Alicia Matz (Boston University)
Although seen as primarily a goddess of the hunt today, to the native Italians and Romans, Diana had many political associations. Glinster notes that “Diana’s remit thus embraced strong political and civilizing elements” (Glinster 2020, 52), and Dumezil suggests that she might be the Latin equivalent of an Indo-European “celestial god who was not and could not himself be either king or father, but who guaranteed the continuity of births and provided for the succession of kings” (Dumézil 1970, 409). While some like Glinster and Cooley have briefly examined her ‘imperialist role’ under Augustus’ religious reforms, little attention has been given to the political aspects of her appearance in Augustan literature. Despite the fact that “her role in the poem is not insignificant” (Frantantuono 2005, 101), there has been little said about Diana’s political role in what could be considered Vergil’s most ostensibly political work, the Aeneid. This paper aims to examine the ways in which Diana may be used as a “commentary on autocratic power” (Green 2007, 32) in the Aeneid.
Although Diana herself only appears once in the poem, in her explanation of the life of Camilla (Aen. 11.535-94), there are two other notable ‘Dianas’ in the text, both of which have political connotations. When Venus appears to Aeneas in Book I, she is dressed as a huntress, and Aeneas asks her “an Phoebi soror?” (Aen. 1.329), and the famous simile at Aen. 1.496-504 aligns Dido with the goddess. Given Diana’s power over the succession of kings, and Aeneas’ doomed to fail desire for both ‘Dianas,’ both of these scenes can be read metapoetically as failed attempts to secure sovereignty, as he has not yet reached Italy. In addition, a third, underexplored Diana appears in Book VI. The Sibyl’s relationship with Apollo is always emphasized, but this is not the only god she is dedicated to: twice it is indicated that she is dedicated to both Apollo and Trivia (Aen. 6.35, 6.69), and the grove in which her cave is located is called Triviae lucos (Aen. 6.13). Since Trivia is one of Diana’s many faces in Roman religion, Triviae lucos is akin to Diana’s sanctuary at Nemi, and as Dyson notes, “the golden bough in the grove of Diana at the Aeneid’s center is indeed to be associated with the strange and barbarous cult of Diana Nemorensis” (Dyson 2001, 139). Thus, when Aeneas enters the grove for the golden bough, it is Diana who is judging his worthiness, and the fact that the bough hesitates suggests that this goddess of sovereignty may not think him worthy of the katabasis that would lead him to found Rome. Thus, since Aeneas is an Augustus figure, Diana’s appearance in these three different instances where Aeneas’ ability to found Rome comes into question can be read as a commentary on Augustus’ right to rule.