Publication details
“Open Mouth” of Literary Prophecy: Lucan's Search of an Order in Vergil's Aeneid 6
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2026 |
| Type | Peer-reviewed scientific article |
| Magazine / Source | Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.1556/068.2026.00237 |
| Keywords | divination; epic poetry; intertextuality; katabasis; Lucan; necromancy; philosophical poetics; prophecy; Vergil |
| Attached files | |
| Description | This paper explores divination and prophecy as literary devices in epic narrative, focusing on key prophetic speeches in Vergil's Aeneid and Lucan's Bellum civile ( Pharsalia ). After outlining the way in which Lucan systematically develops Vergil's subtle hints at the dark sides of epic heroism, the study analyses Lucan's treatment of the two-stage divination experienced by Aeneas at Cumae and in the Underworld ( Aeneid Book 6). It shows how Lucan projects motifs of disrupted order, violence, corporeality, and fractured communication into both stages of divination. Through intertextual references – including not only Vergil but also Cicero and Horace – Lucan's key divinatory scenes are reinterpreted through the lens of Stoic cosmology, linking epic structure with philosophical reflection. Rather than rejecting or subverting Vergil's order, Lucan critically expands and transforms it. |
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