orphic eleusinian and hellenistic jewish sources of virgil s underworld in aeneid vi

Kernos22 (2009)Varia

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Jan Bremmer

The Golden Bough: Orphic, Eleusinian,and Hellenistic-Jewish Sources ofVirgils Underworld in Aeneid VI................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Rfrence lectroniqueJan Bremmer, The Golden Bough: Orphic, Eleusinian, and Hellenistic-Jewish Sources of Virgils Underworld inAeneid VI, Kernos [En ligne], 22|2009, mis en ligne le 26 octobre 2012, consult le 26 octobre 2012. URL: http://kernos.revues.org/1785; DOI: 10.4000/kernos.1785

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Kernos22(2009),p.183-208.

The Golden Bough: Orphic, Eleusinian, and Hellenistic-Jewish Sources of Virgils Underworld in Aeneid VI Abstract:MorethanacenturyafterthefirstappearanceofNordensclassiccommentary

onAeneid VIin1903thetimehascometoseetowhatextentthenewdiscoveriesofOrphicmaterialsandnewinsightsinthewaysVirgilworkedenrichand/orcorrectourunderstandingofthattext.WewillthereforetakeafreshlookatVirgilsunderworld,butlimitourcommentstothosepassageswhereperhapssomethingnewcanbecontributed.ThismeansthatwewillespeciallyconcentrateontheOrphic,theEleusinian,andthe, ifusuallyneglected,Hellenistic-JewishbackgroundsofAeneassdescent.YetaRomanpoethardlycouldtotallyavoidhisownRomantraditionorthecontemporaryworld,and,inafewinstances,wewillcommentontheseaspectsaswell.AsNordenobserved,Virgilhaddividedhispictureoftheunderworldintosixparts,andwewillfollowtheseinourargument.

Rsum:Plusdun sicle aprs lapublication, en1903,ducommentaire classiquedeNorden sur le livre six de lnide, il est temps de considrer quel point les nouvellesdcouvertesdematrielorphiqueetlesnouvellesidessurlamaniredetravaillerdeVirgileenrichissent et/ou corrigent la comprhension de ce texte. Il sagit ds lors de porter unregard neuf sur lau-del deVirgile,mais en limitant nos commentaires aux passages surlesquelsilestpossibledapporterquelquechosedenouveau.Cesontleslmentsorphiquesetleusiniens,toutautantquelarrire-planhellnistiquejuifsouventngligsurlesquelslanalyseseconcentre.Enoutre,unpoteromainpouvaitdifficilementngligertotalementsapropretraditionromaineoulemondecontemporain,et,quelquesreprises,cesaspectsserontgalementcomments.CommeNordenlaobserv,Virgilearpartilimagedelau-delensixparties,etcestsonparcoursquenotreanalysepouse.

Therecanbelittledoubtthatthebeliefinanunderworldisveryold.Infact,

most peoples imagine the dead as going somewhere.Yet they each have theirownelaborationofthesebeliefs,whichcanrunfromextremelydetailed,aswasthe case in medieval Christianity, to a rather hazy idea, as was the case, forexample, in theOldTestament.1The earlyRomans donot seem tohave paidmuchattention to theafterlife.ThusVirgil,whenworkingonhisAeneid,hadaproblem.HowshouldhedescribetheunderworldwhereAeneaswasgoing?Tosolve thisproblem,Virgildrewon three important sources, asEduardNordenarguedinhiscommentaryonAeneid:HomersNekuia,whichisbyfarthemost

1Ingeneral,seeJ.N.BREMMER,The Rise and Fall of the Afterlife,London&NewYork,2002.

184 J.BREMMER

influential intertext inAeneidVI,2 and two lost poems about descents into theunderworldbyHeraclesandOrpheus(3).NordenhadclearlybeenfascinatedbythepublicationoftheChristianApocalypse of Peterin1892,3buthewasnottheonly one: this intriguing text appeared in, immediately, three (!) editions;4moreover, it also inspired the still very useful study of the underworld byAlbrecht Dieterich.5 A decade later Norden published the first edition of hiscommentaryonAeneidVI,andhecontinuedworkingonituntilthethirdeditionof1927.6Hisbookstillimpressesbyitsstupendouserudition,impressivefeelingforstyle,ingeniousreconstructionsoflostsourcesandall-encompassingmasteryofGreekandLatinliterature,medievalapocalypsesincluded.It is,arguably,thefinestcommentaryofthegoldenageofGermanClassics.7

Nordens reconstructions ofVirgilsGreek sources for the underworld inAeneid VIhavelargelygoneunchallengedinthepost-warperiod,8andthenextworthwhilecommentary,thatbythelateRolandAustin,9clearlydidnotfeelathomeinthisarea.NowthepastcenturyhasseenanumberofnewpapyriofGreek literature as well as new Orphic texts,10 and, accordingly, a renewed

2 For Homers influence see still G.N. KNAUER,Die Aeneis und Homer, Gttingen, 1964,

p.107-147.3SeeNORDEN,Kleine Schriften zum klassischen Altertum,Berlin,1966,p.218-233 (DiePetru-

sapokalypseundihreantikenVorbilder,18931).4U.BOURIANT,Fragmentsdutextegrecdulivrednochetdequelquescritsattribussaint

Pierre,Mmoires publies par les Membres de la Mission Archologique Franaise au CaireIX.1,Paris,1892(editio princeps);J.A.ROBINSONandM.R.JAMES,The Gospel according to Peter and the Revelation of Peter,London,1892;A.VONHARNACK,BruchstckedesEvangeliumsundderApokalypsedesPetrus,SB Berlin 44 (1892), p. 895-903, 949-965, repr. in his Kleine Schriften zur alten Kirche: Berliner Akademieschriften 1890-1907, Leipzig,1980,p.83-108.For themost recentedition seeT.J.KRAUSandT.NICKLAS,Das Petrusevangelium und die Petrusapokalypse,Berlin&NewYork,2004.

5 A. DIETRICH,Nekyia, Leipzig & Berlin, 1893. The second edition of 1913, edited byR.Wnsch,containscorrections, suggestionsandadditions fromDieterichsowncopyandthevariousreviews.ForDieterich(1866-1908)seethebiographybyWnschinA.DIETRICH,Kleine Schriften, Leipzig & Berlin, 1911, p.ix-xlii; F. PFISTER, Albrecht Dieterichs Wirken in derReligionswissenschaft,ARW 35 (1938),p.180-185;A.WESSELS,Ursprungszauber. Zur Rezeption von Hermann Useners Lehre von der religisen Begriffsbildung,NewYork&London,2003,p.96-128.

6E.NORDEN, P. Vergilius Maro Aeneis VI,Leipzig,19031,19273,p.5(sources).7 ForNorden (1868-1941) seemost recently J. RPKE,Rmische Religion bei Eduard Norden,

Marburg, 1993; B. KYTZLER et al. (eds.), Eduard Norden (1868-1941), Stuttgart, 1994; W.M.CALDERIIIandB.HUSS,Sed serviendum officio The Correspondence between Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff and Eduard Norden (1892-1931), Berlin, 1997; W.A. SCHRDER,Der Altertumswissen-schaftler Eduard Norden. Das Schicksal eines deutschen Gelehrten jdischer Abkunft, Hildesheim, 1999;A.BAUMGARTEN, Eduard Norden andHis Students: a Contribution to a Portrait. Based onThreeArchivalFinds,SCI25(2006),p.121-140.

8Foragoodsurveyofthestatus quoseeA.SETAIOLI,Inferi,inEVII,p.953-963.9R.G.AUSTIN,P. Vergili Maronis Aeneidos liber sextus,Oxford,1977.ForAustin(1901-1974)

see, inhis inimitableandhardly tobe imitatedmanner, J.HENDERSON, Oxford Reds,London,2006,p.37-69.

10Thesenewdiscoveriesmakethatolderstudies,suchasthosebyF.SOLMSEN,Kleine Schriften III,Hildesheim,1982,p.412-429,arenowlargelyoutofdate.

ThesourcesofVirgilsUnderworldinAeneidVI 185

interest in Orphic traditions.11 Moreover, our understanding of Virgil as apoetic bricoleur or mosaicist, as Nicholas Horsfall calls him,12 has much in-creasedinrecentdecades.13ItmaythereforepaytotakeafreshlookatVirgilsunderworld and try todetermine towhat extent thesenewdiscoveries enrichand/orcorrectNordenspicture.Naturally,spaceforbidsustopresenthereadetailedcommentaryonall aspects, andwewill limitour comments to thosepassageswhereperhapssomethingnewcanbecontributed.Thismeansthatwewill especially concentrate on the Orphic, Eleusinian, and Hellenistic-JewishbackgroundsofAeneass descent.Yet aRomanpoethardly can totally avoidhisownRomantraditionor thecontemporaryworld,and, ina few instances,we will comment on these aspects as well. As Norden observed, Virgil haddividedhispictureoftheunderworldintosixparts,andwewillfollowtheseinourargument.14

". The area between the upper world and the Acheron (268-4"6)

Beforewestartwiththeunderworldproper,wehavetonoteanimportantverse.AttheverymomentthatHecateisapproachingandtheSibylandAeneaswillleavehercavetostarttheirentryintotheunderworld,15atthisemotionallychargedmoment,theSibylcallsout:procul, o procul este, profani(258).Austin(ad loc.) justnotes:areligiousformula,whereasNorden(on46,noton258)onlycomments:DerBannrufderMysterien.However,suchacryisnotattestedfortheMysteriesinGreecebutoccursonlyinCallimachus(H.II,2).Infact,weknowthatinEleusisitwasnottheuninitiatedbutthosewhocouldnot speak proper Greek or had blood on their hands that were excluded.16Nordenwasontherighttrack,though.Theformulaalludesalmostcertainlytothebeginningofthe,probably,oldestOrphicTheogony,whichhasnowturnedupintheDervenipapyrus(Col.VII,9-10,ed.Kouremenoset al.),butallusionstowhichcanalreadybefoundinPindar(O.II,83-85),Empedocles(B3,4D-

11This interesthas culminated in the splendidnewedition,withdetailedbibliography and

commentary, of the Orphic fragments (=OF) by A. BERNAB,Orphicorum et Orphicis similium testimonia et fragmenta. Poetae Epici Graeci. Pars II. Fasc. 1-3, Munich&Leipzig,2004-7.

12N.HORSFALL(ed.),A Companion to the Study of Virgil,Leiden,20002,p.150.13SeeespeciallyN.HORSFALL,Virgilio: lepopea in alambicco,Naples,1991.14NORDEN,o.c. (n.6),p.208(sixparts).15FortheentryseeH.CANCIK,Verse und Sachen,Wrzburg,2003,p.66-82(DerEingangin

dieUnterwelt.EinreligionswissenschaftlicherVersuchzuVergil,AeneisVI236-272,19801).16Ar.,Ra.,369withscholionad loc.;Isoc.,4,157;Suet.,Nero,34,4;TheoSmyrn.,De utilitate

mathematicae,p.14,23-24HILLER;Celsus,apudOr.C. CelsumIII,59;Pollux,VIII,90;Lib.,Decl.XIII, 19, 52. For the prorrhesis of theMysteries seeC.RIEDWEG,Mysterienterminologie bei Platon, Philon und Klemens von Alexandrien,Berlin&NewYork,1987,p.74-85,whoalsocomparesourpassageatp.16.

186 J.BREMMER

K),whowasheavilyinfluencedbytheOrphics,17andPlato(Symp.,218b=OF19):Iwillspeaktowhomitisrighttodoso:closethedoors,youuninitiated(OF1and3).18AfurtherreferencetotheMysteriescanprobablybefoundinthepoetssubsequentwordssit mihi fas audita loqui(266),asitwasforbiddentospeakaboutthecontentoftheMysteriestothenon-initiated.19Theritualcry,then, is an important signal forourunderstandingof the text,20 as it suggeststhethemeoftheOrphicMysteriesandindicatesthattheSibylactsasakindofmystagogueforAeneas.

