Date of Award
2011
Degree Name
Latin
College
College of Liberal Arts
Type of Degree
M.A.
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Christina Franzen
Second Advisor
Caroline Perkins
Third Advisor
E. Del Chrol
Abstract
Lucan’s Bellum Ciuile has provided much difficulty for scholars in the identification of a hero, as none of the main characters of the epic, Caesar, Pompey, and Cato, fully become a hero. I argue that a minor character, Erichtho, the necromancer in book 6, is not only the hero, but also the supreme uates and reflection of the poet. Through her comparison with Scaeva in book 6 as well as Aeneas of Vergil’s Aeneid and her interactions with Sextus Pompey, her heroism becomes fully developed. She creates a corpse uates through her vatic powers and gains access into the Underworld deeper than conventional oracles. Her vatic connection to the poet gives insight into the poet’s own magical abilities. Once her various important roles in the BC are understood, her infernal powers can be seen to permeate the whole of the epic as she becomes the poem’s central figure.
Subject(s)
Lucan, 39-65. Pharsalia - Criticism and interpretation.
Pharsalus, Battle of, Farsala, Greece, 48 B.C. - Poetry.
Recommended Citation
Young, John Byron, "Deathly Erichtho as Vital to Lucan’s Bellum Ciuile" (2011). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 293.
https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/293
Included in
Classical Literature and Philology Commons, Latin American Languages and Societies Commons
