1 Embedded Narratives as Reflections of the Whole
Embedded narratives enable the narrator and the narratees of the Punica to reflect upon the epic as a whole, as the four case studies of this study have demonstrated. Their relative ‘separateness’ makes it possible to look at main themes and characters from different angles. Sometimes they are in sync with the main narrative, but more often they contain elements that question or contradict other parts of the epic. Paradoxically, these separate narratives appear to be intricately tied in with the rest of the epic. These internal relations are evoked by a finely spun web of intratextual allusions; repetitions of words, sound, and metre point to connections with earlier or later parts of the epic. Embedded narratives in the Punica also prove to be a fertile space for narrative and generic crossovers, and engagement with other texts, epic or non-epic, from the literary tradition. This almost obsessive interaction with other texts and genres turns embedded narratives into suitable vehicles for metapoetics. This especially comes to the fore when they are told by another narrator, like Bostar, Marus, and Anna. Embedded narratives are miniatures, mirroring the Punica as a whole.
2 Value of Combined Methodology
My combination of narratology, intertextuality, and intratextuality has proven to be a valuable way to read these narratives; it contributes to a more comprehensive understanding than only one of these three methods would do. At the same time, it confirms the value of each individual approach for studying embedded narratives in specific and the Punica in general.
Intertextuality has consistently been a favourite tool to approach Silius’ epic. The case studies in this book have uncovered the myriad of intertexts that are at work in embedded narratives. There are still many allusions to be discovered in the deep layered text of the Punica, especially to Ovid, Lucan, and the other Flavian epicists. In addition, many intertextual references are tucked away in commentaries and footnotes with no more explanation than a preceding “cf.”. These are begging to be investigated in a more interpretative and comprehensive way. This study hopes to have shown the intertextual exuberance of embedded narratives and the value of exploring the possible effects of these intertexts.
This millennium has witnessed the emergence of studies that approach the Punica from a narratological perspective, following a longer existing trend in classical scholarship. Embedded narratives are suitable passages for reading through a narratological lens. We have seen that the toolkit of narrative levels, narrators, narratees, apostrophe, focalization, and metalepsis—to name some important pieces of equipment—can gain valuable insights in the workings of embedded narratives that would otherwise perhaps have escaped notice. I am convinced that a more structural application of narratology would be beneficial for a better understanding of other parts of the epic as well.
Finally, intratextuality is a method that definitely deserves more scholarly attention, as each of my case studies has shown. Commentaries and other studies of the Punica have always pointed to verbal or thematic parallels or contrasts with other parts of the epic, but usually not on the same scale as intertextuality is employed. This book has tried to bring intratextuality into the limelight and show the wealth of internal mirroring in the Punica. I have reviewed a multitude of intratextual references—many of them unnoticed before—that shed light on earlier scenes or foreshadow later parts of the epic. From these examples, the Punica emerges as a carefully structured work, containing a web of finely spun internal reflections. An awareness of this intratextual richness of the Punica hopefully results in a more systematically appliance of this method.
The combined methodology of narratology, intertextuality, and intratextuality has yielded new and meaningful readings of embedded narratives in the Punica, as I will show by returning to the narratives that I have explored in this book.
3 Narrative of Bostar
The narrative of Bostar, Hannibal’s envoy to the oracle of Hammon, is a palace of mirrors in its own right. Bostar and the priest Arisbas mirror each other as narrators. In turn they are stand-ins for respectively Hannibal and Hammon. The god Hammon speaks directly to Hannibal as it were, another indication of Hannibal’s close affiliation with the divine. The great defeats of the Romans are emphasized, while the final defeat of Hannibal is kept silent. The oracle of Hammon is therefore highly ironic: while Bostar thinks that the supreme god has given his assent to the Punic enterprise, the narratees know that Jupiter has other plans, as the god himself has affirmed to Venus.
The oracle from Siwa recalls visits of Alexander the Great and Cato to that same oasis; Aeneas’ consultation of the Cumaean Sibyl is evoked as well. Hannibal, however, cannot be put on a par with these predecessors. Unlike Alexander he is not proclaimed the son of the god; unlike the sceptic Cato he is all too ready to accept the message of the oracle; and unlike Aeneas he is unable to accomplish his mission. In Book 13 of the Punica, Hannibal’s Roman rival Scipio is identified as son of Jupiter and the true successor to both Aeneas and Alexander.
4 Narrative of Regulus
The long narrative of Marus of Regulus’ exploits in the First Punic War causes a delay of the epic main narrative. As first scene of action in this narrative, the river Bagrada is highly symbolic. As a marker of intertextuality, it evokes other epic protagonists arriving at rivers at turning points in their own epic mission; in the case of Aeneas one could argue that this is a positive comparison, but when it comes to Caesar at the Rubicon and his delegate Curio at the same Bagrada in Lucan’s Bellum Civile, Regulus’ literary heritage is harder to assess in a favourable light.