Afterasacrificetothechthonicpowersandaprayer,AeneasandtheSibylwalkinthelonelinessofthenight(268)totheverybeginningoftheentranceoftheunderworld,whichisdescribedasin faucibus Orci, inthejawsofOrcus(273). The expression is interesting, as these jaws as opening of the under-worldrecurelsewhereinVirgilandotherLatinauthors.21FromsimilarpassagesithasbeenrightlyconcludedthattheRomansimaginedtheirunderworldasavasthollowspacewitha comparativelynarrowopening.Orcuscanhardlybeseparated fromLatinorca, pitcher, and it seems thatwe findhereanancientideaoftheunderworldasanenormouspitcherwithanarrowopening.22Thisopeningmusthavebeenproverbial,asin[Senecas]Hercules Oetaeus.Alcmenerefers to fauces (1772) only as the entry of the underworld.23 All kinds ofhauntingabstractions(Austin),suchasWar,IllnessandavengingEumenides,livehere.24Initsmiddlethereisadarkelmofenormoussize,whichhousesthe

17SeeBernabante OF447Vwiththebibliography;addnowC.MEGINORODRGUEZ,Orfeo

y el Orfismo en la poesa de Empdocles,Madrid,2005.18ForfurtherversionsofthehighlypopularopeningformulaseeO.WEINREICH,Ausgewhlte

SchriftenII,Amsterdam,1973,p.386-387;C.RIEDWEG,Jdisch-hellenistische Imitation eines orphischen Hieros Logos, Munich, 1993, p. 47-48; A. BERNAB, La frmula rfica Cerrad las puertas,profanos.Delprofanoreligiosoalprofanoenlamaterial,Ilu1(1996),p.13-37andonOF1F;P.F.BEATRICE,OntheMeaningofProfaneinthePagan-ChristianConflictofLateAntiquity.TheFathers,FirmicusMaternusandPorphyrybeforetheOrphicProrrhesis(OF245.1Kern),Ill. Class. Stud.30(2005),p.137-165,whoatp.137alsonotestheconnectionwithAen.VI,258.

19InadditiontotheopeningformulaseealsoHom. H. Dem.,476;Eur.,Ba.,471-472;Diod.Sic., V, 48, 4; Cat., 64, 260: orgia quae frustra cupiunt audire profani; Philo, Somn. I, 191. For thesecrecy of the Mysteries see HORSFALL, o.c. (n. 13), p. 130; BREMMER, Religious Secrets andSecrecyinClassicalGreece,inH.G.KIPPENBERGandG.G.STROUMSA(eds.),Secrecy and Concealment,Leiden,1995,p.61-78 at71-78;W.BURKERT,Kleine Schriften III:Mystica, Orphica, Pythagorica, ed.F.GRAF,Gttingen,2006,p.1-20;HORSFALLonAen.III,112.

20ForsimilarsignsseeHORSFALL,o.c.,(n.13),p.103-116(Isegnaliperstrada).21Verg.,Aen.VII,570withHORSFALLad loc.;Val.Flacc.,I,784;Apul.,Met.VII,7;Gellius,

XVI,5,11,6;Arnobius,II,53;Anth.Lat.,789,5RIESE.22H.WAGENVOORT,Studies in Roman Literature, Culture and Religion,Leiden,1956,p.102-131

(Orcus);fora,possibly,similarideainancientGreeceseeM.L.WESTonHesiod,Theogony,727.23SeealsoTLLVI,1,397,49-68. 24ForapossibleechoofEmpedocles,B121D-KseeC.GALLAVOTTI,Empedocle,inEV

II,p.216f.


dreams(282-284).25Theelmisakindofarbor infelix,26asitdoesnotbearfruit(Theophr.,HPIII,5,2,alreadycomparedbyNorden),whichpartiallyexplainswhythepoetchosethistree,atypicalarborealEinzelgnger,fortheunderworld.Anotherreasonmustbeitssize, ingens,astheenormoussizeoftheunderworldis frequentlymentioned inRomanpoetry,27 unlike inGreece. In the tree theempty dreams dwell. There is noGreek equivalent for this idea, butHomer(Od.XXIV,12)alsosituatesthedreamsatthebeginningoftheunderworld.Inaddition,Virgillocateshereallkindsofhybridsandmonsters,ofwhomsomearealsofoundintheGreekunderworld,suchasBriareos(Il.I,403), ifnotattheentry.Others, though, are just frightening figures fromGreekmythology,suchastheoftencloselyassociatedHarpiesandGorgons,28orhybridsliketheCentaurs and Scyllae. According to Norden (p. 216), alles ist griechischgedacht, but that is perhaps not quite true. The presence of Geryon (forma tricorporis umbrae: 289) with Persephone in a late fourth-century BC EtruscantombasCerunmaywellpointtoatleastoneEtruscan-Romantradition.29

Fromthisentry,AeneasandtheSibylproceedalongaroadtotheriverthatisclearlytherealborderoftheunderworld.Inpassing,wenotehereacertaintension between the Roman idea of fauces and the Greek conception of theunderworld separated from the upper world by rivers. Virgil keeps thetraditional names of the rivers as known fromHomers underworld, such asAcheron, Cocytus, Styx,30 and Pyriphlegethon,31 but, in his usual manner,changes their mutual relationship and importance. Not surprisingly, we alsofind there the ferrymanof the dead,Charon (298-304). Such a ferryman is atraditionalfeatureofmanyunderworlds,32butinGreeceCharonismentionedfirst in the late archaic or early classical Greek epicMinyas (fr.1 Davies Bernab).33 The growing monetization of Athens also affected belief in the

25ForapossibleGreeksourceseeHORSFALL,o.c.(n.13),p.126f.26Mostimportantevidence:Macr.,Sat.III,20,3,cf.J.ANDR,Arborfelix,arborinfelix,in

Hommages Jean Bayet, Brussels, 1964, p. 35-46; J. BAYET,Croyances et rites dans la Rome antique,Paris,1971,p.9-43.

27Lucr.,I,115;Verg.,Aen.VIII,193,242,251(ingens !);Sen.,Tro.,178.28HORSFALLonVerg.,Aen.VII,323-340;BERNABonOF717(=P. Bonon.4),33.29 SeeNISBET andHUBBARDonHor.,C. 2, 14,8;P.BRIZE, Geryoneus, inLIMC IV.1,

(1990),p.186-190atno.25.30A.HENRICHS,ZurPerhorreszierungdesWassersderStyxbeiAischylosundVergil,ZPE

78 (1989), p. 1-29; H. PELLICCIA, Aeschylean and Virgilian inamabilis, ZPE 84(1990),p.187-194.

31NoteitsmentionalsoinOF717,42.32 L.V.GRINSELL, The Ferryman andHis Fee: A Study in Ethnology, Archaeology, and

Tradition, Folklore 68 (1957), p. 257-269; B. LINCOLN, Death, War, and Sacrifice, Chicago &London,1991,p.62-75(TheFerrymanoftheDead,19801).

33Seemost recentlyF.DIEZDEVELASCO,Los caminos de la muerte,Madrid,1995,p.42-57;E.MUGIONE et al., PP 50 (1995), p. 357-434 (a number of articles on Charon and his fee);C.SOURVINOU-INWOOD, Reading Greek Death to the End of the Classical Period, Oxford, 1995,

188 J.BREMMER

ferryman,andthecustomofburyingadeceasedwithanobol,asmallcoin,forCharonbecomesvisibleonAthenianvasesinthelatefifthcentury,justasitismentioned first in literature inAristophanesFrogs (137-142, 269-270) of 405BC.34Austin(ad loc.) thinksofapicture inthebackgroundofVirgilsdescrip-tion, as is perhaps possible. The date of Charons emergence probablyprecludeshisappearanceinthepoemonHeraclesdescent(3),35butinfluenceofthepoemonOrpheusdescent(3)doesnotseemimpossible.

Finally,onthebankoftheriver,AeneasseesanumberofsoulsandheaskstheSibylwhotheyare(318-320).TheSibyl,thus,ishistravelguide.Suchaguideis not a fixed figure inOrphic descriptionsof the underworld, but a recurringfeatureofJudeo-Christiantoursofhellandgoingbackto1 Enoch,whichcanbedatedtobefore200BCbutisprobablynotolderthanthethirdcentury.36Thiswas already seen, and noted for Virgil, by Ludwig Radermacher, who hadcollaborated on an edition with translation of 1 Enoch.37 Moreover, anotherformalmarker in Judeo-Christian tours of hell is that the visionary often asks:whoarethese?,andisansweredbytheguideofthevisionwiththesearethosewho,aphenomenonthatcanequallybetracedbacktoEnochscosmictourin1 Enoch.38NowthesedemonstrativepronounsalsoseemtooccurintheAeneid,asAeneasquestionsat318-320and560-561canbeseenasrhetoricalvariationson the question who are these?, and the Sibyls replies, 322-30 contains haec (twice), ille,hi.39 Inotherwords,Virgil seems tohaveused aHellenistic-Jewish

p.303-361; J.H. OAKLEY, Picturing death in classical Athens. The evidence of the white lekythoi, Cambridge,2004,p.108-125.

34OAKLEY, o.c. (n. 33),p. 123-125,242note49withbibliography; addR.SCHMITT, EinekleinepersischeMnze alsCharonsgeld, inPalaeograeca et Mycenaea Antonino Bartonk quinque et sexagenario oblate, Brno, 1991, p. 149-162; J. GORECKI, Die Mnzbeigabe, eine mediterraneGrabsitte.NurFahrlohnfrCharon?,inM.WITTEGERandP.FASOLD(eds.),Des Lichtes beraubt. Totenehrung in der rmischen Grberstrasse von Mainz-Weisenau, Wiesbaden,1995,p.93-103;G.THRY,CharonunddieFunktionenderMnzeninrmischenGrbernderKaiserzeit,inO.DUBUISandS.FREY-KUPPER(eds.),Fundmnzen aus Grbern,Lausanne,1999,p.17-30.

35ContraNORDEN,o.c. (n.6),p.237.36SeenowG.BOCCACCINIandJ.COLLINS(eds.),The Early Enoch Literature,Leiden,2007.37L.RADERMACHER,Das Jenseits im Mythos der Hellenen,Bonn, 1903,p.14-5,overlookedby

M.HIMMELFARB,Tours of Hell,Philadelphia,1983,p.49-50andwronglydisputedbyH.LLOYD-JONES,Greek Epic,Lyric and Tragedy,Oxford,1990,p.183,cf.J.FLEMMINGandL.RADERMACHER,Das Buch Henoch,Leipzig,1901.ForRadermacher(1867-1952)seeA.LESKY,Gesammelte Schriften,Munich & Berne, 1966, p. 672-688; A. WESSELS, Ursprungszauber. Zur Rezeption von Hermann Useners Lehre von der religisen Begriffsbildung,Berlin&NewYork,2003,p.129-154.

38AswasfirstpointedoutbyHIMMELFARB,o.c. (n.37),p.41-67.39 HIMMELFARB, o.c. (n. 37), p. 49-50; J. LIGHTFOOT, The Sibylline Oracles, Oxford, 2007,

p.502-503,whoalsonotesthat562-627containsthreeinstanceseachofhicasadverb(580,582,608) and demonstrative pronoun (587, 621, 623), a rhetorical question answered by the Sibylherself(574-577),andseveralrelativeclauses(583,608,610,612)identifyingindividualsinnersorgroups.AddAeneasquestionsintheHeldenschau in710ffand,especially,863(quis, pater, ille),andfurtherdemonstrativepronounsin773-774,776and788-791.


apocalyptic tradition toshapehisnarrative,40andhemayevenhaveusedsomeHellenistic-Jewishmotifs,aswewillseeshortly.

