidered,
Britannia 34(2003),p.97-127at116.
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ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 199
the interpretationofFrazersGolden Bough,113heclearlywasstill
influencedbyhisZeitgeistwithitsfascinationwithfertilityanddeathandthusspenttoomuchattentiononthecomparisonoftheBoughwithmistletoe.114Yetbypointingtothe
Mysteries (below) he already came close to an important aspect of
theBough.115 Combining three recent analyses, which have all
contributed to abetterunderstanding,wecan
summarizeourpresentknowledgeas
follows.116WhensearchingfortheBough,Aeneasisguidedbytwodoves,thebirdsofhismother
Aphrodite (193). The motif of birds leading the way derives
fromcolonisationlegends,asNorden(p.173-174)andHorsfallhavenoted,andthefact
that thereare twoof
themmaywellhavebeeninfluencedbytheage-oldtraditions of two leaders
of colonising groups.117 The doves, as Nelis hasargued, can be
paralleled with the dove that led the Argonauts through
theClashingRocksinApolloniusofRhodesepic(II,238-240,561-573;notealsoIII,
541-554).Moreover, asNelis notes, theGoldenBough is part of
anoaktree(209),justliketheGoldenFleece(Arg.II,1270;IV,162),botharelocatedinagloomyforest
(VI,208andArg. IV,166)andbothshine inthedarkness(VI,204-207andArg.
IV,125-126). Inotherwords, it seemsaplausible
ideathatVirgilalsohadtheGoldenFleeceinmindwhencomposingthisepisode.
However,theArgonauticepicdoesnotcontainaGoldenBough.Forthatwehavetolookelsewhere.InatoolongneglectedarticleAgnesMichelspointedoutthatintheintroductorypoemtohisGarlandMeleagermentionstheevergoldenbranchofdivinePlato
shiningall roundwithvirtue (Anth. Pal. IV,1,47-48=Meleager, 3972-3
Gow-Page, tr. West).118 Virgil certainly knew Meleager,
asHorsfallnotes,whohealsoobservesthattheallusiontoPlatopreparesusfortheuseVirgilmakesofPlatoseschatologicalmythsinhisdescriptionoftheunder-world,thoseofthePhaedo,GorgiasandErintheRepublic.
However,thereisanother,evenmoreimportantbough.Serviustellsusthatthose
who have written about the rites of Proserpina assert that there
is
113CompareJ.G.FRAZER,Balder the Beautiful=The Golden
BoughVII.2,London,19133,p.284
note3andNORDEN, o.c.
(n.6),p.164note1.114ThisisalsonotedbyWAGENVOORT,o.c.
(n.110),p.96f.115NORDEN, o.c.
(n.6),p.171-173.116InthissectionontheGoldenBoughIreferjustbynametoD.A.WEST,TheBoughand
theGate, inS.J.HARRISON (ed.),Oxford Readings in
VergilsAeneid,Oxford,1990,p.224-238;HORSFALL,o.c.
(n.13),p.20-28(withadetailedcommentaryon6.210-11)andD.NELIS,Vergils
Aeneid and the Argonautica of Apollonius
Rhodius,Leeds,2001,p.240f.Thefirst
twoseemtohaveescapedR.TURCAN,LelaurierdApollon(enmargedePorphyre),inA.HALTENHOFF&F.-H.MUTSCHLER(eds.),Hortus
Litterarum Antiquarum. Festschrift H.A.
Grtner,Heidelberg,2000,p.547-553.
117WEST,o.c.(n.41),p.190;BREMMER,o.c. (n.60),p.59f.118 A.K.
MICHELS, The Golden Bough of Plato,AJPh 66 (1945), p. 59-63. For
Agnes
Michels (1909-1993), adaughterof thewell-knownBiblical
scholarKirsoppLake
(1872-1946),seeJ.LINDERSKI,AgnesKirsoppMichelsandtheReligio,CJ92(1997),p.323-345,reprintedinhisRoman
Questions II,Stuttgart,2007,p.584-602.
