Secondary Source Review: Seasons and Similes in the Aeneid

This source is an article about how seasons are used as similes in the Aeneid, by George Fredric Franko of Hollins University. The audience for the article is people who have already read the Aeneid, because the author does not analyze the similes in the order they appear in the story. He looks at autumn first because it is the season where the academic calendar starts, and he ends with summer. The author examines eight seasonal similes in the Aeneid.

The author works from John Robert Ross’ “The Assumption of Total Significance” to argue that the use of seasons in the Aeneid enriches the narrative with vibrance and quotes Lombardo’s introduction to his translation saying that the similes are “semi-independent poetic events illuminating the main action”. They mark the beginning or end of a season, and rather than focusing on the moment, they look forward and backwards into the story, signifying growth and decay. In using these assumptions, the author disagrees with Richard Heinze’s Vergil’s Epic Technique which merely says that the similes “are mentioned where they are needed to motivate the action, but not to lend color or mood to events”. I think it was a good idea to introduce this counterargument before refuting it, as these are proper debate manners. The author looks at the Aeneid, which is a primary source, quoting the passages where seasonal similes appear so that he can unpack and analyze them, like in a typical essay. However, when the author mentions seasonal references that are not similes, he merely cites them. The author also makes some comparisons with the Georgics and quotes one passage from the Iliad. Except for the Iliad, all the works the author examines are by Virgil. The author starts his argument by mentioning Virgil’s choice to end the first book of the Aeneid with the song of the bard Iopas, who sings about the ways of the sun, moon, and constellations, to invite the reader to think about how the seasons inform the epic. The author also says that the Odyssey is an inspiration for the Aeneid’s focus on seasons, noting how Odysseus’ journey back home is coordinated with the transition from winter to spring. This shows that Virgil takes inspiration from traditional epic poetry conventions.

The author quotes both the English and Latin passages of its similes he focuses on. Looking at the Latin strengthens the author’s argument by revealing things that are not as clear in the English translation. For instance, when the author looks at Book 6’s similes of the souls in the Underworld as falling leaves and birds flocking to land, he describes them as melancholic overtures to winter, quoting the Latin for falling, lapsa cadunt, and the first frost, frigore primo. The author compares these similes to one in the story of Orpheus in Georgics, where the souls are compared to birds on trees during winter. The prospect of this other simile is extended to a more distant rebirth in spring, as opposed to the Aeneid’s which delimits the similes to the harsh winter. The author notes that the line previous to the similes describes Charon’s old age as “fresh and strong”. He says that this quality is exclusive to the gods, and the death of leaves reflects that of the body. Next, the author quotes a passage in the Iliad where Glaucon tells Diomedes that the life of leaves is like that of humans. The author contrasts the similes in the two works: the Iliad’s look at seasons cyclically and foreshadow the birth of a new generation of leaves. The change Virgil makes with this simile shows the darker and more regretful tone of the Aeneid.

The author then argues that winter is the most important season in the epic, since it drives the action and accelerates the issues in Dido and Aeneas’ affair in Book 4. He quotes sections of the story where a winter storm sends the Trojans to Carthage, Dido warns them not to depart at this season, and Fama spreads news of the lovers’ passion in winter. He then examines two similes in Book 4. Dawn’s rise from the ocean, along with the following simile of Aeneas in his hunt compared to Apollo leaving his winter quarters to renew the dance on Delos, foreshadows Aeneas’ abandonment of Dido. To show this, the author notes the similarities between the Latin term deserit for Apollo’s abandonment of his winter quarters with Dido’s lamentation of Aeneas’ abandonment using the words deseris, deserta and deseruere. When the author analyzes the other simile comparing the departing Trojans to ants carrying grain, he looks at the second person Latin term cernas to argue that the reader is meant to take Dido’s view, and that there is a disconnect between the simile and the actual season, which is midwinter. This reflects Dido’s loneliness and unease. In a simile in the same book comparing the departing Trojans to ants taking grain for midwinter, the author quotes the Latin term, frondentis remos, for the leaf-sprouting branches the Trojans drag in their departure from Carthage. According to the author, the greenery implies that nature is prematurely sprouting to support the Trojans.

