IL PRODIGIO DI LAOCOONTE. INFLUENZA DEGLI DEI E CONDOTTA DEGLI UOMINI NELL’ENEIDE DI VIRGILIO E IN OMERO

Abstract

This paper tries to argue that the relation between gods and men in Vergil's Aeneid can be described as ‘rhetorical'in that the disposition of mankind determines the way gods address men and try to make use of them for their own plans. It will be shown that this rhetorical relation between gods and men in the Aeneid can be compared with what can be observed in Homer. Seen in this context, mens laeva in the second book (2, 54) is to be understood in the sense that to a certain extent the Trojans are responsible for their fate as well as pius
Aeneas is for his. Few passages in Homer and in Vergil, it will be argued, can be read as commentaries of the respective authors confirming the interpretation which is suggested in this paper.
[michael.erler@mail.uni-wuerzburg.it]