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200 J.BREMMER
quiddam mysticumabouttheboughandthatpeoplecouldnotparticipate
intheritesofProserpinaunlesstheycarriedabough.119NowweknowthatthefutureinitiatesofEleusiscarriedakindofpilgrimsstaffconsistingofasinglebranchofmyrtleor
severalheld togetherby rings.120 Inotherwords,bycarrying
theboughandofferingittoProserpina,queenoftheunderworld,Aeneasalsoactsas
an Eleusinian initiate,121 who of course had to bathe before
initiation.122VirgilwillhavewrittenthisallwithoneeyeonAugustus,whowasan
initiatehimself of the Eleusinian Mysteries.123 Yet it seems
equally important thatHeracles toohad tobe initiated into
theEleusinianMysteriesbeforeenteringtheunderworld(3).Intheend,theGoldenBoughisalsoanobliquereferencetothatelusiveepic,theDescent
of Heracles.
5. Elysium (637-678)
Having offered the Bough to Proserpina, Aeneas and the Sibyl can
enterElysium,wheretheynowcometo locos laetos, joyfulplaces(cf.744:
laeta arva)offortunatorum nemorum, woods of the blessed
(638).124The stress on joy is ratherstriking, but on a
fourth-century BC Orphic Gold Leaf from Thurii we read:Rejoice,
rejoice (, ). Journey on the right-hand road to holymeadows and
groves of Persephone.125 Moreover, we find joy also in
JewishpropheciesoftheGoldenAge,whichcertainlyoverlapintheirmotifswithlifeinElysium.126OnceagainVirgilsdescriptiontapsOrphicpoetry,aslux
perpetua(640-641)isalsoatypicallyOrphicmotif,whichwealreadyfindinPindarandwhichsurelymusthavehad
aplace in thekatabasis ofOrpheus, just as the gymnasticactivities,
dancing and singing (642-644) almost certainly come from the
same
119Servius,Aen.VI,136:licet de hoc ramo hi qui de sacris
Proserpinae scripsisse dicuntur, quiddam esse
mysticum adfirment ad sacra Proserpinae accedere nisi sublato
ramo non poterat. inferos autem subire hoc dicit, sacra celebrare
Proserpinae.
120Schol.Ar.,Eq.,408;C.BRARD,Lalumireetlefaisceau:imagesdurituelleusinien,Recherches
et documents du centre Thomas More48(1985),p.17-33;M.B.MOORE,Attic
Red-Figured and White-Ground Pottery = The Athenian Agora, Vol. 30,
Princeton, 1997, p. 136-137; PARKER, o.c. (n.82),p.349.
121 The connection with Eleusis is also stressed byG.
LUCK,Ancient Pathways and Hidden Pursuits, Ann Arbor, 2000, p.
16-34 (Virgil and the Mystery Religions, 19731), if often
toospecifically.
122R.PARKER,Miasma,Oxford,1983,p.284notes12f.123 Suet.,Aug., 93;
Dio Cassius, LI, 4, 1; G.BOWERSOCK,Augustus and the Greek
World,
Oxford,1965,p.68.
124ForwoodsintheunderworldseeOd.X,509;GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c.
(n.52),no.3,5-6
(Thurii)=OF487,5-6;Aen.6.658;Nonnos,D.XIX,191.
125GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),no.3,5-6=OF487.126Oracula Sibyllina
III, 619: And thenGodwill give great joy tomen, and 785:
Rejoice,
maiden,cf.E.NORDEN,Die Geburt des
Kindes,Stuttgart,1924,p.57f.
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ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 201
source(s),127 even though Augustus must have been pleased with
the
athleticswhichheencouraged.128TheOrphiccharacteroftheselinesisconfirmedbythementionoftheThreicius
sacerdos(645),obviouslyOrpheushimself.
After this general view, we are told about the individual
inhabitants ofElysium, startingwith genus antiquum Teucri
(648),which recalls, asAustin (ad loc.)wellsaw,genus antiquum
Terrae, Titania
pubes(580),129openingthelistofsin-nersinTartarus.ItisawonderfullypeacefulspectaclethatweseethroughtheeyesofAeneas.Someoftheheroesareevenvescentis,
picnicking(Austin),onthe grass, and we may wonder if this is not
also a reference to the
Orphicsymposiumofthejust,asthatalsotakesplaceonameadow.130Itsimportancewas
alreadyknown fromOrphic literarydescriptions,131 but ameadow in
theunderworldhasnowalsoemergedontheOrphicGoldLeaves.132
ThedescriptionofthelandscapeisconcludedwiththepictureoftheriverEridanus
that flows froma forest, smellingof
laurels.133NeitherNordennorAustinexplainsthepresenceofthelaurels.Virgilsfirstreadershipwillhavehadseveral
associations with these trees. Some may have remembered that
thelaurel was the highest level of reincarnation among plants in
Empedocles(B127 D-K; note also B 140), and others will have
realised the poetic andApollineconnotationsofthelaurel.134
TheEridanusflowssuperneandplurimus,inallitsstrength(658-659).Whatdoes
this mean? Norden, somewhat hesitantly followed by Austin (ad
loc.),follows Servius and interprets superne as to the upper world
instead of itsnormalusage fromabove.Butthis
isaveryrareusageofthewordandalsothetypeofinformationthatseemsoutofplacehere.Iwouldthereforeliketopoint
to a striking passage in 1 Enoch, the book that also has given us
the
127 Pind., fr. 129MAEHLER; Ar.,Ra., 448-455;Or. Sib. III, 787;
Val. Flacc., I, 842; Plut.,
fr.178;211SANDBACH;Visio Pauli,21,cf.GRAF,o.c.
