Secrets and Lies: The Power of Thetis in Roman Culture

Heslin, Peter

Abstract

Slatkin has taught us that an awareness of the hidden tradition of the cosmological power of Thetis is crucial to understanding the Iliad; it is no less important for understanding the subsequent literary tradition. Apollonius expanded upon Homer's hints at the unhappiness of Thetis to depict the Nereid as disgusted with the marriage that has thwarted her destiny, even as Hera continues to claim blithely that her wedding was a happy occasion. Catullus 64 is built upon this contrast between the official, mendacious version of the wedding as a happy occasion and the secret, darker story in which the bride's grand destiny was sacrificed to ensure the hegemony of Jupiter. Virgil takes a broader view of cosmic history. In Eclogue 4, he embeds Catullus' narrative of irreversible decay into a cyclical framework while in the Aeneid the trajectory of Venus pointedly inverts the decline of Thetis' power. Ovid and Statius bring out further elements of Thetis' stymied power. In each case, readers had to bring to bear their extra-textual knowledge of the real reason for Thetis' marriage and of its consequences; and even Roman wall painters could presuppose that viewers knew her secret history.

Citation

Heslin, P. (2023). Secrets and Lies: The Power of Thetis in Roman Culture. In M. Paprocki, G. P. Vos, & D. J. Wright (Eds.), The Staying Power of Thetis: Allusion, Interaction, and Reception from Homer to the 21st Century (147-179). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110678437-007

• Online Publication Date: Apr 27, 2023
• Publication Date: Apr 27, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 31, 2025
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 147-179
• Series Title: Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes
• Series Number: 140
• Book Title: The Staying Power of Thetis: Allusion, Interaction, and Reception from Homer to the 21st Century
• ISBN: 9783110678352
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110678437-007
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3360827