Both the similes of the Golden Bough being like mistletoe in winter in Book 6 and Pyrrhus emerging like a snake protected underground in winter in Book 2 also drive the reader to look forward: since they take place in the winter solstice, there can only be a brighter future for the Trojans when the days lengthen. To show this, the author quotes the Latin word for the winter solstice bruma, which appears in both similes. One can recall that Christmas is only a few days removed from the solstice, and that mistletoe is an important symbol of the holiday, showing the connections between this Christian holiday and pagan ones. The author also notes the similarity between Pyrrhus’ simile and one from the Georgics where a snake leaves its eggs, but while in the letter the season is summer, Virgil changes it to winter in the Aeneid. The author finds that the word ver for springtime, which appears twice in Eclogues and seventeen times in Georgics is never present in the Aeneid. He explains this as being due to Troy not being reborn yet. The author looks at a simile comparing the Carthaginians building their city in early summer to bees working in flowery meadows during early summer. He contrasts it with a similar one in Georgics, where the bees in summer are preparing for winter, while in the Aeneid the Carthaginians are looking ahead to the glories of high summer. The author cites the Latin term for early summer. noua aestate. But that is only for the Carthaginians: Aeneas and the Trojans cannot look forward to summer. The author’s contrasts help his argument that the Aeneid has a gloomy and dark feeling unlike the Georgics. The Georgics is about farming and growth, while the Aeneid is about rebuilding. While the Aeneid can be considered cyclical, it is only looking at the darker, colder half of the cycle, before the regrowth. In a Book 10 simile of Pallas’ troops being compared to a herdsman’s flames, the author argues that the fires are methodical and a result of human planning, aided by divine wind and meant to make space for new pastures and plants. This situates the Trojan labors in a rational seasonal circumstance, adds color to the narrative and also foreshadows the imminent victory of the Trojans and their Etruscan allies. The author argues that the lack of seasonal imagery in the later half of the Aeneid reflects its focus on days rather than months and years, like the Iliad. In the final passage the author cites where Palinurus’ body floats for “three stormy nights”, he notes how the Latin term hibernas for stormy strengthens the similes’ feelings of chill, isolation and pathos instead of being chronological, adding more color to the story.

The author shows how astute Virgil was in his use of similes to mark the action, enrich the story and move it forward. It makes the reader think about how the seasons are used in the story.  The author shows that everything in a poem like the Aeneid has a purpose in the story and is not just there for decoration, as the third footnote in the article notes with a quote from William Blake. I thought the source really dug into the language of the quotations, which helped it to sharply make its argument that the similes are retrospective and prospective. The author helped me understand the Aeneid more, specifically how the seasons reflect different stages of Aeneas’ journey, and how seasonal similes reflect Aeneas’ future actions. It made me appreciate their importance and meaning. I see how these seasonal similes reflect fatum, the Roman idea that historical events are inalterable. They are signs from nature reflecting Aeneas’ path and destiny. The similes make the story more relatable by comparing them to seasonal phenomena. They also help the reader visualize the story better. They remind me that mythologies placed great importance on the cycle of seasons and that holidays were chosen for their importance in a season: fall reflects death, while spring reflects rebirth and resurrection. It was a long standing tradition in mythological epics to use natural and seasonal references to reflect the story. This is another reason why Virgil uses seasonal similes. It may have been better for the author to look at the similes in the order that they appear in the story and explore what this means. He could have explored the meaning of the seasons chosen by Virgil. For instance, why is it winter that the Trojans spend in Carthage? What do the Underworld’s connotations with fall mean? Why is Aeneas compared to Apollo? Why is Pallas’ simile likening him to a farmer situated in summer? Answering these questions reveals more about the story. In the beginning the author invites the reader to reflect, and at the end suggests that a future study could look at the tonal qualities communicated by the story’s implicit references to seasons in winds, constellations and meteorological phenomena. The author meant for his article to be built upon. While my essay will focus primarily on Dido and Aeneas, I will analyze the seasonal similes that are related to Dido and the Carthaginians. I think that looking at them will help my argument about Aeneas’ pietas and Dido’s anti-pietas. I will explore the meaning of these similes in this context, why Aeneas and the Trojans spend winter in Carthage, how their departure is reflected in seasonal similes and why these similes were chosen.