Vergil's Creusa and "Iliad 6" Author(s): Lisa B. Hughes Reviewed work(s): Source: Mnemosyne, Fourth Series, Vol.

50, Fasc. 4 (Aug., 1997), pp. 401-423 Published by: BRILL Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4432753 . Accessed: 28/08/2012 19:44
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VERGIL'S

CREUSA

AND

ILIAD

BY

USA There is critical agreement in illuminating the character whether the light is favorable. loss of Creusa gests mane hostile endorses Ovid's toward makes Aeneas that Aeneas' action',

B. HUGHES on Creusa's to the Aeneid importance of Aeneas, but polar disparity as to and Some assert that the appearance

more sympathetic1), while another sugwife his for inhuof shows his 'neglect' 'capacity In her in his killing Turnus2). which will culminate with Creusa, Perkell of Aeneas' relationship of Aeneid 2 almost as old as the Aeneid itself. critical and unforgiving of Aeneas' behavior accuses him:

interpretation a reading Dido Creusa. She

is likewise

Omnia

mentiris: nee enim tua fallere lingua Incipit a nobis, primaque plectar ego. Si quaeras ubi sit formosi mater Iuli, Occidit a duro sola relieta viro. {Her. 7. 81-4)3) is considerable variation in the accounts Trojan concludivergent to him, we must of the

There

hero and his wife, material that can lead to widely of the wealth of options available sions4). Because

Maro, RE 8 A2 (1958), 1357; ?. Otis, Vagit A Study 1) ?. B?chner, P. Vergilius in Civilized Poetry (Oxford 1963), 250; R. G. Austin (ed.), VirgilAeneid II (Oxford (Ann Arbor 1968), 120; 1966), ad be, K. Quinn, Virgil'sAeneid:A CriticalDescription R. Heinze, Virgil's Epic Techniquetransi. H. and D. Harvey and F. Robertson (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1993), 36. 2) C. Perkell, On Creusa,Dido, and the Qualify of Victoryin Virgil'sAeneid, in: H. Foley (ed.), Refections of Womenin Antiquity(New York 1981), 372. 3) See also M. Casali, Altre Voci nell'Eneidedi Ovidio, MD 35 (1995). 4) In the earliest myth she was called Eurydica (Cypria,in Pausan. 10.26.1; Enn. Ann. 37); though others called her Creusa (Iivy 1.3.2; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3.31.4; schol. Lye. 1263; App. Reg. 1; AeL, NA 11. 16). In all of the above, save Livy and Aelian, Creusa is the daughter of Priam, while in Apollodorus (Bibl. 3.12.5), and Hyginus (Fab. 90), she is called Priam's daughter, but not the wife of Aeneas. It is likely that Vergil would have known the variants, especially those in Ennius, Dionysius, and Apollodorus. It is likely too that the Aeneiditself contributed to the stabilization or uniformity of later reports, such as Appian, Aelian, or the scholiast ? Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, 1997 Mnemosyne,Vol. L, Fase. 4

402 read dition, shows

USA B. HUGHES of Creusa as carefully designed. One traadaptation older than that of the 'abandonment' of Creusa, accompanying cites Hellanicus the hero into exile. Dionysius of for this version:

Vergil's

probably his wife

Halicarnassus

. . . (Aeneas) ?????a? d? t?? p??a? ?p?e? s??teta??????? ???? t??? ???p??? f???da?, a???????? ?p? ta?? ??at?sta?? s?????s? t?? te pat??a ?a? ?e??? t??? pat????? ???a??? te ?a? t???a ?a? t?? ????? e? p?e?st?? ????? ?? s??a ? ????a. (Ant. Rom. 1.45.4) Naevius follows:

. . . amborum uxores noctu Troiad exibant capitibus opertis, fientes ambae, abeuntes lacrimis cum multis. (Bell. Pun. fr. 4 M) In addition, ture evidence iconographical But while Dionysius abounds5). source (Ant. Rom. 1.48.1), 'p?st?tat??' of Aeneas' the assembled among those actions contains attesting to their joint deparHellanicus as the privileges his otherwise complimentary For problem. Creusa is no

account when longer

a small potential take their final departure, Trojans as included: specified

.. . t??? d? ?????? pa?da? ???e?a? pa?a?a??? ?a? t?? pat??a ?a? ta t? ?a?t???? a?tf, d?ap?e? t?? ed? t?? ?e??, epe?d? pa?es?e??s?? ????sp??t??... (Ant. Rom. 1.47.6) There is a gap, and now she may be there, and simply In any case, or she may have somehow disappeared6). absence is not accounted for. This potential problem where there are is realized, however, accusations explicit in other not named, her sudden of Vergil's him. Lyco-

sources against has Cassandra that Aeneas will lose phron, for instance, prophesy of his family, saving his father and household gods at the expense his wife and children: ?a? ?a? t???a/?a? ?t?s?? pa??sa? d??a?ta in which Ascanius is not saved a???? (Alex. 1263-4). This scenario, with Anchises is clearly not identical to what Vergil eventually re-

of Lycophron. Still, that un-Vergilian details survive into Hyginus and Pausanias reminds us of their prevalence. 5) Austin (note 1 above), ad 795, provides numerous iconographical references. 6) The Tabula Iliaca reflects the same apparent discrepancy. In the first scene, the departure from the city gate, Aeneas and Ascanius are accompanied by a woman, while below, at the ship, the woman is no longer there.

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6 Nor in fact, is this so much a criticism as a description presents. his piety. Creusa nevertheless, whether to his credit or his shame, now a low priority7).