2. Between the Acheron and Tartarus/Elysium (4"7-547)

Leaving aside Aeneas encounter with different souls (333-383) and withCharon(384-416),wecontinueourjourneyontheothersideoftheStyx.HereAeneasandtheSibylare immediately welcomedbyCerberus(417-425),whofirstoccursinHesiodsTheogony(769-773),butmustbeaveryoldfeatureoftheunderworld, as a dog already guards the road to the underworld in ancientIndian, Persian andNordicmythology.41 After he has been drugged, Aeneasproceedsandhearsthesoundsofanumberofsouls(426-429).Babiesarethefirst categorymentioned.Theexpressionab ubere raptos (428) suggests infanti-cide,whereasabortioniscondemnedintheBolognapapyrus(OF717,1-4),akatabasisinathird-orfourth-centurypapyrusfromBologna,thetextofwhichseemstodatefromearlyimperialtimesandisgenerallyacceptedtobeOrphicin character.42 This papyrus, as has often been seen, contains several closeparallels to Virgil, and both must have used the same identifiably Orphicsource.43 Now blanket condemnation of abortion and infanticide reflects aJewish or Christian moral perspective. As we have already noted Jewishinfluence(1),wemayperhapsassumeitheretoo,asabortion/infanticideinfactoccursalmostexclusively inChristian toursofhell.44And indeed,SetaiolihaspersuasivelyarguedthattheoriginoftheBolognapapyrushastobelookedforinAlexandriainamilieuthatunderwentJewishinfluences,evenifmuchofthe text is of course not Egyptian-Jewish.45 We may add that the so-calledTestament of Orpheus isaJewish-EgyptianrevisionofanOrphicpoemandthus

40SeealsoBREMMER,Orphic,Roman,JewishandChristianToursofHell:Observationson

theApocalypseofPeter,inE.EYNIKEL,F.GARCAMARTNEZ,T.NICKLAS&J.VERHEYDEN(eds.),OtherWorldsandtheirRelationtothisWorld,Leiden,2009,forthcoming.

41LINCOLN,o.c.(n.32),96-106;M.L.WEST,Indo-European Poetry and Myth,Oxford,2007,p.392.42Forthetextseenow,withextensivebibliographyandcommentary,BERNAB,Orphicorum et

Orphicis similium testimonia et fragmenta. II, 2,271-87(=OF717),whonotesonp.271:omniaquaeinpapyrolegunturcumOrphicadoctrinarecentiorisaetatiscongruunt.

43ThishasnowbeenestablishedbyN.HORSFALL,P.Bonon.4andVirgil,Aen.6,yetagain,ZPE96(1993),p.17-18;notealsoHORSFALLonVerg.,Aen.VII,182.

44LIGHTFOOT, o.c. (n. 39), p. 513 (quotes),whocompares1 Enoch 99.5; see alsoHIMMEL-FARB, o.c. (n. 37), p. 71-72, 74-75;D. SCHWARTZ, Did the JewsPractice InfantExposure andInfanticide in Antiquity?, Studia Philonica Annual 16 (2004), p. 61-95; L.T. STUCKENBRUCK, 1 Enoch 91-108, Berlin &New York, 2007, p. 390-391; D. SHANZER, Voices and Bodies: TheAfterlifeoftheUnborn,Numen56(2009),p.326-365,withanewdiscussionofthebeginningoftheBolognapapyrusatp.355-359, inwhichshepersuasivelyarguesthatthepapyrusmentionsabortion,notinfanticide.

45 A. SETAIOLI, Nuove osservazioni sulla descrizione delloltretomba nel papiro diBologna,SIFC42(1970),p.179-224at205-220.

190 J.BREMMER

clearproofoftheinfluenceofOrphismonEgyptian(Alexandrian?)Judaism.46Yet someof theOrphicmaterialofVirgils and thepapyrus sourcemustbeolderthantheHellenisticperiod,aswewillseeshortly.

After thebabieswehearof thosewhowerecondemned innocently (430),suicides (434-436),47 famousmythologicalwomen such asEuadne, Laodamia(447),48 and,hardly surprisingly,Dido,Aeneas abandonedbeloved (450-476).In this way Virgil follows the traditional Greek combination of ahroi andbiaiothanatoi.49The lastcategorythatAeneasandtheSibylmeetat thefurthestpointofthisregionbetweentheAcheronandtheTartarus/Elysiumarefamouswarheroes(477-547).WhenwecomparethesecategorieswithVirgilsintertext,Odysseusmeetingwithghosts intheOdyssey (XI,37-41),wenotethatbeforecrossingAcheronAeneas firstmeets thesoulsof those recentlydepartedandthoseunburied, just as inHomerOdysseus firstmeets the unburiedElpenor(51).The last category enumerated inHomer are thewarriors,whohere tooappear last. Thus, Homeric inspiration is clear, even though Virgil greatlyelaborateshismodel,notleastwithmaterialtakenfromOrphickatabaseis.50

3. Tartarus (548-627)

Whiletalking,theSibylandAeneasreachaforkintheroad,wheretheright-handwayleadstoElysium,buttheleftonetoTartarus(541-543).Theforkandthe preference for the right are standard elements in Platos eschatologicalmyths, which suggests a traditional motif.51 Once again, we are led to theOrphicmilieu,astheOrphicGoldLeavesregularlyinstructthesoulgototheright or bear to the right after its arrival in the underworld,52 thus varyingPythagorean usage for the upper world.53 Virgils description of Tartarus is

46RIEDWEG,o.c. (n.18).47Y.GRIS,Le suicide dans la Rome antique,Montral&Paris,1982,p.158-164.48Note thepopularityof these twoheroines in funeralpoetry inHellenistic-Roman times:

SEG52,942,1672. 49See,passim,S.I.JOHNSTON,Restless Dead, Berkeleyet al.,1999.50NORDEN, o.c. (n.6),p.238-239.51Pl.,Grg.,524a,Phd.,108a;Resp.X,614cd;Porph.,fr.382SMITH;Corn.Labeo,fr.7MASTAN-

DREA. 52F.GRAFandS.I.JOHNSTON,Ritual Texts for the Afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets,

London&NewYork, 2007, no. 3, 2 (Thurii)=OF 487, 2; 8, 4 (Entella)=OF 475, 4; 25, 1(Pharsalos) = OF 477, 1; A. BERNAB & A.I. JIMNEZ SAN CRISTBAL, Instructions for the Netherworld, Leiden, 2008, p.22-24 (who also connect VI, 540-543 with Orphism). For theexceptions, preference for the left in the Leaves from Petelia (no. 2, 1 = OF 476, 1) andRhethymnon(no.18,2=OF484a,2),seethediscussionbyGRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),p.108,111.ThetworoadsalsooccurintheBolognapapyrus,cf.OF717,77withSETAIOLI,l.c. (n.45),p.186f.

53R.U.SMITH,ThePythagoreanletterandVirgilsgoldenbough,DionysiusNS18,(2000),p.7-24.


mostly taken from Odyssey Book XI, but the picture is complemented byreferencestootherdescriptionsofTartarusandtocontemporaryRomanvillas.Whatdoourvisitorssee?Underarocktherearebuildings(moenia),54encircledbya threefoldwall (548-549).The ideaof themansion isperhaps inspiredbytheHomeric expression house ofHades, whichmust be very old as it hasHittite,IndianandIrishparallels,55butintheoldestOrphicGoldLeaf,theonefromHipponion,thesoulalsohastotraveltothewell-builthouseofHades.56Ontheotherhand,HesiodsdescriptionoftheentryofTartarusassurroundedthree times by night (Th., 726-727) seems to be the source of the threefoldwall.57AroundTartarus there flows the river Phlegethon (551),which comesstraightfromtheOdyssey(X,513),where,however,despitethenamePyriphle-gethon,thefierycharacterisnotthematized.Infact,fireonlygraduallybecameimportant in ancient underworlds through the influence of Jewish apoca-lypses.58Thesizeof theTartarus isagainstressedbythementionofan ingensgate that isstrengthenedbycolumnsofadamant (552), the legendary,hardestmetal of antiquity,59 and the use of special metal in the architecture of theTartarus is also mentioned in the Iliad (VIII, 15: iron gates and bronzethreshold)andHesiod(Th.,726:bronzefence).

Finally, there is a tall iron tower (554), which according to Norden andAustin (ad loc.) is inspired by the Pindaric tower of Kronos (O. II, 70).However, although Kronos was traditionally locked up in Tartarus,60 Pindarsituateshis towerononeoftheIslesof theBlessed.Asthetower isalsonotassociatedwithKronoshere, Pindar,whose influenceonVirgilwas not veryprofound,61will hardly be its source.Given that theTartarus is depicted likesomekindofbuildingwithagate,vestibulumandthreshold(575), it isperhapsbetter to think of the towers that sometimes formed part of Roman villas.62

54Cf.A.FO,Moenia,inEVIII,p.557-558.55Il.VII,131;XI,263;XIV,457;XX,366;Empedocles,B142D-K,cf.A.MARTIN,Em-

pdocle,Fr. 142D.-K.Nouveau regard sur unpapyrusdHerculaneum,Cronache Ercolanesi 33(2003),p.43-52;M.JANDA, Eleusis. Das indogermanische Erbe der Mysterien,Innsbruck,2000,p.69-71;WEST,o.c. (n.41),388.NotealsoAen.VI,269:domos Ditis.

56GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),no.1,2=OF474,2.57ForHesiods influenceonVirgilseeA.LAPENNA,Esiodo,EVII,p.386-388;HORS-

FALLonVerg.,Aen.VII,808.58LIGHTFOOT,o.c. (n.39),p.514.59 Lexikon des frhgriechischen Epos I, Gttingen, 1955, s.v.; WEST on Hesiod, Th., 161;

LIGHTFOOT,o.c. (n.39),p.494f.60OnKronosandhisTitansseenowJ.N.BREMMER,Greek Religion and Culture, the Bible, and

the Ancient Near East,Leiden,2008,p.73-99.61 For rather different positions see R. THOMAS,Reading Virgil and His Texts, AnnArbor,

1999,p.267-287andHORSFALLonVerg.,Aen.III,570-587. 62NORDEN, o.c. (n. 6), p. 274 rightly comparesAen. II, 460 (nowwithHORSFALL ad loc.),

although3pages laterhecomparesPindar;E.WISTRAND,Omgrekernasochromarnashus,

192 J.BREMMER

Theturris aeneainwhichDanaeislockedupaccordingtoHorace(C.III,1,1)maybeanotherexample,asbeforeVirgilshe isalways lockedup inabronzechamber(NisbetandRuddad loc.).

Traditionally,TartaruswasthedeepestpartoftheGreekunderworld,63andthisisalsothecaseinVirgil.Here,accordingtotheSibyl,wefindthefamoussinners of Greek mythology, especially those that revolted against the gods,such as theTitans (580), the sons ofAloeus (582), Salmoneus (585-594) andTityos(595-600).64However,Virgilconcentratesnotonthemostfamouscasesbutonsomeofthelesser-knownones,suchasthemythofSalmoneus,thekingof Elis, who pretended to be Zeus. His description is closely inspired byHesiod,whointurnisfollowedbylaterauthors,althoughtheseseemtohavesome additional details.65 Salmoneus drove around on a chariot with fourhorses, while brandishing a torch and rattling bronze cauldrons on driedhides,66pretendingtobeZeuswithhis thunderand lightning,andwantingtobeworshippedlikeZeus.However,ZeusflunghimheadlongintoTartarusanddestroyedhiswholetown.67With9linesSalmoneusclearlyisthefocusofthiscatalogue,as thepenaltyofTityos,analumnus, foster son,68ofTerra, Earth(595), is related in 6 lines, and other famous sinners, such as the Lapiths,Ixion,69andPeirithous(601),arementionedonlyinpassing.Itisratherstriking,then,thatVirgilspendssuchgreatlengthonSalmoneus,butthereasonforthisattentionremainsobscure.