(n.75),p.82-84.128HORSFALL,o.c.
(n.13),p.139.129FortheTitansbeingtheoldengodsseeBREMMER,o.c.
(n.60),p.78.130GRAF,o.c.
(n.75),p.98-103.131Pind.,fr.129MAEHLER;Ar.,Ra.,326;Pl.,Grg.,524a,Resp.X,616b;Diod.Sic.,I,96,5;
BERNABonOF61.132GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c.
(n.52),no.3,5-6(Thurii)=OF487,5-6,no.27.4(Pherae)=
OF493,4.133TheEridanusalsoappearsinApolloniusRhodiusasakindofotherwordlyriver(Arg.IV,
596ff.),butthereitisconnectedwiththemythofPhaethonandthepoplarsandresemblesmoreVirgilsLakeAvernuswithitssulphursmellthantheforestsmellingoflaurelsintheunderworld.ForthenameoftheriverseenowX.DELAMARRE,,
lefleuvede louest,tudes celtiques36(2008),p.75-77.
134N.HORSFALL, Odoratum lauris nemus (Virgil,Aeneid 6.658),SCI
12 (1993), p.
156-158.LaterreadersmayperhapshavealsothoughtofthelaureltreesthatstoodinfrontofAugustushomeonthePalatine,giventheimportanceofAugustusinthisbook,cf.A.ALFLDI,Die
zwei Lorbeerbume des
Augustus,Bonn,1973;M.B.FLORY,TheSymbolismofLaurelinCameoPortraitsofLivia,MAAR40(1995),p.43-68.
-
202 J.BREMMER
prototypicaltourofhellwithaguide.Here, inhis
journeytoParadise,Enochsees awildernessand itwassolitary, fullof
treesandseeds.Andtherewasastreamontopofit,anditgushedforthfrom
above
it(myitalics).Itappearedlikeawaterfallwhichcascadedgreatly(plurimus!)(28,3,
tr.Charlesworth).Is
itgoingtoofartoseeJewishinfluenceonVirgilsEridanus?
AfterTrojanandnamelessRomanheroes(648-660),priests(661)andpoets(662),AeneasandtheSibylalsoseethosewhofoundoutknowledgeandusedit
for the betterment of life (663: inventas aut qui vitam excoluere
per
artis,tr.Austin).Ashaslongbeenseen,thislinecloselycorrespondstoalinefromacultural-historicalpassage
in theBolognapapyruswherewe findanenumera-tion of five groups in
Elysium that have made life livable. The first
arementionedingeneralasthosewhoembellishedlifewiththeirskills([]=OF717,103),
tobefollowedby thepoets, thosewhocut roots for medicinal purposes,
and two more groups which we cannotidentify because of the bad
state of the papyrus. Now inventions that
bothbetterlifeandbringculturearetypicallyasophistictheme,andthementionofthe
archaic root cutters instead of the more modern doctors suggests
anolderstageinthesophisticmovement.135TheconvergencebetweenVirgilandtheBolognapapyrussuggests
thatwehavehereacategoryofpeopleseenbyOrpheusinhiskatabasis.However,asVirgilsometimescomesveryclosetothelistofsinnersinAristophanesFrogs,bothpoetsmust,directlyorindirectly,gobacktoacommonsourcefromthefifthcentury,136asmust,byimplication,theBolognapapyrus.ThisOrphicsourceapparentlywasinfluencedbytheculturaltheoriesofthesophists.NowthepoetsoccurinAristophanesFrogs(1032-34)too
in a passage that is heavily influenced by the cultural theories of
thesophists,apassagethatFritzGrafconnectedwithOrphicinfluence.137ArewegoingtoofarwhenweseeherealsotheshadowofOrpheuskatabasis?