403 of is

a sensitive and Indeed, by the time of Vergil, Creusa has become difficult topic, a great potential for the poet. How Vergil anxiety to negotiate this anxiety, chooses then, is of utmost importance. Perkell demonstrates one of his strategies. his eventual Emphasizing from Perkell out the her, separation points many ways in which Aeneas' relationship with Creusa is similar to the one he shares with Dido, reading. the In queen fact, of Carthage. But the 'abandonment Vergil motif confounds seems to this have simple been

adopted primarily to be subverted. two additional elements significant the blame that might otherwise

By introducing, to this paradigm, accrue

or interweaving, Vergil forestalls

to the departing hero. First, he fills the problem to gap left by Hellanicus (What happened in which the mother of material, Creusa?) with explicit exculpating the gods preserves Creusa at Troy8). He creates further sympathy with an extended allusion to Iliad 6, where Aeneas' model, Hector, is quite sympathetic. The thesis of this paper is that Creusa's presence and loss increase our sympathy for Aeneas, in particular in Book 2 where his actions recall and repeat those of Hector in Iliad 6. I shall show how the paradigm of abandonment is problematized, Aeneas' behavior ameliorated, Iliad 6, which are incorporated recorded also by Pausanias. The motif of 'hero leaving and verbal echoes of by structural into the rescue of Creusa legend

a woman' in the is very familiar, to Troy, and many of these Odyssey and in myth not connected scenes of leave-taking are invoked as Aeneas himself 'leaves' a number of women the first half of the poem, throughout including Creusa Iliad colors and Dido9). But a subtle and unrecognized element from the Aeneas' For another of leaving. prototypical episode

7) Pseudo-Xenophon relays the same story, of Aeneas gaining reputation and favors for choosing to save his father and family gods (Cyn. 1.15). 8) ?p? d? t? ??e??s? ?????s?? ?? ? ?e?? ??t?? ?a? ?f??d?t? d???e?a? ap? '??????? a?t?? ????sa?t?, e??a? ?a? d? ?a? ???e??? t?? ?????sa? ???a??a (10.26.1). 9) E.g. Odysseus and Calypso (Od. 5. 205 ff.), Odysseus and Circe (Od. 10. 478 fi.), Odysseus and Arete (Od. 13.59-62), Jason and Medea (Eur. Med.), Theseus and Ariadne (Catul. 64. 52-266).

404

USA B. HUGHES

in Iliad 6. from Andromache is Hector's departure leave-taking of Iliad 6 as a subtext of Aeneid 2 contributes The introduction deal

to our reading of Vergil10). Using this episode as a subgreat text, we are led to a more positive reading of Aeneas in his episodes Homeric role assigned to The of 'abandonment'11). decidedly her appearance when we consider becomes most apparent the Hector's as part of the larger structure that replicates meeting in 6. And so Iliad and three women, Andromache, Hecuba, Helen, also look at the in evaluating Creusa's role, we shall corresponding situain enacting this Homeric Aeneas encounters triad of women Creusa tion. Immediately and re-enacts Hector, Andromache Priam's fall, Aeneas assumes Hector's role following his moves through the besieged all of city. As nearly in had met his Iliad 6 to the city mother, Helen, returning

and his child, so Aeneas meets Helen, his own mother, and his own wife and child. As Hector explains his personal reasons of what he is about to us of the necessity for fighting he convinces But where his challenge at this similarly o? fighting, to show the necessity to convince us of the crucial juncture, of Creusa city. Finally, identification was

do.

Aeneas

needs, the of abandoning necessity and the Trojan women of the Iliad gives us a conwith Andromache which we come to undertext for reading Creusa's role, through stand what it means when Aeneas loses Creusa. Before Aeneas and

10) We find variations on the Iliadic farewell recurring throughout the poem with various effects. It is peculiar then, that R. S. Conway, enumerating Vergil's use of Homer says specifically, 'Where resemblances are so numerous, it is interesting to note examples of things which Vergil wholly left on one side. Such incidents as the friendly ending of a duel between Ajax and Hector, or the beautiful farewell of Hector to Andromache and their ch?d, could hardly find a place in Vergil's story. . .', R. S. Conway, Vergilas a Studentof Homer, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 13.3 (1929), 280. 11) Hector takes his leave of Andromache to return to batde, but he does not actually 'leave' her in the sense of 'abandonment'. To read Hector's farewell to Andromache as analogous to that of Aeneas and Creusa, or Aeneas and Dido, we need first to understand it as a 'final' farewell, and not just a temporary one. L. Feldman, Ascanius and Astyanax:A Comparative Studyof Vagii and Homer, CJ 53 (19578), 361-6, presents strong arguments and extensive bibliography for the case that 'for aesthetic reasons the parting scene in Book 6 must be final.' E. Bethe, Homer, Dichtungund Sage, I (Leipzig 1914), 232 ff., also suggests that we read Hector's words as a final farewell.

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6 Creusa

405

re-enact the homil?a of the Iliad, we see a miniature version of Hecuba and Priam12). of it in the final meeting For the Aeneid, the shift in emphasis from Priam's house as the embodiment and representation of Troy to Aeneas and his house is the death of Priam. Heinze names Vergil as the first to signalled by have made the death of Priam the acme of Troy's fall13). Bowie observes further that Priam's death in significance, not gains because read with the fall, but because it can be temporally of the end of the city14). Vergil achieves this Priam's death in terms which recall the symbolism by describing death of Hector in the Iliad, where the hero's death prefigures a litto be symbolic eral fall that will take place outside of the poem15). strates the equivalence of the two deaths by adducing of parallels with the Iliad, drawing almost exclusively the twenty-second book. We can corroborate to Hector and Bowie demonin an abundance on Hector it coincides

Bowie's assertion references by recognizing his appearance in Iliad 6. Since Hector's death is foreshadowed here for the first time16), this passage should be considered a companion dramatize piece to those books that explicitly his demise. For this thesis, the identification of Priam with Hector at this point is crucial, for I will show that upon Priam's fall Aeneas' role as the bulwark be considered It is not from Book as much of Troy becomes activated. And in this he is to the next Hector, as the next Priam. farewell common scene images, that will be recalled themes, characters,

only the Homeric 6, but numerous

12) M. Arthur, The Divided Worldof Iliad 6, in: H. Foley (ed.), Reflections of Women in Antiquity(New York 1981), 19-44, has a thorough and insightful analysis of the meeting between Hector and Andromache in Iliad 6, and it is from her that I take the term 'homilia'. 13) Heinze (note 1 above), 39. 14) A. M. Bowie, The Death of Priam: Allegoryand History in the Aeneid, CQ 40.2 (1990), 470-1. 15) 'Mit Hektors Tod ist Ilion seines Besch?tzers beraubt, nun ist der Untergang to gewiss,' Bethe (note 11 above), 211. S. Schein, The Mortal Hero: An Introduction Homer'sIliad (Berkeley 1984), 179-91, describes how Hector represents Troy, '. . . they celebrate the funeral not only of the pre-eminent representative of their culture and civilization but of the city itself, whose destruction is inextricably bound up with that of Hektor.' G. N. Knauer, Die Aeneidund Homer(G?ttingen 1964), 380 f., shows that Vergil's Priam is reminiscent of Homer's Hector. 16) //. 6. 447-65.

