Aeneid XII 947-948: 'Are you to escape me now, wearing the spoils stripped from the body of those I loved?'
In the final moments of the final scene of the final book of the <i>Aeneid</i> (Renaissance and subsequent fan fiction not withstanding), Aeneas, on the brink of sparing the suppliant Turnus, sees the baldric once worn by Pallas now on Turnus.
Aeneas is consumed with rage.
The baldric came from Pallas. So, why does Vergil have Aeneas say, 'of those I loved' (so, D.A. West; note well the plural)?
The plural is there in the Latin 'spoliis... meorum' (XII 947). Why? (Note too that all the Latin says is 'of my [masculine] people'.)
The commentators failed me. Page, Williams, and Sidgwick all are silent on meorum. I no longer have access to Conington -- I gave my copy of volume III to a better home. Servius, too, let me down. He comments on line 946 and line 949, but not the lines between them... our lines.
What discussion there is has limited value. Tarrant comments briefly 'The plural [meorum]
aggrandizes T(urnus)'s offence into one against A(eneas)'s
entire family.'. Perhaps. Conington refers to Iliad 22.272, but without further explanation. Achilles says to Hector...
κήδε᾽ ἐμῶν ἑτάρων οὓς ἔκτανες ἔγχεϊ θύων.
'Now shalt thou pay back the full price of all my sorrows for my comrades, whom thou didst slay when raging with thy spear.'
Iliad 22.271-272 (translation: the old Loeb of A. T. Murray)
Achilles, of course, is only thinking of Patroclus, but speaks of comrades plural. Or, in a rare moment of seeing the bigger picture, Achilles thinks of all the Greeks who were killed by Hector.
Repeat after me: Aeneas ~ Achilles, Pallas ~ Patroclus; Turnus ~ Hector.
Such silence in the commentators means either that there is no answer or that the answer is so obvious that it does not need to be reported.
Here is what occurred to me in the breaks between appointments at a Parents' Evening late in March.
The answer that is easy to give is that the plural is poetic or a plural of majesty. Pallas' baldric was noted for its immania pondera (X 496: 'the huge, heavy baldric' West), itself a poetic plural. This is largely along the lines of Tarrant's explanation, although he draws a different inference. Also, W.S. Maguinness says no more than 'rhetorical plural, = 'of one dear to me'.'
[ For the workings of the poetic plural, consider the (singular) 'Palace of Westminster', otherwise known as the (plural) 'Houses of Parliament', which consists of the singular House of Commons and the singular House of Lords ('singular' in various senses of that adjective, to be sure). Cf. Aeneid XI 140 Euandrum Euandrique domos et moenia replet '(Rumour was...) overwhelming Evander and the house (!) and city of Evander' (D.A. West), in which the homes (domos plural! 'house' West) of Evander constitute his palace (singular by means of a poetic plural). The plunder from Pallas is spolia (plural: 504 and XII 947; cf. 449), but spolium (singular: 500, the baldric specifically). ]
The answer that is easy to give is that the plural is poetic or a plural of majesty. Pallas' baldric was noted for its immania pondera (X 496: 'the huge, heavy baldric' West), itself a poetic plural. This is largely along the lines of Tarrant's explanation, although he draws a different inference. Also, W.S. Maguinness says no more than 'rhetorical plural, = 'of one dear to me'.'
[ For the workings of the poetic plural, consider the (singular) 'Palace of Westminster', otherwise known as the (plural) 'Houses of Parliament', which consists of the singular House of Commons and the singular House of Lords ('singular' in various senses of that adjective, to be sure). Cf. Aeneid XI 140 Euandrum Euandrique domos et moenia replet '(Rumour was...) overwhelming Evander and the house (!) and city of Evander' (D.A. West), in which the homes (domos plural! 'house' West) of Evander constitute his palace (singular by means of a poetic plural). The plunder from Pallas is spolia (plural: 504 and XII 947; cf. 449), but spolium (singular: 500, the baldric specifically). ]
A more satisfying answer involves considering whether the spoils that were taken from Pallas included items that once had belonged to Evander himself. In that case, Turns would be wearing the spoils taken from 'my friends'. Now, Aeneid X 394 refers to Euandrius... ensis 'the sword of his father Evander' (West). However, Turnus took the baldric (X 496) and left the sword. Cf. XI 91, which refers to the spear and helmet of Pallas, while Turnus had the rest -- certainly the baldric. What became of Evander's sword?