HavingseenpartoftheinhabitantsofElysium,theSibylnowasksMusaeuswhere
Anchises is (666-678). Norden (p. 300) persuasively compares
thequestion ofDionysus to the Eleusinian initiates where Pluto
lives in Aristo-phanesFrogs (431-433).138 In support of his
argumentNorden observes
thatnormallytheSibylisomniscient,butonlyhereasksforadvice,whichsuggestsadifferentsourceratherthananintentionalpoeticvariation.Naturally,heinfersfromthecomparisonthatbothgobacktothekatabasisofHeracles.Inlinewith
135 Cf. M. TREU, Die neue Orphische Unterweltsbeschreibung und
Vergil,Hermes 82
(1954),p.24-51at35:dieprimitivenWurzelsucher.136NORDEN,o.c.
(n.6),p.287-288;GRAF,o.c. (n.75),p.146note21comparesVI,609with
Ar.,Ra.,149-150(violenceagainstparents),VI,609withRa.,147(violenceagainststrangers)andVI,612-613withRa.,150(perjurers).NotealsotheresemblanceofVI,608,OF717,47andPl.,Resp.
X, 615c regarding fratricides, which also points to an older Orphic
source, as Nordenalreadysaw,withoutknowingtheBolognapapyrus.
137GRAF,o.c.
(n.75),p.34-37.138NotethatneitherStanfordnorDoverreferstoVirgil.
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ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 203
our investigation so far,however,we rather ascribe thequestion
toOrpheuskatabasis, given the later prominence of Musaeus and the
meeting withEleusinian initiates.Highly interesting is
alsoanotherobservationbyNorden.He notes that Musaeus shows them the
valley where Anchises lives from aheight (678: desuper ostentat)
and compares a number of Greek, Roman
andChristianApocalypses.Yethiscomparisonconfusestwodifferentmotifs,eventhough
they are related. In the cases of PlatosRepublic (X, 615d, 616b)
andTimaeus (41e) aswell as CicerosSomnium Scipionis (Rep. VI, 11)
souls see
theotherworld,buttheydonothaveapropertourofhell(orheaven)inwhichasupernaturalperson(Musaeus,God,[arch]angel,Devil)providesaviewfromaheightor
amountain.That iswhatwe find in1 Enoch (17-18),Matthew
(4.8),Revelation(21.10)andtheheavilyJewishinfluencedApocalypse of
Peter(15-16).Inother words, it is hard to escape the conclusion
that Virgil draws here
too,directlyorindirectly,onJewishsources.
6. Anchises and the Heldenschau (679-887)
With this quest for Anchises we have reached the climax of
bookVI.
Itwouldtakeusmuchtoofartopresentadetailedanalysisoftheselinesbut,inlinewithour
investigation,wewill
concentrateonOrphicandOrphic-related(Orphoid?)sources.
Aeneasmeetshisfather,whenthelatterhasjustfinishedreviewingthesoulsofhislinewhoaredestinedtoascendtotheupperlight(679-83).Theyareinavalley,ofwhich
the secluded character isheavily stressed,139while the
riverLethegentlystreamsthroughthewoods(705).ItisratherremarkablethattheRomans
paidmuchmore attention to this river than theGreeks,
whomen-tionedLetheonly rarely and inolder timeshardly ever
explicitly as a river.140Here those souls that are tobe
reincarnateddrink thewaterof forgetfulness.AfterAeneaswonderedwhy
somewouldwant to return to
theupperworld,AnchiseslaunchedintoadetailedStoiccosmologyandanthropology(724-733)beforewe
again findOrphicmaterial: the soul lockedup in thebody as in
aprison(734),whichVergilderivedalmostcertainlystraightfromPlato,justliketheideaofengrafted(738,746:concreta)evil.141
139679-80penitus convalle virenti inclusas animas;703:valle
reducta;704:seclusum
nemus.140Theognis,1216(plainofLethe);Simon.,Anth.
Pal.VII,25,6(houseofLethe);Ar.,Ra.,
186(plainofLethe);Pl.,Resp.X,621ac(plainandriver);TrGFAdesp.fr.372SNELL/KANNICHT(houseofLethe);SEG51,328(cursetablet:Letheasapersonalpower).ForitsoccurrenceintheGoldLeavesseeRIEDWEG,o.c.
