6—
Atmosphere
One last and very important difference between Virgil's account of the games and
that of Homer can perhaps best be summed up in one short phrase: Virgil is inter-
ested in emotional moods . The poet has steeped himself in the feelings of his
characters, and strives to convey to the reader the emotional frame of mind in which
each of them finds himself. It is difficult to know to what extent this is a question of
conscious effort, and to what extent it arises spontaneously from the poet's own
mood. But every reader who allows the book to make its full impact on him will
undoubtedly feel that he is taking part in a joyful celebration: joy is the keynote of
the whole description.[22] The mood of the festival itself is prepared for by the
happiness of both sides when the Trojans return unexpectedly to Acestes (34, 40)
and the obviously favourable omen during the libation at Anchises' grave, which
turns the offering to the dead into a joyful sacrifice (100). In joyful mood (107) the
people gather on the shore in the bright light of dawn on the festive day, and this
mood remains unbroken throughout the celebrations, rising to a climax during the
last spectacular event, the splendid procession of youths, radiant with happiness
(555, 575, 577). Virgil lingers lovingly over the depiction of the bright splendour of
this procession, and seizes every opportunity to enliven his picture with bright,
cheerful colours: the green of the boughs and garlands (110, 129, 246, 309, 494,
539; cf. 134, 556), and of the grass-clad natural amphitheatre (388) and the grassy
stadium (287, 330); the purple of the victory ribbons (269), the gold on the edges of
the commanders' mantles (132) and the prize garments (250), the gleam of the
170 costly weapons and ornamented pieces (259 etc.) – all this forms the visible counter-
part, so to speak, of the happy mood of the joyful and excited spectators, the richly
rewarded contestants and proud victors (269, 473), of Aeneas who celebrates the
games, and of his guest-friend Acestes who quite unexpectedly wins the highest
prize with the final shot. Virgil does his utmost to create the mood that he desires,
not only through the events that he selects and the way in which he depicts them, but
also by straightforward description of the feelings of his characters: laetus is the
word which recurs time and time again,[23] so that the note, once struck, resounds
again and again. Monotony is avoided by the more serious developments of the
boxing-match; the moral motivation which Virgil introduces into this episode miti-
gates the effect of the bloody outcome and prevents the mood from being broken.
Mood-painting of this kind is quite alien to the spirit of the ancient epic. The bard
who relates the funeral games takes more care than most of his fellows to tell us
what effect each event had on the spirits of the competitors, and we hear a great deal
about emotions both joyful and sad, but all these touches of local colour are not
brought into relationship with each other or fused into any kind of predominant
tone; and the poet makes no attempt to produce any overall emotional effect on the
mind of the listener. We need only look at the prosaic and matter-of-fact way in
which the games are introduced –
[but Achilles kept the army there, and made them sit down in a broad
arena] (Iliad 23.257-8) – and compare it with the elevated mood in which Virgil
introduces his festival; or contrast the abrupt conclusion of the agon [contest] in
Homer with the brilliantly-lit tableau in which Virgil unites the mood of all the
participants so as to create a resounding finale. So far we have only been concerned
to establish what is peculiarly Virgilian in his narrative. It is particularly easy to do
this in the case of the Funeral Games, as they can be compared with their model. In
the systematic section of our investigation (Part II), we will set this individual
example in its context.