Virgil and the delphic oracle

Philologus

Volumn 130, Issue 1-2, 1986, Pages 44-68

  Paschalis, Michael ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF IOANNINA   (Greece)

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EID: 84864363677     PISSN: 00317985     EISSN: 21967008     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1524/phil.1986.130.12.44     Document Type: Article

References (87)

1. On the miraculous journey of the Cretans see K. Forstel, Untersuchungen zum Homerischen Apollonhymnus, Bochum 1979, 263ff.; J. Defradas, Les themes de la propagande delphique, Paris 19722, 71ff.
2. Allen-Halliday-Sikes, ad loc.; Cassola, ad loc.
3. G.N. Knauer, Die Aeneis und Homer, Hypomnemata 7, Gottingen 1979, 186, 198.
4. The Homeric Hymn to Apollo seems to have been known and appreciated from early times, and echoes or direct references to it appear in several writers; on its influence see A. Ludwich, Homerischer Hymnenbau nebst seinen Nachahmungen bei Kallimachos, Theocrit, Vergil, Nonnos und anderen, Leipzig 1908 (repr. Hildesheim 1971); U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Die Ilias und Homer, Berlin 1916, 440ff.; id., Hellenistische Dichtung in der Zeit des Kallimachos, Berlin 1924, II, 62ff.; Allen-Halliday-Sikes, 200f.; Forstel, op. cit., 63ff., 84ff. But the Aeneid has never, to my knowledge, been examined in relation to this Homeric Hymn. The Hymn contains several themes - not all of which are found in Callimachus’ Hymn to Delos and Hymn to Apollo - which must have greatly interested the poet of the Aeneid: the wanderings of Leto in the Aegean (25ff.); the promise of the foundation of a Delian oracle (80–81; see below); the jealousy of Hera and the birth of Apollo (89ff.); Apollo's “attachment” to Delos and the Ionian festival (140ff.; see below); the wanderings of Apollo in search of “a place of oracle for men” and the foundation of his Delphic oracle (214ff.; see below); the killing of the she-dragon (300ff.; see below); and the wondrous voyage of the Cretans who are eventually established as the first priests of Apollo's Delphic temple (388ff.).
5. 2, 31, 13–14 altera deiectos Parnasi vertice Gallos, altera maerebat fuüera Tantalidos. Most scholars associate the two relief representations, in which Apollo appears as the Archer god in the act of punishing his enemies, with Octavian's victory at Actium: see J. Gagü, Apollon Romain, Paris 1955, 537; E. Simon, Die Portlandvase, Mainz 1957, 36; V. Buchheit, Mythos und Geschichte in Ovids Metamorphosen I, Hermes 94 (1966) 80–108, 95; A. Wlosok, Die Göttin Venus in Vergile Aeneis, Heidelberg 1967, 36f.; J. Gagü, Apollon Imperial, Garant des Fata Romana, ANRW II 17. 2 (1981) 561–630, 568 and n. 17; and cf. G. Ch.-Picard, Chronique de la Sculpture Romaine - II. L'art monumental au temps d'Auguste, REL 38 (1960) 322–336, 324.
6. Critics suggest that Virgil was very probably inspired by the theme of the defeat of the Gauls at Delphi, which was represented on the temple doors, but they neither mention nor discuss the significance of his choice of a Roman version of it: see S. Reinach, Les Gaulois dans l'art antique, RA 13 (1889) 317–352, 351f.; P.R. Hardie, Some Themes from Gigantomachy in the Aeneid, Hermes 111 (1983) 311–326, 318ff. A.G. McKay, Vergil's Italy, Greenwich, Connecticut 1970, 201, draws a thematic parallelism between the pictures on the doors of the temple of Apollo Palatinus and the pictures on the doors of the temple of Apollo Cumanus at Aen. 6, 20–33. For the story of Manlius, the sacred geese and the saving of the Capitol from the Gauls see Liv. 5, 47, and Ogilvie, ad loc.
7. Aen. 6, 21, discussed below.
8. H.W. Parke - D.E.W. Wormell, The Delphic Oracle, Oxford 1956, I, 264; cf. Gage, op. cit., 382.
9. R. Heinze, Vergila epische Technik, Leipzig/Berlin 19153 (repr. Darmstadt 1965), 84; J. Perret, Les origines de la lügende Troyenne de Rome, Paris 1942, 104. Heinze specifies that Apollo does not appear in the legend of the wanderings of Aeneas before Virgil, or in later accounts of the wanderings which are independent of the Aeneid. 11 1, 56, 4ff. (especially 1, 56, 5, where the Delphic oracle is called maxime inclitum in terris oraculum); 5, 15ff. (especially Camillus’ striking prayer to the Pythian Apollo at 5, 21, 2); 22, 57, 5 and 23, 11, 1–6; 28, 45, 12 and 29, 10, 6; 29, 11, 5–6 (in connection with Cybele). At 38, 48, 2 Delphi is called by Cn. Manlius Vulso speaking before the Roman Senate commune humani generis oraculum, umbilicum orbis terrarum. On the historicity of these consultations see Ogilvie, ad loc. (for Books 1–5); Parke-Wormell, op. cit., I, 266ff.; Gagü, op. cit., passim; Erika Simon, Apollo in Rom. JDAI 93 (1978) 202–227.