Eranos 37 (1939), p. 1-63 at 31-32; idem, Opera selecta, Stockholm, 1972, p. 218-220. ForanachronismsintheAeneidseeHORSFALL,o.c.(n.13),p.135-144.

63 Il. VIII, 13, 478; Hes., Th., 119 withWest ad loc.; G. CERRI, Cosmologia dellAde inOmero,EsiodoeParmenide,PP50(1995),p.437-467;D.M.JOHNSON,HesiodsDescriptionsofTartarus(Theogony721-819),Phoenix53(1999),p.8-28.

64 Note their presence also, except for Salmoneus, in Horaces underworld: NISBET andRUDDonHor.,O.III,4.

65CompareSoph.,fr.10c6RADT(makingnoisewithhides,cf.Apollod.,I,9,7,cf.R.SMITHand S. TRZASKOMA, Apollodorus 1.9.7: Salmoneus Thunder-Machine, Philologus 139 [2005],p.351-354andR.D.GRIFFITH,SalmoneusThunder-Machineagain,ibidem152[2008],p.143-145;Greg.Naz.,Or.V,8);Man.,5,91-94(bronzebridge)andServiusonAen.VI,585(bridge).

66 In line 591, aere, which is left unexplained byNorden, hardly refers to a bronze bridge(previousnote:soAustin)buttothebronzecauldronsofHes.,fr.30,5;7M-W.

67ForthemythseeHes.,fr.15,30M-W;Soph.,fr.537-541aRADT;Diod.Sic.,IV,68,2,6fr.7;Hyg.,Fab.,61,250;Plut.,Mor.,780f; Anth. Pal.XVI,30; EustathiusonOd.I,235;XI,236; P.HARDIE,Virgils Aeneid: cosmos and imperium,Oxford, 1986,p. 183-186;D. CURIAZI, Note aVirgilio,MCr 23/4 (1988/9), p. 307-309;A.MESTUZINI, Salmoneo, inEV IV, p. 663-666;E.SIMON,Salmoneus,inLIMCVII.1(1994),p.653-655.

68 Austin translates son, asHomer (Od. VII, 324; XI, 576) calls him a son ofGaia, butTityosbeingafostersonishardly nachder jungenSagenform(Norden),cf.Hes.,fr.78M-W;Pherec.,fr.55FOWLER;Apoll.Rhod.,I,761-762;Apollod.,I,4,1.ForalumnusseeC.MOUSSY,Alo, alesco, adolesco, intrennes de septantaine. Travaux offerts Michel Lejeune, Paris, 1978,p.167-178.

69IxionappearsintheunderworldasearlyasAp.Rhod.,III,62,cf.LIGHTFOOT,o.c. (n.39),p.517.


Moreover,thelattersinnersareconnectedwithpenalties,anoverhangingrockandafeastthatcannotbetasted(602-6),whichinGreekmythologyarenormallyconnectedwithTantalus.70WefindthesamedissociationoftraditionalsinnersandpenaltiesintheChristianApocalypse of Peter:71Evidently,inthecourseofthetime,specificpunishmentsstoppedbeinglinkedtospecificsinners.72Finally,itisnoteworthythatthefurnitureofthefeastwithitsgoldenbeds(604)pointstotheluxury-lovingrulersoftheEastratherthantocontemporaryRomanmagnates.73

Afterthesemythologicalexemplatherefollowaseriesofmortalsinnersagainstthefamilyandfamilia(608-613),thenabrieflistoftheirpunishments(614-617),and thenmore sinners,mythological andhistorical (618-624).74 In theBolognapapyrus,wefindalistofsinners(OF717,1-24),thentheErinyesandHarpiesasagentsoftheirpunishments(25-46),andsubsequentlyagainsinners(47ff.).BothVirgil and thepapyrusmust thereforegobackhere to theirolder source (2),whichseemstohavecontainedseparatecataloguesofnamelesssinnersandtheirpunishments.Butwhatisthissourceandwhenwasitcomposed?

Herewe run intohighlycontested territory.Aswenoted inour introduc-tion,NordenidentifiedthreekatabaseisasimportantsourcesforVirgil,theonesby Odysseus in the Homeric Nekuia, by Heracles,75 and by Orpheus.76Unfortunately,hedidnotdatethelasttwokatabaseis,butthankstosubsequentfindingsofpapyriwecanmakesomeprogresshere.Onthebasisofaprobable

70 J.ZETZEL,RomaneMemento: JusticeandJudgment inAeneid6,TAPhA119 (1989),

p.263-284at269-270.71BREMMER,l.c. (n.40).72 Differently, HORSFALL, o.c. (n. 13), p. 48: le punizioni dei grandi peccatori non siano

arrivateadunadistribuzionefissaancoraallafinedelprimosecoloa.C.73NotealsoDidosaurea sponda(I,698);Sen.Thy.909:purpurae atque auro incubat.Originally,

golden couches were a Persian feature, cf. Hdt., IX, 80, 82; Esther 1.6; Plut., Luc., 37, 5;Athenaeus,V,197a.

74P.SALAT,PhlgyasetTantaleauxEnfers.proposdesvers601-627dusiximelivredelnide,intudes de littrature ancienne, II : Questions de sens, Paris,1982,p.13-29;F.DELLACORTE,Ilcatalogodeigrandidannati,Vichiana 11(1982),p.95-99=idem,Opuscula IX,Genua,1985,p. 223-227; A. POWELL, The Peopling of theUnderworld:Aeneid 6.608-27, inH.-P. STAHL(ed.),Vergils Aeneid: Augustan Epic and Political Context, London,1998,p.85-100.

75NORDEN, o.c. (n. 6), p. 5 note 2 notes influence ofHeracleskatabasis on the followinglines:131-132,260(cf.290-294,withLLOYD-JONES,o.c. (n.37),p.181onBacch.,V,71-84,andF.GRAF,Eleusis und die orphische Dichtung Athens in vorhellenistischer Zeit,Berlin,1974,p.145note18onAr.,Ra.,291,whereDionysuswantstoattackEmpusa),309-312(seealsoNORDEN,o.c.(n.3),p.508 note 77), 384-416, 477-493, 548-627, 666-678. For Empusa see now A. ANDRISANO,Empusa, nome parlante (Ar.Ran. 288 ss.)?, in A. ERCOLANI (ed.), Spoudaiogeloion. Form und Funktion der Verspottung in der aristophanischen Komdie,Stuttgart&Weimar,2002,p.273-297.

76NORDEN,o.c. (n.6),p.5note2notesinfluenceofOrpheuskatabasisonlines120(seealsoNORDEN,o.c. (n.3),p.506-507),264ff(?),384-416,548-627.Unfortunately,R.G.EDMONDSIII,Myths of the Underworld Journey, Cambridge, 2004, p.17, rejects Nordens findings without anyseriousdiscussionofthepassagesinvolved.

194 J.BREMMER

fragmentofPindar (fr. dub. 346Maehler),Bacchylides,AristophanesFrogs,77and the second-century mythological handbook of Apollodorus (II, 5, 12),HughLloyd-JoneshasreconstructedanepickatabasisofHeracles,inwhichhewas initiated byEumolpus inEleusis before starting his descent at LaconianTaenarum.78Lloyd-Jonesdated this poem to themiddleof the sixth century,and thedate isnowsupportedbyashard in themannerofExekiasofabout540 BC that shows Heracles amidst Eleusinian gods and heroes.79 TheEleusinian initiationmakesEleusinian orAthenian influence not implausible,butasRobertParkercomments:Oncethe(Eleusinian)culthadachievedfame,a hero could be sent toEleusis by a non-Eleusinian poet, as toDelphi by anon-Delphian.80However,aswewillseeinamoment,Athenianinfluenceontheepiciscertainlylikely.81Giventhedateofthisepicwewouldstillexpectitsmainemphasistobeonthemoreheroicinhabitantsoftheunderworld,ratherthanthenamelesscategorieswefindinOrphicpoetry.Andinfact,innoneofourliterarysourcesforHeraclesdescentdowefindanyreferencetonamelesshumansorinitiatesseenbyhimintheunderworld,butwehearofhismeetingwithMeleager and his liberation of Theseus (see below).82Given the promi-nenceofnameless,human sinners in thispartofVirgils text, then, themaininfluenceseemstobethekatabasisofOrpheusratherthantheoneofHeracles.

There is another argument aswell to supposehereuseof thekatabasis ofOrpheus. Norden noted that both Rhadamanthys (566) and Tisiphone (571)recur in Lucians Cataplus (22-23) in an Eleusinian context;83 similarly, heobserved that thequestionof theSibyl toMusaeusaboutAnchises (669-670)can be paralleled by the question of the Aristophanic Dionysos to theEleusinianinitiatedwherePlutolives(Frogs161ff,431ff).NordenascribedthefirstcasetothekatabasisofOrpheusandthesecondonetothatofHeracles.84His first case seems unassailable, as the passage about Tisiphone has strong

77 Note that the commentary of W.B. STANFORD on the Frogs, London, 19632, is more

helpfulindetectingOrphicinfluenceintheplaythanthatbyK.J.DOVER,Oxford,1993.78H. LLOYD-JONES, Heracles atEleusis: P.Oxy. 2622 andP.S.I. 1391,Maia 19 (1967),

p.206-229=o.c.(n.37),167-187;seealsoR.PARKER,Athenian Religion,Oxford,1996,p.98-100.79J.BOARDMANet al.,Herakles,inLIMCIV.1(1988),p.728-838at805-808.80PARKER,o.c. (n.78),p.100.81GRAF,o.c. (n.75),p.146note22,whocomparesApollod.,II,5,12,cf.I,5,3(seealsoOv.,

Met. V, 538-550; P. Mich. Inv. 1447, 42-43, re-edited by M. VAN ROSSUM-STEENBEEK,Greek Readers Digests?,Leiden,1997,p.336;ServiusonAen.IV,462-463),notesthatthepresenceoftheEleusinianAskalaphosinApollodorusalsosuggestsalargerEleusinianinfluence.Thismaywellbetrue,buthisearliestEleusinianmentionisEuphorion,9,13POWELL,andheisabsentfromVirgil. Did Apollodorus perhaps add him to his account of Heracles katabasis from anothersource?

82ContraGRAF,o.c. (n.75),p.145-6.NotealsothedoubtsofR.PARKER,Polytheism and Society at Athens,Oxford,2005,p.363note159.

