Atomism in the Aeneid
Physics, Politics, and Cosmological Disorder
Publisher: OUP USA
Date of Publication: 4 August 2021
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Product details:
ISBN13: | 9780197518748 |
ISBN10: | 0197518745 |
Binding: | Hardback |
No. of pages: | 184 pages |
Size: | 160x236x22 mm |
Language: | English |
514 |
Category:
Short description:
Atomism in the Aeneid investigates allusions to Lucretian atomism in descriptions of indecision, violence, and disorder in Virgil's epic. Drawing upon a long tradition of anti-atomist discourse in Greek philosophy, Gorey argues that atomic imagery functions as a metaphor for cosmic and political anarchy in the Aeneid.
Long description:
Scholars have long recognized Lucretius's De Rerum Natura as an important allusive source for the Aeneid, but significant disagreement persists regarding the scope and purpose of Virgil's engagement with Epicurean philosophy. In Atomism in the Aeneid, Matthew M. Gorey investigates that engagement and argues that atomic imagery functions as a metaphor for cosmic and political disorder in Virgil's epic, associating the enemies of Aeneas and of Rome's imperial destiny with the haphazard, purposeless chaos of Epicurean atoms in the void. While nearly all of Virgil's allusions to atomism are constructed from Lucretian intertextual material, Gorey shows how the poet's negative reception of atomism draws upon a long and popular tradition of anti-atomist discourse in Greek philosophy that metaphorically likened the non-teleological cosmology of atomism to civic disorder and mob rule. By situating Virgil's atomic allusions within the tradition of philosophical opposition to Epicurean physics, Atomism in the Aeneid illustrates the deeply ideological nature of his engagement with Lucretius.
Gorey's book is a very valuable addition to the scholarship on the Aeneid, and, in more general terms, the interplay of philosophy and literature, as this study makes it very clear that Vergil read the de rerum natura as both a literary text and firm part of the epic tradition, but also as a philosophical work.
Gorey's book is a very valuable addition to the scholarship on the Aeneid, and, in more general terms, the interplay of philosophy and literature, as this study makes it very clear that Vergil read the de rerum natura as both a literary text and firm part of the epic tradition, but also as a philosophical work.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: Lucretian Allusion, Virgilian Allegory
Chapter 1. Characterizations of Epicurean Atomism
Chapter 2. Trojans Under the Influence of Atomism (Epic Winners)
Chapter 3. Non-Trojans Under the Influence of Atomism (Epic Losers)
Chapter 4. Turnus and the End of the Epicurean World
Chapter 5. Atomism And The Worldview of the Aeneid
Bibliography
Index
Chapter 1. Characterizations of Epicurean Atomism
Chapter 2. Trojans Under the Influence of Atomism (Epic Winners)
Chapter 3. Non-Trojans Under the Influence of Atomism (Epic Losers)
Chapter 4. Turnus and the End of the Epicurean World
Chapter 5. Atomism And The Worldview of the Aeneid
Bibliography
Index