406 and patterns

USA B. HUGHES

link the books. Aeneas' journey through the besieged our with Hector the through beseiged city. Iliad city repeats journey 6 is first called to our minds subtly in Aeneid 2 as Aeneas describes in in the houses of Priam. In this narrative, a secret passageway which no role nor needs be menplays absolutely that in happier introduces tioned at all, Aeneas her, reminiscing used to use this passage to bring Astyanax to see times Andromache the wife of Hector of the The conspicuous image (Aen. 2.456-7). the same in its Greek in the Latin epic summons her small child, meets when Andromache, There, holding on the wall, she gives him strategic advice. This action is because military strategizing of a woman. The remain within was exact not typically advice she thought gives in it where

his grandparents mother and child model. Hector

memorable Homer

to be in the domain it is weak:

is that he should ?a?? d? st?s??

p???? ?a? ?p?d????? ep?et? his narrative of his movements obscure detail of the weak

the wall, protecting ?st? pa?' ????e??, ???a ????sta/???at?? As Aeneas continues te???? (//. 6.433-4). that night, in the wall: he too mentions

the

adgressi ferro eircum, qua spot summa labantis/iuncturas tabulata dabant . . . (Aen. 2. 463-4), and this Andromache after he had mentioned going there with just moments and her son, Priam's of Andromache her baby. With the mention palace, the city wall, and the weak spot of the wall, the sixth book of the Iliad should be fixed in our minds for the rest of the unfolding action. Likewise, the general atmosphere rience is depicted so as to re-create return. He sees women anxious in the city during Aeneas' expethe atmosphere during Hector's throughout:

and distressed

at domus interior gemitu miseroque tumultu miscetur, penitusque cavae plangoribus aedes femineis ululant; ferit aurea sidera clamor. turn pavidae tectis matres ingentibus errant amplexaeque tenent postis atque oscula figunt. (Aen. 2. 486-90) The visit: ??t?? d*?? S?a??? te p??a? ?a? f???? ??a?e? ??f* ??a ??? ????? a????? ???? ?d? ???at?e? e????e?a? pa?d?? te ?as????t??? te eta? te ?a? p?s?a?... (//. 6. 237-40). women are likewise an important presence during Hector's

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6 It is well daughter to remember of Priam here that identification of Creusa her with

407 as the

is deliberate, are also

and identifies

the women

of//?a/617). Both passages

of Priam's striking for their descriptions palace. Heinze indicates that other versions of the last night of Troy should lead us to expect the action to take place at an acropolis, He couples and that Priam's palace is itself a striking innovation. this remark that Both As with the observation is alone innovations Vergilian night18). collection Iliad 6. Aeneas of these as he uniquely the city that through contribute to our respecifically describes it in of Troy as Homer goes that it is odd and

of details Hector

of the image enters Troy

of the palace, lingering description He describes the craftsmanship.

the poet gives a leisurely alone, over details of its beauty and fine of Priam's the chambers inside,

that goes on within is that each child and the activity children; with his or her spouse (//. 6. 242-50). sleeps on the In his first person account Aeneas also stops to comment But whereas in the Iliad the order palace of Priam (Aen. 2. 480-505). from the of the inside of the and the beauty palace were preserved the disaster has clearly here in Aeneas' account madness without, the same feathe house. And though he still describes penetrated it is only to recount how they tures of the house and its inhabitants, halls are filled with shrieking were filled with horror. The beautiful And the mothers. embraced are the columns women, by frightened of Priam have falof the sons and daughters-in-law fifty bedrooms All of these features, the emlen and run with blood (2. 483-505). of the fifty bedthe on the of beauty palace, description phasis answer specific and the halls filled with anxious women, chambers, details from Homer's account of the inside of the palace. Their precise correspondence the physical scene from serves to re-create even of the city and the inside to Homer's description Iliad 6, but here with background, an

greater sense of urgency and despair. Once the scene has been set to provide the familiar

17) Austin (note 1 above), ad loc, concurs that she implies that she is the daughter of Priam with 'Dardanis' (2.787), and that she needn't be so identified, and returns to the same conclusion ad 795. 18) Heinze (note 1 above), 19, cites Hellanicus as the source for what we should rather expect.

408

USA B. HUGHES

of the Iliad. Aeneas reminiscent Vergil goes on to invent incidents as Priam briefly attempts to become watches He puts on Hector. his arms, long since unused, and tries to go out to face the enemy, even to death (2. 509-11). Hecuba urges him to abandon battle and to join her and the other women at the altar. Since she is the wife to that of Androher role is analogous warrior, on the wall, as she implores into her husband to withdraw the city. To Priam, as he attempts Hector's Hecuba remarks role, that he is too old and weak to offer any help in a time like this, and she advises that he join her and the other women huddled around mache the altar immediate speaks to her husband, he too is on his way out to battle. Also, the foe that Priam plans to meet is the son of Hector's rival19). We have remarked above on the significance of Andromache's in Hecuba's words to her husband, military advice to her husband. are akin to Andromache's advice in Iliad both tone and substance, 6. Andromache's plea was perhaps tearful, but she was not begging him not to fight, she merely asked him to adopt a more defensive might strategy. She believes stand a chance to Priam win if he goes out, but that he if he stays within the walls. Likewise Hecuba when she advises him to seek the pragmatically that he cannot in the scenes that will in some Besides the marital relationship, (Aen. 2.519-24). structural parallel is that when Andromache another of this would-be

speaks altar. There senses Homer's

is one significant difference an come to characterize

mother, His sister-in-law her too. within Then the

between important In Homer, Hector meets his and Vergil's. Trojan women who advises that he take refreshment, and he resists her. difference Helen he resists When offers him a chance advises Andromache's Hecuba to join her and with no demur. counsel to rest, and he resists that he fight from the Priam to abandon

wall.

of fighting and thought yields to her admonition nevertheless not in his fighting

she was right that any hope strength but in Pyrrhus'

the girls at the altar, he he dies anyway, Granted he might feed on would lie respect of the altar and

19) For the equivalence here of Hector and Priam, see Bowie (note 14 above), passim. The other correspondences follow by analogy.

