Humor in the "Aeneid"

Author(s): Robert B. Lloyd

Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 72, No. 3 (Feb. - Mar., 1977), pp. 250-257
Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South
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 HUMOR IN THE AENEID*

The Aeneid is not a funny poem. In spite of the title and substanceof this
paper,I do not wish to persuadethatit is.' I would, however, hope to arguethat
the poem is not lacking in humor,an element that has been largely overlooked
to the detrimentof Vergilian commentary.Recent criticism has overstressed
Vergil's pessimisticand sad outlook on life2 to the point where we are asked to
regardthe poem not as one celebratingRome's triumphbut ratherher failure.
Thusone will look in vain for a discussion of comedy or humorin the books of
Vergilian criticism that have appearedin considerableabundancein the last
fifteen years or so.3 Even the most obvious of funny scenes-the boat race in
Book 5--is almost grudginglylabelled comic.4 A precious few articles in the
same period, however, have at least broachedthe generalsubject.BerniceFox5
in America, M. D. MacLeod6in Britain,and E. de SaintDenis7in Francehave
seen Vergil as capable of at least an occasional light moment.
If the prevailingview is thatthereis little or no humorin theAeneid, it should
not be taken amiss if a definition of humorhere is an exceedingly broadone.
Simply stated, I take as evidence of humor those places in the poem where
Vergil intendedthat the readerat least smile. These run the gamut from the
belly laughto the mildly amusing, throughjoy, charm,ironic wit and even the
sneer. Singling them out as essentially humorousis of necessity highly subjec-
tive, but if the readerwill acknowledgesome humorin a significantnumberof
the examples cited, this paper will have achieved its purpose.

*Thispaperwas presentedin a somewhatdifferentform at a conferenceon "Classical Antiquity

