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The Permanence of Cupid's Metamorphosis in the Aeneid

Ziogas, I.

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Abstract

Cupid morphs into Ascanius in Aeneid 1 and I argue that this transformation invests Ascanius with erotic qualities that are essential to understanding the boy's role in the Aeneid. Vergil deliberately blurs the distinction between Ascanius and Cupid, inviting the readers to draw a parallel between Aeneas' son and Aeneas' brother. Ascanius' Cupid-like features generically enrich Vergil's epic with the language and motifs of elegiac poetry. The intrusion of Cupid, the patron deity of Roman love elegy, into Vergil's epic opens an intriguing dialogue between two genres that are supposedly mutually exclusive.

Citation

Ziogas, I. (2010). The Permanence of Cupid's Metamorphosis in the Aeneid. Trends in Classics, 2(1), 150-174. https://doi.org/10.1515/tcs.2010.007

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2010
Deposit Date Jan 6, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Trends in Classics
Print ISSN 1866-7473
Electronic ISSN 1866-7481
Publisher De Gruyter
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 2
Issue 1
Pages 150-174
DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/tcs.2010.007

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The final publication is available at www.degruyter.com




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