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6 the gods. Pyrrhus, and Priam: has no such and

409 so fall Troy

however,

respect,

haec finis Priami fatorum, hie exitus ilium sorte tulit Troiam incensam et prolapsa videntem Pergama, tot quondam populis terrisque superbum regnatorem Asiae. . . (Aen. 2.554-7) and her husbetween Hecuba are privy to this conversation what saw last night of he on the Aeneas' narration of through in the house of Priam, Troy. Up until this scene, Troy is embodied the and thus to describe the fate of Troy is the same as describing We sufferings of Priam's 'tell me what This house. At some request about the house tale of Aeneas. break happened of Priam. Now moment earlier point the answer to the to Troy,' would lie in a narrative the request is best answered by the

band

and the transition

in emphasis marks the from the Iliad to the Aeneid, or from Trojan and this switch Aeneas When

Rome. Troy to Trojan ceases to be the audience

Priam's he leaves palace Priam Iliad enacted 6 watching being by but he becomes and Hecuba, the actor himself. In his rush through the besieged had encountered Hecuba (his mother), city, Hector in his rush Helen, and his wife. In almost the same order, Aeneas, and his Helen, his mother, Hecuba20), through the city encounters wife. 6.342 woman had seen after Hecuba was Helen (IL Hector in So Aeneid. The also does here the Aeneas, fi). authenticity of this passage has been questioned21). But Conte argues cogently on structural that grounds that the passage is authentic, suggesting next it is a re-enactment hand of the Homeric scene where Achilles draws his in anger against Agamemnon, but is stayed by a vision of I that the scene supports or underlies Athena22). accept this, adding more than just one Homeric structural pattern being repeated here. As much as Helen and Venus contribute to the re-enactment of the 20) The presence of Hecuba at the death of Priam is attested on the Tabula Iliaca and in Eur. Tr. 481. But this narration is the only account which has Aeneas seeing her that night, and his seeing her is important in establishing our structural pattern from the Iliad. 21) Austin (note 1 above), 219, provides extensive bibliography on the question. 22) G. Conte, The Rhetoricof Imitation:Genreand Poetic Memoryin Virgil and Other Latin Poets (Ithaca 1986), 196-208. The

410 structural

USA B. HUGHES

from Iliad 1, at the same time they are vitally pattern the to important pattern from Iliad 6 which is being simultaneously In this pattern, Helen plays herself to Aeneas' Hector, interwoven. while Venus has the more natural role of playing his mother. In Iliad 6 when Hector meets the triad of significant women, each is Paris in the bouis in a significant with befittingly, place?Helen, doir. There is a tradition that upon the fall of Troy, Helen took reand such a setting would be confuge in the temple of Aphrodite23), sistent with what we expect of Helen, the perfect complement to the scene. In Vergil, she is dislocated, hiding in the temple of If a place, such as 'Helen's can be thought to have boudoir', an opposite, then this temple, known for its virgins and its respect for the hearth, must be it. Clearly the poet contrived the switch to catch our attention is transand disrupt our expectations. Nothing boudoir Vesta. Aeneas reAeneas and Helen. But in his narration, upon seeing Helen, as well as the words of thoughts his mother; and these combined the same essentially encompass issues that were a feature of Hector's meeting with Helen in Homer. acted between lates his own In the The under Hector, without into Paris along with Helen. meets his brother Iliad, Hector is that he believes Paris is reason for his visit to their chamber to join the a great obligation it is happening on his account. and Helen replies battle Paris since, to according this assertion

question, going back.

that Helen

of decency, More her for a moment. brothers' describe receives assessment herself

and his sense

compliments and she invites

accepts has just been talking him Hector on his battle prowess him

importantly, of her own blame. the most

to stay and rest with she continues the however, The words she uses to she characterization

here provide in the whole epic:

negative

dae? e?e?? ????? ?a????????? ??????ss??, ?? ?' ?fe?' ??at? t? ?te ?e p??t?? te?? ??t?? ???es?a? p??f????sa ?a?? ??????? ??e??a e?? ???? ? e?? ???a p???f???s???? ?a??ss??, ???a ?e ???' ?p?e?se p???? t?de ???a ?e??s?a?. (//. 6. 344-8) This judgement does not really seem to reflect the opinion poem itself, since the Argives regard Helen as having been 23) See Ibycus (schol. ad Eur. Andr. 631), and the Tabula Iliaca. of the raped

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6

411

and the Trojan elders assure her that she is not blameworthy (IL 3. in her does not Helen more Hector but 162-5). self-castigation, join is the fact he never or that corrects to assure her, attempts telling her that she is wrong, as Priam had on the wall. I should not be too insistent upon his negativity toward her in this scene, for later she will eulogize his corpse, declaring that he was genuinely kind to her. Still, in contrast with the rest of the poem, this encounter is in in this to the And Aeneas' Helen Aeneid negative. respect response should judge brief impulse to kill her, the significant detail of his thoughts is that he clearly holds this woman for the destruction responsible of Troy, just as Hector had24). Aeneas' would In Iliad 6, Hector had looked to the future, to a time when Troy a scenario which he would find unacfall, and he imagined When he meets his wife on the wall, he expresses his fear ceptable. makes of her potential enslavement It is not his own wife that (6.456-7). Aeneas think of the future, but the sight of Helen. As he sees her here, his thoughts race forward to the time when the queen be granted a triumphant in her retinue: Trojan women might return to Sparta, even with enslaved 2 is rather like Hector's in Iliad 6. For however we

scilicet haec Spartani incolumis patriasque Mycenas aspiciet, partoque ibit regina triumpho, coniugiumque domumque patris natosque videbit Iliadum turba et Phrygiis comitata ministris? (Aen. 2. 577-80) The is the same as the one Hector had, imagines its emphasis not on the conquered except that it is inverted, Trojan but on the triumphant It is this triumph that women, Spartan. finds unacceptable, Aeneas this that almost drives him to the unAeneas thinkable?to Here part. Venus' the murder of an unarmed woman at an altar. counterof 'hero his mother appears, fulfilling yet another Homeric fulfills the structural appearance requirement while She it also stays scene

mother', meeting Helen episode25).

the completion for the provides the hand he had raised against Helen,

24) Again, in contradiction with the rest of the poem, Hector will become more explicit in his condemnation just before his death, as he pronounces Helen the beginning of the strife, ? t ?p?et? ?e??e?? a??? (//. 22.116). 25) G. ?. Knauer, Vergil'sAeneid and Homer, in: S. J. Harrison (ed.), Oxford