and the Comic Spirit" held at OberlinCollege in 1975 in honorof ProfessorCharlesT. Murphyon
the occasion of his retirement.
'The extreme position of M. Richard, Virgile, auteur gai (Paris 1951), who finds the Aeneid
essentially comic is hardly to be taken seriously.
2J. Perretcomplainsaboutthis in his "Optimismeet trag&diedans 1' Eneide," REL 45 (1967)
342-362.
3E.g., G. E. Duckworth,StructuralPatterns and Proportions in Vergil's Aeneid (Ann Arbor
1962); V. Poschl, The Art of Virgil, tr. Seligson (Ann Arbor 1962); B. Otis, Virgil: A Study in
CivilizedPoetry (Oxford 1963); M. C. J. Putnam,The Poetry of the Aeneid (Cambridge,Mass.
1965);K. Quinn, Virgil'sAeneid, A CriticalDescription (Ann Arbor1968); W. S. Anderson,The
Art of the Aeneid (Englewood Cliffs 1969); W. A. Camps, An Introductionto Virgil's Aeneid
(Oxford 1969); D. R. Dudley, ed., Virgil (New York 1969); R. A. Hornsby,PatternsofAction in
the Aeneid (Iowa City 1970);G. Highet, TheSpeeches in Vergil'sAeneid (Princeton1972);and in
additionthe Oxfordline-by-linecommentarieson the Aeneid by R. G. Austin:I (1971); II (1964);
IV (1955) and R. D. Williams:III (1962); V (1960) and the latter'sTheAeneid of Virgil, 2 vols.
(London 1972, 1973).
4Putnam,75; cf. Anderson, 53 and Otis, 59 and 274.
5"The Light Touch in the Aeneid," CO 40 (1962) 37-39. See also O. L. Wilner, "Humor in
Virgil's Aeneid," CW 36 (1942-43) 93-94.
6"Humourin Virgil," PVS 4 (1964-65) 53-67.
7"Le sourirede Virgile," Latomus23 (1964) 446-463. See also P. Miniconi, "La joie dans 1'E
neide," Latomus 21 (1962) 563-571.
250
 HUMOR INTHEAENEID 251
A large part of the humor that exists in the Aeneid is centered aroundthe
gods. This is hardlysurprisingin an epic of Homericmode. Theirgreaterthan
humancapacity for deception and skulduggerycombined with their less than
humansense of scrupleand fair play makes the epic Olympianshighly suscep-
tible to comic treatmenton their own level, even though their squabblesmay
have the most disatrousof consequencesfor the humancharacters.8The divine
controversyof the Aeneid is largely between Venus and Juno. The former is
interestedin securingadvantagefor the hero, her son; and the latteris disgrun-
tled thatthe defeatedTrojansseem to be looking forwardto a promisingfuture
which will spell doom for her favoriteCarthage.Vergil presentsit as a family
quarrelof humorousproportions.To the usual animosities of a stepmother-
stepdaughterrelationshipthereis the addedresentmentof Venus' havingtaken
the beauty prize which was perhapsthe startof it all. Presidingas diplomati-
cally as possible over this domestic turmoilis FatherJupiter9who walks a thin
line between indulging Venus, whom he obviously favors, and keeping his
wife's outburstsunder control.
Both ladies, of course, want theirway and do theirutmostto get it: Juno, by
manipulatingfate, which is tantamountto usurpingJupiter'srole; and Venus,
by manipulatingJove himself. Juno's opening speech (1.37 ff.) expresses
bombastically, and I think humorously, her attitude: "Could Pallas?" she
complains of Athena's ability to use Jove's thunderboltsat will (incidentally
bringingin the thirdcontestantin the famousjudgement), "and yet I, who am
queen of the gods-both sister and wife of Jove ...!" seemingly pitting this
double relationshipagainstthatof mere daughter.The incongruouspairing,et
soror et coniunx, is underscoredby the polysyndeton and we will find her
words echoing with some humorat laterpoints in the poem. That she pictures
herself helpless can immediately be seen as laughable from her subsequent
actions.
Venus' debut (1.229 ff.), though more coy, is hardlyless calculating. In a
scene in which she appearsvery muchthe indulgedchild she comes to herfather
in tearsand her words are: "But father, you promised. Why have you changed
your mind?" (pollicitus. quae te, genitor, sententia vertit?). Her fathergives
her a big smile (olli subridens), brightenough to drive the stormsfromthe sky,
kisses her and tells her, "Never fear" (parce metu). Are we not meantto smile
at her as well?
A direct and basically humorous confrontationbetween Venus and Juno
occurs in Book 4.90 ff. Juno (lovis coniunx), seeing Dido inflamedby passion
for Aeneas, assails Venus: "Fine accomplishment," she says, "if one poor
womanis overcomeby the trickeryof two gods! " Dolus is the wordshe uses for
trickery,which is, as we will see, the not entirelyunadmirablemeansby which
deities and the clevererof humanbeings outwit one another.Most frequentlyit
has humorousovertones.10In this case Juno has a dolus of her own in mind:a
permanentdelay for Aeneas in a marriagewith Dido which she proposes to
Venus in attractiveterms.