10. Almost all oracle consultations in the Metamorphoses and the Fasti take place at Delphi: Met. 3, 8–18 (by Cadmus); Met. 15, 626–640 (by the Romans, in connection with the introduction of the cult of Asclepius into Italy; see below); Fast. 4, 263–264 (by the Romans, in connection with the introduction of the cult of Cybele into Italy; see below); Fast. 3, 855–858 (by Athamas, in connection with the sacrifice of Phrixus and Helle). The only exception is Ilus’ consultation of Apollo Smintheus’ oracle at Fast. 6, 425–428. The oracle of Themis, consulted by Deucalion and Pyrrha at Met. 1, 375–383, is the predecessor of Apollo's Delphic oracle. It should also be noted that Ceyx decides to consult the oracle of Claros only because Delphi is inaccessible at that time (Met. 11, 413–414). Delos and Cumae, Virgil's major oracle centers in the Aeneid, are almost completely ignored in the Metamorphoses [the oracle of Delos receives only a two-line passing reference (13, 677–679), on the occasion of Aeneas’ visit there (13, 678 echoes Aeneid 3, 96; see Börner, ad loc); on two occasions (Met. 15, 634–636; Fast. 4, 263–264) Ovid transfers elements of Virgil's Delian oracle to Delphi (on Fast. 4, 263–264 see H. Graillot, Le culte de Cybüle müre des Dieux Ü Rome et dans l'empire Romaine, Paris 1912, 27, n. 5); and the Sibyl gives practically no prophecy to Aeneas but she only conducts him to the Underworld to meet Anchises (Met. 14, 101ff.)]. Apollo is three times called Delphicus in Ovid (Met. 2, 543; 2, 677; Fast. 3, 856), and Delphi is mentioned a total of ten times; cf. J.E. Fontenrose, Apollo and the Sun-god in Ovid, AJP 61 (1940) 429–444. Finally, it should be pointed out that at the beginning of the Metamorphoses (1, 313–567) Ovid has a series of stories centered on, or associated with, Mt. Parnasus and Apollo: the landing of Deucalion and Pyrrha on the mountain; the consultation of the oracle of Themis (375–383); the killing of the Python and the institution of the Pythian games (438–451); and the story of Apollo and Daphne (452–567; note the reference to Parnasus at 467). u On the relations between Rome and Delphi after the second Punic war and on the great decline of the Delphic oracle in the late Republican and in the Augustan period see Parke-Wormell, op. cit., I, 274ff. Vice versa, the prosperity of the oracles of Asia Minor under Augustus (H.W. Parke, Greek Oracles, London 1967, 137ff.) cannot be adduced as a compelling reason for the references to these oracles in the Aeneid (see below). 20 On Augustus and Delphi see in general M. Homolle, Histoire du temple de Delphes (2), Bull, de Corresp. Hellenique 20 (1896) 702–7 3 2, 707ff.; RE IV2 (1901) 2578, 27ff., s. v. “Delphi” Parke-Wormell, op. cit., I, 283; G. Daux, Les empereurs romains et l'amphictionie pyleo- -delphique, Comptes rendus de l'Acad. d. Inscript. (1975) 348. 362; Gage, art. cit., 586. 587.