83NORDEN, o.c. (n.6),p.274f.84NORDEN, o.c. (n.6),p.275.


connectionswiththatoftheBolognapapyrus(OF717,28),asdothesoundsofgroans and floggingsheardbyAeneasand theSibyl (557-558, cf.OF 717,25;Luc.,VH., 2, 29). Musaeus, however, is mentioned first in connection withOnomacritus forgery of his oracles in the late sixth century and remainedassociatedwithoraclesbyHerodotus,SophoclesandevenAristophanesintheFrogs.85HisconnectionwithEleusisdoesnotappearonvasesbeforetheendofthefifthcenturyandintextsbeforePlato.86Inotherwords,itseemslikelythatboth thesepassagesultimatelyderive from thekatabasisofOrpheus, and thatAristophanes, likeVirgil,hadmadeuseofboththekatabaseisofHeraclesandOrpheus.Tomakethingsevenmorecomplicated,thefactthatbothHeraclesandOrpheusdescendedatLaconianTaenarum(aboveandbelow)showsthattheauthorhimselfofOrpheuskatabasisalso(occasionally?often?)hasusedtheepicofHeracleskatabasis.87

Now inGreek andLatinpoetry,Orpheusdescent into theunderworld isalwaysconnectedtohisloveforEurydice.88Infact,OrpheushimselftellsusinthebeginningoftheOrphicArgonauticainthefirstpersonsingular:ItoldyouwhatIsawandperceivedwhenIwentdownthedarkroadofTaenarumintoHades,trustinginourlyre,89outofloveformywife.90Nordenalreadynotedtheclosecorrespondencewiththe linethatopensthekatabasisofOrpheus inVirgilsGeorgica,Taenarias etiam fauces, alta ostia Ditis, / ingressus(IV,467-469),andpersuasivelyconcluded thatboth linesgoback to theDescent of Orpheus.91Wemayperhapsaddthat thenameofEurydiceappearspretty late inVirgilsversion(486,490).Thislatementionmaywellhavebeeninfluencedbythefactthat the original poem does not seem to have contained the actual name ofOrpheuswife,whichdoesnotappear inour sourcesbeforeHermesianax; infact, thenameEurydicebecamepopularonly after the rise toprominenceofMacedonianqueensandprincessesofthatname.92Asreferencestothemythof

85Hdt.,VII,6,3(forgery:OF1109=Musaeus,fr.68BERNAB),VIII,96,2(=OF69),IX,

43,2(=OF70);Soph.,fr.1116RADT(=OF30);Ar.,Ra.,1033(=OF63).86Pl.,Prot.,316d=Musaeus,fr.52BERNAB;GRAF,o.c. (n.75),p.9-21;LLOYD-JONES,o.c.

(n.37),p.182-3;A.KAUFMANN-SAMARAS,Mousaios,inLIMCVI.1(1992),p.685-687,no.3.87AsisalsonotedbyNORDEN,o.c. (n.6),p.237(onthebasisofServiusonVI,392)ando.c.

(n.3),p.508-509notes77and79.88GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),p.172-174.89Norden rightlycomparesVI,120:Threicia fretus cithara; seealsohiso.c. (n.3),p.506-507

withfurtherreflections.90Orph. Arg., 40-42: ,

,,.91SeealsoNORDEN,o.c. (n.3),p.508f.ForOrpheusaccountinthefirstpersonsingular,U.

VONWILAMOWITZ-MOELLENDORFF,Der Glaube der Hellenen,2vols,Darmstadt,19593,II,p.194-195alsopersuasivelycomparesPlut.,Mor.,566c(=OF412).

92 BREMMER, Orpheus: FromGuru toGay, in Ph. BORGEAUD (ed.),Orphisme et Orphe,Geneva, 1991, p. 13-30 at 13-17 (also on the nameEurydice); see now alsoD. FONTANNAZ,

196 J.BREMMER

OrpheusandEurydicedonotstartbeforeEuripidesAlcestis(357-362)of438BC,ared-figureloutrophorosfrom440-430BC,93andthedecoratedreliefsof,probably, the altar of the TwelveGods in the Athenian Agora, dating fromabout 410 BC,94 the poem about Orpheus katabasis that was used by VirgilprobablydatesfromthemiddleofthefifthcenturyBC.

But by whom was the katabasis of Orpheus written? In fact, there wereseveralDescents incirculation,asweknow.Thethird-centuryBCpoetSotadeswrote aDescent into Hades (Suda s.v. ), as did the unknown ProdikosfromSamos(Clem.Alex.,Strom.I,21,131,3=OF707,1124)andHerodikosfrom Perinthos (Suda, s.v. = OF 709, 1123).95 More interestingly,Epigenes,whomaywellhavebeenapupilofSocrates,96mentionsaDescent into Hades by a Pythagorean Cercops in hisOn the Poetry of Orpheus (Clem. Alex.,Strom. I, 21, 131, 3=OF 707, 1101, 1128),but themost interesting examplesurely is theDescent into Hades ascribed to Orpheus from Sicilian Camarina(Suda,s.v.=OF708,870,1103).Heseemstobeafictitiousperson,asMartinWesthasnoted,97butthementionisremarkable.Surely,theauthorofthisDescentowedhisnametothefactthathetoldhisdescentinthefirstpersonsingular (above). Was he perhaps the ingenious mythologist, presumably aSicilian or Italian, to whom Platos Socrates described punishments for thesoulsofthenon-initiatedafterdeath(Grg.,493a)?AsCamarinawasatownwithclosetiestoAthens,98itisnotwhollyimpossiblethatoneofitsinhabitantswastheauthorofthekatabasisofOrpheus.Yetatthepresentstateofourknowl-edgewesimplycannottell.

We have onemore indication left for the place of origin of theHeraclesepic.After thenamelesssinnerswenowseemorefamousmythologicalones.Theseus, asVirgil stresses, sedet aeternumque sedebit (617).Thepassagedeservesmoreattentionthanithasreceivedinthecommentaries.IntheOdyssey,TheseusandPirithousarethelastheroesseenbyOdysseusintheunderworld,justasinVirgilAeneasandtheSibylseeTheseuslastinTartarus,eventhoughPirithoushas been replaced by Phlegyas. Now originally Theseus and Pirithous werecondemnedtoaneternalstayintheunderworld,eitherfetteredorgrowntoa

Lentre-deux-mondes. Orphe et Eurydice sur une hydrie proto-italiote du sanctuaire de lasourceSaturo,Antike Kunst51(2008),p.41-72.

93 E. SIMON, DieHochzeit desOrpheus und der Eurydike, in J.GEBAUER et al. (eds.),Bildergeschichte. Festschrift fr Klaus Sthler,Mhnesee,2004,p.451-456.

94TheyhavesurvivedonlyinRomancopies,cf.G.SCHWARTZ,EurydikeI,inLIMCIV.1(1988),p.98-100atno.5.

95M.L.WEST,The Orphic Poems,Oxford, 1983, p. 10 note 17 unpersuasively identifies thetwo,likealreadyWILAMOWITZ-MOELLENDORFF,o.c. (n.91),II,p.195note2.

96Pl.,Ap., 33e;Phd.,59b;Xen.,Mem.III,12,1.97WEST,o.c. (n.95),p.10note17.98F.CORDANO,Camarinacittdemocratica?,PP59(2004),p.283-292;S.HORNBLOWER,

Thucydides and Pindar,Oxford,2004,p.190-192.


rock.ThisisnotonlythepictureintheOdyssey,butseeminglyalsointhelate-archaicMinyas(Paus.,X,28,2,cf.fr.dub.7Bernab=Hes.,fr.280M-W),andcertainlysoonPolygnotospaintingintheCnidianlesche(Paus.,X,29,9)andinPanyassis(fr.9Davies=fr.14Bernab).Thisclearlyistheoldersituation,which is still referred to in the hypothesis of CritiasPirithous (cf. fr. 6 Snell-Kannicht).ThesituationmusthavechangedthroughthekatabasisofHeracles,inwhichHeraclesliberatedTheseusbut,atleastinsomesources,leftPirithouswherehewas.99ThisliberationismostlikelyanothertestimonyforanAthenianconnectionofthekatabasisofHeracles,asTheseuswasAthensnationalhero.The connection of Heracles, Eleusis and Theseus points to the time of thePisistratids, althoughwe cannot bemuchmore precise thanwe have alreadybeen(above).Inanycase,thestressbyVirgilonTheseuseternalimprisonmentintheunderworldshowsthathesometimesalsooptedforaversiondifferentfromthekatabaseisheingeneralfollowed.100

RatherstrikingisthecombinationofthefamousTheseuswiththeobscurePhlegyas(618),101whowarnseverybodytobejustandnottoscornthegods.102Norden unconvincingly tries to reconstructDelphic influence here, but also,andperhaps rightly, positsOrphic origins.103His oldest testimony is PindarsSecond Pythian Ode (21-4) where Ixion warns people in the underworld. NowStrabo(IX,5,21)callsPhlegyasthebrotherofIxion,104whereasServius(ad loc.)calls him Ixions father. Can it be that this relationship plays a role in this wonderful confusion of sources, relationships, crimes and punishments? Wewillprobablyneverknow,asVirgiloftenselectsandaltersatrandom!

4. The Palace and the Bough (628-636)

However this may be, after another series of nameless human sinners,105amongwhomthesinofincest(623)isclearlysharedwiththeBolognapapyrus(OF717,5-10),106theSibylurgesAeneasonandpointstothemansionofthe

99HypothesisCritiasPirithous(cf.fr.6SNELL-KANNICHT);Philochoros,FGrH328F18;Diod.

Sic.,IV,26,1;63,4;Hor.,C.III,4,80;Hyg.,Fab.,79;Apollod.,II,5,12,Ep.I,23f.100ForthiscaseseealsoHORSFALL,o.c. (n.13),p.49.101D.KUIJPER,Phlegyasadmonitor,Mnemosynen.s.416(1963),p.162-70;G.GARBUGINO,

Flegias,EVII,p.539-540noteshislateappearanceinourtexts.102EventhoughitisadifferentPhlegyas,onemaywonderwhetherStatius,Thebais6.706et

casus Phlegyae monetdoesnotalludetohiswordshere:admonet discite iustitiam moniti ?ThepassageisnotdiscussedbyR.GANIBAN,Statius and Virgil,Cambridge,2007.

103NORDEN, o.c. (n.6),p.275-276,compares, inadditiontoPindar(seethemaintext),Pl.,Grg.,525c;Phaedo,114a;Resp.X,616a.

104TobeaddedtoAUSTINad loc.105D.BERRY,CriminalsinVirgilsTartarus:ContemporaryAllusionsinAeneid 6.621-4,CQ

42(1992),p.416-420.106Cf.HORSFALL,o.c.(n.43).

198 J.BREMMER

rulers of the underworld, which is built by the Cyclopes (630-631:Cyclopum educta caminis moenia). Norden calls the idea of an iron building singulr(p.294),but it fitsotherdescriptionsof theunderworldascontaining ironorbronzeelements(3).Austin(ad loc.)comparesCallimachus,H.III,60-61fortheCyclopesassmithsusingbronzeoriron,butithasescapedhimthatVirgilcombinesheretwotraditionalactivitiesoftheCyclopes.Ontheonehand,theyaresmithsandassuchforgedZeusthunder,flashandlightning-bolt,ahelmetofinvisibilityforHades,thetridentforPoseidonandashieldforAeneas(Aen.VIII,447).107Consequently, theywereknownas the inventorsofweapons inbronzeandthefirsttomakeweaponsintheEuboeancaveTeuchion.108Ontheother hand, early traditions also ascribed imposing constructions to the Cy-clopes,suchasthewallsofMyceneandTiryns,andasbuilderstheyremainedfamousallthroughantiquity.109IronbuildingsthusperfectlyfittheCyclopes.

