Atomism in the Aeneid

Atomism in the Aeneid PDF Author: Matthew M. Gorey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197518761
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Scholars have long recognized Lucretius's De Rerum Natura as an important allusive source for the Aeneid, but significant disagreement persists regarding the scope and purpose of Virgil's engagement with Epicurean philosophy. In Atomism in the Aeneid, Matthew M. Gorey investigates that engagement and argues that atomic imagery functions as a metaphor for cosmic and political disorder in Virgil's epic, associating the enemies of Aeneas and of Rome's imperial destiny with the haphazard, purposeless chaos of Epicurean atoms in the void. While nearly all of Virgil's allusions to atomism are constructed from Lucretian intertextual material, Gorey shows how the poet's negative reception of atomism draws upon a long and popular tradition of anti-atomist discourse in Greek philosophy that metaphorically likened the non-teleological cosmology of atomism to civic disorder and mob rule. By situating Virgil's atomic allusions within the tradition of philosophical opposition to Epicurean physics, Atomism in the Aeneid illustrates the deeply ideological nature of his engagement with Lucretius.

Atomism in the Aeneid

Atomism in the Aeneid PDF Author: Matthew M. Gorey
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0197518745
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
"This book examines the role of philosophical metaphor and allegory in the Aeneid, focusing on tendentious allusions to Lucretian atomism. It argues that Virgil, drawing upon a popular strain of anti-atomist and anti-Epicurean arguments in Greek philosophy, deploys atomic imagery as a symbol of cosmic and political disorder. The first chapter of this study investigates the development of metaphors and analogies in philosophical texts ranging from Aristotle to Cicero that equate atomism with cosmological caprice and instability. The following three chapters track how Virgil applies this interpretation of Epicurean physics to the Aeneid, in which chaotic atomic imagery is associated with various challenges to the poem's dominant narrative of divine order and Roman power. For Aeneas, the specter of atomic disorder arises at moments of distress and hesitation, while the association of various non-Trojan characters with atomism characterizes them as agents of violent disorder needing to be contained or vanquished. The final chapter summarizes findings, showing how Virgilian allusion to Lucretian physics often conflates poetic, political, and cosmological narratives, blurring the boundaries between their respective modes of discourse and revealing a general preference for hierarchical, teleological models of order"--

Atomism in the Aeneid

Atomism in the Aeneid PDF Author: Matthew M. Gorey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197518761
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book Here

Book Description
Scholars have long recognized Lucretius's De Rerum Natura as an important allusive source for the Aeneid, but significant disagreement persists regarding the scope and purpose of Virgil's engagement with Epicurean philosophy. In Atomism in the Aeneid, Matthew M. Gorey investigates that engagement and argues that atomic imagery functions as a metaphor for cosmic and political disorder in Virgil's epic, associating the enemies of Aeneas and of Rome's imperial destiny with the haphazard, purposeless chaos of Epicurean atoms in the void. While nearly all of Virgil's allusions to atomism are constructed from Lucretian intertextual material, Gorey shows how the poet's negative reception of atomism draws upon a long and popular tradition of anti-atomist discourse in Greek philosophy that metaphorically likened the non-teleological cosmology of atomism to civic disorder and mob rule. By situating Virgil's atomic allusions within the tradition of philosophical opposition to Epicurean physics, Atomism in the Aeneid illustrates the deeply ideological nature of his engagement with Lucretius.

Renaissance Et Réforme

Renaissance Et Réforme PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Reformation
Languages : en
Pages : 588

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The Classical Weekly

The Classical Weekly PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Classical literature
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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The Classical World

The Classical World PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Classical philology
Languages : en
Pages : 674

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Classical Weekly

Classical Weekly PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Classical philology
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Dissertation Abstracts International

Dissertation Abstracts International PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dissertations, Academic
Languages : en
Pages : 580

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Issues in Medieval Philosophy

Issues in Medieval Philosophy PDF Author: Richard C. Dales
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Thomas Harriot

Thomas Harriot PDF Author: Thomas Harriot
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
This volume assembles ten studies of the life and work of Thomas Harriot (1560-1621). These are based on lectures that have been given annually at Oriel College, Oxford since 1990, by such authorities as Hugh Trevor Roper, David Quinn and John D. North. The contributions to Thomas Harriot. An Elizabethan man of science shed new light on all the main aspects of Harriot's life and stand as an important contribution to the re-evaluation of one of the most gifted and intriguing figures in early modern British science.

VERGIL A Biography

VERGIL A Biography PDF Author: Tenney Frank
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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