• Medientyp: E-Artikel
  • Titel: Suspense in Ancient Epic-An Explanation of Aeneid III
  • Beteiligte: Duckworth, George Eckel
  • Erschienen: American Philological Association, 1931
  • Erschienen in: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 62 (1931), Seite 124-140
  • Sprache: Englisch
  • ISSN: 0065-9711
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  • Beschreibung: A new solution is offered of the discrepancy between Creusa's prophecy in Aeneid II and Aeneas' ignorance of his destination in book III. Aeneas' disregard of Creusa's words and his resultant ignorance and uncertainty serve to arouse the suspense of the reader in the events of the journey. Numerous instances of a similar disregard of omen and prophecy are found in the Homeric poems, in the Argonautica, and elsewhere in the Aeneid. These passages show that the epic poets strive to heighten the reader's interest by means of the uncertainty of the epic characters.