11. Cf. Gage, op. cit., 663f.
12. Strab. 9, 3, 4–8.
13. Plut. De E Delphico, 385 F; Georgii Syncelli Chronographia (Dindorf), p. 307.
14. The names and epithets of Apollo in the Aeneid link Asia Minor with Augustan Rome in a particularly significant way; they can be found in De Mirmont, ibid.; J.E. Fontenrose, Apollo and Sol in the Latin Poets of the First Century B.C., TAPA 70 (1939) 439–445, Appendix; P.G. van Wees, Poetische Geographie in Vergilius’ Aeneis, Diss. Utrecht (Tilburg 1970), passim; cf. further, M. Santoro, Epitheta deorum in Asia cultorum ex auctoribus Graecis et Latinis, Milano 1974, passim. Apollo is called Thymbraean by Aeneas at Delos (3, 85); Delian by the Penates in Crete (3, 162); Grynean and Lycian by Aeneas at Carthage (4, 345–346; cf. 377); Ciarüan at Buthrotum (3, 360); Delian at Cumae (6, 12; see below), where Aeneas promises a temple to Apollo (6, 69–70) anticipating the dedication by Augustus of the temple of the Palatine Apollo (cf. 8, 720); and Actian during the battle of Actium (8, 704; cf. 3, 286–288). The name Thymbraeus has nothing to do with Thymbra (?) on Delos or Thymbris (?), the father of Pan, but with Thymbra in the Troad, where Apollo had an oracle (on which see A. Bouchü-Leclercq, Histoire de la divination dans l'antiquitü, III, Paris 1880, 262ff.; cf. also Georg. 4, 323, and De Mirmont, op. cit., 504, n. 2). References to the Delian Apollo (= Cynthius) occur also at Ed. 6, 3 and Georg. 3, 36 (Troiae Cynthius auctor). Qryneus Apollo (4, 345) and Lyciae… sortes (4, 346) should undoubtedly be referred to the Delian Apollo and the oracle he delivered to Aeneas (3, 94–98); these epithets stress the close relations of Delos with the oracles of Asia Minor (see below); and sortee emphasizes the Italian oracular tradition of divination by lot (on which see RE XIII2, 1465, 14ff., s. v. “Losung” P. Amandry, La mantique apollinienne Ü Delphes, Paris 1950, 179ff., and especially 36, n. 1). For other interpretations of Aen. 4, 345–346 see Pease, ad loc.; Wees, op. cit., 45ff.; Paratore, on Aen. 3, 85.
15. A.S. Pease, Notes on the Delphic Oracle and Greek Colonisation, CP 12 (1917) 1–20; Defradas, op. cit., 233ff.; Parke-Wormell, op. cit., I, 49ff
16. Heinze, op. cit., 85; H.W. Prescott, The Development of Virgil's Art, Chicago 1927, 345ff.
17. Simon, art. cit., with a survey of earlier literature on this subject.
18. Aen. 6, 56.
19. Aen. 3, 75 (see below). On the whole, I can hardly agree with Bailey's conclusion (op. cit. 172) that Virgil's Apollo “is essentially a Greek god”, and that “the conception of his character… is built up on Greek ideas and precedents” see also below.
20. See Cicero's De divinatione, passim.
21. Parke-Wormell, op. cit., I, 2 and p. 1; see also the discussion below of Virgil's polemic against Lucretius in connection with Aen. 3, 360.
22. Virgil found some literary backing for the invention of an oracle of Apollo in Calchas’ relation to Apollo, from whom he had received the gift of prophecy (Horn. II. 1, 72), and in the fact that the sacrifice of Iphigenia was intended to appease the wrath of Artemis, Apollo's sister. With regard to Calchas it is worth noting that Virgil offers a distinctly negative portrait of him. Calchae plays a crucial role in Sinon's intended sacrifice, which is meant to echo his involvement, direct or indirect, in the sacrifices of Iphigenia and Polyxena and also in the killing of Astyanaz (which was by some regarded as a sacrifice; see RE X2, 1652, 19ff., s. v. “Kalchas”, Apollod. Epit. 5, 23, and Frazer, ad. loc.); in addition, he advises the Greeks to build the Wooden Horse (2, 183ff.), and he also utters false prophecies in connection with it (189ff.). Virgil is known to be very sensitive to the untimely and cruel death of young people, and we naturally expect him to be more so when they become the victims of sacrifice (indeed, both Polyxena and Astyanax are remembered with pathetic words by Andromache at Aen. 3, 321–324 and 489–491 respectively; cf. also 2,465–457, and the discussion below of the pictures of the temple of Apollo at Cumae); and he is also very sensitive to matters concerning the conduct and mission of the (male) prophet (his image of Helenus in Aeneid 3 is radically different from that of Calchas in Aeneid 2). On the whole, Virgil denounces in Calchas the prophet who placed (or was capable of placing) all his divinatory powers at the service of an unjust war, of petty politics and machinations, and of the most savage and cruel human instinct.
23. For these oracles see Parke-Wormell, I, 295ff., and the discussion below of the reliefs on the temple of Apollo Cumanus. Virgil deliberately avoids specifying what oracle of Apollo the Greeks consult. For Eurypylus’ association with Delphi and human sacrifice see Paus. 7,19.
24. For discussion of the legend of the death of Neoptolemus and for interpretations, different from mine, of the Virgilian version see Servius and Servius auctvs, on Aen. 332; La Cerda, on patriasque obtruncat ad Heyne-Wagner, Aeneid 3, Excursus XII; M. Delcourt, La legende de la mort de Neoptoleme: A propos de Virgile, Eneide, III, 332, RBPh 2 (1923) 685–689; RE XVI2, 2454, 19ff. and 2458, 43ff., s. v. “Neoptolemos” Parke-Wormell, I, op. cit., 315ff.; Williams (Oxford ed.), on Aen. 3, 332; A. Konig, Die Aeneis und die Griechische Tragodie, Diss. Berlin 1970, 304, 18; Defradas, op. cit., 146ff. Delphi is not mentioned as the place of the murder also by Ov. Ib. 301.302. In Virgil's day visitors to Delphi could still see in the precinct of the temple of Apollo what was believed to be the tomb of Neoptolemus (Strab. 9, 3, 9 and Paus. 10, 24, 6; for excavations on this site see Defradas, op. cit., 147), and inside the temple the hearth on which the killing was believed to have taken place (Paus. 10, 24, 4).