In front of the threshold of the building, Aeneas sprinkles himself withfresh water and fixes the Golden Bough to the lintel above the entrance.Norden(p.164)andAustin(ad loc.)understandtheexpressionramumque adverso in limine figit (635-636) as the laying of the bough on the threshold, but figitseemstofitthelintelbetter.110OnemaywonderfromwhereAeneassuddenlygothiswater.Hadhe carried itwithhimall along?Macrobius (Sat. III, 1, 6)tells us that washing was necessary when performing religious rites for theheavenlygods,but thatasprinklingwasenoughfor thoseof theunderworld.There certainly is some truth in this observation.However, as the chthoniangods were especially important during magical rites, it is not surprising thatpeopledidnotgotoapublicbathfirst.Itisthusamatterofconvenienceratherthanprinciple.111Buttoproperlyunderstanditsfunctionhere,weshouldlookattheGoldenBoughfirst.112

The Sibyl had told Aeneas to find the Golden Bough and to give it toProserpinaasherduetribute(142-143,tr.Austinad loc.).ThemeaningoftheGoldenBoughhasgraduallybecomeclearer.WhereasNordenrightlyrejected

107Hes.,Theog.,504-505;Apollod.,I,1,2andII,1;III,10,4(whichmaywellgobacktoan

ancientTitanomachy);seealsoPindar,fr.266MAEHLER.108IstrosFGrH334F71(inventors);POxy.10.1241,re-editedbyVANROSSUM-STEENBEEK,o.c.

(n.81),68.92-98(Teuchion).109Pind.,fr.169a.7MAEHLER;Bacch.,XI,77;Soph.,fr.227RADT;Hellanicus,FGrH4F87

=fr.88FOWLER;Eur.,HF,15;IA,1499;Eratosth., Cat.,39(altar);Strabo,VIII,6,8;Apollod.,II,2,1;Paus.,II,25,8;Anth. Pal.VII,748;schol.onEur., Or.,965;Et. Magnum,213.29.

110AsisarguedbyH.WAGENVOORT,Pietas,Leiden,1980,p.93-113(TheGoldenBough,19591)at93.

111SeealsoS.EITREM,Opferritus und Voropfer der Griechen und Rmer,Kristiania,1915,p.126-131;A.S.PEASEonVerg.,Aen.IV,635.

112ForAeneaspickingtheBoughonamid-fourth-centuryBritishmosaicseeD.PERRING,Gnosticism in Fourth-Century Britain: The Frampton Mosaics Reconsidered, Britannia 34(2003),p.97-127at116.


the interpretationofFrazersGolden Bough,113heclearlywasstill influencedbyhisZeitgeistwithitsfascinationwithfertilityanddeathandthusspenttoomuchattentiononthecomparisonoftheBoughwithmistletoe.114Yetbypointingtothe Mysteries (below) he already came close to an important aspect of theBough.115 Combining three recent analyses, which have all contributed to abetterunderstanding,wecan summarizeourpresentknowledgeas follows.116WhensearchingfortheBough,Aeneasisguidedbytwodoves,thebirdsofhismother Aphrodite (193). The motif of birds leading the way derives fromcolonisationlegends,asNorden(p.173-174)andHorsfallhavenoted,andthefact that thereare twoof themmaywellhavebeeninfluencedbytheage-oldtraditions of two leaders of colonising groups.117 The doves, as Nelis hasargued, can be paralleled with the dove that led the Argonauts through theClashingRocksinApolloniusofRhodesepic(II,238-240,561-573;notealsoIII, 541-554).Moreover, asNelis notes, theGoldenBough is part of anoaktree(209),justliketheGoldenFleece(Arg.II,1270;IV,162),botharelocatedinagloomyforest (VI,208andArg. IV,166)andbothshine inthedarkness(VI,204-207andArg. IV,125-126). Inotherwords, it seemsaplausible ideathatVirgilalsohadtheGoldenFleeceinmindwhencomposingthisepisode.

However,theArgonauticepicdoesnotcontainaGoldenBough.Forthatwehavetolookelsewhere.InatoolongneglectedarticleAgnesMichelspointedoutthatintheintroductorypoemtohisGarlandMeleagermentionstheevergoldenbranchofdivinePlato shiningall roundwithvirtue (Anth. Pal. IV,1,47-48=Meleager, 3972-3 Gow-Page, tr. West).118 Virgil certainly knew Meleager, asHorsfallnotes,whohealsoobservesthattheallusiontoPlatopreparesusfortheuseVirgilmakesofPlatoseschatologicalmythsinhisdescriptionoftheunder-world,thoseofthePhaedo,GorgiasandErintheRepublic.

However,thereisanother,evenmoreimportantbough.Serviustellsusthatthose who have written about the rites of Proserpina assert that there is

113CompareJ.G.FRAZER,Balder the Beautiful=The Golden BoughVII.2,London,19133,p.284

note3andNORDEN, o.c. (n.6),p.164note1.114ThisisalsonotedbyWAGENVOORT,o.c. (n.110),p.96f.115NORDEN, o.c. (n.6),p.171-173.116InthissectionontheGoldenBoughIreferjustbynametoD.A.WEST,TheBoughand

theGate, inS.J.HARRISON (ed.),Oxford Readings in VergilsAeneid,Oxford,1990,p.224-238;HORSFALL,o.c. (n.13),p.20-28(withadetailedcommentaryon6.210-11)andD.NELIS,Vergils Aeneid and the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius,Leeds,2001,p.240f.Thefirst twoseemtohaveescapedR.TURCAN,LelaurierdApollon(enmargedePorphyre),inA.HALTENHOFF&F.-H.MUTSCHLER(eds.),Hortus Litterarum Antiquarum. Festschrift H.A. Grtner,Heidelberg,2000,p.547-553.

117WEST,o.c.(n.41),p.190;BREMMER,o.c. (n.60),p.59f.118 A.K. MICHELS, The Golden Bough of Plato,AJPh 66 (1945), p. 59-63. For Agnes

Michels (1909-1993), adaughterof thewell-knownBiblical scholarKirsoppLake (1872-1946),seeJ.LINDERSKI,AgnesKirsoppMichelsandtheReligio,CJ92(1997),p.323-345,reprintedinhisRoman Questions II,Stuttgart,2007,p.584-602.

200 J.BREMMER

quiddam mysticumabouttheboughandthatpeoplecouldnotparticipate intheritesofProserpinaunlesstheycarriedabough.119NowweknowthatthefutureinitiatesofEleusiscarriedakindofpilgrimsstaffconsistingofasinglebranchofmyrtleor severalheld togetherby rings.120 Inotherwords,bycarrying theboughandofferingittoProserpina,queenoftheunderworld,Aeneasalsoactsas an Eleusinian initiate,121 who of course had to bathe before initiation.122VirgilwillhavewrittenthisallwithoneeyeonAugustus,whowasan initiatehimself of the Eleusinian Mysteries.123 Yet it seems equally important thatHeracles toohad tobe initiated into theEleusinianMysteriesbeforeenteringtheunderworld(3).Intheend,theGoldenBoughisalsoanobliquereferencetothatelusiveepic,theDescent of Heracles.

5. Elysium (637-678)

Having offered the Bough to Proserpina, Aeneas and the Sibyl can enterElysium,wheretheynowcometo locos laetos, joyfulplaces(cf.744: laeta arva)offortunatorum nemorum, woods of the blessed (638).124The stress on joy is ratherstriking, but on a fourth-century BC Orphic Gold Leaf from Thurii we read:Rejoice, rejoice (, ). Journey on the right-hand road to holymeadows and groves of Persephone.125 Moreover, we find joy also in JewishpropheciesoftheGoldenAge,whichcertainlyoverlapintheirmotifswithlifeinElysium.126OnceagainVirgilsdescriptiontapsOrphicpoetry,aslux perpetua(640-641)isalsoatypicallyOrphicmotif,whichwealreadyfindinPindarandwhichsurelymusthavehad aplace in thekatabasis ofOrpheus, just as the gymnasticactivities, dancing and singing (642-644) almost certainly come from the same

119Servius,Aen.VI,136:licet de hoc ramo hi qui de sacris Proserpinae scripsisse dicuntur, quiddam esse

mysticum adfirment ad sacra Proserpinae accedere nisi sublato ramo non poterat. inferos autem subire hoc dicit, sacra celebrare Proserpinae.

120Schol.Ar.,Eq.,408;C.BRARD,Lalumireetlefaisceau:imagesdurituelleusinien,Recherches et documents du centre Thomas More48(1985),p.17-33;M.B.MOORE,Attic Red-Figured and White-Ground Pottery = The Athenian Agora, Vol. 30, Princeton, 1997, p. 136-137; PARKER, o.c. (n.82),p.349.

121 The connection with Eleusis is also stressed byG. LUCK,Ancient Pathways and Hidden Pursuits, Ann Arbor, 2000, p. 16-34 (Virgil and the Mystery Religions, 19731), if often toospecifically.

122R.PARKER,Miasma,Oxford,1983,p.284notes12f.123 Suet.,Aug., 93; Dio Cassius, LI, 4, 1; G.BOWERSOCK,Augustus and the Greek World,

Oxford,1965,p.68. 124ForwoodsintheunderworldseeOd.X,509;GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),no.3,5-6

(Thurii)=OF487,5-6;Aen.6.658;Nonnos,D.XIX,191. 125GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),no.3,5-6=OF487.126Oracula Sibyllina III, 619: And thenGodwill give great joy tomen, and 785: Rejoice,

maiden,cf.E.NORDEN,Die Geburt des Kindes,Stuttgart,1924,p.57f.


source(s),127 even though Augustus must have been pleased with the athleticswhichheencouraged.128TheOrphiccharacteroftheselinesisconfirmedbythementionoftheThreicius sacerdos(645),obviouslyOrpheushimself.

After this general view, we are told about the individual inhabitants ofElysium, startingwith genus antiquum Teucri (648),which recalls, asAustin (ad loc.)wellsaw,genus antiquum Terrae, Titania pubes(580),129openingthelistofsin-nersinTartarus.ItisawonderfullypeacefulspectaclethatweseethroughtheeyesofAeneas.Someoftheheroesareevenvescentis, picnicking(Austin),onthe grass, and we may wonder if this is not also a reference to the Orphicsymposiumofthejust,asthatalsotakesplaceonameadow.130Itsimportancewas alreadyknown fromOrphic literarydescriptions,131 but ameadow in theunderworldhasnowalsoemergedontheOrphicGoldLeaves.132

ThedescriptionofthelandscapeisconcludedwiththepictureoftheriverEridanus that flows froma forest, smellingof laurels.133NeitherNordennorAustinexplainsthepresenceofthelaurels.Virgilsfirstreadershipwillhavehadseveral associations with these trees. Some may have remembered that thelaurel was the highest level of reincarnation among plants in Empedocles(B127 D-K; note also B 140), and others will have realised the poetic andApollineconnotationsofthelaurel.134

TheEridanusflowssuperneandplurimus,inallitsstrength(658-659).Whatdoes this mean? Norden, somewhat hesitantly followed by Austin (ad loc.),follows Servius and interprets superne as to the upper world instead of itsnormalusage fromabove.Butthis isaveryrareusageofthewordandalsothetypeofinformationthatseemsoutofplacehere.Iwouldthereforeliketopoint to a striking passage in 1 Enoch, the book that also has given us the

127 Pind., fr. 129MAEHLER; Ar.,Ra., 448-455;Or. Sib. III, 787; Val. Flacc., I, 842; Plut.,

fr.178;211SANDBACH;Visio Pauli,21,cf.GRAF,o.c. (n.75),p.82-84.128HORSFALL,o.c. (n.13),p.139.129FortheTitansbeingtheoldengodsseeBREMMER,o.c. (n.60),p.78.130GRAF,o.c. (n.75),p.98-103.131Pind.,fr.129MAEHLER;Ar.,Ra.,326;Pl.,Grg.,524a,Resp.X,616b;Diod.Sic.,I,96,5;

BERNABonOF61.132GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),no.3,5-6(Thurii)=OF487,5-6,no.27.4(Pherae)=

OF493,4.133TheEridanusalsoappearsinApolloniusRhodiusasakindofotherwordlyriver(Arg.IV,

596ff.),butthereitisconnectedwiththemythofPhaethonandthepoplarsandresemblesmoreVirgilsLakeAvernuswithitssulphursmellthantheforestsmellingoflaurelsintheunderworld.ForthenameoftheriverseenowX.DELAMARRE,, lefleuvede louest,tudes celtiques36(2008),p.75-77.