(n.16),p.40.
141Soul:Pl.,Crat.,400c(=OF430),Phd.,62b(=OF429),67d,81be,92a;
[Plato],Axioch.,365e;G.REHRENBOCK,DieorphischeSeelenlehreinPlatonsKratylos,WS88(1975),p.17-31;A.BERNAB,UnaetimologaPlatnica:Sma
Sma,Philologus139(1995),p.204-37.FortheafterlifeoftheideaseeP.COURCELLE,Connais-toi
toi-mme de Socrate Saint
Bernard,3vols,Paris,1974-75,II,p.345-80.Engraftedevil:Pl.,Phd.,81c;Resp.X,609a;Tim.,42ac.PlatoandOrphism:
-
204 J.BREMMER
Thepenalties thesoulshave tosuffer tobecomepure
(739-743)maywellderivefromanOrphicsourcetoo,astheBolognapapyrusmentionscloudsandhail,butitistoofragmentarytobeofanyusehere.142Ontheotherhand,theidea
that the souls have to pay a penalty for their deeds in the upper
worldtwiceoccursintheOrphicGoldLeaves.143Orphicisalsotheideaofthecycle(rota)throughwhichthesoulshavetopassduringtheirOrphicreincarnation.144Butwhydoesthecyclelastathousandyearsbeforethesoulscancomebacktolife:mille
rotam volvere per annos (748)?Unfortunately,wearebadly
informedbytherelevantauthorsaboutthepreciselengthofthereincarnation.Empedoclesmentions
thrice ten thousandseasons (B115D-K)andPlato (Phaedr.,249a)mentions
ten thousandyears and, for aphilosophical life, three times
thou-sandyears, but themythofErmentions aperiodof
thousandyears.145ThiswillbeVirgilssourcehere,asalso the idea that
thesoulshave
todrinkfromtheriverLetheisdirectlyinspiredbythemythofErwherethesoulsthathavedrunkfromtheRiverofForgetfulnessforgetabouttheirstayintheotherworldbeforereturningtoearth(Resp.X,621a).
ItwillhardlybechancethatwiththereferencestotheendofthemythofEr,wehavealsoreachedtheendofthemaindescriptionoftheunderworld.Inthe
followingHeldenschau, we find only onemore intriguing reference to
theeschatologicalbeliefsofVirgilstime.Attheend,fatherandsonwanderinthewidefieldsofair(887:aris
in campis latis),surveyingeverything.Inoneofhischaracteristically
wide-ranging and incisive discussions, Norden argued
thatVirgilalludesheretothebeliefthatthesoulsascendtothemoonastheirfinalabode.Thisbelief
isasold,asNordenargues,astheHomeric Hymn to
Demeter,wherewealreadyfinddieIdentifikationderMondgttinHekatemitHekatealsKnigin
der Geister und des Hades.146 However, it must be objected
thatverifiable associations between the two (i.e. Hecate and the
moon) do
notsurvivefromearlierthanthefirstcenturyA.D.147Moreover,theidentificationof
the moon with Hades, the Elysian Fields or the Isles of the Blessed
isrelatively late. It is only in the fourth century BC that we
start to find thistradition among pupils of Plato, such as,
probably, Xenocrates, Crantor
andHeraclidesPonticus,whoclearlywantedtoelaboratetheirMasterseschatologi-
A.MASARACCHIA,OrfeoegliOrfici inPlatone, in idem (ed.),Orfeo e
lOrfismo,Rome,1993,p.173-203,repr.inhisRiflessioni
sullantico,Pisa&Rome,1998,p.373-396.
142TREU,l.c.
(n.135),p.38comparesOF717,130-132;seealsoG.PERRONE,VirgilioAen.VI740-742,Civilt
Classica e Cristiana 6(1985),p.33-41.
143GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c.
(n.52),6,4(Thurii)=OF490,4;27,4(Pherae)=OF493,4.144OF338,467,GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c.
(n.52),5,5(Thurii)=OF488,5,withBERNAB
ad loc.145Pl.,Resp.X,615b,621a.146NORDEN, o.c.
(n.6),p.23-26,alsocomparingServiusonV,735andVI,887;Ps.Probus
p.333-334HAGEN.147S.I.JOHNSTON,Hekate
Soteira,Atlanta,1990,p.31.