25. R.P. Winnington-Ingram, The Delphic Temple in Greek Tragedy, Miscellanea tragica in honorem J.C. Kamerbeek, Amsterdam 1976, 483.500, 487ff.
26. Cf. also Virgil's treatment of the murder of Eriphyle by Alcmaeon (Aen. 6, 446: crudelis nati monstrantem vulnera cernii) which, according to a version of the legend, had also been enjoined or backed up by the Pythian Apollo (Apollod. 3, 7, 5; Parke-Wormell, op. cit., I, 305, and II, 85).
27. On this Ode of Horace see H.P. Syndikus, Die Lyrik des Horaz, Darmstadt 1973, II, 346ff. Niobe's boast and Tityos'’ assault on Latona are private offences, while Achilles’ bearing towards the vanquished Trojans is a public offence. Vindicem (2), which applies to all three offences (Wickham, ad loc.), means here “punisher” or “avenger” (OLD, s. v. “vindex”, 3), and it should not be confused with Prop. 4, 6, 27 (stantem se vindice Delon), where the meaning is “one who frees from danger”, “champion”, “defender” (OLD, s. v. “vindex”, 2); also, the meaning of vindex in Horace's Ode cannot be applied to Apollo's intervention at Actium at Aen. 8, 704–705 (for a different view see Wlosok, op. cit., 136f.).
28. König, op. cit., 250ff.
29. Cf. König, op. cit., 67ff. on Aen. 3, 325–336 and Euripides’ Andromache. The extent of Virgil's dependence on Ennius’ tragedy Andromacha Aechmalotis (cf. S. Stabryla, Latin Tragedy in Virgil's Poetry, Warsaw 1970, 79ff.) is impossible to assess.
30. Critics note that by being killed “at the altar” Neoptolemus suffers what he had inflicted on Priam (Williams, ad loc.; König, op. cit., 74; patriasque obtruncat ad aras echoes Aen. 2, 663 patrem qui obtruncat ad aras). But the act of Orestes at Aen. 3, 330–332, recalls also Pygmalion's impious and insidious killing of Sychaeus, which is described at Aen. 1, 348–351: ereptae magno Üammatus amore/coniugis (330–331) recalls auri caecus amore (349); (urite (331) recalls juror (348); excipit incautum (332) recalls dam… incautum (350); ad aras (332) recalls ante aras (349). Both Orestes and Pygmalion are blinded by their passion; both are depicted in a state of fury; both kill their victims at the altar; and the element of ambush and surprise attack is present in both murders (on the sense of excipit at Aen. 3, 332 see Servi us, La Cerda and Williams, ad loc.; also OLD, S.V. “excipio”, 13). Excipit incautum probably echoes also Eur. Andr. 1119. Thus, in the description of the murder of Neoptolemus at Aen. 3, 330–332, Virgil mixes the element of justice (for the killing of Priam) with sympathy for the victim
31. Bouchü-Leclercq, op. cit., III (1880), 18ff.; H. Gallet de Santerre, Dölos primitive et archaüque, Paris 1958, 135f., 140ff.; Forstel, op. cit., 392, n. 381.
32. Lloyd, art. cit., 384.
33. This was not confirmed by excavations on Delos; see P. Bruneau, Recherches sur les cultes de Dölos Ü l'öpoque hellenistique et Ü l'öpoque impüriale, Paris 1970, 419.
34. Cf. Aen. 3, 82: veterem. Anchisen agnovit amicum. On the relations between Anius and the family of Aeneas see Bruneau, op. cit., 418f. (and 413ff., on the figure of Anius). I t is impossible to say how far back these relations go (for the testimony of Palaiphatos, who wrote in the 4th century B.C., we have to trust Servius), but they were certainly emphasized even before Virgil's time in the context of Delos’ relations with Rome; for a different opinion see F. Cassola, La leggenda di Anio e la preistoria Delia, PP 9 (1954) 345–367, 350ff.; cf. also Perret, op. cit., 32f.