134N.HORSFALL, Odoratum lauris nemus (Virgil,Aeneid 6.658),SCI 12 (1993), p. 156-158.LaterreadersmayperhapshavealsothoughtofthelaureltreesthatstoodinfrontofAugustushomeonthePalatine,giventheimportanceofAugustusinthisbook,cf.A.ALFLDI,Die zwei Lorbeerbume des Augustus,Bonn,1973;M.B.FLORY,TheSymbolismofLaurelinCameoPortraitsofLivia,MAAR40(1995),p.43-68.

202 J.BREMMER

prototypicaltourofhellwithaguide.Here, inhis journeytoParadise,Enochsees awildernessand itwassolitary, fullof treesandseeds.Andtherewasastreamontopofit,anditgushedforthfrom above it(myitalics).Itappearedlikeawaterfallwhichcascadedgreatly(plurimus!)(28,3, tr.Charlesworth).Is itgoingtoofartoseeJewishinfluenceonVirgilsEridanus?

AfterTrojanandnamelessRomanheroes(648-660),priests(661)andpoets(662),AeneasandtheSibylalsoseethosewhofoundoutknowledgeandusedit for the betterment of life (663: inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artis,tr.Austin).Ashaslongbeenseen,thislinecloselycorrespondstoalinefromacultural-historicalpassage in theBolognapapyruswherewe findanenumera-tion of five groups in Elysium that have made life livable. The first arementionedingeneralasthosewhoembellishedlifewiththeirskills([]=OF717,103), tobefollowedby thepoets, thosewhocut roots for medicinal purposes, and two more groups which we cannotidentify because of the bad state of the papyrus. Now inventions that bothbetterlifeandbringculturearetypicallyasophistictheme,andthementionofthe archaic root cutters instead of the more modern doctors suggests anolderstageinthesophisticmovement.135TheconvergencebetweenVirgilandtheBolognapapyrussuggests thatwehavehereacategoryofpeopleseenbyOrpheusinhiskatabasis.However,asVirgilsometimescomesveryclosetothelistofsinnersinAristophanesFrogs,bothpoetsmust,directlyorindirectly,gobacktoacommonsourcefromthefifthcentury,136asmust,byimplication,theBolognapapyrus.ThisOrphicsourceapparentlywasinfluencedbytheculturaltheoriesofthesophists.NowthepoetsoccurinAristophanesFrogs(1032-34)too in a passage that is heavily influenced by the cultural theories of thesophists,apassagethatFritzGrafconnectedwithOrphicinfluence.137ArewegoingtoofarwhenweseeherealsotheshadowofOrpheuskatabasis?

HavingseenpartoftheinhabitantsofElysium,theSibylnowasksMusaeuswhere Anchises is (666-678). Norden (p. 300) persuasively compares thequestion ofDionysus to the Eleusinian initiates where Pluto lives in Aristo-phanesFrogs (431-433).138 In support of his argumentNorden observes thatnormallytheSibylisomniscient,butonlyhereasksforadvice,whichsuggestsadifferentsourceratherthananintentionalpoeticvariation.Naturally,heinfersfromthecomparisonthatbothgobacktothekatabasisofHeracles.Inlinewith

135 Cf. M. TREU, Die neue Orphische Unterweltsbeschreibung und Vergil,Hermes 82

(1954),p.24-51at35:dieprimitivenWurzelsucher.136NORDEN,o.c. (n.6),p.287-288;GRAF,o.c. (n.75),p.146note21comparesVI,609with

Ar.,Ra.,149-150(violenceagainstparents),VI,609withRa.,147(violenceagainststrangers)andVI,612-613withRa.,150(perjurers).NotealsotheresemblanceofVI,608,OF717,47andPl.,Resp. X, 615c regarding fratricides, which also points to an older Orphic source, as Nordenalreadysaw,withoutknowingtheBolognapapyrus.

137GRAF,o.c. (n.75),p.34-37.138NotethatneitherStanfordnorDoverreferstoVirgil.


our investigation so far,however,we rather ascribe thequestion toOrpheuskatabasis, given the later prominence of Musaeus and the meeting withEleusinian initiates.Highly interesting is alsoanotherobservationbyNorden.He notes that Musaeus shows them the valley where Anchises lives from aheight (678: desuper ostentat) and compares a number of Greek, Roman andChristianApocalypses.Yethiscomparisonconfusestwodifferentmotifs,eventhough they are related. In the cases of PlatosRepublic (X, 615d, 616b) andTimaeus (41e) aswell as CicerosSomnium Scipionis (Rep. VI, 11) souls see theotherworld,buttheydonothaveapropertourofhell(orheaven)inwhichasupernaturalperson(Musaeus,God,[arch]angel,Devil)providesaviewfromaheightor amountain.That iswhatwe find in1 Enoch (17-18),Matthew (4.8),Revelation(21.10)andtheheavilyJewishinfluencedApocalypse of Peter(15-16).Inother words, it is hard to escape the conclusion that Virgil draws here too,directlyorindirectly,onJewishsources.

6. Anchises and the Heldenschau (679-887)

With this quest for Anchises we have reached the climax of bookVI. Itwouldtakeusmuchtoofartopresentadetailedanalysisoftheselinesbut,inlinewithour investigation,wewill concentrateonOrphicandOrphic-related(Orphoid?)sources.

Aeneasmeetshisfather,whenthelatterhasjustfinishedreviewingthesoulsofhislinewhoaredestinedtoascendtotheupperlight(679-83).Theyareinavalley,ofwhich the secluded character isheavily stressed,139while the riverLethegentlystreamsthroughthewoods(705).ItisratherremarkablethattheRomans paidmuchmore attention to this river than theGreeks, whomen-tionedLetheonly rarely and inolder timeshardly ever explicitly as a river.140Here those souls that are tobe reincarnateddrink thewaterof forgetfulness.AfterAeneaswonderedwhy somewouldwant to return to theupperworld,AnchiseslaunchedintoadetailedStoiccosmologyandanthropology(724-733)beforewe again findOrphicmaterial: the soul lockedup in thebody as in aprison(734),whichVergilderivedalmostcertainlystraightfromPlato,justliketheideaofengrafted(738,746:concreta)evil.141

139679-80penitus convalle virenti inclusas animas;703:valle reducta;704:seclusum nemus.140Theognis,1216(plainofLethe);Simon.,Anth. Pal.VII,25,6(houseofLethe);Ar.,Ra.,

186(plainofLethe);Pl.,Resp.X,621ac(plainandriver);TrGFAdesp.fr.372SNELL/KANNICHT(houseofLethe);SEG51,328(cursetablet:Letheasapersonalpower).ForitsoccurrenceintheGoldLeavesseeRIEDWEG,o.c. (n.16),p.40.

141Soul:Pl.,Crat.,400c(=OF430),Phd.,62b(=OF429),67d,81be,92a; [Plato],Axioch.,365e;G.REHRENBOCK,DieorphischeSeelenlehreinPlatonsKratylos,WS88(1975),p.17-31;A.BERNAB,UnaetimologaPlatnica:Sma Sma,Philologus139(1995),p.204-37.FortheafterlifeoftheideaseeP.COURCELLE,Connais-toi toi-mme de Socrate Saint Bernard,3vols,Paris,1974-75,II,p.345-80.Engraftedevil:Pl.,Phd.,81c;Resp.X,609a;Tim.,42ac.PlatoandOrphism:

204 J.BREMMER

Thepenalties thesoulshave tosuffer tobecomepure (739-743)maywellderivefromanOrphicsourcetoo,astheBolognapapyrusmentionscloudsandhail,butitistoofragmentarytobeofanyusehere.142Ontheotherhand,theidea that the souls have to pay a penalty for their deeds in the upper worldtwiceoccursintheOrphicGoldLeaves.143Orphicisalsotheideaofthecycle(rota)throughwhichthesoulshavetopassduringtheirOrphicreincarnation.144Butwhydoesthecyclelastathousandyearsbeforethesoulscancomebacktolife:mille rotam volvere per annos (748)?Unfortunately,wearebadly informedbytherelevantauthorsaboutthepreciselengthofthereincarnation.Empedoclesmentions thrice ten thousandseasons (B115D-K)andPlato (Phaedr.,249a)mentions ten thousandyears and, for aphilosophical life, three times thou-sandyears, but themythofErmentions aperiodof thousandyears.145ThiswillbeVirgilssourcehere,asalso the idea that thesoulshave todrinkfromtheriverLetheisdirectlyinspiredbythemythofErwherethesoulsthathavedrunkfromtheRiverofForgetfulnessforgetabouttheirstayintheotherworldbeforereturningtoearth(Resp.X,621a).

ItwillhardlybechancethatwiththereferencestotheendofthemythofEr,wehavealsoreachedtheendofthemaindescriptionoftheunderworld.Inthe followingHeldenschau, we find only onemore intriguing reference to theeschatologicalbeliefsofVirgilstime.Attheend,fatherandsonwanderinthewidefieldsofair(887:aris in campis latis),surveyingeverything.Inoneofhischaracteristically wide-ranging and incisive discussions, Norden argued thatVirgilalludesheretothebeliefthatthesoulsascendtothemoonastheirfinalabode.Thisbelief isasold,asNordenargues,astheHomeric Hymn to Demeter,wherewealreadyfinddieIdentifikationderMondgttinHekatemitHekatealsKnigin der Geister und des Hades.146 However, it must be objected thatverifiable associations between the two (i.e. Hecate and the moon) do notsurvivefromearlierthanthefirstcenturyA.D.147Moreover,theidentificationof the moon with Hades, the Elysian Fields or the Isles of the Blessed isrelatively late. It is only in the fourth century BC that we start to find thistradition among pupils of Plato, such as, probably, Xenocrates, Crantor andHeraclidesPonticus,whoclearlywantedtoelaboratetheirMasterseschatologi-

A.MASARACCHIA,OrfeoegliOrfici inPlatone, in idem (ed.),Orfeo e lOrfismo,Rome,1993,p.173-203,repr.inhisRiflessioni sullantico,Pisa&Rome,1998,p.373-396.

142TREU,l.c. (n.135),p.38comparesOF717,130-132;seealsoG.PERRONE,VirgilioAen.VI740-742,Civilt Classica e Cristiana 6(1985),p.33-41.

143GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),6,4(Thurii)=OF490,4;27,4(Pherae)=OF493,4.144OF338,467,GRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),5,5(Thurii)=OF488,5,withBERNAB

ad loc.145Pl.,Resp.X,615b,621a.146NORDEN, o.c. (n.6),p.23-26,alsocomparingServiusonV,735andVI,887;Ps.Probus

p.333-334HAGEN.147S.I.JOHNSTON,Hekate Soteira,Atlanta,1990,p.31.


calteachings inthisrespect.148Consequently,thereferencedoes indeedalludetothesoulsascenttothemoon,butnottotheorphisch-pythagoreischeTheo-logie (Norden, p. 24). In fact, it is clearly part of thePlatonic frameworkofVirgil.149

ItisratherstrikingthatinthesamecenturyPlatoisthefirsttomentionSeleneasthemotheroftheEleusinianMusaeus.150Itishardtoaccept,though,thathewouldhavebeentheinventoroftheidea,whichmusthavebeenestablishedinthelatefifthcenturyBC.151DidtheofficialsoftheEleusinianMysterieswanttokeep up with contemporary eschatological developments, which increasinglystressed that the soulwent up into the aether, not down into the subterraneanHades?152Wedonothave enoughmaterial to trace exactly the initial develop-mentsoftheidea,butinthelaterfirstcenturyADitwasalreadypopularenoughforAntoniusDiogenestoparodythebeliefinhisWonders Beyond Thule,aparodytaken to even greater length by Lucian in hisTrue Histories.153 Virgils allusion,therefore,musthavebeencleartohiscontemporaries.