8An aspect thatkeeps de Saint Denis, 457 f. from seeing much humorin the characterof Juno.
9Cf. de Saint Denis, 459 and also Macleod, 63 f.
"oMissFox, 37 dubs such trickeryin the ancient mind as "just good clean fun," but see below.
252 ROBERTB. LLOYD
Venus is as wily as ever in her answer to her (olli-certainly designed to
recall her conversationwith Jupiter). "Who'd be so crazy," (quis talia de-
mens) she says, "as to reject such an offer, but I'm not sure what the fates and
Jupiterhave in mind." (She knows perfectly well!) "You are his wife;" (tu
coniunx, sarcasticallyrecalling her opening boast of being soror et coniunx)
"go ahead, it's right for you to try to get aroundhim" (temptareprecando).
Juno seems to miss the point of her words and goes busily abouther plans as
Venus laughs,11as surely we are meant to, having detected her attempted
trickery (dolis . . . repertis).
Theirquarrelrunsalong in prettymuch the same way throughthe rest of the
poem with much humorcenteredupon the sarcasticreiterationby both Venus
and Jupiterof Juno's boastfulclaim to be wife and sisterof Jove.'2 In the final
scene of reconciliationin Book 12 (791 ff.), Jupiterasks her, "What end will
therebe then, wife?" (quaeiamfinis erit, coniunx?).She cleverly whitewashes
her actionsto date, swearingby the riverStyx only to thatpartwhich is literally
true, essentiallygiving in, butonly afterimposing some conditionsof herown.
Jupiter,characterizedas repertor(recallVenus' dolis repertisin Book 4) really
isn't fooled, buthe smiles at her(olli subridens)preciselyas he smiledat Venus
in Book 1 and says, "You really are my sister" (es germana lovis)'3 as if to
acknowledge an equal in craft.
Of the Olympians, however, it is Venus who is most consistently in the
center of humorand this is not confined to her purely Olympianscenes. Her
appearanceto Aeneas in Book 1 (314 ff.) is certainly playful, not to say
downrightfunny. Herdisguise is incongruouslythatof a maidenanda huntress
at that.'4 She accosts Aeneas and Achates in common if not comic language:
"Hey'5 young men, tell me if by chance you've seen any of my sisters
wanderingabouthere." At Aeneas' diplomaticif not clever suggestionthatshe
must be a goddess, Venus demuresas not at all worthyof such an honor and
explains away hercostume as "the usual for Tyriangirls." The story she goes
on to tell-our introductionto Dido-is one of tragedy(the murderof Sychaeus
by Pygmalion) but it receives a humoroustwist at the end: Dido craftily has
made off with the money which Sychaeushad buriedin the ground,its location
having been revealed by his ghost, and the wealth of greedy Pygmalion has
been carriedacross the sea; both the expression and the situationare reminis-
cent of New Comedy."6

"The verb rideo is of very restricteduse in the Aeneid. It appearshere (4.128), twice in the
boat-raceepisode of Book 5 (181, 182, see below), and in the same book Aeneas laughsat Nisus'
insistenceon a prize in the foot-race(358); cf. de Saint Denis 453 f., 458 f. Subridensalso appears
only fourtimes:twice descriptiveof Jupiter,smiling at Venus ( 1.254, discussedabove) andatJuno
(12.829, discussed below); and twice of heroes smiling when aboutto slay an adversary(9.740,
10.742) in a mood that is more derisive than humorous.
12Note especially the opening scene of Book 10; cf. de Saint Denis, 459 f.
13Cf. Terence, Adelphi 957: Nunc tu mihi es germanus; although there are some textual
difficulties this is in many ways the punch line of the play.
"4Venatrix:Is there a pun on Venusgenetrix?
15Heus,as noted by E. Mensching, "Die Interjektionheus in der Aeneis," RhM 113 (1970)
265-271, is a nonpoeticword,essentiallycomic: 38 uses in Terence;31 in Plautus;Cf. Aeneid7.116
and below.
16Cf. for example Plautus,Mostellaria 496 ff.
 HUMORIN THEAENEID 253
To Venus' certainlyplayfulquestionsas to who he is, Aeneas, not put off by
her denials, continues to address her as 'goddess.' Venus in returnseems to
forget herdisguise and indulgesin the propheticremarkthathis fleet is safe and
will be restored.She covers this with a weak "unless my parentshave taught
me auguryin vain," andthen producesan impromptuportentinvolving twelve
swans, the birds of Venus being a dead giveaway. At this point, further
deception fruitless and her mission accomplishedanyway, she returnsto type
and disappearsrevealingherself, by the very way she walks, as a truegoddess
(vera . . . dea). The reader cannot fail to be amused by this performance.
Aeneas, however, is not: he complains no longer of unkindfate, but ratherof
his unkind mother (crudelis tu quoque).
Vergil makes humououscapital of other of Venus' scenes: noteworthyare
her requestof Cupid in Book 1 (664 ff.) that he disguise himself as Ascanius,
wherethe humoragaincenterson deception:dolus;'7and her requestof Vulcan
in Book 8 (370 ff.) that he make armor for Aeneas. The latter scene is
particularlyartful. She times her requestbeautifully:they are in their golden
weddingchamberaboutto make love. Her wordsarechoice: she didn'task him
before at Troy for she didn't want him to put forththe effort for nothing. Now
thatthereis hope for the future,she putsherentreatysuccinctlyand in rhyme:'8
arma rogo, genetrix nato. Less confident in her oratoricalability than in her
other charms,however, she makes her speech shortand rathertakes Vulcan in
her snowy armsand soft embrace, fully aware of her beauty(formaeconscia)
and delighted in her craftiness (laeta dolis).19
The effect uponVulcan is full of intentionalhumor.Thoughthe flame is one
to which he is accustomed(solitamflammam)and the warmthhe feels is well
known (notus ... calor), he is struckas if by lighting. His reply is far from
oratoricalor even syntacticalperfection, the effects, no doubt, of the bolt.20
After some stammering,he concludes: "Cease to doubtyourown powers," as
if she ever had!The paradoxicalaspect"'of the god of fire ignitedby the warmth
of the snowy arms of Venus is, of course, central to the humor.22
Humor in the Aeneid, however, is not confined to such Olympian and
semi-Olympianscenes. There are comic incidentson the strictlyhumanlevel,
albeit fewer and less sustained, and there are moments of joy,23 however
fleeting or on occasion ironic. Among these are the early scenes in Carthage.