412

USA B. HUGHES

his mind. She satisfies two needs saving him from the furor invading in Aeneas in her appearance here. First, both for the sake of her son and for the poem, she makes absolutely clear that Troy's fall is of the gods, and Helen and Paris are in no Paris in his thoughts, way to be blamed. Aeneas had not mentioned of Paris in this point nicely accords with the but Venus' inclusion the work fact that in the Iliad 6 version peared together to Hector of this scene and shared the husband blame and wife in his apmind. the will and

is that she saves him, and reminds him of what Equally important his priorities should be here. As he fled Priam's palace, his mind the safety of his family and they were his chief 2. (Aen. 560-3). But the vision of Helen distracts him, and This is why his vision of the future seems to diverts his attention. His distraction from Hector's. is the reabe focused so differently turned toward concern son why he fixes on Helen leading the train rather than Creusa followhim of where his his mother also reminds ing in it. Fortunately, efforts see to the security of should and his to redirects be, thoughts his father, his wife, and his son (Aen. 2.597-8). In respect to Homeric certain aspects of models, Venus embodies and of Hecuba, the mortal mother. Her Thetis, the divine mother, of Troy is a gift him the gods at work in the destruction showing is for his but the thrust of her concern only a god could bestow, her emphasis on domestic affairs. In this she is mortal well-being, for in like Homer's Hecuba. Venus' role is of critical importance, as the mother of the central Trojan warrior, she Hecuba replacing is the first instance of the newly emerging vital, female, Trojan Creusa too will come to enjoy and elevated in position. beneficent, such a status. had

Aeneid(Oxford 1990), 390-412, has explained that VergiTs econReadingsin Vergil's omy in including all of the Iliad and the Odysseyin the Aeneid necessitates the fact that most Vergilian scenes have more than one epic model, and can be used as integral elements in unrelated structural patterns. Here is clearly an example. In his argument for the authenticity of the Helen episode, Conte (note 22 above) compares Venus' staying of Aeneas' murderous hand with Athena's appearance to Achilles as he contemplates attacking Agamemnon (//. 1). Heinze (note 1 above), 28, sees a repetition of the Iliou Persis account of Aphrodite checking Menelaus from killing Helen, which is obviously attractive since two of the characters overlap. The pattern I suggest is similarly attractive since it entails the relationship of a Trojan hero and his mother.

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6 The Homeric

413

turn within

large quite house, the center of his narrative has changed (2.560). He no longer relates the story of the house of Priam, but that of his own house? of Troy. With the death of Priam, Aeneas, which is now symbolic of Priam, re-enacts the son-in-law the movement of Hector going home

in this book, Hector's structure reconstructed rethe walls of Troy and the image of Troy itself, is by and faithful to its model. When Aeneas arrives at his own

in Iliad 6. At this very moment the house of Aeneas takes Priam and his immediate as the ascendancy, replacing family priof and representative of Troy. This replacement is mary interest done as Aeneas Aeneas with Hector, re-enacts through identifying so many of the scenes from the Iliadic domestic segment. Both epics describe Priam's palace extensively, the emphasizing of bedrooms abundance for children and in-laws. Then each hero leaves this palace, heading directly for his own home, in search of his wife. As with Hector, the final woman to be encountered is the hero's wife. Persuaded the his the words of mother to flee by city, he returns father home to find the effort. his wife With in concord blocking stalled, Vergil has created the farewell scene between and Creusa first component Anchises fight when comes the decision with his plan but his to flee temporarily forethe opportunity of re-working this time with is twofold. The The to second effort

for himself Hector the leads. response to join

Aeneas

playing is Creusa's refuses

and Andromache, The farewell to Aeneas' them in

last-ditch

flight. as she appears in a vision to say goodbye. When Aeneas describes arming himself vainly to face the Argives just a few lines after Priam had done the same, it is clear that he has inherited from Priam the role of bulwark of Troy (Aen. 2.668Hecuba's 72). As if to secure this identification, restraining plea is at the end of the book echoed of the small child with his warby Creusa. But the presence rior father and pleading mother instantly suggests the Iliadic scene, and Creusa's words more closely echo Andromache's to Hector26). The final encounter between Hector and Andromache is a rich

26) Actually, Priam and Hecuba, insofar as they re-enacted Hector and Andromache's scene at all, did so in the presence of a young son (though not an infant) of theirs too (Pol?tes). The structure is there, but the resultant feeling is not at all the same.

414

USA B. HUGHES

much attention on its own. Here we shall elabdeserving passage, orate on it, only where it is repeated in Creusa and Aeneas. The defender of Troy finds his wife and small child, and they enjoy a tender and intimate scene in the midst of the destruction. Andromache some first strategic voices laments advice her own imminent widowhood, she and her son might as she cries: then offers (//. be saved

whereby concerns

6.406-39). Creusa

similar

si periturus abis, et nos rape in omnia tecum; sin aliquam expertus sumptis spem ponis in armis hanc primum tutare domum. cui parvus lulus cui pater et coniunx quondam tua dicta relinquor? (Aen. 2. 675-8) First of all, we can imagine that the first clause does not really exbut Creusa's first that what she wants is for him to propress hope, tect his family. In her parallel cry to Hector, Andromache recoghis need to be the warrior hero that he is, and she also his responsibility she finds a to the city. Nevertheless acknowledges in he can other her that his duties and fulfill still beway, appeal, have in such a manner as to privilege and guard his own house. Andromache's that she not be left a widow request for protection, nizes nor Astyanax re-characterizes an orphan, is taken up by Creusa. The variation that is that the list of the favor and makes it Vergilian to include the of the pity and privilege is here expanded And pa?d' ??fa?????

so: ???' ??e ??? ???a??e ?a? a?t?? ???? ?p? bep???f,/?? ???? ????? te ???a??a (//. 6.431-2) comes: cui parvus lulus,/cui pater et coniunx quondam tua dicta relinquor? (Aen. 2. 677-8). In its Homeric interrupted ing on the head and father when and despair of the scene is model, the bleakness the child recoils in fear from the spectacle appearof his father. The tension is broken and mother

recipients father of the hero.

as finally laugh as Hector removes his helmet, described are At all fears 6. this pa?fa???sa? (//. 473). bright shining, put of bittersweet aside and the family enjoys one moment pleasure before the hero returns to battle: ?? d' ????asse pat?? te f???? ?a? p?t??a ??t?? (//. 6.471). Interestingly, the incident of the 'flaming' helmet leads Hector to make a hopeful prayer that his son will enjoy In success in battle and will be better than his father (//. 6. 476-81).