-
ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 205
calteachings inthisrespect.148Consequently,thereferencedoes
indeedalludetothesoulsascenttothemoon,butnottotheorphisch-pythagoreischeTheo-logie
(Norden, p. 24). In fact, it is clearly part of thePlatonic
frameworkofVirgil.149
ItisratherstrikingthatinthesamecenturyPlatoisthefirsttomentionSeleneasthemotheroftheEleusinianMusaeus.150Itishardtoaccept,though,thathewouldhavebeentheinventoroftheidea,whichmusthavebeenestablishedinthelatefifthcenturyBC.151DidtheofficialsoftheEleusinianMysterieswanttokeep
up with contemporary eschatological developments, which
increasinglystressed that the soulwent up into the aether, not down
into the subterraneanHades?152Wedonothave enoughmaterial to trace
exactly the initial
develop-mentsoftheidea,butinthelaterfirstcenturyADitwasalreadypopularenoughforAntoniusDiogenestoparodythebeliefinhisWonders
Beyond Thule,aparodytaken to even greater length by Lucian in
hisTrue Histories.153 Virgils
allusion,therefore,musthavebeencleartohiscontemporaries.
7. Conclusions
Whenwenowlookback,wecanseethatVirgilhasdividedhisunderworldinto
several compartments. His division contaminates Homer with
laterdevelopments. In Homer virtually everybody goes to Hades, of
which theTartarus is the deepest part, reserved for the greatest
sinners, the Titans
(Il.XIV,279).Afewspecialheroes,suchasMenelausandRhadamanthys,gotoaseparateplace,
theElysianFields,which ismentionedonlyonce inHomer.154
148W.BURKERT,Lore and Science in Ancient
Pythagoreanism,Cambridge,Mass.,1972,p.366-368,
whoalsopointsout that there isnopre-PlatonicPythagoreanevidence
for thisbelief; seealsoF.CUMONT,Lux
perpetua,Paris,1949,p.175-178;H.B.GOTTSCHALK,Heraclides of
Pontus,Oxford,1980,p.100-105.
149NotethatWilamowitzalreadyrejectedtheMondgttinHeleneoderHekateinhisletterof11June1903thankingNordenforhiscommentary,cf.CALDERIIIandHUSS,Sed
serviendum officio,p.18-21at20.
150Pl.,Resp.II,364e;Philochoros,FGrH328F208,cf.BERNABonMusaeus10-14T.151A.HENRICHS,ZurGenealogiedesMusaios,ZPE58(1985),p.1-8.152
IG I31179,6-7;Eur.,Erechth.,
fr.370,71KANNICHT;Suppl.,533-534;Hel.,1013-1016;Or.,
1086-1087,fr.839,10f,908b,971KANNICHT;P.HANSEN,Carmina
epigraphica Graeca saeculi IV a. Chr.
n.,Berlin&NewYork,1989,no.535,545,558,593.
153ForAntoniusdateseenowG.BOWERSOCK,Fiction as History: Nero to
Julian,Berkeley,LA& London, 1994, p. 35-39, whose
identification of the Faustinus addressed
byAntoniuswithMartialsFaustinusisfarfromcompelling,cf.R.NAUTA,Poetry
for Patrons,Leiden,2002,p.67-68note 96. Bowersock has been
overlooked by P. VON MLLENDORFF,Auf der Suche nach der verlogenen
Wahrheit. Lukians Wahre
Geschichten,Tbingen,2000,p.104-109,althoughhisdiscussionactually
supports an earlier date forAntonius against the traditional one in
the late second orearlythirdcentury.
