„At vos … Primus in Epirum Boreas agat!” The Consuls’ Sea-passage to Greece in Lucan’s „Civil War” (2.645-648)

Autor

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-0319.28.06

Słowa kluczowe:

Lukan, Wojna domowa, konsulowie, Morze Adriatyckie, Brundyzjum, Dyrrachium, Boreasz

Abstrakt

This article analyzes lines 2.645-648 of Lucan’s Civil War. These four lines contain Pompey’s command for the consuls to sail from Brundisium to Epirus, and from there to proceed to Greece and Macedonia, where they were to gather reinforcements. According to the historical sources available to us, the consuls crossed to Dyrrachium, transporting the majority of the army and possibly civilians staying in Pompey’s camp. However, the issue lies in the north wind, Boreas, mentioned in line 2.646, where we would expect a south wind. The first part of the article examines various proposed solutions to this issue, which aim to reconcile Lucan’s lines with historical accounts. The second part offers an alternative interpretation: the consuls’ destination is not Dyrrachium. Instead, the analysis suggests that Lucan’s narrative assigns the consuls a new mission and alters their route for poetic purposes. This change stems from Lucan’s intertextual engagement with Virgil’s Aeneid and enhances the metaphorical dimension of the narrative. It helps establish a stronger parallel between Pompey’s departure from Brundisium and Aeneas’s flight from Troy.

Biogram autora

Mariusz Plago - Uniwersytet Wrocławski

Dr Mariusz Plago is a classical philologist and assistant professor at the Institute of Classical, Mediterranean, and Oriental Studies of the University of Wrocław. His research focuses on Roman epic poetry from the Augustan period and the Imperial era. He is also engaged in studying Neo-Latin literature, with a particular emphasis on the Renaissance and Baroque periods. He is the co-author of Maffeo Vegio i jego Antoniada (with Dr Elżbieta Górka, Warszawa, 2024) and the co-editor of Ars Recusandi. Odmowa jako zabieg literacki w tekstach greckich i łacińskich od starożytności do końca XVIII wieku (with Dr Ałła Brzozowska, Warszawa, 2022).

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Okladka

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Opublikowane

2025-10-30

Jak cytować

Plago, M. (2025). „At vos … Primus in Epirum Boreas agat!” The Consuls’ Sea-passage to Greece in Lucan’s „Civil War” (2.645-648). Collectanea Philologica, (28), 69–87. https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-0319.28.06

Numer

Nr 28 (2025): Chrestomatia antyczna. In memoriam Joannae Rybowska

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Utwór dostępny jest na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa – Użycie niekomercyjne – Bez utworów zależnych 4.0 Międzynarodowe.

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