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6

415

the Aeneid too the despair of the family at this point is dispelled by a flame that appears over the head of young lulus27). The flaming and Creusa), head causes fear in the 'children5 but the (Aeneas it as an omen and smiles (Aen. 2.687). (Anchises) recognizes after his laughter was to immediate And just as Hector's response immediately prays to Jove for confirmapray to Zeus, so Anchises father tion of the omen. Hector than the hope of greater as we was and His not thus his son know, granted Troy. prayer, while Anchises never became the leader of his household, gets the of seeing his own son take over and become pleasure greater still become to be than not Astyanax, is Aeneas, who will fulfill for the Troy. Vergil shows that he hope prayer, becoming a Troy that is specifically is re-creating but improving Homer's, upon it. his father28). It Hector's A final aspect of Hector's in the return to Troy that is repeated of Aeneas involves the pollution of bloody, man-slaughterwhen Hecuba suggests to her son that he ing hands. In particular, rest and refresh himself with wine, she advises that he should also actions offer upon Zeus and the other gods for help. Hector refuses the wine, lest it make him weak, and he reminds her his hands that he himself is not able to attend to the gods because and call blood (//. 6. 266-8). he enjoins this reInstead, the his and her attenmother women, sponsibility upon instructing dants to go and make an offering to Athena that she might take pity and grant the preservation of the city. Aeneas too, who has clearly are polluted with 27) The frequently cited correspondence to this passage from the Iliad is Aeneid 12.432. So Knauer (note 15 above). Servius points out the similarity to the tradition of the flame on the head of Servius Tullius as reported in livy (1.34.9). Its appearance on the head of lulus, however, is a Vergilian innovation, and thus its presence here in the familial scene, already so strongly Homeric, is all the more compelling. Again, the role of Anchises in the domestic scenes that had been characterized as more feminine in Homer points to the new emphasis on the role of the father. 28) Tecmessa's farewell to Ajax in Sophocles' Ajax has been recognized since antiquity (schol. ad be.) as an adaptation of the scene between Hector and Andromache. Some of the important features shared by Sophocles' scene with the scene between Creusa and Aeneas, and thereby identifying it with Iliad 6, include the raging battle, the request for pity, the presence of a child, and a prayer that the child become great. a libation prayed at this point his father and continue that his son would

416 been characterized

USA B. HUGHES finds himself by now as a new Hector, to the things of the gods because of the pollution unable on his

to attend hands29):

Tu, genitor, cape sacra manu patriosque penatis; me bello e tanto digressum et caede recenti attrectare nefas, donee me flumine vivo abluero. . . (2. 717-20) in a dream, are the penates that Hector, gods in this instance admonished him to take, in order to guarantee the perpetuaA strong sense of closure is obtained tion of the city (Aen. 2.289-95). Hector made the request of his mother and the by this allusion. The had other women as he came 6. Aeneas makes the similar into the city of Troy at the beginning of Iliad request of his father as he goes out of

the sense of closure the city at the end ?? Aeneid 2. And internally, comes as the earlier appearance of Hector's shade is soon answered of the vision of Creusa. For Anchises marks his by the appearance son's words, depart. Aeneas notices Creusa missing, and, abandoning Shortly thereafter, to the city in search of her. A father and son, he returns frantically her disvision of Creusa appears to him one last time, explaining and giving him a stronger sense of his mission. Perkell appearance would have us pity the fate of Creusa and despise Aeneas on her behalf. But far from being a pathetic or abandoned wretch, Creusa her and the itself she is even grantis privileged husband; by by epic and greatly exalted standing as she is called away ed a mysterious of the gods30). her Highet pairs speech here with that of the ghost of Hector a both mainly as profew hours earlier in the night, characterizing by the Great 29) Conway (note 10 above), 277, also notes the re-working of the Homeric passage. He describes the significance as, "... in Vergil's setting it strikes a deeper note, because the Penates of Troy represent the great end which Aeneas is working to secure. They are to be the household gods, the guardian spirits, of Rome . . . Not merely the scruple of an honest soldier, but the future of the world is concerned." To this I should add that assigning the task to the father instead of to the mother helps Vergil reinforce the notion of pietas that is central to the poem. 30) Austin (note 1 above), ad 773, notes that "she has something of the mystery of apotheosis about her." Mother and as he takes up the penates the four family members

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6

417

is superficial, and her role is The similarity, however, phecies31). with that of Venus32). Their commuch more fruitfully compared mon gender is the first indicator of a possible affinity. But more the emotional state of the hero, and the effect of the importantly, feminine Venus. are very similar in the appearances of Creusa Aeneas was asleep when Hector appeared in emotional aroused him to leave Troy, the hero was drowning moil each time that a kindly female helped soothe his mind For whereas show his priorities. In her last speech, Creusa him elucidates what she means visions and and turand

to the poem

and to Aeneas: quid tantum insano iuvat indulgere dolori, o dulc?s coniunx? non haec sine numine divum eveniunt; nec te hinc comitem portare Creusam fas, aut ille sinit superi regnator Olympi. longa tibi exsilia et vastum maris aequor arandum, et terram Hesperiam venies, ubi Lydius arva inter opima virum leni fluit agmine Thybris: illic res laetae regnumque et regia coniunx parta tibi; lacrimas dilectae pelle Creusae. non ego Myrmidonum sedes Dolopumve superbas aspiciam aut Grais servitum matribus ibo, Dardanis et divae Veneris nurus; sed me magna deum genetrix his detinet oris. iamque vale et nati serva communis amorem. (Aen. 2. 776-89) When closely the sight Creusa echo her first words husband, appears to her distraught Venus' words to her son when he was so distracted at

of Helen:

nate, quis ind?mitas tantus dolor excit?t iras? quid furis? (Aen. 2. 594-5) After there an attempt to dispel the grief and fury, Creusa indicates that is nothing he can do to regain her, for everything is happento the will of the gods. In this too the Trojan woman ing according the of her divine mother-in-law, essence who assures reproduces in Vergil's Aeneid (Princeton 1972), 97, 102. 31) ?. Highet, The Speeches 32) R. Hornsby, Patternsof Action in the Aeneid (Iowa City 1970), 25, bridges this gap for me by linking all three, '. . . it requires his mother's intervention as well as that of Creusa to force him to obey the instructions of Hector.'