'7Used three times in the passage: 673, 682, 684; see below notes 37 and 38.
'8Cf. W. F. J. Knight,Roman Vergil (London 1944) 252. On the question of rhyme see W. M.
Clarke, "IntentionalRhyme in Vergil and Ovid," TAPA 103 (1972) 49-77.
'9Theforcefuluse of chiasmusshouldbe noted. The repeateduse of coniunxhere(372, 377, 384,
393, 406) andprecando (403) suggest the kind of enticing Venus had in mind when she gave her
wily advice to Juno in Book 4; see above p. 00.
20Missingthe humorof a tongue-tiedVulcan, commentatorshave persistentlybeen puzzled by
the syntax of his speech, e.g. J. W. Mackail, The Aeneid (Oxford 1930) ad 8.403: "The broken
syntax of this line probablyindicates an unrevised draft." (!)
21Putnamnotes the paradox, but not the humor.
22Thehumor of the passage does not stop here: Vulcan arises from their couch as a chaste
housewife! and the workshop scene that follows has many comic aspects. See Hornsby, 106.
23Cataloguedby Miniconi.
254 ROBERT B. LLOYD
There is jubilationin Dido's palace at the hospitablereceptionand the restora-
tion of Aeneas' lost fleet. At the banquetat the end of Book 1, Dido proposesa
toast (731 ff): "thatthe day be one of joy for the TrojansandTyriansandone to
be rememberedby their descedants." It is a common cup toast. She barely
touches it to her lips and hands it on to Bitias who eagerly drains it and, as
Vergil expresses it, "bathes in it" (se proluit).24
The most extended period of high spirits is affordedby the interludeof the
games in Book 5.25 As Homer before him, Vergil exploits the possibilities of
the light touchhere as a relief from intensetragicemotion. Eachof the contests
in Vergil s poem has its own humor:the archerycontestclimaxes in a can-you-
top-this?,Robin-Hood-tournament vein; the foot raceeruptsinto shoutsof foul
play and near brawl among the contestants cleverly averted by the referee
Aeneas. The firstcontest, the boat race, providesthe one realbelly laugh in the
Aeneid when captainGyas gets so mad at his pilot, Menoetes, that he throws
him headlonginto the sea. The Trojansall laugh as he falls in, as he swims out
and as he coughs up salt water from his chest (181 f.).26
Even the essentially tragic Dido-Aeneas love affair is not devoid of comic
incident.Certainlythereis humor,albeita standardmale chauvinistjoke, atthe
hunt(4.129 ff.) when Dido keeps the partywaiting, it would seem deliberately
delaying (cunctantem)in her chamber.27 The princes wait, patiently is the
suggestion, but her horse prances (sonipes) and champs at the bit. Finally
(tandem)she comes out even as she first appearedin Book 1, surroundedby a
great throng(magnastipantecaterva): obviously she is a lady who thrives on
male attention.There is not much room for humorin the affairafter the cave
scene,28but I do not believe that Mercury'sremarkin urging Aeneas for the
second time to flee: varium et mutabile semperfemina (569 f.) is entirely
straight-faced;nor is his earlier rebuke of Aeneas as uxorius (henpecked,
266),29 althoughagain the humor will hardly appeal to the feminist.
Thereare in theAeneid, moreover,whole characters-whoare conceived in a
basically humorousway. The Sibyl for example, at least when she is herself,
exhibits a wry humor in her gruffness that hides a much kindlier heart. She
orders people about like the typical bustling family retainer.Her scene with
Charon(6.384 ff.), anequallycomic character,30 is a masterpiece,andhertales
of the horrorsof Tartarusarerecounted(althoughshe protests:"Don't ask!")31
with all the relish of a neighborhoodgossip.
24Cf.de Saint Denis, 456; and R. D. Williamsin Hermathena 116 (1973) 37 f. On proluo cf.
Plautus, Curculio 121; Horace, Satires 1.5.16, 2.4.27.