35. J. Hatzfeld, Les Italiens rüsidant Ü Dölos, BCH 34 (1912) 5–218; H.O. Kompter, Die Römer auf Delos, Diss. Mönster (Neustadt 1914); W.A. Laidlaw, A History of Delos, Oxford 1933, 201ff.; K. Latte, Römische Religionsgeschichte, Mönchen 1960, 273f. For the later history of Delos in connection with the reported abandonment of the island after the devastations of 88 and 69 B.C. see Ph. Bruneau, Contribution Ü l'histoire urbaine de Dölos Ü l'öpoque hellünistique et Ü l'öpoque impüriale, BCH 92 (1968) 633–709.
36. J. Hatzfeld, Les trafiquants Italiens dans l'Orient Hellünique, Paris 1919, 25f.; G. Daux, Delphes au IIe et au Ie r siücle depuis l'abaissement de l'ötolie Ü la paix romaine, Paris 1936, 584ff.; Gagü, op. cit., 378.
37. The best recent discussion of the issue of the existence of a Delian oracle of Apollo is found in Bruneau, op. cit., 142ff. (with a survey of earlier views, and with all the literary and archaeological evidence). If an oracle had ever existed on Delos at the time when the Homeric Hymn to Apollo was composed (for the text and interpretation of 11. 80–81 and 132 see Bruneau, 144; in 11. 79–82 Delos exacts from Leto an oath that the god, when born, will make on it his first temple to be an oracle-center for men), it must have become silent very soon; it most certainly did not function in classical and hellenistic times; and the bulk of references to it date from a period much later than Virgil's (Met. 13, 677–679 is a literary echo of Virgil). The oracle is not mentioned in Dionysius’ account of Aeneas’ stop at Delos (Ant. 1, 50, 1). Its existence was not confirmed by the findings of archaeological excavations (Bruneau, 147ff.; for an older view see J.A. Lebegue, Recherches sur Delos, Paris 1876, 49ff.), nor is there solid epigraphic evidence supporting it (Bruneau, 158f.). See also (literature not found in Bruneau's survey) Heinze, op. cit., 101; Allen-Halliday-Sike8, on Horn. Hymn 3, 81; Laidlaw, op. cit., 18ff.; Parke, Greek Oracles, op. cit., 94; id., Oracles of Zeus, op. cit., 245; J. Fontenrose, The Delphic Oracle, Berkeley/Los Angeles/London 1978, 225. For references to the oracle of Delos in late antiquity cf. E. Gregory, The Oracle at Delos in Late Antiquity, CW 76 (1983) 290–291.
38. Williams, on 11. 1 and 3; see also Gallet de Santerre, op. cit., 194; Bruneau, op. cit., 146.
39. At Aen. 3, 90.92 Virgil borrows mainly from Callimachus but also from Homer; see O. Weinreich, Gebet und Wunder. Zwei Abhandlungen zur Religions- und Literaturgeschichte, Genethliakon W. Schmid zum 70. Geburtstag, Stuttgart 1929, 169.464 = Religionsgeschichtliche Studien, Darmstadt 1968, 1–298, 89f.
40. On the role of the laurel and the tripod in Delphic divination see Amandry, op. cit., 126ff.; Parke-Wormell, op. cit., I, 26ff.; RE XXIV, 525, 30ff., s. v. “Pythia” Fontenrose, op. cit., 224ff.
41. Bouche-Leclercq, op. cit., III (1880), 92; Servius, on 3, 92.
42. Heinze, op. cit., 85.
43. The Delphic atmosphere of Virgil's Delian oracle has been underlined by a number of scholars (mostly in connection with the presence there of the laurel and the mantic tripod); see De Mirmont, op. cit., 504; Page, on Aen. 3, 91; Conington-Nettleship, on Aen. 3, 90.92; Gallet de Santerre, op. cit., 249; Bruneau, op. cit., 146. It is also worth noting that later imitations of Aen. 3, 90.92 (. 93) are almost invariably applied to the procedure of the Delphic oracle: cf. Met. 15, 634–636; Lucan 5, 154–155; Sen. Oed. 225–229; Stat. heb. 10, 725–726.
44. On the epiphany of Apollo in Callimachus’ Hymn to Apollo see Weinreich, art. cit., 67ff.; G. Santangelo, L'incipit dell’ Inno ad Apollo di Callimaco: alessandrino e coerenza strutturale, GIF 24 (1972) 52. 62; K.J. McKay, Door Magic and the Epiphany Hymn, CQ 17 (1967) 184–194.
45. Bouche-Leclercq, op. cit., II, 22f.; De Mirmont, op. cit., 504f.; Heinze, op. cit., 311; P. Boyance, La religion de Virgile, Paris 1963, 99; on these voices see Bouche-Leclercq, op. cit., IV
46. The cortina was properly the rounded vessel placed on the sacred tripod (see Claude Rolley, Les trüpieds Ü cuve clouüe, Fouilles de Delphes V, 3, Paris 1974, 17, and passim), but in poetry it became synonymous with the tripod. The non-mantic tripod occurs at Aen. 5, 110 and 9, 265.