418 Aeneas of the Creusa

LISA ?. HUGHES of the gods' responsibility by actually giving Aeneas a view in of Troy. His mother work at the destruction had gods him that he needs directs him to seek a new to see to his wife and family, wife. while here

reminded

If Creusa truly is merely another abandoned woman, and as such a counterpart of Dido, her final words afford her the opportunity to express her dissatisfaction. But neither does she opt for Dido's in the underworld, nor does silence on Aeneas deafening meeting her address, '0 dukis coniunx", correspond at all well with the ^perfide words of Amidst of and propheDido. the (4.305) encouragement of her concern with affairs beyond this time and cies, expressions place, dane model Creusa and directs our attention She closes one last time her to the more munimmediate. us that, speech reminding Andromache is still her achieve,

whatever

she might immortality A perpetual as a Trojan woman. fear of the women of Troy and for the women of Troy has been that they will be led away as that at slaves by some haughty Aeneas Greek33). Creusa consoles be taken to Greece as a slave. for such assurance have ever is somewhat seen Aeneas unmotivated, voice. And even In some ways this is not an anxiety we if it is a general anxiety of

least she will never

a grave apprehension of the populace at this time, it is especially in Iliad 634). and he voiced just this fear for Andromache Hector's; In this, Creusa also assures him that she, at least, will not ever suffer the fate of Andromache. emotionally. The Trojan Her final word conjugal to look after their son, princess instructs her husband of Iliad 6. and in this she evokes for the last time the gentleness the two concerns But between for fragile human affairs, she boldof Venus, and she ly reminds us all that she is the daughter-in-law is called home by the Great Mother of the gods. The portrait of She escapes is tender?both unscathed, and physically and maternal.

Eos 31 (1928), 1-39, concludes that Posthomerica, 33) T. Zielinski, De Andromacha the dread of the day of captivity articulated by Hector at //. 6.456-7 is what most characterizes Andromache in the post-Homeric literature. 34) P. E. Easterling, The TragicHomer, BICS (1984), 3, notes that though the encounter between Tecmessa and Ajax is clearly modelled on that of Hector and Andromache, it is Tecmessa who brings up the dread of being made a slave, whereas Hector had with Andromache. Easterling says that Tecmessa *cannot rely on Ajax thinking such compassionate thoughts', but here Creusa exonerates Aeneas from any potential blame.

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6 three of beneficent and and transcendent the three females?the

419

generations

Great Mother, Venus, of males left in the house and Ascanius. In Iliad

Creusa?mirrors of Anchises?Anchises

6 there is a conspicuous and center the who characterize and Andromache, Helen, Hecuba, in a met in Book movement each Hector 6, through city. They There is pathos and defeat in by Aeneas. Troy that was re-created the laments of this feminine each triad, where Trojan appearance and by extension, the fall of over the corpse of Hector, In contrast, the new triad of feminine powers Troy (//. 24.716-75). in the divine realm legitimizes the expanding Trojan mission at all final levels. Cybele in the East, Venus in the West, and Creusa, groundall provide the necessary direction ing the two as a human heroine, is identified Creusa and support for the incipient soundly empire. with deities, in explicit contrast with the Homeric the mythical resVergil has artfully interwoven Trojan women35). cue of Creusa into the Homeric structure of farewell36). the two Trojan Recognition the Without 6 underlying this book is of great value. of the Iliad Hector is, for us, just another warrior fighting in the service of a code which brings him powerful In the sixth book, blood. the shedding of human glory through in his family and his various with women encounters the through sixth book city, we see a human side to him, and he thereby becomes sympaof Aeneas thetic. As a matter of fact, Perkell, in her condemnation of Iliad

generations himself, Aeneas, triad of women,

35) Heinze (note 1 above), 34, expresses the need for a deus ex machinato give resolution to Aeneid2, and Knight avers that Creusa herself functions in such a role. Austin (note 1 above), ad loc, names Thetis as a specific parallel: p??ta ??? d? t??? pa?est?s?? ?a????/??d?? t? ??a? d?sf??e? ? pa???esa (Andr. 1233 f.). The epic contribution of Creusa's mortal character comes chiefly from its relation to Andromache, especially as she is seen in Iliad 6. But her happy fate is illustrated for us in clear parallels to the divine characters of Venus and Thetis. And we have seen above that even without Creusa as a link, Venus and Thetis have already been connected, as mothers of great heroes. All of this serves to reinforce Creusa's new and elevated status. R. Wilhelm, Cybele:The GreatMother of the Augustan Order,Vergilius 34 (1989), 77-101, details the importance of Cybele to the poem and to Augustus; Creusa, by association shares in this importance. 36) Austin (note 1 above), ad 795, suspects that Stesichorus mentioned only Venus in the rescue of Creusa, and so we are reminded that Vergil is under no obligation to have three females in particular. The similarity to the trio in Homer, then, is all the more noteworthy.

420 on moral

USA B. HUGHES

of Creusa, uses grounds and her criticism of his treatment this text to define Hector as the antithesis of Aeneas. (Iliad 6) just She argues that: "Hector and Odysseus constitute, in epic poetry, the most positive models of male behavior towards women. Neither is traditionally defined by his military role; each in his relationship with his wife is seen to be completely human, to have human feelings and needs. This human dimension makes them sympathetic figures. . . . Hector's relations with women are strongly developed in Iliad 6. He appears, in contrast to both Paris and Achilles, as of the cultural values of humanity, the hero of responsibility, family, and love. . . . The scene between Hector and Andromache in Iliad 6 is one of the most profoundly touching in all of classical literature, for Hector's interactions with his wife and infant son evoke powerfully the reader's sympathy"37). There is no reason to argue against what Perkell says of Hector; she the very heart of the matter. It is difficult, however, to of this. Hector earns his accolades Aeneas is the antithesis

has touched see how from women,

Perkell

fighting We have place 2 with

by virtue of the fact that he meets with the three his commitment he expresses to and that in his speech his family. and the city in terms that also privilege demonstrated in that same that Vergil has gone milieu and to endow too encounters Helen to great lengths to the events of Aeneid women through-

Aeneas

the soul

of Iliad 6. Aeneas with

out Troy. His meeting parison with Hector's, different

relationship in any case, even if he did have a violent initial response, And Troy. to the same with his mother's feminine guidance he came eventually Hector. Helen as that of Furthermore, acceptance expressed by the women, rehe often encountered Hector, repeatedly though the line between jected their offers and advice, carefully delineating whom he the male and the female spheres38). Even Andromache, met

is, admittedly, startling in coma but this is because the poet is constructing Helen and the whole city of entirely between

at the city's gate, was rejected in her request that he 'half-way' more attuned to return to the city. Aeneas must then be considered

37) Perkell (note 2 above), 357. 38) Arthur (note 12 above), illuminates the distinctions between the spheres and the significance of the distinction.

