Ille Dies Primus Leti: Echoes of Dido in the Bellum Civile

Throughout his Belllum Civile Lucan reworks and reverses significant themes from Virgil’s Aeneid to narrate the unfounding of Rome in civil war. As an extended portrayal of furor and the destruction it causes, the tragedy of Dido looms large in the imagination of both poets. Allusions to Virgil’s Dido throughout Book 1 of the Bellum Civile suggest that Lucan imagines the civil war to be both a fulfilment and perpetuation of Dido’s curse. Three key female characters in the epic — Julia, Cornelia, and Cleopatra — refigure different facets of Dido’s character and as such participate in the perpetuation of her curse throughout the civil war. Through such references to and reincarnations of Dido, Lucan presents a bleak view of Rome’s history and future.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Classics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Freestone, Kelly

Contributors dc:contributor

• Walters, Brian C

• Lucan
• Bellum Civile
• Dido
• Allusion

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Kelly Freestone

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121567

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F121567