154 ForHades,Elysium and the Isles of theBlessed seemost
recentlyM.GELINNE,
LesChampslysesetleslesdesBienheureuxchezHomre,HsiodeetPindare,LEC56(1988),
-
206 J.BREMMER
This idea of a special place for select people, which resembles
theHesiodicIslesoftheBlessed(Op.,167-173),musthavelookedattractivetoanumberofpeople
when the afterlife became more important. However, the idea
ofreincarnation soon posed a special problem.Where did those stay
who
hadcompletedtheircycle(6)andthosewhowerestillinprocessofdoingso?ItcannowbeseenthatVirgilfollowsatraditionalOrphicsolutioninthisrespect,asolutionthathadprogressedbeyondHomerinthatmoralcriteriahadbecomeimportant.155
In hisSecond Olympian Ode Pindar pictures a tripartite afterlife
inwhich
thesinnersaresentencedbyajudgebelowtheearthtoendureterriblepains(57-60,67),
thosewhoaregoodmenspendapleasant timewith thegods
(61-67)andthosewhohavecompletedthecycleofreincarnationandhaveledablamelesslifewilljointheheroesontheIslesoftheBlessed(68-80).156Atripartitestructurecanalso
be noticed in Empedocles, who speaks about the place where the
greatsinners are (B 118-21 D-K),157 a place for those who are in
the process
ofpurificaton(B115D-K),158andaplaceforthosewhohaveledavirtuouslifeonearth:
theywill join the tables of the gods (B 147-8D-K). The same
divisionbetweentheeffectsofagoodandabadlifeappearsinPlatosJenseitsmythen.IntheRepublic(X,616a)theserioussinnersarehurledintoTartarus,astheyareinthePhaedo(113d-114c),wherethelessseriousonesmaybestillsaved,whereasthosewhoseem[tohavelived]exceptionallyintothedirectionoflivingvirtuously(tr.C.J.Rowe)passupward
to apure abode.But thosewhohavepurified them-selves sufficiently
with philosophy will reach an area even more
beautiful,presumablythatofthegods(cf.82b10-c1).Theupwardmovementfortheelite,pure
souls, also occurs in the Phaedrus (248-249) and theRepublic (X,
614de),whereasintheGorgias(525b-526d)theygototheIslesoftheBlessed.Allthese
p.225-240;SOURVINOU-INWOOD,o.c.
(n.33),p.17-107;S.MACE,UtopianandEroticFusionina New Elegy by
Simonides (22 West2), ZPE 113 (1996), p. 233-247. For the etymology
ofElysium seenowR.S.P.BEEKES, Hades andElysion, in J. JASANOFF
(ed.),Mr curad: studies in honor of Calvert
Watkins,Innsbruck,1998,p.17-28at19-23.StephanieWEST(onOd.IV,563)wellobservesthatElysiumisnotmentionedagainbeforeApolloniusArgonautica.
155 For good observations seeU.MOLYVIATI-TOPTSIS, Vergils
Elysium and theOrphic-Pythagorean Ideas of After-Life, Mnemosyne
n.s.4 47 (1994), p. 33-46. However, recentscholarship has replaced
her terminology of Orphic-Pythagorean, which she inherited
fromDieterich andNorden,with Orphic-Bacchic, due tonewdiscoveries
ofOrphicGoldLeaves.Moreover,sheoverlookedtheimportantdiscussionbyGRAF,o.c.
(n.75),p.84-87;seenowalsoGRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),p.100-108.
156ForthereflectionofthisschemeinPindarsthrenosfr.129-131aMAEHLERseeGRAF,o.c.
(n.75), p. 84f.Given the absence of anymention ofmysteries in
Pindar,O. II
andmysteriesbeingoutofplaceinPlutarchsConsolatioonewonderswithGrafifinfr.131ashouldnotbereplacedby.
157FortheidentificationofthisplacewithHadesseeA.MARTIN&O.PRIMAVESI,LEmpdo-cle
de Strasbourg,Berlin&NewYork,1999,p.315f.
158F.DALFONSO, LaTerraDesolata.Osservazioni
suldestinodiBellerofonte (Il.
6.200-202),MH65(2008),p.1-31at14-20.
-
ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 207
threedialoguesdisplaythesametripartitestructure,ifwithsomevariations,astheoneof
thePhaedo,althoughthedescription in theRepublic (X,614bff)
isgreatlyelaboratedwithallkindsofdetailsinthetaleofEr.
Finally, in theOrphicGold Leaves the stay in Tartarus is clearly
presup-posedbutnotmentioned,duetothefunctionoftheGoldLeavesaspassporttotheunderworldfortheOrphicdevotees.Yetthefactthatinafourth-centuryBC
Leaf fromThurii the soul says: I have flown out of the heavy,
difficultcycle(ofreincarnations)suggestsasecondstageinwhichthesoulsstillhavetoreturntolife,andthesamestageispresupposedbyalatefourth-centuryLeaffromPharsaloswherethesoulsays:TellPersephonethatBakchioshimselfhasreleased
you (from the cycle).159The final stagewill be like inPindar, as
thesoul,whosepurityisregularlystressed,160willruleamongtheotherheroesorhasbecomeagodinsteadofamortal.161
When taking these tripartite structures into account, we can
also
betterunderstandVirgilsElysium.Itisclearthatwehaveherealsothesamedistinc-tionbetweenthegoodandthesupergoodsouls.Theformerhavetoreturntoearth,butthelattercanstayforeverinElysium.Moreover,theirplaceishigherthantheoneofthosewhohavetoreturn.ThatiswhythesoulsthatwillreturnareinavalleybelowtheareawhereMusaeusis.162Onceagain,VirgillookedatPlatofortheconstructionofhisunderworld.
