Epic Gods Imperial City: Religion and Ritual in Latin Epic from Beginnings to Late Antiquity

Late antique Christian poets did not reject the language of epic, nor did they merely parrot their Classical predecessors, forcing an epic heroic model onto new subjects. Rather, they worked to adapt creatively conceptions of ritual sacrifice, sacred landscapes, and epic journeys in relation to the new epic hero: the martyr. In my paper, I will argue that through variations on the epic journey motif, the Christian poets Prudentius and Paulinus of Nola sought to sacralize landscapes through textual depictions of movements of dying and dead martyrs across the physical world.

Statius’ Thebaid is characterized by a profound disorder in the relationships between men and gods. The Olympian gods have to accept their powerlessness in the face of the gruesome events, while the divine powers of the underworld reign supreme. Ultimately, the heavenly gods have to turn their faces away from the horror of the fraternal duel.

The gods were inextricable from Roman life; as such, their relationship with humans has often been explored in Roman epic. Whether they were helping or hindering their presence was assured, especially in moments alluding to contemporary Roman figures. Virgil accentuates Venus’ role in Aeneas’ journey to Latium, framing her in such a way that her relation to Aeneas (and through him Augustus) was perfectly clear. Likewise, the frequent use of prophetic certainty regarding the future of Rome further highlights Jupiter’s approval of the Roman Empire and the actions of its people.

The Romans were deeply aware that civilizations rise and fall through bloodshed. The killing of individual humans, from Turnus to Romulus, marked the legendary foundation of their own city, with only a fine line separating the slaughter of battle from the ritual slaughter of human sacrifice (James 1995; Dyson 2001). This paper argues that an intertextual acrostic conversation, spanning significant passages in Virgil, Ovid, and Lucan, explores the connections among human sacrifice, the “sacrifice” of Troy, and the eventual fall of Rome.

Vergil’s account of the afterlife set forth in Book VI of the Aeneid is among the poem’s most significant and enigmatic religious aspects. Abounding in literary antecedents and elaborate detail, the account quite naturally attracts the attention of anyone interested in understanding Roman perspectives on the fate of the dead.

This paper considers Vergil’s account from two main perspectives: Vergil’s own, with attention to his literary sources; and those of his intended readership, including both members of Augustus’ inner circle and the Roman populace more generally.