In the Land of the Giants: Greek and Roman Discourses on Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields

Connors, Catherine

doi:10.5406/illiclasstud.40.0121

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“…8.15 (where Vesuvius imprisons 'many giants'), Claud. DRP 184-5 (where Alcyoneus is imagined escaping his Vesuvian prison), and Dio Cassius who describes how people thought that the giants were rising again after the eruption of Vesuvius (66.23); according to Connors (2015) 132-3, this description is meant to vilify Domitian. In Diodorus' rationalised version of the gigantomachy, Hercules fought 'men of outstanding strength and widely known for their lawlessness, who are called giants' (ἄνδρας … ταῖς τε ῥώμαις προέχοντας καὶ ἐπὶ παρανομίᾳ διωνομασμένους οὓς ὀνομάζεσθαι γίγαντας, D.S.…”

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“…In Diodorus' rationalised version of the gigantomachy, Hercules fought 'men of outstanding strength and widely known for their lawlessness, who are called giants' (ἄνδρας … ταῖς τε ῥώμαις προέχοντας καὶ ἐπὶ παρανομίᾳ διωνομασμένους οὓς ὀνομάζεσθαι γίγαντας, D.S. 4.21.6) in the plain around Vesuvius, but once he killed most of them with the help of the gods, he simply 'tamed the land' (τοὺς πλείστους ἀνελόντα τὴν χώραν ἐξημερῶσαι); see Connors (2015) 129-31 on Diodorus' depiction of Hercules and Zeus as Roman generals in a gigantomachic setting. 41 See Muecke (2007) for an analysis of the whole episode as an ecphrasis.…”

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“…Stothers and Rampino (1983) 6360 and 6369, combining a peak in acidity in Greenland ice cores in 210±30BCE and reports of atmospheric phenomena in ancient literary sources; for a criticism of their approach to literary sources, seeSmolenaars (2005) 314-15.18 Connors (2015).19 Sullivan (1972) 186 notes that Virgil also spent time in Sicily according to his Vita.20 Stothers and Rampino (1983) 6365-8, based on ancient literary sources only. According to the author of the Aetna, writing around the middle of the 1 st century CE, Inarime (there called Aenaria) 'had once blazed' but is 'now extinct' (discitur indiciis flagrasse Aenaria quondam, / nunc extincta super, 430-1).21 This is probably the eruption described by Lucretius (6.641-6); a major eruption in 122 BCE is confirmed by geological evidence; seeDuncan, Chester and Guest (2005) 60-3.22 Stothers and Rampino (1983) 6358-60, based on atmospheric phenomena reported in ancient literary sources and measurements of acidity in Greenland ice cores; see alsoDuncan, Chester and Guest (2005) 60-3.23 Sullivan (1972) 188-9; Virgil uses the symbolism of volcanic fire to characterise Turnus, both in descriptions of the Rutulian prince and in the portrayal of Cacus, whose duel with Hercules may be seen as anticipating that between Turnus and Aeneas (pp.…”

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Campania in the Flavian Poetic Imagination

Augoustakis¹,

Littlewood²

2018

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The region of Campania with its fertility and volcanic landscape was greatly influential on the Roman cultural imagination. The Bay of Naples was a centre outside the city of Rome, a place of otium, leisure and quiet, repose and literary productivity. And yet this is also a place of danger: Vesuvius inspires the inhabitants with fear and awe and, in addition to the majestic presence of the mountain, the Phlegraean Fields evoke the story of the gigantomachy, whilst sulphurous lakes invite entry to the Underworld. For the Flavian writers, in particular, Campania becomes a locus for literary activity and geographical disaster. In 79 CE, the eruption of Vesuvius annihilates a great expanse of the region, burying under a mass of ash and lava the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae. In the aftermath of such tragedy the writers examined in this volume, Martial, Silius Italicus, Statius, and Valerius Flaccus, continue to live, work, and write about Campania, an alluring region of luxury and peril.

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Campania in the Flavian Poetic Imagination

Augoustakis¹,

Littlewood²

2018

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Herakles: Lord and Guardian of the Fresh Waters

Gómez Segura

2023

'Ilu

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Heracles carece de un programa estructurado que incluya muchas de sus aventuras. Este patrón podría originarse en el hecho de que hasta 21 de sus enemigos son descendientes del agua de mar en todas sus manifestaciones mitológicas: Poseidón, Ponto, Forcis, Ceto. Esta revisión se puede comparar con el papel cosmológico de Ninurta y Marduk en la mitología mesopotámica que lucha contra Tiamat y algunos de sus actos y escenarios. Se puede comprobar que Heracles realiza gran parte de sus trabajos: controla montañas y manantiales de agua dulce, organiza cursos de ríos abriendo gargantas o construyendo canales, limpia las desembocaduras y la costa. Heracles sería un buen hijo del dios de la lluvia.

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The Pharos of Alexandria: A Man-Made “Mountain” in Lucan’s Bellum Ciuile

Zientek¹

2017

Illinois Classical Studies

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At Bellum Ciuile 8.463, Lucan describes the lighthouse of Alexandria as a mountain (mons). The Pharos is “mountainous” in height and of monumental significance as a man-made structure. Comparison with the Pyramids and its fiery illumination (Phariis … flammis, 9.1005) give the Pharos a funerary context and, due to its “mountainous” form and flames, also evoke the image of a volcano. Lucan’s Pharos “mountain” locates and characterizes Pompey and Caesar in Bellum Ciuile 8–10, corresponding both to Pompey’s doom and Caesar’s metaphorically elemental power. The lighthouse contributes to the narrative of civil war with the ambiguity of its threat.

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In the Land of the Giants: Greek and Roman Discourses on Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields

Cited by 3 publications

References 25 publications

Campania in the Flavian Poetic Imagination

Campania in the Flavian Poetic Imagination

Herakles: Lord and Guardian of the Fresh Waters

The Pharos of Alexandria: A Man-Made “Mountain” in Lucan’s Bellum Ciuile

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