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6 the female Perkell world makes and certain the values it embodies he encounters. since

421 he continually

heeds

the advice that cannot

of the women

about the events of the fall of assumptions the text. In the process of corbe by Troy supported conrecting her reading we can see further how Creusa's presence and how that reading tributes to a sympathetic reading of Aeneas, is bolstered one with Iliad 6. Perkell names Creusa as by a comparision who had a relationship with Aeneas which ended in death. She asserts further that this death is at least partially attributable to Aeneas39). This fine of reasoning, and thus everything she woman deduces based thereon, must be rejected for the simple reason that in the Aeneid, Creusa does not die. She never appears in the Undershe is taken away by Cybele, where world, as Dido does. Rather, she enjoys the company of the mother of the gods. and protection Creusa repeatedly insists that we should not blame him for any mistreatment to then, even if he blames himself. This is important the poem, for it is Creusa, not Aeneas, who speaks from an authoritative been position. She states improper portare Creusam/fas (2. 788-9). And in her words it is clear that however much the hero might blame himself for losing her, he really did love her and show proper concern. The descriptive 'dilectai (2. 784), used by Creusa or with Aeneas of herself himself. for Aeneas that it would have boldly and explicitly to have carried her: nee te hinc comitem

might refer to her status with the After her words of encouragement, gods and she deserts not the other way Aeneas, finally, emphatically, around: Haec ubi dicta dedit, laaimantem et multa volentem/dicere deseruit (2. 790-1). With fully subverted. Still, Aeneas these words of Aeneas, the abandonment motif is

let us entertain Perkell's for a moment, that argument is guilty of neglecting his wife. She marshalls as support no less a critic than R. Heinze, that, 'Aeneas allows Creusa observing to fall into danger, first by isolating her from the male family members and then Tor causes what of by forgetting one purposes, loss, her altogether.' She poses his question, does the ask, Virgil complicate might even all the without Great since, this,

Creusa's

39) Perkell (note 2 above), 356, makes Creusa and Dido parallel figures in this model.

422 Mother She cites could have taken

LISA ?. HUGHES

Creusa

it is to elicit

physical son rather of concern lulus

for Creusa sympathy as proof numerous that passages were directed attentions primarily

to herself?'40). while proving

Her

answer

is that

Aeneas

inhumane. and

remind toward

us that Aeneas' his father

than his wife41). But it might be argued that Aeneas' lack for his wife was a tribute to his trust in her strength, child who had to be carried. And the text has (Aen. that Anchises have been was lame shown and needed attention

is a small

already suggested 2. 697-9). Creusa were

Together resisted, waiting for a sign they willing from Jove. Creusa is Aeneas' and as far as we have seen partner, has only been a positive force to Aeneas. There has been no evito flee while Anchises dence den. that she should Thus I suggest is evidence which, that be thought of as a crippled or a crippling burhis lack of particular attention to her at that he views again, her as a competent partner, in mirrors that of Hector and closely

and Aeneas

to be in concord.

this point a relationship

Andromache42). 40) Perkell (note 2 above), 358. I find her use of Heinze on this point highly suspect, as he himself would disagree with her reading of the text. Not only does he take Creusa's appearance as an opportunity for creating sympathy with Aeneas, but, more germane to her thesis, he soundly rejects the idea that Creusa dies (Heinze note 1 above), 34-5. bus e?t. mihi parvus lulus/sit comes, et longe servetvestigia coniunx 41) una salus ambo dextraese parvus lulus/implicuit sequiturque oner?; patrem non passibus (2.710-1); succedoque aurae, sonus excit?tomnis/suspensum aeqms;/ponesubit coniunx(2.723-5); nunc omnesterrent et panter comitique timentem (2.728-9); neepnus amissam respexianimumve reflexi,/ onerique . . (2.741-3). sacratami'venimus. quam tumulumantiquaeCererissedemque 42) Arthur (note 12 above), has shown that Andromache penetrated Hector's sphere, and acted as a partner. D. Schaps, The Womenof Greecein Wartime,CJ 77 (1982), 199 f., gives a comprehensive survey of the various roles of the real women in Greece in historical wartime which lends great plausibility to this suggestion. While he does mention instances where women were given preferential treatment in evacuation, he also suggests that it was a commonplace for women to be considered competent, and to be treated equally with men, "Sometimes defeat was inevitable, and the men would leave with the women. . . At Potidaea the men were allowed one cloak, the women two, a concession either to feminine modesty or frailty; at Samos, Xenophon mentions only one cloak, with no distinction of sex . . . Women might sometimes be given special care, sometimes not." And he concludes his historical survey, "The picture that emerges from the women's behavior is less equivocal than the literary evidence: the men and women of a city were partners in war" (214). That such conclusions would make sense to Vergil's audience

VERGIL'S CREUSA AND ILIAD 6

423

for Creusa, this does not mean at Although things end felicitously all that it is a happy ending to the book. What I have shown is that references the description of the Trostrong Homeric throughout indicate that Creusa was a vital and valued part jans' relationship of Aeneas' life. In the Iliad, women are insistently depicted as a valuable component of Trojan society, and the loss of Creusa symbolizes the loss of the essence of Troy43). Her loss, therefore, is all the more ing, the fact that the princess also embodies attributes the end indicates that no blame can be attributed does not suffer a cruel fate. Creusa's real and profound losses Aeneas must the future, but her virtual apotheosis, with Cybele tioned tragic. This book is not so much a defense of the hero's but a statement of what a loss he suffers in the process. leavStill, of the goddess at to Aeneas, for she loss is the first in a series of suffer before and he can start on

and Venus, is another the by gods. She does not die, and her continued presence is a reminder of what to work toward in regaining Troy44). Colorado Springs, The Colorado College

in particular, her bond assurance that his quest is sanc-

is likely, especially given the picture of the Italian women fighting from the walls later in the poem. 43) There are four motifs, according to Cedric Whitman, Homer and the Heroic Tradition(Cambridge 1958), 218-9, that contribute to the ultimate restoration of dignity to the human scheme: parenthood, food, sleep, and love. Heroic epic can certainly be imagined without these four motifs, but the Iliad cannot. For this reason we can judge the Trojan women, providers of these four sweet human gifts, crucial to the Iliad. 44) An earlier version of this paper was given at the 1995 spring meeting of the Classical Association of Adantic States.