25Seede Saint Denis, 452 f.; Miniconi, 568; Macleod, 60 f. and cf. Knight, 260.
26Seeabove, note 11.
27Cf. Macleod, 62.
2SFox,37 sees some humorin the Aeneas-Dido scene in Hades: Aeneas' remark,Quemfugis?
(6.466) seems wrylyto echo herearlierplea, Menefugis? (4.314). I am sureof neitherthe echo nor
the humor:He says the same thing to the ghost of his father (5.742).
291bid.38.
30Asrecognizedby R. G. Austin, "Aeneid VI, 384-476," PVS 8 (1968-69) 51-60, and R. D.
Williams, "Virgil's Underworld-The Opening Scenes," PVS 10 (1970-71) 1-7; cf. de Saint
Denis, 456 f.
31Theprotest:ne quaere doceri comes late in the account (6.614). She is singularlyproudof
giving an eye-witness account(notevidi twice: 582, 585) butpraeteritiois herfavoritedevice:quid
memorem? (601); non . . . possim. (625 ff.)
 INTHEAENEID
HUMOR 255
The human character most involved in comic situations in the epic is
Ascanius.32In this he parallels Venus on the divine level; perhaps his very
youthfulnessgives him the kind of immunityto disaster(or at least awareness
thereof) that the gods enjoy. When first encounteredthe characteris humor-
ously being replacedby Cupid. The god boyishly rejoices to walk along in the
steps of lulus (gressu gaudens incedit luli, 1.690) and delights in being led by
Achates(ducelaetusAchate, 1.696). Cupidas Ascaniusthusestablishesfor the
charactera patternof youthfulplayfulnessthat is not really brokenin the epic,
althoughthis aspect tends to diminish as he develops into young manhood.
Chronologicallyearlierare the scenes involving Ascanius in Troy. Here the
characterprovidessome humorousrelief in the midstof disaster.He is centralto
the resolving of the impasse between Aeneas and Anchises over abandoning
home. The scene of magic fire around Ascanius' head has, in my opinion,
humorousaspects:they all bustle needlessly in fear (nospavidi trepidaremetu,
2.685) to beat out the flames or extinguishthem with water.The humorlies not
in theirnaturalconcern for theirchild's welfare, but in the uselessness of their
fear. The flame is sacred and harmless (tactuqueinnoxia). Key figure to the
mood of the scene is Anchises who is not alarmed, but happy (laetus) at the
sign. Certainlythe disparityof theiractions and the happyoutcome suggest we
laugh. Again to the scene of departurefromTroy little lulus addsa smileworthy
touch, his handentwinedin that of his fatherand scarcelyable to keep up (non
passibus aequis, 2.724).
Surely we are meantto be amusedat Ascanius' delight (laetus, 4.140) in the
hunt. He rejoices in having a spiritedhorse and wants to get aheadof everyone
else (acri gaudet equo iamquehos cursu, iam praeteritillos, 4.156 f.), hoping
for bigger and more ferociousgame. Thereis somethingamusingas well in the
boys dressed as grown-upsfor the lusus Troiae of Book 5 (545 ff.). Again
Ascanius'jesting remarkin Book 7 (116): "Hey we areeatingtablesandall!"''
is joyfully greeted as avertingthe dire prediction34that the Trojanswould be
drivenby famine to eat their very tables.
Even Ascanius' debut in serious battle (9.590 ff.)-the slaying of Remulus
(alias Numanus)--is not withoutits humor. It is the humorof the bully being
put down. Remulusis describedas inflated (tumidus)over his newly acquired
status as brother-in-lawof Turnusand is shown going about shouting words
both properand improperto utter(digna atque indigna relatu). He heaps the
usual insults on the Trojans:their defeated condition, their abandonmentto
luxury, their effeminacy, etc.35His death by Ascanius' arrowis thus greeted
with shouts of joy sending spirits to the sky (Teucri clamore sequuntur
laetitiaquefremunt animosque ad sidera tollunt).

