OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi THE EPIC DISTILLED OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi The Epic Distilled Studies in the Composition of the Aeneid NICHOLAS HORSFALL 1 OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries ©NicholasHorsfall Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin Impression: Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY,UnitedStatesofAmerica BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressControlNumber: ISBN –––– PrintedinGreatBritainby ClaysLtd,StIvesplc LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi For Robert Lister OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi Preface Thisbookisnot,isNOTatranslationofmyLʼepopeainalambicco,1 though the title recalls, distantly but deliberately, that of the earlier book.Letmetrytoexplainwhycapitalsarerequired: Nearly twenty years ago, I wrote a pamphlet entitled La cultura dellaplebsromana,2inItalian,andpublishedinCatalonia;Iknowof no-onewhopurchasedacopythroughnormalcommercialchannels. Several years passed, and I re-wrote it entirely, conserving odd sen- tences, perhaps even occasionally an entire paragraph, from the original. The new book, The Culture of the Roman plebs (London ),was notindeed atranslation of theoldandwas not socalled. The facts were very easily checked, but swiftly three Princeton pro- fessorsreferredtoitinprint,3intwonumbersofaprominentjournal, asatranslation.4NowalotwentintoLʼepopeainalambicco:actually, it sketched the outlines of what was to follow, not so much of Companion, as of the five ponderous commentaries that came after, outliningcertainthemes,presuppositions,methods,intentionswhich would be followed through in the commentaries, if it looked as though they would work: the commentaries tested Alambicco in practice, and bits of it did work, while unsurprisingly other bits did not. After five commentaries, then, the time had come to re-think, re-work, re-issue Alambicco in a different language, to show how 1 Liguori,Napoli,;withtheoldmethodstheyworkedhonestlyatproducinga reasonablycleantext,andIrememberourpleasant,traditionallabourstogetherwith gratitude. 2 Barcelona. 3 D.Feeney,J.Katz,JRS(),,H.Flower,ib.,(),. 4 Not,alas,quitetheendofthematter,forwhentheirhastyerrorwaspointedout, no-one actuallythought it worthwhile toapologize—asmight rather haveseemed due—inprint.Isaysimplyʻerrorʼandonlyhopethatbehindtheuseofʻtranslationʼ therelurkednoconcealedintenttobelittletheoriginalityofmybook. OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi viii Preface slightly modernized source-criticism had really quite often stood up touseasacritical(orperhapsrather,analytical)tool.5This,therefore, onceagain,isnot,isindeedNOT,atranslation.Itwillbeinteresting toseeifanewergenerationofprofessors,notnecessarilyatPrinceton, will once more be confounded by my (entirely conventional) use of NOT.Actually,gentlereader,thisbookreallyisnotatranslation,and, please,letusallgetitright. Iamdelightedtohavethechancetothankanumberoffriendsand colleagues: Marco Fernandelliʼs hospitality and encouragement remain steadfast, and his recent books on Catullus and Virgil have beenagreathelpinupdatingmybibliographies,largelyoutsideAen.. SandroBarchiesisentmeabook,tempestivamente.RobertListerhas cheered me on through the composition of several books, and I am delightedtobeabletomakehimapresentofthisone;thankyou,dear Robert, for a lot of laughter and many books, some excellent cigars (and port), a wonderful espresso machine, and a great deal of informed, varied, consoling talk over a happy decade and more. Prof. Cynthia Kahn White (University of Arizona, Phoenix) offered generous and timely encouragement, but then she has been a good, kind,intelligentfriendforalongtime,sohersupportwasnosurprise, butitwasexpressedsoveryacutelyandthoughtfully.Ishouldliketo thank Urszula Szulakowska for producing a reference for the cover; herexpertiseintherepresentationofalchemywasverytimely. Iamperplexedbyauthorswhothankpublishersforpermissionto use some printed translation; it can hardly mean (at least, I hope it canhardlymean)thattheauthorscannottranslatetheLatinorGreek properly themselves. Here, when I cite some Virgil or a bit of an ancient Virgil-scholar in both languages, I translate it myself. No morehaveIclearlyunderstoodtheever-longerlistsofpeoplethanked intheprefacesofscholarlybooks.Ingratitudedoesnotcomeintoit; 5 ReaderswillfindfewreferencestothenewVirgilEncyclopedia(ed.R.F.Thomas, J.M.Ziolkowski;vols.,Chichester);itisnotagreathelpforthesortofprecise anddetailedenquirywithwhichthisbookisengaged. OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,2/2/2016,SPi Preface ix this time, I have bothered my friends less than usual: much of the detailwasstudiedbyothereyeswhenwrittenupinthecommentar- ies,andIcheckmyownreferences,unaided,soreadersandreviewers will, when frustrated and misled (not all that often, I hope), know exactly whom to revile. This book was once misguidedly sent to a publisheroverseas;their(anonymous,naturally)readerswereagood dealmorehelpfulthantheircopy-editors.Iamdelightedtohavebeen rescued, vigorously, by Charlotte Loveridge. And not for a moment have I forgotten Ted Kenney, who shrewdly sent me off long ago to readJohnLivingstonLowesʼwonderfulTheroadtoXanadu(paper- back reprint, London ); very nearly fifty years later I am still following that inspiration, to study the prose roots (rather more complex than mere sources) of great poetry. Donʼt blame me; blame, at least in the first instance, EJKʼs (very) good idea,6 or reproachmefornotrejectingit,ifyoumust. NicholasHorsfall Dalnacroich,WesterRoss 6 IsaymoreaboutTedKenneyandaboutXanaduinmyAen.commentary:vd. prefaceandAppendix.