PROPERTIUS: Elegies 4.6: The Temple of Palatine Apollo

Question 1

When was this poem written and what did this coincide with?

Answer 1

16BC

This coincided with the celebration of the Actian Games in Nikopoli, the city founded after Actium, near the site of the battle

Question 2

What is the significance of this poem?

Answer 2

• Recalls the Battle of Actium
• Glorifies the temple of Palatine Apollo

Question 3

What were the Actian Games?

Answer 3

• Games held in Nikopolis
• In honour of Apollo, they included athletic contests, musical competitions, horse racing and mock sea battles
• Inaugurated by Octavian, they were celebrated every four years

Question 4

Let Rome’s wreath…

Answer 4

Let Rome’s wreath compete with Philetas’ ivy-clusters

Question 5

Give me soft…

Answer 5

Give me soft costmary, and offerings of lovely incense… Sprinkle me with water

Question 6

Let purifying laurel…

Answer 6

Let purifying laurel smooth the priest’s fresh path

Question 7

Calliope, the subject…

Answer 7

Calliope, the subject is worthy of your favour

Question 8

Jupiter, I beg…

Answer 8

Jupiter, I beg you, yourself, to listen

Question 9

Here the world’s…

Answer 9

Here the world’s forces gathered: a weight of pine stood on the water

Question 10

The enemy force…

Answer 10

The enemy force was doomed by Trojan Quirinus

Question 11

Augustus’ ships, sails…

Answer 11

Augustus’ ships, sails filled by Jupiter’s favour

Question 12

Standards now skilful…

Answer 12

Standards now skilful in victory for their country

Question 13

Now Nereus bent…

Answer 13

Now Nereus bent the formations in a twin arc

Question 14

Phoebus… stood over…

Answer 14

Phoebus… stood over Augustus’ stern, and a strange flame shone, three times, snaking down in oblique fire

Question 15

Phoebus did not…

Answer 15

Phoebus did not come with his hair streaming around his neck, or with the mild song of the tortoise lyre

Question 16

O, Augustus…

Answer 16

O, Augustus, world-deliverer, sprung from Alba Longa

Question 17

Acknowledged as greater…

Answer 17

Acknowledged as greater than your Trojan ancestors

Question 18

Free your country…

Answer 18

Free your country from fear, that relying on you as its protector, weights your prow with the State’s prayers

Question 19

Shameful that Latium’s…

Answer 19

Shameful that Latium’s waters should suffer a queen’s sails

Question 20

Their fleet…

Answer 20

Their fleet rides an unwilling sea

Question 21

Rome won, through…

Answer 21

Rome won, through Apollo’s loyalty: the woman was punished

Question 22

Caesar, his ‘father’…

Answer 22

Caesar, his ‘father’ marvelled, and spoke from his comet released by Venus: ‘I am a god: and this shows evidence of my race’

Question 23

Let Rome’s wreath compete with Philetas’ ivy-clusters:

Answer 23

• Comparison of Greek and Roman symbols of greatness
• Puts Rome on par with Greece in terms of excellence, elevating Rome
• Philetas was a famous Greek poetry, Propertius modelled his poetry off of his.
• Ivy clusters refers to an ivy wreath worn by Philetas

Question 24

Give me soft costmary, and offerings of lovely incense… Sprinkle me with water

Answer 24

• Order of steps taken in a religious ritual
• Augustus is therefore presented as Rome’s religious leader
• This reinforces his morality, as he is shown to respect the gods

Question 25

Let purifying laurel smooth the priest's fresh path:

Answer 25

- A symbol of both military victory, and one of religion, as purifying eater is sprinkled in a sacrifice

Question 26

Calliope, the subject is worthy of your favour:

Answer 26

- In the Classical era, when the Muses were assigned specific artistic spheres, Calliope was named Muse of epic poetry - This is an elegy, not an epic, so it's unusual that Propertius invoked Calliope here

Question 27

Describe an epic poem:

Answer 27

- A long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation

Question 28

What are the conventions of epic poetry?

Answer 28

CONVENTIONS: - Written in elevated style - Episodes important in the history of a nation - Panoramic setting - Hero is a man of great stature - Action consists of courageous deeds - Supernatural forces present

Question 29

Describe the style of an elogy:

Answer 29

- A poem written in elegiac couplets

Question 30

What is the significance of mentioning the Epic muse?

Answer 30

- The conventions of the epic are applied to the elegy - This presents Augustus as heroic and Actium as a legendary battle, thus giving it status and elevating Augustus' victory

Question 31

Jupiter, I beg you, yourself, to listen:

Answer 31

- Associates Augustus with Jupiter thus reinforcing is link to the gods and elevating his status - Augustus portrayed as greater than Jupiter, as Propertius uses direct address to invoke the god to listen to Augustus' own victory

Question 32

Here the world's forces gathered:

Answer 32

- Hyperbole denoting the battle of Actium - The use of exaggeration brings status to Augustus' victory, making it seem more heroic than that of reality

Question 33

The enemy fleet was doomed by Trojan Quirinus

Answer 33

- Alternative name for Romulus, founder of Rome

Question 34

Augustus' ship, sails filled by Jupiter's favour:

Answer 34

- Indicative of the notion that the gods were on Augustus' side - Suggests that Augustus was favoured by the gods, thus emphasising that he had 'divine right' to rule

Question 35

Standards now skilful in victory for their country:

Answer 35

- Personification of the standards - Allusion to the return of the Parthian standards - Demonstrates Augustus' military adeptness and his role in restoring Rome's morale

Question 36

Now Nereus bent the formations in a twin arc:

Answer 36

- Nereus is the sea god of naval strategy - By invoking Nereus, Augustus is presented as having the favour of gods thus emphasising his divine right to rule - His close association with gods also strengthened his claims of being their descendant and his legitimacy to rule

Question 37

Phoebus... stood over Augustus' stern, and a strange flame shone, three times, snaking down in oblique fire:

Answer 37

- Augustus has the support of Apollo and the gods - Also strengthens his claim that he was descended from Apollo, which elevates his status - Aligns him strongly with what Apollo stood for- discipline and morality

Question 38

Greedy fires: Destroyed the Python:

Answer 38

- Allusions to Apollo's power which in turn elevates Augustus as he associated himself closely with Apollo - 'Python'- Apollo came to Delphi, killing the giant snake which had been there

Question 39

Phoebus did not come out with his hair streaming round his neck, or with the mild song of the tortoise shell lyre, but with that aspect that gazed on Agamemnon:

Answer 39

- Apollo caused a plague in the Greek camp during the Trojan war because Agamemnon condemned a Prophetess to death - Apollo is presented as duplicitous here- he possesses the capacity for peace, but also violence

Question 40

O, Augustus world-deliverer, sprung from Alba Longa

Answer 40

- Propertius is referencing here the close personal bond that Augustus suggested that he possessed with Apollo - Alba Longa is a city founded by Aeneas on the site of Rome- a reminder of Augustus' divine heritage

Question 41

Free your country from fear, that relying on you as its protector weights your prow with the State's prayers:

Answer 41

- Apollo gives Augustus the responsibility to look after the country, suggests that the gods are on Augustus' side - Augustus shown as a protector and leader