The Permanence of Cupid's Metamorphosis in the Aeneid

Ziogas, I.

Abstract

Cupid morphs into Ascanius in Aeneid 1 and I argue that this transformation invests Ascanius with erotic qualities that are essential to understanding the boy's role in the Aeneid. Vergil deliberately blurs the distinction between Ascanius and Cupid, inviting the readers to draw a parallel between Aeneas' son and Aeneas' brother. Ascanius' Cupid-like features generically enrich Vergil's epic with the language and motifs of elegiac poetry. The intrusion of Cupid, the patron deity of Roman love elegy, into Vergil's epic opens an intriguing dialogue between two genres that are supposedly mutually exclusive.

Citation

Ziogas, I. (2010). The Permanence of Cupid's Metamorphosis in the Aeneid. Trends in Classics, 2(1), 150-174. https://doi.org/10.1515/tcs.2010.007

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Jan 6, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 24, 2016
• Journal: Trends in Classics
• Print ISSN: 1866-7473
• Electronic ISSN: 1866-7481
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 150-174
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/tcs.2010.007
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1395346