Epic and Empire: Politics and Generic Form from Virgil to Milton (Literature in History Book 1)

Alexander the Great, according to Plutarch, carried on his campaigns a copy of the Iliad , kept alongside a dagger; on a more pronounced ideological level, ancient Romans looked to the Aeneid as an argument for imperialism. In this major reinterpretation of epic poetry beginning with Virgil, David Quint explores the political context and meanings of key works in Western literature. He divides the history of the genre into two political traditions: the Virgilian epics of conquest and empire that take the victors' side (the Aeneid itself, Camoes's Lusíadas , Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata ) and the countervailing epic of the defeated and of republican liberty (Lucan's Pharsalia , Ercilla's Araucana , and d'Aubigné's Les tragiques ). These traditions produce opposing ideas of historical narrative: a linear, teleological narrative that belongs to the imperial conquerors, and an episodic and open-ended narrative identified with "romance," the story told of and by the defeated. Quint situates Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained within these rival traditions. He extends his political analysis to the scholarly revival of medieval epic in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and to Sergei Eisenstein's epic film, Alexander Nevsky . Attending both to the topical contexts of individual poems and to the larger historical development of the epic genre, Epic and Empire provides new models for exploring the relationship between ideology and literary form. Cover Page 1 Half-title Page 3 Title Page 5 Copyright Page 6 Dedication Page 7 Contents 9 Acknowledgments 11 Introduction 15 Part One: Epic and the Winners 31 One: Epic and Empire: Versions of Actium 33 Two: Repetition and Ideology in the Aeneid 62 Part Two: Epic and the Losers 109 Three: The Epic Curse and Camoes' Adamastor 111 Four: Epics of the Defeated: The Other Tradition of Lucan, Ercilla, and d'Aubigne 143 Part Three: Tasso and Milton 223 Five: Political Allegory in the Gerusalemme liberata 225 Six: Tasso, Milton, and the Boat of Romance 260 Seven: Paradise Lost and the Fall of the English Commonwealth 280 Eight: David's Census: Milton's Politics and Paradise Regained 337 Part Four: A Modern Epilogue 353 Nine: Ossian, Medieval "Epic," and Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky 355 Notes to the Chapters 381 Index 439 Epic And Empire: Versions Of Actium -- Repetition And Ideology In The Aeneid -- The Epic Curse And Camões' Adamastor -- Epics Of The Defeated: The Other Tradition Of Lucan, Ercilla, And D'aubigné -- Political Allegory In The Gerusalemme Liberata -- Tasso, Milton, And The Boat Of Romance -- Paradise Lost And The Fall Of The English Commonwealth -- David's Census: Milton's Politics And Paradise Regained -- Ossian, Medieval Epic, And Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky. David Quint. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [369]-426) And Index. Explores the political context and meanings of key works in Western literature. This book covers Virgilian epics of conquest and empire that take the victors' side (the "Aeneid" itself, Camoes's "Lusiadas", Tasso's "Gerusalemme liberata") and the countervailing epic of the defeated and of republican liberty.