Publication: Varium et Mutabile Semper Femina : Aristophanes’ Shapeshifting Lamia and Virgil’s Dido
Authors
Fratantuono, Lee
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Publisher
Universidad de Murcia, Servicio de Publicaciones
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DOI
10.6018/myrtia.588051
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Abstract
Una fuente olvidada, posible inspiración para Virgilio en la composición de su reina cartaginesa Dido, es la tríada de monstruos folclóricos asesinos de niños conocida por las citas de la comedia aristofánica. El hecho de que Virgilio recurra a la tradición popular sobre la reina libia Lamia y su transformación en un monstruo de pesadilla resalta la metamorfosis de Dido desde gobernante responsable de su pueblo a enemiga de Eneas y sus descendientes, furiosa y amargada. Además, Virgilio puede aludir específicamente a la naturaleza cambiante de estos monstruos mitológicos en la advertencia misógina de Mercurio a Eneas sobre la eminente mutabilidad de las mujeres.
A neglected source of possible inspiration for Virgil in the composition of his Carthaginian queen Dido is the triad of folkloric child-slaying monsters known from citations in Aristophanic old comedy. Virgil’s borrowing from lore about the Libyan queen Lamia and her transformation into a nightmarish bogey serves to highlight Dido’s metamorphosis from responsible ruler of her people to an angry, embittered enemy of Aeneas and his descendants. Further, Virgil may allude specifically to the shapeshifting nature of these mythological monsters in Mercury’s misogynistic warning to Aeneas about the eminent mutability of women.
A neglected source of possible inspiration for Virgil in the composition of his Carthaginian queen Dido is the triad of folkloric child-slaying monsters known from citations in Aristophanic old comedy. Virgil’s borrowing from lore about the Libyan queen Lamia and her transformation into a nightmarish bogey serves to highlight Dido’s metamorphosis from responsible ruler of her people to an angry, embittered enemy of Aeneas and his descendants. Further, Virgil may allude specifically to the shapeshifting nature of these mythological monsters in Mercury’s misogynistic warning to Aeneas about the eminent mutability of women.
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Citation
Myrtia : revista de filología clásica, v. 38, 2023
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