32Asnoted by R. S. Conway, HarvardLectureson the VergilianAge (Cambridge,Mass. 1928)

106 ff., but not seeing humoras an integralpartof the poem, he regardsAscanius as a "strange
case" and his humor as an "incongruity" in the epic! See also Macleod, 61 f.
IJ. I. Ades, "Vergil (or Aeneas) et Pizza," CJ 64 (1968-69) 268; cf. CO 49 (1971-72) 112-114,
and 50 (1972-73) 88, 89. On heus see above, note 15.
34Whetherby Anchises (7.122 ff.) or by Celaeno (3.256 f., cf. 365 ff., 394), one of the real
discrepanciesin the poem.
350n the speech see N. Horsfall, "Numanus Remulus," Latomus 30 (1971) 1108-1116. He
finds, however, no humor in the scene.
256 ROBERT B. LLOYD
Battle scenes too, then, can have their moments which, if not uproariously
funny, are calculatedto produceat least a sardonicsmile.36Much of the battle
humor,moreover,revolves arounddeceptionandtrickery:dolus, which brings
us full circle to the humancounterpartof the kindof chicaneryin which we saw
Venus andJunoindulging. The capacityto deceive, so perfectedon Olympus,
is certainly a quality to be admired in men, although there is something
unsavory about it as well. Here also, the humoroustwist often comes in the
dolus detectedor the trickthatsomehow backfires.Thedolus parexcellence of
the poem is the Trojanhorse.37 Homerhad alreadydubbedthe horsea 8ok6;, a
word not lacking its own metaphoricalhumor from its basic meaning of
'fish-bait.'38In spite of the fact thatit spells doom forTroythereis some humor
in Aeneas' descriptionof it as 'pregnantwith arms' (feta armis, 2.238), and
even Laocoon's famous comment about it: timeo Danaos et dona ferentes
(2.49) is not withoutits wry aspects. The trickis to be suresuccessful, butthere
is a backfiringat least for some of the Greeks when in Aeneas' counterattack
they are forced to climb back into the horse and hide in its belly (scandunt
rursusequumet nota condunturin alvo , 2.401). Aeneas' suicide-defenceof the
city turnsinto a trickyone by chance: i.e. donningGreekarmorto deceive the
enemy. The heroclearly has second thoughtsaboutthis as he reflects:dolus an
virtus, quis in hoste requirat?(2.390), a witty if not humorousremarkandone
that is as applicable to the horse as it is to his own action. The trick again
backfires, but there is little humor at thatjuncture.
At other times in the epic, however, we are meant to enjoy the would-be
trickstergetting his due. Foremostepisode of this type is the heroic Hercules-
Cacus storytold to Aeneas by Evanderin Book 8.193 ff. Thereis an extensive
bibliographyof comment on this passage, but to my knowledge no one has
noted any humorousaspectsto the narrative.39 The tale has all the elements not
only of the tricksterthwartedbut of the bully putdown, albeitthe bully-trickster
is a monstrumand the whole episode has a fairy tale qualitywith Cacus as the
half-human(semihomo, 194;semifer, 267), fire-breathing(ore vomens ignis,
199), man-consuming(cf. 195 f.) giant. For all his fearsomemight, however,
he does not confrontHercules, but ratherresorts to a trick characterizedby
Vergil as both a dolus and a scelus (206): draggingthe stolen cattle backwards
into the cave. It is the mooing of one cow that dashes his hopes and at the
appearanceof the enragedHerculeshe runs to the cover of his cavernin fear.
Then for the firsttime the people saw theirmonsterpanic and look fearful:tum
primumnostri Cacum videre timentemturbatumueoculi (222 f.). Here again