47. See Aen. 3, 92, discussed above. At Aen. 6, 347 (öeque te Phoebi cortina jefellit) “cortina” means “oracle”. This line is intended as a reply to 6, 343, which echoes a reference to the Pythian Apollo at Aesch. Choeph. 559 (Norden, on 343f.).
48. The tripod is not known to have had anything to do with the mantic ritual at Apollo's Clarian oracle (Bouchü-Leclercq, op. cit., III, 252; Ch. Picard, Ephüse et Claros: Recherches sur les sanctuaires et les cultes de l'Ionie du Nord, Paris 1922, 115).
49. Commentators note that Aen. 3, 360 probably echoes Lucr. 1, 739 (= 5, 112): Pythia quae tripodi a Phoebi lauroque profatur. At 1, 734–739 Lucretius, referring to Empedocles and other
50. At Delphi the laurel was used in rites of purification and in the consultation ritual, and it was also awarded as a prize to the winners of the Pythian games. Its particular association with Delphi was never lost (on its broader function in ancient religion see Ogle, art. cit.); see Plin. N.H. 15, 127–132 (at 15, 134 he uses lauriferam tellurem as synonymous with “Delphi”); TLL VII2, 1061, 6ff.; 1062, 43ff. s. v. “laurus”. The mantic tripod was not exclusively associated with Delphi (Defradas, op. cit., 78ff.), but it was so closely linked with this place that it became somehow its symbol or poetic substitute. When Ovid says mittiiur ad trüpodas (Fast. 3, 855), he means that an embassy is sent to the Delphic oracle (see also A.A. 3, 789: Phoebei trüpodes). In pre- Augustan and Augustan literature (excluding Virgil) tripus and cortina (both intended in the sense of a “mantic tripod”) are normally associated with the Pythian Apollo and the Delphic oracle (Lucilius, 276–777 Marx = 296–297 Krenkel, invented the colourful epithet cortinipotens for the Pythian Apollo: see Marx, ad loc.; I. Mariotti, Studi luciliani, Firenze 1960, 46f.; but in Propertius 4, 1, 49, cortina is transferred to the Sibyl). When commenting on passages of the Aeneid where cortina or tripue are mentioned (3, 92; 3, 360; 6, 347) Servius always thinks of Delphi.
51. Plin. N.H. 15, 127 sees a direct connection between the role of the laurel in the Pythian games and in Roman triumphs: hoc (sc. lauro) victoree Delphis coronati ut triumphantes Somae; see also 15, 133–135, and cf. Gagü, op. cit., 414.
52. See Boas, op. cit., 114ff.; Simon, op. cit., 38ff.; A. Alfüldi, Die zwei Lorbeerbüume des Augustus, Antiquitas R. 3, Band 14, Bonn 1973; H. Kyrieleis, Der Kameo Gonzaga, BJ 171 (1972) 162–193, 167ff.
53. The tripod and the dolphin (see below) appear on coins as emblems of the XVviri after 69 B.C. (G. Radke, RE XXIV1, 1139, 50ff., s. v. “Quindecimviri sacris faciundis” Gagü, art. cit., 584); the laurel may have played some part in their rite (see Tib. 2, 5, 81 and Gagü, ibid.). It should be remembered that Augustus had been a XVvir since 37 B.C. (Mon. Arte. 7; G. Howe, Fasti sacerdotum P.R. publicorum aetatis imperatoriae, Leipzig 1904, 39).
54. See J. Fontenrose, Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and its Origins, Berkeley/Los Angeles 1959, 13ff.; the relation of the killing of the she-dragon to the foundation of the temple of Apollo at Delphi in the account of the Homeric Hymn to Apollo is a complex question; see Defradas, op. cit., 65ff.; Forstel, op. cit. 256f.
55. RE II2, 1781, s. v. “Asterie” (6); Cahen, on Call. Hymn. 4, 28–54; Williams, on Aen. 3, 76; for later versions see Börner, on Ov. Met. 6, 184; Giomini and Tarrant, on Sen. Ag. 384.
56. Henry, on Aen. 4, 143, and De Mirmont, op. cit., 495, cite the Delphic parallel; but M.P. Nilsson, Geschichte der Griechischen Religion, Mönchen 19673, I, 547f., is more explicit about Apollo's migration to Lycia: “eine Legende, die spüt Überliefert ist und ihre Entstehung vielleicht der Rivalitüt mit der delphischen verdankt”. Cf. also U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Apollon, Hermes 38 (1903) 575–586, 578. Virgil may have been inspired by Apollon. 2, 674–679 (see below), where the Argonaut have a vision of Apollo on his way from Lycia to visit the Hyperboreans.
