比較試論 Aen. VIII と Od. III : エウアンデルとパラス像を中心として

A knowledge of Greek literature has rightly been regarded to be vital to the understanding of Latin authors, who are greatly influenced by the Greeks not only in respect to style and diction, but also in their treatment of literary subjects and sometimes even in their way of thinking; so is it with Vergil's Aeneid, which is often interpreted from the viewpoint of its debt to the Iliad and the Odyssey, especially as to those episodes, motifs and structures which are peculiar to the epic tradition. But Vergil, who had in mind, in composing the poem, a different intention to Homer, shows his originality even when he seems at first glance to have borrowed these motifs from his Greek predecessor. The present author has tried to demonstrate Vergil's "creativeness" in Book VIII by examining the poet's interpretation and handling of tradional themes as well as by a comparison with Od. III. Aen. VIII permits a ready comparison with Od. III, with which the main affinities are as follows; i) the sacrifice to a god (Hercules, Poseidon) at the moment of the hero's (Aeneas, Telemachus) arrival, ii) the initial address to the foreigners by a prince (Pallas, Peisistratos) of the land, iii) the old kings (Euander, Nestor) , iv) their words to the guests (VIII 155f., Od.III 123f.) and v) the friendship between the kings and the guests' fathers (Anchises, Odysseus) . While the sacrifice to Poseidon seems only to refer to the genealogy of the royal family (Poseidon-Neleus-Nestor) and to prepare for Athena's invocation to the god, that to Hercules has much to do with the development of the story; first it prepares for the explanation of the Roman sites by Euander, then for the Cacus-episode where the "aristeia" of the god is related----in which one can see, through the similarities in representation, a finely woven foreshadowing of the single combat between Aeneas and Turnus in Book XII. Aeneas, entreating Euander for an alliance, relies upon their ancient bloodrelationship, an entreaty to which the old king nevertheless does not immediately respond, but suddenly alludes to the hero's close resemblance to his father, Anchises, whom the king (we now learn) had met in his youth and contracted friendship with. Thus the recognition takes place in a more dramatic form than in Od. III, i.e., making use of the favoured traditional motif "recognition by a host because of the resemblance between a father and a son", revealing Vergil's creativity. In order to make the episode plausible, the poet introduces into the story the Hesione legend which may have been popular at that time. It is also remarkable that arms-presents received long ago from Anchises lead to the king's promise of sending reinforcements to the Trojans as well as to the second mention of Pallas. Aeneas and Pallas are often compared to Achilleus and Patroclus in respect to the theme of revenge for a friend. In both cases arms play an important role; in the one, because Patroclus wore Achilleus' armour, in the other, because of Pallas' baldric. But the baldric is not mentioned until the hero, hesitating to give Turnus a coup de grâce, sees it on the enemy's shoulder, which results in a kind of "peripeteia-effect". In the scene where Pallas is introduced, he is already depicted as a competent warrior, and later as one favoured by Venus (the Lucifer-simile) ; after his death the killing of Turnus becomes Aeneas' main purpose, though it originally had been to "found Rome". This double significance of the motif "Turnus' death"----revenge for a friend, and overcoming an obstacle to the founding of Rome----should also be appreciated. There are almost no clear references to Pallas before Vergil, who seems to be the first to make the prince an important character in the story, using existing materials (e.g. the etymology of "Pallanteum") , and created him as a living personality. A comparative analysis of the Euander and Nestor scenes brings some conspicuous differences to light; the speech of the latter, with the Orestes-story and the encouragement of Telemachus at its core, is formed in the so-called "ring-composition", which is typical of oral poetry. On the contrary, Book VIII is characterized by its speedy change of topics----the challenge by Pallas, the unexpected recognition by Euander, the Cacus-episode etc.; this method is characteristic of poetry designed to be read and contributes to produce an atmosphere threatened with war, i.e., to enhance the "Iliadic tone". Also, in their portrayal of the two kings, Homer and Vergil show wide differences; e.g., though both long for their vanished youth, Nestor does so simply as an old man with regret for his lost strength (Il.) , but Euander as a father with overflowing paternal love who wishes he could go to the front with his son. The former's attitude toward the past may be called "retrospective", typically Greek, and the latter's "prospective", Roman. The pre-Vergilian picture of Euander is known only vaguely to us from some hi ...