36Macleod,65 ff. Interestinglyenough Miniconi finds more expressions of joy in battle-filled

Book 10 than any other book except 5.
37Of26 uses of the noundolus in the Aeneid, 8 are in Book 2 (34, 44, 62, 152, 196, 252, 264,
390) directly or indirectlyrelatedto the horse.
"
aOdyssey8.494; cf. J. W. Jones, "The TrojanHorse:TimeoDanaos et Dona Ferentis, CJ 65
(1969-70) 245. A6Xoi is also Homer'sword for the net thatensnaresAres and Aphrodite(Odyssey
8.276) and Penelope's own word for her web (Odyssey 19.137).
39G.K. Galinsky,TheHeraklesTheme(Totowa, N.J. 1972) 153 ff. Following W. S. Anderson,
"'HerculesExclusus:Propertius,IV, 9," AJP 85 (1964) 1-12, he readilysees the comic elementsof
Propertius'account. Neither, however, finds any humor in Vergil's narrative.
 HUMOR IN THE AENEID 257

Vergil underscoresthe humorwith rhyme" and adds a wry "fear addedwings

to his feet" (pedibustimoraddiditalas, 224). The rock-boundcave into which
Cacus shuts himself poses a momentaryproblemfor Herculeswhich he solves
by tearingoff its top and exposing the trappedmonsterupon whom he pours
down all sorts of unlikely missiles, including branchesand millstones (ramis
vastisquemolaribus, 250) as Cacus bellows the unutterable(insuetarudentem,
248).41 In the final hand-to-handcombat Hercules ties him into a knot (in
nodum complexus, 260)42 and squeezes him until his eyes pop out. Elisos
oculos (261) is clearlyPlautine43andthatVergil shouldresortto the languageof
comedy at the climax of his story is of some significance. As the final indignity
the cadaverof Cacusis draggedout by the feet to be examinedby the wondering
crowd whose descendantshave happilykept the memoryof this day (laetique
minores servavere diem, 268 f.), i.e. they lived happily ever after.
There are, then, numerous examples of humor to be found in Vergil's
basically serious poem. It is, as we have seen, humorof incident, humorof
character-conceptionand humorof expression. I am awareof a dangerhere in
that humor, somewhat like beauty, can lie in great measurein the eye of the
observer.As BerniceFox has pointedout, thereare things in the poem "which
Vergil did not intend to be funny, but which modern readers cannot help
smiling about.""44 I would contend, however, that if only half of what the
modernreaderfinds amusingcan properlybe termedintentional,theAeneidis a
far from humorless poem.

ROBERT B. LLOYD
Randolph-MaconWoman'sCollege

40See above, note 18.

41Cf. Remulus' utteringdigna atque indigna relatu above, p. 00.
42IsVergil not playing here with the root meaning "to weave" as Plautusdoes inRudens 816?;
see TLL s.v. amplector 1.2.
4Rudens 659: iube oculos elidere, itidem ut sepiis faciunt coqui; cf. Pseudolus 510 (Ritschl);
Miles 167;Poenulus 494. The boldnessof Vergil's languagehere, butnot its humor,has been noted
since Servius.
"Fox, 37.