Wiener Studien 127/2014, pp. 165-198, 2014/07/01
Zeitschrift für Klassische Philologie, Patristik und lateinische Tradition
From Homer on, seafaring (with storms) is one of the most frequent elements in epic narratives. It is not only an essential part of the hero’s journey, but, as is known, can also be an expression of the narrator’s poetic endeavor. But what if the narrator’s ship seems perforated and fragile, what if his actio threatens to sink or to get lost in the vast and thunderous ocean of epic? This article examines the externalization and formalization of nautical and aquatic dangers in Roman epic. Thus, it concentrates on those scenes of suspense where the text creates the aesthetic illusion and simulates that itself could somehow shipwreck, suffer damage, or stray off course. The different Roman versions of the Argonautica are particularly relevant for this research because, as accounts of the seefaring myth par excellence, they are highly self-reflective and tend to incorporate the internal motives errores, naufragium, and submersio within their literary forms. Of these poetae naufragi, Catullus and Valerius Flaccus seem to be the most impressive illusionists.
