Description
The Aeneid, the masterpiece of Latin poetry, depicts the traumatic transformation of a band of vanquished refugees, survivors of the destruction of Troy, into the nucleus of Jupiter's Roman people, destined to bring peace and order to the world. This study interprets this transformation of being as a rite of passage, characterized by a liminal phase involving painful trials, riddles and contradictions. It explores the intriguing liminal imagery and multifaceted ritual symbols, as well as the intricate interplay between gods, humans, and intermediate beings during the transition to a cosmic Golden Age. This monograph examines Virgil's Aeneid through the lens of ritual liminality, challenging the established 'optimist-pessimist' dichotomy. It reveals the epic not as a panegyric, but as a profound meditation on the brutality of existential transition and unresolved trauma.The author demonstrates how associative liminal imagery and narrative diversions generate a unique tension: while poetic devices propel the narrative towards an increasingly inevitable fate, they simultaneously create a space of perpetual potentiality. In this light, the Trojans' journey reflects the subaltern agency of a displaced people rather than a triumphant imperial quest. Their spiritual and gnostic transformation enables Rome to emerge as a 'Citadel of Heaven.' Crucially, the study reconsiders Magna Mater as a pivotal steward of fate-almost on a par with Jupiter.By anchoring ritual studies in a rigorous classical analysis of liminal symbolism, this work demonstrates the centrality of ritual liminal thinking in the poetic texture. It shows why the depiction of Aeneas and the Trojans, in all their bizarre otherness, remains hauntingly relevant for modern readers-offering fresh perspectives for forced migration, religious studies, and gender and identity. Preface1 Introduction-Vulnerable Suspense2 Liminal Imagery in Context2.1 Some Notions of Ritual and Liminal Theory 2.2 Selected Critical Approaches to the Aeneid2.3 Narratology, Vision, Space, Time, and Memory2.4 Intertextuality, Imagery, and Liminality in the Aeneid2.5 A Different Epic2.6 The Liminal Approach and its Limitations3 Diversions and the Journey Up-stream3.1 The Short Proem-Toil, Hardship, and Problems3.2 First Vista: Jupiter, Venus, and Antenor3.3 Criteria for Determining Liminal Symbolism3.4 Second Vista: The Grove at the Mouth of the Tiber4 The Problem of the City Walls4.1 Sacredness, Liminality, and Symbolism of the City Walls4.2 Doomed Walls and Discord-Troy, Thebes, and Carthage4.3 Third Vista: Hector and Venus at Troy4.4 Ships, Walls, and the Horse4.5 Fourth Vista: Venus and Mercury at Carthage4.6 Fifth Vista: The Mothers on the Walls5 Trying to Escape the Sea5.1 Sixth Vista: The Sea Storm5.2 Seventh Vista: The Shore and the Cliff of Carthage5.3 Eighth Vista: Shores, Prophecies, and the Elusive Walls5.4 Ninth Vista: Hector's False Grave in False Troy6 Liminal Spaces6.1 Tenth Vista: The Body on the Shore6.2 The Island of Sicily6.3 Thresholds6.4 The Labyrinth6.5 Temples and Prismatic Nodes6.6 The Cave of the Underworld7 The Trojans in Liminality7.1 Weariness, Estrangement, and Learning7.2 Marginality, Identity, and Lack of Identity7.3 Aeneas in Liminality7.4 Dualities and Symbolic Twinship7.5 Strife and Reconciliation-Ending Liminality8 Towards a New Golden Age8.1 Eleventh Vista: The Trees of Mater Idaea8.2 The Gods and Liminality8.3 Multiple Liminalities8.4 Apotheosis8.5 The Citadel of Heaven8.6 The Ritual Cosmic Transition and its Symbolism8.7 Jupiter's Fatum, Magna Mater, and the Golden AgeAppendix: Liminal Symbols and ConceptsWorks CitedCritical EditionsCommentariesEncyclopaedic WorksArticles and MonographsIndex of Passages DiscussedGeneral Index Dr. Dr. Marco Menna forscht an der Schnittstelle von Klassischer Philologie, Ritualtheorie und Systemanalyse. Er wurde an der Universität Zürich in Lateinischer Philologie und an der Universität Bern in Informatik promoviert; zudem hält er einen MBA der Harvard Business School. Er ist freier Wissenschaftler in Baar (Schweiz).