7. Conclusions

Whenwenowlookback,wecanseethatVirgilhasdividedhisunderworldinto several compartments. His division contaminates Homer with laterdevelopments. In Homer virtually everybody goes to Hades, of which theTartarus is the deepest part, reserved for the greatest sinners, the Titans (Il.XIV,279).Afewspecialheroes,suchasMenelausandRhadamanthys,gotoaseparateplace, theElysianFields,which ismentionedonlyonce inHomer.154

148W.BURKERT,Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism,Cambridge,Mass.,1972,p.366-368,

whoalsopointsout that there isnopre-PlatonicPythagoreanevidence for thisbelief; seealsoF.CUMONT,Lux perpetua,Paris,1949,p.175-178;H.B.GOTTSCHALK,Heraclides of Pontus,Oxford,1980,p.100-105.

149NotethatWilamowitzalreadyrejectedtheMondgttinHeleneoderHekateinhisletterof11June1903thankingNordenforhiscommentary,cf.CALDERIIIandHUSS,Sed serviendum officio,p.18-21at20.

150Pl.,Resp.II,364e;Philochoros,FGrH328F208,cf.BERNABonMusaeus10-14T.151A.HENRICHS,ZurGenealogiedesMusaios,ZPE58(1985),p.1-8.152 IG I31179,6-7;Eur.,Erechth., fr.370,71KANNICHT;Suppl.,533-534;Hel.,1013-1016;Or.,

1086-1087,fr.839,10f,908b,971KANNICHT;P.HANSEN,Carmina epigraphica Graeca saeculi IV a. Chr. n.,Berlin&NewYork,1989,no.535,545,558,593.

153ForAntoniusdateseenowG.BOWERSOCK,Fiction as History: Nero to Julian,Berkeley,LA& London, 1994, p. 35-39, whose identification of the Faustinus addressed byAntoniuswithMartialsFaustinusisfarfromcompelling,cf.R.NAUTA,Poetry for Patrons,Leiden,2002,p.67-68note 96. Bowersock has been overlooked by P. VON MLLENDORFF,Auf der Suche nach der verlogenen Wahrheit. Lukians Wahre Geschichten,Tbingen,2000,p.104-109,althoughhisdiscussionactually supports an earlier date forAntonius against the traditional one in the late second orearlythirdcentury.

154 ForHades,Elysium and the Isles of theBlessed seemost recentlyM.GELINNE, LesChampslysesetleslesdesBienheureuxchezHomre,HsiodeetPindare,LEC56(1988),

206 J.BREMMER

This idea of a special place for select people, which resembles theHesiodicIslesoftheBlessed(Op.,167-173),musthavelookedattractivetoanumberofpeople when the afterlife became more important. However, the idea ofreincarnation soon posed a special problem.Where did those stay who hadcompletedtheircycle(6)andthosewhowerestillinprocessofdoingso?ItcannowbeseenthatVirgilfollowsatraditionalOrphicsolutioninthisrespect,asolutionthathadprogressedbeyondHomerinthatmoralcriteriahadbecomeimportant.155

In hisSecond Olympian Ode Pindar pictures a tripartite afterlife inwhich thesinnersaresentencedbyajudgebelowtheearthtoendureterriblepains(57-60,67), thosewhoaregoodmenspendapleasant timewith thegods (61-67)andthosewhohavecompletedthecycleofreincarnationandhaveledablamelesslifewilljointheheroesontheIslesoftheBlessed(68-80).156Atripartitestructurecanalso be noticed in Empedocles, who speaks about the place where the greatsinners are (B 118-21 D-K),157 a place for those who are in the process ofpurificaton(B115D-K),158andaplaceforthosewhohaveledavirtuouslifeonearth: theywill join the tables of the gods (B 147-8D-K). The same divisionbetweentheeffectsofagoodandabadlifeappearsinPlatosJenseitsmythen.IntheRepublic(X,616a)theserioussinnersarehurledintoTartarus,astheyareinthePhaedo(113d-114c),wherethelessseriousonesmaybestillsaved,whereasthosewhoseem[tohavelived]exceptionallyintothedirectionoflivingvirtuously(tr.C.J.Rowe)passupward to apure abode.But thosewhohavepurified them-selves sufficiently with philosophy will reach an area even more beautiful,presumablythatofthegods(cf.82b10-c1).Theupwardmovementfortheelite,pure souls, also occurs in the Phaedrus (248-249) and theRepublic (X, 614de),whereasintheGorgias(525b-526d)theygototheIslesoftheBlessed.Allthese

p.225-240;SOURVINOU-INWOOD,o.c. (n.33),p.17-107;S.MACE,UtopianandEroticFusionina New Elegy by Simonides (22 West2), ZPE 113 (1996), p. 233-247. For the etymology ofElysium seenowR.S.P.BEEKES, Hades andElysion, in J. JASANOFF (ed.),Mr curad: studies in honor of Calvert Watkins,Innsbruck,1998,p.17-28at19-23.StephanieWEST(onOd.IV,563)wellobservesthatElysiumisnotmentionedagainbeforeApolloniusArgonautica.

155 For good observations seeU.MOLYVIATI-TOPTSIS, Vergils Elysium and theOrphic-Pythagorean Ideas of After-Life, Mnemosyne n.s.4 47 (1994), p. 33-46. However, recentscholarship has replaced her terminology of Orphic-Pythagorean, which she inherited fromDieterich andNorden,with Orphic-Bacchic, due tonewdiscoveries ofOrphicGoldLeaves.Moreover,sheoverlookedtheimportantdiscussionbyGRAF,o.c. (n.75),p.84-87;seenowalsoGRAFandJOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),p.100-108.

156ForthereflectionofthisschemeinPindarsthrenosfr.129-131aMAEHLERseeGRAF,o.c. (n.75), p. 84f.Given the absence of anymention ofmysteries in Pindar,O. II andmysteriesbeingoutofplaceinPlutarchsConsolatioonewonderswithGrafifinfr.131ashouldnotbereplacedby.

157FortheidentificationofthisplacewithHadesseeA.MARTIN&O.PRIMAVESI,LEmpdo-cle de Strasbourg,Berlin&NewYork,1999,p.315f.

158F.DALFONSO, LaTerraDesolata.Osservazioni suldestinodiBellerofonte (Il. 6.200-202),MH65(2008),p.1-31at14-20.


threedialoguesdisplaythesametripartitestructure,ifwithsomevariations,astheoneof thePhaedo,althoughthedescription in theRepublic (X,614bff) isgreatlyelaboratedwithallkindsofdetailsinthetaleofEr.

Finally, in theOrphicGold Leaves the stay in Tartarus is clearly presup-posedbutnotmentioned,duetothefunctionoftheGoldLeavesaspassporttotheunderworldfortheOrphicdevotees.Yetthefactthatinafourth-centuryBC Leaf fromThurii the soul says: I have flown out of the heavy, difficultcycle(ofreincarnations)suggestsasecondstageinwhichthesoulsstillhavetoreturntolife,andthesamestageispresupposedbyalatefourth-centuryLeaffromPharsaloswherethesoulsays:TellPersephonethatBakchioshimselfhasreleased you (from the cycle).159The final stagewill be like inPindar, as thesoul,whosepurityisregularlystressed,160willruleamongtheotherheroesorhasbecomeagodinsteadofamortal.161

When taking these tripartite structures into account, we can also betterunderstandVirgilsElysium.Itisclearthatwehaveherealsothesamedistinc-tionbetweenthegoodandthesupergoodsouls.Theformerhavetoreturntoearth,butthelattercanstayforeverinElysium.Moreover,theirplaceishigherthantheoneofthosewhohavetoreturn.ThatiswhythesoulsthatwillreturnareinavalleybelowtheareawhereMusaeusis.162Onceagain,VirgillookedatPlatofortheconstructionofhisunderworld.

But as we have seen, it is not only Plato that is an important source forVirgil.InadditiontoafewtraditionalRomandetails,suchasthefauces Orci,wehavealsocalledattentiontoOrphicandEleusinianbeliefs.Moreover,andthisis really new, we have pointed to several possible borrowings from 1 Enoch.Norden rejected virtually all Jewish influence onVirgil in his commentary,163andonecanonlywondertowhatextenthisownJewishoriginplayedaroleinthis judgement.164Morerecentdiscussions, though,havebeenmoregenerousinallowingthepossibilityofJewish-SibyllineinfluenceonVirgilandHorace.165

159 GRAF & JOHNSTON, o.c. (n. 52), 5, 5 (=OF 488, 5); 26a, 2 (=OF 485, 2). Dionysos

BakchioshasnowalsoturneduponaLeaffromAmphipolis:GRAF&JOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),30,1-2(=OF496n).

160GRAF&JOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),5,1;6,1;7,1(allThurii);9,1(Rome)(=OF488,1;490,1;489,1;491,1).

161GRAF&JOHNSTON,o.c. (n.52),8,11(Petelia)(=OF476,11);3,4(Thurii)(=OF487,4);5,9(Thurii)(=OF488,9),respectively.

162ThiswasalsoseenbyMOLYVIATI-TOPTSIS,o.c. (n.155),p.43,ifnotveryclearlyexplained.163NORDEN,o.c. (n.6),p.6.164ForNordensattitudetowardsJudaismseeJ.E.BAUER,EduardNorden:Wahrheitsliebe

und Judentum, in KYTZLER, o. c. (n. 8), p. 205-23; R.G.M. NISBET, Collected Papers on Latin Literature,ed.S.J.HARRISON,Oxford,1995,p.75;J.BREMMER,TheApocalypseofPeter:GreekorJewish?,inJ.BREMMERandI.CZACHESZ(eds.),The Apocalypse of Peter, Leuven,2003,p.15-39at3-4.

165 C. MACLEOD, Collected Essays, Oxford, 1983, p. 218-299 (on Horaces Epode, 16, 2);NISBET, o.c. (n. 164), p. 48-52, 64-65, 73-75, 163-164;W. STROH, Horaz undVergil in ihren

208 J.BREMMER

And indeed, Alexander Polyhistor, who worked in Rome during Virgilslifetime,wroteabookOn the JewsthatshowsthatheknewtheOldTestament,but he was also demonstrably acquainted with Egyptian-Jewish Sibyllineliterature.166Thus itseemsnot impossibleorevenimplausiblethatamongtheOrphic literature that Virgil had read, there also were (Egyptian-Jewish?)OrphickatabaseiswithEnochicinfluence.Unfortunately,however,wehavesolittleleftofthatliteraturethatalltoocertainconclusionswouldbemisleading.In the end, it is still not easy to see light in the darkness of Virgils under-world.167

JanBREMMERTroelstralaan,78NL9722JNGRONINGENE-mail:[email protected]

prophetischen Gedichten,Gymnasium 100 (1993), p. 289-322; L. WATSON,A Commentary on Horaces Epodes,Oxford,2003,p.481-482,489,508,511(onHoracesEpode16).

166AlexanderPolyhistor,FGrH273F19ab (OT),F79 (4)quotesOr. Sib. III,397-104, cf.LIGHTFOOT,o.c. (n.39),p.95;seealsoNORDEN,o.c. (n.3),p.269.

167 Various parts of this paper profited from lectures in Lige andHarvard in 2008. Forcomments and corrections of my English I am most grateful to Annemarie Ambhl, RuurdNauta,DanutaShanzerand,especially,NicholasHorsfall.

orphic eleusinian and hellenistic jewish sources of virgil s underworld in aeneid vi

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