Regulus has often been viewed as the embodiment of Stoic qualities. In the narrative of Marus he definitely shows perseverance and loyalty, but we see also the drawbacks of his character. His loyalty turns out to be harmful for both Rome and his family. On the battlefield, his love for glory proves to be inadequate for dealing with crises, making him an unsuitable example for the Romans in their current war against Hannibal. His solitary actions reveal personal heroic aspirations, befitting a general whose name means ‘little king’.
5 Narrative of Falernus
The story of Falernus is a ‘perfect’ theoxeny and takes the narratee from the grim war in the Second Punic War to an almost Golden Age. For a moment, Silius creates a world in which people were still farmers and in which a god acts as a cultivator, instead of a destructive force. The story serves as an antithesis to the destruction of the Campanian countryside by Hannibal. The epic narrative and thus Hannibal’s destruction is temporarily paused, copying the tactics of Fabius in the main narrative. The arrival of Bacchus does, however, bring about a change of Falernus and his world that is not necessarily for the better. The miraculous appearance of wine results in excessive drinking, marking a shift from the Golden Age. At the same time, it signals a turn from a Callimachean world towards the grim reality of martial epic, as after this narrative Hannibal continues his devastation of the Italian land.
The gift of wine that Falernus receives is therefore ambiguous. It means a removal from the ‘better age’ of Falernus towards excessive luxury in later times. Capua, not far from the ager Falernus, is an example of the harmful effects of luxuria, of which wine is an important element. Paradoxically, luxuria will turn out to be the rescue of Rome: during their stay in Capua, Hannibal and his men are weakened by wine and merriment to such an extent that it precipitates their downfall. In this respect, the Falernus episode foreshadows the weakening of Hannibal by Venus and Bacchus in Book 11. At the same time, the story points to the instability of Bacchus as an exemplar, as both Domitian and Scipio are explicitly compared to this god.
6 Narrative of Anna Perenna
A tantalizing episode is the narrative of Anna Perenna. In this Silian remake of Ovid’s sequel in the Fasti to Aeneid 4, Dido’s sister has become an Italian deity, residing in the same river as the deified Aeneas. Nevertheless, she remains loyal to Carthage and her sister. Anna turns out to be an instrument of Juno in encouraging Hannibal to continue his warfare against the Romans. Her double identity and collaboration with the Carthaginians mirror the paradoxes of the Battle of Cannae: Hannibal defeats the Romans, but his victory will simultaneously turn out to be a prelude of his downfall. On the other hand, the Romans, having lost their of their archenemy, will almost destroy themselves in civil wars in centuries to come. Anna, as a goddess honoured on the Ides of March, is a reminder of this destructive tendency of Roman history, exemplifying the idea of the Punic Wars as a prelude to the civil wars of the first century BC and the more recent events of 68–69 AD.
7 Envoi
This book indicates some perspectives for further research on Silius’ epic. It goes without saying that other embedded narratives in the Punica, which have fallen out of the scope of this study deserve the same close reading as the four case studies here presented. I am convinced that the combined method of narratology, intertextuality, and intratextuality applied here will open new perspectives on these narratives as well.
This book has also shed light on some recurrent themes in the Punica. I will mention three of them that in my opinion deserve more attention in future research. Building on recent scholarship, this study has affirmed the significance of civil war as one of the major themes in Silius’ epic. Lucan’s Bellum Civile has proven to be a fundamental intertext for many passages in the Punica, which can be seen as its ‘prequel’. I have demonstrated that this intertext more than once puts seemingly positive events and characters in another, often more ambivalent light. A more comprehensive synthesis of the interactions between Silius and Lucan would definitely provide important insights in the Punica and the theme of civil war.
Another recurrent issue is the ‘Ovidian’ poetics of many passages, especially aetiology. Silius shows a strong interest in origins throughout his epic, which bring to mind Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Fasti. Many such aetiologies seem to be invented by Silius himself, but at the same time they breathe an Ovidian atmosphere. A good example is the narrative of Falernus, which echoes multiple theoxenical stories from the literary past. It would be worthwhile to investigate the theme of aetiology in the Punica on its own right.
A last Leitmotiv in the Punica that deserves more attention is metapoetics. The high-degree of intertextuality is already a sign of the epic’s continuing dialogue with the literary past, but there are many passages where the narrator engages even more explicitly with his predecessors. Embedded narratives have proven to be parts of the epic where metapoetics thrives: secondary narrators and their narratives do not only reflect the primary narrator and his main narrative, but also the relation between the Punica and other texts. This study has indicated some directions for studying the immanent literary history and the role that metapoetics plays in the Punica.