A (slightly) stronger piece of evidence is Aeneid X 419-420: 'the Fates laid a hand on the son and consecrated him to Evander's spear' (D.A. West: the Latin is less specific -- telisque 'weapons, equipment' (baldric excluded, probably). Vergil does not say that the baldric had belonged to Evander, but nor does the poet say that it did not. All we know is that the embossing had been done by Clonus, the son of Eurytus. We do not know in which generation that craftsman was active.
A (slightly) stronger piece of evidence is Aeneid X 419-420: 'the Fates laid a hand on the son and consecrated him to Evander's spear' (D.A. West: the Latin is less specific -- telisque 'weapons, equipment' (baldric excluded, probably). Vergil does not say that the baldric had belonged to Evander, but nor does the poet say that it did not. All we know is that the embossing had been done by Clonus, the son of Eurytus. We do not know in which generation that craftsman was active.
If this proposal is plausible, it makes a significant difference to the final scene of the Aeneid. Aeneas' own stated reason for killing Turnus is Pallas himself. There is no mention of Evander, nor of Lavinia. 'It is Pallas... It is Pallas' (D.A. West). However, if 'of those I loved' includes Evander, then Aeneas' commitments to Evander feature explicitly in the final scene.
The obstacle to any such speculation about the sources of Pallas' armour is that we are told so little about his armour. There is no report of Evander presenting his armour to his son (contrast Venus to Aeneas or, Iliad X, Meriones to Odysseus). There is no Iliadic arming scene. There is no ecphrasis of his armour (contrast Vulcan's shield for Aeneas), until Turnus strips off the baldric (X 496-499). Pallas' armour is painted (VIII 588) and occasions a simile (VIII 589-591) comparing Pallas to the Morning Star, the star dearest to Venus.
The possibility that the baldric had been passed down by the aged Evander to his youthful son Pallas would also influence our interpretation of the scenes on the baldric. The depiction of the forty-nine bride grooms killed on their shared wedding night is usually considered either from Turnus' doomed point of view as opponent and then wearer or from the perspective of Pallas' doomed self-projection and his own demise. Let us suppose, however, that the design was Evander's choice for himself a generation earlier...
The obstacle to any such speculation about the sources of Pallas' armour is that we are told so little about his armour. There is no report of Evander presenting his armour to his son (contrast Venus to Aeneas or, Iliad X, Meriones to Odysseus). There is no Iliadic arming scene. There is no ecphrasis of his armour (contrast Vulcan's shield for Aeneas), until Turnus strips off the baldric (X 496-499). Pallas' armour is painted (VIII 588) and occasions a simile (VIII 589-591) comparing Pallas to the Morning Star, the star dearest to Venus.
The possibility that the baldric had been passed down by the aged Evander to his youthful son Pallas would also influence our interpretation of the scenes on the baldric. The depiction of the forty-nine bride grooms killed on their shared wedding night is usually considered either from Turnus' doomed point of view as opponent and then wearer or from the perspective of Pallas' doomed self-projection and his own demise. Let us suppose, however, that the design was Evander's choice for himself a generation earlier...
[ It briefly crossed my mind that we could alter meorum to mearum (sc. deliciarum -- another poetic plural) without disturbing the rhythm. But why would mearum become meorum in transmission? For deliciae, see Lewis and Short, s.v. II]
My thanks to Simon Westripp of the Cambridge Greek Lexicon Project, University of Cambridge, for easing my access to certain commentaries, and to the 2018-2019 A-Level Latin and Classical Civilisation students of Saffron Walden County High School, who prompted me to consider meorum and were the occasion for its further consideration. iamque vale(te)!
My thanks to Simon Westripp of the Cambridge Greek Lexicon Project, University of Cambridge, for easing my access to certain commentaries, and to the 2018-2019 A-Level Latin and Classical Civilisation students of Saffron Walden County High School, who prompted me to consider meorum and were the occasion for its further consideration. iamque vale(te)!
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