57. Cynthus is also the favorite mountain of Diana in the Aeneid (1, 498).
58. Cf. Horn. Hymn 3, 147ff.; fremunt (Aen. 4, 146, and Austin, ad loc.) may be an echo of Horn. Hymn 3, 162. On the festival described at Aen. 4, 145.146 cf. Bruneau, 151 (and 65ff.).
59. On the spread of the cult of the Pythian Apollo see Nilsson, op. cit., I, 552f.; Defradas, op. cit., 9ff., 286. Before founding his Delphic temple in the Homeric Hymn Apollo says that his oracle will attract people from the Peloponnese, Europe (= northern Greece?) and the islands (290–291, repeated from 250–251).
60. Cf. Heyne-Wagner, Excursus II on Aeneid IV, 718, about the Cretans and the Dryopes: “Traduxit au te m et hos et illos ad Delum suam poeta paulo licentius”. On Crete and Delphi see M. Guarducci, Creta e Delfi, Stud, e Mat. di Storia d. Religioni 19.20 (1943. 1946) 85. 114; on the Dryopes see Servius and Pease, ad loc.; Defradas, op. cit., 142f.; Parke-Wormell, op. cit., 1, 51, 343.
61. Heyne-Wagner, ibid.; also Yu. Kolosovskaya, The Agathyrsoi and their Place in the Tribal History of Southeastern Europe, VDI 4 (162) 1982, 47–6 9, 69.
62. On the Hyperboreans see Nilsson, op. cit., I, 548ff.
63. Heyne-Wagner, Excursus II on Aeneid IV, 717. Probably Virgil also combines Apollon. 2, 674.679, as suggested by Heyne-Wagner, ibid.; F.G. Eichoff, Etudes grecques sur Virgile, Paris 1825, II, 248; and J.D.M. Preshous, Apollonius Rhodius and Virgil, PVS 4 (1964–65) 1–1 7, 3f.
64. Defradas, op. cit., 61f.
65. MacRobius, Sat. 3, 6, 6. 8, quotes an interpretation of vetusto, according to which Delos must have enjoyed greater divine protection than Delphi: Epaphus… ait Delphis quodam tempore evenisse, ut templum, religiosum antea et intactum, Spcaiatum incensumque sit… Delon neque antea, neque postea hoc incommoda vexatam sed semper eadem manere saxo. Thucydides etiam… idem docet (2, 8, 3). non mirum ergo, si praesidio religionis tutam insidam semper ostendens ad reverentiam sibi locorum accessisse dicit continuam saxi eiusdem, id est insulae, firmitatem. Cf. also Servius auctus, on Aen. 3, 84.
66. The oracle is consulted by Latinus who is advised to admit the Trojans and make a marriagealliance with them. I t does not appear in any other source of the story of Aeneas (Boas, op. cit., 178; on Virgil's source here see Fordyce, on 7, 81ff.). Ovid's account of Numa's consultation of an incubation oracle of Faunus (Fast. 4, 649. 670) is based on Virgil's narrative (cf. also Calp. Sic. Eel. 1, 8ff.). In the oracle of Faunus Virgil probably combined Faunus’ association with mysterious voices (81. 82; 95; cf. above on Aen. 3, 93) with the tradition about the Italian prophetic Nymph Albunea (cf. 83.84) and the Greek notion of incubation (87.88; 93.95); cf. Bouche-Leclercq, op. cit., IV (1882), 119ff.; Heinze, op. cit., 176, n. 2.; Bailey, op. cit., 26f.; Boas, op. cit., 178ff. (with many reservations); H.R. Steiner, Der Traum in der Aeneis, Bern/Stuttgart 1952, 60ff.; Boyance, op. cit., I l l; Fordyce, on Aen. 7, 81ff.
67. The suggestion that Albunea (7, 83) should be identified with modern Zolforata, in the neighborhood of Ardea (Tilly, Vergil's Latium, Oxford 1947, 103ff.) is now accepted by many critics. But Fordyce, on 82f., correctly observes that Virgil “is exploiting the associations of a
68. On which see Amandry, op. cit., 135ff.
69. The existence of a chasm with exhalations which produced Pythia's inspiration is today denied by specialists; see Amandry, op. cit., 216ff.; Parke-Wormell, op. cit., I, 19ff.; Fontenrose, The Delphic Oracle, op. cit., 197ff. But the historicity of the chasm and the exhalations should not be confused with what the Romans (at least not the sceptics) of Virgil's day believed about them. In Cicero's De divinatione (1, 38; 1, 79; cf. 2, 117) not only is the Pythia's inspiration exclusively attributed to some sort of earth exhalations but also the decline of the oracle is directly linked with their disappearance. Cf. also Lucan's well-known account of the ecstasy of the Pythia, and Plin. N.H. 2, 208. Particularly significant in Virgil's passage is the combination of the exhalations with a source (83–84). E.J. Edelstein - L. Edelstein, Asclepius: A Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies, Baltimore 1945 (= New York 1975), I, 209ff.; II, 145ff. 97 Parke - Wormell, op. cit., I, 274; 344ff.
