Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates the references to swords in key scenes in the Aeneid – particularly the scenes of Dido’s and Turnus’ death – in order to add new perspectives on these scenes and on the way in which they impact on the presentation of Aeneas’ Roman mission in the epic. In Chapter Two I attempt to provide an outline of the mission of Aeneas. I also investigate the manner in which Dido and Turnus may be considered to be opponents of Aeneas’ mission. In Chapter Three I investigate references to swords in select scenes in book four of the Aeneid. I highlight an ambiguity in the interpretation of the sword that Dido uses to commit suicide and I also provide a description of the sword as a weapon and its place in the epic. In Chapter Four I provide an analysis of the references to swords in Dido’s and Turnus’ death scenes alongside a number of other important scenes involving mention of swords. I preface my analyses of the references to swords that play a role in interpreting Dido and Turnus’ deaths with an outline of the reasons for the deaths of each of these figures. The additional references to swords that I use in this chapter are the references to the sword in the scene of Deiphobus’ death in book six and to the sword and Priam’s act of arming himself on the night on which Troy is destroyed. At the end of Chapter Four I look at parallels between Dido and Turnus and their relationship to the mission of Aeneas. At the end of this thesis I am able to conclude that an investigation and analysis of the references to swords in select scenes in the Aeneid adds to existing scholarship in Dido’s and Turnus’ death in the following way: a more detailed investigation of the role of swords in the interpretation of Dido’s death from an erotic perspective strengthens the existing notion in scholarship that Dido is an obstacle to the mission of Aeneas. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die verwysings na swaarde in kerntonele in die Aeneïs – hoofsaaklik die sterftonele van Dido en Turnus – met die oog daarop om addisionele perspektiewe te verskaf op hierdie tonele en die impak wat hulle het op die voorstelling van Aeneas se Romeinse missie in die epos. In hoofstuk twee poog ek om ’n oorsig te bied van Aeneas se Romeinse missie. Ek stel ook ondersoek in na die mate waartoe Dido en Turnus as teenstanders van Aeneas se Romeinse missie beskou kan word. In Hoofstuk Drie ondersoek ek die verwysings na swaarde in spesifieke tonele van boek vier van die Aeneïs. Ek verwys na ’n dubbelsinnigheid in die interpretasie van die swaard wat Dido gebruik om selfmoord te pleeg en verskaf ook ’n beskrywing van die swaard as ’n wapen en die gebruik daarvan in die epos. In Hoofstuk Vier verskaf ek ‘n ontleding van die verwysings na swaarde in Dido en Turnus se sterftonele saam met ’n aantal ander belangrike tonele met verwysings na swaarde. Ek lei my ontleding van die beskrywings van die swaarde wat ’n rol speel in die interpretasie van Dido en Turnus se sterftes in met ’n uiteensetting van die redes vir die dood van elk van hierdie figure. Die addisionele verwysings na swaarde wat ek in hierdie hoofstuk ontleed, is die verwysing na die swaard in die toneel van Deiphobus se dood in boek ses en die verwysing na die swaard in die toneel waar Priamus sy wapenrusting aantrek op Troje se laaste aand. Aan die einde van Hoofstuk Vier ondersoek ek die parallele tussen Dido en Turnus en hulle verhouding tot Aeneas se Romeinse missie. Hierdie tesis ondersoek die verwysings na swaarde in kerntonele in die Aeneïs – hoofsaaklik die sterftonele van Dido en Turnus – met die oog daarop om addisionele perspektiewe te verskaf op hierdie tonele en die impak wat hulle het op die voorstelling van Aeneas se Romeinse missie in die epos. In hoofstuk twee poog ek om ’n oorsig te bied van Aeneas se Romeinse missie. Ek stel ook ondersoek in na die mate waartoe Dido en Turnus as teenstanders van Aeneas se Romeinse missie beskou kan word. In Hoofstuk Drie ondersoek ek die verwysings na swaarde in spesifieke tonele van boek vier van die Aeneïs. Ek verwys na ’n dubbelsinnigheid in die interpretasie van die swaard wat Dido gebruik om selfmoord te pleeg en verskaf ook ’n beskrywing van die swaard as ’n wapen en die gebruik daarvan in die epos. In Hoofstuk Vier verskaf ek ‘n ontleding van die verwysings na swaarde in Dido en Turnus se sterftonele saam met ’n aantal ander belangrike tonele met verwysings na swaarde. Ek lei my ontleding van die beskrywings van die swaarde wat ’n rol speel in die interpretasie van Dido en Turnus se sterftes in met ’n uiteensetting van die redes vir die dood van elk van hierdie figure. Die addisionele verwysings na swaarde wat ek in hierdie hoofstuk ontleed, is die verwysing na die swaard in die toneel van Deiphobus se dood in boek ses en die verwysing na die swaard in die toneel waar Priamus sy wapenrusting aantrek op Troje se laaste aand. Aan die einde van Hoofstuk Vier ondersoek ek die parallele tussen Dido en Turnus en hulle verhouding tot Aeneas se Romeinse missie.