But as we have seen, it is not only Plato that is an important
source
forVirgil.InadditiontoafewtraditionalRomandetails,suchasthefauces
Orci,wehavealsocalledattentiontoOrphicandEleusinianbeliefs.Moreover,andthisis
really new, we have pointed to several possible borrowings from 1
Enoch.Norden rejected virtually all Jewish influence onVirgil in
his
commentary,163andonecanonlywondertowhatextenthisownJewishoriginplayedaroleinthis
judgement.164Morerecentdiscussions,
though,havebeenmoregenerousinallowingthepossibilityofJewish-SibyllineinfluenceonVirgilandHorace.165
159 GRAF & JOHNSTON, o.c. (n. 52), 5, 5 (=OF 488, 5); 26a, 2
(=OF 485, 2). Dionysos
BakchioshasnowalsoturneduponaLeaffromAmphipolis:GRAF&JOHNSTON,o.c.
(n.52),30,1-2(=OF496n).
160GRAF&JOHNSTON,o.c.
(n.52),5,1;6,1;7,1(allThurii);9,1(Rome)(=OF488,1;490,1;489,1;491,1).
161GRAF&JOHNSTON,o.c.
(n.52),8,11(Petelia)(=OF476,11);3,4(Thurii)(=OF487,4);5,9(Thurii)(=OF488,9),respectively.
162ThiswasalsoseenbyMOLYVIATI-TOPTSIS,o.c.
(n.155),p.43,ifnotveryclearlyexplained.163NORDEN,o.c.
(n.6),p.6.164ForNordensattitudetowardsJudaismseeJ.E.BAUER,EduardNorden:Wahrheitsliebe
und Judentum, in KYTZLER, o. c. (n. 8), p. 205-23; R.G.M.
NISBET, Collected Papers on Latin
Literature,ed.S.J.HARRISON,Oxford,1995,p.75;J.BREMMER,TheApocalypseofPeter:GreekorJewish?,inJ.BREMMERandI.CZACHESZ(eds.),The
Apocalypse of Peter, Leuven,2003,p.15-39at3-4.
165 C. MACLEOD, Collected Essays, Oxford, 1983, p. 218-299 (on
Horaces Epode, 16, 2);NISBET, o.c. (n. 164), p. 48-52, 64-65,
73-75, 163-164;W. STROH, Horaz undVergil in ihren
-
208 J.BREMMER
And indeed, Alexander Polyhistor, who worked in Rome during
Virgilslifetime,wroteabookOn the
JewsthatshowsthatheknewtheOldTestament,but he was also demonstrably
acquainted with Egyptian-Jewish Sibyllineliterature.166Thus
itseemsnot impossibleorevenimplausiblethatamongtheOrphic literature
that Virgil had read, there also were
(Egyptian-Jewish?)OrphickatabaseiswithEnochicinfluence.Unfortunately,however,wehavesolittleleftofthatliteraturethatalltoocertainconclusionswouldbemisleading.In
the end, it is still not easy to see light in the darkness of
Virgils under-world.167
JanBREMMERTroelstralaan,78NL9722JNGRONINGENE-mail:[email protected]
prophetischen Gedichten,Gymnasium 100 (1993), p. 289-322; L.
WATSON,A Commentary on Horaces
Epodes,Oxford,2003,p.481-482,489,508,511(onHoracesEpode16).
166AlexanderPolyhistor,FGrH273F19ab (OT),F79 (4)quotesOr. Sib.
III,397-104, cf.LIGHTFOOT,o.c. (n.39),p.95;seealsoNORDEN,o.c.
(n.3),p.269.
167 Various parts of this paper profited from lectures in Lige
andHarvard in 2008. Forcomments and corrections of my English I am
most grateful to Annemarie Ambhl,
RuurdNauta,DanutaShanzerand,especially,NicholasHorsfall.