70. On the historicity of the account see Parke-Wormell, op. cit., I, 274. “The consultation of the Delphic oracle in this case is mentioned by Livy (29, 11, 5–6), and Ovid (Fast. 4, 263–264); on the historicity of this tradition see Graillot, op. cit., 25ff.; Parke- Wormell, op. cit., I, 273f. On Cybele in the Aeneid see Graillot, op. cit., 108ff.; Bailey, op. cit., 174ff.; cf. also T.P. Wiseman, Cybele, Virgil and Augustus, Poetry and Politics in the Age of Augustus, T. Woodman and D. West eds., Cambridge 1984, 117–128.
71. This is denied by most critics; but cf. Boas, op. cit., 183ff.
72. Diodorus reports that Daedalus flew to Sicily (4, 77ff.; cf. Paus. 7, 4, 6–7), and that from there he went to Sardinia (4, 30; cf. Paus. 10, 17, 4). Our only other source besides Virgil for Daedalus’ arrival at Cumae is Servius (and Servius ductus) on A en. 6, 14, who quotes Sallust: Daedalus vero primo Sardiniam, ut dicit Sallustius, post delatus est Cumas, et templo Apollini condito sacratisque ei alis in foribus haec universa depinxit (= Sali. Hist. II, frs 6–8 M.). But it is not made clear if Sallust is the source of the whole passage, or only of its first part (Daedalus… Cumas; so De Mirmont, op. cit., 516, 3; cf. M. de G. Verrall, Two Instances of Symbolism
73. See my paper entitled “The Unifying Theme of Daedalus’ Sculptures on the Temple of Apollo Cumanus (Aen. 6, 20–33)”, forthcoming in: Vergilius.
74. On Androgeos and his death see RE I, 2143, 42ff. s. v.; Frazer, on Apollod. 3, 15, 7; Parke- Wormell, op. cit., I, 297f.
75. Norden, ad loc., says that the number seven had associations with the cult of Apollo.
76. M. de Verrall, art. cit., 44, noticed the equal number of victims in both cases but she regarded that as a parallelism, not as a contrast; cf. W. Fitzgerald, Aeneas, Daedalus and the Labyrinth, Arethusa 17 (1984) 51–65, 58.
77. Bouchü-Leclercq, op. cit., IV, 119ff., especially 130f.; W. Warde Fowler, The Religious Experience of the Roman People, London 1911 (repr. New York 1971), 292ff., esp. 297; R. Bloch, Les prodiges dans l'antiquitü classique, Paris 1963, 77ff.; W.F. Jackson Knight, Elysion, London 1970, 113.
78. Cf. Gagü, art. cit., 587, in connection with Augustus and Sibylline divination.
79. On Tibullus, 2, 5 see F. Cairns, Tibullus: A Hellenistic Poet at Rome, Cambridge 1979, 65ff.
80. Cf. Austin, on 6, 55f.
81. The current opinion is that there is no reliable evidence in ancient literature or art for a Pythia prophesying in a state of possession (see Fontenrose, The Delphic Oracle, op. cit., 204ff.). But, as in the case of the chasm and the exhalations at Delphi (see above), the question pertinent to this study is whether Virgil believed or not, that the Pythia uttered her prophecies while in a state of possession. I think the answer is definitely yes, especially if by “possession” we do not necessarily mean hysterical excitement (see E.R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational, Berkeley/Los Angeles 1951, ch. 3). Virgil's Deiphobe is probably a combination of the Sibyl and the Pythia; it should, in this respect, be remembered, that in Cicero's De divinazione 1, the Sibyl, the Pythia, and Cassandra (cf. her prophetic ecstasy at Aesch. Ag. 1269ff.) are classified together, and that the influence of the delirium of Virgil's Sibyl is visible not only in Lucan's Pythia (5, 169–224) but also in Seneca's Cassandra (Ag. 710ff., and Tarrant, ad loc.).
82. Cf. Gagü, art. cit., 587.
83. On the dolphin as emblem of the Quindecimviri see Radke, RE XXXIV1, 1139, 50ff., s. v. “Quindecimviri sacris faciundis”.
84. Forstel, op. cit., 219ff.; for modern views see W. Aly, Der kretische Apollonkult, Leipzig 1908, 13ff.; Defradas, op. cit., 69ff.; Nilsson, op. cit., I, 554f.
85. RE IV, 1630, 10ff., s. v. “Cornificius Longus” GRF I (Funaioli), 473f.
86. Börard, op. cit., 428; Forstel, op. cit., 457.
87. Börard, ibid