Texte remanié de : Ph. D. / Revision of author's thesis (Ph. D.).

Thesis--Johns Hopkins University, 1905. / "Originally published 1911." Bibliography: p. 143-144.

Édition de : Thèse 3e cycle : Etudes latines : Paris 4 : 1986. / Bibliogr. p. [225]-228 Notes bibliogr. Index.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Santiago de Compostela, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [239]-259) and index.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Santiago de Compostela, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [239]-259) and index.

Landscape in Roman literature is manifest with symbolic potential: in particular, Vergil and Ovid respond to ideologically loaded representations of abundance in nature that signal the dawn of the Augustan golden age. Vergil's Eclogues foreground a locus amoenus landscape which articulates both the hopes of the new age as well as the political upheaval that accompanied the new political regime; Ovid uses the same topography in order to suggest the arbitrary and capricious use of power within a deceptively idyllic landscape. Moreover, for Latin poets, depictions of landscape are themselves sites for poetic reflection as evidenced by the discussion of landscape ecphrases in Horace's Ars Poetica. My thesis focuses upon the depiction and refiguration of the locus amoenus landscape in the post-Augustan epics of the first century AD: Lucan's Bellum Civile, Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica, Statius' Thebaid and Silius Italicus' Punica. Landscape in these poems retains the moral, political and metapoetic force evident in the Augustan archetypes. However, I suggest that Lucan's Neronian Bellum Civile fundamentally refigures the landscapes of Latin epic poetry, inscribing the locus amoenus with the nefas of civil war in such a manner that it redefines the perception of landscape in the succeeding Flavian poets. Lucan perverts the landscape, making the locus horridus, a landscape of horror, fear and disgust, the predominant landscape of Latin epic; consequently, the poems of Valerius, Statius and Silius engage with Lucan's refiguration of landscape as a means of expressing the horror of civil war. In the first part of my thesis I examine archetypal landscapes, including those of the Augustan poets and Lucan's Bellum Civile. Taking an approach which engages with literary reception theory and the concept of the â horizon of expectationâ as a framework within which literary topographies can be understood as articulating a response to the thematics of civil war, in the second part of my thesis I demonstrate the manner in which landscapes represent a coherent and paradigmatic response to Lucan's imposition of his civil war narrative within the literary landscape of Roman literature.

The Thesis analyses and evaluates how Gavin Douglas (Eneados, 1513) has refocused Virgil's Aeneid, principally by giving more emphasis to the serial particularity inherent in the story, loosening the narrative structure and involving the reader in its retelling. Chapter I pieces together (from the evidence not merely of what Douglas explicitly says, but of what his words imply) what for him a "text" in general is, and what accordingly it means for a translator or a reader to be engaged with it. This sets the scene for what follows. The next four Chapters look in turn at how he re-expresses important (metaphysical) characteristics of the story. In Chapter II his handling of time is discussed, and compared with Virgil's: the Chapter sets out in detail how Douglas consistently refocuses temporal predicates, foregrounding their disjunctiveness and making them differently felt. In Chapter III spatial position and distance are analysed, and Douglas' way of dealing with space is found to display parallels with his treatment of time: networks are loosened and nodal points are accentuated. In Chapter IV the way in which he presents individuals is compared with Virgil's, and a similar repatterning and shift reveals itself: Douglas provides his persons with firmer boundaries. Chapter V deals with fate, where Douglas encounters special difficulties but maintains his characteristic way of handling the story. The aim of these four Chapters is to characterise formally how Douglas concretises and vivifies the tale of Aeneas, engaging his readers throughout in the retelling. Finally, Chapter VI looks at certain general principles of translation theory (notably connected with the ideas of faithfulness and accuracy) and argues for a way in which Douglas' translation can be fairly experienced by the reader and fairly evaluated as a lively retelling which (albeit distinctive) is fundamentally faithful to Virgil.