We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
VIRGIL'S SALIAN HYMN TO HERCULES.
- Authors
MILLER, JOHN F.
- Abstract
The lengthy ceremonies in Hercules' honor that Evander and his Arcadians perform at the prehistoric Ara Maxima in Pallanteum reach a climax with the hymn that the Salian priests sing at Aeneid 8.285-305. This paper analyzes that carmen, with attention to hymnic structure, intertextuality, and the larger contexts of Virgil's epic narrative, Roman religion, and Augustan culture. The Salian hymn to Hercules is a remarkable passage, the only hymnic text in the Aeneid, and, as far as I know, the first hymn in Latin heroic epic. Complementing this innovation are other striking aspects, all interrelated. Virgil here stages a version of a traditional cultic song--the Salian Hymn-which was said to be unintelligible in his own day. His Carmen Saliare is itself extraordinary in formal terms. That Salii honor Hercules at Rome likewise surprises. Moreover, in reflecting upon the significance of Salian hymnody in contemporary Rome, Virgil simultaneously highlights the Augustan dimension of Evander's festival for Hercules.
- Subjects
VIRGIL, 70 B.C.-19 B.C.; AENEID; HERCULES (Roman mythological character) in literature; LATIN poetry; LATIN hymns
- Publication
Classical Journal, 2014, Vol 109, Issue 4, p439
- ISSN
0009-8353
- Publication type
Poetry Review
- DOI
10.5184/classicalj.109.4.0439